An ear-piercing screech penetrated the air.

Ba’al gave a howl of frustration as he recognized the system alarm. "Of all the inconvenient times," he muttered, stooping to grab his pants and yanking them roughly back on, then jammed his feet into his boots. "Finish your bath, and get some rest, you shall need it for when I return." He didn’t bother donning his shirt, just shook out his robe and strode angrily from the room, barking orders at the Jaffa standing at the ready beyond the bedchamber.

Annika remained frozen on the spot long after Ba’al had left.

"Casper." Jack’s whisper echoed down to her.

She didn’t respond, simply wrapped her arms around her waist in an in vain effort to stop the trembling that was assaulting her.

Jack made fast work of jimmying the grate free and he jumped silently down to the floor. He made a quick sweep of the bedchamber to make sure they were alone then cautiously approached the still naked redhead. "Casper, speak to me."

Annika’s hand scrambled under the gown that she was half sitting on and tugged on the leather cord, dropping it on top of the material. "I got the key," she said stiltedly.

"I saw." He crouched down beside her, worried about the glassiness of her eyes. "You did good, Casper. Nothing to be ashamed of." He hesitantly reached out to her but she cringed away.

"Right…nothing to be ashamed of…did what I had to do."

Jack’s worry-meter began ringing louder than the alarm Teal’c had set off. Casper had said the right words, it was her tone that was completely hinky. "That’s right, you were doing what I ordered you to do." He scooted so he was in front of her. "Casper, look at me."

She blinked, but that glazed look remained.

He waved a hand across her face. "Annika, do you know where you are?"

She jerked back from his flapping hand, violet depths landing on him briefly for the first time. "Hell?"

His heart wrenched at the hoarse word. Before he could respond she scrambled backwards until she felt the wide rim of the bath, then pitched over the side. Silently thanking the expediency of the Goa’uld technology that had filled the four foot deep tub in a matter of seconds, Jack peeked over the edge, making sure that Annika surfaced okay. For a few seconds she remained motionless beneath the hot water, curled up in a ball. He was about to dive in after her, when she pushed off from the bottom and came up with a gasp, coughing out a mouthful of water. She partly bobbed back down again until her only her unfocused eyes were above the waterline, sucked in another gulp then spat it clear across the room. She rinsed her mouth twice more, then her gaze darted around the rim, searching for something. Jack had a pretty good idea of what it was. Off to one side was a dish of soaps and sweet sands and he held out one of the bars to her. She wouldn’t make eye contact with him, but she took the soap and began scrubbing it over her body. Jack wasn’t sure what else to do. He vaguely recalled Daniel mentioning something like this happening before when Annika and he had first met and he’d managed to talk her out of it. Well, that was all fine and dandy for his linguist buddy, but Jack wasn’t much of a talker. Nevertheless, he’d give it a try. He started speaking quietly, calmly, about anything that popped into his head.

"Odd day, isn’t it? Can you believe that Balls cancelled the Stanley Cup? That’s just wrong in my opinion…especially since there’s evidence that hockey dates back to when Ra was cruising around Earth…Casper, you missed a spot." Without breaking his conversation, he casually dipped a second bar of soap into the water, lathered it up and gently wiped the suds on her shoulder. Took heart that she didn’t flinch away. "But let’s not tell Space Monkey that I know that little snippet of ancient history, wouldn’t want to dumbfound the man. We’ve all had too many shocks for one day." He saw that her scrubbing was becoming harsher, turning her skin pink. Tenderly his fingers closed over hers, stilling her hands before she took some skin off. "Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you…the freckles are there to stay…Yep, it’s a crazy day. Next thing we’ll know, Balls will outlaw the rest of the good stuff like hotdogs and beer…" He tugged on her hands, guiding her out of the tub.

