"I am not letting you do this Sam", her father fumed. "It will destroy your career. No, worse than that, it'll put you in prison!"

"I don't care", she snapped back. "There is no way in hell I'm leaving the Colonel in the hands of those bastards. He wouldn't leave any of us and I'm going to help get him out."

"Sam, Ta'man and I can do it, without you being involved."

"No you can't. No disrespect Dad, Ta'man, but I know the type of security they'll use, plus you need another person. Who's going to stay with the Tel'tak and retrieve you when you find the Colonel? Look, it's a secret military site and you need all the help you can get. Besides that, I brought my own equipment, which you wouldn't even know how to use."

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "How in hell did you get so obstinate?"

Sam grinned. "Uh – I hate to tell you, but it's pretty much a genetic trait."

"Yeah, I guess so. Your mother could be obstinate."

She hit him on the shoulder, but then gave him a hug. "Dad, I thought about this long and hard before I stowed away. This isn't just an impulse. I have to help rescue him. He's too – important to me, to us. Please say you understand?"

"No, I don't, but I do know when it's useless to argue. You realize that neither of you will be able to go back to Earth until and unless they agree not to prosecute you?"

"Yeah, I know", she said quietly. "That's why I'm doing this on my own. Do you think the Tok'ra will have us?"

Jacob sighed and rubbed his hands through his head. "I don't know. The High Council may decide they need Earth as an ally too much to piss off Hayes. Sel'mak can talk to them and try and convince them, but I don't know how successful she'll be."

Sam nodded. She'd known the risks when she'd decided to do this, but, as she told her father, she'd had no choice. She was not about to leave O'Neill in the hands of the NID.

"So, since you're here, you might as well make yourself useful Sam. We'll be there in about fifteen hours and we still don't have an exact location or a plan. Go check out that equipment of yours and figure out how we're going to save O'Neill."

"Yes Sir", she grinned and then walked over to where her things were stored. She collected what she needed and then walked to one of the Tel'taks panels, opened it and began to work.

"I hope you know what you're doing?" Jacob called over. "I'd hate to break down in the middle of space. It's a long way to any inhabitable planet."

Sam's tongue was peeking out of her mouth as she contemplated the inside of the panel. "Don't worry", she murmured as she began to pull out two of the crystals. Her father just shook his head and for once she was glad the Colonel wasn't here. He'd be harassing her about what she was doing and how long it was taking. Her father knew enough to just leave her alone.

After a few minutes she got everything hooked up and looked down in satisfaction. "Okay! Now you're gonna tell me where they have the Colonel stashed."

"What did you do Sam?" the former Air Force general frowned at her. He had a sudden memory of a small Sam standing in front of him, holding an oddly shaped appliance, telling him she'd 'fixed' the toaster and now it would work better. They'd had to buy another toaster the next day as that one never worked again – and practically burnt the house down.

"Uh Sam?"

"Mmm?"

"Remember the toaster!"

It took her a few seconds but then she began to frown and finally turned to her father. "The toaster?"

"Mmm hmm. You were seven and you decided to 'improve' it. The first time we tried it it blew up and fried our electrical panel. So – I just hope you've learned something since then."

Sam rolled her eyes at her father. "Yes Dad, I have learned a few things and no, I'm not going to blow up the ship. I've just connected to the NID database and intranet system. I'm checking out all correspondence and files to and from Colonel Hubbard, to see if there's anything about their location."

"You can do that?" Jacob asked, impressed.

"Yes – with the addition of some specialized technology." She grinned. "Which I just happened to have brought along. And you know the ironic thing?"

"No, what?"

"This was technology that the NID discovered during the Mayborne years. They were never able to figure out what it did so they sent it to me to look over." Her grin grew wider. "I figured it out."

"Good for you", her father laughed. "Hoist by their own petard! Now, go and find that correspondence. I want to get Jack out of their hands as soon as possible."

Sam grew serious and then nodded. "Me too Dad." For the next two hours she scanned all the emails, reports, letters, and briefs that were sent by or to Mark Hubbard. She honed in on the area that Hammond had mentioned and proceeded to look at potential sites. Most of them were meaningless, although a couple of them referred to their 'target'. She was pretty sure they were talking about O'Neill.

It was just over three hours into her search when she found it. She was so bleary eyed by then that she almost missed it and had to reread before she realized what it said.

The email was from a General Emory Caine – she'd never heard of him, although that didn't matter– and it authorized Colonel Hubbard to find and apprehend Colonel Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill and to hold him at Butrick's Farm to determine what knowledge, power or information he had received from the Ancient site. The email went on to say that Hubbard had permission to keep O'Neill there until satisfied that he had fully cooperated or was of no further use or danger to the United States or to Earth.

"Crap!" she growled.

