Chapter 3

Paramedic Edna Winchester returned home to her small apartment after her day at school job fair. She hung up her jacket, kicked off her boots and then plopped down on the well used blue sofa in the adjoined living area.

The apartment was furnished modestly with second hand furniture and kept rather simple. She had a small television, a coffee table that looked worn and a green cloth chair that did not match the sofa. The apartment was equipped with a small kitchenette and a single bedroom with a bath.

She let her head roll back as she rested for a moment. On the coffee table at her feet was her handbooks for her pilot's license course. The apartment lacked any photos or artwork. The white walls were rather bare. She then heard a booming voice.

"My child."

She opened her eyes and looked before her. She spied a vision of a tall man with long flowing white hair and a long white beard. He was dressed in white robes and held a hammer. She often saw the vision but no one else ever did so she assumed it was a ghost.

"What do you want?" she asked annoyed.

The vision proclaimed. "You must find the Star Gate my child. You must come to your father."

"And who is my father again?" she asked for the vision seemed redundant to her.

"You must come to the Asgard." the vision told her.

"And this star gate thing?" she rolled her eyes.

"It's in the mountain." the vision answered.

She asked. "You mean Cheyenne Mountain? That's a military base. You know, you really suck as a guardian angel."

"You must find the Star Gate." the vision insisted and then disappeared.

She sighed. "If I tell Harold about this he will think I'm nuts. Hell, I think I'm nuts." she complained.

A knock came at her door. She rose to her feet and made her way to the door. Upon opening the door she found her elderly neighbor before her. The little old lady had white hair, a wrinkled face and wore a red robe and slippers. "Myrtle?" she asked.

"My hands are so bad I can't hold anything. Can you help me, dear?" she held out her arthritic hands.

Eddy grasped the old woman's hands and held them tight for a moment. The heat penetrated into the flesh. In short time her hands were pain free and flexible.

Myrtle smiled gracious. "Thank you so much, dear. You are the only one who can make the pain go away."

"Welcome." she told her. She was about to close the door when another door in the hallway opened. An old man stuck his head out.

"Eddy's home." he cheered. The old man stepped outside in a tee shirt and pajama bottoms. He made his way to her door. "Eddy! This shoulder is acting up again. Can you do that touch thing again?"

She nodded as the old man turned slightly. She placed her hands on his shoulders and rubbed slightly as the healing powers were directed on the sore shoulder. "Should do it, Hank." she told him. She tried to close the door when yet another visitor arrived.

Another neighbor came holding a cat. The older lady wore a pink robe and fuzzy slippers. She smiled brightly. "Eddy! I'm so glad you are home. Fluffy is have litter box issues again."

Edna held out her hands as Fluffy the gray long haired cat went willingly into her arms. She held the cat focusing on the constant bladder issue. She handed the cat back, "Keep her off the dry food, Carol."

"Thank you so much, honey." Carol replied retrieving her cat.

Edna stated. "I need to get some sleep now. Good night." She quickly closed the door before any other neighbors could arrive. She then walked into her kitchen and retrieved a can of cola from the fridge. She opened the drink and took a large swig as her sugar was drained. She sat down at the small kitchen table. "What a day." she sighed. "Now the chief wants me to head the explorer program. I don't want to work with a bunch of kids." she complained.

Next Day

Sam Carter decided to pay a visit to the fire station to thank the men and women who assisted her in person. Dressed in her uniform blue jacket matching trousers and black regulation shoes, she had Jack give her a ride to the station in the government owned black sport utility vehicle. Jack sat behind the wheel also dressed in his blue uniform with a visor cap and sunglasses. "Here we are." Jack mentioned placing the vehicle in park.

"I hope the department likes fruit." Sam chuckled to herself at the size of the large fruit basket that General Hammond personally purchased.

"Firefighters love fruit." Jack agreed. "I'll get the basket." he stated upon opening the door.

Sam found herself assisting Jack with the basket of fruit. She led him to the door of the station and rang the bell.

A familiar face soon greeted the pair. It was Harold. He opened the door and looked upon the two surprised. "Air Force!" He recognized Sam. He grinned, "How are you, Major?"

Sam graciously smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you. This is Colonel O'Neill and we have brought a fruit basket for the whole department from General Hammond."

Harold retrieved the large basket. "That's so nice of you guys. Thank you. We usually don't get anything." He led them inside. "Come on in."

Jack stepped into the station with Sam. He followed Harold to the kitchen area. He spied the fire trucks through a window as he passed. The little boy in him wanted to go play with the trucks but he knew he had to control his impulses. "Nice place." Jack mentioned looking about.

Sam's eyes soon settled on a very familiar face sitting at the table. Eddy had her book before her as she studied for her pilot's course. A smile crept across Sam's face. "Eddy!"

She looked up. Her eyes landed on Jack and Sam in full uniform. She grinned happy to see Sam was back on her feet. She stood up to greet her patient. "Major!" She walked over to the pair. She gave Sam a hug. "You look great." she assured.

"I feel great." she had to admit. "This is Colonel O'Neill. We brought a fruit basket for you and your station as a thank you from General Hammond."

Harold placed the basket on the large table. "Look at this guys!" he called.

Soon firemen filtered into the kitchen to see the large basket of fruit.

Surprised Eddy stated. "Wow! Thank you. That's so thoughtful."

Sam watched as the men began to dig into the basket. She noticed Jack looking towards the fire trucks through the door to the bay. She had to laugh to herself.

Eddy hollered. "Save me an apple and an orange guys." She then asked. "You want a tour of the station?"

Jack eagerly replied. "Sure."