She seemed more aware of her surroundings, her eyes skittering around the room though she still didn’t look directly at him. He snagged a towel from a nearby shelf and began toweling her dry, all the while rambling on. "Now I know what you’re thinking, Balls would be nuts to do that…take away a man’s freedom, but never his beer…Casper, hold this for a second, would ya’?" He tucked the towel around her and was relieved when she followed his direction keeping it in place. He fished into his pocket and withdrew the quarter full bottle of vanilla oil Daniel had given him for just this sort of ‘emergency’. Tipped a small amount onto his fingers and began to rub it over her shoulders and arms where Ba’al had touched her. "Beer, now there’s an interesting topic. Did you know that the Sumerians actually had a prayer to the goddess…um…give me a second, you know how I am with names…Nintendo, Picasso, Ninkasso…ah-ha, Ninkasi!…that served as both a prayer and recipe for beer? Sound like my kinda people, don’t they? But again, let’s keep my knowledge of that little tidbit between you and me…"

Jack was so caught up in his rambling that it took a few seconds for him to realize that Annika had plucked the bottle from him of her own accord and was massaging more of the oil into her neck. Her head was tilted curiously at him.

"Jack, what are you blathering about?"

He masked his relief at seeing the recognition in her eyes with a smirk of pure innocence. "What?"

"What does hockey and beer have to do with me almost giving Ba’al a blowjob?" She tried not to stumble over the last word.

"Not a darned thing." Jack’s grin was genuine, as was the concern in his eyes.

"Right. Glad to hear it, because I thought I was losing it for a few seconds there." Annika couldn’t believe how close she’d come to totally freaking out. She’d barely been aware of Jack until she came up for air in the water. His nonsense chatter had brought her back to reality, but now she was more than a little embarrassed by her reaction.

"Hey, we all lose it for a while sometime." The hand resting on her shoulder gave a comforting squeeze. "As long as we find our way back, all is good."

She gave him a warm smile of gratitude, then flung her arms around him in tight hug. "Thanks, Jack."

"Just returning the favor," he replied gruffly, hugging her back. Annika had been able to snap him out of his funk the last time he’d come face to face with Ba’al. He was just glad that he’d been able to fumble his way to help her this time.

"Actually, it’s Teal’c’s." He followed her out, making a beeline for the plain wooden box sitting on the corner table. Holding the key out towards the box, he braced himself, half expecting to still get zapped. However the technology of the Ancient device kicked in when he was within a foot perimeter. As the key and then Jack’s hand penetrated the temporal shield it sparked briefly but all Jack felt was a soft pins and needles sensation. Inserting the key in the iron lock it opened without trouble and he flipped open the lid, peering curiously inside. A half a dozen data crystals were lined up neatly. He left them alone, in case disturbing the contents alerted the Ba’al of the past or future that someone had gained access. This was just a test to confirm their theories were spot on and that their plan would work. Satisfied, he locked it back up and tucked the key into his pocket. "Zappy box is under our control."

"That’s one thing down." Annika searched the drawers for a reasonably modest piece of clothing. "So what now?"

"Well, we’ve got what we’ve come for." Jack gestured to the temporal box. "Ba’al can’t touch it as long as we have the key. There’s no reason for us to stick around in here."

"None, except when Ba’al fixes whatever it is that Teal’c broke, he’ll be back." She couldn’t help the shudder that tore through her. She doubted that she’d be able to hold off Ba’al’s advances when he returned. And now, considering her reaction to what she’d almost had to do, wasn’t sure she’d be able to cope with the aftermath of actually having sex with the Goa’uld.

"Yeah, about that." Jack wore a cheeky grin. "I predict that when this alarm turns off, another will start up…and another and another until well after the dawn." He saw the tension drain away from her body and she gave him another smile of gratitude.

"So what are you suggesting?" Annika shook out a navy dress with a disapproving nose crinkle. Gathered loose loops designed to sit off the shoulders as sleeves, the bodice was extremely low cut and there were two long splits down the side of the skirt, but at least the material wasn’t transparent.

