• SPOILERS: In the Farscape Universe, this is set just after Bad Timing, season 4, so everything is game. In the Stargate Universe, it’s general season 7 before the cliffhangar, though you should know that I just started watching Stargate this summer.
• SUMMARY: Crossover with Farscape: SG1 ends up on a planet with a broken gate. Stranded they must help a strange alien named D'argo find the one man that can get them home.
• PG-13 [Cr]

Section 1: Broken Doors

Colonel Jack O'Neill knew something was very wrong the minute he was spit out of the wormhole. Literally spit. With air beneath his feet and sky in front of his face, Jack flew head over heels, landing with a heavy, painful crash on a heap of metal.

"Oww." That hurt. Carefully picking himself up, he looked around. Oh yeah, something was very wrong. "Carter."

"Sir?"

"Uh, Carter? Aren't there supposed to be trees?"

Carter looked around as she tried to stand on the shifting metal she had landed on. Instead of the trees and calm landscape of a deserted planet brimming with natural resources, she saw only what could be described as a junkyard. Mountains of scrap heaps like the one they had landed on, surrounded them. Easily three stories high worth of twisted metal glittered next to parts that had succumbed to rust. Behind them, the stargate lay almost flat on the pile, the slope explaining their brief flight.

"Carter?" O'Neill repeated.

"We dialed the right gate, sir," the Major said defensively. "I don't know what went wrong."

"Uh, Jack?" said Daniel nervously. "There doesn't seem to be a DHD here." Carter turned and made her way up to where Daniel crouched by the gate. Terrific.

"Any way you can get that thing to work?" Jack asked following her.

"Don't know yet, sir."

"Let me know when you do." O'Neill let her and Daniel do their thing while he joined Teal'c in checking out their surroundings. They were about halfway up their particular scrap heap that undulated into peaks in either direction with no evidence of the ground, simply lower levels of junk. It was almost entirely metal, no garbage or bio-waste. Jack saw what looked like a smashed glider across from where he stood and a rusted train wreck not far from that.

"Anything?" O'Neill glanced up at the two scientists by the ‘gate who looked at each other before Sam shook her head.

"There's no DHD," she said. "We might be able to find what we need here to hot-wire it," she gestured vaguely at the junk piles. "But we'll still need a power source."

"Alright." Jack looked around again then nodded up the hill. "Let's go see if we can find out where we are first. Then we'll see about getting some batteries."

The climb to the top was better than O'Neill had expected. There were enough larger chunks to get a solid foothold without slipping and twisting an ankle. A few short minutes later, Jack was standing on top of a wrecked car-like thing with Teal'c taking in the view. Below them, the junkyard continued for roughly a hundred feet in most directions before getting cut off by a high fence. Beyond, they were surrounded by a city. The area they were in was obviously low rent from the look of the grungy, squat buildings with visible repairs. There was a lot of foot traffic, interspersed with coughing vehicles heading away from the junkyard toward taller, more stable buildings farther off. The people were too distant to really distinguish whether they were human or not. All Jack could tell was that they were a pretty drab bunch dressed mostly in blacks and grays.

"What do you think?" he asked the Jaffa next to him.

"It appears we have found an advanced people," Teal'c pointed off to the right where a ship was entering the atmosphere. They watched it slow its descent and land like a hovercraft among the buildings somewhere.

"They're advanced, and looking at the wrecks lying around, I'd say they're potentially dangerous, too," added Carter. "Most of them look like they were destroyed by weapons fire."

"Anything familiar?" O'Neill asked.

Carter shook her head. "They're definitely not Goa'uld," she said. "I've never seen systems like them. It looks like they use - "

"Carter," O'Neill interrupted her before she got going. "So the General thinks we're on some harmless planet. We’ve got a broken gate, no way to start it, and a big city of unknown hostiles. Any suggestions?"

"Jack, we can't judge the whole population by a few burn marks in a junkyard," said Daniel.

"I knew you were going to say that," Jack sighed. He really didn't like this situation. "Alright kids, it looks like we're going to town." Hefting his weapon, the Colonel led the way down the other side of the metal mountain toward the fence. Once they were at the perimeter, it would be easier to find a gate into the city. The walk down was slower than the climb up since there weren't as many large parts to act as boulders. As they neared the fence, the mountains turned into rolling hills, getting smaller and more dangerous as they went. Jack kept a watchful eye out for any sign of life, specifically an alien version of an angry yard boss with a shotgun, but so far all was quiet.

Until a loud crash of breaking glass sounded behind him. "Dammit," Daniel swore, one leg through a cockpit window that had given way beneath his weight. Jack quickly backtracked to where his friend was carefully extracting his leg.

"Are you okay?" he asked anxiously. He did not need Daniel hurt on top of everything, and if an artery had been cut . . .

"Yeah, I'm fine," Daniel answered. "Really. See, no blood." Jack inspected the leg himself and there was blood, but just a few scratches, nothing life threatening.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Jack," Daniel gave him one of his disapproving looks. "I'm fine."

"Okay." He knew better than to push. Daniel was fine, and they had bigger things to worry about. With a pat on the back, O'Neill nodded to Carter and Teal'c then started back toward the fence.

It only took about twenty minutes to finish their descent. The fence itself was made of iron bars and was about two stories high. On the other side, buildings leaned against it for support. And the stench . . . Jack tried not to think about all the rot and refuse that must be at home in the quarter. Yep, definitely the bad part of town.

"Jack!" Daniel cried, leaping past his CO and dashing down the narrow path that ran along the fence.

"Daniel, wait!" he called as he ran after the archaeologist, dreading what he had found, and then both surprised and not when it turned out to be a girl.

"Oh God," said Daniel as he crouched beside the girl's body. Jack knelt beside him and checked for a pulse. There. Not in the right place, but steady all the same. Her skin was completely white as was her short hair. Blue blood oozed from cuts that covered her body along with a peppering of what had to be bruises. What was left of her clothing was torn and from the looks of it she had also been raped. She couldn't have been more than twenty.

"She needs a doctor," said Carter joining them on the ground with the first aid kit. "If only we could get back to the SGC."

"Well we can't," Jack replied, angry himself that they couldn't. Angry at the creatures that had tortured and left this little girl to die in a junkyard where no one would find her body. Ever.

"We can't just leave her. We have to get her to a hospital or healer or whatever they have here," Daniel glanced up at Jack. The colonel looked back at the girl, not sure if it was worth it. They would be a man down carrying her, and she would probably be dead soon from her injuries.

"Jack - "

"Daniel - "

"Jack, we are not leaving her here."

O'Neill knew he was going to lose the argument if he even tried. "Daniel, once Carter gets her set, you carry her. Let's keep our eyes open, people. We don't want any nasty surprises."

"I did not intend to close them, O'Neill," said Teal'c with a slight nod. Jack accepted the silent pledge with a nod of his own, then stood to get out of Carter's way. A few minutes later, they were ready to go again. The girl remained unconscious throughout.

Following the path, it didn't take SG-1 long to find a gate to the outside world. It was unguarded and unlocked and led into a little courtyard filled with more machines and vehicles in various states of repair. O'Neill though it was deserted at first, but a sudden movement on his right caught his attention. As did the gun pointed at his chest two seconds later.

Section 2: Follow the Yellow Brick Road

"Uh...hi." O'Neill was not happy, not happy at all. The alien stood about ten feet away from them. He, at least it looked like a he, was a little taller than Jack with long black hair set high on his head. Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth were where they were supposed to be on a pale white face that had brown lines sectioning it into pieces. A vertical bisector ran from his hair line to his throat, while horizontal lines ran over his check and jaw lines. Rather an ugly piece of work to look at.

The alien garbled out a few words, glaring at the trespassers. His gun never wavered.

"Daniel?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Jack," the linguist replied. The alien spoke to them again, louder this time, gesturing at their own guns.

"I think he wants us to put down our weapons, sir," said Carter.

"Yeah, I can see that," Jack told her testily, running through options in his head. The gate out of the courtyard was a good twenty yards away. There was a chance they would make it, but with Daniel carrying the girl Jack didn't want to risk it unless they had to. Which it looked like they would with Mr. Fun-and-Games getting more agitated by the second. On the other hand, he hadn't shot them yet, and from the noise he was making it didn't look like he wanted to. Oh, Jack had no doubt that he would as soon as they tried anything, but for the moment they were okay.

But as soon as Jack thought that, another alien stepped out of the building. Angrier than the first one.

"Get ready to run," said Jack quietly, his eyes intent on the second alien as it stormed towards them . . . and cuffed the other one on the back of the head. The alien shouting got even louder as the two yelled at each other, ending in the second one angrily gesturing at SG-1 to leave already. Jack wasn't about to question orders. "Let's go."

Jack brought up the rear as his team ran for the outside world. Not followed, they heaved a collective breath before turning to the world around them.

The street beyond was about as bad as O'Neill had guessed from the junkyard. The streets of the slum, while not packed, were definitely not empty. People like the junkyard guys roamed in tattered clothing, jumping out of the way of the occasional car – it worked like a car anyway – that sputtered by. Grimy like the industrial side of any Earth city, the buildings looked like they were barely standing. Garbage and its smell littered the gutters, leaving little to the imagination about where it had come from. Even in the partly overcast daylight, the neighborhood was in shadows.

No one seemed to take note of the five non-natives, or if they did, they didn't gaze long. Eyes slid off them like oil, too troubled by their own miseries to care about them.

"Which way now?" asked Daniel as he glanced around to get his bearings.

"I believe that way," Teal'c pointed across the street and to the right, "leads to the center of the city."

"Then that's the way we'll go," O'Neill decided. He looked at the girl in Daniel's arms and hoped she would last till they found her some help. She still looked barely alive; the dressings Carter had put over her wounds were soaked in blue blood.

The alley they followed to the center of the city led to another main street that led to another couple of dark alleys. Jack felt for sure someone was going to jump out and mug them, but no one did. The people on this planet obviously had learned to steer clear of strangers. He watched as Carter approached a woman in a doorway, but she shuffled off throwing suspicious glares over her shoulder before the Major could say anything.

"I wonder why know one will talk to us," Carter murmured when she rejoined them. Off Jack's look she said, "No really, sir. A lot of these people have weapons. You would think someone would get curious as to why four aliens are walking through their neighborhood carrying a half dead girl."

Jack shrugged. It was kinda strange when she put it like that, but still . . . "Maybe they just don't want trouble," he suggested. "I for one am glad for the lack of a welcoming committee."

"I guess." Carter glanced around them, taking in the shabby buildings once more. "I just wonder what's so bad about strangers that we're being avoided like the plague."

"Let's not borrow trouble," O'Neill replied, really wishing she hadn't brought that up. They had other problems at the moment, like finding a hospital. "How's she doing?" he asked Daniel who had settled the girl on the pavement for a breather.

"She's still bleeding but it doesn't look as bad. If she were human she would be dead from the blood loss." Daniel looked up with his mouth set in a grim line. He didn't have to say the rest. Jack nodded. He helped Daniel carefully gather the girl back into his arms and they set off again for the center of the city where hopefully they would find some help.

Almost half an hour and half the city later, the smattering of people in the streets gradually grew, bursting into the throng of an open market. Unlike the darker streets they had left behind, the market was loud and chaotic, thriving with life and spirit. To Jack it looked like the fish market in Chicago, except with more people jostling each other for space and haggling back and forth. And they all were aliens with black hair and lined faces that . . . moved?

Jack stopped short in surprise as the face of the guy in front of him actually split along the lines like a stage curtain, revealing five more eyes inside his head like a second face. That was just too creepy.

"Oh wow," said Daniel softly behind him, clearly as impressed as Jack was. And there were more doing it to. An old lady leaned down to inspect something, her face opening right up.

"A most interesting feature," said Teal'c. Jack could only nod in agreement.

Since they were standing like rocks in a river, the four of them quickly pulled themselves together and headed into the maelstrom. And this time they weren't ignored. They recieved curious looks, but the vendors were just as quick to shove goods in their faces in an attempt to sell, sell, sell. Every now and then, as they wove through the crowd, Jack saw other offworlders trading at various stalls. There weren't many, but enough to show that they were a regular presence. Nearby, one such alien, a tall guy dressed in red was leaning so far over the table, Jack thought he was going to fall over. The vendor had backed up as far has he could – which wasn't far given the cramped space he was allotted.

