First Steps (First in Relationships Series) by GenVarel

Category: Drama/Action/Adventure

Spoilers: Children of the Gods
The Enemy Within

Season: One, Right after “The Enemy Within”

Rating: PG 13

Warnings: None

Summary: The SG-1 Team embarks on the first missions
and endeavor to get to know and trust each
other.

Note from the Author: This is my take on what happened on P3X-595, the incident Sam did not want to discuss in “Emancipation”. This work is not betaed so all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for the enjoyment of Stargate SG-1 fans all over the world. No copyright infringement is intended and no monetary gain is expected.

Chapter One

They wordlessly watched the ripples of the event horizon shimmer like a puddle of water under the sun, a serene, beautiful curtain concealing the potential perils waiting for them on the other side. The four team members were standing at the base of the ramp, each taking a deep breath before their very first mission as SG-1, a formerly retired and seasoned Colonel as commander, a brilliant woman scientist as the only other military member of the team, an anguished archeologist searching for his lost wife, and an alien centenarian warrior turned ally that looked no older than his teammates.

As they approached the puddle, bracing themselves for the still rather uncomfortable trip through the wormhole, Colonel Jack O’Neill pondered on how such an unlikely group had come together as he took stock of each member’s qualities.

Jack, a veteran of many black operations for the Air Force, was ready and eager to deal with anything they may encounter during their missions on extraterrestrial planets. Having not much more than an instinctive sense of self-preservation and a lack of regard for much else made him an ideal choice for the job. He realized, however, that he felt an unusual sense of responsibility and pride over this particular group of soldiers. The responsibility weighted heavily on his shoulders, but the pride stemmed from his appreciation for the uniqueness of each of his subordinates.

Here he was, in charge of a team comprised of an alien being who, even thought Jack’s instincts told him he could trust with his life, his training pressured him to keep a watchful eye open, an experienced but, he sensed, rather vulnerable scientist woman soldier who carried a bit of a chip on her shoulders, and, finally, another scientist who, although had previously proven to be brave and loyal, was completely untrained and unprepared for the type of obstacles they were surely to encounter.

He would not have it any other way, though. As odd a team as they seemed to be, they all brought special and valuable skills to the first SG team assembled by General George Hammond, their base Commander. Jack was the team leader, the over-forty soldier hardened by many brutal encounters with enemy forces all over the globe. Now he was about to step out of familiar terrain and make other planets his stomping grounds. He had lost his son to a stupid, tragic accident, his marriage to his inability to cope with it, and his former career as an up and coming military strategist to bitterness and cynicism. But Hammond had dragged him back into service appealing to his sense of honor and duty, and, now, for the first time in what seemed like ages, he truly wanted to be a part of something. He felt alive again, but this was something worth dying for.

Captain Samantha Carter, a strong woman and capable soldier who was almost child-like in her enthusiasm and natural curiosity, challenged Jack to open up his mind to matters beyond seeking and destroying an enemy. Hammond had made him aware of the young woman’s privileged brain and had predicted that she would prove to be an invaluable member of his team. She had performed well during the first two missions through the Gate. She had shown the aplomb only acquired through experience and bravery to match any man’s. Jack was also very much aware of her physical attributes, which he had to admit added an unexpected appeal to his very often-sinister occupation, but he had to watch out for that. Having a dark sense of humor and being able to laugh at himself, however, he realized that she would definitely be making his future more interesting.

Teal’c, the alien warrior, was a complicated man, one scarred by a life no one on Earth could ever imagine, a life that had challenged his natural goodness and honor, a life that had forced him to become a skilled and lethal warrior. Now he had a chance at redemption, and he had grabbed on to it with all the ferocity he had previously demonstrated as First Prime to Apophis. No one besides Jack really and completely trusted him yet. He was too alien, too freshly turned and too closed to others to inspire trust, but Jack was determined to help him overcome the obstacles the Jaffa would surely face in his new home.

And, finally, there was Daniel Jackson, a brilliant, gentle soul who was now forced to become a man of action in order to rescue his wife from the hands of the Goa’uld. That was all that mattered to the man. It was the one thing motivating him to embark on the dangerous missions ahead. Pain was the driving force — pain, and the thought of holding his wife in his arms again. As much as Daniel provoked Jack’s darker, cynical side, the Colonel felt protective toward him. He felt he owed him that much for what the young man had done during the very first incursion through the Stargate. He was the reason Jack was still alive today, in more ways than one. He had unwittingly convinced the bitter Colonel that life was still worth living, and he had saved his skin and that of his men a year ago on Abydos by showing them the way back home.

So here they were, ready to jump into their first mission as a team, headed to a planet poetically named P3X-566. Jack knew the risks. The first mission through the Stargate had cost the lives of most of his team. The second and third missions, back to Abydos and then to Chulak, Teal’c’s home, had cost him the life of one of his best friends, Major Charles Kawalsky, and left another friend, Major Louis Ferretti, seriously injured.

Jack briefly glanced at his team and fervently hoped that everyone would make it back unharmed this time. Then, sighing as he started to march toward the puddle, he led his team into the unknown.

~*~

Jack vaguely heard the others being flung out of the Stargate and then tumble down the hard stone steps behind him. He had expertly rolled to a crouching position and was already scanning the area for possible threats, but all seemed clear.

He looked over his shoulder as his team picked themselves up from the ground, Daniel groaning painfully and Captain Carter taking deep breaths in order to fight nausea. The Gate seemed to affect everyone in a different way. All he felt was uncomfortably chilled for a few seconds. Daniel would probably start sneezing soon. Carter would be fine after looking green for a few minutes. Teal’c did not seem to be affected at all.

“I do not recognize this planet, O’Neill,” remarked the alien man quietly as he crouched next to him, also scanning the area carefully. “However, it bears the signs of terra-forming.”

“How can you tell?” asked Jack as he looked at the tall trees around the clearing holding the Stargate. He thought it was just another earth-like planet, seemingly harmless and beautiful. One of the advantages of having Teal’c in his team, however, was precisely having this kind of intel available. He constantly wondered about the details that would indicate potential Goa’uld threats.

“The type of plant life present, specifically those tall trees, is typical of the planets I have already visited and which I know to have been at least partially terra-formed,” explained the former First Prime. “I had initially thought that the Goa’uld had been responsible, but now I suspect that another race of beings did this a long time ago.”

“Really? Why you figure?” Jack asked curiously.

“I overheard Apophis complaining about not knowing how to transform a planet he coveted because of its strategic position in his territory,” Teal’c concisely explained.

“Huh!” was the extent of Jack’s comment.

“This planet is either under the domain of a System Lord other than Apophis or it has been discarded.”

“What do you mean discarded?” asked Carter, joining them as they stood up, now certain that they were not in imminent danger. She still looked a little peaked but was making a valiant effort of not showing any discomfort.

Daniel sneezed behind them, blowing his nose into a tissue and tucking it into his pocket afterwards. Jack smiled to himself realizing that the doctor was making a conscious effort not to litter.

“There are many planets that the System Lords have decided are no longer worth exploiting, where the natural resources have been depleted or the slave population is too small or weak to serve their purpose,” the Jaffa explained.

“What other purposes do the populations serve besides serving as hosts or mining labor?” asked Daniel as he joined the conversation. Jack had started to walk toward the tree line leading the others as he carefully watched their surroundings. Little mouse-like animals scurried away as they stepped through the tall, dry grass, and he was thankful for his sturdy, thick boots.

Teal’c was answering Daniel’s question. “Where the populations are large enough, they can grow food or serve as manufacturing labor for Goa’uld-coveted products. They build ships, weapons, armors, and other equipment for the system lords. There are particular planets from where Apophis prefers to obtain hosts for his Goa’uld brethren, and there are others that provide clothing, jewelry, and other such luxuries.”

“What kind of planet does this one strike you as?” asked Jack rather sarcastically.

“The area around the Stargate indicates that this planet has been abandoned long ago. It does not appear to be an active Chappa’hai. There are no trails leading to it,” Teal’c replied carefully inspecting the ground around the clearing.

“Okay, we’ll walk for a few miles, circle the Gate, spend the night, and return tomorrow if we have not found anything interesting,” Jack informed them. “Then we’ll tag it for an aerial survey before we send other teams to examine it more closely.”

“I agree. I don’t see any point in spending too much time in a planet where there’s no activity. We have to find where Apophis went to,” contributed Daniel, looking rather disappointed. Sha’re had clearly not been brought to this planet.

“Once we have finished upgrading the probes we’ll be able to do a much better recognizance job before first contact missions like this one,” Captain Carter reminded them encouragingly.

“If the upgraded probes work as well as the adjustments you made on the dialing computer, I just can’t wait,” Jack teased sarcastically.

“Oh, come on, Sir! You have to admit that the trip was not as rough this time. The lack of a dialing device is to blame, but I’m obviously on the right track. I already know what I’m going to do to improve the ride even more. I just need to…” started to explain Captain Carter with enthusiasm, but Jack brusquely interrupted.

“Your explanations would be wasted on us, Captain. Just fix it so that we don’t risk breaking a bone every time we step through the damn thing,” the Colonel requested. He didn’t want to hear techno-babble that he always found confusing and annoying.

“Yes, Sir,” the Captain Carter responded in a resigned tone. She heard Daniel sneeze again and smiled at him in commiseration. “Bless you!” she told him, at which the young man smiled with watery eyes as he tucked another tissue into his pocket.

~*~

They had walked for miles away from the Gate and there had been no evidence of intelligent life anywhere. They had only stopped briefly to eat lunch, and now they felt sweaty and tired, so Jack had decided to call it a day.

The rest of the team started to set up camp while Jack stood guard. Teal’c then surprisingly offered to stand guard for the whole night insisting that he did not need sleep.

“What do you mean? Don’t Jaffas need to sleep in order to rest?” asked Daniel sounding very jealous.

“We do not. We kelnoreem instead,” Teal’c replied.

“What’s kill no ream?” asked a puzzled Jack.

“Kel-no-reem,” corrected Teal’c in a dignified tone. “It is something we must do regularly in order to stay healthy. It requires quiet surroundings and no interruptions so that we can get in touch with our souls and allow them to replenish our bodies. If we do not kelnoreem, our physical forms start to deteriorate and our symbiotes can die. I kelnoreemed last night for a number of hours. I, therefore, will not need to do so again for some time.”

“Sounds like meditation. I guess that can come in handy. We can all rest while you keep watch,” suggested Daniel hopefully, but Jack had to dash his hopes. He knew that the archeologist did not trust his own abilities on the field, but he had to practice to improve.

“We’ll take turns, anyway,” Jack decided, and he heard Daniel groan, “We would not want you guys to think you can slack off just because Teal’c and I are around for the heavy lifting,” he teased, giving Carter a playful look.

She gave her CO a patient smile, then, as she spread her sleeping bag on the hard ground, she suggested, “I can take first watch. I’m not at my best when I just wake up. It takes me a while to stop feeling grumpy.”

“Okay,” Jack agreed. “Anything to avoid a bad-tempered female,” he teased with a smirk, fully expecting a huffy response. His Captain, however, retorted in good humor.

“I should caution you, Sir, that I had a bellyful of female jokes during the Gulf War. And every one of the jokers had to eat their words at the end,” she warned her commander with her hands on her waist.

“I don’t doubt that,” Daniel said smiling. “I promise you won’t get any of those from me,” he assured her, lifting his right hand as if making an oath.

“I do not deliver any kind of jokes,” Teal’c stated seriously, looking even more dignified.

“I’ll try to restrain myself, Captain. That’s all I can promise,” Jack smiled at her, not really meaning to hold his tongue at all.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I do need a few moments to myself before dinner,” Sam said as she picked up a small bag and started to walk into the surrounding bushes.

“If you see any scary bugs, just scream and we’ll come and squash them for you,” Jack called after her, unable to help himself. Heck! She had almost dared him!

Carter threw him a nasty look over her shoulder but said nothing, and he suspected that she did hate big bugs after all.

~*~

“Mary Steenburgen,” Sam heard her CO’s voice as she was approaching the camp. She instinctively stopped where she was and peered through the bushes in the semi-darkness. She could see he was leaning on his pack, relaxing while chewing his rations and looking almost dreamily into the fire.

“Really?” commented Daniel, sounding surprised.

“She’s hot!” the Colonel added, his eyes still on the flames.

“She’s attractive but I prefer the curvier type,” replied Daniel. “I fell for Salma Hayek the first time I saw her in some vampire movie with George Clooney. I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, fangs and all. Sha’re kind of reminded me of her,” he said forlornly as he leaned on his side across the fire from O’Neill, also eating.

They were discussing women? Now what was she supposed to do? Just stay away so that they could have their manly chat?

She just stood in the darkness and just listened, not sure of what else to do.

“I prefer strong, fiery women,” contributed Teal’c, surprising both men before him and the woman concealed by the shadows. “Captain Carter is a fine specimen. She would be a fit mate for a warrior,” he added, nodding to himself and looking at no one in particular.

Sam almost decided to head back into the bushes, her face feeling suddenly hot.

“You like Carter?” her CO asked in an astonished tone.

‘Now, why the hell would that be so damn unbelievable?’ Sam thought feeling a little insulted by her commander’s reaction. Still, she didn’t know whether she should feel flattered by Teal’c’s comment or upset for being discussed in such a manner.

“I did not say I liked Captain Carter for myself,” Teal’c clarified. “I just said I liked her type. But I would think she would be a good match for you, O’Neill,” the Jaffa added, looking at Jack with an inquiring raised eyebrow. Sam almost choked! But she managed to stay very quiet, expectantly waiting for her CO’s answer.

“My liking?! Why?” he asked, suddenly straightening up and looking around guiltily as if afraid that Sam would show up any second.

“Well, you do look good together,” contributed Daniel innocently. “I was thinking that today when the two of you were walking side by side, ahead of us. Are you going to tell us you don’t find her attractive?” he asked, sounding clearly incredulous.

‘Oh, God!’ she thought. ‘Now what?’ she wondered as she braced herself for O’Neill’s answer.

“Whether I find her attractive or not is none of your business!” he answered testily, evidently forgetting that he had just asked Teal’c the same thing. “And even if I did, I would never act on it. I’m her superior officer and that’s all I can ever be. It’s against regulations!”

It was true. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t have those kinds of feelings for each other. At this point, Sam decided she had heard enough and made a deliberate sound so that the men would stop talking.

They were innocently and quietly chewing on their food by the time she stepped into the light of the fire. She took out her rations and ate silently without looking at them. She could not help feeling somewhat embarrassed by their earlier conversation even if they did not know she had been listening. And she could not help wondering whether Colonel O’Neill found her attractive or not, although she really did not want to care either way.

