Prisoners of War

By Arrietty

Chapter Four

No one saw the two men stealthily slip through the trees towards the compound. It had taken them thirteen days to reach the planet. They had managed to land and hide the Tel'tac without anyone seeing them. Now came the hard part, locating O'Neill and Carter. Fortunately, Teal'c and Jonas had brought supplies with them, so they didn't go hungry. They watched patiently all day for any sign of O'Neill or Carter. There didn't seem to be many people that they could see in the camp, that weren't already sick or elderly.

They were rewarded for their patient waiting, by a large group of cold tired prisoners trudging back towards the compound. However they tried, they couldn't see O'Neill or Carter amongst them. It was very difficult, as all the men had beards and they saw no sign of a blond woman within the crowd. With disappointment, the two men melted silently back into the trees, after the gates clanged shut behind the last of the work detail.

The shadows were just beginning to lengthen, as the end of the day approached. It would not be long and O'Neill and Carter would be able to go back to their food and their hut. Both of them had kept their eyes open this past week, but there hadn't been an opportunity to escape.

O'Neill anxiously glanced over at Carter, who was only just a few feet away. They were still working, even though it had obviously gone well past finishing time.

"Carter."

Raising her head, she looked at O'Neill.

"Is it my imagination or are we a bit later tonight?"

Carter looked around and noticed Jaffa marching towards where they worked.

"Uh oh." She stated.

Twisting around, O'Neill looked behind him. This did not look good, as there were eight of them and usually there were only four or five.

"Kree!" They announced, as they arrived.

"All prisoners, this way." Grabbing hold of the nearest prisoner, which happened to be Carter. One guard pulled her up and then dragged her along. Before O'Neill could act, she had shrugged off the grasp and was walking free.

It took a good half hour to get where they were being taken. It had been a hard slog, as they had to climb quite a steep hill.

"Just what we need to end a perfect day!" O'Neill announced, as he and Carter with the other prisoners looked down on a field. In the centre of it, was a giant stump that was half out of the ground. Sixteen prisoners were pulling on ropes that had been fixed to the stump. With eighteen prisoners that had just been gathered, it would make thirty-four men and women to pull out this stump. Even then they would find it hard to do.

It took an hour and a half to finally release the stump from the hard packed soil. By now, dusk had settled and the large sphere of one of the moons had risen above the horizon.

"Now, I s'pose they want us to drag it somewhere." O'Neill grumbled. He was hungry, tired and his shoulder was throbbing with the pain after the exertion that it had been put through.

It took them a long time to walk back to the compound. They didn't have to worry about the food getting cold, as it usually was anyway. By the time they had got into the hut, they were frozen. Thankfully they all had been issued with extra blankets. Not speaking to one another, they slowly ate their food. When O'Neill had finished his, he took one of the blankets and ripped it into wide strips. Taking one of Carter's feet, he wound the blanket piece around her foot.

"This should keep your feet warm." He said with a smile, as he started to do the same with her other foot.

Carter tiredly nodded at him, as she leant against the side of the hut. O'Neill then proceeded to bind his own feet in the same way. As they began to warm slowly he could feel the burning sensation, as the newly acquired chill blains made themselves known. Watching Carter's face, he realised that she had the same problem. Carter shifted her legs and something dropped onto the floor with a clunking sound.

"Whatchya got, Carter?"

"Oh." She said, as she quickly scooped up a handful of pebbles. "I think these have Naquadah in them."

"How many have you got?" He queried.

"Quite a lot, I have been trying to get different samples from different fields."

"Can we use them to get out of here?"

"No." She shook her head. "But I think they have some special qualities, that I haven't co…"

Jack leant over a bit and went into a fit of coughing automatically stopping Carter in her tracks. He felt a tightening in his chest and it made pain shoot up into his shoulder.

That night, O'Neill had great trouble sleeping. Whichever position he was in, he couldn't stop coughing. Eventually, he moved away from Carter, as he didn't want to keep her awake too.

