Author's Notes: A huge thank you to everyone who has been helping me along. I know whatever I do will be better thanks to you. Chrisbod (as always), my mentor and friend; Yvonne, Debbie and KD for your invaluable help and teachings. Whatever you think, they made this better.

Also, there is mention in this story of a serious disorder. I meant no disrespect to the persons afflicted by this, nor their friends or family. This was mentioned merely for the purposes of this story. From my research, I have gained great respect for those that have this disorder. I offer my sincerest apologies to any this may have offended.

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.  Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.  Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).

Olim stood in front of the double security doors and pressed his hand to the scanner plate mounted on the nearby wall. The laser that read the palm print was apparently satisfied as the doors slid silently open. Next came the more telling step in the identification process. Olim had learned the hard way that palms could be altered, tripping up the security. More than ever before, the need for security was prevalent. While not his area of expertise, Olim had come up with a more fool-proof system. As was said many times before, 'Necessity was the Mother of Invention'. Now he kept the palm scanner for more of a personnel log-in, than for security. The next step was harder to fool. Olim moved across the pressure sensitive floor. The plates recorded weight. The system drew information from a database which recorded all relevant data. The weight on the plate should match that recorded for that employee. There was a degree of leeway allowed for daily weight fluctuations, and all staff were screened frequently for any physical changes. This minimised the chance of having people trying to work the system. The fail-safe would kick in and reject all admittance at that point, and would in fact automatically inform security of a potential breach. The plate was charged and would deliver a stunning shock that rendered the occupant unconscious, without actually causing harm, allowing security the chance to arrive.

Spies had recently tried to infiltrate the Cloning Division of the Ministry. With the situation between Yensid and Regor, tensions were beginning to escalate. While the two planets were under trade treaties, leaks had been discovered. Olim knew the price his world would pay if information fell into the wrong hands. To help stem the tide, Olim had helped to devise more security measures. The next step was his personal contribution to the protection of his work.

Olim spread his arms wide, and placed his right and left index fingers into small recesses, spaced at wide intervals. He waited for and felt the simultaneous pin pricks his fingertips received. A quick blood analysis confirmed his genetic identity. The second set of doors then opened, allowing his final admittance.

The medical theatre lit up instantly, light glaring off the pristine surfaces. Lighting and temperature preferences were recorded by the computer, and set automatically after the palm was read. In the event of more than one person working at a time, the one with the greater rank was given deferential treatment.

The room was a state of the art masterpiece. Any and all medical equipment known had been brought to this place. Resources were limitless in this endeavour. It was a scientist's dream come true, and the task at hand was truly remarkable.

To date, the job had been relatively easy. The technology being implemented thus far was aeons old. Cloning was now the only method of repopulation on Yensid. Computers all but ran the planet. Biological life-forms were now controlled substances, used only for necessary tasks. Olim remembered when they had discovered the techniques.

While their planet of origin, Earth, was still discovering the world was round, Yensid had already reached the electronic age. The rise to technology had been swift, providing unheard of luxuries and prosperity. Unfortunately, in their eagerness for discovering the unknown, they had forgotten the fundamentals. Too late, the damage to the planet was discovered. The natural resources, both mineral and biological, had been depleted past the point of survival. Starvation swept the planet. People died in the billions. In a last ditch effort to save their society, the Supreme Ministry gathered the best and the brightest in all fields. This effort birthed the origins of the DNA bank. Only those capable of utilising the technology were protected from the ravages of a world gone wrong. Those people were sent to the tower city where the means for survival had been secreted away. Heavy automatic fortifications protected the elevated city. The defences never succumbed to the devastation raging outside.

In the years spent locked behind their own walls, the nature of the men and women of Yensid changed. Their priorities shifted. The sciences became all encompassing. Techniques were experimented with, and perfected. Soon, the world they had left behind became a superfluous memory.

Yensid rose to the heights of its technological prowess, while simultaneously losing all sense of its morality.

Given the limited stores and space, genetics began to play a key role. Children were no longer necessary or needed. They could perform no essential services, and took valuable resources. The need rose for extreme population control. A mother's womb was soon replaced by a technological one. Babies and children were not deemed to be essential, while viable, functioning adults were. As such, the limits of genetics were pushed, until simple recombinant DNA became the future. Yensid had done away with process of birth and formulate years. Children now emerged from their artificial wombs as fully formed, fully functioning adults.

As with all things, the crisis eventually passed, although many years had transpired. When the select few were at last able to emerge from their towers, the world that greeted them was irreparably changed. Famine and disease had wiped out the population. The few survivors had gone mad with grief and hunger and were shot on sight. What water remained was toxic and the land ravaged past the point of repair. Aside from those spared, Yensid was a dead world.

Unable to provide for their own needs, and their stores dwindling at an alarming rate, the scientists turned to neighbouring planets. A trade mission was arranged, and treaties drawn. The nearby world of Regor provided the basics of life such as food and water, and Yensid provided the technology.

Regor was a garden planet. The people worked the land and preserved the environment. The technologies that bested Yensid, were unknown there. The people did not want for anything. They had land, clean water, plenty of food and a peaceful way of life. Territory was not fought for, thus war was never a factor. Other planets left them alone, as their simple way of life offered nothing that other worlds desired. The people raised their families, grew old and died, and the circle of life continued, generation after generation. Until Yensid.

The relationship worked for many years, and the standings between the two worlds grew stronger. Now, however, they had come to a critical point. Regor had become the subject of scrutiny from the System Lords. Unable to fend off the unwanted advances, they turned to Yensid for protection.

The solution was deemed to be in the best interests of both planets. While Yensid had the weaponry to protect itself, Regor did not. Since it was unable to support the kind of technology involved in self protection, it behoved Yensid to come up with an alternate solution. If Regor fell, so did their link to life's basic essentials.

The Minister's Council of Yensid was unwilling to admit that they did not actually want to exchange technology of that magnitude. It was in their best interests to keep Regor reliant on them. If they developed enough technology for themselves, they would have the upper hand in the alliance, and Yensid could not have that. Hence, the current experiment in the works, and the new security measures.

Olim broke from his ruminations, and concentrated on the subject at hand. Over the years, the science of cloning had been modified and fine tuned until the outcome was predictable to within thousandths of a percent. The tricky part of this particular job was not the creation of the subject, and the areas to be enhanced, but rather the areas to be blanketed. The mind of this specimen was to be left completely empty, the personality and desirable attributes to be added later.

Olim moved around the room, checking on equipment. He walked past rows of beakers and centrifuges. Electron microscopes sat at the ready, as did autoclaves. Robotic arms waited for the manipulation of materials too delicate to be trusted to any mere human. Electrophoreses necessary for the splitting of genetic material waited for the next task. Olim made his way steadily closer to the large object commanding attention in the centre. The tank was of clear neoprene. It measured ten feet in length, and five feet in depth. It was spherical in shape, lying laterally. On one round end were computer screens. They were ceaseless in the constant monitoring of internal conditions. The other end was plain. A hinged line in the top indicated the presence of an opening. Once the cycle was complete, the top of the tank would open, allowing its contents to be removed.

 Pipes fed in to the tank. Some were narrow, supplying constant infusions of nutrients to the murky fluid within. Others served to provide the fluid with proper aeration. Still others allowed for the addition of biological additives. One large tube ran out from the underside of the tank. It was as yet unused, but would provide drainage for the tank at the desired moment.

That moment would soon come. Olim studied the readings on the end of the tank. He was satisfied with what he saw. He moved over to study the murky fluid, trying in vain to visually gauge the progress of the procedure. While he didn't distrust the computer readouts, he still preferred the old-fashioned hands on method of work.

Olim was Premiere Medical Officer of the Yensid. The breeding program on the planet took only the best and brightest in their fields. Genetic materials from all likely candidates were taken, labelled and stored. The repository of breeding was the most protected place on the planet. The DNA contained there was quite literally the future of the planet.

The donors of Olim's genetic materials had both been medicos, and the best in their fields. Once the word was given that a candidate for someone in Olim's speciality was needed, the process began.

Both the male and female genetic materials were chosen to provide the most likely intellectual outcome. In Olim's case, the focus was on mental acuity, not looks. Once the choice was made, the materials were then turned over to the genetics lab. DNA was split, combined and reconstituted. Life began in test tubes and beakers, under the watchful eye of geneticists. Not only was Olim created to fulfil specific requirements, he was aged to a point where he could function at an appropriate level. The combined knowledge of both parent donors was given to him. While his body was being developed to necessary standards, his mind was also being developed. Within two months of 'conception', Olim was a fully functioning doctor with a job waiting for his particular talents. His speciality was genetics, but of a specific sort. His was the job of creating an entire line of planetary defence, out of simple DNA.

 High above the medical wing, looking down at the work in progress through the one-way glass, stood a group of the most powerful men in Yensid. The Lord High Minister, the High Minister and the Premier of Trade all stood in conference.

Ecnal, the High Minister, glanced up from Olim's activities and looked at the other two searchingly. "Are you certain he can achieve our goal, Jaen?"

The Lord High Minister looked slightly put out by the reference to his name, but realised that the constant use of titles in this case would be a waste of time. "I am not certain, but if it can be done, he will be the one to see it to fruition. Already he has proven invaluable in protecting our secrets." Jaen was the one whom Olim had gained permission from in his efforts to stop the industrial espionage. While not saying so, Jaen had been most impressed with Olim's additions to the security sectors.

Jaen peered through the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the contents of the vessel below. The future of his planet rested on the success of the plan. He lifted his eyes from the view and turned back to the two waiting men. "All that remains now is the transfer subject." Jaen turned to Nalan, the Premier of Trade. "How is the search for a candidate going?"

Nalan cleared his throat. "At this time, My Lord, we have not yet found a suitable candidate."

Ecnal turned to him, scorn on his face. "All this time and you have found nothing?"

Nalan ignored the remark and continued to address Jaen directly. "We have sent spies amongst the Jaffa of the various System Lords. They have managed to infiltrate the ranks successfully."

Ecnal interrupted. "I thought that the System Lords are capable of detecting the presence of a larval Goa'uld in the Jaffa. How is it that your men have not been detected?"

Nalan had to admit to the validity of the question, and answered accordingly. "Those that have come into contact with the Lords have in fact been found. However.." he held up his hand to prevent further interruption from Ecnal. "We have found that the Jaffa answer to the First Prime, who intermediates between the Lord and his troops. As such, few have been discovered. The traces of naquada Olim places within them seems to prevent the First Prime from detecting the deception."

Jaen nodded in approval. "How do you plan to gain the information we need."

Nalan had anticipated the question, and produced a wrist device. "This enables our men to record data they feel pertains to our cause. The information is transmitted to us holographically , and the device is encoded to the wearer's life signs. If our people are discovered and eliminated, the devices self-destruct. If the wearer's life signs alter significantly in any way, the same will happen. We would not want the evidence of our activities to fall into the wrong hands. "

"A wise precaution, Nalan. Well done. Now we shall only hope that the information is not long in coming." Jaen turned his back to the two men and strode from the room, his robes swirling behind him.

Seeing that the conversation had ended, and not wishing to remain with Ecnal, Nalan also left.

Ecnal moved to the window, and continued to survey the activities below.

The blaring klaxons lent a sense of urgency to the fast moving security team entering the embarkation room. The room quickly filled with fatigue clad men bearing weapons of varying shapes and sizes, all with a common goal.

SG1, with Colonel Jack O'Neill leading the way, entered the control room to meet up with General Hammond. "What's up, Sir?" Jack asked as he looked over the scene below.

"We have an incoming wormhole, and there are no teams presently off-world."

Sam looked up hopefully. "Could it be the Tok'ra, Sir?" She hadn't seen her father in a while and would liked to have a chance to visit him.

"There is no way of telling, Major. If it is Jacob, then he hasn't given us any warning. Unless we know who that is, I can't authorise the opening of the iris. I'm sorry."

Sam nodded. She knew the rules as did her father. If it was him, he would have sent word. They had to go under the assumption that this was an unknown.

The heavy chinking sound of the final locking chevron could be heard, and the Stargate sprung to life. The cerulean blue light lit up the room and tensions mounted. The grating sounds of the trinium strengthened iris sliding closed echoed loudly in the concrete room. The waiting guards hoisted their weapons in preparation for a possible breach in the iris defence. Moments passed. Finally, a resounding thud was heard against metal, and the mouth of the wormhole died, the light fading.

