The Annule Series 1

Nine Days

by D. Kelley

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asd/dkelley/annule01.php
Summary: In nine days, your life can change completely

Day One

The four travelers stood in front of the active wormhole, getting their bearings, checking that the landscape before them did indeed match the images the MALP had sent back. The wormhole de-activated behind them, cutting off the blue glow, and the one in charge nodded to himself.

"Okay, then, tourists," Jack O'Neill called out cheerfully. "On your left, we've got plants, trees, dirt, and rocks for Carter--you go with her, Teal'c, and on your right, we've got ruins with more plants, trees, dirt, and did I mention rocks? --for Daniel. I'm with him. Let's move--"

He was cut off by a flash of light off to the right in the very ruins he spoke of, and then two young men strode forward out of the desolate city remains, grinning broadly as they came to meet their visitors. They appeared human, and were dressed in very colorful tunics and trousers, with shoes that resembled sandals. They carried small pieces of unfamiliar equipment attached to belts around their waists.

The one in front was talking in a foreign language as they came forward, arms open, palms facing them in a universal gesture of friendliness and good intentions. Nevertheless, the three more military-minded members of SG-1 kept a tight grip on their weapons. The youngest, however, hurried to step out in front.

"Hello," he greeted them. "We're peaceful explorers from the planet Earth. I'm Daniel Jackson, and this--"

"Daniel." The word was breathed with such joy and reverence by both men that Daniel turned back from introducing Jack, and all four members of SG-1 stared. The two men looked at each other in delight and repeated the word with the same amazed joy. "Daniel."

"Uh, yes," Daniel said uncertainly. "And uh, this is Jack," he indicated the Colonel. "Colonel Jack O'Neill. He's in charge of SG-1. This is Teal'c, and--"

"Teal'c." They only whispered his name, but again, both aliens seemed highly impressed.

"Yes," Daniel nodded, eyes wide. "And this is Major Samantha Carter." Like with Jack O'Neill, the aliens gave her only a cursory nod before riveting their attention back on Daniel. He blinked rapidly under their disconcerting, and apparently adoring, gaze. He narrowed his eyes at them. "Uh, do you, uh, do you guys speak English?"

The two men conversed with each other in their own language, and then spoke into a piece of equipment attached to their belt. There was another flash of light from the ruins, and an old man appeared. The younger men ran over to assist him.

The man was elderly, but large, and must have been quite strong in his day. He clearly did not want or need the assistance of the younger men, but he was distracted by his undivided, extremely eager focus on Daniel. As he strode forward, gaze intent, Daniel couldn't help stepping back, and the other members of SG-1 stepped forward, hands on their weapons. The old man noticed, halted, cocked his head to the side, and looked at them in confusion. His attention left Daniel, and he scrutinized each team member carefully.

Finally, he turned back to Daniel. The archaeologist took a deep breath and stepped forward again, braving the strange, affectionate gazes the three human-appearing aliens were directing at him specifically. "Hello," he tried again. "I'm Daniel Jackson--"

"Daniel," the old man repeated, eyes wide and mouth open. The other two men chattered excitedly to him in their own language and after a moment, he motioned for quiet, closing his mouth. He gestured to himself and spoke in his own language. The only thing Daniel understood for sure was that the old man's name was Etienne.

He nodded at the elder. "Etienne," he repeated, and sighed. "Does anyone speak English? I'm sorry, I--I know a lot of languages, but I can't place yours. It sounds vaguely familiar to me, but I can't--place--where I've heard it."

The old man clearly didn't understand but was also clearly quite intelligent. He gestured toward the ruins, and spoke to Daniel again, several times emphasizing the word, 'ayarro.'

Daniel turned to Jack. "He wants us to go with him," he said needlessly, shrugging. "I can't tell what this language is. But judging from the number of times he's said the word 'ayarro,' I'm guessing it must mean 'leader' or the equivalent." He shrugged.

Etienne's brows came together thunderously and he shot forward, grasping Daniel's arm to turn him back toward him. He spoke again to Daniel with a very disturbed look on his face, and again used the word 'ayarro' a number of times.

Daniel bit his lip at the increasing agitation in the man. "It's okay, Jack," he murmured as he saw the Colonel moving closer. He shook his head at Etienne. "I don't know what you're saying, I'm sorry," he apologized. "You want to take us to whoever's in charge?" he guessed.

Etienne's eyes went wide and filled with horror at Daniel's lack of comprehension. He dropped the young man's arm and stepped back. Another string of the foreign language erupted, this time accompanied with hand motions that gestured at Daniel physically, indicating his body. Daniel held his hands up in confusion and shook his head.

Etienne went very still. He phrased a soft question to Daniel, and at Daniel's continued failure to understand, he exhaled an alarmed breath of air, and then went into action. He barked a few orders at the two young men, who went running back toward the ruins, and he spoke urgently into a device clipped onto his tunic. The ruins began to flash with light again.

"I--think we're getting out of here," Jack said cautiously, taking a hold of Daniel's sleeve and backing up. "Carter, you want to start dialing?"

"Yes, sir."

Etienne noticed their movements and became more agitated. He came after them, hands raised, talking gently. He was obviously trying to calm them, but plainly determined that they were not to leave. His determination made Jack all the more alarmed. He yanked Daniel out of reach of the old man.

"Carter?"

"Just about, sir."

Before she could hit the main crystal to activate the Stargate, the DHD went dead, and one of the alien men stuck his head out of the ruins to call what sounded suspiciously like the confirmation of completion of an order to Jack. Sure enough, Etienne acknowledged it with a quick nod. Jack brought his gun up, and heard Teal'c and Carter doing the same.

"Jack!"

"Daniel, stay back," he said tersely.

"They haven't done anything to harm us," the archaeologist reminded him. "We don't know what they're saying. All they did was shut down the Stargate. Let's not get trigger-happy, okay?"

"Nobody's shooting, Daniel," Jack ground out. He didn't lower his gun. Etienne stared him down.

"Nobody's talking either."

"You are," Jack retorted. "Too much to listen or open your eyes, Daniel. Or haven't you noticed that these people have got some kind of weird thing going for you?"

"Jack," Daniel protested, stepping forward to his side, "I don't think they want to hurt us. Let's just try to find out what's going on, okay?"

"Fine," Jack agreed, "but you don't go any closer than you are right now."

"And you lower your gun," Daniel told him, stumbling a little and steadying himself on Jack.

Jack gave him a sideways glance that told him he was pushing it, but he lowered the barrel of the gun a few inches. He knew Carter and Teal'c would follow his lead. His expression, though, told Etienne in no uncertain terms what any sudden moves would bring.

The old man smiled nervously, and looked at another piece of equipment on his tunic. The small item looked surprisingly like a watch. He swallowed hard and looked back up. He moved his hand very slowly, his eyes linked with Jack's, to his communication device, as if asking permission.

"Aht!" The gun came back up.

"It's just a communicator, Jack," Daniel pointed out, rubbing his temples. "You saw him use it a minute ago. He's probably just reporting the situation."

Jack lowered the barrel again with misgivings, and this time didn't try to stop the old man. Etienne spoke a few syllables into the device, and then Jack heard a hum. By the time he realized he heard the hum, he also realized that he couldn't move a muscle. Son of a bitch! he cursed silently. Daniel, I'm going to kill you.

He hoped Teal'c was resistant to whatever it was, but judging by the lack of sound behind him, he suspected the Jaffa and Carter were just as immobilized as he was. Movement to his side though, told him that Daniel was still free.

The young man was gaping at Jack and then turned to Etienne. "What did you do?" he asked in horror. "Let them go," he demanded. As he spoke, the younger alien men had already divested him of his handgun, and were busy taking the weapons from the rest of SG-1. Everything that could possibly become a weapon, knives, grenades, plastique, claymore, ammunition, everything, was efficiently taken from their clothing and packs and dumped in a pile on the ground.

Daniel watched in shock. "What are you doing?" he cried, feeling strange. His legs were beginning to feel rubbery, and his head was hurting. Etienne grabbed his arm to support him. Daniel tried to pull away, and didn't have the strength.

One of the alien men aimed a device at the pile of weapons and disintegrated them. Daniel stared in confusion, and then looked back up at Jack, still frozen, as the world started spinning. "What did you do to me?" he asked, trying to turn to face Etienne. He lost his balance, and the elderly alien caught him. The younger men jogged over with a stretcher, easily maneuvered Daniel onto it and strapped him in, and jogged back into the ruins with him. Etienne followed. At the edge of the ruins, he pointed a device at SG-1, and then hurried after his men. There was a flash of light.

Jack fell forward a step, caught himself, and then was off and running, with Carter and Teal'c close behind, but he knew before he reached the ruins what they'd find: No Daniel.

~~~

"Carter?"

She came around the edge of the ruins just at the second he predicted. "Power's still out, sir. I can't get it going. Their DHD isn't like any I've ever seen before. By all rights, it shouldn't even work. All I can figure out is, they've got it wired to somewhere else, so they can control it remotely if they want to." She sat down on crumbling steps edging the room in disgust.

Teal'c returned from another perimeter check. "These ruins are not extensive," he observed. "There are very few places they could have gone."

"If that flash of light was anything to go by, they used some kind of transporter," Jack said dully, his elbows on his knees, chin in his hands.

"But where?" Carter looked around. "I mean, we've searched everything, there's nothing here. No rings, no gate, no equipment, nothing. Just four crumbling old rooms."

"Perhaps their transportation device does not rely on technology at both the point of departure and the point of origin," Teal'c speculated.

"No," Carter shook her head definitively. "There has to be something on this end. Something to tell the matter where to reintegrate."

Teal'c circled the room. "We have found no such device. All that remains here is stone."

Jack looked up from his weapon. "Do you feel that?"

"Hmm?" Carter looked up.

Teal'c stiffened. "Indeed. There is a disturbance. Something--" Before he could finish, a point the size of a thumbnail at the center of the room on the floor began lifting itself up toward the ceiling. The stone floor lifted with it as if it were made of nothing more than cloth. Teal'c slid off the slanted floor and jumped the short gap in the floor created, to land on the outer steps next to Jack and Carter. When the very center of the floor touched the ceiling, it suddenly dropped back down with a flash of light. All three turned away in protection.

When the light was gone, they turned back, and one of the two younger alien men was in the room, smiling at them. He began speaking immediately.

Jack was up with a roar and had him pinned to the wall. "Where is Daniel? Where did you take him?"

"O'Neill!" Teal'c pried him loose of the young man, who had not resisted, but who had developed the sense to stop smiling and start looking nervous. He stepped away from them, but didn't try to run.

"Ahdji," he said quickly, pointing to himself, interrupting Jack trying to get free of Teal'c. He nodded soberly at Jack. "Daniel?"

Jack tore himself loose and shook himself. "Where is he?" he demanded.

Ahdji nodded again, and gestured at the stone floor. "Daniel," he said patiently, then gestured to himself. "Ahdji," he motioned at SG-1, and then back at the stone floor, "Daniel."

"He's going to take us to him," Carter said.

Jack stomped off to the center of the room. "Let's go," he ordered gruffly.

~~~

The dematerialization was a non-event, as they had no memory of it, but the re-materialization was a surprise. As far as they knew, they stepped into the center of the ruins' floor, and then suddenly, they were standing on a falling platform. Gravity hit hard, and Jack went down. Teal'c swayed, and managed to catch Carter. Ahdji, completely upright, watched them in surprise. When they were all completely vertical again, he led them off of the transportation platform.

"Holy Hannah," Carter breathed. They all stared in wonder around them. They stood in the midst of a city that could be considered Medieval in architecture, but futuristic in technology and material. The platform stood beside a walled public garden, and a street ran before it and from it. The street before it contained shops and markets down as far as the eye could see, and expanding out into residential areas further on. Going uphill ran large buildings of some kind of public nature. Going straight was only a short trip; a minute or two's walk following Ahdji brought them to large artistic gates that stood open to all, it seemed, because people traveled in and out unimpeded, and they saw no signs of guards.

Inside the gates was a palace, aesthetically pleasing to the eye, large but not extravagant, rich but not at the expense of its people. In fact, the people, Jack noted, looking around, seemed quite healthy and happy all around, and he had yet to see anyone who looked any poorer than anyone else, with the exception perhaps of the richly-dressed old man, Etienne, who'd come to meet them. He was hoping he'd get to see that guy again very soon.

The palace was clearly not a place of aristocratic aloofness; it was light and breezy, with people all over, in windows and doorways, talking, playing, working, and often, peering with mild curiosity at the newcomers. Teal'c gathered the most attention, but nowhere near what Etienne and the other two aliens had paid to Daniel at the Stargate.

Ahdji ushered them inside and through a passageway. Jack ignored the art decorating the walls as he followed, focusing only on getting his missing team member--and best friend--back. When they were shown into a room full of shelves, Jack balked. "Wait a minute," he growled. "You said you were bringing us to Daniel."

Ahdji turned back from a large table he had begun pulling chairs out from. He looked surprised, but nodded. "Daniel," he agreed, speaking a few words in his own language, before stopping, frustrated. "Nalia," he told them carefully, then pointed the team to the table. "Nalia," he made a sweeping gesture from the doorway to a chair on the other side of the table, and then smiled. "Daniel," he finished, obviously hoping they understood.

Jack shook his head as if to clear it, eyes narrowed. "What???" he asked in amazement. "Look, where--is--Daniel?"

A woman entered the room from the other side, and Ahdji gave a short bow, and a smile of vast relief. The woman was quite elderly, about Carter's size and weight, with light brown hair. Jack placed her in her eighties at least, but acknowledged that the woman must have been a looker in her prime. Even at her age, she wasn't bad, he thought wryly. She had beautiful blue eyes that unnerved him for some reason, but not in a bad way. In fact, Jack thought, something about the old woman seemed to set him at ease, and that alone was telling him to be wary. He had no reason to trust this woman, despite this strange emotional reaction to her. For all he knew, she was another Hathor.

She patted Ahdji on the arm sympathetically and allowed him to help her take a seat at the table. She looked frail, but Jack could see that in truth, she was deceptively strong. Old, yes, but fragile, no. She spoke a few words to the younger alien, and he left them alone in the room. The woman looked up at them and smiled, and gestured to the seats across from her. Speaking in her own language, she unmistakably invited them to join her.

Unwillingly, Jack took the seat across from her, and Teal'c and Carter took the chairs on his sides. "Where is Daniel?" Jack asked without preamble.

The woman smiled more widely. She pointed to herself delicately. "Nalia," she said softly. Then she gestured at Jack with an open hand and a questioning look.

Jack rolled his head, cracking his neck bones. "Here we go again," he grumbled. He looked back at her. "Colonel Jack O'Neill," he said shortly. He jerked a thumb at his companions. "Teal'c. Major Samantha Carter. Where is Daniel?"

Nalia seemed amused by Jack. She repeated his words carefully, bowing her head to each of them in greeting. "Colonel Jack O'Neill. Teal'c." She smiled in delight as she looked up at the Jaffa. "Major Samantha Carter."

"Sam," Carter told her.

Jack turned slowly to glare, and Carter shrugged. "I don't see the harm, sir," she apologized.

Jack turned back to see Nalia watching him, and he huffed. "Fine. Colonel," he grated out.

"Colonel," Nalia nodded.

"Where is Daniel?" Jack demanded again.

Nalia chuckled. She turned to Teal'c and spoke in Goa'uld. "You do speak Goa'uld, do you not, Master Teal'c?"

Teal'c exchanged glances with a much more uneasy O'Neill and Carter. He looked back at the old woman. "Teal'c," he responded. "I do."

"And these humans," Nalia swept her hand toward them, "Colonel and Sam, what language do they speak?"

"They speak the language of the Tau'ri."

"Teal'c?"

The Jaffa turned to Jack. "She wishes to know what language you speak."

"The Tau'ri speak hundreds of languages. Which one in particular?"

Teal'c turned back to Nalia. "They speak a language called English."

Nalia frowned in concentration. "I am not familiar with that word. What planet are they from?"

Teal'c spoke with arched pride. "Theirs is the First World. They call it Earth."

"Teal'c?" Jack asked in warning. "What'ya tellin' her, huh?"

"I have said that you come from the First World, O'Neill, the planet Earth."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You haven't told her coordinates or anything."

Teal'c gave him a look.

"Of course you haven't," Jack soothed quickly. "Why's she want to know?"

Teal'c looked at the woman. "Why do you wish to know of their planet of origin?"

Nalia was looking mightily impressed. "I thought Ra killed all the humans on the First World," she murmured, lost in thought. "Well, obviously, he lied to protect his authority. Still, the exact location of the First World was lost to myth long ago. And the word 'Earth' means nothing to me. Can you show me the symbol from the Chapp'ai?"

Teal'c looked at her stonily. "Why do you wish to know?" he repeated.

The old woman focused on him. "Ah," she sighed. "It will help me find their language, if we possess a record of it. And if we do, then very shortly, we could be conversing in a language that all of us will understand. There is no harm in showing us the symbol. I cannot extrapolate the address based only on the point of origin."

Teal'c bowed his head and turned to his teammates. "She believes that if we show her which symbol from the Stargate represents Earth, she will be able to locate some type of record of Earth languages. She also believes that in that case, she will then be able to converse with us in a language we all will understand. I believe they must possess some type of technology that will make it possible."

"Tell him I could answer his questions about Daniel if we could speak the same language," Nalia interrupted, smiling wryly. Teal'c translated.

"Why can't you just answer them through Teal'c?" O'Neill muttered. "Fine. Carter, show her the symbol."

Sam pulled out a small notebook, and quickly drew the symbol for Earth. Ripping off the page, she slid it across the page to the elderly female, who took it gently from the younger woman. She picked it up and examined it.

Nalia's eyes narrowed in thought, and she began to mumble to herself in her own language. She reminded Jack of Daniel as she did so, her concentration intense as she clearly tried to recall something obscure from her memory. She got up from her chair and began to circle the room, glancing up and down at the shelves around her, which were marked with tiny foreign letters on the edges.

"Ah," she sighed, and grabbed a device from one corner of the room. It looked like a plate on a long, bent stick. She carried it easily to the other side of the room, placed the plate on the floor, stepped onto it, and grasped the stick where it bent, just at her waist. The device lifted her into the air.

"Whoa," Carter exclaimed.

Jack's eyebrows were climbing his forehead. "I want one of those," he remarked. They watched as Nalia maneuvered the device high up the wall, and then over a few feet as she carefully scanned the labeling of the shelves. Finally, with a small crow of triumph, she reached into one shelf and withdrew a thin plate. Quickly, she descended back to the ground and returned to the table.

"Okay, that was cool," Jack conceded as she reseated herself. "So now will you tell us where Daniel is?"

She smiled at his perseverance, understanding only the word Daniel, as usual. She palmed a colored spot on the table, and a cube rose out of the seamless surface before her. The cube expanded to approximately three inches high, and four doors popped open, one on the left and one on the right, and two on top. Grasping the thin plate she had removed from the shelf, she deftly snapped it open, revealing it to be two conjoined plates. Between them, a silver strand of what looked like hair was coiled.

Jack looked at it askance and snuck a glance at his second-in-command, who looked equally in the dark.

Nalia grasped one end of the hair carefully, and placing at the opening of one of the side doors, she fed it inside. Almost immediately, the hair popped out the door on the other side, and she just as carefully coiled it back up ad replaced it in the plates, closing them back up.

"That's it?" Jack asked, disappointed. "No lights? No bells? Nothing? What does it do?"

Nalia recognized his impatience and seemed to find it amusing, though she politely tried to restrain the humor she showed on her face. She closed the side doors on the device and moved to one of the open top doors. She began manipulating a ball mounted on its panel.

"Je voudrais voir la personne qui--"

"That's French!" Carter burst out, and the sound stopped immediately. Nalia looked at her hopefully. "Um, sorry," Carter went on, shaking her head. "I recognize it, but I don't speak it."

"That is not the right language," Teal'c told her in Goa'uld. "It is, however, from the right planet. Do you have other languages from the same planet?"

Nalia nodded. "Yes. You should let me know when the device is playing English." She manipulated the ball again as Teal'c relayed the instructions.

A gruff, voice barked out strange-sounding consonants.

"That's Russian," Jack observed.

"No."

"Avete visto mai qualcosa di simile?"

They all shook their heads.

"Ik wil naar huis gaan."

Jack leaned back in his chair. "Nope."

"Noch einmal in den Bruch."

Teal'c looked at Carter. "How many languages are there on Earth, Major Carter?"

"Over--"

"I want to speak to someone in--"

"That's it!" Jack was on his feet, startling all three other people at the table. Nalia quickly stopped the device. She held her hand to her chest, took a deep breath to calm herself, and smiled.

Jack sat back down. "Sorry," he mumbled. "That's it," he said in a more normal tone, gesturing at the device. "English."

Nalia nodded patiently. She pressed two buttons in the same panel she had been manipulating, and then from the other open door, withdrew two small round devices. Pressing them to her temples, she closed all doors to the device. The cube snapped open in the middle, and half of it shot up, looking like a thick, open laptop in front of her.

"Sir, those look a little like--"

"Tok'ra memory devices," Jack finished for Carter.

"But not exactly," Carter whispered, as a blue light began to shine out of the open cube. It was directed specifically at Nalia, most especially at her face around the temples, and a very soft screeching noise played. It wasn't loud enough to be annoying, but it was a very odd noise. Nalia stared unblinkingly into the light, and since she didn't seem to be in any distress or pain, the team didn't try to interrupt.

A moment later, the light shut off and the sound stopped. Nalia blinked a few times, and took a deep breath. She reached up to rub her eyes, and then smiled at the three people across the table. She took off the small devices at her temples and returned them to the cube, which had closed by itself, with just the one door on top having re-opened for the return of the temple instruments. She snapped them in place and closed the door. The entire cube sank back into the table and disappeared as if it had never been there.

Jack couldn't help himself, he looked under the table, but the table was thick, and he realized there could be any number of devices built into it. He took his elbows off it and leaned back. He nudged Carter to do the same.

Nalia smiled again. "I am Nalia," she re-introduced herself. "You can understand me now, yes?"

