Impediment
 
 
by Travelling One
 
 
Email: travelling_one@yahoo.ca
Website: http://www.travellingone.com/
Season: 4
Summary: Confusion plus frustration equals no mission accomplished. (On the less serious side… wouldn't you think more missions would turn out this way?)
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM Global Holdings Inc, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. I have written this story for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Any original characters, situations, and storylines are the property of the author.
 
February/06
___________________
 
1100 hours, Earth time
 
 
"He isn't awakening."
 
"The decontamination might have been too potent. His body rhythms seem steady, however."
 
"You're sure about that?"
 
They gazed down upon the unconscious form, uncertain of what to do. Until he woke up and spoke to them, they were helpless. No signs of trauma could be detected.
 
"He has a pulse." Whether it was normal or not, couldn't really be ascertained.
 
"No visible signs of trauma. No bleeding or obvious injury."
 
"The imaging will detect any broken bones. Help me get pictures of his limbs and torso."
 
As they held him steady for the scans, Daniel heard sounds and began to surface from his haze. Opening heavy eyes, his heart lurched and a gasp issued involuntarily from his throat. Pressing his arms and legs down flat to the surface of a glowing transparent glass plate were four thickly skinned, short, plump, blubbery grayish reptilian creatures, clothed from head to foot in brown and green shimmering robes.
 
_____
 
"Get the hell off me!" Jack spat, struggling against the arms of the creatures holding him down. Waking up on a glass slide plate like a culture specimen when his team had gated to a wide white parking lot barren of any life forms, had him angry and unnerved. "Where's the rest of my team?" he demanded.
 
"He appears angry," Sosta remarked to Ribon, observing the loud thrashing behaviour. "Perhaps this is his problem."
 
"It might be a head injury."
 
"We cannot work on him in this state."
 
"We cannot work on him at all, without knowing his illness."
 
"We can do some tests on his head. Our instruments might reveal something."
 
"But their physiology is not the same as ours."
 
"We can compare the four aliens. We will figure this out, Carohan. But for the time being, this alien is being too violent." And with that decision made, they put Jack back under and pulled up the transparent sides of his bed so as not to have him roll off and hurt himself.
 
_____
 
"This one, too, is distressed."
 
"Yet he neither thrashes nor screams."
 
They curiously scrutinized Teal'c, the Jaffa's voice loud and abrupt. They watched the large dark alien glaring at them, then observed as he stopped moving, mouth set, to stare straight up at the foam rubber ceiling.
 
"The animal in his belly must be the source of his discomfort." Sosta looked thoughtful.
 
"At least we know where to begin with this one."
 
_____
 
Carter was studying the room. It was clean and sterile, and the contraptions jutting from the walls surrounding her were completely unfamiliar. If she could see how they worked, what they were for, she might have a clue as to why she was here. This specimen plate she was lying on - at least that's what it reminded her of - wasn't the glass that it appeared to be. It was lit from the inside and minutely pliable, it's thin depth filled with some sort of gelatinous substance, making it rather comfortable to lie on. Even so, Carter couldn't shake the sensation of being a culture sample contained here for examination. Her imagination didn't have to drift too far to believe that the large cylindrical window hanging out of the ceiling directly above her head could even be a microscope.
 
And where were the others? SG1 had gated to a seemingly unhostile environment, and the next thing she knew, she'd woken up here. Alone, until seconds later those four oddly formed creatures surrounding her had walked in through the wall mirror. She had remained silent as they manipulated objects over her body, listening to their vocalizations. She could make out nothing useful.
 
_____
 
"Who are you? Where are my teammates, my friends?" Daniel quietly questioned. The aliens were touching him all over, holding him down, pressing that white machine with the suction heads along his body that kept making those clicking sounds. So far, they hadn't hurt him.
 
"He's making noise. Is it speech, do you think?" Fram gazed upon Daniel curiously.
 
"I hope not. We'll never be able to understand him, if it is." Ribon responded. "What on Videlema is wrong with this one, anyway?"
 
"Beats me. But as he came here with the others via the AmbuTransit, he must have come for assistance."
 
"You'd think they'd at least have a translator message. Who do you think sent them?"
 
Sosta shrugged. "Haven't seen aliens quite like these in centuries. Slipe's gone to check the archives; we might have indications of them somewhere."
 
Daniel watched the aliens apparently conversing, the vibrations and grumbling impossible to decipher. Communication was out of the question; somehow, he would have to find a way out of this room on his own before searching for his teammates. Perhaps they were already searching for him. God, how he hated waking up alone on alien worlds.
 
