Breaking the Curse

Chapter Sixteen:  Missing Something

The system lords were under guard. Daniel was watching them, sick of this whole charade. He knew what they had to do, that they had to play along. This poker game was dangerous. They had to pretend that they were in control when they weren't. And they were dealing with the Goa'uld. With system lords. The Goa'uld were egomanical, but the system lords were worse. Three of them, in the same room... It was unbelievable. He hated this part of the job.

Negotiation. Endless negotiation. He was tired of it. He shouldn't be here. He should be with the rest of the team. As hard as it would be for him to watch Sam go through all of this trouble for Jack, he would still rather be with them than here. He didn't want to play this game right now. He didn't even want to be here. He should be in Antarctica if he wasn't going to be on SG-1's mission, but he didn't even know if he should be a part of the SGC at this point.

He needed to get out of this situation, this kind of pressure. It wasn't just the system lords. It was everything that had led up to this point. He had been losing his grip ever since Sarah's death. He had to find a way to get back to some form of balance. He couldn't afford to be weak here, not with system lords. Not when all they had was a bluff. They were in real trouble now.

Weir came into the room, looking rather pleased, under the circumstances. She came up to Daniel and passed him a note. He glanced down at it as she faced off against the Goa'uld, clearing her throat. “I have just received word that the Asgard have arrived. They want to witness the demonstration of our new Ancient defense technology that you have forced us into. There's still time to call off the attack.”

It was a damn good thing that she wasn't trying another bluff, because these guys weren't going to buy it. They were looking way too smug right now. “We would also like to witness the demonstration.”

“Your ship isn't coming,” Daniel told the system lords with relief, relaying the information that Weir had given him as soon as he could. It felt good not to be bluffing for a change, good to have one over them, finally. This was all going to be over soon. “It was destroyed en route by Baal. The collective forces of the system lords are bowing, and you're losing the war.”

The Goa'uld started to respond, but before he finished, a transporter beam enveloped Daniel, and he found himself on a ship. He blinked, taking in the Asgard technology around him and then Thor and Teal'c with a grin. They'd done it. They found the Asgard. But if Teal'c was here, where was Sam? “Hey, guys.”

Thor nodded. “Our new colony is in grave jeopardy. The replicators escaped from the time dilation device and are threatening to destroy the Asgard.”

Daniel considered this. It was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Great. He wasn't sure he was up to another crisis, not so soon after the last one. He really just needed time to think, and he couldn't seem to get it. “Okay, so what can we do?”

“Thor believes the Ancient knowledge stored in O'Neill's mind may be the key to defeating the replicators once and for all,” Teal'c explained.

“Jack's frozen down in Antarctica,” Daniel began, but Thor used a console, and Jack's body appeared in a stasis capsule on the bridge. Daniel went over to it and looked down at Jack before turning to Teal'c. “As I was saying, where's Sam?”

“She was captured by the Replicators. Their ship was destroyed.”

Daniel sat in shock for a long time, unable to actually process what was going on. He knew that he was supposed to be able to put stuff like this past him, supposed to be able to move on. It was what they did. Crisis after crisis after crisis, they kept working. They had to. It wasn't about them. It was about saving the planet, the galaxy, the universe. It was bigger than any of them.

Only Sam hadn't left to go fight the replicators. She hadn't known they were a threat until she got there. She'd gone there to save Jack O'Neill. Daniel shook his head again. He didn't want to face this, didn't want to accept it. She must really love him, right? She'd died for him.

Teal'c touched Daniel's shoulder. “There is still hope, Daniel Jackson. We do not know for certain Major Carter's fate.”

“You think she's out there somewhere?” Daniel asked, laughing a little. “Teal'c, I'm not so sure it matters where she is as much as what she did. She died for Jack. Makes it pretty clear, doesn't it?”

“Perhaps not. You react to the way we were forced to leave you behind, but Major Carter expressed great concern for you during our voyage. More, I think, than she did for O'Neill.”

Daniel looked up at the Jaffa. “Thanks, but it doesn't help right now.”

Thor walked towards the stasis capsule. Daniel frowned, aware of the room again thanks to Teal'c. He'd rather be half out of it, but he supposed they couldn't afford that luxury. “I'm going to merge O'Neill's mind with the ship's computer.”

“To do that, you're going to have to... er, defrost him first, right? I bring this up because he was near death when he went in there,” Daniel reminded both of them. If Jack was what Sam had died for, then Daniel was going to make sure he made it out alive.

“Hopefully, the pod will sustain his life.”

“'Hopefully?'” Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew that the Asgard didn't see things the same way they did, but this was Jack's life. This was something Sam and Teal'c had risked their lives for, that Sam had apparently died for, and hopefully was not enough.

