1. Part 1

I noticed everyone else puts disclaimers in their stories. I guess I should do the same just to make ownership clear.

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Stargate, and all characters and technologies from that fiction series are, are the property of their respective owners. I use them without profiting.

The Aians, and all characters and technologies not found in the Stargate fiction series, as of August 6th, 2003, are the property of this author. Any one wishing to borrow them should only do so with my expressed permission. (I have a lot of background information already created for the Aian universe. At some point, I'm likely to place it on my web site.)

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Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter stood on the ramp for the stargate. Behind them, its center held the shimmering surface of a wormhole event horizon. Looking up to the control room, General Hammond watched over them. Daniel and Teal'c had already proceeded through with a research team. Jack and Sam had been delayed finishing some reports.

This was going to be a typical camping trip; except a different planet. The stargate was located inside of a temple as is sometimes the case, but the rest of the place was an ocean paradise. Nothing but light woods, gentle breezes, and smooth beaches surrounded the place.

This was all fine since SG-1's last mission. If things weren't so busy, they probably would have gotten a couple weeks of down-time. As it was, they were getting a simple babysitting mission instead.

"Colonel, Major," the General addressed them both, "I'll see you again in three weeks."

Jack nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to enter the stargate.

Stepping through, they were both whisked through at incredible speeds through the stars. Buzzing and hissing was all they could hear through the journey. It all came to a chillingly abrupt stop as they arrived at their destination.

It wasn't what they had expected. The walls were wet and dirty. A brown color not normally seen in a temple, and certainly not the glossy gray walls of where they were supposed to be. The research team was going to study writings found on pillars. All this place had were burning fires, strange equipment, and a ceiling that was making a funny noise.

Jack raised his gun half expecting trouble. "Carter, I don't see a shiny temple with sunny beaches," he slowly looked around the room, noticing everything.

"I don't think this place ever was a temple, sir," she replied while scanning the room with her gun.

Behind them, the wormhole closed with an explosion. They were both thrown across the room and landed in burnt rubble. Chunks of the ceiling started to fall as the entire roof collapsed upon where the wormhole once existed. In its place was a large pile of machinery and pipes hissing gas.

Jack groaned and started pulling himself up from where he lay on his stomach. He reached over to shake Sam by the arm. "Carter, you okay?"

She coughed suddenly while still lying on her back. Pulling her elbows behind her, she managed to prop herself up next to Jack. She looked over to where the explosion had occurred. "I think so, sir. But," coughing again, "that doesn't look like a stargate to me," she tilted her head in the general direction of a burning ruble.

"What's left of it you mean," he corrected her while staring at the same pile.

Jack raised himself into a crouching position and checked his gun. Not finding any damage on it, he scanned the room again. Bits of the ceiling continued to fall in places. "Lets get moving, Major. I don't like the look of this place."

Rolling over into a crouch, she began checking her own equipment. Finding everything fine, she looked over at Jack. He waved his hand towards a wall which had an opening caved in. It would, hopefully, lead them outside and away from the damaged building. Keeping her head down and gun raised, she scrambled over and peeked around the corner of the wall.

Outside was another dozen buildings. The bigger ones looked like they were on fire and had structural damage. Some of the smaller ones didn't appear to have any damage, and a few even looked like dwellings of some kind. There didn't appear to be anyone around.

Sam turned and found Jack right beside her. "I don't see anyone out there. It appears clear."

Jack nodded and peered around her to the outside. A second later he jumped up and sprinted through the opening in the wall.

Sam followed after him as he went to one of the buildings that looked like a dwelling. Ducking beside the door, he pounded on it a few times. Sam took the other side of the door and waited. Jack nodded at her and they both stood up. He kicked into the door hard and it flew open into a single room. Running in he made sure his side was clear while Sam checked the opposite.

The dwelling was empty. Two simple beds were against the far wall, while a wooden table and three chairs took up the remainder of the room. Everything was painted dark and gray, the only color in the room was coming through a window from the setting sun.

"No Goa'uld yet. We're doing great so far," Jack said while snooping around the room. "I was kind of hoping for a nice ocean view though."

Sam went over to the window and looked at their surroundings. It looked about like a desert outside, or heavily traveled at the very least. In the far distance beyond all the buildings she could see the edge of a forest.

What looked like a large missile flew down from the sky like a shooting star. It hit the far side of the building they first arrived in. The explosion was large enough that the ground shook beneath them causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

Jack hopped over to the window just in time to see the huge red fireball. It rose into the sky and joined existing black lines of smoke.

"Well someone, or something, is laying a pretty good siege to this place."

"Good thing we got out of there when we did," replied Sam happily.

More explosions rang out in the far distance. Well beyond anything they could see. Hours went by like that. Occasionally, the dark sky would light up, but overall the barrage seemed to be dying down in their area.

Jack seemed to relax over that time. He even managed to sit in one of the beds and lie back against the wall.

"I still don't see anyone else out there, sir." Sam turned away from the window to face Jack. It was the only window that gave a good view of the grounds. The other window was up high above where Jack now was.

"It would seem we're alone."

Jack didn't respond. He just started fiddling with his gun. "We were supposed to meet up with Daniel, Teal'c, and a bunch of geeks. Instead, we arrive on some unknown world through a device whose remains don't look like any stargate I've ever seen," he paused for effect, "where the hell are we Carter?" He used his most demanding voice.

"Simply put, sir, I don't know." He kept the same look on her that he asked his questions with. The answer she gave didn't satisfy him and she knew it. "Solar flare, gravitational pull, power surge, the list goes on. But, I can't see any of those as being the cause here. Whenever we've arrived at the wrong time or destination before, there had still been a stargate. Maybe not a dial home device, but a 'gate at the very least. I don't think I can come up with a reasonable explanation. Not without getting a good look at the equipment in that building."

Jack huffed over the answer he heard and was expecting. He didn't like it, but that was what they were handed.

"Alright, we'll go back over there at first light," he studied Sam's face for a moment, "get some rest. I'll take the first watch." He got up from the bed and headed over to the table. Pulling out a chair, he placed it facing the door and sat down. He slid back and crossed his legs.

Sam, for her part, just watched. She soon saw that Jack had gotten himself quite comfortable, and decided to get what rest she could before he woke her up.

Taking the bed beside the one Jack had earlier, she found it was about as firm as a rock. Never the less, she managed to get to sleep quickly after what had resulted in a long day.

* * *

The Aian Mass Forces' ship Agumon was in high orbit above the planet Ty'Med. The main view screen in primary command showed missiles raining down on the planet from their ship and the two other ships with them. After a few minutes the Agumon ceased its firing while the other ships changed course.

"Sensors indicate all targets hit, ma'am," reported Tactical Chief Milsia from her station.

Commanding Officer Dayniel was working at her console quite contently. She had just sent orders for the two Tagra class destroyers to move on to their next targets. Pushing the console to the side of her seat, she looked up at the view screen.

"Monitor the primary target carefully and report any surface activity," she ordered.

"Aye," replied Milsia as she began typing into her console.

Executive Officer Gunthar was coordinating weapons deployment from his station beside Dayniel's. A beep alerted him of an incoming transmission.

"Captain, the destroyers are reporting that they've begun their barrages on the secondary targets."

"Very well," replied Dayniel, "have we detected any surface activity on the primary?"

"Negative," replied Milsia.

Dayniel nodded her head to herself. Their preemptive strike on the rouge research base was going better than expected. Not only had they arrived without encountering any hostiles, but no one seemed to be coming to rescue the unfortunate people on the surface either. With any luck, the battle group would be on its way back to Aian Federation territory days before they had planned.

Reaching across her arm rest, Dayniel pressed down on one of her intercom buttons. "Chief, have one of your platoons prepare to depart for the surface."

"They'll be ready in twenty minutes, ma'am," came the reply from Ground Chief Vandule over the intercom.

She released the button, and began tapping her fingers impatiently. There wasn't anything else to do but wait until further events unfolded.

"So," Gunthar interrupted her thoughts, "an entire platoon?"

She stopped tapping her arm rest, and gave him a sly smile. "As much fun as you may be having, I'd rather get this over with. Luck is with us, and I don't intend to let it escape."

* * *

Lanosa was walking up to the boarding hatch for the drop ship. Her troops were running up past her side to line up before the door. As she reached that door, she spun around to find all six of her troops facing forward and at attention to her left.

She then started to walk back along them for their final gear check. Each member was fully clothed in brown and gray tactical clothing. Black patches of solid armor was stitched in wherever flexibility wasn't a necessity. They all had snub nosed rifles strapped to their chest with one of many accessories bolted to the barrel. Each individual also carried a personal sidearm of some kind either strapped to their back or leg.

"Alright people, lets get bolted in," she yelled over the sound of engines warming up.

She watched briefly as they began filing into their ship. Looking around the hangar, she saw other drop ships being prepared with their respective squads. Their entire platoon was being sent down, so their squad was only assigned to check some of the smaller buildings.

Lanosa followed her last troop into the ship. Sealing the hatch behind her, she could hear the gantry being retracted away for their departure. She took her seat to the side of the egress ramp and started working all the restraints. Lowing her arm to a small panel beside her, she flicked the communication link to flight control. "Drop ship three is prepped for departure."

"Acknowledged, awaiting final drop command," came the reply.

She flicked the link closed. All they had to do now was wait for the Captain to give the launch order. And that wouldn't take very take long.

"Brace for drop," came the voice of Flight Chief Tanita over all the drop ship intercoms.

What little lighting the vessel had went completely dark. Only a hiss could be heard as all the air in the hangar was sucked out. Just as suddenly, all the openings beneath the drop ships slid open, and the ships were pushed out by their thrusters like projectiles in a gun. If the passengers had a window to look out, they would see an entire deck scream by. As it was, they were forced heavily against their restraints to keep from hitting the ceiling.

The planet loomed closer and closer. Thrusters fired wildly as all the ships aligned themselves for their target landing sites. As they began entering the atmosphere, their gray surfaces began to flare up with flames from the heat.

Their high speed trajectory quickly cooled them back down as the flames from the initial entry died. The surface flew at them with the speed to annihilate. Everyone on board was pushed deep into their seats as the main engine fired to slow them just before landing.

A loud boom sounded through the interior as the ground was reached. Instantly sensing it safe, the computer began lowering the egress ramp. All the seat restraints were also unlocked, and Lanosa's squad quickly filed out.

As her squad began taking up defensive positions around the ramp, Lanosa pulled down her combat goggles. They were a standard issue assault model with tactical read out, night vision, heat detection, and all sorts of other information. It was all controlled through a hidden keypad in her rifle's fore grip.

Scanning their surroundings, Lanosa quickly spotted her squad's assignment: a cluster of five small buildings silhouetted against the burning remains of a larger building. No sign of hostile forces could be seen anywhere. Looking up, Lanosa confirmed that only a few stars could be seen. Their drop ship's own trail of exhaust was invisible against the smoke from all the building fires.

"Lets move out. I want absolute silence from here on," she ordered.

The entire squad moved as one. Every member had their rifle raised and ready if anyone tried to stop them. They ran smooth and fast across the distance to the first building. Approaching it, the squad started fanning out and around. Sweeping around the back and sides, they didn't find any doors or windows, so they all continued around and found a single door at the opposite side.

Lanosa began tapping in orders through her keypad. It was completely sealed from sight, but the combat goggles she wore showed every menu and option as she selected them. She had three of her soldiers take up defensive position to their flanks and rear, while the other three prepared to breach the door. Nodding at Thandos, who was point, they shoved through the door like it wasn't even there. Lanosa ran in after them only to find that the room was full of sealed crates. They checked around all the edges to make sure it wasn't a disguise for a hidden room. It wasn't.

The four of them headed back outside to rejoin the others. Searching the two nearby buildings resulted in them being for storage like the first. Their next target, however, registered two heat signatures in her goggles. She had noticed them when they first approached the building cluster. They weren't moving then, and they still weren't moving now.

Approaching the building, it appeared at first to be just like the others, but closer inspection revealed a single ventilation opening on the back wall. It was too high and narrow for them to enter through, which also meant the two occupants couldn't escape this way either. Coming around the sides of the building, they both were void of any windows or doors.

Sitting at the corner farthest the front door, Lanosa began issuing orders through her keypad. She had Thandos proceed around to the other side of the door. Annel and Doaneg went with him. This left Rinay, Stavall, and Janeas to crouch below the window between herself and the door.

One last check through her thermal goggles showed that one of the occupants was apparently laying down, hopefully asleep. The other occupant was sitting in a chair with their legs propped across another chair. They were facing the window, but sideways to the door. If her squad went fast enough, they should be able to muffle that one before the other could awake.

