CHAPTER TWELVE
Sam was very busy staring at nothing and had been doing so for the past ten minutes. Around an hour ago, she learned from Janet that Daniel was taking Ke'ra on a tour of the base. That really shouldn't have bothered her. Daniel was just being his usual polite, gentlemanly self. But she couldn't get out of her head the way that Ke'ra had been staring at him in the library, like that of someone who had found something they very much wanted. It had not been the same as Lila, the woman in the bar, looked at him, which was merely casual attraction. In Ke'ra's eyes was something more . . . aggressive.
Sam's gaze returned to the book on the worktable. It was Linea's diary, which she'd found in the library. She had been looking through it before she went to the infirmary to see how things were coming along, and she really should get back to that.
Sam was reaching for the book when Daniel came walking in. Sam smiled upon seeing him.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Um . . . okay. I took Ke'ra on a short tour of the base, then dropped her off at her quarters."
Sam noticed the troubled frown on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Uhhh . . . well. . . ." Daniel's voice trailed off, and the frown was replaced by an expression of discomfort. "Ke'ra sort of, um . . . hit on me."
Sam quickly slapped down the jealousy that reared back up inside her. "She did?"
"It happened in her quarters. She told me that, ever since the Vorlix, intimate contact had become pretty much taboo because everyone was afraid that they might get involved with someone only to discover, upon recovering their memories, that they were already in a relationship with someone else."
"So they've all been celibate for over a year?"
"I guess so." Daniel began to blush. "Ke'ra then let me know that, because I'm not from Vyus, she didn't think it would be taboo if I was the one she, uh . . . had some intimate contact with. I told her that I was involved with you, and that was the end of it, but it was still kind of . . . disconcerting."
Sam studied Daniel's expression. It was clear that the situation had made him uncomfortable, and she suddenly felt very ashamed about getting jealous. Daniel had told her that he was committed to their relationship, and she had sworn to herself that she'd never get jealous again, yet, the very next time a woman developed an interest in him, all that went right out the window. She should have had complete confidence that Daniel would not reciprocate any desire Ke'ra might have for him. She should have trusted that he really was committed to her.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
The question jarred the astrophysicist from her thoughts. She realized that her face must have reflected what she was thinking.
"I'm so sorry, Daniel," she said.
"For what?"
"In the library, I could see that Ke'ra was very interested in you, and, well, she's pretty, intelligent, and appears to be very compassionate, and I kind of got . . . jealous again. I know you told me that I had no reason to ever be jealous, but I couldn't help myself."
Daniel stared at Sam, who was now looking at the floor. He knew why this had happened. Sam still feared that some woman would come along and steal his heart. He honestly couldn't picture that happening, but he didn't know what he could say or do to banish Sam's fear once and for all.
"We need to talk about this, Sam," he said. "Once this stuff with the Vyuns is resolved, we are going to sit down together and do that."
Sam looked at him and shook her head. "It's not necessary, Daniel. I was just being stupid."
"Sam, you wouldn't have felt that way if you didn't still have worries about our relationship. So we are going to talk. I won't take no for an answer."
Sam stared into his eyes, seeing the firm determination there. She'd seen that look many times before and knew that there would be no getting out of that conversation.
"All right," she said.
"Good." Daniel's gaze went to the book on the table. "Is that Linea's diary?"
"Yes, although it's more like a research journal. Apparently, Linea found a link between D'Argol and longevity."
"Longevity? Wasn't D'Argol a chemical pesticide?"
"Yes, but it appeared to be having the effect of slowing the ageing process. Not in an extreme way, but certainly significant enough. The problem was that it was also adversely affecting their fertility rate, which is why they stopped using it over twenty years ago."
Daniel realized what this meant. "That's why there aren't any signs of children on Vyus, not even photos."
Sam nodded. "Because there were no longer any children to take pictures of."
"So what was Linea's interest?"
"She was trying to enhance the life-extending properties of D'Argol to create a sort of fountain of youth."
"She was hoping to make herself young again?"
"Yes. I haven't read any further in the journal, so I don't yet know what kind of tests or experiments she ran."
Daniel picked up the journal and began skimming through it. He reached the part where Linea was discussing her discovery and what she believed she might be able to achieve. He continued to read from there. As he read the final entry, the implication of what it said struck him right between the eyes.