Jack looked over at the General in an unspoken request. A permissive nod set him on his way to the embarkation room. The massive steel security doors opened to admit him as the watching guards relaxed their stance. He strode up the length of the ramp, and watched as the trinium plates slid open, exposing the empty ring beyond. Jack looked, but found nothing. Still, this was a scenario that had been seen before. He looked up at the group watching from the control room. "There's nothing there, Sir. Might I suggest we have one of those radiation testers check things out?"

Hammond replied over the intercom. "Agreed." He turned to Carter. "Major?"

Sam was already on it. She had made the call and the portable equipment was on its way.

Hammond turned back to the waiting Colonel. "Meeting in the briefing room in 30 minutes, Colonel."

"Yes, Sir." As Jack moved to leave the room, he looked at the waiting men. "Everything's fine. You can stand down." He threw a salute to the group, and exited the room.

Jack and the rest of SG1 were assembled at the briefing table at the specified time. Each person had a file in front of them with the results of the radiation testing.

Daniel picked up the file and fanned it slowly back and forth as he spoke. "Obviously, the Tegrebs want to see us, or they never would have sent the box. The question is why?"

Hammond looked around the table. "You have no idea what this might be about? Everything was fine when you last spoke with them?"

Teal'c looked at the man. "Everything was indeed fine, General. In fact, things could not have been better."

Sam piped up. "Oh yeah. We had a great time there, General." Sam thought back to the time on the planet.

They had gone there several months prior, using one of the addresses Jack had programmed during his time under the influence of the Ancients. The meeting had gone well. The people were very friendly, after the first few awkward moments. The team had been treated exceptionally well.

The planet held vast amounts of trinium, making it worthwhile to establish relations with the locals. The people were more than agreeable to trade. They lacked some basic technologies and happily agreed to the switch. SG1 was given the unusual job of serving as liaison with the planet, due largely in part to the ease which with Daniel had fit in with them. As a rule, they were a first contact team, the follow up being delegated. Daniel had quickly developed a relationship with the men and women of the world, and they felt uncomfortable dealing with the other team that had joined SG1 to establish diplomatic relations. As usual, his skills had come in handy, as well as his caring attitude for people he had only met. As a favour to the Tegreb people, as well as for SG1, Hammond had agreed to allow the team the task of acting as intermediaries.

The way of life on Tegreb was laid back and relaxing, and SG1 had more than enjoyed their time there. Hammond had promised them a follow-up at the agreed upon time. That time was not yet upon them. Semi-annual trips had been scheduled, allowing time for the gathering of resources.

Jack flipped open his file, trying to make some sense of the readings. The most he could make out was the summary stating the belief that the object had in fact been the signature box sent previously left behind on Tegreb. He turned to the General, his expression hopeful. "Sir. Requesting permission to return to planet P43.. something, something, something."

Daniel tried to cover for him, amusement in his eyes. "Um, that would be P43-756."

Jack flashed him a grateful look, then turned back to Hammond. "What he said, Sir. Can we go back?"

The amusement has not passed the General, and he smiled as he nodded. "There are no assignments pressing for the next week, so, SG1, you have a go."

Smiles were seen all around the table. Thoughts of a relaxing week appealed to all the members of the team.

Jack spoke for them all. "Thank you, Sir." He turned to Teal'c. "Now I can finally teach you how to play baseball."

Teal'c nodded and started to speak, when Hammond cut him off. "Just remember, Colonel, this is a mission, not a vacation. I want check-ins at regular intervals."

Jack rose to leave, grinning all the while. "Yes, Sir. I'll remember that." As he started for the door, he grabbed Teal'c's arm, indicating for the big man to follow him. The others followed.

As the team exited the room, Hammond couldn't help but overhear Jack talking to Teal'c. "Wait 'til you try that new glove I got you. I finished breaking it in last week." The General smiled as he gathered up his files.

The team's smiles quickly evaporated as SG1 emerged into a battleground. The team was assaulted by the acrid smells of blood and sweat, fear and death. The Tegreb villagers were fighting a losing battle against the force of Jaffa. The Jaffa's superior weaponry was telling heavily and losses were occurring in greater numbers by the minute. In the split second it took for Jack to analyse the situation, two more men fell, both hit by staff blasts. The one man managed to crawl to the relative safety of a stone wall, the other lay unmoving.

The Jaffa had employed no tactics other than superior numbers and weaponry in the fight. So confident were they, that they fought with helmets open, exposing their faces to their intended victims. The Tegreb men were on one side of a field, the Jaffa on the other. Neither side had much cover. Obviously the Jaffa felt the villagers posed no real threat, so they were operating on purely offensive moves. At the opening of the gate though, that started to change. Some of the Jaffa broke off to move to more defensive positions. The Jaffa were trained well enough to realise the balance of the fight had now shifted.

SG1 snapped into action. Jack and Teal'c broke off to the right, Daniel and Sam the left. As they scrambled to gain safe positions, they alternated between the familiarity of their M16's, and the devastating effects of the zat guns. Electric pulses and blasts could be heard non-stop, intermixed with the rattle of rapid gunfire. Ozone cracked and the air smelt burnt. Sam approached a pile of broken rubble near a wall, to use as a shield when she heard a noise behind her.

Daniel was only a step behind Sam when instinct caused him to throw himself forward into a diving roll. He emerged alongside the rubble and scrambled around it, only to look behind him at the charred patch of earth he had just occupied. Sam, now behind him, twisted at the waist and fired randomly, unaware when she took out the would-be assailant. Gaining a temporary reprieve, she moved quickly to join her friend. The two friends sat in the dirt, backs against a large slab, pausing just long enough to catch their breath before turning and raising themselves up to check out their situation.

Jack and Teal'c had a harder time reaching safety. Their camouflaged bodies were targeted as they darted and wove their way through the body ridden field. Unused trees on the far side presented an opportunity for protection if they could reach them. First they had to traverse a bloody battleground, and fend off the firepower of the determined Jaffa's.

Jack spotted an enemy convergence cresting a hill in front. Shoving Teal'c in the direction of the trees, he shouted. "Move, Teal'c, I'll cover you!"

Teal'c ran as fast as he could. He needed to get to cover so he could in turn cover his CO. It took him only a moment to reach safety. He then took aim at the cluster of Jaffa who were temporarily distracted by Jack's movements.

In a calculated kamikaze manoeuvre, Jack opened continuous fire on the group ahead. Before the shocked fighters could recover, he dove to his side, rolled and regained his footing, firing all the while. The move had taken the Jaffa by surprise. Several fell in the first few seconds, two more in the next. By the time Jack stood, the enemy numbers had dwindled by half.

Teal'c took over the decimation of the group by providing cover fire. By the time Jack joined him, the group had broken ranks and scattered.

As Sam continued taking out the scattered Jaffa, one at a time, Daniel looked over to the man hiding behind the wall near to them. Yelling out "Cover me!" to Sam, he threw himself onto his belly and crawling arm over arm, covered the open span between his sanctuary and the nearby stone wall. Blasts landed all around, but none hit their target. Finally gaining his destination, Daniel moved alongside the limp figure who lay sprawled awkwardly on the ground. He rolled the man over to check the damage he knew to be there. His heart fell when he saw who it was. He drew the man closer, resting Tabor's head on his lap.

Tabor was one of the first men he established a rapport with. The man possessed an infectious smile, and brought laughter with him wherever he went. He had a wife and seven children, all of a young age. Every time Daniel saw the man, he had at least one child hanging from him and both would be laughing. He was on the ruling council of the planet, although most of their discussions quickly moved towards the topic of the next dance or celebration to be held.

Tabor groaned in pain and slowly swung his gaze around to meet Daniel's. He tried in vain to flash his customary smile, but the look quickly faded. "You... came to our aid.." He drew in a slow, shuddering breath. "Thank you...We feared you would...not." The words came out slowly, and with great effort.

Daniel pulled the robes open that sought to cover the blast wound. The coppery smell of blood assaulted Daniel's nose, while the scorched skin and burnt flesh showed the true severity of the injury. Without proper aid, Tabor would not survive. Even with it, the outcome was bleak. Daniel grabbed his pack and tore into it as he scrounged for a field kit. Finally his searching hand landed on the elusive object and he brought it out. As he lay it on the ground and rummaged for the supplies he needed, he asked the necessary questions.

"What happened here?"

Tabor barely flinched when Daniel poured disinfectant liberally over the wound. His body felt detached, and the pain was receding. "Two days ago.... the Gate opened. Two of those.. Jaffa came." Tabor was having a hard time concentrating on his words. They didn't seem to make sense any more. Still, he tried, knowing the importance of passing on the information. "They left.. and ...threatened to come back.... with more. We didn't believe them."

Daniel looked up from his task when the words ground to a halt. Tabor's eyes were falling shut. "Tabor! Hang on. We'll get you some help, you've just got to hang on a while longer."

With great effort, Tabor opened his green eyes and gave Daniel the faintest of smiles. "Say good-bye...to...the...chil...." the remaining breath slowly hissed out between the loosely parted lips.

The green eyes continued their mute appeal to Daniel, but the light was gone. Slowly, and with a shaking hand, Daniel passed his hand over Tabor's face, and the eyes closed forever. Momentarily overcome, Daniel leaned his head down, until his forehead came to rest on Tabor's shoulder. He closed his eyes to block the faces of seven crying orphans.

Jack and Teal'c lay on their bellies, sizing up the opposition. They had spotted snipers on either side of the fighting villagers. Thanks to Carter's efforts, the numbers were dwindling, but not quickly enough. More needed to be done. Jack moved his mouth closer to Teal'c's ear. Still, it was hard to make out the words over the sounds of battle. "I make out targets at 2, 4,7,8 and 9 o'clock. What have you got?"

"I see the same. They are well distributed to block any resistance from the villagers." If Teal'c was feeling an adrenaline rush from the fighting, it did not show. He was as calm as always.

"We need to take them out. You go left, I'll take right. Knock them out any way you can, but be quiet about it. We need to maximise the surprise element."

Teal'c nodded. The plan was similar to tactics he would employ. The two silently parted company. For such a large man, Teal'c could move ghostly quiet if he chose. The enemy would not hear him approach.

Jack moved stealthily from tree to tree, searching out targets. It did not take long to find the first one. Jack snuck up behind the lone Jaffa. The man was intent on his next shot, having lined up an elderly man in his sights. He never even felt his death.

Jack had trained with black ops for many years. One of the skills he had learned was how to infiltrate a hostile situation, and take out the enemy with minimal disruption, using whatever tactics were necessary to prevent detection. In this case, Jack elected not to use his weapon and chance being overheard. He launched quick, dual blows to the man's temples. The Jaffa fell without uttering a sound.

Jack grabbed the falling body and deposited it on the ground. He dragged it behind the nearest tree to so it would not be spotted as readily. He paused for a moment to survey the scene. While he could see the enemy was systematically suffering losses, so were the locals. As he watched, another villager dropped, his chest smoking from the staff blast that caught him. Even across the distance, Jack could see the grimness of the wound. The sight spurred him into action, and he moved on.

Working in the opposite direction, Teal'c was acting in a similar manner. His first victim fell without a sound. The second was close and the area between the two was devoid of cover. Teal'c studied the man for a moment, feeling for the rhythm in his actions. The Jaffa would shoot, scan then shoot again.

 Teal'c groaned mentally. These fighters were all the same. Mechanical soldiers without any will of their own. It was that very lack of instinct that he tried to work on during his days of service to Apophis. Now he was glad that lesson went unlearned and would now factor in his favour. He timed his movements carefully, and rushed the distance when the soldier fired. The ploy worked, and another fell. Teal'c moved on.

The villagers were mounting their own campaign. They had reached a copse of trees and were now somewhat protected, their losses diminishing. They worked together to distract the Jaffa. They threw whatever they could get their hands on, and the tactic was working. While the guards focused their fire on the men, Sam continued her efforts. Her methods were slow, but effective, and soldier after soldier died.

Daniel gained control, temporarily putting Tabor's death behind him to deal with later. Extricating himself from under the dead man, he drew himself to his knees and peeked out over the wall. He could see the results of the fight clearly as bodies lay in unnatural positions all around. Looking sideways, he could see Sam gazing intently down the barrel of her gun, her finger positioned to fire. As he watched, the finger drew, the gun bucked and as he followed the trajectory, he could see another Jaffa drop. Daniel drew his gun. He joined Sam in the war of attrition. Thankfully, the enemy seemed to be taking the greater losses.

A lone Jaffa moved out of the line of fire, tracing his way to gain the most perspective. He studied the actions of the two pinned within the compound. More difficult was the task of tracking the movements of the other two. Many times he lost them, only to find them again by tracking the destruction they left in their wake. Watching their techniques, he honed in on them.

