CHAPTER SIX

General Hammond left his office and went to the control room.

"Sergeant, I need to make a base-wide announcement," he told Harriman.

"Yes, sir."  The sergeant turned on the P.A. system.

The general leaned forward to speak into the microphone.  "This is General Hammond.  I have an urgent announcement.  As you all know, Anubis is at large on this base.  He has the ability to possess and take control of any one of us and has already done so with a number of personnel.  I have just learned some grave news.  Anubis has taken possession of Doctor Jackson and has Colonel O'Neill as a hostage.  You all know what Doctor Jackson is capable of, so I have no choice but to order that he be killed on sight.  The slightest hesitation could be fatal.  Use whatever force is necessary.  Because of the danger and what's at stake, it may not be possible to rescue Colonel O'Neill.  I know, however, that he would approve and tell you not to risk this base in order to save him.  All our lives depend on Anubis being stopped."

Up on the twentieth floor, Daniel and Jack froze, eyes widening at the announcement.  The two men looked at each other, now knowing who Anubis had possessed this time.

"Crap," Jack said.  "This is so not good."

At that moment, two armed men came around the corner.  Seeing Daniel, they pulled their weapons.  The archeologist reacted instantly and yanked the guns from their grasps.  Before he could say anything to convince the men that Anubis wasn't possessing him, one of them yelled into his radio, calling for reinforcements, which it turned out were down the hall only a few dozen yards.

Daniel looked at Jack.  "I think running would be a good idea."

"I think you may be right."

The two men turned and fled, escaping into the stairwell.  Daniel melted the doorknob mechanism so that no one could follow them that way, but he knew it wouldn't stop the searchers from getting to the stairs from other levels.

He'd no sooner had that thought when they heard the door on the next level up open.  Daniel sensed two people.  He grabbed Jack's arm, and they headed down the stairs, grateful that there were no cameras to track them.

They'd made it only two floors when six men rushed through the door right in front of them.  The instant they saw Daniel, they opened fire with their P-90s.  There were too many bullets for the archeologist to stop, and he felt one of them wiz by his head.  Afraid that Jack would be hit, he had no choice but to strike at the men.  They tumbled down the stairs to land in a heap on the next landing.

Terrified that he might have just killed someone, Daniel hurried down with Jack to check on the men.  They were all alive, but there was no way to tell if any of them were badly hurt.

"What are we going to do, Jack?" the archeologist asked, almost feeling physically ill that he'd been forced to attack their own men.  "The whole base is hunting us."  He met his friend's eyes.  "You need to go.  As long as you're with me, you're in danger."

"No way, Daniel.  I'm not leaving you to face this alone."  Jack's eyes cast upward.  "We're not going to be able to make it up to the surface, not without someone getting seriously hurt or killed, so we'll have to go down.  Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, we can barricade ourselves in until we get this mess straightened out."

The two men hurried the rest of the way down, Daniel melting the doorknobs at each level.

Once they'd reached the bottom, the archeologist turned his power upon the final two stories of the staircase.  With a horrid screeching sound, it was ripped from the wall, twisting like a pretzel.  The stress on the steel was too great, and it tore apart, leaving a broken and tangled mass that would be impossible to get past.

Daniel slid down the wall to the floor, head cradled in his hands.  He felt a gentle hand placed upon the back of his neck.

"Bad?" Jack asked.

The archeologist squinted up at him.  "Bad enough.  It never really went away."

"Dammit, Daniel.  You should have stayed in the infirmary."

"I couldn't stay there any longer, Jack, not with Anubis free on the base."  He looked up at the destroyed stairs.  "If they decide to drop several grenades down here at once, I'm not sure that I'll be able to contain the blast, and, if I throw the grenades back up, someone could get killed."

"Then we need to do something about this before that happens."  Jack got on his radio.  "This is Colonel O'Neill.  Daniel Jackson has not been taken over by Anubis.  I repeat.  Doctor Jackson is not being controlled by Anubis."

