77

"The Gate needs power," Felger argued.

"And for that you'd jeopardise our only way home?" Hailey shouted back.

Jack silently counted to three hundred and fifty two and interjected before the Lieutenant could start screeching again.

"Will it work?" he demanded, "Can we use the hyperdrive from the Prometheus to jump start the gate?"

"Yes," Felger said.

"No," Hailey answered just as promptly.

"Do you have a better idea?" Jack challenged her. He wanted to make certain she wasn't disagreeing just for the hell of it.

Hailey didn't reply.

"There should be some kind of mechanism that opens the dome," Balinsky ventured, "So we can land Prometheus."

"Thank you," Jack said, happy that someone was cooperating. "Take Teal'c and see what you can find."

"Yes sir."

"Hailey, Felger, get your gear together and get back to Prometheus. Tell Ronson to await my orders."

Hailey snapped to attention, even if she didn't seem that happy about it…, which was tough as far as Jack was concerned. The young woman was beginning to piss him off and he was starting to think Carter had been wrong about her. Felger, on the other hand, was practically dancing with joy. Under any other circumstances, Jack would have happily ignored the scientist, but Felger's was the only idea they had.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Jack looked up to realize just himself and Hailey were left in the room.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to hide the weariness in his voice.

"I think you're making a mistake," she continued.

"Oh?"

"You're putting all of our lives at risk."

"Felger seems to think otherwise."

"With due respect, Dr. Felger's track record…"

"He's got to be right some time… and you have been given an order, Lieutenant."

He regarded Hailey with calm indifference until, albeit reluctantly, she started to move away… just as Jack thought he was going to have to send her to the brig for insubordination. She wasn't the first snotty nosed junior officer to give him crap and she certainly wouldn't be the last. God only knew what he'd do if Felger turned out to be wrong, but at least the guy was trying to be a team player.

The young woman turned and walked away, her back straight. Jack knew she was angry with him and wondered if he shouldn't have sent her off with Teal'c. It would have given her something to think about… rather that letting her fester. But she was the best person to make sure that Felger's plan worked.

Since Felger's plan was the only one they had, it was the only way they were going to get Carter and Daniel back…

And the only way Jack could see of saving his sanity.

If it didn't work then… well, he didn't see much of a future for himself at the SGC. Now, more than ever, he realised he didn't want to go out with a team other than SG-1. He was getting too old to put his life in the hands of people he didn't trust.

XOXO

Hailey knew what she was about to do was wrong. She knew that no one would give her any credit but she believed that she was right. Passionately. No one could ever accuse Jennifer Hailey of not caring about her work but as she waited for Colonel Ronson, she did feel a slight sense of guilt. She wasn't doing this for personal glory, or so she kept on telling herself.

And she tried not to think about Major Carter and Dr. Jackson waiting in vain for rescue.

Risking the Prometheus, not to mention its crew for the lives of two people was not the way to go. Many would have said that both Major Carter and Dr. Jackson were vital to the success of the SGC but Hailey took a more pragmatic view. No one was indispensable.

"Something I can do for you, Lieutenant?" Ronson asked as he joined her in his office.

Office was a grand term for what amounted to a room not much larger than a storage closet but it was somewhere he could talk to members of his crew in private.

"Sir, I…" Hailey began, and then she stopped. This was far harder than she'd thought.

"Well," he pressed

"It's about Colonel O'Neill."

"What about him?"

"I think he's letting his personnel feelings influence his decisions. In my estimation, this idea of Felger's has a low chance of success. Worst case scenario, the hyperdrive engines will go critical."

Ronson leaned back on his chair and stared at her.

"You want me to override Colonel O'Neill's orders?" he asked.

Hailey felt herself going red. "I think there are other options."

"Which are?"

"I don't know. I just need more time…"

"Time which Major Carter and Dr. Jackson may not have."

"We can't risk all our lives…"

"But Colonel O'Neill has made his decision and I'm not in a position to change his mind. You're dismissed."

And that was that. Before she knew what was happing. Hailey found herself outside the office… without really knowing how she had got there. The last person she expected to find waiting for her was Colonel O'Neill.

He was leaning against the bulkhead inspecting his nails. She tried to walk by without acknowledging him, but he put out his arm to stop her.

"Ronson didn't go for it, did he?"

"I don't know what you mean, sir."

"I'm not as dumb as I make out Lieutenant."

He couldn't be that much of an idiot and reach the rank of Colonel, Hailey thought but she kept the words to herself.

"You're lucky the Stargate on Earth is out of commission otherwise I'd toss you back through it," he warned. "Now don't you have someplace else to be?"

Hailey saluted in reply. She couldn't bring herself to respond verbally.

"Thought so," he said and sauntered away.

She wanted to hit something… preferably O'Neill, but she knew she couldn't risk an assault charge on top of the negative report he was bound to give. How the hell had he known? She hadn't told anyone she was going to see Ronson. Hailey had trouble believing that O'Neill had any kind of sixth sense. Maybe he really was that good? Even though most of the time he didn't look like he was even paying attention. However much it annoyed her to accept it, she knew O'Neill had caught her out fair and square… at least this time.

XOXO

It was a jungle.

At least that was how the planet appeared at first. The heat, the humidity, the lush vegetation… it was like stepping into a sauna. It was only as her eyes adjusted to the dim, green light, that Sam realised she and Daniel were standing in the centre of a city. She could just about make out the outlines of the buildings.

The wormhole they had passed through was still active. Glancing back over her shoulder, Sam was able to catch a reassuring glimpse of the world they had left behind. This wormhole technology was very different from their own. There had been none of the usual giddiness or disorientation as they'd passed through. Sam would like to have taken a closer look, but she could tell that Daniel was eager to start exploring.

Daniel seemed strangely at home, as he plunged into the jungle. The vegetation surrounding them was dense. Sam could only imagine that it had once been a park, which, through a combination of time and neglect had overrun the city. Sam realised that this was probably Daniel's idea of heaven. A whole network of abandoned planets for him to explore, without the added complication of miscellaneous bad guys trying to kill him. In the Colonel's absence, Sam felt it was her duty to throw him a note of caution. Unlike the world they had just left, this planet felt very much alive. There might not be any human life but…

"Careful, Daniel, we don't know what's out there," she called after him as he disappeared from view.

"I think there was some kind of water feature here," he shouted back, "make sure you don't…"

Just as Sam sank to her knees in mud.

"Found it," she replied.

Okay so maybe it wasn't Daniel who needed to be more careful.

The deeper they plunged into the jungle, the more Sam started to wonder as to the function of this place. Daniel's water feature had turned out to be an elaborately designed fountain. They also passed several examples of what had to be the local equivalent of sculpture. The subjects were abstract in the extreme and Sam actually found them uncomfortable to look at.

Even the buildings seemed to be more artistic than functional. Sam and Daniel found themselves standing before an elegant spire that stretched far above the canopy. The structure with coated with a substance reminiscent of mother of pearl and it gleamed in the dim light.

"Ladies first," Daniel offered, gesturing towards the door.

"Thanks," Sam muttered, but she did go in first.

The walls were translucent and what light there was outside illuminated the interior. Dirt and rotting vegetation covered the floor and Sam nearly gagged as she breathed the fetid air.

Directly opposite the entrance a set of stairs wound its way upwards. Figuring they had little to lose, Sam led the way up. If nothing else, once they were above the trees, they would be able to see the lay of the land.

"You'd think a civilization advanced enough to build a wormhole system would think of installing an elevator," Daniel panted.

Sam nodded, having no breath for talking. The same thought had been running through her mind. She hoped, when they got to the top, the view would be worth it but she couldn't help noticing that the light was dying.

"We're going all the way to the top aren't we?" He added.

"Yes," she replied.

"Great."

"You could wait for me here."

"Uh… I don't think so."

By the time they finally hauled themselves up the last of the stairs the land below was dark… but the sky…

"My God!" Sam breathed.

"What?"

Daniel was deliberately not looking anywhere but the floor.

"The stars."

Old, livid, swollen suns were scattered across the sky in every direction. Planetary nebula, stars so feint that they could only be white dwarfs. Nothing she could see burned young and hot.

"Sam?" Daniel asked.

He wanted clarification, but she was at a loss for words. Sam didn't know how to explain this. The night sky on Earth was scattered with stars in all stages of evolution. Even on other worlds, they had never seen a sky as old as this... apart from the planet they had just left. Wherever they were, it was a long, long way from home.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," she murmured.

Was it like this everywhere? And why?

Then, as she turned, Sam saw something that made heart falter. Hanging in the sky far too close for comfort was a black hole. She remembered a time when they had just been an astrophysical curiosity, but she had seen far too many of them recently. Up close, they weren't nearly as fascinating.

She had the irrational urge to run away from it, but knew how useless that action would be. Not to mention suicidal. Sam wasn't even sure if it was wise to try to get down the stairs in the dark, never mind at any kind of speed.

"Daniel, this isn't our universe," she said.

"Excuse me?" he questioned.

"This place is far, far older. There isn't a young star in the sky. The Stargate system uses intra-universe wormholes. I'm guessing what we came through from the Alpha Site..."

"Went inter-universe?"

"And unless we can find the one that brought us here…"

"Then there's no way home."

XOXO

No way home. Daniel had said the words himself but he hadn't expected Sam to agree with him. He hoped this was one of the rare occasions she was wrong. Not for the first time, he wished that Jack were here. Sometimes he was the only one who could motivate Sam to find another way.

Of course, it would help if they could get out of this jungle. With the fall of night, there was no way they were going to find their way back to the wormhole. Staying right where they were was the most sensible option… even if it wasn't the most comfortable one. He doubted that either of them would get much sleep. Not overshadowed as they were by the dying stars. Intellectually, Daniel knew that the end of the universe would be a long way in the future… billions of years, even in a place this old.

How would it end, he wondered.

In a bang or a whimper?

With fire or ice?

No doubt, Sam could have told him, but Daniel wasn't really in the mood for conversation. He was too busy listening. It seemed that plants weren't the only life here. They were far above the canopy, but the distance wasn't enough to dull the animalistic cries. Something down below was being killed and eaten. Either that or it was some really weird mating ritual. Instinctively, Daniel crossed his legs. He was feeling very exposed.

"What was that?" Sam suddenly asked.

Her voice sounded strained and Daniel realised he wasn't the only one who was a little freaked.

"Outside?" he said.

"No… on the stairs."

She had to be imagining things, didn't she? Daniel crept towards the stairs and looked down. Was that something moving in the darkness? Then he heard it, a low scrape of claws on a hard surface.

"There it is again," she hissed.

Whatever it was it had to be pretty determined to climb up this far. Staying up here wasn't looking like such a great idea. They were unarmed, and had nowhere to run. Sam may have had Level Three (Advanced) unarmed combat but he doubted that would be of much use here. Of course, whatever it was could turn out to be harmless, but Daniel doubted it somehow.

"Look," he whispered.

A pair of eyes had appeared in the darkness. Blue eyes. Somehow, he hadn't expected them to look quite so … intelligent? This was great. He was going to die, not just on an unknown planet but in a completely different universe. A low growl echoed through the confined space. All Daniel could think of was Jack and how much he'd hate this cliché. Maybe if they kept very, very still…? But whatever it was, it had caught their scent.

When it attacked, it did so silently. Daniel had a brief glimpse of dark fur, and elegant face that was half-feline, half disturbingly human, before he was unceremoniously shoved out of the way. Sam was between him and the beast. Daniel heard himself yell out a warning, useless though it might have been. She knew where it was and what it was capable of doing. Without a second thought, he scrambled to his feet, intending to help her… but someone else got there first.

The concussion from the weapon sounded unnaturally loud.

Once…

Twice…

Three times before Daniel heard the muffled thump of something very large hitting the ground. In the dim light, he could see that the animal was large. Sam's body lay beneath it, struggling to free herself as it twitched in its death throws.

"Help me," Daniel snapped the order as he shoved ineffectually at the creature.

It took both of them to shift the dead weight. Daniel was relieved to see Sam struggle free.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

He could see something dark marring the flesh on her arm.

"What about this?"

