Night Watch

Part III

Cup of coffee in hand, Janet Fraiser sat down at the briefing table with her battery of test results. It was the middle of the evening, and she had run every conceivable test on her patient, watching him grow wilder as the night advanced. During the day he had been calm and completely rational. She had watched the change happen, starting with the setting of the sun.

Doctor Fraiser opened her folder with a sigh. She eyed each person down the rows of chairs – Sam across from her sitting beside Teal’c, the colonel to her left and General Hammond at the head of the table. She saw the concern in each of their faces and felt as if she had failed them all somehow.

“First, let me assure you that Daniel has given his permission for me to discuss his condition with you, in the hopes that an answer may be found through our collaborative efforts on his behalf.“ Glancing back over the test results, she tried to jiggle some intuition loose that might give her a direction to continue her investigation but there was nothing. She was at a dead end. "Unfortunately, I have very little to tell you," she began dispiritedly.

"Whaddya mean?" Colonel O'Neill demanded. "There's somethin' wrong with Daniel. That's obvious."

"Yes, it is," she nodded. "With the coming of nightfall, whether he is aware of the time of day or not, he becomes agitated. His desperation increases as the night wears on, but during the day it vanishes almost completely. My test results show an increase in adrenaline that accompanies the agitation, pushing it to dangerous levels in his system."

“So sedate him through the night,” Jack suggested.

She swallowed hard and lifted her eyes to each of the members of SG-1 sitting at the table, ending with the colonel. “It’s not that simple, sir. You’re familiar with the fight-or-flight reflex?”

“Of course.”

Her eyes fell on the EKG readings that revealed how Daniel’s heart had behaved through out the previous night, all day, and now moving into another night. “During the day, Daniel’s exhausted but all his body functions are normal. At least once the adrenaline wears off.” She lifted her eyes to his, looking for analogies he might understand to help illustrate the danger Daniel was facing.

“Look at it this way. Imagine you’re standing on a street corner. You start to cross, and a car nearly hits you. Bam! Fight-or-flight reflex kicks in and adrenaline shoots through your body. Your heart rate speeds up. Your sense of time is distorted, making everything seem to move in slow motion, so you get out of the way and back on the corner almost before your mind processes what’s just happened. Your reflexes are faster and you’re much stronger than normal. You’re also a little light-headed and your critical thinking processes suffer. Your digestive system shuts down, so if you’ve just eaten a meal, you’re not getting the nutrients from it. Are you with me so far?”

Heads nodded.

“Okay. Normally the danger passes after a few moments; you catch your breath and start to come down from the adrenaline high. Tremendous amounts of energy have been burned up in those brief moments, and you feel suddenly weak. You crash.”

All eyes were on her, waiting. “This reflex is designed to function in the body for a very brief period, usually seconds, minutes at most.” She swallowed hard, looking down at the medical analyses again. “Daniel’s body is sustaining this condition for hours.”

Astonishment dawned on every face as that information registered.

She clutched her pen in both hands until her knuckles turned white. "His body can't take this kind of abuse for an extended period. If this condition persists, his organs will slowly begin to fail; not immediately but over a span of weeks. He may already be addicted to the euphoric effects of the adrenaline on his brain, and unless we can get the underlying cause under control… in time, it will kill him. The rapid heartbeat, the increased blood pressure, the overproduction of adrenaline… He could eventually die of heart attack, stroke or kidney failure.”

“Doctor Fraiser, is there nothing you can do to at least slow down the progression of this… disease?” asked the general worriedly.

“I’ve received permission from Daniel to begin sedating him heavily at night,” she answered wearily. “This is only a stop-gap measure for the short term, though. Continued use of that type of medication will cause other complications if used too long.”

Hammond leaned forward, bracing himself against the table with his forearms. “And you have no idea what the source of this condition might be?”

Janet shook her head. “I've found no evidence of foreign substances in his system, nothing that I can see as a starting point. I am fairly certain, however, that there is a physical cause for this condition. The mind cannot engage a state of ‘fight-or-flight’ and maintain it at these levels, for this length of time, and with this precise timing and regularity, without a corresponding physical cause."

Sam's eyes closed. "We just got him back, Janet. We can't lose him again!" She looked down at her note tablet for a moment before making eye contact, her blue eyes turning to steel. "What can we do?"

"We have to find out what's causing this anomaly," Janet answered simply. "My test results show nothing abnormal or alien in his system. I recommend we look back over every mission he's been on since his return from Vis Uban, maybe even go back to some of the planets you've explored since then and take a second look."

"All right, doctor," Hammond intoned. He nailed the colonel with a determined gaze. "I want every mission report gone over with a fine-toothed comb. When Doctor Jackson is awake and lucid, I want one of you interviewing him for any odd physical sensations he might have felt off world."
 

"I'll handle that, sir," Doctor Fraiser volunteered. "That way the rest of the team can review their reports without interruption and I can let him rest as much as possible."

"Done, then. Ladies and gentlemen, you have your assignments."

"Sir." Jack stared hard at the general.

"Yes, colonel?"

"Daniel seemed to think this might be something left over from being all glowy. If that's so, there may be nothing we can do here."

"Then perhaps we could return to Kheb and attempt to make contact with Oma Desala," Teal'c suggested. "Perhaps she could assist with removing this malady from DanielJackson."

"Only if she were the last good witch of the north in the galaxy!" Jack snarled, staring at the Jaffa. “I’d rather look under every rock on every planet we’ve touched since Vis Uban than try to get a straight answer out of those glowy folks on their sanctimonious fluffy white clouds.”

"Agreed, Colonel O’Neill." Hammond started writing in his notes. "However, I do think there may be some merit to Teal'c's suggestion. If we can't find any other answers, that will be our last recourse. Let's get Doctor Jackson some help. Dismissed, people."

Everyone started to rise from the table except for Jack and Janet, who nailed Jack with a stern gaze. He stared down at his tablet, brows furrowed in deep thought.

Finally, he spoke. "Um, sir? Wait just a minute.  I think maybe everyone ought to have a seat. You all need to know something else."

"What is it, colonel?" Hammond asked, the concern in his face exacerbated by the worry in Jack's. He resumed his seat, as did Teal’c and Carter.

"It's… about Daniel, sir." Jack leaned on his hand, his fingers covering his eyes as if he was suddenly exhausted.

"Do you know something, colonel?" Carter asked, her intuition prompted by his demeanor. "Something you haven't told us?"

Jack straightened up. He squirmed in his seat, his face flickering with the tortured emotions he felt: worry, guilt, fear, and finally, resignation. His shoulders slumped and he made eye contact with his teammates. "That unexplained bruising we talked about last night? That was from fighting. From Daniel fighting people. He was… ah… he was shot while wearing a Kevlar vest last night, saving a family from a stalker. I’m sure you heard about it on the news."

