"Any luck?"

"None." Sam sounded as frustrated as Daniel.

They were finishing their search of the three Goa’uld’s rooms. The pair had found numerous hidden compartments but none had held anything even remotely resembling the isotope.

"Perhaps the vials really were destroyed."

Daniel shook his head. "Too much of a coincidence." There was a nagging in his brain, telling him they were missing something. He felt a series of tugs beneath his solar plexus. "Jack and Annika have found the Intel."

"Well that’s something." Sam was studying the ceiling panels, contemplating if the Brother’s Grimm would have hidden the isotope in such an inconvenient place that was unsecured from outside their quarters. She was about to jump up on the bed to gain the extra height she’d need to check, when Daniel cursed. She didn’t understand the language yet a literal translation wasn’t necessary. "Who’s caught?"

"Jack and Annika."

"Regroup and spring them?"

Daniel took a moment to get ‘word’ back from Teal’c and Casper then gave a single nod. He did his best to keep his immediate worry from traversing their bond. His wife did not need his emotions stressing her out right now, she had enough to deal with.

They backtracked through the rooms to the vent they’d originally used. Daniel boosted Sam up, when he realized what had been bugging him. There was one spot they hadn’t searched. Duamutef had implied that Imesty would be displeased with the ritual Hapy had been performing and yet that made no sense to the anthropologist. The Goa’uld were ritualistic by nature. Ancient Egyptians on Earth had shrines set up in their own homes to worship the gods they were loyal to, an act he had no doubt was encouraged by the impersonating ‘gods’. So if it hadn’t been the act itself that Duamutef had referred to, then it had to be something that Hapy had been using to perform the ritual.

The major turned around in the narrow passage to give her teammate a hand up, only to see Daniel hurry over to the small shrine Hapy had set up.

Its design was a miniature step pyramid in gold, each level having space for thin candles on either side. In the center was a hollow with a small circular platform, room enough for a shorter, wider candle. All of the outer flames were still burning, however the middle one, which should have been the focal point of the shrine, was unlit.

Daniel removed the extinguished candle, his long fingers searching the smooth walls of the alcove. The back panel gave way slightly beneath his touch. With a barely discernable click the little dais rose a few millimeters. He lifted the disc to find it was the top of a glass container. Nestled inside were three vials of a pale yellow liquid. A grin on his face he held it up for Sam to see. "Who says prayers are never answered?"

Sam’s returning smile was wide.

Daniel made quick work of emptying the container but took extra care when slipping the vials into his vest pocket. No way he wanted them to break and leak through his clothes to his skin. Five days of hallucinations was not his idea of a fun time. Been there done that too many times in the last eight years, thanks to various alien concoctions and devices. He still had the final vial in his hand when there was a familiar whoosh of the door opening. Before he had a chance to duck out of sight, not that there were any readily available hidey spots for his six foot frame anyway, Daniel found himself face to face with Hapy.

The Goa’uld blinked in astonishment at finding the Tau’ri in his quarters, his mouth opening to sound the alarm until he caught sight of what Daniel was holding and promptly shut his jaw. His hand smashed against the glyph to close the door, shielding the evidence of their plot from any one else in the corridor. Eyes flashed with undisguised hatred as he raised his hand, the ribbon device already glowing with built up energy. "You shall pay for my brother’s death."

Daniel’s own rage at the Goa’uld was immediate. His blue orbs turned icy in contrast to the fire boiling through his blood. "And you for my wife’s."

The comment momentarily confused the Goa’uld who had no way of knowing that Daniel was speaking of the future.

It was enough time for Daniel to flick the stopper off and peg the vial in the Goa’uld’s face as a diversion. His other hand snapped the clip holding the knife at his waist and in one fluid move threw it.

Hapy’s outcry was cut off with a gurgle as the blade imbedded in his chest, buried to the hilt. He crumpled to the floor, the light of the hand device fluttering out, indicating the Goa’uld was indeed dead.

Daniel noticed a second regulation issue knife protruding from his neck. Startled blue eyes looked up to see Sam half hanging out of the ventilation shaft her hand still poised from the follow through of her throw. Her sapphire eyes were hard as she studied Hapy’s body, making sure that not a breath of life remained inside him. However when she met Daniel’s gaze they softened with anguish.