Carter's mouth dropped open. "You learned our language that quick?"

The old woman tapped the spot on the table where the device had been. "The language-giver works very quickly with an ayarro," she explained. "With any other Furling, it would have taken several sessions over at least three days, but with an ayarro, it takes only a minute or two." She stopped, disconcerted by the gaping looks on Carter and Jack's faces. "Have I said something I shouldn't?"

"F--Furling?" Carter stammered.

"Yes," Nalia answered, surprised. "This is Annule. We are the Furlings." She shook her head. "Etienne figured out quickly that Daniel was not prepared when he came through the Stargate. But we thought you at least knew where you were." She seemed puzzled.

"P3X478," Jack murmured.

Not only Nalia, but Carter and Teal'c looked at him in surprise. "What?" he asked, recovering. "That's what we called it, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Carter answered, still surprised he had let slip he actually knew the designation. She turned to Nalia. "We knew we were coming here," she explained. "We just didn't know the planet's real name, or that there were people here. When we sent through the MALP--uh, the mechanical device that tells us if atmospheric conditions are viable for us--we didn't see any people. Only ruins."

Nalia nodded. "Much of Annule is in ruins," she agreed, not seeming at all unhappy about it. "The number of Furlings is small. Most of us live here in Sallia, this city. We keep the ruins that cover our planet because we Furlings love to study the past," she smiled, the humor in her eyes shining. "By the time a Furling is fully grown, he or she has seen every square inch of every ruin on the planet."

"Okay, we're getting too far off course here," Jack put in. "So you're the Furlings. Great. That means you're an advanced race, up there with the Asgard--personal buddies of mine, by the way--and the Nox, and the Ancients. It also means you're not going to kill us, right? Of course, right." He bulldozed on. "So you said Daniel 'wasn't prepared.' What the heck does that mean?"

Nalia looked gravely concerned. "Daniel should have been given a certain medication before coming to Annule," she informed him. "The fact that he did not seem to know what an ayarro was tipped Etienne off to the fact that Daniel had most likely not been prepared for his trip here."

"And, so, therefore?" Jack prompted. "You're not making sense to us, sorry." He didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

"And, so, therefore," Nalia told him grimly, "when you came through the Stargate, Daniel--contracted an illness. A fatal illness, Colonel."

"Where--is--Daniel?" Jack growled.

"Fatal if untreated," Nalia went on, assuring him. "Fatal if he had been removed from the planet. Fatal if treatment is delayed past a short amount of time after first exposure. Etienne knew you could not understand him. He also knew you were likely to react badly. So he shut down the Stargate and temporarily immobilized you. When Daniel collapsed, he brought him here to the palace and released you. And you are none the worse for wear," she said tersely.

"Where--is--Daniel?" Jack repeated, threateningly.

"Sir," Carter murmured.

"He is being treated," Nalia told him, trying to be patient. "He is most likely sleeping at the moment. We have looked in the historical records. For the first three days, the patient usually just slept."

"Where is Daniel!?!" Jack shouted.

Nalia jumped, then straightened, a cool, stubborn look in her eye.

"He is going to be fine. But I must talk to you before you see him," she told him.

Jack leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms nonchalantly. "No, sir, no, ma'am, no Daniel, no talking." He began to whistle.

"Sir," Carter said pleadingly.

"Not another word, Major," Jack ordered. "They're holding a member of my team hostage for information, and they're not getting anything more until we get confirmation he's okay." He looked at Nalia with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Do you like singing?" he asked. "I've got one for you." He began singing--loudly, and off-key. Everyone in the room cringed. "Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling, From glen to glen and down the mountain side."

Nalia went to the door and called Ahdji in, then spoke a few words in their language. He hurried out.

Jack went on, enjoying himself. Carter put her head down on her arms at the table. "The summer's gone, and all the leaves are falling; 'Tis ye, 'tis ye must go, and I must bide."

Teal'c began to roll his neck, ominous cracks sounding over even Jack's horrible singing. "But come ye back when summer's in the meadow, Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow; 'Til I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow--"

Jack paused as Ahdji returned with something in his arms, and began setting up a screen. "Danny boy ... Oh Danny boy ..." He trailed off. "So, what, we get a movie with this flight?"

Nalia looked at him with a mixture of confusion over his words and relief that he'd stopped singing. With a touch of her fingers, the screen sprang to life. From a vantage point of about six feet, an observation device of some kind peered into a large room. In the center of the back wall was a huge bed, king-size or bigger, and in it lay a familiar figure. Daniel was tucked in neatly, cushioned by several pillows, and sleeping. The camera zoomed in momentarily, and they saw that while flushed, he was breathing all right, wasn't sweating much, and his sleep was undisturbed.

Nalia's fingers moved again, and the camera pulled back, and they saw that seated in a chair beside the bed was a man engaged in reading from a flat plate with scrolling lines of text. The picture was so life-like, Jack felt sure that if he knew the language, he could have read the text itself. Nalia spoke up in her own language, and the man looked up at the camera and smiled. He spoke back to her.

"This is Phael," Nalia told them. "He is the finest physician on all of Annule, and my personal physician as well. Daniel could not be in better hands, although I assure you, once treatment is begun and if it is maintained, the illness is routine and easily cured. Nevertheless, we are taking no chances." She turned back to the doctor and spoke again.

The man moved closer to Daniel and spoke of him, and gently patted his arm before going back to his chair. Nalia left the screen on and came back to the table. "Phael says that Daniel is doing well. He has had the first treatment, and as you see, is sleeping. Phael has reviewed every bit of historical information there is. Daniel is expected to sleep off and on for the first three days of treatment. He will regain strength gradually during the last three days of treatment. It will take another few days after that for him to reach full strength again, but after the first six days, the days of treatment, the danger is past; the Change will be complete."

"Change?"

"The Change?"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Jack overrode his teammates, holding up a hand to Nalia. "What do you mean, the Change?"

Nalia's eyes were wide. "That is the closest translation I can think of, Colonel. That is what we call it. The Change."

"O--kay," Jack drawled. "And that would be--why?"

Nalia crossed her hands in front of her. "Because at the end of the illness, Colonel, the patient has been changed."

Jack winced. "Now, how did I know you were going to say that? Changed to what?"

Nalia looked at him archly. "Now you see, Colonel, why we needed to talk?"

"Why don't you answer the question?" he countered.

The old woman folded her arms across her chest. "We are not enemies here, Colonel."

"Now you see," Jack shot back, "I have no way of knowing that."

Nalia considered the point, and dropped her hands to her lap. "Fair enough," she agreed. "I know that we are not enemies, but you have no way of knowing yet. But what I do not know, and need to know, is what exactly is your purpose."

"Excuse me?" Carter asked, when Jack sputtered.

Nalia turned to her. "Since Daniel was not prepared before coming here, he obviously did not come here deliberately--or at least, did not come here knowing where it was he was coming. Therefore, your purpose in coming through the Stargate was not to seek us out. What is your purpose in traveling through the Stargate?"

Carter tried to look reassuring. "We're peaceful explorers," she answered, borrowing from Daniel. "We go through the Stargate looking for friends and allies--"

"And technology," Jack interrupted belligerently.

"To aid us in the fight against the Goa'uld," Teal'c put in, sensing O'Neill was letting his worry about Daniel Jackson override his emotions.

Nalia's expression turned to one of shock. "The fight against the Goa'uld?" she repeated. "You fight the Goa'uld?" she asked, turning back to the humans.

"Yes, we do," Jack snapped back. "And we're damned good at it. At last count, we've eliminated more Goa'uld than any of you so-called higher races, combined."

"But--but--Daniel," Nalia insisted.

"Yeah," Jack said vehemently, "that's what I want to know. Why won't you take us to him?"

Nalia gathered herself. "You three, you fight the Goa'uld?" she asked quietly. "You are not Daniel's guards?"

All three members of SG-1 stared at her in shock.

"Guards?" Carter asked tentatively.

Nalia nodded. "It was originally assumed your purpose was to protect Daniel. That he came here looking specifically for us, and that you are his normal guards. Then we realized that Daniel came here--" she shook her head in amazement, "by accident, but your protectiveness still indicated you were his guards. You are--" she shook her head again in dismayed shock, "--not?"

"We--Daniel too--we're members of an organization from our planet," Carter tried again, "that seeks out allies and technology to help us fight the Goa'uld. They're--um, they're trying to wipe us out, ma'am."

Nalia looked concerned, but then her eyes narrowed. "But Daniel," she repeated. "You allow Daniel to take part in the fight against the Goa'uld?"

"And why should we not?" Teal'c inquired. "DanielJackson is a fine warrior, whether he uses his mind or a weapon."

Nalia winced. "But the danger ..."

"Daniel's aware of the danger," Jack said roughly. "And forgive me for saying so, but it's none of your business. Daniel's a big boy who can take care of himself. Now, if you'll just show us to him, we'd appreciate it."

The old woman drew herself up stiffly before him. "Colonel--"

"Ma'am," Carter interrupted quickly, trying to give her a soothing smile, "Nalia. It isn't that we aren't very grateful that you're treating Daniel. We are, really. It's just that, well, we really aren't comfortable being separated from him like this. Bad things have a habit of happening to Daniel."

Nalia's eyes softened, and she smiled wryly. "Yes," she agreed softly. "He is an ayarro, after all." She met Carter's confused eyes. "And you three, you are his protectors, no matter what you believe." Her gaze slid over to Jack. "That is why you have been so uncooperative."

"Duh," he muttered.

"I am unfamiliar with that word," Nalia stated.

"It means--"

"Teal'c!" Carter shouted, cutting the Jaffa off before he could explain. She smiled nervously at Nalia. "It really doesn't mean anything. So," she widened her eyes hopefully, "we can go see Daniel?"

Nalia scrutinized all three of them in turn, seeming to look deep into each SG-1 team member. Finally satisfied with something only she could see, she nodded to herself, and then more obviously nodded to SG-1. She spoke to the doctor on the screen behind her, and Phael immediately began producing more chairs by pressing panels in the walls of Daniel's room.

~~~

Having reassured themselves that Daniel had a fever of only 100.1, and seemed to be merely sleeping, and being allowed to stay in the room with him, assured that Daniel would not awaken no matter how loudly they spoke, SG-1 took surprisingly comfortable seats that extended from the walls around the bed. Phael and Nalia were already seated, and offered them refreshment from a nearby table.

Phael briefed them on Daniel's condition, and the course they could expect, and Nalia translated. Jack sent Teal'c to the Stargate, with Nalia sending Ahdji as a guide, to inform General Hammond that they would be staying at least a week. However, he was forbidden to make any mention of Furlings; only that they had met an advanced race and were attempting to establish relations while Daniel recovered from an illness only they could treat.

Once Teal'c was on his way, Jack fixed his eyes on Nalia resolutely. "You never explained the 'Change'," he stated.

"You never explained why you allow Daniel to fight the Goa'uld," Nalia countered. "But very well, I will go first." She got up and crossed the room to a blank wall, and with a caress of a slightly lighter-colored streak, stood before a desk that emerged from the wall.

"These people are way into their minimalism, aren't they?" Jack muttered.

"I like it," Sam whispered. "It's so uncluttered."

Nalia selected an electronic plate from the desk, and removed it. Another stroke to the wall and the desk withdrew. She returned to her seat and manipulated the square plate in her lap. "The first thing you must know," she told them, working with the plate, "is that Furlings possess what we call the Sight. We know from the historical records that humans do not possess the Sight." She looked up as a thought struck her. "Is that still true?"

"Well, we can see," Jack said in exasperation.

"Yes," Nalia nodded, seeing that as confirmation of his lack of exposure to the difference between seeing, and the Sight. She went back to the plate. "The Sight is different, though. Humans see things as they are. Furlings see this too, but we also see that which is inside. Every living being has a life force," she wrestled one of the controls for a moment, then continued. "Every being's life force is different and identifies them. A Furling can see that life force. We call that the Sight."

Jack and Sam exchanged glances. "Auras?" Carter asked cautiously.

"Something like that," Nalia agreed, looking up. "If I understand the term. It's a little like that. Now. I will show you." She turned the plate to face them. "This is a representation of your Teal'c."

On the surface of the plate was an illustration that did indeed look very much like Teal'c. It was not exact, but close enough that it could have sold as art work. Jack whistled appreciatively. "You just do that now?" he asked. "I'll take a print."

Nalia ignored him, sensing he was not being serious. "This is what you see," she said in a lecturing tone. She looked down and twisted a dial, and the picture changed.

"Whoa!" Jack jumped in his seat, and Carter was taken aback as well. The picture of Teal'c was now colored differently. While Teal'c himself was in no way diminished, there were now other elements added in. Near his stomach region an angry red mist that swirled and snapped about. Jack reached out his hand toward the picture and could actually feel heat coming off of that part of the picture. Nalia nodded in encouragement.

Surrounding the red, however, was a cooling royal blue of the deepest saturation. It was composed of a faint pattern, extremely regular and organized. The image was strong and clear and unwavering, like the man himself. Nothing, not the red mist, not the contours of the body, not the movement or emotions floating occasionally on top, nothing altered the marching pattern. It was determined and reliable and good, and somehow, Jack thought, even if he couldn't see Teal'c behind it, he would have known it was Teal'c. Even if he hadn't known Teal'c however, he would have known, from the 'vibes' coming off the picture, that this was someone he could trust.

He looked up at Nalia. "That's what you see?" he asked softly.

She smiled. "That's a modest representation of what all Furlings see, Colonel," she replied. "It is why we are all so happy to meet Teal'c. We have never seen a Jaffa like him before. His life force is uncorrupted by the Goa'uld, who normally have ties on their Jaffa not only from within, but also from without. They thread themselves all throughout a Jaffa's psyche ordinarily, by the way they raise them, their society. Teal'c's life force is free. We had never thought a Jaffa like Teal'c could possibly exist."

"There are others," Carter pointed out, thinking of Bratac and other rebels.

Nalia looked pleased at the news, a point in her favor, Jack decided. "That is good to hear," she told them. "So, Colonel," she tapped the screen, "this is the Sight." She lowered the plate and kept her gaze steady on his. "When Daniel's Change is complete, he will have the Sight."

Both humans gaped at her. To give them time to recover, Nalia turned off the pad and set it aside.

"Daniel--Daniel will see things like that?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Nalia answered, looking up. Phael, not understanding the conversation, was watching the play of emotions with interest.

"But Daniel's not a Furling!" Sam protested.

Nalia didn't respond at first. "He will have the sight in five more days," she said when she did answer. "He needs five more treatments."

"And if he doesn't get them, he won't get the Sight?" Jack asked.

"That is correct, Colonel," Nalia said quickly, almost angrily. "He won't get the Sight because he'll be dead."

"I don't understand how this happened," Carter said in bewilderment.

Nalia sighed. "I realize you have no reason to trust me. You do not have the Sight, so you cannot see if I am good or bad at heart, if I am basically honest or a fundamental liar. All I can do is tell you I have no reason to lie to you. Daniel contracted this illness, the Change, the moment he stepped foot on the planet. It cannot be averted. It cannot be reversed. It can be treated and cured. When it is over, Daniel will have the Sight. It is not something I am deciding. It is not something we are doing to Daniel. It is the way of Nature. It is the way of Annule. I cannot change it."

"Maybe it'll be different for Daniel, though," Sam said, speculating. "I mean, he's not Furling, so maybe it'll work differently on him. Maybe he'll just get better, and not have the Sight."

Nalia stared for a moment, then nodded stiffly. "My late husband used to always say, anything is possible," she murmured. "But if he does have the Sight, would that be such a terrible thing, Samantha?"

"No, it wouldn't," Jack said decisively, rescuing an embarrassed Carter. "But it hasn't happened yet, and may not happen because Daniel's human, not Furling. So let's not count our chickens before they're hatched, hmmm?"

Nalia's eyes widened on that one. "How--" she trailed off. "Ah, I understand," she nodded. "But Colonel, consider this one. How often does a chicken's egg hatch out a mouse?" When he stared in confusion, she grinned. "Sometimes, a chicken is all you can count." Before he could figure that out, she pressed on. "And now it is your turn, Colonel. How can you allow Daniel to be involved in any fight with the Goa'uld?"

"How can I allow it?" he repeated, bemused. "Like I could stop him? The Goa'uld took his wife, his brother-in-law, and killed some of his extended family. The Goa'uld have hurt him time and time again. You think I can stop him from trying to end their reign of terror?"

She stood, angry now. "How can you allow him to suffer these things?" she cried out. Phael stood beside her, trying to calm her, but she was having none of it. "Daniel was married? His wife, his brother, taken by the Goa'uld? How did this happen? He has been hurt time and time again, you say? How can you let that happen? Once I can see, but once should have been all it took for you to keep it from ever happening again!"

Jack stared up at her in shock. Nalia had gone from an amusing, handsome, grandmotherly-type woman to an angry mother bear in zero flat. "Wha?"

Phael was speaking into her ear urgently, a steady stream, and unwillingly, she was listening. Slowly, her fists unclenched, and the red began to leave her face. She looked over at Daniel, still sleeping, and when Phael finally paused in his speech, she nodded, taking a deep breath. She crossed to the chair closest to the head of Daniel's bed, and sat down, keeping her gaze averted.

"I apologize," she said softly. "I need a few moments to gather myself. Phael will show you to some rooms nearby that will be yours while Daniel recovers. You can come back shortly and we will talk some more. Again, I apologize, but please, give me a little time." She sounded so forlorn that even Jack didn't have anything to say. He motioned to Carter, and they followed the physician out of the room without a word.

~~~

Carter was starting to check out the suite of rooms they'd been given, only a minute or so from Daniel's room, as promised, when Phael caught Jack's eye from where he waited near the doorway. The physician jerked his head back out into the corridor and looked at Jack meaningfully. Eyebrows up, Jack called quietly to Carter that he'd be back.

The physician was acting strangely, that was for certain, and Jack was amused, following the man. He obviously wasn't used to doing things on the sly, and attempting to do so was making him all the more noticeable. Fortunately, there weren't many around in the hallway he lead Jack down. The man was sweating, Jack noticed, smiling. He wondered what great sin this poor guy thought he was committing.

He was led into a gallery of sorts, empty of people at present, but full of three-dimensional images. Jack might have thought they were real if it were not for the slightly less than solidness to them. He followed the doctor to a platform where two chairs sat overlooking the entourage of other images. In one sat Nalia, looking very much like she had earlier. In the other sat a man in his 50s, dark hair graying at the temples in the way women tended to call 'distinguished.' A small smile played on his lips, as if he was enjoying a private joke, and his eyes were warm.

And familiar.

Jack frowned. Familiar in the same way Nalia's had struck him.

Phael looked at him nervously and waved a hand in front of a plaque. "Danyer," he breathed.

The image came to life, startling Jack. The man looked around as if he was at a party, blue eyes sparkling. The small smile grew at times, and occasionally he spoke in the Furling language. Phael waved his hand again a different way, and the image began to age--in reverse.

Jack was fascinated. The years peeled away from the man's face, crow's feet smoothing out, hair darkening and thickening. A middle-age spread disappeared and posture straightened. Shoulders broadened, waist thinned, muscles thickened. The eyes remained the same, bright and warm and frighteningly familiar to Jack, if he could just remember why.

Phael waved his hand again, and the image froze. Jack estimated the man had been captured at about age 30, maybe a little more. He stared at it hard, trying to pin down what was bothering him. Then it struck him. The man looked a whole lot like Daniel. A scary whole lot like Daniel.

"Danyer," Phael repeated reverently.

Jack nodded absently. "Daniel," he repeated.

Phael tugged on his arm and shook his head. He pointed down the hall toward Daniel's room. "Daniel," he insisted clearly. He pointed at the image. "Danyer." He gestured at Nalia, at the two of them sitting on chairs beside each other, and waved a hand at another plaque to de-age Nalia. She stopped somewhere in her 20s, and he activated them both.

The young man turned toward the young Nalia and caught her eye, they both smiled, and then his gaze turned suggestive as he nodded toward a direction over his shoulder. Nalia giggled, but extended her hand, and as the two of them rose from their chairs, the picture froze and reset to them seated again.

"Danyer," Phael repeated, gesturing again at the young man.

"Oh, my God," Jack felt his stomach dropping. "He was her husband? And Daniel comes along and looks like him--Oh, my God." He glanced back down the hallway toward their rooms. "Oh, shit."

"Chak?" Phael looked even more disturbed, and started shaking his head. He started talking, but stopped, realizing he wasn't able to communicate in a language Jack understood. Frustrated, he looked about to cry.

Jack took pity on the guy; after all, he was grateful for the info. He pasted a slightly more cheerful look on his face and gave the guy a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," he lied. "Everything's good. Everything's hunky-dory. Everything's gone to Hell in a hand basket, but hey, it's not your fault," he smiled reassuringly, not letting his tone match his words.

Phael seemed a little calmer and reassured. He still looked at Jack searchingly.

Jack smiled. "Everything's going to be o--kay," he nodded with exaggerated head movements. "Don't you worry about a thing. You just take care of Daniel," Phael smiled eagerly, only recognizing the name, "and I'll take care of keeping him out of Nalia's clutches."

