Egeria's Hope

Lieutenant Lanfried had always had great health. And while she had gone through the normal cuts, bruises, colds, and upset stomachs, they had never seemed as bad to her as other people described. She had, until this point, somehow managed not to have an MRI or anything of the sort. So, upon her return from her first mission at the SGC, she was quite surprised when she was told that she hosted a Goa'uld, and a queen, no less.

She thought over her first and last mission: It had only been a "routine" off-world briefing on a Tok'ra base, but it was the most eye-opening experience she had ever been through besides becoming part of the SGC in the first place. She didn't remember blacking out or any particular pain in her neck or... or wherever that thing... however that thing... got in.

Lanfried snuggled against the solidity of the wall of her confinement cell, reveling in how, though the rest of her world seemed to be melting before her eyes, that wall stood rock still, not wavering in the least. She laughed gently. Amazing how simple things make all the difference sometimes.

She felt something shift deep within her, but paid it no mind; she had come to ignore that feeling or whatever that came whenever she was upset. This time, though, it didn't stop shortly. This shiver-up-your-spine feeling continued to climb further up her back, but it wasn't really in her spine that she felt this. Around it, maybe, but... Pain. More pain than before. A physical hurt this time. Soon, though, it stopped, and she realized, somehow, that it wasn't supposed to hurt. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Sometimes, though, things happen in a way that they weren't supposed to.

***

Docter Frasier approached the two guards outside her patient's confinement cell. If there was one part of her job that she hated, her duty in dealing with possible Goa'uld had to take the cake. And this time, it was a queen, too. She thought of the last Goa'uld queen in the SGC long ago. Hathor had been such a nightmare to all of them, but the memories of that incident were much more vivid in her mind than those of the men on-base.

She shook her head, trying to focus on the situation at hand. Maybe things weren't as bad as she thought they were. Maybe the MRI was wrong. Maybe the lieutenant was perfectly healthy; after all, she hadn't exhibited any Goa'uld-like behavior, and she had only visited a Tok'ra base. Yeah, and maybe the colonel won't be sarcastic today.

Frasier looked up through the small window in time to see a golden eye flash. So much for that idea.