-- My first SG1 fanfiction, dealing with the discovery of a world that has been decimated by a plague. Janet gets to go through the gate. This story is unfinished, and any feedback would be appreciated, because I'm struggling. UNFINISHED!
Plague The infirmary had been quiet over the last few days, a fact for which Janet Fraiser was grateful. SG1 had come in with the usual bumps and scrapes from their last mission, but nothing serious.
Janet bent over her keyboard again. The slow day allowed her time to continue with her own research. Since joining the SGC Janet had been asked to treat a variety of diseases. "Knew I should have done that rotation in epidemiology," she muttered to herself. Instead, she used her down-time giving herself a crash course in parisitology, pathology and the spread of virulent diseases. She lived in daily fear of missing something that would soon find its way to the general population, something deadly and unstoppable. It would be so easy...
Reaching over, she quickly scribbled a note reminding herself to go review quarantine protocols with General Hammond at the next staff meeting. They'd been lucky so far, Janet realized, but she was beginning to think that the only way to avoid a potential disaster would be to turn the Gate Room into a clean room, and build several isolation wards for returning teams. She'd often speculated that gate travel provided a certain amount of decontamination, but still she worried.
Beneath that reminder, she made an additional note to pick up milk and orange juice. Cassandra had finished the last of both just that morning.
Just then the intercom on her desk buzzed. "Doctor Fraiser to the Control Room," a tinny-sounding voice said. Janet frowned, glancing over at the duty roster. SG7 was due back in five hours, but other than that, there were no other teams out.
Whatever it was, however, it wasn't a medical emergency. The SGC usually went on yellow alert if someone came through the gate hurt. Still, Janet rose from her desk and hurried out of the infirmary.
When she got to the Control Room she found Hammond, SG1, and the lieutenant on duty intently watching the MALP display.
"Doctor Fraiser," Hammond said, waving her over, and stepping aside to give her a view of the screen. "The MALP we sent through to PX58672 is transmitting. What do you make of it?"
Janet took a step toward the monitor, and leaned in for a closer look. The MALP was sitting on what appeared to be a paved road of some sort, facing an over-turned vehicle. An irregular-shaped chunk of the truck-like vehicle was missing, and Janet realized it was too close to the event horizon and had been destroyed by the wave of energy released by the gate when it was activated. Something to the left caught her eye.
"Can you pan over to the left," she said, pointing to the portion of the screen she was interested in. "And zoom in. I think there's someone in the seat of the truck."
Beside her Hammond nodded. "There is." Janet turned to look at him briefly. Obviously they'd gone over the video signal for some time before calling her. When she turned to look at the display again, Janet felt her breath catch in her throat. The camera had panned over and moved in on the cab of the vehicle. She'd been right, someone <was> there. Slowly she leaned back, drawing away from the figure on the monitor.
"Doctor?" Hammond prompted quietly.
"Well," Janet said, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to look again at the display, "I can't say for sure from here, but you can see what looks like blood coming out of the facial orifices. Here and here," she said, indicating a stream of dark fluid beneath the eyes and nose on the blurred image. She shook her head. "I doubt there's anything I can do for him."
"He does look a little ripe," O'Neal said sarcastically, his lip curling in disgust.
"That's not all," Sam said. She deftly tapped a few commands onto the keyboard, and the MALP panned to the left, and zoomed in on another figure. Involuntarily, Janet glanced over at T'ealc, who slowly nodded.
"He is a Jaffa."
"Doctor, could a staff weapon cause injuries like that?" Hammond asked.
Janet shook her head. "No. The staffs are energy weapons. They can cause burns, but even if they could cause internal injuries it's doubtful they'd cause that kind of bleeding."
Hammond seemed satisfied with that answer. "Lets take this to the briefing room."
As Janet passed Jack she glanced up at him. He favored her with a quick, lopsided smile that quickly disappeared, but he fell into step beside her. "Well, Doc," he said casually as they trooped through the halls, "I hope you've got someone who can look after Cassie."
