Brotherhood (25/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10a-- 10b Chapter11 Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14 Chapter15 Chapter16a-- 16b Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18 Chapter19a-- 19b Chapter20 Chapter21a-- 21b Chapter22a-- 22b Chapter23 Chapter24 Chapter25
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Left Behind
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 0730 hrs
The first time Daniel woke, he was in a room that made him think of metal. He wasn't sure why, except that metal could be cold (when it wasn't hot, anyway) and so was the room, and something in the air smelled like metal. Maybe it was just the thing on his face, because there was a thing on his face and the air in that smelled like metal, too.
There were people. He turned his head groggily to see hair that made him think of--"Janet?"
It sounded more like a croak, really, and it was a wonder she understood him at all, but he supposed there wasn't a lot else he could have been saying while staring at her face. Either way, Janet smiled down at him and said, "How are you feeling, sweetie?"
She hadn't called him that in a while--now that he was an employee rather than a refugee, he was 'Daniel,' or 'Mr. Jackson' if she was annoyed or being formal. Daniel tried to figure out why he was 'sweetie' this time, which seemed ominous, but all he could come up with was, "Wha...?"
Then he blinked and she turned into Jack, who was staring down at him. "I only have a few minutes before they kick me out," Jack said, glancing to his side. Daniel followed his eyes, and as it turned out, Janet was still there; she had just moved when Daniel hadn't been looking.
"What?" Daniel said again, but there was a faint, tired smile somewhere at the corner of Jack's lips, so he relaxed and said, "Okay."
"When you're more awake, they're gonna bring you outside, all right?" Jack said. "Are you getting any of this? You are so high right now, aren't you?"
Daniel wondered if Jack was speaking faster than usual or Daniel's brain was moving slower. Sam would say relative...relativisity...something. Jack's mouth was faster than Daniel's brain, anyway. This seemed wrong, relativisitistically speaking, but thinking about it made him fall behind again, so he said, "It's cold."
He blinked, and Jack was gone, but Janet was still there, tucking a blanket around him, which was warm and soft and not at all metal-like. "Are you in any pain?" she said.
"No," he said, but then he shifted his leg and said, "Ow." He shook his head, trying to clear the fog away from his brain. "A little bit. 'S better," he amended. "A lot better."
"Well, I should hope so," she said, smiling again.
...x...
By the time Daniel woke up less groggy in the main section of the infirmary, whatever had made him feel a lot better must have started to wear off, and he decided 'a little better' was more accurate. Footsteps near the entrance made him stop testing the limits of his range of movement, though, and he brightened to see Jack.
"Hey," Jack said.
"Hey," Daniel said carefully, considering whether to raise a hand to wave and deciding against it.
Jack gave him a critical look. "So," he said. "Feeling better?"
Then Daniel remembered what it had felt like to crawl out of his bed at home and down a hallway to find Jack and decided that 'a lot better' was still valid. At least he was pretty sure now that there were not, in fact, Goa'uld with ribbon devices residing in his stomach. "Yes. I'm still confused about what they did to me, though."
"Took out one of your organs," Jack said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah...that's what confuses me," Daniel told him. He had visions of trying to get out of bed and realizing he was missing some vitally important part of his body. Janet didn't look worried about it, which he supposed he should accept as a good sign.
"You don't need it," Jack assured him. "Lots of people have theirs out. Carter had hers taken out years ago--trust me, you're fine now. It's called the 'appendix.' No one ever cares about the appendix of anything."
"I always read appendices," Daniel said.
"But that's you," Jack said.
Daniel frowned him. "Right," he said.
"And guess what?" Jack said. "Hammond's giving us all time off for the next couple of weeks until you're better. So I guess I should thank your appendix."
"Yes, I know--Teal'c came in earlier before he left to visit Rya'c," Daniel said. It was actually nice to think that SG-1 had time off for him, rather than just continuing to work without him. "It's just that I've had a lot of time off already this past year."
"You've had a lot of intense time on, too," Jack pointed out.
He tried to shrug and found himself hampered by the mattress and pillow, then stopped squirming when even that pulled on the whatever-it-was that was under the bandage covering his skin. "Maybe it's time for me to have a few weeks of something in between," Daniel said. "Working and being relaxed at the same time, I mean."
"The time off is for you to recover, Daniel," Jack said. "Fraiser says it'll be another few days before she springs you."
"But I'm, uh...I'm okay now," Daniel said. He suspected he was lying.
Jack gave him an exasperated look, folding his arms. "So, if I said I was going to go fishing, you'd go with?"
Eek, Daniel thought apprehensively. He considered, taking in the stretch near his belly whenever he moved and the comparative boredom of having to lie here for days and try to beg for something to do... "Sure," he said, bracing himself to sit up. "You know, maybe I'll just--" The stretching sensation became a burning agony radiating up his side, and he froze, glancing at Jack's knowing expression.
"Yeah?" Jack said.
Ceding to the pain, Daniel gave up and settled back. "Okay," he said, his voice a little higher than usual. "I'll, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Um."