Sam Carter felt her eyes fill with tears as she heard the dreaded death knell of Colonel O'Neill's dry hacking cough. She had hoped at first that it wasn't 'the cough'. They had commented before that as soon as they heard the first cough, the person that was coughing was usually dead within three days. Sam felt the coolness of the air, as O'Neill moved away from her when he had another coughing fit. Deciding that she wouldn't sleep anyway, she rolled over and moved over next to him. Now, the pressure of escape had increased tenfold.

The morning came too soon. Neither of them had slept much that night and they were exhausted. Wearily, they climbed to their feet, as the bell made a muffled clanging sound that for once did not echo around the camp. Carter rubbed her fist wrapped in her sleeve on the glass window, so she could see. But she couldn't, there was a thick freezing fog that obscured the other huts. When they went to go outside they found out that they had been locked in.

Resigned to the fact that they were stuck, Carter sat back down next to O'Neill, who once again was trying to control his coughing. He was in obvious pain, but she had no way that she could help him.

"Looks like we are stuck, sir."

"Why…(cough, cough)…what's happening? (Cough, cough)."

"There is a pea soup of a fog out there, sir. I don't think they have the man power to control everyone while that fog is there."

"Well…(cough, cough)…look on the bright side, we can get some more slee…" O'Neill then proceeded to go into a fit of coughing, that made him start to heave. Fortunately, nothing came up and he was able to eventually control it.

Carter looked up from O'Neill at the rest of the occupants of the hut, they were all looking everywhere except at them. They knew too, what was going to happen to O'Neill in three days time.

After about an hour, they were let out of the hut, in fact everyone was told to get out. Any sick people that would normally have stayed behind were ousted out too. The door was securely locked behind everyone. It looked like all the prisoners had been locked out of the huts. They were standing in small groups shivering in the thick fog. This immediately started O'Neill off coughing again, as the moisture crept into his lungs.

The fog finally lifted at midday. They were led out through the main gates to the outside. The wind had picked up and blown the fog out of the valley. Bright sunshine brightened up the day, warming the frozen prisoners. That day, many of the prisoners stayed behind. While others were made to bury any prisoners, that had died during the night and that morning in the freezing fog.

O'Neill was having trouble walking; he knew that he had to get some food into his belly. Neither of them had had enough to eat these past two weeks, so every morsel of food was precious. Now he was sick, he knew it was imperative that he ate.

As O'Neill stumbled through the forest, he was unaware of two sets of eyes that followed every faltering step he took. Leaning across, he rested a hand on Carter's shoulder for support. He had no idea how he was going to get through the rest of the day. Only by sheer will power alone, would he manage it.

By that evening, Carter had to physically help O'Neill walk back to the compound. With her arm around his waist and O'Neill's arm over her shoulder, she basically half carried him back. She knew that this was most probably the last day that he would survive. He wasn't even strong enough to escape now. There was no hope left. Sam felt numb inside and out, the cold took care of the outside, while her military training took care of her inside.

Once again, she had to feed O'Neill, he was too ill to feed himself. After he had finished, he heaved it up again. He was going fast, she knew that he wouldn't last the night. She let him lie down and wrapped him in all the blankets. She cleaned up the mess and then went outside to get rid of it. While she was washing her hands under the tap, she observed a commotion over by the long low shed. This was where all the new prisoners were processed. Turning off the tap, she watched intently at what was happening.

A slim man was being led out of the shed and was handed the usual bowl of slop and loaf of bread.

"Jonas." She whispered under her breath.

A small flicker of hope began to burn in her depths, as she watched Jonas Quinn walk across the compound towards the huts. As Jonas passed her, he looked at her, then looked away and kept walking. Slowly, Carter followed him to where he was going. When he reached a hut, he stopped, turned around and waited.

