They had set up the bulkier items they’d need in the shielded isolation room. On one side of the gurney was the Tok’ra device that would emit the EMP. The portable defibrillator stood on the other side, paddles already coated with gel to conduct the electric jolt through the skin. The EEG and ECG machines with their own power sources were switched off in the corner, ready to boot up the second the EMP dissipated, to check Janet’s heartbeat and brainwaves.

"Due to the intensity of the pulse it would be unwise to have anyone else in the room with Doctor Fraiser."

"We’re not going to leave her alone to flick the switch by herself," Sam let her irritation show at the Tok’ra, adjusting the Goa’uld healing device slipped snuggly over her palm.

"You run the risk of whoever else is in there suffering the repercussions of the pulse."

"Only if it’s an actual body in the room," Annika said softly, her astral self emerging to stand beside her body. The ghostly image spoke. "I don’t have any neural pathways to disrupt."

"But you are energy," Anise pointed out.

"So when the pulse activates I flicker out," she shrugged. Instinct told her that wouldn’t happen, but she really didn’t have the patience at the moment to start a debate with the woman. "My body will be fine." Before the Tok’ra could voice any other objections, she drifted through the glass window and down to the doctor sitting nervously on the single bed. She clasped the clammy hand between hers. "How’re you holding up?"

"Scared out of my mind," Janet admitted with a whisper, her free hand fiddling with the ties of her gown. She was wearing one of the loose fitting hospital coats though it was put on backwards. In all likelihood the defibrillator would have to be used and they needed easy direct access to her chest. Beneath it, for the sake of her modesty, she wore a cotton bra with plastic clasps and the under-wire removed.

"Everything will work out," Annika promised.

"Vision?" There was a pleading hope in her caramel brown eyes.

"Not of this moment." Annika saw the fear shutter across her friend’s face and she quickly hurried on. "But I have seen an unrelated snapshot of the future and you were just fine in it…so logically that means this works." Annika pushed away the nagging voice in her head that reminded her the future was not set, regardless of what her sixth sense showed her.

The diminutive doctor’s shoulders relaxed a little.

"You ready down there?" Jack’s voice echoed down through the intercom.

Annika raised an eyebrow at Janet, who took a deep breath and laid back on the gurney. "All set."

Hammond rounded the corner of the observation deck. "All systems will be shut down in one minute."

"We’re up, kids." Jack motioned for Sam and Daniel to follow him down to the room’s single entrance to wait behind the sealed door. In one hand he gripped the large epinephrine syringe that he prayed he wouldn’t have to use. He had a spare tucked into his pocket just in case a second dose was needed.

As the seconds ticked down they waited tensely for Walter to announce the complete shutdown of all the base’s computers.

Annika felt a prodding in her mind. "Teal’c, we need to be down there with them when the door is released." As the words left her mouth the ringing in her ears died down to a whisper. Something was going to go wrong, the outcome was still uncertain, but their presence would hopefully swing the Fates to their side.

"Are you sure?" the Jaffa asked. They didn’t have an assigned task for the procedure and had intended to remain in the observation room with the general and Anise.

"As sure as I know Sam will need to use the healing device."

"Good enough." Hammond nodded for them to join their teammates.

The military couple was watching the small video screen of the room set up on the outside wall. Janet looked so tiny against the single pillow of the bed, her face almost as white as the sheets she lay on.

"I am going to rip Balls' balls off," the colonel growled quietly.

"I believe that honor should be reserved for Doctor Fraiser, O’Neill," Teal’c intoned from behind.

Jack glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his team’s arrival. "Group effort, huh?"

"So it would seem." Annika tapped her forehead.

Walter’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker. "Base shutdown in, five, four, three, two, one."

Immediately they were plunged into complete darkness, then the emergency generators kicked in and partial light was restored.

Inside the room Janet’s grip on Annika’s hand tightened.

"Ready?" the psychic asked.

"No, but do it anyway."

With a nod, Annika pressed the button.

For a second there was only the whine of the machine powering up. A high-pitched beep was all the warning they had that it had reached maximum capacity and then the invisible pulse burst from the control crystal, sending a shockwave through the room. The Tok’ra device sparked, the blast overloading its control crystal.