Phael brightened, hearing him say Nalia's name in a not unpleasant tone. The fear left his face, and he smiled in delight, obviously thinking he'd accomplished something. He let Jack precede him back toward Daniel's room.

~~~

Jack waved at Teal'c, who was being led by Ahdji from the opposite direction to the room. They let Sam precede them inside, and the team took seats again around Daniel's bed, nothing that the archaeologist was still asleep. Ahdji checked with Phael and Nalia, presumably if he was needed for anything else, and then left the room, palming the door closed behind him. Nalia looked more composed, and a little embarrassed. Jack decided to take the reins.

"You wanted to know why we allow Daniel to take part in the fight against the Goa'uld," he said without preamble.

She looked at him in surprise. "Yes."

Jack nodded and crossed one leg over the other, clasping his hands at his knee. "Without Daniel, there would be no fight against the Goa'uld. We'd all be dead."

Nalia looked concerned, but open to hearing him explain.

"Daniel opened the Stargate," Jack explained. "Daniel got it to work when no one else could. And then time and time again when we went through it, Daniel proved invaluable in saving whole races of people--and Earth itself. We," he gestured at himself, Teal'c, and Carter, "we did our part, too, of course. But I don't think Teal'c or Carter'd argue with me if I said that Daniel is probably the most important person working at Stargate Command."

"DanielJackson is a formidable warrior," Teal'c agreed. "As I have said. Whether he uses a weapon or his mind. I have seen him bring about solutions that a thousand other men could not."

"I wouldn't argue either," Carter said quietly. "I've analyzed every bit of data we've seen from the glimpses into alternate universes. In every universe where Earth didn't make it, the most glaring difference seems to be Daniel not being at Stargate Command. Maybe that's too simplistic--but--I'm sure glad we've got him."

Jack nodded grimly, his eyes never having left the alien woman as his team spoke. "Daniel has seen, first-hand, what the Goa'uld do. For him, the fight is personal. But even if it wasn't, Daniel isn't the type of person who can see the suffering they inflict, and stand by and do nothing. Unlike some of you more advanced races."

Nalia met his gaze levelly. "You condemn us for 'hiding' here on Annule. For not going out and destroying the Goa'uld."

"Yes," Jack nodded frankly. "You were one of the four 'great' races I've heard about. You four had the best chance of stopping them. And you didn't."

Nalia leaned back and crossed her arms. "I believe you said that the Asgard are your 'buddies,' Colonel."

"Yeah," Jack gave her a smug grin. "Thor and me, we're like this." He held up his hand, index and middle finger crossed.

Nalia exhaled a short breath of laughter. "I'm not familiar with that gesture, but I assume it means you are good friends with Thor?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha."

She blinked at his response. "Well, then," Nalia said smoothly, "I'm surprised that your good buddy, Thor, never told you of the Great Betrayal."

Jack narrowed his eyes, not quite so cocky.

"Obviously, he has not," Nalia went on, "if that's all you know--that we had the chance to stop the Goa'uld and just--didn't."

"What was the Great Betrayal?" Carter asked, when Jack stayed quiet.

Nalia looked at Teal'c. "Have you heard of it?"

Teal'c was looking at her with respect. "I have. I did not, however, know the races involved. The legends are most vague."

"Teal'c?"

The Jaffa turned to face his teammates. "The Great Betrayal is not mentioned often, because it happened so long ago. It was many thousands of years ago. The Goa'uld mainly refer to it as an example. According to legend, a group of races opposed the Goa'uld and caused them minor irritation," he bowed to Nalia. "When the Goa'uld admit to minor irritation, it is well-known that the threat to them was significant." He turned back to his team.

"The Goa'uld undertook to infiltrate these groups. They did so by using the very humans these races were trying to save. Through whatever means, these races were betrayed by humans, and annihilated by the Goa'uld."

"Obviously not completely annihilated," Nalia said with a wry sadness that drew their attention. "But close. And the Asgard escaped unharmed, thankfully."

Jack leaned forward, losing his smug body language. "What happened?" he asked.

Nalia sighed. "We Furlings love to study the past," she admitted. "We have historical records that go back nearly 50,000 of your years. Long before the Goa'uld rose from their swamps. So the story of the Great Betrayal is as fresh in the mind of every Furling as it was the year after it happened. It is one aspect of our history that everyone studies, no matter what their preferences."

She glanced at Daniel, still sleeping. "With very few exceptions, Furlings do not leave Annule," she told them. "But thousands of years ago, we used to, both in ships and through the Stargate." She looked back at SG-1. "We explored, as you do. We found many wondrous things. We met many peoples. Some more advanced, some less, some the same--and we made friends, and allies."

She smiled wistfully. "For a long time, there weren't very many dangers in the universe. Not dangers like the Goa'uld, for example. Or the Replicators, which Thor tells me threaten his home world more and more." She looked up at Jack's start of surprise. "Oh, yes, Colonel, I know Thor. He has contacted me a few times. He has been a friend of my people for many thousands of years. We were allies once, remember?"

Nalia chuckled. "Actually, it isn't all that surprising that you and he are like this," she made the same gesture with her fingers that Jack had. "The two of you have many similar aspects in your life forces."

"Huh?"

"Oh, yes," she laughed quietly again, "you and Thor have much in common, Colonel."

It was hard to tell which member of SG-1 looked more surprised. Carter recovered first, however. "How so?" she asked.

Nalia was enjoying herself at the moment. "Well, from what I saw in his life force through the communication orb, and from what I've heard from other Asgard, Thor is something of a maverick among his people. Highly respected, of course, but just a bit unpredictable."

"Thor?" O'Neill gaped. "Little guy? Big bug eyes? Gray skin? Stands about yea high?" He waved his hand to indicate the Asgard's height.

"Yes, Colonel," Nalia grinned. "And I've heard of his sense of humor. It sounds remarkably like yours."

"Thor," Jack stated, disbelieving.

"Thor has a sense of humor?" Carter asked, looking stunned.

"Remarkably like yours," Teal'c stated, with a smug note in his voice.

"Hey!" Jack turned to him. "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, you know. I haven't forgotten that Jaffa nose drip joke."

"That joke is extremely funny," Teal'c said with absolute certainty. "Do not blame me if you have the sense of humor of an Asgard, O'Neill."

"Hey!"

"Wll you guys sht uppp???"

"Daniel!"

Instantly SG-1 was vying for position on one side of the bed, Phael moving Nalia aside on the other, Jack was grateful to see. The physician had to actually sit on the bed to reach Daniel, it was that large.

"How are you feeling, Daniel?"

The archaeologist squinted myopically up at Carter, who sat closest to him. "Sam?"

"It's me, Daniel," she reassured him. "Jack and Teal'c are here too."

He tried to look around, but between his lack of glasses, persistent feeling of exhaustion, and Phael's hands checking various points on his head and face, Daniel gave up. "Whrs here?"

"P3X478," Sam quickly supplied. Daniel's eyes were already sliding shut. "Daniel?"

His eyelashes fluttered. "Hmm?"

Carter could see they were all accepting Daniel couldn't stay awake. She patted his shoulder. "Nothing, Daniel. Sweet dreams."

He was already gone.

~~~

Jack sat up straight at the first sound of the door beginning its slide open. The doors were nearly soundless during the day, but it was late at night now, and everything was quiet, and he was on guard for the slightest sound. He waited.

The faintest light spilled in from the hallway, and a shadow passed into the room. The door closed again, but now Jack could hear the breathing of the third person in the room. He reached to the small table beside his chair and touched the spot that would turn on the reading light.

The figure across the room gave a startled cry and turned toward him, halted in its path to Daniel's bedside. Then it pulled itself up straight, and shaking hands slid back the hood of the thick outer garment. "You frightened me nearly to death, Colonel," Nalia accused.

Jack gave her a half smile. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked nonchalantly.

She had the grace to look embarrassed, he noted. "I came to check on Daniel."

"In the dark?"

Nalia gestured at the small light beside the bed. "I was going to turn that on," she informed him.

"Ah," Jack nodded. "So, you just decided to come down here in the middle of the night and check on Daniel."

"That is correct."

"Because?"

She crossed her arms. "Why are you here, Colonel?"

Jack gave her a full smile this time. "Well, you see, I decided it might be wise if one of my team stayed with Daniel at all times. Just in case he needs us. So from now until we leave this planet, one of the three of us will be with Daniel, non-stop."

The old woman's face fell in dismay. "You don't trust me," she stated, looking hurt at the thought.

His eyebrows shot up. "Should I?" he gestured toward her, and her path toward the bed.

Nalia seemed to sag a little, and she wearily took a chair. "What do you think is going on here, Colonel?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't know," he responded. "Seems somebody hasn't been too keen on giving me all the facts."

"I don't know how much to give," Nalia confessed, looking honestly frustrated. "I see in your life force that you are at heart a good man, and that you would die before you'd let harm come to Daniel. But you are human, and our historical records show that it was our fondness for humans that nearly exterminated our race. How can I know how much to trust you? How can I know what is safe to tell you and what is not? My people depend on my judgment, and right now," she turned her gaze to Daniel, "my judgment is clouded."

"Why don't you start by telling me the part that involves me," Jack suggested. "Like why everyone looks at my best friend like they're starving and he's the only food left in the world?"

She glanced up sharply at his analogy, and then her eyes filled with tears and she gave a short laugh. "Because he is," she told him. "Not food," she shook her head at his alarmed look, "but possibly the last of his kind."

Jack's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. He waited.

Nalia composed herself. She nodded once, and looked back to Jack. "Daniel is an ayarro," she stated.

"You said that once before," Jack agreed. "You didn't explain it, but you said it. And that word's come up a lot. But nobody's told us what it means."

"It's difficult to explain," Nalia said unhappily. "But you must know, an ayarro is extremely precious to my people."

Jack's face hardened. "You are going to let us go."

"Yes, yes," Nalia nodded. "If that is what Daniel wants, no one will hold him against his will." She looked affronted at the suggestion.

Jack relaxed a little. "So, an ah-yo-yo, they're--"

"Don't do that," Nalia snapped, her emotions brittle. Jack looked at her in surprise. "You cannot fool a Furling, Colonel. You may make others underestimate you, but Colonel, it is a fundamental part of who you are, and therefore, every Furling can see it. Do not play stupid with me."

Jack fought to remove the displeased surprise from his face. "O-kay," he said slowly. "So, an ayarro is precious to your people. And to you too," he added, his tone gentle.

She turned to look at Daniel. "You can't imagine how much," she whispered.

Jack leaned forward. "Was uh, was Danyer an ayarro?"

When her face turned slowly to her, her blue eyes were like frozen ice, and her lips trembled with the effort to contain her anger. "How--you--" She shook her head angrily, stood up, and stalked out of the room.

Jack leaned back in his chair. "Oh, yeah," he said unhappily. "Not leaving you alone for a second, Danny-boy."

Day Two

"Are we sure he doesn't speak any English yet, sir?"

Jack glanced across the bed at the physician tending to Daniel. "Nalia said it takes three days. But ... Hey, Phael, buddy!" The doctor looked up to Jack. "Can you speak English yet?"

The pleasant-faced man looked uncertain, and then gave him a smile. "Daniel," he responded, and patted the sleeping man's arm. He smiled wider, hoping to reassure the humans.

"Thanks, Phael," Jack nodded. He turned back to Carter. "Nope. We got another day till anybody but Nalia can understand us."

"I still can't believe she's got designs on Daniel," Carter whispered. "Not that kind anyway, sir. She's got to be at least 80 years old. And she doesn't look at Daniel that way, sir."

"She looks at him like she wants to climb into bed with him," Jack said roughly. "Which I think she was planning on doing last night."

Carter shook her head stubbornly. "And hold him maybe, sir. I'm sorry, sir, I just don't see it. I mean, I can see she's clearly enamored with Daniel, but I think it's far more maternal than you're seeing."

"The middle of the night, Carter," Jack said disbelievingly. "Creeping into the room in the middle of the night."

She nodded. "Like no mother has ever done that to check on their child before. Sir." She smiled apologetically.

Jack exhaled explosively. "Damn it, Carter, you didn't see that picture-movie-thingy. That guy was her husband, and he looked just like Daniel!"

"That may be, sir," Carter acknowledged. "But it doesn't mean that Nalia can't see the age difference between them. It may be even more the reason she feels maternal toward Daniel. Maybe she and her husband never could have children. Maybe she thinks Daniel looks like what they might have gotten." She gazed at the sleeping archaeologist, oblivious to the intrigue surrounding him.

"Well, she can't have him," Jack insisted.

"And you said she agreed he would be free to go once he's better," Sam pointed out. "Aside from taking our weapons, they really haven't done anything to us, sir, and they've let us contact General Hammond as often as we like, and they've treated us well. I don't see any reason not to believe that once Daniel's okay, they won't let us go."

Jack kept shaking his head. "It's not going to be that simple," he prophesied. "It never is with Daniel. You ought to know that by now, Carter."

"Maybe this time will be different," the astrophysicist sighed, brushing Daniel's bangs back off his forehead.

~~~

Nalia had been curiously absent all day, although Teal'c informed them that when he had Daniel-watch, she did slip in for a period of time to sit and watch the archaeologist. Just watch, he reported, to Jack's relief. Other than that, she seemed to be avoiding any possible encounters with Jack, but by night-fall, she had apparently changed her mind, and they were invited to share the evening meal with her.

Teal'c opted to stay behind with Daniel, but Jack and Sam joined her at a large table in a tastefully decorated room. Etienne was present, and Jack glowered at him, as well as a few other Furlings whom Nalia introduced, but she explained that they were not there for any purpose other than a nice meal with their visitors, and the evening did go exactly as she promised. The food, though unfamiliar, was excellent, as it seemed that Furlings and humans had similar taste buds. The conversation was light and pleasant, but mostly light, since all of it had to be translated through Nalia, and none of the other Furlings wanted to overburden her.

After dinner, a hot drink was brought to each place setting, and Carter smiled in delight when she tried it. "Holy Hannah," she remarked. "Daniel would love this."

"Oh?" Jack asked, halted in the act of raising the cup.

"Yeah," she grinned. "It's like coffee on steroids, with chocolate on top."

Jack took a sip and shook his head at the jolt. "Whoa. You're right. Daniel would flip for this."

"Flip?" Nalia inquired, having heard their conversation.

"Yeah," Jack answered warily, still not sure he wanted to warm up to the woman. "Go nuts. Lose his mind. Fall head over heels." He wracked his brain to come up with other expressions she wouldn't understand.

"He'd love it," Sam put in, cutting him off, clearly feeling pity for the old woman. "We have a couple of substances on Earth that are like it, and they're Daniel's favorite."

"Really?" Nalia smiled, sipping her drink. "This is called Amka. It is our favorite drink."

Sam laughed. "Well, I'm sure once Daniel tries it, it'll be his favorite drink too. We'll have to set up a trade agreement just to keep him supplied."

Nalia's eyebrow went up, and Jack's hackles rose at the same time. "Carter," he muttered.

"You would consider some type of agreement between our planets?" she asked. "An agreement that would involve an exchange of some kind?"

Carter picked up on the unhappy vibes of her commanding officer. Normally, an exchange of technology, particularly with an advanced race was exactly what they wanted. However, she knew Jack was eager to leave Annule. He was worried for Daniel. He was certain they weren't being told anywhere near everything, and his hunches were rarely wrong.

Beside her, he sighed unhappily. "I don't know," he replied. "Whadd'ya got?"

A corner of Nalia's mouth turned up. "You said you were looking for technology to aid you in the fight against the Goa'uld," she pointed out. "What if we could help you with that?"

"I'm listening," he said noncommittally.

"We took away your weapons at the Stargate," she reminded him. "Do you want to know why?"

"Well," he smiled, "I'm presuming it was so I wouldn't shoot you guys when you made off with Daniel."

She smiled back over the rim of her cup. "No, Colonel. We took your weapons so that you would not harm yourselves."

"Riiight," Jack nodded. "Because I'm always turning my P90 around and showering myself with bullets."

Nalia looked amused. "I assume a P90 is one of the weapons we disintegrated? And a bullet is--what?"

"A projectile," Carter supplied.

"Really?" Nalia looked surprised. "You use projectile weapons?"

"Highly efficient projectile weapons," Jack said forcefully. "Those projectile weapons can take out a troop of Jaffa a lot quicker and easier than staff weapons can." He turned to Carter and muttered, "Don't tell Teal'c I said that." Turning back, he insisted, "though it's true."

"I believe you," Nalia told him, and it looked from her face that she did. "Given the right device, a projectile can be quite deadly. And if you are 'showering' bullets, then I must assume your weapons fire several at once. That could be an impressive weapon."

Both humans looked surprised. "Most advanced races don't think so," Carter pointed out.

Nalia shrugged. "We Furlings are not much into weapons," she admitted. "We understand them, but we don't develop them. We have to have respect for those who do--those who do and yet, manage to restrain themselves from being corrupted by the power of the weapons."

"Well," Carter winced, "I have to admit--"

"Carter--"

It was too late. "--there are lots of humans--" she stopped at the Colonel's warning.

Nalia glanced at them both. "Lots of humans who are corrupted by the power of weapons?" she asked. She sighed at their non-response. "Ah, well, at least you are not the Goa'uld. Some of you can restrain yourselves."

"Yes," Carter smiled, grateful for her understanding.

"If you don't develop weapons, then how are you going to offer us something to help us fight the Goa'uld?" Jack asked skeptically.

Nalia set down her cup, nodding to the last of the other Furlings to leave. "You have weapons," she stated. "Those you do not need. As you have said, you have already eliminated many Goa'uld. Obviously, weapons are not what you need."

"Then what do we need?" Carter asked, confused.

Nalia smiled wistfully. "Protection."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "In what form, exactly?"

Nalia stood up and gestured toward the balcony off to the side of the room. "Won't you join me? The night air is quite pleasant, and we can continue talking in private."

They followed her out onto the large stone-like balcony, which overlooked the transportation platform, and behind it, the walled garden, which from this angle, looked more like a park. "You have a great view," Sam complimented.

"Yes," Nalia murmured, her hands on the railing, turning her face to the breeze. "Our ancestors excelled when they built this city."

Jack sat down on a bench. "So, protection in what form?" he repeated.

Nalia chuckled at his single-mindedness. She walked over to some landscaping on the side of the balcony, and selected a smooth stone. Returning, she handed it to Jack.

He looked at it in his palm, and then back up at her. "Gee, thanks," he said.

"Throw it at me," Nalia instructed. "Not too hard," she added. "Not any harder than you might want to experience."

Jack's mouth dropped open. "I am not throwing a rock at you!" he said in disgust.

Nalia laughed. "You want to."

"I do not!"

"You do, too."

"No, I don't."

"You do not like me."

"I never said that."

"You don't have to. Throw the rock."

"No!"

"Whoa!!!"

They both turned to Carter, who had her hands to her head. "You're making me dizzy. You two sound just like you and Daniel sound--sir."

Nalia laughed again, and turned back to Jack. "I am trying to demonstrate something, Colonel, and it is important. You must throw the rock at me, but no harder than you would want to experience yourself. Please."

He looked at her in horror. "I can't do that!"

"Yes, you can," Nalia said earnestly. "Trust me, Jack," she whispered.

Jack's head jerked up at her words and tone, which sounded so similar to Daniel's at that moment. He stared long and hard into the familiar eyes and could have sworn they were communicating. Surrendering, he broke the gaze, and then tossed the rock haphazardly at Nalia's legs.

"Hey!"

Carter's head snapped in surprise from where she'd seen the rock about to hit Nalia to where Jack was rubbing his shin, the rock at his feet. "Sir?"

"You did not throw it very hard. You didn't really hurt yourself, did you, Colonel?" Nalia asked, the humor obvious in her voice.

He straightened up. "No," he said defensively, "I was just startled, that's all. What happened? Did it rebound?"

Nalia shook her head, smiling. "It is Annule," she said simply. She spread her arms to the darkness around her. "It is the planet itself." She looked down at Jack where he sat, and Carter where she knelt beside him, looking at the slight red mark on his shin. "It is the reason there are still any Furlings left at all. The Goa'uld know where we are. But they cannot touch us here. Annule will not allow physical violence against its people."

Day Three

"I do not understand," Teal'c stated. "If I fire my staff weapon--"

"The blast will speed along its course," Nalia told him, "and at the moment of impact with its target, would instead, hit you."

"How is this possible?" Teal'c frowned, face stony.

"That's what I can't figure out, either," Carter added, sitting next to him, back in Daniel's room after their breakfast.

"Well, join the club," Jack invited. "See what it's like on the other side for once." She shot him a glare.

"Annule protects its people," Nalia shrugged. "The planet itself has a life force, which connects with its people. Physical violence is not allowed, and is in fact, eliminated. Children learn quickly that when they strike another, only they feel the pain. Hostile visitors through the Stargate do not survive attempts to take the planet. We need do nothing. Annule protects us."

"How long has it been this way?" Carter asked.

"Since the dawn of time," Nalia smiled. "We have a legend about it, if you'd care to hear?"

"Please," Carter bobbed her head.

Jack rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"Long before our recorded history begins, there was an oral legend. It is said to date back to the beginning of time on our planet. It is said that when the first ayarro was born, he possessed every possible gift. There was nothing he could not do. He could cure illness. He could make crops grow. He could lift boulders a hundred men could not lift, without touching them. He could make rain from fall from the sky. There seemed no limit to his powers--nor to his goodness. Everyone loved him from the moment he was born. He was a child of beauty, both inside and out, and his life force was said to be stunning."

Nalia smiled at Carter and Teal'c, who were listening avidly. Jack had his eyes closed.

"He grew to be a beautiful young man, but he was always just a little sad. He loved his people with a passion so strong that it overwhelmed the boundaries of his spirit, and though they loved him back, he knew there would never be one mate for him who would love him just as fiercely. He contented himself with the love of his people, and while he never wanted for companionship, he also never knew true intimacy."

"Now that's sad," Jack stated, sitting up.

"Colonel," Carter chided.

Nalia went on. "As time went by, he began to be troubled during the night by dreams. They say he dreamed of a time when there would be few Furlings, when our race would be weakened. He told them he dreamed of monsters who came from the skies, monsters with eyes of light."

"The Goa'uld," Teal'c nodded.

"Yes," Nalia agreed. "Though they did not know it at the time. He told his people that he had been given these dreams, dreams of the future, when monsters would strike at a time when there were few Furlings to defend the planet, and all would be destroyed. He was sure he had been given the dreams because he was meant to find a way to avert the destruction.

"They were afraid for him. They did not see, as he did, that the future is never certain, and can always be changed. They did not have the faith he did that someone or something, some being, had sent him the dreams for a purpose, so that he might save the future of our planet. So he went off by himself, and he thought and thought and thought, trying to come up with a solution to the problem."

Nalia gave them an embarrassed smile. "Etienne can tell you more about ayarros when he finishes learning English later today. But the mind of an ayarro does not work like the mind of other people. Sometimes," she shrugged shyly, "we think of things other people have not yet thought of. And so it was in the legend. No one knows how he did it, but they say that the ayarro came back to his people, and told them that he had found a way to protect the people from all harm that might come to the planet. However, it would entail his leaving them forever."

Nalia nodded sadly. "Of course, they begged him not to do it, but his mind was set. He was determined to protect his people. He loved his people much more than he loved himself, and he valued his people much more highly than he did himself. Etienne will tell you this remains a fault with ayarros to this day," she said sheepishly.

"I don't know if Daniel's really an ayarro," Carter said, "but that part sure sounds like him."

"Don't encourage her, Carter," Jack said.

Nalia laughed. "Well, the elders of the people came to the boy with a request. If he was insistent on going, then at least, they argued, leave something of himself behind. They asked him," she blushed, "to--uh--lay with their young of child-bearing age."

Jack looked happily amazed. "All of them?"

Nalia shrugged, embarrassed and blushing further. "Most," she replied. "But it was because he complied that we still have ayarros," she explained, then her face grew dark. "Though precious few."

"Just you," Jack guessed.

Nalia nodded. "And Daniel."

"DanielJackson is not a Furling," Teal'c pointed out.

Nalia bit her lip, and continued on as if she hadn't heard. "After complying with the requests of the elders, the boy did what he had told the people he was going to do." She stopped, judging their openness to the idea.

"What did he do?" Carter asked.

Nalia took a deep breath. "He found a way, somehow--no one since has been able to comprehend it, not even any ayarro--to inject his life force--into the planet itself."

Carter looked stunned and thoughtful, Jack rolled his eyes and leaned back again, and Teal'c's eyebrow was up.

"They found his body," Nalia went on. "It was still alive. But his life force was gone. It was the one and only time any Furling had ever seen a being without a life force." She bowed her head, saddened. "The young man died slowly over the course of the next few days. They could not make him eat or drink. He was completely unresponsive without his life force. He was only living tissue, nothing more."

She looked up. "When he died, the people began to mourn. There was great crying, as was the custom. As they began mourning, a wind began to pick up. Rain started to fall, and very quickly, a storm blew in upon them. They moved to shelter immediately and continued their mourning, and with them, the storm mourned as well. And when the sun rose, and it was time for mourning to cease, the storm died down, and the sun shone brightly. They finished the Rites of the Dead to multiple rainbows in the skies. And when they placed him in a tomb of great honor, after sealing the door, there suddenly sprung up hundreds of wildflowers, and the land completely covered the tomb. It is said that is why no one knows where Annule is buried to this day. It is one of the things every Furling child hopes to find, the tomb of Annule."

"You named the planet after him," Carter stated.

"They began calling the planet Annule shortly after his death," Nalia nodded. "They became convinced that he had succeeded in placing his life force into the planet."

"And so he's the reason you all are protected," Jack stated skeptically.

"Yes," Nalia agreed.

"Well, then, why were you talking about offering us protection?" Jack demanded. "How can you protect us if it's your planet that's protected?"

"Colonel," Carter protested.

Nalia shook her head at him. "So you think that since the dawn of our civilization, we have made no technological advances, Colonel?"

"It is generally believed that the 'minor irritation' the four great races were causing the Goa'uld before the Great Betrayal involved the protection of more primitive races," Teal'c stated questioningly.

"Yes," Nalia nodded, her eyes not leaving the stubborn Colonel's. "You do recall we used to travel in space, a long time ago, Colonel?"

"So you say," he shrugged.

"Actually," Carter tried to distract Nalia from the Colonel's belligerence, "you started to tell us what happened with the Great Betrayal the first day we were here, but we got distracted talking about Thor. Will you tell us now?"

"Indeed," Teal'c put in, "I would like to know the truth of the Legends as well."

Nalia nodded in concession to their wishes. "As you know, we made an alliance with the Nox, the Ancients--what was left of them, and the Asgard. Our purpose was simple: To protect more primitive, defenseless peoples threatened by the Goa'uld. We felt we had to do this. As you said, we could not see the things the Goa'uld were doing and just stand by and do nothing."

"You have no problem with it now," Jack muttered. Carter elbowed him.

"Now is different," Nalia said coldly. "You do not have all the facts, Colonel, and you are letting your emotions influence your thoughts."

Jack turned his face to her and gave her a fake smile. "If I recall correctly, you admitted to doing that too."

Nalia's face softened somewhat. "I am not trying to take him from you, Colonel," she said quietly.

"Can I get that in writing?" he shot back.

"Please," Carter broke in, "you were telling us about protecting other races?" She looked at Nalia, hopeful that she would let it go.

The older woman sighed and nodded. "Yes. The Asgard weaponry and defenses protected us from the Goa'uld. The Nox would often hide whole cities when we knew Jaffa or a Goa'uld were coming. The Ancients had technology beyond us all, and occasionally, a situation would call for their special brand of protection. They would set up a device, and we could leave, knowing that the civilization would be safe for thousands of years. But they were loathe to use it too often. Conditions had to be just right. They were very, very afraid of a people developing to the point where they might find the device, and pervert it into a weapon."

Carter bobbed her head in understanding.

"And what did the Furlings contribute?" Teal'c asked.

Nalia grinned. "We do not have the technology of the Ancients, though what we have is advanced enough, nor do we have the weaponry of the Asgard, or the hiding abilities--or healing abilities--of the Nox. But we have our gifts. I've mentioned our language skills; these came in very handy out in the universe. And then there is the Sight. In one glance, a Furling knows a traitor from a patriot. A Furling can tell a Jaffa from a human. A Tok'ra from a Goa'uld. A liar from an honest man. We can detect a spy in a crowd of hundreds, even more if there is more than one Furling.

"And there were more than one, of course. In fact, the Ancients, the Nox, and the Furlings sent nearly all of their people on their crusades against the Goa'uld. It was our undoing," Nalia said soberly.

"Why?" Carter said breathlessly.

Nalia grimaced. "We were quite successful in our little projects, and the Goa'uld began to feel the losses. The System Lords decided it was time to do something about us. Unbeknownst to us, we were infiltrated."

"I thought you said a Furling could spot a spy," Jack accused.

"I said we, meaning the Alliance," Nalia corrected. "We Furlings were not infiltrated. The first to go were the Ancients. We discovered too late that a human had been sent to their planet carrying a plague. It was highly contagious and designed specifically for the Ancients. They all contracted it. The few that didn't die, ascended, and they decided to stay ascended. It was the second time a plague had nearly wiped out their people. Ascended, they could not be killed."

"Yeah, but they quit the Alliance, didn't they?"

"Yes, Colonel, they did," Nalia answered truthfully. "Those few thousand Ancients left who ascended, they had just seen the last million left of their race die horrific, painful deaths. Never emotionally strong, they had been 'wiped out' twice by the Goa'uld and they were traumatized. Yes, they withdrew from the Alliance. Can you blame them?"

Jack scowled, but didn't answer.

Nalia went on. "Then we had a planet with a primitive race in a section of space being taken over by the Goa'uld Ba'al. This race was intelligent and promising, and for the most part, very kind in spirit. We had come to the conclusion that their planet was indefensible, so we had decided to move the population to a new home. We merely had to wait for the right moment."

She looked down at her hands, clasped together in her lap. "The Nox received word from one of the humans on the planet that Ba'al's fleet had gone to the next galaxy to engage a minor Goa'uld threatening an uprising. They notified the Asgard and our fleet. Our commander requested that the Nox transmit the recording of the informant while we were en route, but the Nox commander told him it was audio only. Nevertheless, our fleet proceeded to the planet."

She looked up. "The Asgard signaled us at that time. They had turned back. There had been a distress call from a critical planet, and they needed to check it out. They would be with us shortly, however. What the Asgard didn't know, was that the distress call was a fake, having been sent from a mothership orbiting a planet that had already been completely destroyed. The mothership engaged the Asgard, obviously unaware of its capabilities. Thor duly warned the Goa'uld, and when they failed to heed the warning, he destroyed the ship. The planet he could do nothing for. Worried about us, then, he hurried to the rendezvous--but he was too late."

All three team members looked worried, as if the events were happening today instead of thousands of years ago. "The human informant who had contacted the Nox betrayed us," Nalia said without any sign of ill feeling. "He was one of the minority who did not wish to leave their planet, and believed Ba'al's lies. When Thor arrived, all that was left were Goa'uld ships and debris from the Nox and Furling fleets."

"What did he do?" Jack asked.

"He warned them. And then he called for help," Nalia told him, nodding once. "The Asgard ships are fast, as you must know. Feyr came very quickly. Between the two of them, they took out the Goa'uld ships. But it was little consolation. Feyr went to the Nox home world to inform them that all of their space-faring brethren were dead. Thor did the same for us."

Nalia met their eyes soberly. "The Nox, the Ancients, and the Furlings had put nearly all their people into the fight. They were all very nearly exterminated. The Ancients exist now only in ascended form. The Nox occupy one large floating city on their planet, where they hide from most of the universe, trying to live in peace. And we Furlings," she gave a minute shrug, "we have two active cities on this entire planet, the rest are ruins. We do not have the people to maintain them, so we keep them as monuments to our past. This city houses nearly a million people. The other city is a resort town, and has a population of only a quarter of a million."

Carter gasped. "Holy Hannah," she exclaimed. "That's all that's left?"

The old woman nodded. "The Nox have perhaps a million. The Ancients a few thousand ascended." She turned defiantly to Jack. "We fought the Goa'uld, Colonel. We fought and did a great deal of good, and we gave our lives, and were very nearly exterminated." She softened her gaze and tilted her head at him. "Perhaps it is time for the younger races to fight them."

She turned to look at the man sleeping in the bed. "But not Daniel," she whispered.

"Why not Daniel?" Jack pressed.

"He is an ayarro," she protested, frustrated.

"And what does that mean???" Jack demanded.

"I will explain that."

They turned as one to see Etienne standing in the doorway. Nalia sighed with relief.

