The Tale Of The Four

Sleep was not something that would come easy to Janna tonight, she
knew that. Getting the four back to her place, however, was going to
be even harder. Security guards patrolled the streets, and were
usually suspicious of anyone who was out late at night.

"Do you think that any of your people would be able to help
us?" Sam
asked as they sat inside of Janna's office, trying to devise a
plan
to save Shea from the Goa'uld.

"My people are naturally born skeptics." Jana shook her head.
"I
doubt that they'll even want to know who you are."

Jack leaned closer to Sam and they began to talk in hushed
whispers. "They aren't very advanced, why is Anubis so
interested in
them?" Jack asked.

"I think that the fact that they are `unclaimed' is
enough to warrant
interest with him sir." She replied, shrugging.

"We were advanced." Janna told them. "About twenty years
ago, there
was an accident. Some of the scientists were trying to make som kind
of cure for a deadly disease on our planet and there was a large
explosion. No one was hurt, but it wiped out any form of technology
on the planet. All of our computers, telephones and electricity was
gone. We managed to et the electricity back, but the computer
technology is lost, along with so much of our history that was stored
on them. We call it the bad time." She explained.

"That might be why Anubis is so interested." Sam decided,
thinking
aloud. "If you were able to keep your planet and the
society's
together with a limited amount of panic, he'd see your race as a
strong one, and they are always looking for strong hosts."

"Try not to misunderstand what Janna is saying, we weren't
always so
together after that accident. There was mass panic for a few years
but eventually, our leaders saw that panicking wouldn't bring
what we
lost back, so we worked together." Mark answered and Sam nodded
thoughtfully.

"Are you going to help us?" Mike, who had remained silent for
most of
the evening, asked.

"We are going to try." Teal'c answered.

~*+*~

Chapter 12

~*+*~

It had been decided, after little debate, that SG-1 would stay at the
dig site rather than risk one of the guards seeing them if they tried
to get back to Janna's place. They had set up their sleeping bags
behind Janna's desk, out of sight, while Janna, Mike and Mark
kept an
eye on the Stargate and the entrance to the dig site.

Teal'c was deep in Kel'no'reem, Jonas was sound asleep,
snoring
softly, all of the excitement getting to him, the three Sheans were
outside and Sam and Jack were still wide awake, talking quietly.

"Do you think they really understand what's coming?" Sam
asked
quietly, keeping an eye on the entrance to the tent.

"I think that they have some understanding, but they can't
really
comprehend what's going to happen to this planet." Jack
sighed.

"Do you have a plan, sir?" She asked.

"I think the best thing we can do is hide out and see what
we're up
against, and hopefully strike before the killing starts." He
replied.

"Maybe Janna and I should go for a walk through the streets
tomorrow." Sam suggested.

"Why?" Jack asked, concerned for her safety.

"Sir, if there is a Goa'uld hiding out here, we should try
and get a
heads up on who it is. Janna and I could go for a walk and see if I
can sense anything." She shrugged.

Jack sighed, and, reluctantly, saw the logic in her suggestion and
agreed. "Okay, but aren't you going to stick out like a sore
thumb in
your fatigues?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll borrow something off Janna." She shrugged.

Jack thought back to the long skirt, and tight, midriff baring, top
that Janna had been wearing and suddenly he was a whole lot more keen
on the idea.

"We should get some sleep." Jack instructed, and the two
closed their
eyes, trying to sleep.

~*+*~

Sam tried once again, in vein, to pull the top down to cover more of
her stomach. She worked out everyday, yes, and she had a reasonable
figure, but she didn't feel the need to bare it to the world. She
had
begged Janna to find her something a little less…..revealing, but
there was a festival or something on at the moment, and all of the
women were dressing like this.

"Sam," Janna smiled brightly, "You look wonderful, blue
suits you
perfectly!" She exclaimed happily, proud that she had made the
right
choice with the outfit.

Sam looked at Janna's own, red outfit that was identical to
hers. "Thank you," She smiled, self-consciously. "You
look nice too."

"We should get going." Janna smiled, holding her hand out to
her.

Sam nodded and accepted the hand. Apparently, it was one of the
traditions of the planet, if you were walking with someone, then you
were supposed to hold hands. Stepping out of Janna's office, Sam
watched as her teammate's eyes bulged at seeing her.

Jack couldn't help but let out a low whistle. "The natives
certainly
like dressing you in blue, don't they?"

Sam felt a blush creep up from her neck to her face. "Yes
sir." She
nodded, unable, or unwilling, to contain her smile at his comment.

"You look most attractive Major Carter." Teal'c bowed,
and then
busied himself with helping Mike and Mark attempt to translate some
of the symbols on the Stargate that the other archeologists were
unable to figure out.

"You look great Sam." Jonas nodded, and walked over to help
the two.

"I'll wait for you outside." Janna smiled, exiting the
tent.

Sam watched her go before turning back to look at her commanding
officer, who she found staring at her intently. "Maybe this
wasn't
such a good idea after all….." She muttered, feeling her skin
burn
under the intensity of his gaze.

"No I think it was a *very* good idea, a very good one
indeed." He
nodded slowly.

"I feel like I'm wearing nothing more than a towel." She
admitted,
grimacing, once again tugging on her rather short shirt.

"You look good Sam." He told her earnestly.

"You haven't called me Sam since we had Apophis captured on
base."
She whispered gently.

"You haven't called me Jack since you were infested with
Jolinar." He
returned, equally quiet.

Sam chewed on her bottom lip before replying. "We both know
why…..sir." She told him, adding the `sir' as an
afterthought.

"I don't."

"Regulations….." She started, but he cut her off.

"Regulations don't stop me having a friendship with
Teal'c
or…..Jonas. They didn't stop me having a friendship with
Daniel, or
Doc Fraiser…..you and I seem to be the only ones without a real
friendship because of them." He sighed.

Sam echoed his sigh, knowing that he was right. "We can't
have that
kind of friendship sir, you know that."

"Why not? You think I'm some teenager who can't keep it
in his
pants?" He asked, slightly offended that she might think that
way. "Besides, `Dad' has already told me….." He
trailed off when he
realised what he was about to say.

"What did he say?" She demanded, hands on her hips, unaware
that it
raised the shirt even more.

"He said to keep it in my pants until you were ready or he'd
chop it
off." Jack grimaced, remembering that conversation well…..and
not
with fondness.

"Oh….." She couldn't help but blush even more.
"Remind me to have a
friendly little chat with my father, will you?"

"He's only looking out for his little girl." Jack
reminded her gently.

"I know, but he can't rule my life." She replied.

"But you'll let the regulations rule your life?" He
quipped,
regretting it the moment he stopped speaking.

"That's different." She whispered, feeling her eyes well
up, and
hating herself even more because of it.

"How?" He asked softly, taking her hand. When she didn't
try to pull
away, he entangled his fingers with her own.

She looked down at their hands before speaking. "Dad cant make me
stand trial for…..loving you. The regulations will." She told
him,
willing him to understand.