Lanosa hit the keypad button ordering the ambush. Janeas took point, hopping through the window. Thandos charged through the closed door at the same time. In the process of both entries, the door mechanism was busted apart, and Janeas landed on top of the seated occupant shattering both chairs in the process. Rinay was right behind Thandos, as was Doaneg, Stavall, and Annel. They charged at the sleeping being and landed with a crunch as both back legs of the bed buckled and slid them into the wall. Annel waited behind with Thandos who made sure the rest of the room was clear. Lanosa quickly followed finding her plan executed perfectly, and both occupants secured.

Approaching what she hoped was the most aware of the prisoners, Lanosa found that it was a woman. At the moment Janeas was on top of her, gloved hand supporting her wait over the woman's mouth, and her rifle held at the woman's forehead with the other. The woman's arms were flailed out, and her eyes darted around trying to take in what had just happened. Janeas looking up and nodded at Lanosa that she had this one under control.

Turning around, Lanosa found the other prisoner to be a man. Doaneg held both of the man's hands above his head against the wall, while he kept his rifle pointed at his forehead. Stavall had a gloved hand over the man's mouth, while his rifle was shoved in the man's gut. Rinay was standing at the foot of the bed with her rifle now lowered.

"I want both prisoners secured," ordered Lanosa.

Thandos pointed Annel over to help Janeas. She pulled out a short length of tape, and as Janeas removed her hand from the woman's mouth, it was covered securely shut with the tape. Together, they lifted the prisoner up by her arms and tied her hands behind her back with twine. Annel then pushed the woman to face against a wall.

At the same time, Stavall let go of his rifle just long enough to tape their prisoners mouth shut just like the other. Raising his gun against him once again, Doaneg was able to let go of his rifle so he could pull some twine out. Pulling the prisoner up into a seated position, he tied the man's hands behind his back. Stavall placed the man to face the same wall as the woman.

"Annel, Stavall, you cover them," Lanosa ordered pointing her rifle at the prisoners.

They both raised their rifles at the prisoners. If they tried anything, it wouldn't last. Mean while, the other squad members began checking their equipment. They knew they still had one more building to check before waiting for the rest of the platoon to call everything clear.

"Rinay, I want you to take Doaneg and Janeas and check that last building. Thandos, check the door."

They all nodded and began towards the door. Thandos turned and went to the window. Looking around outside, all he could see was the occasional small fire from the larger buildings. He thought he could hear gun fire in the distance though. No where near them, however. Suddenly, just as Rinay's team disappeared out of Thandos' sight and into the last building, the ground rumbled and the sky ignited in light from an explosion.

"One of the other squads found a weapons cache," he heard Lanosa's voice inform him over his shoulder.

He nodded and continued to wait with rifle ready. Moments later he spotted Rinay and the others returning. They jogged back into the building but Thandos could tell from their faces that everything had gone smoothly.

"The other building is like this one only with out occupants," Rinay reported.

Lanosa nodded her head and turned around facing their prisoners. She keyed in her com line with her platoon leader.

"Squad three reporting. Buildings secured, and two prisoners taken. Zero hostilities encountered."

"Understood. Departure in one hour," replied the female voice.

"Alright people. In one hour we have departure. Grab any gear our guests dropped and lets move them out," Lanosa ordered her squad.

* * *

Jack looked over at Sam and found her in the same state as himself. Staring right back at him, she had her mouth taped and hands tied. Her eyes told him everything. She was just as confused as him. Either she fell asleep, unlikely given her record, or these people were better than anything he had seen before. Or rather, hadn't seen until they were already captured.

All he could remember was waking up with a rifle shoved in his face. His hands were quickly grabbed by the unknown assailants and, as the bed buckled under the weight, thrown against the wall. He had heard someone speak something, and suddenly they were taping his mouth.

When they had went to tie his hands was when he first saw Sam across the room. Two of the assailants were lifting her up by her arms. Just as she was brought to standing, was when he noticed the two at his sides lifting him up the same way.

Now here they were, forced to face a blank wall while some woman behind them spoke a strange language. Sam was worried that she didn't understand any of it until she realized the woman wasn't speaking to them. She guessed that the woman was their assailant's leader, and was probably issuing orders. Turning her head away from Jack, she caught a glimpse of what looked like people heading away from the window. She recognized one of them as the woman who had jumped through the window to attack her.

Jack started to turn around to get a better look, but was instead shoved against the wall again by what he assumed was a weapon. Apparently, they weren't meant to do anything for a while. Sam heard him get shoved and turned around with a sympathetic look on her face. He raised his eyebrows at her trying to indicate he was out of ideas for the moment. For her part, she just nodded.

The ground rumbled under their feet and they heard the woman's voice again. She almost sounded amicable. Who ever these people were, they ran a pretty tight operation. Not only had they surprised both himself and Sam, Jack thought to himself, but they didn't make any sound. Since he first awoke, the only noises had been the bed breaking, the chairs breaking, and that woman speaking. He couldn't recall hearing anyone else speak, including both Sam and him, and they didn't make any noise walking. What ever kind of organization they were part of, it seemed to have some highly trained units. Unlike most of the Goa'uld.

Just then, Sam and Jack both heard a different voice for the first time. It was another woman. When she had stopped, the apparent leader of the group began to speak. When she had finished talking, Sam could hear the table and beds being moved around the room. She felt someone grab her hands behind her back and pull her away from the wall. Someone else reached forward and pulled Jack away as well. Turned around, Sam found herself being stripped of the rest of her equipment and then pushed towards the door. Outside were three of their assailants, and Jack soon appeared at her side. They were lead together around the building and out across the open night. Sam managed to look behind her and saw not only the two pushing her and Jack along, but also two others.

It didn't take long before Jack and Sam spotted were the party was headed. A ship of some sort was silhouetted in front of them. It was a good size mass, and appeared to have a uniform shape. As they got closer, a ramp could be seen leading to the ship's interior. The party entered the strange vessel and began taking seats along the outer wall. Judging by the size of the room they were in, Sam guessed there weren't any other rooms. As the last of their assailants entered the ship, the entry ramp was closed. Jack and Sam were forced to lie down face first in the middle of the room. Straps of some sort were placed over their backs preventing them from getting back up.

Sam looked around her surroundings and spotted a total of seven people now strapped into their seats. Jack, who lay beside her, also seemed to notice everyone securing themselves. She started to hear a loud rumbling sound as the deck they were on started to shake. Sam's best guess was they were taking off. As if to confirm her theory, she found herself being pushed heavily into the floor by massive G-forces. They were taking off alright, and taking off in a hurry. The acceleration was incredible, and Sam found she had to close her eyes to keep from getting sick.

Sam felt the G-forces subside and opened her eyes to find Jack staring at her. Looking around again, she saw the other passengers were starting to remove some of their gear. Goggles, masks, and other pieces of equipment were removed. Sam counted a total of three men and four women. She new at least one of the women had to be the one in charge, and looking around she saw one of them had a console pulled in front of her.

_That must be her_, Sam thought to herself, _all the others appear to be in regaler seats._

The woman was typing into the console, but stopped when she saw Sam looking at her. She smiled and hit a few more keys before spinning the console to her side. Sam averted her eyes away and looked back at Jack. He was alert, and had apparently watched the exchange between Sam and the other woman.

The humming from the engines died down and was replaced with hissing. The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the ship. The hissing ceased as everything went silent. Without warning, all the lights brightened by just enough to make one advert their eyes if they were staring to much.

Jack watched as a door he hadn't noticed before slid open. He saw a platform, of some kind, extend to meet the ship. The crew of the ship began to file out. Jack thought he heard people talking outside, but before he could identify how many people, he felt two people lift him up by his arms. He hadn't even noticed that the restraints keeping them on the floor had been removed. Looking to his left he saw that they were picking Sam up also.

They were led out of the ship and into a large room. A brief stop on the gantry allowed their captors to speak with some waiting officials. Jack didn't think they looked all that important, but glancing around revealed a huge two story landing area. To both his left and right half a dozen or so ships lined the corridor. Just like the one they had departed, each had a gantry unloading passengers. Looking along the walls didn't reveal anything that looked like a door large enough for the ships. Tilting his head up, no doors could be spotted on the ceiling either, this left him with only one conclusion. He looked over the side of the gantry and saw what looked like a huge seam around their ship.

_Must be on board their mother ship_, he thought to himself, _and the smaller ships must be troop transports._

Sam watched Jack curiously as he seemed to be searching the room with his eyes. He looked over the edge of the gantry, of which Sam wasn't close enough to do. He turned back to Sam with a surprised look, in return she decided to give him a questioning look. Hopefully he had noticed something useful to them. She only wished they would remove the tape from their mouths so she could talk with Jack again.

The people in front of them finished their conversation, and the two were led on. Passing troops and other people in strange uniforms, they arrived at a door. A quick couple of key presses on a console beside it by one of their captors caused the door open. Proceeding through revealed a rather boring hallway. What few people they passed just ignored them.

They arrived at an open set of doors where two women and a man were talking. They wore simpler uniforms than their captors, and each had a pistol of some sort strapped to their leg. One of the women pressed a button on a wall console and a door slid open beside it. Jack and Sam were pushed through. Turning around, Jack found his hands untied and the door already closed behind them.

"Colonel," blurted out Sam as she just removed the tape from her mouth, "where are we?"

Jack reached up and pulled his own tape off. He opened his mouth to start to speak, but stopped instead. He spun around to have a look. The room was a dull gray with a light emanating from the entire ceiling. Two darker gray beds were fixed into the corners of the room. White blankets hung over the sides of each.

"We appear to be in a cell, Carter. On board a mother ship, if I'm not mistaken," he finally replied a bit smugly to her question.

"How do you know, sir. I mean, I haven't seen a single window."

"That room with the troop transports," he explained, "it looked like airlocks were underneath them."

"Oh," she replied while wandering over to a bed.

She sat down on the end of it and checked under it. Nothing but the same dull gray as the walls welcomed her. "None of this looks Goa'uld in origin," she stated.

"Yea I noticed that. These people seem quite professional," he paused, "oh by the way, how the heck did they capture us?"

"I, um, didn't hear anything, all I remember was suddenly finding that one on top of me. I think," she paused, "the first ones jumped through the window I was in front of. The rest flew in through the door."

Jack nodded. That was what he had figured happened when he finally had a look around. It was a rather rude awakening, and one that he didn't appreciate.

"You know, sir. I don't think they realize where we come from."

"Oh sure," he turned around to face her, "I suppose they just stumbled upon us by accident," he paused for effect, "with lightening speed, I might add."

"Actually, I think they were the ones laying siege to that base. They might think we were part of the base's personnel."

Jack just nodded in agreement. They were gagged before they could say a single word, and now they were locked up without anyone else around to hear them.

"Hello," he shouted up at the ceiling hoping for a reply. He waited a few moments, but no one ever answered back.

He spun around acting as if someone might sneak up behind him. "Can anyone hear us? I think this has all been a big misunderstanding. We kind of ended up at that base by accident. We weren't a part of whatever was going on down there."

He started to pace while trying to come up with something else to say. "We're explorers, peaceful ones. We just kind of got stuck down there," he concluded his speech while silently hoping someone heard it besides just Sam.

Not getting any sort of response, Jack walked over and sat on the other bed facing Sam. He patted down his legs trying to remember what equipment they had. Unfortunately, he had been resting and didn't have anything on him. Sighing, he looked over at Sam. "I don't suppose they missed any of your equipment," he questioned her.

She started patting through her uniform. Stopping at a front pocket, she reached in and pulled out a granola bar. Sam held it up for him. "Hungry?"

He shrugged. It wasn't quite what he had hopped for. An escape back home was at the top of his list.

"I'll split it with you," said Jack as he reached across and grabbed the small package. Breaking it in half, he handed one piece, still partially in the wrapper, back to Sam.

_Well,_ he thought to himself, _at least we're not going to starve for a little while._

Jack began chewing into his small amount of food. Sam pretended to ignore him by staring at the door while she ate. It was quickly becoming another moment where they wished they could be somewhere else.

* * *

The cell was not unfamiliar to Randal. Their had been many occasions where a cell was all he had to call home. The cold dark walls, the ominous lighting, and the black rectangular slabs with bone white coverings. One of the many constants in his life.

Only this time, he had a plan of escape thought out before hand. He knew his employers wouldn't come looking for him if he was captured. They never did. This time he had a small bomb hidden inside his abdomen just before he took the job. Nothing special, but it cost him the last of his currency to have it done properly. But, it had payed off well. This was one prison cell he wasn't going to be in long.