Sam’s eyes widened. Her mouth fell open in a small ‘o’ of surprise and then slowly closed.

Jack swallowed hard. His gaze went down to the table and, for a moment, his eyes closed. "Daniel Jackson is the Man in Black." His gaze shifted to the general and he waited.

Silence settled in the room, along with a pronounced chill of fear and shock. A hint of a smile lit Teal'c's face, and he nodded his approval. Then the smile faded and worry crept into his eyes. “So it is as I suspected. I planned to speak with DanielJackson in private today and have not had an opportunity.”

Sam sat rock still, her expression vacant as she tried to take that fact in and process it.

General Hammond threw down his pen and looked daggers at his 2IC. “And just when in hell did you plan on telling me about this? Don’t you realize the danger that casts on this program?” His eyebrows shot up his forehead and a vein bulged out as his complexion darkened. “Not to mention the fact that the President of the United States was just here and wouldn’t that have made a nice little addition to the festivities if we’d had the police knocking on our door, wanting to question the head of our academic department about his nighttime hobby as a local vigilante?  And not to mention the danger to Doctor Jackson personally.”

"Yes, sir," Jack breathed helplessly, head down.

"How long have you known?" Hammond demanded.

"Only since I brought him in last night," Jack answered quietly. "I caught him after it was all over. When he tried to go back out again, I was waiting for him and brought him back to the base for his own protection. He was clearly not capable of stopping himself." He cleared his throat nervously. “He sees the crimes happening in his mind and feels forced to go out to stop them.  Now, since he can’t help… It’s tearing him up. I -- I’ve stayed with him partly to keep him where he’s supposed to be and partly to act as moral support. I was going to inform you at the first opportunity.” He sighed. “I didn’t think it was the sort of thing to be handled with a phone call, for obvious reasons, and Doctor Fraiser and I were trying to make sure we had all the facts before we brought it to you.” He glanced guiltily, sadly at her, then back at the general. “And we’ve pretty much done that.”

"It's a damn good thing you haven't known about this all along, or I'd be hauling you up before a review board, Colonel O'Neill," the general seethed. "I don’t think I need to tell any of you that this information needs to stay within this room. No one else can know the identity of the Man in Black. It is now startlingly clear that Doctor Jackson is under the influence of something beyond the scope of our medical capabilities. If this is, indeed, a residual effect of his ascension, I'm not sure we can afford to keep him on Earth, for his own safety. If a solution can’t be found for his condition I'll be reassigning him off world somewhere. With the smaller population and rarity of violent incidents at that site, that may well be the safest place for him until we can solve this problem."

"I think you may be right about that, sir," Jack agreed unhappily.

"Holy Hannah," breathed Sam in fearful wonder, her eyes still wide with shock. "Daniel's the ninja? I just... I can't wrap my mind around that concept."

"He is a great warrior, MajorCarter," Teal'c reminded her. "Since his return to us, he has applied himself to the art of combat with great passion. You have not witnessed him in training recently, or you would have seen this."

"Yeah," Jack rasped with a frown. "He killed me good during our last workout. I shoulda seen it then, but I just didn't figure... I thought Daniel was too smart to be going out at night trying to save the world here at home."

"That is in DanielJackson's nature," Teal'c observed sagely. "However, like the rest of you, I did not think he would do such things. I only began to suspect last night, when I saw him leaving the base. There was something about his pace that spoke of a certain… urgency. As if he were on a mission. Which, evidently, he was." He lifted his chin and stared down at the table. "If we cannot help him, GeneralHammond, I wish to be reassigned with him to ensure his continued safety."

"I'll take that under consideration, Teal'c," Hammond agreed.

Janet Fraiser saw the silent thanks in the colonel's eyes as he watched his Jaffa teammate. "I don't know what else I can try," she told the assembly, "but I'm not ready to give up yet. Maybe with the right mental discipline, Daniel may be able to get control of this ability himself."

"Let's get busy, people," Hammond ordered. He pinned the doctor with a frank gaze. "While you're interviewing him, doctor, perhaps you might see if Doctor Jackson will write up mission reports on his nighttime activities as well. Maybe there's something hidden in those incidents that could help us pinpoint what's driving him to do these cockamamie things in his free time."

"Yes, sir."

This time everyone pushed back from the table and went their separate ways, with Janet heading straight for the isolation room where Daniel was being held.

She checked her watch and saw with a sinking feeling that most of the night still lay ahead of them. She found him up and pacing the room, wobbly from the effects of the tranquilizer, but fully awake and agitated.

With the aid of several orderlies, she had him put to bed and restrained, started an IV and injected a potent sedative into the tubing port, putting him under what amounted to a light anesthesia. When the medication took effect, she had the restraints removed and had a technician hook him up to an EKG. She wanted constant readings to monitor every change in his condition, looking for any patterns that might emerge.  She ordered a nurse to be in constant attendance, so that Daniel would at no time be left alone in his room.

Janet was afraid for him. Not just for his deteriorating health but also for his sanity. They had to help him soon, or he would plunge headlong into psychosis and they might never be able to get him back.
 

"Unauthorized incoming wormhole!" the tech on duty in the gate control room announced over the PA.

General Hammond appeared a moment later, followed by Jack O'Neill. Both men had just left the morning briefing meeting, three days into the search for a cause of Daniel’s illness, still with no progress in sight. "That's three times in the last week," the general mentioned aloud.

Jack heard the gate engage, followed by the resounding clang of something impacting against the closed iris. Moments later, the wormhole had always disengaged, but not this time. Tension filled the control room and the SFs on guard duty in the embarkation room below took cover behind equipment, weapons ready.

Slowly, a small clear bubble appeared on the trinium surface of the iris. It looked like a rising blister, growing larger and firmer until it popped completely away from the shield, floating like a six-inch wide soap bubble ten feet above the ramp.

"What is it?" asked Jack.

"I have no idea." Hammond stared at it. “But the fact that it’s breached our security isn’t a good thing.”

The wormhole finally disengaged, silence filling the gate room below.

"Sir?" called one of the SFs. "It doesn't appear to be threatening us. Orders?"

"For now, just watch it," Hammond ordered. "If it moves from that spot, shoot it."

"It's a bubble, for cryin' out loud," Jack announced with a frown, one hand waving toward it. "It's empty. You can see right through it."

"And it passed through the iris as if it weren't there," Hammond reminded him. "That speaks of technology on the order of Tollan phase shifting capabilities, and it could be dangerous if whoever sent it isn't obliged to be friendly."

The bubble hovered a few moments longer and then started to move.

One of the soldiers shot at it, the bullet piercing its clear surface and passing harmlessly through it. The other soldiers fired as well, with no results. The bubble floated toward the glass panels of the control booth, and Hammond ordered the blast shields closed.

The bubble went right through them, hovering over the controls.

Jack reached out to touch it but it dodged away from contact and floated to a spot inches away from his face. "Uh... I think it likes me," he said slowly.

