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"Don't touch that! Colonel!" Dr. Lee yelped.
O'Neill looked up at Dr. Lee, and, seeing his frantic eyes, pulled his hands away from the equipment he'd been shifting and raised his hands in the air innocently.
"Sorry, Doctor. I'll leave it alone."
"Thank you," Dr. Lee gasped as he bent over the... whatever-it-was... protectively. "This is a very delicate piece of equipment, and only scientists trained to use it should handle it."
"Okay, so. What can I do?" O'Neill asked.
"Go over there and help bring in those boxes."
"Right. I'll do that."
He sauntered over to the pile of file boxes piled on the cart outside, and picked one up to carry inside. He paused, though, eyes caught by movement around the side of the building. He put down the box and followed, his instincts telling him to find out what was going on.
He walked quietly, not wanting whoever was scuttling to the back of the lab building to know he was following them. He stuck close to the wall, and stayed a way back.
When he reached the next corner, he peeked around, and saw a figure half-running into the woods. He walked exactly where they had.
After a few minutes he caught up to them, and hid behind a tree. The figure was a Yetri, but somehow looked different. His hair didn't have the same luster, and his skin didn't shine in the sunlight. O'Neill couldn't see his eyes.
What he could see was the small Goa'uld communication sphere the Yetri held.
O'Neill caught his breath before it could hiss out and alert the man to his presence. He recognized the face that appeared in the sphere. Cronus. The blasted snake had an operative on the Yetri world. He cursed silently and thoroughly. He listened carefully.
His eyes widened as he heard the man telling Cronus about him and Daniel being there. The man also told Cronus about Carter and Teal'c's disappearance. Cronus appeared pleased by the news.
Cronus told the Yetri to do what he could to delay the research. He wanted SG-1 split up, so that it would be more difficult for them to defend the Yetri.
O'Neill couldn't believe his ears. Cronus knew about the Yetri. And he wanted their technology and resources. And a Yetri was helping him. He'd thought the Yetri were a peaceful race, bound to harm none. He'd understood that they were like the Nox. And the Nox would never help the snakes. But here was proof that he'd been wrong.
After Cronus' image faded from the sphere, O'Neill waited for the Yetri to leave, then followed him back to the village, thoughts whirling in his mind.
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"Daniel, we have a problem," O'Neill spoke into his radio.
"What is it?" Daniel's response was tinged with distraction, and his irritability at being disturbed.
"Cronus is coming." He said it flatly, bluntly. He no longer had patience for anything else.
"What! Jack, that's a sick joke!"
O'Neill remained silent. The radio crackled again.
Daniel's voice came over the channel, sounding resigned and disbelieving at the same time. "You're not joking are you? Oh, God. How do you know?"
"I'll need to tell you this in person. Meet me at the 'gate."
"Okay, I'll be there."
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When Daniel saw Jack coming, he stood from his seat on the steps in front of the Stargate.
Jack motioned him to sit back down, then joined him. He started to speak without preamble. He explained his entire 'encounter', for Daniel to analyze.
Daniel shook his head to try and clear it. "I can't believe it. That a Yetri would betray his own people."
Jack sighed. "I know. I didn't want to believe it. But there it is."
"We have to tell Habrin. The Yetri have to protect themselves."
Jack shook his head. "They won't. We already know that."
"Then what do we do? We can't just leave them to be conquered."
"We're not."
"What?"
"We're going to think of something. I don't care if we have to uproot them to a whole other planet. We're not letting them get themselves killed."
Daniel was flabbergasted. He hadn't thought Jack cared about the Yetri. He'd continued to blame them for Sam and Teal'c's disappearance.
Jack seemed to catch some of what Daniel was thinking. He spoke without turning his head. "We need to get Carter and Teal'c back. And to do that, we need the Yetri. Plus, they're helpless. I can't not help them."
Daniel nodded. He knew that Jack hated seeing people get hurt who couldn't help themselves. "We should probably head back to Earth for a while. We need to talk to General Hammond. And this isn't exactly the conversation we want to have over the MALP."
Jack agreed. "We should. First, though, we need to tell Habrin that he and his people are in trouble."
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"No!" Habrin exclaimed. "No Yetri would ever consider aiding an enemy. A Yetri would never betray his people that way! You must be mistaken!"
His eyes were wide, and frantic. His voice expressed his fear, and his desperate hope that O'Neill hadn't seen what he thought he had.
O'Neill shook his head. "I'm sorry, Habrin. I know what I saw. If you search his house, you'll find the sphere."
Habrin's shoulders slumped. He took a deep breath, and nodded. "I'll ask Carrin to search the house."
O'Neill had seen the house the man had gone into, and had told Habrin. He had also described the Yetri's sickly appearance.
O'Neill stood, and turned for the door. He looked back when he heard a quiet sniff. He realized that Habrin was crying softly. He reached out awkwardly, and touched the man's shoulder. Habrin looked up at him in surprise.
"Everything's going to okay. Not sure how, yet, but everything always turns out okay in the end."
Habrin nodded in thanks.
O'Neill turned, and left. He met Daniel at the 'gate.
Daniel had gathered his things, and was waiting to go. His raised eyebrows asked how the conversation with Habrin had gone.
"He believed me. He'll have the house searched. If they find the sphere, they'll arrange for a panel to question him, and decide what will happen to him."
Daniel sighed heavily. "I hate that this happened. People like them...", he sighed again, "They shouldn't have to go through this."
O'Neill agreed. He headed for the DHD, and dialed Earth.
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A/N: Sorry this one's so short. My computer's been acting up, and I haven't been able to use it for several days. I wanted to get a chapter out, though, so I don't lose my "momentum". Hope you enjoy it.
