Jack worried from the moment Sg-3 along with Teal'c and Daniel had gone back to the planet. He knew logically that he couldn't have gone with them – he wasn't up to it yet. Still, he hated feeling so helpless, especially when this was a mission that concerned him so directly.

He really wished he could figure out what Nirrti's people – damn sycophants – wanted with his sperm. He knew she'd had an obsession with creating a Hok'tar and he somehow figured this was related to that. He just prayed that the plan hadn't been to use his sperm to create hosts. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if his own children were the enemy.

And then there was Carter. He didn't like to think about the possibility that they'd harvested her eggs. That really brought up all sorts of problems and ideas he'd really rather not deal with. His relationship with her had always been rather complicated and it didn't need – this – to make it worse.

He wondered briefly where she was, but then realized he didn't need to wonder. "She's with her boyfriend, you idiot", he scolded himself. In fact Pete Shanahan was her fiancé now – something he really avoided thinking about. He was happy for her – sort of – but that didn't mean he wanted to think about the guy – or see him, or talk to him, or go to their wedding, or have anything to do with him ever. He had decided a long time ago to ignore anything and everything that had to do with Carter and other – ur – men or aliens, or any of the myriad species who routinely fell in love with her.

He sighed and swung his legs back and forth over the side of the bed. He was getting stronger and could actually stand for brief moments at a time. He was healthier, was putting on weight and was watching as the bruises and lesions left. Even his mouth was less tender, which he was heartily thankful for. It had been about to drive him crazy. The one thing that didn't seem to want to go away were the nightmares and feelings of panic – and sometimes downright terror. Sleeping was almost impossible although he hadn't told Janet that. He knew she'd just want him to get help or take another pill, neither of which option appealed. The problem was, every time he closed his eyes he imagined being strapped down to that damn table and being injected with good old super-viagra.

He finally decided he needed to get up and move around before he went crazy. Maybe that would take his mind off Carter and old Petey boy. God – couldn't she at least have met someone with a decent name? Pete for God's sake.

Sam was presently curled up against Pete, almost asleep beside him on the couch. He was watching the game – the volume turned down low – and she was trying to relax. It had been a stressful few days – hell, weeks and she was just now getting back to feeling normal. At least she had been until the whole aliens stealing her eggs thing had come up.

She didn't know for sure, but she had a definite feeling that she and Janet were right and they had stolen them. If that was the case, she just prayed Sg3 would find them in the cylinders and destroy them. She had briefly worried about pregnancy – thinking they may have implanted something in her – but according to Janet – and half a dozen pregnancy tests – she wasn't. Her relief had been short-lived when Janet had commented that it could still be too early to tell.

And wouldn't that screw up her life, she thought. She glanced over at the man at her side and couldn't help but flinch. There's no way he would accept that she was pregnant with anyone else's child – especially if that child's father was – no – there was no way and she wasn't even going to think about it. She was not pregnant and wasn't going to be any time soon.

That made her think about Pete again and it suddenly dawned on her that she'd never really pictured herself having a child with him. She frowned slightly, wondering if it was because she just didn't want children at all, or whether it was him.

She shied away from that thought. She loved him. Of course she would want children with him. She adored Cassie and if it hadn't been for her job she would have adopted the young girl. No, it was just that she wasn't quite ready for motherhood. She was sure that when she was she'd be happy to have children with Pete.

She ignored the small voice which told her she didn't have a lot of years left. The clock was ticking and if she didn't want them now – would she really want them later?

"Okay Hon?" Pete asked suddenly, a commercial interrupting the game. "Need anything?"

"No", she answered softly. "Just lying here feels nice."

"Good", he answered, not looking at her. He took a handful of potato chips and munched down on them contentedly, seemingly unaware of the turmoil of the woman at his side. Sam had a fleeting thought that it wouldn't be long before Pete started to put on weight. It would make him look even shorter, she sighed. Shen then immediately felt guilty for even thinking such a thing. What did it matter if he was shorter than her? He was a good man and that's all that was important.

But the Colonel is taller than you, a voice in her head said, and you like that. He always makes you feel safe and your head fits perfectly on his shoulder. And just think of what your chil - stop it Sam, she said angrily to herself. The last thing she needed was to be thinking about the Colonel or children when she was sitting right beside a good man who loved her.

"Anything exiting happen while you were gone?" Pete asked. He knew she'd been on an off-world mission, but knew nothing about her captivity. She shouldn't mind, but an errant thought reminded her that Jack would know without her telling him. He always knew when something was wrong and made sure she was okay.

Instantly she lost Pete's attention as he became immersed in the game once more. She debated answering his question, but one look at his face showed that he was totally engrossed in hockey and wouldn't welcome her comments or interruptions.

She sighed and settled back, figuring watching the game was better than trying to converse with the man who was soon to be her husband. She wondered briefly if this was a picture of what her life was to be like in the future.

The facility appeared deserted when Sg3 and Daniel and Teal'c arrived. Although to be fair, thought Daniel, it had seemed that way the first time as well. It was very obvious that there weren't many people left here unless they had all been hiding out on the previous visit.

"Down this way", indicated Reynolds, pointing down the corridor where they'd found the cylinders. Daniel nodded and followed close behind. Teal'c came up behind him while this Peterson and Bosco stayed back.

They were nearing the end of the corridor when suddenly a door opened and one of the short aliens hurried out. He immediately saw the intruders and let out a short cry. Turning on his heel he re-entered the room he'd just left, slamming the door quickly behind him.

"Let's go", Reynolds called. The three men rushed ahead but by the time they got to the door it was firmly shut and locked.

"Let me", Teal'c said solemnly. He stepped forward and let off one short burst of his staff weapon. The handle broke and the door slowly swung open.