"It's just a scratch."

She snatched the arm away from him and Daniel realised it was useless to press the issue. Together, they turned to greet their rescuer.

He was a tall man, roughly the same build as Teal'c. His pale face was deeply lined, and Daniel put his age, as somewhere in his late sixties despite the fact his hair was still black.

"Thank you," Daniel said.

The man nodded. He seemed more interested in the corpse of the animal he had killed.

"I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Sam Carter… and you are…?"

"Johan," he grunted.

"How did you find us?" Sam asked.

"The pathway was open. I followed."

"Well, we're very grateful," Daniel said.

But Johan had turned his attention to disembowelling the beast.

"We have little fresh meat," he explained.

"We?" Daniel questioned.

"Of the City. Those who were left behind."

XOXO

The raw meat stank. Sam would have refused to carry it if they hadn't been dependant on the good graces of Johan. He had saved her life. The fact it was still dark didn't help matters and they were forced to stumble along after their guide. Sam still had no idea how he had managed to find them… or why? He could have just shut the wormhole down. Whatever, Johan didn't appear to be willing to talk about it. Daniel had tried several times to engage the other man in conversation, only to receive monosyllabic replies.

Sam's arm was starting to throb. They had no first aid kit, so she'd washed and bound it as well as she was able, but there was no telling how clean the water was. It just seemed a better option that whatever was in the animal's saliva. No doubt, the Colonel would have had something to say about her lack of regard for safety.

She had doubts about heading back to the city, but she didn't see they had a lot of choice. It wasn't as if this place offered them a better alternative. At least they had Johan as a friend… or she hoped he was. The fact he had come after them seemed a good enough reason to trust him although there was the thought that his ultimate aim might be to hand them over to their former captors.

The embarkation area was still deserted. Johan pulled the power cable free as he walked past and the wormhole shut down.

"Come," he told them as he led the way up to the city.

The house he took them to was close to the wormhole facility. If they were seen by any of the other inhabitants, no one drew attention to the fact. The interior of the building was far more welcoming than it seemed from outside. Johan appeared to live in one room but it was warm and it was comfortable. There was a fire burning, and the smell of dinner cooking. He gestured to the cushions that were scattered around and Sam sank down gratefully. She was starting to realise how long it had been since she'd had eight hours sleep.

"Here," Johan said as he handed her a bowl.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

Sam couldn't identify most of what was in the stew, but it tasted good.

"You both need rest."

"Wait a minute…" Daniel started to protest.

But Johan was no longer listening. He turned away from them and started to unpack the meat. Sam was happy to let questions wait until morning. Trying to shift herself into a comfortable position, she shut her eyes.

Sam didn't know how long she slept, but nothing short of a volcanic eruption would have stopped her getting eight hours. She opened her eyes to darkness. The fired had died and there was a definite chill in the room. Sam pulled the rough blankets more tightly about her body…

Then she realised there was no sign of their host.

If Daniel hadn't been snoring, Sam would have been swearing loudly to herself. How could she have been so stupid? You didn't automatically trust someone just because they happened to save your life! Looking about her, Sam could see the door leading back to the street was still shut and bolted from the inside. Somewhat relieved, she started to search for another way out.

The door was hidden behind a wall hanging and turned out to be the source of the draft of cold air that had woken Sam up. She found herself walking through an empty room. At one time, this must have been home to a large family, she realised. Was Johan the only one left? She followed the chill up a set of stairs, wandering through deserted bedrooms until she found herself on a balcony overlooking the city.

Johan was there.

He turned as he heard her approach.

"Hi," she ventured, realising that, with this man, she was going to have to talk first.

"How is your arm?" he asked.

"Fine," she lied.

"Let me see."

Before she could move out of the way, Johan grabbed her arm and pushed back the sleeve of her sweater. Sam winced as he did so, making no move to hide the angry red wound.

"When the sun rises I will see what medication I can find," he said.

"Thank you."

He turned back to gaze over the city. Now she had the chance to look at him more closely, Sam started to wonder how old Johan actually was. From his face, Sam would have guess he was no older than the Colonel, but something about his attitude spoke of a greater age. His eyes were those of a man facing his final years.

Strangely enough, the silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. Sam stood beside him, eyes turned towards the sky, content to wait. Eventually her patience was rewarded.

"The stars weren't always this way," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember a time when they burned brightly in the sky. Over the years many of them faded and died."

"How? I mean it should take millions of years…"

"The universe abhors our presence."

"That's…"

"Crazy? Then how do you explain the decline?"

"I can't."

It was rare for Sam to be this confused, but she really had no idea what he was talking about. A civilization, however advanced, couldn't possibly have had a significant effect on the ageing of the universe.

"My race was already old when we were forced to flee from our home," he went on. "We came here hoping for salvation. Come."

The balcony circled the building and Sam followed Johan until they were standing on the opposite side.

"That is where we appeared in the sky," he said pointing upwards.

And Sam found herself looking into the eye of another black hole… at least that what it looked like… unless…

"It's the other end of the inter-universe wormhole!" she exclaimed.

"I do not understand your words," Johan said.

"We'd better go and wake Daniel."

All the pieces were starting to fall into place and Sam didn't want to leave him out of this. Johan looked bemused by her enthusiasm. In this world, it seemed unlikely that anyone would get excited by anything.

XOXO

Daniel was understandably grumpy when Sam shook him awake, especially as there was no chance of coffee. However, his bad temper quickly evaporated after Sam's hurried explanation.

"So they came to this universe from another one… similar to the way the transport system works," he said as he tried to assemble the information.

"Yes. When our ships first sought out new routes, they would appear in the sky above the new world. The ring was then constructed…" Johan agreed.

"To fix the other end of the wormhole on the planet's surface… which is why the wormhole was attracted to the Stargate..." Sam added.

"Star…?"

"Chaapa'ai? Ring of the Gods?" Daniel supplied.

"Yes, there was one on our homeworld. It was used as the basis of our technology."

"But the other wormholes, they all stay in this universe?"

"We could never reproduce the power of the first experiment."

Which made sense. Given the amount of power need to 'gate to another galaxy the amount required to travel to another universe… Sam could probably run the calculations in her head, but Daniel just knew that it was a big number.

"What happened then?" he asked.

Concern was etched into his features. His question wasn't just one of intellectual curiosity. He was truly afraid for these people.

"All things come to an end," Johan said. "The stars started to die and many of our worlds suffered the same fate. The people were called home."

"So where are they?" Sam said.

"Their bodies are kept outside the city."

"We know the place," Daniel admitted.

"They will never sicken or grow old… yet their bodies are nothing more than an empty shell. Their minds are blended into a gestalt. It contains everything we were… and everything we will ever be."

"And the rest of you?"

"The old, the infirm, those who did not wish to enter the gestalt were left here to live out our lives as best we could. The end is close now. I was the last child born to this world and I will be the last to die."

Without another word, Johan rose and left the room.

"He didn't explain what the hamsters were doing," Daniel said.

"You want to go and ask him?" Sam replied.

"Uh… I guess he wants to be alone right now."

"They're probably servants of some kind."

"So you definitely think these people came from P9C-372?"

"The Gate technology is the same, even if it doesn't appear as advanced."

"Do you blame them? I mean their civilisation was almost destroyed by an artificial intelligence. It stands to reason they wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

They were silent for a while, each of them trying to process the information they'd just received. He may have been jumping to conclusions but Daniel had the feeling this gestalt wasn't a passive entity. Something had to be responsible for dragging himself and Sam here. He recalled the place he had woken up and the alien life forms that had also been trapped there. What if it knew its universe was dying and was trying to find a way back home?

"How long do you think this place has got?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know. From what Johan said, their presence started the decline. There has to be something… Daniel, near as I can figure, the wormhole system is tearing their universe apart," Sam said. "And if we don't stop them, they're going to do the same to ours."

XOXO

The F302 was in perfect working order… but that didn't stop Jack checking and double checking the systems. It was more than a way to pass the time. Over his years with the Air Force, he'd never taken a bird up into the air without giving the plane a personal once over. If he checked it over himself, he had no one else to blame if something went wrong, although strange Goa'uld devices that sent you half way across the solar system were an exception.

And it helped to keep his mind off Daniel and Carter.

He felt more at home here than he did amongst the geeks down below. Although he supposed he should go check on them… just to make sure Hailey hadn't strangled Felger.

Flying was something he understood. By human standards, Jack was a pretty good pilot. Trying to keep up his flight time had been a major hassle over the years but he liked to keep his skills honed. At times like this, it proved vital.

With regret, Jack left the hanger, to see to his other duties. He really wasn't in the mood for another fight. If Hailey started something, Jack wasn't going to be responsible for his actions. He knew inexperience had sent her running to Ronson, that and an unshakeable conviction that she alone was right. Despite her intelligence, Hailey would never be another Sam Carter. She lacked the other woman's the ability to admit her own mistakes.

"Good morning campers," he grinned as he walked into the drive room.

As he expected, the personnel in the room glared at him in annoyance. It was a carefully studied technique. If they were annoyed with him, they were less likely to argue with each other. Jack was happy to let them believe that he'd gotten a good night's sleep while they'd worked through the night.

"How's it going, Felger?" Jack asked.

"Great… just… great…," the other man replied.

"Actually sir, we're having a little trouble with the interface," Chloe added. "We're not drawing enough power."

Hailey, Jack noticed, looked up as she overheard the exchange, but she didn't say anything.

"Lieutenant?" he questioned. "You have something to add?"

"I think we need to patch in the weapons systems, sir," she said.

"The Asgard dohickeys?"

"It should give us the extra kick we need."

"Wouldn't that leave the Prometheus defenceless?"

"We'd still have the conventional weapons and the rest of the F302s."

But it was a long way home. Taking out the engines was one thing, the crew could gate to a safe world and contact one of the allies, but Jack felt there was something fundamentally wrong about disabling the weapons.

"It's the only way?" he asked.

"I think so, sir," Hailey replied.

"Felger?"

"We definitely need more power," the man agreed.

"Do it," Jack ordered, hoping he wouldn't regret his decision.

Was this going one-step too far in his quest to retrieve his missing team members? Jack had to keep reminding himself there was more a stake here than Carter and Daniel's lives. The force that had taken them was obviously belligerent, and had essentially isolated Earth from its allies.

He hated to second-guess himself, but right now, he had little else to occupy his thoughts. Sometimes he wished he'd paid more attention in Science 101. At least then, he could have helped the geeks, rather than having nothing else to do apart from sit back and worry. More than anything else, Jack wished Carter were here. He'd give anything to see her smile as she spouted one of her theories. He'd know everything was going to be okay because… well… because she was Carter.

And Daniel. Jack could just see him sleeping in some awkward position, glasses askew, ancient text clasped in his hand. He wouldn't be able to help much but somehow it was comforting to know he was there… just in case an emergency translation was required.

Leaving the scientists to finish their work, Jack found himself gravitating towards the commissary. He wasn't hungry; he was just looking for something to do to pass the time. It seemed that Teal'c had the same idea. The other man was sitting with a tray full of food in front of him, but he didn't appear that interested in eating it.

"Getting to you, too?" Jack asked as he took the seat opposite.

Merely raising an eyebrow, Teal'c took a forkful of his cannelloni in an attempt to convince Jack the waiting around wasn't bothering him.

"Wanna see if we can find somewhere quiet to beat crap out of each other?" Jack offered.

Teal'c raised his other eyebrow.

"Okay, so you'll beat crap out of me, but who's counting?"

"I believe physical activity would provide a welcome diversion," Teal'c said.

XOXO

"That's it," Jay said.

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked.

"I think so. I mean I…"

"He's sure," Hailey interrupted.

Somehow, Major Carter's inventions always managed to look neater. They never had wires trailing all over the place, they never emitted sparks and they certainly didn't smell like burning socks. But that didn't mean this wasn't going to work…

"Do you want to tell Colonel O'Neill?" Jay offered.

"Oh no," Hailey replied, "this one's all yours."

Jay had the feeling she was just waiting to see him fail. He glanced at Chloe who smiled at him.

