Chapter Twenty-four

"At this rate you are going to end up killing me."

"You'll die happy."

"True, true." Jack chuckled.

Jack settled down next to Sam and they spent a few minutes just enjoying the soothing afterglow effect. It was late at night, but neither one of them had been able to sleep. Sam guessed that they'd have more luck getting to sleep now. However as the minutes ticked by Sam noticed that Jack still seemed a little tense.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Oh they're not worth that much." Jack teased.

"Seriously, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you are the smartest, most beautiful woman I have ever known, as well as the greatest lover this side of the Milkyway."

"But..."

"But...I'm still worried about you becoming pregnant."

"I thought you wanted a family."

"Not this far from home."

"We're going to get back."

"You said that two months ago, we're no closer to getting help from Tai to get to Ketch than we were back then."

"We're learning more of the language every da..."

"Samantha, this isn't a language barrier." Jack interrupted. "Tai and Ser'in know exactly what we want, they just aren't willing to help."

"Give them a little more time."

Jack made a huff of frustration and suddenly disappeared under the sheets. Sam smiled as he started kissing her stomach. He paused and placed his palm against the skin just under her belly button. When he tapped on her stomach she lifted up the sheet to see what he was up to.

"Knock, knock." Jack spoke directly to her belly. "Anyone home in there?"

"If there is they haven't let me know about it."

"Probably afraid you'll charge them rent." Jack teased.

Sam grabbed her pillow and shoved it down under the covers and into Jack's face. His muffled laughter was followed by Sam giggling as he tickled her. He crawled out from under the covers and sat up next to Sam. Jack gave her a kiss and brushed her cheek.

"Thirsty?" Jack asked.

"I'd have a drink if one was offered."

"Stay right here."

Jack rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of cotton slacks. As he made his way down the short hall that led from their bedroom to the main living area Jack could smell a campfire. He furrowed his brow, he knew that Tai had a fireplace, but it had to be two or three hours past midnight.

Coming to the living room of the open home Jack froze. There was indeed a fire in the fireplace, but that wasn't what caught Jack's eye first. Tai was laying on his back on the large woven rug with Ser'in on top of him. It was instantly apparent what they were doing. Jack knew he should just back away, but like a child walking on their parents he was somehow fascinated and confused at the same time.

Tai bit down softly on Ser'in's shoulder and caught sight of Jack. Tai took one of his hands off Ser'in's bare lower back and waved Jack away. Jack smiled brightly and nodded as he backed away. He retreated to the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. Sam gave him a quizzical look.

"No luck on the drink mission?"

"Er...no...Ser'in and Tai are...well... They can't sleep either."

"Oh." Sam smiled. "Tai is very sweet to her, I'm not surprised the relationship is going well."

"I'm not so sure Ser'in is a 'she'." Jack said vacantly. "I...uh...I don't know...not really sure what I was looking at."

"Well, I say 'she' just cause it's easier."

"What?"

"You do know that Tai and Ser'in's race is hermaphroditic, right?"

"Hermaprphro what now?"

"Do you ever listen to me when I tell you things?"

"Sometimes."

"I found an anatomy book on Tai's shelf, I told you about it. Their race is both male and female at the same time."

"That could be fun." Jack smiled. "It certainly explains what I saw."

Sam shook her head and laced her arms around Jack's waist to pull him back into bed. Together they curled up and slept peacefully. The next morning when they got up Tai and Ser'in were no where to be seen. Until now Tai had been sleeping on the couch, but now it seemed that he got to sleep in his own bed again. Jack and Sam decided that they knew enough about the local food to make breakfast. Just as they were putting breakfast on the table Tai and Ser'in came down stars.

"Tret na'tack , Tai, Ser'in." Sam greeted.

"Good mour'ning, Saman'tha, Ja'ck." Tai returned. "Made food?"

"Dak. Yes."

"Tanks you." Ser'in smiled.

"Bienvenido." Jack replied.

"Jack, that's Spanish."

"Damn. Whatever, let's eat."

The group sat down and enjoyed the meal together. There was only a single item that Sam and Jack had cooked that was really meant to be eaten raw. Ser'in and Tai chuckled as they poked at the mutilated fruit and Jack nearly choked when he tried it. Other than that everything was good.

Tai and Ser'in cleared the table and washed up the few dishes that had been used. Sam was just about to ask Jack if he wanted to go for a walk when Ser'in and Tai both brought their heads up sharply. Sam quickly heard the sounds of an approaching vehicle.

"Hide!" Tai cried.

Jack was already one step ahead of Tai and had Sam by the wrist. Sam followed Jack back into the bedroom and the ducked into the closet. Jack was on full alert as they tried to stay as still as possible. It was the first time anyone had come to the home and Tai hadn't looked like he'd been expecting the visit. A few minutes went by before they heard someone stepping into the bedroom. Jack instantly tensed to ready himself for a fight.

"Saman'tha, Ja'ck, is safe." Tai said cheerfully.

Sam went to leave the closet, but Jack pulled her back. He opened the door slightly and checked out the situation. Tai was standing in the door frame and when he spotted Jack he smiled and beckoned him. Jack stepped out and Sam followed him.