She gave a self-conscious shrug. "That dream…you lost Annika. We lost both of you."

As Daniel bent down to remove the blades, it hit him that god-awful dream vision had not only affected him and Annika, but every one of his team. They were a family in every sense of the word, what happened to one happened to all. When he returned the knife to Sam, her hand first closed over his giving a squeeze before sheathing the blade. With a shared smile that conveyed more than words could possibly say, Daniel pulled himself into the shaft, and the pair hightailed it to the rendezvous point.

"Annika Jackson, I believe this is the device we seek." Teal’c called to her from behind a stack of crates.

She zipped over as he tossed the cover sheet aside to reveal a pentagram shaped device, about three feet tall and just as wide. It was a dull gold color except for the tips of each point, which were of highly polished pewter indented into the silhouette of a hand. A crystal clear stone was imbedded in the center.

"Huh, well that answers one of the trillion questions I had," Annika mused studying the device.

"Which one?" Teal’c asked, already trying to locate any handgrips to move it.

"Why Qeb wasn’t looking for the diamond as well as the manual." She focused her transparent hand to touch the stone, confirming her suspicion. "This is a fake."

"Ba’al believed he had a complete weapon."

Annika critically assessed the dimensions of the oddly designed base in comparison to the room they had to maneuver. "We’ll have to do some serious relocating to get it out of here."

"Indeed." The Jaffa was also surveying the scene. They were two thirds of the way deep into the cluttered storage room. "I shall consider it practice for rearranging the furniture in my new residence."

"Daniel’s place?" She hefted the first of the boxes to the side.

"It is most suitable," he confirmed turning his back to push a type of stasis chamber against the wall. He heard an excited squeal a second before he was almost bowled over by the astral projection of his teammate giving him a tight hug.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!"

"Is that salutation not normally given after one has moved in?" He tried not to grin at her enthusiasm.

"Well, you know me and tradition." She paused releasing her stranglehold, receiving an update from her physical body. "We’ve got the snitch Intel." Then turned to the situation to hand. "You know, it be easier if we just clear the space from the ceiling down and I can use my telekinesis to lift it over."

The Jaffa agreed that would be less time consuming. "Only if it does not tax your strength."

Annika conceded that Teal’c had a point. She’d never lifted something so heavy before for a prolonged period of time. She concentrated on lifting the weapon, making it hover a few inches off the floor. It did sap more of her energy than she was accustomed to, but it was doable.

He noticed the level of concentration it took for the psychic to bear the dead weight of the Ancient machine. "I recall seeing an anti-gravitational device at the entrance. We can use it to transport it to the Stargate."

"Good thinking, neighbor!" Annika lowered the machine carefully then floated up to pass down a crate from the stack blocking their way. She almost dropped it when she felt a sickening lurch in her stomach. "Shit. Jack and I have been caught."

Teal’c helped balance the box, his brow creased in concern.

She gave a disgusted sigh. "Remember how I said Ba’al’s traps were foggy?"

"I do."

"Turns out that was literal not figurative. He sprayed the room, and thus us, with some sort of flour. Right now we’re looking like snowmen with guns."

"Have you word from Major Carter and Daniel Jackson?"

Annika deciphered the series of tugs through their bond. "Meet up in the holding cell." She hesitated, torn with indecision, her gaze lingering on the weapon.

Teal’c knew what troubled her. "Our priority has changed. We cannot proceed with a rescue with such an cumbersome item in tow."

She nodded. "I know…it’s just to be so close to it and have to leave it here."

They started weaving their way back to the air vent.

"We shall plan another retrieval mission," he replied matter-of-factly, without a shred of doubt.

"As simple as that?"

The Jaffa nodded, pulling himself into the enclosed space. "But that is for future discussion. Now we plan an extraction."

Without further ado he started crawling up the shaft to the assigned level as quickly and silently as he could, Annika floating behind him.

A  A  A  A  A  A

"I wonder which little mice I have caught in my trap," Ba’al drawled.

Annika released the weave of folded air around Jack and herself. Considering they had just been dusted like fairy cakes, there really was no point in maintaining it.

