[Chapter 1] - The Limvris

Deenesh enjoyed her distinguished position amongst the gods. 

Her dark, sultry features added to her natural beauty as did her long curly locks which she either wore up and away from her neck or braided with soft swirls of hair bordering her face.  She had served her god for many years, longer than she could remember. So long, in fact, that she could not even remember which planet was her original home. 

It didn't matter. Now filling her god's needs as the most trusted human slave or Lo'Taur, she received unequaled benefits compared to the others.  Her Master, Nephthys, trusted her completely with the secrets of the gods. Often she attended gatherings where the gods decided which worlds to dominate, who would live and who would die. The power of the gods overwhelmed her, granting her an emotional rush of excitement to be privy to their conversations.

Today, Deenesh escorted her god, Nephthys, to a meeting of the Limvris.  As she understood it, the nine gods comprising the Limvris were plotting the overthrow of the Goa'uld System Lords. There had been many battles for centuries against the System Lord's holdings, several significant enough to acquire valuable assets, both Jaffa and ships. But none of them were sufficient enough to bring the System Lords to their knees…until now.

Nephthys had a proposal for the Limvris. Through an alliance with another very powerful Goa'uld, the husband of Nephthys' sister, Isis, Nephthys had acquired both technology and warriors to fight against the vile System Lords.

As Deenesh followed her Master through the long corridor towards the meeting room, she noticed the intricate gold inlay on the walls representing symbols of some sort. This beautiful structure acquired by her god through the new alliance would be just one of the offerings that Nephthys planned to present to the Limvris. She would also present her formidable powers of invisibility and mind control as powerful weapons against the System Lords and any others that stood in their way.

Yes, this time Deenesh believed the Limvris would prevail in their attempts.

Inside the meeting chamber, Deenesh and her Master waited patiently until the remaining members of the Limvris appeared.  Impressed by the regality of the chamber, she felt admiration for her Master who had designed this chamber especially for this meeting, adding a beautiful, gold inlay design on the floor in its center.  Deenesh immediately recognized it as the Crest of the Limvris. 

One by one she watched the other gods arrive, each one stunning in their beauty and escorted by one human slave.  The meeting began as soon as the final Goa'uld appeared. 

Deenesh carried a stone tablet and handed it to Nephthys.  The gods listened intently as her Master delivered the well prepared battle plan, stunning in its simplicity, yet cunning enough to be successful.  Their human slaves would infiltrate the System Lords' strongholds to learn their secrets. Her new alliance with a powerful Goa'uld would seal their victory.

She reached for the hand device to turn the page…

It was then that Deenesh saw them; nine small, slimy, and evil looking "creatures". They quickly escaped from the hand device, boring into her Master and the other Limvris through their skin. She saw the panic on their faces, the absolute terror, as pain ripped through them like lightening.  She heard someone exclaim "Ma'chello!" while the others grabbed their slaves, tugging them close, holding them next to their bodies.  She presumed they were trying to protect them.

Her Master reached out to her and held her tightly against her chest…

The last thing Deenesh remembered was intense pain, searing the base of her neck. Her screams drowned out those of the other humans in the room.

As the Goa'uld entering her body took over her mind as well, she reached down to its previous host, now lying on the cold floor in the grips of a violent seizure, and removed the ribbon device from its hand.  Running towards the doorway, she exited the chamber with the other Goa'ulds, also in new bodies, and turned suddenly towards the door closing mechanism.  She used the ribbon device to permanently seal the doorway and trapped the now non-Goa'ulded humans in the chamber to face insanity and starvation…

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[Chapter 2] - A Bad Day

He felt the knife pressing against his throat and realized he had very little time left.  If only he could reach Sarah, he knew she would never harm him.  They had been good friends, lovers in fact, but that was many years ago.  Many years before her body had been taken by the Goa'uld Osiris.

Daniel had to reach Sarah; she was his only hope…

"Sarah, it's me. Daniel."

He saw recognition in her eyes. She no longer saw his outward appearance as Yu's Lo'Taur, his human slave. She knew he was Daniel. Briefly, very briefly, Sarah's essence shown through her façade of Osiris and gave him that moment of hesitation he needed to get away.  At that same moment, Yu grabbed the knife in Osiris' hand and Daniel slipped through the Goa'uld's grasp. 

As Daniel made a mad dash to the escape pod he noticed a blur of activity.  A struggle for dominance ensued between the System Lords, Yu and Osiris, the knife blade gleaming. Osiris' interest wavered briefly towards the escaping Daniel, frustrated by her inability to stop him.  With a roar, she broke free from Yu and desperately raced to the control panel.

As the Sarcophagus shaped pod sealed itself around him, he held his breath, hoping, praying actually, that Osiris would be too late to stop him.

The last thing Daniel heard as his the vessel jettisoned into space was the scream.  It sounded like Sarah's voice but he knew differently.  That horrible, caustic cry, seething with an unbridled hatred was controlled by the Goa'uld Osiris.

"Daniel Jackson!"

This was going to be a bad day…

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Sam and the Tok’ra Lantash in the body of Lieutenant Elliott reprogrammed the planet’s sensors to signal for help in the form of a military SOS.  These same devices previously sent an automated message warning all Tok'ra vessels to avoid the planet and assume no survivors after the ruthless Goa’uld attack on their rebel base.

Jacob Carter heard the original Tok’ra warning and diverted the Tel'tak he shared with Daniel away from Revanna.  If he hadn’t shortly thereafter received the revised SOS transmission, he would have never returned to the utterly destroyed Tok'ra base to find the remaining survivors. 

He also wouldn't have crash-landed that same Tel'tak on the planet surface either.

Jacob made a mental note that if he planned to continue working with SG-1 on future missions he would have to insist on adding seat belts on all Tok'ra vessels. The track record for SG-1 staying out of trouble was just too poor.

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"Leave it here with me."

Elliott bravely unveiled his plan to be captured by the approaching Jaffa and allow them to take him to the gate under the premise that he would tell them the formula for the Goa'uld poison.

As Jack listened, he realized Elliott didn't have much of a choice really.  His symbiote Lantash could not repair the damage suffered by the young man during the fall of the Tok'ra tunnels on Revanna.  He was dying and there was nothing that Lantash could do to save either of them.

Jack heard Elliott's calm, confident voice revealing his plan to release the poison once he arrived at the gate and take out as many Jaffa as possible so SG-1 could avoid capture and escape.  Filled with emotion and pain, his voice remained steady. Yet despite his tone Jack knew Elliott was scared, terrified; the fear evident in this young man's, no, soldier's eyes.

"He's happy now. He just wanted you to know how he felt."

Samantha Carter listened tearfully as Elliott told her that now Lantash and his former host, Martouf, would both rest peacefully; their secret feelings for her finally revealed.

She always knew that Martouf cared way more for her than he should, believing his feelings reflected the fact that Sam had carried the Tok’ra Jolinar -- his lover of over a hundred years -- within her body.  A very brief joining time by Tok'ra standards, yet Jolinar’s memories were forever emblazoned within her.  Sometimes Sam imagined the strong, vivid recollections were actually her own, confusing the bonds of love between the Tok’ra with her own emotional need for Martouf.

Then one day it happened.  Subjected to Goa'uld mind control unbeknownst to anyone, Martouf became a Za'tarc. 

The Tok'ra tried to locate this unwilling enemy before it was too late by conducting extensive investigations at the SGC, mistakenly believing that Sam and Jack had fallen victim to the alien technology. 

Finally realizing their error, they tried to pre-empt an attempt by the Za’tarc to kill the President of the United States .  During several desperate moments in the gate room, Sam sadly recognized that Martouf was the one compromised.  As he leveled his weapon on the President's party, Sam made a split second decision; the only decision she could make. 

In that moment when she pointed her weapon at Martouf, emotions and memories swirled through her mind like a whirlpool.  Choice less, her eyes filled with unshed tears as she pulled the trigger and shattered her world.

The Tok'ra saved Lantash but Martouf’s mind and body was no more.  His memories still lived within Lantash but now even those would soon be erased.  Lantash inhabited Elliott's body and the soldier was dying.

A single tear spilled from Sam's eye to caress the softness of her cheek.

"I'll never forget him…or you." Sam's anguish clearly visible behind the warrior’s mask she so often displayed.  She would grieve for three souls; Lantash, Martouf, and Elliott.

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The rag tag group consisting of SG-1 and Jacob Carter took cover from the encroaching Jaffa after traveling about four miles from the Tok'ra long-range sensor where they left Elliott.  The Jaffa would find the injured man and assume no other survivors.  Teal'c believed they would then take the soldier to the Stargate for further interrogation regarding the chemical composition of the poison, leading the enemy away from them.

"Carter, you and Teal'c stay with Jacob here.  Daniel and I will follow Elliott and his band of merry men at a safe distance." Jack O'Neill's weak attempt at humor fell flat.

"Sir, what are you and Daniel going to do?" Major Carter said with an almost dried trail of tears on her face.

"We have to make sure Elliott is successful. I figure it will take us about, oh say," O'Neill looked at his watch, "five hours, give or take, to reach the gate from here. Jacob, how far does that poison spread and how much time does it take to dissipate to safe concentrations?"

Jacob paused for a moment apparently accessing Selmak's knowledge on the subject.  "Selmak says the poison is very potent in a radius of about one mile around the source.  The concentration drops off depending on a variety of factors including wind velocity, number of people inhaling the poison, and ambient air temperature.  A good, safe guess is that Teal'c and I can return to the area an hour after the poison is released."

