I'd like to thank James Axelrad, phantomliberty, mia66, Jean DuVent, SVU Chicky, piecesofyourheart and Piper-Jacko06-Butterflygirl for their encouraging words. Thanks very much!

Please excuse the re-posting of this chapter; I had to fix a really annoying typo...

Stargate: SVU

Chapter Eleven

Neith had stormed onto the peltac and ordered an immediate liftoff. Her peltac commander had gently tried to argue that there were still troops on the ground, mainly those that guarded the stargate. Yet his objections quickly died out when Neith aimed her ribbon device at him. She did not shoot him--she did not need to, for he instantly followed her command and gave the order for the vast mothership to take off.

'Finally,' Neith thought with satisfaction, as she felt the monstrous engines of her ship roar to life beneath her. 'We are leaving this pitiful little ball of dust…but not without sending them a little parting gift.'

"Be ready to launch all naquadah missiles on my command," she ordered.

The peltac commander bowed. "Yes, my Lord Empress."

SG-1: SVU

"Gene," O'Neill said as he keyed his radio. "Come in, Gene. Over."

"Jack?" the Marine commander's startled voice replied. "Where the hell are you? Over."

"Still aboard the mothership, and we're taking off--if you haven't noticed," O'Neill responded. "Evac everybody down into the base, right now! Over."

"What about you? Over."

"Neith's about to decimate the surface of the planet with naquadah missiles, and we're going to try and stop her. Over."

"You sure you don't need a hand, Jack? Over."

"Just getting Doctor Fraiser and the rest of the Kelori to a safe place in the base would be a huge help, Gene. I gotta go. Over and out."

There was a pause. Then Drumlin said, "Best of luck to you, Jack. Over and out."

O'Neill glanced at the group of people who surrounded him: Olivia, Casey, Teal'c, Daniel and Satterfield. They all nervously stared back at him--with the exception of Teal'c, whom O'Neill didn't think had a nervous bone in his entire body.

Carter and Hailey were busy looking through the control panel they had opened on the far wall. Carter was hopeful that she could somehow use this control panel to sabotage the missile launch right from under Neith's nose.

"Ok, so the ship's taking off, and we can assume that once it gets to within a certain distance, that's when Neith--being the royal bitch she is--shoots the naquadah missiles," O'Neill said. "What's the best way to stop her? Ideas, anybody?"

"We storm the peltac," Teal'c simply suggested.

"That's assuming we can get up there in time," Daniel said skeptically.

Satterfield nodded in agreement. "There's gonna be a lot of Jaffa between us and the peltac, sir."

Everybody ceased talking when Carter abruptly stepped back from the panel and shouted in frustration: "Oh….jeez!"

"You know, I'm no scientist," Olivia said, "but I get the feeling things aren't going well there…."

"When Carter gets stymied, we're all in trouble," O'Neill muttered darkly.

SG-1: SVU

"Let's go, everybody on the ring platform!" Colonel Drumlin shouted. "That means you, as well, Dr. Frasier! Move it, Major!"

Janet cursed under her breath as she went to join the very last group of Marines on the ring platform. It was bad enough for her to have to abandon the poor, dying souls in the slave stalls--but they were also leaving without Sam and the others.

Standing next to Drumlin on the platform, Janet asked, "What about SG-1, sir?"

"They're trying to stop Neith from annihilating the surface of the planet with naquadah missiles," Drumlin told her.

'Oh, dear God,' Janet thought miserably.

Drumlin must have seen her look of anxiety, because he said, "Don't fret, Doctor. They're SG-1, after all. If anybody can pull it off, and survive, they can."

"I have the utmost confidence in them, as always," Janet said. "But I can't help but wonder how often they can keep pushing their luck like this. I worry about them, Colonel."

"I look at it this way: they'll get the job done," Drumlin gently said. "I'd rather think positive. Because, if SG-1 fails in stopping Neith, then none of us are going home."

That extremely dire thought was on Janet's mind as she and the Marines ringed down to the complex.

SG-1: SVU

Olivia joined O'Neill as he went over to the power panel to see what was the problem. Sam spoke urgently to Hailey, and the younger woman nodded and ran into the other room.

"Just sent her to check the other ring transporter, sir," Sam told O'Neill. "The one that Neith used only goes one way: straight up to the very top of the ship."

