Seeing no point in returning to his original booth, Daniel was now reading ‘The Ascended Times' from cover to cover for the second time. He had missed a few things the first time, though given where he was it was possible the newspaper had in fact changed on its own. He didn't look up when he saw the familiar uniform standing directly in front of him behind the counter.

"Well, you can't stay here forever, you know." Oma turned for a fresh pot of coffee. "Actually, I suppose you could, I just don't know why you'd really want to." She poured the thick brew. "Except for the great service."

"Look, obviously I don't want to just die." He took a sip of his refill. "Don't suppose there's any other options?"

"I can't get into it."

Again Daniel heard the word 'here' silently tagged onto the end of her response.

"What's stopping you from Ascending?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Must be something holding you back," she prodded, wiping the counter down. "Making you doubt yourself."

"Maybe it's not me I'm doubting," he shot back.

"Look," the Ascended being didn't try to hide her exasperation. "Whether you choose to accept living on a higher plane of existence has nothing to do with me or anything that I can or can't tell you. It's all up to you."

"But there is something you're not telling me."

"Is that what Jim said?" She evaded the question in typical Oma fashion. "You shouldn't be listening to him."

"Why not?

"Because."

Daniel barely contained his bark of laughter. He wondered if he was becoming as psychic as his wife because he had predicted that reply. "Good answer."

"Yes." She smiled brightly at him and walked away.

Daniel simply returned his attention to the paper. He was getting the hang of this 'game'. He asked questions, Oma and occasionally Jim, would pretend to answer. The Ascended made a retreat to come back a few moments later for the next round of vagueness and answering questions with questions. No point in getting worked up over it since there was literally nothing he could do about it. From the corner of his eye a figure waddled over. Oh look, batter up!

Jim looked around as he sat down in his previous seat. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," Daniel shrugged, turning the page. "Off doing whatever it is she does when she's not here."

"You ask her?" he asked.

"Yep." He took a sip of his coffee. He could act blasé and casual with the best of them.

"Wouldn't tell you."

"No."

He gave a resigned nod. "Had to find out for yourself last time, too. Man, were you pissed."

That comment deserved more of his attention. "About what? Tell me."

Jim made sure no one was near then leant closer to Daniel. "What do you know about Anubis?"

He was suspicious by the eagerness in the man, like he was a kid busting with news. Yet if he played this right, he may get more information than Jim intended to reveal. "I know he's half-Ascended, whatever that means."

"There are many planes of existence, between human existence and Ascension. Basically, the Others use their collective powers to keep him from affecting anything on a grand, cosmic level."

"But it's okay for him to destroy an entire galaxy," Daniel couldn't keep his disgust entirely hidden.

"It's okay for him to do anything he could have done, back when he was a regular, old Goa'uld." Jim said it like it explained everything.

"I see." And Daniel did, sort of, but... "What does this have to do with Oma?"

"Goa'uld are bad." Jim was getting excited. "Anubis is as bad as they come."

"And?"

"And?" Jim parroted, looking expectantly at him.

The penny dropped for Daniel and he got caught up in the moment like he'd solved a translation that had been giving him trouble. "And Ascension requires that someone be pure of spirit. One must be good to the very core to achieve enlightenment. So how does someone like Anubis Ascend?"

Jim smiled broadly. "Now he's getting it!

"Oma helps people Ascend but she'd never help somebody like Anubis!" He rejected the idea vehemently.

"Maybe not on purpose," Jim shrugged casually.

"Are you saying he tricked her somehow?" His mouth dropped open in disbelief. No, no, no, that just couldn't happen!

"Rule number one!" Jim pointed his finger in Daniel's face for emphasis. "No lone Ascended being shall help a lower Ascend! 'Lowers' are what we call humans and such. If you deserve to be here you should be able to get here on your own. If there's an exception, for whatever reason, a majority vote by the Collective can get you in. But Oma thinks she knows better, and she's taken her licks for it. I admit for the most part, she's brought good people onboard, but as the old saying goes, nobody's perfect. Not even us higher beings."

A sick feeling of horror settled in Daniel's stomach. An old adage flitted across his now rather numb mind, 'be careful of what you wish for'. He'd wanted answers and he'd finally got one. "Oma helped Anubis Ascend."

Jim clicked his fingers and pointed at him. It's a score for the undecided archaeologist!

"Get out." Oma angrily stormed up to them, rounding on Jim. "Get out, now!"

The returning look Jim gave was mockingly innocent. "Oh, look at the time." He pretended to glance at his watch. "Gotta go, kid, business to attend to. It was nice talking to you."

