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Daniel gestured wildly towards the screen that dominated one wall of the briefing room, before turning back to his audience with a look that said 'share my excitement'. Jack sighed, settling back into his chair - he'd seen that expression on Daniel's face before, and knew that this was likely to be a long session.
"What the UAV probe reveals about this planet, general," Daniel said, his words falling over each other in his haste to explain himself, "makes it an anthropological marvel!" "Slow down, Daniel," Jack said, interrupting him. He stifled a smile at the excitement Daniel couldn't suppress, the joy of discovery that Jack felt as though he hadn't seen for a while. Daniel glanced across at Jack briefly when he spoke, but didn't stop the flow of words that threatened to overwhelm his audience. "...the video footage from the probe shows a village near the 'Gate, and it seems to made up entirely of men. Adult men, that is - there are a number of girl children, but apparently no grown women, or at least none that the UAV's camera could detect." "Your point, Dr. Jackson?" General Hammond asked, his tone even and controlled, despite the fact that he was obviously either impressed by, or annoyed at, Daniel's enthusiasm. "My point? Well, general, my point is that this village is an anomaly. All of the earth-based cultures we have met so far, they have, well, traditional patriarchal structures, some very traditional." Daniel paused, glancing at Sam as he did so. She just smiled back at him, knowing exactly what he was referring to. One of their first missions together as a team had been to just such a society, a society in which Sam had helped to single-handedly start something of a cultural revolution. "This village seems to be very different, " Daniel continued, turning back to the screen as he spoke. "As far as we can tell, from the limited footage provided by the probe, the main caregivers for the children in the village are the men who live there. It's an opportunity we can't afford to miss - after all, the other societies we've seen have maintained very male-dominated structures, and this one seems to have stood that notion on its' head." "No signs of hostile intent in the footage, colonel?" Hammond asked. "None, sir. It all looks really peaceful." "Very well - SG1, you have a go. Be on your guard though, there may be a serpent in the garden. Dismissed."
Passing through the 'Gate, SG1 arrived on the planet itself. Though the 'Gate was situated near the small village whose activities the UAV's camera had recorded, none of its inhabitants seemed to take any notice of the Stargate's activation or the teams arrival. "That's odd," Daniel said, looking around as he walked down the stone steps at the base of the 'Gate. "The planet's inhabitants must have seen the 'Gate being used, when we came through, but no one's interested." "Not odd, but not a good sign, Daniel," Jack corrected, "it could mean they're used to it being used." "This may be a Goa'uld planet," Teal'c said, as he passed them. As the team approached the village, it was clear that they had been spotted, even if no one came out to meet them. As the four travellers came closer to the settlement, they realised that the welcome they were receiving was a cautious one at best. The children of the village ran from them as they approached - they didn't scream, so that was a positive thing, but clearly they were at least startled by the appearance of the newcomers. "Wonder what's freaking them out?" Jack queried, after the third child to spot them had run away before they could even tell if it was a boy or a girl. "They may be concerned at the arrival of a Jaffa in their village." "Or maybe it's our weapons?" Sam theorised. "They would be drastically different from whatever has developed here." As they came into the small clearing at the middle of the settlement, the team were met by a small delegation of locals. For whatever reason, the villagers were clearly afraid of these visitors, though it was also evident that they were desperately attempting to hide the fact. Their hands gripped a variety of wooden tools that Daniel was squinting to try and identify. "Hello," Daniel said, jumping in as he saw Jack was drawing breath to speak, "there's no need to be afraid of us. We're not going to hurt anyone." Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel could see Jack's face harden slightly as he spoke, and could almost hear his friend's thoughts. His natural caution, along with his sense of needing to protect the team, made Jack always think the worst about situations, mentally assessing the best way to get out of a crisis, even before it happened. Not now, Jack, Daniel thought, we don't need to make these people any more nervous than they already are. Smiling in an attempt to reassure the delegation, Daniel scanned the faces assembled before him, trying to decide who was their leader. It was not an easy task - all the people there to meet their strange visitors were men, all apparently in their mid to late thirties, and all looking equally nervous. Fascinated, Daniel