"Right… I'll just go and… right…"

Find Colonel O'Neill.

XOXO

Jack was nervous. He was sitting in the front seat of an X302, Teal'c in another. Under normal circumstances, they would have shared a single craft, but this was different. They had two people to bring home.

They had one shot. From what Jack had seen Felger's device and it looked as if it was about to fly apart at the seams. When it failed, the Prometheus would have to limp home as best it could. Whether or not Jack and Teal'c would be on board was a question no one could answer. Even if the device worked, there was no guarantee it would power the wormhole.

"Jack? You all set?" Ronson questioned.

"Ready when you are," Jack replied. "Open the Gate every twenty four hours."

"We'll keep the door open for you."

"And if we're not back in a week, head back home."

"Understood."

The two craft were poised at the far end of the dome. Far enough away to avoid any possible Kawoosh if the 'Gate opened. That was assuming there was a Kawoosh...

Damn but he was starting to think like Carter.

"And in five, four, three, two, one..."

Nothing happened. At least that was what Jack thought at first. As he stared at the 'gate, he thought he could detect a lessening of the darkness within. The surface seemed to be shifting. The ring surrounding it was glowing.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered as he sent his craft shooting forwards.

Jack was tempted to close his eyes as they made the approach. He wasn't entirely convinced that they weren't going to crash into the wall. Somehow, when he reached it, the wall just wasn't there anymore.

There was a moment of intense dislocation, far worse than anything Jack usually experienced going through a conventional Stargate. He had a hard time keeping his breakfast in his stomach, never mind keeping the ship on an even course. Over his headset, Jack distinctly heard a grunt from the usually stoic Teal'c and he hoped it was a comment on the general discomfort rather than the quality of the flying.

It got a whole lot worse before it got better. The X302 started to vibrate and it was all Jack could do to hold her. If he lost concentration for a second… The ship felt like it was shaking apart. Just when he thought he couldn't hold on any longer, something shifted and Jack found himself staring at a planet. It was close… too close… he had to pull up sharply to stop them hitting the atmosphere at speed. As the ship spun, he got a good look at the other end of the wormhole.

"Teal'c, does that look like…?" he began.

"It does," the other man replied.

"Right."

Jack was willing to bet it wasn't actually a black hole, at least not in the way he understood. When he found Cater, he'd get her to explain. Black holes aside, the stars in the sky were nothing like the ones above P9C-372.

"I guess we made it," Jack muttered. "Wanna go down and take a look?"

"There is no guarantee that this is where Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were taken," Teal'c cautioned.

"I know… but we have to start somewhere."

If Daniel and Carter weren't here then they may as well give up and go home. Assuming they could get home. Jack was all too aware that this was more or less a one-way trip. He was kind of counting on Carter to be able to get them back… that meant they had to find her.

They hit turbulence has they entered the atmosphere, but nothing as bad as they had experienced coming through the wormhole. As they dipped below the clouds, Jack started searching for signs of civilisation. He'd been working with Daniel long enough to recognise the areas where the cities and the towns had been, a network of roads, irrigation systems… but no people. The civilization had fallen some time ago.

The fuel for the X302 was limited and Jack had to make the decision whether to stay or try another planet in the system. His gut was telling him that this was the place. Either that or he had indigestion.

Jack took the X302 over the ocean. This world had a higher proportion of land than Earth and it wasn't long before they found themselves flying across a new continent. It looked a lot like the first one. There did not seem to be much variation in the terrain, no forests or mountains. The sky was distressingly clear… even if the sun was dim.

Jack found himself almost growing bored.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted suddenly.

Straining his eyes, Jack could just about make out the hazy outlines of a city. On a clear day, it could have been a heat haze, but somehow he didn't think it was that warm outside. Jack was willing to bet good money that what Teal'c had spotted was smoke.

Grinning to himself, he turned the small craft towards it.

XOXO

"And in five, four, three, two, one…" Colonel Ronson was saying.

On cue, Felger hit the switch that initiated the power transfer…

… And the ship was plunged into darkness.

"Nothing to worry about!" Felger called out, "I expected a system drain."

As the minutes ticked by, it became obvious that this wasn't just a simple power outage. Even the emergency lights were out. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jennifer Hailey couldn't help a small smirk of triumph. She had been right about Felger's plan all along and it did matter… whatever Colonel O'Neill might say. They were lucky she was here to get them out of this mess.

It sounded like there was someone whimpering in the darkness… probably Felger. Hailey ignored him. If she remembered rightly, there was a torch around here somewhere. Fumbling under a nearby consol her fingers soon found the welcome weight of the flash light and she switched it on. As she expected Felger had collapsed in a corner and was hyperventilating. Hailey decided to leave him there with Chloe. She'd take care of him.

"I'm going to report to the bridge," she said.

Ronson needed to know what had happened, and that it had been Felger's fault.

Luckily, when the power had gone out, all of the doors had opened, but Hailey still had to rely on ladders to get up to the bridge… not much fun for someone of her diminutive stature. She didn't meet many people on her way. Most of the crew had the sense to stay put.

"Hailey, what the hell went wrong?" Ronson demanded as soon as she set foot on the bridge.

"Unknown at the moment, sir," she replied. "Has there been any communication from Colonel O'Neill?"

"I had someone stick their head outside. Since there doesn't appear to have been a crash I think we can assume he got through."

"That's good to know."

"Sure… assuming they don't actually want to come back again."

"Yes, sir."

"So get back down there and fix it."

"With due respect, even if we do manage to get they systems back on line, we may not be able to stop the same thing happening again."

"Then the safety of this ship is your highest priority."

Hailey nodded but didn't comment. If he'd listened to her in the first place … The implications of his order were quite clear, but for some reason it made her uncomfortable. If they couldn't open the Gate again, without endangering the ship then SG-1 would be left behind. Hailey wanted to believe they'd find their own way back, but somehow, she couldn't quite convince herself.

"And Lieutenant?" Ronson added.

"Yes, sir."

"In this instance, it might not be wise to rely on Dr. Felger."

"Yes, sir."

That, at least she could agree with. The man had proved himself a menace. He should go back to university and stay there.

Hailey had to push away her doubts. Felger seemed to have regained some of his composure by the time she got back. He was waiting eagerly by the door. If he'd had a tail, he would have been wagging it.

"I had some ideas of how we can fix this…" he began.

"I'm fixing this, Felger," Hailey told him.

"How can I help?"

"By keeping out of my way. Chloe, could you hold the torch please?"

"But Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c… I have to do something."

"Once the power's back, we're going home."

XOXO

Sam had never thought of herself as prone to wishful thinking, but she could have sworn she heard the dull roar of an X302. She looked up into the sky, but found it difficult to see through the haze of smoke that hung over the city.

It was early morning. Johan had woken them an hour ago and told them to follow. Sam would have appreciated breakfast before starting on the hike, but nothing was offered. She was tired, hungry and she had no idea where they were going… not an ideal combination. The one consolation was that Daniel seemed worse of than she was. He was walking beside her, stumbling occasionally, in a way he hadn't done since first joining SG-1. When she asked what was wrong, he just said he had a headache. Sam didn't know whether to believe him or not. Daniel was as prone to pulling a macho act as any of them.

They had left the city some time ago. Retracing the path she and Daniel had taken when they'd first made their escape. When they reached the ravine however, Johan turned left, leading them along the bank of the river. The path they were following was barely visible as the ground became rougher Sam found herself stumbling almost as much as Daniel did. She wanted to put it down to the fact that she hadn't had any breakfast, but the throbbing in her arm told her otherwise. There was little doubt in her mind that the wound had become infected. Given the nonexistent state of the medical facilities here, she knew either she'd survive or she wouldn't. There wasn't any point in worrying about it… as long as they didn't have to do any rock climbing.

As they walked on Sam began to wonder if some scrambling wouldn't be in order. There were no mountains, the landscape remained flat, but the path they were following was dipping steeply. Rocky walls rose above them as they followed the river downwards. The path stopped abruptly as the ground fell away and the river tumbled over the cliff in a swirl of foam.

Following Johan's lead, Sam stepped closer to the precipice to stare into the canyon beyond.

"My God!" she breathed.

They had to be a mile above the floor, but even that distance couldn't diminish the size of the Gates embedded into the rocky walls. She counted three, with a forth under construction. The 'hamsters' were swarming all over it. There were so many of them that Sam could only imagine that it wouldn't take them very long to complete their task.

"Is there a way down?" she asked.

"Sam?" Daniel questioned.

"If we can destroy the gates…"

"Then what's to stop them building new ones?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can't do anything other than slow them down but we have to do something."

"What are those things anyway?"

Daniel addressed his question to Johan, pointing at the hamsters, trying to obtain the information he had failed to get the previous night.

"The natives of this world. They serve," the other man replied.

"Right, very informative," Daniel muttered.

"This way."

The path Johan took was easier than Sam expected. Although, if he hadn't been with them, she doubted they would ever have found it. She felt exposed as they picked their way down the cliff, despite the fact they were hidden by the waterfall. If one of those creatures happened to look up…

The rocks became progressively more slippery the further down they went. Their progress was slow by necessity, but Sam found herself frustrated by the delay. She felt she was very close to an important discovery… or another opportunity to save the Earth. She wasn't certain which. If Daniel would just hurry up…

At first, she thought it was just his fear of heights slowing him down, but once they reached the bottom he didn't seem to want to pick the pace up. Now that Sam looked at him, he did look grey around the eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"Headache," he grimaced, "forgot to bring the Tylenol."

"You want to go back?"

"And miss this?"

Johan started to lead them towards the nearest gate but Sam stopped him.

"Is there some kind of control centre?" she asked.

"The others are in control. There is a computer interface but..."

"I thought you people didn't use computers?" Daniel was quick to point out.

"There was no other way."

He set off again, with Daniel and Sam following at a more sedate pace. Sam was having trouble containing her excitement.

"You know what this means?" she whispered to him. "If we can find a way to get to the computer…"

"We can put a stop to this?" he replied. "I don't know what our friend would say to that."

Daniel had a point. Who knew what effect destroying the computer would have. Sam didn't know how many souls were caught up in the gestalt, but she didn't think she could be responsible for their deaths. They would have to know a lot more about it before embarking on an all out attack. Not that they had anything to attack with, but Sam had watched every episode of MacGyver, not to mention the episode of Star Trek were Captain Kirk made gun powder… she was sure she could find a way.

"Where's it drawing power from?" she asked when they finally stood below the massive gate.

"From the earth itself," Johan replied.

"The rocks must be impregnated with Naquadah," Sam said.

As soon as she put her hand on the canyon wall, she could feel the buzz of the strange element resonating with her blood.

"Uh Sam…" Daniel began.

She looked round at him, and then up at the rock. There was a furred face looking down at them, its expression curious.

"I think we'd better get out of here," she muttered.

The creature screamed as they started to walk away, its cry echoing through the canyon.

"Crap," Sam swore under her breath as they started to run.

The cliffs seemed to be swarming with the creatures. Sam could see it now; they'd been allowed to walk in, like rats into a trap. They ran back towards the waterfall. She had little time to think of the treacherous pathway. It might as well have been flat given the speed they ran up. The narrow path meant their pursuers were forced to travel in single file, and Sam risked a look back as she scrambled over the top. Their chances of getting back to the city were slim to none and she found herself deliberately holding back. Maybe the creatures would be satisfied with just one of them and her capture might allow Johan and Daniel to escape.

She was already some way behind when she saw Daniel drop to the ground. At first she thought he'd tripped but when he didn't rise, Sam accelerated to catch up. There wasn't time for a diagnosis.

"Get him out of here," she snapped the order.

Johan hauled Daniel upright and, half carrying, half dragging him, started to run. Sam did the same, but in the opposite direction. She had no choice. She had to distract the 'hamsters'.

They seemed slightly surprised by her actions. As she ran towards them, she noticed them hesitate… and then they stopped. The expression on their faces was slightly curious as they regarded her. Sam found herself standing still as they approached, their noses twitching as they scented the air around her. She wondered if they could sense her thoughts. After a long moment, they came closer, their bodies pressing against her. It was all Sam could do not to scream as the scent for rancid meat assaulted her. For some reason they freaked her out far worse than any aliens she had previously met.

