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Playing Ba'al 

Sunday had been absolutely blissful. Lunch with their teammates on Monday had been the usual combination of work related complaints and laughter over whatever had amused them. Even Monday afternoon had been routine. For a Monday, the day hadn’t been too bad at all, Casey had declared.

Which of course, in the world of SG-1, meant that something was about to go tits up. That event was the unannounced meeting they were called into almost as soon as they’d arrived at the SGC on Tuesday. There had been no emails…no memos…just the announcement over the PA system.

Daniel followed Casey into the briefing room. He’d been following her, just a few steps behind…pretending to be reading the report in the folder he carried. He had, in reality, been watching her very alluring fanny. While watching his Wife walk was always a joy, it wasn’t always the wisest thing for him to do. Down, boy.

Teal’c entered the room just seconds later. Jack and Sam walked in together, not more than two minutes after the others had arrived.

"Any idea what’s going on?" Daniel asked as he settled into his chair.

Jack shook his head. "Not a clue. Radar?"

"Nothing," she replied.

Before the team had the time to speculate on the reason for being called to a briefing, General Hammond walked in and laid the folder in his hand on the glassy surface of the table. He settled himself in his chair, nodding as he sat down; waiting until the others were once again seated before speaking "I just spoke to the President. He called in regard to the mission reports he received yesterday."

A frown creased Jack’s face. "Would those reports happen to be about the mission last week to save our archaeologists and SG-5?"

"Yes, they were. We discussed the intel you received from the Tok’ra spy-" he opened the folder and glanced at the notes within, "Taseem. I had put in my report that you, meaning the members of SG-1, believe that setting the two Ba’al’s against one another might create enough discord among all of the System Lords to set them at each other’s throats. He agrees with your assessment – that making certain the other Goa’uld know what Ba’al is up to will help us."

"As soon as the other System Lords are aware of what Ba’al was planning, they will be most angry," Teal’c confirmed.

"That’s what we’re hoping for. None of them are powerful enough to go against Ba’al individually. Or even with just two or three of them. The latest attack on Ba’al’s new planet and ships were proof of that. We know – thanks to our spy network," the general acknowledged, "that Ba’al is much more powerful than the other System Lords suspect. He’s been very careful about hiding most of his fleet."

"Once we out his clone, that will expose Ba’al and his fleet," Daniel guessed.

"Or most of it," Hammond nodded.

"So, we get to go ruin his day?" Casey asked, a wide grin on his face.

"Yes, you do," the general smiled in return. "The President would like this to happen as soon as possible. The chance that his plan to use his clone – even if he’s unaware the clone is alive – could put him in control of the Goa’uld Empire is something we can’t allow to happen." 

"The President is hoping that we can sneak in behind them and knock a few out," Jack surmised. "If this clone business comes as a surprise to all the System Lords, the upheaval will provide plenty of cover for us. We’ll be able to move around without the Goa’uld Times announcing every step we take. That will definitely make it easier for us."

"If we can get an idea who will strike first, we might be able to get at least one of our ships into position nearby," Sam offered. "We can remain cloaked, and far enough away that if the Goa’uld start shooting at each other, we won’t be exposed by stray fire." While the stray shot that had revealed the presence of the Daedalus had resulted in that ship proving that the Tau’ri were an enemy to be wary of, getting into an all-out battle with more than one or two Goa’uld motherships was definitely something to be avoided. No matter the strength of a ship, sheer numbers could defeat it.

Hammond nodded. "Then it would be a simple task to simply destroy whoever remains."

"Yes, sir," Sam nodded. "We’d need to make certain there were absolutely no survivors…well, we’d need to help the rebel Jaffa. We have to make certain that the Goa’uld aren’t tipped off to the fact that we were anywhere near their little family skirmish."

"I concur," Teal’c said. "It would require getting word to any rebels on the ships involved. That might take time."

"What if we just have Master Bra’tac warn all of the rebels?" Daniel asked, frowning slightly. "Let them know to get the hell out of the way if the Goa’uld they’re spying against are getting into a battle. We don’t have to let them know we’ll be nearby, but we can be there if they need us."

"I believe that would be the most suitable option," Teal’c said, nodding his agreement.