Janet’s head lolled against the pillow, instantly unconscious.

Annika’s astral embodiment felt like she’d been hit with a tidal wave. The force of the current knocked her legs from beneath her and only her death grip on Janet’s hand stopped her from being yanked from the room on the crest of the wave. She desperately tried to hold on and maintain her astral projection, knowing it was imperative but not why, though it felt like she was being skinned by the microscopic particles of energy.

Hammond waiting anxiously in the observation room, saw the transparent form of Annika shoot into the air as though being buffeted by a tornado-force wind. A split second later he felt a tingle through his body as the wave passed through him. His hand slapped against the red button that controlled the automatic door to the room and SG-1 ran into the room.

Casper collapsed to the floor still grasping the doctor’s hand, the force holding her in the air gone as quickly as it had come. "Her heart’s stopped!" she gasped.

With time of the essence, the others didn't bother trying to hook up the ECG machine to confirm the statement. They trusted that the psychic knew what she was talking about.

Jack flicked the cap off the syringe and in two strides was by Janet’s side. With a steady hand he took careful aim and plunged the needle through Janet’s breastbone and into her heart, releasing the dose that would hopefully kick-start the organ once again.

Janet’s body remained horribly still.

Daniel was already powering up the defibrillator, the paddles in his hands. Sam yanked open the top of Janet’s gown.

"Clear!" Daniel placed the paddles on either side of her chest squeezing the handles to release the electrical charge.

Janet’s body arched off the table then flopped back down.

All eyes fell to Casper leaning against the gurney legs. She searched for any sign of life within Janet. Found none. "Again."

"Clear." Daniel once again depressed the paddles and another jolt jerked through their friend.

Casper didn’t sense any normal internal functions in Janet, however there was something… "Again."

"Clear."

This time Annika honed in on the spark she’d felt before. The nanite! She’d found the nanite. With none of the synapses of Janet’s brain firing for the moment, the current of the defibrillator was making the miniscule device spark. And the little bugger was still active! She focused her will probing around the nanite. The second she did, Janet’s body began convulsing, the bio-neural device fighting against the foreign contact.

"Jack, more epi," she gasped, trying with all her might to cling to the tiny device.

The others were trying in vain to hold Janet’s thrashing limbs down.

"But she’s alive." The colonel sounded doubtful even as he reached for the second shot.

"Not Janet, it’s the nanite." Annika was astounded by the power of the device. It was so small that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye yet it was like it was being powered by a jet engine. Her physical self skidded down to the floor to remerge with her astral form, needing the extra strength.

"Right." He tried to get a good aim, but the doctor’s body was shaking too violently. "T, hold her still."

The Jaffa who’d been grappling with the doctor’s arm and leg at the side of the bed, moved to the head of gurney firmly placing his large hands on either side of the small woman’s shoulders, pinning her torso as still as possible.

Jack took the first opportunity and once again plunged the syringe into Janet’s chest.

A hollow harsh gurgle erupted from the thrashing woman’s throat, the second adrenalin dose forcing her heart to beat, albeit sluggishly, her lungs expunging the dead air that had been stagnating for the last minute or so.

"Carter!"

The major didn’t need to be told that it was time to use the healing device. She relinquished her position to Daniel, which had been leaning over the doctor’s thighs in an effort to keep Janet from bucking off the bed, and focused the jewel’s energy beam over Janet’s chest to strengthen the damaged organ and muscles and get regular blood flow through the rest of her body.

"Daniel, I need you."

From his awkward pose on top of Janet, the archaeologist looked down at his wife to see her eyes begin to glaze over. He could feel the strength being sapped from her. "What do you need?"

"It’s too strong for me…need your strength to pull it out." She lifted her free hand and he caught it between his fingers.

Daniel realized instantly what she was talking about. He brought her palm up to his forehead. Closing his eyes he focused his mind on their bond, just like he had a day ago when studying Jacob and Selmak’s blending. Behind his eyelids he saw the shadowed body of Janet surrounded by her very pale aura. He ignored the aura, as worrying as its weakened state was, and concentrated on the violet tendril of his wife’s telekinesis. His own heart nearly skipped a beat as his mind registered that it was almost as pale as Janet’s aura. His fingers unconsciously tightened around the hand pressed to his brow. Her thumb brushed against his temple drawing him back to what he was supposed to be doing.

