“Breath deep, the gathering gloom…” Knights in White Satin-The Moody Blues

The long legged stride of the man hurrying down the corridor normally would not surprise those that he passed. Today, however, the urgency in his stride could not be missed and the stride appeared to eat up the distance between the elevator and the General’s office as if they were a snack to be had.

Jack O’Neill threw open the door to General Hammond’s office and faced the men in there with him. The men that were supposed to be part of his second in command’s team. The men that were supposed to make sure that her six was watched out for, as she had watched out for theirs, and for his.

“What do you mean she didn’t come back?” Jack demanded. He didn’t even bother to pretend civility. He stared at the two, the Captain and the scientist that went with her on what was supposed to be a survey mission.

General Hammond motioned for him to sit down and to listen to what Captain Marx and Dr. Sanderson had to say.

Jack knew that Hammond was expecting an outraged reaction, but realized he probably surprised the quiet spoken General with the venom behind his words. He settled easily into the chair that Hammond pointed to; it was his nature…

He briefly thought back to his last conversation with Sam before she left on this expedition.

“So, looking at rocks?” his tone was playful and his insides smiled when she looked up at him with her wide blue eyes.

Not rocks she told him. Obelisks. With writing.

“And Daniel isn’t bouncing and ready to go?” Jack wondered at that. Daniel was usually the first one out the door for anything with ancient writing on it. He was still wearing that teasing smile he had for her, and he knew that she knew that she was the only one that ever saw it and that it warmed her. They didn't really need very many words to convey their pleasure in each other’s company.

Still smiling, Sam explained, yet again, that Daniel was on the planet’s moon already checking out what was there and since he couldn’t be in two places at once, that is why she was taking Captain Marx and Dr. Sanderson. SG-20.

Ordinarily, Jack would have been leading this mission, but the General had to be in Washington for a meeting and that left him in charge.

“Well, be careful, will ya?” he told her.

Sam’s reply of, ‘Always, sir’, was made with that same affectionate humor that they shared when they went on separate missions.

He knew Sam was being groomed for her own command and although it saddened him that eventually she would be given her own team (how could they not?) he was also overjoyed. She was a good officer, a smart one and had very solid leadership skills.

Ethan Marx was a very soft-spoken man, and as he looked into the dark brown eyes of Colonel Jack O’Neill, he felt the overwhelming power of the man. Mindful of that fact, Captain Marx slowly and carefully started to explain what had happened.

“We didn’t deliberately leave her behind,” he started. “The MALP we sent out didn’t show any signs of civilization or that the planet was populated at all. Those ‘people’,” Marx stopped to consider his words, “appeared to never have seen anyone with Major Carter’s coloring before. They seemed to be fascinated by it. And then…” He looked directly at the Colonel, “they took Major Carter and then Dr. Sanderson and I were back here at the SGC.” Captain Marx didn’t miss Colonel O’Neill’s glare, and he wondered if O’Neill was glaring at him, or just in general over what happened.

Hammond immediately stepped into the breach and told them that they were recalling Dr. Jackson. “I think that Dr. Jackson will be able to sort out this mystery,” Hammond stated in a matter of fact tone, although he was feeling anything but matter of fact.” I also believe that whatever notes that Dr. Sanderson…” he then nodded at the man, “was able to obtain before the incident, along with those of Dr. Jackson’s will provide the information we need to sort this all out.”

Out of the corner of Hammond’s eye he noted Sgt. Davis trying to get his attention and nodded when he was told that Dr. Jackson and his team would be arriving in the hour.

Hammond sat at his desk keeping his eyes on his Colonel. Jack, he noted, was unusually still. Too still. Hammond was used to watching him pace around while he was waiting. Standing or sitting was just not something O’Neill did. His stillness was not natural, almost as if he was waiting for something, something that required his complete and total attention.

Hammond shook his head and then turned his eyes to Captain Marx and Dr. Sanderson. Ethan Marx was a good man; very dedicated and very loyal. He was not one to cut and run and leave anyone behind. Hammond looked into Marx’s’ clear green eyes and saw the shadowed concern and fear that lurked there. He did not doubt that Marx had no idea how they arrived back at the SGC. Dr. Nathan Sanderson was a very quiet and almost laid back man. He didn’t react to things quickly - he was slow to action and to speech, and he also didn’t strike Hammond as someone who would hastily retreat and leave someone behind. Something most definitely happened on that planet; something strange. He only hoped that Dr. Jackson was making some headway on his study of the artifacts on the planet’s moon.

When the hour passed, Daniel bounded into the office. His eyes were bright with the questions he had and the answers he had found.

Hammond pointed to the conference room and everyone moved into it quickly. Sitting at the head of the table, he very swiftly brought Daniel up to speed.

Daniel Jackson noted Jack’s stillness and knew immediately that his inaction was not going to last long. Jack’s immobility belied the incredible energy of motion going inside his body and his head. Whatever it was that Daniel needed to say and or do, he needed to do quickly before Jack exploded. He looked at the two members of SG-20. “Do you remember anything at all of what you saw on the planet before you found yourself back here?”

Jack was about to interrupt, so Daniel raised his right hand. “Please, it is important. It may answer some of the questions I have from what I found on the moon.”

At Dr. Jackson’s indication, Captain Marx closed his eyes, rubbed his temples and began to talk. “As I said earlier, Dr. Jackson, there were no visible signs of any civilization, population or life signs of any kind. The MALP didn’t indicate that there was anything to be really concerned about.”

Marx was sorry, but he just couldn’t remember anything more than their arrival on the planet and his waking up on the ramp. Sanderson could add no more to the story than Marx did. Both men looked like hell and their misery, in a perverse way, made Jack feel better.

Daniel looked from Jack to General Hammond and suggested; “Maybe we should contact Jacob. As we know, the Tok’ra have some devices that might be able to obtain the information in Captain Marx’s subconscious.”

There was some silence as Hammond called down to the ‘gate room and asked that Sgt. Davis assist Dr. Jackson in contacting the Tok’ra.

Hammond looked at the dejected faces of Dr. Sanderson and Captain Marx. He was aware that they both desperately wanted to tell them something, anything. He then looked at the face of his ‘unofficial’ second in command. He noted that Colonel O’Neill was composed, if anything, he looked like he was made of stone. There was not a flicker of any emotion on his face. That was when, Hammond knew, O’Neill was at his most dangerous.

Daniel had come up thirty minutes later to notify that Jacob was on his way. It was lucky that he had been at the Tok’ra base when they contacted him; he had been about to go on a mission, but had been released by the Tok’ra High Council to return to Earth.

“Jacob will be here in about an hour; he had to obtain the equipment he needed,” Daniel informed them. “He will be bringing the holographic equipment as well. We may want to get a look at these people and what they did, exactly.”

The waiting was tense but when Jacob arrived they set to work. Captain Marx insisted on going first.

The large stone dwelling seemed so out of place in the verdant and lushly primitive environment. It loomed large and domineering in the clearing.

“Marble is my guess,” Sanderson said, walking around the front of the building. “If that door isn’t oak, or something like it, I have never seen anything closer.” He walked around touching the outside walls and the door. He pulled and pushed on the door to see if it would open, but it did not.

