ShaViva's Stargate Fan ... Stuff

Chapter 04: And all the men and women merely players
Saturday, 4th April | 0830 hours | Special Investigations Lab

Major Evan Lorne approached the Special Investigations Lab somewhat apprehensively early Saturday morning. He had things to report to General O'Neill ... his observations along with something he'd thought of during the bomb incident.

The thing was ... the General had never officially cleared him of suspicion, never made him a part of the investigation team. Turning up to the Lab uninvited was either going to be a serious breach of protocol or ... a non event ... Lorne wasn't sure which.

"Ah, Major Lorne," O'Neill greeted him casually. "I was wondering when you'd decide to grace us with your presence."

"Sorry Sir?" Evan frowned, confused by his welcome.

"Come in Major," Jack invited.

"Thank you Sir," Lorne stepped inside the lab for the first time, looking around curiously. The team had only been there three days and yet there was a vast array of evidence and analysis displayed on white boards and across tables.

"So Major ... did you learn anything interesting while we were having our SG-1 meeting?" the General asked.

"I'm not sure if it counts as interesting Sir," Lorne began. "I decided the Mess Hall was the best place to check things out. Colonel Sheppard's team was there - minus McKay - and appeared to be in a heated discussion ... if I had to put a word on it I'd say that Ronon and Teyla were annoyed with the Colonel about something ... he on the other hand seemed defensive and maybe even a little guilty. Lieutenant Cadman was with me Sir and we both agreed it wasn't usual behaviour for any of them."

"Is that all?" O'Neill asked curiously.

"No Sir," Lorne continued. "There were a lot of people around, a lot of conversation. Mostly people seemed subdued in line with the current circumstances. Except for one of the tables near ours. They were laughing and joking about the bomb on the Hammond going off ... they seemed to think the command chair flying out of the ship was particularly funny Sir." Lorne put emphasis on the last part, waiting to see whether the General made the connection.

"The command chair?" Jack clarified, frowning when Lorne nodded. "That detail hasn't been released to the general populace ... only those present would know about it." O'Neill speared Lorne with a direct look. "Who offered up that information Major?"

"Gordon Hunter Sir," Lorne revealed. "Lieutenant second class. Been stationed on Atlantis going on two years. Admittedly Sir he did talk about the incident like he'd witnessed it personally so it could be as simple as him looking out a window at the right time," Evan felt compelled to add.

"True," O'Neill agreed. "Or someone in the know leaked the information deliberately to cast suspicion exactly like this."

"Yes Sir," Lorne acknowledged. "The person behind this is really playing us, aren't they Sir?"

"On the surface, maybe Major," Jack replied. "However not everything is as it seems. And this information moves Hunter further up our real suspect list."

"You don't believe Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir are behind this, do you Sir?" Lorne suddenly realised the truth, those thoughts followed immediately by remorse that he'd even for one minute believed the General was being mislead.

"I've found that when the evidence is too good to be true there's usually a reason for that Major," O'Neill returned.

"I'm sorry I doubted you Sir," Lorne said apologetically.

"Don't be Major," Jack replied. "I meant you to ... meant everyone, including the culprit to believe the same thing - counting on the fact that myself and my entire team know very little about Sheppard or Elizabeth. That's the official record anyway - which doesn't go into a great deal of detail on what happened when the Ancients returned and took back the city."

"So what now Sir?" Lorne asked, now even keener to help General uncover the truth.

"Colonel Sheppard has agreed to continue to act in a manner that supports our attacker's agenda," O'Neill explained. "We'll continue to be very obvious about following the trail of breadcrumbs ... but we're looking for the culprit to make a mistake."

"Mistake," Lorne muttered half under his breath. When the General raised an eyebrow questioningly Evan gave a slightly embarassed shrug. "Sorry Sir ... this might be nothing too but I was thinking about what happened on the Hammond before Cadman defused the main bomb."

"Well?" Jack asked impatiently when Lorne paused to think.

"Ah ... it was the Replicator component Sir," Lorne began. "The ARG was ineffective Sir ... we were lucky the designer of that bomb limited their capabilities to just those defensive spikes otherwise the whole city could be overrun with Replicators right now."

"And that's significant how?" O'Neill asked curiously, a twinge inside telling him that Lorne was on to something.

"Only Earth based Replicator cells should be immediately immune to the ARG wave Sir," Lorne explained. "The ones created in the Atlantis lab don't have that additional programming and it always took at least a few hits before our Pegasus version Replicators worked out how to resist the ARG wave."

"The Replicator component came from Earth," General O'Neill concluded.

"I believe so Sir," Lorne agreed. "That doesn't necessarily narrow the field of suspects but an IOA connection of some sort would be a requirement to get access to that level of knowledge. I would have thought that everything that happened on the Odyssey during the battle with the Ori would be classified. No one should know about the change the IOA made to the programming. I only know about it because Colonel Mitchell told me Sir."

"Indeed," Jack said slowly, thinking for a few moments before focussing back on Lorne. "Well done Major."

"Thank you Sir," Lorne looked at O'Neill hopefully. "Is there anything else I can do Sir?"

"Right now my suspect list is a little light on," Jack revealed. "Apart from Lieutenant Hunter I have Private Abels who was in the control room when the screen collasped, despite orders that should have had him down in the armoury - he didn't have a good reason for not being at his assigned station. Plus he's been here only a few months - he would have been at the SGC during the IOA interference in the Ori mission. I had a couple of other names on the list but having spoken to them nothing jumps out at me."

"I know Private Abels mostly by reputation only Sir," Lorne offered. "He's quiet ... a loner ... does his job very well, very dedicated. Lieutenant Hunter's more outgoing and at least on the surface seems more on the fast track for promotion."

"Keep your eyes open Major," O'Neill ordered. "In the direction of both Hunter and Abels but only if you can do it without being obvious. Don't let them spot you watching them Evan ... we don't want to risk tipping anyone off before we have enough to convict without a doubt. If you need backup, enlist Lieutanant Cadman only to help out."

"Yes Sir," Lorne nodded, pleased with the order. Taking the General's words as a dismissal, Lorne turned smartly on his heel and left the labs.

Saturday, 4 April 2009 | 0900 Hours | Mess Hall

Daniel strolled into the Mess Hall and made his way through the serving line. One week exactly since the drowning incident and even the sore muscles in his chest were a fading memory. Four days since Jack had initiated lock down and started his investigation. People were starting to get used to the presence of O'Neill and his investigation team. There was still some tension, tempers tending to run high, but as Jack's public eyes and ears, Daniel was starting to see the members of the expedition drawing back together. Bits of conversation he was hearing was still Us versus Them, but more and more he was hearing that Them was an unknown entity trying to bring division to Atlantis.

Finding a seat on the terrace, Daniel sat down with his omelet, home fries, and coffee. Sam had things to tend to in her office that morning so he was on his own for breakfast. He stared at the rolling ocean for a moment noting the white caps being whipped up by the strong breeze. It was a beautiful morning and after what had happened the previous Saturday, Daniel found himself appreciating it all the more.

Lieutenant Cadman walked briskly into the Mess Hall, glanced around the room and quickly decided where ... and with whom she wanted to sit. Grabbing a tray and coffee she headed across the room and out to the terrace.

"Do you mind if I join you Doctor Jackson?" Laura asked with a friendly smile.

"Please, Lieutenant, after all those weeks at that dig on P29-888, I think you could call me Daniel." Daniel rose politely to his feet to see her seated, "And by all means, please join me. It's too beautiful a day to spend breakfast by oneself." He resumed his seat, "You've not been back on Atlantis long?"

"Thanks Daniel," Laura agreed with a chuckle. "And after P29-888 I think it's equally acceptable for you to call me Laura." Sitting down in the seat across from Daniel she busied herself for a moment getting her coffee the way she liked it before answering his question. "I've been back here since the New Year - so about 3 months. Although to tell you the truth, with everything going on right now it suddenly feels like a lot longer."

Leia had a very busy morning, taking control of the Dip Ops department and having a lot talk with all of them. Daniel was right and it was her responsibility to make sure that her team understood that Elizabeth wasn't guilty until it was absolutely proven. Finally, she was able to make her point and have it taken to heart.

She excitedly went to get some breakfast and noticed Dr. Jackson on the terrace. "Lucky day!" she said cheerfully and took her breakfast to the table where some blonde was sitting. Her face fell slightly as she overheard them and him telling her to call him 'Daniel' Leia stopped, flushing slightly and let out a sharp breath, controlling herself. She fixed a cheerful smile on her face, determined to discover who this person was.

"Good morning... Is there room for another?"

Daniel again rose politely to his feet, "Certainly. Dr. Leia Mahanay, have you met Lt. Laura Cadman?" He asked as he saw the other woman seated.

Leia offered her hand, shaking the Lieutenant's hand. "Pleasure's all mine. So ... how are we all doing this fine morning?" she asked, taking her seat and starting to eat.

"Nice to meet you Doctor Mahanay," Cadman replied with a friendly smile. "Daniel and I were just talking about everything that's been going on the past few weeks. I was about to ask him if he thinks General O'Neill is any closer to finding out the truth." Turning to Daniel she put a hopeful look on her face. "So ... is he?"

"Good deal, Lieutenant," Sheppard said as he suddenly appeared beside the table. He offered a sly grin to the three sitting there and looked to Daniel. "I was going to ask you the same thing." He grabbed a loose chair from a table nearby and pulled it up so he could sit beside Dr. Jackson in order to talk face to face. He dropped down into the chair and leaned on the table, looking Daniel in the eyes up close. "So... what can you tell us about the investigation, Daniel?" he waited with bright eyes and a small grin and then his eyes slid to Mahanay and John regarded her with interest silently.

Leia looked at Colonel Sheppard, meeting his interest with a kind smile. She too was very, very interested in what Daniel had to say about the investigation.

Daniel looked at each of the persons that had joined his table, finally letting his eyes lock with John's. He could not say he was really prepared for the question to be so direct, although he had been expecting the question to come up sooner or later. "I'm not part of the Special Investigations Team," Daniel affably countered as he took a sip of his coffee. The answer was vague and also completely truthful. He and Jack met most days for a casual, off-the-record update and discussion that Daniel was not at liberty to discuss. He broke eye contact with Sheppard and flashed a look at Cadman, "I was under the impression, Laura, that Jack had added you to his team?"

"Kind of," Cadman agreed. "I've only been involved with the bombs on the Hammond though. It took hours to get everything removed to General O'Neill's lab and then tested so I haven't had much chance to catch up with everything." Meeting Daniel's eyes Laura shrugged. "I was hoping you'd have good news ... not the details sure, but just how the General seems ... you know, his mood?"

Daniel grinned, relaxing in his seat as he sipped his coffee, "Jack's mood on any given day can range from cranky to downright beastly. I've not had occasion to notice any significant differences since his arrival here."

Walking into the Mess Hall, Darek saw that the place was well filled with people. He had only just broken away from another half-night of working on the video-material they had to analyze. If the saboteurs wanted to annoy the hell out of him right now, they’d just need to poison the coffee. Grinning about his lame joke, he waited patiently in the line until it was his turn to grab some coffee and food. He had half-intended to return to the lab immediately, but then decided against it. The computers would take at least another hour to have the next footage completed and some minutes away from all the material might as well help him clear his head. Thus Darek looked around to spot a free table. Spotting one on the terrace he went outside.

Gordon Hunter crossed the Mess Hall, looking around at everyone as if searching for someone or something. He stopped and looked at the table where Dr. Jackson and several others, including Cadman were sitting. He gave them all a look and hesitated before going on with his business.

Cadman grinned at Daniel's description of the General's usual moods. "I'm guessing that's neither a good nor a bad thing," she commented, not expecting a reply. Glancing around the Mess Hall, Laura noticed when Captain Sterling walked in, looking tired from the late hours he'd been keeping. Smiling in acknowledgment she let her gaze roam again, this time lighting another individual who'd just arrived.

"Now that's interesting," she muttered under her breath. Only ten minutes before her arrival in the Mess Laura had been briefed by Major Lorne to keep an eye out for Lieutenant Hunter and now here he was - without her having to go and seek him out. Keeping her gaze loosely focused in Hunter's general vicinity Cadman turned her attention back to her table mates.

Daniel's eyes followed Laura's and his brows lifted. He surreptitiously studied the unknown man that had caught the Lieutenant's eye. He let his mind put a face with the name Jack had mentioned briefly when they had last met. One of the other persons of interest. Without missing much of a beat, Daniel turned his attention back to the others at the table, making swift and equally surreptitious note if anyone else seemed overly interested in Hunter's arrival in the Mess. Not noting anyone else showing undue interest, he smoothly answered Cadman's question, "You're right ... Jack's moods are not a good gauge of how the investigation might be going. I've seen him cheerful and sarcastic while facing down an entire Jaffa army and totally morose that he let one of my fish die while I was on leave."

Darek had seen Lt. Hunter’s appearing and also disappearing from the scene. It was one of the names on their list, his appearance had drawn Darek’s attention naturally. But something had made the man stop, hesitate and leave again. While seemingly just keeping to his coffee, Darek’s eyes followed Hunter’s line of sight, to guess what had made the man stop. His eyes fell on another table out here, where Dr. Jackson, Dr. Mahanay, Lt. Cadman and Col. Sheppard were sitting. Darek quickly hid a frown, retreating behind a mask of indifference. That was odd, why had Hunter first stopped and then left, after seeing this group? Was it because one of the investigation team – Lt. Cadman – was there? Or had he seen someone with whom he did not wish to be seen? Should not be seen?

Leia looked momentarily at the Lieutenant with a confused look on her face before turning her attention back to her meal. Something hinky was going on around here and she just didn't know what.

Seeing Lieutenant Hunter striding from the room without stopping for breakfast left Cadman with a bit of dilemma ... should she follow him immediately or wait for a bit before making her excuses. Atlantis was a big place and chances were the Lieutenant didn't have to report for duty for a while if he'd been intending to eat in the Mess.

"I'm sorry Daniel, Colonel Sheppard," Laura stood and nodded to both men, "Doctor Mahanay. The General asked for my assistance with analysing the bomb fragments. I should report in ... the sooner we can find some solid evidence the better." Nodding again to the table's occupants, Cadman let her eyes rest on Sheppard again. "Sir," she said respectfully, hoping he wouldn't ask for more details.

Sheppard hadn't missed the odd dance going on in the room either. When Cadman stood his eyes went to her and followed her as she rose. He nodded to her request for pardon and gave her a small grin. "Dismissed, Lieutenant," he gave her the pardon she needed without disrupting her plans.

Remembering his manners last minute, Daniel rose briefly to his feet as Laura left. Settling back in his seat, he looked at his two breakfast companions, "Soooo...how's things?" He asked.

John looked at Daniel and quirked a crooked grin. "Oh just peachy. You?"

"Oh well, you know..." Daniel responded with an engaging grin of his own, "translate this, archive that, research something else...busy busy."

Leia smiled at both men. "Things are going well here. Had a talk with my department this morning... I think they're going to be a little more open to the fact that we don't know what all is going on yet," she reported to Dr. Jackson, letting him know his words the night before did not go to waste.

"That's good to know. Leaping to unfounded conclusions, no matter the evidence trail, is bad for morale and for the expedition on the whole. Out here we only have one another to rely on and trust. Everyone needs to keep that in mind," Daniel answered, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.

Leia nodded her agreement and kept an eye on Daniel, admiring him and his courage in these trying times. "I think a lot of it was just the misinformation that's floating around. There've been a lot of rumors..."

Daniel nodded, "That's to be expected. But it's up to us as department leads to keep a lid on unfounded rumors. Especially when they involve the command staff of this base."

John looked at both of them, his bruises from Mitchell's beating still vividly apparent although the swelling in his split lip had gone down just a bit, since he'd kept an ice pack on it all night and the cut was still rather raw and painful looking.

"It's bad for my morale, I can tell you that," he quipped and pressed his fingers lightly against the bruise on his eye. "I'm starting to wonder if I should keep a chaperone with me at all times. Maybe I'll get Ronon to shadow me around," he grinned and sipped the cooling coffee he'd brought over with him.

He couldn't yet eat or drink anything overly hot, since the split was simply too fresh and raw, but cool and cold foods and liquids felt great against his wounded mouth although he had to eat or drink deliberately slow and attentive. He offered Leia another odd looking grin only because Teyla had told him the night before that when he grinned it made him look eerie, or perhaps evil? - so he did it a lot.

Leia caught sight of Colonel Sheppard's evil grin and looked down at herself, trying to see if maybe she'd dropped anything or something. Had he caught her staring at Daniel? She had been trying to be stealthy about it... but perhaps not as stealthy as she could've been? She looked up at him, slightly flushing and flashed him a shy grin.

"So how's SG-1 handling everything that's happened so far?" John asked Daniel.

Daniel paused, considering John's question and how best to answer it. First, he sort of wanted to clear the air regarding the fact that, in reality, there was no longer an SG-1 as such. The designation had been retired when the team split up and moved on with their professional lives. Constantly designating himself, Jack, Sam, Mitchell...even Vala and Teal'c...as SG-1 was a wonderful nod of respect toward that team's accomplishments, but it was also somewhat misleading in the here and now. In the end, Daniel chose to not address that part for the time being as he came to the conclusion that in some ways there would always be an SG-1 and he would always be part of it. So, instead, he tried to address the meat of John's question openly without giving more away than Jack wanted exposed.

