Cretaceous Such dust as dreams are made of

by Ayesha Jen

Dinosaurs give the team trouble enough on this mission, but when Jack takes an unauthorized trip back to the planet alone no one looks forward to trying to bring him back. A complete story but the 1st of a Trilogy, 2nd Buluc Chabtan, 3rd Insect Tsunami

Disclaimer

Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret productions, and Gekko productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

Cretaceous (Such dust as dreams are made of)

Prelude

It was a blisteringly hot day. The deep lavender blue sky boasted not a single cloud to mask the sun that beat down relentlessly. Someone was running through the tall razor edged ferns. The fleeing figure passed swiftly between the towering trees, feeling neither the heat nor the pain from cuts being inflicted on her body by the ferns. Terror ran with her, numbing all her physical senses as she desperately tried to outrun the beast that had her scent. It was a straight fast run, there was no time to try to dodge or weave through the trees. Its sense of smell was too acute for her to lose it, and its speed and strength made it madness to do anything that would slow her pace. Safety was near but she could hear it tearing the trees from its path as it came for her. A loud roar reached her ears, drowning the sound of her own rasping breath. It could see her now as well as smell her. The ground beneath her feet had begun to vibrate in time with the huge beast's strides. Suddenly she saw the hole to the underground cave where it would not be able to reach her. Taking two more strides, she dived into the hole headfirst and rolled and tumbled down the inside slope.

The huge beast slowed as its prey suddenly disappeared. It could still smell its meal but could no longer see it. The vibrations through the ground started the dust dancing and rising as it moved closer to the hole, but the smell of food was fading even as it drew near. A huge sweep of its tail as it turned to look for the small creature uprooted several small trees and it roared again, this time in anger at losing its prey. After a time of futile search it lost interest and lumbered off, hunting for a new target. There was a strange smell on the air and it lifted its nose and inhaled. Curiosity dictated its direction; a new smell could be a new source of food.

Lumbering back through the primitive forest, it came to the edge of a clearing. It did not enter the clearing however, several painful lessons from previous explorations had conditioned it not to venture out into the open here. Two scars running down its body had been inflicted in this place and it remembered the pain. From within the tree line it studied the strange creature moving around on the open ground. It could not make up its mind whether it was a food source or not. Settling quietly in its chosen spot it waited for the creature to come within reach.

Trundling slowly toward him, growling quietly and hissing, the creature moved its limbs slowly above its body like some misshapen spider. Suddenly it stopped and a whirring sound emanated from it as it turned to look at the huge beast. It started to trundle forward again, apparently unaware of the danger. As it reached the edge of the clearing the huge beast's head darted forward and grasped the strange creature between its jaws, lifting it from the ground. A small explosion erupted and an unpleasant tasting liquid began to drain from it. The strange smell suddenly became overpoweringly unpleasant and the beast dropped the unpalatable meal and turned away. It was hungry and that was not edible.

Briefing Room

There were half a dozen people watching the video playing back the events of the previous day. General Hammond had called in SG-1 to brief them on their next assignment. As the tape came to an end he realized that he was correct in his assumption that it would be an unpopular order.

"For crying out loud! What was that!" exclaimed Colonel Jack O'Neill, responding to the last few seconds of pictures retrieved from the damaged MALP.

"It looks amazingly like a Tyrannosaurus or maybe an Allosaurus, I'm not very good with this sort of thing," Carter responded, turning an inquiring glance towards Daniel.

"Don't look at me, I deal in buildings and languages and they don't take me back that far. Besides, there's no way anyone could get something that size through the Stargate, or any Stargate we've seen."

"Why would they want to?" Jack responded. "Exactly what are we looking at here?"

"Eggs, young maybe, could be taken through," Carter responded to Daniel's question first. "But I think we may be looking at a planet with parallel development here, not one seeded from earth stock, and it's still a long way back in our evolutionary past. Still as interesting a find as this may be, I don't see why we've been called…"

"Before you two get carried away," the General broke in, "I have been instructed to send in a team to bring back some specimens for study."

"Bring back some … you've just got to be kidding, right?" Jack was not amused. "Of course you're not? That's the craziest thing we've ever been asked to do. They can't help us fight the Go'auld, and have no military value…pets, that's it, someone wants a new pet," he finished, tempering his reaction with his normal dry humour.

"Nevertheless we have been asked, no, told, to mount a small scientific mission to bring back live samples to study," the General cut him off a little impatiently. Jack looked vaguely surprised and guessed that he wasn't exactly ecstatic about the order either.

"Yes, Sir, but how do they expect us to do it. I mean Dinosaurs don't belong here anymore, where would we put them?" Daniel asked.

"I think how would we explain them would be more to the point," Sam added to the conversation. "They are going to be impossible to keep secret."

"This is not going to be our problem," the General pointed out. "Our problem is to find a way to bring live samples back safely and hand them over. You will be ready to embark at 0800 hours tomorrow, dismissed." As everyone left the table the General could not suppress a smile.

As Jack walked towards the door he was certain he heard him growl, "Damn scientists!"

Still, the General could see that this mission wasn't exactly in line with the normal search for new allies and technology. He was also sure it would not turn out to be as simple as his superiors seemed to think.

Embarkation

Jack was late into the Gate Room and the General was getting impatient. "Where is Colonel O'Neill?" he asked just as the door finally slid open to admit him.

"Sorry Sir, stopped off at the armoury," Jack responded to the question as he loaded two boxes of grenades onto the already loaded down ATV. The General looked a question at him. "Insurance!" Jack explained with a shrug.

"When you are quite ready, Colonel," the General responded. Jack waved a sloppy salute at the General as Carter started the ATV moving up the ramp. The four checked their weapons and exchanged glances, acknowledging the need to spread out along the walkway.

"Split up as soon as you leave the Stargate, I don't want us caught bunched up in front of it," Jack told them as he checked his weapon's magazine one more time.

"Yes, Sir," Carter responded.

They waited for the ATV to disappear through the Stargate and ran up the walkway, entering the event horizon together.

They exited the Stargate at a run, splitting up immediately and looking for cover behind the small pillars at the bottom of a short walkway. As the Stargate shut down, SG-1 carefully surveyed their surroundings, weapons raised in nervous anticipation. The ATV trundled to the middle of the clearing and Carter instructed it to stop. Its presence caused no large animals or anything of a threatening nature to appear. Glancing around the clearing, Jack located the spire to one side of the Stargate. This single spire towered over the clearing and as Jack's eyes followed the line of the structure upward, a quiet humming started up. He realized that the noise was emanating from its apex. Jack regarded it suspiciously and his mind flashed back to Teal'c's encounter with a similar object in the past. Was this device similar to Thor's hammer?

"Teal'c!" he made his name a half warning, half question.

Teal'c backed hurriedly towards the Gate, but apart from continuing to hum, the tower did nothing. After a minute or so the team relaxed and strolled towards the ATV. A loud roar sounded off to their left, making Daniel physically jump. It seemed to echo across the trees. They surveyed the trees nervously but could not see the source of the noise.

"I don't like this," Daniel muttered to himself. "How are we supposed to retrieve live specimens without getting eaten?"

"I guess becoming egg raiders may be our best bet. Eggs don't bite," Sam answered.

"And mother won't object? Yeah, right," Jack responded.

Jack motioned the team to spread out and check the edges of the clearing. He wanted to be sure it was safe before they tried to set up any kind of camp. Teal'c had reached the tree line when a shadow within it moved and he suddenly started backing rapidly towards the Gate. "O'Neill!"

Everyone spun round in time to see a young Allosaurus rush out of the trees, claws extended to rend flesh and a set of very sharp teeth glistening in its open jaws. It sprang towards Teal'c with a squeal. Before anyone had the chance to move or help in any way, the tower erupted. A piercing beam of light passed beyond Teal'c and struck the half-grown dinosaur in the chest. It fell at his feet, already dead when it reached the ground.

"So now we know what the tower's for. At least it's friendly, you OK Teal'c?"

"I am fine, O'Neill," he responded, now appearing undisturbed by the sudden attack.

"I wonder who put it there, the Ancients maybe or someone else who used this Gate." Daniel commented, staring up at the tower.

"More to the point," Jack muttered as he strolled around its base, "what or who is it protecting and are they still here? There are too many damn questions and surprises. I'm getting too old for all these surprises."

Daniel pointed towards the trees. "And the number of questions is growing all the time."

A figure stood in the edge of the trees watching them. It appeared to be a small human but turned to leave as Sam tried to move towards it.

"Wait! We won't harm you," Sam called, but the figure appeared to vanish right in front of her. Sam stopped by the tree line and as the others joined her, she turned with a puzzled look on her face. "I don't get it, Sir. One minute she was there, and then she was gone. Didn't appear to be armed, which seems strange here, wouldn't you say?"

"She?" Jack responded.

"Yes Sir, definitely a female. Not very tall with long dark hair, wearing some kind of skins, I think. That's all I could see from where I was she was in partial shadow."

"Sooo." Jack pursed his lips as he digested that bit of information. "I suggest we set up camp under the tower, as it seems to regard us as friends to protect. When we venture into this… forest," he waved aimlessly in its direction, "we go together. No solo trips into that."

All except Jack drifted back to the ATV and started to unload the equipment. He stood studying the trees where the figure had disappeared. The area beyond the tree line at that point was fairly open. 'No one would just disappear if they ran through that area. She has to still be there, somewhere.' He gave up looking and turned back to help unload. Hair on the back of his neck began to rise as he felt the eyes on his back. 'Yep, she's watching us.'

Once the camp was set up, Jack decided to use the remaining light to explore the immediate area. Hopefully he could work out how to complete their mission safely, once there was more idea of what they faced. As they made their way into the forest, Carter found herself fascinated by the razor edges on the ferns.

"I don't think we have had anything like this variety of fern on Earth. I could be wrong, I know grass can cut, but the edges are not serrated like these. Actually these seem to require some force for the edges to actually penetrate. If you run a hand slowly over them they don't cut."

"So what you're saying is, if we don't run our clothes will stay intact?" Jack asked, widening his eyes, daring her to respond. Carter grinned but refrained from comment, and continued to collect her samples of the plant life. The collecting slowed their progress for a while as everyone joined in the hunt for unusual looking plants. Jack leaned over a particularly large curled up fern just as the sun triggered its spring-loaded mechanism. The spores for the fern's next generation blasted straight in his face instead of across the forest floor. "Haaa choo! Damn it!"

A muffled giggle erupted from Daniel, who was standing close by. Jack glared at him as he wiped the orange stains from around his eyes and nose and decided to leave the collecting to Carter. As it turned out it didn't take very long for her to run out of samples to collect. The number of species appeared to be very limited.

"Has anyone seen any flowering plants?" she asked as she discarded a deformed fern that turned out to be the same as one previously collected. No one responded.

"Its strange, according to the stuff I was reading last night, this was the period in Earth's history that flowers really took off, along with the spread and variety of insects, butterflies, that sort of thing."

"Well perhaps this is not an identically developing planet," Daniel suggested. "Some things are different. I find it incredible that reptiles could develop identically in two separate places. To get all the same ingredients and all the same circumstances really seems wildly improbable."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, but why bring dinosaurs to another planet?"

"To protect them from extinction, maybe," Jack interrupted the discussion. They both looked at him in surprise and he looked vaguely embarrassed. "Someone knew the big comet was coming, or maybe knew they were being poisoned by bad air that was only going to get worse." They continued to stare at him. "I read… sometimes," he said defensively. "Its getting dark, I think we should retreat to the protection of the tower. What the hell is that!" Jack came to a sudden halt.

Daniel grabbed his little pocket book and flicked through it, surveying the pictures until he found one similar to the creature that had just popped out of the ferns. "It looks like a Leaellynasaurus, a herbivore. Harmless… I think."

"It does not look harmless," Teal'c commented, but proceeded to approach it. It stood three foot high with little razor teeth in its beak-like mouth. It balanced on two legs, rather like a bird, with little arms instead of wings. It had no feathers, just a scaly skin. The creature's head tilted as it kept a careful watch as Teal'c tried to approach. Suddenly it decided he was close enough. It spun around and ran from Teal'c, making clicking noises as it went. Several others of its kind erupted from the ferns and followed the fleeing creature.