Major Carter and Captain Marx walked around the structure and attempted to peek in the windows.
Sam touched the window and withdrew her hand remarking, “No glass. These shutters are made of a woven covering.”

“What a combination,” Nathan said, walking over to where Sam and Captain Marx were standing. “The walls appear seamless, as if made of one piece. And yet…” pointing to the windows and the chimneys “…so very ‘old fashioned’.” He shook his head and added, “I just don’t know what to make of it.”

“Major?” Captain Marx called to her.

Sam turned to him. “What is it?”

Ethan pointed to a clearing not far from the structure. It contained a platform and some braziers on it. A stone alter, made of the same material as the dwelling stood on it. “Over in the clearing. Looks like it is some kind of ceremonial site.”

“Okay,” she said, “Let’s take a look.”

The three of them walked over to the clearing.

Nathan poked around in the braziers. “Sure looks like it hasn’t been used recently. How recently, I can’t tell yet.” Nathan stuck his nose in the brazier to see if he could catch a scent. There was a very faint odor and for a minute the scent startled him.

Sam saw him jump away from it and raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, Major,” he answered her unspoken question. “There is a very faint odor, but it sure gave me a chill.”

Sam gave the area another look and then told the men that maybe it was time to head back to their campsite.

The scene in Marx’s recollection shifted to an event two days later. His memory had shown that there was some activity surrounding the area of the structure and the clearing. During the daylight hours a cargo ship, which was not like anything any of them had seen before, emptied itself of cargo and people. They seemed rather ordinary people. Tall. Dressed in animal skins, not like what Marx jokingly called caveman style, but like clothes. After watching them for several hours, they decided that maybe it would be best to hang back and wait before introducing themselves.

They had just settled down for the night when some activity in the clearing caught their attention. The scene in Marx’s memory shifted suddenly to a bushy area near the clearing, where they could watch in relative invisibility.

The blonde woman crouched in the bushes using her night vision goggles. She quickly and quietly scanned the area. “Dr. Sanderson?” Sam put down the goggles and looked at Nathan Sanderson, questions as evident in his eyes, as in hers.

Sanderson could only shake his head. “I don’t really know enough about it to be sure, Major, but it appears to me as if they are practicing a voodoo ritual. Or something close.”

“Voodoo?” Sam asked him. “This is a first.” It was an ancient ceremonial practice that although she had heard of it, had never seen it practiced.

“As I said, Major, I can’t say for sure. It has some elements. But enough is different that I really can’t say for sure.”

The three stayed for thirty more minutes and then silently, or so they thought, crept back to their camp.
Captain Marx wondered if they knew that the three of them were here. Sam thought not. “We need to set up our perimeters and be prepared. I’ll take first watch.”

The three then quietly went to work and the night progressed without incident. Sanderson was the last to take watch that night. A sudden movement from the tree line caught his attention. He turned to watch as a group of twelve humans approached him. At least he hoped they were human. They were very oddly dressed, if one could call what they were wearing, or not, could be called dressed.

He slowly stood up and called to Major Carter. A few seconds later Major Carter came out from her tent, followed by Captain Daniels coming swiftly out of his.

“I suggest,” Sanderson whispered to her when she reached him, “that we do nothing to alarm them.”

Sam gave him a sharp look, but nodded her assent.

“Major,” Nathan added in an under toned whisper, “they are creeping me out. I can’t explain why I feel that way, but I think we need to low key this as much as possible.”

The group of individuals leisurely walked around them. They were wearing animal facemasks and were completely nude, the men and the women. They were tall and long limbed, and moved with the grace of the big cat faces they wore. Those with the tiger faces had stripes on their bodies, yellow and black, to resemble those on the animal they represented. Those with the lion masks were painted a brown with a bronze sheen to it. They appeared to be completely at ease with their nudity, almost as if they were always naked and thought nothing of it.

Sanderson tried to follow them by only using his eyes. He was afraid that if he moved, it might unsettle them. But they had circled so completely around them, that just turning his head would not give him a full and complete view of the crowd.

It seemed all of sudden that those approaching noticed Sam and a great undulating sound was heard and the SGC team was rushed and held. Before the three of them could fight off the strangers, or any damage could be done to the three team members, a voice rang out.

The voice belonged to a woman. Her face was also masked, but unlike her warriors, she wore a sarong around her hips. Her mask was that of a golden panther, and her body seemed to ripple when she walked, as if walking was no effort for her at all. Her breasts swayed with her movement. She seemed as much at ease with her nudity as did her people. In her left hand she held a spear that she raised high into the air and spoke words in a language that none of the three had ever heard before. A warrior strode up and took the spear from her.

The group around SG-20 melted away and the woman walked right up to face Major Carter and her team.

“Who are you?” Sam asked them. She noted that the others gave way to the woman that approached them, guessing that she was the leader. “What do you want?”

Sam attempted to intervene but two strong pairs of hands reached out suddenly and grabbed her forearms preventing her from getting in between the woman and Captain Marx.

Slowly, the woman circled the three of them, taking her time to really look them up and down. The woman made a sudden motion and the men found their hands held behind their backs. Unexpectedly, she reached out and caressed Captain Marx and laughed as he flinched.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sam ground out. “Take your hands off my officer.”

The woman laughed and kept hold of him, and then she reached down the front of his pants and stroked him again, suddenly smiling because she got the reaction she wanted. She withdrew her hand and did the same to Dr. Sanderson.

Captain Marx and Dr. Sanderson struggled against the hands that were holding them.

Speaking quickly to the warriors with her, she instructed them to strengthen their hold on the restrained men and pull them away from Carter.

Sam seemed to divine her intent and struggled against the two that held her. The blue of her eyes turned almost black in their anger against what this stranger was doing to them.

The woman then walked around Sam. She put her hands on Carter’s front and made a noise of alarm and puzzlement; she had found that the third was indeed a woman. The woman made a quick hand signal and Sam found herself held quite securely by two of the masked people. The masked woman then reached out with her right hand, grabbed Sam under the chin and turned her head to the right and to the left. While still holding Sam’s head, she ran her left hand through Sam’s hair and seemed surprised at its texture. She yanked on it quickly, bringing a grimace from Sam, and then made a noise of triumph. With Sam being held quite securely by the woman’s followers, she unbuttoned Sam’s flack jacket, and then she drew it off. She put her hands on Sam again and caressed her breasts, paying particular attention to the nipples, and smiled at their reaction to her caress.

Both Captain Marx and Dr. Sanderson pulled against their captors and Captain Marx lashed out with his booted foot to the exposed shin of the man on his left. This earned Captain Marx a blow to his head that sent him to his knees.

“Leave him alone,” Sam ordered. Looking at Marx, she asked quietly, “Are you okay?” She noted the slight nod and continued to glare at the woman who as handling her.

She removed the rest of Carter’s equipment and then stripped off the remainder of Sam’s clothes, but left her in her underwear. Because of Sam’s fair skin coloring, her flush was as noticeable as her anger.

Turning to the two men, she spoke unexpectedly in English, ”Are more of your woman like this one?”
Both Marx and Sanderson looked at the woman with murder in their eyes, and continued their struggles, voicing their anger at what they were doing to their commander. The leader ignored their anger and once again questioned the two SGC members about the coloring of the other women of their race.

