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 Runaway To Hell

Chapter Five

Veta had been about to take her to have the promised meal when he had received a message from the bridge regarding an orbit alert of the planet they were stationed above. She hadn't quite understood the terminology, but had gleaned they had a warning system in place for any of the law authorities monitoring the space waves and something had triggered it. Annika had waved the security man out, assuring him that she would wait in the room she'd been assigned until he or Mahj'arc came for her. Veta had given a nod, trusting her to keep her word, and had left. She had explored the rather spacious room and in doing so had discovered an alcove in the corner that led to a bathroom. The need to have a shower rather than the quick wash down she'd been surviving on for the last week had been too great. Well aware that she was on a vessel where water was probably a luxury, her shower had been quick, but it had felt so damned good to have washed the grime off her body.

Focusing on one task at a time had been what had gotten her through the days. Get to the Stargate, find a place to rest, trade for food, get back to the Stargate and start all over again. Letting the water sluice over her body she prepared herself, running through her head what she would teach Sachee, what she would warn her of regarding the gift of premonition and how to do it as quickly as possible so that she could move on, keep moving until her death vision timeframe had passed and she could return home. Home. Gods how she missed it...how she missed Daniel, ached to feel his arms around her, to see the smile that always touched not only his lips but made his eyes twinkle... A dull pain ripped through her and she managed to block any further thought of her husband before the pain of leaving him brought her to her knees. Just focus on the next task...

When Annika emerged from the bathroom, it was to see Sachee perched on the bed next to the small pile of her personal effects, examining the deodorant stick. She could see it was simply a child's curiosity over the alien design rather than snooping. Sachee gave a guilty start as Annika approached, dropping the item to the bed, making Annika believe it wasn't the only object that had been scrutinized.

Toweling her hair she gave the girl a smile. "Did you sense anything when you touched them?"

Worry clouded Sachee's expression. "I didn't mean to."

"Never apologize for having a vision. As far as I know there is no way to control what we see or when." Annika sat down beside her. "Was it just feelings or images?"

"A little bit of both," she admitted. "But the images were blurry still."

"Well, why don't we see if we can clear them up a bit." Annika gave her a smile of encouragement. "Do you know what meditation is?"

Sachee shook her head.

"Okay," Annika paused trying to remember how she had been taught. "Do you have any candles?"

She nodded slowly. "But I'm not allowed to play with fire."

"Very sensible," Annika inwardly grimaced. Of course an eight year old wouldn't be allowed to use anything potentially dangerous. "Um...how about a portable light source like a flashlight or some sort of torch? It only has to be small."

The little girl's brow furrowed in thought, then in a flash she was on her feet and rushing out of the room. "I may have something!"

Annika couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

Mahj'arc, still a little bemused, also wore a smile as his daughter dodged around him. "Ah, here."

He held out a ring, which Annika recognized as a replica of the pyramid rings the crew wore.

"You'll be needing this while you're here."

Annika took it, testing which finger it would fit on; too big for her pinky, it slid snugly on her third finger. "Thank you." Her eyes widened as the significance of the clear color of the stone hit her. She'd just been granted access to the entire ship. "I won't abuse the privilege."

"I know you won't." He leant in the door jam.

"You psychic now too?" she grinned.

"No, but I know how to read people." His smile turned wry. "In my line of business it's a necessity if I don't want to wind up in prison or worse." His gaze flickered down the hall to make sure his daughter wasn't within earshot. "How are you going to help Sachee?"

"I was going to start by showing her some meditation techniques. It should help with her visions so they're not so garbled or vague. It'll take time for her to master, but I can show her the basics so that she can continue to develop her gift."

"This might sound like a stupid question," the older man cleared his throat. "But are there any health risks involved with this ability?"

"You mean like me throwing up after touching the assassin?" At his nod she gave a noncommittal shrug. "Everyone's different. Sachee may have no problem encountering what her mind interprets as evil. Or she may...purge...herself in a less physical way. Won't really know until it happens. Physically the visions can't hurt her, at least not as far as I know. But as you've noticed from her behavior of late, emotionally they do have an impact." She paused reading his fatherly concern. "I don't know enough about Sachee's gift yet, but for me, my visions, I literally feel whatever emotions are contained in the visions."

"There's something else," he said perceptively.

"Her gift makes her vulnerable to a mental attack from others who possess psychic abilities or the technology to tap into it." A shudder ran through her at the memory of what Anubis had done to her. "That can be as lethal as any pulse blast or bullet. Plus what she sees could put her in danger. Some people don't like having their secrets revealed."