Jack turned his back giving her some privacy to change. Despite having seen Annika in her full birthday suit not two minutes ago, Mrs O’Neill’s boy had been brought up to be a gentleman. "Oh, since you have run of the ship, I thought we could mosey on down to ground level and say howdy." He heard an excited squeal a second before two arms locked around his neck from behind.

"Really?"

"You didn’t think I’d let you miss out, did you?" He gave her an awkward pat. "Casper, need some air here."

"Oops, sorry." She released her accidental stranglehold and stepped back, almost dancing a jig in excitement. Due to their unexpected change in plan A, she had resigned herself to the disappointment of not being able to meet up with her parents.

Jack was already moving back to the air vent, for him to traverse the small tunnels to the lower level.

"Jack, there’s no need for you to wiggle through the vents." She spoke hesitantly, hating the sudden fear that pooled in her stomach at the idea of having to walk alone and ‘exposed’ through the ship. "I could make you go Marco and we could ring into the compound together."

"You up for that?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to put any extra pressure on her.

"Uh huh." She gave an emphatic nod, keeping her expression as neutral as possible.

It was a risk to have him walking the halls even if he was invisible. However it would mean she would have back up, not having to ring into unknown territory alone while he navigated the twists and turns of the air vents. Jack weighed that against the way her hands twisted together, an unconscious habit of anxiety and fear that she would never admit to. "Okay. I’ll flank your right."

Annika gave a inner sigh of relief and folded the air around him before he could change his mind, then did a quick double check to make sure the color-stay makeup was still covering the lilac star on her forehead after her dip in the water. She tapped out the sequence to open the main door, only to find her way barred by a Jaffa. One glance at his aura and she recognized him as the one who had carried her into Ba’al’s quarters.

"Going somewhere, My Lady?" he asked, not moving from the entrance.

She gave a slow nod as his aura flickered. There was something different about this Jaffa. She sensed he had a soft spot for her from some previous act of kindness her counterpart had shown to him. His name came to her in a whisper only she could hear. "Is that a problem, Tarn’el ?"

"Our Lord Ba’al gave no orders regarding your movements tonight." He paused. "Though he did imply that he would be returning shortly."

Annika gave a small smile, touching a finger to her forehead. "Our Lord Ba’al doesn’t know what I know."

His gaze dropped down to her neck, taking in the fact that the jeweled collar had not been replaced. "So I see. Where shall I escort you?"

This Jaffa had clearly been assigned to her, though she was unsure if it was to guard her or others from her. "Is that really necessary?"

"Given your abduction today, it would be remiss of me to let you walk the halls unprotected."

Though nothing in his tone gave him away, there was another color shift. He knew that her story had been a total fabrication and yet he hadn’t given her away. Annika pondered his words. He spoke of duty, yet his aura was telling her there was more to it. Tarn’el moved aside and fell into step beside her, which only confirmed Annika’s suspicion of a tentative friendship, or at least an amicable understanding between ‘guard’ and ‘prisoner’. How much of an ally he was, remained to be seen. "What, no being shackled to your wrist? After all, I am an unwillingly guest of Our Lord."

"My Lady, you have never tried to escape during my watch. I know of no reason why you should on this night." He kept his tone formal, though he allowed the warmth of gentle teasing to touch his eyes. Four years ago he had made a foolish error that had resulted in a dozen slaves escaping. He didn’t know why or how, but Annika had shielded her vision from Ba’al, protecting his identity, and in all likelihood saving his life from Ba’al’s wrath. From that day they had struck up an unlikely and clandestine friendship. Having reached the ship’s elevator, he activated the call button. "Where is our final destination?"

"It’s been a trying day." Annika gave a nonchalant shrug as the golden doors slid open and she walked in. Felt Jack’s invisible touch at her elbow letting her know that he had made it into the car. "I was hoping to end it with a visit with my parents."

Tarn’el cocked his head, listening to the tone of the alarm still insistently ringing. "The alert has originated in engineering. The ship is not in lock down, so there is no reason you cannot visit."