"What's that Sam?" her father swung his head, looking at her in concern. "Weren't you able to find anything?"

"Oh yeah, I found out where he's being held – at least the name of the place – but that's not why I was angry. They were planning on keeping the Colonel indefinitely!"

"I figured as much", Jacob nodded. "They couldn't let him go – either he would be a threat, or he'd go after them. And they probably know enough about him to let that scare them."

"I hope he does get the bastards!" Sam said sharply, "unless we get a couple of them ourselves."

"Now don't think that way Sam", her father admonished. "We want to try and do this without anyone even knowing we were there. Killing the ones responsible might just give us away."

She gave a snort of laughter but nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I can dream can't I? And anyway, they'll know we were there as soon as they find out the Colonel is gone."

"Yes, but they won't know who was there or how we got him out. It'll drive them crazy!"

She laughed at that. "Not quite as good as zatting the hell out of them but close – very close."

Sam spent the next hour researching Butrick's Farm. At first she couldn't find anything, but just an hour before they reached Earth she discovered it. It was an old map of the area and right in the middle of it, in bold letters it said 'Butrick's Homestead'.

"There!" she pointed to the map on the screen. "That's where the Colonel is."

"You're sure?"

"Yes – well, at least pretty sure. Once we're closer I can tell more clearly. If it is a government facility, there will be EM readings and other things that you wouldn't find if it were a normal farm. There has to be security and probably high tech communications technology there."

"We should be close enough to get some readings in just a couple of minutes. Ta'man will stay with the ship and pull us out when we're ready to leave."

Once they were sure they had found the right spot, Jacob and Sam quickly went over their plans again. It was going to be a risky job, but they'd had tougher ones.

"Okay kiddo, you got everything? Then let's go."

The next moment they appeared in a small clearing half a mile from the farmhouse.

"You're sure about the entrance?" Jacob said softly.

"Yes. It looks like it may have been put in as a kind of 'back door' to the facility," Sam answered. "There don't appear to be any guards, but they might have electronic surveillance. We'll have to be careful."

"As opposed to jumping up and down and shouting 'Eureka, we found it!" Jacob asked.

Sam rolled her eyes and grimaced at her father. "I hope Sel'mak thinks you're funny", she said sarcastically.

"Because you don't?" he grinned. "I'd think you'd be used to humor, having worked so many years with O'Neill."

"Yes", she sighed, "I am – although that doesn't mean I think it's good humor. Now come on – let's get the Colonel."

The hatch, which opened to a passageway to the farmhouse was completely covered over by what looked like years of growth. At first Sam wondered if it had been placed there as camouflage, but after having to actually dig some of the plant life up, she admitted that it must have grown naturally, over time. She wondered if someone had screwed up and allowed the back door to be overlooked. "Looks like they don't use this entrance," she whispered.

"Or they've forgotten that it even exists!"

"That would be nice", she nodded. "But we should assume that they do know and that it's booby trapped somehow."

He agreed, although for once he'd love something simple and straightforward. Somehow, however, he didn't think that was going to be the case.

In the end they made it through without coming across any human being or – at least as far as they could tell – any security devices or technology. The fact that the passage was musty and damp and showed only evidence of small animals and insects, Jacob thought that for once they may have simply lucked out.

"Thank God for Goa'uld technology", he whispered at one point. His daughter turned and glared at him. "Well, you can't say you haven't found it useful", he reminded her, indicating the device she held.

"Yes, but it's also because of their technology that they've practically taken over the entire galaxy."

"Well, not really their technology. They just scavenge and steal it."

"Mmm hmm – and then adapt it in really nifty enslaving and murderous ways."

"Okay fine", Jacob sighed dramatically, "I take it back. Are we there yet?"

Sam lifted her arm, indicating silence. There was a curve ahead in the passageway, and things felt a little different. Jacob thought it might be because he now felt a light draft around his legs. Whatever it was, Sam was taking no chance. She advanced slowly until she reached the turn and then knelt down until she was crouching. She then carefully held out a small mirror around the curve to see what was there.

Jacob held his breath. It was during times like these that the father side of him roared to the fore. He wanted to grab Sam and pull her back out of harm's way. He wanted to send her back to her lab, where she'd be safe. He wanted to take back the dream to have her follow in his footsteps.

"It looks okay", she whispered, waving him forward.

He sighed in relief. He was so damned proud of her!

"There's a grate up ahead," she pointed. "It appears to have been welded shut."

"Can you get it open?" her father asked.

She turned to him with a grin. "Oh yeah."

Yup – damned proud!

Jack woke up, slowly. He felt completely disoriented and he couldn't figure out where he was or why he didn't seem to be able to move.

He lay still for a long time – at least he thought it was a long time. He really had no perception of time – or space for that matter. He knew he was somewhere, and that he hurt like hell. Other than that things were a little – foggy.