"Ohhh, boy," he said.
"What? What's wrong?"
"In Linea's last entry, she says that she was about to conduct some lab experiments using an intensely concentrated form of D'Argol on two Vyun elders, a man and woman. There's nothing more after that." Daniel looked at Sam. "What if the experiment was a success, Sam, but it also resulted in something she didn't count on?"
Realization dawned on the major. "Oh, boy. There was an accident, a massive chain reaction of enhanced D'Argol gas that caught even Linea by surprise. The entire population became young again overnight."
Daniel nodded. "They haven't found the elders on Vyus because they are the elders. The fountain of youth actually worked."
"The amnesia was simply a side effect Linea didn't see coming."
Daniel's expression turned very serious. "Sam, there's something else this tells us. Jack said that the bodies of two elderly people were found in the wreckage of an explosion, which we can assume was the lab accident. This says that Linea was using two test subjects, an elderly man and woman."
Sam's breath caught. "Oh, no. Daniel, that means that. . . ."
"The body of the woman was not Linea."
"But that means that she could still be alive."
Daniel's head nodded again. "And I think we both know who it is."
"You're right. It does fit. Linea was a brilliant chemist and had medical knowledge."
Daniel slowly sat down. "I don't want to believe this, Sam. She has shown so much empathy and compassion for the Vyuns. It seems inconceivable for someone like that to actually be the mass murderer we know that Linea was."
"I know what you mean, Daniel. There must have been something in Linea's past that turned her into the kind of person she became. Now that those memories are gone, that evil is also gone."
Daniel met Sam's eyes. "She can never be allowed to get those memories back."
"Yes, you're right. Even if we succeed in coming up with an antidote, we can't let her take it."
Daniel rose to his feet. "We need to let everyone else know."
They requested an emergency meeting in the briefing room. Hammond, Jack, Teal'c and Janet were all there. Needless to say, everyone was alarmed by the news that the archeologist and astrophysicist revealed.
"We will have to confirm this with a DNA test," Janet said. "I got a sample of Linea's when she was here, and I now have one from Ke'ra. With the advanced DNA processing we now have available to us, I can have the results within a few hours."
"In the meantime, I think it would be prudent to keep Ke'ra confined to her quarters," Hammond said.
Daniel frowned. "The problem with that is that she'll get suspicious and want to know what's going on."
"Well, we certainly can't let her run around loose, Daniel," Jack said.
"I know that, Jack. How about if we post guards outside her door, and they can claim to be her escorts if she decides to leave her quarters? As long as she has no memory of who she is, I really don't think she's a danger to us. Once we know for sure one way or the other, we can decide what to do."
Hammond paused a moment, then nodded. "Very well. We will meet back here as soon as Doctor Fraiser has the DNA test results. Dismissed."
Daniel headed to his office, accompanied by his ex-teammates.
"I know you're not going to agree, Daniel," Jack said, "but, in my opinion, they should lock her up in the brig. I'm not gonna sleep well until I'm sure that she is no longer a danger to us."
"Jack, she is not Linea, not in the way that counts. I don't know what it was that made her turn out the way she did, but something terrible must have happened that twisted her into becoming the 'Destroyer of Worlds'. The point is that she no longer has those memories. For over a year she has been helping the people of Vyus with her skills. She is not who she used to be. As far as I'm concerned, as long as she never regains her memories, Linea is dead."
"I do agree with a lot of what you said, Daniel," Sam responded. "The question is, how are we going to deny her the antidote without telling her why? She's going to have to be told."
Daniel sighed. "Yes, I know, and when that time comes, I'll be the one to tell her."
Jack and Teal'c left a short while later, Sam lingering behind.
"You like her," she said.
"Yes, I do. Ke'ra is a good person who's devoted her life to helping others. I want her to stay that person."
Sam paused for quite a while before speaking her next thought. "Daniel, if you and I weren't in a relationship, do you think that you would have reciprocated her feelings for you?"
"My first instinct is to say no. I think it would still be too soon after Sha're's death for that to happen. But I can't really know for sure." Daniel caught her eyes. "But it doesn't matter anyway because I am in a relationship with you. You are the one I want." He stood up. "Come on. I never had lunch, so I'm starving."