With each word he spoke, he saw the vibrations cause a slight shimmer on the bubble's iridescent surface. Suddenly it changed color and then began to float upward, disappearing through the ceiling.

Hammond was on the PA instantly, calling for all base personnel to be on the lookout for the thing.

Jack stepped away to call for backup, then returned to his post in the control room, waiting for orders and listening to reports coming in as it was tracked through the building. Calls came in from all over, reporting the anomaly as it passed straight upward, floor to floor, until it hit the infirmary level. The bubble started moving laterally then, passing through walls until it came to rest in Daniel’s isolation room.

Janet Fraiser picked up the phone and dialed the control booth to report. Jack listened with trepidation as she described the thing bobbing excitedly about her patient's head. Daniel was watching it with a mixture of shock and fascination from his bed and, as she looked on, the bubble changed color, glowing green and yellow.

After just a few moments, Fraiser reported that the bubble had disappeared again, sinking through the floor only to reappear moments later in the control booth.

As Jack and Hammond discussed containment measures, they heard the stargate begin to dial up. The tech at the control station rolled his chair backward, hands in the air.

“It wasn’t me!” Sergeant Davis declared. “I didn’t touch the keyboard. That thing must have some way of dialing directly.”

“Or else it’s interfacing with our control system,” Hammond shot back. He turned to his right. “Get me Major Carter.”

Jack opened his mouth to tell the general that he’d already summoned the major from her lab, but she came up the spiral stairs and announced herself just as the final chevron lit up and engaged.

“Here, sir.” She stared at the bubble above the control panel and watched it pass intact through the glass and into the gate room below. Once the wormhole was established, the bubble slipped through the closed iris again and was gone.

Hammond frowned. "I'd say our security has just been seriously breached," he growled to the colonel and major at his side. "If I were guessing, I'd say that bubble was some kind of probe. We've been scanned and that thing is now returning to the people who sent it with God knows what information."

"I think it was just interested in Daniel," Jack pointed out. "It seemed to go straight to his room, gave him the once over, and then came right back to the gate. I think it found what it wanted. Maybe we should check the address to see if it went to a world on the Goa'uld list or the Ancients'. Maybe we’ll find some folks there who can help us figure out what’s wrong with Daniel."

The general turned to his chief astrophysicist. “Major, that object seemed to have the power to dial the gate up by itself. I want to know if it interfaced with our technology and, if so, exactly how and what it did.”

“I’ll give everything a thorough going over, sir.” She sat down at a nearby terminal and pulled up the gate address database and started the search on the last symbols dialed, then opened up the diagnostic program and started a background sweep of the entire gate control system.

Twenty minutes later, a match had been found far down on the Ancients' database list. Two hours after that SG-1, minus a heavily sedated Daniel Jackson, was seated in the briefing room with the general.

“I have a MALP standing by to go to the address that bubble dialed,” Hammond informed them. “Major Carter, do you have any information on the systems check?”

“First run through of the diagnostics showed that everything is functioning normally,” she told him. “I ran a tracking program designed to indicate the origin of the address input into the system and was surprised to discover that the signal came from the gate, going backward into the terminal.” She paused, glancing around the table. “That could be a pretty neat gadget to have. For instance, if you step off-world and only notice when you get there that the DHD’s been irreparably damaged, you just whip out your little soap bubble and have it dial home for you. We’ve had that happen a couple of times already.”

“What kind of technology are we talking about, major?” Hammond probed with interest.

“Only thing I know for sure is, it’s way more advanced than ours, sir,” she answered.

“Let’s hope that’s a good thing. Did the bubble probe affect any of our equipment or programming?”

“No, sir, not to my knowledge. It would take me a few days to run tests on everything it touched.”

“You may not have time to do that yourself, Major Carter. Assign the tests you want performed to a team of our scientists here. Meanwhile, once we see what’s on the other side of that gate address, I want SG-1 ready for an exploratory mission.”

Hammond eyed Jack. “I’m assigning Doctor Lee as a temporary replacement for Doctor Jackson, colonel. We cannot take the risk of letting him go off world at the present time, and you may need a linguist or cultural expert. I’ve sent for him and he’ll be joining us in the control room for the initial probe of this unknown world.”

Jack’s left eyebrow arched but he made no protest about the assignment. Daniel was the only academic he wanted on his team, except that wasn’t an option this time. Lee was out of shape and whiney, but he was older than Jack so he’d cut the man a little slack. If they didn’t need an academic, however, Jack could always ask to just have a team of three for the meet and greet.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s go down to the control room and see what the MALP can tell us about PX9-2YX.”

Everyone rose and followed the general down the spiral stairs. The appropriate address was dialed in, engaged and, when the wormhole was established, the MALP went through.

Once it had emerged on the other side, it sent back images of a large, spacious, domed room with a handful of humanoid people standing around, talking excitedly as they examined the machine and looked back at their stargate as if expecting more to come through its watery surface.

Hammond spoke to them through the MALP radio relay. "Greetings from the planet Earth. We mean you no harm and are only reciprocating following your probe of our base. We are curious about the device you sent through and would like to discuss its findings at your earliest convenience."

The people gathered around the MALP listened intently, then started jabbering again when the machine fell silent.

The general turned to Doctor Bill Lee. "Do you recognize that language, doctor?"

Lee frowned in concentration. "Sounded like an archaic French, maybe Middle French, which was spoken in the early twelfth century, though some of the pronunciations are very different, no doubt from the separate evolution of the language."

"Can you manage it well enough to act as translator?" Hammond eyed the activities of the curious, smiling aliens.

"Yes, sir, I think so."

Hammond tore his eyes away from the viewer. "Let's get to it, then. SG-1, you have a go."

Doctor Lee translated what the general had said and the surprised confusion of the aliens became delight. One of them spoke to the MALP, offering a formal welcome of the unseen aliens to the world called Rouen.

Minutes later, the team was hurrying to their locker room to suit up and returning to the gate room to wait for Doctor Lee. When he arrived, Jack swept him with a disapproving glance and headed up the ramp, hoping Lee didn’t screw up and get them all killed.

A dozen people in long robes met them on the other side. Doctor Lee performed the introductions, pointing out Jean de la Croix, Ministry of Science; the city chancellor; a social coordinator and Esme Bien, Watch Commander.

The science guy wasn’t the typical nerdy type. He looked more like a lumberjack, big with beefy hands, dark hair and piercing gray eyes. The chancellor was an older man with an air of authority, like Hammond, only with thick, wavy gray hair. Jack couldn’t figure why a social coordinator would have such a prominent post, but this guy rivaled Baal for being a fashion plate. His velvets and silks looked expensive, and he wore a lot of jewelry. Quite the fancy pants, in Jack’s opinion.