They were just passing behind them when suddenly the offworlder spun around, his long, pale hair making a whipping sound as it cut through the air. Startled eyes met Jack's, then raked over his teammates, stopping on Daniel. Before he could so much as blink, Jack found himself, once again facing the business end of a gun. This just really wasn't their day.

Section 3: New Friends

Reflexively, Jack raised his own weapon a second later and put himself between Daniel and the alien that was shouting at them. The nervous and silent crowd pulled back quickly, leaving them in a bubble of space. One part of Jack's brain carefully took note of it while the other was getting royally pissed off. Just what the hell was going on?!

"Daniel, you didn't accidentally do anything to him, did you?" Jack asked when the alien finally finished yelling.

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

"Sir," said Sam, "I think he just asked us a question."

"Well that's great. Too bad we don't know what it was," Jack glared at the alien. He was tall, probably a foot taller than Jack, with brownish red hair in thin braids. What Jack had originally thought was pale hair was in fact a set of tentacles, covered in tattoos. The alien's hard expression softened slightly after Jack spoke. Then he said something else.

"Daniel? Teal'c?" Jack was starting to get nervous with this whole communication problem.

The alien's eyes narrowed. "What . . . are you?"

Jack could practically hear Daniel's jaw drop. As it was, only a lifetime of training and combat kept Jack's gun in his hands and fixed on the alien that had just spoken English. Fricken English. The broken stargate hadn't done its language trick so how did this guy speak English?

Before they could get an answer though, a flying green slug whizzed into their bubble talking a mile a minute to the red giant. Jack sighed in relief as the big guy pointed his weapon into the air. With a shift and a click, he snapped it together and sheathed it in a holster down his back.

"The authorities are coming," he said turning back to SG-1, again speaking in clear English. "We must go before they get here. I will carry the girl."

Whoa, that was quick. "I don't think so," said Jack.

"The authorities here do not take kindly offworlders who cause trouble. We need to get out of here now if we want to avoid getting thrown into a cell. Your companion is tiring, and we need to move quickly," the alien said briskly.

This was so not good. "Why should we trust you?" Jack asked.

"We don't have time for this!" the little green slug announced suddenly. Jack glanced at it, not really surprised that it spoke English too. "We are the only ones on this planet who speak your language, and unless you want to spend the rest of your short pathetic life in a zoo, I suggest you come with us, human."

Jack glanced back Daniel and Carter in surprise. Did he just say human? "We - "

"It's now or never," the giant snarled as he grabbed O'Neill's arm and pulled him through the crowd that had resumed its normal activity. Jack shook his arm free as the commotion not a hundred feet away grew louder. Craning his neck, he saw ten of the indigenous aliens with some not so nice looking faces approaching. People drew back in obvious fear. That and the growing agitation of the two offworlders made his decision.

"Alright," said Jack "We'll come with you. But you're not touching the girl."

A pained expression flitted across the giant's face, but he didn't have time to argue. Instead, he spun on his heel and led them through the market to a nearby side street.

Once in the relative safety of the shadows, the two aliens slowed their pace but continued walking. Jack just hoped they knew where they were going. The two never let SG-1 fall behind; in fact the giant walked beside Daniel and kept looking at the girl he held in his arms. Jack was starting to get annoyed with this whole situation.

"So, you got names?" he asked the two aliens not so kindly.

The giant shot him an annoyed look. "D'argo. This is Rygel."

"Dominar - " the slug began only to be cut off by the giant in his own language. They continued on in silence, seeming not to care whom SG-1 was. Vaguely insulted, it only added to Jack’s annoyance.

A glance at Carter, told him she was nervous about the situation too, but was taking it in stride. Teal'c nodded at him to say he was on guard, and Daniel's look told him that the archeologist was getting tired but was equally determined to keep going and keep the girl safe. Jack shot a look at the aliens then back at Daniel. His friend nodded with a tight smile.

"Hey, I think we've gone far enough," said Jack, coming to a stop. The aliens exchanged a look then both looked at the girl. D'argo shook his head.

"We need to get Chiana to help. Our lodging house isn't far," he told them. Let me carry her. We'll talk once she's safe."

If Daniel hadn't been on the verge of falling down, Jack would never have allowed it. As it was, he had already followed them this far, and if the looks the giant gave the girl were anything to go by, he had no ill intentions toward her. "Chiana?" he asked.

"Her name. We're crewmates." The giant stared into Jack's eyes, and the Colonel had a feeling that he was going to carry her no matter what.

"Alright."

D'argo immediately gathered the girl into his arms, whispering to her in his own language as he turned and continued down the street.

"Sir, do you think this is wise?" asked Carter quietly. "It might have been better to wait for the authorities."

"I don't think he's going to hurt her," said Jack.

"Still, we're trusting them an awful lot here. I've gotten turned around in all these streets. I don't know if I could get us back to the ‘gate."

"I too am concerned," said Teal'c. "However, these two are the first beings we have encountered that we can understand. And they have not shown us any hostility since the tall one lowered his weapon."

"He knew we were human," added Daniel.

"But is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Jack asked, wondering what to make of it.

"A good thing, you dolt!" the little green slug, Rygel, turned and snapped. Jack and his team started in surprise. Obviously they had good hearing. "Otherwise he," the creature jerked a finger at D'argo, "would have blown you're heads off for touching her. You're lucky to be alive."

"We're here," D'argo said, ignoring their conversation. They had reached a medium sized building that had definitely seen better days. The neighborhood wasn't as bad as the one his team had arrived in, but Holiday Inn it was not. D'argo and Rygel had a brief conversation as they headed through the lobby cum bar that ended when the flying slug went to talk to the one of the locals at the counter. "This way." D'argo led them to the stairs.

"Where did your friend go?" asked Daniel as they followed him.

"To get a healer," came the reply. The giant led them down a hallway to an unlocked room where he put the girl down on the bed. Jack didn't miss the concern on D'argo's face or the anger when he inspected her injuries.

"She's a friend of yours?" he asked.

D'argo glanced up at him but didn't answer right away. "Yes," he finally said. "Where did you find her?"

"In a junkyard," said Jack. "Somewhere . . . " He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the outside world.

"Where you landed?"

Landed? You could say that. Jack looked at his team, wondering how much they should tell this stranger. "Yeah," he said, and left it at that. D'argo nodded, his attention already back on the girl. He was taking off the last of her clothing - carefully since much of it was stuck to her drying blood.

"Will she be alright?" asked Daniel. He approached the bed slowly, concern written on every line of his face. Sam too inched forward to sit on the room's sole chair near the bed. Jack waited till she glanced at him before nodding and taking up a more comfortable position by the door with Teal'c.

"I hope so," D'argo answered. "She's strong."

The whirring sound Jack had come to associate with Rygel approached, followed soon after by the slug himself and one of the locals. SG-1 received a funny look, but the healer didn't comment. Daniel moved out of her way to let her get to her patient, their alien companions assisting her and answering questions.

While they were busy, all SG-1 could do was wait.

Section 4: Deals

For the next arn, everything around D'argo melted away until only he, Chiana, and the healer existed. Clamping down on his emotions, he helped the old Qujagan woman clean and bandage his lover's many wounds. And he wasn't going to think about it. No, because if he thought about it he would take on the planet single handedly until he found those who had done this to her. And then he would rip them apart alive until their screams drained away with their lives.

"I've done all I can," the healer's soft voice said. "Her bandages need to be changed every few arns. It would be better if she sleeps. There is much pain."

D'argo nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Blue blood was already beginning to seep through the first bandages they had tied. If not for her shallow breathing, Chiana almost looked like she was merely sleeping.

"Is it safe to move her?" he asked. The healer shrugged.

"There is much pain," she repeated. "It would hurt, but she needs care more." The healer's hand ghosted along the side of Chiana's face, careful not to disturb her wounds. "May Ekan look gladly upon you, child," she whispered. With a sad smile for D'argo, she stood and left.

"I talked to Pilot," said Rygel. "Norianti will be ready when we get back to Moya."

"Good." D'argo looked up at the humans that had found Chiana. "We should take them with us," he said.

"Right, just what we need. Four more humans to get us into trouble."

Before D'argo could reply, the human that had carried Chiana spoke again. "Will she be okay?" he asked.

The Luxan looked back at the still Nebari before answering. "She should be eventually. We need to get her back to our ship though," he turned back to he humans. "You should probably come with us."

"Do you mind if we have a little chit-chat before you start making the honeymoon plans?" the gray-haired man sitting by the door asked. D'argo nodded briefly, missing neither the cold glare nor the sarcasm. They had the time to spare, and he had questions of his own - like how the hell four humans with guns got to this end of Tormented Space. Not to mention the fact that they appeared to find all of this normal. They were very different from the majority of the humans D'argo had met on Earth.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced yet," said the man who had carried Chiana. "My name is Daniel Jackson from the planet Earth. This is Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Teal'c." They all stood as he indicated each in turn. Both his voice and motions were gentle; Jackson obviously didn't want to offend them. He wore a weapon on his thigh though, and appeared more than capable of using it. O'Neill was the wary gray-haired man well armed with a guarded expression. D'argo recognized his rank as important and nodded to him in acknowledgement. The woman was also well armed but her face was softer and more open. The dark skinned man was Teal'c who had stood silent and motionless by the door since they had arrived. The perfect soldier. D'argo didn't like him.

"You said you were D'argo and - "

"Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth of the Hynerian Empire," Rygel interrupted Jackson. D'argo rolled his eyes and got to his feet, moving so that he was between Chiana and the strangers. "As you should know since we were on your planet half a cycle ago."

The four humans looked at each other, clearly surprised. "You were on our planet?" asked Daniel Jackson.

"Yes, for over a monen," Rygel continued coldly. "That's where we learned to speak your language. What I want to know is how you got here."

"We would have known if you had landed on our planet," said O'Neill, not believing them. "We would have been the first to know."

D'argo and Rygel exchanged a look, each asking the other, How could they not know? "This can't be good," D'argo said in his own language so the humans couldn't understand. Not only should they have been recognized from the TV, but there was no way the humans could have gotten out here without the wormhole that Pilot and John had effectively collapsed forever.

"Dominar," Jackson said eliciting a surprised but nevertheless smug smile on Rygel's lips, "when do you think you were on Earth?"

"At your Christmas," Rygel replied, more warmly than before. D'argo fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"You shouldn't have the capability to get here," he added. The humans glanced at each other again. D'argo could see that they were a very close-knit group. He wondered if they would help him get John and Aeryn back. Since Chiana had been his only other reliable fighter, it would be nice to have the extra firepower.

"Jack, I think we should tell them," said Jackson quietly. "I think we can trust them, and they might be able to help."

O'Neill glanced briefly at his subordinate, then at Chiana then back at D'argo who calmly met his gaze. This was not the time to flinch.

"We came here through the stargate," said O'Neill.

"And what's that?" D'argo had never heard of it.

"It's a device that creates a wormhole between two places in space," Carter explained.

"Wormhole?" Rygel glared at D'argo as if it were his fault. The Luxan sighed heavily himself.

"A subspace - "

"We know what wormholes are," D'argo cut her off, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Did they ever know! "Where is this device? Is it a ship?" he asked.

"No," said O'Neill. "It's a metal ring. The one here is in a junkyard."

"Where you found Chiana?"

O'Neill nodded.

"Can you work it?"

Again, the four traded looks. "No," Carter replied. "The device we normally use to dial home with is missing. And we don't have a power source to do it manually."

"So you are stranded," said Rygel. "Four humans who know about wormholes stuck on this hostile planet. D'argo's right. You better come with us if you don't want to get yourselves killed."

"Why? What's the danger?" asked O'Neill.

"Two of our friends were kidnapped by the government here. We found out it's because they are unknown aliens. One of them is human," said D'argo meeting the other man's eyes. "He has also had a price on his head for the last three cycles because he knows about wormholes. You are in a lot of danger, and not just from the people here."

