CHAPTER FOUR
A good part of SG-1's morning the next day was spent writing their reports. After that, Daniel began the job of catching up on as much of his backlog of work as he could. He'd already talked to his staff in both Archeology and Linguistics, telling them that they were going to have to do without him for a while. He also told them that if there was some translation or other job that they were totally stumped on, something that couldn't wait until he got back, they could email the details to him.
Another piece of news was learned that day. A Colonel Alexi Vaselov of the Russian Air Force had requested a transfer to the SGC and would be arriving on Sunday. Sam told Daniel that the man was one of the most highly decorated officers in Russian military history, and the archeologist was glad that he'd get to welcome Vaselov to the SGC before heading off to Antarctica.
Jack, however, wasn't all that impressed with the guy's "résumé", saying that he hoped Hammond wouldn't put the Russian on an SG team based only on that. Daniel pointed out that, so far, the promises made to the Russians about their part in the program hadn't been kept.
"Well, at least they can't demand that he be put on SG-1," Jack said. "We don't need a fifth member."
Daniel gave Jack a long look. "So, are you coming to Antarctica with us?"
"Haven't made up my mind yet," the colonel replied. "For obvious reasons, Antarctica is not my most favorite place on the planet. Frankly, I'm surprised that you two want to go so badly. The place doesn't hold fond memories for you either."
"True, but, once we get to work, I doubt that either of us will have time to dwell on that." Daniel turned to Teal'c. "What about you?"
"Going to Antarctica would serve no purpose since I have no knowledge or skills to contribute there. I have requested that I be allowed to go off-world. The time for Ra'kon Akel arrived more than three weeks ago, and I wish to observe it."
"Rack what?" Jack asked.
"It is a ceremony in which a Jaffa formally and publically renews his pledge to the Goa'uld who is his master. It is performed once every twenty years and is usually witnessed by the Goa'uld and many of the other Jaffa in his service."
"Okay, so why are you going to do that when you're not serving the Goa'uld anymore?"
"For me, this Ra'kon Akel will have a different meaning. It will be my first formal, public pledge to destroy the Goa'uld. I intend to go to Albaren, where there will be other Jaffa to witness it. I am hoping that Bra'tac and Rya'c can be there as well. And, if General Hammond permits, I would like to remain a while afterwards to visit with them."
"Sounds cool. Maybe I'll go with you instead of going to Antarctica."
"I would welcome your company, O'Neill, but it is not permitted for any human to witness the Ra'kon Akel. Not even a Goa'uld's lotar can be in attendance."
"Oh."
"So, it looks like you'll be on your own, Jack," Daniel said. "That is unless you decide to go to Antarctica after all." He smiled. "But, hey, if you don't, this will give you a chance to catch up on all that paperwork that's managed to pile up again."
It was the mention of paperwork that made Jack decide to go to the outpost, considering it to be the lesser of two evils.
As they did on Friday, Daniel and Sam spent Saturday getting as much done as they could on their individual projects. They were both eagerly anticipating the time they'd spend at the outpost. One thing, however, had dimmed Sam's eagerness, and that was the news that Rodney McKay was there. The man drove her nuts, and she was afraid that, by the time she left Antarctica, she'd be ready to strangle him.
At eight o'clock Sunday morning, Colonel Vaselov introduced himself to General Hammond. After no more than a couple of minutes, he spoke of being put on an SG team. The general informed him that, while he would certainly be placed on a team in time, it would be best for him to familiarize himself with the SGC first and read all of the mission reports to learn how things were done on SG teams. Though clearly not happy, the man did not complain and left Hammond's office.
A short while later, Daniel went to go meet the colonel. As he drew close to the quarters the Russian had been assigned to, a strange, unnerving feeling came over him. He paused, not understanding the feeling. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. It was almost making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Trying to push the feeling aside, Daniel stepped up to the door and knocked. As the door opened, and he looked at the man on the other side, the feeling increased dramatically. Something was very, very wrong about this man. He didn't know what it was, but it had his sixth sense clamoring a warning like it never had before.