"Rattled, uneasy...of course. There's been some near misses. It's something of an honor though, I guess, that someone considers SG-1 a threat even though the team is not active as such now," Daniel replied adding a bit of a positive spin the the entire situation. His blue eyes locked with John's hazel ones and he said, his voice firm with conviction, "If anyone can solve this, get to the bottom of it, then that man is Jack O'Neill. And...metaphorically speaking...Jack won't leave any of us behind." The archaeologist had a high enough clearance to have access to all of Atlantis' mission reports. He had come to understand how important that part was to Sheppard.

John listened to Daniel's answer, nodding slightly in understanding since it was only natural that they, like everyone else, was feeling a bit rattled and uneasy. He stared at Daniel as he weighed his last comment and then nodded again. "Well... that's good," he replied.

It'd been less than 24 hours since he and Mitchell got into the live sparring match and his face, neck and shoulders weren't letting him forget it too soon. John let out a sigh and sipped his cold coffee then sat back in his chair. His hand roamed into his shirt pocket and removed a piece of note paper and he looked at it curiously. With barely a shrug he stuffed it back into his pocket and sat back up looking at Leia. "How are you holding up through all this, Doctor?" he asked pointedly.

Leia looked at his odd behavior and wondered if he was on pain meds or something. His face did look pretty bad. "I'm holding up fairly well, Colonel," she said. "It's a bit scary that someone's going to these lengths to kill Dr. Jackson, Colonel Mitchell, Colonel Carter and to attack you, but I'm personally ok. It's just been a bit uncomfortable with a lot of people not sure who they can trust," she told him, concern in her gray eyes.

"Umm, I wasn't attacked," John informed Leia. "I haven't been targeted by the same people who are going after the members of SG-1... I was hit... by a door." He quirked the corner of his mouth as if to smile, his eyes were light despite the bruises.

Daniel glanced at his watch and blinked, hardly able to believe time had passed so fast. He rose slowly to his feet with an apologetic look at his breakfast companions, "I'm sorry, I have a couple of translations due this morning so I need to go." He turned to Leia with genuine regret, "And as late a start as I'm getting, I'm going to have to postpone our lunch today. How about we leave it open for after this situation is resolved. Shouldn't be long now."

Leia gave him a warm smile. "It's quite alright, Dr. Jackson. Duty calls, etc, etc, but I will hold you to that. Good luck!" she told him cheerfully as he rose to leave.

"John...try to avoid tangling with anymore rabid doors," Daniel said with an affable smile toward the other man before nodding again to both and taking his leave.

Leia looked at her other dining companion and tried valiantly not to smirk as she found Daniel's statement pretty funny. Surely that wasn't the excuse he used for his little fight, right?

Finishing his coffee Darek watched the other people leave one after the other. Ever since Lt. Hunter had involuntarily directed his attention to the other table, he had studied them from a distance. Aside from Lt. Cadman's rapid exit, which was easily enough explained, other details had drawn his interesst. Dr. Jackson seemed to be a person many sought out, be it for conversation, advise, or whatever else they might have discussed over there. In a situation like this it said a thing or two about a person. The other thing Darek hardly could fail to notice was Col. Sheppard's face. He had wondered about what kind of violent sparring match the man had indulged in, until he heard Dr. Jackson's comment about rabid doors. The way the bruises were placed, split lip and all, it didn't look like a door accident at all. On the other hand, who knew how violent doors could get here? On the other hand, if tension was running high enough for someone rumoured to be suspect to be attacked, they'd have to be cautious. Pushing aside further musings, Darek rose to get back to the lab.

Saturday 4th April | 1300 hours | Daniel's Quarters, Residence Section, Directors' Corridor

Daniel sat on his sofa, laptop balanced on his knees and soft Celtic music issuing from the high-end bookshelf stereo system tucked discretely into the shelving unit across the room. The scent of cinnamon wafted from a miniature cauldron set on the end table furthest from Daniel's seat on the sofa. Oblivious to his surroundings, the archaeologist concentrated on the documents showing on his laptop's screen.

Immediately upon receiving the flash drive with the documents attached, Daniel had put them on his private computer that was not attached to Atlantis' intranet on a regular basis. The person or persons that had managed or physically perpetrated the acts of sabotage had extremely high-level access to all of Atlantis' systems or were incredibly skilled hackers...or more likely a combination of both. Therefore, as Jack shared information on the investigation with Daniel, he moved it to his private laptop...a MacBook Pro...that he rarely attached to the base's intranet. When he did have to link the laptop in to Atlantis' network, he removed any sensitive material, stored it on a flash drive and locked it away in his safe. It was not foolproof, but it was as close as he could get. Along with all the other security measures, Daniel was working in his personal quarters because it had recently been thoroughly swept for electronic surveillance devices...per O'Neill's orders. Home sweet home, Daniel thought, somewhat sarcastically.

Pulling his glasses off, Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. Something was nudging at the back of his mind. Something that he needed to pay attention to but every time he tried concentrating, it went into hiding. Daniel paged through the massive and very detailed report provided by Captain Darek Sterling. He gave a mental nod of commendation to the younger man for his objective and thorough work. Jack had chosen wisely for his staff which now included Major Lorne, Lieutenant Cadman, and Daniel...although Daniel was unknown to the others and his role was to be nothing more than a sounding board and bringer of information as it circulated his way during his normal day-to-day activities. To this end, Jack was sending Daniel the daily reports of the investigation and that was what Daniel was currently wrestling with.

Closing the latest report, Daniel reopened the transcript of Sam's and then Jack's interview with Dr. Radek Zelenka. He began reading it again, this time taking notes on a legal pad as he read. Jack had forbidden Daniel to actually investigate things himself. Yet what he was starting to consider did not really count as investigating...not really. It was more along the lines of offering a co-worker the benefit of his own experiences in the recent past. Not even Jack could object to that...much. The more he read, the more he thought he was on to something that might provide a real break in the ongoing investigation.

Dr. Madison Garman juggled the offering she'd brought as she rang the chime to Daniel's door. When it slid open, she offered a crooked grin. "I come bearing gifts," she said, her southern accent lilting softly. She held up the tray, containing goodies from Club Thirty-nine. Burgers, fries, and shakes. "I needed a fattening pick me up. Help me eat all this and save me from myself," she told him, sliding past him when he stepped back.

Daniel smiled, secured the door and followed Maddie back into his quarters sniffing appreciatively at her offering and realizing it had been hours since he had eaten anything. Gesturing towards the living area, he stepped into his kitchen and put on a pot of coffee to brew for after the meal. He glanced at the meal Maddie was setting out on the coffee table and grinned, "If I eat half of that I'll be adding hours to my work out and miles to my daily run." He took a seat next to her on the sofa, putting his laptop safely away on the side table.

Leaning back after eating a few bites of his sandwich, Daniel looked at Maddie with narrowed blue eyes, "So...Mads...why are you really here?"

She offered a somewhat cheesy smile. "I missed you?" The doctor sighed as she leaned back on the sofa. "I'm finding some anomalies in some of the tests that I've run. You're the foremost expert on the ancients. I was hoping you'd have insight. I haven't reported what I've found yet. It could be completely innocuous. Or it could be the break we've been looking for." But it was a fine line she was treading, what she could reveal to him and what was protected by medical ethics - and her own code of professional ethics.

Daniel chuckled and took another bite of his cheeseburger, "Ummmm...good. Quid pro quo then...or as Jack says squid pro crow...I help you, you help me and you don't tell Jack I'm looking into something."

Madison winced at the suggestion. "Okay," she told him after a moment's thought. "But you take the fall when the General finds out," she added with a smirk.

"I can handle Jack," Daniel stated. "I just don't want him on my six until I can get some answers on what I'm looking into. He might scare my quarry away. So...what do you need?"

"I found some odd enzyme and protein markers in one of my blood samples. When I compared the results to previous tests of the patient, prior to the investigation starting there's no evidence of it. There aren't any notes in the chart, and I have absolutely no idea what it means." Her brows drew together in frustration as she popped a fry into her mouth and chewed. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen before," she said a moment later. "It's possible the previous physicians simply weren't looking for it, and so it was missed. Is there any physiological comparison between the Ancients and today's gene carriers? Aside from the gene itself, I mean." The implication was clear, if there wasn't, then it could mean the anomalies she found were evidence of some sort of... chemical compound that was being processed by the body. This leant to the theory that certain individuals were being controlled.

"You should be able to find the medical records on one Chaya Sar here. To my recollection, she is the only true Ancient we have ever taken medical scans and samples from. It should be recorded here in the Atlantis database. Beyond that, I'm not aware of any other significant distinctions between our evolution of the human form and theirs...beyond the fact the Ancients were physically, mentally, and spiritually more evolved than we are," Daniel replied. He paused and chewed a French fry thoughtfully, "You might also requisition the records from the SGC on Khalek. He was the Anubis super-clone that was being genetically manipulated into achieving Acension...and there may be medical records on the Orici, Adria. However, she was half human as well as having hosted a Goa'uld so her physical records would be corrupted by those factors. Beyond that, the only thing I know about odd enzymes and protein markers are those left by a Tok'ra or Goa'uld when they exit a host...either voluntarily or by extraction. Sam has the protein markers from hosting Jolinar."

"I'll start with the Ancient and move my way down," She told Daniel. "Thank you." But her eyes sparkled at him. "More research. Here I was hoping you'd just give me the answers," she teased.

Daniel grinned, "You know if I had the answers I'd simply give them to you, pretty lady. Unfortunately, I have the wrong letters after my name for answering the technical stuff." He snagged one of her fries since it was cooked crispy just the way he liked them and leaned back into the sofa falling back into the comfort of their friendship with ease. More ease than he had expected...all things considered. But then their relationship had always been more about the friendship than the sex...although that had been good too. Yet, all the awkwardness Daniel had sensed previously seemed to have been dealt with and put away leaving a warm friendship and trust that had built over the months of his convalescence.

"You mean you don't know everything?" Madison feigned shock as she leaned back beside him. "Daniel, I don't believe it. Remind me to mark this day down on my calendar," she teased, nudging him gently. "It's back to the drawing board for me then." She grinned at him. "So, when do I get to meet this girlfriend of yours?"

Daniel felt the color rise a bit in his face as Madison teased about his girlfriend, "Uh...well...you already have. It's Sam."

At Maddie's knowing look, Daniel feigned a glare, but said with a grin, "Okay, my turn. How reliable is a person's recall when in deep meditation. Not hypnosis. My understanding is that hypnosis puts a person into a highly suggestible state and I don't want that. I just want this person to be able to recall some details about an event he witnessed that might not be readily accessible. I've had luck doing that using the Jaffa meditation technique known as Kel'no'reem...it's what they use in lieu of sleep when they are carrying a symbiote."

"I suppose it depends," she told him. "Many court systems won't allow testimony based on such a recall. It isn't an exact science. When in meditation, the brain wave patterns change. In deep meditation the brain enters a Theta wave pattern. The brain's awareness of the physical body becomes lesser to the point of disconnection and more focused on what we call inner self - that is the different facets of brain activity that are normally dormant during a Beta pattern - or waking period. The problem is that the mind becomes incredibly suggestive at this point. You'd have to be very careful in your questioning so that a false path wasn't laid. Simple succinct questions should allow the brain to find it's own path and arrive at a true answer."

Daniel nodded his understanding, "I'm not expecting to have to present it in court. Just amend someone's testimony and throw a monkey wrench in the saboteur's agenda. In fact, I'm hoping to only act as a guide down to the Kel'no'reem level of meditation and let the subject complete the journey with little help and hopefully no questioning from me."

They chatted a little longer before Maddie helped gather up the litter from their meal before taking her leave. Daniel walked her to the door, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she paused to give him a hug before heading down the corridor. He had successfully managed to steer the conversation away from him and Sam, although he winced as he still had to find a way to bring the subject up to the love of his life...soon. Sighing, he headed back to his laptop and a little more work before working out how best to approach Zelenka...and when.

Saturday, 4th April | 1910 hours | The Thirty-Nine

General O'Neill strolled into the Thirty-Nine ten minutes late for meeting Daniel ... glancing around he took note of how busy it was, even for a Saturday night. People were under stress, even those not actively involved in the current drama, and relieving some of that in a social environment made sense.

Spotting Daniel sitting at a table on the terrace, his usual preference it seemed, Jack headed briskly in that direction.

Pulling out a seat adjacent to his friend, Jack sat and stretched his legs out beside the table. "Daniel," he greeted the other man with his usual irreverence.

"Jack," Daniel responded equally casually in their traditional greeting which, depending on tone of voice and expression, could mean anything from Hey, how the hell are ya? to Don't take that tone with me!. Tonight it was more of the first option rather than the other. As O'Neill took his seat, Daniel held up his beer bottle and nodded for another. Blue eyes scanned the people seated around the terrace taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Discussing anything beyond the day to day events in their lives was going to be tricky as the wind tended to carry voices on the terrace.

"How're ... hmmm ... uh ... things?" Daniel asked after the server had dropped a bottle of beer for Jack and a fresh one for Daniel.

"Oh you know, busy," Jack replied with a casual shrug. "You?"

"Yeah, me too," Daniel replied, pausing to sip his fresh beer. Part of this meeting involved them appearing to be discussing the investigation without appearing to be discussing the investigation. "My busy has been quiet."

"So ... anything interesting happen today?" Jack asked lightly, leaving the way open for Daniel to give him a run down on any unusual behaviour occurring around him.

"No...nothing of particular interest. I have an idea or two I want to try out before I discuss it with you," Daniel replied. "Yesterday, however, I had Dr. Mahanay visit," he broke off with a frown, "Did I mention she was one of my grad students at the Oriental Institute? Very bright ... always considered her a tad timid and mousy. Nothing like now ... perhaps going into International Law and Diplomacy let her find herself. Anyway ... seems the DipOps side of the department is experiencing unrest over the incidents and suspicions flying around base. It's odd ... as if someone is stirring them up more. I mean I know they report directly to Dr. Weir now, but so did many members of my staff at one point too and while I've had questions and concerns ... there's been nothing I would feel a need to absolutely quell out of my people."

Daniel raised his brows at Jack, "Or am I just being paranoid that any link to Dr. Weir is seemingly blown out of proportion?"

"You know Leia Mahanay?" Jack asked in surprise. "Why am I only finding out about this now?"

Daniel blinked, "Hmmmm...maybe because the fact that she used to be one of my students has no bearing on what's happening here. We weren't best friends."

"Nevertheless it's still the kind of information I need to know," Jack grumbled. "History that maybe means motive ... although presumably she doesn't know the rest of SG-1." Falling silent for a moment, O'Neill slumped back in his seat thoughtfully. "I spoke to her," he looked at Daniel with a frown, "after I interviewed Elizabeth. I don't know Daniel ... something seemed off but it may just be history."

Shaking his head, the archaeologist replied, "Dr. Mahanay has possibly met the other members of SG-1 during her training stint at the SGC. But just meeting us or knowing one of us in the past doesn't really speak to a motive for killing or harming all of us. It just doesn't track. I don't remember giving her bad marks so I doubt she's going after all of us to disguise getting rid of her old professor." Daniel flashed a brief smile, but then frowned a bit, "Maybe what's off is your dislike of politicians and Diplomats are really just shiny politicians."

"I like some politicians," Jack countered. "The President ... although he did send me here. And Elizabeth is a diplomat ... and don't discount the power of disgruntled youth, Daniel. Maybe she had a crush on you and now she's out to make you regret not choosing her way back when."

Daniel's eyes glinted with good humor as he waved his hand in dismissal, "Please, Jack...you knew me when. I was hardly the guy on Dr. Jordan's staff that the women swooned over and professed undying love for. That man was Steven Raynor...the Ricky Nelson clone. Besides, things like that only happen in movies like Fatal Attraction. I will be sure not to buy a pet rabbit in the near future though." His voice was laced with self-deprecating humor. Daniel was aware that he had changed quite a bit from the lanky, long-haired scholar he had been more than twelve years before yet he still did not consider himself the type of man that would attract most women with all the action-hero types about. Even with the age difference, Daniel was well aware that most women would go for the glamor that was Jack with his mysterious black ops past. It had never bothered him so to think someone might want to harm him or his friends over unrequited love seemed rather ludicrous.

"I don't think the IOA would approve a rabbit anyway Daniel," Jack replied, with the pretense that the other man's remark had been made seriously and then shrugging when he got the expected eye roll in response. Lapsing into silence the General glanced around the club, eyes resting on people both known and unknown to him. He hadn't been in the city long enough to have met everyone but at the same time he felt they should have been further along than they were.

"Things are moving too slow," Jack abruptly changed the subject, refocusing his attention back to Daniel.

Daniel shook his head, "It's going as fast as it can go, Jack. This isn't NCIS where they solve crimes in the space of one hour. Whoever is behind all this is very cunning and quite good at manipulating things to their advantage. But ... we can step up the pressure ourselves. I can let any that inquire think you're real close. Maybe spook the culprits out?"

"It's worth a try," Jack replied, his expression turning serious as he looked at his friend. "Don't give anyone the impression you're party to the evidence I'm using though ... they may consider you more of a threat and target you for real. But if you have the chance to make it seem like we're closing in - that and nothing else - then take it."

