Episode Eighteen: The French Connection

[Cathexis]

0950
Iliad
Infirmary

After each one of them set out in their self assigned tasks, both Jonathan and Sarah stayed at the 'morgue' room of the Infirmary watching from afar as their attitude seemed to have worked. From time to time they approached the back of the neck of the people still in the room to know what they were thinking. It took some time, but Jasmine was convinced that they were alive and then all in the room helped to get them to life support.

Another person called Jonathan Plisko had joined them and needed no help to perform Dr Lang's request, but Marcel Savage and Drake Smith had no medical training, yet they managed to help them with the task to accomplish. A sign that something was indeed happening. In some way Drake and Marcel knew exactly what to do and did it as fast and as well as the others. After they were all hooked up to life support, Jonathan and Sarah went back to a corner not to influence anyone in the room with strange sights or voices.

~OK. Now we won't degrade more than we already have. I'm not sure if that will be enough though.~ Thought Jonathan discouraged for the first time since it all started as if the situation was beginning to sink in.

~Yeah. Me neither, Jonathan. According to everything I know of Medicine, our bodies should've already suffered severe brain damage due to desoxigenation. I'm not sure we'll get out of this one alive anymore.~ Thought back Sarah equally in not such a great mood.

~We've gone this far, maybe there's something we can do to start ourselves up again as Carolyn gets help to find the device we need. Maybe we should just try to think outside the box here.~ Thought Jonathan as he decided to be the one to raise both their morales, a hard task given the evidence and their knowledge of the human body.

~I'm trying to think outside the box, Jonathan, but nothing comes out. Death seems to be the only end to this. Looking from the bright side though, if we manage to reintegrate our consciousness to our bodies, we'd be able to make the crossing to wherever dead people go instead of living like this maybe forever.~ Thought Sarah trying to think from the bright side. The prospect of staying in this form forever was starting to scare her now that she had had time to think about it.

~You're gloomy now. You're the one who came up with the idea that could save us and you're talking about dying? Please, don't. I'm not ready to give up yet and neither are them.~ Thought back Jonathan, talking about the SD-2/3 members still in the room.

~I can't see a solution right now, Jonathan. There is a time in which we must be honest to ourselves about our chances. This is it. There is no outcome, but death!~ Thought Sarah trying to be realistic.

~Agreed, Sarah, but this may not be that time just yet. Maybe you're right, maybe we must die in order to live again...~ Thought Jonathan as an idea sprung in his mind.

~Huh?~ Asked Sarah in thought as her mind began to understand what Jonathan might be implying. ~I think I know what you mean now, Jonathan! Death is the ultimate damage. Yet to some tech like the Ancient healing cube SG-1 have found not untreatable or irreversible. Maybe if we die, our energy may come to repair our tissue damage as we rejoin and our systems get a total reboot back to life and consciousness.~ Thought Sarah regaining her original optimism.

~Not exactly what I was thinking, but it makes more sense than my idea. Maybe that's one of the reasons why you couldn't rejoin with your body after getting hit by the weapon. Your system was still somewhat active and your consciousness didn't have enough energy to make it go and then reboot and heal. So we'd need to get the machine and then get them to kill us all together as they hit us with it, right? Doesn't seem like an easy task, but it's something we'll have to do.~ Thought Jonathan hopeful although the situation wasn't the best possible. The chances they'd actually die were exponential, but they were all the best and the brightest and a little faith doesn't hurt too.

~Yeah. That's what I was thinking too when I had the flash idea. For now our bodies need to stay in life support to avoid further tissue degradation as the others gather the other pieces we need. Maybe we could lend a clue of our plan to Jasmine and Charlie while we wait for them to return.~ Thought Sarah also regaining some hope that it had at least a slim chance to work, if they were right.

~OK. How do we let them in on our thoughts? If we could write something it would make this that much easier.~ Thought Jonathan not knowing how to get their word through.

~Well we can move their hands and we can see what they see, so we can probably guide them through the ship's database to the incident with the healing device in Central America. Carolyn is doing a similar thing to find the body switching device. Maybe they won't get the connection at first, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We have some database digging to do!~ Thought Sarah as she broke contact with Jonathan with renewed enthusiasm.

They broke contact and went on with their plan. The two of them searching would find the file faster, so they could built more on their plan later. Sarah approached Jasmine and Jonathan approached Charlie at their back of their necks. They would have to apologize heavily later for all this mind melding and controlling.

<< Tag Jasmine, Charlie, Marcel, Jonathan and Drake >>

(( OOC - See OOC thread if you want some leads. ))

[Cathexis]

0945
Iliad
Infirmary

Otto, Daniel and Carolyn were in a corner discussing how they'd get a laptop to Katrina in the adjacent room as a sudden idea struck Carolyn.

~Maybe we won't have to do anything.~ She thought cryptically.

~Yep. A laptop will just magically fall in the princess' lap.~ Thought Daniel with his usual sarcasm that didn't fail to show even in this situation.

