Daniel wished he could offer positive news, but settled for the truth. "That was General Hammond. SG7 lost contact with Teal'c and SG3 shortly after they arrived on the planet. They're starting a search."

Sam closed her eyes, sighed deeply, and walked silently from the room.

PART NINE: MEANWHILE ON P3X-779

Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since Teal'c placed Jack O'Neill in a sarcophagus hoping for a miracle.

Once the guards (funny, the Tokra hadn't mentioned any guards) were disposed of, Teal'c had remained, for the most part, to keep watch over his friend, while Colonel Reynolds and his team investigated the remaining contents of the Goa'uld facility. As Teal'c reflected on the past day's activities, he was struck by the range of emotions he'd experienced in such a short time. From the despair immediately following O'Neill's death to the hope which flourished once they found the sarcophagus to the amazement the group felt on seeing the contents of the actual facility they'd been searching for, it had been a day of unique, sometimes heart-rending experiences.

OoOoOo

(Teal'c recalls the events of the day, following O'Neill's death…)

After Carter, Daniel and Lt. Carson had been sent back to the gate, the remaining members of the team set out towards the location of the reconnaissance station.

Their goal was to find the sarcophagus and explore any extant facilities while they waited for Ambassador O'Neill's recovery. Arriving in the vicinity of said station, they were greeted by a pair of Jaffa intent on protecting the post. Teal'c, however, was equally intent on the healing of his friend and wasted no time in dispatching the two who dared to stand in his way.

Much to their surprise, the team found that the "reconnaissance station" was really nothing more than a 20 x 12 foot single room housing a ring transporter device. Considering he had little to loose in the attempt, Teal'c, bearing O'Neill's body, had stepped inside the rings and found himself transported to a subterranean area obviously cleared by Tokra crystal technology. He radioed SG3 and all but two of the remaining SGC personnel, along with Bashir, joined him below the surface. Lieutenants Homer and Garland remained behind in the above ground station, on guard for further Jaffa activity.

Teal'c quickly located the sarcophagus in a small antechamber of what appeared to be a state of the art (even for the Asgard) genetics lab. Leaving Teal'c behind with O'Neill, Reynolds, along with Bashir and 2 members of SG3 went ahead to explore what proved to be an extraordinary facility.

The lab itself was spacious to say the least, covering over 2 football fields' worth of underground territory. That main research facility was connected to smaller chambers by means of honeycombed tunnels of Tokra design to form quite a large underground compound. Although the Tokra liaison claimed no knowledge of his people's involvement in the facility, he now appeared even more interested in locating whatever treasures, including weapons, could be found therein.

At that juncture, Homer and Garland were called down to help secure the compound. They'd been in contact with their backup, SG7; that team had just arrived to secure the gate for their return home. Moreover, Lt. Carson had rejoined them along with an archeologist, James McCoy PhD, who would attempt to provide some of the expertise lost to the team when Dr. Jackson returned to base.

Once all members of the original team were transported to the underground chambers, all hell broke loose. One heavily armed Jaffa had clearly been waiting for everyone to find their way into the self contained area in order to prevent escape. This particular guard was huge, nearly twice the size of Teal'c and announced his presence in an ominous howling pronouncement, "You have invaded the highly prized treasure rooms of Amoun, the god of creation. You will pay for your sacrilege".

Immediately the team was bombarded by a piercing wail which blocked out all other sounds. The lights flashed rapidly and the temperature dropped precipitously. Team members quickly found cover as energy beams crisscrossed the room. Teal'c came running from the antechamber once he heard the disturbance and took up a spot behind Reynolds, the two men soon managing to maneuver around the threatening Jaffa while the others drew his fire. In the midst of the cacophony of sound that was that enclosure, Teal'c fired a direct hit on the Jaffa who crumbled to the ground. As he did so the agonizing noise stopped as suddenly as it has begun while a bright light transmuted the chamber for just a split second. Within a minute after the Jaffa was down, silence reigned in the chamber and the team looked at each other with some bewilderment.

"What was that about?" Reynolds asked, "One Jaffa wasn't much of a guard detail; I wonder what else we're walking into."

With a more defensive attitude, the team resumed their explorations. After checking out the lifeless Jaffa and looking through the immediate area for booby traps, Teal'c had returned to the anteroom, hoping that O'Neill would soon be returned to his side.

Most of the equipment in the labs appeared to be Asgard in design, but without Carter and Daniel the purpose of many of the devices remained unknown. Much of the accompanying writings were indecipherable to everyone but Bashir and McCoy who immersed themselves in them. Of some assistance was a holographic message delivered by an interesting and decidedly female Asgard figure. This non-corporeal creature offered a message about a treasure of great value which was secreted within the walls of the lab. The message made it clear that only an Ancient or perhaps someone of Ancient descent would be able to free the treasure from its hiding place by triggering a follow up message containing specific directions.

Although they'd found tissue samples and a multitude of Ancient writings during the first few hours of the search, nothing could compare to the treasure they'd stumbled upon shortly after hearing the holographic message. This find appeared to be 'the treasure' itself, just where the message had indicated it would be. As the group worked to excavate their find, they realized it was none other than the Asgard specimen mentioned during the initial SGC briefing. The specimen, apparently humanoid from what little could be seen thus far, was incredibly well preserved in a stasis pod and buried under several layers of rock.