The couple headed for the commissary, leaving the issue of Ke'ra for later.
"I'm afraid that it's been confirmed," Janet told the other people in the briefing room. "The DNA samples match."
"So Ke'ra is Linea," Daniel said, wishing that the answer had been a different one.
"Yes."
"For the sake of everyone's safety, then, she will need to be confined to quarters until after the Vyuns' medical issue is resolved," Hammond said.
"And what about afterwards?" Jack asked.
"As long as she is never able to regain her memories, I think she should be allowed to return to Vyus," Daniel replied. "She was doing a lot of good there."
"And what happens, Daniel, if she figures out how to make the antidote someday? She's the one who caused this problem. She could do something even worse next time."
"So you want to throw her in prison for crimes that she doesn't even remember committing? If prison is where we're going to put her, then she needs to be given her memories back so that she at least knows what she did to deserve it."
Janet jumped into the argument. "At this stage, we don't even know if we will be able to find an antidote."
"All right," Hammond said. "Let's put aside that discussion for later. Right now, someone needs to inform Ke'ra that she is confined to quarters."
"I'll do it," Daniel responded. "So what should I tell her? The truth? We're going to have to sooner or later, although I'm betting that she's not going to believe it."
"Tell her only if you have no other choice. At this point, I think it would be best if she did not know."
As Daniel, Janet, and SG-1 waited for the elevator, Sam's eyes were on the archeologist's face. It was easy to see that he was not looking forward to what he was about to do.
"Are you going to be okay, Daniel?" she asked. "Would you like me to come with you?"
"No, I think it's best if I do this alone."
They all rode up the elevator together, Daniel being the first to get off. He could feel the eyes of the others on him, but he did not look back. He came to a stop before the door to Ke'ra's quarters. A guard stood on either side of it. He paused for a couple of seconds, then knocked. When Ke'ra opened the door and saw that it was him, she smiled. He tried to smile back but wasn't quite successful. She must have seen something on his face because her smile faded.
"Is something wrong?"
"May I come in?" Daniel asked.
"Of course."
Ke'ra stepped aside to let him enter. He went to the middle of the room and turned to her.
"There's, uh, been some new developments, so, for now, I'm afraid that you're going to have to remain here in your quarters."
"Why? I do not understand."
"It would probably be best if I didn't explain everything to you now. I will tell you that more happened during the Vorlix than just losing your memories."
"Is that why there are guards outside my door, and I can no longer go anywhere alone?"
Daniel paused before replying. "Yes. I promise that I will explain everything later."
"Is Doctor Fraiser still working toward a cure for our amnesia?"
"Yes. Yes, she is."
"So I can rest assured?"
There was another pause before Daniel said, "Yes."
"Very well. I trust that you will explain what this is about at the right time."
"I will, Ke'ra. Have you had dinner yet? I can have something sent down for you, if you haven't."
"That would be nice. Thank you."
After finding out what she'd like to eat, he placed the call to the kitchen. He told Ke'ra that he'd see her later, then went to his office. He took a seat at his desk and stared at the screen saver on the monitor. The staring went on for about ten minutes before he got back up and went to Sam's lab.
"How did it go?" she asked him.
"All right. I managed to avoid telling her, but she's understandably puzzled about what's going on." Daniel sat on a chair. "You have no idea how much I'm dreading telling her."
"I think I do, Daniel. That would not be an easy thing to tell someone."
Sam came up to him and laid a hand on his back. Feeling how tight the muscles were, she gave him a smile.
"I think that you're the one in need of a massage this time."
"That sounds wonderful, but it'll have to wait until after this whole thing is resolved. I'm going to be staying here tonight. How about you?"
"I'm afraid that it's going to be a long night for me and Janet. We need to get started right away on coming up with an antidote."
"You're going to be helping with that?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah. Not that I'm an expert on that sort of thing. I'll just be helping out where I can."
"Well, I really hope that you guys find the antidote quickly."
Jack and General Hammond walked into the medical lab to find Janet massaging her forehead and Sam sitting with her back to the desk. Neither of them looked very happy.
"Oh my," Jack said. "There is a distinct lack of optimism in this room."