Carter quickly walked towards where O'Neill and she slept. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jonas following her. As soon as she was in the hut, she anxiously looked over at O'Neill, who was curled up on the floor, hugging his stomach.

"Sam!" Jonas whispered.

"Jonas, what are you doing here?" She asked, then wrapped her arms around him and held tight.

"Teal'c is outside."

Sam put her hand up to him to stop him from talking. "Come, quickly. Colonel O'Neill is very sick. We have to get out of here tonight." She was whispering very quietly, as she did not want anyone else to hear.

Moving over to where the colonel lay, Jonas asked. "What is wrong with him?"

"He has 'the cough'. I think it has something to do with the area we are in. It could be the dampness of the air, or something in the soil. I don't know, but many of the prisoners die from it. And they die quickly. Usually it takes up to three days. This is the colonel's second day, but his body has taken a lot of punishment since he has been here. I don't think he will live through the night."

Jonas started to lean closely towards Carter, stopped and then moved back. He had already noticed the stench that emanated from all the prisoners, as he had entered the hut and he had been quite happy to put up with that. But when he noticed something crawl out of Sam's hair and then back in again. Well, that was too much.

"What?" She asked.

"Um…Sam, there is something living in your hair."

Sam closed her eyes, took a deep breath and felt the warm flush work up her neck onto her face. "Yes, Jonas. They are lice, they live in the blankets and now they live on me, Colonel O'Neill and everyone in this room."

Jonas quickly dropped his blanket onto the floor and moved away from it. Sam smiled and picked up the blanket and laid it over O'Neill's shivering form.

Jonas, found himself scratching his scalp. Groaned within himself and started to speak.

"We were planning on escaping tomorrow night. So we just have to trust that Teal'c is watching us."

Sam moved closer to Jonas, she was beginning to get colder, as she was sitting still. Jonas without thinking, shuffled away from her. Ignoring his discomfort, she grabbed hold of his arm. "We will freeze if we don't sit closer."

"Oh." Jonas looked suitably contrite and moved back beside Sam.

"There is a stash of weapons just the other side of the fence. I know where they are. Teal'c will cut through the fence, when I give him the signal. All we have to do is get there unseen."

"That won't be a problem, as the guards don't seem to mind us going outside during the night. The problem will be getting Colonel O'Neill outside without the guards getting suspicious."

Jonas glanced over at the shivering form of the colonel and then looked back at Sam. "We'll have to just hope we are lucky."

Jonas got to his feet and slowly made his way out of the hut. Just like Carter had said, the guards ignored him, as he sauntered towards the latrines. The weapons were stashed behind the latrines, just the other side of the fence. This way, the building should obscure their activities. Jonas slipped around the back of the latrines and waited for Teal'c. Even though Jonas was searching for him, he didn't see him until he was crouching down right in front of him. Jonas moved over to the wire.

"Colonel O'Neill is very ill. If we don't get him out of here tonight, he will die."

Teal'c nodded his head and then proceeded to snip the wire with wire cutters. Jonas looked around him.

"I'll go back and get them."

Once again, Teal'c nodded without saying a word. Not once stopping from what he was doing.

By the time Jonas had got back to the hut, Carter had O'Neill in a sitting position. She had tied a blanket around her shoulders and was tying one around O'Neill's.

Jonas noticed that the colonel was awake, he seemed aware of what was happening, but still in obvious pain. Jonas could still hear the rasping sound, as O'Neill struggled to breath.

"Hey, Jonas." He croaked out quietly.

"Jonas, I need your help here."

Jonas immediately went over to help Sam get O'Neill to his feet. It was easier than he anticipated, as O'Neill had lost quite a lot of weight while being captive.

Fortunately, they hadn't woken anyone in the hut and even if they had, they hadn't been stopped or interrupted from what they were doing.

How O'Neill managed, no one will ever know, but he succeeded in going out of the hut and right across the compound without a single cough. It was just as they reached the latrines, that they were stopped.

"Kree. Where are you going?"

