As the caravan traveled cross-country it left the dry desert setting of the Stargate. The path it followed entered a range of foothills where nature gradually reasserted itself with grassy meadows, creeks that ran freely and corpses of brush-like trees that grew in advantageous area.

The two young human scientists sat in their cage hard at work. Daniel continued to teach Sam a few phrases of the local language, just in case. She had progressed satisfactorily but not as far as he had hoped. Sam continued to repeat the sentences to Daniel as he tried to add a few more words where he could. "Hello, my name is Sam. I am a free person. Take me to the Chappa'i. My tribe will reward you."

"That's good Sam." Daniel nodded. "Let's try adding this." He continued. " Help me. May I have some water?"

"Daniel, enough. I can't memorize the Gettysburg address." She ran her hand through her short cropped blond hair as if to massage her brain.

"I though you had a photographic memory?" He teased, smiling as he leaned back against the bars of their prison.

"That's right, 'photo' as in to see. I can memorize what I see, not what I hear especially when it doesn't mean anything to me." She shook her head. "I wasn't that good in languages."

"Yea, well I'm just the opposite." He admitted. "I catch on quicker to sounds than sights. I guess that's why I'm a linguist, not an astrophysicist."

"Ya think!" She shook her head. "Sorry, it's addictive. I swear my speech patterns are changed forever."

"Ya, sure, ye betcha." Daniel reached over and patted her shoulder. "It's ok, Sam. We'll get out of this yet."

She nodded. "I just can't help wondering where they are, if they're ok."

"I know." Daniel replied, thinking of their two comrades. "We specialists need our military generalists to keep us in line." He grimaced. "And out of trouble." Daniel looked around at the changing scenery. "I think that Jack would say "OK kids. We're down but not out. What we need is an opportunity and if they don't give us one, then we make our own."

"Yea, we will just have to keep on our toes and recognize that window of opportunity when it opens." Sam sat back up and unconsciously drew a line in the dust on the cage floor. An idea came to her. "Daniel, why can't you write what you want me to remember here on the floor?"

"OK, but if you can't read the language..."

"No, write it in English." She looked at him thoughtfully. "You know, phonetically."

He grinned at her over his glasses. "Ya know Sam; sometimes I do think you're way smarter than I am." They laughed then got back to the lessons.

* * *

The next morning, after their usual breakfast of oat-stuff, the two teammates noticed a quartet of their captors walking down the line of cages talking among themselves. Two vehicles away from them, Sam and Daniel watched as they roughly pulled one of the occupants out of his cage and sent the captive up the line to another car. He was paired up with another captive. They appeared to be dividing the prisoners into different groups. This was the time that they had been dreading ...their imminent separation.

The group of four men approached their cage carrying ropes, a whip, a pole with a noose on the end and what appeared to be a kind of rifle. Daniel and Sam got to their feet, facing their enemy.

"What is the problem?" Daniel asked loudly. "What do you want?"

"It's time little one. You two sweethearts must be parted." The man grinned at them with yellow teeth. "The boss has plans for you that don't include your woman. I hope you got some last night. It's the last you'll see of her."

"What will happen to her?"

"Oh, she'll be sold...after we get through." They laughed among themselves. "But she will go to the common market. You are going to the Great Tent. So you must be parted."

"No! You cannot separate us." Daniel frantically tried to think of a reason. "We must go together. We are a mated pair."

"He who buys you will not want such as she. Now, step aside little one; we don't want to hurt you." He advanced towards Daniel and Sam. "We only want to move you to another cage."

The two humans moved together to the far side of their cage, Jackson staying in front of his teammate. Daniel spoke to her quietly. "Sam, they're going to split us up. If you get a chance, make a break for it. I'll try to keep their attention on me." He moved slightly in front of her.

"What about you?" She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you!"

"Get away and go back to the Stargate." He said between gritted teeth. "Then you can get help and come back for me. Just like the plan. Remember!"

"Daniel!"

"Look, Sam. Don't argue. It's better it's you. You know how to do that military survival thing." He emphasized to her. "Just remember, they keep talking about taking me to the Great Tent to sell. Look for me there."

They shifted their position as two of the men opened the door and entered into the cage with them. Jackson started edging away from Carter, pulling the attention of the pair to himself. Sam remained quietly unobtrusive in her corner.

The man with the catch pole device made a grab for Daniel but he managed to duck under his loop and dashed towards the next corner opposite the opening in the cage. The second man with the rope tried to grab him by the arm but the archeologist pushed past him.

The first man yelled at his partner and the two together cornered their prey in the part of the cage opposite from Sam. The third man, who had remained outside the cage to work the door, came over behind Daniel to help the others get a hand on him.

When Carter saw him leave the door unattended, she made a dash for the opening. The doorman tried to get back to close it on her but Sam hit the bars with her full weight and speed behind her. The door slammed back on him, throwing him off balance and toppling him off the hovercraft edge. He fell to the ground four feet below, knocking the wind out of him. Jumping off the vehicle, Carter hit the ground in full stride.

