The Capital
Washington D.C, Earth
November 8, 2011
Jack O'Neill, a man with more stars on his uniform after many years in service to his country, would rather be in an Iranian prison after a failed rescue mission called Operation Eagle Claw than listening to Senators chastising him for his service to the planet instead of the United States. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for the verbal barrage he knew was coming.
"That is what we do, we make up threats," Jack said satirically.
"Threats are made up by those who seek power and control, General O'Neill," Senator Farnsworth shot back.
"Is that sarcasm?" Senator Adam Shaifer's eyes narrowed, trying to read Senator Farnsworth's tone. Suddenly, he saw something slightly moving at the back of her neck. Maybe it was his imagination.
"No, Senator, that's reality," Jack replied with a hint of weariness in his voice. "The threats are real, and we've proven that time and time again."
"How many times have you saved Earth?" Shaifer asked.
"I don't know, I lost count after every week," Jack deadpanned, trying to lighten the tension in the room.
"From the Guuld?" Shaifer tried to pronounce Goa'uld but his pronunciation was off, but Jack nodded anyway.
"Absurd," Senator Farnsworth scoffed, her voice cutting through the tension like a hot knife through butter. "We're not here for a joke, General O'Neill."
"I read your reports and the SGC Medical reports about the Goa'uld," Senator Shaifer began but kept his eyes on Senator Farnsworth as she slowly massaged the back of her neck. "But these Wraith you speak of, can we negotiate a peaceful coexistence with them?"
Jack leaned forward, keeping his eyes sharp on Senator Shaifer. "The Wraith do not negotiate, Senator. They take what they want, which is human life force. They're not exactly keen on sharing."
Senator Farnsworth's hand stopped mid-air. She frowned and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Suddenly, she gripped the podium, her face contorting in pain. The room erupted into chaos as the other senators jumped to their feet, some reaching for their phones, others shouting for medical assistance.
Jack's eyes narrowed as he recognized the signs of a Goa'uld symbiote taking control. He bolted from his chair, drawing his Asuran Stunner. "Everyone, stay back!" he barked, his voice ringing with authority.
"How did you get that through security?" General Maynard asked.
"I told them it's a toy," Jack replied, keeping his eyes on Senator Farnsworth, who was now slumping over the podium.
Senator Farnsworth lifted her head from the podium, her eyes starting to glow for a second before returning to normal. She took a deep breath and straightened up. "Kree!" She raised her arm and pointed her finger at General O'Neill. A black ring mysteriously decloaked and started to shape like a beetle around her finger. Pulses of energy began to glow in the middle of the abdomen of the ring, and it looked like it was charging.
Jack's heart raced as he aimed the stunner at Farnsworth, his thumb hovering over the trigger. He knew that the Goa'uld could take control of their hosts and use their own bodies as weapons. But he had never seen a Goa'uld infiltrate this far into Earth's government before.
Everyone on the dais froze as the room grew eerily silent, the only sound being the faint whirring of the stunner in Jack's hand. The energy pulse from the ring grew brighter, and Farnsworth's hand trembled slightly. Capitol Hill Police officers didn't know what to do at that very moment; they'd never encountered something like this.
"Tau'ri Kree," Senator Farnsworth's modulated voice was now deep, resonating with the power of the creature that had taken her over. The room was a tableau of shock and fear, the Capitol Hill Police officers looking to each other for guidance.
Without hesitation, Jack pulled the trigger of his stunner. The room was bathed in electric blue light as the energy bolt shot towards Senator Farnsworth. She stumbled back, the force of the blast knocking her to the ground. The Goa'uld's grip on her weakened momentarily, the ring's energy flickering as it died down.
"Don't get close to her; she might be booby-trapped!" Jack barked at the nearest officers, not taking his eyes off the fallen senator.
The officers trained their sidearms at the General, but Maynard stepped in. "Holster your weapons," he ordered calmly, his gaze fixed on Jack. "Let him handle it."
Jack tapped his earpiece to call the orbiting ships. "Apollo, this is O'Neill. Code 4-13. We have a priority one situation in the Senate chambers. Repeat, Code 4-13."
"We've identified an extraterrestrial biosignature in your immediate vicinity," said the voice over the comms.
"Stand down!" Jack shouted to the confused officers, his stunner still trained on Farnsworth, who was on the ground. He could see the panic in their eyes, but he knew he had to keep his cool.
In the middle of the room, a team of SGC operatives beamed in, weapons drawn. They swiftly secured the area and approached Farnsworth with caution. One of the operatives nodded at Jack and implanted a subcutaneous transmitter under her collarbone. Instantly, they beamed out again, leaving the room stunned.
The Capital Police who is in the chamber stood in silence, guns still drawn, but confusion replaced the fear in their eyes. They had no idea what had just happened, and the sudden disappearance of Senator Farnsworth had thrown them into a tailspin. They have witness teleportation through the scope of television shows and sci-fi movies, but to experience it in real life was beyond their comprehension.
Senator Shaifer's eyes bulged as he tried to process what he had just witnessed. "What... what just happened?" he stuttered, his voice echoing the shock of the room.
General O'Neill holster's his Asuran Stunner as it dawns on the room that they've just witnessed something beyond their understanding. He takes a moment to ensure that the Goa'uld threat is contained before addressing the stunned audience.
"How long you know of Senator Bettsy Farnsworth?" Jack asks Senator Adam Shaifer as he approaches him, keeping his voice low so as not to further agitate the already on-edge atmosphere.