The Goa’uld’s black eyes focused on Jack first and he glided over to the colonel. "Ahh, the unfortunate host to Kanan. You left so suddenly from our last meeting." He patted Jack’s cheek. "I look forward to continuing our conversations."

Jack forced himself not to react to the Goa’uld’s touch. He had a smartass quip all prepared, really he did, but the bile in his stomach would most likely overtake the words first.

The Goa’uld turned to Annika. "And you must be the witch I have heard so much about. It’s a delight that my little snare caught you."

"The pleasure is all yours I assure you."

"Search them." Ba’al snapped his fingers at one of the Jaffa.

He stepped forward and stripped Annika of her tac vest. Tugged the P-90 strap over her head and removed her nine mil and knife from her waist. He patted her down, his beefy hands more of a grope than a search over her breasts and backside, then knelt to check her pants.

She placidly let him paw over her thighs emptying her pockets, but just before he moved beyond her knees she flexed her hips in his face. "Oooh, do that again, big boy, you gave me a thrill."

It had the desired effect. The Jaffa reeled away from the unexpected movement and didn’t continue the search having checked the obvious pockets. Instead he turned his attention to Jack. As soon as the zip of his vest was yanked down the second data pad clattered to the floor.

Ba’al smirked as the Jaffa picked it up and handed it over. The Goa’uld had carefully prepared the tablets in the cabinet, copying the insignificant details of his interviews with his pet, using them as a lure. He knew enough about Tau’ri tactics that they would start any search with the obvious places and he had rigged the stack of tablets with a sensor. Any variation in weight and Ba’al was instantly notified. The important knowledge he had kept hidden and he was confident that the Tau’ri hadn’t had time to find the secret compartment. "Tsk tsk, stealing is a punishable offence, Kanan."

"My name is O’Neill, two L’s." Jack tried for his usual cockiness but it came out a hoarse whisper.

Ba’al continued on as though the colonel hadn’t spoken, replacing the pad on the shelf. Too busy tormenting his previous plaything, it didn’t register that there was still one missing pad from the stack. "You know what happened the last time I caught you trying to take what is mine. How fortunate I had the foresight to alarm the pads, who knows what secrets you could have made off with."

Annika inwardly cursed the Goa’uld, while having to admit that he was a master at psychological warfare. He was using every opportunity to remind Jack of the horror weeks of his imprisonment. She butted in trying to deflect Ba’al’s attention to herself. "Why don’t you tell us what we missed out on? Seeing as you snakeheads love to gloat."

"You shall never know, my dear." He shut the cabinet, dusting off the film of flour from his coat. "But let us continue this discussion in a cleaner environment." He led the way into the throne room, with Jack and Annika being dragged behind him.

Ba’al sat regally on the throne as the Jaffa knocked the back of the prisoners’ knees, forcing them to kneel in front of the dais, self-satisfied arrogance oozing from him in waves. The malevolent grin widened when he saw the easy capitulation from the colonel.

Annika saw it too. Shit! She had to somehow get Jack to snap out of it. His aura had paled considerably. He was already shutting his mind down, preparing himself to endure a repeat of the torture this Goa’uld had subjected him to. She struggled to her feet.

"Kneel before your god," the Jaffa closest to her ordered.

"I see no god here. Just a snake, no different from any other space vermin we’ve exterminated," she spat. Received a sharp whack for her trouble, which would leave an impressive bruise, and ended back down on her knees. But it was worth it to see her friend’s aura flicker a tad brighter. Acting as if her leg wasn’t throbbing, Annika once again made to stand up. "You know, it’s not often we get the chance to ask this question."

When the Jaffa raised the butt of his staff to knock her down again, Ba’al waved him away with a finger flick. He found the redhead intriguing, acting like she wasn’t a prisoner with weapons trained on her, the Jaffa gripping her arms nothing more than a mild inconvenience. "And what question is that?"

Annika very deliberately tossed her hair back so one of the warriors received not only whiplash from her braid, but a nice coating of the powder as well. "How would you like us to kill you?" she asked chirpily.

Ba’al couldn’t help himself, he roared with laughter. The audacity of the woman! "Perhaps I should ask you that question."

