OK, here's a slightly longer chapter than the last one. Sorry if a few of them were starting to get short - there were reasons for it, trust me. I would have posted this a bit earlier but I'm still half alseep from the sixth form leaver's party last night. Enjoy! Remember, feedback keeps me motivated!

Chapter 13: Square One

Sam hit the stone on the other side of the gate and rolled down the steps, right past Jack and the boxed-up reactor. Slowing to a halt on the grass around the gate, she barely had time to re-orient herself before her CO grabbed her BDUs and hauled her upright.

"Carter, what the hell are you doing? I told you to stay there!" he snarled.

"Sorry, sir," she breathed. "I was about to be caught and court marshalled. I figured I'd be much more useful helping you out with the reactor."

He grunted anxiously: "You get that reactor out of the way, Carter, while I dial us out."

She obeyed, dragging the heavy load down the steps and to the side. Jack activated the gate, though she hadn't seen the address he had dialled. Still carrying the P-90 and his backpack, he proceeded to grab the over side of the box without and word and led them through.

"What's the plan, Colonel?" she asked as they set the reactor down on the other side.

"We went there first to throw off the trail of where I was really going. They'll search that planet for us first. Right now were on Stoneheim," he gestured to the mountainous region around them, "and there should be a remote lab outpost somewhere around here. It won't take long for the SGC to come looking for Einar's body here – they have the address as well – and we have to find it before they do and hand it over to the NID."

Though initially tentative, Einar seemed to provide the right directions, and Jack led them to a dark opening of a natural cavern. He abandoned the P-90 for a torch, and they soon came across a sealed door, illuminated by a dim, blue light fixed into the rock above. Sam realised it was the same design as the one Teal'c had forced open back at the first lab.

"This is it?" she quizzed.

"Here's hoping," Jack commented, tapping at the controls.

There was a hiss, and the door separated, retracting back into the rock walls. Before them was a short, similarly lit corridor carved into the stone around them, leading to another door. A brief journey carrying the reactor, and some more messing about with the control panel, and they were into the heart of the lab.

It was almost identical to the first one they had encountered, with the cylindrical shape and giant blue crystal dominating the centre. Computers on one side and stasis cells on the other, all interconnected and hooked up to the giant kurstallis crystal in the middle.

Jack immediately put down his end of the reactor box, and bounded over to the stasis cells. One of the hand a blinking light on its status panel, and he brushed away the frost to peer inside. There was a vague shape, distorted by the ice within.

"This has to be it," he declared. "Let's get the reactor hooked up. I'll let Einar help."


Daniel and Teal'c remained by the Stargate as SG-3 had gone ahead to search the deserted lab. His mind raced.

"I know it's not beyond them to ignore orders like this," he reasoned to Teal'c, "but I wonder why they didn't mention any of this to us. We could have helped them, right?"

"Perhaps," Teal'c nodded once, "but time was short. ColonelO'Neill and MajorCarter may have had to act swiftly and with little planning."

"Where do you suppose they are?" Daniel questioned his Jaffa friend wearily.

"I do not know. However, I do not believe they remained here. There are no signs of tracks leading far from the Stargate, and they would be slowed by carrying the reactor. When SG-3 returns, we should depart immediately."


"Ready?"

"Ready!"

The power had been restored to the lab and they were bathed in the icy blue light from the crystal. Einar pushed aside the bundles of wires, giving Jack control once more. Sam crouched by the generator, waiting.

"OK, put your hand on that control panel," Sam instructed. "This should cause a transfer."

"So, here goes nothing," he sighed and closed his eyes. "On three. One… two… three!"

Sam flicked the switch. The reactor hummed, and the kurstallis buzzed louder in response. As she had expected, the wires that linked the Colonel, the reactor and the stasis cell all glowed a similar blue colour as power surged through them. Jack winced and shuddered, as if cold.

"Sir?" she called over the noise.

He didn't appear to hear her. Either that or he couldn't move. She called out again, this time more urgently, and there was still no response. The reactor started fizzing and spitting sparks angrily, and Sam instinctively rolled away. With a final splutter, all of the noise died with an unhappy whine, and every single source of light (including the glowing wires) faded, plunging them into darkness. Through the blackness, Sam heard a dull thud, followed by a sharp grunt of pain.

"Colonel!"

Fumbling for her torch, she crawled to his side. Jack was lifeless, and as she placed her hand on his chest, she felt he wasn't breathing. Fighting to contain her rising panic, she felt at his neck. There was no pulse.


"Dr. Jackson, Teal'c," Hammond paced across the briefing room. "Neither Major Carter or Colonel O'Neill made any mention of this to either of you?"

"No, sir," Daniel replied.

"So you don't know what they're doing?"

"Unfortunately not, GeneralHammond," Teal'c answered. "The search of the original alien laboratory proved fruitless."

"Kinsey is furious. The modified reactor and Einar himself were the most important aspects of everything we have on the Innarim. The NID can only get so far with the information in the database. A copy of it was also sent to the Tok'ra as promised in return for those crystals, but they haven't seen or heard from either the Colonel or Major Carter."

"General, you know both of them as well as we do," Daniel reasoned. "They wouldn't do something like this unless they thought it was their only option."

"So you think they intended to escape the NID?" Hammond probed. "As I do?"

"Partly," Teal'c explained. "There would be no reason for them to commandeer the reactor if they hoped only to escape, GeneralHammond. I am confident that MajorCarter would have easily been able to sabotage the reactor so it could not be used."

"Teal'c and I think they plan to try and transfer Einar themselves at Stoneheim," Daniel informed the SGC commander, holding up a sheet of notepaper, "and we have the gate address that Einar gave us."

Hammond nodded firmly at the implied suggestion.