There was a brief pause, then Colonel Reynold's voice came over the radio.  "You've been compromised, Jack.  We can't be certain that Anubis isn't forcing you to say that."

Jack opened his mouth to curse Reynolds out, but then he thought of something.  "Two bravo delta," he said instead.  It was a code he had used with Reynolds on a mission a few years ago.  He'd just told the man to switch to another radio frequency.  Jack changed to that frequency, telling Daniel to do likewise.  He figured that it was pretty likely Anubis was listening in on the one the search teams were using, and he didn't want the Goa'uld to hear his conversation with the leader of SG-3.

"Reynolds, you there?" he asked into the radio.

"I'm here."

"Okay, you listen to me.  Do you honestly think there's anything that snake could do to make me protect him?  Think about it.  Anubis has to be in control of General Hammond.  Daniel's a threat to him.  What better way to eliminate that threat than to do something like this?  If you kill Daniel, there will be no way to stop Anubis."

There was a long pause, then another voice was heard.

"Daniel?"

The archeologist spoke into his radio.  "Sam?"

"Is that really you?"

"God, yes, Sam.  Please believe me."

"I want to, but how can we be sure?"

"You know that Jack wouldn't say something like that if it wasn't true.  He'd rather die than help Anubis in any way."

Reynolds' voice came back on the radio.  "We can't be certain that Anubis hasn't found a way to use Doctor Jackson's abilities to take control of Colonel O'Neill."

"Crap," Jack cursed.  "He would have to think of something like that, wouldn't he."

"But I don't have that kind of ability," Daniel said.

"No, but they can't be sure of that."

Daniel met Jack's eyes for a long moment.  He then got on his radio.  "We're in the stairwell, on Level 28.  I'm going to open the door, and Jack's coming out."

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing?" Jack asked angrily.

"As long as you're with me, they can't be sure that I'm not in control of you.  If you're out there, they might be more prepared to believe it."

"I'm not leaving you in here alone."

"What difference does it make?  You being with me didn't stop those men from opening fire on us.  At least this way, if things go bad, I'm the only one who's going to get killed.  Please, Jack.  You know I'm right."

The two friends stared at each other for several long seconds.  As much as Jack hated to admit it, he knew that the archeologist was right.

"All right, Daniel.  But I am not letting you get killed by our own men.  I'm going to convince those blockheads that you're really you."

The linguist smiled faintly.  "I'm counting on it.  Go to the door, and tell them you're coming out.  Once you're through, I'm going to lock it again."

Jack got to his feet and went to the door.  "This is O'Neill.  I'm going to be exiting the stairs on Level 28," he announced into the radio.

"We're on the other side, Colonel," SG-3's commander told him.

"Just don't shoot me, okay?  That would really ruin the rest of my day.  I'll toss my weapon out first."

"Understood."

Jack looked back at Daniel, giving him a small nod.  He heard the sound of the melted doorknob mechanism being freed, then the door swung open a crack.  Jack opened it a little more and tossed his sidearm out.

Swinging the door just wide enough to allow the passage of his body, Jack left the stairwell, hands clasped on top of his head.  He heard the door shut behind him.  Jack looked at all the weapons aimed at him.

"Nice welcoming committee."

"Step away from the door, Jack," Reynolds told him.

"Not until you swear to me that you're not going to blast the stairwell and Daniel to hell with a brick of C-4."

There was a long pause.  "Jack, you know how dangerous Daniel is.  If Anubis really is controlling him, we have no choice but to kill him."

"Yes, I do know how dangerous Daniel is.  I also know that every one of you standing there, every person on this whole damn planet, owe their lives to him."  Jack pointed at Reynolds.  "You'd have died last year if Daniel hadn't driven off those Jaffa that had you and your team trapped."  He stuck his finger at another man.  "You'd probably have died at the Alpha Site if he hadn't risked his life to protect everyone there."  Jack met the eyes of Sam and Teal'c.  "And I'd have died almost two years ago if Daniel hadn't defied the rules of the Ancients by telling my team how they could help me escape from Baal."

