Biliskner
Earth's orbit
September 2, 1999

Jack blinked wildly when the white light around him disappeared and thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't actually started undressing for his shower yet. Once his eyes had adjusted to the change in scenery, he realized Thor and General Hammond were standing near the Asgard's console, both looking at him expectantly. "Um, hi."

"Greetings, O'Neill."

"Thor, good to see you again, buddy."

Hammond acknowledged his presence with a nod, "Colonel."

"Retired, remember," Jack said cheekily.

"Don't get too comfortable yet, son. I haven't actually put in the paperwork."

"Getting sloppy, George?"

The General rolled his eyes. "It's not worth the hassle for the few weeks you'll be undercover. You know as well as I do that it'd take weeks for it to be processed."

Jack nodded in understanding, "Yeah. It's been what, two weeks, and Maybourne already dropped by to make me an offer to join him."

"This Maybourne is involved with the theft of technology?" Thor asked, blinking curiously.

"Colonel Harry Maybourne, liaison between the NID and the SGC and stationed at the Pentagon. A rat bastard who wouldn't think twice about stealing tech from others under the pretext of saving Earth."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Jack, Supreme Commander. We've had previous dealings with Colonel Maybourne and he's one of the less trustworthy officers in our Air Force, unfortunately."

Thor turned back to Jack. "He visited you at your abode?"

"A couple of days ago. Turned him away, didn't want to seem too eager. He left me his card and told me to page him when I miss the action too much."

"Did he tell you anything about the operation, Colonel?"

Jack shrugged, thinking back to the visit. "Somehow, he heard about our little altercation in the gate room. He said something about paperwork but if you haven't filed my retirement papers yet, then he's got to have ears on the inside. Anyway, he made me an offer to a way to achieve my goals."

"To acquire advanced technology from other races in your galaxy, O'Neill?"

"Yeah. Said I could lead a team through the gate and everything. For the good of our country. I told him it sounded illegal and he reminded me that my actions were very illegal, too."

The General nodded, "Stealing the Tollan technology."

"You know, it would be a lot more superior if it wasn't so easy to steal."

"Colonel."

Jack had the grace to wince at the admonishment. "Sorry, Sir. For that remark, but also my insubordination two weeks ago."

"It was part of the role you had to play, son."

"How will you proceed from here on out, O'Neill?"

He exchanged glances with his CO before replying, "Right now? I'm gonna do nothing. Just… enjoy my retirement. Then, after a week or two I'll contact Maybourne and tell him I'm interested."

Hammond looked to the small alien, still a slightly bewildered look on his face as if he couldn't believe he was aboard a space ship and talking to the Supreme Commander of a highly advanced alien race. "We can't afford to raise any suspicions Colonel Maybourne or his superiors might have by taking him up on his offer too quickly."

"I understand, General Hammond. How long do you expect it will be before Colonel Maybourne is fully satisfied with O'Neill's involvement?"

"Well, he's already approached Jack ahead of schedule, so I don't think it'll take much convincing. Maybe he's in need of a new team commander after Jack shot one of Maybourne's men in Utah."

"Hey, I didn't shoot to kill," Jack reminded him. "I followed your orders, Sir. Not my fault the guy got hit – in the arm, I might add – by my warning shots. He should have just left that Touchstone alone and fled like the others."

Thor's large eyes narrowed at the mention of the Touchstone. "The Madronans were most fortunate that you were able to retrieve their Touchstone. Other, less developed races, have not had your assistance and are in dire need of the protection offered by the stolen technology."

"I just hope we'll be able to retrieve all the tech," he said. "For all we know they've cannibalized some of it or broke it down to reverse engineer it. Getting to their base of operations might not be enough if they're storing the good stuff elsewhere. I'll need time to find out what they do after they get the tech, who's in charge of what and where everything and everyone is located. We have no idea how big this operation is, but from Maybourne's smugness I suspect it's not just the one team we encountered."

"Your superiors will allow this, General Hammond?"

Hammond looked uncharacteristically shifty when he replied, "Well, um, my superiors are not aware of the extent of our mission, Supreme Commander."

Jack almost did a double take at the confession, although he knew it made sense to play their cards close to their chest – he just hadn't expected Hammond to move ahead without authorization. "So, if the paperwork for my retirement hasn't been submitted and the brass don't know what's going on… how would Maybourne know? Do you have any idea who his operative at the SGC could be, Sir?"

"I have some high-ranking suspects in mind… for now, I've told all the team leaders that the Tollans were victims of a crime and are demanding that the perpetrator be dealt with appropriately."

