Blue picked her team from the elite on board the Daedalus and pilfered people from several other offworld teams while she was at it. In the end, after a quick conference with Daniel and Harry, the team that was to follow Five-Seven-Three's coordinates to decommission the Sphere consisted of Blue, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Major Lorne, Five-Seven-Three, and Lieutenant Laura Cadman in all her explosive glory. And in case they encountered any serious resistance, the airmen from Evan's team and the Marines from her own would be tagging along behind to secure the Stargate that the Spherekin assured them was there.

And last but not least, even though it left a sour taste in her mouth when she admitted it to him, she needed the officious Doctor Rodney McKay.

The scientist's triumphant smirk lasted for a whole three seconds before the specifics of the mission were outlined to the team and he adopted an expression of pure panic.

It was not possible for the Daedalus to leave the planet's airspace with General O'Neill, Colonel Carter and Max still on the surface, and Blue did not think it would have been a wise idea anyway, so she and Dr Jackson decided that the team should be ringed down to the surface in the basic vicinity of the Elaucra Stargate. Whatever radiation levels there had been on the planet when it suffered the calamity that wiped out its native population had now mostly subsided. Mostly.

One-Two-Four had assured them that all the alien delegates would be removed from that area so they could depart without being seen.

The surface of the planet was exactly as it seemed. Blue and her team crunched over dried lava lakes, gas masks on as a precaution as every so often one of the gas fissures would explode, saturating them all in a rancid yellow cloud that smelled of greasy food. No one really spoke, but every so often McKay would look down at a beeping device he was holding and then back up as Blue as if to say If we all turn into mutant man-squids, it's all your fault.

"I cannot come with you through the Stargate." Five-Seven-Three said. "The Mother would rewrite my base programs. I cannot risk being corrupted and betraying the location of this planet to Her while all the delegates are still present."

"Would she attack you?"

"Perhaps. You must be aware that the Sphere will be guarded closely by those that were once my brethren. They will protect Her to their final synapse, and I believe that she has reverted them back to their primal states."

"That does not sound good." Daniel said.

"Why did you call the conference on this planet?" Blue asked suddenly. "I can think of a few places that would have been nicer, and that's just off the top of my head." He voice was muffled behind the mask.

"Because Elaurca is the only completely neutral planet in this system, Colonel." Five-Seven-Three answered.

"And I'm sure the strangely absent inhabitants of the planet would agree with you." Major Lorne said dryly.

The answering comment he received served to strongly remind them all that no matter what they seemed, the Spherekin were still the bastard cousins of the Replicators.

"A planet can only be completely neutral when there is not one mind remaining to form an opinion." The Spherekin explained with a cold logic. Major Lorne's eyes were icy behind the mask.

"What did happen to the native inhabitants?" Daniel asked, full of academic curiosity.

Five-Seven-Three shrugged. "Gone."

"Where to?"

"Evolved." The little android answered. "They used up this planet and left for the stars. We do not possess any data since before the Dark Age, so what befell them is not known to us."

"What's the Dark Age?" Daniel spoke up again. Five-Seven-Three goggled at him.

"Did you not have a Dark Age on your planet?" He asked incredulously.

"What?"

"What I believe our little robotic friend is implying is that the Dark Age is the time of the uneducated. The beginning." McKay said. "Where few records were kept as civilisation was still attempting to find its feet. Even the most advanced race has to start somewhere." He shook his head. "But before the Dark Age? Before the universe? That's a physical impossibility."

"Why?" Blue asked.

"Because Rodney sez so." Lieutenant Cadman said, causing smiles all round.

"Because it's impossible! How can something exist when there's nothing to exist in?"

"The Furling Commander said that before this universe existed, there were others before it." Blue said idly.

"Now that's an even more laughable notion." McKay scoffed.

"When I was very young on Chulak, there were tales of races that had existed beyond the universe." Teal'c said. "In the old stories, they were known as the Eyeless Ones."

"Why didn't you mention that before?" Daniel looked at him.

"I did not see it as relevant before, Daniel Jackson."

She could see it now, straddling the horizon, towering over the ruins of the great civilisation that had been much more advanced than her own. The Stargate, the only thing that had survived the destruction that had led to the abandonment of the planet.

"Teal'c?"

"Yes, Colonel Jones?"

"Would you mind telling me the old stories? The ones with the Eyeless Ones?"

Daniel began to dial the Gate. Blue kept one eye one him and one on the impassive Teal'c. The towering alien looked at her before a moment longer.

"There is not much to tell, Colonel Jones." He said. "They were stories for children about people who had greater power than themselves, greater power than the Goa'uld. I now believe that the storytellers had been carefully sowing the seeds for rebellion against the Goa'uld for many generations before the Tau'ri came to Chulak. It was said that the Eyeless Ones could walk between the dimensions and tie time in knots. They were fearsome and cunning warriors that could not be bested."

The Stargate leapt into life behind her. "What happened to them?"

"They were destroyed."

"By what?"

