Legacy of the Xel'naga

by Confushi Sushi

This kind of situation had never been considered before. Reuploaded to fix formatting.

5. Bait

A/N: Running out of new and interesting things to say. As previously stated, I'm only using the Xel'naga name because it's cool, so don't hurt me. Still love Blizzard ;-) Would LOVE to hear what you think about this piece, even if it's just a line saying you liked it or hated it. PLEASE! Huge thanx and lots of love to Kalliope for the beta, apparently I forgot what a tense was this time around. Mistakes? I'm perfect, ya know ;-P But, if they WERE to exist, they're all mine.

Xel'naga

As was usual these recent days, Daniel could be found pouring over the recordings garnered from the previous mission to the alien planet, scribbling notes into his various journals. Every few hours Jack, Sam, and/or Teal'c would come to rescue him from his work, forcing him to take time off to eat, or just plain rest for a while.

"Daniel Jackson." Apparently, this time, it was Teal'c's turn.

"I'm almost done with this section, Teal'c. Give me a minute, ok?" In fact, Daniel was almost done with the whole thing, thanks to help from the Tok'ra, and was currently translating the writings on the seventh sphere. Teal'c had taken position off to his side, and Daniel could just make out his friend's bowed head of acquiescence.

If he hadn't been so caught up with his work, he would have taken more notice in the fact that no one had asked him what he had found out so far. They even went so far as to interrupt him when he tried to talk on the subject. Now that Daniel thought about it, he figured they wanted to put any bad news off for as long as possible. He could live with that, they'd be there for the briefing when he presented his findings to General Hammond, anyway. Daniel smiled to himself. They'd just have to wait to hear what he had learned.

And, boy, what he had learned.

Finishing up on the current section, Daniel stopped the recording and put away his journal. As he turned to face Teal'c, he had to rub his eyes against the strain of looking at a screen for so long. He couldn't help his excitement pouring into his words. "So, Teal'c, what'll it be?"

"I have come to ask if you would wish to accompany Alahn to the surface with me."

"Kill two birds with one stone, eh, Teal'c?" Daniel smiled knowingly, receiving a questioning look from Teal'c. He could see what the jaffa was trying to do. General Hammond had declared that Sam could leave the mountain, but not the compound altogether, and only with some sort of escort. It's not that he didn't trust her, he just didn't trust certain other people out there. The General figured they shouldn't press their luck, in that regard.

Teal'c was trying to lighten her mood, being stuck on base so long was enough to make anyone stir crazy, and at the same time look out for Daniel's health.

"Sure, Teal'c. Sounds great."

Alahn and Sam had obviously not been expecting the gesture, but the look Alahn gave them made it apparent that she wasn't going to refuse. The more Daniel thought about it, though, the more he realized that he needed some fresh air, too. It wasn't like any of SG-1 had left the base, either. Except for the single day that Jack had arranged, they hadn't been off the premises. How could they when Sam was stuck there?

"I hope it's sunny out." Alahn stated excitedly as they waited for the elevator to take them to the top level. Daniel couldn't help but feel a little jealous when he looked down at her arm. It hadn't taken long for Sam to heal the break after they returned, especially when she didn't have to worry about conserving energy to run away from the latest threat, and now there was virtually no sign of the injury.

"I have been told that the weather is most agreeable." Teal'c replied.

And the weather was beautiful, Daniel thought. The sun shone brilliantly overhead, reflecting off of the surrounding foliage.

Alahn was off like a dart.

Unable to help himself, Daniel leaned in close to Teal'c, almost whispering. "Whose idea do you think that was?"

Teal'c simply stood where he was, holding his arms behind his back.

Shaking his head to himself, Daniel set off in the direction Alahn had taken to, spotting her a ways down the slope, kneeling over some flowers. As he made his way down to where she was, he heard Teal'c's footfalls sound behind him.

"I can't believe you spend all day underground when you have this all around you." Alahn stated, sweeping her hand to take in the scenery before them.

As Daniel looked around, he was forced to agree. "Neither can I."

Sighing to herself, Alahn laid down on the slope, cushioning her head with her hands. Daniel could tell that she was much more comfortable in her own dress than she had been in BDUs. It suited her, he thought, the muted earth tones reminding him of the clothes of Abydos. He inhaled sharply at the bittersweet memories that were dredged up.

Daniel laid down beside her, taking up a similar position. He had to admit it was nice to just lay there in the sun, not worrying about anything at all.

"You miss your home, don't you?" he asked softly. Daniel couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Alahn when all this was over with. He refused to believe that they wouldn't find a way to help Sam. If Alahn wanted to stay on Earth, they'd find a way to make it happen, just like Cassandra. But, if she wanted to go back home... there didn't seem to be anything they could do about it.

"Not the place, so much." She replied, still looking at the sky.

"You have family back there? Your mom and dad?"

"Just Grandmother. Mother died giving birth to me, and Father..." Daniel's face was turned toward her, and Alahn sucked in a breath against emotions that were obviously raging underneath. He waited for her to continue, but all she did was shut her eyes tight. A tear escaped, running down the side of her face.

"I lost my parents when I was young." He confided. It didn't take a genius to figure out both of her parents were dead.

Alahn turned to him. "You did?"

Apparently it was one of the things she hadn't yet gleaned from Sam.

"Yeah," Daniel responded, feeling his chest tighten, "They were setting up an exhibit at a museum. There was an accident, and the stones collapsed."

By the shocked look on her face, he knew, whether Sam had meant to or not, Alahn had seen her memories from the Gamekeeper's planet. "You... saw that?"

Daniel simply nodded, not trusting himself with words at that moment.

They stayed like that for a while, simply laying there and looking at the sun overhead. Teal'c remained at a distance, apparently not wanting to intrude upon the moment.

"I didn't see my father die." Alahn stated suddenly.

"Doesn't make it any easier."

"No." she agreed.

They just laid there in silence for a little while, both mulling over what they had just learned about the other.

Teal'c finally came up to them. "Shall I procure the noonday meal so that we may consume it here?"

"Sounds like a plan. What do you think?" Daniel asked Alahn.

"Every minute we don't have to spend inside is a plus."

Xel'naga

Jack began his way up the stairs to the briefing room. He noticed that he was taking his time, dreading what might await him at the top. None of them knew exactly what Daniel had found out, worried that it might not be what they wanted. Of course, Daniel had tried to tell him several times about his progress, which Jack would try to stop. Just because Daniel was excited about something didn't mean it was useful. If all of this was for naught, he wanted to hold on to hope as long as possible.

Finally making it to the top, he saw that the others were already there. Looking at Daniel, he tried to read the man. But he just couldn't tell whether he had good news or bad. Sitting down at the table, he continued to eye Daniel.

"Good of you to join us, Colonel." General Hammond announced.

"Good to be here, sir." Jack responded with a smile that was brighter than he currently felt.

Shaking his head slightly, Hammond continued. "Doctor Jackson, if you'd begin."

Nodding, Daniel stood up, turned down the lights, and started the projector. A freeze frame of one of the spheres came up. "As you all know, I've been translating the writings on these spheres, using the Gould sections as reference for the alien text. They're a history of Xel'naga."

"Xel'naga?" Carter immediately asked.

"It's the alien's name for the planet. It was their home world. The information dates all the way back to the time of 'the ancestors.' There's a story from that time that tells of beings who once visited their world. It says that the leader was 'surrounded by warriors whose stone sticks shot flames as hot as the sun.' And the leader's 'eyes burned like fire, killing one of it's entourage with a wave of its hand.'" Daniel explained.

"The Goa'uld." Teal'c supplied.

"So it would seem. Now, with the technology they had of that day, it's reasonable for them to believe that the Gould was a god. Apparently it was just a one time appearance, and the Gould wasn't seen again."

"How would that explain the temple? These aliens obviously had access to the Gould's writing. They even knew what one really looked like, judging from the pictures there." The General questioned, referring to the gem inlays of Gould symbiotes that had been on the pyramid.

"Um, ok, I guess I put it the wrong way. THAT Gould never returned, nor did any others for a long time. There was a long period, it's hard to tell how long because they measure everything in generations and ages, neither of which is specifically defined, but there was a long time where they were under a monarchy, if you will. One person, the Toram, ruled all of their people. The Xel'nagans have a caste system: warriors, workers, priests, scientists, and some others."

"And what happened to this monarchy?" Jack asked, noticing the tenses used.

"It was overthrown." Daniel replied.

"By whom?" Carter asked.

"A warrior named Kantari, who was, I think you'll find this interesting, 'touched' by the gods. Actually, for the most part he's referred to as Kantari-Tralik." Daniel stopped there, allowing the news to sink in.

"Your saying a Gould took control of these people?" Hammond asked after a few moments.

"Not any Gould, sir. That good-for-nothing snakehead from the planet's brother." Jack clarified.

"Actually, these people weren't enslaved. In fact, many benefits came out of Kantari's rise to power. At first, there was conflict between the fanatics that followed the gods above all else, and thus, followed Kantari, and those who were loyal to the Toram, or Stenkato, as he was known. It was short, and Kantari rose to power. Instead of proclaiming himself Toram, he created a council of seven to take the place of the absolute ruler, taking the seat of High Councilor. It was from him that the language of the Gould was taken, and only the Councilors could learn it. He ordered the pyramid to be created, and all of the councilors were blended. He believed that two minds were ultimately wiser than one." Daniel replied.

"Hold the phone. You did not just say what I think you said." Jack uttered in pure disbelief.

"What do you think I said?"

"That this guy went to their planet, said 'to hell' with dominating or destroying these people, and went OUT OF his way to help them out?"

"Well, not in those words." Daniel answered.

"Um... we are talking about a Gould, right?" Jack questioned.

"Indeed, we are. Tralik has committed crimes as heinous as any Goa'uld." Teal'c agreed.

"Ok. Now, am I the only one that thinks this doesn't make any sense, whatsoever?"

The looks Jack received from around the table told him that everyone agreed with his assessment.

"It definitely doesn't track with normal Gould behavior." Hammond interjected.

"Perhaps this Kantari was able to influence Tralik, as Kendra did to lure her symbiote to Cimmeria." Teal'c put forth.

Daniel was the one to finally answer. "Well, they are a different species. Who knows what effect their physical difference might have on the blending process. Anyway, it seems that after he set down various laws, he disappeared."

"How so?" Teal'c asked.

"Just one day, he was gone."

Jack leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. Leave it to Daniel to speak for so long and skirt the main issue. "Is there anything that can help us?"

"Maybe." Daniel replied.

"Maybe?"

"It depends on how willing the Xel'nagans are to help." Daniel answered with a smile.

"What?" Carter queried, obviously confused. Everyone else was taken aback by the statement, as well. Just what was he implying?

"The spheres talk about the capital being moved to Kantari's home planet when he came to power."