Mahj'arc's worry increased. "Is there any way to stop the visions?"

Annika shook her head. "Not that I know of. I can teach her some protective measures so the risk of attack is lessened. Discretion will have to come from her."

"Is there anything I can do to help her?"

"Just give her all of your love and support, no matter what. Visions, especially premonitions, are rarely clear cut images of 'this' or 'that' happening...they're more like clues." She gave him another smile. "Sachee has a lot of power, I sense she could well be stronger than I am if she learns to harness it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Mahj'arc," Her eyes pinned his gaze to hers. "How would you cope with hearing voices that nobody else could hear, of feeling emotions that nobody else could feel? From sun up to sundown and quite often not even your dreams giving a modicum of peace?"

Mahj'arc considered the scenario. Personally he surmised he'd go crazy. He'd do whatever it took to stop his daughter from traveling that path. "You can spend as much time with Sachee as necessary. I'll pull her from chores and classes, whatever you need."

Annika's eyes widened. "You conduct formal schooling here?" Instantly chided herself for making the assumption that they didn't because of their outlaw status.

He nodded with a hint of amusement. "Four days a week for five hours, rotating around the ship's schedule. We have approximately thirty kids of varying ages. They learn the basics, reading writing, mathematics. There's also a culture session of sorts, that's also for the adults, to educate them on the planets and customs of the people on our itinerary. For the older kids there's also our version of traineeships for the legitimate aspects of our way of life...engineering, catering, theatrics, whatever the child is interested in."

"Is Sachee part of a traineeship?"

Mahj'arc nodded. "She's a little young, I know, but she's always had a knack with machinery. She's currently assigned to the engineers. It's the one thing she's been happy to do in the last few months."

Annika gave it a bit of thought. "I'd rather not disrupt her routine. I can work around her classes. The idea is to get her back into socializing with others. If I pull her out it would only isolate her more from the other children."

As Mahj'arc gave a nod of agreement Sachee came barreling into the room with a small glass ball in her hand that had a flat base.

"Will this work?" She flicked a switch on the bottom and the orb lit up in a blue glow.

"It's perfect." Annika slid off the bed to sit on the floor and motioned for Sachee to sit opposite, giving her full attention to her pupil.

Mahj'arc gave another bewildered shake of his head. It was amazing the difference an hour could make. For a moment he watched his daughter listening intently to the woman who'd saved his life, quietly explaining the first steps of meditating. He doubted that either of them heard him say, "I'll leave you to it," before he left.

Annika started by teaching Sachee some simple breathing exercises, guiding her how to focus her mind. She then led her through a light meditation using the orb as the focal point. It surprised her to begin with, how easily Sachee was able to pick up the techniques. Then she considered what she knew of the child. Desperation was fueling her desire to learn. She was a literal sponge, absorbing every word she was told.

It was about an hour later when Sachee gave a small sigh. "I haven't felt like this before."

"Like what?"

"Quiet...still..." she struggled for a better description.

"At peace?" Annika suggested. "Just you and your own thoughts?"

Sachee gave a tiny nod, scared to move too much in case the calmness disappeared.

"Doing this meditation has become like breathing to me. It will take practice, but the more you do it the quicker you'll become at capturing that peace. It's a protective measure against any surprises you might get from touching things. It should hopefully help clarify what you see." She studied the girl for her reaction, judged from the eager light that lit up her eyes that she was ready for the next step. Annika scooped up her pile of belongings and placed them on the floor between them. As much as she was loath to reveal more about herself, anything shown to Sachee meant she would have a point of reference to use, rather than going in blind with an object unfamiliar to her. "What items did you receive something from?"

Hesitantly Sachee picked up one of the coffee packets.

"Do you sense anything from it now?" A second reading from the same item was rare for her now. She had honed her ability to the point where she 'vacuumed out' for lack of a better term, any essence lingering on the object in one touch. However, she remembered from her early years that it had taken time for her to be so 'precise' in capturing the vision so that repeated images were common. She took a calming breath. Would admit that there was also a touch of curiosity as to what the fledgling seer would see, if she saw anything at all. It was odd to have the role reversed, to be 'read' by another psychic.

Sachee's brow creased in concentration.

"Don't try to force it," she said gently. "If there's something there it'll make itself known to you."

