Witch Hunt

by Tracy

The team goes off-world and runs into trouble.

Witch Hunt

by Tracy LeCates

The voices in the distance grew louder as she ran, trying to evade her pursuers. The setting sun cast an almost ethereal glow over the lush landscape and strange colors onto the grass her booted feet pounded. "Protocol be damned," the young woman grumbled breathlessly to herself, "next time I wear footwear fit for running."

Weary already from the frantic pace she had kept up for miles, her heart sank further into her stomach at the sight of the steep incline that led to the plateau where her only hopes of escape stood. "It would have to be uphill," she panted. Taking a deep breath as the sounds of the villagers behind her met her ears again, she plunged ahead. Her boots dug into the rocky terrain as she began her ascent, her legs shaking with exhaustion. High above perched atop the hill, stood the ring: her ticket home.

Her feet slipped out from under her as she neared the summit, the loose topsoil showering down below her as she scrambled for purchase. Her bleeding fingers grasped solid rock as she pulled herself upright once more and continued upwards. With the metal ring blessedly in sight she pulled the small transmitter from her pocket and stabbed out the address of her home world.  Staggering towards safety, she reached only the fifth glyph before the brilliant rush of energy surged from the circle, and an incoming wormhole established. 

"No!" The cry tore from her throat as her path of escape became blocked.

Jack O'Neill shouldered his weapon and pulled on his fingerless gloves, going through the now familiar routine of preparing to make a jump. He fidgeted restlessly with his cap and sunglasses before finally parking himself at the base of the ramp while waiting for Major Carter to send the MALP through. "I thought you did this yesterday, Carter," he drawled. "I figured we were all set to go here."

"I know," the blonde officer said apologetically. "But the MALP we sent through yesterday malfunctioned just as it was transmitting back the images of the DHD.  It looked like it was on the edge of a cliff. Now, if the DHD is damaged or half-gone, then we'll have to bring the reactor in order to get enough power to dial out and…"                                                                                                   

"AH!" Jack's hand snapped up in a plaintive 'halt' gesture. "Just… send it through, Carter.  Hopefully the first probe just malfunctioned, and wasn't blown to hell by an unfriendly."                                                                                                                Sam shot her CO a faint smile and stood back to let the probe roll up the ramp, and through the event horizon. She turned after a few moments to look up into the control room, waiting for the go-ahead.                                                                    A look of surprise appeared on the face of the young officer above, and he motioned for Major Carter to join him. Quickly.

Sam jogged into the control room, followed at a more impatient pace by Colonel O'Neill and Daniel. "What is…" Her question was cut short by the sound of the voice coming through the speaker.

"Please!" the voice implored as the bedraggled young woman's face came into view. "Whoever you are - you must disengage the wormhole!"

Carter moved out of the way as Daniel grabbed the mic in his hand. "Hello. We mean you no harm," he tried to assure the woman as she quickly brushed back her dirty-blonde hair, which blew in her face and obscured her eyes. "We're peaceful explorers from…"

"Please!" she interrupted frantically. "You must disengage now, I cannot activate the ring from my end while you have this connection established!"

"I - I don't understand…"

"You are signing my death warrant!" she implored. "I do not have much time!" Her head swung to the side, the look of panic on her face growing. "I am out of time…" she muttered. With one last hopeless glance back at the gate she turned and ran, disappearing from sight.

"What the hell just happened?" Jack exclaimed, staring at the screen, which now showed only the peaceful scenery on PJ7-223.

"Looks like the woman was trying to dial out, but couldn't," Carter reiterated as she took the controls of the MALP, panning back and forth over the small plateau the gate stood on. "Sounded to me like she was being chased."

Daniel peered curiously at the monitor. "By whom, though?"

"Probably by the people chasing her," Jack interjected impatiently. "Well, where are they, then? I don't see any sign of anyone else…"

Carter's eyes were lit as she turned to look at her CO.  "These people obviously know about gate travel. She knew that she couldn't dial out while we have the wormhole established. This may be a fairly advanced civilization, and that woman certainly sounded like she was in trouble."

"Carter, for all we know she could have been an escaped convict, trying to get off-world."

"I agree." Hammond's voice came unexpectedly from behind them. "However, there doesn't seem to be anything going on there now. No sounds of weapon's-fire or fighting. Colonel, I'll give you the go-ahead to perform a standard recon, but no more than twenty-four hours."