"I thought you said that world was their home world." She rebutted.

"They'd expanded since then. The seat of power was moved to a place called Ascorza." Daniel continued.

"I believe we're missing something here, Daniel. How does one find this Ascorza?" Jack wondered. Simply having the name of a planet did them little good.

"Easy." Daniel replied, pressing a button on the remote. The picture changed to a different view of a sphere. Either the top or the bottom, he had no way of knowing which, a symbol was plainly visible encircled by the text.

A Stargate symbol.

"Seven spheres, seven symbols." Daniel added.

They were all speechless. Of course, Jack realized it would be pretty silly to expect these people who were advanced enough to make a machine that could transform a person to be confined to just one world. Especially when the machine itself was on another planet.

"So, you're saying that these guys are living it up on another planet?" Jack clarified.

"If these stones are anything to go by, yes."

Jack looked over to Carter. It was obvious that she didn't know how to feel about the whole situation. There was excitement on her face, but she fought it down with worry. They were so close, but he knew she didn't want to get her hopes up.

He was kind of on the fence himself.

"Well, sir?" Jack looked to Hammond.

"Before any team is sent, we will send a MALP through and attempt to establish radio contact. If no threats are found, or we are invited onto the planet, then you may proceed." The General stated.

"General, I can read their language with my notes, but speaking it is something else altogether. I had no idea what the Ancients language sounded like until Jack started speaking it. We won't have a clue what they're saying." Daniel warned.

"Some of them do speak Gould, though, if what you've told us is at all correct."

"Well, we won't know until we try, sir." Jack responded.

To that Hammond gave a nod. "The probe will be sent through in one hour. I want you all ready to depart at that time."

"Yes, sir."

Xel'naga

As they suited up, Teal'c was glad to note that the mood was not strained as it had been the last time they had prepared for a mission. It was replaced with apprehension, though. They all knew the importance of this mission. In a few minutes Major Carter's fate could very well be sealed. It depended on whether or not they found the Xel'nagans, and whether or not they would, or could, help.

"There's something that's been eating at me. If they weren't all on that planet, and killed by our friendly neighborhood snakehead, then how come they didn't take back what was theirs?" O'Neill asked.

"It is possible that they did make the attempt, and failed." Teal'c offered.

"We have virtually no idea about their social structure and how they'd retaliate, or even if they do retaliate." Daniel Jackson replied, stuffing notebooks into his pack.

"That leaves a lot of unanswered questions. We hardly know any more about these people than when we first started." Major Carter sighed heavily. There wasn't really anything to say in reply, so they continued prepping in silence and made their way to the control room.

They would just have to see what would happen.

Teal'c watched as the wormhole opened, verifying that the coordinates Daniel Jackson obtained were valid. He noticed that his friends eyed the 'gate with apprehensive stares. Whatever was to happen, they didn't want to miss it.

The MALP trundled up the ramp, slurping its way to the planet on the other side. After several seconds the video feed returned through the wormhole, giving them a view of seemingly endless vegetation. Trees were all that the MALP could see, even as the camera panned all the way around.

General Hammond glanced at the technician, who nodded that they were ready to send audio.

"To any who may receive this message, I am General Hammond of Earth. I wish to speak with a representative of those who call themselves the Xel'nagans." Hammond stated, Daniel Jackson repeating the message in Goa'uld. They waited several moments as the signal was repeated on various frequencies.

No responses came.

"Sir?" O'Neill asked.

"You have a go. Report back in 3 days."

Xel'naga

Sam squinted against the sun that greeted them on the other side. It appeared to be about noontime on the planet, the bright rays filtering through the trees overhead. The team took a few moments to adjust to the light levels and scan the surrounding area before continuing. The Stargate disengaged behind them.

It was depressingly devoid of signs of civilization.

Not that they could see far through the thick vegetation, but the overgrowth indicated that the Stargate hadn't been used in some time. Trees and shrubs were growing up all around it. The new growth was easily distinguishable from the ancient trees, showing that the clearing around the 'gate had been easily three times its current size.

Alahn was also less than excited. She had been looking forward to returning to something like a normal life, but present signs weren't boding well for that. They hadn't started searching yet, but neither of them were holding out much realistic hope of actually finding anything.

"Ok, Daniel, where to?" Colonel O'Neill questioned.

"Why are you asking me? I don't know." Daniel quickly shot back.

"You're the one who had the balls," the Colonel turned towards them, revealing a smirk, "shouldn't you know something?"

Daniel looked at him in shock, before adopting a hurt expression.

"I'm sorry, Jack, the spheres didn't have detailed maps of the planet." He crossed his arms and huffed at the rambunctious CO.

Colonel O'Neill simply shrugged, and walked a short ways in the other direction. Sam wasn't sure whether she should burst out into laughter or scowl at him.

Alahn was leaning towards laughter, forcing a tiny smile to play on her lips.

Daniel saw and threw his hands up in defeat. "You, too, Sam?"

"It's not my fault!" Sam exclaimed, turning to Teal'c. "Help me out here."

"I believe you require no further assistance, Major Carter." And damn it all if Teal'c wasn't smiling at her. Not a nice smile, but more of a I-know-you-didn't-mean-it-but-I-want-to-see-you-sweat-a-little smile.

How's this our fault? That meanie started it. Alahn wondered, mentally growling at Jack. Sam had to agree, they couldn't help it if they found the comment fairly amusing, even if a bit overboard.

"Thanks a lot, Teal'c." Sam replied with a sarcastic smile of her own.

"I endeavor to be helpful."

Ok, who taught Teal'c to be so damn annoying? Sam was blaming the Colonel on this one. Sure, she wanted Teal'c to learn more about the Tau'ri ways, but did he have to play smug so well?

Alahn took control, and Sam couldn't help but be amused. The girl jogged up a little bit to catch up with the others, who had started to walk off in slightly varying directions. "Stop it, you big bunch of meanies!"

Xel'naga

Daniel stared across the fire as he absently fiddled with his MRE. Chicken. Surprisingly enough it tasted pretty much like it should. Which only furthered his theory that all MRE meals came from the humble beginnings of the fowl.

At the moment, though, he wasn't as focussed on the ingredients of his dinner as he was with one of the people on the other side of the fire. Staring intently, he was trying to come up with the best description of what sat before him.

Dejected was the best adjective he could come up with.

"You ok?" he asked Sam, or Alahn, whichever one was in control at the time. Truth be told, if one felt a certain way, it was almost certain that the other was having similar thoughts.

"Fine." Alahn replied quickly, shaking herself from her trance into the heart of the flames.

Jack, who was sitting on the same side as Daniel, lowered his food and stared at the girl in utter disbelief. Not that Daniel had believed her, either. Teal'c merely raised his eyebrow.

She obviously saw that they weren't going for it. Sighing, she put down her food. "We've been walking around all day, and what have we found?"

"Alahn..." Daniel started.

"I know, I know 'we've just started looking.'" Alahn responded in a mocking voice.

"That is true." Teal'c added.

Daniel was taken aback at the suddenness of this whole outburst, and was not prepared when Alahn stood up suddenly. "So? We haven't found anything here except..." Alahn began pacing quickly before stopping, "trees! There's nothing."

"We don't know that, yet." Daniel tried to reason.

And with that Alahn shot off into the woods, Daniel's mouth open wide.

"Alahn!" Jack cried out, standing up. "Carter, get your ass back here!"

Daniel recovered from his shock just enough to grab Jack's sleeve before he could take off. "Let me."

After a moment's hesitance, Jack nodded reluctantly and sat back down, a mixed look of concern and anger on his face. Teal'c stared at Daniel.

Daniel ran into the forest in the direction she had run off in. The noise of Alahn running through the woods was easy to follow. Even so, Daniel couldn't hope to outrun her, and had to wait for Alahn to come to a stop.

It was several minutes before he came to where she stopped, leaning against a tree. Stopping a few feet away from her, breathing heavily, Daniel could hear Alahn's deep sobs. Even in the darkness he could make out her shoulders bobbing furiously. He wasn't sure what to do, so for a few moments he just stood there and watched.

"Alahn?" he called softly, taking a step forward.

"Go away!" she shot back between sobs. Daniel was halted by the intensity of her voice.

"You know I can't." It was one of the reasons that Jack had been so furious with her running off in the first place. They had no clue what may be out here, any of them being on their own was simply out of the question.

"I don't care. Just go away and leave me alone."

Daniel wanted to get closer, put a comforting hand on her shoulder, hug her, SOMETHING. He knew he had to play this carefully, though. "I want to help."

Alahn didn't respond immediately, instead Daniel listened as her sobs trailed off and she quieted. When her shoulders stopped shaking she turned to face him. The starlight reflected off the tears that stained her cheeks. "You want to help?"

"Yes."

"Then put me back to normal! Put us both back!" she screamed it in his face as she pushed him back forcefully. Daniel stumbled several steps before regaining his balance.

"I wish I could." He all but whispered. They locked in a stare-down, her expression unreadable, Daniel looking hurt and lost.

"I'm tired of all this." Alahn spoke in little more than a whisper, her breath hitching from time to time.

Daniel just stood there, unable to think of anything worthwhile to say.

She continued. "I just want to be me again."

"But you are still you." Daniel tried to tell her, taking a cautious step forward.

"No, I'm not!" as Daniel opened his mouth to speak again, she cut him off. "I'm not. SHE'S there."

"That doesn't change who you are."

Her eyes mirrored her disbelief. "Everything I think, everything I want to do, she hears. Then I have no choice but to hear what she thinks about it. I can't make a decision on my own anymore. I'm second guessed before I even do anything!"

How was he supposed to respond to that? It wasn't Sam's fault. She couldn't just ignore Alahn's thoughts. And he also knew she wasn't passing any judgement. Not on purpose, she couldn't exactly help what she thought, now could she?

"It's not intentional." He said, hoping it was the right thing to say.

"So?" she snapped. Daniel could only watch as she moved around nervously, seeming unable to decide where to look or how to stand.

"Look, I know this is hard for you..."

Alahn's eyes grew wide at his words, and Daniel could see the pure anger... maybe even hatred, in her expression. She didn't look away from him, coming forward to close the distance between them that much more. Daniel had to fight the urge not to step back, the look being thrown his way nothing short of dangerous.

Despite her appearance, Alahn spoke with a calm and even tone. "You know?"

The incredulity of her words snapped at him like a whip.

"You don't know ANYTHING!" she screamed at Daniel, their faces mere inches apart. He couldn't help but flinch.

"I was just trying to say..." Daniel kept a soft tone, fighting against his own anger at her responses. He knew that it was a case of her finally blowing steam, but her rage was focussed squarely on him. It seemed highly irrational, and Daniel had no clue what he had done to become such a target. Was it simply the fact that he was the only one in front of her right now? Or was there something more to it?

"I don't care what you were trying to say! You say you know, you think you know, but you have no clue!"