Nothing they'd expected had prepared him for this. Gating to a huge room, there had been that white shiny wall behind them, and all those bubble machines…
 
___________________
 
0900 hours, Earth time
 
 
SG1 stepped out of the event horizon, knowing exactly what they'd see upon arrival. MALP telemetry had revealed - just beyond the flat white panel covered in Stargate addresses, apparently serving as an updated version of a DHD - a roomful of machinery, all of it identical; round tops on cylindrical rollers. They were mostly all about seven feet in height, except for the few that had two or three round balls balanced one on top of the other, like large grayish-purple metallic snowmen. Snowmen on rollers.
 
Now they could tell that behind them as well was nothing but a white wall, no doorway in sight. To their left and right the room narrowed, descending into two brightly lit tunnels, like entrances to a parking garage. Above their heads were dozens of small criss-crossing panels of glass, letting in the natural light from the sky.
 
Come to think of it…
 
"I think these are cars." Daniel chewed his lip in thought, frowning at the series of floor tracks.
 
"Cars?" Jack's eyebrows lifted high.
 
"Or equipment vehicles."
 
"Sir, I think he may be right. These… um…" Carter paused, searching for an appropriate description as her hand waved towards the contraptions.
 
"Marbles?" Jack offered. The spherical tops looked like humungous opaque marbles, balancing on each other. Balancing on the horizontal cylinders.
 
"Marbles; yes, Sir. If you look closely, you can see these marbles are slightly translucent; I think they have the same visual configurations as two-way mirrors. The rollers could function as wheels."
 
"Okay. So we're in a parking lot?"
 
"That assumption's as good as any, Sir."
 
Hey Carter, I was kidding.
 
"That would be my guess too, Jack."
 
Teal'c said nothing.
 
"Okay; two walls, two tunnels -"
 
"And one door?" Daniel was pointing to a real mirror, flat and rectangular, at the far edge of the opposite wall, partially obscured by dozens of parked… marbles.
 
"Sure. Why not. " Shrugging, Jack maneuvered his way between the vehicles, until he, followed by his team, had reached the wall. Gingerly, zat in hand, he poked the mirror, and his arm disappeared through.
 
"Whoa!" He abruptly pulled it back, looking at it both back and front as if verifying that his hand was still in one piece.
 
"What if it takes us to another reality?" The thought chilled Carter.
 
With a moment's consideration, Daniel shook his head. "I don't think so. When we encountered our other mirror, the moment we touched it we were on the other side. If they all work the same way - "
 
"I shouldn't be standing here with you right now," Jack completed the thought, as Daniel nodded pensively.
 
"Then I'd guess this may be more like the Tollans' anti-matter technology, Sir. They could walk through walls." And intact irises.
 
Staring at his reflection, Jack gaped. Then, deciding that they would just have to take the chance at arriving on the other side safely, he passed through the mirror, with the rest of SG1 following closely behind…
 
… and stepped out onto a wide raised sidewalk.
 
Whizzing past with a wind that made their hair fly were those giant marbles of all colours, metallic and shiny, their surfaces reflecting as mirrors would. In spite of the momentum of the endless traffic racing by, each and every vehicle remained exactly the same distance apart, and the pace had to have been at least 200 miles per hour. With the roadway filled with the speeding cars, it was hard to even glimpse - or identify - what the surface of the road itself was made of.
 
"O'Neill."
 
To their right, Teal'c was leaning over a waist-high glass partition, the extent of which stretched out behind them like a railing over the motorways below. Criss-crossing from all directions and multiple levels, the intersecting freeways looked like a massive spiderweb of colourful marbles racing past beneath them. To their immediate left, the parking garage jutted out over the motorways below on it's own personal platform, built as if to defy gravity. Only its wall and the glass partition beside it kept them from plunging straight down.
 
"Whoa." The momentum and commotion mesmerized him, and Jack found he could do nothing but stare.
 
"I'd almost think we were at a bus shelter," Daniel commented, the small stretch of raised sidewalk abruptly ending at a freeway ramp, two dozen feet to either side.
 
"Or taxi stand," Sam nodded.
 
Directly across from them, no more than two hundred feet away, was a single white oval building, but being unable to leave this platform on foot without getting run over, access to it was impossible. The rest of their surroundings were flat and open, nothing but fields and freeways. Far off in the distance in every direction they turned was a single connected series of white buildings, reaching 360º around the distant horizon and fading into the hazy atmosphere and light, nearly white, sky. It was as though there was a wall of attached buildings completely surrounding this city. Or the city itself surrounded this interlocking freeway, more likely. Perhaps all the roads in this community were here in this central circular valley.
 
