Jack didn't like it. Not one bit. He watched the canteen tip over on the table. Again. Bad enough that a perfect storm raged outside the castle; now they had to add earthquakes? He sat forward on the couch and picked up the canteen. This was not just a tremor and it was most certainly not his imagination. This was the third time he'd felt the room shake. And it was getting worse, not better. Now he could spend his time wondering whether the castle was going to be blown apart from the gale force winds, or if it was going to be shaken apart by an earthquake. Great. He so needed the added stress right now. He glanced over at Daniel to see if the quake had disturbed him and saw that he was blinking slowly at the top bunk. He'd been oblivious to the previous quakes. He'd been oblivious to just about everything this morning. Easing off the couch, Jack slowly walked over and dropped back into the chair next to the bed, rubbing his hand.

"Hey."

Daniel didn't respond at first, just kept staring blankly at the bunk above him. After a minute, he closed his eyes and asked, "Did something fall?"

"It's an earthquake."

Frowning, Daniel asked, "Earthquake?"

"Yeah, I think this whole place is experiencing the apocalypse."

"Almost every culture has tales of apocalypse or an end of the world catastrophe." Daniel mumbled groggily.

"Well, these guys are taking it to a whole new level."

"What guys?"

"The guys who built this place."

Daniel rolled his head over and looked up at Jack. He had that blank look on his face again. "Earthquakes?"

"Yeah. The weather is out of control." Jack offered a reminder, "And now we've been experiencing some minor earthquakes. Think it's time to ask Carter about them actually." Jack rubbed his eyes and hit his radio, "Oh, Carter."

After a few seconds, he heard her voice, "Sir?"

"You notice anything strange lately?"

"Like the earthquakes?"

"Funny you should bring up earthquakes..."

"Yes, sir. We had actually noticed. I believe that...well, I think things are getting worse."

"Get out."

"I haven't really figured a lot out yet, but things seem very out of control."

"Noticed that."

"Sir...There's a lot of stuff here I can't understand." There was hesitation in her voice, "I really need some help."

Jack shook his head, knowing where she was going. "It's a long walk up there, Major."

"I know, sir. But this weather is getting worse. Teal'c just took a look outside. He counted four tornado's, sir. Four. Remember what Tormic said about the weather getting transferred back through the Portal? It's not just us who are being affected by this weather. A lot of people back on Kamyen Obyet could be in a lot of trouble right now, sir. The storm is tearing this world apart and it's mostly unoccupied. Think what is happening back on Kamyen Obyet. Also, if we're going to stand a chance of getting off this planet and getting home, I'm going to need Daniel's help."

"Sam?" Daniel asked, eyes closed.

"Yeah, Daniel. She needs some help." Jack didn't like the thought of taking Daniel up to the lab where Carter, Teal'c and Tormic were all gathered. It was a long walk and Daniel hadn't even been inclined to sit up yet.

"Sir?"

"A minute, Carter."

"What kind of help?" Daniel asked, forcing his eyes open just slightly.

"Your kind of help. She's got a bunch of stuff she can't read." Jack shook his head at Daniel and keyed the radio again, "Carter, is it anything I can help with?"

"Well, sir, I don't doubt that you could read some of this, but this is a corrupted version of Russian. You may not be able to understand much of it."

"I know." Jack said with a sigh. "Ok, Carter. We'll head up to you, but it may be a while."

"That's fine, sir. We're still working our way through the wiring and just trying to figure out what is turned on at the moment. Honestly, it has that look of sabotage about it."

"That really doesn't surprise me. I'll give you a holler when we head out."

"Copy that, sir."

Jack sighed and met Daniel's exhausted eyes. "So."

"So. Guess we're taking a walk."

Jack just studied him, considering. They'd all managed to get some sleep, but Daniel had been restless and uncomfortable all night and Carter had been hacking up a lung. So they hadn't slept as well as anyone would have liked. Carter had, of course, wanted to get up to the lab as soon as possible to start working this morning. She, Teal'c and Tormic had been up there for the past three hours or so. It was now just after 1130 and Jack hadn't really planned on Daniel going anywhere for the day. But they were facing imminent disaster, from what Carter said, and he completely believed her. He shook his head at Daniel.

"We don't have to go right now. We can wait for a bit."

Daniel smiled slightly, closing his eyes again. "I don't really think we have the luxury, Jack." He sighed, "Just remind me again why."

"Daniel." Jack said softly. "How are you going to be able to help? You can't even remember what I told you an hour ago."