"Then tell me!" he couldn't help the harshness that crept into his words, but immediately regretted it.

Alahn opened her mouth to respond, but her emotions overwhelmed her. Daniel watched as her tears returned with a vengeance. Trying to regain control of her breathing, she turned to the side and took a couple steps away.

Sensing that she needed the distance, Daniel didn't move. Taking a breath to calm himself, he spoke again. "I want to know. Help me to understand."

She wrapped her arms tightly about herself. "You had a choice."

He understood the anger now. Why he never thought of it before, the possibility that Alahn may resent him, he didn't know. They had so much in common, save that one factor. Daniel had missed that maybe Alahn didn't see him as an equal. Sure, he had also had Sam in him for a little while, but they had that one difference. He came to realize that it hinged on a theme that was no doubt touchy for both Sam and Alahn.

He had chosen it.

He had had the choice of blending with Sam or not, though to him there had only been one acceptable option. Alahn didn't have that choice. Much like Sam didn't have a choice of what happened after she touched that statue. He could also argue that Sam hadn't had a choice of whether or not to go into Alahn. She had been so mentally fragile at that point, and certainly wouldn't have done it without his urgings. He had forced her, Daniel acknowledged shamefully. Though it seemed the only option at the time, as it still did, he had made Sam do it.

"God, I'm so sorry." Daniel groaned.

"What?" Alahn asked with confusion, turning back around. She certainly hadn't expected that.

"Sam, I'm sorry I made you do it. I made the decision for both of you. The only other option he gave us was death, and I didn't want to see either of you die if there was a way around it."

It was a moment before her head drooped and Sam took control. "Don't say that, Daniel. I froze. We all probably would have died, Alahn at least. You saved us."

"I forced you." Daniel emphasized. She should be mad at him, not trying to console him.

"It was the right thing to do, we both know it. I just refused to accept it." Sam countered.

"Maybe it was the right thing to do," Daniel agreed reluctantly, "but it was the wrong way to do it."

He was tired of Sam putting everything on herself. When she said that he saved them, Daniel knew she was ashamed of herself, for what she wouldn't have been able to do on her own. Daniel had actually been relieved by her reluctance, though at the time he didn't have the opportunity to think about it. He wasn't sure how he would have felt if Sam would have been more willing to take a new host like that.

She scoffed at his reply, and her voice became harsh again. "Would you just give it up already? There was no OTHER way to do it. I froze. I could have cost us all our lives. You did what had to be done."

Daniel wasn't sure whether it would be a good idea to bring up his thoughts on her reluctance. He didn't want to get Sam caught in a catch22, thinking that whatever she would have done in that situation would have been the wrong thing. But he couldn't just let her heap that all on herself.

"If I can't blame myself, then you can't blame yourself." Daniel finally said, his tone once again calm. It didn't help anyone to yell, and he knew she would probably listen better if he wasn't screaming in her face.

At the moment, though, it was pretty hard not to.

She looked away for a moment, thinking. Finally, she answered in an equally calm tone. "Deal."

It was obvious to Daniel that she didn't truly feel it. Everything couldn't be solved all at once, he realized, so the fact that she didn't simply dismiss the possibility was enough for him. She was probably just as sick of debating the issue as he was.

Daniel decided it was a good time to move the 'discussion' in a different direction. "I've heard Alahn's thoughts about things... what about you?"

"Worn doesn't begin to cover it." Sam sighed.

"Why didn't you talk to any of us? What made you think you had to carry all of this alone?"

Sam took a deep breath. "I don't know. I guess... we've all been through so much. After everything, I thought I should be able to handle this."

"Everyone has a limit, and this is more than big enough to surpass it."

"Maybe, but sometimes it's hard to tell." She replied.

"Hey, you're no pushover. If something affects you like this so obviously has then it's not nothing." Daniel looked her straight in the eye when he talked, making sure he drove the point home.

"Being turned into a symbiote is a pretty big deal, isn't it?" Sam smiled slightly, showing some amusement at her own statement.

Daniel smiled himself, glad to see some lightheartedness from her. "Very big."

She chuckled at his words, the brightness in her eyes belying her tension.

"Just... don't try to block us out again." Daniel approached until he was a step away from Sam, leaving it up to her how to proceed. She hesitated a few moments before burying herself against his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, a release was triggered and she began crying in earnest.

Daniel waited patiently, holding her tightly to him, as all of her pent up frustrations were released.

Xel'naga

Jack broke another piece off of the dried twig in his hands and threw it into the fire. The little bit of wood seared for a moment before disappearing from view. Losing its appeal, he simply threw the rest of the twig into the fire and leaned back.

Carter knew better than this.

On another planet, especially one who's dangers were unknown, you did not strike it out on your own. And she was unarmed, no less! Daniel wasn't a wuss or anything, but from the alien they had seen in the pyramid it was clear these guys were huge. A pistol wasn't going to stop one if it decided it didn't like them being here. At the moment, though, that was all the archaeologist had on him.

He was pissed. Because it was so much easier to get angry than to acknowledge that Carter, or Alahn, or whichever, had just broken down in front of them. Clutching his gun, he stood up with every intention of going out there and dragging them both back by their hair if he had to. And if he was lucky, he'd get the excuse to shoot something.

"O'Neill." Teal'c's deep voice stopped him in his tracks... again. It hadn't been the first time since Carter and Daniel took off that he'd contemplated going after them.

"Dammit, Teal'c, I'm not going to wait any longer. Who knows what's out there?" Jack snapped.

Teal'c didn't reply, and while Jack was waiting for him to, he heard a faint rustling in the underbrush. Bringing up his gun in case it wasn't who they expected, Jack watched as Daniel escorted Alahn through the woods, his hand on her shoulder.

His relief only fueled his anger. "Alright class, can anyone point out what our players did wrong?"

"Jack." Daniel warned, eyeing the other man.

"No, Daniel." Jack cut him off. "God, Carter, did you forget EVERYTHING they taught you in basic?"

The redness in her eyes, clearly visible as they approached the fire, made it obvious that she had been crying only moments ago. Carter stiffened noticeably at his remark. "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

He knew he should be easy on her, but her little stunt had worried him to no end. Jack still hadn't quite recovered from it. "You are absolutely right, it won't happen again."

"Jack, there's no need for that." Daniel replied to his sharp tone.

"I'm responsible for this team, Daniel. Do you know what dangers might be waiting out there? I sure as hell don't. Excuse me if I find the thought of half of my team being in a less-than-positive position where I can't help them just a little bit unsettling." Jack justified himself, letting them know it was fear talking, and not anger. He could live with the phrasing, actually saying 'you scared me shitless' would be a bit much for him. Not to mention it would be a big blow to his ego.

"Oh." Daniel responded in understanding.

He could see that Carter understood, too. It couldn't hurt to reinforce the idea, though. "That was all just a vent, kay?"

"Yes, sir." Carter smiled at his stuttered tone.

"Ok, let's call it a night. I'll take first watch. T, you get middle. And Daniel goes last."

He was glad that she was unarmed, otherwise Jack was sure Carter would protest her lack of involvement.

Xel'naga

A soft rumble broke Teal'c from his meditation. Looking into the surrounding woods, he was unable to find the source of the noise. Sitting still a while longer, he continued to watch and listen, but there was nothing. As the sun was making its appearance, he decided to make his way over to the fire.

Daniel Jackson was sitting beside the small flames with a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c greeted as he took a seat.

"'Morning, Teal'c." The man was staring absently at the ground.

"How are Major Carter and Alahn?"

"Better. They were finally able to get a lot of this out of their system."

Teal'c nodded at the statement. He had seen the looks on both of their faces when they had finally returned to camp. The tearstains were evident on the girl's face, and Daniel himself had had a decidedly uneasy appearance. It was obvious that the night had been hard on them all. Teal'c seriously doubted whether Daniel had gotten any sleep.

"They appear to have exceeded their tolerance for this situation." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah. But we're so close, Teal'c, and they know it." Daniel rebutted.

"That is uncertain, as they very well know. It is no doubt this potentially false hope that has broken them."

"We can't think like that."

"How would you have them think, Daniel Jackson? If we do not find what we seek here, then our chances of finding it at all are greatly reduced. If Alahn and Major Carter were to have high hopes for this planet, and we indeed do encounter nothing... it is easier for them to be certain we will not find what we look for, then there is nothing to lose."

Daniel reluctantly agreed. Teal'c wanted to find an answer just as badly as any of the others, but he also tried to be realistic. They had hardly begun to search the planet, and couldn't draw any conclusions from what they had seen so far. What they were looking for could be there, or it might not be.

O'Neill then made his appearance from his tent, MP-5 at his side. "Morning, campers."

"Jack."

"O'Neill."

The Colonel suddenly froze where he stood, his eyes focussed on something behind Teal'c.

"Jack?" Daniel Jackson asked.

"Daniel." O'Neill cocked his head, and both Daniel and Teal'c followed his gaze.

The red shape in the trees was clearly visible.

Apparently realizing that it had been seen, the alien slowly trundled its way out of the woods. Teal'c listened to it's breathing, recognizing the faint rumble he had heard earlier. Both Teal'c and Daniel had stood up by then, their weapons at hand.

The alien stopped a few steps from them. It was completely naked, male if anything was similar between their species. It dragged a metal object in his lower left hand, grasping it near the end. It resembled a staff weapon, with a very heavy shaft, the most noticeable difference being that the butt of the weapon was a crescent-shaped blade. Teal'c noticed the alien looked at them almost dismissively, despite their armament.

"Daniel, would you mind?" O'Neill motioned for the archaeologist to do his thing.

Daniel Jackson fumbled a little bit, clearing his throat. "Um, (We are peaceful travelers that wish to meet your people.)" He spoke in Goa'uld.

The alien didn't react, not even turning its gaze to Daniel.

"It does not appear to understand Goa'uld, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c stated. The Xel'nagan was studying Teal'c at the time. He watched the alien's eyes slowly sweep over his form. Keeping his chin up, he stared back at the alien.

"Maybe not. The stones did say it was reserved for the Council."

Teal'c just noticed something glisten in the alien's eye as its gaze caught his staff weapon. He didn't have enough time to decipher the look as the Xel'nagan suddenly let forth a deep animalistic howl and charged forward. Grasping the weapon with all of its hands, the alien swung the blade at Teal'c, who had just enough time to bring his staff into a block. The force of the blow sent him flying several feet into the empty tent.

The report of an MP-5 firing was immediately heard, along with a high-pitched gasp of pain from the alien. Teal'c extricated himself from the now-collapsed tent to see the alien fall to the ground. It was still alive, its breathing taking on a sickly bubbling sound.

He also noticed that Alahn and Major Carter were out of their tent, staring at the alien in complete shock. Black blood from its wounds was already oozing all over the ground below it.

