Author's Note: Wow, two chapters in one day! I'm productive, and I hope you guys enjoy, the story is heating up.

Chapter Four

Now What?

Jack was pacing in the room they had been in previously, when they had begun negotiations only to hit the snag of the medical condition of the U'Tak'ans. Daniel, Carter and Fraiser were sitting at the table, and Teal'c was standing nearby.

They were waiting for the council to arrive, and by the frenetic pacing of the Colonel; Sam figured they were in for it. She wouldn't mind having a go after he was finished.

"Would you stop that?" Daniel finally snapped, the pacing a growing irritation, like nails scratched against a chalkboard surface.

Jack stopped and glared, "Daniel..."

He didn't get to say the rest, which was probably for the best, because Daniel had to figure it wasn't going to be a genial response. The council filed into the room, the majority of them having the grace to look embarrassed.

Their demeanor didn't get past Jack, "You knew. Son of a bitch...you knew this was going to happen!" He accused, pointing an angry finger at Ka'ta.

"Please, Colonel, sit." Ka'ta indicated a chair opposite his position, next to Daniel, instinctively knowing his friend would provide a calming presence, "We'll explain."

"Your damn right you're going to explain." But Jack sat, and waited, seething.

"We knew you wouldn't come if we told you." Kra'lla spoke and his face was wreathed in guilt.

"Damn straight we wouldn't." Jack snarled, all diplomatic tact dropped. "Why would we willingly gate to a planet where we wouldn't be able to return home?"

"Enough!" Ka'ta stood, "Colonel, we are a desperate people. The gate being here or not doesn't change that my people are dying. We were told that you had the resources to help. Would you not have done the same?"

Daniel figured what Jack's answer would be, and knew it would be the same for all of them, "No." He said quietly, speaking before Jack could rip the man apart verbally.

That stopped Ka'ta, and he stared at Daniel, "If you expect me to believe..."

"He's right." This time Carter intervened, "We wouldn't have done this. It was wrong, and you know it."

Far'at leaned forward, elbows on the table, "It was wrong. But you're here now. Will you not help?"

Kra'lla tugged on Ka'ta's arm, guiding the man back into his seat. Jack had grown quiet, contemplating the situation. He was still mad, madder than he'd been in a long time. There was a time for anger and there was a time for setting aside personal feelings, so he pushed the anger down, and brought an amount of control into his actions, "We will...but you're going to help us."

He could see by the surprised expressions that he had caught them unaware. Li'Tut spoke up this time, having remained quiet throughout the emotional confrontation, "Help you how?"

"Get home." Jack said, and his will brooked no other answer except yes.

Ka'ta nodded, "We will try, of course."

"Carter, get with their people. I want to know what happened. Daniel, you and I are going to do some looking around. Doc, keep working on their problem." He saw the Tic-Tac's exhale with relief, "For now." He added, cautioning them that anything less than full cooperation would be met with a total and complete lack of theirs.

"Ka'ta, I want you with us, Teal'c, go with Carter." He stood, and despite being on an alien planet, in a city not his own, there was no question of who was in charge. Ka'ta nodded weakly, happy for the moment that these Tauri would continue working on the disease and weren't threatening dire consequences for the deception they had participated in.
Jack had led Daniel and Ka'ta to the edge of the city. He had stormed through the streets, a mass of pent-up frustration and confusion. How could a gate just disappear? One minute it's there, the next it's gone. It had something to do with the earthquake, but the grass had shown no signs of a gate ever being there at all.

"Jack?" Daniel was drawing deep breaths, trying to keep up with the pace, and Ka'ta was red-faced and falling far behind.

"What?" He snapped; pivoting so fast anyone else would've fallen over.

"Slow down." His forehead creased, "Where are we going anyway?"

"Out...just out." He waved his hand at the woods. He wanted Ka'ta to feel vulnerable, alone. He was going to get answers.

"Okay. Out's good. What did you need me for?"

Jack looked over Daniel's shoulder, seeing Ka'ta nearing, but not close enough to hear, "I need you to be my good cop."

"What?"

"Good cop, bad cop...you know."

"You're kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Jack stared evenly at Daniel, not a semblance of levity.

Daniel sighed, "No." He wasn't sure how good he would be at playing this game, but if Jack thought it might lead to answers that could potentially get them home, he'd do it. He scrubbed a hand over his face, "Just...no guns."

Now that elicited a wolfish grin, "Whatever you say."
Carter was leaning over a machine in one of the U'Tak'an's laboratories. "These are the readings from the earthquake?"

The scientist, he'd been introduced as Sa'at, nodded, "You are a quick learner Major Carter."

Sam smiled absently, and continued to digest the information. "What is this?" She pointed to a row of numbers on the screen.

"Energy output, for the city." Sa'at tapped another button, and more figures appeared on the screen. "This is the energy output for the last...forty-eight of your hours."

Sam was distracted by a thought, "How do you know our frames of reference?"