"It would seem to be more afraid of us than we of it," Teal'c said as he returned to his friends. The group retraced their steps to the clearing to spend the night.

Back at the camp a fire was banked up and Sam and Daniel were working their way through several textbooks in the hope of deciding where to look for nests.

"This is ridiculous. They should have found someone with the necessary expertise to send with us," Daniel grumbled.

"Didn't have anyone with the necessary clearance. They gave us no time to process someone," Sam explained without looking up from her book.

"How about the people who asked for the specimens?" Teal'c asked.

"Don't know Teal'c, maybe they don't actually know about the Stargate Project and think we've found an isolated spot on Earth somewhere," Sam responded. "Where's Jack?"

Teal'c pointed towards the line of trees where the figure had been seen. Daniel put down the book he was holding and wandered over to see what he was doing. After a moment or two of being ignored he coughed to attract Jack's attention.

"What's bothering you, Jack?"

"She's still out there watching us," Jack murmured. "I can feel it."

Daniel looked out into the darkness, straining to catch movements in the gloom. His friend's preoccupation seemed a little unsettling but he wasn't sure why. "If there's one person out there, there will be others as well," Daniel commented.

"Ya think?" Jack responded.

"Do you think there's some danger?"

After a moment Jack murmured, "No, I think she's on her own.

"Why?"

"I don't know, Daniel, it's just a feeling. Come on, it's getting cold and the fire is calling."

The Egg Hunt

Early the following morning they saw another species of dinosaur. As the sun heated the surroundings a Pterodactyl rose and flew over the clearing. The huge reptile had large membranes for wings, rather like a bat, and the sound it made as it travelled through the air caught their attention.

"That's four types of dinosaurs we have identified since we arrived," Sam told Jack. "I'm not very keen to try for a T Rex egg, though."

"You don't say," Jack quipped and then grinned as he turned in a leisurely walk into the forest.

Daniel leaned towards Sam as they followed him and murmured quietly, "he's in a very good humour this morning, considering he's not keen on this egg hunt."

"You know Jack as well as anybody. I don't know what's put him in such a good mood, considering he's not keen to be here," Sam responded

"Well, do any of us want to be here?" Daniel smiled in response to the question. "Maybe it's the air. Do you know I feel amazingly well this morning. Even that pulled muscle in my shoulder doesn't ache anymore."

"You're right, Daniel, I've just realized those cuts the ferns inflicted on my hands yesterday, no stinging, no pain, no irritation of any sort. I also feel really well, strange…."

Teal'c was working his way through the ferns ahead of the rest of the team. "O'Neill!" he called from a few feet away and everyone moved carefully towards him. Beyond Teal'c's feet lay a series of small mounds that looked like nests. A quick search revealed several eggs in the nests nearest to them. All around them they could hear the same clicking noise as on the previous day when they had disturbed the Leaellynasaurus.

"OK, if this is a Leaellynasaurus nesting area we have herbivore eggs. Don't take any eggs from the central mound," Sam instructed. "According to what we read last night, the central mound is where the primary pair's eggs are laid. I should think they could still be dangerous if we upset them too much. After all, they are three feet high and have sharp little teeth."

Under Sam's instruction Teal'c removed an egg from the nest at his feet and they moved carefully away from the area. The Leaellynasaurus reappeared and checked their nests but made no attempt to attack the team.

"Well, that was easy," commented Jack as Sam carefully stowed their first egg away in a cushioned flask. "What are you looking at, Daniel?" he asked as he noticed him peering into the undergrowth.

"It's got fur, a mammal of some sort maybe. Shall we follow it?"

"A mammal?" Sam responded. "The only ones we really have any idea about on earth for this time period were supposed to be our ancestors."

"Why not, the forest's quiet." Jack responded to Daniel. "Your ancestor might be a four legged fur ball, Carter, but mine wasn't."

Distant-sounding roars and closer squawking could be heard and Daniel murmured to himself, "Quiet… this is quiet," as he led the way. They moved towards where he had seen the little animal and he parted the ferns carefully, looking for its tracks to follow.

Jack still felt he was being watched but put it down to their shy visitor from the previous day. Nothing was going to upset him today, he felt great and that hadn't happened in a while.

Neither Jack nor the others realized at first that they were being stalked. An Allosaurus watched them as they found and followed the small animal track. It began to follow quietly, edging closer and closer to its prey. At one ton fully grown, this amazingly agile creature managed to move like a cat through the undergrowth, its skin marking ensuring that it blended with its surroundings.

The Leaellynasaurus the team had retreated from suddenly started their clicking alarm again. The warning signal reached Teal'c and he stopped to look back. The stalking beast froze. Although he could see nothing, Teal'c felt certain there was something wrong. The creatures only made that noise when they had been disturbed. "O'Neill, something is out there, the little dinosaurs are sending out an alarm."

Jack turned with one of his usual quips springing to mind, but he left it unsaid. One look at Teal'c and his own inner alarms finally registered the unease he felt. "Forget the furry friend, I think we're in trouble," he whispered to the others. "Where?" Jack whispered to Teal'c as he caught them up.

"I am uncertain," he whispered back.

"Keep walking," Jack ordered. "Teal'c, keep watch behind us, something has to show." They picked up the pace and headed deeper into the forest.

After a short while Teal'c whispered, "I see it. It is the same as the one who attacked me in the clearing, but much larger."

"That's not good?" It was a question directed at Sam, who shook her head. "Definitely not good," Jack repeated to himself.

Suddenly it seemed the Allosaurus realized it had been seen and attacked. The smaller trees between it and the team just snapped like twigs as it came. They began firing, all four hitting the target, but it continued to singlemindedly close the distance. Neither the staff weapon nor the machine guns seemed to stop it. Jack and Sam both pulled grenades and threw them as it reached their throwing range. Everyone dived for what cover was available. The ground shook as the already wounded Allosaurus toppled in the double explosion. When they climbed to their feet it was still moving feebly where it lay, but it was mortally wounded.

"Well, it certainly has a reptile's ability to cling to life," Sam commented.

All the noise they had created was attracting other predators, they could hear sounds of approaching animals and some sounded very large. The team beat a hasty retreat to the clearing. Both Daniel and Sam found the ferns were painfully shredding their trousers. 'I do hate it when I'm right about these things,' Sam thought to herself as she ran. When they reached the clearing she realized that Jack and Teal'c would also need a change of gear. Sam wondered briefly at Jack's lack of response to the pain the ferns must have inflicted on him.

A roar sounded behind them and she forgot Jack's resistance to pain. The concern about the source of the roar faded, as it remained distant. Sam was sure it was the sound of a Tyrannosaurus and that it had probably found the dying Allosaurus.

The Meeting

They crossed the clearing towards the tower, but as they turned to look back at the forest a figure darted out from among the trees. The figure was also heading towards the tower. Now that she was out in the open they could all see it was a woman. She stopped as soon as she saw them ahead of her.

"Seems like this is where we all come for safety," Jack commented and waved for her to join them. The woman hesitated and looked back at the forest, but the re-occurrence of the roar appeared to determine her course of action and she walked slowly towards the team.

At first she kept several feet away from them and appeared ready to run at the slightest provocation. She was smaller than Sam, with long thick dark hair and large dark eyes. 'In her early thirties… maybe. Not that I'd trust that,' Jack thought to himself as he remembered previous mistakes he had made.

They all turned to watch the tree line and listened to the cacophony emanating from the forest. Daniel was fingering his weapon nervously, and glancing at Jack. He was surprised to find him watching the woman, not the forest. The stranger had moved closer to the tower and lifted a hand to one of the symbols. With her hand resting on the symbol she spoke, although it was a language even Daniel did not find familiar. The team all looked at each other wondering how to respond.

"Hello," Daniel tried with a halfhearted wave, but she continued to wait for another response.

Jack put down his weapon and approached her slowly. He looked at the tower and then, placed his hand on the next symbol along. Jack felt a tingling sensation run up his arm and tried to speak to her. His speech sounded similar to the language the woman had just spoken and totally incomprehensible to the others.

"What did you say?" Sam asked. Jack let his hand drop away from the tower face.

"I told her we were friends, I think."

The women indicated to Jack that he should replace his hand on the wall. This time she took his hand and placed it on the other symbol, she covered Jack's symbol with her own. When she spoke again they could all understand her. "The creature you killed will feed the beasts tonight, they will not follow us here."

"That's incredible. Jack why did you…?" Daniel started to ask as he stared at the symbols on the tower base. "I don't recognize these symbols. Teal'c do you recognize any of these symbols?"

"I do not," Teal'c responded.

"I dunno," Jack replied to Daniel with a shrug. "Just wondered what she was waiting for and thought of the Asgard wall devise, it was worth a try. The lady may be right, but we are not going back in there tonight, anyway. It's getting dark again. Let's start up a fire and eat."

Later, as they all settled down for the evening, they tried to get acquainted with their new friend. Daniel settled down beside her at the fire and offered her a drink.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I came through the Circle of Waves," she responded. Her voice was low and throaty. 'Probably through lack of use,' Daniel thought to himself.

"On your own?"

"Yes, on my own." She sniffed at the hot coffee they had given her a little suspiciously and tentatively sipped it. Then a little smile appeared and she took a large gulp.

"How long have you been here?" Sam asked her as she sat down opposite them beyond the fire.

"I don't know. I was fourteen seasons when I went through the last Harvest Offering. The seasons here are different so I couldn't mark the same time. I've been alone many of this place's cold times, fifteen or sixteen of them I think."

"Where have you lived?" and "It can't have been easy to find safe shelter here," both Daniel and Sam spoke at the same time.

"I used the caves with small entrances that do not let the large beasts enter. There are many caves here and some look like they have been cut out of the ground and have old things in them."

Jack looked up from the fire he had been idly stirring with a stick.

"Old things?" he asked.

"Yes. Strange objects made by the people who used to live in them, some statues and pots, things like that. That's where I found the weapon I used to protect myself when I first came here. I was lucky I wasn't killed the first time it spat fire. I was curious and had it in my hands, turning it over. She lifted her hand and showed a scar where the weapon had burned a streak across her hand. "I was afraid of it until the first time I saw the tower make flame. I knew it would protect me if I was attacked and went back for it."

Jack watched her as she spoke, her eyes reflecting the dancing flames of the fire. He found himself stirred by the quiet tone of her voice; its almost musical quality seemed to draw him. He couldn't help noticing her clothes as they were made from reptile skins sewn together. Thongs down her jacket front, and more down the sides of her leggings held these the skins in place. It was all very tight and brief enough to stir his blood. He knew her proximity had set his pulse racing and wondered how her presence was affecting the other two men at the fire. It appeared that apart from Daniel's eyes sliding away from her face from time to time there was no reaction. Jack stared at the fire resolutely and listened to the conversation. He resisted the temptation to look at her, wondering why it was so difficult for him not to stare.

"Where is this weapon now?" Teal'c asked, as he was curious about it.

"In the cave, I returned it when it no longer spat fire."

Sam handed her a plate of food from the pot hanging above the fire and the others helped themselves. After he had finished, Daniel pulled a bedroll from the ATV and laid it out beside Sam's.

"You haven't told us your name," Jack murmured, seemingly more to himself than to her. She looked up from her meal and smiled at him. Jack swallowed a lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. 'What was it about her…?'

"My parents called me Saya."

"Well, Saya, we all need some sleep. I'm sure we are safe enough out here by the tower. You can borrow my bag; the one Daniel has put down over there. I'll take first watch tonight," he told the others, and with that Jack picked up his weapon. He walked away from the light of the fire and the disturbing presence of the woman.

Everyone but Jack settled down for the night. From her place beside the fire Saya watched him as he wandered in slow circles around the Stargate. These people were nothing like her own, but they seemed kind. Slowly she dropped off to sleep, still watching the figure that had now settled against the tower to keep watch over her.

