General Hammond sat in his office reading over mission reports from SG 13 and 15 from their recent missions

General Hammond sat in his office reading over mission reports from SG 13 and 15's most recent missions. Over the many years of reading reports, he had to admit that some had become tedious, predictable and boring. Except for SG1. There was always seemed to be something out of the ordinary that happened to them off world, no matter where they went. Even on a planet with no people to meet and greet, they always managed to bring back some potentially life threatening disease or an alien device that had the potential to destroy the planet. Thinking about SG1 brought back the strong feelings of worry and concern for his people. He had not seen Colonel O'Neill or Major Carter for nearly two weeks, and Teal'c for nearly just as long. The last time he had seen Dr Jackson, him and Jacob were attempting to mount a rescue with the help of Asgard, but had not heard any word from them since. A phone ringing interrupted the General's thoughts. Putting down the file he was reading over, the General looked over and saw that it was the Presidential Phone that was ringing. He took a deep breath; this could be the news he was dreading for the past couple of days. The Joint Chief's decision whether or not to relieve him of his command. Picking up the receiver he held it to his ear.

"General Hammond." He answered professionally; hoping in some way that his conduct now would make some kind of difference to the Joint Chief's decision.

"General, I have been reviewing your behaviour over the past couple of days with the Joint Chief's as you know. The Joint Chief's and I have unanimously voted to relieve you of your command as of the end of the week. Colonel O'Neill will act as your temporary replacement until a suitable candidate is located to take up the position permanently." President Lynch broke the news of his dismissal. General Hammond sighed deepely. He had feared this, and prayed that it would never come about. But it had. And there was nothing he could do about it. He decided not to update the President as to the present whereabouts of his 2IC. It would only mean an outsider would be sent in, plunging the whole operations of the SGC into complete chaos.

"I understand Mr President." Was all he said in reply.

"I'm sorry to do this to you George, you know I have always support you 100 about the Stargate Program and how it should be run. But the Joint Chief's had decided, and I have to say, I agree. Your actions were just too far outside the regulations." He explained sombrely, indicating that he didn't take any delight in this decision.

"No need for apologises Mr President." General Hammond lied.

"I will speak to you later General." President Lynch replied, ending the conversation abruptly. He put down the phone slowly, letting the news sink in, and leaving him with one question. How was he going to keep Colonel O'Neill's capture a secret until he was to return and take command?

Jacob hadn't answered Daniel's question, his eyes had glazed over in thought. Daniel turned around and clicked his fingers in front of Jacob's eyes pulling him from wherever he was.

"Jacob, what's going on?" he asked again, slower than previously. Instead of addressing Daniel's question, Jacob turned to Thor.

"Do you know exactly where Sam and Jack are in the Complex?" he asked with urgency. Thor pressed a button the control panel and seconds later the computer beeped.

"They are in a small room off from the main dining area." Thor replied. Jacob eyes lit up as a plan began to formulate, just the same way as Sam eyes lit up whenever she had just figured out how to use a piece of technology she had collected. Jacob than turned back to Daniel, knowing he deserved an answer.

"I don't want to just beam Sam and Jack up and fly away. I want to face the man who has been keeping my daughter prisoner for over a week." Jacob explained in a very serious fatherly tone. Daniel couldn't blame him, if it was his daughter he knew he would want the exact same thing. To face the man that had caused his child so much pain.

"Thor, can you beam us into that room?" Jack asked, his focus again switching between Daniel and Thor. The grey alien nodded,

"Of course Jacob Carter." He replied, engaging the transport beam that engulfed Jacob, Daniel as well as the seven members of SG 3 and 9 and sent them down into the middle of a highly charged situation.

"Sam! Sam! Come on!" Tears were now streaming down Jack's face, it had been nearly 5 minutes and Sam was still laying motionless. She had not responded to any of his attempts to wake her. Jack checked her pulse for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was only very faint. At times he felt like her pulse has stopped altogether, making his heart break each time he thought he had lost her forever. Hymothesias and Ania stood perfectly silent watching the scene unfold as if they were frozen in their positions. Suddenly blinding white light filled the room and Jack looked up from Sam momentarily, praying silently to himself that it was the help they had been waiting for. When the light disappeared Jacob, Daniel and the other SGC men stood in the room, each with weapons pointed directly at Hymothesias and Ania.

"Jacob, she's unconscious, we have to get her out of here." Jack managed to croak through his tears. Jacob and Daniel both turned in alarm to where Jack was kneeling on the floor. Seeing a very pale Sam lying in his arms, not moving at all, Daniel reached hurriedly for his communicator.

"Thor, beam up Jack and Sam now, they need medical attention." He reported hastily. Soon Jack and Sam were swept from the room and it left Hymothesias and Ania to face the wrath of an angry father.

Jack, with Sam in his arms, dropped suddenly before Thor who was sitting in his usual chair. He smiled up at the greyish alien, gratefully.

