I'd like to thank Barbarossa Rotbart, Piper-Jacko06-Butterflygirl and Mia66 for their kind words. As Jack O'Neill might say, "Thanks, kids!" Hope everybody enjoys the new chapter.

Stargate: SVU

Chapter Six

"Naughty," Neith said, with just the slightest hint of a smile. "Very naughty…."

Olivia and Sam knelt helplessly on the floor before the Goa'uld, with each woman having had her hands tightly bound behind her back. Several armed Jaffa stood guard all around them. Neith sauntered back and forth in front of the prisoners--with her flowing hair, bare feet, and simple white dress giving her the odd appearance of a vacationing aristocrat who had just returned from a stroll on the beach.

"Although I am most displeased with your behavior, I must say that I can not help but admire your nerve," Neith sincerely told Olivia and Sam. "You both are truly very brave warriors, and are a credit to your people."

The three Jaffa whom Sam and Olivia had previously overpowered stood off to the side. They were all unarmed, sans their helmets, with their heads hung in shame.

"If I am angry with anyone, it's you," Neith said to the disgraced trio of Jaffa, regarding them with an infuriated expression. "You three allowed yourselves to be overpowered by these Tauri women--and as a result, they ran rampant on my ship. What have you to say for yourselves?"

One of the discredited Jaffa took a step forward and humbly said, "Forgive me, my Lord Empress."

Olivia watched as Neith held up her right hand, which was covered by a weird looking glove that had golden tips on the fingers, with wires that ran down to a red, ruby-like centerpiece in the palm. The centerpiece, which Neith aimed at the Jaffa who spoke, glowed brilliantly as a beam of light shot out of it and struck the man.

The force of the blast that emitted from Neith's palm slammed the Jaffa against the wall. Olivia was horrified to see that his head had instantly been crushed in, and his eyes had been burnt to cinders within their sockets.

"I forgive you," Neith gently said to his corpse. She glanced at the remaining two Jaffa, who stared back at her in wide-eyed terror. "As for you, take a good look at your comrade. If you should ever make a mistake like this again, I promise that your punishment shall be far worse than his. Resume your duties."

Both men gratefully bowed before her with their hands crossed in front of them. "Yes, my Lord Empress Neith," they both said in unison, before they practically ran out of the throne room.

Neith turned her attention back to the captured Olivia and Sam--yet before she could say anything, Mo'at quickly strode into the throne room. He stopped short and bowed. "Pardon the intrusion, my Lord Empress…."

"Have you carried out my orders?" Neith asked him.

Mo'at nodded. "Yes, my Lord Empress. The shield generators and staff cannons have been arranged around the stargate, as you ordered."

"And what of our commandos on earth?" Neith inquired. "Have they been given the order to move?"

Sam and Olivia exchanged an alarmed look when they heard this.

"They have, my Lord Empress," Mo'at confirmed. "And they are moving into position as we speak. However…."

When he hesitated, Neith glared at him with annoyance. "You are disturbing my pleasure, Mo'at. Either speak your mind, or leave!"

Mo'at humbly bowed. "Forgive me, my Lord Empress. But O'Neill, Jackson and the shol'va, Teal'c, have all escaped. They've overpowered a guard and have blasted their way out of the prison level."

Now Olivia and Sam traded furtive, hopeful smiles at each other.

For a spilt second, Olivia thought Neith was going to blast Mo'at with her weird glove--which was something she would have liked to have seen happen to the big lug. But Neith instead stared thoughtfully at the floor.

"It would appear that SG-1's reputation as being a formidable opponent is well-deserved," she admitted, with a narrow-eyed glance at Sam. "Even captured, they are as unruly as a bag of writhing vipers."

"Rest assured, my Lord Empress, that I shall lead the hunt for them personally," Mo'at said.

"No, I will," she corrected him. "After I have taken care of some matters here. Assemble the hunting party, and wait for me in the great hall, Mo'at."

Mo'at bowed, then briskly left the room.

Neith made a lifting gesture with her hand, and the Jaffa raised the tied women to their feet. The Jaffa held Olivia and Sam in place as Neith came over and examined each woman closely, as if they were no more than common cattle for sale at market.

