Olja Madomharo

by Travelling One

email: travelling_one@yahoo.ca
website: http://www.travellingone.com
Season 5
Summary: Deception leads SG-1 astray, placing them in the hands of impostors.

February 2009

---

It was detestable. Horrifying, even. Almost the worst that could happen, except for the Goa'uld returning. So far they'd managed to outwit those barbarous parasites, almost completely. They tried to be a peaceful race, but how much longer could they remain in anonymity, retain their cherished, albeit difficult, existence? How much longer could their ways continue in privacy, with these humans unexpectedly arriving, snooping around their territory? The danger signal was activated in the aggregate consciousness, arrangements in preparation for deception, and possibly flight, already in motion.

“I'm certain they're trustworthy.”

“Sure, until they're captured and tortured. Then who will they protect?”

Honestly, he didn't know. Teiana couldn't debate the wisdom of Yenenno, even if he'd heard this group of humans wouldn't betray them. At least, he thought this was the group rumoured to be traipsing around the galaxy, doing good deeds. Revered by some, hated by others - although the latter mostly enemies of theirs as well - their reputation preceded them. “Perhaps we can avoid detection, trick them into believing this world is abandoned.” They were no strangers to camouflage.

“No. I've heard the rumours; the Tau'ri are known for their persistence. They won't give up until they discover the truth of this land and our people. I doubt the trek into the hills will deter them from finding the totality of our universe. It's a risk we can't afford to take.”

“What are you suggesting?” Annihilation wouldn't be on the agenda; the thought of violence sickened his people. Yet, they were looking at desperate times. A dismal future lay ahead for their entire race, with the indisputable, unfortunate arrival of the newcomers. Would they even consider bahanacking four in order to save their race? It was a consequence carried out only a handful of times in their long history; this situation didn't warrant such an extreme, not yet. The idea was disturbing, but the alternative was even worse.

“I can think of only one way to convince them to leave quickly, but it involves separating one from the others." And taking his place in the group. The thought was communicated to all those involved in Yenneno's awareness, and most were agreeing. Telepathy was a gift of his people, and those old enough to understand were all listening in.

Subterfuge. Deception. The use of mahahaya. Tei knew too; it ought to work, with no one getting hurt, but still, he wasn't certain he understood the full implication of Yen's plan. “Why?”

Yenenno looked boldly into Teiana's vibrant gaze. “Olja madomharo.”

Oh. Ohh.

Yen thought it not possible, but Teiana's eyes grew even rounder. The man was just too naive, and how did that happen, with their lives so often in danger? He must still be too used to the old world.

“You think it can be done? It's far too dangerous, even for them.” Especially for them, given their size and weight and soft tissues.

“Look, Teiana. Our kind have been waiting for a newcomer for far too long, to arrange the olja. These are the first to come in decades.”

“And the last died while trying,” Tei reminded him, in spite of his own excitement rising.

“We'll be more careful this time. Come, the others have sensed our plan. They agree.”

As the two compatriots abandoned their perch atop the camouflaged lookout, relinquishing their own mimicry, SG-1 did what they normally do upon disembarking from the gate. They dropped their equipment and perused the area, noting only the overgrown paths leading to the hills in the near distance, then sent the MALP on its way home.

_____

“Over there,” Daniel pointed. “Someone's coming.” He watched several locals trek down from the nearest hillside, as the rest of his team stood on alert.

“Someone? Clean your glasses, Daniel.”

“Okay… somethem.”

“Better.”

The small, unobtrusive gathering was heading their way; obviously scouts had seen them arrive. They wore plain tie-down jackets and tight brown leggings, but carried no weapons…that SG-1 could see, anyway. The team knew to remain on guard; they'd encountered weapons smaller than palms in their travels.

“Look at that, it's Robin Hood and his band of merry men.”

“Do you know of them, O'Neill?”

“Teal'c - ”

“Jack.” The group was now only fifty feet away. “Be serious.”

“You know me. Never anything but.”

“Right. Let me do the talking.”

“I doubt they speak English, Daniel. Couldn't do the talking if you begged me.”

Daniel moved slightly forward as the troupe closed the distance, and pointed to his chest; he always started off with English anyway, and Jack knew it. “Hello. I'm Daniel Jackson - ”

“Greetings. Hello.”

“Or I could be wrong.” Jack moved one step ahead of Daniel. “Yes, greetings. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, SG-1, leader of this… pack. Here we have Teal'c and Major  Carter.”

“Welcome. I am Y… Yen. These are my pack… Tei…, Loru, Vayata, Dario, and Toyea, chief executive possessors of the Vereness. What calls you to our land and over what to you preside?”

Tei watched Yen's interaction, wondering if his compatriot was overdoing it. He was giving no indication of weakness of heart, and the others were playing along well. This pack of humans seemed to notice nothing unusual, though, and Tei breathed more easily. He worried that even that momentary slip might be a giveaway. He had not heard whether this Tau'ri race could read thought patterns.

“I preside over…” Jack looked back at his people, “this group,” he smiled. “SG-1.”

“What he means," Daniel clarified, "is, we're from a planet called Earth, and Colonel O'Neill is in charge of making sure our team remains safe, as we are peaceful explorers. We've come to share knowledge, to learn about your people, and possibly to trade.”

Jack squinted behind his shades. “Yeah, that,” he agreed, flittering his fingers.

Krnelljakoneel. JakO neel? Yen focussed hard; maybe they wore their name tags on their apparatus, somewhere. Why did this one have such a long designation? They'd have to listen carefully to the appellations in popular usage by this pack; it would be a dead giveaway to get a name incorrect, if the plan were to be implemented. He tried to recall what he'd heard; this one liked to be called... Jak?

“What would you like to trade?” Loru asked, his expression held steady and curious. None of his congregation made a move. They had heard the Tau'ri would go great distances for naquadah, and they had much of that in the hills. Did this pack have that knowledge already, or were they just - as the First Speaker had said - exploring?

“Um,” Daniel hesitated. “Maybe we could discuss this at your village?”

“We have no need of trade,” Dario interjected briskly, starting to sense panic among his group.

Even Tei could see this wasn't working. They would not get these people to leave easily, but they'd already assumed as much. Lo had just needed to make sure, first.

“You haven't heard what we could offer, yet.”

Why were the visitors here, really? For exploration, for gaining the minerals in the soil, or for something else? Were they really as trustworthy as he'd heard? They could not be allowed to find what was hidden throughout this ground, or they would never willingly choose to leave. But even more precious was the society itself; these trespassers could not be allowed to get anywhere near their “village”. Trade? Not with the humans of Earth. Share knowledge? Perhaps one day that might be an interesting and beneficial endeavor, and they could use an ally. But that day was not today. No time in the near future.

“We would prefer if you leave.” Dar was getting bold, Tei thought, looking up uneasily at Colonel JackOneill, leader of the pack with the arrogant long name, who spoke next.

“Forgive me, but I thought you said we were welcome. Look, we know your planet is free from Goa'uld; maybe you can help us out with that, in some way.”

No, they were persistent, and Tei's people were not of the argumentative sort. The plan must be put into action; this SG-1 pack wasn't leaving, and Tei knew what was to come next. His own people weren't persuasive enough to know what else to do; their dealings with others had been minimal throughout their long history. Their very state of being had not been conducive to many interstellar relationships. And the truth was, they really needed help with that olja. His people didn't really want the team to leave without a deception; thoughts of the olja were getting the better of them. He knew, as did the others, that were they to be forthright and honest, asking openly, this Jackoneil, leader and safety overseer of the pack, would never allow one of his group to attempt the maneuvers. They had to be separated, get one of them alone. And then Yen could convince the other three to leave, mahahaya doing most of the work.

“Come,” Yen was saying. “We can speak and discuss at the minor compound, home of the coaleck.” He turned, the rest of his people following, in a direction away from the main hills. The others ought to be ready soon; they'd had over an hour to set up a village and prepare, with still another hour or so to go before the group's arrival at the artificial camp. They'd walk slowly; with some detours they could probably drag the journey out for twice that time.

With a brief hesitation and some words quietly uttered, Tei saw the SG-1 pack turn to follow, Colonel Jackoneil in front and Daniel Jak son not quite in the rear.

_____

“They're hiding something.”

“Why wouldn't they, Jack? Strangers just show up from some other planet, wanting to talk and trade. Sounds like a perfectly normal day to me. Oh wait, isn't that what happened to the indigenous people of North America?”

“Sarcasm is my job, Daniel. And it's more than that. They're acting… odd.”

“Maybe not for them.”

The compound was basic and rudimentary, an indication of a nomadic lifestyle, yet the ger or yurt-like structures were sturdy and well-made. The interior of this one rose to a height of fifteen feet, its partly open roof geometrical. Carter had no idea what it was constructed from, but it was neither fabric nor hide. 

“These don't seem like hunters and gatherers, if you ask me. Or farmers, for that matter.” Where were the crops?

“I, too, am suspicious, O'Neill.”

“See?” Jack thumbed towards Teal'c. “Listen to The Man With Junior.”

“They have shown no concern about my associations with the Goa'uld.”

“Maybe they don't know about the Goa'uld,” Daniel objected. “Or Jaffa. We didn't, until a few years ago, and most people on Earth still don't. Not all the societies we've met have encountered Goa'uld; not in their recent history, anyway.”

“And those cultures were happy to see us and welcome us. I tell you, these people are hiding something.”

“The simplest cultures we've met, Daniel,” Sam found herself agreeing with the colonel, “were usually the ones kept from developing technology because of the Goa'uld.”

"We have basic, non-technological societies on Earth, Sam, and they weren't kept that way by the Goa'uld."

At that moment, an unfamiliar woman entered the thick, sturdy pseudo tent. “You are welcome to walk around our community,” she invited, holding open the bulky door flap. “We have set up some wares and crafts, and you may partake in the culinary samples.”

“Thanks,” Jack replied. “We'll be right there.” As the woman made no move to leave without them, Jack whispered, “No eating or drinking.”

Outside, the structures glimmered in the daylight with a golden sheen. All around and in between them were many men, women, and children, sitting on blankets on the ground, offering a sampling of their culture. All, Tei knew, were nervous, yet doing a splendid job of playing their parts. More often than not, deception didn't involve such prolonged interaction.

