Chapter 2

SG-1 stepped through the Star Gate on Chulak looking for information on the latest Goa'uld threat, Ba'al. To Jack the Goa'uld were like a sea monster with tentacles that would grow back once chopped off. With each defeat another Goa'uld would take the place as System Lord.

As SG-1 walked through town they found Jaffa scraping the meat from coconuts for a number of dishes. He squinted for it was odd that Jaffa even had coconuts. He spied Bra'tac who had just sprinkled some roasted coconut meat on a dish for flavor. He found the coconuts were excellent flavor enhancers to many boring Jaffa dishes.

Jack stopped before him and glanced at the soup, "Bra'tac?"

He smiled, "Jack O'Neill," he greeted the rest of the team, "Teal'c, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter." He proudly held the bowl of soup to his chest to eat his supper.

Jack asked, "Is that coconut?" he pointed to the nearby work.

"It's called Cocoes," he smiled. "It's very good."

Sam told him, "We have something like that on Earth. It's called coconut." She didn't recall giving the Jaffa any coconut before and wondered where he got it from.

Teal'c informed, "Coconut is a seed from a tree found on Earth's tropical climates."

Bra'tac asked, "Do you like this coconut, Teal'c?"

"Indeed," he agreed.

Daniel stated, "Looks pretty fresh to me."

Jack asked, "Where did you get it from?"

"Izzy brought it," he told them pleased.

Jack asked, "Izzy?"

"Izzy is a trader the Free Jaffa do business with. She brings us cocoes and bright colored fish that we trade for bread and meat. She is very fair and very kind." he told them for he liked Izzy.

"Izzy is some trader you are doing business with?" Jack figured the coconuts could be from any earth like planet the trader had gone to previously. He also assumed she was an adult.

"Indeed," Bra'tac stated pleased.

Sam wondered, "How long have you been doing business with her?"

"Few cycles," he told them.

Daniel asked, "Weeks?" he glanced at his team concerned for though the Jaffa were free to trade with anyone they liked to know who they were trading with in case of a Goa'uld spy.

"Indeed," he told him pleased.

The Star Gate soon came to life once more. Bra'tac figured, "That must be Izzy. She said she would return with more trades today." He gazed on as the child emerged from event horizon.

SG-1 turned and gasped.

Jack huffed, "That's a kid!"

Daniel wondered, "What is she wearing? Is that a jacket or a dress?"

Sam stated, "She looks about seven or eight years old." She looked to Bra'tac, "You are trading with a child?"

"She trades fair," he insisted.

Teal'c stood wondering what was going on for this was an odd sight to witness even for SG-1.

Isabelle spotted the team and wasn't sure what to make of them. They were dressed like soldiers to her. She was still having trouble keeping words straight. "Salves," she greeted hello. She carried a bundle of bamboo sticks she harvested on the outpost.

Bra'tac gathered one of the strange sticks, "What is this Izzy?"

Before Isabelle could reply Sam stated, "Looks like bamboo."

Daniel reached down and gathered a stick. He nodded, "It is bamboo."

Bra'tac asked, "What is it used for?"

"The natives use it for plumbing and all sorts of things," he informed.

Sam stated, "Bamboo is very strong wood."

Pleased Bra'tac asked, "What would you like in return, Izzy?"

"Loaf," she referred to bread. For Izzy something as basic as a loaf of bread was an item to be bartered for. "Creams," she added a request for a type of butter the Jaffa made from local animals.

Jack cocked an eyebrow, "Heck, where I am from this is worth more than bread and butter, kid."

"What is it worth?" she asked him unsure what to make of Jack but he resembled her father physically and she felt at ease with him for that fact.

"Lots," he told her. "You got any parents, kid?"

She shook her head, "No."

Sam's heart melted, "You are all by yourself?"

She nodded sadly. She began to study the uniforms. She spied the American flag patch and it was familiar but her mind was still in shambles from the download. She pointed to the patch trying where she saw it before. "What's that?"

Sam glanced at her patch, "You mean my patch?" She knelt down to Isabelle's eye level, "It's a flag." She pealed it off the uniform with the classic sound of Velcro releasing. She handed it to the girl, "You like this patch?"

She held onto the patch still trying to remember the significance. She nodded, "I like it."

Jack grinned, "We'll give ya that patch for this bundle of sticks, kid!"

Daniel sneered, "Jack!"

"What?" he asked.

"She's trading sticks for food," he reminded him. "I don't think a patch will do much good."

Sam assured the girl, "You can keep the patch. It's a gift." She then dug out her candy bar from her pocket, "And…" she held the silver wrapped bar before her, "You can have this!"

Isabelle spied the named "Snickers" and had a brief memory of the candy. She gently picked it up by the wrapper's edge wondering why it was silver instead of brown. "The wrapper," she started to say it was different but then she was interrupted.

"You just rip it from the end," she told her. She took the candy from her small hands and opened it. "See, like that." She handed her back the chocolate.

Izzy took a bite of candy and for a brief second she recalled civilization and a trip to the store. It was smooth and chocolaty and just melted in her mouth. For a moment she forgot she was stranded on an island and trading stuff she found for food.

Jack grinned, "Reese's is even better."

Sam looked up, "Sir, maybe we should take her back with us?"

"Why?" he wondered.

"She doesn't have any parents," she reminded him.

Jack figured she had some kind of family somewhere. He asked her, "You got a home?"

For Isabelle the outpost had become home after the download. She simply nodded as she ate the candy.

"See," he shrugged. "She's got a home. Last thing we need is a bunch of her people to come looking for her when she doesn't come back."

Daniel huffed, "Whoever her people are they have her trading bamboo sticks for food." He was irritated for she could have been used or abused as far as he knew.

Jack stated, "If she has a home then we can't take her back, Daniel. That would be kidnapping. Granted she's a kid and I'm not too thrilled about her being a trader either but we can't just snatch her."

Bra'tac was then handed a bag of bread, butter and some meat by one of the other Jaffa who gathered food for the trade. He graciously handed it to Isabelle. "This is for you, Izzy. You are always welcome on Chulak and with the Free Jaffa." he assured her. He figured if she was being taken advantage of then he would give her an option for escape.

"Tibi," she tried to say "thank you" but it didn't come out right. She gathered the bag of food and the patch Sam gave her. She had collected sea shells to trade as well and was going to dial another planet to see if she could find more trading partners. She smiled unsure at SG-1 and turned and walked back to the Gate. She stood before the dialing device trying to remember the symbols to dial.

Sam watched on concerned, "Something is not right."

Then Isabelle recalled the sequence and pushed down the symbols before her. The Gate started to slowly dial.

Daniel squinted, "Why is she dialing P3X-4567? That's under Ba'al control now."

"Crap!" Jack huffed. He shouted, "Can you cancel that dial out, Carter?" he ran towards the Gate to shut it down.

Sam ran to the Dial Home Device or DHD and cancelled the dialing sequence before the last chevron locked. She told her, "Ba'al just took that planet. You cannot go there! It's under Goa'uld control."

Isabelle had no idea what a Goa'uld was and wondered if she was in trouble. "I didn't know."

"It just happened," she informed. She knelt down to Izzy, "You have to be careful out here. The Goa'uld are not very nice."

Izzy asked, "What's a Goa'uld?"

SG-1 all traded glances for everyone off Earth knew what a Goa'uld was.

Sam looked up at Jack, "Sir! She doesn't know who the Goa'uld are. I really think we should bring her back for observation and maybe we can find her people. It's not safe for her to be wondering out here alone."

"Alright," he made the call. "Bring the kid back."