CHAPTER FIVE
Like the Russian officer, Daniel had been placed in an isolation room. Janet had wanted his teammates to wear full protective clothing, but Jack had rather bluntly pointed out that he and Sam had already been in close physical contact with the archeologist, so if this was something that was contagious, they'd probably already caught it. She settled for them wearing latex gloves and masks. Teal'c agreed to wear the gloves but not the mask.
The lockdown had been in effect for about two hours when a low groan from the bed alerted everyone that Daniel was waking up. Sam quickly called Janet, who hurried into the room a few seconds later.
The archeologist's eyes blinked open. He stared up, confused, at the faces gazing down at him. Then his memories all came flooding back.
"Anubis!" he cried out, trying to sit up.
"Whoa, Daniel. Calm down," Jack said, taking hold of the archeologist's shoulders and pushing him back down.
"Jack, Anubis is here, on the base!"
"Daniel, Anubis is dead," Sam said gently.
"No, he's not. He was inside Colonel Vaselov. I could sense his presence, but I didn't understand what I was feeling until I shook Vaselov's hand."
"How is this possible?" Teal'c asked.
"I don't know, but I'm not imagining things. When I confronted him, he admitted who he was. Then he left Vaselov's body. He tried to take me as a host. I attacked him, but it didn't phase him at all. It went right through him."
Jack pulled his mask off, realizing there was no need to wear it. "Uh, yeah. We saw the results of that. You kind of made a mess of things."
Daniel suddenly remembered the destruction he had wrought. "Was anyone hurt?"
"No. Fortunately, nobody was in the area at the moment . . . on either floor."
Daniel stared at him. "Either floor?"
"There's a big hole in the ceiling, Daniel," Sam explained, removing her mask, "all the way through to the level above."
"I could have killed someone," Daniel said, appalled.
"Yeah, but you didn't," Jack told him. "All you did is make a hell of a lot of work for the unfortunate souls who are assigned clean-up duty and the ones who will have to do the repairs."
"If you were unable to stop Anubis, why were you not taken as his host?" Teal'c asked.
"I'm not sure how I did it, but I somehow kept him from getting at me. I just kept concentrating on pushing him away. He apparently gave up and left. Between the attack and fighting to keep him away, I guess it was too much for me."
"Yes, it was," Janet confirmed, "although, luckily, you didn't do any damage to yourself."
"This still doesn't answer the question of how Anubis got here," Sam said.
"And how it is that he's still alive and kicking," Jack added. "You'd think that getting blasted out of orbit would have slowed the guy down."
"I should have realized this before," Daniel murmured.
"Realized what, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Okay, when Anubis ascended, he surrendered his mortal form, but then he was kicked out, cast down by the Ancients, only it didn't work right."
"You said that he was stuck halfway," Sam said.
"Yes, but, as I mentioned in that hidden chamber in the Abydonian pyramid, he is still some form of energy."
"But isn't that what the Ancients are?" Jack asked.
"Yes, but, unlike the Ancients and other Ascended, Anubis apparently can't take on a solid form. We already knew that he was wearing some kind of force shield designed to contain his essence. That must be the only way that he can interact with things in the physical world."
"And, when it was destroyed, that essence was released," Sam concluded.
"Anubis would have been trapped in Earth's orbit, possibly inhabiting debris from his ship, millions of light years away from his power base," Teal'c surmised.
"Okay, so how'd he get here?" Jack questioned.
"I may be able to answer that," Janet replied. "I contacted Russia to give them a report on Colonel Vaselov and find out if they had any other cases like his. Just a few minutes ago, they called and told me that, around a month ago, Anatoli Constantinov fell ill after completing a tour on the International Space Station."
Sam recalled something. "The space station? I remember now. Not long after the battle with Anubis, they had to alter their course around wreckage from his ship. I was in the control room monitoring the mission, and we lost contact for almost thirty seconds. We never figured out why. If I remember right, it happened the day Daniel was released from the infirmary."
"Constantinov died less than a week after being admitted," Janet told everyone. "The official cause of death was renal failure, but the truth is that the Russian authorities have no idea what killed him. His symptoms matched those of Colonel Vaselov."
"Is there any connection with Colonel Vaselov?" Teal'c inquired.
"He visited Constantinov in the hospital just before the man died. They were old friends, served together in the Russian Air Force."
"Are you saying that Anubis hitched a ride on a cosmonaut?" Jack asked.
"And then abandoned him for Colonel Vaselov," Sam said.
"No doubt attempting to escape through our gate," Teal'c guessed.
"Why doesn't he just use his freaky, super cosmic powers and just . . . go?" Jack questioned, gesturing up toward the ceiling.