~Daniel is right in this particular situation, Carolyn.~ Otto thought in his usual calm and restrained temper.

~You didn't understand me. She was rather agitated when I left, maybe she got herself a laptop to know what's going on in the ship to explain what happened to her. She's a MD after all! I'll check and be back. If we still need this plan, we'll think about it better then.~ Thought Carolyn decided as she broke away from her two colleagues.

Carolyn went to check up on Katrina in the adjacent room. She approached the back of her neck as she was seated this time. She indeed had gotten a laptop, which was over her lap, and was searching through recent events in the database, trying to understand her episode while unfortunately getting another one as Carolyn melded with her, but didn't take control of her mind.

After getting the information she needed, Carolyn went back to relieve Daniel and Otto to do their thing. ~Seems like I was right, guys. Katrina has requested a laptop and is searching the database already.~ She thought to let the others know the news.

~I guess the contents of that search are about to change.~ Thought back Daniel throwing another joke. ~Good luck, Carolyn! We should be on our way too, Otto. Those analysis won't get done by themselves.~ Thought Daniel again.

~Good luck, Carolyn. You're right, Daniel. Let's follow Marcus and our gear to the Lab. Maybe you can get some Lab tech to help or we could exchange ideas as the results come up.~ Thought Otto calmly, but decisively.

With that Carolyn went back to Katrina while Otto and Daniel followed Marcus to the Lab.

0950

Carolyn reentered the room where Katrina was seated over a bed and again alone with the laptop.

~I'm so sorry I keep doing this to you, Katrina, but I have no choice. This is our only chance of survival.~ Carolyn thought as she approached the back of Katrina's head again, but this time there was no effects as she went directly for the controlling type of mind meld, superposing her brain waves over Katrina's and making her search for the file with the specifications and the location of the Lab where the body switching device was storaged in the Iliad.

<< Tag Katrina >>

[Cathexis]

0950
Iliad
Science Lab/Infirmary

Otto and Daniel followed Marcus to the Lab located closest to the Infirmary section of the ship, used exactly in this type of situations where the analyzed material should not leave the constraints of the ship's quarantine zone.

Both Otto and Daniel were impressed with the easiness with which Marcus hooked up their gear to the analyzer machines and set up and took apart the electronic devices to collect the necessary EM field data. That was to prove that you don't need lots of experience to get a job done, though having it does help. As he got the results he could from his tests, he went back to the Infirmary.

~OK. Now we have the necessary data, but we need to have a full spectrum analysis of the energy readouts so we can identify the source or a similar source.~ Thought Otto as he approached the back of Marcus' head and accessed the necessary software in the science database.

~If Sarah's theory was right, these readings should show the same intensity patterns and frequencies as a body switching device.~ Thought Daniel, being serious and professional, which happened from time to time.

~The issue is that we only had readings from when the minds were returned to the original bodies, though that did include both an extraction and a rejoining process.~ Thought Otto thinking about the possibilities on how the machine settings would differ in their case.

~We should be able to define which parameters to use in the device to reverse our condition when the results come back anyway. I'd like to be optimistic.~ Thought Daniel serious.

~Yes, we should, but we can't let Marcus know what we know. How do we relay the parameters to him once we have them?~ Thought Otto already trying to find a loophole in their previous theory that would allow them to use Marcus' hands to type up the necessary information to set up the device to rejoin them.

~Well... we're in a two to one basis here. Maybe you can control his motor and visual cortex while I deal with the language areas. Sarah said we can't do it all at once, but if each of us do a part communicating with each other this might work to type up a small message.~ Thought Daniel giving an idea.

~Maybe you're right. We can try. We must try once the results are up.~ Thought Otto as he approached Marcus again, making him see an image behind him as a side effect. ~OK. The program has finished running. I think we have our salvation candidate. Take a look.~ Thought Otto as he went away to Daniel again.

~I'll check them up then.~ Thought Daniel now approaching Marcus which sent more chills down his spine. ~Yep. Bingo for Sarah. She was absolutely right! These readings are so totally similar to the ones from the incident. Except they're of a lower intensity and frequency, which explains why our consciousnesses were deposited in the ambient instead of each others bodies.~ Thought Daniel, his mind running with possibilities and the necessary parameter changes for their situation.

~I've arrived to the same conclusion. So it's time to let him know.~ Stated Otto as a matter of fact in thought.

They discussed some more the parameter settings they should use to rejoin them with their bodies in a position away from Marcus so he wouldn't continue to be plagued by the effects of their proximity. Once they came to a consensus about the figures they should relay to Marcus, they both approached him at the same time, compounding to the proximity effect until they finally possessed him as a team. Otto took a position at the back of Marcus' neck and Daniel by his left temple. Soon, as Otto and Daniel synchronized their efforts, Marcus pulled up and began writing in a Notepad file the following small note.

"Help! Dev par - int 274, freq 48 hz"

Then they both pulled back together and hoped for the better. Things would soon come to an end. One way or the other.