The archaeologist nodded his understanding of Jack's instructions. And he would do his best to stay within those guidelines. His planned interview of Radek Zelenka did not completely violate the letter of the orders...maybe the spirit of them. But how often had that happened in the past as well? Jack's orders, in Daniel's point of view, often left him wiggle room as far as balancing the letter of the order against the spirit of the order. "Don't worry, Jack, one descent into the abyss of near death is enough for me. Besides, I seriously suspect I've used all my Get out of Hell Free cards."

"You used them up years ago, Daniel, but it hasn't stopped you from getting into trouble," Jack returned, pinning Daniel with a look that said he was well aware the other man pushed the limits on occasion. Jack's problem was that Daniel always managed to find a new creative way to put himself into the mix. "We don't need to do anything reckless ... yet. I'm still waiting on evidence from Doctor Garman and Cadman hasn't finished with the Replicator parts of the bomb yet either."

Daniel blinked innocently. He didn't consider his plan to interview Zelenka reckless yet he highly suspected Jack would object to him getting that involved. Considering that it wasn't exactly a walk on the wild side, Daniel chose to remain quiet regarding his plans. "The evidence has all been carefully created to lead you and your team in one particular direction," he remarked unnecessarily. "So far, your seeming complacency in following that trail doesn't seem to have made the culprit or culprits less careful. Maybe it's time to change the game rules and let them know we're not buying their set-up. Their plan is failing?"

"Lorne's tailing a couple of suspects," Jack commented. "He's not necessarily going to push that too far but it won't be long before our culprit finds out about it ... in fact this should be a good test of their surveillance capability. Maybe we can take advantage of that somehow."

The archaeologist mulled Jack's words over in his mind, sipping his beer as he thought. "That still should step up the pressure some." Daniel fell silent as a server set down a large platter of nachos with extra sour cream and guacamole. After the man took orders for more beer and left, he said in a lower voice, "I know you're probably way ahead of me on this...after all intrigue is not my specialty...I don't think this little debacle was locally engineered and backed. I think we're going to find the ultimate strings are being pulled from outside Atlantis."

"Indeed," Jack agreed simply. "You know what these people are like Daniel. Our guys might think they know who's in charge - they might even think they've got some of the power - but it's just as likely they're being manipulated just like they think we are."

Daniel nodded, "As always, shadows operating within shadows and conundrums locked inside puzzles." He paused and sighed, "I'm afraid this is only the surface of the iceberg and we're going to find something much darker lying beneath it. I just have...that feeling."

"You and me both," Jack agreed. "We get the front man, we get the rest of the iceberg ... with any luck."

The topic exhausted for the time being, both men settled back to enjoy their drinks, and each other's company.

Sunday, 5th April | 1445 hours | Special Investigations Lab

General O'Neill made it back to the lab only a few minutes later than he'd intended, gratified to find his team waiting for him. These days that included Doctor Garman and Captain Sterling with Atlantis represented by Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman. Laura would have already been in the lab working with Darek on the bomb but Lorne must have joined them from his duties on secret surveillance. Presumably his subjects were both presently engaged in activities that kept them in the one place for long enough to allow Evan to attend the update from Doctor Garman.

"Sorry," he said with a tone that was less than apologetic. Arriving on time had never really been his strong suit. "Doctor Garman, are you ready to make your report?"

"Yes, General." Madison walked around her work station and queued up the view screen beside her. "As you all know, I've been running physical exams on our main list of suspects, as well as any persons of interest as the investigation unfolds. These exams have included full body scans, portable x-rays and a complete blood workup. We're checking for outside influences that may present themselves either in a biological, chemical, or technological capacity. Until yesterday afternoon the exams were running on par with what we expected to find. Nothing. Then I got a hit." On the view screen a graph appeared, detailing normal compounds expected to be found in the human blood. There were spikes, outlined in bright orange and blue. "What I found," the doctor continued, "are irregular protein and enzyme markers. I've never seen these in another living being. That includes Colonel Carter. They are not Goa'uld."

"Not Gou'uld still leaves it wide open for a whole host of alien influences," O'Neill commented grimly, frowning at the graph still on display. "Who's test results are these?"

"The sample belongs to Colonel Sheppard," Doctor Garman answered simply. "I ran the test three times from the samples I obtained from him. I'm currently reviewing his entire medical chart since being assigned to Atlantis - but as you know, in five years of service out here and ... quite a lot of interesting adventures, there's a lot of medical chart to wade through. I'm also comparing these test results to everything we know about the alien species in this galaxy. I wish I could tell you more at this point, but it's still very early in my research."

"But it's a possibility this could have nothing to do with our current problems, right?" Jack queried. "These protein ... things could just be remnants from legitimate missions while Sheppard's been out here. That's gotta leave a mark ... I'd hate for you to wade too deeply into my blood.

"Colonel Sheppard has been subjected to Wraith feeding," Major Lorne pointed out. "Maybe that has something to do with it. Doctor Beckett did a lot of research on how the Wraith feed on humans ... maybe there's something in his results that would help here?"

"One of the many things that I'm factoring into my research, Major." Madison walked back around the workstation. "I've been reviewing Dr. Beckett's research. It is very interesting. From a Medical point of view in any case. The protein and enzyme markers could also be the result of the break down of a chemical compound. There are a lot of factors to review. I should have an answer soon."

"So it could be just remnant of some substance, a drug or the like?" Darek asked, wondering what this clue might mean for their investigation. It still might not link back to their case, but might explain some odd or otherwise strange behavior. On the other hand, who knew what kind of drugs for whatever uses existed out here?

"Yes, Captain." Madison told him. "As I said, there are many factors to review. Science is never easy, or fast, unfortunately. Especially Medical Science."

"What about Elizabeth?" Jack asked curiously. "Did you run her sample as well?"

"Dr. Weir's tests checked out," the doctor assured them. "There is no sign of nanite activity."

"And no sign of anything else odd?" O'Neill persisted. "Nothing like what you found in Sheppard's blood?"

"No. So far Colonel Sheppard has been the only one to show any signs of anything abnormal," Doctor Garman replied.

"So regardless of what Sheppard's blood eventually tells us, we can't link it back to the established motive," Jack commented. "That Sheppard is doing this 'for' Elizabeth ... unless the culprits want us to believe Elizabeth would turn without intervention from some kind of outside influence."

"Or she is using some kind of substance to influence him, Sir." Darek pointed out, respectfully. He knew that this sounded paranoid, but they still had not enough evidence to deny it outright.

"True," O'Neill acknowledged. "Doctor - if the Colonel's blood test results are caused by a drug we need an idea of where it came from and how likely it is Doctor Weir could have acquired it."

"I'll start running down the possibilities as soon as I know which drug - if any, that it is," she replied. Science couldn't be rushed, unfortunately, and there were a lot of different factors to pursue at this juncture. Of course, it also occurred to her that if Sheppard had been more prompt in reporting for the tests, she might have more answers now. She wondered if that was indicative of his lack of innocence, or just his reluctance?

"Do you have anything to report on the bomb components Doctor?" Jack asked hopefully. "I know you haven't had a lot of time with them but we could use a lucky break right about now."

"I took several swabbings from the bomb components," Garman told them - for those who were not aware. "This morning, I began running DNA tests. It will be a few more hours before the computer finishes analyzing those samples. When it has, I'll compare it to DNA samples I took from those who normally work in the lab where the Ancient device was removed."

The General was about to ask another question when the comm activated. When he realised it was Daniel and Sam and that they'd been the almost victims of another incident Jack moved into action mode immediately.

"Cadman, stay and secure the lab," he ordered. "Doctor, Major, you're with me. You too Captain ... grab a crowbar on your way out."

The team moved briskly, following his instructions precisely, such that only moments later they were enroute to Sam's quarters. General O'Neill kept his thoughts on the task at hand rather than on his concern for his ex team mates. They'd be there soon enough for him to assess the true seriousness of this latest attack.

Sunday, 5^th April | 1500 Hours | Command Staff Residence Corridor, Col. Carter's Quarters

Despite all of the tension and worry over the sabotage incidents during the past week, Daniel and Sam had set aside time for one another on Sunday afternoon. Both had kept their comm-links on in case they were needed, but beyond that they had left their cares behind...as much as possible. After a breakfast shared with Jack, they had chosen to stroll around Atlantis eventually making it to the Southeast Pier. They lingered there for quite awhile, simply enjoying the beauty of the ocean and each others' company. After spending as much time as they could watching the seabirds and catching the occasional glimpse of New Lantea's dolphin-like sea mammals, the couple decided to head to Club Thirty-Nine for a late lunch.

Lunch turned into a leisurely affair where Daniel and Sam shared a huge Chef's Salad and a platter of spicy chicken wings. At least Mac claimed they were chicken. Afterward, with Sam's arm linked through Daniel's, they strolled back towards Sam's quarters. They had been content to take their evolving relationship slow with Daniel actually taking the lead and courting Sam in a true gentlemanly fashion. There had been a subtle change after Daniel's near drowning incident as they sought to spend more time than ever before in each others' company. And that was the plan for this Sunday. Daniel had dropped an overnight kit off at Sam's quarters earlier in the day with the plan of spending the evening relaxing together or maybe watching a movie or two. He planned on spending the night on her sofa or even wrapped up in a sleeping bag next to her on the bed. They had not taken their relationship to a physically intimate level yet and while Daniel's near death had brought them closer, they were still content to wait for the next step until it felt right to them both.

As the reached Sam's quarters, Daniel looked furtively up and down the corridor before pulling her closer to him for a quick, but deeply satisfying kiss and mischief sparked in his brilliant blue eyes as he pulled away, "Just needed to put my seal of ownership on you, Rohi." His voice was light and teasing.

With her eyes sparkling at him, Sam tugged on his shirt. "Well, why don't you come inside and we'll just give that seal a little more in depth study." Grinning, she reached back to wave a hand over the control panel and slide the door open.

Daniel's eyes darkened as Sam's words and intentions registered in his mind and he moved forward in response to her tugging at his shirt, both moving him forward towards her and freeing the material from the waist band of his jeans. Leaning towards Sam, intending to capture her lips in another kiss, Daniel suddenly found himself lunging at her as a sound he could not place alerted him to potential danger.

The doors within the city normally gave a gentle humming sound as they swished open and closed. Sam pulled her head back, even as Daniel was lunging at her. Her brows drew together as she tried to place the sound. Almost like a motor whining as it revved to a higher speed? Her eyes were drawn to the door itself, and then she pulled at Daniel when she realised what was happening. It was at the same instant that the automatic safety locks gave a grinding sound, as if they were trying to slide into place and could not. Then the door was pushing closed, at a much more accelerated pace than it should, and with a force that made her heart leap.

The two of them stumbled back, one of her legs caught the edge of a wide arm chair and they went down, tumbling to the floor even as the door slammed shut with enough force for the sound to vibrate through the room.

Daniel instinctively rolled as he and Sam fell so that his body cushioned the impact. He rose shakily to his feet, Sam still wrapped protectively in his arms, wide blue eyes staring at the door. He could see signs of minor damage along its leading edge and at the door frame and realized that had they not recognized something as being wrong, Sam could have been killed by the force of the impact. He pulled her closer, "My God, Sam!" That was all he could get out for the moment as the situation hit him with full force. Like Jack, he believed John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir innocent of the sabotage plaguing the city. Yet only a couple of days before, John had been using the excuse of an attack door as a cover for his and Cameron's fisticuffs.

She hugged him back just as fiercely, waiting a few moments for her rapidly beating heart to slow. After a moment or two more, she finally pulled away to survey the damage. "Well, I suppose that's one way of getting rid of me." She walked over and gave an experimental wave of her hand over the door controls. It didn't open, but she hadn't expected it would.

She reached up and tapped her comm-link. She was patched through to Chuck in Ops, and she had him connect her via a secured channel to General O'Neill. "Sir, we've had another incident of sabotage. You'll want to bring your team down to investigate. Luckily, there were no injuries this time. But uh... you may want to bring a crowbar." She winced. "Daniel and I are stuck in my quarters." She continued to grimace, imagining the jokes that would be spawned later.

Daniel grabbed a notepad off Sam's kitchen counter and scribbled down everything he could recall of the incident while she investigated the damage and contacted Jack. His brows were drawn together in a heavy frown as his thoughts circled around the incident, cold anger starting to brew in response to the fact that this act of sabotage would likely have killed Sam had it succeeded. Normally slow to anger, his temper could be quickly triggered by threats to those he cared about. When Sam finished her call to Jack, she joined him where he perched on a stool at the counter.

Managing a wry grin, he nodded towards her door, "That's going to take a bit of repair or might need replaced. Once they get us out of here ... revise plans to my place?"

Sam paused in her examination of the door long enough to smile crookedly at him. "I think it effectively killed the mood." Her head inclined. "But I might need a sofa to crash on until they're finished sweeping the apartment and fixing the door."

oOo

General O'Neill along with Maddie, Darek and Major Lorne would have made quite the picture as they strode through the city towards the residential section with Jack in the lead.

At Sam's quarters Jack motioned the others to stay back as he leant in close to the door to speak to the occupants.

"Carter! Daniel!" he called through the door. "You guys okay in there?"

Daniel traded a look with Sam and grinned, "Oh yeah, Jack, we're just peachy. Thanks for asking."

"Now ... are you sure you want me to get you out of there?" Jack teased, relieved now he knew his friends actually were unscathed.

Again Sam and Daniel traded looks before Daniel answered, "Funny, Jack...and yes...we're sure."

"Unless you're willing to authorize a full week of paid vacation at this time," Sam replied. "Then yes, get us out of here."

As she listened, Dr. Garman's head tipped to one side. Her brows climbed into her hairline. "Interesting," she commented quietly. So that was the girlfriend Daniel wouldn't tell her about. Very interesting. The corners of her mouth twitched, threatening to pull into a smile.

"That would be a no on the leave Carter," Jack returned, glancing at Darek currently in possession of the requested crowbar. "Let's open it up Captain," he invited, adding with a slight frown,"that is if we all think it's safe."

"Can we be sure, Sir, that forcing the door open won’t trigger another mechanism?” Darek asked, studying the closed door. “Would there be any option to get them out of the room by way of a window?"

"Daniel, Carter," O'Neill called through the door. "Was there any evidence the door is still dangerous?  Some sort of secondary trigger maybe?"

"No, Jack, I don't think so...It was like the trigger played out once the door slammed. I believe we're all clear," Daniel replied, eying the door with some antipathy.

"Lorne, get us one of those Ancient scanners," O'Neill ordered. "We should be able to scan through the surrounding walls, see if there's evidence of anything out of place."

"Yes Sir," Major Lorne turned and strode down the hall ... there weren't any locations he could think of in the residential section where he'd be able to lay his hands on an Ancient scanner so he took the transporter up to where the teams geared up for off world missions and signed one out there.

A few minutes later he returned to the door outside Colonel Carter's quarters, the others stepping aside to let him through. Activating the device he ran it carefully over the entire door and surrounding walls, watching the screen carefully.

"It's clean Sir," he reported.

"There you go Captain," O'Neill nodded to Darek. "It's all yours."

Darek accepted the 'all clear' with a curt nod and didn’t lose any further time on conversation. Using the crowbar to pry open a small wedge between the door and metal frame, he managed to get enough room for the crowbar to work as an efficient lever, eventually creating a gap wide enough to get a good hold for pushing the door open.

O'Neill peered into the gap Darek had created, spotting Daniel and Sam standing well back from the door. "There you are," he said like he was surprised to find them inside. Darek made the gap wide enough for someone to squeeze through. Stepping back Jack waved a hand in invitation. "Anytime you two want to join us," he quipped.

"With an invitation like that," Sam told Daniel. "How can we refuse?" She stepped forward and slithered through the opening.

Daniel leaned down and snagged his duffel bag and followed Sam through the gap in the damaged door. It had taken a little more wriggling to get his wider shoulders through the gap, but finally he was standing in the corridor next to Sam. "Thanks," Daniel nodded to the Jack and the team that had responded to their call for help. He glanced at the door and actually shuddered slightly as he thought of what could have happened. There was little doubt that this incident had been planned as a killing event. His blue eyes were shadowed as he glanced from Sam back to Jack. "I think the game has just gone into sudden death," he commented, the wry note in his voice not disguising the true concern or worry.

"Which means we need to take our investigation up a notch too," Jack replied grimly, eyes also focussed on the image of what might have been. "Captain, Doctor," Jack turned to his original team, "collect whatever evidence we've been left ... the deliberate and hopefully not so deliberate. Lorne, go and check on the whereabouts of those persons of interest we discussed earlier."

A chorus of Yes Sirs greeted him as the team moved into action, Major Lorne disappearing down the corridor while the others moved to study the broken door.

Darek nodded towards Dr. Garman. "You better go first to collect any samples that might be there."

"Thank you, Captain." The doctor opened her case and snapped on a pair of latex gloves. She moved to the door and began carefully going over it, checking for any sort of evidence that might point them toward the individual(s) who might have sabotaged it. Unfortunately, there was even less to find here than there was with the bomb components. Just the same, she carefully took samples from the edges and control panels, anywhere that epithelial cells might have been left behind. "Alright Captain, it's all yours."

An indepth check of the door and the safety mechanism would probably destroy whatever traces where still left on the door. Darek had a hunch that they might actually need to take half of that door and frame mechanism apart to find whatever manipulations had been carried out this time. Meanwhile he’d start with securing the security feeds from the hallway, maintenance logs for this door and a system check from the next maintenance terminal. The computer systems and system logs where high on his priority list too. How much for a chance that a door malfunctions at this precise moment, with these two people between it? Darek mused. It was just too unlikely, which pointed to some kind of trigger. The list of checks just kept getting longer.

