To all my reviewers – a HUGE thank you, and apology. For some reason the site hasn't been working properly and I wasn't getting any notifications – when suddenly they came all at once. I'll try and reply individually, but also wanted to let you know I wasn't ignoring the kindness of your reviews. It means A LOT and helps me keep motivated to write. Vini

Jack and Willem travelled carefully and as quietly as possible, although they were also trying to move quickly. Jack would have loved to put his rouncey to a gallop but knew that stealth and cunning were what was needed now.

But damn it – he wanted to rush in and get Leron and make him suffer for what he had done. If either of the boys, or Carter, had been hurt – well there would be no stopping him.

He suddenly drew his animal to a stop, and held up his hand, signaling Willem to stop but to be quiet. He thought he'd heard something, although it could just have been an animal.

When he heard nothing else, he relaxed slightly and turned towards his friend and companion. "How far to the caves?" he asked softly.

"Another fifteen minutes, or so."

Jack nodded. "Okay, I think we should leave the rounceys here and travel by foot. We'll be able to move more quietly without them."

Willem nodded, and quickly dismounted. He looked around until he saw a small copse of trees. "Over there," he said.

Jack nodded and the two men headed towards the trees. It turned out to be the perfect spot, as behind the trees was a tiny, but well-hidden meadow. They could tie up the rounceys and they would be able to graze until they returned.

Once the animals were looked after, Jack headed out, followed by Willem. They made their way carefully, keeping their eyes out for Leron, or for any booby traps he may have set.

As they walked, Jack wondered again about the man and where he'd come from. It didn't seem likely that he was from another planet. Neither he nor Sam had heard anything about visitors from space, at least not until he'd been told about the caves.

And that brought up something else. Why oh why was there nothing about the caves in any of their literature. It seemed odd and it made him wonder if maybe there was something here that the locals hadn't wanted anyone to find.

Maybe there was a stargate here. He snorted softly – that would be just too weird.

"Why are you laughing," Willem whispered.

"I'm not," Jack replied. "I was just thinking how strange it is that I've never heard of these caves before."

Willem shrugged. "We told you – there were lots of stories about this place and many grew frightened and didn't want to think of them."

"Yeah, okay, although I still think it's odd. Uh – you don't happen to know anything about a stargate, do you?" Now that they had time as they were walking, Jack thought it would be good to pursue the idea that there was – or had been – a stargate on Varid.

"A star – what?"

"It's a big round circle with symbols on it. We have one on our – ur – where we come from."

Willem stopped, a puzzled look on his face. Soon he relaxed. "We have stories about something called a Chappa'ai which sounds similar. Does that sound familiar?"

Jack took a deep breath and let out a soft whistle. "Yes, yes it does. It is what some people call the stargate. Do you have any idea where it is?"

"Where it is? It is just a myth," Willem told him. He stopped talking for a moment, and then sighed. "It was said to be near the caves," he admitted, "although it is just a story that was told to frighten children. We were told that if we were naughty, then beings with glowing eyes would come through the Chappa'ai and take us with them and we would never be seen again. It was really quiet frightening, and I think many of us who grew up with those stories decided we never wanted to visit or even hear about the White Caves or the – stargate – as you call it. I'm sure that's why you haven't heard of it."

Well, shit, thought Jack. All this work trying to find the damn thing and it has been here the whole time – but because of some kind of community childhood trauma, it had been kept out of any records.

He wondered what kind of parents would scare their children like that. Probably ones who had some memory of when Jaffa came through and harvested people for slaves or hosts.

Well, this complicated things. If it ended up being true, which now seemed increasingly likely, he worried that Leron could have taken Sam and the boys through the stargate. If not, and he caught the man – which he was determined to do – it meant that there was now a way home.

Suddenly the decision about what to do was nearer than he had thought.

"I see something up ahead," Willem whispered suddenly. The two men came to a stop, and walked forward carefully, trying to be quiet and keep hidden.

A DHD! She shook her head in disbelief. Of all the things she had expected to happen or to see, a DHD was far down on her list. She frowned, wondering if Leron knew about it – and if he was from another planet.

It would make sense, she thought. He and his brother were so different from the people here on Varid. She'd wondered about that, but in her wildest dreams she would not have thought of them being from another planet.

Quickly checking to make sure Leron wasn't returning, she made her way slowly forward. If there was a DHD, there had to be a gate. It was so dark in the cave that, even with the faint light making its way in from the entrance, it was impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of her.

She glanced up quickly as she heard a noise outside the cave. Grimacing, she made her way quickly back to the boys and sat down just as Leron walked into the room.

She couldn't see his face, but she didn't think he'd seen her walking from the back of the cave. When all he did was walk a few steps closer and threw something at them she breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't say anything but turned around and left the cave.

After waiting a few seconds, she reached over and picked up the sack. Opening it, she realized it was a couple of bottles of what she assumed was water, and some food.

The boys were snoozing, probably so traumatized that their little bodies took refuge in sleep. She gently laid the food down, although she did take a bottle and carefully took a small sip. It was water – hopefully with nothing else added. She took a long drink and then put the bottle aside.

With one more glance at the entrance, she stood up again and made her way – this time more confidently, to the DHD. From there, she moved forward to try and find the gate.

"Okay, you can't be hard to find," she whispered softly to herself. Her arms were up, to not only try and find it, but also to protect herself in case she did find it.

But there seemed to be nothing. She reached the back wall of the cave and carefully felt around. Maybe the gate was somehow in the side of the cave? It could have been here for thousands of years and may have been buried or incorporated into the wall. She had a quick flashback to Antarctica and the DHD that had been buried in the ice.

Damn – there was nothing. Her brow crinkled in frustration. If only she had a light! At that precise moment her foot hit something and she stumbled. She would have fallen, but she was able to reach out and steady herself against the wall.

Okay – what the hell was that, she wondered, after she regained her balance. She knelt on the ground and searched with her hand. Her eyes had become a bit more accustomed to the dark, but at the back of the cave it was still almost impossible to see anything.

Her hand knocked into something, something hard. She was able to grasp it and pulled it towards her. It felt like a rock, although it seemed to be flat on one side, and jagged around the edges.

She decided the best thing to do was to make it back to the boys and look at it there. There was more light and she could sit down.

After she'd plopped down beside a sleeping Simon, she held the object up.

"Oh hell," she said softly. On the "rock" was one of the gate symbols. What she was looking at was a broken piece of a stargate.

"Well, I guess we're not going home, after all, Jack," she said to herself. The good news was Leron couldn't take them off-world either, something she just realized now could have been a possibility.

"Okay – I'm going to have to figure out how to get us out of here," she said. Leron would have to sleep sometime and hopefully that would give her a chance. She glanced at the piece of the gate and decided it could be useful as a weapon. Naquadah was incredibly hard, and could crush someone's skull. That sounded pretty good to her right now.