The one Jack kept an eye on most, though, was the lone woman in the group. She was about Carter’s height and build but with long ash blonde hair and green eyes. Her face had an elfin quality to it, cute rather than pretty, but it was the way she looked at them that got Jack’s attention. She was threat assessing, picking him out as the one to watch, virtually ignoring Doctor Lee. ‘Watch Commander’ sounded like something police-oriented, so he figured she would naturally be the most suspicious of the visitors from Earth. He could admire that in a woman, especially if she were good at her job like Carter.

Jack dragged his attention from the woman and saw that de la Croix was holding the apparently inactivated bubble in his hand.  Jack directed Doctor Lee to ask about it.

The linguist listened intently to de la Croix’s answer, his face expressing surprise and denial, then hurriedly arguing with the minister, shaking his head and waving his hands to support his verbal declaration.

"What're they saying, doc?" Jack demanded, growing more uneasy by the moment.

"They said we stole something that belongs to them," Lee returned anxiously. "They don't seem angry about it, but they're insistent that we return it to them."

"What did we supposedly steal?"

"I'm not really clear on that, but I told them we've never been to this planet before, so we couldn't have stolen anything." Lee shrugged. "They're being pretty nice about it. They've invited us to dinner."

"Just keep your eyes and ears open," Jack suggested, looking from Lee to the rest of his team. "If they can penetrate our shields, we don't wanna make these folks mad at us. Let's see if we can get this resolved peacefully, but let’s not be too trusting right out of the gate." He paused, realizing what he’d just said. "No pun intended, there, kids."

"So do we go with them?" Lee asked, gesturing toward the few who had already stepped away to lead them off.

Jack's eyes surveyed the big domed room with its arching white ceiling and beautifully carved walls. He didn't see anything that seemed to be a security threat, and the people themselves appeared unarmed, even Madame Bien. "Until they give us reason to back off, we’ll see what they've got to say. Let's report in to Hammond first and see when he wants us to check back."

Having been given clearance by the general to continue their dialogue, the four were escorted out of the gate room and down a high-ceilinged, gothic-arched hallway into a grand foyer. All four of the most important city ministers stepped onto a circle in the middle of the floor, inviting the four team members from Earth to join them. The Watch Commander spoke to Doctor Lee in warning, her hand poised over a wide silver bracelet on her wrist.

Bill Lee turned to Jack. “We’re apparently going to be transported elsewhere to continue the talks. Is that okay?”

“Transported how?”

“Judging by the fact that Madame Bien is waiting for our agreement to press the button on her wrist,” Doctor Lee surmised, “possibly something like Goa’uld transport rings. A device of some kind that will take us some distance away.” He shrugged. “I’m not clear on all the details. They use a lot of words that must describe modern technological devices for which the early French didn’t have terms.”

“Just as long as we get advance warning and nobody makes any sudden moves,” agreed Jack. “Make sure they know that. And I wanna know where we’ll be in relation to the stargate so we’ll know how to get home… just in case.” Jack looked at the Frenchwoman and gave her a nod.

She touched the bracelet on her wrist and light flared around them.

In silence they were transported instantaneously to a spacious, ornately decorated room dominated by a long table. At the far end of the room was a balcony open to the outside and Jack wandered over to it while Doctor Lee translated what Jack had said.

He checked out their location and looked out to orient himself to the city. The room was apparently in a tall tower overlooking the metropolitan area, most of which was carved from white or gray stone adorned with statues. It was a beautiful place, spreading out as far as the eye could see, tall spires and towers piercing the sky all around them. One building a few blocks down had a domed roof of a size to match the one housing the stargate.

Doctor Lee came up to him with Madame Bien to confirm that it was, indeed, the building from which they had come. Jack traced a mental path through the maze of streets below, committing it to memory in case they needed to make a hasty exit.

The city reminded him of pictures he'd seen of Paris, the buildings all very old looking.

"Nice place you got here," Jack commented, remaining standing while the rest of the team took seats across from the city officials. He gave the room another covert sweep, looking for all access points and finally taking a seat where he had a commanding view of the entrances. His hand never left his P-90, keeping it close in his lap, his chair pushed far enough back that – if the need arose – he could stand and fire without impediment.

Jack noticed that Teal’c had chosen a chair close to his, facing the door, backing him up as always. He leaned close as everyone smiled at each other, looking for a place to begin. “What do you think about these folks, T?”

“They appear to have many technological advances,” the Jaffa rumbled back. “Their Watch Commander is a well-trained warrior and recognizes us as the same. We must proceed carefully if we are to earn their trust.”

“That’s what I think, too.”

Jack felt instinctively that there was no threat here, but that bubble thing still made him nervous. Anyone with that kind of technology was suspect. Even the Tollans, with their superior science, hadn't been completely trustworthy in his book. They were too damned innocent to be trusted, and their naïveté had gotten them wiped out. He hoped these people were less trusting. With Madame Bien as an example, he thought they might be a little savvier in that regard.

The science guy started talking. Jack listened politely, watching Doctor Lee's face for clues to the conversation.

“They said they tried to contact us before but their standard probes never reported back,” Lee explained. “That must have been the unexpected gate activations we’ve experienced over the last week or so.”

Jack grimaced. “They didn’t send any people through, did they?”

Lee asked, relieved at the answer. “No. Just probes, like we do. That bubble you described in the briefing was the last, designed to penetrate shields and seek out this treasure of theirs. I’ll see if I can find out more about it.”

The linguist was adamant in his refusal of the charge of theft; the aliens explained a little more and understanding dawned on Lee's face at last.

"They're saying the theft didn't occur here but on another world," he told Jack. "We may have picked up an artifact or something while we were exploring. I'm sure, whatever it is, we can give it back. They seem to place a lot of importance on it."

Jean de la Croix spoke, a ring of authority to his voice and, when he finished, the center of the table slid back to reveal what appeared to be a glass panel. Beneath the surface of the glass, somewhere in the depths of the table, a light came on, and a holographic image appeared above the table, images forming in transparent light.

Jack recognized the scene instantly. PX7-669 had yielded nothing, but the arena they'd visited had been unique. It had reminded him of some of the smaller Roman stadiums, with wide stone benches weathered by rain and wind over centuries. One end of the arena had had a long passageway shadowed by tall gothic-arched columns leading to a small grotto. The back wall of the grotto had been covered with writing like nothing Daniel had ever seen, something he had declared was totally unlike anything from Earth’s past.

They had puttered around the ruins for the better part of a day, then sent the UAV in sweeps around the area, finding nothing else of interest. They had taken nothing from the planet save some photographs of the structures and writing.

He relayed his memories to Doctor Lee. The older man frowned, and then relayed the message to their alien hosts.

Monsieur de la Croix shook his head and pointed to the hologram with his huge hand.