"He can't," Daniel replied. "If he did that, the Ascended would stop him. He's not allowed to use any power he gained through his ascension, which means that, in his present form, he can't do anything."
"See, in order to interact with the physical world, he has to get himself a new shield," Sam explained, "but he can't do that here on Earth. He'll need a body to dial the gate and get through."
"He may already have one," Daniel stated. "He couldn't take me as a host, but nothing would have stopped him from taking someone else."
"He could be in anyone," Sam said.
"Oh, joy," Jack muttered. "So, somewhere on this base, somebody's walking around with Anubis inside them."
"And, apparently, the possession exacts a physical toll on the host's body," Janet stated. "With the elevated white cell count, it's as if the body sees Anubis the same way that it would an infection and attempts to fight it off."
"How is Colonel Vaselov?" Daniel asked.
"Not good, I'm afraid. His immune system is severely compromised. I'm doing everything I can for him, but I'm not sure if it will do any good."
"But Anubis is out of him. Shouldn't he start getting better?"
Janet shook her head. "Anubis was inside him for too long. The damage has already been done."
"So, how are we going to tell who Anubis is in?" Jack asked.
"I am assuming that anyone he inhabits will show symptoms," Janet replied. "The elevated white blood cell count would probably begin within minutes of the possession."
Sam nodded. "Everyone could be tested."
"There is another way," Daniel said. Everyone turned to him. "I can sense Anubis' presence. As soon as I get within a few yards of whomever he's in, I'll know."
"Daniel, you need to rest," Janet told him. "You may not have suffered any physical damage, but what you did still took a toll on you. I'm betting that you've got one heck of a headache right now." The expression on the archeologist's face answered her question. "That's what I thought."
"Janet, I can't just sit here while Anubis is running around the base. We have to find him."
"He's not going anywhere, Daniel," Jack told him. "Hammond put the base on lockdown, nobody in or out, although that's not gonna stop something that can probably pass through solid objects. For all we know, Anubis has already left the base and gone topside."
Daniel shook his head. "He wants to leave Earth. The only way he can do that is through the gate. He's still here."
"And you're," Jack pointed a finger at Daniel, "staying right here," he pointed the finger at the floor, "until you're recovered." Daniel's mouth opened with an objection. "And no arguing!" Jack stated firmly. He turned to Janet. "Right, Doc?"
The doctor smiled a little. "Right, Colonel."
Daniel muttered something under his breath about double-teaming.
"I'll stay with you for a while, Daniel," Sam told him.
"Thanks, Sam. I'd like that."
"Not too long, though, Sam," Janet said. "He needs to get more rest."
Everyone else left. Sam found a chair and set it beside the bed. A nurse came in and gave Daniel something for his headache. After she had left, Sam took his hand in hers.
Several seconds passed without either of them speaking. A quiet statement from Daniel broke the silence.
"I was scared."
Sam looked at his face, which was turned up toward the ceiling. She watched him, waiting for him to continue.
"I've been scared before, plenty of times. Only an idiot would never be afraid when facing what we do. But, this time, I was terrified. When I attacked Anubis and it did absolutely no good, all I could think about was that, if he got inside me, he'd use my power to kill everyone." Daniel's eyes met hers. "If I couldn't stop him, I was going to kill myself."
Sam gasped, her hand tightening around his. Just the thought of Daniel ending his own life made her sick.
"I don't know how it is that I stopped him," the archeologist said. "Thinking about it, it should have been impossible. He's incorporeal. He can pass right through solid matter, yet, somehow, I managed to hold him off."
"We still don't know exactly how your abilities work, Daniel. Some of the things you do, like seemingly create fire out of thin ar, should be impossible, yet you do it."
Daniel smiled a little.
"What?" Sam inquired.
"I was just remembering Kheb. When I told you that I'd gained the ability to control fire, you said it was impossible."
Sam smiled as well. "A whole lot has happened since then. I don't say that about anything anymore. I've seen the impossible become the possible too many times." She noticed Daniel's eyes begin to grow heavy. She stroked his cheek softly. "You should get some more sleep."
"I don't see how I can sleep knowing that Anubis is on this base. What if he comes while I'm sleeping and manages to get inside me?"
Sam had to admit that she hadn't thought of that. "What if we put a guard in the room?"
"It would have to be two guards watching the whole room. He could come through any wall or the ceiling."
Sam nodded. "You're right."
Sam called Hammond, who had two men go to Daniel's room with orders that, if Anubis showed up, they were to immediately awaken Daniel.
Confident that the archeologist would be safe, Sam left, her mind turning to the problem of how they were going to catch Anubis.