"Why can’t we let them know we’ll be there?" Casey inquired, watching Daniel carefully. He wouldn’t suggest information be withheld from an ally for no reason.

"There’s always the chance of a rebel being discovered. Goa’uld have nasty ways of finding out what they want to know," Daniel replied softly. "Especially if their victim is a Jaffa."

"Indeed," Teal’c said, his voice low as well. "Jaffa can endure much torture. But a Dis’tra-kal’hek’ek can break even the strongest of Jaffa."

"Um…distra-who?" Jack asked, obviously confused.

"A Dis’tra-kal’hek’ek," Teal’c repeated. "It means, ‘master of the soul cutter’."

"I understand the ‘distra’," Daniel said. "That’s the ‘master’ part. But the kal…" he waved his hand.

"Kal’hek. It is a stiletto-type knife used by assassins. A Dis’tra-kal-hek-ek is a man who has been trained in the ways of torture," Teal’c explained.

Casey shivered visibly. "That does not sound good."

"It is not," Teal’c affirmed. "Thus allowing any rebel Jaffa to know of our presence could put us at risk."

The slender blonde nodded her understanding.

Jack studied Teal’c for a moment; the question of just how brutal life was for a Jaffa flittering through his mind. He shook himself mentally. Right now, they had a snake…well, two of them…that they had the opportunity to use to cause hate and discontent among all of the Goa'uld. The possibility of wiping them out – or at least lowering their numbers considerably – had to be the focus of the day. "We might not have a chance like this again. I think we should do whatever we can to set the Goa’uld against each other. If exposing Ba’al and his clone will do the trick, then that’s what we need to do."

"I agree, General. As does the President. No doubt this will be a tricky mission-"

"So SG-1 gets the honor," Jack interjected, not actually realizing he had interrupted the general. His only thought was that he and his kids were about to walk into hell…again.

"I need the best out there, Jack. A team with a reputation for pulling off miracles," Hammond said. "I want SG-1 to come up with a mission plan, ready by oh-eight-hundred tomorrow. I have a briefing first thing in the morning; I’ll have you paged when it’s over. Whatever we decide in tomorrow’s meeting will be carried out the day after. Friday at the latest."

"Yes, sir," Jack said firmly.

Casey bit down a sigh. Well, at least she and Daniel had enjoyed the previous weekend. How long it would be before they were able to do so again, remained to be seen. The thought that she was accustomed to working for two or three weeks straight without time off…and she had accepted that fact as part of her life…teased at her brain. Life at the SGC, she sighed mentally.

"Better get started," Hammond said, standing up. "Dismissed."

The team rose to their feet, remaining in place until General Hammond was back in his office.

"We’re gonna need coffee," Casey said. She wrapped her hand around Daniel’s wrist. "We’ll go to Daniel’s office, we have the good coffee there."

"You two are such coffee snobs," Jack grumbled good-naturedly.

"You drink our coffee any chance you get," Casey countered.

Sam grinned. "She’s got you there, sir."

"No, she doesn’t," Jack retorted, leading the team into the corridor.

"Whatever we do," Sam said, as they walked toward the elevator, "it’s going to mean pulling one of the ships away from Earth."

"The thing is, we really need to deliver the messages at the same time, or we risk the whole thing going sideways," Daniel reminded his teammate.

"But that means leaving Earth defenseless for the duration of this mission," Sam sighed. "I guess the best that we can hope for is that the Goa’uld will be so focused on one another that none of them will try slipping around and attacking Earth."

"If we can stir the pot enough," Jack said, sliding his pass card through the reader, "the snakes will be too focused on each other to even think about Earth. At least for awhile."

"It would sure help if those new ships were ready," Casey fretted. "The last report we got was ‘sometime in October’. Well…this is October."

"Odyssey isn’t due to be launched until December," Jack reminded the seer.

"If the Phoenix was at least ready, that would leave one ship here," the slender blonde pointed out.

"True."

"Guess we’ll just have to hope for the best," Sam repeated.

The team silently contemplated the risks of having both X303s away from Earth for what could be several days. None of them comfortable with the thought of Earth being undefended by their ships, and the only person capable of using the Ancient weapon too far from Earth to be able to stop an attack.

