8

Author's Notes: Takes place after 0517 Last Stand. This story has been bothering my muse lately. I know that there had to be repercussions for Egeria's actions. What would Ra do? What happens if a queen was able to run away? Stay hidden. What would she learn about herself? Toss in Jack and Sam and see what happens.

As a side note: Anubis will not be half-ascended. He will be powerful, but I don't see the ascended being stupid. If I tie back to any episodes, Anubis will not have the kind of unkillable power he did in the TV show. Apophis was bad enough and he was mortal. Anubis is a sneaky bastard that the others think is already dead. Smart like Ba'al. Evil as all get out.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

Chapter 1: New Planet, New Problems

SG-1 stepped out the of the wormhole into the cool mountain air and scanned the area. They each spread out to cover their assigned tasks with practiced ease. Years of working together had taught them what needed to be done. Withing minutes, Jack gave the 'All Clear' signal.

"Well, this is pleasant," Jack announced to the group. Making a gesture to the cool mountain temperature surrounding them. "Like Colorado in the early summer."

"The temperature is most pleasing," Teal'c seconded from his position nearing the rim of the small bowl the Stargate was located in.

"Which way, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I believe that this direction would prove the most beneficial," Teal'c stated from his position at the rim of the bowl. He was staring at something in the distance.

Jack didn't see any alarm in Teal's features. That ruled out goa'uld. He walked over to take a look for himself with Daniel and Sam following closely.

The rim of the bowl that the Stargate sat in was positioned high in the mountains. They were well above what looked like a sprawling city around the base of the mountains. In the distance, they could see large farming tracks of land out beyond the city. The city itself seemed to hug the mountains and skirt the fertile land. They could see large vehicles moving over the land without leaving tracks or using roads.

"Wow," Sam said after taking it all in.

"Definitely, this way," Daniel said.

"Alright, this way it is," Jack agreed. "Teal'c help me blaze a trail." With that the team began the long journey down the mountain side towards the city.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

After taking several hours to hike through the mostly pristine forest, SG-1 is finally nearing the city. The city can be seen in the distance, but for some reason, the forest surrounding it has been left untouched. The ground became rougher, the closer they get to the city.

"I wonder why they left the forest alone," Sam wondered.

"I don't know," Daniel said. "Could be that whatever goa'uld brought them here made them work to avoid the forest for some reason? Or the opposite?"

"I can think of no such false god," Teal'c chimed in.

"Kids," Jack called their attention. "I think we found a choke point."

Jack stood at the top of a natural cliff face. The cliff dropped off sharply, but was climbable. Jack and Teal'c looked at it for several minutes before moving to a different point and finding a path down. It wasn't as steep. It also didn't involve climbing gear. Jack led the way down.

Once at the bottom, "Let's make this our rally point. It's defensible."

"Okay, I'm actually surprised we haven't seen anyone yet. We are pretty close to the city now," Daniel said.

"Yes, but if that cliff goes any distance I'm not surprised either," Sam replied. "It is like a natural wall."

"All the better to keep them off our backs," Jack quipped.

As they started walking again, "The trees are much thicker down here," Daniel said.

"Better protected from the winds. More snow," Jack relayed absently.

"I thought you hated trees," Daniel told Jack.

"I don't HATE trees," Jack said. "I just get annoyed when Earth trees are on alien worlds. I like Earth trees."

"They are alien worlds. That makes them alien trees," Daniel said just to annoy Jack.

"You would think so. But that is a Ponderosa Pine Tree," Jack said pointing. "We are in a Ponderosa Pine Forest. If that is an alien tree, it should be alien. I shouldn't know it's life cycle. And THAT is annoying."

"Point," Daniel said conceding.

Jack raised his fist to stop everyone.

In the distance a figure could be seen running from right to left. The body hurled past the group barely looking at them as it ran by. It dodged and weaved in between the trees.

Shortly, they heard the pursuit following the figure. A group of armed men. Humans by the look of it. Two figures continued in pursuit of the figure while the rest of the group stopped to confront SG-1.

"Who are you?" the leader of the group demanded.

The group was wearing some kind of uniform. Jack assumed they were the local militia or police.