Jacob looked introspective for a moment and then added, "Oh, and Selmak says that humans in the area will suffer only mild effects from the poison."

"Mild effects?  Mild effects! And you didn't think that important enough to mention until now!" The Tok'ra's legendary propensity to withhold important facts relevant to their missions slapped Daniel in the face.

"We didn't think you needed to know," Jacob stated very nonchalantly.

"Didn't need to know? I…I didn't need to know?" Visibly upset, Daniel glared at Jacob. "Look, I was prepared to release that poison at the Goa'uld convention and you didn't think I needed to know about its effects to humans? Jeez!" Daniel gave Jack a sideways glance. 

Jack returned the glance with a shrug of his shoulders, a shake of his head, and the "ever suffering" look on his face that captured his feelings for the typical Tok'ra subterfuge well.

"We told you it wouldn't kill you," Jacob became disinterested with the humans' need to always be told 'the whole truth and nothing but the truth'.  The Tok'ra always explained the key mission facts, at least as it suited their agendas.

"What kind of effects are we talking about anyway here?" Jack decided he really needed to know.

"Dizziness, slight disorientation, jubilation disproportionate to the situation. Pretty much like consuming too many rum swizzles. Oh, and diarrhea."

"Oh, well, I shouldn't have any problems then, as long as there is a porta-potty near the gate,” Jack stated sarcastically.  “If it was like having too many tequila shots, that's another story! Been there, done that, don't remember!” 

Jack thought for a moment before amending his comment, “Actually, I do remember someone named Lola and…oh, no. Don't want to go there," Jack pulled a face as if he was recalling a bad memory. "Now, Daniel on the other hand is a cheap date! Give him a beer or two and he's laying in your lap…oh, no. Don't want to go there either," he finished with a smirk.

"Jaaack, that is so not true!"

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Hey, ask Teal'c! He's seen it happen, haven't you big guy?"

"Indeed, O'Neill. I have as well on occasion experienced a drunken Daniel Jackson in my lap," Teal'c deadpanned.

"Oh no, definitely don't want to go there," this time the words were from Daniel.

"So, rather mild effects. Just got to keep Daniel upright," Jack managed a grin in Daniel's direction. "We need to follow Elliott to the gate.  I'm not sure he’ll be strong enough to make it all the way.  We can't take any chances.  If he doesn't get there we may have to go with Plan B."

"And what is this 'Plan B', O'Neill?" Teal'c's strong voice asked.

"Sorry big guy, but if I told ya I'd have to kill ya! We'll check in every 30 minutes."

Teal'c's puzzled look with one eyebrow raised followed O'Neill for quite some time until he and Daniel were out of sight.  Returning his gaze to Major Carter, Teal'c questioned, "Why could he not tell us of this 'Plan B' without penalty of death?"

Major Carter answered with a small smile that touched her eyes. "Because he doesn't have a 'Plan B'…yet!"

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Jack and Daniel walked in companionable silence away from the others.  As much as he hated leaving Elliott behind to face the Jaffa alone, it was even worse realizing that he would have to watch him die, along with all the Jaffa , at the gate. He just wished he could've spared that sight from Daniel but it couldn't be helped. Carter needed to stay here with her dad right now, and Selmak and Teal'c would be killed by the Tok'ra poison released once Elliott reached the gate. They had to remain out of the range of the poison and wait until it dissipated to a safe concentration.

Jack chose a direction taking them off the beaten path towards the Stargate.  He didn’t intend to get ambushed by Jaffa along the way.  It wasn't the most direct route but he figured Elliott would slow the Jaffa ’s pace and he and Daniel would reach the gate long before their enemy.

Shortly into their trek, the two men entered a forested area with many different types of trees but very few bushes.  Daniel supposed the trees' huge canopy of leaves and branches nearly blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground accounted for the lack of low growing shrubs.  

Nearly, but not totally.  Where a few scattered rays penetrated the canopy Daniel could see small, colorful clumps of flowers, seeming to stretch their long, sinewy runners as far as possible to reach past the shady areas to spring up another clump of flowers in the sunlight.  They looked as though they were reaching out to their neighbors, encouraging them to not let the darkness overwhelm them until they grasped the next bit of light through the trees. 

Jack had Daniel take point as they walked, a position rarely held by the archeologist. Knowing that Elliott and his captors would be some distance behind them, Jack watched their six, his hand lightly touching his P-90 at his hip, in case he underestimated the speed at which the Jaffa could travel. 

Slowly, Jack realized something was wrong…definitely wrong.  Confident they were out of earshot of potential enemies, Jack looked around contemplating the source of his unease.  As his eyes scanned the woods surrounding them, he finally honed in on the location of the trouble directly in front of him.

The trouble was his teammate. The man was a bit too quiet for, well, Daniel. He'd hardly said two words since they began their trek to the gate almost three hours ago now and the linguist was never at a loss for words much to Jack's dismay and frequent headaches.  Although thinking he should just left well enough alone…as they say 'silence is golden' and all that, he knew his friend needed to come to grasps with the unfolding events of the past several hours. 

Daniel had volunteered…well, that isn't fair…been coerced by the Tok’ra into attending the System Lords’ summit, posing as Yu's faithful human servant.  Jack knew he didn’t release the Goa’uld poison as planned, surprised to find he still had it to give to Elliott.  Hell, he'd relinquished the toxin without so much as a 'But, Jack?'.

Jack also noticed a slight trembling in the young man's hands.

"Daniel?" Jack hesitantly inquired, not sure he really wanted to open the floodgates just yet.

"Jack?" Daniel took a long time to answer and he spoke sharply. Jack had questions and he saw the concerned look in his leader’s eyes.  On most days, Daniel would welcome the questions but not today. Not this day. He was just too tired to share.

"What'cha thinking?"

"Oh, I dunno, Jack," Daniel replied in an exasperated voice. "Just that life sucks. We suck!  How could we just leave Elliott behind to face those Jaffa and imminent death? I gave him the damned poison so he could commit suicide and take out a bunch of Jaffa in the process, and…and…", Daniel waved his hands in a flourish as if he could grasp the words he was looking for out of the air.

"Save our sorry asses?" Jack paused for several seconds to allow the words to sink in. "Look, Daniel, you know as well as I do that that was the only option."

"Yeah, I do, but …" his voice trailed off as he ducked his head to avoid Jack's eyes.

"It still hurts like hell…I know. It's supposed to.  Keeps you from forgetting about the sacrifices made for you," Jack paused for a moment, remembering how many times in his past he had made the same choices. How many others had died so he could live? Hell, even Daniel had died to save his sorry ass on Abydos , taking a blast that was meant for him.

Daniel's blue eyes caught Jack's brown ones, sharing a lifetime of sorrow without the need for words. 

After several minutes of silence, Jack probed further into Daniel’s recent experiences, curious as to exactly what had happened on that space station.

"So Daniel. Give. What exactly happened at the snake convention?  Never in a million years did I expect to see you come crashing to the ground in a Tok'ra ship! Boy, are they going to be pissed!" Jack's voice trailed off as he realized that a majority of the Tok'ra race had just been annihilated.

"Well, we got together, patted each other on the backs, had a party…uh, and we had some interesting appetizers.  Quite a lot of fun!” he said sarcastically.  “Oh and guess who crashed the party?"

At Jack’s shrug, Daniel continued, "Osiris!"

Jack hadn't accompanied Sam and Daniel on the "Osiris Mission" but he read their reports and attended the debriefing.  He still felt guilty that he wasn’t there for his team.  Throwing his cell phone into the bushes at the lake to thwart communication efforts with the SGC wasn’t the most mature thing he’d ever done.  It also wasn’t the least mature thing he’d done either, Jack mused.

He deeply regretted he wasn’t there for Daniel again this time when Osiris appeared in the body of his old girlfriend, Sarah.  Knowing how difficult the Goa’uld’s presence would be for his friend, Jack used humor to lighten the mood, "Oooh, that bitch!"

"Son of a bitch actually," Daniel smiled slyly.

"What?" Jack's look of bewilderment amused Daniel.

"Uh, Jack. Osiris the snake is male just like the Egyptian god. He just happens to inhabit Sarah's body now."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he deciphered the information from Daniel. "Oh, yeah, I guess that's right. What did she, uh, I mean he, uh, I mean…Oh, for crying out loud, what did the snake want?!"

Jack listened intently as Daniel described the events of the summit. The Goa'ulds were their typically egotistical, gaudy, ostentatious selves and the human slaves seemed quite content to serve their masters without question.  Apparently, a rival Goa'uld had been diminishing their Jaffa armies and mother ships. 

As Daniel continued discussing the ethical and more colorful parts of Goa'uld society, Jack's mind began to wander. Too much detail…way too much detail.

He returned to reality abruptly upon hearing Daniel's words, "They ate larval Goa'uld!"

"Huh? I thought you said something about appetizers?" Jack said with a crooked face accented by his scrunched together eyebrows.

"Larvae, Jack. They ate Goa'uld larvae!  No wonder the Goa'uld population is decreasing!” Daniel became more animated as he continued, “What I can't figure out is why they would do that?"

"Ew! Remind me to decline their next social event!" After a pause, Jack pushed further. "Daniel, why didn't you release the poison?"

"I was about to but they were expecting an uninvited participant to the summit.  I waited until that Goa'uld showed up."

Impatiently wanting to reach the punch line, Jack prodded, "I never liked twenty questions, Daniel!  Cut to the chase, already!"