"T, you ok?" O'Neill asked.

Standing up, Teal'c collected his weapon from nearby. "I am unhurt."

"Jack, we may have a problem here."

Aliens were walking out of the woods in all directions. All were equally as naked as the first, apparently all the same gender... if they did have genders. Some held similar weapons, while others had branches or nothing at all. Teal'c noted that most had clearly visible scars along their bodies, some missing various limbs. Many also had skin that had ugly patches of orange and yellow. No words were spoken by the aliens, only heavy breathing and occasional grunts and growls. They slowly approached the group.

"Daniel, would you tell these good people this was all a big mistake?" Colonel O'Neill stated. The four of them were now standing back to back, not that they could hope to defend themselves against the multitudes of Xel'nagans before them.

"(We're sorry, but he left us no choice.)" These aliens were just as impassive as the first had been to their words.

"Sir, I think we have a problem." Major Carter declared, taking a step back in response to the approaching hoard.

Amazingly enough, the aliens stopped.

They didn't know what to make of her, staring at Major Carter curiously. They looked between themselves and her, apparently searching for some sort of answer.

One from the front line squinted at her, then his face took on a hard appearance. "Bakku!"

Shrieking and growling, the aliens started waving their various weapons around and resumed their approach. Teal'c was about to open fire on an alien in front of him when a loud voice issued from the forest.

"Kal sali! Tanarada!" the deep voice held the distinctive distortion of a Goa'uld. Immediately, the aliens stopped their approach once again. Some of them sat down where they were, others remained standing, and still others simply walked away.

Completely taken aback, all SG-1 could do was stand there as the mystery speaker approached.

It was another Xel'nagan. This one was wearing a single strap kilt made from some sort of animal hide. A deep scar ran across its chest, continuing down the lower left arm. Walking tall, with obvious authority, the alien made its way towards SG-1.

O'Neill once again motioned for Daniel Jackson to try and communicate. This one at least appeared to be able to speak some language, though Teal'c knew that the words had not been Goa'uld.

"(We're very sorry for wounding the other, we had no choice.)"

The Xel'nagans eyes flashed brilliantly, a snarl appearing on its face. "(You have killed Telilka! Was not the shame you brought to him enough?)"

"(I don't understand.)" Daniel stammered in reply. Colonel O'Neill looked on, he and Major Carter unable to follow the words.

"(Do not play me for a fool. Why do you come now? There is nothing you could do to punish us further.)"

"(I don't know what you're talking about. We're peaceful explorers from a planet called Earth.)"

"(Peaceful.)" The alien spat out the word, looking at the guns trained on it.

"(We only use these weapons to defend ourselves.)"

"(The Goa'uld attack, not defend.)"

Daniel opened his mouth, but Teal'c interrupted, aware of his intentions. "Is it wise to tell them that we are not Goa'uld?"

"What?" O'Neill asked.

"Even if they think the Gould are gods, it's obvious they're not friendly with them." Daniel Jackson responded.

So it would seem. Eventually they all nodded their assent. There wasn't much to lose, anyway.

"(We are not Goa'uld.)"

"(If so, then why do you travel with a warrior of the gods? And why do you travel with a god?)" The alien challenged.

Teal'c took a step forward. "(I no longer serve any Goa'uld. I now fight against them.)"

The Xel'nagan sniffed, looking wholly unimpressed.

"(She is not Goa'uld, she's Tok'ra.)" Daniel Jackson tried to explain Sam, not sure whether it knew of the rebel faction, or cared about such distinctions.

"(You have doomed us all. I won't allow you to harm my people any further.)" the alien turned to those that had not left the clearing. "Shara devi."

The ring of Xel'nagans began to creep forward again, but at a more sedate pace.

"Daniel?" O'Neill asked.

"It doesn't believe that we're not Gould."

Teal'c instinctively pointed his staff weapon at the encroaching crowd. He knew that it would do them no good to fight, though. Eventually they would be overrun.

"(Do not struggle, and you shall survive.)" the alien spoke.

"O'Neill, drop your weapon."

"What?"

"Jack, it says if we don't put up a struggle, they won't kill us." Daniel Jackson clarified.

O'Neill hesitated, weighing his options. It didn't take him long to see the futility in their position. Slowly, he took the gun strap off of his shoulder and placed the weapon on the ground. The others took his lead, and the aliens took them away.

Xel'naga

Great. Just great. Boy, did this ever take the cake.

They came here to get help and weren't really getting what they had hoped for.

The aliens had taken them on a nice hike to the ruins of a city several hours from where they had been. Jack could tell by the lay of the debris that the buildings used to be massive, but little more than their foundations remained intact. Scorch marks were visible in multiple places, revealing that it wasn't time that had destroyed the edifices.

In fact, they were tucked away into one of the rooms on one of the more kept together buildings. A large sheet of metal, or whatever these things were made of, had been hefted in front of the doorway. The three aliens that had worked it into position had expended a lot of effort. When all four of them had tried to move the barrier they couldn't even budge it.

Aside from the shafts of light that came through where the sheet didn't quite cover, the room was dark.

"Something doesn't quite add up here." Daniel suddenly began. His voice seemed to echo unnaturally in their prison.

Sheesh, Jack coulda told them that.

"These aliens do appear to be most... primitive." Teal'c commented.

"Was I the only one who noticed those rather impressive looking weapons they had, or even these buildings here?"

"The first one that attacked us... it didn't even seem to know how to use the weapon it held. It used it as little more than a club." Daniel pointed out.

"Not to mention they apparently can't talk, except for a word or two." Carter stated.

"Not to mention our Gouldy little friend." Jack mimicked.

"Jack." Daniel sighed. "Our 'Gouldy little friend' seems to be the only one that knows anything. The rest act with about as much intelligence as animals. But these guys built the machine that turned some of them into symbiotes. We're missing something."

"Could not the information on the stones have been falsified? Perhaps an elaborate ruse by a Goa'uld that claimed these people?" Teal'c proposed.

"I don't think so. It still doesn't explain the machine. Why would a Gould make more Gould out of 'inferior' species?"

"Equal opportunity employer?" Jack mused.

Though he couldn't see it, he was sure Daniel fixed him with a dangerous glare.

Sounds of grunting suddenly issued from outside, stopping their discussion. They watched as their makeshift prison was reopened. The Goulded Xel'nagan stood in the doorway. Light poured in, brightening the room around the alien's large frame.

It said something.

"Daniel?" Jack prompted.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the archaeologist replied. "It wants to know our purpose here, no more lies."

Deja Vu? Sighing heavily, Jack responded. "Try again."

Daniel spoke to the alien at length. It looked at him with interest, eyes widening at points in his dialogue.

"What did you tell him?" Carter asked first.

"I told it what happened in the pyramid."

Jack distinctly remembered them blowing the brains out of yet another of these red guys there. Considering how the big dude before them had reacted previously, he didn't think that it was such a good idea to bring it up. "Everything?"

"I, uh, skipped over a few minor details." Daniel assured. "And I told it that we came here looking for help for Sam."

After a few moments, the alien spoke again.

"Now what did it say."

Teal'c was the one to respond. "The help we seek cannot be found here."

Xel'naga

Daniel did a remarkable impression of a fish. "(W... why?)"

The alien actually sighed, though the sound came out more like a growl. "(Do you truly not notice the state my people are in?)"

"(But... you. What about you?)"

"(I know nothing about what you ask. I am not a scientist.)"

They were close. So close. Daniel wanted to scream. "(Why are you different? What happened to your people?)"

"(As I have told you before, we have been punished.)"

"(By whom?)" Daniel hoped he could find an answer to their problem by what this creature told them.

"(Terak.)"

That didn't make sense. Terak had been looking for survivors on the other planet. Did they somehow escape through the 'gate? "(How?)"

It just stood there. Daniel was afraid that it wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know. He was afraid that Sam and Alahn had been right, there was nothing here that could help them. They would never find anything.

Finally, the alien took a step forward, turning its head to the side. Lifting the tentacles that fell from its scalp, it revealed a bright scar that ran along the base of its skull for a few inches, until stopped by the jawbone.

"Oh my god." Daniel whispered.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

Jack and Sam looked at the line with awe, but had no idea what it meant. Jack was the one to ask. "What's going on?"

"They were punished, by Terak." Daniel stammered.

"Terak?" Sam began in surprise, causing the alien to focus on her. It was obvious she put the implications that Daniel had already realized together. "Holy Hannah."

"Somebody throw me a freakin' bone here." Jack demanded.

"The other Xel'nagans here weren't born this primitive. They've all been mutilated."

Jack looked from the alien to the various members of his team. "You mean he chopped their brains out?"

"Pretty much, it would seem." Daniel replied.

"But, this one's been talking to us and stuff." Jack pointed out.

"No, sir, it hasn't. The symbiote has." Carter responded.

Which left another question for Daniel: how did the symbiote get here? Terak would surely have noticed its presence. "(Did Terak do anything to you, the symbiote.)"

"(I was not here for the punishment.)"

"(Then... how did you get 'here?')" Daniel wasn't sure whether 'here' was referring to the host, or the place.

"(Terak attacked both Xel'naga and Ascorza. I was among the warriors on Ascorza that fought his jaffa. Those that had not been killed were captured.)" the last bit the alien spoke with great disdain. "(Frelak, my prior companion, was mortally wounded in the woods. We were overlooked. After several days, dying, Coumat found us. He acted strangely, and at the time I was unaware of the reason. To figure out the problem, and the fate of my people, I merged with him.)"

"(I thought you were a leader?)" Daniel questioned, wondering why he'd be in battle.

The Xel'nagan looked at him with shock. "(Our people were in danger. How could I not fight?)

Jack tapped his foot impatiently. "Care to share with the rest of the class, Daniel?"

"He was a warrior, Jack. When his people were captured, his former host was left for dead in the woods. His people came back as they are now and he jumped into one." Daniel tried to sum it up, knowing his friend's lack of patience.

"And he can't help us?" Sam asked nervously.

"No. He says he's not a scientist." It hurt him to say that to her.

For Sam's part, aside from her shoulders slumping, she gave no physical clues how the news must have hurt her.

Jack sighed. "I guess it's time for us to pack up and go."

Daniel could see Jack's surprise when he didn't argue against it. At the moment he didn't care whether they learned about the Xel'nagan's culture. Turning, Daniel began talking to Coumat. "(Coumat, we...)"

"(Coumat-Shesh.)" he corrected.

Noting idly that Shesh must be the symbiote's name, he continued. "(Coumat-Shesh, we must leave now.)"

"(You cannot.)" he replied quickly. "(It is impossible.)"

"(Why is this?)" Teal'c immediately asked.

"(I have sabotaged the input device to the Transportation Circle.)"

"What?" Sam was the one to ask, noticing the panic Daniel displayed.

"The DHD has been sabotaged." Teal'c explained.