In the distance, she heard a roar and hoped it wasn't some other enemy on this alien world homing in on Daniel and Johan. But the scream of jets wasn't something native. Heat washed over her as two craft passed overhead and the back draft nearly knocked her flat. Sam managed to keep her feet but her attackers weren't so lucky. They didn't look nearly so dangerous when they were on their backs with their little legs scrabbling in the air. Those that managed to keep their feet ran away as the craft turned to make a second pass. The rest scrambled up and fled as the ship fired a missile into the canyon. The gates were made of Naquadah and the damage was likely to be minimal, but the hamsters didn't know that.

Unable to move, Sam watched as the ships made another graceful turn and started to descend. Then she started running again. The flat ground above the riverbed would make an ideal runway and Sam headed towards it. She arrived just in time to see the ships land.

They had barely come to a halt before the pilots popped their respective canopies and two tall figures climbed out.

Sam found herself hurling herself at them, becoming caught in a tangle of arms and legs as she tried to hug both men simultaneously.

XOXO

Teal'c's powers of observation were somewhat legendary, but even he was proud of himself for managing to spot Major Carter's blonde head in amongst the sea of other creatures. He did not know what the alien species were but they certainly had little courage. They had run away as soon as O'Neill had fired upon them.

And to attack an unarmed person in such numbers…

Major Carter had none of their weaknesses. As soon as she had completed her exuberant greeting, she had gasped out,

"Daniel's in trouble."

O'Neill immediately started running in the direction she'd indicated.

"You are also injured," Teal'c stated.

Major Carter was clutching her arm, which he noticed was covered by a dirty bandage.

"It's nothing," she said.

He ignored her protest however and returned to his X302 to retrieve the first aid kit. Major Carter did not attempt to resist as he expertly cleaned and bound her wound. It was inflamed, he noted, but he did not think the injury was life threatening.

"How did you find us?" she asked as she experimentally flexed her arm.

"Through the efforts of Doctor Felger, Cameron Balinsky and Lieutenant Hailey," he replied.

"Felger?"

"Indeed."

Something in his tone must have indicated his own surprise because she started to laugh.

"I guess we're not the only ones capable of saving the world," she smiled.

"Come, we must attend to Daniel Jackson."

Taking the medical supplies with them, they headed towards the three other men. They were a surprising distance away and Teal'c found himself wondering why Major Carter had become separated. O'Neill was bent over his friend, exchanging whispered words with the third member of the party.

"Teal'c, this is Johan," Sam made the introduction.

The other man nodded, but did not speak.

"Carter, did he touch anything, do anything…?" O'Neill demanded.

"Not to my knowledge, sir. I was the only one injured. He just collapsed."

"He's completely unresponsive."

"Sir, those creatures will be back. We should get Daniel to the city."

"Yeah… Carter, you think there's somewhere there we can stash the planes."

"I think so, sir."

"Then take one and Daniel back. We'll follow."

The two of them hefted Daniel's unconscious body between them. He showed no signs of regaining consciousness as they manoeuvred his dead weight into the rear seat of the X302. Standing clear, they watched as Major Carter expertly guided the small craft into the sky. Although Teal'c was certain it was painful, her injury didn't appear to be affecting her piloting skills.

"After you," O'Neill said to Johan.

The other man led them towards the city. Although O'Neill tried to engage him in conversation, he proved to be taciturn as Teal'c himself. It was difficult to judge whether Johan could be trusted or not. The fact he had helped their friends should have been enough, but Teal'c knew from experience that O'Neill would require more evidence before he put his faith in this man.

It was good to feel the dirt of another world beneath his feet, even if it wasn't particularly attractive. SG-1 was together again, the way it should be. Even if they never managed to get home, Teal'c took some solace in the fact he was with his friends.

They met Major Carter in what appeared to be a transport terminal. She had taken the X302 through a tunnel barely larger than a Stargate.

"Nice," O'Neill said in recognition of her achievement.

"Why thank you, sir," she grinned at him.

As they two of them climbed back up to the cockpit to release Daniel from his restraints, Johan took Teal'c to one side.

"They are married?" he asked, gesturing towards O'Neill and Major Carter.

"No," Teal'c replied. "But they are bonded."

It wasn't a lie, not exactly. Teal'c had been in the room and witnessed their confessions…

… Held Major Carter as she wept over her inability to find O'Neill.

… Watched as O'Neill tore himself apart whilst Major Carter was lost on the Prometheus.

… Pretended not to notice on the rare occasions they shared an embrace.

No, it wasn't a lie. Even though Pete Shanahan had since arrived on the scene, Teal'c did not believe the relationship was a permanent one. Besides, the last thing she needed was unwanted attention from this man.

"T, give us a hand here!" O'Neill shouted.

Inclining his head towards Johan, Teal'c went to help his friends.

XOXO

Cameron Balinsky was probably the only member of the Prometheus' crew who wasn't finding the systems failure a bore. Most of them had nothing to do except sit around in the dark waiting for Lieutenant Hailey to perform some kind of miracle. It had taken some fast-talking but Balinsky had managed to persuade Ronson to let him go back to the derelict ship. He was now ensconced in the library, under the watchful eye of a couple of burly marines. What they were supposed to be protecting him from was anyone's guess but it meant there was someone to talk with. Being here alone would have been a little on the creepy side.

The amount of information was staggering. Balinsky was recording as much of it as he could. With his team still out of rotation, it would give him something to fill the long hours when he got back to the SGC.

"Hello? Anyone?"

"Through here," Balinsky replied to Doctor Felger's nervous query.

He was surprised to see the other man.

"I thought you'd be helping Hailey?" he said.

"Uh… no," Felger replied.

Balinsky frowned to himself. There was something going on he'd obviously missed. Which he admitted wasn't that unusual, especially if he immersed himself in his work.

"You want me to go? I can go. I mean I don't mind… I just thought I'd come out here and see… well… bye."

Felger's speech made absolutely no sense.

"Stay, it's fine," Balinsky reassured the other man, "there are plenty of monitors."

The other man moved to the far side of the room and there was silence for a few moments.

"It's odd there's still power here," Felger muttered almost to himself.

"I guess the systems are independent," Balinsky replied.

More silence. Balinsky glanced over his shoulder to see what the other man was watching. The view was of the active gate and people running towards it. It was horrific, but Felger's fascination seemed to have another source.

"I think this ship was powering the gate," he said.

"What?"

"The power source is here, not outside."

"Is that important? I mean, if Hailey gets things running again…"

"Then we'll go home."

"Huh?"

"Ronson's orders."

That was just wrong… especially where SG-1 was concerned. Balinsky wasn't likely to forget that SG-1 had been one of the teams to answer his panicked call. How could Ronson possibly leave them behind?

"That's not going to happen," Balinsky said. "If you could get the ship working again…?"

"I don't know… there's been a lot of damage."

"We can't leave SG-1 behind."

"Maybe you should talk to Hailey. I'm likely to screw it up."

"Do you really think she's going to go against Ronson's orders?"

Felger grinned and turned back to his monitor.

"I wonder if there's a schematic stored somewhere," he said.

XOXO

They took it in turns to watch Daniel through the night. Even though his condition showed no signs of changing, Jack didn't trust his care to Johan. Jack had seen this before, when Carter had first been infected by the Entity and he had no idea if it was good or bad. The thing could be about to take complete control… not that it would be able to achieve much. From what he had seen there were no computer systems here, no way to infect the civilization.

And that was the good.

It could have burnt him out completely. Jack could be gazing down at an empty shell. There was no way to tell.

Teal'c took over, just before dawn and Jack found himself going in search of Carter. He had the feeling she would be awake. Sure enough, he found her down with the X302s, she seemed to have half of one of them scattered over the floor. Both craft were now sequestered in a space barely large enough to hold them. Jack didn't like to think how they were going to get them out again.

"Problem?" he asked.

"She just felt a little rough as I brought her down," she explained.

"Anything I can do?"

"Sure, put that back together."

She handed him a wrench and indicate a panel towards the rear of the ship.

"Carter, will this ever fly again?"

"I don't know, sir."

Knowing Carter, the X302 would be okay… and would probably end up with a few improvements. There was a lot to be said for losing yourself in physical labour. Not that Jack could forget Daniel, but it was easier with something else to concentrate on. Jack knew he had to tire himself before he could even think about the possibility of sleep. Besides Carter was good company, and she secretly liked giving him orders. Her morale was more important than his self-esteem.

"This Johan guy? What do you make of him?" he asked.

"I think he has a crush on me," Sam replied.

Don't we all, Jack thought to himself before replying,

"But you trust him?"

"As far as I can."

By which Jack understood she was reserving judgement.

"I spoke to Pete," he went on.

Carter froze in her task.

"When?" she asked, her voice sounding strained.

"Before we left Earth. I dropped round to check on Cassie and he turned up."

"And Cassie?"

"Worried. I asked Pete to stay with her until we get back."

Jack couldn't help noticing the way Carter tensed every time he mentioned Shanahan's name. It seemed that he had an easier time discussing her boyfriend than she did. He understood that she must be uncomfortable talking about Pete in his presence but surely, if Jack showed her he was okay with it… She must be finding the separation difficult. After all this was the first serious relationship she'd had since he known her. He remembered how difficult he'd found it to leave Sara and as the years had gone by, it had never gotten any easier. Surely, Carter knew what she was letting herself in for. She was an air force brat and she'd lived with separation her whole life… Which was possibly why she was finding this so hard.

"Hey, we'll be back before you know it," he reassured her.

Carter stared at him as if he'd completely missed the point. Not unusual in itself, except this time she hadn't been talking astrophysics. Jack thought he'd better shut up for a while. He couldn't work out whether this was about Pete, Cassie, or something else.

"It's easier when the people you care about are with you, sir," she said looking directly at him.

"Yes it is," Jack replied, trying to keep his voice neutral.

She took a hesitant step towards him but before either of them could say anything else, the sound of rapid footsteps brought them to their senses. Johan burst into the improvised hanger,

"Your friend is awake," he gasped.

XOXO

The first thing Daniel did was throw up. Once his stomach was empty, he thought he'd be able to think more clearly, but the blinding pain in his head said otherwise. He couldn't remember the last time he had hurt this much. Even dying… The last thing he recalled was running away from the hamster people, now he was lying on something soft and he swore he could hear Jack's voice. Which was impossible … right?

He decided to throw up again.

"Ewwww! Daniel!"

It was definitely Jack.

"Jack?" Daniel questioned.

A strong hand gripped his.

"I'm here," Jack said.

Daniel forced his eyes open. Jack and Teal'c were both hovering over him. Raising his free hand, he aimed it somewhere in the region of Jack's face.

"Hey! Quit poking me!"

Definitely not an illusion. However, raising his head in greeting was definitely a mistake. The pain seemed to run right through his body… even his toenails were in agony. Daniel blacked out again.

"What's happening?" he demanded of his subconscious.

MY FAULT the voice replied.

To Daniel's inner ear it sounded tired… weak.

"Why?" he asked it.

HUMAN BRAIN TOO SMALL. I'M KILLING YOU.

"Then leave."

NOWHERE TO GO

Before Daniel could reinforce his argument he felt his body jerked back to consciousness.

"Easy," Jack said. "You're going to be okay."

Daniel laughed in his face. He couldn't help himself. He wasn't going to be okay, not while he had this thing in his head. Jack didn't know what he was talking about, which wasn't unusual. Daniel had always suspected his compassion would get the better of him one day and now…

"Just try to relax," Jack said, clearly disgruntled by Daniel's display of amusement.

"It's in my head," Daniel gasped.

"What? Then get rid of it!"

Daniel shook his head.

"That's an order!"

"Can't… nowhere for it to go."

"Yes, there is," Sam said, quietly.

"Carter, I haven't seen a single computer system since I got here."

"There's one, sir, controlling the gestalt."

"All those folks in suspended animation?"

"That's right. Sir, if we can use the Entity to disrupt the systems then maybe we can stop their incursion into our universe."