"Oh, what? You mean who…?" Jack rolled his eyes in his most irritated fashion. "Oh, yeah. Well, Osiris crashed the party."

"Yeah, you said that before Daniel. The question is not 'what' or 'who' but 'why'?"

"Oh, apparently she came as a messenger from Anubis.  It seems Anubis wants to regain his status as System Lord and to show his merit he presented the Goa’uld with a gift…the destruction of the Tok'ra base…here." Daniel indicated their surroundings with an exaggerated wave of his hands. "Future plans are to demolish Earth to put in a super highway."

"Did Osiris recognize you?"

"Ah, yes. And no…and…and yes again.  Osiris definitely recognized me at the summit meeting…definitely.  But for some reason she didn't give me away.  Later, she followed me to Yu's chambers and I used that drug thingy.  You know, the one embedded in the tip of my ring that I used on Yu?  Osiris believed I was his trusted servant."

Jack, his ever patient self, waited about two seconds for Daniel to continue.  Not hearing more from Daniel during Jack's patiently allotted time, he impatiently pressed Daniel further. "Okay, that covers the 'yes' and 'no' part, Daniel. It's the 'yes again' that scares me."

"Oh, right, well... ItriedtocaptureOsirissoIcouldsaveSarah…" Daniel thought perhaps he could defuse Jack by a rapid fire linguistic attack.

Jack already knew his archeologist was touched in the head, a little flaky, 'nutso'! But capturing Osiris…Jack would have to think of another synonym for crazy. Oh.

"You did what??"

"…but the attempt backfired," impressed that Jack actually avoided the linguistic assault enough to shoot back, Daniel continued without losing a beat.  "I was able to reach Sarah briefly as Osiris was," Daniel cleared his throat, "choking me. I had to tell her who I was," Daniel finished looking away from Jack.

"Well, shit, Daniel! Now you pissed off a snake head AND told her who you are and where to find you!  That’s peachy, just peachy!"

"Yeah, well, at least I was able to get off that ship…oh look," Daniel said absently waving his hand in front of him, hoping to divert Jack's attention from his escapades with Osiris. "It's the Stargate."

Jack reached out to grab Daniel's arm as the young archeologist suddenly became weak kneed. The only words that escaped Daniel's mouth were "Oh. My. God!"

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Jack looked ahead towards the Stargate, his military mind scouting the landscape for both offensive and defensive positions. He noticed that the gate sat in the center of a large, sandy area, which looked like an amphitheater, probably used by the original inhabitants of the planet as a sanctuary to worship their "gods".

The ground from their current position to the gate was quite level but very exposed. Jack and Daniel had reached the edge of the tree line. From here forward there were no trees, shrubs, or old fallen down buildings which Daniel would probably call ruins lying around.  Jack figured they were about 500 yards from their current position to the gate. 

The most impressive part of the landscaping, however, was the four Tel'taks, two of which had landed and two were still hovering over the base.  Jack estimated no less than 200 ground troops each displaying a variety of weapons predominantly staff weapons and zat guns. He also located the Jaffa armory, apparently setup outside the ships for instant weapon availability for the ground troops. 

Jack blinked his eyes. The armory resembled a large…no, that couldn't be right…a large surrey without the wheels? Jack looked again…yeah, definitely a surrey. No fringe on top, though.

He really hoped that Elliott would be successful.

"All righty then, let's hold up here for a bit." Jack delivered his best Jim Carrey impersonation. "We should be well hidden from the Jaffa but I can still see the Stargate through my binoculars.  We watch for Elliott.  It'll take a while for them to get this far.  Besides, it's time for another radio check with Carter."

Daniel took in their current surroundings while Jack filled in his position with Carter. They had reached the tree line with nothing but sand, sand, and more sand between them and the Stargate. Okay, it wasn't actually sand. More like mud without the water, dirt. Damn, he really longed for some ruins to explore but he was out of luck this time. 

He noticed deep pits scattered about where the Goa'uld had apparently launched his preliminary air attack, trying to ferret out the Tok'ra from their tunnels.  He saw the Jaffa base camp and, for some strange reason, he began humming the musical Oklahoma .  Well, that was really interesting…

Next Daniel noticed the Jaffa scouring the entire area.  Looking at their situation from a military standpoint, he scanned for escape routes, ground cover, and hiding spots.  Okay, so it wasn't difficult to figure out.  Scouting the area for potential vantage points, he noted very little foliage between their current position and the gate.  His attention was drawn back to their current location still littered with pretty flowers where the sunlight made it through the trees.

Daniel noted ruefully that they had stopped at one of the dark patches.

He listened intently to Jack communicating with Carter through the radios and, after her brief update, the radio went silent. 

The two sat quietly for several more minutes each lost in their own thoughts until Daniel finally broke the reverie, "So now what, Jack?"

"Now," Jack pulled out two MREs from his pack handing one to Daniel, “we wait.”

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[Chapter 3] - Not a Laughing Matter

They didn't have to wait long.  As they finished eating their MREs, Jack spied a large group of Jaffa entering stage left, two of which were carrying a litter with Elliott along for the ride.  Using a rapid series of hand motions, Jack silently communicated the location of the Jaffa and his orders for Daniel to take cover behind a nearby tree.

Daniel complied with the order but not without first silently mouthing to Jack and using his fingers to indicate people walking, ‘Where are they going?’.

Jack’s similarly quiet reply openly displayed his irritation, ‘How the hell should I know?’

Even though their exchange was totally mimed Daniel swore he heard his teammate’s exasperated response without looking at him.  Giving a sheepish shrug in return, he watched as Jack scurried to the same tree and squatted on the ground beside him.

Using his binoculars, Jack monitored the Jaffa talking with Elliott.  They stopped short of the armory.  He imagined the words the kid would be saying. 'No other survivors.  I can tell you the formula for the poison.  It's right here in my vest pocket…'

He saw the soldier pull out the slender vial containing the poison and held his breath, praying nothing would go wrong.

Unable to keep his vow of silence any longer, Daniel whispered to Jack, "He's got to have the strength to break open the vial so the contents will mix and release the chemical."  Jack pondered the comment and winced as when the Jaffa nearest Elliott ripped the tube from his hands, backhanding him across his face. 

He was beginning to think this was a horrible mistake. 

Fortunately, in the enemy’s haste to chastise the young man he lashed out with the same hand holding the vial.  He saw the pained expression on the Jaffa 's face as he fell immediately to the ground, literally dead on his feet from his close proximity to the poison. 

Jack glanced at Elliott, pleased to see the soldier died quickly, quietly, and finally at peace.

Without the binoculars, Daniel couldn’t keep up with all the action, but as the poison spread outward from the source it became readily obvious something was happening.  Jaffa began dropping row by row as the toxin dissipated in a circular pattern like a shock wave.  Warriors near the perimeter didn't die as rapidly as those at the origin.  They fell to the ground writhing in the dirt for some time until their bodies eventually stilled.

The four ships, their inhabitants possibly protected by the ships energy shields, took flight and left the area with screaming speed.

As the outermost Jaffa hit the dirt, Jack grabbed his radio to inform Carter of their situation.

"Carter."

"Yes, Sir."

"Lieutenant Elliott has hit his target.  The poison is spreading rapidly.  All Jaffa are on the ground but not all are dead yet."

"That's good news, Sir."

"Sir?" Carter sounded apprehensive waiting for a reply.  "Sir!"

"Uh, Carter…everything's okay here. The wave has just reached us."

"Are you sure you're okay, Sir?" She thought she could hear crying on the other end of the radio.

"Uh, well, Daniel's in my lap, giggling hysterically. Tell Jacob he's gonna pay for this one."  Still with his finger on the radio call button leaving the line open for Carter to hear, Jack yelled a few choice expletives in Daniel's direction.

"Oh, yeah, Jacob's gonna pay big time!"

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"Daniel!"  Jack hissed. "Sit up!"

"I'm trying to Jack…can't catch my breath," Daniel replied between guffaws.  "I just can't…."  The sentence was cut short as Daniel broke down laughing once again, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Oh, this isn't funny!" More chuckles followed the comment.

Struggling to regain his composure, Daniel wiped moisture from his eyes with the back of his hand and pushed himself upright against a tree.  Embarrassed at his behavior, he cautiously raised his gaze to meet Jack's, impressed that his commander appeared stoic and quite unaffected by the poison.

Daniel’s gaze was his undoing.  As their eyes met, Jack could no longer contain himself.

"Shit, Daniel!  If you breathe a word of this to Carter, so help me…I'll…" Jack found it very difficult to keep up the conversation as he was rocked with overpowering giggles.  He felt like such a fool.

Witnessing the unexpected breakdown was too much for Daniel who found himself back in the colonel’s lap laughing hysterically.  Jack playfully pushed him down to the ground as he tried to regain his own composure.

Several agonizing moments later, Jack's radio crackled, "Come in, Sir!"

"Yeah, Carter." The fits of hysterics had thankfully passed leaving Jack and Daniel clutching their stomachs from receding pain caused by prolonged laughing jags.

“What’s your status?”

Jack made a quick assessment of the Jaffa base camp as he wiped his eyes.  "All Jaffa at the base camp are dead.  Four ships escaped the area so take precautions."

"Understood, Sir. Dad's feeling much better.  We can probably begin heading towards the Stargate,” Secretly, Sam wanted to check the status of her teammates visually.  “It’ll take us about 4 hours to reach your current position and the poison level should dissipate sufficiently by then."