noted that they all wore the chiton, each one dyed in an earth tone, all without any mark of rank. Even in length and material, their clothes were identical. Finally, one of the delegation spoke. "Who are you? And what kind of clothing is that which you wear? I have never seen its like before." As the man spoke, his eyes travelled across each member of the team, as if he wanted to memorise their faces, so that he should know them again in a heartbeat. Watching the man look at his friends, Daniel noted that there was no response when he looked at Teal'c - that in itself seemed to indicate the Goa'uld had never been to this planet. That's got to be good news for Teal'c, Daniel thought, it must get tiring if people just scream and run away when they see you... Then the man who had been speaking looked at Sam. Instantly his eyes lowered, his head bowed, and his voice changed. "Forgive us," he said, "all we have is yours. You have only to command. Be welcome to this place." He hesitated, as if expecting a reply from the bemused major, starting a little when Jack was the one who spoke. "Sure. Thank you, but what we'd really like..." Jack's voice ground to a halt - the men were not listening to him. In fact, when Jack spoke, they had turned away slightly from where he was standing, looking silently towards where Sam stood, about 15 feet to Jack's left. Carter glanced once at Daniel for reassurance, before she in turn began to speak. This time the reaction was very different. "Thank you for your hospitality," she said. Daniel could see that she was heartened by the way that the villagers seemed to relax when she began to speak. "Could we ask you some questions?" "You have only to command," repeated the man who had spoken before. "Right," Sam said, not knowing what else to say. "You mentioned our clothing," Daniel began. His words ground to a halt as he noticed the way that the delegation no longer paid any attention to what he was saying. "Sam?" "What? Oh, I get you. You said I had only to command," Sam said, addressing her statement to the bowed heads of the men assembled before her. "It is true." "Then I command you to answer the questions that my friends ask you, holding nothing back," Sam concluded, with a grin in Daniel's direction. Smiling tightly, the men nodded in agreement, turning slightly back towards the others in the team, but saying nothing.
Nearly an hour, and many questions, later, Daniel professed himself a little baffled. Despite Sam's instructions to hold nothing back in response to his questions, the men had not been anything like as forthcoming as he would have liked. Any answer had to be almost pried out of them, hedged round as the facts seemed to be by the men either not knowing, or not caring to know, the answers to the questions that intrigued Daniel the most. They had readily agreed that they were the main care-givers of the children that were now lurking in the shadows, their eyes fixed on these strange visitors, and that it had always been so. When asked why there were no women there, the men could, or would not answer. It was as though the concept 'woman' itself escaped them - Daniel had pointed towards Sam when he asked the question, which action had, in itself, led to eyes being cast to the ground once again. "Never." That was what the spokesman had said, and that word alone had been all the answer Daniel could get, turn his questions around as he might. Finally, frustration creeping up on him, Daniel had given up. "Well?" "I can't get them to tell me anything, Jack," Daniel said. "But I ordered them to tell you everything," Sam said, her previous triumph now just a memory. "Yes..." said Daniel, "but they have told me all I think they know. They didn't even seem to know what a woman was until I pointed to you." "So that's what all that shuffling of feet was about," Jack said, "I thought you'd said something to upset them..." "I think I did," said Daniel, with a sigh, " but I can't figure out what it was."
"We should explore further," Daniel suggested, "there's nothing more we can learn here." After exchanging friendly goodbyes with the inhabitants of the village, still conscious of the weight of the children's eyes on them, SG-1 left, heading up into the hills surrounding. The ambush was sudden - one minute they were alone and the next they were surrounded, their attackers seeming to appear from thin air. Sharp spears in close proximity to their throats pre-empted any kind of movement, the dark wary eyes of their captors watching them intently. It took a moment for SG-1 to discover that the people who surrounded them were all women, dressed in tunics that blended into the colours of the scrubby undergrowth. One woman, by her posture a leader among them, was wearing a badge of bronze on her tunic, the design that of a stag, etched simply with a few flowing lines. "I recognise that symbol," Daniel said, almost to himself, as he took an involuntary half-step back from the nearest spearpoint. He looked round at the women for a moment. "You're Amazons, aren't you?" "Who are you?" the woman asked. "And what brings you to the lands of Artemis?"