O'Neill was moving towards the embarkation room already. "Yes, sir. Carter, Teal'c, Daniel, let's go."

The chilled air blew gently over the hilltop as the team stepped through the gate and the event horizon disappeared. Arms drawn and at the ready, O'Neill and Teal'c did a quick scan of the immediate area, peering down the steep slope. "Clear," Jack called back.

"There is no sign of the woman or her pursuers here either," Teal'c reported, walking back towards the major who performed a quick visual check of the DHD.

Jack grasped his weapon loosely in one hand, rummaging through his pack quickly with the other for his flashlight. "Gets dark pretty damn quick
around here."

"Without light we will be unable to efficiently track the woman," Teal'c
observed, turning his gaze to O'Neill in the rapidly fading half-light.

Jack glanced back at him for a moment, before staring critically at the descent to the land below. "This isn't a rescue mission. For all we know
she could have been a criminal evading capture by the local authorities.
We're here to scope out the situation, see if we can talk to the locals,
that's it."

"But, Jack," Daniel began to interject, cutting himself short at the
withering glare he received in response. "Okay, all right, never mind, I
know... 'the next time Daniel tries to help someone, shoot him'. I know. I
was just going to point out that there are lights over there."

"That direction it is, then," he agreed, trying to hide his faint smile
of amusement. He spotted the lights the archeologist pointed towards. They
sprang to life in groups of three and four in the distance, illuminating
what was probably a good-sized village. "Looks like streetlights from
here."

"They're not flickering like torches," Daniel agreed. "Which is a good
sign."

"This side looks like an easier climb down," Sam called back to them from the far edge of the plateau.

Jack joined her at the edge, peering down. "Better go now while we've
still got a little light left," he announced. "Don't anybody fall, I'm getting too old to carry any of you back up this slope."

The climb down took longer than any of them expected as the loose
topsoil gave way easily beneath their boots, sliding down in great dirt-showers. The night closed in, and the single moon rose over the horizon, casting a pale, yellow light down on the terrain.

"Fucking mountain goats must have picked that gate location," O'Neill
groused as they reached the flat landscape below at last.

"I do not believe the Goa'uld have ever used goats as hosts."

"Thank you, Teal'c. Really. Thanks for clearing that up. Now I don't have to be afraid to go to the petting zoo anymore."

The Jaffa's eyebrows arched quizzically, the sarcasm missing its mark. "You are quite welcome, O'Neill. I did not know this was a matter which concerned you."

Turning away to hide her smile in the near darkness, Sam took out her flashlight and adjusted the pack on her shoulder. "Well, maybe we should get going before all the rooms at the local bed and breakfasts are taken."

"Capital idea, Carter!"

           

The temperature dropped as the night winds picked up, rustling the leaves in the trees overhead as the foursome made their way towards the village in the distance. They followed a well-worn trail through the woods, weapons close at hand, and flashlights illuminating their path. Jack O'Neill led his team in silence, his thoughts returning to the woman whose image their probe had transmitted back to them across space.

A criminal eluding capture, or something more? Just our luck, the whole damn village was probably overrun with snakeheads and that was the last human. Once, just once I'd like to have a standard meet-and-greet come off as a standard meet-and-greet.

The sound of movement off the trail brought Jack to an abrupt halt, his hand tightening on the weapon he held. All motion stopped, and the night fell silent again. After a long moment, Jack lowered his weapon, motioned to Sam, who stood behind him, and started off down the trail again, his senses alert and attuned to the sounds around him.

The figures rose soundlessly from the shadows around them, nearly twenty in all, surrounding them in a fraction of a moment. "Halt!"

"Whoa!" Jack pulled up short, his team behind him taking defensive postures, weapons jerking up suddenly at the crowd of darkly clothed men who completely encircled them. Yeah, I knew this was gonna go down badly. I just knew it. "Welcome wagon?" he asked with a forced smile as he assessed their situation. His team was severely outnumbered. Their weapons looked less advanced than the ones he and his team held, yet their sheer number told him they would come out on the losing end of a confrontation.

"You came through the circle of light," the man closest to him declared, his face hidden in shadow.

"The stargate," Daniel offered calmly. "We're peaceful explorers from a place called Earth. We mean you no -"

"Silence, Warlock!" the man thundered, brandishing a large wooden cross in his weaponless hand.