When the doors opened on the bottom level, Annika could barely contain the effusion of excitement that was now tingling her body. Thoughts of her escort’s loyalty and the mission were trampled down by the knowledge that directly below her was her dad. The corridor was practically deserted, most of the slaves having retired for the night, and Jaffa were only posted at either end and at the entrance to the ring room. Annika did her best to keep the grin off her face and to walk reasonably sedately. Ba’al’s consort skipping through the halls would cause too much of a spectacle.

Tarn’el saw the subtle shift of his ward’s mood. He didn’t know why this visit would cause such eager anticipation for she had been allowed similar visits on a biweekly basis for many years now. Whatever the reason, he was glad to see it. There had been little joy in her life since her captivity. He gave a nod at the Jaffa manning the controls for the ring platform. "Our Lady is going down to the Compound."

The Jaffa bowed his head in acknowledgement, his hand already poised above the buttons for when Annika was safely within the transport.

Annika stepped into the circle, feeling Jack brush against her. She gave the Jaffa a bright smile.

Tarn’el gave a formal bow. "Have a pleasant evening, My Lady."

"You too, Tarn’el." Her wave was lost as the rings shot up from the floor, engulfing her and Jack in a bright white light.

The sudden wailing of the alarm startled the Goa’uld, her concentration slipping for a fraction of a second making the lethal beam flicker.

It was all Daniel needed. His boot lashed out, swiping Hathor’s legs from under her. He rolled, ignoring the throbbing pain of his head and tackled her, swinging a hard right hook to her jaw. The ensuing scuffle was harsh, brutal, each fighting for their lives, knowing that only one could survive or else their plans were for naught.

Daniel fought to get the upper hand, but the symbiote gave strength that belied the delicate feminine hands currently choking him. Hathor had managed to straddle him, pinning his body down while her hands constricted his windpipe. He scrabbled for something, anything, that he could use against her but found nothing. Then the Goa’uld shifted slightly on top of him and he felt a familiar hard bulge being inadvertently pressed into his side by her thigh. His fingers closed over it, yanking it free from the corded belt around her waist. His thumb slid to the button above the handgrip. Oh, yeah, this was gonna hurt… Daniel depressed the button and the metallic twang of activation was drowned out by the alarm that continued to scream.

Daniel felt the electric current shoot through his body, though blessedly it was only a partial charge; the brunt of the zat’s immobilizing current absorbed into the Goa’uld. The hands around his throat tightened for a second then went slack and Hathor collapsed unconscious on top of him. With monumental effort he pushed the Goa’uld off him and for a few seconds he remained on the floor sucking in long sweet breaths of air into his oxygen deprived lungs. Muscles still twitching from the aftershock of the zat’, he managed to get to his knees. Making sure that no part of himself was touching the Goa’uld he fired the zat’ another two times, disintegrating her molecular structure from existence. Painfully he crawled over to Charlie.

The man had lowered the scepter, but that blank expression remained, the pheromones still holding him captive though the Goa’uld was gone.

Daniel considered his options. When the men on base had been drugged by her breath, it had taken anywhere from a half hour to a whole day depending on the individual, for the effects to wear off. Right now, they’d be lucky to have a few minutes before someone stumbled across them. The archaeologist knew of only one way to snap Charlie out of his zombie state quickly. He raised the zat’ again, this time pointing it at his best friend’s son.

When the electrical pulse hit his body, Charlie crumpled to the floor. Knowing it would take a few seconds for the man to come round, Daniel began straightening up the room, hiding evidence of the struggle. He was returning the scepter to its place on the wall when a low groan told him the effect of the zat’ was receding.

"What happened?" Charlie asked groggily.

"Hathor’s dead and I had to zat’ you," Daniel shrugged, crouching down to examine the device the Goa’uld had been installing. "Sorry, it was the only way to snap you out of her spell."