After making a face, Neith waved her hand derisively at Sam. "This one has been contaminated by the Tok'ra," she said. "Take her to Nacre. Tell the Royal Physician that he can examine her in detail if he so chooses. He can even feel free to vivisect her, if he wishes."

As the Jaffa dragged Sam away, Olivia called, "No matter what, I'm still holding you to that lunch date, Sam! So you'd better not disappoint me!"

Despite her dire situation, Sam let out a feeble laugh as she stared longingly at Olivia over her shoulder. "I didn't think you would let me off the hook this easily, Liv!"

'Oh God, I have a lot of nerve,' Olivia thought with dread, as Neith came in close to stare at her. 'Here I am trying to give hope to Sam, when my own circumstances aren't much better than hers….'

"I have no need for a new body just yet," Neith said, as she reached under Olivia's chin and gently raised her head. "Yet I find that it is always best to be prepared."

"Well, aren't you just the little frigging girl scout," Olivia derisively muttered, as she shook her head free from Neith's grasp.

Neith made a gesture to the Jaffa who held Olivia in their grip. "Take her away and prepare her properly, for I wish to see what my new body looks like."

Olivia's eyes grew large with alarm as the Jaffa roughly dragged her out of the throne room. "Prepare me?! Wait! What the hell does that mean?!"

SG-1: SVU

The Alkesh hung low in orbit over earth, undetected by the Tauri radar and other sensors, thanks to the cloaking shield that hid it from view. It had patiently maintained this position for several days, now, waiting for the order to come from Her Lord Empress Neith.

When the message finally did arrive, from no less than First Prime Mo'at himself, the well-trained Alkesh crew flung into action. Originally designed as a mid-range bomber, this particular Alkesh had been modified especially for this mission. When the commander gave the signal, massive twin doors on the bottom of the ship spread open, and a smaller teltac ship, a cargo vessel, dropped out from the Alkesh.

The teltac ship was remote-piloted from the bridge of the Alkesh to fly into the atmosphere below them, straight into NORAD airspace.

As he watched the tactical screens, the Alkesh commander smiled when he saw twin fighters--a pair of F-22 Raptors--were scrambled from the ground to challenge the teltac in mid-air.

The Jaffa who remote-piloted the teltac glanced at his commander, waiting for the order.

The commander nodded at him, giving the signal.

The Jaffa pressed a button on his control panel, and several hundred miles below them, one of the engines on the teltac ship deliberately blew up, disabling the vessel and causing it to spiral to the ground. It crashed in a deserted field in Colorado, just a few miles away from Stargate Command--right where Her Lord Empress Neith had wanted.

The Jaffa aboard the Alkesh watched their tactical screens with pleasure as the F-22s circled the crash site, calling in the location back to their base.

"Her Lord Empress Neith's will has been carried out," the Alkesh commander said, as he gestured to the Jaffa who stood at the helm. "Take us out of orbit, sub-light engines only. And maintain the cloak."

'And so it has begun,' the commander smugly thought, as he sat back in his chair. 'The battle to end all battles, the war to reclaim the galaxy for the Netian Empire, has finally been unleashed. And it shall be glorious!'

SG-1: SVU

'This sucks,' Olivia thought dismally.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor with frustration. After having been put through the humiliating experience of being completely stripped and then washed as though she were an animal, Olivia was forced to put on the scant outfit she now wore: a pair of plain green pants with a skimpy top that exposed her midriff.

She was alone in the small circular room; no guards had been posted to watch over her because there was no way she could escape. The doors blended into the walls when they closed, and there were no way--at least none that Olivia could see--of opening them. She had even tried standing in front of where the door was, thinking it might open like a supermarket door did when the sensor detected a presence in front of it. But that idea didn't work, either.

Olivia hated this; she hated feeling helpless and vulnerable. Olivia had spent the better part of her life battling people who took advantage of others; she'd helped many victims to become empowered by fighting back anyway and anyhow they could. And here she had been reduced to being nothing more than an object to be played with by this crazed Neith bitch.