"Roger that, Carter.  Watch the woods.  There may still be some Jaffa patrols out there.  Radio check every 30 minutes.  Daniel and I will secure the gate."

"Will do, Sir. Carter out."

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"Daniel, you ready to move?" Jack queried, visibly pulling himself together.

"Yeah, I think so.  Not feeling so great, though."  Daniel thought that was quite an understatement.  He felt like he'd been knocked down by a buffalo, stomped on a few times, and kicked in the head as the animal made its retreat. 

He briefly surveyed the base camp area, noting no movement whatsoever.  It appeared the poison worked well.  Score one for the Tok’ra.

They walked wordlessly towards the Stargate as Jack constantly assessed their surroundings for any threats.  Maneuvering around the lifeless bodies, they made their way towards Elliott. 

Upon reaching the young soldier, Daniel surreptitiously glimpsed Jack's expression seeing a mix of emotions pass over the colonel's face; his respect, sorrow, and admiration for Elliott apparent. 

That's when Daniel noticed Jack's physical appearance.  The colonel had obviously been through hell and back during his brief time at the Tok'ra base.  His clothes were worse for wear and quite filthy, and dark stubble on his face indicated he hadn't shaved for a couple of days. 

Daniel stooped to place his thumb and forefinger on Elliott's face, closing his eyes.  The soldier looked peaceful.

Silently, Jack reached out to Elliott and removed his dog tags, cognizant of the "no one gets left behind" military philosophy.  Sometimes the only way to fulfill that promise was to bring back the identification tags. 

Standing up from the fallen soldier, Jack took a good look at the devastation surrounding them. Hundreds of Jaffa lay dead.

"Sweet. You know, I take back everything I've said about the Tok'ra! They and their poison really saved our asses this time!"

"Yeah, Jack, but at what cost?"

"Daniel, I don't care "what cost"!  These Jaffa had every intention of killing us and destroying the Tok'ra base.  They were not 'good people'," Jack made exaggerated quotes with his fingers in the air.

Turning to face Daniel, Jack quickly assessed his teammate.  Daniel still wore the satin garb given to him by the Tok'ra for use at the Goa'uld summit meeting.  The shirt was sleeveless, apparently affording little benefit from the low hanging branches and thorns they had encountered on their trek through the woods.  Several scrapes and abrasions were visible on Daniel's arms.  His pants were quite thin with small pockets at the seams but no means to hide a weapon.  

“You’re out of uniform, Daniel.  Pajamas aren’t standard issue.”

“Very funny…well I didn’t exactly have time to change.”

Jack reached down to retrieve a zat gun from one of the dead warriors.  "Here," Jack said as he planted the weapon in Daniel's hands. "Hopefully, we won't need these but a boy scout should always be prepared."

Continuing to check bodies along the way, they eventually converged on the dais at the base of the Stargate.  Jack surveyed a couple of areas near the gate for use as defensive positions if that became necessary.  Assessing their surroundings and convincing himself there was no present danger, Jack took a seat on the stairs with Daniel following suit.

Jack became introspective as he took a brief respite.  So far, the end of this mission had been a piece of cake.  SG-1 never got off this easy.  Perhaps the gods had taken pity on them for once, Jack mused.  They definitely deserved it after so many occasions where a change of venue from the conference room to the infirmary for debriefings was required.  Now, SG-1 was almost home free and relatively unscathed.

As they continued to wait for the rest of their team to arrive, Jack grew increasingly concerned.  At Carter’s last radio communication she’d reported their position about one hour out.  Checking his watch, he noted ruefully that was almost 45 minutes ago.

"Damn!  Carter missed her last check in.  This is *so* not good." 

Pressing the call button, Jack bellowed into his radio, "Carter!" After a few seconds pause with no response, he tried again, "Carter! Report!"

A breathless female voice responded to him, "Sir, we're under attack!"

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[Chapter 4] - Disappearing Act

Jacob Carter had recovered remarkably quickly from his injuries and, sandwiched between Sam and Teal'c, he kept a wary eye on the woods as they steadfastly continued their trek towards the gate.

Sam strode with increasing confidence, relieved that fears of Jaffa patrols proved unfounded.  She paused regularly throughout their journey to contact her commanding officer, relaying their status.  Glancing at her watch now, she realized her last communication occurred almost 30 minutes ago.  By her estimation, she figured they’d be at the gate in another half-hour or so.  It was time for another check-in. 

As she stopped to make radio contact, her eyes quickly scanned their surroundings and she noticed they had entered a particularly dark area of the forest with several rather large boulders strewn about.  Very little sunlight reached through the trees to light their path.

The ball of fire screaming past her was blinding in its intensity.

"Take cover!" Sam realized the command was totally unnecessary as she saw Teal'c and Jacob dive for the nearby rocks.  Isolated from them, Sam took refuge behind a large tree.  Still rather exposed, she ducked as several more blasts aimed at her narrowly missed their target. 

Seeing his teammate in distress, Teal'c stood up and fired a series of staff blasts to provide Sam with much appreciated cover fire.  She took the opportunity and dashed to a more protected area by her dad.

"How many?" Sam asked breathlessly.

"Probably four to six Jaffa .  It's a small patrol used to retrieve anything of value after the enemy is destroyed.  They weren't expecting company." Jacob grimaced as another blast whizzed directly over their heads.

Teal'c returned to a squatting position next to the others.  "We are out numbered but I have gravely injured two of them.  I believe we are at a 'standoff', as you say."

"What's their position, Teal'c?" Sam knew they couldn't wait indefinitely.

“There are four of them just over that rise,” the Jaffa stated, “there and there,” he finished as he pointed to two separate areas.  Sam nodded in acknowledgement.

A deafening silence ensued for several tense moments as neither side fired, each laying in wait for their opponents to make a mistake. 

"Carter! Report!"  The loud crackle signaled the startling end of the stillness, causing Sam to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Sir, we're under attack!  Radio silence!" Sam whispered into her radio.  She knew the colonel wouldn’t be pleased with her abrupt end to their conversation but she didn't have time to explain their situation now. 

She also hoped the Jaffa would have difficulty locating their position if they remained quiet, however the brief radio communication had destroyed all hope of maintaining their anonymity as another staff blast struck the boulder where they were hiding.

"Damn!  We've got to do something!"  Sam reached inside her vest pockets and pulled out two grenades.

"Dad, take one and throw it to the left side of the group.  I'll launch this one to the right.  Teal'c, you lay cover fire to draw their attention,” Sam gave the orders with confidence while looking at the others to ensure their understanding. 

“We go on three." Sam finished.

Teal'c gave a minute nod to indicate his consent and understanding. 

"Let's blow this joint," Jacob's comment was a bit more to the point.

"Okay, on three. One," Sam and Jacob pulled the pins from their grenades. "two, three!"

Teal'c shot low, not aiming to kill, and allowed the grenades to fly above the blasts. They hit their target, creating an explosion that brought the remaining Jaffa to the ground, lifeless.

Sam quickly surveyed the site of the explosions. "I count four dead from the grenades," she stated matter-of-factly as she turned towards Teal’c.  "How many did you hit?"

"I eliminated two Jaffa in that direction," Teal'c indicated an area south of the explosion.

"That makes six," Jacob finished.  "We've eliminated the immediate threat."

"Excellent,” Sam said with a proud smile.  “Now we just need to avoid any more patrols until we make it back to the gate.  I think now would be a good time to quicken our pace."

"I concur."

"Indeed."

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Damnit!  Jack hated feeling helpless.  He couldn’t help his teammates and he'd just been given the brush-off by his 2IC.

Radio silence!  Hell, he'd used that one a few times himself but it really sucked to be on the receiving end.  Rapping his fingers impatiently against the shaft of his P-90, he stood on the steps and craned his neck for any signs of battle in the woods.

"They'll be fine, Jack," Daniel's comment apparently intended to ease Jack's concern yet he found it difficult to believe his own words.

"Yeah, I know," Jack paused his drumming long enough to push the heels of his hands against his brow, massaging some of the stress from his face.

Their waiting stretched into an eternity.

"Colonel O'Neill, come in." Carter's voice sounded over the radio.

Jack hastily grabbed his radio to respond.  "Yeah, Carter. What happened?"

"We encountered a six man Jaffa patrol.  The threat has been eliminated with no injuries to us.  Dad believes we may run into more patrols so we've quicken our pace to the gate with an ETA of about 10 minutes.” 

The radio went silent for a few moments before Carter continued, “Suggest you begin the dial up sequence in 5.  We may need to make a hasty retreat."

"Understood, Carter.  Daniel will dial out in 5 minutes.  O’Neill out."

Jack turned towards Daniel, preparing to retreat to the defensive positions he'd noted earlier near the gate.

"Come on, Daniel. Let's take cover…"

His voice trailed off as the gate suddenly sprang into life.  The two men turned simultaneously towards the gate and noticed all the chevrons glowed, signaling an imminent wormhole activation. 

At that moment, Jack understood why you should never use the gate steps for a chair.  He needed to spell out the dangers of being too close to the gate in the SGC's protocol as soon as he got back to base.

Daniel looked perplexed as his mind rapidly processed the visual clues his eyes received. "What the hell…?"

"Daniel, get down!" Jack shouted over the roar of the establishing wormhole.

He shoved Daniel in the back hard enough to throw him off the steps to the hard ground below and out of range of the backwash from the gate. 

As Daniel hit the ground, his breath knocked out of him and his zat flew several feet from his hands.  Frantically stretching to reach his weapon, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back as Jack fell, none too gracefully, and landed atop the sprawled man. 