A surprised expression passed over both Sam's and Teal'c's faces, which told Jack that they hadn't figured that out.

"So, I'll be damned if I'm going to stand back and let you kill him at the word of a man you know might be the one Anubis is really controlling," Jack finished.

There was a long silence.

"Sir, it really is just Daniel in there, isn't it," Sam said, a note of hope in her voice.

Jack met her gaze.  "Yes, it is, Sam."

The major searched his eyes intently.  "I believe you."

"As do I," stated Teal'c.  "This is a plan devised by Anubis to kill Daniel Jackson."

Jack turned back to the leader of SG-3.  "So, what's it gonna be, Reynolds?  Are you going to believe me or are you going to do what Anubis wants and kill the only man who has a prayer of stopping him?"

"Will he submit to a blood test?" Reynolds asked.

"Yes.  You get Fraiser or one of her nurses down here, and they can take some blood.  But don't use the base phone system.  Send someone up there and have them talk straight to Fraiser.  And do it quietly.  We don't want word of this getting back to Anubis."

Reynolds ordered one of the men to go to the infirmary.

"If you're telling the truth, we all owe Daniel one hell of an apology," he said.

"You'd better believe it, although he won't ask for one.  By the way, we left six guys on the Level 23 landing.  Daniel had no choice but to push them down the stairs since they were trying to turn us into Swiss cheese."

"They were found, Jack," Reynolds told him.  "Most of them were just banged up a bit.  Grover has a busted arm, and Lippert's got a mild concussion, but they'll both be okay.  I guess if Daniel really was possessed by Anubis, he'd have killed them all."

"Yes, he would have.  He'd also have done a good job of blasting this place to hell."

It didn't take Janet long to arrive.

"Anubis is not in him, Janet," Jack told her immediately.

The use of her first name made the doctor look at him closely.  Seeing the open, unshuttered look on his face, she nodded, accepting what he was saying.

"Then I guess we'd better prove it to everyone else," she said.

"Some of my men are going in there with her," Reynolds stated.

"Not a chance," Jack said.  "I don't want one of them shooting Daniel just because he moves a hand too quickly."  He looked at the other members of his team.  "We'll go in there."

Jack turned back to the door, Sam, Teal'c and Janet at his back.

"Daniel?  You can open the door.  I've got Fraiser, Carter and Teal'c with me."

There was a clicking sound, and the door opened.  The four people entered, shutting the door behind them.  Sam saw Daniel sitting in the corner.  She went to him without hesitation.  The moment she looked into his eyes, she knew without doubt that Anubis wasn't in him.  She pulled him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry I doubted you," she murmured.

"No, Sam.  It's okay.  I understand."

Janet knelt beside Daniel.  "How are you doing?" she asked.

"If I tell you the truth, will you make me stay in the infirmary?"

"That bad, huh?"

"It's been worse."

The doctor got down to the business of getting the blood sample.  Once the vial was filled, she left with it.  Sam and Teal'c elected to stay with Daniel while Jack went back out to make sure nobody got it into their heads to try something.

"This is General Hammond," said a voice over the PA system.  "I want a status report from all teams."

Jack met Reynolds' eyes.  "What are you going to tell him?"

The leader of SG-3 changed frequencies back to the one that the control room was monitoring.  "They've gotten by us for the moment, sir, but we're on their trail."

Hammond's voice sounded over his radio.  "Colonel Reynolds, I'm counting on you and your men to protect this base.  Do not allow Anubis to escape.  And do not believe anything Colonel O'Neill or Doctor Jackson tell you."

"We won't let Anubis escape, sir," Reynolds told him.  He switched back to the other frequency.  "Alpha teams, are you still in position?"

"Yes, sir, just awaiting your orders," came the reply from the lead team's commander.

"What's this about?" Jack asked.

"I've got teams stationed out of sight at every possible exit from the control room and briefing room to prevent General Hammond from getting out.  As soon as Doctor Fraiser confirms that Daniel's clean, they'll move in."