Warlock? Great. First we're demons, now we're warlocks? Jack grumbled silently. "We're not warlocks. We're explorers. Now, if everyone would just put down their weapons we could talk about this," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and reasonable as he slowly turned his weapon towards the sky in a gesture of offered peace.

The sound of Carter sucking in a sharp breath of surprise and falling to her knees behind him made him turn, but not before he felt the sting of the dart in his neck, and the world faded away.

Jack's head pounded with the steady beat of his heart, and his stomach did a quick turn as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt the cold of the dirt floor beneath him, and heard the soft groan of someone nearby. Blinking to clear his vision, he tried to sit up, and failed.

"O'Neill," Teal'c murmured.

"Teal'c?" Jack groaned, pushing himself up to his knees, and sagging back against the stone wall behind him. His vision cleared enough for him to see the form of his Jaffa companion close by, sitting with his head atop bent knees. "What the hell hit us?" he asked, rubbing the back of neck, feeling the small bump where the dart had sunken into his flesh. "Carter, Daniel?"

"They are here," Teal'c answered flatly. "They have not yet awakened."

"They will likely sleep for some time yet," a quiet voice from the corner of the cell informed him.

Jack turned, his eyes glancing over the unconscious members of his team sprawled on the dirt floor of their cell. The moonlight filtered in through the high narrow window above and cast an eerie glow over the fifth occupant of the cell. His eyebrow arched slightly and he forced a smile to his face. "Lovely. And you know this because…?"

"Because I, myself woke only a short time ago," the young woman replied, stretching her long limbs before sinking back down to the ground. "You are not native to this place," she stated certainly.

"No, we're not. We got the reverse bum's-rush about an hour after we arrived." As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of their cell and he could more clearly discern her features, recognition dawned on him. "You're the woman we saw in the transmission. The one trying to dial out earlier."

The woman's expression fell to annoyance and barely concealed hostility. "It was you. You are the ones who blocked my escape route."

"Hey, we didn't know we had to call ahead and schedule a wormhole," he grumbled back at her, studying the dark gray uniform she wore. "What happened?  You slipped your chain and they dragged you back to jail before you could get off-world?" he asked.

"Slipped my…? You think I am an... an escaped criminal?" she sputtered indignantly, rising to her feet again, albeit a little unsteadily.

"Aren't you?"

"I am not! I arrived through the ring mid-day, and was ambushed along the path through the trees. I managed to elude the native cretins nearly all afternoon. I had half my home address encoded when you blocked me, and would not relinquish control!"

"I believe she speaks the truth, O'Neill," Teal'c interjected calmly, glancing across the wide corridor outside their cage. "The other prisoners do not wear uniforms such as hers."

"Thank you," the woman responded politely to the Jaffa. "My uniform is that of the militia, not of a prisoner. Your Jaffa friend appears to be quite a bit more observant than you. The woman is your leader?" she asked, nodding down towards Sam.

O'Neill stared up at the disheveled prisoner, his jaw clenching angrily as he tried to tell if she was simply being sarcastic. "No, I happen to be the leader of this unfortunate band. Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. Earth. So, who the hell are you?"

The woman extended her hand in greeting to Teal'c instead. "My name is Nadja."

Teal'c grasped her hand in his for a moment, bowing his head respectfully. "I am Teal'c."

 "It is an honor to meet you, Teal'c. I have never before encountered a free Jaffa, one not in the company of a false god."

"What makes you so sure one of us isn't Goa'uld?" Jack asked, feeling his irritation level rising. "How do we know you're not one?"

"I doubt the Goa'uld would have succumbed to the effects of the narcotic in the darts," Nadja responded, beginning to pace the confines of their cell. "Your party has most likely been branded as witch and warlocks by the natives for coming through the standing ring. The guards who brought you in spoke of a public execution tomorrow at high sun."

"Oh, well, that's just swell," Jack groused. "And could you sit down? You're gonna step on Carter or Daniel."

Nadja cast him an evil glance and wandered over to crouch down at his side. "Have you any weapons?"

"Uh, no." Jack scowled. "They tend to wanna take those kinds of things from you before tossing you in a cell." His blood pressure rose sharply as he caught the woman rolling her eyes at him. "What?"

"They left me with my dialer," she answered, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the long, thin device strapped to her forearm. "I thought perhaps they might have left you with something they did not recognize as a weapon."