Four hours later Sam crawled out of her bedroll to take the next watch. Jack yawned as he headed back to the dying fire. He crouched down and added a little more fuel to the embers and his eyes strayed across the camp to where Saya lay sleeping. He crossed to the ATV and stood looking down at Saya as she slept. A puzzled expression formed on his face. 'How had she survived as a child in this place?' Finally, he sat down beside her and leaned against the ATV side. His hand drifted across her head, long fingers carefully brushing the hair away from her face. Although she was now asleep, he could still see her eyes. 'You have beautiful dark eyes,' he thought to himself. Tiredness finally took its toll and he leaned back against the ATV. Drifting off to sleep was so easy. 'Too easy,' he thought vaguely to himself.

He awoke to find his bedroll carefully tucked around him. He wondered why he wasn't inside it. Suddenly he came full awake and looked around realizing that Saya was gone.

"Carter! Where's Saya?"

Carter ran over from the tower where she had settled herself to keep watch. She looked around with a mixture of worry and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't see her leave. She seems to be able to just disappear whenever she chooses. This is her territory, Sir."

Jack looked at Sam for a moment but bit back the response. His head was feeling a little light this morning. 'And I was a lot closer to her than Sam, I didn't hear her leave.' "Alright," he said, pulling his thoughts together and appearing a lot more alert than he felt. "How much more material do we need to take back with us?"

"We have a herbivore egg and plant life. I would think it was more than sufficient to keep them happy for a little while, at least." Sam replied.

"Until they ask us to bring a carnivore back, you mean," Daniel stated through a yawn. "We can't just leave her here."

"She does not wish to leave," Teal'c commented, "or she would not have left us."

"We'll report back and look for her next time. They're bound to send us back real soon. Like Daniel says, they'll probably want a carnivore." Jack grinned at him, but he had never felt less like grinning at that moment. "Pack up, we'll go back now. We need to change weapons and equipment anyway."

"Weapons, Sir?" Carter queried.

"I was thinking tranquillizers and elephant guns," Jack replied, but the cheeky glitter appeared in his eyes and Carter was unsure of how serious he was. By the time they were ready to leave, a small pile of goods sat near the tower, bedrolls, rations, pans, plates and cups, anything they thought Saya could use.

Saya watched as they prepared to leave and was uncertain what to do. They knew how to make the Circle of Waves and she wondered if they were the gods. The gods had brought her people through the Circle of Waves to safety when the mountain had burned so long ago. 'Still, this is where the gods have sent me. If I defy them what will they do to my people? But if these were the gods they would know why I was here. The gods have always been good to us, none of the stories said they were cruel. Why did they send me to this place?' She had stopped asking why long ago, and these strangers were unsettling to her. Especially the one called Jack who had stroked her hair when he thought she slept.

As the Circle activated Saya became uncertain of being alone again, perhaps she should go back to them before they left. The ATV went through the event horizon, followed by Carter and Teal'c. Daniel looked at Jack but he waved him on and Daniel obeyed.

After they had all disappeared through the Stargate, Jack turned back one last time. "Sayaaa!" he yelled. She did not respond to his call, and after a moment he shook his head and followed the team through the Gate.

Forbidden Journey

Jack tossed and turned in his sleep, becoming increasingly restless. The nightmare had started again. Saya was running, her legs being cut by the ferns and turning red, leaving her scent for the beast to follow. He couldn't reach her; he could see her but could not move fast enough. He couldn't breathe as his chest felt like it had been strapped with steel bands, making it impossible for him to move very fast. The huge beast they had seen destroy the MALP reached her as he watched helplessly. Lifting her in its jaws, it began to tear her apart. He could hear her screaming. Jack cried out her name as he sat up suddenly in bed. He found he was sweating and gasping for breath. He wrapped his arms around his chest and breathed deeply, trying to control the shaking in his limbs.

It had been a couple of days since they had returned and he was increasingly unsettled. 'They have to let us go back soon.' His decision to leave Saya and not look for her was the problem, he told himself. The nightmares were just the result of guilt at his decision. 'It had been the correct decision,' he told himself; it was no good regretting it now. 'But we should have gone back before now.' At the time, he had expected to return for more samples within a day or two.

The delay had been caused by an unexpected result in their medical examinations when they arrived back at the SGC. They appeared to have absorbed some alien substance that Dr. Fraiser had been unable to identify. Although there appeared to be no ill effects, Dr. Fraiser, ever her cautious self, would not clear them to return until the final tests were in. Perhaps today they would be cleared and he could to go back to look for her.

Jack tried to put thoughts of Saya aside as he dressed, but his mind would not stay away from that blasted planet. He needed to find her, there was something about her that kept her in the front of his mind, hovering there, calling him. She was different from anyone he had ever met. 'Bound to be different, having spent so much of her life alone,' he thought, but he knew that wasn't it. 'Well, wasn't all of it anyway. We shouldn't have left her. I should have known something would go wrong.'

His backache was worse than it had been for a long time and that leg was playing him up again. The shakes had stopped but he felt cold. Jack took his time. No one must know he was in a hurry or that he didn't feel fine. They might not let him go on the next mission and he had to be on that next mission. When he reached the Medical Centre he sauntered in just in time to hear the end of an argument between Daniel and Sam.

"Hey, what goes on here?" he drawled, then noticed the General stood talking to Dr. Fraiser. "General Hammond."

"We can't go back!" Daniel exploded, turning to speak to him as he heard his voice. For a moment Jack didn't respond, as he noticed Daniel's face was pale and he was sweating. 'Don't panic,' he thought to himself. He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder to quiet him and then asked why they couldn't return. He kept his tone neutral, not wanting to show the anxiety he felt, the anxiety he could see written on Daniel's face.

"The substance we were subjected to was from the ferns. It was the spores and we inhaled them," Sam explained. She was also looking pale, he noticed.

"They didn't do us any permanent harm, did they?" Jack asked.

"The effect is cumulative, it's a narcotic and like any other narcotic, you will become addicted to it if you continue to be exposed," Fraiser explained to him. "Even now you are all showing signs. Sam and Daniel are suffering fairly severe headaches and some nausea. What about you?"

"I feel fine," Jack responded, but he didn't like the way Fraiser looked at him.

"Teal'c is showing no symptoms, of course," Fraiser commented.

"Then Teal'c could go back," Jack pointed out, thinking at least Teal'c could find Saya.

"I will not send Teal'c in on his own," the General stated. "There is not sufficient reason to take the risk."

"But Saya," Sam started to object.

"…will be completely addicted to the narcotic. It will probably kill her if she leaves after all the time she's been there," Fraiser pointed out. "Daniel, you of all people must understand why we do not want any of our people going back there. Detoxification is not a process I would wish on anyone."

Daniel glared at Hammond and Fraiser for a moment and then shrugged. He would be the last person they would let go back to the planet he realized. He looked across at Jack but his face was carefully expressionless. 'What's going on in that head of yours?' Daniel wondered.

"I'm sorry folks, but you can't go. Unless we can ensure your safety, it isn't going to happen," Hammond told them, hoping that would end the matter for now, at least.

Jack turned and left the Centre without further comment. The argument between Sam and Fraiser went on, neither noticing the worried look that appeared on Daniel's face. Daniel followed Jack from the Medical Centre but missed him in the corridor. It took him an hour or more to find where he had gone. Finally, he tracked him down to the armoury. Daniel found him surrounded by dismantled guns and other equipment that he was cleaning and reassembling. Jack noticed his arrival, had more than half expected Daniel to be looking for him.

"We really should inspect this equipment more often," Jack commented. "It takes so long to prepare some of the more rarely used stuff, we shouldn't be neglecting it. Funny how relaxing dismantling things can be."

"Jack, you're not thinking of going back on your own, are you?" Daniel asked.

"I'm not out of my mind, Danny boy. The General has spoken."

Somehow Jack's reply didn't make Daniel's uneasy feeling disappear.

"I wondered if you wanted to go for a drink this evening. We haven't been out in a while, maybe we need to let our collective hair down."

"What, Teal'c's too…? Sure… why not. You check that Sam and Teal'c would like time out and I'll meet you all in our usual watering hole, about 7pm. I need to go home to pick up some fresh clothes."

There was nothing else Daniel could think to do except tell Hammond what he was afraid of, but he couldn't do that to Jack on a feeling. 'Should I tell the others? No, I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill. Jack wouldn't disobey a direct order.' Then Daniel grinned to himself as he left the armoury. 'Unless someone was attacking Earth, now that was a wild ride, I thought I was dead.'

Later Daniel, Sam and Teal'c sat in a booth nursing their drinks. They had been waiting for Jack for over an hour and there was no sign of him. Daniel's unease had returned with a vengeance and he was contemplating telling the others of his concern.

"Where is he?" Sam murmured. "He wouldn't do anything this stupid, would he?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Daniel responded, and they both looked at Teal'c.

"I think it may be wise for us to return to the SGC," Teal'c voiced the thought on all their minds.

Daniel rose hurriedly to his feet. "I'll get the jeep." He rushed off as Sam paid the tab. The jeep was at the door by the time Sam and Teal'c got outside. As Daniel drove back up the mountain road it was in all their minds that they would be far too late to stop him.

Meanwhile the subject of their concern had just locked out the security personnel from the Control and Gate Rooms. He rushed over to the console and input the security codes to release the Stargate controls. He tapped in the co-ordinates and watched the symbols light up on the Gate and then ran down to the Gate Room. He could hear the noise of a door beginning to open and knew he had little time. Scooping up his pack and weapon he ran up the walkway and straight into the event horizon. By the time the security lockout was overridden it was too late to stop him. The guards entering the area were through the doors just in time to see the Colonel disappear through the event horizon.

The General arrived as the Gate shut down and asked where SG-1 had gone, although he was certain he already knew the answer. By the time the remaining members of SG-1 left the elevator they realized that they were too late to stop Jack. The General should have been pleased to see them, but that was not the impression he gave.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Down in the town," Carter replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"You have no idea what Colonel O'Neill has done?"

Daniel asked the question they already knew the answer to. "Where is Jack?"

"That's a good question. He has taken an unauthorized trip through the Stargate. Now it is obvious that he has gone alone."

"He has returned to the planet to find the woman," Teal'c stated.

"You knew he was going to do this?" Hammond almost shouted, but his concern for Jack was obvious.

"No, General Hammond, but he was worried when we left her behind and did not return. Shall we go after him?"

"No. We will wait a while to see if he returns. I will not risk anyone else and there will be a guard permanently in place to ensure no one else tries," he warned them. "I want the three of you back in the Medical Centre for more tests. Until I am sure that you are completely stable and unaffected by this substance, you are barred from the Gate Room."

Going Back

There was a storm raging when Jack returned to the planet. The thunder rolling across the forest was deafening. The trees and undergrowth wailed out a high-pitched song in the winds. The swaying wet fern undergrowth was not the slightest bit inviting.

"Well, a chorus to welcome me back," Jack muttered to himself, "how nice."

The almost continuous flashes of lightning made a world of black shadows, grey shapes and white emptiness. It was difficult for him to see anything clearly. 'At least they won't be able to see me, either... I hope.' Jack thought of the inhabitants and looked around for some kind of shelter from the rain. He was definitely not keen to enter the trees when he could barely see a hand in front of his face. The rain was torrential and had soaked him almost immediately he had stepped out of the Stargate. He found some shelter on the lee-side of the tower and settled down to wait. He wondered how long the storm would last.

As the hours passed with the storm unabated, he began to regret what he could now tell himself was a rather rash decision. "What the hell am I doing here?" he muttered to himself, as he screwed his face up against the rain that kept whipping around with the changing wind direction.

He held his gun between his legs and body, tucked into the folds of his jacket in a vain attempt to protect it. His pack would still be dry inside, he hoped, along with the rest of the ammunition he had brought with him. He banged the back of his head against the tower in frustration. 'I've finally flipped. How did I expect to be able to find her if she hid from us? I certainly won't find her in this.' The storm seemed interminable and the shaking in his limbs had returned with a vengeance. Jack was trying to make up his mind what to do if the storm did not abate.

He had become cold to the bone and his hands were numb. Then he thought he saw movement through the curtain of rain. His vision was too blurred to see clearly and he rubbed his eyes in an effort to focus. As his sight improved he realized someone was moving towards him and his heart began to race. 'It's Saya; it has to be.' She stopped before she reached him, standing there with the water running from her hair and over her shoulders. 'How did she know I was here?' Uncertain now of what she would do, he called to her. Saya motioned for him to follow and turned to retreat the way she had come. Jack hurried but lost sight of her as soon as he entered the trees. The ferns began to inflict little whip like cuts through his trouser legs.