She furtively looked at her CO by the light of the fire. His eyes were fixed on the flames as if afraid of looking at her. Daniel was already flat on his back trying to get comfortable, and Teal’c sat against a tree, his eyes closed as if in meditation.

She felt very uncomfortable. Would it always be like this? Would she always be the odd ball in the group just because she was the girl? Would they always be talking about her behind her back?

Sam had always felt she needed to prove herself everywhere she went. She knew being a woman in the military was a challenging proposition at best, and she also knew her smarts tended to intimidate men, especially the kind of men she had to deal with every day. So she had developed a hard shell where the opposite sex was concerned. She did not pay too much attention to men in the hope that they did not notice her, either. Sometimes she felt this worked; sometimes she realized she was fooling herself.

Her lack of experience in romantic relationships had led to a few disappointing affairs in the past. The first one had been in high school. She had had platonic feelings for the most popular, athletic boy in her school. He, however, had never paid any attention to her until one day, out of the blue, he had approached her and asked her out.

Sam had mumbled incoherently, too shocked and disbelieving to answer, but she had finally and shyly agreed. She remembered she had been wildly excited to go on that first date, and she had let him kiss her. She had felt like a girl for the very first time, wearing a dress and holding hands at the movies with a handsome boy, only to feel crushed a few days later when she had found out that the date had been the result of a juvenile bet.

The boy’s football buddies had dared him to steal a kiss from the brainy ice queen, and he had won. The whole high school had been gossiping about it the next Monday, and Sam had been crushed!

Even though her date had tried talking to her after that, she had blindly turned her back on him and walked away every time. Her first experience with a boy had left her feeling used and humiliated, and she had not paid attention to anyone again until her senior year in college.

A classmate, Tom Henderson, had seemed beautiful but harmless. She had agreed to tutor him in physics for extra spending money, and he had been attracted to her from the beginning, but she had fended him off for many weeks. Although she had found him attractive, she had not wanted to get emotionally involved with anyone on her last year at the university.

One afternoon she had arrived at his apartment for his lesson to find him in distress. His mother had unexpectedly died, and Sam’s heart had gone out to him knowing what such a horrible experience felt like. She had earlier shared with him how she had suddenly lost her mom years ago.

She had only meant to comfort her classmate, but one think had led to another and she had ended up losing her heart and virginity to the grieving young man. She had dated him for a few months and she had felt, for the first time in years, truly happy — until the day she had come to his apartment and had found a middle-aged woman efficiently tidying up the place. The woman was his mother.

Tom had lied to her in order to get through her defenses, and Sam had felt used again. She had left the apartment and had never seen Tom again. He had kept calling her repeatedly, but she had never forgiven him.

Sam had casually dated here and there after that, never allowing her feelings to get involved. She had fully concentrated on her work for years — until Captain Jonas Hansen came along.

Charming, emotionally wounded Jonas had slowly wormed himself into her heart. She had let her guard down again and she had ended up regretting it. Her father had warned her about him, but she had felt spurred into the relationship instead of the opposite, a natural reaction to what she perceived were one of the General’s usual attempts at trying to rule her life.

Jonas had eventually revealed himself to be a controlling, slightly over-the-edge man. She had been deeply involved with him, with a ring on her finger, when she had realized that he was not the right guy for her. He had seemed jealous of her success in the military and, the better she did, the more strangling the relationship had become.

Sam had finally broken up with him, and he had strangely accepted it without too much fuss, as if he really did not believe that it was over. She had expected to find him waiting for her around the next corner during the first few weeks after the break up, but it seemed her fears had been unfounded. She had not seen or heard from him in many weeks, and then she had been transferred to Colorado Springs.

Men, in her experience, were not worth the trouble. She knew, of course, that this was a generalization and that there were some good men out there. Her brother was proof of that, as well as her father, in his own way. He had made their mother happy despite the long absences required by his job.

Sam surreptitiously watched the three sleeping men near her, one by one. Colonel Jack O’Neill was a handsome, virile man. She found him very attractive and she already respected and admired him for his previous accomplishments. She loved his sense of humor and his self-effacing, irreverent attitude. She also truly believed he did not hold her gender against her. He just had to have fun at her expense, as he did with everyone else. She felt truly privileged to have been assigned to his team and she knew she would have no trouble following his lead, wherever it took them.

She then looked at Daniel’s boyish face, even more innocent-looking in sleep. Here was, she sensed, another example of a good man. She felt deep sympathy for him. The poor guy had lost his wife to the Goa’uld and was desperate to get her back. He had already demonstrated his willingness to share everything he learned, and he clearly was a generous, brilliant man who shared her own fascination for learning and who just wanted to live a simple life while doing so. Now he was in way over his head. He was the least prepared to face their upcoming missions and she felt an almost sisterly sense of responsibility for him already. She would try to watch out for him, as any good sister would.

Sam then switched her attention to Teal’c, the alien man sitting very still against the tree with his eyes closed. She did not know what to make of him yet. He had already proven his determination to participate in the effort to fight the Goa’uld. He had actually thrown away a privileged position in his world in order to do so but she had to admit that she did not understand him. Could he really hate the Goa’uld so much that he was willing to live among strangers who may never get to accept him? Did he ever have second thoughts about what he had done?

His comment about her had surprised her, but had proven to Sam that the man was not as detached as he appeared to be, and she wondered if he had left loved ones behind. They really did not know much about him, and this made her feel rather uncomfortable around him. She could not help but feel wary. He was so… different.

She was surprised at how short her watch had seemed when a sleepy looking Daniel relieved her. He motioned her toward her sleeping bag and sat close to where she had been sitting, yawning widely.

As Sam laid down to sleep, she was thinking that it would be a while before she felt completely comfortable in the exclusive company of her teammates.

Chapter Two

It had been an uneventful night, and Jack had been the last one to keep watch. He observed Sam as she woke up with a cute frown on her face, looking around the camp and wrinkling her nose as if something stank.

She spotted him and mumbled a “Morning, Sir” as she stood up and headed into the bushes again, out of sight, and he smiled to himself thinking that she looked adorable with bedhead.

‘Watch out, Jack!’ he sternly reminded himself as he asked Teal’c for a cup of coffee. The former First Prime had breakfast duty this morning.

Daniel was yawning awake as well, sitting up and putting on his glasses. “Where’s Captain Carter?” he asked, looking around and sounding a little worried.

“She just went to take care of personal business for a moment,” answered Jack. “You may want to do the same. We’ll be heading out soon.”

“O,kay” the doctor responded with another yawn. He started to head into the bushes when Jack warned, “Not that way!”

“Oh!” Daniel said, evidently spotting Sam’s blond head from afar. “I’ll just…” pointing away, “Go this way.” He then disappeared in the opposite direction while Teal’c handed Jack a steaming mug.

~*~

They had spent most of the morning hiking through pretty rough terrain, already heading back to the Gate. They had been conversing about different topics, mostly sports and cars, in which Sam had actively participated and Teal’c had been silent but attentive.

Sam had been pleased to surprise the three men when she had revealed that she was quite the mechanic, and that she owned a sleek motorcycle which she loved to ride at high speeds. They had been teasing her about her numerous speeding tickets when, just over a steep hill, they came to an unexpected view.

The four teammmates gapped in awe at a beautiful little valley surrounded by tall, spindly trees that looked a lot like Earth’s pines. The center of the valley held a small yellow and scarlet plain in bloom with breathtaking, tall, red flowers and golden grasses.

“Wow! What a great picture!” Carter commented with a pleased smile.

“Well, our hike just got a little easier,” ever practical Colonel O’Neill responded. “The Stargate should be just over the next hill, across this field.”

“I’m almost sorry we have to walk through it. I would hate to damage the flowers,” responded Daniel, still staring at the wonderful sight.

“I wonder if they have a pleasant smell,” added Sam. She loved the smell of flowers in bloom. It reminded her of her mom’s rose gardens. She had used to plant one in every home they had undeterred by the knowledge that she would probably have to move again.

Teal’c remained silent, waiting for Colonel O’Neill to give them the go ahead.

“We’ll find out soon, Captain. Let’s follow a single line straight to the other side,” Jack commanded, starting to hike down the hill they were perched on. “Keep an eye out for critters.”

Sam followed Jack down the hill and stepped into the field of flowers, Daniel behind her and Teal’c at the end of the line. “They do have a sweet smell!” she remarked, brushing the flowers with her fingertips as she walked, the stems almost waist high. They were shorter than they had appeared from the top of the hill, but each tall stalk held at least ten little flowers along the tip. The stalks themselves were yellow, with little black dots here and there.

Sam was about to comment that she had never seen anything so exotic when she noticed Colonel O’Neill stumble a bit ahead of her. He then stumbled again, and she was about to ask if he was okay when the man just stopped, clearly dizzy. He turned to look at her with glazed eyes, slightly swaying on his feet and trying to say something, but then fell flat on his back with a loud thump.

“Sir!” she shouted, running to his side. She automatically felt for his pulse and found it without a problem. It seemed rather slow, but strong. “Dr. Jackson, please give me a hand wi…” she started to say, turning to Daniel, when she noticed that he was also stumbling, just a few feet behind her.

“Whooa!” the archeologist said, evidently missing the fact that their commander had passed out. He had a hand to his head, then he staggered and he too fell unconscious to the ground, face first.

Teal’c rushed to Daniel from behind, turned him over and searched for his pulse. “He is just unconscious. But it is unlikely that both Colonel O’Neill and Dr. Jackson succumbed to exhaustion at the same time. Something here is affecting them.”

“I agree,” Sam replied grunting as she tried lifting her CO but not quite managing to do so. “You’re going to have to help me with Colonel O’Neill. He’s too heavy for me. I’ll handle Dr. Jackson. Let’s get them back to the hill we came down from. They were doing okay there.”

Teal’c easily picked up Jack from the ground and laid him over his massive shoulders. Sam did the same with Daniel, though not as easily. She was actually wishing the doctor were lighter. Although not as big as her commander, he was not a small man.

She laboriously followed Teal’c back the way they had come from and they were almost there when Sam noticed that Teal’c was wobbly on his feet.

“Teal’c! Are you okay?!” she shouted at him, gasping with the effort of carrying her weighty burden.

The Jaffa did not answer, but kept walking as if drunk, still trying to get to the end of the field. Before he could reach it, however, he fell forward with Colonel O’Neill on his back.

“Oh, crap!” Sam cried out as she almost ran the rest of the way to the hill, grunting with the exertion, Daniel heavy on her shoulders. She climbed only a few steps up the hill when she had to dump him on the ground, falling to her knees but glad that they were a safe distance from the flowers. Breathing hard, she immediately turned to head back to where Teal’c and Colonel O’Neill were laying unconscious.

She was panting, almost completely out of breath, but something was telling her that it was imperative that she get the men out of the field. So she first grabbed Colonel O’Neill around his chest and started to drag him backwards. She knew she would not be able to lift him.

While she was dragging the inert form of her Commander, she was wondering what could have affected the men that did not seem to affect her. They had seemed fine until they had been pretty deep into the field. She hoped she was doing the right thing by returning them to the previous spot. Maybe the danger was there, and it had just taken some time to take effect.

She was almost completely drained by the time she brought Colonel O’Neill to lay next to Dr. Jackson’ inert form. She, however, did not take a moment to rest and turned back immediately to retrieve Teal’c.

The former First Prime proved to be her greatest challenge. She huffed and puffed every step of the way, dying for a drink of water, her muscles screaming painfully, but she managed to drag Teal’c by the arms all the way to the same spot where the other two men were still insensible.

Sam then collapsed to the ground, flat on her back and taking deep breaths, desperately trying to slow down her racing heart. A few minutes later, she retrieved her canteen, drank some water, and turned her attention to the three men laying near her.

They were out cold, face up on the alien soil. She first approached Daniel, felt for his pulse again and was relieved when it felt strong. Then she tried pouring a little water on his face, hoping to rouse him. Nothing happened. She poured a little more, and still nothing happened. She was even more alarmed. Now what?

She approached Colonel O’Neill and did the same with identical results. She was at a loss, so she just sat there for a few moments, wondering what to do next.

Suddenly, she heard Teal’c stir and she rushed to kneel by his side. “Teal’c! Can you hear me?” she yelled in his face, slapping his cheek lightly.

The Jaffa suddenly opened his eyes and sat up so abruptly that Sam fell on her butt, startled. Teal’c looked at her and then at his surroundings as if trying to remember where he was. “I apologize, Captain Carter,” he said, shaking his head to clear it, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah! Are you?” she had come close to him again and was looking into his black eyes to make sure he was alert.

“I am fine now,” Teal’c responded. “My symbiote must have helped me fight the effects of whatever overwhelmed us.”

“This happened one hundred meters into the field, so my bet is that the flowers are the culprit. We’re going to have to get to the gate some other way. I’m hoping their effect is not serious and that Colonel O’Neill and Dr. Jackson will wake up soon.”

As if on cue, her Commander woke up. “Oy!” he grunted.

She turned and saw Colonel O’Neill, still flat on his back, touching his head. “What…?” He started to ask, still not opening his eyes.

“Sir! I’m so glad you are awake! How do you feel?” Sam asked, kneeling next to him.

He finally opened his eyes to blink at her in bewilderment. “What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know for certain, Sir. The three of you just passed out, one by one. I had to drag you guys here. I suspect it had something to do with the field we were walking through.”

Sam was now helping him sit up and was offering him some water. Colonel O’Neill drank greedily, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. He then handed the canteen back to her. “How are the others?” he asked, trying to stand up, but still shaky.

Sam assisted him, holding him steady once he was on his feet. “Teal’c was the last one to be affected and the first one to wake up. Dr. Jackson is still out. I poured some water on his face, but he didn’t wake up. I had done the same with you. It looks like we just have to wait for the effect to pass,” she was saying as Jack approached Daniel and knelt by his side.

“Daniel!” he shouted at the doctor’s face, but getting no response. “Hey!” he called, slapping his cheek, not as gently as Sam had done with Teal’c.

Daniel did respond the second time, groaning. He opened his eyes slowly to look at them in confusion. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“We’re not sure yet, but it looks like we were affected by something in the field. Us three men passed out, but Carter seems immune to whatever it is,” Jack explained, squinting across the field and already thinking of an alternate route to the Stargate.

“Actually, I don’t think I’m completely immune. I did feel a little dizzy when I finished dragging the three of you here… but it could have been from the exertion,” Sam felt obligated to point out. Her muscles still felt shaky. “I think we should discuss this somewhere far from here, though. If the wind changes, and if whatever affected us is airborne, we all may end up in trouble again.”