As they disengaged themselves the wormhole stabilized and three figures emerged through the event horizon.

"Daniel Jackson!  You've made my mission too easy!"  Jack and Daniel turned towards the familiar voice and immediately recognized it as Osiris.

Jack covertly flicked the safety off his P-90 and regretted it as he felt the electric charge from a zat coursing through his body.  Daniel winced in sympathy at the sound of electrical static and the sight of Jack writhing in agony at his feet.

Daniel rapidly regained his composure and realized he had to warn Sam.  He didn't want her walking into an ambush.  He'd prefer a heroic rescue attempt at this point.

Reaching for the call button on his radio, he relayed his situation as quickly as possible, "Sam, Osiris and two Jaffa came through the gate.  Jack's down and…"

Osiris cut short his transmission by delivering a strong backhand across his face, knocking him to the ground hard enough to dislodge his radio from his jacket pocket.  The pain on his cheekbone radiated through his jaw and he felt blood dripping across his face from a cut created by a rather large ring on Osiris' hand.  Spots of light danced before his eyes as he tried to hold onto consciousness.

One Jaffa was already dialing coordinates on the DHD.  The other moved to restrain Jack's hands behind his back. 

Daniel continued to lie down feigning unconsciousness while keeping a close watch on the dialed gate coordinates.  He scratched the symbols in the dirt beneath him hoping to leave a clue for Sam to find them.  Digging into the hard ground caused his fingers to bleed but he hoped his friends would understand his message. 

If only he could complete the last symbol before that Jaffa reached him to bind his hands…

Too late.  He didn't see the last symbol dialed in time to mark it in the ground before the Jaffa roughly pulled him up from the ground, jerking his left arm severely.  Daniel hissed through clinched teeth, wondering if the force had dislocated his shoulder. 

The Jaffa tightly bound his arms behind his back before shoving him brutally towards the now open wormhole.  Looking back over his shoulder he strained to see Sam and Teal'c come into view.

Yes!  He saw them just at the tree line.  Osiris followed his gaze and angrily rubbed the blue crystal on her ring that had caused Daniel so much pain.  He didn't give the gesture much thought as he silently prayed for his teammates to rescue them.

Suddenly realizing with an enveloping sense of dread that his teammates couldn't see him, Daniel tried to attract their attention by jumping and calling out to them.  He didn’t care if his actions angered Osiris.

Still they couldn’t see him.  How could that be?  They were so close he thought that, if he could extend an arm, he’d be able to touch them.  Then Daniel remembered the blue crystal.

"What have you done to them?" Daniel's words filled with hatred towards Osiris.

Osiris simply laughed and motioned towards Jack.  Both Jaffa sauntered over to the still unconscious man, lifted him by his arms, and dragged him through the gate. Daniel gave a final seething glare at Osiris as she directed him to follow his commander. 

"What have you done?"  He spoke tensely through clinched teeth.

"Why, my dear Dr. Jackson, nothing is wrong with them.  We are merely inside my invisibility screen from which neither light nor sound waves can travel.  It works much like a Goa’uld cloaking device.  Your friends cannot see or hear us.  In fact,” Osiris chuckled, “they cannot even see the DHD since it falls within the range of the field.  Quite a useful invention don't you think?" She waved her zat in Daniel's direction, urging him onward.

"Well, I guess that depends on your point of view," Daniel replied wryly as he reluctantly followed Jack through the stargate.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perplexed, Sam surveyed their surroundings in the area where the gate was supposed to be; the same place that Daniel claimed Osiris held the colonel and him as her prisoners.  Strangely enough, she couldn’t even find the gate, much less her teammates. 

"Where is it?"

“I do not know, Major Carter.  It should be in this location.”

The wormhole disengaged with a shuttering sigh and three heads whipped around, seeking out the source of the sound.  To their surprise, the Stargate appeared suddenly only few yards away from them.

“Where the hell did that thing come from?”  Jacob Carter questioned.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” the younger Carter said.  “It’s like it was cloaked or something.  Dad, do the Goa’uld have a personal cloaking device?”

“Not that I know of but…” his voice trailed as the group moved closer to the gate.  “That might explain this though.”

“I guess so…Damn!” Sam exclaimed, her frustration with their situation apparent.  “She must’ve taken them through the gate!  How will we be able to find them now?”  She looked towards her dad, hoping for a Tok’ra miracle.

“It won’t be easy if we can find them at all.  It’ll be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”  Jacob said distractedly as he moved to the DHD.

“Indeed.”

Teal'c searched the area immediately surrounding the DHD for any signs of their teammates' disappearance.

"There are footprints, here and here," Teal'c pointed to areas on the ground near the gate.  "Someone was dragged from this point through the gate," he continued speaking as he analyzed the tracks. 

Handing Major Carter a radio and zat gun he picked up from the ground, Teal’c spoke with a grave tone, “I have no doubt that Daniel Jackson and Colonel O'Neill were here."

"Sam!  I’ve got something that looks like symbols marked in the ground," Jacob told the others of his revelation and they approached his location.  “Possibly a portion of a gate address?"

"It would appear so.  I believe someone has left us a clue."

"Yeah, I see them,” Sam squatted beside her dad.  “They must have been made in a hurry.”  She took a few moments to trace the etchings with her fingers, trying to decipher each glyph.  “I'm having trouble making them all out and it looks like the sixth symbol is missing."

"That is unfortunate."

"At least it's something," Jacob Carter contributed.  He stood up quickly at a sound in the distance.  "We've gotta go now, though.  Take a mental note of the markings and let's get the hell out of dodge.  We've got company!" He pointed towards the tree line at several Jaffa heading their way.

"Uh, right!  Dad, you and Teal'c look at the symbols while I dial us home."  Sam returned to the DHD and punched in the necessary coordinates. 

As the wormhole again roared into being, the three reluctantly stepped through to safety. 

Arriving at the SGC moments later, Sam looked over her shoulder at the shimmering passageway as if willing the colonel and Daniel to follow them through.  As the light disappeared, she vowed she would find her teammates and friends. 

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[Chapter 5] - "Aw hell, not again!"

Deenesh ran through the halls towards her Master's ship, unable to understand the sensations assaulting her.  She was running, yes, but she wasn't in control of the movement, feeling disconnected somehow from her limbs.  The voice in her mind grew louder and louder, pushing her conscious thoughts to their subconscious depths.

Appalled by the cacophony of emotions invading her mind, she suddenly realized they were not hers but those of the others running alongside her.  She heard their thoughts, angry and seething with hatred. 

*She* hated…

No.  It wasn’t part of her nature yet the feelings were there, accosting her mind like tiny daggers.  She felt hatred for the System Lords, hatred for Ma'chello, even hatred towards her Master for allowing this summit meeting to be decimated by those who wished to kill the Goa'uld. 

But Deenesh didn’t hate.  She couldn’t understand this abomination.  Battling against the insurgence within her, she tried to suppress the unwelcome sentiments threatening to overtake her permanently and failed.

‘Shut up, stupid girl!’  The voice of her god, Nephthys, resounded in her head.

She began to panic, losing her identity amidst the evilness inside her.  ‘I don't understand.  What's happening?’

’Those vile creatures created by Machello attacked the Limvris.  We had to escape.  You are now my host and under my control.  I will silence your mind, your voice...’

’But I don't understand,’ She knew the thoughts racing through her head were not from her god alone but from many souls.  ‘I hear a multitude of voices. Please, make them stop!’ 

’You hear everyone around us, stupid girl!’ Nephthys growled within her.  ‘Your pathetic race was telepathic but they were too ignorant and simple to use their power.  Your kind served me as slaves…until now.’  Nephthys recognized the ability upon entering her new host’s body and smiled inwardly as she envisioned the possibilities this newfound talent offered. 

With this telepathy she would become omnipotent, enhancing her existing mental faculties and using her alliance with Osiris to provide the physical means necessary to usurp the System Lords’ dominance. 

She would use Osiris as he had used her so many years ago; tossing him to the wolves once her nefarious plan was set in motion.  Her scheme pitted Goa’uld against Goa’uld, brother against brother, fighting a war for power throughout the universe until finally nothing remained.  Nothing except Nephthys…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Terrified by her Master’s desires yet helpless against them, Deenesh’s body entered the Tel'tak.  Overwhelming silence stood foreboding as the other thoughts in her mind disappeared behind the closed hatch.  Only the voice of her insane god remained and she suddenly feared for the safety of the universe.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they exited the wormhole Daniel walked out into a dark chamber resembling an underground cavern illuminated only by the flickering reflection from the event horizon.  The desolate room appeared isolated from the planet’s inhabitants, devoid even of any Jaffa guards. 

The cultural ramifications fascinated him since, unlike other worlds they’d visited, this gate seemed to hold no reverence as a center of worship for the gods.  In fact, this place felt like hell.  It was sure hotter than it.

Stumbling down the steep stairs, he shot a quick glance at the still unconscious form slumped between the arms of the Jaffa .  They relaxed their grip on his friend as they reach the base of the steps, allowing Jack's legs and feet to drag painfully along the rock floor. 

Another glimpse around the chamber revealed a rather large, cavernous room with lava pools bubbling their molten quarry and steam billowing upward through vents leading to the surface.  The walls appeared completely natural with large fissures opening into nothingness.  The air smelled distinctly sulfurous.  Definitely not the typical Goa'uld palace décor, he mused.

