by Anne
Disclaimer: The characters of Daniel Jackson, Jack O’Neill, Sam Carter, Teal’c, General Hammond, Janet Frasier, Apophis and anybody else you recognise from the SGC do not belong to me. Neither does the concept of the Stargate, SGC, and the Goa’uld and any thing else related to the series Stargate SG1. They belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Products.
The characters of Methos (a.k.a. Adam Pierson), Joe Dawson, Connor MacLeod and Duncan MacLeod belong to Panzer/Davis, Rysher/Gaumont Television. So do the concepts of Immortality, the Game and the Watchers.
Likewise the characters of Adam Newman, Megabyte Damon, General William Damon, Ami Jackson, Jade Weston, Kevin Wilson or any names or events linked to the Tomorrow People TV series do not belong to me either. They are the property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra and ITV Television.
“I told the boys to wait in reception,” Damon told Hammond as they came out of the lift. “ It’s really good to see you again after all these years, George. How long has it been? Ten years, maybe.”
“At least,” came the reply. “Not since you were my aide on that last big hush hush project in the late eighties. Speaking of hush, my sources tell me that some of the stuff WorldEx is involved in is very classified, as well.” Hammond had heard quite a few strange stories about some of the projects his friend had been working on. When he had tried to find out, he had found it hard to access the details, in fact some of those details almost didn’t seem to make sense. It was almost as though the most important facts had been deliberately left out of the reports. Then there was the fact that Damon had quit the Scientific Intelligence Agency almost overnight, several years ago, citing personal reasons. There were rumours about a cover up within the organisation, but again, the details were impossible to find or verify.
Damon changed the subject. “So, George, what exactly is it that you are working on here?”
Hammond laughed. It sounded as though he wasn’t going to get any answers, at least not today. “Okay, Bill, I won’t ask about your work if you don’t ask about mine.”
“I wonder if there’s a drinks machine or something around here?” asked Megabyte. He and Adam were sitting in the reception area waiting for his father and General Hammond to put in an appearance. The receptionist looked up from his work and smiled when he heard the remark. To Megabyte’s disappointment though, he didn’t answer his question.
Adam looked around. The place looked like a typical military installation, as much as he knew from the movies, anyway. Although the reception area was quite spartan, the chairs were comfortable enough, and there was a small pile of magazines on the small coffee table. “Don’t you ever think about anything else but your stomach?” he asked his friend.
“Hey,” said Megabyte. “Not my fault if snooping around makes me thirsty, is it?” He had decided it might be a good idea to change the subject, especially with the receptionist obviously listening. They could always continue what they had been discussing telepathically, but surely the soldier would be starting to get suspicious at the seeming lack of conversation soon. Much as he wanted to talk about the strange feelings they had picked up from Adam Pierson, it wouldn’t do to have anyone wondering how exactly they had picked up on those vibes, especially seeing that someone was attached to the military.
“So, Adam, you never did tell me what you thought of the Star Wars film that Kevin and I dragged you along to.” Even though Kevin Wilson was a lot younger, he and Megabyte had been friends even before they had both ‘ broken out’ and become Tomorrow People. To celebrate Kevin’s return to England, the three boys had decided to go to the new Star Wars film together. Adam and Megabyte had both missed the younger boy while he had been away in New Zealand with his family.
“I must admit, it was a lot better than the type of movie than you usually end up watching,” admitted Adam. A distinct improvement on the ‘Attack of the Killer Cucumber’ series of films that Megabyte usually made him sit through, he thought to himself.
“It’s a shame the kid grows up to be Darth Vader, though,” replied the American.
“I thought that concept was quite interesting, actually. You know, the whole idea behind Star Wars is really good versus evil. The Force and the Jedi knights represent good and the other side represents evil. Obviously somewhere along the way in the next couple of films, Anakin is going to be tempted to use his powers for evil and will turn into Vader.”
Megabyte stared at his friend. He and Kevin had enjoyed the awesome special effects and the space battles. He hadn’t thought past that, and certainly hadn’t looked for any hidden meanings and concepts. Mind you, it wasn’t him taking the philosophy papers either. The advanced computer course he was taking didn’t exactly cover philosophy 101. Trust Adam to come up with that comment. There were times when he felt that the Australian came from another planet, not just another country.
Adam seemed to suddenly notice the look Megabyte was giving him. “Sorry, must be the papers I’m taking at Sydney University. The philosophy course is starting to rub off on me a bit. You must admit it’s interesting though.” Okay, time to change the subject, obviously his fellow Tomorrow Person wasn’t as interested in the whole philosophy thing as he was.
Megabyte noticed his dad approaching, talking with another, older man. The other man wore general’s stripes on his shirt. The face seemed vaguely familiar, though he was sure he remembered him with more hair. Mind you, it must have been a while since they had met.
“That must be General Hammond. He and your dad seem to know each other quite well.”
“Yeah. Apparently they worked together quite a few years ago. I remember meeting him once when I was a little kid.” Megabyte winced and turned to Adam. [Can you hear that noise? It’s giving me a headache.]
[Do you mean that high pitched whine? I noticed it too. Wonder where it’s coming from? Maybe their speaker system is on the blink. Hey, maybe you should offer to fix it for them, Megabyte.]
“General Hammond, you remember my son Marmaduke.” Damon wondered what the two boys had been talking about. He had seen that familiar glazed look in their eyes as he had approached and knew that he was interrupting a telepathic conversation. He hoped Hammond hadn’t noticed, but then he hadn’t had the years of experience of these things that Damon, himself, had.
“Megabyte,” the young man corrected. Gee, he hated his given name, he still wasn’t sure what had possessed his parents to come up with it. “Pleased to meet you. This is my friend Adam.”