Teal'c moved towards his next target. The terrain betrayed his movements though, as a twig snapped underfoot. The Jaffa whirled at the sound, firing even as he turned. Teal'c moved just as quickly, but still caught the blast in one shoulder. The force of the hit spun him slightly, his shot missing the target. Still, he recovered quickly and lunged at the soldier, grabbing the enemy's arm as the weapon fired again. The shot went wide, striking somewhere in the distance. Teal'c dropped his weapon and all pretence of stealth, and grabbed his foe with his massive hands. A test of strength ensued. Both men tried for the upper hand, with neither gaining it. Teal'c's injury factored into the fight more than anything, and his opponent tried to use that to his advantage. Every move was designed to stress the wound.

Teal'c knew he had to end the fight quickly. He jerked backwards against the man's hold, and broke free from his grip. He dropped low, and using the foot sweeping technique he had picked up from O'Neill during their many sparring matches, he was able to down the man. Using his superior weight, he held the man with his body, his good arm crossing the man's throat. The Jaffa fought against the choke hold, his hands trying to push against Teal'c. The vain movements took only a short time to cease, and the man's arms dropped limply to the ground. Pausing long enough to reclaim his weapon, Teal'c rose to his feet and moved on.

Jack neared the final hold out of fighters, having dispatched the rest in his path. He took a moment to study them. Their attention was concentrated on the clearing. Half of the soldiers focused on the remaining villagers, the rest on what he assumed to be Sam and Daniel judging from the glimpses he got of fatigues. While the diversions were working in his favour, he decided it wouldn't hurt to up the ante. Reaching in to his vest pocket, he withdrew a grenade. Gun in one hand, grenade in the other, he made his way to the rear of the group. Holding his breath, he closed the distance between them. Carefully, he put one foot in front of the other, ever cautious about where he set them. At this point, it would be deadly to give himself away.

When he reached the point he was aiming for, he crouched down, knee bent to support him. With his right arm pinning his gun to his side, he used his freed right hand to pull the grenade pin. He held his breath against the audible click, but released it when it became apparent that the sound went unnoticed. Aiming his throw away from all allies, he let fly the grenade. As expected, the resulting explosion caught all by surprise, leaving Jack free to take out the rest of the force. All fell in a hail of bullets, not one even turning to face his attacker.

Silence fell. None of the survivors moved. Long minutes passed, until finally Jack stood. Moving tentatively at first, then with greater confidence, he moved towards the gathering of villagers. Taking their cue, the rest of SG1 also emerged from their cover.

The lone Jaffa quickly stripped off his outfit, transforming into a nondescript villager. He continued to watch the proceedings as he blended into the scenery.

Daniel and Sam reached the villagers first. The greeting was bittersweet. Many good men had died that day, but without the appearance of SG1, the losses would have been far greater.

Roana, the village elder and high man on the council, broke away from the rest and approached Daniel. Placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder, he looked in the blue eyes that reflected the sadness of their owner. "Thank you for coming. Without your help, all would have been lost. We can never repay all you have done."

Daniel felt the man's loss. By the looks of things, over half of the men from the village had died that day. The village would be long in recovering from the blow. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Teal'c approached, with Jack not far behind.

Roana nodded his acknowledgement to both men. "Two of these, Jaffa, came through the gate, the day before last. We asked what they wanted. They never said. They walked into the village and moved amongst our people. They stayed only a short time, then came back here. As the circle opened, they said they would return. We didn't know what to make of that."

Sam looked at Daniel, worry clear in her eyes. "They must have come looking for viable hosts."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, when these ones don't report back, they'll send more."

Roana looked back and forth between the two. "I don't understand."

Teal'c looked levelly at the Elder, respect in his words. "They come wishing to see about making you slaves. More than that, they wish to take over your bodies."

The men gathered around heard the words. "What do you mean take over our bodies? What about slaves? We aren't slaves. You mean there will be more of them? How do we stop them?" The words came out in a jumble as each man vied to be heard.

Roana held up his hand to stem the flow of questions. "As you can see, we have many questions."

Daniel took the man by the arm and started to lead him to the village. "We will answer all of your questions, and help in any way we can." The remaining villagers followed the two out of the clearing.

Jack watched Daniel handle the man. Clearly he had things under control. Jack turned to face the destruction. He saw the many dead, both villagers and Jaffa alike. As he turned to Teal'c to ask for help in moving them, he caught sight of the burnt clothing marking the shoulder wound. "Teal'c, you okay?"

"I am fine, O'Neill. My symbiote is repairing the damage. It will be fully healed within the day."

Jack couldn't help but give a little grin. Much as he would never want a snake in his gut, he couldn't help but love the benefits it provided his friend. As he looked around, he noticed Sam crouched by the DHD. Wandering over, he lost his grin. It was apparent, even to him that the DHD was damaged. From the scorch marks, it had to have been a stray staff blast.

Jack looked at his 2IC. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Sam stood up and wiped her dirty palms against her fatigues. "I'm afraid so, Sir. Actually, I have good news, and bad news."

Jack sighed. "Why did I think you were going to say that. Okay, give me the good news first."

"Well, the good news is that even if more Jaffa are sent, they won't get through."

"Okay, I can live with that. And the bad news is...?"

"The bad news is we can't dial out. Until we can fix this, we aren't going anywhere."

Jack took the news better than she thought. "Well, there are worse places to get stuck." Jack looked around and took in the scene. "On the other hand, I can think of better." He turned back to Carter. "So, what do you need?"

Sam chewed her lip thoughtfully as she contemplated the pedestal in front of her. "Well...a power source would be nice. The staff weapon blast shorted out the wiring and caused a power overload. I need to re-route the wiring, and hook it up to an independent power supply." Sam looked at her CO, frustration brewing in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sir. Even at that, I can't guarantee it will work."

Jack looked at her, thinking back briefly to all the times she had said that, and ended up successful in her efforts. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Major. Now, what do you want me to do?"

"For starters, you can find me a some wire while I figure out a way of powering this thing."

"Okey-dokey."

Sam smiled as her CO walked away. It never ceased to amaze her how he could make something so insurmountable seem so doable. Shaking her head, she knelt down and started to remove the protective panel at the front of the column.

The watcher observed the exchange between the man and the woman. It was obvious the man was the leader of the group, but the woman appeared to possess the technical skills. He decided to see what developed.

Daniel accompanied the men back to the village where they were warmly greeted by the women and children. Tears started to flow as the story was told and families realised their losses. Daniel hurt for these people who reminded him so much of the Abydonians. They had the same gentleness about them, and were now coping with a similar loss. Daniel couldn't help but wonder when the war against the System Lords would end, and planets like this would finally be safe. He vowed to be a part of that. Not only did he want freedom for all the enslaved, but he wanted some redemption for his own losses.

Daniel watched as men and women consoled each other. Even after the tragedy these people had faced today, they were still able to draw on the strength of one another. He marvelled at that resiliency, yet understood it. He had seen it time and again, both on other worlds, and his own. It gave him cause to wonder. The Goa'uld ostensibly targeted humans as they were the best suited to being hosts. Daniel questioned the truth of that. They had met creatures before capable of being hosts, and indeed, in the case of the Unas, had been at one point. Daniel had to wonder if it wasn't due more in part to that very same human spirit. Perhaps the Goa'uld feared it, thus they set out to systematically conquer it. It was a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Daniel hung back, witness to their grief, and waited until they were ready to deal with him. Finally the tears dried although the sorrow hung heavily in the air. The men and women steeled themselves. The grief could wait, but the threat could not. Roana beckoned for him to approach.

"You said they would come again. We cannot allow this. We would not survive a second attack." Nods of agreement came from all around. "Please tell us what we might do."

Daniel studied the faces looking to him for answers. As he wondered what to say, he caught sight of a little boy peeking out from behind his mother's skirt. His mind was drawn back to a similar scene. A child on Abydos hid in the same manner when Ra arrived. That thought prompted his answer. "I want you to knock the gate over when we leave. Cover it up with layers of rock and dirt. Bury it deeply so that it can't open again."

"But what about you. How will you come back?" The words shook Roana.

"We won't. We will be barred from this world, the same as the others."

The Elder sagged visibly. "We will never see you again?"

"No, but you will be safe and that's what matters here...unless?" Again Daniel thought back to Abydos.

"Unless what?"

"We could arrange a time to return. At that point, you could uncover the gate, and recover it when we leave. That way we might see you again, and continue to trade for the trinium."

Roana smiled his first smile of the day. "We would like that, Daniel."

By the time Jack returned with the scavenged wire he had taken from the uniforms of the Jaffa, Teal'c and Sam had the guts of the DHD lying on the ground. The two were engaged in a lively discussion about the functionality of the myriad of wires lying around them. "I see you two have been having fun while I was gone."

Sam smiled as she looked up. "I think we have this figured out, finally. We had to come up with a way of minimising power overloads and risking another short, so we reconnected the wires to only those chevrons we need. That way, the power can't get misdirected somewhere else."

Jack looked pensive. "Okay, I get that. So now what? You're going to hot wire the thing?"

"In a nutshell."

Jack looked around the clearing. " Where's the battery?"

Sam's smile faded. "We're still working on that, Sir."

Jack scanned the sky. "Well, no lightening, so that rules out that option."

Sam's smile brightened slightly at the memory.

Jack waved a hand absently in their direction as he turned to walk away. "I'm sure you'll think of something. Keep working on it. I'm going to check on Daniel."

"Yes, Sir."

As Jack moved past a fallen Jaffa, he kicked the staff weapon lying in his path. "Too bad we can't just shoot the power into it," he mused aloud.

Sam overheard him, and bells went off in her head. She flashed to a scene at the SGC where a ragged Colonel sat working on a power amplifier. A device powered by a cell contained in a staff weapon. "Sir," she called.

Jack stopped and turned. He cocked his head questioningly.

"You're a genius!"

Jack sauntered back, chest puffed out. "Yeah, well. I do what I can." He sagged a little. "What did I do?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"You came up with our power source." Sam's grin widened as she took in his confused expression. "We'll use the power cell from the staff weapon. It gave the gate enough extra power to send you out of our galaxy, so it should have no problem fixing this." Sam swept her hand across the mess of wire.

Jack looked at her, once again amazed at how her mind worked. "Good work, Major. Let me know when we're set to go. I'll let Daniel know what's happening. Teal'c, help Carter with this would ya?"

"It would be a pleasure, O'Neill."

As Jack left the compound the two were back to work, head to head discussing how to make the connections. Apparently it would not be quite as simple as wrapping a wire around each end of the cell.

The watcher had seen enough. Using the device on his wrist, he called the Lord High Minister.

Jaen sat in his chambers, leaning forward against his desk. His elbows rested on the worn wood, his fingers lightly touching each other, and his chin resting lightly on them. Word had arrived from Olim that phase one of the project was finished. He could proceed no further without the subject.

Jaen sighed. His head was starting to throb. After that brief visit, he received another, this time from his Minister of Trade. Nalan had come to tell him of the sense of urgency coming from Regor. His reassurances that there was plenty of time before the System Lords would arrive, if indeed that was their plan, had fallen on deaf ears. The people wanted their defence consolidated now, not in the future when it might be too late.

"I know they are worried, Nalan, but what choices do we have?" Jaen argued. "We cannot send them weaponry, to do that would be for us to commit planetary suicide. They wouldn't need us anymore, and we don't have any other trading partners."

Nalan shook his head in frustration. "Perhaps we underestimate them, My Lord. They might not desire anything more than protection. Even with the weapons, there is no reason to believe they would turn on us."

"Are you willing to bet your life on that, Nalan? To risk our planet on that assumption?" Jaen stared hard at Nalan, seeking the answers in the lines of his face and the set of his eyes. Finding none, he continued. "I am not, and as long as I remain Lord High Minister, my word stands."

Nalan had left, promising to gain more time. As Jaen thought about that, he hoped it was possible. For him, it felt as though time had already run out. Wearily he ran his hand through his hair, then moved to rise when he was interrupted by a pounding on his door. Wondering what the crisis was this time, he reset himself in his seat, sat tall and waited. "Come."

The door opened revealing a smiling Minister of Trade, carrying a cube in his hand. "We've done it."

Jaen called out, "Door." The panel slid closed. Jaen turned his attention to Nalan. "Now what is this about?"

"Contact came from one of our spies, Sir. He has found our subjects."

Jaen did a double take. "Subjects? Plural?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Is that possible?"

"I don't know, Sir. I have requested that Olim join us. He will need to study the subjects to determine their acceptability. He should be here momentarily."

