CHAPTER 68

EPISODE………………….EX DEUS MACHINA

It was very late at night. Dark enough it was rather hard to see where you were going unless you had a flashlight or some other form of light. The Jaffa, in full armor, but no helmet up, was currently running for his life, through a very dark forest and was doing rather well and avoiding trees and other objects. He had been running for some time and kept running while looking back occasionally. He tripped over a large tree root and got up very quickly as he glanced back. Emerging from the forest, he was instantly hit and killed as a old beat up small bed Ford truck ran into him. The truck stopped instantly and two men got out. The headlights of their truck showed him dead on the pavement, mostly obvious from the trickle of blood on his face and forehead.

They were sitting in the briefing room looking at autopsy photos of the Jaffa that was hit. Daniel mentioned the guy was hit on some road in Virginia. Some motorist noticed them and called the police. The dead Jaffa had been on the road for about two days at most. So far, everything was kept under wraps about what happened and the supposed hit and run driver wasn't found. Ford was at the head of the table as always, Daniel on his right, Mitchell and Teal'c on his left. He surprisingly had no idea where Carter was, but guessed she was either working on her office or with Sally, in her office, or elsewhere. Probably the nursery since that was were all the baby food was stored and had the changing tables and such.

"Why would a Jaffa be here on Earth?" Ford muttered. "And why would he be in the open? They know our policies, or so I thought."

"Maybe he was out there hitching a ride back to Chulak?" Mitchell joked. "He just didn't realize that meant not standing in the road."

"Maybe." Ford said with a chuckle. "I have yet to see any other planet with vehicles. And the flying kind don't count."

"His presence on Earth is a mystery to me." Teal'c said looking at the photos that were being passed around.

"He was found in the middle of nowhere, a few miles north of a place called Edison, population 3,012." Daniel said.

"Don't know it. Do we know anything though?" Ford asked.

"The symbol on his forehead represents he was a servants of Lord Yu. Many of now which follow Gerak." Teal'c stated as he set the photos down and interlaced his fingers on the table.

"Then we need to talk to Gerak and find out what he's doing. He has some hidden agenda, I can feel it." Ford said.

"Indeed. I will talk to him."

"Great. Call if you have any trouble. Mitchell, go along with him please."

"Sure General."

"Daniel, let's go find out if there's anything important about this….Edison Virginia. Other than the fact it was probably named after Thomas Edison."

"Sure." he said as they all got up. "What's Sam doing?"

"Her office, I think. I don't actually know where she is." he said as they entered the office. "Let's find out though. Besides, K-9 is much better at finding out info and I bet you've got better things to do that search for stuff on that city."

"A few things better."

They entered her office finding she was unpacking more supplies and such. Sally was in her little baby carriage and was reaching for a shiny plastic object that was hanging above her from the top of the carriage. K-9 was parked next to the carriage.

"Hey Sam, K-9. Having fun?"

"Master."

"I would be if you were helping." she said turning slightly to see them and put a box on the floor. "Hey Daniel."

"Hey. Can we borrow K-9 for a moment?"

"You can if you stay here with him. He's watching Sally."

"Hey princess. How are you?" Ford said kneeling.

She gurgled and smiled and laughed as he reached for him. He tickled her making her laugh more.

"What do you need him for?" she asked walking over and smiling as she watched Sally who was now yawning and rubbing her eyes with one hand. Ford ran a gentle finger across her face before standing.

"Looking up some info."

They both gave her a run down of the information they had about the dead Jaffa.

"Well, my computer is hooked up to the net. K-9, link up and find what you can with that information please."

"Yes Mistress." he said making his antennae under his eyes raise up a few inches.

"While he's looking, can you help me Daniel?"

"I'm here." Ford stated standing up.

"Unfortunately, not for long." she said pointing.

"Ah, General?"

"Yeah Walter. Is it more paperwork?" he whined out the last part.

"Some General. But you have a pre-mission briefing with SG-12 right now."

"You could have called down."

"I didn't know if your little girl was asleep or not."

"Oh."

"Thanks for the thought Walter, but she's awake." Sam said. "Though not for long."

"Well, I'm off then. Just come get me when you learn something. I will probably still be signing away things or signing in…whatever." he said waving a hand then walking away.

"I'm getting hungry. What about you?"

"I am too. Let's go eat then come back. Sally will sleep here, with K-9 watching her." Carter said looking at the now sleeping princess. "He'll keep looking for the info we need faster than we can."

They got something to eat and sat down.

"Where is the other two of our group?"

"They went to talk to Gerak."

"Ah." she said, then changing to a joking tone. "They left us here to do all the hard work."

"True." he said with a laugh. After taking a few bites. "I guess I have one of the easier jobs, in a sense."

"Juggling Sally, reports, my job and projects, makes my job the toughest, in my opinion. But I love every minute of it."

"Hey, I know it's a late question, but how did your second anniversary go?"

"Yeah. The first one wasn't all that great was it. Being stuck here working for on important projects and such. Couldn't get away. He remembered and tried to get time for us, but no such luck. General O'Neill tried to find us time….we got to have time at home at least. The second one though, we both decided to make plans months before it came around."

"I heard you both used the Prometheus and didn't know it."

"That's right. The Colonel and crew kept it totally quiet too. We never knew until we beamed up."

"So, what did you guys do?"

"Well," she said around a few bites. "Some days I can't believe we used to eat that stuff they used to make before Ford showed up. How did we survive?"

Daniel nodded in understanding of that as he raised his glass.

"Anyway, I can't tell you the personal things we did. During that short and very romantic stay in Paris. That was just one of his presents."

"I heard he managed to get something named after you."

"He did. There's a star near the North star, and it has my name on it. Can't remember the coordinates at the moment, but whenever you see the North star, you'll see mine. He got it recorded onto the star charts and everything. Comes up on the Prometheus's computer system with my name instead of the classification it was originally."

"Something that will with stand the test of time. Or at least until the star dies I take it." he said.

"SG-1 is famous. Here at least and a few other circles out there." she said and he nodded getting what she meant. "Once this place goes public, then everyone will know who's name is really attached to that star. I don't know why, but something about that is, really cool for some reason. Even got to look at it through observatory telescope and the Hubble to get pictures."

"You could say your name is in light now."

She laughed lightly at the Hollywood reference.

"What did you get him?"

"There is no place on any other planet that we have found where you could drive the General and not have problems with obstacles and such. No really straight path, and barely any place on Earth to do so. The open desert don't count, mostly because he looses traction at high speeds. So, I managed to get him one full hour of open road on the Autobahn. Not that he needed that much time."

"I heard something about that on the news, but didn't pay that much attention. He actually got to drive on that, without anyone in the way?"

"Set a new record. Went the entire length of the open stretch where there is no speed limit, and hit 532 miles an hour. Took him half a mile to get the car to stop, left a long trail of rubber on that road."

"You mean he…um, didn't slow the car down, he just tried a dead stop?"

"Yep. Thanks to K-9 helping him know when to hit the brakes so he wouldn't hit the spectators and other people at the end. He could have stopped a lot quicker, but that system is still in the classified section of the government automotive secret files. His words, not mine. Anyway, we ended up paying for the supposed road damage in conjunction with paying for time to use the road."

"Wow. How long did it take him to run that whole length?"

"I think it was something like, less than half an hour. I didn't actually time it. I was just watching from orbit. Several other people on the ship cheered him on, though it wasn't a race."

"Wait a minute, how did he withstand the G-forces?"

"You remember the Knight Industry Two Thousand?"

"K.I.T.T.? That black car?"

"That's the one. He has a system, something called the passive laser restraint system. I haven't actually looked at the schematics yet, but it suppresses the G-forces in the car. K.I.T.T. has always had it so when he hits high speeds, the driver doesn't get injured."

"Yeah, but 500 miles an hour. That's more than most race cars."

"True. He said those race tracks couldn't and wouldn't be able to do what he wanted. Top speed on those is hard to maintain after a certain mileage point. Having to make those turns at three to four hundred miles an hour makes it difficult to keep it on the pavement. Though he admits that car would survive being launched into the air if it went airborne, he didn't want to try."

"Wow. Didn't know that."

"All based on physics."

"How did the General not go…" he said making a wave of his hand.

"Flying then? Well, something to do with the drag of air across hood and undercarriage, not to mention the car weighs almost two tons to begin with. K-9 helped him do some quick modifications to make sure he didn't fly off the road, literally." she said.

"I've been wondering something else, as have a few others." he said quietly. "Do you two ever fight?"

"We've never had a serious fight. Or a fight at all, at least in the way you might be thinking." she said with a frown as she thought. "A few arguments, but otherwise nothing. Makes me wonder what will happen if something did come up. Seriously, with everything I've seen and heard from him, I don't think he could yell at me that way."

Daniel could see she was thinking about it and the frown on her face made him quickly change the subject.

"I got a question, hopefully it's not to forward. You've both have had us, well, me, Teal'c, Jack when he was here, over for dinner a few times."

"You forgot Janet and Cassandra."

"Yeah, them too. I've barely seen anything in the house that really suggest that…well, it's a joint owner ship thing."

"He has things around, just not much. Most of it is DVD's and books in the bedroom on a large book shelf. Other than that, a few pictures and his cooking items in the kitchen. His computer is the joint office we use."

"The only picture that I know is his is that Star Trek picture of that ship he likes in the main room."

"I always thought that ship was cool, so I let him put it there. The only place in the house that he has barely any control, I'll say, is the bathroom. Get this, the day after we got married, he asked me to show him how I wanted the bathroom to be left as. Shocked the hell out of me Daniel. I actually had to pinch myself to see if I was awake. To this day, he has kept it just the way I like it. I know when he's been in there, shave and such, but otherwise, anyone else wouldn't notice."

"Meticulous about your bathroom I see."

"A lot of women are." she said sitting up straighter. "I happen to be one of them. Which is why no one else gets to use it, but him. I have my things and such in places I like them to be. Drawers are organized so I don't have to search forever for something."

"Hence the other bathroom."

"Yes. Not that we get much company anyway. That question though, just that, was enough to show me he was more than worth it. Hell, I couldn't get Jonas to even pick up his laundry, much less even touch the trash sometimes. Or even replace the toilet paper. Ford just does it without question."

(A.U. I actually, in real life, do a lot of cleaning and stuff around the house. My brother's didn't really catch on as much, so I ended up being the household maid/butler, in a sense. Cook, clean, do laundry. I could build a vehicle with the instructions. The Ford character does a lot of things I wish I could do, and some things I can do. This really isn't important to the story, but I felt like sharing anyway.)

"He has made you happy, which is great to see. Um, where's all his stuff he had then? He had quite a bit in that other house and it isn't at…..well."

"He said he placed it in a storage unit, in case it was ever needed. Though I have yet to see this unit. Most of it was just basic needs stuff anyway. Couch, a few seats and such. We did set up that large stereo surround sound system for when we watch movies, on his larger TV. We put my old TV in storage, until we gave it to my parents. Actually, they have most of Ford's old stuff he wasn't using anymore."

"That's why everything seemed like stuff I had seen before."

"Yeah. To this day, he still can surprise me."

"Well, I'm done." he said looking at the finished plate.

"Same here." she said.

"So, with no fighting going on, you two had a lot of fun then I take it."

"Still do."

"You two have a song don't you?"