With extreme caution, the linguist introduced himself. The man seemed pleasant enough when he greeted Daniel, but that did not allay the archeologist's misgivings. He managed to avoid shaking hands with the Russian, some instinct warning him to keep his distance. He moved further into the room.
"I've heard about your record, Colonel. It's very impressive," he said, deciding to start feeling the man out.
"Thank you, but it is apparently not impressive enough for your General Hammond. I had hoped to be put on one of your SG teams, but he tells me that first I must learn of the SGC and read mission reports. I have already read many mission reports. I know of the danger that is out there, and I am not so naive to think that there are not things for me to learn, but how can I learn if I remain here on the base?"
"I'm sure that the general just wants you to become acclimated to this place and what we do around here first. Actually, all new SG team personnel go through a lot of training before they're allowed to go through the gate. With the training you already have, I doubt that would really be necessary, but it's understandable that General Hammond would want to make sure that you've had some preparations. This is quite a bit different from what you've dealt with in the Russian Air Force."
"Perhaps you are right. I must be patient and wait for when the general believes that I am ready." Vaselov smiled. "But I am grateful that you have taken the time to welcome me."
Daniel smiled a little. "I figured it was only right to do so."
Though the man before him seemed to be acting normally, Daniel's senses were still telling him that something was definitely not right. The problem was that he couldn't get a handle on it.
Deciding to take a chance, Daniel stuck out his hand to shake that of the other man. "Well, I'll let you get busy on reading those reports."
Vaselov stepped forward and took Daniel's hand. The second the man touched him, terrifying images flashed through the archeologist's mind. He felt a powerful presence, a presence that was not human.
Stiffening, Daniel quickly stepped away from the man, backing up several paces.
"Is there something wrong, Doctor Jackson?"
"Who are you?" Daniel asked in a low, hard voice.
"I do not understand," Vaselov said in a puzzled voice.
"You're not Colonel Vaselov." All at once, Daniel knew. His eyes narrowed. "Anubis."
A look of surprise filled the face of the man before him. Then that face became cold and hard.
"Hello, Doctor Jackson," the Goa'uld said, his voice remaining that of the Russian colonel, though it was pitched deeper and without an accent. "I was not anticipating that you would learn of my presence. How did you discover it?"
"Why are you here?" Daniel asked, not answering Anubis' question. "Wait. You want to go through the gate. When we blew up your ship, you were stranded here. You can't use your abilities without bringing the Ascended down on your head, so you decided to . . . to possess someone and get through the gate that way."
Anubis smiled. "Very good, Doctor Jackson." The smile vanished. "I see that I will no longer be able to use this body for my purposes. But then, I would have had to find another host very soon anyway."
The body of Colonel Vaselov abruptly swayed, then collapsed. Daniel saw something like a black fog rise out of it. The blackness dove at him.
Knowing that, if Anubis possessed him, his power would be used to kill and destroy, Daniel psychically struck at the half-ascended Goa'uld with enough force to level a small house. The power passed right through Anubis and slammed into the wall behind him, pulverizing it and wrecking havoc in the corridor beyond.
The unexpected attack made Anubis pause in shock. Though it had not harmed him, he had felt the tremendous power that had just been unleashed, power not unlike that possessed by the Ascended. Yet it had not been one of the Ascended who attacked, but, rather, a mortal human.
That's when Anubis realized the truth. Daniel Jackson was Dan'yar, the enemy that had been plaguing him and the other Goa'uld for months. A thought occurred to him. If he possessed the body of this man, he could use that power to destroy this base, eliminating yet another obstruction to his plans to control the galaxy.
With a feeling of triumph, Anubis moved toward the archeologist again, intent on making the man's power his own.
An alarm began blaring throughout the base. Wondering what was going on since there had been no warning of an unscheduled gate activation, Jack went to the nearest phone and called the control room.
"This is Colonel O'Neill. What's happening?"
"There's been some kind of explosion on Level 25, sir," the person who had answered the phone said.
Jack immediately tensed. "25?" Jack ran through his mind all the things that were on that level. He halted on one thing in particular. Teal'c's room was on that level, as well as the private quarters for other senior SGC personnel.