Anubis strode down the corridor. The body he was presently within would shelter him for a while, but it would not get him off this planet, and he would not be able to stay in it for long. He had learned that the medical personnel here were testing everyone for indications that they were or had been inhabited by him, which meant that he could not stay in any one body for more than a few hours.
Anubis was getting frustrated. His escape through the Stargate was proving harder than he had expected. But then, he hadn't anticipated that the very man he had been seeking the identity of for all these months would turn out to be right here.
The Goa'uld thought about the power possessed by the human named Daniel Jackson. He had no doubt that it was a result of the man's ascension. Somehow, when Jackson descended, some of the power he possessed as one of the Ascended remained. More than that, he had developed abilities that even the Ascended did not have.
What happened in that room had shown that this one the Jaffa called Dan'yar was even more of a threat than Anubis had believed him to be. He had to die. As long as he was alive, he would be a dangerous obstacle.
And there was another danger, one that would make the man an even bigger threat. If Daniel Jackson came to realize the true potential that dwelled within him, he could destroy everything that Anubis had been fighting to achieve for all these years.
Anubis realized that, once he escaped from Earth, he would have to change his plans. Something far more drastic would have to be done to assure his total domination of the galaxy.
After sleeping for nearly four hours, Daniel insisted on being let out of the infirmary, and, this time, nothing Janet said did any good. She reluctantly allowed him to leave, giving him strict orders to take it easy. He did not leave immediately, though. Instead, he went to the main ward, where he saw the long line of people that were waiting to be tested to see if they were or had been inhabited by Anubis. Daniel went down the line slowly.
"He's not in any of them," he told Janet.
The doctor nodded. "Okay. I still need to check them, however, to see if he was in any of them."
"I'd like to visit Colonel Vaselov. Is there any good news on him?"
"I'm afraid not. I haven't given up yet, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do anything for him."
Daniel went to see the Russian. The man was sitting up in bed, but he wasn't looking well.
"Doctor Jackson," Vaselov said. He held out his hand, which Daniel shook. "I am glad to see you are well. The doctor told me what you did. You are most fortunate that you could prevent yourself from suffering the same fate I did."
"How are you doing?"
"Not so good. But this headache is not so bad as the time I went drinking with General Dashkaivitch in Novgorod."
Daniel smiled at the comment, but it lasted only a moment. "I'm sorry this happened to you."
"Do not apologize for what is not your fault, Doctor Jackson. It is I who should apologize to you. My presence here has resulted in this entire complex being locked down."
"Which wasn't your fault. It may have been your body that came here, but Anubis was the one controlling it. My wife was taken as a host to a Goa'uld, and I never blamed her for the things she did under its control. You were a helpless victim, just like she was."
"It is disturbing to know that I was made a puppet to such a creature. Yet I know it could have been worse. My imprisonment lasted mere days, not the many years that others have suffered."
Daniel left a few minutes later to allow the man to get some rest. He was heading to Sam's lab to see if any plans had been made when he froze in his tracks, sensing the presence he now immediately recognized. At the same time, his sixth sense warned him of danger. He spun around to face the SF who was standing about thirty feet away. The man's gun was drawn and aimed at him. Before Daniel could do anything, the SF fired two shots. The archeologist's mind immediately reacted. The bullets halted a few feet away, then clattered to the floor. Daniel then attacked. Anubis found himself pinned in place, unable to move the body he was inhabiting. Knowing that there was nothing he could do now, he abandoned the body of the SF and disappeared through the wall.
The SF, now back in control of his own body, blinked in confusion. He stared dumbly down at the gun in his hand. Just then, several more SF's came running up, aiming their weapons at him.
"No! Don't shoot!" Daniel exclaimed. "Anubis left him."
The men hesitated for a second, then lowered their weapons.
"What . . . what happened?" asked the man who had been possessed by Anubis. "What am I doing here?"
"Anubis was in you," Daniel explained gently. "But it's okay now. You'll be fine." He turned to the other SF's. "He should be taken to the infirmary and checked out."
"Yes, sir," one of them said. He led his fellow SF away.
"Are you all right, sir?" asked another man. "We heard the shots."
"I'm fine." Daniel picked up the two bullets after cooling them down in the same way that he could cool the embers of a fire. He walked forward and handed them to the SF. "Here. I wouldn't want someone to slip on these."
The man gaped at the bullets. "Uh . . . thanks."
As Daniel walked away, he heard one of the SF's say, "Damn. They weren't kidding. He can stopped bullets in midair."
Daniel continued hs journey to Sam's lab. He saw that Jack was there.