"Give it a couple of days," Jack advised. Daniel took a breath. "Need something for the pain?"
"No," Daniel said when he could talk again, because he really didn't like it when his brain moved slower than Jack's words. "Are you really going fishing?" he asked to change the topic.
"I was joking," Jack said.
"Why?" Daniel said. "You always say you're going to go fishing, but you haven't since...since you took me once years ago."
"Are you trying to get me to go away?" Jack said.
"I'm just saying," Daniel said, "there's no reason for you to be stuck doing nothing. You never get the chance otherwise." Jack still looked unsure, so he decided the problem might be--"I'm fine, Jack. There's nowhere I'd be safer than here on base, under Janet's eye."
"You sure?" Jack said.
"Yeah. Ask someone to go with you for company. But not Sam."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "Why not Sam?"
"Oh, she won't go with you," Daniel told him confidently.
"Oh, she won't?" Looking like he was going to take that as a challenge, Jack said, "Bet you half a month's electric bill she will."
Daniel had to smile back. "Fine. Go ahead, try it."
"I think I will," Jack said decisively. "Take it easy, all right?"'
"All right," Daniel agreed, trying not to laugh because it would probably hurt quite a lot. And, ow--trying not to laugh hurt a lot, too. He took a deep breath and forced himself to smile to make Jack leave.
XXXXX
"Carter," Jack said, stepping into the lab. Carter's blond hair was visible from the back of a mask as sparks flew in front of her. Jack raised his voice to repeat, "Major Carter!"
The welding stopped. "Sir," she said, her voice muffled in the face shield as she quickly stripped it off. "Hi. Is Daniel...?"
"He's fine," Jack assured her. All three of them had stuck around the infirmary until Daniel's surgery was over, and then Carter had fled to bury herself in some project or other while Teal'c retreated to his room and Jack was allowed in briefly to check on Daniel. "Recovering. Actually, speaking of Daniel," he added, "he suggested that I ask you to go fishing with me."
She frowned, looking suspicious. "Fishing," she repeated. "With you? Sir?"
"Why not?" he said. "A couple of coworkers--friends, if you will--fishing. It'll be fun. Why, what were you going to do during our leave?"
Carter glanced behind herself, and Jack recognized her first naquadah reactor. "Um," she said, then brightened. "Actually, I'm getting ready to do a detailed analysis of the decay rate of naquadah within the reactor. It's really quite amazing that, unlike plutonium, naquadah has a--"
"Aht!" Jack said, waving his arms to cut her off before he get himself mired any further. Well, it was his own fault for asking. "I'm on vacation. You sure you don't want to come with me?"
She bit her lip, looking indecisive for a moment. "Wow," she said finally. "I...appreciate the offer, sir. Really. Sounds great...but I should..." She trailed off, looking unsure about how to say it, so he took pity on her and gave in.
"No sweat," Jack said, a little disappointed that she thought her reactor was more interesting than he was but not altogether surprised. "See you in--"
Blinding, white light surrounded him.
The SGC disappeared.
Before he could think anything, he blinked twice and found himself somewhere that looked vaguely familiar. Smooth, metallic walls in a hallway that looked alien even by the SGC's standards, darker colors rather than bright Goa'uld gold...
Ah. This looked like Thor's ship. "Thor?" he called tentatively, because who but his Asgard friend made a habit of snatching him up like that?
He strode down the corridor he was currently in, peeking around the corner, and suddenly, the sound of many, small metallic clacks reached his ears, growing louder and louder.
Jack peered cautiously around the next corner and saw something he was pretty sure he'd built once with an Erector Set, except that it was moving, fast, in a distinctly spider-like way and looked like it could do a lot more damage. Behind the giant, metal spider were more giant, metal bugs, and behind them more and more...
"What the hell?" he said aloud, then quickly pressed himself against the wall and really, really hoped they'd just pass without bothering him.
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 1430 hrs
Alarms were not uncommon around base. Therefore, when Daniel woke up and heard the commotion in the halls, he wasn't disappointed when Sam didn't drop in to say 'hello,' too; she was probably off dealing with whatever problem had just occurred. Even the medical staff seemed busy and were bustling around, so Daniel stayed quiet and out of the way until things seemed to have calmed.
Except, eventually, someone mentioned the word 'sarcophagus.'
That was never a good sign.
"What's going on?" Daniel had to ask when Janet walked in again. She turned to him and hesitated, her eyes shifting to one side as if trying to decide what to say, and naturu, what if someone was dead, what if what was why Sam hadn't come by? He bit his lip and forced himself to sit up. "Janet, tell me, please."
She made a movement as if to push him back down, but desperation gave him enough strength to push her hands away. "Colonel O'Neill was transported onto Thor's ship," she finally said.
Daniel frowned. "Thor's ship? Why?"