"Travelers. We are not interfering. The guy went that way," Jack pointed to where the figure had disappeared.

The leader seemed to glare at them. Then eye them up and down. "You are armed," he stated.

"Yes, to defend ourselves," Daniel offered.

"No one is allowed to carry arms. You are all under arrest. Surrender now," the leader said as he leveled his gun at them. He was now smirking evilly. The rest of his group followed his lead.

"Not gonna happen," Jack said. Retuning the gesture with his own gun now leveled at the leader.

"We would just like to meet your leaders. Talk to them," Daniel tried to reason with the man.

"You are under arrest," the leader repeated. "Take them."

SG-1 moved before the men could fire. Jack's weapon fire took out the leader even as he moved behind a tree. "Rally point," Jack yelled.

With quick and efficient practice, SG-1 retreated to their rally point. At the base of the cliff, they met their first obstacle. The cliff face was open to enemy fire. The SG-1 members each found trees to cover the open cliff face.

"Daniel, go," Jack yelled.

Daniel was more than halfway up to the top before the men had even caught up to them. The suppressive fire from the rest of SG-1 kept them hiding until Daniel was at the top.

"Teal'c, go," Jack yelled.

Teal'c went next. He was quick and agile. Much faster than Daniel had been. Jack was counting on his speed and the use of his Staff Weapon once he reached the top.

"Carter, go," Jack yelled. As soon as he saw the Staff Weapon start up again. But as he moved to change position. He was hit with the enemy fire. He dropped in his place. The field was similar to a zat blast, but a different color. Sam had seen the hit as she hesitated before taking her run.

"Colonel is down. Looks like a zat. I can't reach him. I'm going for the trees. Cover me," Sam yelled.

The weapons fire from Daniel and Teal'c rained down on the enemy. The men ducked for cover. Sam ran deep into the trees. She immediately started to change to stealth tactics. She circled around the enemy and found a rocky outcropping. She climbed it and waited.

"SG-1-3&4 niner, this is SG-1-2 niner," Sam called on the radio.

"Sam?" Daniel replied.

"Hey, I'm safe. I got away. I'm going to follow the Colonel and see if I can get him out. I need you two to go back and tell the SGC what is going on," Sam relayed her orders.

"Sam, you're all alone," Daniel said concerned.

"Daniel, I've trained for this. I have to get the Colonel. He wouldn't leave us. I won't leave him," Sam replied.

"Alright… But were coming back for you," Daniel said.

"I wouldn't expect anything else, Daniel," Sam said with a smile.

"Bye, Sam," Daniel said.

"Out," Sam replied.

Sam sighed. She could hear the enemy men returning. She pulled her hat low over her bright colored hair and looked over the edge of the rock.

The men had returned to the area below the rock carrying Jack. They had taken his vest and his weapons. He was slung over one man's shoulder in a fireman carry. Another man carried another body in similar fashion. That one was obviously dead. They made it back to the point where they had originally met the men when they turned to follow their path back.

Sam crept down the rock and followed them through the trees. The group eventually came to a small clearing with a vehicle parked in it. The vehicle had the two men who had pursued the fugitive.

"What happened?" one of the men asked.

"The strangers got rowdy and this one killed Duff," the one of Sam's group replied.

"I thought there were four of them," the other man said.

"There were. They went up the wall. We were able to stun this one. The others got away," the one from Sam's group replied.

"Too bad. Four strangers would put us up on the quota. Well, we got eucoireach for the holding area at least," the other man said.

"Yeah, save us from making up crimes. I still can't believe that this one is a real eucoireach. A killer at that," the one from Sam's group said.

"At least he deserves the sentence," the other man said. "Not like our man."

By the time the odd conversation had ended, the Colonel and the body were loaded onto the vehicle and the men all piled into the vehicle. They closed all the doors and the vehicle slowly moved out. Sam briefly let her fascination with the technology overwhelm her as the vehicle hovered over the ground and slowly made it's way back towards the paved ground.

Once on paved roads, the travel was much faster and Sam could not keep up. She was too conspicuous anyway. She needed to disguise her uniform. Then she needed to find this Holding Area.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

Sam followed the vehicle as far as she could into the city. The outskirts of the city had fairly wide spaces between buildings. Plenty of undergrowth and other visual obstacles that helped Sam to hide in plain sight. But she was unable to keep up with the vehicle.