"I suppose I should be grateful," he grumbled, stifling another groan of pain as every muscle in his body protested his desire to sit up.

"I’ve been zatted a few times myself. Don’t remember feeling too grateful about it." Daniel readjusted his glasses and detached the circular component from the crystal. "Looks like some sort of monitoring device." He glanced up to confirm the dazed look on Charlie’s face was only a residue of the zat'. "You feel the urge to grovel at Hathor’s feet?"

"Ugh, no." Charlie pulled a face at the idea.

"Good. So we can keep moving." The archaeologist shoved the tools the Goa’uld had been using and the device into the free space within the panel, not wanting to leave any visible evidence that would show anything untoward had gone on in the room.

"What’d you do with her?" Charlie struggled to his feet, only now noticing that there was no possible place to hide a body.

"Triple zat’ her." Daniel let a smile of satisfaction touch his lips. "Leaves no evidence, and on a personal note was quite cathartic."

"Bad run in, in your time I take it?" Charlie helped to straighten the bedspread that had been partly pulled off.

A shudder ran down Daniel’s spine at the memory of what Hathor had made him do. "That’s one way of putting it." He gave a quiet chuckle at a sudden thought. "Annika’s going to be pissed though. She wanted the pleasure of killing that snake herself." He gave the room a final sweep. Satisfied that nothing was out of place, he started towards the door. "This can actually work to our advantage. We’ve already planted the seed that someone is conspiring against Ba’al, with luck he’ll think it was her." He raised an eyebrow when Charlie held back with a bemused expression. "Something wrong?"

"This is just an ordinary day for you, isn’t it?"

"Uh…I wouldn’t call it ‘ordinary’ but it’s not completely unusual." Daniel tried to downplay the look of wonder and respect that was now evident in Charlie’s eyes.

"How many times has SG-1 saved the world?"

Charlie sensed the archaeologist’s embarrassment and searched for a somewhat graceful way out. "I’ll ask Teal’c, I bet he’s keeping score."

"Undoubtedly," Daniel grinned, gesturing for the young man to precede him. Now that his crisis was over, he tested their bond with his wife, hoping that Teal’c’s diversion had been enough to help. It worried him that the block was still in place. Worry that was fringed with a growing slow burning anger the longer she was out of touch with him. "Any word from Jack?"

The young man shook his head, testing the radio. "No, but I think the zat’ may have fried the circuits."

Daniel nodded. A zat' blast didn’t affect radio technology in his timeline, but it was plausible that it did in this one. Technological progress would have been hampered by Ba’al’s invasion. "Let’s finish the search so we can meet up with the others."

A  A  A

The thought that stuck in Sam’s head as that needle drew closer to her skin, was odd. It had nothing to do with the mission or how they’d now have to adjust their plan. Nor was she thinking about how she wouldn’t be able to meet up with the others without putting her team at risk, or the disappointment that she’d have to sacrifice her Howdy-do with her mom, since the rendezvous point was in the Compound. Instead she wondered what the liquid was in the syringe. Saline was traditionally used to assist the easy injection of items under the skin, however the pale green substance was like no saline she’d ever seen.

The major blinked at the hand holding the needle. Well, that’s all wrong. Janet had subtly altered her grip, holding it more like a weapon than a medical instrument. Sam’s eyes flicked up to the doctor’s face and saw the barest hint of a reassuring smile.

A second later the needle was plunged in. Not into Sam’s bicep as expected, but into the arm of First Lackey holding her down, the needle sharp enough to penetrate the chain mail links. His startled outcry was drowned out by the loud alarm that screamed through the ship’s speakers.

Sam’s reaction was swift, taking advantage of the situation. One leg wriggled free from the other Jaffa who had loosened his hold at the doctor’s surprising action. The sole of her boot connected hard with his shoulder shoving him away, her second foot immediately following through and her steel cap smashed into his jaw.

The Jaffa staggered back, stunned but not knocked out, taking drunken strides towards the door intending to call for help from the Jaffa posted in the corridors. He didn’t get two steps before he registered a flash of silver flying towards his face.