Sa'at shifted uncomfortably, "We were given a database on your people."

"What?" She couldn't believe it. What else were these people keeping from them, "Why didn't anyone tell us?"

"I'm sorry...we were told to let the council handle any contact with the Tauri. I...I probably shouldn't have said anything." He stammered, suddenly realizing he probably had just dug himself into a very deep hole.

Sam straightened, and regarded him with an odd gleam in her eyes, "Really?" She motioned for Teal'c to join her.

Sa'at looked anxiously at Sam, then at Teal'c's approaching bulk, "Uh...I guess...I could...help." He gripped the console tight, "I could...give you the data disk?" He offered, hopeful it would be enough.

Sam smiled widely, "That would be wonderful Sa'at."
Jack had let Ka'ta catch up to him and Daniel, then continued into the trees at a moderate pace, just enough to keep the guy breathing hard, but not falling behind. He wanted him to sweat, both physically and mentally.

"Tell me, how did you know the gate was going to disappear?" He asked, a feigned casualness, like a cat getting ready to pounce on his prey.

Ka'ta huffed, a step behind the two, "It happens every month." He wiped a sleeve across his forehead. Though cooler than before, Ka'ta obviously wasn't used to such physical exertion.

His words brought Jack to an abrupt halt, startling everyone, "Every month? You mean...it's going to come back?"

Ka'ta looked confused, and searched Daniel and Jack's face with his own, "Of course! How do you think we were able to contact you?"

Jack wanted to punch the guy, "Why didn't you say so?"

Daniel was looking as thrown by this recent revelation as Jack, "That's why we were unable to get a lock when we tried before."

"Lock?" Ka'ta could see these people had indeed not known, "I'm sorry...I thought you knew it was a cyclical event."

"How could we possibly know?" Jack said, frustrated, this wasn't going like he had planned.

Ka'ta gestured at the empty clearing they had finally crested, "You use the Stargate all the time?" Jack and Daniel continued to stare at him like he had grown another head, "Your Stargate...it doesn't disappear, does it?"

"No." Daniel answered succinctly.

"It's not normal for Gates to disappear." Jack elaborated. "In fact, it never happens."

"I don't understand." Ka'ta said. And he really didn't. All their subterfuge and agenda, he had thought it was a normal thing. Now he understood the pure hostility that had been radiating from them earlier. "You thought you'd never get home..."

"Give the man a prize." Jack drawled, pushing his P-90 out of the way, stunned at such a huge lack of communication and confusion. A month wasn't so bad. A month was even do-able. Hell, he'd done three months on Edora.

"Prize?"

"It means you were right." Daniel explained, imagining the very thoughts running through Jack's mind.

Jack was thinking, his mind moving rapidly through the situation. The gate was going to come back, a month, they'd be cut-off with no way home and no way to alert the general, but the guy claimed it would come back. But, he still didn't know who had given their information to these people, and right now, he really wanted to know.

"Who told you about us?"

Ka'ta seemed even more flustered than before, something Daniel hadn't thought possible. "I can't say."

"Why?"

Ka'ta twisted his hands together, "I promised."

"That's not good enough."

"Jack..." Daniel wondered if this wasn't time to do a little good cop, "Maybe..."

"No Daniel, I want to know, and we aren't going anywhere until he tells me." Jack had assumed a soldier's indifferent attitude, the one that said, I don't care what it takes, your life or mine, I will find out.

Ka'ta paled, "Colonel, please...if I tell...he said..."

"If you don't tell, you are going to have to worry far more about what I'm going to do." Jack's eyes glinted ferociously in the dying sunlight, a shadow making the Colonel appear more feral than ever.

"Jack, take it easy." Daniel cautioned. He approached Ka'ta, sensing his confidence failing. He should feel guilty for manipulating this guy, but he wasn't any happier about what was going on then Jack, in fact, he felt partially responsible, having made the contact with Ka'ta and the U'Tak'ans in the first place. "Ka'ta, we can protect you. You've seen our weapons, and if they told you about our world, you know the Tauri are strong."

Ka'ta darted a scared glance at Jack, then back at the friendly reassuring one of Daniel, "Please..." He groaned, torn by things he knew and didn't want to say. "He threatened retribution if we said anything."

Jack and Daniel were thrown off-balance by the sudden caving. "How did he contact you?"

Ka'ta sighed, relief washing over him, as he realized he had gone too far to go back, "The Stargate."

"How long ago?" Daniel pressed, "What did he look like."

"A couple of days ago." Ka'ta answered and shifted his gaze to Jack, "He looked human, but he kept drinking these blue vials of liquid."

The words hit the air like a rubber band, pulling taut the implications, and snapping back, "Boch." Jack swore.

"We need to get back and let the other's know." Daniel had all ready started towards the city.

Jack cursed, again, and grabbed Ka'ta, dragging him forward.

"What?" Ka'ta asked, perplexed, "What did I say?"