Chapter 2

Sam jumped up from her desk as the alarm sounded, signaling that there was an unauthorized, off-world gate activation. She ran towards the control room, entering at an unusually quick pace. While unauthorized visitors could mean certain doom to planet Earth, it was still a thrill to see what doom would be walking down that ramp this time. Sam lived for the uncertainty, though she never let it show. She stood beside Jack and Daniel, just behind General Hammond. She turned to look Jack in the eyes.

"What's going on, Sir? Why isn't the iris closed?"

"Malfunction, Cater. None of the pass-codes will work."

"Let me give it a try, Sir."

With a wave of his hand and a slight step backwards, he motioned for Sam to sit at the terminal. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing worked.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I can't get in."

Jack let out a sigh and turned to General Hammond. "Manual override, Sir?"

The General nodded, "Do it."

With the speed of a cheetah, Jack bolted for the manual override panel in the gate room. He flipped the switch---nothing. He looked up at the General and shrugged. Hammond began to pace the room.

"What's going to happen if we can't shut this thing down, Captain?"

Sam turned and paused. "It's hard to say, Sir. Depending on the planet we're connected to, we could be looking at…." She became silent as the gate stopped glowing. She looked up at the General. "Sir?"

He grabbed the com, "Did you do this, Colonel?"

Jack looked up with surprise, "No, Sir, but I have a theory----leprechauns." He took two steps toward the control room when something appeared before him. It was a shadow at first, then, slowly, clothing appeared. Beneath a gold tunic and dark-purple shawl was a beautiful young-woman. She lowered herself to her knees.

"Mi nala, Kayka. Nar tun tayu haruska."

Jack stepped back a bit as the guards rushed in and surrounded them. "Sir," he said with urgency in his voice, "uh, I think you should get in here." General Hammond, followed closely by Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c, placed himself by Jack's side. He gently lifted the woman on to her feet.

"I am General Hammond of the SGC. What is your business here?"

The woman's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Mi nala, Kayka. Nar tun tayu haruska."

She reached underneath her shawl. The guards raised their guns in unison, all pointing at the mysterious woman. General Hammond stepped between the soldiers and the young woman. She froze, but with no fear in her eyes.

"Hold your fire!" he commanded and nodded for her to continue. She pulled from under her shawl a translucent marble with faint blotches of what looked like the continents of Earth. She placed the marble in his hand and raised her arms toward the ceiling. Daniel stepped forward and smiled, pointing to the marble.

"Sir, I think that this marble is a model of our Earth. She's trying to ask us if this is where she is." He plucked the marble from General Hammond's hand and stood before the young woman. While displaying the marble between his fingers, he motioned around the room with his free hand. The woman smiled and touched the marble, mimicking Daniel's hand movements with a questioning look. He smiled and shook his head "yes" until she did the same.

"I think she knows exactly where she is now, General. If it's alright with you, I'd like to keep this for a bit." He held the object up to the light.

"That will be fine, Dr. Jackson. Let us know if you find anything unusual." He turned to address Jack and Sam. "Take our new guest to the infirmary and let Dr. Fraiser have a look at her, then take her to her quarters."

Without blinking an eye, Sam and Jack replied, "Yes, Sir."