Nalan placed the cube gently on the Minister's desk. The nondescript item carried the potential answers to their problems.

Nalan sat and the two men waited for the arrival of the scientist.

Olim was not long in arriving. As soon as he was seated, Jaen motioned for Nalan to activate the device. Instantly, an image appeared. The three dimensional hologram carried both sight and sound. The men watched as Jack came into view, first taking out the initial group of Jaffa, then quickly dispatching a solitary soldier. The scene moved to Teal'c, wounded and fighting his attacker to the death. Sam appeared next, kneeling next to the DHD and explaining her plan to power it up. Lastly came Daniel, first shooting at the enemy, then inter-reacting with the locals.

The hologram ended abruptly. The three men studied each other. Finally Jaen asked the question on all their minds. "I think this is what we have been waiting for. All have admirable attributes, and appear to complement each other. I think we could benefit from all of their skills. The question is...is it possible for us to use them all?"

Olim asked for the cube to be reactivated. He didn't speak until he had seen the images a second time. "I think that you're right about using all of them. I can't say if it would work with four any more than with one. The technology can be used more than once. This hasn't been tried before, but I do think that it would be worth the attempt."

Jaen looked relieved. "Done then. Nalan, please contact your man. You know what to do."

Nalan stood and retrieved the cube. "Right away, Sir." Without further delay, he left the room.

Jaen looked at Olim, all seriousness showing in his expression. "This has to succeed. You know that don't you?"

Olim was equally sombre. "Yes, Sir. I do. I will do my best."

"I know you will."

SG1 gathered in front of the gate, in the early morning light. Sam had worked long into the evening before finishing the work. According to her, the gate should now work.

When his shoulder fully healed, Teal'c had left that task to assist the Colonel. The two men had dealt with the bodies littering the area. The fallen villagers were returned to their families for traditional burials, while the Jaffa had been zatted into oblivion. The discarded weapons were gathered and destroyed. With the gate buried, the Tegreb people had no need of the firepower, and the team wanted to leave the world as unaltered as possible given the circumstances.

Roana stood at the front of the throng of people gathered to see them off. Handshakes were exchanged, as well as a few hugs.

Daniel looked at the Elder. "I'm sorry we can't stay to offer more help."

"You have already helped enough. I'm here aren't I, as well as the others. That is more than we could have hoped for."

"Remember now, unbury the gate in six months. We will try three times to activate it. If we can't, we will wait a further six months."

"We will remember." Roana's eyes spoke what his voice could not.

The team said a final farewell and together approached the now functioning DHD.

Jack looked at his team. "Good work, kids. Daniel, dial us home."

The watcher timed his movements to match Daniel's. He pressed the coloured stones on his wrist band as Daniel pushed the chevrons on the DHD. Seven stones were pressed in succession.

Daniel pushed the red centre of the DHD, and was rewarded with the opening of the Stargate. He rejoined his team, and together they walked through towards home.

Hammond stood in the control room overlooking the Stargate. The huge ring was presently active, the chevrons beginning to engage. The only team out was SG1, and they were now officially overdue in reporting back. The General hoped they had a better excuse for their tardiness than a rousing game of baseball. As he watched, the final chevron engaged and the wormhole opened in its usual spectacular manner. The iris slid closed, awaiting the instructions to do otherwise.

Lieutenant Simmons looked up from his console to face the General. "Sir, it's SG1's signal."

"Open the iris. Let's see what held them up this time." Hammond watched, his annoyance quickly fading into worry as the familiar faces failed to appear. Finally, the wormhole simply disengaged. "What just happened here Lieutenant? Where is SG1?"

"I don't know Sir." The flustered man started checking the computer. "There's no indication of a problem here, Sir."

Hammond looked sternly at the lieutenant. "Well, it appears we have one. Try dialling up P43-756. I want those people home, ASAP."

"Understood, Sir."

Hammond looked thoughtfully back at the idle gate. "What in God's name is going on there?", he said to no-one in particular.

Nalan was admitted to the First High Minister's chamber. "My lord, I have good news. Our spy was successful and we have the subjects in our possession."

Jaen leaned back, a faint smile threatening to chip away his stoic expression. He regained himself in time. "Very good. How soon will Olim be ready for them?"

"Twelve hours, My Lord."

"Very well. Keep them confined until then. Do not allow contact with them. They will find out soon enough what we want with them."

Nalan had anticipated this. "Yes, My Lord. Already they are secured. They do not appear pleased, though."

Again the smile almost surfaced. "Yes, I can imagine. Please inform both Ecnal and myself when the procedure is ready to be performed. We wish to observe."

"Yes, My Lord." Nalan appeared to hesitate.

"Why do you not leave?"

"My apologies, High Minister. It's just that I was wondering..."

"Go on.'

"What if these subjects were willing to undergo the experiment. Should we not explain our position and let them decide?"

Jaen looked at his Minister of Trade incredulously. "These people are warriors. They will not agree to this. The idea is preposterous, and I do not have the time to entertain such nonsense. You have your orders, Nalan. Please carry them out."

"Yes, My Lord."

Jaen watched his Minister leave, then swung his chair around and stared at the aquarium behind him. The fish were a rarity on his planet. They had been imported from Regor. They were highly valued, and served as a visible token of his high position. He always found the rippling water and rhythmic movements of the fish to be soothing, especially during these trying times. Briefly he wondered if he should consider Nalan's request and talk to these people. He dismissed the thought as quickly as it arrived. Time was critical and he could not afford to waste it in discussion. Their position would be explained in due time, and he could only hope the strangers would understand.

SG1 walked through the gate and arrived in a steel and concrete room, but not the intended one. This was not the SGC, although the decor was similar. No doors or windows could be seen, and as they looked behind them, the gate disconnected. Immediately the team snapped into a defensive position, weapons raised. Jack looked around at the unfamiliar room, trying to determine their location.

"Um, I'm guessing we're not home." Daniel muttered. In the featureless room, the sound carried exceedingly well.

"Ya think." Jack stood, and lowered his weapon. The others followed suit. He moved to the nearest wall, and began running his hands over them. They covered all fours walls in a short period of time. No breaks were found. If there were doors, they couldn't find them. There was no DHD, and no indications of where they were.

Daniel and Sam moved to slump against a wall. They slid down simultaneously into a seated position. Teal'c, ever vigilant stood, feet spread, arms behind his back, waiting. Jack began to pace. "What happened, Carter? Did you miswire the DHD or something?" He asked this as a question, not an accusation.

Sam looked puzzled. "No, Sir. Teal'c and I checked and double checked. There was no mistake."

"What about you, Daniel. You sure you punched in the right address?"

"Positive."

"He must have, Sir. The chevrons wouldn't have worked if he hadn't. There was no power going to the others."

"Then what the hell happened here? It's obvious we're not home."

Sam looked chagrined, as did the others. "I don't know."

Time passed in silence. Jack kept pacing. As the others watched, his rate increased, as did his obvious anger. His body language screamed 'back off'. Finally, in an attempt to calm himself, Jack looked again at Sam, although his movement never ceased. "What about that power cell thingy, Carter. Could it have been too much?"

Daniel understood what Jack was getting at. "I see what you mean." He turned to Sam to clarify. "Remember when the gate took that energy bolt and overloaded. It jumped destinations and you ended up in Antarctica."

Sam looked at Jack, an unseen tremor running up her spine. Those memories weren't ones she liked to visit. Mentally shaking herself, she concentrated on the question. "I'm not sure, Sir. It's possible, but I don't think it's likely."

"Nor do I." After a prolonged silence, Teal'c finally spoke. "Those power cells self regulate and produce no more power than the system using it can handle."

Sam looked at Teal'c, clearly surprised, then at Jack. "That's why the computers could take all that power when the gate sent you to the Asgard world, Sir. I wondered how that was possible, but I figured the allowances were built into the device, and not the power cell itself."

Jack was now looking both annoyed and bored. His pacing was unrelenting.

Daniel timidly spoke up. "Uh, Jack. Why don't you rest? We could be here for a while."

Jack turned to Daniel, about to let fly with a smart remark when he saw his friend's face. The younger man looked concerned. "Yeah, good idea. Thanks." Jack moved to sit by his friends and looked over at the still standing Jaffa. "Teal'c, why don't you join us. As Danny Boy said, it could be a while."

Teal'c sat with them and the four friends waited. After what seemed like an interminable length of time, Jack rose and resumed pacing.

Daniel looked at his watch. Five minutes had elapsed, and he had to wonder what had Jack so keyed up, besides being held in an unknown place, by unknown captors. It didn't seem to be affecting the rest of them in the same manner. "Jack?"

"Yeah, Daniel?"

"What's wrong?" Sam looked at the linguist, wondering if he knew what he might be getting into.

"You mean besides the obvious?" Jack turned and looked at him.

Daniel was quickly regretting broaching the subject. "Um, yeah. Besides that."

Jack stopped pacing for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. It passed quickly and he resumed his activities. "Nothing. I'm just not big on being locked up. I'm one of the good guys, remember."

Daniel knew there was more being said there than he understood. He just wasn't sure if it was a safe line of questioning to pursue. He looked to Sam for guidance, and was quick to pick up on the subtle shaking of her head. A do not go there warning flashed in her eyes. Sighing, Daniel decided to let the matter rest for the moment. He hoped that left alone, Jack might decide on his own to talk, although that didn't seem a likely scenario.

Olim began work on the next phase of the experiment. He had already started the program that drained the fluids from the tank. The process had only begun moments before, yet already the tank was half empty. The object within lowered with the fluid level, yet parts were already beginning to show. Facial features were emerging to meet the world for the first time, followed closely by the appearance of a well developed chest.

Olim monitored the readings from the computers, and smiled in satisfaction at the results being shown. He keyed in a sequence on a nearby panel and turned to watch as a breathing apparatus lowered to hang above the tank. A further sequence initiated the opening of the tank's lid. A hiss was heard as the airtight container's seal broke. The lid swung up automatically on its hinges and came to a final rest when it touched the tank's side.

The breathing apparatus lowered to cover the newly exposed nose and mouth. The sides conformed to fit the contours of the face and the flow of oxygen began. As with a new-born child, the removal of the surrounding fluids and exposure to the air triggered the need for involuntary reflexes, such as breathing to kick in.

Four padded mechanical arms lowered, two on either side of the oxygen tube. Two encircled the body about the shoulders, two supported the hips. A fifth arm joined the others, this time at the head. The scoop shape at the bottom of the arm slipped underneath, to cradle the head and support the neck. When the subject was secure, the computer initiated action. The five arms working in tandem picked up the subject. They rose high in the air, easily clearing the top of the tank. Finally they ceased all vertical movement and began to slide horizontally. They travelled a short distance until they hovered over a gurney. Making slight adjustments to ensure the correct trajectory, they began to slowly lower. The body came to a gentle rest on the bed. Once their load was deposited, the arms folded back on themselves and returned to their niche in the ceiling.

Olim walked over to study his creation. The subject was male, aged to be in his early thirties for maximum physical potential. He measured six foot, 4 inches, and weighed 245 pounds. Olim had designed him to be close enough to average that he would not stand out. His physique was exceptional. For his purpose, he needed to be strong. Olim had engineered him to possess heightened senses and strength. Physically, he was a perfect specimen. Olim was proud of his efforts. The subject possessed all the physical attributes that he did not.

He studied the face. The nose was aquiline. The cheekbones were high and a small cleft could be seen in the chin. The jawline was strong and beneath the closed eyelids rested eyes of intense green. Olim's examination ended at the light brown hair.

The only thing missing was a mind. Olim had given his subject a functional brain stem, enough to allow for autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. Beyond that, the brain, while intact, was empty. Olim had given his creation a clean slate, to be filled with information of his choosing.

He took a sheet from the end of the bed and drew it up to cover the body up to the chest. He then reached to the machine waiting beside him. From that he took a rectangular metal strip. It was not large. On its surface were a series of small transmitters. He placed the strip on the bare chest, and pressed firmly. Once he heard the soft click of tiny receptor piercing the skin, he let go. Each receptor and corresponding transmitter had a separate job. One monitored heart rate, another blood pressure, yet another kept tabs on oxygen levels. Seven transmitters in all kept a running check on the health and status of the subject. Olim set the machine to receive and relay all data, so that he might know at a glance of any changes.

Finally, he reached over and removed the oxygen mask. Its long lifeline had travelled with the body from the tank to it's present location, but was now no longer needed. As Olim removed the encumbrance, he was relieved to witness his subject take it's first unaided breath. It was followed by another, then another. It was soon clear that the subject was breathing easily and naturally on it's own. Olim looked to the readouts for the unnecessary confirmation. All readings were perfect and Olim breathed his own sigh. He took a final look at the man he christened Jamme. Satisfied, he left to report his status, and give the go ahead to begin phase 2.

