The blonde nodded, rifling through the stack of pictures on the desk. The files that she had brought were considered old-fashioned by her symbiote, but Anise indulged her host’s tactile quirks. She passed it over and resumed her own analysis of slide B-20.

"This was taken approximately six hours after his death?"

"That is correct."

The doctor focused on the highlighted dots that showed the decaying enzyme. Three hours later when the second sample had been drawn from the Tok’ra’s body there had been no trace of it left. She compared it to the picture of B-16. Her heart began to pound, however she forced herself to be methodical. Janet moved to the terminal of the microscope and printed out C-16 and compared it to B-16.

And there it was. It wasn’t a trick of the light, wasn’t a double exposure. The digital image was showing two distinct highlighted portions. The first, as expected, was the enzyme that they had deliberately added, the molecules fully intact after only minutes and an hour of exposure. It was the second clump of spheres that was causing Janet’s mounting concern. These molecules were losing shape and cohesion. It was definitely the enzyme yet it was impossibly degraded. At least it was impossible for her to be witnessing such a high degree of decay after so short a time. Which meant this second grouping was hours older than their experiment. By fluke she had drawn blood from the zatarc.

Barely able to breathe she picked up the neat stack of baseline pictures. Pictures that hadn’t been checked because they hadn’t expected to find any anomalies. There was a slight tremble to her fingers as she selected A-16. She forced air into her lungs at the evidence in the eight by ten shot. The enzyme was present, not quite as degraded as shot B-16. "Freya can you please pass me the list of volunteer names?"

The Tok’ra looked up sharply at the hoarse tone. "Are you feeling unwell, Doctor Fraiser?" She slid over the single page of handwritten paper. "You have turned distinctly pale."

Janet didn’t answer, her eyes scanning down the page to see who belonged to sample number sixteen. It took a second for her brain to comprehend the letters. She blinked and read them again. The normally refined woman felt entirely justified in exclaiming, "God damn, fucking son of a bitch!"

Daniel managed to come out of his fall through the ‘gate with his feet under him and he ran down the ramp to clear the way for the others. "Coming in hot!" he warned the waiting soldiers positioned around the room.

Two heartbeats later the rest of SG-1 burst from the event horizon.

"Close the iris!" Sam yelled, ducking a staff blast that had followed them through.

The metal barrier revolved into place and there was a telltale thud against the plate before the wormhole disengaged. Something had tried to come through, or someone. Either way they had come to an abrupt but theoretically painless death.

The team took a moment to catch their breath.

"Everyone got all their fingers and toes?" Jack asked, as Teal’c lowered him to the ramp. "Thanks for the lift, T."

"Anytime, O’Neill." The Jaffa made sure the colonel wasn’t suffering any aftereffects of the stun grenade before releasing him completely.

Jack wavered a second then found his sense of balance, though he decided that he should remain in the one spot for just a wee minute until the room stopped spinning. It would be so not cool to fall on his ass right now. On the other hand, there was nothing in the rulebook that said he couldn’t sit on the rail of the ramp while he waited for the general to arrive, was there? He plunked himself down and Sam joined him, her face flushed from the exertion of the last few minutes. She was fine and Teal’c was his normal robust self. That only left his two civilians. "How are you two?"

Annika who had been brought out of her stunned stupor by the iciness of the re-materialization process of the ’gate, tested that her fingers were working by playfully squeezing the closest ‘thing’ at hand. "A-Okay!"

Daniel grinned when he felt two familiar hands grip his butt. "We’re fine."

"Daniel, as lovely and unique as this view is," she squirmed in her upside-down position on his shoulder, "the blood is rushing to my head."

With a chuckle he lowered her down, keeping a supportive arm around her as she regained her bearings.

"You’re looking a bit singed there, Casper." Jack gestured to her shoulder.

She looked down to see the bottom two inches of her plait were missing and just a few blackened strands remained hanging loose. With a disgruntled huff she broke off the now brittle hairs. "I’m sending Ba’al the hairdressing bill." Seeing the near miss she remembered precisely when she received that instant haircut and she grabbed Daniel’s arm to inspect the burn gash from the same staff blast.

"Only a scratch," he assured her.

Hammond hurried around the corner. After making sure that his premier team were all in one piece, he asked, "Was the mission a success?"

"Two out of three, sir," Sam replied, automatically rising to her feet.

Before the general could ask more, Jack butted in. "If we could debrief now, sir?"

Hammond took in the powder-coated state of the colonel and Annika, and the suddenly wary look on the team’s faces. He gave a singe nod. "Unless you need medical attention?" He pointedly eyed Daniel’s arm.

"That can wait, General." He brushed the offer aside.

"Very well." He motioned for them to precede them.

Sam and Teal’c handed over their weapons and tac vests. Daniel did the same after he carefully removed the vials of isotope, then they led the way.

Once behind the firmly shut door of the briefing room they gave a quick overview of how they got onto Ba’al’s ship and what they learned from the main computer. Daniel laid out the vials.

"Doctor Fraiser will be relieved to have these," Hammond commented.