"Won't that kill them?"

Sam shrugged and looked towards Johan.

"If, as you say, you can control the computer then you should be able to wake them… to face their deaths when this universe ends," he replied.

"Which is when?" Jack demanded.

"Judging by the vast increase in entropy I'd say some time in the next hundred years," Sam said.

"Long enough."

"Jack?" Daniel questioned.

His friend was forgetting something.

"What?"

"You can't just leave them here to die."

"Daniel, they've managed to destroy one universe I'm not going to give them a chance to screw up another."

Daniel struggled into a sitting position, glancing at Sam in mute appeal that she'd support his argument.

"A planet without a Stargate… and no resources to build another one," she ventured.

"You would send my people back to the dark age!" Johan objected.

"At least you'd have chance," Daniel countered.

Johan subsided into silence, but Daniel couldn't help feeling that the other man didn't approve of the fate decided for his people. He was right about the stark choice before them. It would be a long struggle to regain their former level of technology… if they ever did. To Daniel's way of thinking anything was better than extinction. He'd seen too many dead civilizations to let this one fade away without hope of reprieve.

"You fit to walk?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Daniel replied.

His mind may have been willing but his body was not. No sooner had he swung his legs off the bed and stood up than Daniel found himself staring at Jack's boots.

"You have very large feet," he muttered.

"Thanks," the other man replied as, with Teal'c's help, he hauled Daniel back onto the bed.

"Plan B, anyone?" Jack said.

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Teal'c ventured,

"Could the Entity switch to another host?"

"I'll do it," Jack volunteered before anyone else had a chance to speak.

Sam's face paled at the thought and Daniel couldn't blame her. Jack seemed to have a curious disregard for the health of his brain. It was almost as if he thought he could get by just fine without it.

Daniel didn't even know if Teal'c's idea would work. How was he supposed to persuade the Entity that it would be better off in someone else's head? Surely one human brain was the same as another? If that was the case, wasn't Teal'c a better option? Although he was essentially human, their races had been separated for millennia. Enough time for differences in brain chemistry to have evolved.

He also knew that trying to talk Jack out of this was an exercise in futility.

"What do you want me to do?" Jack asked.

"Kiss me."

Daniel just couldn't help himself. The look on Jack's face made the lie worthwhile.

"You're kidding!"

"Yes I am… but some kind of physical contact…"

"Okay… okay… I get it!"

Jack took Daniel's hand.

Closing his eyes, Daniel tried to contact the life form within.

"This one will let you live," he told it.

NOT FOREVER

"No, not forever, but long enough for us to take you somewhere else."

WHERE?

"Somewhere safe… somewhere you can start to rebuild."

He had no idea if the Entity had access to his emotions… if it knew when he was lying. It seemed to be hesitating.

"Please?"

I WILL GO.

Daniel expected to feel something other than light-headed. It was if a great weight had been lifted from his mind. Jack toppled backwards landing with a crash despite Sam's best efforts to catch him.

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

There was a distinct Jack like groan. He was still conscious.

XOXO

"Sir? Sir?"

Sam was trying to get some other reaction out of him. His body was twitching, as if he'd been shot by a zat. Although the Colonel seemed to be able to throw off a zat blast without too much trouble, this was taking him longer. She was actually surprised that he was still conscious.

"Sir? It's Carter?"

She wanted something from him, some sign that he was still himself and the Entity hadn't taken him over completely. He groaned again.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked.

The Colonel didn't reply, but he raised his hand to his head. Sam reached for the first aid kit and found the Tylenol. Johan handed her a glass of water and she helped the Colonel swallow the drugs.

He seemed distracted as he took careful sips of the water. Sam wondered just how much information his mind was trying to process. They knew the Colonel's mind was wired differently from most people, but whether the ancient gene was going to help or hinder the absorption of the Entity, no one could say.

"Better?" Sam asked.

"A little," he admitted. "How's Daniel?"

Sam glanced over at the other man, feeling guilty that she hadn't checked on him until now.

"Daniel?" she questioned.

"A little tired," he admitted, "but I'm okay."

"We'll rest up for now and move out in the morning," the Colonel ordered although whether it was for Daniel's or his own benefit, Sam wasn't sure. She was painfully aware that they couldn't afford to delay for too long.

The Colonel seemed to be oblivious to any worries as he stretched out on the floor and closed his eyes. Sam had to abide by his decision, even if every fibre of her being was screaming against it. She admitted to herself that she had no idea what he and Teal'c had gone through in order to get here, or how long they had gone without sleep. The Colonel knew what he was doing, if he said wait then they had to wait. They were just so damn close…

Sam wasn't tired and she found herself climbing the stairs, back up onto the balcony to watch the stars. She wasn't entirely surprised when Johan joined her.

"We'll look after your people, I promise," she said.

"You will forgive me if I am sceptical," he replied.

"I don't blame you."

And she didn't. It was difficult to take a step out into the unknown, to start a new life. But Sam could also see the possibilities.

"Once the others are out of suspended animation, you could start having children again," she ventured.

"On a new world where they'd be subject to disease, malnutrition, unknown predators…"

"It wouldn't be like that. We'd make sure you'd have everything you needed to survive."

"We have another choice."

"Do you?"

"To die with dignity."

"Don't say that."

"Maybe our time has come."

Sam didn't know what she could say to break through his depression. Surely, he understood that they had no alternative but to stop what the others were doing. There were possibilities. Johan just needed to open his mind to see them. She might have continued with her argument if the scrape of a shoe signalled that they weren't quite alone. Sam turned around to see the Colonel step out of the shadows.

"Sir?" she questioned. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was, and you should be too," he replied.

It was difficult to assess his mood. Sam was sure they wouldn't have heard him, unless he'd wanted them to.

"That's an order," he added, giving her no choice in the matter.

"You don't trust Johan?" she asked in a low voice as she preceded the Colonel down the stairs.

"I didn't say that," he replied.

"You didn't have to."

"He's having a moral dilemma which makes him unpredictable."

"So do you think it's a good idea to leave him alone?"

"Probably not, but I want my team where I can see them."

Sam found herself staring at him, wondering if it was truly the Colonel she was arguing with, or the Entity that had taken up residence in his soul.

XOXO

Jack knew what was going through Sam's mind, but it was something he really didn't want to talk about. He knew the Entity was there, but he had no plans to start chatting with it. As far as Jack was concerned, it was a means to an end, nothing more. He wasn't interested in anything else it might be able to offer.

Back downstairs, he made sure that Carter was settled, before returning to his own corner. Call him paranoid, but he didn't like the idea of her spending time alone with Johan. Jack was well aware that they might have to force a decision onto him and his people. The less emotionally involved they all were, the easier it would be.

He slept a little during the night and woke with the dawn. It seemed like whatever planet Jack was on his mind was alert as soon as the respective sun (or suns) rose. Johan appeared a few minutes later, once Jack had managed to rouse the rest of his team. Since the other man didn't enter from the street, Jack assumed he'd just spent the night skulking about upstairs. He was also assuming that there wasn't another way out of here or they'd be running into a bunch of those… hamster people? ... pretty darn soon. In the absence of a better analogy, Jack decided to go with Daniel's term for them.

But Johan was key to their plan. Although they could probably do this without him, it would be easier if he came along. Jack decided he'd better make nice with the guy.

"You about ready to move out?" he asked in what he hoped was a neutral tone of voice.

"As soon as you are," Johan replied.

Jack looked around at the rest of his team. Only Daniel looked a little worn, which was understandable given what he'd put his body and mind through. Leaving him behind wasn't even worth considering.

Johan took point with Jack following close behind. As he understood it, they were following the path Carter and Daniel had taken when they'd fled the underground facility. As they walked, Jack realised he was really starting to hate this planet.

It was too dark.

It was too cold.

It was too quiet.

He found himself wanting to run to the top of the nearest slope and yell… just to prove there was some kind of life here.

"Aren't we kind of going the long way round?" he complained just to hear the sound of his own voice.

"The critetinae have direct access to the city," Johan replied, "but their method of travel is not comfortable for humans."

"Critetinae?"

He must mean the hamsters.

"Like crawling through miles of ventilation ducts," Daniel added.

"Doesn't sound too bad," Jack said.

"Think of your knees, sir," Carter grinned.

Jack scowled back at her. Since when had Carter been a smart ass? He decided he was better off keeping quiet as they marched onwards. Besides, his knees were holding up just fine. There was barely a twinge by the time they reached their destination.

If Johan hadn't been with them then they never would have found the place, Jack realised. Neither Carter nor Daniel seemed to know where they were going. The low building was a similar colour to the surrounding terrain and the dim light only added to the confusion.

"This is where I must leave you," Johan announced.

"What?" Jack demanded.

Losing their guide wasn't something he'd anticipated.

"I will not take you further."

The other man's face was set and Jack knew he wouldn't have much success in persuading him otherwise.

"We're not out to hurt your people," Jack said.

"No, but you wish to save your own… and will use any means necessary."

Jack nodded. There was no point in denying the fact, which left him with another problem. He didn't trust Johan enough to let him walk away alone.

"Teal'c, go with Johan back to the city," he ordered.

To his credit, Teal'c didn't argue… with either of his eyebrows. He was the logical choice, being the only member of SG-1 who could possibly match Johan if it came to a fight.

They stood and watched as their friend disappeared into the gloom.

"All right campers," Jack announced, "let's go."

XOXO

Chloe didn't think she'd ever seen Jay so elated. He was practically bouncing as he burst back into the engine room. Hailey sighed in annoyance at the interruption. Although she'd been working for hours she had only managed to turn the lights on. Wary of the younger woman's uncertain temper Chloe waved her hands in warning. As usual, Jay was completely oblivious.

"Tools… I need tools," he gasped.

"I'm using these," Hailey grumbled. "There's more in the storeroom."

"Thanks."

And he disappeared again. Chloe hurried after him. He'd only gone a short way down the corridor.

"Jay?" she questioned the butt that was currently sticking out of the store cupboard.

"Just a second," he shouted back.

When he finally emerged he had beads of polystyrene packing stuck to his head, which Chloe took pains to brush away.

"Where are you going Jay?" she asked.

"Back to the other ship. It can work the gate. We can get Colonel O'Neill home and no one else needs to get hurt."

"How about you?"

She was familiar enough with Jay's 'experiments' to know that other people weren't necessarily going to be the victims if something went wrong.

"I'll go get the first aid kit," she sighed.

"Chloe?"

"Don't think for a moment I'm letting you go over there on your own?"

"Balinsky will be with me."

Chloe wasn't about to back down. She had to have some purpose other than holding flashlights. She wasn't just another assistant. Jay may have had the doctorate but Chloe had a degree in maths and a masters in astrophysics. Another couple of years and she'd have her PhD. She'd swapped her tweed skirts and heels for BDUs and combat boots and there was no way was he leaving her behind.

"Shall we go?" she said.

"Uh… okay."

Stepping outside the Prometheus had to count as one of the most thrilling experiences of her life. Walking on an alien worlds was one of the reasons Chloe had accepted the invitation to work at the SGC. Now she was here. She'd done it. Impulsively, Chloe reached out and squeezed Jay's hand.

"Thank you," she smiled.

XOXO

How did Colonel O'Neill do it, Jay Felger wondered. He was distinctly aware of Chloe's presence, even though she was standing on the other side of the room. This was a complex problem. He needed to concentrate.

As far as he could see, the control systems were all intact. They just didn't seem to be working. His mind went back over the video footage he'd seen, but he still couldn't figure out why the Gate controls would work. They had power, but it didn't seem to be getting through to the control circuits. Sitting back on his heels, Jay became aware that Chloe had stopped talking and was staring in his direction. It was no good. He was going to screw this up, just as he did everything else in his pathetic little life.

Unless…

If it wasn't electrical then perhaps the problem was physical.

"They disconnected it!" he declared.

"What?" Balinsky questioned.

"They had to, to stop anyone else using the gate. Don't you see?"

He needed to trace it back. If he was right, then somewhere along the line he'd find the break in the circuit.

"How long do we have before we need to open the gate?" he asked.

