The effect was instantaneous, and horrible. Carter cried out and her whole body jerked as if electrified, curving into a stiff backward arc like a bow. Her arms shot out blindly, seeking support, but the guards had stepped away. Her muscles were painfully rigid and then she spasmed again, losing her feet. The guards made no attempt to check her fall and she collapsed to the floor in a paroxysm of powerful convulsions.

O'Neill was having a fit of his own, struggling violently in the grip of his captors. He glimpsed Teal'c doing the same and fleetingly wondered if he looked as murderous as the Jaffa did.

In the midst of the scuffle he heard Polytus order them released, and he shot away from his guards like a bullet from a gun, running over to Carter. He distantly heard Daniel's voice – "Jack, don't touch her, she might be…" – but he was already beside her, putting his hands on her to try and hold her still. The convulsions were brutal, causing her back to arch painfully, then slamming her back down to the floor with a skull-splitting crack. Whatever they'd done to her, O'Neill was more afraid that she was going to kill herself by flailing around the way she was.

His palms pressed against her shoulders and he leaned down on her with all of his weight. "Teal'c! Daniel, help me hold her!"

They were already there, attempting to restrain her from further damaging herself. Daniel's eyes burned up at the Basileus. "Help her!" he demanded.

Polytus didn't move. "I cannot. Nothing can be done for her until the Agonis has passed. It will take several hours. Let us hope that tomorrow her answer will be different."

The ruler returned to his throne, having obviously dismissed them. The ever-present guards approached, clearly intending to usher the team back to their cell. "Come on, we've gotta get her up," O'Neill said.

"Jack, I don't think she should be moved."

"No choice, Daniel. Either we take her as gently as possible, or let one of these goons sling her over his shoulder."

There was really no argument for that, and so Daniel helped to lift the thrashing Major.

The trip back to the cell was grueling. It took all of them to keep Carter secured; she appeared helpless to restrict the actions of her own body, which continued to quake uncontrollably. Though O'Neill believed she must be aware enough of her surroundings to repress most of her cries of pain, the occasional low moan testified to her suffering.

Finally, they reached the end of their journey; O'Neill would never have thought a prison cell would look like salvation to him. As the bars slid home behind them, the standing members of SG-1 carried their fallen teammate back to the pallet on the floor that Carter had slept on the night before. O'Neill, walking backwards, nearly tripped on it and had a hell of a time keeping Carter stable. Finally, he sank down to his knees against the wall and helped Teal'c and Daniel lower her next to him.

"All right, what do we do? How do we help her?" O'Neill demanded.

Carter's apoplexy went on, and on, with no signs of ceasing. "I don't know, I don't know," Daniel confessed, looking a bit frenzied. "It looks like she's having a…a sort of seizure. If this is some kind of epileptic fit, all we can do is keep her from hurting herself."

"It is not," Teal'c said. "It is the Agonis."

"Agonis," Daniel repeated. "That's what Polytus called it. It must come from agon, the ancient Greek word for contest, or struggle. The modern English derivative is agony."

O'Neill fought for balance; leaned over her as he was, he shook each time she lurched. Agony was definitely the right word for what his second in command was going through. "You know what this is?" he asked Teal'c.

Striving to keep Carter's lower half pinned to the pallet, Teal'c's nod was slightly more curt than usual. "I do," he said. "Now I recall this race; I have seen this weapon used before. It is similar to a Goa'uld Pain Stick, different in that it assails the victim with great pain for several hours. It is commonly used more for punishment than the torture associated with interrogation. The victim is unable to resist or escape from it. Even Jaffa find it excruciating. Used too soon or too often, it will kill."

Daniel looked at his friend. "You've experienced it, haven't you?"

"Once," Teal'c replied in the affirmative, "and I would not be anxious to repeat the occurrence. I can only surmise that it will be even more painful for Major Carter, as she is human."

"And a woman, on top of that," Daniel mused. His task was to keep her back from its painful arching, but her convulsions were so powerful that he'd found he had to nearly lie across her to keep her down.