O'Neill moved closer to Sam and Daniel. "Do we need to get the two of you checked out in the infirmary?" he asked, letting some of his emotions show ... anger, frustration, and worry that two of the people closest to him in two galaxies had come much too close to serious injury or worse.

Daniel easily picked up on Jack's mood and made a rare gesture of physical comfort toward the older man by very briefly gripping Jack's shoulder and giving it a light pat before dropping his hand to take Sam's, "No ... no harm done beyond a mood ruined and some accelerated heart rates. We're fine ... although at this moment were I to get my hands on the culprit, I might be moved to do some physical damage." He grinned at Jack with a quick wink at Sam.

"Yeah, well get in line," Jack replied grimly. He appreciated the gesture of reassurance from Daniel but nothing was going to see him relax now except the culprit behind bars with evidence to prove their guilt locked squarely away. "This is more my area of expertise anyway." Glancing back at half his team hard at work, Jack realised there wasn't much more he could do there. "Come on," he invited, motioning down the corridor. "I'll escort you guys to wherever you're going now."

Daniel only hesitated briefly thinking that maybe having Jack escort him and Sam back to his quarters might be awkward. On the other hand, he exchanged a look with Sam and got the barest flicker of her eyes in response, it might give the three time to talk. Turning he fell into step with Jack and Sam.

Sunday, 5th April | 1545 hours | Daniel's quarters

General O'Neill was silent on the way from Sam's quarters to Daniel's a short distance away. Lost in thought he trailed his friends down the corridor, nodding absently at Daniel's wordless query over whether he was staying.

Daniel stood back and waved his friends in, following after and going to the short hallway to toss his overnight kit into his bedroom. Returning to the main living area, he set up a fresh pot of coffee to brew before joining Sam on the sofa.

"Just how planned out are all these incidents?" Jack mused after he'd settled into one of the available chairs. "Is it just a matter of chance they've gone off when they have or ...," he trailed off, frowning at the implications. "Or is every member of SG-1 ... maybe Sheppard and Weir too ... under surveillance beyond what we've checked for?"

Daniel locked eyes with his friend, "Jack, they have to have some pretty good access to surveillance or intel to know our handwriting, to know I call Sam Sam-I-Am which I've only done in private. Whoever it is...they're smart, and they have really high accesses or know how to get past our security. Both thoughts are very disturbing."

"You're disturbed by that?" Carter raised a brow at him. "I'm still stuck on the part where they tried to slice me in half with my own door. Well, okay, perhaps slice is a bit generous but I'm definitely going to go with ouch." The colonel shook her head. "Both of our quarters need to be gone over," She told Daniel. "They should be turned upside down for surveillance equipment."

Daniel glanced at Jack, "I'll request the sweeps but figure it should ultimately be someone on Jack's investigation team that performs the sweep. Otherwise, how do we know they aren't just telling us nothing was found or was found and removed? Sam and I can do preliminary checks ourselves as well."

"Captain Sterling can do it," Jack replied, opening a radio channel on the spot. "Captain," he began when the other man answered. "Can you please join us in Doctor Jackson's quarters? Bring whatever you need to do a full sweep for surveillance equipment."

“On my way, Sir.” Darek had still been working on the door emergency mechanism. The sabotage proved again to be an ingenious mix of manipulation and exploiting of existing procedures, or at least it looked like that.

Taking the shortest way back to the lab, Darek’s mind turned over the list of things needed, which was a whole can of worms by itself. Somehow Darek doubted that the guys who had written the up-to-date book on electronic countermeasures had ever thought of applying them in an ancient alien city. He was aware that RF detection would be messy enough because there was a lot of legit radio use above and below the residential area of Atlantis, he’d still see what an omni spectral correlation brought up. Electronics detection would be the next problem, with all the devices around here, it might be tricky to filter the readings a non-linear-junction detector brought up. Still, it had to have been done before here, so it should be doable again. Infrared equipment was next on the list, for tracking devices by the warmth they emitted and by infrared signals they might use. Aside from that they’d need to check over the security systems of the city for traces of hacking, the computer access and other systems that were connected with the quarters. He also wondered if the security systems stored that kind of readings, RF-measurements, Frequency profiles and so on, long term. It might help to pinpoint how long an illegal surveillance had been conducted. Darek briefly wondered of one of those Ancient scanners Major Lorne had used on the broken door, could be helpful in finding any alien devices.

With a short stop at the lab to get the equipment needed, he reached the quarters of Dr. Jackson.

“What rooms need to be swept, Sir?” Darek inquired, logic suggested that these quarters were to be swept, but it was also possible that the General and Dr Jackson had pinpointed another suspect place.

Daniel glanced at Jack and waved a hand indicating the expanse of his home, "Everywhere you can get to, Captain. My quarters aren't the smallest on Atlantis, but they are not the largest either. There shouldn't be very many places someone could plant surveillance equipment and bugs."

"After you finish here you'll need to do Colonel Carter's quarters as well," O'Neill said. Turning to Daniel Jack frowned, shaking his head. "We should have done this before now ... personal quarters for everyone involved and the main areas of the city - Control Room, Sam's office, Gateroom." He was annoyed with himself for not undertaking something so basic the instance he'd set foot in the city.

Daniel shook his head at his friend, "Jack, we run routine scans daily...we just don't target private quarters because this type of thing is unprecedented here. Someone...a very determined, well connected, and powerful someone has gotten people inside the program. This should have been impossible...as unlikely as a Goa'uld getting hired on at the SGC. We're not omniscient...and we are getting closer. You...we...have all done the best that could be done under the circumstances."

"Maybe," Jack replied, watching Darek get to work. "Luckily Sam wasn't hurt otherwise I'd be feeling a lot worse about missing this."

Starting off with RF detection, Darek found himself not disappointed when he saw the first readings of the Omni Spectral Correlator, there were quite a lot of frequencies around, the filters recognized a good deal of them as legit transmissions, some others needed checks or some filter fine-tuning of the OSCOR. After a check of the area to sweep, Darek set the diameter for the OSCOR and set it to do some base readings. “I will have to repeat these readings later, to compare them, Sir.” He said. He was rather sure, that he didn’t need to actually explain any of this to the General. “The NLJD interferes with the OSCOR readings of course.”

Working with the NLJD Darek went very slowly over the room. The radio frequencies it emitted caused a resonance in electronic devices, but with some devices the resonance was very weak. So only a thorough search, going over the room slowly and methodically, could actually ferret out hidden electronics. In some corners of the room Darek went through multiple fine-adjustments of the device, to make sure he did not overlook anything. Some very faint readings seemed to be caused by Atlantis’ systems, but it would never hurt to be sure. All readings were noted on a drawn up plan of the quarters. The sets of numbers indicating strength, frequency and length of the resonances, all references to crosscheck with the infra-red search that was the next step.

The infra-red sweep was by nature two fold: one part was looking for “warm” spots were none should be, as most electronical devices emitted some heat, and second was looking for infra-red signals of any shape or form that might also hint to some devices hidden in the room. After the results of the NLJD Darek had several places in the room marked down for an especially thorough check over.

"Anything?" Jack asked curiously once Darek appeared to have finished with Daniel's room.

"I think so, Sir," Darek replied, his main focus still on the equipment. The NLJD and the infrared both pointed to two locations. Following up on that trail it didn’t take too long for him to actually find both devices. The hiding places had been well chosen, guaranteeing a wide acoustic coverage of the rooms. Studying the two devices found for a moment, Darek had to suppress a scowl. He knew the model right away, and could have added an educated guess about potential manufacturers.

“Two devices, Sir,” he reported to O’Neill. “Both are Earth-manufactured.”

"And I'm guessing a dime a dozen," Jack responded cynically. "Not much good for implicating a suspect. Still ...," the General paused thoughtfully, "it lends more weight to this being perpetrated from outside Atlantis."

"Not exactly a dime a dozen, Sir. Those are high precision acoustic devices, designed to pick up and transmit even faint noises clearly and in high quality. But still rather common in professional surveillance, Sir."

"Of course," Jack replied with a slight sarcastic edge. "If you're finished up in here, head back to Colonel Carter's quarters. Do the same sweep there."

The General moved aside to give Darek space to pack up his gear and exit the room. Glancing at his friends Jack managed an almost genuine grin. "I'll leave you to whatever it was you had planned before that door ... did its thing. And no - I don't need to know what that was. Just ... have fun kids."

Turning on his heel, Jack strode from the room, determined to review all the evidence again. It was time to catch this bastard ... past time.

Repeating the same search in Col. Carter’s quarters Darek had less trouble to track down the listening devices there, they had been hidden in the same way. He was rather sure that the same person had planted them, the similarities were there. Another set of two devices, same type and trademark. Still, he went over the quarters as thorough as he had with Dr. Jackson’s before to make sure there was no other listening device left. With these quarters cleared, Darek took up his gear again and headed out. The General had already set down a list of other key areas that needed to be checked. The faster he got to it, the better.

Sunday, 5th April | all day up to 1600 hours | Various locations

After briefly filling Lieutenant Cadman in on their surveillane assignment directly after his meeting with General O'Neill that morning, Major Lorne had moved on to making sure he knew where both Private Abels and Lieutenant Hunter were supposed to be.

He'd need a sustainable way to keep an eye on each man without having to hover nearby.

In his office Evan quickly called up the duty roster for enlisted personnel. Accessing Abel's assigned station placed him on security detail in the Gateroom that morning - not the most glamorous or exciting post but thankfully a very visible one. In the afternoon Abels would transfer to assisting the science staff with repairs on the Hammond ... again a visible post easy to keep track of. Frowning curiously over why the man had been assigned there, Lorne brought up Abel's personnel file and read through it quickly. No wonder the General had put the man on his suspect list! Abels had both engineering and explosives experience, although admittedly neither to the level of expert. Still, it gave him the required skills to have pulled off more than one of the incidents without assistance. Definitely one to watch.

Moving on to Lieutenant Hunter, Lorne did the same thing, accessed the other mans assignment for the day and found that he would be conducting training for the newer recruits who'd come to the city on the Hammond with Colonel Mitchell. It would be hard for Hunter to do anything other than his job until well into the afternoon. Investigating Hunters personnel file produced more interesting information ... he too had engineering and explosives expertise and the intelligence to be behind most of the incidents. Lorne was starting to feel left out and under qualified ... did everyone know how to build a bomb and rig a balcony to collapse?!

Shutting off his computer, Lorne left his office on the pretext of doing his rounds. When they coincidentally took him through the Control Room, Evan spoke briefly with the technician, making up a reason for why he'd need to be informed if Abels left his station before the end of his shift. The same in the training suite ... the Major poking his head in the door to get the assigned guards attention, again requesting he be informed if the Lieutenant left his station.

The rest of the day progressed as usual for Major Lorne ... he checked in briefly with both his charges just before heading to Doctor Garman's medical results briefing, both still exactly where they were supposed to be and working hard.

That's why the occurance of another incident only a few minutes into the briefing had come as a bit of a shock. Not that it necessarily meant anything - either man could have rigged an incident to go off when they knew they'd have an airtight alibi.

When General O'Neill had given him the order to follow up on both Abels and Hunter, Lorne had strode off immediately to do just that, stopping at the investigations lab quickly to get Cadman's assistance.

"Lieutenant," Lorne spoke as he walked into the lab. "Shut everything down here and lock this place up. I need you at the Hammond to check on Private Abel's activities."

"Yes Sir," Laura replied, moving to do as ordered. "Are Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson okay?" she asked before Evan could leave.

"For now," Lorne agreed grimly. "That door could have killed Sam if Daniel hadn't been there. They might not be that lucky next time."

"Next time?" Cadman asked uncertainly.

"I think it's safe to assume there'll be a next time Lieutenant," Lorne replied. "Unless we can stop them first"

"I hope we can Sir," Laura agreed, moving from computer to computer closing things down.

"Don't let Abel's get suspicious," Lorne cautioned as Laura finished and moved towards the doors where he still stood.

"I'll just tell them I need more data on the bomb site," Laura replied, grabbing her kit on the way out.

"Report back here when you get done," Evan said, adding with a pointed look, "and be careful."

"Yes Sir," Cadman agreed seriously.

Lorne stood for a moment watching her disappear down the corridor before shaking himself back to action. By his reckoning Lieutenant Hunter should be finishing up his training at 1600 hours - just enough time left for Evan to get there just as he did.

The Major timed it perfectly ... Hunter was just making his closing remarks as Lorne arrived in the doorway. Evan stood to the side as the trainees grabbed their gear, talking in low voices about the days training.

"Good session?" he asked Hunter casually as the last recruit disappeared out the door.

Gordon looked up at the Major and gave him a grin. "Sir. Yes, Sir. They're a good group this time," he said with no small amount of professional pride. Gordon looked at the Major guardedly. "Is there anything I can do for you, Sir?"

"Not especially," Lorne replied casually. "Just checking in on the new recruits ... some of them were looking pretty fresh. You work them hard the whole day?"

Gordon grinned at the Major. "Of course, Sir. They're Marines... mostly. If you don't work 'em hard, there's no point, Sir," he said, kidding around with Lorne.

Lorne chuckled in return. "They wouldn't be Marines unless they relished that kind of treatment Lieutenant." Having confirmed that Hunter hadn't left his post ... as far as Lorne could tell anyway, there wasn't much more Evan could ask ... until something occurred to him.

"This group were all new to Atlantis right?" Lorne queried, waiting for Hunter to nod before continuing. "They talking about what's going on in the city?"

Gordon chuckled. "ORRAH! Yes, Sir. They were all newbies. Not in my training program, Sir, but one assumes that they know. There might have been a little scuttlebutt about it before I arrived. Any particular reason why, Sir?"

"Just curious Lieutenant," Lorne replied with a faint shrug. "Part of my job to keep an eye on the mood of the enlisted personnel ... make sure the newcomers get the right idea on how we run things in Atlantis."

Gordon's smile went a little forced. "I think they've got the right idea, Sir," he told him coolly. "With all due respect, Sir, I take pride in my duty."

"Never suggested otherwise Hunter," Lorne returned mildly. "I'd just hate to think that our newest recruits were harbouring false perceptions that Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir are behind this because those of us who've been here a while know that's not true. Right Lieutenant?"

"Glad to hear that, Sir," Gordon said, just as mildly barely able to keep from being disrespectful. "Right you are, Major. I have no opinion either way to be perfectly honest with you, Sir. If they're behind it, I'm sure General O'Neill will find them out. If not, then he'll find the real culprit or culprits," he told him, shrugging off the entire thing.

"He will," Lorne agreed with grim confidence. "And then they'll soon be wishing they'd never been born. The General isn't known for being soft and he'll take every attack against his team as an attack against him personally. I know I don't want to be anywhere near the brig once the culprits are behind bars."

Gordon scoffed at him. "Sir, if I wasn't sure that you weren't, I'd say you were suggesting that I'm behind all this nonsense. Do you need alibi's for each event, Sir?" he said, emphasizing the 'Sir' and looking at him.

"That won't be necessary Lieutenant," Lorne replied blandly. He'd been somewhat skeptical when General O'Neill had put Gordon Hunter near the top of his suspect list. Hunter was one of those over achiever types - driven, talented, and very good at playing the 'do what's required to get promoted' game. Now though, after talking to the man about what was happening on Atlantis, and Evan was starting to rethink that. Most guys on hearing Lorne's promise that General O'Neill would see the culprits punished would have been offering to assist. Hunter however was clearly taking it much more personally ... which was very interesting. "Unless you've got something you'd like to admit to?" Lorne added, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Gordon realized that he'd said the wrong thing pretty quickly. "No, Sir. Sorry, Sir. I let my temper get the best of me and I thought you were accusing when it's obvious that you're not. This entire thing has got me really tense, Sir. Honestly, I'd like to get the son of a bitch that's doing all this myself. This is our home, you know?" he quickly covered, hoping that it wasn't too little, too late. Maybe it was time to finish this up pretty quick ...

"Understandable Lieutenant," Lorne said easily, taking it back to the casual. "Everyone's on edge and acting out of character. You're right - Atlantis is home." Evan had enough to report back to General O'Neill - not proof or anything near it but justification to continue watching Hunter. He'd slipped up with Lorne ... let his emotions get the better of him. It was only a matter of time before he did it again and made a mistake that would lead to his downfall. Lorne had wanted to worry the man but not make him feel threatened enough to retreat ... it was time to take a step back - convince Hunter he hadn't read too much into his words.

"Don't worry Gordon," Evan finished in a friendly, reassuring manner. "Atlantis will be back to normal soon and we'll all be able to forget this ever happened."

"Yessir," Gordon said quickly, reevaluating his plans. He needed to hurry up, get seen as Lt. Colonel Sheppard ... "I'll be glad to do that, Sir. This entire mess is making us all a little crazy, Major," he said, trying to be a good little Marine.

"It is," Lorne agreed. "Well ... carry on Lieutenant," he said, waving a hand vaguely towards the gear that still needed to be put away. Gordon nodded quickly, acknowledging the dismissal. Major Lorne watched the other man for a few seconds as he got back to work before turning and leaving him to it. Time to report in to General O'Neill.

