While on a mission to PX-0742, Daniel caught sight of some ancient ruins and, predictably, broke off from Jack, Sam C., and Teal'c. As Daniel began to translate the inscriptions, he grew excitedly absorbed in this new information- the ancient writing described a mind control device created by the former inhabitants of PX-0742. Upon further translating, Daniel discovered that this artifact was sent away to a distant planet when the Goa'uld attacked. Daniel eagerly copied down the coordinates, then turned to rejoin the rest of his team. It was then, and only then, that he discovered Baal had been trailing him. Forced to share his new-found knowledge, Daniel was hauled off to the stargate to help Baal recover this powerful artifact. Fortunately, he was able to drop his notebook before entering the stargate and trusted that his team would find it.
The coordinates correspond to a long-lost and forgotten stargate in Toronto. While it had been discovered as the city expanded, it was placed into academia's keeping for further study, although no one had been able to decipher its markings or understand its purpose. Finally, it had been put into storage in a museum basement and languished, dark and silent…that is, until Daniel dialed in and the gate hummed to life. After coming through, Baal took a minute to get his bearings, then shoved Daniel through the door and up the stairs.
Like all other Canadians, the elite members of SRU's Team One had never heard of PX-0742 or of the Goa'uld. That day they were engrossed in various prep duties throughout the barn, ever ready for the PA system to come to life. Wordy inspected breaching equipment while trading quips with Spike, who was restocking explosives. Sam B. and Jules raced to disassemble and clean the team's weapons. Ed and Greg chatted back and forth while doing a visual checkout of the vehicles.
"Team One, hot call!" Winnie's voice rang out, followed shortly by the siren. "Shots fired at York Museum. One male subject, one hostage." Team One was on the road in a matter of minutes. "What do we know, Winnie?" Greg asked. Winnie answered quickly, "Subject walked up from the basement with his hostage and started demanding a map to the building. When a security guard questioned him, the subject pulled out an odd-looking gun and shot him… Hold on, I've got the museum curator on the line." Greg told Winnie to patch the curator through and found himself confronted with a woman's voice, anxious and low. "Dr. Emily Weiler, curator." Greg checked to make sure the rest of the team was listening before replying, "Go ahead, Dr. Weiler." According to Dr. Weiler, the subject spoke in an odd, distorted voice, and his hostage seemed to know him. After consulting a map, they had gone straight to a particular exhibit. "Artifacts from around the Toronto area, my own discoveries. They date back hundreds of thousands of years. I've never been able to decipher the markings, but I guess they can…" Greg broke in politely and turned to practical matters. Dr. Weiler told them the museum should be fully evacuated when they arrived and her head of security would give them full access. Greg sensed something in Dr. Weiler's voice and asked if she would be there to give them information on the artifact. Dr. Weiler hesitated a moment before replying, "No, Sergeant. I can't get out of my office without them seeing me. I've got the door shut and locked, but I can see them, partially, through the window." Greg immediately ordered Dr. Weiler away from the window and told her to stay quiet while they worked to get her out. "Okay team!" Greg started giving out assignments. "Spike, stay in contact with Dr. Weiler, get video up and floor plans. Ed, Wordy, Sam, coordinate with Spike and find a way to get Dr. Weiler out of her office safely. Jules, you and I are going to interview witnesses, try and find out who this guy is and what he wants."
After sending floor plans to his team, Spike pulled up the video feed and focused on two cameras- one showing the subject and hostage bent over a display case, and the other showing the door of the curator's office. "Dr. Weiler? This is Spike Scarlatti with the SRU." A woman appeared at the door's narrow window, touching a Bluetooth device attached to her ear. "Constable? Did you get video feed and everything?" "Yes, ma'am, thank you," Spike replied as he tried to zoom in on either the subject's or the hostage's face. He muttered low under his breath as angle after angle failed, only giving him the back and sides of heads. Dr. Weiler exclaimed, sudden and low, "I think I know the hostage… Yes! We were in the doctorate program for archeology together. Dr. Daniel Jackson." "Thanks, Dr. Weiler!" Spike typed the name into the search engine and started the program. While waiting for results, Spike checked in with Ed. "Found a way to get the curator out?" Ed answered over the sound of boots heading up the stairs. "We're going to have to rappel down from the roof. Tell her to open the left-hand window and remove the screen." Spike relayed the request to Dr. Weiler while opening up Dr. Daniel Jackson's file. As Dr. Weiler had said, he was an archeologist, from the States, with a degree and a few books, but very little other information. Spike frowned at a 'Classified' stamp on Dr. Jackson's current address and job. Can't a guy get information without red tape, just once? Dr. Weiler suddenly gasped; the sound was sharp in the earpiece. "He's seen me! He's coming over here!" Greg immediately took command. "Eddie? Wordy?" "Almost!" Wordy exclaimed. "Sam's in the harness now." "Go!" Greg ordered. "Dr. Weiler, get over to the window. We're coming to get you!" "Already there," Dr. Weiler replied, anxiety making her voice tight. A moment later she cried out as something shook the door in the background. "Sam?!" Greg exclaimed, the question evident in his tone. "Just a few more feet…" Sam B. shot back, focused on the open window just below him. Then he was there. "Dr. Weiler, put this harness on…" The door burst open, admitting a grim-faced man with dark hair and a beard. Sam B. dropped the harness. "No time." He grabbed Dr. Weiler's arm and pulled her out the window. The subject made a grab for her ankle, but Dr. Weiler swung hard and kicked him in the face. He reeled back with an angry grunt. "Emily!" A voice issued out the window, followed by the hostage's head. "Daniel!" She shouted back, leaning over and causing Sam B. to exclaim, "Hold still!" The hostage shouted up after them. "Emily, find Colonel Jack O'Neill! With two L's!" Daniel was yanked back into the room as Ed and Wordy hauled Sam B. and Dr. Weiler back to the top.
