CHAPTER 81

EPISODE…………………ARTHUR'S MANTLE

Mitchell and Ford were walking down the hallway, after getting off the elevator, heading for Doctor Lee's lab. Carter was in there looking at a device that was Ancient in origin, but every attempt to make it work was not working. Ford even looked it over, but it never responded to him. She and several other's had been over the thing, including Daniel, but nothing they did was making it respond or do anything.

"Hey General, I was wondering something about you and Sam, how do you two do it?" he asked as they walked down the hallway.

"Say what?" Ford asked as he stopped in the hallway. "You better not be fishing for information to tell Jack."

"What's General O'Neill have to do with this?"

"You haven't talked to him then?"

"I haven't seen him since the flight he took me on in the 302."

"Then what did you mean by how we do it?"

"Oh!" he said realizing what Ford meant. "I heard about General O'Neill bothering you and her with those sort of personal questions. Though when I first heard about it, I thought people were joking. No General, I wasn't asking about you and her, in that sense. Your sex life is…..forget it."

He waved his hands and laughed lightly at the look Ford gave him.

"Let me start over. How do you and her do it as to having a working marriage that doesn't have fighting and other troubles. Everything I've heard and she's sometimes mentioned, you two have the perfect marriage."
"Hmm." Ford said scratching his chin as he smiled and looked up. "The perfect marriage huh? Well, I would call it that, but you'd have to ask her if she thought the same. How do we do it though?"

He kept tapping his chin as he started walking again.

"Well, you'd have to ask her as well, but personally, I think communication, understanding, love, respect….." he said stopped as he thought some more as they passed a group of airmen on their way to somewhere. Once they were alone again. "I think because I treat her like a equal and believe it also helps. I don't try or even put her down because of her gender, like some people have. I've seen it up close for some women when guys do that. I've seen both sides of the look, the rejection and hurt, and the pissed and killer look. She may or may not admit to the fact that she likes it when I protect her, but I know when to step back and let her do things herself. She hates it if I even start to coddle her to much. Um, compromise, gifts with meaning behind them. If I make a mistake, which isn't very often, I apologize. If I'm wrong, I will admit it."

"I think I get it General. You're the perfect man like the other women say." he said rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you asked. Ah, but the biggest and most important thing that keeps us together and happy, is trust."

"Trust hmm. That is important. I think I'll ask her later what she thinks. If we can ever get her away from that device." he said as they walked up and entered the room. "You're still working on that since coming in early huh?"

"Hey guys." she said glancing in their direction for a moment.

"Sam, we're going to go get breakfast. I can tell you're tired and your eyes need a rest so come on." Ford said waving a hand for her to follow.

"I'm close to a breakthrough here. Daniel and I think it holds many secrets. And so do you."

"Yes." Ford said sighing. "And I can't even get it to work, much less K-9. Not to mention you've said that line many times now. Let it be for now. It's not going anywhere and you need to eat."

"You've all been working on it for a long time now, and no results have came up. Why not send it to Area 51 and have them take a crack at it." Mitchell said.

"Not yet." she said quickly as she sat back on the stool and stretched. "I have a idea that I think will work this time."

"You said that the other night when the General pulled you away from it to go home." Mitchell said. "I'm hankering for hash browns and I'm hoping to get them with breakfast."

"I could go for hash browns. Some sausage, eggs, few other items." Ford said.

"I'm getting hungrier with each minute now." Mitchell said. "Come on Sam, like he said, it will still be here."

"But…."

"Sam, let's go, that's an order, Colonel." Ford said as he was leaving the room. "I'll give you ten seconds to follow."

Mitchell started following when she spoke up.

"Hey, I finally got something. Interesting too since this is the first time one of my verifications scans came back with a positive feed back."

"Does this mean I'm not getting my hash browns?" he asked walking back over.

Ford turned around and looked at his watch after seeing Mitchell walk back in.

"It means that this device is interactive just like Ford figured. Right now, I'm getting a reading in the E.M. output that keeping fluctuating between the high and low frequencies. I'm going to try and stabilize it."

"Ten seconds are up Colonel. I better see you and him coming out in five or else I'm going to come pick you up and bring you to eat. Kicking and screaming if need be."

"I've got something finally." she yelled back.

"Always at the last second. I never doubted you could do it, just this time it took aw…." he was yelling back to her as he walked toward the lab. There was a bright flash that came from the room as he was walking up that quickly turned into a run.

"Sam, Mitchell?"

There was no one in the room. It was completely empty. He glanced around carefully and knelt down to look under the tables.

"Hmm. Sam, Mitchell?"

He looked at his watch but didn't find her signal, as to location.

"Oh Sam. What the hell did you do?"

"We're right here Ford." she said seeing him look around with a sigh. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Mitchell said blinking with her. "What just happened?"

"I don't….hey there's a screen with Ancient text." she said pointing at the green text that was showing above the small device. "Ford, look at this."

Ford looked out into the hallway and then back in the room. He pulled his glasses out, looked around with the different frequencies and then put them back with worry on his face.

"I know they didn't leave the room. I wonder." he muttered then grabbed the phone off the wall.

"Ford?" she asked curiously.

"General?" Walter asked on the other line.

"Hey Walter, can you check if the Asguard are in orbit."

"Can I ask why General?" Walter asked while having the Odyssey look.

"I wasn't in the room but there was a bright light. Mitchell and Carter are not in here and they didn't leave the room."

"What happened Sam?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know." she said walking over and trying to touch Ford. Her hand went through him, and he looked up and around.

"No Asguard huh?" he said looking around the room. "Guess it's something Sam did then. Have a few teams look around the base in case they suddenly were beamed somewhere in it."

"Should I sound the alarm General?"

"Not at the moment. Just keep a look out, just in case." he said then hung up.

"Hey General." Doctor Lee said as he entered the room holding a coffee and a plate of something Ford made last night. "Where's Colonel Carter? I thought she was working on that Ancient device."

"She was." Ford muttered looking at her laptop, and walking through her without knowing it. "I left the room and she did something, making her and Mitchell disappear."

"That was disconcerting." she muttered after Ford walked through her.

"Why can't they see us or touch us?"

"I don't know." she said.

"Do you know where they went?" Lee asked.

"No. I don't even know what she was doing here, but I intend to find out." Ford said looking the laptop over.

Mitchell reached out and pushed on her arm and she did the same. He pushed a little harder and she smacked his arm.

"Ow. At least we know each other are solid."

"Ford will figure this out."

"Any ideas on why we are this way then?" he asked as Ford was looking at her laptop, typing away at it.

"Well, it had to be the device. We couldn't see the Ancient text before and somehow I must have managed to trigger something that caused a localized field that made us they way we are now."

"Local meaning you and me? Since the General here isn't part of it, he wasn't close enough to get dragged in huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it dragged, but yeah."

"Can I help any General?" Lee asked.

"Not at the moment. Unless you have a good idea on what she was doing here with this."

"I have some idea."

"Give me a moment. I think I…."

The phone rang and Lee got it.

"It's for you General."

"Oh brother." he said walking over and taking it. "They want what? I'm really busy here Walter. I…..oh great. Tell them I'll be right there."

