Chapter 1

With its old familiar hiss-snap, the Stargate on the lush world designated PS6-754 shut down, leaving Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, the four components of Earth's flagship SG team, standing in the peaceful silence of the sun-warmed planet, the shadow of the Stargate looming far ahead of them--mid-afternoon, if the position of the sun was anything to go by. The world had the piney scent Jack O'Neill was used to from his time spent at his cabin in Minnesota; the Stargate on this world was relatively closed in, set near the back of an obviously man-made clearing only about two hundred feet in diameter. A worn path led away from the 'gate, through the clearing and into the dark forest beyond it, winding and twisting out of sight through the trees. "Well, this is nice," Jack murmured appreciatively, without a hint of his usual sarcasm. Trees and the inherent Earthly similarities of other worlds were something he and his team were used to by now, but this old reminder of home was something he'd never tire of.

"Death to the Destroyers!!"

Jack's appreciation of his surroundings was lopped off at the knees at the unexpected shout. His team froze where they were standing, well-used to some unexpected reactions from the locals, and the foursome found themselves rushed from the left and right by a group of nearly two dozen male and female soldiers that materialized from the trees, each brandishing rifle-like weapons similar in design to AK-47s back on Earth. "Ho! Hold it!" Jack shouted, hands held up entreatingly, taking a preservative step backward and stepping on an oblivious Carter's foot. "Just...stop! We're not your enemy!" There was a tense pause as everyone froze, staring down and evaluating the risk presented by their counterparts.

"Death to the Destroyers!" a shrill shriek rose heartily from the group, breaking the tenuous silence, and an elderly man lunged forward, rifle raised, only to stop dead when the apparent commander of the division, a middle-aged man about Jack's height, held up a hand and shouted sharply, an inarticulate order. All twenty or so soldiers halted in an impressive display of discipline, but kept their weapons at the ready, eyeing the newcomers with open mistrust.

"They are not Destroyers," the commander informed his second, a stout, scowling woman, in a tone SG-1 could just pick up. "Those three, at least. But that," he sneered at Teal'c, who had laid down his staff weapon and held his hands palm-out and to the sides, "is a scourge on this planet. If you are not Destroyers," he said loudly, addressing the three humans, "step away from your...companion. We shall rid you and this world of his evil."

As usual, Daniel picked up his unspoken cue and stepped up from where he'd been flanking Jack. "Uh...hello," he said, slipping effortlessly into what Jack dubbed his 'Peaceful Explorer Mode'. "I'm Daniel Jackson. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, and Teal'c. We're from a planet called Earth--the Tau'ri? You...may have heard of us...no?" 'Nice try, Danny Boy,' Jack thought, casting his own critical gaze over the blank faces of the armed contingent of soldiers. Silently, he urged Daniel to continue--the fact they were still standing was a plus--and the younger man gauged the locals' reactions before immediately barrelling on. "If I'm right, and the 'Destroyers' are the Goa'uld...we're not them. Not even Teal'c. He fights alongside us against the Goa'uld. We're peaceful explorers." 'Ah, there it is,' Jack thought with an inward grin. It just wasn't an introduction unless Daniel threw in the peaceful explorer spiel. The archaeologist gestured between himself and the suspicious soldiers. "In fact, we'd be more than happy to ally ourselves with you; your people obviously hate the Goa'uld as much as we do. We could speak to your government, or...ruling party, and negotiate an alli-"

The second in command scoffed. "A negotiation with our Minister will get you nothing but death," she informed Daniel haughtily, adjusting her rifle so it slung comfortably over her shoulder. "The majority of our people do not share our hatred for the Destroyers."

Daniel's eyebrows rose in surprise. "So...you folks are rebels?" Jack surmised, intrigued despite himself, stepping up to Daniel's side.

The woman shrugged modestly, the scowl neither deepening nor softening on her face. "We are Nihilists," she said coolly.

"Fahrn," the commander said sharply. The woman fell silent, and the man turned a cold, grey-eyed glare on SG-1. "You are truly not Destroyers?" he demanded. Four heads silently shook in the negative, and the commander carefully weighed the truth of their denial. Jack unconsciously held his breath--judging from the way the soldiers reacted to the orders of this commander, there was little doubt in Jack's mind that SG-1 were facing their do-or-die trial right then and there. "We cannot linger here," the commander said finally, "and I fear we cannot allow you out of our custody. We may continue this conversation at our base, where we are not vulnerable to Loyalist attack."

"Kristof!" The woman, Fahrn, snapped in disbelief. Her protest was squashed when the commander glowered at her, an obvious warning, and she relented, though she didn't look at all pleased.

The commander--Kristof, Jack noted for future reference--waved his people forward. "Disarm them," he ordered curtly.

SG-1 offered no resistance as they were efficiently disarmed and relieved of their gear, then surrounded by a tight, almost claustrophobic circle of soldiers as the procession was motioned forward by Kristof.

"This could be an interesting day," Jack murmured to Daniel, who trudged along at his side.

"Indeed." The disapproving response was from Teal'c, who kept pace at Carter's side behind O'Neill and Daniel.

"If by 'interesting' you mean 'let's-all-tread-carefully-or-we-die'," Daniel muttered back. "I've got a very bad feeling about this."

"Careful, Daniel," Jack said sardonically. "Your wide-eyed optimism is getting the better of you."

Chapter 2

To the surprise of Jack and SG-1, the oh-so-friendly circle of soldiers did not lead them down the wide, open path that wound its way through the thick forest, but instead detoured to the right and plunged into the untouched tree line, herding SG-1 along with them. Jack absently waved branches out of his way as they slapped toward his face, the soldiers in front of him not bothering to hold the branches to prevent someone from losing an eye. "Thanks," he said dryly, rubbing his temple where a particularly sharp branch struck him.

"You are the commander?"

Jack glanced to his right, where he hadn't noticed Fahrn dropping back to insinuate herself next to him in the Circle of Paranoia--Jack's secret name for their method of escort. "Yyyyes..." he drawled warily. Fahrn scoffed--a sound Jack was quickly getting tired of. "What?" he snapped irritably.

"You are a disgrace," she replied shortly.

Jack rolled his eyes, recognizing her attempt to get a rise out of him for what it was. "Okay, I'll bite," he said, forcing his tone to remain level, striving for a calm that was about ready to crumble in a flurry of shoot-'em-up activity. "Why am I a disgrace?"

"You trust one such as him to join a group of soldiers; warriors?" Fahrn sniffed disdainfully.

Remembering their aversion to Teal'c, Jack glanced over his shoulder at the silent Jaffa. "Who? Teal'c? Damn right I do."

"Not the Destroyer," Fahrn snapped as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. She gave her head a sharp jerk to the left. "Him."

'He' looked up as he realized whom the topic of the conversation was, and Jack met his eyes as Daniel flushed. "Daniel?" Jack asked in disbelief. "Why wouldn't I trust Daniel to join us?"

"He is weak," Fahrn informed him, and Jack clenched his jaw in annoyance. The troll was talking about Daniel as though he wasn't even there. "A pathetic, na�ve scholar."

Na�ve? Daniel? Jack answered that with a scoff of his own. The archaeologist might be military protocol-impaired, but he'd seen more than this bitch could say she had. "Oh, please," he muttered. "Daniel is anything but na�ve. Don't let the whole geek thing fool ya," he told Fahrn. "You've never met a lean, mean, fightin' machine until you've met Danny...iel here." Jack was well aware of Daniel's bemused glare, but plunged ahead, intent on wiping the smug, disbelieving sneer right off the troll-woman's face. 'She has no idea what she's messing with here.' "Oh yeah," he said casually. "Ever hear of a snakehead named Ra? Didn't think so," he said airily at Fahrn's blank stare. "Daniel Jackson here is the one who wiped him out. With his bare hands," Jack added with a gloating grin, and Daniel winced as though sensing the final nail being driven into his casket.

"Uh...Jack?" he said quietly, uncertainly, shooting a tight, apologetic smile at Fahrn.

"Colonel O'Neill is right," Carter piped up, enjoying the grudging change coming over Fahrn's face. "Daniel is one of Earth's greatest soldiers. Not only because he can fight as well as anyone, but because he's studied just about anything there is to study--cultures, languages to blend into any covert situation, and he's an expert on...warfare tactics. Anything a commander could hope for in a soldier, you find in Daniel."

Jack turned his head to hide his delighted grin, Daniel smothered a distressed moan, and Carter and Teal'c exchanged subtle elbows to one another's ribs, as Fahrn's expression became one of grudging respect. The soldier inclined her head slightly in Daniel's direction before pushing her way forward to rejoin Kristof and the other lieutenant leaders of their unit.

"Ja-ack," Daniel hissed. "What if they ask me to prove this expertise on...'warfare tactics'?" He cast a baleful glare at Carter, who shrugged, smiling gleefully.

"Don't worry; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jack chirped, smacking the younger man on the back. "That'll keep troll-au-femme off your back for a while, though--you should be thanking us!"

Daniel's level in the Grateful Department didn't seem to increase any, though, and he muttered softly to himself in a language Jack wasn't even sure was English. "Language, Daniel," he warned anyway, guessing that whatever it was the archaeologist was saying wasn't complimentary--and that it was primarily aimed at him.

A soft chuckle met SG-1's ears, and Teal'c glanced down to his left to find a young woman valiantly keeping an amused smirk from becoming something more, shaking her head slightly. Whether they were simply more disciplined or just didn't hear her lapse of stoic, the other soldiers didn't react. Teal'c smiled slightly and glanced at Jack, who sighed in over embellished relief. "A laugh," he announced. "There is humanity to be found here."

Jack's only response was another branch to his face, and from the smug smile on Fahrn's face, she knew just who sent it his way.