"Actually yes." she said with a happy smile as a memory came back. "First date we went on, he took me dancing. We were eating at a nice restaurant, when he looked up suddenly, took my hand and asked me to dance. Though we aren't that far along and even wasn't then, it seemed right. Many years done the line from now, the song will make more sense."

"You going to tell me which song it was?" he asked after she hadn't said anything for several seconds.

"Oh, just remembering that night. It was a country song by Alan Jackson, called 'Remember When'."

"Don't know it. But then I don't listen to music all that much."

"We played it and danced at our wedding."

"Didn't pay all that much attention to the music even then, though I remember just about everything else."

"We have the CD, and the video of our wedding, you'll have to listen to it some time." she said with a happy sigh.

"Wishing you were somewhere else?"

"Actually yes. I would really like to be dancing right now."

"We could."

"All the way to my lab? That would turn some heads." she said with a laugh.

"You'd rather be with Ford."

"There's a few things I'd rather be doing with him right now." she muttered quietly.

"He really brought out a side in you none of us thought we'd ever see."

"And a few sides you'll never see." she muttered. "Don't tell anyone I told you that."

"Right." Daniel said shutting up as he realized what she meant.

Shortly after the meeting, Sam and Daniel were sitting at the briefing table. She was holding Sally, who just wanted to be held at the moment and was looking around. She made some noises every so often. Usually coo's to burbles of happiness to just a outcry for attention.

"K-9 found this article." Daniel said handing a newspaper.

"Farrow Marshall? I know that name." he said thinking.

"They are an aeronautics firm headquartered in Bethesda. The Department of Defense is their biggest client." she said.

"Oh, I remember them now. What's the connection with our dead guy?"

"Well, the plant used to employ about 800 of the residence in Edison. The plant closed down about six months ago. It is located just outside of town and about a mile and half from where our dead Jaffa showed up." Daniel said.

"We also learned that their Chief Financial officer went missing yesterday morning." Sam said as Ford put the paper down. "According to his wife, he left for some business meeting in Richmond Virginia and never came back."

A few more pieces of information later.

"All right. Go see if you can talk to her Daniel. I need to know if she knows anything. That Jaffa didn't come through our gate so that means he could only get here one way."

"A cloaked cargo ship or something similar." Sam said nodding.

"Yeah. Why they are here, that's what we need to know. And soon before the Jaffa blow this facilities cover."

"What if it was just him?" Daniel asked.

"I still want to know why."

"I know. I meant…"

"If he got here, and if he was alone, then there is a ship here and could end up in the wrong hands blowing this places cover. If he had friends, then that ship is still here. If they left, then something must have went wrong if that dead guy was willing to run through a dark forest at night and risk discovery."

"How'd you find out…"

"Got to see the full autopsy report. He died at night and his path was traced coming from the woods. Where is unknown. But I'm damned determined to find out if I have to go to Dakara myself and ask. Go ahead Daniel, I'll have the arrangements made by the time you get to the airport."

After Daniel was gone.

"Sam, we have to go check out this place." he said tapping the newspaper.

"We?"

"Yes, we. I need to get out more and if I ever quit or something happens, then Reynolds will be ready to take over. He at least knows how to handle things and besides, he needs the experience. Mom and dad can take care of her." he said pointing at Sally, who was fast asleep.

"I got to wear a uniform again don't I?" she asked as they entered his office.

"I'm in the same boat."

"True. But you don't have to wear a skirt."

"I could find a kilt."

"No." she said with a laugh. "People would think it's weird you don't have hairy legs. Much less anywhere else except your head."

"Can't help it. Came from a very hairless family, except when it came to the head. Besides, you look good in a skirt and better in uniform." he said with a seductive tone.

"To you maybe. I'm still trying to drop 5 extra pounds."

"You're worried about 5 pounds I don't even see?" he asked with some surprise. Seeing the look she gave him, he shook his head. "Never mind. I can't win this argument and never will."

At Dakara, where Mitchell and Teal'c had just arrived.

"Make no mistakes brother's. The Tok'ra only wish to meet with us, because they fear us." Gerak stated as he paced in front of the two table between him where the Jaffa Council sat. "We defeated the Goa'uld. We took their motherships and their strongholds. Now, we are our own masters."

"I need not remind the Council that the Tok'ra did battle with the Goa'uld for just as many years. Their efforts were instrumental in securing our freedom." a woman on the Council said standing up.

"Let us be clear, that the only motivation, that the Tok'ra has, is there own selfish needs." Gerak said forcefully.

In the background, up the stairs leading out of the Council chamber, Teal'c and Mitchell came around the corner and down those stairs as Gerak spoke.

"Not to help any of us!"

"Then what do you suggest, Gerak?" Teal'c asked as he entered the room. "That we use our newfound strength to take what we want?"

Gerak turned to him and noticed Mitchell.

"That we emulate our former oppressors?" he asked. He smiled and then looked at the Council. "Brothers and sisters, we finally have the opportunity to govern with authority and respect. Years ago, that seemed unthinkable, but now we are in a position to help others in need of our support and guidance."

Gerak scoffed before speaking.

"And why should we help them?"

"How about because…" Mitchell sad as he walked into the chamber. "It's the right thing to do. Look, whatever your differences, with the Tok'ra in the past, it's time to move on. Teal'cs right. You kicked ass, you're sitting pretty, don't get hung up on…"

Teal'c held out a arm as he tried to walk past him.

"Outsiders are not permitted to address the Council." Teal'c stated quietly.

Mitchell looked at him then at the Council, who was staring at him intently.

"Never mind."

Gerak turned back to the Council and raised his hand. He spoke with anger in his voice.

"I caution you all. We have fought to long and too hard to entrust our future to the Tok'ra." he said then looked back at the other too. "Or to the Tauri for that matter."

"Brother's and sisters, I suggest that we bring this assembly to an end." the same woman from before said as she stood. "Let us consider what we have discussed, and reconvene in the morning."

"Very well." Gerak said holding a hand as he watched them get up and leave.

The lady nodded to Teal'c who also nodded back and then she left with the others. Gerak started out until Teal'c stopped him.

"A word."

Gerak laughed and turned to him and he placed his hands on Teal'cs arms. Mitchell stood by with his thumbs in his belt watching.

"Teal'c, welcome back to Dakara. Your presence is sorely missed." he said with a false happiness. "What ah,….draws you away from your Tauri home?"

"A Jaffa was discovered on Earth. Dead." Teal'c said seeing the falseness of Gerak's words.

"Strange. But ah, what does that have to do with me?"

"He was a servant of Lord Yu's and, I assumed, a follower of yours."

"That may be." Gerak said seeing the photo that Mitchell showed him. "But I don't seem to recognize him. Nor, do I know what he's doing on Earth." he said snatching the photo.

A Jaffa walked up and spoke silently in his ear. He nodded and the man left.

"My obligation to the Council requires my presence elsewhere. I'm sure you understand." he said handing the photo back. Teal'c took it and lightly nodded as Gerak left.

"He is lying to us." Teal'c said as soon as Gerak was gone.

"No kidding." Mitchell said. He knew it well before Teal'c probably realized it. "He hates us. Us Tauri anyway."

"Indeed."

"So, where to next?"

Daniel arrived with no trouble, found the wife and took her to a local eatery. Small diner really. He was wearing a wool suede leather coat because of the chill in the air. The graying blonde lady was in a blue sweater and jeans. She sat across from him in one of the side booths. He handed her a coffee and listened to her tell him what she knew. She mentioned that he was constantly busy and gone so she thought it was an affair he was having. She hired a private investigator and the guy returned the money telling her to stop looking. She mentioned the guy was scared of something and had quit by the third day. Then she handed over photo's that she was able to keep that the guy gave her. Daniel opened the large yellow envelope and pulled them out.

"He asked for then back after a couple of days, but I refused."

Daniel looked through them seeing there was trouble. She mentioned that the police couldn't and wouldn't do anything and figured whatever her husband was doing was very top secret.

"Do you mind if we hold onto these?" he asked.

"No, go ahead."

At Dakara, in a hidden room only Gerak and his men knew about, a man was hanging from chains hanging from the ceiling. His wrist were bleeding from the chaffing and hanging so long, including the punishment. A Jaffa was standing in front of him with full armor on.

"He still refuses to speak?" Gerak asked.

"The prisoner is strong." the Jaffa said.

"Then we must be stronger Yat'Yir." he said turning and grabbing a pain stick.

Yat'Yir looked at the cackling device with concern and shock.

"It was with instruments like this that we were oppressed." he said.

"Then how appropriate it will be then, to serve our cause." Gerak said walking over to the prisoner. "You will surrender your secrets, of that, I am sure."

He held the device close to the mans arms. The man was the missing husband and he was badly injured, but still living and fighting. He looked at Gerak and flashed his eyes, but said nothing.

They were both waiting for someone to come talk to them. It was suppose to be the head owner of Farrow Marshall. They were in the tall building on one of the higher floors. The room had a small greenish table with chairs similar to the ones back at the base. A conference phone in the middle with pitchers of water and a few glasses. There was large glass windows that lined the room at the back and the front. Sam was pacing the room looking at the different pictures on the wall. Ford was sitting on the other side of the table watching her, in his uniform too, but with his coat on, patches inside his pocket at the moment. She knew why he was watching her, but acted like she didn't notice.

"Bored?"

"No, not really." she said as she came up to the semi open door.

"Times like this, I wish we had our own private plane." he said as she turned to walk the wall again.

"We can afford it, or I assume we…"

A long blonde haired woman in a black suit, with skirt walked in.

"Colonel Carter." she said shaking Carter's hand then turned to see him. "You must be General Carter then?"

"Yes ma'am." he said shaking her hand across the table. Something in her eyes showed she recognized him and was…afraid, possibly. Her eyes darted between the two as she stood back up.

"Sit please." she said sitting at the head of the table. Sam sat across from Ford as the lady introduced herself as Charlotte Mayfield.

"I'm the V.P. here at Farrow Marshal."

"Where's the President?" Ford asked. They were suppose to see him, or was it a her, Ford couldn't remember though.

"In a very important business meeting with one of your military branches."

"Ah." he said with a tone that Sam knew to be he didn't believe it at all.

"How can I be of service to you two then?"

"Well, we are here to ask you a few questions about your plant in Virginia." Carter said.

"We shut it down six months ago." she said rather fast.

"Officially yes." Carter stated. "But we recently went by to check it out."

"And it was cleaned out recently. Very recently. I have a degree in being a detective, per say." Ford said leaning back. "There was little if any dust around that would show six months had went by. The place was way too clean actually."

The lady looked at little…surprised, but maybe a little scared too.

"Ah…I don't know what you mean."

"We talked to some of the residence of Edison. They said they saw some large trucks coming to and from the plant a couple of nights ago." Carter said.

"They're mistaken then." she said regaining her smiling demeanor.

"Maybe. Or someone else is using your former plant for other uses." Ford said.

"No one from Farrow Marshall has any reason to be there, so someone else must have been there as you suggested General. Maybe it was the locals, just trying to stir up trouble or want a news story. I don't know." she said shrugging.

"How about Richmond? Anyone from Farrow Marshal have any reason to go there?" Carter asked.

She just smiled and shook her head lightly.

"According to his wife, Alex Jameson was on his way there for some business meeting." Carter stated as she read the info they got from Daniel.

"We have already cooperated with the local authorities about Mr. Jameson's disappearance. You may want to consult with them."

"We have already. Now, do you know who Mr. Jameson was meeting with in Richmond that day?" Ford said feeling insulted.