"Something wrong?" Lee asked.

"Pentagon needs to talk to me. Of all the times." he muttered. "Um…just look that over and see if you can find out anything. I'll be right back, hopefully."

"Damn. And he was probably real close." she muttered. "Let's see if we can find Daniel and hope we get somewhere."

"What about the fact that he won't be able to see us?" Mitchell asked as they left the room.

"We're out of phase."

"Out of phase? What does that mean?"

"Means we may have shifted to an alternate dimension." she said as they instinctively moved out of the way of a airman that was coming down the hall.

"And there are a infinite number of alternate dimensions."

"No, that's alternate realities."

"So, when the other SG-1's showed up…."

"Completely different problem. See, according to M-theory, that unites the other five super string theories, there are several spatial dimensions, 11 actually that exist in parallel with our physical reality. Now these higher dimensions….."

Mitchell waved a hand quickly.

"No, I'll take your word for it. That was alternate reality. This is alternate dimension. Hell, now all I need personally is a time travel event and I've scored the SG-1 trifecta. Now, how's Jackson suppose to help us?"

"Well a similar thing happened to him a few years ago."

Mitchell stepped behind her quickly to avoid being hit, forgetting their situation as a female airman walked by. He stepped back up next to her snapping his fingers.

"PX7-377, that crystal skull."

"You really did read ever report, from every mission, we ever been on, didn't you?" she asked still amazed at the idea of what he did.

"I was in that hospital a long time, and they were all riveting. Besides, Ford said he's done the same thing."

"You're getting better at that."

"Still strange to call by his first name. The rank thing…."

"Took a few other's awhile too. Walter never calls him by his first name anymore. As for Daniel, he was thrown out of phase and no one could see him. So…"

"You're hoping that him having a similar experience…."

"Will make it possible for him to see us. Yeah."

Teal'c had gotten out of the shower and was in the locker room getting ready to dress back into his BDU's.

"Teal'c, Sam and Mitchell are missing. I've got people…"

"I am aware."

"Oh. Good. I'm going to try and go back and look at whatever that device is. Since I can't find them and not sure where they went, I got some info for SG-1. SG-12 got back recently from P8T-474. The information points to a possible time line for whatever the Priors are planning now. The villagers talked about some doomsday that could be just around the corner."

"Around what corner are we speaking of?"

"Figure of speak Teal'c. In this case, meaning weeks to a couple of days to possibly hours…..you're playing me." he said seeing a small smile on Teal'c's face.

"Indeed."

"Good one Teal'c. You actually had me. Anyway, if you find Daniel, let him know. I looked in his office and the mess hall, but he wasn't in either place. And I didn't feel like announcing it to the rest of the base."

"I will inform him."

"I've going to go back and see what I can find out with Lee then." he said walking out only to be stopped by an airman that said Walter needed him because of another call.

"Damn! Jack wasn't kidding about getting phone calls all the time."

After walking through the base they came around a corner to find Daniel walking toward them with his head down.

"Jackson, just the guy to help us with a little problem." Mitchell said loudly.

Daniel kept walking and went through Mitchell.

"Or not." Mitchell said grimacing. "That was weird."

Sam was now looking worried.

"The dimension we're occupying must be different from the one he was shifted to."

"An alternate, alternate dimension?"

"Something like that, yeah." she said unsure of what to do.

"Okay, so what do we do now?"

"Um…..we have to find some way to communicate with them. Anyone, someone."

"Any ideas how?"

"Unscheduled off world activation!"

They stepped out of the way as Daniel came running by and then took off following.

"I hope this is good news." Ford muttered. "Every time I try to go down there…."

"Something comes up. Sorry General. I've tried to screen what calls I can."

"What do we got?" Daniel asked as he came up behind him. Teal'c also showed up from the stairs near the gate room.

"No I.D.C. General."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I…." Daniel began.

"I'm receiving a radio signal."

"Hold that thought. Go ahead Walter."

They got some static with small blips and beeps.

"What sort of message is that?"

"I don't know General."

"Sounds like harmonic distortion in the data stream." Carter said. "Come on Ford, you can figure this out."

"Can you fix that?"

"I'll try General."

They all looked up as there was a loud thud.

"Okay, that sounded like something hitting the Iris." Daniel said.

"Not explosive." Ford muttered. "Someone must have tried to come through and didn't know about the Iris. Walter, find out if it was someone or something. Um, damn. K-9 is suppose to be down helping Lee figure out what Sam was doing. If he doesn't find anything, I'll have him come up here and help with the transmission problem."

"Why can't you figure it out?" Daniel asked.

"For the same reason I'm not down helping Lee. I've got post mission briefings and the Pentagon calling ever five minutes. Try to figure out whatever was in that message as quick as you can. Call whoever you need to help, except Lee. If Sam ever shows up, I'll have her come help."

"Yes General."

"Something about that noise is familiar, but I can't place it…." he muttered walking off.

Sometime later, and Sam still there as they tried to figure out the message.

"I can't make heads or tails out of this." Walter said shaking his head. "If only Colonel Carter was here, or K-9."

"We could ask General Carter to help." the tall red bearded scientist sitting in a chair near Walter said who was also looking over the message.

"I would but he's talking to the President. Has been for the last ten minutes or so."

"Must be those delegates that want to come here from that planet SG-13 went to yesterday."

"Yeah. Conflicting issues concerning something to do with weapons."

Sam was still looking at the monitor and despite knowing they couldn't see or hear her, she tried to tell them what to do anyway.

"The filter coefficient has to be adaptive Chief."

They kept looking at the screen and trying things, but did nothing she suggested, not surprisingly. She went to the other scientist and looked at his screen and said the same thing.

"Hey, wait a minute…."

"There you go." she said smiling. "Notice the slight variance in the output…"

He kept looking at the screen.

"Notice it."

Still nothing changed with the way he was looking.

"Come on! Notice it!"

"Never mind." the man muttered.

"Oh god!" she groaned out loudly as he backed away and practically stomped on the floor for being so helpless. "You should be down here Ford!"

No one noticed she yelled that as loudly as possible.

"They are not on the base." Teal'c stated.

"The teams searched everywhere and located nothing, so something in that room took them somewhere." Ford muttered standing up from behind the desk.

"But where is the big question." Daniel said. "We've check the front gate."

"Yeah, the guards said that they didn't sign out and I had the escape hatches looked at and they haven't been opened in some time. I've thought about calling Cassandra and Janet, but I don't want them thinking something happened, especially Jacob and Amy."

"We're still checking the security tapes, but there's so many to go through." Daniel said.

"For now, have the tapes just checked for that entire level."

"Have you tried your watch and whatever it does?" Daniel asked.

"Got nothing. It register's enough to tell me she's alive, but her location is not being shown. I ever tried the locator beacons in her and Mitchell's shoes but the tracker doesn't get any signal."

"How does the watch tell you she's alive?"

"Keeps track of her life signs, mostly if her heart is beating. As long as she has the watch on anyway. It's still blinking with the little heart symbol, but as I said, no locator signal. K-9 is trying to come up with some way to use that link to track her, but no luck as of yet. Now that I'm finally off the phone and hopefully for awhile, I'm going to go down in a moment and see about helping Lee. You two try looking through the security footage to see what you can find."