Tearing at his flesh he dug into his stomach. The pain was inscrutable. He clutched at the device and held still. The only thing that kept him from passing out was the speed at which he accomplished his task, and an old scar that had left a numb spot. He gritted his teeth, and gently began to pull his prize free.

It was covered in his blood, but pressing a code into its face revealed a flashing light. He smiled and looked over at the wall in front of the gray and white bed. Gently taking steps forward he managed to ignore the pain and set his bomb down against the foot of the bed and the hideous wall.

Two more taps on the device caused the flashing light to steadily increase. It occurred to him, at this point, that he only had seconds to find cover. He quickly turned and took a much longer step than he should have. He slipped on his own blood and came crashing down on his side.

Cursing, he pushed himself back up, but it was too late.

* * *

Jack was laying on his side with his arm propping his head up. He was watching Sam sleep on the bed across from him. She was flat on her back with her arms across her stomach.

_We should be relaxing,_ he thought to himself, _we worked too hard evacuating that planet to be stuck as prisoners._

Their last mission had taken quite a toll on SG-1's stamina. The planet had a thirty-one hour day, and the earthquakes had left them all with bags under their eyes. Jack really wished Hammond would have given them leave, but the General insisted that they all get clean air and sand. Jack could only hope that Teal'c and Daniel enjoyed the beaches while they could. By now, Sam and himself had probably been declared missing.

Suddenly, and without warning, the wall behind Sam exploded. It was as if someone had sneaked up behind him and popped a balloon. One moment the room was perfectly surreal, and the next moment his ears were ringing as the thick dust began to settle.

He took in a deep breath and started coughing. Waving a hand in front of his face to clear the air, he looked down across his body and knocked the debris away. "Major?"

He spun up off his bed and nearly fell through the floor as pieces of it crumbled into nothing. Where Sam had once been sleeping was now a floating collection of black and gray rocks. There was no sign of Sam in any of it.

"Sam," exclaimed Jack as he started to panic. He took another step and found it absent of gravity. Looking down, pieces of the floor were floating in place. Jack could see what looked like a hallway below him. Only on the other side of the hole across from him, were people staring back, but they were upside down.

Things really started to get confusing in Jack's mind at this point. It was like looking into a mirror at someone else. Things seemed flipped around, left was right, up was down, but things weren't supposed to float through a mirror like some of the floor chunks were.

Sam's body suddenly floated in front of his eyes. She was still in one piece, although unmoving. Jack quickly dropped to his knees and reached for her. Grabbing onto one of her uniform's shoulders, he pulled her out of the debris and onto the floor beside him.

Jack started to feel her wrist for a pulse when he heard a commotion behind him. Turning his head around he saw the door open completely just as a uniformed figure shot a blinding light at him. Jack's body went numb as he collapsed to beside Sam. Through his blurry vision, he was able to see her once more before everything went black.

* * *

Halbrig System Councilor Janaris had been at the Bazec Ship Yards for close to a week. A lot of work was needing his attention there as a Ronyan class Deep Space Cruiser, the third of its kind to be constructed, neared completion. The project was to be the first of many capital ships fully built and stocked at the facility since its inception.

He had just been contemplating how busy his work had been keeping him, and how often his son had nagged him to visit, when a chime alerted him at his desk. "Yes?"

"Incoming text message, do you wish to listen," questioned the disembodied voice of the station computer.

He tried to remember if he had anything scheduled, but couldn't remember. "Proceed."

"From the Halbrig System Council," began the computer, " to Councilor Janaris.

"A recent mission by the Aian Mass Forces has resulted in two unexpected prisoners. Five were taken total, but two of them have been determined as unrecorded humans.

"The mission was conducted in the nearby Solnez system, so as you might expect, the council is curios. No human has ever been recorded as living outside the fringe worlds. You have been selected as the best candidate to head an investigation.

"The AFS Agumon should arrive at the ship yards in one day for resupply. The two humans will be turned over to our custody at that time.

"A researcher by the name of Lindra has been briefed and should arrive shortly before the Agumon. She has extensive knowledge in alien culture, and she is fluent in all the known languages humans speak."

The computer paused as it processed the rest of the data.

"Message complete. Seventeen attachments were included. Would you like to continue through them?"

"No," replied Janaris quite enthusiastically.

With a sigh, he pulled the console on the desk open and skimmed through the attachments. They were generic research material. Probably more useful to this Lindra woman than to himself. He leaned back deep into his chair.

* * *

Waking up with a start, Jack found himself lying face down in a soft white bed. He lifted his head, and, as his eyes cleared, he saw a plain white wall.

_What the hell,_ he thought while trying to recall what had happened.

It all came back to him a flash: the strange planet, the holding cell, the explosion, and Sam. He tried desperately to remember. There had been an explosion, and Sam was hurt bad.

_Was she dead, _he questioned himself, _no wait, I felt her pulse._

"She's alive," he spoke out loud.

Jack sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around. What looked like a computer display was mounted into the wall across from him. Two flaming balls were shown on the screen. They looked like they were flying up against a black background with smoke trails behind them. Occasionally, one would fall behind the other, only to catch back up again later.

Glancing around at the other walls, Jack spotted two doors, one to each of his sides. He stood up, and found that his clothes had been replaced with loose fitting tan colored ones. A long sleeve shirt, and pants. The material seemed similar to cotton in texture, but slightly lighter.

Suddenly, the door to his right swished open, but no one came through it. Taking a few cautious steps towards it, Jack spotted Sam on top of what appeared to be a medical bed. Her head was propped up, and a white sheet covered her body. A man and woman stood beside her, while strange machines flashed lights behind her.

"We assure you, he'll be fine. It was only a stun weapon," the woman informed Sam adamantly. "It was decided that all of the prisoners be kept unconscious after the blast occurred."

Sam happened to glance away from the two people she was talking with and noticed Jack standing in the doorway. He was looking quite confused, and perhaps even sick.

"Colonel," she shouted over at him, "you're awake!"

"Yes," he slowly but comely replied.

He walked half way to Sam. The two people with her were just watching him carefully. It made him nervous after all that had happened. He sensed, from the way Sam was acting, that she was feeling a lot better. She also seemed to not be as worried about their situation as he was.

"Have I missed something here?"

"It's alright, sir. They started to doubt our involvement with that base when they discovered we're human," explained Sam, who was a bit upset over the matter.

"And they are," he paused to study her companions, "not Goa'uld?"

"Correct," replied the woman standing by Sam, "we're called Aians."

"And the explosion that nearly killed us," he asked while taking another few steps closer. The room had white walls like the one he awoke in, but this one was much bigger.

"A prisoner in the cell next to yours. He managed to smuggle a bomb on board the ship without detection."

Sam couldn't remember any of it. She had awoken only hours before, and was immediately questioned. It seemed a shock to them to discover humans were among the prisoners taken.

"They noticed a difference in physiology when they were treating my wounds."

"Yes. Colonel O'Neill, my name is Lindra. I was called in to assist with translating," she peered at Jack for a moment.

"And your friend," Jack indicated the man she was with.

"His name is unimportant at this time," Lindra answered. She decided to take this as an opportunity to get back to what her employers wanted. "Lets just say that he's here to observe."

"Observe what," questioned Sam.

"Whether you were part of the research base, or not," replied Lindra.

"We weren't. We arrived there by accident when..."

"That has yet to be proven," Lindra quickly interrupted Sam, "your only evidence so far is that you don't speak Aian, and your technology seems primitive."

Lindra's silent companion whispered something into her ear. It was too quiet for either Jack or Sam to hear.

"If you will excuse us, we'll leave you two alone. Guards have been posted outside the door."

With that, Jack and Sam watched the two quickly walk to a set of double doors. They slid open to reveal a waiting woman who spoke with them in a strange language. Walking on down a hallway to their side enabled the doors to close behind them.

"Not very trusting, are they, Carter?"

"No, sir," she answered, "they started speaking that weird language the moment I awoke, and switched to English when they saw I couldn't understand them."

He began snooping around the different equipment throughout the room. "What did they question you about?"

"What we were doing on the planet. I tried to explain to them about the stargate, but they didn't seem interested."

Jack pulled a nearby stool up beside Sam's bed and sat down. Her bed was located in the middle of the room, while equipment was littered about everywhere else. Computer displays were mounted into the different walls, and they all showed the same fancy emblem that the one in his room had shown.

Sam noticed him watching one of the displays. It was the first time that she had a good look at one. The display seemed odd to her. She briefly wondered if it had a meaning of some kind.

"Are you okay, sir?" Sam decided to return to the situation at hand. "They told me we were kept knocked out for three days."

He turned around and looked at her. "Three days?"

_They definitely didn't want another bomb going off,_ Jack thought to himself. It was hard to imagine being asleep for three days. He didn't feel hungry or anything like he would have expected.

"How are you doing, Carter?" It had only just occurred to him that Sam was still in bed. Had her injuries been that severe? Jack couldn't remember any fires, just lots of smoke, dust, and debris.

"I feel pretty good considering..." She pulled the sheet she was covered in away from her left leg. It revealed a strange looking device whose surface was clear through. A strange liquid sloshed between it and her leg.

"They told me I had some fractured ribs and a broken leg. I can only hope this device is healing the leg," Sam sounded a bit worried.

Being on the SG team that handled the bulk of first contact missions, also meant a lot of things happened to you not typically expected of the other teams. Enough alien technology had messed with Sam alone that Jack thought her fright justified.

"I'm sure you'll be okay," he reassured her, "if they wanted to hurt us, they would have already," he half smiled.

"Thanks," she replied a bit agitated, "next time you get the bunk on the left."

* * *

The meeting room had seating for a dozen people. It was typically used by engineers and was sparsely decorated. The walls were white with faint gray station schematics etched through out. A long black table in the middle of the room had twelve brown chairs around it, and two identical chairs sat to either side of the double doors. Research equipment was piled on top of one of those two chairs. It belonged to Lindra, and hadn't been used since she arrived.

"I don't like it. They were probably working with the militants at that base. We've never found any human colonies this far out after all," stated Lindra who stood by the doors.

She couldn't resist the pay for this job, but getting involved with diplomatic matters was something she always tried to avoid. It wasn't unheard of for humans to act as go-betweens for the fringe world cartels. That was where they typically lived, and they had never bothered to venture this far before just to settle a new colony.

"Calm yourself, Lindra," began Janaris, "I've already made some checks. None of our informants in the trade routes that pass by the Solnez system have seen any humans recently. And, for that matter, they were captured on the far side of the base. Away from the known militants."

He leaned back in his chair and watched Lindra start to pace. She seemed to be getting more and more apprehensive with the situation each moment. "After what they have been through, don't you think they would have, at the very least, _acknowledged_ the Aian language?"

Lindra stopped her pacing and brought her hand up to her chin to think. Aian was known by all the fringe worlds. It was what allowed them to keep such close ties to what little business they did with Federation companies.

"That's true," she turned to face Janaris, "but if they didn't work at that base, and they didn't get dropped off by some trader," she paused to remember if she forgot anything. "Where the heck did they come from? They didn't just appear out of some magical cloud!"

A possibility suddenly came to Janaris that he had nearly forgotten. He spun around out of his chair and headed for the door in a hurry. Lindra chased quickly after him.

"Where are we going," she asked, as they proceeded down the hallway outside.

He didn't respond to her question. Instead, he made a turn towards his office. Coming up to the door, he pressed a button and it slid open. They both went inside where he promptly sat at his desk.

"What I'm about to tell you is not to leave this room."

Her eyes perked up. It wasn't like Janaris to become so formal with information.

"It is common history that the humans and our selves are not natives of this universe," he began, "but, what isn't common is that, occasionally links form between our universe and others."

A crossing between universes was no simple matter. It had taken the Aian forerunners countless years just to positively detect the universe they now lived in, and many more years to form the equations necessary for the crossing they undertook. Much of the knowledge, work, and technology had been lost through the ages.

"You're trying to tell me that crossings occur naturally and that most people are none the wiser?"

"They are actually quite rare, and only a few times every five-hundred years or so does someone actually cross through one. The links don't stay open for very long on their own. I've only known of one, within my lifetime, that both allowed a crossing, and remained long enough for a return crossing."

"What happened," she asked with shock in her voice.

Janaris sighed, "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss it in detail," he tapped his fingers on his desk a few times, "I can say that appearing out of thin air is not completely outside the realm of possibility."