"Maybe we should call the President and tell him that we need those ships now, not later. That we don’t dare try to carry out this mission without two ships, and we don’t dare leave Earth unprotected," Casey suggested. "If he really wants this mission to happen ‘soon’, he might be motivated enough to actually put some pressure on Area 51."

"Might not hurt," Jack acceded. "Hearing from the Head Man himself that those ships need to be launched ASAP might actually make a difference."

"We should put that in our mission report," Sam suggested.

"In the very first line," Casey added.

Daniel led the way into his office. Headed for the coffee maker, filled four mugs with the coffee that Casey had started just before the call for SG-1 to meet in the briefing room. "Case, can you start another pot?"

She looked over at him, raised one eyebrow. "You make great coffee. We’re going to need great coffee," Daniel explained, not bothering to hide his grin.

Shaking her head, Casey didn’t hide her smile from her Husband. While his comment about her coffee was a familiar one, the words still touched her…just the same as they always did. Daniel had a way of making her feel as if she were damned near perfect. Feelings that she treasured; feelings she carefully wrapped around her heart. "Teal’c, do you want me to nuke some water for you, so you can have a cup of tea?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the Jaffa. The microwave in the commons room was very convenient.

"Thank you, Casey Jackson, but I do not require tea at this time," Teal’c replied.

Jack propped himself on one of the stools beside the work table. There was barely enough room for Sam to scoot past him and sit on the other stool. Daniel and Casey dropped into the chairs behind their respective desks. Teal’c stood at the foot of the table, his arms held casually behind him.

"Okay, campers. Let’s hear some ideas on the best way to do this," Jack said, crossing his arms in front of him.

"SG-1 stays away from the real Ba’al," Daniel said promptly.

Jack studied his best friend. "And the reason is…?"

"The real Ba’al stuck a snake in me. Was prepared to make you and Sam hosts as well. Most probably had plans to execute Teal’c in front of all the other Jaffa. And Casey-" he barely stopped his voice from breaking. "He won’t hesitate at all. Not this time. We won’t get a chance to say anything before he’s making us hosts, killing Teal’c, and taking my Wife as his Consort. No doubt he’ll have raped her within half an hour of our arrival."

Rubbing a hand over his jaw, Jack started to protest. "If our immortality will keep us from being permanent hosts-"

"Jack, I don’t know for certain that my…I’m not certain that being The One didn’t have a bit to do with the outcome with Rihat or not," Daniel said quietly. "If you or Sam or Casey become hosts, it could take longer to deal with…days instead of hours."

Jack nodded his understanding. "Hadn’t thought about that."

Sam nodded as well. "Daniel, I think you have a legitimate point. If Jack or Casey or I are made hosts, we’ll have to depend on the rest of the team to get us away from…wherever we are…to a safe place in order to deal with the situation. We’d have to be kept…contained…until the symbiote is dead."

"I concur," Teal’c said. "The magic of SG-1 requires the presence of the entire team in the most dire circumstances."

Casey was tapping a pencil against her lips. "It might be better to have any other team than SG-1 deliver the news to the real Ba’al for another reason."

"What reason is that?" Jack asked curiously.

"If whatever ‘intel’ we offer Ba’al is really important, he’d expect it to come from SG-1. If it’s not important enough for SG-1, then it’s trivial. Or so he’ll believe. I don’t think Ba’al is going to believe a thing we say, regardless of who tells him, and he’s certainly not going to believe us about this," Casey explained. "Hearing it from any team other than SG-1 will make him dismiss it out of hand. He won’t believe it, but it will just bug the hell out of him. He’ll decided that he has to prove that we’re wrong. And that’s exactly what we want."

Daniel contemplated Casey’s observations. "What about the clone?"

"This is Ba’al we’re talking about," Casey huffed. "Biggest ego for the tiniest pea-brain ever. Clone or real, he’s not going to believe it. But just planting those doubts, especially in the clone-" That tiny voice chose that moment to begin to whisper in the back of her brain. She cocked her head sideways…rising slowly to her feet.

"Incoming," Jack said, his voice low.

