“You wanted to see me sir?” Carter asked, standing in Landry’s doorway.

“Yes, Colonel, please come in.” Carter entered the office and stood in front of her CO’s desk, waiting for him to speak.  “How soon can you get your team together?” Landry asked her.

“Well, all of us save Vala are on base right now, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

“Yes, that’s right. Vala is taking some personal time right now, isn’t she? Off doing god knows what with god knows who.” Sam smothered a smile and simply waited for Landry to continue. “I have a mission for SG-1. Gather your team, Colonel, we brief in one hour.”

“Yes, sir.”

An hour later, SG-1 minus Vala was gathered in the briefing room waiting for Landry to emerge from his office.

“What’s this all about, Sam? We weren’t scheduled to go offworld again for another couple of weeks or so.” Mitchell asked.

“You know as much as I do, Cam. General Landry just asked me to get us all together for a briefing. He didn’t look very happy about it, though.” She stopped talking as Landry came into the room.

“Alright, SG-1, I’ve got an assignment for you.” he said shortly, sitting at the head of the table. “We’ve just received intel that the Ori have begun building a shipyard here in our galaxy.”

Teal’c quirked an eyebrow and Daniel leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. “A shipyard? Here? Why would they do that if they can just build them in their own galaxy and send them through the supergate?” Then he thought a second and amended, “Oh, right. That whole black hole thing.”

“Looks like they found a way around it.” Mitchell drawled lazily.

“Looks that way.” Landry said. “Anyway, intel says that a new ship, one far more massive than the battle cruisers we’ve encountered, entered our galaxy two weeks ago and landed on a world not more than a few hundred light years from here. Evidently the ship was carrying troops and supplies, because as soon as it landed it began to disgorge thousands of people and containers, along with no less than seven priors, presumably to oversee the construction and activation of the new ships.

“Your mission is quite simple, although it is in no way easy.  You are to go in and figure out how to shut down this operation once and for all. There are currently four ships in various stages of construction in the area. They all need to be permanently disabled, or destroyed, along with the means for constructing more.”

“Why don’t we just send a naquadah bomb through the stargate and blow them all to hell?” Mitchell asked.

“The building site is too far from the gate, and there are too many innocent lives at stake. The world the Ori chose is one that they have already converted, and the building site is on the outskirts of a city that houses over a million people.”

“Let me guess” Carter said. “Those people are now working as slave labor on the ships being constructed.”

“You guess right.” Landry said. “I’m not going to lie to you, people. This is probably the most dangerous mission we’ve ever sent you out on. You’ll be completely on your own. The pentagon doesn’t want us sending more than four people because more would just attract attention that we don’t want.”

“Well then, let’s go.” Mitchell said, jumping up—and immediately falling on his butt. “OW!” he yelled as Teal’c reached down to pull him to his feet.

“Colonel Mitchell, I believe you have forgotten something.” Teal’c said.

“Ya think?” Cam groaned.

“That’s the other issue I wanted to discuss with you.” Landry said as Mitchell lowered himself gingerly back into his seat. “Since Colonel Mitchell is not yet recovered from the twisted knee he got on your last mission, I’m afraid he’ll be sitting this one out.”

Mitchell grimaced. “This really sucks, you know that?”

Landry smiled sympathetically at him before continuing. “Another officer will be assigned to replace him.”

Carter inwardly groaned, wondering who they would be stuck with. “Will this officer have field training, sir? It’s probably not a good idea to stick us with …. I mean to send someone out who hasn’t even stepped foot through the gate.”

Landry grinned. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with this guy.”

He glanced at the door as if waiting for someone to walk through. When nothing happened, he cleared his throat. “General, if you’d care to join us?”

“Oh,” came a very familiar voice from the hallway. “Was that my cue?”

“Yes, Jack.” Landry said, and General Jack O’Neill strode into the room to the delighted grins of the faces seated around the table.

“Jack!” Daniel said. “You’re coming with us?”

“Is that alright with you, Daniel?”

“Well, of course. It’s good to see you!”

“I too am gratified to see you, O’Neill.” Teal’c affirmed.

“Well, thank you, Teal’c. I’m gratified that you’re…uh…gratified.”