"Where was the explosion exactly? Was it anywhere near Teal'c's quarters?" Jack asked, hoping that the answer was no.
"No, sir. According to what I heard, it was somewhere in the vicinity of the quarters that were just assigned to Colonel Vaselov."
Jack's blood turned cold. Daniel had been planning to go visit the Russian colonel.
Jack hung up the phone and made a mad dash for the elevator, praying that his fears would not be realized.
Seeing how ineffective his attack against Anubis had been, Daniel began to panic. He could not let Anubis take him, even if he had to kill himself to prevent it.
In a last desperate attempt, Daniel focused the full force of his will upon the Goa'uld. With every fiber of his being, he fought to keep Anubis away from him, knowing that, if this failed, death would be the only recourse left open to him.
Anubis was only a few feet from the man he intended to take as his new host when he slammed up against something unseen. He fought to get past it, but it was no use. It was as if an invisible force field was surrounding the archeologist, a force field that existed on both the physical and non-physical planes of existence. This was impossible. No mere human could have this kind of power. It could not be!
Even as Anubis had that thought, the psychic power of the man before him actually began pushing him back. Realizing that Daniel Jackson's power was even greater than he'd believed it to be, Anubis felt a moment of fear. Was it possible that this human could actually destroy him?
It was then that he sensed something else, something that made him quickly cease his attempt to take Daniel as a host. Recognizing the danger of what he was sensing, Anubis withdrew.
Daniel saw the Goa'uld disappear through the ceiling. Realizing that he'd won, he released the power he had been wielding. That's when the consequences of using that much power slammed into him. He staggered, agonizing pain blazing through his mind.
Falling to his knees, Daniel struggled to remain conscious. He had to warn everyone. He had to tell them about Anubis.
Slowly losing the battle to remain conscious, Daniel fell over, catching himself with an outstretched arm. The blackness was creeping in on his vision when he felt someone grab his shoulders. He looked up into the concerned face of an airman. He heard the man call his name.
"Anubis," Daniel whispered before the darkness claimed him.
Jack ran full-speed down the corridor, almost colliding several times with others who were running this way and that. He hadn't even thought to ask if there were any known injuries. He'd been too anxious to make sure that Daniel wasn't among the casualties.
Jack turned the corner and came to an abrupt halt. He stared in horror at the destruction before him. Most the wall of the room where the explosion occurred was gone, and so was a good portion of the wall across the way. A huge chunk of the ceiling had fallen down, enabling Jack to look straight up into the level above. The corridor looked like the remains of an air strike.
With growing fear, Jack knew there was no hope that anyone in that room could have survived an explosion like that. But he had to be sure, and he had to know if his best friend was in that room when it blew up.
Climbing over the wreckage and moving past the other airman and marines, Jack looked into the room. Stunned, he saw that, as impossible as it was, it had barely been touched.
That thought quickly went out of Jack mind, however, when he saw that two people were lying unmoving on the floor – and that one of them was Daniel.
Jack scrambled over what was left of the wall and hurried to his friend's side.
"What happened?" he asked the airman who was sitting beside the fallen archeologist.
"I don't know, sir. When I got in here, Doctor Jackson was still conscious, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain. And then he passed out. Um . . . sir? Before Doctor Jackson lost consciousness, he said something. I may be wrong, but I could have sworn it was 'Anubis'."
Jack felt a chill pass through him. Anubis? What the hell?
The colonel looked at the virtually untouched room, then at the blasted wall and the destruction beyond. He then stared down at the unconscious Daniel.
"Damn," he muttered. "This wasn't a bomb."
"It wasn't?" the airman said in surprise. "Then what did this, sir?"
"Not 'what', Airman, 'who'. Daniel did it."
The young man blinked several times. His eyes widening, he looked at the demolished walls and ceiling, picturing the force it would take to do that. "D-D-Doctor Jackson did that?"
"Oh, yeah. I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure of it."
The airman swallowed. "I, um . . . I'm sure glad he's on our side, sir."
"You and me both."
At that moment, Jack heard a familiar female voice. A few seconds later, Janet appeared in the opening. She clambered with some difficulty over the debris, her skirt and shoes not designed for that sort of activity. A nearby marine gave her a hand.
