A/N: Thanks for the reviews, keep them comming!

Chapter 3

The Ozian Sea parted, giving Major Samantha Carter visual access to the Stargate. Her team was gone. She stared at the symbols on the DHD, but didn't recognize them. At least they hadn't been sent to Earth, which gave her some relief. There was a chance they were still alive. "We'll be back," Colonel O'Neill had said and she believed him. What choice did she have but to believe? They had never left a man behind, no reason to start now. She was rational, however, too rational she knew they would all agree, but still. Sam was well aware that her chances of a timely rescue were slim to none. The rest of SG-1 had been sent God knows where into God knows what. The odds of them getting back to Earth quickly enough to mount a rescue mission were astronomical. Then, again, their odds always were.

With thoughts racing through her head, Sam barely noticed that the wormhole had disengaged. She did, though, immediately recognize the sound of another one forming. Someone was dialing this gate! The Ozians reacted instantly: her line of vision disappeared into a blur of green faces and yellow eyes, her body carried along as the mob moved in front of the tree line. The once chanting aliens were now silent. Sam heard nothing but the hum of the gate, and the racing of her own heart. Then she heard something else, familiar, she saw it: the UAV.

Sam got to her feet, pulling off her cap, hoping against hope that her single blonde head would be noticeable among the green mass. The plane passed her by. She was pulled to her knees, by one of the aliens behind her.

"SG-1, this is General Hammond. Do you read?" The radio, thought Sam. They still had the radio. "SG-1, respond!" She turned toward the sound of her General's familiar voice, and then she saw it. One of them was turning it over and over in his hands. There was no getting to it; she realized that, four layers of aliens stood between her and the radio. She had one shot at this, she knew, and only hoped that in his inspection the creature was activating the communication link.

"General!" yelled Sam at the top of her lungs. "Twenty meters Northwest of Gate. Surrounded, Sir! Green creatures. SG-1 sent to another site. Location unknown!" That was it, a hand covered her face, and three more pulled her to the ground. She fought. "Caves!" She cried out. They pinned her down again, into silence. Her face was now planted in the yellow gravel of the road. There was something wet on the back of her neck, then the smell. She remembered. Everything went black.

"SG-1, this is General Hammond. Do you read?" General Hammond stood in front of the microphone staring at the images being transmitted by the UAV. "SG-1, respond!" He ordered.

"...Twenty me–...gate...green creat–...caves..." was all he heard.

"Major Carter, you're breaking up. Do you copy? Major Carter?" General Hammond said turning to Sergeant Walter Davis. "Sergeant, can you get a fix on her location?" He asked.

"Negative, Sir," Replied Walter. The technician's fingers were already flying over the keyboard of the control panel. "The transmission was too short."

"Keep it in the air, son. Twenty meter perimeter around the Stargate." Ordered General Hammond knowing that something was wrong.

"Yes, Sir." Answered Walter while skillfully maneuvering the UAV to reveal trees of every color, a yellow path-leading West, and a mass of green foliage in between.

"Sergeant, fly it back over that green area again." Ordered General Hammond.

"Yes, Sir. Affirmed Walter as he switched from UAV to infrared. What the–" The green mass now glowed a deep red. Walter shook his head in disbelief. Attempting to fly lower, Sir." Walter re-positioned the plane while General Hammond took the seat to his right, his eyes set on the monitor, until it went black.

"What the hell happened?" Questioned General Hammond as he jumped to his feet, causing everyone in the control room to react in kind.

"I don't know, Sir. We just lost the signal. Wormhole has disengaged." Replied Walter, reluctantly. He shook his head trying to clear it and make sense of what was going on. His fingers frantically redialing the planet's address.

"Get it back! I want to know what the hell that thing was and what it did with my people!" Ordered General Hammond.

"Yes, Sir. Sir! Incoming wormhole." Informed Walter.

Colonel O'Neill was thrown from the wormhole, his eyes tightly shut, expecting to slam into the iris at any minute. He wondered what if would feel like, if he would feel it at all. He suspected not. Carter had told him about it once, but he had tuned her out after 'demolecularized'. Under the circumstances, he wished he had listened to her more.

"Argh!" said O'Neill as he slammed into something hard. But it wasn't the iris. It was Daniel. "Jack!" groaned Daniel from underneath him, "I swear to God and whatever else is out there, if you hit me one more time I'm going to–"

"Where the hell are we?" asked O'Neill. Completely ignoring Daniel's threats, Jack got to his feet. "Thanks for breaking my fall, Danny boy. The knees you know." He extended his hand to Daniel and pulled him to his feet. "Teal'c, any idea where here is?"

"I did not see the symbols during our separation from Major Carter, O'Neill. However, I do believe that the same creatures inhabit his world." Answered Teal'c.