When the men did not answer, one of the warriors prodded them with his spear and then Marx asked her if she meant that they were warriors, and the answer was ‘yes’.

The leader of the warriors shook her head, impatient. “No. This color.”

Sanderson answered that all the people from where they came from had various hair and eye colors.

“Wondrous place you come from. I have never seen such colors before. Yellow hair and blue eyes. Your eyes,” she stopped and pointed to Captain Marx, “are the color of clear green glass.”

Turning again to Carter, she smiled, “Yes, you will do.”

“My name, so you may tell your world, is ‘Baka’.” She turned to face the two men. “Tell them that I am the spirit who takes the form of animals. Tell them, that this one…” pointing to Sam, “is mine.”

Reacting to a signal from her, the warriors gathered around the struggling men and then a flash of powder exploded around them. The next thing the men knew, they were on the floor of the SGC, with General Hammond standing over them, staring. The ‘gate was not activated and yet they were on the ramp.

When Marx and Sanderson were finished, there was not one individual in that room that did not feel the anger, frustration and embarrassment of the two, and their complete helplessness.

Jacob had blanched when he heard what they had done to his daughter, so Hammond went over and put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. None of them dared approach O’Neill. His white-hot anger was quite evident by his rigid stance and the stiff set of his jaw.

“We are going back for her, aren’t we, sir?” Marx asked.

Hammond answered that as soon as Dr. Jackson had finished researching this Baka and the information from the stones, they were most certainly going back.

Daniel and Teal’c spent some time deciphering the stones and researching Baka. What they learned was not comforting.

Sam came slowly awake. She shook her head to clear away some of the fuzziness and as the room slowly came into focus, she took note of her appearance. More specifically, the lack of her clothes. And the fact that she was tied to the bed.

Sam tried to remember what had happened after the visitors came, but could not seem to maintain a clear picture of what happened. The parts that she remembered made her just as angry as when it had happened.
So here she was, tied spread eagle to a bed in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar planet. Naked.

“Great,” she thought, “this is just peachy.”

Sam was hyperaware of her surroundings. She immediately took note of the two strangers entering her room and approaching her bed.

“You had better let me up,” she told them in a voice as cold as she could make it, “the people that I came with will be back.”

The woman, the same woman that handled her when they first appeared, laughed. She still had on the mask of a golden panther and the body paint was still the golden bronze from before.

The man standing next to Baka was new. He wore the mask of a snake and his body was long and lean. His muscles were sinewy, and his body was oiled. There was no body paint on him and Baka called him ‘Dambala’.
His voice was deep and rich and hypnotic. From what Sam was able to tell through his mask, his eyes were a deep, golden color. They looked, she thought, like melted gold.

Baka had a melodic voice, equally as hypnotizing and her eyes from what Sam could tell, were a deep and dark black. She walked around Sam and marveled at what she had before her. She had never, in her travels, seen a human so fair. The striking combination of fair skin, yellow hair and blue eyes, were a rarity for her people. She also sensed the long ago presence of a Goa’uld in Sam.

“Perfect.” Baka placed her hand on Dambala’s back. “She is just perfect. Can you not sense the presence?”
Dambala nodded and his pleasure was apparent to both women.

Baka once again ran her hands over Sam’s body and made a pleased sound. “She will be the one, Dambala. With the added substance in her blood, there is none that we could find that would be better.”

Removing her hands from Sam’s body, she turned and caressed Dambala. Taking his penis in her hands, she stroked it and laughed when it responded to her touch.

“Be patient, mighty warrior. In seven days time you will do battle with this one and provide us with what we need. She will be…” Baka stopped and caressed him one more time, “Ezili. And give birth to our chosen one.”

Letting go of the man, she went over to the table and lit the fire on a small brazier. Lifting up a container next to it, she breathed in its scent, opened it and sprinkled some of the powder into the fire. A heavily scented smoke started to fill the room. Baka put down the container and picked up a jar with scented oil in it. It was the same scent as in the container. Wordlessly, she walked over to the bed. Dambala took some of the oil into his hands, as did Baka, and the two of them massaged the oil into Sam’s body.

She tried to struggle with them, at least at first. But after the oil touched her skin, she started to struggle in a different way. After a few minutes and some deliberately stray caresses from both, the two masked beings left. Sam was still tied to the bed and had an unexplainable yearning in her body. As the oil and the scent from the brazier continued their work, she was fast losing control of Major Samantha Carter and was becoming…Ezili.

Three days after Major Carter’s kidnapping, the men where gathered around the table in the conference room. The quiet of the room held a lethal air. They were having trouble absorbing what Daniel Jackson was trying to tell them. The anger combined with the fear was proving to be a very deadly combination.

“What they are practicing is a form of what we would call ‘voodoo’,” Daniel began. “But not the way we know it from Earth. It has been changed many times through the centuries, so much so that it wouldn’t be very recognizable by any practitioners now.”

Jack’s curt, “Get on with it, Daniel,” caused many a heavy sigh.

“Patience,” Daniel pleaded. “The one thing we learned from the markers on the planet and the moon is that every third year they return to this planet to find what they call the ‘Chosen One’.”

Daniel noticed General Hammond’s small nod that indicated he wanted clarification. “It means to find the ‘Mother Goddess’, the one they call ‘Ezili’. On Earth, she is the female spirit of love. On that planet, she is the vessel by which the next generations of Guardians come from. That doesn’t necessarily mean good guardians, only Guardians. I suspect it means the future leaders of the cult. The women have to be outsiders and unusual. It could mean color of skin, hair, eyes or appearance.” He paused for a moment. “This is how they manage to diversify their gene pool and reduce the chances of birth defects or genetic deficiencies. The more varied the women, the more ‘new blood’ as it were, the stronger their genetic code and the less chance of ill, weak or defective children. With Sam, they have all of it. This ‘Baka’ that Marx told us about, at least on our planet, is an evil spirit that may take the form of an animal, in this case, her persona is a golden panther.”

Daniel had turned to look at Jacob and noted the sudden narrowing of his eyes. He was aware that Jacob guessed what was coming next and voiced it out loud. “They are going to use Sam as this “Ezili’.”

Daniel nodded. “If what I understand is true, the name of the man according to the ancient texts is Dambala. He is the serpent spirit. They intend for him to mate with Ezili and it will happen in the next four days. They have had Sam for three days now. The first three days was to prepare Sam’s body for the spirit of Ezili to take over. The next three days will be to prepare her for the ritual and on the seventh day, Dambala will attempt to impregnate her. If it doesn’t take the first month, they will try two more months. If it doesn’t work then…” Daniel stopped and looked at Jacob and Jack. “They will kill her.”

Daniel didn’t miss the look Jack gave to General Hammond. He silently stood as the General told his officers that they had a go. Daniel knew that somehow, someway, they had to rescue Sam before the seventh day.

Jack was in his office putting things in order when a knock at the door startled him. “Come,” he ground out.

Dr. Janet Fraiser walked in with a small box in her hands.

Jack nodded at the box and asked her; “What’s in there, Doc?”

Janet swallowed and looked up at him. Her brown eyes glistened slightly with unshed tears. “These are some personal provisions that Sam will need.” Janet stopped talking for a minute, looked down at the floor and then back up into Jack’s deep brown eyes. They too held a slight shimmer.