"No I can't." He admitted easily. He really didn't have a clue. Jack had already been giving him a hard time for asking the same questions over and over again. It was as if he had the attention span of a two-year old. They'd explain everything to him and twenty minutes later, they'd have to explain it all over again. At least now their answers were at least starting to sound familiar. The pounding in his head and the spinning sensation had not abated; it was little wonder he couldn't keep anything straight. He looked back at Jack who was looking really stressed. He tried again, "We don't apparently have a choice."

"I know." Jack admitted. He studied Daniel carefully. He still looked about the same shade of white as a piece of paper, except for the colorful rainbow of bruises across his face and the dark circles under his eyes. Tension and pain were etched into his features and he'd finally admitted to Carter that the Dramamine was only slightly helping to alleviate his dizziness. He had managed to tolerate a few sips of water throughout the morning, but nothing else. He also hadn't wanted to move a muscle. Jack shook his head again. "I don't think you're up to it."

"No choice, remember?" Daniel countered wearily.

Jack knew he was right. He just didn't have to like it. "Fine. I'll pack our gear."

He stood up, feeling every bit as huffy as he sounded. He wasn't mad at Daniel, but he had passed the corner of sheer frustration quite a long time ago. It took him a few minutes to categorize and rearrange their packs to his liking. Everything didn't need to go, but he also wasn't about to be left without something important. The blue crystals he left in Daniel's pack, along with the assorted reading materials they'd been collecting along the way. By the time he finished, he figured what he'd left out might as well have been left in as it amounted to such a tiny pile. No chances, though. If there was even a possibility of needing or using something, he wasn't about to have to come back for it later. He also decided to pack some of the food supplies. At this rate, they were going to be eating lunch in the lab. Setting the packs on the couch, he turned back to Daniel who was staring across the little room with a glazed expression. That wasn't entirely new as of late, but Jack noticed there was also a bit of fear in that expression.

Hurrying back over, Jack asked, "Daniel? What is it?" When he didn't still didn't get a response, he shook his shoulder. "Daniel?"

"Jack!" Daniel's hand shot out and grabbed Jack's arm. He looked up at him with panic in his eyes. "It's here."

"What?" Jack asked, completely confused, but more concerned.

"A Goa'uld."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a Goa'uld. Here. I saw him."

"What? When?"

Daniel's panic only increased, "I don't remember!"

"Take it easy." Jack frowned; this must have been what Daniel had been trying to tell him yesterday. "Take a minute and think. Are you sure you aren't remembering something from before? From another mission?"

"No. No, I didn't know this one. I've never seen him before." Daniel tried to focus. "Jack, I saw him."

"Ok. I believe you. We're on a hostile planet with a history of Goa'uld infestation. I believe it." Jack wracked his own brains. When could he have run into a Goa'uld? "What else do you remember?"

Daniel pressed his hand to his head. "Dark. It was raining."

Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes. That doesn't narrow it down much.

"I...I was looking, for you I think. He tackled me from behind. We fought." His eyes flew open, "Jack, he wanted a new host!"

Jack's heart skipped a beat. No. It hadn't happened. Daniel was fine. He wasn't a Goa'uld. He wasn't. Apparently, Daniel's thoughts had gone the same direction. There was a whole new level of fear in his eyes.

"Jack! I wouldn't even know, would I?" He moaned.

"Daniel, you are not a Goa'uld." Jack said with complete conviction. He isn't.

"How would you know?" Daniel was far from convinced.

"For one thing, if you had been Goa'ulded...do you really think the snake would want the kind of headache you've got? Besides, I haven't seen your eyes glowing lately. They've barely been open. So just take it easy and keep thinking. You said you fought the snake? What else do you remember?"

"I don't know. Everything is confusing. It was so dark. The wind...it kept knocking us off our feet. I heard you over the radio...that was when he got me pinned and told me he wanted a new host. The host, he was in bad shape, Jack. Dying. Old." Daniel let his hand fall back to the bed. He looked at Jack, "I fought back and shot him in the head."

Jack's eyebrows rose, "You killed him?"

"No. No, he went crazy and came at me again, but I was running..." He trailed off and frowned. "That's it, that's all I remember."

"Ok." Jack took a deep breath. This was either a humdinger of a nightmare, or it had actually happened. He was inclined to believe it had happened. And he had a good idea when it had happened. "Daniel, this had to have happened when we got here to the city. We split up looking for a way into a building outside to get away from the storm. I found shelter and called for you. You never answered and then the building collapsed on me. You must have gotten thrown into the wall when you were running from the snake."