"The ship was infested with some sort of technology," she said, still trying to force him back down until he deliberately pushed himself higher and swung his legs over the bed, which--gods--was a bad idea. He clenched his hands on the sheets. She held out a placating hand and finished explaining, "Thor is injured and needs help eliminating the threat before his ship lands on Earth and infests this planet, too. Major Carter and Teal'c have beamed onto the ship with the sarcophagus to heal Thor and enough explosives to destroy the ship. Daniel, please, stop fighting me before you hurt yourself."
"How...are they getting back out?" he asked between gritted teeth.
"They have a plan," she said in a tone that would be comforting if her expression had matched it. "We can send a shuttle up to rescue them from space while Thor's ship is destroyed, so--what are you doing?"
"I need to be there," Daniel said, resting on the edge of the bed while he caught his breath. "If...if I can walk out and I'm not a danger to anyone, I can leave."
"There's nothing you can do," she said firmly.
"I have to be there," he insisted. "I'll sign the form if you need it. You can't stop me."
Janet stared at him for a moment. "I could, you know," she said quietly, because she was the CMO, and her word trumped everyone's if she said it was necessary for medical or security reasons. "Mr. Jackson, promise me you'll be very careful and take it slow. I want you in here as soon as it's over, and if anyone orders you back here at any time, you will obey whether you like it or not."
"Yes, ma'am," Daniel said, holding tightly onto the bed as he took a breath and braced himself for what it would feel like when he hopped off. "Thank you."
"Wait," she said with a sigh. "One more examination. Lie back down." He imagined in dismay having to pull his legs back up, but Janet peeled his fists open and gently helped him back onto the bed. "I need to make sure you're all right first, and then I'll let you go."
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Biliskner; 1530 hrs
Jack dragged the last case of their explosives into Thor's chamber, dropping his load next to Teal'c's before making sure the door closed again behind him. "The bridge is overrun," he said. "No way are we getting to the navigations through there. We need another plan."
Carter was looking up at the ceiling nervously, but she stopped and helped Teal'c open the cases of explosives. "Nothing's damaged," she said, then pointed backward. "Thor's been in the sarcophagus about four hours, sir. I don't know enough about Asgard physiology to say how long it'll take to heal him, but he should be in better shape."
"Give him some time," Jack said.
"I heard a few Replicators in the walls earlier," she said, glancing around herself again. "If they're attracted to the transportation technology's energy burst, an active sarcophagus could be attracting them, too. If we hear any more, sir, I recommend we stop the sarcophagus and shut it off. I'm sure they'd be happy to start trying to get in here to get to that technology."
The sarcophagus was still active. Jack willed the box to open and Thor to pop out, good as new. "I don't want to stop it early--just keep an eye out for now. New plan, anyone?"
"Actually, sir," Carter started, and Jack barely stopped himself from exclaiming 'yes!' "Thor said there are dampening fields inside the ship that prevent explosions. What about outside the ship?"
She paused expectantly. Jack exchanged a glance with Teal'c and said, "Are you...asking us?"
"No, I guess not," she said, turning to look at the screen behind them. "But if I'm right about this, the dampeners make it impossible to detonate an explosive anywhere except outside the ship."
"Will the shields not protect against an external attack?" Teal'c pointed out.
"Yes," she said triumphantly, "but only if the attack comes from outside the shield." As Jack tried to sort out the insides and outsides, she clarified, "Basically, sir, there's a...a space between the ship and the force field shielding it. If we position an explosive--say, the BF-8--just outside the ship, it should bypass both the internal dampening fields and the external impact shields."
"Okay," Jack said, deciding he'd just trust her on that. He hoped Thor's schematics were accurate and her guesses were very educated ones.
"Now, there's an engine mentioned in the recordings that controls reentry," she went on.
"So we blow that from outside and the ship will burn up in the atmosphere," Jack summarized. "Will the blast be big enough to take it out?"
"Well," she started, but the sarcophagus began to slide open again, and their attention was diverted to the box. Jack hurried over and bent over the device as the doors swung open, squinting against the glaring light coming from within...
Thor sat up. "Thor!" Jack said. "How're you doing?"
As they held their breath, Thor flexed his fingers and looked down at himself. "I am well, O'Neill."
"Good timing," Jack said, helping him up and out of the box.
The Asgard was still less than optimistic, though. "We have not resolved the problem. We must still destroy this ship."
"We might have a plan, Thor," Carter said. "We have an explosive that's enhanced with elemental naquadah. If we plant it just outside the ship, inside the force shield, would that be enough to destroy the engine controlling reentry?"
"The deceleration drive," Thor said, tilting his head in thought. "Yes. Your plan may work."
"Someone will need to go out there to plant the bomb," she said, turning to Jack and Teal'c. "We brought spacesuits, but there is a radiation concern."
"Then I will go," Teal'c said. "My symbiote protects me from exposure to radiation for long periods of time."
Squashing his first instinct to go himself, Jack acknowledged, "Okay. You do it." After all, Teal'c had been the only one to get through the radiation on the crystal skull planet without passing out, and then had gone again and come back still in better shape than the others. He took one of the suits from her and helped Teal'c into it while she prepped the BF-8.