"How’s the testing going with Anise and Freya?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing conclusive as yet. They’re trying to identify how the enzyme reacts with Tau’ri blood." Hammond absently tugged off the cotton ball taped into the crook of his elbow. "It’s possible it shows up differently depending on any number of variables such as blood type, sex or nationality. I was the closest AB negative male when they were rounding up volunteers."

Teal’c pulled out the strange attachment from the quantum mirror that he and Casper had taken. "We were unable to secure the weapon base, however Annika Jackson believes this to be of greater importance."

"More important than having a working weapon to neutralize Anubis?" The general tilted his head curiously.

Jack spun the bowed rod on the tabletop. "Bit small for a big honkin’ weapon."

"It’s not one," Annika said quietly. "But it’s more dangerous. All I know is that it has something to do with timing, and Ba’al has already put whatever plan he has in motion."

"Without more information," the CO gave an apologetic look at the psychic, "we’ll leave investigating this until we have dealt with our current crisis." Annika nodded in understanding and he moved on to the crux of what the mission had been about. "Did you find anything regarding the zatarc?"

"Yes, sir," Jack answered, while Annika fished out the data pad from her boot. "We only had a quick look, but they’re interview transcripts. No names, and the answers are short. Can’t tell who was actually spilling our secrets."

"When we translate them, then the answers given will narrow down who had access to that knowledge." Hammond was disappointed. He’d been hoping to be presented with a name. It was a relief to have the transcripts, however it would take time to cross-reference the answers against personnel who had that information.

"Sir, we may possibly have another way to identify the zatarc."

The general didn’t understand the reluctance in the major’s voice. In fact all of them were looking grim. A positive identification could only be a good thing, right? "How?"

Without a word Annika dug around in her pocket. What she placed on the table was the last thing Hammond expected.

"I don’t understand."

Annika wiped her hand on her BDUs to remove the residue of the snack food from her fingers. "Ba’al was eating this."

SG-1 eyed the morsels like they were contaminated with a fatal disease.

"Popcorn?" Clearly the general was still missing something.

"It is not a food that the Goa’uld know of," Teal’c explained.

The light dawned and the CO’s stomach knotted.

"We believe Ba’al took it from the zatarc on his last visit," Sam added.

"Which was within the last twenty-four hours, sir," Jack supplied without a trace of his usual blasé demeanor. "Ba’al knew we were coming."

"I see." The significance of this was not lost on the general. He couldn’t help but recall that he himself had indulged in the snack food last night and that all of people before him had been sampling different varieties yesterday in the Jacksons’ office.

The six of them stared at the small handful of puffs, knowing there was a quick way of determining the answer they had spent the last week searching for, yet reluctant to take that final step.

Sam hesitantly reached for the closest kernel that had rolled towards her, then drew back. "This will be circumstantial at best. Popcorn is common on Earth."

"But what are the odds that two people connected to the base, with that knowledge," Daniel pointed to the data pad, "had that particular variety of popcorn last night?"

The general gingerly pick up a piece, toying with it in his hand, reaching a decision. "I had caramel corn." He turned to Teal’c on his right.

"Jalapeno Cheese." The Jaffa named the flavor he’d eaten.

Sam went next. "Standard microwave, butter and salt."

"Me too," Jack replied. "With Tabasco."

There was no need for Daniel and Annika to add their variation for they had been cleared from the beginning.

Still no one moved on to the taste test.

"I can’t believe this comes down to a flavor of popcorn," Annika sighed.

"Crap. Let’s get this over with." Jack snatched up a kernel and popped it in his mouth.

The others selected a piece and chewed, brows puckered in trepidation.

"I’ve never tasted that in my life," Annika declared, trying to work out precisely what the seasoning was.

"I have."

All heads swiveled to the owner of that reluctant admission.

"‘Burgundy Cheddar’," Teal’c spoke stiffly, "is Doctor Fraiser’s favorite variety from ‘KuKuRuZa’. It is part of our standing monthly order."

"I take it, ‘Burgundy Cheddar’ is a specialty line?" the general asked the Jaffa.

Teal’c nodded. "Unique to that company."

"Popcorn doesn’t lie, sir," Jack met his CO’s gaze. This was a cruel twist of fate. Janet Fraiser was one of the most beloved members of the SGC; one of the most trusted, not only with anything Stargate related but with the personnel themselves. Her warm personality made it easy for people to talk to her, she was everyone’s unofficial confidant. If it became known that she was the spy, no matter if it was through no will of her own, that trust could be shattered.

"I need more evidence than this," Hammond quietly declared.

"We can’t trust the test results that are being run," Sam looked as white as everyone else in the room. "If she’s programmed for self protection then the results would be falsified and Janet wouldn’t even know she’s doing it."

"I think there’s another way to confirm that it’s Janet." Annika felt sick to her stomach.

"We’re open to suggestions, Casper."

They all looked surprised when she stood up and moved to the telephone. They’d been expecting some sort of action related to her unique abilities.

"Sam, what’s Janet’s home number?"

The major rattled off the digits and Annika dialed. It was picked up after the fourth ring. "Cassie? It’s Annika."

"Oh, hi."

"Sweetheart, are you alone right now?"

"Uh, yeah. Dominic just left."

"Do you mind if I pop around for a sec?"

"Sure."