"Ouch!" He gritted his teeth and looked around for her but could find no sign. Saya suddenly appeared directly in front of him and hesitantly took his arm. "Where did you come from?" he tried to yell above the noise. She made no attempt to answer but pulled on his arm until he let her guide him.

A small cave entrance was only a few feet from were he had been standing. It was more of a pothole and unnoticeable until you almost fell into it. At that moment there was water rushing into the hole with considerable force. Saya slid down into the hole and through the torrent of water.

Following Saya down through the entrance couldn't make him any wetter, he decided. It took him a few moments to work his way in through the hole as he looked for handholds. He did not wish to lose his grip and there was no way to know how far down the hole might go. He finally released his grip and stepped away from the water. He dropped his pack and stood upright in the entrance of a cave to one side of the hole. Looking back through the entrance, Jack could still see the rush of rainwater, cascading past the cave entrance and into the depths of a cavern below. Saya pushed a stone across the entrance to shut out some of the damp and noise.

Although it was now completely dark, he could hear Saya moving about in the cave and a small light suddenly sprang to life. At the back of the cave she uncovered a small fire, which immediately began warming the surroundings. Jack collapsed beside the fire, absorbing the warmth, and dragged off his jacket, grateful that he could finally begin to dry out. He rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes. 'I've actually found her. Well, she found me. Doesn't matter, she's safe. The nightmare was just that.'

Jack was wet, exhausted and shivering. Continued withdrawal effects from the spores took their toll. Lulled by the warmth and safety of the cave, he drifted into a fitful sleep. It was his first sleep without the haunting nightmares he had endured since leaving Saya alone.

Saya sat against the cave wall just watching him breathe. The rise and fall of his chest as he breathed somehow proved that he was there, not in her imagination. She had been lonely since they had gone. 'Lonely.' she thought about the word, it was something she had never applied to herself before. 'I guess I've always been lonely,' she thought. 'He came back, why has he come back?'

The massive storm continued to rage above, but inside the cave Jack did not wake up. He began to sweat and shiver violently. The storm had washed the spores from the air, and his return had not brought relief to his aching body. In his weakened state the cold entered his bones. He snored heavily and became increasingly restless.

Saya watched the beads of sweat appearing on his face. He was increasingly pale and she vaguely recognized the signs of a fever. 'One of the children at the Temple had been very ill like this,' she remembered. That was a long time ago and she could not remember what was done to make her well. She crawled to Jack's side and shook him, gently at first. She continued to try, but when he did not stir, she shook him with increasing force until at last he opened his eyes. They were unfocused and as her hair brushed his face he muttered, "Sara…." It sounded like he recognized her but she wasn't sure.

The equipment the team had left in the clearing lay around the cave. Saya had found uses for all of it. Now she rolled out a bedroll beside Jack and tried to slide him into it. Eventually she unzipped the bag and rolled his unresisting form onto the open bag. She thought about removing his shirt and T-shirt but he was difficult to manoeuvre. In the end she settled for wrapping him up. She again tried to wake him and give him something to drink. Holding his head she tipped water into his mouth. Jack stirred as he began to choke on it and pushed it away. After a while Saya gave up and slid into the bag beside him, zipping it up to keep him warm. There appeared to be nothing she could do except wait for the fever to pass. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and closed her eyes. She wasn't alone anymore.

Narcotic Dream or Reality?

A sense of being soaking wet impinged on Jack's consciousness. He groaned as he opened his eyes. The soft cushion under his head turned into a shapely female bust as he focused and blinked in surprise. Jack carefully, if a little reluctantly, lifted his head away from the unusual pillow and found himself looking down at a sleeping Saya sharing his bedroll. A look of puzzlement crossed his face, he could remember getting to the fire and being tired and shivering, but he couldn't remember anything after that. Checking himself over left him mildly relieved to still be fully clothed, but he was soaked in sweat. He unzipped the bedroll and rolled out.

Jack climbed unsteadily to his feet. He decided to wash up in the water outside the cave and he crossed to the entrance to remove the stone.

"Don't open the cave up!" Saya called to him, alarmed.

"Why?"

"The storm has finished. It's very dangerous to go out now."

"I'm not going to go out, just to get some water."

"No, you mustn't let the air in. It will make us crazy." Jack came back from the entrance and sat beside her.

"How will it make us crazy?"

"When the sun dries the ground a dust rises and it spreads everywhere. If you breathe the dust it makes you see strange things, things that aren't there. Even the animals run from or attack nothing. We will still be affected in here, but not as badly if we keep the entrance sealed."

"That makes sense. The Doc said we had been absorbing something when we were last here." Getting hurriedly back to his feet, Jack picked up his jacket and stripped off his shirt to fill in the gaps around the entrance cover stone. After a moment watching what he was doing, Saya dragged the bedroll to the entrance for him to use as well. When he had covered all the gaps he could see, they returned to sit by the fire.

Jack stripped off his black T-shirt and laid it out beside the fire to dry. He pulled the towel from his pack and dried his shoulders and chest as well as he could.

"How long do you usually remain here, Saya?"

"It's usually a day or two, until the wind has driven most of the dust away."

A fairly good supply of dried meat and roots were in the cave, along with water in the bottles they had left her. It didn't take him long to realize that Saya had settled into a fairly comfortable life after her arrival, despite being so young. They ate their first meal together, but Jack didn't inquire too closely into what animal the dried meat had come from. Nor did he ask how she had acquired it. He wasn't sure he would care for the answer. There was nothing much they could do. They couldn't leave the cave, not until the ferns had finished throwing their spores as they dried in the sun. The skin on his legs stung. A quick investigation showed that the ferns had inflicted quite a few little cuts on his lower legs.

Saya noticed the holes in his trousers and offered him some leaves. "They are a bit dry, but if you rub them on the cuts it will seal them."

Jack found himself rifling through the trappings of Saya's life. He found a homemade bone sewing needle, dishes and bowls carved from wood, a few bone knives, and a strange form of leather with which she made her clothes.

"That is hide from the beasts. If they die, and if I can remove the skins before the scavengers reach them, I can cure it with," she couldn't find a word, eventually she settled for, "stone-dust. It lasts quite well."

Jack finally settled his back against the cave wall close to the fire and watched Saya moving around her home, clearing her dishes and finding places to put the contents of his pack. He felt very relaxed and comfortable and began to smile. He watched her deciding what each article was for and finding a place for it. Her ability to understand the things happening around her and adapt amazed him.

"Saya, how did you know the tower would let you understand our language?"

"They are the symbols we were taught in the Temple," Saya explained as if she expected Jack to understand what she meant.

"You'd seen these symbols before?"

"Yes they belong to the gods. They were taught to us so that we would be able to communicate with them, if we were chosen."

Her explanation didn't really answer any questions. Jack wondered who these 'gods' were, as they had not come across signs of them before.

'She is beautiful,' the thought just drifted across his mind, it whispered into that empty place he had learned not to visit. Suddenly it occurred to Jack that he was beginning to feel far too at home here. His totally relaxed state started a vague concern nagging at the back of his mind. He got back to his feet and went to the entrance, he could hear the wind howling outside and whistling. The whistling worried him. A feeling of cool air flowing past him crystallized his suspicions. A slight dizziness made him sway and he put out a hand to steady himself. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Saya looked up to see what he was doing and noticed he was finding it difficult to stay on his feet. A pile of rags in the corner caught Jack's eye, he bent to pick them up and the dizziness increased. He needed to steady himself against the cave wall.

Trying to find where the air was coming from became increasingly difficult, but he found his problem funny. A giggle bubbled to the surface, followed by several more. Saya stared at him with a puzzled expression on her face. The narcotic effect of the spores had ceased to have much effect on her in the small quantities entering the cave. There had never been anyone else with her before, so she had never seen its effects on another person.

"You know, Saya, it's not the first time I've felt like this. Come to think of it," a smothered giggle, "not the second or third time, either."

Another giggle erupted and a smile spread across Saya's face at the irresistible noise emanating from her new friend. "What are you laughing at?" she asked.

Suddenly Jack's leg collapsed beneath him and he found himself on all fours on the cave floor. He pushed himself up and back against the wall for support. He grinned amiably at Saya. "I need to stop the rest of the gaps up, the wind is pushing the…the… things out of the gaps."

Saya came to help him but as she got closer Jack began to frown. It appeared to her that he was concentrating very hard. The frown deepened as Jack watched her hair grow longer and flow as if blown by a strong wind. He looked around for the source of the wind but couldn't find it. Her eyes seemed to grow larger and he couldn't take his eyes from the fascinating face. Putting his hands to his head he attempted to concentrate. 'It isn't happening,' he told himself and tried to see her properly. Her eyes continued to expand into deep dark pools. The thought passed through his mind that he would willingly drown in those pools. As the gaps filled with rags and anything else Saya could find, Jack tried to regain some control over his wandering mind. 'Actually,' he thought to himself, 'I haven't felt this good in a long time. No aching muscles… Back pain gone.'

Saya moved him away from the entrance stone to allow herself room. She reached around the stone and wedged another rag into a small gap. Her touch set a small fire burning in Jack's chest and he gasped for breath and backed hurriedly away from her. At the back of his mind a warning bell rang loud. 'Christ I want her!' The longing he felt was frightening. Saya was surprised to see him crawling away to a corner and curling up into a ball. Concerned, she went to help him.

"Don't, Saya, don't touch me. Just go away for a while, I'll be OK."

"But what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, it's just the dust, all you need to do is stop it getting in, I'll be fine."

By the time Saya had finished, all four bedrolls, all the clothes and rags were piled across the entrance. The sound of the wind became a faint sigh from far away. Returning to sit beside Jack, just out of reach, she quietly called his name. She was a little afraid of him now because it seemed he was afraid of himself. Why this was she couldn't understand, except that she knew some beasts would tear their own kind apart when affected by the dust. Perhaps he was afraid he would hurt her.

At first Jack didn't respond to her voice, but then he rolled over to look at her. His dark brown eyes were now focused and clear and Saya looked like Saya again. She looked so good to him it made his heart ache for her. Beautiful but innocent, he was still afraid of his reaction to her. He knew she could not possibly know how he felt or what his body was demanding. The effects of the narcotic on his mind had lessened, but emotionally he knew he was dangerously unstable. He still wanted her. They sat and looked at each other for a few moments, each uncertain what to say. Finally Jack suggested they build up the fire and try to sleep.

Where is Home?

The following day brought a decrease in the winds. The cave fell completely silent and Jack began to relax. Concern that he might do something regrettable started to fade. Soon he would be able to take Saya through the Gate. He was certain that once Dr Fraiser had seen Saya she would find a way to help her. The misery and pain they might have to put her through would be worth it. At the back of his mind a vague thought formed. 'Dangerous and painful. Would it really be worth it when life wasn't so bad in this place?'

The cave was becoming smoky and he removed the canvas shield over the fire. They had been using it to filter the soot from the smoke. He scraped it clean and put the canvas back in place. As he worked he asked Saya to explain why she had come through the Gate alone. "You were very young to be on your own, what happened to your family?"

"I was the sacrifice at the Harvest Offering," she told him.

Jack was checking the air filter he had fashioned from the lining of one of the bedrolls. It allowed clean air to enter the cave through a gap beside the entrance stone. The concentration of spores being trapped was decreasing, he noticed. Concentration on the task at hand didn't stop the words registering. "Sacrifice!" His head whipped around to look at her. "Why were you chosen?" he managed to ask in an even tone.

"It is an honour for one of your children to be chosen to serve in the Temple," Saya responded a little defensively. She sensed rather than heard the outrage in Jack's voice. "One child is chosen every year to serve in the Temple. I was seven years old when I was chosen and served in the Temple for seven years. It was my last Harvest Offering ceremony before I went home with my family."

"But you didn't go home," Jack responded softly as he watched the pained expression pass across her face.

"It was so long since the gods had called one of us to leave, it wasn't expected."

