Upon return, Colonel Mitchell was admitted immediately into the infirmary's care to observe him after his ordeal on Galar. The Colonel underwent tests to make sure his memory and other brain functions were intact after the extensive manipulation that had happened.
From a medical perspective I am confident that the manipulation has not temporarily damaged any nerves. From what I have learned from the other SG-1 members, the Galarians do not seem to exhibit any extreme behavioral changes due to the manipulation. However, one cannot be sure what ones mind will do when faced with a memory that was not theirs to begin with. Dr. Jackson insisted that the Galarian scientists wiped the memory from Colonel's mind, but that does not wipe if from other parts of the Colonel. I recommend he take a few days leave and sees a professional for at least three sessions before returning to active off world duty.
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As I walked away from General Landry's office I saw Sam waiting at the end of the hall.
"The General is free now," I said as I approached her. She smiled and nodded.
"I had seen him before you came. I actually wanted to talk to you. While we were on the planet, and the scientists where trying to pin the murder on Cam, he had to, how do I put it, 'give up' some real memories," Sam said as we started down the hall.
"Makes sense. Than for real testing there would be a baseline."
"Exactly. So he delved into his childhood and some of his past. It was interesting now that we know a bit more about Cam than he had told us," Sam said smiling at me. "But I guess I felt kind of guilty being the one helping him through some of the tough memories, I kept thinking you would have been better to help him."
"I remember some things the same way Cam does, other things happened after our parents divorce. What were some of the memories he used as a baseline?"
"Well they needed to be memories that were somewhat happy but not extraordinarily painful either. He remembered when your dad came back from a combat flight and had been injured."
"Ya I remember that. Mom had made the divorce final shortly after that. It was not a happy time for our family."
"But Cam also showed how your father was determined to walk again," Sam said as we sat on one of the couches on Level 17's small rest area.
"Cam has that fighter spirit. Mom wanted a quiet life after moving so much and being a test pilot's wife. It took a lot out of her to stay strong and when he got hurt that last time, and so severe, she could not hold on any longer. I think the farm and Billy DeBarr's quiet life was her ideal after dad's career."
"And you and Cam would visit?"
"Of course. Mom did not like dad's dangerous spirit for, what she always says is 'the reckless abandonment streak in you kids,'" I said giving a small laugh. "We would spend summers on the farm or down at Dad's visiting with some of his friends and marveling in his amazing career. Another reason why we are Air Force," I said grinning.
Sam smiled and nodded, but then cast her eyes downward. She sighed and then looked up. "I don't know how much Cam told you of his time as a combat fighter, but when we had to compare the implanted memory to a real memory of the same magnitude, Cam thought of a mission where he was ordered to deliver a bomb on a convoy, but then found out later it was not military personnel as he was told but civilians. It really tore him up afterwards."
"We all have been ordered to something that we question afterwards. Cam does not talk much of the bomb runs he did. I remember him vaguely telling me something about that one thought. Very hard to wipe something like that out of ones mind, no matter how much manipulation."
Sam and I sat in silence for a few more moments and then we parted to go back to our offices. A shadow moved as I entered my once more temporary office and I smiled.
"Look in the top drawer," I said, sitting in the visitor chair. The shadow moved and I heard the drawer open. It sat in my chair and I vaguely saw it bow its head as it studied the picture in the semi darkness.
Clicking on the small desk lamp Cam clutched the picture I always carried with me. Cam and I at around 15 and Dad standing beside a F-14, grins on all our faces and a helmet under my arm, Cam placing a foot on his and doing a macho man pose, while Dad was in between us with his arms around us.
"I remember when..."
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Ripple Effect