"Good thinking.  You do realize, though, that Anubis can just leave Hammond and move to someone else."

"Yes, but at least he'll no longer be in the general."

Jack was surprised by how quickly Janet returned.  She must have run the test at record speed.

She ran up to them.  "He's clean," she said a little breathlessly.  "Anubis can't possibly be in him."

Reynolds immediately got on the radio.  "Teams five and six, move in.  Everyone else hold your positions.  The target has been confirmed."

In the control room, Anubis, still within the body of General Hammond, was shocked when eight armed men rushed into the room, weapons aimed at him.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he bellowed.  "Lower your weapons immediately!"

One of the team commanders spoke.  "Everyone out of the room.  Anubis is in control of the general."

Stunned, the personnel gaped at the base commander, then quickly backed away from him, some fleeing from the room.

"Major, you are making a big mistake," Anubis made Hammond say.  "I am not possessed by Anubis.  He is inside Doctor Jackson.  If it was Jackson who told you this, it's a lie to trick you into allowing him to escape."

"Give it up, Anubis," said a new voice.  "They know the truth."

The Goa'uld turned to see Daniel reach the top of the stairs, the rest of SG-1 and Janet behind him.

"You see, though you could lie about me, blood tests can't lie," Daniel explained.

Realizing that he'd been found out, an enraged Anubis left General Hammond's body.  Several people gasped as they watched the black form exit the general, then disappear through the ceiling.

Hammond swayed, blinking several times.  He looked around, baffled.  "What's going on?"

"It's a long story, sir," Jack replied.  "The short version is that Anubis possessed you, then tried to get everyone to kill Daniel."

The general looked sharply at the archeologist.  He saw the paleness of the younger man's skin and the pain etching line into his face.

"Doctor Jackson, are you injured?"

"No, but I, uh . . . I do think I need to sit down."

Jack grabbed Daniel's arm as the younger man swayed, looking as if he was about to keel over.

"Someone get him a chair," the colonel snapped.

Sergeant Harriman quickly got a chair and wheeled it over.  Daniel gratefully lowered himself into it.  Janet was instantly at his side, taking his pulse.

"You need to go to the infirmary, Daniel," she told him.  "You're on the verge of exhaustion.  I can also tell that you're in a lot of pain."

"Anubis is still here," the archeologist responded.  "He's gone into someone else."

General Hammond came forward.  "Son, I don't know what has been happening, but you're not going to do yourself or anyone else any good if you work yourself into a collapse.  I want you to go to the infirmary and let Doctor Fraiser and her staff take care of you.  Anubis will not get through the gate."

Daniel nodded his head tiredly.

Hammond turned his attention to Jack.  "Colonel, as soon as you've seen Doctor Jackson safely to the infirmary, I want a report on what just occurred."

"Yes, sir."

With some help from Janet and Jack, Daniel got to his feet.  As Daniel's teammates and the doctor escorted him to the infirmary, they heard General Hammond make an announcement over the PA, telling everyone to disregard his orders to kill Daniel.

By the time the five people got to the infirmary, Daniel was walking by sheer force of will alone.  He headed straight to one of the beds and laid down.  He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

Once again, Sam found herself removing Daniel's shoes and tucking him in.

"He'll be okay, right?" Jack asked, staring down at the pale, drawn face of his friend.

"I think so," Janet replied.  "He just needs a lot of rest.  He shouldn't have left the infirmary as soon as he did."

"Yeah, well, he didn't know at the time that he would end up being hunted by several dozen people all trying to kill him."

"It scares me to think about how close he came to be killed by the people who are supposed to be his friends and allies," Sam said.  She shook her head.  "I should have known.  I should have figured out right away that it was a lie."

"Carter, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was with Daniel the whole time, I wouldn't have known that Hammond was lying either."

Sam stared down at Daniel, brushing a hand through his hair.  "He played upon everyone's fears," she said softly, regretfully.  "Everyone on this base knows what Daniel can do, and every single person has probably thought about what would happen if his abilities were turned against us.  As much as they may respect and admire him, they're also at least a little bit afraid of him, of what he is capable of doing.  Anubis took advantage of that fear."