Daniel jumped to his feet and hurried to his Wife’s side. As soon as he was close enough, her arms wrapped themselves around his neck. He encircled her with his embrace. "Just relax, Angel," he said whispered. "Breathe nice and slow…in…out…in…out…that’s it…nice and relaxed…"

She lost herself in the blue of his eyes. Let the soft sound of his whispers wash over her. Breathed with him…her breasts pushing against his chest each time they inhaled together. Images began to whirl…words began to flash behind her eyes…

"Just stay focused on relaxing," Daniel continued, noting that her gaze had become slightly unfocused. "Don’t try to see anything…just let it flow."

Jack, Sam, and Teal’c exchanged smiles. How often had they witnessed this very thing before? Casey insisted that she’d never be able to deal with the influx of information that was dumped into her head…from wherever it came…without Daniel’s gentle presence. From their observation, her teammates were just as certain she was right. They waited patiently.

A flash of light…Casey closed her eyes and began to sift through the images she could see. Feelings of unease…doubt…worry…something not right…Once again she leaned her head sideways. "He’s not sure what’s wrong. But he knows that something isn’t right. It’s bugging the shit out of him."

"He who?" Jack asked immediately.

"Clone Ba’al," Casey said, opening her eyes. She kissed Daniel’s chin, then turned to face her CO. "He’s dealing with feelings of unease, and one thing he does know is that he shouldn’t be feeling so…unsettled. He is, after all, a god," she snorted. "I say SG-1 should pay him a little visit and explain to him why he’s feeling so un-god-like. He’s a really, really bad copy of a really, really lousy excuse for a Goa’uld."

Jack barked with laughter. "Radar, I want you to use those exact words when you tell him."

"I’ll try to remember them," she promised, grinning broadly.

"Okay, so we know that SG-1 and another team, in two separate ships, need to head out together, and try to coordinate well enough to approach the Ba’als at the same time. And we know that SG-1 needs to stay away from the real Ba’al," Jack summarized.

"So how will we approach each Ba’al?" Teal’c asked.

"Well, first…we’re gonna have to know where each of them are," Sam said.

"True," Jack agreed. "What are the chances of the Tok’ra having that info, and sharing it with us?"

Sam contemplated her husband for a moment, playing back the conversation the team had held with the Tok’ra spy. "From what Taseem said, I think this has the Tok’ra pretty badly shaken. Two Ba’als complicate matters in a big way. My guess is, if we tell them what we’re going to do, and why, they’ll help us if they can."

"Here’s hoping you’re right, Colonel," Jack sighed.

"Is there a specific team we should be talking to?" Daniel asked.

"If sending SG-1 to talk to Ba’al is risky," Sam said, "wouldn’t sending a team he’s never encountered before be to our advantage? He wouldn’t know what to expect from them."

Jack frowned. "My concern is a team who doesn’t have experience escaping from Ba’al…or any Goa’uld for that matter. That leaves us about a dozen teams to choose from."

"Too bad we can’t just use the Asgard beaming devices…beam onto the ship, tell Ba’al the news, then as soon as he tosses us…or the other team…into a holding cell, we just beam out again," Casey sighed pensively.

"Casey, you’re brilliant!" Sam exclaimed excitedly.

"I am?" The seer’s green eyes went wide with surprise.

"We have more than enough of the devices, and they worked perfectly when we took out Ba’al’s ship" Sam said, reminding the team of the technology available to them. "We can hide them inside our BDU shirts so he’ll never know we have them."

"It will work as long as we keep said shirts on," Jack deadpanned.

"Ha ha," Sam retorted. She turned back to Casey. "What’s the only thing that would prevent us from doing that?"

Casey frowned. "I dunno…wait…shields! If Ba’al has his shields up, we couldn’t do it."

"Exactly! But I know someone…well…we know someone who just might have the information we need about the frequency of Goa’uld shields," Sam continued enthusiastically.

Jack pondered just who, among their allies…correction, he thought, among the allies who would actually help us…would have that information. "Okay, I give up…who?" Jack asked.

"Thor!"

Daniel and Jack exchanged a look. Both men grinned.

"The women on this team are brilliant," Daniel declared, grinning proudly at his Wife.

"Yes, they are," Jack agreed wholeheartedly. He was smiling with just as much pride at Sam.

"Indeed," Teal’c concurred, offering one of his rare ear-to-ear smiles.

"Okay, now that we’ve figured out how to get on the ships…we still need to decide which team to work with," Jack said, rubbing his hands together.