Sam rolled off the table, taking the now mostly unconscious First Lackey, who had fallen across her torso, with her. Absently she deduced that the green ‘saline’ had been a strong sedative. She felt a satisfying snap of the Jaffa’s arm breaking as he landed awkwardly beneath her. The major gripped his head and smashed it into the metal floor, completely knocking him out.

For a moment the two women stared at each other, catching their breath.

"I’m not exactly who you think I am." Sam got to her feet, giving First Lackey a nudge with her boot to confirm that he really was unconscious.

"Clearly not. That code could have only come from one person." The ingrained habit of checking for vitals had the doctor testing the Jaffa’s pulse.

"Charlie...er…CJ," Sam quickly corrected, remembering that the people of this timeline referred to the rebel leader by the initials of his Christian names, Charlie Jonathon.

"How did you know I was one of CJ’s people?"

"I didn’t. I was desperate, hoping that you were." She laid a grateful hand to the diminutive woman’s shoulder. "Thank you, for helping me."

The doctor gave a shrug. "I was getting sick of being one of Ba’al’s token human scientists anyway." She looked down at the two unconscious Jaffa then back to Sam. "Care to tell me why I’ve just blown my cover of two years?"

"I couldn’t let myself be implanted."

"Why not? They already know your every movement."

"Well, for the next twenty-four hours it would be very…inconvenient." Sam paused, sensing that while Janet had put her life on the line to help her, she didn’t entirely trust Sam herself. Not that Sam could blame her, up until a minute ago Sam Carter was known as Ba’al’s willing chief technician. As dangerous as it was for them to be standing around playing twenty questions right now, Sam realized it was necessary. "CJ can confirm everything if you’re having doubts."

"CJ’s here? Now?" Janet was surprised. While she wasn’t given knowledge of the ops going on in other sectors of Ba’al’s domain, Charlie did keep her in the loop on anything planned within the ha’tak and base below, in case a quick extraction was needed. That the young CO was here himself meant the op must be important, and yet he hadn’t mentioned it during her last check in.

Sam nodded. "He’s with Daniel at the moment but we’re all regrouping in about half an hour all being well."

Janet blinked at the blonde. "Daniel, as in Jackson, is also a rebel?"

There wasn’t really time to go into detail about the altered timeline, so Sam simply replied, "Yes."

"Oh, and I suppose Ba’al’s Consort is going to join us for a drop of tea." Janet couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her tone.

"Actually, Annika’s more likely to have coffee." If the situation weren’t so serious, Sam would have laughed at Janet’s shocked expression. Decided that now wasn’t the time to mention that the First Prime of Apophis would also be there.

"Some spy I turned out to be." Janet shook her head, trying to come to terms with the bombshell Sam had just dropped. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, it seems we hid our true affiliation pretty well." Sam gave a wry grin. Now that she was sure Janet was convinced, she turned to the matter at hand. "Any ideas on what to do with these two?"

"By my estimate the sedative will wear off in about an hour, the symbiotes will heal both of them within two." Though still a little bewildered, Janet took the blonde’s cue. "We could kill them, but we’d still have to get rid of the bodies.

This time it is was Sam’s turn to be shocked, not just by Janet’s statement but by her completely clinical tone.

The doctor shrugged. "I was an Officer in the Armed Services before I was a doctor, and my Hippocratic oath does not extend to the henchmen of the parasitic vermin enslaving Earth."

To Sam that statement only served to emphasize how even the ‘small’ things had been changed by Ba’al. The Janet she knew was trained in combat tactics and had used that training, but she was primarily a doctor, then a solider, not the other way around. She pushed aside the melancholy thought and considered the suggestion. In this timeline First Lackey had been her primary tormentor, taking perverse pleasure in inflicting the beatings and brutal rapes under the guise of following Ba’al’s orders. As much as she would love to see him dead, as a military strategy to keep a low profile it wasn’t an option. "As tempting as that is, too many people saw them come in with me kicking and screaming. We need a way to keep them sedated without rousing suspicion."

