Shen
By PeaceHeather - arrantxa at nlci dot com


RATING: Probably FR-T for disturbing themes and violence

CATEGORY: gen, action/adventure, hurt/comfort

PAIRING: none

SPOILERS: none, one-sentence mention of The Other Side (blink and you'll 
miss it)

TIME FRAME: No info given

SUMMARY: The people of Arkona take the concept of slavery to a whole new 
level.  The SGC needs Arkona's naquada supply.  And we know how SG-1 feel 
about slavery...  

ARCHIVE: Alpha Gate and Comfort Zone ONLY.  Anyone else please ask; 
permission usually granted, I just like to know.

DISCLAIMER: The usual -- all regular characters, logos, etc. are retained 
by the owners and producers of Stargate: SG-1.  Original characters, plot 
idea, nifty linguistics, and general philosophizing are mine, mine, mine 
and I expect a FAT royalty check, lots of 'em, if this story gets 
"appropriated" and turned into an episode.  Other than that, it's not for 
sale and no copyright infringement is intended.  (Although if your name 
is Michael Shanks, I'm willing to negotiate -- one writer to another, of 
course...)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Believe it or not, this is NOT the cliched "Daniel sold 
into slavery" plot line!

When this story was originally conceived, I did not plan for a whole lot 
of plot, just Danny-whumping -- but I'd seen episodes with thinner 
premises, so there.  Unfortunately, I've discovered since beginning this 
story that I cannot actually write a short story; the ideas just keep 
growing.

I've tried to keep it from getting out of hand, but if abduction, abuse, 
and brainwashing (not of Daniel) disturb you, you might possibly want to 
pass this story by. Sigh.


                         *******************

The mood around the briefing room table was subdued as SG-1 concluded its 
report of the findings on their recent expedition.  The planet, called 
Arkona by its people, had looked promising; the Arkon people were 
reasonably friendly, amenable to trade, and as it turned out had no use 
for the rich deposits of naquada in the mountains beyond the city.  
Everything should have been perfect, and from a strictly military 
viewpoint Arkona would have been a confirmed ally as of yesterday.  For 
better or worse, the team assigned to meet with the Arkon was not one 
that operated on a strictly military viewpoint.

"The shen are... well, to explain let me just draw your attention to the 
Arkon language for a moment," said Dr. Jackson.  "The word 'ne-shen' 
means object, and the word 'shen-er' means slave - which from a 
linguistic standing is a logical relationship if you assume that slaves 
are property.  But the shen are - I mean, listen to the word, it's 
literally *less than* a shen-er, less than ne-shen.  They're..." He ran a 
hand quickly through his hair in frustration, searching for words that 
the English language didn't have.

"The shen are rare, and extremely valuable property," said Teal'c coldly.  
"The reason for this is that the 'training' necessary to produce a shen 
often leads to death for the slave.  This training begins in childhood.  
Of the seven shen we saw during our visit to Arkona, three were still in 
their adolescence." His expression would have frightened anyone outside 
the confines of the room.  "Their obedience was total."

"It's brainwashing, sir," put in Colonel O'Neill.  "Really, really sick, 
thorough brainwashing. What Teal'c isn't saying is that in about half the 
cases where they die in 'training', it's because they've - I guess shut 
down - because they don't have permission to handle basic bodily 
functions." He looked disgusted.  "As in, their goddamn *kidneys* quit 
because they haven't been *told* to process."  Jack took a deep breath 
and willed his fists to unclench. "Some of the owners are proud of this, 
sir.  One of 'em ordered his shen to stop breathing, just to show off.  
She..." 

"I don't need to know any more, Colonel, thank you," said General Hammond 
with a nod.  "Unfortunately, as you are all well aware, we are under 
extra pressure, again, to produce material evidence of successful 
negotiations with other planets, in order to justify our program's 
continued existence.  Regardless of how you or I feel about their 
culture, the fact remains that the Arkon have large quantities of naquada 
that they don't care about, literally sitting there in the ground waiting 
for someone to come along and mine."

"And that someone gets to be us," finished O'Neill.

"Yes, I'm afraid it does," said Hammond.  "I'm aware of your feelings on 
this matter, people; however, the Pentagon will not have the same empathy 
toward these shen, and will not accept the Arkon's cultural... habits... 
as a valid excuse not to mine the naquada."  He looked around the silent 
room.  "I'm sorry, everyone.  Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel sighed.  "Standard treaty arrangement, I suppose, General?"  At 
Hammond's nod, he slowly stood and gathered his things.  "You'll forgive 
me if this one takes a little longer to draft, sir... and before I get 
started, I'd like to officially register my disgust, no, my absolute 
abhorrence, that any branch of the United States military would even 
think about generating a lucrative trade agreement with a culture that -"

"So noted, Doctor Jackson," interrupted the general.  His voice softened, 
and he sighed.  "So noted."

There was a tense pause, then Daniel nodded.  "Thank you, sir."  He 
turned and, in three long strides, was out the door.

Hammond gazed after him for a moment before saying quietly, "There are 
days when I really don't enjoy this job."  His focus sharpened once more 
as he stood, said "Dismissed," and left the room in the opposite 
direction.

                         *******************

Two hours later, Daniel was still staring at his computer screen and the 
five lines he had managed to type since leaving the briefing.  The treaty 
was completely typical in its wording; the difficulty lay in translating 
to Arkon - not because the language was so hard, but because every time 
he let his mind go there, he started remembering the shen.  As honored 
guests, SG-1 had been invited to stay in the wealthiest quarter of the 
city, where the shen lived almost exclusively - for the simple reason 
that no one else could afford them.  And as honored guests, SG-1 were 
offered the loan of two shen to wait on their every need during their 
stay; luckily, they had managed to turn down the offer without offending 
their hosts.

Daniel shook himself out his musings for what was probably the third 
time, and pushed his chair back from the desk.  "There are days," he 
muttered to himself, "when I really don't enjoy this job..."

"You know, Hammond said the same thing after you left the briefing," came 
Jack's voice, making Daniel jump.  "Sucks, doesn't it?"

Daniel nodded.  "Yes, yes it really does."  He looked up at Jack over the 
top of his glasses.  "I mean, I'm tempted to put some clause in there 
that no one who works the mines is permitted to be a shen, or to have one 
in their... possession."  He made a face, as if the very words had a foul 
taste to them.

"Want to get out of here for a while?"  Jack was leaning up against the 
doorway, dressed in civilian clothes now, but still looking just about as 
disgusted as Daniel felt - as he had, in fact, felt from the moment they 
had first been introduced to this side of Arkon culture.  Daniel shook 
his head.

"I've got to finish this treaty.  Much as I might wish otherwise..."

"Daniel, give it up, I can see from here you don't even have a whole 
paragraph done yet.  Am I right?"  When Daniel only nodded wearily, he 
said, "So, let's go.  O'Malley's - good steak, good beer, good company - 
get your mind off of it for a while."  He raised one eyebrow.  "You know 
you want to."

"Yeah," Daniel sighed.  "Yeah, I do."  He hit the "Save" button on his 
computer.  "Give me ten minutes; I'll meet you up top."

                         *******************

"Major, may I remind you we're supposed to be having fun here?"  O'Neill 
nudged his second-in-command, startling her into looking up at her dinner 
companions.  "I'm sure rearranging your fries is an absolutely 
fascinating exercise and all."

The restaurant was bustling, blues was playing in the background, and a 
group of guys were laughing it up around the pool table in one corner, 
but the cheer couldn't seem to penetrate the mood around SG-1's table.  
No matter what topic came up, the four had dropped into glum silence 
after only a few exchanges.

"Sorry, sir," replied Carter.  "I just can't get my mind off that poor 
girl we saw.  You know, the one shen, the one whose master made her...?" 
She trailed off and looked back at her plate, as Daniel reached out and 
put a hand on her arm.  "I just don't get it - how could anyone *let* 
another person treat them like that?"

"Hell, Carter," sighed O'Neill.  "Why do people join cults?  You know?  
Waco, Jim Jones, those guys?  Why don't they get out once they see it's 
all going down the tubes?"

"I dunno, sir," said Carter miserably.

"Well, I do," retorted Jack.  He leaned forward in his seat.  "Some 
people want others to do their thinking for them - pathetic, but true."

"Wait, Jack, that's not fair, these shen get indoctrinated when they're 
only kids, they can't *want* something like that -"

"Ah, I'm not finished."  Jack held his beer bottle up until Daniel 
subsided.  "People might *join* cults because they want someone to tell 
them what to believe, but they wind up sticking around because those guys 
are *masters* of manipulation.  Mess with your head long enough and 
before long you *can't* think for yourself."  He took a sip, twirled the 
bottle in his hands.  "You guys ever hear of Stockholm Syndrome?"

Teal'c said, "I have not."

Daniel frowned.  "Sounds familiar, but I can't think where from."

"It was named for an incident in Stockholm, Sweden that became famous," 
said Sam.  "There was a bank robbery where the people inside were held 
hostage for six days.  When the standoff ended, some of the victims 
fought against the police who had come to rescue them, and later on they 
refused to testify at the robbers' trial."

"Wait, you mean like the Patty Hearst kidnapping, right?  Where she wound 
up joining her abductors' political movement or something, a few months 
after she was rescued?"

"Very similar, yes," said Sam.

"Did not the hostages fight rescue because the robbers had frightened 
them into submission?" asked Teal'c.

"Yes and no, big guy," answered Jack.  "In a hostage situation, people do 
anything to survive - you can't keep things in perspective.  Any little 
thing your captor does that seems at all friendly, like *not* killing 
you, gets blown out of proportion until you start to think that, hey, 
these guys are great.  You do anything to stay on their good side, 
naturally; but you start telling yourself that it's because these people 
are your friends.  You start fighting anything that might threaten to 
unbalance the situation.  A rescue is definitely a threat, so..." He 
shrugged.

"So," Sam said carefully, "you're saying these shen are obedient because 
they've been conditioned - conditioned through abuse - to think that 
their masters are wonderful people?"  She shook her head.  "I don't know 
if I'll ever really understand it, sir.  It would make sense if they were 
still hostages, but they're surrounded by people who aren't forced 
into... into total subjugation, the way they are."

"But they are still hostages, Sam," said Daniel gently.  "Even though 
only a few people can afford to own a shen, their whole culture supports 
this as the norm.  I bet if we looked, we'd find stories where escaped 
slaves were found and punished by other shen themselves."

The table was silent for a moment.

"Well, so trying not to talk about it sure as hell isn't working, is it?" 
groused Jack.  He looked at each of his teammates.  "This sucks.  And I 
mean this really sucks. I haven't seen Hammond look so miserable since 
Euronda."

"There's no way out of this, is there?" said Daniel.  For just a second, 
he looked exhausted, worn out utterly from years of fighting against the 
mindset that kept them in contact with planets and cultures like Arkona.

"God, I wish," said Jack.

"Me too," came Sam's immediate response, followed by Teal'c's "As do I."

                         *******************

The passage of three days found SG-1 stepping through the Gate once more 
to Arkona, treaty in hand, to participate in the ceremonies that would 
formalize their trade agreement.  The Arkon were especially interested in 
studying agricultural advances that would permit them larger crop yields 
in the stony, scrub-covered grounds outside their cities.  The colonel 
could care less - it would be mostly Daniel's show, and Jack was only 
really here to keep an eye on him until the formalities were concluded.  
As far as he was concerned, the Arkon were willing to trade digging in 
the ground for naquada, in order to learn to dig in the ground for beans.

When he turned to share his wit with Daniel, he found the linguist 
trudging along beside him with a notepad in hand, muttering under his 
breath.

"Daniel?"

"Hm?  Oh, just making sure I've got the different class designations 
right for the Arkon hierarchical structure."  He held up his notepad.  
"Kind of like trying to remember the difference between a general, a 
major general, and a brigadier general, except they all rhyme."

"How do you say 'don't trip over your own two feet' in Arkon?"

"Very funny, Jack."

"I believe the correct phrasing is 'kan'au nash ta ferna hau', O'Neill."  
Teal'c fell into step on Dr. Jackson's other side.  "Is that not so, 
Daniel Jackson?"

"Wait a minute, since when do you speak Arkon!"

"Close, Teal'c, it's actually, 'kan'au-jia nash ta ferna hau-jia', where 
the 'jia' implies both ownership for your feet, and personal command for 
tripping..." Daniel tapped his chin with the notepad.  "Hmm, ownership 
and command... you know, that's an interesting connection, wonder why I 
missed it before?"

"'Scuse me.  Teal'c?"

"O'Neill, you were present when Daniel Jackson and I agreed that it would 
be helpful for a second member of SG-1 to possess rudimentary ability in 
this language, since Daniel Jackson will be, as you say, 'tied up' in 
negotiations for much of the day."

Jack ignored the smug face marching along over Daniel's right shoulder.  
"What, so you can say, 'Pardon me, where is the bathroom?'

"'Sharma-ko, go-sherna tamvak'au', O'Neill."

Jack ignored Carter's badly disguised snort of laughter from somewhere 
vaguely up ahead of them.

"Er, actually I think 'tamvak' is 'bath house', if you wanted 'bathroom' 
it would be 'nesh-tersha'.  I think."

"Thank you, Daniel Jackson."

"Oh, for crying out loud."

"Sir, the fork in the road is just ahead."

The team drew closer to the city.

                         *******************

Sunset was nearing as SG-1 finally approached the gate of the nearest 
city on Arkona, named for its ruling family, the Shad'aa.  As far as 
Daniel had been able to determine, the politics on this world were 
similar to that of Renaissance-era Italy, with a number of city-states 
ruled independently by wealthy families, connected by a tangled network 
of alliances and rivalries.

That network was simultaneously the challenge and the advantage of 
arranging a trade for naquada on Arkona.  None of the city-states had any 
use for the mineral, and without a centralized authority there was no one 
that SG-1 had to go to for permission; to the Arkon, it was like trading 
dirt for valuable technology.  So on one hand, it should be easy to 
convince everyone involved to cooperate, keep their politics out of the 
way, and focus on the universal benefits; on the other, it was entirely 
possible that some families would oppose trade simply to prevent their 
rivals from gaining some perceived advance in status.  At this point, 
Daniel could only wait and hope.  "No pressure," he thought wryly.

So far, the other city-states had been amenable to permitting the team to 
remain the guests of the Shad'aa, as opposed to demanding that everyone 
take turns sharing the prestige of hosting visitors from the Eye of the 
Heavens.  With luck, the same common sense and desire for practicality 
would prevail in the coming days.

The guards along the city wall had seen their approach about fifteen 
minutes ago, and once they were within easy shouting distance began to 
hail them from the balcony over the main gate.  When Daniel shouted a 
greeting in return, the enormous studded wooden doors began to swing 
open, coming to a stop just as the team reached the shadow of the wall.  
The lights of the city gleamed through the archway before them.

Passing under the balcony, the team immediately felt the bustle of 
civilization wash over them.  Cobbled streets and stone buildings were 
alight with glowing spheres that floated on tethers outside windows and 
above shop awnings, bobbing and swaying gently in the swirl of the crowd.  
Brightly dressed nadharma, or middle-class workers, jostled elbow-to-
elbow with poorer tuarma, various ranks of shen-er slaves, and the 
occasional noble and entourage.  Generically called "sharma", there were 
as many subsets of noble as there were groupings among the nadharma, and 
they weren't nearly as easy to tell apart from one another as the other 
classes.  It was lucky that the outer part of the city consisted almost 
entirely of nadharma and tuarma - the "working stiffs" as Jack liked to 
call them.

A guard had come down to street level to meet them.  "I bid you good 
evening, sharma travelers!"

"A good evening to you as well, nadharma guard," answered Daniel.

"Forgive my curiosity, sharma, but the rumor is that there is to be trade 
between your world and ours.  This news, perhaps, is true?"

"It is our hope, nadharma, but truly the decision depends on the wish of 
Sharma Shad'aa and the sharma of the other cities."

"Of course, sharma.  May you have good fortune during your stay."  The 
guard grinned at them all.  "You are, perhaps, to be the guests of Sharma 
Shad'aa once more?"

"If the Sharma will have us, then we would be honored to be his guests.  
Does he know we have arrived?"

"We sent a runner as soon as you were spotted, sharma travelers.  If you 
will wait here for only a moment, someone from House Shad'aa will come to 
take you through the city.  They say it will storm tomorrow, so you can 
see that the market is twice as busy tonight.  Very easy to get lost if 
you are new to the city!"

"Thank you, nadharma, for your keen eye and giving spirit."  At the 
guard's bow, Daniel turned to his teammates and gave them a quick summary 
of the conversation.

"What's with all the sharma this and sharma that?" asked Jack.

"They assume that since we're from another world and are the honored 
guests of their nobles, we must be nobles ourselves... and anyway, better 
to flatter someone by assuming that they're of a high rank, than risk 
insulting them with a lower title than they deserve."

"He was certainly right about the crowd," said Sam.  "We'd be lucky to 
make it a block without getting pulled off course by the traffic."

"Sula," said the guard suddenly.  His eyebrows were arched in surprise, 
as he stared into the throng across the street.

"Um, loosely translated, that's 'wow'," offered Daniel.  He peered into 
the deepening gloom, but saw nothing.  "Nadharma guard?  What is it?"

"Your escort, sharma," he replied.  "I do not think I have seen one in 
this part of the city in months."

The people nearest the gatehouse were stepping out of the way and then 
returning to their business, as a slim woman wearing the red and gold of 
the Shad'aa family and his staff walked toward them.  She kept her eyes 
down and her hands clasped together over her belly.  Beneath the rich 
vest, she wore a hip-length tunic over simple leggings that reached to 
mid-calf, and no shoes.  When she reached the gate, she dropped to her 
knees and placed her forehead against the ground.  Daniel glanced at his 
teammates.

The guard, sensing their uncertainty, moved until he stood over the woman 
on the ground, and said, "Stand and speak!"

Daniel noticed that her hands never left her belly as she rose to her 
feet.  Her eyes also never left the ground, but she murmured so that 
Daniel could just hear:

"Sharma-nadharma, this one is sent to escort the sharma travelers from 
the Eye of the Heavens."

"This one" - Daniel had heard only one class refer to themselves that 
way.

She was shen.

                         *******************

The guard pointed to the four who stood in the archway.  "These are the 
sharma travelers.  They don't know the city - don't let them lose track 
of you."  Turning to Daniel, he added, "If there is anything else you 
need, sharma travelers, all you have to do is tell her.  Surely, Sharma 
Shad'aa wishes you great honor, to send his shen to guide you."

"Ah... yes, nadharma, thank you.  You have been very helpful."  With a 
bow, he looked at his companions.  "Are we ready?"

Jack adjusted his pack, Sam stepped forward into the street, and 
immediately the shen hopped in front of her, gaze still on the 
cobblestones, and began to walk.  Jack waved Daniel up to walk beside the 
major, and he and Teal'c fell in behind.

Sam leaned over to murmur in Daniel's ear, "I wonder what we're supposed 
to call her."

"Well, with the other classes, if you don't know a person's name you can 
just refer to them by their class, so when in doubt I guess 'shen' would 
be fine."  Daniel shrugged, tucking his notepad back into a vest pocket.  
The woman tipped her head for a moment, as if listening, but did not 
pause in her stride.

"It just sounds like an insult, I guess," said Carter, wrinkling her 
nose.  "You know, like saying, 'hey, linguist,' or something."

"To be honest, I'm trying to figure out how it is that they're regarded 
as something even less than domesticated animals, and yet to send one to 
escort us is supposed to be a great honor.  At least, that's what the 
guard said."

"Status symbol?" asked Sam.  "Like, arranging for a limo to pick someone 
up when you can't be there in person?"

"Yes, I suppose that's the logic."  The little procession paused while a 
knot of young men passed in front of them, laughing out loud and leaning 
on one another with bottles waving in the air.

Daniel raised his voice so the shen could hear him.  "Is it always so 
crowded in the city at night?"

"If the sharma traveler is, perhaps, displeased, may this one find a 
quieter path to Shad'aa House?"

"No no, we're not displeased; ah, you're doing well.  We, uh, we came 
from the Eye of the Heavens, so we don't know the city well."

"This one is sorry - this one was told by the sharma-nadharma guard. This 
one begs the sharma traveler not to punish her."

"What?  No - no, I don't want to punish you, I -" Daniel took a breath 
and tried again.  "Look, the market, is it always so full of people?"

The shen walked a few steps in silence, then said.  "This one does not 
know.  This one is not often sent to the market.  This one is sorry that 
she can not answer the sharma traveler."  Greatly daring, she added, 
"This one has... overheard... that, perhaps, more people have come to 
Shad'aa to celebrate a new alliance, between the sharma of all the cities 
and the sharma travelers from the Eye of the Heavens.  This one does not 
know if that is true."

"Daniel?  Something we should know about?"

"Hm?  Oh.  Well, I was asking why the market was so crowded, and she says 
that it might be because there are people coming in to celebrate the 
trade agreement."

"Sounds promising."

The street ahead was blocked by a large crowd spilling from under a 
brightly lit awning, from which Daniel could hear music, high and wild.  
He tried to peer over shoulders to spot the musicians, but the shen 
sidestepped toward an alley and kept walking, her red-and-gold vest 
glinting in the ambient glow.

"Oh..."

"No, Daniel.  We'll have time later."

Carter caught a glimpse of her friend's expression, and murmured, "The 
Colonel's right, Daniel; besides, I can't stand the thought of ordering 
her to wait for even a minute.  She looks..." Sam sighed.  "She reminds 
me of a friend of mine whose boyfriend used to hit her.  Scared of 
everything, like no matter what she does it will still be the wrong 
thing."

"The sharma travelers, perhaps, prefer to stop?"

"Uh, no, we'll continue.  Uh, thank you."

They stepped out of the alley and onto a slightly less-packed street, and 
the shen guided them further into the city.  Here the floating lights 
were spaced a little farther apart, and the crowd of shoppers spoke in 
quieter tones; Daniel spotted several couples with linked arms, and one 
musician on a corner playing an instrument that would have been drowned 
out in the racket just one block over.

"May this one speak?"  The voice interrupted Daniel's observations.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"This one begs permission to speak to the sharma traveler."

"Oh.  Of course.  What did you want to say?"

"The sharma travelers, perhaps, do not know that it is not proper to 
thank a shen?"

"It isn't? Why not?"

"This one is shen.  This one... a shen does as the sharma commands.  The 
sharma, perhaps, does not thank a chair when he sits?"

"But you're not a chair."

"This one is not a chair.  This one is shen.  Shen are not worthy of 
courtesy from the sharma."

Daniel frowned.  "But how are shen rewarded when they do well?"

She said simply, "This one is not punished.  Or, perhaps, this one is 
punished, as the sharma wishes."

The remainder of their trip to the noble quarter was completed in 
silence.

                         *******************

The courtyard of House Shad'aa was awash in golden lights, floating high 
over the glazed-brick walls and swaying among the branches of the 
decorative trees.  The arched gateway stood open to them, and the guard 
on duty bowed low as they passed.  

Inside, Daniel immediately began identifying all the sharma who were 
present, pointing them out to his teammates one by one:

Standing beside the lily-pool, he spotted the green and copper robes of 
Sharma Per'ua, an amiable woman who was very excited about the farming 
opportunities Sam had presented on their first visit.  She was chatting 
with Sharma Nadhesh, very tall, very golden (his colors, gold and black, 
were impossible to miss in the glow-light), and so far very neutral in 
all their discussions.  Daniel suspected he was a rival of Shad'aa, but 
had been unable to find out for certain.

A little farther in, Daniel noticed the brooding Sharma Kona'a, looking 
more regal than the others in his House colors of blue and silver, 
sampling something from a tray carried by a servant wearing Shad'aa's red 
and gold.  Kona'a tended not to speak often, and the others often gave 
his opinions a lot of thought; Daniel, however, could not bring himself 
to feel at all warm toward the man.  His was the shen who had collapsed 
after being commanded to stop her breath for his, and presumably their, 
amusement.  Kona'a had only clicked his tongue in annoyance, and when the 
poor girl regained consciousness he ordered her back to his chambers to 
be punished.  Once she was on her feet, he had simply laughed and watched 
her stagger away.