"I'm sorry, but company policy prevents me from discussing that issue with you."

"Your C.F.O. is missing. Don't you want to locate him?" Carter asked.

"I do. And we are currently working with the local authorities. I think we are done here." she said standing and moving toward the door. Then she made some gesture and two large men walked up. "These men will escort you out."

"Worried that we might try something?" Ford asked as they both got up.

"Not really. They would stop you before you had the chance to sneeze General. Anything you people try, we have camera's, so ruin your careers if you wish. Now leave."

Carter shook her head and gave him a small look.

"Just a question." he said as he went first and held out a arm so the two men couldn't touch her. "That went well." he muttered.

"Waste of time." she muttered noticing the men were about to run into their heels if they didn't walk faster.

"She was lying, badly. Covering for…uh oh." he said reaching into his back pocket quickly.

The men obviously thought they were going to try something. One guy reached for his gun while the other guy grabbed Ford's shoulder as he sneezed and almost got the hanky to his face. Ford was spun around, dropped the hanky and he decked the guy before the man's punch could even get pulled back. The other guy got his gun out in time, but not up as Ford grabbed his face and slammed his head into the wall knocking a few pictures down. He grabbed the hanky off the floor and had a three more quick sneezes.

"Subtle." Carter said crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"Damn. Whoever it was moved a few times. We need to leave before they spot me." he whispered quickly as people started come around, but not near. "They'll be okay. It was self defense. Let's go Colonel."

She followed and was really surprised when they were able to leave the building without any trouble or being stopped. The guard at the front desk even opened to door for them and tipped his hat.

"I don't get it. Security should have at least…"

"I think she knows what happened and wouldn't say anything on purpose. I think they also know who we are, and possibly who I am."

"Why?"

"Her eyes. And the fact that I kept getting a lot of looks when we entered the building." he said starting the rental. "God I miss the General already."

She groaned as he backed out and then took off quickly.

"What? I know what he is capable of and how he handles. This…SAAB is…pathetic."

"We had a choice of the Volvo."

"If I wanted to sit in the back seat."

"Oh, I forgot that. Makes me wonder about all those football players and such."

"Why do you think they want so much money? It cost a lot to remodel the inside of a vehicle to make sure a seven foot person can actually drive it. Then they start pimping them out, which cost even more, then they get bored after they can't do anymore, so the process starts all over again and…"

"I get the idea. What about possibly getting a personal plane?"

"I really wanted too, but the other version of me…the older version said it was a bad idea. Too many people with hidden agenda's and other threatening problems. Someone would sabotage the plane getting us both killed, or all three of us or…you get the idea."

"Unfortunately, I do. Oh well." she said sighing.

"Besides, I'm a better driver than pilot. Though I did get a plane for the SGC to use personally. Just trips to the White House or such."

"Nice."

Up in a room, a few sections away from the room that Ford and Carter left from, was a security room. There was four monitors set up to watch different areas. Two seats were in front of these monitors. One guy with headphones on was watching in the right chair. She left the room and came in quickly to see Ford and Carter walk down the hall. Then watched the incident unfold. Considering what the tape showed, it would be considered self defense, with the right lawyers. She informed the security to do nothing, but get medical attention to the unconscious guards.

"That can't be just the end of it." the lady said turning to a man sitting on a couch behind her in a slightly black and white stripped three piece suit. A very familiar man.

"No. It's only just the beginning." Ba'al said smiling as he stretched out.

"You were right about on thing. He's fast and very dangerous."

"If my information is correct, he's an Ancient. Which makes him the most dangerous man on the planet against me. And it explains some other intel."

"Then why not have him killed?"

"Seems to be impossible for some reason that I have yet to identify. What's more, he has the power to bring this country into chaos within seconds. Before the end of the day, this planet would be a burning cinder. In which case, it would not serve my purpose anymore, and I can't have that. So we leave him alone, for now."

When they both got back, they got Sally and went back to base. Sam went to her office, after changing and got to work. Daniel met up with him after he left their room, having trouble thinking. She insisted he stay as she changed, using the excuse that he had to watch Sally. Though he personally thought it was to tease him, which she didn't contradict. He got off the elevator, breathing slowly, trying to get his mind on the right things. Daniel was standing there, holding a folder and was wondering why Ford hadn't moved and why his eyes were closed.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" Ford said startled a moment. "Oh, no Daniel. Just thinking. That trip was a total bust. We got nothing. Zip, zilch, nada, nothing, zero…"

"You're beginning to sound like Jack again."

"I'm saying it was pointless to go Daniel. Me and Sam couldn't even do anything but talk, and that was almost pointless since we mostly talked about work. Okay, that wasn't totally pointless, at least us talking. I guess I just hate around." he said waving his arms around slightly. "We might as well just flew the plane in circles for a few hours and wasted fuel."

"You going to come out so someone else can use the elevator?"

"Oh, right." he said as he stopped leaning on the open doors and walked out. "Please tell me you found something?" he pleaded.

"Yeah. We did learn something from the photo's. Had help from the C.I.A." he said pulling them out. "This one is David Balard, chairman of the Stark Consortium, this next one is Masato Hiro, C.E.O. far East Mercantile, this is James Lowery and Tony Tran, President and Chief Financial officer of Alaraph Pharmaceuticals. And this one is Michael Northrop, C.E.O. and founder of Hammil technologies."

"Big people. People that would be missed if they were missing." he said looking at the photo's as they stood in the hallway. "They're not missing are they?"

"No. But these two are. All these other people are very well known in the financial world. All very powerful and very influential."

"Which two are missing?"

"These." he said handing over some more photo's.

"Okay, go on."

"Terrance Evans and William Blaylock. Founding partners of the Procyon Media Enterprises. They went missing about six months ago. Coincidentally, they went missing about six months ago, around the same time we destroyed the Osiris ship."

"They were probably on that ship and infested with Goa'ulds then."

"Yeah. I thought the same thing. But we still have a problem. Since the other's aren't missing, and since we never found out where the Trust got all their finances, I believe they are still out there."

"And they might also be Goa'ulds. I agree Daniel."

"And if these people here." he said pointing at the photos. "Are also Goa'ulds, then we have bigger problems. They have access to lots of money, other governments and who knows how many corporations."

"Ain't great news, but better than what we found out. Okay Daniel. Thanks for what you did find."

At Dakara, Mitchell was leaning against one of the large stone pillars that lead into the Council Chamber. He was quite thoroughly bored. Teal'c was talking to two people that were just outside the Council Chamber. He rolled his head to get the stiffness out of his neck and realized what Ford meant when he said that with some missions, bringing a book was a good idea. If there was no one to talk do and nothing to do, read something, or play with a yo-yo like Jack would sometimes, or even a Gameboy. He saw the Jaffa walk away and Teal'c turn to him.

"Let me guess, they didn't know anything either." he said.

"As Gerak grows stronger, fewer Jaffa avoid the risk of deifying him." Teal'c said as they walked past the large stone column pillars. "For fear of retribution. We must leave Dakara, and seek our information elsewhere."

"The answers you seek are on Earth." they heard a woman say.

They both looked to their lefts seeing the Council woman hiding in a alcove. They both them walked over to her, keeping a quick lookout first.

"What do you know of the Jaffa we discovered?" Teal'c asked.

"He lost his life trying to secure Gerak's prize." she stated.

"Of what prize do you speak?"

"Ba'al."

"Ba'al is on Earth?" Mitchell asked looking at Teal'c. The news was disturbing and upsetting.

"That is where he sought refugee in immediately after the battle at Dakara. He has been there ever since."

"We must report this to General Carter immediately." Teal'c stated quickly turning on his heel and leaving.

"Yeah. I'll be surprised if he doesn't have a conniption."

"I do not understand."

"I'll explain later. If he has one though, then you'll understand. Although, if he does, you might not want to be to close."

"I assume this is a another emotional state of anger."

"No. This sort of emotional state has it's own category."

"Hmm."

"WHAT?!!" he yelled loud enough it was heard by Sam and Daniel who had just got off the elevator. They took off running quickly.

Actually it was heard by everyone on level 28. Mitchell had to step back a few steps, which he almost tripped because the ramp to the gate was behind him. Mitchell was rubbing a ear as Teal'c only raised an eyebrow and took one step back.

"How in the hell did he get on this planet?!!!!"

"The information we were provided with indicates he arrived after his defeat at Dakara." Teal'c stated. "Through information I was told, he was sighted in the Archeva system. He was reported being seen their last week."

"What's going on?" Carter asked as she and Daniel rushed into the room.

"Well, the General is pissed off because we told him Ba'al is hiding out on Earth." Mitchell said as Ford rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand and held the elbow with the other.

"Ba'als on Earth? How?" Daniel asked.

"The better question is how is he living here without being noticed for the last nine months or so?" Carter asked.

"If he is here General Carter." Teal'c said.

"I heard what you said Teal'c, but I could see that Gerak wasn't a fool." Ford said slowly as he kept his eyes closed and continued to rub. "He wouldn't be sending Jaffa here if it wasn't true. They aren't going to stop coming and looking are they?"

"Doubtful. If Ba'al is on this planet, then his capture would ensure his rise to power. Many undecided Jaffa would turn to him for leadership."

Ford muttered something under his breath, and Mitchell could swear he heard the word assassination.

"Teal'c, do you have a map….no. Forget I said that." he said quickly as he dropped his arms. "I need you to tell Gerak that it is in his best interest to keep off this planet. We'll start are own investigation and keep him apprised. Maybe even come to a compromise, but if he keeps sending more of his people, he risk this planet's safety."

"I will inform him General Carter. I do not believe he will listen though."

"I would be surprised if he did. Give him this message as well. He's jeopardizing the friendly relations the Jaffa have with the Tauri. If his people expose this facility, there will be no relations at all. Present company and a few other's excluded of course."

"Indeed." he said with realization of what Ford meant.

"I've got more calls to make now." he said turning away.

"I guess that means we are dismissed." Mitchell muttered.

"Yes, it does. I just realized something though." Ford said turning in the doorway. "I've had to make several dozen phone calls to different…banks and such. Someone keeps messing with me and Sam's money, that doesn't have all that much security. And the…hidden things, the security has been messed with, but not broken into yet. If Ba'al is here, and has those people that you showed me Daniel, or at least has their influence, then they would have access to some of our records."

"Why would they have access to our records?" she asked. "We can't…how much do we have?"

"You don't know?" Daniel asked.

"Never bothered."

"Let's just say, since where we work, makes it so we aren't in the spot light and magazines, and such. But certain financial circles." he said spinning a finger. "Anyone who comes close to Bill Gates numbers. You really can't hide it then."

He left as several people muttered a wow, which was mostly airmen.

"He didn't mean, the Bill Gates?" Mitchell asked.

"Ah….um…I don't know of any other. I had no idea we had….where did he get it all?" she asked with worry on her face.

"I do not know this Bill Gates."

"Short answer Teal'c, he's the richest man on the planet right now." Daniel said.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow as they left the room.

"You really had no idea Sam?"

"Not a clue. I just swipe a card ever so often or pay with a check, occasionally. I called once to see how much I had left on my card to pay, but it was already paid off. I gotta go ask."

"I need to hear this too."

Ford was apprising the President of the news, and telling him that though he thought that Ba'al was on Earth, Teal'c had info that stated otherwise. The president told him to keep him apprised and if he found evidence, then let him know immediately. He held up a finger as two people walked in. Two people he figured were coming up. He handed over a piece of paper from his pocket as he talked to the President then shooed them away with a gesture to wait in the briefing room.