Tei watched as Lo and Madrala approached Jacko. From now on, Yen and his group would keep a low profile; it would not be much longer. He, Yen, Toy, and Dario were ready with their mahahaya, allowing it to gather strength in closed palms. “Is this the trade you desired?" Madra asked, motioning at the wares around them.

“Uh,” Daniel hesitated. “It's a start.”

The SG-1s were being untruthful, Tei thought; Yen was right, they could not be trusted. Everyone knew that what they really desired was in the soil, the cave walls, the sea beds. And they would even want the people themselves, if they knew the truth. Rumours were not always frank.

Tei continued to watch, continued to listen, waiting to make his move. First they must get the names straight, then the oddities of the pack's characters. Their ways of thinking, and their mannerisms. He and his friends had had a good head start on the drawn-out journey to the village, and what one knew, they all knew. Still, separating one from the pack might be more difficult than anticipated. The community his people had so hastily constructed was not large; they could not seem to isolate a single individual from the SG-1. Always, the newcomers moved in pairs. These Tau'ri aliens seemed to function in doubles, a curious trait. Were they wary, suspicious? Fearful? If that were the case, plans would have to change slightly. It would not make a great difference, in the end, but it would be a bit trickier.

“We must take two,” Yen was at his ear, quietly, making the same observations. Had he intruded on Tei's thoughts?

Tei touched his fingertips together in agreement. There was no other way. It would be safer for the Earth travelers that way, anyway. But there was always a risk that with two, the olja would not be attempted. Not when one might dissuade the other. “I'll lead two to the …what they call the stargate.” If they were going to pull this off, they ought to begin with the right vocabulary.

“No. You'll help me take two to the olja. Toy and Dar will guide the others home. It's been decided; they've already studied Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter. They prefer to copy those two,” he smiled. And he, by now, was in the midst of mastering Teal'c and Jacko… Jack O'Neill. With two l's, whatever that meant.

Tei touched his fingertips again, following far behind with Yen as Daniel and Sam turned a corner, walking between two bajahai tents to chat with more of the craftspeople. Those two were now out of sight of O'Neill and Teal'c, who were fingering quickly manufactured projectile weapons. Yen knew they would like that sort of thing. The weapons were useless, mere shells, but Sivva was doing a great job trying to convince the strangers of their worth.

It was time to make their move. Toy and Dar were agreeing, already in place behind the Jack leader and Teal'c, ready to become Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter, at the go-ahead.

“Which one will you be?” Tei was asking, shadowing and studying the cynical one from a distance.

“O'Neill. As that Teal'c does so little talking, he's more suitable for you.”

And that suited Tei just fine. He couldn't help wondering, though, whether it would be Toy or Dario who would get to impersonate the woman Carter. He hoped, for everyone's sake, there was nothing going on between her and any of the men in her pack.

_____

Tei was careful, nonchalant, although his hearts were beating fast. At the given moment, he and Yen pressed their mahahaya-filled palms to the bare necks of Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter, knowing Toy and Dario were doing the same across the compound to Jack of the odd name, and Teal'c. A less potent version of this chemical was already being used by one or two other races, they knew, in injection form, some claiming it to be their own; it worked well to alter the perceptions of those targeted.

Daniel brushed at the gentle touch on his neck, rubbing his hair.

“What's up, kids?” a voice behind him queried.

“Jack?” Daniel turned in surprise to face Teal'c and the colonel, who seemed to be in a jovial mood. For a brief second he seemed disoriented, and then his head cleared. “I thought you two were way over..." Daniel glanced across the premises. "Never mind. Look at this; the artistry of these crafts is amazing. In the absence of wars and internal conflict, these people have cultivated their artistic tastes and abilities to an exceptional level.”

Tei felt a pride in those words but kept his expression neutral. That wasn't hard, as his natural expression would not be interpreted by these people as anything they knew. Still, as an imposter of these aliens, his performance had to be flawless. He heard Yen say, “Yeah, well, we've found out a little something ourselves. Those hills? Full of naquadah. They've agreed to let us go looking, as long as we don't take before we ask.”

“Really, sir? When do we go?”

“No better time than the present, Carter. Sun's still up; lots of daylight, according to that Yen guy. I say we ship out now.”

Was Yen really speaking those words? Tei couldn't understand some of it. They'd only been within Oh Neill's auratic field for a couple of hours. Tei hoped he could do as well with Teal'c. He knew Yen would help, if necessary. A satisfactory glance over his shoulder revealed that across the artificial village, the real O'Neill and Teal'c believed themselves to be in the company of Daniel Jackson and Major Carter, as well. To them, their true team members at this end looked only like locals; the mahahaya would ensure the blending in of their targeted teammates, now, to the illusion of whatever form his own people presented. He breathed a deep sigh; from now on, the rest should be relatively easy.

“Are any of them coming with us, Jack?”

“Nope. They seem most happy to have us leave.”

“And we'll know where to go, how?”

“I have received directions, Daniel Jackson. It is not difficult.” Tei searched Daniel's eyes for a sign that he'd been believed, and silently congratulated himself when Daniel changed the subject.

“Let's just say good-bye,” Daniel directed. “Where are Yen and the others?” Daniel looked around; it was curious how the locals who had been shadowing them had disappeared so mysteriously.

“Over there,” Yen pointed to where the real Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c were already on their way off the property with Toy and Dario, their own deception thankfully working well. To Daniel and Carter, they were only four locals making their way out of camp. So far, the four-way deception was working beautifully. The mahahaya could get anyone to believe anything; it took only minimal mind suggestion, but in this case, the entire aggregate consciousness was operative. The chemical was natural to this planet, and had been the basis of his peoples' survival for as long as he could remember. "We've already said our goodbyes.”

“Oh,” Daniel watched the four inhabitants heading off in the direction of the stargate, away from the hills, with mixed disappointment and uncertainty. “I guess we're on our own, then.”

“Best way to go. All set?” Yen stepped ahead of Daniel, turned towards the hills, and started on his way.

_____

“Daniel, you sure about this? Hammond won't be thrilled.” Heading back to the gate when they'd only arrived a few hours ago, Jack had his doubts. His suspicions were still aroused, lurking in the background of his mind, but at least now he had a potential motive.

Toyea wasn't sure about this, but he knew Daniel had to be. “Yes, Jack. I don't think disturbing the joining of the high director and his intended bride would go over well. The whole community takes part; each individual has a part, and we don't. They said we'd be welcome back after the ceremonies. I really don't think Hammond will complain about waiting another three days, given that it was their suggestion and all.”

“Why didn't they just tell us that in the first place?” And why wasn't Daniel interested in watching, or at least asking about, the ceremonies and traditions?

“Maybe they didn't want to offend us. They're not used to dealing with beings from other worlds; they're even newer at making intragalactic friends than we are. They put out all those wares just for us, Jack. They were trying hard to be good hosts.”

Hosts. Jack had grown to hate that word. He supposed a wait of another few days wasn't so bad if they'd then be welcomed wholeheartedly; his main question was, why would SG-1 really want to come back anyway? It wasn't as though they'd found anything yet to be worthy of trade.

_____

Daniel followed Tei and Yen along the trail into the upper hills, Sam at his side. There was little chit chat along the way.

“Does Jack seem really eager about this to you?”

“I don't know if I'd call it eager, Daniel. He just wants to find something worth our while, and then get home. Preferably sometime tomorrow.”

“As opposed to meeting a whole new culture, getting to know them, making friends, that kind of thing?”

Sam smiled. She could debate, or she could agree. “There'll be plenty of time for that later, Daniel, if we end up mining here.”

_____

They'd been hiking up an incline for far too long, in Daniel's mind.

“Teal'c… you're certain of where we're going? I mean, not to doubt you or anything…” Daniel let his voice trail off as he looked around at their resting spot. They had veered far up into the hills, not in the direction from which they'd first seen the locals arriving, but deeper and higher. He supposed if there were naquadah deposits around, they could likely be in the heights of the uninhabited hilly regions, but still. Why would the local people be so keen for strangers to come check out the place, and use none of the naquadah for themselves? Now he was the one doing suspicion. Maybe the locals just assumed SG-1 would tire themselves out on this uphill trek and give up. Which would also work if this was a wild goose chase.

“It was pointed out clearly to me, Daniel Jackson. The area we are aiming for is up ahead.” Tei pointed up to a small ragged mountain; they were halfway there.

“Oh, wow,” Sam exclaimed. “The highest one, eh sir?”

“Of course, what else,” Yen grumbled in role, not feeling the urge to rest, depositing his pack on the ground. He couldn't use anything that was in it, though, as it was supposed to be O'Neill's and the illusion could only go so far; he knew not what was in O'Neill's own sack. He wondered what sort of items might be in Daniel's sack, too, and Samantha Carter's. Food? Daniel had been munching on something along the way; it looked terrible, like packed soil. At any rate, Yenenno felt no need to eat or drink just yet. He just wanted to keep moving, get to the olja, and bring this miserable game of masquerade to an end. He wondered what would happen when the real O'Neill and Teal'c arrived at their destination; they must almost be there, even with additional detours and extended breaks. He would check in with them soon; Toy and Da would not be happy to go through the service wheel with the two Tau'ri, and that would arouse suspicion. They would either have to do some astute stalling… or end up actually going through to Earth, thus risking exposure. “Ten minutes and we'll move on.” Ten minutes of wasted time. Maybe these humans really would not be able to arrange the olja after all. Were they always this weak and slow? He'd been thinking about this; there was no way he'd send the woman. He'd have to distract her and get Daniel Jackson to go, and if that didn't work… never mind, he'd think about that final option later, if he really had to. One thing he knew in his hearts; he'd do whatever was necessary to save his people.

_____

“Daniel,” Sam panted, stealing a glance at her teammate for just a second, unwilling to take her eyes off the rough and root-studded narrow slope for more than a second. She recognized the redness in Daniel's face; heat and exhaustion, and she knew hers probably looked the same. “Why are we having trouble keeping up?”

Daniel shook his head. “No idea, but I could definitely use a break.”

“Me too. Colonel?”

Yen turned around, a moment before Tei did the same. “What's up, Carter?”

Daniel intervened. “Jack, what's going on? I think this climate's done wonders for your knees, by the way.”

The blankness in Jack's expression was so fleeting it could have been an illusion. “No. Just hoping to get there before dark, Daniel.”

“Get where? Where exactly are we going?”

“There will be shelter in the first cave, Daniel Jackson. There we may spend the night.”