"I'm a criminal?"

"What you've done is clearly a court-martialable offense. I explained I'd normally press charges but with someone of your rank and position as 2IC of the base, that might harm the Program and all the good we've done in the past. So, I offered you early retirement and you took it, knowing there were plenty of black marks on your record just from your time at the SGC…"

"The proverbial straw, Sir?"

Hammond nodded, "You got it."

Thor moved from his console to Jack and held up a white stone-like thing. "I request your permission to implant a transmitter into your skin, O'Neill."

"A tracking device?"

"For when you are taken to the off-world base from which the rogue team operates," Thor explained. "It cannot be detected by Earth technology."

Hammond nodded, "Go ahead, son."

Jack outstretched his arm and watched as the alien placed the stone on his skin, feeling nothing but a strange tingling sensation before the device was removed again. "That's it?"

"I will be able to track you through subspace from now on and uncover the location of the off-world base merely by following your signal. From there, I can retrieve the stolen technology present."

"Just… gimme a headstart, okay? Like I said, I need to make sure there aren't other bases, labs or storage spaces elsewhere."

General Hammond agreed, "And I need you to find out who the mole at the SGC is too, Jack."

"Well, the rogue team is bound to communicate with Maybourne or whoever is pulling their strings somehow... maybe through the mole."

"I can monitor your activity from the planet's orbit in my Biliskner," Thor started, "including stargate travel, assuming there is a stargate present on the base."

Impressed, Jack tried to come up with some kind of sign to let the alien cavalry know they could start beaming out stolen tech. "How about… can you see which address is dialed?"

"From orbit, yes."

"Then how about you start doing your thing when Earth is dialed? The Rogue NID would never dial Earth on their own and it would be the perfect way to prevent anyone escaping, too."

"That is indeed possible, O'Neill."

Hammond smiled and clasped Jack's shoulder. "Well, then I think all that's left is for me to give the mole the chance to surface."

"You think the mole is on an off-world team, Sir?"

"Yes. Now that you're retired, I'll rotate team leaders to take command of SG-1 every other mission. If that doesn't pan out, I'll start moving around all the people on off-world teams, for as long as necessary."

Jack sighed and reluctantly agreed. He hated the idea of putting his team in harm's way. Well, more than usual, anyway. The threat was supposed to come from off-world enemies, not their own commander. The thought briefly reminded him of Sam and her fateful first off-world mission – the betrayal must have left deep wounds and it was no wonder she'd been so cautious all this time.

"Are you okay, son?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, shaking it off. "Just don't like the idea of having a mole in our midst, never mind putting my team in their hands without their knowledge."

The General's expression softened in sympathy. "Understandable. We won't even know for sure if my suspicions are correct but if they are, then SG-1 is the best equipped to deal with it. They're by far the most experienced team and you and I both know Teal'c is extremely observant."

"What about Makepeace, Sir? According to the grapevine, he and Kershaw are romantically involved…"

"Contrary to popular opinion, I'm actually quite aware of the rumors on my base," he replied, smiling slightly. "Up until now it was of no concern for me, since Lieutenant Kershaw is not in Colonel Makepeace's chain of command. The few times SG-3 has supported SG-1 you were always in charge as the most senior officer. I also recognize the potential for trouble if I were to make him temporary commander of SG-1. It could make the mole suspicious if I skip him, though. So, I spoke to Colonel Makepeace the other day and inquired whether there would be a problem if he were to get command of SG-1. He guaranteed me that would not be the case, as he and Lieutenant Kershaw are not romantically involved."

Jack huffed, "Either he's lying or he dumped her at the prospect of getting the position, since he's one of the few high-ranking officers with plenty of off-world experience."

"Agreed. Don't you worry, Jack, I'll keep an eye on your team."

"Thank you, Sir," he said. "If that was all, I should probably get back home. I'm pretty sure the place is bugged and whoever's listening might get suspicious after such a long shower."

Hammond turned to Thor. "Are you satisfied with our plan, Supreme Commander?"

The Asgard inclined his head. "I am, General Hammond. The Tollans and I have the utmost faith on O'Neill's ability to find the culprits and retrieve the stolen technology."

"No pressure then, eh?"

"You'll do fine, Colonel," the General said.

Jack grimaced but knew he didn't really have a choice. His mission was too important, even if Sam's safety and return hadn't hinged on it. The Rogue NID stealing advanced alien technology from other races was simply unacceptable, especially if it meant Earth's allies would break all ties as a result and someone like Maybourne was involved… "What about you, Sir?"