Speaking of the shen... Daniel looked around.  All the sharma would be 
certain to have as many displays of wealth and status with them at this 
gathering as possible; sure enough, he found the ones belonging to Per'ua 
and Nadhesh standing side by side in the shadows near the pool; after a 
moment, he realized that Kona'a was holding a fine chain, no thicker than 
a silk thread, and that it led to a crouched figure on the ground beside 
him, barefoot and wearing his House colors.  He made a face, leaning in 
to speak to Sam.

"Is he punishing her some more, or just showing off?"

Sam shook her head, clearly biting her tongue, as Teal'c moved to stand 
beside her.  His eyes scanned the courtyard continuously, alert without 
appearing to be on edge, while Jack moved to stand beside Daniel.  He 
nodded toward the shen who had led them through the city; she had 
continued across the courtyard and was kneeling at the foot of the steps 
before Sharma Shad'aa.  Apparently in his sixties, he was older than the 
other sharma, probably closest in age to Per'ua; he wore his silver hair 
pulled back into a tail bound with red and gold cord.  He spoke to the 
shen for a moment, then swept down the stairs and across the courtyard 
with her at his heels.

"Sharma travelers, I greet you.  You honor my House with your presence 
this night."

Daniel cleared his throat and began the "double" conversation, 
alternating between English and Arkon as the team exchanged greetings 
with the noble.

"Sharma Shad'aa, your hospitality is an honor to us, and we are grateful.  
We have heard that, perhaps, you would have us as your guests once more?"

"Sharma Daniel, you have heard correctly.  All is prepared, and I have 
kept food and music aside awaiting your arrival.  The walk from the Eye 
of the Heavens is long; the travelers are, perhaps, ready to find your 
chambers for the night?"

"What do you think, Jack?"

"We can drop our stuff and come back, if that won't offend His Sharma-
ness."

"Sharma Jack will, perhaps, permit me to show you the way to your 
chambers?  There is a request I would make of you, which concerns your 
customs."

Jack's eyebrow began a slow climb.  "Tell him to lead on, and see if you 
can figure out what the deal is."

Shad'aa took them along a side path out of the courtyard, rather than 
leading them up the steps.  Daniel had learned on their last visit that 
the main entrance to the house had ceremonial function as well as 
practical.  If SG-1 were to go that way, they would be required to stop 
and formally greet all the sharma who were present; on the other hand, if 
they avoided the stairs, then they hadn't "officially" arrived yet, and 
could make their way to their rooms without interruption.  Sam had smiled 
the first time that he explained the custom and said, "So everyone is 
guaranteed to make a grand entrance, huh?"

Once they were out of sight of the courtyard, Daniel asked, "The Sharma 
Shad'aa will, perhaps, tell us what concerns him of our customs?"

"Of course, Sharma Daniel.  We are aware that your people do not keep 
shen-er as we do - be at peace, I am not offended!  It is only that, 
while you were certainly courteous, I nonetheless had no difficulty in 
reading your discomfort, especially your discomfort toward the shen.  It 
is this which concerns me."

"In what way, Sharma Shad'aa?"

"This gathering will determine whether or not there is trade between the 
people of your world and the people of Arkona.  Such an important 
agreement must be seen to be made between sharma of equal rank; also, as 
your host, custom demands that I extend to you every courtesy..."

"I believe I understand; the Sharma Shad'aa, perhaps, requests that we 
permit your shen to serve us during our visit?"

"Just so, Sharma Daniel," nodded Shad'aa.  "You have a keen eye."  He 
glanced at them all once before continuing, "However, it occurs to me 
that it need not be my shen which attends you - already, your presence 
honors my House and the city.  If you were to request a shen from any of 
the other sharma, they would be equally honored by the opportunity to 
assist you in... maintaining your proper display of status."

"Just a moment, please, Sharma Shad'aa."  Daniel explained the Sharma's 
dilemma, then said, "What do you think?"

"There are four of us," said Sam.  "How many shen does Arkon custom say 
we have to have?"

"As you are all perceived as belonging to one House," said Shad'aa after 
Daniel translated, "and as we do not wish to offend against your customs, 
one shen should be enough to satisfy protocol.  Or two, if you were to 
spend much time apart from one another."

"Politics," muttered Jack.

"Protocol, Jack."

"Protocol *is* politics, Daniel," he retorted.  "Is it gonna offend him 
if we take the wrong guy's shen for the next few days?  I mean, doesn't 
this play into their whole inter-House rivalry thing they got going on?"

"Mm, good point..." He pushed at his glasses.  "Sharma Shad'aa, would we, 
perhaps, offend your House if we were to choose the shen of a rival House 
to attend us?"

Shad'aa chuckled.  "In truth, Sharma Daniel, if you guested in my house 
while using the shen of a rival, everyone would think you great and wise 
players of the inter-House intrigue.  I regret to tell you, however, that 
House Shad'aa has no rivals with any interest in the naquada trade in 
this region."

He began to tick off points on his fingers as he walked.  "Per'ua is a 
childhood friend of mine; Nadhesh has only recently inherited his 
position and remains neutral to all in order to avoid a wrong decision; 
and Kona'a and Shad'aa forces jointly patrol the regional border to the 
north.  Nadhesh and Kona'a dislike one another; if they were ever to 
ally, they might threaten the position of the Shad'aa, but even if that 
happened, Per'ua would ally with me and the current balance would be 
maintained."

"In sum," he smiled, "Sharma Daniel may choose as he wishes."  The little 
group had been walking slowly along the boardwalk that rounded the 
outside of the house; now they turned the corner, and the shen moved 
forward to open doors to two rooms side by side.  Immediately opposite 
these, the left side of the boardwalk continued in a hip-high railing 
that overlooked a grouping of fruit trees.

"We must think on this, Sharma Shad'aa," said Daniel.  "If it is 
acceptable, we will arrange our belongings and dress in more appropriate 
attire for the gathering, then come to you with our answer?"

"Of course," said the sharma.  "When you are ready, simply return the way 
you have come, and walk to the foot of the steps.  We will conduct formal 
greetings on the stair, and you may announce your decision then."  He 
bowed to each of them in turn.  "Once again, I thank the sharma from the 
Eye of the Heavens for consenting to rest within the home of House 
Shad'aa.  You honor my House and the city."

When he had gone, Jack tipped his head toward the first of the rooms, and 
they went in.

"I have an idea," he said.

                         *******************

Sam stood next to Daniel in her dress blues, with the colonel and Teal'c 
slightly below them, on the steps leading between Shad'aa House and the 
courtyard.  Daniel was their translator, and thus the chief diplomat 
during the upcoming negotiations, while, as the team's scientist, she 
represented the technology the sharma stood to gain if they agreed to 
mine the naquada deposits for Earth.  She was optimistic about the 
treaty's chances of success - in some places that they had explored, 
"mining" consisted of kicking the soil and picking up the largest clumps, 
dense with the weight of naquada ore.

The colonel's plan had seemed watertight on the surface; at least, none 
of them had been able to think of any serious objections other than the 
obvious one, of being required to keep a shen in the first place.  Now, 
however, she watched as Daniel wove his way through the opening 
formalities, and began to wonder.  His gentle voice rose and fell, at 
ease with the Arkon tongue, and she caught the names of the various 
sharma as he greeted them, one by one... and then the words, "shen 
Kona'a" passed his lips.  The sharma in the blue and silver robes bowed 
smoothly, but the smile on his face seemed to fix in place for just a 
moment.  Sam glanced around, immediately gauging the reactions of the 
other nobles.

Sharma Shad'aa seemed perfectly calm, as if he had expected them to make 
this exact choice; indeed, she thought, that was entirely possible.  The 
older woman, Per'ua, narrowed her eyes for a moment, but then nodded 
slowly to herself as if she had just realized something important; but 
the younger man, Nadhesh, frowned and blinked at the ground.  He seemed 
to be fighting to maintain his composure; after a moment's thought, Sam 
remembered what Shad'aa had told them.

"Daniel," she said softly, "when this is over you might want to have a 
chat with the guy in gold and black... I think he's just been insulted."

"Yeah, well, for a guy whose House I've supposedly just honored, our 
fellow in blue doesn't seem too thrilled either," he replied, nodding at 
one of the nobles' comments for a moment before fixing her with a serious 
look.

"Probably mad that you're taking his favorite toy away from him for a 
whole week," she offered, then joined him when he smiled.

Shad'aa stepped forward and said something, which seemed to conclude the 
welcome ceremonies; as soon as he finished, a trio of musicians seated on 
a nearby boulder began to play, and servants stepped into the courtyard 
bearing pitchers and cups, or platters heaped with delicacies.

As the food and drink began to circulate, Sam and Daniel stepped down 
into the courtyard and were immediately surrounded by people.  She could 
just make out the colonel accosting one of the servants and eyeing the 
snacks happily, while Teal'c looked like he was practicing Arkon with 
another; Per'ua and Nadhesh had resumed their conversation off to one 
side, and Shad'aa was approaching Daniel.

Under pretense of searching out something to drink, Sam stepped a little 
farther into the courtyard and looked around until she spotted Kona'a.  
Half-hidden in the shadows, he had his shen pressed up against the trunk 
of a tree and was leaning the length of his body against hers; with one 
hand gripping her hair, he leaned forward to speak into her ear for a 
moment before flinging his end of the leash at a servant standing nearby.

Sam managed to find her way to a drink pitcher just as Kona'a turned and 
moved back toward the party.  By the time he reached the center of the 
courtyard, his face was calm, but she could see that his eyes were still 
sparking with... what?  Lust? Jealousy?  "Not good, either way," she 
thought to herself.

Keeping what she called her "political smile" in place, she caught the 
colonel's eye and began to work her way toward him.  She had a headache 
coming on, along with the feeling that it was going to be a long week.

                         *******************

Daniel had three little hors d'oeuvres-thingies in his hand, and the 
distinct impression that he wouldn't have the chance to actually eat any 
of them before they went mushy... or whatever it was that hors d'oeuvres 
did when you couldn't eat them anymore.

The waiting crowd had turned out to include representatives of a handful 
of minor sharma, from farther out than the cities that Per'ua, Nadhesh, 
and Kona'a ruled.  All of them wanted to extend their own greetings on 
behalf of their lords or ladies, some wanted to immediately jump into 
discussing agendas for the negotiations, and a few had missed SG-1's 
first visit and simply wanted to meet the "Sharma of the Eye of the 
Heavens".  Daniel sighed.  He had a headache coming on.

He felt a touch on his elbow, and turned to see a servant in the green 
and copper of House Per'ua bowing at him.  "My lady thought, perhaps, 
Sharma Daniel would like to join her in conversation near the pool?"

Looking past the servant, Daniel spotted Per'ua in the same seat she had 
occupied before the ceremonies, with Nadhesh standing next to her.  The 
two of them were talking, Nadhesh gesturing agitatedly.  "I would be 
honored to join Sharma Per'ua, but would I, perhaps, interrupt her 
conversation with Sharma Nadhesh?"

"My lady instructs me to tell you that it is for Sharma Nadhesh that she 
asks you to join her," replied the servant.

"I see," said Daniel, who actually didn't.  As he approached the two 
sharma, he heard Per'ua saying, "Ah, but Nadhesh, if you came from a 
place that did not keep shen-er, whose would you choose to satisfy 
protocol?"

Daniel cleared his throat.  "Am I... I mean, I am, perhaps, 
interrupting?"

Per'ua turned and stood to bow to Daniel, and beckoned him closer.  "Not 
at all, Sharma Daniel.  Please, sit down."  She smiled.  "And you should, 
if I may suggest, eat those ket're before they grow much colder."

Daniel ducked his head.  "I have studied many cultures, and in nearly all 
of them it is considered not proper to eat and speak at the same time; 
but often, it is also not proper to eat instead of speaking, nor to speak 
instead of eating."

Per'ua chuckled, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening.  "And Sharma 
Daniel, perhaps, is never rude if it can be avoided?"

"Um..." Daniel pushed at his glasses.  "I was very rude, once, to an 
enemy who wanted to... ah... I am not sure of the correct word in your 
tongue, but please believe that he wished also to be very rude to me."

He risked a glance at the other noble, while Per'ua laughed delightedly.  
Nadhesh's robes glimmered as he shifted from foot to foot.  "Sharma 
Per'ua was just trying to persuade me that you intended no insult to my 
House, during the greeting ceremony."

Daniel nodded.  "This is true.  Sharma Shad'aa instructed us, just before 
the ceremony, that we should keep a shen during our visit.  It... is not 
our custom.  I would prefer not to do this, but since it was 
necessary..." He frowned for a moment.  "I noticed that neither of you 
keep your shen on a chain."

"Is it not just as I have told you, Nadhesh?" asked Per'ua.

"But you realize that Kona'a and I are rivals?" persisted the young man.

"I do," Daniel sighed.  "And I am sorry for that.  But," he added, 
choosing his words carefully, "Sharma Nadhesh noticed, perhaps, that 
while I may have honored House Kona'a, the sharma himself did not look 
pleased?"

Nadhesh became thoughtful for a moment, then said slowly, "I... am 
uncertain whether you have no idea how to play the inter-House game of 
intrigue, or if you are, truly, a much greater player than I could hope 
to be."

"Sharma Nadhesh, my friend Jack would tell you that, most often, I either 
refuse to play such games, or I insist on changing their rules." Daniel 
smiled.  "He would also tell you that this is why his hair is silver - 
but since I refuse to believe that part, neither should you."

As Nadhesh nodded, then bowed, Per'ua laid a hand on Daniel's elbow and 
said, "Eat your ket're."

                         *******************

Daniel yawned, earning him a look from Jack as SG-1 made their way back 
to the rooms set aside for them.  Greetings had been given and received, 
food eaten, drinks drunk, and now it was late even by "Earth Standard 
Time".  The team knew from their last visit that the waiting beds would 
be comfortable, and they all were looking forward to falling into them 
until morning.

They had discovered that each of their two rooms was actually a suite, 
with an internal door connecting them.  Jack had been pleased, commenting 
that it let them visit one another without having to step out onto the 
covered boardwalk that served as a corridor around the outside of Shad'aa 
House.  The suites themselves each consisted of a "public" room for 
entertaining visitors or hosting meetings, an enormous bath chamber, and 
two private bedrooms.  At the moment, Daniel couldn't remember if he was 
sharing his suite with Jack, per usual, or if he and Sam were paired as 
the "senior diplomats" on this mission.  Not that he cared, either way.

In a daze, he mumbled his goodnights to his friends, pushed open the door 
to his bedroom - and froze.  There was someone else in the room.

Daniel passed his hand over the glow-sphere, and as it brightened he 
spotted the form crouched in the far corner, forehead touching the floor.  
He called softly, "Hello?" and watched in shock as the body flinched.

"Daniel?"  Jack was there, standing at his shoulder and peering into the 
bedroom.  Daniel nodded toward the figure in the corner.

"Ah."

"Jack?"

"Bet that's your shen."  He took in the surroundings, sighed.  "Please 
tell me she's not expected to... that you're not expected to..."

"To?"

"You know."

Daniel's eyebrows rose.  "Even if we are expected to, we're not going 
to."

"Didn't think so," nodded Jack.

"Good."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Do?"  Daniel needed sleep; echoing whatever Jack said was never a good 
thing.

"Do," frowned Jack.  "With her."  He nodded toward the girl, who hadn't 
moved.

"Um..." He scrubbed a hand through his hair, trying to wake up.  "Per'ua 
gave me some advice."

"Advice."  Well, Daniel thought, at least Jack was tired too.

"Yeah, um... mostly to, um, be gentle."  He winced.  "Not... not like 
that."

"You mean the whole brainwashed obedience thing?"

"Yeah," Daniel nodded tiredly.  "That."

"Ah."

Daniel blinked.  "Ah?"

"'Ah,' as in, good luck.  Better you than me.  Go, linguist, go."  Jack 
yawned.  "You know - ah."

Daniel looked at Jack in disbelief.  "Ah."

Jack shuffled off to bed, and Daniel looked at the shen in the corner.  
"Ah, he says."  He pulled the door closed, and crossed over to the bed.  
He did his best to move slowly, not wanting to frighten the young woman 
if she wasn't already scared of him, and not wanting to make it worse if 
she was.

He sat on the edge of the bed and regarded her.  "Shen," he said quietly, 
remembering Per'ua's suggestions.  "Stand."

The woman immediately rocked back onto her feet and rose; her gaze was 
locked onto the floor, and she kept her hands clasped in front of her 
belly, just like the shen who had met them at the gate had done.  This 
one, however, had removed her House colors, and stood before him in only 
a cream-colored knee-length tunic and calf-length loose pants.  Her hair 
was black, although Daniel suspected it had been dyed to match her 
master's coloring; he couldn't see her eyes.

He rubbed at his eyes again.  What were Per'ua's exact words?  "Shen, 
have you... mm... attended your body yet today?"  Her headshake was 
quick, timid, more of a flinch than a gesture.  "Have you eaten?"  
Another headshake, and now she was starting to tremble.  Daniel sighed; 
given the way he'd seen Kona'a treating her publicly, who knew what he 
did to her in private?

With any luck, he could remember the right commands to get this, this 
creature to eat something, take care of her own body's needs, and get a 
decent night's sleep. "Commands," he thought with disgust.  Recalling 
some refreshments that had been left for them in the public room, Daniel 
got up to bring them in, but a quickly stifled whimper stopped him in his 
tracks.

"Shen?"  He turned to stare at her.  "Is something wrong?"  She didn't 
answer, but he could see her throat work as she swallowed.  She was 
supposed to answer... what... Daniel gritted his teeth for a moment.  "I 
am sorry, I forgot - you, you are allowed to speak now.  In fact," he 
added, "anytime you are attending me, or any of my three friends, you are 
always allowed to speak.  Do you understand?"

"This one... understands, sh-sharma," she whispered.

"Good," he said softly.  "That's very good."  He just barely caught the 
expression of relief that flitted across her face before it vanished.  
"You seem," Daniel paused and rephrased, "I have, perhaps, done something 
to frighten you?"

"This one, perhaps, has displeased the sh-sharma," she replied.  He could 
see her fighting to make herself talk, and his pity grew.  "The sharma, 
perhaps, will p-punish this one - perhaps he w-waits and hides his anger 
until it is not expected."

"No," he said.  "No, I don't plan to punish you at all.  It... is not my 
custom."  He looked at her carefully.  "Why would you believe such a 
thing?"

"Sharma Kona'a has told this one that Sharma... that the sharma from the 
Eye of the Heavens..."

"Please, call me Daniel."

The girl swallowed again.  "Sharma Kona'a has told this one that Sh-
sharma Daniel, perhaps, despises the shen."

Daniel shook his head.  "Sharma Kona'a is mistaken," he tried to explain, 
sitting on the bed once more.  "My people... we do not keep shen-er of 
any kind.  We do have classes, something like the nadharma and tuarma, 
but we think it is wrong for one person to own another."  He rubbed his 
eyes again, feeling his headache starting to return.  "If I despise 
anything, it is the idea that owning another person is, is proper.  Does 
that make sense?"

"Sharma Daniel has... different customs."  She looked thoughtful for a 
moment, then schooled her face to stillness again.  "It is not for this 
one to understand. It is for this one to obey the wishes of Sharma 
Daniel."

Daniel grimaced.  "Then, if you can not understand, please believe this: 
I may not know the customs for keeping a shen, but I promise you that I 
will not do anything to harm you while you attend me."  He leaned forward 
and touched her hands, still clasped over her stomach.  "I do not want 
you to be afraid of me.  Do you think you can do that?"

She didn't smile, but Daniel noticed that she didn't flinch, either.  
"This one will do as Sharma Daniel commands," she murmured.

He set about making sure she ate, and figuring out where she would sleep, 
and thought to himself that it would have to do as a start.

                         *******************

The next day didn't dawn at all - the storm predicted by the city guards 
arrived some time during the night and proceeded to lash the city 
throughout the day.  Even during the midday meal, there were glow spheres 
lit to drive back the gloom.

The negotiations were tedious on this first day; Daniel had expected to 
be in the middle of presenting the terms of the treaty and gaining 
approval for the various points, but the arrival yesterday of the other 
sharma's representatives had slowed things considerably.  He wound up 
spending most of the morning translating for Sam while she described, 
again, the benefits of the agricultural technology that they hoped to 
trade for Arkona's naquada.  He also wound up explaining, again, that 
their trade was intended to benefit all the Houses - indeed, all of 
Arkona - and not to advance the status of any single House.  One of the 
more paranoid representatives insisted on bringing this up repeatedly, 
until both Shad'aa and Per'ua came to his rescue.

"Enough, Keresh.  If this were so important to your lord, he would have 
come himself to the first gathering to ask these questions!"

The midday break was anything but; instead of sitting in a circle in the 
meeting hall, discussing points formally, the sharma and their 
representatives broke into little knots of conversation and started 
lobbying.  Rubbing his temples, Daniel could only watch as little cliques 
and alliances tried to form, messages were exchanged, and he was asked 
repeatedly to go over Sam's presentation "just once more, for 
clarification."  The major, unable to speak the language, was off the 
hook for most of this; luckily she seemed to have some idea of what he 
had to put up with, if the sympathetic looks she kept giving him were any 
indication.

Through it all, he kept being distracted by the shen; they were 
apparently trained to be unobtrusive, but Daniel couldn't help but notice 
the kneeling figures behind each of the sharma who were present.  It 
wasn't so much the shen themselves, as it was the fact that Daniel had no 
idea if he was setting the right example for protocol.  He covered as 
best he could by keeping an eye on Shad'aa and Per'ua, and double-
checking now and again that the shen seated behind him was doing the same 
kind of things that theirs were.  Mostly that seemed to mean refilling 
his drinking cup, which was confusing.  Couldn't an ordinary servant 
perform these duties?  Why were the shen needed?

It also didn't help that Sharma Kona'a kept shooting him hateful looks 
whenever he thought no one else would catch him at it.  In truth, it was 
usually Sam who spotted him, since Daniel was busy translating.  That was 
something else he couldn't fathom - as Jack had put it earlier this 
morning, either borrowing Kona'a's personal brainwashed slave was an 
honor to House Kona'a, or it wasn't; and if it was, then what was his 
problem, anyway?

Sharma Shad'aa stepped into the center of the circle, and waited for 
silence.  "Shall we resume?"

                         *******************

Later that night, Daniel was only too happy to drop his briefcase onto 
the table in his suite and toe his shoes off; protocol demanded that he 
wear his best suit, just as Sam got to truck around in her dress blues.  
She had confided to him during lunch that her combat boots were more 
comfortable than the heels she was wearing, and he had grinned.  It would 
have been nice to have a set of robes and sandals, or whatever the sharma 
were wearing under their outfits.  Not only was the suit and tie 
uncomfortable, compared to the sharma he looked like the poor cousin at 
the negotiations - not a good impression to convey.

It was still raining, and the wind would occasionally spatter drops 
across the boardwalk, so any plans he might have had for taking a walk to 
clear his head were out of the question.  It figured.  Daniel unknotted 
his tie and flung it on the bed, and started untucking his shirt with a 
sigh of relief.  He heard steps behind him, and turned to see the shen, 
following behind him and collecting his things.

Hell.

"Um, you do not need to do that," he said.  "I can..." The young woman 
walked past him to the cabinet, setting his shoes on the floor.  "...or, 
if you've already got it, then, um, that's fine..."  She stood looking at 
the tie in her hands, clearly having no idea what to do with the 
unfamiliar garment.

"Here," said Daniel.  He took the fabric from her, shook it out, and put 
it in the cabinet on top of tomorrow's clean shirt.  "Have you attended 
to your body today?"

"No, Sharma Daniel."

"You should go and do that," he suggested.  It felt very weird, standing 
here in front of her with his socks showing and his shirt half-undone; 
with any luck she would take long enough to eat that Daniel could finish 
changing in private.  The shen hesitated.

"May this one speak?" she asked.

"Of course."

"This one, perhaps, displeases Sharma Daniel?"

"No, I'm not upset with you," he replied, suppressing a sigh.  "Have I 
done something to make you think that?"

"Sharma Daniel... sends this one away.  Sharma Daniel does not permit 
this one to serve him."

This time, he didn't hold back the sigh.  "I am unused to having someone 
serve me.  As I told you yesterday, my customs are very different."

