Two

/ P3X-796 /

The food smelled extremely good. The problem was that, beyond the fact that he was still restrained, Jack O'Neill remembered the last couple of times he had been offered food on alien words by what had seemed to be kind aliens. And neither experience was anything he wished to repeat. Still, he could not starve himself forever.

Koraes watched the Human curiously for a moment as he examined the food she had set down near him. He was intriguing and unique; but admittedly, she had never met a Human before him. So her perceptions were likely slightly biased.

She moved to the console which controlled the Restraint Field and lowered the one over the bed he currently lay on. Immediately, another sprang to life around the bed but approximately two feet from it on all sides.

"You may rise now." She told him in her soft tones, watching to see what he would do. His actions in the next moments would tell her much about his character and the truth of his words.

O'Neill watched the young lady for a moment before slowly raising himself to sit on the bed. Another slow, cautious movement brought his legs off the bed and thus allowed him to face her in that sitting position.

He was no fool. He was fairly certain she was not completely trusting him. There was likely still a barrier between them of some sort, so attempting to escape or to harm her would do him no good. No, it was likely better to try to talk his way out of this, good at it or not.

His eyes cast to the tray of steaming meat and what looked vaguely like potatoes then came back to the girl. "What is this?" He asked warily.

Koraes tilted her head to the side and looked to the tray herself before bringing her eyes back to him. "It is food listed in the databases as being native to your world. Is it not satisfactory?"

O'Neill frowned. Satisfactory? He would not know truly unless he ate it. And did he dare? He shook off that thought and shrugged.

"It's fine." He answered, lifting the tray and taking an ever-so-small bite of the potatoes to test them. Nothing odd happened. He took another, larger bite.

"Is it correct?" Koraes asked, curious to know if the Synthesis Matrix had gotten the very alien dish correct.

O'Neill shrugged again, a mouthful of meat that tasted very much like a good steak back home currently being devoured. When he had finished that, he nodded.

"It's good. But how do you know what's native to Earth?" Suspicion began to rise again. She had said before that he was the first Sentient to come here since the base had been abandoned; but had she lied to him? How else would she know such things?

The head remained tilted, raven, blue-highlighted hair brushed over her shoulder and fell in front of her. She imitated his gesture of the shrug. "This is the Sector Post which monitors your Sector." She answered as though that should have been self-evident.

O'Neill frowned again. "My . . . Sector?" He questioned, another bite of potatoes following the question.

Koraes nodded. "Yes. Your world is in the lower half of Sector 14. This Sector Post was established to monitor, study, and report all activity within Sector 14."

How could he not know this? Were the Humans that primitive? She considered asking Ssendrriya, but he had become upset by that the last time. Better to ask him directly, she guessed. "Do you not use the Sectoring System?" She asked softly, head still tilted in her pose of confusion.

O'Neill was beginning to recognize that pose for what it was. She used it every time he said something which confused her. And again, he frowned. She seemed to make him do that a lot.

"Sorry, no clue what you're talking about . . . Sectoring System." He responded, fork coming to rest on the tray as he studied the girl before him carefully. "What Sectoring System?"

This time, the tilt of the head was accompanied by a blink, then two. "You do not know the Sectoring System? How is this possible?" She was not poking fun at the Human, merely trying to understand how a species that made use of the Gate Network could not know what Sector they occupied.

O'Neill sighed, beginning to feel that frustration again. He was so out of his depth here, and he hated that.

He set the tray back down and standing up as if to pace, then remembering that there was likely a barrier up. Instead, he reached out and touched the barrier. It briefly shimmered electrum as his hand met it, and it made his hand tingle up to the elbow. He pulled his hand back and sat back down. "Probably the same way I didn't know where you took me." He muttered finally, frustrated at being caged. But he had decided to test the field later, find out how big an area he had to work with and how much punishment it could take. Or how much I can take before it knocks me cold, whichever comes first.

Koraes blinked a few more times then stepped a pace closer to him. "Your people do not mark Sectors?" She queried, her tone indicating pure curiosity now.

O'Neill shook his head. "Apparently not the way you do." He was getting in way over his head, but he could also see that he was catching her curiosity. And that could work to his advantage. It might at least get him out of the Lockdown if she thought he was no threat.