From up near her head, where he was bracing her upper torso, Colonel O'Neill shot a look at the archaeologist. "You'd better hope this thing makes it so she can't hear, Danny Boy, or else she'll kick your ass for that remark when it's all over."

"She is aware of her surroundings and what is said," Teal'c confirmed, "but cannot overcome the pain to respond until it is over."

Daniel pursed his lips and looked slightly worried. "Well, seizure or not, we've got to try and keep her from hitting anything."

It seemed that she was bucking a little less than before, and Daniel and Teal'c tentatively rose to their knees. Still, she twitched uncontrollably, the occasional whimper escaping her lips despite the rigidity of her facial features.

Then, from the front of the cell, they all heard a scuffling noise. They looked up to see a small boy crouched outside their cell, and O'Neill recognized him as the one Carter had waved to the day before. He was sitting on his haunches at the base of the bars, and had slipped his hands between them. O'Neill saw that he held a cup.

"Oh, hello," Daniel said softly, rising and walking slowly toward the boy. He crouched down at an unthreatening distance. "My name is Daniel," he continued. "What's yours?"

The boy's impossibly dark eyes were wide and round, and he licked his lips nervously. "Aziz," he whispered.

Daniel smiled. "Aziz…that's an Egyptian name."

His words obviously meant nothing to the boy. He thrust the cup toward Daniel, who took it curiously. "It is water," Aziz explained. "For the lady, when it is done."

Daniel opened his mouth, but the boy was already up and running down the corridor. "Thank you!" he called out anyway, then turned back to his friends.

Teal'c still sat on his heels, observing Carter's progress. O'Neill had pulled the Major into his lap to cushion her convulsions, holding her tightly to confine her arms. For the moment, this was all they could do for her.


The pain held her in its merciless grip for hours. Daniel didn't even want to think about what Carter was going through, but as it went on and on she became weaker and less able to remain silent. Her tormented cries shredded his heart and he could neither do anything to help her nor escape from her pitiful moans.

His friends were just as helpless. At length, Teal'c had gone to sit on the stone platform opposite Daniel, and Colonel O'Neill remained on the pallet, cradling Carter in his arms. She still twitched with the occasional spasm, reinforcing Daniel's original , but erroneous impression that she'd been shocked by Polytus' pain stick, but her motions were much muted from before.

Finally – finally – it released her. They could all tell the moment it happened, for she stopped jerking and let out a long, shaky sigh. Teal'c and Daniel rushed into the confined space and crowded around their fallen comrade as O'Neill gently lifted and slid her over so that she was lying face down on the field jacket Teal'c had placed there.

Major Carter lay where she was, trembling from exertion and aftershocks of the pain. Her mouth worked silently as she panted, trying to recover. Her eyes had yet to open.

"Sam?" Daniel was the first to break the heavy, anticipatory silence. "Can you hear me?"

Carter's brow furrowed in response, and under other circumstances Daniel would have perceived her expression as one of deep thought. As she continued to swallow and work her mouth, Daniel realized that's just what it was. She was having to concentrate greatly on responding, and was thus far not succeeding.

"Major Carter," Teal'c tried. "Has the pain passed?"

Carter's arm seized helplessly, her fingers twitching. Her respiration deepened, and she looked to Daniel like someone trying to escape from a particularly stifling nightmare. The archaeologist could see that Colonel O'Neill was also getting anxious for some sort of response that she was okay. "Major, report!" he finally ordered.

Her eyes snapped open and she coughed, her hands reflexively clenching into fists around the straw. She was able to pull it together enough to gasp out reply. "Sir," she acknowledged. "That…really sucked."

The Colonel barked a surprised laugh. Daniel quickly joined in, relieved beyond measure. He'd been so worried that the pain wouldn't let up, or that when it did she'd be impaired, somehow. But she was going to be okay. Even Teal'c had allowed a small smile to grace his lips, beaming at the Major in his own way.

A moment later, however, she was pushing at them all, trying to get clear. She managed to scrabble to her hands and knees on her own before Daniel realized her purpose. He rose immediately, grabbing Carter around the waist and hauling her up and over to the latrine. She collapsed to her knees before it just in time.