"We've been working around the clock trying to dissolve a chemical inside the brain without harming the surrounding tissue, and it is not easy," Janet responded.
"What have you learned?" Hammond asked.
It was Sam who answered. "That it could take years, sir."
"Suffice it to say, we don't have that much time."
"Unless we get help," Janet said.
"From?" Jack asked. He stooped over and looked through a microscope.
"Ke'ra, sir," Sam replied.
That made Jack stand up straight and stare at her in surprise.
"Absolutely not," General Hammond said in a firm voice.
"Sir, I don't like the idea any more than you," Janet told him, "but, without her knowledge of biochemistry, especially of the residual D'Argol, I don't know if we can reverse the effects of the amnesia in time to prevent a catastrophe on Vyus."
"Doctor, you're asking me to allow a known homicidal maniac to work with potentially lethal substances."
"Yes, sir, but, with all due respect, Daniel may be right. Ke'ra may be an entirely different person than Linea, without the memories that made her the person she was."
Jack felt the need to say something. "Excuse me. Amnesia check. Destroyer of Worlds?"
"Sir, Ke'ra wants nothing more than to help her people," Sam said. "Now, as long as she doesn't take the antidote that she comes up with. . . ."
"There won't be an antidote without her help," Janet added. "So. . . ."
"So . . . it's up to you, sirs."
Jack and Hammond exchanged glances.
"I think a precaution or two might be in order, sir," Jack said hesitantly.
"You're right about that, Colonel."
Daniel and Teal'c were called to the lab. Upon arriving, they were told the situation.
"Colonel O'Neill has informed me that you said you would break the news to Ke'ra about her identity," Hammond said to Daniel.
"Yes, sir. Is that what you want me to do?"
"Only if you believe it is necessary."
"Teal'c is going with you," Jack said. His voice firmed. "It's not optional."
Though Daniel thought that Teal'c's presence was unnecessary, he didn't object. The two of them went to Ke'ra's quarters. Upon being told that she was being taken to the infirmary, the two men who had been guarding her room took up position behind the archeologist and Jaffa.
Daniel knocked on Ke'ra's door. When she opened it and saw the four men, her expression showed her alarm.
"It's all right," Daniel told her soothingly.
"What have I done, Daniel?"
Daniel thought about lying and saying that she hadn't done anything. Instead, he said, "We're going to escort you to the medical lab. Doctor Fraiser needs your help."
Jack was still in the lab when they got there. He stared at Ke'ra for a long moment, then looked one by one at Daniel, Sam and Janet.
"Let me know when you've got something," he said. He then left, giving Ke'ra one final glance.
"Ke'ra, we need your help with the antidote," Janet said. "Sam and I have been working at it almost nonstop, and we've been unable to find a way to dissolve the D'Argol without damaging the surrounding tissue."
Ke'ra stepped forward. "Certainly. May I see what you have done so far?"
"Of course."
The three women got to work. Daniel stayed for several minutes, but he finally decided that he was just wasting time since there was nothing he could do to help. He returned to his office, though he didn't bother trying to return to work since he knew that it would be pointless. Instead, he tried to compose in his head how he was going to tell Ke'ra that she was Linea. Ke'ra knew what Linea had done, Daniel having told her in the library. Now, it would be up to him to tell her that she was Linea, the woman who deliberately created a plague that decimated an entire planet's population.
Hearing a small sound, Daniel looked up to see Jack standing in the doorway.
"You know, you don't have to be the one who tells her," the colonel said as he came into the room and shut the door. "It's not your responsibility."
"I know, but I feel like I need to be the one."
"Why? Because you can break it to her gently?"
Daniel looked away, his gaze falling to the desk.
Jack's gaze turned penetrating. "Or is there another reason? I know you like and respect her. You made that clear. Is there more to it than that?"
Daniel's eyes went back to him. "What are you implying?"
"You tell me."
Daniel's gaze hardened. "I'm in a relationship with Sam, Jack, in case you've forgotten."
"Oh, I'm not likely to forget that, Daniel. I'm just wondering why you have been defending Ke'ra so adamantly."