"And you'd be willing to help us?" asked Carter. She traded another look with O'Neill. "At what price?"

D'argo grinned. "You help me break my friends out. Chiana's too injured to help, and Rygel's too small to hold a decent weapon."

"I am not small! I am well proportioned," declared the Hynerian with a sniff.

D'argo snorted. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." He turned back to the humans. "That leaves just me."

"It seems like your getting more out of this deal than us," said O'Neill. "Not that I doubt you, which I actually do, but we help you in exchange for . . .?" he lifted his eyebrows, "Nothing?"

Now that he thought about it, D'argo admitted that it did sound like half the deals he and Moya's crew kept getting handed. "Crichton knows about wormholes. He's the only one that does in this part of space. From what we know about your planet, you shouldn't be able to be here. He might be able to get you back."

"Oh that's easy," Rygel grumbled. "Just have to reform a collapsed wormhole."

Ignoring him, D'argo added, "Or we'll find you a power source for your machine."

"And if we don't help?" asked O'Neill.

D'argo again looked at Rygel and saw the sad understanding there. "Then you walk away now. We won’t stop you. I'll rescue my friends on my own, and you will have to find your own power source without getting captured yourself." His Hynerian friend looked away. D'argo turned back to O'Neill whose sarcastic expression had changed to understanding. "What will it be?"

"Looks like you made yourself a deal," said O'Neill.

"Thank you."

"So what's next? Your ship?" The human commander was all business now.

"Yeah," D'argo replied, this time turning to gather Chiana carefully in his arms, his returned anger warring with the urge to cry for her pain. "Pilot, Stark, and Norianti are waiting for us."

"I though you said you were alone?" queried Jackson.

"To fight, yes. Pilot can't leave Moya, and Stark and Norianti are a little . . ."

"Insane," Rygel finished while D’argo was still searching for nicer words. "Crichton unhinged was more stable than those two."

"Rygel, shut up," D'argo sighed as he followed the Hynerian from the room followed by their mysterious human allies.

Section 5: Taxi

"That's your ship?" O'Neill asked. He and his teammates had once more followed the two aliens through the streets of the city, this time further inward to a bustling spaceport. The ship they were now approaching was silver and, in Jack's opinion, kinda looked like a bug, rounded and squat. But hey, anything was better than pyramids.

Neither D'argo nor Rygel answered his question since it obviously was their ship. All of a sudden, D'argo barked, making Jack start.

"Voice recognition code," said Carter interestedly. "Is it like a password or are the sensors keyed only to your voice and speech patterns?" When D'argo ignored her, Carter just shrugged to Daniel. "Since he used his own language I'd guess that it's tied to his native language. Obviously no one here can reproduce it. There's probably a password though for when he's on his home planet. I wonder how far that is from here." Jack and Teal'c joined her and Daniel as D'argo spoke again and a door opened, a set of step stairs descending to meet them.

"Cool," said O'Neill.

"Sounds like he has a set of vocal commands for different functions," Daniel commented.

"So what that first one was for?" asked Carter curiously.

Ahead of them, Rygel had already disappeared inside. D'argo called for them to hurry up from where he waited by the steps. O'Neill prodded Carter in the ribs to get her walking again toward the ship. She hid it well, but Jack could tell from the gleam in her eyes that she couldn't wait to uncover the secrets of this unknown technology. She was just geeky that way he smiled to himself as he followed his team up the steps. The interior was small, and aside from his people, Rygel, D'argo, and the unconscious white girl, empty. Jack looked around for another door, suspicions prickling the back of his neck.

"Where are your insane friends?" he asked casually. The weight of the gun in his hand all of a sudden felt very reassuring. Not that he thought they'd try anything. Just pull one over on him. And Jack didn't like the thought of that one bit.

"On Moya," said Rygel as if that explained everything, "our ship."

"And this is . . .?" Jack raised his eyebrows. From where he stood, this looked like a ship too.

"*My* ship," D'argo answered. "Don't touch anything."

"Oh. Okay." Jack relaxed slightly, still a little confused.

"It's probably just a shuttle, sir," Carter whispered helpfully into his ear.

"I knew that," he growled back. Carter ignored his glare and moved forward out of the way as D'argo bent to settle the girl on the floor, where apparently the passengers would be sitting too since the only chairs belonged to the pilots.

"You, uh . . ."

"Daniel," the archeologist supplied.

"Yeah. Make sure she doesn't get jostled in the flight," D'argo ordered. "It should be a smooth ride, but just in case - "

D'argo's caution was cut off by an alarm going off and a voice speaking in the language that sounded like the one he had used to open the door. "Frell!!" The giant leapt to his feet, knocked Jack out of the way and rounded on Major Carter. "You stupid woman! I told you not to touch anything!"

"Now wait just a minute!" Jack threw himself between his 2IC and the raging D'argo. No way was he going off on one of his people. Jack met the alien's glare with one of his own, letting D'argo know that if he wanted to yell at her, he would have to go through O'Neill.

"D'argo just fix it before we're all blown to bits!" Rygel snapped, breaking the tension. With an honest to God snarl and shake of his head, D'argo pushed both Jack and Sam toward the back and drew his gun, barking commands. Before Jack could even protest in their defense, a console opened and D'argo inserted his gun like a key. Instantly, the alarm ceased blaring. Complete silence.

"What the hell just happened?!" Jack's voice snapped into the quiet like a whip.

"Your stupid soldier activated the self-destruct sequence!" D'argo snarled back, fire burning in his eyes as he glared at Carter.

"I didn't touch anything!" she protested. "Colonel, I swear, I was only looking."

"Well your 'looking' must have involved your skin because alien DNA is what activates the self-destruct," D'argo shot back. "You can't touch any of the panels in here unless I've spit on you first."

SG-1 stared at him. Jack said the first thing that came to mind. "Eww. That's just gross."

D'argo rubbed a hand over his face, like a tired parent. "Just don't touch anything. And you might want to sit down for takeoff."

Teal'c, Jack, and Sam sat on the floor next to Daniel and the girl. "Please put you seatbacks and tray tables in their - "

"Upright and locked positions," Rygel and D'argo chorused. "Will you just shut up?"

They knew? Jack turned and met his team's equally surprised looks. How could they know? The feeling that something was seriously wrong again wiggled into place at the back of Jack's neck. First, they claimed to have visited Earth, now they *knew* one of the most quoted lines in modern Earth society. But there was no way they could have landed on Earth without the SGC knowing about it. *They* had even said the humans should know about them. Jack could only hope that he hadn't led his team into another trap. He listened with half an ear as Daniel and Carter attempted to ask questions of their alien hosts, but the two, fed up and annoyed, either told them to shut up or ignored them until Sam and Daniel gave up.

With a flick of his head, Jack got their attention. He nodded at their two new friends then at his weapon. Sam and Daniel traded a look then nodded. A glance at Teal'c told Jack all that he needed to know. They would be ready for anything.

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

Consciousness fluttered like a butterfly through his head. It was pretty. Lots of colors on a black background. But it was cold. Everything was cold, he realized. John woke. He shivered, the hair on his body rising. "Oh God, not this again," he croaked through dry lips. Slowly, so the light wouldn't hurt too badly, he opened his eyes. Yep, he was naked.

Section 6: Awakenings

Pain. Pain everywhere. And darkness. Those were the first thoughts that accompanied Chiana back to the land of the living. Too tired and too hurt to try and open her eyes, the Nebari lay still. The surface beneath her was lukewarm and vibrating, a familiar rumble edging into her awareness. Lo'la. She was on D'argo's ship, safe. Memories of the few days they had spent on the Qujagan homeworld filtered back, a myriad of smells, sounds, and textures. No images. The violence of the last day echoed on her skin only to be resolutely pushed away to that dark corner of her mind where she kept the dren that happened in life. There was nothing to be done about it now. Time to move on again.

If only the pain would go away for a moment. Chiana knew it wouldn't though. Just as she knew that what had happened wouldn't disappear. But for now she just wanted to lie to herself. So she did.

Above her, voices floated softly in the air. Not hard or dangerous, but unfamiliar, she realized with a start. Panic hit her and she opened her eyes trying desperately to see but seeing nothing. Still blind - strangers - D'argo's ship, she knew it was his, she could feel it. Where was D'argo?!

"Hey there. Hey, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you," one of the voices, the one closest to her said gently. She could feel his breath and it was not reassuring! Chiana struggled to raise her arm to defend herself, hit him, anything, but her arms felt like fire and her eyes like ice.

"D'arg - " she whispered hoarsely, igniting another flame down her throat, into her chest where it spread like a fuel leak. It hurt so badly!

"We're not going to hurt you," the voice repeated.

"I think she's panicking, Daniel," another male voice told the first one. "Better call tentacles over."

"D'argo," the first voice called out. Chiana didn't hear what he said next, she only heard her lover's name and a moment later felt his fingers running down her face.

"D'argo?" she tried again, managing more than a croak. "That you?"

"Yeah, it's me," the Luxan's deep, soft voice rumbled. Chiana smiled in relief.

"We're in Lo'la?" she asked.

"Yes. You're on the floor across from the door."

"And . . . and them?" The voices, three - four of them that hovered above her.

"Some humans that we picked up. They found you in a junkyard." Chiana nodded as best she could. She remembered a junkyard nearby. "They're going to help us get John and Aeryn."

"How did they get here?"

"No idea."

Weird. She would think about the humans and their presence here later. "Moya?" she asked next.

"Almost there," said D'argo. Again his hand passed over her face, and then she felt his lips brush her forehead. "We're going to enter the atmosphere soon. The human next to you is Daniel. He carried you from the junkyard. He'll be the only one touching you." Chiana could feel the glare D'argo was directing at the others. "I'll be back soon. I gotta land us."

"Okay. Right." Chiana didn't want him to go even the short distance to the cockpit. In the dark it felt like a system away.

"Chiana?"

"Frogface!" Rygel was there too. His presence was just as reassuring as D'argo's had been.

"You look terrible," the Hynerian informed her, but Chiana heard through it. She wanted to laugh but couldn't.

"I feel terrible," she replied, the weak smile she had conjured earlier fading into a grimace. "So more humans?" she said to distract herself.

"There are four of them," said Rygel. "They say they've never heard of us." He proceeded then to tell her briefly of their meeting and she was introduced to them. They added commentary when necessary. The one called Major Carter tried to explain how this thing called a stargate worked on planets but the Colonel O'Neill interrupted with a sarcastic, "Carter, I don't even understand what you're talking about. English please." That was when Chiana noticed that Rygel had been speaking John's language while she had continued on in her own tongue.

Before she could utter her own greeting in the Earth language, D'argo was talking to Pilot, and they were touching down in Moya's hangar.

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

Naked and cold, John sat up. Naked he could understand. Well, he could if he were on Moya and not freezing his ass off in this room. Unpainted walls, no furniture, no carpet . . . it would really suck to live here, he thought absently. Of course, there he was. Glancing around, he saw another figure lying on the floor nearby; it was Aeryn, as naked as he was. And while that was a pleasing thought in most situations, this was not one of them.

"Aeryn," he scuttled over and gently shook her shoulder. "Aeryn, honey, wake up." He shook her shoulder again with no response. Then he grinned at a sudden thought. What the hell, he thought, she'd said yes.

John leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on Aeryn's lips.

Still no response. Sighing, John went back to shaking her shoulder. "Aeryn, wake up. Come on, baby, we're in trouble. Again," he added as an afterthought. Finally, a gentle groan and the fluttering of her eyelids heralded her return to consciousness.

"John?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You're naked."

"So are you," he grinned as Aeryn's eyes widened and she sat up, trying to cover herself. After a moment, she glanced around at the room with an annoyed grimace for him and stopped.

"Do you know where we are?" she asked.

"Nope, just woke up myself. I remember a ship coming out of nowhere, kissing you, then a shattering sensation. That's it."

Aeryn nodded. "Me too." She looked around the room again. "I suppose they are watching us," she commented. John shrugged, not seeing any obvious surveillance equipment. They helped each other to their feet slowly to stretch out abused muscles and wandered over to the door. It was solid metal, like the walls, with no door-handle or hinges on the inside. John could barely get a fingernail in the crack between the door and the doorframe. "Frelling solid," muttered Aeryn, turning to him in disgust.