They nodded and left. Mitchell, who was standing behind Teal'c, watched them leave and then watched as Ford sat down rubbing his forehead.

"Why am I getting that Patrick Swayze in Ghost feeling." Mitchell muttered.

"Where are you two at?" he muttered as he grabbed a few mini chocolate bars.

"General, we need a Whoopi."

Ford looked up thinking he heard something. Seeing little and hearing even less, he got up and headed down stairs.

"Walter, have you got anything yet? I need some good news."

"We've managed to clean up the message if that's what you're wondering General."

"Finally." Carter muttered crossing her arms. "Would have gotten it sooner if you were down here."

"Great. Let's hear it." Ford said not hearing her complaining. Considering the glare that came with the remark, it was a good thing he didn't see her.

"I noticed a slight variance in the output so I ran it through a series of digital filters and this is what we got." Walter said bringing it up.

The message was rather messed up but they could hear it through the static.

"Stargate Command…..this is the Sodan, please respond."

"The Sodan?"

"Under attack……many have fallen. We request immediate assistance." the message said then cut out after a few sounds of staff blast were heard in the background.

"That's when we heard the impact against the Iris General." Walter said.

"Guy must have tried to come here to get away from whatever the attack was."

"I believe we should investigate General Carter." Teal'c stated.

"Get whoever you think you might need. Except Daniel. I need him to help with the search still. Let me know when you're ready to go."

Teal'c nodded and walked out.

"Mitchell should be the one going….." Daniel was saying.

"He would be if he was here. Something tells me they are here with us."

"Spiritually?"

"No. I mean really here with us. In this room. Waiting for us to come up with a way to get them home, or back to here, or wherever they are."

"What if they are on another planet?"

"Watch doesn't have that sort of range." he said tapping it. "K-9 mentioned something about the fact he could tell that they were still on the base, because he could detect Sam, but he couldn't get a precise location. He's still looking and scanning, but….."

"Until he has anything, yeah, just another waiting game."

"You know, for some reason, I get this weird feeling or thought that they are going through the same thing you did with that crystal skull."

"Ah, yeah." he said not sure. "And if that is or was the case….."

"I have no clue what to do."

Ford turned and left with Daniel doing the same. Sam and Mitchell both had a defeated look. Sam shook her head and followed along with Mitchell coming along shortly after.

Daniel was looking through the security tapes again and was looking at the tape concerning what Sam was doing before they disappeared. He watched as Mitchell and Ford entered the room, saw them talk and then saw Ford leave. Mitchell was leaving, came back and then suddenly there was static as the tape showed nothing. Walter was looking at the tapes with him at the control room computer and doing it all in fast forward

"What just happened?"

"Looks like the camera went off line. Probably a power surge."

The static went away to show the room, but them not there.

"Okay, bring up the security camera for the corridor outside Doctor Lee's lab. Signal them to 8:16 and run them simultaneously."

"The General did say he never saw them leave the room and was looking at the lab when the bright light appeared." Walter said bring up the footage.

The footage showed Ford leave the room and go outside the camera's field. Then static came on the screen for the lab and they saw nothing come from the lab from the corridor on the other screen. Ford came back onto the screen and then was on both screens as he stood in the doorway before entering.

"Okay, if they didn't leave the lab, then how did they get out of the room?" Daniel asked.

Walter shook his head not knowing either.

"The General is pretty sure they are on the base, but….."

"Ford's probably right. Only wish he knew how to get them back from wherever they are."

Teal'c and the team that went with him beamed next to the Sodan pillar near the village. Teal'c was holding two PC-90's aimed in two different directions. The other men were pointed with their weapons while kneeling on the ground. Three of the men walked away and knelt near some trees looking. The leader of the other team kneeling next to Teal'c stayed there looking around.

"More staff blast, just like back at the gate." the Major stated.

"Indeed. A battle took place here as well." Teal'c said lowering his guns and slowly walking.

"The Sodan have been hiding here for thousands of years. The only reason we got here with their transporter codes is because Colonel Mitchell won their trust. I don't think they would have given them to anyone else." the Major said looking around behind Teal'c.

"And yet, they were evidently attacked."

"By who?"

Teal'c looked at the Major for a moment before raising his weapons and heading for the village. The rest of the team followed keeping a close eye out. After a semi long walk, they exited the forest through a path going into the village. All the buildings were destroyed. Some stood, but were burnt to total uselessness. What was left standing was still burning in a few places. Bodies of dead Sodan warriors were in various places. Some women and children.

"My god." the Major said sadly. "Conway, Stevens, get back to the gate on the double. Tell the SGC we need med teams."

"Yes sir." the two men said and took off.

"Check the area for survivors." the Major said to the other man and then followed Teal'c.

The three entered and checked the bodies out slowly. Teal'c noticed that most of the killing was done from staff blast to the abdomen, killing the symbiont and the Jaffa at the same time.

"Whomever did this, knew the most efficient way to kill a Jaffa." Teal'c said kneeling next to a body as the Major walked up. "Their symbionts have been targeted. They were shown no mercy."

They looked up as they heard a groan and rushed over to find Lord Haikon still alive but injured.

"Haikon."

"Pulse is weak." the Major said feeling Haikon's neck.

"His symbiont is dead. He will not survive long."

"Lieutenant, help me get him into one of these huts." he said gesturing the man over. "We need to get some Tretonin into him, stat."

"Roast beef! My hash browns! Home made biscuits!" Mitchell complained loudly as he and Carter stood in the hallway as other chef's walked by with plates of food.

"The one time I can't eat and they're having those hash browns and the roast beef I like, without me! The General didn't even wait!"

Sam smiled lightly and shook her head.

"This is torture."

"It's only been a few hours." she said.

"You're not the least bit concerned about this?"

"Not at the moment. Hopefully it won't take long and we'll be back to normal. Ask me that tomorrow and maybe I'll feel different."

"I can't stand it right now! We can't touch anything. No one can see us or hear us, ergo, no eating, nor drinking and I'm not going to even speculate on the other bodily functions. If they don't figure out a way to get us back…."

"They'll figure out a way. Ford will figure out a way if it is the last thing he does."

"He better." Mitchell muttered then perked up slightly.

"What?"

"I heard the General was suppose to make those famous brownies of his today."

The look on her face was priceless and it took everything he had not to laugh.

"I'm going to kill him if he doesn't save any for me." she growled.

Lee had an idea that they were possibly shrunk down to microscopic sizes. K-9 easily dissuaded the idea saying he would have detected them and the Mistresses watch even at that size. So instead, he was looking at her computer with K-9 trying to scan the computer and the Ancient device.

Had K-9 had to chance to look at her laptop after she had used it then maybe he would have realized what she did and could have reversed it. But the laptop had been accessed by Ford, Lee and a few other's looking for anything on what happened, so it was a massive jumble of information he was going through, not to mention scanning the area for the unknown radiation he detected and trying to figure out which type it was, plus a few other programs he had going on that Carter had him doing that he was suppose to continue doing until told otherwise. Normally multitasking was easy for him, but K-9 was having trouble with his sensory systems. He could detect her watch and its signal, but couldn't locate it. It would come up for a brief second and then go away before he could triangulate her position or get a fix long enough to possibly establish contact with her. Though limited in the emotion department in understanding, the best describable feeling he could come up with according to the definition, he was most likely experiencing frustration.