"You're thinking of going out there to investigate," she said. It wasn't a question. She knew O'Neal well enough to know he'd insist. Not that he'd get much resistance from Hammond. And if SG1 was going out that meant she'd have to stay on duty, especially considering what she thought had killed that man. She'd have to make numerous recommendations.
Jack didn't answer her, just turned and flashed that goofy smile at her again as they passed into the briefing room.
Once they were all seated, Hammond turned to her. "Okay, Doctor. What killed that man?"
Janet took a few seconds to compose her thoughts. "Without a post-mortem I can't say for sure. But, I believe that man had what's referred to as 'bleeding out.' That happens with certain viruses on this planet that cause the capillary walls to break down and a victim literally bleeds to death. In this man's case, since it happened while he was obviously driving somewhere, I'm guessing he bled out very shortly after being exposed to the agent that caused it."
"So you think it's a virus?"
"Not necessarily. That's one possibility. It could have been caused by a chemical agent as well. Or it could be a natural occurrence for the inhabitants of that planet. Or something indigenous to the planet itself."
"The presence of the Jaffa is of concern," T'ealc intoned from across the table.
"I agree," Hammond said. "We could be dealing with a new weapon here. We can't rule out the possibility that the Go'uld have developed some kind of chemical or viral weapon. We're going to have to investigate PX58672 thoroughly. Colonel, SG1 will go in first to perform preliminary surveys and collect samples."
"We get all the fun assignments."
Hammond turned back to Janet. "Doctor Fraiser, I'm temporarily assigning you to SG1. Doctor Williamson will assume your duties in the SGC infirmary and at the base for the duration of this assignment. I want the team ready to stargate out by 0300. Biohazard and decontamination protocols will be at your discretion, Doctor. I'd also like a word with you in private. Everyone else is dismissed."
Everyone quickly left the briefing room, anxious to begin their own preparations for the upcoming mission. General Hammond waited until the door closed behind the last person before motioning her to take the seat cattycorner to his at the head of the table.
(More to come on this scene.)
When Janet got back to the infirmary her assistant informed her that Ben Williamson was on his way to the SGC.
"Good, I'll brief him as soon as he arrives. Call in the entire staff. We've got twelve hours to turn the Gate Room into a clean room. I'm going to need five full environment suits too."
At Laurie's questioning look, Janet quickly filled her in. "I've been assigned to SG1 for the time being," she added. "I want SG1 in here for briefing on the environmental suits and protocols at 0100."
The next few hours passed quickly as Janet supervised the transportation of equipment and supplies. By the time she was scheduled to brief SG1 two of the storage areas off of the Gate Room has been turned into isolation wards, and a full environment unit was in place in the gate room. General Hammond had issued the necessary directives to clear the SGC of all but essential personel, and the base would go into complete shut down one hour before she and the others would enter the Stargate.
All the SG teams out on assignment had checked in half an hour ago, a fact which greatly relieved Janet. Ben was a fine doctor, and she trusted him completely. But it was her job to look after the personnel at the SGC, and she felt a lot better knowing none of them were off planet. Of course, she realized, there was little comfort in that if the Go'ould <did> have a biological weapon. Ironically, Janet realized the people under her care would probably be <far> better off on another planet.
Janet shook those thoughts off abruptly. They were taking every precaution to prevent disaster, and she and the members of SG1 would find the answers they needed in a few hours. She'd make certain of it.
When Janet returned to the infirmary after inspecting the preparations in the gate room, she found SG1 waiting for her. O'Neill was squinting down at the row of bright yellow environmental suits laid out on one of the gurneys.
"Can't say that I think much of your fashion sense, Doc," he said with that lopsided grin as she entered.
"I think it's you, Colonel," Sam teased.