“Right!” Jack replied, standing up and helping Daniel to do so. “Let’s go East. The wind is blowing West and we can circle the plain,” he directed, already starting to move. “Carter! What are you doing?” he annoyingly called after her when she quickly jogged down the hill again.

“I’m just picking some samples of the flowers for analysis,” Sam answered, pulling out a plastic container from her pack and kneeling by the edge of the field to cut some stems.

“Why?” Jack asked patiently.

“Why not? I’d like to know what did this to you. It may be something worth exploiting,” she answered with a teasing smile as she finished sealing the plastic container.

“Okay, whatever!” he acquiesced, rolling his eyes.

Sam smiled wider, wondering if he had caught her double meaning.

“Just keep it away from us,” her CO added grumpily, which made her think he had.

“Yes, Sir,” she replied in good humor as she put the container back inside her backpack and started to follow her teammates.

~*~

The rest of the hike back to the Stargate had gone smoothly. They had returned to the SGC and been given routine medical check-ups which seemed to indicate that there had been no aftereffects from whatever had overwhelmed them.

Jack and his team had also been introduced to the newly appointed SGC Medical Director, a Dr. Janet Fraiser, handpicked by General Hammond. The auburn-haired physician was quite friendly but efficient, and she held an air of confident command despite her petite size.

She had also been as fascinated as Carter was about the little flowers the Captain had brought back. The two of them had hit if off right away, discussing possible reasons why his second-in-command had not been affected while the rest of them had been put to sleep.

“I bet it has to do with hormones,” had hypothesized the doctor. “That’s the most obvious difference between you and the other three team members. We’ll check that out first!”

The woman actually seemed to be having fun! Now the two new friends were headed out of the infirmary together, chatting away, and Jack could not help but notice just how tall Captain Carter was standing next to the little doctor.

“Scientists!” he grouchily mumbled to himself, listening to the two women talk about the flowers enthusiastically. All he wanted to do was shower, debrief, and go home. A cold beer with his name on it was waiting! He’d write his mission report in the morning.

“Would you guys like to join us at the mess hall for dinner later?” Carter unexpectedly asked, pausing at the door and addressing her three teammates.

“No, thanks, I don’t need to hear how your female superiority makes you immune to flowers. I was planning on pizza and beer at home,” he responded, waving them off. “I’ll see you later when we debrief.”

The enthusiasm appeared to instantly dim on his Captain’s face, and Jack wished he hadn’t sounded so dismissive.

“Charming!” he heard the doctor say to Sam under her breath, and he realized he had come across like a jerk. Oh, well! That would not be the last time, he was sure.

“Jack, do you mind if Teal’c and I join you for pizza?” Daniel asked, standing next to Teal’c. “We don’t have any plans and we’d love to get out of the base.”

The archeologist was looking at him hopefully, reminding Jack of a teenager asking to go out on a school night. Then he briefly directed an apologetic smile to Carter. “No offense, Captain Carter, but we are kind of sick of the mess hall food.”

“No problem, I understand,” she quickly responded, and Jack thought he detected a dejected tone.

Then he remembered that Teal’c had not been allowed out of the SGC yet. Daniel was in the process of setting up an office and had sleeping quarters at the base, but he had not found an apartment in town yet. Jack thought a short excursion for pizza would be good for both men.

“Sure! I’ll make sure it’s okay with General Hammond for you two to leave the base and let you know,” he responded, walking out and leaving everyone behind in the infirmary, determinedly ignoring the look of disappointment in his Captain’s pretty face.

He heard her tell Dr. Fraiser that she would see her later and head for the locker room.

Chapter Three

Half an hour after their check-ups, showers and debrief, Sam Carter was back at her lab writing her mission report on P3X-566 and remembering with pleasure the kudos she had received during the debriefing session.

~*~*~*~*
“If Captain Carter had not been there, these three gentlemen would probably be laying dead in that pretty field right now,” Dr. Fraiser reported to General Hammond. “From what I’ve been able to gather from the test results, the flowers release an airborne chemical compound similar to nitrous oxide — laughing gas.”

“Laughing gas is not lethal, is it?” Daniel asked.

“Not normally. But I said it was similar, not the same, and this compound is a lot stronger, strong enough to be used as anesthesia. And I assume you all know how carefully anesthesia has to be administered. Too much, you die,” the Doctor informed them.

“How come Captain Carter wasn’t affected by this compound?” General Hammond inquired in a puzzled tone.

“That’s the most fascinating aspect of the compound yet. We are not sure why, but I think hormonal differences may be a factor. Ask me again in a week after we’ve been able to look into it further. My theory, however, is that she was just immune because she’s a woman,” Dr. Fraiser smiled at Sam.

“I guess being a girl isn’t always a disadvantage,” Sam commented, smiling smugly.

“How did you know you had to get them out of the field?” General Hammond asked her.

“Woman’s intuition, Sir,” she answered seriously, not missing a beat. Then she couldn’t help a chuckle, matched by one coming from Dr. Fraiser. “Sorry, Sir,” she quickly sobered, “I’m just joking. It just made sense to me. They started to drop like flies about one hundred meters into the field. Nothing but the flowers had changed around us.”

“Well, it was a good call. I believe you gentlemen owe Captain Carter a drink… and your lives,” her Base Commander remarked.

“To be fair, Sir, Teal’c deserves credit, too. He helped me with Colonel O’Neill. If he had not made it as far as he did to the edge of the field, I don’t know if I would have been able to get them all out of the danger zone in time,” she reported, smiling at Teal’c gratefully. Teal’c just bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“Well, I guess he deserves a drink too,” Hammond agreed with a small smile.

“It would be my pleasure to take Teal’c and Carter out for a drink,” Colonel O’Neill responded, shamelessly winking at her as she sat across from him, which made her blush. “Right, Daniel?”

The archeologist smiled and nodded, but Teal’c promptly informed them, “I do not consume alcoholic beverages.”

“Well, it’ll just be a lemonade for you,” her CO replied without missing a beat. “Oh, and thank you for letting Teal’c finally get some fresh air, Sir,” the Colonel added.

“He’s your responsibility, Colonel. I expect him to return with Dr. Jackson to the base tonight after dinner,” The General firmly reminded him.

“I’ll bring them back safe and sound, Sir! Is that all? I’d like to go home,” Jack asked, ready to depart.

“That’s it! You’re to recon P3X-595 the day after tomorrow. Rest up, everybody,” the General ordered as he got up from his seat.
~*~*~*~*

Sam still felt like her three teammates were avoiding her company, but she tried to convince herself that she was being paranoid. She had to learn to relax around them so that they would relax around her. She was tired, anyway, and she was looking forward to going home to rest as General Hammond had ordered. She had to be back early the next morning to start working on the adjustments to the dialing computer.

She was turning off her terminal, tiredly standing up from her desk, when she suddenly felt someone standing right behind her. She abruptly turned and gasped, startled, when she found her former fiancé, Captain Jonas Hansen, standing within touching distance of her.

“Hello, Sam,” he greeted her softly, a little smile on his lips.

“Jonas! You scared me!” she automatically replied, her hand on her suddenly racing heart. “What are you doing here?”

Sam was more than shocked at seeing Jonas so suddenly in her lab, of all places. She had not seen or heard from him in weeks, and she had not realized that he had clearance to be at the SGC.

“I work here now,” he evenly replied, a smug smile on his face.

“What?! Since when?” she asked, an uncomfortable knot immediately forming in her stomach. She suddenly felt extremely crowded.

“Now, don’t sound so excited, Sam. Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked her, getting closer. There was a look in his eyes she did not like, and Sam automatically took a step backwards for every one Jonas took toward her. She didn’t want to be rude, but she felt anything but relaxed at having to face him so unexpectedly.

“What do you mean you’re working here? Doing what?” Sam felt it was better to avoid his taunting question and redirect the conversation to a more neutral territory.

“I’ve been assigned to head SG-9. All those black ops served me well when being considered for the Stargate Program. Aren’t you happy for me?”

Jonas was still approaching her, but her legs were now against a low table at the end of her lab. He stopped inches away from her, definitely invading her personal space.

“Of course! I’m sure you’ll do a great job, Jonas,” she replied nervously, trying to be polite despite her dismay at his news. “And I’d love to stay and catch up, but I really have to…” she was saying as she tried to walk around him toward the door, but Jonas would not let her escape so easily.

“Wait, Sam, we’ve barely said hello! What’s your rush?” he annoyingly asked, stepping in front of her and blocking her way out of her lab.

“I have to go, Jonas. Sorry, but maybe we can talk some other time over lunch now that you’ll be around. I’m very tired and need to go home,” she was insisting as she pushed lightly on his chest to get him out of her way and prevent him from getting closer.

“Too tired to exchange a few pleasantries with the man you at one time were going to marry? All I need is a few minutes, Sam,” he had taken a hold of her arm and he was no longer smiling. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I didn’t hound you after you broke up with me and got the orders for your new assignment?”

Sam could not tell exactly why, but she started to feel scared, and this made her angry. “No, not really,” she lied. “I figured you were being reasonable, for a change. Now, please get out of my way, Jonas.”

His hand on her arm, however, just gripped harder. “I knew where you were headed, Sam, because I was already interviewing for this position. So I just decided to bid my time. Now we can work on our relationship, start anew and get it right this time,” he suggested, and Sam was suddenly convinced that he had lost his marbles.

“Let go, Jonas!” she insisted. “I’m not interested any longer.”

“Come on, Sam! You’re still mad at me? I know I was being hard on you, but I promise I’ll do better this time,” he pressed on, getting so close that Sam thought he meant to kiss her.

“What are you doing?” she heard herself say, and hated the fact that she actually sounded spooked. She was looking into his eyes, unsuccessfully trying to make him let go of her arm and push him aside without success. She thought those eyes had changed into those of a stranger’s since the last time she had seen him.

“I believe you have been asked to let go, Captain Hansen,” they both heard her CO calmly but firmly state from the door of her lab, and her stomach lurched.

Jonas slowly turned and gave Colonel O’Neill an insolent look, but he stepped aside and released Sam’s arm. She automatically rubbed the muscle he had been squeezing and quickly stepped further away from him, uncomfortably looking at her Commander. She was mortified that now the Colonel would find out about her former relationship with Jonas.

“Yes, Sir,” Jonas replied, still sounding impudent. “As you order, Sir,” he saluted almost mockingly. He then turned to Sam again with a smile. “We’ll finish our conversation later, when you’re not so tired. Good night, to both of you,” he said as he calmly left her lab, stepping around her CO, who still stood at the door.

Watching her carefully with very dark eyes, the Colonel then asked, “Are you okay?”

Sam immediately answered, wishing to flee. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. I’m really sorry for the scene. I don’t know what’s with him,” she answered apologetically, gripping her hands behind her back self-consciously.

“You two seem to have history,” he commented after a moment.

“We… ah… used to be… engaged,” she admitted, now ashamed by the thought that he would believe she had had the lack of judgment to get involved with a controlling looser, which was the sad truth. So she gazed at the floor, trying to avoid his searching eyes.

“Ah!” he just said, raising his eyebrows in understanding. He seemed to ponder something for a moment, then stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes. “You don’t have to put up with anything like that again. I won’t tolerate any harassment of my team. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Sam softly responded, still avoiding his look in mortifying embarrassment and now rubbing her arms, suddenly cold.

“I mean that. If he gets out of line again, I’m ordering you to inform me. Am I clear?” he told her firmly.

“Yes, Sir, I will,” she swallowed hard, now looking directly at him. “But I’m sure everything will be okay.”

She knew he could tell that she was embarrassed, so she was grateful when he let it go at that. Sam was also sort of pleased that he was trying to protect her.

His team, he had said. She knew he meant all three of them, the woman, the alien, and the geek. This kind of approach she had never expected from a man like him, and her respect for her boss was raised another notch.

“I stopped by to ask if you’d like to have that drink with us tonight. I know you ate with Dr. Fraiser, but you can just join us for a beer at my place later… if you want.”

Now he was the one sounding rather shy, and she was taken aback, surprised, but then shook her head with a smile. “Thank you, Sir, but I should go home. I’m very tired, probably from all the dragging I did today,” she chuckled. In truth, her muscles were sore, and she wanted a warm soak in the tub very badly.

“About that… thanks,” he seriously said, and she just smiled wider and nodded in acknowledgement. “If you’d rather get together some other time, that’s fine with us. You know where we’ll be, if you change your mind,” he added, turning to leave with another shy little smile.

“Okay,” Sam replied in turn. Before he could exit, however, she added, “And Sir…” she smiled gratefully, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, sure, you betcha!” he answered in a heavy Minnesota accent.

~*~

The next afternoon, on P3X-595, Colonel O’Neill gladly complimented his Captain. “Much better, Carter! Good job on those adjustments!” he sincerely said as they finished stepping out of the alien Gate and onto a green, damp planet.

“Thank you, Sir. Stepping onto a planet does feel much better than bouncing onto it,” she responded.

The site of their second mission as SG-1 was very lush. The previous Stargates had all stood on clearings, but not this one. This Gate was overrun by verdant vegetation and dwarfed by tall, thick trees. The underbrush was dense and dark, and the ground was spongy, thick with wet leaves and other debris. Ferns grew wildly around them and the moisture in the air was heavy.

They could tell that the wormhole had disintegrated a lot of the vegetation in front of the Gate, where they now stood, or they wouldn’t have been able to walk out so easily. Daniel was commenting on how glad he was that they had all applied some insect repellent before the mission, no doubt recalling some of his adventures in Central America.

“This is quite tropical,” the archeologist commented further. Dr. Fraiser had given him new, stronger prescriptions for his allergies hoping that they would help with his sneezing. His eyes did not look at all watery, and that was a good sign, but Jack watched him in amusement as he reapplied his nose spray for good measure.

“Teal’c, what kind of Gate is this one, you think?” the Colonel asked despite already knowing the answer as he tried to peer through the dense foliage.

“It appears to be another abandoned planet, O’Neill,” the tall man responded, still standing at the top of the steps and intently spying his surroundings. “However, this planet seems inhabited.”

His three surprised teammates turned to him as one. There was no sign of civilization that Jack could readily tell.

“Why do you say that, Teal’c?” his Captain asked, looking around again to see if she had missed something.

“I smell smoke,” the former First Prime stated confidently, “From that direction,” he added, pointing South of the Gate.

“Well, I guess we have a goal, then,” responded Jack. “Teal’c, you take point,” he ordered, “I’ll watch your six.”