"We still need a way to get off this ship once we detonate the explosive," Carter said, looking at Thor. "Now, I was looking at your recordings. The outbound transporter isn't just turned off; it's damaged and I can't fix it on my own, but with your help, maybe we could--"
"If we repair the outbound array, the Replicators may be able to transport themselves onto Earth as well," Thor pointed out.
"But you can do it," Jack said.
Thor seemed reluctant, but agreed, "It is possible. I disabled it deliberately."
"What if the beam is localized to this chamber only?" she said. There as a pause, and Jack glanced back to see Thor thinking.
"All right, you two figure that out," he ordered, finishing with Teal'c's suit. "We'll go put the explosive in place. Keep an eye on our progress, too, will you?"
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Control Room, SGC; 1530 hrs
Stairs were...difficult. Daniel ignored the looks from the people around him and the now-constant ache in his side as he walked up toward the control room. A look around told him only that he still needed to climb a few more stairs to find someone who could tell him what was going on. A glance into General Hammond's office showed the general and Major Davis from the Pentagon both present, and the general stood immediately upon seeing him enter the briefing room.
"Mr. Jackson," he said, looking Daniel up and down, "what are you doing down here?"
"I just heard," Daniel said, trying to breathe normally. "Is there... I don't suppose there's anything I can do to help?"
Before the general could say anything, Davis strode out of the office as well. "General, we're going to DEFCON 3. The Russians have gone on alert as a response. The moment the Asgard ship attempts to land, the President has decided to let the rest of the world know what we know."
Daniel frowned, trying to understand what Russians had to do with anything, as General Hammond said, "And then?"
"We hit it with everything we've got."
That part, Daniel understood perfectly.
"Wait, Major Davis," he said, "SG-1 is on that ship now."
"And I have as much confidence in SG-1 as you, Daniel," Davis said, turning briefly to him, "but they left hours ago. We've had no communication since. We have no idea what kind of a timeframe we're dealing with, here."
"Let's give them a reasonable chance, Major," the general said.
Davis suppressed a grimace with the smoothness of someone used to dealing with people who made difficult demands of him and said, "Yes, sir. I'll try to define 'reasonable' to the Pentagon." He nodded to both of them and went back into the office.
Daniel looked around as the DEFCON signal lit and sighed very carefully as he looked back to face General Hammond. "Sir, we know Goa'uld cloaks can disrupt communications," he said, remembering the trip to Netu when they'd had trouble at first locating the others because of their cloak. "That could be why we haven't been able to communicate--they could still be fine."
"And Major Davis says that the same could be true of Asgard cloaking technology. We're aware."
"General--"
"But he's right," the general said. "SG-1's best plan is to destroy Thor's ship before it enters Earth's atmosphere. If we see it preparing to land, we have to assume they failed and take the appropriate measures. You disagree?"
"No, sir," Daniel had to admit, because that could kill SG-1, but inaction might kill them all. And something else--"What does Russia have to do with this?"
"That's...a complicated question," the general said. "In any case, that's most certainly not our problem at the moment. Our priority is to destroy that ship. We'll deal with Russia's concerns in due course." He looked Daniel up and down, then said, "Are you okay, son?"
Daniel wished for a moment that he could control his expression as well as Teal'c. Then again, if he'd been Teal'c, he'd have gone up to Thor's ship, surgery or not. "Yes, sir."
"Why don't you go back to the infirmary? I promise I'll notify you as soon as there's any news."
At the moment, Daniel was pretty sure he wouldn't make it back to the infirmary on his own after the trek here. Unwilling to admit that and not wanting to leave anyway, he said, "Sir, if they're...out there, then I need to be here--please. I promise I won't get in the way."
The general nodded. "I understand. Have a seat, at least."
Daniel reached for a nearby chair, letting the general help him lower himself into the seat. "People used to call me their jinx," he blurted, shifting to try to relieve the pressure in his side. "Because our missions were always...unusual. But they worked out in the end."
"I remember that," General Hammond said with a small smile. "I have confidence in them, Mr. Jackson."
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Biliskner; 1730 hrs
"This is going to be tricky," Carter said as Jack helped Teal'c back into the chamber.
"Tricky?" Jack repeated incredulously. "Trickier than an airlock that locks Teal'c outside the ship while his air tank blows a hole and sends him off into space--"
"We were successful in planting the bomb outside the deceleration drive, Major Carter," Teal'c interrupted him, struggling out of his suit and still breathing a little harder than normal from the exertion. "What of the rest of our plan?"
"That beaming array we used to get Teal'c back onto the ship was the only one untouched by the Replicators," she explained as Thor tinkered with something at the control panel. "We can't repair the damage to the original outgoing beam from here, but Thor thinks we can reconfigure one of the incoming arrays to work as an outgoing--"
"Is it going to work?" Jack interrupted, not caring how the reconfiguration worked as long as it did.
"Possibly," Thor said, not looking up.
Jack raised his eyebrows toward Carter. 'Possibly?' he mouthed at her.