"Saman'tha, I have...er....tralack...um...." Tai stumbled over his English unsure of how to say what he wanted.

"Just show me, Tai."

Tai nodded and lead them back into the living room and then upstairs to the study. In the study was a large box on the floor with markings on it. Tai seemed very proud of the box. He pulled out a knife and cut the top open. Sam stepped closer and looked inside and smiled.

"Gala, Tai, gala!" Sam reached over the box and gave Tai a hug.

"What is this stuff?" Jack asked.

"I asked Tai for some of the basic parts I'd need to make the metal detector for the Naquadah. I was starting to think that I wasn't making myself understood."

"Ah, science stuff. I guess the visitor was the delivery guy. Think you can make the detector?"

"I don't know." Sam said as she started to paw through the stuff. "There's also a nice book in here on the jungles around Ketch."

"I'll take that, you worry about detector."

"Sounds good."

Sam handed Jack the large coffee table picture book. Hauling some metal wires and other gizmos on to the floor she sat down and started to sort through them. She looked just like it was Christmas. Jack smiled, it had been a while since he'd seen the glint she got in her eyes when she had new alien toys to tinker with.

"I'm going to leave you to it."

"Huh?" Sam replied distracted. "Oh, yeah, right."

"You haven't changed, Carter." Jack beamed.

"Why would I have?"

"Good point."

Tai watched Sam in fascination as she started to lay out the items. He clearly had no idea what she wanted the stuff for. Jack put his arm over the dragon's shoulders. Tai looked at him and smiled.

"Come on, she works better when no one is watching."

Nodding Tai followed Jack back down stairs. They wandered out onto the back porch and sat down on the steps. Ser'in was off tending to the animals, something she was good at. Out of sight from the main building Tai had a small stable where animals that weren't quite ready to be in the wild around Tai's estate stayed. Ser'in was right at home helping the animals rehabilitate.

Jack opened up the glossy book that Sam had given to him out of the box. He leafed through the stunning pictures. Instead of focusing on the pyramids this book had shots of the ancient jungle that surrounded them. As he looked over the pictures with mild interest Tai touched his shoulder.

"Ja'ck...you are never happy here?"

"Yes and no. Dak est Kak."

"Under'staand." Tai sighed. "Never home."

"No, it isn't."

"Soorry."

"I am happy to be free."

"Saman'tha want home?"

"Yes. Dak."

Tai bowed his head for a moment. He reached over and took the book away from Jack. He started to flip the pages until he came to about the middle of the book. Placing the book back in Jack's lap he pointed at a gruesome photo of a rotting dragon at the base of a large tree. Jack's breath hissed across his teeth as he gasped at the sight.

"Deeath."

"I don't understand, what happened?"

Instead of trying to answer Tai kept flipping the pages. The pictures had dramatically changed. They showed places where the jungle had been hacked down and burned. Tai made a whimpering sound as he turned the page to reveal a dragon that had been hung from a tree upside down with what looked like a gun shot wound through his stomach. It wasn't until the pictures turned to those of military that Jack finally saw what was happening.

"Ketch is a war zone."

"War is deeath?" Tai asked.

"Dak, 'war' et 'death'."

"Yess, Ketch is war. Dangerous, blood."

Jack continued through the book trying to gage the scope of the war. It reminded him of the bloodshed in the Congo. There were sharp differences between the two sides, one was dressed in a uniform with new looking weapons, the other side fought with whatever they had. There were also shots of the natives of Ketch, starving, beaten, many missing limbs. Jack's stomach turned as he thought about the consequences of this news.

The last page in the book was of a massive banyan tree that had to be a nearly two hundred feet tall and at least seventy-five feet across. The tree had been blasted by some devastating weapon that had blown out a large portion of the tree's base, making a hole almost all the way through it. The twisting roots that formed the base of the tree had an odd symmetry about them and although most of the base was missing the tree didn't look like it was about to fall.

Flipping to the first page of the book Jack saw that there was a picture of the same tree before the war. The more closely he looked at the massive tree the colder his blood grew. The trunk of the tree had a definite rounded shape to it. It was much wider in one direction than the other, instead of having a cylindrical base like most trees. Jack returned to the last page and brought the book close to his face to inspect the edges of blasted area.

"No way..."

"Ja'ck?"

Without explaining himself to Tai Jack jumped to his feet. He rushed upstairs to where Sam was still working hard in the study. She looked up at him and smiled, but the look on her face quickly turned to concern.

"Jack? What's happening?"

"I found it."

"The Stargate?"

"Yes."

"Whe...where?"

"It's trapped inside a giant tree."

"A tree?"

Jack knelt down next to Sam and opened up to the last picture. He circled the place he wanted her to look with his finger. Sam inspected the photo for a moment and gasped sharply. Just showing in the blasted area of the butchered tree was the bottom portion of a Chevron. The odd shape of the tree and the reason it didn't fall down was because it had the Stargate as a skeleton. Over thousands of years the tree had grown around the unused Gate.

"Why was the tree destroyed like this?"

"Because Ketch is at war."