Sam turned and faced the two Jaffa that had stopped them. One of them was the friendly Jaffa that had helped her before.

"This man is sick and he needs our help." Carter then let go of O'Neill and waited while Jonas took him into the latrines. They were stuck, as the Jaffa didn't look like they were going to move away.

Eventually, they wandered off towards the other side of the compound. Knocking on the wall, Carter signalled to them that the guards had left. By now, O'Neill was almost a dead weight for Jonas to carry.

"Sam, need help here." He whispered.

Quickly, moving forward, she placed her arm around O'Neill and being very careful of his damaged shoulder, she left his arm down by his side.

Once they had reached the wire, they settled O'Neill onto the ground.

"Teal'c, can you help, please. The colonel has lost consciousness."

"Yes, Jonas Quinn." Teal'c quickly climbed through the gap and lifted O'Neill into a fireman's lift. It wasn't as easy to get him back through the wire, but he managed it. It wasn't until they were on the other side, that O'Neill started coughing, as he came conscious again. Carter quickly placed her hand over his mouth to try and muffle the sound. But, fortunately, no one had seemed to hear him.

When Sam's hand came away from the colonel's mouth, it was sticky. Holding her hand out to the moonlight, she was disturbed to see a dark substance across her hand.

"Blood." Stated Teal'c.

"Yes, I think it is, Teal'c."

Moving silently and quickly through the forest, they made their way towards the Tel'tac that they had hidden.

They heard the Jaffa before they saw them. The Tel'tac had been discovered, how, they will never know. Most probably a guard walked into it by accident, as the cloaking device would have kept it from prying eyes.

Fortunately, by now, Colonel O'Neill was totally unconscious again and he was quiet, except for the rasping sound that came from his laboured breathing.

Silently, they moved back into the cover of the trees. Just as they settled down into a crouch, they heard the engines of the Tel'tac start up. They watched aghast as their way home flew off up into the clouds.

"Well, there goes that avenue." Carter looked thoughtful for a moment and then continued speaking. "We'll have to try for the Stargate. With weapons we should be able to overpower the guards."

"Indeed." Nodding in agreement, Teal'c slung O'Neill's unconscious body over his shoulder. Jonas watched amazed, at how effortlessly Teal'c could do this.

With Carter taking point and Jonas watching their six, they moved on towards their only way home.

It took the rest of the night and nearly all day to reach their destination. They very carefully avoided the large building with the many steps. None of them realising that O'Neill had previously struggled up those steps just over two weeks previously. Every two hours, they stopped for Teal'c to rest and to try and get some liquid into O'Neill. They had already given him some antibiotics earlier when he was conscious, but he had just heaved them up again.

Sam Carter was tired and she hadn't eaten properly for a long time. Even with the food that Teal'c and Jonas had given her, she found her strength waning fast. Jonas had now taken point and she was trudging along behind the others. She saw Teal'c stiffen and then heard the tramp and rustle of booted feet move through some bushes on her right. They were trapped and so close to the Stargate, too.

Teal'c didn't even get a chance to lower O'Neill to the ground, as the Jaffa came and stood before them with their Staff weapons drawn.

"Kree!" The lead one of the four announced.

In one fluid movement, Teal'c dropped O'Neill to the ground and raised his staff weapon into a horizontal position, fired it up and shot the first Jaffa. Instantly, there was another staff weapon fired, but instead of an SG-1 member being hit a Jaffa dropped to the ground.

Looking up startled, Jonas watched as the Jaffa who had fired the deadly shot, swivelled his staff weapon around and pointed it at the remaining Jaffa. Without hesitation he fired the weapon at his comrade.

Through this whole split second exercise, Teal'c had his weapon trained on the Jaffa that still lived.

"Teal'c, it is all right. He is a friend." She moved forward towards the Jaffa. "Hello, my name is Major Samantha Carter…and you are?"