OoOoOoOo

As Reynolds and SG3 attempted, with little success, to free the Asgard specimen, Teal'c, who had returned to the antechamber housing the sarcophagus, heard a low humming sound just behind him. To his relief, he turned to see the doors of the sarcophagus slowly opening. Checking the entrance once more, to make certain there were no hostiles approaching their position, he moved hopefully towards the Goa'uld device. Sure enough, O'Neill was sitting up, looking understandably confused and somewhat irritated, but very much alive.

"What's goin' on, T?"

"It is good to see you returned to us, O'Neill." Teal'c intoned with his customary head nod.

"Yeah? Where'd I go?" Jack quipped as he grabbed the arm Teal'c extended and pulled himself from the confined space of the sarcophagus.

"You were quite dead, my friend".

"Kind of figured that. Don't have much memory of the event itself, though. What's our situation? Bet they didn't just invite us in to use this thing."

"Indeed 'they' did not. And they have paid dearly for their lack of hospitality".

Looking around and making his way to the door, Jack realized his wife was not present and asked with some alarm, "T., where's Sam…. She's not …"

"Samantha returned to earth shortly after you were killed. Daniel and Lt. Carson accompanied her. We believed you would have wanted her safe and with your children."

Greatly relieved, Jack acknowledged his debt to his good friend. "You're right, T. It means everything to me that she's safe, thank you. Now what do you say we get out of here? By the way, T., where is here? "

"We are in a subterranean research lab. Apparently, this facility was initially built by the Ancients and later overtaken by Goa'uld operatives". SG3 is even now seeking to free the Asgard specimen and locate the Ancient weapon specified in our initial briefing. We will find them working on the other side of this tunnel", Teal'c explained, indicating the closest Tokra tunnel and leading his friend in that direction.

OoOoOo

Arriving in the main research facility, Jack began "So is this the lab where that Ancient weapon thingy was located or whatever it is we were looking for?" Teal'c fixed his friend with a look of infinite patience before O'Neill continued. "Hey, it would be nice to actually accomplish the mission before we go home".

"I have found nothing here which appears to be a weapon; however, I believe this room was the center of the genetic experiments to which the Asgard referred."

At that point the SGC personnel turned nearly as one and let out a whoop at seeing their leader miraculously resurrected. All but Bashir came over to greet him individually.

Soon, Jack had joined SG3 in their digging, intent on freeing the Asgard specimen from confinement for the trip back to earth. He wished Sam and Daniel were here for their technical expertise. McCoy was trying but sorely lacking in field experience.

At the same time, Jack was forever grateful to Daniel for keeping Sam out of harm's way right now. His thoughts went out to his wife and he suddenly realized how devastated she must be. She had seen him killed; had he been in her position …. He was glad Daniel was with her but knew he had to get a message to her as soon as possible. Lost in his thoughts of Sam, Jack was surprised when Reynolds approached him.

"Jack, we're getting nowhere with freeing this pod. We saw a message earlier, before you …came back…or…"

"Yeah, whatever…"

"Any way, it was an Asgard message stating only an Ancient or someone of Ancient descent could free the specimen."

"So you're thinking I'm the closest you've got."

"It looks that way"

Jack walked over to the stasis pod. He could make out the shape of the pod under the covering of rock but little progress had been made in the excavation. As Jack laid his hand on the front surface of the pod, the Asgard hologram materialized and the final instructions were delivered.

"At last, the Ancients have revisited this outpost. We are relieved that this is so and find that now we can release the treasure into trusted hands. The young Asgard male you will find in the stasis pod was created by means of genetic engineering in this very lab. He is the result of the collaboration of three races, the Asgard, the Tokra and the Ancients. Our hope is that you will see he finds his way to his Asgard family and plays his intended role in assuring the continuance of their species."

"Is it just me, or does that Asgard hologram look at lot more human than the Asgards we're used to?"

"Indeed the figure appears quite humanoid, O'Neill".

At that moment, a burst of light rapidly traversed the outline of the stasis pod. "It will now be possible for you to release the pod from its confinement by conventional means," the alien voice continued. All three of our races wish you well in your continued journeys".

Jack ran both hands through his short cropped silver hair and exhaled forcefully. "Okay, Reynolds, lets get this done, before we have anymore surprises. In the meantime, send a message topside and let them know we'll be awhile gathering some souvenirs down here. Tell them to expect us within the hour. And be sure to send a message for Sam that I'm coming home."

"What about the weapon, Ambassador?" questioned Bashir. "Surely we won't be leaving before we've found the weapons array".

"Bashir, I'm only going to say this once. I've had more than enough surprises on this little visit. We've found what the Asgard were really looking for. I'm ready to go home".

As he sprinted over to Teal'c, intent on reminding him to be sure the message was sent to Sam through the gate ASAP, he heard Reynolds' expletive, "Damn it, we can't get a message through, there's something blocking our transmission".

I'm not one to beg, however, Alone is getting lots of hits, but not many reviews. I'm curious to know what you are thinking and feeling about this story. I'll keep updating anyway, but your comments would be helpful and make it a lot more fun for me. Thanks!

P.S. Many thanks to those who are reviewing!