Chapter 6

Sam yawned, stretching out her arms as she fought off the night's lingering sleep. Staring at alien schematics for hours on end had tested even her own patience. Normally, she could spend days poring over new technology. But when she couldn't read half of accompanying text, it put a damper on her enthusiasm. As it was, she found herself asking Teal'c for help every few minutes.

Speaking of Teal'c…

Sam did a quick search of the room, coming across books and tablets scattered about, O'Neill humming in the shower, and a few half-eaten rations intermingled with the fruit they had been given. Teal'c was nowhere in sight. She started to wonder if he had joined Daniel in the spare; the door was wide open.

Tentatively, Sam poked her head into the room. "Teal'c? Daniel?"

She didn't see Teal'c, but Daniel was asleep on one of the cots, glasses still on, with a book open and spread across his chest. Quietly, she crept into the room and tried not to trip over the piles of paper that Daniel had tossed all over the floor.

"Daniel?" she whispered. When he didn't awaken, she strengthened her voice. "Daniel."

With a sigh, Daniel shifted his body, accidentally kicking off some of the rubbings he had stacked at the end of the cot. He yawned and lifted his head, squinting at Sam.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Have you seen Teal'c?" She surveyed the room but didn't see any sign of him.

"Mmm-hmm," he mumbled.

Sam stared at him. "Well?"

"Teal'c left," he said and closed his eyes.

"He left?" she asked.

No answer. Daniel was asleep again. She'd just about had it. Sam moved next to the cot, and with a frustrated sigh, she shook his shoulder.

At the moment they touched, Sam felt herself go cold. She felt the faint echo of naquadah as it pumped through his body.

Heart racing, Sam shut down all her worst fears and went for her sidearm. She flicked it out of its holster and steadied the gun, aiming for Daniel's chest.

"Get up," she ordered.

Daniel blinked at her twice, a small frown forming on his face as he started to fully waken. "Sam?" he asked.

Sam wasn't going to fall for it. She tightened her grip on her gun, swallowing down the pain, and focused on the problem at hand. It was all she could do.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice tight.

His frown only deepened, his perplexed face slowly revealing hints of fear. "Sam?" He leaned forward. "Sam, it's—"

She cocked the weapon. He sat back down.

"Don't," she said. "I want to know who you are."

Daniel gaped at her. "I don't understand," he said.

"Understand!" she yelled. "I will shoot you. You know I will. You know it's what Daniel wants."

You know you can't, a little voice told her, tempting her to falter.

Sam kept her Beretta trained on Daniel as she started back towards the door. If Daniel had somehow been taken over by a Goa'uld, it might explain Teal'c's disappearance. She needed backup.

"Colonel!" she called.

"Carter?" O'Neill emerged from the main room and slipped through the doorway. He froze, partway finished drying his hair with a towel, when he saw the gun trained on Daniel.

"He's a Goa'uld, sir," Sam explained, never losing sight of her target. "I can sense naquadah in him."

"She's lying," Daniel said. "I don't know why, but she is."

O'Neill shot a shrewd look over at Daniel before he took a quick inventory of the room. He tossed aside the towel and motioned for her gun. "Go find Teal'c. I'll take care of him."

Daniel's eyes widened. "Jack!"

Sam nodded, making sure she kept the Beretta directed at Daniel as she made the swap. Carefully, she began to slip the gun into O'Neill's hand.

She felt a shiver of naquadah pass through his fingertips.

Immediately, Sam jerked away and aimed her weapon at her commanding officer. The shock rippled in his eyes for only an instant before the seasoned soldier took control.

"Carter," O'Neill said sternly.

"Get over there!" Sam waved him to the cot where Daniel was sitting. "Now!"

O'Neill raised his hands and started to scoot toward the cot. Daniel continued to observe everything, dumbfounded. Slowly, O'Neill eased himself onto the edge of the bed.

"Where's Teal'c?" she demanded.

"Don't know," O'Neill said. "Why don't you tell us?"

She clenched her teeth, willing herself to stay controlled while holding them at gunpoint. Neither made a move to indicate they were implanted. No flashing eyes. No metallic voice. Daniel continued to just gawk at her while O'Neill held his patient but unyielding gaze.

They looked so much like her friends that it hurt. But she knew what she'd felt.

Sam quickly searched the room, this time looking for something more useful. Books, papers, and sketches would do nothing to help her situation. She caught sight of Daniel's knapsack. She knew something inside could buy her time.

With controlled, deliberate steps, Sam moved toward the wall that propped up Daniel's belongings. She crouched low, still focused on her captives, as she fumbled inside his pack. Sam withdrew a handful of plastic restraints.

"Carter, what are you doing?" O'Neill asked, allowing his impatience to poke through.

She tossed a couple of restraints at him. She waved the gun at Daniel. "Tie him up."

O'Neill gave her an exasperated look. "Carter…"

"Do it," she said.

With a sigh, O'Neill turned to Daniel and lopped the plastic over his wrists. Then, he moved to tie Daniel's ankles.

"Tighter," Sam ordered.

His piercing gaze never left her as he pulled on the restraints. Daniel winced and grunted; O'Neill moved back and raised his hands.

"Now, on your knees."

O'Neill raised his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Sam." Daniel leaned forward and wrestled with his restraints, pleading with her. "This is a mistake."

She hated to do it, but she ignored him. "Face the bed," she told O'Neill.

He complied, but grumbled as he turned. O'Neill laced his fingers behind his head before he knelt in front of the small cot. Sam then returned her attention to Daniel.

