CHAPTER FOUR
With Enlus in the lead, SG-1 went into the chambers. Directly before them on a platform was a large, curved desk behind which sat seven men and two women. Below the desks was an empty row of seats facing outward that Daniel thought might be for other government officials. Most of the rest of the room was taken up with seating that Daniel assumed was for the public. It, too, was empty.
As SG-1 approached the desk, one of the magistrates, a distinguished-looking man who appeared to be around sixty, focused his gaze upon Daniel, his eyes widening slightly. As SG-1 came to a halt, he got up, moved around the desk, and descended the steps. He came right up to Daniel, his eyes never leaving the archeologist's face.
"It is as if the statue has been transformed to flesh and blood," he murmured. "You are truly Daniel, the man in whose image it was made?"
"Well, the face is mine, but the sculptor took a few, uh, liberties with the body." Daniel ignored the little snort that Jack let out.
Another one of the magistrates, a balding man in his mid-fifties, had come down and was also looking at Daniel. His expression, however, was one of suspicion.
"How do we know that you speak the truth?" he asked. "You could merely be someone who wishes to use your resemblance to Daniel for some purpose."
"Well, I can answer whatever questions you have about the creation of that statue and the other one like it," Daniel replied, hoping that he was not asked anything about the garden itself. He was still determined to keep Jack from learning that story.
The older man studied Daniel closely. "Where in Egeria's palace were the statues kept?"
"They were decorating the top of an entryway that I designed for the west garden."
The man nodded slightly. "What was the name of the sculptor for whom you posed?"
"I didn't pose. Egeria had the statues made without my knowledge using some images she secretly took of me. I didn't know about them until I saw them on the entryway, which was . . . rather embarrassing."
The elderly man smiled slightly at Daniel's comment. He turned to the other man. "These things are not public knowledge. They are known only to members of my family."
Daniel looked at the man more closely. "Are you a member of the House of Aurelius?"
"I am indeed. I am Marcus Aurelius."
Daniel smiled. "I knew your ancestor, Titus. He was a thirteen-year-old boy back then. I'm assuming that he's the one Egeria gave the statue to."
"He is. She charged him with the duty of keeping it safe, which he did, passing down the duty to each generation of his family. I trace my lineage directly from him." He returned his gaze to his fellow magistrate. "I am satisfied that he is Daniel. I will hear no more talk that he is not." He rested a hand on Daniel's arm. "Come. We will speak with you and your companions in the meeting chamber." He looked at the man who'd brought them. "Thank you, Enlus, for carrying out your duty with skill and courage. You and your men are to be commended. You may go now."
Enlus bowed his head and left the chamber.
SG-1 and all of the magistrates went through one of the doors in the left wall. Beyond was a room with a large round table.
Once everyone was seated and introductions had been made, Marcus, who was the Chief Magistrate, turned his clear blue gaze fully upon Daniel.
"We were told by Enlus that you have traveled through time, that the time you were in Egeria's domain was not the era of your birth."
"That's right. I had accidentally been sent back in time. After Egeria freed me, I was able to return to my time. That was less than three years ago."
"This thing that sent you through time was not a power of the Goa'uld?" asked a man named Vitus.
"No, it was created by a much older race," Sam answered, "one even more technologically advanced than the Goa'uld."
"For what reason have you come to our world?" asked one of the female magistrates.
"Well, one of the main reasons was to meet you," Daniel replied. "I spent several months with the people of Estrania, and I very much wanted to see the people who descended from them and the civilization they built. Your city is magnificent, a great achievement of architecture. I was very sorry to hear about the plague, though. I can imagine how difficult it must have been for your society to recover from it."
"Yes, it was a dark time in our history," Marcus said. "If it were not for the strength and determination of our forebears, our civilization would have surely been lost."
"Another reason why we came is that there were some ruins southwest of where the Stargate used to be. If they're still there, I want to take a look at them. I can read the language, and I want to see what the text says."
"The ruins are still there. Egeria commanded that we leave them untouched."
"After two thousand years you still do what she told you to?" Jack asked.
A man named Appius stared at Jack. "Egeria was the queen and god of our ancestors. She created their laws and ruled justly, with kindness and wisdom. To protect them from the evil Goa'uld, she brought them here and made sure that they had all they needed to survive. If it were not for her, none of us would exist. This city would not exist. We honor her by abiding by her wishes and commands. Why should we do any less?"
