Sam, Daniel and Teal'c stepped through the gate to be greeted by an assembly of very confused and frightened onlookers. They seemed to have been in prayer. Now they clung to one another, gasping and pointing at the strange travelers who had come through the Orifice.

"Have we interrupted something?" Daniel asked, looking over the sea of murmuring people.

"They speak!" shouted one man, as the others regained use of their voices.

"Where did they come from?" cried another.

"We're peaceful explorers," Daniel explained, taking a step forward. "We come from a planet called Earth."

But his words were lost on the inhabitants of the planet. They all seemed transfixed.

"Why are they staring at us like that?" Sam asked, discreetly. They had come across their fair share of starers in their time, but none had looked at them quite like this. It was as though they had never seen people before, let alone people from another planet.

"Not us," Daniel said. Surely enough, every one of the villager's eyes were upon her and her alone.

"They look like they've never seen a woman before," Sam said.

Daniel returned his gaze back to the multitudes of villagers. There was not a woman among them.

"I don't think they have," he said.

"So what have you got for us, Doc?"

"I'd like to wait until Colonel Carter wakes up before I begin to…"

Sam groaned and flicked her eyes open.

"She's awake," Daniel said. Sam could still feel his hand on hers. Had he been with her the whole time she was asleep?

"Hey," she said with an attempt at a smile. Daniel smiled back. He had stayed with her. She looked around the room at Teal'c, who bowed his head to her, at her father who gave her a sympathetic smile, at Dr Brightman who was revising her findings and finally at General O'Neill who looked, once again, uncomfortable and detached. She frowned.

"It's good to see you awake," Dr Brightman said. "Selmak and I have our preliminary report."

Sam nodded and sat up. Daniel let go of her hand to give her space and she smiled at him again, giving him a silent thank you. He glanced at General O'Neill before returning Sam's smile. She looked at her C.O again, catching something else in his eyes. She didn't recognize it.

"We believe whoever has done this has targeted one specific memory," Dr Brightman started. Sam returned her attention to the Doctor. "Colonel Carter's memory prior to her involvement in the Stargate Program is completely intact. The discrepancies begin immediately after her placement on SG-1."

"So this has something to do with the Stargate?" General O'Neill asked.

"Not exactly," Jacob answered. He allowed Selmak to take control of his body.

"Colonel Carter worked on the Stargate Program for several years before joining SG-1," Selmak said. "Her memories up until the exact point she joined SG-1 remain unharmed."

"Furthermore, she still has many memories of her time in SG-1, particularly during the last year," Dr Brightman added.

"Her memories of early missions are vague and are sometimes missing sections. We have found that in all cases, these sections directly involve General O'Neill," Selmak said.

"Me?" Jack asked, comically.

"So it would seem," Selmak said.

"Apart from a few discrepancies in Colonel Carter's memories of her fiancée, all her other missing memories are of you," Dr Brightman said.

"Currently, there is nothing the Tok'ra can do to remove the devices from Colonel Carter's brain," Selmak said. "However, Jacob and I will do what we can to find a solution." Sam nodded in thanks. "I'm afraid we must leave promptly."

Sam kissed her father goodbye and her face fell as he left the infirmary to return to the Tok'ra.

"So what can we do?" Jack asked Dr Brightman, the concern in his voice obvious to everyone except Colonel Carter.

Dr Brightman shook her head. "Nothing has changed, General. We know nothing more about the devices than we did yesterday. All we know is that Colonel Carter can no longer remember you and you alone."

"But why?" Sam asked.

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us," Dr Brightman said. She looked around at her friends and shrugged. She had nothing.

"General," Sam acknowledged, several hours later, when General O'Neill entered the infirmary.

"At ease, Carter, it's only me," he said, before stopping himself. "Right," he murmured. That would mean nothing to her. "Anything yet?" he asked with a hopeful smirk.

"Nothing," Sam answered, trying to study his face, but not wanting to appear as though she was staring. Why had he come to visit her? Up till this point he had seemed very nonchalant about the whole situation.

"So…" General O'Neill said awkwardly. He picked up a couple of doctor's sponges and fiddled with them.

"You didn't have to come see me, General," Sam said, mistaking his awkwardness for boredom.

"Sure I did," he replied and sat on the end of her bed. He didn't miss her flinch as he did. "Should I go?" he asked.

"No," Sam said, pleased for the company, uncomfortable as it was. "Do you need to go?"

"No," said Jack. "Daniel's checking out the MALP telemetry with Walter."

"Oh," Sam said, and rested her head back against the pillow.

"Apparently, the quake party's still in full swing. It's about 6 on the Rickster…thing…"

"The Richter Scale?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, that one!" Jack flashed her a grin. She didn't return it.

"You ok?" Jack asked.

Sam nodded. "You seem to be giving me a headache," she said.

"Should I go?" Jack asked again.

"That eager to leave?" Sam asked. "General," she said, ignoring Jack's uneasy gaze.

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"Why don't you call me Sam?"

Jack looked at his feet for a quick second. "What?" he asked. That was out of the blue.

"You just said Daniel and Walter were going through the telemetry."

"They are," he said, protectively.

"I've been on your team for seven years, but you still call me Colonel Carter?"

Jack swallowed. "Yep," he said.

"But you can call Sergeant Harriman, Walter."

"You've never said anything…" he trailed off.

"Could I have?" she asked.

"What does that mean?" General O'Neill asked, rearing up slightly.

"Why don't you call me Sam?"

"Because…because I don't," Jack said. "Carter…has a nice ring to it, ya know." He attempted to smile. She didn't respond. "It's…it's just the way things are," he said.

"You mean things are the way you like them to be," she said. "Is that it? You can't call me by my name because…what? Because you like being my superior? Because I'm a woman?"

"Oh, here we go…" he groaned.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"When we first met, you gave me this whole spiel about your organs being on the inside, about my apparent sexism…you challenged me to a freakin' arm-wrestle, for cryin' out loud."

"What?"

"We've done this," Jack explained, trying to calm himself down. "We've done the 'I'm a Colonel and you're only a Captain', 'I'm a man and you're only a woman' thing. We did it years ago. It…doesn't exist."

"Then call me by my name," she said, trying to force him to look at her. "Sir," she added.

Jack didn't answer for a while. Sam could see him struggling.

"I think I'll leave you to rest, Colonel," Jack said finally, and stood up. "Sam," he added quietly.

Sam felt a pang of guilt as she watched him leave the infirmary.