<< Tag Marcus >>

[Charlie Cordoy]

0954
Iliad
Science Lab/Infirmary

Charlie found herself at the console in the doctors office, fingers still poised over the keys, without a clue how she'd gotten there. Turning to look around, she could see the others out by the bodies, and Jasmine is in a similar pose at another computer console. Her head felt a little odd, like a migraine aura, and she blinked a few times to settle her vision.

On the screen, a file was open. Judging by the position she found herself in, Charlie figured she must have been the one to bring it up. Somehow. She pulled up the desk chair and sat down, reading. It was about a mission the SG-1 team had been involved in, years before. Something called an 'Ancient healing device' - the name being pretty self explanatory, even to Charlie. However she'd ended up opening this file, Charlie got the general gist. She smiled a little to herself. "Thanks, dead guys."

She got up and headed over to the door. "Lang, you see this?"

<Tag: Jasmine, Everyone>

[Marcus Garret]

0955
Iliad
Science Lab/Infirmary

Marcus came to after the brief possession, blinking a couple times before looking around and regaining his bearings.

Woah, that was weird.

He’d never blacked out in front of a computer before. He’d nodded off a few times at a computer desk, and had even briefly fallen asleep on his feet a couple times at basic. This, though, was new. He takes a moment to rub at his eyes before turning his attention back to the computer screen, and almost immediately notices the message that had been left. He copies it onto the tablet along with the analysis data and the readout from the analysis program. With the information in hand, he heads back to the infirmary.

“Ma’am, I think I can file this mission in the ‘weird’ category. I just blacked out in front of the console in the lab, and came to with a message on the screen.”

Looking over the information he’d managed to gather, he started thinking about some of the mission summaries that he’d read recently. Something about all this seemed oddly familiar, and he pulled up the summaries from the ship’s servers. He starts reading through the mission summaries, looking for what it was that seemed so familiar to the situation the other team was in.

<Tag Everyone>

[Jasmine "Jazzy" Lang]

0955-1000
Illiad
Infirmary

A cold chill made its way down Jasmine's spine as the feeling of someone entering her body without permission. Her hands started having a mind of their own as they clicked away on the keys of the keyboard, while the mind had no recollection of what it was looking up. She had some how become a puppet controlled by an unknow presence that had make itself known inside her body. The captain's eyes skimmed the pages on the screen but the brain wasn't registering any of it. It was hard to explain what was going on, but there was no doubt about it. Something of this sort had never happened to the doctor before. It was an out of body experience to be doing something completely against her will. Though once the screen come up to a picture of a certain machine, everything seemed to be coming together. It was another part of the puzzle fitting together. It was as if the team was showing them this is what they needed.

Hearing Charlie's voice, Jasmine shook her mind clear and looked over at the computer beside her own. It was the same picture that had come up on hers. Yeah it most definitely had to be the team talking to them in some way. "I got the same picture on mine as well. I think this is their way of saying this is the machine to help bring them back to live," stated shutting down her windows and looking over Charlies. "Find out if that machine is on the ship, and if it is, get it over here ASAP. That is the first lead we have had and we can't lose it."

Running a hand through her brown hair, the surgeon heard Marcus' voice reenter the Infirmary. Giving him a soft smile, the female doctor listened to what was being said and nodded. It seemed like everyone involved with this mission was experiencing the same kind of unexplainable actions; ones that no one really knew why they were happening but also knew that it wasn't nesscarily a bad thing. It was the only course of action they had to go on. "I have to agree with you there Marcus and what did the message read? Maybe that message could also be of some use for us," asked knowing that any information from here on out would have to be part of the puzzle; more pieces to come together till it was complete.

< Tag Everyone >

OOC: Lets wrap this up!

[Paul Chapman]

0955
Iliad
Bridge

Unable to speak face-to-face with Captain Lang for fear of the spread of infection, Paul retreated from the infirmary and wound his way through the corridors of the ship toward his rightful position on the bridge. Ducking down the hallways, avoiding bumping into crew and expedition members, the Colonel made his way onto the bridge. "Commander on deck!" called the Officer of the Deck, the senior bridge officer left in charge during Chapman's absence. Salutes were exchanged, before Chapman announced, "As you were." Everyone returned to their stations, and Chapman took his seat in the command chair in the center of the bridge.

"Report," he declared to all on the bridge, wishing to be brought up to date with what had happened since his departure. He noticed that Lieutenant O'Bright, his communications officer, seemed to have something on his mind. "What is it O'Bright?"

< Tag O'Bright, SD-2 & SD-3 >

OOC: Hope this helps move us along

[Katrina Logan]

1000
Illiad
Infirmary

Kat somehow managed to find the strength to arise from her hospital bed, carry a laptop, and drag her IV bag alongside of her until she reached the spot where eyes saw Marcus, Jasmine, and someone she had not met yet. Eyes popped open at the sight on their laptops. Slowly she looked down to hers where the same image had come up only moments before. But there was something else filing across the screen.