Olivia's eyes grew wide at that news. "There's no way out of here?"

"That's what Hailey's trying to find out now," Sam said.

"Any way of sabotaging the missile launch from here?" O'Neill asked.

Sam shook her head in frustration. "We found the master control crystals for all the doors on the upper level of the ship, but that's it. Nothing from the peltac can be accessed from here."

"Neith probably designed it that way," O'Neill said grimly. "Wonderful…."

Hailey returned, looking downcast. "The other ring transporter has been shut down completely. I can't find the master controls for it in the other room. The doors to this area have been sealed from outside. We're locked in here."

"What's at the very top of the ship?" O'Neill asked. "Where did Neith ring to? The peltac?"

"No, sir," Sam said, gesturing at a schematic. "The very top of the ship is a lifeboat. Neith ringed up there."

"Could we ring down from the lifeboat?"

"Yes, sir--at least, that's what I would assume Neith did," Sam said. She gestured at a schematic. "The lifeboat's still there."

"Good. That's where we're headed," O'Neill said thoughtfully. "We'll drop you, Daniel, the Lieutenants, and Liv and Casey off there. You can fly the lifeboat, Carter."

Sam blinked in surprise at him. "Excuse me, sir, but where are you and Teal'c going?"

"We'll go back down and try and stop Neith," he told her.

Sam grew alarmed. "How will you get off the ship if we're in the lifeboat?"

"That's not your concern, Major."

"Yes, it is, sir!" Sam said, looking upset. "I'm not leaving you and Teal'c behind to die!"

"That's an order, Major!" O'Neill firmly told her. "We don't have time for this discussion. Now, you said the controls for all the doors are--"

But Sam resolutely shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "Jack, Teal'c, please, this is suicide…."

"Hey, hey," O'Neill said softly. "This is not up for debate, Sam. If we don't stop those missiles, an entire planet-filled with people will be slaughtered. And, for the record, we're not exactly planning on throwing our lives away here. If we can take over the ship, we will. But stopping the missiles is our main priority. Now, show us how to manipulate the controls for the doors. It'll be a big help if we can lock up as many Jaffa as we can."

For a spilt second, Sam simply did nothing but stare at O'Neill--and Olivia anxiously thought she was actually going to disobey his order.

Yet Sam suddenly began to nod. "The doors, sir," she said, breaking into a broad grin. "That's it! The doors!"

Sam turned around and briefly consulted the control panel. "Hailey, get over here, I'll need your help!"

"You got it," the young lieutenant replied, "what do you need?"

"Carter, wait!" O'Neill said, puzzled. "What are you doing?"

"When you mentioned locking up the Jaffa, that's what gave me the idea," Sam excitedly told him. "We have control over all the doors on the upper part of the mothership…including the missile doors. We can simply lock the missile silo doors shut, and when Neith launches her missiles--bam!"

"Bam?" O'Neill repeated, uncertain. "You sure?"

"Sounds a lot better than you and Teal'c risking your lives," Daniel commented.

"We don't have a lot of time, sir," Sam said, waving her hands. "If we're going to do this--"

O'Neill nodded. "Go for it, Carter."

"But won't the peltac crew have an alarm system that'll warn them if the doors don't open?" Hailey asked Sam.

"That's your job, Hailey," Sam told her. "Find that alarm and bypass it. I'll sabotage the doors. And please hurry; we haven't much time."

"No pressure, huh?" Hailey sarcastically muttered, as she quickly scanned the controls.

"Hey, you wanted the job," Sam wryly replied, as she found the control crystals for the missile doors. "There you are, you buggers…."

As Olivia watched Sam and Hailey work frantically on the controls, she was unaware that she was nervously wringing her hands until Casey came over and gently grabbed them. Both women stood there, holding each others' hands as they watched Sam and Hailey rearrange various pieces of what looked to Olivia like glowing slivers of glass. The ship continued to rumble and shake all around them, making Olivia wonder if time had already run out.

"Got it," Sam said, as she placed the last crystal back into its slot. "Now the doors won't open no matter what, sir."

"I'm done, as well," Hailey announced.

"You created a feedback loop to fool the sensors, right?" Sam asked.

