Chapter 3

General George Hammond marched into the Gate Room upon SG-1's arrival with the child. He spied the girl and couldn't help but ask, "What is all this, Colonel?"

Jack replied, "This is Izzy. She's a kid we found trading coconut and bamboo sticks with the Jaffa for food. She was about to dial a system that Ba'al recently acquired and we stopped her. She says she doesn't have any folks."

Daniel added, "She is also speaking a form of Latin that is very similar to the Ancient that Jack spoke when he was downloaded. I think we need to find out more about where she is from and who her people are."

Sam added, "She didn't seem to know anything about the Goa'uld, sir. We can't just let her wander from planet to planet looking for food. I think she is an orphan."

Teal'c stated, "Bra'tac and Free Jaffa are very fond of her and the trades she makes. She has been trading with the Jaffa for a month Earth's time."

Hammond knelt down the little girl. He noticed she was well tanned as if she had been in ample sunlight. He spied some sand on her shoes and how dirty her hands seemed. "Where are you from little girl?" he asked.

She couldn't remember and shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"You have a home?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied seeming a bit confused.

The inconsistency alerted Sam. She spoke, "Sir…she just told us she had a home but couldn't tell us where she lived. Maybe Janet should examine her?"

"Take her to the infirmary, Major." Hammond ordered standing back up.

The men looked on as Sam took Isabelle's hand and led her away to be checked by a doctor. He asked Jack, "What ya make of all this?"

"I have no idea what to make of it," he admitted.

George told him, "I noticed the sand on her shoes and her hands are dirty. She looks like she has had lots of sun."

Jack added, "I'm wondering where she got the weird dress from. Looks more like a jacket than a dress."

Hammond ordered, "Let's keep an eye on her…Dismissed, Colonel." He walked off hoping they could gain some answers soon.

Jack turned to Daniel, "She sounds like I did when I was grabbed by that hand thingy?"

"Lot like it," he nodded.

"Ya think she came across one and was?" he held out his hands as if he was holding a ball.

"Hope not," he sighed. "If she did get downloaded it can kill her. We don't know when she was exposed or if she was exposed. She's just a kid. Boy, she looks like she has been through a lot. You see the sand in her braids?"

"I saw that," Jack agreed. "Her fingers looked all cut up too."

They started out of the room to secure their weapons. Daniel asked more himself than anyone else, "I wonder what happened to her and her family."

Jack shrugged still walking, "No idea."

Briefing Room

A few hours had passed and Janet brought her findings on the child to the Briefing Room. She sat before SG-1 and General Hammond and read off a paper before her. "Over all she's not in too bad of health. Her electrolytes where a little off. She has been exposed to a lot of sunlight as you can see. I found sand and dirt on her along with small cuts on her hands and arms. I asked her about them and she said she cut herself getting the Bamboo. I have a nurse helping her get a bath right now. Her clothes are very dirty. I'm not sure where she got the jacket from; it's too big for her. I could not find any labels on it as to where it was made and the same with the shoes. She wasn't wearing any undergarments. No socks! Just a jacket and shoes! She has significant memory loss. I've diagnosed her with amnesia. She doesn't remember her full name, how old she is or her parent's names. She's speaking in a tongue that Colonel O'Neill spoke when he was downloaded and that concerns me."

Jack asked, "Is there any way to tell of she was downloaded?"

"There is no test that I can do." Janet shook her head.

Sam stated, "If she was downloaded then we see the information slowly unwind like it did with you, sir. Without the actual device there is no way I can tell if she was downloaded. All we can do is wait and see."

Daniel agreed, "She is speaking partial Ancient. There are only two things that can mean. Either she is an Ancient or she was downloaded."

Janet informed, "She does have the Ancient gene."

Teal'c wondered, "If the child is an Ancient then where are the others?"

Jack shrugged, "Beats me."

Sam shook her head asking herself, "If she got downloaded then how did that happen? Where is she from? Why is she wandering around looking for food?"

Daniel figured, "Where ever she is from it has to be a planet with a tropical climate located on it. Sand, coconuts, bamboo…All the things she traded came from a tropical climate."

Teal'c announced, "There are many planets that have climates similar to yours. We would have to find a planet with a Star Gate located in tropical region on the globe."

Sam sighed, "That can be a daunting tasks. When I asked her what her dialing address was she didn't seem to understand. Maybe it's the amnesia and she forgot."

Teal'c suggested, "Or she is not familiar with the terminology. Her language appears mixed."

Janet figured, "The girl has amnesia. That was caused by something. I cannot find any head injury to explain it but she shows signs of being through some kind of traumatic episode. I don't know what caused her amnesia but it could be related to something traumatic that she went through or experienced. It really doesn't matter what caused it at this point, we need to know just how we treat it and if we can find her a home."

Daniel stated, "Obviously we are not sticking her in foster care. She's been through the Gate is from off world."

"She needs to stay for observation for a while first," Janet assured him. "But once she is stable and if we can't find her people then we will have to place her and I have my hands full with Cassie." She looked about the table for a volunteer.

All eyes fell on Sam.

She rebutted annoyed, "I have a full time job and I go off world. I can't take care of her." It was if her being a woman made instantly qualify to be a foster mother. She was irritated by the assumptions.

