Daniel’s headache had eased somewhat by the time he awoke. The whole right side of his face was tender, and his entire body ached, particularly his left side and stomach. He brought his hand up to feel the bruises on his side and was surprised to find that his jacket and T-shirt had been removed, and strips of fabric tightly bound his chest. How the hell—
“You have two broken ribs. Possibly three.”
Daniel started painfully. He hadn’t expected to hear a stranger’s voice. And he certainly hadn’t expected to be addressed in Ancient. For a moment, he wondered if he was dead again but dismissed the thought. He hurt far too much to be dead. He turned his head toward the voice, wincing as it brought the bruised half of his face in contact with the bench he was lying on.
A woman sat on the bench on the other side of the cell with her back against the wall, her feet tucked up in front of her. He squinted at her. Definitely not Sam. This woman had curly brown hair and somewhat darker skin. She wore the tattered remains of a blue robe, or possibly a dress. She was watching him intently, with an expression similar to Janet’s when she was trying to maintain clinical detachment.
“Your face is battered, but your cheekbone does not appear to be broken. You may have a concussion though it does not seem serious. Apart from your ribs, I believe you to be bleeding internally. I have no way of fixing that.”
Daniel braced himself on his elbow and tried to lever up to a sitting position. The woman stood and crossed the room quickly. With her hands on his shoulders, she helped him pull himself upright. He hissed in pain, and she pulled her hands away as if she had been burned.
“You will injure yourself further. Please stay still.” Daniel glared at her, and her expression softened. She sat down beside him on the bench. “Please.”
Her eyes were purple, of a shade he had never seen before. Almost lilac. Not a human shade at all, though the colour was much more attractive than the mottling along her jaw-line. Apparently, she had also suffered the back end of an angry Jaffa’s staff weapon at some point. In fact, if he was reading her eyes properly, she had suffered a great deal more than that.
“You speak Ancient.”
“I do. You were Ascended.” It did not seem to be a question.
“How do you know that?”
She shrugged. “I can sense it. How are you feeling?”
Daniel considered the question. When was the last time he'd actually looked forward to visiting the infirmary? Well, that was unfair. He usually spent a great deal of time looking forward to Janet and her infirmary. He only hated it when she finally managed to sink her needles into him and refused to let go. Wait. It wasn’t Janet’s infirmary anymore. There was no Janet waiting to bawl him out for getting himself into trouble yet again. Daniel pushed back the renewed grief over the loss of his friend, cursing himself for his momentary forgetfulness. The lilac-eyed woman must be right about that concussion. He leaned back and rested his head against the wall. “Not great, apparently.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“Not just now. I did that myself.”
She sighed. “Good.”
Daniel glanced down at the wrappings around his ribs. “Why have you tried to help me?”
“Several reasons. I would help anyone in pain if I could, and I am not easily fooled by a Goa’uld spy. I sensed you had Ascended, which makes it unlikely that you are allied to Khnum. And...and you remind me of someone I once knew. You have his eyes, though they are the wrong colour.” She stared at him for a long moment. “Who are you?”
“My name is Daniel Jackson. Where are my friends?”
She shook her head. “Only you were brought here, Daniel. I believe the Jaffa may have made an error. I had understood I was to be kept in isolation. I know nothing of your friends.”
That wasn’t good. Mistaken Jaffa would be reprimanded, and reprimanded Jaffa would be angry. Hopefully they’d be angry at him rather than at Sam or Jack. Or this woman. Who he couldn’t keep thinking of that way. “What is your name?”
“I am Jalaena M’Ron.”
“Where are you from, Jalaena M'Ron?”
She smiled slightly. “Our host has been trying to get that information from me for some time now.”
“Ah. Never mind, then.”
“Thank you.”
“I'm from a planet called Earth. The Goa'uld know us as the Tau'ri.”
Jalaena looked at him, her eyes lingering on his watch. “Really? You have done well.”
“You know of Earth?” He lifted his head and studied her face
“I have visited, though not for some time.”
“How long is some time?”
She shrugged.
“Do you speak English?” he tried.
“I don't understand.”
“Are you familiar with the language known on Earth as English?”
“I don’t believe so.”
Daniel was silent for a moment as he pondered how long ago it would have to be for a visitor to Earth to have not heard of English. He decided there were too many variables to make an accurate guess, though it would likely be more than a century. Possibly quite a bit more. “Some time indeed.”
“My race is long lived.”
“How long lived?”
Another smile, this one almost reaching her eyes. “Until we die.”
“Ah. Helpful.” His neck relaxed until his head was once more resting on the wall.
They sat in silence for a moment before Daniel realized that his throat was painfully dry. “You wouldn't by chance have any water I can drink?”
“Oh. Yes.” Jalaena stood up and staggered. Daniel quickly placed his hands on her hips to steady her. She twisted out of his reach and leaned heavily on the wall.