~~~

Jack reluctantly kept pace with the big, elderly man as he led the way down the street and into the public garden across from the palace. "I hope you don't mind," he stated, clearly not caring if Jack did or didn't. "I try to get some exercise every day. It helps to keep me fit," he brushed his stomach muscles, which wouldn't have looked bad on a man many years his junior.

"Why, no," Jack agreed sarcastically, "why should I mind?"

The old man glanced at him, a smile playing on his lips. "You don't hold it against me that I immobilized you? I had to do it, son."

"Aht!" Jack held up his hand. "I am not your son. You can call me Colonel."

"Colonel," Etienne agreed. "You can call me Steward, if it makes you feel more comfortable. But everyone else calls me Etienne." They continued walking. Jack tried not to admire the garden.

"Steward, huh? So that makes you what, a butler?"

Etienne laughed. "A butler," he laughed again. "You are a funny man, Colonel. But I knew that already just looking at you," he gestured at Jack, obviously indicating his life force. "No, I am Steward in the sense that I run things."

Jack looked up sharply, hating that he had to look up at the man. "You're in charge? I thought that was Nalia?"

"Nalia is ayarro," Etienne nodded. "But I suppose you could say I am in charge. I make decisions when they need to be made."

"So what does 'ayarro' mean, then?" Jack asked. "Queen?"

Etienne shook his head. "No, no, Nalia is not a ruler. She would be the first to tell you so. If you ask the people, they will tell you that Nalia is our leader, but that is only because we will always choose to follow an ayarro."

Jack shook his head in disgust. "No matter who they are, huh? What if the ayarro's a jerk, what then?"

Etienne walked over to a bench on the side of a walkway over a waterfall and took a seat, gesturing Jack to do the same. He turned sideways to face Jack. "An ayarro would never be a 'jerk,' Colonel," he said earnestly. "They simply aren't made that way."

Jack sighed. "Maybe you better start at the beginning and just tell me what an ayarro is."

Etienne nodded and straightened on the bench, looking out over the pond and garden. "It is lovely here, isn't it?"

"Ayarro," Jack half-sung in a warning tone.

The old man chuckled. "Nalia told you of Annule," he stated. "Among the children he fathered, there were a few ayarro. Not like he was, but like the ayarro we know. There has never been another ayarro like Annule."

"That's because he's a legend," Jack said in an instructing tone.

"Perhaps," Etienne said good-naturedly, "though I do not think so. Most legends are based somewhere in fact. In any case, since the early days, there have always been ayarro, that is my point."

"Which still doesn't tell me what they are," Jack retorted.

Etienne seemed to find him amusing. "Are you always like this?" he grinned.

"You took my gun," Jack pointed out. "You took my stuff."

"So that you wouldn't hurt yourself," Etienne pointed out. "I didn't want any accidents to happen. If you had misunderstood something, even fired into the air, or at the ground--I didn't want any mishaps."

"Fine," Jack crossed his arms. "So tell me already."

Etienne chuckled. "Let's begin with the life force. I've been briefed each day on what you've been told and what you haven't, so I know you know that everyone's life force is different."

"So why are you telling me again?"

The old man laughed out loud. "I like you, Colonel. You are determined to be annoying, and it is most amusing."

"I'm so glad to be of service."

Etienne bit back his humor. "A life force is composed of many things. Color, of course. Pattern, movement, speed, texture, depth, yes, all of these. And you, Colonel, are a man of hidden depths."

"Hey!" Jack held up a warning finger. "Quit looking inside me!"

Etienne laughed again. "A life force also contains elements such as temperature, scent, and of course, qualities. The more ingrained a quality, the more it shows in the life force. Traumatic events also tend to show in one's life force," he said, sobering quickly.

Jack looked at him suspiciously. "No looking," he warned.

Etienne smiled in acquiescence. "No," he shook his head. "But Daniel has had more than his fair share of trauma, wouldn't you say?"

Jack's suspicion grew. "You gonna tell me what an ayarro is or not?" he asked quietly.

Etienne nodded. "While everyone's life forces are different," he went on, "they can often be similar. For example, some elements are the same. I can tell that you are human, that Teal'c is Jaffa, that Nalia is Furling. A man who is very like his brother will have a life force that is very similar--though not identical."

"What if they're identical twins?"

Etienne shook his head. "Still not identical. But one thing remains the same for all beings except ayarro--color." He waved his hand out over the riot of color in the garden, over the water and pathway, the foliage and multi-colored flowers, and the trees. "Life forces can be any color that exists, and usually, more than one color. But with an ayarro, the life force is always pure light."

Jack looked at him curiously. "Light?"

"Light," Etienne repeated. "There are differences that identify one ayarro from another, but the color is always the same; pure light. The goodness in their soul is also always the same; an ayarro has a pure soul."

Jack thought it over and silently agreed. Daniel could be said to have a pure soul. Nalia, he couldn't vouch for.

"Their life force is beautiful," the old man went on. "Pretty as children, but once they reach their teenage years, they come into their own and their life forces become almost irresistibly beautiful. They draw people to them. People want to mother them, father them, brother and sister them. They want to love them, befriend them, work for them, be around them, or maybe just look at them. They are drawn to the ayarro, even if they don't know why."

Jack frowned. He thought of all the people at the SGC who adored Daniel. The older woman all wanted to mother him, the older men looked at him like a son. He just knew General Hammond secretly thought of Daniel as a grandson. People flocked around Daniel, and Daniel was always oblivious to it. The nurses fought over who got to take care of him. The tables in the commissary always filled up according to proximity to the table Daniel happened to be sitting at. And as for those wanting to date Daniel, Jack shook his head. There was a line a mile long, and the archaeologist remained completely oblivious.

If it weren't for the few idiots at the base who seemed to hate Daniel, Jack'd say that ayarro described Daniel pretty damn well.

"Their life force also draws evil," Etienne was continuing. "Again, even without knowing it, there are those who are drawn to the ayarro, wanting to harm them, hurt them, have power over them, sometimes even kill them, or--" he paused significantly, "own them."

The last didn't mean anything to Jack, but the idiots at the base fell into place. They sure wanted to have power over Daniel. He was getting a weird feeling about the whole thing.

"Consequently, an ayarro requires special protection," Etienne instructed, "which is why Nalia got so upset at the thought of Daniel fighting the Goa'uld. No ayarro was ever allowed to fight the Goa'uld back when we did fight them. We could not risk losing them. They are precious to us."

"Why?" Jack asked. "Because their life forces are pretty?"

Etienne looked at him chidingly. "Of course not, Colonel. There is more to being an ayarro than that." He looked back over the water. "An ayarro's mind does not work in the same way as other people's minds, Colonel," he stated. "While you or I might follow a logical sequence of steps to arrive at a conclusion, an ayarro will simply acquire the conclusion, and then build the steps for you so that you may catch up."

Jack suddenly flashed on all the times that Daniel had a brainstorm, and then had to back-track to try to explain why his solution was right. And it almost always was. In fact, he was hard-pressed to think of when it wasn't.

"The problem that no one else can resolve, an ayarro can resolve," Etienne told him proudly. "They see what no one else can see. The riddle that has gone unsatisfied for hundreds of years, an ayarro will decipher. The question a thousand men cannot answer, an ayarro can answer. When a crisis hits the people, the people look to the ayarro. The ayarro may not be able to do it by him or herself, but they will know what to do. No matter how incomprehensible the problem, an ayarro will find the solution--and not just any solution, but the best possible solution."

Jack flashed again on Daniel solving the riddle of the Stargate in two weeks when whole teams of scientists couldn't do it in two years, or even more than that, since the government had had the Stargate for decades, and it had even been found in the '20s. He flashed on Daniel figuring out alien riddle after riddle over the last few years. Euronda ran through Jack's head--Daniel had known almost from the beginning that something was wrong about the whole set-up. Jack flashed on Daniel figuring out how to save Kera from Linea, a not inconsiderable task that no one else on Earth--and most other planets for that matter--would have even attempted. He flashed on himself planning to save the Enkarans--and on Daniel saving both the Enkarans and the Gadmere. His stomach was sinking lower and lower. He didn't know what Daniel being an ayarro would mean, but he was sure it wouldn't be good news.

"And an ayarro requires special care," Etienne switched gears. "They are far more concerned with others than with themselves. They always think more highly of others than themselves. So they will forget about taking care of themselves in favor of taking care of others--even if what they are doing is not nearly so important. Once, I had to drag Nalia away from the library for a meal. One of our friends had asked us if we had record of a certain language, and she was going crazy trying to find it. It was not an urgent matter. But Lya had asked, and Nalia didn't feel she could take care of her own needs until Lya's request had been filled."

"Lya--of the Nox?" Jack asked. "Geez, that sounded stupid. There must be a billion Lyas in the universe."

"Actually, it was Lya of the Nox," Etienne sounded surprised. "You know her?"

"Oh, yeah," Jack said enthusiastically. "She's kinda sweet on Daniel, you know."

Etienne chuckled. "I can picture that," he nodded. "Lya is fond of humans, though they disappoint her sometimes, and seeing Daniel among you must have given her great hope."

"They say we're very young," Jack told him.

The old man nodded mischievously. "Well, so were we all once. Now, Colonel, do you have a better understanding of what an ayarro is?"

"I guess so," Jack conceded. "I don't know why Nalia couldn't just tell me."

Etienne snorted in laughter. "An ayarro never believes these things about themselves!" he informed Jack. "They never think they're worth all this protection and fuss. They believe it about another ayarro, but never about themselves. You see, Colonel, no Furling can see his own life force. It cannot be done. Not even by an ayarro."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," the old man mimicked. "So asking an ayarro to tell you what an ayarro is--particularly when there's only been one for so long--is a waste of time--they can't do it. They never value themselves as highly as they should. Which is why they require the protection they do. Do you not find that Daniel requires more protection than another man might?"

Jack squirmed. "If you ever tell Daniel I said it--"

"I will not."

"Sometimes," Jack said uncomfortably, "sometimes--"

"Yes?"

"Sometimes I wonder if he's got the sense of a five-year-old," Jack said. "I feel like I'm always saying, 'Don't touch that, Daniel. Don't run off by yourself, Daniel. It's time to eat, Daniel.'"

Etienne laughed and clapped his hands together. "Yes, that is exactly what they're like," he agreed. "When Mikel and Arrin were young--"

"Who?"

Etienne sobered quickly, and then sighed and slumped back against the bench. "Mikel and Arrin. Mikel was Nalia's son."

"Oh?"

"Yes," the old man nodded unhappily. "Arrin was Mikel's wife. She grew up in the palace, though, like all ayarro and their families, and the two children were inseparable." His mood seemed to lift a little as he recalled. "They used to love to explore the ruins, as all our young do, but they hated to wait for their guardians. We always check the ruins for structural security before we allow anyone inside, and the two of them used to sneak off and explore ruins by themselves without having them first checked. It wasn't always easy to find them, either," he shook his head, "not with a whole planet of ruins. I sometimes thought of inserting a subcutaneous chip while they slept, but ..."

Jack turned his head to face the old man and gaped. "Oh. My. God. I have wanted to do the same thing."

Etienne giggled, which sounded very strange coming from the big bear of a man he was. "Or put a collar on them."

"With a tracking device," Jack agreed.

The old man nodded happily, and then settled down. He turned slightly toward Jack. "I've been told you know about Danyer," he said.

"Yeah," Jack said warily.

"May I ask who showed you his image? I'm assuming you were shown, since no one could have told you prior to today."

Jack crossed his arms. "I'm taking the Fifth, I think."

The Steward looked mildly confused, but shrugged it off. He turned back to the pond. "I think it was Phael," he stated.

Jack relaxed his arms. "What makes you think that?" he asked coolly.

"I know the man," Etienne replied. "He has a very good heart, and he's an excellent doctor. Unfortunately, he's quite naive. Now, let me see if I've got this straight. You and Nalia were arguing--"

"She tell you that?"

"Yes," he answered. He looked over. "Are you surprised?"

"Kind of," Jack answered.

"Well, don't be," Etienne told him. "She's a good woman. She's under enormous stress since you came. Now, getting back to Phael. You and Nalia were arguing about Daniel, and he picked up that much since he knows Daniel's name. He then shows you Danyer, thinking that if you know how much Daniel resembles Danyer, you'll understand why Nalia was getting upset. Am I close?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack responded.

Etienne chuckled. "Well, like I said Phael's got a very good heart, but he's terribly naive. It would never occur to him, as it might to those of us more worldly gentlemen, that some people might think some women might want to replace Danyer with Daniel." He turned his head to regard Jack appraisingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack repeated.