"Maybe we should go through mission reports…see which teams have had experience escaping from Goa’uld…particularly from their ships," Sam suggested.

Jack nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Radar, can you pull up mission reports on that thing?" He pointed to her computer.

"Probably. Every other computer in the SGC has that capability," Casey replied cheekily. "Unless Siler or Dennis Ballard put blocks on my computer that I don’t know about, I’m guessing I have the same access."

"Daniel, your wife is a smartass," Jack grumped, rolling his eyes.

"Really? Hadn’t noticed that myself," Daniel quipped.

"Bullshit. I’ve heard you make the same complaint yourself," Jack countered.

"Hey, you two…how far back in the mission reports do you want to go?" Casey asked from her chair behind her desk. She bit her lip to prevent a smile from escaping…she didn’t want to let her Husband nor her CO know how much they amused her.

Jack frowned slightly. "Think a year is enough? That’s still going to be a lot of reports to go through."

"Well, I should be able to sort them out a bit," Casey said. "I can ask for reports that deal with escapes from Goa’uld captivity."

"You can do that?" Jack asked, wide-eyed. While he wasn’t as computer illiterate as he pretended to be, he wasn’t as completely computer savvy as the younger people around him.

"You didn’t know you could put in search parameters?" Casey asked, as surprised at his lack of knowledge on the subject as he was her ability to do such a search.

"I do now," he said. He turned to Sam. "Why didn’t you ever tell me about that?"

"Because the subject never came up, and I just assumed that you knew? I mean, we all know you can use your computer with far more ease than you let on," Sam replied. She didn’t hide her smirk.

"What do you mean, ‘we all know’? Who all is ‘we’?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"‘We’, as in most of the people here at the SGC," Sam said.

"Oh, for cryin’ out loud!" Jack groaned.

"Relax, General," Sam smiled. "We also know it’s just easier to do the job ourselves most of the time. Because you spend at least ten minutes complaining about having to use the computer. We can do the job in less time and not have to listen to you."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You are bordering on insubordination, Colonel."

"No, I’m not," Sam countered with an impish grin. "I’m simply telling you the truth."

"Bordering?" Daniel guffawed. "She ran right past that border, if you ask me."

"Well, nobody’s asking you," Jack countered.

"Ahem!"

All eyes in the room went to Casey.

"I have eight teams who have escaped from Goa’uld at least twice; six of those teams have escaped from Goa’uld ships, although that seems to have been with the help of rebel Jaffa. Three have actually escaped five times, two of those times from the same Goa’uld, and-"

"Which Goa’uld?" Jack asked.

"Huh?"

"Which Goa’uld?"

"Which Goa’uld what?" Casey asked, slightly confused.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Which Goa’uld did those teams escape from multiple times?"

"Oh…um…Thoth. SG-7 has escaped from him twice. SG-15 has escaped from Morrigan twice," Casey replied.

"Ideas? Thoughts?" Jack asked.

"I’m not sure how difficult it would be to escape from Morrigan…last intel we had about her was that most of her Jaffa had left to join the rebels," Sam said, reciting what she remembered from the reports she’d read. Then frowned slightly. "She was killed…Tieel Mogba gave us that intel."

"I remember that," Jack nodded.

Sam’s frown deepened. "But Thoth…he’s tough."

"Indeed. Escaping from Thoth would be an accomplishment," Teal’c offered. "He is a harsh taskmaster. And his Jaffa extremely loyal."

"If he’s a harsh taskmaster, wouldn’t his Jaffa be more apt to turn against him?" Daniel asked.

Teal’c shook his head. "Thoth is quite generous when his Jaffa capture a town or village. He demands only a percentage of the spoils. The remainder, the Jaffa split between themselves. Many of his Jaffa are nearly as wealthy as several minor Goa’uld."

"That’s…disturbing," Daniel muttered.

"Indeed. I believe it is an attempt to keep his Jaffa loyal to him."

"Well, according to SG-7’s mission reports, there was a Tok’ra spy who helped them escape from Thoth both times," Casey said. "What they don’t know is if the spy was exposed by doing so."

"We’d have heard about it long and loud if that had happened," Jack muttered. "Chances are, that spy is still in place, unless the Tok’ra themselves decided to pull him…or her…out."

