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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Call me, O’Neill."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nalan nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jack was looking slightly confused. "What?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Olim started to talk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jack scoffed. "Ya think?"

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

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

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

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

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

Nalan nodded his agreement and moved to the communications panel.

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

***************************

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

"Colonel?"

"Jack?"

"O’Neill?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**************************

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

"Hi, Jack," Daniel’s voice came.

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

"Daniel? You’re back. You’re okay?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sam looked thoughtful.

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

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

"And………?"

"No and."

"Carter…….there has to be an and."

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

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

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

**********************

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**

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

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

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

**

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

**

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

**

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

**

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

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

**

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"We think we have."

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

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

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

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

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

"Such as…..?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jaen considered the time frame, and the words of the Colonel. As well conceived as the idea for an army had seemed at the time, without actually providing weapons for it, he realised that it would in fact be rather useless. He reached his decision quickly. "You have a week. During that time, I will allow your teammates the freedom of moving around the city. I warn you though, all of you will be watched and any unfavourable action of your parts will result in discipline."

Jaen rose and moved to leave. He was closely followed by Ecnal. Olim and Nalan remained. One stayed to work with Sam, the other to watch the men.

*****************************

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

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

************************

Sam rubbed her eyes wearily. She had been looking at computer readouts for hours. Her shield was partially working in her computer mock-ups, but seemed to hit a snag at the same point in the programming every time she ran a simulation.

She ran through the numbers over and over, but could not seem to pinpoint the problem. Laying her chin on her crossed arms she continued to watch the hypnotic scrolling of computer information.

"Well, Carter, how goes it?"

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

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

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

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

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

"What’s the problem, Major?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

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

****************************

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

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

"You have discovered something, O’Neill?"

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

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

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

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

Jack scowled. "Thanks, Daniel."

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

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

"To what end, O’Neill?"

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

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

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

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

Even Teal’c joined in. "Indeed."

*******************************

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

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

****************************

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

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

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

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

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

*****************************

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"We will dock in less that three hours."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sam smiled. "Yes, Sir."

Teal’c looked over approvingly at O’Neill.

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

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

The wagon bumped and creaked its way along worn paths. The journey finally culminated at a small community. Nalan informed them that it was one of the smaller farming communities in the area.The landing site was set here, nearer to the produce and livestock they imported. The team dismounted and looked around, slowly walking down the dirt road running through the centre of town. The village appeared primitive when compared to the towering spires of Yensid. People walking along wooden sidewalks paused briefly before moving on. Several children ran in the opposite direction after a barking dog. Seconds later, a rather harried looking young woman emerged from a building. She sighted the children, gathered up her skirts and ran after them.

The people all wore similar utilitarian clothing. The structures were simple wooden affairs, many with a whitewashed finish. A farrier looked up from his shoeing job as they wandered past. He gave them a warm smile, and tipped a rough hand to his forehead in greeting. A smithy pounding on his anvil never glanced up from his work. The whole community seemed dated back to the days of Billy the Kid, but the dress and mannerisms of the people seemed more Amish. The place felt warm and tranquil, and the team felt very much like they were intruding.

Sam was hard pressed to picture these people as spies. It just didn’t fit.

Nalan must have guessed her thoughts, as he answered her unspoken question. "The problems haven’t been coming from these smaller villages. They tend to stay out of politics and concentrate on their own affairs. The dissidents seem to come from the Capital. They sneak aboard the transport vessels."

Daniel looked at him curiously. "Why"

"They want to steal weapons. They think it will help them to defend against the Goa’uld."

"Or you," Jack muttered under his breath.

Nalan moved them on, leading them through to the far end of town. They were ushered into a small building, quite unlike the others they had seen. This one appeared new, and more modern than the rest. As they went inside, it became apparent that this structure had been built to accommodate the trade parties from Yensid. Nalan seemed familiar with the layout, and took them into a room near the back. Several tables surrounded by chairs waited to be occupied. Teal’c, Daniel and Sam sat right away, Jack took the time to spin his chair backwards, straddling the seat and resting his arms on the back, his chin on his arms.

As Nalan moved around the room, Jack followed him with his eyes. "So, we’re here. Now what?"

The question answered itself as a young girl entered the room. She carried a tray filled with steaming bowls and mugs. She place the tray in the centre of the table, then reached out to hand the food to the team. When they were all served, she left.

Nalan looked at them. "Now you eat. The others will join us here, then we will head to the site.

Jack poked cautiously at the contents of his bowl. Sam, on the other hand, tucked in. She paused in between bites to comment. "This is great. Too bad they can’t send this on our missions." The stew was hearty and fragrant. The flavour was somewhat different than anything she had tried before, but delicious nonetheless.

Jack took a tentative bite. Soon, he was eating as heartily as the others. Teal’c and Daniel finished first, and were promptly given second helpings. By the time the team had finished eating the satisfying meal, all were feeling better than they had in days.

All too soon, the rest of the party joined them, and they were ushered out the door to begin the next step in their journey.

****************************