"I know she would be honored that you do so, Appius," Daniel said.
Sam glanced at her watch. "Colonel, we need to get back to the gate for our scheduled check-in. As it is, we're probably going to be late."
"Right." Jack turned to the magistrates. "We have to get back to the Stargate, or portal, or whatever it is that you call it and contact our planet, let them know that everything is okay. They get kind of antsy if we don't call."
Marcus nodded. "Of course. I will order a carriage to take you. It will get you there more quickly."
"Jack, I'd like to stay," Daniel said. "It'll give me a chance to find out some things about their history."
"And I have some questions as well, sir," Sam added.
"All right. You two can stay here, and Teal'c and I will check in with Hammond. We'll come back here when we're done."
"Are you going to request that we stay overnight?" Daniel asked.
"Since I doubt very much that we're going to get out of here before nightfall, yes, that's what I figured I'd be doing."
While Jack and Teal'c were gone, Daniel found out more about the history of the planet since Egeria brought the people here. In turn, once Daniel revealed that they were from the first world, the birth place of their original ancestors, he was asked a lot of question about what it was like now. Sam asked about the technology, and what she learned confirmed that they were at a level roughly equivalent to Earth's nineteenth century. Therefore, it was unlikely that SG-1 would find anything of a technological nature that would be of interest to Earth.
Not surprisingly, SG-1's weapons were of great interest to the magistrates, and Sam explained briefly how they worked. Though none of the magistrates asked if Earth might be willing to work out some kind of trade in exchange for weapons, the look on the faces of a few of the men led the major to believe that they'd really love to get their hands on some.
Right after Jack and Teal'c returned, the meeting was called to an end.
"I would be honored if you would stay as guests in my home," Marcus said. He smiled at Daniel. "My grandchildren would be delighted to meet you in the flesh. They have all read the stories about you."
"Stories?" Jack asked with far too much interest to suit Daniel.
"Yes. Titus wrote many stories about Daniel's deeds and adventures."
Jack was almost grinning. "Oh, really. Well, we'll have to hear all about those."
Daniel groaned silently, not at all looking forward to that.
Marcus' home turned out to be a huge mansion in which all his children and grandchildren lived. From the moment that SG-1 walked in the door, it seemed like every single person they saw gaped at Daniel. That was bad enough, but when word began to spread that the man of the stories and legends was actually there in the flesh, everybody just had to come see. It was all extremely disconcerting to the archeologist. Jack thought it was just plain funny.
After showing them the rooms that would be theirs for the night, Marcus told them that he had to return to his duties.
"I will have a driver available to you in case there is anywhere that you would like to go," he said. He then handed Daniel a thin square of silver engraved with a design that Daniel guessed was some kind of family crest or seal. "Simply show that to any merchant or eating establishment, and you will be given whatever you desire."
"That really isn't necessary, Marcus. We have food with us that we can eat."
"I insist. It is no more than I would do for any guests staying in my home."
"Well, then thank you."
The man inclined his head. "I will return before the evening meal."
SG-1 decided to go on a little tour of the city, though Jack insisted on calling it "reconnaissance." Daniel chose not to point out that reconnaissance was generally not done in a horse-drawn carriage.
Both Daniel and Sam quite enjoyed the carriage ride. Jack got bored after the first hour. It was impossible to tell how Teal'c felt.
From the driver they learned that the planet had been named Egerania, a combination of the name of their queen and the world from which the people had come.
They ate lunch at one of the many restaurants in the city. Daniel was surprised to see that they actually had menus, which he and Teal'c had to translate for their teammates.
"What, no pasta?" Jack asked. "I thought this place was Roman. Isn't that Italy?"
"Contrary to popular belief, pasta did not originate with the Italians, Jack. It was first invented by the Chinese. Nor did Marco Polo introduce it to Italy. There is a lot of speculation on when the Italians first started making pasta and from whom they got the idea, although the majority of food historians believe that they got it from the Arabs, which would have happened a long time after Egeria took the ancestors of these people from Earth."
"Well, that's a disappointment. I had a yen for some spaghetti. I suppose they don't have pizza either."
"Nope. Sorry."
Jack did manage to find something on the menu that sounded good. As they ate, Daniel and Sam filled their teammates in on what they'd learned.