"I think it's the same as before, but it's..." Sachee's voice tapered off. Still staring at the blue light a foggy image she'd seen previously seemed to appear in front of the glowing light. It became slightly less blurry. Rather than an indistinct shape it cleared into the form of two people. They weren't clear enough to identify facial features, though a little nudge told her that one of the people was the woman sitting in front of her. "I think it's you with someone else."

"Are we doing anything?" Annika kept her tone soft and level. She could see the vacant look in the girl's eyes as she focused entirely on the vision and she didn't want to break her concentration.

"Drinking."

"Try focusing on the second person. Can you tell if it's a man or a woman?"

"A man..." The fuzziness cleared a bit more but only around one part of the man's form. "He has such pretty blue eyes."

Annika took a deep breath, stifling the gasp that wanted to spring out. That Sachee was seeing Daniel wasn't surprising and yet she still wasn't prepared for it. "Does he look happy?" She was scrounging for any details about him, even if it was of an inconsequential moment of her past. Wished that she could see what Sachee was seeing, to just have a glimpse of her soul mate.

"Yeah...I think he's laughing...you are too." She paused then asked, "Why are you sitting in his lap?"

"It's a thing we have...had," she corrected. A sad smile touched her lips at the memory.

The girl suddenly went quiet.

"Sachee?"

"Hmm?" Her response was a little absentminded. Her expression changed subtly and her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.

Annika surmised that she had picked up something new in the vision. She tried to think of any 'significant revelations' that had occurred during the countless times she had shared a coffee fix with her husband, however she couldn't think of any. Her own cheeks heated up as she had a thought. There had been many a time where she and Daniel had snuggled into that pose after making love. "Um...are we clothed?"

The little girl gave a giggle. "Yes."

"So why are you embarrassed?"

Her eyes blinked and the vacant look was gone as her eyes darted up to meet Annika's. "The love you two share...it's such a private thing...so special."

Annika's throat threatened to close up. "Yes, it was."

The girl cocked her head in confusion. "No, it is..." she hesitated a moment unsure whether to voice the 'whispers' that were skirting the edges of the vision. "You wouldn't have left if you didn't love him so much."

She gave a single nod to confirm Sachee's interpretation, but the words wouldn't form on her tongue. Eventually she cleared the lump in her throat and changed the subject. "So, was there anything else you received a reading from?"

Sachee gave a slow nod though she didn't reach for another item. "I upset you...I don't want to do that."

Annika reached out and gave the girl's hand a squeeze. "Sachee, I am an emotional wreck right now. That isn't going to change whether you get a happy reading from me or a sad one."

Hesitantly Sachee picked up another item. After a long moment she gave shrug, indicating that this time she didn't receive any kind of vision.

"That's okay. Not everything has a tale to be told."

Instead of putting it down, Sachee's curiosity for anything mechanical reared its head. "What is this?"

"It's called an iPod. It holds music, video clips and pictures."

"Video clips?"

"Um...recorded images of people and places...moving pictures."

Sachee frowned at the dark screen. "Is it broken?"

"No. The battery is drained. I have no way to recharge it." In hindsight it was a stupid thing for her to include in her 'escape kit', but she hadn't been able to leave it behind. Trapped within every picture and song was a treasured memory of the life she had left behind and wanted so desperately to return to. And even though she could no longer access them it gave her a connection to her home. "It's my little piece of home."

Annika reached for the device and in doing so her fingers brushed against smaller ones.

Sachee sucked in a sharp breath as emotions not her own bombarded her.

Annika tried to pull back, recognizing a 'king hit' vision, but Sachee's other hand closed over hers not breaking the contact. Crap. So much for easing Sachee into the world of Hocus Pocus 101. "Breathe, Sachee. Remember to breathe."

The girl drew in a ragged gasp and then another.

Annika had no way of knowing what horror from her past or future the girl was seeing, and she guided her as best she could. "Try to focus on just one part of what you're seeing...separate it into compartments."

A few more breaths and Sachee's eyes filled with confusion and compassion pinned Annika's gaze. Hoarsely she asked, "How can a tree cause you so much pain?"

Annika reeled back as though she had been slapped in the face. Oh gods. Not that! In a flash her mind was transported back to four days ago when in desperation she had sought help from the one being she had felt only unconditional love from before...