She clasped her hands together nervously.  "This one t-tries to 
understand Sharma Daniel."

"I know," he said.  A thought occurred to him.  "If you have questions 
about our customs, you may ask them whenever you like."

"Sharma Daniel is g-generous," she said - and for once, there was some 
emotion in her voice besides fear, he noticed.  "Does... does no one 
serve Sharma Daniel when, perhaps, he is ill, or tired?"

"Well, I suppose so, yes," he answered.  "Sometimes, when I can not care 
for myself, other people will help me - but I prefer to do things myself 
as much as I can."

She nodded.  "Is Sh-sharma Daniel... tired... now?"

"Ye-es," he said warily.

The shen swallowed.  "May this one attend Sharma Daniel, while he is 
tired?"

Oh, boy... "That depends," said Daniel, thinking quickly.  "What... how 
would you serve me?  What kinds of things would you do?"

"This one could, perhaps, draw a bath for Sharma Daniel," answered the 
shen, "and assist him... or, perhaps, she could bring a meal to him.  
Or," she added, blushing, "this one could, perhaps... bring p-pleasure to 
Sh-sharma D-Daniel." Her voice had dropped to a whisper, and her hands 
were fisted together in front of her.  "This one w-will do as Sh-Sharma 
Daniel c-commands."

Hell.  Hell *twice*.

"Let me think for a moment," he said carefully.  Pleasure?  Hell *three* 
times.  Jack would never let him live this down.
 
"I would like you to, ah, attend to your body, while I change clothes," 
he decided.  "Then you can bring a meal for... the five of us.  My three 
friends, you, and I will eat together."

She bowed and left, and he plopped down on the foot of the bed.  He had a 
brainwashed obedient slave, and he needed a chaperone to make sure she 
didn't do anything he didn't want her to do.

Why did stuff like this always seem to happen to him?

                         *******************

Negotiations, day two... more of the same, Daniel thought.  From the look 
of things, some of the representatives of the more-distant city-states 
were completely paranoid about the perceived advantages that trade would 
give to Shad'aa; either that, or else they had severe problems with 
short-term memory.  Sam got to present portions of her speech for a third 
time, with Daniel translating, and Daniel got to reassure everyone, for 
what felt like the twelfth time, that this was supposed to be an 
agreement between Earth and Arkona - not Earth and Shad'aa, or even Earth 
and the region of Minu'ua, of which Shad'aa was but a part.

To his surprise, Sharma Nadhesh broke his traditional neutrality 
immediately before the mid-day meal.  He stood and looked about the room, 
said simply, "House Nadhesh supports trade with Sharma Daniel of the 
Eye," and sat down again.  The murmuring this caused around the room 
lasted for several moments, during which he caught Sharma Kona'a glaring 
at him with a look of absolute venom.  Behind him, he heard the shen's 
intake of breath, and made a note to ask her about it later.

Then, during the break, he found himself face-to-face with Kona'a.

"May I offer my congratulations on securing Sharma Nadhesh as an ally, 
Sharma Daniel," he said smoothly.  Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel 
noticed Sam watching them from across the room.

"You honor me, Sharma Kona'a," responded Daniel.  "Although, in truth, my 
goal is not to secure an alliance with this city or that one, but with 
all of Arkona - this treaty is intended to benefit everyone."

"Yes, so you have said," replied the sharma.  His dark eyes narrowed.  
"By 'everyone,' Sharma Daniel perhaps means even the shen will benefit 
from his treaty?"

"If food shortages on Arkona are ended with the technology that we are 
offering, then yes, surely even the shen will benefit."

Kona'a's expression heated.  "Even *my* shen, do you think?"

Daniel tried what he hoped was his "clueless foreigner" look.  "Is there 
a reason that this would not be so?"

The noble stepped in, dangerously close.  Daniel was saved from looming 
only by the fact that he was two inches taller than Kona'a, who sneered, 
"You have the alliance of my rival, and you hold my shen hostage.  What 
am I to think - *Sharma* Daniel?"  His voice dripped poison all over the 
word "sharma", and Daniel suddenly found his senses coming alert.

"Is something not right between you, Sharma?"  Completely unnoticed until 
he spoke, there was Sharma Shad'aa, his white hair like a lion's mane 
over his red-and-gold robes.

"Ah, no, Sharma Shad'aa; Sharma Kona'a was just... expressing concern to 
me, for his shen," said Daniel.

"Come, Sharma Kona'a," smiled the older man, "Sharma Daniel honors your 
House by choosing your shen to be his during his visit.  I am sure that 
no harm will come to her."

"Yet we know that it is against custom for the people from the Eye of the 
Heavens to keep shen-er, for any purpose," responded Kona'a, reverting 
all to silken smoothness again.

"I assure you, Sharma Kona'a, that it was only to satisfy protocol that I 
chose a shen at all.  I have no interest in mistreating yours."

"Then you had no interest, perhaps, in honoring my House, but only in 
taking my shen from me?"

"I think," warned Shad'aa gently, "that Sharma Kona'a is, perhaps, not 
feeling well, or he would not speak so to a guest in my House."

"Of course," was the reply, "how foolish of me.  Sharma Daniel will, 
perhaps, accept my apologies?"

He walked away before Daniel could reply; but the look he cast over his 
shoulder suggested that the issue was far from resolved.

                         *******************

"Please, please tell me you had a better day than we did, Jack."

"It was great," said the colonel.  The four of them were seated around 
the table in the public room of his suite, while the shen perched on the 
edge of a chair to one side and nibbled at her meal.  "Teal'c and I 
toured the city, picked up a couple souvenirs, and you know, I think he 
asked thirty-seven different people where the bathroom was."

"I have determined," said Teal'c, "that O'Neill is envious of my ability 
to speak the local language."

Daniel grinned at Jack's muttering, and almost laughed out loud when 
Teal'c said, in perfect Arkon, "I admire your city very much.  Please 
tell me, where may I abandon my companion to drunkenness?"

"Um, Teal'c, are you sure you know what you just said?"

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson, I confirmed the meaning in three separate 
establishments. The tuarma who served our refreshments were most 
helpful."

"Daniel?"

"I'll tell you later, Sam..."

"Daniel!"

"Oh no, you're not getting a word out of me, Jack."

"It's a damn conspiracy..."

"Yeah, well, you want conspiracy, sir, you should have sat in on today's 
negotiations."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Ah, Sam, it wasn't quite as bad as you're making it sound..."

"Daniel, I was there too - and yes, it was.  Kona'a looked like he wanted 
to take a strip off your hide the minute you lowered your guard."

Jack leaned forward, suddenly very serious, while Sam related what she 
had seen of the encounter between the two men earlier that day.  Daniel's 
good mood began to evaporate, as he was forced to translate most of their 
conversation into English for his team's benefit.

"Well, isn't that just lovely," said Jack when he was finished.

"I agree with O'Neill and Major Carter," said Teal'c.  "This Kona'a 
intends to do you harm, Daniel Jackson; you would do well to avoid him."

Daniel just rubbed at his temples.  "I've been as non-confrontational as 
it is possible to be without rolling over at his feet, all right?"  He 
squinted up at them.  "If he wants a fight, he'll find a way to get one 
sooner or later, no matter what I do.  He treats her the same way," he 
added, tilting his head toward the shen seated behind him.

"And anyway, the negotiations require me to be present.  I'm not going 
to, to hide in here, because some blue-blood with delusions of grandeur 
is giving me dirty looks!"

"Not suggesting that you hide from him, Daniel," countered the colonel, 
"but maybe an extra guard would be a good thing in there tomorrow."

"Wha - no, no, I really think that's a bad idea," he shot back.  "None of 
the other sharma have any guards with them, so not only would you be 
giving him the reaction he wants, you'd risk insulting Shad'aa and all 
the rest of them as well."  He folded his arms.

"And anyway, sir, I'm not exactly chopped liver in the bodyguard 
department myself," Sam chimed in.

"Got a point there, Carter," Jack admitted.  "So, let's see... options.  
Have we talked to Shad'aa about this threat to their favorite foreign 
diplomat?"

"He knows, sir; he was the one to break up their little heart-to-heart at 
lunch."

"Okay; isn't Nadhesh supposed to be a rival of his? Can we count on any 
help from that quarter?"

"I'd rather leave the other sharma out of it, if you don't mind," said 
Daniel.  "Nadhesh isn't strong enough politically to do anything for us 
without hurting himself; Per'ua and Shad'aa both are not only strong 
enough, they're already very much in our camp as far as making sure 
negotiations go smoothly.  If anything happens to disrupt that, Shad'aa 
will step in as host, and I have a feeling that Per'ua will as well just 
because the hostilities would tick her off."

"Yeah," smiled Jack suddenly.  "You know, I really like her."

"What of the representatives of the other sharma?" asked Teal'c.

"From what I've been able to tell," said Daniel, "they are from city-
states that are far enough away that the trade deal doesn't really affect 
them - they just want to make sure that it doesn't give any individual 
House so much more power that it upsets the current political balance."

"That explains the paranoia, anyway," offered Sam, and Daniel nodded.

"So, as far as we're concerned, they're non-entities then?"  When Sam and 
Daniel both agreed, Jack put his hands on the table.  "Then there's 
nothing else we can do except ride this out, and hope Kona'a doesn't have 
his hissy-fit before the negotiations are concluded."

"I dislike our inability to affect matters as they currently stand," said 
Teal'c.

"Ditto, big guy," said Jack.  "Definitely with you there."

                         *******************

By some miracle, the third day of negotiations saw substantial progress; 
apparently all the various factions had gotten it through their heads 
that Daniel, and Earth's offerings, were legitimate and not part of any 
inter-House ploy.  One by one, the other sharma and outlying emissaries 
stood and voiced their support of trade.

Of course, that was an agreement in principle and not in specific, but 
Daniel had intended all along to go over the treaty, point by point, and 
make certain that all the Houses were willing to ratify every detail of 
the arrangements.  He was now simply two or three days behind schedule, 
that was all.  It was still forward movement, and did a great deal to 
improve both his mood and the overall atmosphere of the gathering.

The assembled sharma had agreed to divide the labor equally among all the 
Houses who had naquada deposits on their lands, and for the outlying 
cities to supply additional labor up to one-fourth of the total, when the 
midday break was called.  Daniel was amazed at how quickly the time had 
passed, and Sam looked thrilled.

Then Sharma Kona'a collapsed.

Daniel was in the middle of translating a conversation between Sharma 
Per'ua and Sam when a cry went up from the opposite side of the room; a 
crowd quickly formed around a person on the floor, and Daniel spotted 
several servants in the blue-and-silver of House Kona'a among them.

"He's been poisoned!" called one of them, and the room immediately went 
into an uproar.  Colors swirled into little knots as each sharma 
surrounded himself or herself with the available servants and shen in the 
room; some were shouting accusations back and forth, others were calling 
for calm, and those around Kona'a were lifting him between them and 
angrily demanding a healer.

Sharma Shad'aa stepped into the center of the circle, his face dark with 
an anger that Daniel had never seen there before.  "Whoever has committed 
this act has laid a grave dishonor upon me, my House, and this city; not 
to mention the insult that has been given to Sharma Daniel, Sharma 
Samantha, and all of you who desire peaceful trade between our worlds!  
Be assured that I will do everything within my power to ensure that the 
coward is found out."

"You need not look very far!" shouted an emissary, a strident little man 
whose name Daniel could not remember.  "All here know that House Nadhesh 
and House Kona'a are enemies!"  The young noble looked stunned, and 
turned visibly paler as heads turned his way.

"All here also know," shot Sharma Per'ua, "that Nadhesh is neither an 
idiot nor a child, to bring his rivalry here under the roof of House 
Shad'aa.  Silence yourself, Em're, lest you appear to be both!"

Shad'aa held up his hands for quiet.  "Clearly, the negotiations must go 
no further until Sharma Kona'a recovers.  His servants tell me that the 
poison used was not fatal to him, but we must seek the one who wished him 
harm.  Therefore I ask all of you to return to your suites, and to remain 
there until you receive word from me, personally.  My servants will be at 
your disposal."

"Meaning our servants...?" asked a woman in white and red.

"Are to stay with you, and not leave the suite for any reason," replied 
the older man.  "Who is to say how the poison was delivered?"

"Are we, perhaps, prisoners, Sharma Shad'aa?" the little emissary 
demanded.  The crowd began to murmur darkly.

"You are, Em're, under my protection for as long as you wish it, or until 
this investigation ends to my satisfaction," said Shad'aa.  "If you wish 
to leave, and prove yourself suspect in my sight, by all means do so."

That finally shocked Em're into silence, with a bow and an apology.  One 
by one, the other sharma began to trickle away from the meeting hall, 
some conversing with their fellows, others glaring around them 
suspiciously.  When almost all had gone, Per'ua and Shad'aa turned toward 
Daniel, Sam, and the shen.

"I am sorry," said Sharma Shad'aa.  For the first time, Daniel thought he 
looked old.

                         *******************

When Sam and Daniel returned to their suites, it was to discover that 
Jack and Teal'c were still out exploring the city.  While this was only 
to be expected, since they had no way of knowing that the negotiations 
had been interrupted, it did nothing to ease the nervousness of the 
remaining two team members.

"Who do you think could have poisoned Kona'a?" asked Sam.  She looked up 
from her struggle to kick off her heels.

Daniel, pacing, just shook his head.  "Nothing that I know about the 
current political situation helps; the attack itself doesn't make sense.  
Who would *want* to attack Kona'a?  Who would want to risk getting 
Shad'aa and the others on their bad side?  Who would benefit from 
disrupting the trade session?"  Daniel threw his hands in the air.  
"Nobody, as far as I can tell, stands anything to gain from this."

"Could we be overlooking something, some enemy who didn't come to the 
gathering?"

"What, hanging around on the fringes and hoping to make a move when no 
one else would see?"  Daniel sat down at the table and propped his head 
in his hands.  "How would they get into the city without Sharma Shad'aa 
hearing about it?  How would they get past the gates and into House 
Shad'aa?  And it still doesn't answer the question of why."  He muttered 
something that Sam couldn't hear.

"Sorry, say that again?"

He rubbed his face and looked up at her.  "I was just saying that I 
really don't think I can think like an Italian.  That's what their 
political setup reminds me of - Renaissance Italy."

Sam tucked her feet under her on her cushion.  "How so?"

Daniel sighed.  "During the Renaissance, Italy wasn't really a united 
country so much as a federation of city-states, tied together through 
military alliances, political marriages, trade agreements, and so forth.  
There were kings, but they usually weren't strong enough to order any of 
the cities to do what they wanted - anything that happened during that 
time period, happened because enough people were convinced that it was 
worth trying."

"Okay, I can see how that applies here; how is that a problem for us?"

"Well, I don't have any proof, but it would be logical to assume that 
other facets of Italian politics would also fit into the Arkon system.  
In theory, anyone here could be bought, just as in Italy, if the price 
were set high enough; assassinations might be a fact of life for the 
nobility as they were during the Renaissance; and alliances and 
connections to the right families are crucial, not just for political 
power but for daily survival."

Sam looked surprised.  "Is there a reason that all this sounds like the 
Mafia?"

"Sure," shrugged Daniel.  "Take a feudal-era political system of allied 
families and households and apply it to a criminal organization - which, 
by the way, originated primarily in Italy and Sicily, although not till 
about the 1800s."

"Ugh."

"Exactly," said Daniel.  He looked at Sam, one eyebrow raised. "If you 
thought the NID played politics, you haven't seen anything yet."

Sam dropped her head onto the back of the sofa.  "So," she thought aloud, 
"intrigue and rivalry... someone could be doing this not because they 
have anything to gain by disrupting the alliance, or even from hurting 
House Kona'a, but because it might... what?  Make House Shad'aa look bad, 
because it happened here?  Put suspicion on Sharma Nadhesh as a known 
rival?"

"Any or all of the above," said Daniel.  He took off his glasses and 
dropped them on the table.  "We are in way over our heads here."

                         *******************

Daniel was up to his chin in the bath, a luxuriously deep tub that was 
sunk into the floor and patterned in red and gold mosaic.  Sam was 
presumably relaxing in her suite, while they waited for Jack and Teal'c 
to return from being tourists, probably in another hour or so.  Daniel, 
for his part, had made the mistake of trying to out-guess whoever might 
have attacked Kona'a, and given himself a headache of monstrous 
proportions, hence the bath.  The steaming waters were helping, but not 
enough; he rolled his shoulders trying to loosen them.

He was just thinking that it might be a good idea to climb out of the tub 
and try to find a better distraction, when he felt a light touch on the 
back of his neck.  Nearly jumping out of his skin, he turned to see the 
shen kneeling behind him on the tile, snatching her fingers back as if he 
had tried to bite her.

"S-Sorry," she whispered frantically, dropping her forehead to the wet 
floor.  "This one is sorry, this one b-begs forgiveness, sh-she did not 
mean -"

Daniel cut her off.  "Stop, stop, it's all right.  You startled me," he 
said, suddenly very aware of his nakedness under the water.  "I did not 
hear you come in."

"This one b-begs Sharma D-Daniel..."

"I know," said Daniel, beginning to lose patience.  "I promised you I 
would not harm you while you were serving me.  You remember?"  At her 
timid nod, he continued, "Well, I meant that promise.  I don't," he ran a 
dripping hand through spiky hair, "it is not my custom, to strike someone 
who is not also trying to harm me."

"This one m-meant no harm," said the shen.  Her forehead was still 
touching the floor; the water he had splashed up was pooling under her 
knees and getting her hair wet.

"I know... I know.  How about this," he sighed.  "How about you reach me 
the drying cloth, and tell me what you were... what you did mean.  And 
please, do not kneel like that," he added.  "Not to me."

He dried his face on the red cloth, then mopped up the worst of the 
puddle on the floor, while the woman spoke, standing with her eyes 
averted near the edge of the tub.  Her voice was soft, hesitant.  "This 
one... saw that Sharma Daniel was, perhaps, not feeling well.  This one 
wishes to serve Sharma Daniel.  She thought that Sharma Daniel would, 
perhaps, t-take pleasure, if she..."

Oh, hell.

"It is, um, also not my custom to go to bed with someone who," he sought 
rapidly, "who is not my, my equal in status."

"This one d-did not presume to offer her, her, her b-body," said the 
shen, swallowing hard.  "This one... s-saw that, that Sh-Sharma D-
Daniel's head pained him... th-this one thought, perhaps, she might, m-
might press the places that hurt.  W-with her f-fingers," she added.  Her 
voice had dropped to a whisper, and he could just barely see that she was 
blinking quickly.

Hell.  Again.

Daniel closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling 
like a first-class idiot.

"Hey."  He reached out, slowly, and touched her bare foot with the tips 
of his fingers.  "I'm sorry."  He was dripping on the mosaic again, but 
he didn't really care.  "I'm sorry."

Her fingers were twisting around one another, clasped together at her 
belly.  "This one does not understand."

"I misjudged you.  I thought you wanted... I thought that you were 
offering something else, something I did not want from you."

"This one will serve Sharma Daniel however he wishes," said the shen.  
There was almost a pleading note to her voice.

She was trying so hard to do the right thing, he realized, and was so 
terrified of getting it wrong.  What must it be like to live in that kind 
of fear, all the time?

Aloud, he said, "I know.  And you do well, you truly do.  You, you serve 
very well.  You just - we both - just made a mistake, do you see?  Just a 
mistake." He pulled his hand back.  "Do you understand?"

"This one t-tries to understand Sharma Daniel," she replied.  "This one 
is told that Sharma Daniel has... many different customs."

He smiled.  "Yes.  Yes, I truly do.  Even Sharma Jack says that I am 
strange sometimes."

The shen paused, clearly unsure how to answer.  "The water is, perhaps, 
growing cold?  Sharma Daniel, perhaps, wishes to dress?"

"Uh, yes, that would be good.  If you bring me the other drying cloth, I, 
uh, I will not need anything else.  You can wait out in the public room, 
and I will be out in a moment."

"Is there more," she asked cautiously, "that Sharma Daniel, perhaps, 
wishes for this one to do?"

"Well, I, not really..." Daniel began.  Then inspiration struck.  "Oh.  
Er, yes, actually."  He looked up, took the towel from her.  "Do you know 
any stories?"

                         *******************

As Daniel finished drying off, he started to feel like he and the shen 
might actually be able to recover from the fiasco in the bathtub, before 
the afternoon was over with.  He managed to shoo the young woman out into 
the common room, and tried to explain through the door what he was after.

"You see, I do not spend all my days in search of trade," he said.  "My 
friends and I travel many places through the Eye of the Heavens, and 
wherever we go, I try to learn about the people we find.  I study the 
languages they speak, and I also collect stories."

He poked his head out into the public room.  The shen sounded tentative, 
but intrigued.  "What sort of stories does Sharma Daniel wish to 
collect?"

"It depends," he said, beginning to smile.  "What stories do you know?"

"This one... remembers a story that is told to children," she offered.

"Stories told to children are some of my favorites to collect," he 
replied. "Sometimes, such stories are all that remain to tell of things 
that happened a long time ago.  Sometimes they teach the proper way to 
behave."  He smiled wider.  "And sometimes they are simply entertaining."

He tugged his T-shirt into place and stepped out into the public room, 
still carrying his old socks. "The story that... this one remembers is 
about a kind of bird, called a pad-sha," said the shen.

"Here, sit," he said, pouring two cups of juice for them.  "Tell me the 
story of the pad-sha."  He pulled out the chairs from the table and 
dropped into one.  "When you have finished your story, I will tell one 
about a creature called a 'rabbit', who always tricked his enemies into 
doing whatever he wanted."

"The... the 'rabbit'... perhaps, does not truly speak, except in the 
story?"

"Just so," said Daniel.

"It is the same for the pad-sha in this story," nodded the shen.  "It is 
the story of why the pad-sha lives among the rocks."

Daniel watched her tell the story, and was fascinated.  The tale itself 
was interesting, but what really caught Daniel's eye was the way in which 
the shen seemed to reach into herself to pull the memory out - and when 
she spoke, her voice sounded almost nothing like the timid, fearful slave 
he had grown used to over the past few days.  He'd been told that the 
shen began their training as children; as the woman described the little 
bird hopping through the wilderness, searching for a star that had fallen 
from the sky, she seemed almost to revert to that time when she had been 
a child herself.  He almost caught her smiling once, and was delighted.

By the time she finished, Daniel was enthralled.  He finished his drink, 
smiled, and said, "You tell stories very well... um... do you know, I do 
not know your name?"

To his surprise, she tensed suddenly, as if catching herself at the edge 
of an error.  "Is this one to be punished?"

He blinked.  "Ah... no.  I do not understand.  Perhaps this is another 
different custom?"

She took a drink, carefully, and swallowed before saying, "Shen are... 
are not permitted to have names.  Shen do not deserve names.  As part 
of... of training, shen are asked, 'what is your name?'  But if a... if a 
sh-shen gives a name, he is... or she is... p-punished."

Daniel closed his eyes.  "And if the shen doesn't give a name?"

"Sometimes, she is, is still punished... for not, f-for being 
disobedient, and n-not answering her sharma."

He shook his head, and decided to change the subject.  "I, uh, promised 
to tell you a story, also.  Do you still want to hear it?"

She started to nod, caught herself, withdrawing back into her usual 
behavior.  "As... as Sharma Daniel wishes."

He stood, held up his socks.  "My feet grow cold - I will tell the story 
as soon as I come back."

Once he was in his bedroom, he heard a knock at the door, heard the shen 
get up to open it. "Jack?" he called. "Is that you?"  There was no 
answer.

"Teal'c?"  He frowned, and went to look out into the public room.

A servant he didn't recognize was holding the shen by her hair, making 
her kneel by the open doorway.  He started forward in shock, but before 
he had taken a full step, another man blocked his path and splashed 
something in his eyes, which immediately flared to searing pain.  Daniel 
gritted his teeth and staggered backward into the wall, and felt hands 
pin his shoulders and arms back hard.  A wet, sweet-smelling cloth was 
forced tightly over his mouth and nose before he could cry out.

After a long moment, he stopped struggling, and hung limply in their 
grip.

                         *******************

Jack and Teal'c were strolling down a side street when the servant in red 
and gold approached them.