Chapter 3

After endless hours of zigging and zagging through the dark mixed wood forest, their eyes becoming so accustomed to the darkness that Jack would swear he was becoming nocturnal, the unmarked 'path' ended abruptly, spilling SG-1 and their rebel escorts into another brightly-lit manmade clearing, leaving the three humans of the team blinking rapidly as their eyes teared up with the sudden appearance of the sun. "This is base camp," Kristof called over his shoulder.

"It sure is," Jack muttered, receiving a corresponding nod from a slack-jawed Daniel.

The thick trees thinned and completely dissipated into the clearing, which was perfectly hidden by hanging, natural sheets of moss and thick underbrush. Unless, by chance, one happened to stumble right into it, they would never know it was there. In the clearing, nearly three hundred people--men and women, both older and little more than children--milled about silently, assembling and cleaning weapons, applying types of camouflage face paint to one other, eating, or just sleeping, either in tents set up in a corner of the clearing or beneath the open sky. Opposite the apparent sleeping quarter was an area with neatly arranged stones--likely a graveyard, Jack assumed.

"Don't your people have aircraft?" Jack asked, indicating the open, bulls eye-like target the random clearing would make to any air or spacecraft.

Kristof glanced at him in surprise. "No," he said ruefully. "Our--rather, the Loyalist--scientists have been experimenting with flight, but thus far no concrete, positive results have come up."

"And the Goa-Destroyers; they don't come in ships?" Carter asked in fascination.

Another negative shake of the head. "They use only the Chappa'ai--they know we have no way to leave."

"Why don't your people who are against the Goa'uld--Destroyers--just leave through the Stargate? Chappa'ai?" Daniel corrected himself.

"None but the Destroyers can access the Chappa'ai," Fahrn said, and Jack half-expected her to add a childish "duh!" to the remark. "They have in their possession a large crystal, as crimson as blood, that allows them to access the pedestal and leave here."

"Oh...no..." Daniel groaned.

"Fuck!" Jack barked at nearly the same instant.

The rebels glanced between the four members of SG-1, concerned. "You did not know this?" the young woman who had joined SG-1's laughter earlier asked, sounding sympathetic.

"No," Carter said ruefully. "Usually the DHD--the pedestal, as you call it--has the crystal inside it. There has only been one time before when we encountered the crystal shattered; this was the first time the Destroyers have taken it with them. It's a rare thing when the pedestal isn't functional."

"What did you do when the crystal was broken?" a young man asked. "If they managed to find their way without it, perhaps we can leave here without fighting and killing any more of our people," he said excitedly to the young woman, as whom he seemed to be roughly the same age.

"We, uh, had to use the energy from a lightning storm," Daniel said. "With the power leading through a powerful conductor, we were able to dial the Chappa'ai manually; that is, without the D...pedestal."

"Do you have one of these conductors?" the young man demanded, eyes blazing with excitement. He dug frantically into one of the packs that had been taken from SG-1.

"Coran!" the young woman admonished.

"No..." Daniel said. "We don't have one...and there would be no telling when a lightning storm might hit this place...if any ever do."

"Fuck," Jack muttered again, under his breath. "Listen, when are these Destroyers supposed to come back? Any set date; say...now?"

"No," Kristof said, "we are not expecting them for many months yet--they were here for new hosts only last season."

Jack threw his hands up in anger, turning and stalking a short distance away before spinning on his heels to face them again, silently stewing.

"Umm..." Daniel floundered for a moment, staring and pointing at the commander. "What's your name again?"

Kristof blinked. "Kristof."

"Kristof," Daniel began again, "what about our MALP? The, uh, big machine on wheels that came through the Chappa'ai before we did? Where did it go?"

"Our people believed it belonged to the Destroyers and fired upon it. They often use strange technology. It is in the trees near the Chappa'ai."

"Maybe the comm was spared," Carter said hopefully to Daniel, who nodded slowly. "Sir, when General Hammond dials in, we could get him to send a crystal from some other DHD through to us."

Jack perked up visibly. "Okay; Daniel, you and Teal'c get back to the 'gate, find the MALP and wait for Hammond to check in. If he hasn't already, he will soon. Tell him what to do. Carter and I will stick it out here for a while; maybe get some more info on what we're dealing with."

"They will never find their way back to the Chappa'ai alone," Kristof interrupted. "Coran, Syrus and Elidih--take them back. Stay with them so they may return here, and to be certain they do not attempt to deceive us." He shrugged apologetically at Jack. "We are at war."

"Right," Jack agreed resignedly.

"Return his weapon," Kristof ordered, nodding at Teal'c. "If the Loyalists should choose to attack whilst you are at the Chappa'ai, he may be useful in fighting them off."

Fahrn hesitated briefly but didn't cause a fuss, and handed over Teal'c's weapon. She narrowed her eyes at Daniel. "Because he is such a great warrior, I assume we do not need to return his weapon?" she challenged Jack. "Certainly if he has killed Destroyers with his bare hands, Loyalist soldiers will not be a challenge."

Jack and Daniel exchanged a covert glance and Daniel shrugged resignedly. They'd been the ones who'd put up that ridiculous boast..."Oh please, Fahrn. We shall be fine." The young woman smiled, picking up and slinging her rifle over her shoulder. "I am Elidih," she said, shaking hands with Daniel and Teal'c. "Welcome to Frihet." She introduced Coran, the eager young man, and Syrus, a man in his late fifties with a thick scar intersecting his left eyelid and running to the left corner of his straight, serious mouth; that eye was a pale, nearly pigmentless blue, the other as black as coal.

Daniel nodded politely. "Nice to meet you; I'm Daniel, and this is Teal'c." His voice took on the excited, curious quality it so often did when he was ready to launch right into his second phase of planetary exploration--culture buff. "Do you--"

"Daniel," O'Neill interrupted impatiently. The archaeologist glanced up innocently.

"Jack?"

Making a shooing motion with his hand, O'Neill wordlessly ordered the younger man to get a move on. "Right," Daniel murmured. "Let's uh...oh." He glanced at O'Neill and back to his companions, who were already following the swiftly moving Syrus out of the clearing, and he hurried after them.

Chapter 4

"He is a warrior?" Fahrn questioned again, her skepticism reawakened by the apparent ease with which Daniel was distracted. Jack on the other hand, nonplussed, nodded sagely.

"Don't let the outward flakiness throw you," he reminded her. "The man's an animal."

This time, though, Fahrn was not so easily deterred, and she stalked away with a disbelieving snort. "We did not send him with a weapon; he shall be eaten alive," Jack and Carter overheard her mutter to her surrounding companions as they cleared the way for her, and the two members of SG-1 exchanged a discreet, concerned glance. Maybe they'd spoken too soon when they'd dismissed Daniel's protests that he may be called up on to prove his mettle. And if that were true, Daniel--while no slouch holding his own in a firefight--would be hard-pressed to keep himself protected against an armed enemy when he had nothing but his fists to defend himself. 'Maybe this'll be the time we get lucky.'

"Your man Teal'c seems to be an asset," Kristof commented to Jack, trying to keep the relatively open dialogue going, when Fahrn passed him, and Jack clearly heard the intended but unspoken jab at the archaeologist. He wasn't about to let it pass him by, and replied to it.

"All the members of my team are assets," he said. "We wouldn't be the team we are without every one of our strengths." He kept his tone unthreatening and light, but a military man like Kristof read the warning beneath Jack's tone as clearly as Jack read the underlying current to his own. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Of course. I feel the same way about all of my soldiers. I merely meant that such size, cunning and, doubtless, secrets of the Destroyers must provide a significant advantage in battle." It was a clever cover, one that told Jack he'd been correct in assuming that Kristof had been gauging his reactions when faced with someone disrespecting his people. "But," Kristof said ruefully, "and I apologize for neglecting it--I am uncertain to what you are called."

Oh, right. Jack had forgotten about the introductions himself, what with being met at gunpoint. "Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. This is my second in command, Captain Sam Carter."

"So...O'Neill and Carter?" Kristof assumed, not put off at all by the lengthy introductions.

Jack smirked and shrugged carelessly. "Sure."

"Kristof, how many people do you have under your command?" Carter asked, still staring around the camp.

"He is Decanz of more than three hundred," a boy of about eighteen piped up, looking the newcomers over with undisguised delight. "How many do you command, O'Neill?"

"Behin," Kristof warned, but it was with a note of fond amusement. Either the boy was allowed to often overstep his bounds, or Kristof was not the hard-assed military aficionado Jack assumed he was.

"I'm actually--" '"Technically", more like it' "--second in command of a larger facility," Jack explained. "Under normal circumstances I directly command only Carter here, Daniel and Teal'c." He didn't bother to try and explain how Daniel and Teal'c fit into the team; the two of them would have to play Military for a while.

"But she is a second," Behin said, pointing to Carter--not in an accusing tone, Jack noted, but just out of adolescent curiosity and an eagerness to learn and understand.

"Yeah--a man named Hammond commands the entire facility, I second that command, and I command only one of a dozen or so other teams. Carter seconds the team I command."

"And there are commanders of each of these...teams?" Behin asked, and Jack nodded. "What a complex hierarchy," Behin murmured. Kristof put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"My we continue?" he asked sternly. Behin immediately stepped back.

"Of course, Decanz. My apologies."

Kristof shook his head slightly. "Behin holds a great deal of information," he explained to Jack and Carter. "He collects knowledge from every mission of our rebellion, and from the Loyalists themselves."

Jack smiled slightly. "You and Daniel would get along great," he told the boy.

"Come, O'Neill, Carter," Kristof said, cocking his head toward a large tent set up away from the others in the sleeping quarter. "We must discuss our situation further."

Carter glanced to Jack, who shrugged and followed Kristof. He noticed, however, that despite Kristof's apparent relaxed demeanour, that Fahrn and several other soldiers flanked them at an inconspicuous but close distance. "Trusting bunch you have here," Jack remarked, smiling charmingly at Fahrn when his comment drew a glare from her.

"Surely you cannot blame me," Kristof said, "or them. We have come much too far in this fight to be so easily taken in by strangers."