The old man nodded patiently. "Well, it would never occur to Phael that he should have taken you a few exhibits over, and shown you Mikel and Arrin. Mikel was Nalia's son, as I said. Hers and Danyer's."

Jack narrowed his eyes. He cleared his throat. "Well, if Phael had shown me anything--and I'm not saying he did--why do you say he 'should' have shown me Mikel and Arrin?"

"You're a loyal man, Colonel, but you needn't worry," Etienne said gently, "Phael's in no trouble. As I said, he has a good heart. He meant well. He thought he was helping." He sat up straighter. "Why show you Mikel and Arrin, hmm. Well, Mikel and Arrin were both ayarro as well, Colonel. And you would have seen the last image taken of them. They were quite happy. Amazingly happy. You see, Colonel," he stood up, "they were only a couple of months away from having a baby. Arrin was very pregnant."

He started to walk away.

Jack's brows met in the middle. "And?" He got up and hurried after the old man. "Wait. So, why would I care about that?"

Etienne just looked at him and continued walking. Jack felt his head start to pound. He told himself not to ask. He ordered himself not to ask. He begged himself not to ask.

"What happened to them?"

Etienne stopped dead and turned to him with a gentle triumph in his eyes. He took a careful breath of air. "They were abducted, Colonel," he said quietly. "Stolen from us. Taken elsewhere, and we never saw them again." He turned away and started walking again.

"When?" Jack couldn't even believe it was his voice; he hadn't even known he was going to speak.

"35 years ago," Etienne called over his shoulder, waving as he walked away.

Jack stood rooted to the spot. "Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit. Shit!"

~~~

"We can't leave, Colonel!" Carter was practically stamping her foot, reminding him of Daniel. Everything was reminding him of Daniel these days.

"The hell we can't, Major," he said roughly. "These people think Daniel is Nalia's long lost grandson. Do you really think they're going to let him go?"

Teal'c stood by Carter's side, actually blocking him from Daniel. "If DanielJackson does not receive the rest of the treatments, he will die, O'Neill."

"We only have their word on that!" Jack shouted. "Don't you get it? They've been lying to us from the get-go! How do we know this isn't just another one of their lies to keep him here? Maybe they're the ones making him sick, you ever think of that? He was fine until old Eddy showed up."

"Why would you think we are making Daniel ill?"

They turned to the doorway, where Phael looked at them in innocent confusion.

"Great," Jack muttered, throwing himself into a chair. "Another one can talk now."

Phael smiled and went to check on Daniel, laying his hand gently on his patient's forehead. "I could always talk, Colonel," he pointed out softly. "The only difference is that now you can understand me. And why would you think we would harm Daniel in any way?" He looked up, his eyes still filled with confusion.

"The Colonel doesn't mean it," Carter told him quickly.

"The Colonel doesn't not mean it," Jack countered. "Phael, I don't know what to think any more. Nobody's straight with us. We keep finding things out in bits and pieces. Now, after three days, we learn that you guys think Daniel is Nalia's grandson." He looked at the physician challengingly.

The doctor smiled calmly and took a seat beside Daniel on the bed. "I will be 'straight' with you, Colonel. What is it you wish me to tell you?"

Teal'c, Carter, and O'Neill exchanged glances. Jack looked at him calculatingly. "All right," he said slowly. "So tell me, then. Do you think Daniel is Nalia's grandson?"

The physician looked down at his sleeping patient and smiled indulgently. "I was Arrin's physician as well, Colonel. I saw Nalia's grandson while he was in Arrin's womb. Our technology is quite advanced." He looked up, still smiling. "I do not think Daniel Jackson is Nalia's grandson. I know he is. As does every other Furling on this planet."

"Sheesh," Jack exhaled in disgust, throwing himself back in his seat.

"But how can you be so certain?" Teal'c inquired.

The physician looked at him gratefully. "35 years ago, there were four ayarro in all of existence. Four, and only four. Nalia, Mikel, Arrin, and Arrin's unborn son. Nalia is accounted for. Mikel and Arrin are not. Arrin's son would now be 34 years old. He would be a Furling and an ayarro. Daniel Jackson has the life force of a Furling and an ayarro. How old did you say Daniel Jackson is, Major Carter?"

She looked at the floor. "34," she mumbled.

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "Then there is the fact that Daniel looks so much like Mikel's father, and has been given a name so similar to Mikel's father's. We think that despite having their memories erased, subconsciously, Mikel and Arrin retained enough to like the name Daniel, it being so similar to Danyer."

"It's all circumstantial evidence," Jack protested. Carter threw him a sidelong glance.

"Perhaps," Phael agreed. "But there are other ways to determine. Some scientific, some not. For instance, have any of you ever seen Daniel's parents?"

"Uh, I have," Carter spoke up. "Well," she winced, "an image of them, anyway. Taken from Daniel's memory."

Phael nodded and picked up a thin plate on the bedside table. Activating it, he pulled up a two-dimensional image. He turned it around to Carter. "Do you recognize these?"

Carter gasped. "They--they look younger but--Holy Hannah, sir," she turned to Jack, "I could swear--"

"Don't say it, Major."

"Sir, I could swear those are--"

"Don't say it."

"Sir, I think those are Daniel's parents."

Jack rolled his head with a groan and tapped the side of his mouth. "Helloooo," he called. "Is this thing on?"

Carter ducked her head. "Sorry, sir," she said, unable to completely hide her smile.

"Still circumstantial," Jack waved a hand at the picture. "There's probably a lot of folks out there who look like Daniel's parents."

Phael nodded seriously and set to work pulling up a new picture. "This," he explained as he manipulated the plate, "is the best shot I ever got of Arrin's baby while in utero." He turned the plate around.

"Whoa!"

"Holy Hannah!"

The picture of the infant facing them from within the womb looked like no ultrasound Jack had ever seen. He remembered the pictures taken of Charlie, and how he had had no idea of what was what in them, though Sara had cried with delight over them. This picture could have been taken at Sears, he reckoned, if Sears could get inside a woman's womb.

"This child looks like Daniel Jackson, does he not, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

Jack had to concede--to himself, only, that if he had to pick someone the infant looked like, Daniel was a good choice. It was a good looking baby, very cute, with big eyes that even in the womb were open and curiously peering around. "Circumstantial," he grunted.

Phael nodded, and obviously decided to bring out the big guns. He turned the plate around. "I'm sure in your technology, you have science that determines genetic markers, yes?"

"Yes," Carter answered him. "We call it DNA testing."

"Ah," Phael nodded again. "By this, you mean that you can determine the code that each individual has--the code that is never the same in any two individuals?"

"Well, except for identical twins," Carter shrugged.

Phael looked up from the plate in surprise. "No, they are different too."

Carter shook her head. "No, they--they are?"

Phael winced. "Perhaps your science has not been refined quite that far yet," he said gently. "But I'm sure if you've come this far, it's only a matter of time."

Carter smiled wanly.

"Anyway," Phael turned the plate around, and pointed to lines of code that looked very much like normal DNA codes Jack had seen back on Earth, as far as he could tell, "this is the--DNA--of Arrin's son. You see the date here." He pointed to a spot at the top of the screen. Moving over to the opposite side on the split screen, he pointed to another set of foreign looking symbols. "This is the date when you first arrived," he instructed, with the utter innocence of one so honest that it never crosses his mind he might not be believed. "As you can see," he indicated the two codes, side by side, "the DNA coding is the same."

Jack leaned forward and peered more closely. Sure enough, everything matched exactly. His stomach lurched. "How do we know these results are real?"

Phael looked at him with a hurt expression, lowered his head, turning off the plate. He set it aside quietly. "Those are my medical records," he said nearly inaudibly, not looking up. "I do not know how to convince you they are real."

"Crap," Jack muttered under his breath, noticing Teal'c and Carter both glaring at him. He leaned forward, reaching out a hand to touch Phael's. The physician looked up with wounded eyes. "I'm sorry," Jack apologized. "I'm just a primitive idiot. Don't listen to anything I say."

Some of the hurt leeched away, and a tentative smile came to the doctor. "Who says you are primitive?" he asked softly.

"Oh, just about all you advanced races," Jack acknowledged. "Look, I really am sorry. I'm just having a hard time dealing with all of this."

Phael brightened. "I understand," he smiled. "Daniel was born and raised among you, and you knew nothing of the Furlings until you came here. It must all be hard to take in. And not because you are 'primitive,' Colonel, because I do not believe that is the case. Your people may or may not be primitive; I do not know, but I see nothing in the life forces of you or Major Carter to suggest that either of you is primitive."

"Thanks," Carter grinned. "I think."

Phael laughed. "It really was meant as a compliment."

"And that's how we're taking it," Jack nodded. "So uh, listen, Phael, you said we can ask you stuff."

"Of course," he crossed his hands on his lap and waited.

Jack leaned forward on his knees. "Did Daniel really get sick on his own?"

Phael looked concerned. "It was Annule," he confided. "When a Furling is born off-world, they are born without the Sight because they are not connected to the life force of Annule. When they return to the planet, Annule reclaims its own and gives them the gifts of a Furling. Without the herbs Annule also provides, and its soothing life force, the Change will kill a Furling. That is why it is death for a Furling to leave Annule once the Change has begun."

"Uh-huh," Jack nodded. "So, then, old Eddy didn't have anything to do with Daniel getting sick?"

"Old Eddy?" the doctor cocked his head, confused.

Carter sighed. "He means Etienne, Phael, sorry."

Phael looked confused for a second longer, and then he laughed. "Ah, I see, you are doing that trick you do, Colonel. It is most amusing. You wish me to think you are stupid." He laughed again. "No, Etienne had nothing to do with Daniel becoming ill. He had everything to do with Daniel getting treatment in time, however. He recognized very quickly that Daniel did not know where he was, and realized that meant Daniel had not been prepared by his parents with the proper herbs. We had always hoped that they would regain their memories and return with their son some day. Etienne thought perhaps they had sent Daniel; otherwise, how would he know to come here? But when he realized this was not the case, he knew that he had only a short time to get Daniel to medical treatment. He saved Daniel's life, Colonel."

Jack scowled but didn't say anything.

"Physician Phael," Teal'c spoke up, drawing Carter and Jack's surprise. Usually Teal'c preferred to observe. "Perhaps it would help us to understand why it is believed that DanielJackson is Nalia's grandson if we knew more about the kidnapping of her son and daughter-in-law."

"That is wise," Phael complimented him. "Mikel and Arrin," he smiled, recalling. "They were such a sweet couple. Very fond of each other. Of course, most ayarro are. They are always such good people, the ayarro. But Mikel and Arrin were fiercely in love. To separate them would have killed them." He frowned.

"Someone tried?" Carter prompted.

Phael nodded. "We Furlings no longer leave Annule, as you know," he reminded them. "But we have friends and acquaintances who come here. We trade. Annule is rich in Synerium, which is found in very few other places in the universe. Ours is a self-replenishing supply, and since a tiny amount," he held up his thumb and forefinger, only half an inch apart, "is worth a fortune, our trade is lucrative. We want for nothing."

"Synerium?" Carter shook her head. "I'm sorry, what is that?"

Phael looked up at the ceiling as if thinking. "Perhaps Etienne should be the one to tell you about that, if he decides to," he said apologetically. "I am not a politician and often speak too freely." He shrugged, wincing. "In any case, for the purposes of telling you what happened, you only need to know that we do get traders that come to Annule."

"O-kay," Carter agreed, vowing to speak to Etienne as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

"One of our trade delegations used to be from the planet Hollann," Phael told them. "There were three men who came all the time. One of them, we noticed, after a while, began acting strangely, and his life force had altered somewhat. We asked the others, and they informed us that the man's daughter had died. He had become slightly unstable, perhaps from guilt, as he had delayed getting her medical help, and she had most likely died as a result."

Phael looked sorry for the man, despite what the members of SG-1 feared he was going to tell them. "We knew he was unbalanced," he told them. "Naturally. We could see it. But we thought he was harmless," he shrugged. "Mostly, he just wanted attention. Arrin, who had lost her father when she was young, felt the most sorry for him, and she gave him the attention he craved. Very quickly he fixated on her, and would seek her out whenever he came to Annule."

Phael examined his hands. "It made us all somewhat nervous," he admitted, "but again, we thought he was basically harmless. All they ever did was talk. And the man was so grateful to Arrin for her attention. We wanted to be charitable. Mikel never liked it, but we made him leave them alone." He sighed. "I wish we had not. We all wish we had not."

He knotted his hands together anxiously, recalling. "One day, after their delegation had left, Mikel asked after Arrin. I was there, so were Nalia and Etienne. A worker told him that Arrin had agreed to accompany the man to the Stargate so that they could continue talking until he had to leave. This set off alarms in all of us," he nodded. "We immediately rushed to the Stargate. We got there in time to see them before an active wormhole. Their arms were clasped together and they were talking urgently. It looked as though each was trying to convince the other of something, and both were distressed."

Phael's gaze fell further, to the floor. "When the man saw us over Arrin's shoulder, he threw his arms around her and jumped through the gate. Mikel raced after them just in time to dive through, a moment before the wormhole shut down." He looked up at the team. "We pulled up the dialing data, of course, and as soon as we had it, we dialed the last address. But in that moment or two, he had somehow managed to overcome both Mikel and Arrin. They were gone. He had taken them through the Stargate to somewhere else. We never saw them again."

"We hired investigators," someone said thickly, and they glanced up to see Nalia, looking old and tired. Phael jumped up and ushered her to a seat. She looked across at Jack with tears in her eyes. "Bounty hunters. We posted rewards for his capture, their safe return. Rewards for information. Anything." She said this with the desperation of a parent, and Jack's chest tightened. He knew that feeling of desperation, knew it very well. He knew the look in her eyes. He found it hard to swallow over the lump in his throat. When he'd found Charlie, upstairs in that room ... he'd known at that moment, he'd have given anything, anything at all, to have him back.

Etienne had followed her in. "We got some leads," he sighed, seating himself near Jack. "A bit of information here and there. The last we heard," he shrugged, "sixth or seventh-hand," he added cynically, "was that he had erased their memories and given them false ones." He turned his head to Jack and spoke softly. "You remember I said there are those who would own an ayarro if they could?"

Jack gave a disgusted nod.

"Well," Etienne went on unhappily, "the last information we got was that he had given them false memories. That he had them believing they were someone they were not. And the word was, he was taking them some place so technologically undeveloped that it would never register on a universal investigation."

"Like Earth," Carter said, comprehension dawning. "Our people aren't registered with the more advanced races," she pointed out to Jack and Teal'c. "They don't know who all the individual humans are. That's why we've had Goa'uld hide out on Earth. My God, it's perfect! If you want to disappear, just go to a planet that's not quite up to speed yet. You can still have your luxuries--if you're a Goa'uld, even your slaves--but if you don't stick your head up, nobody out there in the universe will ever see you."

"Yes," Nalia whispered, nodding minutely. "And there are many such planets. Too many. The rewards were great, but no bounty hunter ever found them."

"It'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack," Carter murmured, calculating the odds.

"I believe it would be even more difficult than that, Major Carter," Teal'c put in. "For once you found the correct needle, you would still need to find the correct individuals on that needle."

Carter slumped. "God." She looked up at Nalia. "I'm so sorry," she offered.

The old woman gave her a small smile. "It is not your fault, my dear."

"No," Etienne shook his head, lips pressed together disapprovingly. "It's the fault of that sick, pathetic thief, Nicolae Balla."

At the mention of the name, four heads moved dramatically. Nalia's dropped to her chest, but Teal'c's, Carter's, and Jack's whipped around to Etienne. He looked at their stunned faces. "What?"

Jack fell back in his seat again, groaning, and scrubbed furiously at his face. "Oh, God," he moaned.

Carter slumped back beside him. "This is going to be so hard for Daniel," she observed sympathetically.

Teal'c looked unblinking into the Steward's regard. "The grandfather of Daniel Jackson is named Nicholas Ballard," he informed them.

There was a choking sound across the room, and Nalia ran out, followed immediately by Phael. Etienne nodded grimly to himself, and stood, then nodded to SG-1, before turning and going after the other two.

~~~

Carter approached the woman cautiously. She couldn't begin to understand what Nalia was going through. Or even what Daniel would be going through soon. She cleared her throat, and moved closer, joining Nalia at the railing. She took a seat on the bench beside her.

"I thought you might like to know that Daniel seems to be coming out of it," Sam offered quietly, smiling.

Nalia kept her face averted, but she nodded.

"We--uh, we don't exactly know how to tell him everything," Sam shrugged. "But we thought maybe you should be there."

"Tell me something," Nalia said softly, her face still turned away, and Sam had to strain to hear. "I haven't asked, because I--I know the answer. I knew it the moment I saw Daniel. I saw it in his life force. It must have been very traumatic for him because it is so clear to see." She turned teary eyes to Sam and clutched her hands in her own. "Tell me how they died," she begged. "Tell me what became of my son." Tears rolled down her face.

Sam's felt her own eyes filling with tears as well, and she remembered her mother saying, 'Everything happens or a purpose, Samantha.' She suddenly wondered if that was why she had been paired with Daniel on the Gamekeeper's planet, in the cosmic scheme of things, for this moment. Because she had seen it, too. She'd been there. She bit down hard on her lip.

"They were archaeologists," Sam whispered, trying to keep her composure in the face of such agony. It so mirrored Daniel's.

Nalia laughed through her tears. "Of course they were," she said in delight. "We Furlings love so to dig up the past. On your planet, they must have been--in Heaven," she faltered. "Everything was new to them. Here, everything had been dug up and reburied a thousand times."

Sam nodded, smiling. "They lived in Egypt with Daniel. Egypt is like the Promised Land for archaeologists. To find something in Egypt--that's an archaeologist's dream."

Nalia nodded eagerly, smiling, though the tears still fell. Her grasp of Sam's hands remained tight. "Did they?" she asked hopefully. "Did they find something?"

"Many things," Sam answered. "They were well-known in the time they spent on Earth. They became published writers and academics and their studies of ancient Egypt were considered ground-breaking." She knew these things because she'd read the jacket covers of the books they'd written, books that Daniel had lovingly tracked down upon reaching adulthood, and had kept throughout the years.

"And how did they live?" Nalia asked, sobering.

"They were very happy," Sam nodded. "Daniel says those first eight years of his life were the happiest years he'd ever known. They lived in Egypt, camped in the desert often, at dig sites, and they took him with them everywhere they went. They were his teachers, and by the age of five, he already knew half a dozen languages fluently. Not to mention a bit of other languages. He could read and write ancient Egyptian, which is a dead language on our planet."

Nalia laughed proudly, freeing a hand for one moment only, just to wipe at her face. It quickly retook Sam's.

"Daniel said they taught him everything he knows about archaeology," Sam grinned, "and that all his studies since then have just been refresher courses. They were very, very happy together, Nalia."

She nodded, but sobered a bit. "But something happened," she insisted. "When Daniel was eight, you said?"

Sam nodded unhappily. "They found a new tomb, and were asked to build a museum exhibit for it in the United States--that's the continent Jack and I are from, the continent we thought Daniel's parents were originally from. The offer came with a promise of additional funding for further excavation, so Daniel's parents agreed to negotiate a deal between Egypt and the U.S. for the loan of the artifacts, and to design the exhibit. They took Daniel with them when they went to set everything up in the museum."

Sam looked away. "They were directing the placement of some very large stones," she said quietly, feeling Nalia's grip on her hands tighten further. "They were going to be balanced on top of some columns and then secured. Daniel was playing nearby," she glanced quickly at Nalia, and then away again. The old woman was staring, unblinkingly.