“What other choice do we have?“

“Can't you just save him, like the last time this happened?” Daniel asked. “Can't you just... wipe the Ancient knowledge from his mind?”

“And lose any chance of finding a means to defeat the replicators.”

“You can't—”

“I believe O'Neill would approve,” Teal'c said, and while Daniel might agree with that—Jack would want to do this, he didn't have to like it.

“I don't care what's at stake. Can't you just extract the Ancient information into the ship's computer?” Daniel offered it. “Then we can all benefit from it, even learn how to use the Ancient weapons on Earth.”

“You cannot even begin to comprehend the extent of what was unfolding in O'Neill's mind. Our scientists, long ago, extracted parts of the Ancient library of knowledge and learned much from it. But we have been studying it for as long as I can remember, and we have barely scratched the surface.”

Disappointment and resignation washed over him. “So we'd be looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“A haystack of infinite size,” Thor agreed. “I am hoping O'Neill's conscious mind can provide us with a direct conduit to the information we need. He is not well.”

“I told you.”

“The process of interfacing his mind is complex,” Thor remarked, but whatever he did must have worked because they could hear Jack's voice, in a reassuringly annoying way. “O'Neill, can you hear us?”

“Hey, guys! What's going on?” Jack's disembodied voice asked, gaining focus with Thor's words.

“Your mind has been interfaced with the ‘Daniel Jackson,'” Thor explained. “All the information in the ship's computer is available to you.”

“The name of Thor's ship is ‘Daniel Jackson,'” Teal'c explained. Daniel felt a bit sick to his stomach.

Jack played around with the ship's controls, switching lights on and off. Eventually, they got him to use a hologram and focus again. This was so frustrating. “At least you're not speaking Ancient.”

“Actually, the computer is translating,” Thor corrected.

“Ah,” Jack's hologram agreed. He walked over to the stasis capsule and looked down at his physical body. “I've never looked better.”

“There is not much time, O'Neill.”

“I know. Ship's log.”

“Can you help with the replicators?”

“Already on it,” Jack's hologram told them. “Daniel, the computer recorded the whole conversation. Thanks for your concern. Talk amongst yourselves.”

The hologram disappeared.

“What is it?”

“I am unsure. It seems O'Neill's mind is building something, virtually, in conjunction with the ship's computer,” Thor explained as he, Daniel, and Teal'c looked at the stasis capsule. “I do not know how much longer his life can be sustained.”

Alarms started to go off. “I must revive him now.”

“Wait! Not yet!” Jack's voice protested, but Thor used the controls to remove the Ancient knowledge from Jack's brain and revive him. The lid of the stasis capsule opened. Jack stirred, his eyes not seeing anyone right away, putting his hand to his head.

“What a headache,” Jack muttered. “What now?”

“Well... That depends,” Daniel began slowly. “What's the last thing you remember?”

Jack sat up with Daniel's help. “Getting my head sucked by one of those damned Ancient head-suckers. And something about twins. Teal'c—what's with the hair?”

“O'Neill.”

“Thor,” Jack said with a grimace. “You got aspirin?”

“You should feel better momentarily and your memory will slowly return.”

Jack nodded and looked at Teal'c again. “Teal'c—what's with the hair?”

“The specifications for the device you created remain in the computer. I believe I can synthesize it,” Thor interrupted before Teal'c could explain. It figured, of all the things that Jack should be asking about—like where Sam was, for one thing—he couldn't get over the fact that Teal'c had hair. The device appeared on the bridge.

“Sweet. What is it?”

“We don't know, but you made it.”

Jack started to argue the point, but mercifully Thor intervened before it could deteriorate into a bunch of childish yes and no. “You accessed the Ancient knowledge in your mind and instructed the ship's computer to design it.”

“Doesn't mean I know what it is.”

“It was doubtful at best that he would remember. The knowledge of the Ancients is gone.”

“All right, let me have a look,” Jack said as he climbed out of the stasis chamber. His legs buckled. Daniel and Teal'c supported him, one on each side. His legs became steadier as he shook them out. He walked closer to the device and looked at it, then tapped part of it. “Ah, got legs. I've got it, I've got it.... Yeah, I got nothing.”

Daniel sighed. This was ridiculous. The ship came out of hyperspace. Another Asgard showed on the screen; the image broken up by static. Thor addressed the screen. “Penegal, I am relieved you are still able to communicate.”

“It may not last long. Were you able to procure a means of fighting the replicators?”

“Possibly,”Thor said. “It still requires more research.”

Penegal nodded. “You should know those infesting the colony are behaving in an organized fashion unlike any replicators we have encountered before.”

“Perhaps they are being controlled by a human form leader who has yet to reveal itself,” Thor suggested with consideration.

Daniel blinked. Wait. That was actually almost good news. “If a human form Replicator survived, it's possible Sam survived too, isn't it?”