Wordy was the first one to notice the tremors in Dr. Weiler's hands. He took her elbow and started to lead her over to the ambulance. "It's alright, ma'am. We've got everything under control." Spike's voice came over the headset suddenly. "Wordy, I need Dr. Weiler in here- Dr. Jackson's file is classified and I can't get the Americans to let me in." Wordy turned his head and replied, "She's shook up, just give her a minute." Dr. Weiler heard anyway. "I can come. Daniel asked for my help." She pressed her hands together and the tremors stopped. Wordy nodded. "This way, Dr. Weiler." She smiled faintly and replied, "You all just saved my life. I think you can call me Emily." Spike was fairly seething with impatience when they got into the truck. "Anything you can tell us is helpful, Emily." She nodded. "Daniel and I weren't friends, but we were good rivals. He had some insane theory about the pyramids being much older than the Egyptian kings, and I always made fun of him for it, but now…" Emily glanced at the partial pictures of the subject, frowning, then shook herself. "Have you found Colonel O'Neill?" "Eh, haven't been looking for him," Spike replied slowly. Emily turned her frown on him. "Daniel told us to find Colonel O'Neill, and I assume that means that this O'Neill has answers. So why don't you find him?" "Boss?" Spike said into the earpiece, irritated by Emily's schoolteacher tone. Greg's voice came back immediately. "She's right- we need answers and this seems to be the way to get them." Ignoring Emily's 'I-told-you-so' look, Spike turned once again to the computer.
Spike had never felt so frustrated and he freely admitted it to his team as he reported out what he'd been able to find concerning Colonel Jack O'Neill. "U.S. Air Force, highly decorated, Special Forces vet, highly respected, and highly classified." A voice suddenly replied, "Well, that's a very nice introduction. Thank you, constable." Team One spun round to see a tall man with graying hair walk up, flanked by a blond woman and an even taller man, all in green uniforms, though the tallest man was wearing a ski cap instead of a green hat. Ed was the first one to recover. "And you are?" The newcomer gestured at Spike. "He just said- Colonel Jack O'Neill, highly respected, highly classified. These are my team- Major Sam Carter and Teal'c." The SRU and SG1 teams gazed at each other uneasily for a moment. Emily finally broke the silence. "And you know Daniel through…?" "That's classified." Jack responded indifferently. Emily huffed. Greg took command and said, "Well, classified stuff aside, I assume this Dr. Jackson is a friend of yours?" "That's right," Jack replied. Greg nodded and turned so that he could look at both his team and Jack's team. "We want the same thing here, people. We want Dr. Jackson out of there safely and the subject in custody. Let's work together. Colonel O'Neill, come have a look at the video feed, see if you recognize our subject." Greg, Spike, and Jack stepped into the truck, leaving Wordy, Ed, Jules, and Sam B. facing off with Teal'c and Sam C. "Alright," Ed said, "let's get you guys up to speed. Jules, you and…Teal'c?" The impassive man bowed his head. Ed continued, "you and Teal'c talk to Emily and get a description of the artifacts up in that display case. Sam, you and Wordy reconnoiter with Major Carter." People moved to their tasks and Ed stepped inside the truck.
Sam C., Wordy, and Sam B. moved inside the building, weapons at the ready. "Any idea where they came from?" Sam C. asked. "Security says they came up from the basement." Wordy replied. "We need to go there first," Sam C. declared with authority. Sam B. pulled up floor plans. "This way." Ever careful, they reached the basement door and swung it open. "All clear," Sam B. said, then turned to Sam C. "Go ahead, Major." She hesitated, then said bluntly, "No offense, but you can go first… You remind me of an escaped convict I met once." Sam B. stared, put out and insulted. "I'm a police officer and a JTF2 veteran." Sam C. shrugged. "Just saying." Wordy broke the tension by saying jovially, "Of course, we don't know what he was up to before JTF2…" Sam B. threw him an annoyed look before descending the stairs, followed by Sam C. and Wordy.