Ford and Daniel walked in and asked if there was anything new only to find he still hadn't gotten anywhere. K-9 reported finding nothing either other than still getting her reading every so often.

"Well, we can say they are still on the base, or at least she is." Daniel said.

"Yeah. Just where? I wonder if they were thrown out of sync, like maybe a few seconds into the future in a way that they can't interact with anything." Ford muttered rubbing his chin. "But since K-9 hasn't detected any tachyon emissions or anything association with time travel….."

"General Carter to the Control Room. You're wanted on the phone." Walter said over the base com.

"Not again. Someone shoot me." Ford muttered walking away. "Daniel, help them find out something."

The two were wandering the halls, thinking about how they might be able to get out of their situation, but so far had nothing.

"Seeing as no one can see or hear us, this might as well be the best time talk about something I've been wondering about." Mitchell said.

"See or hear? What do you mean Cameron?" she asked suspiciously.

"I was talking to the General earlier, before we entered that room and this happened. He was able to help me answer a few questions that I wondered about, and I wanted to ask you a few more, mostly to get a woman's perspective."

"Sorry?" she said stopping the hallway as he kept walking.

He stopped after noticing she wasn't beside him anymore and turned to see her with a confused and defensive look. He raised his hands as he talked.

"I think I started this conversation wrong. Let me start over. I asked the General how you and he were getting along so greatly, like it was the perfect marriage. He said I should talk to you to find out the rest of the details of how you perceived it."

"Ah. You're looking for advice on how to get lucky, like you mentioned with that Amy lady?" she asked crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Um, no. Not really." he said trying not to look embarrassed. "I was mostly wondering what he's doing right to keep you happy and such. From everything I hear, you two rarely fight, if at all. Jackson once told me you two believed you were both soul mates. Like I said, I just want to know what it is that he does to…make a woman happy, but not in…."

"I get it Mitchell. We do believe the soul part. Everything pretty well clicks for us." she said as she started to walk again. "Tell me what he told you first."

He elaborated it pretty much word for word.

"That's right. There's a few other personal things that I won't go into. Hmm, he doesn't push me to do anything I don't feel like, doesn't tell me what I should and shouldn't do or where I should or shouldn't go. If I go somewhere, he doesn't ask for any great amount of details, just trust me to tell the truth. Before I met him, I was a romantic, but not very heavily. After Jonas, not Jonas Quinn, I just didn't date much and after all the different boyfriends I went out with kept dying on me, I gave up. He was a romantic from the start, though very nervous about it at first and still is. I swear sometimes he knows what I want and am thinking."

"Sounds like a lot of the stuff I hear other women on the base mutter about. Mr. Perfect."

"Just about. I still haven't been able to get him to tell me much of anything about his dark past, but otherwise."

"So." he said tapping a finger. "From what he and you said, basically, be attentive to what a woman wants, is looking for and looking forward to, and needs?"

"Right and most importantly, don't betray their trust. Ford has it down right because he has been able to tell my emotional state from a glance. He knows what to say and do, almost all the time."

"Almost?"

"Well, hormones caused some difficulty for awhile. One second I was feeling great, another I wanted to cry."

"Ah. When you still were pregnant. Bet you blew up at him a lot."

"Not really. We wanted a child, so there was no problems. Other than my back aching sometimes, but he was always there, usually, to give me a back rub. Still does. I don't know about other women, but most love a good back rub."

"Hmm. I'll have to remember that." he said as they stopped near the elevator. "I'm going to go see what Daniel's doing, if I'm lucky to get to that floor."

"I was unable to locate any other survivors." Teal'c said coming back to the damaged hut that the Major and other man was in with Haikon. "What is his condition?"

"We don't know if the Tretonin is going to even take. Even if, his condition is still pretty severe." the Major said as his man still worked on Haikon. "Without a symbiont…."

"Volneck…" Haikon muttered.

"Haikon." Teal'c said kneeling closer and then spoke his name again. "Fear not, you are among friends."

"Teal'c, save yourself. You shouldn't be here." he said with a pain laced voice.

"Tell me who has caused this. Tell me who has caused this devastation."

"Volneck. It was Volneck."

"One man did this?" the Major said.

"Why would he turn on his own people?" Teal'c asked. "Tell me. Haikon?"

Haikon's head turned as he passed out barely hearing Teal'c calling for him.

"Major! Come in!"

"This is Hadden, go ahead."

"We are under attack! Requesting backup….."

The line was interrupted by the sounds of weapons fired.

"Mackenzie, you stay with him." the Major ordered as he and Teal'c took off.

Lee was now looking over the Ancient device with a yellow piece of machinery that was scanning for the different radiation levels and types. Daniel walked in seeing him working.

"Anything new yet?"

"No. Not even K-9 has got anything and he left moments ago saying something about a possible good reading he was going to go check out. This though has a constant power reading and I've recently detected slight traces of Lepton radiation." he said still scanning the device with the pen like scanner. He had some headset over his ears as well helping with hearing for certain things that went with the equipment.

"What?"

"What?" Lee asked standing back up from leaning over.

"Lepton radiation?"

"What?"

"Lepton radiation."

"Yeah, but only slight traces….nothing to be concerned…"

"Gotta go." he said racing out.

Teal'c and the Major rushed up to the area where the two men were fighting. Both men where on the ground. The major rushed up and knelt next to Stevens feeling for a pulse and finding nothing. Teal'c looked around with both guns ready as the Major checked the other guy. Once he noticed the man was alive even though blood was coming from his mouth, he quickly got his med kit out.

"I never saw him." Conway said from where he was laying on his back near a tree that was right next to the Ancient transporter pillar. "The shots……..they came out of nowhere."

"No doubt Volneck is using a Sodan cloak." Teal'c stated.

"We've got to get him back to the gate, now."

Teal'c nodded and turned trying to activate the device, only nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" the Major asked.

Teal'c tried again and a third time.

"It's not working."

The Major picked up his weapon again as Teal'c opened a panel to find a control crystal missing. He closed it quickly.

"Someone has removed one of the control crystals."

"Then how are we suppose to get out of here?"

"We cannot." he said looking around.

"Come on Jackson, figure it out. I've already missed breakfast and now lunch. Not to mention some of those famous brownies." Mitchell muttered loudly as he paced near Daniel.

Daniel's desk was covered with books. Completely covered to where you couldn't see any part of the table. If it was possible, Daniel probably would have covered the legs as well if it would have helped him to be able to see more of the other books he needed.

"Daniel. Lee just informed me of the radiation scan. I got K-9 looking for the area's where he finds the greatest concentration. Knowing Sam and Mitchell, they're around here on the lower floors." Ford said rushing in standing in front of the desk. "Once……what are you doing?"

"I'm going over some of the text we recovered from the cave in Glastonbury."

"Why?" he asked with a slightly upset tone that had a hint of confusion.