Hailey nodded. "But only when the system gives the command to open the doors, then the feedback loop will be initiated on a continuous, rapidly deployed--"

"Excuse me, ladies?" O'Neill said, holding up a hand. "Could we save the techno babble shop talk for when we're aboard the lifeboat? Let's go!"

Sam activated the controls for Neith's personal ring transporter. "We're all set, sir! Everybody can get on the ring platform, now."

"Now we're both becoming pros at riding this thing," Olivia said to Casey, as they ran over to the ring platform.

They stood in the center of the tight circle of people as the transporter flashed, and the rings rose up from the floor and surrounded them.

"I think I'd still prefer to take the elevator," Casey muttered, just before they all vanished in a bright flash.

When they reappeared, Olivia saw they were in a smaller, more cramped space. The walls slanted inwards at the top, creating the feeling of being in a pyramid. At the very top of the room was a window, and Olivia was stunned to see nothing but blackness beyond.

"Are we in outer space?" Olivia asked, awed.

"Pretty much," O'Neill replied. "Looks like we got up here just in time. The ship's cleared the atmosphere."

There was a control panel located in the center of the room. Sam and Teal'c went to it and began manipulating the controls.

When Sam pressed a button, Olivia felt her stomach do a somersault inside of her. Casey appeared to have felt the same way, for she gripped her belly and said, "What just happened?"

"I've turned on the life support system--both air and gravity. It operates separately from the rest of the ship," Sam replied, as she and Teal'c started up the lifeboat's engines. "Everybody brace yourselves, here we go!"

SG-1: SVU

"We are clear of the planet's atmosphere, my Lord Empress," the peltac commander informed her.

A board smile spread across Neith's face. "Excellent. Let us exterminate the Kelori once and for all. Launch all missiles!"

The peltac commander pressed a button on his console. "The missiles are away, my Lord Empress."

SG-1: SVU

The four naquadah-enhanced missiles fired up instantly inside each of their silos once they received the signal to launch. The missiles each roared down their tubes--

--where they promptly slammed into the four massive doors, which remained closed over all the silos. All four missiles slamming into their doors would have been devastating enough, yet thanks to their special naquadah-enhanced warheads, the resulting explosions that roared through the mothership were apocalyptic in their fury.

SG-1: SVU

Aboard the peltac, they instantly knew something was wrong when the alarms sounded--followed by the death rattle of the ship itself as it began to fly apart around them.

Despite the fact that Neith was gripped with shock at this sudden dire turn in events, she remained calm and attended to the most important thing she could do right now: saving herself.

As the peltac erupted into flames around her, Neith strode over to the ring platform, which would transport her up to the lifeboat. She pressed the button onher gaunlet, which activated the ring transporter.

The peltac commander, fearful for his life, ran up to her. "My lord Empress, please take us with y--"

Neith shot him dead with her ribbon device just before the rings rose up around her. The way Neith saw it, the entire thing was probably his fault, anyway--and she was still being merciful by doing the idiot a favor by sparing him from being consumed by the destruction of the ship.

'I've sadly underestimated SG-1,' Neith thought, as the rings transported her away from the peltac, and upwards, to the lifeboat. 'That won't happen when next we meet. I shall hunt them down and kill them all like the dogs they are!'

Once she rematerialized within the rings, Neith was surprised to see blackness surrounded her. 'Where were the lights?' she wondered.

Then her eyes grew wide with shock when Neith realized she couldn't breathe. As her body drifted about helplessly in the weightlessness of the cold dark void, with the now-dead transport rings bumping lazily into her, Neith realized that the lifeboat was no longer attached to the ship--she had ringed directly into the empty blackness of space where it was once was.

Yet Neith didn't have much time to reflect on this bizarre turn of events, for her very own mothership was now in its death throes. The series of raging explosions that were set off by the naquadah missiles had now reached the engineering compartment, and the mothership--the pride of the Imperial Fleet of the Netian Empire--abruptly exploded like a sun going supernova.

And as she helplessly watched these cataclysmic events unfold right in front of her, for the first time in her centuries-long life, Neith felt an unfamiliar emotion: sheer terror.

Neith never had a chance to asphyxiate in the cold void of space, for the wall of fiery death that blasted out from the remnants of her ship had quickly consumed her.

And in that instant, Her Lord Empress Neith was no more.

SG-1: SVU

"Good God," Olivia muttered, as she and Casey stared at the main screen in the lifeboat. Everyone had been silent as they watched the death of Neith and the complete destruction of her mothership. "What an awful way to go…."