Jack sat beside her and stared at the flames dancing in the fire.

"How do the gods tell your people to offer a sacrifice?"

"Well, there are always seven children in the Temple. On the day of the festival we go to the Temple and each child chooses a symbol at the altar and lights it. The eldest child, this time it was I, chooses the last symbol. If the circle of waves remains closed the eldest child returns home. Another child is chosen to make up the seven for the Harvest offering the following season."

"But the circle of waves opened this time?" Jack asked.

"Yes," she replied a haunted expression on her face as she remembered. "My parents cried. I think everyone cried. The gods had not asked for a sacrifice for so long." Saya looked at Jack sat beside her. "It was an honour to be chosen, but I was afraid."

Jack put his arm around her shoulder and held her. It seemed an inadequate gesture and he wasn't sure if he was seeking comfort for himself or her. "So the sacrifice was to walk through the circle to wherever it took you? At least it wasn't onto a Go'auld world," he murmured in her ear, "but there are so many better worlds you could have ended up on."

"And perhaps many worse ones?" she responded in a small voice. "What is Go'auld?"

"Not simple to explain, not a good thing to be around, I would say worse than ending up here, at least you're free."

"Then it is good that I came here."

"But you don't have to stay here," Jack told her. "The circle will open again, I can open it, and you can come with me."

Saya thought about it for a while staring at the fire. She tried to decide if it would be right for her to go with him. Finally she looked up from the comforting circle of his arms.

"Perhaps you were sent to take me from here?"

He looked down at the face uplifted to him and his heart began to race. Suddenly he felt trapped. He wanted her and knew she wanted him, but to give in to that want would be unforgivable. He would never be able to look at himself in a mirror again. Saya lifted a hand to his cheek and he tightened his hold on her, resting his forehead against hers.

"What is it, Jack, what is wrong?" Saya asked

"Are you afraid of me, Saya?"

"No…. Yesterday I was, a little, but not now."

"Did you have friends during your time in the Temple?"

"Friends? Just the other children who were chosen to serve."

"Where there any boys among the children."

"Yes, two of the little ones were boys. Why do you ask?"

Jack groaned inwardly as she confirmed his suspicion. He didn't know how old fourteen seasons was for her people, but he was certain she had always been protected. She was still an innocent whatever she might think. He must not let it happen.

Taking a deep breath, he released his hold on her but Saya didn't move away. Instead of moving back she slid her arm around his neck and pulled his face level with her own. She took his face in her hands and made him look at her.

"Do you not like me, Jack?"

He grabbed her wrists and pushed her away, holding her at arm's length. "Don't do this Saya; you don't understand what you're doing."

"I may have been alone for many seasons, but I was already fourteen when I passed through the Circle. You want to kiss me but will not. You are afraid you will harm me, but I want you to kiss me, to hold me." She wanted to shake him and make him understand that everything would be all right. Instead she pulled her wrists from his grip and slid away, angry at his rejection.

Jack watched her move away from him and wished the spores would settle, he had to get out of this cave. He lay down beside the fire but he could still see her. He watched her settle down to sleep, alone. 'What is it about you?' Again it was like the first night he had seen her. The light of the fire danced in her eyes as she stared into the flames. He closed his eyes and tried to shut her out, tried to sleep.

O'Neill's Decision

He woke to the sound of the stone being rolled to one side. Saya slipped out of the cave as he opened his eyes and he quickly rose to his feet and followed. After their problems of the previous evening, he thought she might have decided to disappear again. The sun was bright after the gloom of the cave and it took a moment for his sight to adjust. The air was fresh and tasted clean after the smoky air he'd been breathing. 'This isn't such a bad place if you can avoid the wild life,' he thought. 'I guess I could get used to it'. It was the first time he'd consciously thought of not going back and he didn't even notice his change of attitude.

After a couple of minutes of searching he saw her moving away from the cave. Not rushing or trying to hide from him, but quietly with all her concentration ahead of her. It occurred to him that Saya had come out to look for food. 'She's hunting,' he realized. He crept quietly up to her, but not quietly enough. She heard him and turned to motion him to be silent. Jack grimaced; he thought he was being silent. When she pounced, Jack was startled. There was nothing that he could see and he wasn't prepared for the sudden movement. A single squeal issued from the small animal she struck and then everything was quiet again. Saya lifted her kill for him to see and smiled. A small lizard-like creature hung from her hand.

"Fresh breakfast," she whispered.

"Great," he responded "how about some eggs?"

Saya nodded and followed him to the area the team had previously found Leaellynasaurus eggs. He looked down at the outer nests and frowned.

"I guess these may be a little old to eat."

"No, the nests on the edge sometimes have eggs. These do not always develop so they should still be edible. We can take some and see."

Jack hoped she was right about them still being edible and lifted several from a nest. The owners of the nest were now clicking loud and insistently.

"I think now would be a good time to leave," he muttered and they backed hurriedly away.

Back at the cave Saya skinned and gutted her prize. As she prepared the lizard, Jack cracked the eggs into one of the pans left by the team. He smiled to himself as he realized the eggs were not rotten. His breakfast would include eggs after all. The small gap in the roof that was used as a chimney was uncovered. Venting the area seemed safe enough now the level of spores had decreased. They left the stone rolled back from the entrance. Jack was unaware of how low a level of spores was needed to continue the changes in him, now that he already carried a high dosage in his blood.

Warm air seeped into the cave and he guessed they wouldn't need to keep the fire going during the day. As they ate breakfast Jack pondered his next move. The storm was finished, the wind had cleared the air and the spores were back to their usual level. 'Its time to take Saya back through the Stargate,' he told himself.

This was the third day since he went AWOL and he knew considerable trouble awaited him when he returned to the SGC. On top of that sobering problem, he now contained enough spores to cause him a great deal of pain and disorientation when he detoxified. Jack bit his lip as he dropped his knife onto the plate. The idea of what he had to face gave him pause. 'Why was it so necessary to go back? Most important of all,'' Jack added to himself, 'I still have not explained to Saya the terrible consequences of taking her from this place.' He looked at Saya eating her breakfast. She had spent so much of her life on this planet already. 'How old was she?' Jack wondered as he looked at her. 'Has to be in her late twenties or early thirties now.' It occurred to him that she might not want to leave this place even if it had been a hard life. 'And when I explain to her that it could make her very sick. Who am I kidding, Fraiser said she could die.' Jack put his plate down and rubbed his face. He was not used to being so indecisive and he needed a clear head.

Saya took his plate and went to clean them in the water still flowing past the entrance. Jack watched her finish the task and put them away. He continued to watch her until she came back and knelt beside him. His eyes strayed to the dying fire and he rested his arms on his knees, a distant look appearing in his eyes. 'What am I going to do?' Saya murmured his name and he turned his head to look at her. She was surprised by the lost look in his eyes.

"Saya," he murmured.

She lifted a hand to his cheek, caressing it while sliding an arm around his neck, holding him still and kissing him. Her lips were soft and warm and the scent of her broadcast its own signals. Jack could no longer resist the temptation to respond and his hands slid around her waist almost of their own volition. The leathery skin of her tight jacket was smooth and warm to touch and a tingling sensation raced through his fingers, setting his heart racing. His arms folded around her waist and up her back to slide fingers into hair. He pulled her to him, turning the questioning kiss into a hard passionate one.

He turned and lowered her to the cave floor, pinning her there beneath him. Long fingers slid through glossy hair as he kissed her eyes, neck and lips again, parting those lips with his tongue and exploring her mouth. Saya slid both arms around his neck, holding him as her heart raced in response. His hands drifted slowly down her body, caressing and exploring that which he had tried to deny himself. Sliding gentle fingers over her shoulders, her breasts, kissing warm inviting flesh. Saya whimpered as she found herself drowning in unfamiliar feelings.

Sliding a hand down the front of her jacket Jack tried to undo the fastening. When the knots resisted, he attempted to push the tight material up over her head. Suddenly he lifted himself up on one arm and Saya lost her grip on his neck. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?" Saya whispered.

"How do you get this thing off?" Jack demanded and Saya couldn't suppress a giggle.

She pushed Jack away from her slowly, not wanting to, but needing to sit up. The knot at the top of the thongs was tight and took a few moments to loosen. Saya looked up at Jack as the knot came apart. He grabbed the lower knot of the thongs and jerked them out from the bottom. The jacket parted down the middle, opening enough to reveal a strip of smooth tanned flesh. Jack ran his fingers down over the revealed skin as if fascinated by the softness.

Jack refused to hear the warning voice, the part of him that told him this was something he should not do. 'How could wanting her be wrong?' It was Saya that filled his mind, Saya that he wanted, Saya who filled that old emptiness in him. She wanted him too. This beautiful woman wanted him. Saya reached out to him and grabbed a handful of his T-shirt, jerking it upwards and Jack raised his arms and slid out of it. He brought his arms down to capture her face between his hands and kissed her. Jack stroked her hair back from her face, and she lifted her hands to rest them on his chest. His thumbs moved lightly down the line of her jaw and Saya opened her mouth and bit his thumb as a faint smile appeared on Jack's face. He trailed his fingers down her neck and over her collarbone, planting kisses behind his trailing fingers. The kisses followed his hands across her shoulders as he slid the jacket off. Saya's skin tingled under his touch, little shocks running up her spine. Jack pulled her back to his chest, feeling her breasts against him, kissing her forehead, her face and ear.

Jack held her tightly and suddenly realized he had made a decision. He whispered to her and let go of his past, his training, and everything that had been his life. "I can't take you back, Saya, Fraiser said it could kill you and I won't take the chance. I'm going to stay here with you."

"You will stay?" whispered Saya.

"Yes, I will stay," Jack whispered back. He kissed her again and then slid his knife from its sheath. Saya looked at the knife and back at Jack's face. "Are those trousers as difficult to get off as that jacket?" he asked her.

"Why?"

"Because if they are, either you take them off or you'll have to find some new thongs," he responded and Saya giggled.

Dr Fraiser's Decision

Sam sat on the edge of her Medical Centre bed, staring at the results Dr Fraiser had just handed her. She flicked through the papers, checking all of the test results. "There's no sign of the spores now, Janet," she commented, looking at her friend.

"No, but look at these results from the first tests I did when you came back," Janet replied, handing Sam another set of results. "Jack's as well. I never really took any notice of the difference in the concentrations then, just the fact that you were all affected."

Daniel and Teal'c wandered down the room, drawn to the discussion.

"Well, do we get the all clear this time?" Daniel asked, peering over Sam's shoulder at the papers she was casually waving around. He glanced at Janet as he asked with a plaintive, isn't it time to release us yet look on his face.

"Yes," Janet responded with a smile, "although, Teal'c's tests have been negative after the first one, anyway, which we more than half expected." Then Janet's face settled into a puzzled frown. "It's Jack's test results I don't understand. He appears to have absorbed far more spores than the rest of you. Do you have any idea how or when this could have happened?"

Sam shook her head as she continued to scan the papers for clues to the disparity in the results. She could see that Jack had absorbed a great deal more than anyone else; his blood count was very much higher. 'Why should that be? We were all exposed for the same length of time.' Teal'c watched Sam silently as she tried to work out why O'Neill had been affected so much more than the rest of them. He noticed a familiar preoccupied look appear on Daniel's face, it told him that Daniel was trying to remember something. Teal'c waited for him to say what was on his mind.

"Well, he was much deeper under the influence of the narcotic than any of you," Janet was saying. "That would account for his unusual behaviour, but it doesn't explain why it happened to him and not to you."

"Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c called softly, prompting him to share his memory. Sam glanced over her shoulder at Daniel and saw an expression she had also learned to recognize.

"Come on Daniel," she added to Teal'c's comment, "what is it?"

"Well…" Daniel began, "you remember when we went to collect the egg."

"Of course," Sam responded, "what about it?" She swivelled around on the bed to face him.

"Well, we were collecting plant life as we were searching. Remember that Jack was trying to pick specimens as well. There was a plant that blew open straight in Jack's face. There were enough spores to put an orange stain on it. That was a fern, was it the one producing the narcotic spores?"