The doctor knelt beside Daniel. "Can you tell me what happened, Colonel?" she asked as she began examining the archeologist.
"Yeah, look around. It wasn't a bomb that did this."
Janet looked up at him sharply. "Daniel?"
"I think so."
The physician resumed checking her patient. Upon finding his pulse strong and steady, his pupils equal and reactive, and no overt evidence of brain damage, she relaxed a little.
"I think he'll be all right, but I will have to do some scans to be sure." Janet looked over at the other unconscious man. "What about Colonel Vaselov?"
"Haven't a clue." Jack replied.
Just then, another female voice was heard. Sam appeared on the other side of the decimated wall. As soon as she saw Daniel lying on the floor, she came scrambling into the room.
"Don't worry, Sam," Janet told her, seeing the fear on the other woman's face. "I think he's going to be okay."
The astrophysicist knelt beside Daniel. "What happened?"
"I don't know why, but I guess Daniel decided to do some major renovations to this section of the base," Jack replied.
"What?" Sam looked at the destruction. "Daniel did that?"
"I think so."
"But why?"
"I guess we'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
Janet went to Colonel Vaselov. It didn't take long to tell that he was not in good shape. When she lifted his sleeve to take his pulse, she found severe lesions on his arm. There's no way these had just appeared. They must have been developing for days. Why hadn't the man gone to a doctor?
The two men were taken to the infirmary, Jack, Sam and the newly arrived Teal'c accompanying them. Daniel was immediately sent off for a CT scan.
General Hammond joined SG-1 there a while later. "Is it true that Doctor Jackson is responsible for the damage?"
"We don't know that for sure, sir, but it's my guess that he was," Jack replied.
"But what reason would he have for doing that?"
"I wish I knew."
The general left after a few minutes. He told SG-1 that he would not say anything to his superiors about Daniel possibly being the one who caused the destruction until they'd had a chance to talk to the archeologist.
It wasn't all that long after the general's departure that Janet returned.
"He's going to be fine," she said. "Luckily, there was no bleeding this time, and there is no indication of brain damage. A day or so of rest, and I'm pretty sure he'll be back to normal."
"What about Colonel Vaselov?" Sam asked.
"I'm afraid the news isn't so good. He's conscious now, but has no idea how he got here or even where he is. Apparently, the last thing he remembers is being in Russia. He has lesions over forty percent of his body and a highly elevated white blood cell count, which would seem to indicate some sort of infection, but the tests I've run so far have failed to reveal what's causing it."
"Is he contagious?" Jack asked.
"It's possible. We need to examine everyone who's been in contact with him."
"Daniel was in contact with him," Sam said, getting worried again.
"I know. I checked his WBC count, and it's perfectly normal, but that doesn't mean that he's not sick, too. It would take a while for the symptoms to manifest."
Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Could hallucinations be one of the symptoms of this thing?"
"Why do you ask?"
"An airman told me that, just before Daniel lost consciousness, he said, 'Anubis'. Now, something made him blow the hell out of that part of the base. What if this disease made him see things that weren't there, like Anubis? He reacted by attacking it."
"There is no Earth-born contagion I know of that would cause that kind of symptom within minutes of coming in contact with an infected person," Janet said. "If Colonel Vaselov had ever been off-world, I'd guess that this was an alien pathogen, but he hasn't."
A chilling thought occurred to Sam. "What if it's not a disease? What if it's a toxin or some kind of biological weapon? The members of The Trust that we didn't catch could be responsible."
"I hate to say this, but it would make more sense," Janet stated. "Some toxins and bio-weapons can begin causing symptoms within seconds. A few are almost immediately fatal."
"Crap. The whole base could be infected," Jack said.
"Sir, I think we need to recommend to General Hammond that the base be put on lockdown," Janet told him. "If this is a bio-weapon, it could be extremely contagious."
General Hammond agreed that the best course of action was a lockdown. As the announcement was made, Daniel's teammates gathered around his bed, wondering if he would soon grow as ill as Colonel Vaselov, if all of them would soon become sick.
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