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Jacob Carter had no intention of getting caught in the middle of a plot to collect payback from errant husbands. Selmak, on the other hand, was not only sympathetic, she was willing to bring Anise along to do the ‘briefing’. The only ones who would know that the ‘mission’ was a fake would be Selmak and Jacob, Anise…only out of necessity, Sam, Casey, Tessa, and Carly. Jacob had been with his symbiote long enough to know that this was one time that he couldn’t win, and that he had no choice but to go along, and to keep the secret. He sighed. Selmak insisted that the men of SG-1 had brought this situation on themselves. The hard part for him was, she was right.

Even though they knew that their wives were unhappy, their ‘guest’ made it damned impossible not to notice her, and flirting with her was done almost instinctively, every response to her… automatic. Doria was standing in the 'gate room with her still very attentive entourage when the gate came to life.

"Unscheduled gate activation," Kyle called out.

"Doria, please, this way," Daniel said, motioning toward the door. The Terran took his arm and stepped closer to him, grasping his wrist and elbow firmly in her hands. He led her to the safety of the control room.

"It’s a Tok’ra IDC," Kyle reported. "It’s General Carter."

Duncan and Jack waited at the foot of the ramp as Jacob and Anise walked toward them.

"Jacob, long time no see," Jack grinned, shaking the man’s hand.

"Jack," Jacob replied. "Duncan, good to see you again," he said, shaking the Highlander’s hand.

"Good to see you, too, Jacob. What can we do for you?" Duncan asked, a smile on his handsome face.

Jacob glanced at Anise. "We need to talk to Sam and Casey. Alone."

Daniel, who had just rejoined the group, heard what the Tok’ra general had said. "Why?"

"Secrecy is of the utmost importance," Anise replied. "We do not have much time. Are Colonel Carter and Mrs. Jackson here?"

Duncan, a bit stunned, nodded. "Kyle, call Case and Sam down here-"

"No," Anise interrupted. "We must speak to them…in private. Is there a place in which we can do this?"

"Jack, can we use your office?" Jacob asked. He had caught a glimpse of the Terran woman. Had seen how she was clinging to Daniel’s arm. He was starting to admit that maybe his daughter and her best friend did indeed have a reason to demand their pound of flesh. What concerned him was that the Tok’ra Council had too readily agreed to this ‘mission’. Which meant there was a possibility it could become very real. Selmak assured him that she could ‘pull the plug’ at the appropriate time.

Daniel could feel the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was going on, something that he knew he wasn’t going to like at all.

Jack and Duncan were both experiencing the same kind of feeling as Kyle paged Sam and Casey to Jack’s office.

It was all the two women could do to keep the smiles from their faces as they made their way from Jack’s office, the files on Ba’al conspicuously held in their hands.

"I’ll talk to Becca, we’ll get a copy of the 'gate room security tape," Sam whispered. "I want to see the looks on their faces when Dad and Anise dropped the news on them."

Casey couldn’t contain the tiny giggle that escaped.

"I know Jack, he won’t be able to keep from watching and listening in the monitoring room," Sam continued. "That’s why I told Dad to suggest that we use his office…easier for him to rationalize spying on us."

A  A  A  A  A  A

"Colonel Carter, Mrs. Jackson, it is good to see you again. Mrs. Jackson, I would personally like to apologize for the Tok’ra council’s involvement in your recent…unpleasantness," Anise said sincerely when the two Tok'ra entered the room a few minutes later.

"Thank you, Anise."

"What’s up, Dad?" Sam asked.

"Have you had a chance to read the latest intel on Ba’al?"

"We were just going over it," Sam replied.

"We want to get someone inside," Jacob continued.

"Don’t you already have an operative working for Ba’al?" Casey asked.

"Yes, but we have reason to believe that he’s willing to make a deal with the Tok’ra, and the Tau’ri. He’s been taking more than his agreed share of the spoils left by Anubis. The other System Lords are starting to grumble, and it looks as if they might form an alliance against him," Jacob said. Every word was true. It was in the reports that the women held in their hands.

"So, what does that have to do with us?" Sam asked.

"Ba’al has a weakness for women with blonde hair," Anise said. "We believe that this…weakness…can be used to our advantage. If we send word that the two of you are willing to meet with him, we will discover what it is that he wants. We believe you will have more success than either a Tok’ra operative, whom he would never trust, or the male members of SG-1."

"You want us to walk onto his ship, and talk to him?" Casey asked. She was afraid that there was no way the guys would believe this.

"Put simply, yes," Selmak replied. "Ba’al has a reputation for treating his…women…with consideration. Not all of them, and not at all times, of course. But we believe this would be a relatively safe mission. Given the fact that he seeks dialogue with us, he will not be so willing to harm you, or see you come to harm."

For the first time Casey realized that this was sounding too real, and the possibility that it could really work flashed through her brain. "Okay, so what do we do?"

"You agree to help us?" Anise asked. She knew that the Tau’ri believed their husbands to be watching and listening. She had expected them to turn at this point and take their revenge. She had not expected the conversation to continue. Of course, she did not understand many of the ways of the Tau’ri.

"Sure, why not," Casey said, a smile on her face. She held up one of the pictures. "Have to admit he is kinda cute…if you can get past the whole Goa’uld thing." Deal with that, 'Mr. Let-me-help-you-with-that-big-folder', she thought smugly.

Sam bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"Sam? What about you? We would prefer that neither of you go in alone. Our operative will be able to help you, but together it will be easier to keep Ba’al…under control." Jacob was frowning over Casey’s comment. Selmak, however, was laughing.

"I’ll do it. If we can find out what he wants, it can only help us out." Sam looked over at Casey, saw her pulling her lip between her teeth. Uh-oh. "Case?"

Casey looked up at Sam, forced a smile. "Then it’s a go." She had 'that' feeling. This was suddenly too real. She could sense it. Now she could understand what Daniel had gone through when he was approached to do…that…mission. The information possible was worth the risk. Only she’d be damned sure that she had a lifetime supply of that handy-dandy little ‘we already did it’ drug.

"Sammy, I want you to think carefully about this," Jacob said. "I want both of you to think carefully about this."

"Why all the secrecy?" Sam asked.

"We do not wish your husbands to influence your decision," Anise said.

Casey shivered. "Sort of like you didn’t want me to influence Daniel?"

Anise looked at the young woman. "Emotions hinder decisions that need to be made based upon logic and available information."

"So you want us to make this decision based on the information, and not what our hearts tell us," Casey said softly. "Even when we know what might…happen."

"Yes. I personally guarantee that you will be given an ample supply of Sectonin," Selmak replied.

"The drug that-" Sam broke off.

"The drug that will render Ba’al unconscious, and susceptible to the suggestion that he has engaged in sexual intercourse," Anise replied.

"I have one question about that," Casey said. "I can see it working on a woman…but…well, won’t he know? I mean, couldn’t he…well…um…get a bad case of…um…blue balls…from this?"

Jacob Carter nearly choked, then gave in to the laughter. "More than likely he’ll simply have a…" his voice trailed off. He was too ‘old school’ to be able to discuss some things with young women. This was one of those things.

Casey frowned for a minute, then grinned. "Oh…a wet dream. Okay. Just needed to know."

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