He patted Daniel's leg, though Daniel didn't really feel it. Numb, that's what he was. It was kind of nice to feel nothing at the moment after that bombshell. He didn't hear as Jim started up that annoying whistling again, didn't notice when he strolled out. All he could focus on was Oma, the being whom he had trusted right up until this moment, even though he didn't remember their past together. Blindly trusted, as it turned out. The Ascended weren't supposed to be tricked! They were Ascended for God’s sake! Where was all that 'all-knowing' power? How could Oma be responsible for 'creating' the scourge of the galaxy?

Slowly Oma turned to face Daniel's accusing, uncertain eyes.

"My Lord, there is an incoming communication from Lord Anubis."

"Relay it to my quarters," Ba'al ordered. Taking the quickest route, he barely noticed the tingle of the ring transporter as it deposited him on the upper level. His mind was running the possible reasons for this unexpected contact and how he could manipulate the conversation to gain the knowledge he needed. Normally such conversations during a state of attack took place on the bridge, however, there were two primary reasons he chose to conduct it elsewhere. The first was that appearance was tantamount, especially when one was bluffing. Having the conversation in his quarters gave the impression that he was unconcerned about the battle being waged. The second was the privacy the room provided. If he wanted information, both on what Anubis had planned and how much he knew of Ba'al's own actions, then the unpleasant fact of him being manipulated would inevitably be mentioned. And it just would not do for a God to admit in front of his Jaffa that he had been tricked.

Ba'al made sure his pose on his ornate chair was relaxed before activating the view screen. The cloaked figure of Anubis appeared. "If you've come to gloat it's premature. My Jaffa have repelled your warriors."

"On this planet perhaps." Anubis was also deliberately casual, his gloved 'fingers' loosely threaded together in front of him. "And reinforcements of Kulls are on the way. It shan't be long before your Jaffa are lying dead in pools of their own blood."

"We shall see." Ba'al rested his chin on his hand. "What is the point of this visit?"

"I’ve come to offer you the opportunity to redeem yourself and re-establish our alliance."

The laugh that burst from Ba'al's lips wasn't forced. "You attack my holdings and you have the audacity to say I broke our alliance?"

"Our alliance was broken by your gullibility in letting the Tau'ri trick you. I have no time for fools."

"A gullibility that we both know was not entirely my fault." Ba'al's eyes glowed gold in anger. "Months of your subtle manipulation, for which I must commend you by the way," he continued conversationally. "It's a rare occurrence that one of my brethren is able to do that. Months of scheming to make me susceptible to the idea the weapon was worthless. I can only assume that you intended for me to discard it in much the way that I did. How bitterly disappointing it must have been to have put in all that hard effort, only to have SG-1 bumble in to make the winning move first." His lips twisted into a malevolent smile. "How does it feel to know that you assisted the Tau'ri? That thanks to you they now have the weapon you so fear?"

"I fear no weapon," Anubis spat, his control over maintaining his 'spiritual body' on the mortal plane slipped slightly so that it expanded out from the hood in an angry burst of white light. He reined himself in, his tone resuming the nonchalant tone. "Give me the seer and I'll leave your pitiful holdings alone."

"All of my holdings?" Ba'al asked, keeping his sense of triumph hidden. Goading Anubis had always been child's play for Ba'al, even if it was a dangerous game. However usually it took more than that to entice that sort of reaction. The half-Ascended being was more on edge than he thought. "Including Dakara?"

"Most of your holdings," Anubis corrected.

"Why is the seer so important?"

"She's not. With the Dedicated separated she'd be nothing but a plaything to amuse me. So little amuses me these days."

"Curious that in the height of your attempt at galactic domination you concern yourself with such frivolous pursuits."

"What does it matter why I want her? All you need know is that she is your key to survival. Do we have a deal?"

"If only I could," Ba'al sighed in mock sincerity. "But I don't have her."

"Come now, do you consider me a fool? Your lust for the witch is well known."

"I may desire the seer," Ba'al conceded. "But her abilities make her a much coveted asset by the other Goa'uld. Any one of them could have taken advantage of the chaos of battle to take her."

"Give me the seer, or I will destroy your ship here and now," Anubis threatened.

Ba'al relaxed back into his chair. "You could try. However I think you'll find my shield modifications are most impressive."

"I could tear your ship apart on the molecular level," Anubis scoffed. "And there would be nothing you could do to stop me." He raised a hand as though he intended to do just that.

"Ah, yes," Ba'al smirked. "Your powers of the Ascended. Interesting that you have not used those abilities before. Could it be that you are unable to? That the Others would step in and crush you like a bug should you try?" That little detail he had gleaned from the many interrogations of his zatarc.