"I'm afraid you're right, Sam," Janet said.  "The power Daniel has is a frightening thing.  It's understandable that people would feel that way."

"Yeah, but I'm betting there are a few people around here who are feeling pretty darn guilty right now," Jack stated.

Janet smiled a little.  "I should imagine so.  The General is waiting for you, sir.  I don't think Daniel's going to be going anywhere for the next few hours."

"I'll be staying with him for a while," Sam announced.

"As will I," Teal'c said.

As Jack headed for the infirmary exit, a voice called to him.  He turned to see Airman Lippert in one of the infirmary beds.  There was a bandage on the man's head, and he was sporting a beauty of a black eye.  Jack recalled that this was one of the six men who had opened fire on him and Daniel.

"Sir, is Doctor Jackson okay?" the man asked worriedly.

"He will be."

"I'm so sorry, Colonel.  We could have killed both of you.  I didn't want to fire upon you.  None of us did.  It's just that, when we thought Anubis was inside him. . . ."  The young man's voice trailed off.

Jack looked at the airman's features, seeing distress and guilt.  "I know, Lippert."

The man's gaze dropped to the sheets.  "If I was Doctor Jackson, I think I'd be pretty mad at us."

"He isn't mad, Lippert.  He understands why everyone did what they did."

"Please tell him how sorry I am, sir."

"I'm betting that you'll get the chance to tell him that yourself . . . when he comes to apologize to you."

Not giving the airman a chance to ask what he meant, Jack left the infirmary.  When he got to the briefing room, he found that Reynolds was there with Hammond.

"Sit down, Colonel," the general instructed.  "Colonel Reynolds has filled me in on what happened.  I can't tell you how sorry I am that I was used in that way.  I can only thank God that Anubis didn't succeed."

"Give thanks to Daniel's abilities as well," Jack said.  "If he had less skill, he'd be dead now, and I probably would be, too."

A shadow of guilt crossed Reynolds' face.

"I'd like to hear your side of things," the general said.

Jack filled General Hammond in on everything.

Hammond shook his head.  "It's no wonder that young man was on the verge of exhaustion.  You're looking pretty tired yourself, Colonel.  Why don't you go get some sleep."

"I think I might just do that, sir."

As Jack left the briefing room, he couldn't help but wonder what Anubis was going to try next.

Anger and frustration burned deep within Anubis.  He had been certain that his plan would succeed, but he had been thwarted yet again.

At least he would not be pursued for a while.  He had learned that Daniel Jackson was asleep in the infirmary.  Anubis had toyed with the idea of trying to make him a host while he slept, but he'd also learned that the archeologist was being watched over by two of his teammates.  It was doubtful that he'd succeed in possessing Jackson.

Anubis decided to take this time to plan what he was going to do next.  Even though Jackson was not standing in his way at the moment, the Goa'uld knew that it would be extremely difficult to get through the Stargate.  While in possession of General Hammond, he had learned that only a tiny handful of people had the authority to order the gate to be opened, and if anyone besides Hammond did it, the general could countermand it.  Taking Hammond as a host again would be out of the question.  Everyone would be immediately suspicious if the general ordered the Stargate to be dialed, especially with this thing called a lockdown in place.  There was also the fact that the Stargate could be shut down or the iris closed instantly at the first sign of trouble.  For Anubis to be able to actually get the gate dialed up and then make it through, he'd have to have a way to prevent others from interfering.

And then there was Daniel Jackson.  Anubis knew that the second he made his move, the archeologist would come running, and there was a good change that the man had the ability to shut down the Stargate.  No, for this to work, he had to be sure that Jackson would not stop him.

Examining the things he had pulled from General Hammond's mind, something caught his attention that made him realize what he could do.

Getting up from the table he sat at in the commissary, Anubis walked out of the room, a new plan forming in his mind, one that would give Daniel Jackson and everyone else no choice but to allow him to leave.

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