Daniel nodded slowly. "You told me to find the two story building..."

"Yes. Ok. So we've got a half dead Goa'uld out there somewhere...unless he didn't survive the storm." Jack mused. "I don't know that he stood much of a chance of surviving."

"Unless he had another way in."

"Rings?"

"Maybe."

"He say anything else?"

"Threats. He kept shouting about taking revenge against his former subjects."

Jack shook his head. "I thought Montu was dead."

"Who?"

"The Goa'uld who ruled the Kamyen Obyet people." Jack explained, hating that he'd already told Daniel this earlier in the morning and he still didn't remember.

"No, no." Daniel disagreed, "He said his name was Dougrae."

Sam grabbed hold of a table and braced her feet as the room shook again. This was getting ridiculous. In the time they'd been exploring the lab, there had been multiple quakes. She was at a loss to explain how and why they were now experiencing these earthquakes. She was an astrophysicist, not a seismologist. Her best guess at this point was that the unstable weather pattern that Dougrae had created had done more damage to the planet than just causing hurricane type weather. And she wasn't a meteorologist, either. Knowing they were in some kind of a force field only led to more questions. Perhaps the force field, by keeping the weather trapped, had caused instability to the planet's core. She frowned. That only led her to yet another question. The planet itself. Again, she wondered where exactly they were. Was the force field enveloping an entire planet, or did it only cover a smaller portion of a planet? So many questions. What they needed, for a change, were some answers.

The room stopped shaking and Sam looked back at the monitor screen she'd been looking at a moment before. She glared at the screen and the Russian characters moving across it. The last thing she'd wanted to do had been to have to ask for Daniel's help. But she knew as well as Colonel O'Neill did that they were in trouble and needed to find a way out of this place. There was only so much she could do without being able to read the fine print. So she went back to the wiring. She and Teal'c had been working hard to put things together again. There were a lot of wires that were disconnected. She had the impression that someone had purposefully taken things apart.

Teal'c handed her a coil of green wires. "Major Carter, these were concealed beneath a sheaf of papers."

"Ok. I guess add them to the pile. Did the papers indicate what the wiring was for?"

"Not that I was able to ascertain. Although these do appear to be schematics of some sort." He spread them out on the counter.

Sam peered at them and said, "These look a lot like this machine." She waved over her shoulder at the machine she believed was the weather machine. "I wonder if I can figure out how it works based on this. I have got to find a way to shut it down."

Teal'c nodded.

"Dougrae?" Jack asked incredulously. "He said his name was Dougrae?"

"Yes."

"Crap, Daniel, Dougrae was the guy who took over for the Goa'uld. You and Carter thought he might actually be a Tok'ra. He's the guy responsible for this weather." He fingered his radio and quickly updated Carter and Teal'c on this new development. Finishing, he looked back at Daniel. "She seems to think she can turn off the weather machine with your help. You sure you're up to a hike?"

The very thought of moving was enough to make him want to die, but there were apparently a lot of people in trouble; including SG1. At least that's what he gathered from what Sam had said. He remembered them talking about these people, the Kamyen Obyet, but he was struggling to remember exactly how they fit into the grand scheme of things, or how they were in danger. Even with Jack's not so subtle attempts to jog his memory, he still couldn't keep things straight. Jack didn't look convinced at all of his abilities, so Daniel took a deep breath and rolled onto his side. Action typically worked better than words.

Oh boy. The room, already blurry and dim, turned to black.

"Daniel?" Jack asked in concern. He hadn't expected him to just suddenly roll over like that. He hadn't thought it possible, but Daniel had actually gone another shade paler.

Daniel was concentrating all his efforts on just keeping breathing. After a minute, he risked opening his eyes again. It would be great if Jack would stop jumping up and down and spinning around in circles. Slamming his eyes shut, he couldn't quite stifle a moan. That wasn't going to do anything to convince Jack he could make it.
Jack just held his tongue and waited. He hated this. After a few silent moments, Daniel finally managed to open his eyes again. He looked like he was going to be sick.

Jack shook his head, "We are not going anywhere."

Daniel looked at him steadily and said firmly, "Just shut up and help me."