"Interesting city planning."
 
"I'd say so."
 
"Okay... Anyone see any way out of here?" The marbles kept whizzing past.
 
"I do not."
 
Daniel shook his head. "I think anyone coming out of the stargate is supposed to use one of the vehicles."
 
"Like a rental car?"
 
"Daniel," Sam suggested, "maybe the cars belong to people who go through the 'gate to work."
 
"Talk about commuting," Jack whistled.
 
"You mean like us?" Daniel half grinned at his CO.
 
"Touché." Jack slapped the other man on the arm. "Seeing as the ones in there are all the same colour, I'm going with rental car. But as we don't know how those things work, we can't borro -"
 
Jack's remark was cut off as four marbles dipped out of the traffic flow and rolled up onto the sidewalk beside them. As they stopped, doors in the round tops opened downwards, creating ramps - with rung-like steps - to the ground. No one descended; the interiors were empty.
 
"Uh, are those for us?"
 
Before anyone could respond, a misty haze poured from the doorways and surrounded them, and the four travellers found themselves unable to move. Suddenly the upper layer of sidewalk slid apart, dividing into the four squares upon which they were standing. Slowly the partitions began to shift, conveying their four stunned passengers into place in front of the ramps. Like suction from a powerful vacuum, the members of SG1 were inhaled by the marbles and scooped upwards into the rounded interiors, each of them being gently placed in their own private vehicle, still immobilized. The interiors were much smaller than the outer appearance had led them to believe; each sphere could only contain a single individual.
 
That was the first thing Daniel realized.
 
The second thing he noticed was that these cars, for want of a better word, were definitely transparent from the inside.
 
The third thought racing through his brain was, "How does it know where we want to go?"
 
As the car whipped into full speed on the freeway and rounded a twist, heading behind their taxi stand and circling towards that large white oval building, Daniel felt himself falling asleep.
 
___________________
 
1130 hours Earth time
 
 
No matter how hard he tried to remember, Daniel couldn't come up with what had happened next. Obviously the car had taken him here, to this lab, but why? Were all newcomers treated this way? Was that gate just supposed to service workers in their daily commute? Was the rest of his team here as well? He was the only one lying down here in this sterile white room.
 
Three aliens were off in a corner conversing, although the sounds they were making were not even identifiable… unless you were a dolphin, perhaps. Or a penguin. As his eyes surveyed the room, Daniel could see nothing with which he could overpower them. They hadn't tied him down, but the metallic layers of equipment directly above him, buzzing quietly, didn't leave enough space for him to rise. Trying unsuccessfully to push it out of the way, he stopped moving as the aliens turned to look in his direction. Daniel frowned at what he thought might be a surprised but curious expression on their protruding faces.
 
"Um, I'd like to leave?" Daniel motioned calmly towards what he suspected might be the exit, an arched mirror in the opposite wall. "Home? I want to go back to the stargate."
 
"He has to be trying to say something to us," Ribon decided.
 
"He hasn't realized we can't understand him."
 
"Perhaps he is unable to communicate properly."
 
"Are you suggesting something is wrong with his speech controls?"
 
Sosta shrugged. "We haven't scanned the brain. And seeing as his bones are intact…"
 
"There is still the possibility of an illness."
 
"We can't really do anything about that though, can we."
 
"Alright then, brain scan, like the other one needed."
 
Daniel stared in fear as they brought a metallic cap closer to his face. "No! Don't do that!" he warned helplessly, as it was fitted around his head and secured in place. From the corner of his eye he could see a console and knobs being twisted, and then he fell asleep.
 
_____
 
Jack awoke groggily, trying to get his bearings. He felt as though he'd been underwater for hours, and for some reason, his shoulder hurt.
 
Suddenly the memories returned, and the faces of four reptiles touching him flashed into his mind.
 
Yes, they'd put vibrating metal pieces all over his body, and then something on his head. That metallic cap was still in place, and he grasped it. It seemed to be stuck.
 
He couldn't see anything in the room that might serve as a weapon, but seeing as he wasn't secured…
 
Just as he swung his legs over the side of the platform, three of the aliens marched back in.
 
The squeaks unnerved him as they scampered towards his slab. Quickly they held him down, while one grasped his head.
 