"T?  Did you catch what he said?"

"Only the words 'House Shad'aa', O'Neill.  I believe we are to return 
with him."  Jack took another look, thinking that maybe the guy seemed 
kind of anxious about something.  So they fell into step behind him, only 
to discover that the traffic in front of them was suddenly twice as 
crowded as it had been.

They took a shortcut over a block and made it just a little ways before 
they ran into three people who had started a brawl; they were drawing a 
crowd, and the guards couldn't seem to separate them.

Heading back the way they came, they did fine, but as soon as they tried 
to turn again toward the noble quarter, they found that two delivery 
carts, floating at hip-height above the street, had collided and were 
making a mess.

The servant was becoming more and more flustered; he took them down an 
alley to another street, only to find it so tightly packed with people 
that he was shoved bodily into Teal'c, who had to catch him to keep him 
from getting trampled on.

Jack narrowed his eyes.  Something wasn't right.

"Teal'c - ask the guy if the streets are like this very often."

"I will try, O'Neill," he answered, but Jack already had a good idea of 
the answer; they'd been playing tourist for the past three days and 
hadn't encountered anything like this.

By this time, Shad'aa's servant was plenty anxious, looking around them 
quickly.  He pointed to another side street, and started to hurry, but 
Jack held him back.  "I have an idea."

They took the street at a leisurely saunter, and Jack was rewarded.  
Traffic was nearly non-existent until they stepped onto it; then, as they 
neared the next intersection, Jack spotted a man ducking out of sight on 
a rooftop... and suddenly, the party going on in that very building just 
absolutely had to spill out into the street.

"Yeah," he said.  "About what I thought."

The servant was looking at Jack in shock, completely bewildered by what 
was happening.  The colonel, on the other hand, had been around the block 
a time or two, and new a planned stall when he saw one.  The three of 
them continued their measured pace toward the throng, watching it get 
more and more tightly packed, and Jack nodded.  He caught Teal'c's eye, 
and reached inside his vest for the zat gun hiding there.  "Might want to 
tell him to duck, T."

He fired one shot, well over everyone's heads, and watched as the crowd 
dispersed, noticing how surprisingly few people actually screamed.  
"Awfully well organized for a drunken orgy, don't you think?" Jack 
shouted.

"Indeed," was the reply.  The servant was staring at them both.

The three men started to move.  After about two blocks, they started to 
make real progress; after three, it looked like traffic was back to 
normal - but Jack was keeping an eye on the rooftops, and had seen people 
ducking out of sight twice already.

"We just called their bluff," he said, breaking into a jog.  "We'll want 
to get a move on before they escalate."

The servant gabbled something.  Teal'c gabbled something back.  Whatever.  
Jack convinced his knees to quit complaining, and moved faster.

                         *******************

Apart from taking three times as long as they should have, Jack, Teal'c, 
and the servant made it back to the courtyard of House Shad'aa without 
incident, but Jack was not about to relax his guard.  Catching his 
breath, he said, "Teal'c - what was the servant saying to you?"

"If I am not mistaken, something has happened which concerns Sharma 
Kona'a, and the negotiations have been stopped," he replied.  "Given what 
we encountered in the city, I believe that we were to come here as a 
security measure."

"Ask him to explain it again.  Tell him to use small words." 

With a quick glance, Jack decided that Teal'c was probably getting the 
translation about right; the courtyard was empty, where usually, at the 
very least, you could spot a few servants from one House or another 
trotting about on errands for their bosses.  The only person they'd seen 
so far was the guard at the gate, and come to think of it, he didn't look 
as relaxed as usual, either.  Not good.

Jack started towards the boardwalk that would lead to their rooms, 
hearing Teal'c and the servant falling into step behind him.  Sounded 
like the servant was talking slowly, repeating himself every so often as 
Teal'c interrupted.  It would be a lot faster, he thought, for them to 
get to their rooms and hear an explanation from his team.

The silence, with everyone shut inside their own suites, was eerie, and 
not in any fun kind of way, either.  The place looked deserted; the wind 
hissed through the trees, and their steps seemed to echo too loudly on 
the wooden corridor.  Reaching the first of their suites, Jack turned the 
handle and pushed - and was immediately assailed by a powerful, acid 
smell that made his eyes and nose burn.  He jumped back.

"Get Carter."  Teal'c, bless him, didn't have to be told twice.  Jack 
blinked, taking a deep breath of the clearer air out on the boardwalk, 
and listened to the door opening.

"O'Neill!  Come quickly!"  The big guy's voice made Jack's neck hairs 
stand on end.  Glaring at the servant, who looked as startled as he had 
out on the street, Jack dashed in through the second door.

Teal'c was kneeling next to the major, who lay in bed, under covers, 
looking perfectly peaceful except that pulling the blanket back showed 
her to be fully clothed minus her shoes.  "She will not rouse, O'Neill.  
And there is a smell here, like a drug."

As Jack got closer, he caught the whiff; different from the burning 
chemical in the other suite, this one was sweetish and caught in his 
throat.

Jack turned back toward the door, his rage mounting.  The servant took a 
step back from the expression on his face, but Jack moved more quickly 
than he did and grabbed him by the shoulder.  "Get Sharma Shad'aa," he 
said, voice barely under control.  "You got that?"  He gripped the man's 
arm more tightly, shook him once, hard.  "You got that?!"  

"Sharma Shad'aa," he said, nodding. He looked terrified.  "Ken'eru mash-
jia fe re hauma..."

Babbling.  Jack spun him by the shoulder and shoved, not caring that the 
guy stumbled and had to catch himself on the railing to keep from falling 
off the boardwalk and down the hill.  Over his shoulder, he said, "Dig 
out the medic kit, see if you can find some smelling salts or something.  
Get her awake."

"And you, O'Neill?"

He was already wrapping a pillowcase around his face, stepping through 
the door that connected their suites.  "I need to see if Daniel's still 
in there."

                         *******************

There was something bothering Daniel, making it hard for him to sleep.  
Something irritating; he furrowed his brow, vaguely annoyed, and the 
irritation became an insistent burning in his eyes.  With a wince, he 
brought his hand up to rub at his face, and found that they were fastened 
together.  Sluggishly, not quite understanding, he tried once to tug his 
hands apart, then tried again, harder.  Something - it felt like coiled 
rope - was wrapped snugly around his wrists.  He could feel the weight of 
extra rope trailing off the knots and away from him.

His fogged mind was beginning to clear; Daniel was aware of lying on his 
side in the dark, on something that wasn't his bed at House Shad'aa, 
still in his T-shirt and pants as far as he could tell.  He tugged again 
at his bound wrists, and only felt skin beginning to pinch for his 
trouble.  The sensation, combined with the pain in his eyes, brought the 
memory of the attack crashing back through him, and with a gasp his 
entire body tensed, so suddenly it was almost a flinch.  With a bit of 
effort, he sat up, riding out a wave of dizziness and remembering the 
cloth that had been forced over his face.  "Drugged," he realized at 
last, and the last of the fuzzy feeling in his brain vanished.

Experimentally, he opened his eyes, but saw nothing.  The burning 
increased sharply and made his eyes water, so he closed them again. 
Gingerly, he reached up with his bound hands to touch; the skin felt 
scorched, not just across his eyelids but up onto his forehead, across 
the bridge of his nose and along one cheek.

Oh, God.  What if the room wasn't really dark?

                         *******************

Jack had just finished a quick search of all the rooms in his and 
Daniel's suite, confirming what he already suspected.  Someone, or 
several someones, had overpowered Carter and Daniel both, and taken 
Daniel off with them.  Most likely, tucking Carter into bed was supposed 
to be a deception; if he and Teal'c had gotten back late enough in the 
evening, they might have believed she was really asleep.  Come to think 
of it, the delaying tactics out on the street were probably related, too.

Plausible plan, if you thought that the other two members of SG-1 were 
stupid.  Were they supposed to conveniently not notice the chemical 
stench all through both rooms?

"Somebody screwed up on this one, T," said Jack.  He flung the cloth off 
his face and onto the couch.  "They could have had a lot better luck with 
a clean getaway, and they didn't."

"I agree, O'Neill," answered the warrior.  His eyes were narrowed 
dangerously.  "It is my hope that Daniel Jackson's abductors have made 
more such mistakes.  It will be easier to find him, and to destroy them."

"How is she?"  He nodded toward Carter, still out cold.

"Major Carter's vital signs are regular, but all attempts to rouse her 
have failed.  I suggest we give her into the care of Sharma Shad'aa and 
his staff, and begin our search for Daniel Jackson immediately."

"I'm on it," replied Jack.  He stepped out onto the boardwalk, rounded 
the corner, and was gratified to see Shad'aa's servant returning, 
followed closely by Shad'aa himself, two other servants, and Sharma 
Per'ua.  She was hard to spot behind all the red and gold, but it looked 
like she was also bringing people with her to assist.

Good.

                         *******************

Carefully, Daniel tried to open his eyes again, but just the feel of air 
across the delicate surface caused the burn to intensify, until tears 
were streaming down his cheeks.  There was nothing for him to see; 
whether the room was darkened or not, he was effectively blind.

Moving cautiously, listening intently for any sound that would give him a 
clue where he was, Daniel managed to get his knees under him.  He felt 
time-smoothed wood against his hands and along the tops of his feet, 
which were bare.  He remembered stepping into his bedroom for a clean 
pair of socks when the attack had happened.

"I see that Sharma Daniel is awake," said a voice, quiet and smooth.  
Daniel tried to track the sound; it seemed to be coming from his left, a 
little behind him.  "Perhaps he felt unwell, and needed to rest?"  Soft 
footfalls, nearly silent, accompanied the voice's movement around to the 
side.  "Perhaps his eyes are bothering him?"

Daniel made himself breathe as calmly as possible.  "I greet you, Sharma 
Kona'a," he said.

                         *******************

The guest suite no longer felt spacious to Jack, crammed as it was with 
two sharma, a handful of servants, and himself, Teal'c, and Carter.  
Teal'c was standing with Sharma Shad'aa and one of his servants, while 
two more hovered over Carter where she lay on the bed.  Sharma Per'ua 
seemed to be directing a thorough search of their quarters, and had 
already sent two of her people next door into Jack and Daniel's suite.  
Jack, with no grasp of the local language, felt at loose ends.  There 
wasn't even enough room in here to pace anymore, and somehow that thought 
ticked him off above and beyond the rest of it.

"Teal'c."

"O'Neill."

"What the hell is going on?"

"I am attempting to find out, O'Neill; the servant and Sharma Shad'aa are 
making their best effort to be understood."

Jack gritted his teeth and tried to pace again, succeeding only in 
turning himself in little circles near one wall.

A light touch on one arm pulled him out of dark thoughts.  "Sharma Jack."  
He glared into the face of Sharma Per'ua, realized what he must look 
like, and took a deep breath.

"Per'ua."

"Veshe, Sharma Jack.  Veshe."  He had no idea what "veshe" was supposed 
to mean, but the tiny woman guided him over to Carter's bed, where one of 
her people had just turned away.  The look on his face kind of reminded 
Jack of Fraiser - that grimly satisfied expression she got sometimes, 
when she'd figured out what was wrong with one of her patients and could 
finally get on with the business of fixing it.

Jack hoped that was the same look, anyway.

"Sharma Per'ua," bowed the man.  "Sharma Jack."  He began to gabble 
something, but Per'ua stopped him, seemed to explain that Jack had no 
clue what he was saying.  Pulling a cloth from inside his robes, he 
reached for the water on the nightstand and spilled some onto it.

"Eh," he thought for a moment, "beh ru'kher," he held up the cloth, "tso 
na-makh peresh-jia," he mimed holding the cloth against his face, "koro 
bekher tash na-mere Sharma Samantha-jia."  He made his eyes droop closed, 
sagged for a moment, and then indicated the good major.

Got it.  No surprise, really.  Jack raised his eyebrows, tapped the wet 
cloth in the man's hands.  "Can you fix it?  Antidote?"

If not the words, the man - the healer, actually - seemed to get the idea 
behind Jack's tone.  He touched his assistant on the shoulder, murmured 
something; Jack watched as the assistant unrolled a piece of soft 
leather, stitched full of tiny pockets.  The healer pulled three vials 
out of separate pockets, mixed a couple of powders in his wet 
handkerchief, and rubbed them with his little finger until they formed a 
paste.  Bending over the bed, he brought his hand to Carter's lips, then 
paused and looked over his shoulder at Jack.

Jack took a breath, said a quick prayer, and nodded.  The healer slipped 
his pinkie inside her mouth, rubbing the paste in along her gums.  He 
dipped his finger in the stuff on his handkerchief and repeated the 
procedure all along her bottom lip, then stood up, wiping his hands on a 
clean patch of the hankie.  Per'ua asked him a question, he answered.

"Teal'c?"

"I am listening, O'Neill.  The healer has told Sharma Per'ua that very 
little time is needed before his antidote takes effect."

On the bed, Carter stirred and murmured sluggishly.

"Good."

                         *******************

"Sharma Shad'aa was most concerned when you fell ill during the 
gathering," said Daniel.  "I am certain he will be relieved to hear that 
you are recovering."

"Recovering?"  Kona'a's voice was now almost directly in front of him, 
maybe a few steps away.  "But that is not so.  The poison I was given was 
most cruel - have not my servants been instructed to say that I am near 
death, and must not be disturbed for any reason?"  Daniel could hear the 
malicious gloating only too clearly - Kona'a was laying it on so thick he 
could almost taste it.  "Am I not very fragile, just now, lying in my 
bed, attended by the best healers by day and by night?"

"Indeed," said Daniel dryly, "the one who fed you poison was truly a 
vicious coward."  He was rewarded when he heard Kona'a halt his slow 
pacing.  "How fortunate that Sharma Shad'aa has sworn not to rest until 
he has found those responsible for the insult to your House - and to his 
House, of course."

Kona'a gave a haughty little breath of laughter.  "Oh yes," he said, 
"insults to my House are so terribly important to him; such a wonderful 
ally I have in Sharma Shad'aa."  His voice began to heat, as it had 
during the gathering - was it only yesterday? - when he had confronted 
Daniel during the lunch break.

"I have, perhaps, been misinformed," suggested Daniel diffidently.  "I 
was given to believe that Shad'aa and Kona'a shared honor and respect for 
one another."

"Respect," sneered Kona'a.  "Honor.  What honor in permitting some 
vagabond to pretend he is sharma - a vagabond who comes to us, begging 
for useless rock!"

The pacing was back, faster, angry.  "What honor in allowing this false 
sharma to sleep under his roof?  To demand that we true sharma, of 
ancient family, show the vagabond the same courtesy we show one another?"  
The smoothness was completely gone from his voice now, the venomous 
hatred laid bare and undisguised.

 "What respect Sharma Shad'aa has, to demand that his revered ally give 
up his shen to this filth from the wilderness!" A vicious yank on the 
rope trailing from his wrists toppled Daniel onto knees and elbows.  "Oh 
yes, we are so greatly honored!"  The kick caught Daniel on the right, 
just above his appendix scar, and he doubled up coughing.

"Get up.  Get up!"  When Daniel made no move to rise, his right arm was 
kicked out from under him.  Then he felt the rope flop about and jerk 
upward suddenly.  On his knees, he yanked backward, feeling the pinch 
along the backs of his wrists.  He heard the noble stumble forward, but 
was unprepared for the force of the backhand that caught him.  His head 
rocked to the left, and the tender skin across his cheek began a slow 
burn.  Pain shrieked through his eyes for a moment, and he could not stop 
himself from crying out.

"Sharma Daniel does not like that?" hissed Kona'a.  "No?  Perhaps the 
great sharma from the Eye will get up as he is told to do!"

"Is this really about my... ancestry," gritted Daniel, "or is it about 
your shen?  You accused me of stealing her from you before."

"Do not speak of what does not belong to you!" raged Kona'a, hauling 
Daniel bodily to his feet by his shirtfront.  Daniel, half-expecting the 
attack, got his feet under him and twisted as he rose, managing to catch 
some part of Kona'a's body with his elbow.  Immediately, he felt blows 
land on his jaw and left ribcage, so fast he would have had a hard time 
defending against them even if he had been able to see them coming.  When 
Kona'a's elbow slammed into his left kidney, he arched reflexively 
backward and dropped to his knees groaning.

As he caught his breath, he heard Kona'a stomp away from him, and a 
moment later the rope on his wrists flopped about against the floor.  
Daniel heard a metallic squeaking as the rope was hoisted upward again; 
this time, when he pulled against it, there was no give.  Instead, with 
another jerk his arms were pulled up - Daniel stood quickly, trying to 
gain some slack to fight with, but with another vicious yank his arms 
were brought high over his head.  The coils bit into the backs of his 
wrists as Daniel fought for balance, finally rising slightly onto his 
toes and swaying a little, horribly open to anything Kona'a might choose 
to do to him.

"She is MY shen, do you hear me," spat the nobleman.  Daniel could feel 
the man's body heat, he was standing so close.  "You had no right even to 
request a servant for this gathering, even less to demand a shen - MY 
shen."

"Among my people," said Daniel, "no one can own another person." He was 
stretched so tightly upward that his voiced sounded strained and breathy 
in his ears.  "No one has the right even to claim such a thing.  She 
belongs to herself."

"Herself?" Kona'a' grabbed Daniel's shirtfront again, making him sway 
forward helplessly.  "She has no self.  It was trained out of her, and if 
you were not an arrogant foreigner you would know that already!"  Daniel 
heard a soft sliding noise, then the chill of a knife blade at his neck; 
Kona'a made sure to hold it flat against his skin, breathing hard and hot 
while he gave Daniel time to recognize what it was.  Holding himself as 
still as he could, Daniel could only listen and feel as the blade parted 
the fabric of his shirt like water; the cool air of the room ghosted 
across his newly bared stomach.  "Stupid filth."

"So as far as you are concerned," said Daniel carefully, "the shen is not 
even a person?"

"She is a shen - if she were a person I would call her a person," came 
the contemptuous reply.  With another slice, the back of his shirt was 
cut open.  In moments the shoulder seams were cut, and the pieces fell to 
the floor, brushing warm across the tops of his feet.  Daniel swallowed, 
his fingers clenching and unclenching uselessly above his head.

"If she is not even a person," said Daniel, knowing what the reaction 
would be yet unable to stop himself, "then why do you call her 'she'?"

The blow to his stomach was so hard and deep that for a moment, Daniel 
thought he had been stabbed.  His breath rushed out of him with a grunt, 
and he tried to double over but only succeeded in drawing his legs off 
the floor for a moment.  His shoulders felt like the arms were going to 
come out of the sockets, and he fought to make his legs support him 
before the agony became unbearable.  As the pain spread through his body, 
so did the nausea, until it was an effort of will not to throw up.

"I said not to speak to me!" roared Kona'a.  Out of the darkness came 
another blow, this one across the back of Daniel's legs.  His knees 
buckled and the ropes jerked again, the only thing holding him up.

"Do not speak!" he shrieked, grabbing Daniel by the back of the neck.  He 
struggled, what little he could, against the grip, but Kona'a's strength 
in his rage was immense.  "Do not speak!" he kept screaming, over and 
over, like some kind of enraged beast.

Daniel felt something shoved against his mouth and tried to turn away, 
but Kona'a only shoved his head back until he thought his neck would 
snap.  With his mouth forced open by the angle, Kona'a was able to cram a 
piece of Daniel's shirt inside, stuffing it deep.  Daniel's frantic 
protests were muffled, then finally silenced completely; the gag was 
forced in so deeply that trying to use his voice only served to cut off 
his air supply.  Once again, he was reduced to struggles to breathe, and 
to fight his own gag reflex; only now, he knew, if he failed he would 
most likely die.

"It would be well if Sharma Shad'aa could see you now, foreign filth," 
hissed the voice in his ear.

Then his punishment began in earnest.

                         *******************

Carter was sitting up in bed, looking like the hangover from three days' 
shore leave to be sure, but sitting up and reasonably coherent.  Jack 
counted this a good thing, and tried not to be too impatient while she 
finished coming around.

"There were... I think there must have been three of them, sir," she said 
groggily.  "I know one of them was behind me with the... drug... and I... 
there was one who picked up my legs so I couldn't... couldn't fight."  
She sipped at her tea, clearly wishing she could keel over and die for a 
week or so.

Per'ua had told them, via Teal'c, that the combination of drug and 
antidote often left its victim feeling unwell, and that usually it was 
better to let the person sleep off the drug.  Too bad this wasn't one of 
those times - expediency was crucial right now.

"Were you able to determine to what House the attackers belonged, Major 
Carter?" asked Teal'c.  Bless him for keeping his voice as low as 
possible; it seemed to keep Carter's stomach inside her where it 
belonged.

"Mm... no, no, they weren't..." she swallowed convulsively, "no colors.  
Just plain... outfits."  She took a deep breath and let it out carefully.  
"If they... hadn't attacked Kona'a earlier... I'd say it was him... 
but..."

"Wait a minute," interjected Jack.  "Someone attacked Kona'a?"

She nodded, then reached for the edge of the bed to steady herself.  
"Poison.  Collapsed... during lunch break.  They... called off the... 
the, uh... negotiating.  Everyone back to our rooms, while Shad'aa... 
investigated."

The colonel's eyes narrowed.  If Kona'a had been attacked, and then 
Carter and Daniel...

"Where's the shen we were borrowing?"

"Sir?"

"Kona'a's pet slave girl.  If he was attacked, would she get... I 
dunno... recalled or something?"

"I shall attempt to ask, O'Neill," said Teal'c.

More stumbling, more waiting while Teal'c used his tourist-manual grasp 
of Arkon to figure out an answer to Jack's question.  He started to pace 
again, feeling the muscles in his shoulders tying themselves up into 
knots.

Someone exclaimed in Arkon behind him.  He turned to see Per'ua looking 
surprised, and Shad'aa turning a thoughtful look toward her.  The two 
began to speak, quietly and very quickly, with one another.

"No one here has seen the shen in some time, O'Neill.  It was assumed 
that she was with Daniel Jackson."

"Yeah well, Daniel isn't here, in case you hadn't noticed, and she 
supposedly belongs to Kona'a, so did she go back to Kona'a when he was 
attacked, or not?"

"She did not, O'Neill, and this appears to be significant information to 
the sharma."

Something didn't add up here at all.  Jack weighed the pieces carefully.  
No one here would feel any real reason to attack both Kona'a and 
Daniel... unless...

"Oh, God," breathed Carter.  He looked at her, trying her best to sit up 
straighter on the bed.  "He set this up - he did it."

That, on the other hand, added up pretty damn nicely.

"Teal'c?"

"Sharma-ko, Per'ua, Shad'aa.  Go-sherna Sharma Kona'a-jia?"

The old guy looked stunned as the realization hit him; the old lady 
looked furious.  As one, they turned and sent servants running out the 
door of the suite, their feet thundering along the boardwalk outside.

Jack took off after them.

                         *******************

Daniel had completely lost track of how much time had passed; he might 
have been hanging in the blind darkness at Kona'a's mercy for an hour, or 
a day - it was beyond him even to try to guess anymore.

All through the session, Kona'a had been careful to pick his targets at 
random: Daniel's shoulders and upper back, his chest, the backs and sides 
of his legs, all throbbed with dull impacts, or shrieked with welts that 
Daniel thought might come from some kind of thin cane, but Daniel could 
never discover any kind of pattern to his attack - there was never any 
way for him to tell when or where the next blow would strike.  They came 
out of nowhere, sometimes spaced far apart from each other, other times 
fast and furious, and he was helpless even to dodge out of the way.

Sometimes, for variety, Kona'a would take aim at his head and neck, 
making him choke, or his calves and feet, making him kick and writhe.  As 
far as Daniel could guess, probably the only unmarked parts of his body 
by now were his hands and forearms, which were out of Kona'a's reach and 
had lost sensation, anyway.  His belly had been spared too, for the most 
part; Kona'a had remarked at one point that he didn't want to end his 
entertainment too quickly, by damaging Daniel's internal organs.