Hammond figured, "We will work on a solution after we clear her medically."

Meanwhile

Isabelle sat in an oversize chair swinging her legs back and forth in the recreation room. She was given a pink t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers to wear. Her hair had been washed and placed back in a ponytail with a pink ribbon. She felt more at home and far more comfortable than she did wearing the Ancient tunic she found. She sat watching cartoons on the TV as a female MP watched over her. She laughed as she followed the cartoon.

The door of the room opened and Sam entered to gather Izzy for some testing. She spoke to the guard, "You're relieved Sergeant."

The female guard came to attention, "Thank you ma'am. She did well! She really likes cartoons."

Sam observed Izzy's laughter and giggles, "I see that." She gave a nod, "Dismissed."

"Thank you, Major," she left for her next assignment.

Sam went to Isabelle and leaned closer, "What'cha watching?" she asked the girl.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," she replied a bit baffled for every kid knew who the Turtles were.

Sam blinked. Did she hear that correctly? "Teenage what?" she asked.

"Mutant Ninja Turtles," she sounded.

The days of simple cartoons were long gone. No more Saturday morning Loony Tunes. Now it was something to do with turtles. "You wanna come with me for a while?" she asked her.

Izzy replied, "Rugrats are on next." It had been months since she watched cartoons and she was determined to catch up on what she missed.

"Rugrats?" she shook her head baffled by the titles. "Okay young lady," she reached over the turned off the remote, "it's time for you to come with me."

She whined, "But I want to watch cartoons."

"There will be plenty of time for cartoons later," Sam assured her. She found it was ironic how much like an Earth child Izzy acted.

She grudgingly got off the chair for Izzy's plans were to spend all day watching TV, eat dinner and go to bed. She had enough of working to find food. She wanted to be a kid for just one day. Her shoulders slunk as she pouted.

"Don't worry," Sam soothed. "The cartoons will be waiting for you after we are done."

"But I can't watch cartoons at home," she told complained walking with Sam out of the room.

"You can't?" she asked.

"No TV," she told her shaking her head.

"Maybe you can ask your family for one," she suggested figuring that would be fruitless.

"My Dad wouldn't allow it," she recalled her father didn't like her watching TV and limited her exposure. "He would say it would melt my brain." she recalled him rebutting the idea.

"Your father sounded like a smart man," she had to agree assuming that Izzy was theorizing how her parents would have reacted to television.

As she thought about her father she had a thought that perhaps he swam to the island looking for her. She knew that it was a more of a dream than a reality but it gave her hope that he was still alive. She couldn't remember his name but she remembered the shipwreck and that he was a good swimmer. She started to get false hope and soon convinced herself that he was coming to find her on the island. She told Sam, "I need to go back home and wait for my Dad."

"But you said you didn't have any parents," she countered.

"He's coming back," she figured. "He has to come back. I need to go there and wait for him."

Sam came to a halt and turned towards her. She kneeled to Izzy's eye level. "Izzy, I need you to tell me the dialing address to your home. I can't take you there without it."

"It's in my watch," she told her holding up her wrist.

"Can I see that?" she asked the girl wide-eyed.

"What you gonna do with it?" she wondered suspiciously.

"I just want to see it," she insisted.

Isabelle knew enough about the world of adults to know the term "I just want to see it" usually meant it wasn't coming back. The item would be swiftly hidden and returned to where it came from. She grew suspicious of the adults, "Why?" she asked protecting her Ancient watch. It was the coolest watch she ever found and in her mind it was her watch because she found it! For that matter the whole island was hers along with the outpost and the Gate on it and all that should found after being shipwrecked. It was hers! She found it and she knew adults could take things away from her and she would no recourse. Surly the adults would want her island and her Gate all for themselves.

"I just want to see it," Sam pleaded. "I promise to give it back."

She narrowed her brown eyes. Another adult lie! "I promise to give it back" was a promise all too often broken in the world of kiddom. She brought her wrist to her chest and covered the watch with her hand. She soundly refused, "It's my watch and you can't have it."

"I need to look at it," she tried to explain.

Izzy refused, "It's mine!"

"Fine," she rolled her eyes figuring she would confiscate it after the child was onto another round of cartoons. "Come on," she then led her to her lab.

Izzy looked about the strange lab upon entering. She wondered, "What do you do here?"

"I reverse engineer alien technology," she stated. She wondered if Izzy even understood what she was talking about.

"Oh," she seemed to follow as she looked about. "Can we do something fun?"

Amused she asked, "Depends on your definition of 'fun' Iz."

"Fun…amusing, having a good time…" she then recalled a commercial, "Can I go to the toy store?"

"Later," she told her.

She plopped down on a stool and crossed her arms and pouted, "You're no fun, Sam."

"I'm lots of fun when I'm not working," she countered. She booted up her computer and glanced at Isabelle who seemed to act just like a kid from Earth. She shook the thought from her mind for there was no possible way that Izzy could be from Earth to Sam's estimation. The child would need a Star Gate to get off world and there was only one Gate on the planet that she knew of. Izzy had to be from another planet but she had no idea which one.