"I think I can handle it, but I appreciate your concern."

He shrugged and tried not to feel too responsible for the weary look on Hammond's face. Their little altercation in the gate room and its consequences seemed to have taken its toll on his CO. "Yeah well, nothing personal Sir, but you look a little… worse for wear."

Hammond scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "That has nothing to do with you, in case that's what you were thinking," he said gently. "I got a call from the Academy Hospital a few days ago that Jacob Carter – Captain Carter's father – wasn't doing too well. He was diagnosed with terminal lymphoma a while ago and he… h-he passed away. We'd been friends for a long time, Colonel, and even though I knew he wasn't going to get better, it was still a shock."

Jack stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap his brain around it. "Jacob… died?"

"Yesterday."

"Jesus," he muttered.

Hammond was suddenly looking at him with a suspicious glint in his eyes. "I was with him at the Academy Hospital when it happened… he knew it was coming, had known for a while. I think he was relieved I was there."

"I'm sure he was, Sir."

"The strange thing was he asked me to remind you of your promise… I had no idea you two were so well acquainted. Is there something I need to know, Jack?"

Fuck.

He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, his mind going a mile a minute. Guilt was eating at his conscience. God damn it, he'd known and yet expected Jacob to just hang in there until he'd finished his mission and could bring Sam back.

Jesus, he'd fucked up!

"Jack?"

"Um, no, it's better that you don't know, Sir," he replied.

A look of understanding washed over General Hammond's face and he simply nodded, any suspicions he might have had dying on his tongue. "I see."


Utcha
Apophis' Domain
Milky Way Galaxy

The sun had already reached its highest point in the sky and it made Sam anxious to visit her little project. She estimated it was a few klicks from the village and until late in the afternoon the walk was incredibly uncomfortable due to the heat. She only had two tunics and wasn't looking forward to wearing her heavy robes when they were soaked with sweat, so she only went there late in the day and made the return trip just in time for dinner. Sometimes, she'd eat in the fields, but she never stayed too long because she wanted to put Ife to bed herself.

She looked up when Maya nudged her and took a basket of fruit from her, replacing the empty one in front of her. Yesterday, most of the morning and afternoon had been spent peeling potatoes and chopping other vegetables, so Sam was pleased with the fruit. The outside was similar to oranges, except they were green like limes and the flesh and juice tasted like strawberries and apples. She liked them and so did Ife and most of the villagers.

The juice from the fruit was what pretty much everyone drank with lunch and throughout most of the day. Water was much scarcer because of the distance to the nearest body of water and before Sam and Bra'tac had arrived, they had no real way of filtering the water and that endangered the health of some with weaker immune systems. Sam reached for the improvised juicer she'd made a few weeks ago. It was a simple design, using a wooden bowl with a sharpened stone in the middle. The natives had used similar stones or sticks and knives to scrape the flesh from the fruit and then ground it in a separate bowl for the juice. She'd simply found a way to fit the rocks into the bowls to make an effective juicer. It saved a lot of time, especially when she had to make enough juice for a whole village.

"Nubit Sām, kel Bra'tac ḥerā tai'ten sa't?"

Bra'tac had volunteered to join a few of the men to check on the traps they'd laid out a few days ago and Ife and some of the other children had gone with them, since there were no predators in the immediate area and the Utchan believed in teaching the children to hunt early on. "Ȧḥ," she replied, making a vague gesture with her hand to indicate the area beyond the village.

Maya continued babbling about the meal they were preparing, how scarce the food was becoming and how they were lucky that she and Bra'tac were accomplished hunters and could join in the upcoming hunt.

Sometimes, Sam forgot that the Utchan people had been ruled by the Goa'uld for centuries and that even the current population still had the Goa'uld dialect as its mother tongue. It was as if they were stuck… they still spoke the same language, had the same lifestyle and used the same rituals as their ancestors had under Apophis' rule. Except they didn't have the benefit of advanced Goa'uld technology anymore to plant and harvest their crops or optimize their farmland, which resulted in little food for the whole village.

Hopefully, that would soon change with her little project, Sam thought as she juiced some more fruit.

After what felt like forever, she finally hit the bottom of the basket. The last pieces of fruit seemed to take more effort, her hands felt sticky and her fingers were cramping.

"Set kher shal tek, Nubit Sām," Maya said excitedly, nudging her again.