"General Hammond knows." He told her quietly.

Sam's head shot up, eyes wide. "How?"

"When you were…..taken by the Entity, he and I had
words." Jack
admitted.

"Why haven't I been transferred then? Surely he wouldn't
want us on
the same team if he…..knows?"

"He understands. He knows that we haven't done anything yet,
and he
trusts us." Jack shrugged.

Sam nodded slowly, gathering her errant thoughts together before
speaking. "Then if we do what we both want, we'll break his
trust."

With that, she dropped his hand and walked out of the tent to join
Janna.

~*+*~

"So….." Janna started as the two walked hand in hand
through the
masses of people lining the streets for the rising of the moon
festival. "Am I going to be able to…..'feel'
this…..person too?" She
asked. Janna was tempted to ask if Sam was alright, her watery eyes
as she exited the tent had worried her, but she figured now probably
wasn't a good time.

"Maybe. You can sense Teal'c and I, so you should be able to.
But,
then again, you've probably been in contact with this person
before."
Sam shrugged, unsure.

"I hope not…..it gives me the creeps to think that someone so
evil
could be someone I know." She shuddered unconsciously.

"I know, but you get used to it." Sam smiled slightly.

"You do?" Janna asked, surprised.

"You've read those books, so you know what's inside of
Teal'c….." She
pointed out, eyebrow raised.

"I almost forgot about junior!" She exclaimed and the two
women
couldn't help but laugh, until they both felt the hairs on their
neck
stand up on ends. "Do you feel that?" Janna asked, terrified
of the
feeling coursing through her.

"Yes. It's somewhere nearby. Keep smiling Janna, look like
you're
enjoying the festival." Sam instructed quietly, keeping her own
smile
plastered on her face.

"How do we know who it is?" Janna asked, looking around her
and Sam,
frantically.

"We don't." She shook her head, and bit her bottom lip in
concentration for a moment. "Didn't you say that part of the
festival
was going up to people and just talking to them?" Sam asked,
formulating a plan.

"Yes, we go and talk to people that we don't know or
haven't seen
very often, the coming of the new moon is supposed to mean the coming
of a new friend, why do you think we should just…..oh!" She
finished,
seeing the point. "Do we just walk up and ask someone if
they're
evil?" She whispered.

"No, we talk, and hope the feeling gets more intense. If it does,
we've found our Goa'uld." Sam replied, walking in the
direction of a
group of women. "Let's go."

~*+*~

Janna and Sam walked away from the last three women they had been
talking to, none of them invoking the feeling that they were looking
for. "Is it just me, or are we getting no where?" Janna
asked, as
they walked to Ally's.

"Patience is a virtue." Sam reminded her.

"Janna!" Ally cried, coming up to hug her fondly. "You
have brought a
friend to the festival?" He asked, looking at Sam.

Sam studied the man in front of her, he was virtually bald with a
thick gray beard covering half of his face, slightly on the pudgy
side…..she couldn't help but be reminded of General Hammond,
except
for the beard of course. "Hi." She smiled slightly wary.

"I am Ally, owner of this shop and friend to Janna. Are you a
friend
of Janna's?" He asked.

"Yes." Sam nodded.

Ally smiled warmly, "Then I am also a friend of yours!"

Janna stepped in at that point, sensing Sam's discomfort.
"Ally, this
is Samantha, she's an old friend who's come to town for the
festival." She told him, winking at Sam to play along.

"Then you may have whatever you please as my gift to you,
celebrating
the rising of the new moon!" he announced, moving to return
behind
the counted.

Sam looked at Janna questioningly. "Ally is a friend, and he has
the
best coffee in town. He's just offered us a free meal or
beverage."
She explained.

"Why did you tell him my full name thought, why not just
Sam?" She
asked, genuinely curious.

"Because we don't really shorten names on this planet. For
some
reason, we never do." She shrugged.

"But Mike…..? I thought that his name was short for
Michael?"

"No, if his name was Michael then we would call him Michael, not
Mike. It's just the way things are done here." She told her.

"Okay." Sam shrugged, unwilling to doubt Janna about her
people.

The two women moved to stand in front of the large menu board that
was set up behind the counter. Sam couldn't help but notice how
similar all of the beverages on the board were to Earth. Latte's,
cappachino's, coke, sprite…..they had it all.

"What would you like?" Ally asked, treating them to a large
smile.

"I'll have a Latte to go please." Janna responded,
looking at Sam
expectantly.

"Um…..I'll have a black coffee to go please." She
smiled, unsure
whether or not the similarities in names to earth's beverages
would
mean that they tasted the same…..or that they had the same
ingredients for that matter.

"Coming right up!" He smiled. "You can wait outside at
your usual
table, I will bring them!" He smiled, ushering them out of the
door.

The women sat down together and were relieved to finally be able to
drop hands. "So, Ally seems nice." Sam smiled, watching him
through
the window as he made their coffee.

"He is, and he's a sweet old soul. Lost his wife in the same
accident
that killed my mother, tragic really. To think that someone wanted to
kill my mother, and ended up killing over one hundred women with
her." Janna sighed, but resumed her smile as Ally brought their
coffee out and hugged both women goodbye, much to Sam's surprise.

"Do you want to keep walking?" Janna asked.

"Yeah, but we've been at it for hours. We'll keep
walking, but head
back to the others." Sam nodded and they picked up their
coffee's and
grabbed hands again before heading towards the Stargate.

~*+*~

Chapter 13

~*+*~

Janna and Sam walked back into the tent, dropping each other's
hand
as they did so they noticed the five men sitting around the Stargate,
dressed in the male dress for the festival. Long pants and a simple
shirt, no midriff's showing. Jack, Sam noticed, was wearing the
same
color that she was.

"Well?" He asked, looking at her.

"No joy." She shook her head sadly.

"It's okay." He reassured, smiling, "I know that you
did your best."
He nodded. "Both of you." He added, feeling the gaze of his
teammate's on him.

"I'm sorry Jack." Janna shook her head. "We felt
something, but we
couldn't pinpoint it." She admitted.

"Don't worry about it Janna. At least we know that the
Goa'uld is
still in this city, that's a bonus."

Janna nodded, but a voice behind her interrupted anything she may
have been about to say. "Who are you?" Turning to see who
their
intruder was, Janna sighed when she saw Jeff Alexandria look at SG-1
strangely.

"Jeff." She sighed. "These are some friends from
Madera." She lied,
glad that she had done well enough at geography to know the names of
some of the foreign neighboring countries.

He didn't look convinced. "You never told me that you had
friends in
Madera." He reminded her.

" I didn't have to tell you everything Jeff, you aren't
my father."
She shot back, standing in a defensive position.

"I thought you trusted me Jan." He sighed.

Janna shook her head and desperately fought to withhold a
growl. "Don't call me that. I did trust you, until you went
behind my
back and tried to get me fired."

"That was for your own good!" He told her, menace lacing his
tone.
Suddenly, Sam was reminded of her time with Jonas Hanson, he'd
often
used the same tone on her to try and get his own way. More often than
not, it had worked.