"He was bound to have breathed some of that in," Janet said thoughtfully. "There's no way of knowing how much of this stuff is too much without additional tests, but I think his actions speak for themselves. Although saying that, you all appeared to be fine when you returned, even Jack."

"Withdrawal," Daniel murmured, a shudder running through him at the memory of his addiction to the sarcophagus. "Thinking straight is not easy when you have a need. If it's mixed up with other problems like when I wanted to go back to Shyla, or perhaps Jack worrying about Saya." He paused to let the comment sink in. "We need to tell General Hammond, its three days since Jack went and I don't think he's going to come back on his own."

General Hammond was already in the Briefing Room in conversation with Dr Fraiser when the team arrived. Hammond had resigned himself to the inevitability of the next course of action, but he wasn't happy with the way things had panned out. However, he had few choices. Leaving the Colonel where he was just wasn't a long-term option. The security implications of that action didn't bear thinking about.

"Take a seat people we've a lot to discuss." When everyone was seated Hammond looked at each of them in turn. Dr Fraiser had assured him they were recovered, but he wished to satisfy himself that they were indeed well.

"It appears that if we are going to get Colonel O'Neill back, we will have to go after him. This will not necessarily be easy. If he does not wish to be found, and at this point that would seem very likely, his training is going to make this a very difficult task. However, we…," and he glanced at Dr Fraiser as he told them, "have come up with a way to protect you from the spores. It won't exactly be comfortable, but it is necessary. We have arranged for clothing and equipment to be prepared for yourselves and SG-4, who will accompany you. You will find the Colonel and bring him home."

"What about Saya?" Daniel inquired, "We can't just leave her there."

"The dependence she will have built up will make it very hazardous for her to leave her present environment," Fraiser explained. "We have been unable to synthesize the chemical on which she is dependent. That means we cannot try to bring her down gently. It will be 'cold turkey' if you bring her back here, it may well kill her."

"We can try, people," Hammond told them, "but it has to be her choice. Be ready for departure at 0800 hours tomorrow."

As the team gathered the following morning they looked like refugees from the NASA space program. The two teams had been handed outfits of black and silver to wear that were totally impermeable. The body suits covered them from head to foot in kevlar-reinforced material. It would ensure no dangerous holes could be made by plant or animal life. Everyone had been issued with full-face masks that filtered all the air they would breathe. The gloves were constructed of the same material as the suits but they still wore their own boots, much to Sam's relief. Breaking in a new pair of boots on a mission didn't appeal to her at all.

"These outfits are going to make us rather conspicuous," Daniel commented as he held out an arm and watched the bright lights of the room reflect off the suit's surfaces. Sam glanced at her own suit and sighed, she envied Teal'c who stood beside them in normal battle fatigues.

"Chevron Seven locked." They heard the familiar call from the Control Room. The last Chevron had clicked into place and the Stargate activated. Everyone watched the now familiar Whoosh of energy. The wormhole formed with sufficient force to push outward into the room, then settled into the event horizon within the Gate's circle. Daniel was still muttering to himself, Sam noticed.

"Jack is going to see us coming a mile off. How are we supposed to retrieve him if we can't catch him?" Sam didn't reply but the look she sent Daniel showed her complete agreement about the outfits. 'This whole mission sucks and has from the start,' she thought, unconsciously mimicking her missing friend. At least they knew there would be no immediate danger on the other side of the Gate. The tower would protect them from animal life on the planet. Keeping this firmly in mind, Sam nodded to Major Jamieson and the two teams headed up the ramp. They were going back to find the missing Colonel.

O'Neill's Retrieval

A clear sky greeted the teams as they exited the Gate. A hot Sun already beat down relentlessly, just the way SG-1 remembered from the last visit. It occurred to Sam that they were all going to get very hot.

A pair of grey-blue eyes surveyed the area for the first time. Major Jamieson let them slide upwards to the top of the Tower. He had been told it prevented dinosaurs from venturing onto the clearing. 'Well, trying it twice, anyway,' he amended the thought. He studied SG-1 thoughtfully as he helped his men unload the ATV. It was the first time he had personally been through the Gate with them. A couple of the other teams had made various comments about their sometimes-unorthodox methods. 'Unorthodox,' he grinned inwardly, 'not exactly the phrase some of them used. Still, they did get the job done.' He wondered how Major Carter and the two civilians would be without Colonel O'Neill. 'Major Carter has more than proven her capability already,' he told himself.

Sam surveyed the line of trees, wondering whether Jack or Saya had noticed their arrival. Teal'c stopped beside her and repeated her actions.

"He will expect us to come back for him," Teal'c stated over the COM link, he understood Sam's unspoken thought with no trouble.

"Yeah," Daniel responded, as he joined them to peer into the trees. "I would be more surprised if he isn't waiting for us."

They all turned their backs on the tree line and began to help in the developing base camp. Jamieson watched them out of the corner of his eye. He had known Jack O'Neill during his Black Ops days and was well aware of the Colonel's capabilities. 'Probably more than this team who had become his friends,' he told himself. Listening to their conversation did not decrease his concern. Finding him might not just be difficult; it could prove to be down right dangerous. 'They believe he has no intention of returning. If that's the case….' He shook his greying head inside the silver helmet of the suit. He was not looking forward to this particular manhunt. 'I hope O'Neill remembers we're still on the same side.'

Motion detectors had been included in the contents of the ATV. Teal'c picked one up to try; the active response was totally confusing.

"There is far too much movement for these to pick up an individual," Teal'c told Sam.

She looked at the instrument and shrugged. It had already been pointed out that they would be useless. Sam had told Jamieson they were dead weight during the previous evening's discussion.

"The heat sensor might be useful, at least it picks out shapes over shorter distances," she responded, and then promptly dismissed most of the sophisticated equipment that had been loaded on the ATV. "We'll start the search in the area where we first saw Saya," Sam told the assembled men. "That's over there," and she pointed to the trees in which Saya had first appeared. "If we can find the caves Saya' spoke of, we have a chance of finding them."

"I hope I don't have to say this twice," Jamieson added. "We really have no idea how far the spores have affected O'Neill. He may well not consider you a friend so don't take any chances. Use the tranquillizer darts we didn't come to take bodies back. Remember, if he wanted to come home, he would have by now."

The teams broke up into pairs. Daniel went with Pearson, a stocky younger soldier who was surprisingly light on his feet. Teal'c was paired with Phillips, who despite his name was of oriental descent, and Sam with Eddings, a well-weathered veteran. They headed for the exact spot Saya had been seen and spread out, walking into the forest several feet apart. As they left the clearing Sam called out a clear reminder on the COM Link.

"The dinosaurs are very fast and tough, if one goes for you don't wait, throw everything you have at it. It took a couple of grenades to bring down a full-grown Allosaurus. Let's hope the Tyrannosaurus from the video is not about."

"Don't waste your time shooting at the three foot dinosaurs," Daniel added, "the ones that look like featherless birds with arms, they're harmless."

"I think he means the Leaellynasaurus," some one responded. Daniel looked along the line in surprise. He couldn't work out who had spoken.

"So, some one here's an expert on dinosaurs?" Jamieson asked mildly, there was no response.

"It is Leaellynasaurus I was describing," Daniel confirmed.

Jamieson and Northedge followed the group into the forest at a distance, scanning the area behind the others for movement, be it from man or animal. Searching such a densely forested area was a slow process, and there was so much more of it. Each one slowly began to hope that the Colonel had not moved too far from the Stargate. The heat hadn't taken long to turn their suits into mobile saunas. Every movement of the ferns was investigated with a variety of results. It brought them nose to nose with the smaller wild life on various occasions, but nothing dangerous to them.

After a while Daniel spotted more movement in the ferns, he got on his hands and knees and crawled quietly forward, parting the ferns as he went. Suddenly, an agitated ball of fur similar to a small badger shot out of the ferns straight at him. It was snarling, and its teeth snapped at his face mask. Daniel's eyes widened in surprise and he let out a startled yell. He reared backwards in an attempt to avoid it. Pearson was a little way behind him, and got to his feet laughing at his discomfort. He let his weapon hang from its strap on his shoulder, and moved to help him to his feet.

Unseen by the two men, Saya lay hidden in the tall ferns just metres away. These new strangers were between her and the cave. They had not found it or Jack, but she couldn't get past. Saya bit her bottom lip as she considered her options. She was going to have to go around them. These people did not look like Jack, but he had warned her that some one would come looking for him. A smile crept onto her face as the pantomime began to unfold in front of her. She settled to wait for a safer time to move. A moment later she saw a small Allosaurus and her smile vanished. The creature was lurking just a short distant from the struggling man, settling on its haunches and preparing to strike. A look of indecision crossed her face. Should she put distance between herself and the men, or warn them of the beast. The decision was taken out of her hands, the Allosaurus struck while she tried to decide. Saya watched helplessly, knowing of nothing that could save him.

Already prepared to strike, it sprang from its hiding place as its prey came into range. The teeth and claws sank into the part of its prey it reached first, slicing in and tearing a large chunk from it.

Daniel felt a huge force hit him in the back and it sent him sprawling face down in the dirt. The creature's weight forced all the air from his lungs and pinned him to the ground. The roar it emitted deafened him and he struggled to breathe. Daniel felt a blackness start to descend, beginning at the edges of his eyes and flowing across his vision. He realized he was blacking out from the pressure on his back. Then he heard the creature squeal once, and fall to one side of him. Blood ran from the mouth that had fallen close to his face, it took him a moment to register that it was dead and some of the weight had disappeared. Unfortunately the beast had fallen across him, its weight and the claws sunk in his back not allowing him to struggle free. Pearson put down his now silent weapon and dragged him from under the body. He had expected to find Daniel seriously injured, or dead, but he was neither.

Sam wondered if they were spending more time looking over their shoulders than looking for Jack. Her line of thought was interrupted by a sudden yelp on the COM link, it was recognizable as Daniel but laughter followed and she grinned wondering what Daniel had done now. The sound of the shots that followed was loud and unexpected. It sent Sam and Eddings running towards its source.

Everyone converged on the spot rapidly but with caution as Pearson called out. "Jackson's been attacked."

By the time Sam reached the scene, Teal'c was helping relieve Daniel of his backpack. It was shredded to its support frame. The back of Daniel's jacket was also torn but only revealed slight abrasions to his back. A low whistle from Phillips as he examined the pack said it all. Everyone gathered around the body of the creature. "You were lucky it was only a young one," Northedge commented.

"Ya think," Daniel commented sourly as he tried to peer over his own shoulder. "Just as well I was wearing a backpack," he continued as he grabbed the remains. "It made a mess of the contents, but at least it wasn't me."

"Shame they didn't make the packs out of Kevlar," Phillips commented. "It's back to the Med. Centre for you when we get back, you've been exposed again."

"I had noticed," Daniel responded but smiled. "The least some one can do is wash it and strap it up to minimize my exposure."

"How are we supposed to concentrate on looking for Jack when we can't take our eyes off these lizards for a minute," Jamieson grumbled, worried by Daniel's close encounter.

"There has to be another way to do this," Sam responded.

"I'm open to suggestions. None of us are particularly happy about this. I think I'd rather face Serpent Guards, at least I know what I'm fighting."

A rustling in the ferns interrupted the conversation and they spun towards the sound, weapons aimed.

"Hold your fire!" Sam yelled as she turned and saw Saya, but it was far too late. There was only the one shot but it was all that was needed.

Saya slid backwards through the fern cover, there were too many people gathering far too close to her. Rising to her knees she turned to crawl away. That was her first mistake. All the noise of the previous minutes had silenced the surrounding wild life. There was no wind to move the ferns, so her movement made the plants rustle loudly in the silence. Springing to her feet as she realized they would hear her was the second mistake. She started running as she rose, but the single bullet caught her in the back, throwing her to the ground. Everything went black.

"You stupid…!" Jamieson began to yell at Pearson but stopped.

Everyone rushed towards the injured woman. Sam knelt beside her with Teal'c, who carefully turned her over. He looked at the sick expression on Pearson's face. "She is still alive," he told him.

Sam examined the unconscious Saya, rolling her onto her belly again, and applied a compression bandage to the wound in her back.