"Or unconscious," Janet mused, trotting over to her desk.

Sam frowned, not understanding the distinction. "What have you in mind?"

"A little accident that will increase their injuries," she replied absently, searching for a particular bottle from the half a dozen lined up next to the microscope that she had been using earlier.

The light dawned in Sam’s mind and she bent down to pick up First Lackey’s legs to drag him closer to the table. "A symbiote will induce a state of kelnoreem and keep its host unconscious until it’s completely healed."

"Yep."

Janet held up a bottle and Sam winced. "Hydrochloric acid?"

"Well, saline ain’t gonna cut it, and we don’t really have a lot of options to choose from." Janet carefully removed the stopper and using the pipette squirted a few drops onto the Jaffa’s chest.

Immediately the corrosive liquid began melting the chain mail. By the time Sam had dragged the second warrior over the acid had eaten through the armor and was eating away at skin. The doctor filled the pipette again and dripped it over him.

Sam was becoming more and more aware of the time factor with every wail of the alarm. "Any way you could speed things up?"

Slim shoulders shrugged. "Sure. You might want to stand back."

The major moved a safe distance away and Janet began drizzling the acid directly out of the bottle, using a flicking motion with her wrist so it created a splattered effect. When there was only a small amount left in the bottom Janet dropped the glass bottle, leaping out of range before it smashed on the floor. The two women watched, neither as impassive as they’d like the other to believe as skin was chemically burned away.

"Okay, I think it’s about time I fetched our audience." Sam hurried to the door and slapped the glyph to open it. She ran out into the corridor only to find it empty. Great, when you want a Jaffa there’s never one around! She dashed towards the only open door she could see.

The Jaffa and scientists inside were startled by her frantic arrival. She waved her arms at them like she was in a panic, yelled to be heard over the alarm. "There’s been an accident! Come quick!"

The senior Jaffa motioned for the human scientists to remain and beckoned one of his men to follow him. "What kind of accident?"

"The doc was performing a procedure on me, and my escorts were standing back giving her room…" Sam hoped she sounded like she was babbling rather than concocting a story. "When the alarm started out of the blue like that we all got a fright. One of the Jaffa knocked a bottle of some sort of acid over and it smashed and sprayed all over them." Sam skidded around the corner back into the medical lab and she flapped her hand at the ‘accident’ scene.

Janet was crouched over the bodies of the warriors, squirting a neutralizer over the worst of the burned and bubbled flesh. She glanced up at their entrance, with a harassed expression. "I think I’ve neutralized the worst of the acid, but their injuries are severe…they may need surgery-"

"We shall take care of them from here." The Jaffa cut her off, taking in his wounded comrades. "Bring stretchers and two more men," he ordered his man, then his gaze scanned the room, looking for evidence that either contradicted or confirmed the explanation he’d been given.

"Watch where you step," Janet warned, spraying more of the neutralizer, this time around the surrounding floor that was pocked mark from the acid that was spilt. "It’ll eat through your boots."

"Why would you have such a dangerous chemical?" he demanded suspiciously.

"I was conducting research for Lord Ba’al on the longevity of nanites when she," Janet indicated Sam, "was brought in. The nanites are unpredictable. I was given permission to use the acid in case they started to multiply beyond what I could contain. It’s the only substance we have to destroy them outright."

He studied the doctor searching for signs of deception but didn’t find any.

The Jaffa returned with the stretchers and extra men, and the unconscious warriors were lifted onto them.

"Will they be alright?" Sam asked with just the right touch of concern.

"Their prim’ta shall heal them." He spun on his heel. "Return to your duties."

If it could have been heard above the whooping of the alarm, the door swooshing shut was in sync with two sighs of relief at having dodged the proverbial bullet.