"You can't be serious!" Jack immediately replied. Sighing, he turned to Sam. "Carter, do you think you can fix it?"

"I won't know until I see it. Worst case scenario is we wait for the General to contact us. We have him send a naquadah reactor through and dial out manually." Daniel could tell by the neutrality in her tone that she really didn't care. At that point he couldn't blame her.

Xel'naga

He had had nearly enough of this. "Ok, then. Let's go back to the 'gate and see what we're up against."

Jack motioned for his people to get on their way.

Stepping out of the building, after Coomy moved enough to accomodate them, Jack could see the various aliens around the ruins. He simply looked for a few moments, watching as some walked about idly, while others appeared to be eating some sort of small animal. Raw... he cringed.

His attention was brought back to them as one of the Xel'nagans approached them. This one had only three arms, and walked with a noticeable limp. As the alien completely ignored their presence, he realized it wasn't them it was interested in. Walking up to the Goulded one, it held out it's hands, displaying one of the small animals, obviously dead.

Taking the gift, Coumat pressed his forehead against the other's, muttering some words in the alien tongue.

Jack was surprised at the extreme pleasure the alien took from the words. It smiled, a frightening sight as the creature's rather dangerous looking teeth became visible. Howling excitedly, it hobbled its way to a large group of Xel'nagans, apparently trying to relay his achievement with pointing and some grunts.

"That was... interesting." Daniel exclaimed.

"Fascinating, really." Jack agreed with his usual sarcasm, laced with awkwardness. "Can we go now?"

Considering these guys were copying the snakeheads, he really hadn't expected to see such an obvious show of compassion. The way Coomy had interacted with the other alien reminded him of how a father would act towards his child, and that comparison disturbed him. It didn't seem right for these guys to take after something evil... and not be so themselves.

They walked away from the camp unhindered, though Jack had expected more protest, if not some physical determent.

Jack had to wonder what they were supposed to do now. This was the last lead they currently had to go on. The trail had run dry. They had been lucky to stumble upon Terak's planet, well, lucky wasn't the first word that came to his mind. Chances of them finding anything else on their own virtually didn't exist.

There had been writing at the pyramid, if he remembered right. Maybe Daniel could translate that... with how much was there it should only take him a few months.

"Something doesn't quite track about all this." Daniel suddenly mentioned.

"Do enlighten us." Jack implored sarcastically, not stopping or turning to face Daniel.

"Well, we know that Terak was looking for his brother."

"That is correct." Teal'c agreed.

"Right. So why would he damage the minds of those who could tell him?" Daniel questioned.

"That guy was off his ringer. Wacko. The snakehead changed his mind more times than I change clothes. He didn't have the patience for torture, probably got sick of them not telling him anything." Jack supplied.

"There's also the language barrier to consider. If Terak didn't capture one of the council members, they wouldn't have been able to communicate." Carter added. Jack was surprised to hear her say anything at all on the subject, assuming she was still dealing with the failure of this mission. It was one of the things he liked about her, the ability to contribute even when she had no interest in the topic, which Jack was sure she hadn't.

"Look, Daniel, I'm sure that the General will approve coming back here in the future. You can gleefully ask all the questions you want then." Jack stated, in the hopes of shutting him up about the subject.

"I get the feeling that we've missed something important."

"I also sense that there is vital information we have overlooked." Teal'c responded to Daniel's statement.

"Such as?" Jack wondered. The Xel'nagans' brains had been sliced out, what more was there to know?

"I am uncertain."

"That doesn't help me, you know? We'll report back to Hammond if we can, and figure it out there."

Xel'naga

For once, Sam would have liked her assumptions to have been wrong. Well, that wasn't entirely true, she had been wrong before. But it didn't happen that often, and it definitely didn't happen now.

Daniel's hope had been infectious, and even through the time that Alahn had told them they wouldn't find anything, part of both of them had wondered if, maybe, they would.

All they did find was a bunch of mutilated survivors. Living only because Terak wanted them to suffer. She did feel a little pang of sympathy for them, robbed of their wits. Exactly how long they had been living like that was impossible to know. Sadly, she felt herself not really caring. Her mind wanted to blame them, she quickly came to realize. It was easy to say it was their fault that they couldn't help her or Alahn.

Her empathy for their plight only grew at that thought. They didn't deserve her hate, not after everything they had lost.

No, they don't. Alahn reluctantly agreed.

Before their talk with Daniel the night before, Sam doubted whether it would have been so easy for them to not hold the aliens accountable. It had been nice to get all of that off their collective chests. And thankfully, Daniel understood that none of it had really been personal.

Now, they were both pretty upset, so the relief they had gained from the talk was shadowed.

"You ok?" she heard Daniel ask as he paced himself to walk by her side.

Sam's first instinct was to say she was fine, but she remembered his plea before she had completely come apart. "This whole mission could have gone better."

She hoped desperately that she could fix the DHD. The prospect of staying here until the General finally got worried wasn't very pleasant. It was early evening on the planet, so they'd have at least 24 hours before they were overdue.

"I'm sorry." Daniel replied softly.

"None of this is your fault, so would you quit apologizing?" if he didn't stop with it soon, she might be forced to hurt him.

"Ok," he relented, "but we do still have one more chance."

"What's that?" Sam asked. Alahn's curiosity caused her to turn her head towards Daniel sharply.

"Well, there's the writing in the pyramid. With the translations of the alien text I got from the stones I should be able to figure it out."

"Yeah." She agreed reluctantly. The words 'should be able to' didn't instill much confidence in her. And 'should' he be able to, who knew how long it would take. From what she had learned from Daniel about the room, because she certainly hadn't been in the frame of mind to take in details at that point, there had been a lot of writing on the walls.

Realizing her tone was rather abject, she gave Daniel a small smile to tell him that she'd be ok and hadn't given it all up, yet. There was still that tiny chance.

"We're here." The Colonel suddenly announced. Looking forward, Sam could see the Stargate through what vegetation remained in their way.

Please be able to fix it. Alahn wished, directing her thought more towards higher powers than Sam herself.

Sam couldn't help but echo the sentiment under her breath.

They entered the small clearing, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c quickly scanning it for any surprises that might have crept up since they left. The MALP that had preceded them remained beside the DHD. O'Neill turned to Sam. "Ok, Carter, do your thing."

She made her way to the DHD. There were no outward signs of damage. Just in case the sabotage had been some sort of hoax, she began dialing Earth. Pressing the first glyph... nothing happened. The button didn't light up and the 'gate didn't spin. Making sure it wasn't a problem with the glyph, Sam tried several more buttons, all with the same result.

"Well, he wasn't lying about it being broken." Sam warned.

"Sweet." Came the Colonel's caustic retort.

She chuckled as she kneeled before the device, losing herself in the moment. This was Sam's element, fixing things. Pulling apart machines and putting them back together was a mainstay of her life, and the prospect of getting her hands dirty made it easy to forget her troubles.

Pulling the paneling off the front of the device, she accepted Teal'c's flashlight and shone it into the bowels of the DHD. Dusk was changing light into dark, so Sam had to rely solely on the light in her hand. Several crystals were clearly missing. Just as she was about to extricate herself, the flashlight beam reflected off of something that was the wrong texture and color to be a part of the DHD. It was certainly nothing she'd ever seen in any of the devices she'd studied. But it didn't look entirely unfamiliar, either.

"Daniel, I need you to look at something for me." Sam announced, her unnatural voice echoing strangely in the DHD.

He took the few steps necessary to close the distance. "What is it, Sam?"

"I'm not sure. On the upper casing here is some sort of device, looks Goa'uld. Can you translate the inscription?" moving aside, she handed him the flashlight.

Daniel took the proffered item and put his head inside, looking for the foreign piece. It was several moments before his voice issued from within. "It says 'remove this and your life is forfeit.'"

"A bomb?" Colonel O'Neill ventured.

"It is likely." Teal'c agreed.

"It must do something else, too, but I can't find any other writing." Daniel stated as he stood up.

"From what I saw, it's tied into all of the input keys. Maybe it's set to detonate if certain addresses are used." Sam guessed. So, they could have blown themselves up by dialing Earth. If that was how the Xel'nagan had sabotaged the device, why remove vital components, too?

"But when you tried to dial Earth, nothing happened. Did the device do that?" Daniel asked.

"No, some key crystals have been removed. Simply put, power isn't getting to the 'gate."

"Kind of a stupid way to sabotage a DHD, wouldn't you say? Can't dial out, but if you do, you blow up." The Colonel rolled his eyes as he spoke.

It didn't make sense no matter how hard she thought about it. It was a very convoluted and roundabout way to sabotage a DHD. Like Daniel had pointed out earlier, they were missing something.

"Sir, I may be able to reroute some of the systems to bypass the missing crystals, but I'm reluctant to do anything until we know more about this device." Sam supplied. She might be able to find a way to supply power to the 'gate, but she wasn't positive at the moment what systems might need to be bypassed to do so. Which meant that there was a possibility the DHD could explode on its own if they tried. And then there was the device to worry about. She didn't really like to think about it.

"So," O'Neill began, "we wait for the General to phone in, then."

They really didn't have any other choice at that point.

Xel'naga

Teal'c sat by the fire, taking middle watch. On the way back to the Stargate they had retrieved their camping supplies from where they were forced to leave them, so two tents were pitched close by. Daniel Jackson and Major Carter were sharing one, while he and O'Neill had the other.

Making sure not to stare at the fire directly, so that the flames didn't temporarily blind him to the dark scenery about him, Teal'c kept a keen eye on his surroundings. While the aliens didn't appear to be a threat anymore, he couldn't be certain that they, or some other unnamed danger, didn't fall upon them. Considering their minds had been damaged, it did not seem unreasonable that one of the Xel'nagans may attack them out of some instinct, as the first one had attacked him.

There had been recognition in that alien's eyes. It had looked at Teal'c's weapon, identifying him as an enemy. Apparently some, if not all, retained enough of themselves to know that the Goa'uld were not to be trusted. Without the intervention of Coumat-Shesh, they would not have survived this long. And if a few strays came across them while they waited to return home, similar dangers could be faced.

Getting up, Teal'c held his staff weapon at ready as he made his way to scout the immediate area. As soon as he turned around, Teal'c saw Coumat-Shesh standing but a few meters away, recognizable by the clothes he wore. He instantly primed his weapon, astonished that the large alien could have approached without his knowing.

What he realized then was that he could not sense the symbiote. Teal'c had never been quite this close to the alien, and the other times Major Carter had been nearby, covering up the lack of sensation. But, the point was unimportant at the moment.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c called out, keeping his weapon trained on the Xel'nagan.

"(I told you that you could not leave.)" Coumat-Shesh stated.

His call had woken everyone up, and soon the rest of his teammates were out of their respective tents.

"What's going on here?" O'Neill immediately asked.