"What is it?" Daniel asked as they stepped out of the room.

"Stocks reports. I don't get it thou….oh my. He's cheating. He better have a good reason for it."

"Cheating? On you?"

"No. Doubt that's even possible. Look at the date."

"Isn't that tomorrow's date. And the next day and…I'm seeing a pattern." Daniel said as he glanced it over.

"I get it in the mail every Monday. If you can't guess who, I ain't telling. As for why, I'm helping people and….he said emergencies might come up." Ford's voice said as he reached between them and took the paper back. "We have money scattered in many area's across the U.S. Developments, charities, bonds, diamond mines, quite a few stocks. A lot goes to investing in things that come here, technologies mostly. A few other things."

"What is our sum total of finances?" she asked.

"I don't actually know. I can say this, Queen Elizabeth still is the richest person on the planet and we are no where close. Anyway, I've got to call Laundry and Jack, so…I'll see you all later. And yes, I'll tell Jack you say hi and miss him."

"Thanks." they said still slightly confused and shocked.

The prisoner was hanging from the chain, literally. His body so injured he just hung there. No strength to keep himself on his knees, mostly because he suffering from extreme torture. Blood was running down his arms from where the metal cuffs dug into his hands. It also ran from a wound on his head. From the looks of his shirt, it looks like he was bleeding from his mouth earlier. At the moment, there was a trickle coming from it. A Jaffa was still standing next to the entrance, keeping guard when Gerak walked in.

"He has reveled Ba'als location. And the locations of his various shelters on Earth." a Jaffa said kneeling next to the injured Goa'uld.

"You should have never invented a effective means of torture." Gerak said to the barely conscious Goa'uld as the Jaffa dropped the pain stick.

On Earth, at the building that Ford and Sam visited, a cloaked cargo ship, uncloaked and landed on the top of the building. A small contingent of Jaffa ran out and broke down the door, entering the building. It was late at night and barely anyone was in the building, except for some guy who was working late and playing a online poker game. He just won a hand and was very happy as a Jaffa staff weapon was poked at him, activated. He turned around slowly in his chair seeing the unknown men in strange metal armor and some weird staff weapon.

"Where is the false god Ba'al?!"

On the security screen, that Ba'al and the lady had looked at when the altercation with Ford and the guards happened, the screen now showed Jaffa racing through the building.

"We've been compromised." she said into a CB unit.

As the Jaffa were searching the cubicles, several units of security personal, armed with semi auto weapons came along and a fire fight started quickly. The Jaffa's watching the man at the desk, that was playing poker, heard the noises and walked away leaving him. He turned back to his desk and then got under it real quickly as he heard the fighting continue.

Ba'al came into the room as she watched the screen. He was putting on his grayish suit jacket as she saw him.

"They are five floors above us."

"I know. We are leaving." he said following her out.

The man that was under his desk, was yelling into a phone. From the sound's of it, it was 911.

The next morning, at the SGC.

Daniel walked off the elevator as Mitchell walked up.

"So?"

"Oh, the office was a war zone." he said as they kept walking. "Staff weapons versus semi automatics."

"Who won?"

"Hard to say. There was no bodies and all the security footage was missing. Ford won't be too surprised hearing that."

"Probably. So, any witnesses?"

"One. The guy was working overtime and spent most of the time under his desk." Daniel said as they both moved out of the way for two other people to pass by. "But he was able to provide the description of three individuals, big, tattooed and chain mail pants."

They both entered the briefing room, by the hallway next to Ford's office.

"So it's either our Jaffa or KISS is back on tour." Mitchell said as Walter was putting a large TV near the window that looked into his office.

"Kiss?" Ford asked sitting on the edge of the table. "What are you two talking about?"

"The Jaffa that attacked that building…" Mitchell was saying.

"What's that got to do with a kiss?"

"I was telling him what the witness said."

"Still don't get it. Just tell me if you trying to keep me from the answer and I'll stop."

"No General. The guy described what the Jaffa looked like and I made a joke saying that it was either the Jaffa or KISS was back on tour."

"And this kiss is? Thanks Walter." he said nodding. Walter nodded to them all and left.

"A musical band. You've never heard of them?" Mitchell asked.

"No. I'm guessing they're not country."

"Very heavy metal General."

"That explains it. I like music I can actually hear words to. Not something that sounds a lot like a car crash, dentistry…"

"I get the idea. I just know who they are. I don't listen to them."

"We aren't watching some cartoon are we?"

"No Colonel. We aren't. Though I wish. Hey Sam. I wanted you to see this." he said seeing he come from the hallway next to his office as well.

"What's going on? We watching something important?"

"Yeah. It's important." he said almost hitting play. "Where's Sally?"

"Nursery. With K-9. Sleeping."

"Cool." he said hitting play.

Ba'al came up on the screen, wearing a grayish three piece suit. Though they all only saw from the chest up. The yellow tie was out of place, but it seemed to work for him. From the look of the background, he was in some office, mostly because of the blinds in picture.

"Although it's a far cry from some of the better worlds I've conquered in my days, this planet it not without, its charms." he said with a small smile.

"That's…" Mitchell asked.

"Ba'al." Daniel said nodding.

"In retrospect, I'm actually glad I never succeeded in destroying it." Ba'al said continuing. "That said, Earth is not without its drawbacks. The foremost being an alarming lack of privacy. My ships have been seized, my armies vanquished. I no longer present a threat to this galaxy."

"You got that part right." Ford muttered.

"All I ask is to be left alone, without having to worry about you, the Jaffa, or any of my former enemies coming after me. So, I'd like to offer the following deal…"

"A deal?!" Ford exclaimed. "I got to hear this."

"Haven't you already seen this?" Carter asked.

"No. I waited for you all to be here." he said pausing it. "Other than we work together as a team, since we are a team and friends. It makes it easier for me to get other things done if I don't have to do things more than once. I just got a small run down of it being a video of Ba'al." he said then un-paused it.

"Allow me to live out the rest of my days here on Earth, in peace, without interference, and in exchange for my…freedom. I will follow your laws."

"Knowing you, you'll find all the loop holes. Just like most politicians." Ford muttered.

"You will never have cause to fear me again. I hope that we can put the past behind us. I…certainly have no desire to harm you or anyone else on this world." he said with a small laugh. "That said, you should know that I have placed a Naquada bomb somewhere in the United States. Consider it ah…precautionary measure. If another attempt is made to capture me, I promise you, the consequences will be most dire."

Ford hit stop on the remote then set it under the large flat screen TV.

"That proves he's here then." Carter said. "Where's Teal'c?"

"Dakara. I swear Gerak is going to force my hand. I got to go talk to Teal'c. Make him tell Gerak to back off." he said leaving the room quickly. They heard him yelling to Walter to dial Dakara.

"Any idea's Colonel?"

"Well, if the Prometheus is functional again, we can use its sensors to scan the country, but it will still take time." she said. "Any idea how we got this message?"

They shook their heads. The left to go do what they needed to and came back a couple hours later. Teal'c and Daniel sat on his left while Sam and Mitchell sat on his right.

"Of all the places to retire, he had to pick this planet." Mitchell muttered.

"Yeah. Kinda figures. What better place to hide than in our own back yard." Ford muttered in agreement. "Okay Sam, has the search teams or the Prometheus found anything?"

"Not yet. Those teams are in the larger urban areas, since it would make more sense to cause damage to those areas rather than something small. But it's a big country and there is a lot of large cities. It could be anywhere. The Prometheus hasn't located anything either. But we can rule out Hawaii and Alaska. Prometheus scanned them first and the teams we sent found nothing."

"Did they start the search pattern as ordered?"

"They started checking the east coast first and moving from there. The first place they checked was the capitol then moved up to Maine then worked their way down. Unfortunately, they found nothing. And the search finished just recently."

"I seriously wish I could say he's bluffing, but we know Ba'al, so it's out there, somewhere."

"I agree." she said. "The other possibility is that he hid the bomb from our scanners. A shield or some other form of technology."

"Unfortunately, there is that thought." Mitchell said.

"Ah man. This is not getting any better is it. Anything else or other ideas?" Ford asked.

"Well, I have to agree that he probably has it in a well populated area." Daniel said. "Considering that he has control of the Trust, he has access to resources and funds. Not to mention, who knows how much naquada he really has and how big the bomb is."

"I didn't consider that thought Daniel. He's really pulled the rug out from under us with this one." Ford said rubbing his face with both hands.

"The biggest questions I see here are one, how do we find him and two, what do we do when we find him and minimize the collateral damage?" Mitchell stated.

"I wish we could use those special missiles we made. Now they are pointless."

"Missiles?" Mitchell asked.

"Sam and I made a special program, fitted in a computer chip. Basically, we sent a missile through the gate and it would detect if there was any Goa'uld around." Ford said.

"We have used them many times. And they worked well. Managed to retrieve most of them that we used. Now with the Goa'uld practically gone, they just sit in a storage hanger." she said.

"I hate to point this out, but we have another problem if we do find him. More than likely, he's surrounded by some heavy security. And there is a very good chance that they don't know what he really is." Daniel said. "We could harm some innocent people that didn't know better."

"I've got another idea. We could use the symbiont poisoning." she said suddenly realizing what they had in storage.

"Finally some good news. I should have thought of that. Good idea Sam. Contact R&D and have them get whatever they need ready." he said seeing her smile. "I want it ready to fire on a moments notice."

"Got it." she said.

"Now, all we have to do is find him."

"Well, the N.I.D. is running surveillance on the people in those pictures. Hopefully, one of them will leads us to Ba'al."

"Of equal concern, are Gerak's Jaffa. We have no control over them. If they decide to move on Ba'al, Earth will feel Ba'als full reprisal." Teal'c said.

"Oh god. You did tell…sorry Teal'c. I know you told him. What did he say?"

"That the Tauri are not capable of fulfilling such a task."

"What about the breaking of relations and the treaty we have?"

"He indicated that the Jaffa are better off without the Tauri's interference."

"What a complete ass! Doesn't he realize that without the Tauri starting the resistance, and you joining, is what lead to the downfall of the Goa'uld? If Jack and the other's hadn't showed up that day, nine some odd years ago, you'd still be working for Aphosis."

"Indeed." Teal'c said agreeing. "Though it was slow, doubt of the Goa'ulds power as being gods did increase with my departure."

"If Gerak keeps up this attitude, I swear he'll cause civil war for the Jaffa nation. Not to mention he might go to war against the Earth."

"Wouldn't the Asguard step in then?" Mitchell asked.

"Yeah. They more than likely would park one of their vessels in orbit." Ford said.

"Speaking of which, wouldn't Gerak already have more Jaffa already here? It is a long and stinky ride from Dakara." Mitchell said.

"Indeed." Teal'c said nodding. "More than likely, he has a mothership nearby."

"I'll contact the Colonel on the Prometheus and have them scan the area for it then. As far as I know, you can't cloak a mothership without a lot of power." Ford said. "Mitchell, Teal'c, I want you on the Prometheus. Us three are going to go work with the N.I.D."

"You're leaving then General?" Mitchell asked as they all got up.

"No offense, but with the exception of Teal'c here, not many people can take a Goa'uld on bare handed. And I can usually resist being tossed across the room by that energy blast from the hand. So if we find him, I may have to take him on."