Kona'a' was enjoying himself; Daniel didn't have to guess about that.  
The man made a point of laughing when Daniel was in the most pain, or 
commenting on how pathetic he looked as he wrestled to keep his panic and 
his reflexes under control.  That control was becoming more and more 
difficult to maintain; he was so exhausted that his mind was beginning to 
blur around the edges, making him forget to try not to swallow, not to 
shout, not to pick his feet off the floor.  After an especially sharp 
cut, sometimes Daniel would try to cry out - then the gag would cut off 
his air supply, and he would panic and gasp only to try and scream again, 
until he was thrashing against the rope that held him up.  Kona'a would 
wait, chuckling contentedly, and just as Daniel managed to become aware 
of his surroundings again, to get a grip on his shattering nerves, a blow 
would land on him out of nowhere and the cycle would begin again.

At the moment, he was hanging motionless with his head tipped back, 
breathing through his nose in sharp, shallow gasps that made his ribs 
ache.  He could hear Kona'a walking around him, whistling the cane 
through the air and making him flinch in anticipation of a blow that 
never landed; after toying with him like this for a few moments, Daniel 
heard a rattle against the floor, as the weapon was cast aside.

"Such a fine sharma you look now," said Kona'a.  "So dignified, with 
blood running down your legs."  He gave Daniel's head a contemptuous 
shove, and Daniel heard him turn away.  He walked a few steps, said one 
word: "Shen!"

Suddenly his breath was gusting on Daniel's chest.  "She has watched, the 
entire time, *Sharma* Daniel," he purred.  "My shen sees that you are 
mine to play with as I wish; she sees your blood and your tears.  She has 
seen you whimper like a beast.  I commanded her to watch," he said, his 
voice rising, "and she obeyed ME!"

"COME HERE!" he roared, making Daniel flinch again.  He could just barely 
hear the footsteps as she approached, and felt something twist inside 
him.  It wasn't enough for Kona'a to torture him; he had to torture his 
slave as well, by making her watch?

"Who is your master?"

And he heard it, God, Daniel could hear the terror in the woman's voice 
as she answered, "Th-this one s-serves - sss - Sh-sharma Kona'a, th - 
this one is g-good -"

"I will decide whether you are good, little pekh," said Kona'a calmly.  
Daniel couldn't place the word, was too numbed to remember whether he'd 
even encountered it before.  "Tell me, shen, if you are my good servant, 
why you served this foreign filth at all."

"This one... does as sh-she is com - commanded, th-this one o-obeys 
Sharma Kona'a..."  Her whimpered murmurings were cut off with a sharp 
slap that had Daniel mentally wincing in sympathy.

"You dare to blame ME for your failure?!" Kona'a demanded.  "YOU 
attracted his attention, YOU made him take you away from me - it was YOU 
who served him when you should have been serving ME!"

This time, the fist connected with Daniel's stomach, and was so 
completely unexpected that he nearly retched from the force of it; he 
could feel his legs curling off the floor as his body instinctively tried 
to protect itself.  He could feel his eyes rolling back in his head, and 
he fought to convince his muscles to let him inhale, to take just one 
more breath.

A strange thing happened then.  As his consciousness fogged, for just a 
heartbeat, he could see the room around him - only it was as if his 
vision were no longer connected with his own eyes.  Kona'a was standing 
with his back to him, and seemed to be very tall from his vantage point.  
He was facing another man, who hung naked from his bound wrists in the 
center of the room... then Kona'a moved, and for a second, Daniel saw his 
own beaten body, his own face in front of him.

He gasped, and fell blind again.

                         *******************

After pelting around the corner of the boardwalk, Jack easily caught up 
with the two servants that were moving briskly toward Kona'a's quarters; 
at least, Jack assumed that's where they were headed, since he hadn't 
bothered to ask and wouldn't have understood the answer if he had.  Damn 
this foreign-language bullshit to hell and back, he thought; once they 
got back to the SGC he was going to put Daniel up for commendation for 
teaching the Arkon language to Teal'c.  Even the rudimentary vocabulary 
he had was better than nothing at all.

Their jog was brought to a sudden halt - in front of Jack and the two 
servants stood Nadhesh in his gold robes, two or three other people that 
he recognized as representatives from the other cities, and a handful of 
their servants.

Jack narrowed his eyes, weighing his chances if it came to a fight.  
Nadhesh spotted him and looked troubled; a short little terrier of a man 
stepped forward and started gabbling and pointing.  No idea what the 
little runt was saying, but he didn't much like the guy's tone - so, 
fixing his best "colonel bad-ass" look on his face, he stepped forward 
and loomed.

"Go Charmin Kona'a... runt?"

The little man looked bewildered; okay, fine, so maybe he hadn't gotten 
it right.

"Kona'a?  You know... 'bout this tall, wears blue, snotty attitude?"  
Jack measured with his hands.  "Kona'a?"

The runt sniffed loudly, started gabbling again; Jack caught the phrase 
"Sharma Daniel" in there somewhere, and rolled his eyes.  Like he needed 
another goddamned delay at this point!

Luckily for the runt, Per'ua's servant stepped in and apparently started 
talking some sense into him.  The little guy shut his trap, at any rate, 
and even had the grace to look surprised.

"Em're?" said Nadhesh.  He leaned forward - way forward; that was a kid 
belonged on a basketball team if Jack had ever met one - and spoke softly 
into the short guy's ear.  The runt - okay, fine, Em're - began to look 
concerned, then worried.  After looking at Nadhesh uncertainly once or 
twice, he nodded, and finally bowed.

"They accuse Daniel Jackson of the attack on Sharma Kona'a," said Teal'c.  
Jack nearly jumped out of his skin, and whirled to face the Jaffa.

"Excuse me?"

"The assembled representatives were coming to accuse Daniel Jackson of 
the attack on Sharma Kona'a," repeated Teal'c.  "They have heard rumors 
that Daniel has disappeared, because his plot was about to be 
discovered."

"I suppose Per'ua's messenger here told 'em that was bullshit?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," said Teal'c.

"And now?"

"Now they wish to visit Sharma Kona'a as well, to hear his version of 
events," he replied.

"And we're waiting for...?" said O'Neill, glancing at the assembled 
crowd.

"You, O'Neill," said Teal'c.

Jack felt a headache coming on, and fought it the best way he knew how - 
he shoved it into the same mental storage facility his anger was 
simmering in, and started walking.  Teal'c, the servants, and the rest of 
the nobility fell in behind him.

                         *******************

"Tell me what you did for him, shen," said Kona'a, his voice deadly 
quiet.  "I want to hear everything, every command he gave you, every 
moment of your service.  ALL OF IT!"

Daniel listened, exhausted and sickened, as the girl recited, in a voice 
gone toneless with fear, every deed, no matter how small - how she had 
brought food to him, how she had bathed herself before going to sleep at 
night because Daniel had ordered her to "tend to her body" - how she had 
knelt behind him during the negotiations and refilled his drink - how he 
had asked her questions, and the exact answers she had given.

Through it all, Kona'a didn't say a single word.  Daniel only knew he was 
still in the room because the shen's speech would be interrupted from 
time to time by the sound of a fist striking her; the woman never seemed 
to react to what he did to her, other than to gasp in pain, or let a 
quick sob escape her, before simply resuming her story as if she had not 
been interrupted.  Daniel was furious, filled with disgust and dread, 
which were only made worse by his helplessness to do *anything* to stop 
the horrible scene that he could hear, taking place only steps away from 
him.

Once, Daniel heard Kona'a knock her to the floor, and he had another 
strange flash of sight.  This time, he was looking at the floor and at 
his hands - only they were not his hands.  Kona'a's feet, wearing the 
familiar blue and silver slippers, were visible out of the corner of 
"his" eyes; he watched "himself" rise from the floor - yet he could see 
his own body standing a few feet away.  At the same time, with a bizarre 
disjointed awareness, he could feel where he actually stood, still bound 
to the ceiling, and hear the shen moving nearby.

She started speaking again, and the vision dissipated once more.  What 
was going on?

After a few moments, the shen began to describe in a trembling voice how 
she had offered to "give him pleasure", and Kona'a exploded with rage.  
"I KNEW it!  You DARED, you offered that body to HIM, you FILTHY pekh!"  
Again he heard the blow land, again he could only listen as the shen was 
knocked to the floor, and again he had a flash of disjointed sight.

Kona'a was red-faced, his robes swirling and his eyes mad, and he towered 
impossibly tall from Daniel's vantage point near the floor.  "WHO owns 
that body?  Who permits you to continue LIVING?"  The conflicting 
sensations, of feeling himself standing with his hands bound over his 
head, and of seeing himself from a kneeling position several feet away, 
were starting to make him dizzy.

He heard the woman start to answer, and then both saw and heard Kona'a's 
backhand come flying downward.  He flinched where he stood as the blow 
landed, but didn't feel it strike him - and finally, his weary mind 
connected the data, and realized that, somehow, his vision was tied to 
what the shen could see.

Kona'a had roused himself into an ecstasy of violence; he flailed at the 
woman on the floor, and Daniel watched through her eyes as she ducked to 
take his fists across her shoulders and back.  He bellowed curses at her 
("the clay in my bowel is worth more than your entire life!") and called 
her disgusting names, only half of which Daniel could translate.  He spit 
on her, and threatened worse, threatened to make her kneel in a pool of 
his own urine.  He threw her against the wall, knocked her to the floor 
again and again, and kicked at her head and stomach where she cowered.  
He ordered her to be silent, then beat her when she did not respond to 
his curses; would kick her till she cried out, then rage at her for 
breaking her silence.  His onslaught seemed to last forever, and Daniel 
felt himself grow horrified, even humiliated, on her behalf.  That Kona'a 
should abuse her this way, apparently on a regular basis, was revolting - 
but to do it in front of witnesses was nothing short of obscene.

Finally, he panted, "You OFFERED him pleasure - YOU wanted to debase the 
body that I OWN for this filth - let us see you pleasure him NOW!"

With that, he yanked the shen forward by the hair and shoved her face-
first into Daniel's groin.  Her chin smacked painfully into Daniel's 
hipbone; he swayed off-balance, feeling her body trembling against his, 
her breath puffing against his belly as she sobbed quietly.

His vision flickered for a moment, and he felt a sick sense of despair, 
regret, and self-loathing mingling with his own rage.  Echoing in the 
back of his mind, he could hear the memory of the way she had apologized 
to him brokenly for some imagined offense, "sorry, sorry, sorry", 
groveling and begging for forgiveness, over and over again.  Some part of 
him, some instinct, battled that emotion back, as if trying to convince 
himself of his innocence... 

Wait.  Convince himself?

Adrenaline surged through him as he focused his thoughts on the woman 
being forced to kneel before him.  "This isn't your fault," he thought, 
and to his shock felt the woman's surprise ripple through him.  He had no 
idea if she could actually hear him, or just feel his emotions the way he 
could sense hers; at the moment he didn't care.  "This is NOT your 
fault," he thought again, willing the message to get through.

Kona'a flung her away from him onto the floor, and his sight whirled away 
into darkness once more.  The mysterious rapport seemed to fade along 
with it; Daniel had no idea where it had come from or why, nor whether it 
would return.

                         *******************

The little war party behind Jack and Teal'c was surprisingly quiet over 
the planks of the boardwalk - probably had something to do with most of 
them wearing slippers, he figured, not that this would convince him to 
trade in his combat boots at the moment.

Jack was in a mood to do a little ass-kicking, and slippers just didn't 
fit with that whole ambience, you know?

They had crossed the courtyard, where lamps were being lit against the 
coming dark; had mounted a few steps, rounded a corner, stepped onto 
another boardwalk; now they were approaching an intersection, and Jack 
was in no mood to slow down.  He glanced over his shoulder, gestured 
impatiently to the waiting servant, a twenty-something man with gaudy 
hoops in one ear.

The servant immediately pointed to the right, and Jack sped up again.  
Per'ua had good people working for her - bad taste in jewelry, maybe, but 
good heads on their shoulders.

"Teal'c," he called quietly, "ask him which door."

He softened his steps into a hurried stalk, until all he could hear was 
the big guy's voice, followed by the servant's response.  See?  Combat 
boots could be quiet too.  Gotta love Special Ops.

"Kona'a's suite is the fourth door along this corridor, O'Neill," 
murmured Teal'c.

"Tell everyone else to wait," he answered.  Not waiting for a reply, he 
stepped on little cat feet across the boards, absolutely silent.  
Listened at the door.  Voices.

Funny, didn't sound like they were in a sickroom with a poisoned guy...

Jack listened for a moment more, centered himself, and kicked the door 
in.  Inside three servants leaped to their feet from around the table, 
their meal spilling to the floor as they backed up against a wall.

"Hi," said Jack politely.  "Kona'a?"

The servants' eyes got really big, and they looked at each other in the 
way that Jack had come to associate with Tok'ra, ten-year-olds, and 
others who were trying - badly - to hide something from him.

Jack smiled, and stepped through the doorway.

Combat boots were great.

                         *******************

"When was the last time I marked you, shen?" said Kona'a; he had caught 
his breath, and his voice sounded deceptively calm.  "Has it been two 
hands of days?  Four?"  His steps crossed the room.  "Answer me."

"T-two m-m-moons have p-passed, Sh-sh-sharma K-Kona'a."  Faintly, Daniel 
could sense just a hint, a twinge of sensation; was it her dread, or his 
own that he felt?

"Indeed, so long?  Perhaps you would remember your master better if I 
wrote my name upon you more often."  He let his breath out in a huff. 
"Bring the knife."

His robes swirled and swished in the blackness.  "Ah, Sharma Daniel," he 
said, coming closer.  "For a foreigner, you speak our tongue very well, 
even I must admit - but you are not, perhaps, familiar with our written 
forms?"

There was another flash of vision, and he was looking down at a blade 
with a blue-and-silver handle, easily eight inches long but so thin, 
impossibly thin for a knife that size.  He watched through the shen's 
eyes as she reached out and picked it up.  One of her wrists was 
beginning to swell.  Her fingers were wet, and trembling.

Kona'a paused as if expecting an answer, then went on, "Are you not? I 
would be delighted to show you - ah, but I had forgotten, you are blind 
now."  Daniel could hear the smile in his voice, and his stomach churned.

The shen had turned and was walking toward Kona'a, where he stood facing 
Daniel.  Odd, Daniel hadn't realized that he was swaying on his feet...  
she stopped a few steps away, her eyes on the floor, her glance flicking 
occasionally to the knife she held in her hands.

"Perhaps there is another way I can demonstrate to you our writing," he 
said, drawing closer.  His voice dropped to an intimate purr, "Perhaps I 
shall put my name on your body as well, so you can feel our writing for 
yourself."

The woman's hands twitched, and Daniel suddenly felt a rush of horror and 
despair from her; with an effort, he managed to counter it and bring it 
under control.  The sensation was not all that different from taking 
someone by the shoulders and shaking them to catch their attention, 
forcing them to "snap out of it," to yank their attention away from their 
hysteria.  He thought he might have succeeded in calming the shen, or 
maybe he had just pushed her emotions out of his head again.  He only 
hoped that he had not given anything away to Kona'a in his expression; 
Daniel still had no idea what was going on, but he had a feeling that it 
was something that the other man would be able to use against them, if he 
detected it at all.

"No - I have a better idea," Kona'a said with a smile.  "I shall have my 
shen write my name on you herself, to remind her whom she must obey.  And 
then, I shall punish her for daring to cause harm to a guest under my 
roof."  He laughed, delightedly, and in that moment Daniel knew what 
insanity sounded like.

"Shen," said Kona'a, still laughing, "come here."  In his - her - vision, 
Daniel watched as she came closer, shivering and cradling the knife in 
her hands like a living thing.  "You know how to shape my name, do you 
not?"

"Y-yes, Sh-sharma Kona'a," she whispered.

"Go on, then," he replied cheerfully, "put my mark on him - here," and 
Daniel saw through her eyes, saw the man's finger reach out and touch him 
on the chest, caressing the muscle just above his heart.  He could see 
the sweat trickling down his own sides as Kona'a drew a symbol there with 
his fingertip.

Daniel struggled uselessly as the tip of the knife was placed, so 
carefully, so gently, against his chest where Kona'a's finger had been 
just a moment before.  Her terror seemed to fuel his struggles; his 
breath was coming in little panting gasps, and he was making muffled 
grunts in the back of his throat.  Praying that some trace of their link 
remained, he willed the shen to hear him, to realize, "no, you can fight 
him, you don't have to let him do this to you - you can save us both, 
don't - don't..."

As he watched through her eyes, the knife began, slowly, to trace a 
vertical line on his chest.  "Don't do this," he thought at her.  The 
knife was so sharp that Daniel hardly felt it at first; "no, fight him, 
fight him, you can do it -"  Blood began to well up as Kona'a laughed 
again - "no," he prayed, gritting his teeth, "oh god help me, don't do 
this -"

Daniel felt a rush of emotion from somewhere, a mingling of shame and 
anguish and despair... 

...and then the shen whirled, and plunged the blade into the hollow of 
Kona'a's throat, and straight out the back of his neck.

With his spinal cord severed, Sharma Kona'a did not struggle, did not 
even cough; he simply slipped backward from the force of the blow, dead 
before he finished falling, the sparkling hilt matching his blue and 
silver robes where it stuck up out of his throat.

The room fell absolutely silent.

                         *******************

Daniel sagged in his bonds, utterly exhausted, as blindness descended 
over him once more.  He drifted, only half-conscious, until the rope 
holding him up gave way and he landed heavily on the floor, with the 
trailing end slapping across one shoulder.  The floorboards were cold 
beneath him.

He floated in a haze of pain and fatigue, unable to make his arms move to 
take out the gag still filling his mouth.  Soft footsteps padded to his 
side; he heard clothing rustle as someone knelt by his head, and still he 
flinched when delicate fingertips touched his cheek, his lip, and began 
to work the soaked cloth free.  He coughed as it was pulled away, curling 
up on his side and groaning hoarsely as a million hurts awoke at once.  
He managed to swallow, but his swollen tongue scraped against his abused 
throat and he whimpered before he could stop himself.

In the back of his mind, Daniel felt a tremor along the thread that 
linked him to the shen. "M-may this one s-speak?" she whispered.

He tried to answer, but couldn't seem to make himself shape the words.  
Finally, with another moan, he just nodded.  She replied, "Th-this one... 
this one w-would s-serve Sharma Daniel, if h-he w-w-wishes it."

He forced himself to nod again, wearily, and immediately he felt the 
shen's hands on his arms, untying the ropes at his wrists.  He swallowed 
again, painfully, and ducked his head against his chest as the 
circulation began to return, searing through his forearms and hands.

"Th-this one knows a, of a way to, to dull the p-pain - perhaps Sharma 
Daniel w-will permit?"

"...yes...", he managed to whisper.  "Need... travel," he coughed, 
wincing, "hide... Kona'a's servants..."

"All of House Kona'a who - who came with him," her voice trembled for a 
moment, "remain at the house of Sharma Shad'aa, Sharma Daniel."

"...all?"  He was cold; he tried to pull his arms down to wrap around his 
chest, but his shoulders were stiff from being over his head for so long.  
God, he was tired.  Everything hurt.

"Sharma Kona'a commanded three servants to bring Sharma Daniel to him, w-
with this one," she replied.  "Sharma Kona'a sent them back to the city 
afterward.  This one h-heard him say that he did not wish to be 
disturbed."

Daniel tried again to move his arms; the attempt brought tears to his 
eyes, but he was able to push up onto his elbows and knees.  He gasped as 
he felt the wounds stretch across his back, and knelt there with his 
forehead on one arm, trying to catch his breath.

"Sharma Daniel?"

He lifted his head, and felt it wobble on his neck. So tired! 

"...my - my f-friends?"

"This one has not seen them, Sharma Daniel.  They were not brought to 
this place."

Relief almost pushed Daniel under; he dropped his head back onto his arm, 
just for a moment.

                         *******************

Jack was thoroughly enjoying himself at this point - there was nothing 
like an ass-kicking expedition to vent off a little stress, and as far as 
he was concerned, it had been a pretty stressful day up to this point.  
He had started across the common room of Kona'a's suite to one of the 
bedroom doors, and immediately the servants had tried to block his path.  
It had been fun to shove the first one up against the wall, hard, and 
demand to see Kona'a - and so what if he spoke only English?  Some things 
were pretty easy to translate; the distinct possibility of earning 
oneself grievous bodily harm, to take a random example, came off pretty 
clearly.

Of course, at that point the rest of his little audience had turned up, 
probably to try and maintain decorum or protocol or some other annoying 
thing; and more words were exchanged, and Kona'a's kids looked all 
furtive again, and Teal'c translated what in Jack's opinion didn't really 
need to be translated, and Jack decided to go ahead and kick in the 
bedroom door while they were all chatting it up.

And lo and behold, there was no poisoned guy inside.  Bed didn't even 
look slept in - you gotta admire room service like that, right?

He turned to look back at the servants, smiling THAT smile again - the 
one that he'd perfected during his Special Ops days, the one that could 
and had made pansy little bureaucrat lieutenants wet themselves when they 
caught themselves standing in his way.  No harm in being thorough, 
though, so he stepped over to the other bedroom door and kicked it open 
too, and found a fight on his hands.

It seemed that the rest of Kona'a's retinue had been hanging out in there 
when they heard Jack ... expressing himself... out in the common room, 
and had decided now they were cornered to try and save their own asses 
while they still had a chance.

Too bad they didn't realize their chances all centered around Jack, 
finding Daniel, in one piece, post-haste.  One of them tried to splash 
something at his head, and when it hit the wall he smelled the same fumes 
that were all over his and Daniel's suite.

It was about that point that Jack decided he was ticked off.

Unfortunately, while there was nothing Jack liked quite so much as having 
Teal'c on his side in a fight, there was likewise nothing he found even 
half so annoying as having Teal'c make an executive decision to put a 
stop to the festivities, right when they were starting to get good.

The guy with the chemicals up his sleeve was out cold on the floor, 
probably with a broken jaw and at least two cracked ribs.  Jack had felt 
them go.  He'd feel guilty about that later - for now, all things 
considered, he was pretty happy with himself.  This had to be one of the 
guys who broke in on Carter and Daniel.  Getting information out of him 
was going to be... fun.

Once he woke up.

Which could take hours...

Damn.

Jack could feel himself calming down, little by little.  He shrugged his 
shoulders once, and Teal'c tentatively loosened his grip; when Jack 
didn't go lunging after anyone else, he let go completely and stepped to 
one side.

"Sharma Nadhesh has sent for Sharma Shad'aa and Sharma Per'ua, O'Neill.  
It has become clear that Sharma Kona'a is not here."

"Really," said Jack with a sniff.  "You don't say."

"The other representatives wish to formally accuse Kona'a of the attack 
on Daniel Jackson.  Also, the servants that Shad'aa and Per'ua sent with 
us believe that we have uncovered valuable evidence, since the chemical 
that was thrown at you is identical to that found in your suite."

"Yeah, what's that stuff for, anyway?" said Jack, looking around the 
room.  Kona'a's boys were all kneeling along one wall, watched over by 
the blustering short guy that had accosted them earlier.  Nadhesh was 
apparently directing some of the people watching to head back to their 
own rooms, since it was way too crowded in here as things stood, and two 
people were tending to the guy that Jack had knocked out.

Teal'c caught Jack's eye.  "It is meant to blind one's opponent, O'Neill, 
making him easier to subdue.  It is considered dishonorable to use such a 
weapon, but according to Nadhesh it was one of Kona'a's favorite methods 
of attack during battle."

Jack turned flat eyes on the guy on the floor.  "Blind."

"Yes."

"This guy tried to blind Daniel."

"So it would appear.  You would be wise to calm yourself, O'Neill."

"Why, exactly, would I want to do that, T?"  He took a step forward.

Teal'c laid a hand on his arm.  "Because I have no desire to restrain you 
further, O'Neill; because attacking this man again will not aid us in 
locating Daniel Jackson; and because this is a servant of Kona'a, who 
surely ordered the attack on Daniel Jackson and Major Carter.  Our 
energies would be better spent in searching for him."

Jack took a deep breath.  Then he took another, and another.  He hated it 
when Teal'c was right; not because it was good advice, which it was, but 
because the big guy usually got smug afterwards.  It was irritating.

"Speaking of Carter?"

"She is recovering, O'Neill, and has been ordered by Per'ua's healer to 
remain in her suite.  Major Carter was most displeased at this news, and 
attempted to prove that she would be effective in the mission to rescue 
Daniel Jackson.  Her attempt was unsuccessful."