"Um, as soon as you hang up, draw the curtains for me, okay?"

The request baffled the teenager. "Ooookaaay. All of them?"

"Just in the room you’re in."

"’kay."

"I’ll see you in a bit." Annika replaced the receiver then returned to the table to give an explanation. "Cassie’s been having strange dreams. Nightmares. She thought they may be premonitions, but if Ba’al has been sneaking in at night…"

"Cassie would have felt the presence of a Goa’uld." Sam caught on.

"And it manifested into her dreams," Daniel nodded in agreement.

"Ba’al will have most likely installed monitoring devices to determine when it was safe for him to appear," Teal’c added. "Physical proof of his presence."

"Casper," Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "When you flit off, have a poke around and see if you can find any."

Annika nodded. "If Ba’al’s been there, there will be…residue of his presence. If he’s touched anything I should be able to tell."

"Go," Hammond ordered. "Let’s confirm this before we approach Doctor Fraiser."

Another nod and the psychic pictured the Hankan girl in her mind. In a blink her eyes became slightly unfocused as she adapted to the dual vision of her physical and astral self.

Cassandra was just pulling the final curtain closed when her ghostly image materialized in the living room.

"Cassie."

She gave a start, spinning around. "Oh! I thought the reason for the curtains was that you’d be beaming in."

"This way’s quicker." Annika smile warmly at her, trying to put her at ease. Which failed since the alien girl knew enough that if Annika couldn’t take the time to use more ‘conventional’ transport then the situation was serious. Realizing there was no need to beat around the bush, she got to the point. "Cassie, what can you tell me about your dreams?"

The girl sat down on the couch her hands clasped nervously in her hands. "I keep seeing Niritti…she’s in the shadows…but she’s different."

"Different how?"

"She’s still a Goa’uld but something has happened to the symbiote to change it."

Annika relayed the information back to the others even as she deciphered the dream in her mind. "Different like when Sam became host to Jolinar?"

Cassie nodded, glad to have the comparison. "But more evil…a lot more evil."

"Are the dreams the same every time, or do they change?"

"She’s always speaking. I can’t make out what she’s saying but it looks like she’s asking questions."

"Do you dream of who she is speaking to?"

"No."

"Cassie, can you think about the dreams? Every detail you remember." Cassandra nodded and Annika placed her transparent hand on her shoulder. For a second the psychic saw nothing, then the image of an exotic Cleopatra-like woman flashed before her eyes. Annika didn’t recognize her but the foul, obnoxious essence was unmistakable, especially since she’d felt it less than an hour ago. She snapped back her fingers, her physical body jerking in the effort to stop the gag reflex.

The young woman was studying the redhead’s reaction. "The dreams aren’t premonitions, are they?"

"No, sweetheart, they’re," she paused while she asked the others back at the SGC just how much she was allowed to reveal. "Your subconscious mind was trying to warn you about real time events."

Cassie sucked in a sharp breath. "A Goa’uld was here?"

"Yes. You’re most familiar with Niritti so that is why you saw her-"

"Oh, my god!" Cassie interrupted, her eyes wide. "Mom-"

"Is safely on base." Annika justified the hedging of the truth to calm the girl down. Technically it was true. The danger lay within Janet herself. Until they worked out how to counteract the control Ba’al had over her, she was a ticking time bomb.

Back in the briefing room Hammond was feeding her instructions to give the young woman.

"Cassie, can you stay at Dominic’s or a friend’s for a couple of days?"

She gave a vigorous shake of her head. "Can’t I stay at the base? Please?"

"Hang on." Annika relayed the request to the general.

"That might be for the best, sir." Sam spoke up. "The base is shielded from beaming technology. If Ba’al suspects we know about Janet, he may retaliate by attacking those closest to her."

"Casper and I pissed Ba’al off pretty good." Jack couldn’t stop the cheeky smirk at his fellow snake baiter. "If Ba’al can’t get to us, he may go after her just out of spite."

"General," Annika spoke up. "Cassie’s pretty shaken up. She can’t explain to Dominic or her friends why. At least here we understand."

"Very well," Hammond agreed. "Major, organize a car to pick her up."

Sam moved to the phone to make the call.

"Cassie, why don’t you go pack a bag, a car will be here in a few minutes." She waited until the girl had jumped to her feet and ran down the hall to her room before asking her teammates, "Okay, so what would this monitoring device look like?"

"Tiny, inconspicuous," Jack provided. "Possibly hidden behind glass so any lens wouldn’t be noticed."

Annika was roaming the room, making her non-corporeal fingers solid to brush over anything and everything she passed. The more she touched the more revolted she became.

Daniel didn’t need their bond to know that his wife was getting more upset by the second. He could see it by the way her jaw clenched, her violet eyes closing to mask the emotion from the others, the way her hand gripped his under the table. "What is it, My Angel?" It was more than finding out the zatarc was one of their closest friends, something about the search.

"The snake is an inquisitive, perverted bastard," she hissed through her teeth. "He’s touched everything…books, photos, knick-knacks." In the house, her hand drifted back to a picture on the wall that had a cracked tile mosaic frame. When this had been pawed by Ba’al, it hadn’t been from curiosity, it had been calculating. "I think I’ve found it. It doesn’t seem to be active at the moment."