Jack looked at Sam. “Carter, you mind if I horn in on your command?”

Carter glanced quickly at Mitchell. “Well, it’s not exactly my command, sir, but you’re more than welcome to it.”

“Good. We leave in 24 hours, people, and we have a lot to do before then. Get to work, all of you.”

Sam looked up from her work when a shadow fell across her table. “Oh, hello, General.”

“Carter.” O’Neill stood close behind her, looking over her shoulder. “Watcha doin’?”

Sam grinned to herself, enjoying his proximity. “I’m working on the cloaking devices we borrowed from the Sodan.”

“You’re working on them? Are they broken?”

“Um, actually, no sir. They’re working fine. I just wanted to, uh, figure out how they functioned exactly.”

“I see. Just don’t go taking them apart in the process, okay? We’re going to need them where we’re going.” Jack put a friendly hand on her shoulder and surreptitiously brushed his thumb across the back of her neck before turning and walking out of her lab. Sam took a deep breath after he left, squashing the heat rising in her face. They’d had a “thing” going for several months, but they still needed to be careful here in the SGC. As far as she knew, only Daniel and Teal’c had any idea what was going on, and for now it needed to stay that way. She felt a little guilty about it, but she was glad Mitchell and Vala would be sitting this one out.

“Okay, people, here we go.” O’Neill bounced on his toes, enjoying the anticipation permeating the gateroom. He had missed this. “Dial it up, chief”, he called up to the control room. Jack looked at his team. Carter was fussing with the armband that controlled her cloaking device, Daniel was fidgeting with his pack, and Teal’c simply stood there like he wasn’t carrying a bag full of rather heavy explosives, waiting for the mission to begin. “Everybody got everything?” Multiple nods. “You sure we’re not forgetting anything?” Multiple headshakes. “Anyone gotta pee before we do this, cuz we’re not stopping once we get moving.” Multiple eye rolls. “All right, then campers. Let’s do this. Activate cloaks.” They all pressed the buttons on the armbands and disappeared from view.

“SG-1, you have a go.” Landry said via the intercom. “Good luck.”

The only evidence of their departure through the gate was several slight ripples in the surface of the event horizon before it shut down.

Chapter 2

SG-1 stepped out of the stargate into a clearing, the bright sunlight of late afternoon illuminating the landscape. At least it was bright from the normal point of view. To Jack and his team, everything appeared slightly purple, and the lack of cover wasn’t a problem. They could see the terrain and each other quite clearly, but were invisible to the Ori guards milling about the area, several of whom had their staff weapons pointed at the gate, due to its recent activation. Seeing no activity, however, they dispatched a messenger to report the strange activity and then went on about their business.

Jack, Sam, Teal’c and Daniel moved off to the side of the clearing, walking carefully despite their cloaks. They made their way past the Ori defenses and moved in the general direction of their primary target, which they knew was about 10 klicks north of their current position. Sam lagged a little behind Jack and Teal’c, keeping an eye on Daniel, who was looking around with interest. She couldn’t blame him—she was interested too. The landscape was very different from earth, and there appeared to be small pools of a dark viscous liquid scattered about the area. Sam approached one of the smaller pools carefully, noting that the air around it seemed to warm a little. She placed a hand a few inches above the substance and felt heat emanating from it, then studied it for a minute before Jack called to her to keep up.

After about an hour of hiking, O’Neil veered of course and began to head east, looking for a likely spot to set up camp. They hiked for close to an our before he judged they were well out of the enemy’s search patterns and called a halt to set up base camp. This op could take a few days, and they couldn’t lug around all their provisions while on recon. Everyone dropped their cloaks and got to work.

“So, what’s the plan?” Daniel asked as they all sat around a very small campfire that evening.

“Well, I’d say we could go scout the compound tonight, but we don’t know the terrain, and flashlights would give us away in a heartbeat.” O’Neill answered him.

“Sir,” Sam spoke up. “Turn on your cloak.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, Jack.”

“Okay.” O’Neill pressed the button on his wristband and was immediately invisible to the rest of his team. After a moment, he shimmered back into view. “Nice. That may just solve our problem.”