"Thor, buddy, thanks for coming." He whispered, the energy he had had no more than 15 minutes ago was now drained through his tears for Sam.

"O'Neill, I glad to see you and Major Carter are satisfactory." He greeted. Jack looked down at his 2IC lying motionless in his arms.

"I've got to get her back to Earth, she's in pretty bad shape." Jack said disheartened. Thor nodded,

"There is an SGC officer in the Gate Room that can take you back to your planet." Thor informed him. Jack smiled wearily.

"Thanks buddy, whenever you need a hand just drop us a line, just give us some warning yeah?" Jack joked before Thor sent both of them to the Gate Room where one of the members of SG 4 was standing, Major Frijol. When he saw the Colonel he stood upright and saluted.

"Colonel O'Neill, glad to see you are okay sir." Jack pulled himself from the ground, carrying Sam in his arms.

"Dial us home, Frijol." He ordered.

Moments later, Jack stepped onto the ramp in the SGC, looking down he spotted a very stressed looking General Hammond their to greet him.

"Get a medical team in here immediately!" The General ordered as Jack carried Sam down the ramp slowly, his body about to give way on him. Dr Fraiser and a number of nurses ran into the Gate Room pushing a stretcher. Two of the male nurses took Sam from Jack's tired arms and placed her on the stretcher.

"Get her to the infirmary immediately! Start her on a saline drip and fluids!" Fraiser yelled as the nurses wheeled Sam away. It was the last Jack saw of the woman he loved before his own body finally gave out on him, collapsing onto the base of ramp, unconscious.

The Aranian leader instantly recognised the older gentleman of the two that now stood before him.

"Jacob Carter of the Tokra. How nice of you to visit us again." Hymothesias stepped forward and extended his hand in friendship. He hoped that his attempt at co-operation would prevent himself being hurt by the number of armed men that stood behind Jacob and Daniel. Jacob stood perfectly still with an expression of loathing, not meeting Hymothesias' hand.

"I am not here for a friendly visit Hymothesias. I am here to return my daughter and Colonel O'Neill to Earth where they belong. And to warn you." Jacob took a step towards Hymothesias, and standing nose to nose with the Aranian leader.

"If you ever dare come near my daughter or attempt to communicate with her ever again, I will see to it that you suffer the most unpleasant death I can imagine. After experiencing several thousand years of Goa'uld torture, I have plenty of options to choose form." Jacob threatened, making himself perfectly clear. Hymothesias stumbled backwards at Jacob's angry warning, feeling his face go white in fear.

"W-well I can promise you that, that will never happen again." Hymothesias tried to consolidate something, but stuttered over nearly every word in his brief reply. Jacob sighed,

"In the meantime I will be sending an anonymous message to Bastet to tell her of your failure to follow through on her orders. I'm sure she will be very interested in what I will have to say." Jacob smiled triumphantly. Ania, who had remained silent throughout the exercise suddenly gripped Hymothesias' arm in panic at the mention of Bastet.

"She will surely punish us greatly for such disobedience. Please do not do that, please I beg of you!" She beseeched, her outburst directed at Daniel since he had remained silent throughout Jacob's speech. She had seen a softness in Daniel's face that clearly wasn't shared by his Tokra counterpart. Daniel looked back at the pleading woman and then beside him to Jacob, who simply shook his head, indicating that her plea would not change his mind.

"Thor, we are ready to go home." Jacob reported. The bright light of the Asgard beam soon consumed the expressions of pure terror and fright on Hymothesias and Ania's faces. As Thor piloted the ship out of the planet's atmosphere, Daniel looked down at the planet and sighed. Once Bastet became aware that Hymothesias had let two of the most hunted enemies of the Goa'uld escape they would surely be tortured to death. Although they may have done some horrible things to others, including two of his closest and dearest friends, Daniel could not help but feel pity for them.

MEANWHILE…

"Sir! I have something on radar; it appears to be a small craft, it's just entered Earth's atmosphere and is falling." A captain reported to the General standing behind him. The General turned away from the person he was in conversation with and walked over to where the captain was sitting.

"Have we got a picture of this craft?" he asked, biting his lip in concern.

"Yes, this was taken by the satellite orbiting around the Moon." The captain responded. Seconds later a photo appeared on the computer screen, a small, triangle shaped, chrome craft had been captured flying past the moon on a direct course to Earth. The General narrowed his eyes.

"Any idea where it will land if it continues?" he requested. The Captain typed furiously over the keyboard as mathematical calculations ran down the screen.

"According to my calculations sir, it will land somewhere in Colorado." He reported. The General drew in a sharp breath; turning with no reply to the Captain, he walked briskly to his office. Slamming the door behind him, he raced over to his desk and grabbed the phone, punching in a number that was starting to become an all too familiar.

"George, it's me Mike. We've just found something that I think you need to see."

TBC