Stepping once more out of the gate, they arrived on the now familiar and unloved planet. This time there was nobody who stopped to gaze at the loveliness of the lush forest surrounding the Stargate, and those who were ordered to hold the gate looked around with distrust evident in their eyes. While they didn't exactly know what was here, SG-3 knew that there was something. They also knew that that was about all of the information anyone had.

They'd been told there wasn't a Goa'uld on the planet, but that was of little comfort when they'd been informed of the uncertainties regarding the 'monster' who had killed the snake. A known enemy was better than an unknown quantity, even if that meant they were dealing with a Goa'uld. As it was, they watched SG-1 make it's way into the depths of the forest, eventually vanishing from sight.

-

"Tell me why we're going back there again, Carter."

"Because they might know what happened to Daniel, Sir."

Jack considered this for a mere second before responding. "But weren't you the one who said that something was trying to keep you away from there?"

"Yes sir, but the idea that the animals around didn't want me to go to the village doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense. I don't want to go there either. There was something wrong with their leader, and animals are supposed to be able to sense that kind of thing, Carter." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, sir." Sam hid a smile.

"Just so it's clear, I don't think this is a good idea."

-

"You?" Daniel's eyebrows shot up in surprise and puzzlement flickered across his face. "Why would they think you're their…" The archaeologist paused, hesitant to refer to the Marsi's monster given the circumstances. "Why do they think you killed their Goddess?"

"Perhaps because I did?" Scorn rested lightly on her features, giving a cold cast to her usually warm expression. "Goddess. As though it were a divine being rather than the loathsome thing it truly was."

"So you killed the Goa'uld, but you never told the Marsi what it was?"

Pausing at his reference to the alien race, though not shocked he knew the name, she finally spoke. Her musical voice was low, with an unmistakable sadness lingering in the tone. "They did not wish to hear. For so long they'd worshipped a false god, they could not face the destruction of what they thought they knew. I believe it scared them, to find their beliefs to be so fragile in truth – to find that they must think for themselves."

"But surely they must see their lives are better now." Daniel knew the loyalty that the parasitic race demanded of their subjects, and how far such people would go to prove it.

"They see nothing, hatred and lies have blinded them to it. They flock behind their … leader," she spat the word out, "and take the stories handed down to them as fact."

"Handed down to them…" Daniel repeated the words carefully, easily recalling the conversation between SG1 and the Coryphaeus, brought on by the young Marsi Renato.

"The beast killed our Goddess."

"She will rise again!"

"Excuse me, how long ago did this happen?"

"Nearly 300 years."

"300 years ago," the linguist stated softly. When the woman didn't respond, he continued. "That's how long ago the Marsi told us that their Goddess was slain."

"More or less." She didn't understand the significance of what he was trying to say.

"That means you're…."

"Over three hundred?" An amused smile dawned at the sudden discomfort of the young man, though the sadness still rested in her gaze.

"And you are not a Goa'uld." He winced as an indignant glare flashed in the woman's eyes. "Tok'ra?"

"I am in no way related to the Goa'uld."

"What are you?" Okay, not the smoothest approach to the question, but he had to ask.

She sighed softly, an almost lonely sound. "My people are called the Ka'rosh." Glancing at him, she picked up on the curiosity resting so clearly on the man's face. "It is a very long story, but suffice to say that we have fought the Goa'uld for millennia, since the first came."

"The first?"

She should have known the forthright answer wouldn't satisfy Daniel. Vala could tell he had an agile mind and an apparently insatiable curiosity. "Perhaps these are questions better left for another time. I believe we should get you to your people. They are looking for you."

"How do you…" Vala headed out of the structure, "…know that?" Daniel asked her retreating form. Looking over at Ca'eles, the massive wolf merely cocked his head at the human. If Daniel hadn't been so tired, he'd have sworn the animal was grinning.

-

They returned fire, but the forces were simply too much. Jack wasn't sure exactly how the fight had started – but his team had high-tailed it out of the village and now, from cover near the gate, they were holding their position in order that SG-3 might make it through the wormhole. He signaled for Carter to make a run for it, and as soon as she disappeared through it, he and Teal'c followed.

"Close the Iris!" Hammond yelled to the control room as a rain of energy, similar to zat fire, exited the Stargate right behind Colonel O'Neill. With the iris closed, the general made his way over to Jack, who, aside from a few minor singe marks, was alright. Already on his feet, O'Neill muttered, 'I told you that wasn't a good idea, Carter.'

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"Sir, the Marsi weren't happy to see us."

"I gathered that much. What precisely happened?"

"We went to the village as per your orders. Daniel wasn't there and the locals didn't know where he might have gone."

"Sir," Carter addressed Hammond. "They were very agitated by our presence."

"I believe the Marsi did not expect us to return to their village," Teal'c offered.

"So they shot at you?" Disbelief rang clear in the general's voice.

Jack shifted, "Not exactly at that moment. I may have mentioned that the Goa'uld aren't gods" He glanced down at the charred portions of his BDU's, "They didn't take the news well. Luckily, they don't have very good aim."

Sighing, Hammond ordered them off to the infirmary, shaking his head as he watched them go.