Anubis lowered his hand with a shrug. "Using such power on such an insignificant act is pointless. Once I have taken Dakara and used its weapon, you and every mortal being will cease to exist."

"Then this conversation is equally pointless." Ba'al disconnected the communication and contacted the bridge. "Take us into hyper-light immediately."

"To where, My Lord?"

"Anywhere." When less than a second later he felt the extreme acceleration of his ship he gave his next order. "Pull all troops from Traylicus, Rodina and Prixus and send them as reinforcements to Dakara." Sacrificing three of his worlds was of little consequence if Dakara was taken.

"At once, My Lord."

Ba'al waited a few seconds for the command to be carried out, then issued a third. "Send technicians to the seer's cell with full diagnostic equipment."

A moment later the First Prime replied. "They are heading down now, My Lord."

Ba'al disconnected the transmission and quickly made his own way to the cell.

Jack added a few more drops of vanilla oil to the burner. He had no idea if the herbal remedy was working at all. There had been no improvement in Annika's condition, however he supposed it was a good sign that she hadn't gotten any worse. At the moment she was enthralled in drawing in the notebook he'd brought with him to jot down anything that could be important, whether it be related to Annika's behavior or her visions. Jack was currently reviewing those notes on loose pieces he'd torn out. Besides the 'Miss Polly' nursery rhyme she'd spouted off, she had adapted another two.

He absently wrote over his hastily written scribbles, making a few of the letters more legible, though he doubted there was any important hidden meaning in it.

Like 'Miss Polly', it gave an indication that Annika was aware of what had happened, that the information and memories were inside her head, if more than a little jumbled. On the down side, whenever he tried to get her to elaborate he hit a brick wall. The words wouldn't form coherently on her lips, at least not in a way that Jack understood. Both of them had become frustrated and Jack had backed off for a while. The second nursery rhyme had more substance...sort of. It had the indications of being a premonition rather than a memory.

"Casper, when you sang this, did you see any pictures in your head at the same time?"

"Nuh uh." She added a final dash of the pencil across the page and flipped the page over to begin a new one.

"You're not going to show me that one?" he asked surprised. All of the sketches she'd drawn previously she had eagerly shown him. So far they had all been detailed pictures of Daniel and had displayed the skill of a trained artist rather than the 'stick figures' a child would draw. It added another smidgen of hope that Annika would eventually be back to normal. He'd studied the sketches for any hint of hidden meaning. Hadn't found any yet.

"Nope." Her head dipped bashfully, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"Is it another picture of Daniel?"

"Uh huh." Her blush deepened and she whispered, "But it's private."

Jack let it slide. "Have you seen any pictures at all in your mind since being in here?"

She shook her head not looking up from her drawing.

"If you see any, let me know, okay?"

"'kay," she replied vaguely, her attention more on the notepad in front of her.

Jack reached out and tilted her chin up to make her focus on him. "It's important, Casper."

Her sigh was a bit impatient. "I heard ya'."

He wondered if that was a residue from their argument or just general frustration at the situation. He contemplated apologizing, then thought better of it. Doing it now was a cop out. Annika in all likelihood wouldn't know what he was apologizing for. A little voice in the back of his mind asked, would she ever? Jack pushed thoughts of the future away. Because it inevitably would lead to other thoughts, like once again coping with his best friend not being around.

"Why is you sad, General Jack?"

"Oh, some of my very close friends are missing." Technically it was true. Even if he was Ascended, the last time Daniel had at least checked in to let them know that he was a glowy jellyfish and he hadn't done that yet. And Annika, well, clearly she wasn't all there at the moment. Then there was the Doc and Dodger, had they been found alive?

"When Daniel gets here, he'll help you find them," she said confidently. Whatever she was about to say next never made it out of her mouth. Her head swung to the front of the cell, her expression changing from childish innocence to adult rage and loathing. In a flash she was on her feet, harsh words Jack didn't recognize screeching from her throat.

The colonel's reflexes were fast and he caught her in a sideways grip mere inches from the force field. Where in hell was this coming from? Struggling to keep her and himself from getting zapped, he saw two Jaffa appear carrying some sort of gizmos, Ba'al was just a few steps behind them. "I thought we agreed you'd stay away."

"I've just had an interesting discussion with Anubis." He had to raise his voice to be heard over Annika's yells. "I need to ensure he hasn't been able to penetrate the shield." He motioned for the Jaffa to start running the diagnostic.

Jack managed to drag Annika a couple of steps away from the force field. "Well, hurry up." He considered trying to reach for his pack for one of the sedatives but he dared not risk loosening his hold.