"Damn you. Leave me alone! What the hell kind of experiments are you doing on us?" Jack's eyes flashed in anger and then fear, as he realized his last words had included the rest of his team. Where were they, anyway? His motor vehicle had been behind those of Daniel and Teal'c, so he knew they'd both come in the same direction. He could only assume that Carter's had been following behind his. After turning off that ramp, though, he could remember nothing. It seemed as though he'd just fallen asleep.
 
Yes.
 
The air in the cars had been drugged, and they'd been brought here for experimentation.
 
Damn it.
 
Struggling in the grasp that was now removing the headgear, Jack fought to get free. He'd take them all on at once if he had to, although their stout short bodies looked pretty damn solid. Like trying to punch out an upright Komodo Dragon.
 
"Leave me the hell alone! Where's the rest of my team?" Jack already knew they didn't speak in anything intelligible, but maybe they could still understand English. Yeah, right. Well, they obviously knew how to do tests on humans. That had to count for something. Jack kicked out.
 
"Wasco! This one's a doozy. He's dangerous!"
 
"What should we do with him?"
 
"I have no idea. We can't help him this way. What about giving him brain fluid from the calm one?"
 
"Think it will work?"
 
Carohan shrugged. "Just an idea."
 
"For the time being, put him back under." Another tube was prepared, and administered to the struggling Jack's shoulder.
 
_____
 
"I do not want this done!" Teal'c had remained placid and cooperative, until that metallic band was placed around his bare waist - right over his symbiotic pouch. He could not allow any experiments to be done on Junior; if the larva were to be injured in any way, it could mean his own life. And right now, he had to think of a way to search for his teammates. "Remove it now!" As he tried to bat their hands away and grab the band, he could feel his symbiote slipping into sleep. Within moments, his own hands dropped to the glass-like bed, too heavy to lift. Then Teal'c, too, closed his eyes and slept.
 
_____
 
Sam was, for the moment at least, alone in the room, and unrestrained. How long she had been left this way was impossible to determine, but she'd woken up just minutes ago. The suction cups that had been slid all over her body had left itchy red marks, and the reptilian hands all over her left an unpleasant tingling memory. But she seemed unhurt, and had every intention of staying that way.
 
She sat up slowly, swinging her legs over the side of the gelatinous plate. Stepping onto the cold white floor in bare feet, another tingling vibration scurried up her spine. She still had on her fatigues, but there was no sign of her weapons. There was nothing in this room that could be used to defend herself. For now, she would concentrate on getting out of here and finding the rest of SG1. She could only assume and hope they had all been brought to this place; she'd seen their cars all heading in the same direction before she'd passed out.
 
_____
 
Daniel eyed the liquids. Above, the aliens were staring down at him. They'd been there since he'd woken up, and they'd removed that cold thing on his head. Not knowing what it was for, all he could do was try to ensure that all his knowledge and memories were still intact.
 
Then they'd brought those murky green liquids in, and placed them before him. Was he supposed to drink them? Was this nourishment, or drugs? Or was his nourishment drugged? Even though he was extremely thirsty, he would not even consider drinking that stuff. "No." Daniel pushed it away, sitting up. His eyes scanned the room; if he made a break for it, they'd definitely catch him.
 
They pushed the liquids back.
 
"No." Daniel pushed the wide tubes away again. Déjà vu.
 
A squeak came from one of the aliens. He sounded like a gecko.
 
"EnhO? What's that?" Puzzled, Ribon looked at his colleagues. "Twice he's made that sound."
 
"And he's pushed the soup away."
 
"EnhO? 'I don't want it', maybe?"
 
Daniel heard the sound again. Was it trying to say No? He tried again, but the aliens just stared at him, making more odd sounds.
 
"Look, I want to find my friends. Where are they?" Daniel knew he was not restrained, although that was probably because it was presently four against one and they had the advantage. Still, he had to take a chance. Sliding his bare feet onto the floor and standing, Daniel was startled and momentarily caught off-guard by a tingling vibration. Seeing hands coming towards him, he scooted out of the way, banging his hand hard into a metallic stand.
 
"Ow!" He shook his hand, seeing a large red bruise already forming.
 
By now, the aliens had reached him and guided him back onto the brightly lit transparent slab, and his heart picked up speed. He hated the look of that thing, and the impression it gave. Bit it was four against one, and they were strong.
 
He'd try another time, when they left him alone. Although, there might be guards permanently stationed outside his… mirror. He had no idea what was beyond this room.
 
Suspiciously, Daniel watched as one of them removed a small device from a pouch around its waist, and came closer.
 