"It's not a question of whether or not we can do it, sir, on a technical level," she clarified, looking over Thor's shoulder. "The Replicators haven't been interested in the incoming arrays so far--their goal seems to be getting off--so if we can keep them away from the one working incoming beam for long enough, we might be able to make it."
Chattering sounds from just beyond the walls around them made them look up. "They're trying to get in here," Jack said unnecessarily.
"Perhaps they have become more interested in us than in the rest of the ship," Teal'c said. "It seems that they are more likely to attempt infiltration of this room than to dismantle the transportation array."
"Well, that's no good, either," Carter said, frowning. "If they breach this room, too, we'll lose the controls and our equipment."
"And our lives," Jack pointed out. "Let's not forget that part."
"And they'll be able to hitch a ride on our transport down to the surface. Sir, maybe we can go out and distract them," she suggested as both she and Teal'c picked up guns. "Make some noise, maybe, keep them away from here."
Jack looked out the window, not sure how long it would be before they all had to be in this room, ready to beam out. "Then no one'll be here to guard Thor in case they get in. No, keep this room sealed, everyone pick a weapon, and we hold this point."
"The outgoing beaming technology is ready, with the space in front of the Earth-based Stargate as the target," Thor said. "We must wait until we begin our descent so that we can detonate the bomb before beaming off the ship. Once the beam is activated, we will have exactly five of your seconds before we will be transported to Earth."
"We need to contact Hammond and let him know what's going on," Jack said. "Thor?"
Thor nodded once, shifting one of the stones. "I have deactivated our cloaking mechanism to allow communications with Earth," he said. "The--"
A jolt made them freeze and look toward the screen, which now projected the sky like a window. "The vessel is beginning its descent," Teal'c said.
"I'll make it quick," Jack said, stepping up next to Thor. "Everyone else, watch for Replicators."
XXXXX
27 June 2000; Control Room, SGC; 1800 hrs
"Sir," Sergeant Harriman said, "NORAD's reporting that they've spotted an unidentified object entering the upper atmosphere over the Pacific."
"They must have disabled the ship's cloak," Daniel said, turning to the general and Major Davis as they entered.
"Object's on a controlled entry," Harriman continued. "Projected landing on the West Coast of the United States, sir."
"Of course," Davis said pragmatically, looking worried, "this could also be a sign that they've already lost the battle."
The general picked up the telephone. "This is General Hammond," he said. "At this time, I recommend going to DEFCON 2. Deploy all available assets to intercept the alien ship."
Daniel turned in alarm. "General--"
"As I said, Mr. Jackson," the general said, "if the ship makes it through the--"
"Hello?" Jack's voice called. Before he could think carefully about it, Daniel pushed himself hastily to his feet, sucking in a breath as he wavered and caught himself on the console.
A holographic image of Jack appeared on the floor of the embarkation room, standing next to an image of Thor. "Hey!" Jack called again, waving his arms. "We don't have a lot of time. Is this thing on?"
General Hammond moved quickly to the microphone. "Go ahead, Colonel. What's the news?"
"We've got a way to let the ship burn up in the atmosphere," he said. "The--" Suddenly, Jack glanced behind himself, then said, "Crap, they've breached the--Thor, you'll have to take this. Carter--!"
As they watched, confused, a shotgun was tossed toward Jack's image, and then Jack ran out of sight.
"We will transport ourselves to the location where my image is appearing now," Thor continued calmly. Daniel gritted his teeth with the frustration of not knowing what was happening with the others. "You would be wise to prepare yourselves should some of the Replicators be transported with us. Your projectile weapons are the most effective way to battle them. The Replicators must be destroyed--do not attempt to contain even one."
Without further ado, the image disappeared, leaving the control room momentarily silent. "Projectile weapons?" Davis finally said as he picked up a telephone again.
"Bullets," Daniel supplied, gripping the edge of the console. "Energy weapons must be ineffective against them."
"Security teams to the embarkation room!" the general ordered over the PA. "Target only and all Replicators--watch your friendlies!"
Major Davis turned back to them. "The Russians have also spotted the incoming object and are inquiring."
"The Joint Chiefs will respond," the general said, looking tensely into the embarkation room as security forces swarmed in.
"Bandit is still on controlled entry," Harriman said. "Present heading, 196."
"Come on," Daniel muttered, staring into the 'gate room and willing them to appear.
"The hell's a Replicator?" someone muttered from the 'gate room below.
"If it's made of metal and it moves," the general said into the microphone, making the airman jump, "shoot it."
"...no, sir," Major Davis was saying into the telephone, "not yet. They're waiting until...yes, sir--" He held a hand over his mouthpiece and reported, "We have ten squadrons airborne, on intercept course, until we can confirm that the target will not be able to land in one piece--"
"Target has changed heading," Harriman announced suddenly. Daniel leaned forward, barely feeling the stretching in his side. "It's dropped out of controlled entry vector--"
A flash appeared in the 'gate room. When it dissipated, SG-1 was standing before the Stargate with splinters of what looked like very abused crates of equipment and a small swarm of something like enormous, metallic spiders all around their feet. Jack was covering Thor with his own body as they dove out of the way, shouting, "Get the bugs! Shoot the--"
"--the target is breaking up," Harriman continued over the shots ringing out in the embarkation room.