"I did not hear or sense its approach." Teal'c explained.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alahn squint her eyes in concentration. "Sam didn't notice it before, but she can't feel it, either."

"How does that help us?" Colonel O'Neill wondered.

"It would seem to indicate the machine doesn't add naquadah to the symbiote it creates. The only reason I have it is because of Jolinar." Major Carter began, taking control.

"Carter." He warned.

"Sorry, sir. Aside from that, it doesn't mean anything."

"Major Carter, you previously stated that we could do nothing to the DHD until the purpose of the device was known." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah." She confirmed.

"Could we not get this information from Coumat-Shesh?"

"It's worth a shot. Daniel?" O'Neill motioned for the archaeologist to put his skills to use.

Daniel stepped forward. "(What exactly did you do to the input device?)"

"(You claim to not be Goa'uld. If this is so, how did you learn of this planet? There are no scripts in the Temple of Transformation that mention Ascorza.)" Coumat-Shesh posed in response.

"(We went to Xel'naga by accident. In a cave we found several spheres with Stargate coordinates on them. After escaping Terak, we came here.)"

Teal'c watched shock enter the aliens features. It finally spoke. "(If you saw the Scripts of Tolai, you must have encountered those left behind. Do they still lie in wait for rescue? Has Terak found them?)"

There were many questions Teal'c had from Coumat-Shesh's inquiries. "(You claimed to have been on this planet. How then do you know of the condition of your people attacked on the other?)"

"(Coumat was there. Some of his memories are intact. He and the other warriors buried those that could not be taken to the Circle in time. It was their last hope, with limited food they would hide until our warriors could retake the planet. Tell me of their fate.)"

"(Terak did not find them, nor were they rescued.)" Teal'c replied. He saw that the alien quickly realized what that meant. They had undoubtedly starved in the cave, waiting for salvation that did not come.

"Guys?" O'Neill queried, not liking to be left out of the conversation.

Daniel Jackson was the next to speak, ignoring the Colonel. "(You said 'those that could not be taken to the Circle in time.' Others of your people escaped the attacks?)"

It had been another of the questions Teal'c had had.

"Hello?" Colonel O'Neill all but shouted, getting their attention.

"One second, Jack. This could be important." The archaeologist held up his hand to silence the other man.

O'Neill was about to protest when he noticed the stare Teal'c fixed him with. Teal'c was pleased when the Colonel remained silent.

"(Those that do not fight fled to our final colony.)"

"Now?" O'Neill asked.

"There's more of them out there, Jack. He says that some were able to flee to another world. The dead ones we saw in the cave couldn't get out in time, the warriors tried to hide them." Daniel Jackson got more excited as he continued to speak. Teal'c also realized the implications of this, they once again had hope.

"Wait. If his people are safe on another world, why did he sabotage the DHD? Why not go there?" Major Carter asked.

It did not make sense. "(Why did you not go to this world yourself?)"

The alien looked at Teal'c as though he suggested the most preposterous idea in history. "(These warriors have suffered enough.)"

"Suffered?" Daniel wondered.

"(How would returning to your people cause more suffering?)" Teal'c asked.

"(They have lost their lives. I will not see them shamed as well. Xel'nagans do not allow themselves to be captured in battle.)"

"They do not return because it would bring them shame." Teal'c relayed for the other's benefit.

"Shame for fighting an invader?" Major Carter wondered.

"Shame for not dying in the attempt." He clarified.

O'Neill was fidgeting with his gun strap. "Anyone think that maybe this guy could give us the coordinates to this other planet?"

They all turned to the Xel'nagan as Daniel Jackson prepared to speak again. "(Can you tell us how to reach this other world?)"

"(Absolutely not!)" Coumat-Shesh replied immediately.

Major Carter could tell it was not the desired answer by the tone. "What's wrong?"

"(We only want to help our friend return to normal.)" Daniel rationalized.

"(I will not risk my people on a futile effort such as yours.)"

Xel'naga

"(Futile?)" Daniel asked. Was he trying to say that his people couldn't help? "(We would never reveal your location to the Goa'uld. They are our enemy.)"

Daniel was acutely aware of how the others' eyes were focussed on him so intently.

"(My people would never help you.)" the Xel'nagan's words were spoken as fact, without malice.

They needed answers, and the best way to do that was to keep asking questions. "(Why not?)"

"(It is of the highest law that Kantari-Tralik left us. Once merged, the two minds may never break their bond.)"

"So, Daniel, what's the man say?" Jack finally broke in, his patience long lost.

"Right now he won't tell us. I'm trying to get all the information I can on his people, maybe change his mind along the way. The more we know about them, the easier it will be when we make contact." Daniel explained.

"Fine. Carter, you think you can poke around the DHD a little without blowing us to pieces? That is unless Daniel has already figured out what exactly our friend here did to it."

"I don't know, he dodged the question the first time I asked."

"Shouldn't be a problem, though I doubt I'll learn anything new, sir." Sam replied, motioning for Teal'c to help her. She needed him to hold both flashlights, with natural light long gone, to be able to see anything in the device.

The moment she poked her head inside, Coumat-Shesh looked at them questioningly. "(What are you doing?)"

"(We are trying to fix the device so we can leave.)" Daniel told him.

"(You must not!)" the alien made to start forward, stopping when Jack and Teal'c pointed their weapons in its direction. Sam looked out, startled by the alien's harsh tone. "(Stop at once!)"

"Wait, don't shoot!" Daniel cried out, just in case. "(Why don't you want us to fix it?)"

"(I sabotaged the device so that my people would not return here.)"

Ok... "(Even if the input device isn't working they can still come here like we did.)"

"(I am not a fool. They would only send a couple scouts, warriors that have no knowledge of how to repair the device. They would be unable to go back.)"

"(Why would you want to strand your own people here?)" he certainly didn't understand the logic in that.

"(Were they to return, Terak would learn the location of our home.)"

How would Terak know, especially since he wasn't here? Superstition?

Realization dawned on Daniel. "(You didn't put that thing in the input device, did you?)"

"(I did not. I merely removed components that appeared important to its function.)"

"That device in the DHD isn't a bomb... well, not unless you try to remove it, I guess. He didn't put it there, Terak left it behind. It must record the coordinates input and transmit them. Coumat-Shesh sabotaged the device so if his people ever tried to come here, they couldn't go back and give away the location of their other world." Daniel explained to the others.

"Well, that's not good." Sam replied.

"Really?" Jack feigned surprise. "Would never have figured that."

"Sir, assuming we can fix the DHD, if we go back to Earth Terak will learn the coordinates." She warned.

"That's what the iris is for."

"Terak has Death Gliders, it would be unreasonable to assume he does not possess other ships." Teal'c added.

"Easy, we go to another world and 'gate home from there." Jack stated with finality. It made sense, and they all nodded. "Ok, Teal'c's watch is basically done. I'll take over 'til morning."

Daniel responded immediately. "I want to keep talking with Coumat-Shesh, see what I can learn about his people. Maybe he can tell me how the blending works for them."

"Fine, Daniel, you do... what you do. Everyone else, see if you can't get some sleep, or kel'no'reem, or something."

Teal'c and Sam went to their respective tents, while Daniel motioned for the alien to take a seat by the fire as they continued to talk.

Xel'naga

Sleep wasn't something that Sam or Alahn were going to get anytime soon. Though they lay in their sleeping bag, neither held any illusions. Sam wasn't anything near tired, yet, and Alahn was far too preoccupied to rest.

Daniel and the alien could easily be heard outside. If only she could purposely access Jolinar's memories, Sam would be able to understand Goa'uld and know exactly what they were talking about. Far more frustrating than not knowing the language was knowing that, somewhere in there, she understood it, but couldn't access what she needed.

So, assuming we do get to this other world, will that one be destroyed, too? Alahn wondered.

It did seem that something was trying to stonewall them. Just when they thought they'd gotten a break, some weird circumstance would present itself. Both had thought the cosmic joke had become extremely stale.

I sure hope not. But that left so many other possibilities to stop them in their tracks. When whatever higher power there was was done throwing them for loops, would they actually find what they were looking for, or find out this was one giant wild goose chase?

If this really was a cosmic joke, Sam wanted to know exactly who was laughing.

I can't just lay here the rest of the night. Alahn took control and rolled over restlessly.

It's either stay in here, or go out there and listen to them. Either way we probably won't learn much until morning.

Alahn sighed and rolled over the other way. She had to agree with Sam's assessment. It would just be worse to sit beside Daniel all night, trying to get him to explain what was going on every few minutes, and having to listen to meaningless babble in between. Of course, the tent material did nothing to block out noise, but at least there they could pretend they weren't hearing anything. Or, if nothing else, spare themselves the frustration of having to fight for Daniel's attention, which would undoubtedly be riveted on the Xel'nagan.

No, it was easier just to stay where they were. Only a little easier, though. Because, no matter where they were, they'd wonder exactly what was being said, running through possible scenarios in their head. Scenarios that mostly ended in crueler and crueler ways for the alien to reject them.

The sound of someone getting up outside caught their attention. A whispered 'for cryin' out loud' warned them that it was the Colonel. He walked by the tent, stopping slightly behind it. After a moment they heard him sigh.

"If I have to listen to another second of meaningless mumbo jumbo... I'm gonna have to hurt him."

As Alahn listened, neither were sure whether he was talking to himself, or perhaps to them.

"Knowing Daniel, he'll be at it all night." Just who was he talking to? After a brief pause, he continued. "I know you're both awake in there, heard you tossing around earlier."

Well, that answered that. Alahn was still confused, though, as was Sam. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to preserve my sanity." He quipped.

And test ours. Sam joked, causing Alahn to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Colonel O'Neill wondered.

"Nothing." Alahn assured.

"Right." He drew out the word, his shadow swayed outside the tent, showing he didn't buy it in the least.

"Anyway," she began, changing the subject, "you just going to stand back there?"

"Why not?"

Well, there were still a few hours until daylight. Surely he'd get tired before then.

"Might get kind of boring." Alahn stated.

"Can't be as bad as what I'd have to face up there. 'Blah blah blah, kree.' 'I'm-pretending-to-speak-a-language, Al'kesh.'" The Colonel did obvious impressions of both Daniel and the alien.

She laughed openly at his antics. "Daniel would have a fit if he heard you."

"Dead to the world, Alahn. Teal'c could shoot his staff in front of his nose and Daniel wouldn't notice." He replied without missing a beat.

Sam took control to respond. "I don't know, sir. He sometimes pays more attention than you'd think."

He must have heard something in her voice. Something that must have promised him a good story. They could hear him shuffling outside, and see his shadow move a little bit. "And how do you know this, Carter?"

She'd rather not say. It wasn't that great a story anyway. Well, Colonel O'Neill would surely think otherwise. In fact, it was a moment she often tried hard not to remember. Sam could hardly think of a time when she'd been more embarrassed.

