Chapter 5
Jane sat at the table in Daniel's lab with a stack of papers, a pen and a stone tablet. She began by writing down what the tablet said in English. For Jane's perspective it was nothing more than copying what she saw. When she reached the end of the tablet she figured her work would be done and turned over the white sheet of paper she had been writing on. On the back of the paper her mind saw words appear out of thin air. She blinked and rubbed her eyes but she still saw the words on a paper she that knew was blank.
She figured, "I'm filling in the blanks. I know what comes next." She began to write out what she saw in her mind onto the blank paper and continued the job.
After a few minutes of Jane working alone Daniel walked back into his lab with two mugs in hand. He figured Jane could use a break as well as himself. Surprised, he found her still writing.
"I brought you some coffee, Jane." He then noticed she seemed oblivious to him or his words. He placed the cups down and glanced over her shoulder to see what caught her attention. Instead of a single sheet of paper with a translation from a stone tablet he found many sheets of paper that simply just continued. He picked up the papers and began to read.
Jane came out of her obsession and found Daniel was reading the papers she just wrote. She explained, "I kept seeing more so I wrote it down." She then noticed the two mugs and figured he brought one for her. "Is one mine?"
"Yeah," he gave a nod. "This is incredible. That tablet was one of a series but rest were lost. You just filled in what was missing."
She grabbed a mug and took a sip as she looked up at him. She simply gave a shrug, "It just kept coming."
He confessed, "This kind of reminds me of the time Jack got downloaded from the repository. His mind couldn't contain the Ancient information and it just leaked out. It nearly killed him, however…you are not suffering like he did. Of course, you are not the same species of human either. You are likely a Furling. One of the four great founding races."
Jane rattled off, "The Ancients were the first, Asgard were the second, Nox the third and Furlings were the forth great race." She then paused and added, "Earth is home to the fifth."
"How did you know that?" he asked her.
She shrugged, "I have no idea. It's just there." She tapped her head. She wondered, "Do you think maybe they downloaded me when I was a baby before the left me in the woods?"
"I honestly don't know." he replied. "I suppose it's possible." He took a seat across from her at the table. He figured, "It must have been hard on you when you were a kid. You would have been far more advanced than the other kids." he assumed. "The time you healed the boy who fell down the rocky hill. Must have been hard trying to fit in."
"Oh, I gave up fitting in. I knew I was weird! I just didn't want other kids and adults to be afraid of me and act like I was a disease or something." she replied.
He asked, "Want to know what blows my mind?"
"What?" she asked.
"How we can have a Furling, here on base for nearly a year and not know it." he confessed.
She added nearly amused, "And the Furling not know she is a Furling."
He agreed, "I know this is all new to you too. We will find out the answers together. I promise."
"I appreciate that." she smiled. For a moment she didn't feel so alone and perhaps she had friends after all.
Sam came to the lab next. She spied Jane, "Oh' good! Do you have a few minutes, Sergeant?"
She looked to Daniel.
"I think you should take a break from this." he held up the stack of papers.
Sam asked, "Did she do all that?"
"Filled in missing tablets." he nodded.
"That kind of reminds me of the time the Colonel was downloaded." Sam mentioned.
"Me too." he agreed.
Sam turned her attention, "I need you to activate a device I'm ready to run some test on, Sergeant."
Jane stood up, "Yes ma'am."
As the pair were about to leave for Sam's lab Daniel spoke up, "Jane, when you think of a name for yourself…what comes to mind?"
"Huh?" she asked.
"You knew the order of which the great races came about so I'm wondering if maybe somewhere in your mind, you also know the name you were born with. What's the first name that comes to mind?"
She replied, "Anna."
"Interesting." he noted the name.
Sam suggested, "I wonder if hypnosis would help unlock some of what she knows."
"Something to keep in mind." he agreed.
"Hypnosis!" she scoffed. "You mean: you are getting sleepy, sleepy…" she mocked.
