The inside of the mountain was impressive. It was a series of tunnels that didn't seem to Ian to be chiseled out of the stone the mountain was made of. The walls were bright and gave off a muted glow that seemed to come from inside them, which made it unnecessary for any flashlights, or whatever kind of light sources the Tok'ra might use. As Jacob led them to a fork in the first tunnel, Ian looked around, only idly keeping track of which way they were going. He wouldn't need to, after all. If they needed to go, he'd be able to find his way out just fine.

They passed several other Tok'ra as they walked, all of them looking at the Tau'ri with varying degrees of interest (but no hostility that Jack or the others could see) and each of them greeted Jacob with a slight nod as they went by.

"New secret hideaway?" Jack asked, more to kill time as they walked than any real interest. He had taken point with Jacob, while the others trailed behind, and while Daniel looked around with interest at their surroundings, Teal'c walked beside Ian, him and Jack (the dog) keeping themselves between Ian and any of the approaching Tok'ra. Ian didn't notice it, but Jack did – and approved. The Tok'ra weren't aggressive, but that didn't mean anything, really. Things could change pretty quickly, Jack knew.

"It's fairly new," Jacob said, nodding. "We've been working on it a couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks?" Ian repeated, having been listening to the conversation even though it hadn't seemed like he was.

Jacob grinned at the cadet over his shoulder.

"We have a technology that lets us grow caves, basically. Quick and easy, and no spelunking."

"Nice."

Which explained why the walls looked so odd, he supposed.

"We could use that kind of technology," Daniel said, looking around. "Think of the tunnels we could build in places we-"

"It doesn't work like that, Daniel," Jacob said, interrupting. "For one thing, the tunnels don't last forever. For another, how would you explain building something like the Lincoln Tunnel in only weeks instead of years?"

Daniel frowned, but he could clearly see the truth in what Jacob was saying. Still… it was a nice thing to think about, and the Stargate wasn't going to be a secret forever. Then they'd be able to explain those kinds of things.

"What do you have for us, Jacob?" Jack asked, turning the topic back to their real reason for coming. Jack knew better than to try and mooch technology or anything like that from the Tok'ra – even Jacob. They'd just give the whole spiel about the people on Earth not being ready for it, and that would be the end of it.

"In a minute, Jack," Jacob told him. "We're meeting up with a couple of people and they can give you a better report than I can."

They walked again in silence, then, until they reached yet another fork. The tunnel on the right (the one they took) actually led to a small round room about twice the size of Sam's lab. There was an odd table in the middle of the room that looked like it had grown right out of the floor, but aside from that no other furniture. Two people were standing at the table looking at something that was on it, and they looked up when Jacob and SG-1 walked in.

Ian scowled.

Pia smiled when she recognized the newcomers. She moved to the other side of the table – although the man who was in the room with her didn't.

"Ian! What a pleasant surprise."

She might have moved even closer, but somehow Jack ended up blocking her way, even though he didn't appear to do it on purpose. Ian didn't mind a bit. While he didn't have anything against Pia, personally, she was a lot more forward than what Ian was used to – and what he was comfortable with. Add to it that she was dressed in next to nothing – with what little she was wearing leaving little to the imagination – and he was more than happy to have Jack between them.

Jacob smiled. He'd seen the two interacting the last time they'd met and knew that no matter what Pia tried – and she'd confessed to one of the others that she truly was interested in the young human male – she was wasting her time with Ian.

"Ian? You remember Pia?"

Ian nodded, but didn't say anything, and Jacob turned to the stranger who was in the room as well.

"This is Losand." He said, introducing him. "Losand, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Doctor Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Cadet Ian Brooks."

The Tok'ra gave them a slight nod by way of greeting.

"It is an honor to meet you," he said – using his normal voice, Ian noticed. "I have heard many good things about your team, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack gave him a shrug and a slightly sardonic smile.

"We try."

Losand turned to Ian.

"I heard about how efficiently you dealt with Seterious, Cadet Brooks. May I compliment you on your quick thinking and nerve?"

Ian shrugged. He didn't want to think about that. However, he had to at least pretend to give a shit.

"Thanks."

If the others noticed his lack of actual gratitude, Losand didn't, and the Tok'ra turned to Jack.

"Your wife did not come?"

Jack shook his head, his expression completely unreadable.

"She's busy."

"Ah."

"Are we ready?" Jacob asked. He had his own ideas why Sam wasn't there, but that wasn't Losand or Pia's business, and he'd discuss it later if it came up when he had Jack alone.

Losand nodded, and hit a switch on a device on the table. Immediately there was a slight hum, and a hologram appeared in front of them. It showed a huge Goa'uld mother ship in orbit around a large red planet, quietly drifting in the darkness of space.

"This is a recording taken by one of our operatives with Yu," Losand explained. "He and a few others – not our operatives – had been sent on a reconnaissance mission to find out about a new threat that seemed to be growing among the Goa'uld."

"This Anubis guy?" Jack asked, looking at the hologram.

"Yes. Yu had heard of an upcoming meeting between Anubis and one of the other system lords, and sent our operative to watch and see if this Anubis was really as dangerous as the others thought he was."

"Was he?" Jack asked.

"Watch."

Losand pushed another button, and suddenly the planet below the Goa'uld ship began lazily rotating, telling them that he'd started the recording. A moment later, the first ship was joined by another one, this one coming out of hyperspace close by. There was about three minutes wait, and suddenly the second ship fired on the first. There was no sign of a shield. No sign of any kind of battle. The ship blew up silently as they watched, and it hadn't even returned fire.

"Wow…"

OOOOOOOOOO

Hammond looked over as Sam rushed through the door of the command center, her face pale and her eyes worried. Below them in the embarkation room, the Stargate was activated, but no one had emerged. Fraiser was assembling her trauma teams with quick efficiency under the guard of a heavily armed and armored security team, and Sam looked at the computer to see whose IDC was showing.

"It's SG-4," Hammond told her. "They've hit a pocket of Jaffa resistance and are fighting their way back to the gate."

"Are they all right?" She couldn't help the relief that it wasn't Jack and the others, but that relief was replaced by concern for the other team.

"They have wounded," Hammond said. "But we can't send help until they shut the gate down, so they're on their own…"

It was obvious he hated feeling so helpless – and Sam knew he would have sent half the mountain to get them back if he could.

"We-"

Before Sam could finish that, someone emerged suddenly from the gate. He staggered immediately, sliding down the ramp limply, and was instantly followed by three more people, two of them carrying another, and all of them bleeding.

"Close the iris!" one of them yelled.

There was a flurry of staff fire suddenly in the embarkation room as the Jaffa who were chasing them opened fire from the other side of the gate, and two of the security personnel were thrown back as they were hit.

"Close the iris!" Hammond ordered.

The command wasn't necessary. The technician manning the computer was already closing it, and the metal iris closed around the gate, securing the SGC from the Jaffa who were following. There were several muffled thuds against the other side of the iris, and then the gate disengaged.

"Let's move!" Fraiser called, stepping forward to take a look at the man who'd been carried through the Stargate while the doctors around her started examining the other injured.

Hammond left the control room, followed immediately by Sam. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs and had entered the embarkation room, every injured person had a couple of medical staff surrounding them.

"Let's get him prepped for surgery," Janet said as they walked in.

Hammond moved over to Fraiser, who was drenched in blood – none of it hers – and was working feverishly on her patient.

"Doctor?"

She looked over, unable to move her hands from where they were holding pieces of the injured man's organs together.

"I need Ian, sir. Now."