Daniel watched, eyes wide, as Sam and Teal'c aimed their weapons at the odd, metal creatures. Jack was pushing Thor behind him and reloading his own weapon before stepping in front to take over as Sam paused to reload. The security team before the ramp opened fire, and soon Daniel couldn't tell anymore where anything was over the boom from SG-1's shotguns and the rapid fire sounding from the security team.
"Blast shields!" Jack shouted as he took aim, and the metal shields lowered over the window, until Daniel was left staring but unable to see anything while the sounds of the battle continued below.
"We have visual confirmation," Davis called. "A fireball heading for the Pacific Ocean, four hundred miles off the coast of California! Naval teams--"
"O'Neill, the Stargate!" Teal'c called from the room below over the noise.
"--got it!" Sam said. "There's another--"
"Dammit, missed," someone else said. "Where'd it--"
"There, up on the--"
A burst of concentrated fire erupted, then faded into silence.
The pause stretched until it felt like it would never end. Everyone in the control room seemed to be holding his or her breath, waiting for word to come as they stared at the shield.
The Jack's voice said, "That all of 'em?"
The general nodded at the technician to raise the blast shield so they could see what was going on. The 'gate room floor was littered with what looked like small pieces of metal. No one looked to be dead, at least, though he was hard to tell anything else from where they stood watching.
"I don't see any more, sir!" one of the men called back as they scanned the room warily.
Another ten seconds passed, and then Jack said, "I think we're clear."
General Hammond looked a little stunned, but he grabbed the microphone and told them, "Well done, SG-1--you were successful. The Asgard ship was destroyed as it entered the atmosphere. We have teams examining the wreckage in the ocean now."
"Sweet," Jack said, pulling off a pair of shooting glasses and tossing them unceremoniously to the floor behind him.
Thor stepped out from behind Teal'c. Daniel felt rather than saw the men and women in the control room lean forward very slightly, most of them seeing an Asgard in the flesh for the first time. "General Hammond," Thor said, "you must ensure that no Replicators escaped the explosion. They are composed of an alloy that will withstand corrosion in your oceans. Even one surviving Replicator will be able to infest your entire planet."
"In other words, sir," Jack called toward them, "if you see a bug, you want to shoot it, no questions asked. You do not want them crawling over you, I can tell you that."
"And we need to get these blocks cleaned up," Sam added, shuffling a foot cautiously among the remains of one the Replicators as Teal'c held his weapon aimed at one of the larger masses of metal. "They seem capable of self-reassembly if they're not damaged enough."
"We'll keep a guard on that room until we can clean up those...blocks," General Hammond said gravely. "And I'll inform the Naval teams to be meticulous, as well. Thor--is there any way to detect one of these creatures besides just visual confirmation?"
Thor seemed to be thinking. Sam prompted, "What's the alloy it's made of?"
"It is carbon-based," Thor said, "but laced with naquadah. If your people are able to sense..."
"We have naquadah detectors--if we can visualize the position of naquadah concentrations, we can focus on seeing if any of it's moving unusually in the currents, but to search an ocean..."
"Perhaps I may be of assistance in significantly increasing the range and sensitivity of your devices," Thor offered.
"Thor," the general said, "you have our thanks."
"On the contrary," Thor said. "I owe your team a debt of gratitude for saving my life."
"Come on up," the general told them. As SG-1 led Thor to the blast doors to leave the embarkation room, he added over the PA, "Security team, keep a watch in the room until all...remains have been cleared."
"General," Sam said, leading the way up the stairs, "it's good to see you, sir."
"Daniel?" Jack said from just behind. "What the hell do you think--you couldn't even sit up last time I saw you!"
Looking over the three of them, safe except for a couple of scrapes, with Thor alive and well behind them, all of Daniel's anxiety was abandoning him, leaving him drained of everything but the fire stabbing into his side. "Um," he said feebly, still standing in place and feeling like he might not be standing for much longer. "Mm-hm."
"Infirmary," the general told him firmly. "SG-1--except Mr. Jackson--I need to know more about this situation you were facing, and then we'll of course send Thor wherever he needs to go. Major Carter, please show Thor to the labs. Airman, if you could...?"
A man appeared at Daniel's side as the others stepped past him into either the briefing room or the corridor leading to the elevator. "Mr. Jackson, do you need help?" the man said.
"Uh," Daniel said, letting go of the console, only to start sagging into the airman's support as soon as he pushed away. "Yeah, I suppose so."
As the airman led him away, Daniel turned toward the embarkation room in time to see Jack roll his eyes, jerking his head slightly in the direction of the elevator. Daniel sighed in relief and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as he made his way out, his pace even slower than Sam and Thor's as they made their way upstairs.
XXXXX
Robert walked in before SG-1 had finished debriefing. "You've been in the infirmary a lot more recently," he said flatly.
