"I must admit, Major Carter, you're not quite as good as I thought you'd be. I expected you here twenty minutes ago. Are you feeling all right?" Man, what I wouldn't give to go over there and wipe that smug grin off of his face. It's only the sight of Sam that keeps me from doing that very thing. She looks like she's about to collapse.

"What did you do to her?"

He starts to laugh at me. "Well, let's see. First, there was the shock grenade. Then the infuser with the cvael. Cvael is supposed to react with naquadah in a very unpleasant way. And lastly there is the tracking collar, which is said to make you feel very... weak." He stops laughing and goes over and grabs Sam by the chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"I think I might have found a way to keep you from running off. What do you think Major?"

She glares at him and he pushes her back watching as she collapses on the forest floor.

"Hey!" I rush over to my sister and help her sit up. "Leave her alone."

"Leave is right. Come on, let's go."

"Go? Go where?"

"To the chaapa'ai."

"The what?"

"Never mind. Just get up! We've got a long way to walk."

"Walk? How can she walk? Whatever you gave her is making it so she can barely sit up." He glares at me then grabs something off his clothes and starts doing something with it. My sister quickly tenses up, grabbing my hand in a death grip. Her eyes close and a sharp intake of breath tells me she's pain and not trying to show it. After a second, she relaxes and opens her eyes.

"Now can we get up and start moving. I have a schedule to keep." I'm about to argue again when Sam catches my eye. She nods and gives my hand a gentle squeeze before motioning for me to help her up. I do, and he starts leading us through the forest. I stay with Sam the whole time, she's really leaning on me. But slowly, she starts to get her strength back. By the time he's ready for a break, she can almost stand on her own. I help her sit on a log and then all but collapse to the ground beside her while he pours some sort of blue liquid in a bottle. Oh God I'm tired. I'll never know how these military types can do this. Sam just stares at him, with that thinking look in her eyes.

"You're the same race as Aris Boch aren't you?"

He glances up from his bottle and gives a quick shrug.

"So you're a bounty hunter too."

"Bounty hunter? Sam, what's going on?" I ask quietly, hoping that she had some idea.

"Mark, I promise I will tell you when I get it figured out. But for now I need you to trust me. Okay?" I nod and she puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder before she turns back to him. "So are you?"

"I'm the same race, yes, but I'm not a bounty hunter."

"You could have fooled me." He laughs. "What's so funny?"

"You are. You and your limited view. You probably think that bounty hunters are very methodical, going from one system lord to the next offering their services. Well let me tell you something. The kind of planning Aris did to capture that Tok'ra when you first met is not typical. They are no better than vagrants roaming the galaxy. They find someone wanted by a system lord and they turn them in. No planning, no strategy, no thinking ahead. They survive on plain dumb luck."

"So how are you different?"

"My services are much more... specialized."

"So you're a mercenary."

"That's one way of putting it."

"So what do you want?"

"You, Doctor Major Samantha Carter, astrophysicist, 2IC of SG-1, host to Jolinar of Malkshur. Now let's move." He stands up and I help my sister up. Now it seems most of her strength has come back and she only reaches for me when she stumbles, which is less and less frequent. Although happy at her returning strength, I am getting slightly upset. Without having to worry about Sam, I find myself thinking more and more about the situation we are in.

I realize I have no clue as to what's going on, but Sam does. She said she'd tell me, but I really want to know now. It's apparent that this man knows a lot about her. Maybe he was following her, or worse stalking her. Would he hurt her, or me for that matter. He obviously doesn't care about her safety, that infuser is still pumping whatever that stuff is into her. How does he know her? Is it from the work she does in Colorado? Surely working with satellites can't warrant this kind of... of what ... kidnaping, abduction? Abductions. Great. Now I'm going to be seeing aliens and flying saucers coming to take us away to be dissected. Maybe she used one of those telescopes to look through the window of the royal palace on one of those far away worlds.

Come on Mark. Focus here. She said she would tell me so she will. You trust her, right? I was brought out of my daydreaming when our captor suddenly stopped.

"Where are we going to?" This time we both collapsed on the ground and I was the first one to catch my breath.

"Right here."

"And now what?"

"Now we wait."

"For what?"

"For who, not what. We're going to be joined by some colleagues."

"Colleagues? Don't you mean employer?" My sister had finally caught her breath and was joining in the conversation.

"They said you were smart Major."

"So who are we meeting?"

"You know, I would tell you but I don't want to ruin the surprise."

"Oh come on. You don't still think that I can escape do you? What would it hurt to let me know who it is?"

"Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll tell you who's coming if you promise to be on your best behavior." She nods her head and he continues. "We're meeting an old friend of yours. Osiris."

"Osiris, what does she want with me?"

"Well, she wants to get back her power, prove herself to the system lords."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"To be honest, I'm not exactly sure, but I'm sure she'll be more than happy to explain it to you."

"Why now?"

"I don't know. I've been following you for several months now... Juna, Abydos, those weeks you spent in that Goa'uld palace, even Earth, just waiting for the signal to swipe you. It finally came."

"What about him?" she indicated in my direction.

"Him? Don't worry about him. I just grabbed him so he couldn't tell your team what happened. He should be fine as long as he doesn't do something stupid."

Something started beeping on his arm, interrupting the conversation. He picks it up and looks at it for a minute before turning back to Sam. "Now hold out your arm."

"Why?"

"You promised you'd be on your best behavior. This just assures me you will." She looks at him defiantly. "Okay, have it your way then." He pulls out some sort of weapon and points it in my direction. Oh shit.

"No. Here." She holds out her arm as he puts the weapon down. I am frozen as he rummages through his pocket, pulls out a vial with some red liquid in it, and puts it in the infuser. A few moments later Sam collapses on the ground, in the fetal position, whimpering and clutching her stomach. That sight quickly shatters my paralysis and I rush over to help her, barely registering the other people that have joined us. After a hurried discussion that I barely hear and my mind can't seem to follow, I feel pain all over my body. Then darkness claims me and I know no more.