"Teal'c and I found out something, too," the colonel said. "We know why the gate is in that underground building. After they unburied it and decided to keep it unburied, they figured that they needed some safeguards in case the Goa'uld showed up. In case of attack through the gate, a big iron door seals the entrance, and then the whole place fills up with sand."
"Which would not only kill anyone who already came through but would also prevent the gate from connecting again," Sam said.
"Wow. That's impressive," Daniel remarked. "That's definitely not the way that the ancient Romans would have handled the situation."
"They'd have just sent the army in to kick the Jaffas' asses?" Jack asked.
"Basically, yes. I guess we're lucky that they didn't fill the place with sand when we arrived."
"They probably wanted to see who had come calling first." Jack took another bite of his lunch. "So, how come we're understanding everybody?"
"What do you mean?"
"All of the people on Estrania spoke Goa'uld, didn't they? That universal translator thingamajig in the Stargate never seems to work on Goa'uld, so why did it this time?"
"It probably didn't. Estrania's population was bilingual. Every person was taught two languages: Goa'uld and Latin. These people are probably speaking Latin."
"Egeria could speak Latin, too?" Sam asked.
Daniel nodded. "As well as several other languages, including Abydonian. I'd have much rather used Abydonian, but Egeria preferred Goa'uld. I certainly did expand my Goa'uld vocabulary while I was there, which was a good thing. It really helped when I went to the Goa'uld summit."
After the meal, Daniel figured that they should probably take a look at the Ancient ruins and see how well they'd survived the last two thousand years.
When the carriage reached the edge of the city, Daniel was quite surprised to discover that, not only had the ruins been left untouched, but so had most of the meadow where the Stargate used to be, the meadow where Egeria had gathered her flowers. The city came to an end right around where Daniel believed the gate had been. Beyond that, little had changed since he was there last.
The carriage took them all the way to the ruins. As they approached it, Daniel could see that the structures had suffered somewhat in the two thousand years that had passed since he was here. There had been a few more collapses, and some portions had been completely reclaimed by the local flora – including the blue-flowered vine.
Sam smiled upon seeing the vines. "Hey! Is this where those flowers originally came from?"
"Uh, yeah," Daniel replied. "We found them when Egeria and I were here. She really liked them, so we dug up a few and brought them back with us."
"Then you really were one of the people who discovered it. I was only joking about that before when I was coming up with names for it."
Jack's interest was caught by that. "So, what name did you come up with?"
Sam began to reply, but then she saw the look on Daniel's face. "Um . . . I respectfully refuse to answer that question, sir."
Jack looked at her, then at Daniel. He really thought about making her answer, but decided to be nice for a change and give Daniel a break . . . at least for a while.
SG-1 headed to one of the structures that was still mostly intact, and Daniel began scanning the text.
"Well, from what I can see, this was some sort of learning center," the archeologist announced after around fifteen minutes.
"You mean like a college?" Sam asked.
"No, I think it was for younger children, maybe early to mid-teens. You know, it's possible that there are more ruins here somewhere. If this was a school, it would make sense that there would have been habitations."
For the first time since they arrived at the ruins, Jack showed some interest. "You mean like a city?"
"It's possible. It could be just over that nearby ridge."
Sam turned to her C.O. "Sir, it might be a good idea to send a UAV through, check out the entire area."
Jack nodded. "I'll suggest it to Hammond in the morning."
Daniel pulled out his video camera and began recording the writing. As the others did a quick recon of the ruins, he filmed as much as he could of the text for later translation. He hadn't even gotten a tenth of the way through when his teammates returned, and Jack said it was time to go.
"Don't worry, Daniel," the colonel told him. "You'll have lots more time here tomorrow. I told Hammond that we'd probably be here all day tomorrow as well. Of course, if the UAV finds something of interest, we might be here even longer."
Getting back into the carriage, the members of SG-1 all wondered if they might have stumbled upon the location of the Lost City they'd been searching for all these months.
Dinner that evening took place at an enormous table that seated the whole family, except for the youngest children, who sat at a separate table with a nanny. All the members of SG-1 were peppered with questions, though it was Daniel and Teal'c who got the most. The kids were fascinated by the Jaffa and wanted to know all about the Goa'uld. As for Daniel, they were just plain in awe of him, or, more accurately, that he really was the Daniel they'd heard stories about since they were small.
"Yes, about those stories," Jack said. "I'd sure love to hear some of them."
"Jack, I really don't think we need to hear them," Daniel responded. "I know what I did while I was on Estrania, and most of it was in my report."