"Hello?" At least that's what he tried to say. It came out more as a breathy gasp. He attempted to swallow and it was then that he realized he was parched. He desperately needed a drink.

He again tried to speak, but all he managed was a soft moan. When no one responded, he decided he was alone. He didn't feel too worried by that fact and instead felt rather floaty and calm - although he was vaguely curious about where he was and about what had happened to him.

He slowly turned his head and blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear them. Eventually he could see, although things were rather fuzzy. His eyes sluggishly scoped out the area around him, or at least the area he could see without having to move his head again.

Okay – he was in a room. He felt a sense of satisfaction that he'd figured that out. He was in a room. Now that he knew that, he needed to rest a few minutes. He could figure out the rest later.

When next he opened his eyes he was pretty sure he must have rested for longer than he'd planned. In fact, he'd probably fell asleep. That didn't worry him because as far as he could tell things hadn't changed. He again perused the room – and again wondered vaguely where he was. He was definitely somewhere and he was pretty sure he couldn't move. That was about all he knew.

He slept some more, but the next time he woke up there was a person standing beside wherever he was. He stared at the – man, yes, it was a man – and thought he should know him, but if so the knowledge flew just outside his grasp.

The man opened his mouth and said something, but Jack was too tired to try and decipher his words. Instead he let his eyelids drift shut. It was only when the standing man grabbed his head that he opened his eyes again. He blinked slowly, still unsure as to what was happening.

The man shouted something at him and he tried to listen, but it was difficult. He was so tired. He opened his mouth to tell the man that, but the words didn't want to come. He sighed and his eyes drifted closed again. He just needed to sleep.

"Damn it!" Hubbard was worried. They'd done a number of tests on O'Neill, using some of the technology they'd discovered from various enemies, both from Earth and from other places in the Galaxy. So far he'd gotten nothing; nothing that was but an almost dead Colonel.

He'd had to stop the experiments after O'Neill had gone into cardiac arrest during one of their sessions. Since that time the Colonel had been unconscious or sleeping. On the few occasions he's been awake, he had been listless and incoherent. The doctor had assured him it probably wasn't anything permanent, but had recommended that they leave the Colonel for a while, to give him a chance to recuperate.

He didn't have much time though. As he looked down at the pale and ill-looking man he was filled again with anger. Why couldn't O'Neill just cooperate? It would make all their lives easier. He had to report back to his superiors that he'd made progress, otherwise they were going to bring in someone else. This was his chance, his shot to prove himself and get a promotion. He couldn't fail or he'd be sent to some facility in the middle of nowhere.

"You will answer my questions Colonel", he hissed to the sleeping man. "Even if I have to pry them out of your brain myself!" He stood watching him for another few minutes and then turned and left. There had to be something that would get O'Neill talking. He was going to have another discussion with those idiot scientists.

Sam finished unscrewing the last bolt and, with her father's help, slowly moved the grate to the side. "Okay, I'll go first", she whispered. "I'll give you the go-ahead when it's safe."

Jacob nodded, again worried but knowing it would be a waste of time – and ultimately more dangerous – to argue. He waited while Sam hoisted her up and out of the space left by the grate.

What felt like a long time later, but could only have been a few seconds, she leaned back in. "Okay, it's all clear."

Jacob nodded and a moment later had pulled himself up so that he was standing by his daughter. "Any ideas?" he asked softly.

Sam was looking around, trying to orient herself based on other facilities she'd been in. She didn't have any kind of blueprint for this one, so it was pretty much going to be an educated guess.

She nodded with her head to the left and, after a moment Jacob agreed. She prayed they found the Colonel before anyone found them.

They'd looked in half a dozen rooms, all of which had been deserted. They had almost reached the end of the corridor when they both heard a sound coming from the hallway, which branched off the one they were in. They both stopped when they heard footsteps approach.

With a quick gesture Sam indicated they should go into the last room they had checked. Jacob opened the door and they managed to get inside and close the door – softly – before the footsteps turned the corner.

They waited for almost five minutes before deciding it was safe to open the door. A quick look down the corridor indicated it was again empty. The two-Carter rescue team headed out, again searching for the Colonel.

Sam peeked around the corner into the next hallway. Thankfully it was empty, although the lights were brighter here. This must be where something was happening, she figured. She stepped forward carefully, hoping there was no one else around.

She opened two more doors and they were empty – of people, at least. The last room she had looked in had appeared to be an operating theater. There were all sorts of medical implements as well as bins of dirty linens and bandages. Someone had been treated – she refused to even think torture – in this room.

She reached the next room, her father checking carefully behind them. She put her hand out to open the door when a feeling washed over her, making her stop.