The fourth man with the weapon had been watching the struggle inside the cage from a short distance away. When he saw the woman make her escape out of the cage, he dropped into a firing position to discharge his weapon on her as she sprinted towards the wooded area.

When Sam cleared the door, Daniel saw her jump to the ground. He then made his move, grabbing the pole out of yellow teeth's hands, and using it as a club, hit the two men with a hockey check that would have made Jack O'Neill proud. The two guards went down in front of him and for a brief moment he saw a clear path after Sam into the woods. He headed for the door and leaped for the ground. But the doorman saw him escaping and managed to yell out to the gunman to let the woman go and stop him instead.

The gunman wheeled and fired at Daniel just as he cleared the cell. As Jackson jumped out of the cage, he felt a stinging impact on his shoulder. He managed a few more steps but his body betrayed him and he fell face first into the dirt. As he lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was a dart protruding from his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sam had made it to a corpse of trees some distance from the cages. She cautiously stopped to catch her breath, looking back to see if she was being pursued. From her hiding place, she could see that Daniel was down. The man with the rifle was standing over her friend's body and the two in the cage were looking out the door. The man whom she had knocked down in her flight walked over to Daniel's inert form, kicked him in the side and rolled him over. He reached down and pulled something from the young man's body. Then he motioned to the gunman to help lift Daniel and put him back into the cage the two human captives had shared. The other two guards hoisted Daniel's unconscious body and dumped him roughly on the floor, slamming the door to lock it. The four men then walked away together yelling imprecationsat each other.

Her first instincts were to remain hidden in the trees and return later to try to free her teammate, but that wasn't in the plan. She knew that she had to make it back to the Stargate for reinforcements. If she could find the Colonel and Teal'c, then they could return and rescue Daniel. If she couldn't find them, she would have to get back to SGC for reinforcements. Sam waited only until she had caught her breath then headed back the in direction that they had come from.

* * *

Some time later the caravan's owner and his henchmen stood outside the cage that now held the only remaining human. "What a loss. This will cost all of you your percentages of this trip."

"But boss, we saved the valuable one for you!" The doorman whined.

"Do I have a lizard in my pocket fool?" The gunman snorted. "I saved the boy. You and those two fools there let the woman escape. I would have gotten her too if you could have held onto one young male."

"That is true my friend. Your cut remains the same." The leader glowered at the other three. "Your inept handling of the situation may cost us dearly. If she can find their companions we may have a fight on our hands. We must call the vessel in early now. We can waste no more time collecting any more slaves. We will go tomorrow to the meeting place."

* * *

SG6 had traveled through another day. Early the next morning, Teal'c found the caravan's campsite with some suspicious markings on the ground by it. There had obviously been a struggle. The dirt some distance from the hover cars was heavily disturbed. There, Jack O'Neill found blood on the ground and a pair of metal-framed glasses, badly bent with the lenses broken out. He knelt on the ground holding the damaged object in his hand for a full minute. Then he stood up.

"Well, we know we have the right people anyway." He commented stiffly to Major Haverty and Teal'c when they reached his side.

"Danieljackson loses his glasses with regularity." Teal'c explained to the Major.

Haverty looked down at the small stain on the ground.

"Yea, well. He tends to bleed a lot too." O'Neill said in a strained voice. "It's definitely him."

"But what about Carter?" The Major asked. "Is there no confirmation of her here?"

O'Neill started forwards towards the trail. "Not yet."

* * *

Samantha Carter was hungry, thirsty, tired, dirty and very determined. She knew that they had traveled a good distance from the Stargate and she had no real hope that the Colonel and Teal'c would still be there. If 'Boss' had told Daniel the truth, her two teammates may well already be dead. She could feel the tears starting to form, but she would have to deal with her feelings later. Daniel was depending on her. She would have to get back to SGC and start the search from there. All she had to go on was Daniel had said they were taking him to the 'Great Tent'. Holy Hannah, it was too weird to be true. But there it was, and she was his only hope of rescue.

She traveled eastward in the direction of sunrise that morning. She wished she had the Colonel or Teal'c here to proof her celestial navigation. Hey, if she was gonna wish, why not have Thor, the Azgardian, beam her up to his ship and then swoop over and get Daniel in comfort. Now, what was that phrase Daniel had been trying to get her to memorize? "Hello, my name is Sam. I'm a free person'...who's lost and scared and wants to go home. Oh, yea, that's on earth so 'Take me to the Chappa'i and My tribe will repay you'. Or the Tok'ra even, I'm not terribly picky. By the way, do you know the way to the Great Tent sale? I have a friend there who's going to be the red tag special.

Darkness fell and Sam decided that it was stupid not to stop at the little stream that she had come across. After drinking her fill and washing the sweat off of her face and arms she found a soft pile of leaves caught in the exposed roots of a large blue leafed tree. As she lay back to try to get some sleep, she saw a large light streak across the night sky. Funny, she thought. She hadn't seen any evidence of common meteor strikes and it was awfully close for a miss. Then it occurred to her. It wasn't a meteor, it was a ship! A damned big ship, too big for a death glider or its equivalent. It had to be a cargo ship. A cargo ship that had come to pick up its crew and...Cargo.