Meanwhile, back in the truck, Jack was putting similarly annoying questions to Greg. "Is your middle name Burke? I could have sworn we met before." Mustering all his patience, and careful not to look at Eddie's impatient face, Greg replied, "No, it's not, and I do not remember meeting you, Colonel. Let's focus here." After a few more irrelevancies, Jack confirmed that the hostage was indeed Dr. Daniel Jackson, a member of Jack's team, and said that the subject was called Baal. Greg, Ed, and Spike exchanged quizzical glances. Greg hooked his hands into the top of his vest. "Baal? As in the idol from Biblical times?" "That's right, but don't ask me to explain…" "Try," exclaimed Greg, then tacked on, "please," as an afterthought. Jack hesitated for a moment; he was no good at actually explaining what all of the alien technology really was, much less making up a convincing cover story. He sighed and said "Baal's a criminal, part of a gang really. He's working for this other guy called Anubis. We believe he captured Daniel in order to find this, um, ancient technology that Daniel discovered on our last assignment." He tried to think back to the notes for more information, but he had barely understood or paid attention to them anyway. That was Carter's job. So he tacked on, "it's a very strong piece of technology and in the wrong hands it could cause some major damage." Greg tapped his fingers on the wall restlessly. This makes no sense, but it helps explain some of what's happening here. Jules' voice came over the headset and he hurriedly patched in Jack so he could hear. "Boss, I heard all that, and based on what Emily's telling us about this artifact, it could be true. Teal'c seems to recognize it, thinks it's some sort of mind control device." Teal'c voice, slightly faint, came through. "Of course, I cannot be certain, Constable Callahan. I am going by Dr. Jackson's notes, which are incomplete." They heard Emily's impatient exclamation in the background. "Here, give them to me…one archeologist to another…" Greg shook his head. "Let's get out there and keep sorting this out. Spike, stay here and monitor our subject."
While this was going on, Sam C., Wordy, and Sam B. had reached the basement. All three of them flipped on flashlights, not wanting to use the overhead lights and draw the attention of anyone - or anything – that might still be down there. After a quick look around, Wordy noticed there were no other exits and said "Wait, how did this guy get in without alerting the security upstairs?" He confirmed with Spike that there was no other way in on the floor plans. Sam C. frowned and said, "then how did he get in here?" in a slow, questioning tone that indicated that she was trying to work out the answer. Sam B. didn't comment, but scanned the room carefully, ready to fire if anything moved. Three flashlights floated across the basement. One of them touched on a large circular arch and Sam C. exclaimed "Whoa, is that what I think it is?" She trotted over and played the flashlight all up and down and around the arch. Sam B. and Wordy followed and Wordy gasped, "what is that?" What he saw was a large stone circle, mostly likely 10 feet in diameter, with strange symbols on it. Sam C. turned around quickly and faced them, a mask over her features. "I'm sorry, that's classified." She then got on her own radio and said, "Colonel, you'll never believe what's collecting dust down here." Jack told her to come back outside and Sam C. headed for the stairs. Wordy and Sam B. lingered a moment, looking up at the circle, then at Sam C.'s retreating back, then at each other. Sam B. shook his head. "I don't like all this 'that's classified' business. We're flying blind here." Wordy shook his head too, but quipped, "It's your fault—you look like a convict." Sam B. glared at him for a moment, then laughed at the joke as they headed back outside. When the two SRU officers got outside, Sam C. was quietly talking to Jack. "Sir, we found a stargate in the basement of the museum." Jack looked a little surprised and said "Do you think that's what Baal used to get in the museum here?" Sam replied "It's the only way I can think of right now, though how he got it to work I don't know."
Everyone gathered at the SUV hood where Emily was poring over Daniel's notes and comparing them to the drawings and photographs she had of the artifact. While she worked, the two teams chatted back and forth, getting to know each other, but a current of tension ran underneath the entire time. The men, naturally, ignored it, but Sam C. and Jules cautiously broached the subject with each other. "How are we supposed to get them out safely if we can barely talk to each other?" Jules shook her head, staring at the doors of the museum. Sam C. followed her look. "I hear you. We'll all do our best, but…" The two women glanced at each other. "Trust is something you have to earn with us," Sam C. explained, her tone half-apologetic. Jules didn't blink. "Same here," she replied. The mere acknowledgment of that fact lightened the tension and the two women smiled at each other. "Think someone should tell the guys that?" Jules took a minute to look at everyone else before responding to the question. "My guys are pretty smart, and yours seem pretty smart too- I think they'll figure it out." Emily suddenly appeared at Jules' elbow. "Men never figure out stuff like that 'till they're hit over the head with it… or at least Daniel didn't when we were studying archeology." Sam C. frowned slightly at Emily. "You didn't actually hit him over the head, did you?" "Thought about it," Emily quipped, "decided it wasn't worth it." The three women laughed. "Anyway," Emily continued, "I think I've got this artifact figured out. Come have a look." Jules lagged behind, glancing at the scene in front of the museum. Greg, Spike, and Ed were talking with Jack, trying to figure out the history between Daniel and Baal. Sam B. and Wordy were looking at the museum's floor plans with Teal'c, creating different entry scenarios. That tension was still there, but it didn't seem as bad as before. 'Men never figure out stuff like that…' Jules shook the words away. They seemed to be figuring it out just fine. She turned to listen to Emily's explanation of the artifact.