"Some of them make oblique references to the Arthurian legend. Such as the word 'Anawyn'. Which shows up in several instances, which I believe is the Celtic word for underworld, in where King Arthur went in search of 13 sacred objects."

"Forgive me Daniel, no offense, really, but how does this help Sam and Mitchell?"

"Well, one of these objects was a cloak." Daniel said handing a book over with a picture.

"What, the picture of the guy with the big flowing robes?" Mitchell asked seeing the picture.

"It rendered the wearer invisible. It was called the Mantle of Arthur. It was kept at Barsey Island, by non other than our friend Myrddin, otherwise known…."

"As Merlin." they both said.

Ford handed the book back.

"I prefer my belt. I think I know where you're going though."

"I haven't a clue." Mitchell said.

"Remember that crystal skull incident…."

"Yeah, I mentioned it earlier. Kicking myself for not thinking about scanning for the said radiation sooner. Sam didn't like the place because of the radiation. Figured too much and whatever chance of having kids would be gone."

"She never said that to any of us."

"I…..um, hopefully she isn't in the room." Ford said rubbing the back of his head as he realized his blunder. "Don't say anything to her. Anyway, all this here, other than being a big mess is because you think that the Lepton radiation is why they are missing?"

"Exactly."

"Well, the Sodan use a cloak, which I have on my belt that emits the same radiation field so…." he said getting more excited as he spoke. "I should be able to see and find them. Hold on."

Mitchell was about ready to dance and even hug Ford.

"Yes finally!"

He tried the button but nothing happened. He removed the belt looking at the back.

"Oh great." Ford muttered.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked worried.

"It got wet. Probably while I was cooking earlier."

"But the Sodan…."

"Their cuffs or gauntlets or whatever you want to call them are designed to withstand the weather. I had to change a few things to get it to work in the back of this belt buckle. Give me an hour." he said then walked out.

"Oh so freaking close!" Mitchell screamed.

"Oh Ford!"

"Yeah." he said poking his head back in.

"I don't know if it helps any, but Merlin probably built that device."

Ford frowned and then looked away.

"Actually he did built it, but it was the second one he was building, at the time, because the first one didn't do what he wanted it to. Which is why I'm currently here." he said then frowned some more. "Um…."

"Is that a memory or…." Daniel asked walking up slowly.

"Yeah. When I first saw the device, it looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. But just now, with everything you've told me, everything is coming back. Whatever his plan originally was, failed, and that's how me and my parents ended up in the future, in another universe, before Atlantis left Earth. Hmm….what the hell was Merlin making that device for then?"

"Don't remember?"

"No." he said slowly. "Maybe it will come back to me. But then he was a, energetic scientist that liked to tinker around a lot. I gotta go."

Teal'c and the Major got the injured man back to the hut and placed him into Mackenzie's care. The Major was keeping watch as Teal'c walked over to a dead warrior and took off one of the cloaking field bracers.

"We could just walk all the way back to the gate." the Major said walking up.

"I do not believe that would be wise." Teal'c stated. "The journey would take months and the terrain is most treacherous."

"There's not much for us here. We're going to run out of supplies before long."

"General Carter will send a extraction team when we fail to report."

"Too bad he can't send some of his cooking with." the Major muttered.

"Indeed." Teal'c said standing.

"Whoever he sends will end up stranded like us too."

"We have food for the moment and we can build shelter." Teal'c said standing. "Perhaps when the extraction team arrives, we can repair the obelisk."

"What about Volneck? He's still out there."

"Leave him to me." he said turning to leave.

"Teal'c…..he took out an entire village."

"It is my understanding that those of the Sodan that use the invisibility cloak can see each other."

The Major nodded as he looked at the device in Teal'cs hand.

"So if you use that thing, you'll be able to see him."

"Indeed." Teal'c said getting his weapons from the damaged cart near the dead warrior.

"Didn't help that guy much though, did it." the Major said looking at the dead guy that Teal'c removed the device from.

Ford and Daniel were in front of the Ancient device. Lee was also there leaning on the table.

"Remember when I was out of phase and could see and hear everything around me?" Daniel said.

"We have the tape, per say."

"Right. Anyway as you say, they are here, somewhere. Probably in this room. Now they can hear and see everything."

"They just can't do anything to talk or get our attention." Ford muttered still tinkering with his belt buckle with a small tool.

"I think they might be able to though, though they don't know it. Look at this device and tell me what you think it looks like."

"A keyboard, like I suggested once before." Ford muttered.

"Right and I think that they can interact with it to get hold of us."

"There's no visual interface though." Lee said.

"Not here, but maybe on their dimensional plain there is. That is how it should be put?"

"Yeah." Ford said setting a tool down and picking up another one. "Only problem here is that more than likely, the text on the screen if there is any…."

"Is probably in Ancient and we're about the only ones that can read it. Right." Daniel said nodding slowly.

"Yes. But if I can get this to work again, I can read it and see them."

"Why would it be this way? I mean, why can't we see anything or get it to work….." Lee asked.

"Merlin most likely made it this way as a safeguard to ensure that not just anybody could access it." Daniel said.

"And somehow Sam accessed her way past the safeguard." Ford muttered setting the tool down. "Lucky her."

The keys on the device started moving on their own accord.

"Oh yeah." Daniel said.

"Well, we know were they are now. K-9, report to this lab please."

"Yes!" Mitchell said giving her a high five.

"Um, Sam, Mitchell, if you can hear me….um, let's call this button yes and then button no." Daniel said pointing out two different buttons.

"That's not safe Daniel. What if they access something they shouldn't." Ford said as the yes button went down, then the no.

"Good point. Um, did anything happen on your end when you hit those keys?"

The no button went down.

"Good. Let's try something else then. Are you both there?" Ford asked.

The yes button went down.

"Better. Okay, let's try Morse code now. Hit only the yes key. How are you both doing?" Ford asked.

Several types later with Ford muttering quietly.

"Okay, Mitchell's hungry and Sam is….."

"Sam is what? Injured…." Daniel asked worried.

"No. A little pissed off."

"Why?"

"One word. Brownies."

"Oh. Yeah. I think I would be too." Daniel said in sympathy, and then he smiled like some kid that was just left to go crazy in a candy store. "But then I've already had some."

"WHAT?!" she yelled as Ford gave Daniel a glare.

"She's going to hurt me for that Daniel. And you too." he said still glaring at Daniel. He slowly turned back to the device. "Is there anything you can see or have noticed different?"

"They can't hear us Sam." Mitchell muttered rubbing his ear.

"Noticed different?"

"I don't know Daniel. Hell, the walls might be glowing of the floors are a different….." he said as the key started taping. "No funny walls or strange colors, just a holographic text screen with Ancient language on it. Nice."

"Can you guys read it?" Daniel asked.

The no button was pushed.

"No offense Daniel, but that was a stupid question."

"Had to ask. Maybe some of your knowledge might have rubbed off on Sam in that department."

"She's never asked to learn. Besides, I don't think she knows any other language other than computer, English and some Goa'uld."

The key was being pushed down, a lot, again.

"Quit talking about me and figure out a way to bring us back. Okay." Ford said as the typing stopped.