"I'd say you're definitely a spring, Colonoel," Janet added. O'Neill seemed to enjoy the banter, but T'ealc looked confused.
"I'll explain it later, T'ealc," Daniel said.
T'ealc nodded. "I look forward to it."
O'Neill was quietly fingering one of the suits. "These aren't acceptable," he said after a moment.
Janet had already anticipated his objection. She was a doctor first, but she was also military. "These are just for demonstration purposes. The set waiting for us in the Gate Room are camaflaged. Aside from the color, they're identitcal."
"Actually, I was gong to say that I didn't have anything to accessorize this with. But I have plenty of accessories that go nice with cammies."
Janet smiled quickly at the remark, then held up one of the suits. "They're light, and they'll fit over your gear if necessary. Under the circumstances, though, I recommend we send the gear through on a cargo carrier, and leave it behind. The suits have their own air supply that'll last for 6 hours. We'll bring along reserve air, as well."
Carter nodded. "I think we should take enough for 24 hours."
"Agreed," O'Neill added. "And we should probably not stray too far from the gate, in case one of us needs to get back quickly."
Janet bit her lip for a moment.
"Do you have something to add, Doctor?" O'Neilll asked, his tone of voice making it apparent he was probably not going to like what he heard.
"I've cleared this with General Hammond, and we were going to bring it up at the mission briefing, but now is as good a time as any." Janet paused and took a deep breath. "Without knowing what we're dealing with we <have> to make certain we don't bring anything back. The suits are strong, but they aren't entirely impervious. If anyone's suit is compromised, that person will have to remain behind. I'll stay too, assuming it's not me."
O'Neill opened his mouth to speak. "Colonol," Hammond said from the doorway. "A word, please."
Everyone looked warily at Hammond as O'Neill turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Then Sam turned and looked questioningly at Janet. Janet debated how much to tell them about her earlier private meeting with Hammond, then decided against it. Telling the team that Hammond had seriously considered placing her in command of SG1 was O'Neill's decision. Especially, since she'd talked the General out of it.
"The suit has a 180 degree bubble visor," Janet said pointedly, ignoring Sam and Daniel's exchange of glances when she refused to answer their questions, "so you should have a very good field of view. The suits are also surprisingly mobile-you shouldn't have any trouble moving around in them."
O'Neill stepped back into the room a few minutes later, and guietly approached the table. He didn't look at the other members of SG1, but simply nodded once in Janet's direction. Janet noticed the unmistakeable "we'll talk later" gleam in his eyes.
The briefing on the environmental suits only lasted a few more minutes, then O'Neill, Daniel, and T'ealc left for weapons check. "I need to go over sampling equipment with Janet," Sam said when O'Neill motioned for her to follow.
"Right," he he said dryly, before shooing Daniel through the door and following.
"So," Sam said with a smile, assuming her customary seat on the edge of Janet's desk. She crossed her arms and leaned forward, "who'd you get to look after Cassie?"Janet slapped her forehead. "Cassie! Oh my god, I completely forgot!" She reached over to pick up the phone. "Maybe Lewis can..."
Sam's hand on her arm stopped her. "Relax, I knew you were busy so I sent Corporal Fields over to your place to meet Cassie after school. I hope you don't mind."
"No, Wanda's perfect." Janet leaned back with a relieved sigh. "Thank you. I should call her anyway, though. I don't go through the gate very often, but she worries whenever I do."
"She's got something to worry about this time," Sam said quetly.
"That she does," Janet agreed. "That she does."
"You're worried that we haven't taken enough precautions, aren't you?" Sam asked.
"Who can say. We don't have any idea what we're dealing with." She raised her head and looked directly into Sam's eyes. "And I know none of you like it, but if anyone, anyone gets exposed, we will leave them behind. We have to."
The determination in Janet's voice seemed to startle Sam, who leaned away from Janet, then stood. "Then lets make sure it doesn't come to that," she said solemnly.
More to come. . .