He moved closer to examine it in the moonlight steaming through the barred window overhead. "Those are glyphs," he said, running a finger over the slightly raised characters. "What is this?"

She rolled the sleeve back down over the device. "I told you," she replied impatiently. "A dialer. Not all worlds with rings have dialing platforms. Some have become damaged or have been destroyed over the centuries. This ensures that we do not become trapped on a foreign world."

"You've got a portable -" His question was cut off by the sound of Carter's low groan as she struggled to sit up. "Carter? You with us?" he asked, moving towards the semi-conscious woman.

"Yeah. I think so, anyway," she murmured. "What happened?"

"Good question," Daniel grumbled from his prone position on the cold floor. "What hit us?"

"The darts they shot us with contained a powerful narcotic," Teal'c said as he assisted Daniel in sitting up and finding the glasses that had fallen from his face as they had been dumped unceremoniously into the cell.

"We did, however, find the woman who was working her panties into a bunch trying to dial out when we were dialing in," Jack said, jerking his head towards the woman in the corner.

Daniel and Sam both turned their still unfocused eyes towards the figure and Daniel gave her a nod. "Daniel Jackson. I'd like to do the polite thing and get up to greet you, but my head is telling he that's not such a hot idea."

"I understand. I woke only shortly before your teammates, myself. The effects will diminish quickly now that you're conscious," she assured him as she resumed her pacing.

"She's not from around here," Jack said as he returned to the barred doors and tried to assess their situation.

"I was attempting to escape the indigenous people and return home when the wormhole established and my route was cut off."

"Hey, Carter, take a look at the dialing thingy she's got on her wrist."

Sam sat up against the wall and shook her head to clear a little of the fog from her brain. "Dialing thingy?" she repeated.

Nadja moved across the cell and slid down the wall to sit next to the blonde Major. She rolled her sleeve back up to reveal the device. "It is a remote activation unit for the standing ring," she explained. "You do not possess such a device yourselves?"

"No," Sam answered, inspecting the device as thoroughly as she could in the semi-darkness of the cell. "We use a small Naqadah reactor for powering the gate if there's no DHD, but the gate has to be manually dialed. How far can you be from the gate - the standing ring - to use this?" she asked, sounding more alert by the moment. "Could you activate it from here?"

Nadja shook her head. "I'm afraid not. This village is quite far from the ring. We must be at least at the base of that slope for it to operate."

"Slope?" Jack barked. "Slope? You call that a slope? It's a goddamn mountain. And that thing isn't gonna do any of us any good unless we're on the other side of these walls. In case you hadn't noticed we're in prison and scheduled to be executed tomorrow. We need to get the hell outta here first, then we'll worry about dialing out."

"How long do you think it'll be before we're flagged as overdue and Hammond sends someone after us?" Daniel asked, moving closer to get a look at the device, which held Sam's attention.

"We're not even gonna be overdue for at least another eighteen hours," Jack said flatly as he tugged at the bars on the door. "I don't even see any guards. Teal'c, gimme a hand. Let's see if we can't bust ourselves outta this joint."

Teal'c rose, crossed the cell, and wrapped his powerful hands around the bar O'Neill already had hold of. The two men pulled back, feet digging into the floor for purchase as they strained. The bar moved in its moorings, but held fast.

"Damn, what is that smell?" Jack muttered, giving up on the bar at last with a disgruntled kick.

Teal'c craned his head, peering out of the door to their cage. "It appears to be… a string of garlic, hanging outside the cell."

"Garlic? What are they gonna do? Cook us?"

Daniel looked at his CO.  "Typically garlic is thought to ward off vampires. Not witches and warlocks." He got to his feet and joined his friends at the door. A glint of shiny metal caught his attention. "Well, it appears they're covering all their bases. They've got silver crosses in the hall too. I guess that's why they didn't feel it was necessary to leave a guard posted. They've got us disempowered."

"Disempowered, my ass," Jack muttered. "Gimme a zat gun and we'll see who's disempowered. " Clapping his hands together he turned back to his team. "All right. Let's go, we gotta get outta here. Ideas? Suggestions?"

"First thing's first, we need to find a way out of this cell," Nadja said, walking away from Sam. "There are three ways out - through the door, through the window or through the wall. Which presents the easiest route of escape?"