What Sam did notice is that the local populace seemed to avoid the vehicle as well. Sam took note that the vehicle had a strange red cross pattern on the vehicle roof. That same red cross pattern had been on the uniforms of the group that attacked SG-1.

The rest of the locals wore a variety of patterns and colors, but none came close to the uniforms. Her own uniform would stand out dramatically among the local population. She needed to find a local who would be willing to talk to her.

As the sun was starting to set, Sam singled out a home to approach. She timed her approach with the setting sun at her back. She hoped that would give her time to talk to the local.

Sam snuck up to the door and knocked. The door immediately opened as a woman stood inside. She briefly looked panicked up and down the street before grabbing Sam's arm and dragging her inside.

"Quickly. Before they see you," the woman said. The woman quickly locked the door behind Sam and then breathed in relief. "That was close."

Sam was confused. What was close? Who would see her? "Hello. I'm Major Samantha Carter. I need your help," Sam said introducing herself.

"I'm glad you came to me," the woman said. Then she shuddered, "You do NOT want to be outside after dark. The Weard like to come down here since Alistair was taken. I am Ealasaid, but I am often called Ehl."

"You can call me Sam," Sam said with a smile. "Ehl, I need clothes to hid my uniform. And if you have some way to disguise my pack. I would appreciate it."

"Your clothing is outlandish. You say it is a uniform?" Ehl asked.

"Yes. I'm not from here. In my military, I am a Major. This is our uniform," Sam explained. Then she took off her hat.

"My goodness. Your hair is so short… Oh my goodness, you are a woman…" Ehl exclaimed.

"Yes. I like it short and I am a woman," Sam said with a smile.

Ehl looked at her critically. "What part of the uniform are you willing to take off?" she asked.

In reply, Sam took off her pack and set it to one side. Then she took off her vest and laid it on top of her pack. She finally took off the BDU shirt top. She still had the t-shirt on and it was much warmer inside the home. Sam decided to remove her weapons belt and holsters.

"I would like to keep the rest. Better if I could still wear the weapons belt. I don't like to be with it," Sam said.

"Weapons? Like a stunner?" Ehl asked.

"I'm not sure what a stunner looks like. If it looks sort of like this," Sam said as she pulled out her M-9 pistol. "Or this," she said as she displayed the zat. "Then yes, weapons. I am in the military for a reason."

Ehl looked at her with a considering look. "It is good to know that women can defend themselves in other places," she said. "Alright, I think I have a dress that will work. It may even cover your belt."

Ehl took off towards the back of the home. Sam could hear her rattling things around in the back for a few minutes before returning with a huge basket and some folded cloth. She placed the basket down and shook out the cloth. It was a dress. A long and loosely flowing dress. The top of the dress would cover the t-shirt and go to her wrists and billow widely over her hands. The bottom of the dress billowed out at the waist. It created huge folds of cloth that would disguise her weapons belt. It did look like it would work.

"Let's try it on," Sam said. She put the weapons belt back on and wiggled it down across her hips. She reattached the gun and zat holsters. She then pulled the dress on over her head. It was loose. It was slightly too short for her boots. But not by much. "How do I look?" Sam asked.

"Not like an outlander," Ehl said with a smile.

"Then it will work. The basket?" Sam asked.

"For your pack. This is a large laundry basket. You can easily carry one through the middle of town and no one will give you a second look. You may want to wrap cloth around your head. Your hair is too short. It will stand out," Ehl said.

"Okay," Sam replied. She immediately began trying to fit her pack in the basket. When it initially failed, Sam decided to unpack her bag and repack it in the basket. That worked much better. She even had room for her P-90 and vest in the basket. The basket even had shoulder hooks to make carrying it easier.

"Thank you. This will help me blend in quite well. I had better leave now…" Sam started.

"You can't leave now… It is after dark," Ehl hurried to stop her.

"You said that before. Why can't I leave after dark?" Sam asked.

Ehl sighed, "Because only eucoireach or bean-sìthe go into Moray after darkness has fallen. Tuig?" Ehl said.