He glanced around once more before following his teammated into the surrounding jungle, pushing away plants as they walked.

~*~

“I wish I had a machete,” Daniel commented, no doubt referring to how difficult the walk had become.

“What is a machete?” Teal’c asked as he pushed away branches with his staff weapon, which had been quite helpful in opening up some walking space, but Jack agreed that a machete would have been much better.

They had been walking for almost an hour, but had not found any sign of intelligent life. There were plenty of lizards and insects, however.

“It’s just a very long knife, T. Very useful to chop away at undergrowth,” Jack helpfully supplied. “Are you sure that what you smelled was smoke?” he the asked, looking at Teal’c with a frown.

“I am positive,” Teal’c answered with complete conviction. As if to prove him right, they unexpectedly tripped over a little clearing with a recently doused fire among the bushes.

“Yes, this is what I smelled,” Teal’c said, kneeling close and adding, “It was put out in a hurry. And I see footprints. There are two males, wearing shoes of some kind and about Dr. Jackson’s weight, running in that direction.”

Jack did not doubt the Jaffa, but he could not see anything through the dense plant life in the direction Teal’c was pointing, so he approached the closest tree and started to climb. He had only reached fifteen feet up when he pulled out his binoculars to scan the area.

“I see movement, all right,” he yelled down to them. “Let’s follow. They may be heading toward a settlement,” he was saying as he climbed down effortlessly.

“Maybe they saw us and got scared,” Daniel suggested.

“What would two people be doing in the middle of a thick jungle all by themselves? Hunting?” Sam speculated.

“Most likely,” Teal’c replied, “Although they have not been successful yet. There is no blood or remains around the campsite.”

“Maybe they are gatherers, not hunters. They may be picking plants,” Daniel contributed as they followed the Jaffa.

“Who cares what they’re doing?” Jack impatiently said. “All we need is to find them and figure out what kind of inhabitants we have around here. What they like to do alone in the jungle is their own business,” he added. “Let’s pick up the pace!” he ordered, and the Jaffa obeyed.

Chapter Four

They had followed tracks all afternoon and the sun was now low in the sky. They had not come across a village yet, and the footprints had appeared and disappeared intermittently, making them difficult to track. They had changed direction a number of times, which had made SG-1 believe that the people they followed were aware of their pursuit and were leading them in circles.

“I think we better stop for today. We’ll continue tomorrow. If there’s a village, it’s quite far from the Stargate, and I prefer to find it in daylight,” Colonel O’Neill decided, putting down his pack.

The day had cooled some as the sun had gone down, and the temperature was now more comfortable despite the humidity in the air. Sam didn’t mind tropical climates temperature-wise, but she hated bugs, she remembered as she slapped her neck for the millionth time. Pesky little things!

“I’ll take first watch again,” she offered, dropping her pack and taking off her cap. “I’ll just take a few minutes to freshen up first.”

“Okay, you’re it! Don’t take too long and stay close,” Jack agreed.

As the three men got busy building up a fire and laying out their sleeping bags, Sam walked away from the camp and into the thicker part of the woods. She was careful, watching her step and looking out for snakes, large bugs and other animals. Although they had not encountered more than bugs and a number of exotic birds, she knew that this did not necessarily mean larger predators were not about.

She was pleasantly surprised when she heard the sound of running water nearby. They had crossed a few streams during their trek through the jungle, but had not stopped for more than a couple of minutes to refresh themselves, intent on catching up with their quarry.

She followed the enticing sound and found herself standing by a tiny creek running quietly through rocks and debris. She quickly took care of personal business nearby and then headed for the water, which she found was cool and refreshing after a long day of hiking.

She was wiping her face, neck and arms with a small wet towel, having shed her hat and jacket, when she heard a suspicious noise close by.

Sam automatically reached for her hand weapon. The sun had almost set and she peered into the darkened undergrouth, trying to see what had made the noise. She slowly turned, cautiously standing up, then started to approach the suspect area. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her neck, as if a bug had stung her. Her left hand flew to the achy spot to pry loose something attached to her skin.

She opened her eyes wide in the semi-darkness to try to see what she was holding between her fingers. It looked like some kind of tiny dart, she though, then realized that she was having a hard time focusing. Everything was becoming blurry.

Another noise caught her attention and she lifted her eyes to find a semi-naked young man with bright, green eyes, intently staring at her and approaching her cautiously from among the bushes. She vaguely estimated his age in his early twenties.

As if in slow motion, she felt herself sink to her knees as she heard something else coming from her right. She saw another young man crouching close, also watching her expectantly and similarly attired, and her sluggish brain came to the conclusion that she had been ambushed.

She tried to pull the trigger of her gun to catch her teammates attention, but she found that her arms and hands had gone numb. The green-eyed young man continued to approach her and she realized that he was holding a little tube between his fingers. He definitely looked like he was expecting something to happen, and she acknowledged what it was when she felt herself start to lose consciousness.

A frisson of despair clutched at her heard as she fell to the soft ground backwards, knowing that her teammates were unaware of her peril. The last she saw before she closed her eyes were almost round, green orbs getting closer and closer.

~*~
“What’s taking her so long?” Jack wondered aloud, knowing he sounded impatient and not caring a bit. “I better go find her,” he crossly decided, walking into the bushes and following the path his Captain had taken minutes earlier. “I’m checking on Carter,” he informed Teal’c and Daniel over his shoulder as he left.

He walked about for less than a minute, shouting the Captain’s name every few steps until he heard the sound of water. ‘Oh, boy! Don’t tell me she’s taking a little bath,’ he thought. ‘How typical!’ Well, if he caught her less than completely dressed, it would be her fault for taking so long, he smirked.

“Carter, are you there?” he called, giving her fair warning of his approach. “I’m coming, so if you’re not decent, let me know,” he informed as he approached the little creek. He then suddenly stopped dead on his tracks when he stepped on her discarded jacket, her small toiletries bag sitting next to it. A wet towel was partially laying on top of the bag, carelessly discarded. His heart sunk when he then spotted her handgun, lying on the ground close by, and he realized that she was in trouble. Looking wildly around for any sign of her, he realized that darkness was fast approaching and turned to run back to the recently set up camp.

He didn’t hesitate to shout the moment he reached his remaining teammates. “Carter’s gone! We’ve got to find her!” The two dropped what they had in their hands and picked up their guns as he was quickly putting on his jacket and picking up the rest of his weapons. “Let’s move!”

Teal’c and Daniel were close behind when he got back to the little creek. “She was here, but I just found her jacket and gun. There’s no sign of her.” It was almost completely dark now, and it was hard to see details.

“There were two people here besides Captain Carter,” Teal’c observed, looking down at the soft ground. “Look here,” he pointed. Now all three could see the footprints clearly marked.

“In what direction did they go?” Jack anxiously asked, quickly shoving Captain Carter’s stuff inside his own pack.

“The footprints go South,” indicated Teal’c, “And they are running, carrying a burden. She is being carried away.”

“Then maybe we can catch them! You lead!” Jack ordered, starting to follow an already running Teal’c.

~*~

They had not been able to continue chasing their quarry for long. Darkness, when it fell, was complete.

Jack had decided against a fire, so they just crouched against trees and braced themselves against the surprisingly cool night. But, as soon as the sun started to make an appearance, they continued tracking the Captain’s captors.

They followed their trail for a few miles until the jungle gave way to open, green land. They soon realized they were close to the foot of a mountain, and they could hear a river thundering nearby. They could also see smoke in the distance, so they continued in that direction, approaching stealthily. Crawling on their stomachs once they were closer, they cautiously peered over a ridge.

They looked down on a large, primitive but picturesque village. The round and sturdy-looking low buildings were built of stone and mud with thick thatched roofs for cover. There were no windows on them, just one large entrance in each one, covered by a colorful tapestry, but there was a partially covered hole in the middle of each roof. The covers for these holes were secured with ropes and sitting on the roofs, ready to be pulled in place in case of rain, and there was smoke coming out of each opening.

The buildings were fairly large, as if made to accommodate a sizeable family or clan. They were arranged in a semi-circle, facing a large river, which came down from the mountain in a spectacular cascade and formed a large lagoon right before the village.

The waterway continued to drain away toward a green, luscious valley, and the three men observed that there were many well made canoes secured to small piers close to the village. There was a large clearing between the buildings and the river forming a plaza, and, on top of a round platform made of rocks in the center of the plaza, sat a fat, almost round figure carved from red rock. It looked like a pregnant woman with humongous breasts.

“What is that on the platform?” Jack asked in puzzlement. The figure looked oddly familiar to him.

“That…” and Daniel smiled in delight, “Is an Earth Mother figure. The earliest form of religion ever found worshiped Earth as a symbol of fertility, and the power of women as givers of life,” he informed his friends.

“Yeah… I think I’ve seen something like that before,” commented Jack.

“In my office,” Daniel informed him, “Top, right shelf.”

“Oh… right!” Jack replied.

There was a lot of smoke coming out of a large fire pit in front of the statue. They could see mostly bare-chested women and children milling about, wearing long, colorful skirts, tall, tan boots, and flowers in their hair. They were adding kindling to the fire in front of the goddess figure, bowing to it and kissing the kindling before throwing it in. They wore their hair loose down their backs, and they were mostly brunettes, although they could see lighter shades of hair here and there. Their tanned skin glistened in the morning sun, as if oiled, and they all seemed to be in good physical shape.

“I don’t see Carter,” Jack observed, looking through his binoculars.

“I can’t see many men, either, can you?” Daniel asked.

“There are very few in sight,” Teal’c agreed. “They may all be inside the dwellings or away from the village. I suggest we observe longer to understand what we may be facing.”

“There are very few in sight,” Teal’c agreed. “They may all be inside the dwellings or away from the village. I suggest we observe longer to understand what we may be facing.”

“We don’t know if Carter is okay,” Jack worriedly replied.

“These do not seem to be aggressive people,” Daniel observed. “Something about the way they move, how much they laugh, the flowers everywhere… I don’t think she’d be in any imminent danger,” he said as if talking to himself.

“All right, we watch for a while, then we approach them peacefully if Carter doesn’t show up soon,” Jack reluctantly agreed, looking through his binoculars again to hide his anxiety.

~*~

Sam slowly awoke to sounds very nearby, as if someone was moving right next to her. She tried to remember where she was and why she had a painful hangover. She was lying on her side on a soft surface that smelled pleasantly like herbs.

She carefully opened her eyes, hoping no one around her would notice, only to find herself looking into a pair of light brown, long lashed orbs only inches from her face, and the little girl the pretty eyes belonged to immediately smiled at her widely.

Sam thought she was probably nine or ten years old and very cute. The girl turned to someone behind her and called, “Mana, the pretty lady is awake!”

A handsome woman that looked to be maybe in her late forties approached to look into Sam’s face and also smiled happily. She had long, brown hair, lightly streaked with silver, brown eyes similar to the little girl’s, and was bare-breasted, which momentarily surprised Sam. The young girl, however, was dressed in a simple, colorful short shift.

The woman had on a long, also colorful straight skirt hanging low on her hips, her toned legs showing through slits on the sides as she moved. She was wearing animal skin boots that Sam thought looked comfortable. Although Sam could tell she was a mother, she still had a good, firm figure. The woman also smelled beautifully and her skin shone in the light coming from an opening in the roof. She had a crown of little flowers on her head, which gave her a youthful air.

Sam tried to sit up but grimaced as a flash of pain raced through her head, and the lady gently helped her up. “Be careful, your head must hurt terribly. I’ll give you something to make it better,” she was saying as she turned to the little girl. “Go get the bowl I prepared, sweet one, for the pretty lady.”

“My name is Sam,” Samantha helpfully offered, sitting up and looking at her surroundings. “Where am I?”

“I am Itama; welcome to our village,” the woman introduced herself as a response, putting a drinking bowl to Sam’s lips.

Sam obediently drank the concoction, which was rather bitter, hoping it would indeed make her feel better. Itama smiled at her when she finished and put the bowl aside.

“I am the mother of this home,” she said, “And this little sweet one is my last daughter, Seema,” she added, delight shining in her eyes. “I have contributed three sons and three daughters to the Okapa people,” she continued, clearly proud of her accomplishment.

“The Okapa people?” Sam was trying to remember whether she had ever heard that name before. Her head still hurt, but she could tell that the medicine was working. “Am I in the village of the Okapa people, then?” she asked to confirm.

“Yes, and we are grateful that the Goddess has sent such a beautiful blessing to our people,” Itama said. “You have brought hope that the Okapa are not forsaken as we had thought for so long.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” Sam said softly, holding her head in pain. “What blessing did I bring?”

“Well, you are the blessing, of course!” Itama answered with a chuckle, seemingly amused by the younger woman’s ignorance.

Sam’s blue eyes got bigger, staring at the Okapa woman in surprise. “You think I’m some kind of gift from the Gods?”

“Goddess!” Itama corrected, still smiling.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m no blessing. I’m here as… an explorer. I came here with my friends, three men traveling with me. Are they also here?” she asked hopefully.

“Friends? No,” Itama responded, puzzlement clear on her face. “You came alone through the Circle of Light. Trone said so! Trone and Okan found you in the jungle and brought you to your new home. They said they found you alone and that you were afraid of them, so they had to put you to sleep.”

“Would Trone and Okan be the two young men wearing nothing but loincloths, boots like yours, and face paint? One of them has large, green eyes,” Sam asked.

“Yes!” Itama responded, smiling proudly again. “Trone is my second son, the one with the beautiful green eyes. Okan is his best friend.”

“Well… I hate to tell you this, but they attacked me and took me away from my friends. I didn’t come here alone, and my friends are probably very worried and looking for me,” Sam informed Itama. Then added, trying not to alarm the woman, “They will try to get me back peacefully, but they will definitely come.”

Itama seriously assimilated what Sam had said, sitting on her heels and disappointment written all over her face. She then stood up and asked her daughter to go do something that Sam could not hear. The little girl quickly ran out of the dwelling and Itama came back to sit next to Sam.

“If what you say is true, Trone and Okan have offended you and your men, and I ask that you forgive the Okapa people for what they have done. I have called them so that they can face you and apologize,” Itama told Sam, visibly upset.

She made herself comfortable next to her guest, crossing her legs, and explained, “You see, it has been a very long time since the last one of us came through the Circle of Light. History says that the Goddess sent us to this beautiful place as a reward for good deeds and in order to protect us from evil. However, we were few at the beginning. More came later, little by little, to join the Okapa people, and our village grew, but then new blood stopped coming. We thought we had done something to anger the Goddess and we were being punished for it. No more blessings ever came. Then, for many years, more boys than girls were born, and many young women died giving birth. Now there are not enough young mothers for all the young men ready to mate. A mother cannot take more than three mates into her home. We tried, but it was unmanageable.”