He exhaled a reluctant breath. Giving out this kind of information was not something he liked doing. This was one of the best kept secrets of the Aian Federation. Not a small matter when interstellar travel was common place for their citizens.

"The territory surrounding the Solnez system is still unexplored," he paused, but saw that she didn't get his meaning. "The military mission was the first excursion into that area by the Aian Federation. It is entirely possible that universe crossing are a natural occurrence in that area. Stranger things have happened," he finished his speech.

It was a lot for Lindra to comprehend. Typically only matters of military security were kept a secret to the citizens of the Federation. Were universe crossings considered a risk to their defense? A headache was starting to form in her forehead.

* * *

The doctor was just finishing the removal of the device that had healed Sam's leg. It was early morning, best Sam could tell, and Jack was still asleep in his connected room. Lindra was present, translating any details the doctor wished to express.

The tray now holding the healing device was placed on a table. The doctor looked over at Lindra and began to speak in her native language. It sounded like a rush of gibberish to Sam. Lindra looked over at her where she still lay in the bed.

"The doctor says everything should be healed now, and that any irritation from the wound would be normal for the next week," she nodded at the doctor who proceeded out of the room.

Lindra turned to head for the door herself when Sam saw a man stop her. Apparently he had entered the room as the doctor was leaving. Sam couldn't remember the door opening any other times. The two people began talking when Sam realized it was the same person from their questioning.

The door leading to where Jack was sleeping suddenly slid open. He proceeded through shortly after and walked over to Sam.

"Mornin' Major," he started as he noticed the healing device had been removed from Sam's leg.

"This is Councilor Janaris," began Lindra as both Jack and Sam turned to listen, "he's decided that you are indeed, not natives of this area."

"It's about time," alleged Jack.

"Please, if you will let me finish," Lindra glared at him. "Today we are going to be traveling to Pondor, the capital planet of the Aian Federation."

"If I may," started Sam.

"Go ahead," replied Lindra.

"We'd really like to find a way, of at least sending a communication, back home. If we could just go back down to that planet you found us on..."

"I'm afraid that won't be a possibility," interrupted Lindra. "You see, the planet they found you on, Ty'Med, is outside the Federation. The military picked you up, and the only possible way they will return you is after a review of the request."

"Then lets have them review our request," declared Jack.

"That will be possible once we reach Pondor."

Janaris spoke something in Aian and gestured towards the door leading out. Sam looked over at Jack.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Sam informed Jack as she moved her legs over the side of the bed. She reached down and rolled her pants back down over where the healing device had been.

As Sam stood up, Jack noticed she wore the same style clothing he had. Standard medical issue apparently. Not much to look at, but he had seen worse.

Janaris headed out the door and down the hallway. Jack and Sam followed him, while Lindra followed behind them all. They kept a brisk pace as they went down the corridors.

They were heading down the final passage to the shuttle when they passed a wall size window. Jack and Sam both stopped in their tracks and nearly caused Lindra to run into them.

"Wow," exclaimed Jack.

The window gave them a beautiful view of the ship yards and the planet it orbited. Dozens of platforms could be clearly seen with a verity of different looking ships under construction. Occasionally a shuttle could be seen flying between the different sites or off into space.

"This is amazing. A construction yard this big must support a fleet to rival the Goa'uld's."

"Maybe we could stick around here a while yet, diplomacy and all, Major," replied Jack enthusiastically.

Janaris broke in with something in his own language. Jack and Sam both looked over their shoulders at him, and than over to Lindra.

"He says that, although the shuttle will wait until our arrival, the ship that will take us to Pondor will not," she translated for them.

"Right, well, lead the way." Jack looked over at Sam who was once again goggling at the sight out the window. "Carter?"

"Coming, sir," she replied hastily. Sam turned around to follow them, but instead found them all staring at her. She blushed slightly as they all finally started their way towards the shuttle once more.

Going through a final set of double doors, they found themselves in front of a gray shuttle. It was similar in general color and texture to a Goa'uld transport. But, the differences were quite dramatic past that. The rear end was more squared off, the roof was flattened rather than pointed, and no windows existed across the front. A vertical fin came from both the back bottom and top, while forty-five degree angled ones went out at a short distance to the vertical ones.

The hangar it was parked in appeared to have a huge closed door behind the shuttle. The floor had a variety of burn marks and scraps leading to smaller, garage size, doors beside the double doors they came through.

A ramp on the side of the shuttle allowed the passengers to climb in. Four chairs lined both sides of the back, while a sealed door led to the front. Jack and Sam took the seats facing each other, while Janaris and Lindra took the others.

A gentle rumbling started as Jack and Sam watched through the window as the shuttle rose and backed through the now open hangar door. A leisurely spin and acceleration forward gave them a view of a light gray ship ruffly eight times taller than the shuttle. It was flattened pear shaped from the lower level they saw it from. Rows of windows could be seen within the curve of its shape, but no where else.

As the shuttle rounded the other side of the ship, it came in and landed in a small opening near the front. A final rumble from the engines gave loose before going quite. Hissing filled the shuttle from outside as Janaris and Lindra rose for the door. It gently lowered to reveal a woman walking into the small hangar. She quickly greeted the two before gesturing for Jack and Sam to follow her.

"This woman is here to show you to your rooms," Lindra informed Jack and Sam as they passed her. "The councilor and I will visit you shortly."

* * *

The steward had just left the suite after showing Jack and Sam around. The door from the corridor opened into a large sitting room with a couch, chairs, a small table, and a small bar in the corner. Beyond that, a dining room and kitchen sat at the far corners, separated by counter space and a tiled floor. Doors at opposing ends of the sitting room led to the two bed rooms. They each had a large bed and reading chair with table. Each bedroom also had a door leading to a bathroom.

It reminded Sam of a high-price hotel suite, while Jack thought the steward looked like one from a plane trip he had once.

"I'm thirsty. How about you, Major?"

Jack headed for the kitchen and began looking around. Plenty of glasses sat in shelves, but he couldn't find a tap for water. Sam, meanwhile, walked into the dining room and found a large pitcher of water set on the table with a tray of glasses.

"Sir," she said while holding the pitcher up for him to see.

"Right," he reposed by pointing at the pitcher.

Walking over, he poured himself a glass and took a sip. Sam wasn't that thirsty, and instead began looking at the varies paintings on the walls. They all seemed to show scenery; forests, white topped mountains, green fields with flowers, and ocean beaches.

"You know, I get the impression that these Aians are more advanced than they first appeared."

Jack raised an eyebrow at her.

"Assuming this vessel is civilian in purpose, it seems fancy enough to be compared to a cruise ship back home. And, why else would they have paintings like these unless many of these places still exist. Perhaps even as vacation spots." Sam looked back at the wall full of paintings.

"Getting a lot out of this aren't you, Major? Maybe this ship is what their military leaders travel on, and maybe those pictures are conquered worlds."

Sam looked back at him, not sure if he was joking or serious.

"Not a lot of guards around for a military ship," she stated flatly.

Jack simply toasted his glass of water at her. "And lets hope it stays that way."

* * *

Jack and Sam were both relaxing on the couch when a soft chime echoed through their suite. They glanced at each other, and Sam shrugged. Peering around the room, they didn't see any flashing lights or other indication of what the sound meant.

Another chime echoed, and Jack decided to stand up. Walking around the couch, he stood in front of what appeared to be a computer terminal. Unfortunately, the screen was completely blank. Sam watched from her seat, curios as to what was going on.

"Maybe someone's at the door," she finally asked.

Jack turned around and headed in that direction. It didn't open when he arrived at it, so he reached down to the control panel beside it. Pressing the larger of two buttons, the door slid open to reveal Lindra standing there. She took a step in and saw Sam on the couch in the middle of the room.

"Comfortable I see. I was beginning to wonder if you two had left your suite."

"You mean we can leave if we like," spoke up Jack.

"The ship has already begun its journey to Pondor, so yes. You are free to wonder about as you like. But remember; you don't speak Aian, and few here speak English."

She walked over to the computer terminal and pulled a stool over from near the kitchen. Sam proceeded to get up to watch what Lindra was getting ready to do.

"This trip will take some time, so I thought I'd give you access to the computer libraries," Lindra informed them both as they stood behind her.

She tapped the screen causing it to spring to life in a spiral of color. Pulling at the base of the display, it curled forward towards her and its surface changed into what looked like a keyboard. Quickly entering in a series of commands, a menu flashed up on the screen. Another few key strokes and the strange language known as Aian faded away and English appeared instead.

"This is a menu of categories into our basic information system. It's usually used to look up facts on different subjects one is not familiar with. But, in your case, it should provide some answers to the questions I'm sure you have."

"It knows English," questioned Sam.

"Yes, the entire system understands the language. I've already changed that to be the default, so you shouldn't have any difficulties.

"If you will excuse me, I have much work to do before our arrival."

Lindra stood up from the stool and stepped to the side. Sam immediately took her place, enthusiastic to learn about the computer.

"Oh, before I forget," began Lindra as she opened the door, "there should be a verity of food already prepared in the kitchen cabinets." And with that, she left. The door sliding firmly shut behind her.

Jack watched Sam intently for a few minutes before becoming bored. "Nice enough of them to give you a gadget to mess with. Wake me if we get boarded by pirates. I think I'll be taking a nap while you have your fun."

He walked back to the sofa and lay back against its length. It was a rather nice piece of furniture. It reminded him of one at his house. Not to soft and not to lumpy.

"This is interesting," Jack heard Sam say as he closed his eyes, "it says the Aian Federation is comprised of twenty-seven habitable systems. Their military is used to patrol the travel routes between them and the borders with other governments. The space outside of those patrolled areas is open for travel, but considered dangerous. It says few ships prove capable of handling that environment." She turned around to see if Jack was listening. "Sir?"

He didn't respond. He had, in fact, fallen asleep shortly after her third sentence. He was usually interested in information about alien militaries, but the information they had access to was considered public domain. Not something likely to hold any value.

"Figures," Sam said to herself. She had hoped some information about how the Aians did things would keep Jack occupied. Instead, she had once again managed to put him to sleep.


	2. Part 2

The bright sun of Pondor was high in the sky when Jack and Sam stepped out of the shuttle. The landing platform was raised a few feet above the uneven ground. A large ramp gently lead down to the town roads of Talhan. They were the pale tan color of clay. One step above a dirt road in that it doesn't turn to mud during rain.

Talhan itself was nothing as spectacular as the Asgard. In fact, very few buildings were taller than maybe five floors. It was quite a contrast to the vastness of the Bazec ship yards. Beyond the landing facilities, no other signs of advanced technology could be seen. Everyone seemed to travel by foot, and large sailboats could even be seen down the road anchored in a harbor.

"This is the capital of the Aian Federation?" Sam walked down to the end of the ramp and looked at her surroundings.

"Kind of sparse, isn't it," responded Jack as he followed her down. He was expecting domes, hovercrafts, floating buildings, anything really, just not what he was looking at.

Lindra and Janaris brought up the rear. Janaris proceeded straight down one of the streets, while Lindra stopped beside Sam.

"This is the capital planet, yes. That doesn't mean that all of the cities are monstrous corporate creations," began Lindra. "This is the town of Talhan. It contains one of the council halls for the state of Bazec. Outside of that, it is basically just a vacation spot away from your usual hustle."

"One of the council halls?" Jack was a bit confused about Lindra's explanation.

Lindra simply started walking off after where Janaris had headed. "Come, we mustn't keep the Councilor waiting," she paused momentarily as Jack caught up with her, Sam close behind. "You see, the entire planet is considered the capital. Multiple council halls allows the varies councils to meet literally anywhere on the planet."

"I think I remember seeing something about this in their computers, sir," broke in Sam. "They have fourteen different levels of councils. It's what makes up their government administration."

"Great," replied Jack, "so which council do we meet to get home?"

"That will depend on Janaris. He's only on a system council, so it might take him awhile to get your request through."

They arrived in front of a large three story building. It was made of the same clay and stone construction, only this building's front face was glass. Proceeding through a set of double doors, they walked though the lobby and down a hall until they reached an open door. Inside, Councilor Janaris was speaking with a young woman.

They went on for quite a few minutes before they both started smiling. A brief shaking of hands occurred, and then Janaris approached Lindra. Janaris told Lindra something before continuing out the door. Jack and Sam just looked at each other confused.

"Um," began Jack, "I thought we were going to meet with the Council?"

"Hopefully we won't have too," replied Lindra who faced them both now.

"Run that by me again?"

"Look, you don't speak Aian, and no one on the Council speaks English. A face to face meeting would just delay any chance of you getting home. We're going to submit a prepared request instead..."

