"Why are your team mates taking so long?"
Anger filled the large room as Rhadamanthus billowed at Carter and Teal'c for the umpteenth time in over three hours. He began to pace the room, each anger-filled step making a harsh, echoing tap. It had been just under twelve hours since Jack and Daniel had headed for the Gate.
Sam clenched her fists, she was so close to punching the old man in the kisser that it was making her face red.
"I've already told you, these things take time with our people. Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson are probably filling in our superiors with all the details. General Hammond is a man who - "
"You've already told me this!"
"Well I'm sorry, but what more can I tell you?" Carter raised her voice a little.
Teal'c decided to intervene before the situation got too out of hand.
"Rhadamanthus, we are also unsure of what is keeping Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. Perhaps you would allow Major Carter and myself to search for them."
Carter breathed a sigh of relief, mentally thanking Teal'c for sparing her the need to start a physical fight.
"You will be going no-where until your friends are standing before me with a reasonable explanation." With that, Rhadamanthus turned to leave the room, stopping suddenly to make his final remark. "Be warned, if they are not back here within two of your 'hours', there will be serious consequences to be paid."
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"Do you have a proposal as to why Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson have not returned?"
"No...."
"I see." Teal'c sat beside a thinking Sam and blinked slowly, looking around their confinements.
"I mean, they should have reached the Gate, dialled Earth and used the MALP to make contact with General Hammond. Simple as that."
"Perhaps the negotiation was not successful...."
"In which case the Colonel and Daniel should have come back for us." Sam set her jaw in frustration.
"Indeed."
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"Jack if I knew why it wasn't working then I would have said so!" Daniel madly pressed random symbols on the DHD.
The Stargate wasn't working. No lights, no whirring sound, no familiar blue 'kawoosh'. Nothing. Jack marched up to the DHD and gave it a strong kick, then sighed and turned to their guide.
"Any ideas buddy?"
The guide remained silent. He hadn't spoken a word the entire time.
"Didn't think so."
"It just doesn't make any sense! It was working when we came through, and when Sam had to send those canisters back to the SGG...."
"Yeah, why hasn't General Hammond sent a search party through yet?...." Jack's voice trailed off in thought.
"I don't know. Maybe the computers can't dial the address anymore....Jack, this is bad."
"Uh huh."
"We should head back. Sam might be able to fix this."
"Yup." Jack turned back to their guide once more "Hey, ready to head back or are you still picking wild flowers?"
The guide stared at him, then turned away. Something in his posture made Daniel suspicious. Walking around the to face the Elysian man, he put on his best diplomatic approach.
"You know, we don't want to harm your people. And we're not lying to you about why we're here. All we need is some of your soil to help out some needy people on another planet. It's what we do. If Rhadamanthus has forbidden you to speak to us then-"
"He has not." The guide lifted his gaze to meet Daniel's.
"Okay. Do you feel like telling me your name?"
The young man sighed. He seemed distressed and there was a look of sadness in his brown eyes. His shoulders were slumped and there was a mix of grief and anger in his tone.
"My name is Ajax. I am brother to a man I believe you have met."
Jack picked up on the sound of the guide's voice and made his way over, "Who?"
Ajax glanced at O'Neill, "Pollux".
"Pollux? Ah, he's Telamon's friend right?"
"Correct. And despite what many think of him, he is a good man. Telamon and his father on the other hand..."
"What?" Daniel removed his glasses to give them a clean, quietly watching the expressions that passed over Ajax's face.
"My wife is ill. Many people think that she will die before long. I spoke to Pollux, begging him to ask Telamon for help. I was summoned before Rhadamanthus where he decided that Pandora would be the next Significant...." Ajax stopped to control his emotions.
"What is a Significant? Telamon told us that is was a good thing."
"In a way it is, but for people like me it is not. A Significant is a person who does not belong here. Sick people, old people, people with one arm or one leg....people who are not perfect. Our Gods take great pity on them and give them a second chance at life. However it has its price."
"What's that?"
"We never see them again. They are lost to us like the breeze on a warm night; they fade into just a memory. I do not want to loose my wife. Many people have lost loved ones to this fate, and most are happy about it. They believe that the Gods have taken them to heal them, and that before long, they will be returned. None have ever returned."
"How? How do the Gods take them?" Daniel was starting to get anxious.
"They are taken to the Great Temple. From there, the Gods come and take them away. No one knows any more about it, except of course for Rhadamanthus and Telamon. I beg you, help Pandora. Take us both away from this place!"
Jack scrubbed a hand over his face, "Ajax, we'd love to help ya out, but we have a little problem with getting home right now." He waved a hand at the Stargate.
A wash of fear suddenly came over Ajax's face, "I was once told that the Stone Circle would not spin on the eve of the God's arrival. I did not know what the Stone Circle was...until now! We must make haste! There is little time to save my wife! If I am correct, the Gods will arrive tomorrow morning to take her from me!"
Daniel stared at Jack.
"There's only one race I can think of, that would have the power to disable a gate Jack.....the Goa'uld"