Annika blinked and the room came back into focus. Sachee was still looking up at her, though tears now streaked down her cheeks, tears of Annika's pain. Guilt assailed her for putting the girl through that. "I'm sorry." A whisper was all that she could manage. Gently she placed her palm to Sachee's forehead and with infinite care began to siphon the heartache of Oakey's rejection back into herself. The pain was so strong it went beyond tears and it was a war not to scream out in anguish. In a way it was worse than the agony of walking out on Daniel, for that instant had condemned her to keep running and not look back. As it flowed back into her, Annika pushed it to the recess of her mind to be dealt with at a much later time.

The wildness left Sachee's eyes when she felt the emotions drain out of her. "Wow, how did you do that?"

"It's an extension of my gift." Annika's voice was hoarse, still battling to subdue her inner turmoil.

Given Annika's reaction and what she herself had felt from that vision of the nasty majestic tree, Sachee knew not to ask any more questions about the vision. Saw beyond the pain in violet's eyes that a distraction was needed. And yet she couldn't quite let it go; wanted to help her newfound friend in some way. "Daddy says a hug always makes things better," she whispered.

The next thing Annika knew she had two little arms thrown around her neck.

Annika hugged her back tightly, taking the comfort offered and damned if it didn't help ease the grief wracking her. "That it does." She hoped that Sachee would be able to hold on to that innocence for a while longer, though in her heart she knew with how strong the girl's abilities were now it would be unlikely.

After a long moment Sachee pulled back, giving a cautious smile to make sure her friend was okay.

It took monumental strength for Annika to turn up the corners of her mouth, returning the smile.

Content that her 'hug remedy' had worked, she asked, "Will I be able to do that draining thing?"

"Maybe. Time will tell." She wiped the tear trails from Sachee's cheeks. "Okay, that's enough show and tell for now. How about you give me a tour of the ship?"

Sachee nodded easily in agreement. "Where do you want to start?" She turned off the orb and tucked in into her pocket.

Annika gathered her belongings and dumped them on the bed. "Surprise me."

The little girl barely hesitated to slide her hand into Annika's as they walked out. The trust in that simple gesture threatened to unravel Annika's barely reined in emotions.

"So have you thought of a name for me yet?"

With a bounce in her step, Sachee nodded. "Uncle Veta called you a 'mystery guest' and in my first vision of you, you were all misty...so I think 'Mist', suits you, but if you're gonna write it down use a 'Y' instead of an 'I' to make it a bit more...um..."

"Mysterious?" Annika grinned

Her head blonde bobbed up and down. "Do you like it?"

"Love it," she assured. "Myst, with a 'Y' I am, then."

A A A

It wasn't long before they passed through the checkpoints of the mountain and headed straight for the briefing room. Hammond was already waiting for them with Janet.

"From what you told me over the phone I thought Doctor Fraiser should sit in." The general said as the team took their seats. "Now why don't you start at the beginning?"

Skipping over Daniel's initial reaction upon seeing the lawyer, SG-1 quickly recounted what they had discovered.

The CO and doctor listened intently while skimming the journal Daniel slid across the table to them.

"So someone or something has been manipulating Annika for almost three months?" Hammond felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Unable to put forth Annika's astral visit, he'd been having a hard time convincing those controlling the SGC purse strings to keep up the search for the missing woman. From the 'official' reports of Annika's disappearance it pointed to her simply running off. He had managed to keep her status as MIA and not have it changed to AWOL, however, he'd kept to himself that he had been ordered to resume normal mission protocols two days ago. If unofficially he was focusing all team missions to the sector where Doctor Jackson had sporadically sensed the redhead's location, then officially it was because those were the addresses the computer spat out. That Colonel Carter had created a program to search the database for planets only in that sector was something no one was talking about. This development would give him leverage.

"We believe so, sir." Daniel gave a firm nod that was reciprocated by the rest of his team.

"For what purpose?"

The question gave them pause. They hadn't quite gotten to thinking that part through yet.

"Does there have to be a reason?" Jack eventually shrugged. "Snakeheads get off on messing with people, it's what they do."

"Is there any evidence of Goa'uld involvement?"

"Well, no. I was just using them as an example. The Goa'uld aren't the only twisted evil souls in the universe."

Hammond conceded that Jack had a point. He noticed that Janet was studying some of the journal entries with a frown that was more than concentration. "Doctor Fraiser?"

The CMO hesitated. She knew that with everything she had witnessed in her years of working at the SGC that whatever was affecting Annika could well be alien in nature. However, it could also be something much less 'complicated'. She steeled herself for the backlash she knew she would get. "The entries, they could be evidence of manipulation by a foreign entity. But the switch in handwriting is also present in cases of Dissociative Identity Disorder."