"Like Teal'c thought, it is a mind-control device, as far as I can tell from these notes and the sketches Daniel made of the ruins." Sam C. glanced over the materials and nodded. "I think you're right." Emily pointed at a series of symbols and lines. "I think these are distance measurements. I'm not entirely sure I understand, but I think this means the device has different ranges. Daniel wrote down 10 to 10,000, so I assume those are the numbers we're dealing with, but I don't know the units… feet, yards, miles…" Sam C. took up the notes and studied them carefully. "We don't know very much about the inhabitants of PX-0742, but their units of measurement do seem similar to ours, so it could be assumed that it would be the same for distance.." Jules frowned and spoke up. "But there's two main ways on this planet. Depending on where you are, it could be miles or meters- which one are we talking about here?" Sam C. looked at the notes again. "Good point…I'm not sure…" " Not sure of what, Carter?" Jack walked up, shortly followed by everyone else. Emily explained what they thought about the device and pointed out the question about distances. Jack waved a hand dismissively. "We already know pretty much all we need to- the device isn't important because we can take Baal out before he has a chance to use it." Greg shook his head. "I don't like the idea- it could put Daniel at risk. We need to talk first, then shoot. That's our protocol; lethal force as an absolute last resort. Gives the subject a fair chance to stand down." Jack leaned forward slightly. "Baal's not a fair player. He'll shoot while you talk. We can't give him that chance." Ed stepped in, patience at an end. "Didn't you hear him, Colonel? It's protocol; talk first, then shoot. You want to move things faster, you share some of that classified information you keep dangling over our heads!" Jack took Ed up immediately. "There's more than one way to move things faster!" Ignoring Sam C.'s half-questioning, half-restraining, "Sir?" Jack turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c take some of your new friends and go box in Baal, shoot both him and Daniel if you need to, then we'll sort it out back here." Teal'c did the eyebrow, but didn't move. Ed brindled and everyone tensed as invisible battle lines seemed to draw themselves in the air. "I'm the team leader here," Ed said, clearly angry, "I'll tell people what to do!" Jack squared off with him. "That's our guy in there, and our enemy." "And they're on our turf," Ed shot back, "so we call the shots. Now back off unless you want me to get unpleasant." Jack didn't move. "I'm Special Forces- I don't defer to anyone." Sam B. stepped in. "I'm JTF2, and I defer to him." Jack turned on him. "Why? Afraid you'll make a mistake and someone will get hurt? Is that why you leave it to old baldy?"
Ed and Sam B. suddenly went at Jack, patience exhausted. Greg watched the three fighting with utter exasperation, but found Sam C. and Jules interfering before he could even open his mouth. "Sir!" Sam C. exclaimed, "this is entirely unnecessary and inappropriate!" Jules didn't mince words. "What do you think you're doing, Ed?! What did you get involved for, Sam?!" Sam C. exclaimed, surprised, "I'm trying to help!" "Not you!" Jules exclaimed back, "the other one!" "The other one?!" Sam B. turned to Jules, his tone mingling outrage and hurt. Greg groaned inwardly. One down, but two more still fighting…with Emily looking on in open disgust. Teal'c turned to Wordy. "I believe we should separate Colonel O'Neill and Constable Lane." "Indeed," Wordy replied. The Jaffa and the man separated the fighters, and Greg exhaled and told Spike to monitor the video feed in the truck before he turned to de-escalate the situation.
It took a few moments, but the peace was restored enough that everyone could again focus on the task at hand. "Whatever differences we may have, we've got to put them aside and work together if we want everyone to come out of this safely." Greg finished up and swept the now-subdued group with a long look. "Let's keep the peace, people." Greg blinked suddenly. "Where's Emily?" Spike's voice sounded in the headset like an alarm. "She's back in the museum, boss! She slipped past us!" Jules reacted even before Greg opened his mouth, sprinting for the door. "Ed, Sam, follow Jules and get Emily out of there! Colonel, you and Teal'c go with them." Greg turned to Sam C. "What's your best guess on the range of this mind control device? How soon could they turn it on?" Sam C. grabbed the papers and studied them hurriedly. "Daniel will take his time, no doubt…but they've had plenty of time….it could be on now." Greg turned worriedly to the museum doors, then headed for the truck to watch the video feed.