Sam was sleeping on the cold floor, her jacket bunched under her head to cushion it. Teal'c sat near her. His legs were crossed lotus style, and his arms were outstretched, palms out and hands resting on his knees. His eyes were closed as he meditated, both his body and his mind gaining some rest.

Jack winced as he looked at the position in which the Jaffa sat. Those crossed legs looked damned uncomfortable. Even if he could do that, he knew he wouldn't want to. With his bad knee, he'd probably get into the right position, and never get out again. Besides, anything that looked that painful couldn't be good for you.

Jack had finally stopped pacing after seven hours of trying to wear a permanent path into the concrete. He had spent the next two hours sitting off on his own, staring into space.

When Daniel had relocated to sit beside him, Jack hadn't even noticed. Daniel couldn't help but wonder what his friend was seeing, but then knowing some of Jack's history, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Finally the Colonel had snapped out of his trance. When he took in his surroundings, he was surprised to see Daniel beside him. "When did you get here?"

"Um, a little while ago. Are you okay, Jack? You seemed kind of out of it."

Jack flashed an unconvincing grin at his friend. "I'm fine. Just remembering some old times is all. Nothing to worry about."

Daniel was unconvinced, but realised more questions would not be received well. One day he vowed he would get Jack to spill some of those memories. Daniel didn't know if there was enough alcohol in the world to get Jack to open up, but he meant to try.

Jack stood, moving to work out some of the kinks settling into his bones. Mentally he was giving himself hell. He wished he could keep his memories locked up somewhere where they wouldn't come back to haunt him. Daniel had approached him and he hadn't even noticed. What would have happened if that had been their captors? Jack gave himself a mental shake. There was no point in playing the what if game. Nothing had happened and he was fully in control now. He would not give in to the memories again. He didn't need to. He was fully confident this place would give him plenty of new ones.

 It wasn't often that he got caught up in the past like that. Situations like his present one were the triggers. While they had not been harmed or mistreated to this point, they were still at the mercy of someone else. It was just that lack of control that bothered Jack. That was one of the reasons he was so fervent in looking out for his team. He liked the feeling of control his position afforded him. Not that he used that authority in any sort of tyrannical way, just the opposite in fact. He prided himself on drawing the best from his teammates, as they did from him. Now though, someone else held the cards and history taught Jack that it wouldn't be too long before the hand was shown.

Jack understood the proof of that comment would be realised all too soon as a previously invisible door slid open. While the noise was faint, it was enough to rouse Teal'c from his meditations. His movement prompted Sam to awaken. All members of the team stood and moved together, retrieving their weapons, ready to face whatever awaited.

As they watched, the doorway filled with five men. Four were dressed in matching uniforms, while the fifth was clad in a rather ostentatious outfit. Deep purple pants were topped with a matching tunic. Bright yellow provided a vivid contrast colour in the stripes that ran down the outside of the sleeves and pants. A tight yellow collar circled the man's neck. From his bearing, it was obvious he was in charge.

"I see you carry weapons. You may continue to carry them if you wish, but they no longer work. We deactivated them as you came through the gate."

Jack muttered as he tested his gun. As stated, it didn't work. He looked over at Sam as he lay the useless weapon on the ground. "For crying out loud! Are we the only people out there who don't have one of those nullifyer dealies? We really need to work on that."

Despite their current situation, Sam couldn't help but grin at the words as she too laid her weapon down. She was curious about something. "How did we get here?"

Nalan looked at her speculatively. He thought she might be the one to ask. "Our operative watched as you dialled the gate to go home. He waited for you to get your signal from your people, then he diverted the matter stream here. The gate at the other end would simply have disengaged."

Sam nodded, appreciatively and wondered if she would be allowed to see the technology capable of such feat.

The man watched as the guards slipped bracelets on both wrists of each team member. Following that, the index fingers of each were pricked, the droplets of blood collected and taken. When their task was completed, he gestured for the men to leave. When he finally stood alone, he give them a comprehensive look. "I understand what you are thinking. You think that I make an easy target as I stand here alone. Four of you against one of me makes for pretty convincing odds, does it not?" He reached into a pocket and brought out a device with five different coloured stone on it. He held it up for them to see. "You see this device? It is linked to the bracelets you wear. I can push one button and affect only one of you, or press this centre one and punish you all. Observe." Nalan moved his thumb with great deliberation and pressed the closest button to him.

Painful electric surges raced up Jack's arms, and down his torso. He stumbled back and would have fallen if not for the intervention of Teal'c, and the cessation of the current. While he recovered quickly, the lesson was not lost on those watching, or on Jack himself.

The man waited as Jack regained his composure. "I am sorry I had to do that. It was necessary to demonstrate my point. Please understand, I wish you no harm, but I will use the device if necessary. My name is Nalan and I am the Minister of Trade of the planet Yensid. I wish to welcome you here."

Jack snorted. "Some welcoming committee you have here. Is this how you treat all your guests?"

Nalan only smiled. "You are, Colonel Jack O'Neill are you not?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the others and named them all. "You are called Teal'c, you are Major Sam Carter and you are Daniel Jackson."

Daniel looked at the man. "How do you know that. Have we met before?"

Nalan shook his head negatively. "No, we have not had that pleasure. I know you because we have been studying you. That is why you are here. We have need of your services."

Jack looked at him scornfully. "Why do I think we don't have an option in whatever it is you have in mind?"

Nalan gave him a little smile. "You are correct, Jack."

"Call me, O'Neill."

Again Nalan smiled. "You have great spirit. This is a very good thing. Come. We will discuss our need for you while we walk." He turned and moved to leave the room.

The team looked at Jack who looked at his still tingling arms. When he looked back, his expression was resigned. "You heard the man. Let's go." As he moved to leave, Jack glanced once more at the pile of weapons they were leaving behind. Sighing heavily, he exited the room.

Nalan led them down corridor after corridor. The walls were bare, with no distinguishing landmarks. As they walked, Nalan kept up a running commentary. "We are descended from the same world as you. Earth was our home planet aeons ago. We have watched your progress with some interest."

Daniel spoke the question on all their minds. "If you have been watching us, then why haven't you helped us when we needed it."

Nalan tried to explain. "While you and I share common roots, we no longer consider ourselves Tau'ri. We are Yensid. It has become the policy of our people to not interfere. We have kept to ourselves for many years. We share our successes and failures with no one."

Jack looked at Sam. "Well, that's a familiar tune."

Oblivious to the comment, Nalan continued. "Our technology has progressed much more rapidly than your own. It was not up to us to upset the natural order of your progression."

Sam piped up. "So you're saying that the present and future can't be tampered with any more than the past. By sharing what you know, we end up skipping part of our own evolution. We lose the chance to learn what we need to."

Nalan stopped moving and turned back to Sam, smiling as proudly as a teacher with a gifted student. "Precisely. When you are ready for the next step, you will learn it naturally. To skip those stages of development could have serious repercussions." Nalan looked at the others. "Before we move on, I wish to show you something of my world." He pressed his hand against the wall to the left of him. The opaque barrier shimmered, then cleared. In its place was a wall of glass, running the length of the hall.

Sam caught her breath as she took in the view. It was everything she could imagine when she pictured the future, plus more.

It reminded Daniel of the cartoon "The Jetsons" he had enjoyed as a child.

Jack and Teal'c were both somewhat impressed, but would never admit to it.

The hallway they were in ran high above the ground. It acted as a bridge between huge round disks, supported by immense white pillars. They reminded Jack of a link of interconnected Space Needles like the one he had visited in Seattle. Four disks made up the city, spanned by four hallways. Far below they could see the lights of more buildings, but they were too far away to clearly make out.

Nalan beamed with pride as he took in their expressions. "It is beautiful, isn't it."

Sam turned to him with wonder in her eyes. "It's incredible. The technology to create something like this is amazing. What do you use for power?"

Jack cleared his throat before stepping in. "Might I remind you, Major, that we are prisoners here?"

Sam's smile withered and died as she heard his words. In her excitement she had forgotten their situation. Nalan had been so forthcoming with information that she had lost sight of their predicament. "Sorry, Sir."

Nalan pressed the wall again, and the incredible sight faded as the wall once again blocked their view. Before moving on, he felt the time was right to explain a little more about their purpose. "We live in an age of great technology. However, we have paid the price for that. Years ago, we created this city. So focused were we in its creation, that we neglected to look around us. By the time we stopped to check on the impact of our work, it was too late. We had decimated our own world. We were overpopulated, with no resources left to sustain that life. Key figures were hidden away as our world self-destructed. Scientists and mathematicians were protected at all costs. By the time our world was once again safe, our technology was all that was left. The people had died out. Most starved. Others turned against each other for crumbs. Murder took most of the remaining life. We are all that is left."

The team looked at each other, but did not speak. It was clear that Nalan had more to say. Clearing his throat against the difficult words, he continued. "Our people had developed a DNA bank before the cataclysm. I am a product of that, as are all the residents of this world. In our quest to save what we thought were necessary skills, we forgot some essentials. Our world is a safe one. We have excellent defences, all controlled by computers and machines. Unfortunately, we no longer have people with the skills to act independently of those defences. In our arrogance, we failed to see to the future."

Jack looked at him in confusion. "So what if you don't understand defence. If your world is safe, then what does it matter?"

Nalan looked at him. "I told you I was Minister of Trade."

Daniel thought quickly. "What does a world that keeps to itself need with a Trade Minister?"

Nalan turned to him. "Very good, Daniel. That is where we come to our dilemma." At this point, Nalan started the group walking again. "We had to make an exception in our policy. We had no natural resources left. We could not grow food, nor did we have any water left that was not tainted. We were in danger of joining our kin in starvation. We established contact with a nearby world, Regor. It resides in this same Solar System. It is a fertile planet. The people are simple. They rely on farming and simple industry to sustain them. They have no real technology."

Sam spoke up thoughtfully. "So you trade with them. Their products for your technology. Both benefit."

Nalan nodded.

Jack spoke up. "So, what's the problem then?"

Nalan knew this would be the hard part of the story. "The problem is that Regor has fallen under the scrutiny of the System Lords. This planet has no defensive capabilities, so they have turned to us for help. That is where you come in."

Jack raised an eyebrow as he studied the man. Suddenly, he understood what was going on. "I get it. You don't want to share your knowledge. You're afraid they won't need you any more so you're holding out on them. That's why you brought us in. You want us to fight for you."

Nalan nodded in agreement. "You understand to a point. We do want you to fight, but only in a manner of speaking." The group pulled to a stop in front of a double set of doors. Nalan placed his palm on a scanner beside the door. "Trade Minister Nalan, accompanied by four Tau'ri. Scan for weight and compensate accordingly."

A blue beam shot out from the wall and flashed over SG1. It shut off right away, leaving the team curious, but unharmed. The scanner seemed satisfied as the doors slid open. They entered a small chamber facing a second set of doors. As Nalan went through the blood screening process, he continued on his previous thread. "You are right in that we don't want to send weaponry. We do wish to help the people there though, so we have come up with a solution. One which you have been brought here to help with."

The blood match cleared the Minister. He gestured for the four friends to submit to the test. The blood was checked against the samples taken from them earlier, and apparently cleared, as the doors opened revealing the cavernous lab. Nalan led them through the maze of equipment as Sam tried to take everything in. She had never seen so much equipment under one roof before. Some of the things she recognised, others she could only guess at. What she wouldn't give to spend some time working in a place like this. It made her lab back at the SGC seem primitive.

Finally they approached what felt like the centre of the room. Nalan led them to a man dressed in typical medical attire. Jack thought wryly that it was nice that some things remained constant in the universe. Beside the second man were two gurneys, one with a body supine on it, the other empty. From the features the body appeared to be a human male. From the rising and falling of the chest, he was clearly alive, but the slackened features suggested a lack of muscle control. That did not fit with the portion of his anatomy they could see, however, as his chest and arm muscles were obviously well developed.

Nalan gained their attention. "I wish to introduce you to Olim. He is the Premier Medical Officer of Yensid, and he will explain your purpose here.

Olim looked at the team, studying their faces and reading their expressions. The female was intrigued by what she saw, her intellect coming into play. The blue eyed man was also showing interest. The tall man with the tattoo of a Jaffa was hard to read. His face gave away nothing. The remaining man with the greying hair was the easiest of all. His was an expression of distrust and barely concealed hostility. Olim knew him to be the leader of the group and recognised the wariness in those eyes. He would be the one Olim would have to deal with first, and he knew that he would not be able to convince this man to undergo the procedure willingly. He nodded surreptitiously to Nalan to stay. He was afraid that Nalan's device would be needed shortly.