"Ah, but, Daniel, I'm sure that Titus' stories are much more interesting than a dry, factual report."
"After the meal is over, I will take you to the library, where you can read them," Marcus said.
The library turned out to be pretty extensive, and Daniel was sure that there were a lot of things in it that he'd much rather have read than the stories about him. Unfortunately, Jack was not going to give him that option.
Marcus brought over a beautiful leather book. He handed it to Daniel.
"Never could I have imagined that I would be placing that book into the hands of the man about whom it was written," he said with a smile tinged with wonder. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some things to which I must attend. All of you please feel free to look at any book here in the library." He left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.
"So, open it up, Daniel," Jack instructed. "You're not getting out if this, so you might as well give in."
With a sigh, the archeologist opened the book, very glad that Jack couldn't read Goa'uld. He was even more glad after he'd begun skimming through the stories.
"But these are all wrong!" he cried. "The stuff didn't happen this way at all! The girl that nearly drowned in the river, all I did was CPR, but this makes it sound like I used magical powers." He turned a few pages and pointed at another section. "This one is about my death and being brought back to life. I told Titus how I was revived, that it was done with a machine, but he's got here that I was resurrected by the gods so that I could continue to battle against evil." He flipped back and forth through the book's pages. "And then there's the stuff with Herminius, and Secundus, and everything else. It reads like some Greek or Roman tale of a mighty hero on a quest for knowledge and the destruction of evil."
"I believe they call that creative license, don't they?" Jack responded, totally straight-faced.
Daniel focused a glare upon him. "Funny, Jack."
"So, come on. Start reading it to us."
Daniel closed the book with a snap. "No way, Jack. I am not reading this thing to you guys." He focused a hard gaze on Teal'c. "And neither are you."
"Ah, come on, Daniel," Jack said. "You can't leave us in suspense."
"Yes, I can. If you want to see what it says, then you're going to have to learn Goa'uld."
Jack almost pouted. "You're not playing fair."
"I don't care. If you hadn't refused to even try to learn how to read Goa'uld when I told you that it would be a good idea, you'd be able to read it yourself."
Sam smiled slightly. She could understand why Daniel wouldn't want to read the book to them. He'd probably die of embarrassment. She knew that she would if she were in his place.
The astrophysicist's smile instantly died when her C.O. turned to her.
"Hey, you can read Goa'uld, can't you?" he asked.
"I only know some of the most common dialect, sir. That book's in a dialect that I don't know."
Now, it was Daniel who had a little smile on his face. "Which means that you can't order her to read it to you." He very decisively returned the book to its place in the bookcase. "Give it up, Jack. You'll just have to be content with my report."
"Fine," Jack groused. "If that's the way you're going to be about it, then you can just go off and do whatever."
It being a nice evening, Sam decided to go for a walk, whereas Daniel selected a couple of books to take to his room. As he left the library, he failed to see Jack grab the book about him and hide it under his jacket.
Motioning to Teal'c to follow him, Jack went up to his room. Once the door was shut, he handed the book to the Jaffa.
"Read," he said.
"Daniel Jackson does not wish the contents of this book to be read aloud."
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
Teal'c frowned. "You are suggesting that I go against his wishes, then deceive him by not revealing what I have done?"
"I'm not asking you to lie to him, Teal'c, just to not tell him that you read it."
His frown deepening, Teal'c firmly laid the book down on the bedside table. "I will not betray Daniel Jackson's trust by performing such an act."
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, T. It's just a book of stories. You act like I'm asking you to sell him out to the Goa'uld."
"Nevertheless, it would be a betrayal."
'Crap,' Jack cursed silently. "I suppose it wouldn't do any good to make it an order."
"It would not."
Jack glared at him. "Teal'c, you can be just as bad as Daniel sometimes." He made a shooing gesture. "Go on, then. Out. I might as well just go to bed early since there's nothing else for me to do around here." What Jack was really thinking about doing was finding someone else in this place who'd read the book to him.
Teal'c took a couple of steps toward the door, then paused, returned to where he'd laid the book, and picked it up.
Now it was Jack who was frowning. "Where are you taking that?"
"To my room, where it will remain until morning."
"Now, wait one second. You won't read it to me, but you're going to read it yourself?!"
"I am not, O'Neill. However, it has occurred to me that there are others in this house to whom you may go for a translation of this book."