He cringed as the gate deactivated, expecting to be thrown into total darkness, but instead a faint lighting through an adjacent corridor caught his attention.  As his eyes adjusted he spied a slight bluish hue emanating from the walls themselves.  He scanned his surroundings, hoping to find clues to their location or at least some ancient drawings depicting the lifestyles of the local inhabitants, assuming anyone ever lived here. 

A fierce shove from one of Osiris’ guards forced him to the ground.  Stunned, he glared angrily over his shoulder at the offender.  At the indignant expression on his assailant's face, Daniel reluctantly stood to follow Osiris towards the dimly lit corridor while the Jaffa dragged Jack along behind them.

Wondering what he'd find once he reached the light, his thoughts returned to Revanna where patches of sunlight breaking through the trees rendered mounds of pretty flowers.  He stifled a chuckle at such an absurd idea.  No, no flowers in this place.  Probably just thorns, he mused.

Entering the passage, he realized the glow was iridescent and pulsating; not generator powered but totally natural lighting.  Crystals ! 

He surreptitiously glanced at the ring on Osiris' hand that caused the painful gouge across his cheekbone suspecting that somehow it created the invisibility barrier back on the planet.  The stone on the ring matched the ones in these walls.  As he traveled escorted down the hallway, he speculated on the nature of these crystals, how they were formed and whether the energy they emitted originated from within them or was supplied somehow through the tunnel walls.  Another glimpse at Osiris' ring proved his original hypothesis wrong.  Her ring wasn't glowing.

Continuing down the wide path for what seemed like an eternity, Daniel could tell Jack was awakening by the soft moans coming from his direction.  He knew his friend wasn’t fully conscious though based on his wordlessness.  The man could never resist the urge to antagonize his captors and Daniel took solace in Jack’s verbal spars, his sarcastic wit proving quite entertaining as long as it wasn't directed at him.  A quiet Jack on the other hand was very disconcerting.

Another rough push from behind him kept Daniel moving along.  He assumed they were heading down a main artery from the Stargate to the rest of this complex.  In fact, he hadn’t seen any branches from this tunnel throughout their trek meaning it could very well be the only way to the gate.  Keeping a watchful eye, he memorized key markings they might need to map their eventual escape.  Unfortunately, this route could be easily guarded, almost assuredly preventing an unhindered retreat.

Suddenly, their way forked into two darker and much narrower passages. With a wave of Osiris' hand, the Jaffa hauled Jack down one of them.  Six more Jaffa joined Daniel and Osiris from the neighboring corridor.

"Hey, where are you taking him?" Daniel tried to sound curious rather than worried, unwilling to reveal his true concern for Jack's safety.

"That is none of your concern, Dr. Jackson," Osiris' voice had a lilting pitch. "He will be 'entertained' separately from you…for now.  In fact, I believe *I'll* be joining *you* for tonight's entertainment…just like old times, eh?" the husky voice resonated with sexual undercurrents.  "My host is quite fond of you.  She has some very interesting…memories that I might make useful."

"Go to hell," Daniel's voice oozed defiance.

"Oh, but my dear Dr. Jackson, we're already there!" Osiris gave a calloused laugh.

With a staff weapon pressed to his back, Daniel trudged down the new path and away from Jack.  He wanted to fight, kick, scream, drag his feet, anything to prevent his separation from his friend but he knew that approach would only result in a beating for either one or both of them.  He had to remain clear-headed and calm so he could work out a plan. 

They gained altitude during their trek and the air became noticeably cooler.  Several branches appeared throughout this tunnel and he wondered how he would ever find Jack in this growing maze. 

He also worried about the state of his friend.  Jack should’ve awoken pissed as hell from the simple zat blast, one not unlike so many they had encountered previously; his stamina generally shortening his recovery time but, for some reason, he was taking much longer to come around now. 

He feared Osiris’ goons had given the injured man something to keep him unconscious.  That made sense, sort of.  Logically, it would be easier to transport him that way but Daniel feared the Goa’uld’s true reasons.  And why hadn’t he also been drugged?

Perhaps Osiris realized Jack could play mind games with the best of them.  Daniel took solace in the fact that his friend’s military training prevented the snakeheads from ever having much effect against him, yet something in the back of his mind nagged at him.  Mind control techniques come in many forms with psychotropic drugs and hypnotism as very effective possibilities…

Finally, he spied his prison as they rounded a corner.  Cut sharply into the rock face walls, the room was quite small and rather dank; a shallow cell with no windows, no comforts, and no escape.  Dim lighting filled the enclosure and it appeared man- or rather Goa'uld-made.

In the back corner he saw an overhead restraint system consisting of a mechanical lifting device with dangling chains.  The Jaffa quickly clamped Daniel's wrists to its manacles.

‘Oh great, height adjustable,’ Daniel thought, praying the system design intended to accommodate prisoners of various heights and not to actually lift them off the floor to dangle by their arms.  ‘Yeahsureyabetcha.’

"Where are we?  What do you want with us?" the archeologist spoke as though Jack was still present, refusing to consider any other possibilities.

"In due time, Daniel, in due time," Osiris caressed the young man's cheek. 

He remained outwardly stoic at the touch, although inwardly he shuddered and hoped Sarah could guard her memories of their past experiences enough to delude Osiris.  He didn't want to think about what the Goa’uld could do with some of their more personal moments.  He remembered a few wild, potentially embarrassing events from his college days, usually spurred by the consumption of copious quantities of alcohol.

"Prepare him!" Osiris bellowed at the Jaffa .  Gazing lasciviously at Daniel, her next words filled him with dread.  "He must be ready for the evening's entertainment."

Daniel barely flinched as a rather large guard slowly started removing his clothing.  He mentally focused on an escape plan, trying to distance himself from his current situation and failing miserably.

He felt his shoes and socks tugged from his feet.  The Jaffa rose to stand face to face with his captive, an evil gleam in his eyes, as he stroked the satin tank top and worked it free from his pants.  He slid his hands beneath the soft fabric to caress the Daniel’s firm, muscular chest, stopping briefly to pinch each tender nipple.  The burly man maintained a feral gaze which filled the archeologist with dread.

Suddenly, the hands reached up under the garment clasping the neckline, and with one quick jerk, the fabric split down the center and fell to the ground.  The others in the room leered at the half naked man. 

Another Jaffa replaced the first and reached for Daniel’s belt, allowing his rough hands to slip and contact bare skin.  Those hands slid as far under as possible, sensually touching beneath his waistband and driving downward towards the coarse, pubic hair. 

A small grimace flashed across Daniel’s face and his tormentors chuckled at his distress.

Helplessly, Daniel set his chin and focused his gaze on the cell exit appearing disinterested in the proceedings.  As he watched the doorway, he noticed a dark figure walk past, definitely female. 

Before his mind could completely process the image, he felt his belt pop off and a large hand fondled him.  He squirmed and kicked against the unwanted contact, afraid he might actually be raped.  The offending hand released him and swung wildly to strike his face.  Losing his footing from the force of the blow, Daniel jolted painfully against his chains and the weight of his limp body pulled them taut. 

Through the blinding pain, he felt hands tugging on his legs.  One of the Jaffa pressed a symbol on the interior wall which operated the winch and his shoulders burned as his arms lifted high above his head, the motion stopping just before his feet left the ground.

”You will learn obedience!”

Daniel spit in the man’s face, earning him a swift kick between his legs.  The younger man cried out in obvious agony.

Two Jaffa now surrounded him, one in front and one behind, feigning concern by massaging his groin.  “Is this better now?  Feels like its swelling.  Perhaps we should take a look, huh?”  They laughed.

“Go to hell!”

The men slowly removed his pants as the others taunted with lewd obscenities. 

Daniel felt something rubbing against him, starting at his inner thigh and climbing upwards, lingering.  Anxiously his mind panicked for a time until he recognized the feeling of fingers.  It was the touch of a hand which, in any other circumstance would have been intolerable, now incredibly eased his concern.  He’d feared it had been something different.

As the fingers worked their way into his underwear, Daniel thought he still might lose it but restrained from further struggling, fearing the consequences.  He tried to dissociate his mind from his body, recalling his team leader’s training regarding "preferred" torture techniques. 

One evening after a difficult mission they made a "top ten" list to relieve the tension.   He recognized several of those "top ten" items in his current situation;

1) Degrading by removing the victim's dignity, both mentally and physically,

2) Depriving the victim of those things essential to human existence such as   food, water, clothing,

3) Threatening or attempting sexual relations or other depravities.

Oh, and 4) Actual torturing, either mental, physical, or both.

His memory faltered on the remaining six as he returned to reality.   The invading hand now cupped his balls beneath the clothing.

"Enough!" Osiris, apparently enjoying the show, cut off the entertainment before things got out of hand, so to speak. 

"Come.  Leave him to his thoughts…," Osiris left the room smiling wickedly, the guards retreating after binding his angles together with a thick leather strap.

”Well, at least I got to keep the underwear this time,” Daniel joked even as his body visibly shook.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack gasped as his mind clawed its way up from unconsciousness.  He felt pain in his legs, unpleasant but not debilitating.  More disturbingly, he couldn't recall how he'd been hurt. 

Rapidly assembling the pieces of the puzzle together, he remembered being on Revanna with Daniel, waiting for Carter and Teal'c to reach the gate.  They were under attack.  He and Daniel moved to open the wormhole to Earth when…

 

Osiris!

"Aw hell, not again!" he exclaimed as he came to full awareness in his cell.  The whole situation was just so typical.