"Something went wrong," Sam whispered. "The largest stone fell, and it--it crushed them. I'm sorry. And Daniel saw it happen." For a moment Sam thought Nalia might break her hands, but then the old woman's grasp was gone, and Sam looked up to see she was wrapping her arms around herself and crying silently. The gesture was so much like Daniel that Sam couldn't resist throwing her arms around the woman and holding her. She heard a deep shuddering breath, a word here and there, but Nalia continued to shake in her arms for some time. Sam knew she'd remember the broken voice for a long time, calling, "Mikel ... Arrin ..." and then saying, "the poor child, the poor child."

~~~

Daniel was still very groggy. "No, I don't understand," he said. "We've been here three days?"

Jack sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling his legs up and leaning back on his arms.

"Do get comfortable, Jack," Daniel invited.

"Don't mind if I do, Daniel," his friend shot back. "Let's try this again. Are you awake yet?"

Daniel shook his head, trying to clear it. "Yes. I don't know. Maybe. What's going on?"

"You have been ill, Daniel," Phael told him, entering the room with a tray. "I think some Amka will help clear your head a little."

"Whoa!" Jack held up a finger to halt him. "Do you really think that's wise? Do we want a Daniel hyped up on coffee and chocolate?"

"Coffee?" Daniel reopened his eyes and sat up further. "Chocolate?" He reached for the cup that Phael held, and tentatively took a sip. "Oh. My. God," he moaned. He took another sip. "This is--this is--" He looked up at the physician. "This is--the best--the best. Am I only allowed one cup?" he asked, clearly hoping not. "Because if I am, I'll have to make this one last," closed his eyes and inhaled the warm vapor rising from the cup.

Phael chuckled. "I think two cups is acceptable." Daniel immediately downed the one he had and took the second from Phael.

"Okay, you're scraping him off the walls," Jack warned.

Phael chuckled again. "You are being the trickster again, I think, Colonel."

"Oh, no, I'm not," Jack retorted, giving him a grimace-like smile. "Once that caffeine and sugar hits Daniel's bloodstream, you better watch out."

The physician smiled. "Under normal circumstances, maybe, but Daniel is already drained by the Change. And besides, the Amka does not affect F--"

Jack had jumped off the bed, arms waving, before Phael finally fell silent. However, Daniel had already caught half of what Jack had wanted to ease into gradually.

"The Change?" he inquired. "Uh, excuse me," Daniel held up one finger in front of his face. "Did you just say, 'the Change'?"

Phael had the grace to look guilty, but only because Jack was glaring at him. "Shall I leave you alone?" he asked timidly.

"Good idea," Jack huffed. He followed the physician to the door as if to throw him out.

Phael grinned suddenly. "You don't fool me, Colonel," he said daringly, and then darted out of the room.

"Get! Outta--here, you ..." Jack trailed off, as the physician was long gone. He turned back to Daniel, who was regarding him curiously.

"Well, he's got your number," the archaeologist observed. "Jack O'Neill, all bark and no bite. So tell me, Jack, what's this 'Change'?"

Day Four

Phael stepped out into the hall and closed the door to Daniel's room behind him. He looked up at the gathering of people and sighed, unhappy to be the bearer of bad news.

"Well?" Jack demanded.

Phael regarded him apologetically, and then extended that look to Nalia, and the others around them both. "I just gave him the treatment, so I expect he'll be asleep for a little while."

"And?" Etienne prompted.

Phael winced. "And when he wakes up, he only wishes to see myself or Teal'c," he nodded to the Jaffa. "No one else."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jack hit the wall behind him, and then noticed Etienne's sharp look. "Sorry," he apologized half-heartedly. "Why Teal'c?" he demanded of no one in particular. He caught Teal'c's look and realized he'd put his foot in his mouth again. "No offense, big guy," he smiled weakly.

"None taken," the Jaffa said in a deep, smooth tone that warned Jack that he was not going to enjoy their next sparring match in the gym.

"How is he?" Carter asked Phael.

Before the doctor could answer, Nalia stood from her chair. "Perhaps we should take this conversation somewhere more private, and more comfortable," she stated, and took Etienne's arm. The Steward began to lead her down the hall, leaving the rest to follow or be left behind.

Phael and Carter exchanged glances, and hurried after them. Jack looked at Teal'c. "I shall remain with DanielJackson," the alien informed him.

"Yeah," Jack said absently, staring at the closed door. "You do that." He turned slowly and headed off after the others. He arrived at a warm lounge to find the conversation had started without him.

"He says he needs to think," Phael was saying. "You must be patient." He was reaching over to pat Nalia's hand, but he leaned back as Jack entered the room.

"You don't know the way Daniel 'thinks'," Jack informed him archly, dropping into the chair next to Carter's. "I know. When it comes to himself, Daniel overthinks things. He'll think himself into tiny little circles until he's so dizzy he can't stand up, and then he'll keep overthinking it until he's tied up in little knots."

The Furlings looked at him in surprise. "What would you have us do, Colonel?" Etienne asked, eyebrow raised flippantly. "Break down the door and demand he talk to us?"

"Hey," Jack threw out his arms, "I've done it before."

They looked at him aghast. Sam decided to step in. "Uh, what the Colonel means is, Daniel sometimes gets funny ideas about himself."

"Funny?" Phael asked.

"Well, no," Carter hedged, "not funny, exactly, uh, I meant funny as in strange."

"What kind of strange ideas?" Nalia asked directly.

"For crying out loud," Jack leaned forward, and held out a hand toward Etienne. "Remember, you said ayarros tend not to value themselves as highly as they should?"

"Yes," he nodded, ignoring the chiding look from Nalia.

"Well, that's when they're raised like this, right?" Jack waved his hands around them, indicating the palace. "That's when they're raised by and among people who believe that they're something special, right?"

"Yes," Etienne nodded.

"And they still don't value themselves as highly as they should."

"That is correct," Etienne nodded, his tone asking what the point was.

Carter caught on. "Imagine this, then, an ayarro child, raised among foreigners, who don't know what he is, and don't know that he's special. He's lost everything that's near and dear to him, even his way of life, and he's got to start over in a strange new land all by himself, no parents. His grandfather--"

Nalia scowled, and Carter nodded, "Nick," she said apologetically, "won't take him in, but also won't allow anyone else to adopt him."

"That's terrible," Phael murmured.

"So as a result," Jack continued, "the kid gets passed around from foster home to foster home, some good, some not so good, some downright bad, until he's finally old enough to get himself declared an emancipated minor. He spends most of his childhood thinking nobody wants him, he's not good enough, he has no parents, no family."

"He goes out into the world," Carter erupted, "and he gets degrees and doctorates, and he's brilliant. His theories are literally way ahead of their time. And they're right. But the people around him, they're not ready. And so he becomes a laughingstock in his own profession, despite the fact that he's got to be the very best his profession has to offer."

Nalia and Etienne were looking pretty stormy; Phael almost looked like he wanted to cry.

"All of this kinda messes with your head," Jack pointed out. "We do our best, but every now and then, you just gotta give him a shake and tell him, 'Daniel, snap out of it!' And then you remind him that he's got friends," he finished quietly.

"Best friends," Carter smiled at him, laying her hand on her CO's arm. She grinned at the aliens across from her. "I know you might not believe it," she said, her tone mischievous, "but the Colonel really is good for Daniel. And Daniel certainly is good for the Colonel."

"Hey!" Jack jerked his head up to her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She withdrew her hand. "Nothing, sir," she said innocently, eyes wide. Deliberately within his line of sight, she mouthed, 'Later' to the aliens, who chuckled.

Jack scowled at her. "I saw that, Carter."

She gave him the big doe eyes again. "What, sir?"

"You may be right, Colonel," Nalia conceded, drawing his attention. "But let's give Daniel a little more time. This is a great deal to think about. You had three days to come to terms with it. Daniel is not going anywhere until his treatment is complete, and he understands that. Perhaps he will open up to your Teal'c, or to Phael."

The physician nodded to her. "And on that note, I think I shall return to check on Daniel. I will notify you the moment anything changes."

"Of course," Nalia bowed her head, and the doctor was gone.

"So, what?" Jack fidgeted. "We just wait?"

Etienne raised a stern eyebrow. "We wait, Colonel. There are things to do on Annule. I'm sure you can find something to amuse yourself."

Day Five

"... find something to amuse yourself," Jack muttered in a falsetto, picking his way through the fallen bricks of a building.

"Well, it is kind of fun, sir," Carter pointed out. "I mean, we're getting to look at homes that Furlings once lived in."

"We've seen homes Furlings are living in now, Carter," Jack griped. "Why would I want to see crumbling remains?" He found a large block to sit on and pulled out his canteen.

Carter, assured that nothing on Annule would harm them, had opted out of wearing her full kit. She had borrowed lighter summer wear from some of the other women living in the palace, an outfit that resembled overall shorts and a t-shirt more than anything else, and her hiking boots. She stopped for a drink too.

Jack gave up and shrugged out of his shirt, having long since ditched the jacket at a spot where he could pick it up later. He looped the shirt in his belt and flapped his t-shirt. "I thought they said we were going to get a breeze?"

Carter put her hands on her hips. "Where's your sense of adventure, sir? What about the lost tomb of Annule?" she grinned. "Maybe we could find it."

"That's a legend, Carter," he scoffed.

"You never know," she went back to checking out the building blocks of the ruins. "They look like stone," she remarked, holding a couple up. "But their composition doesn't feel right." She glanced around. "I wonder if they'd mind if I took a sample home."

We would not, Major Carter.

Jack jumped about three feet from his seated position, and Carter couldn't hold back a laugh, though she'd been mildly startled at first, too.

"What the hell?" her CO shouted.

Sam held up the small blue tag the Furlings had insisted they had to wear in order to explore on their own. Anyone venturing out of the populated areas had to wear a tag, and had to be monitored, those were the rules. In this manner, the Furlings were able to afford their children and other curiosity-seekers the freedom to explore the ruins on their own, after they'd been checked for safety, of course, but with their viewers at monitor banks watching the whole time, in case of any accidents. They had explained to Carter that the tags were used for focusing monitoring equipment both in orbit and hidden all over the planet. Annule was not dangerous, and the ruins were checked for structural integrity, but accidents did happen on occasion. For example, they'd explained, should Major Carter slip and break an ankle by accident, the viewers would see. Emergency transport would be sent immediately, and within moments of the break, a physician would be already healing the bone.

"Shit," Jack muttered, looking at his own forgotten tag.

"Thank you!" Carter called out. She picked up a smaller rock and slipped into a specimen bag in her own pack.

You are welcome, Major Carter.

"Hey!" Jack spun around, looking at the sky. "Don't I know that voice?"

Yes! The speaker sounded thrilled. It is I, Ahdji!

"Ahh--"Jack couldn't resist, "gee." Carter groaned, but Ahdji didn't seem to catch it.

Yes, Colonel. I am so pleased you remember me.

"Yes, well, I never forget a voice," Jack lied.

"Ahdji?" Carter called out.

Yes, Major Carter?

She waved the Colonel over to where she was surveying a mound of stone-like bricks, half-covered with creeping flower vines. "I could have sworn a minute ago this pile of rocks was clear. Do you have plants that move?"

The Furling chuckled over whatever intercom-like system they were using. Ah, that is Annule, he said proudly. The flowers go where they will. They are curious about you. Put your hand to the rock and see; they will come to you.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Jack cautioned, as Carter seemed to consider it.

They will not harm you.

Curious herself, Carter knelt down beside the pile of rocks and slowly lowered her hand to the clear portion. She held it very still.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and then holding her breath, Carter saw the vines and flowers begin to move. Her eyes widened and her heart sped up.

"Whoa!" she heard Jack say behind her.

Do not be afraid.

Sam had seen a lot of things that seemed good turn out to be very bad, so it was difficult keeping her hand still, but she managed, even when the first of the flowers touched her skin. She flinched at first, but there was no pain, no acid, no tightening around her wrist, etc., and she began to relax. The flowers brushed her skin gently, the back of her hand, her fingers, her palm, and several clustered in the curl of her palm as if nuzzling there. Carter smiled in delight.

"You know, Carter," Jack said casually, "this is usually the point where they grab you and drag you off to their lair so they can devour you." Sam snorted.

They heard a concerned intake of breath from Ahdji. After a moment, he asked nervously, What kind of flowers grow on your planet, Colonel?

~~~

"It was amazing, Teal'c!" Sam was still bubbling over. "It was like the flowers were alive."

"They are," Nalia agreed.

Sam looked across the more casual dining table where only she, Teal'c, Etienne, and Nalia were having the evening meal. Daniel was asleep for the evening now, Phael had assured them, and Jack had opted to guard the door, since he wasn't actually welcome inside. Sam had no doubt, however, that once Phael left, Jack would be in there, even though Daniel still didn't really want anyone's company but Teal'c's.

"Well, yes, they're alive," Sam conceded. "Our flowers are alive, too. But your flowers, it was like they were--like they had a mind of their own."

"No," Etienne corrected. "Like they had a life force of their own." He took a sip of Amka. "And so they do. It is the life force of Annule."

"This life force which protects you," Teal'c added.

"Yes," Etienne agreed.

Teal'c set aside his napkin and lifted his elbows to the table, done with the meal. Lacing his fingers together, he peered over them at the Steward. "There is something I do not understand about that protection."

"Ask," Etienne invited expansively.

"You say that the planet protects you and that all attempts at physical violence hurt only the person or persons perpetrating the act."

"Yes," the Steward nodded.

Teal'c tilted his head. "But what of attacks from space? It is not like the Goa'uld to simply leave a planet they cannot conquer."

"Agreed," Etienne nodded again. "The same thing happens. When they fire their weapons, at the moment of impact, the effect of the attack is transferred to them, not us."

"Wow." Carter gaped. "So a ship firing on you from orbit--"

"Would be destroyed," Nalia finished for her.

"Impressive," Teal'c bowed his head.

"We have only Annule to thank," Nalia told him, no false pride in her voice. She was of a people who clearly knew their defensive superiority over the Goa'uld was not of their own doing.

"But what of the Stargate?" the Jaffa moved on. "Has no Goa'uld ever attempted to eliminate you by sending bombs or bioweapons of any kind through the Stargate?"

"They have," Etienne winked at Carter. "Bioweapons? We are sure they have sent some. There are times when the Stargate is activated, and the originating address is hostile, but nothing comes through. We believe Annule does not allow whatever it is to exit the wormhole."

"You can tell where somebody's dialing in from?" Carter asked, awed.

"Yes," Etienne nodded, as if that were no big deal, he exchanged a glance with Nalia. "We can certainly show you how to do that. Anyway," he turned back to Teal'c. "Other bombs do come through, but at the moment of explosion, they glow, and then are gone. Many times, we have heard later that the planet of origin suffered terrible explosions, or was destroyed completely, at that moment. So we assume Annule is protecting us in the same way it always does."

"The Goa'uld know where we are," Nalia smiled. "They simply have learned over the millennia that there is nothing they can do to us--as long as we stay on this planet." She lost her smile.

"I have never heard any Goa'uld reference to the Furlings," Teal'c observed.

Etienne looked over at Nalia. "I don't think the historical records ever mention that the Goa'uld actually knew who we were. Their human informants gave them physical descriptions of our races, and told them the location of the Ancients' and the Furlings' home worlds--all they had, but if they ever learned who any of the four of us were, they learned it after that time."

"That is what I recall too," Nalia agreed. "If memory serves me correctly."

"I believe they gave up on us long ago," Etienne told Teal'c. "Aside from tentative attempts every few hundred years, they almost seem to have forgotten us."

"They do not forget," Teal'c warned him. "But if every attempt to destroy you has instead destroyed the attacker, then perhaps the remaining Goa'uld have learned to stay away."

"Until they figure something else out," Carter put in. "Which is probably why you get the attempts every now and then."

"Yes," Etienne agreed. "But so far, we have been safe."

Teal'c raised a calculating eyebrow at him. "And if the day comes when your planet no longer protects you?"

Etienne met his gaze squarely. "We prefer a civilized way of life, Teal'c. We have had violence very nearly bred out of us by Annule over the millennia. But if need be, we will fight to survive. And we have not been idle. We have other defenses at our disposal."

The Jaffa nodded approvingly. "O'Neill is adamant that there must always be a Plan B," he agreed.

"And a Plan C, Plan D, Plan E," Carter muttered, then grinned, "if possible."

"He is a good leader," Nalia commented.

"A good warrior," Teal'c bowed his head. "Although I am far older than he and have seen a great many more battles, I am often impressed by his strategy."

Carter smiled in surprise at the Jaffa and nudged him with her shoulder. "I'm telling him you said that," she teased.

The Jaffa sat up even more stiffly. "I shall deny it," he promised haughtily.

Sam giggled, knowing he was teasing, and that even if he did deny it, Jack would still know Teal'c had said it.

Nalia cleared her throat, interrupting the moment. She glanced at them apologetically. "How is Daniel doing, Master Teal'c?" she asked, no longer able to restrain herself. Though the Jaffa had said earlier that he was 'well,' that wasn't nearly enough for her.

The Jaffa bowed his head. "Teal'c," he corrected gently. He looked up, eyes slightly troubled. "DanielJackson--" his lips twitched slightly as he paused, "he struggles to adjust," he admitted.

Sam sighed.

"Although he is more alert now," Teal'c went on, "he wishes to sleep more than ever. He sometimes pretends he is sleeping when he is not. And when asked how he is, he says, as always, that he is--"

"Fine," Sam finished for him.

Teal'c nodded. "As always," he repeated. "But he does not sound fine."

"Has he talked with you about it at all?" Etienne inquired.

Teal'c's eyes roamed to the Steward. "At one point, DanielJackson asked me if I thought that our team had been compromised."

Etienne narrowed his eyes, and Sam sighed again. "He means, Daniel was wondering if it wasn't possible that you all had just made us believe these things against our will."

Etienne's eyes snapped back to Teal'c's questioningly. The Jaffa inclined his head. "I informed him that I, nor no one else on SG-1, believes we have been compromised. That we were all fully convinced as to the truth of the situation. That we had seen numerous proofs, as well as scientific evidence."

"What did he say?" Nalia asked quietly, stilling her shaking hands by clasping them together on the table.

Teal'c's expression was as gentle as it ever got as he looked at her. "He merely turned over and pretended to sleep," he answered.

Day Six

Phael stepped out of Daniel's room, and nodded to the man waiting by the door. With practiced ease, the man slipped in silently, and took a seat by the bed. Phael closed the door behind himself and went down the corridor to a lounge where he knew the others waited.

They looked up at him as he entered, eyes hopeful. "I have given him the final treatment," he announced. "He is asleep, but should wake within the hour. The colonel is with him."

There were grim nods all around. Daniel wasn't going to be happy when he awoke, because he was still adamant that he didn't want to see anyone but Teal'c and Phael, who never pushed him--but upon awaking this time, he would find Jack O'Neill, who wasn't going to let go until Daniel talked.

~~~

Daniel felt himself floating upward toward awareness, and he fought it. It was warm and dark in sleep, and he wanted to stay. The harder he tried to stay asleep, though, the farther up he floated. He suddenly felt someone knock gently on his forehead.

"Helllooooo? Anybody in there?"

Daniel screwed his eyes shut, determined not to wake up.

"I know you're awake, Daniel. Did you know that when you start to wake up, your breathing rate increases? Well, not just you, personally. Everybody. Everybody's breathing, that is. Increases. When they wake up."

"What do you want?" Daniel ground out through clenched teeth, hoping to shut Jack up.

"See?" He could hear the glee. "I knew you were awake."

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"Your company, Danny," Jack told him, and there was a sudden dip of weight as Jack plopped down on the bed beside him, nearly sitting on Daniel's arm. Daniel yanked it out from between Jack's body and his own and held it across his abdomen.

"Go away, Jack," he said wearily. "I'm not in the mood."

"Tough cookies," his friend said cheerfully.

Daniel slit an eye open. Jack looked down at him with a big smile. "Hello, there," he grinned. Daniel shut the eye again.

"Go away, Jack."

"No can do, Daniel. 'Fraid you're stuck with me."

"Why?" Daniel moaned.

"'Cause--you--need--to--talk," each word was accompanied by a poke to his chest, and Daniel swatted at Jack's hand.

"Go away, Jack," Daniel begged.

"No can do, Daniel," Jack sing-songed.

The archaeologist gave in and opened his eyes. "What's it going to take to get you to go away?" he asked listlessly.

Jack cocked his head and pouted. "I'm hurt, Daniel. Haven't ya missed me?"

Daniel stared. "No," he said simply.

Jack smiled charmingly. "Yes, you have," he purred.

"No, Jack, I haven't."

Jack smiled wider. "Yes, you have."

"I haven't."

"Have too."

"Have not."

"Have."

"Have not."

Jack's grin was getting wider all the time. "You so so have."

Daniel seemed to collapse, if such a thing was possible, while lying on one's back on a bed. "You're insane," he declared.

Jack thought it over. "Maybe." He thought it over some more. "Possibly. But don't tell McKenzie, okay?"

Daniel looked up, and Jack saw the tiniest remnant of a resentful smile in his eyes. "Whatever," Daniel responded.

"Thanks!" Jack chirped brightly, bouncing a little on the bed.

"Now will you go away?" Daniel asked.

"Nope," Jack replied immediately.

Daniel gave in and scooted back so he could sit up and look at Jack. "Okay," he nodded. "What?"

"What?" Jack asked innocently.

Daniel brought up his knees and laid his head on them. "God, Jack."

"No, just Jack," his friend replied. He laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Danny," he said gently, "everything's going to be okay."

Daniel's head came up at his soft assurance, eyes bright. "How can you say that, Jack?" he asked, even though Jack was certain that was exactly what he needed Jack to convince him of. "My whole life has been a lie. Everything--every last thing I thought I knew was wrong."

Jack cocked his head at him and gave him a patient look. When he was sure he had Daniel's attention, he intoned carefully and softly, "bullshit."

Daniel laughed, and a tear spilled over. "What?" he gaped.

"None of it was a lie," Jack told him. "Everything was real, all of it was true, and it all happened exactly as you knew it. Your parents were Melbourne and Claire Jackson, two archaeologists who loved you very much. Where they came from before they got to Earth, none of that mattered to the Daniel Jackson you used to be. And it shouldn't matter to the Daniel Jackson you are now. Nothing's been taken away from you, Daniel. Things have just been added, that's all. I mean, you know, Nalia, she seems like she's a pretty okay grandmother, once you get to know her."

"You've forgotten something," Daniel pointed out, getting out of the bed. He looked around for his pants and pulled them on. "Nick's been taken away from me--or would be if I knew where exactly he was. I just got him back."

"Yeah," Jack turned around, watching Daniel shakily get dressed. "Nick. I--uh, I've been thinking about that, Daniel."

Daniel paused where he sat lacing up his boots. He looked up slowly at Jack.

"I know you said he apologized and all," Jack made a dismissive motion with his hand, "for not adopting you, but Daniel, that was years and years and years too late. It's easy to say that to a grown up man that's in a position to help you out. It's still not nearly the same thing as what he needed to do, and that was take care of you when you were a child."

"Don't, Jack," Daniel warned, jerking his laces together.

"Although now that I know more about him," Jack mused, "I'm kinda glad he didn't adopt you. Not that I'm glad you were fostered--but that's another thing--he could have let you be adopted, but he didn't, Daniel."

"You think you're telling me something I don't know, Jack?" Daniel snarled.

"And then with the crystal skull," Jack shook his head, "well, something's always bothered me about that. You know, after we had the whole story, I got to thinking, and I got this idea, and once I had it, I couldn't get rid of it."

"Don't, Jack," Daniel repeated more urgently, yanking his shirt on over his t-shirt.

"I mean, I just couldn't let go of it," Jack apologized. "I started thinking, 'what if Nick figured it out? What if he knew or even suspected we had another one? What would he say or do to get at it? Would he--'" Jack glanced apologetically at a frozen Daniel, "'would he play his own grandson?' You yourself admitted that he lied about you saying he should go along with us to the planet."

Daniel lunged for the door, but Jack was there quicker. "And think about it now, Daniel," he said quickly, blocking the way. "Nick knew there were aliens out there. He may have even wanted to find them because he wanted their power, who knows? He certainly had his own motivations. Didn't you think it odd that he suddenly turns into a loving grandfather, and then just as suddenly abandons you again?"

Daniel's fist came up to his own mouth and he bit on his knuckle to keep a sob from escaping. "Let me out, Jack," he said quietly.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm just going for a walk," Daniel told him. "Phael said I could after I woke up. Get out of my way, Jack."

"Daniel--"

"Please."

Jack looked deep into Daniel's swimming blue eyes and against his better judgment, surrendered. "Stay in the palace," he ordered. "A short walk." He stepped aside as Daniel nodded.

The door opened to a surprised Phael. "Daniel?"

"I'm going for a walk," Daniel said brusquely.

"Yes, but--" the physician looked unhappily after his patient. "The Sight will come to you full force sometime today, Daniel. Do not go far."

He got a raised hand over Daniel's shoulder in acknowledgement, and he turned to Jack in dismay. The colonel looked equally worried. "I told him to stay in the palace," Jack murmured, hoping for once, Daniel would obey orders.