"What is it?" her father whispered, noticing her frozen appearance.

"He's here", she finally managed to gasp. Without another look at her father she turned the handle and opened the door. "Damn it!" She hurried over to the man on the gurney. "Colonel? Can you hear me?"

Damn it was right, thought Jacob as he got a look at the other man. Although there was no obvious sign of trauma, other than the shaved head and what looked like wounds in his scalp, it was obvious that O'Neill wasn't doing well. He was bone white and completely still. Besides that he looked as if he'd lost a tremendous amount of weight, his bones sticking out sharply.

"Is he alive?" he asked Sam. He couldn't tell from the doorway whether or not the Colonel was breathing.

"Yes", she nodded. "But his breathing is pretty shallow. Colonel? Can you hear me Sir?" she asked again.

This time there was some response as O'Neill moved his head restlessly. After a moment his eyes slowly began to open, although they focused on the ceiling rather than on her.

"Sir?"

That made O'Neill blink and after what seemed like a long time, his eyes turned towards Sam. He blinked a couple of times more and then his eyes began to droop.

"Sir! Do you understand me?" She reached out and grabbed his head between her two hands and forced him to turn towards her. "Colonel?"

He did nothing but blink again and she began to really worry. "Oh God Dad, I don't know what they've done to him."

"We can't worry about that right now Sam", Jacob told her bluntly. "It may just be that he's drugged. If we're going to get out of here we're going to have to leave now."

She nodded, knowing that her Dad was right. "Sir, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us", she told the Colonel, who was still staring at her. "I don't know if you understand me or not, but I'm going to take these straps off of you and then I'm afraid you're going to have to stand up and walk. Can you do that Colonel?"

He continued to gaze at her, but he didn't respond.

"Okay, here we go", she said when it became obvious she wasn't going to get anything from him. "She finished unbuckling the straps that were keeping him immobile and once that was done she spoke to him again. "Sir, you're going to have to help me, okay? I'm going to put my arm behind your back and get you standing. You can do that, right? Just relax."

It took a few seconds – longer than Jacob wanted it to – but in the end they had the Colonel standing, even if he looked like a walking corpse. He was shaking terribly and Sam had to keep her arm wrapped around him to keep him from falling to the ground.

"We gotta go Sam", Jacob hissed. He was pretty sure that someone would be back soon to check on the Colonel.

"I know", she hissed back. "Let's go Colonel", she said to the man at her side. When he didn't move she looked at her father in despair. "I can't carry him but he won't move."

At that Jacob approached Jack and put on his best General's face. "Colonel O'Neill! You will get your act together soldier, and you will walk. Do you understand me?"

For the first time Jack seemed to respond. He gave a small nod and then placed one foot forward. He almost fell, but Sam continued to hold him and soon they were making progress – slow and ungainly progress – but they were moving.

She could feel the tremors that continuously ran through the Colonel, and was terrified by his vacant looking eyes. He was moving however – at least there was a chance to get him away.

They walked as quickly as they could back down the corridor, trying to help the Colonel move without falling. As it was he stumbled and lurched from side to side, held steady only by Sam's arm around his waist.

Jacob watched carefully for the enemy, wanting to help Sam but knowing it was more important he watched their backs. He cursed at what had been done to O'Neill, even if he didn't as yet know the details.

The man had clearly been abused, if his gaunt appearance and almost catatonic state were anything to go by. He just prayed that there wasn't permanent damage, although the sight of the wounds in his scalp indicated it was a strong possibility. He also knew that if Jack had the choice, he'd prefer to die than to suffer brain damage.

By the time they made it back to the grate both Sam and her father were sweating; Sam because of the energy it had taken to support the Colonel – her dad because of the fear that they were going to get caught any minute.

"Here we are", Jacob finally hissed. Taking a quick look around to make sure they were still alone, they bent and moved the grate out of the way. After that Jacob climbed down into the passageway. "Hand O'Neill to me", he instructed his daughter.

She immediately obliged and helped the Colonel climb through the grate to the passage below. Immediately he was in she looked around, checking to see that no one had found the site. When it appeared clear she climbed in the grate and dropped lightly to the floor. Without saying anything more she pulled the grate back in place and proceeded to screw it in.

They started walking again, back through the dark and dank tunnel. It took them almost an hour to get out of the maze and back into the light. It was only as they found themselves back outside that they both breathed a sigh of relief. Jacob flipped open his communication device.

"Ta'man, bring us back. There are three of us." The next moment saw them being deposited on the Tel'tak's floor. "Let's get out of here before Earth starts to look for us.

Soon they were underway, and both Jacob and Sam turned their attention to the unconscious man on the floor. Sam knelt down and reached out her hand to touch his hair.

"Oh Sir – what have you gotten yourself in to now?"