"Excuse me, I hate interrupt the party, but I think SG-1 is communicating with us through the computers. It's a long shot, but I believe they're asking us to use the Ancient device to revive them, only I don't see how we can unless they're actually dead. I have a private already bringing the device here for our inspection."

Whatever it was had left the major already. Pure adrenaline was causing the medical officer to remain stable standing when only a few minutes before she could barely move without nausea setting in. Hands were trembling, a sign that not all strength was there. Just don't let me fall on my behind and look like a helpless lump of coal.

<Tag: Anyone>

OOC: Sorry it's short, work is sooo busy right now.

[Acastus Sirkis]

0956
Unknown Location in Space
Varasian Escape Pod

The order was clear. They were to suppress any and all resistance movements within Olympian Territory. Everyone within the ranks had their own idea on how to go about in fulfilling such wish of their god. Acastus Sirkis was no different, his plan though was a mirror of his personal ambition and current position. He decided to go after the group that had proved itself the most annoying and successful one in the galaxy. They had managed to keep causing harass even after their base was leveled. You could say everything about these Humans from Earth except that they aren't a resilient bunch.

The plan Sirkis had devised would play heavily on their many times showed will to assist the natives of the Delian Galaxy. A weakness! This would be the last time they did such a thing. He did reconnaissance work in many more advanced worlds silently, to pick the one that would give him the best tools to fulfill his plan. He had found the perfect people on the planet Varas when an earthling team passing by decided to get in his way. First and last mistake of theirs. He solved the problem fast with a new weapon he was meant to test as he pleased as long as results were reported accurately. He did the test and the device killed the team or so he thought it did. Then Acastus threatened the locals with the same fate and forced them to send the team members' bodies back through the Stargate, which was done upon his command. The Earthing ship would never know what happened to that team and when Acastus put his plan in action wouldn't know what hit them before it was too late to save themselves.

Soon after sending the team's lifeless bodies through the Stargate, Acastus boarded his ship, an Olympian long range cruiser, and went after one of Varasian ships he now knew to be currently in space. He destroyed such ship upon encounter without blinking an eye and stole one of its life pods, killing the passenger and leaving the corpse back to be flushed out of his ship. His ship, under his orders, pulled back to Andira, his homeworld, to join the rest of the fleet amassed there to take down the Iliad while Sirkis took the life pod and stayed behind in the wreckage. Once his ship had left the vicinity, Acastus activated the pod's communication system. It was time to lure the prey with a distress call. His plan was simple, board the Iliad, take them to Andira saying it was Varas and then leave the ship through its Stargate to some place, from there return to Andira to get proof of his success and then relay such news and receive his well earned glory. His god would certainly be pleased with this work. The chances of failure were so slim that he didn't even think about it.

"This is Varasian live pod.... ship's been destroyed..... unknown attacker..... Please assist." Acastus sent the message to the Iliad, making sure that the communications system seemed to be failing to add to the drama and lure them faster into his trap. He waited for the reply patiently. He knew that his message would reach the wanted destination and nowhere else since the codes of the Iliad had been discovered about the same time their base had been attacked.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

"Instruments..... say..... 123 mark 5..... Close to Metis.... Starga..... Vraluch.... Onias....Boarder.... System." He said upon receiving the reply. He knew that if he had given an exceptionally clean position the crew of the Iliad might suspect something. There was only one planet near his location that had a Gate address that sounded close to the one he had relaid. It was the fourth planet of that same system his pod was located at the boarder of, which obviously he didn't fail to mention in his message.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

"I.... nowhere.... go.... Thank you." He said and then opened a huge self satisfied smile that no one could see while he closed the channel. Now it was a waiting game. He'd be checking the sensors to know the moment the Iliad showed up to meet its destiny.

[Jake O'Bright]

0955-0956
Iliad
Bridge

"Commander on deck!" called the Officer of the Deck, the senior bridge officer left in charge during Chapman's absence. Salutes were exchanged, before Chapman announced. "As you were." Everyone returned to their stations and Chapman took his seat in the command chair in the center of the bridge.

Jake O'Bright, communications and navigation officer of the Iliad, stood up from his station, one of the chairs and consoles beside the commander's chair, as Chapman's return was called. He saluted him and retook his seat and watchful vigilance of the controls in his station when cleared to do so by Chapman.

"Report." Chapman declared to all on the bridge, wishing to be brought up to date with what had happened since his departure.

Jake didn't hear the order as he wasn't in control of his body at that precise moment. A few seconds after he had retaken his seat, he felt a strange sensation, a chill went down his spine, a bright light flashed before his eyes and he heard a voice mumbling something unintelligible before he lost his senses or so he thought he did. His eyes were widened and his pupils a bit dilated as if he was looking for too long at the same spot in the distance. Suddenly, he blinked his eyes and had no idea of what had happened except for the fact that it felt odd and there was only static through his earpiece like before Chapman had entered the bridge.