“Are you all right?” How had he missed how fragile she looked? Was he so wrapped up in his own pain that he couldn't see another's? Apart from the healing bruises along her jaw, he hadn’t noticed anything physically wrong with her, and she’d moved quickly enough when he’d tried to sit up.
“I am...not great, apparently.” She pushed herself upright and, after swaying slightly, walked to a basin in the back of the cell.
As she got him some water, Daniel noticed for the first time that a view screen was active on the back wall. It displayed the interior of another cell, or rather a cage. Inside was a small, squat creature covered in white fur. It was difficult to get a sense of scale, but it seemed to be roughly humanoid and about the size of a small dog. It sat huddled in one corner of its cage, staring forlornly out from the screen. No, not staring. Its eyes followed Jalaena as she moved in the cell. It was watching her. Its facial features were more animal than human, but Daniel had the distinct impression that it was in distress. Jalaena rested her hand on the screen for a moment. The small creature did likewise. Jalaena drew a shaky breath and turned from the viewer. She sat back down beside Daniel, handing him a cup of water. “It is neither sweet nor cool, but it is wet.”
“Thank you.” He took a swallow and grimaced at the sulphurous taint to it. Better than nothing. He took another gulp then nodded towards the view screen. “What is that?”
“That is M’Ron. My thelaya.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My people have very strong minds. We need help to process all of the information we take in.”
“How strong?”
Very. The word echoed in his head. Along with the word came a searing pain and Daniel felt his mind...fragmenting. There was no other way to describe it. Thoughts and memories swirled around him and shattered. Some thoughts he recognised as his own, but others were completely foreign.
His wedding. The confusion and wonder he felt when he finally discovered that he was married to the beautiful Sha’re.
Her husband’s bed. The incomparable ecstasy of the mating of telepaths, growing arousal feeding back on itself as bodies entwined and minds merged.
His assault by Hathor. Rage and guilt as he tried to fight her, unable to free himself from her intoxicating breath.
Her planet disintegrating. Terror and pain as the world that birthed her species and countless others was obliterated by the unexpected explosion of its sun.
His wife’s death. The knowledge of his failure to save her hitting him even as his pride in her courage and strength grew.
Her daughter’s birth. The pain of the process eased by her mate, replaced with the joy that their people would continue.
His radiation poisoning. Agony as his body decayed around him, uncertainty that he could be worth Oma’s effort.
Her killing the man she loved. Regret for her choice overshadowed by the emptiness his death left in her.
His failure with Shyla’s sarcophagus. Her first merging with M’Ron. His unlocking of the Stargate. Her destruction of a Goa’uld symbiote. His inability to save Janet. Her. His. Her. His.
Countless images flew past and through each other, until he couldn’t tell where one ended and another began. Through the chaos there was one constant: a brutal, screeching, burning, agonizing pain. Daniel clutched at his head and screamed.
Then it was abruptly gone, like a door had slammed and shut it out. The images vanished, as did the pain. He dropped his hands from his head and grasped at his abdomen. That pain was still there. That pain was his.
Jalaena had folded her legs up to her chest on the bench, her head between her knees. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, and she rocked slightly, her body trembling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come through. That was stupid... childish... irresponsible.” Her voice was raw, a harsh whisper. “Forgive me.”
Daniel reached out an unsteady hand and touched her shoulder. She shrank away, and he withdrew his hand. “What just happened?”
“Do not touch me. I no longer have control. It is easier to hold it in if you do not touch me.” She took a few more unsteady breaths before she looked up into his eyes. “I have hurt you.”
“Easier to hold it—” He hoped he had misunderstood. “You are in that pain? Constantly?”
Jalaena shrugged. “Not yet. I have the ability to block much of it. But the pain grows worse, and my control is slipping. You cannot block it. I should not have touched your mind. It is why I did not earlier. I did not transfer pain when I examined your wounds, so I thought I could hold it back and properly answer your question. I failed.” She lowered her head back between her knees. “I’m sorry.”
“My question?” Daniel thought a moment in confusion. “Oh. Yes. How strong?”
“My species is telepathic. Powerfully so. Normally, I would have touched your mind immediately to see if you were a threat. To learn what I needed. But I could not risk it in my current condition.”
Learn what she needed? He was uncomfortable with that thought. “You would have read my mind? Invaded my thoughts?”
“I would have skimmed your surface thoughts. I would have pulled out knowledge that could help further communication. This English you speak of, for example.” She looked up at him again. “I would not have read further than you wished me to see. Not if I sensed that you were not a threat.”
“Okay.” No, not okay. But perhaps this was not the time for a discussion of the sanctity of the human mind. She was not human. She would have different standards. Sympathy for her swelled in him again as she continued to shiver. “What is causing your pain?”