"So we can get into more detail without waisting time re-explaining things," Sam concluded. "Sir, this could definitely work in our favor."

Jack just stared at the two women. "Whatever, lets just get things moving," he told them as he headed in the direction Janaris had taken.

* * *

They caught up with Janaris on the other side of the town. He was standing on one of the many ramps of what appeared to be a landing facility. Instead of the multiple platform facility they landed on, this one was a single unified structure. Ships of many different sizes and shapes could make use of it.

What really made this facility interesting, however, was that the ship Janaris was in front of stood four stories tall. It was truly massive compared to the shuttle, although still paling in comparison to the ship that got them to this planet to begin with. It had a squared off shape with rounded edges. Two distinct decks could be seen, one on the top floor, and one around the second floor. A single shaft connected those two decks, and also stretched on down forming an entry way at ground level. From what could be seen, they were standing at the rear by the looks of what must have been engines on the rear of the second deck. The front of that same floor seemed to expand out to become a three story tall bubble, at the front of the ship, that came to rest on the ground.

Lindra and Sam came to a stop beside Jack. Both Jack and Sam couldn't help but wonder what they were doing at yet another ship. They had done enough traveling as it was to make them quite sick of it. It was nice to explore another one of the Aian ship designs though. They seemed to have such a wide verity.

Lindra started to mutter under her breath as she saw Janaris talk to a man and woman at the ship's hatch. She shock her head and took off towards the conversation.

"Excuse me Councilor," she said to get Janaris' attention.

He turned around to face her. "Yes?"

"Is it wise to be bringing your son into this matter? After all, it would seem the circumstances could be quite, how should I say it, sensitive?" Lindra stared at him with wide eyes.

Janaris simply raised an eyebrow at her attitude. "Relax, Lindra. My son happens to have been involved with the last crossing the Federation had occur."

"Oh," she replied shocked at the coincidences this was all starting to make in her head.

Jack and Sam took this moment to approach the group Janaris had been talking to.

"Councilor," began Jack, "I hope we're not intruding, but I'm starting to get tired of being led around."

Sam decided to stay out of the mess Jack was starting. If anything, she would be the one to have to repair it. With only two of them, it would be bad if they both got in trouble with the locals. No Daniel to bail them out this time.

Janaris, of course, had no idea what any of the words that had come out of Jack's mouth meant. He looked over to Lindra for a translation, but she seemed a bit reluctant to relay the message. Janaris' son decided now would be the best time to introduce himself to defuse the situation.

He took a single step forward between Jack and Janaris. "You must be Colonel O'Neill," he smiled.

Jack, and especially Sam, were taken back by the man's perfect English. It was the first time anyone else, besides Lindra, could communicate with them. A nice change of events considering the attitude Lindra seemed to have. It wasn't really that bad of an attitude, but she certainty wasn't going out of her way to be helpful.

"Yes," Jack slowly started, "and this is Major Carter." He gestured at her casually as she nodded.

"My name is Coawyn, and this," he gestured at the woman behind him, "is Katran. We own a small island here on Pondor, and my father was simply asking if you two could come with us for your stay." He continued his cheerful face.

After hearing that, Sam took it as her opportunity to keep Jack from ruining their chances of getting home. "That would be nice of you. The Colonel and I could use a quiet place to prepare our request for the council."

Janaris spoke something to Coawyn and Katran gave him a smile. He than started walked back the way they had come.

"I better go with the Councilor to help him with his systems council report." She nodded at each of the remaining four people before hurrying off after the quickly vanishing Janaris.

"Such a strange woman," remarked Jack absently as he watched Lindra weave herself around a group of people.

"She's supposed to be the top of her field," Katran informed him, "but I fear that too many jobs dealing with governments has drained her."

Once again both Jack and Sam were surprised to find not only one, but two people who knew perfect English beyond just Lindra.

"If you'll come with us inside the ship, we'll leave right away," Katran said before turning and walking towards the ship. She tapped a few commands into a panel beside the hatch causing it to slid open.

Ushered through the hatch by Coawyn, Jack found himself in a small circular room with Sam. He looked up expecting to see a latter of some kind, but instead saw nothing but a glowing ceiling. Sam simply stood beside him as she turned around to face the hatch.

"Okay," Jack said to himself slightly confused. He glanced to his side and found Sam watching him just as Katran entered the room to join Coawyn. The hatch slid close and pale blue horizontal lines started drifting down the walls.

"An elevator," exclaimed Jack as he realized what was happening. Coawyn glanced back at him. "Not used to being inside these things off base."

"It's the only way to travel," replied Coawyn.

* * *

The master quarters were located at the front most of the top deck. It was reasonably sized and contained a large bed in the left corner by the door. A couch sat along the side wall opposite the bed, and a think dark rug lay in the middle of the floor. Vibrant abstract paintings lined the walls, giving the place a warm modern look.

Sam felt uncomfortable, at first, when she was shown the room with Jack by Katran. She said that the room was her and Coawyn's personal quarters, but that the view from there was exquisite.

It was actually quite astonishing. The three of them entered the room and proceeded straight up to a blank, dark blue, wall. Katran reached across and pressed a single button off near the corner of that wall, and a bright mist drifted down from the ceiling across the entire dimension of blankness. From the mist formed a perfect view of the outside of the ship. It essentially looked as if the wall had vanished and they were looking out an open window.

Outside, Sam could see water and islands speed by as the ship cruised through the air. "Did your people develop all of this technology on their own?"

Katran smiled. It wasn't often she was able to show off their ship to others. "All of the interfaces and visual sensors on this ship, yes. When the Federation first started to expand, we did do some exchanges for advancements in engines and inertia dampeners."

"So you don't have any problems sharing with less advanced peoples?" Jack just had to ask considering the SGC's previous experiences trying to barter for technologies.

"We try to be conservative," Katran signed. "If it benefits us through trade or relationship, then many things are possible. Only some of our most advanced technologies, the ones that can be dangerous in the wrong hands, are restricted."

Jack thought about it for a minute. "How about ships like this one?"

Katran turned her head towards him to respond. "The ship hull is an old design, easily obtainable by anyone. The rest of the technologies on board are sophisticated enough not to be common, but nothing the Federation is restricting trade in."

Nodding his head, Jack glanced to see Sam still listening in on the conversation. "So you and Collen work..."

"Coawyn, sir," corrected Sam. 

He looked at Sam. "Coawyn," he replied before turning back towards Katran. "You two work in your people's government?"

She chortled softly. "I've been on several diplomatic missions on behalf of the Federation, if that's what you mean."

Jack started nodding his head around and bent his bottom lip down. "Close enough I guess."

"Coawyn is a district councilor here on Pondor. So yes, I suppose he does work in the government. Although, only at a minor level right now."

The view outside started to slow its advance, as the ship dropped in altitude. A single island came into view as their destination. A large house sat on the front of the island, while dense woods spanned behind it rising into the air.

"That's where we're staying?" Sam asked.

"Yes," replied Katran quite simply.

As the ship drew closer, it spun slightly to face the island directly. As they touched land, Jack and Sam were both surprised to see a short expanse of water separating their landing spot from the island.

"We're not landing on the island itself?" Jack peered over at Katran who was about to turn of the screen they were watching.

She hit a button causing the view outside to vanish and be replaced by the blank wall. "There isn't any place on the main island for a ship of this size."

Jack walked for the door with Katran beside him. Sam followed quickly behind. They went through a small hall before entering the elevator.

The exit opened to reveal the platform they had landed on.

"Won't Coawyn be joining us," asked Sam.

"He's got to secure the ship first and will follow shortly."

It was bright outside as they made their way down a short few steps. Katran walked across the short dock at the bottom to where it butted against a small cave next to the landing platform. She untied a piece of cord from a loop embedded in the rock wall and pulled on it. A small boat, complete with oars, drifted out of the cave with the other end of the cord attached to its bow.

Jack and Sam looked at each other. It wasn't what she hand in mind for transportation after all they had seen thus far. "A row boat?"

The sound of footsteps could be heard behind them. They all turned around to see Coawyn approaching them. He proceeded up to Katran and helped pull the boat around for them to board.

"Steady as you get in," Coawyn cautioned their guests, "the shallow rocks could be painful if you fall in." They both climbed in. Coawyn followed them and sat at the rear with the oars. Katran, entering last with the cord for securing the boat, took the front.

A shove off the roof of the cave with one of the oars, and they were all on their way towards the main island.

_Well_, thought Jack to himself, _at least we finally have a beach side view_.

* * *

Dinner had been some kind of white seafood meat, green vegetables of some sort, and a red wine like drink that Jack couldn't, for the life of him, remember the name of. It had all been rather nice, and their hosts, Coawyn and Katran, seemed quite interested in the stories about the Goa'uld. The entire series of discussions, along with many more about the Aians, lasted long into the night.

They had returned back to their rooms afterwards when Coawyn became fatigued from the long day. Sam had the room closest to the bathroom in the outside corner of the hall. Jack had the one immediately around the corner, but still on the outside bend. The rooms were nice and consisted of nothing much past a bed and shelves full of old clothes. Sam had a small table and two chairs in her room, leaving Jack with a bookshelf full of leather bound novels.

A knock came from the door distracting Sam from her work. She got from the table's computer terminal to answer it. Opening the door she found Jack on the other side.

"Hi, sir," she said with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Good I guess. Can I come in?" He leaned forwards through the door slightly.

"Oh," she paused, "of course." She stepped away from the door to let him come in. "I was just looking at the material they have about the makeup of their universe. It's quite extensive. I've never seen such recorded detail about the subject before."

To be perfectly honest, she hadn't even imagined the possibility of such knowledge. It was easily thousands of years more advanced than any previous known race had shared with them. The astrophysicist in her was filled with excitement the moment she started scanning through the files.

"Yes," began Jack, "about that. Do you think we have a chance of getting home? I mean, this place is great and all, but what are our real chances?"

She looked up at him from where she had drifted back in front of the computer. Another smile had rapped itself around her face.

"After seeing all this," she indicated back at the screen, "it's only a matter of time."

Jack nodded his head. This was exactly why he came to see Sam. Things hadn't been looking good for them. They had been in the Aian's universe for over a week now, and he was beginning to wonder if they would ever get to visit home again. Sam, naturally, had her scientific abilities working in overdrive. Jack's confidence had been restored.

"Well, don't stay up too late. After all, as soon as we get back we'll just have to go out on another mission." He started to back out the door.

"Actually, this could still take awhile," she stopped him from leaving. "This information explains a lot of things, but it could take weeks or more to have a working plan of action."

This disturbed Jack only slightly. Before, he thought they were doomed unless they happened to find a working stargate somewhere. At least now, it might be possible to construct their own means back.

"Back to work than," he joked as he took a final step out and closed the door to her room.

* * *

The next morning, Jack wandered back to Sam's room with a platter full of pastries. He was munching on one in his mouth as a passed through her open door. She looked up from where she was at the computer just as a few crumbs fell.

"Where did you get those?" She could already feel her stomach start to rumble.

"The," he stopped to swallow. "The kitchen."

Sam reached up and grabbed one. "Did you take all of them?"

"There were two of them," he said as a raised the platter up a bit, "so I figured: why not?" He smiled as he picked up one of the larger pastries.

They were sweet, and had a thin layer of cream just underneath the brown crust. Sam couldn't quite place the flavor, but after getting up as early as she did, she didn't much care. What she truly wished they had, was coffee.

_I'll have to have a look into that_, she thought to herself.

"So," began Jack as he started peering over Sam's shoulder at the computer screen, "find us a way home yet?"

Sam sat her pastry down and began typing into the terminal some. "Their scientific library is a bit bizarre. If I didn't know any better, sir, I would have thought this was some kind of alternate reality."

"Like the mirror?"

"Yes," she replied while continuing to work.

"Uh, what about that trophy cascade failure thing? Wouldn't we have felt that by now?"

She started nodding her head and turned back around in her chair to face him. "Entropic cascade failure. I thought the same thing at first, but the more data of theirs that I go through, the more I find equations based on unprovable variables in this universe."

Jack started coughing and had to turn his head to the side to keep crumbs from falling on Sam. "Went down the wrong way," he explained. "Again, in English, Carter."

"I started thinking back to a theory that light speed isn't constant when multiple dimensions are taken into account. What if these unprovable variables are only such, because they don't exist here. If this information the Aians have is correct, it could be that their universe is interlaced with another."

He suddenly got a very confused face. The whole "alternate you" stuff was weird enough, but to be interlaced, well, just didn't sound like a pleasant experience to Jack.