He mentally followed the violet ‘rope’ to the end, where it was encasing a tiny, barely noticeable, dot of black. Funneling his own will through their bond he took control of the weave. Immediately he felt the bucking of the device trying to break free, how powerful it was. He also came to the realization that they had been wrong about the cause of death in the zatarcs. The victims may have blown their brains out, but that was an automatic reaction like a chicken still being able to run around after its head had been cut off, to cover the damage that this microscopic device did. This device was designed to bounce around the victim’s brain like a ball in pinball machine, ricocheting off the skull to totally scramble the brain. However, the tunnels it would make would be so tiny that unless you knew to look for them, they would easily be missed during an autopsy, as they had been in the latest Tok’ra victim. Beads of sweat trickled down his face as he battled to keep the nanite still and in his grasp, knowing that if he faltered his friend was as good as dead.

He very carefully began pulling the nanite, manipulating it through the cranial fluid surrounding Janet’s brain, down to the back of her throat. The ear canal was technically the closet orifice in which to remove it, however he didn’t want to risk damaging her inner ear. He figured that if a symbiote could come and go through the back of the throat then the wound this tiny thing created would heal in no time.

The closer the nanite got to Janet’s tonsils the more fight it put up, as though sensing its limited ‘lifespan’ was almost up. It very nearly slipped away from him, but Daniel tightened his grip like a vice, and with a groan of effort yanked it out of her mouth. It flew out of her like a slingshot and though no one could actually see it, they did see where it landed.

The general and Anise who almost had their noses pressed to the glass of the observation room, reeled back when there was a loud popping sound and a crack appeared in the glass at their chest level.

With the nanite out of her system Janet stopped thrashing. Cautiously Jack and Teal’c released their hold on the doctor, while Sam continued to use the healing device, running the beam back and forth from her torso to her head.

Daniel felt utterly exhausted. He managed to remove his weight from Janet’s legs by simply sliding to the floor. Annika shakily crawled around the gurney so that she could collapse next to him.

Teal’c wheeled the EEG machine over and started attaching the tiny nodules to the still unconscious doctor. Janet’s heart may be beating, however they still did not know if there was any brain activity.

Jack peered over the bed to the couple lying flat out on the floor. "You two comfy down there?" His code for ‘Are you alright?’

"Yes, thank you." Annika waved up at him then let her hand flop down onto Daniel’s chest. "Just tired."

"Very, very tired," Daniel confirmed.

Sam’s face was ashen, the healing device flickering off. Using the Goa’uld technology had been as equally draining on her as the ‘battle’ Daniel and Annika had fought. "I’ve done all I c-"

"Whoa!" Jack managed to catch the major before she hit the floor. "Crap, everyone’s dropping like flies." He tenderly laid her down next to Daniel. "T, you better not pass out, you’re too heavy for me to carry."

"I shall not, O’Neill," he assured, turning on the machine that would tell them if they had been at all successful.

The conscious people in the room held their breath as the monitor lit up, their eyes focused on the flat lines running across the screen. For a moment nothing happened then the lines began zigzagging from left to right.

Jack decided that before his knees turned to jelly in relief, he’d better join his lover on the floor. He made himself comfortable, gently resting Sam’s head against his thigh.

Her sapphire eyes blinked open. "Did it work?" she whispered anxiously.

Jack nodded. "Doc’s got brainwaves, but we won’t know how much of her smarts are left until she wakes up."

"But the nanite is gone, right?"

The colonel glanced up at the impact fracture of the observation deck glass. "Yep."

The general and Anise entered the room.

"Everybody okay?" Hammond asked looking down at the prone figures of his premier team.

"Peachy, sir."

"Anise, I declare that your EMP theory sucks." Annika was too exhausted to even look at the Tok’ra. "The nanite was alive and kicking the entire time."