"In that case, since you two can't read it." Daniel said turning around and grabbing a notepad. "You'll have to describe the symbols and I'll draw them until I can understand what it says."

"Daniel, that could take hours if not longer." Ford said as Daniel sat down. The key started being pushed down again. "They or whoever is pushing that button says that there is a lot of symbols and it is very complex and they agree it could take hours."

"What else can we do? It shouldn't be to hard with you hearing the Morse code."

"That should help things along with you here General. Colonel Carter should be able to describe the letters in ways that you'd be able to understand better than any other person." Lee said.

"Like how?" Daniel asked.

"Mathematical equations perhaps or something along those lines. Just a suggestion." Lee said.

"Not a bad idea. Okay Sam, describe the first letter or line, whatever is there." he said going back to his belt buckle. "If I can get this working, then I can read it….."

"Or I can." Daniel said.

"True."

"General Carter to the Control room. General Carter to the Control room."

"Oh man. Walter has such bad timing. Hang on." he said setting the buckle down and going over to the phone. "Walter, is this really important? Seriously? What the hell does the President want? Oh great. I'll be right up."

After hanging up, he grabbed his buckle and the tools.

"I'll hopefully be right back. Um, I'll send in a airman or someone who knows Morse code to help. Sorry Sam, Mitchell."

"Just when things were looking up. I hope he gets that buckle fixed soon." Mitchell muttered.

"Same here. I want those brownies. I would have smacked him if I could. Remind me to do it later. To both of them."

K-9 rolled in and scanned the room finding a large concentration of the Lepton radiation.

"K-9! Perfect timing! Ford was called to his office to talk to the President, can you decipher the Morse code that Sam is doing?"

"The Mistress is not visible Doctor Jackson."

Daniel quickly explained the situation.

"Understood Doctor."

Teal'c was walking through the forest with both guns pointed as he looked around and listened carefully. He walked up finding a damaged branch on a large weed like plant. Looking around carefully, he activated the device on his arm. He didn't see anything, but did notice that everything around him had a slight blue hue to it.

"While I'm here, Walter, any word from Teal'c or SG-12." Ford asked as he came down the stairs.

"Still no word General."

"How long are they overdue for a checkup now?"

"Over an hour."

"Too long, especially with the possible danger they could be in."

"What danger could that be General?"

"The Sodan are a powerful people, with their fighting style and way of life. If something could cause them so much trouble they called for us, then it has to be bad, especially if Teal'c hasn't called back. Um, have Reynolds and his team get ready to go. Have them take extra medical supplies, water and food, just in case. Once they are ready, let them go if I'm here or not."

Walter nodded as he left. Mitchell was standing behind Walter and heard all of it. He turned and followed Ford telling him to get his cloak fixed so he could come back sooner.

"Okay, next one." Daniel said finishing up the sentence.

The letters started taping as K-9 listened. Lee was behind him at another table working on Carter's laptop still trying to figure out what she did.

"How's it going?"

"Slowly." she said as she stopped tapping. "We've got a couple sentences in so far."

"Something wrong K-9?"

"The Mistress quit Doctor."

"Sam?"

Despite Daniel calling for her, she was listening to Mitchell.

"Can you continue here, we've got a problem."

"What is it?"

"We've lost contact with Teal'c. The General is having Reynolds and his team go to the planet, with extra supplies. I'm going with. Reynolds is also taking SG-23 as backup in case things are really bad in the Sodan village and they need the help."

"Hang on." she said hitting the key a moment. "You're going to go off world?"

"What did she say K-9?"

"To wait a moment Doctor."

"What for?" he wondered aloud.

"Well, Jackson was able to travel off world through the gate when he was out of phase so I don't see why not." Mitchell said.

"That's my point. You're out of phase. What do you hope to accomplish?"

"Sam, Teal'c could be in trouble. I want to check it out. No one can see me and I can't get hurt. I can gather intel that no one else can. Besides, if there is any of the Sodan using those cloaks, then they'll see me and I can relay messages to Teal'c and the others. That is if the General's idea about being able to see us with that cloak is real."

"Good point."

"Look, I'll be back in a couple of hours when they check back in. I promise. Just let the General know where I went, if he ever gets his cloak to work."

"Be careful."

"K-9, do you have any idea….."

"Scans indicate that Colonel Mitchell is in the room. Speculations suggest they are talking."

"He wasn't in here earlier then?"

"Data suggest Colonel Mitchell left. Reason unknown. New information. One of them has left. Scans indicate it has to be Colonel Mitchell."

The typing began again.

"Colonel Mitchell was just here and informed her of Teal'c not reporting in with the other team. She is now typing the next part of the message Doctor." K-9 reported.

"Oh. Wait, how do you know it's her?"

"I am picking up very faint traces of her watch locator beacon." he reported and then told Daniel the next line.

Teal'c was still wandering around the forest looking for Volneck. He came upon a small clearing filled with a few birch like trees to find a dead Sodan warrior on the ground. As he started to check the body to see if there might be any life and to see how long he had been there, he heard a twig snap. More twigs snapped as he looked around. A staff blast hit him in the left upper shoulder and he ran diving behind a rotting out tree trunk. Several more blast hit the trunk and then stopped. He stood quickly and emptied both PC-90's into Volneck. The man dropped and Teal'c slowly walked out towards him. Volneck suddenly sat up and started firing again. He ran fast dodging between trees as blast after blast came at him.

"Okay. This is starting to make some sense. Next word." Daniel said smiling.

"That's it." Lee said.

Daniel turned around giving him a confused look.

"I finally figured out what Colonel Carter did to trigger the device." Lee said pointing at the screen.

"I had to run a reverse scan on all the energy fluctuations we have been recording, putting them through a program that was designed to…."

Seeing Daniel's lost expression.

"Anyway, I isolated the algorithm she used to synchronize the energy emissions coming from the device."

"What?" he asked totally confused.

"Don't you see? If I counteract Sam's algorithm from my computer, allow the emissions to return to their normal frequency." he said waving his hand at the device. "That could just reverse the process."

"K-9?" Daniel asked.

"The theory is sound Doctor."

"What does Sam think?"

"Look, I know this will work. Hang on." Lee said typing away.

"Wait, I want to hear what she…." he said standing up.

There was a bright flash of light and he had to blink a few times.

"Master, Doctor Jackson has disappeared." K-9 reported.

"Oh boy." Lee said seeing Daniel missing.

"Hey Daniel. I should have started hitting the button sooner I guess."

He turned around seeing her.

"Hey Sam. Guess we're still stuck huh?"

"Yep."

"Are you guys still there?" Lee asked walking over and sitting where Daniel was just at. "Press this button…."

Sam jabbed it.

"Okay. I don't think the General is going to be happy." Lee muttered into his hands.

The Major was keeping watch from the hut doorway when Teal'c showed up.

"Teal'c! Are you alright?"

"It is a light wound." he stated walking into the hut.

"Lieutenant." the Major said with a gesture of his head as Teal'c walked over and looked out a window. "What happened?"

The Lieutenant got some medical supplies ready for Teal'cs arm.

"I found Volneck."

"Then you're lucky to be alive."