"So the cascade thing hasn't happened because another set of us are mixed in?"

She looked back at the screen. "Well," she turned again towards Jack, "I don't know that I'd put it quite like that, but the data is a bit confusing to read."

Standing up, Sam picked up what was left of her pastry. "I'm going to go ask Coawyn and Katran if they know much about how this works. Want to join me?"

"As much as I love to watch you work," he half smiled, "I think I'll explore some."

As she started walking down the hall he yelled out, "try not to have too much fun!"

She tried to ignore him, but a faint grin spread across her face. When she reached the end of the hall, she stopped and heard talking from in the kitchen. It could only be the two that lived in the house on a permanent bases.

Sam stepped into the room and looked around. Stove, sink, pans hanging from the ceiling, and a platter of pastries on the counter, but none of the people she needed to talk with.

More chatter drifted through the air. It occurred to Sam that the back side of the kitchen had a few steps leading down into another room. Wandering down those steps, she found both Coawyn and Katran sitting at a table in what appeared to be a solarium. Windows lined the room giving a excellent view of the outside landscaping. Through the left back corner windows, a sudden drop in the yard gave way to the water that surrounded the island.

"Good morning," said Katran, who noticed her entrance. She still sounded exhausted from the night before.

Coawyn turned around slightly startled. He perked up his eyebrows. "Sleep well I hope?"

"Yes, thank you," began Sam as she stepped towards the two and took a seat at the table. "I think I might have an idea about how we got here. It might seem a bit far fetched, but what do you know about multiple universes?"

* * *

_So do you think it was a crossing?_ Coawyn watched Sam leave the solarium, and turned to look at Katran for her response.

They had known each other for so long, their telepathic link was almost unconscious. So sure of it, they didn't even think their visitors knew they were telepathic to begin with. Not that it mattered. They were human, and telepathy only worked between other Aians.

_I don't know_, Katran replied in kind. _They do remind me of the way we acted when we accidentally crossed universes_.

Coawyn nodded his head as he looked back towards the door leading into the house.

"We should have her compile data about her universe's constants," he said out loud.

_Yes_, she sighed breathlessly and looked out the window at the water below. _If it proves they aren't from this universe, I'm confident the Federation will do all it can to return them_.

He watched Katran for a few minutes before standing up. She still looked as sleepy as when they had woken up hours ago, and he knew just what that called for. Walking into the kitchen, he pulled the kettle off the stove and took it to the sink. He filled it up and returned it to the stove. A push of a switch and tap on a button got it cooking. As soon as it was near boiling, he would make them both a large cup of tea.

"You know," Coawyn heard someone say behind him. He turned around to find Katran watching him wait for the water. "If we contact your father, he might be able to talk with some of the local traders. They might have heard, or even seen, something related to a crossing event in the area."

She looked like she was starting to wake up pretty good now. Mention of universe crossings did have that effect on her ever since their first encounter with them. Coawyn had hoped it would slip this time though. At least this time she seemed positive about the topic.

"I'll see if I can get a hold of him from the den."

Nodding, she walked over to a cabinet and pulled down the box of tea. He watched momentarily before noticing Jack wandering around outside the window. Choosing the distraction as good timing, he turned around to go contact his father. Most likely, he would be found back in the Halbrig system, slaving away.

* * *

Katran was in the living room talking to Jack about treaties. Sam didn't see much point in it unless they found a way home, but Jack felt confident she could find a way. So, he had her sit in on their discussion. It was really quite boring.

The subject was just turning back to how they would get home when Coawyn entered from the dining room. Not too surprising since it was in the middle of the house, and served as the quickest way to the other side. What was surprising, was the huge grin on his face as he stepped in between their conversation.

"Good news!" He cheered. "Just got done talking with my father, and it seems the council has reviewed your report."

Sam's eyes perked up. "That's..."

Coawyn stopped her with a wave of his hand as he continued. "They've also read the report Katran and I submitted to them separately. Their advisers are in agreement, and we've been authorized to inform you of the details."

Jack hadn't heard of a second report being sent. He looked over at Sam. Unfortunately, she returned the same stare he could only assume he currently had. Katran, however, seemed pleased, although she appeared to be trying to hide it.

"We believe you are a victim of a universe crossing," Coawyn stated to them as he found himself a seat.

"A what?" Both Jack and Sam replied in unison.

"A universe crossing," replied Katran. "It's where you travel from one distinct universe to another."

"We've had dealings with alternate dimensions before. It was in the report," Jack spoke up.

Sam looked at him. "I think they might be talking about something different, sir."

"A crossing, as we've come to know it, is not dimensional travel, but rather planar." Coawyn tried hard to remember the proper wording. "Your entropic cascade failure, I was told, is an effect of dimensional travel within the same plane. You coming to our universe was likely a switch in plane for you, thus you have survived your many weeks with us."

"I've never heard of alternate planes before. Are you sure they exists? I mean, alternate dimensions were predicted and proven in our universe with the use of worm holes. How would planes work?"

Coawyn regarded Sam for a moment. It was a good question, and not one he was confident enough to answer. He decided to start with the basics of his knowledge, and proceed into his experience. "I'm not a researcher, so forgive my lack of information. What I do know, is that Aians are not originally from this universe. We traveled here from another in what was called a crossing. General knowledge is that we haven't had any crossings since. They were difficult to accomplish the first time, and most of the information was lost long ago."

Coawyn appeared to pause. "But," Jack urged him on in the direction he thought would be coming. Sam was already on the edge of her seat.

"But," Coawyn sighed and looked to Katran for support. She nodded her head for him to continue. "Crossings have actually happened many times since than. Not often enough for people to become suspicious, but enough that a few inside the Federation try their best to keep it a secret. Katran and myself were involved with one when our ship crossed unexpectedly. The crossing appeared as a cloud in space, nothing more. My father learned of them at the same time."

"Sounds sort of like how we've hidden our stargate from the rest of Earth," replied Sam.

"Our government felt it better that way for reasons of security," Jack explained to them.

Katran nodded at them. "It's the same with the Federation. We may be a powerful nation, but the universe is still quite large. As far as we know, the Federation is the only nation that has ever tried, let alone performed, a crossing."

"The good news for you two," Coawyn indicated both Sam and Jack, "is that intelligence leads us to believe the base you were captured on was involved in crossing research."

"And how does that help us get home," demanded Jack.

Coawyn grinned at him. Jack was just too much fun sometimes. "They believe they've found another base belonging to the same group of individuals. A battle group is being sent, and they want us on the flagship encase a chance for you to return home presents itself."

"That's not good news," exclaimed Jack as he stood up. "That's great news!"

"When do we join them," questioned Sam who was excited but not fanatic.

Katran looked over at Coawyn, and then turned back to Sam. "As soon as we gather our stuff for the journey."

They were all standing up now to join Jack. A smile was on everyones face. The time spent together was not unpleasant, but it was beginning to wear thin. Four adults trapped in one house was just not something people were used to having thrown at them.

Sam proceeded over to Coawyn. "Any chance I could get access to some of the secret information?"

He nodded his head. "They did say we were authorized to share."

* * *

The journey back to the Bazec Ship Yards was uneventful. Waiting for a military shuttle, was even more uneventful. And now, stepping off of the shuttle's ramp proved to, yet again, be without fan fair.

The small room the shuttle had descended into was almost too small for the landing procedure. Mere yards separated them from the solid looking walls, and Jack doubt the shuttle could withstand knocking into them. Not that the shuttle didn't seem overly built, but the huge door that had opened in the capital ship to allow their entry were simply massive.

Jack played it back through his mind; seeing the huge section of the ship's wing rise up what must have been two or more yards. After coming to a stop, the hull section rolled across the capital ship's exterior revealing a deep opening into its depth.

He shock his head. They were now heading for the hatch directly in front of where the shuttle ramp rested. It slid open as a woman, dressed in a gray uniform with orange strips, approached them. She beckoned at Coawyn who simply nodded at Katran before rushing off with the uniformed woman.

"So," began Sam as the remaining three reached the hatch, "where are they headed?"

They continued through and proceeded down a long hallway. Katran lead them to a stop before a double door. "The ship's Commanding Officer, Dayniel, wanted a meeting before the battle group begins its mission."

"Oh."

A moment later the double doors opened and they all stepped in. Handles hung from the ceiling giving the small room a subway like feel. Sure enough, as soon as the door behind them slid shut, they felt the room lurch. A series of lights along the walls indicated their movement.

"I just realized something," spoke up Jack as they rode along. He turned to face Katran, "none of your ships have designation markings. I mean, what's the name of this ship for example?"

She perk her eyes up briefly. "This is the Aian Mass Forces' ship Agumon. The same ship that picked you up on Ty'Med if I remember right."

He nodded his head. "I thought so."

Sam shot him a questioning look.

"The corridors looked familiar," he shrugged back.

* * *

"Councilor Coawyn, ma'am," announced his escort.

Dayniel pivoted around in her chair to face them. "That will be all."

The woman nodded her head and turned around. The door to Dayniel's office slid close behind her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Councilor," she smiled.

"The same for me. Not often I get to meet personally with one of the militaries finest." Coawyn proceeded closer and took a seat across from her desk.

Dayniel shifted slightly in her seat. "Checking up on me have you?"

"I like to go through all the information I can before I do something." He tilted his head slightly to the side. "Speaking of information, I assume you wanted to meet to discuss our visitors?"

"Yes. Actually, I wanted to hear your opinion on them. Specifically, since we both have clearance, what is their involvement in crossings?" She made direct eye contact, daring him to spin a story.

"Well," he cleared his throat, "I believe they truly are from another universe. They've supplied enough information, I'd find it hard to generate such details off-hand myself."

"But, are they trustworthy?"

"I let them live in my house. How much more do you need?" He fired back hoping to end that line of conversation.

Dayniel inhaled deeply and looked down at one of her visual displays. "We have their equipment, and the hope is that they can use it when we deploy to the planet. I've been given five destroyers as part of this battle group, and as soon as our visitors find their way home, we're going to eliminate any threat to the Federation." She paused to let it all sink in. "To be perfectly honest, if we don't find them a way back on this planet, they might not ever."

"What do you mean?"

"Intelligence suggests that the Union might be involved with these rouge bases. It's likely they'll shutdown any other operations on neighboring planets when word gets back after this mission."

"Hmm," thought Coawyn out loud. "Why would the Union be researching crossing technology? They've never expressed an interest in it before."

"I don't know," replied Dayniel, "I'm just following orders. But, my thoughts are that they aren't researching crossings, rather some kind of territorial denial weapon."

Coawyn perked up at the suggestion. The idea that the research bases were attempting to generate some sort of weapon of mass capabilities was surprising. It would, however, be useful since the Union was constantly trying to peon off their fringe planet problems onto others. A weapon of such magnitude would be just strange enough that few would suspect the Union of committing such an act. Many might even suspect the Federation because of its close proximity with some of the fringe planets.

"That seems a bit extreme. Don't you think?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps, but the indirectness is like them. I guess we'll find out when we reach the base."

A slight beeping began in the office, and Dayniel pressed a button on her desk's console. "We'll be leaving shortly. Have the ship's computer lead your group to Ground Chief Vandule. He'll get you situated."

Coawyn stood up from his seat. "Thank you, Captain."

* * *

_I can't believe they're letting us have our equipment back_, thought Jack to himself. _It certainty feels good to be gearing up though_.

Jack and Sam were in different preparation rooms. All their stuff was returned to them, and they spent quite a few minutes inspecting it for damage. The Aians had dissected everything, of course. But, as long as the uniforms didn't split their seams, and the P90s still fired their cartridges, who was to complain?

Sam managed to step out from her room at the same time as Jack. She looked over at him as she was still clipping her P90 to its harness. Jack, on the other hand, was making sure his ammunition clips were intact.

"Nice to be back to our Air Force selves again aye, Carter?" He patted his uniform pants legs.

She smiled. "Those Aian clothes weren't all that bad, sir."

"Still," he began as he stretched a bit, "this is going amazingly better than if it were the Goa'uld."

"I think the Aians are in a different category from the Goa'uld."

He shrugged as they both started heading down the short hallway. Many doors lined both sides of the hall leading to other preparation rooms. Entering the far door, they met back with Coawyn, and Katran, now clad in Aian combat armor. The Agumon's Ground Chief, Vandule, was also there waiting, although not in armor. Vandule was decent enough, but he always had people coming up to him, either to speak to him, or be spoken to.

Jack pointed his finger over at a young woman who approached Vandule. "So is he always this busy?"