"Where are my friends?" Sam asked, when the door to the hut opened. She had been separated from the others at spearpoint, and urged away from them, before being shoved into here. "The men who accompanied you? They are safe." The woman who had entered paused for a moment, her eyes assessing, before she seemed to come to some decision. "How are you known? My name is Deianeira, and I have been sent to bring you to the feast." "My name? I'm Sam... erm, Samantha Carter." "Samantha?" Deianeira echoed. "What kind of name is that for a warrior? We must consider a more appropriate one, with the Goddess' blessing. Perhaps you should be known as Androdameia?" "Goddess?" Sam asked, changing the subject. "She who we serve, Samantha." As she spoke, Deianeira's hand brushed lightly across her abdomen. "She whose children we carry." "You're Jaffa?" Sam asked. She looked carefully at Deianeira with this information in mind - she didn't have a sign on her forehead which indicated the Goa'uld she served, unlike all of the Jaffa they had met before. "We serve Artemis," Deianeira said, "and it has always been so. Now, come eat with us, Samantha." Sam followed Deianeira out of the hut, taking the opportunity to look for the rest of the team, who were nowhere in sight. "Artemis?" she asked, trying to buy some time as she followed the Amazon. "I'm afraid I don't know much of your Goddess, Deianeira." Deianeira nodded, she seemed unsurprised by this. "It is as the Goddess foretold. This is why we followed her, she who we serve." Sam considered that enigmatic answer. Clearly she was going to have as little success in getting a straight answer from these women as Daniel had experienced with the men they had first encountered.
Despite their protests, Jack being particularly voluble on the subject of why they needed to be together, Sam had been separated off from the men. When they had been stripped of their weapons, the three of them were herded into a mud hut, with women warriors standing guard at the doorway. "Oh, this is working out so well." "What did you expect, Jack?" Daniel asked. "If these women are Amazons, they won't have a great deal of respect for anyone other than Sam." He paused for a moment, considering. "Well, I suppose that explains the way the village is organised. Men as caregivers for the children, I mean," he elaborated. "You mean the women just have the babies and that's it?" Jack shook his head. "That sounds like some cheesy sci fi movie. What do you think they want us for?" He looked intrigued rather than alarmed. "I think if we can manage to not leap to any conclusions, that would help a great deal," Daniel said. "And that includes any ideas about what they're planning for us." "What?" Jack asked, looking affronted. "I never said a word!" There was silence for a moment. "I wonder how this happened," Daniel said. "I mean, how did they get here?" "You think some Goa'uld brought them all here?" Jack asked. "That would seem likely," Teal'c said, as he turned from where he had been standing by the doorway. "The warriors here are most organised and well-trained in combat." "Traditionally," Daniel began, ignoring Jack's suppressed groan at the word. "Traditionally the warrior women of Earth's history were in service to Artemis." He glanced across at the warriors who stood guard at the entrance, just in time to see one of them glance across to the other. He looked back at Jack and Teal'c. "Her Egyptian counterpart was the goddess Neith, who is also represented as a huntress." "That is a Goa'uld I do not know," Teal'c said. Daniel was about to say more when he noticed two more women approaching the hut in which they were being held captive. As they reached the doorway, one of them was spoken to quietly by the guards. After a moment's conversation, the two new women, both heavily armed, entered the hut and came towards where Daniel was standing. "Hello, I'm Daniel," he began, but it was as if he hadn't spoken. The two women grabbed him by the arms, and began to pull him towards the doorway of the hut. "Hey!" Jack moved to intervene, only to find one of the women who had been guarding the doorway had stepped inside, and a razor-sharp spearpoint was now levelled at his throat. "Where are you taking him?" "It's okay," Daniel said, as he was half-pulled through the doorway, hoping that he was telling the truth.
