"How are you, dad?" Sam asks, handing her father a bottle of water when he had woken up, shortly after noon.

"Better." Jacob says, taking the water and draining much of the bottle. "I was just a bit dehydrated."

"I'm not surprised." Sam touches his forehead. "Fever is down. That's good. You were really hot earlier."

Not willing to discuss it, Jacob looks out the window. "How much further is it to whatever damn place it is we're going?"

"Almost 1000 miles," Daniel says. "It's near the border to Guatemala. The first place we're checking. There are more places all over the Yucatan."

Jacob snorts. "And you think this pile of junk is going to make it all the way?"

"Well be there in 24 hours if we drive with almost no breaks." Jack says.

"That's not going to make it any more likely this car will get us there!" Jacob complains, when they hit a large bump in the road. The car keeps going, though.

"We should take a break and get something to eat soon." Daniel suggests. "Looks like there's a somewhat larger town coming up. They probably have a restaurant."

"And we look like shit! Do you think they'll even serve us?" Jack asks. "We've walked through mud and water and dust!"

"He has a point. We should probably try get some clean clothes, and a bath somewhere. We look suspicious." Sam says.

"Right. Okay, and we probably should get some local currency instead of using dollars," Jacob says. "Find a bank as soon as we have made ourselves presentable."

Sam smiles, noticing her dad is handing out orders without thinking. "You're feeling better, dad!"

"Of course. I just needed a nap."

She rolls her eyes, but feels relieved, even though she knows his dad feeling better will not last. Unless they get to the Tok'ra soon. Jolinar gives her a hug.

They had found a store that sold clothes, and after dusting off the worst from the clothes they wore, they had gone inside and bought new, clean clothes for all of them.

"I saw a sign a mile or so back, pointing to a full-service camping spot. They should have showers and stuff." Sam says.

"Let's go check it out," Jack decides.

"Agreed." Jacob adds. He coughs a little.

Sam notices her dad looks tired, but still immensely better than the day before. He had gotten another shot of the antibiotic, and it had worked amazingly.

It turned out there was indeed showers, and for a small price all of them got a hot shower. After changing to the clean clothes, all felt much better.

"Now we should go find that restaurant!" Jack says.

It was early evening when they were approaching the city of Monterrey. Jack was hesitant of driving into any large cities, but they were all exhausted, since the only sleep they had gotten was in the car.

Sam was again worried for her dad, a worry they all shared, so the silent agreement was to try and find a hotel to stay in for the night, and then leave again early morning.

"It was a good thing we cleaned up before going here - we'd have drawn too much attention looking like something the cat dragged in!" Jack says as they drive slowly through the streets of the large city.

~It is a huge city!~ Jolinar observes. ~Much larger than Colorado Springs - or any other human dwelling I have ever been to before!~

~Yeah, I think there's more than a million people here, just in the city proper. Maybe 4-5 million in the metro area. It's the capital of the Mexican state of Nuevo León.~

~So much light! So many extremely tall buildings! And so incredibly many humans in one place!~ Jolinar marvels. ~How strange a place your world is!~

~I realize how different this is to most other worlds. We have rarely been to a planet that had more than smaller towns and villages. But this is were humanity come from, so it makes sense there are so many more.~

~There is also the fact that you have been free of the Goa'uld for millennia. Well, mostly free. Those worlds who like yours has been freed a long time ago, have larger populations than the others. Well, some are still only a small number of villages.~ Jolinar sighs. ~I sometimes worry about what will become of the many slave worlds when they are freed. Many of them are kept so completely uneducated, many are so specialized in just mining or just agriculture of a specific type of harvest, that those worlds may not survive without the Goa'uld. How to educate them, change them, so they can survive for long enough to stand on their own. It is a difficult question.~

~You're right. It's also not something we have thought about a lot, but I can see how a small society dedicate entirely to mining gold or naquadah, and getting all the food off world, will not know how to survive if the 'gods' are not bringing them food. They will also not know how to rule themselves, and all may end in chaos if they are not allowed to develop leadership slowly.~ Sam realizes.

"Hey! Sam!" Daniel snaps his fingers before her. "Earth to Sam!"

"What?" She looks up. "Sorry, I was talking to Jolinar.

"That was obvious!" Jacob snorts. "We've been trying to get your attention for several minutes!"

"We've arrived at our hotel." Daniel smiles at her. "Come."

~This is wonderful!~ Jolinar remarks, when they are standing under the shower and allowing copious amounts of clean, warm water to flow down their body. ~Now, if there was just a pool to relax in afterwards, all would be perfect!~

Sam chuckles mentally, since Jolinar has control. ~I agree! This is great!~

Later, Jolinar finishes the shower reluctantly, turns of the water, and grabs a towel to dry off. After brushing their teeth and using the toilet, she walks out of the bathroom and to the combined living room and bedroom, and throws aside the blankets and throws herself on the bed.

~Hey, nightclothes! Remember? We've been over this!~ Sam tells her, knowing Jolinar likes to sleep in the nude.

~You do not mind usually.~

~When we are alone. What if someone knocks on the door or somehow opens it? This is a hotel, not our private place.~

Jolinar rolls her eyes but gets up and grabs a pair of panties and a clean t-shirt. ~Happy?~

~Very.~

Jolinar turns on the television and switches between a few stations. ~Nothing interesting. I do not understand why your kind seems to like spending so much time watching this box.~

~Well, me neither, but I am hardly normal in that manner. I'm sure the Colonel could tell you why it's great to watch Simpsons or hockey.~

~Maybe I will ask them.~ Jolinar yawns. She switches off the television and goes to the bed, and crawls under the blankets. ~Good night.~

~Good night.~

They are soon asleep.