"Meaning?"

"Major Carter tried to stand and follow us out of the suite. She was 
unable to do so."

"Ah."

"Indeed."

"And have we heard any ideas about where Kona'a has gotten himself off 
to?"  Jack started to pace, needing to not look at the guy on the floor 
just now.

"Sharma Nadhesh is attempting to ascertain his possible whereabouts as we 
speak, O'Neill."

Jack ran his hands through his hair, scrubbed his face, blew out the 
breath he'd been holding.  "Waiting sucks, Teal'c."

"I agree, O'Neill."

                         *******************

Daniel was struggling to keep his focus, to think his way past the pain 
coursing through him and see what he could do to get out of his current 
situation.

"We... plan," he managed to say.  He gritted his teeth, forcing the words 
out through his abused throat.  "Find... Jack, Shad'aa... but first... 
rest... s-safe place... l-let you... treat..." His words trailed off into 
a hoarse moan; he shook his head and swallowed one more time.  "First 
rule... survival... what do we have - what... we need?"

The woman, bless her, took the question literally.  "This one will 
search, Sharma Daniel."  He heard her get up, move about the room 
somewhere behind him.

"There are bed covers in the cabinet, and the cart which the servants 
used to bring Sharma Daniel here.  There is extra clothing for Sh-Sharma 
Kona'a.  There is no food, but this one sees the powders that Sharma 
Kona'a - that he - he used to carry w-with him..."  As he listened, the 
shen took several quick breaths to steady herself.  He felt that strange 
quiver in his mind again, then she went on, "Some of these p-powders are 
to dull pain, or make pleasure seem greater.  Some cause sickness.  Some 
are meant to prevent sickness."

"...water?"

"This one is sorry, Sharma Daniel.  There is no water.  This place... Sh-
sharma Kona'a uses - used - this place was to visit, for a night or 
perhaps two nights.  Th-there is water nearby, along the road, if it 
pleases Sh-sharma Daniel?"

"...outside the c-city?" Daniel rasped.

"Yes, Sharma Daniel."  He sat up on his knees, cradling his numb hands in 
his lap as she continued. "Shad'aa is to the east, and the Eye of the 
Heavens is southeast of Shad'aa.  This one could walk to the city quickly 
at sunrise, and return while it was still morning, if she were 
commanded," she offered.  "This one was told once, that the journey from 
the city to the Eye of the Heavens is a greater distance than the journey 
from the city to this house."

"Help ... me stand," said Daniel.  Immediately, the shen was at his side, 
leaning into him as he struggled to rise.  Unfortunately, he was both too 
weak, and too large for her to support; he managed to totter only a 
couple of steps before the pain in his feet and calves was too much to 
endure, and he dropped to his knees again.

"Sorry," he panted, "sorry... cannot... ah!"  His leg spasmed and he bit 
back a groan.

"Sharma D-Daniel, perhaps, will permit this one to, to use s-some of the 
powders that are here?"  

He nodded.  "Hope... you know... difference..." he said, listening to her 
get up and return.

"This one has taken many of the powders, b-before," she replied.  "S-
sometimes as part of p-punishment, and sometimes after, to, to recover."  
There were quiet little noises behind him, clinks and "tinks", for all 
the world sounding as though someone were mixing themselves a nightcap 
after a long day at work.  Her footsteps padded toward him again.  He 
flinched again, unable to stop himself, when a cup was held to his 
swollen lip.

"These powders... they... I sleep?"  God, his tongue was trying to shape 
the words, but half of what he wanted to say just couldn't come out.

"There are powders for sleeping, Sharma Daniel. This one has mixed 
powders to ease Sharma Daniel's pain - this one is sorry, she did not 
understand."  Something in the back of his mind seemed to stir again, 
quieter now than it had been during Kona'a's torture session, but still 
there; he could feel her shame, but at least it didn't seem to be spurred 
along by terror of what Daniel might do to her.  He sighed again.

"No..." he grimaced, "no... this's good.  Just... do not want... sleep, 
yet."  A hint of the shen's relief rolled towards him, and he tried a 
smile.  With her help, he brought the cup up and was able to sip about 
half of it down.  It tasted horrible, a gritty sludge with a flavor like 
crushed aspirin, but he could feel his tongue and throat beginning to 
subside already.

"What... you?" he asked when he was finished.

"This one does not understand."

"Are you - did Kona'a," he rasped, "cause... much harm?"

He heard her swallow heavily before replying.  "It d-does not matter," 
she whispered, the edge of tears in her voice.  "This one w-will... 
probably will... d-die soon."  She took a deep breath, and Daniel heard 
the quiver as she fought not to weep.

"What?"  Daniel's eyes opened wide in surprise, before the flare of pain 
made him shut them again.

"This one," she gasped, "th-this one is, is shen, this o-one w-will, she 
ca-cannot..."  She moaned once, softly, then continued in a steadier 
voice, "Sh-shen do not outlive their sharma - th-their l-lives are b-
bound.  This one - this one sh-should have d-died in the s-same instant 
as, as her sh-sharma - sh-she has, she has s-seen it before..."

Daniel reached out, wincing as his arm moved, and laid his hand on the 
woman's arm.  "Listen to me," he croaked.  "Listen.  You do... anything a 
sharma commands... yes?  Yes?"  He gave her arm a little squeeze.

"Y-yes, Sharma Daniel."

"Then live."  His voice was a cracked whisper in the silence of the room.  
"Live.  Do not die.  Live, and... be well... and heal... you... 
understand?"

Something passed along that link, some emotion that Daniel could feel 
trembling through the back of his mind as he waited for the shen to 
respond.

"This... this one will do as Sharma Daniel commands."

That emotion - it almost felt like hope.

                         *******************

Finally - finally, finally, finally - Jack felt like they were making 
some goddamn progress toward hitting the road and rescuing Daniel.  Not a 
moment too soon, either, since he really felt like he would've exploded 
if they'd had to wait another minute.

Yes, okay, it was necessary to investigate everything, be thorough, make 
sure they were going after the right guy.  Once they were sure of that, 
granted, fine, they needed to figure out which way he was likely to have 
gone (no one could find Kona'a anywhere within the grounds of House 
Shad'aa, big surprise).  And no, no one needed to remind Jack - the 
Colonel, thank you so much - that you didn't launch an attack, or a 
search and rescue, without planning ahead if you could.

Still.  The sun had gone down, the weather was turning cold, and Daniel 
was probably out in it.  Injured.  Alone.  These were not thoughts that 
made the Colonel feel like waiting around and being cautious.

He liked Per'ua, really he did, but if he'd gotten one more sympathetic 
look from her while he tried to pace, he might have lost it.

Kona'a came from a city to the west, more or less.  City guards were 
doing a house-to-house throughout Shad'aa, but everybody seemed to think 
it was more likely that he'd headed out of town to play with his prisoner 
in private.  There were little way stations, or rest stops, or something 
like them, spaced out along the road between the two cities; according to 
the locals, the easy money was on finding the evil bastard in one of 
them.  Jack agreed with that assessment.  Taking it from the point of 
view of the evil bastard, one of those little houses meant he got shelter 
and all the privacy he might want, to have all the sadistic fun he might 
want.

Jack's mouth was set in a hard, thin line as he finished kitting up.  
Teal'c was in Carter's room, giving her instructions, setting her up as 
the home guard, so she wouldn't feel quite so much like deadweight on 
this mission - something she was likely to see as a ploy, and argue 
about, given that she was still unable to stand on her own for more than 
thirty seconds at a time.  Didn't matter; she could still cover the 
communications with Hammond when he rang the 'Gate for their regular 
check-in.  If he and Teal'c couldn't complete the S&R by the time Hammond 
made contact, Carter was to arrange for a backup team to come through, 
with Jeeps (carried through to Alpha Site in pieces, assembled and on 
permanent standby for just such an occasion) to cover territory faster, 
since it was something like ten miles from here to the 'Gate, and their 
search pattern lay farther away than that.

Hell, knowing Carter, she'd probably be able to con the General into 
shooting off a UAV rigged for infrared, or supplying teams with search 
dogs... or a mobile med unit, if it came to that.  Hopefully it wouldn't, 
but if it did, Carter could and would set it up.

They hadn't brought anything heftier than zats along when they came 
through the 'Gate, but since the local technology only seemed to extend 
to spiffy light bulbs and floating wagons, they would probably be enough.  
There were two sets of binoculars among their four packs, and as long as 
the batteries were charged they could double as night-vision goggles.  
Jack was busily combining everything from both med kits into one unit, 
and hunting out the thermal blankets, when Teal'c stepped through the 
connecting door into his suite.

"Major Carter has accepted her position for this mission, and has 
suggested that we bring these as well, O'Neill," he said.  In his hands 
were all the Power Bars she had stashed in her pack, along with a bag of 
M&Ms and a package of oatmeal cookies.  Jack's eyebrow rose, but he 
didn't argue.  Dangling from Teal'c's wrist were both their canteens plus 
Carter's, still dripping from their recent refill.

"Fine," grunted Jack.  "Seen our local guide yet?"  He finished stacking 
the new-and-improved med kit on top of the thermal blankets in his pack, 
and stood, swinging the pack over his shoulder in a fluid motion.

"He is currently waiting outside the door, with reinforcements," said 
Teal'c.  "Shad'aa does not believe the reports from Kona'a's servants 
that he is alone with Daniel Jackson and his shen."  He stuffed the extra 
rations into the side pocket of Jack's pack, and tightened the last few 
buckles.

"As long as they understand basic tactics, they can come, otherwise 
forget it," frowned the colonel.

"According to Shad'aa, these are the elite of his personal guard, and all 
have volunteered to assist in our search and rescue mission.  I believe 
you will find them worthy allies."

"Fine," said Jack again.  His mind was leaping through possibilities and 
contingencies, leaving polite conversation by the wayside.  He checked 
his zat one more time.  "Let's go."

                         *******************

The breeze ruffling Daniel's hair was light, but it carried a chill bite; 
with a wince, he pushed himself further into the pile of bedding on his 
makeshift stretcher and tried not to shiver.  Kona'a's attentions had not 
only left him blind (a thought he resolutely pushed away, there would be 
time to fall apart later); he was also, still, unable to move under his 
own power.  He'd tried three more times before giving up - walking more 
than a few steps made his calf muscles spasm so painfully that he 
couldn't keep his balance.

With the shen's help, and her reassurances that she could manage his 
weight by herself, he had piled as many blankets and spare clothes as 
possible into the cart that had brought him out of the city, and climbed 
aboard.  The cart itself floated silently along, with only the slightest 
rocking motion as the shen walked along behind it, guiding it along the 
bare dirt road back to Shad'aa.  The night - she had told him when the 
sun went down - was so quiet that he could hear her footsteps on the 
packed earth.

As stretchers went, this wasn't half bad.  He might have to recommend 
them to the SGC as part of the trade agreement, he thought; then winced 
as his tired chuckle strained already sore muscles across his ribs and 
stomach.

"Sharma Daniel?"  With another gentle rock, he felt the cart come to a 
stop.

"I am well," he said.  At least his voice was beginning to recover.  "Or, 
I am well enough."

"Sharma Daniel, perhaps, is in more pain?  He would, perhaps, prefer to 
take more powders?"  Her voice carried a note of concern that made him 
smile.

"No, truly, I am well enough.  I had... a foolish thought.  I should not 
have made myself laugh, that is all."  He sighed.  "But thank you, for 
checking."

"There is a place ahead where this one can find water, if, perhaps, 
Sharma Daniel still wishes it."

The breeze gusted, and Daniel pulled the blankets up higher around his 
neck.  "Water would be very good, yes - for both of us.  Are you thirsty 
as well?"

She hesitated before answering.  "This one could drink, if Sharma Daniel 
wishes."  So cautious, so tentative in her responses to him, still 
fearful of his reaction even when he was in no condition to punish her.  
He swallowed.

"Well, if you are thirsty, then you should drink," he said calmly.  "You 
are working much harder than I am right now; I do not want you to neglect 
the needs of your body for me."

"Yes, Sharma Daniel," came the reply.  Daniel suppressed a sigh, as the 
cart started moving again, rocking in time to her footsteps.  He waited a 
moment, hoping to soothe his throat, listening to the little noises 
around them.

"What is that sound I hear?"

"Which sound does Sharma Daniel mean?"

He smiled again.  "I hear your footsteps... and there is something that I 
think is the wind... but there is another sound, kind of a 'pip, pip'," 
he said.  He pulled one hand out from under the bedding to gesture.  
"There - do you hear it?"

"That is the pad-sha, Sharma Daniel," said the shen.

"You mean, the little bird, from the story you told me?"  He stirred, 
trying to ease the pressure on his hip.  There was a vicious welt there 
that would not leave him alone.

"Just so, Sharma Daniel," she said.  He felt something in the back of his 
mind again, a ghost of some emotion coming from her, too faint to 
recognize; her voice was warmer again, though, as she added, "This one... 
this one would give Sharma Daniel her gratitude, if he would accept it."

He shifted again, surprised.  "Gratitude?  I - that is, yes, but I do not 
understand why."

"This one," she said slowly, "shen are - her training..." She trailed 
off, uncertain.

"It is well," he offered.  Inspiration struck him, and he tried to touch 
that place in his mind where he felt her emotions; it was an effort, but 
he thought he might have succeeded in sharing a sense of reassurance with 
her.

She took a deep breath, and tried again.  "As part of the training of a 
shen, we - t-they, they are commanded to, to forget their childhood, 
their time before training."  She paused again, searching for words.  
"Sharma Daniel... when Sharma Daniel commanded this one to remember a 
story, she, sh-she remembered... other things."  He heard her swallow, 
hard, and felt a surge of tangled emotions flow along their link.  "This 
one, perhaps, should be punished, for remembering - yet this one is 
still, is still grateful to Sharma Daniel."

She took another breath, one whose trembling Daniel could hear clearly, 
and he suddenly received another flash of sight through her eyes.  Up 
ahead of the cart, off to one side of the road, there were a few brittle-
looking shrubs growing out of the rock.  Hopping among them, making 
little "pips" were a pair of small birds, with long tails and sharp, 
straight beaks.  They were little more than shadows in the growing dark; 
Daniel could just make them out.  Their tails twitched between hops in 
time with their calls, as they hopped from rock to rock, pecking in the 
crevices and under the bush.  Daniel smiled.

"Are they searching for the fallen star?" he asked gently.

She sniffed, quietly.  "'And because they demanded nothing in return for 
helping the Creator'," she quoted, "'She gave them the finest reward of 
all the birds.  Not for them the brightest feathers, nor the prettiest 
song - instead, the Creator told the pad-sha, so long as they kept 
searching, they would always be able to find water, anywhere they 
searched, and men would bless them whenever they went traveling in the 
wilderness.'"

She sniffed again, and after a moment his vision of the birds vanished.  
Daniel listened to their calls on the breeze, and said nothing.

                         *******************

Jack had settled into his long-march pace, a swinging rhythm of long, 
easy, ground-eating strides that he could sustain for hours on end if 
necessary.  Teal'c was ten paces behind and to his left, with the local 
guide - something equivalent to a lieutenant, he guessed - taking point 
ten paces ahead.  The rest of the guard, half a dozen in all, were behind 
Teal'c, though the colonel couldn't say whether that was because they 
were courteously staying the hell out of his way, or because they 
couldn't keep up with his speed.  Teal'c seemed to think they could be 
counted on; Jack was willing to go along with that assessment primarily 
because, at the moment, they weren't in his way.

The night was absolutely quiet except for their footsteps, the light 
breeze, and the distant call of some night birds.  There was no moon, but 
the stars were so incredibly bright that it almost didn't matter.  Like 
the brightest, clearest winter nights back on Earth, the sky seemed 
somehow closer than it should be, the glimmering stars almost near enough 
to touch.  They were beautiful.  On any other night, the peace and 
silence would have eased Jack's soul.

Except there was a good chance that Daniel couldn't see the stars right 
now; might not ever see them again.  Jack hadn't thought to ask anyone if 
there was a cure for that chemical that Kona'a liked to use on his 
opponents.  On Daniel.  Jack gritted his teeth, breathing out slowly 
through his nose.  He was looking forward to asking Kona'a the answer to 
that question.  He was looking forward, truth be told, to beating the 
answer out of the son of a bitch, one broken finger at a time.  He'd 
already proven that he didn't need an interpreter for the important 
questions, after all.

The breeze gusted through his hair; he turned up the collar on his coat 
without breaking stride, and reached for the binoculars around his neck.  
The guide in front of him, seen through the lenses, glowed an eerie, 
bright green; his breath was a green mist around his head.  Scanning 
through the countryside, Jack caught the last of the day's heat leaching 
from the rocks, and tiny little bright dots off in the distance.  He 
stopped short, staring... then started walking again when the dots took 
flight, landed, hopped across the boulders near them.

Damn.

"Teal'c"?

"Nothing yet, O'Neill."

Damn.  He let the binoculars fall to swing against his stomach.

"I am told that there is water at the bottom of the next hill, O'Neill.  
It is likely that Kona'a and his men would have stopped there."

Jack slowed his pace until he was walking beside his teammate.  "You sure 
about that?"

"Apparently there are very few sources for drinking water outside the 
city, O'Neill.  Any group traveling this road would be almost certain to 
stop and replenish their supplies before moving on."

He took a breath; held it, let it out.  "Good," he nodded.  It wasn't 
much, but it would have to do for now.

Jack walked on, fingering the binoculars.

                         *******************

"Have we stopped?"  Daniel started, surprised to find that he had dozed 
off while the shen walked.  He couldn't feel the usual rocking motion of 
the cart...  "Shen?"  The pad-sha seemed louder, somehow.

"This one has brought Sharma Daniel to the water-pool," came the reply, 
very close to his head.  He jumped, then cursed himself as the motion re-
awakened the pain in his wounds.  "This one is s-sorry, please, sh-she 
did not mean to startle Sharma Daniel -"

"It is well," he replied quickly.  "It... it seems very quiet.  I could 
not hear where you were."

"This one is sorry.  She should have remembered."

"You were, perhaps, trying to let me sleep?" he realized.  He stretched 
cautiously, raising himself up onto his elbows.  His whole body had 
stiffened up badly while he rested, and he grimaced at the pain.

"Yes, Sharma Daniel."  Supporting his arm, she helped him slowly to sit 
up.  Lifting up the blanket where it had slipped, she held it across his 
bare shoulders until he clutched at it gratefully.  The air was very 
cold.  "Should this one bring water now, Sharma Daniel?"

He swallowed, testing his throat.  His tongue still felt swollen, and he 
was pretty sure that the gag had scraped the roof of his mouth, since it 
still felt tender as well.  "Yes, please.  Oh, and bring enough for 
yourself also - and, when you return, I would like for you to sit under 
the blankets as well, and rest.  Do you understand?"

"This one understands, Sharma Daniel, but - this one does not wish to 
displease Sharma Daniel, but the water jar is small. It will not carry 
enough water for two to drink."

"Ah.  I did not realize," said Daniel.  "I suppose you will need to make 
two trips, then; I am sorry, I had hoped that I would not make you work 
even more than you already have.  You must be tired."

He heard her shuffle her feet in the gravel.  "This one could go farther, 
but she would also be grateful for a short rest, Sharma Daniel."

He nodded.  "You have certainly earned a rest, and more than that."  He 
reached out, groping until his fingers found her arm.  "I am very 
grateful to you."

He felt her stir under his fingers; her skin was cold.  "This one serves 
as Sharma Daniel wishes."

"No.  You have done much more than that.  I am certain that you saved my 
life, earlier, even when you thought that you would die because of what 
you did.  I did not command you to help me, but you did.  I thank you."  
He slid his fingers down her arm, and squeezed her hand gently.  "I thank 
you."

There was another faint stir in the back of his mind, almost shy, as he 
let the shen go.  "This - this one will bring water now - Sharma Daniel."  
He heard her footsteps in the grit, heading away and, he thought, 
downward a bit.  Groping around him one-handedly, he tried his best to 
rearrange the blankets so that they weren't all completely tangled up 
around him.  Otherwise there would be no place for the girl to sit when 
she got back.  Her arm had felt like she must be freezing; he should have 
realized, should have asked her to stop when she got cold.

Her steps came crunching back up towards him.  Daniel got a flickering 
impression of a steep hill or ravine, sparsely covered with scrub-brush, 
and a worn path under his - her - feet as she climbed.  The images fit 
together disjointedly in his head, fading and then jumping ahead every 
few steps, making him a little dizzy.

She called softly to him as she reached the top of the hill.  "Here, sit 
and warm yourself," he said.

Daniel waited until she had climbed into the cart, then reached out 
tentatively toward her.  The shen touched the jar to his fingers, waiting 
until he had a firm grip, and let go.  His hand shook when he tried to 
drink, and icy water spilled across his hand.

"Damn," he muttered in English, and the shen was there, covering his hand 
with hers and holding the jar steady.  "Ah, sorry," he tried again in 
Arkon.  "I waste the water you worked to bring me."

"There is more, Sharma Daniel, and the climb is... not difficult," she 
replied cautiously.

"Even so," he said.

The first sip was like silk over his abused tongue, and Daniel couldn't 
help the tiny moan of appreciation that escaped him.  He swallowed 
cautiously, pausing between gulps and shivering as the water cooled him 
from inside.

"This is so good," he murmured, taking another drink.  "Bless you for 
bringing it.  Pad-sha."

"Sharma Daniel?" She sounded surprised, and he grinned, ignoring the 
crack in his lip.

"I was reminded of the story you told, earlier today," he said.  "Men 
bless the pad-sha for helping them to find water, is that not so?"

"That... that is the tale, Sh-sharma Daniel," she replied.  He felt her 
shift beside him, and caught a flashing image of the water jar in her 
hands, light and shadow amid the darkness.

"I thought," he said carefully, "that I could call you 'Pad-sha', instead 
of only saying 'shen' all the time."  The silence lengthened, and his 
smile faded.  "Perhaps I am making a mistake?"

"This one... this one does not know if it is permitted to, to n-name a 
shen," she said softly.  "If - if it were, th-this one would, would give 
gratitude to Sharma Daniel."

Daniel smiled again, relieved.  "If it is not permitted, you can always 
remind people that the travelers from the Eye of the Heavens have many 
strange customs, yes?"

"Yes, Sharma Daniel."  She shifted under the blankets again.  "This one 
will bring more water for Sharma Daniel, if he wishes it."

"Be sure to get water for yourself first," he said.  "Then, if you think 
it is safe here, I think it would be good for you to rest until you are 
warm again, before we continue toward the city."

"There is - this one believes that there is - not very much shelter here 
for, for the cart and Sharma Daniel.  This one has heard that many 
travelers stop here for water.  If Sharma Daniel wishes, perhaps, to be 
found, then he is wise to remain.  If Sharma Daniel wishes, perhaps, to 
hide, then he is wise to return to the road soon."

"Are you not tired?" he said, as she climbed down from the cart.

"This one has rested," she replied simply.  "She could walk now, if 
Sharma Daniel wishes."

"No," said Daniel.  "No, Pad-sha.  Water first."

"Yes, Sharma Daniel."

He listened to her steps crunching back down the slope, fading into the 
quiet of the night around him.  The ghostly shivers of emotion he 
received warmed him more than the blankets, and he smiled again in the 
darkness.

Then her fear exploded into Daniel's mind.

                         *******************

At the rise of the hill, their guide stopped and waited for Jack and 
Teal'c to catch up to him; as soon as they had, Jack was able to hear the 
murmuring of voices, carried up from the little pocket below them by a 
trick of the landscape.  Stepping off the road, Jack dropped to his knees 
and pulled his binoculars out.

Below them, the road wound past a tiny ravine, sheltered by a larger-
than-usual cluster of scrub brush.  The guide whispered something to 
Teal'c, who turned and murmured, "water," in Jack's ear.  Jack pulled the 
binoculars off over his head and adjusted the focus, listening as the 
rest of their escort came up behind them.  "Gotta hand it to them," he 
thought absently, as they slipped into a familiar stalking approach and 
faded off to either side of the road like ghosts.