'Yeah, well, we'll see about that,' Olivia firmly thought. 'I might wind up getting myself killed, but I'd rather die fighting back than be--'

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door slid open, revealing a woman, a slave from the looks of her, who entered the room with a bowl of food and a cup of water on a tray. Clad in a similarly scant outfit like what Olivia now wore, she was escorted by two burly Jaffa guards, who both warily watched Olivia with their zats at the ready.

'They're not taking any chances this time,' Olivia realized, as she glared back at the Jaffa.

The woman placed the tray on the floor before Olivia and said, "Eat. Her Lord Empress Neith desires for you to keep up your strength."

"Yeah?" Olivia angrily said. "Well, you can tell Her Lord Empress Neith that she can go--"

Olivia abruptly stopped when the woman glanced up at her. There was something oddly very familiar about her face. She was a beautiful woman in her thirties, maybe forties, with long black hair and a tattoo of Neith's symbol--two arrows crossed over a shield--on her forehead.

Then Olivia realized what it was: the woman looked just like a more mature version of Luanda. Other than being older, she was a spitting image of the kid.

The slave got to her feet and turned to walk out of the room, until Olivia said, "Excuse me? Do you know a girl named Luanda?"

The slave stopped dead in her tracks and spun around to face Olivia with an astonished look on her face.

"You're Luanda's mother, aren't you?" Olivia said with a smile. "You look just like her. Your daughter's here, aboard this ship. She misses you dearly."

The slave took a step towards Olivia, until one of the Jaffa roughly grabbed her arm and gestured to the door. Still staring back at Olivia, the slave reluctantly turned and left the room with them. The door slid shut.

'Whoa,' Olivia thought, herself stunned by this encounter. It may not come to anything, yet Olivia hoped she had just planted a seed that might sprout into an opportunity in which she could use to help herself later.

Olivia stood up and strode over to the food and water. She had been thinking about throwing it in the face of whomever came through the door next--probably Neith. Olivia smiled at the thought of Neith covered in food and water. It might be the last thing Olivia ever did before Neith used that weird glove on her, but it would be so worth it.

Olivia was startled when the door abruptly slid open again. Luanda's mother re-entered, this time by herself. The door remained open.

"That was quick," Olivia muttered. "Did you understand what I--hey!"

The woman shoved Olivia up against the wall and pressed a blade to her throat. "Tell me where my daughter is," she demanded, "or I swear, I shall tear your eyes out!"

Despite the fact that she had a knife to her neck, Olivia broke into a broad smile. "Oh, yeah," she said with a laugh, "you're Luanda's mom, all right!"

Still smiling, Olivia abruptly brought her knee up and smashed it into the woman's abdomen, and her assailant fell backwards, dropping the knife. Olivia, advancing towards her, picked up the knife and straddled the woman, who now lay flat on her back on the floor.

Now Olivia pressed the blade up to the neck of Luanda's mother and said, "You want to know where your daughter is? Fine. Tell me where I can find somebody called Nacre, the Royal Physician, first."

The woman stared at Olivia as if she were crazy. "Why would you wish to see him? Next to the Lord Empress, he is the devil incarnate!"

"Nacre has a friend of mine being held captive in his lab," Olivia said. "She's a woman, about my age--"

"The golden-haired woman?"

Olivia nodded. "Right. The golden-haired woman. Her name is Sam. You've seen her?"

She nodded. "I was just there. Nacre was just about to experiment on her."

"Look, what's your name?"

"Liandra," she replied.

Olivia eased off with the knife. "Tell me where Sam is, Liandra, and once we free her, we'll both help you find Luanda. Deal?"

Liandra frowned up in puzzlement at her. "Deal?"

"Um, in other words, do you understand me?" Olivia said, as she helped the woman to her feet. "Do you agree to help me?"

"Go to the end of this corridor, this way," Liandra told her, pointing out the direction. "Keep going until you come to the end of the corridor, then turn left. The Royal Physician's lab is at the very end. Now please tell me where Luanda is."

"Neith said something about putting her in the slave quarters, but--"

"I know where that is," Liandra said with a nod. "I wish you luck in finding Sam. Keep the knife. I can get another."