"And...if we turn out to be on the other team? Not that we are," Jack added quickly in the face of the half-dozen suspicious faces aimed his way. Kristof, though, was unfazed and merely shrugged.

"Then we execute you, use you as an example for others who might follow you, and there is no problem."

"Ah. Of course." Jack briefly widened his eyes at Carter, an 'oh boy' kind of expression. His 2IC nodded minutely in agreement. "Come," Kristof said, passing under a flap of the largest tent when Behin held it open. "We have much to discuss." Fahrn followed him, obviously not willing to let Jack or Carter lead her anywhere, and settled herself proudly at Kristof's side. Jack glanced around the unthreatening sleeping area of a fellow military commander and sank to one knee, exuding a comfort that his knee protested--loudly. Carter took her place beside him and opened her mouth to speak, but Kristof didn't waste any time. "If you are to be staying to help, you will be dispersed each day into one of our units of anywhere from four to eight soldiers. Your unit may vary from day to day, so be vigilant," he advised coolly.

"Uh..." Jack held up a hand. "We have a four-man unit, thank you."

Kristof eyed him with disdain. "And do your people know their way in and out of the forest? The layout of the capitol? The potential weaknesses of the city walls and the munitions plant?"

"Well--"

"You will be dispersed; perhaps when you learn how things work you will be permitted to form a solitary unit." From Kristof's tone, though, Jack didn't think that was likely. He could play hardball though; he'd been doing it since he joined the Air Force, and didn't relent.

"My team works together," he proclaimed. "We're comfortable with each other, as you people no doubt are with one another. We won't be split up in alien territory."

Fahrn and Carter sat silently, each respecting the battle of wills raging in front of them. "Frihet is not your world," Kristof said deliberately, "and my orders are followed. If you do not follow orders you will be executed," he said with finality.

"Then you'll be short four damn good soldiers and more than a few of your own, because we sure as hell aren't going down without a fight. Your asses will get kicked just that much faster by your Loyalist buddies out there." Jack spoke calmly and assuredly, rising to Kristof's threat without a flinch.

Kristof's cloudy eyes narrowed further and he pulled out a sharp, seriously long blade. "I am telling you here and now," he said slowly, "since you are alone and unarmed, that I will remove you from this argument. Your two companions will die equally as fast and will never know for what they are dying. You will be the cause of their deaths as well as your own. What say you to that?"

Despite Jack's misgivings over splitting up his team, he had to admit that Kristof had a point. Inside the tent, unarmed and on one creaky old knee, he wouldn't get much leverage in countering an attack from the commander at that moment. Carter might fare a little better than him with her constant state of readiness throughout negotiations, but he didn't doubt that the two warhorses, Kristof and Fahrn, would take her out too. "Fine," he said shortly, "but I'll allow that only on one condition." Kristof tilted his chin in a gesture for Jack to continue. "You leave two of us together on each team. We're not being put amid four separate teams; it's two or none at all."

Kristof held his gaze for a long moment before breaking into a wry smile and shaking his head. He sheathed the blade and extended his right hand. "Agreed," he said. "I admit, O'Neill, I am relieved I do not have to kill you. I believe you and your people will be good additions to our forces."

Jack ignored the hand, just nodded once. "Yeah, well, we'll see. Now, how about giving us back our tents and our gear and pointing us in the direction of our suite?"

Chapter 5

"How long will it be before your commander makes contact?" Syrus asked for what Daniel guessed had to be the twentieth time in about four hours.

"I don't know," he reiterated, doing his damndest not to make it through gritted teeth. "We're due for check-in every twelve hours--I think we must have missed the first check-in thanks to your prolonged hike to the camp and back, but since we didn't call home General Hammond will call us after a few hours. You just...have to be patient." In fact, Daniel hoped the General would send a new MALP, because when they'd dragged the nearly unrecognizable mass of metal and wheels out from the trees where Kristof and his men had stowed it, there didn't seem to be much hope for the thing.

"You waste our time," Syrus informed them brazenly.

"You are more than welcome to return to your commander's base camp," Teal'c reminded the ornery man, even the Jaffa's usual calm pierced with irritation.

"And leave you with two children?" Syrus sneered. "Nice try."

"Syrus, will you please occupy yourself with something other than complaining? Reflect, or patrol...?" Coran suggested wearily. "You will drive yourself--and us--to madness with baseless accusation and interrogation."

"And we are not children," Elidih chimed in from where she lay on her back in the soft grass near the Stargate. "We are merely...less than half your age."

"Children," Syrus muttered stubbornly, but picked up his rifle and stalked out of earshot to keep a look out. Daniel sighed in relief.

"Syrus is bitter because he believes he would be the proper commander of our forces," Coran said with a slight smile. "But he would drive us into the ground."

"How was Kristof chosen to be the commander?" Daniel asked. "Decanz," Coran corrected, glancing at Elidih briefly. "Popular vote...and the fact that he killed the most Destroyers three cycles past."

"Decanz?" Teal'c put forward.

"Uh...probably their denotation of a commander," Daniel murmured. "Sounds Latin; like decanus, that was literally 'chief of ten'." Teal'c inclined his head slightly in understanding, and Daniel pursued the topic of the voting process. "What about those who didn't vote for him?" he wanted to know. "Do they cause any trouble?"

Elidih fielded that one; she shook her head. "Some, like Syrus, disapprove--Syrus's disapproval is purely selfish and he does not hide it well. The others accept Kristof as their commander as long as he is fair, and leads us well."

"How does one become a candidate?" Teal'c asked.

"Everyone is a potential candidate," Elidih shrugged, "even Syrus. When Kristof is killed or grows too old to lead, anyone could be nominated to take his place."

"Do you hold any desire to succeed him?" Teal'c questioned Elidih directly. Daniel glanced at him curiously; it seemed a bit of a random question to ask her, and the young woman seemed surprised by it as well.

"I've never thought of it," she said slowly.

"As his daughter, would it not be your duty to carry on your father's battles?"

All eyes went from Teal'c to Elidih who lie there, jaw slack. Coran nudged her with a widening grin. "I, uh...wha--" she stammered.

"I believe what my tongue-tied companion is attempting to say, sir...is how do you come to the conclusion that she is daughter of the Decanz?" Coran asked curiously.

Teal'c cocked an eyebrow. "Is it not obvious?"

"You're right," Daniel said slowly, studying Elidih closely, "there is a bit of a resemblance. But then," he said, confused, "doesn't everyone know you're his daughter? How do you pull that off?"

Elidih shook her head. "That is one of my father's strengths--that he apparently has no familial connection," she explained. "He is unwilling to give Syrus or any of his silent supporters any ammunition against him. Only a select few know he is my father, and they have sworn themselves to secrecy."

"Interesting..." As Daniel went to ask how they'd managed the secret in the twenty-odd years of Elidih's life, the first chevron on the Stargate lit up and locked. In rapid succession, the other six followed, and Daniel launched himself up from the steps and backed away as the 'gate kawooshed. Syrus came hurrying back, rifle at the ready, as Elidih and Coran took a few wary steps away. After a few moments, General George Hammond's voice crackled out of the ruined MALP. **SG-1...read? Come in.**

"General Hammond, it's Daniel. Do you hear me?"

**...'ll. Do....ckson...overdue.....Wrong?**

"Umm....we're unable to dial out, General. The DHD is missing the control crystal."

**......'forcements?**

"No! No sir, don't send anyone else through. However, we have an idea; if you could send--"

"GET DOWN!"

Weapons fire hit the MALP then, narrowly missing Daniel, who dove an instant later than Teal'c for cover, scrambling behind the meagre shelter provided by the dais of the Stargate. Elidih, Syrus and Coran had already gotten themselves situated and were loading their AK-47 look-alikes as about a dozen soldiers similarly dressed to the rebel faction emerged from the trees, weapons firing.

"Who are they?" Daniel shouted, ducking as a projectile ricocheted off the stone near his head; he winced as stone fragments grazed his forehead and temple.

"Loyalists!" Coran shouted back over the ear-piercing whine of their rifle fire and the close detonations of small hand grenades tossed out by the relentless enemy soldiers. The young man gave a swift five-count before swinging himself up to his knees, brought his rifle to bear, and fired rapid rounds into the approaching Loyalists. He dropped out of sight as the enemy fire was directed at him, and further along, Syrus and Elidih each opened fire on the distracted enemies. Daniel and Teal'c immediately picked up the rhythm, the Jaffa nodding shortly to the archaeologist. When Elidih and Syrus ducked out of the Loyalists' sight, Daniel and Teal'c simultaneously ducked away from cover, Teal'c firing his staff weapon and Daniel the sleek, long rifle handed to him by Elidih when she finished her round. The latter communicated to her fellow rebels with a series of complicated-looking hand signals that they all seemed fluent in. Daniel's stomach twisted in surprise and horror when the violent projectiles from the weapon spread in midair and struck like razors, slicing into a young man's torso, sending blood spraying in a great burst from an artery in his thigh, the red mist actually reaching the covered men and woman. Daniel's attempt at a disabling shot took the Loyalist soldier down like a ton of bricks, his chest an unrecognizable mass of blood and entrails. Daniel ducked away again and handed Elidih back her weapon, swallowing the bile rising in his throat at the outright overkill of the rebel weapons. The scuffle went on like that for only a few minutes more; despite the fact they were outnumbered three-to-one, the three rebels and Teal'c--Daniel flatly refused to fire the rifle again and quite frankly didn't think he could, with the way his hands were shaking--quickly took care of the Loyalist soldiers; they all lay dead or close to it in the field, their direct attack no use against the pseudo-guerrilla tactics of the rebels.

When the weapons fire died and only acrid-smelling smoke from the rifles and grenades remained in the air, the five rose from their cover carefully, weapons poised warily. Daniel glanced at the MALP, which was now completely obliterated, a heap of smoking metal, destroyed a direct grenade's hit. He jumped, startled, as the Stargate calmly deactivated; he hoped no one back on Earth had been hit by any stray fire; that the iris had been closed.