"Guess we'll have to wait till someone comes a' callin'," said John. He ran a critical eye over his love. "Are you okay?"

Aeryn nodded again once. "Yes. A little sore, cold. But I'm fine. No real pain so I think the baby is alright." John pulled her close, sensing the worry in her voice. He ran his hands down her arms and back to warm her up.

"So," John nuzzled into her hair, "since we're stuck here for the moment, you want to set a date?"

"For the wedding?"

"Mmmhun,"

"How about after we get out of here and before we get shot at or captured again," Aeryn suggested with a wry grin. "Although with our luck, we'll probably be shot at and captured at our wedding."

"Winona can be your Matron of Honor," said John. "Of course, we'll need to find her first."

"We'll pick her up on the way out," Aeryn murmured reassuringly.

They lapsed into silence then, both knowing that was wishful thinking. After all, how often did things go to plan? But neither said anything to break the illusion of control. Because maybe, just maybe things would go right. The only thing that was certain was that they only had now.

Section 7: Moya

Daniel helped D'argo settle the blind girl in his arms. The poor thing winced and hissed in pain when the two men jostled her fragile body. Daniel felt one of her wounds begin to bleed again through the bandage and silently cursed those that had done this to her. She seemed so young and innocent, though he did notice that she kept herself from crying out as D'argo held her.

A quick glance out the front window, told Daniel they were completely inside the other ship now. From what he'd seen as they had landed, the larger ship was on another planet in the middle of an ocean. The only question was what kind of ship, for water or for space. He'd thought they meant a space ship, but since they were in the water . . . Daniel would ask when he got the chance.

"So are you in charge of this boat too?" asked Jack after D'argo spoke the words to open the door. The alien glanced at him and said, "yes," before heading down the steps.

With a shrug to his team and another subtle look that told them to be ready for anything, Jack followed their hosts through the doors into what looked like a workroom and hangar combined. Large and airy, the golden walls curved ovoidly to the floor, a soft light emanating from behind rib-like supports that left much of the room in shadow. Two other space ships were to the right. The smaller one was too far away for Daniel to get a good look at because it was hidden by the other ship that was clearly a fighter, black and sleek.

"Would you look at that?" Sam breathed reverently. The pilot in her was clearly impressed. Even Daniel could appreciate the aerodynamic design that would fly efficiently in both space and atmosphere.

"Carter," Jack reprimanded her gently even as he gave the vessel a lingering look before ushering the team after their hosts.

The arrival of two other aliens, however, quickly diverted both theirs and Daniel's attention. The "insane" ones, Rygel had called them. Daniel watched with interest, surprised that they were of different species, both of each other and of D'argo and Rygel. The first was an old woman who looked like a human - with an extra eye in her forehead that glowed blue.

"Hello, humans," she said briskly in English before focusing on Chiana and reverting back to her native language. Clearly, she was the healer of the group; Daniel noticed her going through a cloth bag, as she hurried D'argo and his burden out of the room. She looked more competent than insane.

The second newcomer, on the other hand, was a little off. He was probably from human descent, Daniel thought. One half of his face was covered by a bronze mask. The man hung back from the others, bouncing slightly on his feet and talking to himself. As D'argo and the old woman walked by, he reached out a hand to Chiana only to snatch it back again before following them in a shuffling gait.

"So," said Jack, turning to Rygel with an expectant look. "Do we get lemonade?"

"We don't have lemons and we're out of sugar," the small alien answered briefly.

"Oh?" said Jack, surprised with the answer.

"Follow me," Rygel sighed. "I'll show you your quarters." He turned slowly in his floating chair and headed for the door.

Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, Daniel fell into step beside him as they ventured down the golden hallway. "Nice ship," he commented to break the ice. He noted that the spaces between the ribs could be used for cover. "Is it for space travel?"

"Yes. She's a Leviathan."

"So why are we in the middle of an ocean?" asked Jack with his usual directness.

"The water has minerals that are helping her and Pilot heal from being disconnected," Rygel said without looking at him.

"Disconnected?" Sam jumped into the conversation. "Your pilot has an interface with the ship?"

"Of course he does!" Rygel snapped, stopping to look at them in surprise. After a moment his look softened into resignation. "But then you're humans. You don't know anything."

Both Jack and Sam bristled, Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel was about to say something about how they were not as stupid as they appeared, but Rygel went on before he got a chance.

"Moya is a biomechanoid. She and Pilot are symbiotes."

"Are you saying the ship is alive?" asked Carter. When Rygel nodded her eyes widened in wonder. Daniel felt his own surprise as he looked at the hallway around them. They really were ribs. Amazing! In all their travels, he had never seen anything like this.

"Can she feel us? See? Hear?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Does she mind carrying us?"

"What about her systems? Biomechanoid, does that mean that some of the systems are biologic and some mechanical, or that it's a blend of both? Do you know how she was made?"

Rygel shrugged and continued down the hall, taking the left branch at the next junction. "She was born, I think," he said, ignoring the other questions.

"Born?" Jack glanced at Daniel with the same surprise the archeologist himself felt.

"Who could I talk to onboard who would know?" Sam asked, refusing to give up on this new wealth of information.

"Pilot, but he might not want to talk," Rygel answered. "Aeryn might know."

"Aeryn?" Jack jumped on the unfamiliar name. "One of your people we're rescuing?"

"She and Crichton, yes." He turned down another curved hallway, this one with lattice doors opening on either side. "Here's where you will stay," he told them. Rygel showed them how to open the doors to the three rooms on the hallway. Each one was spacious and sparse, containing only empty beds. The same soft glow filtered from the walls and ceiling. It looked cozy, if a little bare, almost like a cave.

"I suppose you'll need blankets," Ryegl eyed the rooms critically. "Pilot," he said to the air. Daniel glanced at Jack and Teal'c who had raised an eyebrow, but then an alien voice rasped from around them. Rygel rattle something off in his own language.

"Intership communications," Teal'c said softly.

"What did he say?" asked Daniel, when Rygel finished. The small being added something else to the air before answering.

"He's sending a DRD with blankets and microbes."

"DRD?" "Microbes?" asked Jack and Sam at the same time.

"Diagnostic Repair Drones," Rygel pointed to a yellow robot about the size of a cat approaching them on the floor. The little thing extended a syringe filled with a red liquid. "The translator microbes will let you understand all of us so we won't have to speak your barbaric language. Stark and Pilot don't speak English so you'll need the microbes to talk to them."

"When you say microbes . . . ?" Jack left it hanging.

"They colonize at the base of the brain and allow you to understand all other languages."

"Uh uh, no, no way," Jack said stepping back. "I'm not letting anything into my head. Understand?" For once, Daniel was inclined to agree with him. He shot a nervous glance at Sam who had paled at the thought of something else in her mind.

"Dominar, we've had some bad experiences with parasites," Daniel attempted to explain.

"Who hasn't?" Rygel returned. "But the microbes only translate, they do not take over your mind."

"Could we ever take them out?" asked Sam, eyeing the DRD with distaste.

"Why would you want to do that?" he was genuinely surprised by the question.

"Umm, it just wouldn't be a good idea," Daniel tried again. Janet would go ape-shit for one thing, not to mention the fact that they would probably be grounded by Hammond indefinitely.

"Ridiculous!" Rygel snapped. On cue, the little DRD rolled forward towards Jack who reacted in typical Jack fashion. When the smoke finally cleared, there was very little of the yellow robot left and one very angry two foot alien flying out of reach. "What the frell was that for?!" he yelled.

"Rygel! What happened?!" D'argo yelled over the communications. Daniel could hear the sound of running feet approaching from the hallway.

"Sorry," Jack offered, not sounding in the least apologetic.

"Jack." "Colonel," said Daniel and Sam reprovingly. He would never change.

"I do not believe that aided our endeavor," Teal'c added as D'argo barreled in, sword in hand. He took in the remains of the DRD, Jack's weapon and the other guilty looking members of SG-1 quickly.

"What happened?" he asked, lowering his sword.

"He didn't mean to," Daniel said hastily, darting a glance at his sheepish CO. "The thing tried to give Jack microbes and he kind of overreacted. If there's some way to make this up to you, if we hurt the ship . . ." Daniel trailed off, hoping against hope that they hadn't pissed off their hosts by destroying their property. If the ship really was alive, who knew what kind of damage Jack had inadvertently done.

"It's just that we really don't want those bug things in our heads," continued Jack. "We can communicate just fine as we have been."

"You killed a DRD over translator microbes?" asked D'argo, clearly taken aback.

"Rather be safe than sorry," Jack replied with tight smile. The person Rygel had been talking to earlier interrupted them then.

"I'm sorry Pilot, but it's gone," D'argo answered, regarding the dead DRD sadly. Pilot asked something else to which the tall alien snapped, "No, it wasn't my fault! It was one of the humans!" He listened again to the tired voice. "He's not very happy with you," he told Jack.

But thankfully, D'argo didn't seem to be angry about it, or Rygel for that matter. It was rather surprising considering that most captains - COs in general, he amended, thinking of Jack - tended to be possessive of their vessels and gear.

"So you don't want microbes?" D'argo asked when the Pilot finally finished yelling at him. Another oddity that the crewman had such leeway to do so.

"No," said Jack. D'argo sighed and shrugged.

"Fine. You hungry?"

"We don't have enough to feed them!" Rygel declared indignantly, but D'argo ignored him, gesturing for SG-1 to follow him. Leaving their packs, they once again entered the maze of golden hallways.

D'argo showed them to the small dining room then left them to raid what served as a cupboard. A little surprised that they had to cook for themselves, Daniel was even more surprised that most of the food was recognizable. Cans of dehydrated vegetables, a little bit of frozen meat, and a large supply of flour and other baking goods sat on the shelves next to other foods in alien packaging.

"The cuisine suggests that they were indeed on Earth," commented Teal'c as the four of them took stock of the pantry. Daniel nodded in agreement.

"You know, I've been thinking about that," said Sam. Jack glanced at her to go on. Putting down her gun, Sam leaned against the table to give the rest of them room to cook. "We know that the stargate's language translation mechanism didn't work when we came through," she began.

"We also didn't come out where we were supposed to," Jack interjected. "Do you see a frying pan anywhere?" Teal'c handed him one and passed a pot to Daniel for the green beans. The linguist listened as Sam continued, wondering now how he was going to get the can open.

"Yes, sir. I think that's related. I think the gate we came through brought us to an alternate universe."

"Like the mirror?" Daniel forgot about finding a can opener.

"I don't know yet. But it would explain both why these aliens were on Earth without our knowing it and the language problem."

"So how do we get back?" asked Jack, needing no further convincing. Funny how it all seemed normal in an odd way, Daniel thought.

"I'll need to check out the stargate again," said Sam.

"Unfortunately we are far from the stargate," said Teal'c. "Our hosts have brought us to another planet."

"But they still need our help to get their friends out of the other place back there," said Jack. "I trust the big guy on that."

This brought Daniel's head once more out of the search for a can opener. "Oh?" he asked, surprised. "Why's that?" at Jack's look he added. "Not that I'm disagreeing because I believe him too. But you normally don't . . ."

"Follow strangers to other planets without a damn good reason?" finished Jack. "I know. It's just a feeling. Like with Teal'c. You've seen him with the girl. He just doesn't add up to being a threat."

"Yet he is clearly a warrior," Teal'c pointed out. "And he is never without his weapon."

"But he didn't ask us to check our guns at the door either," Jack indicated the guns and zats they all still carried. "We could take over this ship now if we wanted to."

"Good heavens, why would you want to do that?" Startled, the four of them looked up at the old woman who just bustled in as if she owned the place. While Daniel assured her that they really had no intention of taking over the ship, she maneuvered him out of the way over the can of beans. Grabbing a knife from the counter, she quickly mangled an opening into the top and dumped the beans into the pot.