Sam handed the bowl with juice to Lenfin before looking up in the direction Maya was pointing. Sure enough, the young native men who'd gone to check the traps were heading their way. It took a moment before she caught sight of Bra'tac, but she didn't fully relax until she saw him carrying her daughter on his arm.

"Yeah, they made it back," she mumbled. Some of the other women got up to meet the party halfway, greeting their husbands and children and taking some of the captured animals, but she remained seated knowing Bra'tac didn't need her help. She watched him though, as he talked to some of the other men – humans – and was surprised at how well he seemed to be getting along with them.

"Enough meat for the hunting party," Lefin commented. "Because of you and Master Bra'tac."

The coming days the meat would be prepared and Sam knew the majority of it was for the hunting party, who'd need to keep up their strength for a two-week hunting trip on foot. The promise of a hot meal with some meat was almost enough to make her change her mind about joining the party. Almost. But she couldn't leave Ife for that long, even though she knew she could make a difference because of the tracking and hunting skills Bra'tac had taught her.

Her gaze automatically locked onto Bra'tac who had a dead animal draped over his shoulder and was carrying Ife on his other side. Sam had shown some of the natives how to create snares and had placed them together with Bra'tac a few days ago. That seemed to have paid off. The animal he was carrying was bigger than Ife, probably about the size of a wolf. There were maybe two more of those in over the shoulders of others, two men carried a huge animal strung on a pole between them and smaller game was in the hands of the younger members of the group. The children looked especially proud of their prize.

Sam swallowed hard when she took a closer look at her daughter and saw a rabbit-like animal dangling from her hands. That wasn't what she wanted for her little girl. At that age, Ife was supposed to be dragging a doll or plush toy with her everywhere she went, like Sam's niece used to, not carrying a dead animal by its ears for dinner. It made her heart ache for her daughter whenever she saw her like that, but it wasn't realistic to demand Ife be kept from it either. Not with the lives they led. How many times had she gutted a fish or skinned an animal with Ife nearby? Up until they'd settled on Utcha, it simply hadn't been possible to do those things and keep Ife away from it all…

"We have set more snares after retrieving these," one of the men said, indicating their kills, as they neared the center of the village.

Bra'tac lowered Ife to the ground but spoke to her before she toddled off and she patiently waited until he'd handed his kill over to a group of women who'd been waiting for them to return all day. Sam smiled when she saw Ife follow his example and hand over the small rabbit-like creature she'd been carrying. Bra'tac leaned down to say something else to her, before giving her a gentle push into Sam's direction.

Ife happily headed her way and Sam got to her feet to move towards her, eating up the distance between them with her much larger steps.

"Momma!"

Sam lifted her up in her arms, "Hey sweetie."

"Hungwy!"

"Well, then it's a good thing we're having lunch," she said.

Bra'tac joined them and peered over her shoulder. "You have prepared a meal?"

"It's a light meal. Just some soup, bread and… other stuff."

He smirked knowingly, "Fetu?"

Sam nodded wordlessly and, carrying Ife on her hip, walked with him to resume her previous spot at the table. "How much do you think you brought back?"

"Enough for now." Bra'tac eagerly took a bowl and talked about the kinds of animals they'd brought back and how long the meat would last in between spoonfuls of soup.

One of the women started asking him questions about the upcoming hunt and Sam just zoned out, nibbling a piece of bread and watching Ife as she sipped a cup of fruit juice. Drinking from a cup was a new experience and there had been a few incidents in which the juice was spilled last week, but Ife seemed to be getting better at it. Sam was just wary; spilling was fine as long as it ended up on the ground and not Sam's lap.

Ife made some smacking sounds that Sam had learned to interpret as her being done with the sweet juice and she took the cup from her daughter. A few sips was usually enough for her. Sam made a face when Ife made a grab for the bowl of fetu – worms – and stuffed a handful in her mouth.

"Sām?" Bra'tac called out her name, humor twinkling in his eyes when he glanced at a munching Ife.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam tried to ignore the worms and instead focused on the Jaffa.

"Will you be going into the fields later today?"

"Oh, yes. I was thinking I'd head out in a bit."

Suddenly a large plate with all kinds of bugs appeared in front of her. "Please, have some before you leave, Nubit Sām," Lefin said.

Sam eyed the creepy crawlers, some of which were still alive while others had been roasted. Her stomach churned just from the look of them, but she knew just a piece of bread wasn't enough to tide her over until dinner. Hesitantly, she reached out and grabbed one of the roasted insects – it resembled a cockroach – and popped it into her mouth. At least it was dead already, she thought as she chewed on it.