Sam could not believe her ears, but encouraged Itama to continue her story. “My two older daughters already have three mates each, and three young men have already spoken for Seema, when she is old enough. My first son has found a home, but I worry for Trone and Creb, my third son. They don’t have a mate to go to. When I saw you, I thought the Goddess had answered my prayers and that my second and third sons would be secured a home.” Itama seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Many young men spend time in the jungle, praying to the Goddess and still seeking a blessing from the Circle of Light, hoping…” she faltered, then continued. “I thought Trone and Okan had finally been blessed, but if you belong to other men…” Itama could not finish, deeply disturbed.

“I’m not sure I follow everything you just said, but I’m definitely not a gift from the Goddess, and I can’t stay here,” said Sam, noticing that her headache was almost gone in a matter of minutes.

“That is a shame,” Itama said with a sad smile. “I was so happy for Trone and Okan. They were so ecstatic when they brought you in at dawn! They woke up the whole village and they are already hard at work building your new home. I feel sorry for my son. He is a lonely man, but he should not have taken what was not his to take. He stole from your mates.”

“My mates? No, you don’t understand… I don’t have a mate. I don’t even want one. My friends are just that, friends. They are the people I work with… explore with,” Sam tried to clarify.

“You don’t want a mate? At your age?” Itama paused, an incredulous frown on her face. “Then Trone and Okan were not wrong to take you. The first man to claim a woman has the right to call her mate unless another man challenges him for her and wins,” Itama explained. “It seems you are, indeed, our blessing, Sam. Even if you do not know so.”

“Oh, no! You don’t understand…” Sam said, standing up and towering over the smaller woman. At this point, the two young men Sam remembered from the jungle entered the dwelling. They still wore nothing but the loincloths and boots, colorful as they were. Their face paint was gone and a leather strap held back their dark long hair. They were both handsome youths, especially Itama’s son, but they were dripping with sweat, as if they had been exerting themselves.

Trone widely smiled at her when he saw her and charming dimples appeared on his cheeks. He was just a little taller than Sam, but the other one, Okan, was a very tall man. He was also smiling shyly. Both of them were eyeing her as if she was a scrumptious delicacy.

Itama stomped toward her son, glowering, and Trone lost his smile, looking back at this mother warily. “Her name is Sam, and she says she did not arrive through the Circle of Light alone. She says she came with three men.”

Trone looked away guiltily and Okan dropped his eyes to the floor sheepishly, not wanting to face the anger of the older woman. “Did you lie to me, Trone?” the mother demanded.

“It was a small lie, Mana. She did arrive with others, but Okan and I could tell they were not her mates. They did not take care of her as mates are supposed to. And she was alone when we took her,” Trone explained apologetically.

“You should have confirmed that she was not attached! You could have made a terrible mistake and you would have been humiliated in your punishment. You too, Okan; I thought you were the sensible one. What happened?” Itama was now staring down the taller man and Sam could not help but find it amusing. The two youths looked like whipped puppies.

“I am sorry, Itama. But I agreed with Trone in that this woman seemed unattached. And we knew Creb and other younger ones were also in the jungle. We did not want to miss the opportunity to claim her for our own. You know Creb would not share with us as we would with him,” Okan justified, still not wanting to look at Itama’s angry face.

“You are very lucky that your assessment happens to be correct. She is unattached, but I think she needs to be convinced to stay with us,” Itama said, now looking at Sam.

“Wait, there’s no way…” Sam started to say, but Trone interrupted her by going down on one knee in front of her and taking her hand, kissing it fervently. “You will be the happiest woman in Okapa, I swear! We will provide for you like no other men ever could,” he passionately promised.

To Sam’s horror, Okan followed Trone’s lead and did the same thing, kissing her other hand and looking at her adoringly. “You are the most beautiful blessing any man could hope for, Sam. Please accept us as your mates,” the handsome man begged, his dark eyes pleading.

Sam anxiously turned to look at Itama, desperately seeking assistance, but found the woman smiling at her as if daring her to refuse the two beautiful men’s adoration.

‘Oh, crap!’ the Captain thought. ‘Where the hell is SG-1?’

~*~

“Okay, now I see more men around, but they all seem to be coming from somewhere,” observed Jack, still flat on his stomach and looking through his binoculars from the ridge.

“They have tools in their hands. They look like construction and agriculture tools, not weapons,” Daniel commented, also looking through his binoculars.

“A meeting seems to be taking place. The woman standing on the platform seems to be the leader,” Teal’c contributed.

The people of the town, old, young, and even the children, were taking places around the platform as if waiting for some kind of ceremony to commence. Once everyone was seated on the ground, the three men looking down from the ridge noticed that someone was being led to the platform from inside one of the dwellings closest to the plaza. It was Sam.

“I don’t like this,” Jack murmured worriedly.

Sam was calmly walking between two young men. Like the rest of the village, they were bare-chested. Dressed in her green pants and black t-shirt, Sam looked out of place amongst the scantily dressed people. She did not seem mistreated, but Jack could tell that she was very uncomfortable.

“We better watch for a few moments before we do anything,” Daniel suggested cautiously, putting a hand on Jack’s shoulder to prevent him from moving.

“Watch for what? She’s there, she’s not supposed to be there, and we are going to go get her!” Jack responded in a no-nonsense tone.

“I would like to try to understand the situation better, that’s all,” Daniel insisted.

“We’ll understand it once we ask them what the hell is going on, Daniel” Jack retorted, already on his feet and motioning Teal’c to start walking down toward the village.

Chapter Five

Sam had never felt more uncomfortable in her life. The whole village — about six hundred semi-naked people — seemed to be present and watching her curiously. She felt as if she were the one without clothes.

Itama was standing next to her on the platform, their backs to the fire and the goddess figure, holding her arm protectively. She was addressing the large crowd in a loud, authoritative voice. “This is Sam, a blessing from the Goddess given to us through the Circle of Light. As you already know, she was found in the jungle last night and brought here to become one of our honored mothers.”

Itama took a step in front of Sam and continued, “Although she has admitted she is unattached, she does not wish to stay with the Okapa people. My second son, Trone, his friend Okan, and my third son, Creb, have claimed Sam as their mate. They, and their close friends, have been already building Sam’s new home since dawn. Because we must respect Sam’s rights, the work has been halted until this disagreement is resolved. I have asked the Okapa Leaders to address this situation,” the woman concluded.

Fifteen younger women stood up from the crowd and came forward, standing in a circle around the platform. Itama stepped down and sat amongst the people sitting on the front row, between two mature men that Sam assumed were her husbands. Trone and Okan were sitting there as well. Sam still had not met Creb.

‘Guys, where are you?’ Sam was wondering, worriedly scanning the hills surrounding the village. The midday sun shone off the people’s shoulders without them seeming to notice, but Sam started to feel very warm.

“Is this true, Sam? You do not wish to stay with the Okapa people?” asked one young woman to her left. She had the same green eyes as Trone, and her full breasts indicated she had given birth recently. Sam was betting that this was one of Itama’s daughters.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. I don’t belong here,” she answered, feeling like she was on trial. “I’m here to establish friendly relations with your people, but I can’t stay.”

“Why not?” asked another young woman standing next to the first one. This one did not have the same green eyes, but looked suspiciously like Seema, just older.

“I have a home somewhere else, and obligations to my people,” Sam tried to explain.

“You have mates and children somewhere else?” asked a third woman on her right.

“Well… no. Where I come from, I don’t have to have a mate. I can live alone,” Sam replied, already knowing that this would not go well.

“That is plainly selfish!” stated a fourth, very pregnant young woman, this one standing before Sam.

“Not where I come from, it isn’t,” Sam replied defensively. “Look, the point is that I don’t belong here. I should have the right to go back to my home,” she argued, starting to get scared.

“Rights are the issue in dispute here. Trone and Okan have rights as well. Their rights are not to be taken lightly, even if they are men,” argued the first young woman, which Sam had named Daughter Number One. She spoke in a firm, confident voice that was almost identical to her mother’s.

“And the Circle of Light brought you here. If the Goddess has decided that you should come, then you indeed belong here,” added Daughter Number Two, a small smile on her lips. A murmur of approval rose from the crowd, which had been completely silent until then.

“The Goddess did not send me here!” Sam protested loudly, also addressing the crowd. “The Circle of Light is nothing but a transportation device. I have gone to other planets through it. This is just one of the many places it leads to,” she tried to explain.

“That is blasphemy!” shouted an older man from the crowd. “We should not listen to her any further!” shouted another one. Trone and Okan looked at each other looking decidedly smug.

“You have to believe me! What I’m saying is true! There are no Gods sending people anywhere!” Sam insisted, trying to be heard above the crowd, now roaring in indignation. “I can prove it! One or more of you can come back with me and see for herself,” she invited, addressing the leaders again.

Sam then spotted Jack, Teal’c and Daniel entering the village from among the dwellings. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her whole life, and everyone noticed her smile of relief as she stared at something behind them. The crowd turned as one to see the alien armed men silently approaching them.

The younger men closest to the rear of the crowd immediately stood up and ran towards the three intruders, taking a defensive position by surrounding them threateningly, every one of them armed with a very long knife.

“Are those machetes?” Teal’s asked his teammates in a quiet voice that reached Sam all the same, not looking particularly alarmed. The crowd, however, was. People were nervously chattering and looking between Sam and the men, clearly wondering who these armed men were.

“Stop! Don’t hurt them! These are my friends, the ones I was telling Itama about,” Sam shouted, suddenly terrified of bloodshed.

SG-1 had stopped, weapons ready and pointed at the men surrounding them. “We don’t mean any trouble,” Jack said calmly.

“We come in peace and friendship,” Daniel interjected, his weapon down and his hands high in the air, taking a step ahead of Colonel O’Neill and Teal’c.

“Daniel!” Jack whispered impatiently, “Stay where you are!”

“We just have to show them that we mean no harm, Jack. I think you two should also lower your weapons,” Daniel whispered back.

“I will lower my weapon when they drop theirs,” Jack answered in exasperation.

The men surrounding them suddenly started to close the circle, their knives ready, and the crowd became even more agitated.

“That is enough!” shouted Itama in a commanding voice, abruptly standing up.

The men threatening Sam’s friends stopped moving but did not avert their attention from the three men in their territory.

Itama commanded attention as she continued to address the younger leaders. “I realize that, as I am no longer in the Leadership, I have no authority. But I hope that my standing in the community will allow me to offer a suggestion,” she said in a firm voice, addressing the group of young women still standing around Sam.

“Your standing in the community allows for a lot more than that, Itama. You are free to speak,” responded one of the older women in the Leadership.

“These men are Sam’s friends, and she assured me that they would come for her, peacefully. We do not want anyone to get hurt over this. Please let them approach and explain their intentions,” the woman asked.

Itama’s Daughter Number One resolutely walked toward the group of alien men, the circle surrounding Sam’s teammates parting as she approached Colonel O’Neill without fear. “My name is Itama, and you have my word, as the highest standing mother of the Okapa people, that you will be unharmed. You are allowed to present your intentions in our hearing, but you must relinquish your weapons,” she told them with authority.

Sam could tell that her CO was doing his best to keep his eyes on the beautiful woman’s face. “All we want is to know what’s going on and get our friend back. We promise not to hurt anyone. We only meant to defend ourselves, but we’re not in the habit of relinquishing our weapons,” he calmly said. The young woman’s large breasts were, no doubt, beckoning, but he kept his eyes properly averted.

“I already told you that no one would be harmed. Do you not believe me?” she asked, a tone of astonishment in her voice.

“Of course we do!” Daniel immediately answered. “Jack!” he pleaded.

Colonel O’Neill sighed and reluctantly lowered his weapon, then placed it carefully on the ground. Teal’c and Daniel followed his example, the three of them raising their hands waist high.

The men closest to them approached them warily and further disarmed them, taking away everything they found suspicious, which included their packs, radios and even their caps.

“You are now allowed to address our leaders,” the young Itama told them. “Your friend, Sam, will explain.”

“This should be interesting,” Jack mumbled loudly, starting to follow the young woman.

~*~

“I’m sooo glad you are here!” Captain Carter greeted her teammates with a bright smile as soon as they came to stand before her.

Her relief was palpable, and Jack gave her an encouraging smirk, Teal’c bowed his head in acknowledgment, and Daniel asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now. They shot me with something that knocked me out really fast and for a long time,” Sam tried to justify. She was clearly embarrassed about the kidnapping.

“It was never intended to hurt her!” Young Itama quickly explained.

Sam nodded and continued to address her CO. “From what I’ve seen, these people have some pretty powerful drugs. When we leave, we should…”

“That’s all very good, but could you explain first what’s going on here?” Jack interrupted.

“Well, Sir, the bottom line is that they think they can keep me because I’m not married,” she answered, making a face.

“Keep you? What for?” Jack asked with a frown, looking around and not being quite able to keep his eyes away from the semi-naked women standing around them. The women were patiently waiting for Sam to explain the situation to her friends.

“They seem to be short on women. This is a matriarchal society. Women are the leaders and the heads of the families. However, many men are out of luck because there aren’t enough mates. That’s where I would come in,” Sam was explaining uncomfortably.

“Well…” Jack said, looking around appreciatively, “This seems like a nice place. Good luck, Carter,” he teased with a smile.

“That’s not funny, Sir!” she answered testily.

“Did you explain…?” Daniel started to ask, but Sam interrupted him.

“I have tried everything, Dr. Jackson. I even told them about there being no Gods on the other side of the Stargate, which almost created a riot!”

“Okay, people, let’s try again.” Jack turned his attention to the young women standing behind him. “Hello, everyone! My name is Jack, this is Daniel, and this strapping one is Teal’c.”

“You are not allowed to address the Leaders!” a middle-aged man irately interrupted, coming to his feet, but Young Itama lifted a hand and he sat down again.

“We will make an exception for these strangers, since they do not understand our customs and this is a delicate matter,” she decided. Then she addressed Jack. “Please, continue.”

Jack nodded. “Our friend has already explained that she belongs with us and that she has to go back home. What’s exactly the problem with that?” he asked using his softest tone and smiling politely.

“The two Okapa men that found her and brought her to us from the jungle have claimed Sam as their mate. Since she has none, they are within their rights. We can not just take her away from them,” Young Itama explained.

“But she’s unwilling to become a… mate,” Daniel argued hesitantly. “Doesn’t this matter? Doesn’t she have rights as well?”