"Come," Syrus ordered calmly, eyes alight with triumph. "We must return before another patrol is sent." He pushed Coran along ahead of him brusquely, and Teal�c urged Daniel forward. "Quickly."

=====

General George Hammond stared, dumbfounded, at the deactivated Stargate looming like a foreboding sentinel not fifteen metres away. "Sergeant, what happened?" he demanded of Sergeant Walter Harriman, the tech on duty. The transmission from Doctor Jackson had been muddled, at best, and the video uplink hadn't been operating at all. What sounded like weapons fire had abruptly cut off Jackson's request for...something, and then the transmission itself.

"The MALP must have been hit," Harriman stated, confirming Hammond's fear. The Sergeant was wide-eyed himself, overwhelmed by the unexpected violence of the communication

"Ready another," Hammond ordered. "Something is keeping SG-1 from dialling home, but Dr. Jackson told us not to send reinforcements. I want to know what the hell is going on."

Chapter 6

"Decanz, Syrus and the offworlders are returning," Behin announced, poking his head into the tent. "It appears they had an engagement."

"It appears our luck has changed," Kristof muttered, standing without a word to Jack and Carter, and heading out. Jack followed him, pausing in the entrance to the tent to take in the reappearance of his teammates. What he saw wasn't at all what he'd been expecting.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" he exploded when Daniel, Teal'c and the three rebels neared the tent. He stalked over to the group, eyes narrowed as he took in the thin trails of blood on Daniel's face, the apparent spray of dried blood accumulated on all five of their uniforms, and the sluggishly-bleeding upper left arm of Syrus.

"We...had a little run-in with those Loyalists," Daniel said wearily.

"Are you okay?" Carter asked worriedly, stepping up beside Jack.

"Oh--yeah," Daniel assured her with a small smile. "Not a scratch."

Jack and Carter exchanged a glance, and Jack waved a hand toward Daniel's forehead. "Oh no?" he challenged wryly. Daniel reached up, wincing slightly when his fingertips rubbed roughly against the small scrapes. His mouth formed a little 'o' of surprise as he took in the minute amount of blood adorning his fingers.

"Forgot about that," he murmured. "Must be from some shrapnel or something."

"O-kay," Jack heaved on a sigh as Kristof ushered his own people past and into the tent--probably for some kind of debriefing; something Jack decided they could use themselves. "Carter, give him a hand, huh? Teal'c," he jerked his head in the direction of their tents. "I'd really like to know exactly what happened out there."

---

"So, a bit of excitement already, huh?" Sam teased as she pushed the fringe of Daniel's hair back from his face and dabbed disinfectant on his forehead--just to be on the safe side, she'd admonished at his protests. She studied him--a little paler, a lot quieter than usual--but he smiled shyly with a minute shrug.

"Only a dozen or so," he replied evasively. "The conversation with General Hammond was more exciting than that."

Sam grinned, turning Daniel's face by his chin, admiring her own handiwork. "Animal," she teased, before sobering. "Did the General...?"

Her heart drooped with Daniel's shoulders. "I got to tell him we couldn't dial out, and I don't even know if he got that much," he said mournfully. "The MALP was pretty much running on fumes; what we got from him was distorted at the best of times, so..."

"Well, he'll likely send another MALP," Sam said optimistically, "so we can try again tomorrow."

"I don't know; I don't even think we'll be able to get near the 'gate if those Loyalists find their dead patrol."

He was right. "Damn it," Sam muttered. As she put the first aid kit back into her pack, Daniel inquired about the success she and the colonel had had while they'd been hanging around base camp.

"Well, apparently we're 'welcome' here--for now," she said, unable to help how distinctly unenthusiastic she sounded about that. "I get the feeling that, as long as we don't cross these guys, we'll be okay. The Colonel will probably go into more detail later on, after he dresses you and Teal'c down for picking a fight with the playground bully."

"So...are we prisoners?" Daniel wondered aloud.

"Friends! Welcome to our table the warriors of the Tau'ri! Daniel Jackson, Teal'c--they have helped rid our world of a dozen more Loyalists! O'Neill, Carter--formidable warriors in their own right!"

A cheer went up among the normally subdued mercenaries at Behin's enthusiastic declaration. The boy approached Sam and Daniel, smiling broadly and waving a hand in the direction of another large tent next to Kristof's little base of operations.

"Come," he called, "come! You must dine with us this evening; a celebration of your joining our ranks and," he said to Daniel, "your defeat of the Loyalist contingent this afternoon!"

Sam set her face in a grim smile and leaned in close to Daniel. "Does that answer your question?" she asked.

Chapter 7

"Kristof, who is the Destroyer that most often comes to your world?" Daniel asked at the celebratory meal later on that evening.

"They have names?" Farhn snorted. "There is no distinguishing between them; to us they are all simply Destroyers."

Kristof silenced her with a glare. "We have never heard their names," he told SG-1. "They simply come, meet with the Minister and his advisors, and our cities are short more citizens when they leave."

"How often do they show up?" Carter asked while digging into her MRE with gusto--only Daniel had been brave enough to dare a taste of the rebels' cuisine. It seemed to suffice, Jack thought by looking at the younger man, but then again, he'd seen Daniel take a bite of a giant lizard on Abydos and proclaim that it tasted like chicken.

"Once a cycle; twice if they are in desperate need of hosts."

"That is unusual," Teal'c said thoughtfully, garnering the attention of his teammates and the rebels.

"Teal'c?" Jack prompted.

"It is unusual for the Goa'uld to require hosts so frequently," he explained. "On Chulak when I served Apophis, hosts were chosen only once in a great many years."

"Maybe they have a surplus this year?" Jack quipped weakly, returning his attention to his meal when it was met with only an uncomfortable silence.

"Do you think this Goa'uld is a queen?" Daniel asked Teal'c.

"It is possible," Teal'c murmured, clearly not convinced.

"A 'queen'?" Elidih asked, leaning forward and glancing around for clarification.

"Oh, um...Goa'ulds are all spawned from a female, or queen--she can give birth to...well, a lot of larval Goa'uld at a time...but if the Goa'uld are being born yearly, wouldn't they need more--a lot more--time to mature?" Daniel asked, getting off his explanation.

"Maybe they're recruiting more Jaffa," Jack suggested with a grimace. "We know normal humans can be made into 'em." The grimace led to a shudder as the memory of his near-Jaffa experience with the snake-bitch Hathor resurfaced.

"These 'Jaffa'; they are like you, Teal'c?" Coran asked. Teal'c nodded. "What is their purpose?"

"Jaffa act as incubators for the larval Goa'uld," Daniel explained. "There is one larva for each Jaffa, and that Jaffa holds the larva in their pouch," he pointed at Teal'c stomach, "until the Goa'uld is old enough to take on a host."

The rebels recoiled slightly. "What will happen if your...Goa'uld decides it would like a host now?" Coran asked fearfully.

Teal'c shook his head. "My larval Goa'uld will not require a host for many years," he reassured them. "It is incapable of controlling a human host at this stage of its development."

Coran and many of the others looked relieved, Fahrn looked suspicious, and Syrus seemed enraptured by the entire conversation, his gaze shifting frequently to Teal'c's pouch.

"I have a question," O'Neill piped up, directly across from Kristof. "If the Goa'uld only come through the 'gate once or twice a year, why are you folks fighting year-round?" he interrogated. "Just launch an attack on the Goa'uld when it comes through the 'gate and wham--you're done. Bury the 'gate, you're home free, and you minimize the deaths among your own people."

Kristof exchanged uncomfortable looks with his people that morphed into surprise at the mention of burying the 'gate. "What purpose will that serve?" he asked.

SG-1 blinked at him placidly. "If you bury the 'gate, no one will be able to get through," Daniel told him patiently. "Since the Goa'ulds never come in ships, wouldn't it stand to reason they'd take the hint and...stay away?"

Carter contemplated him for a long moment. "Yeah, but Daniel, when have we ever known Goa'uld to just pack it in?" The archaeologist shrugged and opened his mouth to respond, but Kristof interrupted.

"If we bury the Chappa'ai," he said excitedly to his fellow soldiers, "we could deter the Destroyers and move against the Minister without fear of any unexpected intervention."

"Whoa, wait," Jack broke in. "Wanna backtrack on that?"

"They're planning a coup," Daniel said slowly, eyes passing one by one over the eager expressions of the rebels.

"No, Daniel," Kristof said in a low voice, eyes glinting in the firelight. "We are not planning a coup--it has already begun. We are the Nihilists--what we desire is nothing short of the fall of the Minister and his defective advisory council."

Chapter 8

"Are we actually going to help them?" Daniel demanded of Jack when SG-1 gathered in the tent the two shared hours after the banquet, keeping his voice low even though Teal'c's sharp hearing detected no one close by. Kristof had permitted Jack to set up SG-1's tents a short distance away from the Nihilists, showing the newcomers some respect for their privacy--or maybe just as a bargaining chip if Jack ever disagreed with him again.

"Do we want to get home, Daniel?" Jack hissed back. "Because if we do--and I'd really like to--we need that crystal that this Goa'uld has. Now, you said it yourself--Hammond obviously didn't get the message to send a crystal through, the MALP is dead, we don't have any way of getting enough power to manually dial the 'gate, we're way out of comm range if he sends another one..."

"I hate to admit it, Daniel, but the Colonel's right," Carter said quietly, cutting off her CO's rant. Jack cast her a reproachful glance at her phrasing and she shrugged an apology. "I don't want to get involved in a world war any more than you do, but we at least have to get involved enough to get the control crystal back."