Chapter 05: The end of the beginning
Monday, 6th April | 0700 hours | Special Investigations Lab

Lorne arrived at the special investigations lab first thing the next morning. After his conversation with Lieutenant Hunter the previous afternoon he'd let the other man think he was alone and then tailed him well into the evening.

Hunter had tidied up the training room as ordered and then retired to his quarters for an hour before appearing to randomly roam the city for another few hours. Evan hadn't been sure whether the guy knew he was being followed and was trying to make it interesting or he was crazy because there'd appeared to be no rhyme or reason to any of the stops he'd made. Of course Evan hadn't been able to get close enough to really see what the other man was up to ... not without risking being seen.

Hunter had spoken to no one ... not in any obvious way, a fact that annoyed Lorne no end. Was Hunter the only one behind all of this and if so, why? What the hell was his motivation?

In any case, by the time Hunter had returned to his quarters and Lorne had hung around until he was convinced Hunter was going to stay there it had been too late to report to the General ... hence his early morning report.

Lieutenant Cadman was currently watching Hunter's quarters and had been less than impressed when Lorne had radioed her to wakefulness to hand out his orders.

"Major?" General O'Neill strode into the lab a few minutes after 0700 hours, frowning to find the lab already occupied.

"Sir," Lorne stood to attention, waiting for the General to take a seat before sitting back down himself. "Sorry to be reporting in so early Sir ... I've been tailing Lieutenant Hunter since 1600 hours yesterday and this was the first chance I had to break away."

"And?" Jack asked expectantly.

"He's behind it Sir," Lorne said simply. "I can't tell you why or even how but I spoke to him yesterday and ... I'm convinced he's a major player if not the entire team."

"And yet we have no proof," Jack pointed out sarcastically.

"Not yet Sir," Lorne agreed earnestly. "Cadman is watching his quarters now ... if we keep it discrete eventually we'll catch him in the act."

"Discrete Major," O'Neill reiterated sternly. "The last thing we need is to drive this guy underground. If there's someone pulling the strings we need Hunter to lead us to them."

"Understood Sir," Evan acknowledged.

"All right then," Jack said decisively. "Put Hunter on non stop watch ... call in Captain Sterling to take a shift with yourself and Cadman. Report in regularly. And don't let Hunter spot you."

"Yes Sir," Lorne nodded. Dismissed, he turned to go and grab an early breakfast before catching up with Darek to arrange their schedule.

Monday, 6th April | 1030 hours | Residential Section, Dr. Radek Zelenka's Quarters

Radek had tried to rest, but it wasn't doing any good. So he'd gotten out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Business attended to, he'd taken a snack from his desk and moved to the balcony.

The beautiful views of the ocean and the sky and the other towers of Atlantis never failed to take the man's breath away. He watched the seabirds creel and soar among the towers and smiled as he found the one moon visible during the day.

He sat down with his legs dangling off the balcony. He tested the railing with his body briefly and -- content it would hold -- he leaned against it with part of his weight and ate his snack while he let the beauty of Atlantis soothe his whirling mind.

Daniel walked along the corridors of the technical staff's residential section looking for the quarters assigned to his quarry. He had spent a day or two trying to track down and catch the elusive Czech scientist in Atlantis' public areas, but had had no luck on that. He was loathe to disturb anyone's privacy, especially that of a man he did not know well, but he could not put aside the belief that Dr. Zelenka might hold one of the first keys to starting to unravel the lead tight chain of evidence mounting against Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard.

There was, of course, the chance that Dr. Zelenka would find Daniel's idea beyond ridiculous and dismiss it out of hand. Jackson hoped not. He knew from personal experience that his idea had merit. Convincing a hard core scientist of that might prove difficult. Thank God this was not Rodney McKay that he had to deal with.

Reaching the target doorway, Daniel stopped and passed his hand over the chime. He waited a moment and when there was no answer, he waved the chime again. Frowning, he passed his hand over the door control and raised his eyebrows when it slid open. Rather than invade the man's privacy outright, he called inside using his trademark, "Heelllloooo... Dr. Zelenka? Radek? It's Daniel Jackson...I'd like to speak with you..."

There was a long pause, then Radek appeared in the room. His hair was windblown from the balcony and he was licking the last crumbs of his snack from his lips. "Doctor Jackson? Come inside. What can I do for you?" He still sounded tired, but not as bone-weary exhausted.

"Make it Daniel, please," Jackson said as he stepped inside. Now...how to play this? Yes, he was helping Jack on the investigation in an unofficial capacity and mostly as a sounding board so he could not really tell Zelenka that this was part of the real investigation. This was really a tangent of Daniel's that he thought would help...everyone. On the down side of that, Jack had told Daniel explicitly to not investigate.

Sharp blue eyes raked over Zelenka taking in the rumpled appearance and overall weary demeanour. The incidents of sabotage were affecting everyone on Atlantis in some form or another whether they were the targets or not. Just the constant feeling of being on watch and heightened emotions was wearing in and of themselves.

"I'd like to talk to you about some things. I may have an idea that will help clarify the scene you witnessed between Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard. It's worked for me in the past...but it's not guaranteed and the outcome is unpredictable," Daniel said choosing to leap right to the meat of the reason for his visit.

"If I am to call you Daniel, then you must call me Radek," Radek said, studying him for a moment. He considered what Daniel was saying, pushing his glasses up with a forefinger as his brow furrowed in deep thought.

At last, he said, "I'm not sure what clarification could be had --- but I am willing to try. I still can not believe what I heard or saw. But I heard it and I saw it --- and it has gnawed at me. I need to find the truth, because I can not believe the truth could be what I saw and heard. I can not."

He gestured toward the couch underneath a window that had one of the ubiquitous potted plants on either end of it. "Sit down. I am willing to hear you out."

Daniel took the offered seat and leaned forward, eyes and expression intent, "Radek, I don't know if Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir are guilty or innocent of the incidents being laid at their door. I am a firm believer in innocent until proved otherwise, however. If we do what I have in mind and if it works, you'll have to continue on acting troubled and in doubt of what you saw and heard. It's vital that Jack's hand is not tipped until he's ready. Can you do that?"

Radek tilted his head. "I grew up in a country where i had to pretend that all was well when I really was troubled and doubting. To act troubled and doubting when I am not should not be difficult."

Jackson chuckled and nodded, "I understand. Well...I don't know how many of the old SG-1 mission reports you've read...but when I was descended the first time, it was without any of my memories. Fortunately, the Ancient that was given charge of my punishment left triggers that would let me reconnect with the memories from my past...but the memories from my year as an Ascended were buried and blocked. Some of it was for my own safety as our minds are not yet evolved enough to contain all the knowledge of the Ancients...the rest was to protect everyone else from me choosing to use Ancient knowledge and powers...at least that's what I've come to believe."

The archaeologist paused for a breath before continuing, "Even with that I had flashes of things from when I was Ascended. One such memory involved Teal'c's son and a good friend and ally, Master Bra'tac. Teal'c helped me reach and clarify that memory by using a Jaffa meditation technique called Kel'no'reem. I used it again to allow Elizabeth access to my conscious waking mind so she could communicate with John before we found her."

There was another brief pause while Daniel gathered words for the last bit of argument on why it should be tried, "Radek, our minds are incredibly complex and incredibly simple at the same time. When confronted with things that just don't fit, our brain often makes it fit. Details get hidden in our subconscious. I am hoping by using deep and guided meditation you can clarify what you saw and heard that day in the corridor. Unlike in hypnosis, I cannot influence your recall because you never surrender control."

Daniel sat back on the sofa to wait for the other scientist to sort through all he had just said and make a determination or ask any questions.

Radek sat there, mulling it over. He considered it, and at the end he had just one question.

"How can I never surrender control when you are guiding me in this? This I do not understand."

Sighing, Daniel sought the words to explain, "I will only be guiding you in the ritual process of attaining the level you need to delve into your subconscious for those memories and details that might be hidden there. Unlike hypnosis, I won't be the outside force leading you to the information we both want. Hypnosis is a highly suggestible state and we couldn't trust that the information you recalled was truly your memories or something I unknowingly implanted through suggestion. With Kel'no'reem, you will find the truth for yourself...if there's anything to be found."

"Then there is merely one further question to be asked." Radek smiled tightly. "How do we begin?"

"You look tired, Radek. If you've nothing else scheduled for today...why not rest for a couple of hours, have a light meal...soup or something. I'll come back with the requisite candles, mats and things. We'll plan for this evening," Daniel said, rising to his feet and offering a smile to the other man.

Radek smiled as well and walked him to the door. "I look forward to it, Daniel." He keyed the door and sighed when he was alone again.

Rest --- so easy to say, so hard to do. But if there was a chance.... he'd take it. He had to.

And that thought gave him hope enough that he was actually able to sleep.

Monday, 6th April | 2030 hours | Residential Section, Dr. Radek Zelenka's Quarters

It was mid-evening when Daniel returned to Radek's quarters laden with bags of candles and a couple of thick floor pillows tucked under his arms. Setting one of the bags down, he pressed the door chime and waited for Zelenka to admit him. Stepping inside, he smiled confidently at the Czech scientist. Daniel felt confident he could handle the role of mentor during the meditation ritual. He just hoped, for Radek's sake as well as John and Weir's, that the memories retrieved during the meditation revealed some detail that exonerated them.

"Hey, Radek...first thing we need to do is set aside a comfortable area and get the candles set up and lit. After that, we'll sit, relax, do a few breathing exercises to clear our minds and centre us and then start trying to attain the Kel'no'reem level of meditation. Teal'c prefers absolute silence, but if a fountain or soft music helps you to relax, by all means, we can add that in," Daniel explained the beginnings of the ritual as he began unpacking the candles, having dropped the floor cushions on the sofa until Radek could designate where he wanted to set up.

Radek nodded as Daniel spoke. He went toward the bed and returned with his laptop and an iPod, which he set up on the desk. "Please arrange the ceremony near the couch in case I must lean back. I think best with low level background noise, so I shall do that."

He plugged the iPod into the speakers, then set the volume so that when the sound of the waterfall came out, it was at a soothing low level. Then he moved to help Daniel with the candles and cushions.

Radek's heart beat faster. It was nearly time to begin, and he was a little nervous.

Daniel followed the other scientist's request and made the man a comfortable nest where he could lean back and relax totally. He set his cushion adjacent and dropped comfortably down on it.

"When you're ready, Radek, make yourself as comfortable as possible and we'll start," the archaeologist said as he set a long running digital voice recorder near to hand so that he could start it once they had reached the meat of the information they were trying to get to and clarify.

"No time like the present," Radek sighed. He settled himself into the 'nest' and took off his glasses, laying them safely on the couch to the right of his head. He focused blearily on Daniel. "All right, then."

Daniel nodded and smiled. Before speaking he schooled his voice to be relaxing and comforting...almost as much a background noise as the waterfall playing on the PC. He was good at that, good at teaching too. He had been gifted with natural tone and pitch and the ability to use them to the best advantage. "I don't know how or if you meditate, Radek, but I like to start by simply clearly my mind...almost like when you catch yourself staring off into space in middle of the day...just not thinking of anything in particular."

He watched as the Czech scientist seemed to shrug himself into a more relaxed position as if following Daniel's voice. Daniel only spoke briefly after that, occasionally saying something soothing to continue leading the other man deeper into a meditative state. He did not want to inadvertently drive Radek into a hypnotic state. That left too much up to the person controlling the hypnosis.

It may have been his own weariness after the days' of worry, but Zelenka seemed to be descending through the meditative levels at a comfortably even pace. Finally, Daniel reached out and checked his pulse, calling to mind what Teal'c had told him about pulse rate and responses when a Jaffa was deepest into the Kel'no'reem state. For their purposes, Daniel felt they had reached a deep enough level that any true recall would be from Radek's subconscious and not marred by his mind's conscious attempts to fit everything together in a right picture.

"Radek, now you're going to go into a more focused form of meditation. Start replaying key incidents in your days going backward toward Wednesday, April 1. Just let the memories run and look at them, if you can, from almost an outsider's perspective." Daniel said softly as he clicked the recorder on.

Radek's eyes were closed. "I'm setting up in here. Rodney and I have talked in the infirmary, once I woke up... I collapsed in the mess hall." He broke off, his face twisting in embarrassment. "I was so worried that this entire mess was my fault for reporting what I saw that I could not rest. I could barely eat. I worked myself into exhaustion. Once he recovers, I doubt Rodney will ever let me forget it."

Then he fell silent for a moment. "I'm walking down the hallway. I hear Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir talking --- but I can't believe what I'm hearing them say. It is not right. It can not be right." His hands balled into fists.

"It's okay, Radek. Don't think about the repercussions right now. Just delve into that memory. Look around, look at the two people you see and hear. Does anything not fit the scene? Just watch and let it replay."

Radek fell silent, watching the scene replay. "Wait...." he breathed suddenly, frowning and leaning forward. He reached forward, tracing something in the air. "I see Colonel Sheppard. I see Doctor Weir. But on the wall......that is not them."

Blue eyes flew open and he looked over at Daniel. "Daniel -- their shadows do not match. The clothing drapes wrong, the forms are completely wrong. Even with the natural distortion of shadows --- that is not them."

Daniel literally held his breath for a moment and then let it out sharply. He leaned toward Radek with a warm smile, "That's great, Radek. Now...before you lose it...think. Anything else seem out of kilter. Nuances in the voices, hand motions, anything at all that you would consider not in character for Dr. Weir or Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes, yes....." He nodded wildly. "Not so much with the hands, but the voices --- the Colonel is sarcastic, but he is never cruel about it. This man spoke with terrible cruelty in his voice. And he seemed to dominate over the other one, and Doctor Weir has always had a partnership with the Colonel. Never this....travesty of a --" And he was off in Czech for a long moment. He took a deep breath and repeated softly, "Also, I never recall her being as expansive in her gestures as the person in the hallway was."

He opened his eyes and looked at Daniel. "I am sorry -- I can recall nothing more."

"No! Radek, you did great. Far more than I expected based on my past experiences...you're good," Daniel leaned forward and gave the other man a reassuring pat on the arm. "I need to get this information to Jack. You try to rest, sometimes dreams or just a good sleep will bring back even more detail." The archaeologist unwound from his position on the floor and started turning lights on and blowing out the candles.

Daniel called back to Radek, "I don't know how much weight the investigatory team will put on this new information, Radek, but you did great. You might want to keep this new info to yourself...for awhile at least. I'll let you know as much as I'm cleared for once I hand this tape off." He paused and nodded, "This might not be enough to go on officially, but Jack's learned to trust these things...it might just give him the direction he needs to flush someone out of hiding." Before exiting, Daniel automatically cautioned, "Say nothing of this to anyone for now, Radek. Let Jack handle this information as he sees fit."

Radek nodded as he gathered his pillows. "I will. And thank you, Daniel." He paused, setting the pillows on the couch and lifting his glasses. "I think I can rest easy now --- now that I know that was not them." He smiled and raised a hand in farewell. "Thank you again, Daniel."

Daniel's last sight of Radek was of a back --- straightened by a great load lifted --- vanishing into the bathroom to prepare for bed. It was early, but the man was clearly still exhausted.

Rest would do him good.

Monday, 6 April 2009 | 2100 Hours | Guest/VIP Quarters Wing, O'Neill's Quarters

Daniel left Radek's quarters and headed back for his own to deposit the meditation supplies he had brought for the ritual. Dropping the items inside, he turned and headed back out. Head down, hands in pockets, Daniel sauntered along as he usually did therefore not attracting more than normal attention. His left hand still curled protectively around the mini-digital voice recorder where it rested in his pocket. A short time later, Daniel was stopping outside the VIP quarters allotted to Jack. Running his hand over the chime, he stepped in as the door slid open, "Hellloooo ... Jack?"

"Daniel?" Jack popped his head up from the couch where he'd been stretched out, not expecting company. Getting a better look at the other man, O'Neill noticed immediately the barest hint of excitement and discovery on Daniel's face - a look Jack had gotten very familiar with over the years. "What did you do now?" Jack quipped semi seriously, sitting up and dropping his feet to the floor.

Jackson's eyes sparkled with excitement, but he held off saying anything until he had raided Jack's fridge for a beer for Jack and a bottle of water for himself. Returning to the living area, he flopped into the easy chair across from the sofa, and regarded Jack for a few moments. Uncapping his water, he took several sips to ease his dry mouth before pulling the digital recorder from his pocket and laying it on the coffee table between them. "It's not permissible in court, but I think it's the affirmation we need that someone is indeed setting Sheppard and Weir up to take the fall for all these incidents."

The archaeologist took Jack's raised brows as an invitation to continue while the look on his friend's face promised retribution for Daniel's meddling despite direct orders. Leaning forward, he said, "Just listen first. I'll explain after." Daniel reached out and flicked the recorder's play button.

Radek's voice with its pleasant, light accent began speaking...

"I'm walking down the hallway. I hear Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir talking --- but I can't believe what I'm hearing them say. It is not right. It can not be right." His hands balled into fists.

"It's okay, Radek. Don't think about the repercussions right now. Just delve into that memory. Look around, look at the two people you see and hear. Does anything not fit the scene? Just watch and let it replay."

"Wait...." he breathed suddenly, frowning and leaning forward. He reached forward, tracing something in the air. "I see Colonel Sheppard. I see Doctor Weir. But on the wall......that is not them. Daniel -- their shadows do not match. The clothing drapes wrong, the forms are completely wrong. Even with the natural distortion of shadows --- that is not them."