"Not like that." Sam assured. "Come on, Sergeant." She led her out the door.
They soon entered Sam's lab. On the table was a small oval shaped device that was silver in color. Sam had attached a probe from the computer to the end of the device upon removing the access panel. She instructed, "If you can just touch that for me, Sergeant."
Jane reached over and gently touched the device on the side. Suddenly it hummed to life and a blue light illuminated from the center. She stood wondering what it was. "What is it, Major Carter?"
"That's what I am hoping to find out. It is Furling." she informed. She adjusted the reading, "Seems to be emitting an energy signature." Sam glanced up, "That's all I needed you for, Sergeant. You can go now."
"When you figure out what it is; will your let me know?" she requested.
"Depends on what it is." she informed.
She let out a sigh, "Right. I'll go see what Dr. Jackson has for me to work on."
"Okay." she nodded for Sam was too busy working on the figuring out what the device was.
Jane left the lab feeling a bit used.
Sam glanced up, gave a deep sigh and then tried to focus on her work.
Commissary
Sam had gone to the commissary for a break later in the day. Soon, Jack joined her at the table with a snack for himself as he noticed Sam was nursing a blue colored gelatin.
"Carter," he greeted her. She seemed to be in deep thought.
"Sir," she shook herself for she didn't even see him approach.
He noticed she seemed pre-occupied. "You okay?" he asked.
"I suppose." she gave a sigh.
He pressed, "What is it?"
"It's Jane." she softly spoke trying to keep her voice from traveling.
"What about her?" he asked worried. Jane seemed like an innocent kid to his estimation. He worried they found something ominous.
"I just can't seem to really talk to her." she complained. "She can talk to you and Daniel one on one with no problems but…It's weird with me. It's this awkward silence."
"Strike up a conversation." he suggested.
"About what?" she asked. "We don't have anything in common. With Daniel she can talk about being foster care and she does work with him more on translations. With you it's all hot dogs and garbage plates. You are from the Great Lakes and you used to vacation in New York. I never even been to the Great Lakes or Rochester. Thing is, I would like to go sometime and see the George Eastman House and go a wine tour. That's sounds like fun! I just don't have anything in common with her and it's just awkward at times." She dug at her gelatin, "Wanna know what really gets me though? I should be able to talk with her on an advanced scientific level. Her mind is far more advanced than ours. She's a Furling! And yet, she's more like the normal human than I am."
"Hand her a few books to read, Carter." he suggested.
"She dawning on something, sir." she insisted. "I noticed sometimes she will suggest something that sounds too silly to be true and yet…it is. I'm wondering if she was downloaded as a baby before being left on Earth. She did suggest it. As a Furling, she can hold that information easily. But she's not drawing on it like you did."
He reminded her, "Everything just leaked out of my head. I had no control over it."
"And she does." she countered. "I know I sound pushy. I can't imagine what it's like for her. Finding out you're not just different but an alien race and possibly the last one. That's got to be…" she reached for a term.
"Mind blowing." Jack suggested.
"Yes!" she agreed.
He suggested, "Give it time. Rochester is adjusting to this too."
"I know she is. I just wish it was as easy for me to talk to her like how you and Daniel can." she confessed.
"You will." he assured her to sooth her frustration.
She gave him a doubtful smile.
Daniel entered the commissary next with Jane, followed by Teal'c. He went right to the table as Teal'c and Jane both went for a snack. He took a seat at the table with a excited look upon his face. "How's it going, Sam?" he asked her.
"Fine, still running scans." she informed.
He stated, "Jane filled in some more missing text and we discovered the Furlings had a monarchy system." he told her.
Jack asked, "And?"
"Well, it's unusual for such an advanced civilization to have a King, Jack." he explained.
"And?" he shrugged. It was evident that Jack was not nearly as enthused as Daniel.
He looked to Sam for support, "Isn't that interesting, Sam?"