"How would I like us to kill you?" She was all innocence deliberately misinterpreting him. "I’m quite partial to the triple zat’ myself. Disintegrating your molecules so your rotten twisted soul is vanquished forever."

"I see you’ve given it some thought."

"Oh, finding ways to rid the universe of irritating parasites such as yourself is one of my favorite hobbies."

The Goa’uld was finding this sparring match highly entertaining and oddly arousing. It had been a long time since anyone had had the gall to stand up to him. His gaze flickered to the other Tau’ri. In fact Kanan’s host had been the last one until Ba’al had worn down his spirit. "You, my dear, do not disappoint. I had thought to take you as a host considering your talents, however I find myself wondering if such passion extends to more carnal pursuits. Perhaps I will first sample the body in which I shall reside."

"Anything, snake or any other miniscule appendage," she dropped her gaze to his crotch, "you try to stick in me is going to be snapped in two."

Ba’al’s eyes turned calculating. He rose and walked towards her. His fingers reached out, to trace the outline of her jaw, moved down her neck and beyond to the soft mound of her breast. "Should I choose to partake in your sweet flesh you will submit without fuss."

"Suffering from delusions, are we?" She made sure not to move though he made her skin crawl. Felt her stomach churn. She would not let him know the effect his presence was having on her ultra-sensitive sense of touch.

"Not at all, my fiery witch," he murmured coldly. "One thing I’ve learned about the Tau’ri, especially SG-1, is that you will do anything to protect one another. You will submit willingly or I shall kill your teammate."

Without needing an order from his god, a Jaffa from the sidelines stepped forward and raised his staff weapon towards Jack.

Pure loathing filtered through the colonel, overriding the fear of his memory that had held him silent for the last few minutes. Suck it up, O’Neill. Can’t let Balls use me as leverage. He was just about to let fly with a scathing retort but Annika beat him to it.

"Pfft, that old ploy?" she scoffed. "What a let down. I’d heard you were a cut above the rest of the snakeheads, but all you’ve got are threats and a powder puff." She gave a shake of her head sending a cloud of white into Ba’al’s face.

"It managed to capture you, didn’t it?" Ba’al pointed out sardonically, stepping back and wiping his face with the back of his hand.

Annika gave a disdainful snort. "You moron, the trick isn’t catching us, it’s keeping us." Out of the corner of her eye she saw a very noticeable change in Jack, making her heart soar. Her friend’s aura had strengthened and his shoulders were slumped, not in defeat, rather in his normal nonchalant slouch. She had no idea what had flicked that switch, didn’t really care. Jack was back with her; that was all that mattered.

The Goa’uld’s eyes flashed yellow, his lips thinning to a frosty smile. "Such insolence, perhaps you should ask Kanan here," he gestured to Jack, "just who you are addressing."

"Oh, the lady has covered that already. Snake and moron," the colonel drawled. "And the name’s O’Neill. Colonel Jack O’Neill, United State Air Force. Do ya’ want me to write it down for ya’?"

Ba’al switched his attention to the colonel, his eyes narrowing at the changed demeanor in the man he’d almost broken a year and a half ago, a man who had appeared to be just a shadow until a few seconds ago. Where had that sudden fire come from? "I see you’ve forgotten the lessons I taught."

"No, I remember everything." Jack defiantly met his nemesis’ gaze. "The knives, acid, needles, burns, breaking bones, red hot pokers, staff blasts, bullet wounds, pain sticks…but what I remember most is that I got away to come and annoy you another day."

"Rest assured, Colonel Jack O’Neill, United States Air Force," he mocked, "that you are far from annoying. Toying with you to get you to reveal your secrets is always a great pleasure, and now I have two of you with which to play." Ba’al strode back to his throne. He motioned to his First Prime. "Make a shipboard announcement, informing all that two of the Tau’ri have been captured, and send in a dozen more Jaffa for reinforcement." The Jaffa hurried to do as bid and Ba’al returned his attention his prisoners. "When they attempt to rescue you I shall have a full SG-1 set."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Another cliché!"

"What makes you think the others are here?" Annika countered.