"Do not touch it, Annika Jackson," Teal’c warned. "Any adjustment of the angle placement may alert Ba’al of its discovery."

"Can you describe it?" Jack asked.

"If I had pen and paper I can draw it."

Hammond pulled a pen from his top pocket, slid it and the writing pad he’d brought in to take notes across the table. Annika sketched out the fingernail sized device that was sitting flush against the top corner of the picture. It was hexagonal in shape and with the irregular pattern of the frame, the few millimeters it was raised was barely noticeable.

"Wonder who Ba’al stole that technology from," Daniel mused.

"General, we can’t let this information leave this room," Sam implored her boss. She was asking not solely as Janet’s friend, but as a member of the close-knit community that was the SGC. The damage it would do to the morale of the base would be devastating.

"Agreed, Major." He had already come to that conclusion the moment the zatarc had been identified. "Okay, people, suggestions on our next move?"

A  A  A  A  A  A

Janet took a few steadying breaths. Still gripping the incriminating photos and list, she reached for the phone in search of the General. His assistant answered.

"He’s debriefing SG-1, ma’am."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Janet dropped the receiver. Not caring that it missed the cradle she rushed out the door, leaving a perplexed Tok’ra behind her. Rather than take the elevator, she headed for the stairwell, needing the extra travel time to sort the jumble of emotions bombarding her. Between levels twenty-two and twenty-eight, her initial spurt of anger shifted to a numbing state of disbelief and fear. Fear of what she’d done, been made to do. Fear of what would happen next. Fear that now that she was aware of being the zatarc, that at any moment she could turn and kill herself, taking down anyone who tried to stop her as Lieutenant Astor had done.

Drawing closer to the briefing room door, her pace that had started out as a run from her lab, had slowed to a snail’s pace. She didn’t knock, scared that if she didn’t keep moving she’d freeze up. Even so, she only managed to take one step into the room before her legs refused to budge any further. The conversation of the people within broke off at her appearance. The doctor tried to speak; the words wouldn’t form.

One look at the CMO’s panicked eyes and the way she was gripping the papers in her fist and they knew that she knew. The next few seconds were critical, not only in their plan to keep the zatarc knowledge contained, but psychologically on the woman standing before them.

"Doc! We were just going to send for you to sit in on our tale of mayhem," Jack said overly loud for the benefit of the people passing by in the corridor.

"My psychic abilities must be rubbing off on you," Annika quipped brightly.

Daniel, the closest to the shocked woman, leapt to his feet and approached her. "We need your opinion on something." He placed a gentle hand to her arm urging her forward, while his other hand pulled the door shut on any curious ears outside.

Janet cringed away from the contact. "It’s me," she finally croaked, jerkily waving the photos at them.

"We know, Janet." Daniel ignored her flinch at his touch, tenderly pried the photos free from her grasp and guided her to the table, maintaining contact with her.

For a few long moments, no one said anything.

"So...um…Doc," Jack cleared his throat, "you getting the sudden urge to wave a gun about?" When Astor had gone ballistic they weren’t entirely sure if it was because her identity as a zatarc had been ousted or because they had tampered with the technology.

"Only if the gun is pointed at Ba’al, sir," the doctor’s voice was strained.

Her response was enough to assure SG-1 that for the moment Janet was in control of her thoughts and actions. There were no weapons in the room even if the zatarc technology was triggered, and they were all on hand should they need to save the doctor from ‘herself’. Their main concern was that according to Anise’s reports, there was the strong possibility that Ba’al could activate the kill switch remotely. Getting that nanite out of Janet was their top priority.

"Doctor Fraiser, if you’re feeling up to it, I’d like you to be a part of this discussion." The general glanced at the photos with the clearly marked enzyme. The fact that the doctor had been able to identify she was the zatarc and turn herself in without repercussion, told him that her ‘programming’ was limited. He had the gut instinct, that aside from the Qebehsenuef incident, she hadn’t had any ‘physical’ tasks beyond being a set of ears for Ba’al.

"Shouldn’t I be isolated, sir?" Janet was struggling to hold herself together.

He carefully considered his answer. "Over the years you have been infected by numerous alien viruses and parasites, and have always managed to fight through the symptoms to find a cure. I do not expect this situation to be any different." He could see the doubt in her drawn face, the fear and horror of being the unknowing spy; knew that it would take quite a bit of effort to get Janet passed the ‘victim’s guilt’ that would set in. For now, making her an active part of the their decision making process was the first step in convincing her that she was still a valuable member of the investigation, despite being the ‘topic’ up for discussion. He picked up the meeting where they had left off. "Our first course of action is to find a way to neutralize the zatarc technology."

"An…Anise has a theory." Janet wanted to sink into the floor. She was overcome with shame at what Ba’al had made her into.

"Of course she does," Jack rolled his eyes. "When doesn’t she?"

"Let’s get her down here," Hammond ordered.

Sam was instantly on her feet, striding to the phone.

The doctor tensed at the idea that anyone else, especially the Tok’ra scientist, knowing of her betrayal.

Hammond caught the movement. "Doctor, have you told anyone, including Anise and Freya?"