"This time wasn't not--was...not my fault," Daniel protested. He had to weigh each sentence carefully before he said it. Janet had given him something that, admittedly, made all of his aches feel a lot better, but it was making him feel a little sleepy and fuzzy, too. Maybe more than a little fuzzy. He wasn't about to complain, though. The mission--whether or not it had been his mission--was over, so fuzzy was fine.
"The appendix wasn't your fault," Robert conceded. "But you're a real idiot sometimes."
Daniel considered that. "I think Janet just told me that, or something like it, but in a nicer way. Can you bring me something to do?"
Robert scowled. "You're an idiot," he repeated.
"You just said that," Daniel said. "So will you bring me some work? It's very boring."
"Daniel--" Robert sighed. "Tomorrow, I'll bring you something to read. Maybe. If you can keep from dying before then."
There was something in his expression that Daniel couldn't quite identify at the moment. If he'd been less fuzzy, maybe he could have. "Hold on," he said, frowning in puzzlement as his mentor looked like he was about to go away. "Wait, wait, Robert. Are you mad at me? What did I do?"
With another sigh, Robert said, "No, I'm... How high are you right now?"
"I'm lying down, so I'm a lot lower than you," Daniel pointed out. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you're speaking in Abydonian."
Daniel blinked at him, replaying the last minute of conversation in his mind. "Uh..." He blinked again, making sure it was coming out in English this time as he said, "Sorry. I must be tired. Are you mad at me?"
"This isn't...the best..." Robert scowled, glanced over his shoulder and said, "No, I'm not mad at you. I just don't like coming into work every few days to find out you're in here."
"I can still do a lot of my work from here," Daniel reminded him, not bothering to mention that that was a gross exaggeration. Well, mostly. This past week was an exception with the radiation and the appendix, and obviously the Linvris business had been different...maybe Robert was averaging it all. Sam could calculate it. She probably wouldn't, though. "I don't understand, Robert."
"Yeah, I know you don't," he said. "You...uh...are you sure you really want to stick with SG-1?"
"What?" Daniel said, confused. "But...you accepted me as a real member of the SGC before anyone. I had to argue for...for months to convince SG-1 and the general, but you let me start working literally from your first day here."
"Translations, Daniel. When's the last time I put you in the infirmary?"
Daniel bit his lip, wishing his brain were more awake. "But...we both agreed...we both argued to the general that first-contact teams are the ones where people like me are most useful..."
"I know, I know," Robert said, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not trying to...you know what, never mind. It's okay. I'm not gonna be able to stop you, anyway."
"Probably not," Daniel agreed, still frowning.
"How 'bout this--come with my team sometime," Robert said. "On one of our longer trips, I mean, if we find somewhere interesting."
"Really?" Daniel said, starting to sit up before he felt the pull in his side that meant he shouldn't have done that. "Ow. On a dig? Like...an actual, archelo...archae-o-logical dig?"
"You'd still want to?" Robert said, sounding surprised. "Even now that you've got a team?"
"Of course! I've never done that before--well, not in a place that wasn't familiar to me, except once or twice on very short trips with you."
Somewhat mollified, Robert said, "Okay. Um. I'll send for you next time SG-11 finds someplace exciting; we'll do a long-term study. And we probably won't get killed there," he added pointedly.
"Don't get mad at SG-1, either," Daniel said before he could leave. "They saved the world, you know. Again."
Robert stared at him for a moment. "I'm starting to think you're some kind of adrenaline junkie."
"I don't think so," Daniel said, yawning and closing his eyes, grimacing at the way even taking a deep breath felt like it was stretching something that didn't want to stretch. "That's just an unavoidable side effect. I don't think I'm addicted to anything, except maybe coffee, but only a little. The adrenaline helps, though. You're not as scared."
A while later, he realized that he hadn't heard any footsteps, so he cracked open an eye. Robert was still watching him, but then he shook his head and said, "All right. I'll see you tomorrow. If you get up again, I'll...I'll withhold work from you."
"But I can't not get up," Daniel explained. "How am I supposed to pee?"
Making a face, Robert said, "I'm gonna do you a favor, okay? Tomorrow, I'm gonna forget you asked me that. No, no," he added when Daniel started to ask for clarification, "listen to the doctor and the nurses. Period."
"Okay," Daniel agreed.
...x...
"You're an idiot," Jack told him once he and Teal'c came back to see him.
Daniel sighed, a little more clearheaded now than he'd been an hour ago, though still ready to fall asleep. "Why do people keep telling me that today?"
"Exactly what did you think you were going to accomplish by walking around, hours after you had major surgery?" Jack demanded.
"It wasn't that major," Daniel grumbled, and then turned to scowl at Teal'c. "And you--Teal'c, how could you and Sam leave like that without telling me?"
"There was little time," Teal'c started--
"You could have told me!"
"--and we feared you would attempt to follow," Teal'c finished calmly.