“Oh. And how much farther would that be, or do you think we can take a break?”

Again? They rested barely two hours ago. “I believe we are nearly there.”

“And your definition of nearly would be…?” Daniel raised his eyebrows, hoping for slightly more specific information.

“Less than two hours.”

“Two more hours? You do realize this is all uphill.”

Yen brushed his hand through his not-really-sweaty hair. “Take five, Daniel. Then we'll finish this last leg.”

“Yeah. Okay. But tomorrow I want whatever you're on.”

“What?”

“What, what?”

Yen looked at Daniel rather curiously, then moved off into the trees, pretending to relieve himself so as to avoid further confrontation.

Daniel directed his thoughts at Sam, half rhetorically. “Why do I get the feeling they haven't told us everything they learned from those villagers?”

“Or everything Hammond said to the colonel before we left. Maybe he's under pressure to find something here.”

“He can't find what there isn't, and I'm thinking we're on a wild goose chase, Sam. They sent us up here to get rid of us for two days.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Daniel. But they'd have to deal with a pissed off colonel once we got down again, so where would that get them?”

“Time's up, kids. Let's move.”

One more chug from his water bottle was Daniel's poor quality fuel, and he pulled himself up from the thick tree root with a groan. Two more hours uphill… then rrrrrrest.

_____

“What the hell is that?” Daniel stared up at the huge towering steel skeleton of a sphere balancing on top of a very odd-looking free-standing ladder-like creation secured dubiously in the ground. Not quite on top, but joined to the top by a narrow ledge, or plank, which stretched horizontally into space as if intentionally defying gravity. The sphere was really more hexagonal in shape than round, its framework consisting solely of dozens of interconnected metallic bars, with vacant square and triangular spaces in between each. Although open to the air, the bars were too angular and the shape too high overhead, to see what lay within. The length of ladder might have been two feet in width, but with the rungs sliced down the center as they were, it left only five-inch footholds on either side, each side separated from its other half by a fourteen-inch gap, creating, for all practical purposes, two narrow one-sided ladders. Each consecutive foothold rung was at least a foot above the other, the ladder stretching straight up to the hexagonal structure a good hundred and eighty feet above their heads. The entire configuration balanced precariously, threatening to collapse at the first strong breeze. “Who would construct something like that? And more importantly, why?”

“That,” said Yen, “is the olja madomharo.”

“The wha - ?” Daniel turned to Jack quizzically. “What? You're not really saying that properly, are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Because there's no way you could remember a name like that. What the hell is an olja madomharo? And how would you know, anyway?” The large multi-sided box way up in the air was slowly turning on some sort of gear, giving the false impression of balancing magically on the tip of  the ledge, spewing purplish light with each revolution. Its interior appeared, from this angle and distance, somewhat larger than Hammond's office.

“Because, Daniel, we were told we'd find it when we got to where we were going. And that means we've reached our destination.”

Oh. Daniel slumped down onto his pack in exhaustion, at the mouth of the cave, as he gazed up. This thing, nestled between two rounded peaks, rose straight up in front of them;. they'd seen the top of the tower almost half an hour ago, when Teal'c's pace seemed to get even faster, and his movements more erratic. It was almost as though both he and Jack were trying to avoid being seen by something. Now the two men were lingering inside this cave, barely wanting to look at the contraption. They seemed worried, almost paranoid. “So what is it? Some sort of marker or lighthouse?” If this was the correct cave, Daniel was willing to bet the naquadah had already been mined. Wild goose chase.

“It was constructed by the Goa'uld, Daniel Jackson.” Using our own technology, thought Tei. “It is a device which acts to repress the true nature of the villagers, allowing them to be tracked as easy prey. They must take pains to avoid its far-reaching effects.” A technology originally meant to disable Goa'uld devices and weapons from seeking his people out, it ended up being used against them, to incapacitate their own camouflaging drugs. The Goa'uld knew very well his people could alter perceptions, and had so far been unsuccessful in accessing the compound themselves. “We were told that anyone being caught in the rays dies.” When it's at full power and searching.

“And you brought us up here, why?” Daniel stared in dismay at his two male teammates, knowing Sam was as confused as he was. Or she should be.

“Doesn't affect us humans, Daniel.” At least, Yen didn't think so. He didn't see why it should, but… there had only been one who'd tried, and he'd fallen to his death from the perch before he could complete his task.

“Sir? Those villagers aren't human?”

Yen covered up his blunder. “Something in their physiology absorbs that light and kills them. Over-sensitivity.”

“Um, like radiation?” Daniel queried defiantly; how could Jack be so certain it was safe for them to be here? Why was he so nonchalant about this? He trusted his team leader, knew he'd never endanger their lives, yet Jack had been acting a bit weird the past few hours. Daniel just couldn't put his finger on what was wrong.

Yen and Tei knew they were risking their own lives by coming here. But the naquadah in the cave would shelter them, as long as they went no closer. At present the olja was on standby, activated fully only when the Goa'uld ships flew over, searching for them. Today, it wouldn't render their preservation functions inert, as long as they didn't climb to the olja on top; that had been tried more than once. Their kind had not lived through the attempts.

“No,” Teal'c retorted simply.

“Stop the worrying, Daniel. Their skin adapts to changes in temperature; ours doesn't. Something about them burning to death internally from the heat those rays emit.” Yen eyed Daniel carefully. Would he and the woman buy that… what would O'Neill call it… he searched his brain. Bullshit?

They're cold-blooded? Daniel wasn't certain he ought to give up so easily, but they were up here, so no point in arguing. It wasn't as though he knew better than Jack, or that Jack had even received enough information to answer all his questions. “So. Now what? We sleep, then explore?”

“Not exactly.”

“Jack?”

“Look, we promised the people that in exchange for the naquadah mining rights, we'd shut down that algae thing.”

Daniel looked at him incredulously, then at Teal'c, who's expression remained blank. Sam glanced up in surprise, her eyes wide, before peering up at the top of the structure, her mind working to figure out how - if - it could be done.

“How?” Daniel asked with a tone of doubt. There didn't seem to be any control panel inside the cave, or out. The cave was just a cave; the mountain, just a mountain… other than the weird tower near its summit. “You know how?”

“Inside the bars of that block up there is a console.”

“Sir?”

“Inside the bars?” Daniel stared wide-eyed. “That's at least eighteen stories high.”

“You have a way to shut it down, Colonel?”

Yen shrugged. “Shoot it.”

“Oh, right, there's a good plan,” Daniel shook his head, peering way up at the skeletal, intertwined hexagonal frame, continuously rotating. There was no way a bullet would get anywhere near the interior of it, even aimed by the best marksman.

Yen held out his hand. “Pass me your gun.”

“What's wrong with yours?” Daniel eyed the submachine gun hanging across Jack's torso. 

His. Right. Unfortunately, Yen's weapons were nothing but sticks, the illusion holding but function itself could not be duplicated. “Just give it to me, Daniel.”

“What about blasting it down with C4, Colonel?”

They had no other weapons, and what was this C4? The humans could not discover his pack was empty of anything practical and useful to them.

“Can't. Controls are inside, and the thing is made from naquadah. C4'll do nothing.” Whatever that was. Blasting it down was a bad idea anyway; the rays might shoot out and kill them first. “We have to get inside the thing. Gun, Daniel?”

"Inside it, Colonel?" Sam stared as though she hadn't heard correctly.

“What do you plan to do with this?” Daniel handed the Beretta over, unsure why Jack was asking, and looked back at the flimsy poles with their five-inch footholds, nearly swaying under the weight. “Doesn't look like naquadah to me.” He turned back to his leader. “You agreed to this without seeing it? It's a suicide climb, Jack.”

Yes, exactly why the Goa'uld had ordered it be built that way. They knew only fools would attempt the climb. So far, only one foreign fool had been persuaded to try, and he had fallen to his death, the poor soul who'd only been trying to help Yen's people. “Oh, it's not that bad, Daniel. Quit moaning. Be done before you know it.”

“And how do you plan to get up there? I really wouldn't trust those ladders to hold you.” The ladder halves that vibrated to their footsteps. What was Jack thinking? This was insane.

“Not me, you.”

“What?” Daniel's eyes flashed with incomprehension.

“You're going up.”

Surprise turned to disbelief, then alarm. “I don't trust it to hold me, either.”

“It's lasted this long. It'll hold.”

“And that comes with a money-back guarantee?”

“Daniel, you've tackled worse.”

“Not really, no. Little problem with heights, here, Jack.”

“Get over it.”

What? Daniel was too surprised to respond.

“Colonel?” Carter had never heard her CO speak to anyone that way, not to a team member and most certainly not to Daniel. What was going on?

“Not now, Carter. Daniel, just get up there and shut the damn thing down.” Daylight was waning, and Yen didn't want to be stuck under that contraption an entire night, cave or no cave.

“Why are you doing this, Jack?” Daniel frowned in concern, his mind filling with dark unwanted thoughts. “Did you eat or drink something back at the village?”

“No, Daniel, I'm fine. We made a deal, that's all.”

“Naquadah mining rights for my life?” Denial or not, Daniel knew neither Jack nor Teal'c - who was standing there in silent support of their CO - were thinking clearly. Tossing a quick look at Sam - at least she seemed normal - Daniel didn't know whether to back away, sit down, or make a run for his life. The man before him seemed to be growing more and more tense, not to mention irrational.

“For their lives.”

“I'm all for saving their lives, Jack, but not this way. Maybe with proper equipment, and more knowledge and information about what's up there. That ladder, or whatever it is, won't hold me. It's made for someone a lot smaller and lighter.” And more nimble. Weightless, actually. Something that could fly, and avoid it altogether.

“I'll go.” Sam put her hand on Daniel's arm.

“No, Sam - ” Daniel began, but was cut off by Yen.

“No, Carter, you won't. Daniel's going.” Yen had sworn not to risk the woman. She wouldn't even be here at all, had she allowed herself to be separated from Daniel back at the camp.

“Why don't you go, Jack?” Not that Daniel was prepared to allow that either, but he had to ask. Had to know what was going through Jack's mind.

“Bad knees.”

“They were fine on the climb up here.”

“Daniel, I'm giving you an order.” Yen panicked. This was what he'd been afraid of. Daniel wasn't buying this; he'd have to try something else. They were wasting too much time, too much daylight, and Yen felt that he was losing. He could feel the same fear and doubt in Tei's mind too.