“It is also possible the old-version replicators created a new human form to lead them as before,” Thor cautioned, as pragmatic as the Asgard always were. Daniel, though, was very human, and he needed hope.

“Yeah, but there's a chance. Can you scan the planet for life signs?”

“We already have. There are none.” His transmission broke up and the image disappeared. Daniel lowered his head. He couldn't take this. Hope, for a moment, and then snatched away.

“We have lost contact.”

Daniel, Thor, Teal'c, and Jack were looking at the device that Jack built. It was... odd, to say the least. None of them had any real idea what it was, not Thor, not Jack, not Teal'c, and least of all Daniel. Worse, though, was that he almost couldn't bring himself to care. Yes, he wanted the replicators dead for killing Sam, maybe, but he didn't care how it happened.

He was vaguely aware of the conversation going on between Thor and another Asgard commander, but he hadn't given it as much attention as he should have. He realized that the ship was moving again, and he frowned when he realized where they were going, what they were about to do. The human form replicator... Thor was going to bring it on board.

This was... insane.

“We must learn the location of the human form controlling the replicators on the planet,” Thor said as he beamed a human replicator into the stasis chamber Jack had been in. The replicator was badly damaged, frozen in space, but it appeared to a man.

“Is it dead?”

“Hopefully not completely,” Thor answered to their surprise. “All replicators are linked by a sophisticated communication system. If we can use this one to tap into the network, we will be able to see what any of the replicators can see.”

“And if he wakes up, this pod going to hold him?” Jack demanded, and when Thor looked at him, he shook his head. “This can't be good.”

“I will transport it back into space if necessary, but we must take the risk,” Thor insisted. Teal'c picked up his rifle and got ready, pointing the gun at the chamber.

“Good,” Jack agreed, going to the nearest crate and picking up two more rifles, handing one to Daniel. Daniel looked down at it with a frown. When did he come to this?

The computer screen showed a distorted image. Daniel pointed to it. “What's that?”

“Replicator communication data. I am searching for any references to other human forms,” Thor answered, and the picture on the computer screen became a little clearer. Despite the distortion, Daniel saw something wonderful. Sam.

“Zoom in!” Jack ordered. Thor zoomed the picture in, and everyone could see Sam, trapped in a bunch of replicator blocks.

“It's Sam,” Daniel whispered with relief. “She's alive.”

“Can you pinpoint her location?”

Thor brought up a map of Orilla. “She is in a small replicator structure on the planet. It is some distance outside the colony, near a rich vein of neutronium.”

Teal'c nodded. “They must be using it to create more human replicators.”

“I thought the ship was destroyed,” Daniel said. How was any of this possible? It wasn't that he wasn't glad that Sam was alive. He was. It was practically a miracle.

“At least one of the human replicators must have separated from the main ship with Major Carter prior to exiting hyperspace,” Thor answered. The map disappeared. They looked over at the human replicator in the stasis chamber, and it opened its eyes, looking back at them. Then damage on its body healed immediately.

“Beam it out!” Jack ordered. The transporter beam activated, but the replicator didn't leave.

“I am trying. It has made itself resistant.” The transporter beam shut off, followed by all the power. “It has breached the internal barrier and interfaced with my ship's computer.”

The lid of the chamber opened, and the replicator climbed out. Jack, Teal'c and Daniel fired at it repeatedly, and the replicator took the blasts like they were nothing. It looked down at the bullet holes in its body, and all the holes healed. Teal'c threw himself at the replicator, but it tossed him aside, taking his rifle. It aimed at Daniel. Daniel had to dive for cover. Jack went over to the device he created. He picked it up, aimed it at the replicator, and fired. The replicator disintegrated into tiny bits, almost like dust.

Jack, who shrugged. “Had to do something.”

The power came back on. Teal'c walked over to the pile of crystals and retrieved his rifle. Thor looked over the remains and nodded. “It seems to have permanently disrupted communication between the individual cells, rendering each one inert. We explored such a technology in the past with no success.”

“Great,” Jack agreed. He looked around. “I mean, we can use this thing to whack the rest of those bugs?”

“Even better, O'Neill,” Thor said, sounding rather pleased. “Now that I have seen what the device does, I may be able to modify a larger version to broadcast a disruption wave over all of Orilla.”

“Well, good. While you're doing that...”

“I cannot transport you inside the Replicator ship on the planet. Their defenses prevent it. But I can get you close.”

“Close is good.”

Thor gave an Asgard stone to Jack. “Take this, so we may communicate.”

Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c beamed down to Orilla's surface, finding themselves in the middle of the forest. Jack had the weapon that disintegrated the replicators. Daniel and Teal'c just had their regular weapons. Well, Daniel had a P-90, and Teal'c had heavier weapon. They made their way through the trees. A replicator crawled down a tree behind Teal'c. He fired. More replicators appeared, and Daniel and Teal'c fired at them until Jack used his weapon to destroy them.