Chapman noticed his behavior and asked. "What is it O'Bright?"

"I'm not sure, sir. I think I just zoned out for a second there. Nothing of importance to report, sir. We're still going on the same course and no hailings." He came to and replied professionally as best as he could while he tried to shake that weird sensation from his mind.

<< Tag Chapman >>

As his CO spoke, O'Bright's earpiece came to life. There was a lot of static in the message. "Sir, incoming message. Audio only. Lots of background static, probably a distress call. I'll put it through the speakers." He declared dutifully as he pressed a few keys on his station's keyboard to relay the message being sent to the speakers and try to filter it so it could become clearer.

"This is Varasian live pod.... ship's been destroyed..... unknown attacker..... Please assist." A cracked voice came through the bridge's speakers.

"What's your location, Varasian pod?" O'Bright asked whoever was on the side of the distress call. It was normal police to answer to those.

"Instruments..... say..... 123 mark 5..... Close to Metis.... Starga..... Vraluch.... Onias....Boarder.... System." The cracked voice spoke again.

"One moment, please." O'Bright asked respectfully to the voice on the other side as he cut the transmission and pulled up the ship's database to see if they had that address or anything resembling that sound cataloged. He found the correct planet and it was an only match hopefully. "The planet mentioned is in the database. I have the space coordinates to the system the pod is at. Should I plot a course, sir?" O'Bright asked.

<< Tag Chapman >>

"Sure, sir. Reopening the channel to the Varasian pod." Jake said as he did so and then Chapman relaid their intentions to the pod's occupant himself.

<< Tag Chapman >>

Soon came the reply. "I.... nowhere.... go.... Thank you."

Jake then cut off the channel as the pod did the same and set the course coordinates into the navigational controls and activated it. The hyperdrive window was formed and the Iliad jumped into it not knowing that it was falling into a trap, but that weird sensation didn't leave him as a chill went down his spine again.

<<Tag Cathexis >>

[Cathexis]

0955-1000
Iliad
Infirmary

Now the team was almost all back together again, just the CO Jason Vigh was still monitoring the situation on the bridge in case Sirkis contacted the Iliad. They had no way of knowing of what was going on there, but each of them had their task and knew how to accomplish it. That thought alone kept them going individually and as a team. The five present now in the Infirmary reconvened at a corner not to affect the other people in the room.

~I think we've managed to make sure that we're still alive in some way.~ Thought Jonathan to the others, especially Otto, Daniel and Carolyn who had been away from the room in their assignments.

~We're now on life support, but Jonathan and I think that just rejoining us with our bodies aided by the machine won't be enough. We've made our intentions as clear as possible to them as to what it would take for our fully successful rejoining.~ Thought Sarah, explaining it further.

~So there are no more doubts in their minds that we're still here?~ Thought Carolyn somewhat relieved at the news.

~People, you're missing the most important or leaving it out of discussion on purpose. Not our MO even when we could run from each other.~ Thought Daniel a bit set back. ~What's it that you told them to do with us?~ He continued.

~Nothing too dangerous considering our situation since we're technically dead. That must be reversed if we're to return to normal.~ Thought Jonathan explaining it to Daniel.

~We implied that our bodies need to be reenergized or rebooted, if you will, before trying the rejoining. How they'll do that, I don't know, but Jasmine and Charlie are both accomplished doctors. They'll come up with something to get a similar result as the one of the clue we've given to them. Don't worry!~ Thought Sarah confident that her colleagues would find a way to help them. Only the best were here after all.

~Not to mention that the joining process should give us extra quantum energy to add up to their efforts in reviving our dead bodies. Well, theoretically, at least.~ Thought Otto for the first time.

~OK. How dangerous is this plan and most importantly what is this plan exactly?~ Thought Carolyn weary. All this science and medical babble wasn't her area of expertise. She was a linguist and an archaeologist after all.

~Honestly, Carolyn, it's very dangerous. The chances of permanent death are significant, but not larger than if we do nothing to reverse this situation. We're Human. We were not meant to exist this way. Well, not yet anyway.~ Thought Sarah honestly and in a friendly way. She understood why Carolyn was afraid. She was too. If they were honest with themselves and each other, all of them were equally afraid.

~You missed out the part in which you explain what is that plan of yours, ma'am.~ Thought Daniel sarcastically. He just wanted this over with one way or another. Death couldn't be worse than this, could it?

~Basically... huh... I think first they'll have to do something to reboot us, then use the body switching machine to rejoin us, then use reanimation techniques such as CPR to finally awaken us. Hopefully. Probably one at a time since the window of opportunity would be pretty short to risk trying with all of us at once. Our bodies can wait now that they're on life support.~ Thought Sarah again to complete her previous answer.

~That sounds risky. A lot of things could go wrong, but what other choice do we have? None. We must go on with the plan. I think Vigh would like to know about this.~ Thought Otto as a matter of fact.