Suddenly Daniel was eye to eye with the barrel of his own Beretta.

“Get the hell up there now, Daniel, or you'll be dead and Carter will be climbing in the dark.”

_____

They were approaching the service wheel, and Toyea and Dario were growing nervous. They had to get the other two to leave, while holding back long enough themselves for the intra-galactic connection to shut down without them. Then they'd dial out, again and again, preventing these people from returning, until news was received of the olja. If it had been successfully silenced, they could reactivate their world's defences and finally, thankfully, return to their normal lives. If not… they would scatter to the hills and forever live in deception, always looking over their shoulders in fear. If either of the other two members of the SG-1 pack remained alive… the aggregate would have to consider what to do with them. They'd know too much and couldn't be allowed to return to Earth. This wasn't the greatest of plans, but they'd all had so little time to come up with anything better.

“You okay?” The Colonel Jack O'Neill was speaking to him again.

“Sure.”

“You've been unusually quiet the whole way, Daniel.” Not too mention needing way too many breaks for looking at absolutely nothing interesting, as far as Jack was concerned. He could've sworn that Daniel was reluctant to head back home.

So had the Major Samantha Carter, Toyea wanted to claim. He'd been hoping Da would keep the conversation going, but they weren't actors. He wondered how Yenenno and Teiea were getting on, and knew he ought to check in. “I'm just a bit preoccupied, Jack.”

“Uh huh.” Jack looked unconvinced. “Why don't you go dial out, and I'll see what's up with Carter.”

Dial out? To where? Where in the galaxy was Earth? Toyea nodded, then sauntered over to Teal'c. “Teal'c,” he began, “would you mind dialing out?” Toy pulled his pack off, fiddling with the illusion of a twisted strap. His own pack had no such straps, just a single throw-over swatch of fabric that went over his head and shoulders. The ploy added substance to the illusion.

Teal'c nodded. “Indeed, Daniel Jackson.”

As the vortex splashed open, Jack sidled up to Toyea. “Plug in the codes, Daniel,” he said quietly.

“Codes.” Toy had no idea.

“Codes, Daniel. You do remember them?”

“Um…” What could he say? Would he get them killed, by pretending he knew what he was doing? “Not really, Jack.”

And Jack was torn between marching his teammate to the infirmary, or remaining here and finding out why Daniel and Carter had not seemed like Daniel and Carter, for the entire walk back.

_____

“Colonel!” Aghast, Sam had no idea what to do. With the colonel threatening Daniel, pointing a gun at his head, she was at a loss. Her own P90 lay by her pack four feet away, but what could she have done, shoot the colonel? Her fingers slid discreetly to her zat gun, strapped to her leg. 

A hand grabbed her wrist, another arm suddenly wrapping around her throat from behind, yanking her backwards. “I would not do that,” she heard Teal'c's warning voice in her ear, as he removed the zat from the holster and pointed it now at her forehead. He knew what that Goa'uld weapon could do.

Daniel remained immobile, in shock, thoughts blurring together like mist in fog. “You've been compromised, Jack. Teal'c. How?” How, indeed, had he kept his voice so calm when his heart was shaking him so much inside?

“That's enough, Daniel. Get going.”

"I haven't even had a chance to rest from the hike." Somehow, Daniel doubted logic and rational thinking would be on his side right now.

"Rest later."

“Think about this, Jack.”

“Thought about it. Thinking's over. Shut up and move.” Yen had never spoken to anyone like that, but he was desperate. He knew he was scaring the human, and fear might not be a helpful emotion in the olja. But how else could he get Daniel Jackson up there?

Daniel had to work at keeping his voice steady. Short of stalling, he had no plan. But for how long could he stall? He needed to think. He needed whatever was influencing Jack and Teal'c to wear off. “You told me to shoot the console. You've got my gun.”

“First try to rearrange the control tools. Counterclockwise, first three to the left, move the second row to a forty degree angle. Prominent knobs at the edges increase the flow of counter-productive gases; don't touch them.”

Daniel paled, as he cast a glance at Sam. She was gaping, as stunned as he was. What had happened to Jack? What, or who, was controlling him? “And if that doesn't work?” And it wouldn't, as he had no idea what Jack had just said.

He watched as Jack slowly lowered the Beretta, holding it outward, handing it back.

“I don't need this. We've got Carter's,” Yen stated as he bent to pick up the real P90, keeping his eyes on Daniel, lifting the weapon towards the frightened human male.

But that hadn't made sense to Daniel, either. Had Jack forgotten about his own gun? Had Teal'c forgotten his staff weapon? Daniel didn't want them to remember. “I'll need the rope in your pack.”

No rope in his pack. No pack. “No.”

Daniel felt his heart thud into his stomach. “Jack, please. I can't do this without a safety rope.”

“No rope, Daniel. Sorry. Just go. You can do it.”

“Colonel, please. Let him take the rope.” Sam knew the panic in her eyes matched the fear in Daniel's. Teal'c's arm was still around her throat.

“I said no rope, Carter. Stay out of this.”

“Sir, please - ”

Tei let go of Carter and thrust her away from himself; as Sam twirled around, he dropped her to the ground in a blazing swirl of blue energy. Then, keeping his eyes on her, he pointed the zat once more towards Sam's prone, unconscious body, before allowing his attention to turn back to the others.

Yen was looking at him, nodding slowly. He turned back to a dazed, bewildered Daniel, but aimed the P90 at Sam. “Time to go. Get up there before it gets too dark to see.”

“And before I shoot her again.” Tei was staring brazenly into Daniel's eyes.

Teal'c wouldn't… would he? Daniel had no way of knowing, any more. He knew he had no other options, short of shooting them both, really, really quckly. Maybe when this contraption was shut down, it would also switch off whatever was controlling Jack and Teal'c. He just hoped he'd still be around to find out.

"Fine." Daniel turned, slowly making his way to the incomplete, divided ladder, trying hard to shake off his shock. Securing his gun to his leg, he then placed his hands on the nearest two rungs. Five-inch handholds bolted to two thin poles, each hand separated by a dozen inches of empty space. Twelve, perhaps fourteen, inches from one hold upwards to the next. Even without his body weight yet upon them, he could feel the poles vibrating with the rotations of the steel polyhedron. How exactly were these poles secured? How far into the ground did they go? They rested against nothing yet supported what looked like an exceptional amount of weight up above. They must be strong enough, he conceded, to hold that hexagonal structure, unless it was somehow weightless. Did the Goa'uld have technology and enough knowledge of physics to build something like that?

This was awkward. He'd never seen a ladder such as this; was it made for someone with wide legs? Small feet? Or had the footholds once been joined, then destroyed down their centers? More likely the Goa'uld had constructed it so as to make it easily accessible to no one. The poles trembled as he climbed, and Daniel knew better than to look down. Up, however, still seemed a long way away. This was like climbing a rickety balcony railing, stuck upright in the dirt, stretching eighteen stories high. A broken balcony railing, that wobbled when he moved. This was insane. And so was Jack.

What the hell had happened to him? There was no way Jack would have accepted anything to eat or drink, not after his admonition to the others. Had he been Goa'ulded? The thought sickened Daniel, but he calmed himself, realizing Sam would have noticed something like that. And Teal'c could not be Goa'ulded with Junior in his belly, yet something had got to the both of them. Something Daniel didn't want to go back down to. Something with which he didn't want to leave Sam. She'd be safe, wouldn't she? They wouldn't hurt her… right? Daniel hoped their minds were clear enough to remember two zat blasts killed… and to want Sam alive. Then again, Jack and Teal'c no longer cared about him, so why would it be any different for Sam? His heart thudded faster.

Much as he wanted to access his radio and inquire about Sam, remind them of the power of the zat guns just in case, Daniel didn't dare take a hand off a handhold. He had to concentrate. One slip and he'd never find out what had gotten into his teammates.

It was frightening, being scared of his CO, being afraid of Jack. Even scarier than this contraption, the purple rays starting to sting his eyes the closer he got to the top. And he was not even a quarter of the way up.

Were those villagers positive it couldn't hurt humans? How did they know? If they weren't human, what were they? Did they care enough to even be honest about it? And what could they have possibly used to brainwash Jack and Teal'c so badly? When this was over, Daniel knew Jack would never forgive himself if he died up here. Or would he? Maybe it was better not to know.

_____

“Let it shut down.” Just checking in, General. We found some people, they're not saying much yet. We'll be here a bit longer. O'Neill out.

“Jack? What's going on? You know the locals don't want us here.”

“So you say. Or no, they don't want us crashing their royal wedding. So we'll just camp right over here for a day or two, and stay out of their hair. Poke around on this side of the gate without them.”

No wedding. That was just a tale. Toyea looked in panic to his compatriot. They both knew the Aggregate was aware of the turn of events. This half of the plan wasn't working so well.

But it was all right. The others were at the olja, and if it worked, it didn't matter too much what O'Neill did next. The people in the hills would have full use of their resources, and O'Neill's team would be none the wiser. If the newcomers failed to arrange the olja, no one would be any worse off than they'd been the day before. Before the SG-1 pack arrived.

The voice brought him from his musing. “Stay alert, Daniel. Get a tent set up.”

Toy sighed. If he could figure out how that worked, maybe. Jack was really getting suspicious, and the deception would only hold as long as he allowed himself to believe.

_____

It wasn't that high a distance, Daniel tried to convince himself. Just over... twice the height of his balcony, and he'd stood on that a thousand times. Well, not on his railing, and there'd been concrete under his feet. Too bad the thin rundles were hell on his hands, and his legs were still weak from the day's fast-paced uphill trek. Daniel wanted badly to lean against a rung, just for a minute or two, but the crossbar wasn't really there. Leaning agains a pole put him off balance and made the whole thing shudder, so he settled for hanging an arm over the tiny handhold, trying to recuperate from that last near-miss. Going faster had seemed like the best way to get this over with, until his left hand had slipped, and his heart had fallen out his mouth and dropped sixty feet. Now, he had to pause, had to hang there, to regain the meager composure that had so suddenly slipped away. Reminding himself not to look down, Daniel stared blankly ahead, between the bisected rungs, at the horizon. Dusk had already set in. At least they were at the top of the hills, so the sun's last light wouldn't sink too fast below the peaks.

