"Yes, ma'am. Just as soon as you send us all home."

OoOoOo

WHAT GOING ON SAM?

"I believe that can be arranged, General O'Neill. Be patient and the time will come," Oma responded, leaving the group suddenly, as if she'd been called away.

OoOoOo

The O'Neill family and their friends had been scattered literally to the ends of the universe. While Janet remained earthbound at the SGC, Daniel continued to work on Atlantis, struggling to explain what had become of the missing artifact. Jack, Teal'c and the children remained on Haven, unaware of what had happened to Sam and Maureen, but eager to be going home.

Now, on the planet Elberon, Sam and Maureen were struggling. Each woman in her own way was attempting to understand the information she'd just been given by the Supreme.

"That was strange," Sam volunteered to Maureen, once their hosts had left them alone. In her head she was still processing what the Supreme had explained to her of their current problem.

"You can say that again! Sam, what's going on here? I feel like I just stepped through the looking glass into another world," Jack's sister questioned with a look of total bewilderment.

"That's exactly what we've done, Maureen," Sam said, suddenly remembering that Jack's sister had no idea about any of this and must be completely overwhelmed.

"How about you fill me in a little more," Maureen persisted hoping Sam didn't think she'd get by with a lot of vague non-committal statements.

"I don't know exactly where to begin," Sam said honestly.

"The beginning would be a good place," Maureen suggested.

"Okay, here goes. Jack and I work for a top secret Air Force project headquartered in Cheyenne Mountain. In our jobs, we've met several extraterrestrial species and traveled to many different planets over the past fifteen years," Sam paused, waiting for a response that wasn't long in coming.

"You're kidding, right? You've got to be kidding, Sam."

Sam shook her head gently and smiled, trying to imagine how hard this would be for Maureen to wrap her mind around. "No, not kidding. This is what we do. We're explorers. We've seen some wonderful things and met incredible beings, like the ones we're trying to help right now. Then again, we've met some very evil creatures we've fought over the years. The ones you just met, we call them the Ancients. They're preparing for a final confrontation with their enemy, the Ori. And the fight ultimately involves all life in our galaxy as we know it."

By now Sam knew Maureen wasn't easily frightened. Thank God! And working as a reporter in any capacity at the Post left anyone inured to surprise. But at this moment, the normally unflappable Maureen stared at her sister-in-law as though she had two heads.

"Sam, what are you talking about? Where are we? Are you really trying to tell me we're on an alien planet with energy beings who want your advice on parenting?"

Thinking that Maureen had inherited her brother's penchant for boiling things down to their simplest, Sam shrugged and said, "Actually, I'd say that's just about it, Maureen."

OoOoOo

Before leaving Sam and Maureen to their own thoughts, the Supreme had offered them a primer on the history of the Ancients, specifically the Lanteans and how current circumstances had developed.

Much of the history Sam had already known or surmised from her team's earlier dealings with the Ancients. But even Sam was surprised by new facets of the story, particularly the Lantean history itself.

According to the Supreme, Elizabeth's family had been royalty on Atlantis prior to the plague that decimated that city and thousands of other Ancient settlements. Many Lanteans and other Ancients had ascended around that time, taking their surviving children with them, while others had simply fled plague ravaged areas and survived as mortal beings. However, the majority of the population, especially the children, had perished.

Those adult Ancients, Lanteans and others, who had chosen ascension, soon found themselves terribly bored by immortality. An obsessive desire to explore the farthest reaches of the universe as well as other dimensions was the only source of excitement and fulfillment in their overly extended lives.

Over the millennia, the ascended Ancients had little if any contact with the mortal descendants of their people. Many of these had returned to the Milky Way and prospered, passing on their genetic line to people like Jack O'Neill, people who never knew their legacy until circumstances made it clear. Others were scattered across the galaxies, occasionally coming into contact with their ascended brothers and sisters at times of great peril or when renegades like Oma chose to help them ascend.