"But we can do that without helping them take out their entire system of government!" Daniel protested. "I really don't relish the thought of having to use one of those rifles again." He shuddered unconsciously, and Jack, Carter and Teal'c cast him worried glances. Teal'c had explained how the rifles had functioned, and if something as simple as a weapon had shaken Daniel so visibly, it must have been bad.

"These people seem only to trust those who fight at their side," Teal'c observed, deflecting attention away from Daniel. "I concur with O'Neill--I do not believe they would permit us to live if we refuse to participate, and the Loyalist forces are not likely to trust us if word reaches them of the involvement of DanielJackson and myself in the deaths of their comrades."

"And if the Loyalists have any kind of agreement with the Goa'uld, and the Goa'uld know who we are..." Carter let the rest of the sentence hang.

Jack blew a heavy sigh, and the four sat in oppressive silence for a long moment.

"So," Carter said finally, "it's either...die at the hands of Kristof and his people, or...risk dying at the hands of the Loyalists on this world, or the Goa'uld if we live that long."

"Kind of hard to see the lesser of three evils here, huh?" Jack said, only slightly sarcastically.

"I would rather be dead than ally myself with any of those who conspire with the Goa'uld," Teal'c intoned flatly.

"Well I guess that's the easy way of putting it," Jack muttered. "Carter?"

"Can't disagree with that, sir," she replied reluctantly.

"Good. Daniel?"

The younger man sighed and looked up. He seemed to run any possibilities through his head, and finally nodded jerkily. "All right," Jack said, "that's it. From here on out, until we can get that crystal and go home...we're Nihilists."

=====

"Hey," Jack whispered in the darkness where Daniel had been tossing restlessly since Carter and Teal'c had returned to their own tent nearly two hours earlier. "You okay?"

There was a brief silence before he heard a rustling as Daniel turned over to face him. "Yeah," was his quiet reply. "Just...thinking." 'Of another way out,' went unspoken between them.

"This is only until the Goa'ulds get here and we can get that crystal, Daniel." What a rush this was--never in his life did O'Neill think he'd be waiting for the Goa'uld--counting on them, if you will--to show up anywhere.

"I know. It's just--I don't..."

"It was either you or him, Daniel," Jack told the younger man gently. "You can use a Beretta or MP-5 from here on out."

"Thanks," Daniel said, voice full of relief. Jack realized Daniel had no way of knowing how Jack knew about his aversion to the rebel weapons, and it showed just how shaken the archaeologist was that he didn't even question it. It was weighing on him though, what he'd had to do, and Daniel was silent for only a few minutes before a soft, hesitant "Jack?" broke the silence.

"Yeah?" Jack pitched his voice in nearly the same tone, inviting Daniel to continue.

"It was unbelievable," Daniel said softly. "Really...ugly." Jack knew exactly what he was talking about. He reached out and found Daniel's shoulder in the dark, squeezing gently. "The blood...I never saw anything that so blatantly..."

"I know. Teal'c told me about it. You did good, Daniel--really. No one expects something like that to roll right off your back--hell, it fazes us too. But if we're gonna survive, get out of here in one piece, we need to learn how to detach ourselves; even a little."

"Yeah," was Daniel's breathed reply. "I just wish there was a better way."

"We all do, Daniel; believe me." Jack paused. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I think I will be. Thanks Jack."

Jack smiled slightly. "Just go to sleep, for cryin' out loud, and we'll call it even."

Daniel laughed softly, and Jack was relieved to hear his breathing even out in the rhythm of sleep only a few minutes later. He himself lay awake for nearly an hour before he finally rolled over with a sigh and let himself drift off.

Chapter 9

"Wake up."

Jack, a light sleeper by habit, sat up immediately when Fahrn pulled their tent open with no preamble. Beside him, Daniel was startled to a half-doze by the cold, impatient order. "Because...?" Jack drawled questioningly.

"We must assess the situation we now face thanks to the ineptness of certain escorts to your...war-machine," she said, eyeing Daniel with distaste. Jack, following her gaze, nudged Daniel in the ribs with his elbow.

"Mmph. G'way."

"Daniel, get up. We gotta go."

The archaeologist rolled onto his back, cracking one eyelid and freezing when he received an eyeful of Fahrn. "Good morning...?"

"We move out very shortly. Here is clothing for you to wear--courtesy of the Decanz, so take care of them," she snapped, shoving a pile of linens at Jack, who juggled them to prevent the clothes from hitting the floor of the tent. "Be prepared or you will be left behind." With that, Fahrn allowed the tent flap to fall closed and muted footfalls on the ground outside indicated she was moving away.

"Left behind from what?" Daniel asked muzzily. "It isn't even dawn yet."

"Welcome to war," Jack said dryly. He divvied up the clothing Fahrn had delivered, handing off a set of what must have passed for civvies on the planet--tan breeches and tunic, with a dark green undershirt for Daniel and a dark blue one for Jack. "Here you go."

"Jack, w-wait!" Daniel grabbed his boots, only half-dressed by the time Jack headed out of the tent, scrabbling out after his friend. "What are we...oh, wow."

Unlike camp on early mornings during offworld missions, there was no idle chatter among the ranks of Kristof's men, no morning routine of coffee-getting, breakfast-making, weapon-assembling...it was like watching robots, Daniel thought, a faint shiver coursing down his spine at the sight of the few hundred rebel soldiers, all lined up in perfect rows of forty or so, equidistant from one another, hands clasped behind their backs. Oddly, though, the rebels weren't dressed in their version of BDUs, but wore carbon copies of what Daniel and Jack themselves were now wearing--the loose-fitting tunics and breeches, dark boots and chestnut-coloured cloaks with the cowls hanging nearly halfway down their backs. The women wore their hair tied with simple kerchiefs, the men with their hair combed straight back. The headgear was the only difference between the two genders, and the scene reminded Daniel vaguely of something like 'Multiplicity'.

"Fancy-dress ball?" Jack quipped behind him, voice quiet in deference to the serious demeanour of their new comrades.

"Guess so," Daniel responded, not tearing his eyes away from the eerie, intriguing sight.

"No," a voice said from close by. Daniel turned, finding a woman standing there, scowling as she tied her greying hair back with a similar kerchief to the others. "Rather, a morale gathering in the capitol square." At the humans' blank look, she sighed. "The Minister has become aware of our fight against him--he'd have to be completely thick not to--though he does not know the names or faces of those who oppose him. Once every cycle, during the Festivals, he gathers the people in the square to assure them of...I suppose, our world's continued well-being and galactic safety." She sneered, resting her hands on her hips. "A census is taken; that is why we all must attend. Though, I believe even if our people were not counted like cattle to be sure our population is relatively consistent, Kristof would attend nonetheless. He enjoys going to the city to hear the lies Jael spreads to his people."

"Jael?" Daniel asked.

"The Minister. He is old, one of the original advisors to the former Minister who approved the Destroyers' proposition to us. There are a large number of those in the city who disagree with him, but fear to join us."

"So they're undercover agents?" Jack asked, though his tone indicated that he seriously believed otherwise. The woman picked up on that and smiled slightly.

"Hardly," she agreed dryly. "They are cowards, the lot of them. Their hatred of Jael and his beliefs are strong, but they are too fearful and weak to fight against him. Many leave the capitol and leave instead for one of the outlying towns where they hide with their tails twixt their legs."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Harsh," he commented.

"Hm. Come," she said. "Fahrn did not speak falsely--if you are not among the company when we depart you will be left behind, and you will not learn the layout of the prime target of this fight until you are forced into it with a ketec in your hands."

"Uh--" Jack held up a finger, his interruption halting the woman's progress toward the waiting rebels. "Isn't that a good idea? For us to stay away, I mean?" he asked. "If a census is taken every time one of these gatherings...gather, won't we be a tad out of place?"

The woman smiled, shaking her head. "Fear not," she assured them, blue eyes twinkling, "the Decanz will sneak you in."

Chapter 10

"Iazi." Daniel picked up his pace to fall into step beside the woman who had let he and Jack in on the company's plans for the day. She turned slightly, face registering her mild surprise.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

Daniel slid a glance over at Behin, who waved absently. "I have connections," he cracked. Iazi smiled.

"Well Daniel, there is a mystery solved. You assimilate well; a great many of us did not believe you and your people would be accepted among us for...quite some time," she admitted. "How can I be of service?"

"Actually..." Daniel trailed off as Fahrn marched past, shooting him a withering look as she went. Daniel automatically lowered his voice and dipped his head closer to Iazi. "I was just wondering...well, something you said to Jack and I kind of bothered me a little."

"And what might that be?"

"The outlying towns," Daniel said, gathering his wits about him.

Iazi shot him a curious glance. "What about them?"

"I know...I know there must be at least a few soldiers here who don't like fighting their own families, their own friends," Daniel said slowly. "Why don't they leave the company and go to one of the other towns? It seems like they'd be sanctuaries for those who don't want to be involved."

Iazi chuckled. "Daniel, dear heart, are you quite the war mongerer your companions make you out to be?" She patted his arm in reassurance at his open-mouthed protest. "Fear not; your secret is safe with me. But in return, Daniel, allow me to ask you a similar question. Do you have war on your world?"

"Yes, of course."

"And do those who do not fight with either force; do they have a sanctuary to flee to where the war does not touch them?"

Daniel bit his lip, chewing it a little. "No," he admitted. "People who try to run...where the majority of the wars are fought, dodgers are dealt with...harshly."

"And so it is, and so it will always be," Iazi agreed. "Those who do not fight," she elaborated, "are worse off than those who do. We, at least, have chosen a side--for better or for worse. Those who run, who seek refuge in the smaller towns, are met by Loyalist spies and executed. You will not find a single soul from the capitol in any of the towns, I assure you. You will, however, find a great deal of people from the towns in the Loyalist army."

"Forced recruitment," Daniel summed up, his sigh of defeat met with a sympathetic nod from Iazi. "Sounds like our worlds are more alike than we'd care to admit," he said, finding a smile for her.