* * *

The second night out, SG6 plus one frustrated Colonel and one determined Jaffa had settled down on an area to camp. O'Neill had wanted to continue on. They had found a trail of sorts. It was primarily make up of bent grass and occasionally, an area that appeared to have been swept free of debris. After getting a description of the transport from Teal'c, SG6's commander had used the term hovercraft. That seemed to fit the wheel-less vehicle trail they were following. But Major Haverty had insisted on stopping, saying that a tired search team was more likely going to miss the faint trail signs they had been following. So the tents were up, the fire built and dinner served. Jack was pacing the perimeter circle of his tent and grousing about the delay.

Teal'c was seated in front of his tent finishing off his MRE and watching his team leader with concern. O'Neill was not happy, and he could not blame him. He too had wanted to continue on in the search. But as they were committed to this team so they couldn't just pick up and leave in spite of O'Neill's threats to do just that.

Finally, his commander flopped down next to him, propping his head on his backpack. The Colonel sighed and looked up at the stars. "I don't get it Teal'c. Where could they be headed? This planet is about as backwater as they come. There's no major cities, no centers of commerce, no where to go to sell anything much less ...slaves."

"It is possible that they are heading to a meeting point or even a landing site." Teal'c didn't like his answers any better than he knew O'Neill would.

"That would be just peachy, wouldn't it? I..." He cut his words off short, leaping to his feet as he pointed up to the sky. "Teal'c, what's that?" A large glowing object flew over the campsite. "Oh, God! Don't tell me that's what I think it is!"

Both men quickly climbed to their feet. "It is a ship, O'Neill." the Jaffa replied as he too leaped to his feet. Their greatest fear was coming home to haunt them.

Jack turned and ran down into the campsite. "Major Haverty! Major Haverty! Get your ass out of your tent and get out here!"

SG6 had already seen the large craft as it flew past their camp. Haverty was out of his tent and staring up at the sky with the rest of his men. "Here, Colonel O'Neill." He waited until the excited senior officer ran over to him. "Yes, sir. I see it too. Is that...?"

"You bet your sweet ass, man! That is a transport ship and a damn big one too!" O'Neill was in full voice. "Do you want to guess what it's doing here? Well, I already got a guess! And I don't like it!"

"Yes Sir." The Major knew better than to throw gasoline on this fire. "I'm sure I know what that guess is, sir. And I don't like it anymore than you do."

"Colonel O'Neill." Teal'c had come up behind the furious senior officer. "Colonel O'Neill. Major Haverty could not know of this. We did not know until the ship passed over us." The Jaffa placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Come now. Let us go on to the landing site."

O'Neill stopped and took a deep breath. He looked at Haverty, turned on his heel and started back to his tent for his equipment, the Jaffa warrior following his leader.

Major Haverty stood for just a second, watching SG1 efficiently donning their gear and prepare to move out with or without his team. He ached for this man who was losing his friends, his team. He murmured "Sorry Colonel." then turned to SG6. "Come on everybody. Saddle up. The bad guys are here and we're missing all the fun."

* * *

The large ship was still glowing with heat from the atmosphere when it touched down. A hatch ramp large enough to drive a train through opened down. Three officers descended to the ground under it. The leader of the caravan waved at his Commander then approached submissively.

The Captain stood and allowed his Head Catchman to report. It looked like it had been a good haul in spite of the escape of the female captive. The spirits of his crew were high; this was to be their last planet fall. They were now headed to their home world to sell their cargo of human wares.

* * *

Major Carter had gone to plan B, giving up on A. She had to be sure what had happened to her teammate. So, not according to plan she had turned around and was heading in the direction of the ship's landing site. If her estimation of the ship's apparent trajectory was true, it should be just due south of her current position. She was trying to stay well into the tree line so as to not be seen by any unfriendlies or taken by surprise. Once she saw the ship, she would have a description that might be useful in determining it's planet of origin and more importantly it's next port of call.

Her concentration was broken by a sound off to her left. It was definitely not a natural noise, not a bird or insect. It had a metallic tone to it. She crouched down behind the brush and started to reconnoiter the area to her right. After a short walk, she found what she had been looking for. The ship was huge. It was the classic saucer shape and had a loading ramp like a cargo ship should. Three men in ornate uniforms came down the ramp and the 'Boss' walked up to meet them. They spoke for a short while then proceeded with the loading procedure. As the work details did their jobs, Carter tried to see any markings on she ship's hull, such as a name or numerical designation. She could see some runic inscriptions but was unable to make out a complete word. The ship itself was obviously not new, as it bore some carbon scoring on the side visible to her and even an unevenness in the finish that might suggest repaired damage. As the noise of the hovercraft engine began, Sam watched the string of cars pulling up into the loading bay.

