"Braxton…" Daniel hesitated, even as he walked beside the man who was carrying his son. They had been walking for almost twenty minutes, and the man was showing far more endurance than Daniel had expected. Taylor was small and didn't weigh all that much, true, but carrying the boy for so long – even though the men in front of them were moving branches and brush out of the way as they approached – couldn't be all that easy, Daniel was certain. But when the man turned to look at Daniel, he was barely even sweating.

"Yes?"

He wasn't panting andout of breath, either.

"Have your people always lived here…?"

"What do you mean?"

Daniel hesitated again, unsure how much he could get away with asking just then. It wasn't like they were on that great of speaking terms, after all.

"I mean… in our travels, we've found civilizations of people who had originally been from other places – only they were transplanted from their original home worlds to other places…"

"By the Goa'uld?"

Taylor was watching Daniel with sleepy eyes. The boy had been lulled into a doze as he'd been carried, but when his father had spoken up in response to Daniel's initial question, it had drawn him out of that doze. Now his cheek was resting against Braxton's shoulder, but his attention was on Daniel.

Daniel nodded.

"For the most part. As near as we can tell, anyways. Some moved of their own volition – or were moved by more advanced beings if their worlds were threatened."

"You wish to know if we are one of those peoples…?"

Daniel nodded, again. The question might have been considered extremely impertinent – rude, even – since no one ever wanted to admit that their people had been under the thumb of any other race of beings. And that was assuming that the people even knew about it, for that matter. Daniel wouldn't have been surprised to hear Braxton say his people had always been there. Whether they actually knew that for sure or not. But since Braxton had understood immediately what he was asking, and didn't seem to be offended by the question, Daniel decided to risk it. It was as good a beginning as any, after all – and he was curious.

"Yes."

"I've never heard anything to say that we are…" Braxton shrugged, which wasn't all that easy with Taylor in his arms. "But then, there are some odd carvings on some ruined walls and there's a cave…"

"A cave?"

The man nodded.

"It's a dangerous place – It has caved in more than once – but I've seen it, and the carvings there. Although they make no sense."

"What do you know of the Goa'uld?"

"I think you should speak with the council, Daniel," Braxton said, suddenly breaking off the questioning. "I'm not an historian, and not much of a storyteller."

Daniel felt a pang of annoyance – just when he was getting close to learning something! – but he didn't have much choice but to agree, and they fell silent once more as they walked. And now Taylor rested his chin on his father's shoulder, looking behind him as the group walked; using his father's long hair to conceal the fact that he was watching Ian carefully.

OOOOOOOOOOO

After several hours of walking – and just about the time Jack was getting ready to ask their guides if they actually had any idea where they were going – they finally came upon the edges of a clearing. The first thing they noticed was the sound of people. Not necessarily a bunch of people chattering, just the sound that a large population of people make when they are going about their own daily routines. The sound of people working on various domestic tasks, the noise of carefree children running around playing games that only they understood, and the low murmur of conversations from people who don't appear to have a care in the world.

A few minutes later, they got their first view of the village, and it was about as odd as any that Jack had seen in all his missions. And made Daniel's heart beat faster. The houses were made of stone, with thatched roofs, which didn't make them so odd. The thing that did was that they weren't the only structures in the village. Strewn amongst them were odd-looking buildings that were built of what looked to be nothing more than dirt mounds. Daniel had seen both types of structures – but never together. Before he could say anything, though, the murmur they'd heard coming from the various activities all came to a halt as the villagers spotted them.

Several women gathered up children and hustled them into the various buildings, while most of the men reached for weapons – mostly spears and bows – that were close at hand. A group of men moved to intercept their party while others took up defensive positions near those buildings the children and many of the women had vanished into. These men were dressed in leather clothing; dressed like Indians, really, Ian thought, complete with moccasins, leggings and loincloths – although their chests were bare.

"Not a trusting lot, are they?" Ian observed softly to Jack.

"I don't blame them," Jack answered. He wouldn't have been any different.

They fell silent and came to a stop at the edge of the village, where Braxton and his group circled them – either to make sure they weren't going to do anything foolish, or to keep the villagers from doing something equally foolish out of fear. And it was obvious that there was some fear in the expressions of several of the men that came out to greet them. Especially when they looked at Teal'c and instantly knew him for what he was.

A man stepped away from the others as Braxton stepped forward to greet him. Taylor's father had long since handed his son off to be carried by the others as they'd walked – no one was strong enough to carry him such a distance, except Teal'c, who they'd never have dreamed of asking – so his hands were free to take the man's hand.

"What have you done, Braxton?" The man asked, staring at Teal'c, and then the others, only to look back at Teal'c once more. "The Jaffa-"

"Is allied to these others, Richard," Braxton said, quickly, pointing at Jack, Daniel and Ian. "He is not a threat to us, I deem. They are explorers."

"So they say," Richard said, looking at Jack as if he had already picked him out as the leader – even though Teal'c may have been a more obvious choice.

Jack shrugged.

"We're not looking for trouble."

"Taylor injured himself following them and they helped him," Braxton said. "They could have just as easily harmed him, or held him against his will."

The man looked over at the boy, who was in the arms of one of the other men in the scouting party. He could see the splint on his leg, and there was no doubt the boy was injured.

"Perhaps they are the ones who injured him."

"Taylor says not."

"Or they told him to say that."

Jack scowled.

"We don't hurt kids."

Equally annoyed – although for a completely different reason – Ian spoke up, as well.

"The little fucker was following me and fell in a hole."

"We simply helped him," Daniel said, quickly, taking the attention off Ian – since it was obvious none of them knew what a fucker was, and were trying to figure out if they had been insulted or not. "And then offered to help him get back home. What we told Braxton is the truth. We're explorers. Peaceful explorers. We don't want any trouble. We just want to learn more about your people – and tell you about our own, if you're interested."

Richard looked at Daniel, obviously judging his words and actions against whatever he knew of the Jaffa. He finally relaxed, marginally, and nodded.

"We will discus this."

He turned, and walked back into the crowd of men, all of who moved to let him by and then followed him, and a moment later Braxton motioned for SG-1 to follow as well.

"Smooth, Ian…" Daniel said, softly as they walked towards the largest of the dirt piles, which had an opening in it the size of a small door and a hide covering that was pulled to the side with some kind of thong.

"What did I do?"

Jack shook his head, and ducked his head to enter the structure, Jaffer still walking beside him.

Yeah, they needed to work on those people skills.