Daniel was brought into the largest hut in the encampment, the two women who still grasped him firmly by the upper arms halting him in front of a woman who was seated on a slightly-raised dais. "I am Orithia," the woman said, leaning forward, her dark eyes intent on his. She was in her early thirties, Daniel estimated, her face currently solemn but the lines around her eyes indicated humour. Her dark hair was braided intricately, and pulled back from her face to a clasp that rested on one shoulder. That clasp was clearly a symbol of her authority, its surface engraved with the symbol of a stag. "Who are you, and why do you come here?" "We are travellers," Daniel began. "We seek to learn from those we meet, to exchange knowledge with them. But this was unexpected - to encounter Amazons here..." "You know of us?" Orithia interrupted. "I was told you had spoken of our goddess." "What? Of course! The Amazons are one of the most famous warrior tribes of our planet's mythology..." Daniel said, pleased to see that this woman, at least, had decided to look him in the face when he was talking. He had found being ignored in such a widescale way rather disconcerting. "She lied..." Orithia said, clearly speaking to herself. "I'm sorry?" Daniel asked, not sure if he had heard the whispered words correctly. "What did you say? Who lied?" "We must continue this discussion at a later time," Orithia said abruptly, getting up from her seat. She clapped her hands to summon the guards from outside and smiled reassuringly at Daniel. "We will speak again, scholar, but now I must be alone. There is much I need to think upon. You will be returned to your friends." With that, Orithia retired to the partitioned space at the back of the room, leaving Daniel alone with the two Amazon women who had entered at her signal. Both glared at him, apparently blaming him for Orithia's sudden change in mood, and he let them lead him back to Teal'c and Jack without protest.
"What the hell is going on?" Jack asked, when Daniel was brought in. "And where is Carter?" "I have no idea, Jack," Daniel replied, turning to watch his former escort leave. "But I'm pretty sure that these women are the Amazon of legend, so I doubt that Sam's in any danger." "Amazon?" Teal'c asked. "Is that not the name of one of your planet's great rivers?" "It is, Teal'c. And also the name of a famous..." "Fictional..." Jack interjected. "Tribe of warrior women," Daniel continued, ignoring Jack's interruption. "Although there's no clear evidence that they ever actually existed, there are many examples of women fighting in a wide variety of Earth's historical cultures." Jack groaned, sensing that Daniel was headed for yet another lecture he could well live without.
"I need to see my friends," Sam said, as Deianeira led her through the village once more. "They are unharmed, Samantha," Deianeira replied. "You have our oath on this." "Do they know I'm okay?" Sam persisted. Deianeira looked at her, as if the thought of telling the rest of the team this, giving them that kind of reassurance, had never occurred. "Can I see them? Just for a few moments?" Deianeira nodded. She led Sam to a hut standing a little way from the centre of the village, one which was conspicuous in having Amazons standing guard over the doorway. "We can stay only moments, Samantha," Deianeira said, before allowing Sam to walk into the hut alone. "Carter?" "Sam, are you okay?" "I'm fine," Sam said, smiling at the way the worried looks of her teammates relaxed when they saw her. "Are you being treated okay?" "Just peachy," Jack said. "This must be the presidential suite right here." He indicated the interior of the hut with a disparaging sweep of his arm. "Have they told you anything?" Daniel asked, as if he was ignoring Jack's attempt at sarcasm. "About the Goa'uld they serve?" "Just hints, Daniel, nothing more," Sam replied. "They claim to serve Artemis." Daniel nodded. "But apart from that what little they say is pretty cryptic." "That's in keeping with the way their society operated, what little we know of it. As a non-Amazon, you've done well to gain their trust enough to even learn that much." "All this is fine and dandy," Jack said, interrupting, "but does it get us any closer to getting the hell out of here?" "Any information Sam can acquire is valuable for that," Daniel said, turning to Jack. "The Amazons are much more likely to talk to her than to me." "Great." "I can do this, sir," Sam said, feeling slightly affronted. "I'm sure you can, Carter," Jack said. "But we're not getting any younger here." Sam turned her attention back to Daniel to hide her annoyance with the colonel's attitude. Did he think that she wasn't trying to discover anything she could that might help them get out of there? "Daniel?" she asked, thinking of something. "What does the name 'Androdameia' mean?"