"That window isn't big enough for a person to fit through," Jack replied, eyeing the woman critically. "And, unless you can walk through walls, I'd say the wall is out of the question too, which leaves the door. You can't walk through walls, can you?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

The evil glare she shot back at him suggested that she might like to put *him* through the wall. "No, I cannot walk through walls. I was merely suggesting that if one or more of the stones were loose we might -"

Jack cut her off with a wave of his hand. "The door is the only way out. Now, we either get one of these bars out of it or we get a key. Since there doesn't appear to be anyone out there I'd say the key is probably out of the question."

"The bars appear unbreakable," Teal'c observed. "The mortar they are placed in, however, is not.  We may be able to chisel it away."

"Except that we don't have anything to use as a chisel," Jack pointed out, searching the small cell for anything he could use as a tool.

Sam came to stand at his side, looking out into the hall. "Colonel, if we could get a hold of one of those silver crosses in the hall… we could use that."

"Isn't that sacrilegious or something, Carter?" he asked, already sizing up the distance between himself and the other side of the corridor outside the cell. "Not that we can reach it, anyway."

"Jack, every cell I can see from here has one hanging on the wall fairly close to the cell door," Daniel said, reaching out through the bars, his hand groping along the wall outside. "Hah! Got it!" he cried triumphantly, holding up the heavy, nine-inch long crucifix in his hand.

"Way to go, altar-boy," Jack congratulated him, snatching the cross from his hand. "If one of you wants to say a prayer for me while I do this, by all means go right ahead," he said as he dropped to his knees and started digging at the loosening mortar around the bottom of the nearest bar.

Sam approached Nadja. "Listen, assuming we do get out of here, do you think you could show us how to make one of those remote dialing devices?" she asked.

Nadja offered her an apologetic smile. "I am sorry, but once we are able to leave this place I must move on quickly. Perhaps you will give me the coordinates to your world and someday…" She shrugged. "Right now time is of the essence for my people, or I would be more than willing to share some of our technology with you."

"Oh, sure," Jack groused as he worked. "Always some excuse, Carter, you know that. It's not a very sharing kinda universe. Evidently Mr. Rogers isn't viewed in homes on her world."

"I cannot believe that someone as arrogant as *that*," Nadja spat, pointing at Jack, "could be the leader of your team. Granted we've come across many worlds where the male of the species is dominant, but never have I come across one so… so… so irritating."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack snapped as he stood up, crucifix clutched in his hand. "Watch who you're calling arrogant and irritating! You're no Miss Congeniality, either, ya know! Are you telling me that the women are in charge on your planet?"

"In charge of governing the people, yes. In charge of the Militia, yes!" she insisted indignantly. "In times gone by the males had control, but since the females took over there have been no wars, no upheaval…"

"Oh, sure, just some real intense negotiations every twenty-eight days," he snorted, dropping to his knees and returning to his work with renewed vigor.

"It is not that I will not share technology with your people," she pursued, coming to stand over him. "It is that I do not have the time to spare. My people are in need of a new home. Every available team has been dispatched off-world in search of an uninhabited world we can relocate to."

"What's wrong with the planet you're on now?" Daniel asked curiously.

"It has been poisoned by the Goa'uld," she said quietly. "One of their kind came through our ring… his symbiote was destroyed by the device attached to the it. When he did not return his queen sent through an army of Jaffa to destroy my people. Their symbiotes were also destroyed. When her army did not return she sent through an explosive device that poisoned our water, our crops, our soil… My people are slowly dying, and we cannot reverse the effects of the toxin. We have been searching for an uninhabited world that would support us. Preliminary exploration of this world did not uncover this village. I came through to explore it further, and was captured before I could escape. I must move on to the next set of coordinates soon. We are running out of time."

Daniel held up a hand to halt her. "Wait… wait… What did you mean that the symbiotes were destroyed?"

"There is a device attached to our ring that destroys the Goa'uld symbiotes when they step through the ring, and leaves the host intact," she explained.

"Like Thor's Hammer," Sam said excitedly, drawing Jack's attention briefly away from his task at hand. "If we can find you another world to move to, would your people be willing to share some of this technology with us? Colonel, in the four years we've been using the gate how many uninhabited worlds have we come across? Dozens, at least, right? If we help them find another home, we could seriously benefit from their technology."

"Remember Alar," he grumbled, setting the cross aside and wriggling the bar about in its loosened moorings.