Teal'c turned and walked over quickly to Haikon.

"Haikon." he said clasping his arm.

"Other's were not so fortunate." he said weakly as he tried to sit up with Teal'cs help.

Teal'c nodded to the Lieutenant who started working on his arm as he asked Haikon what happened to Volneck.

"Ten days ago, we went to a neighboring world to acquire supplies for our village. On the way back to the Chap'pai, he encountered a Prior. He was told that the Sodan had committed a unforgivable treason against the Ori. The Prior said that a great ill would befall us. Then planted his staff into the ground. Volneck returned to the village and told me of the encounter. We took the threat seriously and kept a close watch on the Chap'pai. Several days passed without incident, until…….Volneck fell ill. He became irrational. Incoherent. We isolated him. Used our best medicines, but his condition worsened. Yesterday, he broke the bonds that were meant to restrain him."

Teal'c nodded as the Lieutenant was finishing up.

"Our finest warriors attempted to subdue him. He killed them all with very little effort." Haikon said shaking his head sadly. "He killed everyone in sight. His own brother Jolan was killed in the carnage that followed. Women and children fled to the woods and Volneck followed them and slaughtered them all, without mercy."

He tried to sit up further, but Teal'c held a hand on his arm to keep him from hurting himself.

"To the best of my knowledge, I am the only one to have survived."

"Rest brother, rest."

"SG-22, set up a defense perimeter. SG-3, stick close to me." Colonel Reynolds shouted as his team and the other team entered the village. Mitchell was right there with them, but unfortunately, no one could see him and he didn't see anyone cloaked.

Everyone quickly raised their weapons as the Major and Teal'c came out. They pointed weapons at each other and lowered them just as quick.

"Colonel Reynolds."

"Teal'c, what the hell happened here? Why haven't you check in?"

"The Eye of the Gods has been damaged."

"We're trapped here, and so are you." the Major said.

"The Ori had a hand in what transpired here." Teal'c stated.

"The Ori?" Reynolds asked.

"We have much to discuss, come."

Reynolds had his team drop off the extra supplies in the hut and then help keep a defensive watch. Mitchell followed the Major and Reynolds while worrying about how he was going to fulfill his promise to return.

"I think I can fix this. I just need to reverse the process." Lee said going back to his computer.

"Is that suppose to be reassuring?" Daniel asked then looked around. "Where did Mitchell go?"

"Off world with Reynolds team."

"What?!"

"He was convinced that he could help Teal'c. I couldn't talk him out if it and he said someone should be able to see him if they are using that cloak."

"We don't even know if that will work. Ford hasn't….."

"What happened? What do you mean he disappeared K-9?" Ford asked as he entered the room.

There was some quick typing on the yes key.

"Okay. I get the picture. Lee, be careful of what you're doing next time. Hang on here, I think I got the device working this time." he said holding the buckle and pushing it. "President called to find out if I'd be his running mate. Bad enough I have the I.O.A. bothering me don't need stuck up politicians and all those other's on the hill hounding my ass."

"Say what?" Lee asked in surprise.

Everything had a blue tint like normal when using the device. The best part was, he could see the most important person in the world.

"Sam! Damn it's good to see you."

She quickly held out a hand as he walked forward.

"That's a first. What….it's about the brownies isn't it?" he said stopping.

"No, though I'm very happy to see you too, unfortunately, if I'm right, seeing is all you're going to get."

"What's that mean?"

Daniel waved a hand and it passed through Ford's chest.

"That sucks. So much for…."

She gave him a glare and Daniel had a brief confused look that went away quickly.

"Jack said you two had it bad, but I never thought….never mind. Let's see about figuring out what this says hmmm?" Daniel said jerking a thumb.

"Good idea." Ford said walking around the table to be in front with Daniel. "Okay….hey, where's Mitchell?"

"He um….." Daniel muttered and then shut up. When Sam didn't say anything, he gave her a commanding look.

"Sam?"

"He….went with Reynolds, to help, help Teal'c."

"Ah….let me guess. You both heard me and my idea with the Sodan cloak, so he figures someone might see him if they…." he was saying seeing them nod. "Hmm. Hopefully he'll get lucky. I'm guessing you two can't interact with anything except this, well three actually."

"Not a thing." she said. "Not even those brownies you better have hidden for me."

"Unless someone else has a key to that particular desk drawer, they should still be there. If it helps any, I haven't had any either."

"It helps."

"Can we…." Daniel said pointing again.

After a few moments and Ford telling K-9 everything was okay, which was weird since somehow K-9 could hear him, but Lee couldn't.

"Some sort of log." Daniel said.

"Definitely Merlin's." Ford said.

"Merlin's?"

"I'll explain later." Daniel said touching the screen to make the pages move.

"A device to allow a person to go to another dimension. Apparently he got the second device to work."

"Second?"

"Another time, short version, first device got me where I am today. Second device is what got you in this predicament." Ford said as Daniel kept reading and moving the pages.

"Wow. This device was made to keep his research a secret."

"Talk about password protection, or you could say data encryption."

"Does it say what research he was protecting and from who?" she asked.

The two kept reading and both their eyes widened.

"Oh my." Ford said quietly.

"Whoa." Daniel muttered.

"Come on guys. Don't leave me hanging here."

"He kept the information hidden from ascended beings." Ford muttered.

"Why? Wasn't he ascended too?"

"He created a weapon designed for the sole purpose of destroyed ascended beings." Daniel said looking through more of the pages.

"That….is…..wow." she muttered.

"We really could have used that when Anubis was here. God, no wonder he kept this a secret." Ford said standing back up.

"You said you hit him with two PC-90's and he didn't die. How is that possible?" Reynolds asked as he and the Major stood nearby Teal'c.

"We have encountered something like this before." Teal'c said from where he was working on his PC-90's, reloading mostly on the broken cart. "An Ancient device that was able to reanimate dead tissue."

"Sounds a lot like that Umbrella incident in Raccoon city you guys dealt with years back." Reynolds said.

"Indeed. Though those dead were much simpler to deal with. Anubis used similar technology to give life to his Kull warriors."

"Assuming there is no cure?" the Major asked.

"The Volneck we knew is dead."

"So how do we stop him, it, whatever?" Reynolds asked.

"He must be destroyed, entirely."

"Claymores." the Major said.

"Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Mitchell said.

"We just plant two on them on each side, run a wire through the middle and lure him through." the Major said.

"Piece of cake. While we're at it, why don't we teach him how to speak Japanese." Reynolds said.

"The General probably could too." Mitchell said crossing his arms.

"I will do it."

"What?" Mitchell exclaimed.

"Teal'c, the kill zone is going to be huge." Reynolds stated as Teal'c picked up his guns. "You'll have to move quick to get out of it."

"Understood."

"No, no. Now that's just crazy." Mitchell said.

"Let's at least wait for reinforcements." the Major said.

"Waiting will only put the lives of others at risk. Volneck was clever enough to disable the Eye of the Gods. The control crystal is in his possession. The only way we can return to Earth is to retrieve it. And the only way we can do that is by killing Volneck. There is no other way."

Mitchell followed shaking his head.