"Hi. Anubis just tried to kill me," he calmly announced.
The other two people in the room just stared at him for a second or two.
"What?" Jack said.
"He got inside an SF and tried to shoot me. I think maybe he's feeling just a little threatened, although I don't know why. I can't hurt him."
"No, but you can sense his presence," Sam responded, "and that will make it harder for him to stay hidden."
"Not to mention the fact that he must have realized that you're Dan'yar," Jack said, "the guy who's been a thorn in his backside all these months."
Daniel grimaced. "I didn't think of that. This could be really bad. Ever since we found out that the Goa'uld had learned about Dan'yar, we've been worried that, if they found out I'm Dan'yar, they'd attack Earth. Now, Anubis knows. If he escapes and manages to rebuild his power, he might launch another attack."
"Then we'll just blast those ships out of the sky, too," Jack said.
"If we can. There's no guarantee that I can still control that weapon."
"But Anubis doesn't know that," Sam pointed out. "He'd be pretty stupid to try again."
"Right now, I'm more worried about people shooting at you," Jack told the archeologist. "Maybe we'd better assign you a few bodyguards."
"Who might end up getting shot instead of me," Daniel responded. "I'll be better off with just myself to protect." He took a seat. "So, anyone come up with a brilliant idea?"
"Not really," Sam replied. "How do you stop something that has no physical body?"
"We can't, which why we let the Ancients deal with him."
"Yes, because they've always been so helpful," Jack responded sarcastically.
"If he uses his powers as an Ascended Being, he is breaking the rules. They will take action."
"So, how do we make him do that?" Sam asked.
"By making him believe he has no other choice." Daniel's expression hardened. "I think it's time that I went on a Goa'uld hunt."
And thus began the deadliest "big game hunt" in the history of the planet. Daniel would have preferred to do it alone because of the danger, but nothing short of hitting Jack over the head would have stopped him from coming.
Just as he had with the assassin that tried to kill him on the base all those months ago, the archeologist soon discovered that, now that he was actively hunting the Goa'uld, he was able to track Anubis' presence throughout the SGC.
They'd been searching for only ten minutes, when Daniel sensed that Anubis was two floors above. He and Jack dashed up the stairs, the colonel radioing the SF's, warning them what level the Goa'uld was on. When they got there and came face to face with Anubis' present host, it took the Goa'uld only a couple of seconds to figure out that he'd been discovered. He took off running, Daniel and Jack hot on his tail. They rounded a corner, to find their quarry standing in the middle of the hall, looking around in bafflement.
"Anubis left him," Daniel said. His head tilted downward. "He's on the floor below us."
Down the stairs they went. When they confronted the Goa'uld this time, he immediately left the person he'd entered, disappearing though the wall. Jack and Daniel pursued him, traveling down corridors and cutting through rooms, the archeologist's senses guiding him like the needle on a compass.
For nearly four hours, the chase continued like that, up and down, back and forth, covering the height and depth of the SGC. No matter where Anubis went, the "bloodhounds" stayed on his trail. Unable to shake them, the Goa'uld's anger grew. He wasn't able to stay in any one host more than ten minutes before he was forced to leave it and find another, and all his attempts to kill his pursuers failed. At one point, he had entered a man that was armed with a zat gun and attempted to shoot them. He'd watched as the energy was deflected by Jackson to splatter harmlessly against a wall. Another time, he got into the armory and grabbed a grenade, which he lobbed at Jackson and O'Neill. It halted before ever reaching them, the killing blast collapsing in on itself the instant it was born, not even leaving a scorch mark on the concrete.
The angrier Anubis became, the closer he got to using his power. Daniel Jackson might be strong, but he could not survive the full might of Anubis' power. The human would die quickly, charred to a blackened lump of flesh. The thought of doing that gave the Goa'uld great pleasure. But he knew that, if he used his power, the Ancients would find out, and they would punish him for breaking the rules they placed him under. He did not know what they would do to him, but, whatever it was, it would not be pleasant and would no doubt end any hope he had of making the galaxy his.
In his latest host, Anubis walked quickly down a corridor, knowing that it would be only moments before Jackson found him. He passed two men going in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, but did you hear what Doctor Jackson did with the grenade?" the marine asked the airman.
"Someone said he contained the blast," the airman replied.
"He sure did. And then there's the mess he made of Level 25."
The airman nodded. "I know. Like I said to Colonel O'Neill, I'm sure glad he's on our side."
Anubis continued down the corridor, an idea forming in his mind. With a small smile, the Goa'uld set about putting a new plan into action, one that would rid him of Daniel Jackson once and for all.