"Multiple personality?" Sam's immediate disbelief was a reflection of her team.

Janet nodded. Seeing the way SG-1 tensed, getting ready to rebut the mere idea that any one of their own was suffering from a mental disorder, she held up her hand to forestall them. "Just hear me out. Many cases of DID are caused by a traumatic event or multiple traumatic events. I can think without even trying of at least a half a dozen instances since Annika joined the SGC that fall into that category. And that's not even taking into account the visions that she has witnessed because of her psychic abilities."

"Annika in not insane." Daniel tried not to glare at the doctor; didn't really succeed.

"I'm not saying she is, but this," she gestured to the journal, "presents DID as a possibility that is no more of a stretch than Goa'uld manipulation."

"Is it not the prevailing psychological theory that the condition develops as a reaction to childhood trauma?" Teal'c countered.

"In a lot of cases, yes. But there are as many cases where the cause is unknown."

Despite himself Daniel found himself considering the idea, running through his mind what little he knew of the mental disorder. A shiver rang through him as he realized that Annika had been dissociating herself since her early teens as a necessity to deal with the emotional bombardment of her visions. No. He gave himself a mental shake. There would have been evidence of it before now. No. His eyes skittered to the journal. No, it couldn't be.

Keelah didn't really understand what 'DID' or 'multiple personality' were since she had only been on Earth for a short time, however she surmised enough. She balked as much as the others at the idea of Annika being mentally unbalanced, though her reaction was due to the 'facts' not adding up than a purely emotional response. "But we all felt the...er...veil lift."

If Jack weren't engaged to Sam, he would have leapt over the table to kiss Keelah. "That's right! We all felt the voodoo curse flitter off!"

Hammond and Janet blinked blankly at them and the team realized that in their eagerness to explain about the journal and their theory they had skipped that little detail. Quickly they recounted what they experienced.

"And you all felt this?" Janet kept her voice neutral, not a hundred percent sure they wouldn't make it up in an effort to protect one of their own from the chains of a psychiatrist's couch.

"Swear to god, Doc." Jack spoke for all of them.

"Okay, so DID is less likely now given that," Janet admitted.

Some of the tension eased from their shoulders, only to return at Hammond's next question.

"What's on the memory disc?" The general figured they should go over all of the evidence before any more speculations were made.

"I think it's the vision that made Annika run." Daniel cleared his throat. "She mentioned it in her last entry."

"You haven't watched it?"

The archaeologist shook his head. "I found it in the journal sleeve on the way here." Without needing to be told he placed the device flat on the table. Nobody commented on the slight tremble to his finger as he pressed the activation switch.

All eyes were pinned to the image that came into view.

Daniel wasn't the only one surprised by what the hologram showed. It wasn't a firefight or battle; there was no evidence at all of the violence they expected to be associated with a 'death' premonition. It was Hammond, sitting behind his desk with a single file sitting closed on top. The general opened his desk drawer and pulled out a single glass and a bottle of whisky. After pouring a generous nip then adding another splash for good measure, he raised his glass. "To SG-1, the best damned team that ever was." He downed the drink and locked the file in the drawer.

"That's it?" Jack raised an eyebrow when the hologram flickered out.

Daniel checked the device to make sure there were no other visions held in its memory bank. "Looks like."

"General Hammond's use of the past tense must have been the defining moment," Teal'c said quietly. "Especially given Annika Jackson's belief in the nightmares."

"But that doesn't prove that we're going to die," Sam protested. "It could just mean that we'll be reassigned." She hid the shudder at the idea of the team splitting up but it was a better thought than them dying.

A memory triggered in Daniel from the beginning of his romance with Annika before she had security clearance. Her words echoed in his head when she described seeing SG-1's aura for the first time. 'I don’t know what it is that you do, but you have to keep doing it as a team. Don’t let them break you up no matter what.' He heaved a sigh. "In Annika's mind that would amount to the same thing."

Jack also recalled a comment Annika had made during those early days, when Daniel had been comatose and she had just knocked the NID agent into the wall with her hocus pocus. 'SG-1 is too important to the fate of this world and countless others. I’ll help you using any means at my disposal.' "She thinks she's protecting us."

Hammond moved the meeting on. That much he knew from Annika's astral visit, but it was nice to have it confirmed. "We need to determine what we're dealing with. Is it a sentient being? Or could this be a symptom of some sort of contamination?"