As they watched, they saw the arena breached at its entrance by four figures that Jack recognized as SG-1. The team prowled through the ruins, then the image skipped ahead to the moment when they had gone down the arched passageway into the grotto. He remembered the dialogue from that particular moment and fought off the embarrassment, hoping nobody else recalled it. At least the aliens hadn’t recorded any sound to go with the pictures.

He hoped they hadn’t, anyway.

The four figures in the image stood around while Daniel took pictures and speculated, mouth moving but no audio recording played back. In time, Jack watched the team begin to leave and looked to de la Croix for more information. The alien was gesticulating at the recording as if to prove his point.

“I didn’t see anything,” Doctor Lee assured Jack. “I told them so, but M’sieur de la Croix seems certain your team picked something up in that grotto. He calls it…” Lee grinned and shook his head. “I’m sure I must be missing something in the translation here, the evolution of the language having gone in unexpected directions to account for alien phenomena, but—“

“Cut to the chase, doc,” Jack demanded impatiently.

“He’s calling it ‘illuminatus.’ ”

“Which means?”

“Considering the Latin source, it could be ‘the lights’ or ‘the enlightened ones.’ Whatever it is, they hold it in very high regard.” Doctor Lee turned back to the science minister. “He says he’ll play it back with enhancements to show us what he means.”

All eyes again turned to the hologram. The figures reset to the moment when the four explorers entered the grotto. Their human-looking exteriors vanished, becoming iridescent bipedal shapes, glowing with color. Carter, Teal’c and Jack’s own shapes pulsed with gray spots, making them look dim and dull, while Daniel glowed with brilliant white light.

Jack’s stomach clenched. That was what he had looked like as an Ancient, little filaments of light waving slowly about his human shape, like feelers of some kind. Jack swallowed hard, wondering just what kind of enhancement this was, suddenly fearing that Daniel might not have descended completely.

Doctor Lee turned to him, translating softly as de la Croix spoke.

“They are saying that these three,” Lee began, indicating Carter, O’Neill and Teal’c, “are tainted by possession of an alien mind, though you are now free of the Goa’uld.”

That raised eyebrows all over the Tau’ri faces. “So they know the Goa’uld,” Jack observed, “and they’re right. Daniel’s the only one of us who hasn’t been snaked.”

“That must be some recording device,” Carter breathed appreciatively, eyes wide and gleaming with interest. “I’d love to get a look at this technology, sir. We could use this kind of scanner to tell us if someone’s a host or not.”

“In time,” Jack waved at her, putting her off. “Let’s see what they’re talkin’ about here, first.” He turned back to the projection, listening as Lee’s translation resumed.

“Daniel is clearly the only choice here, the pure vessel which the… uh… illuminatus will choose.” Lee cleared his throat. “I’m not real clear on this, colonel. I’ll ask—“

Just then the walls of the grotto in the recording seemed to come alive with sparkles. A cloud of brilliant points of light like a swarm of fireflies flew about the four human shapes, all making their way quickly to Daniel as he expounded on the alien writing, his voice now audible. With each intake of breath, the lights entered his body until they became part of his glowing shape.

Daniel stopped talking for a moment. Jack remembered the puzzled look on the man’s face at that instant and heard the recording play back Daniel’s question for everyone to hear. He was thankful that Lee wasn’t translating the conversation for the aliens.

“Does anybody else smell that?”

Jack had glanced around himself guiltily. “It wasn’t me,” he had said flatly.

Daniel had rolled his eyes. “No, really. It smelled like roses.”

That had been too good a punch-line setup to resist. Jack had grinned at his friend. “Okay, maybe it was me.”

Daniel had seemed insistent, aware of something, but uncertain what it was. “Jack, look around. Do you see any roses? Any flowers of any kind? Am I sneezing?”

“Okay, so it wasn’t flowers and it wasn’t me. So… what?”

“So… I have no idea... but I smelled something. I’m sure of it.”

Eyes glued to the holographic images they were seeing, Jack’s hands tightened around the P-90. He saw the glowing things in Daniel’s body, wondering just what the hell they were and how to get rid of them. He thought about the timing just as Carter spoke up.

“Sir, that was just a few days before the first reported sighting of the Man in Black,” she said, her face filled with worry.

Looking at Doctor Lee, Jack spoke, his voice low and intense. “So ask them how to get the damn things out of Daniel. Tell them they’re killing him.”

The linguist nodded and turned back to de la Croix. They talked for a few minutes, and the woman across from Jack jumped into the conversation, talking animatedly. She kept gesturing toward the window, so Jack got up to look out of it.

He took notice of the tall spires all over the city, the decorative sculptures on every face. Statues perched at prominent places overlooking doorways, most of them ugly and misshapen creatures carved of the same dark gray stone. He thought about the Hunchback of Notre Dame and all the gargoyles decorating that cathedral, but there were no bells or bell towers anywhere in the skyline, just the gothic-style architecture and the big, ugly statues on the rooftops.

“What’s that word she keeps sayin’?” he asked, returning to the table. “That gaidune thing.”

Bill Lee turned to make eye contact. “Your pronunciation is atrocious, colonel. It’s a corruption of the Old French—“

Jack held up a hand impatiently. “Spare me the lecture.  Just give me English, doc!”

“ ‘Guardian,’ is what Madame Bien is saying.” Doctor Lee rubbed his forehead. “Best I can make out, they have a class of citizens they call the Guardians, and this illuminatus stuff belongs solely to them. They sometimes have competitions to determine who gets it, and apparently SG-1 wandered in just before time for their games. Daniel accidentally claimed the prize.”

Jack sighed. “Leave it to Daniel. He doesn’t even have to touch stuff now to get in trouble. It just comes to him.” He sighed heavily. “So what do we have to do to get rid of it?”

“I’m working on that part.” Bill glanced at Carter and Teal’c. “These people are being very nice, considering they think we’ve breached some sort of sacred trust here. I think we should learn more about their society, while we’re at it.”

“First we find out how to fix Daniel.  After all, it’s the only reason we came here.” Jack returned the window, studying the building just across the street from the one where they stood. It looked more formal than the others around it and was surrounded by a grassy park filled with winding paths lined with flowers. It was a beautiful building that reminded Jack of an old European church but without the crosses. Crouched all over it were countless statues, their stone wings spread to catch the sun and cast big patches of shade beneath them on the parapets and balconies.

“Working on that, sir,” Doctor Lee assured him, and turned back to the alien council to discuss how to accomplish that goal.
 

After eight hours of waiting around while Doctor Lee spoke with the aliens and then translated for him, Jack finally had enough information to return to Earth and report.

General Hammond had then given the go-ahead for a return trip, and now he had come to the infirmary to tell Doctor Fraiser what he’d learned.

Jack stood in the observation booth, looking down on the isolation room where Daniel lay sedated, shaking off the drugs and heading toward wakefulness. His eyes were glazed, not seeing anything in the room, only what was going on in his tortured mind. He struggled to rise and started to pace, his wobbly movements growing steadier as Jack watched.