Olim took a breath as he tried to find the words to adequately explain his need. He started out by pointing to his creation. "This is Jamme. He is a clone. A biological life form that I have created for a specific purpose, and the reason you are here." He glanced at Nalan who nodded reassuringly. "Nalan has explained our dilemma to you. Jamme is the solution we have come up with."

Sam looked at the man on the gurney, his purpose coming to her in a flash of insight. "You are going to create an army. Your own biological first line." Sam didn't know whether to be impressed or appalled.

Olim was impressed with her easy grasp of the situation. "You understand. Jamme here is a prototype soldier. If we are successful with him, we will produce more to send to Regor. We will fulfil our obligation to them, while protecting our own interests.

Jack was looking slightly confused. "What?"

Sam tried to explain. "Sir, that man there has been artificially constructed. They grew him in this lab and now they want to send him out to act as a foot soldier."

Jack's eyes widened. "You mean constructed like....Frankenstein constructed?" Sam nodded. "Sweet."

Olim listened to the exchange. Now came the tricky part. "Jamme here is not finished. We do not possess the necessary knowledge to give to him. Our defensive capabilities come from computers and they cannot pass that on to him. We need you to give him your skills."

Daniel looked at the man. "You want us to train him to fight?"

Olim licked his lips nervously. "Not exactly. We want your knowledge."

Sam once again caught on. "My God. You want to take what we know and give it to him?" She glanced down at the gurney.

Olim was quick to cut in. "No, no! We won't take it from you. We wish to copy it. You will not lose anything."

Jack was really confused now. He turned to Sam. "Can you explain this to me?"

Olim started to talk.

Jack cut him off with a single look. "I didn't ask you." He pointed a finger at Carter. "I asked Carter. Her I trust." Without waiting for a reaction, he turned to the Major.

"Sir, they want to get into our heads and copy our memories to put into that." She pointed to Jamme. "Remember Marrin and her avarium? They want to do something similar to that, except we won't be left empty as she was."

Jack got it. "No way. You're not messing around with our brains." He moved protectively in front of his team, and started edging backwards, taking the others with him.

Nalan acted. Jack's movements stopped as the electricity once again coursed through him. This time Nalan kept his finger on the button longer, and Jack was on the floor by the time he let go. Holding his finger over the button threateningly, he gestured to Teal'c and Daniel. "Pick him up and put him on the bed."

Unwilling to watch their friend get shocked again, they acquiesced. Still feeling the effects of the voltage, Jack was unable to fight as Daniel was ordered to strap him down. Blue eyes pleaded with him to understand it was not his decision.

Olim moved to stand beside the head of the bed. He pulled over a rather large, complicated piece of machinery. Talking while he worked, he systematically placed electrodes on Jack's head. His movements were careful, and the placement of the wires was precise. "These work to target specific areas of the brain. Each of you possess unique skills. We don't want to take any more than what Jamme will need from you. In his case..." Olim indicated, Jack who fought vainly against the restraints and Olim's activities, "we wish to utilise his military skills." He fixed an electrode to the T5 point on Jack's skull. He continued talking as though giving a class. "The brain is made up of many parts. In it are the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brain stem. From there it subdivides into divisions. There are four lobes. We have the frontal, the parietal, the occipital and the temporal. We also have hemispheres. This electrode," he pointed to the one on the lower left of Jack's head, "is at T5. That refers to the left temporal lobe. Aggression is housed there." He looked at the still struggling Colonel. "I would say that area is well developed on him." Olim fixed a final electrode then stepped back.

Jack glared up at him with a look that made Olim grateful for the restraints. He turned away from the glare and started adjusting settings on the equipment. While he worked, he furthered the explanation. "Memories and emotions interweave in the brain. They overlap and join together, as both result from similar stimuli. It is possible to separate them, however. That is what we want to do. Emotion only serves to detract from one's task and places an unnecessary burden on the thought processes. This technique," he looked over his shoulder at the watching group, "allows us to target the memories, and filter out the emotion. Jamme's mind is like a newborn's. It hasn't been imprinted yet. We have blocked the neurone networking, so that we might input the information we want. Instead of his own life experiences teaching him, we will use yours.

Sam was torn between fascination with the technology and anger at the treatment her CO was receiving, and that she soon would be. "So this acts like an electroencephalogram?" she asked, indicating the machinery.

Olim nodded, not looking up from his activities. "In a way, although this is much more sophisticated. That procedure merely inputs and records brain activities. This actually targets specific memories, records and downloads them intact."

Sam caught Jack's attention. "Sir, this is along the lines of the device the ancients used, only this takes out instead of putting in information."

"Well that makes it so much better doesn't it, Major?" From his vantage, Jack couldn't really be thrilled about any of this. It was an invasion, plain and simple. Half the time HE didn't want to be in his head, let alone allowing anyone else access.

Olim appeared to be finished. He indicated for Nalan to move the group back a little. He wanted them at a safe distance. While this procedure was theoretically possible, it was still untried. In case of problems, he wanted the other subjects to be kept safe. Nalan complied, needing only a gentle touch on Sam's button to convince them to co-operate. The three stood huddled together watching the proceedings.

Olim turned to Jack. "Colonel. Just to let you know, you cannot simply blank your mind and hope the system won't work. You don't have to be thinking about your life for the machine to pick it up. Those memories are locked in your mind, and willpower cannot hide them." Olim gave a slight, apologetic smile as he moved his hand to the control panel. "This might hurt a little, Colonel."

Jack scoffed. "Ya think?"

Not understanding the remark, Olim simply shrugged. He checked one final setting then turned the power on. "This will take just a moment to begin, Colonel."

Jack didn't have time to retort as pain laced through his skull. Each electrode sent a small laser drill into Jack's brain. While the brain was not actually capable of feeling, the scalp was still covered by a vast neurological network, and more than capable of compensating. The pain was excruciating, and his brain finally gave him some relief by shutting down.

As the team watched, Jack's body stiffened and arched as much as the restraints would allow. His eyes rolled shut, then his body relaxed. He did not move again.

Teal'c tried to rush the bed to free his friend, but was stopped by the voltage Nalan turned on him. He tried to move regardless, but Nalan adjusted the power and Teal'c was knocked out by the intense shock.

Olim looked at the two men lying unconscious. He turned to Nalan. "I think we should stop for now. Have them removed. I will analyse the results and call for them again soon."

 Nalan nodded his agreement and moved to the communications panel.

Moments later a team came to collect the two limp bodies, with Daniel and Sam walking behind.

Jack slowly became aware of three things. The first was lying on the cold ground, the second was a pounding headache, the worst he remembered having, the third was the sound of his name being called, over and over. He groaned as he tried to open his eyes, the light blinding on the sensitive orbs. He closed them quickly, and moved his hand over them to act as a shield.

"Colonel?"

"Jack?"

"O'Neill?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Jack groaned again as his voice rang loudly in his head, exacerbating his headache. He tried to open his eyes again, this time with more success. He slowly lowered his hand and blinked rapidly as the view above him slowly came into focus. Turning his head slowly to the side, he took in the worried expressions of his colleagues. Three completely different faces that all bore the same look. "You guys okay?"

Daniel moved to one side, Teal'c to the other. Slowly they helped pull Jack into a sitting position, with his back against the wall for support. Sam moved closer. "We're fine, Sir. Teal'c tried to help you and got shocked, but he's okay now. How are you feeling?"

Jack took a quick mental inventory. "I'm okay. Beside the mother of all headaches, I seem to be in one piece." Jack wasn't fine, and he knew it. While he didn't believe he was physically damaged, he couldn't help the feeling of violation he was experiencing. As he thought about the process they had used on him, he started to feel nauseous.

Jack was an intensely private person. He fought hard to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself, sometimes to his own detriment. Having someone going into his memories and using them for their own purposes was intolerable. His fists clenched as he thought about it. Looking over, he could see his team looking worriedly at him. His platitudes had apparently not convinced them of his state of mind. He forced himself to take a calming breath, and concentrated on relaxing his tense muscles before turning his attention back to his waiting friends. "What happened."

Sam looked at him. "That machine seemed to have triggered some sort of overload in your brain. You seized, then passed out. You've been unconscious for several hours, Sir."

"I don't think that was nearly long enough, Major." Jack quipped tiredly as he rubbed his aching temples. "Now what?"

Daniel moved into view. "Now we wait until they take one of the rest of us." He couldn't help the slight note of fear in his voice. He had no desire to undergo the same procedure Jack had. It was bad enough watching, he didn't want a first hand account.

Jack understood. "Let's see what we can do about that, Daniel." He tried to get to his feet, but swayed wildly and fell back down. "Or not." He closed his eyes to wait for the room to stop moving. When he felt it was safe, he opened them again. "Okay, that's better."

Sam spoke for all of them. "Take it easy, Sir. You've been through an ordeal. You need to rest."

Behind her the door opened. "No time for that, Major." Once again Jack struggled to his feet, although this time he managed to remain standing.

The team turned and watched as Nalan re-entered the room. "I am glad to see you looking so well, Colonel. We were worried you might have been damaged."

"What makes you think I wasn't?" Jack responded as he rubbed his throbbing temples. He felt the anger within him rise.

Nalan ignored the comment and continued. "Olim sends his apologies. Apparently he used more power than was necessary. The adjustments have been made and the effects will not be as harsh for the others." Nalan indicated for Daniel to follow him. "It is your turn, Doctor Jackson."

This time the feelings of anger grew too strong to be ignored. Jack focused all of his emotions, and channelled them into one swift action as he moved to intervene. "Over my dead body!" He lunged at Nalan, but was stopped by the surge from the bracelets.

Nalan declined to release his finger from the button until the fallen man no longer moved. "Let that be a lesson, Colonel. I do not wish to harm you, but I do have more concerns than one man. The fate of two worlds is at stake here." He did not know if the motionless man could hear him or not. When he turned to leave, Daniel followed without protest.

Once again Jack struggled to awaken. "Well that was a bad move," he mumbled, although the others could hear him, much to their delight.

"Hi, Jack," Daniel's voice came.

Jack opened his eyes. He was greeted to the sight of a pair of blue eyes looking intently at him, their owner looking none the worse for wear.

"Daniel? You're back. You're okay?"

"I'm fine, Jack. Apparently they learned their lesson after you, and I stayed awake the whole time. So did Sam."

"Wha..ha... What! Sam and you both went? Where was I?"

"Apparently lying unconscious, O'Neill. Are you well now?"

Teal'c was getting far too lippy for Jack's tastes. He would have to talk to the man about that later. "I'm fine, Teal'c. A little pissed, but fine." He thought about mentioning the headache that showed no signs of letting up, be thought better of it.

Teal'c cocked his head in what could be taken for amusement.

Jack sat up under his own power this time. He looked at his wrists. "Any way I can take these things off? I'm getting kind of tired of having an external pacemaker."

"Sorry, Sir. Until they remove them, we're stuck."

Jack looked at his team, when it occurred to him that they hadn't mentioned Teal'c. "So how come you're not getting your brain sucked out?" he asked the Jaffa.

Sam fielded that one. "Well, Sir, it seems like they have what they want for Jamme. Now they want to pit him against Teal'c. Since he was created to fight the Goa'uld and the Jaffa, they want to use Teal'c as a trial run. If Teal'c wins, then they know that Jamme does not have the necessary skills."

"O...kay. So they wanted my combat skills for this...Jamme. What about you two? What did they take?"

"They wanted Daniel for his linguistics, Sir, and they wanted my..," Sam began to blush "intellect. It seems that I have knowledge that they don't."

Jack never noticed her discomfiture as he thought about what she had said. He immediately understood the ramifications this clone presented. It would have access to Earth and all its secrets. They would have to find a way to reverse the effects, or simply stop the clone. That in itself presented a problem. How would they know if there were only one, and if there were more, did they possess the team's knowledge. Jack looked at Sam. "Suppose this Jamme works. What then?"

Sam wasn't sure what he was getting at. "Sir?"

"Well, think about it. If it works, do they copy Jamme over and over, brain and all. I can't see that working. You've got to think that somewhere along the line the memories will start to distort."

Daniel saw what he meant. "I get it. You mean like if you tell someone a phrase and they pass it on down the line, it will go from 'vanilla pods grow on trees' to 'I like vanilla pudding'."