~I'll go to the bridge and inform him. Keep an eye on everything here while I'm gone. OK. Cheer up people! Everything is going to work out.~ Thought Jonathan being his positive self. Besides Sarah he was the only other military member of the team in the room and having both the CO and XO away wasn't the best idea, so he volunteered himself to go after Vigh. He didn't wait for a reply and just floated out of the room, leaving the others behind.

A few minutes later was the moment in which a random crewman, under Major Logan's request, entered the Infirmary pushing a trolley, that looked more like a table with wheels, which had a small device covered by a cloth on top of it. Yet another piece of the puzzle was in place. Before the crewman left the Infirmary though, he brought a chair for Katrina to take a seat at under Carolyn's influence and left with questions in his mind about how that happened.

<< Tag Jasmine, Charlie, Marcus and Katrina >>

[Cathexis]

0930-1010
Iliad
Bridge

When each one of his team took his or her task, the CO Jason Vigh went to the bridge to monitor the situation. He knew that Acastus Sirkis, the man that fired whatever weapon that was at them and the ultimate cause of all this mess, would soon hail the Iliad to try to lure it into a trap of his conception. Those Olympian followers and their egos. Always trying to best everyone else in their Hand to gain the favor of their gods. The worst type of men were always the greedy or ambitious type.

From time to time Jason left his position in a corner of the bridge, not to disrupt its normal working order with the effects of his EM field presence, to check for activity at the communications and navigational console, manned by Lieutenant O'Bright, a guy he had had some talks with at the Iliad's cafeteria before. He hoped to be forgiven as the others did for their behavior. He was here to try to preserve the crew and the expedition members anyway. That was a mitigating circumstance, right?

During one of his possessions of O'Bright, Jason knew that Colonel Chapman had returned to the bridge. The hailing he was waiting for came just after Jason had left Jake, so he could talk to the ship's commander and not rise suspicion that something odd was happening. The last thing he and his team needed right now was an alien onboard call because of them. Just after the Iliad jumped into hyperspace, Jason possessed Jake again to find out they were already on route to meet with Sirkis. Bad idea!

Without another choice left, Jason Vigh took total control of Jake's mind and using the Lieutenant's hands gave the command for the ship to make a complete 180 degrees course change in his console's keyboard. Then he let go of him, not wanting to harm his colleague.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

Jumping back, Jason waited a few minutes and approached the back of O'Bright's neck again. The course had been resumed and he had to do that same drill from before again. The ship, as a result, dropped from hyperspace this time and the commands were locked. It was the emergency failsafe in case of boarding.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

After this event Jonathan arrived at the bridge to inform Jason of their progress. They went to a corner in the big room not to disturb.

~I think this will be over soon, sir. We've all finished our tasks and all the pieces of this puzzle that we could give them are given. Now it's up to the doctors whether we live or die. It's out of our hands now. All we could do is done. Any luck on your front, sir?~ Thought Jonathan Patner relaying the good / bad news. Good because there was a chance, even if slim, that they would return to normal and bad because their destiny was now out of their hands.

~I'm glad to know that it'll be over soon. I want to volunteer to be the first to try to procedure whatever it is and no, I don't want to know what it is, Jonathan! It's a mixed bag here too. Bad because Sirkis has already made contact and good because I've managed to keep this ship away from him, first by changing the course, then by dropping it out of hyperspace altogether. Now I've blocked the commands, but it won't last forever since O'Bright has the codes to unlock them too. You'll have to keep making sure we're not destroyed, Jonathan.~ Thought Jason as a reply.

~Understood, sir. Good luck, Jason. I hope it works out. It was a pleasure to serve with you.~ Thought Jonathan passing his understanding of his new orders and his appreciation of his CO in case that was the last time they talked.

~Thanks. I hope so too, Jonathan. The pleasure was mine to have such a great team under my command which hasn't faltered nor despaired even under the worst possible circumstances including the prospect of certain death. Goodbye, Jonathan.~ Thought Jason as a reply to Jonathan's comments.

~Goodbye, sir, Jason.~ Thought Jonathan as Jason left the bridge back to the Infirmary.

Jonathan resumed his duties as the new officer of the watch and approached O'Bright to know if the ship had resumed course once more while Jonathan and Jason were talking.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

[Jake O'Bright]

1000-1015
Iliad
Bridge

The Iliad had entered the hyperspace window only a few minutes before that strange chill down the spine cursed Jake again. He was beginning to feel that he was being haunted by some type of ghost or something like that. Not very far from the truth under his perspective. For the second time since Chapman had reentered the room, Jake lost focus and with that the control of his hands. Unknown to him, he had inputed a new course into the navigational controls, a complete 180 degrees turn, which would take them away from Sirkis. When Jason left him, Jake blinked his eyes heavily this time and brought his hands to rub them before focusing in the controls again.

"Sir, something is wrong with the controls. We've made a total 180 degrees turn. We're actually going away from the life pod. I'll replot the course." Jake said to his CO in a professional tone.