"Got it." Mitchell said pointing a finger. "Let's go big guy."

Teal'c raised a eyebrow and then followed.

"We'll need to drop off Sally."

"Yeah. We'll take K-9 with us. And the General."

"Why him?" she asked.

"Faster and has most if not better equipment as those vans. We are taking them anyway."

Mitchell came back in with Teal'c quickly as Ford was opening his mouth to shout..

"I almost thought you forgot Mitchell." Ford said smiling.

"So busy, so busy." he said reaching in his pocket.

He pulled off Daniel's patch and slapped a SG-1 patch on it. He looked at Sam, who smiled and closed her eyes with a small laugh as he pulled hers off and did the same. He held out another one to Teal'c. Teal'c smiled then nodded as he took it.

"Now, the team is back. Officially." Ford said smiling.

"All right." Mitchell said nodding as he walked out. "Much better."

"That it does. Well, he's in charge of his part. You're in charge of us Sam. Oh, ah did you want command of SG-1 again? I have no doubt he'd give command over."

"No. He deserves it and I have enough on my plate right now, or I should say we."

"I didn't forget Sally."

"You aren't going to drive like a maniac are you?" Daniel asked.

"Not with Sally in the car. After that…."

"I'm going with the other guys then. You two….you're dangerous."

They both laughed as they walked out.

"You're forgetting something?"

"No. I'm getting Reynolds as we leave."

The Prometheus was currently still in orbit and still scanning, though they were not getting any results on locating the bomb or the mothership. They also were not detecting any cargo ships either. Mitchell and Teal'c were beamed aboard after they had gotten ready and then called the ship. They just stepped off the elevator as Colonel Pendergast came up and gave them both a salute.

"Gentlemen, welcome aboard."

"Thank you sir. Any word from NORAD?" Mitchell asked as they followed the Colonel.

"S.S.N. came up empty. Could the ship we are looking for be cloaked?"

"Motherships do not possess cloaking capabilities." Teal'c said.

"Then could we be looking for another type of craft?" the Colonel asked Teal'c.

"It is possible."

"Whatever the target ship, if it's out there, we'll find it."

After making arrangements with Reynolds, they got hold of the N.I.D. and found out what intel they learned. Once they had that, they gathered what they needed and took off. Daniel wasn't too frightened. Once they dropped off Sally, who wasn't thrilled with the idea and cried as they kissed her and left, then Daniel was scared. Ford was driving, not surprisingly. He was the best driver out of them all.

They all had to change clothes before the trip to the stakeout. Ford placed his coat on the back of the seat and wore black khaki pants with a black long sleeve shirt that had Optimus Prime on the front. He had to remove the SGC patch, but always kept the stars on the shoulders. Daniel was in a dark brown shirt with a green coat on, kind of like the SGC issue type. He also had on green khaki's. Sam had on black slacks with a black shirt. She hung her armored leather coat on the back of the seat and was currently wearing a greenish blue coat that went to her shins.

"What happens if we flip the car end over end a few times?" Daniel asked quickly as they few down the rode, 20 miles over the limit.

"Daniel. You have died the most times at the SGC. You have ascended and came back, and I think that you died once even after that. What are you afraid of?" Ford asked as the General roared past several cars.

"Trust me Daniel. This car is safe enough to take the full impact of a train." Sam said. "We are completely safe."

"Doesn't feel safe." he muttered gripping his seat belt. K-9 was in the back seat with him, but he had no seatbelt.

"Hang on. I'm going to make a very tight turn soon." he said smiling wickedly. Daniel saw it and grabbed the roll bar.

"Show off." she said.

Out at a runway, there was a parked surveillance N.I.D. truck. Agent Barret was inside waiting for them to show up. He looked up as he heard a series of unusual tones. He opened the back of the truck to see a bright orange car coming at them at a fast speed. It suddenly turned and did a spin out, stopping several feet from the truck with the passenger side facing him. He saw through the window that Colonel Carter was laughing. The passenger door opened and Sam stepped out still laughing. Ford crawled out of the window and sat on the door frame.

"Daniel, it wasn't that bad." she said smiling. "Hello agent Barret."

"Colonel. Hello Doctor Jackson. You okay?" Barret asked.

"No. I just saw my life spin before my eyes." he said shaking him self a bit then grabbing his pack from the trunk.

"Daniel. Have I ever intentionally put you into danger?" Ford asked.

Daniel was about to speak.

"And being sent off world doesn't count."

"Until today, no."

Sam tried not to laugh, and fell into a fit of giggles. Ford chuckled lightly.

"Okay Daniel. I'll make you a deal. Next time you ride with me, any time it is, I'll obey the speed limits and not do anything you don't want. Unless you want to drive."

"Deal."

"Are you okay?" he asked sincerely.

"Yeah. Just experiencing an adrenalin rush right now. I'm riding with him still."

"Okay. Hello agent Barret."

"General."

"So, what new intel do you have?" she asked leaning on the top of the car with an elbow.

"From the information we gained from one of our agents that was following the Jameson lead, they found someone matching Ba'al's description at the Gilbride Hotel on Fifth Street about an hour ago. Looks like we got him."

"Good. The sooner he's gone the better. The Colonel and I will be in this vehicle. You guys do have a radio unit in that thing?"

"Yes General. But why are you taking your car?"

"Think…Batmobile."

"What?" he said really confused.

"K-9, do me a favor and start that vehicle and, activate some of the equipment inside. Nothing that could be damaging though."

Barret jumped slightly as he heard the truck start and a few of the electronic surveillance equipment turn on.

"There's a whole computer system built into this car Barret." Carter said patting the car's top. "We'll also be scanning around."

"Oh. You'll have to show me later what you mean by the term, Batmobile."

"I will. Okay, let's get going. We'll follow your vehicle." Ford said as he ducked back into the car and started it up.

Sam got back in and closed the door.

"You sure you don't want to come Daniel?"

"No, no, no. I'm much safer here." he said walking into the back quickly.

The Prometheus was now stationed in one place above the Earth. She went to a full stop and was facing away from the Earth as she did her scans. Colonel Pendergast came onto the bridge with the other two SG-1 members. He walked to his chair as he spoke.

"Are you picking up anything at all? Unusual variances? Anonymous energy readings?"

"No sir." the Lieutenant reported.

Teal'c and Mitchell walked up to the front of the bridge and looked out the windows to see the moon.

"You know, it's possible what we are looking for isn't even out there." Mitchell said.

"It is possible, but unlikely." Teal'c said. "If Gerak were to believe that Ba'al is on Earth, then he would undoubtedly establish a base of operations in Earth's orbit."

"Great, so where is it?" Mitchell asked, not expecting an answer.

Teal'c continued to look out the windows, seeing the moon. It gave him a idea and reminded him of something Ford once told him. A deception was best in plain sight, because that's the last thing anyone would expect, same with hiding an object. He raised an eyebrow and turned slightly to the Colonel.

"Hiding in plain sight." he muttered with a small nod.

"Right." Mitchell said also nodding, but obviously lost.

"Colonel Pendergast, set your course for the far side of the moon."

The Colonel turned to the navigator and order it so.

The N.I.D. truck arrived and parked far enough away that it wouldn't be noticed, but close enough they could do the surveillance. Ford parked the General in another parking lot about half a block over. A man that was part of the team watching the building came out and walked over slowly to the truck across the street in a parking lot. He knocked on the back and Barret let him. He entered seeing Daniel sitting in a chair near the door, Barret walking to a chair in the back of the truck, Colonel Carter sitting in a chair at the center and General Carter standing in the corner.

"What's the situation?" Barret asked.

"They're still inside, room 1602." he said nervously, or winded. "All the exits are covered. We are just waiting for the green light."

"Doctor Jackson, you go with Williams." Barret said.

The informant pulled his gun, checked it and put it back in his belt holster. Daniel pulled his from behind him and walked out with him.

"Be careful Daniel." Ford said.

"I will. I'll call if I need help."

The door closed and Sam moved over to the door activating some equipment.

"Need help or…" Ford asked taking a step forward.

"No. It's all rather easy. If K-9 was here, he'd do it more quickly, but we aren't in any rush at the moment. Besides, he's keeping watch as well."

"I'm guessing he's more or less keeping watch for any, ships or otherwise."

"Yeah. If Ba'al tries to leave by ship, we'll try and track it." Ford said.

"So, I never got a chance to say sorry I couldn't make it to the wedding. I got the invitation, but…I was stuck working and couldn't get out if it." Barret said as she continued activating computers and other systems.

"There was a few other people that we sent invitations, and they never came either. Don't worry about it." she said.

"Really, I thought it was a incredible miracle that we even were able to get married without being interrupted. It was a further blessing we got a week to go honeymooning." Ford said.

"Why do you think that?" Barret asked.

"Well, we were still fighting the Goa'uld then," he said pulling one of the chairs over and sitting it backwards. "And I seriously kept thinking the base was going to call and that was going to be it until we tried again at a time everyone could be free."

"I see your point. I wanted to say congratulations though Colonel. Not only on getting married, but I heard about you having a little girl now too."

"Yeah." she said smiling. "She's a bundle of fun. Part of me hates leaving her for work."

"And yet, you're still working. No offense." he said.

"We both agreed that staying on the job meant we knew if the world was in trouble or not. We have a place for children to be brought, for those who can't get someone else to watch them. Mostly it was for Sally, so we could be by if she needed anything. K-9 watch's her while we work."

"Any problems so far?"

"Other than the feedings and some loss of sleep." she said with a small laugh. "That's really about it. She's not much of a big crier. Unless she seriously wants attention."

"Sounds like a lot of fun." he said as she placed an ear piece in her ear. She handed one to Ford as Barret put one in his ear.

Barret guessed that the baby was a fuzzy eater, but that wasn't the case and they weren't telling anyone. With the exception of Janet and Sam's parents. The baby was not wanting to wean and was fussy when they tried the bottle. Ford made a comment while watching Sam feed Sally once, saying he knew why their little princess didn't want the bottle. Sam laughed, then after putting Sally to bed later, she rewarded, as she called it, Ford's compliment. Even with coffee the next morning, he had trouble waking up that day.

It didn't take too long and the Prometheus was coming up and around the Earth's moon.

"Sir, I'm picking up a large energy signature." the Lieutenant reported.

Out the windows, everyone on the bridge could see a mothership hiding just in the dark side of the moon's shadow.

"Lock on target." Pendergast order.

"Target locked." he said then noticed something on his console seconds after. "Sir, we are receiving a communication from the mothership."

He turned to the man quickly, surprised at the quick response.

"Let's see it." he said turning his chair to a larger screen to his left. Teal'c and Mitchell walked over as the screen changed to show a Jaffa.

"Withdraw, or we will be forced to defend ourselves." the Jaffa stated.

"Sorry." Mitchell said with no remorse. "We are not going anywhere."

Daniel was watching the building with binoculars from a silver car. Williams was sitting in the driver seat just waiting for orders. He lowered the binoculars and sighed.

"Come on, where are they?"

"Abort, all agents abort." came through the radios.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked through his unit as Williams looked around with the binoculars.

"He's not inside. If we move now, we risk compromising the operation." Barret said.

"Barret, you better be damned sure about this." Daniel said after watching a black limo drive up to the entrance and watched a man that could almost resemble Ba'al enter it.

"We're sure." Barret said. "Let them go and come to the van."

Moments later, Daniel opened the door and entered the van.