"We need to get her to the Stargate now; she's losing a lot of blood and doesn't have much time. Daniel, Teal'c, stay here with Major Jamieson and find Jack."

"Take two of my team with you," Jamieson told her.

Sam headed hurriedly for the Gate and medical aid for Saya as the others continued their search.

Something woke Jack up. The sound was familiar and echoed in his head. 'MP-5?' He shook it, trying to clear the feeling of unreality that clung to his mind. The sound of running water drew him to the cascading stream, now below the cave entrance. He lowered himself to the edge and thrust his head into the icy water. 'Where had Saya gone?' The second shot brought him bolt upright, fear suddenly gripping him in the pit of his stomach. The fear cleared his mind, 'Saya's in danger.' Jack grabbed his weapon and shot out of the cave entrance without checking what might be waiting for him. He headed for the Stargate, instinct telling him that was where he would find her.

Daniel heard the sound of running feet and spun round in time to see Jack disappearing in the direction of the Gate. 'Where did he come from?'

"Jamieson!" he called and pointed in the direction he had gone.

The group turned back towards the Gate and tried to follow the Colonel. Daniel began to notice the signs of blood in the ferns Jack had run through.

"The ferns are cutting his legs up," Daniel pointed out. "It's not even slowing him down."

Jack could see the glittering of silver ahead of him and slowed down. Metallic glitter was not something he was expecting to see in this place. He moved forward cautiously and peered around the bowl of a huge tree to see what was reflecting the light like that. Sam and the two soldiers had just reached the clearing and were leaving the trees. Saya still hung limply in Pearson's arms. 'They are taking her through the Gate!' Something snapped inside him, he knew she shouldn't go through the Gate. He knew he would not be able to follow her, could not leave this place. "No!"

The single word was wrenched from him as he realized he was about to lose Saya. Jack aimed and fired in one flowing motion. The figure carrying Saya stumbled and went down. Sam and Phillips dived for cover. The group coming up from behind him broke into a clumsy run.

"Damned suits," Jamieson growled as he ran.

Sam had dropped the tranquillizer darts. All she had to hand was live ammunition. Whenever she or Phillips tried to move out of cover to retrieve them, Jack fired. He hadn't hit either of them yet, but Sam knew it wasn't for lack of trying.

"Pearson!" Phillips yelled at his motionless teammate.

"I'm OK. The kevlar stopped the bullet. Saya's bandage has slipped!" Pearson called back. "She's bleeding real fast."

Sam took stock of their situation. Jack was working his way towards them and the only way they could stop him was to shoot him. A chill crept up her spine as she watched him work his way singlemindedly towards them. Suddenly, she was certain he would kill them to get Saya back. She lifted her weapon and closed her eyes briefly, 'please don't let me have to shoot him.' She looked around again to see where he was but she had lost sight of him. A glance at Phillips told her that he had lost track of him as well.

Jack had almost reached them, sliding forward through the ferns on his belly. He didn't notice the blood soaking through his lacerated T-shirt and trousers. In the back of his mind a small voice was screaming, 'Stop! Think what you are doing. These are your people.' He shook his head. His eyes weren't focusing too well now. Suddenly he stood up directly in front of Sam. His chest and legs were red with blood from the laceration, his eyes black bottomless pools, Sam barely recognized the apparition that had appeared. They stood facing each other, guns aimed but neither moving. 'NO!' The small voice at the back of his mind suddenly reached him. Jack started to lower his weapon. A sharp pain blossomed in his leg and he looked down in surprise. A dart was embedded in the back of his thigh. "Damn!"

He pulled the hypodermic out but the contents had already found their way into his system. He dropped his weapon and stumbled towards Saya. As he tried to reach her his legs buckled under him and he sank to the ground. It was all over in a few seconds, but for Sam it had seemed an eternity.

Jack's vision was blurring but he recognized Sam's voice. "It's alright, Jack, she's still alive. We've come to take you home."

"No, you'll kill her, Sam, don't," Jack whispered as everything went black.

Daniel looked down at his friend, the tranquillizer handgun he had chosen to bring with him still in his hand. "Well, Jack, I guess your lessons finally paid off."

By the time they had reassembled before the Gate, Sam had triggered the dial home device. All the equipment was thrown onto the ATV, and Pearson lifted Saya to carry her through. His back hurt like crazy where the bruise from the bullet impact was forming, but the look on his face dared anyone to take her from him. He carried her through the Gate as soon as the event horizon stabilized. Teal'c lifted Jack onto his shoulder and followed him.

A loud angry roar caused the remainder of the group to spin round. Out into the clearing came the largest creature any of them had ever seen. Enraged by the intrusion onto its territory, the Tyrannosaurus charged the group. The injuries from its previous foray into the clearing were forgotten in its rage. The hum from the tower mounted in pitch quickly and a beam of light struck the beast in its side. Instead of collapsing completely it sagged to one side, slowed, and then continued its intent. Everyone fired and another beam struck the creature. It fell, crashing forward with the momentum of the run straight at them. Everyone scattered as they realized it wouldn't stop. Phillips let out a single scream as the head came crashing down on him. The remaining five struggled to pull Phillips clear, but the weight of the creature had crushed his chest. He was having difficulty breathing. They picked him up, ignoring other possible injuries, and dragged him through the Gate to medical aid at the SGC.

Saya Is Dying

'The Medical Centre is definitely getting crowded,' Janet thought to herself as she moved between the beds. 'Gunshot wounds crush injuries and narcotics withdrawals. Well, I can't say my job's a dull one.' She had reached the Colonel's bed as he was stirring and checked his pulse. He opened his eyes as she finished.

Jack groaned, 'if I can just get hold of the little man with the big drum, I'll throttle him.' He opened his eyes slowly, increasing the pain in his head. He didn't know which bit of it hurt the most. The back and top where he was being stabbed, or the sides that were being hammered.

"Good Morning, Colonel O'Neill, how are you feeling?"

Jack focused on her face and then squinted, the light increased the pain. "Saya?" He had made the name a question, but Janet's eyes were still on her watch and she didn't respond.

His arm would not come off the bed when he tried to reach for her. A tug at his other arm confirmed that both his arms were strapped securely to the bed rails. Janet glanced up at him when he tried to move and smiled. The look on her face told him to quit pulling on the straps, he was going nowhere.

"She's still alive, Colonel, but she lost a lot of blood," Janet responded when he stopped flexing his arms.

He casually drew up one leg and lifted his head to look down the bed. He waited for the wave of nausea to pass before opening his eyes. 'Yeah, my legs are secured.'

"Why has she lost a lot of blood?" Jack asked as he let his head settle carefully onto the pillow.

"I'm sorry, Colonel, I shot her," Pearson told him. He was sitting beside Saya's bed, keeping an eye on her and his friend Phillips. Daniel voice came from close by and Jack turned his head to find Daniel sitting up in the next bed.

"I'd just been attacked by an Allosaurus. Pearson shot it and dragged it off of me. It made everyone a bit twitchy. We heard something, and he turned and fired. He thought it was another dinosaur. It was over before he realized what he'd shot at."

Jack looked at his friend on the bed next to him. "You OK?"

"Sure. I was winded and added a few more scratches to the collection. I'm here because it managed to tear the Kevlar suit. I've been exposed to the spores again. Not for long this time, though."

"Ah," Jack responded and looked at Janet through narrowed eyes. "Daniel isn't strapped down. Why am I so honoured?"

The ironical tone was not lost on Janet but she ignored it. "Because, Colonel, you have had far more exposure than he has, and quite frankly, we just don't know what you're likely to do next. You are under restraint until I'm sure you are behaving normally, or until your blood tests are clear, if I can't work out what is normal for you."

Jack smiled sweetly in response, but his mind had already wandered away from his own predicament. The nausea stopped when he didn't move, so Jack decided to stay still. "Can I see Saya?" Jack asked, a little plaintively for him.

"Soon," Janet told him. "Just be patient. You can't expect us not to be careful, you know. After all, you did disobey a direct order while under the influence, however good you think your reason might have been. The General doesn't want us to take the chance of you doing that again."

Janet put his chart back and went off to check the rest of her patients. As the painkillers Fraiser had administered earlier began to wear off, Jack became aware that all up his legs and across his chest hurt. Every time he moved it felt like his skin wanted to crack. Moving slowly he lifted his head from the pillow again and looked down at his chest. It was covered in bandages, 'why didn't I notice that before?' His arms were also covered in bandages. "Hey, Daniel."

"What is it, Jack?"

"Are my legs wrapped up like this as well?"

"Yes, Jack."

"I look like one of your mummies!"

Daniel grinned into the book he was trying to read. He didn't trust himself to reply, unsure if Jack was quite ready for him to laugh at him.

Janet's break was due and she was relieved to leave the Centre for a while. She had been looking forward to spending some quality time with Cassandra. Somehow something always got in the way but it wasn't that Cassandra didn't understand. There were some advantages to her adopted daughter knowing about the Stargate. 'Now where is Sam hiding herself?' she thought 'Ha, I know…' Sure enough, Janet found Sam in the Briefing Room, forehead and hands resting against the viewing window high in the Gate Room wall. The solemn, distant look on her face did not disappear when she turned as Janet entered the Room.

"Do you want to talk?" Janet asked.

"How is Saya?" Sam wanted to know.

Janet joined her to stare at the Stargate and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "She's dying. If she hadn't been shot…. I don't know, she might have been strong enough to fight through, but now she's so weakened…. The spore level is dropping and the affects of withdrawal are beginning to put an additional strain on her already weakened body. There's very little we can do." A silence fell between them until Janet murmured, "Jack wants to see her. How can anyone tell him she's dying?"

Teal'c had quietly entered the room as she spoke and startled them both when he responded to the question. "I will tell him." Sam looked at her friend, suddenly alert to the tone of his voice. "I have an idea. O'Neill will not like it, but it may be a way to save her."

"What have you got in mind, Teal'c?" Janet asked.

Sam's face lit up as she realized what Teal'c was thinking. "Yes of course, the Tok'ra," Sam answered for him, "the Tok'ra could help her."

Teal'c nodded his agreement. "That was my thought. My Goa'uld protected me from the spores."

"Do you really want to tell the Colonel that the only way we can save Saya is by making her a host?" Janet wasn't sure that she had heard them right. "You know how he feels about the Go'auld. He's not going to take that well at all."

"The Tok'ra are not the Go'auld and he knows that. We can't just wait for her to die, we can at least offer her the option," Sam responded.

"Offer who what option?" Hammond asked as he joined them.

"The Tok'ra could help Saya," Janet told him.

He wandered to the table and leaned on one arm, while shuffling the papers he'd come to retrieve. It was a good way of avoiding eye contact as he thought through this option. After a moment or two he sighed and straightened to look at them. "If Saya is willing then you can try, but I don't see how you can explain this to her or that she would trust us. We did shoot her."

"Colonel O'Neill could persuade her," Sam told him.

"And who," the General asked, "is going to persuade Colonel O'Neill."

Teal'c left them still talking in the Briefing Room, and headed for the Medical Centre to see O'Neill. He knew that time was running short for the woman. If they were going to save her, O'Neill would have to accept that the Tok'ra were the only thing between her and death.

As he approached the end of the bed, he could see that O'Neill was sleeping badly. His friend was sweating and muttering, turning against the restraints. The muscles of his arms strained visibly against the bandages as he struggled within his dream. He appeared to be trying to draw his knees towards his chest, but the restraining straps on his legs stopped him. Teal'c looked at Daniel resting in the next bed.

"Stomach cramps, I should think. Not nice," Daniel responded to the unasked question.

If nightmares and hallucinations were already affecting his body and mind, Teal'c wondered if he would be rational enough to understand what was needed. Teal'c came around the bed, lifting a chair into place and sitting astride it. He shook Jack by the shoulder to bring him out of his dream. " O'Neill… O'Neill, I must talk with you."

Jack reared up suddenly against the straps, his eyes opened wide and a look of fear on his face. It turned to immense relief as his eyes focused on Teal'c. "Thanks," he gasped, "I really didn't want to dance with the lady. Big teeth, big tail, bad breath," he muttered.