Teal'c opened the door of the lab and slipped out into the hallway. From Colonel O'Neill's last report, it sounded as if there was a definite chance they could have company at any time. Judging from what O'Neill and Major Carter had experienced the previous evening, Teal'c knew that there was a strong possibility that the Goa'uld, or Tok'ra, Dougrae could be in the castle and observing them. He had been attempting to assist Major Carter with her work, but there was only so much he could do. They decided that it would be good for him to have a better view of the hallway and keep watch from there. The last thing they wanted was to be caught off guard. Additionally, he also wanted to be able to offer his assistance to O'Neill and Daniel Jackson should it be required.

Stepping into the hallway, he pulled the door closed again. The hall was much colder than the lab, and filled with the whistling wind. Their location was farther up the hall from where the explosion from the night before had destroyed the outer wall and a section of the inner wall. A glance in both directions revealed the hall was completely empty. Teal'c did not allow his guard to drop, however. An empty and quiet hall did not necessarily mean that it was safe. A sudden quake shook the building and he braced himself against the wall. Major Carter believed the planet itself was potentially being torn apart by the violent weather patterns. He was inclined to agree with her; it wasn't the first time they had experienced technology that interfered with the weather. Medrona came to mind, although the purpose of the Touchstone had been to protect against severe weather, not create it.

A sudden scraping noise had Teal'c spinning to the right, staff weapon at the ready. The hall remained devoid of life. The sound had come from the opposite direction of the explosion and the transporter. Teal'c took a few steps forward, listening closely. He heard it again and cautiously peered into the room. In the far corner, he could see the pack of rats, as O'Neill termed them. Some were rolling in the dirt on the floor, others nibbling at some crumb they had found. He was about to leave when something caught his eye. He frowned. There was something there...on the floor. Walking over, he swept the rats away with his foot and leaned down to look closer. There was a leak from somewhere and the rats had been drinking from a small puddle on the floor. The puddle had smeared the dirt and revealed a familiar pattern on the floor...

"Jack."

Daniel's desperate voice broke through the silence. Jack felt him stumble and looked at his friend closely. They'd only made it about half-way to the transporter and it had taken them an excruciatingly long time to even get that far. They hadn't spoken one word since Daniel had told him to shut up. It had been rough going and Jack knew they had to take a short break. Daniel's strong grip on his arm was almost painful, but that was the only thing that was strong right at the moment. Jack helped Daniel to the ground as his legs went out from under him.

"Easy, Daniel, easy." He leaned him back against the wall and put out a hand to check his pulse, noting that his skin was cool and clammy. His eyes were closed and his breathing was ragged. Jack shook his head. He watched Daniel for a few seconds, and then hit his radio. "Carter."

There was a long silence, then her voice came back, "Yes, sir?"

"Hey. How're you guys doing?"

"I'm still attempting to establish how the machine controlling the weather operates. Teal'c found some schematics."

"Ok. We're on our way. But we're going to be a bit late."

"Understood, sir."

Jack sat back against the wall next to Daniel just as another quake shook the hall. The only thing he could find to be thankful about at the moment was the fact that nobody had shot at them. Yet. His mind turned back to the previous evening and the new issues they were facing. He and Carter had caught Teal'c up on their experiences and findings after they returned from their trek the night before. Tormic and Daniel had already fallen asleep by that time. Of course Tormic wouldn't have gotten much from the conversation. His Goa'uld vocabulary was more of the tourist version, not the cloak and dagger edition. And there hadn't been a lot of point in Jack even bothering to tell Daniel what had happened; he'd gone through it with him earlier in the morning and Daniel hadn't even remembered the conversation two hours later, let alone any of the pertinent information. Carter and Teal'c had agreed that they had to focus on the lab and finding a way home before anything else happened.

"How much farther?" Daniel suddenly whispered, breaking Jack out of his thoughts

"A bit." Jack answered, seeing Daniel turn his head slightly and look up at him. "You gonna make it?"

Daniel didn't answer. He just waved his hand weakly and started to push himself to his feet. Jack grabbed him and helped pull him up; listening ruefully as Daniel tried to muffle his groans of pain as he tried to straighten up against sore muscles. He'd stiffened up a lot in the last day and a half. Jack had seen the bruises all around his chest and back when Carter had checked him out more thoroughly. From the attack by the Sha to the fall into the outbuilding, Jack wasn't at all surprised that he was bruised and sore all over. Wrapping his arm around Daniel's waist again, Jack looked ahead to the transporter. That last stretch was a killer and they practically fell into the transporter. He wasn't sure Daniel was going to stay upright. Keeping his hold on Daniel, Jack hit the button to take them to the level with the lab. Daniel was fighting to control his breathing, and to stay upright, Jack could tell.