Ba’al wore a smug smile. "I have it on good authority that all of SG-1 were sent to infiltrate my ship." He was full of confidence lounging on the golden seat, his hand lifting a goblet of wine from a small elaborate table that also held a jeweled bowl.

"Well, the snitch did not tell a lie," Jack confirmed. "It was supposed to be all of us."

"You’re saying only you two are aboard." It was clear he didn’t believe him. His hand dipped into the bowl and he selected a single crunchy morsel.

"Yep, you were just a little too eager to lift off." Jack joined his hands together doing the childlike impression of a butterfly fluttering.

"The others are still on the planet, they were going to come up on the next ring transport," Annika added with a perfectly straight face.

The Goa’uld paused in popping the snack food into his mouth, his gaze shifting between the two prisoners. He was almost positive they were bluffing, however, what they claimed was possible. He chewed slowly in contemplation. "I guess we shall see soon enough."

Annika gave shrug. "Well, since we’re in for the long haul, may as well get comfortable." She promptly sat down, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands. Began tapping her boots together as if the whole situation were a great bore. In reality there was a perfectly good reason she’d dropped into the tactically disadvantageous position. Daniel, Sam and Teal’c had already put together a rescue plan and being as close to the floor as possible when they executed it would be decidedly better for Jack and herself. Almost absently she scratched at her stomach, signaling Jack that she’d received word from the others.

The colonel caught on and also shifted from his kneeling position to sit, his pose was now more like he was relaxing around a campfire, using one of his guards as a ‘log’ to lean against. The Jaffa abruptly took a step back and Jack simply smirked up at him. When he started whistling the opening tune to ‘Bear Hunt’ Annika snuck a glance to see his brown orbs indicate the food Ba’al was eating, the significance of which she had missed. She automatically responded with a reciprocating whistle.

Continuing the song, Jack tapped the floor in time to the beat. Annika copied him, picking up on the code he sent.

In one of the holding cells a floor below, the members of SG-1 were going over their hastily prepared rescue plan. Annika’s astral self reported in what was happening. She turned to Teal’c to answer the question Jack needed confirmed. "Teal’c, had you ever heard of popcorn before you came to Earth?"

The Jaffa let his astonishment show at the seemingly irrelevant question. "I had not."

"So it’s not a common snack food for the Goa’uld?"

"Unlikely. I believe it is a foodstuff that is uniquely Tau’ri."

Daniel frowned. "But we’ve seen many a cornfield over the years on any number of planets. There’s evidence that those crops were originally taken from Earth along with the people for a self-sustaining food source."

"It could be that only our varieties pop," Sam speculated. "We know that different atmospheres affect the growth of plants, it could be a side effect of the plant trying to survive."

"Why do you ask, Annika Jackson?"

"Ba’al is right now stuffing his face with a bowl of popcorn."

The team exchanged astonished looks. All were thinking the same thing. It was too much of a coincidence for the Goa’uld to have suddenly discovered how popcorn was made. The only logical explanation was that Ba’al had taken it from the zatarc.

"We need to get a few kernels." A cold feeling descended around Sam. She couldn’t help but recall that last night she had been eating the snack. That it had come out this morning while they were waiting in the briefing room for Anise to arrive, that all of her teammates, Janet and the general had some variation of popcorn. Was the zatarc one of them? Popcorn wasn’t a delicacy, not by any stretch of the word, and yet there was no such thing as coincidence.

The others grimly agreed.

"Jack and I can try to distract Ba’al to get some."

"If not we’ll get it when we make our entrance," Daniel assured. "Can you get word to Jack that we’ll be in position in five minutes?"

There was a moment’s pause, while Annika tapped out their version of Morse code in tune to the nursery rhyme. "Okay, done."

"Let’s get moving."

The team, hopefully for the last time, headed for the ventilation shaft to set their plan in motion.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Ba’al pretended that the infernal whistling and tapping was not grating on his nerves. He’d expected this sort of nonchalance from them. It was one of SG-1’s signature tactics, normally used when they were confident of imminent rescue. The second deployment of Jaffa arrived taking up station around the room, and he had confidence that by sheer force of numbers that the remaining three members would soon be captured. It suddenly occurred to him that the pair was perhaps communicating with each other. "Silence!"