The Jaffa bowed his head to Carter in respect and then spoke. "Greetings, Major Samantha Carter. My name is Belt'ac." Turning around slightly to face Teal'c, he handed his Staff Weapon to him on his outstretched hands.

"Teal'c, I have heard of your wondrous deeds, how you have defied the false gods to free our people. I wish to follow you and your cause to make us once again, a whole people. Free!" He spoke quietly, but proudly. "To live and die as we please."

Teal'c handed back his Staff Weapon. "These are members of the Tau'ri. They are my friends and I serve with them in the fight against the oppressive false gods."

"Well, actually…I'm not of the Tau…" Jonas stopped speaking as the double stare from two Jaffa effectively silenced him.

"Belt'ac, is the Stargate clear?" Carter asked.

Jonas moved forward and spoke carefully. "Chappa'ai."

"Yes, Jonas, thank you. The Chappa'ai."

"Yes, Major Samantha Carter, the Chappa'ai is free of guards, but only for a short while. We have to move swiftly."

Once again, Teal'c lifted O'Neill effortlessly onto his shoulder, but this time, he handed his Staff Weapon to Jonas to carry.

As Belt'ac had said, there were no signs of any Jaffa guarding the Stargate. Carter quickly moved over to the damaged MALP and checked to see if it was reparable. Fortunately, it was, it only took her ten minutes to get audio going on the radio. No visual, but they didn't need that.

Jonas quickly dialled up the Stargate and punched through SG-1's IDC. Carter leant into the radio and spoke into it.

"SGC. Are you reading me? This is Major Carter, come in, please."

"This is the SGC. Major Carter, we read you loud and clear." Sgt. Davis' voice was a welcome sound to all of them.

"This is General Hammond, what is your situation, Major Carter?"

"All members of SG-1 are present, sir. Will need a medical team for Colonel O'Neill. Request permission to bring a Jaffa rebel with us, sir."

"Permission granted, Major. Over and out."

Moving quickly, they climbed the steps towards the wormhole. Great relief washed over Carter as she was sucked into the swirling vortex and stepped out the other side.

It was then that it hit her, she stank, in fact she hadn't washed properly in over two weeks and she had things CRAWLING in her hair. Everywhere she looked, everyone looked pristine clean and smart. And by the looks on their faces, she must look as terrible as she felt. All this flitted through her mind, in the few seconds that it took for her to get to the gurney that Colonel O'Neill had been laid upon. Turning to Doctor Fraiser who was quickly ordering medics to move him to the infirmary.

"Janet, he has bee…"

"Tell me as we move, Sam." She interrupted.

Janet listened in horrified silence, as Sam filled her in on what had happened to Colonel O'Neill.

"…I don't know what is actually wrong with him now, all I know is that people die on the third day and it is now the third day. He can't keep anything down and he is coughing up blood."

"Thank you, Sam." Stopping Sam from going any further with her hand, she bustled after Colonel O'Neill, as he was wheeled into an isolation room.

Once in the room, Doctor Janet Fraiser quickly assessed O'Neill's condition. She was amazed at the healed welts and new scars that she could see on his body. But was distressed to see how emaciated he was. A nurse had already installed a drip into his arm, while they saw to new cuts and abrasions that he had acquired on his journey through the forest.

Whatever they did, they couldn't alleviate his laboured breathing, they just had to wait and see if time would heal.

Meanwhile, Sam had been given a thorough check over. After she had been prodded and poked, blood taken and inoculations given they had sent her off towards the showers clutching a bottle of 'Lice free - guaranteed to kill eggs' written in large black letters around the middle of it. Carefully, trying to conceal it, as she didn't want the whole of the base to know, she made her way to the showers. She had earlier observed Jonas moving off towards the showers, with a similar bottle up his shirt. Which had amused her.

Sam felt like a totally different person when she came out of the locker room. It was surprising what a good hot shower could do to a person. She still felt tired and weak, but now she felt clean. She still had forty-five minutes to spare, before reporting to General Hammond. Time to find out how the colonel was and also get something to eat.