Daniel’s chest started to heave. His hands flexed into a claw-like formation that tightened into fists and opened again. Then he began to race around the room, leaping up on his bed and dropping down on the far side, shadow-boxing with unseen opponents.

He looked crazy.

That tore Jack up, because he knew Daniel wasn’t, although it sure looked like he was headed that way.

Doctor Fraiser met him in the booth. “You have something to report, colonel?” she asked quietly, a note of hope in her voice and gleaming in her gentle brown eyes.

“Yeah. We know what’s causing…” He waved a hand at the slanted glass panels looking down on the room. “…that. The natives of PXniner-2YX call it illuminatus. We think you should come back with us when we take Daniel there and talk to some of their science people.”

“Do they know what this illuminatus is?” Fraiser looked down into the room.

Jack nodded. “Daniel breathed it in on PX7-669. We didn’t see it when it happened. Stuff’s invisible till they enhance it.” Jack didn’t describe the recorded vision of the team as colored lights, but he could still see it quite vividly in his mind’s eye. “Doc Lee’s tryin’ to find out more about it.  I gotta hand it to him, he’s done a pretty good job.”

“Do they have a way of removing it from Daniel’s system? I couldn’t find any evidence of alien substances in his body. I’m interested to learn more about this anomaly.”

Clearing his throat, Jack felt his stomach tighten. “They said the stuff can be coaxed into leaving him.” He swallowed hard. “It’s apparently a colony of intelligent beings. Really tiny beings. At least that’s what Doctor Lee thinks they are. He’s still a little unclear about all that. Language barrier thing.” Under his breath, he added, “Daniel could figure it out, though, if he were...”  He pursed his lips and shook his head.

Fraiser turned those big brown eyes back up to him, a tiny smile hitching up one corner of her mouth. “That should be familiar territory for you, sir. Remember that orb and the bacteria it carried that colonized you and half the base?”

He nodded. “Daniel hasn’t run any fever or anything. There weren’t any outward signs…” He paused. “Well, there were, but we weren’t associating that with alien life forms. I guess we should take sharper notice of unusual behaviors until we know for sure it’s just somebody going through a mid-life crisis or find evidence that they’ve been… compromised.”

“We can’t afford to take anything for granted at the SGC,” Fraiser echoed. “This didn’t affect Daniel overnight. His behavior changed so gradually that no one really noticed it until it had far too strong a hold on him.” She turned and laid one small hand on his arm. “We’ll find a way to help him, colonel. I promise.” She patted him and left to inform General Hammond of the news.

Jack watched over Daniel, clenching his teeth, his stomach twisting up in knots, until Teal’c came to the booth to announce that everyone was ready for departure.

All that remained was preparing Daniel to go off-world. Carter had been assigned the duty of packing up suitable clothing for Daniel to change into when he was himself again. The three team members gathered outside the door with Doctor Fraiser, now suited up in BDUs, bearing a syringe filled with a powerful sedative. Four orderlies stood with her, ready to help take their friend down.

She gave the nod and Jack opened the door, letting the orderlies in first. Teal’c took point for the team, positioning himself just inside the door. Jack went in second, making eye contact with the wild man. Daniel was standing on the far side of the room and leaped up onto the bed, settling down in a brooding squat, staring at Jack in silence, alpha to alpha. Everyone else he ignored.

Jack heard Fraiser and Carter come in behind him and close the door.

“Come down, Daniel,” Jack ordered gently. “There’s something alien inside you, and we’re gonna take you someplace where some nice folks can get it out.”

The dangerous gleam in those blue eyes intensified. He lowered his head, staring at Jack from beneath his thick brows. He looked like a predatory beast, issuing a silent challenge.

“You don’t wanna fight me,” Jack murmured to his friend, his voice soft and low, full of reassurance and kindness. He took several slow, careful steps toward the bed, angling slightly to the side rather than confronting Daniel head-on. His whole body tensed up, knowing Daniel was going to attack before he moved a muscle. “We’re gonna help you, Daniel. You have to just sit there and be still and quiet. Okay? You gonna cooperate, buddy?”

The orderlies slowly came closer, behind and beside Daniel, closing the gap, ready to restrain him.

Jack didn’t want them to do this, didn’t want to take the chance of his friend being hurt, but it had to be done. Daniel had to be subdued and sedated before they could risk taking him through the stargate.

He kept talking, maintaining eye contact with his friend while the orderlies sneaked up on him.

Just before they closed in Daniel leaped off the bed, knocking one of the men flat on his back on the concrete floor. Daniel’s feet landed on his chest, pushing the air out of him, using his body as a springboard for a jump toward the door. Jack sidestepped, positioning himself between Daniel and the door while the orderlies swooped down on him, pinning him to the concrete floor.

Daniel hissed in frustration and rage as Fraiser stuck him with the syringe, emptying its contents into him. She stepped back quickly, leaving the orderlies to keep Daniel secured until the medication took effect. After a few minutes he slumped to the floor, boneless and unconscious.

“Keep your hands on him until he’s secured to that gurney,” Janet warned them. She bent down to see about the one who had been flattened by the archaeologist, penlight in hand, while the other three men strapped Daniel down in the restraints. “How’re you feeling, airman?”

“Dented,” the orderly shot back, not attempting to move.

“You took a nice knock to the head. How many fingers?”

“Three.” He got carefully to his feet, rubbing at the back of his head.

Doctor Fraiser gave orders for him to report to Doctor Warner for an exam while she finished prepping Daniel for the trip and sent the young man out of the isolation room.

While she examined her patient, Jack thought about Daniel’s break for freedom. He wondered if it were the illuminatus controlling him or simply that Daniel had developed into more of an athlete lately. He also wondered why Daniel hadn’t been talking. As far as Jack could tell, Daniel hadn’t said a word, hadn’t screamed or howled or made a sound except for that weird hissing since Jack had returned to collect his teammate.

There was no way to tell for sure while he was infected with that damned organism.

“Let’s get Daniel to the aliens who want to take those things out of him,” he growled when Doctor Fraiser nodded that she was ready to go. He resettled his black baseball cap on his head and pushed the foot of the narrow gurney while Teal’c pulled on the head of it, guiding it toward the ‘gate room. Janet and Carter walked alongside.

Checking his watch as they emerged on the other side of the wormhole, Jack saw that nearly ten hours had passed since first contact with the citizens of Rouen.

The long gurney was too big to fit onto their transporter pad, so this time SG-1 and Doctor Fraiser were led out of a building downtown and escorted on foot to the big gray building Jack had admired from the balcony of the meeting hall. As they walked, Jack saw that the sun was low in the sky on that world but still daylight. He hoped the sudden change in circadian rhythm would help Daniel, or at least not make things worse.