"Wait," Olivia called. Yet Liandra was already out the door and long gone down the corridor before Olivia could call her again. Standing in the doorway, Olivia stared after Liandra, who went in the opposite direction in which Nacre had Sam.

"Damn it," Olivia muttered. "Looks like I'm a one-woman rescue party."

Gripping the knife firmly in her hand, Olivia ran down the corridor, hugging the wall as closely as she could. When she reached the end, just like Liandra had said, Olivia worked up the nerve to peer around the corner. What she saw sent shivers up her spine.

The corridor led to some sort of lab, all right. Olivia could see it through the open doorway. Yet there was a cadre of Jaffa posted outside the lab, all fully armed with staff weapons.

Olivia slinked back behind the corner. 'Oh Christ!' she thought. 'What am I gonna do?!'

When she caught a glance at the scant outfit that she now wore, Olivia abruptly got an idea. She didn't know if it was going to work, and it might very well be suicidal, but what did she have to lose at this point?

She ran back to her cell. There were props left there that may come in handy if Olivia was going to pull off this crazy idea.

SG-1: SVU

"Damn it," General Hammond muttered, as he gazed at the bodies on the operating tables.

Janet Fraiser glanced up at the general with surprise, for there had been regret in the tone of his voice when he said that. Then Janet gazed once more at the bodies of the two Jaffa warriors and suddenly she realized what he had meant.

The bodies had been taken from the teltac ship, which crashed--thanks to a faulty engine--not far from here. One of the dead Jaffa bore the symbol of Ba'al on his forehead, while the other had the mark of Lord Yu. Ba'al and Yu were two Goa'uld system lords who were normally mortal enemies, so the fact that two of their men were flying together over earth in a ship was not a good sign.

'Nope, this isn't good at all,' Janet thought grimly. 'It's looking more and more like the system lords have decided to finally work together--against us.'

The downed teltac ship was also discovered to have been carrying several dozen stasis chambers, such as the kind used to safely house a person in suspended animation. The chambers were all empty, but the basic theory was that the ship had accidentally crashed before its crew could abduct anymore people from earth.

That was why Janet understood the general's frustration, because the way things looked now, he had no choice but to make a call to the Asgard. And that call could very well ignite a full-scale interstellar war.

But there was something about all of this that still bothered Janet. 'What would the Goa'uld have to gain by abducting people from earth in the first place?' she wondered. 'Especially when they have their pick of humans all across the galaxy--humans who weren't protected by the Asgard--why would they even risk coming to earth?'

"Well, I guess I'd better let you get to work on the autopsy, doctor," Hammond solemnly said. "I've got a call to make."

"To the Asgard, sir?" Janet asked.

Hammond just nodded grimly. "I've been holding off on making it, hoping that this situation wouldn't turn out to be the nightmare that I'd been dreading." He gestured at the bodies. "But we've now got proof that at least Ba'al and Lord Yu are working together to abduct humans from earth. That's a clear violation of the treaty right there. Excuse me, doctor."

Janet nodded. Regardless of how dire the situation was, she had her own work to do. She informed Nurse Hightower to get the surgical bay ready for an autopsy on the Jaffa and then headed to the medical locker room to change into her surgical garb.

Once properly dressed for the autopsy, Janet made a stop at her office to check on Cassie. The girl, who was seated on a sofa, looked up at her with apprehension.

"Did you hear from Sam?" Cassie desperately asked. "Is she ok?"

Janet held up her hands. "No, I haven't heard from Sam. But Sergeant Siler's team is almost done with the repairs on the stargate. Once it's working, we'll see if we can reestablish contact with them."

When she noticed that Cassie had been doodling in her notebook, Janet asked, "Did you finish your homework already?"

There was a brief flash of guilt on the girl's face. "Um, no, mom. But given what's happening, how can I be expected to do it? I mean, we're in the middle of a major crisis right now, and for all we know, school may be canceled for the foreseeable--"

"Oh, yeah…right! Nice try," Janet said, grinning, as she dumped Cassie's school bag into her lap. "Get to work. Now! I have an autopsy to do, and when I get back, I expect you to at least be half done."