"Well?" he asked.

"It wasn't him." Carter said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Because he is currently doing a live interview, all the way across town." Ford muttered.

"What?"

Carter and he both pointed at a screen that showed Ba'al making a speech. A large set of words that said Hammel Technologies was on the wall behind him.

"Thank you, that is a very good question." Ba'al said from a podium. "My acquisition of Hammel Technologies and its subsidiaries is just the first step in a long range venture that will ultimately see consolidation and a streamlining of what is presently a dissolute market. No doubt, most of you have never heard of me before today, well, I can assure that over the next few months, you'll all get to know me very well, and I look for to it."

She turned off the TV and sighed.

"He just made it completely impossible to touch him." Ford growled.

"How? All we'd…"

"If we try to go after him, false charges or something else more or less devastating to his growing career, he could tell the world about the existence of aliens. And about the SGC. He's already warned us about a bomb, that we haven't found yet." he said dropping his head onto the back of the chair. "I'm going to have a headache at this rate."

The small standoff between the mothership and the Prometheus continued as life kept going on, on Earth. Though the ships had both met each other only minutes ago.

"This is Colonel Pendergast of the Earth ship Prometheus asking you to stand down."

"We have no desire to engage you in battle, but we will not withdraw our forces."

"Look, we know why you are here." Mitchell said with a even tone.

"Then you also know that I have no choice but to maintain my present position."

"Okay, FYI, we are not going to let you put any more men on the planet's surface." Mitchell said with a threatening tone.

"If you fire on our ship, we will defend ourselves."

"Yat'Yir, hear me." Teal'c said. "You and your Jaffa are at a disadvantage. Knowing neither territory or its inhabitants. Allow us to assist you in apprehending Ba'al. We can both lay claim to his capture, then all Jaffa can declare their freedom and celebrate as one."

"I am afraid that we are past the point were are differences can be settled so readily. I am sorry Teal'c." he said then cut off the channel. The screen went back to showing a inside look at the Prometheus from the top.

"Meanwhile, they still have boots on the ground." Mitchell said after a short grunt and growl.

"Nothing we can do about that." Pendergast said.

"Perhaps we can." Teal'c suddenly said.

"We can?" Mitchell asked. "How?"

Teal'c smiled as he started walking.

"By forcing Gerak's hand."

Mitchell tilted his head and smiled as he followed Teal'c off the bridge.

The N.I.D truck moved and parked near the building. K-9 brought the General around and managed to park behind them.

"So, what's the plan then?"

"We are staying here, for the moment." Ford said.

"Why? You already said that we can't go after him, so why stay?"

"I'm thinking." he said rubbing his forehead as he leaned into the wall. About two minutes later. "Okay, I have to make another call. Been doing that a lot."

"The president?" Carter asked.

"No. This time I have to call the Pentagon. But I want you guys keeping watch. If he shows up, let me know. Then I'll go talk to him."

"Talk to him? You're more likely to pound his face in." Daniel said.

"No. I have the whole planet to worry about now. I would point blank ask him what his plan is, hope that he does tell the truth or something that makes it easy for me to see through and realize his true plan." he said then took a deep breath as he stood. "And, improvise from there. But I won't harm him."

"What if he tries to harm you?" Carter asked.

"In broad day light. And me wearing these." he said pointing at the stars on his shoulder. "I don't think he's that stupid. Besides, he tries, he won't live long afterward."

After Ford walked out and got in the General, calling the Pentagon.

"You sure he has that much restraint Sam?"

"Yeah. Surprisingly enough, he has a lot of patience and restraint."

"You're sure Colonel?"

"I've seen it in him. Taking it from an experienced watcher."

Prometheus pulled back far enough they could still see and keep a sensor lock on the mothership and get back into transporter range. They beamed the two SG-1 members back to the SGC and then moved a little closer again to keep watch. Teal'c and Mitchell got an update of what the rest of SG-1 learned and found out they were still off base. Teal'c informed Reynolds of what he wanted to do. Reynolds agreed and sent Mitchell with him to Dakara. Teal'c was back in his robes while Mitchell hadn't changed. They were walking down one of the long and tall stone hallways in the temple to the Council Chamber.

"If there is one thing a Jaffa values, above all else, is his pride. When the other Council members discover that Gerak has not been completely forthcoming, they will turn against him and force his hand. Gerak must be shamed into moving his forces from Earth. It is the only way."

"Your tuff, your rules, brother." Mitchell said as he gestured Teal'c to enter the chamber first.

They entered finding the Council was in session. Gerak was currently speaking.

"No matter how far we must travel. No matter how long it will take," he said as his voice rose in octaves. "Our former enemies must pay for their crimes!

Teal'c stayed standing as he watched. Gerak's voice went back to normal as his hands slowly waved and he continued speaking.

"This I promise you, that we will destroy them. Not only in memory of just those who have fallen, but also for those who survived. To enjoy their freedom."

"You speak of honor Gerak, but you disrespect this Council by dis-honoring it with your lies." Teal'c stated as he looked around.

"I have not lied to this Council, it is you who I have purposely mislead." he said resting his arms on the table. "For fear that you are committed to the cause, is suspect."

"Even as Gerak speaks, his followers are hunting Ba'al on earth." Teal'c stated.

"Of this, we are well aware." the woman said.

Both Mitchell and Teal'c were shocked.

"I had wished to inform the Council sooner, but I dared not, for fear that the elements sympathetic to the Tauri, would learn about Ba'al's whereabouts." Gerak said.

"You dare to question my loyalty?!" Teal'c shouted.

"Your loyalty is not under question Teal'c. You have done more than anyone to secure our freedom, and for that we are ever grateful." she said. "However, your allegiance to the Tauri presents you with a difficult dilemma."

"Even as we speak, your Tauri ships keep us from pursuing the enemy." Gerak stated forcefully.

Teal'c thought a moment before he turned to the woman at far end of the table and walked toward her.

"As you have said, Ka'Lel, I accomplished much in our long struggle against our former oppressors. But only because of the support of the Tauri. Their commitment was as unwavering as my own, and now you would repay them by surreptitiously stealing upon their world, putting their people if nothing, the Stargate program at risk!"

He looked around, giving them time to think, though it was only seconds.

"They are our allies. Rather than dishonoring them by trespassing on their world, respect them enough to tell them the truth, ask for their assistance in capturing Ba'al. They will help us!"

"But uh, will they?" Gerak asked mocking him.

"They are as determined to make Ba'al pay for his crimes as we are."

"But if they, succeed?!"

"Then he will be brought before this Council, and be made to pay for his punishment! You have my word." he said almost growling out the last part.

Gerak obviously didn't believe him just by the look he gave Teal'c. Teal'c turned, after glancing around and nodded to Mitchell it was time to leave.

"What they hell are you thinking?" Mitchell asked as they walked down the corridor. "There ain't no guarantee that the U.S. government is going to give them Ba'al."

"It was only to give Gerak pause before his next attack against Ba'al on Earth. Even so, we may have only gained a brief respite."

"Maybe. It's going to hit the fan when the General hears about this, you know that right?"

"Indeed."

They came back to the base finding Reynolds walking into the room.

"We found Ba'al. Satellite tracking places him in a remote building at the west side of the city. The building is heavily guarded." he said as they followed him out of the room. "He made no attempt to hide himself or run as he went to his press conference."

"You've already informed the General I take it?" Mitchell asked as they entered the Gate Control Room.

"He was there watching in that N.I.D. van with Colonel Carter, Doctor Jackson and Agent Barret."

"Clearly, Ba'al is emboldened in the belief that we would not dare attack him now that he has made himself a public figure." Teal'c said.

"I agree. Even the General said he couldn't do anything now. Okay Walter, patch us in."

On a screen above them, a picture of Carter, Daniel and Ford came up.

"Reynolds. Everything working out okay still?"

"Yes General. You all ready on your end?"

"Yes. Made the appropriate calls. Just have to hope it doesn't back fire." Ford said.

"We have a missile with the symbiont poison ready to fire at any time. Just waiting for you sir."

A smile tugged at his face, seeing the small smile on hers.

"You really do that on purpose." he whispered. "Okay Teal'c, give me a quick run down of what the Council said."

A few minutes later, Ford shook his head.

"God……figures." he said biting back a few quick retorts. "Gerak has the Council eating out of his hand. This isn't good, but we haven't any other choice."

"Indeed."

"As for taking him to Dakara, if we capture him, I have a few ideas on how to get him to there and still bring him home alive. Okay, I guess we need to start this."

"Wait, what if the bomb is fake?" Daniel asked.

"It's not. Ba'al isn't a bluffer. There's a bomb. We haven't found it yet. If anything, this will force his hand, making him tell us where the bomb is, hopefully. Then we might be able to stop it."

"We're going to need a pretty big cover story, for all of this." she said.

"Not a problem there. Seems to happen quite a bit with this place." Mitchell said.

"That's not comforting Mitchell. Days like this I wish everyone knew the truth." Ford said rubbing his head. "Okay, let's get ready and pray this all works out well. Everything else has so far."

Ba'al walked down the hallway to an office with lots of people at computer systems. He entered the room to see his personal secretary on the phone.

"Right. Good work." she said then hung up the phone as Ba'al walked up. He looked at her as she pushed her hair back.

"What's the news?"

"Stargate command intends to attack."

"How can you be certain?"

"The humans that set up the TRUST, were in a position to infiltrate much of the secure communications network, employed by this government."

"How, clever of them." he said smiling.

Reynolds was talking to Mitchell and Teal'c when Walter came up knocking on the door.

"Sir, we got another communication from Ba'al."

"Do you have….."

"It's already set up and sent sir. The rest of SG-1 will have already seen it by the time you're finished."

"Let's see it then." Reynolds said as they entered the room and looked at the large TV screen. The briefing room table was behind them.

"You have chosen not to head my warning, so you force my hand." Ba'al said sitting in front of a screen in a different three piece suit and some dark tie with small designs on it. "There's a bomb in the Halcyon Tower in downtown Seattle. It will detonate at exactly 1:30 pm, local time. Call off your strike, and I will defuse the device. Defy me, and this will be the first of many demonstrations."

The screen cut off instantly.

"We've got only 45 minutes." Reynolds said.

"The building is being evacuated. Mobile units are in route as we speak." Walter said.

"Oh god, this just got worse." Ford said rubbing his face with both hands. "Okay, ah….me, Sam and K-9 are going to Seattle. Ah, Sam, deal with this please. I need to go and get the car."

"Okay." she said as he picked K-9 up and left.

"Seattle is to far away to drive. By the time 1:30 rolls around, you two won't ever make it." Barret said.

"I think he's calling the Prometheus for help." she said. "Barret, you and your men, secure the perimeter. No one in or out. Daniel, once the missile hits, you'll have to go in and see if we succeeded."

He nodded as the door opened.

"General's here. K-9's all hooked up to start searching when we get there."

"Are you using the beam technology to get there?" Barret asked.

"First car in orbit, hell yeah. Though it will be in the transporter system for a few seconds before being sent back."

"Beats flying coach, or driving." Daniel said.

"I wish we had more time." Ford said as she stepped out. "I would drive then."

Daniel shuddered slightly and walked away from the door. Barret didn't get it and gave Ford a look. He just smiled and walked away.

"Good luck." Sam said as they got in the car.

She used the door, he didn't. Seconds later, the car drove away quickly and once he found an empty alley, they vanished.