She could just make out a lone figure in car number 4. Daniel was conscious now as evidenced by his upright position and watching the proceedings with typical Jacksonian curiosity. As the hovercrafts pulled completely into the belly of the large mother ship and as she lost sight of him, her eyes filled with tears. After approximately fifteen minutes, the huge ramp retracted into its flight position. A roar shook the ground she was standing on and the leviathan shuddered and rumbled lifting its huge bulk off of the planet's surface. As the ship ascended into the planet's atmosphere, the area became strangely quiet. Then with the constancy of life, the small living sounds of the world renewed themselves to their normal level. Samantha Carter turned and trudged back down the trail that she had come on back towards the Stargate.

* * *

The primary tractor hovercraft started up and the cars were hauled into the bowels of the great ship carrying with it the lives and souls of twenty-seven sentient beings. One of them, Daniel Jackson, late of Earth, stepson of Abydos and archeologist to the stars stood, holding onto the bars of his cage, watching and waiting for the arrival of his future.

* * *

The Search and Rescue Team had also heard the ship leave planetside. O'Neill and Teal'c increased their speed and continued to lead the team towards the landing site. Maybe there they could learn some small bit of information that might lead them to their missing teammates. But they walked in a somber zone of their own. SG6 stayed behind them, following at a respectful distance. As with all such teams, they wondered if they had taken too long, been too careful, had followed the wrong sign too far. Because a failed SAR mission resulted only in tragedy, not joy.

Suddenly O'Neill and Teal'c went on alert. The team behind them took a defensive posture, guns at the ready. The two warriors shifted back to back, all senses alert to possible attack. Then to their surprise, a tall slender female form wearing what was left of a BDU camouflaged uniform, ran out of the trees and right into the arms of her Colonel and teammate where she disappeared within the embrace of O'Neill and Teal'c.

Chapter 4
The Journey

Daniel regained consciousness slowly, trying to remember what had happened to knock him out again. His arm ached like it had been punched in the large muscle. His face also had a sore, burning feeling as if it had been scrapped raw, and his nose felt two sizes too large. He opened his eyes, discovering that it was late morning or early afternoon, his glasses were missing and so was Sam. The cage he was riding in was still moving it's slow, deliberate way along as part of the same slave/prison caravan. He sat up gripping the bars as support and shook his head to try to clear the cobwebs. That proved to be a mistake as he almost passed out again.

He sat still for a while, searching his memory for possible explanations for this new situation. He remembered making a plan with Sam for one of them to escape as soon as possible to return to the Stargate; her learning words in the dominant language of their jailers and; finally, her dash for freedom followed by his failed attempt. He must have landed head first coming out of the cage which would explain his missing glasses and the damage to his face. At least Sam was free. He was sure he had seen her make it into the scrubby bunch of trees that lined the 'road' .

Well, he wasn't going anywhere he wanted to fast, and dinner was still a good time off so he determined that napping was the beneficial thing to be doing to try to regain his strength. Hopefully, Sam could hook up with Jack and Teal'c in time to make a daring rescue before evening when he would have to eat boiled oat stuff again.

Some time later, he was awakened by a loud humming, vibrating sensation. He blinked and sat up, trying to shield his lense-deprived eyes on a very large, very bright white sun that had apparently appeared over the train of cells. Some of the other captives were screaming in their own languages, some of them crouched down in their cages, most likely praying to what ever deity seem most appropriate to them.

Jackson sat back and canted his head upward to try to make out any familiar markings on the huge, glowing space ship. After only a few more minutes, it continued to pass over the caravan and finally settled in the wide area of the valley. It was still large and imposing, but once it landed the ship ceased glowing and the deafening noise subsided. It's final action was to open a very large ramp hatch down onto the ground, upon which three aliens matching their captors general descriptions decanted themselves down to the planet's surface.

The Boss and his four main 'handlers' approached the other three. They stood and discussed the caravan of rag-tag captives. After a short delay, crewmen from the ship started scurrying around the base of the ship, pulling cables, activating machinery and generally making preparations for onloading the line of cages into the belly of the ship. Daniel hoisted himself up on his feet, grasping the bars for support and tried to make out details of the interior or any other information on the ship. It looked like any SGC rescue parties would be running a little late for him this time. He turned to look over at the wooded area in the direction that he thought Sam had gone, but his lack of glasses hampered him for anything beyond a blurry gaze. If anyone was there, he wouldn't know it.

In due time the engine on their little train started it's motor and proceeded to tow the line of cages up into the craft. Daniel remained standing, gripping the cage bars for support. As he passed from out of the relatively, clean air and sunshine of the planet into the dark, dank mechanical smelling hold of the cargo ship his heart sank. He could only hope that Sam had made it back to the Stargate safely and that Jack and Teal'c were alive there. It had been an interesting life; but now it was definately taking a different turn.

* * *

Major Samantha Carter was sitting at the campfire with her remaining teammates and SG6. She was gripping a cup of hot coffee and relating her impressions of hers and Daniel Jackson's captors. The fact the ship had left planet for places unknown had put a halt to the pursuit at this point in time. Although she knew that Colonel O'Neill wasn't so easily put off the rescue mission of all of his personnel, especially and including one MIA archeologist.