Iazi returned it, albeit faintly, and it was a smile charged with melancholy. "Does that not frighten you as much as I?" she asked softly, the question bursting from her. "Hope for a world where turmoil such as this does not exist seems much smaller when travellers from a world millions of turga away have the same troubles, the same fears."

Daniel shrugged. "Sometimes that hope is all we have," he said quietly, "and I know, more often than not, that hope is all I have to count on."

Iazi nodded slowly. "You are an intriguing man, Daniel," she said, "and a wise one. If Kristof and the others would only listen to you, I believe you could teach us a great deal."

"All they care about is this," Daniel said, waving an arm expansively, taking in the thick forest around them. "Frihet, their freedom...they have their beliefs and what they think they have to do to retake that freedom, and there's nothing I can say that can convince them otherwise."

"But perhaps words are not the most important method of communication," Iazi allowed. "There are other ways to get through to those of thick head and stubborn mind than speech alone. You will find it; you seem to be just that type of man."

Chapter 11

The capitol city was impressive, without a doubt. It was like stepping through the looking glass, to a world where the grass was perpetually greener. What buildings were visible over the tall, protected walls were built of wood, a modern Earthlike setting with deep, tarnished outer walls and carefully laid roofing. High, thick stone battlements, visibly open in only one large, front gate, fortified the entire city. "There are similar entrances in all directions," Coran said quietly at Jack's side, peering alongside him through the trees at the looming city, as though reading his mind. "All roads lead to the capitol."

"So...there are other towns?" Jack guessed. Coran shrugged.

"In a way. There are three minor townships far away, and at least one of them has smaller villages on the outskirts."

"'At least one'?"

"I've only ever seen one of the townships," the young man admitted. "They are days away; too time-consuming and dangerous to travel to on a mere whim."

"And...you visited this town when you were..."

"Nine years old."

"Nine. And it wasn't too dangerous back then?"

Coran sighed heavily. "Of course it was; that is the very reason why I am the only one who survived the trip from that town."

"From?"

"Yes, I used to live there before my family made the journey to the capitol, where they thought we would be safer with the war raging in all quarters."

"Disperse," Kristof ordered in a clipped tone. "Do you all remember where you 'hail' from?"

"Yes, Decanz," Coran said. The other members of the unit Jack could see echoed his response and a response no doubt echoed by the members of Fahrn and Syrus' units, who had broke off from the main group hours earlier. Nearly half Jack's unit faded into the trees on the ground, and a few scrambled up to the heights where they could cross the North road without being spotted. Jack resignedly stuck with Kristof and about fifty others to head for the West road.

"Best of luck," Kristof said quietly in the wake of his departing comrades.

"Don't your people get suspicious when all of you just appear from these different directions at the same time?" Carter asked.

"No," Kristof assured her. "If any travellers come from the townships, they have no choice but to travel in large groups for their own safety."

"Nice insurance policy for a mandatory get-together," Jack quipped. He glanced over his shoulder with a slight frown. "Where are Daniel and Teal'c headed?"

"They are among Fahrn's group approaching the East gate," Kristof said absently. "If all of you are in one group it is far more likely you will be found out."

"Makes sense," Carter obliged.

"Indeed it does," a man said coldly from a few paces behind. Good-looking (Carter could look, couldn't she?), with dark hair and light eyes, with a scruffy beard growing in, he appeared to be in his mid thirties. "You have no right to question our methods; you are fortunate the Decanz allowed you to remain."

"Tomas," Kristof said wearily as he signalled the all clear, allowing his voice to carry a bit more now that they were emerging onto the East road. "Please."

Carter dropped back to Tomas' side, smiling amiably. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean anything by it; I'm--we're all--just trying to understand how things operate around here."

To her surprise, Tomas smiled sheepishly and ducked his head. "No, it is I who owe you an apology," he admitted. "I have...a short temper; it has been getting worse the past few years. More often than not, I offend much more than I intend to."

Carter nodded. "Well in that case," she said, holding out a hand, "I'm Sam."

"Tomas--but I suppose now you already know that."

"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill tossed over his shoulder, a smile pasted on his face. "A word?"

"Excuse me," she said to Tomas, and stepped up to the colonel's side again. "Sir?"

"Carter, ix-nay on ake-ming iends-fray," he reminded her. She had to blink blankly at him before understanding, and rolled her eyes.

"Sir, we have to--"

"Aht!" Carter felt a surge of irritation at his interruption, but nodded.

"Yes sir," she muttered bitterly.

O'Neill softened slightly, leaning in a little closer. "Think of it like the stray dog that just keeps coming back when you feed it," he suggested. "We're here for our own good; we can't forget that."

Carter dropped back to walk by Tomas' side without a word. There was no telling how long they'd be shacked up with the Nihilists, and they had to learn to blend in, no matter how much it might hurt when all this was over.

Chapter 12

DanielJackson strained his neck in an attempt to see over the crowd once again, and Teal'c leaned in so only the younger man could hear him. "Do you not think we should remain as inconspicuous as possible?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm? Oh yeah; of course," DanielJackson agreed, nonetheless rising on his toes as he walked. "I'm just trying--I want to see the city, that's all."

"Will we not be inside the city soon?" Teal'c reminded him. A faint flush crept up the back of DanielJackson's neck, and he faded back into the crowd.

"Yeah..."

"You." Teal'c felt a rough hand grab at his sleeve, forcing him to a halt. Faintly annoyed, he looked down into the scowling face of Fahrn. "Go with Syrus to the South road," she ordered.

Teal'c cocked an eyebrow at her. "I will remain here," he said decisively.

"Then you will bring death upon us all," Fahrn snapped. "You and your companions must be separated to prevent your foolish lives from being terminated prematurely."

"Go, Teal'c," DanielJackson suggested, avoiding a potentially dangerous conflict on the alien planet. "We can't afford to blow our cover--or theirs."

"Are you certain, DanielJackson?" O'Neill had let him in on how close DanielJackson had come to being a victim of execution, and Teal'c was loath to leave the archaeologist alone with one such as Fahrn, who so obviously despised him.

The other man was nodding, though. "It'll be fine," he assured Teal'c. "See you after the gathering?"

Teal'c bowed slightly. "Very well," he murmured reluctantly. Fahrn snorted, looking him up and down.

"You look like a Destroyer," she sniffed. "Keep your cowl pulled tight about you; the guards will take you for an ailing citizen and will not touch you."

Teal'c exchanged a surprised glance with DanielJackson, who shrugged and nodded. "My thanks," he said graciously to Fahrn.

"Just keep yourself out of prying eyes," she said gruffly. "I tell you this only to save ourselves."

Teal'c smiled slightly. "Very well."

Chapter 13

Though concerned about the fact that he and the rest of his teammates were quite consciously being separated without knowing what they were getting themselves into, Daniel couldn't help the surge of excitement as the wrought-iron gate, clear of its solid stone covering, was dragged open by Loyalist soldiers--a sight that unnerved Daniel when the waiting soldiers smiled affably at the approaching 'out of towners'. It was so unusual, seeing the faces that, until now, were twisted in scowls and glares of hatred so open and welcoming.

'Welcome to The Twilight Zone,' Daniel thought nervously, ducking his head even though the Loyalists wouldn't recognize his face anyway.

"Welcome back," the soldier to his right said, marking something down on a scroll of parchment.

"Thank you," Daniel stuttered. "It's nice to be here; back home, I mean." He moved forward with relief, valiantly refraining himself from checking his back for bleeding where Fahrn had jabbed him hard.

"Fahrn," the guard said with delight, "I'd never think to see you again. How do you fare?"

"Well, Ened," she said shortly. "As well as can be with this damned war."

"That is good." Daniel watched curiously as the Loyalist squeezed Fahrn's hand. "I wish to convey my deepest sympathy for your turmoil, and my blessings for the honour bestowed upon you. Ayla--"

"Thank you, Ened," Fahrn interrupted, pulling her hand free. "Years have passed and I still feel it deeply. Thank you."

"Fahrn?" Daniel questioned when she hastened past. "What--"

"Speak not of it," Fahrn said dismissively. "The war has made Ened's mind weak. He knows not what he says."

'Yeah, I'm sure.' "Hm" was all her responded aloud, though. Curiosity burned within him; he knew there was more to it than met the eye.

"Just come along," Fahrn said irritably, dragging Daniel forward by his sleeve. "The Minister will be addressing his people soon, and we should not arouse suspicion by slipping in late."

"They'd actually notice?" Daniel asked, incredulous. "There has to be over a hundred thousand people here!"

"We were once well-respected citizens of this city," Fahrn reminded him. "People recognize us--as you have seen. If we were to arrive late with people whom our former friends have never seen, it would put a damper on their trust."

"Um--" Daniel held up one finger as he dodged a particularly sullen-looking man headed in his direction. "Don't they sort of already know you and your people don't live in the city anymore? Doesn't it strike them as odd that you only show up at 'home' whenever these gatherings go on?"

"I've told you; many of us have found reason to leave the capitol and seek life in one of the outlying towns. We return periodically for 'business' to keep suspicions at bay."

"Sounds dangerous," Daniel commented. Fahrn shot him a disgusted look over her shoulder.

"Such is war."

Chapter 14

Jack stood amid the crowd of thousands, relatively close to the pavilion where the Minister would emerge, side-by-side with Carter and Tomas, Kristof standing rigid ahead of him with his eyes fixed on the raised pavilion. Jack cast his gaze over the assembled crowd, looking for any sign of Daniel or Teal'c, and keeping his eyes peeled for any Loyalist guards that might decide they didn't belong there. They'd passed through the gate without any trouble, just getting one of those creepy smiles from the guards on duty as they marked down whatever they had to mark down on the scrap of parchment they each wielded. Frankly, Jack was astounded at the architecture of the capitol--he winced as he realized he must sound painfully like Daniel, but it was true. The outer wall was only the first barricade to the city; a strip of plain land separated the outer from the inner wall, with small guardhouses erected between the walls. As their group passed through the second gate into the city, Jack discovered that the second wall was made up of communal homes, made of stone but hardly less welcoming than the dark wood buildings erected in the main square. The homes were connected, built out of what seemed to be pure white sandstone, the windows decorated with colourful curtains and some even had their wooden doors painted. "For the lower class," Kristof had leaned in to inform Jack. "They pay for the protection of the Minister and his army, and are rewarded with homes fit for cattle." Jack had to disagree; the set-up of the 'lower class' homes didn't seem any different than the sort of layout you'd find in a particularly large city on Earth--little or no room to move between two homes, but well-equipped, comfortable and warm.