"Jeff, we are over, we have been for almost two years now. Will
you
let it go already? Now, get out of my dig site." She demanded.

"I put you in charge of this operation Janna, I can have you
removed
if I see fit." He taunted.

Janna nodded slowly. "You could. But I could also have you fired
for
seducing that young brunette that you think I don't know about.
How
old is she Jeff? Fifteen, sixteen?" She asked, watching in glee
as he
paled considerably.

"Don't try to threaten me." He replied, his voice shaky.

"Then don't threaten me. And, don't make me tell you to
leave here
again." She returned.

Jeff, sensing that he was beaten, turned on his heal and left the
tent. Janna turned around to see the eyes of everyone else in the
room fixated on her. "What?" She asked, sitting down next to
Sam, who
had taken a position next to Jack.

"You were with that guy?" Sam asked, socked. Janna seemed so
intelligent, funny, coolheaded and he seemed so…..not.

"For a while." She admitted. "I broke it off when he got
violent."

Sam nodded and tried to ignore just how similar Janna's situation
with Jeff was like the way that things had been between her and Jonas
before he died.

"So….what do we do now?" Jonas asked, looking at each of
the other
members present.

"I believe we should hide!" Teal'c ordered, each of them
hurrying to
move as the Stargate sprang to life, the wormhole forming. Somehow
they managed to grab their BDU's and packs before running into
Janna's office and out the back door.

Finding a large group of trees nearby, they all crouched down behind
them and Jack turned to Sam. "Carter, you're with me. The
rest of
you, stay here. If they find us, then follow Hammond's
orders." He
commanded.

Sam nodded as he counted to three, and they both ran to the back of
the tent to look through some of the gaps. They could see the
Stargate from behind and the open wormhole, which had Anubis'
guards
pouring through it.

The wormhole shut down and Sam guessed that there had to be at least
two hundred guards inside the tent. If the festival hadn't been
so
loud, and the Stargate not been so far from the town then someone
would have heard their arrival.

"Jaffa! Kree!" One of them, obviously the leader of this
operation
shouted. "Our lord Anubis awaits news from us abroad his
mothership.
We are to capture the people and repot to him. Hak'nal!" He
ordered
and they all moved out, staff weapons ready.

Jack moved over to Sam, keeping low to the ground. "Is it just me
or
does it seem like they aren't here to kill people?" He asked,
whispering.

Sam thought for a moment. "I think so sir. They seem to want to
capture the people. Maybe Anubis is looking to find an army in case
he has to fight the system lords, assuming that they reject his
request to re-join them he's going to need a large army to defeat
them." She replied, shrugging.

"Let's hope that you're right and that means that they
wont start
killing people." He prayed.

Sam smiled, but her smile quickly faded as they heard staff
weapon's
firing in the town, and the distinct sound of people screaming could
be heard. Her eye's widened as they realised what was happening,
but
Jack, knowing that there was little they could do at this time,
gently took her hand in his own. "C'mon, we'd better get
back to the
others." He murmured, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze,
which
she returned, grateful for the gesture.

~*+*~

"What do you thinks happening?" Mike asked, also hearing the
people
scream.

"What do you think?" Janna snapped, then sighed. "I'm
sorry Mike, but
what does it sound like they're doing?"

"You're right." He murmured. "What are we going to
do?" He asked,
looking at the two remaining members of SG-1.

"We shall wait until Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter arrive.
Then we
will formulate a plan." Teal'c replied, ushering them to be
quiet.

Sam and Jack came back moments later, both looking grim.
"It's not
good." Jack told them, unnecessarily.

"We noticed." Jonas nodded. "What do we do now?"

"We need a place to hide out, get a plan together. Do you know
somewhere we can go?" He asked Janna, Mike and Mark.

"I know of a place." Mark nodded, standing. "Follow
me." He
instructed, walking in the opposite direction of the dig sit and the
city.

SG-1 and the three occupants of Shea walked towards their hiding
place, which turned out to be a completely camouflaged cabin, where
they could elude capture.

~*+*~

Chapter 14.

~*+*~

The staff fire that they had heard was the sound of the Jaffa firing
their staff weapons into the air to control the people. Prison camps
had been set up, and they were holding the population in separate
camps. The Shean police officers were separated throughout the camps
so that they couldn't organize a way to overthrow the Jaffa.

The streets were lined with people who had refused to go quietly and
had been executed to show the rest of the people what would happen to
the if they didn't cooperate.

Somehow the quote `resistance is futile' had stuck in
Jack's brain.

SG-1 had been planning their attack for the past two days, trying to
cover all of the possible variations of what could happen. Until they
had a plan that they were satisfied with, they had been staying in
the cabin. Several Jaffa patrols had gone past the cabin, but it was
well hidden and they hadn't been spotted yet, which they knew
wouldn't last forever.

Sam and Jack had been sharing the main bedroom with Janna and Mike,
as there were two large beds in there. The other had take up various
positions in the lounge room. Considering how large the cabin was,
Jack was surprised that they hadn't been spotted earlier, but the
river near by would have helped to disguise and noise that they made,
and the foliage would have hidden the building too.

"Sir?" Sam whispered into the darkness. They had been there
for three
nights and spent two in the cabin. On the first night, she and Janna
had shared a bed but somewhere along the long that changed and she
was now sharing a bed with Jack. Although they never had any physical
contact, the close proximity was enough to bring them both comfort.

"What's up?" He muttered, tired. They had been up late
discussing a
plan, and they decided to move sometime the next day.

"Have you decided on a plan?" She asked, folding her hands to
rest
under her head.

"I think the best thing to do is get ourselves loaded up with
weapons, and go in as a bunch of natives coming back from a trip or
something. When the Jaffa come to investigate us, we Zat them twice
and steal their uniforms. Take them out one by one after that."
He
replied, having though it over thoroughly in the darkness of the
night.

"How are we going to conceal the weapons?" She asked, trying
to cover
all of the basics.

"I think that you, me, Teal'c and Janna should go, pretend to
be two
happy couples. With our arms around each other, we can hide the
Zat's. Yours and Janna skirts can hide your 9mm's and ammo if
we suit
up the thong's properly. We could get a couple of knives into our
boots and maybe a P-90 around our shoulders, behind our backs, but
we'd have to be careful. Jonas, Mike and Mark can come in when we
give them the signal and bring the rest of the gear." He sighed.
"I
think that's our best shot." He admitted.

"I trust our decision." She replied.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think that would be our best shot too. But we'll have to
be
careful, get Janna to fill us in on how to be a proper native."

"You weren't spotted when you two went in search of the
Goa'uld the
other day, why would the native conduct change now?"

"Sometimes festivals can change the way people act. Walking
through
the streets was like being at Mardi Gras, they were all carefree, but
now they are being enslaved so I think their attitude may have
changed." She pointed out.