"Stupid! How could I have been so stupid?" Jack muttered to himself.  He relaxed his guard during their final hours on Revanna, complacent after the Goa'uld poison worked so effectively.  His nonchalance had cost them their freedom.

'Their freedom', he thought. ‘Shit! Where is Daniel?’

He remembered hearing voices, HIS voice before being dumped unceremoniously into this room.  More accurately, he heard Daniel’s screams, so close he imagined the archeologist had been with him in this very room.  Looking around quickly he saw no sign of the man now.  He had to find him. 

Jack worriedly paced his small confines.  Nice décor, a bit gaudy, but what else would you expect from the Goa'uld?  The room smelled a bit musty and the lighting wasn't too bright but at least he had a bed.  Not too bad for a prison.

He saw the tray of food placed on a sidebar table and picked up a pear-shaped fruit, tossing it gently in the air.  He took a tentative nibble, wondering if it was safe to eat.  Good flavor, a bit too sweet though.  After his second bite he thought he should be concerned about eating alien and possibly poisoned fruit, but for some reason he just didn’t care.  In fact, he felt quite apathetic about this whole capture thing anyway.  Shrugging, he took another bite.

His thoughts digressed to Daniel, hoping his teammate received the same unexpected yet not unpleasant welcome.  It was nice to be treated well for a change. Perhaps they could stay a while.

Jack jerked towards the sudden movement outside his quarters.  His instincts told him to attack his would-be captor and flee but his mind seemed disinterested.  A beautiful woman with dark features and glowing eyes came into view.

She stepped inside and glanced indifferently in Jack's direction, proceeding to snatch a piece of fruit from the table for herself.  After finishing her snack, she turned her attention towards her prisoner.

"Who are you?" Jack asked the young woman.

"I am Nephthys, goddess of the death which is not eternal, mistress of the gods, sister to Isis ."

"And?  So?  Therefore?" Jack regained his sarcastic tongue, waving his hand with each word spoken.

"And," Nephthys brushed against him as she spoke, "you are my honored guest.

“So," Nephthys' hand moved to caress Jack's handsome features, "you will tell me everything I want to know about yourself and your companion.

“Therefore," she stopped directly in front of him, her face mere inches away, "I will allow you the pleasure of serving me willing in the destruction of Earth."

"Okay, let me think about that," Jack started, his basal instincts driving his responses again.  "No," he quipped in a singsong tone, answering after barely a second's pause.  "This may come as a surprise to you but I'm *so* not honored to be your guest and I'll never help you destroy Earth so I suggest that you bring my teammate to me now before I break your slimy, good-for-nothing, Goa'uldy… "

Nephthys raised her hand and Jack stopped instantly.  She spoke slowly, her tone beyond reproach, and her eyes never wavering from his.  "You are my honored guest."

Jack calmly repeated the words trance-like, "I am your honored guest."

"You will tell me everything I want to know," Nephthys continued.

"I will tell you everything you want to know," the words spilled ominously from Jack's mouth.

"You will assist me in the destruction of Earth."

"I will assist you in the destruction of Earth."  He heard himself speak but had difficulty processing the content.

Nephthys lowered her hand and resumed her casual perusal of Jack's room.  He followed her with his eyes, still confused by his words but convinced he would follow his god’s instructions.

"I trust you are comfortable here." Her inflection implied a statement of fact rather than a question.

"Yes, my Lord.  I am." His own words haunted the deep recesses of his mind but he no longer controlled his conscious thoughts and behavior.

With a satisfied nod of her head, Nephthys quickly left the room.

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"Stop it! God, just stop it!" Daniel's screams came through clenched teeth.  His previously suppressed cries now morphed into a full blown verbalization of his pain, his throat raw from screaming.  Unsure exactly when his persecutors returned, he suspected they'd been with him for about a half hour now.  It seemed significantly longer.
 
After removing his clothing, they left him in this place for several hours without food or water.  Initially, he assumed he was alone here but flashes of memories he couldn’t quite grasp assailed him.  He remembered voices and a woman that always remained in the shadows.  He even thought he recalled Jack’s voice but that couldn’t be.  Osiris held his commanding officer elsewhere within this facility.

Unable to catch enough lucid memories to determine what had happened since arriving on this world, he decided to think back to what occurred just prior to their capture for any clues to the Goa’uld’s intentions.

Osiris had allied with Anubis, representing his interests at the Goa’uld meeting.  Daniel overheard their bargaining points in the deal; the destruction of both the Tok'ra base and Earth.  What he couldn’t figure out, though, was how they planned to accomplish it.  He didn’t realize at the time that Anubis had already launched an attack on Revanna.

Once Osiris recognized Daniel on Yu’s ship, she tried to grab him and luckily failed, eventually tracking him down to the planet’s surface.  She wanted him, Jack, or both from some reason.  Obviously, she hadn’t expected to find them such easy targets. 

So she’d taken them prisoners, but why?  Certainly they provided little consequence to the allegiance between the Goa’ulds.  It didn't make any sense to him.  What could she possibly stand to gain from them, the Earth gate access codes? 

Surely, she knew they’d both die before divulging any information.

His mind grew weaker as hunger and thirst overtook his ability to think clearly.  It became increasingly difficulty to focus his thoughts.  As they strayed back to his teammate, Daniel prayed he was in better condition than himself.  Conscious and alert, Jack could find a way out and free them from this hellhole.  Drugged or worse, they were shit out of luck.

As his thoughts wandered again to the mysterious dark figure he’d seen several times now, Daniel heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching.

‘God, please let it be Jack…’ he silently pleaded.

Two Jaffa entered his prison, one of them carrying an innocuous looking metal rod and three small discs.  One of them immediately walked over to Daniel and began placing the discs all over his body…his temple, his left side, and unfortunately, the base of his testicles.

Without speaking a word, the Jaffa touched a symbol on the rod and the color on its tip changed to deep crimson.  As he held it against the disc on Daniel's side, a searing pain swept throughout his body unlike anything he had ever experienced before.  It originated at the source and radiated outwards through his extremities.  Against closed eyelids he saw starbursts of colors, like fireworks, blinding in their intensity.  He clenched his lips together unwilling to scream and tasted blood as he bit through his bottom lip.

The transitory pain eased as soon as the stick lost contact with the plate.

Daniel gasped for much needed air intending to flail a few accusatory words, but his tormentor raised the device to the disc at his temple before he could speak.  His screams echoed down the corridor.

"Stop it! God, just stop it!" Daniel's plea came through clenched teeth.

The Jaffa detached the bar from his temple but the pain took longer to dissipate this time leaving Daniel with a pounding headache. 

"My dear Dr. Jackson, you had but to ask!  Perhaps this will be more to your liking," Osiris sauntered into the room, her blithe words sounding alarm bells in Daniel's mind.

She nonchalantly reached for the pain-stick and pressed a different symbol at its base.  The tip radiated a foreboding cerulean blue.  Daniel flinched as she made contact and his eyes narrowed in preparation for the pain to follow, surprising shocked at a new sensation. 

He felt warm but not too warm.  His vision wavered at the incredible emotions flooded his senses.  Pleasure coursed through his veins, pumped by his heart to every part of his body in a mind numbing onslaught he could neither describe nor distance himself from.  A dark blue aura entwined within his very being.  The vibrant colors behind his eyelids presented themselves in a swirling, intermixing rainbow of pigments bleeding into each other like a psychotropic haze.  These feelings were pleasant, very pleasant indeed and he enjoyed them…immensely.

"See, we have no wish to harm you.  We can make this easy for you.  Your choice, do you desire pleasure or pain?"

Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding Daniel battled against his true desire for more stimulation, not comfortable with the lack of control caused by the blue glow. 

Quietly and reluctantly, Daniel spoke, "Stop. I can't…take… please, stop."

"As you wish," Osiris removed the rod before the words completely left Daniel's mouth and he immediately regretted the loss.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Daniel tried to regain his vehemence towards Osiris as his mind cleared.

"Answer a few simple questions and I'll reward you appropriately," Osiris spoke while walking in slow circles around Daniel, lightly tracing her fingers across his torso as she moved.

"Correct answers bring pleasure.  Incorrect ones bring…"

Daniel didn’t see the color change on the device before she brought it up between his legs, contacting the disc on his testicles.  He barely heard Osiris as excruciating pain assaulted his body once again.

"…pain."

Afterwards, Daniel was quite certain he would be unable to walk for some time.  Yeah, like that was an option anyway.

"Now my dear Daniel," the vixen pressed her lips lightly to Daniel's ear while her free hand continued its exploration of his body.  "We will talk."

Daniel stood stoically against her touch, staring at the entrance to this room. Once again he thought he saw a shadowy figure pass. 

Of course, he may just be imagining things…

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Pacing again, Jack wondered how long they’d been here.  He’d worn a path from the doorway to his bed, counting exactly eight strides in each direction, as he grew impatient in this waiting game.  Glancing at his watch, he realized they’d been imprisoned here for well over six hours now.

For the past five of those hours, Jack had been yelling for someone, ANYONE, to come to his room.  A couple of Jaffa stood guard outside but, other than them, he didn’t remember seeing anyone since he'd awakened in this godforsaken place.  His last memory was the sting from the zat blast. 

“Shit,” he muttered.  They'd been so close to escaping that damn planet.  At least, Teal'c and Carter should have made it back to the SGC by now.  They’d be searching, not giving up until they found them.  That was something anyway.

"Could someone turn on a damn light?  Jeez!" Jack bellowed through the small opening in the door slamming a fist against it for emphasis.