<<Tag Chapman >>

"Sir, I swear I didn't touch these controls. I don't remember doing that!" Jake said as a matter of fact. He was right in that he wasn't the one who did that, but all seemed that way.

<< Tag Chapman >>

By then the course had been resumed and they were unknowingly going in the direction of Sirkis once more. They traveled for about 12 of 40 minutes left to rendezvous with the Olympian follower when Jake was possessed again. He rubbed his eyes once more as he was left alone, but this time the consequence was bigger. He had dropped the ship out of hyperspace completely and locked the console controls. He now needed a code to unlock them. He had that code, but something told Jake that it was a bad idea to use it.

<< Tag Chapman >>

"Sir, I swear I didn't do it. I don't remember doing it at all. I think I'd remember if I were tempering with the ship's controls like this. I...." Jake said trying to explain and defend himself. Under his point of view he hadn't done any of that. How could this be happening?

<< Tag Chapman >>

"Alright. I'm unlocking the controls right away, sir." O'Bright said in a professional tone, his mind filled with questions. This was just so weird and unreal. He just hoped he wasn't being possessed by an evil alien entity of some kind. He'd heard of cases like that.

<< Tag Chapman >>

Jake then took control of the console and replotted the course. That damn sensation at the back of his neck was soon back again, but before he did something beyond his understanding, he put the ship on full stop and noticed the sensation had disappeared.

"Sir, I have a theory. Just a moment!" He told Chapman as he opened up a channel to the Infirmary. "Captain Lang, did something scape the Infirmary's containment? I have the impression that there is a force of some kind that doesn't want us to get to our destination..." He asked SD-2's CO who was responsible for checking up a few bodies that were sent back through the Gate. Maybe something else had taken a ride with them and was now possessing him to go someplace else instead of attending to the distress call, which could be irrelevant to whatever it was the alien presence in the room.

<< Tag Jasmine / SD-2 / SD-3 / Chapman >>

[Jasmine "Jazzy" Lang]

1000-1010
Iliad
Infirmary

"Alright, we need to get that machine in here ASAP. I have an idea, it might be far fetched, but it's all we have to go on right now," Jasmine Lang ordered walking over to the cabinet and looking for a few syringes. "Charlie, I need you to bring the paddles over to Jason's body. We are going to do this to him first as a test." She started pulling out a box of syringes along with a bottle of serum, one that was hardly ever touched. "Marcus, I need you to grab a heating blanket, plug it in and place it on his body. He is going to need to stay as warm as possible for this to happen right."

Placing various things on a tray, the surgeon pulled it over to the CO of the team letting out a nervous sigh. This was either going to be the smartest thing she ever did in her career, or the stupidest. Actually believing that this could happen was enough to make anyone think she was insane but there was nothing else that could be done. After Garret and Cordoy had done what was asked, Jasmine looked up to see confusion written across their face. "We are going to kill this team and then jolt them back to life," stated making sure that the dead man's EKG machine was hooked up properly, "I know it sounds crazy and like it will probably not happen, but what other choice do we have? We are doing to kill off their consciousness then bring them back to life. I don't say hopefully or maybe because this will work. We have no other choice so it has to work."

The surgeon walked around to the other team members getting them ready the same way because once Jason was awake, they would have to do the same. It would save them all a small step. Once that was completed, Jasmine just stood waiting for the machine to arrive, the missing piece of the puzzle.

1014

When the infirmary door finally opened, Jasmine let out a small sigh. "Alright, Garret get that think hooked up and be prepared to use it on this body once I tell you when," stated moving beside Jason's body, "Cordoy, I need you to be ready with this serum. This is our last resort. If jolting doesn't bring them back to life or CPR, we will use this, but only if we have to. We only have 5 minutes to complete this task everyone. Logan, from your spot I need you to watch the time. After 5 minutes, this body will be considered dead alright? Let's do this. Go Marcus."

The machine sprung to life as a blue light surrounded the body. A shudder ran down Jasmine's spine as if feeling something had disappeared from her and head died. The EKG machine jumped to life as a flatline crossed the screen. SO far so good thought grabbing the paddles and rubbing them. "Charge to 300!" shouted waiting for the ok, "CLEAR!" The doctor placed the paddles on his heart watching the body shot up in the air then fall back down. Nothing changed as the flatline continued across the screen. The young woman gritted her teeth. "Charge to 350!" shouted once again rubbing the paddles together, "CLEAR!" Still there was no response. "No this has to work!" growled throwing the paddles aside and began CPR. "Come on Jason, wake up!"