"The tales would always end before the heroes died." He replied. "As is the way of all good stories."

"There's always something bigger and meaner." Rodney said plaintively. "Why is there always something bigger and meaner?"

"Hey," Lieutenant Cadman cut in. "We don't know they're the bad guys. Do we? Are they the bad guys?"

"Depends on your perspective." Major Lorne said. "One man's hero is another man's war criminal."

"Indeed."

The conversation had leapt away from her. Daniel was leaning against the dialling device, glasses slipping down his nose and a whenever you're ready look on his face."Guys." Blue said firmly. "We're here to shut down the Sphere. We can theorise to see if these people really exist after we've done our job."

"Remind me what our job is, again?" McKay asked with a hint of his old venom.

Blue threw him a devil-may-care grin, which the doctor almost unconsciously returned with one of his own.

"To save the universe."

The other side was dim, but they could all still see. Around them, machinery flashed in random tattoos and would spark and hiss dramatically at them. "Secure the area." Major Lorne said firmly, casting Blue an unreadable look before joining the team in assembling a perimeter.

"Air seems breathable." McKay said, before setting the device back into one of his vest pockets. Blue ripped off the mask.

"Alright, people." She said. "Lieutenant Peters, you and your men maintain the perimeter at the Gate. Stay in radio contact. Lieutenant Cadman, you're up front. Blow anything out of our way. Major Lorne, you and your men come up the rear, keep us shadowed. McKay, you're up the front with me, Jackson and Teal'c. Remember, we're gonna go in and get this done fast, 'cause God knows we all have better things we could be doing with our time."

There was a chorus of yes' ma'am, and even Rodney grudgingly moved into position.

They had gated inside some sort of complex. Blue looked around as the blue light of the Gate faded away, and fleetingly hoped that the building wasn't about to fall down around their ears. She could hear mechanical squeaking and clicking, and knew without a doubt what Five-Seven-Three had meant about a 'primal state'.

"According to Five-Seven-Three, we should be able to follow this corridor to the central control tower." Blue said.

"Should?" Daniel asked.

"It's the best I can do, Jackson." She signalled to Major Lorne and his airmen. "Teal'c, on point with Cadman."

Lieutenant Cadman stepped out into the hall first, P90 held loosely against her shoulder, fully prepared to fire on a moment's notice. The Jaffa moved into the corridor behind her with a grace and silence that should not have been possible for such a large man, Daniel and Blue shadowing him. McKay sandwiched between them and unable to move back because of Lorne's advancing airmen. Blue's face was set into a hard mask. But beneath the determination, there was one rogue thought that she could not seem to quash. It was the thought, the indecisiveness a leader wrests with every day.

I hope I don't get anyone killed today.

"Blow it."

Cadman had her ear close to the door. "Sounds like a hell of a lot more behind here. I blow the door, and they're going to come rushing in here to protect the Sphere."

"Teal'c has the Disruptor. We need to get in so McKay can shut down the computer." Blue said. "Blow the door, Lieutenant."

Her roommate looked at her a moment longer before turning back to the problem at hand. "Yes, Colonel."

"Be prepared to fire on Cadman's mark." Blue tucked her own P90 into her shoulder, and behind her she was aware of the rest of the team dropping unconsciously into position.

The door blew.

The expected onslaught of the primal Replicators did not take place, even though they were milling all around them. Blue cautiously followed Teal'c into the control room.

The little robots paused to stare at them as they passed, pinchers quivering and rearing up on their hind legs as if preparing to strike.

But they didn't.

"Why aren't they moving?" McKay asked.

"Let's take advantage of it while we can." Major Lorne said. "Is that it?" He pointed to a gigantic construction before them, tiled with computer screens each flashing words in an alien language that seemed vaguely familiar.

Doctor McKay stepped forward, pressing his hands flat against the terminal. "It doesn't look so bad," He said, with a sense of relief. "I should be able to-"

"Ah, ma'am?"

Lieutenant Cadman pointed straight up.

"Oh my."

Suspended from the vaulted ceiling in a harness of wires, cables, and strangely fluid vessels, was-

"It's a brain."

Even Teal'c looked surprised, if only for a moment. It was perhaps slightly larger than a human brain, and flexed in and out almost as if it were breathing. She stared at it a moment longer before Rodney glanced at Blue, and she gave a tiny answering nod. The doctor turned back to the computer terminal.

"This language seems to be a very primitive form of Ancient." He said. "It shouldn't take me too long to translate, probably even shorter if Doctor Jackson lends a hand. Then I should be able to follow the circuits back to decommission the Sphere."

"Decommission the Sphere?"

"Jackson," Blue said warningly. Daniel looked at her over the rims of his glasses. "Let Doctor McKay do his job."

"We were sent here to turn off a computer." He said. "Not unplug someone's brain."

"So what's your point?" She asked impatiently. He stared at her, seemingly shocked that she wasn't getting it.

"It's a sentient being. Do we have the right to destroy a living thing who has no way to defend itself?"