Oma it seems was a conundrum to her own people. As royalty, she clearly saw herself above many of the rules made by the elected Supreme. Yet as a loyal Lantean, who loved her people, she would do everything in her power to preserve their heritage. Her insistence on helping others, especially those of Ancient blood, ascend was one aspect of that loyalty. Yet another was her dedication to the Innocent and their parents.

According to the Supreme, a decision had been made within the first millennium of initial ascension to separate the Ascended ancient parents from their children in the interest of advancing the group as a whole. It was well known from the early days of ascension, particularly in the Lantean community, that each ascended child contained an energy potentially more powerful than that of their parents. A parent or a group of adult Ancients focused on a particular child could control that energy, but under normal circumstances the energy of one of the Innocent could wreck havoc if unfettered.

Knowing this about their children and also acutely aware of their peoples' desire to explore the universe, the Supreme, initially led by Oma, legislated or least strongly recommended the current separation. That way, they reasoned, the Innocent would receive the training and supervision they required while their parents were freed to satisfy their now obsessive thirst for knowledge and exploration.

When the Supreme revealed this last piece to Sam and Maureen, they were both mortified. Sam couldn't hide her disdain for what was, in her mind, an inexcusable, certainly inhuman decision.

"You mean to tell me, you purposely separated these children from their parents because it was expedient to your needs at the time?" Sam had asked.

The answer was returned solemnly. "Our history is what it is, Samantha Carter. We are learning only now that this may have been a poor decision that has damaged our most precious resource."

OoOoOo

On Zavonia, the displaced Innocent had been separated from each other for weeks. They'd each been told the isolation was necessary in order to allow them to direct their energies in such a way that their parents could be found and reunited with them. It was true their energy was being used. But in reality, it was even now directed towards powering a fleet of Ori attack vessels.

Alana, an Innocent who had ascended with her parents at the age of ten, had been like a big sister to Elizabeth. For the most part, she'd grown up with her in the royal household of Atlantis and had been charged with watching over her at times.

As one of the eldest of the Innocent, Alana had been looked up to as a leader. It had been largely on her word that the others had consented to leave all they had ever known and trust total strangers to bring them to their parents. Alana herself had wanted to believe so badly what the Ori infiltrators had promised, she had let herself ignore some obvious warning signs that under normal circumstances would have given her pause.

Now, alone in what could only be called a cell, her doubts resurfaced. For weeks, her only contact had been with an Ori prior who would visit her on a daily basis, inquiring as to her wants and needs. She'd been provided with just about anything she wanted excepting contact with her friends. She'd been assured of their safety, but told that contact would be counterproductive to their mission at this time.

In frustration Alana, normally a patient girl, had attempted to reach her friends on her own. That's when she'd discovered the deception. Her attempts to open the doors between the cells with her mind had been effectively blocked. Shortly after this discovery, she had been approached by someone posing as a Prior, yet clearly sent by the Supreme. When that being explained that she had indeed been deceived and that no one, neither the Ori nor her Ancient friends, currently knew the location of her parents, Alana realized none of the adults could be trusted.

OoOoOo

"Luke is going to wonder where I am," Maureen mused out loud.

"Luke?" Sam queried.

"Yeah, the guy I've been dating. I'm sorry, Sam. I'm just talking out loud."

"Well talking about a nice guy would be a good distraction right about now, I'd say. Tell me more."

"Oh, Sam," Maureen started. "I just know he'd going to come looking for me if I'm gone too long. He's called every night since I've been with you."

"Well that's understandable. He'll be worried when he can't reach you. How come you didn't tell me how serious this was?"

"I'm afraid you and Jack haven't been the only ones keeping secrets, Sam."

TBC

OoOoOo

A/N: Feedback eagerly awaited on this one. Having the characters "spread around the universe" feels a little unwieldy to the author right about now! Hope you're not too confused!

Please review!