“Of course she does! But no, in this case, her unwillingness to become a mate does not matter. Sam already explained that, where she comes from, she does not need to take a mate. But the Goddess sent her here!” she emphasized, pointing toward the ground. “And here she must follow the Okapa people’s laws. She must become a mother once she has been claimed. It is her duty!”

“There’s got to be another option open to her,” Daniel politely insisted.

Young Itama exchanged a look with her sister, but then she replied. “The only way the two men who claimed her will let her go is by losing her to more powerful challengers,” the young woman explained carefully. “Those who win a challenge prove that they can best protect the woman and her family. That may still happen, but the challengers will still keep her here, with us, the Okapa people.”

“What if the challenger is one of us?” Jack asked. “If we win, can we take her back with us?”

Daniel looked at Jack in concern, clearly hoping the Commander did not expect him to fight natives with knives, but Teal’s was unfazed.

The young woman had evidently not anticipated this alternative, possibly believing that these men had already had an opportunity to claim Sam before and, in not doing so, had expressed no desire to have her. She looked at the other women questioningly, but most of them remained silent and unmoving. The others seemed to give her some kind of signal. She then turned and told Jack, “We will take a moment to discuss your question.”

The group of leaders walked away toward the river and conferred quietly for a few minutes, far enough from the crowd so that no one could overhear their discussion.

“What are you doing, Jack?” Daniel quietly asked.

“If the only way to get Carter back peacefully is by following one of their customs, so be it!” he answered.

“You do not know how they mean to fight,” Teal’c warned.

“I think I can handle it,” Jack confidently replied.

“Thank you, Sir, but I would not want for you to…” Sam started to say, but Jack interrupted.

“You don’t think I can win the fight?” He felt a little insulted, but he was actually trying to lighten up the mood.

“No, of course you can!” she quickly assured him. “But what if…” she started to respond, but the leaders had finished conferring and Young Itama was already addressing the Colonel.

“We would not be pleased to lose Sam as a member of the Okapa people,” she said. “But we can not find a valid reason to prevent a foreign man from challenging our men. We believe the Okapa men would prefer to prove, by winning, that Sam belongs here, with us,” she concluded.

“Fine, then I issue the challenge,” Jack replied.

“Uhm, Sir?” Sam tried to interrupt, clearly trying to warn him about something, but Jack paid her no attention. How hard could this be?

“Do you want her for your own?” asked a strong, female voice from among the crowd.

The young women parted so that Jack could see who was asking the question. An older woman was standing with arms crossed and a serious expression on her face. He knew this was a trick question, but had no qualms about lying.

“Yes, I do,” he answered, looking straight at the woman. She didn’t look convinced, but could not call him a liar in public. Instead, she gave Sam a sad look and Jack watched Sam lower her eyes guiltily.

“Then it is decided,” Young Itama said. “We will have the ceremony tonight. Jack will fight Trone, Okan and Creb, if he is found in time. Until then, the three of you will be my guests,” she invited.

At her signal, the gathering started to disperse, everyone sounding pleased and excited with the upcoming ceremony. Jack gave Sam a small grimace. Now he knew what she had meant to warn him about.

“You’re going to fight the three of them at the same time, you realize,” Sam said in concern.

Jack, however, acted nonchalant. “I guess I should have included you guys in the claim,” he admitted, looking at Daniel and Teal’c. “Oh, well! I guess it’s too late.”

“Please follow me, you must be hungry,” the young leader insisted, addressing her guests.

She started to walk toward one of the dwellings, followed by three young men, one of them carrying an infant girl. Two little toddler girls with flowers weaved in their silky locks also followed, and Jack assumed this was the young woman’s family.

He heard Sam actually groan behind him. She probably thought he was just too sure of himself, but she didn’t know him that well yet. He motioned Daniel and Teal’c to follow him and turned to her one last time, giving her a “see you later” gesture.

She rolled her eyes at him, which made him grin at her teasingly. She then shook her head as the two young men claiming her led her away.

Chapter Six

Sam felt like cattle, being led everywhere and not being left alone for one second. That morning, before she had been taken outside for the hearing, Itama had fed her breakfast while sharing with Sam more of her own personal history.

The woman held high standing in the village, having six living children. She had had seven children and three mates, but one of her husbands had died, drowned in the river some years before. She had sadly told her about her seventh baby, a little girl born soon after Seema, but who had not survived. Itama had almost died herself, and she had been unable to have any more children after that.

She had explained to Sam that, after a few years of not producing babies, she had been replaced in the Okapa Leadership. Only breeding females could participate. Her first daughter, Itama, had taken her place. The young woman had proven even more fertile than her mother, having had three daughters in quick succession. She was regarded as the most important woman in the Okapa Leadership, the older Itama had informed Sam proudly.

The matriarch’s two husbands and three of her children, Trone, Creb and Seema, still lived in her home. Everyone but Creb, including Okan, had come in and shared the meal with Sam and Itama. The husbands had been helping Trone and Okan build Sam’s new home, in the outskirts of the village.

The Captain found that they were all very good-natured people. They laughed easily and teased constantly, and Seema seemed to have developed a crush on her. She could not take her eyes away from Sam, star struck. Trone and Okan, sitting on each side of Sam, had been the butt of everyone’s jokes that morning, Itama and her family harassing them about their clear fascination with Sam.

They, however, had not seemed to mind, laughing as much as the rest of the family, and had kept offering Sam a taste of this or a piece of that. Sam had felt embarrassed by the attention and had tried not to lead the young men on, uselessly attempting to keep her distance. It had proven to be an impossible endeavor.

After the morning meal, when Itama had left to confer with her daughter regarding Sam’s dilemma, Okan had tried to explain to Sam what a wonderful life she could lead among the Okapa people.

“You will be honored as a wife and mother, and you will be loved and protected always,” he had cajoled.

Sam had tried to explain to him why she could not stay, but he had refused to listen.

“You will change your mind, you’ll see. We will make you very happy.” Trone had just nodded with a smile, looking confident.

Itama had come back shortly, to Sam’s relief, and told them that the Okapa Leadership would be calling a public hearing to discuss and resolve Sam’s problem. She had wanted it settled before the young men became more deeply enamored of the foreign woman. She plainly told Sam that she did not want to see Trone or Okan suffer.

Now, inside Itama’s home again, the young Captain continued to be treated as a queen by Trone. He offered her the most comfortable spot in the dwelling and handed her a drinking cup filled with a tasty fruit juice.

“Thank you, Trone. I really appreciate everything you are doing for me, but please, accept that I can’t stay,” Sam begged him gently.

The young man’s smile faded in disappointment and meant to respond, but his mother interceded. “Trone, everything will be decided tonight. Either you or Sam will have to accept the results of the ceremony. Go on, and see if you and Okan can locate Creb. It is important for him to participate in the ceremony tonight.”

Her son nodded in obedience, smiled at Sam adoringly, and left for the jungle to look for his younger brother.

“Itama, please understand. Staying is not a possibility for me,” Sam tried to make the woman listen. “Even if my friend doesn’t prevail in tonight’s challenge, I will not stay,” she warned.

“Let us just wait and see…” the older woman appeased, patting Sam’s hand lightly. “Try not to worry about it right now. You need to prepare for the ceremony,” she serenely advised, which only made Sam more nervous.

“Prepare how?” Sam warily asked.

“You need to bathe and rest. You must also remove the barriers you use to separate yourself from nature,” the woman cryptically explained.

“What barriers are you referring to?” Sam asked even more apprehensively.

Itama must have realized that Sam was becoming tense because she just smiled encouragingly and answered, “You will understand later. Right now, I will bring water for your bath. Seema is looking forward to preparing your hair. A woman should never be without nature’s gifts on her person. My daughter is quite skilled, you will like the results.”

She patted Sam’s cheek affectionately and left the dwelling, smiling at her youngest offspring, who was sitting in a corner, smiling adoringly at Sam and selecting small flowers from a bowl of water, placing them carefully on a mat.

“Oh, I see,” Sam murmured, smiling at the little girl.

~*~

Jack, Teal’c and Daniel had been given seats on straw mats in the middle of the younger Itama’s home. They had been served as honored guests by the woman’s three husbands, good-humored fellows who had had many questions about where they had come from and why they wore so many clothes.

Itama sat and breast-fed her baby girl, not even a bit uncomfortable with the three strangers sitting across from her. Her other little girls played with colorful rocks on the ground, sometimes squabbling.

The young leader had questions regarding Sam. She wanted to understand why a woman of her age was not already married and producing babies.

Daniel had explained that in Sam’s world there were as many women as men, and that some chose not to marry until later in life, or not at all. He also explained how both, men and women, had jobs and careers they engaged in, and that Sam was an example of a workingwoman.

The Okapa family clearly thought it all sounded very strange, but politely kept their comments to themselves. Itama then explained to Jack that he would have to fight both, Trone and Okan, at the same time, and maybe even Creb, if he could be found.

Jack just nodded, but Daniel immediately inquired, “That doesn’t seem fair. Why not one at a time?”

“If Jack will keep Sam for himself alone, he must prove that he can protect her by himself,” she logically explained, and Jack smiled to himself at the thought of Sam needing anyone’s protection. The young woman elaborated. “If she were to stay with Trone and Okan, they both would share in her protection, along with Creb. The three of them would do so together, not one or the other. Trone and Okan are trying to locate Creb in the jungle as we speak.”

Teal’c raised and eyebrow at Jack, who calmly asked, “And what weapons will we be using?”

“None. Just as you must be able to protect and provide for Sam with your bodies and the skills you possess, that is how you must win her,” Itama replied. Everything seemed rather simple and logical to the Okapa, and Jack felt almost envious as he considered the simplicity of their world.

“So fists it is,” he jokingly mumbled his teammates. “Boy, is she going to owe me a big one!” he added.

Daniel looked concerned, but Jack could swear Teal’s was smiling.

~*~

At her insistence, Sam had been given a measure of privacy for bathing in a corner of Itama’s home. They used colorful cloths hanging from wall to wall to separate areas as needed. She had been given a large bowl with warm water and a soft cloth, and she endeavored to bathe herself behind the hanging wall.

She had used a soap provided by Seema that had a flowery smell and felt surprisingly soft on her skin, and she finished quickly, not liking being naked in an unfamiliar place. She was wrapped in a large, soft cloth, still wet from her bath, when Itama returned from her latest errand.

The woman was carrying a pitcher in her hands as she slowly approached Sam. “You must sit down and drink this while Seema prepares your hair,” she advised.

“What’s that?” Sam cautiously asked.

“It is the ceremonial drink. Do not worry; it will not harm you. On the contrary, it will help you relax for tonight,” Itama assured her.

Sam was still suspicious and preferred not to drink anything, but hesitated in her refusal, not wanting to hurt the woman’s feelings. “What is it going to do to me if I drink it?”

“Nothing harmful, dear. It will just relax you. Taste it first, if you like. Many people choose to drink it during ceremonies since it makes celebrations more enjoyable,” she explained. “Tonight we will be celebrating your joining with your new mate or mates, and I am sure you will not be the only one who partakes of the drink.”

Sam thought it sounded like she was being offered an alcoholic drink. She took the cup Itama had poured for her and smelled it warily.

Yep! It had a faint alcohol smell all right! ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘just a little won’t hurt and it will please my hostess.’ She smiled at Itama and took a sip of the drink, finding it delicious. It tasted like spiked fruit punch.

Itama smiled back at her and asked, “Do you like the taste?”

“Yes, it’s actually very smooth and aromatic,” she complimented. “Thank you.”

“You can have as much as you want, Sam. Now sit so that Seema can make you beautiful with flowers,” she instructed, pulling her down to sit on the mat.

“Shouldn’t I dress first?” Sam asked, feeling exposed with only the colorful wrap as a cover.

“You can dress later. Don’t worry, no one will enter here until you are ready,” she assured Sam. “While Seema arranges you hair, I will rub sera into your skin.”

“What’s… sera?” Sam asked, peering at the oily substance Itama was scooping out of a decorated bowl with her fingertips.

“It is something we use to protect ourselves from insects. It also makes us smell good, see?” she showed her, letting Sam smell the substance in the bowl.

“I see what you mean. I had wondered what made you all smell so good,” Sam smiled. Itama proceeded to rub the oil into Sam’s skin.

“Oh-kay,” the young Captain sighed, thoroughly enjoying Seema’s gentle little fingers combing through her golden hair and Itama’s strong hands rubbing her shoulders. She took another, larger sip of the drink, and she thought, ‘It’s actually very pleasant to be pampered like this. I better enjoy it while I can.’

Then Sam closed her eyes, sipping her drink and relaxing in the warmth of her hostess’ home.

~*~

Jack was having second thoughts about flying solo as he removed his shirt to prepare for the fight. ‘It would have been much easier if at least Teal’c could join me in the fight.’ But he knew he was now stuck, so he shrugged off the thought and handed his shirt over to Daniel.

“What do these people have against clothes anyway?” he mumbled grumpily, remembering when earlier young Itama’s husbands had insisted he had to bathe naked in the river in “preparation” for the important ceremony. That had been when he had really wished Teal’c and Daniel had been included. It would have been just fair if they had had to take a dunk in the cold river as well.

Suddenly, he noticed that the crowd parted and the older Itama approached the center of the town, where everyone had convened to witness the challenge.

Torches surrounded the area, providing illumination to the circle designated for the fight. The three young men claiming Sam were sitting on the ground, as he was, facing him, and Jack started to fidget nervously, wishing they could get started already.

So when he saw the three people that followed Itama into the circle, he seemed to freeze, his mouth agape. His three adversaries also stared in awe as Sam approached with the little girl, Seema, and a boy a few years older leading her gently by the arms.

His Captain wore the garments of an Okapa woman, flowers in her hair, skin glimmering in the light of the torches, a colorful straight skirt that revealed her long legs as she walked, tan boots up to her knees… and nothing else.

Soft, flute-like music started as she was slowly led to the center of the circle and was left standing there, between the two children. Itama also stood nearby.

Jack’s mouth was still hanging open, helplessly staring at Sam’s lovely figure, when he heard Daniel whisper to him from behind, “I think she’s drugged, Jack.”

“What?” he replied distractedly, still staring.

“Sam is drugged. I don’t think she knows where she is,” Daniel was telling him, and Jack snapped out of it and focused on Sam’s face.

She was looking at her surroundings with a distant, dreamy look on her eyes. She was swaying a little, as if tipsy, and her hands were hanging by her sides, completely relaxed. The youngsters were gripping her arms just hard enough to keep her steady.

Teal’c was silent, watching everyone, especially Captain Carter, but he did not seemed surprised to see her naked, as his two teammates were. He was clearly not aware of Earth’s customs on the matter.