Sam cocked her head towards the loud speakers. Only now did she allow herself to think of what possible reasons other than the extremely convenient sound break that had masked their movements, for the alarm could be. It was too much of a coincidence for her team not be involved. Had one or all been discovered? "I hope that’s not bad news for the others."

"It is not."

Both women nearly jumped out of their skins at the deep voice coming from the air vent directly behind them.

Sam crouched down to see a very welcome face peering through the slits. "Teal’c, you’re a sight for sore eyes."

"If your eyes are damaged, then it is fortunate you have enlisted the help of Doctor Fraiser." The Jaffa had arrived as Sam had dashed out of the lab, and had silently observed the convincing performance of his teammate, his body poised to lend a hand should the situation take a turn for the worse. As it was, he was determined not to return to the ventilation shafts. Everyone, including himself, had misjudged the tenuous ‘safe’ positions of the Jacksons and Major Carter, and while it was necessary that those three remained exposed, he would not remain in the shadows any longer. He jimmied the grate and crawled out. "O’Neill required a diversion. As I was in the vicinity of the reserve generator I disconnected the power uplinks." The act did not disrupt the normal functions of the ship, at least not when the ship was at rest. However a Goa’uld, especially one as paranoid as Ba’al, was always primed for an attack and to have a key failsafe un-operational was cause for immediate alert and investigation.

"Any word back if the diversion worked?" Sam helped her friend to his feet.

"Not as yet. Nor have I heard from Daniel Jackson and Charlie O’Neill," he replied, forestalling the question he knew Sam was going to ask. He turned to address Janet. "It is a pleasure to see you alive and well, Doctor Fraiser."

The rebel doctor eyed the large man warily. "Um…thanks." It puzzled her why this stranger was looking at her with the warmth of friendship when she had never seen him before in her life. A more pressing matter concerned her. Despite his casual dress, his bearing and demeanor were unmistakable. She’d bet dollars to donuts that if she were to lift that bandana from his forehead it would reveal an Egyptian glyph tattoo. "You’re Jaffa."

"Indeed I am. However my loyalty is now to the Tau’ri." He turned back to Sam. "The quantum mirror is not in the SGC."

"Not in the throne room either." Sam marked that level off their places still to search.

SGC? What was that code for? Janet interrupted, asking about something she did understand, well, sort of. "Mirror?"

Sam explained. "About six feet high, the frame is a skewed rectangle, roughly cut from the same material as the Stargate."

"There’s a mirror like that in one of the other labs. The Jaffa won’t let any of us lowly humans near it."

"Did you observe if there was an elongated attachment along the top of the frame?" Teal’c asked before Sam could.

Janet shook her head. "No, from memory the frame was smooth." Her mind was struggling to work out why a piece of décor was so important. CJ really had a lot of explaining to do.

"Then we still must continue to search." Teal’c made no move to return to his former hiding place.

"I cannot offer effective assistance if I am confined to the ducting system." The matter was closed as far as he was concerned. "I shall blend in with the other Tau’ri walking the ship." He addressed Janet. "Doctor Fraiser, do you have a second laboratory coat?"

"I do, but it might be a snug fit." Janet opened a wall compartment and found the largest of her assistants’ spare coat. "Um…and if you want to blend in, then you’d better call me either just Janet or Doctor Gennero. Fraiser is my maiden name."

"You’re married?" Surprised, Sam had to bite back the word ‘still’. To cover her slip she scrutinized Teal’c’s new costume. "Teal’c, is there any way you could, you know, relax a bit? You’re looking like a Jaffa in a coat."

"Widow." Janet was glad the blonde had mentioned it. She couldn’t think of a tactful way to say he’d stand out like a sore thumb.

"I am relaxed, Major Carter."

"Ooookay," Sam tried a different tact. "Can you act like Jack?"

He gave it a moment’s consideration, then his shoulder’s slouched slightly, his hands tucked casually into the coat pockets.

Sam grinned. "Perfect."