Teal'c hadn't recognized the markings she had been able to copy down for him. But the Jaffa had been the first to admit that he had not had much experience with other than goa'uld space craft. The next order would be to make contact with their allies to try to ID the aliens that had taken Jackson.

She glanced up across the fire to look into Colonel O'Neill's expression. He was staring into the flames, chewing on his lower lip. His initial joy and excitement at finding Sam had faded quickly when he realized that his best friend was still not only missing, but REALLY missing. She could almost see the wheels turning behind those dark brown eyes. He caught her looking at him and grimaced back.

"Well, Major Carter. Time to regroup and start on Plan, what is it now, D."

"Yes, sir." She nodded and put down her cup. "At least I know he was in reasonably good shape when the cages were loaded into the ship. I'm sure he was standing, watching what was going on."

"Yea," O'Neill pulled Daniel's glasses out of his top pocket. "If he'd still had these on, he might have spotted you."

"Might have." She agreed. "But he was insistent that I try to get back to the gate. He was concerned. Our captor had told him that they had killed you and Teal'c. We had made an agreement that the one who had the best chance to escape would, then we would try to bring back the calvary to rescue the other one. We didn't consider that the hunting party would be picked up by ship so soon." She shook her head. "We should have."

"And that would have done what, exactly?" Jack threw what was left of his cup of coffee into the fire causing the flames to hiss and spit. "You wouldn't have left him, or vice versa; you wouldn't have seen the marking and gotten a description of the craft, we wouldn't have known what to think happened to you and I'd still be missing two teammates."

"O'Neill is correct." Teal'c interjected from his seat accross the fire. "The information that you have will lead us to Danieljackson's destination. There are not that many space faring races. Most of them rely upon the chappa'i. We will find him."

"Wait," she said, with a look of realization on her face. "I'm so stupid! " Carter almost jumped up off of the log she had been sitting on to start pacing back and forth. "He told me where they were taking him."

O'Neill did jump up to grab her by the shoulders. "What are you talking about?"

She pulled out of his hands and started walking in circles. "Daniel could understand the language. He said it was a mixture of ancient Egyptian andŠno it was ArmenianŠno Abyssinnian." She saw the expressions on O'Neill and Teal'c s faces. "Well, it doesn't matter what it was. The leader said that we were going to be sold as slavesŠbut we were to be separatedŠand Daniel was going to be taken to the Great Tent to be sold. "

"Why not you too?" O'Neill asked, confusedly.

She laughed depreciatingly. "I'm too old. Evidently Daniel was more the type they prefer. I was going to the 'common sale'.

"I have heard of this place O'Neill." Teal'c put in, thoughtfully. "I have not been there, but Apophis spoke of it."

"Can you find out where it is?" Jack asked anxiously.

"Maybe the Tok'ra know." Sam put in. "They have people in a lot of places."

"Yea," O'Neill replied, hope bringing a little light to his eyes. "Sometimes they're even in the right places." * * *

The first 'night' that Daniel spent on shipboard was just that. The cages were all left connected in the darkened hull of the great ship as it sped through space. Several hours after liftoff, their normal handlers came through and fed all the captives the same boiled oat gruel that they had become accustomed to. Then they were left alone again in the dark to do whatever crying, praying or sleeping that they could.

The following 'morning' the lights in the bay were turned up and the ship's crew descended on them. The captives were removed from their cages and separated into several groups. A few 'specials' were immediately transferred to separate cells and left to try to figure out the method to the madness. Jackson was one of these, whether due to his escape attempt, his injuries or some other indicator he didn't know.

This took several hours and when the division was completed, the crew again left them alone and the oat gruel was served as a lunch. The crew didn't return until right before lights out to feed them and then again the lights were lowered.

The following morning however, a group of his alien captors approached his cage. The were all of a type physically, dark skinned with spare build and black haired with black eyes. They were led by the 'Boss' of the caravan. With him were Jackson's regular 'keeper' who fed him and two member's of the ship's crew; an officer in a very ornate uniform and a second man in a plain uniform tunic. All of them approached Daniel's cage. The officers were in a deep discussion.

"This is the male I told you about." The Boss indicated Jackson to the superior officer. "He speaks our language after a fashion and he attempted an escape with a female that we captured with him."

The Officer dressed in the more ornate uniform inspected Daniel as he sat in the cage watching them. "Where is the female now."

"She is dead, my Captain. We could not allow her to continue to live after the escape attempt."

Daniel looked at the 'Boss' in amazement. He was certain that Carter had managed to make the treeline. Had she been hunted down while he was unconscious? Surely not!

"Of course, you could not." The Captain smiled and nodded his quick agreement.

The man in the plain uniform approached the cage, peering in at Daniel's damaged face. "How was this one injured, Boss."