“I think she’s really going to be mad about this later!” Jack heard Daniel comment, and he mentally agreed.

The music slowly changed and softly beating drums could be heard. Four very young women, much shorter than Sam, entered the circle and started to sway in a seductive dance around her. They followed the rhythms of the drums, softly at first, then keeping up with them as the beat increased.

Jack was reminded of Polynesian dancers as the women’s hips swayed gracefully and their arms floated, but Sam was oblivious, watching them as if sleepwalking.

All of a sudden, the four young women’s dance became almost frenetic. The drums were urging them on, their hips shaking, lose hair flying as they turned. Jack was mesmerized, wondering how the human body could move that fast and yet so gracefully. The women kept dancing, keeping up with the music until it abruptly stopped and the girls dropped, their foreheads on the ground and chests heaving with the results of exertion.

‘I can see how they stay in shape,’ Jack ironically thought, having enjoyed the dance immensely. Moments later, four young men entered the circle and helped their mates to stand, gently leading them out of the circle.

Seema and the young boy followed them and Sam was left standing alone, but only for a moment. Young Itama approached slowly and ceremoniously placed a garland of flowers around Sam’s neck. She then took Sam’s hands in hers and beckoned Jack and the three young men to the center of the circle.

“The Goddess will decide tonight who will be Sam’s mate, or mates,” she addressed the men, looking at each in turn. “The Okapa people respect the decisions of the Goddess. Sam has drunk of the ceremonial drink and will also abide by the Goddess’ decision tonight,” she stated, looking into Sam’s far gone expression. “May the Goddess protect you all in this trial.”

She then led Sam out of the circle and helped her sit on a mat in front of the ceremonial fire and the rock figure of the Okapa Goddess. Seema and the boy sat beside her, holding her arms and keeping her from swaying too much.

The three young men, muscular Trone, tall Okan, and burly Creb, surrounded Jack, indicating to him that he better be prepared for the fight to start, so he brought up his fists and assessed his adversaries carefully.

He had already decided to try to take out the youngest one first, to be better able to deal with the two older ones later. The three Okapa men circled him slowly, still not daring to make a move. Then Trone, fast as lightning, closed in on Jack and threw a well-directed punch to his head.

The Colonel moved aside easily, and to everyone’s astonishment, started to dance around, ready to box. A low murmur could be heard from the crowd and his three adversaries looked at each other in perplexity. Teal’c raised an eyebrow and looked at Daniel, whose attention was riveted on Jack.

Creb was the next one to throw caution to the wind and attack, throwing himself at his opponent in an attempt to bring him down. Jack easily avoided him and the young man flew past him, face first on the dirt, but he quickly picked himself up, anger clear on his face. He exchanged one uncertain look with his brother and then tried again.

This time, Jack received him with a well-connected punch to his middle, and the youth fell to his knees, bent over in pain. Jack continued to dance, facing the other two men and smiling.

The two Okapa men looked at each other as if agreeing on something, then they both attacked Jack at the same time. He was able to avoid Trone, but Okan tackled him successfully and they both fell to the ground, wrestling.

Jack knew he had to get up before Trone could join his friend, so he quickly flipped the young man over and threw him hard to the ground, picking himself up immediately after. Trone was almost on top of him when he turned to face him, but Jack stopped him with a hard hook to his jaw that managed to flatten the young man. He was out, cold.

Okan, however, was up again, as was Creb. The two men circled Jack warily, clearly not sure of what to do next. No one had been able to land a single punch on Jack yet, and the older man was actually enjoying himself.

Okan attempted to throw himself at Jack’s legs but, again, Jack danced away, narrowly escaping the young man and keeping his eyes on Creb. While Okan was picking himself up, Jack attacked Itama’s third son, trying to knock him out, as he had his brother. Surprisingly, the youth avoided Jack’s punch and threw himself at his middle.

Jack was brought down, but used the boy’s momentum to flip him off just as he fell on his back. He heard Creb’s grunt of pain as he fell hard behind him.

Before Jack could get up again, Okan was on top, expertly wrestling with him. Both men strained their muscles in their attempt to overcome the other while Creb, still winded, was trying to get up. In almost no time at all, however, Jack was able to gain the upper hand. He managed to pin Okan face down to the ground, twisting his arm painfully behind him. “Surrender!” he shouted, hoping to end the fight.

“No!” Okan yelled back, and Jack twisted harder. The young man screamed in pain, but would not give up. Jack knew he might need to break his arm to convince him, but before he could decide what to do, Creb kicked him away from Okan.

The Colonel was back on his feet in a flash, his fists up. ‘Okay, time to end this,’ he told himself, and he started to dance again, now on the offensive.

He went after Okan first, quickly connecting with the man’s middle a couple of times, avoiding a wild punch, and finally smashing his jaw, sending him to the ground, dazed. Jack then turned to Creb, who started to back desperately away, trying to avoid Jack’s approach. It did him no good. Jack delivered two hard punches to his jaw and the youth collapsed, unconscious.

Jack turned around to make sure his other adversaries were still down and met Trone’s sad green gaze. He was sitting on the ground, calmly watching him, a look of resignation on his face. The rules of the fight did not allow him to attack Jack once he had been taken out. Only Okan remained as a possible adversary, and he was shakily getting to his feet.

Trone stood up, helped up his friend, and said something to him that Jack could not hear. Okan looked at Jack, nodded, and hung his head in defeat. Suddenly the crowd erupted, putting an end to the match.

Trone knelt by his fallen brother as the younger Itama entered the circle. “You have won,” she admitted to Jack. “Sam is yours to love, keep and protect. May she produce many children for you, and may both of you be happy in your union until the Goddess calls you back to her,” she wished, putting a flower garland around Jack’s neck.

He could tell she was not happy, so he just said, “Thank you.”

The crowd had been incredibly quiet during the fight, but now everyone seemed to be talking at the same time. More than one man approached Jack to pat his back in congratulations, laughing.

Daniel and Teal’c were also there, the archeologist smiling in relief and the Jaffa asking, “What manner of fighting did you employ, O’Neill? I am not familiar with it.”

“It’s called boxing, T. I’ll be glad to teach you if you want,” Jack smiled, taking back his t-shirt from Daniel and putting it on.

“Can you teach us, too?” a young man asked, and others immediately joined him in his request. “Okay, Okay! We’ll see about that,” Jack replied amusedly.

Young Itama had approached Sam and was helping her up. She turned to Jack and waited for him to join them. “Can we leave now?” he asked, walking up to the two women.

“Leave? Not before you complete the ceremony. Everything is ready for you. You may take her away tomorrow, if you wish. But you are free to remain with us as long as you want,” she politely invited.

Her mother was standing next to Sam, holding her arm sadly. The Captain continued to be oblivious, not saying a word, and little Seema actually had tears in her eyes. The young boy had a consoling arm draped over her shoulders.

“There’s still more to the ceremony? What’s next?” Jack asked, worrying that now he would have to dance or something. The music had started again and it seemed the whole village was now partying.

Daniel and Teal’c were standing behind him, trying to keep their eyes away from Sam’s bare body but not succeeding much.

“You must take her and follow me,” young Itama replied. She then turned around and started to walk away from the gathering, toward the outskirts of the town.

“Jack?” Daniel called, making him realize that he was standing frozen, watching the young woman walk away with Sam. He didn’t know what came next, but he had a budding suspicion.

He looked at Daniel worriedly, but the archeologist just nodded toward the retreating women and signaled for him to follow them. ‘Oy!’ Jack thought, not really wanting to get too close to his Captain in her semi-naked state.

“Okay,” he finally sighed in defeat, and he walked up to stand next to his second-in-command, looking straight into her eyes. They were glazed, reflecting the firelight around them.

“Carter! Can you hear me?” he whispered hopefully, but she just blinked slowly without responding. She continued to stand there, swaying lightly on her feet and looking like she could drop at any moment. “Carter!” he repeated, louder. Again, she did not respond.

“She can walk, but you must hold her so that she does not trip and fall,” the older Itama came up to him and instructed, staring suspiciously at him, and Jack could tell that she was wondering what kind of man would not want to touch his woman? He could see the knowledge in her eyes. She knew she was right in suspecting that he did not mean to have her as his mate at all, but she didn’t say so.

“Just pick her up and follow Itama,” the woman brusquely ordered, anger clear in her voice, and Jack decided not to push his luck further. He picked his semi-naked Captain up and turned to follow the younger Itama, who had paused and was waiting for them a few feet away.

He rolled his eyes at Daniel and Teal’c and said, “Good night, boys. I have work to do. See you tomorrow.”

“Jaack?” Daniel called worriedly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be a complete gentleman,” he assured his friend as he continued walking. “Be ready to go first thing in the morning!”

He then caught up with Itama and followed her into the darkness surrounding the village. He could feel sad eyes on him until he left the group of people behind, and he knew that the disappointed, older Itama would have her hands full tonight taking care of her heartbroken children.

Chapter Seven

Jack briskly walked behind the young Okapa leader, following a narrow trail into the nearby foliage. They soon reached a secluded spot where a small, round hut stood alone, a large torch stuck in the ground lighting the area.

He could tell that the villagers had gone to some trouble. There were exotic flowers adorning the doorway as well as beautiful wood carved dishes sitting on a wood table by it, filled with fruits and other foods that looked like breads or pastries. There was also a pitcher sitting next to the food, with two beautifully carved cups next to it.

Itama pulled the tapestry covering the entrance aside, revealing a cozy room with a large bed in the middle of the herbs-covered ground and with candles burning in strategic spots to provide muted lighting. She invited Jack to enter with a wave of her hand, but he hesitated, standing rooted to the ground, so she let the tapestry fall in place again, looking at him uncertainly. Then she just said, “May your first night together be fruitful.”

She had obviously decided her job was done and what may or may not follow was not her problem. She started to leave, but Jack called her back. “Itama… uhm… why is Sam like this? Is she going to be okay?” he asked.

The young woman smiled, then she explained. “She will wake up fine in the morning. I am afraid she will not remember much of your first night together, but you can make up for that later. It was necessary to give Sam more of the ceremonial drink than it is customary. We thought it would make it easier for her to accept her mates, in the event that Trone, Okan and Creb prevailed over you. I am sorry.”

Jack did not think she was sorry at all, but he just let it go. “Thank you for allowing this situation to be resolved without bloodshed. We want us to be friends,” Jack sincerely said.

“We already consider you friends.” She then looked at Sam, whose head rested peacefully on Jack’s shoulder, and told him, “Be good to your woman,” before she left him standing by the doorway holding the limp form of his Captain.

Jack looked down at the woman in his arms and he thought he could hear her humming something softly. Although she was technically awake, her mind was far, far away.

He shook his head, wondering if the Gods were laughing at his current dilemma, and entered the small hut. He went directly to the comfortable bed on the floor and deposited Carter on it, looking around for something to cover her with. There was nothing. It was rather warm inside the dwelling.

He then took one deep breath and sat back on his heels, finally allowing himself to really look at her without feeling guilty. ‘Wow!’ he thought, ‘She’s a real knock- out!’

He had known that, of course, but her usual manly attire had done much to conceal the soft curves that lay underneath. His eyes raked her beautiful skin until he shook his head, mentally chastising himself for allowing his weakness to momentarily win over his honorable intentions.

He went to lie down against the wall and tried to get comfortable on the ground, intending to sleep, but could not help himself and glanced at Sam again as she just lay there, unaware and helpless on the pallet. She now seemed to have drifted off to sleep, and her skin glowed golden in the dancing light of the candles.

Jack admitted to himself that he very much wanted to touch that soft skin, to give his hands free rein over those long limbs, over those beautiful… Argh!

It was too damned tempting! So he abruptly got up and left the hut to sit outside, by the entrance, his back against the wall and wishing for another cold dunk in the river.

He just knew that he would not be getting much sleep that night, either.

~*~

Sam was dreaming of flying. She could smell the flowers from the field below, and she could feel the cool air caressing her bare breasts. ‘I must be a bird in this dream,’ she realized.

She felt wonderfully carefree, unburdened, and decided to fly higher, seeking the sun. ‘It will warm me up,’ she thought, feeling a little chilled. She then heard the sun calling down to her in a booming voice, “Carter!”

“Caar-ter… Can you hear me?” insisted the annoying voice, now less booming.

Sam frowned, wanting to go back to her dream and wondering who was pestering her so early in the morning. She turned to her side, hugging herself. She felt cold, and then realized that she was awake, but still naked.

“What…?!” she exclaimed, sitting up in alarm. She covered her breasts self-consciously as she looked around, trying to determine where she was. She felt the flower garland hanging between her breasts and roughly took it off, throwing it aside irritably.

“Caaar-ter! Wake up!” she could hear Colonel O’Neill calling from outside the hut she had slept in. “Don’t make me come in there,” he threatened.

“NO!” she stood up, her arms tight around her chest. “Don’t come in… uhm… I’ll be out in a minute!” she assured her CO, trying not to panic and wildly looking around for something to put on.

“Okay!” he readily agreed. “I’ll just wait here for you to come out.”

Sam thought he sounded suspiciously amused as she fingered the skirt she was wearing, wondering what had happened. ‘Oh, my God! Why am I wearing this?’ she was asking herself, already worried about the possible answers.

“Uhmm… Sir?” she stammered, calling out.

“Yesss, Carter?” he answered, and she could swear she could hear laughter in his voice.

“Ahh, well… I have a little problem,” she admitted.

A hand suddenly appeared through the doorway holding her jacket. “Would this solve your little problem?” her CO asked, merciless.

‘Oh, God!’ she screamed in her mind, closing her eyes in mortification. He knew she was naked. That meant he probably had seen her in her current attire. Had everybody seen her like this?

She was suddenly furious at Itama, remembering how the woman had encouraged her to drink more and more of that sweet beverage the day before. The Okapa woman had known what would happen!

Sam had been fine, pleasantly relaxed one minute, feeling Seema’s little hands run through her hair, and the next she had blacked out. She could not remember anything after that. ‘What the hell did they give me?’ she wondered, hastily putting on her jacket. ‘At least I don’t have a hangover this time,’ she gratefully realized.

“Ah… Sir? Would it be possible to get the rest of my clothes?” she almost begged, and she could have hit him when she heard him chuckle.

“Sorry, Carter, I don’t know where the rest of your clothes are. I only had your jacket in my pack. My guess is that Itama burned them. But your skirt is very becoming!” he complimented, outright mocking her now.

“Okay, have your fun, but I’m not coming out until you get me my clothes!” she retorted angrily, stubbornly sitting back down on the bed and still feeling naked.