"Yeah," O'Neal quietly agreed. "But she deserved it."

Olivia couldn't help but nod her head. "Yeah, she did at that, didn't she?"

"Good riddance," Casey muttered.

"We're clear of the explosion, sir," Sam reported from the console.

O'Neill, who casually sat in a chair, held up his hands in a victory gesture. "We just took down another Goa'uld, folks! Carter, Hailey, great job!"

"It was really Major Carter's idea, sir," Hailey modestly said. "It was her overall plan that worked."

"My plan wouldn't have worked without your feedback loop, Jennifer," Sam told her.

"Great job to Carter, Hailey, and the feedback loop," O'Neill amended.

Olivia and Casey both burst into laughter as everybody in the ship broke into an impromptu cheering and applauding session. Although he refrained from doing any actual cheering, even Teal'c had a broad smile on his face. As she clapped, Satterfield began shouting, "The feedback loop, woo-hoo!"

Once the revelry died down, O'Neill asked, "Carter, can we head back to the planet in this thing?"

"We can head home in this thing, if we wanted to, sir," Sam reported. "It's got a hyper-drive. But, as per your orders, I'm heading back towards the base."

"Wait," O'Neill said, as he glanced at Olivia. "Liv, that vision you had of Mount Tanis, where Neith kept the Asgard Slayer, you mentioned that it was in the desert?"

When Olivia nodded, O'Neill glanced at Sam. "Take the scenic route around the planet, Carter. Let's see if we can't find Mount Tanis from up here."

"It's not here," Olivia firmly told him. "In my vision, I saw two suns in the sky: one was smaller and redder than the other. This place only has one sun, right?"

"That's right," Sam said. "From what you saw, it sounds like Mount Tanis is located in a binary star system, Liv."

"This ain't over, folks," Daniel muttered under his breath. "Not by a long shot..."

"We got the bad guy," O'Neill told him, irritated. "That's as good as hearing the fat lady singing, Daniel!"

"Yeah, we got the bad guy, Jack, but there's still a super weapon out there, somewhere, which can be used to kill the Asgard," Daniel countered. "We have to find it before it can be used."

"The overweight woman has yet to be heard singing," Teal'c commented.

"All right," O'Neill conceded. "We'll deal with this later. For now, Carter, get us back to the base."

SG-1: SVU

Tap, tap, tap….

Elliot glanced warily over at Munch, who sat in a chair beside him in the visitor's center conference room in Cheyenne Mountain. They had been silently waiting for somebody official to come in and speak with them for the last ten minutes, until Munch abruptly started tapping his pen on the arm of his chair. It was a constant, fast-paced tapping, which immediately set Elliot's nerves on edge the moment he heard it.

Taking about as much of this as he could, Elliot leaned over and said, "John, stop it."

"Stop what, Elliot?" Munch asked, trying his best to look innocent.

Elliot stared at the floor for a moment while he wearily rubbed his face. After spending a couple of hours in cramped airline seats, listening to Munch expound on one crazy conspiracy theory after another, Elliot supposed he should have gotten used to being with this wack-job by this time. But now, more than ever, it took everything Elliot had just to keep from strangling Munch.

'How the hell does Finn put up with him on a day to day basis?' Elliot wondered, and not for the first time since they both left New York City.

Tap, tap, tap, tap….

Elliot took a deep breath and calmly said, "John, so help me, if you don't stop tapping that pen, I will take it off you and shove it up your--"

Munch abruptly leaned forward and, in a whisper, said, "These government waiting rooms are always placed under surveillance, Elliot. By making as much noise as possible, I'm hoping to prevent whoever's listening from hearing what we say."

"If we are really under surveillance, then I want them to hear us, John," Elliot said. He stood up and made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "We're investigating the disappearance of Olivia Benson and Casey Novak, and I want them to know that. We're not the ones who have anything to hide, here."

A door opened just then, and an Air Force officer entered the room with a pleasant smile. "Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," he said, as he placed a briefcase on the desk in front of them. "I'm Major Paul Davis, United States Air Force."

"Detectives Elliot Stabler and John Munch," Elliot replied. "NYPD."

Davis took a seat at the desk. "How can I help you, Detectives?"

"We're investigating the disappearance of Detective Olivia Benson and Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak," Munch told him.

"I see," Davis said, frowning in puzzlement. "And the front desk told me that you think we had something to do with this?"

"Well, I don't know. Did you?" Elliot bluntly asked.

Davis stared at him in disbelief for a second. Then he smiled slightly. "You know, if the front desk didn't get a good look at both of your credentials, then I'd swear you were playing a practical joke here."

"If only the disappearances of our friends and colleagues was just a practical joke," Munch said, shaking his head. "But I'm afraid it's all too true, Major Davis. And we believe the US Air Force knows something about it."

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," Davis abruptly said, holding up his hands. "I did not mean to make light of your situation. May I ask what makes you think the Air Force knows anything about the disappearances of Ms. Benson and Ms. Novak?"

"It looks as if they're part of the Disappeared," Elliot told him. "They both vanished much like the others did, from locked homes in the middle of the night. We have it on good authority that you--the good folks in this mountain--are leading that investigation, and since our two investigations have basically dove-tailed, we're just wondering if you'd like to share what you've found out so far."

Davis stared at Elliot as if he were crazy. "You say we're leading the investigation into the Disappeared? May I ask who told you this?"

"No," Munch flatly told him.

"Sorry," Elliot replied with a slight smile. "But if we revealed our sources…well, then they wouldn't be our sources for very long, Mr. Davis."

"That's Major Davis," he corrected Elliot.

Elliot nodded. "Major Davis, right."

"Do you know what we do here, Mr. Stabler?" Davis asked, as he absently scratched his nose. "We study deep space telemetry--that's pretty much it. While I have no doubt that the US government is investigating these strange disappearances, you might have better luck consulting with the FBI in that regard."

'The bastard's lying right through his teeth,' Elliot realized. He'd learned to spot liars from years of detective work, and Davis just gave away his dishonesty so easily that Elliot might as well have been reading him like a book.

Elliot strode up to the desk, leaned over it so he and Davis were face to face, and said, "First off, that's Detective Stabler to you, Major Davis. And, secondly: I think I'm in the right place. I know you people have the answers. And I'm not leaving here until I get them."

Davis nodded solemnly as he rose from the desk and gathered his personal belongings. "Then I'm afraid you're going to have a very long wait, Detective Stabler. Because we don't have the answers you want. I don't know how much more help I can be to you at this time."
Davis abruptly left Elliot and Munch in the room.

"I think that went very well," Munch said sarcastically.

"Actually, it did go well, John," Elliot told him. He pointed in the direction where Davis walked out and added, "I just found out that that bastard's lying like a rug."

"About what?"

"Everything," Elliot replied. He saw a large mirror on the wall, and it reminded him of the two-way mirrors they had in the stationhouse interrogation rooms. Elliot knew--he just knew--that there was somebody on the other side of that glass right now, watching them.

He strode up to the mirror and, glaring at his own reflection, said, "This isn't over. Not by a long shot. You hear me? You either have Olivia Benson and Casey Novak, or you know what happened to them. And one way or another, I will find out what you know!"

SG-1: SVU

Sam landed the lifeboat a ways from the base, near the stargate. She was pleased to see there were no longer any Jaffa guarding it. In fact, once she opened the doors, Sam and the rest of the team received a heroes' welcome from the Kelori--who, it had turned out, all joyously watched the mothership explode in high orbit above them.

Major Lyman came up to them, smiling. "Colonel Drumlin sent me and a squad to check on the gate. But the Jaffa detachment who were left behind here all decided it would be a good idea to evacuate through the gate once they saw the mothership explode. Great job, Colonel O'Neill!"

"It was Carter and Hailey who actually took down the ship," O'Neill told him, as they shook hands. "They cooked up a scheme to keep the missile doors shut even when the missiles were fired."

Lyman shot Sam a broad grin. "Superb work, Major Carter."

Yet before Sam could respond, she was abruptly tackled around the waist in a tight hug. She glanced down and saw it was Luanda who presently hugged her tightly.

"Did you see it?" Luanda excitedly asked. "Did you see the ship of dragons be destroyed? Was it not wonderful?!"

"Yes, it was, Luanda," Sam said with a chuckle. She could only imagine the sheer joy the girl felt when she witnessed the destruction of Neith. The Kelori were now free of her.

'But for how long would they be free?' Sam solemnly wondered. The detachment of Jaffa that escaped through the stargate would no doubt tell the rest of the Netian Empire about what happened here. The SGC may have to consider moving the Kelori to another world.

'Still, there's no reason to rain on their parade for now,' Sam mused, as she watched Luanda, along with her mother and father, run over to give Olivia a hug. Olivia introduced the girl and her parents to Casey, and Luanda--still pumped with the thrill of victory--even gave Casey a hug, as well.

While Luanda ran over to celebrate with Daniel and Teal'c, Sam watched as Casey gave Olivia a look of disbelief--then she burst into laughter.

"What?" Olivia asked, smiling.

"I still can't get over the sight of you in that ridiculous outfit," Casey said, grinning.

"You should talk, Casey," Olivia jokingly said. "Standing there, in that jersey, with no shoes on, you look like you should be playing softball on the beach!"

"Believe me, I wish I was playing softball on the beach!" Casey retorted, as both women, laughing, fell into a hug.

Sam couldn't help but envy them--specifically, she couldn't help but envy Casey for being such good friends with Olivia. While Sam wasn't sorry to see Neith and the dire threat she posed gone, she will be sorry to see Olivia go back to her life in New York City. Sam will miss her.

'But there's no sense in pining over something that I have no control over,' Sam thought, as she morosely started walking away. 'Besides, there's still plenty of mop-up work to do here. There's several hundred people in stasis tubes who need--'

"Hey!" a voice said, cutting off Sam's line of thought.

Sam turned around to see Olivia standing there, smiling at her. "Where the hell are you going, Sam?" she asked, holding out her arms. "Get over here, now."

Sam broke into a broad grin as she and Olivia hugged each other tightly. The hug did wonders to ease Sam's mind--as did what Olivia said next.

"You're my buddy," Olivia told her, while they were still in their embrace. "And you always will be, no matter what happens. You hear me?"

"After what we've been through, I wouldn't have it any other way," Sam happily told her, once they broke their embrace.

O'Neill came up to them and said, "Carter, you want to do the honors of dialing home?"

Sam nodded, smiling. "With pleasure, sir."

SG-1: SVU

"This isn't over. Not by a long shot. You hear me?" the man on the TV screen angrily said. "You either have Olivia Benson and Casey Novak, or you know what happened to them. And one way or another, I will find out what you know!"

Major Davis froze the image right there with the remote. "They left shortly after that little speech," he reported.

General Hammond slowly shook his head as he gazed at the firm visage of Detective Elliot Stabler, captured by a video camera behind a two-way mirror. He pointed at Stabler and said, "Now that's one tenacious son of a bitch, Major."

"Yes, sir," Davis readily agreed. "I think he may well be a problem for us down the line."

Hammond nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps. But the ball's in his court now, so let's wait and see--"

The general was cut off when an alert blared throughout the base as Sergeant Harriman's voice said, "Incoming wormhole! General Hammond to the control room, please!"

Hammond and Davis quickly left the conference room and went downstairs to the control room. The stargate glowed around the edges, but it's central opening was still covered by the iris. A grinning Harriman glanced up at them from his position at the controls. "We've made radio contact, sir. And it's SG-1!"

"Thank God," Hammond said under his breath, as he stepped close to the microphone. "SG-1, this is Hammond, do you read?"

"Read you loud and clear, sir," the voice of Colonel O'Neill said. "Just wanted to check in and say that my kids and I are fine. And Neith is dead; her mothership was destroyed in high orbit."

Hammond exchanged an amazed expression with Davis, Harriman, and several others who crowded into the control room. "Why…that's great news, Colonel! And SG-3?"

"No casualties on their end, either, sir."

"Good to hear!" He glanced at Harriman and whispered, "Does their IDC check out?"

Harriman nodded. "Yes, sir. It does."

"Then open the iris. Colonel," Hammond added, speaking into the microphone once more. "The door's open at this end. You and your team can come on home."

"Yeah, uh--we'd love to, sir," O'Neill said, sounding distracted. "But something's just come up."

"What is it?"

"They've just found Buddy Melham, sir," O'Neill solemnly informed him.

SG-1: SVU

"Oh, thank God," Janet muttered, when she saw the landed ship near the stargate. She'd earlier heard on the radio that SG-1 was alive and well. But the sight of that vessel was a visual conformation to Janet that SG-1 did make it out of Neith's vessel before it blew up.

Janet was traveling with Colonel Drumlin and the second wave of Marines, who were helping the Kelori wounded get to the gate. Once Major Lyman radioed back with the 'all clear,' they had immediately set out from the base for the stargate.

"Uh-oh," Drumlin muttered, as he pointed out the crowd of people. "Looks like something's wrong…."

Janet saw that SG-1 were among the people who had crowded around by the side of the stargate platform. "Excuse me, sir," she told Drumlin, "there may be somebody hurt."

"Go ahead, Doctor," he said with a nod. "We'll catch up."

"Lt. Williamson," Janet called to the Marine medic, gesturing for him to join her. Because of her prior intensive treatment of the Kelori wounded, Janet was almost fresh out of medical supplies.

As Janet and Williamson ran up to the crowd, a grim Sam came out to greet her. "Hey, Janet."

"Hey, Sam. Once again, I'm real glad to see you're ok," Janet said with a smile. When Sam merely nodded solemnly, Janet asked, "What happened here?"

"Several of the Marines found Colonel Melham," Sam told her. She shook her head sadly. "There's nothing you can do for him, Janet."

'Damn it,' Janet miserably thought, as she, Sam and Williamson moved through the crowd. They found the body lying on its back, stripped of its weapons. Someone had placed a towel over the stump where the head used to be.

Janet's heart broke at the sight of the grieving Jennifer Hailey and Grace Satterfield, who stood leaning on each other--as if for support--just off to the side of the body of their SG team leader.

"They just dumped him," Satterfield said, her voice breaking with emotion. "They tossed him away, like he was so much…."

Satterfield shook her head, unable to say the word. But Janet knew what she meant. By dumping it in the weeds next to the stargate, Neith's Jaffa had treated Buddy Melham's body as if it were so much garbage.

"Just keep in mind Lieutenant," O'Neill said quietly, "that Neith and her boys aren't exactly sitting very pretty right now."

"Payback's a bitch," Satterfield said with satisfaction. "Ain't it, sir?"

"That it is." O'Neill walked over to the lieutenants and added, "And you two were a big part of Neith getting that payback. Buddy would be very proud of you both."

Hailey nodded, a slight smile on her face. "Yes sir."

Janet and Lt. Williamson had completed the grim task of placing Colonel Melham's remains within a body bag. Just as she zippered the bag up, four Marines came forward to carry the body away.

"Um, doctor, if you don't mind," Hailey said, "Lt. Satterfield and I would like to help carry him back."

Janet nodded. "Of course, I understand perfectly, Lt. Hailey."

Two of the Marines quickly stepped aside to allow Hailey and Satterfield to pick up their end of the body bag.

"I think it would be extremely fitting for Buddy to be the first to get back home," O'Neill said. "Wouldn't you agree, Gene?"

Drumlin nodded. "No argument here, Jack. Bobby, dial up the gate."

Janet turned to O'Neill and said, "As soon as Colonel Melham is through, I'd like to start evacuating the wounded immediately, sir."

"Not a problem, Fraiser." O'Neill glanced over at Olivia and Casey. "Get ready ladies, for you're about to make your first trip through the gate!"

Olivia and Casey, who stood at a respectful distance from the group, both had anxious looks on their faces at that thought.

"Well, after riding on the ring transporter, how hard can this be?" Olivia nervously asked. "Right?"

Yet when the stargate came to life once more with a roar, accompanied by the spectacular swoosh of the event horizon, Olivia and Casey practically hugged each other with renewed fear.

"We're actually going in that thing?!" Casey cried in a panic. "Oh, good Christ, Liv!"

SG-1: SVU

When she emerged on the other side of the stargate, Janet followed close behind the solemn funeral procession that carried Colonel Melham home. She was heartened to see General Hammond ordered the troops in the gate room to all stand at attention, while he stood giving the body a salute as it passed him by.

Janet was also grateful to see her medical team was out in full force in the gate room. She was helping a Kelori warrior named Noli down the ramp when two of her attendants took him off her hands and placed him on a stretcher.

"At ease!" Hammond called to the troops, once Colonel Melham's body had been placed on a stretcher and wheeled out. He strode over to Janet and said, "Welcome back, Doctor, Lieutenants. And congratulations on a superb job."

"Thank you, sir," Janet said. "And thank you, General."

Hammond stared at her, puzzled. "For what, Doctor?"

"For clearing the road for us, sir," Janet said, smiling.

Hammond grinned. "Anytime, Doctor, anytime."

Janet watched as several Marines helped some more injured Kelori down the ramp to the awaiting medical teams--until something caught her eye. She glanced up to see Cassie in the second story conference room window, joyfully jumping up and down and waving at her.

"Ah, yes, I forgot to tell you, Doctor," Hammond said, smiling. "You've got a welcoming committee of your own up there. I've already told Cassie that everyone's safe and sound."

Janet smiled up at Cassie as she mouthed the words: "Homework. Done?"

Cassie stopped jumping long enough to give her an annoyed glare as she mouthed back: "Oh, mom!"

"Ok, ok," Janet whispered, grinning, as she blew her daughter a kiss.

"I wonder what's the hold up?" Hailey said, staring at the gate.

Janet glanced at the still-active stargate and realized that people had stopped coming through. "Where's Olivia and Casey?" she asked. "They should have been here by now."

Hammond gave her a double take. "Doctor, you don't mean Olivia Benson and Casey Novak, do you?"

"Yes, sir," Janet replied, stunned. "They're part of the Disappeared who've been awakened from their stasis tubes. But how did you know--?"

"Thanks to one very tenacious SOB," Hammond muttered, as he exchanged a wary look with Major Davis, who stood behind the glass in the control room.

Janet wasn't sure what the general meant, but since he wasn't inclined to explain, she figured it would be best to let it go for now. She stared at the stargate with the others, wondering what was keeping Olivia and Casey, as well as SG-1.

SG-1: SVU

"It looks like water," Casey flatly said, staring critically at the shiny event horizon within the stargate. "We're gonna get wet, aren't we?"

"No, Casey, you won't," Sam paitently said. "It looks like water, but--well, trust me, it isn't."

"Do we have to hold our breath?" Olivia asked nervously.

Sam shook her head. "The entire journey takes just three seconds. You'll barely notice anything before you'll find yourself back on earth again."

Olivia's smile faded at the thought of stepping into that pile of glowing jello. "Uh, what exactly happens to us when we step through again, Sam? Because, I recall one of these science shows, where they talked about how anything goes into a wormhole gets stretched out into a thin roll of spaghetti, and--"

"Oh, God," Casey moaned, "that's not what's gonna happen to us, is it?!"

"No, see, that's a black hole," Sam started to explain. "This is a worm hole, and--as I've said before--the worm hole transports you to…."

Sam was cut off when O'Neill, taking about as much as he could bear of this situation, stepped in-between the Major and the anxious women. "Olivia, Casey," he said calmly, "either the two of you step through that gate, or I will push you through it. What shall it be?"

Casey, looking very alarmed, involuntarily grabbed Olivia's hands as she stared fearfully at O'Neill.

"Sir!" Sam complained, giving O'Neill a shocked look. Even Teal'c, who stood behind her, raised an eyebrow at O'Neill in consternation.

Daniel walked up to the group and dismally shook his head. "Oh yeah, real nice, Jack," he said sarcastically. "Real tactful…."

"I'm sorry, Daniel, Olivia, Casey, Carter and Teal'c," O'Neill muttered, still sounding annoyed. "But we can't stand here all day! I'd like to get back to the SGC sometime before the turn of the next century…."

Daniel stepped in front of Oliva and Casey and held out his hands. "Ladies, I'm about to go through the wormhole, and I was wondering if you'd both like to escort me?"

Olivia reluctantly released Casey's hands and grasped one of Daniel's in her own. Casey slowly did the same with Daniel's other hand. Soon the trio were all holding hands, facing the shimmering event horizon, with Daniel in the center.

"We'll all go through together, at the same time," he told Olivia and Casey, "all right?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, with a heavy, resigned sigh. "Ok…."

"Um, this won't hurt, right?" Casey feebly asked.

"It'll be completely painless," Daniel assured her. "And it'll also be over before you know it. Ready? Here we go."

'Oh crud,' Olivia nervously thought--as she, Casey and Daniel all stepped into the shimmering light at the same time….

...to be concluded in the next, and final, chapter.