Catherine's mind slowly began to focus. The pain hit her like a sledgehammer. Her mind began to spin and she felt as if she was on fire. Her throat was a dry as sandpaper, and her eyes felt as if the were glued shut.

She tried to move her limbs, but the felt as if they were attached to 20 tonne weights. Slowly sounds began to seep into Catherine's ears.

" . . . dead . . . "

Her brain struggled to make sense of the jumbled noise. "Why has she resisted?" snapped an arrogant voice.

An inhuman voice. Where had she heard that voice before? Catherine tried to think, but suddenly pain began to ripple through her battered and abused body. Her muscles tensed and jerked as the pain ripple through them. And then everything went black.

* * *

Scott peered around the corner and then glanced sideways at his mother. Sam looked at him and signed a retreat. He nodded curtly and followed her on silent feet.

They found the others crouched in the shadows of a room around the corner. "Catherine's in the room off to the right." Scott whispered.

"There's four guards outside the room and at least two more inside." Sam reported.

Jacob nodded, and looked at Teal'c. Teal'c nodded in answer to Jacob's silent question. "Take them out." Jacob said.

Scott nodded and followed Sam and Teal'c out of the room. Jacob looked at Rya'c and nodded curtly. The two waited for a second before following their companions. When they turned the corner, they found three guards lying on the ground, while the other three were fighting for there lives - and loosing.

Jacob and Rya'c carefully slipped past Kali's Jaffa as another went down to a staff blow to the head, and entered the room. The immediately separated as a large bolt of energy landed where they had been standing. But the Rya'c was there, and the large man in a black sari was soon dead.

The others joined them as Jacob turned to the still body of Catherine lying on a golden table. "Who was he?" he heard Scott ask.

"The Master Torturer." Rya'c replied.

Jacob stared a Catherine. Metal chains held her to the table, and he could see the bruises on her skin where she had tried to free herself of them. Her skin had gone very pale and you could see hundreds of blue veins beneath its surface. Her face was half covered with a giant black bruise and she looked very drawn.

"Is she alive?" Sam asked quietly from beside him.

Hardly daring to breathe, Jacob reached out and put his fingers to her neck. Relief surged through him when he felt her weak pulse, quickly followed by a sense of urgency. "Barely." He said. "We need to get her back to the Doc."

Rya'c stepped forward. He had a large piece of metal in one hand, and as gently as he could, proceeded to pry the chains from the table. Then he carefully removed them from around her limbs. "Rya'c . . . " Jacob began, but Sam put a hand on his shoulder.

Rya'c picked up Catherine's limp body and cradled her gently against his body. The others quickly formed a guard about him, and began to move as swiftly as they could down the corridor. They had almost made it to the ring room, when they heard the unmistakable sound of a Jaffa patrol. "Oh, shit!" Scott muttered. "What's next?"

Teal'c nodded at Rya'c. Rya'c nodded back and ran silently to the room, closely followed by Scott, and they ducked inside, just as the patrol rounded the corner and saw them. "Here we go again." Jacob grumbled.

The group split up, and dodged the incoming fire. In no time at all three of the Jaffa were dead, and the next three were in trouble. Suddenly they were confronted by a familiar inhuman laugh. "You are very persistent." Kali said.

Jacob straightened. "Go!" he whispered softly, and the others didn't hesitate.

They sprinted down the corridor, the corner coming closer and closer. "Jaffa! Sha'lokma'kor!" echoed after them.

The three of them rounded the corner, just as five bolts of energy hit the wall where they had once been. "I hope the others are having better luck." Sam said.

"So do I." Teal'c agreed.

* * *

The sirens sounded again. "Should I close the iris, sir?" Sergeant Davis asked.

"No." Hammond said. "Let them through."

Scott rolled through the event horizon, just as Hammond answered, closely followed by Rya'c with Catherine cradled in his arms. "Medic!" Hammond roared.

The medic team once again, rushed to the gateroom and loaded Catherine up onto a gurney. "I want her stabilized!" yelled a harried looking Janet Fraiser. Then she turned to look at the reflective glass above the room. "Do you plan on sending me anymore bodies today, General?" she snapped.

Hammond winced.

* * *

Back onboard Kali's mothership, Sam, Jacob and Teal'c were running into problems. "How are we going to get into that room?" Jacob asked. "There must be fifteen Jaffa guarding it."

"What about the other one?" Sam asked.

"You mean the one where Kali confronted us? I wouldn't want to take the chance. She's probably got an army stationed there now." Jacob answered.

"Then we will have to create a diversion." Teal'c said.