"We just missed the first window," Chloe said.

"Then we have twenty four hours before the next one. Should be enough..."

"For what?"

"To fix this."

Fishing in the pocket of his BDU's, Jay pulled out a notebook. Quickly, he sketched the diagram from memory.

"We need to follow it here, here and here," he said.

"What are we looking for?" Balinsky questioned.

"A break in the circuit. Call me if you find anything."

It was only after the other two had left the room that Jay realised he'd given them an order and they'd obeyed without question. He was surprising himself here. Even if they failed, at least they were doing something.

XOXO

"Which way?" was the first thing Jack asked as the elevator doors slid open.

Daniel tried not to glare at his friend. He could understand the other man's impatience, but it was still annoying, especially as he needed a few minutes to get his bearings. It wasn't as if this was on his normal commuting route. Sam was keeping quiet. She hadn't been in the best shape as they'd fled the base and was unwilling to take the lead on this one.

Instinctively, he reached out to the Entity, forgetting for a moment that it had moved on. This was down to him alone, which was worrying when you realised that he had no idea where the computer system might be. The best he could do would take them back to where he'd first woken up. After that… Logically the heart of the system couldn't be that far away. Daniel could only hope that Jack would be able to do what was necessary. His own experience of the Entity was enough to make him realise that it wouldn't let go easily… if it did at all.

Daniel became more confident as the walked. He recognised a corridor here, a flight of stairs there... more than enough to lead them into the heart of the complex. And those creatures were everywhere. He had to wonder if they'd been tipped off, and his thoughts strayed back to Johan. But it couldn't be. Teal'c would never let him get away with it.

Now the need to escape was no longer imperative, Daniel found he had time to look around the stasis room. It almost made him sick. They'd paused at the threshold of the vast room, taking in the sight of the rows upon rows of bodies. He was certain that, last time, it hadn't smelled quite so bad. Decay was in the air. Someone had died here and the creatures hadn't noticed. This wasn't the answer to these people's problems, Daniel realised. Death had been postponed, not delayed indefinitely. Now, more than ever, he knew they'd be doing these people a favour.

"Sir!" Sam's voice was strident.

"What?" Jack hissed.

"It's Mason."

She made a movement to free their comrade but Jack put out a hand to stop her.

"When we shut this place down, we'll take him home… I promise," he said.

For a second Daniel thought she was going to argue and Jack was going to have to make his suggestion an order, but Sam backed down.

"Yes sir," she mumbled.

Sometimes it distressed Daniel to realise how much the years had moulded him into the military mindset. He understood Jack's point of view completely. Knowing how Sam had been affected by her brief period in stasis, he realised they couldn't afford to burden themselves with a sick colleague. And that Jack would make good on his promise to bring the young man home.

"This way," Jack said.

He led the way through the bodies, aiming for the far side of the room. There looked as if there was a way out, but from this distance, it was difficult to tell. As they drew closer, Daniel realised it wasn't even a door, just a veil of darkness. It didn't look solid. The obsidian surface seemed to be moving ever so slightly. Unable to help himself, he reached out to touch it. Jack immediately slapped his hand away.

"Daniel, what have I told you about touching?" he warned.

"I shouldn't unless it's safe," Daniel replied, "but how do I know it's safe unless…"

"Ah!"

There was a dull thunk. Sam had thrown something through the barrier.

"I think it's safe, sir," she said.

"Then why's it there?" Jack demanded.

"To stop anyone seeing what's on the other side."

It wasn't a very convincing explanation, but there was only one way to find out if the barrier passed Jack's definition of safe. Daniel took a step forward.

XOXO

"Crap! Daniel!"

Jack's expletive was understandable, as was his action to plunge after Daniel… and Carter was only a couple of steps behind. He felt a mild tingle as he walked through the barrier. Not enough to be described as a shock but his hair crackled with static as he reached the other side. The first thing he heard was Daniel retching. As he looked around, Jack saw Carter was also struggling to keep breakfast in her stomach.

"Hey… easy," he breathed.

His hand was on her back, rubbing in smooth circles. It was only as he moved away to attend to Daniel, that he dared to raise his eyes and take a closer look.

At one time, it had been a man. Human. Any trace of gender had vanished from the desiccated frame. A mass of wires stretched out from its body, leading God only knew where.

But it was alive. Its open eyes told him that much. The eyelids had been removed so it couldn't close them.

And it was in pain.

Everything seemed horribly logical. They wouldn't … couldn't use a conventional system, so they'd created something else. This travesty of life was controlling every thing here. An organic computer.

"How old do you think it is?" he asked.

Carter was clearly amazed that he could be so clinical. For once in her life, she didn't seem curious. As if she had no desire to find out how this worked. She and Daniel would probably have left given the chance, but Jack stopped them by asking another question.

"Will this still work?"

"The Entity is capable of infecting organic organisms… we already know that," Carter snapped.

"It's a living being, Jack," Daniel said, quietly. "It might die."

Carter nodded in agreement.

"Not much of a life, if you ask me," O'Neill argued.

This was the only chance they would get. If they weren't going to do it then they had to get out … and fast. As far as Jack was concerned, there was one way they could solve the problem. He stepped towards it, bending his face close,

"Can you hear me?" he asked in little more than a whisper.

The sound that came after might have been a breath of wind… or faulty air conditioning, but Jack swore he heard a voice reply,

"Help me."

Jack pulled back, staring down at the face. The eyes were following him. It knew he was there. The fact that anyone could do this to a sentient being killed any pity Jack might have held for the people that had created this place.

"How?" he asked.

There was no answer. Either it couldn't muster the energy to speak again, or the first words had been the product of wishful thinking. He could feel Daniel's eyes on him, demanding that he make a decision… or make the decision Daniel wanted him to. Despite what others might think, Jack did not revel in taking human life.

'You following this?'

YES.

It was the first time Jack had actively contacted the Entity and he felt himself wince as the consciousness crashed into his own. He really wasn't cut out for this, he decided.

'Can you do it?'

YES.

"So how's this going to work?" Jack asked Carter.

"The Entity is essentially electrical in nature," she replied, albeit reluctantly.

"Will the whole system shut down?"

"I imagine they have some kind of failsafe."

"Okay… so hook me up."

As gently as he could, Jack started to remove the wires that held the husk in its prison. He knew it would die and he liked to think it was grateful. There was certainly relief in its eyes as it took one last shuddering breath.

"Give me a hand here," Jack ordered.

With reverence, the three of them lifted the corpse onto the floor. Daniel covered it with his jacket. Taking its place, Jack tried to stop his body from trembling as Carter connected the electrodes to his head and upper torso. It definitely wasn't a reaction to her cold hands slipping under his shirt.

At first, he felt nothing and he wondered if the removal of the previous occupant had damaged the system irreparably.

"Sir?"

He could barely hear Carter's voice. Jack turned his head to look at her and…

… and realised that he'd made a really big mistake.

Jack screamed.

XOXO

The Colonel was screaming.

"We've got to get him out of there," was Daniel's immediate response.

As much as she hated herself for doing it, Sam grabbed hold of him, stopping him from ripping the wires away from his friend.

"Let go of me," he struggled in her grasp.

"It was his choice, Daniel. We have to give him time."

How much, Sam wasn't sure. It would depend how long she could stand the sound of his screams… or how long she could restrain Daniel before he used his superior strength against her.

Around them, things were starting to change. Lights were flickering and the persuasive hum that Sam had barely been aware of started to fade and die. Outside, the creatures had returned. Their chattering had been replaced by high-pitched squeaks of panic. Letting Daniel go, Sam drew her weapon, ready to defend the Colonel.

Then the lights went out.

Somehow, the ensuing silence was more unnerving than the noise had been. Slowly, carefully, Sam stepped back through the dark veil. The room beyond was bathed in the green glow of what she presumed was emergency lighting. Something scuttled across the floor behind her and Sam whirled round in time to see on of the creatures darting towards a hole in the wall. As her eyes became accustomed to the gloom, she saw another and another fleeing from the room. They were all running on all fours. Any vestiges of intelligence seemingly gone from their rodent like forms.

Had they also been under the control of the intelligence here? Their pack like behaviour certainly suggested as much.

Trying to quell her disgust, Sam moved towards the nearest sleeping body, her fingers searching for signs of life. She found a pulse but there was no indication that the person was waking up. Worried, she returned to the Colonel, hoping there was something he could do.

His eyes were shut tight and Sam could only assume he was conscious enough to hear her.

"Sir?" Sir?" she urged.

As if in response to her words, his body twisted as if he was fighting against something.

"Carter?" he hissed.

"Yes… are you okay?"

"Wants to kill them."

The Colonel gave another gasp as his body heaved.

"Daniel, help me get him out of there!" Sam ordered.

"No!" O'Neill yelled. "Have to stop it, have to fight."

"Jack!" Daniel protested.

They all knew the Entity would leave either voluntarily or… The Colonel thrashed again, doing more damage to his anchored limbs as muscles tore.

"Carter!" he pleaded.

Leaving Sam in no doubt as to what he wanted her to do. Before she could react a zat blast ripped through the air and the Colonel's body went limp. Sam rounded on Daniel, angry that he had been the one to do it. She could have… would have…

"Let's hope one is enough," was all he said.

O'Neill's body was certainly still. Over the years, the Colonel had managed to build up something of an immunity to zat guns. Although they usually knocked him down, he was never out for very long.

"Crap!" Sam swore.

"What?"

"I don't think he's breathing."

There was no time for gentleness; there was no time for finesse. Sam and Daniel ripped the wires away from the Colonel, tearing his skin. Tipping his head back, Sam bent over him and was relieved to fell a breath on her cheek. He was alive.

"Colonel, can you hear me?" she demanded as she slapped him lightly about the face.

She might have hit him harder but a rough hand came up to grab hers and Sam found herself staring into a pair of deep brown eyes. Before she had a chance to express her relief, she found herself being pushed backwards. Sam hit the floor with enough force to knock the breath out of her. It didn't help that the Colonel landed on top of her. She distinctly heard something go crack…

… just before the whole room exploded.

At least that was how it seemed. Sam's body was shielded by O'Neill's, but she still felt the wave of heat that washed over them.

Of all the scenarios where she had fantasised about being under Jack O'Neill, broken ribs and the room being on fire hadn't really figured. And they had to move. Unaware of her injury, the Colonel dragged her to her feet. It was all Sam could do to fight back the whimper of pain.

"Daniel!" he yelled.

"I'm okay," the other man replied.

"Let's go."

Sam stumbled behind them clutching her damaged ribs. They had no time to see how badly she was injured. Noticing that she was falling behind, O'Neill and Daniel came back for her wrapping their arms securely about her shoulders as they tried to escape the flames.

In the main room, the sleeping people were stirring. The foam that bound them to the couches had crumbled to dust.

Milling about aimlessly, disorientated from their long sleep. Sam didn't think she'd seen so many blank looking faces and she wondered what traces of sanity they might retain. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the familiar figure of Major Mason.

"Mason, we've got to get these people outta here!" Sam yelled.

She was pleased to see the younger man respond. Daniel, she noted, went to help him, leaving her with the Colonel O'Neill.

"You okay?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

She nodded, holding onto him tightly for support.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Ribs. I think you crunched a few."

The people were starting to stumble past, heading towards the exit. Not all of them though. Some hadn't survived the reanimation process. Sam wasn't sure if they were entirely dead… not yet… but the flames were creeping closer and closer.

"How about you?" she asked the Colonel.

"Headache," he smiled.

He was looking down at her, but Sam could see no trace of pain in his eyes. There was something else… something she didn't quite recognise. Sam found herself wanting to back away from him but before she could move, she felt his hand brush through her hair. The lips that touched hers were warm and soft, bringing back memories of locker rooms and tank tops… and how very, very wrong this all was.

The Colonel wouldn't…

He'd never…

Sam swung her knee up into his groin as she pushed him away.

"Sam!" Daniel protested.

"That's not Colonel O'Neill!" she said as the Entity struggled back to its feet.

"You're going to have to kill him," it spat.