"Move over toward the wall," she said. When he hesitated, she brought the Beretta level with his head. "Now."

"You know this isn't going to work," Daniel said, his voice even. "Teal'c is going to find us and—"

"I said now."

Daniel hobbled over toward the opposite end of the cot. He crept close to his pillow, watching as Sam moved toward O'Neill. She kept her eyes on both of them as she attempted to prepare the remaining restraints.

Sam glared at Daniel, giving him a stern warning to stay still. Satisfied that he wasn't going to move, Sam closed in on O'Neill, using her free hand to loop the restraints around his wrists while keeping the gun aimed at his back.

She knew that the symbiote in O'Neill wouldn't go down without a fight. She just was a second too slow.

O'Neill rammed his shoulder backward, connecting with her chest just as she was bending over him. Sam gasped, feeling the sting of pain from the contact, and stumbled back, nearly tripping over some of Daniel's tablets. As she fought to recover her sense of balance, O'Neill charged her, but she was able to duck just in time.

She knew it wouldn't be enough. O'Neill was quick and had been part of Special Forces for a reason. The thought that a symbiote could now be in possession of all that information…

Colonel O'Neill grabbed her, bringing his arm around her neck in a chokehold. She struggled to break free, but O'Neill's grip was unrelenting. As he kept her close, he shook the gun free from her hand. Through the corner of her eye, she could see Daniel sliding down the length of the cot as fast as he could under restraint, pulling himself toward another cot by the opposite wall.

No doubt to a concealed weapon.

Sam couldn't allow that to happen. Catching sight of O'Neill's thumb close to her chin, Sam squirmed and tilted her head, sinking her teeth into his flesh. O'Neill howled, flinching away. It was the opportunity she had been hoping for, even if it were a gamble.

Sam snatched her gun from the floor, slipping under O'Neill and making for Daniel. She threw her body into his side, propelling him headlong into the floor. She cringed as she heard his skull connect with one of the tablets that had been lying by the cot. His body went limp.

Sam's stomach flopped at the site of his still body. But there was no time for her to delay. When she turned to aim her weapon, O'Neill was already prepared, throwing up his arm to block her and to knock the gun from her hand.

O'Neill was quick. In the split second that he'd dislodged her weapon, he'd grabbed her again and dragged her away from Daniel. He kicked away some of the rubbings and books on the floor and threw her to the ground. She grunted, hitting the floor as O'Neill pinned her in place. She fought against him, but his grip was a vice.

"Carter!" O'Neill yelled. "I'm not a Goa'uld!" While he held onto her, O'Neill reached over to grab the restraints she's dropped in the struggle. His body extended into the stretch as he fumbled for the restraints. "I don't want to do this, but—"

She kneed him hard in the groin.

O'Neill winced and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. That was the distraction that she needed. Sam snatched the restraints from his hands and started to bind his writhing body. After she had secured his hands behind his back and bound his feet, she dragged him to another cot and started to anchor him to it.

O'Neill coughed and winced, still squirming from the attack. "Carter. If we're Goa'uld, you know we can break through these. Teal'c's already tried the restraint trick before with Hawkins and Rothman."

"It's good enough for now," she said, tightening the restraints. Sam kept her weapon trained on him as she quickly jogged over to Daniel to crouch by him. With her spare hand, she pressed her fingers to his neck.

A pulse. Thank God.

Slowly, she rose to her feet and went for Daniel's pack. She grabbed the radio and held it to her lips, all the while keeping her gaze focused on O'Neill.

"Teal'c, this is Carter. Do you copy?"

No reply.

"Teal'c, I repeat. This is Carter. Do you copy?"

Still nothing. Dammit.

Sam backed toward the doorway that opened up into the main room, glancing over her shoulder to see if Teal'c was in sight. Naturally, he was nowhere to be found.

That left Sam in the middle of a dilemma. To find Teal'c, she would have to leave Daniel and Colonel O'Neill alone. If they were Goa'uld, they would use the opportunity to escape, and she might lose them forever. On the other hand, she couldn't stay here all day caught in the middle of a stalemate. She knew she had a third option: she could call on Anu's security to detain them. But since she didn't trust Anu's people any more than her own team, she knew that wasn't her best move, either.

Sam marched past O'Neill toward the third cot, grabbing their store of weapons. Without a word, she ducked back into the main room, and confiscated O'Neill P-90 while grabbing her own along with the two zats. She quickly unloaded the remaining weapons, pocketed the ammo, and went back into the spare room.

O'Neill was already trying to wiggle out of his restraints, but froze when he saw her reenter.

"Rambo is so not you," he said dryly, raising his eyebrows.

Sam brushed off the comment. She aimed the zat at him.

That got O'Neill's attention. "Hey, now," he said, backing against the cot. "I'm telling you the truth. I'm not a Goa'uld."

"I'm sorry, sir. But I can only trust my instincts on this one."

"Well, they're wrong." His eyes widened as she prepared to fire. "Carter!"

O'Neill convulsed as the discharge erupted over his body. He went limp. She inspected him briefly and then moved toward Daniel. He was still out cold. She hesitated firing, not knowing what kind of damage she could do when he was already unconscious.

Sam lowered the weapon and backed away. Satisfied that both Colonel O'Neill and Daniel were out cold, she darted back into the main room and went for the exit. The idea of leaving two possibly implanted hosts on their own would normally be a fatal one, but her resolve was starting to crumble.

Something else was troubling her.

Sam glanced back at the room.

She shouldn't have won.