Emily slipped up to a convenient corner and fern and watched as Daniel half-heartedly manipulated the artifact. He hesitated, then made a final alternation when prompted by Baal. The artifact lit up and hummed. "Excellent!" The Gual'od's odd voice exclaimed. "Now to test it." Baal picked up the device and aimed it at Daniel. "No! Stop!" Emily broke her cover before thinking. Baal swung, then pointed the device at her. She raised a hand in futile self-defense. "Emily!" Jules shouted in mixed exasperation and warning, bounding forward just ahead of her team. The artifact released a beam of white light and Jules took a direct hit as she shoved Emily out of the way. The beam froze Jules for a moment, then she collapsed. "Jules! Officer down!" Sam B. started to sprint forward. "Teal'c, pull him back!" Jack shouted, and the Jaffa halted Sam B. quickly. Emily, meanwhile, had pulled herself up and was leaning over Jules. "Jules?" Emily reached for Jules' wrist. "Jules, can you hear me?" Emily suddenly started back with a cry- Jules had wrenched her arm away and had the strangest look on her face. It was blank, but ferocious. Emily scrambled backwards, the only one not too stunned to move until Jules reached for her gun and cocked it. "Everyone fall back!" Ed roared, grabbing Emily's arm and shoving her towards the stairs.
Everyone tumbled out of the building, Teal'c bringing up the rear. Once outside, he turned, pulling out his zat, and waited. Jules came out the door a moment later and aimed to fire, but Teal'c shot first. Electricity seemed to crackle around Jules as she collapsed yet again. "Jules!" Sam B. leapt forward, sweeping the gun away with his foot and grabbing her sidearm. "What did you do to her?" He demanded in a low, dangerous voice, checking pulse and breathing. Teal'c, unfazed, replied, "She is merely stunned, Constable Braddock. One shot stuns, two shots kill, three shots disintegrate." Sam B. muttered something under his breath as he gathered Jules into his arms and carried her over to the ambulance. Everyone seemed to stop breathing until the paramedic nodded, confirming that Jules was okay. Emily hovered between the ambulance and the rest of the group, wavering between defiance and shame.
Baal was amused by what had just happened. Not only had the mind control box worked, but it had sent the humans fleeing. He didn't know why and he didn't particularly care. He also didn't know how O'Neill and his team had tracked him down so fast. They were so relentless and it aggravated him beyond words. But they too had fled. Daniel, on the other hand was not amused. Although he trusted his team's decision to fall back, he would have felt a lot better if he'd been able to go with them. He had no idea what was going on out there, but it had to be better than being stuck with a power-hungry, ruthless Gou'ald. Baal spoke up. "Alright, what should I do now? Perhaps use the box on you?" Daniel put his arms up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on here, let's… let's not be too hasty now. Don't you want to make sure the effects on the woman are permanent?" Daniel was the diplomat of his group, and while it was not easy to talk with a Gou'ald, he knew he had to say anything to give the team more time and keep himself safe as well.
The entire group tried to get their bearings over what had just happened and Sam B. stood close to Jules, keeping an eye on her. "What do you think we should do now Greg? They never trained us for this in the academy," asked Ed, who was standing near him and speaking softly. Greg responded "I think we need to work with these guys, there's obviously a lot more to this that they're not telling and if everyone's going to come out alive, then we need to be prepared next time we face off with Baal. Sam C. was also quietly talking to Jack, "Sir, I think at this point our best tactical option is to work with these people." Jack, arms crossed, shook his head. "They're just in the way. We can do this ourselves." Sam C. took a deep breath, as if counting to ten, then replied, "And while we're all busy being in each other's way, Baal has more time to hurt Daniel and impulsive people like Emily." Jack turned to her, absorbing the tacit rebuke, but Greg spoke before he opened his mouth. "Alright, we're going to have to work together and work peacefully." Sam C. nodded and added, "and quickly, we don't know what Baal's going to do next, but he will do it soon. And he may be escaping through the basement again. If that happens, it will become much more difficult to stop him and save Daniel." Greg turned to the Stargate team with a half pleading, half serious look and said "I understand it's classified, but if we go into this uninformed again, someone else could get hurt." Sam C. turned to Jack and said "Sir, they're too deep into this now, I think we need to just tell them. I believe we can trust them." Jack felt unsure, but he valued the opinions of his teammates, especially Sam C. He reluctantly agreed, and Sam C. quickly explained that they were a team that went off world to other planets, that the Goa'uld were parasites within human hosts who fought for power and that the Stargate program defended Earth from them, and finally that much ancient technology was built by alien species that were around a long time ago and some that are still around today. She finished up by saying "we can't go with your normal protocol- you can't talk down a Goa'uld. They are power hungry and they look down on humans like bugs." Everyone seemed surprised by this sudden rush of information, Emily seemed especially interested in what Sam C. said about the ancient technology. "So that giant ring in the basement…" Sam C. cut her off apologetically, saying she knew she was being vague, but that there was not much time and that all would be explained further once they had gotten Daniel out of there.