"Deianeira," Sam began, when they were sat at the feast later. "Could you answer a question for me?" "Certainly, Samantha. What would you know?" Deianeira replied, offering Sam another piece of meat. "Thank you, no, I couldn't eat any more. What I wanted to ask was how your people came to be here. The Amazons are still spoken of on my planet, but they lived there a long time ago. How was it that your people came to be here?" "We made a bargain, Samantha." "A bargain?" Sam repeated, hoping Deianeira would be less cryptic than the other Amazons she had already questioned on this subject. "A bargain with whom?" Deianeira glanced round slyly then, as if checking to see if they could be overheard. Even after she had satisfied herself that nobody was within earshot, the Amazon still hesitated. "It is forbidden to speak of it to one who is not of us," she finally answered. Sam sighed, her hope of determining the situation here seemingly thwarted once more. "However..." Deianeira continued, surprising Sam when she continued so unexpectedly, "...if you are not one of us, I believe that it is only by the accident of your birth that it is so. You have the spirit of an Amazon, Samantha, if not the name." Sam smiled at this. She had been reluctant to use the full version of her name, but the Amazon seemed to expect it. "I spoke of a bargain, Samantha. It was made many centuries ago, in another place. In return for the preservation of our ways, we pledged our eternal loyalty to Artemis, and she brought us to this place." Deianeira had spoken quietly, so quietly that Sam had to lean forward in order to hear what she was saying.
"Orithia wishes to speak to you again, scholar," said one of the guards, as she paused by the bench where the three male members of SG1 were seated. After much persuasion, they had been allowed outside the hut, if not any further into the village itself. "Okay. I'll be back soon," Daniel said to Teal'c and Jack, as he got up from the bench, grabbing his notebook from his jacket pocket. "It would seem we're not going anywhere," Jack drawled, leaning back further against the wall where the bench stood. Tipping his hat forward slightly, it looked as though the colonel planned to sleep right there. Entering Orithia's presence again, Daniel was pleased to see the Amazon leader smile and beckon him forward as he entered. Though she did not rise from her seat, she gestured towards a chair set near to her dais and waited till Daniel had settled himself there before she spoke. "I must beg your forgiveness, scholar," Orithia said, "for the haste with which our last speaking ended. You gave me much to think upon." "I did?" Daniel asked, thinking back over the few words they had exchanged. "I can't remember anything that I said which was that important..." "With your few words, scholar, you have helped me to make an important decision for the Amazon, and for myself. A decision whose results you shall witness," Orithia said. Clapping her hands to summon the guards from outside, Orithia once again smiled at Daniel's obvious concern. "Do not worry, scholar," she said, "nothing is going to happen to you or your friends. On that you have my word." "Then what...?"