The polyhedron was rotating slowly, at the far end of that horizontal ledge beginning almost straight above his head. How he'd get inside it once he made it all the way up there was an altogether different problem. He'd have to let go of his handhold for a moment.

The sooner he did this, though, the sooner it would all be over, one way or another. Hopefully Jack didn't have another surprise up his sleeve if... when he got down. Even being more wary after this, there was no way he and Sam could subdue Jack and Teal'c if it came to that. First, they'd have to get their guns and that staff weapon, the ones the two men hardly ever let go of even in their sleep. Daniel didn't think he'd ever be able to shoot them, anyway. Nor did he want the time ever to come when he had to.

No, he'd let Jack push him around instead, and force him to climb to a height that made him physically ill. Daniel knew he was sweating, and his pulse was too rapid. Just knowing sweaty palms held the rungs made his heart beat faster, and that made him sweat even more, a miserable cycle. As for that, though, at least he knew his heart was back where it should be, preparing to jump out again at any moment.

For he was finally approaching the bulbous hexagonal skeleton. Daniel fervently hoped there was somewhere to sit inside it, a bench might be nice, as he was shaking too much to keep holding on.

_____

Daniel was forced to stop, now directly level with the geometrical structure atop the ladder. From here, the narrow synthetic beam led straight into it. With the growing darkness those purple rays shone brighter, and his eyes watered and stung, forcing him to squint and look away. Edges blurred and auras surrounded each of the dozens of metallic bars comprising the structure. Between each bar, large enough for two men to slide through together, was open space.

In figuring out what to do next, Daniel made the mistake of glancing down. The ground dropped away a hundred and eighty feet below, but the hillside dropped much farther than that. From up here, Daniel could almost see over the countryside. His stomach clenched. Sweaty hands were not a good tool for holding narrow rungs on lightly swaying rods, and he knew he had to move asap. Taking a deep breath and letting the left grip go, he pulled himself onto the ledge. No way would he walk on this upright; kneeling and sliding might be less graceful but there was no one who would tell. If Jack made fun of him later, he'd at least be alive to hear it.

His more immediate problem was how to get hold of the bars of the polyhedron while it was slowly rotating. The mechanics of it were making him dizzy. If he wasn't fast enough, he'd find himself dangling from it above the ground, with no foothold at all. This wasn't made for anyone to get into. It was made to remain here, functioning, permanently.

I'll get you back for this, Jack.

_____

“Oh my God.” Sam was sitting up, shaking off the dizzying effects of that zat blast. The tingling was still raging up and down her arms and through her entire body. But what really had her frozen was the sight of Daniel, nearly two hundred feet straight up, with no rope around his waist and a monstrous skeletal contraption taunting him, threatening to roll right off the end of that beam the minute he touched it. She squinted her eyes into the purple light; that was beginning to be bothersome.

Sam felt not only fear and dread capture her heart, but an abysmal rage, as she swore to find out if her CO had lost complete sense of reason. “How could you make him do that, sir?” She asked quietly, her tone kept in check, knowing some of that fear was aimed at the men standing in front of her, their weapons now lowered.

“Had to, Carter.”

Did she detect a glimmer of remorse on his face? Was it for the job in question, or for Daniel? “Is naquadah that important, Colonel? Or did the villagers threaten us in some way?”

“No threats, Major. They're nice folks. Don't want to see us hurt.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Carter, I don't want to keep explaining myself. Enough.”

“Then just explain it once. This isn't like you, sir.”

“It's like me.”

“No. No. You would never put Daniel at risk, force him to do that, not when you know how much he detests heights. Not when his safety is compromised. You wouldn't let me go because you know it's too dangerous. And that's why you didn't want to go up, either. So no, Colonel, I can't say you're being yourself.”

Yen knew he couldn't keep up the deception if the Major Carter no longer chose to believe he was the true colonel. The ability of the mahahaya lay only in the mind, in the powers of belief. He was losing control. For a moment, just a tiny thread of a moment, he slipped his concentration.

“Oh my God.” The whisper was so faint he barely heard it, but the shock in the major's eyes relayed what she had seen. And then, he was O'Neill again.

“Major?”

“Tyler?” Sam jumped up, facing him down, her eyes glaring. “To borrow an expression from the colonel, what the crap is going on?”

“Don't know what you're talking about, Carter.”

“You're not Colonel O'Neill, so stop with the games. You're Tyler! Lieutenant Tyler. Or whatever you called yourself.” She spun around to Teal'c. “So who the hell are you?”

“Who's Tyler, Carter?”

“Cut the crap, Tyler. I saw you. I know who you really are. Where are the real colonel and Teal'c?” Sam demanded, wishing she could get  hold of that P90 or zat gun. Wishing she could get Daniel down from there, right now.

“Yai, Yen.” Tei sighed and allowed his body to become himself. "She's talking about Yai." The concentration was too stressful to keep up, if she already knew. They'd blown this; maybe it would still be worth it if Daniel managed to arrange the olja. After all, they'd got him up there, and as long as there was no telepathic ability among the SG-1, the Major Samantha Carter would not be able to inform him of the truth. The plan was still in action; they'd deal with the woman and Daniel later. He stepped further inside the cave where Daniel could not see, if he happened to look down - a move he knew Daniel was trying desperately to avoid at all costs anyway.

Yen backed into the cave as well, and let go his cover. This felt better, allowing his mind to ease. More comfortable, being himself. “I'm sorry, Major Carter. We did not want your people to learn our true identities.”

“We are aware of your meeting with YaiYaiAy, Samantha. I'm TeiAnatiianAno, and my partner here is YenennoAreoei.” People who used their own body chemicals to alter perceptions, they could look like anything or anyone they pleased. Except, of course, when the Goa'uld turned the olja up to detection mode.

Carter might not have been so ticked off, if not for the matter of Daniel still being up in the air, his life still at risk. “Lieutenant…Tyler knew we wouldn't compromise your race. We helped him escape from the Goa'uld, and he helped us. He thought we could even be allies one day,” she retorted accusingly.

“Not this day, Major Carter. It's best for us if we let as few people know the location of Reeall as possible.”

“So you used your chemical to make us believe you were the colonel and Teal'c?”

“Mahahaya. Yes. To make you believe we were human. In concentrated form we can suggest to you exactly who to believe we are. The Goa'uld want to get their hands on us for this natural defence mechanism. A compatriot once made the mistake of allowing the Tok'ra to take a sample of his secretion to synthesize a blended chemical, and the Goa'uld found out where it came from. Now we live in fear.”

The chemical Daniel used on the Goa'uld space station to deceive Lord Yu? Sam sighed, closing her eyes. She knew what it was like to be hunted and to live in fear. This race had trusted the Tok'ra, and look where it had got them; why should they trust the Tau'ri? “Where are the real Colonel and Teal'c?” she demanded.

“They left for the serv… the stargate with ToyeaYao and Dariodroao. They will hopefully leave this planet.”

“With a fake Daniel and me?” Colonel O'Neill would be livid when he found out. What a relief, at least, to know the real colonel had not set Daniel up for this. That was something; Sam just wished Daniel could know. For her friend, the hurt of their CO... Jack... forcing this upon him must have been as bad as the shock of what he was required to do.

“Yes. Our two won't go through with them, however, unless there is no other option.”

Sam sighed. There was nothing she could do about the other imposters at the moment; the colonel would deal with them when the time came. “Yenenn…en…ay…”

“Yen.”

“Yen. What's the story behind this mechanism?”

“Built by the Goa'uld, as we told you. We don't allow the Goa'uld to see us when they come; we know our land and where it's safe to hide. We're able to camouflage with our mahahaya so that they can never find us. We become rocks and trees, and they leave. The console, while originally created by us to spread the mahahaya as an airborne neural transmitter so that we would be safe anywhere on the planet, unfortunately now renders our mahahaya impotent. At present, the device is in a prepared resting state. The Goa'uld activate it from their ships when they arrive, and then we can only hide by running to the caves. Our constitution does not allow us to go near those violet rays even now, so we are unable to disable it on our own. We cannot get close enough to destroy it. If we were to knock the whole thing down, we would still not be able to enter the structure itself to reach the console. Believe me, we've considered this option.”

“And how do you know that we humans can get in without ill effects? Obviously none have tried, or we wouldn't be doing this now.”

“You have no mahahaya.”

“And one did try,” Tei admitted almost sheepishly.

Sam stared in repulsion, hesitant to ask, fighting down nausea. “But...?"

“He fell through the interior of the intertwined polyhedrons, as they shifted rotation.”

Stomach churning uncomfortably, Sam left the overhang of the cave and looked up to search for Daniel. Her heart jolted in her chest.

_____

Sliding the last few feet on the foot-wide protrusion, nothing below him but air, Daniel looked straight at his destination, trying to keep his eyes from blinking too much. They were watering badly; he could barely see through the blur. The rotation of the enormous contraption in front of him had the ledge pulsating.

Daniel took a deep, slow breath to calm his nerves. Reaching out quickly and grabbing for a bar, the unexpected tingling shocked him; his fingers sliding away as the bar moved past him, the cage continued its rotation. Catching hold of the ledge again with a heartstopping thud, Daniel felt the support sway beneath him. God, let this soon be over. He had to be an acrobat to do this. Calming his breath, Daniel knew time was short; in another moment he was going to slip off this thing. He had no choice but to get inside that skeletal prism and rest his shattered nerves… well, there was another choice, but that meant allowing himself to fall. Taking one more deep breath and sitting up straighter, legs dangling over each edge, Daniel forced himself to more quickly grab hold of a passing bar. This time he let go of the ledge completely, grasping the ribs with both hands as he was pulled away from his precarious seat, the sharp tingling spreading through his body. Swiftly pulling himself up, he swung his feet and legs through the space between the rotating bars without giving the long journey down another thought.

Daniel found himself inside the polyhedron.

Damn it.

No, this ordeal would never be over. He might be inside now, but the spaces between the bars at his feet were exactly the same size as the one he'd just ventured through, too wide to relax upon, open to the ground below. He was forced to remain standing, feet apart on two of the bars of the triangle, open space staring up at him from between his stance, both hands tightly grasping the external frame. Not only was there nowhere to sit, nowhere to rest his completely exhausted body… he was now in constant motion, inside a rotating steel frame.