This statement galvanized the team and Ed quickly gave orders, "Ok, team, the subject must be subdued with force, we need snipers at all available windows, we need an angle where we can get the subject without hitting the victim. Sam, Wordy, you're going with me, we're going to find all the available angles. Spike, patch all of our radios onto one channel, then stay with Jules. If she's still… manic… when she wakes up, help the paramedics subdue her." Ed turned to Emily, who held up her hands. "I'm not planning on doing anything. I'll sit here and behave." "Actually, you're going to back up Spike in the truck, monitor the subject for us." Ed replied. He turned to Jack and said, "Colonel, you take your team through the front entrance? You seem to have the best weapons." Jack agreed and turned to his team to give orders. "Carter, Teal'c, you flank me with zats." Teal'c threw Carter a zat. Jack continued, "if somebody gets hit with that mind control thing, take him down with the zat." Greg stepped up. "You're going to need to get kind of close to Baal to take him down, right?" Jack nodded, starting to guess at what Greg had in mind. Greg went on, "then I'll distract him so you can get close." "Boss, we haven't got anyone to cover you—too risky." Ed frowned at Greg, who frowned back and inclined his head towards the Stargate team. Sam C. assured Ed that they could cover Greg. Jack nodded in agreement and everyone scattered to their assignments. When everyone was ready to go, Jack surveyed the museum front one more time, then spoke into the radio, "We don't know how Baal will react when we come in, we're depending on you guys to have our back if something goes wrong." Ed responded, "You got it, this guy is not hurting anyone else today." Snipers raced for the windows as the Stargate team flanked Jack and Greg and moved slowly into the museum.
Spike stared at the museum doors closing behind his boss, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Boss never went into a situation without cover. Not ever. It was against protocol. Someone should be covering him. Jules groaned and stirred suddenly and Spike spun around, tense and ready to act, but hoping she was back to normal. Adopting his usual cocky, little brother voice, he said, "Hello sunshine. Ready to kick our butts?" Jules blinked at him uncertainly. "What happened, exactly? I got hit?" Spike relaxed a little. That wasn't exactly typical Jules, but it wasn't….dangerous. "What do you remember?" Jules looked at the ceiling of the ambulance, one hand on her head. "I shoved Emily, something bright hit me, and everything went blank." Spike swallowed. "You got hit with that mind control device. You were getting ready to use us for target practice." Jules frowned. "That's not funny, Spike." He smiled, that was more like it. "You were. True story." Jules sat up and Spike filled her in on what the plan was. When he had finished, Jules' head snapped up. "Boss went in there alone?! Without one of us?!" Spike nodded. Jules swung her legs off the stretcher. "Get in there, Spike. I'll take the truck." Spike grinned broadly. "You're back to normal for sure." "Spike! Move!" Jules shouted at him as she marched to the truck, turning on her radio as she went. Spike ran for the doors.
Jules slammed the truck door vehemently, causing Emily to yelp. Jules raised a hand to indicate she was harmless and snapped into the radio. "Okay, guys. I'm back. Who let boss go in there alone?!" Sam B. responded first. "No mind control there. Only you get that mad, Jules. Welcome back." Greg responded next. "Constable Callahan, I am perfectly well protected by the Stargate team. Where are you?" Jules stepped towards the monitor with the video feed, barely acknowledging the chair Emily pushed towards her. "I'm in the truck, watching the video. Where are you? I don't see you on the video." Greg told her they were moving up the main stairs slowly and were minutes away from the subject. Jules sat back a little. "You get that, Spike?" "Got it!" Spike exclaimed, "I can see them now." He joined the group and everyone moved up the stairs and spread out on the landing. Jules turned to the cameras showing windows near the exhibit. "Ed, Sam, Wordy? How does it look?" Ed and Sam B. confirmed they had the solution. Wordy replied, "Visibility's not so good for me, but I can get him if he starts to charge the boss." Jules pressed her lips together and glanced at Emily, who had watched silently this whole time. Emily bit her own lip and said softly, "Sorry. That was a stupid decision on my part." Jules cocked her head. "You think?" Emily flinched a little. Jules turned back to the video feed. "Any last minute information you can give us on this mind control device?" Emily picked up the notebook again. "With translation time, more like last second advice." Jules sighed too quietly to be heard and focused on the now visible movements of all team members.
Greg put his hand on Spike's shoulder, nodded to his left and right at Sam C. and Teal'c, then moved forward, Jack behind him. Baal was growing tired of Daniel's attempts to negotiate and was starting to raise the mind control box toward him. "Here we go, everyone," Greg whispered as he and Spike took a position in the middle of the room. "Baal!" Greg called, causing the Goa'uld to jerk around toward his voice. "Your name's Baal, right? My name is Greg Parker. Can we talk?" An ugly look contorted Baal's face as he tucked the box under his arm and clenched his fist. "Your name does not interest me, human worm. Nor," with a depreciating glance at Spike, "do your weapons frighten me." His voice sounded like he had a stereo in his throat. Greg nodded, careful not to glance at Sam C. or Teal'c and give away their position. "Okay. I just want to know what's going on here. Can you tell me what's going on here?" Baal swung so that his back was to Daniel. "What's going on here is that you are interfering with my plan and will be punished accordingly!" Baal lifted the box again. Teal'c shot forward, zat held poised. Baal shifted the box to one side and lifted his hand, revealing a gold gauntlet with a red, pulsing center disc. Teal'c started to backtrack for cover, and Sam C. sprang up behind Baal and shot true. Baal collapsed immediately. Greg and Spike let out a long breath. "Subject down," Greg announced.