As she walked out of her office, Janet stopped short when she thought she heard Cassie mutter something under her breath about Janet being a slave driver.

Janet spun around. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing, mom!" Cassie said in a sing-song tone, as she quickly opened her school text books.

Janet just shook her head, letting out a frustrated moan, as she left her office and entered the lab. She was surprised to find a visitor in the glass observation booth: Major Davis. He waved at her and she returned the gesture. As she began the autopsy, Janet became impressed with the Pentagon liaison; if the sight of a body lying with its torso exposed bothered Davis, he didn't show it.

The autopsy went as smoothly as most did--until Janet noticed something very strange. "Wait a minute, this isn't right," Janet muttered. She glanced at Nurse Hightower and asked, "When were they brought in?"

"Barely an hour ago," Hightower replied.

"And their ship was shot down how long ago?" Janet asked.

When Hightower shrugged her shoulders, Janet heard a clicking sound. She glanced up to see Davis had switched on the microphone. "The teltac ship crashed precisely one hour and forty three minutes ago, Doctor," he informed her. "Is there a problem?"

"There is now," Janet answered, as she walked over to the phone on the wall. She pulled off her gloves and dropped them into the garbage, then she picked up the phone and called for Hammond. "Tell him it's urgent," she added. "I'll hold."

When Hammond came on the line, he asked, "What's wrong, doctor?"

"The autopsy turned up something interesting, General," Janet said. "Something you should know. I understand the teltac ship crashed less than two hours ago?"

"Yes, it did."

"Well, according to the rate of decomposition on the bodies, these Jaffa have both been for several hours, at least," Janet told him. "The Jaffa aboard that ship were dead long before it crashed, sir."

SG-1: SVU

"This is quite a historic opportunity for me," the Royal Physician Nacre cheerfully said. "I have heard of the Tok'ra, but this is the first time I shall be able to examine one of your kind up close."

Sam desperately fought against the restraints that held her down to the table once more, but it was to no avail. She lay helplessly prone before the old man, who gleefully prepared the tools he would use to slice her open.

'Should have went fishing with you, Jack,' Sam thought, as she stared sadly up at the ceiling. 'Even if we had just gone fishing, and done nothing else, at least I would have spent some time with you, alone.'

She also thought fondly of Daniel and Teal'c, whom Sam considered to be her surrogate brothers, and hoped that they were all right--along with Olivia. 'Poor Olivia,' Sam mused. 'If the guys manage to stay free, I hope they can help her, as well as the others who're still in those stasis tubes. Not to mention Luanda and her people.'

When Cassie's face appeared in her mind's eye, Sam began to feel a true sense of panic. 'Our regular chess game is coming up this Saturday,' she realized. 'Oh God, I can't die! There are so many people who need me, who depend on me--Cassie and Janet most of all! And there's still so much I have left to do, so much work, so much research….'

When Sam realized that she couldn't give up, not by a long shot, she was filled with renewed vigor. 'Jack, Teal'c and Daniel are free,' she assured herself. 'So I simply have to stay alive for as long as possible until they can rescue me. God knows it's a very slim hope, but it's better than nothing. And I'm taking it.'

Sam glanced over at Nacre, at least as much as the straps which restrained her head and neck would allow, and said, "You realize that I'm technically no longer a Tok'ra, right? My host voluntarily left me."

However, Nacre merely stared at Sam as if she were nothing more than a lab rat. He raised a laser saw with one hand and brushed her blond hair back from her forehead. He was about to slice her head open right then and there. And there was nothing she could do or say to stall him.

'Oh God,' Sam thought, bracing herself for the end. She thought of all of her loved ones--her father; Mark and the kids; Jack, Daniel and Teal'c; Janet and Cassie--and sent them all her love one last time. 'And, Liv, I really wish I had a chance to have gotten to know you a lot better!'

As Nacre held the laser saw over her head, Sam tightly closed her eyes and at least prayed that the end wouldn't be too painful.

"What is this?!" Nacre abruptly said, sounding annoyed. The laser saw was silenced. "I already ate earlier!"