"Fine," Sam said as she shot him with her zat, desperately hoping that enough time had elapsed that the second shot wouldn't kill him. He certainly didn't get up right away. Kneeling beside him, Sam checked his vital signs. The pulse was weak and erratic. He barely seemed to be breathing. He wasn't dead… but he might be close enough. Sam had an idea.

"We need to move him," she said to Daniel.

It took the two of them to manoeuvre the Colonel's dead weight towards the nearest occupied couch. Then, whilst Daniel held O'Neill upright, Sam grabbed the man's arm and slammed the palm of his hand down onto the body. The Colonel made contact with exposed flesh and there was a crackle of electrical discharge as the Entity fled his ailing form.

To Sam's horror, the body on the couch started to twitch. Its limbs moved in a parody of life as it struggled to rise. Sam let the Colonel drop to the floor as she struggled to draw her zat. She fired the first shot, Daniel the second and Sam the third. Then they stood back and watched as the body disintegrated.

XOXO

Sam was looking very grey, Daniel noticed as they bent to haul Jack back to his feet. She was clearly in pain and he realised she shouldn't be trying to support a man twice her weight. Daniel knew he could manage more easily alone.

"Why don't you get out of here?" he suggested. "I'll bring Jack."

"I'm okay," she replied through gritted teeth.

"No, you're not."

She glared at him, but made no move to release her burden. With the place burning down around their ears, it was hardly the time to stand and argue.

"I'll look after him, I promise," Daniel tried to reassure her.

"He's my responsibility."

"He's my friend, too. I don't want to see either of you get hurt. You're injured and you're going to slow us down. If you go first you can clear the way for us."

The look she gave him would probably have killed Jaffa at thirty paces but Daniel wasn't about to back down. They were wasting precious time. Even so, she probably wouldn't have left if Jack hadn't chosen that moment to slur,

"Get out of here, Carter … order."

It may not have been very distinct but an order was an order. Sam promptly turned her back on them and headed for the exit.

"Can you walk?" Daniel asked Jack.

"Sure," he replied.

However, when Jack tried he promptly fell over and Daniel had to pull him upright again.

"Where Carter?" he asked.

"It's okay, she's gone, she's safe," Daniel said.

He fervently hoped that was the case. Jack was certainly showing signs of confusion. Even assisted, his steps were hesitant and he kept on trying to walk in the wrong direction. Trying to make Jack hurry proved useless and all Daniel could do was coax him along one-step at a time. Next to the towering bulk of Teal'c, it was difficult to remember what a tall man Jack was… and consequently how difficult to manoeuvre. Daniel was painfully aware of the fire raging behind them. His lungs were already straining as they struggled to find air.

Suddenly, doing this by himself didn't seem like such a good idea. Daniel's instincts were telling him to run, but he knew that wasn't possible. Since they were most likely the only living beings left alive in the complex, he had no choice but to keep going. The stairs were the worst … Jack just didn't want to pick his feet up.

"You should really cut down on the cake," he muttered as they faced another flight of steps.

"Cake? Where?" Jack demanded, suddenly more alert.

"Not here, Jack."

"Okay."

If memory served, this was the last set of steps before they reached the elevator that would take them to the surface. Drawing on his last reserves of strength, Daniel started upwards. He was never certain of exactly what happened next. The fire below or years of wear and tear had probably weakened the structure. One moment he was climbing the stairs, the next, the structure beneath his feet had crumbled, and he found himself falling into space.

He didn't fall far. The hollow space beneath the stairs was perhaps twice his height… just too far to jump. But it was boxed in and there was no other way out.

"Jack! Jack!" Daniel yelled.

Up above, he could just about make out the slumped form of his friend precariously balanced at the edge of the hole. Waking him up probably wasn't the best idea, but if he didn't… Daniel couldn't see how they were going to get out of here.

XOXO

Teal'c considered himself an expert in the subtle nuances of using silence. It served him well when words could not. During his time as the first prime of Apophis, simply staring at a victim was often more effective than torture. He, therefore, did not choose to speak to Johan as they made their way back to the city. However, there was more to his silence than his usual taciturn nature.

He did not like Johan.

Although the man had been instrumental in saving his friends, Teal'c had very little respect for his recent behaviour. Seven years ago, Teal'c had been faced with a similar choice. He had decided to trust Jack O'Neill and give himself the chance to help his fellow Jaffa rather than let them stay enslaved to the false gods. Johan may not see his people's fate in the same way, but the limbo in which they survived was no better than slavery. As far as Teal'c was concerned it didn't matter, where or how you lived, as long as you were free. This place, this planet, was worth nothing. It was dying. The chance to start again on a brand new world should not be ignored.

Teal'c would rather have been facing danger with his friends than here with Johan. He understood why O'Neill had given the order. If their positions had been reversed, he would have done the same but it did not make the waiting any easier.

They were almost back at the city, when Johan called a halt to their trek. He, it seemed, had noticed something different about this seemingly unchanging world.

"The Critetinae," he said, "they are moving."

In the distance, Teal'c could see packs of the animals scuttling around.

"Then we must return," Teal'c replied.

"Why?"

"Because my friends are in danger."

"We can't help them. The Critetinae are too many."

"Then we will die in the attempt."

"And if I refuse?"

"You will not."

It was not a threat… not entirely. If the man did not follow then Teal'c would take the necessary actions to disable him. That way he could still follow the spirit of O'Neill's order. Without another word, Teal'c started to jog back the way they had come. He was gratified to hear the sound of Johan following.

Teal'c ran sure and speedily over the uneven ground, Johan matching him step for step. When they reached their destination, he did wonder for a moment if the speed had been necessary. People were wandering around outside the entrance to the complex, seemingly aimlessly. Whatever had happened, it appeared as if his friends had achieved their objective. At first, he could see no sign of the other members of SG-1, and then he caught a glimpse of Major Carter pushing her way through the crowd towards him.

"Teal'c!" she called out.

"Major Carter!"

"Daniel and the Colonel… they're still in there."

"Show me."

"Get these people back to the city!" Major Carter ordered as she led Teal'c back towards the entrance.

Teal'c detected the smoke as soon as the elevator started to drop. A distinct haze was present in the atmosphere of the corridor below. Whatever air recycling system they had here, it was clearly malfunctioning.

"It's this way," Major Carter said.

The flight of stairs led downwards, but it was difficult to see properly through the thickening smoke. Narrowing his eyes, Teal'c could just about make out a dark shape slumped on the floor. It seemed that Major Carter had seen it too, because she darted forward, but Teal'c put out his hand and grabbed her arm. Trusting his instincts, she held back.

"Why can we only see one body?" he questioned.

Teal'c was fairly certain the prone figure was O'Neill. He was also sure that Daniel Jackson wouldn't have abandoned his friend. Major Carter, it appeared, had come to the same conclusion.

"Daniel?" she called out.

"Down here!" A voice replied.

The hole became apparent as soon as they had climbed down the first few steps. Daniel Jackson was standing at the bottom, pitifully gazing upwards.

"Don't suppose you have rope?" he asked.

Teal'c did not. Even at full stretch, he was unable to reach Daniel Jackson. Drawing back from the hole, he looked about himself, trying to find something that could be used as a rope. To his surprise, Major Carter was busy removing O'Neill's pants.

"I'll need yours too, Teal'c," she ordered briskly.

He did not argue, being relieved that, this day, he had not chose to 'go commando'. Teal'c turned his back as Major Carter also divested herself of her garment. However, there was really no time for embarrassment as she knotted the three pairs of pants together and flung one end of the makeshift rope down the hole. With Teal'c's weight on the other end, Daniel Jackson had no trouble hauling himself up.

Once he reached safety, however, he clearly had trouble knowing where to look. O'Neill, however, seemed to be at least semiconscious and was staring at Major Carter's behind with a happy smile on his face.

"We must leave now," Teal'c said.

There was little argument as, at that moment, the ground chose to shift beneath their feet. The damage caused by the fire was starting to be felt at this level and the complex was falling apart.

"Bring him!" Major Carter ordered as she scooped up the 'rope'.

Teal'c did as requested, slinging O'Neill across his shoulders as they ran towards the elevator. He placed the man down on the floor as the shaking lift took them towards the surface. Major Carter handed him back his pants and she helped O'Neill back into his.

"Easy sir," she warned as he struggled against her.

It was difficult to tell if it was a result of the injury he had or embarrassment that Major Carter was the one dressing him. Although, Teal'c suspected he would rather her than himself or Doctor Jackson.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"My brain is the ultimate weapon," O'Neill replied.

"He still seems confused," Teal'c said.

Or perhaps not? The elevator shook to a halt but the doors didn't open.

XOXO

"Teal'c, give me a hand here," Daniel said as he moved to one side of the double doors.

Between them, they managed to wrench the doors open, only to find that the elevator had stopped shot of the surface. The gap was wide enough for Sam to squeeze through, but Daniel wasn't sure about the rest of them. Indeed, when he tried it, he could have sworn he left a layer of flesh behind. At least Jack wasn't as bulky as himself or Teal'c, Daniel mused as they manoeuvred him through the gap.

They all lay there for a moment, trying to regain their breath. It was difficult to decide exactly how long they'd been below ground. Daniel felt like it had been hours, but there was little change in the light outside. Sprawled on the ground, he felt rather than heard the rumble beneath them.

"Uh… Sam… Teal'c…" he began as he scrambled to his feet.

But his friends didn't need the warning. Teal'c was already pulling Jack upright as Sam set off at a run. Jack seemed to sense the urgency of the situation and managed to run unaided. Daniel kept close by him, just in case he needed help. Not knowing how far the complex stretched, they had no idea how far they had to go. All the way back to the city seemed like a safe bet. There was no way they'd make it.

The ground shifted again, and sent Daniel sprawling. This time, Jack helped him back to his feet.

"Thanks," Daniel said.

The other man just nodded. Their pause had been long enough for them to drop some way behind Sam and Teal'c. How Sam was managing to move so fast, Daniel couldn't imagine. By now, she had to be running on pure adrenalin. Daniel made a mental note to do less weight training and more speed work next time he hit the gym. Spots were starting to flash before his eyes as he pushed himself to the limits of his endurance. There was definitely a red haze forming … or was the sun coming up? The atmosphere suddenly didn't seem to hold enough oxygen to fill his lungs.

A crack rent the air and Daniel had just about enough time to think,

'Oh No! Not again!' before he hit the ground.

The patch of earth he had been standing on had dropped a few feet, leaving himself and Jack staring upwards. There were enough cracks in the new cliff to provide hand and foot holds. They managed to scramble up with the help of Teal'c and Sam.

"What the hell's going on?" Jack demanded, sound something like his usual self.

"I don't know, sir," Sam replied, "some kind of self destruct, maybe?"

But they didn't have time to debate the issue. The ravine, Daniel decided, if they could just get that far …

Was it his imagination? Could he hear water running? Or was it just the blood pounding in his ears?

"There!" Teal'c shouted.

It was the bridge. As one, they halted before it. Despite the earthquakes, the bridge was still intact. But would it stay that way long enough for them to get across? Daniel was sure there were a few more stones missing that when they had last crossed over … not to mention sections of the guardrail. There wasn't really another choice. The path down to the water was just as treacherous.

"Let's go!" Jack ordered.

The crossed the bridge walking four abreast. At least that way, there was a better chance of being able to grab hold if someone did slip. Daniel wasn't too thrilled about taking the outside position, but he didn't complain. With both Sam and Jack injured it made sense that he and Teal'c should take the more dangerous route.

Even if the entire world had been tumbling into the abyss, Daniel knew he couldn't take a step further. Once on the other side of the bridge, his knees buckled and he was quite happy to lie there and pant. To his relief Jack and Sam did the same. Only Teal'c remained on his feet, but Daniel suspected it was a matter of pride since he appeared to be as badly winded as the rest of them.

For a moment, the world was still.

"I think we'd better move," Jack said.

They could do little more than stagger away from the edge of the cliff, knowing they had to keep going… however much it hurt. Daniel could already detect rumbling beneath the souls of his feet. Without meaning to, he turned around to watch. The cliff they had been sitting on was sliding down towards the ravine.