“What?” Daniel said, turning on his own cloak. The world immediately turned purple, and every detail of the terrain around him was as visible as if it had been daylight. He pressed the button again, deactivating the device. “Sweet.”

Sam glanced at Jack, who was grinning, then at Daniel. “I think you’ve been hanging around the General too long.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You just said sweet.” Jack told him, wagging his eyebrows.

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Didn’t.”

“Did.”

Sam glanced at Teal’c and rolled her eyes. “Um, guys, could we please get back to figuring out how we’re going to pull this off?”

“Right.” Jack said. “Well, if these doohickeys can keep us hidden and let us see in the dark, this should be a piece of cake.”

“The priors can see right through those cloaks.” Said a voice from behind them. Four sets of eyes and three weapons (Daniel couldn’t remember where he’d stashed his.) swung around toward the source of the voice. “Do not be afraid. I am not armed” said the man stepping out of the shadows and into the light of the campfire. He was tall, brown haired and brown eyed, with khaki pants and a gleaming white shirt. A strange symbol was embroidered into his shirt, and Daniel looked closely at it, trying to figure out what it was.

Jack stood up, squinting at the man. “And you are…”

But Sam was the one who answered him, her eyes huge with shock. “Joshua” she breathed.

“Joshua.” O’Neill said. “And that would be who, exactly?”

Sam stepped toward the newcomer and stretched out her hands to him. “I thought you were a hallucination.”

Joshua took Sam’s hands, pulling her into a close embrace. “I know you did, Samantha, but as I told you then, I am very real. It is good to speak with you again.”

Sam leaned into him for a moment, remembering the strength and peace she had felt the last time they had touched. Nothing had changed, and it was wonderful. The moment was broken when someone behind her cleared his throat. “Uh, Carter, you want to tell us what’s goin’ on?” Jack said in an overly light tone that suggested his patience was wearing thin.

Sam stepped back and took Jack’s hand, silently reassuring him that all was well between them. “General Jack O’Neill, this is Joshua. He’s an…old friend.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“Joshua,” Sam continued, “this is General Jack O’Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal’c. My team.”

The stranger nodded and smiled to each man as he shook their hands, then turned his attention to Jack and gestured at the campfire.

“May I?” he asked.

Jack glanced at Sam, eyebrows raised, and she nodded at him, indicating the stranger could be trusted.

“Please, join us.” Jack said, still too polite.

Once they were all settled, O’Neill spoke up again. “So, Joshua was it? Would you care to explain what you just said about the priors?” Jack didn’t trust this guy any further than he could throw him, but the statement had intrigued him.

“The priors can use their staffs to see through your cloaking devices. If they discover you, they will be able to disable the wristbands, and you will be captured.”

“Well, that complicates things a bit.” Daniel offered.

“How did you come by this information?” Teal’c asked the newcomer.

“I am the one who sent the intelligence information to Earth for this mission.”

Jack was surprised. “And why did our superiors feel it prudent to trust you, since they know nothing about you?”

Joshua looked momentarily saddened. “You are correct in your belief that General Landry does not know me. However, Thor does.”

“Okay, that’s interesting. And how in the world do you know Thor?”

“When Sam was captured by the Goa’uld Sorell, I was the one who told Thor to come to you.”

“That was you?” Jack felt his suspicion fading a bit in light of this new information. Plus, there was just something about this guy that made him want to trust him. “Thor spoke very highly of you.” Joshua nodded graciously. “Okay, I’ll go with it, for now. But I do have one question.”

“Ask.”

“Why did you not feel it was necessary to let us know about this little trick of the priors being able to see through our cloaks before we brought them along?”

“The intelligence package was brief by necessity, and the cloaks will serve you well. I knew I would see you once you were here, so it was not necessary to divulge the information at the time.”

Sam spoke up. “You said their staffs must be activated to be able to see us. They can’t be everywhere at once, right? So all we have to do is to stay out of their way, and don’t give them any reason light them up.”

“During the daylight hours, that will be sufficient” Joshua said, turning to her. “But at night, there is always one prior who casts his light throughout the compound, allowing the guards to see all that happens around them. This same light will defeat your cloak and reveal you.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “Uh, thanks for the tip.”