"Merlin believed that the Ori represented a significant threat to the safety of the galaxy, the Ancients themselves refused to take any action to protect themselves." Daniel read as Lee kept working away on his computer.

"Ascending only allowed them to escape the problem for a short time." Ford muttered.

"Yeah."

"So Merlin found a way to destroy ascended beings without the other's knowing?" she asked.

"He hid his research where they couldn't find it. And we're looking at it, or part of it anyway." Ford said.

"Did he ever complete it?" she asked.

"Wow. There is a lot of technical data here. Some of it….wow." Ford said flipping through pages. "Um…."

"What?" she asked.

"I don't understand some of this. I'll have to come back and read it more later. Right now, let's find out how to get back to our own dimension, or you two and hopefully Mitchell at the same time."

"Hey, he did complete it." Daniel said pointing at a line. "But he relocated it to…."

Another page flipped and showed more text lines, along with something else.

"I don't need to read Ancient to understand that is a gate address." she said.

"K-9, remember this gate address." Ford said reading it out.

Reynolds and his team finished setting up the two claymores between a couple of trees. They covered them up with leaves to hide them as Mitchell stood by watching.

"Claymores are ready."

"You and your men stand by watching the perimeter. I will lead Volneck into the trap."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am."

He walked off leaving Reynolds and his team to get ready.

Lee was telling them something about making a adjustment to an algorithm while Ford and Daniel were looking at the text lines still. K-9 started saying something about detecting dangerously low power fluctuations as Lee hit enter. The screen flickered and dimmed considerable.

"Dammit Lee." Ford muttered.

"Uh oh." Daniel and Sam said.

Lee said the same thing as Ford turned around walking toward Lee. He accidentally tripped over K-9 who was moving toward Lee to shut down Lee's computer. Sam and Daniel shouted for him to look out, which he heard for a moment. Ford managed to avoid landing on K-9 by hitting the table and sliding off it. There was a spark like noise and Ford was lying on the floor visible again.

"General, are you alright?" Lee asked getting up quickly.

"Yes." he grumbled as he removed his belt buckle again. "Great. I can't fix this. K-9?"

"Scanning Master. The device is irreparable."

"Damn." the SG-1 members all muttered.

"Great. He can't help us anymore." she said throwing her hands up.

"K-9, why did you move in the way?" Ford asked.

"Scans indicate that Doctor's Lee's further tampering would diminish the remaining power left in the Ancient device."

Ford sat up quickly.

"Are you telling me if the power in that thing fails, and I'm also guessing that we can't re-power it back, and if it does, they might not be able to come back into phase?"

"Data indicates that is a possibility Master."

Ford stood up quickly putting his buckle back.

"Lee, do nothing. No more work that involves draining the power in that thing."

"Where are you going?" Lee asked as Ford started leaving.

"I need a new cloaking device so I have to send someone to bring one back. Both of you find a way to get them back, without using the power in that thing. K-9, can you scan how much power is left?"

"17 minutes at most Master. If the device is not used again."

"No one access it, or touch it. That goes for you two invisible people as well." he ordered before leaving quickly.

Teal'c was walking around with his guns at ready again, Mitchell following along.

"You know, there is a fine line between crazy brave and crazy, crazy my friend. And you are walking it."

Teal'c kept walking keeping watch and silent.

"You realize he took out an entire Sodan village?"

Teal'c turned around and leaned up against the back of a tree, then activated the cloak.

"Finally! Please tell me that you can see and hear me. The General said there was a good possibility that anyone with the cloak on would." Mitchell said with his fingers crossed in front of him.

"Indeed." he said quietly.

"You can hear me and see me?" he said standing in front of him.

He nodded, looking and him and then walked off again.

"Great. Since you can see and hear me, then Volneck will be able to as well, if he's cloaked. I can provide the distraction and lead him back to Reynolds and the other's. You can be their waiting with them."

"I do not feel comfortable allowing you to shoulder all the risk."

"There's no risk. From what Carter said, we are unable to interact with anything. With anyone though, they have to be cloaked like you."

"You are certain you will not be injured?" Teal'c asked stopping the in the path.

"Yeah." Mitchell said turning to him. "Take your best shot if you don't…."

Teal'c swung his weapon through Mitchell's head. Seeing that Teal'c bowed to him slightly.

"Good luck Colonel Mitchell."

"Hey, did you even think twice about that?"

"I did not." Teal'c said as he kept walking.

Mitchell shook his head and ran off yelling Volneck's name. Several stops later, he stopped near a bunch of trees seeing Volneck walk out from behind one.

"Oh there you are. I was getting worried."

Volneck, looking like a dead zombie, activated the staff weapon shooting through Mitchell. Mitchell grabbed his chest and then shrugged.

"You've got to try better than that." Mitchell said running off.

Volneck followed firing off a shot every so often. Mitchell kept yelling back at him, other than to antagonize him to keep following, but to alert the other's ahead, or Teal'c anyway. Mitchell stopped just short of the claymores and turned around as Volneck stopped a few feet away. Teal'c was watching from behind a tree nearby as Mitchell goaded Volneck. Several staff blast went right through him hitting the large stump.

"We're running out of time." she said.

"I think I found the master control screen."

"Be careful Daniel."

"I am. Here it is. It's a button combination." he said about to strike the keys. "Um, if this works, what happens to Mitchell?"

"I don't know. There's a possibility of a subspace connection linking him to the device."

"And if there isn't?"

"I don't know. If not, we can at least still talk to him with one of the Sodan cloaking devices, at least until we hopefully find another way. If this doesn't work."

"Ford will throw a fit. Here goes."

Several key strokes later, there was a bright light and Lee turned from his laptop seeing them back.

"Master! Mistress and Doctor Jackson have returned!"

Mitchell was still antagonizing Volneck as the dead man kept growling at him. Volneck started walking forward when there was a bright flash of light and he had to grab the tree stump to keep standing. Teal'c noticed that Mitchell had came back into phase, and into serious danger. Mtichell looked down at his hand seeing bark in it.

"Oh crap."

He looked around carefully and heard a twig snap too late as he was slammed into hard with something knocking him back a few feet, and onto the ground rather hard. Volneck picked him up by his throat holding him off the ground. Mitchell couldn't see anything, but felt for a face and once found kept swinging hard at it. Teal'c came out as Mitchell was thrown against the stump. He knocked the staff weapon up before Volneck could shoot Mitchell and then proceeded to use his guns to block a few swings. A quick shove of both weapons knocked the small staff weapon away and he fired both clips through the man. He didn't drop this time so Teal'c tossed his guns aside and uncloaked, grabbed Mitchell and they both ran over the trip wires, and kept running. Volneck followed quickly and the two were knocked to the ground in the resulting explosion.

"You know what, my whole point for coming here, was to rescue you." Mitchell said as they slowly got off the ground.

"You are most welcome Colonel Mitchell."

"Let's see him get up from that one."

"Unfortunately, we must now locate the crystal."

"What, you mean this crystal?" he said pulling it from his pocket. When Teal'c gave him a questioning look. "I pulled it from him as he was tossing me around. You know, if we hurry, we'll make it in time for dinner. Hopefully, the General will still be willing to make those hash browns for me."

"Indeed."