"That's great, Radek. Now...before you lose it...think. Anything else seem out of kilter. Nuances in the voices, hand motions, anything at all that you would consider not in character for Dr. Weir or Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes, yes.....Not so much with the hands, but the voices --- the Colonel is sarcastic, but he is never cruel about it. This man spoke with terrible cruelty in his voice. And he seemed to dominate over the other one, and Doctor Weir has always had a partnership with the Colonel. Never this....travesty of a --"

For a few moments they could hear Radek speaking in Czech. Daniel shook his head at Jack and thumbed off the recorder, "Radek said nothing in his native language that was pertinent..." Daniel flicked the recorder back on.

"Also, I never recall her being as expansive in her gestures as the person in the hallway was. I am sorry -- I can recall nothing more."

Daniel reached out to shut down the recorder again, "That's from earlier this evening. I talked Dr. Zelenka into trying to attain the Kel'no'reem level of meditation. I remembered it helped me when I first Descended..."

"That's just great Daniel," Jack said, his sarcastic tone making it clear he thought it was anything but. "You've got proof for something we already knew ... after I told you to let me handle it. And after I told you not to trust anyone!" Jack stood up and paced over to the windows, looking out at the city for a moment before turning back to his friend.

"I really did mean don't trust anyone Daniel but especially not the people who've been a part of this expedition since the beginning. What if Zelenka had been behind this?" Jack asked pointedly. "Did you think about that? Because his involvement just as easily explains what he 'saw'. At this point it's just luck you're sitting here telling me about mimic devices instead of stuffed in a closet somewhere."

Daniel rose to his feet, blue eyes sparking with anger as his temper flared in a way only Jack could contrive. "Give me a little credit every now and then, Jack. I'm not the gullible, naive idealist you first met. You and the galaxy have seen to that. I don't know Radek all that well ... but I know him well enough to bet even your life that he is not capable of being involved in a conspiracy at any level. The man would have a nervous breakdown." The archaeologist paused before spearing Jack a glance, "I followed my instincts and if you recall we're lucky that I do on occasion or we'd be missing entire races of beings now ... like the Enkarans and the Gadmeer. One of us has to think outside the military box of gut instincts ... that's always been my job."

"Hey, don't knock those military instincts Daniel. As I recall they've saved your hide on more than one occasion," Jack pointed out lightly. "And you and I both know that your think outside the box approach might have worked out 'on occasion' but it's also gotten us into a boat load of trouble too."

Sighing, Jack took a few steps back towards the couch where Daniel now stood, letting his momentary anger drain away. There was too much history for either man to win a "who's approach caused the most trouble" competition ... especially not without seriously stepping on each other’s toes. "I'm just saying ... you could follow orders every now and then ... or at least tell me before you go off on your own."

Daniel had the grace to look momentarily chastened before replying in a milder tone of voice, "Both of us rank pretty high on that Trouble Magnet scoreboard, Jack. And I do follow order now and again...and technically did this time. It just happened that during a meditation session with a friend, more information came to light. We now have proof that whoever is running this conspiracy has access to high tech...probably of alien origin...even if it's been retro-engineered. I don't recall the Foothold aliens' mimic devices goofing up on things like shadows, vocal nuances and the like."

"They're well connected all right," Jack acknowledged grimly, letting Daniel off the hook without feeling the need to say more. "Too well connected." He didn't say it but his thoughts were already past the point of catching Hunter and whatever accomplices he might have ... to the place when the President realised one or even a handful of people operating on Atlantis couldn't have pulled off such a large scale conspiracy by themselves. The longer term implications were starting to bubble away at the back of Jack's mind ... but ... time enough to worry about that later.

"So they've re-engineered those mimic things," Jack returned to the main point of the conversation, "... I really hate those by the way ... and what? They're malfunctioning? Can we use that to track them somehow?"

Daniel returned to his seat, the little spat with Jack already forgotten, "If you can, get a secure inquiry out, find out if all the mimic devices are accounted for in lock-up at Area 51. My guess is you'll find all accounted for meaning all whoever's behind this could get is intel and rough schematics...which might account for the inconsistencies and glitches in operation." His mind moved on to Jack's other question, "The original devices could be disrupted by certain frequencies...sound I think...Sam'd know for sure. I'd think if we could lock onto these devices' energy signature, we could track them. There's also the mandatory subcutaneous transponders...we all have to have them implanted and then replaced every three months. I'm betting our bad guys had theirs removed or removed them themselves. If that's the case, they'll show up as life signs with no corresponding ID on the sensors."

"I'm due to check in with the SGC tomorrow," Jack revealed. "I'll send through the Area 51 enquiry with all the reports. In the mean time talk to Carter, Daniel ... find out if we can track these devices ... and get her to scan the city for anyone without a transponder." Jack shrugged. "These guys have been a step ahead of us with the technology since this began so I wouldn't be surprised if they have a work around but it's still worth checking out."

Daniel rose to his feet and nodded, "I'll brief Sam as soon as I can catch up with her. I'll let you know what she says." He flashed Jack a smile as he moved toward the door. "Rest," he admonished his friend quietly. "You won't do the investigation any good if you're dead on your feet."

"I'm fine Daniel," Jack insisted. "And there'll be plenty of time to rest when we've got those responsible for all this behind bars." Giving Daniel a look that said he appreciated the thought, O'Neill moved to escort his friend to the door.

By himself again, Jack glanced at the time. It was late but he had time to review some of the personnel files before bed. Settling back on the couch, the General got to work.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0530 hours | Special Investigations Lab

Sitting in the darkened lab in the very early morning hours General O'Neill contemplated the weekend's events ... for the fiftieth time. The culprit had continued on with what had clearly been a planned incident ... one that could have potentially killed Sam if Daniel hadn't been there to pull her to safety. If Jack could conclude anything from that it was that he'd been convincing in following Sheppard and Weir as his only suspects. The real culprit was feeling complacent ... safe to carry on with their intended course of action.

That only made Jack angrier ... his frustration and the sheer need to catch and punish the person or persons behind this, to put a stop to this before someone really got hurt driving him from his bed after too little sleep for the second night in a row.

Turning to the computer, Jack logged on and began to review the summary of evidence and analysis so far, even though he'd read it a number of times already. He'd done the same thing the previous morning too but maybe this time something new would jump out at him.

Working on as the sun got close to rising, Jack almost jumped at the sudden alert on his computer for a new email. Who'd be sending him messages this early in the morning? He clicked on the link and was confronted with a live video feed that started automatically once the message was open. A disguised voice started talking.

Accompanying the voice was a series of pictures flashing rapidly on the screen ... scenes that began to look more than a little familiar - to Jack at least. He focussed on the screen with intensity as the message played

"General. What you're seeing now is the beginning of the end for Atlantis. Our work has already begun in the shadows ... now it is time for it to be unleashed to the light. Just try to stop me, General. Just try it!" the voice challenged and the video shut off and the screen went black, the computer completely shutting itself off.

O'Neill's expression had darkened as the message progressed, his eyes almost black with controlled anger simmering just below the surface. They'd made it personal now ... issued a personal challenge directly to him ... and he had never been one to back away from something like that.

"Come and catch me huh?" Jack muttered grimly as he considered his options in the seconds after the computer went dead. It was a no brainer, his feet already moving as he made the instant decision to act. They were there right now ... if he moved fast enough he'd been there too, in time to catch them in the act and stop them before they did something irreparable.

Running from the room, Jack took the nearest transporter towards the outer part of the south eastern arm of the city ... one of the previously damaged parts where he and Richard Woolsey had taken cover from the Replicators when they'd taken over the city. Clearly the attacker was more than well connected if they had access to that level of detail from the mission reports.

Exiting the transporter Jack ran down the corridor, slowing as he approached the corner. Stopping, he peered quickly around the edge before ducking back into cover.

A man worked with his back to where the General was approaching. This was the one... the end game. No one would discover them now. He worked, placing his greatest bomb ever made, one that would destroy the entire section and possibly destabilize Atlantis herself, forcing them all to salvage what they could and then go home. The best part was that he wasn't going to get caught... it would be Colonel Sheppard who got the blame, yet again. He felt for the mimic device, trying to find it in his pockets and found it missing. Oh. Oh no. No!

The man felt himself frantically, trying like hell to find it when he turned and caught sight of the General. He growled and pulled out his sidearm, firing a few times with a silencer on.

O'Neill ducked low as a bullet slammed into the wall where his head had been, followed closely by a few more.

"Damn it," he growled low under his breath. "Should have brought a weapon!" Peering quickly around the corner Jack was forced to take cover again when another bullet shattered wall fragments down on him. That quick check had been enough to place the other man - one Lieutenant Gordon Hunter! "Game’s up Lieutenant," Jack called out authoritatively. "You don't want to do this."

"I'm sorry, General, but I do. I really, really do. You weren't supposed to come down here. But your death will serve a purpose, Sir. Can't ask for much more than that," he said, taking his time and aiming more carefully. How had he found out? How did the General discover what they were about to do so quickly? It didn't make sense! Gordon fired again, almost hitting him in the shoulder.

"Stop that!" Jack growled angrily, ducking again and wincing as large chips from the walls pinged the back of his neck. Hunching low, O'Neill considered what Hunter had revealed and how best to use it. "You know son, if you didn't want a witness you shouldn't have sent out invitations to come and see your handiwork," he called out casually.

Gordon frowned heavily. He didn't ... "Whatever you say, General. I think I've got the upper hand here, don't you agree, Sir?" he asked, knowing he was running low on ammo, not expecting to be caught like this.

"Only for as long as it takes you to run out of bullets son," Jack retorted, deliberately condescending. "Let's not play out our own little Dirty Harry scene here. You won't be that lucky so be smart instead ... give yourself up before I'm forced to do something you'll regret."

Gordon laughed. "As far as you know, I could have another clip, Sir. Besides, everyone knows your trigger finger is just as itchy as most Special Ops guys. If you had a piece, we'd already be shooting at each other," he retorted.

"And if you had a second clip you'd be closing in instead of answering me," Jack returned with open amusement. Hunching low to the ground he cautiously peered around the corner, catching the shadow of his quarry covering behind the console he'd been messing with when Jack had arrived. Ducking back the General considered his next move.

"I don't know where you get your information Hunter but us 'special ops guys' are renowned for our ability to delay the gratification," Jack called out after a few moments of silence. "I'm guessing you might be a little inadequate in that department - nothing that age and experience can't cure." Jack deliberately kept it vague, alluding to the hours he'd spent holding a sniper position waiting for the perfect shot but using words with alternative meaning. With any luck Hunter would hear only the innuendo - the slur to his 'manhood' - and prove Jack right by spending the rest of his clip. Then Jack could act.

Gordon felt a flush of anger as the General suggested that he wasn't man enough. He moved, trying to pinpoint the 'Zoomie' and then prove who was the better soldier and man. He only had a few shots left and wanted to make them count. He saw a flash of sliver hair and fired, swearing as it missed and shot again, trying to guess where he would've dodged.

Jack correctly anticipated and avoided the shots fired wildly as Hunter took the bait and let his emotions get the better of him. Adding two more bullets to the running tally in his head, O'Neill finally started to breathe easier. Unless he'd misjudged it Hunter was one shot away from being vulnerable ... which was close enough. Leaping up from the floor and across to the opposite corner in a deliberate attempt to draw fire, Jack felt that last bullet as it grazed his upper arm and left a burning trail in its wake.

"Damn it!" he muttered, clamping a hand over the wound as he berated himself. "You're not as young as you used to be," he thought in frustration. Still, it was little more than a scratch and Hunter was out of ammo so ... mission accomplished.

Time for action of a different sort.

Not giving the other man time to consider his options, Jack strode around the corner towards Hunters cover position.

"Game over Lieutenant," the General said grimly, not stopping until he was standing over Gordon, arms folded across his chest and expression grim.

Gordon looked up at the General as he loomed over him, springing up from his crouched position and shoving his shoulder into the man's chest and knocking him back. Gordon then quickly moved, throwing a rapid punch, trying to keep him off kilter.

Jack stumbled back but still managed to grab the other mans clenched fist before the punch could find it's mark. Clenching his hand O'Neill squeezed ... hard. He was pissed off and angry that this guy had put lives at threat and set others up to take the fall and those emotions lent him extra strength ... and a fair degree of satisfaction as Gordon winced in pain.

"Give it up," Jack growled, turning the pressure up another notch.

"Never," Gordon said, clenching his teeth and pulling his fist back as the General squeezed tighter, bringing them closer together as Gordon brought his knee up and slammed it into the General's ribcage, forcing him to let go as Gordon head butted him and stepped back, trying to get some room between them.

Wheezing as the air rushed from his lungs, O'Neill fell back against the wall, head pounding from his opponent's hit. That was all the opportunity needed. Jack was still struggling for breath, forced to watch as Hunter turned and ran down the corridor.

"For cryin' out loud!" Jack growled, manfully straightening and setting off after the other man.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0615 hours | On the Run

Gordon took off running, knowing he was screwed. But he had to get away. He ran, going up to some of the upper levels of Atlantis, hoping like hell to find his contact. He searched his pockets, trying in vain to find the mimic device, or something, anything to help him out from this bind. How the hell did the General know about what he was doing? He didn't even have time to set it up! Gordon entered a more crowded area of Atlantis, pushing people aside as he ran, searching for them, slowly realizing that he wasn't at all sure WHO he had been getting orders from.

Jack ran after Lieutenant Hunter, putting everything he had into closing the gap before Gordon could disappear from sight. Thanking years of discipline that had him exercising regularly even during his stint in Washington where it wasn't required, O'Neill followed Gordon through the corridors of Atlantis as they led through the gym rooms and training areas where people were present even so early in the morning.

Gordon rammed his way through, making a path the General could travel more easily. O'Neill was already breathing hard in exertion though, not helped by the hits he'd already taken ... Jack knew if the chase continued for too long he wouldn't be able to keep up. He needed to even the playing field ... he just had to think of something. As they headed towards the Mess Hall Jack spotted a familiar face walking the corridor up ahead.

"Daniel!" he called out as he approached. "Radio!"

Daniel looked up as his name was called, checking his stride automatically at the sound of Jack's voice. Without question, he pulled his comm-link from his pocket and tossed it to the older man. Spinning on his heel, Daniel laid into pursuit of the man Jack had been chasing. The archaeologist hated his morning runs and daily workouts, but it paid off as he lengthened his stride and closed the gap. Gathering his muscles, he leaped forward in a clean swan dive, catching the other man around the waist and bringing him down. Unfortunately, Daniel hit hard and the other man managed to roll and aim a vicious kick at Daniel's face. The archaeologist instinctively ducked to protect his face knowing that the boot slamming his way could easily ram bone into brain if it connected. Instead, the kick landed squarely but far more harmlessly against Daniel's left shoulder. The other man was already back on his feet and sprinting away before Daniel could roll back to his and set off once more in pursuit.

Gordon heard the yelling knowing that the General was trying to get backup. He grinned, running faster, knowing that before long, the older man was going to have to give up and he could hijack a puddle jumper, or wait until there was an outgoing wormhole and rappel down into it or something. Ok, this wasn't his best plan, but he had to do something. He ran faster, not expecting the Geek Supreme, Dr. Jackson would be able to do anything.

As the good doctor took a flying leap in order to catch him, Gordon was surprised when he actually did, grabbing him around the waist. But Gordon kept his head, rolling out of his grasp and kicking, aiming for the geek's face. He might not be supposed to kill him, but that would buy him some time ... besides, this whole plan went to hell when the General walked in on him earlier. He swore when it hit Dr. Jackson's shoulder and scrambled to his feet, running again.

Slowing to put Daniel's radio into place Jack winced as Daniel dived to catch Hunter, doing a credible job of taking the other man down but getting a boot in the shoulder for his efforts. Gordon was quickly up again but the delay had been enough for Jack to make up ground as he continued to run after him.

"You okay?" Jack hurdled over Daniel, glancing down quickly and getting an 'annoyed with himself' nod of reply.

Tapping the radio to activate it, Jack called for reinforcements, his voice choppy as he gave orders while continuing to run. "Major Lorne this is General O'Neill. I am in pursuit of our primary suspect heading east past the Mess. Inform Colonel Sheppard of the full situation and set up some road blocks."

"Yes Sir," Major Lorne replied instantly.

"Oh, and lock down the Stargate and the Jumper Bay," Jack added. Signing off O'Neill reapplied himself to catching Hunter, who'd opened up a gap again while Jack had been talking. The General had settled into a running rhythm ... he was tired but maintaining his own, helped by the fact that Hunter didn't have a clear path and had to navigate around a number of obstacles, including the people who'd appeared from the Mess Hall to see what the commotion was.

Hunter was yelling for people to get out of the way, pushing past the Mess entrance and heading for the corridor leading towards the Jumper Bay. Jack almost grinned as he saw Doctor Radek Zelenka appear from around the corner directly in Hunters path.

Radek had his head down over a tablet and was muttering to himself in Czech. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced up -- only to be bodily slammed into. He hit the ground, with Hunter landing heavily on top of him.

Hunter shoved himself off of Radek and stumbled back to a run, while Radek lay there stunned. One arm went over his sore ribs and he tried not to think too hard about the fact that his breath was coming as a slight wheeze. He knew that would pass as he recovered from the shock.

He sat up, watching O'Neill fly past, his two main thoughts warring between "What the hell is going on?" and "Where the hell did that tablet land?"

