Shadows of Fear – Part 14

"Why PX7-561?"

Major Carter shifted in her chair, her expression distracted. "Ah, it's an ice planet, General. Daniel thought the extreme temperatures might have some effect on the device, maybe stopping it if sending it through the gate didn't."

"What is your opinion, Major?"

"I don't know. I didn't have any time to really examine it, sir, although immersing it in water had no effect. The sub-zero temperatures on PX7-561 might prevent it from doing whatever it was it did."

"Which was? What exactly was that thing? Were those creatures projections or real?"

The major looked down at her notes, but Hammond knew she wasn't really reading them. Like the rest of her team, her thoughts were mainly concentrated on what was happening in the infirmary. He waited a moment, then gave a short cough, bringing the major's attention back to the topic at hand.

"Sorry, sir." She gave a slightly embarrassed smile and sat straighter. When she spoke again her voice was firm. "Doctor Lee and Doctor Chen have assisted me in a full survey of the base. There is no trace remaining of the as yet unidentified emissions given off by the device. From what Janet could tell me it appears the creatures were somehow feeding off Colonel O'Neill's energy, growing stronger and more corporeal as they did so. When we traced the energy readings to the device and threw it through the gate the emissions lessened, but didn't stop completely until the gate shut down." She paused. "At that same moment Colonel O'Neill's heart restarted on its own."

"Why was the colonel the only one initially able to see these things?"

"There's a lot we don't know, sir. Daniel remembers Colonel O'Neill picking the device up in his office soon after SG-7 brought it back from PX6-305, but he wasn't the first to touch it. As far as I could see in the short time I had to examine it, there were no discernable controls on its exterior, and I've examined Daniel's notes and photographs of it and can't see anything other than a smooth unmarked surface. The being Janet spoke to did say the colonel was the only person they were able to feed off, but I can't, as yet, offer any suggestions as to why." She shook her head in dismay. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, General, but other than the few facts I've given you, we really don't know how or why this happened."

"Doctor Jackson has requested he be allowed to visit PX6-305 to see if there are any further artifacts in the ruins that might shed some light on this. I'm very reluctant to allow him to do so. What is your assessment, Major?"

George watched as the woman in front of him hesitated. When she answered it was with obvious reluctance. "I agree with you, sir. We have no idea why Colonel O'Neill was targeted in this way and until we do we can't risk exposing anyone else. I've scanned the other artifacts from that planet in Daniel's office, and on the archeology storage level and so far they seem to be safe, but I would recommend they be disposed of as soon as possible to minimize the risk."

"Very well. See to it. Major."

George tapped his pen against the desk as Major Carter exited his office. Wouldn't Doctor Jackson just love it if he found out where that suggestion had come from!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Daniel raced across the Briefing Room, fuming. Even now a hazmat suited team was packing the artifacts from PX6-305 into hazardous waste containers and instead of going to the planet to investigate more fully, he was being told it was too dangerous to even look at what he already had.

This was a knee-jerk reaction, typical of the military mindset he had to deal with every day.

He raised his hand and knocked firmly on the general's office door.

"Come."

General Hammond was seated at his desk, in the process of putting down the telephone.

"Please sit, Doctor Jackson." He didn't give Daniel a chance to speak as he continued. "I suspect I know why you're here – the disposal of the artifacts found by SG-7. Am I correct?"

"Yes, General. You have to rescind the order, without them I've got no way of finding out what happened to Jack." Daniel saw Hammond about to interrupt and hurried on. "I can understand your refusal to allow me to go to the planet, even if I don't agree with it, but this is just too much. It leaves me with nothing to work with! I've handled those objects numerous times with no ill effect."

He had every intention of continuing his argument, but the general held up a hand and his innate respect for the man caused him to stop.

"SG-7 provided your department with video of any writing found on the remaining walls of the ruins." He looked down at the report on his desk and turned the page. "Plus they did rubbings of as much as they could access. There also is mention here of a recording device similar to ones we have found on other worlds and the information on it has been transcribed and is awaiting translation."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, and I'm working on them, but there could be one vital clue in the objects you're sending through the gate to PX7-561, the one piece of evidence we need ..."

"To do what?" Hammond fixed him with a glare and he felt like a little boy in the principal's office. "I will not risk any more of my people. Colonel O'Neill is lucky to be alive, we might not be so fortunate next time. My orders stand." He pulled a file from his in tray. "Was there anything else, Doctor?"