"Clearly your snitch doesn’t know us very well or they would have told you we don’t do silence," Jack quipped. Annika and he had been able to relay enough information between them that they only had one challenge left. Rile, mock, goad, the snakehead into such a state of distraction that they could get some of that popcorn. Ah, it was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. He took a deep breath and began whistling even louder. Annika was barely a beat behind him.

It was only when they received a staff butt in the back that they shut up.

"Oh, come on, Ba’al," Annika complained. "We’re sitting here twiddling our thumbs waiting for a non-existent rescue attempt. You’re not exactly stimulating company."

"If you require stimulation then I’m sure that could be arranged." Ba’al let the unadulterated lust that he’d been experiencing since meeting the redhead sound in his tone.

"Yeah, like you’d ever be able to provide any sort of adequate stimulation," she scoffed. "I mean look at you, you’ve got tiny friggin’ feet!"

The Goa’uld frowned in puzzlement. What do my feet have to do with anything? His confusion turned into a scowl when the colonel erupted into a full blown belly laugh. Clearly he was being mocked, but he didn’t understand how.

Jack couldn’t stop laughing. Even though he’d been expecting some sort of snide comment from Annika he hadn’t been prepared for that. And the look on Ba’al’s face was priceless. Oh, I’ve gotta be the one to explain the old wife’s tale to him! "Hey, Balls, translation…small feet, small donger."

"Donger?"

Annika rolled her eyes. "Jeez, do we have to spell it out for you? Old fella, one-eyed trouser snake…"

"Johnson, pecker, wick, willie," Jack added more colloquialisms.

Ba’al was becoming more frustrated with every word being laughed at him. He guessed the insinuation before the redhead gave an exaggerated sigh and pointed at his groin. "Enough!" he roared, thumping his fist on the throne arm. The ribbon device encasing his knuckles inadvertently collided with the edge of the jeweled bowl. The force of the blow tipped it over, sending the light morsels inside catapulting through the air to rain down on the Jaffa and prisoners.

"Sorry, did I hit a little nerve?" Annika asked sweetly. Well, that had been a piece of cake! She had been planning to use her telekinesis and her hidey trick to get some of the popcorn. His fit of temper had conveniently showered them with the incriminating food.

"Just a widdle-biddy one by the sound of it." Jack held his thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart. "No wonder you’re such a pissy bastard. When was the last time you got laid, Balls? Could the unfortunate she, he or it even find your pecker?"

"Must have needed tweezers and a magnifying glass," Annika declared with a mocking giggle.

His face burning with humiliation Ba’al raised his hand, the jewel in the center of his palm glowing an angry orange. He cared not which of the two would feel his wrath, knowing that to injure one would wipe the smirk from the other.

Jack happened to be the closest and he met the Goa’uld’s gaze with open defiance. "Give it you best shot, tadpole."

To Ba’al’s utter disbelief and mortification the beam of the device that had never failed him before, flickered and died.

"Shooting blanks, are we?" the colonel let out another hearty laugh.

"Pistons not firing as they should?" Annika hooted from her place on the floor. While Ba’al’s attention had been on Jack she had grabbed a handful of the scattered popcorn and shoved it in her pocket.

With no other weapon left to him, Ba’al drew back his fist and punched Jack on the jaw. He needed to regain the upper hand, though how he had lost it to unarmed prisoners was as humiliating as anything he’d ever experienced.

The colonel fully expecting the blow, let his head swing back as the fist connected, minimizing the impact. "Don’t worry, Balls," he sounded commiserating. "It’s not the size of the ship, it’s the motion of the ocean."

Ba’al glared at him his eyes flashing, but refrained from an angry retort. His mind was distracted by the malfunctioning ribbon device. Why hadn’t it worked? He studied the jewel to see that it was covered with a thin coating of white powder, which he realized had settled there from the initial spray in his quarters, and a few tiny husks from the disturbed bowl of Tau’ri food. He wiped the jewel clean and aimed his palm again, confident that it would now work and he’d be able to restore his dominant position. The infuriating leader of SG-1 clearly thought Ba’al needed further explanation for his latest idiom for he was rewording the saying.