Coawyn couldn't help but laugh. "We're on board the lead vessel, of a battle group, about to investigate an alien base. I'm surprised he has time for us at all."

"I suppose when you put it that way," Jack eyed Vandule more carefully as he worked with his fellow crew member.

Finishing his conversation with the young woman, Vandule gestured for them to follow him through a wide hatchway. The two members of SG-1 recognized the other side immediately. It was the hangar room they had first arrived from Ty'Med through. Row after row of drop ships lined the entire space, and Sam managed her first glance at the airlock doors that sat beneath each ship. She also recognized a group of people preparing their gear in front of the drop ships.

"Sir, I could be mistaken, but that looks like the squad that captured us on Ty'Med."

Katran overhead Sam's comment and sped up her walking until she was beside Vandule. Speaking briefly with him in Aian, she dropped back to where Jack was watching beside Sam.

"You are correct in your assessment. The squad leader is a Lieutenant Corporal Lanosa. Vandule has her assigned as part of the initial incursion force."

Jack nodded his appreciation. "Nice having her on our side this time."

Coawyn, having nothing better to do, began a conversation with Vandule. He decided to cover what team they would be joining to the surface, and exactly what situations they might encounter. They would need to know that information eventually, and, overall, Coawyn was going to have to repeat it later to Jack and Sam. For once, English was becoming more trouble to know than learning it was.

* * *

"Sensor drones show direct hits on all targets," informed Milsia from her tactical station.

Previously, they sent in high speed passive sensor drones designed to gather data and not be detected by the enemy. They showed a planet not unlike that of Ty'Med. A large base complex stood out on the surface, just as before, but this time a small fleet of capital ships hung in orbit. The passive data returned from the drones indicated the ships to be of Union origin, but since the drones sped through the system so fast, information about their activity was not possible.

The drones they were now receiving data from were sent in just behind a missile barrage. They slowed, and some even went into orbit. Still remaining passive, of course, they enabled greater detail of information as events unfolded.

The orbiting fleet was greatly damaged by the missiles. But, they remained around the planet as the drones were now able to detect shuttles coming and going from the planet's surface.

"Have the battle group proceed and intercept. Standing orders are to apprehend if possible," ordered Dayniel.

"Aye," replied Gunthar who began typing into his console.

"Captain, sensors are now indicating shuttle activity between the enemy fleet and the planet." Milsia was still scanning through the information as she reported.

"There going to make a run out of the system?" Gunthar questioned as he looked to Dayniel. She raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think so, sir," Milsia came back, "the shuttles are going in both directions."

"There must be something of importance that they would risk them selves." Dayniel began entering commands into her console. "I want the destroyers to swing around and flank the enemy fleet. The Agumon and one Tagra class will proceed straight in to contain the planet."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll have the ground forces prepare for immediate disembarkation as soon as we reach orbit," concurred Gunthar.

The main view screen showed a tactical layout of the planetary area. Four destroyers, the bulk of the battle group, were shown beginning to engage the enemy ships. The initial information being shown indicated the Aian fleet having the advantage. So much so that the enemy capital ships started spreading their orbits apart to avoid battle. They still fired missiles at the Aian ships, but those that got past the destroyers' defensive grid simply detonated against think armor like eggs hitting stone. To the enemy's credit, however, it was preventing their engines from being disabled, and instead forced the Aian forces to try and take out weapon systems first. Systems that were quickly discovered to be more heavily armored than normal.

"Start jamming all frequencies, and launch chaff at the enemy formations," ordered Dayniel. It was an extreme move, but if it worked, the enemy would lose all means of communication. Without broadcast frequencies, they would be forced to use point-to-point, and if the chaff did its job, that would fail also as the floating material would constantly interrupt their reception.

"I'm launching communication drones to help boost communications within the battle group," announced Gunthar. The idea being to prevent any chaff from interfering with their own coordination efforts.

"Have the ground forces proceed as soon as we're within range," Dayniel looked back to see Milsia already relaying the order. "I also want a barrage sent down on anything that looks like surface-to-air weaponry."

"Aye, the first salvo is already prepared."

* * *

"So how is this going to work," Jack questioned as he finished strapping himself into the drop ship.

Coawyn sat beside him, while Sam sat next to Jack, and Katran beside Sam. He looked carefully to make sure they had all figured out the restraints before answering. "As the drop ships start their decent, a salvo will be fired at the surface to ensure we make it down in one piece."

Sam nodded her head in understanding. "Kind of like on Ty'Med."

"Actually," began Katran, "with Ty'Med, they decided to take out all they could from orbit. The ground forces were sent in later to cleanup."

"Oh," replied Jack, "so what is the goal this time?"

Coawyn nodded his head at the last person to enter the ship before the hatch was sealed. "Multiple squads will proceed in ahead of us and clear a path through the base. We'll follow along and assist against any opposition. Otherwise, the goal is to find any technology that could get you two home, and hopefully figure out what's been going on out here."

Jack gave a sly smile. "Isn't secret keeping grand?"

Sam rolled her eyes, but no one noticed as a female voice filled the intercom with Aian language. A hissing noise filled the drop ship soon after the announcement ended, and all the lights went out with their immanent launch. Without further warning, acceleration forced everyone against their harnesses as the ship dropped.

Explosions rained shrapnel against the drop ship as the Agumon and its escort destroyer intercepted weapons fire intended for the ground force. It all soon died down, however, as the drop ship began its decent through the atmosphere.

A loud bang rang through the drop ship's deck worrying Jack and Sam that they had been hit. It all became clear to them, when the exit ramp began lowering, that they had actually reached ground quite suddenly.

"Is it always so abrupt?" Sam looked first as Coawyn followed by Katran.

Coawyn simply groaned in response.

"I'd take that as a yes, Major," spoke up Jack.

All the other troops had filed out of the ship as the four who were talked followed down the ramp. It was daylight, and the weather was like a roasting oven. Unlike Ty'Med, not a single planet could be seen at all. Instead, rocks and boulders littered the surface. Strange looking equipment sat looking abandoned ahead of them. Large metal doors lined the edge of a clay hill rising high into the sky. No doubt their mission target, the rouge base.

Squads from other drop ships could already be seen breaching the bases entrance. Plumes of smoke could be seen in the far distance. Likely the result of where the base's air defenses were destroyed. Shooting soon echoed from inside the base as the first defenders were encountered.

"Come on, lets join the others," spoke Jack as he made his way forward. The three Aian soldiers proceeded by taking point and flank positions.

As the seven of them approached the base's main entrance, an explosion echoed from its heart. A squad of Aians quickly rushed through their group and headed into the base. Likely as reinforcements not willing to waist time in formalities.

_Not like they can't handle themselves_, thought Jack.

"This way," informed Katran as they walked cautiously into the dim depths and turned left. She had a portable computer with her that was linked to the Aian battle network. It gave her the same information as the Agumon's Ground Chief, Vandule, along with what everyones current orders were.

Suddenly, one of the side doors on the hallway they were in flew open. Everyone dropped quickly to the floor as the soldier at point fired his rifle. A single man fell from the door, still clutching his own weapon unfired.

They all slowly stood back up as the room the door connected to was checked. Continuing on, it became obvious the room was nothing more than a utility closet as they passed it. The attack, nothing more than a last minute failed ambush.

"Full length rifle, you'd think the people at this base would be smarter than using weapons to large for close combat," remarked Coawyn.

"I try not to think too much about the stupidity of the enemy myself. Don't want to jinx anything," grinned Jack, still holding his P90 at ready.

As if to emphasize the point, Katran chimed in, "The Ground Chief is reporting that two of our squads are being held off from entering a lab three levels below us. Could be something important in there. He says all the other base defenses have been collapsing pretty consistently up to this point."

"Where to?" Coawyn asked while bringing his own weapon to ready.

* * *

Weapons fire echoed down the hallway from the fierce battle. Chunks of wall-plaster fell indicating the room containing the firefight. Inside, the two squads of Aians were busy laying down suppressing fire, while attempting to advance. The enemy, about a dozen humans, as far as could be seen, were heavily embedded behind a series of doors on the opposite wall.

The three soldiers who were escorting, dove right into the room to reinforce the covering fire. Jack and Sam followed closely behind firing their P90s the entire way.

Coawyn and Katran, for their part, decided to stick low to the ground and avoid as much as possible. They simply weren't trained in combat, and felt that now was not the time to risk getting shot. After all, the room was crawling with Aian troops, quite literally in some cases, so it seemed doubtful to them that they could lend much help.

_It looks like our guests know how to pull their own weight,_ thought Coawyn as he watched Sam follow Jack right up to the front line.

_Seems that way,_ replied Katran as she observed the two take careful aim at their targets.

The base defenders were finding it harder and harder to get shots off without swarms of bullets flying back at them. Just as soon as they had managed to wing one of the Aian attackers, another Aian managed to get a grenade tossed through the doorway. It exploded in a rain of sparks and shrapnel that sent at least one of the enemy flying out from behind their barricade.

"Sir, look out!" Yelled Sam as she spotted one of the enemy troops preparing to throw what she assumed was a grenade. Just as the man was heaving back for the throw, a loud roar of heavy weapons fire poured into his armor and ripped through his chest. His body was thrown backwards out of sight by the power of the hits.

Both Jack and Sam turned around quickly to see seven Aians make their way into the firefight. At least they assumed they were Aian. The squad wore similar uniforms to the other troops, but with much thinker armor plating. The one standing in the middle of the group yelled out in a deep male voice. Although in the Aian language, there was no mistaking a cry of charge.

One after another, the seven warriors began their advance. Their weapons let out a monstrous blast at every pull of the trigger. Standing tall against the other Aians, enemy fire literally bounced off their think helmets and armor plating. Even the large rifles they carried seemed unaffected by any hits they sustained.

"The marines have arrived!" Shouted Jack as the squads leader came to a stop next to him.

The heavily armored Aian looked down at Jack and Sam briefly. A stray bullet glanced off his shoulder causing him to turn back up and raise his rifle to a slight angle towards the enemy barricade. He fired a single projectile through the door where a split second later it exploded.

Debris whizzed past Jack's head. "A warning would have been nice," said Jack sarcastically.

Totally ignoring him, the squad's leader continued towards the now silent doorway. The pile of desks and other equipment that blocked the door now blown apart by the grenade blast.

The two squads of Aians, that had so recently been at a deadlock with the enemy, now proceeded out of the war torn room and followed after the advancing heavy squad.

"Should we follow?" Questioned Sam as she watched them enter the other room.

Jack had to think about it for a moment. "I think they have things under control."

Coawyn and Katran came up just as Jack was standing up. The three escorts were back to keeping watch for the other four. Sam came up beside them.

"Shall we follow after and see what the heavy defense was about," offered Katran as she made her way forward.

Everyone else began to follow minus Jack. Noticing this, Sam decided to stop and wait for her commanding officer to make up his mind. She tried not to look to desperate for him to follow Katran.

"Right," responded Jack while trying to ignore Sam.

The next room was completely trashed. Bullet holes, and burning rubble littered everything. There was even a small crater in the floor from a grenade blast. Two different hallways branched out from one corner of the room. One echoed the sounds of weapons fire, while the other remained remarkably quiet.

"I'm guessing the three squads must have chanced the enemy down that hall," Sam pointed towards the echoing weapons fire. "Maybe this other hall leads to what they were guarding?"

"You don't think they'd retreat back to what they were guarding?" asked Coawyn.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle. "After your militaries performance? I'd be running my ass off towards the nearest exit."

Katran stared at him briefly before shacking her head. "Come on."

* * *

The hallway had an eerie silence to it. The seven could hear their own foot steps distinctly no matter how softly they tread. Everything else, however, just seemed to absorb sound. Weapons fire could be heard, even shouting, distantly behind them, but as soon as an echo would start it would stop even sooner.

The lights they carried lit well defined areas of the walls and floor. As if unable to tell a secret, they couldn't quite see the difference between a small alcove in the wall and a door into another room. They were forced to move much slower or risk another ambush.

Without warning, the point Aian of their escort came to a stop and raised his hand indicating quiet. The other soldier behind him, and the third who was bringing up the rear, silently dropped to one knee with their weapons ready for anything. A small shinny object dropped from the high darkness of one of the alcoves ahead of them. It landed in the middle of the hallway echoing a metallic sound as it gently rolled a few feet. The two soldier up front started yelling in their native language as they dove against the side walls.

Katran's eyes went wide as she watched the object fall, and as soon as the Aian troops started diving, she dropped flat to the ground herself. "Grenade," she shouted as best she could while half out of breath.