"As much as I hate it, Jack’s right," Sam sighed.

"On the upside, our team had the help they needed to escape," Daniel pointed out.

"That’s always a good thing," Jack agreed.

Casey looked from one face to another. "So, SG-7 is the winner?"

Glances were exchanged – in which as much was said as if they had used words – then Jack, Teal’c, Sam, and Daniel nodded.

"Put ‘em in, Radar," Jack instructed. "Let’s get this all written up in a nice report. Then I can give it to General Hammond."

Glancing at the clock, Casey giggled. "Should make him happy that we were able to come up with a mission plan in less than an hour."

"Or make him believe we just tossed some ideas together and printed it up," Jack intoned.

"Which is exactly what we did…what we’re going to do," Casey reminded him.

"Experience, Casey," the team CO said quietly. "Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, we have enough experience dealing with Ba’al to know what to do and what not to do when we beam or ring to his ship."

Sam quirked her lips sideways, then smiled. "I do believe we’re the only team that has had as much success making repeat visits to the same Goa’uld."

"At least on a ship. On a planet…or two…several of the teams are just bugging the hell out of Olokun. Apparently Zipacna has been the recipient of the ol’ heave-ho from one of the planets he’d been claiming, and that’s due to repeated visits from three of our teams," Jack told her.

"I read those reports," Casey giggled. "What makes the whole thing hilarious, at least to me…Olokun and Zippy know that we…as in the Tau’ri…are behind their problems, but they can’t seem to do anything about it. Not one of the teams has ever been captured by their Jaffa."

Jack laughed with her. "Came close a time or two, but reports are that the Jaffa seem wary of engaging with our people. Either they’re afraid of dying, or they’re afraid of being ‘turned’."

"Or, they’ve just reached the point where they don’t give a damn what Olly or Zippy want. They do as much as they have to do in order to keep the status quo, and that’s all they’re going to do," Casey replied facetiously.

Jack snapped his fingers, pointed at Casey and nodded his head, a huge smile on his face.

"Okay, back on point," Daniel said. "Let’s get this hashed out and typed up. Case, you’re already sitting there…"

The seer rolled her eyes. "Somehow I knew I’d get stuck with this," she muttered.

Jack slipped around Sam, pausing long enough to squeeze her shoulder and give her a wink, then maneuvered himself behind Casey’s desk. "Okay, we need our opening statement."

Casey frowned in thought for a moment, then began to type.

Jack nodded. "That’s really good, Radar. Oh, don’t forget to put in there that we think the President needs to put some pressure on those people in Area 51…we need those ships." Again he watched her type. "Radar, that’s perfect!"

She grinned up at him. "Thanks, boss. Okay, now…do we want bullet points?"

Jack shuddered slightly. He could still remember when General Bauer had demanded that his reports be presented with ‘bullet points’, just before sending him on un-requested leave. The few days he had spent trying to find out who was pushing General Hammond aside, and the reason for that push, had been trying at best…terrifying at worst.

"Jack?" Casey asked softly. She’d felt the shudder, and given that Daniel had told her about every mission he’d been on, and the fact that she’d read all of the reports the members of SG-1 had written, she thought she had an idea of what was wrong.

"Bullet points are fine, Radar," Jack said. He cleared his throat. "Seems that’s how most of the reports are being written now."

"Newest fad," Daniel huffed. He was also aware of the reason for Jack’s response to the question. Sometimes, no matter how long ago something had happened, just the slightest reminder could bring it all back…usually in glorious Technicolor. And for SG-1, too often those memories were…uncomfortable.

"At least General Hammond doesn’t demand them," Jack sighed, pushing back the memories so suddenly invading his thoughts.

"I’m not sure some of the team COs are even aware of what ‘bullet points’ are," Daniel grinned. "Especially Ferretti."

Jack chuckled. "Oh, I’ll bet he knows. But he’s just stubborn enough to refuse to use them."

"Sort of like you, huh?" Daniel replied.

"Yep. Okay, Radar, let’s go on." Jack began to read aloud everything that Casey had typed, and was typing. Each of the team members offered ideas and corrections. It took less than forty minutes for the report to be ready for the printer. "Now that’s what I call efficient!"

"We’re SG-1, boss. We get the job done," Casey giggled. "How many copies?"

