17
He rushed from the car park to the tunnel entrance, a group of SFs were stood dead centre of the opening, enjoying an illegal cigarette break. One of them, taller by a head than any of the others deliberately moved into the path of the oncoming man.
Jack side stepped him and moved past as if the man wasn't even there. The SF wasn't pleased to be brushed aside, especially not in front on his new squad and he ran to catch the man up.
"Hey! Watch where you're going! Where's the fire" the young buck said, trying to stop Jack with an outstretched arm to his chest.
The SF was left behind, on his knees nursing a broken wrist, Jack didn't even slow as he continued on his journey.
Once through the checkpoints and into the SGC he travelled to level 21 and strode down the corridor, everyone down there knew him and got out of the way as fast as possible when they saw his face.
Carolyn, Hank, Jennifer Hailey and Jon were all waiting for him when he arrived, did everyone in the world know except him? Why hadn't he been told as soon as possible?
Jon was the first to say something. "Jack… they just told me" his voice broke and Jack could hear tears in it, he nodded his acceptance and then spun towards the person who should have told him.
"Doctor Lam?" he rasped. He saw her wince at the use of her full name and title.
"General O'Neill" she nodded "Sam asked me not to tell you, she said she would do it… I have to do what my patient wishes"
"NOT WHEN IT'S MY WIFE!" he screamed at her, he moved towards her, for the first time in his life he felt like hitting a woman in temper, Jon got between them, they struggled… Jon knew every move Jack did, and he had the advantage of youth, but Jack also weighed more and was very angry.
"I can't…hold him" Jon said between gritted teeth, suddenly Jack was grabbed from behind, he turned his head to see a bunch of SFs, one cradling an injured wrist and two others holding him by an arm each. There were three others by the door, evidently they had followed the first three.
"JACK!" Hank shouted in his face "You have to calm down! If you attack Carolyn I'll have you thrown into the brig!" Jacks eyes snapped to Hanks face, and whatever the other man saw made him back away.
"He should be in the brig anyway, he's a madman" the SF with the injury came forward, "he barrelled through the entrance and when I tried to slow him the bastard broke my wrist! I want to press charges!"
"The man just found out his wife and child may be dying" Jon spat at the SF "Think yourself lucky, if he was thinking instead of on autopilot, he would have snapped your neck"
Jack heard the SFs behind him mumbling, and while they were distracted he took the opportunity to get lose. He left both men who had been holding him on the floor groaning while he walked over to the doctors office and sat down in the visitors chair. Jon and Hank followed him in, and closed the door behind them, Jack could see Carolyn directing her staff, helping the SFs up and examining the broken wrist.
"I never even saw them" he said, gesturing to the men outside
"I know" Jon said, Jack knew he did, many a time his 'autopilot' had saved his life, it was a part of the retreating from emotion, or allowing himself to be overwhelmed by it, that he hated most, he was an out-of-control yet ultra-controlled killing machine when he allowed it to take over.
"What can we do?" he asked.
"I've already contacted McKay and Doctor Keller on Atlantis, they're going through the ancient database, it's slow because since the gene therapy failed every time they get a locked system they have to have Sheppard or one of the others come and unlock it, but I've told John to stick by him until we get an answer. Hank has sent a message to the Free Jaffa and to the last known Tok'ra base, but we have not heard from them in a long time." Jack nodded, he knew, the last time anyone had seen a Tok'ra had been at Jacobs funeral, though rumours and messages had been exchanged through third parties.
"We were going to send out SG3, there were rumours that a sarcophagus could be found on one of the trading planets, but Vala managed to get through the 'gate about 25 minutes ago, as soon as Sam let us know you were coming, we think she has gone to see if it is real."
"Can't we…" he gestured to both Jon and himself "do anything?"
"Do what Jack?" the young man said "How do we get a mineral to bond to her bloodstream? You know I would do anything for Carter, but I wouldn't know where to start… we may be able to stave off some of the damage to her organs, but it is only a stopgap, not a solution"
Carolyn entered the office. She moved through the cramped space and sat behind her desk, she looked at Jack sympathetically. "I have Sams records here" she put her hand on a huge folder "I have been looking over the blood tests since she was infected by Jolinar, sometimes she has shown a remarked drop, in fact at one point her naquadah levels were even lower than they are now" Jack looked up hopefully "But it didn't last long, she recovered to a 'normal' level quite quickly"
"When?" he asked, he saw her frown "When did they fall?"
She opened the folder and took out a sheet from the top, he could see a list of dates and numbers. "In…2001, September, she had been kidnapped and experimented on" Both Jack and Jon shuddered at the memory of finding her.
"Conrad"
"Simmons" they shared a satisfied look that both men were dead
"So she lost a large amount of her naquadah then?" Jack asked
"Yes, but she had recovered almost 90% of the lost amount by her first post mission physical, even though her pre-mission still one showed the low level"
"So something happened the next time we went offworld?" Jack tried to remember back.
"We were on earth for some time after that, so Carter could recover, it was when Martin Lloyd contacted the SGC, then after that we were assigned to training" Jon pointed out.
"Yes but she didn't have a post mission physical after either of those"
"Then it was after we had been through to P3X-116" Jon said
"Tanith" Jack stated. "But we didn't do anything on that planet!"
"You must have" Carolyn insisted "Something you did on that mission restored the balance of naquadah in Sams bloodstream, think!" She leaned forward on the desk as if to encourage them, Jack didn't need her to push him, he had every reason in the world to find a solution, but there wasn't one!
"We went through to the planet, it looked deserted…" Jack said
"We went over the hills to the south of the 'gate…" Jon continued
"There was a LOT of Jaffa movement, about 2000 we estimated…"
"There was a Ha'tak vessel on the ground, death gliders were just launching…"
"We turned around and ran as fast as we damn well could, and Daniel, Sam and I came through just in time…"
"Teal'c got stuck in the 'gate system…"
Carolyn held up her hand, stopping the double act. "Ok that's as far as we need, the medical was within an hour of your return, before you worked on getting Teal'c out of the 'gate" she said. "So how long were you on the planet?"
Both men thought and simultaneously answered "30 minutes… tops"
"And Colonel Carter wasn't separated from you at any time? She didn't collect soil or mineral samples?" She sighed as both men shook their heads. "I can't understand it" she said.
The phone rang on her desk, she picked it up and handed her father the receiver. "Landry" he said and listened for a second "Put him through… Yes Colonel… yes… yes… he's here with me… no, that's OK, look go tell Colonel Carter and then bring her into the base…thank you" he put the phone down and glared at Jack.
"THAT was the security detail…the ones you aren't supposed to be without… remember? It seems they have 'lost' you" Both O'Neills grinned, Jack sheepishly, Hank shook his head "We have orders to keep you safe Jack… and you Jon, if either of you leave the mountain you WILL take an escort and you WILL NOT try to give them the slip!"
"I never tried to give them the slip!" Jack protested "I was just in a hurry to get here, Carter coming in?" Hank nodded "Maybe she will remember something" he and Jon shared a look, they knew there was nothing to remember, the trip to P3X-116 had somehow caused Sam to absorb naquadah, now if they could only find out HOW!
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