"It’s what you do with the little pecker that counts."

There came a muffled snort of laughter from across the room. One that was not from the other Tau’ri. Ba’al shifted his attention to the Jaffa looking for the culprit; saw one of his men looking decidedly guilty. Without pause he directed the beam of the device at the Jaffa, sending him flying across the room to crash against the golden wall with a loud clang. "Anyone else find this amusing?"

Any hints of smiles immediately disappeared, and though their eyes remained stoically a front, all were eagerly waiting to catch the next round from their periphery vision. The majority of the Jaffa were battling with indignant outrage in loyalty to their god, however despite themselves and the wrath it would surely bring, they couldn’t help their amusement at the prisoners’ antics. The few who had long ago begun to doubt the validity of Ba’al’s claim to godliness, were inwardly cheering on the Tau’ri.

Ba’al swung his arm back to the colonel, determined to mete out the punishment for humiliating him.

Annika focused her will, knowing that Jack wouldn’t be able to escape the lethal power of the device again. The others were almost here; she just had to buy for time.

The jewel powered up. As the energy began to shoot out towards Jack’s forehead, Annika jabbed at the Goa’uld’s forearm. Ba’al’s arm jerked sideways, the damaging pulse that couldn’t be stopped once unleashed, followed, firing directly into the belly of the Jaffa guarding over Jack. Over the scream of agony from the warrior, a high pitch keening assaulted their ears as the prim’ta fried in its pouch.

In the time it took for the Jaffa to crumple, Ba’al realized what, or rather who, had foiled his second attempt. So the tales of her telekinesis were true. His face apoplectic with rage he rounded on the redhead. "I will not be made into a fool."

"I’m just bringing out your true colors," Annika spat back. "All Goa’uld are fools."

"Knock her out!" he bellowed.

The Jaffa on either side of her raised the butts of their staffs, intending to smash them against her skull, but the expected blows never came. The warriors were distracted by the voice of the woman they were about to render unconscious calling loudly to them from across the room.

"Hey, tin men! I’m over here!"

All heads, including Ba’al’s, swung up and around to see the transparent form of Annika zip into the room, two fist sized silver balls in her hands.

"Fancy a game of catch?" Casper threw one of the devices at the closest Jaffa, who recognizing it instantly, dove out of the way. She pegged the other one at Ba’al.

Ba’al saw the device spinning towards him and reached out to activate his personal shield to protect himself. His finger barely grazed the button when twin flashes of blinding light exploded out. In the split second it took for the Goa’uld to lose consciousness, he wondered just how his carefully conceived plan had gone so dismally wrong.

Before the repeated clatter of armor clad bodies hitting the floor finished echoing off the walls, access shafts were swinging open and Sam, Daniel and Teal’c vaulted into the room, guns at the ready to fire on anyone who had managed to escape the range of the stun grenades.

Sam readied herself a few feet away from the wide main doorway to lay down cover fire. Their entrance hadn’t exactly been subtle and the pounding of metal boots was already drawing near. Casper grabbed a staff weapon from one of the downed Jaffa, and positioned herself opposite the major to assist. They only had four stun grenades left and they’d need at least two of those for when they reached the Stargate level and the other two for scampering down the corridor to the ring room.

The men were grabbing the prone bodies of their teammates. Daniel heaved off the Jaffa who had collapsed on top of Annika’s legs and he hoisted his wife over his shoulder, keeping his right hand free for his nine mil. Teal’c rolled another warrior from the torso of their team leader and picked Jack up in a similar fashion as Daniel had picked up Annika.

"Got them," Daniel called, only to have to dodge away from a staff blast coming from behind the throne. He skidded to his knees, spinning as he did so, firing his gun.

The Jaffa that had managed to dive behind the throne and shield himself from the worst of the stunner’s impact, went down with a bullet to the forehead.

Sam and Casper were engaged in a shoot out with a half a dozen Jaffa who had come to investigate the commotion their rescue had caused.

"Casper, time for round two." Sam ordered, taking aim and shooting a foot soldier in the neck.

"I will take your position." Teal’c appeared by her side, his gun already firing on another Jaffa.