Jack frowned for a moment. "Make it an even dozen. That’s one for each member of SG-1, a copy for General Hammond, and then five for each member of SG-7."

"Janet Fraiser will use her copy to plan for any medical emergencies that might result from this mission," Teal’c said, silently embracing the warmth that flooded his being; knowing that the woman to whom he had given his heart was a part of the most important group of people in his life.

"I figured she would," Jack nodded. "And…she’s a member of the team. All team members need to be informed about what’s going on."

"She’s thrilled that we view her as a teammate," Sam reported. "She even pointed out to a couple of the new doctors that they would cover for her when she was in a ‘team briefing’. When one of them complained that she wasn’t actually assigned to the team, two medics and Doctor Warner told him that he’d be wise not to make comments like that around us."

The team laughed easily over the news. "Yeah, don’t mess with us, or we will mess back," Casey declared.

The printer behind Daniel’s desk began to whir. He sat down in his chair, and carefully gathered the pages. "Sam, there are folders in that filing cabinet in the corner…could you grab a dozen of them?"

"Sure." Sam opened the top drawer. "Wow, you have a lot of colors to choose from."

"Yeah, we’re using them for all the artifacts that have come in. One color for each civilization."

"Very organized," Sam noted. She put the folders – a nice, bright blue – on the corner of Daniel’s desk.

"Thank Beth for that," Casey said. She scrunched her nose at the pained look her Husband gave her.

"She’s been a god-send," Daniel admitted. "Mike and Bernie have been working like crazy to get a start on at least identifying what we have. They’ve been a god-send as well."

"You hired ‘em, Space Monkey," Jack said. "If they’re doing a good job, it’s because you hired the right people for those jobs."

Daniel ducked his head, could feel the heat in his cheeks that alerted him to the fact that he was blushing. What Jack had said was probably as close as he could come to admitting he was proud of his best friend’s choices.

Jack looked at his watch, tapped the face twice. "Guess I’d better go see how many friggin’ request forms are cluttering my desk."

"I want to run some tests based on the shielding information we do have," Sam said, "I’ll stop by the control room and see if Walter can send a message to Thor."

"Well, Big Guy?" Jack asked.

"I believe I am scheduled to workout with one of the SG teams," the Jaffa replied.

"Well, the database from hell is finished," Casey grinned. The grin faded just as quickly as it appeared. "Which means the slave driver over there is going to send me to one of the storage levels to sort through boxes and catalogue the contents."

"That is part of your job description, Sweet-ums," Daniel teased. "And…we’ll work together on that. I’ll sort and catalogue, and you can fill out the forms."

"I swear to the Goddess, I do more paperwork here than I ever did at Hightower!" Casey huffed.

"Job’s not finished ‘til the paperwork’s done," Jack sing-songed.

"Especially when it’s paperwork for the Air Force," the seer grumped.

Jack laughed. "Not gonna argue with you on that."

"Well, before you go…" Daniel started shoving pages of the report into the folders. "Here you are. I’m sitting in on a briefing for SG-9 this afternoon, I can take these to General Hammond then." He put six of the folders to the side. Handed two of them to Teal’c. Jack and Sam reached out for their copies.

"See you in the commissary for lunch in…" Again Jack checked his watch. "About forty-five minutes."

"We’ll be there," Daniel promised.

"Indeed," Teal’c said.

With nods and smiles, half of the team left the office.

Casey sat back in her chair and sighed.

"Angel?"

"It sounds so easy. And you know it won’t be."

Daniel frowned. "Are you sensing anything?"

She shook her head. "I know we’re actually going to make it off the ship…I’ve picked up that much. No details…I’m assuming that’s because we’ll beam in and beam out. But…I do get a sense of…frustration. No danger. Well…not really dangerous danger. Just frustration."

"Frustration we can deal with," Daniel said soothingly.

"True."

"For now, let’s go see how many of those boxes we can get through today."

"If we find anything as ugly as that box that you sent down to Sam-"

"The one we put the heart of the Ancient weapon in?" Daniel asked, for clarification.

"Yep. We find anything like that, and I’m tossing it through the ‘gate to whichever planet I can get a lock to fast enough."