She looked back at the white creature displayed on the view screen. “M’Ron. From the moment of our birth, each of my people are bound to one of his. My peoples’ minds are no longer capable of dealing with our experiences alone. M’Ron provides order. He sorts my memories. Stores some of them within himself. Without him, I am incapable of processing the world properly.”
“I don’t understand. I’m really trying to.”
“Think of how your people process information. You can survive for a length of time alert and active, but if you do not rest and allow your brains to organize your experiences you become disoriented. Disturbed. Yes?”
“Sleep deprivation. Yes.”
“Imagine the chaos that would result from a mind that processes more information than its physiology is truly capable of handling. That mind would become overloaded. It would not be able to comprehend itself, much less anything from its surroundings.”
Daniel nodded. He’d seen Jack struggle to contain the knowledge the Ancient repository had implanted in his brain. “That is normal for you?”
“M’Ron helps me to process my thoughts, to store them rationally. He keeps those that are not currently needed within himself. In return, my mind allows his sentience to emerge. Together we are strong-willed and powerful. Without me he is little more than a frightened animal. Without him I am vulnerable, confused, and soon, irreparably mad.” She stared at the small creature on the view screen. “Khnum wished to learn what would happen if he separated us, which he did, five days ago. His experiment will soon prove fatal to me. It already has to others.”
“What do you mean?”
Jalaena sighed. “This ship was home to a cell of Jaffa who had come to see the Goa’uld as false gods. I did not know there were such rebels within their ranks, but I am pleased to finally see it. These Jaffa wished to save me and risked sabotaging the Ha’tak to free me. The explosive device succeeded in damaging the ship, but the response was not as chaotic as I believe they had hoped. Instead of reuniting me with M’Ron, it appears they were captured instead. My presence has brought harm to many who could have fought against the Goa’uld in the years to come. I am responsible for their fate.”
So the Jaffa rebellion had spread here, too. Teal’c would be pleased to hear that, though the outcome in this circumstance was not good news. “I’m sorry, Jalaena.” Daniel could hear a distant marching, coming closer. Oh, marvellous. The loyal Jaffa had discovered their mistake.
Strangely, a small smile appeared on her face. “Not as sorry as Khnum will be.”
“Why?”
“If he does not return M’Ron to me very soon, I will lose control entirely. My mind will splinter and reach out to any it can find. He will die along with me, as will all those on this ship.”
Definitely not okay. Very bad, in fact. “Um...I don’t wish to seem self-centred here, but what of my friends?”
She turned and looked at him. Her eyes were vacant and unfocused for a long moment. The marching grew nearer. Then suddenly, she appeared to see him again, those purple eyes focused on his, and her brow furrowed. The cell door clanged open. The lead Jaffa entered and pointed the staff weapon at Daniel, gesturing towards the door.
“Kree!”
No sense arguing with that. Daniel put one hand to his stomach and awkwardly pushed himself upright with the other. He walked to the door.
“Daniel.”
He paused and looked back at her.
“How many friends do you have here?”
“Two.”
“I will...try to shield you when the time comes. I don’t know if I will be successful, but I will try. You will have to protect your friends.”
“How?” The Jaffa jabbed at him with his staff weapon, but he stood still for a moment more.
“Hold them close to you. Concentrate on sharing the shield. It will be painful, but it may allow you to survive. You will have a greater chance of survival if you try to save only one of them.”
“Both of them or none of us, Jalaena. Don’t allow one of them to die to make it easier to save me.”
“You misunderstand. I can only shield you, for I do not know them. It is you who will find it difficult to shield both of the others.”
Two of the Jaffa grabbed his upper arms and roughly pulled him out of the cell. The door clanged shut.
“Thank you, Jalaena.”
“I am sorry, Daniel.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“You had a long conversation with Jalaena, my other guest. What was it about? What language was it in?”
Daniel’s hopes of a quick reunion with Sam and Jack had been dashed when the Jaffa had once again dumped him before their master. He hadn’t been able to keep a groan from escaping as he hit the floor. Well, at least falling right away saved him from having his legs knocked out from under him as the Jaffa forced him to properly kneel before his ‘god’.
“It was Swahili. Let’s see, what did we talk about? We commiserated on the recent bad weather we’ve been having. She complimented my latest haircut, and I tried to get the name of her fashion designer. Sam would love the look. She looks great in blue, and tortured dress shreds are very in this year. Jalaena wouldn’t tell me though. Jealous, I think.” Daniel shrugged. “You know how it is.”
The Goa’uld’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You would be wise to take this more seriously.”
“Yeah. I’m not much for melodrama. Sarcasm is more my style. Blame Jack for my lack of wisdom. I certainly do.”
To Daniel’s surprise, Khnum smiled. “Very well. Let’s begin again.” He held up his hand, and Daniel saw the ribbon device begin to glow. “You had a long conversation with Jalaena, my other guest. What was it about? What language was it in?”