As she walked down the grey corridors of the SGC, she turned a corner and walked straight into Sgt. Siler.

"Major Carter! It is good to have you home, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Siler, it is good to be home." As she walked on towards the infirmary, an overwhelming urge to cough came over her. Within seconds, Siler was by her side.

"Major Carter?" He asked in obvious concern. He had seen Major Carter slump over and lean against the wall.

"Got…to…go…to infirm…ary." She spluttered out.

When they arrived at the infirmary, she was surprised to see large plastic sheeting, surrounding the colonel's bed. She couldn't see in properly, as the air inside was opaque. As soon as Doctor Fraiser saw Sam arrive and the state she was in, it was all action.

"Sam, come quickly, in here." Taking hold of Sam's arm, she pulled her into the tent that surrounded the colonel's bed. Once inside, she could see a machine was pumping vapour into the air. Immediately, she felt relief from her coughing, as the vapour penetrated her lungs. She also noticed that the tent was big enough to accommodate another bed. This Janet led her to and then with a small push, made her sit down on the side of it.

"Janet, what is it?" She asked waving her arm around in the steam filled tent.

"The ointment that you brought back with you has amazing healing properties. Bel'tac said that if Colonel O'Neill breathes the steam that comes off this, it should heal him. We have already noticed an improvement in his condition. And of course…" Janet smiled softly at Sam, as she said this. "…you had instant relief when you breathed this. Didn't you?"

Nodding in agreement, Sam looked over at her CO. The pallor of his face had already begun to improve, as the life giving oxygen permeated his body.

"You will need to breathe this for at least three days, for it to have a permanent effect on you. Apparently, there is a substance in the soil that gives off poison. All the native people of this planet would chew the leaves of the plant that the ointment is made of. This would then neutralise the poison in their systems. Of course all Goa'uld's and Jaffa are immune."

"What about Jonas? Won't he be affected?"

"Yes. He has been, but only mildly. Bel'tac brought some of the leaves through and they will be enough to neutralise any poison that is in Jonas' system. He doesn't need as much as you, as he was only on the planet for a short time."

Looking intently at Sam, Janet continued with a question. "Sam, how do you feel?"

"Hungry, tired and pleased to be home." Giving Janet a smile.

"OK, Sam, I will get one of the orderlies to bring you something to eat. But you need to rest." Turning from the small temporary room, Janet left.

Sam slipped off the side of her bed and padded over to where Colonel O'Neill lay. She listened to his laboured breathing and even to her untrained ear, it seemed easier than when they were on the planet. She noticed that his hair was wet and someone had given him a shave, smiling to herself, she realised that the dreaded shampoo had been used here too. Pleased to see that he was sleeping comfortably, she turned to go back to her own bed and lie down.

"Carter." A quiet voice spoke her name.

Turning around, she looked directly into the open eyes of Colonel O'Neill. "Hey, sir. How are you, now?"

"Oh, peachy!" He replied with a little more strength in his voice. "What's with the fog?" Rolling his eyes up while looking up at the makeshift ceiling.

"It's the ointment, sir. When you add water and heat it to above boiling point, it then turns into va…"

"Ack!" Holding his hand up to her. "You can stop right there, Carter. I know how steam is made. I assume we are at the SGC?" He asked.

"Yes, sir, we are." Smiling at him, she backed up to her bed again and sat down. Just then an orderly came in, with Doctor Fraiser hot on his heels.

"Ah, I thought I heard voices. Good to see you are awake, Colonel. Do you think you could manage some lunch?"

"You bet, Doc. Just one request, no oatmeal or bread."

"That is two requests, but I'll see what I can do." Nodding to the orderly, who had already placed the tray of food down in front of Major Carter, she moved over to check on the colonel's drip and check his vitals. The orderly promptly left to get another tray for the colonel.