"You didn't think that way when it came to killing Goa'uld in their natural state." Blue said coldly. A flash of steel emerged in Daniel's eyes.

"We don't even know what we're dealing with here." He argued back. "The Spherekin lied to us. If Sam were here-"

"Colonel Carter isn't here." Blue said flatly. "Instead you're stuck with me. And I say, Rodney, shut that thing off now."

"Colonel Jones-"

"Doctor Jackson, this thing is causing space and dimensions to tie themselves in knots. Which means at any time we could blink out of existence. I wish we had more time, to figure out this thing's purpose, but the bottom line is that we don't."

He stared at her a moment longer before turning away.

"McKay." Blue ignored him. "Any idea what's the deal with the Spherekin?"

"It would appear that they've been put on limited operations." Rodney said. "They'll defend themselves if there is a danger that they might be damaged, but that's about it. If we don't look threatening, I think we should be safe."

"Have you found the off button yet?"

"Give me a minute." McKay tapped a few more keys, causing the computer to squeal. Then slowly and systematically, the power died. Above them, the brain stopped moving, and blood started to congeal in the veins. All the Spherekin froze

"Oh, I am brilliant." McKay congratulated himself.

"Good job, McKay." Blue nodded.

"Fall back to the Gate." Major Lorne ordered.

"That was easier than I expected." Blue murmured. She activated her earpiece. "Get back to the Elaurca gate, inform Colonel Carter and General O'Neill that the threat has been neutralised." She ordered. "Lets get it moving, boys and girls."

"I really think it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a look around while we're here." McKay said.

"Right now I want to get back to the Daedalus and confirm that the shadow dimensions have sunk back into obscurity." The Gate leapt into life. Blue watched as her team began to pass through.

"That was deceptively easy." McKay dusted his hands free of imaginary dirt. She gave a minute shrug.

"You do get the easy ones sometimes."

"It's just they aren't the ones doing the rounds in the lunch room." Major Lorne said, stepping up beside Blue and McKay.

The three of them were about to follow the tail end of the team through the Stargate when the floor began to rumble. Blue cast a look behind her as dust and rock fragments began to tumble down from the ceiling.

"What the hell is that?" McKay said in a hushed tone. Both Blue and Major Lorne stepped down from the Stragate's dais. The major looked up at the falling debris and then in the direction the doctor was pointing, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"It's never just an easy one," He grumbled.

The brain was stone cold. All synapses had ceased firing a few minutes ago now. Rodney McKay had assured them. But for some reason, the opaque tower of crystal directly beneath the brain began to glow brighter and brighter. Blue and Evan approached it cautiously.

"I wouldn't do that," McKay called out behind them. Blue stared at the tower, brow furrowed. And suddenly in an instant it hit her.

"It's a stasis pod!" She grabbed Major Lorne's arm and dragged him back several steps. Stupid stupid stupidstupidstupid- As one, the primal Spherekin activated and rushed forward to accost the remaining team members. The air around Blue erupted in a haze of bullets.

"The Stargate!" She shouted over the gunfire.

Then the crystal chamber exploded, and Blue found herself flattened as Lorne grabbed her around the waist and threw her to the ground, covering her body with his own. For a minute or so she was unaware of everything.

When she regained consciousness, her face stung with a myriad of small cuts, and the arm she had raised to shield her eyes was torn open and bleeding. Evan Lorne lay beside her, eyes closed and seemingly asleep.

But he wasn't moving.

Ignoring her own pain, she climbed to her knees and pulled out her field bandages. Major Lorne had suffered the full force of the explosion and several shards of crystal had pierced his vest and uniform, standing up between his ribs. Ignoring whatever may have emerged from the pod, Blue worked on stemming the blood flow.

There was a hand on her shoulder and she looked up into Rodney McKay's face. A fragment had cleaved open his cheek and his brow was peppered with bloody cuts, but otherwise he appeared intact. Wordlessly he handed her his own bandages.

She nodded in silent thanks.

The Spherekin stood silent and still one more. Standing in the middle of the fading circle of light and dancing flames was a female figure with her arms stretched straight up to the sky and her face turned up joyfully. The temperature of the room seemed to drop with every passing minute, and the survivors were soon breathing out clouds of steam.

And then she faced them.

"Oh, God." Blue breathed.

She was beautiful. Glorious. But her skin was cold and blue and ice clung to her clothes and flesh, giving her the appearance of a corpse. But the worse was where her eyes should have been. Staring out at them were two shadowed, empty sockets, a pinpoint of cold light flickering at the bottom of both of those dark pits.

"What are you?"

The creature cocked its head at them, and after a moment a hiss issued from her mouth.

"We are the ones that came before all others." It said, and in that voice there were echoes of many others. "We are legion. And we have been freed."

And then the creature raised her hands again and the world got brighter and brighter and Blue couldn't feel Lorne underneath her hands anymore and couldn't hear McKay breathing by her ear and couldn't shout for the rest of the team and couldn't-

...