~~~

Daniel was oblivious to the alarmed glances he got as he walked along because his gaze was focused firmly on the ground before him, and he could barely see that. He walked too quickly for anyone seeing his distress to have time to decide upon an action, and it wasn't long before he had no idea where he was. He didn't really care. He saw a corridor that seemed abandoned, and he quickly ducked down it, hoping to avoid any more people. The corridor led to a wing of the palace that also seemed unused, and Daniel stepped out into a courtyard that overlooked an expanse of wilderness, dappled with scattered ruins. Standing at the edge of the patio, he gazed out over the horizon, feeling himself calm somewhat, his emotions numbing.

He didn't want me. He never wanted me. He lied to me all along. He wasn't sorry. He just wanted to use me.

Daniel couldn't stop the parade of images through his head; foster family after foster family that decided he was too much trouble, too traumatized, too quiet, too strange, too smart, for them to keep. He never stayed anywhere for very long before they decided they didn't want him. "What happened to that old 'ayarro' charm when I was a kid?" he said aloud. "If I'm really an ayarro, what went wrong? How come nobody ever wanted me?"

A warm breeze blew across the patio and brushed by Daniel, feeling like a caress on his skin, and he found it oddly soothing. I'm wanted here, he pointed out to himself. He pulled himself up onto the stone border of the patio and took a seat, dangling his legs over the edge. Looking down, he saw that the drop to the area where wilderness had taken over wasn't far.

My life is on Earth, he reminded himself. Jack, Sam, Teal'c. Stopping the Goa'uld. Keeping Earth safe.

Saving your people.

"Whoa," Daniel murmured, putting a hand to his head. "Where did that come from?" The strange thing was, he wasn't sure which people he had been thinking of when the thought had entered his mind.

Daniel stared down at the spot where the populated area ended, its trimmed landscaping stopping abruptly. The more he stared, the more convinced he was that there was an archway in the foliage, a tunneled path. "Too dark," he shook his head, chastising himself for wanting to explore, especially when he still felt weak.

A rustling in the trees above brought a change to the arched path, and soon, the tunnel was much better lit with sunlight. Amazed, but suspicious, Daniel just stared.

Short of minor accidents, nothing on Annule will harm you, he remembered Etienne telling him. Curiosity got the better of him, and Daniel carefully lowered himself as far as he could before jumping down the rest of the way. He landed awkwardly, but the grasses beneath him were much thicker and softer than they'd seemed from above, and he wasn't hurt at all. He got to his feet and brushed himself off, and then headed over to the archway.

It was not a real arch, Daniel noticed, but vines that were growing in the shape of an arch. He mused at how it was possible, since there were no ties, no strings, not even any other vines, to guide the plants into the arcs they grew. Yet, there they were, starting at the top, and going down both sides, defying gravity with the arc they took near the top. Daniel shook his head in amazement and stepped through into the tunnel.

He'd expected the pathway to be difficult to traverse, overgrown and cluttered by time and nature, but the ground was lightly covered by soft grass, and all foliage was cleared back to just the right height and width for a man his size and arm-spread. Daniel followed the path where it lead, knowing that pathways were built for reasons, and his archaeologist's curiosity was driving him to find out what the reason for this pathway had been.

Flowers began appearing on the walls of the tunnel--literally began appearing, popping up as he walked, as if trying to take a peek at him. Daniel worried at first, knowing he hadn't had an allergy pill in several days, but when he didn't grow any more congested, he risked moving in closer and trying a sniff. Immediately several more flowers popped up under his fingers, and Daniel smiled. He took a deeper breath of the cluster, and felt no ill effects at all. He enjoyed the perfume, for once. "Nice," he murmured. The little flowers wiggled against his fingers. He marveled that he didn't seem to be at all allergic to them.

Daniel continued his trek through the tunnel, stopping once when it opened to a small pool with a waterfall, and he drank his fill, even though he was sure Sam would have had a fit. He believed Etienne about the planet for some reason, and besides, he was thirsty and tired, and he needed a break. After drinking from the pool, he rested beside it, and fell asleep. When he woke up, he discovered that the foliage overhead had shifted at some point to block the sun while he slept, and he watched it pull back as he sat up. "This is amazing," he observed in wonder. A vine curled loosely around his wrist, and Daniel looked down, grinning. "Amazing." He gently disentangled the vine, and only felt a little silly when he told it, "gotta go."

He rejoined the path and continued on, and as he went, noticed that he felt much stronger than he had that morning. He knew he was nowhere near full strength, but he felt at least twice as strong than he had. He had no idea where he was going, what the twisting, twining path might lead to, but he felt driven to follow it through to the end. He put it down to stress relief. Focusing on what the tunnel might lead to meant he didn't have to focus on other issues.

In fact, the very sameness of the tunnel, the lack of distinguishing characteristics, not having any way to know how far he'd traveled, was almost hypnotic for Daniel. He idly thought it must be like long-distance drivers who fell asleep on the road. They became hypnotized by the lines painted in the street. He found himself similarly hypnotized by the foliage and flowers of the tunnel extending in curves before him as he walked along, his mind clearing of all worries.

~~~

"The Colonel told him to stay in the palace," Phael repeated, distressed and confused as to why Daniel had not done just that.

"Well, he did not," Etienne snapped.

Ahdji rushed in. "Final report," he said breathlessly. "All sectors have been scanned. Daniel is nowhere in the city."

Nalia turned to Sam where she sat beside her on a couch, and uncertain, the Major put her arms around the old woman.

"Did he take a tag?" Phael asked, desperately hoping for logic.

Ahdji shook his head. "All have been accounted for. And he does not show up on any monitor."

Etienne's head snapped around. "None of them?" he demanded. "How is that possible?"

"It isn't," Ahdji answered grimly.

Jack sat nearby with his head in his hands, blaming himself. "Can a ship transport someone off your planet without your knowing it?" he asked dully.

"No," Ahdji insisted.

"Not that we know of," Etienne amended.

"Well, he isn't here," Carter pointed out. "If he isn't in the city, and he's not on the monitors, and he can't have been taken off planet, what else is left?"

Nalia jumped up, eyes blazing with inspiration. "Annule," she breathed.

Etienne moved closer, looking down at her with concerned eyes. "Nalia?"

She focused on him. "Etienne, it is Annule," she repeated. "Annule has him."

"But why?" Ahdji asked, accepting what she said in a heartbeat, despite the fact that this was giving the planet far more capability than they had ever thought possible.

"I don't know," she shook her head. "But I know that is what has happened. Annule wants him for something and will keep him from us until finished with him."

"What are we to do?" Teal'c asked, standing in a guard position near the door.

Etienne took Nalia's hand and they sat down on a couch. "Nothing," the old man said, resigned. "If Nalia says she knows Annule has him, then Annule does have him. And if Annule has him, there is nothing that can be done until Annule decides to give him back."

Phael cleared his throat timidly. "Daniel should be getting the Sight any time now," he told them. "He may have already received it." He had already explained to SG-1 that this could sometimes be an overwhelming experience, although the historical records, of course, dealt mainly with children born off planet and being brought back to Annule.

Nalia gestured him over to a chair. "Annule will have to deal with it," she told him. "There is nothing we can do until Annule gives Daniel back to us."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Jack exploded from the room.

Teal'c bowed in the silence that followed, and then went after his human friend.

O'Neill was pacing a balcony that overlooked the late afternoon's horizon. "It's a planet!" he shouted, seeing Teal'c in the doorway. "Daniel's out there somewhere," he flung an arm out over the balcony, "wandering alone, and we're just sitting here telling ourselves there's nothing we can do."

"What would you do, O'Neill?" the Jaffa asked calmly.

"We could search on foot," Jack shot back.

Teal'c fixed his gaze on a point over Jack's shoulder. "I personally walked the perimeter of this entire structure," he pointed out. "I found no track whatsoever of DanielJackson."

"Doesn't mean there aren't any somewhere," O'Neill countered.

"With very few exceptions, the unpopulated areas have closed themselves off since DanielJackson disappeared," Teal'c reminded him. "No one has been able to get through."

"So we get a chain saw!" Jack shouted.

Teal'c looked pointedly at Jack's forearm, from which the sleeve had been pulled back. A jagged knife cut, healed to the point of a fresh scar by Phael, shone prominently on his skin. Jack yanked his sleeve down, growled and threw himself at the balcony railing, bringing his fists down on it. A moment later he slid down the wall to sit on the floor, cradling his arm in pain.

Teal'c sighed and crossed the balcony, looking down. "Do you require the physician, Phael?"

"No," Jack said sullenly.

"Are you sure?" Teal'c questioned.

"Yeah!"

Teal'c lowered himself to sit across from his friend, and crossed his legs in a lotus position as he was accustomed. Jack shook the pain off his arm and looked up at the Jaffa.

"O'Neill," the big man raised one eyebrow, "there are times when I am strongly reminded of the vast difference in our ages."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You calling me immature?"

The other eyebrow went up. "And if I were, what would you do about it?"

Jack's eyes went back to normal and he tilted his head a couple of times, thinking about it. "I guess there wouldn't be much I could do about it," he admitted, a slight bit of humor back in his voice.

"Indeed," Teal'c rumbled, a clear sign that he was pleased to lift his friend's mood.

Jack slapped at his thigh and kicked one of his legs out flat. "It's just so friggin' hard, Teal'c. I let him go. I let him go."

"He needed to be alone," Teal'c reminded him. "He said he only wanted to take a walk."

"And I told him not to leave the palace," Jack nodded, hoping to cheer himself up. Then he slumped again. "But he only nodded, and I should know better. When Daniel just nods, who knows what he's nodding to."

Teal'c inclined his head, a small smile on his lips. Daniel had played that trick on Jack before.

Jack held up a finger to Teal'c. "When we get him back, I'm gonna kill him."

The Jaffa's smile didn't diminish. "I will not allow you to do that, O'Neill," he stated calmly.

"Okay, okay," Jack grumbled. "I'll just hurt him severely."

"No, you will not," Teal'c stated decisively.

Jack looked up, gauging Teal'c's expression. "Can I smack him upside the head at least?"

An eyebrow went up again, the equivalent, at times, of a Jaffa snicker. "No."

Jack winced, and thought again. He looked up hopefully. "Send him to bed without supper?"

"Daniel Jackson does not eat enough as it is."

Jack bobbed his head in frustration, acknowledging that. "I know!" he held up his hands, grinning widely. "We tell him we're taking him to some fancy museum exhibit, then when he's walking to the car, we jump him, tie him up, drive him up to my cabin, tie him to a chair, and make him fish with us for a whole weekend. No books, no rocks, no squiggly things to translate. Whaddya think?" He looked imminently pleased with himself.

The Jaffa looked down his nose at him sternly. "It seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me, O'Neill." His eyebrow quirked. "We shall request the time off from General Hammond as soon as we return."

"Yes!" Jack punched the air. "Give me five, my man!" He held out his palm, and having been coached, Teal'c slapped it. Jack yelped and snatched his hand back. "Teal'c, I told you, not so hard!" He looked up resentfully and could have sworn that behind the stone face, Teal'c was laughing.

~~~

Daniel was running out of steam, he knew. Plus, his vision was going funky. In the back of his mind, he knew it was the Sight, which Phael had told him would come to him sometime today. However, it wasn't supposed to be so drastic with flowers and plants. He winced, because the light he was seeing up ahead was exceedingly bright.

The light at the end of the tunnel, he laughed to himself, getting punchy in his fatigue. He staggered out of the tunnel into the dusk, surprised it was dark in the sky, but the small clearing he was in was bright as day. It was round, about the size of the Gateroom, Daniel estimated, and walled with vines and flowers to a height of about ten feet. As he slowly circled, he realized that the tunnel was gone. He kept looking, but found it nowhere. There was nothing but vines and flowers and grass, and a bright white light in the center of the circle.

Daniel approached it hesitantly, wincing, and as if in reaction, the light receded somewhat, becoming shorter and closer to the ground. Exhausted, Daniel sunk to his knees before it, and then sat.

"Okay," he mused aloud. "And what are you?"

There was a rumbling noise, and Daniel scooted back, and at the same time, the grass and vines before him seemed to do the same, and then he could see something metallic in the ground. It lifted slowly, raising itself higher, until it emerged from the ground perhaps a foot. The light seemed to protrude from the top of it.

Daniel had reached the last of his energy and didn't have any left to be afraid. He sank down onto his side, the grass and flowers seeming to arrange themselves softly for him, and reached out a hand to brush the side of the metal. He could see letters, filled in with dirt, and he cleared them with his fingers, scooting forward a little in his 'bed' of nature to reach them all. Finally, they were all clear, and he stared at them for a long moment.

Something inside him snapped, and Daniel laid his head down on his arms and the flowers, and cried. "All this, and I can't read Furling," he laughed through his tears, and then he cried more. He wondered if he could become dehydrated from crying; Phael certainly seemed to think so from the way he was constantly pushing liquids on Daniel. Still he cried, thinking of his parents, ripped from their home, and their families, losing them. He cried for himself, and what might have been, but not for long, because he knew that SG-1 was his family and where he was meant to be.

He cried for Nalia, and he cried for Nick, for what the old man lost and for what he might have had, and he cried for no reason at all other than he had to get it out. And then because he was certain this was the tomb, he cried for Annule, certain that the legend was no legend at all; that the boy had been real and had given his life for his people. As the tears died away, he shivered, the night air growing cold.

When his eyes slid shut, the bright light came close to cover him, and the flowers and vines crowded over him as well, and between them, they kept Daniel warm through the night. And the life Force that was Annule merged fully with its long-lost child, and its hope for the future of its people--and it did what it needed to give that future a chance.

Day Seven

With the sunrise, they were all out at the borders of the unpopulated areas, along with thousands of Furlings, all determined to push their way through if that was what they had to do. But when Nalia and her party, along with Jack and his, approached one of the foliage walls that had proven impenetrable yesterday, it suddenly parted widely on its own.

On a pathway just large enough to comfortably accommodate him, Daniel Jackson was walking toward them, looking healthy and smiling sheepishly. Behind him, the path was actively disappearing with every step forward he took. SG-1 was off at a run to him, and after a long cheer of relief, Nalia dispersed the crowds, not wanting to overwhelm Daniel with his newly-acquired Sight. She waited with Etienne at the mouth of the path.

She saw Carter hug Daniel fiercely, and the Jaffa grasp Daniel's forearm, and bow. Her grandson looked pleasantly surprised by their affection, and she wasn't taken aback by his reaction, having looked at his life force many times since he'd come to her and having seen how little worth he assigned to himself--something she vowed to change. She watched Jack grab him by the ear and pull him for a step or two, and heard the words "so much trouble, young man!" as well as Carter laughing at his antics. She might have been alarmed if Daniel hadn't pulled free and pushed Jack off, laughing himself.

As they approached, Daniel focused more and more on her. He pulled free of his companions and came to stand before her, and she could see he was afraid, and didn't know what to say. She said it for him. "Child," she invited, and opened her arms, and he stepped into them as if he'd never left and hugged her as tightly as she hugged him.

"Aman," he murmured, and she pushed him back, cupping his face in surprise.

"Aman?" she asked, wondering how he knew.

"Annule took me to his tomb," Daniel told her in wondrous delight, using the Furling language. "When I woke up, I felt fine, good, and I could read the words on the tomb. I could speak Furling," he said, still stunned.

"Words?" Etienne asked quietly, standing closely at Nalia's side. "On Annule's tomb?" He was in shock.

Daniel nodded quickly, smiling, and not seeing the flabbergasted looks of two-thirds of his team, who couldn't understand a word he was saying. "It said, 'Here rests Annule. May the force of his soul live forever.'"

"Soul?" Nalia gasped. "It said, 'soul,' Daniel? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Positive. Why?"

Etienne beamed. "There is an ancient text, one which you have never seen, of course, and I'm sure none of us have mentioned it to you. It states that the tomb says that exact phrase, only they used the word 'spirit,' not 'soul.'"

Daniel shook his head confidently. "It was 'soul.'" And though he had just learned the language, he had been given it by Annule himself, and it was obvious to Etienne and Nalia that Daniel was undoubtedly correct.

"That puts a whole different interpretation to many of our texts," Nalia said excitedly to Etienne.

He grinned. "We have much work ahead of us." He looked at Daniel again fondly. "I don't suppose you can find the tomb again, my boy?" he asked, vainly hoping.

Daniel shook his head. "Annule took me through a tunnel like the one you just saw. It wound all over the place. I have no idea where it went or how far it went--plus half the time, I was out of it. I have absolutely no idea where the tomb was. And when he produced the tunnel today for me to leave, when I turned back at the entrance, the tomb was already back in the ground and covered."

Nalia nodded. "It's for the best, I suppose. Legends have more power as legends than fact." She rubbed Daniel's arms fondly. "Now, your friends are waiting, and Phael needs to see you right away."

He smiled, and bowed his head, and turned back to his friends.

"What's this make now, Daniel, Language Number 264?"

"Actually Jack, if I can use that machine you guys talked about in the way Nalia does--"

~~~

Nalia shook her head. "No one is to be told."

Carter tried to keep Jack from erupting. "You don't understand," she smoothed. "Janet is our doctor. She has to know about Daniel."

"And General Hammond does," Jack added. "Dr. Frasier alone isn't enough to protect Daniel if something happens. We need a minimum of the two of them knowing."

"And what of this NID?" Etienne demanded. "Or the other organizations you've mentioned?"

Jack cursed Teal'c and his big mouth, and was glad he'd sent the Jaffa and Daniel off on an errand. "Okay, look. I agree with you. I don't think we should tell the folks back home about Daniel. Except for his doctor--who's going to find out anyway--and General Hammond, who runs the dang base and will help us in an emergency!"

"Bring them here," Nalia ordered abruptly.

"Wha?" Carter asked wide-eyed.

Jack winced. "The two of them don't travel off-world," he tried to explain.

"I don't care," Nalia stated. "Bring them here. If you want them to know about Daniel, then I need to see them. I need to See them." She got up and nodded brusquely, then left without another word. Etienne nodded smugly.

~~~

Nalia sat beside Daniel and took his hand. "I want to know that you're prepared," she said fearfully.

"I am," he promised grimly.

"I just want you to see how much you were loved and wanted."

He blushed and looked away. Nalia took his chin and turned his face back. "You will see your parents. You will see me. You will even see yourself. Are you sure you are prepared?"

He nodded resolutely. "I'm sure."

Nalia assessed his eyes for a moment longer, and then keeping hold of his hand, she activated a platform in front of them. A three-dimensional tableau sprung to life before them, half the size of real-life, and Daniel's breathing hitched, but he leaned forward eagerly.

A younger version of his father stood beside a younger version of his mother, very pregnant, who lay upon a tall, medical bed. She was very pregnant. She giggled as the man put his ear down to her stomach. "Mikel," she tapped his head, "that tickles."

Her voice, speaking Furling, was higher than Daniel remembered. It brought tears to his eyes.

"I can hear him," his father breathed.

"Oh?" she asked, skeptical.

"Yes," he declared. "Wait, he's saying something!"

"Mikel!" she giggled again. Daniel shook his head to see his mother so carefree.

"He is, he's saying something," Mikel insisted. "I can--I can just make it out. Yes!" He looked up to his wife. "Do you want to know what he said?"

She sighed, grinning. "He can't talk yet!"

Mikel slid up to her face and laid his fingers on her lips. "Shhh," he whispered. "He said to tell you that he loves his mommy."

Arrin brought her hand up to caress Mikel's face. "And his mommy loves him."

Mikel went back to her stomach. "Do you hear that, baby boy?" he said, lips pressed against her skin, so that his words were somewhat muffled. "Your mommy loves you."

Arrin laughed. "It tickles," she complained.

"And your daddy loves you," Mikel went on, delighting in his wife's giggles. "Your daddy loves you so much that he--wants--to--eat you all up!" With that, he started gnawing on his wife's stomach, producing peals of laughter, and he threw out his hands to hold her in place on the table so she wouldn't fall.

The scene grayed out, and Nalia paused it, rubbing Daniel's arm. He continued to stare at the platform in front of him. "They still loved each other like that," he said quietly. "But they were never so carefree again." He bowed his head for a second. "Will you go on?"

Nalia started the next scene she'd selected for Daniel. A younger Nalia was seated on a couch next to Arrin, and Phael was giving her last minute instructions on some type of equipment. Nervously, the younger Nalia met Arrin's eyes, and the young woman smiled her encouragement. Nalia looked over at the very young Phael. "Perhaps you should do it after all," she told him. "You are a professional."

"It's simple," he assured her. "Anyone could do it. Just place it where I told you, move the dials, and when you've got the shot you want, palm it."

With great trepidation, Nalia did as he said, and there was a sharp intake of breath as she peered through the equipment. She looked up hurriedly.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Arrin asked dreamily.

Nalia didn't think she could smile any wider, and she gave Arrin a quick kiss before going back to the device. She maneuvered the equipment until she had it just the way she wanted it--Phael was right about its ease of use, and then she palmed it to action. She looked to the physician. "That's it?" she asked.

"That's it," he smiled. "Just hold it there for a few minutes."

The scene grayed again, and Nalia said quickly, "This is what I took."

A small cube, floating in air appeared before them. It slowly morphed into a baby, curled up tightly. There was no visible womb, but it was obvious from the position of the child and the umbilical cord leading to nowhere that the womb had simply been removed from the image. Blood and fluid and other materials had likewise been removed until all that remained was the baby.