"I can vouch for that and second the motion." Daniel raised his arm to the elbow then let it drop back down.

"I third it."

At the hoarse murmur the three people on floor temporarily forgot the tiredness of their bodies and bolted into a sitting position.

"Hey, Doc! How you feeling?" Jack grinned up at the now conscious woman.

"Like I just went ten rounds in a boxing match and lost."

"Nuh uh," Annika grinned. "You won."

"It's over?"

"Indeed it is, Doctor Fraiser."

"Good…need to rest," she battled to keep her eyes open. "Then we screw Ba’al over." She lost the fight and her lids drooped shut in sleep.

Sam, Daniel and Annika thought the CMO’s plan was a good one and they let themselves fall back to the floor.

"Why don’t we rustle up the gurneys from the other isolation rooms and make them more comfortable?"

"We’re on it, sir." Jack gestured for Teal’c to help, and the two men made quick work of wheeling in the beds and transferring the exhausted people to the mattresses.

"The condition of our teammates could be used to our advantage in keeping Doctor Fraiser’s identity as the zatarc concealed." Teal’c tenderly tucked the cotton blanket around Annika.

Jack agreed, slipping the healing device from his fiancée’s hand. "If we can get the Doc back into uniform, we could say the device overloaded sooner than expected. They didn’t make it out of the shielded room in time and were knocked for six."

"Do it," Hammond ordered.

Teal’c retrieved Janet’s skirt and blouse that had been neatly folded in the corner, handing the navy skirt to Jack. When they approached the bed, both men hesitated.

"Er…sir, maybe we should strip the others?"

Both men had seen Daniel, Sam and Annika in various states of undress many times. Sharing tents for days, sometimes weeks on end, it was unavoidable and was the source for much good-natured ribbing. However this was the Doc they were about to strip and dress. It didn’t matter that the sound asleep woman probably knew SG-1’s bodies better than they did themselves, had seen them naked more times than they could count. The situation had never been switched and both gentlemen were uneasy at having the roles of doctor and patient reversed.

"I can do it," Anise suggested quietly, "if you are concerned about Doctor Fraiser’s modesty."

The men darted each other looks, not at all convinced that having the Tok’ra do it would be any better, especially since Janet wasn’t too fond of the dual entity.

"Please, let me be of some use this day." To hear the sincerity from the symbiote rather than the host surprised them.

Jack took pity on her. He had long ago decided that she was the Tok’ra equivalent of Felger. Every theory their bumbling scientist put into practice went tits up, normally with SG-1 bearing the unfortunate consequences. The results of their encounters with Anise bore uncanny similarities. But both had never intended to become the pains in the butts they ultimately were. "Hey, look, Carter and the Doc thought the EMP-thing would work."

"That doesn’t negate the fact that three of your team are incapacitated and Doctor Fraiser almost lost her life, primarily because of my so called cure."

"Ultimately it is Ba’al who is at fault," Hammond contradicted.

"And while we were able to identify this one zatarc through other means," Teal’c added. "Your analysis of the enzyme has provided the means to identify any future infiltration."

"I still feel the need to apologize, a frequent occurrence in my dealings with SG-1."

"Accepted. Now you can change the Doc." Jack thrust the clothes at the woman. "Just be careful, we need her bossy butt to keep us in line."

The general not so subtly cleared his throat beside him.

The colonel grimaced, "Not that you don’t do a fine job of that yourself, sir."

"Uh huh. Why don’t we give the ladies some privacy and we can finish this interesting line of conversation outside?" Hammond strode from the room, trying to stifle his grin.

Passing over the threshold seemed to lift a weight from the soldiers’ shoulders. Five days of anxiety dissolving like a mist. They had identified the ‘spy’, retrieved all the Intel Ba’al had managed to gain and neutralized the zatarc technology. Despite more than a few hairy moments, the day had turned out pretty darn well.

"What will be our next course of action?" Teal’c asked.

"We should do as Doctor Fraiser suggested," Hammond said.

"Sleep, sir?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of screwing Ba’al over."

"Even better," the colonel grinned. "Disinformation?"

"We are going to come up with the best damned tall tale we can think of. Since we can’t kill him we are going to make his life as miserable as hell."