Jack pretended to be affronted. "Teal'c! Do you really think I'd do that?"
"Are you saying that you would not?"
Faced with that cocked eyebrow and piercing gaze, all Jack could manage was, "Well, I, uhhh. . . ."
Smiling ever so slightly, Teal'c wished Jack good night and left.
"Damn," the colonel muttered. Uttering a loud sigh of defeat, he began getting ready for bed.
The next morning, as SG-1 headed down the stairs to breakfast, Jack held back, holding Teal'c's arm to prevent him from continuing forward.
"So, where's the book?" the colonel whispered as soon as Daniel and Sam were out of earshot.
"I returned it to the library upon arising one hour ago."
Jack stared at him. "Admit it. You peeked."
"I did not peek."
"Not even a little?"
"No."
"Well, you've got a lot more self-control than me."
"This I already knew, O'Neill."
As the Jaffa continued down the stairs, Jack called out, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
After breakfast, the team went to the gate to talk to Hammond about sending through a UAV.
"Obviously, you couldn't fly it through the gate," Sam said, "but we could set up a launcher on this end."
"We're going to have to tell the people here what we're doing first," Daniel stated. "They have no flying craft, so the UAV might be pretty shocking to them."
"All right, we will see about getting a UAV and launching platform through the gate to you," Hammond responded. "In the meantime, prepare the inhabitants for what they can expect."
SG-1 returned to the House of Magistrates. They had to wait half an hour, then were taken straight to the meeting room. Only four of the magistrates joined them.
SG-1 explained about the UAV, immediately piquing the interest of the four men.
"Some of our inventors have experimented with flying craft," Marcus said, "but they have had little success."
At that moment, a man came bursting into the room.
"My deepest apologies, magistrates," he said a little breathlessly. He turned to Marcus. "Chief Magistrate, there is dire news from your home. One of your grandchildren has fallen gravely ill."
Marcus leapt to his feet. "I must go at once." He turned to SG-1. "You will have to excuse me."
"We'll go with you," Jack said. "We might be able to help."
There was anguish on the faces of everyone they saw in Marcus' house. The fear in the place was palpable.
They rushed to one of the bedrooms. Inside were Marcus' wife, Aemilia, his son, Lucius, and Lucius' wife, Flavia, as well as a man that SG-1 guessed was a doctor. The doctor was bent over a seven-year-old girl whose name was Patricia.
As soon as she saw her husband, Aemilia ran forward and threw herself into his arms.
"It is the sickness, Marcus," she sobbed. "It is the sickness."
Marcus' face went pale, his eyes darkening with grief.
"What sickness?" Daniel asked.
Marcus turned tear-filled eyes to him. "It is an illness that has struck many, many times since the end of the plague. It always strikes young children, and none . . ." his voice wavered, "none ever survive. We have already lost one grandchild to it, as well as our firstborn son when he was only five years of age."
Jack frowned. "How many kids get this thing?"
"Approximately one in twenty."
"My God," Sam gasped, appalled by the thought of how many kids must die of the illness each year.
"Marcus, we have medicines and other medical treatments on Earth that might be able to help," Daniel said urgently. "We'd have to take Patricia through the gate to our world, but it may save her life."
A small spark of hope lit within the Chief Magistrate's eyes. "If there is some way that you can save her, then please take her. I will travel with you. I need only make arrangements for Iulius to take over the duties as Chief Magistrate while I am gone."
The man placed a call upon a telephone-like device and spoke for a few minutes with someone.
"It is done," he said after hanging up.
Patricia was carried downstairs by her father and placed in a carriage. The girl's mother, refusing to leave her daughter's side, got in as well, along with Marcus and the doctor. SG-1 got in a second carriage.
The ride to the Stargate was made quickly. Daniel ran down the stairs ahead of the others and dialed out. He was already explaining the situation to Hammond by the time all of the others were there.
"Before I can allow the child to be brought through, I need to know if this illness is contagious," the general said.
"It must not be, General. If it was, it would have turned into a pandemic a very long time ago. Marcus says that around one in twenty children have been getting it ever since the plaque that decimated the population, which happened around five hundred years ago."
"Very well. Bring her on through, then. We will have to keep her isolated, though, and restrict contact with her."
A minute later, SG-1 came through with Patricia, Marcus and Flavia. The medical team soon arrived. Janet had the girl laid upon the gurney and did a brief exam, asking the girl's mother and grandfather several questions. Patricia was then taken to the infirmary.