"Good," she said brightly. "Because Moya, and Pilot for that matter, are really in no shape to do anything but heal. It wouldn't do any good to take her over. The water is in that container," she shoved the pot in Daniel's hands then pushed him towards said container none too gently. A little bewildered, Daniel did as he was told while the old woman sniffed the steaks Jack was frying, her eyes darting back and forth. "No spice," she declared grabbing a jar off the shelf above Sam. She took out some leaves, rolled them into a ball and spit on them. From another jar she took more leaves and mixed them with the first set, spitting on the whole thing again before ripping them to little pieces.

"Oh, no you don't!" Jack snatched the frying pan out of her reach when she tried to scatter her saliva ridden herbs on the steak. "We like it just fine the way it is."

"Nonsense. It will be bland without a little help," she said trying unsuccessfully to spice the steaks. Jack danced out of reach, and Daniel couldn't help but smile at the two of them.

"Bland is good!" the colonel declared, raising the pan above his head and holding her off with an outstretched arm.

"I believe O'Neill is trying to say 'no, thank you,'" Teal'c moved in between the two. Suitably distracted the old woman, who sidled up to the Jaffa with eyes flickering everywhere over his body.

"But you wouldn't say 'no,' now would you?" she inched closer. "Tall, strong," she murmured. To his credit, Teal'c only lifted an eyebrow at her proposition.

"I do not believe that would be wise," he said.

"Wisdom is best left to those who do not have sex," she replied, grabbing his hand. Teal'c quickly pulled it away and stepped back before she could try again.

Daniel blinked. She really was crazy! "So, uhh," he tried to think of something to rescue his friend. "How's Chiana?"

"Chiana," the woman, Norianti he suddenly remembered her name, glanced at him, the predatory look replaced by one of concern. "She will survive. D'argo is with her now. Once Stark puts her to sleep he'll be down to discuss the plan."

"Plan?" asked Jack warily. He still kept his body between her and the steak.

"For getting John and Aeryn out," D'argo himself said from the doorway, joining them. "Why don't you finish cooking first. We'll talk while we eat."

He leant a hand getting out plates and utensils while Daniel and Jack finished the steaks and beans. They were almost done when D'argo joined them at the stove. "She didn't put anything in them, did she?" he whispered anxiously.

"No," Daniel smiled.

"She tried, but we kept it all safe," Jack whispered back. D'argo heaved a sigh of relief, an almost comical expression crossing his face.

"Good work," he clapped them both gently on the shoulder. Glancing at each other, Daniel and Jack joined the rest at the table, ready to serve.

Section 8: Plans

The food was plain, but still an unexpected treat for SG-1. It beat MRE’s any day and most of the strange crap they were given when they were actually invited to eat on the worlds they visited. Though Jack found the familiarity in and of itself weird given the very alien nature of where they were.

As for their hosts, they were definitely among the strangest aliens SG-1 had met. Five plus different – and O’Neill meant different – kinds of aliens living together on a ship that itself was alive was something they had never seen either. It was kind of like something out of Star Trek except that the captain didn’t act like a captain, the crew didn’t act like a crew, and there was a distinct lack of the "we come in peace" vibe. And despite all that, Jack found himself liking D’argo, even trusting him because of the blind girl.

As for the others, Rygel struck him as stuck up but ultimately harmless, and Norianti, the old woman, well, she was just scary. Jack watched from across the table as she spit out a piece of chewed meat, mixed it with some stuff from her jars, chewed again, mixed in more stuff, then put it in a pocket. That was just gross and disturbing, and Jack really didn’t want to know what she was saving it for.

"So, uhh," Jack hastily turned away, "your friends. Why were they captured?"

"From what we gathered at the planet, it was because the Qujagans had never seen their species before," D’argo answered. He took a sip of his drink before continuing. "Their current warlord likes having rare stuff and sends his people out to find it. That’s why they came here. When they saw John and Aeryn in the boat," he gestured to the ocean out the window, "they shot them with something that made them shatter into pieces, collected them, and took them away."

"They shattered into pieces?" said Carter in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"We saw it," D’argo replied coldly. Carter had the good grace to look away, but Jack could already see the wheels turning in her head.

"Where are they now?" Daniel picked up the conversation.

"They’re being held in a science lab in the city," said Rygel. "It takes a few solar days to recover from the weapon, but once they do, the Qujagans will start with physical testing and interrogation. Then they move on to dissection."

"Ouch," said Jack. That didn’t sound fun.

"How did you find all this out?" asked Daniel.

"We asked one of the technicians," said D’argo.

"Nicely?" Jack couldn’t help but add.

"Very nicely," Rygel said with a smile that was anything but comforting. Jack suddenly didn’t want to know. His earlier assessment of the alien suddenly didn’t feel as complete.

"So, uhh, this plan of yours. What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"It’s quite simple," said D’argo. "We’ll go in Lo’la, blast a hole in the front doors, run in, find John and Aeryn, get out, shoot anything that moves. Except John and Aeryn."

Shocked, O’Neill stared at him. "That’s your plan? That’s a stupid plan."

D’argo shrugged. "It’ll probably work."

His offhand words surprised Daniel and Carter out of their own surprise. "You can’t just go shooting up their labs," Daniel protested, his fighting instincts giving way to the would-be plight of the scientists. "I’m sure that if you talk to them, you can work something out."

"We tried negotiating," Rygel snapped. "They denied even having them."

"Look," D’argo broke in, "I realize you don’t want us killing people, but going in hard and fast is the only way to ensure that we get our friends out."

"But they’re scientists," Carter tried, her own sentiments clear. "They’re not trained to fight. It would be a slaughter. They will be more inclined to talk– "

"What is it with humans and talking?" asked D’argo, frustrated.

"I don’t know. I’m more of a shoot ‘em up guy myself," said Jack. "But they do have a point."

"We should not needlessly kill innocents," said Teal’c. "If it is as you say, then they have no choice but to carry out their orders."

"So John and Aeryn should just roll over and let themselves be killed in the name of science? Would you?" D’argo fixed first Jack then Teal’c, Carter and Daniel with his gaze.

"No. I guess not," said Sam looking away, guilty that she would kill even scientists to get away. Jack again saw why his general dislike for scientists had never extended to Carter. Much.

"Of course you wouldn’t," said Norianti. "You would fight." Jack nodded in agreement, briefly meeting D’argo’s eyes. If it were his team in there, he would be planning exactly the same thing.

"What if we just stun them?" Daniel asked, not willing to give up yet. "Get your friends out without killing anyone."

"Stun them?" Rygel said disdainfully. "With what? Powder?"

"I don’t have enough hekkiah for that," muttered Norianti, busying herself once again with her leaves and spit.

"Some of our weapons stun if you only fire them once," Daniel continued. Jack could have sworn he heard D’argo mutter "useless weapons." "We go in, get out. They wake up half an hour later. We’re gone."

"How ‘bout it?" asked Jack, giving his stamp of approval. Hopefully it would keep everyone happy.

"You know," said D’argo, "dead enemies don’t come back and kill you."

"We’ll make more enemies if we kill them," Daniel countered. The two of them stared at each other, Daniel’s stubbornness facing off against D’argo’s own will to do it his way. "We don’t have to kill everybody," Daniel broke the silence in a quiet but firm voice that Jack knew only too well.

"Fine," D’argo acquiesced at last. "Use your stun weapons. I’ll try not to mortally wound anyone I shoot at."

"This is ridiculous," Rygel shook his head. Grunting in disgust, he shoved more beans into is mouth. D’argo shrugged philosophically and turned his attention back to his plate, not in the mood for anymore conversation.

"So," said Jack, once more searching for something to break the ice that had settled over the group. Daniel and Carter were no help when he gestured at them to make conversation, and Teal’c merely did his eyebrow thing as if to say "that is not in my job description." With a sigh, Jack searched the room for anything, studiously ignoring whatever the hell Norianti was doing. The ocean out the window finally gave him something.

"So how’s the fishing out here?" he asked innocently.

Both Rygel’s and D’argo’s heads snapped up and they exchanged a closed look. Jack just wondered what he’d said.

"What is it with humans and fishing?" asked D’argo, staring at him like he’d grown a second head.

"It’s fun," said Jack a bit defensively. "There’s this lake in Minnesota where the bass are this big," he held his hands about three feet apart. Everyone was staring at him now. And was that a grin Carter was trying to hide?

"I do not believe fishing is fun," said Teal’c. "It was in fact unstimulating."

"You’re just mad because you didn’t catch anything," Jack told him, not appreciating his betrayal.

"Neither did you, O’Neill."

"Well, that’s not really the point now, is it?"

"Indeed," Teal’c cut eyes at him with a lifted eyebrow. Jack shushed him with his hands and a disproving look.

"He doesn’t know what he’s talking about," he told their amused hosts. Well, D’argo looked amused. Rygel just sniffed and crammed even more food into his mouth, if that was even possible. That had to be his tenth helping. Actually, Jack hadn’t been paying too close attention since it was almost as disgusting to watch Rygel eat as Nori do her thing. "So your human friend likes fishing?" he grasped at the last thread of conversation.

"He talks about it," D’argo nodded. "Went with his father when he was child."

"Ahh. Do you know where?" D’argo shook his head, and Jack felt the conversation fall flat again as he lost what was left of commonality. A minute of uncomfortable silence followed until Daniel voiced the thoughtful look on his face.

"Can I ask you something?" When he received a positive nod from D’argo, he continued. "How did you all come to serve on this ship? I mean you are all obviously from different species," Daniel hastened to explain. "It’s just that almost all of the alien races we’ve come into contact with stick to themselves. They know of other aliens of course, but beyond alliances, they don’t work together like this." He gestured to the ship at large.

"Hmmph," was Rygel’s response, while D’argo looked rather uncomfortable. "I wouldn’t have been caught dead with them," Rygel gestured to the two other aliens at the table, "if it hadn’t been for other mitigating circumstances."

"What do you mean? You said you were a ‘dominar’?" asked Daniel. "What does the title mean?"

"Means he’s annoying," D’argo muttered. Ryegl shot him a glare before answering.

"I am –"

"– was – "

"Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth of the Hynerian Empire, ruler of over 600 billion subjects." The slug? King? Jack lifted his own eyebrows in surprise. He had to be lying.

"And you’re the captain of his yacht?" he asked D’argo with just a trace of sarcasm.

"A what?"

"Never mind."

"So why are you here?" Daniel ignored the side conversation, getting back to the matter at hand. "If you are the ruler . . ." he trailed off.

"I was deposed," Rygel said with such dignity that if he didn’t look like, well, a slug, could have passed for royalty.

"Well that sucks," O’Neill said without too much conviction. "What?" he asked when Carter gave him a look.

"So why here? Why this ship?" Sam asked with a last glare at the colonel.

"Moya used to be a prison ship," D’argo broke in with a grimace. Jack immediately sat up straighter.

"As in . . . " Daniel trailed off again as diplomatically as possible.

"You’re escaped prisoners?" Jack had no qualms about diving onto this new bit of information. Granted they didn’t have the whole picture, but a deposed king-person and the sudden knowledge that the big seven-foot alien was an escaped prisoner made him nervous. Even if he did like the guy.

D’argo nodded, eyeing him carefully.

"Well, I’m not," Nori declared before SG-1 could ask anymore questions. "I’m a liberated prisoner."

Like that was so much better, thought Jack.

"We’re still not sure how she got on board," D’argo frowned. Nori just grinned at him as if she was hiding some secret that she would never tell. Or maybe it was just her. Jack grimaced, as she started humming and spitting again.

"For what were you imprisoned?" Teal’c asked.

"Can’t remember," Nori answered with a smile. "Long time ago. Very nasty business," she added conspiratorially.

"What about you?" Carter asked D’argo who had yet to reply. And it didn’t look like he was going to from the way he kept his eyes on his plate.

"I should take some of this to Stark." D’argo stood and went to the stove to fill up another plate then beat a hasty retreat from the dining room.

"What was that about?" Carter asked, subdued by his sudden exit. Jack’s own concern for his team shifted to worry about the alien whose whole body screamed pain and regret.