“I also have something I need to say to you. Off the record.”

Jack nodded and watched as Janet placed the box on the counter and opened it. Contained within was some feminine cleansing cloths, body wash and a packet with two pills in it.

Jack lifted the packet and knew what it was; he looked at Janet, his eyes were narrowed and concerned.
He listened wordlessly as she told him that Sam was on the birth control implant, but, if they were using some alien potions and such on her, she wasn’t sure if the implant would work. He heard her voice break when she told him the next part; that if he were unable to pull Sam out until after Dambala had sex with her, these were to ensure that there would be no reminders.

“I don’t know if I can do that to her, Janet,” Jack’s voice was pained. Would Sam freak out if she found out she was pregnant, freak out and keep the baby nonetheless? That was a question, he just couldn’t answer, nor did he want to. He listened without comment as she pointed out that these were aliens. Perhaps Sam would or would not get pregnant, or maybe Sam would or would not be upset about it. The fact remained; they couldn’t afford to take the chance.

Jack’s hand was slowly folded over the packet and he felt Janet’s fingers gently enclosing his in her palm. Mutely he listened as Janet told him. “We might not like what we do sometimes, but sometimes we may have to make decisions that appear to be unilateral. If you care anything at all for her, you need to do this.
All Jack could do was nod as Janet explained how to administer the pills.

He watched as she wiped at her eyes and then turned and left the room, leaving him standing there alone blinking back his own unshed tears while holding the packet.

Jack checked out the clearing they decided to use as a campsite - nothing unusual could be seen…yet.
Walking around the lush and green area, he found it hard to believe that such a verdant and growing place would be home to such darkness. Something so black and dark that it hides from the light of day.

His own dark eyes took in the campsite from an outsider’s point of view. How had the tribesmen…ok, and tribeswomen, managed to surprise the three of them? His booted foot kicked at certain parts of the ground near the campsite. He was looking for some clues, to have *some* idea of where they may have taken her.
He heard someone call him. Daniel.

Jack turned and answered him, “Here, Danny.” Looking at the ground, Jack listened as Daniel said that he had spoken with Ethan Marx and that the Captain said that he would be able to find the clearing where they first saw them. Jack nodded “Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Why don’t we have Captain Marx do that?” The two men walked silently to the waiting officer.

As Marx pointed to the area he informed Jack that it was about two clicks from the base camp.

“Do you know what time they started the ceremony?” Jack asked him. “Like, is it at a specific time or after dark?”

Nathan Sanderson stepped forwarded and responded to Jack’s question. “The last time we were here, Colonel,” Nathan said in tone that still shook with his anger and shock, “it started at midnight, sir.”

Jack nodded. “Secure the area and at 23:30 we will establish a perimeter around that site.” The men nodded and he continued. “I want us to be there before the tribesmen get there so we may best establish a hidden presence to wait and to watch.”

Baka smiled at the golden woman. Ezili had turned out to be everything she had hoped for. The Naquadah in her blood made her even more desirable. To have the Chosen’s child and from someone that had known a Goa’uld was a prize beyond comprehension.

Ezili was passionate. That was a good thing too. Oh, she fought responding to them. Fought her more than she did Dambala. Although she fought him too, Ezili was starting to respond to his touch more and more. By the time the ceremony took place, she would burn for him. Baka was convinced that it should only take this one time before his seed took root.

There was, however, one small fly in her ointment. Dambala was becoming more than mildly interested in Ezili - he was becoming captivated.

Baka walked over to her mirror and stared into it. The mirror showed a finely fashioned woman; small in stature, but generous in the gods’ endowments. Her gold colored hair seemed such a contrast to the black of her eyes. Running her hands down her lush body, she considered that maybe Dambala being so fascinated with Ezili was not such a bad thing. Baka did reap the rewards of his reactions to her, but she feared that his feelings for Ezili would actually become…genuine. She knew she could not, and would not, allow that. For now, let him be captivated. Later, she would deal with the details.

As she finished that thought, one of her priestesses came into the room. She carried Baka’s mask and told her it was time for the ceremony. Baka nodded and allowed her to paint her body and then put on her mask.

Dambala came in to Baka’s room just as they finished and his eyes showed his appreciation of what he saw. He knew his body also showed the appreciation of whom he had seen before he came to her room.
Ezili, he thought to himself, was starting to make him feel things. Feelings that had more to it than just lust. Her natural passion and inner strengths appealed to him, and he was looking forward to the next four days, especially the fourth day.

Dambala then took Baka’s left hand and placed it on his right forearm and escorted her to the ceremonial circle. He knew that his people waited there.

As did Ezili.

The men of the SGC were stunned; they almost didn’t recognize the blonde woman standing in the circle, surrounded by the worshippers. Jack and Daniel shared a look and then heard the in-drawn breath of Marx Sanderson and even the taciturn Teal’c.

“What have they done to her?” Jack asked Daniel and Nathan. “She looks so…so…” He struggled to find the word, but all he could say was “Glowy?”

They watched as other women circled around the dais and light the braziers that were on it. They stood silently and quite still until Baka and Dambala stepped onto the platform and then Baka nodded. The women threw some powder onto the braziers and a heavy scented smoke filled the air.

It was then that Ezili started to dance.

The dancing woman did indeed glow. Her body seemed almost fluorescent in the night. If it weren’t for the fact that her face was uncovered and still recognizable as Samantha Carter, they wouldn’t have guessed who she was.

They all watched in silence as Sam preformed the intricate steps of the ceremonial dance. As the air started to fill with the heavy perfume of the substance sprinkled onto the fire the whole atmosphere of the area changed. Suddenly, the drums took on a steady but rising beat and a chant was heard to start. It was at first low, and like the drums, started with a steady but rising sound.

Jack could almost feel the energy in the very air around him. He looked at the others and saw that they were feeling very much the same. The heavy perfumed air had reached them and was now teasing and tantalizing their senses.

Jack was starting to feel restless. A restlessness he couldn’t quite name, but one that made him very uncomfortable. The tightening of his groin startled him; he never had such a completely physical reaction to the scent and the sight of a woman, and a nearly nude woman at that, dancing. He always felt that he had better control over himself, but something was different. He looked at the other men with him and noted that they were feeling and reacting the same. It wasn’t just feeling ’randy’, he knew that. It was a real physical reaction, a complete visceral reaction. He wasn’t just aroused, he was *hungry*.

That realization unsettled him and he signaled for everyone to fall back. As he suspected, the further away from the ceremony that they moved, the clearer their heads became, and it lessened the effect of whatever it was on them.

Ethan Marx looked at Jack and asked, “What was that, Colonel?”

Daniel ventured, “It might be what they put into the fires. Some kind of hypnotic drug.”

“Yeah!” Jack agreed, still trying to clear his head and get in a normal breath. “That stuff is fairly deadly.”

Sitting down around the campfire, Jack discussed some of what he had wanted them to do the next day.
“Daniel,” he began, “you and Sanderson just continue to look at your ‘rocks’. Remember, we are still in covert mode and I don’t want anyone who is around to know that we are here.”

Daniel agreed. “The Colonel is right. The less attention we attract, the better our chances are of getting Major Carter and getting out of here.”

