"Teal'c!" Major Samantha Carter called from the top of the stairs.
"I am here Major Carter."
"I seem to have lost Brower, although I don't know where he could have gone and I didn't see him come back out did you?"
"Indeed I did not."
"Well, he must be someplace inside, It doesn't look dangerous but we should stay together. Get Nichols and come up."
"I do not believe that retrieving Airman Nichols will be possible. Nor do I believe that we will find Captain Brower either."
"I don't understand Teal'c, did something happen?"
"Did you not experience a strange sensation when passing the pillars."
"Um, yeah kind of a tingling sensation."
"As did I, I followed you through the pillars shortly after you disappeared."
"Disappeared?!"
"Yes, However Captain Brower could be seen after he passed through the pillars. "
"So somehow we both … uh … became invisible… and he didn't?"
"It would seem so, however, I do not believe we are invisible, If we were and we are still able to see the area around us, would we not also still be able to see the others as well? I turned to look back at Airman Nichols after I stepped through the pillars and he was not there."
Carter reached over to her radio. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Carter come in . . . sir can you hear me?"
Colonel Jack O'Neill woke to 2 sounds, well 2 voices really and one of them was definitely Carter.
"Carter?
…"Sir can you hear me?"
'on the radio' his brain told him after a second.
"Oh so you've woken up" the second and strange voice said, "Good, good, now I can ask my questions. Now what is a radio?" O'Neill's mind flashed through images and concepts of radio as he was trying to asses his situation and decide whether to respond to this aliens question, the thought of name rank and serial number came to mind but ever since the torture he had endured at the hand of Ba'al more torture was just something he didn't think he should have to deal with. 'Black Ops Training taught me to deal with torture until it killed me, not until it killed me over and over and over and over again, while distorting my mind at the same time.'
" I see and what are Black Ops and who is this Ba'al person you think of in such a negative manner."
Jacks mind automatically raced trough memories of each of the things she had asked about.
"Indeed that is fascinating, so what should I call you, Colonel Oneill? Ahab?"
"Ahab?!"
"Yes that is what two of your companions are calling you. They refer also to Pinocchio, Beauty and The Beast. I take it that the one you think of as Jonas Quinn is Pinocchio but Beauty and the beast?"
'Well at least they got the codename for Sam right, She is a Beauty, and Teal'c fit the Beast description.'
"Ah, but you are Jealous of the title being given to him rather than yourself because of the traditional pairing of the 2 in your culture, you do have some very amusing images coming from your mind, your Disney animations do seem highly entertaining."
'Sarah and I took Charlie to see that when it first came out.' his mind continued the story with images of Charlie's death and funeral. The loss of Sarah… their divorce. That had been the most painful thing in his life before the Stargate was introduced into his life. Since then he'd died many times. Still… Sarah bothered him at times, though he'd put her behind him. That loss had left a hole… one that he hoped Car-
He stopped himself from forming that thought when the woman started speaking again.
"Oh! You poor man… I'm sorry for your loss. This Sarah… and your son."
Jack started in surprise, and then he frowned. 'I can't think of a single thing without her knowing about it! What's going on?'
"What's going on, Jack? Oh, you don't mind if I call you Jack, do you? Ooh, is that your Sam calling?"
Jack focused on the sound coming from the radio.
"… Colonel, it's Sam. Do you read me?"
Jack focused his mind on thoughts of Sam and reached for the radio.
"Yes, Carter. I read you."
"Sir, we're about five clicks west of the Gate at what appears to be a Temple. We've lost Nichols and Brower. Teal'c said we were hit by some shimmery green light and apparently disappeared from their view."
"Oh my," Hi'ka volunteered. "Lo'da is so serious when it comes to having visitors. But green would mean Goa'ould. Your friends aren't Goa'ould, are they?"
Jacks mind flashed to images of Teal'c's symbiote, and the incident with Sam and Jolinar.
"Well, then. That might be a problem," Hi'ka said, "No choice now, they've already been infected. They'll have to go into the Temple and talk to Lo'da."
"Infected? By what?" Jack asked, a little strength coming back into his voice.
"Oh, by the virus that Lo'da created to kill Goa'ould. He might save your friend, but the only instance I know of him doing that was in a Tok'ra a couple hundred years ago."
"Wait… are you saying that this virus is going to kill them?"
"Oh, no! Of course not! Lo'da would never kill a person. The virus only kills the symbiote, leaving the host with what you would call the flu. But your friend Teal'c is a Jafaa, and without his symbiote even that is deadly."
Jack sat in silence for a second, soaking in the information, when the radio crackled back to life.
"Sir, are you there?" Jack grabbed the radio.
"Carter, I'm in a room somewhere with some lady alien who's doing a... uh... pretty good Madame Zorba impression."
"Um… sir, it should only take us a few minutes to triangulate your position… then we can come and get you."
"That's a negative, Major. You need to get both you and Teal'c inside that temple on the double and find this Lo'da guy. Apparently he's infected both of you with some virus that kills Goa'ould symbiotes."
Jonas Quinn had spent the last thirty minutes since the Colonel had disappeared between examining stone walls and talking to Major Conway. He couldn't figure out what had caused the Colonel to disappear, but with the questions from Conway getting increasingly specific as to the relationship between the Colonel and the Major, and previous SG-1 missions. He found himself making up stories just to tell him what he wanted to hear in hopes of stopping the questions so he could focus on what he really wanted… to find the Colonel. Mallory had apparently gone off to gather some more soil samples from a wider area around the Stargate. Jonas had his doubts... He'd tried contacting Major Carter or Teal'c, but had gotten a reply from Captain Brower that they were indisposed and could not currently come to the radio. After the third try, he'd stopped calling. If these guys didn't have an ulterior motive, he'd eat his hat.