O'Neill put on a burst of speed, hoping to use the confusion to finally catch Gordon before he could take off again. Unfortunately for Jack another familiar face appeared in the Mess Hall entrance just as he was using it to swerve around the group of people standing just outside the doors.

Trying to avoid crashing into Teyla Jack ended up hitting the wall ... a second later he'd sprawled awkwardly on the floor.

Teyla instinctively dodged back a step and cringed inwardly when Jack hit the wall and went down. She glanced at the running enlisted man – Hunter – saw him smirk over his shoulder at the fallen General as he picked up speed, and things clicked into place. She was instantly by Jack’s side and helping him to his feet. “General, what do you need me to do?” she asked, her voice calm and her expression determined.

"Find Daniel," Jack said urgently, gratefully accepting the assist. Taking a few steps as he continued talking O'Neill explained. "Tell him Carter needs to run that scan asap - he'll know what that means."

Teyla nodded and took off.

Jack saw Hunter disappearing down the hall. Groaning wearily he took off after him again, hoping Lorne and Sheppard were setting up those road blocks.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0630 hours | Control Room

When the call came through from General O'Neill Lorne had still been in bed. Rushing to get dressed he quickly moved to follow Jack's orders ... clearly the General had contacted him rather than Colonel Sheppard to expedite the situation, relying on Lorne to get the city's military leader up to speed.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Lorne activated the radio as he rushed from his room towards the Central tower.

John groaned as he rolled over in bed and grabbed his earpiece from the table beside him. "Yessss, Major?"

"Sir, can you meet me in the Control Room asap?" Lorne requested respectfully. "I have orders direct from General O'Neill that include shutting down gate operations and the Jumper Bay. The General is currently in pursuit of a suspect we're believe to be behind all the sabotage incidents."

It didn't take long for Sheppard to wake up after that. He sat up and launched himself from his bed in one swift move and headed for the door. Barefoot and wearing lounge pants and a tee shirt he raced down the corridor, barking orders into his radio. Marine units were mobilizing to cover strategic junctures between the Mess Hall level and to meet up with Lorne's squads, as well as adding support to the Gateroom security forces. "The only way out of the city is through the control room! Double up security at the Jumper Bay, the Control Centre and the Gate! I'm on my way!"

The sound of his bare feet slapping the smooth shiny floor could be heard as he rounded a corner and came face to face with Lt. Kent's forces. He gestured to a marine for his rifle and it was handed over without question. "With me!" he pointed at three of the marines closest to the side of the corridor he was heading. "Kent! Hold fast, split 'em up as you see fit!"

"Yes, sir!" Kent acknowledged as Sheppard disappeared down the corridor heading for his Jumper Bay.

"Sheppard to all Units. Watch the transporters," Sheppard's voice came over the military radioes, "intruders can access key levels by transporter, teams of two if needed! Split 'em up!"

Major Lorne made it to the control room a few moments later. Waiting for Colonel Sheppard to arrive so he could follow the rest of his orders Evan radioed Cadman and got her and a team out into the city to protect the ZPM and the power room. That done he placed another call to Darek.

"Captain Sterling, please come up to the Control Room asap," Lorne ordered once the other man had answered. He wasn't sure how it had happened, just that Darek had been on shift to watch Hunter. How Gordon had eluded the surveillance could end up being another clue to the greater mystery of why the Lieutenant had perpetrated his crimes against the city.

Darek frowned, somebody should take over the Hunter surveillance for him, if he was to leave his post but ... he shook his head. Perhaps something had changed the plans. "On my way, Sir." he replied.

Entering the control room, Darek could guess that something was up. He didn't waste time on watching or analysing but walked up to Major Lorne, who had ordered him here. "You wanted to see me, Sir?" If this didn't take too long, Darek might even be able to be back at his watch post before Hunter left the gym.

"Captain," Lorne greeted the other man cordially. "You were watching Lieutenant Hunter continuously since we switched shifts?"

Darek nodded curtly. "Yes, Sir. There were no unusual activities on his side this morning. As of now he is still in the gym."

"Well, somehow he managed to elude you," Lorne replied with a frown. "General O'Neill made contact with him in a section of the outer city damaged by a Replicator attack couple of years back. I don't know for sure but I'm guessing he slipped out maybe one to two hours ago. Did you see anyone leaving the gym around then?"

Darek frowned. The gym had no second exit, so there was no way Hunter could have slipped past him. "Sir, the only person who left the gym two hours and," Darek checked his watch, "seventeen minutes ago was Col. Sheppard."

"Colonel Sheppard?" Lorne queried, surprised. "He's on his way up to the Control Room right now ... unless he's been hiding award winning acting talents all these years, I'm pretty sure I woke him from a sound sleep at 0630 hours. We can check the log on his room - see when he entered and left."

Sheppard made the Gateroom with his three marines in tow and scaled the main staircase three at a time. He got to the top landing and slowed his pace, flipping his rifle up to set it against one hip as he entered the Command Centre area.

Lorne glanced up as someone came into the Control Room ... Colonel Sheppard, who'd clearly jumped straight from bed to running into action.

"Or we can just ask him," Lorne added, shooting a wry grin Darek's way before moving towards the Colonel.

"Sir," Lorne stepped forward to greet his CO. "General O'Neill also ordered me to fill you in on the current situation," he began. "He's currently in pursuit of Lieutenant Gordon Hunter, Sir. It's pretty clear Hunter is responsible for most of what's been going on here the past couple of weeks."

"Hunter, huh?" Sheppard echoed, blinking a bit confused as his brain tried to wake up enough to start putting pieces of this puzzle together. Couldn't. "What's Hunter got to gain by framing me and Elizabeth? Or trying to kill the former SG-1 members?" he asked. His eyes moved to Sterling who was just standing there and John raised a brow. "Captain?"

"Except getting rid of one half of Atlantis' lead crew and make the other half look so incompetent or implicated that it effectively clears the way for a new leadership?" Sterling replied, taking up the Colonel's question up automatically. "There are many possible scenarios, Sir." He added in less dry tones.

John wasn't sure what to say to the man who'd come to investigate him, but Lorne had him here for a reason. "What else do I need to know that I don't?" he asked.

"I think the key points you already know Sir," Lorne replied. "General O'Neill was aware from the moment he got here that things weren't as they were being set up to appear. He needed to be seen actively following the clues with the members of his team to allow Lieutenant Cadman and myself to move freely. We've had Hunter under surveillance but he managed to give us the slip this morning ... still not exactly sure how. You weren't in the gym at around 0400 hours were you Sir?"

"Ah ... no Major," the Colonel replied, giving Lorne a look for even asking in the first place.

"Sorry Sir, had to ask," Evan said respectfully. "Your orders Sir?" he added, keen to get out there and catch Hunter.

In his bed clothes and his hair in disarray, it was apparent that John had just rolled from bed. He even stood on the cold command centre floor in bare feet looking nothing like the base military commander but more like a street thug in space. His black eyes and split lip, which was closed and healing nicely now, gave him an almost evil expression as he frowned at the investigator, then looked to Evan.

"We shore up all available personnel in and around the Jumper Bay and Gate room. The only way out of the city is here... unless he thinks he can swim 127 miles to the mainland." He moved to the terrace rail and leaned on it with one hand, the other still holding the rifle. "Do we have a sensor lock on his location?"

"Not sure that's possible Sir," Lorne replied, looking to Darek to get an opinion. "Can we distinguish one life sign from all the rest?"

Darek bit his lip, there were some ways to distinguish life-signs, sure. Search equipment could pick up different heart-rates, a heavy person would always have different pulse than a fit one. But this was not a search for landslide victims and even Atlantis sensors - as far as he knew them - had been built with other priorities in mind. "I don't think so, Sir."

"Okay, take a team each," the Colonel ordered. "Lorne, head back towards the Mess Hall. Captain, the Jumper Bay. I'll take a team and cover external areas closest to his last known location. Let's get this guy."

Tuesday, 7th April | 0640 hours | On the Run

Gordon slipped down another hallway, getting further away, slowing down his pace to a slight jog and catching his breath. He didn't have long to play around. They'd be cutting off every escape route... He really didn't have much time. Gordon turned down another corridor, slamming into Colonel Mitchell. His eyes went wide and he gasped, knowing that he was caught.

"Morning, Lieutenant. What's the big hurry?" Cam asked, giving him an amused look as they separated.

"No reason, Sir. I just ... I guess I like to hurry, Sir. Sorry about running you over," Gordon told him, breathing a sigh of relief. He had no clue. He could use that.

"I know that feeling well. But sometimes, you've got to slow down. Or at least look where you’re going a little better," Cam told him, rubbing his chest where Gordon had ploughed into him.

Gordon grinned. "Yessir," he said as he heard running and caught sight of General O'Neill running towards them. He swore loudly and pushed Cam away, slamming him into the wall and took off running again.

Cam grunted as he hit, looking at him in astonishment. What in the hell was that all about? As he saw General O'Neill come towards him, realization dawned on him. That was their culprit! Son of a bitch!!

Jack had lost sight of Hunter for too long, to the point he'd been following instinct alone as he turned down corridors hoping to pick up the other man's trail.

And then he had some luck ... Mitchell hadn't known Hunter was their culprit but he'd still managed to delay him long enough for O'Neill to catch up.

"Secure the Hammond," Jack ordered as he ran past Mitchell, once again close on Gordon's heels.

Cam nodded and took off for his ship, cursing the entire way. He had him right there ... right freaking there, in his grasp! He could've gotten him back for blowing up his ship! Damn it!

"General O'Neill Sir," Lorne's voice came over the radio abruptly.

"Report Major," Jack ordered, keeping his eyes firmly on his quarry.

"Colonel Sheppard has been appraised on the situation Sir," Lorne replied. "He's positioned teams to block off access to the control room and the Jumper Bay along with the main piers."

"Where are you situated Lorne?" O'Neill queried, hoping the other man would say somewhere up ahead of him.

"My team is on the Mess Hall level, half way between there and the Control Room Sir," Lorne replied.

"Keep your eyes open then Major," Jack ordered. "Hunter is heading your way."

"Yes Sir," Lorne motioned for his men to take up positions. Holding his Wraith stun gun steady, Evan waited for Hunter to get within range.

Gordon was running out of options ... he'd gone to one of the areas where his contact had left him some supplies and grabbed a radio, keying it to the proper frequency as he waited for them to get back to him, getting rid of anything identifying and trying to fool the sensors. It was only a matter of time until they started identifying people through the life signs detectors. All of a sudden, his contact picked up their comm.

"I see you've failed," they said, unhappy.

"It wasn't my fault... The General came in and interrupted me. I would've set it off like we planned if he hadn't ruined it. You've got to help me! I did all this for you!"

"And the generous reward we gave you. Don't forget that. You're not as innocent in this affair as you've been telling yourself. But with that said... I'll help you. Meet me at point D."

With a relieved sigh, Gordon kept running, heading out towards the rendezvous spot.

"Anything Major?" Jack contacted Lorne a few moments later to find out what was happening, stopping to catch his breath and take stock of the current situation.

"Nothing Sir," Lorne replied grimly. "He must have found a way around us."

"Move forward," O'Neill ordered. "See if you can spot where he gave us the slip."

"Acknowledged," Lorne returned, signalling his team to proceed down the corridor slowly, each man looking for Hunter's escape route.

Tapping the radio again, Jack opened a channel to all the teams. "This is General O'Neill. Our target was heading for the Control Room but has taken a detour somewhere between there and the Mess Hall. Mobile teams move to search that sector. Everyone else maintain position at all costs. We can't let Hunter get off this base."

Closing the channel again, Jack walked purposefully down the corridor, determined to find and capture Hunter.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0645 hours | Still on the Run

Lieutenant Cadman led her team towards the power room with cautious haste. Even though it was unlikely, Colonel Sheppard had felt the precaution of increasing the guard on the ZPM was warranted ... their only means of truly defending the city rested solely on keeping it safe.

The team weaved their way through the maze of rooms taking the shortest route to where they needed to be. It was pure chance that had Laura looking in the right direction at the right time.

"Stop," she ordered in a low tone, holding up a closed fist as well. Watching carefully she saw it again - a figure moving quietly through the room ahead of them.

Hunter!

"Reed, Billick, keep going to the power room," Laura whispered to her team mates. "Let General O'Neill know we have Hunter under surveillance again once you're out of hearing range. I'll follow Hunter - see where he's going."

Nodding agreement respectfully, the two men turned and stealthily left the room.

On her own, Laura moved forward cautiously, trying to get closer without alerting Hunter to her presence.

Gordon smirked and hurried to a switch he'd installed in the room, leaving out another door and flipping it on his way out, grabbing a bunch of rope and a pack that had been hidden in pieces around the room in case such an event happened. Lt. Cadman would be stuck with no way out as soon as he left. Gordon chuckled to himself and left the room on the other side.

Laura saw Hunter hurrying through the rear entrance just as she was approaching from the front. He'd spotted her! Cursing under her breath, Cadman broke into a run, picking up speed as she crossed the room following the same path as Hunter. The doors closing behind him happened so suddenly Laura didn't have time to stop ... slamming her shoulder painfully into the door was unavoidable.

Wincing Cadman swiped a hand over the door controls. Nothing. She tried again ... still nothing. Swinging about Laura headed back the way she'd come - the forward door was also now closed which didn't inspire her confidence. More ineffectual attempts to open that door had her cursing ... loudly.

"Major Lorne," Laura tapped her earpiece more forcefully that was really necessary, pacing the space as she waited for a response.

"Lieutenant?" Lorne replied.

"I had Hunter in my sights Sir," Cadman reported irritably, "but he booby trapped a room somehow ... the bastard got away and trapped me here ... pardon my language Sir."

"Are you injured?" Evan asked.

"Not really Sir," Laura replied, "just my pride."

"Okay then, sit tight," Lorne ordered. "I'll send someone to help get you out of there. In the meantime, what was Hunters most likely heading?"

"It makes no sense Sir but I'd guess grounding station 3," Laura suggested. "He had rope and an equipment pack with him Sir so he may be armed again."

"Great," Lorne retorted grimly. "I'll let the General know. Someone will be there soon."

"Thank you Sir," Cadman signed off, sighing as she took a seat on the floor and tried to get comfortable.

oOo

"General O'Neill," Lorne's voice drew Jack's attention as he approached the site given to him by Cadman's team.

"Yes Major?" he replied quietly.

"Lieutenant Cadman reported Hunter heading towards grounding station 3 Sir," Lorne explained. "That's not far from your position."

"I'm on my way there now," Jack replied, changing direction and picking up his pace again.

"Please be advised that Hunter may have rearmed Sir," Lorne added.

"Understood Major," Jack acknowledged as he kept up pursuit. "Inform Colonel Sheppard and have him move some personnel into position."

Minutes later he arrived at the grounding station.

When the doors leading outside opened, the General's persistence finally paid off. Hunter was there and appeared to be about to use a rope tied to the railing to lower himself down a level.

"I wouldn't do that Lieutenant," Jack said loudly, his voice Hunter's first warning that he wasn't alone."

"Of course you wouldn't, Sir. That's why I'm doing it," he said, jumping off and rappelling down to the next floor, escaping him. He cut his rope and took off running, going to where he was supposed to meet his contact.

O'Neill rushed to the ledge and saw the much shortened rope flapping in the breeze. "Colonel Sheppard, Hunter is now one level below grounding station 3," he reported rapidly, grabbing the rope and pulling it up. Wrapping it around his wrist he climbed up and over the railing. Standing with his boots just gripping the floor and holding on with his back to the ocean Jack continued. "I am still in pursuit ... get some teams to block all exits from that section."

Raising onto his toes Jack gripped the rope tightly, and then pushed back from the railing, clearing the floor as he swung down and free. His momentum took him back towards the railing below and he just managed to clear it as he let go of the rope. Landing hard, the General took a few seconds to recover before he let instinct guiding him in one direction. Hunter had opened up a gap ... again ... and O'Neill was determined to close it ... with a little help from Sheppard and his teams.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0650 hours onwards | Mess Hall Corridor, Carter's Office

Teyla recalled seeing Daniel leave the mess just a moment before all the excitement and started back through the milling onlookers. It took just a moment to spot him since he was coming right at her at a pretty fast clip. “Daniel, wait!” She held up her hands and moved to the side so he didn’t plough into her as he slid to a halt. “General O’Neill wants you to find Samantha and run that scan as soon as possible.” She could see the comprehension flash through his eyes and was glad she didn't need to know the explanation. "He is still in pursuit," she added, then glanced back that way. Her view was obscured by people and for a moment wished she had Ronon's height advantage.

Daniel glanced from Teyla to the crowd. His instinct, despite Jack's orders were to follow his friend and provide back-up. He was not used to depending on others to watch any of the former SG-1 leader's back. Yet he was the only one that could explain the logic and what was needed to Sam. So, Daniel gave a curt nod of acknowledgment to Teyla, "Thanks, Teyla. I'll be in Sam's office." Instinctively he reached to tap his comm-link to warn her he was coming only to growl in annoyance as he remembered tossing his radio to O'Neill.

Teyla followed. She wasn’t armed, but if they needed in any way to help catch the person who disrupted her home so, she would be there and ready.