Daniel bit his tongue, knowing there was no point in arguing once Hammond had made up his mind. He thought about what the general had just said and some of his anger dissipated as he began to see it from Hammond's point of view – the most important consideration for him was the safety of the base, and ultimately, the planet. "No, thank you for seeing me, General."

"You're welcome, son." For the first time in the conversation Hammond smiled at him. "I do understand, and I am sorry."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Apparently he had been dead to the world for over a week, or as close to it as possible if he discounted the times he had woken and gone straight back to sleep. Not that he remembered them.

What he did remember, he really wished he didn't.

The ache in his chest had slowly eased, a result, Janet told him, of being brought back from the brink of death far too many times. She hadn't looked too happy about it when she told him, but the whole episode was a total blank for Jack, after his little hissy fit in the infirmary, that was.

That he did remember, every time Carter visited, which was infrequently because she was so busy. She still moved her arm a little awkwardly, but told him it was fine and not to worry. Yeah – right! And the worst thing about that episode was that, despite every effort he made, everyone had been given the dubious pleasure of witnessing his damned nightmares come to life.

"Colonel, how are you feeling?"

O'Neill sighed, resigned to the fact MacKenzie would be visiting him for as long as he was in the infirmary, and more than likely for a lot longer after he left it.

"I'm peachy, Doctor. Hunky dory, excellent, swell, just dandy, spiffy even."

"Spiffy?"

Pointing towards the television on a stand by the bed, Jack gave a lackluster smile. "Been watching too many reruns of old British shows."

"I take it you're bored. Now why does that not surprise me?" MacKenzie pulled the visitor's chair over closer and sat, his briefcase on his lap. "Now, Colonel ..." He opened the briefcase and took out a notepad and pen. "In our last session you expressed your concern that others might be dismayed by the visions and judge you because of that."

"I did?" Jack leaned forward, trying to peer at the words written on the paper but only catching a glimpse of some illegible squiggles. He thought back to the last time he'd talked to MacKenzie, remembering his rather furious assertion that 'they shouldn't have had to see all that death.' "Okay, maybe I did, although I didn't put it exactly in those words."

"You didn't need to – that's my job."

Jack snorted. "So I guess I don't need to talk to you anymore? I'll go back to sleep and you listen to my snores and write down their deep hidden meanings?"

"Not going to happen, O'Neill. You have to put as much effort into this as I do."

"Or what?"

"Or I won't sign you off for active duty." The psychiatrist couldn't conceal his smirk at Jack's annoyed growl. "Back to the topic."

"Must we?"

Ignoring him, MacKenzie fixed Jack with a stare. "Why are you so concerned about your team and the infirmary staff seeing the alien visions? They're not naive rookies, they're all professionals. Your teammates have seen such horrors many times over the years and the infirmary staff are used to injury and death."

"These were deaths I caused. There's a difference." The sheer numbers had almost overwhelmed him, and he couldn't even begin to imagine how it must have seemed to anyone watching – mangled body, after mangled body.

"Were they?" The doctor's voice was firm and Jack looked up from his hands, puzzled. "I thought we had clearly established they weren't all people whose deaths you'd in some way caused?. Remember Ba'al? Were there others? Think about it."

Of course he remembered Ba'al.

"Akmar."

"Who?"

Jack shook his head. "It doesn't matter. But he wasn't dead when ..." His words trailed off.

"When?"

His hand sliced through the air, cutting off the doctor's question. "The point is that there was at least one other person that wasn't dead when I saw them last. And if there was one, there could have been more."

"Exactly." MacKenzie sat back with an air of satisfaction. "What do you think the visions had in common?"

"I don't know."

"Doctor Jackson thinks they were feeding off your emotions."

"You've talked about this with Daniel?" Jack couldn't help the startled tone he knew was in his voice – he would never have expected Daniel to discuss anything with the psychiatrist, not with their history.

The other man nodded. "I had a long discussion with both Major Carter and Doctor Jackson in an effort to better understand the events." He hurried on as Jack frowned. "Only the research they had done was discussed, nothing you have talked to me about." Jack settled back down, and MacKenzie continued, "If Doctor Jackson is correct, identifying that emotion will go a long way to you putting these events behind you." He looked down at his notes again. "Doctor Jackson mentioned that when you experienced the first vision he thought it was of your dead son."

"It wasn't."