A human form replicator appeared in front of them. Jack aimed the device at him. The surviving replicators moved towards him. “Stop! If you harm me or any more of my brethren, I assure you Major Carter will die instantly.”

Hatred in his heart, Daniel reluctantly lowered his weapons as the others did.

Shortly after delivering that message, the replicator disappeared. Daniel shook his head. “We can't let him hold Sam hostage.”

“O'Neill. I have successfully modified my ship to emit a massive disruption wave,” Thor reported over the comms.

“Excellent!” Jack said with a grin. “I knew you could do it.”

“It is fifty percent charged. If this works, you will have saved the Asgard once again.”

“I'm real happy for you. I'm extremely proud, but we got a little bit of a problem down here. Fifth detected our approach, and he claims he can kill Carter instantly.”

“O'Neill...”

“We can't abandon her,” Daniel protested. “You can't say that her life was already sacrificed. You can't ignore your whole planet, I know, but you can't ask us not to... I can't not help Sam. I don't want you to sacrifice you planet, but there has to be some way to save her and the planet. Please.”

“Daniel,” Jack warned, and they looked around. The sound of approaching replicators increased, and Daniel shook his head. They were going to die if Thor didn't use the device. And if he did, then Sam would. The choice for Daniel was easy, but he'd been there before. Hundreds of bugs rushed past them, replicators of all sizes, small bugs and the big ones with wings, all headed in the same direction.

“What are they doing?” Jack asked, frowning. “It's like they're running away. Thor, are you ready yet?”

“What is happening, O'Neill?”

“They're retreating.”

“You must stop them, O'Neill. The weapon is not yet ready. They cannot be allowed to escape.”

Jack turned to Daniel and Teal'c. “Come on.”

“O'Neill, the weapon worked. Reports from the colony say all the remaining replicators have been neutralized,” Thor reported over the comm system. They were still standing there, staring at where the replicator ship had been. Daniel couldn't take his eyes away from it. He knew that was where Sam had been, and she was gone. He wanted to give up, to give in. He didn't know how to do this anymore. Ever day, they risked their lives, the planet was in danger, and he just didn't know how to cope with it anymore. He left once, a year ago. He had given in and died. Ascended. And there was still no peace to be found, not even in ascension. “While the ship did escape, at least we have an effective means of fighting them now.”

“Yeah, well, at least there's that,” Jack agreed sarcastically. He came over to Daniel, touching his back gently. Sure, Jack didn't remember what he'd been like with the Ancient knowledge in his head. Daniel could never forget. And it wasn't even just the stuff that happened when the Ancient knowledge was in his head, either. “Come on, Danny. The ship got away. She's not dead. We'll get her back.”

“You mean, you'll get her back,” Daniel muttered under his breath, and Jack shot him another look.

“What the hell does that mean?” Jack demanded, grabbing Daniel's arm. “Hey, look at me. I need to know what's going on with you. You've been weirder than usual.”

“I can't do this anymore,” Daniel told him honestly. “I need a vacation or a transfer or something. When we get back to the SGC, maybe I'll go work with the team in Antarctica. Or I'll quit the program. It doesn't matter.”

“It sure as hell does. You're not going anywhere, you hear me?”

Daniel just looked at him and shook his head. Jack had won. He could go off and hunt down Sam. It would be the right thing to do. She wanted him, after all.

“O'Neill,” Thor's voice came over the comms again. He sounded hesitant, cautious, and pleased at the same time. “I am detecting a fourth life sign in your immediate vicinity.”

Daniel started running. He didn't know why. It wasn't like he really thought that he would find her first or that she'd even be that happy to see him. She would just be worried about Jack. “Sam! Sam!”

He ran blindly through the forest, acting pretty much on instinct. It had to be Sam, after all, and even if she wanted Jack, it would be good to know that she was alive and safe. He could have that small measure of comfort. He couldn't get anything else, but at least there was that.

“O'Neill!” Teal'c called, and Daniel turned, heading back in the direction of his voice. Sam was there, lying on the ground. She looked up at them, giving Daniel a smile that wanted to break his heart. Teal'c helped her sit up.

“You okay, Carter?” Jack asked, and she nodded, getting to her feet. She stumbled a little, and Teal'c caught her. “Easy there. Get your sea legs back.”

Teal'c frowned at him. “O'Neill, we are on land.”

Sam brushed off Teal'c's concern. “It is good to see you, sir. I'm glad the Asgard could help.”

Daniel sighed, wishing that Jack would call Thor for transport already. He was completely blindsided when Sam threw her arms around him and hugged him. “Daniel, I am so sorry.”

He blinked, confused, and was about to ask for an explanation when she kissed him.