Jack did a double take at Daniel's analogy. "Only you would think of vanilla pods Daniel, but yeah, that's the idea. So, going with that idea, does that mean we get used directly on each clone? If that's the case, we had better hope Teal'c beats this guy, or we may never get home."

Sam looked thoughtful.

Daniel knew that look. "Have you got something, Sam?"

"I'm not sure, Colonel, I think you're right about using us repeatedly."

"And...?"

"No and."

"Carter...there has to be an and."

"I was just thinking about alternate scenarios. What if we can come up with another solution. One that doesn't involve giving up weaponry, but still protects the people of Regor."

Jack smiled slightly, knowing his Major was on the job. If anyone could come up with a solution, it would be her. "Put your thinking cap on, Major." With that he closed his eyes to rest. It had been a long day, and his head hurt.

Unaware her CO's attention was no longer on her, Sam muttered "Yes, Sir." Already possibilities were ticking in her brain.

It did not take long before the door to the team's cell opened. Nalan was once again alone. He made no pretence of hiding his hand device. Clearly, he was serious about his job. "I have come for the Jaffa. Olim has determined that Jamme is ready to be tested."

Daniel stepped up, his stance non-threatening. "Is this really necessary? You have Jack's knowledge and he has fought the Jaffa before and won."

Nalan turned to him smugly. "Then his victory shouldn't present a problem, will it?"

Teal'c rose to his full height and approached Nalan, whose finger stood poised to activate his device. "I will come with you."

Nalan nodded, then gestured to the others. "You may come and act as witnesses." With that, he led the way out of the room. This time, he took them down the corridor in the opposite direction. They walked for a long time down the featureless halls, turning corners every so often. The city seemed immense, although they had nothing to compare the scale to.

Finally the hallway ended at a set of doors. There were no obvious security measures in place, and the doors simply opened. The team entered into a dimly lit arena. They stood at the top of a funnel shaped room, the sides dotted in descending rows of chairs, that ended in an open field at the bottom. Jack thought it looked a lot like a hockey arena, without the ice, or the walls and plexiglass, or the player's bench. On second thought...

Nalan led them down the nearest aisle. "This auditorium is no longer used. Before the cataclysm it used to host special events. Since that time, we have had no time for such distractions."

"Surprise, surprise," Daniel muttered as he walked alongside Jack.

As they reached the bottom, Nalan indicated the seats nearest the aisle. Sam, Jack and Daniel all sat. At Nalan's unspoken request, Teal'c moved to follow. When the two men reached the field, Nalan called out to the team. "This fight is to be between Jamme and Teal'c. Any interference from the rest of you will not be tolerated.

Overhead lights came on, illuminating the playing arena. Jamme was already standing, about fifty metres away. He appeared unarmed, and made no moves to approach. Nalan called out, knowing his voice would easily carry enough to be heard. "The object of this exercise is to see if Jamme has the necessary skills to defeat a Jaffa in unarmed combat. The test will be concluded when one combatant has successfully rendered the other harmless. No unnecessary violence will be tolerated. I want neither man injured, simply subdued. The contest will commence when I have taken my seat."

Teal'c and Jamme eyed each other as Nalan walked away. The two men were similar in stature and build. Both adopted combat stances, and both weighed out the tactics they would take. Neither man noticed when Nalan took his seat alongside Jaen, Ecnal and Olim.

As Teal'c studied the man before him, he was surprised to notice that despite the physical differences between Jamme and O'Neill, he felt as though he was facing his friend. The expression on the clone's face was one he had seen on his friend's face when facing impending battle. The same simmering fire in the eyes and hard line to the face. It was an eerie feeling. Teal'c shook himself mentally, and focused his concentration.

The two men slowly closed the gap that separated them. Neither appeared worried, nor rushed. The climate changed abruptly when they were separated by only a scant number of metres. Green eyes locked on brown, each testing the mettle of the other. Jamme was the first to break the contest of wills. He changed tactics, and threw himself into a quick, lunging move, aimed at Teal'c mid-section. Teal'c was prepared for the move and grabbed Jamme's waist, throwing the man easily.

From the sidelines, Jack stood up, yelling like an over-aged cheerleader. "All right, Teal'c."

Sam noticed Nalan's attention turning towards them. She grabbed Jack's waist and dragged him down to his seat. "Sir!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I guess I got carried away."

Teal'c followed up by grabbing Jamme's arms and pinning them behind his back. The move might have worked had not Jamme thrown his head backwards, butting into Teal'c's nose. The Jaffa's hands flew to his face.

From the sidelines, Jack whispered to Daniel. "Ooh, that's got to hurt." Sam kicked him in the ankle. He shot her a glare before turning back to the action.

Jamme whirled around, tackling Teal'c and throwing him to the ground. He tried to pin the Jaffa's body down, when Teal'c suddenly arched his body and twisted. Jamme was thrown off.

Sam looked at Jack. He looked back innocently. "What? I didn't say anything."

He turned away from Sam back to the fight. Watching the fight intently, he began studying Jamme and his tactics against Teal'c. When he saw Teal'c move, he mentally countered, and was surprised to see the clone acting as he would have. Jack recognised the moves as ones he himself had made during his sparring matches against the Jaffa. It was more than a little disconcerting seeing his thoughts brought to life. He wondered if Teal'c would recognise the style, and whether or not it would bother him if he did.

Teal'c lunged forward. He delivered a staggering right hook to Jamme's jaw, the man stumbling backwards from the blow. Teal'c followed up with a left. Jamme was forced backwards even more. Teal'c wound up for what should have been the final blow, were it not for the fact that Jamme suddenly kicked out, his foot connecting with Teal'c's pouch. The Jaffa dropped in obvious agony.

Jack, Sam and Daniel rushed from their seats the moment the kick was launched. They arrived as Jamme raised his fist to further harm their downed friend. Jack tackled the man, throwing him to the ground while Daniel and Sam knelt alongside Teal'c.

Jaen stood. "Enough. The test is concluded. Jamme has been awarded the win."

Jamme stopped struggling, and Jack reluctantly released him. The clone moved away from the group. He stopped, turned to face them and waited. He stood motionless, as though someone had turned him off.

Jack walked over and approached the fallen Jaffa. "You okay, Teal'c?" He helped the man to stand.

"I will be fine, O'Neill." He held his hand protectively over his pouch.

Jack turned to the watching group. "Okay, so now what? Jamme can beat a Jaffa. What does that prove?"

"It proves that he will be suitable to the task."

"Um, fatal flaw there guys. I don't think you've thought this through very well."

"We think we have."

"Yeah, well, you'd be wrong. What have you proven here? That this clone thing can beat up a Jaffa? Great. So now when the System Lords come and invade, you can hope the Jaffa stand around and wait while your guys come in and beat the crap out of them." Jack made an okay sign with his hand. "Good plan. I think you're forgetting one tiny little detail. The Jaffa don't go anywhere without weaponry, and I don't think that even Jamme here is invulnerable to a staff blast. Barring that little detail, have you thought about the consequences of this? What happens if Jamme and his cronies do defeat the System Lords? What then? Do you kill him and any others you create off? Do you freeze them for next time, or do you leave them running around? How long do you think that will last for?"

"We don't understand what you are getting at."

"Gee, no kidding. Alright, I'll spell it out for you. You've given this guy the skills to fight and to talk, and work stuff out, but you haven't given him a conscience. You've packed his head full of brains but nothing else. Have you thought about what happens if he gets bored, or worse, you or the Regorian people do something to annoy him. What's to stop him from turning on you, and don't tell me it's these little bracelet thingies either," he slapped his wrist impatiently, "'cause if you've given him Carter's brains, he'll eventually figure out how to get rid of them."

Sam smiled at the compliment, while marvelling at the Colonel's reasoning. While she knew he wasn't as dumb as he pretended, it still came as a nice surprise when he showed his intellectual side.

Jack continued on, unaware of her thoughts. "You can't just give him the skills to fight and leave it at that. What about the other stuff?"

"Such as...?"

"What about compassion and reason? You took only what you needed from us to make him work, but what about the rest? We're more than just the sum of our biological parts, you know. They're just the window dressing. We are made up of our experiences and emotions, stuff you can't just download. We know when to fight, and when to walk away, as well as what we are fighting for. It's called having a conscience, and it's kind of important. The ones that don't have it tend to be kind of nasty. You didn't give him one. You gave him basic urges and skills, and those are going to come back to bite you in the ass one day. We have the best of both worlds, he doesn't."

There was silence for a moment as the Ministers considered Jack's words.

The team was also silent as they marvelled at Jack's unexpected eloquence. Daniel was usually the one to come up with stuff like that. What's more, it made perfect sense.

Finally Jaen spoke. "What you are saying makes sense, but time is pressing and we don't have any other answers."

"Figures. We.., on the other hand, think we do. Carter..." Jack yielded the floor to her and moved alongside Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel turned to Jack and gave him a discreet thumbs up.

Sam looked at the four men who stood staring her down. Having faced a lifetime of such a response, she couldn't help but be annoyed. She looked at them directly, causing them some discomfort under the direct blue gaze. She gained some satisfaction as she noted their reaction.

Clearing her throat, Sam proceeded to present her idea. "Since it is in both of our interests to come up with a solution, I have been giving a great deal of thought to your problem. As I understand it, your worry is that Regor will use your help against you if you send weapons, right?"

Jaen nodded his affirmative, followed closely by the others. He was impressed by group below him. Teal'c had proven to be a worthy adversary, O'Neill had shown the flaws in their plan, and now this female might give them the solution to their problem. His spy had chosen better than he knew. If the plan worked out, Jaen had to wonder if the time to lift their isolationist attitude hadn't arrived, in the hopes of continuing further dealings with their Earth cousins.

Sam continued. "Since you lack military expertise in your society, alternative solutions might be hard for you to comprehend. While I agree with the Colonel in his assessment of your army, I do applaud you for your efforts. Now, as I see it, you need to come up with another plan of attack. What I would suggest is a barrier, or shield, be placed around the planet. That way, all you need to send is a power generator, but no actual weapons. Trying to convert the generator would only jeopardise the people of Regor's own safety."

The four men looked at one another. Clearly such a thought had never occurred to them. As Carter watched them, she couldn't help but be amazed that these men could conceive of a plan to create a biological army, but they couldn't come up with a simple generator and force field idea. Not, if she were completely honest with herself, that she knew for a fact that she could actually create such a thing. Given the wealth of technology on this world however, combined with her own ideas for how to make one work, she felt it was possible.

Jaen interrupted her thoughts. "We feel that your idea has merit. How long will it take for you to construct this shield?"

Sam wasn't sure whether she had won a victory, or sealed their fate. She felt the idea could work on paper. Now she was being asked to put it to the test. Still, it was better than being held here for as long as it took to program an army, and perhaps even longer. "If you will give me complete access to your labs, as well as Olim's help, I think I can have one operational in about a week."

Jaen considered the time frame, and the words of the Colonel. As well conceived as the idea for an army had seemed at the time, without actually providing weapons for it, he realised that it would in fact be rather useless. He reached his decision quickly. "You have a week. During that time, I will allow your teammates the freedom of moving around the city. I warn you though, all of you will be watched and any unfavourable action of your parts will result in discipline." Jaen rose and moved to leave. He was closely followed by Ecnal. Olim and Nalan remained. One stayed to work with Sam, the other to watch the men.

Daniel was intrigued by the people he met. Having been engineered and aged to viable ages, these people had missed the wonders of childhood. There was no laughter on this world. The men and women all had jobs to do, which they performed with total devotion. No one deviated. Daniel noticed that was not due to threats of discipline or hardship, but was simply a by-product of their world. Being engineered for specific tasks apparently precluded independent thought in all other avenues of life. While some flexibility remained within areas of expertise, that ability did not seem to extend beyond. Were it not for the presence of discernible pulses and respirations, these people could have been robots. Certainly the human element no longer existed on Yensid. This discovery served to reinforce what they had been told about the world's defensive capabilities. With no military minds left, these people were at a loss to come up with viable solutions. Doing the best that they could, they turned to an avenue they did know and understand, and that was genetics. Daniel found the disintegration of the humanity of place to be a sad statement as Earth's evolution closely resembled this one. He wished this planet could be shown to the governments of Earth as an indicator of what could happen if care were not taken.

The more he observed the people of Yensid, the more he questioned the point of their existence.

Sam rubbed her eyes wearily. She had been looking at computer readouts for hours. Her shield was partially working in her computer mock-ups, but seemed to hit a snag at the same point in the programming every time she ran a simulation. She ran through the numbers over and over, but could not seem to pinpoint the problem. Laying her chin on her crossed arms she continued to watch the hypnotic scrolling of computer information.