"I only make one," whispered Jack.  Parked to one side of the ravine was 
one of those floating carts, glowing a dull green throughout, with a 
bright figure seated inside.  The distance, combined with the figure's 
radiating body heat, made it impossible to tell whether it was Kona'a or 
one of his people, Daniel, or some total stranger who happened to be 
parked in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Negative, O'Neill," said Teal'c softly.  "A second person is climbing 
out of the ravine now.  From their size, I believe it to be the shen.  
She has climbed into the cart and is giving something to the first 
person."

Jack took the binoculars back and watched.  Sure enough, there were two 
blurry figures sitting in the cart, the smaller one's breath puffing out 
in glowing gusts as she - probably she - helped the first one to drink.  
Snatches of conversation floated up to where he crouched.

"You recognize their voices?"

"I do not," said Teal'c.  He turned and gabbled something in slow, 
halting Arkon to the guard next to him, who gabbled something back.  
"Avra says that he has not heard or seen more than these two in the 
ravine, O'Neill."

"Fine.  Here's the plan, then:  These guys are going to surround the 
ravine and the road, show us a way in.  Tell 'em to stay back unless it 
becomes obvious that we need help.  You're heading to the bottom of the 
water hole and coming up - I'm starting from the road and heading down.  
Capture and separate; no deadly force."

"Agreed, O'Neill."  Teal'c started speaking, and immediately three of the 
six guards behind them ghosted downhill to Jack's right, waiting a few 
paces off for Teal'c to join them.  The other three moved toward the 
crest of the hill and faded left, spreading out until they vanished 
entirely among the rocks, long, wicked-looking knives drawn and held low.

Jack took out his zat and held it to one side, and stalked down the hill 
as silently as fog.  He froze for one moment, maybe five paces out from 
the target, when the slave girl climbed out of the cart - it was 
definitely her; now that he was closer he could catch more of her 
outline, bits of her posture that looked familiar - but she only took the 
water jug from the guy in the cart and turned to climb back down the 
ravine.

Perfect.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jack moved forward again toward the 
target, who was bundled in blankets and quilts so that only the top of 
his head was visible.  Silently, he moved up next to the cart, looking 
for any kind of reaction that would give away the game.  He switched the 
zat to his left hand, preparing to put a headlock on the guy - stood up 
slowly - leaned in, careful not to bump the cart -

- and the guy suddenly gasped and went rigid, jerking his head toward the 
ravine.

Jack sprang forward, got the guy's throat in the crook of his elbow in 
the blink of an eye, and pressed the zat against the back of his head.  
The guy gave a hoarse cry of shock - "No!" - in English.

In English?

"Daniel?"

"Get off me!"  His throat sounded ruined, but Daniel still fought like a 
tiger, grabbing Jack's elbow in both hands and throwing his weight 
forward, nearly managing to flip him even with the cart as an obstacle 
between them.  "Get off!  Bastard!  Get off!"

"Jesus... Daniel - Daniel! Okay okay, it's okay, it's over.  Daniel!"

"Off," gasped Daniel.  He was panting like he'd run a marathon.  "Jack?"

"I'm here, it's okay, shh," said Jack.  He moved his arm back, clasped 
Daniel's shoulder, and was not really surprised to feel the flinch under 
his hand.  Daniel groaned, more of a rasp, and started to slump.  "Here, 
turn around.  Look at me. It's over."

"Jack, somebody's got Pad-sha," he panted.  "She -"

"Who?"

"The, the shen, she's terrified, she's just at the bottom of the hill, 
you have to -"

"It's okay, it's Teal'c.  He's got her."

"What?"

"We're getting you out of here, Daniel.  Where the hell is Kona'a, so I 
can kill him?"

To his surprise, Daniel let out a huff of laughter - or tried to.  The 
pain in his voice cut Jack's heart.  "Too late, Jack.  Already, already 
dead."  He swallowed audibly, and Jack could see the tremor of pain run 
through his body.  "God... wish you had just, just said hello or... or 
something... hurts..."

"He hurt you, didn't he."  Jack's voice was flat; it wasn't a question.

With a hiss, Daniel nodded.  Started to lie back in the cart, moving like 
he ached all over.  Jack's eyes narrowed.  "Sorry... have to..."

"It's okay.  I'm sorry," he said quietly, supporting Daniel one-handed as 
best he could.  "How serious is it?"

"Mostly superficial, I think," said Daniel, swallowing again.  "Except... 
except my eyes," and his voice cracked as he said it.

"I know," said Jack.  He couldn't stop his hand from moving to Daniel's 
hair, smoothing it compulsively.  "We could smell the stuff he used, in 
the suite.  Per'ua told us what it does.  She's really pissed, by the 
way."

"She tell you... if it wears off?"

Jack sighed.  "I was too pissed, myself.  Didn't ask her."  He listened 
to footsteps coming back up the ravine.  "These guys like to use poisons 
and antidotes, though, right?  Maybe they've got something to fix it."

"Maybe.  Yeah."  He turned his head toward the crunching gravel.  "Pad-
sha?"

"Sh-sh-sharma..."  And lo, there was Teal'c, guiding the shen up the 
hill, zat trained on her back.

"Veshe, Pad-sha, kere bven.  Kere bven."

"Daniel Jackson.  Where is Kona'a?  The shen will not answer my 
question."

"He's dead, Teal'c," answered Jack, as Daniel and the girl gabbled at 
each other quietly.  "Daniel took care of him for us."

"Ah, no, actually she did," said Daniel.  The shen was twitchy, her hands 
shaking as she pushed the blankets more snugly around Daniel.

"She did?  Really?"  It was too dark to tell for sure, but Jack was 
willing to bet he and Teal'c were doing identical eyebrow things.

"I was... little tied up at the time," said Daniel softly.  He tried to 
smile, but Jack was not amused.  He took a nice, slow, measured breath; 
could've sworn he heard Teal'c growl.

"You sure he's dead?"

"Sorry," said Daniel.  The shen started to climb into the cart beside 
him.  "You could always... find a sarcophagus... kill him again if you 
want..."

"Not very nice," said Jack, starting to smile despite himself.  The other 
guards were moving in now, still keeping their eyes on the road and 
surrounding landscape.  Not bad.

"No," agreed Daniel.  "I'm just... trying to be helpful..."

"Yeah.  Tell you what, tell us how to get the brakes off on this thing, 
and then you can get some rest.  Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah," Daniel breathed.  He sounded like he could drop off at any 
second.  He gabbled something to the girl, but before she could answer 
one of the guards stepped forward, fiddled with something under the edge 
of the cart, and it started floating forward.  Daniel started again.  
"Who...?"

"Shad'aa sent reinforcements, just in case," said Jack.  He fell into 
step beside the cart, one hand resting on Daniel's shoulder under the 
thick blankets.  Daniel just nodded, relaxing finally as they started the 
walk back uphill toward the city.  It would be good to check for 
injuries, but it hadn't sounded like Daniel was trying to hide anything 
when he said they were superficial.  It was too cold out here, anyway, 
and not worth wasting time with a flashlight when they could have 
Per'ua's healers examine him in another half-hour or so.

All was quiet for a few paces, then Daniel twitched again.  "Sam?"

"Holding down headquarters," said Jack.  He eyed Teal'c, shaking his 
head; there was no need to tell Daniel more than that for the time being.  
"If we hadn't found you before Hammond checked in for the night, she was 
going to arrange for backup."

"Would it not be wise to inform Major Carter that we were successful, 
O'Neill?"

"Yeah, why don't you go ahead and do that?" answered Jack.  At the 
meaningful silence (and how exactly did Teal'c do that, anyway?), he 
added, "What? I'm monitoring Daniel's condition."

"They... I mean, Kona'a, he beat the shen, too," added Daniel.  His words 
were starting to slur a little around the edges.  "Made her... made her 
watch..."

"Daniel."

"Hm?"

"Rest."

"Mm."  Jack listened as he mumbled something foreign; the girl answered, 
pulled a blanket around herself, and burrowed deeper into the cart.

They were both asleep in ten minutes.

                         *******************

Sam was pacing, or as close to it as she could manage given that she 
still felt like she had a two-day hangover.  Having woken up with a 
three-day hangover, she supposed that being able to walk at all, even 
though it meant leaning against the wall of her suite, qualified as an 
improvement.

The common room of the suite she shared with Teal'c was bustling; Shad'aa 
had, no doubt as a courtesy, established it as the headquarters for the 
search for Daniel and Kona'a, and runners and servants were constantly 
passing through the door to give reports or carry out commands. The table 
now had a large map of the city spread out across it, which Shad'aa would 
cover with stone markers as he received each report from his guard. 
Apparently, the search so far hadn't turned up any leads.

Worriedly, she glanced again at Daniel's radio, sitting untouched on one 
corner of the map. It had been in his quarters when the colonel searched 
them, so she had set her own to the private channel that SG-1 used, and 
left his on the SGC broadcast frequency. If the colonel and General 
Hammond tried to reach her at the same time, she wouldn't have to worry 
about missing contact with either of them.

Sam just hoped the colonel contacted her first. And, she added mentally, 
that he have good news when he did radio in.

"Major Carter." Speak of the devil - well, the devil's partner, anyway.

"Teal'c," she said, not bothering to conceal the relief in her voice. "Go 
ahead." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shad'aa turn toward her 
intently, motioning for silence with one hand.

"We have successfully located Daniel Jackson and the shen," came his 
voice. Suddenly she was smiling at Shad'aa and everyone else in the room 
as if her headache didn't exist. "They have been made to suffer by 
Kona'a, though for the most part their injuries appear to be minor. 
Daniel Jackson informs us that he is unable to see."

Suddenly Sam felt sick again. "Understood," she said after a moment. 
"What about Kona'a?"

"Daniel Jackson likewise has informed us that Kona'a is dead."

Sam swallowed convulsively and reached for the nearest chair. Dead. And 
Shad'aa had overheard, or at least could guess at what was being said. 
This was supposed to be a diplomatic mission; would they have to try and 
manage a retreat to the 'Gate now?

"Major Carter?"

She thumbed the radio switch. "Sorry, Teal'c. How soon before you arrive 
back here?"

"O'Neill estimates our return in one half hour, Major Carter. He suggests 
that Per'ua have personnel standing by to tend to Daniel Jackson and the 
shen." There was a pause, and he added, "O'Neill has just sent three of 
our escort further down the road to the first way station, in order to be 
certain of Kona'a's death, and to retrieve his body."

"Teal'c," she said carefully, "Shad'aa has set up headquarters for the 
search in our suite. Do you have any message for him?"

"One moment," came the response. The silence over the radio hung in the 
air ominously; she spared a nervous glance toward Shad'aa, but he only 
seemed to be watching her with concern. When the radio came to life 
again, she jumped.

"Daniel Jackson believes that we will not face repercussion for Kona'a's 
death," said Teal'c. "I have the following message for Sharma Shad'aa: 
Sharma Daniel nesh kefer sha-hau ta shen. Sharma Kona'a pfer nekh-jia, ta 
korush hau-jia. Sharma Daniel ta shen corum Sharma Per'ua vaysha nen." As 
she watched, Shad'aa first started in surprise, then nodded sharply and 
began pointing to various people still in the room, sending them darting 
out the door.

"Is there anything else, Teal'c?"

"Negative. Colonel O'Neill wishes to know whether General Hammond has 
made contact this evening."

"No sir," she said, checking her chronometer. "Contact is due in 
approximately fifteen minutes."

The colonel's voice came over the radio next. "All right, tell Hammond 
what's happened, make sure you tell him that Daniel believes we're not in 
any danger, and let him make the call whether or not to send Fraiser 
through the 'Gate. Daniel was pretty sure that everything was superficial 
except the chemical burn on his eyes, and we still don't know for sure if 
that's permanent damage or not."

"Understood, sir," said Sam. Carefully not saying what they all feared. 
"How is he really, sir?"

"Sleeping again, for the moment," said the colonel. "His voice sounds 
pretty raw. Insisting he's fine. The usual." His voice sounded wearily 
amused, giving Sam more encouragement than the entire conversation so 
far. "O'Neill and Teal'c out," he finished.

"Yes, sir, Carter out," she replied.

As the radio went silent, she slumped in her chair, suddenly exhausted.  
She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting nausea, and when she opened 
her eyes again, Per'ua herself was touching her shoulder carefully and 
pushing a cup of hot tea into her hand, while a servant was taking her 
radio from limp fingers and setting it (gingerly, as if it were fragile) 
on the chair next to her.  Their voices made no sense to her, and seemed 
to shift in and out of her hearing.

Sam shook her head, trying to clear it, and immediately regretted it - 
the nausea she'd been fighting since waking up suddenly overwhelmed her, 
and she staggered into the bath chamber as quickly as she could, barely 
making it to the toilet in time before her stomach rebelled completely.

When it was over, she stood over the basin, one arm braced against the 
wall, spitting the taste out of her mouth and running her fingers through 
the sweat-damp hair on the back of her neck.

"Sharma Samantha?"

Sam turned, carefully, to see Per'ua's healer and assistant standing in 
the doorway.  She must have looked even worse than she felt, because as 
soon as she made eye contact with them they hurried toward her, helping 
her weave her way back out to the common room on shaking legs.

Once they had helped her to sit again, the elderly healer immediately put 
two fingers against her neck, her forehead, her eyelids, murmuring to his 
assistant all the while.  Sam couldn't bring herself to care; all her 
energy was directed toward staying conscious until the general made 
contact.  Once she made her report, then she could allow herself to rest.

Per'ua's people gave her something else to drink; she swallowed it, 
carefully, but never registered what it tasted like.  Someone brought a 
blanket; Sam wrapped it around her shoulders, but didn't bother to look 
up at whoever had handed it to her.  She pointed at the two radios, and 
suddenly they were in her hands, but the rest of the room was a blur.

Report, then rest, she kept telling herself.  Report, then rest.

The radio crackled to life.  "SG-1, this is General Hammond, do you 
read?"

Sam closed her eyes, swallowed, and picked up the radio.

                         *******************

Daniel woke, slowly, to the sound of many voices calling back and forth 
to one another, overlapping and echoing, confusing him.  He rolled his 
head to one side, trying fretfully to hear what was being said in the 
chaos; the searing burn shot through his eyes again, and he winced.

"You all right?"  Another voice came from just over his ear, but this 
time it was one he understood.

"Jack?"  He swallowed painfully.  "What's going on?"  For some reason, he 
couldn't track the shouts and calls happening all around him, couldn't 
make sense of the words.

"We just made it back to House Shad'aa," answered Jack.  "Looks like 
people have been worried about you."

"Shad'aa...," murmured Daniel.  Oh, right.  The voices were calling in 
Arkon, of course.

"You didn't answer my question," said Jack.  He sounded concerned.  "You 
okay?"

"I think," he rasped, "yeah.  Mostly."

"You sound a little out of it.  You sure?"

"Just woke up," frowned Daniel, mock-complaining.  "You want coherent, 
bring me coffee."

"I'll see what I can rustle up," said Jack.  Concern gave way to 
amusement, but only for a moment.  "Listen... we're about up to the 
walkway that goes to our room.  This cart isn't going to fit."

He didn't finish the thought, but he didn't have to.  Daniel was acutely 
aware of the voices, the people, all around him.  "I can walk," he said 
quickly.  At least, he hoped he could, but he thought it best not to say 
that aloud.

"Actually," said Jack, "I was thinking of having Teal'c and me carry 
you."

What?

"What?  No," he protested, struggling to sit up.   "No, I'm fine."

"So I should just ignore the way you flinched right then, huh?" was the 
rejoinder.  "Daniel, you're in this cart to begin with because -"

"Because I couldn't walk right after... after everything," Daniel 
persisted.  "But that was, that was hours ago.  And all right, yes, I'm a 
little sore, but -"

"But nothing," said Jack.  Daniel felt the shen flinch beside him, and 
caught a flicker through her eyes of the hand motion Jack had given to 
cut him off.

Jack went on, exaggeratedly patient, spelling out his point.  "You are 
injured.  We don't know how badly.  We do know you are in pain every time 
you move.  We need to keep you stable, which in my book means doing as 
little as possible, until you can get checked out."

"What happened to displays of weakness being a bad thing?"  Daniel asked 
quietly.  He did his best not to wince as he pulled the blankets closer 
around him.  The silence stretched, unnerving him, until it felt like he 
was sitting alone and Jack had walked away.  "Jack?"

Finally, he heard Jack take a deep breath, then sigh, long and low.  
"Daniel," he answered, barely raising his voice, "how do I say this... no 
one who gets a good look at you in there is going to think you were ever 
weak, earlier tonight or any other night.  All right?"  He paused long 
enough for Daniel to take in his words, then said, even more quietly, 
"Just - let us take care of you.  This once."

Daniel took a breath, started to say something, then stopped.  "I just," 
he said finally, "I mean, I can probably make it on foot - with help... 
um, you know, if I don't move a little now I'll just... get stiff - be 
even more sore tomorrow... you know?"

There was another long pause, but this time the silence didn't seem so 
tense as Jack assessed him.  Daniel felt it more than he heard it, felt 
the moment when Jack yielded.  "I taught you that," was all he said.

"Well, you know, age," replied Daniel, nodding carefully.  Trying not to 
smile.

"Hard living," countered Jack.  "Knees."

"How they doing, by the way?"

"Oh, you know, fine, fine."

"Good."

"Good," agreed Jack.

Daniel nodded again.  "Good."

"So, uh, you think it would be okay with me and Teal'c on each side of 
you?"
 
"I don't - maybe," he said.  "Yeah.  I think so."  He listened for a 
moment.  "Where is Teal'c?"

"He went ahead to let Shad'aa know we're back, make sure your room's 
clear."  He began assisting Daniel to sit up, moving his legs to the edge 
of the cart.

"Um, why?"  Daniel gritted his teeth, his breath hissing with each 
movement, and tried to keep his mind on the conversation and not the 
pain.

"Right, you were asleep," said Jack, pretending not to notice Daniel's 
flinches.  "We wanted Carter in the headquarters for the search, so 
Shad'aa moved his headquarters in with her."

There was no help for it, either he kept the blanket on his shoulders or 
he grabbed the edge of the cart for balance; he couldn't do both.  
"She... ah... she couldn't come to him?"

"Well, we didn't want to worry you at the time -"

"Jack!"  For just a moment, Daniel was standing on his own; then his 
tortured muscles began to spasm.  Jack got an arm under him just in time.

"She's fine, she just - Kona'a's boys wanted to get to you, so they 
needed to remove her first.  They knocked her out with some kind of 
drug."

"Probably - oh god," panted Daniel, "probably the same stuff... ah... 
they used on, on me."  The cold air was hitting his bare skin and 
reawakening the wounds from Kona'a's treatment, with a vengeance.

"Kinda naked, there, Daniel," observed Jack, a little too mildly.

"Thought I'd... work on my tan," he hissed in return.  He shuffled 
forward tentatively, feeling the smooth stones of the courtyard under his 
bare feet.  There was another of those strange, trembling flickers in his 
mind, as Pad-sha lifted one of the blankets back across his shoulders.  
He felt the fabric brush past his cheek, as she managed to get most of 
the fabric wrapped around his body, lifting it high enough that he 
couldn't trip over it.  

"How you doing?" added Jack.

"The, uh, the good news is," he said, "if I - ah - if I move... only an 
inch or so at a time... the agony isn't, isn't completely overwhelming."

"Good to know," said Jack.  He shifted under Daniel's weight.  "Here 
comes Teal'c."
 
"Daniel Jackson."

"Teal'c."  He tried to make it a neutral greeting, but it came out more 
like a frantic gasp.  In reply, Teal'c simply insinuated himself under 
Daniel's other arm and lifted; with most of his weight supported by his 
friends, much of the pain in his legs subsided almost immediately.  He 
couldn't stop the sigh of relief.

"Have I hurt you, Daniel Jackson?"

"No.  No," he said, shuffling forward another step, then another.  
"That's... much better."  The three of them moved onto the boardwalk, 
carefully, letting Daniel feel his way.  "Is Sam all right?"

"She is still recovering from the effects of the drug," said Teal'c.  
"Either it, or the antidote used to wake her, has rendered her ill, but 
Per'ua's personal healer assures me that with a full night of rest she 
will be returned to normal."

"That's good news," said Jack.  "Did Hammond make contact?"

"He did," replied Teal'c.  "General Hammond intends to send additional 
personnel to assist us as needed.  I was unable to gain further 
information."

"Why not?" said Jack.  Daniel would have wondered the same thing, but 
chose to concentrate on easing the spasms out of his leg muscles instead 
of talking, just now.  He could feel his friends' warmth on either side 
of him, and hear the shen's feet padding along the boardwalk behind him.  
Focusing on those sensations helped to distract him from the way the 
wounds on his back were stretching with every step.

"Sharma Shad'aa informed me that Major Carter remained conscious only 
long enough to speak to General Hammond, and to write a note for us, 
before collapsing and being removed to her quarters, O'Neill."

"You call that recovering?" Jack growled.

"I do not," replied Teal'c.  "However, Per'ua's healer does, and he 
appears to be a knowledgeable man."

"He better be," Jack fired the reply over Daniel's bowed head.  "Dollars 
to donuts, General Hammond is sending the doc through to us."

As Daniel's head came up in surprise, Jack added with grim satisfaction, 
"And if that guy's done anything to screw up Carter's recovery, Fraiser 
will kill him herself."

                         *******************

Whether it was the fatigue, the support of Jack and Teal'c on either side 
of him, or the promise of rest at the end of a short walk, Daniel found 
each step to be a little less painful than the one before it, the knots 
in his legs a little less tight.  He concentrated on putting one foot in 
front of the other, until at last his friends guided him around a turn, 
and warm air washed over his skin as he entered his suite.

"Oh, god," he breathed.  "God, that feels good."  Somewhere in the 
background he heard the door click shut, but most of his attention was on 
the warmth and softness of the rug under his toes, and the quiet of the 
room.  The relief was intense, and between one breath and the next Daniel 
found himself fighting to stay awake.  A huge yawn welled up inside him, 
and he staggered a little before regaining his balance.

"Just a few more steps, Daniel," promised Jack.  "Then you can sit, and 
the healer-guy can look you over.  Think you can stay with us a little 
longer?"

"Yeah," he mumbled.  "Still need to brief, right?"  He could feel his 
mind starting to go a little gray around the edges, the way it did on the 
edge of sleep.

"I don't want to push it," Jack said, "but yeah, I do need to get a 
better idea what happened.  Shad'aa and the rest of them will want to 
know, too."  His tone indicated that he could care less what Daniel said 
to them, as long as Jack got the full story.

Daniel nodded.  "I can do that," he said.  "Could I get something to 
drink?  Something hot," he added.  He needed it, not just for his throat, 
but also to help him stay awake for just a little while longer.

"Don't see why not," said Jack.  Daniel felt the twitch in his friend's 
body as he gestured, felt Teal'c setting him down as gently as possible 
onto the edge of the bed.

"I will return shortly, Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c.

Daniel just nodded, listening to the sound of footsteps on carpet, 
drifting a little in spite of himself; then he started as he remembered.  
"Would you bring something for Pad-sha, too?"  She was probably freezing, 
and he still had no idea how badly she'd been hurt.  How could he have 
forgotten?

"Jack, we need to make sure they look at her too," he said, grasping at 
Jack's arm.  "Kona'a beat her... it was terrible, I couldn't - I couldn't 
do anything.  It was - that's a sound I never want to hear again."  He 
shivered, dropping his head again.  The girl did something to adjust the 
blanket wrapped around his torso, and he felt another glimmer of emotion 
in his mind.  She was concerned for him?

"Daniel.  Focus, here."  Jack's voice was low, drawing Daniel in.  "We're 
on top of it.  It's okay."  The bed shifted, and Daniel felt Jack's hand 
squeeze the back of his neck gently.  "I don't need you to tell me 
everything, not now anyway.  But if I'm right, and the doc does come 
through the Gate, you'll probably be asleep by the time she gets all the 
way here.  I need to have something to tell her - physical stuff.  Can 
you give me that?"

"Yeah.  Um, not that she can't figure it out just by looking, right?"  He 
couldn't help brushing his fingertips across his scorched eyelids.

"Most of it," answered Jack.  "Not everything."  He touched Daniel's 
forearm carefully.  "Your wrists are pretty raw; you were tied?"