"Watch yourselves folks", Reynolds told them, entering the room cautiously, his P-90 leading the way.

In the corner was the alien, cowering down and trying to blend in with the rest of the room. Reynolds and Teal'c scanned the room quickly, ensuring that there was no one else present. Daniel stood staring at the array of items in the room.

"This is a lab", he said. "What the hell were they doing in here?"

The Colonel approached the alien cautiously, waving at him with his weapon and telling him to stand. Although the cowering man didn't understand the words, he understood the meaning and instantly stood.

He began to jabber in a language none of the others knew. Daniel tried – and failed – to make himself understood and he certainly didn't understand any of the alien's words. "It's a language I've not heard before", he told his companions. "It'll take me a while to work out what he's saying."

At that Teal'c stepped forward and began to speak in Goa'uld. The little man looked shocked but immediately nodded and replied.

"Okay, that confirms that a Goa'uld was here, at some time", Reynolds said in an aside to Daniel. "Uh Teal'c – what's he saying?" Daniel too looked at Teal'c for the translation. His Goa'uld was pretty good, but the dialect that the man was speaking was hard for him to understand. That was made worse by the fact that the guy was so frightened he could barely get any words out at all. Teal'c seemed to do a much better job so he left him to it.

"His name is Traenda and he informs me that he worships the goddess Nirrti and is here working in her service."

"Nirrti eh? I guess you were right Dr. Jackson. Uh, is she here?"

"She is dead Colonel Reynolds", Teal'c informed him. He then refocused his attention on the alien and spoke a few more brief words.

"He says that her servant Ra'mash was here and made sure they continued to carry out her wishes."

"Which are?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c spoke to him again, the only indication of anything being amiss was the eyebrow, which lifted up during the middle of the man's recitation.

"What's he saying Teal'c?" Reynolds was getting impatient, wanting to get this job over with and get home. He found the place creepy in the extreme, especially after what had been done to Jack.

Teal'c took a deep breath as if he was trying to calm himself down. Daniel stared at him in surprise. It took a lot to upset his friend. "Teal'c?"

"We were correct. They collected O'Neill's sperm and froze it. The plan was to impregnate slave women and create hosts. When O'Neill was captured they believed they had been blessed by the goddess. They have been waiting many years in order to fulfill her wishes to create hosts from humans from Earth." He paused and took another breath and his nostrils flared. "They also collected eggs from Major Carter." He stopped and glared down at the alien, who cowered in fear.

"What for?" Daniel was frowning, still wondering at Teal'c's anger. They'd suspected this is what had happened so the alien must have said something else. "What were they planning to do with them?"

"They were not planning", Teal'c informed them. "They did what they set out to do – at least part of it."

"Which was?" Reynolds asked, finally seeming to notice Tea'c's mood.

"To create human embryos. They fertilized some of Major Carter's eggs and were planning on implanting them and creating Hok'tar's."

The silence was deafening until Daniel managed to speak. "Fertilized how?"

Teal'c asked the little man, speaking again in Goa'uld. "They did it here in this laboratory", he told his human companions.

"No, I mean - uh – what sperm did they use?"

Teal'c stared for a moment and then bowed his head. When he looked up again he faced the alien and spoke. The man replied and then Teal'c turned around and spoke, looking even more somber than normal.

"Don't tell me", Daniel interrupted, his hand up. "Jack's."

"Indeed", Teal'c nodded, looking anything but happy.

"Shit!" Reynolds exclaimed, with that one word vocalizing how they all felt. "We'll just have to bloody well find them and – uh , take them back to the SGC." Reynolds didn't want to even suggest destroying them. It was one thing to blast away a sperm bank – but embryos were a totally different thing. "I suggest we go and find them and get the hell out of here."

Teal'c grabbed the alien, obviously having difficulty restraining himself from not choking the life out of him. As they headed towards the room with the cylinders, Teal'c continued to interrogate Traenda and translate for his companions. "There were only four of them here", he said, "and we killed two of them on our previous visit", he told his companions. "They were waiting for Nirrti to return."

"How long has it been?"

Teal'c asked the question and the little alien answered in just a few words. "Twelve years", he informed them.

"Wow – that's loyalty for you", Daniel whistled.

"It is foolishness", uttered the former First Prime of Apophis, his voice oozing contempt.

Upon entering the small room with the storage containers it was obvious that someone had been there before them. Of the four containers that had been here the last time, there were three remaining – and they had all been destroyed.

"Uh – weren't there four of these?" Reynolds asked, looking at the wreckage in front of him.

"Yes there were", Teal'c answered. He walked up to Traenda and grabbed the front of his shirt. Speaking softly, he held the terrified man immobile. The alien began to splutter, his words practically running over one another in his fear.

"What did he say?" Reynolds asked, without sympathy

"After we helped Major Carter and O'Neill escape they knew we would return once we discovered why they had been held. Traenda remained behind and as soon as we came through the gate began to destroy everything that was left. Nirrti's deputy Ra'mash, had already gone through the gate to another world."

"Why?" Daniel asked softly.

Teal'c's eyes met his – and Daniel instantly knew. "He took the embryos with him?"

Teal'c nodded. "Yes and he plans to implant them in the wombs of slave women."

Both Reynolds and Daniel looked horrified but didn't know what to say or do. After a few seconds it was Reynolds who thought to ask an important question. "How many?"

"Embryos?" Teal'c replied. Upon the Colonel's nod he spoke to Traenda, who answered with one word in Goa'uld.

Daniel understood that one word and closed his eyes. "Six", he said softly. "Ah hell, what are we going to tell Jack and Sam?"