Jack nodded, even though he knew she could barely see the
action. "Good point. So, we get up early, have something to eat
while
we get lessons on their etiquette and then move out."

"We should get some sleep." She announced, unconsciously
moving
closer to him until their legs were resting against each other.

Jack fought to hide the grin that threatened to split his features in
two. "Goodnight Sam." He whispered, on the verge of sleep.

He was almost there when he heard her equally quiet reply.
"Goodnight
Jack."

~*+*~

Waking up had never been so hard for Sam in her life. Wrapped up in
Jack's warm embrace, she found herself surprisingly well rested,
given the situation.

"Sleep well?" He asked, his face still buried in the crook of
her
neck.

"Yes, you?"

"Yes." He smiled, and Sam felt more than saw the action.
"We should
get up and go and tell the others what the plan is." He told her
and
the two reluctantly untangled themselves and headed to the main room.

"Good morning!" Janna greeted them brightly, obviously
pleased at the
position the two slept in last night.

If Sam was honest with herself, Janna's subtle attempt's at
matchmaking her and the Colonel reminded here of Daniel. He would
have, no doubt, found this place fascinating……which made her
miss him
even more. Despite the fact that it had been well over a year since
his ascension.

"Morning." Sam smiled, and the two women set about making
breakfast
while Jack told them what the plan was.

"Does anyone have any questions, comments or feedback on this
plan?"
Jack asked once he had finished explaining the plan.

"Are you confident that we will succeed?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes." Jack nodded without missing a beat, his eyes meeting
Sam's.

"Then that is all I need to know." He nodded solemnly.

Jack shared one last, meaningful, look with Sam before standing from
the table, and clasping his hands together. "Let's suit up
kids." He
announced and the cabin burst to life.

~*+*~

Sam and Jack walked ahead of Teal'c and Janna, their arms around
each
other. Zat's had been hooked into the back of the girl's
shirts and
the guy's pants, with their arms woven around each other, they
were
easily accessible.

"You okay?" Jack asked, giving her waist a tiny squeeze.

"Yeah, just having so much ammo strapped to my legs makes if more
difficult to walk." She smiled.

Jack couldn't help but return her smile. Until, that is, he saw a
flash of silver metal out of the corner of his eyes and realised that
the Jaffa were patrolling the area again, looking for anyone that had
managed to elude capture.

"Batter up." He whispered to Sam, who nodded briefly before
the four
emerged themselves in conversation about the resort that they had
just been to.

"Kree!" One of the Jaffa called.

Sam took a shaky breath before continuing with the charade. "Hi!
Are
you part of the parade?" She asked, altering her voice slightly
to
suit the barely recognizable native accent. "Wow. These costumes
are
*so* much better than last year's." She rolled her eyes, and
looked
at Jack. "Do you remember what they had last year, honey? It was
very
bad, no respect for fashion."

"I know sweetie, but that's only because they didn't have
your
talent." Jack smiled, and bent his head to playfully kiss her
lips.

The Jaffa, obviously unimpressed by their performance, raised his
staff weapon and armed it, aiming it at Sam and Jack with Janna and
Teal'c behind them.

"You will come with me." The guard ordered.

"Where?" Sam asked, tilting her head to rest on Jack's
shoulders.

"You will come with me." He repeated, ignoring her question.

"I don't think so." Jack grinned, and in one quick motion
managed to
pull his Zat from behind Sam's back and shoot the guard twice.

Teal'c worked quickly and quietly to remove the Jaffa's
uniform
before putting it one while Jack shot, and disintegrated the dead
guard.

"Think you can get another four of them out here?" Jack asked
his
friend, handing Teal'c a Zat.

"I will return." He nodded, his voice echoing around the
elaborate
head of the Jaffa uniform. He walked back in the direction that the
guard had come from and pretty soon, his friends could no longer see
him.

Jack kept his arm around Sam, but turned his head to face her.
"You
did good." He told her.

"Thank you sir." She smiled. "Do you think Teal'c
will take long?"
She asked.

"Doubt it. Janna, you should probably hide behind that rock until
we
have a uniform for you." Jack told her and she nodded, stepping
behind a boulder before crouching down behind it.

Sam looked towards the clearing in front of them and saw Teal'c
leading three other Jaffa towards their position.

Jack continued to look at Carter, his eyes flickering over to the
approaching Jaffa. "Sorry about this Carter." He muttered,
using the
hand that wasn't concealing his Zat to cup her face and pull her
lips
to his own.

Annoyed at herself for not being able to contain the moan that came
with the feeling of Jack's tongue slipping past her lips, Sam
brought
her own free hand up to thread through his hair. Pretending to be
thoroughly enjoying their kiss -which really should have taken more
acting than it did- the two became less and less aware of their
surroundings and the Jaffa that had stopped just short of them, staff
weapons armed and pointed in their direction.

Teal'c saw that his friends had appeared to loose all sense of
reality, and decided to speak before their other hands, holding the
Zat's, also began to wander. "Kree!" He ordered in a
rough voice.

Sam and Jack pulled apart, looking guilty and only barely managing to
continue hiding their weapons. "More people from the parade!"
Sam
cried in an excited voice. "What float were you guys on? Is the
parade over yet? Honey, do you think we've missed it?" She
asked Jack.

"I don't know." He shrugged, turning back to the Jaffa.
"I'm sorry
about this, she loves that parade. We've been down at the resort,
kind of a second honeymoon. We were tying to make it back before the
festival of the moon, but we missed the start so we've been
hurrying
to see the parade….."

One of the guards behind Teal'c interrupted him. "Silence! We
demand
that you worship the God Anubis and live under his rule!" He
shouted.

Sam visibly jumped at the harsh tone before she and Jack started
firing at the three guards madly. Teal'c had rolled away from the
others when he saw them about to move and Janna came out from her
hiding place to help her friends defeat them.

Jack groaned as he tried to pull on the metal suit. "How do these
guys run in these things?" He asked to no one in particular,
trying
to walk.

"We are trained in them O'Neill." Teal'c replied.
"But now is not the
time to discuss such things."

Jack blew out a long breath. "You're right T." He nodded
and picked
up his radio. "Jonas, this is O'Neill, come in."

The radio crackled before the sound of Jonas' voice could be
heard. "Come in Colonel, we read you."

"Is everything alright back there?" He asked, helping Sam to
pull on
her heavy, large helmet.

"We're fine colonel, just waiting for your signal." He
replied.

"Consider this your signal. Come down towards the village,
we'll meet
you here and go in together. Understood?"

"Roger that, we'll be there in five." Jonas returned and
the radio
fell silent once more.

"Well, we'd better stay out of sight until they get here."

~*+*~

To be honest, Jack was surprised that three more guards had fell for
the same trick as the last three. But, fate seemed to be on their
side and they had all managed to get a metal suit to hide in.

They had waited for a moment, following their patrol cover, before
returning to the city and the carnage that came with it.