"Don't! I don't want you to touch me any more." What were these tests for anyway? What were they planning to do with him and his teammates? What the hell was this place?
 
The alien grabbed Daniel's hand - not roughly, but gently - and ran the cool, vibrating surface of the device over the bruise. When the machine was removed, the welt was gone, and Daniel's hand no longer ached.
 
He stared at his hand, frowning. The alien moved back to stand with the others.
 
"Why did you do that?" Daniel asked, puzzled. Were they lab researchers, or healers? Or did they do their experiments, and then heal the damage?
 
Aware that this staring contest would get him nowhere, Daniel leaned forward, pointing to a blister on his toe.
 
Within moments, that had been healed too.
 
Then one of the aliens took hold of Daniel's other foot, searching it visually. Daniel pulled it away. "It's fine." The alien cocked its head.
 
"Try something else," Sosta advised Fram as the others all looked on curiously. Somehow, they believed the beginnings of communication were going on here, however primitive. "You don't think he came all the way here for that blister, do you?"
 
"Maybe."
 
"Ask him what else hurts."
 
Fram reached for Daniel's other hand, turning it over. Again, Daniel pulled away. "It's fine," he repeated.
 
Fram then tried to lift the alien's shirt, but Daniel instinctively knocked the hands away. "I'm fine." Fram pulled back. "Evhn" came the sound.
 
"Fine," Daniel repeated slowly. "Wait." He loosened his belt and pointed to his appendectomy scar. He knew they'd already seen it; they'd thoroughly examined his body. "Scar."
 
Within moments his scar had vanished, healed by the device. This wasn't Goa'uld technology, but it certainly worked the same way.
 
"Evhn?"
 
Daniel nodded. "Fine."
 
Excitedly, Ribon had an idea. "Wait here," he told the others, and raced from the room. Daniel watched curiously.
 
For five minutes the aliens and the Tau'ri stared at each other. Then Ribon returned, a stack of flat round buttons in his hand. Dropping one into a white boxlike machine, Daniel watched curiously as a holographic image appeared on the wall. A few years ago this would have astonished him.
 
The image was of another alien, similar to those in the room, this one with a damaged hand. A second picture materialized over it with the drop of another button-like object into the machine, an image of the same alien with its hand healed. Ribon pointed to the second image. "Evhn?"
 
"Fine," Daniel nodded. Pointing to the first one, he said, "hurt." Then, "This one's fine."
 
A series of similar pictures were displayed, and each time Daniel said fine, his realization grew. These aliens healed. All those injuries, healed.
 
This was a hospital.
 
Daniel grinned. Out of bed now, as he'd been throughout most of the slide show, he had felt free for the first time since waking up in this odd place. He met eyes with one of the aliens, and pointed to his own body, drawing his hands from shoulders to knees. "Fine. All fine," he said.
 
The gestures seemed clear, matching Fram's interpretation of evhn. "So why are you here?" Fram looked from Daniel to the others standing there with him. "If he's telling us he's not damaged, why has he come?" Intrigued as he was, he was finding this situation so very frustrating.
 
"Perhaps he came here only for the others?"
 
"No one comes to just sit and wait. Healing only takes minutes, if they bring explanations."
 
"Here's a thought. Maybe no one they know knows our language and this one came to try to learn it? So he can tell us what's wrong with the others!" Why wouldn't they have just marked their bodies, in that case? These aliens were certainly very odd.
 
Sosta, Carohan, and Fram all patted Ribon on the back. "I think you might be right."
 
"Alright then; we know the biggest one came for removal of the eel," Sosta reasoned. "And the other male seems to have a head injury or emotional deficit. But the female is a complete mystery."
 
"We suspect she's unable to bear children."
 
"That's conjecture," Sosta shook his head. "We have no proof."
 
"Which is why we haven't worked on her yet. We need to do more tests."
 
"Well, here's an idea. Let's take him to the others now and he can tell us which part of them is not well."
 
The doctors nodded in agreement, and Daniel surprisingly found himself being guided through the mirrored door and out of the room.
 
_____
 
For the second time, Jack had awoken alone in the lab. This time, however, no one had returned as he'd lifted himself off the squishy glass platform.
 
Damn. The cupboards were sealed, and everything on the shelves seemed too heavy to lift. He'd seen those aliens using some of that equipment effortlessly, though, but he couldn't even move any of it from the shelf. It was as if it was all bolted down… or had some sort of force field around it. He couldn't see a way to remove the shelf, either.
 