"You attract attention," Tomas warned him from his right. Jack shot him a confused glance. "You appear paranoid," the younger man explained. "If you do not wish the Loyalists to think you are up to something, try not to look like you are."

"Tomas," Kristof growled. Jack couldn't blame him--Tomas wasn't exactly what one would call 'covert'. He was speaking easily and with the same volume he would if he were informing Jack of an impending rainfall. What was odd, though, was that Tomas didn't seem to realize what he was doing, which gave Jack the impression that there might be more going on in the man's head than met the eye. His quick temper and even quicker contriteness suggested some potential mental instability, but he couldn't be sure. It didn't seem to impeded Tomas' success in joining in the rebel missions, so Kristof and the others all but left him alone.

"I apologize, Decanz," Tomas whispered. Carter leaned around Jack and offered Tomas a reassuring smile, one that was brightly returned. Jack gave his 2IC a questioning look but she quelled his curiosity with an 'I'll tell you later' look. Jack's attention was torn from his curiosity by a loud cheer beginning in the extreme front of the crowd and working its way back as each citizen and visitor laid eyes on their saviour--Jack's eyebrows rose in disbelief.

Jael, the Minister, was an old--extremely old--man; Jack would place his age around at least eighty-five. He shuffled out the main, ground level exit of the negligibly decorated city hall, discreetly supported on either side by a Loyalist soldier. With slow, single-minded determination the man worked his way up from the ground to the balcony above, pausing every now and again to wave to the crowd--a front to catch his breath, Jack guessed. "Why doesn't he just use the door at the balcony?" he leaned forward to ask Kristof.

The decanz grinned, though it looked more like a snarl than an actual smile. "He wishes to exude continuing strength to his loyal people," he said in a low voice, barley audible over the deafening cheers of the gathering. "Even when he keels over, dead from heart failure, he will insist on crawling to his deathbed."

"Admirable," Jack commented.

"Hardly. He fools no one. Were a flying machine successfully created, he would not hesitate to use it to travel the shortest of distances."

"He looks like he could use an elevator," Jack murmured to Carter, who smiled tightly and nodded, obligingly applauding along with those around here.

When the Minister reached the apex of the balcony, the more ornately dressed of his supporting guards stiffly held up a hand, demanding silence--an order that was promptly obeyed. Everyone in the crowd went dead silent. "My people. My loyal people," Jael began, voice surprisingly strong. "I have called you from your homes to deliver a message of hope--those of you who are aware of our continuing situation have expressed great fear in the face of this immeasurable danger in the wilderness. I wish to allay that fear, and promise you that this small rogue unit of untrained, undisciplined soldiers will soon be apprehended and dealt with accordingly."

"'Small, untrained and undisciplined'?" Jack muttered, and was shushed by Carter and Tomas. He couldn't believe the crowd was buying into this pack of lies--anyone who would have come face-to-face with Kristof's group would see that they were anything but undisciplined or untrained--small, yes, when their size was compared with the number of Loyalist soldiers diligently working out of the capitol. Any impression of respect he could have given the old man evaporated in light of the revelation that he was no more honest than any running politician; selling what the people wanted to hear and buying their loyalty.

"In fact, we have only recently executed three members of this rogue group," Jael continued--even Kristof scoffed that time.

"Why have we not been told?" an anonymous female voice called from the crowd. "My children fear for our very lives; they will not leave our home, and any reassurance that can be given would have been most welcome!"

Jael held up a hand and smiled beatifically down at the crowd. "Word was sent," he announced, "by means of messenger only yesterday. That word may not as of yet reached your homes. It was coming; be assured."

"Minister!"

"Kristof, what are you doing?!" Jack snapped, his surprise at the sudden outburst not stopping him from reaching forward to snag the decanz's sleeve, only to be shaken off.

"Tell me, Minister," Kristof called as the white-haired man squinted out over the crowd to find whoever was speaking, "what will you do when these 'miscreants' are defeated? Send more of our people to the Destroyers? I believe these 'rogues' are the only ones who care for our integrity, for the poor people who are losing loved ones!"

The Minister appeared stricken. "There are over a million souls on our world, good sir," he called. "The Destroyers take no more than a dozen with each harvest in exchange for peace."

"You call this peace?!" Syrus shouted. "Losing children, wives?"

"We have never discriminated--"

"Only those of the lower class are taken!" Kristof challenged. "Those who have potential are taken, effectively keeping the lower class under control!"

"That is far from the truth," the Minister sputtered. "The Destroyers only take those they deem--"

"Lies!"

"Those they deem worthy!" the Minister continued, raising his voice. "Those people should be honoured; they live lives of opulence and comfort!"

"They're slaves to their own bodies," another, familiar voice shouted. Jack searched the crowd and spotted Daniel's earnest face not far away. 'Damn! Shut up, Daniel, please!' It was one of those times Jack wished the younger man could read minds only to find his wish ignored, and he winced as Daniel continued. "The Goa'uld--Destroyers--are parasites; they take over the body of a human and completely suppress them. They use us as slaves!"

Jack whipped his gaze from Daniel up to the balcony, stiffening when he saw the decorated Loyalist guard's eyes narrow as he zeroed in on Daniel.

"Carter," he barked, and started threading his way through the crowd.

"And how do you know such a thing?" Jael demanded of Daniel from his perch. "Have you lived among them for any amount of time? You are as ignorant as the entirety of our population when it comes to understanding the ways of the universe, my son."

Jack couldn't risk calling out to Daniel, but he increased his pace when the guard inconspicuously moved back, heading for the staircase. "I know!" Daniel shouted, jaw set. "I know because--"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off, because Jack took that opportunity and the opening he found to tackle the younger man to the soft, grassy earth, hissing "Shut up, Daniel," before planting his hand over the archaeologist's mouth.

"What is it?" Jael asked in panic as the people around the scuffle erupted into shouts, jeers and some with a few cheers. "What is happening?"

"He doesn't know what he's saying," Jack called. "He, uh...he's sick--brain...fever." Hauling Daniel up by the collar of his overshirt, Jack pushed him ahead, heading for the North gate. "He needs air; open the gates and let us out."

"Do it," Jael ordered. "If he is ill I want no sickness passed to the others."

"Jack--"

"Daniel, just shut up, look sick, and go," Jack ordered tersely. The crowd obligingly parted as they went, looks of concern and disgust on their faces as Daniel did his best to look as though he had just had a particularly uncomfortable bowel movement. The North gate opened, granting them passage to the adjoining strip of land, and Jack hurried Daniel to the outer gate, waving the guards out of the way. "He needs lots of room," he explained quickly. "We'll just be a few minutes."

The two Loyalists shoved open the gate and Jack and Daniel found themselves spit out on the North road leading to the Stargate. To Jack's surprise, the guards closed the gates behind them. "Knock thrice when you desire re-entry," one of them called as the gate clanged shut.

"Right." Jack looked up and around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers on the balustrades of the wall, and finding the way clear turned on Daniel in exasperation. "Are you insane?" he hissed.

"I wasn't going to give us away," Daniel protested. "I just wanted to let these people know what they're getting themselves into. I don't think the Minister knows what happens to his people any more than the people themselves do."

"And those that suspect have tried to explain it to him without any success," Jack finished. "If he doesn't want to listen, that's his problem--don't put your own neck on the line anymore than it already is. Understood?"

"Yeah," Daniel muttered, though he didn't sound happy about it. "So what do we do now? Go back in and tell them I've miraculously been cured?"

"Nope." Jack pushed him toward the tree line. "We're going back to camp."

"We don't even know the way," Daniel said.

""Well I didn't like the way that guard with Jael was getting ready to come down and beat your head in," Jack said conversationally, "so if we have to wander the woods for the rest of our lives, fine. No way in hell I'm stepping back in there now that all their eyes are going to be on us."

"But what do we do? When we don't ask to come back in--"

"Daniel, think about it. The reason they closed the gates behind us was because they think they're at risk from attack from Kristof and his men. They don't know that their enemies are right in there with them. If we disappear, they'll just chalk us up as two more casualties."

"Wonderful."

=====

Jack and Daniel wandered the forest for hours, having grown tired of crouching just outside the city walls listening to the muted proclamations Jael was making and the mixture of deafening cheers and uncertain, polite applause that stemmed from the gathered citizens. "Jack, Kristof said there were at least a million people on this world," Daniel said, thinking out loud as he swished his hand lightly over the taller of the undergrowth.

"Yeah?" Jack said absently, keeping his eyes peeled but acknowledging and showing he was listening to Daniel.

"Well...Kristof said that everyone comes from the outlying towns and their surrounding villages for the gathering, right?"

"Daniel, please, just--"

"I'm getting there. What I'm saying is, there's no way the people in that gathering equalled a million."

"So maybe some of them just didn't want to make the trip," Jack suggested. "I mean, they keep going on about how dangerous it is to travel on the roads with the Loyalist army attacking just about everything that moves. Maybe some of the people here are just smart enough to stay where they are and don't risk their lives to hear that old fossil spout lies about what's happening here."

"They take a census," Daniel reminded Jack. "Anyone they find not in attendance is...well, Fahrn didn't specify, but I'm sure it's not pretty, judging on the oh-so humane ways they have of punishing people around here."