She shrugged, "I suppose."
His enthusiasm for his discovery was met with a mediocre response which downed his excitement. He miffed, "I think it's interesting."
Sam noted that Jane had taken a cup of blue gelatin for a snack. She motioned, "You like blue gelatin?"
She nodded, "All Jell-O. I even like tapioca and rice pudding." She took a seat at the table.
Sam asked, "With raisins and cinnamon?"
She nodded, "You like old fashioned desserts, too? I found most my age stick to chocolate…everything."
Daniel asked, "Not a fan of chocolate, Jane?"
She countered, "I love chocolate…just it's too much. Sometimes it's nice to have something different."
"Exactly!" Sam agreed.
Jack teased, "All Carter ever eats is blue Jell-O and waffles."
She gave him a displeased look. "Froot Loops, sir." she countered.
Jack gave a sly smile in return.
Jane had not been looking at Jack's expression and was focused on her dessert. She muttered, "If I said that to an officer, I would be in a court martial."
The table fell silent as no one understood what she was talking about.
Sam asked, "Said what?"
She looked up, "What the Colonel just said to you, Major. I can't believe you let him get away with that."
Daniel stated, "Jack didn't say anything, Jane."
"Yes he did!" she countered. "I won't repeat it. About eating something other than cereal."
Jack went pale, "You heard what I was thinking."
Sam sat wide-eyed, "What were you thinking?" She was more concerned about what Jack was thinking about her at that moment than the mental ability that Jane just displayed.
Jane asked, "You mean no one else heard him say that?" She looked about.
Teal'c stated calmly, "ColonelO'Neill said nothing."
"Oh…" she pinched her lips tight.
Jane asked, "So…you two don't flirt all day long?" she asked Jack and Sam.
Sam insisted, "We keep a professional relationship."
She confessed, "I thought you two were a couple."
Daniel looked at Jack and Sam and then back to Jane. "I think you are picking up on thoughts, Jane. You have that potential."
"Oh," she sat feeling silly. "Well…" she reached for something to say, "I didn't mean to misunderstand…just…um…if that is what you two are thinking you really should just get hitched or something."
Sam concluded, "Sergeant…reading our thoughts is an invasion of our privacy. You really should not do that."
"I didn't know that I was doing it." she rebutted. "No wonder all the other kids said I was a witch. I must have been doing it to them too."
Daniel stated, "And if you didn't know you were doing it, you would come across as really weird to the other kids."
"I know." she agreed. She looked to Jack and Sam, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…what did I do?" she looked to Daniel for guidance.
"You read their minds." he stated.
"I didn't mean to read your minds." she apologized. "It was an accident. I will try to not do it again."
Jack asked, "So what does Carter think about me?"
Jane looked at Sam's blushing face. She replied, "I can safely say you both feel the same way about each other."
Sam stated, "It doesn't matter how we feel, Jane. He's my commanding officer and that would be fraternizing."
She asked, "How is he your commanding officer?"
"He out ranks me." Sam replied wondering if Jane was a bit dense for the question seemed obvious to her.
"But you report directly to Hammond and you are the head of Research and Development." she countered. "He's just security and manages off world teams."
"We're on the same team." Sam rebutted.
"But you are the head of Research and Development." she retorted. "That makes no sense that he would be in charge when you are the expert. If anything you and Dr. Jackson should be in charge and the Colonel should just put a couple of grunts on the team for security in the field. He should be doing office work."
Jack crossed his arms, "I am not doing office work."
Daniel confessed, "I always thought you and I kind of ran the team, Sam. Jack kind of backs us up."
Teal'c stated, "SG-1 is an unusual team. There is a lack of a solid military command structure." He then noted, "However, the dynamic works."
Jack asked, "I'm not in charge of the team, T?"
He gave a slight half smile and went back to his snack.
Jack muttered under his breath, "Enlisted. Always showing up officers."