“I am glad I could help. One more thing. When you enter the compound, head first toward the building to the east. You will find a scientist in the center of the building who can be trusted to help you accomplish your goals. His name is Michael Raynen.” Joshua got up and began to walk back the way he had come. Then he stopped and turned back to them, “Be safe. I will be around if you need me.” He disappeared into the brush.

“Wait!” Daniel called. “You can’t go walking around by yourself out there. It’s too dangerous!”

There was no answer, and Teal’c got up to look around. “He appears to be gone.” He said to the others.

“Okay, that’s weird.” Jack turned and faced Carter. “So how exactly do you know this guy?”

Sam looked uncomfortable. “Joshua said he told Thor that you needed help, right? Well, while I was being…held…by Sorell, he um…” she stopped, her voice failing as memories flooded her.

Jack’s mind flashed unintentionally back to a horrifying memory of Sam hanging by her wrists from the ceiling of a harsh blue room, bloody and barely alive from having endured three days of torture. She had almost died, and he still had nightmares about it. He shook himself, banishing the memories, and spoke up, giving her time to recover.

“Hey, I remember his name, now. You mentioned Joshua when you were unconscious. You thanked him for something.”

“And you all of a sudden knew the meaning of the symbol that was on that artifact we’d found. It was the same one that was on his shirt tonight.” Daniel said.

“Yes.” Sam’s voice was very quiet and her eyes were very far away, but she was no longer on the verge of tears. “Joshua came to me while I was being held by Sorell. He helped me get through it with my sanity intact. He gave me strength and helped me look through the Goa’uld’s deception.”

“What deception was that?” Teal’c voice rumbled through her memories.

Sam took a deep breath, trying not to start shaking. “Sorell showed me the three of you, hanging from shackles like I was, but you were all dead.”

Daniel moved closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Oh my god, Sam. We never heard that part.”

“That’s because I never told you. Anyway, Joshua helped me see that there were small discrepancies that no one would notice except someone who knew you all as well as I do. Because of him, I was able to look closely. If he hadn’t, I don’t think I…” Sam stopped talking, struggling not to break down. Those memories still haunted her from time to time, and only when she remembered the presence of Joshua was she able to keep them from overwhelming her.

Jack put an arm around her, and pulled her close. “It’s all right, Sam. You got through it and that’s what matters.”

She turned to him, gripping his arm. “But that’s the point, Jack. I wouldn’t have gotten through it if it weren’t for him. I was on the brink of breaking when he showed up. I trusted him then and he didn’t let me down. I think we need to trust him now.”

Jack thought for a moment, studying her face. “Okay. We’ll take him at his word the moment and wait until morning to move out.”

“And what of this scientist he wishes for us to meet?” Teal’c asked him.

Jack looked at Sam again. “Yeah. We’ll find him. For now, we all need to get some sleep.”

“I’ll take first watch, sir.” Carter looked at him. “I don’t think I could sleep right now, anyway.”

“Alrighty, then. Wake me in four hours.”

“Yes, sir.” Sam said quietly.

Jack glanced over his shoulder, and, seeing that their companions were busy with their sleeping bags, put his arms around her, holding her close. Sam appreciated the warmth and love that emanated from him and was a little disappointed when he disengaged and turned to see to his own sleeping arrangements.

Sam sat awake in the darkness, listening to the sounds of the men sleeping around her. She looked at each of them in turn, studying their faces in the firelight and she smiled slightly. They were each so important to her in different ways, and she loved them all dearly. She sat looking up at the stars through the tree she was leaning against, thinking about Joshua and what he had told them. She trusted him implicitly, not just for what he had done for her in the past, but just because her gut told her to. That didn’t happen very often, and she trusted the instinct.

“Samantha.” Sam jerked out of her reverie at the sound of her name. It had come from the side of the campsite where Joshua had left earlier. Sure enough, he came walking toward her out of the darkness, and she got up to meet him.

“Joshua. What are you doing back here?”

“I thought you might need to talk.”

Sam looked at her companions, afraid of waking them.

Joshua followed her gaze, “Do not worry. We will not wake them.”