Bodies were few and far between on the main street, but the ones that
were there were black and charred from the burning of the staff
weapon. Sam had almost been tempted to throw up at the sight of a
baby lying in it's mothers arms, burnt to death. Despite having
been
in the Gulf war, and countless battles with the Goa'uld, she
couldn't
help feeling nauseated at the sight of innocent people killed for no
apparent reason.

According to Teal'c, no matter how cooperative the people were
when
they were taken, several of them would be killed as an example to the
others. He had also said that if once person needs to be taught a
lesson, it was usually the one that he was trying to protect that was
killed.

A few bodies were relatively untouched, obviously killed with a Zat
gun, which was less messy, but none the less devastating.

Letting out a shaking breath, Sam forced herself to stop shaking. She
was an officer in the United States Air force and she'd seen
worse,
or so she kept telling herself.

"Carter?" Jack asked, standing next to her as she stared at
the baby
still cradled in his mother's arms.

"I'm fine sir, just thinking." She replied.

"We better move. I know that it's upsetting, but keep in mind
that we
are supposed to be the ones who did this." He reminded her gently.

"I know, but that baby was no possible threat to
them….us." She
replied as they joined the others and began to walk to the prison
camp that had been set up for the Shean people.

"The Goa'uld don't see a child like we do. They only saw
a mother who
was scared out of her mind and trying to protect her baby. And
someone who could be made an example of."

"That doesn't make it any easier."

Jack sighed quietly. "It never does."

They continued to walk behind Teal'c, who had been posing as the
leader of the patrol, all silent. The only sound in the village was
that of the fire's still crackling in the background and their
boots
hitting the stone pathway.

"What are we going to do once we get in there?" Mike asked,
trying to
concentrate on putting one heavy foot in front of the other. He was
an English teacher, not a soldier!

"Asses the situation and hope for an opening." Jack replied.

Teal'c stopped, and armed his staff, the others following suit as
another Jaffa patrol came around the corner from one of the buildings
that Sam recognized as the Heritage café.

"What are you doing here?" The leader of the group asked.

"We have returned from our patrol." Teal'c replied.

"State your destination."

"We were ordered to return to the camps upon completion of our
sweep
of the area."

"Then why are you heading in the opposite direction of the
camps?"
The Jaffa, who Jack instantly named as `cocky', asked.

Teal'c though for a brief moment before replying. "One of my men
heard footsteps coming from your direction. We were inspecting the
sounds before returning."

"Continue on." The guard nodded, a hand across his heart,
bowing.
Teal'c returned the gesture and the seven friends began to walk
back
towards the camps.

Each, in their own way, trying to prepare themselves for what was to
come.

~*+*~

Janna had been scared before. When her mother had died, when her
father had left her, she'd been scared that she would remain an
orphan and be sent to the local orphanage. She'd been scared in
high
school, when everyone was certain of what field of expertise they
wanted to go into, everyone but her.

But this was nothing compared to the true terror she felt when they
walked into the large building that had once been the library, which
was now a prison.

She saw her friends huddled together in groups, petrified. Mike saw
his colleges from the university, and his students, all terrified.
Mark saw his wife, neighbors and friends. SG-1 saw innocent people
about to die or be enslaved.

Everyone, excluding the Jaffa, saw something that they didn't
like.

Jeff Alexandria was cradling an obviously broken arm. Janna
couldn't
help but feel sorry for him, despite the way their relationship had
ended. She saw Ally, barely breathing, Sophia Reed was trying to wipe
the continuously wiping the flowing blood from a gash on his
forehead.

"We have come in the name of the God Anubis!" The leader of
the Jaffa
called, and the seven friends stayed out of sight, keeping their
Zat's aimed at the people on the floor, like the other Jaffa.
"He
demands that you worship him! For there is only one god."

"Our God is not evil!" One of the men called. Janna
recognized him as
the groundskeeper of the university. His name was Thomas, and as
sweet and kind as he was, he had a tendency to say *exactly* what his
was thinking. Many believed that his mouth would get him killed one
day, and Janna watched as the Zat was fired at him twice, realizing
how prophetic the petty taunting had been.

Janna felt a large cry forming in the back of her throat, but managed
to contain it to a small whimper, which thankfully no one but Sam
noticed.

"It's okay." Sam whispered, her voice hidden by the sound
of women
crying for heir lost friend.

"You will worship him, or you will all die!" The Jaffa called.

The room remained silent, only a few sobs punctuating the air as
women clung to each other, shaking uncontrollably.

"There is one among you, chosen by our lord Anubis many moons ago
to
rule this planet. Will this one step forwards now, and show your true
face." He called, and everyone, Jaffa included, looked around for
the
system lord. Janna understood, that whoever stepped forwards was the
one responsible for killing her mother and the other hundred women in
that fire.

She held her breath and saw who stood up, eyes flashing, and walked
towards the Jaffa.

Sophia Reed.

~*+*~

Chapter 15

~*+*~

Janna stared in disbelief, watching as the woman who had taken her in
and cared for her walked towards their enemy, her eyes flashing an
evil gold. She showed no look of fear or contempt towards their
captors as she stood before the leader of the Jaffa, looking at him
defiantly.

"Lord, no….." Mark whispered, trying to refrain from the
urge to
vomit at the sight of his wife, whom he had been married to for over
twenty years, standing in front of their enemy, talking to them in a
language he didn't understand.

The Jaffa leader kneeled before Sophia, his head down.
"Rise." She
commanded, in an ugly voice. "There are three missing."

"We were forced to shoot many people in the street while
gathering
these people together, these three that you speak of may have been
killed." The Jaffa answered.

"The three I speak of were not present at the festival, they have
eluded capture. I know this because I am familiar with the three.
Your god Anubis will no be amused when he sees you have failed
him!"
She shouted.

"I am sorry." The Jaffa lowered his head again, and
didn't look up.

Sophia turned and looked at the people before her. "I am Rethria,
loyal servant to the God Anubis, your god. You will worship him. If
you are faithful to him, he shall reward you with many great things,
as he has done for me. But if you disobey his rule, then you shall
all be destroyed and your planet will be left in ruins."

Kerrie, on of Sophia's oldest friends stood up. "Why are you
talking
like that Sophia? This is your home too, yet you speak of it as if it
were nothing more than dirt."

"I am Rethria!" She insisted. "This planet is nothing
more than a
rock drifting through space to me! I am here to serve my lord
Anubis."

"Sophia, you of all people must know that we will never serve nor
worship this person that you speak of." Kerrie protested.

"Anubis is a god and you will all learn to worship him or you
will
die!"

"We will fight." She replied adamantly, and sat down again
before a
trigger-happy Jaffa got the wrong idea and shot her.

~*+*~

The air was tense, punctuated by a few lone sobs of the women who had
lost their husbands, children, or loved ones. Six villagers had been
brought up to the front of the group, all bound and gagged.

Sophia, or Rethria as she was demanding to be called, was standing in
front of them, Zat in her hand. Her eyes were flashing every few
moments, as if the Goa'uld was trying desperately to maintain
control, but Sam though that maybe that was just her own wishful
thinking.