Rygel shifted uneasily under the combined curiosity of the SG team. "Oh, stop looking at me like that!" he finally snapped. "If he doesn’t want to tell you, then I won’t either!" Jack exchanged a look with Daniel at Rygel’s sudden loyalty since the two had done nothing but squabble. But then some friendships were like that. Nori watched them from hooded lids, tacitly acknowledging the scene before her. A few minutes into the uncomfortable silence, she left with her spitball. Rygel, having finally eaten his fill, soon followed.

"So." Daniel looked across the table at the rest of them. Jack shrugged back. He didn’t know what to think either.

Section 9: Prisoners

It was late, but D’argo still sat by her side. Cleaned up properly, Chiana didn’t nearly look half as bad as when the humans had found her. Norianti had sewn up the cuts and gashes, bandaging them with her plants and drugs to stave off infection. Blue bruises still peppered her body but they had at least stopped swelling. The old woman had been full of praise for the Qujagan healer’s preliminary work and had quickly set to the long term healing Chiana needed.

Sleep took five cycles off of her, D’argo noted as he watched the Nebari slumber. She had an innocence about her that shone through all the brighter when she was away from the cares of their existence. Such a remarkable woman, one able to win her place back in his heart.

D’argo had been there perhaps three arns when her eyelids fluttered and slowly opened. "Chiana," he breathed so she would know he was there.

She turned towards him, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that her eyes were solid black and not the disturbing white of the blind. "I can see you," she whispered, tears coloring both her voice and cheeks. Gently, D’argo wiped them away.

"I told you it would come back," he said softly, wanting suddenly to laugh for joy.

"Five days, D’argo. I was blind for five days. It keeps getting longer. Someday I’m not going to get it back." Her breath hitched as she tried to hold back the fear. D’argo took her hand and tried to soothe her, careful of her wounds.

"We’ll worry about that if it happens," he said.

"But – "

"*If* it happens," D’argo repeated. With his free hand he grabbed the flask Norianti had left for when she woke. "Now drink this," he said, holding it for Chiana.

"What is it?" she eyed the concoction suspiciously. D’argo just gave her a look that told her he neither knew nor wanted to know. "Right," she muttered before obligingly drinking the potion with a grimace. With a sympathetic smile, D’argo replaced the empty cup on the work table. Chiana closed her eyes and settled back into the few pillows on her bed, a flitter of discomfort crossing her face before settling into the comfort of the numbing draught. Sleep would soon come.

"Have we found John and Aeryn yet?" she asked softly. Her eyes remained closed against hope. D’argo gently stroked her forehead.

"We’re going to rescue them tomorrow," he told her.

Chiana’s eyes flashed open, locking onto his. "When are we leaving?"

"You’re not going," D’argo corrected her. No way, no how was he letting her go beaten to within an inch of her life.

"D’argo you need me." Chiana tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down.

"I’m taking the humans with me. We’ll be fine," he insisted.

"You’re taking *four* humans with you and you’ll be *fine*?"

D’argo had to admit she had a point there. But the bruises and stitches told him that Chiana was safer on Moya. Right now, she wasn’t in pain only because the old woman had her drugged against it.

"Look," she said reasonably, squeezing his hand, "I can cover you from Lo’la. I won’t leave her, but you need me down there. Just in case."

And looking into her deep black eyes as she struggled against sleep, D’argo knew that even if he did say no, she wouldn’t listen. "You’re not coming, and that’s the end of it."

"D’argo, you can’t keep me here."

"Yes, I can."

"You can’t. I’ll be safe in Lo’la." She struggled to sit up again, but this time her own muscles refused to support her.

"Just go to sleep," D’argo sighed. Finally succumbing to the drugs, Chiana slowly went to sleep again, never relaxing her grip on his hand.

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

The humiliation of being poked and prodded buck naked by a bunch of funny-faced aliens wore away with the arns that passed. Tired, gagged, fed up, and helpless to do anything more than pull on his chains and worry about Aeryn, John retreated to his thoughts which thus far had remained sacrosanct. ‘Scorpy did worse to me,’ was the litany that ran through his mind as cold hands and needles went where they had no right to be. However it was little comfort to his present predicament. Even now his mind refused to confront the invasion of his body head on.

Instead, he stuck to worrying about what was happening to Aeryn. If her ‘examination’ was anything like his, she and more importantly the baby were probably doing as well as he was. Hopefully better. Hopefully, she had escaped when they came for her, but John wasn’t holding his breath. No, they would have to wait for the cavalry in the form of one pissed off Luxan and his badass ship. D’argo would come, John had faith in that.

When the door opened, he automatically looked down to see what new toy the mad scientists had dragged in. But it wasn’t a toy; instead it looked like the head honcho. The newcomer was a little taller than the others and dressed in black instead of the dull blue and gray of the pokers-and-prodders. And that was definitely a gun strapped to his leg. Must be compensating for something. John was once again painfully aware of his own lack of covering. Defiantly, he met the soldier’s eyes and didn’t back down.

"The male?" the newcomer asked the chief scientist.

"Yes, lord," said the latter as one would to a near equal. Unlike most of the others, he did not duck away from the ‘lord.’ "They appear to be of the same species, although as you know we have not finished our examination. Tomorrow we will begin the interrogation, if you wish to attend."

"Hmmm," was the only reply as the lord once again raked his eyes over the human, his face splitting in what John had come to recognize as getting a better look. "There are no others?"

"No, lord. Simply these two. It will be a shame to lose them when we begin our interior investigation."

John jerked in response, his synthetic chains clattered against each other. That did not sound good.

"Hmmm," the lord murmured again. "We shall see." He turned then and left the room with the chief scientist.

As the rest of his torturers finished their tests, John’s mind was spinning with the implications of ‘interior investigation.’ Somehow, he didn’t think it just meant sticking more sticks up his butt. And what about Aeryn? The baby? What would happen when it was discovered? Images from his nightmares of when Aeryn was the Scarrens’ prisoner leapt out him.

D’argo would come. That was a simple fact. But timing had never been their strong point. As he was led back to their cell, John paid even closer attention to the hallways than he had on the way out. Hallways, turns, soldiers, scientists, hiding places, he hoped he could remember it all.

Aeryn was sitting with her back against the far wall when John arrived. The same five guards that had escorted them out stood watch while his hands were unshackled and his gag removed. When they were finally alone, Aeryn said, "We have to get out of here."

"So you heard about the ‘internal investigation,’ too?"

She nodded in reply as he sat down next to her, pulling her close for warmth. "It’ll be soon."

"We have at least a day. They’re gonna interrogate us tomorrow," John told her.

"We should be out of here by then."

"You got a plan?"

Aeryn smiled. "I’ve been thinking."

"Good." John kissed her. "So have I."

Section 10: Escape n Rescue

John and Aeryn slept in turns that night, as much as either one of them could sleep. Having put a whispered plan together, they now only had to wait for the graveyard shift to set themselves free. It was a long cold wait.

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

"Oh, no!" said D'argo when he saw her in the maintenance bay with Norianti. "No!" He came to a halt with the four humans a step behind.

"D'argo - "

"You are not coming with us!" his voice was close to, but not quite a shout.

"What? What's going on?" asked O'Neill, who due to shooting the DRD, didn't have translator microbes. D'argo ignored him. So did Chiana.

"D'argo, you need me to cover you," she insisted, her head cocking to the side. "The old woman gave me some stuff, I'm not in any pain."

"You're on drugs and you expect me to let you handle my ship?" he demanded. He glared at both her and Norianti, angry that the old healer would even consider helping Chiana put herself in harms way.

"She thinks fine," Norianti told him primly. "And she should go. You can take her or Stark, but I don't think he's a very good choice." She leaned in and whispered, "Unbalanced."

And while D'argo agreed that Stark was the last person he needed to go with them, there was no way he was letting Chiana, barely a day recovered, come with them. She could barely stand as it was.

"Do you mind explaining what's going on here?" O'Neill asked impatiently.

"Chiana was just wishing us luck," D'argo told him tightly.

"I'm going with you," the Nebari quickly corrected him in English.

"With us?" O'Neill asked skeptically, no happier than D'argo was about it.

"I thought you were blind," said Jackson.

"I got better," Chiana replied. "Now we need to go."

"Oh, no!" O'Neill echoed D'argo's earlier protest. "No way. Yesterday you were almost dead."

"And you'll be dead if I don't go," Chiana countered. "I'm covering you from Lo'la."

"Chiana - " D'argo warned.

But she just glared at him. "You can't stop me."

D'argo considered tongue-ing her, but that would make her hit the floor hard, and she didn't need more bruises on top of her current injuries.

"D'argo, please," she asked. And so help him, D'argo couldn't say no because he knew she just couldn't sit this out. She was functional, she would stay in his ship, and she could cover them. With their luck, they would need her, as much as he hated to admit it.

"You have plenty of painkillers?" he finally asked.

"You can't be serious?" O'Neill protested as Chiana nodded with a grateful smile. "We are going into a combat situation. She is too badly hurt to come with us."

"Look, you already said it was a stupid plan. The more weapons we have the better chance we have of getting out alive," D'argo snapped, mad now at having to defend putting Chiana in danger.

"She should not be going in there, Captain," O'Neill glared at him angrily. The other three humans looked uncertain about letting Chiana go, but by mutual consent let their leader voice their concerns. "If she collapses from exhaustion, or gets hurt what good will she be then?"

"And if she saves our lives?" D'argo countered. "The decision isn't up to you."

"Doesn't look like it's up to you either," O'Neill snapped back. D'argo bristled at the obvious challenge to his authority but let it pass in favor of reminding himself why he had been voted captain in the first place: to keep Moya and her crew safe and together. And right now John and Aeryn were in danger. The humans, surprisingly, seemed competent enough, but just the idea of Chiana backing them up made him feel better.

"The decision stands," he told O'Neill. "Let's go." With a last hostile look at the humans, D'argo went to help Chiana up into Lo'la.

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

The sounds outside the door had quieted arns ago. Aeryn hoped she was correct in her estimate of the time, but figured she couldn’t be that far off. She'd tried counting away the microts while John rested, getting lost several times, but nevertheless, keeping a rough handle on the time.

John was sitting in front of her between her legs, her arms wrapped closely round him as much for her warmth as his. His head rested against her shoulder where he had finally fallen into a light sleep. "John," Aeryn leaned down and whispered into his ear.

"Mmmrrr," he responded sleepily.

"John, wake up," she repeated, stroking his hair. "It's time."

"Mmmm, 'kay." He shifted against her and opened his eyes before sitting up. A shock of cold air hit Aeryn's chest where he had lain. "Frell, it's cold," John muttered at their loss of contact. As unobtrusively as possible, he rolled onto his hands and knees and pretended to throw up. Aeryn placed a hand on his forehead and looked worried for the benefit of any hidden surveillance. They weren't sure if they were being observed, but had decided to err on the side of caution.

When John finished heaving, he rolled onto his back, clutching his stomach and moaning as if he was in pain. "Get ready," Aeryn whispered to him. John grabbed her hand and squeezed. It was now or never.

"Hey!" Aeryn jumped up and dashed to the door. "Hey! We need help! He's sick!" She pounded on the door to get the guards' attention, fervently hoping that at this late hour they were half asleep and tired. "He's dying! We need help!" Aeryn shouted, banging harder on the door. She could hear confused rumblings faintly through the door, then a shouted order, but so far no movement to open it. "He's gonna die! He's vomiting blood! Help! Please!" she screamed as pitifully as possible, as if her mate were really on death's door. She heard more shouting, louder this time with a frantic edge to it.

And then the jangle of someone on the other side unlocking the door.

"Here they come," she hissed to John in warning.

"Let's hope we were right," he muttered back. Aeryn silently agreed. From their earlier observations, they guessed there were three guards in their wing of the building, token security more for the benefit of the scientist than to prevent escapes since their cell was solid.

Aeryn backed up to let the first armed guard in, meekly bowing her head as he passed her without a glance. He strode over to where John lay rolling on the floor, touching him lightly with his boot. John screamed. The guard jumped back, and the second one who stood by open door darted a nervous glance toward Aeryn. Still keeping up the appearance of a helpless female, the ex-soldier shifted closer. She didn't have long to wait.