Throwing themselves flat on the ground they tried to shield themselves for the quake that seemed to go on forever. Finally, Daniel was able to raise his head. Choking on the dust, he surveyed the area. The landscape was barely recognisable. Whatever had happened to the complex, the destruction seemed complete.

Without speaking, he turned away and started to walk back towards the city.

XOXO

"Crap," Balinsky swore quietly to himself. Then he kicked himself for steeling Colonel O'Neill's favourite expletive.

There wasn't really any other way to express his feelings.

For twenty hours, he'd been crawling through the bowels of this ship … diligently tracing the circuits Felger had pointed out … Now he'd found it he wished he hadn't.

Clicking on his radio, Balinsky called his team mates.

"You'd better get here," was all he said.

When Felger arrived, he was far more vocal. So much so that Chloe put her hands over her ears and admonished,

"Jay!"

They could see the broken circuit but there was no way any of them was going to be able to reach it. The conduit was so cramped that it was difficult to know how anyone could have got down there to cut the wires in the first place. Unless they sent a child…

"What about Hailey?" Balinsky suggested.

The other two stared at him. It wasn't such a stupid idea… was it?

"What?"

"Okay, you can ask her," Chloe said.

"Me?"

"Well, she hates me," Felger said.

"And I don't like her," Chloe added.

"Chloe!"

"Well I don't. She was mean to you."

Balinsky stared at the pair of them. Looking down the conduit again, he wondered if there was any other way. It wasn't that he didn't like Hailey, but she had what was known as a difficult personality. Well if it had to be him…

"I'll be back," he said.

Back on the Prometheus, he heard Hailey a long time before setting eyes on her. She had a very penetrating voice, especially when things weren't going her way. Balinsky had no idea what she was yelling about but he was nearly knocked down by a young sergeant in tears. He peeked into the engine room and had to duck back as a large spanner was hurled in his direction. Dragging a handkerchief out of his pocket, he waved it through the open door.

"What?" Hailey snapped.

"Looks like you could use a break," Balinsky said.

She sighed, suddenly seeming more petite than ever.

"Yeah," she admitted.

"There's something we'd like you to take a look at, over on the other ship," he said.

"I don't have time."

"Please… otherwise Felger'll have to do it and…"

Balinsky let his words trail away. He reminded himself to apologize to Felger later, but he suspected it was the only way he was going to drag Hailey away from her current task.

"Something will explode," he finished.

"Fine," she snapped and marched out of the engine room.

XOXO

"We'll come back, I promise," Carter told Johan.

The man did look convinced and Jack couldn't blame him. If they got home, they could send the Prometheus back for these people… If being the operative word.

"I'll stay," Daniel volunteered.

"Daniel," Jack warned.

"Someone has to."

Right. Four seats in the X-302's and five SG team members. Even Jack could do that math.

He glanced at the people who were gathered around. Most of them seemed to be in shock and Jack wasn't sure he wanted to be around when reality hit. He didn't want to leave any one here and certainly not alone.

"Carter, Teal'c, Mason, take the X-302s and…" he began.

"With due respect, sir, I don't think that's a good idea," Carter interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"You're injured."

"So are you."

"We don't know what that Entity did to you."

"I'm not leaving Daniel here alone."

"I will remain," Teal'c said.

"You sure?"

"Indeed."

"Mason, you think you can handle an X-302?"

"Yes sir," he saluted.

The young man looked pale but determined. They needed another pilot to get the second ship back and Jack would need Carter with him… just in case he passed out again. Teal'c was the only member of SG-1 who had escaped injury so he was the logical choice.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Jack said.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad of the chance to go home. Jack really wasn't feeling too hot. If he stopped to think about what had happened the world started to spin and he had a strong urge to vomit. Jack being Jack, had no desire to think or engage in any other cognitive process. It could wait until he was safely in his house with a full cooler of beer. No witnesses.

Glancing at his watch, Jack realised they didn't have long before Ronson was due to activate the Gate. The last thing he wanted was to spend another night in this place. It was a bit of a mystery why Daniel wanted to stay. Jack suspected there was something about the civilization that the other man found fascinating, but he had to resist the urge to ask and respect his friend's decision.

"Let's move out," he ordered.

Despite Carter's tampering, both X-302's rose smoothly upwards, but she did give a low groan as the G-forces pressed her back in her seat.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Next time, I'm going on top," she replied. "How about you, sir?"

"I'll live."

The truth was that the turbulence was making him feel a little airsick. Recalling how rough the journey had been first time through the wormhole, prompted him to add,

"How about you take it from here?"

"Yes, sir… energy readings are spiking. It's similar to the readings taken on P9J-567."

Jack closed his eyes but it did little to block out the intense flash of light that signalled the

Gate was active.

"Take me home, Carter," he ordered.

XOXO

Hailey looked at the hole and then at the three people facing her.

"You called me away from a vital task to crawl down there?" she asked.

They all nodded.

"We can operate the gate from here," Felger said.

"You think?"

"I know. Look shouldn't we at least give SG-1 the chance to come home. They'd do the same for us."

She closed her eyes. Damn it but Felger was right. She'd never sleep at night if she thought she'd been responsible for stranding SG-1. The ghost of Colonel O'Neill would haunt her forever. Hailey had always considered her physical size to be a disadvantage, but they had a point. No one else was small enough to do this.

"Give me the soldering iron," she said.

Then, without another word, she swung herself down into the conduit.

It was a tight fit. Another half an inch and she would have stuck, which would have been downright embarrassing. She had to go head first, adding to the claustrophobic feeling. It was easy enough to do this kind of thing in training. When there was someone there to help you out if you got in trouble. Here she was too far down for anyone to get close enough to pull her out. Although she had to admit there was a certain satisfaction to be obtained from knowing that not even Major Carter could have fixed this one.

Manipulating the soldering iron in such a tight space wasn't easy. And if she dropped it… well she supposed she could send someone back to the Prometheus for another one. She hadn't noticed the heat before, but sweat was dripping down into her eyes. There were so many wires and she really didn't know what went where. Whoever had built this ship didn't seem to believe in colour coding. Relying on your instincts wasn't a great thing to do when the lives of four people were under threat.

"That's it!" she called back over her shoulder.

There was a scuffling above her and Hailey realised that Felger was probably scuttling back towards the bridge. Hailey started to wiggle her way backwards. Now everything was done, she really, really wanted to get out… and fast. She was very glad that a pair of hands grabbed her around the ankles and pulled her free.

"Thanks," she smiled at Balinsky.

"We need to get the gate open now," he said.

Hailey glanced down at her handiwork. Felger must have thrown a switch somewhere because the connection sparked a little… but it held.

"Come on," Hailey said.

They hurried outside. Felger and Chloe, she noted weren't far behind them. Instinctively, the all stared at the ring embedded in the wall. It was glowing. Hailey found herself holding her breath as two X-302's burst into the dome. Someone hugged her as the two craft swung around and came in for a graceful landing.

XOXO

"Do we have to blow it up, sir?" Sam said.

"Yeah, we do," he replied.

SG-1 was standing on the bridge of the Prometheus, watching the surface of the moon turn beneath them. Thanks to Felger, they were able to keep the Gate open indefinitely. If they wanted to… They'd rescued almost a thousand people from the planet on the other side of the wormhole. Most of them had already been shifted through the Stargate to a neutral world. Once they got back to the SGC, both Sam and Daniel intended to be part of the team intent on finding them a new planet. All this would be no more than a memory.

"When you're ready, Jack," Ronson said.

"Do it," the Colonel ordered.

The Asgard weapons were very efficient. The base was soon reduced to an ugly scar on the surface of the planet… nothing more than space dust. It was such a waste. Sam wished she wasn't an air force officer, and Colonel O'Neill didn't have the right to give her orders. She knew it was naïve to think that the technology could have just been studied and not used. Being the good officer she was, Sam just stood there and watched as the dust settled. She'd expected Daniel to protest but he remained silent.

"That's it?" the Colonel said. "We can go now?"

Sam gave him a tired smile.

"Yes, sir."

It was over. Sam reckoned her ribs would earn her a least a fortnight's downtime.

She could go home, take a long hot bath, eat take out, talk to Pete… clean the house. A touch of normality would be nice… before she had to go out and save the world again.

Except it would take them another three days to get back to Earth…

Sam intended to spend most of that time asleep and she suspected her teammates would do the same. They'd done their duty.

"Sir, there's just one more thing?" she began as they headed towards their respective quarters.

"What?" he asked.

"Back when you had the Entity?"

"That sounds kinda kinky."

"Sir."

She was too tired to play games. The Colonel was trying to avoid answering any awkward questions but she pushed on.

"Do you… uh… remember much?"

"Not a thing."

His face was calm, impassive. If he was lying, Sam couldn't tell. Jack O'Neill was an expert.

"Okay sir. I'll see you in the morning."

XOXO

As Jack walked away from Carter, he was painfully aware of the eyes of his other two friends. He suspected that both Teal'c and Daniel knew he had been lying. How could he tell her that it had been the only way? An act so out of character that Carter would know his body wasn't totally under his control.

Okay so maybe that wasn't the only thing he had thought of but he hadn't been about to start hitting her. Besides, if he'd done that Carter would have whipped his butt. He was going to file the whole incident away as something that shouldn't be thought about… ever. Jack still had trouble believing he had been so easily shunted aside. It reminded him a little too much of his experience with Kanan. Was his mind really that weak? Any alien that came along and it was bye-bye Jack O'Neill. He'd get over it… he had to. It was like any other injury, as he got older, recovery got harder and harder…

At least he'd have a couple of weeks before he had to go back on duty. With Carter injured, Hammond would take them off rotation for a while, giving Jack enough time to sort himself out. Right now, sleeping all the way back to Earth seemed like a really good plan. He should have known that Daniel would have other ideas. When it came to 'wanting to talk', he was as bad as a woman. Of course, he, Jack and Teal'c were sharing quarters, which made it difficult to avoid each other.

"You okay?" Daniel asked as soon as they had settled on their bunks.

Teal'c was staring, which made it hard not to reply.

"I'm fine," Jack said.

"Which is why you lied to Sam?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Shut up, Daniel."

Jack wasn't about to admit anything to anybody. What they didn't know, they couldn't tell. Teal'c had already witnessed more that was good for him. Let them wonder.

XOXO

This time it was raining.

Daniel was standing in front of the stone, without a hat, without a coat.

This time he knew why. The first thing any of them did when they got back from a mission was see Janet. Somehow being here made a strange kind of sense. We're back. He wanted to tell her. We're safe. She would have been mad at all of them… except perhaps Teal'c.

Daniel had brought flowers. White lilies. He didn't even know if Janet had liked flowers, but it would have been worse to turn up empty handed.

On a day like this, he would have expected to have the graveyard to himself, but the scrape of a boot on concrete made him look around.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Since before you arrived, Daniel Jackson."

Moving forward, Teal'c placed his own offering of yellow daisies onto the earth.

"Hey!"

The woman's call distracted both men from their contemplation of the grey stone. Sam was walking towards them through the rain, her face almost obscured by the huge umbrella she was carrying.

"I thought you couldn't drive?" Daniel said.

"I got a lift," she replied.

He looked around for Pete, but there was no sign of the detective. Instead, he noticed another familiar figure hurrying along the path. Daniel glanced at Teal'c, who merely raised an eyebrow.

"The Colonel very kindly offered to bring me," she glared at them. "He didn't know exactly where it was and I did…"

It wasn't worth arguing about, Daniel decided, especially now Jack was within hearing distance. He'd brought tulips, Sam roses. The riot of colours was somehow a fitting tribute.

"You guys want to go and get something to eat?" Daniel suggested.

"I could go a steak or three," Jack agreed. "T?"

"Indeed. Major Carter, will you be accompanying us?" Teal'c asked.

"As long as you don't let me eat anything but salad."

"But you'll be having diet soda." Jack teased.

"And what about that dessert they do at O'Mally's? White chocolate cheesecake?" Daniel added.

"Dessert but no appetizer," Sam warned.

As they walked away, Daniel thought he heard a woman's laugh.