Sam was confused. This is where Daniel would work wonders. These people had obviously been exported from Earth sometime in the past. They evolved. Some of the words almost sounded like words she knew.

"What do those words mean? Bean-sìthe? Eucoireach? Tuig?" Sam asked.

"Bean-sìthe is a woman of the fey. She cries for attention," Ehl said patiently. "You really don't know these things? Where are you from Outlander?"

"Bean sí? Banshee? If you mean banshee, then I have heard of that. But it is not a woman, per say. It cries out like a woman in the night for the dead. It has been referred to as the Wailing Woman. Tuig? Twig? Dig? Do you mean, understand?" Sam asked still confused.

"According to our Slaugh-lùl, any man who is out after dark is guilty of breaking the law. Eucoireach. A few years ago, the clann rose up against the Slaugh-lùl for treating women like eucoireach. Women are not thrown into the thàill slubhail. Only the men. But any woman found after dark is often èignich. Her words are ignored by the Weard. The clann believe it is the Weard who violate the women. But the Weard just say she was Bean-sìthe. She is ignored," Ehl said with anger in her voice.

"I'm trying to understand. Weard are the guys wearing the uniforms, right?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Ehl replied.

"Thàill sounds like the word thrall in my language. Does it mean unpaid laborer? Slave?" Sam asked again.

"Yes. Your word is strange, but it does sound like mine," Ehl said.

"Slubhail sounds like subhill. Subterranean digging. To unearth something. Does that sound like the labor being done?" Sam asked.

"Yes, they unearth minerals in the ground used in our industrial processes," Ehl said.

"Okay. I think we are getting it. Clann sounds exactly like clan or people in my language. Based on the context you used it, Slaugh-lùl is your leadership body that makes your laws. Your government," Sam said.

"Exactly correct," Ehl agreed.

"Your government really said that any man out after dark is a criminal? And because they don't want to imprison women they ignore when a woman is sexually assaulted? And your police or Weard are the ones who are doing the assaulting, but because she is a banshee, she asked for it?" Sam asked for clarification.

"Yes," Ehl said.

"What the fuck?" Sam asked. "How are the people standing for this crap?"

"The clann? Many have brought their arguments to the Slaugh-lùl. Those same men disappear or are arrested by the Weard," Ehl said. "My dear Alistair was one of them. The clann are afraid."

Sam sighed, "In my own country, the people were afraid until they were too pissed to be afraid. Then they revolted against their government. Violent and bloody. But my country is now free of that other country. You look nearly pissed enough to stop being afraid."

"Thank you," Ehl replied. "What of you? Why are you in Moray?"

Sam grimaced, "My team goes to new places to meet new people. The four of us are small enough not to threaten, but large enough to defend ourselves. When we approached your city, Moray, I think we ran into the Weard. They were chasing a man through the forest. We didn't interfere. Most of the Weard stopped to talk to us. Two continued chasing the man.

"We introduced ourselves and asked to see your leadership. The Weard team leader saw our weapons and tried to arrest us for having them. We refused. The Weard team leader died before the rest of his team moved. We retreated to a fallback point. Two of our team made it to the top of the choke point. I was about to attempt it when our team leader was shot… I think it was one of your stunners. I couldn't climb to safety.

"I sent the other two back to radio our situation. Then I followed the Weard back to their vehicle. I overhear them say they are taking him to the holding area. They also said he deserved his sentence, not like the other man. Do you know what they are talking about?" Sam asked.

"There is only one sentence in Moray. Tràill Slubhail. The Holding Area is where they take all the eucoireach they have arrested before they transport them to Tràill Slubhail," Ehl said. "They truly said the other man was undeserving of the label eucoireach?"

"Yes, they had to meet a quota. The man and my teammate were supposed to go towards that quota," Sam replied.

"To get to the Holding Area, you will need your rest. I will provide a map. Most homes will let you in at sunset to avoid the Weard. Come and rest. You can leave at first light," Ehl said firmly. Ehl then directed her to a small room with a bed and a door.

Sam moved her gear into the room and ate a MRE before trying to sleep. She knew that she was as safe as she could get. She couldn't keep watch all night by herself. But she could put her basket in front of the door and her gun under her pillow.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG