Consciousness came slowly, painfully. He'd never felt quite like this before. It wasn't a hangover, but then again he couldn't remember last night, and he had a headache to match that description. He opened his eyes carefully, and soon wished he hadn't. It seemed his eyes had forgotten their function, or rather his brain had forgotten how to process the information coming through those organs.

As he heard someone enter the room, he gingerly sat up, not wanting to be caught completely off guard.

He felt soft, silky sheets beneath him, and luxuriant cloths covering him. The approaching figure slowly came into focus as his sight returned. She was a vision of beauty to his amatory mind. Part of him screamed a warning to his senses, and a battle waged in his brain for control of his thoughts and actions. He felt his rational part winning out, but then Hathor reached his bedside and sidled close to him. Her nearness stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Her touch caused waves of delight to course through him. His breathing slowed as his adrenaline rush subsided.

"See, my love? There is nothing to fear from me. Already you must sense the bond growing stronger between us. This is only the beginning of something even more wonderful…however, you must help me first."

"Anything, milady." Jack couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. He convinced himself it was a diversionary tactic. Make her think he trusted her, so he could get away.

Pleased with his response, she continued, "We could not obtain the brain sample effectively because of your unwillingness. Surely now you would comply with this great favor we are bestowing on you, now that you trust us? Do you trust us, beloved?"

"Yes." The monosyllabic response sounded unnatural even to his himself.

"Do you…love us, Jack O'Neill?" She moved closer and allowed her breath to pour over his face, so that he could inhale her scent. Her blazingly beautiful green eyes blinked like emeralds gazing into the warm brown pools of his own. He caressed her face, looking deeply into her eyes. Why did he think her eyes should appear different? Not that he wanted them to, he was enchanted by those eyes, so full of mystery…but something he once knew…but what did it matter? She was all there was, all he wanted…she drew closer to him, breathing into his face, her scent once more intoxicating him. All other thoughts left him. He put his arms around her, drawing her to him.

"Give us yourself, beloved, and in turn you will receive all we have."

"Oooiy!" Jack jerked his hand away while simultaneously her eyes glowed white, confirming his instincts. "I knew those eyes were too good to be true." Hathor stiffened in disdain.

"A shame it is that you are so repulsed by us. For if you do not comply, you will soon become one of us."

"Comply? Comply how? What do you want from me?" Jack was still battling for control as Hathor's intoxicating breath continued to permeate his system.

"You are not like the other Tau'ri, O'Neill. We have been waiting on this planet, observing the specimens that attempt the rite of passage. We are greatly pleased with your results."

"Rite of Passage? Look, as interesting as all this sounds, your voice kinda grates on me, ya know? That whole goa'uld eyes and voice thing: Kinda distracting."

"Fortunately, there is a better way to communicate. Jaffa, Kri!" Hathor's eyes flashed as her ire was awakened.

"Oh, and spoil the romantic evening? No, wait. I already did that." As the guards entered, Hathor motioned them to restrain O'Neill.

"We see that we do not affect you as we once did." (Oh, boy, O'Neill thought. If she only knew!)

"No matter, beloved, there are other ways to get what we desire." She passed her lips across his and inhaled, as if to discover the secret to his immunity to her charms.

As he was thus distracted, the Jaffa placed his arms and legs in metal braces attached to the wall. A particularly large Jaffa approached Hathor, and she took his Prim'ta. The symbiote was large, now a mature Goa'uld, ready for a host.

"This is your time, O'Neill. The most momentous of your miserable human existence. You shall now enter the ranks of the Goa'uld System Lords, as my life-mate, my Pharaoh. You shall give Us the inheritance of the Ancients, and with this added strength, the goa'uld shall rise and take their place as the most powerful race in the universe."

"Wow, I mean, wow! That was kinda melodramatic, don't you think? Well, I guess you can't go against your nature." Fear made his voice warble as he struggled against the terror enclosing him. "You, know you really should have listed that in your self-serving speech….Ahhhhh!"

As Jack was babbling, a Jaffa grabbed his head and jerked it sideways, exposing the back of the neck.

"No!" Hathor denounced. "Shal'kti desires to see the face of his slave as he subjugates it. He will relish the moment, the face of terror in the millennia to come. He does not fear or find it distasteful, rather it pleasures him. You see, O'Neil, Shal'kti is of the Old Ones. He is not like the weak spawn of lesser Goa'uld."

Hathor held up Shal'kti, and it coiled around her supple, white arm (gosh, how could he still desire her, the disgusting woman, if he could call her that, and while she was doing this horrendous thing to him?)

Without warning, Shal'kti plunged into his face, somehow forcing his jaws to give way and allow access to the demon, the demon that now was inside his brain, his mind, dare he say it, even his soul! It probed and dissected his very being.

As Jack's eyes opened, they flashed white. He opened his mouth as if to speak, blood dribbling from his speechless lips. There was, however, one sound that conveyed absolutely what he felt:

The scream of despair and terror echoed throughout the ship. The space of orbit even carried this specter of terror, and the specter cast a shadow on the planet that caused the wildlife, and the ill-fated people on that world to shrink.

The hearts of all three remaining members of SG-1 sank. An indescribable feeling had passed over them, just as a dark cloud passed over the planet's distant, cold sun.