Ba'al barely controlled a wince at the hurl of abuse the seer was shouting at him. "I see you have made significant progress."

Dodging a flaying arm, Jack eyed the Goa'uld, positive he was being sarcastic even though his tone was serious. "How do you figure that?"

"Her language is no longer that of a child." Ba'al realized the colonel didn't understand what the seer was saying. "Her Ancient is quite colorful."

"Insulting the crap out of you, is she?" Despite the situation Jack grinned. "Things are looking up."

Abruptly the Ancient tirade cut off and Annika pressed her palm to her forehead, her face contorted in pain. "Go away, go away, go away!"

Jack recognized the glazed look in her eyes as her receiving a vision, but before he could react Annika was bucking against him. It threw him off balance, for this time, instead of trying to launch herself at the Goa'uld she was trying to back away and get as far from him as possible. Still holding Annika with one arm he let her direct them both to the far wall, while fishing out the altered memory device from his pocket with the other. He pressed the disc to her temple and as soon as the familiar metallic twang of activation was heard, a holographic image danced above the psychic's head. Her thrashing turned into a severe case of the trembles and she twisted into Jack. "Make the pictures stop, General Jack, please make them stop."

"I don't know how, sweetheart." Jack kept his arm comfortingly around her, even as his eyes sickeningly watched the vision display. He dragged his eyes away and glared at the Goa'uld. "Don't get your fucking hopes up, Balls. That's a memory not a premonition."

Ba'al, whose eyes were glued to the vision, felt a jolt of pure lust course through him. "A memory? I think not. I'm sure I'd remember such an intimate liaison with My Beloved." He was transfixed by the scene. It showed the seer on his quarter's balcony, her only adornment was a jeweled collar around her neck. Himself equally as naked, thrusting into her from behind, her body leaning sensually into him with every thrust.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Jack growled. "That's from the timeline you futzed and we fixed. Technically it never happened." The Goa'uld didn't seem to hear. Jack gave a disgusted headshake then softened his expression as he spoke to the shaking woman in his arms. "Casper, can you crouch down for me?" Gently pushed down on her shoulder. Keeping his hand comfortingly where it was, he stepped in front of her, blocking Ba'al's view of the hologram above her head with his body. "Why would you think Anubis has penetrated the force field?"

Ba'al smirked at the colonel's protective gesture. No matter, he'd seen enough, and those images would fuel his fantasies until he sampled the delights of the seer's body for himself. "He was too sure of the fact that I had her. Even offered to cease the battle against my holdings if I turned her over to him."

"I'm assuming you refused."

"Of course, why would I relinquish such a prize after such a short time of having her?" His eyes darkened with lust. "Especially now that I've seen My Beloved so enticingly surrender to my charms."

"I believe Anubis let something slip that he did not intend," Ba'al said. "He made reference to the 'Dedicated being separated'."

"Rings a bell," Jack agreed. "Something in the manual."

"I will check with Carter." Ba'al tried one more time to get another glimpse of the erotic vision.

Annika peeked around Jack's leg, her fretfulness gone with the vision now over. Violet eyes focused on the Goa'uld, then a delighted chuckle escaped. "Lord Balls, God of the iddy-biddy pecker!"

Jack grinned. "Yep, you were right, Balls. We are making progress!"

Eyes flashing gold, Ba'al spun on his heel and stalked away.

Oma had gently guided Daniel back to his booth. Some of the numbness was slowly seeping out of his body and mind. "So it's true," he said flatly.

Sitting across from him Oma nodded. "He tricked me."

"How?" he demanded weakly, still not wanting to believe. "You couldn't tell?"

"No." She shook her head, the guilt heavy in her voice as she explained. "He must have found some old, Ancient research on Ascension. When he came to Kheb he knew what he was doing. When I realized the horrible mistake that I had made I tried to undo it, but I couldn't. That's when the Others stepped in."

"I don't understand." He gave his head a small shake. There was so much he didn't understand and at the same time too much that he did. "They only sent him halfway back. Why not all the way?"

Oma shifted uncomfortably. "It's complicated."

"Yeah, what isn't around here?" he groused.

"They warned him. He wasn't allowed to use any knowledge or power, unless he otherwise would have gained it as a Goa'uld."

"I don't understand. They let him wreak havoc. They don't care if he destroys all life in the galaxy? Life, they themselves, created." To Daniel that was a greater atrocity than Oma's mistake.

"They haven't stopped me from continuing my work." She tried to make him see a positive in the situation, even if it was a small one. "I've tried to make up for it, help when I can."

Daniel had another realization. "It's your punishment. You're forced to watch, powerless to interfere, and let Anubis do whatever he wants, just to punish you."