Janet numbly shook her head. "No, sir."

"Major, tell them that we have identified the zatarc but not who it is. We’ll delay that until we decide if their action plan is viable." He saw his CMO’s shoulders slump a fraction in relief.

Sam nodded and dialed the internal extension to Janet’s lab.

"Sir, the car’s arrived," Annika spoke up. She’d maintained her astral split at the doctor’s home so the stressed teenager wouldn’t be alone. "Cassie’s on her way. Should I search for other cameras?"

The general nodded.

The mention of her daughter’s name snapped Janet out of her stupor. "Cassie’s on her way where? What cameras?" Still in shock she hadn’t put together the timeline of when she’d been injected with the isotope.

"Ba’al has been monitoring your house," Teal’c supplied. "It is where we believe he has been interrogating you."

"Cassie’s being brought to the base," Sam added. "We thought it would be safer for her."

"Safer?" She became slightly hysterical. "She should be getting as far away from me as possible. Who knows what I’ve been made to do. I could gave planted a bomb or rigged the main generator to explode…"

"Janet, if Ba’al wanted to use you that way, then he could have done that months ago," Daniel calmly pointed out.

The doctor’s face became tortured as she realized the significance of why her daughter had been contacted and of the cameras. "Oh, God, Cassandra’s nightmares. She was sensing Ba’al’s presence…"

The others nodded in confirmation.

"…he was in my home." It came out a whisper then renewed anger shot through her. "That bastard was in my home!"

"Um, Janet, you should try to stay calm," Sam hesitantly suggested. "We don’t know what effect strong emotions may have on the nanite."

"How can I remain calm?" the doctor demanded. "Ba’al has been using me for God knows how long. How many missions have been compromised because of me? And the danger I put Cassie in! I’m supposed to protect her and I brought a Goa’uld into our house!"

"Doctor Fraiser, let’s get one thing straight," the general spoke firmly but with compassion. "You are not responsible for any of this."

"It could have happened to anyone of us."

"Actually, no it couldn’t," Daniel reluctantly contradicted his wife. "Anyone who goes off-world is regularly subjected to medical checks. Even not knowing what the enzyme was, Janet would have detected this sort of anomaly in the blood work like she did today. Ba’al had to choose someone who wouldn’t be constantly checked."

"So it could have just as easily been me," Hammond pointed out. "Or any of the personnel not assigned to off-world travel."

"But he chose me," Janet choked out.

There was a sharp rap on the door, stalling any further conversation for the moment. Hammond waited for Janet to visibly school her features before calling out, "Enter."

Anise’s gaze swept the table, not surprised to see Janet sitting next to Daniel. "I surmise from Doctor Fraiser’s abrupt departure from the laboratory that the zatarc has been identified." She sounded more than a little peeved.

"Yes." General Hammond gestured for the Tok’ra to have a seat. "Doctor Fraiser mentioned that you have a possible theory on how to counteract the technology."

"I do," she confirmed. Annoyed at being left out of the loop, she disregarded Selmak’s earlier advice and maintained control of her host’s body. She was a scientist, there was no room for her to pander to the sensitivities of this emotional species. "But before we attempt to disable the nanite, I would like to request further tests be run on the zatarc themselves." The Tok’ra couldn’t fail to notice the stiffening of everyone’s backs.

Every protective instinct in SG-1 and Hammond jumped to the surface.

"Not gonna happen," Jack snapped. "We’re not going to make them into a guinea pig to satisfy your curiosity."

"It is more than curiosity, Colonel." Anise stood her ground. "The more we can learn about the physical and neurological effects on the zatarc, the easier we can identify them in the future. And to have a live subject is too rare an opportunity to ignore."

"This subject happens to be a friend of ours." Sam glared at the scientist. "The only opportunity we’re concerned about is getting the nanite out of them."

"Typical Tau’ri short-sightedness," Anise ground out. "Need I remind you that without the knowledge I provided, you would not know who this zatarc is?"

"News flash, sister," Annika retorted. "We worked it out by ourselves, without your knowledge."

The Tok’ra gave a sniff of disbelief.

"Indeed, our mission was an overwhelming success." Teal’c backed Annika up.

"Maybe Anise is right." Janet said softly. If anything good could come out of this… The vehement and resounding "No!" of her colleagues threatened to overwhelm her.

More calmly, the general addressed the Tok’ra. "Anise, we appreciate your assistance today, however you have provided no more than what our alliance agreed upon. Should you discover a zatarc within the Tok’ra ranks, it would be your call on how to proceed. As it stands this is our decision."

The Tok’ra stared balefully at them, as close to a mutinous expression on her face that they had ever seen.

Annika watched the dual aura of the woman become calculating, could almost read her thoughts by the switching of swirling colors. "Hey, sweet-pea, you better not be thinking about withholding the zatarc debugger from us until we let you do your experiments." Her voice had dropped a notch. To anyone who knew the redhead it was a sure sign to either apologize profusely or run for cover.

Daniel recognized the signs, saw her fingers twitch, most likely getting ready to string the arrogant Tok’ra up by her ankles. He also saw Anise’s eyes widen in shock and he knew his wife had hit the nail on the head. Ever the diplomat, no matter how much he wanted to let Annika let loose, he hastily interjected. "Wouldn’t you like to know if your debugging theory works? To have undeniable results to present to the High Council?"

