Calamitas

They had spent two hours sneaking through the forest towards the Stargate, avoiding any sign of life. At the edge of the trees, Jack gave up and crashed through the bushes whistling.

"Jack, what are you doing!" Jacob hissed.

"Think about it. She knew exactly when we arrived here but somehow we managed to outwit her, escape from an unguarded prison and 'conveniently' find our packs?"

Everyone stopped as the truth in Jack's words sank in.

"Why would she let us go?" Jacob asked.

"No offense Jacob, but I could never figure out Sam when she was human let alone with a snake in her head."

Daniel glanced around nervously. "We should go."

"I concur"

Hammond looked eagerly for signs of Sam but his face fell when he saw she was still absent.

"Debriefing in 5 minutes. The infirmary can wait."

The team dumped their packs in their quarters and went to the briefing room.

"So she just let you go?" Hammond asked. "Why?"

Something occurred to Daniel. "Our packs"

"What?"

"There must be something in our bags. Why else would she let us go?"

Jack went pale and, without a word, everyone ran to their quarters.

Halfway down the corridor, an explosion knocked them to the floor.

Coughing out ash, Jack moved closer to the destruction. Sparks jumped around from the broken lights and the whole block of quarters was destroyed. Nobody had been in there at the time but people who had been walking past were unmoving on the ground. Bricks and rubble were everywhere.

A small black box that was completely undamaged caught his eye.

"Jack, maybe you shouldn't touch that."

Despite Daniel's warning, he picked it up. It hummed and a holographic figure of Sam popped out.

"If you are hearing this, then my 'surprise' has had its effect. I am disappointed in your stupidity. You thought you could escape my clutches that easily? This device will not have done much. It may have blown up some of the quarters but I doubt many are dead. This was merely to prove my power. I will kill each of you personally. And I will relish the taste of your fear."

The next 12 hours passed in a blur. Jacob had to report back to the Tokra High Council and everyone else spent the time helping the injured. Hammond had to make 7 heart wrenching phone calls to inform people of the loss of their loved one 'in the line of duty.'

"It's awful." Daniel said in the commissary. "It looks like Sam but it isn't her."

The others nodded absently. Watching one of their closest friends destroy their base bit by bit had taken its toll on them.

"What are we supposed to do? She knows everything we're about to do. She knows us."

Jack was about to respond but the klaxons cut him off. They hurried to the gate room, knowing any defenses were pointless if Hera wanted to attack.

It was Jacob, out of breath as if he'd run all the way.

"It's chaos out there! In the night Hera invaded Bastet's world. It was a massacre, everyone who wouldn't change their loyalties were completely wiped out. Women, children…"

"Oh God," Janet said sounding sick.

Jack felt just as ill but tried to stay professional. "What does this mean in the bigger picture?"

"Bastet had lots of naquadah that Hera now owns. The System Lords have been thrown into chaos. Even Baal's scared!"

"Well killing a Goa'uld is never a bad thing." Jack reasoned, trying to look on the bright side.

"Many of my brothers and sisters would have been killed. We must prevent another attack."

Everyone turned back to Jack; he always had the best, if stupid, ideas.

And all he could do was shrug.

Hera sat contentedly. In the past 24 hours, her army and land had almost doubled. She was still troubled though. At the sight of the Tau'ri, her host had begun shouting and struggling for control. Hera was actually surprised at the amount of curse words this human knew. Eventually the host would give up and remain silent. It was only a matter of time.