Daniel gaped at the infant, seven months in the womb, tiny but perfectly formed. The child's eyes were opened, and he squirmed around, looking this way and that, as if trying to see something. Then a hand flailed up, and a little thumb popped into a tiny mouth. The eyes slid shut and the infant sucked happily.

Daniel exhaled a short laugh. He pointed at the image and turned to Nalia. "That--that's me?"

She smiled. "That is you," she nodded. "You were a beautiful baby." Her smile faded, and Daniel turned to look at her as she turned off the image.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

Her eyes were teary now. "And I was worried about you," she smiled. She waved her hand at where the baby had been. "I had so been looking forward to holding you when you were born. My grandbaby." Her breath caught, and the tears fell, and Daniel took her into his arms.

~~~

"Daniel."

Sam scowled. "Daniel!"

When he still failed to snap out of it, she resorted to throwing a pillow at him. "Daniel!"

He blinked and focused, straightening his glasses. "Sam?"

She crossed her arms. "Quit staring at me!"

He smiled back sheepishly. "Sorry, Sam."

"What is it, anyway?" she asked, annoyed. "Do I have something on my face, what?"

He got the same unfocused look back in his eyes. "Do you know, you're very pretty, Sam?"

"Daniel, you're staring again." Sam peered at him. "You're looking deep again, aren't you? Colonel!" she called across the room.

He looked up from the latest agreement Nalia was proposing. "Major?"

"Sir, make Daniel stop looking at me!"

"No can do, Carter," her CO said uncaringly. "He might start in on me again then."

Sam's mouth fell open, and then she snapped it shut angrily. "Teal'c!" she yelled, turning toward his room in their suite.

The Jaffa appeared in his doorway. "Major Carter?"

Sam gestured at Daniel, who sat with his chin propped up on his knee, gazing at her with a smile. "Can you make him stop that?" she asked in frustration.

Teal'c regarded the archaeologist thoughtfully and then turned back to the Major. "I cannot," he said shortly. "Besides, it is your turn." He turned on his heel and closed the door behind him.

Sam huffed in frustration and turned back to scowl dangerously. "I'm warning you, Daniel. You'd better stop it, now."

"I'd listen to her if I were you, Danny-boy," Jack said from behind his papers.

Daniel just smiled.

Sam snapped. "Okay. That's it! Expect it, Daniel!" She huffed off and slammed the door to her room behind her.

Day Eight

Daniel woke the next morning--to darkness. Darkness that he couldn't relieve by opening his eyes, because he couldn't open his eyes. And he couldn't open his eyes because he was blindfolded. And he couldn't remove the blindfold because he had been tied down to something hard.

Before his heartbeat could speed up too far, fingers brushed his cheek. "Good morning, Daniel," a voice purred in his ear.

"Sam," he gasped in relief. Then he realized from the sweet way in which she had greeted him that his predicament was not something that made her unhappy. "Uh, Sam?"

"Yes, Daniel?" Again, that sweet, happy, tone.

"Um, I can't see," he said lamely.

The fingers still brushed his cheek. "Do you want to see, Daniel?"

"That'd be nice," he answered.

Her voice moved closer, and he knew she'd put her lips to his ear. "Do you want to See, Daniel?"

Alarm bells were ringing in Daniel's head. "I'm sorry, Sam," he said quickly. "I--it's just--it was new--and--you're so pretty, Sam--"

"I think you should see, Daniel," she agreed, and pulled off the blindfold.

"Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God," Daniel chanted, wanting to shut his eyes, but afraid to do even that. The board he'd been tied to was balanced on the edge of a railing tied to the balcony across from his room. The drop was over 100 feet.

"Something wrong, Daniel?"

His eyes flicked over to where she stood beside him, smiling gently, as if she wasn't the demon torturing him right now. "Sam, you know I don't like heights," he said tightly.

"And you know I don't like being stared at," she told him.

"I'm sorry," Daniel surrendered, losing the fight not to babble. "I'm really, really, sorry, Sam."

"And you promise never to do it again?" she prompted.

"I promise," he agreed, nodding tersely. "I'll never do it again, Sam. I'll never look beneath the surface, Sam, I promise. I can't help seeing the surface, but I promise I won't look deeper."

She smiled and patted his face. "Okay," she said brightly, and seemed to forgive him.

"Sam?"

"Yes, Daniel?" Her tone was still too sweet, and Daniel was still wary.

"Um--is--is the board secured okay to the railing? I'm not going to fall, am I?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Daniel," she chided. "The board isn't secured to the railing at all," she told him, smiling at his shocked gasp. "If I'd secured the board to the railing, what would have been the fun in that?" To demonstrate the veracity of her words, she put her hands on the board at his head and hip and wiggled it. It rocked unstably.

"Sam!"

She tilted her head, looking almost sympathetic to his fright. "Yes, Daniel?"

"I promised!" he reminded her. "Get me down, please, okay? I promise, I won't look deep again." His eyes pleaded with her.

She looked up and seemed to consider it, and Daniel held his breath. She nodded and glanced back down. "Okay," she agreed, and with one mighty push, shoved the board forward and off its perch. Daniel gave a frightened yell, but it was cut short by the realization that he had landed on a mattress, and that only his own weight on top of the board had held the ties in place. He floundered for a moment, suddenly remembered the Furlings' advanced image projection equipment, and then took off after his teammate with the flood of adrenaline in his system.

"You are so dead, Sam!" he yelled.

~~~

Nalia and Jack waited on the wall of one of the ruins housing the transportation platform while Etienne and Ahdji went further down to the Stargate. "Will he be very angry?" Nalia asked Jack.

O'Neill fidgeted a little, knowing it wasn't going to be fun explaining to his CO how he'd been lied to, but ...

"He'll be okay in the long run," he shrugged. "General Hammond's a good guy. Once he understands the situation--"

The Stargate activated. "They're here," Nalia said nervously.

Jack took the old woman's arm. "Shall we?" he offered. They headed down toward the emerging humans.

Upcoming anger or not, Jack was glad to see the round figure of the SGC Commander stepping through the wormhole. And though he trusted Phael completely by now, it wouldn't hurt to have Janet take a look at Daniel. Both of them were carrying as much of Janet's medical equipment as they could. And both looked--Jack frowned--very unhappy. They stepped forward onto the steps down.

One second more and Jack understood why they were unhappy, because he felt the same way. Even more, he could see Etienne and Ahdji backing up in revulsion, and Nalia's hand tightened painfully on his arm. Although Nalia had specifically directed that the treaty between Earth and Annule would depend on SG-1 and General Hammond exclusively, with Dr. Frasier coming along for the 'minor illness' of Daniel's, nevertheless, another person had come through the Stargate. Standing at the top of the Stargate platform, looking mightily pleased with himself and smiling in his greasy fashion, stood Senator Kinsey.

As a fitting tribute to the new arrival, Ahdji ran to a bush and vomited. Jack couldn't have put it better himself.

~~~

Kinsey stepped smartly down the stairs and jerked a thumb at the still dry-heaving Ahdji, ignoring the fact that Etienne was recoiling from him in horror. "Is he okay?" he asked, mock concern on his face. Without waiting for an answer, he saw Jack up the hill, and scowled. Etienne flinched at the waves of hatred that roiled through his life force.

Nalia took a deep, steadying breath, and moved forward again. She fought to keep her stomach steady. She nodded briefly to herself as she saw Dr. Frasier heading to the younger Furling, and nodded again at a quick glance at Jack's General Hammond, who had misery and shame written all over his face. "Ma'am," he bowed respectfully. "I--"

"Hello!" Kinsey strode forward, hand extended. Nalia pulled her own hands in and away from his reach, staring at him with the same horror that Etienne had. The Steward had come to back her, but was far from knowing what to do, she saw. They had never seen a creature like this before. Even when had seen the Goa'uld, it had not been this bad.

Kinsey pulled back his hand, his oily smile still in place. "Hello, there, Ma'am, Sir," he included the Steward, now that he saw the man was somehow important to the 'ayarro,' a word he took to mean 'queen.' "I'm Senator Robert Kinsey, and I'm--"

"You were not invited," Nalia interrupted coldly, her blue eyes like frozen ice.

Kinsey shot a hateful glare at O'Neill who held his hands up in amusement. "Hey, I'm just the escort," he grinned.

"Ma'am," Kinsey turned back, practically humming, "I'm sure you've been told all sorts of horror stories, but--"

"I have not."

Kinsey faltered, but went on. "But our President feels it would be best if a treaty of this magnitude was negotiated by a skilled diplomat."

"And if he sent you," Jack said, "then that still leaves us one skilled diplomat short."

"I'll handle this, O'Neill," Kinsey hissed, eyes narrowed.

"By all means," Jack smiled, waving him on.

Kinsey turned back and opened his mouth.

Nalia turned abruptly to General Hammond. "Were my instructions not clear, General? If Earth wishes a treaty, and to share in our technology, then the Earth contingency must consist of SG-1 and yourself only. I believe I specified that several times."

"Yes, ma'am, you did," the Texan said apologetically.

"Now, ma'am," Kinsey said condescendingly, speaking as if she were a child, "these matters can't simply be decided by three military members, an alien, and a scientist. There are political matters that have to be--"

"You say 'alien' as if it were undesirable," Nalia observed, giving him a little rope.

"Well," Kinsey nodded thoughtfully, "in this case, yes, because you see, the Jaffa is not from Earth."

"Neither are we," Nalia said flatly. She turned to Jack. "Colonel O'Neill, dial Earth. This," she looked him up and down with sheer disgust, "creature is going back."

"Now see here," Kinsey said more firmly, "the President of the United States of America has authorized me to negotiate this treaty. Now if you want to reach an agreement with our planet, I'm afraid you're just going to have to--"

"Very well," Nalia nodded smoothly. "Dial Earth, Colonel," she repeated. "You're all going back."

The Senator spluttered and then gave a snort of laughter. "You're bluffing."

Nalia regarded him with amusement. "Are you somehow under the impression that we need you for something?" The idea clearly amused her and Etienne both, and their amusement infuriated Kinsey. Nalia looked at Jack. "Are you dialing?" she asked, as if wondering why he was still standing there.

"Yes, ma'am!" he grinned, turning toward the Stargate.

"Wait! You'd throw us all off the planet simply because you don't want to negotiate with me," Kinsey stated in stunned disbelief. The idea that anyone could find him objectionable clearly didn't register.

"Yes, Senator," Nalia agreed. "You were not invited and you are most definitely not welcome. Now, will you cost your planet protection from the Goa'uld, or will you leave?"

She took his sigh as acquiescence and nodded to Jack. "Dial Earth, Colonel," she instructed again. "The Senator is going back."

"Belay that, Colonel."

Oh, shit, Jack thought, not liking that tone in Kinsey's voice. He turned around to see Kinsey take a step closer to Nalia.

"Now let's get this straightened out right here," the Senator said in a low voice. "The Colonel takes orders from me. Hell, the General takes orders from me. Even the President does what I want him to do," he said in a steely voice.

Nalia smiled. "Like give you authority to negotiate this treaty," she guessed.

"That's right," he jabbed a finger in her direction. "And we've been screwed over by you so-called advanced races one too many times, so I'm here to insure that SG-1 doesn't muck it up again. I'm not going to play all lovey-dovey, touchy-feely like they do. I'm a real player. I play hardball, lady. So let's knock off all the posturing and get down to the job of negotiating this goddamn treaty!"

For a member of a peaceful race, Ahdji looked like he wanted to charge in and rip Kinsey's head off, but Etienne gave him a subtle hand signal that held him back. General Hammond likewise looked about to throw his career to the four winds, when Jack gave him an amused shake of the head. Dr. Frasier looked too stunned to speak.

Nalia looked up at Kinsey with a slow smile that seemed to bring him to an even higher boil. She took a step back with one foot and gestured at him, and Jack knew she was indicating his life force, although he knew Kinsey, Hammond, and Frasier didn't know. "Is that what this is all about?" she asked, pity creeping into her eyes. "Is trying to be a 'player' - whatever that is, is that what has made you into this," she shook her head as she looked deeply at him again, all traces of humor gone, "horrific creature?"

His face lobster red with near-hysteria, Kinsey spluttered, and his hand slipped into his pocket. Jack saw him do it, as did Etienne and Hammond, but Etienne didn't move a muscle, and Jack shook his head again at Hammond. To his credit, his CO gave him his faith and kept still.

"Etienne," Nalia commanded. "Since Colonel O'Neill cannot do it, you dial Earth. We are sending this--person--back."

Breathing seemed to be coming hard to Kinsey now. "You can't do that," he insisted. "What about the treaty? And anyway, if you send me back, you'll be killing me. We have an iris in place. I don't have a GDO. Without it, they won't open the iris, and I'll be killed."

Nalia looked at him as if he were an idiot. "You should have thought of that before you came here, knowing you were not invited. Now, you can either ask Colonel O'Neill to give the code, since he does have a GDO, or you ask General Hammond, or you can go through the Stargate without the code having been given. Which shall it be?"

His face screwed up with hatred, Kinsey whipped out a pistol and brought it to Nalia's forehead in a second flat. Still Jack motioned Hammond back.

"You all think you're so smart, don't you?" Kinsey snarled. "The great SG-1, the great SGC, and their great alien friends. Well, I know what you are, and GOD knows what you are, and if you can't be made to work for the side of good, then why should I suffer your existence? Maybe we'll just TAKE what we want, did you ever think of that?" he asked Nalia. "God led the People to the Promised Land and he told them to take the Land from those that lived there. Well, GOD knows what I know--you high and mighty aliens, you supposedly advanced races that keep everything to yourselves, you're nothing but DEMONS, and demons weren't meant to be suffered."

Jack sidled a step closer. "Robert," he said softly, and the gun instantly came up to point straight at the spot between his eyes. Jack winced at the final step toward madness the Senator had finally taken. He thought maybe he'd always known it would come sooner or later, if not from the first time he met Kinsey, then definitely from the time when Kinsey had asked him, "You'd do anything to keep me from becoming President, wouldn't you?" as if O'Neill had nothing better to do than to sit around all day and think of ways to thwart Robert Kinsey.

"Senator," he began again, suddenly unable to feel the depths of anger he used to feel toward the man. "You're not feeling well. Why don't we take you home and get you some help?"

Jack could have sworn the man's eyes were blood-red. Kinsey gave him a horrible, grimacing smile. "O'Neill," he sneered, "always getting in my way. Always influencing people against me, always telling lies about me; always doing exactly what I tell you not to. This is going to be a real pleasure. I hate you most of all, you son of a--"

When Frasier's scream, Hammond's shout, and the retort of the gun faded away, Kinsey lay on the ground with a bullet between his open eyes, and Jack could see they weren't red after all.

Day Nine

It was decided to tell the truth about Kinsey when they returned home: The Senator had gone through the Stargate with a pistol hidden in his suit pocket even though they'd been specifically requested to bring no weapons, and once through the Gate, he had revealed his madness by pulling the gun on the ayarro of Annule, spouting mad talk of 'demons.' All truth. The Powers That Be would be told that the Furlings had decided to forgive Earth, but only under the condition that no uninvited guests ever come from Earth again. General Hammond was pretty satisfied they'd be humiliated enough trying to live down--and make up for--the unauthorized assassination attempt of a mad man supposedly representing Earth that they'd agree to that stipulation willingly.

As for the lie Jack and Nalia had unashamedly told to get General Hammond and Dr. Frasier on the planet, particularly that the Furlings would negotiate only with SG-1 and General Hammond, Etienne shrugged and insisted it was probably true anyway. He was used to telling it like it was, and he spared no feelings when he admitted that without Daniel, and by extension, his family of SG-1 and General Hammond, there probably never would have been a treaty between Earth and the Furlings.

"Well, don't you ever do it again," George had huffed to Jack about the deception, but he couldn't maintain the pretense of anger, particularly in light of his embarrassment about being unable to stop Kinsey from forcing himself onto the mission. And he did get to refine a few points on their treaty--or treaties. Because there were two treaties. One between Annule and Earth, and a secret one between George Hammond and Etienne and Nalia of the Furlings.

In the Annule/Earth treaty, Earth was getting a crucial defense system, plus an early warning galactic system, and would also be getting assistance from the Furlings in providing protection to other peoples in the universe. Nalia would not hear of Daniel living on a planet that could be destroyed from space at any moment.

They also provided Earth with significant medical and transportation technologies. These would be 'invented' and engineered on Earth with the help of Furling blueprints, and then mass-produced. All governments involved in the Stargate Project would get the blueprints, and a portion of all proceeds would go to charitable organizations in countries whose governments were not involved in the Project. Nalia wanted Earth up to date on medical procedures for everyone's sake, but most especially for Daniel. As for transportation, Daniel had expressed an interest, and she suggested it to please him. When he discussed the conditions by which the technologies could be fairly distributed, Nalia had insisted on them in the treaty.

In exchange for what they were giving Earth, Annule got in turn an exchange of cultural and historical information, something they valued extremely highly, as well as artifacts from all over Earth, dating back through the ages, which would be rotated on loan to Annule in groups for study. The Furlings were ecstatic when they heard the news, so much so that Jack felt obliged to remind them they weren't allowed to bury them and then excavate the 'find.'

The Furlings also got the 'invention' on Earth and 'engineering' from Furling blueprints of a device which they stipulated was to be given to anyone who wanted it, free of charge. The device would be called a PPD, standing for personal protection device. It operated in a fashion very similar to a Goa'uld's personal shield, not that the general public would be told that. Earth agreed to the free distribution of this device only when it was pointed out statistically the amount of money that would be saved due to the drastic reduction in crime. The Furlings' only other stipulation concerning the device was that the very first person to get one--and his, at least, had to be naquadah-powered, no less--was to be Daniel. The Furlings were also thrilled with that concession.

In the secret George Hammond/Etienne and Nalia treaty, the Furlings would provide financial and energy support if needed should anyone try in the future to shut down the Stargate Project again--George wasn't sure which of the two of them was more determined that the Furlings were going to keep the Stargate on Earth open. He knew Etienne and Nalia wanted the Gate kept open for Daniel. They could easily fund any amount necessary through the slightest increase in the trade of their Synerium. They still wouldn't say what the substance was, but they promised to tell Daniel some day. And providing extra power was never going to be a problem.

In exchange, George Hammond agreed, unofficially, to give Nalia 'Visitation Rights.' Stargate Command was to arrange for Daniel Jackson to have reason to come to Annule, or leave to come to Annule, on a regular basis, the time schedules of which General Hammond and Nalia hammered out personally. They were flexible in case Daniel caught on, but neither thought it would be a problem. Nalia's goal, as she stated clearly, was to get to know her grandson, and to let him get to know his other people. The General thought it was a fine idea--provided Daniel never got hurt. The look in his eyes warned what he would do if Daniel ever came back hurt. Since physical injury of any significance was not an issue, it was plain the General was worried about Daniel's emotional well-being. Etienne and Nalia exchanged happy glances, delighted that George Hammond would be watching out for Daniel on Earth.

On the whole, both Earth and Annule were certain they got the better of the deal. Earth could finally see the possibility of a Goa'uld-free future--not to mention an immediate reduction in violent crime thanks to the personal protection devices. The future and the present seemed a little bit brighter.

The Furlings, on the other hand, no longer had only one, aging, ayarro. There was another out there, and he was linked to Annule once again. He was young and strong, and the popular word was, Annule himself had revealed his tomb to Daniel. There might not be another ayarro for Daniel, but clearly, Annule had a plan. They only had to wait, and they were a patient people. Annule would provide.

~~~

Etienne, Phael, and Nalia turned from the Stargate when the wormhole shut down, and began walking slowly back up to the ruins. "I miss him already," Nalia stated.

Etienne threw an arm around her shoulder. "Daniel will be back before you know it."

"It will be at least two weeks," she mourned. "It seems like such a long time."

"Well," Phael offered shyly, "you never know, Nalia, he might decide to come back sooner than that."

Nalia looked into the physician's face and caught the slightest tinge of guilt. Turning quickly to Etienne, she caught smugness before he schooled his face. She pulled away and faced them. "Etienne," she cautioned, "what did you do?"

"Me?" The old man looked insulted. "Why would you think I've done something?"

She spared another glance at Phael, who still had guilt lingering in his eyes. She hardened her gaze back on Etienne. "What did you do?" she demanded.

He looked back innocently. "Now, why do you assume that I did something? There are two of us standing here, and Phael is younger, with more energy. Perhaps it was Phael who did something."

At the distressed little hum from her physician, Nalia folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, I have no doubt Phael was involved," she spared him a glare, "but I also have no doubt that it was your idea and that you ordered him to do it, Etienne. Now stop clowning and tell me."

Etienne waved a hand at Phael, and nodded. The physician swallowed. "You remember I told you that Daniel's Pendash was gone?" the doctor asked softly.

Nalia nodded. It was to be expected. Daniel was 34; usually sometime between 30 and 35, a Furling became sexually mature, and the Pendash would request removal. Somehow, the humans had known this and had done it. Crudely, but it had been done.

"But the Kandash had not grown in," Phael rehashed, still surprised by that fact. He had been amazed when he could not find it in Daniel's scan.

"I remember," Nalia nodded. The news had made her very sad.

Etienne had leaned against a tree. "That night, at the tomb," he waved a finger at the wilderness. "Annule did more than just help Daniel adjust to the Sight."

Nalia felt her face go lax and her mind raced. They could not be saying what she thought they were saying. She turned slowly back to Phael.

He was smiling shyly, and shrugged at her. "Annule made Daniel whole, Nalia."

As soon as the words truly hit her brain, she cried out like a school girl and hugged both men impetuously.

"You know what this means?" Etienne laughed, interrupting her joy.

Nalia looked up at him in questioning delight.

Phael answered. "As soon as Daniel's doctor gets him into the abdominal scanner she told us of ..."

Nalia just knew she did not squeal like a school girl, but she did happily jump at both men again.

When they were back on their way to the transportation platform again, she slapped them both on the back. "You two realize you are still in very big trouble, don't you?"

"I thought you said she'd be happy?" Phael asked Etienne.

"I am happy," Nalia answered. "Just not with the two of you." Fortunately, they could not see her smile.

The End

Next: When The Tie To This World Is Broken, The Soul Moves On