"We can’t kill him?" Jack was very disappointed.

"At the moment Ba’al is the only System Lord powerful enough, even without the alliance group he’s formed, to be a threat to Anubis. If we take him out Anubis will have no trouble absorbing his holdings and becoming the most powerful Goa’uld we have encountered."

"I’m sure we can come up with something to mess with Ba’al’s plans."

"I have no doubt. Our first port of call is to announce the procedure was a success, and normal operations will resume in the morning. Colonel, if you could let Cassandra know about her mother."

Jack walked alongside the general to the lift. Teal’c remained behind to watch over the people who were more family than colleagues.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Jack was careful to waltz into the infirmary with his usual nonchalant stride just as Hammond made the announcement that should have relieved everyone on the base. And it did, except for the five people who now looked up at his entrance. He noticed that while SG-2, gathered around the makeshift poker table, were giving a good imitation of carefree poses, their eyes betrayed them. "Afternoon, campers." He sidled up to the bed and casually draped an arm around Cassie’s shoulders. "Who’s winning?"

There was a collective sigh from the men as Cassandra scooped up the kitty from the center.

He grinned down at the young woman. "I see I taught you well."

Ferretti’s jaw dropped. "You taught Cass to play poker? That explains a few things," he grumbled, eying the growing mountain of Cassie’s chips compared to the dwindling anthills the ‘experienced’ players had left.

"Best student I ever had."

"Did the EMP really work?" Dodger asked.

"Yep, but there was a slight hiccup." Jack felt Cassie tense beneath his touch. "The do-hickey overloaded quicker than estimated. Went off before we could clear the room. Carter, Daniel, Casper and the Doc are out for the count but they will be okay."

"You’re sure?" Cassie was practically holding her breath.

"Oh, they’ll probably feel like they have the mother of all hangovers when they wake up, but nuthin' an aspirin won't fix." The tension leaving the girl was as quick as it was obvious. Jack glanced around the room that was empty of medic personnel. "When Jenkins gets back let him know, will ya’?"

"Will do, Colonel," Brooklyn promised.

"Cassie, they’re all off with the fairies, but if you wanna come down to see your mom, you can." Jack glanced at the girl who had totally relaxed against him. "Unless you want to finish cleaning the guys out."

She grinned almost giddy with relief. "I think I’ll leave them some dignity." She hoped off the bed. "I’ll collect my winnings later."

"We demand a rematch!" Ferretti called after their retreating figures.

The secondary team waited until the doors stopped swinging, to be sure none of their ensuing conversation would seep out into the corridor. They had guessed there was more to the EMP procedure from the forced casualness of Sam, Teal’c and Janet removing the medical equipment. Cassie’s presence on base had made them suspect that the zatarc was Janet. The tension in the young woman, that had only left after Jack had confirmed her adoptive mother was okay rather than with the general's announcement, had confirmed it. The team hadn’t wanted to speculate in front of Cassie. They weren’t sure just how much the young woman had been told. So they had kept their mouths shut until now.

Ferretti absently shuffled the cards. His voice was low but they all heard the disbelief and anger. "How the fuck did Ba’al get to her? The Doc hasn’t been off-world in months and even then she was never left alone."

"Considering Cassie was brought here, it must have been at her home," Nyan said quietly. "Even if the base wasn’t shielded Ba’al wouldn’t risk beaming directly in here."

"That’s just so…so…wrong!" Dodger exclaimed. "Of all people…"

"Ba’al is gonna pay for his," Brooklyn growled.

The others nodded in determination. They all felt protective of the tiny woman who had been patching them up since the Stargate program began. If the zatarc had been any of the other personnel, someone on one of the SG teams, they would still be angry and upset to have a colleague used in such a way, however it would have been more bearable. The frontline teams were prepared, expected even, that every time they walked through the ’gate that such risks applied. They took it as a personal affront that the Goa’uld had chosen to pick on the woman who had dedicated her life to healing and causing no harm.

"Clearly Hammond wants to keep this on the down-low. But I’ll have a chat with the colonel. Let him know we’re available for whatever they have planned."