"It's worth investigating," she insisted.

"Let's get out of here first, Carter."

Nadja took hold of Sam's arm. "If you were to offer us an alternative home in the next few days I would be more than happy to share the remote device and the ring-guard with your people. We have shared them in the past with other cultures. If you would assist us with the relocation I could offer you more."

"We'll gate from here back to the SGC and talk it over with Hammond," Jack said flatly. "That's the best we can do." He glanced at Carter and she nodded in mute acquiescence.

With Teal'c's help he yanked the bar loose from the floor and laid it on the ground. "It'll be a tight fit, but we're not sticking around to roast at the stake at noon. Let's go. Maybe we can find our weapons before we split."

The four other occupants of the cell slipped through the opening in the cell door with Jack bringing up the rear. The jail was silent and lit with small torches along the walls, their power source hidden from view. The five escapees moved quietly through the corridors to the main room where they spotted their packs and weapons in the corner.

Jack grabbed his pack and shouldered his weapon, but hesitated as he moved towards the exit. "Hold up. I don't know if we're going to encounter any resistance at this time of the night, but I want to leave some insurance." Rummaging through his pack he pulled out a small explosive device and placed it on the wall behind one of the light fixtures. He pocketed the accompanying remote device. "Just in case."

"Just in case no one realizes we are gone you plan on blowing up the building?" Nadja asked.

"No, Miss Congeniality, that's not what I'm doing," he groused. "And let's get this straight. I'm in charge here. Let's get our asses to the gate and get the hell outta here. Whatever happens after that is gonna be between you, and General Hammond. I don't want anything to do with it. Now let's go."

The frigid night greeted them with an icy embrace, their breath pluming in the air before them. "Which way?" Carter asked softly, senses alert and aware.

"This way," Nadja answered, shivering. She started off towards the cover of the forest barely visible in the moonlit night. "There is a path that leads to the clearing below the ring."

"Yeah, that's where we got ambushed on the way to town," Jack objected as he moved after her. "Isn't there another way?"

"I do not live here," she reminded him in ill humor. "If you would like to wait until morning and perhaps inquire of one of the charming inhabitants of this world…"

"Oh, oh, look who's talking about charming!" he snorted. "Teal'c watch our sixes. I guess we're following Miss Congeniality into the woods. Lions and tigers and Bit-"

"I did not say that you had to accompany me," the blonde woman whispered harshly, cutting off his latest insult as she walked away from him. "I would sacrifice my life to find a new home for my people, but I am not certain that death would be less pleasant than spending another few hours in your company."

Daniel and Sam each grabbed hold of one of Jack's arms as his hands shot out in the direction of the back of the woman's neck. "Colonel, this will all be over in a few hours and one of the other teams can assist her people with the search and relocation," Carter pointed out quickly, desperately wanting to defuse any explosion that might keep them from getting a hold of the technology the woman offered.

Jack pinned an evil stare to her back, but kept his mouth shut as he followed Nadja through outskirts of the darkened village, passed unlit homes and into the woods. Once far enough away from the nearest dwelling he took out his flashlight, then decided against using it. The sky was lightening with the first hints of early dawn and they found the start of the trail towards the gate. The team moved stealthily down the path, feeling a little warmer with the exertion of the quick pace they'd set.

The first cry of alarm from the village was heard a moment later.

"Ohhhh, shit, these folks are early risers," Jack said tiredly. "Okay folks, let's move." He placed a hand at Nadja's back and gave her a none-too-gentle prod forward.

The woman responded immediately, picking up the pace to a fast jog. "Push me one more time and you will be unable to run at all," she promised.

"O'Neill, we are being pursued," Teal'c called ahead of him as he heard the sound of movement along the trail behind them. He reached for his zat gun as their steps quickened.

Nadja led them through the woods at a run, her feet pounding the ground beneath her, Jack hot on her heels. They burst through into the clearing below the gate with the rising sun overhead. 

Jack groaned at the sight of their escape so high above them. "How many, Teal'c?" he called back, not missing a step as he followed Nadja.

"A dozen, perhaps more!"

Nadja launched herself up the first rise with the others behind her, each panting for every breath already, stomachs empty and bodies exhausted from a sleepless night. Their pursuers emerged from the woods, weapons raised and aimed.

Jack turned stopped, holding his arms out. "WAIT!" he bellowed.