Sam opened her eyes and saw a slave woman had entered the lab. Her back was turned towards Sam as she placed a tray containing a bowl of food and a mug of water on the table beside the Royal Physician. Despite the man's continued protest, the woman calmly removed the bowl and mug from the tray.

'Strange,' Sam thought, as she noticed the slave girl's dark brown hair, 'it's the exact same color and style as Liv's.'

"Did you hear me, you stupid woman?!" Nacre shouted, as the slave girl picked up the tray in her hands. "I told you I have already eaten!"

The slave girl turned around just then--and Sam was stunned to see that it was in fact Olivia who stood there.

"You already ate, huh?" Olivia calmly said, nodding. "Fine. Then maybe it's time for you to take a nap."

With that Olivia bashed Nacre across the face with the tray. Nacre dropped the laser saw as he wobbled on his feet, completely staggered from the blow. "You-you can't do this," he said weakly, "for I am the Royal--"

"You're a royal pain in the ass, that's what you are," Olivia muttered, as she slammed the tray across his face once more. The second blow sent Nacre straight to the floor, where he collapsed in a heap.

"Liv?!" Sam asked with disbelief.

"Are you all right?" Olivia asked with concern, as she began untying Sam from the table. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"No, he never touched me," Sam replied, as she got up from the table, feeling greatly relieved. She laughed as she gave Olivia a tight hug. "Thanks!"

"Yeah, well, we're not out of the woods, yet," Olivia told her. "There's a large group of Jaffa outside, and we're stuck in here with no weapons. I mean, I doubt I can whack all of those guys over the head with this tray."

Yet Sam was still taken aback at the sight of Olivia in the scant outfit. She almost looked like a dark-haired version of Barbra Eden from I Dream Of Genie. "But Liv, how did you…what the hell happened?!"

A broad smile spread across Olivia's feline features as she leaned in close and said, "It's a long story, Sam. I'll tell you later."

"Oh, you were just waiting to say that to me, weren't you?" Sam replied, with a wry shake of her head. "C'mon, let's see if we can find another way out of here past the guards."

SG-1: SVU

"You know, all Goa'uld ships should have a map on every level," O'Neill whispered--as he, Teal'c and Daniel paused when they came to another junction in the corridor. "Sort of like how they have it at the mall? With a little 'you are here' arrow pointing out your position? Wouldn't something like that be very helpful right about now?"

Daniel gave him an exasperated look. "Well, Jack, when we see Neith again, I'll be sure to bring it up to her."

O'Neill stared at him, annoyed. "What the hell makes you think we'll be seeing her again?"

"With the way our luck's been running so far, what makes you think we won't?" Daniel shot back.

Teal'c had wandered ahead of them and warily peered into a entranceway that was off to the side. He turned and gestured for O'Neill and Daniel to come closer.

When they did, O'Neill asked, "What you find, T?"

"It appears to be the slave quarters," Teal'c replied. "Did not Neith give the command for Luanda to be taken here?"

When O'Neill peered around the corner, he saw a vast room, looking about the size of a convention hall, that was filled with smaller, stable-sized rooms. The rooms had no doors on them, and from the looks of the poor wretches who languished within, it was clear they were slaves.

"Good move, Teal'c," O'Neill said. "We can use the stables as cover while we look for her. Let's go."

They rapidly entered the slave quarters in a crouch, using the row of stables as cover. The stench was almost unbearable, and several of the slaves, who were chained to the walls, appeared to be dead, or left for dead. Many of the dead lay staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, as if unable to grasp the harsh fate that life had dealt them. Just when O'Neill thought he couldn't hate Neith any more than he already did, the very sight of this place only intensified his hatred for her high and mighty Lord Empress.

O'Neill had a grim thought; a vision of Sam and Olivia both suffering in a stable like these poor souls were--until he pushed it out of his mind. 'Stay focused, Jack,' he told himself. 'Sam can hang tough with the best of them. We'll find her, and Liv. One crisis at a time….'

