As Daniel dialed home, Jack looked around at the planet. This was the last planet the team would be visiting for a week. The general had given SG-1 a week break and Jack had convinced Daniel to spend part of it at his cabin, fishing. After they got back to the base and through debriefing, the two of them took off. After a few hours of sitting on Jack's dock, Daniel stood up to stretch.
"I can see why Teal'c didn't want to come. The bugs are terrible and I'm starving!"
Jack glanced up at him. "There's plenty of food in the fridge. I'll put up the poles and join you."
Just before they finished eating Jack's cell phone rang.
"Why did I bring that thing a long?" Jack mumbled as he went to answer it. It was General Hammond. "General," Jack moaned, "this was supposed to be for a week!" When Jack hung up, Daniel asked him what was up.
"SG-2 is 3 days overdue. The General wants us to go look for them."
Back at the SGC, Sam and Teal'c were waiting for Jack and Daniel to return. Hammond explained to Sam and Teal'c what had happened.
"SG-2 was going on a basic reconnaissance mission. No signs of life had been seen when we sent the mount through. I know Jack is going to be upset, but I think this has turned into a first contact mission. I wanted to send in the best for that."
"Thank you, sir. I think the Colonel will understand." Sam responded. About that time Jack and Daniel came into the room.
"I hope this won't take very long, general."
"Sit down, Jack. As I was saying, we have reason to believe that this has turned into a first contact mission. I would like you to take your team and investigate. You will leave in three hours. Please make sure you check in within 24 hours. Dismissed."
Once the team had gotten ready, they met the general in the gate room.
"We sent a mount through, and it showed the same thing as before. If you don't report within twenty-four hours, we'll label it as a failed mission and lock out the address. Good luck, SG-1."
The planet was very humid when they walked through the gate. It was forested and green. There didn't seem to be any one else around. The four of them walked further into the forest. After they had walked a little ways into the forest they heard noises. They continued to walk and stumbled into a clearing. There were lots of people in the clearing and when the team walked into what seemed like a market. Very few people even noticed they were there. As they walked through the market the team could see that Daniel was completely engrossed in the sales.
"Focus, Daniel." Jack said. They continued walking until they came to a slave trade.
"It's disgusting that some people still sell each other." Sam said as the four of them walked by it. Then they saw something that made them all stop and stare in horror. In front of them the man who had stepped out to auction off the slaves was wearing a SG jacket. It was torn and bloody. Sam took a step forward and Jack put out a hand to stop her. He could see the indignation and anger burning in her eyes. Jack led then to a spot where no one could overhear them.
"We have to find them and find out if they are alive." Sam stated.
"I know." Jack agreed. "But first we have to update the general about this."
The team made their way back to the gate in silence. When they reached the gate, Daniel quickly dialed up the gate. Jack told the general what they had seen.
"Look for them Colonel, but don't put your team at unnecessary risk." Hammond told him.
"All right." He told Hammond. He turned to the team. "It's getting late. We'll stay here for the night and head back to the market in the morning." The reluctantly agreed, but nobody got much sleep. The team headed out just as the sun was coming up. When they got to the market, they headed to where the slave sale was. The market had been closed so they walked around behind where the slaves were the previous day. There was a large building there. They looked around it and seeing no guards, cautiously walked up to the doors and pushed on them. The doors opened and the four of them walked through. It was dark and musty and they could hear the slaves talking amongst themselves. The team quickly walked through the cages looking for their lost comrades. They had almost given up hope when Daniel spotted them in a corner cage by themselves. When Jack walked up Jefferay Anderson, SG-2's leader, stood up and came to the front of the cage.
"Colonel O'Neill! Can you get us out?" Jefferay asked Jack.
"Hopefully." Jack said. He started looking at the latches on the doors.
"The doors all open at once, but we haven't figured out how." Jefferay's 2IC told him.
"Sir, look up there." Sam said as she pointed up to a wire that was linked to all the cages. They followed the wire to a switch on the side of the wall.
"Sir, I wouldn't touch that…" Sam said, but Jack wasn't listening.
"Ow!" he shouted as he jumped back. "Don't touch that." He stated, holding his finger. Sam looked around for the shield's power source. She searched along the wall and found where power crystals were used. She quickly pulled out the main crystal and turned to Jack.
"You can touch it now, sir." Sam said. Jack looked over at her, hesitating.
"If it zaps me, I might have to hurt you." Jack told her. He slowly reached out and pulled on the switch. All of the doors clanged open. The prisoners hesitated for an instant, then ran out of the building.
"Ungrateful hooligans." Jack muttered under his breath.
"Not all of them are." Sam said, pointing to a solitary man, walking toward them.
"Daniel, you're good with talking to strangers, go talk to him." Jack said as walked over to SG-2. As Jack and Teal'c helped the injured members of SG-2, Daniel and Sam went to talk to the man.
"I am Sorak Dorin." The man introduced himself. "Thank you for saving me. Please let me repay you by coming with me to my home." At that time Jack walked up.
"How far away is your home?" Jack asked Sorak.
"Not far. Just a short walk over the hill behind this building." Sorak told him.
"I think it would be a good idea to go with him, since his home is closer than the gate." Sam said to Jack.
"I agree. Some of SG-2 wouldn't be able to make it all the way to the gate." Jack told her. Sorak took lead and they slowly made their way with Jack and Teal'c helping the injured members of SG-2. Along the way, Sorak talked with Sam.
