A/N: Since this first interlude is really short, there will be another longer chapter up later today.


Colonel Harry Maybourne of the NID would never ever have won any popularity contests at the SGC, not before the incident with the Tollan, and certainly not afterwards. Fighting together to resist the might of the Goa'uld made the SGC, as a whole, a tight-knit group. What Maybourne would have done to the Tollan if he had gotten his slimy paws on them and been able to take them away, disappearing them into the depths of some distant base, had not set right with anyone. True, most of the Tollan had acted like stuck-up jerks, but no one, not even the Tollan, deserved to become lab rats for the rest of their lives. Dr. Jackson had done what many soldiers had wanted to do, though the sword of Damocles (court-martial) had prevented them from interfering. Daniel had paid a heavy price for those actions. Given the whole situation, it was the general opinion of most everyone on base that Maybourne was a slimy, worthless, sorry excuse for an Air Force officer and a disgrace to the entire US Military.

SG1, on the other hand, was greatly liked and respected by the men and women of SGC across the ranks. Though a geek, Dr. Jackson had deciphered the mysteries of the Stargate, helping to make the program an actual reality, and had acquitted himself well on many missions. He had also helped save earth's collective bacon with the warning of Apophis' attack. Captain Carter had played a critical role in developing the dialing computer, was the expert on the Stargate, and was a member of the second team sent through the Stargate to Abydos. Colonel O'Neill had been the leader of the first team sent through the Stargate, had helped bring down Ra, among a multitude of other awesome and death-defying deeds. Teal'c, the former first prime of Apophis, had betrayed his former master and left the only life he had ever known to join the Tau'ri to help bring down the System Lords.

Altogether, SG1 had saved the whole earth from the Goa'uld.

Their work could not be rivaled, and none of them could be replaced.

Considering this, it was unsurprising that the events surrounding the arrival of the Tollan, their rescue by the Nox, and Daniel's subsequent flight from earth caused great controversy (and consternation) on base and nearly caused a riot in support of Doctor Jackson and in opposition to Maybourne. The sympathies of the entire base were with General Hammond and SG1, but with Hammond unable to help Doctor Jackson because of the current political climate, tempers had nearly reached boiling points on multiple occasions. Multiple marines had also made it clear, in quiet talks in the locker rooms and in the mess, what exactly they would like to do to Maybourne for all the chaos he caused. Several SG team leaders had also expressed a desire to boot Maybourne through the gate onto a hostile world and make the lousy git someone else's problem.


By the time about ten days had passed since Daniel's flight into exile, tempers, which had ebbed and flowed for days, were once again near a boiling point, and the tensions were so thick you could cut it with a proverbial knife. SG1 was on a stand down until a temporary replacement for Daniel could be found, a search that was not going well, partially because SG1 wanted Daniel, only Daniel, not a replacement, and partially because of … well, how do you find a replacement for a man with three PhDs who knew 20 some languages? Sam had buried herself in her lab with her science projects, only appearing when someone pried her out of there with a proverbial crowbar to get some food or sleep. Teal'c was spending a lot of his time in the sparring rink or in kelno'reem, and Jack was rampaging around base with all the grace and subtly of a bull in a china shop.

Early on the afternoon of the tenth day, the alarm tones went off, warning the base of an unscheduled off-world activation. The remaining members of SG1 dropped what they were doing and ran for the gateroom. By the time Captain Carter reached the gateroom, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c were already there with General Hammond, and the wormhole had already disengaged.

"Good of you to join us, captain," O'Neill said, his words slightly curter than he meant them. Everyone was on edge those days.

"Sorry, sir," she replied, "Who dialed in?"

"The Land of Light," it was General Hammond who now replied, "Colonel O'Neill, I want your team to be ready to leave within the hour. It's unusual for Tuplo to just dial in without warning. Make sure there is nothing amiss."

"Yes, sir," O'Neill said, before turning to his team with forced cheer, "Let's move it, campers. Places to be."


Forty-six minutes later (almost exactly), three-fourths of SG1 stepped through the gate onto P3X-797, better known as the Land of Light. Traveling there was always somewhat strange. Because of the planet's synchronous rotation around its sun, one side of the planet was always covered in sunlight, and the other half of the world was covered in eternal darkness, and the Stargate was located in the darkened forest where the Touched had once roamed.

Without the presence of the Touched, who were now cured, it was a quiet and short walk to the edge of the tree line that marked the boundary between the two lands. To their surprise, Tuplo was not there waiting for them, but Lya was there, instead, standing serenely with her hands folded across her stomach and a small smile on her face.

"Greetings, friends."

"Lya!" Exclaimed Sam, eyes going wide in surprise, as she stopped short a few feet beyond the tree line.

"How fares Daniel Jackson?" It was Teal'c, always blunt and to the point, who first spoke the question that was on all their minds those days.

"He is well, though he misses you greatly," replied Lya kindly with a small, serene smile.

"Tell Daniel to avoid earth and any SG teams for now. We have orders to take him into custody," added O'Neill, his scathing words clearly revealing what he really thought of those 'orders' and the ones who had given them.

"Do not worry for him. He is safe and among friends, far from the reach of those who would seek to do him harm."

"He isn't with you, then?" Asked Sam.

Lya shook her head, a motion that sent her hair gently swaying like leaves in a morning breeze. "Daniel did not wish to sit idly by while his wife remained in the hands of the Goa'uld. We sent him far away to friends of our people, long absent and long forgotten in these lands."

"Anybody we know?" Asked O'Neill, cocking his head, a spark of interest in his eyes at the mention of these nameless allies.

"Once they were mighty in these lands, but they have long been absent, and their name has been forgotten," said Lya gravely, "but they will soon return, and they have declared that there will be a reckoning with the Goa'uld. When they return, then you will see your friend again."