“Marx, Teal’c,” Jack looked at the two men. “Tomorrow night,” he told them, “while they are doing the second day of their ceremony, we will be checking out the housing situation. I want to know the layout of the place and possibly where they may be keeping Carter. I want us to know where the guards are stationed, how many there are and all the entrances and possible exits from the dwelling. I want her gone by the third night. Once we get the lay of the land, we will act.” Jack then turned to Daniel and Sanderson. “Check out the ceremony tomorrow night… but I want you two to take gas masks with you, as I want no repeats of tonight’s experience.”

That said, they broke up for the night, with Jack taking the first shift.

He couldn’t stop his thoughts going over what he had seen. Sam had never acted or danced like that. He was more upset than he cared to admit when he thought back at how she danced around the two main figures. The image of her rubbing herself against the man burned in the back of his eyes. It was like he was the only one there. Even though she had danced around the woman as well, it was quite different. The stance of the woman showed that she was annoyed with Sam’s preferential attention to the man. Jack supposed it was because the ceremony required her attention on both, but the man seemed to be quite amenable to Sam’s actions around him. Although he didn’t touch her with his hands, Jack trembled at the realization of the way Dambala looked at her, as it was almost the same thing.

Ezili came back from the ceremony in high state of tumult. She felt as if every nerve fiber and every inch of her skin were screaming for both relief and further excitement. The woman looked at herself in the mirror. The sensual wanton that appeared before her eyes was both familiar and strange.

Baka walked up behind her and placed her hands on Ezili’s shoulders. Although Ezili didn’t shake her off, Baka did not miss her body’s tightened response. She let go and took some steps back to speak to her. “You did well, Ezili. The ceremony was performed with a perfection I have not seen in years.”

Ezili smiled, still looking at herself in the mirror. “Thank you, Baka.”

Baka looked down at the floor, hiding her eyes. They had grown blacker; she knew that Ezili only wanted Dambala’s touch. Ezili only wanted Dambala to look upon her. The Chosen in the past had always welcomed the touch of both Baka and Dambala. This one, however, only craved the touch of a man. So be it, Baka thought, let her have him for now, because once the child came, well, that wouldn’t be a problem for her anymore.

“Dambala will join you shortly, Ezili. Sleep well.”

Baka left Ezili still looking in the mirror. She knew that Dambala would be coming to her later. His need for Ezili would drive him to her own bed and after, he would continue to come, because his need for Baka was also great.

A few minutes after Baka left the room, Dambala came in. He took off his mask and placed it on the chair near Ezili’s bed. He made a quick signal and the servants left the room. They knew only to return when he called for them.

His golden body gleamed with the oil that had the same scent as the smoke that night, and the same oil that they massaged into Ezili. How he wanted her! Each night after they ‘found’ her, he would come in and he and Baka would massage the oil into her body. He felt his body’s response to seeing and her knowing glance at his reflection. He could see that her body was responding to his presence as well.

Dambala walked over to the table where the oil was kept and poured some of it onto his hands. He walked over to the place where Ezili was standing and started to massage it into her body. He could feel her trembling with need and watched as she closed her eyes, leaned back against him and gave into his touch.

“Must we wait?” she asked, her voice both soft and sultry.

He answered that she knew they must. However, from the way her body responded to his touch, he knew that she wanted more from him than just the oil and the promises. This was, he thought, a very good sign. That she responded to him so readily meant that when they finally joined, a child would surely come of their union.

Sighing, he placed his left hand on her breasts and started kneading and pinching them, while his right hand delved between her legs. With his fingers, he brought Ezili part of the release her body had been demanding of him.

Turning her to face him, he placed the fingers of his right hand against her lips and told her to taste what she felt like to him. Ezili did so without delay or question and Dambala felt his own body screaming for relief.

Dambala could stand it no longer; he called for her servants and told her to get ready to go to bed.
“No Ezili,” he said sternly. He had taken a cup from a passing servant. It contained a sleeping draught, as well as some potion that would cool the passion that was running through her. He knew that her blood was running hot right now, and that her body was demanding satisfaction. “Let your servants prepare you. Here,” he pressed the cup on her. “Drink, you will feel better.”

Kissing her forehead, he then picked up his mask, left her room and headed to Baka. Dambala was no fool; he knew that Baka was very jealous of this one, especially since Ezili rejected her touch. He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. He felt a strong need for a woman now and Baka knew how to take care of needs. All of them. He wondered if Ezili would also joyfully fulfill them, if she knew exactly what they were, or if he would have to save those for Baka.

Baka was waiting on the bed for him. She saw the lust in his eyes, and they matched hers. The ‘lovemaking’ after he came from Ezili was heavy with need, anger, and the overwhelming desire to control. Baka reveled in the heavy feel of his hands and his body and knew that the next two nights were going to be the most physically satisfying ones.

Jack, Marx and Teal’c walked the perimeter. They noted that there were still guards and that the circle set up last night was still there. The braziers appeared cool now and the heavy scent of the night before was gone, replaced with the lush smell of the forest and flowers around them.

Jack knew it was important for them to still remain as invisible as possible. As much as they wanted to rush the place they were holding Major Carter, he knew that it had to be planned carefully. Daniel had told him that Sam was very important to them and that any attempt to go in by force would lead not only to their deaths, but also most likely to Sam’s as well. Captain Marx and Teal’c, independently approached Jack in the morning. Although their concerns were different, the message was the same. How do we rescue Major Carter?

Teal’c’s dark eyes showed some of his own concerns for her and they were mirrored in Jack’s eyes. “Whatever it was that MajorCarter had done as Ezili was not done by her choice, O’Neill.” Teal’c said in that smooth and measured tone he often used to make a point.

“I know that, Teal’c,” Jack told him. “The trick is going to be convincing her that is what happened. That is going to be the difficult part.” Looking Teal’c in the eyes, Jack finished his statement with a question. A question that they were all struggling to answer. “How are we going to do that?”

Teal’c’s dark eyes showed his own concern when he noted; “Major Carter will be quite distressed when she discovers what has happened.” Teal’c paused for a moment and looked off into the distance for a minute. Then he added, “We only hope that once the drugs that they gave her wear off, we will be able to convince her that she did not do these things.”

That night Dr. Jackson and Dr. Sanderson took up a position near the circle, this time with their night vision goggles and their mask. And they waited.

Jack led Teal’c and Captain Marx to the camp itself and into the stone dwelling that Baka and Dambala lived in. Jack signaled Teal’c and Marx to be careful; he had already noticed that there were two armed guards walking the perimeter around the house. Their weapons may not be a match for the P-90’s or Teal’c’s staff weapon, but he didn’t want to chance the noise from their weapons to alert the others guarding the ceremony.

Jack felt that Sam was probably housed very close to the rooms occupied by Baka and Dambala and while finding the room was important, finding a safe way out when they rescued Sam was equally as important. He also guessed, and quite accurately, that there were guards on the inside as well.

There were two and they were patrolling the inside of the dwelling.

Twice they had to duck into empty rooms and behind screens to avoid being seen. They were able to readily identify Baka’s room and Dambala’s. The opulence of the rooms was unmistakable and their personalities clearly showed.