The most important thing, anyway, was to find where his teammates were being kept. Somewhere nearby, most likely.
 
Hopefully.
 
As Jack stepped cautiously through his mirrored door, he glanced down the hall. Bright white, with transparent doors along the way. One way transparency, at any rate.
 
And there were the aliens stepping out of one… with Daniel in their center.
 
Jack ducked back into his room, relieved and bothered at the same time. Daniel appeared unhurt, thankfully, and he was mobile. Where they were taking him though was worrisome, so there was no time to waste. If they were heading his way, he had to be ready to catch them off-guard the minute they passed. He'd have to listen carefully; as closely as he peered at it, he couldn't see a thing through the doorway.
 
Four against two; that narrowed the odds and made an escape more plausible. With an adrenaline rush he could take out two of them, probably. Daniel could handle one. The fourth - well, he'd have to cross that bridge when he came to it. Maybe Daniel could take on two as well.
 
Jack practically held his breath, until finally the footsteps could be heard pausing just outside the door.
 
He could hope they were putting Daniel in here with him… but that seemed unlikely, as there was only one petri dish.
 
No, he'd have to make his move now…
 
Jumping out of the doorway, Jack flung himself at the nearest alien, throwing him against the wall and landing a punch.
 
"Wasco!" Sosta shouted in surprise and shock. "The disturbed one's gone and released himself! Watch out!" Without risking injury to themselves, none of the doctors could see a way to safely stop him.
 
About to strike once more, Jack heard Daniel's frantic voice, then felt a tight grip on his arm.
 
"No, Jack! Stop!" Ready to shove, Jack turned with vengeance in his eyes.
 
"Stop it! Don't!" The hand holding his arm belonged to Daniel.
 
Still consumed with anger and fear, Jack steadied himself slowly, seeing the aliens watching in shock from behind Daniel. He judged it to be shock, at any rate. Hard to tell.
 
As Jack pulled himself away from a downed and scared Fram, the others raced to the aid of their battered colleague, pulling the device from Fram's pouch.
 
"Wh-y?" Jack drawled out, his eyes narrowing at Daniel's part in their foiled escape attempt. "What have they done to you?"
 
"Nothing, Jack. This is a hospital."
 
"What?" With his face twisted into an incredulous scowl, it was obvious to Daniel that Jack needed a little more convincing.
 
He was almost up to the challenge. "They're healers."
 
"They used things on me - "
 
"Did they hurt you?"
 
"No. Not exactly."
 
"They were examining you."
 
The aliens, now overcoming their trepidation of this violent one, remained wary. They could see him calming and they pointed at Daniel, whispering among themselves. "That one's good. He's calmed the fiery one down."
 
"Maybe he's a mind healer?" Sosta suggested.
 
"Yeah, well, if he can heal that one, we can sure use him here. Think he wants a job?"
 
"What I don't get, is if he could fix this guy, why did he bring him here in the first place?"
 
"Maybe that one's got another problem too."
 
"Like woman troubles?" Ribon snorted.
 
The others chuckled. "That could make him cranky."
 
Truly impressed by Daniel's calming abilities, they continued to watch without further interruption.
 
"Tell them you're fine, Jack."
 
"What? How am I supposed to do that?"
 
Daniel indicated Jack's body from head to foot. "Fine," he said. "Now you tell them."
 
Eyeing Daniel suspiciously but trusting the man with his life, Jack obliged. "Yeah, I'm fine."
 
Sosta and Fram looked at each other. "Your head?" Fram pointed to Jack's head.
 
"Fine," Daniel and Jack both echoed.
 
"Arms?" Fram lifted Jack's arms as the CO pulled away.
 
"Fine!"
 
"Heart?"
 
That thing's hand on his chest sure felt weird. "Fine," Jack proclaimed, still wondering what the hell was going on here but starting to get used to this.
 
The doctors were beginning to wonder if these aliens had just come to check up on them. Some intergalactic consumer board?
 
"Alright, you're fine; fine. Then let's go to the one who swallowed that live animal."
 
_____
 
Teal'c was lying in bed, and appeared to be asleep.
 
"Teal'c?"
 
The Jaffa's eyes shot open. "O'Neill! Daniel Jackson!" Emotions of relief swarmed him, and then he remembered. His eyes shot down towards his belly. "They attempted to remove my symbiote!" The metallic belt was gone, and Junior was still in there, feeling lethargic but alive. Teal'c regained his almost-lost composure.
 
Daniel's eyes opened wide with a realization. "Do you want them to?"
 
"I do not understand," Teal'c frowned.
 