Two hours later, their own post-mission exams and the debriefing complete, SG-1 went to check on the child. They found Janet in the main ward, looking at some test results.
"How's Patricia?" Daniel asked.
The doctor let out a sigh. "Not good, I'm afraid. I'm just getting some of the blood work back now, so it's too soon for me to tell you what's causing this. I've put top priority on all the tests, so, hopefully, I'll have some answers soon."
"Do you think you're going to be able to help her?" Jack asked.
"It way too soon to tell. As soon as I know more, I'll let you know."
SG-1 went to the isolation room. Flavia was sitting beside her daughter, Marcus standing on the other side, stroking his grandchild's hair. He looked up as SG-1 entered.
"Your Doctor Fraiser says that she will do all she can for Patricia."
"Janet is the best there is, Marcus," Sam told him. "If anyone can help Patricia, she can."
The man's eyes returned to the little girl. "After the plague finally ended, our ancestors were determined not to let it defeat them. They cremated their dead and moved on. But then, not ten years later, the first child died from an illness that was like yet not like the plague. Many feared that the plague was returning. It did not, but progressively more children sickened and died. At last, someone thought to try the healing box."
"Wait a minute," Daniel said. "You have a sarcophagus?"
"Yes, Egeria left it in our care. She warned us never to use it except when someone was too sick or injured for the doctors to help and to never use it more than once on the same person unless several days had passed. She said that if we used it when we should not, it would cause the person's soul to become twisted and evil."
"So, what happened?" Jack asked.
"The thing you call a sarcophagus appeared to cure the sickness, so many more children were taken to it to be healed. But not a day after using it, the children became ill again, only it was different. They thrashed and screamed as if possessed by evil spirits. They had to be tied down to prevent them from hurting themselves and others."
"That sounds like sarcophagus withdrawal," Sam said in confusion. "But how could they have gotten addicted after just one use when they were ill?"
"Did they get better?" Daniel asked Marcus.
"No. Every child who was put in the box died in terrible agony."
"They couldn't survive the withdrawal," Sam murmured. "I wonder if something might be wrong with the sarcophagus."
Daniel nodded. "Could be." He turned to the Chief Magistrate. "Have your people ever used it for anything except trying to cure that illness?"
"On rare occasions, when there was no other hope."
"And the person was fine afterwards?"
"Yes."
Sam let out a sigh. "Which means that the problem can't be with the sarcophagus."
After leaving the isolation room, SG-1 told Janet what they'd learned.
"This leads me to believe that there is a connection between that plague and this illness," she said. "It may be that whatever caused the plague wasn't actually eradicated. It mutated into a different form, one that targets prepubescent children."
"But it's not affecting all the kids," Jack pointed out.
"There are many possible reasons for that, sir. It could be that the disease lies dormant in the body until something causes it to begin reproducing, or the children could be contracting it from something in their environment. If it's the former, it would mean that it's passed on to the child in the womb, just as some conditions here on Earth are."
"And what about the sarcophagus addiction?" Daniel asked.
"That I really can't say. I suppose it is possible that something about this disease dramatically increases the strength of the sarcophagus' negative effects, which results in instantaneous addiction." A nurse came over with some readouts. "I need to get back to work on this. I'll call a briefing when I have something to tell you."
It was nearly evening when they were called to the briefing room. Janet was there. The look on her face told them that she did not have good news.
"From the test results I've gotten back, there is definitely some kind of microorganism at work," she said after informing them that Patricia's condition was continuing to deteriorate. "It has characteristics of both a bacterium and a virus, but it's like nothing I've ever seen before. I am in the process of trying different antiviral and antibacterial medications, but I'm really just shooting in the dark, and I don't know if we're going to have enough time to find one that will work. All her organs are shutting down, and her brain activity is slowing. At this rate of deterioration, it is unlikely that she will survive more than a few days. According to Marcus, this disease always kills within three days, usually less. By at least treating the symptoms, I might be able to extend that a little, but not much."
Everyone at the table was dismayed by the news.
"Do what you can for her," Hammond said. "And if you need to consult some specialists, do so."
"Yes, sir."
As Daniel lay in bed that night, his mind was not just on Patricia, but also on all the other children of Egerania who were getting sick and dying every day. If only there was something he could do to help.
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