The decadence established in their rooms was also evident. Captain Marx had a perpetual flush on his face as he looked at the murals on the walls and carvings in the massive beds. Teal’c, as usual, was impassive, but his eyes showed that his revulsion was as strong as Ethan’s. Jack was managing to remain passive in his response, his eyes taking in everything.

When they found Sam’s room, they were stunned by its simplicity. The simple elegant plainness in Sam’s room was a marked contrast. It was almost as if the native people hoped to preserve her innocence by keeping her room unadorned.

Jack noticed the windows and opened one to look outside. They were odd windows to have in the dwelling. But then, it was an odd structure in itself. The walls and the floors were of a stone that could be compared to marble. Here and there Jack noticed rugs scattered about on the floors and some were also hung on the walls. The fireplaces had flues and burned cleanly. The windows, however, were closed with wooden shutters. There was no glass in them. A combination of old and new. Like they couldn’t quite seem to make up their minds. In a pinch he would probably be able to get Sam out through the window, but going in to get her may be more of a problem; he wasn’t sure.

Looking at his watch, he ordered the others to move out. They had spent quite a bit of time looking around and he didn’t want to get caught. Not right now. Not when timing meant everything.

Back at base camp, Jack told his team that tomorrow night, after the ceremony, they were going in for her. Marx was to remain at base camp with Daniel and Sanderson, and that he and Teal’c were going to get Carter.

The plan was for Teal’c to guard the escape route. Jack was hoping to leave spare clothes and Janet’s package hidden beside a nearby lake. The plan was that they would go in, grab Sam and leave. He was guessing that they were keeping her sedated. Otherwise, she would have tried to escape on her own. At least that was his best assessment; he couldn’t believe that his Major would willingly stick around. But that scent that they had been using disturbed him. Keeping her drugged had to be the only reason why she was still there.

Baka was pleased. Ezili danced like she had not the other days. There was a more sensual movement to her steps, and she had taken on a luminance that was not there on the first night. Of course, the oil that they had been massaging her with was a powerful aphrodisiac and its potency had been increased with each use.

Dambala could not take his eyes off Ezili, and it was evident to all that he was more than ready for her.
His body grew immediately hard when he watched her and the others noted it as well.

The drums quickened and the chanting increased. Ezili’s movement, although still smooth, quickened with the urgency. Her urgency. She was moving like a woman in the throws of an orgasm, her eyes shining and body almost tingling in time to the drums. And then it was over; Ezili collapsed and the ceremony abruptly ended.

Dambala picked her up and carried her back to her room. There was no point in continuing the ceremony this night; he did not want to torment her body any further. He placed her on her bed, left the servants to care for her and immediately headed for Baka’s room.

When the drums stopped and the natives had dispersed to their encampment on the other side of the lake, Jack signaled for Teal’c to take his position. He watched as Dambala carried her into the house and settled in to wait.

Two hours later, Jack made his move and silently entered. The guards, he noted, where still two on the perimeter and two in the house. The house was quiet, as if the ceremony took all the energy out of the people. Those drums had worked them to frenzy along with Sam and the others. He supposed that they probably took something to calm them down and allow them to sleep. He hoped, that Baka and Dambala were on their own or together. He didn’t want to surprise anyone when he went to Sam’s room. He especially didn’t want to surprise the guards. Like their earlier recon mission, he didn’t want the noise of their weapons alerting anyone.

Jack silently slipped down the hall; first passing Dambala’s room and he noted that the man was not there. He became instantly grateful for that piece of good luck, because he was able to use the room to duck into when he one of the guards come around the corner. That the room was empty gave Jack some pause. What if…? He shook his head to clear those thoughts. No, he didn’t want to go there. After a few minutes the guard had moved away from where he was hidden. He continued on to pass Baka’s room and heard noise. It was the sound of a man and a woman and he paused to peek in.

What he saw repulsed him. He normally didn’t think much of what passed between two consenting adults, mainly because he didn’t bother thinking about it, or worse, watching it. But the act that they were performing could not, by any means, be called ‘love’. Sex, most definitely, but not love.

He started to move away from the door, but was suddenly and completely overwhelmed by the heavy scent of perfume. He recognized that it was the same scent from the ceremony and standing this close to it, it was having a powerful effect. He tried to clear his head, but the scent seemed to grab hold of him and kept him almost mesmerized by the two on the bed. He also felt his groin start to stir and that was the impetus he needed to pull away and go.

Walking swiftly to where Sam was being held, he took deep breaths, trying to clear his head and his lungs. He was relieved when he entered her room to find her alone. Asleep. But he wondered at their leaving her room so exposed. No guards. No locks. Like they believed that she would not leave, nor be induced too. What have they done to her?

Striding to her bed, he put his right hand on her left shoulder and shook her. “Carter,” he whispered urgently. “Carter! Wake up!”

The woman on the bed stirred sleepily and after a few more urgent words, she opened her eyes. Jack could see that she had some trouble focusing on him and then a smile appeared on her face. What she said turned him cold.

“Dambala?” she asked quietly. “Could you not wait until tomorrow night?”

“Carter?” Jack questioned. But it was as if she didn’t hear Jack talking to her; she heard Dambala.
He watched as she swiftly got out of the bed and walked over to the brazier. He watched her light the fire and reach for a jar.

“No!” His harsh whisper, urgent in its intent, was ignored. He saw her take a handful of the powder and throw it into the fire and soon the heavy smell permeated the air. He immediately started to feel lightheaded and at the same time very aware and aroused. He could feel his body start to tighten in response to the scent and to…her.

She was reaching for another jar. It was oil with the same scent.

He watched her, with eyes starting to darken with the desire he felt, open the container and proceed to pour some into her cupped hands and massage it into her body. After which, she put it down and turned to him.

The scent of the heavy perfume had already reached his nose before she did. It had already started to do its work. It had teased and tantalized his senses and Jack felt his body continue to tighten and tingle. It began to weave a spell of erotic desire and feelings in him; feelings that he was trying to suppress, but he was unable to focus his mind on resistance. He could only seem to focus on *her*.

Walking over to him, she threw her arms around his neck, caressing the hair at the back. She murmured that she was tired of waiting for him, and that she was glad he was there now.

Suddenly, she pressed her lips against his and her tongue pushed against them demanding entrance. Feeling his resistance, she laughed; a sultry laugh that sounded foreign to his ears. Her onslaught was unexpectedly rewarded. He opened his mouth and allowed her tongue to enter and entwine with his. The groan he let out made her bolder. Sam’s hand suddenly snaked down and found his penis. She stroked it through his pants but then pulled away.

“Why do you wear so many clothes my love?” She looked at him questioningly. “And what strange clothes as well.”

Her nimble fingers started removing his gear and as he tried to stop her, he called her Sam. Major. Carter. But none of what he did deterred her and soon he found himself losing the battle. The heavy scent that was around them and on her body started immersing itself into him. He soon stopped fighting her and started helping her.

She managed to undress him totally and smiled with delight.

“I did not realize how tall and muscular you are, my love.” She was clearly enjoying looking at him.
She walked up to him and started running her hands all over his body and kissing him wherever she felt the desire to do so.

His body was responding to her onslaught and as he tried to keep himself from reacting, it was starting to be impossible. It was if his mind was separating itself from him and all he was doing was feeling. And what he was feeling was the need to join with her.