Daniel winced and placed a supportive, but basically useless hand on Carter's back as she violently retched. He felt helpless, and faced away slightly to give her as much privacy as possible. Several feet away, O'Neill was also flinching. Teal'c merely appeared concerned.

When there was nothing left to purge, Carter leaned back and rested her forehead on the arms crossed over the rim of the toilet, taking deep breaths. "Oh!" Daniel said suddenly, and ran back to the front section of the cell. He retrieved the cup Aziz had brought and carried it to Carter. "Here," he said, kneeling and pressing it into her hand. "It's water."

Carter accepted it gratefully, sampling the water and swishing the liquid around in her mouth thoroughly before spitting into the toilet. "Yet another admirer of yours brought it," O'Neill said.

"Oh God, not another one," Carter begged hoarsely, startling another chuckle out of them all.

"It was the little boy you waved to yesterday," Daniel explained. "He said his name was Aziz, and that the water was for you."

"I'll have to remember to thank him," she said, and carefully took a small sip to swallow. She eyed Daniel as she leaned her back against the wall and slid to the floor.

"I'd have held your hair for you," he said gallantly, "but…you know." He waggled the digits of one hand toward his own head, indicating Carter's short style.

Carter smiled weakly and closed her eyes for a moment, still taking deep breaths. "And that's why I won't hurt you for the comment about me handling this worse because I'm a woman."

"Ooh, busted, Spacemonkey," O'Neill's voice came from behind him.

Daniel blinked, then smiled sheepishly as Carter opened her eyes again and grinned at him.

Colonel O'Neill rose and came to stand next to Daniel, peering down at his second in command, assessing. "Seriously, Carter. You okay?"

She nodded in the affirmative, but Daniel remained skeptical. He knew that Carter was too much of a soldier to ever say otherwise, especially to her commanding officer. "It probably ranks as my third least favorite on the list of traumatic events I've gone through, but it's getting better every minute."

Daniel canted his head inquisitively. "If I had to guess, I'd put Jolinar's possession of you as number one. Is number two the alien entity you tried to communicate with?"

Actually, Daniel remembered, that encounter had also resulted in a possession of Carter's mind and body. She had definitely drawn the short straw in that department.

But to his surprise, Carter averted her eyes. And if he wasn't mistaken, a faint pink heated her cheeks. He supposed that it could have been a side effect of the Agonis, but it looked for all the world like she was blushing.

"Ah," she said, then cleared her throat. "I'd forgotten about that one. That would probably be fourth. The entity…that didn't really hurt, so much."

Interesting. Now Daniel was really curious as to what the second worst thing was that she'd ever been through. God knew there was no shortage of events to choose from, he thought sadly.

Despite her brave words, it was obvious that today's encounter had taken its toll on her. Carter's face was pale; even her lips seemed bloodless. She trembled minutely, curling her fingers into loose fists so they wouldn't betray her. Her breathing had slowed considerably, but her respirations were still shaky.

"You should rest," Daniel suggested.

"Indeed," Teal'c chimed in. "The effects of the Agonis will continue to be felt in the following days. No matter how trained a warrior, the force of the convulsions you suffered today will cause lasting fatigue in muscles you were not previously aware that you possessed."

Daniel grinned. "I think what Teal'c's trying to say is that your body's not used to such movements for such an extended period of time."

"Yeah," Carter sighed ruefully, "it's been awhile."

The comment earned a cryptic look from O'Neill, which Carter studiously ignored.

"You will need your strength," Teal'c continued, "especially if Polytus plans to inflict the Agonis upon you again."

Carter winced. "I remember him saying that."

"Yeah, well, we're going to talk about that," O'Neill said. "But Teal'c and Daniel are right; you need some rack time."

It was a testimony to how worn out Carter was that she didn't dispute the suggestion or try to pretend that she was fine. She merely rose – with Daniel's assistance – and went to lie down again on the pallet.

She was asleep within moments, and the three remaining team members gathered as quietly as possible in the front section of the cell. The light from the corridor was dim, and the dancing flames from the torches affixed to the walls cast wavering shadows into the cell and across O'Neill's face as he spoke in a low voice. "All right, Teal'c, spill. I've seen plenty of other women around here. Granted, probably none of them could disarm a naquada-enhanced bomb blindfolded, but they don't seem so bad. Why's this guy so obsessed with Carter? And more importantly, how do we stop it?"