At least he'd been treated well, receiving food and water at regular intervals.  And he had a bed…well, more of a cot really but better than lying on the rock floor.  He even tried to rest but his concern for Daniel overshadowed his need for sleep. 

Daniel.  Where was the man anyway?  He wasn't even sure Osiris had captured him since he hadn’t seen him around.  True, he thought he heard some very faint cries earlier, screams actually, but that was several hours ago.  It could have been anything.

"Hey, I really need some information here!" Jack's voice reverberated through the small room and down the adjacent hallway.  Eyeing one of the Jaffa through his door’s window, Jack exclaimed, "Would you get your fucking snake-head leader in here now?!"

Receiving only a cold, impassive look in response, Jack flung his half empty water glass towards them, shattering it into a million pieces.

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"Anubis is awaiting word of our progress." Osiris drank deeply from the ornate goblet in her hand.  Her human slave rushed to refill the glass at the snap of her fingers.

"The System Lords are fools!" Nephthys scowled at the thought. "They would dare reinstate Anubis after the crimes he's committed against them?  Preposterous!  Such flagrant, insolent audacity could only be instrumented by him!"

"That may be true but the opportunity now presents itself for us."

"Indeed it does, my love," Nephthys responded.  "We have only to play the humans against each other to set up the destruction of Earth."

"Yes," Osiris chuckled.  "Anubis will assume credit for their annihilation and we will tear the System Lords apart in the process."

Grinning, Nephthys contemplated her plan in silence…

The human known as O'Neill finally succumbed to her after several tedious visits with him.  His strong mind fought admirable against her, able to resist for a while.  But eventually she succeeded in taking over his conscious thoughts bit by bit, twisting his essence to make him willingly serve her needs. 

She laughed, recalling his final breaking point…his companion’s brutal torture.  She forced O’Neill to watch as her Jaffa repeatedly beat and sexually abused Daniel.  Yet even then he maintained his own control until after several days he finally caved, the continual stress working to weaken his mind.  It took a long time but the victory was well worth her efforts. 

Now, his increasingly erratic behavior proved she possessed him.  She no longer needed the drugs to control him so she planned to test her newfound telepathy as an alternate method.  He would be her marionette and she, the puppet master. 

He didn’t remember her visitations either, of that she was certain.  She plucked those memories along with those of his friend’s distress, planting a few new ones in their place, she mused.

"O'Neill is ready," Nephthys commented aloud. "What progress have you made with Dr. Jackson?"

"He is a very strong minded individual.  I have yet to get him to divulge anything of interest, despite my best attempts," Osiris' evil grin spoke volumes regarding the hardship inflicted upon Dr. Jackson.  "He rather seems to prefer the pain to the pleasure."

"He hasn’t yielded to the pas'nel?  Surely, your techniques will achieve *some* results,” Nephthys spoke sarcastically.  “Has he divulged anything of value?”

"He has uttered nonsense!" Osiris stood up waving angry fists in the air.  "It is difficult for me to believe he is the scholar my host claims him to be!"

"Perhaps that is what he wishes you to believe, my love." Nephthys rose placing a hand on Osiris' shoulder, pushing her gently back into the chair.

"Perhaps," Osiris responded indignantly.  "But I believe Colonel O'Neill will be much more successful in retrieving what we want from Jackson ."

"I agree.  We will make the prisoners visible to each other in the morning.  Even though *you* failed to produce the desired results, I am confident that O'Neill will succeed."

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[Chapter 6] - Dark Patches

'When will it stop?  I’ve got to stay alive just a little longer.  Jack will help me soon.'

Daniel had experienced utter torment for the past…how long had it been anyway?  It didn't matter, he had to survive.  He only hoped Jack’s situation was better than his.

His body still hung limply, wrists raw from the manacles.  He felt a trickle of blood or something down his arms and across his chest, his back riddled with small puncture wounds from a torture device with razor-sharp needles.  He probably suffered a few broken ribs as well.  Adding to his distress, he also realized he couldn't open his eyes.

Osiris had foregone using the pas'nel after that last color change to green.  It touched his temple but he had felt nothing.  No pain, no pleasure, nothing, nada.  He prayed it was broken.

Then the physical abuse began.  After expending their stock of pain inflicting instruments, the goons resorted to more primitive behavior, beating him physically and quite severely yet, unfortunately for him, he never lost consciousness. 

He recalled every biting question posed by Osiris and knew he’d disclosed nothing.  Ironically, he actually found it quite difficult to speak at all as the Jaffa ’s blows increased in intensity.

He tried to bring back her questions now and immediately regretted it as a flash of brilliant light passed behind his closed eyelids, his mind suddenly engulfed by an unwanted flashback.

"So Dr. Jackson, are you ready to talk now?" Osiris smiled coyly as she raised her hand, stopping the Jaffa .

"Well," Daniel spoke quietly, his voice raspy, "perhaps you could repeat the questions.  I-I couldn't really hear them over all the screaming."

Daniel knew his sarcasm would eventually cost him, but for now he hoped his wit might forestall further attacks.

"Where is my mate, Isis?"

"Oh, yeah, that.  I-I really don't know."

"Lies!" Osiris spat the words at Daniel but he defiantly remained silent.

"How does this device work?" She indicated the GDO in her hand.  He presumed it belonged to Jack. 

"What are the codes to open the Chaapa'ai to your home world?"

"I can't recall." Daniel adopted the position often used by lawyers in a courtroom. Technically, under oath this response wasn't considered a lie.

"Insolence! Your stubbornness will cost you and your friend dearly."

For a brief moment, Daniel feared Jack would receive the punishment for his stubbornness.  At least one of them needed strength to get them out of here and, by the looks of his current situation, that person wouldn't be Daniel.

Looking pissed, Osiris abruptly turned and left the room giving a slight nod to the waiting Jaffa .  As the door to his cell closed behind her, Daniel's screams followed as they ruthlessly abused his body and soul.

"God, make this stop!" he yelled. 

For the first time since the green tipped pas'nel touched him, Daniel actually opened his eyes, thrusting himself out of the violent flashback.  He felt dazed like someone awakening from a vivid dream.  Sweat dripped from his hair into his eyes and he panted heavily. 

Remarkably, the pain he so graphically experienced moments ago was nonexistent and he hurriedly searched his body for injuries, surprised upon realizing he bore no sign of his abuse; no bruises, no broken ribs, no blood.

"What the hell is going on here?" Daniel asked the room in general.

"You have finally returned from the visions."

Startled by the unexpected response, Daniel looked to see who spoke and a guard emerged from behind him.

Whispering with a husky voice in Daniel's ear, the Jaffa lightly brushed his face.  "You see, your own mind can provide much more intense torture than any physical beating.  And the mental anguish…well, it's only as limited as your imagination."

A feral grin crossed the man’s face as his hand roamed lower.

"See you in your dreams," the threat made Daniel shiver.

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Angry klaxons blared.  Revolving red lights stationed throughout the Stargate Command complex echoed the sirens’ song, just in case the irritatingly loud sound didn't catch your attention.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"  The voice over the speakers resonated through the corridors in a worried tone, overshadowed by cautious optimism.  Someone, either friend or foe, was attempting to travel to earth.  No off-world SG teams were expected back at this time.

Perhaps, just maybe, possibly…

Sam hit the floor running as soon as she heard the horns.  Heading towards the gate room, she nearly collided with an equally fast moving, much larger object…Teal'c.  They exchanged quick, hopeful glances as they continued their trek to Level 28.

There they found SG-5 returning home early after taking heavy casualties.  The return mission to search for more clues in the disappearance of Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson had gone awry shortly after their arrival.  Anubis' Jaffa appeared in their ships and besieged them as they exited the gate.

Staff blasts hit three of their team members, but fortunately, none of the injuries was life threatening.  The battered group clambered down the ramp as the medical team arrived to escort the wounded soldiers to the infirmary.

General Hammond bore a concerned look, not only for SG-5 but also for SG-1.  Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson had been missing in action for two days now and they were no closer to determining their whereabouts than when Major Carter and Teal'c first arrived back without them.

The pair had worked tirelessly on deciphering Daniel’s markings near the DHD.  But without that final symbol to work with, they could only interpolate and extrapolate potentially viable gate addresses. 

So, General Hammond eventually ordered them home to rest.  Anticipating their unwillingness to leave, he solicited aid from Dr. Frasier and gave them two choices.  They could remain on base and rest or receive Janet’s famous sleep inducing cocktail in the infirmary…their choice.  Janet displayed two loaded syringes for effect.  As expected, they chose the former and retired to their offices. 

That was over six hours ago.

Now standing together in the control room, the older man glanced at Major Carter, noticing a dispirited yet optimistic expression on her face.  He knew she had a plan.

"Sir, the computer is running permutations of possible gate addresses.  If we substitute symbols for the missing one systematically, eliminating those locations that don’t meet certain known criteria, we can narrow the number of possible planets significantly."

"And if we locate potential planets, what do you propose we do then, Major?  I can't authorize sending SG teams to each planet for search and rescue without a clue as to what we would find there." 

He knew there weren't many addresses to search through.  They already had six symbols including the point of origin, missing only the last one in the dialing sequencing.  His true concern, however, was the two men could have been transferred hundreds of miles from the Stargate after their arrival.  Or worse, transported by ship to an even different locale altogether.  It would be like trying to find the proverbial "needle in a haystack".

"We can send a UAV through to perform reconnaissance," her tone insisted.

"And then what?  For all we know they aren't near