She spun away from him, standing to loosen the jeweled frogs that held on her nightgown. The gown fell to the floor in a silent swish of blue silk and she stood naked before him.

Sam held out her arms to him. “It is time for us to stop torturing each other, my love.”

Unable to deny his body its relief, Jack stepped over to her and took her into his arms. His hands were rubbing over her body. He started with her hair, feeling its silken texture and brought his nose close to smell her. He kissed her then. Kissed her as if she was his next breath and he would never get another. He pulled her close to him, as if he was trying to absorb her into him. Her hands, like his, were traveling his body as well and finally, she broke away, took his hand and led him to the bed.

Lying on her back she beckoned for him to come to her, to come into her, to fill her.

Jack kneeled next to her on the bed and ran his hands down her body. He stopped to knead various parts of her, teasing and tantalizing her. He leaned over and kissed her, his right hand cupping her face, while his left hand started kneading her breasts.

Finally, he left her mouth to kiss her neck and the pulse that beat at its base. After a few minutes he lowered his head to her breast and started to suckle it. First one breast and then the other. Using his mouth, his tongue and his teeth to please her and to drive her on. His left hand then traveled down to the area between her legs, as he knew that was where she would most want him.

He teased at the nub of her desire, feeling it getting hard at his touch. Hearing her whimper at the feelings that were coming from it and begging for him to continue touching her. Suddenly, his head was between her legs and with his tongue and his fingers he had continued to torment her until he heard her cry out her release.

Slowly, he leaned back over her body and kissed her deeply. He had reveled in the taste of her and through his lips and tongue; she also knew what she tasted like to him.

Sam was now beyond anything else except having him inside her. To fill her. To ‘love’ her. That word surprised her. She was aware that she lusted after Dambala, but love?

As the man finally entered her, Sam took in a breath and something about the man loving her right now niggled at her.

As he started to move and she answered with her own movements, she started to realize something was very different about this man. This man, her last thought before they soared to oblivion, loved her.

Jack came to himself much quicker than she did. His head still felt very fuzzy and he shook his head to clear the fog. For a moment he wasn’t quite sure where he was. It was then he became aware of his surroundings. Once he realized where he was, the memories came rushing at him. He felt the complete shock of recognition overwhelm. He felt as if his heart had dropped to his stomach and that his stomach was in danger of meeting it halfway.

A groan escaped him and he knew without a doubt just *who* was in the bed with him. He had hoped that maybe the drug made them hallucinate and that they passed out. But his nakedness and hers dispelled that fantasy. The distinct scent of lovemaking was evident in the air. The fine sheen of sweat was on both their bodies. The bed also showed the signs of their battle with Eros.

Jack bounded out of the bed as if burned. Burned with the emotions that he had for the woman next to him and the guilt that he had taken advantage of the situation. There was no way she would have offered herself like that to him. Ever. Jack tried to steady his breathing and focus on what to do next. After a few steadying breaths and a stern lecture to himself, he forced himself to concentrate on what to do *now*. He needed to get himself and Major Carter out. Secure the situation first. Recriminations later. He found his clothes and got dressed as quickly as he could. After he got all of his gear on, he radioed Teal’c and told him to get ready and head towards the window of Sam’s room.

Jack was still shaken from the encounter with Sam. He had to be honest; he had fantasized about it so many times. Reality was so much more than fantasy. He shook himself physically and mentally and went to work. He opened the window to the outside. He then pulled Sam’s gown back on. His hands were shaking; they were remembering what she felt like in his arms, but he managed that task and wrapped her in a blanket. Lifting her was a struggle for him. Carter was a tall woman and under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be attempting to carry her out, as much as help her walk out. But she was now unconscious. That made lifting and carrying her to the window more difficult.

Carefully listening for any noise or sounds of their discovery, he whistled softly and Teal’c suddenly appeared at the window to take her from Jack’s arms. Even without his symbiote, Jack knew that Teal’c was still stronger than the average human. Together they headed to the lake where he hid the clothes for Sam and the other stuff. The stuff Janet gave him.

As they ventured further from the dwelling, Sam started showing signs of waking up.

Teal’c carefully eased her into a standing position and Jack stepped into the breach and held her up from behind. He stood behind her and held her forearms and then told Teal’c to go watch the area closer to the way to the gate.

“I’ll stay with her while she changes, but you need to take point and make sure that no-one notices we are here. Signal me, if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

Teal’c nodded, grabbed his staff weapon and headed in the direction O’Neill indicated to watch and to wait.
Suddenly, she stirred in his arms, and opened her eyes and in a very feeble voice asked who he was.

“It’s me, Major Carter, Colonel O’Neill.” He shifted his legs to support her. “Can you stand by yourself?”

Sam wobbled a bit, so Jack grabbed her forearms to steady them both. The blanket covering had fallen to the ground when he put her on her feet and the nightgown hid nothing. She still appeared to be quite confused. Bringing her hands up, she put them on either side of her temples and mumbled, “Hurts.”

Jack moved her hands, and started massaging the aching temples and remarked that it was probably the smoke from the braziers in the bedroom. He led Sam over to a tree and helped her sit down. Retrieving the box with the supplies that Janet had given him, Jack extracted one of the two pills and some headache tablets. Grabbing the canteen nearby he went over to her and gave her the pills. Sam swallowed them reflexively, without asking him what they were.

It bothered him how easily she took the medication from him. She trusted him as a child would her parents. He kneeled down in front of her and took her chin in his right hand. “Listen to me,“ he told her, his tone urgent. “We don’t have much time. Doc Fraiser gave me some things for you to use when you bathe and I brought you your uniform. The lake shouldn’t be too cold. But you have to do it quickly.”

He lifted her up and was holding her close to help walk her to the water, where he left her stuff. Without warning, she turned and pulled his head towards her and then down to her lips, where she captured his mouth in a kiss. His response was automatic and he began to return it with a passion that he had only unleashed in his dreams. As quickly as he responded he pulled away. It was then that he noticed a sudden flicker in her eyes. Then the shock. She started to stutter and apologize. Her ‘sorry sir’, followed by more stammering almost shattered his heart.

Taking her back in his arms he held her for a minute and then gently pushed her away from him. “You did nothing to apologize for, Major.” That seemed to settle her a little. He tried to keep his tone steady, even, and familiar. “It was the smoke that we were both exposed to. It makes you act…” He struggled for a minute. “It makes you act like you are someone else. Somewhere else.”

She stared at him a minute. She asked him, with a hint of pain in her voice. “Did I do something unusual, sir? Something inappropriate?”

“You did nothing you need be ashamed about, Major. Trust me.” His voice still held that authority that she was familiar with and responded to. “You did absolutely nothing that would change anything between us.”

For a minute she looked in his eyes. For him, it felt like an eternity. She didn’t do anything she needed to be ashamed about. Not with Dambala. As far as he was concerned, not with him either. But he had no intention of letting her know about that. Let her think it was her imagination, he told himself. Another secret. Another door. Another room.