"There's not really anything we can do, Daniel," Jack said. "Either the Minister is lying or exaggerating about how many people this planet has, or a lot of them just didn't want to show up."

"Or maybe they're somewhere else," Daniel said enigmatically.

Jack stopped then, turning to regard his friend curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Sam told me that when you lobbied to keep SG-1 as a single unit in this 'army', Kristof said we didn't know the way to the city or 'the munitions plants'." He huffed an irritated sigh at Jack's continuing blank stare. "Jack, what if these munitions plants harbour a labour force? The people that are disappearing from the roads to and from the towns might not be killed after all, but are put to work!"

"Daniel, come on. There were a couple hundred thousand people in that square today, and that would leave hundreds of thousands more that would be working in those plants."

"So maybe they have a lot of munitions plants. Or, maybe they're bigger than we're assuming they are. Either way, Jack, those people are going somewhere, and if nearly five hundred thousand people are missing from his population, Jael doesn't seem to worried about it."

"If he's not, you shouldn't be," Jack said absently. "Now come on--let's see if we can't find our own way back."

Daniel watched bemusedly as Jack rubbed his hands together, eagerly glancing about in every direction before orienting himself in what he assumed to be the Northeasterly direction and began walking. After a few moments of staring after him, Daniel sighed. "This is going to be interesting."

"Daniel, hurry up!" Jack had pulled out his compass and was busily waving it about. Daniel grinned and pulled it out of his hand.

"Jack, you do realize that this planet's electromagnetic field is a lot different from Earth's and this is all but useless...right?"

Face flushing in embarrassment, Jack yanked the compass back and stuffed it in his vest pocket. "Of course I do. I was just making sure you did."

Daniel chuckled, pulling up behind Jack when his friend abruptly stopped. "Jack, what--" he began, thinking that the other man was trying to divert Daniel's attention from his embarrassment, but Jack held up a hand to silence him.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Daniel followed him down as Jack crouched low, glancing around with wide eyes, straining to hear what Jack did. "What?" he whispered.

There. A nearly undetectable, but audible, snap, like someone stepping carefully over the floor of the forest. Jack shoved Daniel flat on his stomach. "Down," he breathed.

Daniel pressed his face into the soft underbrush, slowing and quieting his breathing as best he could, though his heart began pounding in his chest. Here they were, unarmed in the middle of an alien forest with no idea where they were supposed to be heading, with potentially armed enemies only a few yards away. Daniel felt Jack tense beside him, and his throat caught with involuntary panic when two pairs of black boots stepped into his line of vision. 'What are we gonna do?' he wanted to ask, but the way Jack's face was closed off and his jaw was set, he had the feeling that he wouldn't want to know the answer.

"There you are." Daniel's breath rushed out of him in relief, and he and Jack relaxed, exchanging embarrassed, amused looks before pushing themselves to their feet. Elidih and Coran were standing there, knowing grins on their faces. "Kristof sent us to find you," Elidih informed them, absently brushing green bits from Jack's hair. "Nice camouflage," she teased.

Jack scowled half-heartedly and prudently moved away. "That wasn't necessary," he said. "Daniel and I were doing fine on our own."

"You are more than six hours from base camp," Coran said.

"So?" Jack challenged.

"Going...the wrong way," the young man added sheepishly. "Sam and Teal'c were growing very concerned. What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for the munitions plant," Daniel said honestly. "Jack shot him an annoyed look to which Daniel shrugged--he couldn't see any reason to hide the truth from their allies. Elidih and Coran looked surprised.

"Why?" Elidih asked, jerking her head in the direction of camp to get the foursome moving.

"Why not?" Jack quipped.

"Uh..." Daniel stepped closer to Elidih. "We--Jack and I--were wondering about your population."

Elidih gave him a sidelong look. "What about it?"

"There seems to be some discrepancy," Daniel explained. "Uh, the Minister, he said there were about a million people on the planet, but there were only a few hundred thousand at the gathering today."

Despite his eagerness in relaying the information, Daniel was obscurely disappointed that Elidih hardly batted an eye. "And now is this significant?" she asked.

"That's what I asked," Jack proclaimed from behind them. Daniel rolled his eyes at him over his shoulder.

"Well, I don't know yet," he said patiently. "I was sort of hoping you could tell me where the other half of your population is."

"The Minister is old," Coran said with a shrug. "He is likely thinking of better days when our population did exceed millions."

"There you go," Jack said, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. "Mystery solved."

Daniel wasn't ready to throw in the towel, though. "How many munitions plants are there?" he asked.

"One. There used to be two," Elidih said, "but we've disabled one already and forced the Loyalists to build a new one."

"And how big is it?" Daniel asked, determined not to get deflated at the unlikely event that five hundred thousand people worked in one plant. "Uh...how many workers can it support?"

"I...don't know," Elidih admitted, looking to Coran for confirmation. The young man shrugged helplessly. "Perhaps...hundreds? The plants are rather large, I'd imagine."

"But you don't know if some of your people are enslaved there?" Daniel guessed.

"Enslaved!" Coran's eyes bugged out. "I would hardly think so--the Loyalists have more than enough lower class desperate for work without requiring slaves. Those who are 'missing' are likely dead. I know," he said quietly. "My own family was murdered before my eyes when I was no more than a child. Only the interference of the decanz and the others saved me from a similar fate."

"Lucky you," Jack piped up, but Daniel could tell there was more to the comment than mere sarcasm. He twisted to look at Jack and recognized the look that meant the gears in the older man's head were working; Jack had noticed something and was meticulously working through it. Daniel nodded slightly in response.

"I suppose so," Coran agreed. "As for the munitions plant, Daniel, you may have more luck if you speak to Kristof." The younger man met Jack's eyes solemnly. "He wishes to speak with you."

Jack's mouth tightened into a wry smile. "Of course he does."

=====

"That was a foolish thing you did today," Kristof told Jack without looking up from the burgeoning fire that was steadily gaining intensity, reflecting off the decanz's cold, steel-grey eyes and boring into Jack's from over the top of the flames that were licking at the cool night air, blown to the sky with the gentle breeze sifting through the camp, a remnant of the blustering wind above the forest.

"Yeah, it also saved our lives," Jack retorted without any real passion behind the argument; just stating a simple fact. "If I hadn't pulled Daniel out--"

"Ah, Daniel," Kristof murmured condescendingly, eyes falling back to the fire, hands working of their own accord to break up more pieces of firewood to toss onto the hungry flames. Jack felt his knees start to seize up from his crouched position but he didn't dare move, automatically bristling at Kristof's pensive tone. "Daniel is a liability," Kristof informed Jack; nice and casual, as though he were commenting on the weather.

"Hey, wait a minute--you were the one who was all aflutter after that altercation at the Stargate!"

Kristof nodded slowly, patronizingly, patting the air with his free hand to calm Jack--a gesture that only served to make Jack even angrier and edgier; he'd seen the fate suffered by 'liabilities' in this camp. "Yes, and he was lucky," Kristof ceded, "but Syrus has informed me of his weakness after killing the Loyalist, and Fahrn was witness to his soft-heartedness only this morning."

"Oh really?" Jack challenged. "And where did this--"

"On the way to the capitol this morning!" Kristof exploded, throwing a particularly large piece of wood onto the fire, sending sparks flying. The decanz towered over Jack and the fire, frustration and anger making the nerves along his jaw line twitch erratically. "Do not attempt to mislead me," Kristof snarled, losing his hold on calm. "Daniel is weak; he will be the death of more of our own than the Loyalists--one helpful deed will not erase his blunders, and we must get him out of the way."

Jack rose slowly, gritting his teeth. "You listen to me," he said, voice low and dangerous. "I've told you about the faith I have in Daniel and my entire team--I've known him for almost two years; I know what he's capable of. You can't possibly make any kind of accurate assumptions about him after two fucking days." He leaned closer to Kristof, ignoring the heat that tickled his chin before enveloping him. "If you or any of your people try to lay one finger on him, I swear you won't live to see the end of this little spat you have going on here."

Kristof's eyes narrowed. "You will not threaten me in my own command," he hissed. "I make decisions as I see fit, not the other way around--do you understand me?"

"I've seen your decisions in the two days I've been here," Jack sneered, "and you make me fear for my life and the lives of my team more than those Loyalists ever could." And with that, he rose and left the meeting area without being dismissed, heading back to SG-1's campsite.

Kristof sighed inwardly as O'Neill left, shaking his head in a confusing mixture of rage, disgust and relief. "Keep an eye on him," Fahrn said, stepping out of the shadows to stand beside him. Kristof quirked a wry half-smile at her.

"Paranoid of all men nowadays?" he asked.

The woman, by far his most trusted and well respected of his soldiers, grimaced. "He will usurp your command if given the chance," she told him. "You are far too lenient with these offworlders."

Kristof's smile widened. Yes, this was why he trusted Fahrn; he could trust her to speak her mind without fear of consequences, without any inhibition. "We are merely feeling one another out," he assured her, absent but acknowledging her concerns. "Like it or not, we need their help."

"And that foolish scholar?"

Kristof shrugged. "If O'Neill wishes him to live he will live. It is not us who will ultimately be the cause of his death."

=====

"Did you tell him?" Daniel asked as Jack emerged from Kristof's tent, the younger man half-jogging to keep up with Jack's anger-induced pace.

"Nope," Jack said bluntly.

"What?! Why not? Jack, this could be huge for them; if their government is actually enslaving their population it might not be just a hopeless war we're involved in here. We could--"

"Daniel." Jack pulled up to a half and clapped both hands on Daniel's shoulders to get his attention. "I think we should keep something in our back pocket; a sort of leverage for...well, for an important occasion."

Daniel gave him an odd look, eyebrows raised, staring at Jack over the tops of his glasses. "Why?" he drawled.

"Because..." Jack glanced back toward the tent and shook his head. "I have a feeling we're going to need it," he said simply.

=====

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