Holstering his weapon was John's guard's first mistake. Leaning over his prisoner to evaluate his condition was his second. The moment John reached up and twisted his neck with an audible crunch, Aeryn sprang at her own guard, sidestepping his gun and landing a Pantak jab to the center of his forehead. As he fell backward, she snatched his weapon out of his hand and shot the third guard who was waiting just outside the door. None of them had time to shout for help.

Ducking back into their cell, Aeryn went to help John strip the guards, but they had only gotten a far as weapons and jackets when the alarm went off.

"Frell," Aeryn swore. Watched after all. Donning the short jackets, she and John ran from the cell down the hallway, away from where their earlier examination had taken place. Unfortunately the hallways all looked the same. Aeryn, in front, decided that avoiding recapture was of the utmost importance so they ran away from the sound of pounding feet. Behind her, John tried the doors they passed in search of a hiding place, but so far they had no luck.

And even less when three soldiers turned the corner. "Down," shouted Aeryn, dropping to a knee to avoid the enemy fire as she laid into them with her own stolen gun. It gave her and John the time they needed to kill them.

"Okay, that way's out," said John as he helped Aeryn to her feet.

"And more coming," Aeryn stared down the still empty corridor where the sounds of more soldiers were growing. Turning back to John, she found him staring at the ceiling.

"Think the ventilation system will support our weight?" he asked, dropping his eyes back to her. Glancing up at the vent, Aeryn shrugged.

"If we can get in there."

"Come on," said John. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward on of the locked doors. With two shots, they were in an office and barricading the door behind them with the triangular desk.

"Over here," said Aeryn spotting the vent in the corner. John stood on the chair to reach the vent, and a few minutes later he had the cover off and was shimmying up. The sounds from the corridor suddenly escalated, the bodies found. As she got on the chair herself, Aeryn heard the order for a room by room search. Doors slammed as John helped her up. A microt later, the soldiers discovered their barricade.

John and Aeryn used the cover of the barrage against the door to replace the vent and slither away.

While their escape through the air ducts didn't help with figuring out how to get out of the building, it did keep them hidden from their pursuers. From what they could see through the vents they passed over, the soldiers hadn't yet figured out where they had disappeared to. Now they just needed a map.

"So, right or left?" John asked at yet another junction. Aeryn thought back to the last two turns. They were trying to go in a zig-zag path in one direction in hope of finding an external wall somehow.

"I think this one's a left," Aeryn replied. The words were barely out of her mouth when a large explosion knocked her into John and the wall. She could feel the shock wave reverberate through the metal around them. She looked at John who stared back at her with an unreadable expression. "Maybe we should go right," she suggested.

"This better not be an ambush," John muttered as they turned right instead of left and headed toward the source of the explosion.

"I bet it's D'argo," Aeryn said with a grin.

A smile hovered around the corners of John's mouth. "Always has to make an entrance."

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

When D'argo blew a hole in the side of the building, Jack put away his anger at the alien and focused on the mission at hand. Get in, find the humans, get out. Keep everyone alive. The only problem was that he was now second guessing his trust in these people. What kind of leader let an injured, defenseless girl go into a combat situation? And wasn't she blind yesterday?

During the flight, Daniel had asked about it, but all he got was a vague answer about it being the price for seeing things. To Jack, that sounded like defeating the purpose of having eyes, but with aliens you never knew. She said it wouldn't happen on this trip, but Jack had a feeling she was just saying that to make them feel better.

"Ready?" D'argo rose to join them at the doorway.

"Good luck," Chiana paused him with a gloved hand on his arm. D'argo nodded and lifted her hand to his lips, but instead of kissing it, he spit onto her palm.

"You too," he said. Then he did kiss her, briefly on the top of her head, before barking the command to open the door.

"You guys ready?" Jack looked over his own team, trying to bury the uneasiness he felt in the mundane.

"We are, O'Neill," Teal'c replied. A second later they were out the door.

The alarm had gone up already, wailing throughout the area so loudly that they couldn't hear themselves think. It was just a matter of time before they were swarmed by security, whatever that turned out to be. The intel D'argo and Rygel had gathered indicated that there would only be sporadic guards in the facility that they would be able to take care of if they were spread out. So without wasting any time, Jack followed D'argo inside.

The first ten minutes were like any other search and rescue inside a building. D'argo was with Jack on point, taking out the ever thickening guards as they made their way to the southwest corner where John and Aeryn were supposed to be. Daniel and Carter followed a step behind, checking doors to make sure they didn't have any unwanted surprises, and Teal'c covered their six as usual.

Then everything went to hell in a hand-basket. Suddenly instead of the two guards they were expecting a whole squadron rounded the corner with guns blazing. Shouts and screams drowned out the noise of the alarm as they retreated to a T intersection to take cover. Unfortunately it was a dead end. D'argo was shouting what had to be curses has he fired his rifle at the vulnerable guards. Pinned down, they couldn't even retreat the way they had come.

"Carter, Daniel, find us a way out of here!" Jack ordered, giving up on the zat and sticking with his trusty P-90. The place was crawling with soldiers who had also taken cover at the next intersection. This was officially not good.

Through the noise, he could hear his scientists shooting out locks in an attempt to find another hallway, or anything they could use to their advantage. He just hoped they thought of something soon.

"D'argo!"

The sudden shout of an unfamiliar voice nearly gave Jack a heart attack. He looked up at the alien standing above him glancing around at the ceiling.

"John?" he called.

"Ghost of Christmas Past, buddy. We're right above you," the voice answered. They were in the ceiling, Jack realized. How did they get there? Exchanging a look with Teal'c, he turned back to the soldiers. He would ask later when they were safe.

"Aeryn there?"

Another alien language answered at length.

"Alright. Chiana's in Lo'la at the end of this corridor." D'argo replied.

"And tell your friend in green to get our clothes and guns," the first voice, John added.

Jack looked at D'argo. "Well?" he asked.

"They escaped on their own. They're going to cover us from above so we can get out of here and meet us back at Lo'la," D'argo informed him. "Jackson," he called down the hallway.

"Yeah?" Daniel appeared out of one of the side rooms.

"Take all the clothes and weapons you found," D'argo ordered. Jack nodded when Daniel gave him a questioning look.

"So when do we go?" he asked, turning back to the soldiers around the corner. The sudden screams answered his question.

"Now!" D'argo leapt into the hallway firing his rifle. Jack and Teal'c quickly joined him. Daniel and Carter followed with a bag of what had to be the clothes. "Run!" And they ran, picking up even more soldiers from other hallways as they did. Once they cleared the hole in the wall, D'argo was yelling at Chiana and his ship to open up and cover them, which she did. Ducking low, they raced for safety.

"Where are they?" Chiana demanded as soon as they were on board.

"They're coming," said D’argo taking over the controls. The soldiers retreated to the rim of the blast hole, but didn't back off further.

"There!" cried Daniel, pointing. Jack followed his line of site to a pale figure in an air duct on the left side of the hole. The person held up three fingers to them and slowly counted down. When he reached his fist, D'argo fired the big guns again just to the right. As the wall once again exploded, two people dropped down from the duct, firing guns at the remaining soldiers as they ran for the ship. D'argo barked more commands to open the door, and they were aboard. SG-1 turned to meet them as D'argo lifted off and shot them into space.

"Hi," said the man from where he lay gasping on the floor, wearing only a jacket tied around his waist. The woman lay next to him, also gasping for breath, wearing her jacket properly, but nothing else. Jack looked away in embarrassment and turned back to the man.

Before he could say anything, Chiana pushed past him. "John, Aeryn!" she cried happily as they got to their feet.

"Whoa, Pip, what happened to you?" asked the man, John, as the white girl gave him a careful hug.

"Stuff, you know," she evaded the question. "These guys found me, got me to D'argo."

The man eyed Jack and his teammates over Chiana's head. "Colonel Jack O'Neill," Jack took the opportunity to introduce himself. "Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, and Teal'c."

"John Crichton," the man extended his hand. Jack shook it firmly. "You have our clothes?"

Section 11: Who are you and where do you come from?

Daniel was flustered as he retrieved the bag he had stuffed the clothes in. It didn't help that the woman, Aeryn Sun, glared at him the whole time, just daring him or anyone to look at her the wrong way. A little embarrassed himself to be still standing there staring at the two naked people they had just rescued - or been rescued by - Jack turned his back and said, "We'll just give you some privacy." He glanced over at Teal'c who looked back with a small smile Jack couldn't help but mirror. Sneak peaks at gorgeous women just couldn't be left unappreciated, no matter how wrong it was. And it was funny to see Danny all worked up. Carter just rolled her eyes at them.

"So, Chiana, what's going on?" he heard John ask behind them. The girl apparently felt no need to turn her back, and surprisingly, Crichton and Sun didn't complain. She spent the next five minutes explaining to her friends in her own language.

"Humans, huh?" said Crichton when she finished. "You can turn around now."

The first though that jumped into Jack's head upon seeing them dressed was that they had to be hot in all that leather. The second was that he was dealing with two dangerous people. But that was probably a reaction to the all-black Matrix ensembles that screamed 'I know how to hurt you' to anything with eyes.

"Uh, yes. We're humans from Earth," Daniel answered. "Though from what Rygel and D'argo have told us, not your Earth."

"We think this is an alternate reality to ours," continued Carter. "I think the planet we landed on is an alternate version of the one in our reality. When we came through the wormhole we must have passed through either a radiation field in subspace or encountered - "

"Carter, English," Jack pleaded. He was getting a headache.

"Sir, this is a boiled down as I can make it."

"It's alright, Joe - "

"Jack."

"Right," Crichton accepted the correction. He moved toward the wall and sat down between Aeryn and Chiana. SG-1 followed suit. "Back up a sec. How did you get on a planet if you came through a wormhole?"

"We came through the stargate," Carter replied, as surprised as Jack was at the question. Both Crichton and Sun looked at Chiana who just shrugged nonchalantly.

"I didn't understand this part," she told them.

"The stargate is a device that creates a stable wormhole between planets. You enter in a gate address to another stargate and then you can just walk from one world to another. We explained it to D'argo and Rygel," Carter said patiently.

"We didn't understand it either," D'argo called from the pilot's seat. For some reason that made Jack feel better. Looked like Carter had her work cut out for her here to convince these people about alternate realities and explain gate technology. Only problem was you needed her kind of PhD to understand most of it, and Jack for one didn't want to suffer through the lecture.

"Just accept it okay?" he told them. They stared at him like he was crazy.

"Accept that a wormhole can come into contact with a planet and the planet still be there afterwards?" demanded Sun skeptically.

"Yeah," said Daniel, slightly confused, wondering like Jack, what she meant.

"So you're saying that you have this thing that . . . controls wormholes?" asked Crichton.

"Well, it's not like we carry it around in our pocket," said Jack.

"But yes," Carter finished.

"Blue, swirly thing. Takes you to other places too far to go by ship," Crichotn went on, still clearly not believing them.

"Yes," Jack hissed. This was getting old. "Stargate. Big circle of stone that looks like a big puddle of water standing the wrong way up."

"Must be that then," said Crichton totally confusing Jack now. The guy had a weird look in his eye that seemed to be looking through them.

"What are you referring to?" asked Teal'c.

"Your stargate," Crichton answered. "It keeps the wormhole from swallowing the planet. How big is it?"

"About six meters in diameter," said Carter. He seemed surprised by that.

"Wow, small."

"How big are yours?" Jack demanded, insulted at the slight.

"Much bigger," Crichton smiled. "But she's right about the alternate reality thing," he gestured toward Carter. "Except it wasn't a radiation field or a quantum scattering in subspace or solar flares that got you here."

"Oh?" Jack raised his eyebrows, partly in surprise that he spoke Carter, partly because of the way he dismissed the second part of her theory. She was usually right about this sort of thing.

"You just came out at the wrong place."

Now that sounded entirely too simple to Jack. In fact it was something he could have come up with and saved the trouble of the whole discussion. Jack slapped his hand to his forehead in the classic light bulb switching on gesture. "That's it! We came out at the wrong place! Mystery solved, Carter."

His second in command shot him a withering look before asking, "What do you mean, wrong place? We dialed a specific address that should have sent us to P5V-344. Any deviation would mean interference from an outside source."