Relieved to be rescued, Daniel exhaled and knelt to turn off the mind control device. That accomplished, he tucked the box under his arm and greeted his teammates with, "could you have cut it any closer?" Sam C. rolled her eyes at him, but Teal'c was faintly puzzled. "Apparently, Daniel Jackson, you wished us to hesitate?" Daniel shook his head and said, "Never mind." Jack replied, "Sorry, Danny boy, you know how polite the Canadians are, they wanted to talk nicely to Baal, and I had to talk them out of it." Daniel glanced in confusion at the strangers. "Well, I guess it's better than you aggravating Baal and getting us all shot." Greg ignored the sound of Ed grinding his teeth over the headset and started introductions.
Daniel shook hands all around with Team 1 and thanked them for their help. "It must have been kind of confusing, all this alien technology." "It was," Greg replied, "but fortunately your team brought your notes along." Daniel turned to Sam C. "Speaking of which…?" She gestured towards a figure sitting on the step of the truck, notebook held in front of the face. Frowning, Daniel walked over and lowered the notebook. "Hello, Daniel," Emily said, looking up complacently. Daniel swallowed. "Emily Weiler?" "In the flesh," she replied cheerfully. Daniel turned back towards the group. "JA-CK! What is she doing here!?" Everyone on the SRU team bit back laughter, as did Jack as he replied, "It's her museum." Daniel looked at Emily with disbelief. "It's your museum." "It's my museum," Emily said, standing up and keeping a tight hold on the notebook, "and that mind control device was my discovery." Daniel lowered his voice "Emily, that is my notebook." Emily just smiled back "I know and I'll give it back… as soon as I'm done studying it." As Daniel and Emily faced off over possession of the notebook, another SRU SUV pulled up and admitted Commander Halloran and General Hammond, both with somewhat grim expressions. Both teams walked over to their commanders as one group, leaving Daniel and Emily still arguing. Sam C. called quietly, "Daniel. Daniel." He was too intent to hear. Sam C. raised her voice. "Daniel!" "What?!" He exclaimed, spinning around. He quieted as soon as he saw the commanders and addressed Hammond respectfully. "Sir, it was Baal, not anyone here. No one had any idea what the stargate was." Emily, catching the seriousness of the situation, confirmed this. General Hammond raised his hand. "Let's save all this discussion for our debriefing at the SRU headquarters. Into the trucks, everyone, please." Daniel started to protest about leaving his notebook with Emily, but was cut off by Hammond announcing that Emily would be coming with them. The two archeologists found themselves maneuvered into separate vehicles, and everyone sped off.
Sam C. ended up jumping into the vehicle Jules was driving. Jules took up on the previous events, saying, "Well, that was certainly different." "Which part?" Sam C. asked. "The mind control, your first encounter with a Goa'uld, or the fact that it took an hour for our team members to work with each other?" Jules laughed and said "Yeah, and us girls had to hold it together." Sam C. joked, "and when that didn't work, you chasing us with a gun knocked some sense into them." Jules shook her head, still having trouble believing that that actually happened, and touched the spot softly where her head still hurt. Sam C. became serious and gave Jules a genuine smile, "It was nice having another girl to work with, it can be tough working in male dominated fields sometimes." Jules smiled back "Oh, I completely agree. I love my job, but I do wish there were more of us sometimes." Sam C. spoke up hesitantly, "Speaking of gender dynamics… are you aware that one of your teammates is showing a... ah...great amount of attachment to you?" Jules sucked in a breath, torn between frustration and affection. "Sam Braddock." Sam C. nodded. "Yes," she replied slowly, "he was really protective when you went down and wouldn't leave your side." Jules bit her lip and admitted, "We do have history, but we ended it." She wasn't about to spill the entire story to someone she'd just met. Sam C. looked alarmed. "It's inappropriate to date within your own team; it can impact the performance of your whole unit." Jules looked annoyed at the unsolicited advice until Sam C. added, "I understand how tough it is to have feelings for a teammate, it's something I still have to deal with." Jules looked at her, surprised. "Do you mean you have feelings for one of the guys in your team?" Sam nodded. Any annoyance that Jules felt went away in her surprise and quickly got replaced by empathy. She said, "it's tough, huh?" Sam C. agreed, "Yeah, but I never forget my duty to my team or the people I serve and that makes the choice easier." "Yeah," Jules sighed, "I thought I could handle both my job and a relationship with him, but I guess it doesn't matter now. I do put my team first, we're family, and that's why Sam and I aren't together anymore." The SRU headquarters came in the view. "Welcome to the barn, Major Carter." Jules steered the subject away from forbidden relationships as she maneuvered the SUV into the parking lot.