The doctor didn't seem concerned by the curtness. "Did you see your son at any time during these events?" He moved a little further forward in the chair. "I understand this is painful for you, Colonel, but I do need to ask these questions."

Wrenching words from deep within him, Jack managed to answer, his attention fixed on his intertwined hands. "No I didn't see Charlie. I wish I had."

"Even though you feel responsible for his death?"

Moisture prickled at the corner of Jack's eyes, but he blinked it back and kept his head down. "Even though I am responsible for his death. I could never be afraid to see Charlie – ever."

"Afraid?" A hand held his arm in a soft grip. "Jack, were you afraid of the others?"

He nodded. "Some of them - of what they thought of me. I know Charlie would never blame me. The others, my enemies – I think I was more afraid of what they stood for than worried about blame. There were so many …"

"And Ba'al, and the other, Akmar wasn't it? Were you afraid of them?"

"Fuck yes!" Fury blazed for a moment as he spat out the words. "Wouldn't you be?" But he knew MacKenzie couldn't understand. He didn't know about Akmar and he could barely conceive of what Jack had experienced at the hands of Ba'al.

Fear – it was his fear they had fed off. And it had almost killed him.

MacKenzie's calm voice broke into his franticly racing thoughts. "I think we've made a good start, Colonel." Jack blinked a couple of times and looked up to meet the man's eyes. "Now we can look forward to far more in depth sessions to address the deep- seated emotion. Excellent!"

Oh crap!

Jack shut his eyes, hoping desperately, for the first time in weeks, to fall asleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Epilogue

"There's a call for you on line two, General. Doctor Jackson."

Jack grimaced. He had an appointment with the French ambassador in fifteen minutes and he hadn't managed to have anything to eat since eight in the morning.

Still, it wasn't often Daniel called him at the Pentagon. "Put him through."

He waited for the buzz to show the call was waiting before picking up the receiver. "Hi there, Daniel, what can I do you for?"

"We've found out what it was. It was an experiment the Ancients were doing that went wrong and they abandoned it but that explains everything. It's really lucky one of Janet's nurses went with the Atlantis expedition otherwise probably no one would have connected …"

"Whoa! Breathe! I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But ..."

"You're talking to someone who's been doing nothing but negotiate treaties for the last week. I'm not use to hearing anything but boring and extremely tedious diplobabble. Slow down and start again."

There was a pause and Jack could just imagine the expression on his friend's face as he glared into the phone.

"You remember back a few years, when you had those nightmares that came to life?"

Jack stopped smiling. "Oh, yeah!"

"They've discovered some records in Atlantis relating to that artifact."

A memory of a shiny blue stone flashed through Jack's mind. "Go on."

"The Ancients were studying ascension and in the process were experimenting with other dimensions ..."

"Like that machine that made everyone see those big psychedelic bugs?"

"Yes, maybe, I wasn't around for that. But anyway, these weren't from an Earth dimension – they were an offworld one. There aren't many details, just that the creatures from another dimension scanned the scientists' minds and latched on to their emotions in an effort to take physical form. The Ancients abandoned the experiment after some of the scientists were driven mad."

"And they just left their mess lying around for someone else to stumble across? Typical."

"No, Jack, not just anyone, only someone with Ancient genes. That's why you were the one that activated the device and why only you could see them at first. And it wasn't meant to be left on, just activated for brief periods of time. It wasn't turned off after you activated it and these other dimensional beings had the chance to latch on to your memories."

Jack sat back and stretched his legs out in front of him. "Well, nice though it is to find out what it was all about, does this knowledge have any practical use? I mean, can we use the same technology to produce anything we think of out of thin air? Like that Weird Science TV show babe?" He looked over at the pile of reports on his desk. "Or a supermodel with the ability to read fast and do bullet summaries?"

There was a loud sigh and an audible swallow on the other end of the line. "No Jack, there is no practical use for the information."

A light tap sounded on the door and Jack's secretary popped her head around it. "Sorry to interrupt, General, the Secretary of Defence is on line four."

He nodded and gave her a wave to show he'd heard. "Sorry Daniel, got to run. Say hi to everyone for me. Oh, and thanks for clearing up the mystery. Make sure Doctor MacKenzie gets a copy of the report. I'm sure, deep down, he's always thought I was crazy." He listened to his friend's goodbyes, then pressed another button. "Mr Secretary, great to hear from you so soon. Have you had a chance to look over my proposal ..."

The End

Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone. I hope you enjoyed the story. A new General Jack is my next project.