But what shocked him even more was a smaller polyhedron within this one, linked at their centers and passing him only a yard away, rotating in the opposite direction, and dizziness was giving way to nausea. This large one was nothing but an outer shell; the console was within the second, smaller module. He'd have to get through that one next, to the controls, where the purple light was streaming out, nearly forcing his eyes closed with its raging brilliance. For the final time since he'd started climbing, Daniel truly felt as though this task would not end favorably.

“Daniel.” His radio came to life, scaring the hell out of him. “Daniel, are you okay?”

No. Daniel swallowed, taking small breaths. If he kept his eyes closed, he could almost forget the opposite motions of the polyhedrons. If he relaxed and didn't move a muscle, he could pretend he was standing on a solid floor. One hand carefully let go its grasp, finding his radio. “So far.” Daniel knew he sounded breathless. His hands were shaking like leaves in a tornado. The bars beneath his feet were emitting a pulse, and that he couldn't ignore. The entire structure was emitting a pulse, and Daniel desperately needed to sit.

“Be careful in there. Someone once fell through those holes.”

Oh shit.

Didn't need to know. Not really. Already being careful, here. Not that I'll be able to move, ever.

Daniel allowed his eyes to open as he took a few deeper breaths, but the glow made them sting. He hated the movement of this thing, like a bad ride at a county fair. “So good to know.”

“Daniel…” Sam couldn't tell him, couldn't distract him. But she could, maybe, ease his mind. No way would the colonel ever have put Daniel's life in jeopardy like that, with so little concern, and allowing him to believe that just wasn't fair to either of them. If anything happened to him… he had to know. “The colonel's snapped out of it. He's okay now. He's really sorry, Daniel. And he's worried about you.”

Daniel felt an unsolicited relief flow through him, easing the strain just a little. “Let me talk to him.”

Sam looked worriedly at Yen. She knew he wanted Daniel up there, wanted him to turn that thing off, or destroy it. She didn't trust what the man… alien… would say to him, even if he kept up the pretense of being the colonel. “He's gone deeper into the cave, Daniel, looking for something worthwhile. He's... having trouble admitting he screwed up." If Daniel didn't make it back down, the colonel would eventually forgive her for the lie. "Can you actually get that thing turned off?”

“So it's right, what he said it does?”

“It affects the people here in a really bad way.”

“I'm up here, I have to try. Wish me luck.”

She'd've done that in the first place, if she hadn't been unconscious. “Good luck, Daniel. Please be really, really careful.”

“There's an idea.” Opening his eyes to the harsh glare once more, blinking back the uninvited tearing, he waited until the two structural frames were about to line up - or looked that way, in the blur - and stepped quickly over the floor holes into the midst of them both.

_____

“Oh God.” The floor bars of the double polyhedrons were moving in two reverse directions. He could feel the disparate motion as he was pulled in the opposite direction to which he'd previously been standing, and for a moment it was a relentlessly uncomfortable sensation. If he lost his grip, he might just fall through those holes and find out what flying actually felt like. At least with the double frames passing each other, the holes became alternately smaller than before. Here, there was more chance of being crushed between them, than actually falling through. He stood upright and warned himself not to look down.

Then again, not looking down meant looking straight ahead, and through the spaces between all the diagonal moving bars he could make out the shifting countryside. Good thing it was coming up to night time, although that only made the purple glow seem even brighter. That was when Daniel realized a rumbling hum emanated from the interior of this hollow geometrical skeleton, a humming that made his head throb.

The console, blaring its purple light, was right there at the center of the structure. He could either get closer - to see if he was able to figure out how it worked - or shoot it.

To get to its center, though, he'd first have to relinquish his position, have to take six or eight steps across moving shapes and open spaces, and he'd only just figured out how to keep his balance while standing still. But with the possibility of an explosion if he shot the thing, moving seemed like the lesser of two evils.

The light was blinding, as he inched his way closer. It was pouring out of the console, shooting rays through every hole, ricocheting them off every one of the dozens of metal bars of the framework. Naquadah, likely. This was the machine when it was on standby? He'd hate to see it fully powered up.

There were all sorts of buttons, each emanating a glaring purple stream, the entire console in a blurred mist of violet, humming, rotating, dizzying… Daniel lost his balance, falling forward, catching himself on the console. A sharp jolt stung his hands and his chest where they touched, an electrical force powerful enough to throw him to the side of the cage and wind him. He knew, then, why the last person had fallen to his death. In spite of the electrical force and the tingling, Daniel held on, pulled himself up, forced his eyes to look at the console, the lights searing like lasers. Beneath the mist of the purple glow were unlabelled buttons. Barely able to look directly at them, he could make no sense of the instructions given to him by Jack. Nor could he differentiate the largest ones from the others. By pressing them he could very well turn this thing on instead of off. Daniel doubted there was anything he could do that would permanently disable it.

But he hadn't come all the way up here for nothing.

Shoot it, Daniel. Damage it. Make it impossible to fix.

Daniel clicked the button on his radio, trying to get his balance so he could let go of the blinding, overpowering console. Shooting it while holding on to it didn't seem the best plan. The motion of the rays and the bars and the landscape, along with the tension in his limbs just trying to remain balanced, was taking its toll. His voice wavered breathlessly, when he spoke. “I'm inside. Have to shoot it, Sam.”

There was a pause. “Be careful, Daniel.” Her voice was not so steady, either.

“Yeah. Can I talk to Jack?” Just in case something goes wrong, up here. Please, Jack. Apologize, just this once.

Another, longer, pause, and Jack's voice. “Daniel.”

“I forgive you.” Or maybe he'd do that.

There was dead silence on the other end.

“Jack?”

“Yeah. I'm here. Look, I'm sorry about this. Really.”

Daniel swallowed. Jack didn't hate him. “I know. It had to be done, right?”

“Just be careful.”

“Do my best.”

Gulping for air, air for a body that ached and trembled from sights and sounds and motion that were not quite conducive to its normal functioning, Daniel aimed his gun at the console, and fired again and again and again.

The air filled with fumes, a vapor that poured out the sides of the structures, explosions wracking the console as the purple lasers diminished in final sparking shocks of energy. With a sudden jolt, the geometrical frames stopped their rotations and shook, slipping on the beam, tilting, threatening to topple a hundred and eighty feet then more down the hillside below. There they nodded and shook as if on a rubber lever, swaying, little bounces growing slower and slower until they stopped and the hexagonal naquadah skeletons hung there, balancing as if weightless.

But Daniel felt and saw none of it, for the first shock had thrown him to the grating of the barred floor, charges zapping through an unconscious body, keeping time with the new motion of the structure. Now he lay across the floor bars - or side bars, as the whole structure had shifted - unaware that the mechanism had been destroyed. Only the flat positioning of his body stopped him from falling through the wide, no-longer-rotating, triangular aperture he was lying across, one hand caught between two crossbars where their paths had met.

_____

Sam watched in alarm as the interior of the skeletal structures exploded, sparks flying for meters outward, smoke pouring through their holes. The entire mechanism seemed to be steaming, as though ready to erupt in fire - or disintegrate. Alarm turned to horror and shock as the angular spheres toppled from their perch, then seemed to catch on a hook and linger. Any moment now, the whole thing threatened to come tumbling down, crushing the man inside.

“Daniel.” She flicked on her radio. “Daniel.” There was still no response. “Daniel, please come in. Can you hear me? You have to get out of there.” Maybe he was just too tightly holding on to something, and couldn't let go. Maybe, maybe. Sam was grasping the radio with deadly force.

Minutes passed in impatient dread, but there was still no response. “He's hurt. I'm going up.” Sam dashed to the ladder, just as a sturdy arm pulled her away. These aliens were stronger than they appeared.

“No. I'll go. Your weight will bring this whole structure down.” Yen nodded at her.

“But - “

“The olja's been destroyed. It can no longer harm us.” With his swift, limber body, the alien was already negotiating the footholds.

Tei was at Sam's side. “If he is not alive, at least you must understand he saved all my people.”

Sam stared at him, aghast. That was her consolation? Should that make her happy? Sam couldn't respond, nor did she want to try.

_____

“What was that?” Jack jumped up at the vibration, as did Teal'c. He saw Daniel and Carter looking to the hills, but nothing was visible, no smoke, no people running, no trees toppling. “Earth tremor?” Planet tremor? If they weren't on Earth, was it still an earth tremor? Jack wondered.

“They did it,” Jack heard Daniel murmur to Sam.

“Who did what? What are you talking about?” Jack joined them.

Toy realized he and Dar could disappear the moment O'Neill and Teal'c's backs were turned if they wanted to, becoming, to the eyes of their uninvited guests, rocks that hadn't been there before. But realistically, how long could they remain like that? And that would be no better than hiding from the Goa'uld, so what would have been gained from destroying the olja? And O'Neill seemed to be going nowhere, any time soon. Yet, this whole deception had been to keep the SG-1 from finding out their true nature, even though Yai had sworn these to be good men. Toy didn't know what to do.

“Daniel? Carter? Who did what?” 

That persistence trait wasn't just a rumour.

“You have to leave this place.”

'You'? Jack looked at Daniel, knowing something was so more wrong than he'd thought was wrong in the first place. “Not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what's going on, or we go over the hills to find out where those inhabitants really live and why they don't want us here.”

Toyeayao knew the man meant what he said. Yai had told him of the stubbornness inherent in the Tau'ri race, or this man in particular. Yai had also said they could be trusted. In spite of Yen's logical misgivings, they had no option left but to take the chance. He was aware that Yen's and Tei's cover had already been blown.

Toy let his concentration diminish, and the illusion failed.

“Oy.” The colonel Jack O'Neill jumped back, his eyes closing momentarily, then opening with a clarity and sternness Toy had not witnessed before. “Tyler? This your planet, or is this another coincidence?”

But before Toy could answer, O'Neill's eyes flashed in distress. “And who did what, Tyler? Where's the real Daniel?”

“I'm not Tyler. My name is Toyeayao.”

“I'm Dariodroao.”

Jack stared in anger. Daniel wasn't Daniel more than he'd even thought Daniel wasn't himself, and Carter definitely wasn't Carter. And there'd been an explosion or quake, somewhere in the direction of the hills. Jack's P90 shot up towards the aliens, and Teal'c was at his side with his staff weapon raised. “Where are my other team members?” Keeping his weapon poised, Jack glanced at Teal'c. “Are you you?”

“I am, O'Neill.” Teal'c's lips were turned downward, a frown Jack hadn't seen in years.