Doctor Fraiser watched silently, as Sam removed her bread roll off its small plate and pushed half of her hot casserole onto the now empty plate. Sam then picked up the dinner plate of food, with a fork and gave it to the colonel. Janet was surprised at what she saw and was even more surprised when she observed the colonel nod at Sam, murmur a thank you and start eating it. Sam took up the small plate and using her dessertspoon started to eat her meal.

"This is so nice having utensils, isn't it, sir?"

Nodding vigorously, a muffled "yes" came from the colonel. Janet was further surprised at how quickly the colonel had improved. He was now sitting up and tucking into his meal with obvious relish. There was no sign of his laboured breathing and only the odd cough. 'This stuff is amazing.' She thought to herself. Though, she didn't envy the colonel's predicament, as he hadn't faced General Hammond's wrath yet.

It was a week before Colonel O'Neill was summoned to General Hammond's office. Apart from still being malnourished and his shoulder was still feeling a little stiff; he hadn't felt better for a very long time. Whatever was in those plants had rejuvenated his whole body. He had noticed that Carter seemed to have even more energy than she had before. He was walking quite quickly towards General Hammond's office, not that he wanted to get there in a hurry, but because he was late and he was pretty sure he was in enough trouble without adding to it.

As he arrived at the general's office door, it opened and Carter came out. She seemed pleased with herself. Looking up at the colonel, she held out her hand and took hold of his arm as she closed the office door.

"Sir. You remember what I told you about the pebbles on the planet?"

"Yes, Carter. You thought they were Naquadah."

"Well, I was right. I received the analysis only about forty minutes ago. It is as pure as you can get without any processing. The whole planet is littered with them."

"Yes, I know. They were a pain."

"Yes, I agree with you, sir, but they just maybe worth more than gold to you, sir."

O'Neill looked quizzingly at Carter. "Remember, sir. They are just littered all over the ground – loose." She smiled at him and watched the look of understanding slowly dawn on his face.

Giving a large smile at Carter, he turned, knocked and then opened the door to General Hammond's office.

Sam was half way down the corridor, when she first heard it. She knew what the general sounded like, when he was dressing someone down, but this time it exceeded all past experiences. Stopping where she stood, she could hear the loud verbal noise emanating from his office, she wasn't able to hear what was said, but she was glad that she was this side of the door. Smiling quietly to herself, she proceeded down towards Jonas' office.

In her quest to find Jonas, Sam had wandered into the commissary and there he was, his head in his notebook, furiously writing.

"Hey, Jonas." Calling his attention, as she sat down opposite him.

"Oh, hi, Sam." Looking up briefly at her, he then looked back at what he was doing.

"Well, it is pure."

"What?" He looked up at her.

"The Naquadah, it is pure. I mean really pure, the best we have ever come across."

"Great!" He nodded enthusiastically as he spoke. "You have found a source of Naquadah that is pure, but the planet is fortified and the soil is potentially lethal."

"Yes!" She replied, with a smile.

Jonas was getting very curious now. "So, what are you so pleased about, then?"

"Well – I brought some back with me." She was still smiling.

"How much did you bring back?"

"Enough." Sam was smiling broader now. "More than we could ever mine in two months."

"But, that would be too heavy, Sam. It doesn't make sense."

"I told you it was pure." With that, Sam stood up. "General Hammond is pleased; it will save the government a tremendous amount of funding. Also, this should take some heat of the SGC programme."

"…And off the colonel too, I should think." Jonas added to her sentence.

Just then, Jack came strolling into the commissary, with Teal'c. He seemed quite at ease, considering the bawling out he had just received.

"Hi ya, kids." He sat down next to Carter as he spoke.

Jonas looked at Jack. "So, you are still a colonel then…Colonel?"

"I don't know what you mean, Jonas." He answered with innocence written all over his face.

Jonas rolled his eyes and looked at Teal'c, who by now was sitting next to him. Teal'c just raised one eyebrow. "Indeed."

The End