She looked back at him, into the beautiful eyes that she remembered so well. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I have missed speaking with you, Samantha.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I kind of talked myself into the idea that you were a hallucination brought on by everything I’d gone through. Now that I think about it again, it’s a pretty ridiculous notion, but I…”

“It’s alright, Sam. I understand. The feelings you were dealing with were pretty foreign to you, and things like that can be very hard to face once you’re back in familiar territory.”

They sat in silence for a time before Sam spoke up again. “Joshua, if I may ask, why are you here? Why did you choose this mission out of all the ones we’ve been on since you and I met?”

Joshua sat back on his hands and stretched his legs out toward the fire. “This mission is very important to your fight against the Ori. A fight you and I share.”

“We do?”

“Yes. I have been fighting the Ori since their inception, thousands of years ago.”

“You have? Not that I disagree with you, but why? You don’t seem the type to do battle with anyone.”

“There is a time for everything, Sam. This is a time for war. Soon, the time for peace will come, but until then, I must help you and your kind resist the Ori.

“Can you tell me anything about them that we don’t already know?”

“I can tell you that they are not better or higher than your people. They are simply different. Their knowledge and power do not make them more significant, nor are they more important. But they believe that they are. I can also tell you that they want the worship of your people and everyone else not only to gain power, but also to steal the free will of those they subjugate, thereby ensuring that their followers no longer have the option of seeking the truth.”

“And the truth would be…?”

“That the Ori are not gods, among other things. And the fact that they owe allegiance to some who are even more advanced than they.”

“What??” This was new. Sam couldn’t imagine who the Ori would be subservient to.

“It is the masters of the Ori who are the real threat to you and your kind.” Joshua continued. “They work in shadow and secrecy, hiding behind lies and facades.”

“And they’re more powerful than the Ori? How in the world are we supposed to fight them?” Sam was getting frustrated. Would this war never end?

“You do not need to concern yourself with them. I will deal with them when the time comes.”

Sam looked into Joshua’s eyes and saw fire and determination there. She shivered a little, not in fear, but in the knowledge that this was not a man to be trifled with. She almost felt sorry for these beings. Almost. “So do the Ancients also answer to this…uh…higher power?”

“Not directly, but their choice to remain aloof from the conflict is the same thing. The masters of the Ori are my enemies, and those who choose to remain neutral I must also count as my enemies. The ancients will be dealt with, as well.” He looked at her again. “As I said, they are not something you need to concern yourself with.”

Joshua sat a moment longer, then stood up, offering Sam a hand. She took it, standing up beside him. “Do you have to go?” she asked.

He smiled that smile that melted her fears to nothing and stroked her cheek. “Child, I will never leave you, but you must rest. See? Jack is waking to relieve you of your watch. Remember, all you need to do is call, and I will show myself.”

Sam turned to glance at Jack, who was indeed beginning to stir, then turned back to Joshua. She blinked. He was gone.

“Sam?” Jack walked up behind her and put his arms around her. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, turning in his arms so he could kissed her lightly. “I’m fine.”

Jack looked into her eyes, studying her for signs of unease. He found only peace and contentment and he kissed her, harder than before, wanting to share in her certainty.

Sam’s breathing quickened and she deepened the kiss, savoring the stolen moment. It didn’t last long.

“Um, could you two keep it down?” Daniel mumbled from inside his sleeping bag. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Daniel,” Jack growled against Sam’s lips as she started to giggle, “has anyone ever told you that your timing absolutely sucks?”

“I do believe that has been said before, O’Neill” Teal’c rumbled from his sleeping bag. “But in this case, Daniel Jackson is correct. Your adenoid gaming is causing a great deal of noise.”

Jack choked and stared at his large friend, “What??” he spluttered as Sam cracked up beside him.

“Yes. Is that not the correct reference? I just read it recently in an intriguing book called…”

“Teal’c, the term is ‘tonsil hockey', and yes, it was totally appropriate.” Daniel cut in quickly.

“Goodnight.” Sam said, still chuckling as she snuggled into Jack’s sleeping bag. It was still warm from his body heat, and it smelled like him. She was asleep almost immediately, unaware that Jack had taken up a watch position right next to her.