"This is a hospital, Teal'c. They could probably remove your symbiote and leave you healthy."
 
Teal'c glanced at O'Neill.
 
"Don't look at me, I have no idea," Jack shrugged.
 
Teal'c stared once again at Daniel for a few long moments. "I do not wish for them to do such a thing." He decided.
 
"Okay. Then tell them you're fine."
 
Puzzled and frowning, the Jaffa pondered the odd behaviour of his teammate. He did not understand how he could inform the creatures that he was alright, but Daniel Jackson was here, O'Neill was here, and neither of them were being threatened at the moment by these aliens. Daniel Jackson was brilliant at communicating with alien races; perhaps he was now able to do so as well.
 
"Tell them, Teal'c," Jack agreed with a tilt of his head. Listen to my buddy Daniel here, weird as he's acting at the moment.
 
Teal'c sat up, inclining his head towards the aliens. "I am indeed well."
 
"Uh, no, Teal'c. Tell them you're fine."
 
"Did I not just do so?"
 
"Fine, Teal'c. Say fine." Daniel thumbed towards Teal'c and smiled at the alien doctors. "He's fine."
 
"I am fine."
 
With what may have been a frown, Fram pointed at Teal'c's pouch.
 
"Fine," three SG1 members chimed in unison, and Teal'c rose to join the others, hands covering his midsection. Jack threw him the jacket that he'd noticed lying across a shelf.
 
Sosta was as puzzled as his colleagues. "What do you guys think is going on here?"
 
"Haven't got a clue," Ribon replied, "but I think we'd better take them to what seems to be their female."
 
As the doctors left the room, three quarters of SG1 followed through the mirror.
 
_____
 
"Oh-oh." Carohan stopped abruptly, concerned and appalled. "We've lost her." The female was not where they'd left her. This was definitely not good. Why would she have left without receiving treatment?
 
"Maybe she has a sleepwalking problem?" Ribon wondered, then turned to see the reactions on the newcomers' faces. He dreaded that the violent man would revert to his previous aggressive tendencies, and could only hope that the one with the windows hanging over his nose would continue to have a calming effect over him. Perhaps that was what the windows were for; to help him see into the soul. They could use someone like that around this place. They could learn from him.
 
SG1 could see that Carter was not in there, as they discovered upon entering what they assumed was her room. Jack was preparing to lose his temper. "What the hell have they done with her?" he growled.
 
"Jack." Daniel put a hand on his CO's shoulder. "We weren't restrained. There was nothing to stop Sam leaving the same way you did."
 
Realizing Daniel was probably right he asked hopefully, "So you think she's around here looking for us?" He met Daniel's earnest blue gaze.
 
"I do."
 
The doctors saw - or heard - the anger rise in Jack's demeanor and tone, and the calming presence of Daniel, and watched in admiration. "He's good!" Fram exclaimed, and the others solemnly nodded.
 
Jack turned abruptly and left through the mirrored doorway one more time, the others trailing in single file.
 
_____
 
They'd turned into three different corridors before hearing the voice. "Colonel!"
 
There, now trying unsuccessfully to sprint towards them, escorted by two aliens gripping her arms tightly, was Carter.
 
"Sam!" Daniel rushed up, the new aliens looking suspiciously at the group, their own co-workers taking up the rear. "Are you alright?"
 
"Basically. I was looking for you guys," she said forlornly, realizing her team had all been re-captured. "They caught me."
 
"Release her," Sosta ordered Figule and Kreyhar.
 
Kreyhar was puzzled. "She left her room. She seemed disoriented… are these the new creatures that everyone's been talking about?"
 
"Yeah. They're all… healthy, it seems, and we can't figure out why they came. Let's find out about this one." He looked at Daniel. "Evhn?"
 
Daniel nodded, although he didn't really think they knew what a nod was. "Yes. Fine. Tell them you're fine, Sam."
 
Giving Daniel an odd look, she turned to the one to whom Daniel had just spoken. "I'm fine."
 
"What are they saying?" Kreyhar asked Sosta.
 
"We believe she just said there's nothing wrong with her."
 
"So what do they want from us?"
 
"We haven't got a clue. You think the MedDock was the wrong stop for them?"
 
"What, like they thought the AmbuTransit goes to the theatre or something?" Figule scoffed, before becoming suddenly serious. "You don't think…"
 
"They did get off at the wrong ring!"
 
"Terrific."
 
"How do we write this one up? We don't even know where they're from."
 