Coawyn was already dropping down beside her, while Jack and Sam ducked against the hallway walls. The grenade detonated sending shrapnel flying above everyone's heads. Parts of the ceiling cracked and moaned and large chucks started falling from above where the blast was.

Luckily, very little fire was emitted which would have been bad in such a confined space. Unfortunately, both of the Aian troops up front caught shrapnel in the legs and arms. One seriously from the sounds of things. Even Coawyn managed to get hit in the shoulder, though he didn't seem to notice.

Sam rushed up to the two wounded soldiers with Jack in tow. The passageway ahead of them was nearly completely blocked now. Though the still falling debris, however, Sam was able to make out a two legged creature with four arms. It looked briefly at her before turning down the hallway. Two larger creatures, with four legs each and only two arms, followed quickly after into the dust. The passageway now had enough fallen ceiling to block the way entirely.

"Sir," spoke up Sam as she pointed at the vanishing beings, "did you see that?" She looked back at him as she sat down and pulled out her medically kit.

"Kind of nasty looking fellas," responded Jack as he pulled some chucks of debris from the soldiers.

Coawyn ran up behind them to help and overheard Jack. "What did you see?"

Sam looked up at him as he handed her some antiseptic. "You're wounded," she gestured at his shoulder.

"I'll be fine," he responded as he looked expectantly at Jack.

"Well," began Jack, "two big apes with four legs, oh, and a tall four armed giant," he started to drift off, "anyway, it looked like they were making a hasty retreat after the grenade blast covered them."

"Tan'ek've," muttered Coawyn under his breath.

"Tel Aviv?" Jack glanced at him, but was ignored.

* * *

It seemed like hours had passed by. Everyone's wounds were tended too, and an entire squad of Aian's were sent to replace the three escorts. The hallway was basically a disaster area, but not a shiver of instability could be felt. The passageway had sealed itself solid.

Coawyn stood from where he was resting and started looking around. "The Tan'ek've are a very evasive race. If this is one of their facilities, they'll have hidden passages."

Jack and Sam were checking to see if the passage way could be cleared. Not seeing anyway through, they leaned back and watched Coawyn work. He was running his hands all over the walls now.

"You don't believe what we saw were," Jack tried to remember their name, "these creatures, do you?"

Coawyn sighed and turned around. "It's not that I don't believe you," he began.

"It's just," interrupted Katran, "the Tan'ek've have kept to them selves in the past. Their territory is entirely on the other end of Aian space."

"It would be more likely, and the opinion of Aian intelligence, that the neighboring Union government would be involved," continued Coawyn.

Sam let slip a brief laugh before clamming up at Jack's glare. He turned back to Coawyn, "You know, back where we come from, military intelligence is considered an oxymoron."

Sliding past Coawyn, Sam started searching the walls where the effort was left off.

Coawyn raised an eyebrow as he thought of how Jack's statement might effect the situation. "Perhaps you're right, but the Union has been an opposing force to the Federation for quite a few years now. I wouldn't put it past them to try something indirectly."

Sam suddenly stopped. "Sir, I think I might have found something," she announced as she pressed her hand into a spot where the wall gave.

Sensing Coawyn's annoyance that it probably isn't the Union, Katran decided to offer some comfort. "Look at it this way, we're learning something new about the Tan'ek've."

Coawyn sucked in a big breath as he approached the new doorway as it opened. "True. I just hope we're prepared."

* * *

The passageway on the other side of the door ran a short distance before opening up into a large room. Equipment filled the room with blinking lights and low beeps. Pipes and tubing ran along parts of the floor and across the ceiling. Over all, it seemed very familiar to Jack.

"Carter, why am I getting a bad case of deja vu about this place," Jack turned to see Sam already fiddling with some of the equipment. She looked up and around at the room.

"Nearly everything looks arranged like back on Ty'Med," she replied. Walking around some of the equipment, she wondered around before stopping amid a bunch of thick piping along the floor.

"I think this is where we would have landed from the explosion, so," she spun around and faced a blank wall, "the stargate _would_ have been there," she pointed.

Jack stumbled his way over beside her. "That's what I was afraid of."

Katran, who had been wondering around looking at all the computer displays with Coawyn, suddenly looked up. "Afraid of what?"

Sam tilted her head over, "the stargate isn't here. Or, at least, nothing that would likely have any hope of functioning like one."

Coawyn started laughing. He reached across a panel and hit a single gray button. The wall SG-1 had been staring at started to sink into the floor revealing a large nasty looking black machine. "No need to completely loose hope."

Sam quickly stepped up next to the giant machine and started circling around it. Much of its color seemed to be natural to the material used. Tubing and wiring hung off the sides like vines. The back side, however, had a round opening large enough for three people to walk into. The inside converged back into a funnel that defiantly wasn't wormhole shaped, but was lined with strange rubbery fins.

"Well Carter?" Jack asked loud enough to cause Sam to nearly fall over from where she knelt.

She turned to look up at him. "I've never seen anything like it. The outer rim has a similar design to that of the stargate, but the rest is mostly alien." Standing up, she continued, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was designed to create a vortex of some kind."

"Kind of like a wormhole, Major?" Jack looked at her expectantly.

"If you remember, wormholes sort of bubble out and annihilate anything in the way. This looks more like for a controlled whirlpool effect behind any event horizon."

"The effect Katran and myself saw looked sort of like a whirlpool," Coawyn informed them as he stepped around the machine to them.

"You've seen a machine like this before," asked Jack as he looked at him sideways.

"No," Coawyn corrected, "but a crossing effect has many qualities like that of a whirlpool. You need more than just a wormhole to get home after all. Maybe this is it."

They stared at the device more. It was bazaar looking, alien, had weird looking pieces, and generally the kind of thing SG-1 has had to deal with before.

"Okay," Jack finally got tired of waiting, "what's our chances of getting this thing turned on?"

Sam looked away trying to think of an answer, while Coawyn had a half-smile on his face. Jack groaned.

"The computer interface is partly in English. We should be able to figure it out." He gestured for them to follow him back to where Katran was already at work.

"This display," Katran pointed to her side as the others joined her, "seems to indicate that it will take a little over two hours for everything to warm up."

"Seems like we've already been here half the day, what's another two hours," quipped Jack.

* * *

"Councilor," came the female voice of the squad's Lieutenant Corporal, "since my squad's been assigned as your escort, I thought I better let you know," she hesitated.

"What is it?" Coawyn didn't like the tone of her voice.

"We've found explosives hidden in several alcoves in this room. I think who ever built this place intended to be able to destroy it also."

"Can you disarm them?"

"No. The design is that where a remote mechanism is embedded inside the explosive material. Any attempt to move them will also cause detonation."

"Popular on the fringe no doubt," Coawyn let slip.

"Yes, sir," replied the Lieutenant Corporal.

"I wonder why they didn't trigger them when they were making their escape."

"Perhaps the detonator was faulty. They were in a hurry," she replied before heading towards a soldier who had called for her.

Coawyn sucked in a deep breath before heading over to where Katran and Sam were working on the computer. Sam seemed to be doing most of the work as Katran smiled at Coawyn's approach.

"Uh oh," announced Sam as she stopped typing.

Jack jumped up from where he was reclining against some piping. "Uh oh?"

"If, and I stress if," she looked up and then back down at the screen, "I'm reading this correctly, the room is rigged to blow five minutes after the device activates fully. Apparently, it's some kind of failsafe that's manually shutdown after activation."

"I think you read it right," replied Coawyn as everyone turned to listen. "I was just informed that our escorts have found explosives planted all through out this room."

"Can they be disarmed?" Jack asked, doubtful the answer would be good or else the Aian's would have done it already.

"They're of a design that can't be tampered or moved without serious risk."

"Okay, can we stop the device from activating and move _it_ somewhere else?"

Sam shook her head. "So far, I haven't seen a shutdown procedure."

"Well keep looking," ordered Jack.

"Sir, this is probably our only chance of getting home." She watched as he remained quiet. "Assuming the explosives don't go off immediately, I think our best option is to wait for the device to activate and go through it."

Jack squinted his eyes as Sam. The plan didn't sound like it came with a backup. "That's an awfully big assumption. I'm guessing it leaves us without a plan B too?"

She looked down at the clock ticking down briefly. "That is plan B."

He jerked back surprised, "It _is_? What was plan A?"

"When has plan A ever worked?"

"Hey," broke in Coawyn, "if that's your decision on how to proceed, I think everyone else in the base is going to have to evacuate. Correct?" He looked back and forth across the three in front of him.

Katran had a less than hopeful look on her face. It sounded like a pretty bad idea to her, but nothing better came to mind. "I'll contact the Ground Chief."

* * *

"Alright, it's your call. I'm ordering the evacuation now," Dayniel gestured at Gunthar to follow the order through. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, good luck," she watched as they both seemed to understand their names being mentioned and nodded. Dayniel reached across her armrest and switched the link closed.

"I've relayed your order to the Ground Chief. He estimates all personnel should be clear in time," Gunthar informed.

"Captain, long range drones are detecting a ship taking off on the other side of the planet," Milsia alerted.

Dayniel turned to face her. "Can we identify it?"

"No, ma'am, nothing like it is listed in our computer system." A beep started sounding from Milsia's console alerting her of new data. "The ship is accelerating quickly away from the planet and heading out of the system. It's course doesn't take it to any known destinations."

Dayniel raised an eyebrow in Gunthar's direction. He stared back, the unspoken question shared between them. First the spotting of Tan'ek've on the surface, and now the departure of an alien ship on a strange course.

* * *

"So, Carter, seriously now, what do you figure our chances of getting home are?" Jack was getting bored waiting, and felt the question needed to be asked.

"No worse than any other time in past situations," she replied quickly.

Jack watched her carefully as she worked away at the alien equipment. "You don't think the device will work?"

She looked up at him with a sly smile. "No, I think the device is likely to work fine. It's where we arrive that I'm worried about. There's no kind of coordinate system at all on this thing. I only hope it homes in on a stargate somewhere..."

"That isn't either populated by Goa'uld, or possibly worse," he finished her sentence.

Sam nodded her head. She walked around some of the equipment, and came beside Jack. "The device will fully activate in a few moments. We should get ready," she lead the way around towards the open end of the device facing towards a solid wall.

"So, should we be worried about standing here at the face of the opening?"

"I don't think so. The indication I got was that it opens from within the funnel."

"Ah," replied Jack as he noticed blue swirling clouds beginning to form inside it.

The whole machine began to whine an eerie sound. Smoke started hissing out the sides as more colored gas swirled out. Clicking noises echoed out as a few sparks jumped across the device's surface. The smell of ozone filled the room as an emerald liquid began to form across the opening of the device. It looked similar to the stargate's event horizon in many ways, but had a semitransparent quality to it that made it stand out different.

The entire contraption looked dangerous to Jack, but the sound of beeping starting up all around the room reminded him that the room was rigged to blow. He looked to his side at Sam.

"I think the effect is starting to stabilize. That should be when we need to enter it." She never took her eyes off it.

"You're sure?" He asked, but didn't get an response.

The beeping from the explosive lined room was becoming more insistent. It was as if it was desperately trying to be heard. Both Jack and Sam's ears were beginning to ring from all the racket.

Sam brought her P90 up in front of her. Jack, upon seeing her, did the same.

"Now," was all Sam said as they both stepped into the alien devices opening and into the death like grip of its effect. Scorching heat could be felt behind them.

* * *

* * *

"You managed to destroy a stargate, Jack." Jacob stood astonished at the damage, "and without blowing up half the planet. How do you manage to get yourself into these messes?"

Jack sat on some of the rubble waiting for the older man to finish his complaining. "I managed to get your daughter home safely, didn't I?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for that. You two have been missing for more weeks than I like to think about, but still, you managed to break the top clear off," he waved his hand in an arc in the direction where the base of the 'gate was. Pieces of the smooth metal from the top lay scattered all around it.

Jack tilted his head in acknowledgment of the feat. It was definitely a new one to add to their list. The debriefing back at base was sure to be a long one, but worth it if only to be back home.

"I think Sam's waiting for us back at the ship," Jack stood up and gestured past behind Jacob.

* * *

**The End.**

* * *

  


  


  


  


  


That was my very first complete story. Ruffly forty-three pages that took around four months of on and off work while handling a full-time job. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I'm sure it could use a good editor, and I'm always open to receiving reviews. In fact, please submit a review if you read it. At the very least, leave a brief word on whether you liked it, thought it was slow, not your taste, or whatever. Even if its been months and months since I last updated it, I can guarantee you that I'll read your opinion and take it into account in my future work.

  


Thank you for your time,

- Armon


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