The Army Veteran, who served two tours in Iraq before running and elected to Senator from the great state of Missouri and discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel, Senator Adam Shaifer swallowed hard and replied, "Only since she was appointed to fill in for the late Senator Daniels."
Jack nodded before continuing. "Senator Adam Shaifer, is it?" He offered his hand, which Shaifer took after a brief pause. "What we got is Gao'uld assassin."
Senator Shaifer, still grappling with the reality of the situation, managed to find his voice again. "And you've been dealing with this kind of threat all along?"
"Well," Jack tries to make something up that's funny and reference to a Zatarc detector in which he pronounces Zanax. "It's a first for me being a target."
"That's not what I meant, General," Senator Shaifer replied, his grip tightening on Jack's hand.
"I know," Jack said with a small smile, his eyes scanning the room. "Goa'uld assassins only sells their services to the highest bidder."
"And who's the bidder here?" Shaifer asked, his mind racing with the implications.
"They are not on Earth," Jack reassures him. "Lucian Alliance."
"The same people that took out Icarus and two Senators?" Shaifer's sounded angry.
"The very same," Jack said with a grim voice.
General Maynard, who had been observing quietly, now walked towards the cowering Senators. They hid under their desks, some whispering and whimpering in hushed tones about what they had just witnessed. He addressed them with a firm but calm voice. "Ladies and gentlemen, everything is under control."
Medbay, USS Apollo
Geosynchronous Orbit, North America
Bettsy Farnsworth rematerialized in the med bay as naval orderlies swiftly strapped her to the medical bed. Marines stood with their sidearms drawn around her, their eyes vigilant. The SGC medical staff, led by Dr. Carson Beckett, rushed in.
"Okay, what do we have here?" Dr. Beckett asked in his distinct Scottish accent as he quickly approached the medical bed.
The SG team who had brought her to the ship gave him a rundown of the events that had transpired at the Senate hearing. "It's definitely a Goa'uld, sir," one of them affirmed, his voice shaking slightly with the gravity of the situation.
Dr. Beckett nodded gravely as he began his assessment. "We need to remove the symbiote as quickly and as safely as possible," he said, his eyes never leaving Senator Farnsworth's form.
Suddenly, the Senator's eyes opened, glowing for a moment before returning to normal. Everyone around her stepped back as she tried to break free from the restraints, but the trinium alloy was too strong, even for a human enhanced by a symbiote.
"Kree, this restraint won't hold me," Farnsworth's voice, now deep and modulated, filled the med bay. The Goa'uld inside her was now fully aware of its new surroundings and the threat it faced.
"Nurse Jenkins," Dr. Beckett called out. "Bring the Tollan spectral Fragmentor."
A young nurse rushed over with the blue, oval-shaped crystal, a device that allowed another personality to share consciousness while silencing the Goa'uld. Dr. Beckett took it from her, holding it up and placing it on her forehead.
"It will be over soon," Beckett whispered reassuringly, pressing down gently on the crystal, which emitted a noise indicating it was active.
Senator Farnsworth's body arched off the bed, her features contorted in a silent scream of pain and rage, but the trinium restraints held firm. The glow in her eyes faded as the Tollan technology began to take effect, the symbiote's influence diminishing. After what felt like an eternity, she relaxed back onto the bed, her eyes once again human.
"Now, laddie," Beckett said. "That didn't hurt?"
"Why was she contorting, Doctor?" Nurse Jenkins asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Oh, that?" Beckett said with a smile. "Goa'uld have a flair for dramatics."
Senator Farnsworth blinked, looking around in confusion. "What happened?"
Dr. Beckett gave her a gentle, reassuring pat on the arm. "You've been through quite the ordeal, Senator. You were taken over by a Goa'uld, but we've managed to suppress it for now."
She tried to process the information, her mind foggy. "A Goa'uld? How."
"I'm afraid," Beckett responded. "I can't answer that laddie."
The Senator's eyes searched the room, looking for answers. "Where am I?" she asks as her voice trembles.
"You're on the USS Apollo," Jack responds, stepping into the med bay. "We had to bring you here for your own safety, and the safety of everyone else."
Senator Farnsworth's eyes dart to him, recognition and fear intermingling. "How did you...?"
"The question is," A new voice she recognizes. It's the voice of Senator Adam Shaifer who had accompanied Jack to the medical bay. "How and where a Goa'uld get inside you, Senator?"
Senator Farnsworth's eyes widened with shock and horror at the realization. "It's impossible," she murmured. "I've been checked by doctors in Bethesda, the only thing they found is a small laceration in the throat..."
"When was that, Senator?" Carson Beckett's question.
"It was during a routine physical, a month ago." Farnsworth replied, her voice shaking as she tried to piece together the puzzle of how a Goa'uld symbiote could have been implanted in her without her knowledge.
Jack nodded gravely. "Is the Goa'uld in there Doctor?."
Dr. Beckett studied the monitors intently. "Yes General."
"Good, I need to contact the Tok'ra." Jack's expression grew serious as he stepped closer to the medical bed. "Senator, do you remember anything from when the symbiote was in control?"
Tears ran down her cheeks as Senator Farnsworth shook her head, "Yes, the symbiote controls my body, it's like I'm in for a ride of my own body."
Jack nodded sympathetically, understanding all too well the horror of being a host to a Goa'uld...and a Tok'ra. "We're going to get it out of you, Senator. But first, we need to figure out how it got in and who's behind this."