“Okay, okay! I’ll go into the village again and see what I can do. Don’t go anywhere!” he wickedly advised, and she could hear him walk away, still chuckling to himself.

“I hate him!” she huffed, blushing furiously.

~*~

The Colonel was still smiling when he returned to the village. Daniel was expecting him, waiting outside with Teal’c and ready to depart.

“She won’t budge until we find her clothes. I think we’ll have to beg Itama,” Jack amusedly informed them, then proceeded to the older woman’s home.

The two men looked at each other, Daniel feeling a little sorry for Sam. He knew she would have a hard time getting over this one, especially knowing they had to write down everything that had transpired in their mission reports.

Jack returned within a few minutes with Captain’s Carter’s clothes in his hands. He handed them over to Daniel and ordered him, “Go ahead, take these to her. She’s not too happy with me right now. Just follow that trail and you’ll find a little hut decked out with flowers. Eat some fruit, by the way. There’s plenty. And make sure Carter eats something before she comes down, we’ll start out right away.” Then, ignoring the frozen archeologist, he turned to the Jaffa. “Come on, Teal’c! Let’s get you something to eat too.”

Daniel watched his two teammates walk away, leaving him with an armful of clothes. Teal’c was clearly not sympathetic. He had followed Jack without looking back, so the young Doctor had no other recourse than to start the short hike to the hut, worrying about the mood he would find the Captain in.

He found the shelter without a problem and approached cautiously. “Uhm… Captain Carter? I have your clothes!” he called.

Sam’s angry visage showed through the doorway, keeping the rest of her person out of sight. She wordlessly extended a bare arm and took her clothes from him in a huff.

“Uhm… Jack asked me to make sure you ate something. We’re getting ready to leave,” he informed his irritated teammate.

“He can go jump in a lake!” she answered heatedly. “He was laughing! Can you believe it? Laughing!”

He could hear her say a few other choice words under her breath, but decided not to comment. He just sat near the doorway and picked a fruit from the tray on the table. He peeled it carefully and gave it a tentative bite. He thought it looked and tasted like a mango. Yum!

“Tell me what happened last night!” Captain Carter abruptly demanded as she stepped out of the hut, startling Daniel and making him drop the fruit. He looked at it longingly for a moment, but then he picked another one from the tray without looking at her.

“Dr. Jackson! Are you going to answer me?” she asked, clearly infuriated and towering over him with an exasperated look on her face.

“Huh? Last night?” he started to evade, but then he realized that she would not let him get away with it, so he plunged in. “Well, in short, Jack fought Trone, Okan and Creb at the same time. He won, so you can come back with us now. You missed a great fight!”

He was studiously peeling a different piece of fruit — this one more like a kiwi — and hoping she wouldn’t want to know any more.

“Is that all? What about…” she looked around, looking unsure of how to ask. “What about my clothes? How did I end up here without them?” she whispered uncomfortably.

Daniel still did not look at her, now biting into the new delicacy and finding that, indeed, it tasted a lot like a kiwi fruit. “This is delicious! Here, try a piece. You need to eat breakfast,” he invited, handing her a large piece from the tray.

“I’m not hungry! And I need you to answer me!” the Captain responded crossly. She kept staring down at him, her hands on her hips, until he finally gave up.

He looked up at her and said, “All right! You attended the ceremony dressed like every other woman in the village, and you looked beautiful, by the way. You should wear flowers more often.”

“Ooooh!” was all the poor woman said, sinking to the ground and covering her eyes with her hands. Then her fingers went into her hair and she found the flowers still clinging there. She started to pull them out angrily, tossing them on the ground as if they were ugly bugs.

Daniel felt sorry for her but, having lived in Abydos, helped a strange woman deliver a baby during one of his digs, and trekked along with numerous primitive people during his career, he could not see what was the big deal. “Captain Carter, there is no reason to…” he started to say, but her angry look stopped him.

“You were not the one parading semi-naked and high on drugs in public!” she cried. “Colonel O’Neill was already making fun of me, and I still have to face Teal’c!” This thought made her widen her eyes in renewed horror, as if just realizing the fact. “Oooh!” she groaned, letting her head drop into her hands again.

“Okay, here’s what I see,” Daniel straightened and now gave her his full attention. “Number one, you’re a beautiful woman that has absolutely no reason to be embarrassed by her body; number two, you’re a seasoned soldier that should be used to dealing with difficult situations already; and number three, you also are an intelligent woman who realizes that, if she lets things like this bother her so much, she will never make it in a team such as ours,” Daniel concluded, sounding very practical. “Forget about embarrassment! This is us! Your team, your friends, the people that will face many difficult obstacles along with you, Captain.”

Sam was still dejectedly looking at the ground, so Daniel grabbed her chin softly and made her look at him. “We’re just glad that we found you alive and well. We were really worried about you! Jack was probably just having some fun with you because he’s so relieved that you are okay, and that we’re all safe.”

Sam seemed to accept Daniel’s words and, at that moment, she gazed at him with outright affection. She smiled gratefully and said, “If all you said is true, then you need to start calling me Sam.”

Daniel smiled back at her and offered her the “kiwi” again. This time she took it and started to peel it.

“By the way,” Daniel added, absentmindedly picking another piece of exotic fruit. “You’re now supposed to be Jack’s woman, having spent your first night together in this hut, so try to act friendly when you see him or the Okapa will get suspicious.”

Sam dropped the fruit in shock, her hand frozen in midair.

~*~

Daniel was following his teammates on the long trek back to the Stargate later that morning. He was lost in thought, recalling all the details of the Okapa village and its people’s gentle ways. He had never encountered a matriarchal society such as theirs, and he thought everything about it was thoroughly fascinating.

He had spent the previous afternoon — while waiting for the ceremony — finding out as much as he could about them. He had talked to the young Itama for hours and realized, as Captain Carter had said, that these people had wonderful chemicals at their disposal. Everything they used came from the vegetation around them. Just as the jungles on Earth were providing valuable new medicines, it seemed this jungle had great potential.

Itama and her people were eager to trade with Earth, especially when Daniel explained to her how they could help the Okapa with medical advances that would make pregnancies and deliveries safe for women in almost every case. The young woman had also expressed interest in boxing lessons for the village’s young men, at her husbands’ insistence. Although the men were notably good-natured and non-aggressive, they thought boxing looked like fun.

Daniel thought no man on Earth would believe him when he reported how happy the Okapa men seemed to be in this society. They worked hard on the fields and mines in the area, and their women provided them with all the nurturing and comfort they could hope for. No one knew who had fathered a particular child in a home. It was not important. The children belonged to everyone in the clan and were loved, protected and provided for by all.

As he had observed already, the more fertile a woman and her daughters were, the higher the status that woman and her family enjoyed in the village. The Itamas were part of a long line of fertile women that had provided leadership to the Okapa for generations. The first-born girl always took the name of her mother and was expected to follow her footsteps.

The elderly were looked after tenderly. They were pampered and respected for their wisdom, and they concentrated their efforts mainly on the education of the children. He had observed a few older women sit with the kids for hours telling stories and teaching them how to make flower garlands, how to cook, and how to carve wood. They also spent a lot of time weaving, creating the colorful fabrics they used for their clothes and blankets.

The old men taught the youngsters how to make knives and other tools, as well as how to catch and salt fish. Everyone seemed to share in the hunting and the cooking as needed

The Okapa had lived on the planet for centuries without changing their culture much. Daniel was not sure where they could have come from, but he suspected this was a very old culture from the South Pacific that had been mixed with other cultures as different peoples came through the Gate throughout the centuries. He could not be sure either about the reason why this planet had been abandoned for so long, but he had a theory.

He thought, by listening to some of their stories, that someone had found this planet and used it to liberate human slaves from the Goa’uld, like an underground escape route. At some point, this someone had been caught or killed and the escape route had been lost. Who this person or persons were was a mystery.

When Daniel and the others stopped to eat lunch, he realized he had not thought of Sha’re in hours, and he initially felt guilty. But then he realized that she would not want him to feel that way. She would be happy that he could find solace in other matters and not dwell constantly on her loss.

For the first time since he had seen Sha’re as a Goa’uld, Daniel felt something akin to enthusiasm. He realized that, even if he did not find his wife in the planets they were about to explore, he could find meaning in the work he was doing. He looked at his teammates, sitting around him, and observed each in turn.

Jack had proven again that he was the tough leader he had known on the missions to Abydos and Chulak. This did not surprise him. He had expected no less. He trusted the man to help him find his wife, and he knew that Jack would give his life for any of his teammates’ without a second of hesitation. Despite Daniel’s own feelings of inadequacy as a warrior, he felt secure and capable in Jack’s presence.

He had to admit he felt the same about Sam Carter. Although the Captain was very much a woman — as it had been abundantly clear during recent events — he knew that she was capable of defending herself and her teammates if the need arose. They already owed her their lives. She had found the strength to drag them all to safety when it had been obvious to her that they were in serious danger, and he was still impressed with the physical strength contained in her feminine body, as he had been impressed from the start with her intelligence.

He then looked at Teal’c, who was calmly eating his rations while keeping an always-wary eye on his surroundings. He had hated the Jaffa at the beginning. Meeting him as the First Prime of Apophis and knowing his role in Sha’re’s fate, he had felt, for the first time in his life, the urge to kill. But his feelings had quickly changed.

He admired the man’s courage and determination. He had left everything he knew behind for a cause he passionately believed in. Daniel had to admire that. And, following Jack’s lead, he was determined to help the alien man overcome the obstacles he faced in his new home.

~*~

Sam sat in her lab, typing her mission report and trying to remember the details of the past two days. Although she still felt embarrassed by what had transpired, she had managed to get over it long enough to deal with her team in a normal fashion for the rest of the mission. Now, however, she was reliving her ordeal.

She had been nothing but a damsel in distress, and this fact made her feel like the weak link in the chain. She felt as if the “Goddess” had decided to remind her of her gender and what it entailed, something she managed to forget about most of the time.

She was feeling down and insecure. Therefore, the last person she wanted to see was Colonel O’Neill, the one person currently standing at her door.

“Good morning,” he greeted. “I figured I’d find you here, working on your mission report,” he said as he casually strolled into her lab.

“Yeah, I was too tired last night after we returned, so here I am…” she smiled uncomfortably.

“Yeah, well… the three of us decided to write ours last night and we thought you should read them before finalizing yours,” he said, placing the reports next to her computer. “You know… for consistency’s sake.”

Sam was surprised. At her confused look, Jack added, “You’ll understand when you read them.” He then smiled and winked at her, starting to leave, but Sam stopped him.

“Sir?” she called him back, and he halted to turn around and face her, waiting for her to continue. “I… uhm…” she clumsily started. “I guess… I’d like to apologize for what happened,” she managed to say, swallowing hard.

Her commander stepped closer with a puzzled frown on his face and asked, “What are you talking about?”

Sam realized he truly did not know what she was referring to, so she tried to be clearer. “I… I feel like I put the team at risk by letting myself be captured. I walked too far from the camp. It was my mistake,” she admitted, looking down and not knowing what else to say.

Her CO looked at her for a few moments, then he answered. “Yesss, I guess you did walk too far away from camp in search for a bath, now that you mention it.” But Sam could tell he was just teasing her. “Look, Carter,” he added seriously now, “What happened to you could have happened to any of us.”

“Maybe… but it happened to me!” she responded in frustration. She closed her eyes, but Jack grabbed her shoulder and shook it, making her look at him.

“Hey! Don’t do this to yourself! Nobody thinks you did anything wrong. These missions are dangerous, and we have to count on each other to get through them in one piece. This time we helped you, but the previous time it was you who saved our butts, remember?”

Yes! She had indeed forgotten about the previous mission. She looked at him gratefully and said, “Yes, Sir,” with a little smile.

“Now, just read the reports and stop feeling sorry for yourself. That’s an order!” he admonished jokingly. He then smiled and started to leave again, but then turned to her as if remembering something. “Oh, yeah… I almost forgot! Today is Friday, and we’re definitely having some beers at my place tonight. We still owe you that drink. Can we count on you?”

Sam was not sure she was ready for that level of intimacy after this mission, but forced herself to say, “Sure! I’ll be there. I love beer!” She even smiled at him to convince him that she was now okay and no longer embarrassed by what had happened.

“That’s my girl!” Jack said, then goofily corrected himself, clearing his throat. “Person! I meant soldier… person,” he smirked again. “See you later,” he said, finally leaving.

Sam smiled at his back, then glanced at the reports curiously and picked up Colonel O’Neill’s first. As she quickly skimmed it, she realized that the man could write well enough to convey his feelings, and that he had been deeply worried about her disappearance. But what really impressed her the most was the fact that he had left out the embarrassing details.

He had written generally about the Okapa’s desire to keep Captain Carter as a member of the tribe, and his role in securing her release, but never mentioned her losing her clothes, getting high on drugs, or spending the night with her in the hut.

She quickly read the other two reports and realized that her other two teammates’ accounts were consistent with her CO’s. Daniel had obviously helped Teal’c write his, since they both sounded very similar. Teal’c’s was less wordy, more concise, just like the man himself.

She smiled, her feelings for her team warming up considerably. She was going back to her own report in order to delete the portions she did not need to include and which she had found so difficult to write when she heard someone clearing his throat at her door. It was her former fiancé.

“Jonas!” she exclaimed, already feeling apprehensive.

“Hello, Sam. Sorry to interrupt you. I promise this won’t take long,” he said, keeping his distance. “I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other day. I realize I made you uncomfortable, and that wasn’t my intention.” He actually sounded sincere, but Sam was still wary, and she wondered whether her CO had had a private conversation with her ex.

“It’s all right, Jonas. It’s just that… well, we’ll be running into each other around here, and I wouldn’t want our previous relationship to color our professional one,” she tried to explain.

“I understand, and I promise I’ll stay professional. Like I said, my fault,” he acknowledged, raising his hand in apology. He started to leave, but then turned to her again and said, “It’s just that… I have to admit that I was hoping for a warmer welcome from you. But I am clear now on what you think of me, Sam. I guess I let my feelings about that show.”

He paused, but then he continued, “I know I have to prove to you that you’re wrong about me, and I didn’t start well. But, you’ll see,” he warned her cryptically. “Some day you’ll see that you misjudged me, and maybe you’ll change your mind and give us another chance,” he added. “See you around, Sam,” he finished, then turned and left without giving her a opportunity to respond.

Sam was left to ponder what Jonas could have meant, and she could not help but feel somehow threatened by what he had said. He had changed, more than she had ever imagined. She just hoped that he would be okay.