“Pleased to meet you General.” Adam stood up to shake hands with Hammond and found he had to lean back against the wall to steady himself, as he suddenly felt very dizzy.
He noticed Megabyte had put his hands over his ears, and seemed a bit unsteady on his feet as well. “That whine, Adam, it’s getting louder.”
Damon was looking very concerned. “What whine? I can’t hear anything.”
Adam and Megabyte looked at each other. If the two men couldn’t hear the whine and only they could, they must be picking it up telepathically. Who or what could be sending out a signal that only affected Tomorrow People? Adam hoped no one had seen Megabyte using his powers during his unauthorised tour, he’d warned him to be careful. He’d realised a long time ago that once his friend set his mind on something there was nothing he could say to talk him out of it. But surely the military hadn’t developed any weapons that could be used against their kind? After all, why would they? As far as he knew, they still didn’t know of their existence.
[Adam, Megabyte. Are you okay?] Ami’s telepathic voice sounded very concerned. Obviously she’d picked up on some of the panic they were feeling.
[Ami, there’s something here. I think it’s affecting us somehow. Stay away. Tell Jade and Kevin to as well. We’ll contact you when we’re clear.]
The last thing they needed was for the other Tomorrow People to walk into whatever it was as well. Adam could hear Jade arguing with him telepathically. [No, Jade. I mean it. Stay away.]
He turned to Damon. It was becoming an effort to think straight. “ I think we’ll head home. Must be some kind of bug or something.” He could tell from the look on Hammond’s face that the general wasn’t buying his excuse, mind you he wouldn’t if the situation were reversed either.
“A bug that suddenly affects both of you, at the same time?” Hammond turned to Damon. “Bill, I can get our doctor to have a look at them if you like.”
Adam stood up, ready to argue and found that his legs wouldn’t hold him. He could also sense an echo of the same pain he was feeling, coming from Megabyte, who was leaning on the wall for support, next to him.
The American was groaning, holding his head in his hands. “Adam, we need to get out of here, now.”
“You’re not going anywhere, young man. No arguments. I ‘m going to get Dr Frasier.” Whatever was wrong with these boys, Hammond thought, they needed medical attention. They looked more as though they were some kind of pain, rather than just feeling off colour as they were claiming. He headed for the reception desk to contact the infirmary.
Damon leaned over and whispered to the two boys. “No one’s looking. Can you teleport? I’ll cover for you.” He didn’t like the idea of them being looked at by a military doctor any more than he imagined they did themselves.
Adam concentrated and tried to gather up enough energy to teleport. The whine in his head was getting worse. He could feel himself fighting to stay conscious. He shook his head and immediately wished that he hadn’t. He turned to Damon. “There’s…something…here…affecting …us.” It was an effort just to get the words out. “It …hurts...I can’t...” He closed his eyes and let the blackness engulf him.
Megabyte turned to his father. “ Dad, I can’t sense Adam, and I can’t teleport. You’ve got to find whatever this thing is and stop it.” Damon noticed he was gritting his teeth, and there was a sense of panic in his voice as he spoke. He still had his hands over his ears, as though he was trying to shut out a loud noise.
“Hang in there, Megabyte.” Damon noticed that Adam was unconscious, and that Megabyte was looking like he wasn’t too far behind. He lent over his son, who was now on his knees on the floor, feeling very worried. What on earth was George working on here?
He looked around. It looked as though they were running out of choices. He’d just have to worry about George finding out about the Tomorrow People when, and if, it happened. “Hurry up, where’s that doctor?”
“Bill, are you sure you’ve told me everything?” asked Hammond. “Like why only your son and his friend have collapsed and no one else? Look you can trust me. I’m only trying to help.”
Damon glanced over at the two boys hooked up to life support. He was becoming more and more worried as he saw how pale they looked, whatever had caused them to collapse, it obviously only affected Tomorrow People. He wondered again how his son and his friends always seemed to manage to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Doctor Frasier had said that they were getting weaker, their energy levels were just draining away. She couldn’t find any reason for it and she didn’t know how to stop it either. Damon didn’t think telling her why, whatever it was, was only affecting Adam and Megabyte would exactly help her…
Damon’s train of thought was interrupted by his cellphone ringing. “Excuse me George.” He walked out into the corridor as he answered the call, and didn’t notice that Hammond was still close enough to hear what he was saying.
“Hello, Ami. How did you know..? “
“Of course, Megabyte…Yes I’m very concerned as well. They’re hooked up to life support at the moment. The doctor doesn’t know what to do.”
“No. I haven’t told her everything. I was just thinking whether I should or not. I know Adam wouldn’t want to, but if I don’t, she won’t know what she’s dealing with. Mind you, I’m not sure she will know what to do anyway.”
There was a long pause. Hammond correctly surmised that the person on the other end of the phone had handed it to someone else. He felt guilty listening in to a private conversation, but hell; he had to find out what was wrong with these kids so that Frasier could help them. Damon was obviously hiding something, but for the life of him, he couldn’t imagine what could be so important that he would risk his own son’s life for it.
“Jade, Ami tells me that Megabyte sent you something before he passed out.” Another pause. “What kind of images?” Damon thought for a moment “ What was the man’s name? Okay, I’ll look into it. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if there is any change at this end. Contact me if you get anything from either of them, anything at all.”
He turned to Hammond, his face grim. ”George, we need to talk. In private. Is there somewhere we can go?” He poked his head in the door of the infirmary and glanced again at the still forms lying there. He gestured to Dr Frasier, at the same time hoping he was about to do the right thing. At least the other Tomorrow People agreed with him that it was the only course of action left open. ”Could you let me know if there’s any change, any change at all?”
Close window to return to Author's Index
Return to Dryer Space