Gwena looked around their surroundings with a frown. Where were they? This town, if you could call it that, was made up of stone and mud houses…what the hell were those women wearing? It was about ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, but the women were dressed in long dresses and veils covering most if not all of their faces.
"What is this place, Jack?" Gwena asked him softly. She did not like it there one bit.
Jack sighed, looking at her before looking at the hair veil Sam had opted to wear for the day trip into the city. "This is Iraq."
"What happened?"
"It's the result of too many years with a dictator leading them, taxes too high – and bias thinking, Gwena. Men have few rights, women fewer, and starvation is common in the countryside. Is this what you want for your people, Gwena?"
The girl shook her head, shocked by what she saw. This was not the dream she'd thought of when picturing where her father lived. Her father, oh God. What if he was exactly what these people were saying? What if he wasn't really all that Hanan told her he was in the tales the older woman wove for her? What if…
Jack led the two women through the city, with an armed escort of five guards following them at a safe distance. Gwena didn't like the looks she was getting from any of the…Iraqis; she thought Jack had called them. She didn't like this part of Earth one bit. It smelled of urine and she felt like a traitor whenever she made eye contact with them.
"Where are we going?" she asked, trying to determine how long they were going to be walking for.
"The prison," Jack answered briefly.
"Why?"
"So you can meet your father."
The prison was a bleak and dreary place as far as any of the three were concerned. For Jack it just reminded him way too much of his time as a prisoner. They were not very pleasant thoughts and he wasn't too thrilled about having to face one of his captors again either.
Jack opted to have Sam wait in the main room of the prison while he took Gwena to meet her father. The Major was not happy about this order at all, but it seemed that Jack wanted to do this on his own – without Sam by his side to give him support.
Sam sighed as she resigned herself to sit by the door and wait, glaring at the guards every few minutes as they tried to 'discreetly' check her out.
Needless to say, she was not in a very good mood two hours later when Jack and Gwena appeared again, the young girl's eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall. Jack just looked like a stonewall – not letting any of his emotions through.
Sam, seeing the look on Jack's face, knew better than to say anything right then. She just took Gwena into her arms and gave the girl what comfort she could.
A/N: It's short, I know, but we're nearing the end and this was the only concievable place to cut this chapter. Please don't forget to review by pressing the little purple button!