Wordy surveyed the crowded briefing room. It looked so familiar, but all the new faces made it seem very different. There was his team around the table as usual, with Commander Holleran at the front of the room along with this General Hammond person. Jack and Sam C. had found places at the table, but Teal'c seemed to prefer to stand at the back of the room. Emily and Daniel were still bickering, in subdued voices, over the notebook. "I want it back, Emily. It's mine." "You can have it back when I'm done reading it. I've been wondering what those artifacts are for years." Wordy shook his head—something had to be done about those two. They sounded like a couple of children… The thought sparked an idea in his head. Wordy promptly marched over to the archeologists and snapped the notebook out of Emily's hands, causing both of them to cry out in expostulation. Being a parent, the irony struck him, but Wordy only commented, "When you're done squabbling like children, you can have it back. For now, let Teal'c hold it." Teal'c took the notebook with a deferential bow of the head. "Well thought out, Constable Wordsworth." Glancing around the room, Wordy read approval from Ed, Greg, and Jack.
With the archeologists effectually quashed, General Hammond opened the discussion. "Well, I imagine you are all very confused, but thank you for everything you did to help us rescue Dr. Jackson." Greg, seeing that Ed and Jules were getting ready to speak with less than complimentary looks, took up the conversation quickly. "You're welcome General Hammond, but we're just doing our job: keeping the peace." He shot a look at his team as he finished, silently reminding them to mind their manners. Wordy took the hint and said, "It was confusing, not knowing exactly what was going on, but once we learned to work together, everything went flawlessly." Jack replied, "Yeah, this once. Some teams just don't play well together." The very air seemed to tighten and General Hammond turned on Jack with a look that could make a train derail, the lines of his head contracting. Jack put up his hands in a gesture of surrender and Commander Hollaren jumped into the conversation. "In spite of any tension, both teams performed well, and both General Hammond and I have reason to believe that you may need to do it again." All heads turned towards Holleran with looks of disbelief. General Hammond nodded in confirmation. It turned out, the two commanders explained, that the Canadian and United States governments had been in discussions ever since the incident started and had come to the agreement that information needed to be shared. "Specifically," General Hammond said, "SRU teams will be briefed on how to recognize a Goa'uld." Sam B. glanced around the table, sharing incredulous looks with his team. "All due respect General, are the Goa'uld all that difficult to recognize? They sound different, they don't negotiate, they dress…very differently." General Hammond nodded a little and replied, "That's often the case, constable, but there have been instances when they've figured out how to blend in." Emily raised her hand and broke in, "General, I know I'm going off track a little, but my discoveries, my artifacts- do I have to turn them all over?" Her gaze slid to Daniel, her real question obviously being, did she have to give the artifacts to him. General Hammond patiently responded to Emily. "In a sense, yes, Dr. Weiler. But they need to be properly studied and catalogued first, and we thought you and Dr. Jackson would do that together." Emily and Daniel exchanged looks of disbelief and something amounting to mutiny. Halloran and Hammond saw the looks and told the two archeologists they could say what they thought. Daniel shook his head. "It won't work. We can't do it." Emily was more blunt. "Oh, General... we'll kill each other." Jules scoffed a little and said flippantly, "So the next time we get a 'shots fired' call from the museum, we can assume it's you two and just talk you down over the phone." Daniel half stared, half glared across the table. "Nice to know you're so dedicated to keeping us safe." "Yeah, totally," Emily added. Jack leaned back in his chair, hands steepled. "Well, Daniel, Emily, there's at least one thing you can agree on." A bubble of laughter chased away any tension left in the room as the worsted archeologists looked at each other again, then sank back, subdued again. The debriefing ended shortly afterward and everyone exited the briefing room. Winnie suddenly cut through the chatter of the different groups. "General Hammond! The subject escaped secure transport and got back to the museum!" Greg and Jack followed Hammond and Halloran over to Winnie's desk. Hammond grabbed the phone from Winnie's hand and listened with a grave frown. Greg turned to Jack. "Do we need to go after him?" Jack thought for a moment, then shook his head. "If he made it back to the museum, he's probably already gone back through the stargate- that thing in the basement." General Hammond confirmed this for the entire group after hanging up the phone. No one spoke for a moment, then Emily let out a long, determined sigh. "Well! That is the last time Baal gets to use my museum as a travel station." "We couldn't agree more," chimed in Sam C., "when we figure out how he got that stargate to work, we will work on making sure nobody else gets to use it without our permission." Swallowing her pride, Emily turned to Daniel. "First thing in the morning, will you explain to me where this… gate, came from? Daniel nodded and replied, "I'll bring coffee." Emily smiled. "I'll bring tea." Daniel gave her a long-suffering look and said disbelievingly, "you still drink tea?" "Forever and always," Emily replied cheerfully. Sam C. stepped in at this point, "Speaking of drinks..." Jules picked up the sentence. "We were thinking we could all go down to the Goose for a few drinks and get to know each other without worrying about Gua'old or mind control or anything like that." Quick glances all around showed agreement from SRU and SG-1, and the two teams walked out together.