"Come on, you can't just leave me hanging after making a comment like that." He whined after a noticeable silence.

Why didn't she just keep her mouth shut? Sam wasn't stupid, and she knew the Colonel well enough to be aware he wouldn't just leave something like this alone. And still she had brought it up. A brief moment of stupidity, it had to be.

"There's nothing to tell." She replied calmly and coolly.

"If that were true, you would have said so before." Sam felt her cheeks flush. "No need to be embarrassed, Carter. Now, spill it."

Damn, could he smell her discomfort or something?

He wasn't going to let it go, that much she knew, so there was no point in trying to avoid it any longer. "Well, on that mission to P9A 879…"

"You know me and designations." He admonished.

"The planet with those fluffy, purple rodents." Sam clarified.

"Oh, the 'psychedelic gerbil' planet." The Colonel sighed in recognition.

"Yes, sir. Daniel was copying down that writing he found on the pillar, and I was keeping watch nearby."

"And?" he signaled for her to continue.

While the 'psychedelic gerbils' had been harmless, there were mosquito-like insects that proved to be quite annoying. They weren't lethal, but their bites were itchy and extremely hard to ignore. That is, for all save Daniel and Teal'c, apparently. Daniel, of course, was completely engrossed in his work. Teal'c wouldn't have said anything whether the bites bothered him or not.

"While you were out scouting the perimeter. It was the second day we were there. Between just standing around there and those insects, I had pretty much had it with that planet. Daniel seemed to be taking forever, and I said so." Not TO Daniel, of course.

"What did you say?"

Sam reluctantly replied. "I said that I could be bitten to death by the bugs, and Daniel would still not be finished with his rocks."

She mumbled it actually, and it was 'stupid rocks.' Turned away from Daniel, no less. Sam had immediately noticed the silence behind her, and wheeled around to see Daniel fixing her with a hurt expression. Shocked that he had actually heard her, Sam could only look back for a few moments. She knew they weren't 'rocks,' and certainly not 'stupid.' Sam had immediately apologized, once she recovered, and hadn't stopped until the Colonel had radioed in.

Yeah, Daniel sure could surprise her at times. Sam wished he hadn't then.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, sir." Sam still cringed at the memory.

"Sounds like something I would say."

She decided not to respond.

"So, fixing the DHD is out of the question, isn't it?" he asked after a few moments.

"The alien does seem dead set against it. I guess in the morning we can see if he has the crystals hidden somewhere, and maybe convince him to let us replace them for a short time to leave, then he can take them back out."

"I thought you said something about rerouting something or other in there."

"Yes. I might be able to bypass the missing systems, but that could lead to problems in and of itself. One of the crystals that's missing acts as a sort of buffer for the power output. If the flow were to spike for some reason... well, the bomb would be the least of our worries." Sam didn't think that it would be worth it.

"That bad, huh?"

"The DHD does store enough power to run the 'gate for hundreds, if not thousands, of years."

She let his mind put it together.

"Big boom." The Colonel almost whispered.

"Yes, sir."

"We wait for Hammond then." He declared.

"It probably won't be too long after our deadline that he'll try to make contact." Sam speculated. The way things were going for SG-1 lately, she was pretty certain, and hopeful. Hammond taking his sweet time trying to figure out what had happened to them was not something she looked forward to.

"Probably." Colonel O'Neill agreed.

Silence fell between them yet again.

Not that I'm complaining about the company, or anything, but is he really going to stand there until morning? Alahn wondered.

I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past him.

With their dialogue brought to a temporary halt, Sam could hear Daniel's hushed voice as he talked with the alien. She desperately wished the Colonel would start speaking again, to continue to distract her from useless thoughts. That's when she realized that was exactly what he had been doing. While she knew he could hardly stand listening to Daniel drone on, especially in a language he didn't understand, he must have realized what the moment was doing for her.

Alahn took control, deciding to take matters into her own hands. "How much longer until sunrise?"

There was a pause before he replied, during which Sam could imagine him studying the sky. "Two hours, give or take."

"Do you think he'll tell us how to get to the other planet?"

That was random, don't you think?

I know you wanted to ask that question, too.

Yes, but I had hoped to do it with just a little bit more tact than that. Sam returned.

Why? There's no point in hiding how we really feel. You say so yourself, he's not as stupid as he pretends to be.

Considering Alahn had been the one most against sharing their feelings, Sam found the retort to be extremely ironic.

And, while before she wondered if he could sense her embarrassment, without looking through the material Sam just knew he was shuffling and going over his head what would be the best reply. Didn't mean it would be a good reply. Even when he thought things over, the Colonel didn't always know what to say. Alahn had really put him on the spot, and Sam thought she could hear it in the silence.

"Well, I don't know," he began and then paused for a moment, considering how to continue, "but... if anyone can get that Comb-Shush guy to spill, it's Daniel."

"You're right." Alahn replied.

That was pretty eloquent for him. Sam acknowledged.

And nice to hear. It was, too. Having someone other than themselves say something like that was comforting. A little, at least.

"Was that some sort of test?" Colonel O'Neill asked.

Like she had said, he didn't always know what to say.

Oh well, he still got half credit. That was pretty good for him.

Xel'naga

Teal'c had heard some of the conversation between O'Neill and Major Carter. He had already completed his kel'no'reem, but he entered a meditative state to help keep their privacy. Even so, Teal'c couldn't help but overhear parts of what they said, and he was glad to note that both sounded quite positive, despite the obstacle recently placed in their path.

He exited the tent to see Daniel Jackson and Coumat-Shesh still seated by the fire, a pot of coffee brewing. The archaeologist looked over to him. "Hey, Teal'c."

"Daniel Jackson. Has your inquiry proven fruitful?"

"Very. There's a lot to know about these people. The social structure is highly complex."

Major Carter took that time to exit her tent. O'Neill was still out scouting the perimeter.

"Is he still against telling us the coordinates?" Major Carter asked.

Daniel looked down at the ground. "At the moment, yes. But it seems that the fear of Terak somehow getting the address is what's stopping him. From what I can gather, if that weren't an issue, he wouldn't really have a problem telling us."

She thought on that for several moments before responding. "Tell him that we have a way of getting out of here without using the DHD, and that we won't go to the planet from here anyway."

Teal'c listened as Daniel Jackson relayed the sentiment to the Xel'nagan.

"(There is no way without the input device.)" Coumat-Shesh countered.

"(That is untrue.)" Teal'c responded.

"(All you need is a power source. When our people make contact to figure out why we haven't returned, we'll be able to get one. Then it's just a matter of spinning the Stargate manually.)" Daniel interjected.

The alien stood and looked around briefly. He was apparently debating the matter with himself. "(I do not believe it.)"

"(It's the truth.)" Daniel Jackson tried once more to get through to him.

"Well?" she asked.

"He does not believe us." Teal'c replied.

"Maybe when Hammond does send through the naquadah generator he'll change his mind." Daniel Jackson put forth.

"Maybe." She responded, her tone belying that she seriously doubted it.

The way events had been unfolding, Teal'c couldn't blame her.

Finally, he heard O'Neill returning. After a few moments, he came forth from the surrounding foliage.

"Good morning, campers," the Colonel greeted, "miss me?"

O'Neill caught a glance of Major Carter's expression. He spoke more cautiously this time. "What'd I miss?"

"Coumat-Shesh still will not give us the address." Teal'c informed him.

"Daniel?"

"Hey, are you going to blame me for this?" Daniel returned in indignation.

"No, I was going to ask exactly what you two have been talking about... about the coordinates. What have you tried already?"

"Oh," the archaeologist replied, his anger deflating, "Um, we've tried to tell him that we won't need to use the DHD to get out of here, and therefore won't have to worry about that device. He doesn't believe us. We've also told him that we wouldn't be inputting the coordinates from here, anyway."

O'Neill thought on it for a moment. "I got nothing."

"Yeah, that's pretty much where we're at, too. Our last hope seems to be if he'll have a change of heart when Hammond sends through the generator so we can dial home." Daniel sighed.

Teal'c looked at their faces. All of them seemed to think it was a long shot, and it probably was. But they were left with no other choices at the present time. Teal'c hoped, like the rest, that the Xel'nagan would decide to tell them, but didn't let himself forget that it probably wouldn't happen.

"What are we going to do until the General contacts us?" Major Carter asked.

"I did find a nice clearing not too far away. I'm sure we could jury-rig some hockey sticks and something to hit. Or lacrosse, at least. It was the Native American's desperate attempt to have hockey without ice or pucks, you know. Lacrosse, that is." O'Neill trailed off, noticing no one was going for his idea.

"I still think I could learn more from Coumat-Shesh that could potentially help us out." Daniel returned.

"More fodder for the debriefing, I see." The Colonel accused.

"I shall remain here with Daniel Jackson." Teal'c added.

O'Neill looked to Major Carter. He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Come on. You know you want to."

She shook her head.

"Alahn?" O'Neill tried.

Bowing her head briefly, Alahn shook her head. "Nope."

"You're all no fun."

No one responded, Daniel Jackson already continuing his dialogue with the alien, Teal'c listening intently, and Alahn simply turning around and sitting on a log.

"No fun at all." He sulked, walking off.

Teal'c looked over to Alahn, who had a curious expression on her face. He raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"He didn't really expect any of us to go along with that, did he?" she asked in response.

Daniel Jackson ceased talking with the Xel'nagan long enough to respond. "Of course not, Jack knows that none of us are really into the sport."

Teal'c didn't know whether to respond or not. While he didn't wish to play at that moment, hockey was an honorable sport that could be beneficial practice for warriors. It demanded cunning and stamina, two qualities that were necessary in war. There was a lot about the sport to commend.

He decided that it wasn't worth bringing up right then.

Xel'naga

Jack was going insane with boredom. Looking down at his watch, which he had already done countless times since they officially became overdue, he saw that they were four hours late now. He stood beside the MALP and stared impatiently at the inactive Stargate. Using his mind, he willed the 'gate to begin turning, blinking, SOMETHING. Well, it was worth a shot, because he had heard from a very reliable source named Neo, that, in reality, there was no spoon.

Apparently the same didn't hold true for Stargates.

While he was waiting for their rescue, everyone else seemed to be happily distracted. Daniel was STILL talking to the alien, Jack would never be sure how he could manage so much gab at one time. He knew that if it were him, he would have either shot the alien or shot himself long ago. Teal'c was listening silently, looking more like a statue than a living person. And Carter was fiddling around with some doohickey from her pack.

Four hours and 17 minutes. The sun was already dipping low in the sky. Jack sighed. This would really be an inopportune time for Hammond to decide that he didn't need to check up on them immediately.

Finally, the 'gate began to spin.

"Yes!" Jack shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He turned around and saw that all of the others had stopped what they had been doing, and were staring at him.