"I'm glad you accepted my invitation to my home. I never get many visitors."
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"I'm a scientist. The villagers think I'm evil." He told her. "I find it rather humorous."
"Do you live alone then?" Sam asked him.
"No, I don't. I live with my sister, Nyr'tak, and her two friends, Einnob and Re'potsir'c."
"Oh." Before she could ask him anything else, Daniel started talking to him.
"Do you know anything about the culture here?" he asked.
"As I said before, the villagers think I'm evil so I don't spend much time outside my home." Sorak told him. The group walked a little further to the top of the hill and then stopped. Looking down, there was a large house with gardens around it.
"How did you manage to build this?" Daniel asked Sorak.
"We didn't. It was already here. I came here as a child a lot. Nobody ever wanted to lay claim on the house, so when I was old enough, I did. I have no idea who built it, and the elders won't talk about it." Sorak explained.
"That's odd." Daniel said. At that time they had reached the house. Sorak introduced the other three people in his house to Daniel and Sam. Sorak lead them through the house to a place where they could let SG-2 rest.
"We'll make for the gate in the morning." Jack told SG-2. "Try and get some rest." Sorak led SG-1 to rooms.
"I'll have Einnob bring up some food." He told them.
After dinner, Sorak showed Sam his lab.
"This place is remarkably advanced for such a primitive planet." Sam commented.
"Most of it was already here. The rest I made myself." Sorak told her.
"That's amazing! How long have you been doing this?" Sam asked him.
"For five years now." He told her. They spent the rest of the evening talking about science. When she was walking back to her room Jack stopped her to talk.
"So did you have fun talking to Sorak?" Jack asked her. She thought she heard a slight hint of jealousy in his voice but put it off as her imagination.
"He showed me the equipment he has. Good night, sir." Sam said to him and walked into her room. Jack shook his head and went to his own room. In the morning Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and SG-2 headed to the gate. Sam stayed behind and studied the machines some more. After a day Sam came back to the SGC. When she got back she went to talk to the general.
"Sir, the technology that Sorak has could greatly advance the fight against the Goa'uld." Sam told the general. "I would like to stay on planet and continue studying the machines."
"Well, its up to you, but we'd all miss you." Hammond told her.
"Thank you, sir. I know everyone would miss me, I would miss them too, but I want to go." Sam told him.
Jack walked into Sam's office. He knew that he had to talk to her and convince her to stay. There were boxes sitting on her table and she was putting things in them. He knocked on the door and Sam looked up.
"Is there no way I can convince you to stay?" he said.
"I didn't know you wanted me to stay." Sam said in surprise. Jack looked at her.
"Of course I want you to stay. You are a great 2IC and an even better friend. If you go, I'm really going to miss you." Jack told her.
"I didn't know you felt that way." Sam said.
"You have no idea." Jack said quietly to himself. Out loud to Sam he said, "You didn't answer my question."
"Sir, this is a great opportunity for mankind to develop a better way to fight the Goa'uld. I can't walk away from that. Even though I have enjoyed working at the SGC and being with you, I can't ignore this."
"What do you mean, 'being with you'?" Jack asked her.
"You know, getting the chance to work with a great leader." Sam said lamely.
"Really?" Jack had walked over to her during the conversation. "Well, since you're leaving, I guess no one cares if I do this." He leaned down and kissed her.
Almost all of the SGC had come to see Sam leave. She said her goodbyes to everyone else and then walked up to Jack. He looked down into Sam's eyes. He knew it would be for the last time and he knew he would reflect on this moment for a long time to come. Sam meet his gaze and they locked eyes. Jack could see the happiness in her eyes, but he could also see the sadness and regret. After their previous conversation, he had nothing else to say to her. Sam gave him a quick hug and turned toward the Stargate. Jack watched her walk slowly to the gate, and then go through. He stood there for a long time, then turned and walked out of the room.
Daniel watched Jack walk out of the gate room. It had been a week since Sam had left and Daniel was getting worried. Jack had seen keeping to himself and refused to leave the base. Daniel walked the hall after Jack. He had walked into Sam's office. Nobody had moved into it. Some of Sam's stuff was still there. As he stood in the doorway watching Jack, he knew he had to do something.
On the planet, Sam looked over the results of the test she had just done. Ever since she came here she felt that something was missing. She tried not to think about it and throw herself into her work, but she couldn't stop thinking about how she missed the SGC and Jack. As she finished with the test, Sorak came in. He came and leaned on the table next to her. She wished he wouldn't do that. It was something Jack would do.
"You've been here a week and you still don't seem very happy." Sorak said to her.
"I'm sorry. Its just that I can't stop thinking about the SGC." Sam told him.
"Is it the SGC, or someone in particular?" Sorak asked her. She looked at him in surprise.
"I went to ask you if wanted to go for a walk last night, and when I looked in to ask you, you where looking at a picture of the man who was here before. I want you to be happy, and if going back will make you happy, I want you to go back. I know what tests need to be done. Go home." Sorak said to her.
"Thank you."
When she walked through the gate the first person she saw was Jack. He stood in the back and waited until she had finished talking with everyone else, Sam walked up to Jack.
"Glad you're back, Carter."
"It's good to be back, sir." Sam said, giving Jack a quick hug.