"Why don't we just get them back into the auto-rollers and send them back to the AmbuTransit Centre?"
 
"And see if they'll leave."
 
"I'm game."
 
Just then Slipe came running up, out of breath. "So that's where everyone is. Why are they out here?" He eyed SG1 uncertainly. "Anyway, down in the archives I finally found a bit of research done on beings like these. The slides looked like them, anyway. They all had those animals in their bellies. They came here wanting them gone."
 
"This one wants to keep his."
 
"Oh? Oh. Really? Then what does he want us to do?"
 
"Nothing. We think they were looking for the TheatreDock and got off here instead."
 
"Oh!" Slipe cringed. "Well, I'd say they missed their show."
 
"Yeah, I'd say. Let's get them back before they realize that and this one," Sosta raised his nose towards Jack, "gets violent again."
 
Ribon sighed. "If nothing's wrong with him, those others have to live with that?"
 
"I suppose that's why they keep that one around," Sosta indicated Daniel.
 
Jack turned to Daniel. "Do you get the impression they're talking about us?"
 
"I do. Yes."
 
Jack nudged his archaeologist in the arm. "Tell them we want to go home."
 
Daniel's eyebrows lifted. "And how do I go about doing that?"
 
"I don't know. You're the linguist."
 
Daniel shook his head in exasperation, and said, "We want to go home."
 
"Yeah, like that," Jack sighed.
 
"What's he saying?" Kreyhar nudged Carohan.
 
"I don't know, but let's give them their footwear and belongings and get them out of here." Carohan began leading the way back to the lobby and the AmbuTransit vehicle depot, as the other six doctors followed.
 
"Let's go," Daniel said.
 
"Where?"
 
Daniel pointed in the direction of the departing aliens. "There. I don't think they'd just leave us here."
 
"They understood you?" Squinting, Jack followed as his archaeologist continued on down the hall. "We want to go home… I should have tried that."
 
_____
 
Back at the waiting area, SG1 was ushered into those vehicles once more. Hesitant to risk falling asleep and ending up elsewhere, they were left with no other choice. They could not get back to the stargate - or anywhere else, for that matter - without riding in one of these things. Instead of four individual cars, however, this time only two pulled up, both with double marbles on top of the cylinders.
 
"Double-deckers…perfect for family outings, ya think?" Jack scrunched up his face, climbing to the second storey of Teal'c's vehicle.
 
And this time they were not put to sleep. The cars slid into place in the traffic, speeding off onto the ramp and the freeway. In his cross-legged position Daniel held tightly onto the bars in the floor, barely daring to look as his transport merged into a whizzing lane behind SG1's second driverless vehicle. "Sam?" he called, attempting communication with the bubble below.
 
"Daniel? You okay?"
 
"Oh. I think so." Grimacing as the traffic sped past all around him at a frighteningly furious pace, he looked around at the car's interior. A thick, gelled, glass-like substance surrounded the entire sphere. Except for the two bars, the space was empty; those aliens probably took up a wide area when they sat - or perhaps lay - down. The floor was gelled glass as well, and Sam was visible under his feet. Beneath her, the road could be seen whizzing by at the edges of the opaque roller. A glass-bottom car… only he was pretty sure the material was not breakable. It was intriguing, actually. "You?"
 
"Yes. This is amazing!"
 
"Are there any controls?"
 
"Not much of anything. I think it's voice activated. But I guess you'd have to know the language."
 
In a flash the thing stopped, but Daniel barely felt the motion cease. The door-ramp opened, as the hatch above his head pulled downwards.
 
"We're here." Outside was the same taxi stop they'd unknowingly arrived at earlier, and Jack and Teal'c were already waiting. As soon as Carter had exited her bubble, Jack held out a hand to help Daniel down the upper ramp.
 
"Good job, Daniel. Seems those guys understood you."
 
"How?"
 
"What, how?"
 
"Nevermind."
 
Finding themselves back in front of the stargate in the parking garage, Jack ruffled Daniel's hair. "When we get back I may just recommend you for a raise."
 
"Evhn," Daniel grinned smugly.
 
With his open mouth gaping, Jack stared for a few seconds before swatting Daniel on the arm and heading for Carter at the flat white chevron panel, shaking his head.
 
As Teal'c marched past the archaeologist he paused, keeping his head stiff and eyes trained on O'Neill. "Your twenty-fourth language, Daniel Jackson?" he commented, before continuing on to join his other two teammates.
 
"EhnO," Daniel mumbled, jogging to catch up as the wormhole whooshed open.
 
 
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