It was enough of a carrot to lure the Tok’ra away from the idea of further experiments, at least temporarily. "The only way to be sure of success, as I mentioned to Doctor Fraiser earlier, is if it were known what the zatarc’s assignment is." The silence that descended spoke volumes. "When is the triggering event to occur?"

"Within the next few days," Hammond said with confidence. It was a pretty safe bet that Ba’al would want an update as soon as possible considering SG-1’s mission. He’d want to confirm that the team hadn’t found what they were looking for.

"Now who is concealing knowledge, General?" Anise raised a sardonic eyebrow.

"I assure you, we are doing no such thing."

"The event is not fixed," Sam explained, reining in her temper now that the scientist had stopped talking of experimentation. "It is dependant on two variables."

"Which are?"

"When Ba’al decides it’s time for a visit and the location of the zatarc."

"I do not understand."

"This zatarc is being used as an informant, not an assassin," Daniel answered.

The Tok’ra considered this new information. "Ba’al will want a report on your fact finding mission." As much as she hated to admit it, the Tau’ri were right. This was a perfect opportunity to put her theory into practice. "I will assist you in disabling the technology. I shall need to return to our base to retrieve the equipment needed. There is one stipulation."

Jack gave an exaggerated eye roll. "Here we go."

"Which is what?" Hammond was wary.

"Full disclosure of what you know of this zatarc. How long since implantation, what tasks they have been programmed to do, the results of the current tests being conducted, any side effects of the neutralization process. This information will be invaluable in furthering my research."

The base CO nodded. It was a reasonable request given that they had kept the significant detail of the altered zatarc’s role from Anise. Not that the Tok’ra had been a vine of information either. Up until today, their numerous queries into the progress of their analysis of Martouf’s body had been neatly sidestepped. "And we would request that you keep the victim’s identity out of any reports you give to the High Council."

Anise agreed, rising to her feet. "I care not who the zatarc is, General, I’m only interested in the test results. I shall take my leave to get the equipment needed."

"Are you not going to explain what this procedure entails?" Teal’c asked.

"Doctor Fraiser knows of the theory and there is a more in depth description in my notes left in the laboratory above." She didn’t wait for an acknowledgment from any of them before she was out the door heading for the Stargate.

They turned to the doctor with expectant looks.

"An electromagnetic pulse, sir, stronger than what we can currently create on base," Janet answered rubbing a hand over her temple. "But there are risks, possible permanent disruption to brain functions...I’m sorry, sir, it was a five second conversation, I didn’t get her to elaborate."

"That’s alright, Doctor, we’ll retrieve the notes from the lab. We won’t proceed until we have all the facts of this procedure. Major," the general switched his attention to their resident tech expert, "providing we can make the procedure safe, could it really be as simple as generating an EMP? That didn’t work with Urgo."

"It worked temporarily, sir." Sam recalled the annoying being that had nearly driven SG-1 nuts with his incessant babbling and questions. "The pulse we created was only strong enough to damage the nanite and it was able to regenerate. A more intense pulse should work."

"General," Daniel started a suggestion. "If we make a base wide announcement that we have determined the spy is a zatarc, and that an EMP, though it won’t be physically felt, will neutralize the technology…"

"If all personnel are on base," Annika picked up where he left off. "Everyone gets a dose of the…cure, and we never have to say who’s the zatarc."

"Shouldn’t they be told?" Janet raised guilty eyes.

"For what purpose?" Hammond asked. "There’s no need for anyone outside this room to know the details. This investigation has been conducted behind closed doors from the beginning and the resolution shall be the same." His tone was final.

"Janet, you’ve got nothing to feel guilty over." Sam reached out to squeeze her friend’s hand. "It is not your fault."

"Hey, we’ve all been in this situation…well, not this situation exactly," Jack hastily backtracked. "This one’s pretty unique, but we’ve all blabbed at some point."

"That’s right," Daniel agreed, catching on to the tactic. As much as they’d like to forget about the times they had been used to reveal top-secret data, they’d do so to show Janet that she was by far not alone. "Osiris picked my brains for knowledge of the Ancients. She got a lot of information before we realized she was controlling my dreams."

"I was brainwashed by Apophis," Teal’c added his own experience. "Much to my shame he gained considerable knowledge of the SGC."

"Hathor bewitched me into giving out the command codes of the entire base." Hammond winced at the recollection of that particular Goa’uld.

"And she tricked us into believing it was eighty years into the future." Sam shuddered at the memory of how many missions she’d described in intricate detail.

"Yes, the Rip van Winkle trick, how could we forget?" The colonel rolled his eyes. "And let’s not forget Urgo."

The comment caused raised eyebrows, even from Janet.

"Urgo, sir?" The doctor tilted her head in confusion.

"Urgo was not a malevolent being, O’Neill," Teal’c reminded him.

"He made us sing ’Row, Row, Row Your Boat’." Jack made it sound like the biggest transgression of all.