"My name is Daniel Jackson. I am a peaceful traveler from the Planet Earth. I came to the world you found me on through the Stargate, the Chappa'i." Jackson started his patented friendly spiel. The curious junior officer jumped back at his voice, startled by either his knowing their language or just that 'it' talked at all. Daniel pointed at his face. "I was injured in my escape attempt with my partner, Samantha Carter. Someone shot me with a sleep dart." He shook his head. "I must have fallen on my face."

"So it would seem, Danieljackson." The Captain smiled at him. "But you are no longer a 'peaceful traveler', you appear to be a slave in the belly of my ship."

"So it would seem." Daniel tilted his head to try to focus on the Captain's facial expression. "If it is money you seek, my people would pay you for my return."

He was disappointed to see the smile turn into mirth. "I don't believe that I could get as good a price from your people as from my customers at the Great Tent." The man rubbed his hands together. "You are worth quite a lot of money there, but I tell you now it is not for your command of our language." He turned to his junior officer. "Doctor, please have this one removed to your office and treat his injuries there. It would not be wise to allow any scarring on this face."

"Yes, Captain." The Doctor made a gesture to the handler, then the group turned to go on to the next cage. The handler picked up the rope/pole and approached the cage warily.

Daniel rose to his feet and walked over to the doorway. "It's ok. I won't try to escape."

"Why?" The man was amazed at the idea.

"Where would I go" Jackson commented wryly. "I'm in the belly of a slave ship."

* * *

Daniel was escorted up several flights of steep metal stairs into a plain white room with a table in the middle and walls bedecked with cabinets, shelves and hanging instruments. He was chained to the table by his left ankle and left alone. Jackson decided to make himself comfortable and sat himself up on the table. He proceeded to look around the room, trying to recognize the purpose and manner of use of the many instruments. Some looked like something Janet would have used on him. Some appeared more from the line of 'Marquis de Sade' medical instuments than those approved by the American Medical Association.

After some long amount of time, the 'Doctor' came into his office and proceeded to gather up instruments and put them together in a packet. When he had finished collecting things and securing them, he turned to Jackson and approached him cautiously. "Well, all right them. Let's see what our Slave master has done to you."

Daniel sat still, trying to be non-confrontational to this man of healing. The Doctor gently touched his face then proceeded to do a skillful, painless examination of the scrapes and bruises his patient had received. As he put pressure on Daniel's abused nose, Jackson finally jerked back and said. "That hurts."

"I'm not surprised. You're lucky it's not broken. The swelling should go down in a few days. But you suffered a hematoma on your optic organ ridge. It will be bruised and painful for some time units."

"You mean I'll have a black eye. Yes, I figured I must."

"A black eye. Yes, that is a good name." The young man smiled at Jackson. "Your eye will indeed be black."

"My name is Daniel....."

"Yes, I know. Danieljackson. But as the Captain told you, you are now a slave. Not a peaceful traveler...not anymore."

"Apparently not." Daniel acknowledged. "What is your name?"

"You may call me Doctor, that is my title." The man replied. "It will do you no good to know my name. In a few days we will never see each other again, so there is no point to more."

Jackson shrugged. There were cultures that put value on a person's name. He obviously was not going to be here long enough to count. But the physician continued. "I must continue your examination. I ask you, will you allow it or must I call for assistance?"

Daniel answered. "I will."

"Good, it will be less disturbing for you if I can do it with privacy. It will not be pleasant, but I will not purposefully hurt you."

"I understand." He rose from his sitting position on the table to stand up.

"Good." The Doctor unfastened the chain from the table leg then led Jackson into a another inner room. There an open rectangular frame stood upright in the center of the room. It had cuffs suspended from chains attached at each corner. "You must remove all of your clothes." The young doctor instructed. "Then I will place you in the restraints. The examination will be done by me. After it is over, you will be removed and put in another area of the ship. I will give my report to the Captain of your appearance, condition and my judgment of your value. You will not be harmed today if you don't fight me or the device."

Daniel stood and looked at the restraining device. "Why must I be chained? I have said I will submit."

The young Doctor replied. "This is for both of our protection. This device allows me to secure you. If I accidently cause you pain, you cannot attempt to escape. If you hurt me, you will be injured. You may be killed. This way I can insure both of our lives." He looked at Jackson honestly. "If you don't agree to this, I must call the guard. You will be forced to submit. The guards will enjoy your pain. Either way, it will happen. This way I can report that you are intelligent and non-violent. The other way, I cannot report either one. You must decide which it will be."

Jackson closed his eyes. This was not how it was supposed to be. Jack would be fighting for his life, trying to get free, to get to the ship's controls, to escape, to die with honor. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live...with honor, if possible. He knew that if he died now, then he had done nothing but die. If he lived, there was always hope that tomorrow, there would be rescue and if not tomorrow then there was always tomorrow's tomorrow. He reluctantly undressed. When he was naked, he stepped over to the device.