"Daniel? What's going on?" Daniel arrived back at the hut with his customary escort of Amazon women, who urged the two seated men to their feet. "I'm not sure," Daniel replied, as the three of them were herded by spearpoint back towards Orithia's hut. He led the way in, hoping for once that Jack might possibly keep his mouth shut. "You are welcome to this place," Orithia began, as she stood and beckoned one of the guards to approach. "Retrieve their weapons and bring Samantha here as well." "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack asked, as he glared up at where Orithia was standing. She stared impassively back at him, one dark eyebrow arched at his tone. "This is Orithia, Jack," Daniel said, before any kind of explosion occurred between the two of them. "The leader of the Amazons," he said, lending as much emphasis to his words as he could. Before Jack could say anything else, Sam was brought in by one set of guards, one of whom she was clearly eminently comfortable with. She was followed by another Amazon who was weighted down with an assortment of MP5s and assorted weaponry. With a nod to Orithia, she approached where SG-1 were standing and allowed them to take their weapons from her. "Okay," Jack said, checking over the magazine of his automatic weapon. "Now we're talking." "Thankyou, Orithia," Daniel said, as he buckled on his holster, smiling as he felt the comfortable weight of his 9mm pistol against his thigh. "You said something earlier about us being witnesses?" Orithia nodded once, before leading the way from the hut. They followed her, conscious of their Amazon escort, warriors who only moments before had been their captors and now appeared to be their allies. The path they followed meandered a little, but seemed to be headed up into the hills that surrounded the encampment, before turning sharply to head into a narrow canyon of rock. At the end of the passageway stood a temple, its Greek origins clear to all who saw it. Orithia continued into the temple itself, pushing her way through layer upon layer of diaphanous hangings until she led the way into a large chamber. Like the hut that Orithia occupied in the village, the chamber's main feature was a dais. Unlike Orithia's hut, this chamber was richly decorated, murals of twining vines covering much of the surface of the walls. The chair on the dais was occupied, and Daniel couldn't help contrasting this woman with Orithia once more. She was dressed ornately, her hair braided and coiled, her face seemingly fixed in a petulant expression. "Why do you not bow before me?" Artemis asked, in an imperious voice. "Because we have learned the truth," Orithia replied, staring scornfully up at the woman seated on the dais. Artemis rose from her seat, one hand brushing her ornate robe straight as she stood. Crossing to the edge of the dais, she slowly descended the steps at its edge, her eyes locked with those of her First Prime as she crossed the short distance between them. "Why do you defy me so?" she asked. "Have we not served you faithfully these centuries, Artemis? Laid down our lives in your service, fought your wars, nurtured your children?" Orithia asked. "Yet all of this was based upon a lie." "What foolishness is this?" Half-turning to where SG-1 stood in the shadows of the great hall, Orithia beckoned towards them. "Step forward, my friends." Orithia turned back to Artemis then, contempt clear in her expression. "These travellers have told me much, much that you have kept from us all these years as we have followed your commands." "Who are these people? Guards, attend me!" At her call a number of heavily-armed guards entered the hall, crossing to the side of their goddess protectively. "Take them." "Halt!" Orithia's voice cut through in the moment before the guards moved to obey Artemis' command. "They are under my protection." The guards hesitated, looking from one woman to the other, evidently reluctant to commit themselves to the orders of one above the other despite their reverence for their goddess. "Tell them what you told me, scholar," Orithia continued, smiling slightly at the tense expression on Daniel's face. "Tell them how our service is a lie, how our ancestors were tricked into an oath that never should have been made." "You are the one who lies!" Artemis screamed. "Kill them! Kill them all!" Orithia moved to intercept the guards, as they finally decided to obey Artemis' commands. She halted them with a gesture. "All these years we have served you," she said, "but no more. It would have been better had you told the truth to us in the beginning, or had the Amazon race been truly in danger of extinction. Better that we had died than to live this way." "That was what she told you?" Daniel asked, as he moved closer to where Orithia was standing. He saw Jack tense as he did so, but kept going. "That the Amazon were about to be destroyed?" "She did, scholar, and she offered us a future. Little did we know what that future would require of us, the lives that it would cost, the slavery to which we must give ourselves over. And all for the promise of survival." "But the Amazon were lost," Daniel continued. "They disappeared from our history almost as swiftly as they appeared." "Because we followed her, scholar," Orithia replied, glancing towards Artemis. "Because she brought us here, to serve her." "And told you no-one would remember you," Daniel concluded, realising now what it was that he had said before. The words that had so galvanised Orithia into action, making her defy her goddess. "That was why you were so surprised when I knew who you were..." "Indeed." "Your people vowed to serve me of their own free will," Artemis said, with a sneer. "And now that vow is broken," Orithia replied. "Today, we shall be free." "Free? When you carry my child in you? You are my slaves, dependent on my on-going favour for your lives!" "No. I shall be a slave no longer," Orithia said, turning to Daniel. "My thanks to you, scholar. You have opened my eyes to the truth." "What will you do?" Daniel asked, even as a feeling of dread came over him. Orithia smiled, shook her head at his expression and then, with a movement that was almost too swift for Daniel to follow, plunged her hand deep into her stomach. She pulled the infant Goa'uld from where it had been nestled and threw it at the feet of a horrified Artemis. "I die free," Orithia said, before she slumped to the ground. Daniel was the closest and was at her side in a moment, cradling Orithia's shoulders and watching horrified as the larvae twitched and writhed on the floor nearby. "This changes nothing!" Artemis exclaimed, as she crossed to where the infant Goa'uld lay, closer to Orithia and Daniel. The rest of SG-1 took a step forward as one, their weapons raised, as the Goa'uld neared them. "Jack, we have to do something," Daniel said. "We can't let Orithia die like this." Jack glanced down swiftly at Daniel and then looked up again as Artemis spoke once more. "You will make a fine host for my child," Artemis said, her gaze resting on Carter. "I don't think so," Sam replied, raising her MP5 as she spoke. "I've been there and I don't much like the idea of repeating that experience." "Don't you get it?" Jack asked. "Your time in charge is over, your worshipness. End of the free ride."