All motion stopped for a brief moment.

"Daniel, use that remote dialer and dial out now.  Don't let them see you," he whispered as he moved in front of Nadja and Jackson. He pointed to the men below them with one hand, his other hand moving into his pocket. "You have angered us, and will now… feel our wrath!" he yelled, squeezing the remote in his pocket. In the distant village the explosive in the jail ignited with a thunderous boom, shaking the ground and sending billows of smoke into the air.

Daniel stood behind Jack, and grabbed Nadja's wrist, tapping at the glyphs that made up the address for Earth. High above them the ring spun, the chevrons locked and the wormhole established with a brilliant gush of energy.

"Either you all back off and let us leave this place, or suffer the wrath of the army of… of warlocks who are gonna come through that circle any second now!" Jack proclaimed loudly to the villagers below who cowered at the sight. O'Neill raised his arms higher into the air. "We will destroy your village with the blink of an eye if you're not back in those woods by the time I count to three!" he warned.

The terrified villagers dropped their weapons and fled for the safety of the forest as he opened his mouth again to begin the count.
            "All right, let's move our asses!" Jack said urgently. "Before they re-think their decision."

Twelve hours later, Jack walked into the briefing room, hair still slightly damp from a much-needed shower, his hands filled with candy bars. A sour expression crossed his features at the sight of Nadja sitting at the table, deep in animated conversation with Daniel and Sam. "I thought you guys might be a little hungry, too" he said, tossing the chocolate onto the table and handing a bar to Teal'c as he joined them.

Nadja picked up one of the chocolate bars and unwrapped it as she saw the others doing, with a brief nod of acknowledgment in O'Neill's direction.

"You know, it's polite to say thank you when someone does something nice," he scowled. "Unless, of course, on your world the men wait on the women hand and foot…"

"As opposed to your world where you think the female should… throw herself at the feet of the male?" she shot back.

"I never said you had to throw yourself at my feet. A simple thank you would have sufficed."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

"Well, I'm glad to see we're all being so polite," Hammond said as he entered the room. "Even if the volume is a little higher than necessary." He took a seat at the table and passed around the folders in his hands. "We've run a search for uninhabited worlds that might be suitable for a relocation. These are the three we've narrowed the search down to. Each is roughly equivalent in natural resources to the original home world. Two of the three have abandoned settlements, so there are some buildings still standing, though we have no idea what happened to the original inhabitants. They appear to have been vacated some time ago. After a twenty-four hour stand-down I'd like SG-1 to accompany Nadja and anyone from her world she'd like to bring through to each of these three worlds for their inspection. Once a selection has been made the relocation process can begin. As we discussed there will be an exchange to follow. Major Carter, I'd like you to take charge of the exchange of technology."

Jack choked on a mouthful of chocolate. "Sir? With all due respect," he coughed. "Couldn't another team take charge of the inspection and relocation?"

"What exactly seems to be the problem, Colonel?" Hammond asked, staring at Jack. The animosity between the Colonel and the newcomer had not been lost on the General.

I hate her. How much more clear does that need to be? She's an arrogant, irritating, mouthy bitch who I've just spent the last twenty-four hours restraining myself from belting? She's the Queen of the Harpies? How's that? "I just think that perhaps one of the other teams would be more suited to the task."

"Major Carter is the best candidate to work with their technicians and scientists in duplicating the devices she's described. You're all already familiar with the situation and the representative of the people involved. If there's something I'm missing, Colonel O'Neill, I wish you'd tell me what it is."

Jack's shoulders sagged under the weight of the glare he received from Hammond. For once they had a situation on their hands where an exchange of technology for simple help seemed viable and on the level, and he was determined to see it come to fruition. "No, sir," he muttered in resignation, returning his attention to the candy bar wrapper his fingers restlessly shredded on the table.

"Very good," Hammond said with a strained smile. "Study the profiles I've given you and I'll see you all back here in twenty-four hours, ready to go. Colonel O'Neill, please show our guest to the VIP quarters. Dismissed."

Muttering softly Jack stood and motioned Nadja to the door. "After you."

"Thank you so very, very, very, very much," she responded, bowing before him with a flourish, the sarcasm thick in her voice before stalking out of the room ahead of him. Jack cast a long-suffering look back at Sam before following, mouthing silent words she could only guess at.

"Well, that looks like the start of a beautiful friendship."

fin