Daniel moved off rapidly for the Command Centre but refrained from running. No need to alarm more people than necessary. Reaching the Ops Centre, he trotted up the stairs and across the catwalk to the CO's office and tapped on the door frame as he entered. "Sam...Jack's got a suspect on the run. I have an idea...but we need you to help run a scan."

Daniel quickly outlined his thoughts regarding the fact that their suspect had either had his subcutaneous locator deactivated or completely removed after the initial implantation of the device. "I understand it's now standard practice to have all residents and long-term visitors to Atlantis implanted with the locators. We should be able to account for all life signs on a scan. Any that cannot be ID'd should be rounded up and considered suspect. Ideally, there'll only be the one. Jack's quarry...Gordon."

The idea itself was brilliant. Sam rose and strode quickly to join Daniel as they both made their way down to the Ops level. "Chuck." She motioned him aside and slid easily into his workstation. Her fingers flew over keys as she began calling up the commands and queues to run the scan that was required. On the large view screen in front of them, the layout of Atlantis appeared. Carter knew that the best way to complete this sort of scan, was to go section by section. So on the view screen, she turned the city inside out and began isolating every life sign. Once every life sign within that section of the city was identified, she would move on to next - beginning of course in the most populated areas of the city.

Minutes ticked by as she worked. "This is going to take time," she told Daniel unnecessarily. She hit the COMM instead, calling O'Neill. "This is Carter, what is your location?"

"One level down from grounding station 3 heading east," Jack replied in a low tone, his breath puffing in and out more rapidly and loudly than usual. "Do you have Hunter on sensors?"

"Not yet. I'm still scanning," Sam replied. But knowing his general location would help to narrow the search quite a lot.

"Well hurry it up," Jack returned, his voice sounding choppy and impatient.

"It isn't an exact science, Sir." She shook her head as she zoned in on his location, the city schematic in front of her changing and reforming quickly.

"Understood," Jack relied in a more reasonable tone. "Let me know when you have something."

Tuesday, 7th April | 0700 hours | Still on the Run

General O'Neill was angry and frustrated ... someone should have managed to grab Lieutenant Hunter by now and yet the guy had managed to avoid capture, forcing Jack to continue chasing him.

The only good news was Gordon had obviously not expected O'Neill to follow him down that rope ... Jack had picked the right direction and spotted Hunter disappearing at a slower pace around the corner up ahead.

"This time," Jack muttered, picking up speed again as he attempted to catch up. Getting a call from Daniel and Sam along the way only highlighted the need to grab Hunter. For right now they couldn't track the man so losing him wasn't an option.

Gordon was in the zone... Just a little further and he could get the hell out of here. His contact would get him out of this. He slowed down, trying to appear normal, keeping his head down.

He was so close ... the motivation to get there enough to lend the General a second ... or rather fourth wind.

"Hunter!" he yelled, having the satisfaction of seeing the other man startle, turning to look behind him in dismay before sprinting away again. Gordon rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

"I am too old for this," Jack muttered under his breath, running after him while cursing himself for not resisting the temptation to get his quarry's attention.

Gordon looked at the General, hurrying faster in total disbelief that he had been insane enough to actually freaking follow him with the shortened rope. "You're insane!" he yelled, pouring on the speed. He turned around the corner, seeing Dr. McKay walking towards him in his own little world and dodged the Doctor. "Sorry, Doctor!" he called and ran faster.

Rodney barely registered the General yelling Hunter’s name – it was just a background noise at that point – but when the yellee in question spoke his head shot up. “Wha … huh?” Then he was dodging away from the running man. What the hell? he thought as he turned around and walked backwards to watch the retreating enlisted man’s back. “What the hell?” he repeated out loud, and a second later he heard more running footsteps, only this time from behind. He was in the process of turning when someone ploughed into him. He automatically tried to raise his right hand for balance, but that arm was still in a sling and, judging from the pain that lanced through his arm, he clocked whoever it was with his elbow. And from the click of teeth he heard right before they both went down in a swearing heap, he apparently nailed the person right in the chin.

"Goddamn it to hell McKay!" Jack growled, pushing away from Rodney impatiently so he could sit up. Rubbing at his aching chin the General looked down the corridor after Hunter. There was no sign of him.

"Damn!" Jack yelled, glaring a Rodney as he got to his feet. "You couldn't look where you were going?!"

Rodney sat up and cradled his arm. “Hey, last I looked, the main running route was…,” he craned around and pointed back the way he’d come, “about six levels that way! This level has labs, and implies little to no exercise!” He rubbed his own elbow. “Damn, you have a hard chin.”

"Carter," O'Neill turned away from Rodney for a moment and called the Control Room, speaking grimly. "Please tell me you've picked up Hunter's signal."

"I have him," she said. "Hold on, I'm zoning in on his location and tracking his trajectory."

Turning back to Rodney who was still sitting on the floor, Jack sighed. Walking over he held out a hand. "Up you get," he ordered, gripping the other man’s hand and hauling him up abruptly. "You know ... maybe it's not my chin that's hard McKay but your elbow that's soft. You oughta work out a little."

“I get plenty of exercise, thank you very much,” Rodney grumbled as he straightened his sling. “You’re the one who apparently has been taking granite supplements. And whoever named this ‘the funny’ bone seriously needs their ass kicked.”

"Sir," Sam's voice interrupted them. "Hunter is headed toward the hologram room. I'm sending a unit of Marines to intercept from the other direction. He's cornered--" Sam frowned at the schematic. Gordon's unidentified locator had just disappeared. "Damn it," she swore. "He's off our radar. I'm on my way." She stood up, motioning Chuck back into his seat and looked at Daniel. "Let's go..." As she walked, she called for a unit of marines, aware that Daniel had fallen in step beside her.

General O'Neill was already moving when Sam announced Hunter's location. When the signal disappeared, Jack sighed and then broke into a run again. "Hunter better be there when I get there," he thought wearily, not sure how much more chasing he had in him.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0715 hours | The Hologram Room

Gordon Hunter slid to a stop at their rendezvous point, seeing someone he never expected to see again.

"Hayden?" he gasped, recognizing one of the scientists he was rather close too. Someone that, upon going home to Earth for a little while, had been killed in a car crash. Gordon swallowed, feeling a surge of surprise and unsettled feelings of remorse. "No... You're not..."

"Bingo. I'm not. But he was one of the faces we got for the technology that we adapted from the so called mimic devices. Too bad he died before we hatched this little plan of ours. But I guess he won't be too lonely in the afterlife in a little while," 'Hayden' told Gordon, smirking.

"What do you mean? You promised to help me out!" Gordon snarled at 'Hayden', stepping forward and trying to intimidate the impostor of one of his good friends.

"Try it. I've been looking for a challenge," Hayden told him coolly. "But the more time you waste trying to beat me up, the more time they have to find you. You really didn't think there would be a way out, did you? You're the enemy now. The same as all those people you used to fight. You really think they're going to hesitate to take you out? Especially since you betrayed them?"

"I could give them you," Gordon told him, grabbing his arm and squeezing. He noticed that it was a lot smaller than the device was making it appear. Almost feminine... Hayden quickly and efficiently struck him, dulling his nerves and making him lose his grip.

"No. I don't think so. You'll be brought up on charges, locked up and away, especially considering what you know. Do you think they'll put you in Kirtland, Lackland, Vandenberg, or Malmstrom? Or just go for the big one and throw you in Fort Leavenworth, tossing away the keys?"

Gordon looked at Hayden in shock and horror as he tried to figure out what he did to make his arm go numb. "What- What am I supposed to do?!" he demanded.

Hayden smirked. "I've got something that you can do... Die. Join me in the afterlife..." he offered, a dark look on his face.

Gordon looked at him. "Suicide?"

"Ding, ding, ding. Bingo. You got it. You're already going to hell for betraying your Oaths. You've been a Marine for almost ten years and you threw it all down the toilet for what? Some money to help pay off those gambling debts and a night in paradise with some woman who was honestly so far out of your league it wasn't even funny. Someone you'll never see again. Sex and Money, stud. Was it worth it?"

Gordon was speechless, his face a mix of emotions.

"Was it worth it, Lieutenant?!" Hayden yelled, eyes blazing.

"No! NO, SIR!" He yelled.

Hayden pulled out a small plastic bag. "Here. This will make it all go away quick."

Gordon looked at the small brown pill and nodded. He popped it in his mouth and bit down. Moments later, his body dropped and he was dead on the floor. Hayden then walked away, leaving him to be found momentarily.

Tuesday, 7th April | 0725 hours | The Hologram Room

When General O'Neill entered the hologram room it was dark and silent. The lights came on immediately, illuminating a scene that had Jack frowning in confusion. Rodney had followed the General, and when he, too, took in the scene, for once he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Lieutenant Gordon Hunter was stretched out on the floor, face contorted into an expression of bizarre satisfaction.

Bizarre because the guy was very obviously dead.

"Great," Jack muttered. Getting on his radio for what felt like the hundredth time that morning the General issued his orders.

"Carter - I'm assuming you and Daniel are on your way. Get Doctor Garman down here as well," he said grimly. "Hunter is dead."

Sam stopped walking and looked at Daniel. "Damn," she said quietly. "So much for getting our answers and finding out how far this goes." The Colonel shook her head. "I'll relay the message, Sir," she said to Jack. "We'll be there shortly."

Switching channels, Jack continued. "Sheppard, Lorne ... call off your teams. We have our man. Hologram room."

Major Lorne motioned for his team to stop, ordering them to return to normal duty unless directed otherwise. That done, he started towards the Hologram room, almost running into Colonel Sheppard when they converged on the same corridor.

Sheppard looked at Lorne. "Let's go!" he said and ran down the corridor again with Evan at his shoulder. "We're on our way," he reported into his ear mike and waved a hand signal to the marines who'd converged behind the two officers to stay put as he and the Major headed for the hologram room.

A few minutes later, Sam strode into the room with Daniel. Behind her, the marine unit was securing the area and setting up a checkpoint - so that only authorized personnel would be let through. They walked over to join Jack near Hunter's body. Sam's brows lifted in concern. "Are you okay, Sir? You're looking a little ... flushed."

"I'm fine Carter," Jack replied, gesturing towards Hunter. "Better than this guy."

Doctor Garman appeared only a few moments behind them. She regarded the body for a moment before her attention shifted to the others. "You do realise that I normally specialise in the live variety of human, right? Just checking."

She carried her case over and crouched beside the body. The man's eyes were fixed open, his mouth slightly agape. From the positioning of the body, it looked as if his muscles had seized in the last moments before death. The Doctor pulled on gloves as she gave him a cursory, visual, examination. Then she leaned over him to check his eyes.

"There's petechial haemorrhaging, which indicates suffocation of some sort." Her investigation took her lower, to his mouth. She eased his lips open, "He bit his tongue, and from the position of the body..." Madison sat back on her heels and looked up at them. "I'd say he was poisoned. Either by self ingestion or... some other means. A concentrated dose for it to act this quickly. I'll need to do a full exam, run blood tests, to be sure."

Daniel let out the breath he had been unaware he was holding and exchanged a quick glance with Sam and Jack. This put paid to the one lead they had to whoever had orchestrated the incidents of sabotage and conspiracy to frame Colonel Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir. They would all have to remain on alert and watchful for another attack from an unknown enemy. He sighed, thinking that confronting and battling even the Goa'uld was better than this. At least you knew for certain who was friend and who was foe.

A few moments passed before Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne marched up on the security detail just down the corridor leading to the hologram room. With a brisk nod, the sentries let them pass without question and then stepped in to block the hall again.

John and Evan stepped inside the hologram room and stopped, Lorne frowning at the sight of the guy he'd spoken with a day ago. He wouldn't have predicted then that it would end like this. Why had it ended like this?

Sheppard stared at the body on the floor, the man who'd made his life a living hell for the past couple of weeks. He didn't say anything as he stepped up closer, his bare feet leaving damp ghostly footprints on the shiny floor before they evaporated.

"So this is our terrorist?" he asked then looked at Sam and then to Daniel and Jack. "Who else is he working with?" he asked. "This guy didn't do all this by himself... he couldn't have. He doesn't have authorized access to half the places that were sabotaged."

"No, but he was very good at getting himself unauthorised access," General O'Neill replied. "We didn't know who but the evidence gives us the how. Not that I'm disagreeing Colonel ... Hunter may not have been working alone ... but for now we have no leads on that."

Rodney had found himself a little spot out of the way, particularly out of the way of Dr. Garman, to watch all the incoming action. He couldn't take his eyes off of Hunter, however, and the fact that the man had killed himself, taken the easy way out, pissed him off to no end. "Give me a half hour with his laptop, and I know he has one because everyone here has one, and I bet I could find something." There wasn't a system he couldn't hack. "Besides porn," he mumbled to himself.

General O'Neill turned abruptly in the direction of Rodney's voice. "McKay," he stared hard at the other man for a moment. "I don't recall inviting you to this little shindig but, since you made the suggestion, by all means, act on it."

“Hey, I followed you here, General. Don’t you remember?” Rodney said rather petulantly. When O’Neill continued to stare at him, he just waved his hand in dismissal. “Fine, fine, whatever. I’ll be in the engineering lab on this level – where I was going anyway before getting run over.” He headed on out the door, head down like a bulldog.

"Major Lorne, make sure the good doctor here gets Hunter's laptop - once Captain Sterling has checked it over for any other evidence. In fact Major, lock down the Lieutenant's quarters before this gets to the Atlantis grapevine ... the last thing we need right now is crucial evidence being destroyed or worse removed, should it turn out Hunter wasn't working alone."

"Yes Sir," Lorne nodded to the General and then to both Colonel's before turning and hurrying to follow those orders. As he left the others clearly heard him on the radio requesting Captain Sterling's presence outside Hunter's quarters.

"I know you all have a reason for checking out the situation here," Jack held up a hand and spoke in a tone that drew everyone's attention, "but this is technically a crime scene. Hunter probably hasn't left us anything to discover but we shouldn't just assume that. Carter, can we get someone down here with a camera to take a few shots for evidence before Doctor Garman has the body removed?"

Carter replied in the affirmative before she stepped aside to place a call for Chuck, requesting that one of the digital cameras from Ops be sent down to the hologram room. "It's on it's way sir," she responded a few moments later.

"We also need to lock down the section where Hunter was working before I caught him," Jack added. "I don't know how far he got, but the message I received said a bomb even bigger that on the Hammond. Make sure no one can disturb anything down there and have Cadman check it out. I'll get McKay to look at the machine I was using this morning - it looked pretty fried to me but he might be able to retrieve something."

Sam nodded, placing another call through Chuck to follow those orders.

"All right," Jack said decisively. "Doctor, do what you have to do to record anything about Hunter's presence here in the room. Then run every test you can - lets find out if there was anything interesting about this guy apart from the fact that he killed himself."

"If he killed himself," Madison pointed out. "We're still going on the assumption that it was self ingestion, and even if it was - we have no way of knowing whether or not it was coerced. To be completely honest, we may never know for certain, because as you stated earlier, we have no way of knowing at this time if he was working alone or not." She blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Really not a fan of so many assumptions and unknowns, just for the record."

"Sheppard, lock down this room and make sure no one can get in here once the Doc has finished," Jack ordered. "Captain Sterling will be by later to see if there's anything here apart from the dead body."

"Yes sir," John acknowledged and tapped his ear. "Coughlin? I need three marine details to secure all entrances to the hologram room immediately. No one in who is not command staff, no exceptions. One unit to escort Dr. Garman back to the infirmary with her charge when she's ready." He got an affirmation of his orders and he gave a nod then looked at the body. "Are you finished with me, sir?" he asked.

"Dismissed Colonel," Jack replied, glancing down. "You know Sheppard, you might want to consider some shoes."

The Colonel nodded with just a hint of amusement before turning and leaving the room.

Having issued all the ordered required to progress things Jack cast a glance and a raised eyebrow at Daniel. "Coffee?" he asked blandly.

Daniel spared a glance for the dead man and felt a slight shudder pace through his body. No matter his exposure to death and his understanding of it and all the knowledge he had acquired on cultural beliefs regarding death, he had never quite made peace with it. Daniel did not fear it for himself...been there, done that were his thoughts, but it still disturbed him on some deep and primitive level of his psyche. Perhaps it was due to his familiarity with it.

Now, he turned and looked at Jack, "Coffee sounds good about now, Jack. I have better coffee at my place." Daniel turned and made his way out of the room, sure that O'Neill would follow when he had done what he had to in order to see due process followed and the scene secured.

The General nodded, wanting to leave himself but staying on until he was sure the room and evidence had been secured.

Once the camera had arrived, Carter retrieved it from the marine who had played courier for them. "Doctor, how would you like to proceed?"

Madison leaned back on her heels again. "If you can, begin with the perimeter of the room. Get a snapshot of anything that looks... odd, then I'll take it from there."

Carter did as she suggested, photographing the interior of the room from every angle, including the body as it presented itself. When she'd finished, she passed the camera into Dr. Garman's hands, who began to photograph the body. Several stills were taken from multiple angles, they included but were not limited to the position of the body and the state that it was currently in. She photographed the petechial haemorrhaging in his eyes and the discoloration around his mouth. When she'd finished, she stored the camera in her own gear and rose. By this point a stretcher had been brought down so that the body could be removed.

Madison accompanied the body as it was finally wheeled from the room, with Colonel Carter and two marine guards escorting her back to the investigative lab where her tests could be concluded.

General O'Neill took a moment to look around the now empty room before he too vacated the scene.

On to Part 5