He laughed. "I promise I won’t stop you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"It was a really hideous box. And Lee said she was surprised to learn that the text on it was mostly gibberish-" He broke off. "Now that I think about it, that’s odd."

Casey frowned. Her thoughts focused on the box that had been so disgustingly ugly. "Fake," she murmured.

"What?"

"It was fake. I mean, the box was real and the naquadah in it was real…but whoever made that box didn’t know what the symbols meant." She closed her eyes, examined the images suddenly dancing in her head. "He…yes…he…he couldn’t read. But he’d seen the symbols, and assumed they were important."

"I wonder if anyone actually used the thing, or if it stayed on the shelf of his shop until it turned to dust," Daniel wondered. "The shop turned to dust, I mean," he added, a bit self-consciously.

"Guess we’ll have to see what was discovered with it," Casey suggested.

"Good idea. Let’s go, Angel." Daniel moved toward the door, then paused and held out his hand. He smiled when her fingers closed around his. He could feel the warmth of her love surround him as surely as her fingers warmed his. Hand in hand they made their way to the elevator.

Casey was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a clipboard holding half a dozen inventory forms in her hand. So far, three of those forms had been completely filled in.

Daniel was bent over, half-way into a storage crate. "Okay, more pottery," he said, standing up to examine the clay piece in his hand. "Looks Babylonian. Must be from one of Ba’al’s old planets."

"Whoever packed that crate must have done so on two different planets then, because the other pieces were Kushite, or so you said," Casey intoned.

He stopped, and looked at the other artifacts that were now cluttering the floor. Daniel picked up the packing inventory slip. "SG-8, date 11-17-03. Planet designation R4X-351," he read aloud.

"Not only was that mission almost a year ago, there’s no way that team would screw up packing artifacts."

"Unless they found the artifacts in two different places," Casey mused.

"The Kushites were a civilization in ancient Nubia. They were associated with ancient Egypt…it’s theorized that Kush could have been part of Upper Egypt in the early dynasties," Daniel mumbled. "And predated the Babylonians by at least a thousand years. And Babylonia was in what we call the Middle East now."

"So how in the hell can these artifacts be so different?" Casey asked.

Frowning, Daniel began to carefully examine the stone tablet, two urns, and what appeared to be the cup of a broken drinking chalice…pieces he had decided were Kushite. "These aren’t Kushite…not exactly. Close enough that they appear Kushite," he said, after a lengthy silence. "It’s almost as if these people were creating things…writing things…with just the memory of the Kushite language and their interpretation of Kushite art."

"Slaves taken from Kush…slaves who taught their children about their home, and those children taught their children," Casey said softly.

Daniel looked up sharply. "Case?"

She shook her head, indicating she hadn’t ‘seen’ anything. "It makes sense, though, doesn’t it?"

"Yes," Daniel sighed, "it does. And Ba’al was in residence long before Babylon was the powerful civilization it eventually became. No doubt he took the slaves to…" he checked the inventory slip, "R4X-351. Must have been something there he wanted."

"Probably. And when he was finished, he just went on his merry way, and the slaves there survived as best they could," Casey concluded.

"I’ll have to watch the video the team took there…I’m betting they found these artifacts in two separate places. One where Ba’al was probably in residence at some point in time, and the other where the slaves lived and worked," Daniel surmised.

"That does make sense," Casey nodded. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Shit…we have three minutes to get to the commissary, or we’ll hear Jack bitch all day about how we get lost in our work."

The rush of pride and joy that filled him at her words nearly knocked Daniel off his feet. While she wasn’t a degreed archaeologist, she was as good an assistant as any degreed scientist he’d worked with. He was still in awe of how much and how quickly she had learned since arriving at the SGC. That she enjoyed the work, threw herself into a project with as much enthusiasm as he did completed his happiness. He held out his hand. "Come on, Angel. I can tell Jack we’ve found another mystery."

"But we solved it," she protested, wrapping her fingers around his and letting him pull her to her feet.

"We’ve speculated," he corrected her, with a wide grin.

She grinned in return. "Think it will make his eyeballs spin?"

Daniel barked with laughter. "I don’t know. But I’ll bet he’ll change the subject as quickly as he can when we tell him."

"No bet. It’s a given," Casey giggled.

Arm in arm, they headed down the corridor toward the elevator.

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