Despite herself, Janet found herself chuckling with the others, then they automatically turned to the only person in the room who hadn’t given an example, momentarily forgetting that she hadn’t been with them through all those missions.

"Hey," Annika held her hands up in defense. "I haven’t been here long enough to do any of that stuff, but give me time." Her earnest expression caused another round of chuckles.

"Now that we’ve determined we’ve all been duped through no fault of our own," Hammond got to his feet, and the rest of them followed. "Major Carter and Teal’c, go with Doctor Fraiser to the lab and retrieve Anise’s notes. I’d like to know everything we can before the Tok’ra returns. Determine what the risks are and if there is any way to avoid them. Doctor Jackson, I’d like you to start translating the transcripts to find out precisely what Ba’al knows. I’ll recall all of the off-duty personnel back to base ASAP. The quicker we do this, the better."

"What about Casper and I, sir?" Jack asked. He wasn’t exactly put out to escape a probably long session of techno babble, however he felt obliged to ask for some sort of task.

"I suggest you two hit the showers. You’re leaving a trail of flour through my base."

The pair followed the general’s gaze to the floor to see two sets of white footprints and tiny piles of white powder in the carpet. Despite being bounced around during their rescue, the flour had stubbornly stuck to their skin, clothes and hair, falling off intermittently. Daniel and Teal’c had rid themselves of any transference they had received while carrying the pair, when they’d stripped off their vests in the ’gate room.

Jack and Annika exchanged shrugs.

"I was getting sick of the grandma look anyway," she grinned, patting her powdered hair. She linked arms with the colonel. "Come on, Pops, let’s get you back to your natural shade of grey."

Chuckling they all separated. Daniel remained in the briefing room. It was by unspoken agreement that everyone would end up back there when they finished their assigned tasks, so it was pointless for him move. Jack and Annika left the others to continue on up to the science labs when the elevator hit level twenty-five.

Annika paused before moving from the communal locker room to the side door that split the men’s showers from the women’s. "Jack, I found more cameras. Janet’s bedroom, one in Cassie’s, kitchen and spare bedroom."

"He had all his bases covered." The colonel did nothing to hide his disgust at the Goa’uld’s invasion of their friend’s home. "Stop your splitty-thing. If Balls turns up looking for Janet it’ll blow our cover if he sees you flitting about."

She nodded and a second later her astral self remerged with her body. Almost instantly Jack saw her face turn green beneath the powdered coating and she bolted for the nearest toilet. "Casper?"

Annika barely made it before what was left of her breakfast regurgitated back up. She’d been fighting the urge ever since Ba’al had touched her on the ship. Had thought that she’d be able to control her body’s natural reaction to being ‘pasted’ with the vileness of the Goa’uld’s spirit. However when her astral self had rejoined with her physical self, it had also brought back the added contamination from Janet’s house. The psychic hadn’t thought to prepare herself for the onslaught and her body had rebelled in the only way it knew how to purge itself.

Jack dashed after her, slightly panicked at the suddenness of her illness. Having never witnessed how contact with a malevolent personality affected her, he had no idea of what was going on. "Casper, speak to me!"

The psychic tried to gasp out a semblance of an explanation. "Ba’al’s touch …just give…a sec…need…van…" her voice cut off as she gave another heave.

"Need what?" The colonel was trying to make sense of her words. "Ba’al’s doing this? How?" When had the snake been able to infect her with anything?

"…Ba’al…" Annika was having trouble forming coherent thought. Never had her reaction been so strong before. It was like she’d sucked in every scrap of the Goa’uld’s essence into her. She gave up trying to explain. "…Get…Daniel…van…" For the second time she couldn’t finish the word.

"Ba’al’s got Daniel? Ba’al’s got Daniel in a van?" It made no sense to the colonel. He had never been very good at charades at the best of times.

"…GET…DANIEL!"

Okay, he understood that! Jack sprinted out the door, only to almost collide with the man he was going to find. "It’s Casper, she’s sick!"

Because of their bond, Daniel had known the moment his wife began throwing up. Even if she hadn’t given the signal that she wanted…needed him, he was already on his feet racing up the levels, taking the stairs two at a time to get to her. To tell the truth he’d been expecting it, was surprised that she hadn’t actually thrown up in Ba’al’s face when he’d first touched her. Seeing Jack’s wild eyes, he thought that perhaps they should have warned the rest of their team that this was a ‘quirk’ of Annika’s abilities.

Jack couldn’t believe how calm Daniel was acting. He watched as his friend yanked open Annika’s locker and rummaged around the shelf, looking for something. "Didn’t you hear me? Annika’s chucking her guts up for no reason!"

"I heard you." He located the bottle of vanilla oil that seemed to help Annika cleanse herself and unscrewed the cap, then poured a generous amount on his hands. "Jack, where did Ba’al touch her skin?"

"Huh?" Jack was confused as hell, his eyes darting between his uncharacteristically composed friend and Annika’s retching body bent over the toilet bowl. "Uh…jaw and neck."

Daniel leant over Annika’s shaking shoulders and gently began massaging the oil into the exposed side of her neck.