"There are viral illnesses that can cause hallucinations." Janet gave a slow nod. "Annika's pre-mission check was clear but we weren't looking for any alien viruses. Mainly those checks are to make sure that the off-world teams don't infect the local populations. I can run a more in depth analysis. I'll also look for anything that's not 'natural', any kind of tampering that may have been missed in the initial screening."

Hammond gave his approval. Having one possibility of the cause of Annika's behavior covered, he issued orders to investigate the other plausible culprit. "Let's rule out the usual suspects first. Colonel Carter and Teal'c, I'd like you to check with the Tok'ra and free Jaffa. See if there's any Goa'uld who has been acting more suspiciously than normal. Or if they've heard of a technology that could do this kind of manipulation."

"Starting with Balls," Jack butted in. "He's got a thing for Casper."

"I take it you want to keep our queries low key, sir?" Sam asked.

"Call it a family visit," Hammond confirmed. "Let's not advertise that Mrs Jackson is out there on her own. Doctor Jackson, General O'Neill, and Keelah, now that we have an idea what to look for, go through all the mission reports again from just before Annika's nightmares started, up until," he flicked through the journal to where the first evidence of the altered handwriting began, "April twenty-sixth. Look for any possible time she could have been exposed to a...contagion, for lack of a better word, or where someone could have had the opportunity to start this manipulation."

They nodded, though Daniel was a tad slower as a thought occurred to him and he threw out the question, "Could this be Anubis?" He ignored the raised eyebrows at the suggestion. "When he attacked Annika and Ba'al sealed her in the cell, it trapped part of his essence in her mind. The nightmares started directly after that."

"But you yanked all that out while you were an all powerful jellyfish," Jack countered.

"If even the tiniest bit remained, it's possible it could have...festered."

"Anubis used the Eye of Ra to infiltrate Annika's mind," Sam considered the possibility, "but it was destroyed when Ba'al blew up Anubis's ship."

"For which we only have Ba'al's word," Teal'c replied grimly. "It is possible that the Eye survived and it was salvaged from the wreckage."

"Which brings us back to Balls being the prime suspect," Jack pressed. "He must have figured by now that if he snatched her again we’d come get her, but if Casper left of her own volition we wouldn't go chasing after her."

"Being alone it would make her an easy target to capture her," Daniel paused. "Or lure her to him."

Keelah frowned. "But Annika ran in the opposite direction."

Jack shrugged, a twinkle in his eye. "That snakehead's plans tend to backfire on him."

"Perhaps the Eye was damaged," Sam speculated. "Can only implant ideas rather than directly manipulate."

The conversation prompted a deviation of the current idea in Teal'c. "Another possibility is that the experience with Anubis left Annika Jackson's mind vulnerable to other malevolent beings."

The comment caused another few moments of silence. It rammed home that while they now had workable theories on which to follow up, they truly had no idea what or whom they were dealing with. Was it simply nature at work? Was it an old enemy or a new one?

Hammond knew that the first thing they had to do was determine conclusively one way or the other and that any further speculation should wait until then. However he needed at least a tentative plan of action, for he may have to implement that plan sooner than any of the people sitting around him knew. "Biological possibilities aside, whether this is a Goa'uld or a new threat, what's the likely scenario if Annika becomes aware of this being's presence, how will it react?"

"We don't know what its intent is," Sam shrugged. "Why it's focused on Annika. If it needs to remain anonymous then it could react...badly...if it knows it has been discovered."

"Badly," Daniel repeated the word, knowing his friend was trying to be kind. "You mean it could kill her."

Reluctantly the blonde nodded.

The CO tried a different angle. "When we find her how should we approach her?" Immediately he cursed his inadvertent slip. He hoped that everyone would assume he was using the collective 'we'.

Nobody reacted except to give his question some thought, although Jack shifted slightly in his seat. Before the team leader could open his mouth Janet spoke distracting him.

"I don't think we should tell her about this entity until we have her back here in a controlled environment. If this thing does try to attack her, I'd rather have her close to medical treatment. I don't know if we have the equipment to help, but it would be better than having it go down off-world."

"So we verbally try to get her to come home."

They nodded on the course of action.

"That'll take some fancy talking," Jack mused. "With Casper believing her nightmares are genuine hocus pocus we gotta break through that SG-1 stubborn streak."

"If diplomacy fails we take her by force." The quiet statement came from Daniel. "Tranquilizer her or zat' her once...whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes," Hammond confirmed. "We'll get her back."

It was the one thing they were sure about.

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