Jack followed Viterv, who was apparently their leader's right hand man, through a series of vast, open passages beneath the town. He felt uncomfortable, because with Carter topside with Daniel, he had no way of communicating, and in his experience that was never good. All he knew was that the creatures were repvitale, and as Daniel translated it, that meant lizard-people.

He sighed. He had been walking for a little over an hour, following promises of seeing something that would "amaze him" (or so said Carter – she wouldn't give any hints, even if she had some to give). Teal'c was supposedly experiencing the same thing. The Jaffa was being led in the opposite direction to check out the repvitale's agricultural methods.

O'Neill reached out to his host's shoulder and tapped him lightly. The lizard swung around and O'Neill stepped back, arms raised.

"How much longer?" he asked.

Viterv stared at him quizzically for a moment before raising one arm and pointing directly upwards, and then moving it so his hand pointed right.

"Ah," Jack said, but really having no idea what the motion meant. "Well, let's get going then."

-

Several kilometres in the opposite direction Teal'c was bent over, studying some basic machinery. He had learnt that the repvitale had hydraulics powering everything, and also that the people lived mostly like herbivores, but also ate the occasional bird or small animal. They had mastered crop rotation and had built harvesting machines run entirely on organic materials. Teal'c knew that the people of Earth could learn a lot from these ways.

He turned to his guide. "Thank you," he said to him, and the two walked back to the town.

Carter and Daniel were midway through a lively conversation with Petravm, the leader, when Teal'c came up to them. Carter was translating anything said both ways, while Daniel studied the movement and actions of Petravm while he spoke.

"Teal'c!" Daniel welcomed their friend, "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Indeed I did Daniel Jackson. But perhaps I should wait until O'Neill returns before I go any further."

Carter nodded, "OK Teal'c. Meanwhile, Daniel and I have had some very interesting discussions with the townsfolk. It turns out that I can't communicate with anyone else, but Petravm here has been very accommodating"

"Do you know how long it will be until Jack comes back?" Daniel asked Carter.

Carter turned to Petravm and asked, "Could you tell us when our leader, O'Neill will return?"

"At dusk I would estimate," was the reply.

Carter looked at Daniel, "Around sundown." She beamed, "I'm getting the hang of this!"

Daniel nodded, and started filling Teal'c in on some of the things he had learned, asking him if he recognised anything from his travels.

-

O'Neill was getting weary after another hour or two's walking, but ran when he saw the twinkle of daylight ahead of him. At the opening of the tunnel he noticed that the sky was quickly darkening. Now he knew what the right-angled motion his host had made meant. They had left the town when the sun was high in the sky, and now it was setting. He hated the thought of getting back after dark.

"Where is it?" he asked Viterv.

The lizard pointed in front of them, and, slightly off to the left, O'Neill spotted a dark shape.

"What is that?"

Viterv led him further for only one or two minutes, and they soon found themselves on the bank of a wide, deep, flowing river. Again Jack squinted into the murky light.

"Is that… Is that another town?" he asked.

His guide nodded, but turned and started walking back. Jack yelled out to him, but when there was no response, he jogged to catch up.

When they entered the tunnel they almost immediately took a left, making their return path different from the one they came on. They had left by entering a tunnel just on the edge of the square town, and although they had made a few turns into some of the many other passageways, it was obvious to Jack that their route was the main one.

Jack's mind was flurried and fast as they walked, but when he found the tunnel ascending he knew not more than half an hour could have passed. Viterv stopped to open a hatch above them and their heads were swept with a fresh breeze as they climbed the steep stairs out. Jack noticed that they weren't on the edge of the town, but right in the middle of it, directly in front of the main building where they had had their first meeting with the repvitale, in fact.

O'Neill followed Viterv up the stairs, inside, and accepted the chair that was slid back for him to sit on. Viterv exited and Jack saw that he faced Carter and sat between Teal'c and Daniel. The night was warm; the room glowed orange from an unknown source. Breezes became winds outside and thunder echoed through the walls. SG-1 sat in silence until Viterv and Petravm returned carrying large wooden platters, heat radiating from the foods and condensation gathering on the chrome goblets filled with a golden liquid. When their hosts seated themselves and began eating, SG-1 copied, and eventually the room was filled with the sounds of SG-1 exchanging stories, with Carter translating for the lizard-folk.

"So Viterv here showed me another town," O'Neill informed his team, "It was getting dark, but it looked fairly similar to this one."

"You think the civilisation has spread across the land, Sir?" Carter asked.

"You tell me, Major. Ask Petri over here about it will you?"

"Petravm, Sir."

"And while you're at it, ask him if there's a bridge we can use to get across that great thumping river of theirs."

"Yes Sir."

"Gah!" Daniel cried.

O'Neill turned to his friend and raised an eyebrow. "Got something to say Daniel?"

Daniel clutched his stomach, but then grabbed at his head. He squinted his eyes and dropped to the floor in pain.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled. He knelt down beside the writhing man. "Teal'c! Help me get him to his feet!"

Wordlessly Teal'c assisted O'Neill to heave Daniel up and slump him against their shoulders. Daniel continued to contort and twist.

"Carter! Dial home, NOW!"

"Sir, Petravm says that they can help him here. They know what's happening Sir," she replied.

"Well we don't! Unless you find out something fast Major, we are going home!" barked Jack.

"Sir! They really do insist we stay here."

O'Neill glanced at his 2IC, and then to Petravm and Viterv, and to Daniel, struggling in his and Teal'c's arms.

------

A/N: I want to say thank you to Nomad6, because without your out-of-the-blue review I would have continued to forget about my stories altogether. Relapse, anyone?