Carter and Janet pushed the gurney along while Jack and Teal’c walked beside it. Jack stole a glance at his friend’s face and saw that Daniel’s eyes were open. That sent a shiver of alarm through Jack, because the man should have been unconscious for several hours. “Doc,” he called softly, nodding toward Daniel to draw her attention there.  Janet and Sam stopped walking, and they all came to a standstill.

“Daniel, how are you feeling?” Janet asked solicitously, stroking his hair and the side of his face to surreptitiously check his temperature and offer a little comfort. She smiled at him.

Daniel’s eyes widened. He looked lucid and surprised as hell about something. He started struggling against his restraints, trying to get up.

“Just be still, Daniel,” Janet cautioned gently. “We can’t let you up yet. Do you know where you are?”

He blinked at her, focusing on her face but remained eerily silent.

Jack reached over as they resumed walking beside the bed and touched the doctor on the shoulder to get her to look at him. “Has he said anything lately? Talked at all?”

She frowned. “Come to think of it, no. He hasn’t said a word since this morning.” She turned back to her patient. “Daniel, can you talk to me? I need you to say something. Try it. Say my name.”

Daniel relaxed against the pillow, his expression shifting to one almost of tranquility. He smiled a little but made no effort to try to speak. Then he looked upward, wonder gleaming in his eyes as they came to the front entrance of the grey building with the tall spires. He smiled and closed his eyes.

“Looks like he’s happy to be here anyway,” Jack observed. He patted Daniel’s shoulder and slipped his hand back into its familiar spot cradling his P-90 as they entered the building.

He is here, announced the eldest Guardian, that thought echoing through all the others. None of them moved except one or two, changing the angle of their heads to view the procession below.

Strong, thought another.

Wise, came another still. And so young.

I feel pretty old, said Daniel.

A shiver ran through them all at once, followed by a startled rise in messages darting from one mind to another.

He hears us! He speaks to us! How can this be? He has not been connected!

The eldest shifted on his perch, catching a little more of the sun’s fading rays. This one, the old one announced with a trace of joy, has the soul of a Guardian. We must welcome him in the old way when it is time.

A ripple of wonder passed through the community, every head turning now to watch the caravan far below as they entered the Watchtower. The Guardians listened and learned the ancient greeting from those who still remembered it, all but lost in the passage of time.

As the sun slipped behind the mountains surrounding the city and the afterglow faded into full darkness, the Guardians stirred from their perches atop the buildings all over the city, rising into the sky on silent wings, waiting for the Visitor to join them.

The Rouenese were accustomed to this nightly flight, and none of them ever looked up to see them as they rose into the air.

Doctor Lee and Esme Bien met them in the lofty foyer of the Watchtower. She eyed Daniel suspiciously. “Is this the one?” she asked in heavily accented English.

“You speak our language?” Carter asked, startled.

“I have learned it,” answered Esme with a slight smile. “Your Doctor Lee has provided us with a translation of many of your words and I have had the information…” She frowned and touched her temple with one finger, searching for the proper words to explain. Finally she shrugged. “I have learned it.”

Doctor Lee smiled and shook his head in wonder. “I recorded a translation for them, and she had it downloaded into her mind,” he reported. “Amazing technology, Major Carter. These people will blow you away with what they can do. And wait till you hear what the illuminatus are.”

“Invisible fireflies?” Jack asked, spooked by the alien woman’s new skill. He wasn’t sure he wanted her understanding what they were saying… but then, he had ways of communicating with his people that she wouldn’t get. In a pinch, hand signals would do.

Esme clasped her hands behind her back and lifted her chin. “We have made arrangements for a more pleasant welcome, which awaits you in the tower upstairs.” Her gaze dropped down to Daniel again. “Is this the one who stole the illuminatus?”

“He didn’t steal it,” Jack shot back. “It went into him. He didn’t ask for it to go there.”

With a slight inclination of her head, she acquiesced. “You are correct, Colonel O’Neill. He did not.” She bent over Daniel and made eye contact. The necklace at her throat dangled in the air between them and Daniel’s eyes were drawn to it.

Jack saw Daniel’s right hand jerk against the restraint, as if he meant to catch hold of the necklace.

She saw the movement and caught the silver fob dangling from it, holding it up in front of Daniel’s eyes. “You wanted to see this?” she asked him gently.

Daniel nodded. He squinted, trying to see it clearly without the aid of his glasses. Noticing his difficulty, Janet pulled them from the breast pocket of her BDU jacket and slipped them on him. He studied the symbol silently until his face relaxed and then Esme moved away.

“What is that?” asked Jack. He nodded toward the necklace she settled against her chest as she straightened up.

“It is the mark of my station,” she told him proudly, offering no explanation. Gesturing toward Daniel with her hand, she asked, “Why do you have him bound? He will do no harm to us.”

“We don’t want him to hurt himself,” Janet clarified. “Daniel has been… this illuminatus is hurting him. If we don’t extract it from him soon, it’ll kill him.”

“Of course,” said Esme coolly. “It was not meant for mere human bodies. We are too weak to carry it.” She started off toward the interior of the building. “Please come with me.”

Jack frowned, bringing up the rear and signaling Teal’c to take point. If the illuminatus organisms weren’t meant for humans, then who was it meant for, and what were they? Jack wondered.

Bill turned to make eye contact with him as they walked. “I found out what the Guardians are and this you’re not going to believe this, colonel. The illuminatus is…” His bushy gray brows pinched together. “I’m not sure exactly how to describe it, but I’ve seen a recording of their origin. When the Guardians die, their bodies fragment into bright particles of energy.”

“So the illuminatus actually are the Guardians,” Sam summed up. “Sort of like… ascended, maybe? Still Guardians but on a different plane of existence?”

Lee nodded. “Apparently it’s invisible to the naked eye. Madame Bien has promised to explain further. I haven’t had time to research the phenomenon as much as I’d like, since I was mostly working on the translation to help us communicate.”

Jack gave him a brusque nod. “Good job, Bill. I’m glad you’re with us on this.”

Lee smiled at him, grateful for the acknowledgement from the hard-nosed colonel.

The group came to a wide stone staircase.  The Watch Commander had gone a dozen steps before she remembered that the gurney was on wheels. “You may release your prisoner,” she told them, pausing on the steps to look down on them. “No harm will come to him here, and he will not be allowed to harm others. He will be safe.  You have my word.”

Janet looked at Jack, who considered Esme’s assurance. These folks knew what illuminatus was and what it did, so she must be right. He had no reason not to trust them, but still he kept himself on alert just in case all was not as it seemed with the Rouenese. He gave the nod, and Fraiser and Carter began to unfasten the straps. They helped Daniel up and onto his feet, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and took his elbows as he mounted the stairs with a wobbly gait.

Esme turned and continued up the stairs, leading them up several flights, down corridors and into the tower at the front of the building that Jack had admired from across the street. She ushered them into a small room where a table and chairs had been set up. On a sideboard were stacks of plates, silverware and glasses. Sharing the space were platters of sliced meats, cheeses, pastries, vegetables, fruit, and pitchers of water and juice.