The puzzlement that appeared on Teal'c's face brought a smile to Jack's, temporarily dispelling the pain lines appearing there. "There is no one here who fits that description," Teal'c responded.

"Teal'c," Jack asked as he lowered himself back to the pillows, "who's pulling whose leg here?" A slight smile appeared on Teal'c's face. "I thought so… I don't suppose you can undo these straps?" Jack asked innocently.

"I could not."

"Didn't think so. What is it, Teal'c?"

Teal'c suddenly realised that this was not going to be that simple for him. His friend was not going to like what he had to say. 'I knew this already,' he told himself, but still, now he sat facing O'Neill. The hesitation brought a wary look into Jack's eyes.

Daniel put down the book he had been reading and rolled over to watch them. He pulled up his knees to release the mild cramp in his stomach and wondered how quickly the spores would disappear from his system.

'Well,' Teal'c reasoned, 'there is really no other way to say it.' "Saya is dying." 'That is not the way this should come out,' Teal'c thought as he resigned himself to the inevitable.

He knew his friend cared for this woman, but he didn't know any other way to tell him. Jack lay quite still, the colour draining from his face.

"She is too weakened by the wound. She cannot cope with what the decrease in spore levels is doing to her body."

"If I hadn't gone back, she would still be there and unhurt," Jack stated in a drained voice.

"That wasn't your fault," Daniel told him, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. "It was the spores." An expression that Daniel couldn't decipher passed over Jack's face.

"Was it the spores?" Jack spoke out loud but it was clear he was not talking to them. There was Saya again, in his mind, smiling at him. He was certain that these feelings had begun the first evening he met her. 'This can't all be an illusion.' "Why are you telling me this?" he asked suddenly, realising that this was not what Teal'c had come to say.

"The spores did not affect me," Teal'c told him, ensuring that Jack had eye contact with him. Jack could not mistake what Teal'c had in mind.

"No."

"The Tok'ra could save her. With them she would survive," Teal'c responded.

"No!" Jack began to pull at the restraints on his arms. "I want to see her… let me see her now!"

Daniel slipped off the bed and leaned forward, he began to rapidly undo the straps.

"Daniel Jackson, we should not…." Teal'c began to rise as he spoke but Daniel put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"He only wants to see Saya. The guards are here, he won't do himself any harm."

Teal'c undid Jack's leg restraints. He stood up quickly, swaying slightly from the effects of the tranquilliser Fraiser had given him, and the withdrawal symptoms that had begun to bite. He rubbed his wrists as he looked around the room. Teal'c steadied him, concerned that he would fall over.

"Thanks. Where is she?"

Daniel pointed down the row of beds and Jack turned. Now he was standing he could see her. Pearson was still seated between Saya and Phillips. He had fallen to sleep holding Saya's hand.

"He's been there since we brought her back," Daniel told him. "He won't leave."

Jack was surprised to find no anger in him towards Pearson. This was something he had seen before in other soldiers he had known. Pearson's reflexes had been faster than his mind, the training did that to some of them. He walked down the room knowing his friends would follow him. He shook the sleeping soldier awake. An apprehensive look appeared on Pearson's face when he realised that it was the Colonel. "It's OK. Go get some sleep. I'll stay with her now," Jack told him.

A brief look of relief and gratitude crossed Pearson's face and he gave up his seat to Jack. He didn't leave, however, before checking to see that Phillips was doing all right.

Jack leaned over Saya, pushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. She opened her eyes as he sat down.

"Jack. Where are we? Are you alright?" her voice was weak, little more than a whisper.

He picked up her hand and held it between his own then lifted it to his lips to kiss. "This is part of my cave," he told her. "I'm OK; it's you that got hurt." Saya closed her eyes and began to drift away again.

"Saya," he called her name softly and she reopened her eyes. "Saya you're very sick and…" He stroked her head and faltered. He couldn't do it, if he did he would lose her, but if he didn't she would still be gone. A look of fear appeared in Saya's face and she gasped as she tried to draw her knees to her chest.

She grasped Jack's hand tightly, fingernails digging into his bandages. "Jack." She swallowed to enable herself to speak. "Stay with me. You promised you would stay with me."

Jack slid an arm around her shoulders to hold her to him until the seizure passed. "Yes, Saya, I'll stay with you," he murmured, "as long as you need me."

"Don't let me die…" she whispered as she drifted away again.

By the time everyone had drifted down from the Briefing Room, Jack had settled on the bed, still holding Saya in his arms. He was rocking her gently, like a child.

"Why is the Colonel out of bed?" Hammond asked, accurately picking Daniel out with his eyes.

"I don't need restraining, General," Jack responded before Daniel could reply. He slid off the bed, laying Saya carefully down. He drew the cover over her shoulders and straightened up. He looked at Teal'c, who had settled silently in a seat at the end of the bed. Jack asked him an unpalatable question. "Will the Tok'ra be able to help her now, or is it too late?"

Sam answered quickly before Teal'c's honesty made things more difficult. "You know they helped my father. He was dying."

"Has Saya agreed to this?" Hammond asked him and Jack frowned in response.

Jack felt a shudder run through him and wondered whether it was the spores, or physical rejection of what they were going to do. "No, she lost consciousness before we asked her, she hasn't reawakened. She asked me not to let her die. They are the only people we can contact who may be able to help her."

Fraiser had seen the shudder run through his frame and wondered how he was staying on his feet. However, her main attention was for Saya's condition. "If we're going to do it, we should do it now. She needs another blood transfusion to replace the loss. Although it will help reduce the effects of the gunshot injury, it will accelerate withdrawal."

Hammond nodded his agreement to contact the Tok'ra and Sam hurried away before anyone had second thoughts.

The Tok'ra

The Stargate rumbled into action as the call of Incoming Travellers echoed through the Control Room. They didn't have to wait long for the reply to Sam's request for assistance. Two hours from the message being sent to the Tok'ra, the Stargate was bringing them in response.

"Something really must have put a burr under their saddle," Hammond heard someone mutter and glanced around the Control Room. Wherever his eyes rested there was a technician busy at his assigned tasks. His eyes snapped back to the Stargate and the guilty Technician let out a small sigh of relief.

"I wonder who is responding to your request." Jamieson murmured at Sam. He didn't expect a reply he was making conversation. This was his first encounter with the Tok'ra and he was nervous of the idea of Goa'ulds who were not. Sam glanced at the man stood beside her and shrugged. She sensed his unease; it reminded her of Jack and his ambiguous attitude towards symbiosis. His friendship with Teal'c was a prime example of caring for the enemy. The number of times they had saved junior, or been thankful that Teal'c did possess a larval Goa'uld.

"There's no way of telling," Sam responded finally.

Jamieson could see the eagerness in her face. He was aware that Carter's father was out there somewhere with these aliens.

Computers flashed through their sequences, checking for incoming signals. A squad of armed soldiers took their places before the Stargate.

"Identification confirmed."

Everyone relaxed a little with confirmation that it was indeed the Tok'ra, but not completely, they'd had some nasty surprises in the past.

"Open the iris," Hammond commanded. He was the first to head for the Gate Room. Within a few seconds only essential personnel where left in the Control Room.

Martouf was the first to materialise through the Gate. Sam grinned in delight to see her old friend. Behind him two more Tok'ra arrived, bearing a stretcher with a third. Then the Stargate disengaged and the disappointment on Sam's face was obvious to all. Martouf stopped in front of her briefly.

"Your father was not with us when your call came through. He will be sorry he missed this opportunity to come. The call was most opportune," Martouf explained to Hammond. He pointed to the stretcher. "This is Lanar. She was injured in an explosion and Jetair has been unable to heal her. They will die soon."

"You did understand that Saya is also dying?" Hammond asked.

"Yes, but you say it is only one wound?" Martouf responded.

"And the spores," Sam added. "Teal'c's larval Goa'uld was able to deal with them with no trouble."

"Then her injuries are much less severe than Lanar's. Jetair may be able to heal them and they will both survive."

Hammond and Sam escorted their visitors immediately to the Medical Centre. As they reached the outer door Sam realised that she needed to explain that Saya had not agreed to be a host.

"Martouf, Saya has been unconscious since before we called you. We have been unable to ask her if she wants to do this."

"Then why have you called us?"

"Because I asked them to, Marty." Jack was leaning on the doorjamb. "Sorry I didn't come to meet you, but they won't let me out of here."

Withdrawal was affecting him very badly now, the nausea and cramp felt never ending and he had begun to burn up. The little man in his head had acquired a very large hammer and was doing him a great deal of damage. All Jack wanted to do was head for the Gate Room and go where he knew the pain would stop. 'Saya is here,' he told himself. 'And I know I can beat this, I've done it before.'

Daniel hovered close to Jack, a worried expression on his face. He had already prevented Jack from tearing his bandages off a short while before. Jack had said his skin was on fire. He was sweating into the bandages and this was penetrating the cuts and grazes on his body. His friend was in severe distress and he wondered how much longer he could stay on his feet.

"You do not look well," Martouf told him.

"Thanks," Jack responded and then moved out of their way. "I'll get over it. Who's that?" he asked, nodding towards the stretcher.

"Lanar, host to Jetair. She is only alive now because Jetair supports her, but it is weakening Jetair, it is a fight she will lose.

"Hurry," Lanar spoke, "I do not have much time."

"Jetair," Martouf called softly, "this one does not know what we do. She may not want to be host." Lanar's eyes lit with a feeble glow.

"We will help each other now. Later we can find a willing host if she wishes me to leave."

As they lowered the stretcher beside Saya's bed, Sam looked with concern at Jack. He had stood back away from the bed, watching what they were doing to Saya. 'What was he thinking?' If she had looked closer at his eyes, Sam would have known he wasn't really watching what was happening. He was having difficulty concentrating on simply standing up.

He did watch as the two women were laid side by side, but his mind began to retreat to Saya. To the short time they had been together, he could see her laughing at him when he couldn't stand, but his legs weren't hurting then, like they did now. He could see her reaching for him…this was no good to him and it wouldn't help Saya, but he couldn't help Saya and Saya would no longer be Saya. He rubbed his face, trying desperately to focus on what was happening.

Suddenly his legs buckled and he slid slowly down the wall he'd been trying to support himself against. Teal'c picked him up and carried him to his bed. Janet followed Teal'c to the bed. Before Jack could object, he felt a needle go into his arm and drifted quickly into oblivion.

It was dark when Jack opened his eyes. A single light shone beside his bed, the pool of light reflecting in the mass of shiny dark hair spread across his shoulder. He reached over to push the unruly mop from her face again and Saya lifted her head.

"I've been waiting for you to wake," she whispered and smiled.

'Who's talking?' he thought as he looked at her.

"Jetair is resting," Saya told him as if she read his thought. "I am still not healed completely, but I will be. Jetair has explained what has happened." When Jack did not speak a shadow passed over her face. "I did ask you not to let me die; you did what was necessary to keep me alive."

Jack stroked a finger down the side of her face, uncertain now how to react to her. Uncertain of his feelings for her, or about the symbiote she was now carrying. "What are you going to do now?" Jack asked her.

"There are things Jetair must…" she faltered with the unfamiliar thought, "we must do. But she told me that the Tok'ra are always welcome here and that we can come often." Jack just stared at her, twisting a lock of her hair around his fingers. "I will have to go soon."

For the first time Jack saw a tear forming at the corner of her eye. 'She's trying not to cry,' he thought and it made him feel bad. Jack noticed Martouf hovering by the doorway and raised an eyebrow, a little of the old Jack reasserting itself. Martouf came to the bedside in response to the small acknowledgment of his presence.

"We will take care of her. Jetair is very capable," Martouf told him.

"She'd better be," Jack replied.

Saya had risen to leave but the wall he had thrown up suddenly tumbled. He caught her arm and turned her back to him. Saya threw herself at him with a laugh of relief. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her while she kissed him. He ignored the discomfort of the embrace, not knowing if there would ever be another. He loosened his grip and allowed her to pull away. 'Well, that was still Saya,' he told himself and smiled at her.

"I must go with Martouf now, but I will come back, Jack," she whispered and then headed for the door.

Jack stared at the empty doorway after she had gone. Saya's last words as she passed out of sight echoed through his mind.

"I will come back!"