The Jaffa were watching the villagers in shifts, and Teal'c had
already been sent with the first group to rest. Sam and the Colonel
were told that their shift would be over when the others returned,
and they would have three hours to Kel'no'reem and regain
their
strength.

When the leader of the Jaffa, Malarek, told them of the plan, Sam had
been worried that they would be discovered because they had to take
their helmet's off. However, Rethria had decided it better to
leave
them on because many of the Jaffa were turned from other
Goa'uld's
and they make have come up against each other in battle.

They couldn't have each other fighting now, could they?

~*+*~

SG-1 had been waiting, and pretending to be loyal Jaffa for three
days. All they needed was the right chance to move, and they could-
hopefully-end all of this now.

While most of the people who were being held in the library were in
reasonable condition, a few more had been executed on the whim of
Rethria. She seemed to think that it was making her look more
powerful, but in Sam's eyes it was just confirming to the people
that
she wasn't the sweet old woman that they had known.

Sam, Janna and Jack were currently resting near each other in the
Jaffa rest camp that had been set up outside of the library.

"We move in four hours Carter, get some sleep." Jack
whispered to her.

"How did you know that I was awake under all of this metal?"
She
asked, trying to find a comfortable was to lay in her helmet.

"I know you." He replied simply, and offered no further
elaboration.

~*+*~

Chapter 16

~*+*~

Their plan had been a full frontal assault, but the Jaffa from other
camps were coming to the library, bringing their hostages with them.
Sam, Teal'c and Jonas had been ordered to help the other Jaffa
transfer the Shean's to the main camp, which had made it easy to
smuggle some of the captives away from the Jaffa.

Every one that they could help get away, were ordered to head for the
cabin where SG-1 had taken refuge before coming back to the town. if
the people were discovered then they weren't to mention anything
about friendly Jaffa.

Sam knew that they wouldn't be able to sneak everyone out, and
sooner
or later Rethria was going to notice the diminishing numbers. She had
no doubt that they would be punished when they were discovered, but
the longer they waited to help the people, the longer Anubis had to
plan whatever he was going to do with them.

Grabbing three people, Sam pulled them back slightly from the
others. "Don't scream." She ordered, in the native accent
that she
had picked up from Janna.

"Please do not hurt us, we will comply with any orders you
give." One
of the teenagers, obviously trying to protect his mother begged.

"I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Sam and I'm a
friend of
Janna's. Do you know her?" She asked, continuing to march
them
forward until they could reach a dark ally.

"I do. I was down at the dig site with her, writing a paper for
my
high….."

"That's lovely, but we don't have time." Sam snapped.
"Listen, and
listen very carefully. When we reach this ally, I want you to go down
it and keep in the shadows, head for a cabin on the east side of the
river. You'll be safe there, and tell the others to stay quiet.
If
the other Jaffa discover you on your way there, don't mention
that I
helped you or I won't be able to get anyone else out."

"Yes ma'am." He nodded frantically.

As they reached the ally, the three that Sam had pulled back quietly
walked down until she couldn't distinguish them from the shadows.
Thus far, she estimated that they had saved about a hundred people,
but there were still thousands being crammed into the library.

The Jaffa hadn't bothered with the other continent's just
yet, and as
far as SG-1 knew, they weren't aware that there were any other
people
on this planet. Sam hoped to keep it that way.

"Sam." Jonas hissed, coming to fall into step beside her.

"How many did you get away?" She asked quietly.

"Twenty."

"Why such a big group?" She demanded. They had agreed to take
a
maximum of five per group to minimize the chance of being discovered.

"Because they were a religious group of some sort and refused to
leave each other. I didn't have time to argue."

"Understood. I think we'll be taken off duty after this lot
are taken
into the library, which means that Colonel O'Neill, Mike, Mark
and
Janna are going to have to get as many others off to the cabin as
possible."

"Let's hope they have more luck than Teal'c did."
Jonas replied,
surveying the area around them.

The leader of the camp had placed Teal'c up the front with him, so
sneaking any people away was virtually impossible. It would set them
back a little, but if Jonas just sent twenty people, they weren't
that far behind.

"Sam, are you sure that the other four aren't here?" He
asked
urgently.

She paused briefly as one of the other Jaffa passed her on his way to
the leader of this group. "Yes, they're back at the library,
why?"

"Because I just saw a Jaffa smuggle seven people down one of the
ally's."

~*+*~

Rethria sat on an elaborate throne that had been assembled, in a
position to watch over the entire camp. She had food surrounding her,
and enjoyed taunting the people with it.

The Sheans hadn't exactly been emaciated, but their food and
water
rations were scarce and most of them were injured so their water
rations went towards cleaning their wounds.

Jack had been waiting by the door. His job was to signal the return
of the newest group of prisoners, and then gather twelve Jaffa
together to take to the next camp. Sixteen different camps had been
set up throughout the village, and four had been brought back to the
library thus far.

Minus a hundred or so of course.

Rethria and her loyal Jaffa had yet to notice the missing people, but
as groups were coming back, some of the Sheans were starting to
notice that people they thought were in those groups were now missing.

Thankfully, they hadn't kicked up a stink about it and alerted
Rethria to the fact that she was missing some of her hostages. God
only knew what she'd do if she realised.

Jack saw Sam's group heading back and signaled to the other Jaffa
guarding the door with him to go and inform Rethria.

~*+*~

"Which one was it?" Sam asked as she and Jonas sat near the
camp fire.

Most of the Jaffa were deep in Kel'no'reem but some of them were away
from each other, their helmets down as they ate. Sam thought that
Rethria was certainly going to a lot of trouble to ensure that none
of the Jaffa knew who each other were, but she wasn't complaining.

Jonas scanned the camp, looking for the Jaffa that he had seen
earlier. "That one over there, with those four Jaffa who seem to
have
come from Yu's army."

"I see him. I think I might just go and have a little chat with
our
friend." She muttered.

"Sam…..are you sure that's wise? What if he wasn't
trying to do what
we were and you expose us?"

"I won't. don't worry so much Jonas, I know what I'm
doing." She
reassured, walking over to the group of five Jaffa who were
discussing Anubis and his latest victory in battle. "I wish to
speak
to you." She told them, pointing got the Jaffa hat Jonas had seen
earlier.

"You may speak."

"My words are not for the ears of others." She replied.

The Jaffa nodded and rose to his feet, following her to the edge of
the camp where they wouldn't be overheard. "Of what do you
wish to
speak to me about?"

"Who is your God?" She asked.

"Lord Anubis is the one true God."

"And you worship him?"

"Yes?"

"And Rethria?"

"She is a loyal servant of my God, I worship her also."

"Then for what purpose were you sending these slaves into
ally's?"
Sam could hear the other Jaffa swallowing hard as he tried to think
of a plausible answer. When he failed to reply, she
continued. "Retract your helmet."

"That is against Rethria's rule. She has clearly stated that
we are
to remain anonymous to each other!" He protested.