Jack raised his eyebrows pointedly at Daniel, who exhaled and thought about that, wondering if he'd have tried to follow, after all. Maybe he would have, just to watch them work--it was comforting to watch his team work, because they were good at it and it reassured him that something was being done. He would have been a disadvantage then for certain, with too little expertise both in fighting and in technical assistance, not to mention the physical handicap he would have presented. "But what if you hadn't come back?" he said.
"We face that risk all the time," Jack pointed out.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed, then dropped a fist halfheartedly on the bed, which only served to jar the wound in his side. "I hate being stuck in here."
"We wouldn't've brought you along anyway," Jack said. "You know you don't come with us when we know for certain it's going to be something like that"--he pointed upward--"unless there are special circumstances and we need your brain there."
"One day, though," Daniel said. "I really hate being left wondering what's happening to you all."
Jack nodded. "But for now...we deal with Thor, and that's all. Mission's over, everyone's alive."
"Major Carter and Thor together have devised a way to greatly improve our naquadah sensors," Teal'c said. "They have begun sending some detectors to the Naval teams who are searching the seas for Replicators."
"And then they're gonna rebuild the power device to send Thor back home," Jack added.
"Like that one you built when you went to the Othalla galaxy," Daniel said.
"Yeah, that's the one. She says they should have it up and running in a day or two," Jack said. "Thor's worried about what's going on out there--he's been on his ship fighting the Replicators for a long time, and we don't know what the Replicators have done while he was away."
Daniel really didn't like the idea of an enemy terrible enough to cripple the Asgard. "Oh. That's why could never reach him while you were on Edora."
Jack looked surprised, and then rather more cheerful than should be warranted by the idea of Thor being stuck in a battle for months. "Hey, that's true."
"So...I didn't see the sarcophagus come back with you," Daniel said. Jack glanced at Teal'c. "I suppose it's..."
"Replicator chow," Jack said reluctantly. "They got into the room--we barely held them off long enough to get off the ship. Turns out the sarcophagus...had an energy..."
"The energy generated by the sarcophagus in healing Thor attracted the Replicators to its source," Teal'c said, clearly reciting something Sam had said.
"Right," Jack said. "I think there are a couple of pieces that got transported down with us into the 'gate room. The scientists are going nuts recording energy readings off them now that we've got few bits that do stuff without putting a person inside."
Worried, Daniel said, "Going nuts, or going nuts?"
"The first one," Jack said. Daniel wasn't sure which the first one was, but decided Jack would be less casual if their scientists were getting addicted to narcotic, naquadah-emitting technology.
"At least Thor's alive," Daniel said, thinking that the sarcophagus was a small price to pay for the survival of SG-1 and one of Earth's most powerful allies, especially if it meant Earth didn't get taken over by those metal things. He had a feeling he wouldn't be thinking that the first time someone came back needing the sarcophagus, but there was nothing they could do about it now. "So all the Replicators looked like those...spider-things that came back with you?"
"Indeed," Teal'c said. "Thor has informed us that that is their usual form for the purpose of infiltration and attack; however, they are able to assume almost any shape imaginable."
"And--"
"Daniel," Jack said, looking down at him with a small smile. "Don't you think it's time to get some rest?"
"I'm not tired," he lied obstinately. "I want to know about the Russians."
"What about the Russians?" Jack said, looking confused.
"Major Davis said they went on alert in response to our going on alert. I don't understand. Do they know about the Stargate?"
"Ah..." Jack said, "No, they don't. Oh, and they're probably going to be wondering about the thing that just crashed into the ocean, too."
"Yes, they were asking about the ship as soon as their satellites saw it." Daniel tried to picture where Russia was in relation to the United States. "I think I need to learn more about foreign relations on this planet if I'm calling myself a foreign relations intern."
Jack stood up from where he'd been lounging in a seat next to the bed. "I'll tell you right now, I'm not a big fan of the idea of foreign politics mucking with the SGC."
Daniel thought that in itself was a good reason for him to figure out what was going on around this planet outside of the bubble he usually existed in here on base. Since he didn't have to deal with the finer workings of their operations, it felt sometimes like the SGC wasn't part of any nation or planet at all, as if it were instead simply a hub of travel, but occasionally he remembered that it was very much under the control of the United States and subject to this government's orders and the politics that came with being a powerful nation among other powerful nations. He supposed he should practice his verbal fluency of other modern Tau'ri languages, too, instead of focusing almost solely on more common alien languages.
"But--" he started, only to have Jack pat him condescendingly on the head and interrupt.
"Get some rest. You're half-asleep as it is. We'll check on you later," Jack promised. Teal'c nodded to him. Daniel decided he wouldn't mind sleeping and didn't argue.
From the next chapter ("The O'Neill"):
"The O'Neill was to be our last great hope," Thor said.
Daniel made an odd sort of muffled snorting sound. Jack whirled to see Daniel standing with his back toward them, scratching his head, while Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Carter stared at Jack, then ducked her head. Thor's expression was unchanged.
"The O'Neill?" Jack repeated. He glared at his team over the top of Thor's head. It was flattering. It was certainly nothing to be laughing about.