"Why has the one called Zelenka not yet completed the repair of the power generator?" Gwledig asked, pacing.

"My Queen, he has been otherwise occupied."

The pacing stopped abruptly. "Otherwise occupied?"

"Yes, it seems he is quite popular with the ladies of the court."

"Exactly how many of my ladies have been...distracting...him?" She was surprised when her vizor hesitated. "Hailea?"

"All of them, your majesty."

"All of them?"

"In turns," she assured her.

The Queen/Gwledig was almost speechless with surprise. "In turns?" she exclaimed as she recovered her voice.

Her Vizer had the grace to blush and stare at her feet, as she muttered, almost inaudibly, "Well...mostly... Although there have been some who wanted to...share..."

"Are you included among these distracters?"

"I have found him to be quite skilled, my liege."

"Very well," she mused, "Evenings you may do as you will, but during the day he is to work on the repairs and nothing more. The repairs are of primary importance. Make sure that my court is informed. They have plenty of other toys to keep them occupied. I do not want him so exhausted that he is of no use."

"Yes, my Queen."

"Perhaps we should reduce the amount of Lamella in his food and drink so that he can concentrate better on what he's doing."

"Thank you, my Queen!"

"Concentrate on the repairs," she clarified, somewhat annoyed. Her red-faced commander bowed her head in acknowledgement of the reprimand. "No, on second thought, I think he is too new to be trusted without the influence of the drug."

"As you wish, my liege."

xxxxxxxxxx

Teyla, McKay, Ford and Sheppard were on a tree-covered hilltop overlooking the Amazon compound. It had taken them an entire day of hiking though dense jungle to find the hidden valley. Sheppard had his binoculars out, taking stock of the combination palace-stronghold. The high walled garden was topped by a regular interval of spiked metal poles, sure to keep all but the most determined out…or in. The garden grounds themselves were something akin to paradise. Exotic fowl roamed the wide green expanses and flowers and shrubs bloomed everywhere in large clumps of riotous color. All this carved from the middle of an inhospitable jungle.

"Medieval Amazons. Who would have thunk it?" said Sheppard peering through the field binoculars. "This definitely looks like the place," he said as he handed the binoculars to Teyla. He accepted the canteen Ford handed him and took a long swig.

"It's about time," complained McKay, "We've been hiking around through the jungle forever. I…" He suddenly jerked up a pant leg and frantically brushed off something that had been crawling up his leg. Ford quickly stepped back as whatever it was came flying in his direction.

Teyla took advantage of the distraction to continue her conversation with Sheppard. "Yes, it is as it was described to me," she agreed, handing the glasses back to him.

"What now?" asked Ford, a myriad of scenarios running through his mind – most of them involving explosives. He liked all munitions but explosives were definitely his favorites.

Sheppard shook his head at the lieutenant, reading the young man's thoughts like an open book. "We knock," he said, tucking the binoculars into his vest.

"That's a terrible plan," McKay said, still tugging nervously at his pant leg. He quickly abandoned it to slap at something on his neck. "You are kidding, right?"

"Nope." Sheppard pulled out his radio and updated Stackhouse, who had returned to the planet and was standing by at the gate. The sergeant would dial Atlantis and relay the information to Weir, updating her on the situation.

"She's going to want to send backup," warned Ford.

"I know, but anything could be happening to Zelenka and Kavanagh. It took us too long to find this place. I don't want to wait any longer than we already have."

They had only just started down the hill when Weir contacted them herself, obviously having asked Stackhouse to leave the connection to the gate active after he had made his report. Ford was right, she wanted them to wait until she could send backup. Sheppard pretended to have trouble hearing her and blew into the mouthpiece a few times, finally telling her he'd have to try contact her again when there was less interference.

"She's not going to be happy about this," warned McKay.

"Are you certain this is the best way to approach this problem, Major?" asked Teyla. "They enslave men."

"They drug and shanghai unsuspecting traders. We're different."

"But..."

"This definitely qualifies as a military matter. Besides, nothing's certain but death and taxes," he quipped as they continued down the hill.

"What are taxes?" she asked.

Sheppard explained them to her, even going so far as to talk about the differences between sales tax and income tax. McKay threw in some information about the Canadian tax structure for good measure. They were approaching the door to the stronghold by the time they had finished.

"Are you sure these 'tax agencies' you speak of are not related in some way to the Wraith?"

"Different life-sucking species altogether," Sheppard assured her as he banged on the large heavy oak door with the side of his fist.

Twelve women dressed in leather appeared on the wall above them. Sheppard, however, was finding them less interesting than what they were holding - twelve cocked and loaded crossbows, which were pointed directly at them.

"Surrender yourselves and your weapons in the name of Queen Gwledig."

"Surrender? We came to you…" he was cut off as one of the crossbolts whizzed past his ear to embed itself in McKay's pack, ripping a large hole in the fabric.

"Damn it, I just got these straps broken in!"