After they had been searching for a while without luck, Daniel said, "Jack, this place is huge! How are we going to find Luanda if--"

"I have sworn a blood oath against all of you!" a girl's angry voice could suddenly be heard above the din of the slave quarters. "Do your worst to me, for it will only feed my hatred of you! For this I swear: I shall hunt each of you down and pluck your eyeballs out if it takes me the rest of my life!"

O'Neill just gazed knowingly at Daniel.

Then they both nodded and said, in unison: "We found Luanda…."

Teal'c risked a glance above the stable walls in the direction where they heard Luanda's voice. "O'Neill," he whispered. "This way."

O'Neill and Daniel followed Teal'c down an isle between two rows of stables. O'Neill saw Luanda on an elevated platform, with one ankle shackled to a post in the center. Yet she still defiantly stood her ground before a trio of angry Jaffa.

'You gotta love this kid,' O'Neill thought with a slight smile, as he continued running towards the platform with Teal'c and Daniel. When he saw one of the Jaffa raise what looked like a whip at Luanda, he shouted, "Uh, excuse me, boys?!"

The Jaffa, startled, all turned to stare incredulously at O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c as they ran up to the edge of the platform.

"The little lady's with us," O'Neill cheerfully told the Jaffa, just before he shot two of them down with the zat.

Teal'c took out the third Jaffa by knocking his feet out from under him with the staff weapon. Then, once he hit the floor, Teal'c bashed him in the face with the butt end of his weapon.

"O'NEILL!" Luanda screamed joyfully.

"How you doing, kid?" O'Neill asked, as he got up onto the platform. He got the keys from one of the unconscious Jaffa and freed Luanda's ankle. "You ok? Did they hurt you?"

"No, they--" Luanda stopped short when she saw something right behind O'Neill.

Expecting it to be more Jaffa, O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c quickly swung around, ready for a fight. Yet they were all surprised by what they did encounter.

A woman, clad in slave garb, stood there, staring intently at them. She held a knife in her hand, at the ready to attack. But O'Neill realized that she stared right at Luanda with a mixture of awe and wonder.

"Mommy?" Luanda asked in a small voice.

"Luanda," the woman said, as she dropped the knife and got down on one knee, her arms held out.

As she left the platform, Luanda nearly ran O'Neill over in her zeal to embrace her mother.

"Whoa!" Daniel said, touched, as he watched this elated reunion between mother and daughter.

"What happened, Luanda?" her mother asked. "Where is your father?"

"The Jaffa attacked our hideaway. I-I know not where daddy is," Luanda said sadly. She brightened when she pointed at O'Neill and the others. "But these are our new friends! That's Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c. I don't know where Sam and Olivia are now, but--"

"Wait!" her mother said. "Sam? Is she a woman with golden hair?"

"Yes she is," O'Neill said, taking a step forward. "Have you seen her?"

The woman nodded. "She's a captive of Nacre, the Royal Physican. The other woman--the dark haired one--was going to rescue her."

"Olivia Benson," Teal'c said.

The woman nodded. "Yes. She told me where Luanda was, after I told her where Sam, the golden haired woman, was being held."

"I'd really like to know where this Nacre guy hangs out, too," O'Neill said, as he and Teal'c descended the platform. "You think you could show us?"

"Yes, of course," the woman readily replied. "Were it not for this Olivia Benson, I never would have found my beloved Luanda. But be warned: Nacre's lab is heavily guarded by armed Jaffa."

"We can be a pretty mean bunch, as well," O'Neill told her. Behind him, Teal'c handed Daniel a zat that he took from one of the downed Jaffa. "What's your name?"

"Liandra."

O'Neill gestured. "Show us the way, Liandra."

As they began running--with Liandra leading the way--O'Neill gazed out over the row upon row of stalls, each filled with a miserable soul who suffered needlessly, and it only fueled the rage that built within him. "After we get Sam and Olivia, we're coming back for these folks," he said firmly. "And then we're going after Neith."

"How are we gonna pull that off?" Daniel asked.

"I'm still working on that, Daniel," O'Neill said, his resolve still firm. "But somehow, someway, we're taking this Lord Empress Bitch down!"

To Be Contiued...