"Why would you assume that?" Asked Daniel as he approached Teal'c, rubbing his hip where he had fallen. "I mean the planet doesn't look like Oz. Not that they would be exact duplicates, but there is no vegetation here of any kind." He gestured out in front of him and beyond the gate. As far as they could see there was nothing but red clay.

"Are those not the Ozians, DanielJackson?" Teal'c pointed in the opposite direction that Daniel and Jack were facing. Both men turned simultaneously.

"Yep," confirmed Jack. "And that's our gear." The men headed left towards the organized piles of SG-1's gear.

"Three P-90s, three zats, and three canteens. Is anyone noticing a pattern here?" Observed Daniel as he inspected the rest of the gear. "Jack, its all organized. There's three of everything here. Oh, god."

"What is it, DanielJackson?" Questioned Teal'c. The Jaffa had his eyes on the approaching aliens.

"There is three of everything," Daniel said staring at Jack. "There are three of us."

"Nope." Answered Jack quickly, dismissing any theory that Daniel might be concocting. "There's none of us. Dial Earth, Daniel. I don't wanna be here when they get to the bottom of that hill." He pushed the younger man toward the DHD and turned back to their gear. Picking up a gun and a remote transmitter, he headed back toward the gate.

Daniel was dialing, but shaking his head and saying, "We can't just leave, Jack. This means something. They kept one of everything. That can't be a coincidence. They must–"

O'Neill cut him off. "They kept ONE of my team, Daniel!" he yelled in his friend's face. "They kept one of us. I don't care who they are or what they want, THAT doesn't happen. WE don't leave people behind. Now activate that gate!"

Daniel did as he was told, visibly shaken by Jack's words. He didn't blame him for being mad. Of course they had kept one of them; they had kept Sam. He just hated Jack blindly assumed that every species they encountered was evil. "Let's go!" Jack yelled to Teal'c and Daniel as he entered their IDC. The speed of the mob increased at the wormhole's activation, though they remained silent. One of them broke from the group and headed straight for Teal'c. "T lets move!" Yelled O'Neill. The Jaffa resigned his guard position, just as the Ozians reached the bottom of the hill. The lone Ozian reached the gate in seconds, but it was too late. SG-1 was already gone.

"Receiving IDC, Sir, it's SG-1," informed Walter.

"Well, it's about damn time. Open the iris." General Hammond said as he stormed out of the control room and headed for the gate. Daniel came through the gate, followed by Teal'c, then O'Neill.

"Colonel O'Neill, what the hell is going on? Where did you–"? General Hammond began.

"Sir," O'Neill cut him off, running down the ramp. "Dial P4X-985, I need SG Teams 3,5,7, and 12 geared up and ready to go now!"

"Hold on, son." Replied General Hammond. " As far as I can tell the Stargate was being guarded by some unknown life form. I can't let you go back and risk more of my men to an ambush. Not until I know what we're dealing with. Now, where did you come from? We had the UAV in air on P4X-985 and you weren't there."

"Sir," answered O'Neil. "We don't have time for this. That unknown life form is over a hundred big-handed, green, slimy alinens and they've got Carter."

"Did you see her, General?" Asked Daniel, coming down the ramp. "Were you able to see, Sam?"

General Hammond couldn't help but hear the concern in the Doctor's voice. He shared it. But the truth of the matter was he could not lose more good people to a possible suicide rescue mission–even if it was for Major Carter. He had known her since she was a child, and knew her well enough to be sure she would understand military protocol and reasoning.

"General Hammond," Teal'c joined them at the bottom of the ramp. "I believe DanielJackson has a theory that they only wished to keep Major Carter. We may not be in danger if we return."

"When we return," O'Neill interrupted. "General, we're wasting time. God knows what they want with her."

"Dr. Jackson? What's this theory?" Asked General Hammond.

"Well, Sir," began Daniel "it's not much of a theory, but I believe they may be collectors of some sort. They had all of our gear on the second planet they sent us to. It was categorized and organized--all in threes." General Hammond looked confused. "They, uh, kept one of everything, Sir."

"And they kept one of SG-1. I see, Doctor, and I'll take that into consideration when deciding to mount a rescue mission. In the mean time, report to the infirmary." General Hammond ordered.

"General!" exclaimed O'Neill, "You can't be serious!"

"That's an order, Colonel. Don't make me repeat it." General Hammond commanded.

O'Neill turned on his heals and headed out of the gateroom without looking back. Teal'c nodded at General Hammond and silently made his way out as well. Daniel remained. "General," He began. His voice was calm, but full of concern for their missing team member. "When we woke up in the caves, Sam wasn't with us. She didn't seem hurt when they brought her back, but she was pretty out of it."

"You mean she was drugged?" General Hammond asked.

"Yes, Sir. Look, you know I'm not for barging in on other's customs, but we have no way of knowing what they did to her, or what their going to do. I'm with Jack, Sir. We have to go back." Insisted Daniel. With that said he left, leaving General Hammond alone in the gateroom.