Orithia was dying, of that Daniel had no doubt. From the moment she had made her choice and torn the gift of her 'goddess' from her body, she had known exactly what she was doing. Orithia must have known the slow and painful death she was condemning herself to, and yet she had chosen it anyway. And for what? An act of defiance? "Your people need you," Daniel told Orithia, conscious of the stand-off that was continuing nearby. A swift glance told him that neither Artemis nor his team-mates had moved, though the Goa'uld was still glaring angrily at them. "Why did you do this?" "I could no longer live if living meant serving her," Orithia said, the words so quiet Daniel had to lean closer to hear them. "The lie made our service unbearable." Daniel nodded, understanding a little more now. "My only regret is that there is no way of freeing my people without destroying them." She coughed a little, jerking slightly in Daniel's embrace. "It seems Artemis was right. We are her slaves." She closed her eyes, her face relaxing slightly as she breathed. There had to be something they could do. Some way of changing this, of giving Orithia and her people at least a chance at freedom. "Does Artemis have a sarcophagus?" Daniel asked. Orithia nodded once, without opening her eyes. "Then maybe things aren't as hopeless as they seem."
Jack had seen that expression before, on the faces of a dozen different Goa'uld. It was the expression of one who believed in their own innate superiority, just because they had a snake inside their head, and it made him want to wipe it away, preferably with his fist. And this one seemed to have taken quite a liking to Carter. It was equally obvious that the feeling wasn't mutual. "Bow before me," Artemis said, as if she really still expected that they would all suddenly come to their senses and worship her. "Not gonna happen." Artemis' eyes glowed gold as anger flared through her at Jack's response. No matter how often Jack saw that happen, it never failed to send a shudder through him. He wondered how long Artemis had been in this particular host, whether anything of the host had survived - the same thoughts that always raced through his mind whenever they came face to face with the Goa'uld. The same thoughts Jack knew haunted Daniel. Still, there was no time now for all of that. Orithia was dying, would die unless they did something. And soon. "If you will not worship me, then I will destroy you," Artemis continued, her eyes glowing once more. She raised her hand, showing the ribbon device. Both Jack and Carter let off a volley of automatic fire, which crashed into the forcefield surrounding the Goa'uld and ricocheted away. The pain of the hand device was familiar, hitting Jack in a wave - it drove Jack to his knees as it thundered through his head. He closed his eyes, fighting back a wave of nausea. "Sir!" It was Carter's voice, but the agony of the ribbon device made it impossible for Jack to concentrate on what she was saying. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the searing pain was was over. Jack opened his eyes reluctantly. "Carter?" Sam turned from where she stood over the body of Artemis. She had clearly tackled the Goa'uld as soon as she had attacked with the ribbon device - the knife that dripped blood in Sam's hand showed in graphic detail just how she had stopped Artemis' attack. Carter's face was paler than usual but her expression was resolute. At that moment Jack decided that Carter looked every inch the soldier he'd always known she was. "Good work, major," he continued, letting Teal'c help him up from where he had been kneeling. Jack frowned as his stomach did one more lazy nauseated roll, before it settled, the pounding in his head also lessening to a dull throb. As he stood, Jack looked across to where Daniel was still sitting on the dusty floor, the body of the Amazon leader cradled in his arms. "Daniel?" "She's still alive, Jack. But only just." Daniel didn't look up, all his attention focussed on Orithia. "We need to find the sarcophagus."