When the doctor started to fasten the cuffs to his wrists, Daniel had a bad time. With the clicking of the mechanism, his limbs started to shake...not from fear but from tension. He wanted to run, to fight, to scream. But he forced himself to stand still and the alien physician finished snapping his bonds in place. When he finished, the doctor stood back for a second, watching the captive put his fear back into it's place. This was a brave man. This man...should not be a slave. But he was only a poor ship's doctor and he had no say in the business of the ship.

Doctor started the examination as gently as he could. His 'patient' stood tensely, with his eyes closed while he gently ran his digital extremities over the skull, down the neck and shoulders. He then came around to the front of the face, where he manually and visually examined the ears, their orifices, the swollen nasal protrusion, the ocular organs of that peculiar blue color. He opened and peered into the oral cavity and counted the number of teeth and noted their condition. He went to the chest area, annotating the vestigial mammary glands of a healthy male and the surrounding lymph glands and muscles.

Finished there, he proceeded down the abdominal musculature to the spread of the ribcage, noting texture of skin, amount of hairsuitness and its patterning as it descended to the pelvic arch and genitial area. The organs were of a normal size and form. No injury or deformity noted. From the rear, the shoulder plates were of good shape. The spine supple, in line and of common structure. The hipline was straight and strong. The gluteal musculature was well formed and firm without excess. The anal aperture was normal with average tension in the muscle. There were some old scarring noted on different places on the torso, but all had been properly treated and the patient was sound of body. Of the extremities, the doctor could say again, that they were stong, well shaped and correctly muscled. There were some signs of old injuries, however all of these had also received good medical care and the individual had no soundness problems, though there were some minor blemishes resulting from these old wounds.

Daniel stood still, trying not to move, trying not to tremble, trying not to let his hypersensitive body become unstrung. Good to his word, the doctor was taking care not to hurt, only to examine. But the procedure itself was telling him volumes. This was the way he had seen the horses in Egypt examined before a sale. The animals were secured against injuring themselves or the buyers. The exam had been quick, gentle and very in depth. The animals were highly valued, but no one wanted to buy a crippled or bad horse.

Finally, the doctor was through. He stepped back, and wiped his hands on a towel. "I am finished, Danieljackson."

Daniel exhaled a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. "Good. Now what?"

"I will have you...no." The Doctor hesitated a second, then made a decision. "I will take you to your new place." He started unfastening the cuffs from his charge. He held up a collar with a thong attached to it. "I must put this on you. Then we will go. I will secure you there and then I must report to the Captain. No one else will touch you tonight."

"Doctor, May I have my clothes?" Daniel asked as he was loosed from the device.

The physician seemed to think a moment. "I will give you some medical treatment covers. I may not give you yours back." He bent over into a cabinet and pulled out somethings that resembled hospital scrubs. "These will cover you."

"Thank you." Daniel realized that this innocent request was being granted. That it was unusual for it to be.

The young doctor fastened the collar and led Daniel out of his office and down a corridor. Jackson could see that they were being watched by some of the other handlers and guards as he was escorted by the physician to a smaller cage in a long line of cages, some of them already occupied. The human entered the enclosure, where the doctor unsnapped the thong leaving the collar in place. "I will go now. I will have food sent." The man then locked the barred door behind himself and he left back down the corridor that they had come from.

Left alone, Jackson surveyed his new 'place'. It was slightly narrower that the other cell, but this one had a small mattress thing in the corner to serve as a bed. There were also two containers available, one containing water and a scoop, the other empty. A quick check let him guess that while it was clean now, a residual odor identified it as the residential 'facility'. All he needed now was a sign on the wall announcing 'HOME SWEET HOME". He laid down on the mattress and tried not to think of tomorrow.

* * *

SG Teams 1 and 6 came out of the wormhole to the comparative peace of Cheyenne Mountain together. Col O'Neill saw General Hammod come out of his office and down the metal catwalk that let him to the room floor. Behind him in the desert colored dress of the Tok'ra General Jacob Carter followed him closely. When the two senior officers met the returning teams, Jacob continued past O'Neill to hug his daughter and hold her close for just a second.

General Hammond stopped in front of O'Neill. "Well, I see you were partially successful at least."

"Yes, sir. But not totally. Daniel has been taken off world in a space ship." He looked back at the family reunion behind him. "We were hoping to contact the Tok'ra to see if they might have any good ideas as to where."

Jacob and Sam had separated physically by now and the older man was giving her a visual inspection. At O'Neill's words, he turned around. "Of course, if there's anything I can do..."

Major Carter glanced at her dad. "We know he was OK when the ship left. I witnessed the takeoff after we managed my escape. Daniel tried to make it too, but he didn't get away."

"OK, folks." Hammond interrupted. "Let's get you checked out then we can start the debrief in my office." He held up a hand to silence Sam. "You were missing for several days, young lady. I want Dr. Fraiser to check you over just to be sure."

Sam nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Jacob smiled at his returned daughter. "Sam, If they're traveling in space, we have a little time to spare. I be waiting with George for your report."

O'Neill took the lead down the hall to the clinic area with a 'Let's get this over with' air about him. He delivered Carter over to their diminutive doctor and he and Teal'c went through the more abbreviated exam with other medical personnel.