Koraes thought about that for a moment then nodded. "If not, then that would explain how you did not understand where you were." She was talking more to herself than to him now. "What do you call this planet?" She queried, metallic azurite-colored eyes fixed on him, glittering with curiosity.

"P3X-796." He told her. He could immediately see that his name for it meant nothing to her. As he had expected. "What do you call it?" He fired the question back at her. He needed to gain her trust, get her to let down the forcefield.

Koraes thought about his name for the world she lived on. It sounded vaguely like some of Nevarre's military designations for some of the Post Worlds. Her eyes slid over O'Neill's attire once before returning to his eyes. "We call it Setiyr. You are military, yes?"

Finally a question he could answer! But the question was, should he answer it truthfully? That might put them right back where they had started. But by the same token, if he lied to her and she discovered it, she might find worse places to put him . . . places he might never find a way out of. He sighed and nodded. "Yes." He admitted, watching her reactions closely.

Koraes nodded. She had suspected as much from his bearing and his attire. His use of military-like designations for the planet had only proven her theory. At least, he had been honest with her. That suggested that he could be trusted to speak the truth, at least when asked a direct question. It was a start, at least.

She took another step toward him but did not drop the forcefield between them yet. "Then you understand the reason for my caution, yes?" She pressed, her eyes showing hope that he had.

O'Neill nodded reluctantly with another heavy sigh. He indeed understood it, and likely would do no different in her place; but that did not mean he had to like it. "Yeah, I understand." He answered with that nod. "Can I ask you something though?"

He did not actually hold out much hope that she would actually answer any of his questions; but from working with Sam and Daniel so long, he had learned that it never hurt to ask. Okay, well, sometimes it hurt; but it was usually worth it.

Koraes considered her guest carefully for another moment before nodding. "Yes. What do you wish to know?"

Surprise flickered in his eyes and thoughts for a moment before he quelled it and pushed ahead. Best not to lose the moment. "You said this Sector Post reported on all activity in this Sector. Who does it report to?" Not a question likely to get answered, but why not try?

"To Homeworld." She answered immediately, again as though the answer should already be known. But then, she remembered that he had not known the rest of the more simplistic – to her anyway – information and waited for the next question.

That answer was so not helpful to him. He shook his head. "Okay, let's try this again. Which homeworld? I mean, of what species?" He tried.

Koraes blinked several times in rapid succession. "Please help me to understand you." She began. "How is it you use the Gates but know nothing of the Builders who created them? Or of their Sector Posts?"

/ EARTH /

"I got it!" Daniel fairly shouted as his head came up off of the briefing room table where he had been resting it on his folded arms trying to think of a possible solution to the Gate problem.

Across from him, Sam jumped slightly, but Teal'C remained stoically unmoving. He did; however, tilt his head slightly in that way he had when someone piqued his curiosity and he was waiting for them to continue.

Sam, likewise, stared at the archaeologist hopefully. They had all been sitting here for the last several hours batting ideas around in hopes of finding a way to retrieve their commander. And until this moment, they had come up with exactly zilch.

"The Asgard." Daniel said it excitedly and as though they all should have seen it before now. "God, I don't know how we missed that one!" He was on his feet and headed for the Control Room even as he said it.

Sam and Teal'C exchanged glances then stood and followed him out. He was right, of course. They had gone through their allies, all but the Asgard. And it made sense to try them; they had helped the SGC out of some pretty tight spots before, and vice versa.

As they entered the Control Room, Walter turned from the Dialing Computer and frowned at them. "Sorry, Major, still nothing." He reported, thinking erroneously that she wanted a status report on the test activations they'd continue to run with that set of coordinates despite the fact that the Gate still remained determined not to connect to them.

Sam shook her head. "Thanks, Walter. But we're not after a status report." She informed him with a slight smile, a note of hope held in it.

"Oh . . ." Walter responded, assessing the looks on the faces of the three. Teal'C was, as always, unreadable, but Sam and Daniel were hopeful. Do they have a way to beat this? he wondered.

"We want you to dial the Asgard." Daniel added a second later as Sam slid into the chair beside Walter's.

Walter nodded and turned back to his computer, entering the symbols that would dial the Asgard. And, as always, as each chevron locked on the Gate, he called them out. When the seventh locked, and the Gate opened, he looked to Carter. "Ready, Major."

Sam set herself and began the transmission . . .