People were still being evacuated from the building as the mobile unit was looking over the building with scanning devices. On the second floor, in a large lobby near the inside balcony that over looked the doors to the outside on the first floor, there was a bright light.

"What are we doing inside the building?"

"Too many people still outside. Besides, this way we get better readings." he said sliding out the window.

"General." a man said walking up in black clothes and holding a scanning device.

"Continue on." Ford said as Sam got out and took K-9 out.

"Your car is here General. Why?"

"Has sophisticated scanning equipment. Anything yet K-9?"

"Still scanning Master."

"He might have some trouble, like we all are."

"What do you mean?" Carter asked.

"We can't get a fix on its location." he said showing them the small screen he was holding.

"Multiple signals." she said.

"He must have wanted to make a big statement. A big one. These readings…..the explosion….." Ford said walking back over and getting in the car by opening the door.

"It would be tremendous." she said.

"How bad Colonel?" the man asked. "A couple blocks?"

"More than ten. Keep looking around." she said walking over to K-9 who went around a corner, still scanning away.

"This isn't good." Ford said looking over the readings.

At the building that Ba'al was in, the units from Stargate command hadn't showed up yet, but a cargo ship did. It flew, uncloaked toward the roof and landed without trouble.

Ba'al entered the computer room quickly.

"Wipe the hard drives and destroy the equipment." he said quickly. "I want nothing left."

They started doing so real quickly as they all heard staff weapon fire suddenly.

"The Jaffa. They found us." she said.

"Right. Time to go." Ba'al said taking her arm gently and walking out quickly.

They walked out with a security detail as the other people kept destroying the hard drives.

Walter came up to his station as Reynolds walked into the Gate Control Room with Mitchell and Teal'c.

"Anything yet Walter?"

"General and Colonel Carter are still searching sir." Walter said sitting down. "Doctor Jackson reports that the Jaffa have entered the compound and are currently engaged with the guards."

"We must not hesitate Colonel Reynolds." Teal'c stated.

"The General did give you the authority to launch sir."

"I know. Just not something I'm proud of doing. Walter, do it."

"Yes sir. Launching Alpha two."

"Sam, I think we have a big problem." he said round a couple of corners to find her near the other end of the building and on another floor.

"I know. If it's what I think it is from these readings and from what K-9 is getting, it's worse."

"Have you asked K-9 for a best guess? I asked the computer in the General to give me what it thought was the possibility with the information we have."

"Not yet. K-9, with all the data you have, what is the conclusion of the possible hypothesis?"

He turned around and retracted the antenna into his face.

"Analyzing data Mistress. Please wait." he said as his ears moved.

"I did a check on how old this building was while I was at it. It's practically brand new." Ford said.

"Then that means…."

"Analysis complete. The building is the bomb."

They both looked at each other with fear.

"The car, now!" he said grabbing K-9.

"Something wrong Colonel?" a guy asked as they rushed past. "Did you…."

"Get out of here, now! Evacuate the building! Get your team out now!" she said as she sat down in her seat quickly.

Ford put K-9 in the back and hit a few buttons.

"Come on Walter." he said urgently/

"General?"

"Walter, we found the bomb. But…."

"You found the bomb General. That's great news." Reynolds said. Walter had put them on speaker and on the screen. "Have you been able to defuse it?"

"No and we can't. Not enough time and we don't know where the detonator is." Carter said quickly.

"I don't under…."

"The whole damn building is the bomb. Naquada was used in the construction." Ford stated.

"Oh man. The level of destruction…."

"I know Mitchell. I need ideas here." Ford said.

"What have you done so far?" Reynolds asked.

"Other than telling the teams here to evacuate, nothing yet." Carter said. "Even with K-9 and the General Lee's powerful computer, we can't locate the detonator."

"I called the Prometheus and had them try scanning for it, but even linking up with my system here, they still got no results. Too much interference." Ford said.

"I think Ba'al had this all planned out ahead of time. He's probably been ready for this since his loss at Dakara. And who knows how many more bombs there are." she said.

"Sir, General, we have a confirmed hit on the location. Doctor Jackson and agent Barret are moving in to secure the area now." Walter said.

"Hopefully we got him at least." Ford muttered.

"How's the evacuation coming?" Reynolds asked.

"We've got five blocks evacuated, but it's not going to matter in a few minutes. Five, hell ten or 20 miles isn't going to matter. It will only be worse if there are more buildings or whatever he stuck more naquada into nearby."

"Can you drive out of there quick enough General?" Reynolds asked knowing of the car's power.

"Not from the second floor. We were beamed into the lobby since to many people were still outside. It would take to long to transport us out onto the street and get away. This car has speed, but I don't think we can outrun an explosion like this. We'll have to get transported back to the…."

"Wait a minute. That's it." Mitchell said walking up to Walter's side. "Hang on General. Walter, get me Colonel Pendergast."

"Yes sir."

Up on the Prometheus, the Colonel sat down in his chair.

"Cam, what can I do for ya?" he asked happily.

"I need a little help moving."

One minute to detonation.

"Good idea Colonel. Just beam us out first." Ford said hearing the plan seconds later.

"Not enough time. You have to get out of the building." Mitchell said.

"Give us ten seconds then. Hang on Sam." Ford said starting the car quickly.

"You're not…" she exclaimed as she was thrown back into her seat. He spun the car around quickly and floored it for a large window. "Oh god, you are!"

"They are out sir."

"Beam it out then. Quickly." Pendergast said.

They both looked, after getting out of the General, at the building as it was transported away. Up in space, several thousand kilometers away from the ship, the building appeared, and exploded seconds later. The shields easily blocked the shockwave.

"It worked, the building exploded at a safe distance." Pendergast reported to the SGC and the General Lee.

"Again, good call Mitchell." Ford said.

"No problem General."

"Sir, General, I've got Doctor Jackson on the line."

"Report doctor." Reynolds said.

"I'm sorry to report, but it looks like Ba'al escaped. We've got another problem here though, something that Sam and Ford need to look at."

"Colonel, call Pendergast back up and have us beamed over."

"On it General. Walter, if you would please."

This time, the General was put outside. Daniel was waiting for them and escorted them down to the bottom level, with K-9 following. What they found, was not good. In fact, things just got much, much worse.

At Dakara, Teal'c was back talking to the Council. He had left as Walter was calling the Prometheus back for Mitchell. The Council was around him in the Council chamber hearing what he had to say.

"The old ways will no longer serve us. Gerak's ways are not of the future."

They turned hearing someone approaching to see Gerak enter the chamber from the hallway.

"How dare you. How dare you set foot in this Council chamber!" Teal'c shouted in anger as he stepped toward Gerak who stopped at the end of the stairs.

"Why should I pause to return? Tell me Teal'c." he said unfazed.

"Because you disregarded my warnings. But because your rash actions allowed Ba'al to escape not to mention cause the loss of lives of many of our brothers!"

"They did not die in vain." Gerak step moving aside as two Jaffa in armor came down the steps holding a man between them.

It was Ba'al, in his three piece suit and a striped tie. He had some blood on him from where he must have been hit in the face a few times, but nothing disfiguring. His hands were bound together in front of him.

"My rash actions were necessary, I'm sure you agree." Gerak said as Ba'al was forced to his knees. Gerak stood behind him, looking at the appalled and slightly shocked look on Teal'c's face.

"Yes, you made news, of what might have been. But in the end, it was my men, who captured Ba'al." he said pointing at him.

Teal'c looked behind him seeing the Council looked happy and impressed.

"Enjoy your short lived freedom. You were born slaves, and slaves you will die." Ba'al said in his Goa'uld voice. He even laughed as he looked at them all.

Gerak took the staff weapon from the Jaffa next to him and shot Ba'al in the back. Ba'al's eyes didn't flash as he fell forward dead. The Council was more than happy and approved of what happened. Teal'c left seeing there was nothing he could do.

He came back through the gate to find SG-1 at the bottom of the ramp. Daniel, Mitchell, Carter and Ford.

"Teal'c, what's wrong?" Ford asked pulling his hands from his pockets.

"Ba'al did not escape. He was captured by Gerak's forces." he said stopping at the end of the ramp.

"Had you stayed a little longer T, you would have got some interesting news." Ford said.

"Yeah, about how right and how wrong that is." Mitchell said.

"Ba'al was brought before the Council chamber and executed before my very eyes. Of this there can be no doubt." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah, you saw Ba'al die. But…."

"Daniel wanted us at that site for a specific reason and didn't say it over the communication lines, in case the Jaffa were listening in. He show us a lab that was set up on the bottom floor." Carter said.

"It contained genetic research equipment and replicator technology. Or I should say, cloning technology." Ford said.

"Indeed." Teal'c said with a raised eyebrow and small smile. "Gerak's people captured a clone."

"That's right." Daniel said. "Unless that was really him and his clones are living."

"Doubtful. Very doubtful." Ford said.

"I know, but it is possible." Daniel said.

"He probably gave up a clone to make the Jaffa back off."

Teal'c nodded and started off out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Mitchell asked.

"To take a much needed rest." Teal'c said.

"Don't you want to tell them…." Mitchell started saying.

"To do so would only be an attempt to tarnish Gerak's hard fought victory. I believe it would not be in the best interest of Earth."

"Why's that?" Mitchell asked. Teal'c pointed and they looked to see Ford shaking his head.

"Bad idea. Very bad idea. Bad enough they practically invaded this planet to get what they wanted. Don't need them sending a whole army to search the planet for him and his clones. For the time being, the Jaffa do not hear of this information. That's an order Teal'c."

"Indeed. Such information would only cause to serve more problems."

"I trust Bra'tak to keep quiet though and Ishta, so they are fine. Go get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow."

He smiled and nodded leaving.

"Sorry General, I didn't even think…"

"Don't worry about it. I'd personally like to go and tell it to Gerak's face, but he'd just send more Jaffa and well….okay. Let's finish what's left for the day and all go home. I know I've got an hour or so of paperwork. See ya later." he said walking off.

Somewhere in the United States, in some room, Ba'al sat watching TV. There was a report on about what happened to the building that exploded in an apparent gas fire in Seattle. Though no one was around to see anything or hear anything, there was a lot of rubble. Over at a bar, Ba'al was also fixing a drink from himself and the female secretary sitting across from him. Over off to the left of the Ba'al that was watching TV, he was reading the paper. Another one entered the room from the back, and from the sounds of it, he was the original.

"I think I'll turn in for the night. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." he said walking out of the room.

They all nodded and continued what they were doing.

The next day, was not turning out to be a great day, at the SGC. It started out okay, no problems, no Ba'al showing up on the screen or anything threatening them anyway. He was on the news talking about some financial stuff, but it was unimportant. There were no scheduled missions for SG-1, so everyone was just doing their other work. Then they got interrupted.

Ford was working on finishing his current batch of paper work. It was as bad as Jack had said and sometimes worse. He had recently, a few days ago, finished the paperwork dealing with Carter coming back to the SGC. The Prometheus had returned two days ago after trying and succeeding in stopping the Prior from making it possible for the Ori to make a very large black hole that would have served as a large gateway to go back and forth between whatever galaxy the Ori were in and the one Earth was in. He looked up waiting to see who was about to enter his office, could tell it was three people, but no one he knew. Ford knew it wasn't Walter. He'd gotten use to how Walter sounded as he approached. He set his pen aside and leaned both arms on the desk keeping his mouth covered by his intertwined hands as three people did walk in. One was a Colonel. The other two people with him were not enlisted by the looks of their black suits and the fact that they did not salute him like the Colonel did.