Not really caring, he ignored them and positioned himself in front of the MALP's camera. The Stargate kawooshed to life, all the while Jack stared intently at the probe before him.

After a few seconds pause he heard the General's voice issue from the machine. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"Well, it's about time, sir." He responded.

"What's going on? Why haven't you returned through the Stargate?"

"It's a long and interesting story, one full of climaxes, anticlimaxes, and all the twists and nuances one would expect from a good paperback." Jack responded.

"Colonel." Hammond replied in a warning tone.

"The short answer, sir, is the DHD's what one might call... broken. We're gonna need a naquadah generator to dial home." He told the machine.

"And what about your mission?"

"At the moment, that's up in the air. We met a group of the aliens here, the details I'm sure Daniel will be glad to give you in full once we return. These guys were apparently POW's of Terak's, and have been left here. One of them has told us that the rest of their people escaped somewhere else, but he won't tell us the coordinates. We're hoping he'll change his mind before we leave."

There was a moment of silence. "I see. Ok, Colonel, I'll have a generator prepped and sent through within the hour."

"Thank you, sir." Jack replied.

"Good luck, Colonel. Hammond out." At that the Stargate disengaged.

Jack made his way to where the others were situated. "Hammond's gonna send through a generator ASAP."

"That's good." Daniel replied.

"Any luck with Coomy yet?"

"No, he still won't tell me the address. I did just tell him our power source was coming and that we could prove to him we didn't need the DHD."

"I don't understand why he trusts us at all. We look just like the Goa'uld, and I can't imagine they've had that much contact with humans in other contexts." Carter stated.

"It's a cultural thing. To his people, your word is your bond. For the most part, he trusts our word. I asked him why, and he says he feels that we are trustworthy." Daniel shrugged, not really able to explain it himself, because he also didn't really understand it.

"Good for us." Jack commented.

It was only 47 minutes later, though Jack wasn't really keeping track, that the Stargate reactivated and a naquadah generator was sent through. Carter began hooking the device up to the Stargate.

The Xel'nagan immediately spoke with Daniel.

"What's he saying?" Jack asked Teal'c.

"He is asking if this is the power source we have spoken of."

He could only assume that Daniel's reply was a 'yes.' Motioning Teal'c to follow, Jack made his way to the Stargate.

"Done?" he asked Carter.

"Just one second." She replied, fiddling with one of the connections.

"Daniel, we're gonna dial it up now. See what you can do over there." Jack called out. He began to manually spin the inner ring with Teal'c when Carter gave the signal. They dialed Earth directly since they didn't have to worry about the DHD.

The Xel'nagan watched on with fascination as each chevron locked. The seventh one lit up, and the wormhole established with its usual brilliance.

Daniel did some more talking to the alien, at which Jack looked over to Teal'c.

"Daniel Jackson told Coumat-Shesh that we have proven our claim. He also pointed out that we did not dial his planet, so he need not worry about the DHD recording the address either way."

Coomy looked around hesitantly for several moments. Finally he spoke.

Teal'c translated the words before Jack could ask. "He asks one thing from us if he tells us how to reach the planet."

"What's that?"

"He wishes us not to mention what Terak has done to them, or that they currently reside here, so that those here may live out their lives peacefully." Teal'c responded.

"Oh." Jack couldn't help but think it was extremely awkward to be hiding from your own people. Then again, the Xel'nagans situation was pretty extraordinary. What he asked would be easy enough to do, and it seemed the least they owed him for the information.

Jack watched as the Xel'nagan walked up to the DHD, Daniel following as he pulled out a notebook. Coomy then pointed to symbols and Daniel copied them down.

"That was easy." Jack commented.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

Carter looked at them both. "I've had enough of the hard way, haven't you?"

She had a point. Jack looked down to his GDO.

"I have already transmitted the signal, O'Neill." Teal'c stated.

"Good," Jack held down the button on his radio, "SGC, this is SG-1, MALP's ready for retrieval."

"Copy that." The Sergeant's voice replied. After a moment the probe trundled its way towards the Stargate.

Once it was through they made their way up to the open wormhole. Jack watched as Daniel turned around and spoke a few words to the alien.

"What did he say?" Jack asked Teal'c.

"He hopes his people continue to know peace." Teal'c responded.

"Yeah, me too." Jack whispered.

It was a nice sentiment as they all made their way through the Stargate. Of course, Jack wasn't real big on the emotional thing. Even so, he couldn't help but feel something for these people. They had been through so much and apparently couldn't even go home.

On the other side, they were all greeted by the faces of the S.F.'s and technicians, as well as the questioning expression of the General who stood at the bottom of the ramp.

"SG-1, it's good to have you back." Hammond greeted.

"Good to be back, sir." Jack returned.

And it really was good to be back.

"All went well, I hope?"

"Considering... yes, sir."

"Good, your briefing is scheduled for 1600. Report to the infirmary."

With nods and brief words, they all made their way out of the Gate Room.

Xel'naga

Alahn sighed contentedly as she made her way towards the infirmary. She had managed to reach the locker room first, so was able to shower and change while the guys completed their post-mission exams. Clean and with a fresh change of clothes, she was in a good mood for her own exam.

Neither could really believe that the alien had actually told them what they wanted to know.

Alahn was excited, and Sam was pretty happy herself. They were that much closer to hopefully finding a solution to their problem. Everything they had gone through so far did dampen their current good mood. As events had shown, one bit of good news usually meant that something unexpected, or at least unwanted, was going to happen next. To actually think that this might be the final piece was too much for either of them to hope.

She entered the infirmary and immediately saw Janet writing something in a chart.

"Hey," Janet greeted, "you look happy."

"Yeah. We might have finally caught a break on this." Alahn replied.

"Daniel did sound rather excited when he was in here. They can help you?"

Janet motioned her to one of the beds and Alahn sat down upon it. "No one on that planet could help us. One of them gave us the coordinates to the place the rest of them are. Hopefully they can, and will, help us."

"I'd have to say you sound a lot more... positive than I've seen either of you recently." The Doctor commented.

Alahn felt her cheeks flush as she remembered the breakdown incident in the woods. As much as they might have needed the release, it was still an embarrassing moment. Thankfully, Janet was not Jack, and would respect her privacy.

"I came to realize some things." She replied cryptically.

"I see." Janet replied, but didn't press for details. "Well, I'm glad."

"Me too."

Taking a blood sample, Janet continued. "From what I heard, I take it the aliens on the planet had it pretty rough."

"That's an understatement. They were essentially prisoners. Bait." Alahn felt her chest tighten, remembering how she had wanted to blame them for anything and everything, even if it was only for a short time.

"Bait?"

"Terak mutilated them, and then left them on the planet. He rigged the DHD so that if those that escaped came back for them and then dialed out, he would have the coordinates to their world. One of them had a symbiote, and was the only one with any real intelligence, and he sabotaged the DHD to prevent that from happening." She explained.

"And that's why you were stuck on the planet until Hammond contacted you." Janet concluded, and Alahn nodded.

The rest of the exam went quickly, and Alahn made her way to the briefing room.

Everyone else was already there when she arrived, so they started immediately. General Hammond motioned for Jack to begin.

"Well, sir, we did find the aliens on the planet, but they were in pretty bad shape." Jack stated.

"How so?" Hammond asked.

"They were warriors, and most had some obvious damage left over from their fight against Terak and his cronies. All of them had makeshift lobotomies."

"Excuse me?"

Sam took control to respond. "Terak had all of their brains damaged. Only a few ever said anything at all, and then it was only a word."

"From what Colonel O'Neill told me on the planet, one of them was talking to you intelligently." The General countered.

"Yes, sir. That one had a symbiote, which is who we talked to. The Xel'nagan was mutilated like the rest, it was probably incapable of much speech." She replied.

"A symbiote?"

"He used to be one of the council members." Daniel explained.

"And the Gould just allowed him to remain?" the General concluded speculatively.

"According to him, Terak didn't know he was there. His previous host was left for dead, and he blended with one of the others when they were left on the planet."

Hammond considered the information for a few moments. "So what's the bottom line?"

"Talking with Coumat-Shesh, he's the alien from the planet, I was able to learn some important things about their culture that may be useful for making contact with his people. Which, thanks to the fact that he gave us the coordinates, we can do." Daniel explained.

"I see." Hammond replied.

"In fact," Daniel began, "Coumat-Shesh told me that a symbiote cannot control his species. Both host and symbiote can take control any time they wish. This didn't happen on the planet because of the mutilation of his host. This would explain how Tralik's introduction into their world had some benefits."

"So that snakehead's host was able to keep ahead." Jack concluded, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Apparently."

"And you didn't think to tell us sooner?" Jack added.

"There wasn't really a good place to bring it up, and he stated it as such an offhanded remark when I asked about how good things came about with Tralik there that what he said didn't really sink in."

Hammond's look stopped Jack from pursuing the matter. He ushered the debriefing back on the main topic.

After hearing all the vital information, General Hammond spoke. "Very good. Doctor Jackson, I want you to put together the pertinent information and coordinate with the rest of SG-1 to come up with a viable mission plan. Let me know when you have everything set. Dismissed."

Xel'naga

Teal'c noticed a pensive look on Major Carter's face as they left the Briefing Room. Confident in the topic of her musing, he made his way to her side.

"You appear most thoughtful." He stated as they continued walking.

"There's a lot to think about." She returned.

He nodded in acceptance. Teal'c could only imagine what exactly they might have going through their minds at that moment. Their search had turned up nothing concrete as of yet, only giving them just enough to spur them on. It would be natural for them to have doubts about this upcoming planet, he had his own.

"The proposed mission makes you uncomfortable." While Major Carter and Alahn seemed to be more understanding of their predicament after their talk with Daniel Jackson, Teal'c knew this latest twist could be detrimental to their morale.

Still walking, she turned her head to face him, trying to read Teal'c. "Don't tell me you're certain it's just going to be that easy."

"I do not." After all they had already been through, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that nothing more would get in their way.

With the luck of SG-1, it wouldn't be unprecedented.

"Daniel Jackson is most hopeful." He pointed out.

"Someone has to be. Right now, I think we could go all over the galaxy and still come up with nothing. Even if the Xel'nagans are there and thriving, who says they would have any interest in helping us out? Their own people are outcasts and they've done nothing wrong."

"Not all cultures hold the same values as the Tau'ri. In fact, many of the nations of this planet hold diverse views on what is important."

"That isn't exactly encouraging, Teal'c." she returned.

"It was my intention to show that it would be unwise to form any conclusions until we know more of these people."

She didn't reply, but the set of her jaw showed Teal'c that she accepted his words.

"Daniel Jackson has acquired much information on the Xel'nagans. If there is a way to enlist their aide, I believe he will find it." Teal'c added.

"Daniel, I trust. It's the rest of the universe I'm not so sure about right now."

TBC