“Come, eat, and we will talk,” Esme invited them, standing beside the sideboard to pour their drinks. “I hope our food will be acceptable to you.”

“All we wanna know is how to get the bugs out of Daniel,” Jack told her, his eyes following his younger teammate as Daniel strolled about the room. As he watched, Daniel stopped and looked down at the food, sniffed, and wandered away.

“This is simple,” the Watch Commander returned. “The illuminatus will leave of their own accord, when a stronger champion is presented.”

“Which is?” Jack prompted.

“One of the Guardians, colonel.” She nodded toward the balcony looking out at city hall.

“What are they and where do we find one?” Jack’s hand hadn’t stopped caressing his P-90. He knew that, with Daniel, things were never as easy as they were supposed to be. He nervously watched the archaeologist heading for the balcony.

Daniel dropped his blanket. The look on his face was beatific, just like that photo they had taken of him for his formal portrait. He ambled slowly closer to the railing, and Jack dashed after him, terrified he was going to fall off. Or jump.

“Let him go, colonel,” Esme commanded, the ring of authority in her voice.

“Like hell I will!” he snapped, firmly gripping Daniel’s upper arm and trying to haul him back inside the room. “I’m not letting him fall off. We’re at least twelve stories up, for cryin’ out loud.”

Jack felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced down to see Janet calling him off with a touch. There was a look of wonder in her eyes as she gazed beyond him, up at the sky. Jack noticed that the rest of the team had gathered out on the balcony with them, and all of them were looking up, stunned by what they saw.

He turned, glancing up over his shoulder at the night sky. A whoosh sounded nearby, followed moments later by another and another, all at precisely timed intervals. At first he didn’t see anything. Glancing at Daniel’s upturned face and the bright smile there, Jack let go of him, and Daniel raised his arms in a gesture of welcome.

Something was out there, doing close fly-bys. Jack put his back to the lighted room, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. In a moment or two, he could see the shapes, eight feet long with wingspans of more than twice that, swooping downward between the Watchtower and the city hall, then rising back up again and moving off toward other parts of the city. Jack squinted, trying to see some detail in the dark shapes, but he could hardly believe what his eyes were telling him.

The things were vaguely human-shaped, with a head, two arms held at their sides, and two legs, but that was where the resemblance ended. They had wings, for one thing, and most of them seemed to have long, snaky tails. Some had horns on their misshapen heads. The creatures were dark and rough-looking, like stone, black and solid shapes against the night and the gray building across the street.

Gargoyles, he told himself, remembering the statues he had seen earlier decorating every rooftop in sight in the city. They were living stone statues, flying through the air in precise formations, just missing each other by fractions. Their aerial technique was awe inspiring and their appearance terrifying. Never in a million years had he expected to see anything like these creatures, alive and swooping gracefully through the air with the precision of falcons and the speed of swifts.

Jack looked at Daniel. Gargoyles were doing fly-bys for Daniel, showing off for him. Jack felt suddenly ill and light-headed. He cradled the P-90 with both hands, thumb pushing off the safety, then sliding his right index finger into the trigger guard, just in case one of them made a move toward the balcony.

“They are welcoming him,” Esme murmured in awe, sidling up on the other side of the group, eyes on the sky. “I have never seen this display, but we have legends of it from ancient days. It is a great honor they give to your friend.”

She reached out after the last creature had flown off and touched Daniel’s shoulder. “Can you speak with them, Daniel?”

He looked at her but made no attempt to answer. A moment later he turned back to the night, his smile fading. His eyes grew glassy, and Jack recognized that look.

“It’s happening, doc,” he reported. “Do something.”

“What is happening?” asked Esme.

“Your illuminatus makes him crazy,” Jack snapped. “It’s killing him. I suggest you call one of those things in here and make it get the bugs out of him right now.”

Esme’s expression closed. She lifted her chin. “It is not that simple, colonel.”

“With Daniel it never is. So what do we have to do?”

The Watch Commander’s green eyes shifted to Daniel as Janet pulled him gently off the balcony and guided him to a chair, wrapping him up in the blanket again. “You do nothing. Daniel must challenge a young Guardian, one who is not already a bearer of the illuminatus, and lose.”

A snappy comeback died on Jack’s lips. He thought about the gargoyle statues at home, how ugly and menacing they looked, since he hadn’t gotten a really detailed look at the live ones outside. On Earth, some were small and harmless-looking but the things he had seen out there silhouetted against the night sky looked huge. Bigger than Teal’c. He figured one of those things could easily make mincemeat out of Daniel, and that scared him.

“I don’t want Daniel hurt,” he said adamantly.

“That cannot be guaranteed.”

“I don’t want him killed, maimed or crippled.”

A long moment of silence passed. “How good a fighter is your Daniel?”

Jack snorted. “Look, lady, anybody can throw a fight if the prize is big enough.”

“I do not understand this ‘throwing a fight.’ If you mean that Daniel might lose intentionally, you are wrong. The illuminatus inside him will not allow it. The challenger will do what is necessary to prove it is worthy to carry them. There can be no guarantees.”

“Has one already been chosen?” asked Sam.

“One will come forth when we return to the arena,” Esme explained.

“I wanna talk to it,” Jack demanded.

“They do not speak,” said Esme. “Not to humans. Only when one of them dies do they vocalize, and they live a very, very long time. No one in recent times has heard that sound, though we do have recordings of it.” She shook her head and came to stand before Jack, looking up at him with great pride. “I alone of my people can hear them, when they wish it. I have been altered to be the link between my people and theirs.”

Intuition hit, linking up concepts. “The Watch Commander,” said Jack. “Those gargoyles… they’re your night watch. Your guardians. They protect you from yourselves.” He looked at Daniel with sudden understanding. That was exactly what the Colorado Springs ninja had been doing, a galaxy away.

“Yes, colonel.” She nodded. “The illuminatus enhances their ability to find—“

“—crimes in progress,” Jack finished for her. “I know. Daniel’s been on night watch for too long now. He needs to retire, but I need to know he won’t get killed. We need to see some of your gargoyles in action, watch how they fight, so I can help him prepare.”

Esme blinked at him. “How will you do that?”

Jack eyed the man in the chair, huddled in the blanket. “Got a crime detector right there, ma’am. All we need is transportation.”

She shook her head. “He will choose a crime where he may be of help, not one that has already been covered by one of the other Guardians. They communicate with each other, choosing the call nearest them and warning the others away.”

Jack rubbed his face with his hand. “Like cops on the radio, running everything through dispatch,” he mumbled.

“Madame Bien,” called Carter, “do you have any recordings of past challenges in the arena? Or maybe some of the crimes your Guardians stopped were recorded. On our world, we sometimes have people in