The captain knew there was only 2 minutes remaining before he was considered dead and it would be the first patient she ever had that would die on her watch. She wouldn't, no couldn't, let that happen. Suddenly a beep came to life and continued. Looking over her should, Jasmine saw the heart rate picking up and his heartbeat getting stronger. "Get oxygen in him!" ordered as a few nurses surrounded him. The doctor stumbled back in surprise. It had worked. It had really work. They did it. This team was going to be ok. "Charlie, Marcus I want you to go to the next body and do the same thing. It's time to get this team back alive," told them getting up letting out a sigh of relief. Walking over to Jason, she smiled down at the young man. "Hello Jason, I'm Captain Jasmine Lang. It's a pleasure to finally really meet you face to face"

<End Episode>

[Cathexis]

1002-1100
Iliad
Infirmary

Jason arrived back at the Infirmary, leaving Jonathan at the bridge. Once he entered the room, Jason joined with the others at their little corner.

~So how's everything? Jonathan told me that everything is in place.~ Thought Jason to get updated information on SD-2/3's efforts to bring them back, if it was even really possible anyway.

~The body switching device has arrived for sure.~ Thought Carolyn who had possessed the crewman who had brought it into the room to give a chair to Katrina.

~The specs and the parameters were set by Garret into the device. I witnessed it. As long as that goes, we're all set.~ Thought Daniel to add his two cents.

~Doctors Lang and Cordoy have devised a serum that might help in our revival together with our mental energy rejoining our bodies. They seem to be good to go in a few minutes. They also showed interest in taking you as a test subject, Jason.~ Thought Sarah explaining the medical side of the situation.

~It's all set. Jason, remember that, as Sarah and Jonathan have said before we broke up to do our tasks, our bodies have suffered some damage, especially our brains. Once you feel you have joined with your body again, try to use all the leftover energy from the process to guide the healing of those damaged parts.~ Thought Otto warning Jason about what to do not to return as a vegetable.

~OK. So we're all set. I'll go first and I should focus on my damage once I can feel it. Are you implying my consciousness will act like some sort of healing device? Odd. Let's see how it goes...~ Thought Jason to confirm if that was all since he had spent more time out of the Infirmary than anyone else.

~Basically yes, but the window for the effect to take place after your joining will be small... I think. So get to it as fast as you can.~ Thought Sarah to confirm their theories.

~You're the best team a CO could've wished for. It was a pleasure to serve with all of you this long.~ Thought Jason almost like saying goodbye. The chances of success were slim, which was normal in their line of work, but it was better to say this now than not be able to say it at all later.

They all said their goodbyes as SD-2 prepared for Jason's reanimation. When they were ready, so was he. Doctor Cordoy injected his body with the serum, but even being just above his own chest, Jason couldn't feel anything on his body. Then Marcus activated the device and a bright blue light enveloped Jason's body and consciousness. Once the light faded, the two entities, which were until then separate, became one again and Jason focused all his mental power to heal himself as told by Otto and Sarah. He had no idea how well or if at all it had worked until his lungs inflated with air, a sign that the brain controlled diaphragm was working as it should again. That was a sign that he had managed to heal himself. A miracle of some kind, not that Jason cared at the moment. His heart still couldn't beat on its own though. As his mind drifted when the leftover joining energy was all used up, then his heart gave a jolt and went into cardiac arrest again, but with some help to jump start it, his brain would be able to control it and his breathing from then on normally.

The effort of the doctors in applying CPR on Jason's, until recently dead, body were repaid when the line on the ECG monitor started to beep and flow rhythmically. Jason's eyes fluttered open as a voice reached his ears. He could hear that voice. It belonged to a woman. He focused on her words. "Hello Jason, I'm Captain Jasmine Lang. It's a pleasure to finally really meet you face to face." Doctor Lang said.

"The pleasure is mine. Thank you, Doctor Lang. I'm sorry for taking control of your bodies without permission, but we had no choice. I hope you can understand. I didn't think we'd survive this one, so I'll let you work now. Jonathan is not in the room, so leave him for last, please. The blond one with the crazy hair is him." Jason replied in a broken voice and a small smile as he described Jonathan's hair, always a joke amongst the team.

At that moment, a call came from the bridge and Lt O'Bright's voice could be heard on the speakers. "Captain Lang, did something scape the Infirmary's containment? I have the impression that there is a force of some kind that doesn't want us to get to our destination..."

"Can I answer, please?" Jason said as Marcus gave him an earset. "Lt O'Bright, this is Colonel Jason Vigh of SD-8. I'm sorry to say that it was me who has been stopping you from getting to the rendezvous coordinates. It's an Olympian trap! One that almost cost our lives. Stay away from that Varasian Pod! Vigh out." Jason said through the earset still with a somewhat broken voice.

<< Tag O'Bright >>

After hearing the reply, Jason gave the earset back to Marcus and got comfortable in his bed. Resting in a siting position, he watched as the others were revived one by one. First Sarah, then Otto, then Daniel, then Carolyn and then Jonathan was last as his consciousness got back from the bridge. Each one of them offered a similar thank you and a similar apology as Jason as they came to. They had no other choice but to do what they did and fortunately their colleagues understood it.

<< Tag SD-2 >>

(( OOC - There is a tag there if someone wants to post something. ))