"Now that I know the race we have encountered, I may have an answer, O'Neill. Years ago, when I first joined the ranks of Apophis, I was sent with a team of Jaffa to seek out planets with inhabitants that could be made into hosts…much as I was upon my first arrival on Earth."

Daniel looked down, remembering what had happened immediately after the time Teal'c spoke of. The Jaffa incursion on Earth had triggered a course of events that had resulted in Daniel's own wife, Sha're, to be taken as a host for Apophis' queen and also, eventually, in her death.

Perhaps sensing the drift of his friend's thoughts, Teal'c paused. In the larger man's eyes Daniel could still see the sorrow and regret for his role in those events.

The archaeologist's lips twitched in the ghost of a smile…a silent reassurance that he had long ago come to terms with the issue, and didn't blame Teal'c.

Teal'c's nod was a soundless acceptance of that reassurance, and he continued. "On one such excursion we encountered a group of aliens, whom I now believe must have been Nisians. We were outnumbered, and though we fought, we were captured quickly. When we resisted, we were punished by the Agonis.

"One of our number was a female, and it quickly became apparent that the Nisians were only interested in her. She was brought before the patrol's leader, who placed what appeared to be a stone on her skin."

O'Neill looked up sharply from the piece of straw he'd been winding around his fingers, over and over. "Like what that Rain guy put on Carter."

"Raynaal," Daniel corrected absently. "Teal'c, why didn't you tell us all of this yesterday?"

"The device Major Carter described was familiar to me, but I could not place the memory until after having witnessed Polytus discharge the Agonis."

"So what happened next?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing," the Jaffa replied. "They appeared disappointed with the results of their test; I overheard one of them say that our female companion was "not a match", and that he despaired of ever finding the correct complement mate for their master. Then we were released."

Daniel looked from Teal'c to O'Neill. "Correct complement mate," he repeated. "That must be what Polytus meant when he said he needed her. It must be some sort of propagation issue. Maybe he can only procreate with a woman of a certain genetic makeup." He paused, thinking. "Polytus said he must have her. He meant literally…it can't be anyone else."

O'Neill sighed melodramatically. "Of course it can't. That's our Carter…one of a kind." He stopped fiddling with the piece of straw and tossed it to the ground, agitated by their predicament.

"So clearly, we're not going to be able to talk him out of it," Daniel said.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"Well, we'd better think of another way, then," O'Neill said, "because I don't want to see her go through that again. I want options, people."

They talked for the better part of an hour, batting ideas back and forth before each one was revealed to be unrealistic or otherwise impossibly flawed. Carter woke and joined them near the end, and they caught her up on what Teal'c had remembered. She came up with a few escape ideas of her own, but O'Neill moodily shot each one down.

"I keep coming back to tunnels," Daniel said.

"Like with Seth?" Carter asked, catching on quickly.

Daniel nodded. "If you'll remember, we went searching for his because we knew that the ancient Egyptians built tunnels beneath their temples and pyramids."

"Yes, we did know that," O'Neill said, referring to the fact that only Daniel ever possessed such random information.

Predictably, Daniel ignored him and plunged on. "And Teal'c confirmed that the system lords will often order tunnels constructed beneath their ships when grounded."

Teal'c regarded the archaeologist thoughtfully. "You believe this fortress may be located above such tunnels?"

Daniel shrugged. "Well, it's possible. There are remnants of Egyptian culture, here. And knowing that the Goa'uld once possessed this planet makes it a bit more likely. But we won't know for sure unless we're allowed out of this cell to look for them. If they exist, my bet is that we'd find an entrance somewhere in the throne room of the Basileus."

"All right," O'Neill said discontentedly, obviously unhappy at the lack of options available to them. "It's the only thing we've got that even resembles a plan. In the morning when we're taken to the Boss Man guy, everyone keep their eyes open for anything that looks like a tunnel entrance. If we find it, be prepared to fight."