Thankfully, an instant was all the time it took before they arrived at their destination. Jack pulled Daniel out of the transporter as quickly as he could. The rain and wind were hitting the area and there was a lot of rubble to trip over as they attempted to get away from the elements. They struggled over the rocks and masonry. Helping Daniel maneuver around the debris, Jack was thankful that they didn't run into anyone or anything as they headed to the lab. Neither of them was exactly going to be able to fight at the moment. Reaching the door, Jack shoved it open unceremoniously and Carter looked up in surprise from her seat at a workbench across the room. Their entry startled her and brought her to her feet.

"Sir!" She exclaimed, rushing over to them.

Jack felt Daniel sliding to the floor again and was grateful Carter was on her way to assist. Just before Daniel hit his knees, he said very matter-of-factly, "I think I better sit for a minute."

Jack snorted, "Ya think?"

They helped him to the ground and somewhere along the way, he evidently decided that he should actually lie down for a minute because he kept going until he was huddled on his side on the floor, eyes squeezed shut. Sam immediately reached out to check his pulse and leaned down to try to look him in the face, her head almost on the floor too. "Daniel, can you hear me?"

"Oh yeah. Stop yelling."

Jack smiled as her head snapped up to look at him. He shook his head and said very softly, "He's been complaining about how loud I am all day."

"You are loud, Jack."

"Oh hush up. Your head hurts.

Daniel just groaned.

Sam looked back down and tried to be more quiet when she spoke, "Daniel, I'm so sorry to have dragged you up here."

"Think he was doing the dragging." Daniel pointed a finger in Jack's general direction. He forced his eyes open, and then decided the world looked a lot better with his eyes closed. He tried to control his breathing, "It's ok. Just...just give me a minute..."

Straightening up as Daniel tried to avoid puking or passing out, Jack wasn't sure which, he glanced around the room. Tormic smiled at him from the opposite corner where he stood, balanced on one foot, at an awkward angle between two terminals; hanging onto a bundle of protruding wires from the one on the left, and holding some sort of device to the other. He looked like a suffering saint, but he also looked like he was going to lose his balance soon. Jack looked at Carter. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Daniel who looked like he was apparently still trying to decide if he wanted to throw up or not.

"Oh, Carter."

"Sir?" She still didn't look up.

"Carter. There a reason you've got Tormic contorting in the corner?

That brought her head up in a hurry. "Oh, boy."

Jack smiled a bit watching her scurry over to the workbench she'd been at when they entered the room. She slammed a few buttons and then looked over at Tormic with apology on her face. She waved at him. He let his arms fall, and Jack's eyes narrowed. Funny thing, but the guy looked...

"Is he singed, Carter?" Jack asked with as much restraint as he could manage. Tormic was rubbing his hands together and smiling, but Jack could've sworn he saw smoke rising from his hair.

Carter looked at him with defense on her lips, "He was helping."

"Helping you electrocute him?"

"I needed a connection between those two ports..." She started off again and the next five minutes were lost to Jack in a haze of technological mumbo-jumbo.

He could tell she was stressed and worried, so he just nodded and acted like he understood what on earth she was talking about. She turned around and pointed at the monitors, going on and on. Jack took that opportunity to sneak a peek down at Daniel. He had brought his fists up to press against his head and looked every bit as miserable as Jack was sure he felt. Looking back at Carter, he met her eyes as she turned back around. She had seemed much better when she'd left earlier in the morning; but he could feel the tension radiating off of her. And she looked a bit ill. Who was he kidding? She looked awful, pale with dark circles around her eyes, voice that was constantly hoarse from coughing. She sighed.

"That's why I need help." She finished, softly, with another guilty glance down at Daniel.

Jack nodded, "That's why we're here, Major. To serve and protect." He glanced around the room and frowned, "Speaking of protect...I'm not a mathematician or a physicist, so forgive me if my math is wrong...but I'm counting the warm living bodies in this room and I'm coming up one member of SG1 short. Where's Teal'c?"

Sam frowned, "He didn't meet you in the hall?"

"No." Jack paused, that familiar sense of dread sweeping over him yet again. "No, he didn't. I take it he was supposed to."

"Yes, sir. We figured someone should be keeping a careful watch out there after what you told us earlier. He was planning to meet you guys and..." She bit her lip. The worry increased, "You didn't see him?"

Jack was already adjusting his grip on the P90. "Nope." He turned to the door. "I'll be back."

"Yes, sir." Sam said in resignation, holding her own weapon at the ready.