"Well, Carter, how goes it?"

Sam jumped as the unexpected voice boomed from behind her. "Jeez, Sir. Next time give a girl a little warning, would you?"

Jack grinned, then took in the worn features of his 2IC. "You okay, Carter?"

"I'm fine, Sir. I'm just a little tired I guess."

Jack snorted. "Small wonder. You haven't taken a break from that thing in days." Jack tried to make sense of the information on the screen, but it caused his eyes to water and his head to hurt, something it needed little help with these days. It never failed to amaze him that Sam not only understood this stuff, but actually enjoyed it. He'd take a firing range over this any day. Actually, he had been doing something similar to that. Teal'c and he had spent the last few days trying to get a handle on the planet's defences. While they had not been allowed access to the actual weaponry, they had been allowed to study the system's blueprints. Jack had worked hard to stifle his laugh as he received permission to see the system's workings. Apparently the council didn't realise that drawings on paper were as good or even better than the working model. The two men had some interesting tidbits to share when they made it home. Beyond that, Teal'c had been trying to persuade him to rest a little. The headaches caused by his mind probe had been reluctant to let go of their grip. While he had tried to keep the painful effects from the rest of the team, Teal'c had easily picked up on the signals. Thankfully, they finally seemed to be easing off. Still, Jack couldn't help but wonder what, if any, long term effects there might be from the procedure.

Sam smiled as she read his pained expression. The amusement quickly faded though as she turned back to the uncooperative numbers.

"What's the problem, Major?"

"Well, Sir," Sam's eyes never left the screen, "the field seems to be working only intermittently. It's not a question of power, but I can't seem to find what is wrong. It seems to want to shut down after a certain amount of time, without being told to."

Jack thought for a moment. "Could the power supply be overheating?"

"No, Sir. I checked that." Sam was sounding discouraged.

"It almost sounds like it's reacting like some sort of motion detector. You know, like security lights. They turn on when something moves, then shut down unless tripped again."

Sam thought about that. In effect, this shield was acting as an impenetrable light. She scrolled through the massive amounts of data in front of her, until she came to the part of the program where it glitched. Studying the information in front of her, her eyes lit upon something. Moving in for a closer look, an expression of wonder spread across her face. "That's it!"

Jack was looking rather bemused. "What's it?"

Sam swung her seat back to face him. "I'd put a timer on the field without realising it. It was shutting off like I told it to. Strange though, I don't remember giving it those instructions. To save time, I did use some programming from the weapons system. Perhaps those instructions were already there, and I simply overlooked them. "

Jack knew Carter well enough to understand that she wouldn't make a mistake like that. She was completely meticulous with her work. She simply didn't overlook those kind of things. Which begged the question, "If you didn't put those instructions there, who did? Olim maybe? And for what purpose?"

A similar thought had occurred to Sam. "It must have been Olim, Sir. This work is not accessible to anyone else that I know of." Sam looked thoughtful. "It doesn't seem likely that it would be him. His knowledge of computers is pretty limited. He can run them, but only with the programming they already have." Sam looked over at Jack, her face worn and her voice tired. "Regardless, he does make a great assistant. He doesn't question my theories, he just accepts them as fact, and does what I ask. I think that's one of the problems here. They don't think independently anymore, except in extreme circumstances."

Jack wasn't particularly concerned about the flaws in the Yensid society. In his limited time with the people, he had decided they were not worth the effort his team was putting forth on their behalf. He wanted to get the job done, and get home. With that in mind, he tried to steer Carter back on track. "Can you override that programming and fix the problem?"

Sam grinned. "I can do better than that, Sir. I can make it tamper proof. If anyone tries to change it, the whole system will freeze up."

Jack loved how her mind worked. "Good work, Carter. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

Jack left to find the others, leaving Sam to her work.

Teal'c and Daniel were found in the team's assigned quarters. The room was small and sparse, but clean and adequate for their needs. The team had not been mistreated since the incident in the lab. They had been provided life's essentials, such as decent food and clothing. However, in Jack's opinion, they were still prisoners, and having a bed didn't change that.

The two men were engaged in a rather deep conversation, which halted at Jack's appearance. Noting his expression, they realised something had happened.

"You have discovered something, O'Neill?"

Jack nodded in affirmation. "Actually Teal'c, Carter did. Her shield program was glitching on her. Turns out, a timer command was put in without her knowledge."

Jack was on the receiving end of two sets of stunned expressions. Daniel finally broke the silence. "Why would someone want the shield to shut down? I thought these people wanted to protect their relationship with Regor."

Teal'c turned impassively to face Daniel. "That is what we have been told, Daniel Jackson. Is it possible that the whole story has not been disclosed to us?"

Daniel's forehead furrowed as he considered the question. "I'm not sure, Teal'c. Regor holds these people's lives in its grip. It doesn't make sense for Yensid to mess with that. Also, I've been spending a lot of time with these people over the last few days. I don't think they are even capable of tampering with the program. They are the most single-minded people I've ever met." He turned to the watching Colonel. "Even more than you, Jack."

Jack scowled. "Thanks, Daniel."

Daniel grinned before returning to his previous train of thought. "Seriously though. These people are born and raised for specific tasks. The ability for independent thought seems almost bred out of them. We saw that with this army idea. They couldn't see the flaws in it, despite how obvious they were. I don't think it would even occur to them to tamper with something. It just doesn't seem to be in their nature."

Jack looked thoughtful. "Maybe it's not someone from here then. Nalan said they'd been having problems with spies from Regor. Maybe one got to the computer and tampered with it."

"To what end, O'Neill?"

"I don't know, Teal'c. That scenario makes no sense either. Maybe they want to cast doubt on Yensid. Or maybe if the shield doesn't seem to be working they can use that to argue for weaponry. Either way, if we can't figure out how to protect that planet, we're screwed. I don't know about you guys, but I want to go home with my brains intact."

Teal'c looked at Jack. "Has Major Carter found a way to deal with the problem?"

Jack grinned. "Oh yeah. She's rigged the computer to freeze if anyone messes with the programming."

"Way to go Sam." Daniel's smile matched Jack's.

Even Teal'c joined in. "Indeed."

Sam watched the computer run through its simulations. She smiled in satisfaction. The program ran through without a hitch, and the shield appeared to function perfectly. Sam knew that when she returned home, she had some serious work to do in trying to recreate the barrier. The problem wouldn't be duplicating her work, it would be trying to create a generator capable of powering such a shield. Earth simply did not possess the resources necessary to sustain such requirements.

Sam shook her head to dispel her thoughts. The future would have to wait. For now, she needed to take her work to Regor where the working model would be built.

Sam and the team rendezvoused in their room. Daniel led her to the nearest bed and indicated that she should sit.

Jack looked at her, noting the circles under her eyes. "Report, Major?"

Fatigue slurred Sam's voice slightly. "The program appears to be fully operational, Colonel. At least.. on the computer it is. The real test will be when we connect it to the equipment on Regor. Olim tells me they are just finishing up the generator there. He wants us to leave first thing in the morning. Both he and Nalan are going to join us."

"Good work, Major. Why don't you sleep. We'll keep watch."

Sam yawned hugely, much to the amusement of the men. "Will do, Sir." She lay down and was asleep almost immediately. Daniel leaned over her, and covered her with a blanket, before joining the men on the far side of the room.

Nalan appeared at their door by sunrise. Or, the Earth equivalent of it. Aside from the few moments in the hall, the team had actually not seen the outdoors since their arrival. That soon changed, however, as they were led to a shuttle hanger.

"I though we would 'gate' there?" Jack looked at Nalan.

"Regor has no Stargate, nor do any of the other planets in this system. We made a policy after the cataclysm to limit gate use. There were too many unknowns with that particular means of travel. While most worlds are safe, too many are not. We use these ships to travel and trade instead. They are adequate for our needs." Nalan led them closer to the massive ships.

Nalan saw no need to further enlighten them about the status of the Stargate. Only a few in Yensid had access to the ring. They were the Ministers of the High Council, and the select few that were chosen to perform off-world tasks.

With the genetic shift the planet had taken, basic fundamentals and rights had been lost. The right to have a family, to love and be loved. While the people had no arguments with their lot, they also had no comparisons. The current population were all a product of the breeding program, and thus had never known differently. One of the mandates of the council was to protect the knowledge that other worlds functioned differently, lest the people rebel.

In this vein, ships became the mode of transportation. Contact with other societies could be more easily limited, as loading and unloading of cargo was carried out by machine. The crews piloting the ships had no real contact with the civilian populations, and were therefore not exposed to other cultures.

Sam looked over the small fleet of ships. They were enormous in comparison to Earth's shuttles. Apparently, they were capable of shipping huge quantities of goods and merchandise. She wondered what powered them, and if they would let her see the cockpit, assuming there was one. She looked on with analytical interest as they moved closer to the vehicles.

Scorch marks from atmospheric burns marred the pristine white of the hulls. Cargo doors sat open at the back of the ship they were approaching, awaiting a load for transport. The ramp leading into the darkened storage bay appeared large enough to accommodate a semi-trailer, while the opening would have dwarfed one. The overall shape of the ship was roughly rectangular, although all sides rounded outwards. There were no windows save for the very front. Presumably this was the cockpit. The craft rested on huge pontoons, although water landings were most likely not the intent. The technicians surrounding the vessel seemed minuscule in comparison. The overall effect was rather impressive.

Jack eyed the craft with an appreciative eye, slowly whistling out a low "sweet"."

Sam echoed the sentiment. She wondered what her father would think if he learned she had flown in one of these.

Nalan led the team up the main ramp, into the bowels of the ship. It appeared it was meant more for cargo than passengers. The creature comforts were few. The team reconciled themselves to travelling with the crates and stores. They were informed that Olim and Jamme would meet them on the planet. That bit of news was happily received. No one felt comfortable near the clone. All present found themselves a comfortable spot and settled themselves in for the journey. Not long after, the ship took off.

The interior was pressurised against the forces being exerted on the hull. The team was aware of the motion of the ship, but not unduly stressed by it. Sam had to wonder at whether they hadn't employed some sort of gravity compensator in the ships design.

Daniel looked at Nalan. "So, how long will this take?"

"We will dock in less that three hours."

Daniel pursued the line of questioning. "How far away is Regor?"

Nalan looked at him, a superior smile pasted on his face. "Roughly the Earth's equivalent of .59 AU's."

As expected, the archaeologist looked a little blank at the answer. "AU's?"

Suprisingly enough, it Jack who answered his question. "Astronomical units, Daniel. One AU is the equivalent of approximately 92, 960, 116 miles." He looked at Nalan, whose smile had slipped somewhat. "You said .59 right?" The man nodded slowly. Jack turned back to the linguist. "That translates to roughly....," a frown of concentration crossed his face, "54.9 million miles, give or take a few hundred thousand. Roughly the distance between Earth and Mars if memory serves."

Sam stifled a laugh as she noted Nalan's expression. The man looked positively deflated.

Jack looked at the Trade Minister. "You cover that in under three hours?" At the man's shrug, Jack mouthed "wow."

Sam looked over at her Commanding Officer, an unformed question written clearly on her face. Before she could speak, he read her expression. "What? I do read a little," his expression somewhat irritated.

Sam smiled. "Yes, Sir."

Teal'c looked over approvingly at O'Neill.

The trip passed quickly, as did the landing. Sam was curious about the procedures used, but Nalan didn't appear to be able or to want to inform them. He was still a little disgruntled at being usurped by O'Neill. His manner was harsh as he sent them down the ramp, onto the fertile soil of Regor.

The planet could not have been more opposite to Yensid had it tried. It looked like paradise. Everywhere you turned, there was greenery. The air smelled fresh and clean. The sky was clear and the horizon was rimmed in forested mountains. The only sign of civilisation was the horse and wagon waiting for them. The ship behind them looked completely out of place. It violated the scenery and the team was anxious to put the sight behind them. They were directed into the wagon. Three sat on one side, four on the other. Nalan sat on the end of the bench opposite O'Neill. He pointedly brought the discipline device out, rubbing his finger over the surface as he glared at the Colonel.

The wagon bumped and creaked its way along worn paths. The journey finally culminated at a small community. Nalan informed them that it was one of the smaller farming communities in the area.The landing site was set here, nearer to the produce and livestock they imported. The team dismounted and looked around, slowly walking down the dirt road running through the centre of town. The village appeared primitive when compared to the towering spires of Yensid. People walking along wooden sidewalks paused briefly before moving