"Colonel, by the look on your face and your companions, I'm guessing your not here with good news." he said not returning the salute or standing up.

"It has come to the attention of the Joint Chiefs that you are the commander of the SGC and the superior officer of Colonel Carter."

Ford had more than a general idea of what they guy was about to tell him as he pulled a file from his briefcase. He was willing to bet his life savings on it. And he was right.

"Okay Colonel, before you drop that file on my desk, which I'm damned sure I know what it says, I'm going to ask a question. I'm her superior officer, so what?" he said sitting back and placing his hands in his lap.

The Colonel narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

"You should know the rules of fraternization General…."

"You do know that the President waved the fact we are married don't you Colonel. Because if you don't, then your wasting my time." Ford said narrowing his eyes. "And she was once my superior officer."

"I am aware of this fact General. But protocol does not allow for a superior officer as yourself General to have someone……"

"Colonel!" Ford shouted sitting up. "I know what the rules say. What is the point of you being here? What does this thing say?" he said stabbing the unopened folder.

"The point General? When you took over and Colonel Carter decided to work at Area 51, we did not see any problems with you being in command of this facility. Since Colonel Carter has decided to return, we feel that something has to be done. You cannot be Colonel Carter's husband and….."

"And if I tell you and the Joint Chiefs, ah, lets see." he said rolling his eyes. "How about I do it nicely and say I'm not listening to this garbage and am going to continue things here as they have been."

"Then I am to forcibly remove you from being in charge of this facility. You will effectively be court marital for refusing to comply with the U.S. government and the rules of the United Stated Air Force." he said with a smug look.

"I see." Ford said with a small smile as the Colonel looked at him like he was a nobody. "And this folder says what my options are?"

"Colonel Carter can either retire and possibly work here as a civilian scientist, or can be transferred to another department within the Air Force, such as Area 51 or to the Prometheus class ships yards."

"And my options?"

"Colonel Carter can stay here and you will retired or transfer yourself to another department. Whichever option you choose for yourself, you will not be in command of this facility."

"And if I retire and become a civilian again, do I have the option of working here still?"

"It is possible, but considering your skills, you may be placed in Area 51 to help with the building of the other Prometheus class ships or the other new class."

"Hmm. Well, with those options Colonel, you can shove it. Go back to your desk job and tell your people to quit wasting my time with this trash." he said forcefully.

"Excuse me General?" he said thinking he heard wrong.

"Walter." Ford said hitting the button on the com. "I need you to send a couple airmen in here please and tell SG-1 that they are needed in the briefing room, now."

"On it General." Walter said.

"What the hell are you doing General?" the Colonel asked as Ford picked the file up and tossed it as him. He barely caught it.

"You need us General?" one of the airmen asked.

"Yes Lieutenant. Take these three…..men out into the briefing room and make sure they stay at the end of the table." he said standing up. "And no matter what the Colonel here says, don't follow his orders."

"Lieutenant! I am here from orders by the Joint…."

Ford shouted over the Colonel.

"If they refuse to cooperate, force them at gun point! They still won't listen, knock them out and take them to the brig! If they become violent, use your weapons to subdue them!"

"Yes General!" they both said as they put their hands on their holsters.

"If you gentlemen would please set into the other room." one of them said as Ford smiled.

"Lieutenant! If you…"

They both undid their holsters and pulled their guns, but didn't aim them yet. The men complied but gave them all glares as they left the office. Ford opened the small safe next to the wall and pulled out a file. Then he made a phone call to the President.

Several minutes later, SG-1 walked into the room seeing a Colonel sitting at the end of the table with two men in black suits standing behind him holding briefcases at their sides. The Colonel had his briefcase next to him on the ground and some file on the table in front of him. Ford stood at the other end, leaning on the back of his chair with a thick bound folder on the table in front of him with the words top secret and classified. Two airmen were standing near the stairway down to the gate control room holding their hands near open holsters.

"You wanted to see us General?" Mitchell asked looking at the obviously upset Colonel with confusion.

"Yes, please take a seat." he said not moving.

Mitchell sat on the left with Teal'c while Sam and Daniel sat on the right.

"The obvious question on your minds is who is this Colonel and his two idiots."

"Idiots?" Daniel said glancing at them with the others. "Why would…"

"I'm getting to that. This Colonel decided to threaten me with…"

"I did nothing of the sort! Colonel Mitchell! General Carter has.." he said standing up and yelling.

"Shut it Colonel before I do it for you!" Ford yelled back as he slammed a hand down on the table causing everyone to jump. "Sit your ass down and stay quiet!"

"What's going on here Ford?" Daniel asked quickly.

"I've been informed that I can't be objective. Certain idiots on the hill think that I or Sam have to choose between quitting our jobs so we can stay together." he said still not removing his eyes from the Colonel at the end of the table who looked ready to spit nails or fire. "She either leaves or I leave, no exceptions. Can't work together anymore."

"I ne…."

"The next time you speak Colonel, you'll wake up in the infirmary. Airmen, go get a zat gun please." he said pointing at the guy on the right. He nodded and left.

"Because of the rules with protocol." Mitchell said understanding. "I actually thought this was taken care of already."

"So did I." Carter said. "The President…."

"Allowed us to work together because I wasn't in charge of a whole base and you were just a team leader with me being your 2IC. My…gift allowed us to stay together. Now, I just called the President recently, and he knows about this thing, but he can't do anything to stop it. If it had been a bill, he would have vetoed it right away."

"You mean he's not part of this?" Daniel asked waving a finger in a circle.

"No. He's not." Ford said as began to pace back and forth behind his chair. "Walter, you know the most about what's usually going on in this base and most of its people. So think hard before answering. Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, please do the same. Have I ever demanded anything from anyone, personal or otherwise?"

They all thought for about a minute or so.

"Other than the Time Ship incident you talked about…."

"That don't count and you know why Sam." he muttered. "Everything dealing with the Time Ship doesn't count."

"No General. Nothing comes to mind." Walter said. The other's agreed.

"See Colonel, despite what I know and can do, I'm not power hungry. Unlike some people on the hill. Colonel, Sam, have I ever used my position or power, rank or otherwise to make you do something you didn't want to or felt was wrong?" he asked leaning on the back of the chair.

There was a smile on her face and a small blush that went away rather quickly. Though Daniel rose an eyebrow as he saw Ford also smile and loose that smile at the same time as Carter did. No one else really noticed.

"Not that I can recall General." she said barely keeping a straight face.

"Have I done it to anyone on this base?"

"No General." Walter said.

"Thank you Walter. You see Colonel, when you were given this assignment, you failed to realize what I am capable of, even doing on my own sometimes without compromising others or other property, unless I need to go to extremes. Which has only happened…"

"I read the report on how you dealt with the Appropriation Committee General." the Colonel said with a displeased tone.

"Good. But you still have no idea. You see, I have the President's respect, and his trust. He talked to me once and we had a nice long chat. He knows what I'm willing and not willing to do. He doesn't question my objectivity. Hell, that damned simulation I was put through should have been enough for the Joint Chiefs, but I guess it wasn't enough for some people." he said with anger and distain.

"That simulation was just that, a simulation." the Colonel said gritting his teeth.

"Then you better look it over again!" he yelled slamming his hands on the table, making everyone jump, again, especially after shoving the chair aside. It bounced off the wall and fell over as he continued.

"I may be married to Colonel Carter and sure, I'm also her superior officer, but on the off chance something came up that made it so I had to choose between the planet's safety and her life, assuming that I couldn't do whatever the hell it was that came up, I'd send her anyway! Just like I'd send anybody else, just like every other commanding officer has ever had to worry about when dealing with someone under their chain of command!" he yelled loud enough everyone in the control room could hear it and somewhat beyond that.

There was complete silence for about a minute. Though everyone was looking at him, Ford refused to look at anyone but the Colonel who was still looking ready to spit fire and was starting to turn red in the face. He really kept from looking at Carter, mostly because she might see the hurt in his eyes and he might see it in hers. He slowly shifted his hands into fist and left them on the table.

"You're going to go back, to your superiors or whoever the hell sent you, and tell them what I said. Also they should know about the event that took place on how I got the second ZPM and that tape from the past that was found. What wasn't really put in the reports was that I was gone for a whole year, benefits of having a time machine. I learned a few things too." he said through gritted teeth and a evil like smile.

Though the smile left rather quickly as a hard stone cold, almost killer like look went into them that everyone saw. Mitchell mouthed a barely heard whoa as he saw the expression. The rest of SG-1 backed away from the table slightly and even the airman sucked in a breath. Ford didn't move as the airmen came back with the zat gun and stopped as he noticed the silence and Ford's penetrating stare.

"Now if the thing I said about my objectivity doesn't make them back off, then you can tell them this. I have all the fucking dirt on everything this country has done since it began. I'll use it if I have to." he said pressing down on the table just enough that his knuckles cracked. "Now get your ass out of here before I have you thrown out Colonel, literally! And god help me, if I have to I'll do it myself!"

"You have just crossed the line General! Blackmailing the U.S government is a federal offense and treasonous! You'll never work in this country ever again! Where's your proof?!" the Colonel yelled, standing up in extreme anger.

Ford shoved the large file across the table so quick that everyone jumped as it flew off the table.

"There's a sample of my proof! Airmen, remove them from the base, they resist, zat them and dumped them outside on the pavement!"

They left, in a huff with the two airmen taking them out. After they were gone, Ford took a deep breath and walked toward the stairs. As one of them started to speak though.

"Dismissed!!!" he said loudly as he practically raced down the stairs.

"You know, I think he's more upset at himself than anything else." Daniel said as they got up slowly after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah." she said slowly. "I know he'd have to do it if a situation came up, just as Hammond or O'Neill would have, but hearing him say he'd…give that sort of order, of me is…."

"Yeah….that really, had to hurt to say." Mitchell said as they left. Seconds later, the gate activated on schedule signaling the return of a SG team.

Awhile later, after the return of the SG team.

"Yeah Mr. President. Everything I told you is true. I didn't have much choice."

There was a few moments as the President asked some questions.

"I did it because there are very few people who can run this place, and continue to keep the allies we have. Had Kinsey managed to take over this place sir, that would have been the end of this world. He would have ordered the theft of alien technology. Yes, I'm glad you agree sir. There are more people, and I know that the people that work up there on the hill, that know about this place, a lot of them wish that this facility would be more forthcoming of technology procured off world. Whether that meant forcing people to share, stealing it out right or killing for it. If someone like that manages to take over, it wouldn't be very long before the Asguard or some other ally comes along and gets retribution on this planet for them. Yeah, I know how bad that sounds. The Asguard only work with us and help us, though it doesn't seem like much because of the fact this current and continuing command has been friendly with others and have helped those in need. And with this current problem with Ba'al being here on Earth, things haven't gotten much better in that regard either."

A few more questions later.

"Yes sir. I do have that sort of information. Though I'd use it against certain people that I know are against this administration and several others. You haven't done anything I could find and I know you support this facility for what it has done and continues to do. I wouldn't do anything to harm you sir and unless those people try that again, I don't plan on using it at all."

More questions and some talking.

"Yes Mr. President. Thank you sir. I plan on doing exactly as I said, if that need ever arises, god forbid though." he said weakly as he rubbed his forehead. "Thank you again sir. Yes sir. Good bye sir."