He then turned her to the lake and told her to hurry. He heard the rustle of the silk of her gown and then her walking into the lake. He also heard her exclamation of joy with what Janet had packed for her and was grateful for the doctor’s foresight. God, how he wished he had more than foresight right now. His body was still so sensitive to hers and every sigh and every splash tempted him beyond words, not just to look back at her, but go to her and touch her. His hands twitched around his weapon and he had to hold fast to it, just to stop its trembling. The unbidden memory of those same hands on his Major’s body came as a wave over him. The feelings and sensations rushed through him in a spin. He swallowed and forced himself to concentrate on the job at hand: to get her and everyone back to the SGC safely.

While in the lake, the effect of the oil and the smoke lessened. The water and the body wash removed the traces of the potions and Sam started feeling more like herself. But a memory, a thought, a rush of desire still raced through her. Her body felt like it had been well and truly loved and she wondered how she could have these kinds of feelings. The Colonel told her that nothing had happened. She stared at the back of the man facing the woods and away from her. Why, she asked herself, did she feel as if they shared a passionate interlude, when they hadn’t? Or had they? Maybe it was the drug, she thought when she finished washing and dressing. Maybe it was wishful thinking. Maybe…but it felt so incredibly real to her. She could almost imagine his warm breath in her ear and the touch of his hands. For a moment her body seemed to vibrate and she felt a tightening in her womb. For a moment, she could feel a man’s hands and lips and tongue on her. For a moment, she could feel the need for him burning within her again. For a moment…

Shaking her head clear of the erotic thoughts, Sam hurried with her bath. But every time her hands touched her body, the thoughts rushed back with a power that she didn’t even know memory could provide.

Finally, she called out she was ready. Please God, she had to get away from this place and these feelings. Her mind kept showing her images of a man and woman in the oldest dance of love and her body kept pace with the memory. Sam wasn’t sure if she wanted to scream or to cry. So, ready she had to be, whether she was or not. Get away from here, from this place and these memories. She had to. She didn’t think that she could separate fact from fantasy right now. She was kept so drugged and in a continual state of arousal, that her mind was not able to keep dreams and reality separated.

The two of them headed toward Teal’c. Jack radioed him, then Daniel and the others. Jack kept his left hand softly behind her right shoulder. He noted that his Major was still unsteady and he didn’t think he would have the emotional strength to carry her. And if he did pick her up to carry her, he didn’t trust himself not to find some soft place to lay her down and… No, he thought, he shook his head. Not going to go there. Very seriously not going to go there.

He was relieved when he saw Teal’c and was grateful that the big man picked up Carter and carried her to the gate. Teal’c’s eyes gave nothing away. Jack always felt that Teal’c had some sixth sense about things and that was able to read the emotional atmosphere instinctively. No questions. No looks. Just the steady knowledge that he was needed and he came to offer his strength and compassion.

By the time they reached the gate, Daniel had dialed home and they all quickly went through to the other side.

Sam watched Janet write in her chart from her bed in the infirmary. She had been in there for two weeks, as the drug took that long to work itself out of her system. Whatever the natives used was powerful. Janet had given Sam all kinds of tests and medications. She slipped Sam the second pill after she was brought back. Janet knew that Jack was very uncertain as to the wisdom behind it. The Colonel didn’t like playing games with peoples lives and emotions, but he understood, probably better than the good doctor knew, about *why*.

It was at the end of the first week that Sam broached the subject of her memory with her friend. “It felt so real, Janet,” Sam explained. “My body just felt like…I just can’t describe it.”

Janet was quiet for a short minute and looked her friend in the eyes. “It was the drugs, Sam. They were very powerful hypnotics. Between those and Dambala’s suggestions, your mind just wasn’t able to separate fact from fantasy.”

Sam shook her head. “No Janet. It couldn’t be the suggestions. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can feel his breath in my hair, his hands stroking my body, his…” She closed her eyes and flushed slightly. She opened her eyes, the pupils wide and dark, “The man in my memory keeps getting confused. One minute it’s Dambala and the next it’s…” She couldn’t finish. She couldn’t say his name.

Janet shook her head. ‘You trust Colonel O’Neill don’t you?”

“You know I do,” Sam answered in a small voice. “I just can’t get this memory and these feelings out of my head.”

Janet patted Sam on her shoulder. She told her, “ As time goes on, and as the drug clears your body, your thoughts won’t be so jumbled.”

Sam nodded and closed her eyes. She couldn’t however, close her memory. A vivid memory of passion-glazed, dark brown eyes. Of hair that glinted silver in the firelight.

Jack told absolutely no one about his interlude with her. He knew that it wouldn’t bring her any joy and in truth, it didn’t bring him any either. They were both drugged and even though it was a fairly powerful joining, it really wasn’t their choice or even them.

Since that night, his rumpled bed was evidence that he was unable to shake the memory either.

This past night found him on his porch. Standing there, naked, even the chilliness of the Colorado air couldn’t cool the heat of his skin. It had been difficult for him to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt her, tasted her and loved her. Dreams like that shouldn’t happen to a man his age. He shook his head to try and clear the thoughts. But the devil was tormenting him tonight and he knew that he would get no more sleep nor rest. He held the cool glass of whiskey against his head and once again wondered at the dichotomy of the glass being so cool, but the whiskey burning a trail down his throat.

He stood at the door to the infirmary watching Sam watch Janet. Janet finally looked up, saw him and beckoned.

“Sam is fine,” Janet started to fill him in. “The drugs are out of her system, and everything else is as it should be.” He knew without her putting it in words what that meant and nodded.

Going over to her bed, he grabbed a chair and placed it next to it. “How ya feeling?” he asked her, his voice soft and tender with its concern.

“I’m fine, sir,” she answered him. Her voice was quiet. Tired. Stressed. “I have a bit of a headache.” There was a pause and she raised her eyes to him. The black pupils of her eyes seemed to overtake their blue irises. It gave her an almost sad look. “Sir?” Sam took a small breath and…”May I ask you a question?”

“Sure, Carter. What would like to know?” he answered. He had a feeling she would be broaching the situation again and had practiced his answer.
“I know I’ve asked this before.” Her words were halting with a half remembered pain. ”Did I do anything inappropriate with

Dambala or…?”

He took her right hand into both of his, played with her fingers for a minute and then looked her in the eyes. Into those bright blue orbs that sometimes haunted him into his sleep. Those eyes that still held a hint of the pain and confusion that plagued her these past couple of weeks.

“Like I told ya, Carter. You did absolutely nothing that you need be worried or ashamed about. Dambala never had the chance. We got to you before the ceremony.” Jack mentally crossed his fingers. Lying to her was the hardest thing he had to do about this situation.

Sam slowly shook her head and the abrupt movement caused her to grimace. She reached up and rubbed her temples for a moment. “I still feel like something more happened, Colonel. Something *you* and everyone else are not telling me.”

Jack didn’t miss the emphasis on the ‘you’.

“Carter,” he began carefully, “whatever happened on that planet wouldn’t make any difference to me, or to anyone else on the team. Nothing has changed between us. Trust me on that.”

Sam nodded and closed her eyes. Jack still sat there holding her hand and wondering how much she would eventually remember. He hoped none of it.

After a few minutes the hair on the back of his head lifted. He looked around. There was nothing to see, but he still felt very uneasy. He thought he heard the sound of chanting, but no one else was in the room.

It was then he heard the sound of beating drums.

The End