"So your stargate works like a phone?" Crichton asked. Carter nodded in reply and explained dialing planets again based on their coordinates in space. Crichton looked like he was actually listening now. "And you just walk through?" he asked when she finished.

"Our bodies are molecularized and reconstituted at the other end of the wormhole," said Carter.

"Pretty powerful phone you got there," said Crichton seriously. He looked pensive, and Jack did not take that as a good sign.

"You still haven't explained this wrong place thing," he said suggestively.

"Well I don't know much about your wormhole tamer, but wild wormholes out here connect billions of places and times." Looking at Jack he clarified. "Think of one like a big circular highway with lots of exits. Each exit leads to a different place in space-time. Exits that are close together are similar, varying in time and by different decisions that are made at specific points in time so you get your alternate realities - unrealized realities from the one we're in right now. It's hard to explain," Crichton shrugged and looked away. "Since you're not from my Earth, you're probably from one of those. It's kinda creepy actually."

"Alright," said Carter. Jack could see her analyzing the new information and tying it into what she already understood about wormholes. "So our gate network is just one set of possibilities in a single wormhole network tied together by the same temporal indicator?"

Crichton nodded. "That'd be my guess. The gates must let you navigate safely around unrealized realities and keep your time straight."

"How do you navigate, John Crichton?" asked Teal'c.

"Very carefully," he answered with a token smile. "It's hard to explain."

"We're almost therer," D'argo called from the cockpit. The sudden turbulence or entering the atmosphere where Moya was parked, forestalled any further discussion. Soon, they were flying through the open door in the ship's hull and landing. D'argo talked to his ship to get it open and the six of them disembarked. Rygel, Nori, and Stark were there to greet them.

"Sparky, my man!" Crichton shouted, snatching up Rygel and swinging him around amid the slug's profane protests. But Jack noticed that he didn't even try to escape in his flying chair. Meanwhile the old woman greeted both Chiana and Sun warmly, puttering about with her pouches for Chiana who was coming off her adrenaline and other painkillers. Stark hesitantly approached them, and Sun turned and spoke directly to him. He smiled and took the hand she offered.

"They are a very close group," Teal'c observed as they followed D'argo over.

"Ahh. The humans!" Nori smiled at them. "Did you have fun?" Her third eye blinked blue, and Jack couldn't help but smile at the crazy woman.

"We ended up being the ones who needed rescuing, but yeah," he told her.

"But you are still here and unhurt," Nori smiled, beckoning them closer.

"Fun?" Daniel asked quietly so only his teammates could hear.

"Well, you know," Jack gestured vaguely. Daniel only gave him a wry smile.

"So what now?" Carter asked D'argo as Crichton put Rygel down. The tall alien was watching Chiana. He shrugged.

"Chiana needs to rest," he said, moving to help her.

"So do we," said Crichton. "Didn't sleep last night."

"And then there was the escaping," Sun added.

"So we'll hit the sack till dinner," Crichton finished, taking her hand.

"Rygel can take you to your quarters," said D'argo over his shoulder as he left with Chiana once more in his arms.

"What?" squawked the little slug. Jack smiled as they began to argue over who should do what while he, Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c followed them into the golden ship.

Section 12: Walkabout

Despite his protests, Rygel did finally lead SG-1 to their rooms. The others branched off into other identical corridors early on, leaving them to the arrogant and disgruntled ramblings of the little alien. Ahead of him, Daniel valiantly tried to carry on a conversation, but he was having little luck.

"But no one ever listens to me! I, who was the best dominar since Rygel the Thirteenth!"

"I’m sure you were an excellent ruler," said Daniel. "But aren’t the needs of a ship different than those of an empire?"

Jack tuned them out again. They’d been going on for the entire walk about how Rygel got no respect. Well, Jack didn’t get any respect either, but you didn’t see him complaining. And did everything have to look the same here? Jack had tried to keep track of where they were in relation to the closest exit, but not only were there no markers at the many junctions but the halls were curved as well, disorienting the hell out of him. All in all, Jack was irritated.

Though to be fair, it probably had more to do with the alternate reality thing than anything else. Teal’c and Carter were discussing it behind him in un-boiled down terms. Something to do with wormhole theory. Jack ignored them too until they reached their rooms.

"So," he said after Rygel left them. The room was as bare and boring as it had been the first time. "Who wants to go exploring?"

"Sir?"

"Exploring, Carter. It is part of our job description." Jack enjoyed the slightly puzzled, more exasperated expression on her face.

"Jack, you do realize that we will probably get lost," said Daniel.

"Teal’c knows his way around, right?" Jack looked at the Jaffa who merely raised an eyebrow.

"I will try to keep track of our movements, however this is a most disorienting place," Teal’c replied.

"Right. No blaming Teal’c if we get lost," Jack nodded. "We can leave our heavy weapons here. I don’t think they’ll try anything, but be on your guard just in case – what?"

Daniel was staring at him with a confused look. "Nothing. It’s just . . . well first you’re all gung hoe to find out more about this place and now you’re leaving your P-90?"

Okay, so it wasn’t his normal MO, Jack could admit that, but really. "Do you see anything interesting to do in this room?" he asked, waving a hand to emphasize the complete boredom surrounding them. "And we’ll still be armed in case anything happens. You’re forgetting I like these people. They’re my kind of people."

"Your kind of people, sir?" Carter asked.

Jack shifted under the combined gaze of his team. He was known for not liking most of the people they met, but these guys were definitely his kind of people. "They’re not the smiles and knives type. You probably noticed that they don’t exactly hide how dangerous they are. They haven’t lied to us, they’ve kept us in the loop, trusted us with our weapons, and didn’t leave their friends in what looked like a hopeless situation. My kind of people. So let’s go already."

Not bothering to hide their smiles, Daniel, Carter, and Teal’c followed him out.

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

Aeryn wasn’t sure what woke her. In the quiet, she listened for a disturbance but didn’t hear anything except Moya’s normal hum. Beside her, John lay sprawled on his back, his left hand tangled with her right in a mess of loosely bound fingers. He was so peaceful in his sleep for once. Troubled dreams finally gave way to exhaustion and recent good luck. Aeryn knew better than to jinx them by hoping it would last.

She closed her eyes but couldn’t go back to sleep. Now that she was awake, her mind was working in overdrive, skittering over the last few days and John’s ill-timed proposal. They better have the wedding soon before their luck broke. Aeryn smiled as she thought about their conversation in their cell, wondering if tomorrow was too soon. The wedding would be in Pilot’s Den of course. Maybe they should wait until he and Moya were well enough to go back into space.

Thinking about him made Aeryn want to go check on Pilot again. She and John had stopped by before, but now that she couldn’t sleep she might as well go. She kissed John lightly then slipped from bed, pulled on her boots, and headed toward the Den.

She was halfway there when voices floated down from tier nine. Pausing, Aeryn listened, smiling when she recognized two of the humans.

"We should have turned right back there."

"If we had, we’d be going in a circle."

"No, we’re going in a circle now. We took a left before and a left this time."

"Hello," Aeryn called as they came into view. Jack O’Neill and Dr. Jackson both pulled out of their bickering in surprise.

"See," O’Neill gestured at her while grinning smugly at his friend. "Left."

"Whatever, Jack," his friend all but ignored him. "Aeryn, isn’t it?"

Aeryn was pleased he remembered. "Yes. What are you doing?"

"Oh, just exploring," said O’Neill lightly. "Our room was kind of . . . dull."

Aeryn nodded in understanding. Boredom was a constant companion. "Any luck finding entertainment?" she asked doubting they had. After all they seemed more lost than occupied.

"We found this one room with sciency stuff that had Carter going gaga," O’Neill replied.

"Wall to wall paper covered in equations," Jackson clarified for her.

Aeryn nodded again. John’s wormhole equations.

"She and Teal’c are still there. I hope you don’t mind." O’Neill’s tone was almost challenging her to say that she did, testing the limits of their hospitality.

Aeryn shrugged and resumed walking toward the Den, the humans joining her. "It’s John’s equations," she told them. "I’d be amazed if she could understand it."

"Oh, she’ll understand it," said O’Neill. "She’s a theoretical astrophysicist. Knows lots of big words and stuff." Aeryn glanced at him wondering what one had to do with the other, but Jack just smiled. "Trust me. She’s having the time of her life right now."

"With equations? Half of which she probably can’t read?" Aeryn asked in disbelief. At both O’Neill’s and Jackson’s nod she added, "Strange woman. Though it doesn’t really surprise me."

"Why not?" Daniel looked at her curiously.

Aeryn smiled at the concentration she saw on his face and felt her guard slipping. She couldn’t seem to not like them; they reminded her too much of John in each their own way. Which was why she really wasn’t surprised by the woman’s hobby. "Humans are strange." At the double look she got, Aeryn just smiled.

"Strange huh?" O’Neill smiled back. "I guess."

"Of course it’s all about cultural context," said Jackson thoughtfully.

"Daniel, shut up," said O’Neill quickly. "She doesn’t want to hear about the cultural context of anything. Forgive him," he turned to Aeryn. "He’s as bad as Carter when it comes to people stuff."

"I’m sure he is. And I do understand," she told Jackson. "About differing values in different cultures. Living on Moya has been . . . "

"Interesting?" Jackson offered.

"Yes." She might have used a stronger word, but how did you explain this life to people who hadn’t lived it?

"So where are we going?" O’Neill asked in the silence that followed.

"To see Pilot," Aeryn answered, glad of the change in subject.

"The one that interfaces with the ship?"

Aeryn looked at him in surprise, wondering what D’argo had told them. "I wouldn’t call it interfacing," she said. "He and Moya are symbiotes."

"Ah."

"What?" Aeryn didn’t miss the grimace that passed over O’Neill, or the look he shared with Jackson at the mention of symbiotes.

"Nothing, really. Just another cultural difference," said Jackson. "In our reality most of the symbiotes we’ve encountered – "

"Try to kill us," O’Neill finished.

"Pilot won’t kill you," Aeryn reassured them. "And even if he wanted to, he’s too weak at the moment." The men nodded, but there was still a wary look in O’Neill’s eyes. "And if you so much as think about harming him, I’ll shoot you."

O’Neill grinned. "If he’s worthy of your loyalty, than I’m sure he’s a good guy."

"The best," Aeryn told him solemnly. One of her first true friends on Moya, with them through everything. She would do almost anything for him.

"So does he have a name other than ‘Pilot’?"

Aeryn shook her head. "His language is too complex for anyone other than Pilots and Leviathans to understand, so his true name doesn’t translate."

"So how do you communicate?" asked Jackson.

"He simplifies his speech for the microbes," said Aeryn. "We’re almost there."

Around the next curve was the door to the Den. Aeryn leaned over to hit the door mechanism and led her companions in. From their muted expressions of awe, she could tell they were impressed. The Den was a huge cavern with a ceiling that extended hundreds of metras up and a floor covered in bat dung hundreds of metras below the walkway on which they stood. All around was empty space and in the center was Pilot at his console. At the moment, his purple shell head hung in weariness, closed eyes opening when they three of them entered.

"Aeryn," he breathed happily.

"Hello, Pilot," she smiled. Upon reaching his console, she climbed up and sat next to him. "I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d drop by."

Pilot had a look of soft surprise on his face at her unexpected concern. He really shouldn’t have been, but Aeryn knew that was just the way he was: always there, always called upon, and asking nothing in return.

"This is Colonel O’Neill and Dr. Jackson," Aeryn introduced the men behind her who had recovered from their own surprise of meeting Pilot.

"Call me Daniel. It’s a pleasure to meet you," Daniel said softly, approaching the console and offering a hand for Pilot to shake.

"Jack," the Colonel waved, nodding to Aeryn as well.

"They’re the ones from the unrealized reality," Aeryn continued.

"Yes. O’Neill destroyed one of my DRDs," Pilot leveled a half-hearted glare at O’Neill – Jack – who looked bewilderedly to Aeryn for an explanation.

Aeryn regarded him neutrally, not wanting Pilot to see her amusement. "He said you destroyed a DRD."

"Sorry," Jack had the grace to look sheepish. "