"I am here Major Carter."
"I seem to have lost Brower, although I don't know where he could have gone and I didn't see him come back out did you?"
"Indeed I did not."
"Well, he must be someplace inside, It doesn't look dangerous but we should stay together. Get Nichols and come up."
"I do not believe that retrieving Airman Nichols will be possible. Nor do I believe that we will find Captain Brower either."
"I don't understand Teal'c, did something happen?"
"Did you not experience a strange sensation when passing the pillars."
"Um, yeah kind of a tingling sensation."
"As did I, I followed you through the pillars shortly after you disappeared."
"Disappeared?!"
"Yes, However Captain Brower could be seen after he passed through the pillars. "
"So somehow we both … uh … became invisible… and he didn't?"
"It would seem so, however, I do not believe we are invisible, If we were and we are still able to see the area around us, would we not also still be able to see the others as well? I turned to look back at Airman Nichols after I stepped through the pillars and he was not there."
Carter reached over to her radio. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Carter come in . . . sir can you hear me?"
Colonel Jack O'Neill woke to 2 sounds, well 2 voices really and one of them was definitely Carter.
"Carter?
…"Sir can you hear me?"
'on the radio' his brain told him after a second.
"Oh so you've woken up" the second and strange voice said, "Good, good, now I can ask my questions. Now what is a radio?" O'Neill's mind flashed through images and concepts of radio as he was trying to asses his situation and decide whether to respond to this aliens question, the thought of name rank and serial number came to mind but ever since the torture he had endured at the hand of Ba'al more torture was just something he didn't think he should have to deal with. 'Black Ops Training taught me to deal with torture until it killed me, not until it killed me over and over and over and over again, while distorting my mind at the same time.'
" I see and what are Black Ops and who is this Ba'al person you think of in such a negative manner."
Jacks mind automatically raced trough memories of each of the things she had asked about.
"Indeed that is fascinating, so what should I call you, Colonel Oneill? Ahab?"
"Ahab?!"
"Yes that is what two of your companions are calling you. They refer also to Pinocchio, Beauty and The Beast. I take it that the one you think of as Jonas Quinn is Pinocchio but Beauty and the beast?"
'Well at least they got the codename for Sam right, She is a Beauty, and Teal'c fit the Beast description.'
"Ah, but you are Jealous of the title being given to him rather than yourself because of the traditional pairing of the 2 in your culture, you do have some very amusing images coming from your mind, your Disney animations do seem highly entertaining."
'Sarah and I took Charlie to see that when it first came out.' his mind continued the story with images of Charlie's death and funeral. The loss of Sarah… their divorce. That had been the most painful thing in his life before the Stargate was introduced into his life. Since then he'd died many times. Still… Sarah bothered him at times, though he'd put her behind him. That loss had left a hole… one that he hoped Car-
He stopped himself from forming that thought when the woman started speaking again.
"Oh! You poor man… I'm sorry for your loss. This Sarah… and your son."
Jack started in surprise, and then he frowned. 'I can't think of a single thing without her knowing about it! What's going on?'
"What's going on, Jack? Oh, you don't mind if I call you Jack, do you? Ooh, is that your Sam calling?"
Jack focused on the sound coming from the radio.
"… Colonel, it's Sam. Do you read me?"
Jack focused his mind on thoughts of Sam and reached for the radio.
"Yes, Carter. I read you."
"Sir, we're about five clicks west of the Gate at what appears to be a Temple. We've lost Nichols and Brower. Teal'c said we were hit by some shimmery green light and apparently disappeared from their view."
"Oh my," Hi'ka volunteered. "Lo'da is so serious when it comes to having visitors. But green would mean Goa'ould. Your friends aren't Goa'ould, are they?"
Jacks mind flashed to images of Teal'c's symbiote, and the incident with Sam and Jolinar.
"Well, then. That might be a problem," Hi'ka said, "No choice now, they've already been infected. They'll have to go into the Temple and talk to Lo'da."
"Infected? By what?" Jack asked, a little strength coming back into his voice.
"Oh, by the virus that Lo'da created to kill Goa'ould. He might save your friend, but the only instance I know of him doing that was in a Tok'ra a couple hundred years ago."
"Wait… are you saying that this virus is going to kill them?"
"Oh, no! Of course not! Lo'da would never kill a person. The virus only kills the symbiote, leaving the host with what you would call the flu. But your friend Teal'c is a Jafaa, and without his symbiote even that is deadly."
Jack sat in silence for a second, soaking in the information, when the radio crackled back to life.
"Sir, are you there?" Jack grabbed the radio.
"Carter, I'm in a room somewhere with some lady alien who's doing a... uh... pretty good Madame Zorba impression."
"Um… sir, it should only take us a few minutes to triangulate your position… then we can come and get you."
"That's a negative, Major. You need to get both you and Teal'c inside that temple on the double and find this Lo'da guy. Apparently he's infected both of you with some virus that kills Goa'ould symbiotes."
Jonas Quinn had spent the last thirty minutes since the Colonel had disappeared between examining stone walls and talking to Major Conway. He couldn't figure out what had caused the Colonel to disappear, but with the questions from Conway getting increasingly specific as to the relationship between the Colonel and the Major, and previous SG-1 missions. He found himself making up stories just to tell him what he wanted to hear in hopes of stopping the questions so he could focus on what he really wanted… to find the Colonel. Mallory had apparently gone off to gather some more soil samples from a wider area around the Stargate. Jonas had his doubts... He'd tried contacting Major Carter or Teal'c, but had gotten a reply from Captain Brower that they were indisposed and could not currently come to the radio. After the third try, he'd stopped calling. If these guys didn't have an ulterior motive, he'd eat his hat.