“He is Teal'c. The others went to destroy the olja,” Dar explained.

“Meaning what?”

“They caused the vibrations.”

“How? And why didn't Carter and Daniel tell us what they were doing?"

"They believed themselves to be in the presence of yourself and Teal'c."

If Jack had thought his anger could rise no higher, he'd been wrong. "Damn you. Take us to them, right now.”

_____

Yen found his footing onto the sloping plank, waiting impatiently as it reacted to his weight. Then, hoping its connectors would hold, he edged along its present downward gradient and nimbly slid his lithe body through a hole in the precariously lop-sided polyhedron. The structure bobbed gently, and he reflexively slowed his breathing.

Amid the lingering smoke, he could see Daniel lying on the bottom of the interior, as he gingerly made his way across the wide bars to the second polygonal structure and slipped through. The console had left its mooring, falling over in the tilting of the bases. It had just missed landing on Daniel Jackson.

Yen wasn't sure what constituted life for this race. He could see an odd colour on the man's face, some splotchy red patches over the palor. The eyes were closed. That generally meant dead, to his people. He felt for Daniel's radio. “Major Carter?”

“Come in, Yen.” Sam was afraid to say more.

“Your friend is on the ground. His eyes are closed.” Yen waited for an exclamation of sorrow, but the woman hadn't seemed to lose hope.

“Does he have a pulse?”

“How will I tell?”

“Touch the side of his neck.”

Yen did. “I don't feel anything.” What was supposed to happen?

God. Sam kicked the ground. Damn it. You did it, Daniel; you have to be alive. “Yen, put your hand in front of his nose. Tell me if he's breathing.” If not, there was no way Yen could do CPR. Sam cursed that she hadn't gone up herself.

It took a moment, as she waited for the worst.

“He seems to be.”

“Oh thank God. Can you get him out of there?” How the hell would Yen do that, with Daniel unconscious? But he had to. Sam had to see how badly Daniel was injured. She would go up, if there was no other way.

“I will.” Somehow.

His people's center of balance was across their back and shoulders; slight as they seemed, they were strong and tall. While he believed he could carry Daniel, the problem would be easing out of the holes without getting stuck and holding on to the handholds on the way down. But Daniel had liberated his people, and he would now rescue Daniel.

He eased the man's hand out from between two spokes, before reaching under his arms.

Carefully, and time-consumingly slowly, for the open multi-faceted frame wobbled under the additional weight and motion, Yen pulled Daniel to the first aerated wall, and cautiously stepped through a hole into the larger polyhedron, dragging Daniel through next. The task was more laborious than he'd imagined; the man was heavier than first assumed. No wonder the two humans had had such difficulty along the previous day's trek; their mass was a burden. 

Heaving Daniel across the barred floor to the outer geometrical surface, his hearts beating furiously with each creak and groan of the unstable structure, Yen did not relax when he reched the outermost exit. The tipping ledge appeared dangerously unsound and insecure. 

Yen turned Daniel onto his stomach, then slowly, slowly stepping onto the ledge as it dipped another inch under his own light weight, Yen hefted the human through a lower triangular hole and out onto the beam behind him. Crouching low, unable to hold onto the ledge while pulling Daniel, Yen was overly aware that any further tilt of the apparatus would send them both sliding back down. Thankfully, the ledge was inclined in their favor; they had to head upwards, so at least a slide downwards wouldn't drop them over the edge past the ladder. Upwards, though, was a much harder angle to negotiate while pulling a load heavier than himself, when walking backwards. But as long as the ledge didn't break off completely, Yen swore he would get Daniel to safety. 

The beam quivered and bounced, rickety beneath their combined weight, and Yen froze, his own body forced to list sideways so as to stop Daniel from sliding off the outer edge. In spite of his impulsiveness, Yen now wondered at the foolhardiness of his initial plan. Still, he'd had to try; Daniel Jackson would have died up there otherwise. Now, though, they might both die together. Below, the ground was as black as the night, only Carter's flashlight illuminating the ladder four feet ahead, or rather, behind him. As the plank temporarily stabilized, Yen slowly backed towards the ladder, able now to place one foot onto the first rung.

This, he had not thought out.

He would not be able to get the man down the ladder head first. 

Yen remained where he crouched, one foot on a rung, one knee on the ledge behind Daniel's head, his hands still holding tightly to Daniel's arms, uncertain as to how to complete the task of getting the unconscious man to safety. Some of that rope would've been nice now. He could make out Carter and Tei standing on both sides of the poles below him, as if to steady them... or catch him if he fell with his load, a load now seeming much heavier than only minutes before. 

"Yen," the voice of Tei reached him faintly from below. "Should I meet you up there?"

"No!" Yen answered too swiftly, knowing he had let his doubts and fears be known. "The structure won't hold us all." Yen knew it would't hold even himself and Daniel, if they didn't get off it soon. The board was groaning beneath his knee.

Yen slowly turned himself around and sat on the edge of the plank, his feet on the second to last rung. Leaning sideways, his long arms keeping hold of Daniel, he lifted Daniel's arms around his neck, pulling the heavy man onto his hunched back. He couldn't, however, climb down the ladder that way. Very, very slowly, he shifted his whole body back onto the ledge, just a degree at first and then a bit more, keeping a life and death grip on Daniel's arms, holding him steady. One wrong move and they'd both find themselves toppling to their deaths. Once again balancing in a squat, Yen cautiously pivoted, the move now placing Daniel nearer the ladder. As Yen backed up the last few inches, reaching the first rung of the ladder with his foot, the ledge wobbled and sent his hand instinctively shooting out to grasp its outer edge, losing hold of one of Daniel's arms. Daniel's inert, deadweight form slipped, his lower body dangling two rungs below Yen. 

Again Yen froze. He was unable to move further backwards, Daniel hanging from him as he was, unbalancing him. Yen had never been afraid of heights, but when it came to someone else's life as well as his own, he was now glad for the darkness.

"Tei," he thought-sent his partner, "I need help." 

______

Sam hadn't been aware of not moving, of being rooted to the ground and barely breathing, of any part of her body at all, as she'd watched the scene so far above play out in a darkness broken only by her flashlight, but as Tei sprinted onto the backside of the ladder she suddenly awoke from her state of shock. "Wait!" Removing her belt from its loops, she handed it to him. "Try to secure him with this."

Tei grabbed it, then in graceful, almost slow-motion movements, he skimmed up the alternate side of the ladder, at least partially balancing the pressure of the two individuals above.

As he reached the top, almost belly to belly with the unconscious man, the ladder between them, Tei reached around one pole, gripping it with an elbow so as to leave his hands free. Slipping Carter's belt down through the front of Daniel's, he buckled it and slid the protective loop over his own head and under his arms, lassoing both he and Daniel together.

"I have him," he quietly called up to Yen, his spoken voice a reassuring sound to his friend. "We'll lower ourselves, one step at a time."

Slowly, one down; one. Two; two. Three; three. The hundred and eighty-odd rungs made for a gradual, delicately synchronized operation, the large mechanism wobbling overhead, the ladder swaying slightly first one way and then the other. As they reached the bottom at last, Tei released himself from the belt lariat, then dashed around to allow Yen to finally relinquish his wretchedly precarious grip on Daniel. 

Not until they reached the ground did Sam relax her stance and dare to breathe normally. She could feel her heart pounding in her head. As Tei and Yen lay her friend down, away from the olja in case it should collapse, she was hovering beside them.

“Daniel.” He had a pulse, but his colour wasn't good. Under his lids his eyes were red and weepy, pupils semi-responsive. “He needs medical attention. I can't give it to him here.” There were burns on his palms; those she could wrap. One wrist was bruised and swollen. Unfastening his jacket and lifting his tee-shirt, Sam quickly checked for burns or bruises but none were visible. With any luck, he wouldn't have internal injuries or broken bones; that climb down would have aggravated the damage. “I need our packs, Yen.”

“Why?”

Why? “Because they have the med kits!”

“Tei will get yours. No Colonel kit, Major Carter.”

Sam looked up sharply, then her face fell in disgust. Of course. She'd realized the extent of the illusion. “No rope.” Even Yen and Tei had dashed up there unaided. “Are you able to carry him down the hills?"

It was a long way, and Daniel was heavier than Yen had expected; even with their stamina, it would take more than he and Tei to get Daniel all the way to the service wheel. The medicine of his people would be alien to the humans and could put Daniel in greater danger. “More of our people are on their way. They know the deception is over; they also know what has occurred here. We'll all bring Daniel down the mountain.”

Still, Sam knew, in the dark it would be hours before they arrived, even without taking any Tau'ri breaks. And it would be hours more to get back down.

Just then, a roar shook the air, and the hillside, and the steel cages broke off their ledge and dropped, crashing to the ground in a volley of soil and stones, wedging into the hillside like a meteor into a crater. A chunk of soil broke loose, bouncing its way down the hills into the valley below, breaking up until it was nothing but a shower of dirt.

The ladder rocked, then swayed, then stopped, remaining upright.

And Daniel gasped in a breath, opening his eyes.

"Daniel!"

He couldn't keep them open for longer than a moment, with the burning, but he saw the blurry shape of what looked like Sam as she leaned over him. His body tingled and jerked numbly. At least he knew he was on the ground. He'd made it out of there, um, how? He hurt; had he fallen? Why wasn't he dead? “Jack?” he groaned weakly, coughing.

“Here.”

Forcing his eyes open a second time, Daniel saw a blurry alien, one he'd met once before while rescuing his CO. An alien whose undetermined presence had kept his team locked up in isolation at the SGC, with Jack left behind on a dangerous planet, because of a chemical deception. Nothing was making sense. “Tyler?”

“Daniel. How are you feeling?” Sam's touch was on his cheek. He was burning up.

“Hot. Sam, what's going on?”

“This is Yen, and his partner over there is Tei. They were masquerading as the colonel and Teal'c. Uh, I've been me the whole time. Can you sit up a bit?” She offered him water from the pack Tei had carefully placed beside her. "You took a pretty hefty jolt."

Daniel nodded, but made no move to do so. “Where's Jack?” he asked weakly.

“Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill went to the gate with others who were pretending to be you and me. They probably know the truth by now. Daniel, we can go over this later. I'd really like to know how you're doing.”

Daniel wasn't quite lucid and coherent, yet. “I got down.”

“Yes.”

“I don't remember doing that.”

“Yen brought you down.”