"Me, me," Ife said when Lefin was about to move the plate away. The little girl picked some live ant-like bugs and put them in her mouth.

"Sām?"

She made a face as she swallowed the cockroach and waved away Bra'tac's concern. "I'm fine. Tastes just like chicken."

He chuckled softly and filled his bowl with several different insects. "This Tau'ri chicken is most versatile in taste," he commented dryly.

"Oh yeah." She knew he was only teasing because it had become her standard answer after trying something unappetizing – sometimes it actually tasted like chicken, sometimes she tried to convince herself it did. Even a giggling Ife seemed to recognize it. "I'll make sure to get you some to try when Ife and I are back home," she said.

"An appealing prospect."

Sam rolled her eyes, but didn't rise to the bait. "Well, I'm stuffed. I'll just grab my things before heading to the fields."

"I will accompany you," Bra'tac said.

"Oh. Okay." She hadn't expected him to join her, but perhaps there was something he wanted to discuss. "Well, take your time, there's no rush. I need to take Ife to the minders, anyway."

It was maybe half an hour later that they were finally on their way to Sam's project. Bra'tac was quiet, so Sam tried to make conversation. Even after all this time of traveling together, she still had the urge to fill moments like these every now and then.

"I was surprised to see you get along with the others so well." It was no secret that Bra'tac thought humans were inferior to Jaffa and that he didn't like her and Ife living on Utcha. He'd rather have them with him as he traveled from planet to planet to build his Jaffa Rebellion, to keep an eye on them and make sure they were safe. She appreciated the sentiment, but knew it was time to settle down somewhere safe now. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are. I don't know how long it will be before I can go back to Earth, but in the meantime Ife and I will stay here, so it's good that you're comfortable here."

"I cannot remain here indefinitely. The Rebellion requires my attention and I need to be present for them to accept me as their leader and join me in the fight of the Goa'uld, especially now that Klorel appears to have vanished."

"Still no word from Moac about him?"

Bra'tac looked at her with concern, well aware of her… issues, with Klorel. "None."

"Well, I suppose that's another reason why you should join the Rebel Jaffa. To lead them and find out the whereabouts of the System Lords."

"You will not accompany me?"

She shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "You don't need me, but Ife does. Besides, we both know not all the Jaffa trusted or even valued me. I don't know if that's because I'm a woman, a human or a former host, but I don't want to complicate things for you. Most of them are there because they believe in you, not because I showed them I could still use a hand device."

"Perhaps it is because you are Tau'ri, perhaps because of the other reasons you mentioned. We will never know. It is the same for me, here on Utcha."

"I know they were very distrustful at first, but can you blame them after what happened to their people when Apophis' underlord left?"

Bra'tac shook his head, gazing in the distance. "It is common for Jaffa to simply die when their symbiotes mature and there is no replacement. It has been quite some time since I have heard of it happening on such a grand scale, though."

Sam had no trouble imagining the terror the Utchans went through when the newly matured symbiotes searched for hosts. According to Maya, a lot of the Utchan population died, including the Elders, either at the hand of the new hosts or their own people who suspected them of being hosts. "Still, they seem to have moved past it. They accepted both of us in their midst."

"Their need for guidance and the contribution we can make to improve their lives surely influenced their decision."

"I suppose, but I get the feeling they're genuine."

"Indeed," he said. "However, you should not let your gratitude for their acceptance blind you."

Sam stopped walking and turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

Bra'tac gestured at the fields ahead of them, where crops were growing and some Utchans were planting new seeds. "Your accomplishments here have given them new land to farm and will improve their way of life."

"All I did was fix an irrigation system that was already in place."

"It was in disrepair as was many of the abandoned Goa'uld technology. You undid the accumulated damage from over the past two generations and reintroduced these devices and techniques to the Utchan. You expanded their farm land by using this machinery and repairing their neglected lands."

She shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. "Well, don't go declaring me sainthood, yet. There are still some parts of the irrigation system that need to be repaired, although I'm not sure I have the means to replace some of the damaged innerworkings. From the drawings I found, it looks like it might actually go all the way back to the village and was intended for more than just helping to optimize crops and harvests."

"They already have, Nubit Sām."

Sam grimaced at the reminder of her new title. However, she preferred it over Senȧ Sām, which some of the Rebel Jaffa used to refer to her because of her killing Hathor and Herit. "What did you mean with letting it blind me, though?"

"You contribute greatly to their society and for that, you deserve recognition," Bra'tac said. "Or at the very least, proper meals for you and the sefi."