By the time the three of them had been cleared, showered and changed clothes they were anxious for the briefings to begin. The teammates met in the Conference Room and were joined by Maj Haverty of SG6. The two senior officers joined them within moments.

Major Carter started the briefing by relating her and Daniel's experiences in the caravan, including his attempts to communicate with their captors. She described their planning for an escape attempt if an opportunity presented itself and Daniel's prepping her with the language lessons in the dominant dialect of their captors.

Jacob Carter leaned forward with his elbows on the table. With a slight change of expression, Selmac came to the fore. "Samantha, can you still remember the lessons?"

"Of course," She smiled with the memory of Daniel's earnest instruction. "Hello, my name is Sam. I am a free person. Take me to the Chappa'i. My tribe will reward you" She looked at Selmac/Jacob. "Did that help?"

"Yes, it did." Selmac replied. "This is a language used by a group of free traders that travel about on the edge of the Tollan space."

"Is that where P32x-etc is?" O'Neill asked.

"No, the planet you were on was farther out. But it is possible that these people are expanding their boundaries seeking both new valuables and customers."

O'Neill thought for a moment. "Then you know how to get there?"

"Yes, but by ship it is quite a long journey." Selmac/Jacob replied. He looked at Sam. "Where did Daniel say they were going to take him?"

"He said, they were taking him to the Great Tent. That it was the best place to sell slaves of his type." She made a face at her words.

Jack put his fist down on the table in front of him. "What is his 'type'? Just what does that mean, exactly?" He looked at Selmac/Jacob.

Jacob/Selmac laid his/her hands out in front of himself on the briefing table. "Colonel O'Neill. Daniel Jackson will be sold as an 'exotic'. Due to his appearance, coloration and shape, he will command a large price among certain individuals of specialized tastes on a primitive, barbaric planet. There is no law preventing his sale, therefore we will not be able to appeal to any governing body. To retrieve your friend, we will have to participate in the sale process." The older man looked directly at Jack. "We run a risk of being outbid. We will not find him unscathed. He will have been put through a very difficult process, probably drugged, and most likely assaulted."

"Then what are we waiting for?" He looked around the room at his co-workers. "The sooner we get there, the quicker we can get him back."

"Not necessarily, Colonel O'Neill" Jacob/Selmac interrupted. "The ship will have to travel to it's home world. The sale must be scheduled. The victim processed and trained. It will be very difficult procedure. Dr. Jackson may not survive the process, and if he does he will be much changed."

"Yea, yea, I get the picture." O'Neill stood up and started pacing. "But don't go writing Danny off, Jacob, er Selmac. He's been through a hell of a lot in the past four years. Carter can tell you that. The kid's a tough one. It'll take more that these guys to break him. But..." Jack paused in front of the visiting General/Tok'ra and leaned down face to face with him. "The one thing that Danny can count on is us! SGC doesn't quit. We don't leave our people hanging in the wind. Danny knows that we will come. If not tomorrow, then the next day. He knows that. He'll hold on, I know it and you know it." The Colonel straightened up. "So when do we leave?"

General Carter glanced over at Hammond. The SGC commander nodded. Carter looked up at Jack. "We leave as soon as possible. We can gate to where my ship is; when we fit it with supplies, then we can start to the planet. It'll be several days flight. I'll have to get coordinates from the Tok'ra Central Command and permission from the Council."

Hammond looked over at his old friend. "Jacob, will they support us in this?"

"For one of SG1, you're damn straight they will." It was Jacob Carter who spoke this time and he had no problems with the plan. "If not, they know I'll go anyway."

"OK, boys and girl, lets go and get packed." O'Neill started out of the briefing room. "I've got to go into town real quick to get something, then we can get going." The door closed behind him as he exited the room.

Major General Hammond watched him go, startled at his second in command's abrupt departure. Then he said in an even tone. "All right everyone else, dismissed." He remained seated as the Sam and Teal'c left after their leader, then he looked over at General Carter. "Thank you Jacob, and Selmac."

"Does he do that all the time?" Jacob asked.

"Speak out, yes. Run out of staff meetings, not usually. Colonel O'Neill has something on his mind, obviously."

"General Hammond," Maj Haverty was also still at the table that had been vacated by SG1."

"Yes, son?"

"What Colonel O'Neill said, that's the way I feel too. I'd like to go."

Hammond shook his head. "Major, if we were just using the Stargate, I'd probably approve that. But since we're relying on the Tok'ra for transportation in one ship, I'll say that you and your team should stay here." Hammond rose to leave the briefing room. "And I know that you all would like to see this through to the finish. It's the way SGC operates." He glanced at his old friend, Jacob. "And I'm damn proud of that fact. But this time, we'll let SG1 see it through."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"I knew you would. Dismissed, son."

As the two General's watched the young man leave the briefing room, Carter said quietly. "You've got quite a group here, George!"

"Damn straight, Jacob!" Hammond nodded. "Damn straight."