Jack walked down the sidewalk in the park, his wire picking up everything that was and would be said. A man sat on a bench nearby, a newspaper covering his face, and Jack sat next to him.

"Mind checking the weather for me?" he asked, looking at a couple of kids playing ball.

"Sorry, this is a paper my sister sent me from Phoenix."

"Arizona?"

"Yep."

'Well, I heard lately that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk out there."

"Yeah, well apparently it's hot enough that more than one person has gotten his goose cooked from the heat alone."

"Huh…must be a scorcher."

"The critters are crawling everywhere because of the heat. In fact, my sister was stung by a scorpion a couple of years ago. Doctors say she should have died. They keep running test, but…nothing so far."

"Routine blood work or are they working with chemicals?"

"As far as I know, it's routine blood work, but…they could be working with some medications."

"Any side effects? I mean, I've heard horror stories about hallucinations caused by experimental drugs."

"Well, she didn't mention any when I spoke with her, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any."

Jack stood, checking his sunglasses against the sun. "Well, thanks for the chat, but…I gotta go back to work. Tell your sister that I hope those doctors either find what they're looking for soon or give up."

"Thanks. I'm sure she'd be glad to hear that she's got a supporter." Suddenly, Barrett stood and faced him. "Aren't you retired?"

"Yeah, but…I'm freelancing."

"Well, be careful. I've heard that freelancing is murder in some circles."

--

Jack walked up to the surveillance van and got in. "Code?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel, the NID agents I know thrive on all of that cloak-and-dagger melodrama." Jack said, sitting down. Teal'c had already situated himself in the driver's seat. "Hey, T, head back to the Mountain, if you please. I'll get Hammond on the phone and we'll go from there."

Teal'c nodded and Jack saw it in the rear view mirror. He grabbed the phone and dialed the familiar number to General Hammond's red phone.

"Hammond."

"General, we've located Carter. She's in Phoenix."

"Her condition?"

"Apparently, she's being experimented on by some rogue scientists. And it all has to do with Jolinar."

"Guard?"

"Yes, and a pretty heavy one at that. Could be casualties on either side, but Barrett seemed to think Carter was in big trouble."

"How big?"

"Apparently the scientists aren't afraid of taking drastic measures."

"Like Adrian Conrad?"

"Apparently worse. Conrad's people were going to kill Carter in a manner that was as humane as possible…"

Both men scoffed at the idea. "But these scientists are possibly giving her some chemicals and seeing how it reacts with the naquadah already in her blood. Sir, they're torturing her. And not because she's withholding information from them, but because she was chosen to be the host of a Tok'ra symbiote."

"Colonel, you have to get her out of there. Drastic measures or not, she's a valuable member of Stargate personnel, and I want her back. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Jack, nobody should have to go through…"

"I know, sir."

There was a pause as the General chewed on the intel for a moment. "Phoenix is a big place."

"Barrett slipped the number to one of his NID contacts into my jacket pocket."

"Well, bring Major Carter home. I expect to find all four members of SG-1 reporting for debrief at the end of the week."

"Yes, sir."

"Hammond out."

"Teal'c, change of plans…we're going to Phoenix."