"Retract your helmet or I will have you killed for allying
yourself
with these natives. I will then have your friends killed for being
allied with you."

The Jaffa nodded, and his hand slid to a button on his neck plate,
concealed with more metal. The head retracted and Sam gasped at who
she saw.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice returning to
normal.

"You know of me?"

"Of course I do, you are host to the oldest and wisest
Tok'ra. And
she has one twisted sense of humor."

"Sam?"

"Yes Dad, it's me." She nodded, and retracted her own
helmet to
reveal her face to her father.

"Thank God you found me, we've been looking for you guys
everywhere!"
He exclaimed, barely managing to stop himself from hugging her. Jaffa
hugging each other generally didn't look to good.

"I'll ask again, what are you doing here?"

"George called me. He said that you guys didn't check in with
him
like you were supposed to, and he asked if I could bring some of the
other Tok'ra here in a Teltak and see what was happening."

"But Jonas saw you sneaking people down the ally?"

"Well, we knew what you were doing, so we decided to help."

Sam gave him a quizzical look. "Then how did you know where we
were
sending them?"

"We didn't, so we had to wait until you gave instructions and
we told
our groups to follow the people that you sent."

"Thanks." She smiled, "How many people came with
you?" She asked,
pushing the same button to slide her helmet back into place,
gesturing for him to do the same.

"Four others, I know that it's not really much, but they were
all we
could spare. And getting the uniforms meant that it took us longer to
get here than anticipated." He replied, following her lead and
sliding his own helmet back into place.

"How are you keeping track of each other?"

"Bionic Woman." Jacob replied, grinning inside of his helmet.

"What?"

"You remember the show, Bionic Woman?"

"Vaguely, wasn't the one with Lindsay Wagner in it?"

"Exactly. Our code is just that. If we aren't sure who our
operatives
are, we walk up and say `bionic woman' and if they are who we
think
they are, then the reply is…..?" He waited for her to figure
it out.

"The six million dollar man!"

"That's right. Tomorrow it will be Star Trek the next
generation,
with the reply of either Voyager or Deep space nine."

"Very cleaver." She admitted.

"Selmak says that it was her idea."

"I'm sure she does." Sam smiled, gesturing for the two to
return to
Jonas.

~*+*~

Jack wished that for one moment he could get out of the damn metal
suit that he had been living in for the past four days. It was hot,
he was sweating and there was a strange smell coming from the
juncture of his feet.

While they had to remove certain…..parts of the suit when
bladders
needed to be taken care of, and any more than that was punishable by
death. He couldn't quiet work out why Rethria was so determined
to
keep the Jaffa anonymous to each other, but while it was concealing
him and the rest of his team, he figured that the stench was worth
putting up with.

Almost two hundred people had now been smuggled out to the cabin, and
while Jack hadn't been there since they came to the camps, he was
fairly certain that the cabin would prove to be insufficient in the
task of accommodating so many people.

Sooner or later, the refugees would have to find somewhere else to
hide, and Jack wasn't very certain how good at that they would be.

Sam crawled over to him, joining him on the bank of the river.

His head had been retracted to eat-as had Sam's-but she was
keeping a
fair distance away from him to maintain the air of professionalism.
If they were spotted-helmet's down and chatting-then they would
be
killed.

And that would be a bad thing.

"Hey sir."

"Hey."

"You okay?"

"Yes…..no." He admitted with a deep sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate sitting around, waiting for Rethria to execute the
next `example' or for Anubis to show up and start implanting
the
natives."

"I know how you feel sir. But what else can we do?"

"I think that we may have to re-evaluate our next plan. There are
only three other camps that the Jaffa plan to bring back to the
library, and we won't have much of a chance to get any more out.
And
besides, I think the cabin will be pretty full as it is."

"Agreed, but what do we do next?" She asked, taking a
reluctant bite
of the Jaffa equivalent to an MRE. Sam had been in hospitals that had
better tasting food than the crap that they ate here.

It was no wonder Teal'c loved the commissary food so much.

And that was really saying something.

"Take the Jaffa out one by one."

"How do we explain that to Rethria when she notices not only the
diminishing numbers of her newly found slaves, but also her
Jaffa?"

"Let's just hope that she doesn't notice until it's
too late."

Hope?

Was that their last resort?

~*+*~

Chapter 17

~*+*~

The Jaffa were slowly falling, and Rethria seemed to be none the
wiser.

Thus far, they had smuggle-with the help of the Tok'ra-about
three
hundred people out of the camp and killed almost sixty Jaffa. But the
lowering numbers of metal suits were beginning to become noticeable

A little too noticeable for Sam's liking.

After all, there were only so many people that they could get rid of
before it was so obvious that Rethria couldn't not notice.

Jack sat himself down next to Sam-at least a Jaffa who he assumed,
and hoped was his second in command. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I have a new plan."

"What?"

"I want you to sneak off back to the cabin."

"What!? Why?"

"Because someone needs to check on the natives."

Sam shook her head, confused. "But why me? Why not….."

"I don't want you here when Rethria finally realizes what's been
going on. I don't want anything to happen to you." He paused. "Your
dad would kill me."

She giggled, despite herself. He could never say anything sweet
without adding a joke to cover his vulnerable side. "I don't want to
leave you here alone, without back up."

Jack waves a hand at her. "We have dad and his buddies, and Jonas and
Teal'c, plus the natives. We'll be fine." He protested.

She frowned. "I'll go, with reservations."

"Good."

~*+*~

The outskirts of the town were incredibly quiet, but it was a nice
change for Sam. She had grown used to the sounds of cowering people
as they huddled together in fear of their lives.

If her sense of direction was as good as she hoped, then Sam figured
that the cabin wasn't far from where she was. O'Neill had told her to
follow the river, it would give her the best chance of finding the
hidden cabin quickly.

Suddenly, Sam found herself facing the wrong end of a staff
weapon. "What are you doing here?" The man demanded

He was dirty, having jumped up from his hiding place behind a moss
covered rock. But he was undoubtedly a Shean.

Sam held her hands out in front of her and slowly brought one up to
retract her helmet. "My name is Samantha Carter, I was sent here to
help your people."

"You are the one who sent my mother and father to this cabin, are you
not?"

Truthfully, Sam couldn't have picked out the people she helped in a
line up, but she wasn't about to tell this man that, in case he
became a bit too trigger-happy. "Yes, that would have been me or one
of my friends."

"Why are you here?" He asked, disarming the staff weapon before
turning it upright.

"I came here to check on your people, and see if they were alright."
She explained.

"The cabin is most full, but the underground chambers have helped to
house many of my people."

"Underground chambers?"

~*+*~

"Where's Sam?" Jacob asked, as he and Jack escorted the last group of
hostages back to the library.

It was only a small group of about fifty, so there was no way that
they could sneak any more people out. Jack was fairly certain that
one of Rethria's loyal Jaffa had counted the number of people. Maybe
she was noticing the ever-decreasing numbers?

"I sent her back to the cabin."

"Why, we could use her if things turn ugly."