"I told you before. The galaxy you're from, the plane of existence, is so small and insignificant compared to the rest of the universe."

"I don't care." Daniel shook his head. Every life was significant, let alone an entire galaxy...his galaxy. Whether it is was 'small' by comparison to whatever other planes existed shouldn't matter. "It's wrong."

She gave him a sad smile. "That's what you said last time."

Filled with anger Daniel stood up and defiantly faced the Others. "Excuse me!" he loudly tried to draw their attention. "Isn't it enough, already? I mean, a whole galaxy of innocent people, enslaved and tortured for generations, now on the verge of being destroyed, for nothing? For what? For one mistake a good person made trying to do a good thing?"

The complete and utter silence only fueled his fury.

"Come on, the least you could do is listen to me. That can't be against the grand high fallutin' cosmic rules!" More silence and Daniel strode up to the nearest Ascended. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" he yelled, grabbing at the man to try to shake some sense into him. His hands rather than coming in contact with a solid body, slid like butter into the being and a bright light almost blinded him. Hastily he yanked his hands back and the light vanished. The 'man' hadn't even twitched. Drawing a calming breath he tried a different but no less passionate tactic. "Okay, okay. Well, I know you can hear me. Hasn't she suffered enough already? Certainly, enough other people have suffered to punish her. Don't you think you made your point?"

"That's the thing, Daniel. They don't." Oma came to stand beside him and she gave a resigned sigh. "I keep breaking the same rule, helping people Ascend. That's why you're here."

"What if you stopped?"

"Wouldn't undo the problem," she replied quietly. "That's why I keep doing what I do. Anubis can't be killed, not by you, not by me."

Daniel frowned. There was a hidden meaning in that somewhere. Oma's face was impassive, yet she seemed to be waiting...no, hoping, for him to keep pushing. But push where? Obviously none of the Ascended weren't going to help, not even Oma. Wait, what was it that Jim had said about rule number one? Didn't it imply that they could step in if they wanted to? "A majority vote by the Collective, and you can help someone Ascend?"

Oma nodded warily. "It has happened on a rare occasion."

"Doesn't that break your almighty non-interference rule?" He tried not to sound bitter.

"There are always exceptions to the rules if you know how to play the game."

"So how do you determine a majority?" Using Earth's politics as a template, he knew that initially having the most votes didn't necessarily mean a win.

"Fifty percent plus one."

Daniel's senses went into high alert by her casual tone and he spoke his thoughts out loud. "Your numbers must be increasing all the time. Today, if there are ten thousand Ascended," he pulled the random figure out of the air, "then it's five thousand and one, but say tomorrow, if a whole race Ascends, like the Abydonians did, it increases by half of the new population? For the 'newbies' their vote would be nothing more than a donkey vote, they wouldn't be informed enough to give a real vote."

Oma remained silent.

"Doesn't seem a very efficient or reliable method."

"We don't embrace change as a matter of course," she replied carefully, wiping a dishcloth over an imaginary smudge on the table. "The rule is a remnant from when we were mortal. The Collective was not intended to be so large."

"How big was it originally?"

"Originally the Collective referred to the first group of people able to attain Ascension. They were the leaders of nine of the twelve...'clans' I guess is the most apt description, of our people."

"So the Collective has jumped from a majority of five to thousands?" Instinct told him that somehow this was important, simply by how cagey Oma had become, more so than usual. Though why was still a total mystery.

Again Oma remained silent.

"Or has it?" Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Do you still only need five Ascended to agree to officially help someone Ascend?"

She nodded once.

"And it has to be five of the original nine?"

Oma was becoming warier by the second by Daniel's probing for the precise details, even as that spark of hope still lit up her eyes. "That would be impossible. All of the original Collective have moved beyond the Ascended realm...however the rule of five still exists."

"Then all you need to do is convince four of the Others that a person is worthy, for you not to break the rules?"

Another nod.

"Then why don't you?"

"Convincing the Others is like trying to hold water in a sieve. You can try, but you don't get very far."

He rubbed a hand over his face in defeat. He'd really thought he'd been on to something but it remained elusively out of his grasp.

Oma stifled a sigh, masking her disappointment. "Well, if you've no more questions, I need to get back to work."

He nodded absently, still deep in thought. It was more curiosity than any hope of finding a useful answer that made him ask, "Oma, does the rule of five only apply to Ascension...er...candidates?"

A loud crash of china smashing to the floor made both Oma and Daniel jump.

With a sly smile of triumph at Frank the cook, who was the cause of the dropped plate and was now staring at them through the kitchen window, Oma answered over her shoulder. "It applies to all official decisions."