In the end, one of the guards led them deep into the heart of the temple, and straight to the sarcophagus. Once they had placed Orithia inside, all they could do was wait, hoping that the Goa'uld technology would work to cure one who had once served the Goa'uld. "Do you think this will work, Teal'c?" Daniel asked, as the long minutes ticked by. "I am uncertain," Teal'c replied. "The sarcophagus healed you when you were close to death on more than one occasion, but I am unsure whether it can reverse the prim'ta." "Then Orithia could need another infant Goa'uld to survive?" "That would seem likely." "Hey, she knew what she was doing," Jack said. "She decided she didn't want one of those things inside her any more." He looked at Teal'c. "No offence, buddy." "None taken, O'Neill." "You're right," Daniel said. "We can't make her take another infant Goa'uld, even if we had one for her. She knew what she was doing." "If the sarcophagus can stabilise her," Sam began, "even for a little while. At least then she can choose what she wants to do." "Her people need her," Daniel said. "It's as simple as that." The whirring of the sarcophagus interrupted whatever Daniel intended to say next. The four of them watched intently as the lid slid round, before waiting to see what happened next. "Where am I?" "We used one of Artemis' devices to keep you alive," Sam said, crossing over to the side of the sarcophagus. "How do you feel?" "Like I have been ripped apart," Orithia said, closing her eyes. "Why did you do this?" "Artemis is dead," Jack said. "You're free. All of you." "Free to do what?" Orithia asked. She opened her eyes and looked at him intently. "Without her children we will all surely die, sooner or later. That much of what she said is true - we are still her slaves even if Artemis herself no longer lives." "But what about your people?" Daniel asked. "And the children we saw in the village. They'll need your wisdom - now that Artemis is dead they need you more than ever." "I am dying, scholar. You know that and so do I." As she spoke, Orithia began to sit up, glaring at Daniel and Sam as they tried to help her. "Then you must take back the symbiont," Teal'c said, coming forward and ignoring the look Orithia gave him as he tried to assist her. "There is still time." "You don't understand what you're asking of me." "Who else would understand more?" Teal'c asked, meeting her gaze without blinking. "You are needed here." There was silence for a moment in the chamber, before Orithia nodded once, that gesture signifying her agreement to stay alive, for the sake of her people.
Once re-united with her infant Goa'uld, Orithia recovered quickly, though it was clear that she was still reluctant to have made that decision. "I thank you for what you have done," she said to SG-1, as she presided over a feast in their honour. "It is to you that we owe our freedom, and to you in particular, Samantha, as it was you who was responsible for the slaying of the false one." "I only did what I had to," Sam replied. Orithia nodded, before taking off the clasp that she wore. She leaned forward and placed it in Sam's hand. "Henceforth you are one of us, Samantha. Or you may wish to go by another name, one more suited to the Amazon? Deianeira tells me that she suggested you be known as Androdameia." Sam glanced at Daniel, who looked down at his plate to try and hide his smile. "Major?" Jack asked, looking between the two of them. "Something you want to let me in on?" Sam said nothing. "Daniel?" Daniel looked up from the piece of meat he was pulling apart. "I promised Sam," he said. "Sorry." "Major," Jack began. "I could make it an order...." Orithia intervened, her smile growing. She reached out and closed Sam's fingers around the clasp she had given her before turning back to Jack. "It is a common name amongst us," she said. "My own grandmother bore it." "And...?" "I believe Samantha knows its meaning, does she not?" Orithia turned to Daniel, who nodded. "I translated it for her." "I'm dying here," Jack said, interrupting. "Will someone please tell me?" "When we get back to the SGC, Jack," Daniel said. "If Sam agrees. After all, we don't want to cause a diplomatic incident."
~fin~
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