Feeling Daniel’s warm hands against her, the soothing smell of her ‘life tonic’ as it hit her nostrils had an immediate effect on the psychic. Her stomach was still rebelling but not as severe. She groped behind her and Daniel tilted some more of the oil into her palm and she began rubbing it into her fingers that had born the brunt of Ba’al’s residue from the house.

"Danny, what’s going on?" Jack asked. He helplessly watched this bizarre ritual being performed.

"Annika was touched by," he paused searching for the right description.

"Ba’al. I know that."

"No. By evil." Annika weakly slumped against the cubicle wall, still massaging her hands.

Daniel replaced the lid on the small bottle, keeping a concerned eye on his pale wife. "When Annika comes in contact with someone, something, so abhorrent compared to her moral compass she...um…"

"Throws up and gives her CO a friggin’ heart attack." Jack ran a weary hand over his eyes. "And neither of you thought to clue me into this?"

"No." Daniel replied, crouching down beside Annika so he could get a good look at her face. Was relieved to see a fraction of color returning to her cheeks and the trembling had stopped.

"Okay, for the sake of my health, are there any other tidbits about your abilities that I don’t know about?" he groused.

"Um…not that I can think of." Daniel helped Annika to her feet and she wavered a little. "My Angel?"

"I’m okay," she assured, flushing the button. "Just a little lightheaded." Nevertheless, she leant into the strength of his arms. "I’m sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean to freak you out. I just wasn’t prepared for a double dose of Ba’al."

"No sweat." He waved her apology aside though his brown depths were concerned. "You’re sure you’re alright? Don’t want me to get the Doc?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "It’s an…occupational hazard. Once it’s out of my system I’m hunky-dory. I am ready for that shower now, though." She twisted in Daniel’s arms and gave him a hug. "Thank you for coming, for knowing what I needed." She refrained from kissing him. No way was she going to do that until after she’d at least rinsed with mouthwash.

"Anytime." His lips brushed her forehead.

She extricated herself from his embrace and grabbed a towel from the neat stack near the washroom entrance.

The men watched her, blue and brown eyes following her progress until she shut the shower stall door.

Daniel was marveling at just how quickly Annika switched back to her usual self. The acceptance of her body’s reaction, playing down the side effect that had so freaked him out the first time he’d witnessed it, as it had Jack. It pained him to see her go through it, but she was insistent that it was no different from the occasional migraines that he suffered from or the pain that Jack lived with from his old knee injury.

The team leader, however, was still doubtful. "I didn’t realize that Casper was so…er…vulnerable." He kept his voice low, though it was unnecessary as the sound of the water running blocked the conversation from the redhead’s ears.

"She is and she isn’t," Daniel sighed. "Jack, you’ve got no idea of the intensity of the emotions she deals with everyday…other people’s emotions, their personalities. I didn’t know, not really…not until that dream the other night. She’s so sensitive to the slightest emotion, and yet at the same time her strength to combat them, to keep them from overwhelming her, is astounding."

The colonel processed that information, but couldn’t help but glance at the recently vacated toilet cubicle. If this happened every time Annika came in contact with a Goa’uld… "Danny, do you think…" he tapered off.

"No, I don’t." Daniel replied, knowing precisely what he’d been going to ask. "I’ve had this conversation with Annika after the last time this happened."

"Which was when exactly?" Jack moved back into the communal locker room, stripping off his shirt as he did so, then bent to untie his boots.

"In Australia when she honed in on one of the women being killed by Bes," Daniel shrugged, following him in. He couldn’t be bothered having a shower just yet, but he did switch t-shirts. "Taking her off active duty won’t change anything. Annika has accepted that occasionally losing the contents of her stomach is part and parcel of her gift. It was happening long before we brought her into the SGC. It doesn’t occur very often, it’s only when there’s a particular evilness in what she senses. She considers it a small price to pay for helping to take down the Goa’uld."

Jack nodded in understanding though he didn’t like it. He snagged a towel and headed for the men’s showers.

A wry smile touched the archaeologist’s lips and he called after him. "Besides, do you want to be the one to suggest to Annika that she give up ’gate travel?"

"Hell no! Does it say ‘Death Wish’ anywhere on my uniform?"

Daniel double checked that Annika was okay. He peeked at the closed shower stall and all he could see were her legs a little below the knees. One foot lifted to rub against the back of her calf. It wasn’t a sexy move, clearly she was just scratching an itch. However Daniel couldn’t stop the flash of desire at the memory of that foot brushing tantalizing against him beneath the briefing room table not so long ago. He felt an amused tickle beneath his heart.

"You’re an odd man, Daniel Jackson, if feet turn you on!" she called out, her voice warbled by the water raining down on her. She knew that the only part visible to him was the few inches beneath the stall.

"Only your feet," he promised.

"I’m fine!" she insisted. She was well aware of the concern he was feeling for her, even if it was at the moment warring with a more baser urge. Annika stuck her head around the door, her eyes scanning the room to confirm that they were still alone. "You could always join me and my feet in here to verify that I’m okay."

His arousal grew at the thought, then annoyingly the sound of people approaching dashed that idea. Which was probably for the best. He was, after all, supposed to be translating the data pad. He did, however, close the distance between his wife to indulge in an all too short kiss, then made for the door. "I’ll see you in a few minutes downstairs."