"I'll have SG-3 prepped and ready in half an hour to accompany you," he stated, dismissing the two remaining members of SG-1.


In the clinging darkness of the lab, save for the small beacon of torchlight, Sam was performing CPR on her CO. From his state, her rational mind told her he was dead – no pulse, no breathing – probably killed by a malfunction or a power surge from the reactor. However, desperation fuelled her to try anyway. Out in the middle of nowhere, trapped in the darkness, she was his only slim chance.

Her futile progress was halted by a faint hissing, from the other end of the lab. There was breathing… laboured… and the heavy clang of feet on metal.

And then she felt it… the tingling in her veins…

Whatever was there had naquahdah in its blood.

Sam immediately tugged the P-90 from the Colonel's still form, and gripped it tightly. Had they mistaken the identity of the stasis cell occupant for some trapped, forgotten Goa'uld?

With a pulsing glare of icy blue light, two spears of glowing energy grew out of the darkness with a hiss. The radiance of several small kurstallis crystals flickered into life, hovering in the dark.

As they poured light into the lab, Sam saw what they were all attached to. A living Innarim.

The kurstallis were integrated into its armour and boots, and the two spears of blue energy seemed to grow out of two exotic bracers worn on its lower arms, as if they were blades. Yet, the tingling remained. She held up the P-90 defensively as the creature circled around the central crystal of the lab. Had Einar himself been possessed by a Goa'uld, and this had all been an elaborate scheme?

"Sam, wait," the Innarim stated.

The voice was deep and strong, but somehow sounded young. She merely gripped the weapon tighter.

"It's me, Sam," he held up his hands non-threateningly. "It's Einar."

She frowned sceptically, but her mind was drawn back to the database. The Innarim had been constructed… designed… and if he was a Goa'uld, surely he would have acted when they were on Earth, and attempted to do the damage there? What if naquahdah had been used in the creation of the Innarim, and she was sensing that? She lowered the weapon, and focused back on Jack.

"Einar, the Colonel," she began shakily. "I think he's dead."

"Not quite," Einar stepped towards them urgently, and he retracted the energy blades, leaving only the small kurstallis and Sam's torch to see by. "We have to get him into the stasis cell."

Jack's body was a dead-weight, but jointly they succeeded. Sam was about to ask how they were going to activate the cell without any power, but Einar simply activated one of the blades and plunged it into the giant kurstallis crystal. It pulsed faintly, and the stasis cell hissed shut.

Sam heard a rustle of paper and the scribbling of a pencil. She wondered how he managed to write something in the dark, but then she remembered – he was a wolf, he could see well in low light. He moved to the stasis cell with Jack inside, and stuck it hastily to the glass. Almost as an afterthought, he picked up something tall and thin from the floor of the lab.

"Come, we have to leave before any SG teams get here and find us," Einar declared, urging her to the door.

"What about the Colonel?" she demanded.

"He'll be safe here," he insisted.

Sam struggled to follow the Innarim as he bounded out of the lab and into the fresh air. However, he constantly stopped and peered around, ears twitching. It gave her the chance to catch up.

Finally, as he stopped, he paused only briefly before gesturing for her to follow him closely. He stooped under an overhang and halted, shifting to give her space to join him. He motioned for complete silence.

Sam took a moment to glance over at Einar. In his hands was something that looked suspiciously like a staff weapon. She itched to ask him what he was doing with such a weapon, but her professionalism kept her quiet.

Two minutes later, the sounds of boots on stone pounded overhead, as an SG team, accompanied by Daniel and Teal'c, marched past. As they began to recede in the direction of the lab, Einar whispered to Sam.

"If you want to go back, now is your chance," he stated flatly. "Just tell them I brainwashed you, but I lost you when we were here. They'll put it down to alien influence – you're too important to the programme."

Resolute, Sam shook her head, giving him a fervent stare. She had started down this path with him; she wasn't about to backtrack now if there was a chance she was unlikely to see either Einar or Jack again. Einar set his jaw firmly and looked down – clearly it was not the answer he preferred. Yet, he didn't press the matter.

"It'll be a while before they come back this way," Einar stated, pulling free of the hiding space under the outcrop. "Don't worry about O'Neill."

"What exactly happened? Is he dead or isn't he?"

"He's alive," Einar tapped his head. "Up here. Something must have gone wrong with the transfer. We're both in my head now."

"So you put him into stasis to keep his body alive?" Sam guessed, brushing down her BDUs.

"Yes. Unfortunately, we're back to square one: both in one head, and no currently working lab to try the transfer again," Einar reminded. "We'll have to find some other way. I left a note in the lab for the others to find – they'll keep an eye on things here, I hope."

"So, what now?" Sam questioned.

"Drop the P-90, you take this staff instead. I'll explain about it later. For now, we go to Cimmera. I have an idea."


The four marines, the Jaffa and the archaeologist breached the doors into the lab, weapons raised and torches scanning every inch of the now deserted lab. Daniel noticed the blinking light on the stasis cells, and carefully shuffled towards it. Stuck haphazardly on the glass of the activated cell was a hand-written note:

'Nice try, but not fast enough. If you defrost my body, I'll die. Don't bother trying. Just make sure no one steals me while I'm gone. Signed, Colonel O'Neill'


For anyone who is interested, I've completed two more drawings of Einar in Innarim form. One of them has had areas of blue added to point out the kurstallis used in his armour, as well as his energy blades, as visual reference. I'll be going into more detail on his weapons and armour in the next few chapters. The address for them is below (spaces should be replaced with dots):

www kaz-falcon-bsb supanet com/Einar2 jpg

If you missed the address of the first drawing in an earlier chapter's notes, here's a reminder:

www kaz-falcon-bsb supanet com/Einar jpg