The transparent redhead gave a nod and fished out the two stun grenades from Teal’c’s pockets. Due to the enclosed space of the corridor, the range of the stunners increased lengthways, compared to the open area of the throne room. She zigzagged between the Jaffa, who tried to take pot shots at her, not comprehending that their weapons were useless against her astral embodiment. A quarter of the way down she threw the grenade from her and rolled the second one down the other end.

The solid members of SG-1 were careful to be well away from the doorway when the grenades activated so as not to be affected by any residual light. As soon as the light dissipated the team were out the door, hurdling over the now unconscious Jaffa and heading for the room three quarters of the way down the corridor.

Casper skidded around the corner into the ring room. Before the pair of Jaffa guarding its usage could comprehend her astral form, she barreled into them pushing one into the other and both toppled over. "Two tins, nine o’clock. Down but alert," she yelled out in warning to her team who were fast closing the distance.

"Roger that." Daniel appeared in the doorway, gun pointed to the left.

One of the Jaffa had quick reflexes and was already activating his staff from his twisted position on the floor.

Daniel fired one round, aiming for and hitting the warrior’s hand gripping the weapon. He knew it was virtually impossible to use a staff one handed and whenever he could he tried to wound rather than kill any Jaffa they came across.

Casper was struggling with the second Jaffa to activate the hand control for the rings. The sound of another shot and the armored body went limp in her grasp. She looked up to see Teal’c aiming his P-90 at her. "Thanks!" She stripped the device free and tossed it to Teal’c.

Daniel passed over the last two grenades to her, calling over his shoulder. "Sam, you coming?"

The major who had been covering their six, backed into the room still firing. "Go! Four more tins just exited the elevator."

Casper took position in the center of the ring pad, having to use the ‘traditional’ mode of transport to carry the solid grenades. Teal’c activated the device and in a flash of light she disappeared. When she re-materialized four levels down, she ignored the startled outcries of the Jaffa in the room. "Hey! Catch me if you can!" she taunted, and flew at top speed from the room. As she hoped, the warriors abandoned the ring room and set off in pursuit. They managed to get all of a meter into the corridor before the stun blast knocked them unconscious. She sent the ‘all clear’ signal to Daniel and she heard the whine of the transport as she moved onwards.

When the team emerged from the ring room, the scene was reminiscent of the one they’d just left behind, though the uproar coming from the ‘gate room was different. The sound of discharging staffs and the groans of pain told them the Jaffa were being taken down by their own friendly fire in their attempts to shoot the non-corporeal body of Annika.

Daniel sent another signal through their bond telling his wife that they were ready to enter. Another flash of light from the final stun grenade and SG-1 hightailed it into the ‘gate room. The redhead was already dialing the DHD.

As the chevrons lit up they could hear the sound of barked orders and clanking boots of reinforcements drawing nearer. Sam crouched by the doorway firing random rounds to keep the Jaffa at bay. Daniel made sure to keep Annika’s vulnerable form still draped over his shoulder, turned into the safety of the room as he let off a few shots of his own to assist the blonde.

Teal’c released his P-90, its strap around his neck keeping it within reach while he dug out the GDO. The moment the wormhole billowed out he sent the code. "Clear!"

The major and archaeologist began backing towards the Stargate, still shooting. They were less than two meters away when three Jaffa appeared in the entrance, firing continually.

Daniel dove for the event horizon, his nine mil out of bullets. He felt a hard push from the side changing his trajectory slightly and then a sharp burning sensation across his forearm. Caught the acrid stench of burning flesh and hair a second before he fell into the iciness of the wormhole.

Casper regained her balance after shoving Daniel and her physical self from the path of an energy bolt. She spun around to see Teal’c duck a near miss, never skipping stride to the Stargate. He fired his gun, urging the major to precede him.

Jack was coming to and from his upside-down vision of the world he snatched up his colleague’s handgun from his waist and added his own volley of shots. "Carter, move your butt now!"

The blonde fired another series of bullets and the three of them leapt through the shimmering mass.

Casper couldn’t resist giving the Jaffa a wave, a bight smile spreading across her face. "See ya’ later! Give my regards to the god of the infinitesimal phallus!" And with the blink of an eye she was gone.