“I made it.”

Sam smiled. “Yes, you did."

"And Jack wasn't really trying to kill me."

"Oh, Daniel. God, no."

“Then I'm feeling good.” Still couldn't quite get up though. Couldn't quite move his arms, or his head. Or open his eyes again. Otherwise, things were looking up.

_____

Daniel spent the first four hours of the night in and out of consciousness. Sam kept taking his pulse, and didn't stop worrying until his eyes remained open for longer than a minute at a time, even though he still couldn't really see.

“Hey,” she smiled down at him. A small fire outside the entrance to the cave was the only reflected light by which to see him.

“Hey,” he responded with a weak smile.

“Feeling any better?”

Daniel nodded. “Maybe.” Trying to sit up, he made it to his elbows, rested there for a few seconds, then lay back down and fell asleep.

Sam lifted Daniel's head onto her leg, leaned against the rough cave wall, and settled in for an uncomfortable few hours until dawn.

______

Jack was fuming. He'd objected to spending the night by the gate, to waiting until the first sparks of dawn to get moving, but night had been upon them when the explosion had shaken the ground beneath their feet, and Jack knew starting an uphill search and maybe rescue in darkness was foolhardy. A second explosion and rumbling had nearly had him threatening to move anyway. These two aliens claimed to have a connection to the collective consciousness, yet neither of them would tell him that Daniel and Carter were all right. Sam hadn't been injured; all they would say, before clamming up, was that Daniel was alive.

Someone had impersonated him, putting the lives of his teammates at risk, and that was beyond his ability to forgive.

Now he refused to talk on the way into the hills. Refused to promise secrecy, refused to absolve them of blame. Refused to admit they'd had no other choice; in his eyes, there'd been plenty of choices. The possible sacrifice of one for the good of many... he understood the concept. It made no difference; he refused to give them the time of day. Refused to listen to the apologies, refused to allow them to change his perception. Refused to believe helping Tyler had been a good decision.

Not that it would have made any difference. It would've played out exactly the same either way. And where was Tyler, anyway? Jack knew he'd never find out, seeing as he wasn't talking to anyone.

Their trekking party of four met up with another, larger one, coming down the mountain, several hours later, two thirds of the way up, or a third down, depending on whose point of view. None of them held their illusion any longer. Jack and Teal'c with two aliens; the other, a group of approximately fifteen aliens looking almost identical. Some taller or with slightly longer locks, deeper eyes, darker or lighter colouring; petty differences to tell them all apart. Few with packs, and none with clothes. Still no Daniel or Carter, and that forced Jack to break his angered silence.

The aliens mingled, spoke quietly, patted each other on the shoulders, then turned and started to head back down the hill.

“Hey!” Jack called sharply to … anyone. Couldn't yet identify individuals or tell them apart, in their natural states. “I thought we were going to find the rest of my team!” These people had sent Daniel and Carter on a death mission; were they covering something else up, in their muted reassurances, diverted gazes? “We're not going back 'til we find them.”

Several of the others stopped; Tei was confused. The Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, the Major Carter, and Daniel were all ignoring each other. Daniel was resting against the base of a tree at the side of the path, being attended to by the Major Carter. With a great deal of assistance, refusing to be carried yet needing strong arms of support and guidance, the man had managed to walk this far down the hillsides, losing his balance at times, slowing them down; he was weaker than he'd been on the journey up, needing frequent rests. His vision had been gradually improving yet his eyes still wept. 

“They are there,” Yen pointed to the tree in question.

“Where?” Jack queried.

“We've only released them from our singular deceptions,” Dar thought-spoke to Tei and Yen, sensing their confusion. “They were influenced to witness their friends' forms blending with our own, and continue to see our kind in each other. The mahahaya hasn't been completely negated.”

The situation dawned on Tei; no wonder the reunion had been so oddly cold. The SG-1 were still under the influence of a heavy dose of mahahaya, with regards to those they'd been parted from. 

“Come with me.”

With Jack and Teal'c following, the alien brought the members of SG-1 together. Daniel and Sam did not rise, but Carter looked up curiously.

Jack frowned as the alien stopped at a tree where two others rested. “Have we been introduced?” one of them asked, looking at him.

“How should I know?” Jack shook his head in annoyance. “So where the hell is the rest of my team?”

“I do not see them, O'Neill,” Teal'c said beside him.

With those words, Jack became Jack to Sam and Daniel, and Teal'c became Teal'c.

“Colonel! Teal'c.” Sam smiled. "It's good to see you."

“Jack?”

“What?” Jack looked down at the aliens, who were looking a bit distorted. He rubbed his eyes. “What the crap's going on?”

“Jack, it's me. I don't know who you're seeing, but it's me.” At Jack's blank look, Daniel continued. “Me, Daniel?”

“And Carter here, sir.”

Suddenly the vision cleared, and Jack had no idea how those two could have looked like anything else but Daniel and Carter.

“Sir, it's the power of suggestion, with the aid of the chemical Daniel used to convince Yu he was his favourite lotar. It's a neural transmitter, a concentrated form of the natural defence mechanism this race uses to camouflage themselves. They planted the suggestion in our minds that we weren't ourselves, back at the commune.”

“Yeah, found that out.” Jack dropped to his backside next to Daniel. “You don't look so good.”

“He looks a lot better than he did twelve hours ago, sir.”

Jack's facial muscles twitched, his eyes riveted to Daniel's bandaged hands. “Meaning?” He looked up into his friend's red, watery eyes and drained, pale face, before glaring at Carter.

“I was unconscious,” Daniel retorted before Sam could intervene with the details.

She did anyway. “Nearly dead, Daniel.”

“Just a concussion.”

“Just? Stray electric shock amplified by naquadah,” Carter elaborated.  "You could've been electrocuted."

"I wasn't."
 
“Hey! Enough, you need a doctor. And I need a serious talk with these folks.”

“We helped them, Jack. They were desperate.”

“You helped them, and I don't give a damn how desperate they were. My personal list of charges include kidnapping, deception, impersonating an officer, forceful confinement, and action causing bodily harm. And I'm not done thinking up more."

“Yen saved my life.”

“Run that one by me again?”

“Colonel, he did run up to get Daniel out.”

“Up? Out? Of?”

“Oh. You need to see the thing, sir. It's a bit hard to explain.”

“But if he hadn't come up for me, Jack, there's a list of ways I would have died that's longer than your list of charges.”

Jack held his tongue. Fine, one point for the bad guys. He softened only slightly, in spite of the huge brown eyes watching from every angle on that path. They were the ones who'd put Daniel in the position to be potentially dead in the first place. 

“I would have gone up anyway if they'd only been honest about everything from the start.”

“Oh you would, would you.”

“The Goa'uld want that chemical they secrete. Can you imagine being hunted for something you were born with, Jack?”

Jack sighed. “No.” He couldn't blame them any more than Daniel could. “But I don't like my teammates used as a means to an end, Daniel.” And this means in particular didn't sit well with him, whether or not he understood it.

“I'm sure they can appreciate that, Jack. Talk to them; they're just afraid.”

“You destroyed the …thing. Right?”

“And now they're afraid of us. Talk to them. Please.”

“Yeah. Fine. After we get you to the gate." Jack helped Daniel up, scowling warily as Tei hesitantly moved closer.

"May I offer assistance?"

Jack glared. "You... stay away. I can take care of my own." From here on, anyway.

Tei placed his palms together, keeping an eye on the SG1 pack as they slowly headed off down the track.

_____

Jack holding him on one side, Teal'c on the other, the two men helped Daniel maneuver over roots and stones, laboriously and slowly. Chitchat was minimal, and the tension high. "Whatever they made you think I was making you do, I wouldn't have made you do it."

"I know."

"Yet you still thought it was me."

"He looked like you. I thought you were under the influence of... something," Daniel explained tiredly, and, he reasoned, unnecessarily.

Jack bristled. "I still wouldn't have made you ...what?"

"Climb eighteen stories on a ladder to shoot a console, sir. There was no rope."

Daniel winced. "Thanks, Sam."

Jack glared at him. "You hate heights."

"I know."

"And you still agreed? Just because I asked?"

"Because you held a gun on Sam."

"What?" Jack threw a sharp glower of contempt at the aliens, but neither those up ahead nor those in the rear noticed the intent. "And you still thought it was me."

"I held a gun on you once, Jack." Daniel bit his lip at the memory. "I had no choice; I thought it was you. I'm sorry."

"I knew you weren't you the whole time, you know," O'Neill scoffed.

"You did?"

"Sure."

"So why'd you leave me and Sam at the village?"

Jack paused, caught in his own web. "Don't change the subject."

"Wh...at?"

"Never mind." 

"They only did it to liberate their race from the Goa'uld, Jack."

"Save it, Daniel. You're hurt, let's just get you home." He wasn't pepared to forgive just yet, although anger was turning to exhaustion as the day dragged on, and concern for Daniel overpowered other lingering emotions.

Jack helped his friend the rest of the way down the hillsides, along with Teal'c, even though it took until dusk. He watched those creatures moving ahead of him, knowing NID would have treated them nearly the same way the Goa'uld were doing, if they'd got their hands on them. And it was that last realization that swayed Jack almost, but not quite, to their side.

He finally accepted their apologies, although he didn't absolve them of blame. But there would have been a lot more of that to go around if Daniel had ended up dead, so he finally thanked Yen, in an offhanded sort of way. He finally agreed to secrecy, and while he could not keep their existence off the records at the SGC, Jack could recommend the coordinates be locked out of their dialing system, so not even torture could get him to tell the Goa'uld anything useful. Since SG-1 hadn't seen the developmental level of these people, hadn't been to their true covert community, and hadn't seen any naquadah in the caves, there was no reason to return. Last of all, Jack decided it was a good thing they'd already met Tyler, just so they knew these beings could be good guys.

And just to make certain that Daniel and Carter were really who they claimed to be, Jack said, “Dial us home, Carter. And Daniel, plug in our IDC.”

Leaning on Jack and forcing an unbandaged finger to press the numbers of the GDO on his CO's wrist, Jack eyeing him with satisfied concern, Daniel knew he'd be spending most of the week in bed, but that was okay; he'd made it up the olja and lived to tell the tale. And even more importantly, Jack was Jack and Teal'c was Teal'c and both of them were glad he was alive.

---

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, etc. I've written this story for entertainment purposes only.

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