Daniel rose to his feet. "Because Ke'ra is a good person who has done a lot of good things. Because I think she deserves to be treated as such. How many times in the past have I defended some person or action because I thought it was the right thing to do? You didn't question my motives back then, so why now? Is it because you are so certain that my relationship with Sam hasn't a chance in hell of succeeding that you're now imagining me feeling things for Ke'ra to validate that belief?"
"I didn't say that."
"No, but you're saying something. So tell me, Jack. Why is it that you would think I have feeling for Ke'ra even though I've done nothing more for her than I've done for others in the past?"
Jack looked away. "I don't know."
Daniel's gaze narrowed. "You're lying."
Jack closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "All right, Daniel. I guess I did let my beliefs about your relationship with Carter affect what I saw."
Daniel stared at him. "Do you have any idea how insulting that is, for you to believe that I would get into a relationship with Sam, then switch my attention to the next woman who comes along?"
"Daniel, that's not what I meant, and you know it. You told me yourself that you're not in love with Carter. So how do I know that you're not gonna fall for someone else?"
Daniel's gaze fell again as he thought about Sam and how she worried about the same thing. But then another thought came to his mind, and he returned his gaze to Jack.
"Do you want me to fall for someone else?"
"Of course not," the colonel instantly replied. "I wouldn't want to see Carter get hurt." His eyes then left Daniel's. He picked up an artifact that was on the desk and began playing with it as the archeologist kept staring at him.
A suspicion began growing inside Daniel. "When you accused me of getting into a relationship with Sam just for the sex, I couldn't believe that you would think such a thing of me. I couldn't understand why you got so mad, but now I think I've figured it out."
"Oh, and what do you think you've figured out?" Jack asked, a bite in his tone, his eyes still not meeting Daniel's.
"You have feelings for Sam."
"Daniel, she is under my command. You know that there are regs against stuff like that."
"Regulations can't control how someone feels." Daniel took a step toward his friend. "Jack. Please. I need to know."
Jack was silent for several seconds, then drew in a deep breath. "I guess I . . . I have felt some . . . things for Carter that aren't strictly limited to . . . friendship."
"You're in love with her."
Jack finally looked at Daniel. "No. But I think that it might have gone that way eventually."
Daniel now felt terrible. "I'm sorry."
"You don't owe me an apology, Daniel. Actually, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I let those feelings for Carter affect my reaction to finding out about you and her. The thing is that I didn't even realize it until now. I was jealous, and I didn't even know it. Pretty pathetic."
Daniel shook his head. "No. No, it's not pathetic, Jack. You didn't realize that you were jealous because you don't want to have those kinds of feelings for Sam since nothing can come of it. Sam has no idea, does she."
"No, and she's not going to, because you're not going to tell her. Got it?"
Daniel nodded.
Jack stared into his friend's eyes. "Daniel, though I may feel things for Carter that I shouldn't, I did mean it when I said that I hoped the two of you would prove that I was wrong about your relationship."
Daniel said nothing, only giving Jack a slight nod. He sat back down. Knowing that Jack had feelings for Sam made him feel bad, although, even if he wasn't in a relationship with her, there would never have been one between her and Jack.
"You're not gonna get all weird on me now, are you?"
Jack's voice interrupted Daniel's thoughts. He looked up at the man.
"What?"
"Knowing that I have a bit of a thing for her isn't going to make you uncomfortable, is it?"
"I'll try not to feel that way."
"Good, because there's something that I need to make clear to you. Even if there were no regs against it, and Carter wasn't already in love with you, I'd give a relationship between us a one in ten chance of success. She and I are too different. Any relationship we got into would probably end inside six months. I've known that from the start."
Daniel nodded again, his eyes going to his computer. "If I ask you a question, Jack, will you give me an honest answer?"
"That all depends on the question."
"What odds are you putting on Sam and my relationship?"
"Daniel, you can't expect me to answer that."
"Then at least tell me if you think that the odds are better or worse than you'd give a relationship between you and her."
Jack took quite a while to reply. "I don't know. A bit better, I guess. The thing is that you have a habit of defying the odds. You've done it more times than I can count. Carter's done it a few times, too. So whatever odds I put against you, in the end, it probably wouldn't matter."
Jack headed for the door but was stopped by Daniel's voice.
"Thank you for telling me the truth."
Jack met his eyes, gave him a nod, then left.