"This way." she motioned for the pair to follow. She led Jack and Sam through the door to the bay that housed the trucks and the ambulance. "Here it is. Five bays. One pumper, one ladder, a brush truck and a rescue truck. And my little ambulance over there." she pointed to the last vehicle.

Sam asked. "You work fires and drive the big trucks?"

"I did before I got my paramedic. Then I got put on my rig and well, I'm kind of it for the department paramedic." she stated. She watched as Jack climbed into the fire truck and sat behind the wheel.

"Check this out, Carter." he cheered.

"Looks like fun, sir." she replied amused. She knew in no time firefighters would be surrounding them to give Jack a tour. She looked at Eddy. "I know this is going to sound weird. But, when I was in that ambulance and you were working on me. I know I died. I had an out of body experience. I saw everything. I saw you working on me. I saw you bring me back. I know you did something more. You knew I saw a white light and you told me to not go in it."

Eddy gave a slight sigh. "You remember it?"

"I do." she nodded.

"Most don't." she told her.

"I know you have some kind of gift." Sam insisted. "Something that affects your sugar levels."

She spoke low. "You are smart. Genius level. I saw that. Must be why you can remember so much."

Sam asked. "Would you be willing to come in for some test?"

She shook her head. "No!"

She pleaded. "Why not?"

"Because it drains me and the more who know the more they ask for favors." she stated. "You should see my apartment building. They come out of the woodwork. Last night I had to clear a U.T.I. from Carol's cat."

Sam paused for a moment. "Um…"

The station chief entered the bay. He was a tall middle age man with dark hair. He spoke. "I'm Chief Morris. How would you like take that engine for a drive, Colonel?" he asked eager to show off a bit to the local Air Force.

Jack's eye lit up. "Can I?"

"You sure can, Colonel." he insisted.

"Great!" He looked back at Sam. "Coming Carter?"

"I'll stay here. Have fun, sir." she told him.

Eddy mentioned watching, "The difference between men and boys is the size and cost of their toys."

Sam had to agree. "I see that."

Later

Sam and Jack returned to the base. They changed back into green battle dress and gathered with General Hammond, Janet Frasier, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c in the briefing room.

Jack was pleased he got to drive the large fire truck. He admitted. "Those fireman are pretty cool. Chief Morris even let me take the engine for a spin around the block." He assured. "They love the fruit basket too, George. I think they pretty much devoured it."

Hammond replied pleased. "I'm more than happy to do something for our local fire department."

Sam spoke. "I spoke privately with Eddy. She basically admitted she can heal people. She even told me that she took care of her neighbor's cat that had a U.T.I.. I asked her to come in for a physical. She won't. She says when people find out they start asking for favors and it drains her."

Daniel pondered. "I wonder if it's more than that?"

Hammond asked, "Dr. Jackson?"

"Well," he summarized. "If you could heal someone by just touching them and everyone knew, you would be in very high demand. Heads of States, wealthy elite, would be trying to get their hands on you. Some might even not let you go. Lock you up. Keep you prisoner. And…if this ability also drains you to the point you need to eat sugar…that can be…dangerous."

Janet stated. "Both Jon and Cassie met Eddy at the career fair at school. Both shook her hand. Both had a similar experience were she went into a trance and they felt a wave of warmth go through them. She then needed to eat candy. Said she was a diabetic."

Daniel added. "One of the biggest historical myths is healing abilities. Every culture has them. Usually, some kind of god descends from the sky and has all these magical abilities."

Teal'c stated. "With such an ability that person would be targeted by many for personal benefit."

Daniel agreed. "She sure would. She would want to lay low and make up some excuse. Like being diabetic. Like a cover story. I wonder what the extent of her healing ability is?"

Sam stated. "She completely healed me. After everything else failed is when she resorted to healing me. She didn't just start my heart. She healed my whole body. I'm sure I had a concussion and maybe some broken bones. I feel ten years young now."

"You physically are, Sam. Your blood work, weight, everything is on par with someone ten years younger." Janet informed.

Jack asked. "Can make ya younger?"

Daniel stated. "She's a walking fountain of youth, Jack. Legends of people living a thousand years!"

"Huh." he pondered the implication.

Hammond asked. "What did the background check on Miss Winchester reveal, Dr. Jackson?"

"She's little older than she looks. She was born in 1968. Same age as me. She grew up in foster care. Same as me. No father was ever listed on her birth certificate. She was also born in New York, same as me. Her mother was committed to a mental institute." He paused for a moment. "According to what I could find on her, the mother claimed she was abducted by aliens and impregnated by an alien." He paused and wiggled a bit in his set. "Her mother's name was Margaret Winchester. She died in a mental health institute when Edna was a child. According to the doctor's notes, she claimed the alien was named Thor and he was Asgard."

The table fell silent for a moment.

"What?" Jack asked astonished.

Daniel waved his hand. "That's what was in the notes."

"Thor?!" he gasped. "Our Thor?" He looked about the table. "What? Our Thor has a illegitimate kid running around here on Earth?"

"I really don't know, Jack." Daniel stated.

Janet insisted. "If she had Asgard DNA, I can run a test. I just need a sample."

Sam stated. "I will get a sample."

"Carter?" Jack asked.

"She asked me to help her with some of her studying for her private pilot's license." she explained. "I can get a DNA sample off a cup or something."

Daniel volunteered. "I can help to. Plus, I would like to meet her."

Jack asked. "Why do you want to meet here, Daniel?"

"If she's part Asgard, Jack that could explain her unusual ability." he suggested.

Sam agreed. "If she is a Asgard-Human hybrid, she could have some extraordinary abilities."

Hammond stated. "I will have Major Carter and Dr. Jackson work on befriending her, gain her trust."

Janet added. "And get me that DNA sample."