"Someone needed to check on the natives."

Jacob nodded his head briefly. "Fair enough. Now what's the real
reason?"

"I didn't want her to be in any danger."

"Jack-are you in love with my daughter?"

"Jacob, she's my second in command and you know that I value her as
an officer and a friend. I would never jeopardize her career." He
protested.

"I know all of that. And I wasn't asking as a retired General, I was
asking as a concerned father. Are you in love with her."

"Yes." Jack's shoulders slumped with the admission.

The two men continued to walk in silence for a few moments, both lost
in their own thoughts. Until, finally, Jacob spoke again.

"So…..when should I expect more grandchildren?"

~*+*~

The underground chambers that Graham-the man who'd almost shot Sam
with a staff weapon-had spoken of were huge, and extended for miles
around the cabin. There were so many tunnels, it would be easy to get
lost.

Sam estimated that she'd been exploring the tunnels for well over an
hour when she found it. The device was small, and partially hidden by
growing weeds from the surface above them, but the technology was
familiar.

Asguard.

It had only been a glint of light that had reflected off the surface
from her torch that had made it visible to her. The round object
didn't look like any form of Asguard technology that they'd
encountered before, but the writing told her all she needed to know.

Pressing the small silver button in the center of the device, Sam was
immediately transported to the high council chamber-at least, she
assumed it was. Jack's descriptions could be vague at times.

"Major Carter." One of them bowed his head slightly, and she
recognized Thor at the side of the room.

"What am I doing here?" She asked, looking around, confused.

"You touched a device that was designed for instantaneous
transportation to our chambers. We only leave such devices hidden on
our protected planets." Thor replied.

Suddenly, it clicked. "Is Shea a protected planet?"

"It is."

"When was the last time you checked it out?"

"We have not been passed that area of space in several months."

"Anubis is attacking."

The Asguard spoke quickly and quietly to each other for a brief-
although it seemed long-moment before turning back to Sam.

"We will send an Asguard mother ship back with you to rectify this
problem."

~*+*~

Jacob wanted to step forward, raise his hand…..anything to stop her
from doing this. But he couldn't risk the mission for the safety of
one man. Even if his daughter would kill him for it later.

"I will ask again." Rethria shouted. "Who has allied themselves with
this traitor."

She pointed to the battered and bruised body of Jack O'Neill, who was
being held up by two guards-one of which, Jacob was sure was a Tok'ra-
while she relentlessly used the hand device on him, trying to get him
to talk.

There was a loud noise coming from outside. Jonas suspected that it
was coming from the Jaffa camp, and soon after three Jaffa, Teal'c
included, came running into the library.

"State your business here." Rethria demanded, sending a flash of
energy towards Jack's exposed skull on a whim.

"Lord Anubis is being attacked." Teal'c replied, bowing his head.

"What? Who dares attack the great and powerful Anubis?" Rethria's
eyes glowed again, and even though they had seen it frequently over
the past week, most of the natives gasped in horror.

"The Asguard."

~*+*~

The five mother ships that Anubis had protecting him were gone in
seconds. They were given a warning, and when they fired at them, the
Asguard defended themselves and took them out. Although, the ship
that supposedly held Anubis wasn't easily destroyed, it still fell.

The Jaffa were next, easily transported off the planet and into
holding cells, where they would remain until the Asguard found a
deserted planet with no Stargate on it to dispose of them.

Sam had waited on the bridge of the ship with Thor, and watched the
Jaffa ship's fall quickly. She was anxious to get back to the planet
and back to her father and her friends.

Back to Jack.

~*+*~

Opening his eyes had never been so hard to Jack in his life.

There was a deep, throbbing pain in his right knee-damn war wound-
and he had a killer of a headache. Otherwise, he seemed to be in
tact. At least, most of his limbs seemed to be in place, not that he
was in much of a position to do a visual inspection.

The last thing that he remembered was being held in the clutches of
Rethria's hand device. He wasn't even sure how she had discovered
him. It was probably one of the other Jaffa, who had seen him helping
a native.

"I think he's coming around." Janna told the rest of the group.

Sam walked away from her father and over to the man laying on the
bed. "Hi sir, how are you feeling?"

"Da-andy!" He replied in a singsong voice.

"Sir?"

"He-ey Carter. How you doing?"

"Janna what did you give him?"

"I believe that it is similar to a gas that your Earth dentists use."
Teal'c replied, taking off the last of his Jaffa uniform.

"Laughing gas." Jonas nodded, having had an unpleasant visit to a
dentist himself a few weeks earlier.

"Are you sure that you're okay sir?" Sam asked, frowning as he
giggled.

"Yes."

Sam nodded slowly, and turned to head over to Janna when she heard
him speak again. "Carter, did I ever tell you how sexy you look in
that outfit?"

Slightly unsure of what to say, Sam looked back over her shoulder at
him and a smile slowly spread across her face. "Ah…..thank you sir."

Janna smiled. "The drug will wear off in a few moments."

"Good." Sam nodded, she wasn't sure that she like her commanding
officer talking like that, at least not in front of her father.

~*+*~

Chapter 18

~*+*~

SG-1 and the Tok'ra stood in front of the engaged Stargate, saying
their final good-bye's to the three natives that they had befriended.

"I wish to thank you for all that you have done to help my people."
Janna smiled, and bowed her head in respect.

"Your welcome." Jack smiled, grasping Sam's hand.

While Jacob had healed the wound on his forehead, hie knee had been
pretty damaged. There was certainly no way he was going into combat
again. At least, not unless Fraiser had some pretty neat tricks up
her sleeve.

And he wasn't sure that he wanted her to.

Jack and Hammond had spoken, months ago when Anubis had first
attacked, about what would happen if his knee was ever to give out
completely. It was decided that he would take a job as a civilian on
base, over-seeing tactical strategies and training simulations.

Which suited him fine, especially if he got to be with Sam.

Turning his attention back to Janna, he smiled at them. "We'll come
back in a few days, and make sure everything's okay."

"That would be appreciated." Mark nodded. "We have lost many people,
but we will rebuild our world."

"You should continuously monitor the Stargate, to ensure that your
people are prepared for visitor's. Unfriendly or otherwise." Teal'c
advised. "The Asguard have also en-stalled a device that will prevent
any Goa'uld or Jaffa from stepping foot on your world."

"You should be safe, but keep an ear out." Jacob told them.

"We will." Janna nodded.

"Then we wish you well." Teal'c bowed, which the others mimicked,
before he and Jonas stepped into the Event horizon and headed back to
earth, the Tok'ra following them.

"How does the book end?" Sam asked.

Janna couldn't help but grin. "It ends with the birth of your
daughter."

"Daughter?" Jack repeated, looking down into Sam's shining
eyes. "Sweet." He muttered, as they walked back towards the Stargate.

"Look after yourselves."

Mike nodded. "We shall."

Jack gave her hand a squeeze, which Sam returned and they stepped
into the wormhole, hands grasped.

~*+*~

The end.