"Yeah," whispered Daniel, swallowing.  "My hands were," he brought them 
together, "like this.  Up over my head.  I, uh, my feet could barely 
touch the floor, so um, it was easier if I stayed up on my toes."

"I wondered why you didn't have any marks on your arms," said Jack.  
Bless him for making this easier, thought Daniel.  "That's why you were 
so stiff?"

Daniel nodded.  "After a while - um, I'm sorry, I don't - I lost track of 
time, I don't know how long it - anyway, my muscles started to spasm, 
after a while.  I, ah, couldn't keep my balance all the, all the time."

The door opening startled him, and he jerked his head up.  "Who's there?" 
he said in Arkon.

"I have returned with your beverages," intoned Teal'c.  For a moment, he 
was able to see his friend approaching from across the room, carefully 
balancing two tiny ceramic cups in his massive hands.  The shen must have 
looked away, or blinked, because after a step or two Daniel's sight went 
dark again.

"Sharma Per'ua's personal healer recommends this tea," he said, taking 
Daniel's hand gently and placing the cup in it.  "He also asks permission 
to attend to you and the shen when you are ready."

"As soon as we finish debriefing - no, better yet, send him in now," said 
Jack.  "See if he can get started on Daniel's eyes."

"That would be good," said Daniel.  God knew he could use the 
distraction.  "I want him to look at Pad-sha first, though."  He turned 
his head in Jack's direction.  "So I can finish telling you everything.  
It's important."

There was a moment of silence in the room; Daniel didn't need eyes to 
know that Jack and Teal'c were exchanging significant looks with each 
other.  "This is, um, well it's going to be a little hard to believe, 
but... something - something happened between Pad-sha and me.  While... 
while Kona'a was, um, having his fun."

"Daniel?"

"I can't explain it, I mean, I don't even really know what it is, but I 
know I'm not imagining things, Jack," he said.  He took a deep breath, 
then plunged right in.  "There have been times tonight when I could - I 
could see through her eyes.  Could feel what she was feeling emotionally, 
I mean, not just sympathetically, but really feel it.  In my - in my 
mind.  As if it were happening to me."

He tensed, and brought his cup to his lips.  The tea was just barely 
cooled to the point that it wouldn't burn his tongue, and warmed him all 
the way down as he sipped.

"Is it possible," asked Teal'c carefully, "that you are under the 
influence of some drug which would cause this to occur?"

"I don't know," he replied truthfully.  "Maybe.  But I don't feel like 
I'm under the influence of anything right now... I mean, am I acting 
drugged as far as you can tell?"

He went on, "As I said, I don't know what this is, but I think it's 
linked to the shen, somehow.  It's... it's random," he explained.  "I 
don't know if I have any control over it, I mean, I haven't even asked 
*her* about it yet - whether she's even experiencing any of the same 
things I am.  But it is happening, and it's the kind of thing you need to 
know about.  I mean, I just saw Teal'c come into the room, for a second 
or two.  I could describe the pattern on these cups for you, if you 
wanted."

"That's okay.  Something you should ask them about, though," suggested 
Jack.

"I intend to," said Daniel.  "But I wanted to make sure you knew about it 
first."  He sipped again at the tea.  "I needed someone outside my 
head... to make sure I'm not, um... you know."

"Losing your marbles?"

"Something like that," Daniel smiled tentatively.

"No more so than usual," said Jack.  Smartass.

"You appear to be in possession of all your mental faculties," Teal'c 
assured him.  "It was a wise choice to make us aware of this condition."

"Thank you," said Daniel.  He couldn't see, yet he still found himself 
dropping his face as if he were staring into his mug.  "Thanks."

                         *******************

Daniel carried himself through his briefing, barely, and Jack listened, 
barely holding his anger in check.  His friend's voice was dull, most of 
the highs and lows worn away by exhaustion and - if Jack had to guess - 
screaming in pain while that bastard Kona'a whipped him.  Being blind, 
Jack hadn't expected Daniel to be able to give a lot of detail on that 
score, but his description of the sound of thin wood rattling against the 
floor matched well with the marks covering his body.

He turned and mumbled some gibberish at the girl, who mumbled something 
back at him.  "Pad-sha says I'm right," he went on.  His voice was deeper 
with hoarseness and fatigue than Jack had ever heard it.   "It was some 
kind of cane, her name for it is something like 'wood-whip'."

Caned.  Blinded and whipped.  Hung from the ceiling like something in a 
butcher shop.  These were not images that Jack liked having associated 
with Daniel in any way.  

"What information was he after?"  He had to know - knew Daniel would 
rather bite his own tongue in half than risk the security of the SGC, but 
also knew that anyone, literally anyone, would break eventually, if they 
were pushed hard enough.  Thank Special Ops for that little tidbit.

"None," said Daniel, shaking his head.  He paused to sip at his tea, made 
a face as he swallowed.  "None.  He never asked me anything - um, other 
than rhetorical stuff, 'how dare you pretend you're as cool as me,' you 
know, things like that.  This was all about punishment for him."

"You're sure."  Jack took Daniel's cup, refilled it, and set it back in 
Daniel's hand gently.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded.  "Well, and entertaining himself.  He, um, made a 
point of telling me how much fun he was having.  Laughing after," he took 
a shaky breath, "after some of the worst parts.  Things like that.  
Besides, he, um... he gagged me, towards the very beginning, so I 
wouldn't have been able to answer any questions, anyway."

Then he went right on with his recitation, in that same low, husky voice, 
like he hadn't said anything that would make Jack's blood boil.

Blinded, hung from the ceiling, and *gagged*, for Christ's sake, and then 
caned nearly to unconsciousness - for the fun of it?  Because he could?   
God *damn* him, thought Jack.  Damn the filthy little sperm that 
fertilized the filthy little egg that spawned such a filthy little 
bastard into the universe.

Given that this was the guy who'd been, more or less, publicly tormenting 
his little slave girl for entertainment, Jack wouldn't have put it past 
him to have known exactly how terrifying it would be for Daniel to have 
his voice taken away from him like that.  

Another useful piece of information from his Special Ops days:  physical 
torture is difficult to withstand, but not impossible in the short term.  
If you want to really screw somebody up good, throw a few mental games, a 
little psychological torture, into the mix.  If you were really skilled, 
your victim never even realized they were being messed with, which of 
course meant they had no way to resist what you were doing to them.  In 
the civilian world, this was called brainwashing.  Remember those cults 
the team was discussing in O'Malley's, before the mission?  Oh, yeah.

Jack gritted his teeth and tried to focus on Daniel.  The beating was bad 
enough.  Daniel was covered in welts from shoulder to knee, some with 
fist-size bruises underneath them, a few here and there that had split 
open and formed shallow cuts.  Add to that being blind and tied in a 
position that left him completely open to attack, and the scenario 
immediately got ten times worse.  But for Daniel - the guy who, let us 
not forget, could not only talk his way out of most bad situations, but 
even managed to convince an Unas to defend him rather than eat him - for 
Daniel, Jack would bet that it was his inability to speak, to influence 
the situation, to "engender understanding", that would be the seed for 
his next few dozen nightmares.

Jesus, Jack realized.  The man hadn't even been able to scream.

Jack took a slow breath.  "Daniel."

"Sorry," his friend stopped short, "did I skip something?"

"No.  Just a... little tangent here - out of idle curiosity, do you 
happen to know anything about the funeral practices here on Arkon?"

Daniel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  "Ah, no-oo, not off the top of 
my head... um, why?"

"Because whatever they are, I want to make sure we do them *wrong* for 
Kona'a," said Jack.

                         *******************

Daniel managed, mainly through force of will, to finish briefing Jack and 
Teal'c about what had happened to him.  It hadn't been easy, listing 
every blow, every insult, every terrifying moment, cataloging the litany 
of injuries for Jack to file away for future reference.  Hopefully, Janet 
would find the information useful.  Hopefully, he wouldn't have to repeat 
this story again until he'd had some time to recover, some way to 
distance himself from the actual events.  Surely it was the fatigue - it 
had to be the fatigue - that had his legs twitching randomly, and was 
making it so hard to keep his nerves and his emotions under control.

It had to be the fatigue.  Daniel wouldn't let it be anything else.

At least Jack seemed to sense that going over the whole thing was hard 
for him; he had asked questions, but they were aimed more at guiding 
Daniel's report than at dragging the last of the sordid details out of 
him.  Jack sat so near that Daniel could feel his weight dipping the edge 
of the bed, somehow soothing where he usually would feel crowded.  His 
friend's breath would brush across the back of his neck when he spoke, 
adding to his sense of the man's presence.

The tea was nearly gone; he had lost track of how many times Jack, or 
maybe Pad-sha, had refilled the tiny cup in his hand.  He was pretty sure 
it was the only reason he still had a voice.

"Daniel?"  Jack's voice, somewhere near the top of his head, brought him 
back from his meandering thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry," he swallowed.  So tired.  "What?"

"Per'ua's healer guy is here."  Jack's voice was low, safe.

"I didn't - I'm sorry, I never heard him come in," Daniel said.  Wearily, 
he raised his head (when had he lowered it?), listening for the sounds 
that would give away the man's location.  There was an unexpected touch 
on his jaw, and he nearly leaped backward on the bed.

"Whoa, easy," exclaimed Jack softly.  "You okay?"

"Where?" rasped Daniel.  He switched to Arkon, struggling to remember the 
words.  "Who is here?"

"Sharma Daniel," came a new voice - male, older, with a gentleness Daniel 
usually expected only from women's speech.  "I am called Fad'ye."  From 
the sound of it, the healer was standing, just off to his left, about 
arm's length from him.

"I, I greet you, Healer Fad'ye."

"Daniel?  You didn't answer my question."

"Something - somebody touched my face," he said.

"You had a piece of fuzz from the blanket," muttered Jack.  "Sorry." He 
paused, then added cautiously, "You, uh, want me to stay?"

"I didn't expect you to leave," said Daniel.  He smiled.  "Even if I 
asked you to."

"Well, you know me."  Jack sounded far too pleased with himself.

"Sharma Daniel?  It is, perhaps, better for me to return later?"

"No - no, I apologize," he replied.  "Is it acceptable if my friends 
remain, while you, um, work?"

"Of course, Sharma Daniel," said Fad'ye.  "Truly, I did not expect them 
to leave."

"What's so funny, Daniel?"

"Nothing," he answered.  "Lost in translation.  Also, I'm really tired, 
so... you know."  He tried to shrug, winced.

"Right," said Jack.  He sounded like he wasn't completely convinced, but 
was willing to let it slide for the moment.  "How about I shut up and let 
him do his thing,"

"Good idea," nodded Daniel.  He turned his head toward the healer, 
switching back to Arkon.  "I apologize for requiring you to wait."

"Not at all, Sharma Daniel," said the man.  He took Daniel's hand and 
guided it to where the blanket draped over his shoulder.  "Indeed, it is 
I who would apologize, for I wished to begin with you; but your friend 
Sharma Teal'c insisted that you wished for me to treat your shen first."

"That is true," said Daniel.  He got the hint, and slid the cover free to 
sit bare-chested on the edge of the bed.  "Is she well?"

"Yes, Sharma Daniel.  She bears bruises from the treatment she was given 
this night, but they are not severe, and they will heal easily."  
Fad'ye's hands deftly moved along Daniel's shoulders and across his back 
and chest.  He managed to examine most of the welts without actually 
causing pain; Daniel noticed that the healer was careful to let him feel 
where his hands were the entire time.

"I am... very pleased to hear that," said Daniel.

"I sent her to draw a bath for you both," Fad'ye went on.  "I gave her 
powders to use in the water, to ease your pain and to help protect your 
cuts from illness."

"Cuts?"

"Yes, Sharma Daniel.  Your shen told me what was done to you, and that 
some of the stripes on your body had broken open and bled.  I am pleased 
to see that they are not deep, and that there are only a few."  He 
stopped long enough to lift the blanket back up onto Daniel's shoulders.  
"Of course, I must also examine your legs, but I was most concerned about 
your back."

"I - yes, of course," said Daniel.  He waited in silence while the healer 
uncovered one leg and inspected his wounds, but Fad'ye said nothing more.  
Finally, when he shifted the blanket to inspect Daniel's other leg, 
Daniel could hold back no longer.  "Please - I don't wish to seem 
ungrateful, but are you, perhaps, also concerned about my eyes?"

"Concerned?" asked Fad'ye, apparently bewildered by the question.  
"Sharma Daniel?"

"My eyes, Healer Fad'ye - what of them?"

"Sula!  You did not know?  I must beg you to forgive me, Sharma Daniel; I 
have caused you needless fear!"  He stopped what he was doing, somewhere 
near the floor, and reached up to squeeze Daniel's hands.  "I had thought 
that you knew the nature of the drug that was used on your eyes.  Did you 
believe, perhaps, that you were truly blinded?"

"Am I not?"  Daniel asked, his voice rising.  He fought for control, and 
swallowed before adding, "You are, perhaps, saying that I will recover?"

"Daniel?" said Jack.  In reply, Daniel tugged one hand free from the 
healer's grip to clutch at Jack's arm.

"Just so, Sharma Daniel.  I promise you, yes, your sight will return to 
you in a matter of days."  He sounded beside himself with distress.  "I 
must beg your forgiveness, Sharma Daniel - it simply did not occur to me 
that you would not be familiar - please -"

"Healer Fad'ye," Daniel cut him off.  "I do not think that you have done 
anything wrong."

"As you wish, Sharma Daniel," said Fad'ye, rising to sit beside him on 
the bed, "but I feel that I have come very close to breaking my vows as a 
healer.  To keep this knowledge from you is... unpardonable."

"Daniel."  Jack's voice was low, insistent; Daniel held up his hand.

"It was an accident," he said to Fad'ye impatiently.  "I must ask you, I 
must know what has happened to my eyes, and how they will recover.  Share 
this... this knowledge now," he added, thinking quickly, "and there will 
be no harm done.  Your vows will not be in danger."

"Yes, of course, Sharma Daniel."

"You want to tell me what's going on, or not?"

"It's okay, Jack.  I just," he swallowed, his voice cracking, "m-my 
eyes..."

"Tell me, Daniel, I'm right here."

The words came out in a rush, "I'm going to be okay," as he fought to 
keep his voice under control.  He felt Jack's arms move, felt himself 
pulled into a tight hug, and didn't even care about the pressure on his 
welts.  "I'm going to be okay."

"God damn," said Jack, starting to laugh, "you freaking did it again."

                         *******************

When Sam woke up again, she had a moment of such disorientation that it 
felt like her mind had short-circuited.  Janet Fraiser was standing over 
her when she opened her eyes so, of course, she was in the infirmary.  
But her bed was enormous, and had red and gold covers that matched the 
carpet and the wall trim - so of course, she was still at House Shad'aa.

"What?" was all Sam could come up with to say.  She struggled to sit up, 
squinting at the doctor in confusion.

"General Hammond thought it would be a good idea for me to make a house 
call," smiled Janet.  "How do you feel?"

"Fine," said Sam without thinking, as she looked around the room.  Where 
was Daniel?

"Ah," was Janet's quick reply.  "How do you feel, really?"  The doctor 
sat down along the edge of the bed and reached for Sam's wrist.

Sam blinked, and took a moment to check.  "Uh... better, actually," she 
said softly.  "Much better.  The nausea is almost gone."  She glanced 
around the bedroom quickly; the glow-lights had been dimmed, and she and 
Janet were alone.  Outside in the common room, she could hear voices 
conversing quietly, but she couldn't make out the words, or even the 
language.  Everything seemed calm.

"Daniel?"

"He's resting, and so are you," answered Janet, trying to make the words 
a command.  At Sam's look of desperation, she sighed.  "He's going to be 
fine.  Let me look you over, now that you're awake and I can do a proper 
examination, and then if you're still feeling up to it, I'll let you look 
in on him.  But he's not to be disturbed - he really does need to sleep 
if he's going to recover."  She tapped her knuckles on the back of Sam's 
hand.  "Understood?"

"Uh - yeah," she stammered.  "Fine."  She swung her legs off the side of 
the bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and let Janet get to work.  A 
few moments passed in silence, during which Janet looked in her eyes, 
listened to her heart, and so on and so on.  Despite the colonel's 
insistence, she was no more tolerant of being a patient than he was - it 
was just that she had learned to speed up the process by not complaining 
about it.  Sam yawned, and got a penlight shone at her throat as a 
reward.

"Some house call," she said.

"You're telling me," said Janet.  "Roll up your sleeve."  She wrapped the 
blood pressure cuff around Sam's arm and adjusted her stethoscope.

"What time is it?"

"Well, on Earth it's about three in the afternoon, give or take," 
answered the doctor.  "Here? Almost everyone is asleep; I think it might 
be a couple of hours till sunrise."  She rummaged through her bag, 
adding, "After I'm done taking your blood pressure, I want to collect a 
couple of samples to test for any traces of drug that might still be in 
your system."

"Okay, but I feel fine, Janet."  Her friend just looked at her 
skeptically.  "Seriously.  Compared to when I woke up the first time -"

"And that's what worries me," said Janet firmly.  "I have a feeling that 
the drug used to knock you out in the first place might have been similar 
to ether, which is pretty hard on the body to begin with.  Then they 
probably used a strong stimulant to wake you up, while you were still 
under the influence of the first drug.  It's no wonder you felt so sick - 
that can be a huge shock to the system."  Her eyes locked with Sam's.  "I 
want to be sure you're not suffering from any lasting effects, and that 
your internal organs weren't damaged by whatever you were given.  All 
right?"

Sam nodded, subdued.  Eventually, her friend finished the poke-and-prod 
routine, and she was able to get up out of bed.

"Yuck," she muttered.  "I guess dress blues weren't meant to be slept 
in."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Janet.  I've had worse hangovers, to be honest."  She shrugged 
out of her jacket, and flipped her BDU coat over her shoulders.  "Where's 
Daniel?"

In reply, Dr. Fraiser stood up and stepped out into the common room of 
her suite.  When Sam followed, she simply opened the connecting door to 
the colonel and Daniel's rooms and waved her through.  The first thing 
she saw was the shen, bundled under a blanket and sound asleep on the 
floor, using one of the chair cushions for a pillow.  Behind her, Teal'c 
stood sentry outside Daniel's bedroom.  There was no sign of her CO.

"The colonel is sleeping too," murmured Janet.  Sam nodded, and crossed 
the room.

"Major Carter," said Teal'c.  His voice was a rough purr in the silent 
room.  "It is good to see you recovered."

"Thanks, Teal'c."  She swallowed.  "I'm - I'm sorry I wasn't much use on 
this one."

"On the contrary, Major Carter," he replied.  "The hour is late.  We will 
speak more of this when you have rested further."  He opened the door for 
her, and stepped aside.

"Oh, god," she breathed.  The room was nearly dark, and her friend lay 
under a thin blanket, but still, she could see enough.  One arm was 
draped limply across his ribs; the bruises on his wrists where he'd been 
tied stood out against his skin, and she could just make out the edge of 
a whip-cut arcing along the curve of his shoulder.  The corner of 
Daniel's mouth was swollen like he'd been struck there, too.  And his 
eyes...

Sam brought her hand up to her mouth.  "Teal'c said - he said he'd been 
blinded, but I didn't think -"

"Sam?"

Everything from Daniel's cheekbones to his eyebrows was pink and puffy-
looking; his eyes weren't closed so much as swollen shut.  If she had 
seen that kind of skin anywhere else on his body, she would have thought 
of poison ivy, but this looked as if he'd been burned.  Tears filled her 
eyes and stung.

"Sam."

She turned her shocked gaze toward the doctor.  "He's going to be fine, 
Sam."

"His eyes?"  Whispering was the only way to keep her voice steady.

"It's temporary.  The puffy skin is part of the chemical they used, but 
it's already wearing off."  Janet guided her to a chair in the common 
room, and she dropped into it.  "I said he was going to be fine, and I 
meant it."

"Tell me."  Suddenly, the shen was at her elbow, holding a cup of 
something steaming.  Sam looked up in surprise, and caught a glimpse of 
bruises on her, too, before she ducked her head and went back to her 
blankets.  "Janet?"

"One of your nobles - Per'ua? - Per'ua brought a healer with her to this 
gathering, and he examined Daniel before I arrived.  Now, I'm getting 
this third-hand, from Teal'c and the colonel via Daniel, but he was 
apparently convinced that Daniel's blindness will be completely cured in 
a few days."

Dr. Fraiser took a sip from her cup, and went on.  "The chemical that was 
used to attack Daniel actually consists of two separate compounds.  The 
first one is the local equivalent of pepper spray or mace - it hurts, and 
it caused the burns to the skin around his eyes, but doesn't do any 
actual damage to the eyes themselves.  It can't - apparently, it breaks 
down once it's exposed to tears after only a few seconds."

Sam felt her spirits rising.  "And the second?"

"Now that one is really interesting," nodded Janet.  "On Earth, we have a 
few drugs that will cause the eyes to become more sensitive to light, but 
mostly they work by dilating the pupil open.  This one, on the other 
hand, makes the eyes so sensitive that the iris contracts completely shut 
-"

"-So no light can get in," finished Sam.

"Exactly."  Janet sipped her tea again.  "The longer that drug sits on 
the surface of the eye, the more potent the effect.  The 'pepper spray' 
is painful to begin with, so naturally the victim closes his eyes, and 
holds it in, prolonging the exposure.  On top of that, Daniel was knocked 
unconscious by the same thing that got you."

"So, this drug would have been on his eyes for several hours?"

"Unlike the pepper spray, it's much heavier, almost oily.  So yes, Daniel 
was exposed to its effects for quite a while; in fact, the healer 
insisted that he rinse his eyes several times with cool water before he 
went to sleep, and recommended that he rinse them again when he wakes up 
in the morning."

Sam waited, but the doctor was finished.  She blinked.  "And - that's 
it?"

"For now, yes," answered Janet.  "I've already sent a sample back to the 
SGC for analysis, but I think it's telling that no one here seems the 
slightest bit concerned about whether Daniel will regain his eyesight."  
She shrugged.  "Until I know more, there's nothing I can do but assume 
that the local experts know what they're talking about."

                         *******************

Mid-morning found the three uninjured team members sitting around the 
table in the common room of the colonel and Daniel's suite, with a sleepy 
Dr. Fraiser sitting between them as they ate breakfast. 

"With all respect, Colonel, I don't know how you guys handle going off-
world all the time," she muttered, stifling a yawn.  "This makes jet lag 
look like you've only missed your bedtime by a few minutes."

"You get used to it," he shrugged, breaking open a roll and spreading 
something that looked like green butter on it.  "Being in a mission keys 
you up, makes it easier.  It's coming home that always knocks me out."

"I thought it was having to write up the mission reports, sir," quipped 
Carter.

"That too," he nodded.  "You feeling all right?"

"Yes sir, thank you."

"Doc?"

"The SGC radioed the lab results to me while you were asleep," said 
Fraiser, pinching the bridge of her nose.  "Without getting too technical 
about how we know, I can safely say that the drug used to knock Major 
Carter and Dr. Jackson unconscious should have no lasting effects on 
their physiology.  I'm still going to treat their exposure the way I 
would if they had been taking a sedative; I'm recommending a couple of 
days light duty once you've come home, and no driving or operating 
machinery, just to be safe."

Jack gave his second a sly look.  "Machinery means you, Carter."

The major made a face.  "I know.  Sir."

"What of Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c spoke up next.

She took a breath.  "Well, I've been monitoring him, but he really does 
need the rest he's getting right now.  Until he wakes up on his own, I 
can't do much to examine his physical injuries.  On the other hand, the 
healer who treated him was right; lab results confirm that the chemicals 
currently affecting his eyesight will break down and be flushed from his 
system over the next few days."

"So he really is going to be fine," said Sam.

"Told you," said the colonel.

"This is welcome new - " Teal'c began, then stopped, looking intently at 
the pile of blankets where the shen had slept.  She was sitting up now; 
as they all turned to look, she cocked her head as if listening to 
something, then rose and moved towards Daniel's room.  She reached the 
door at the same time as Teal'c, and opened it timidly, shrinking away 
from him and into the room.

"Sharma Daniel?"

Daniel turned his head toward the sound, and shifted under the blankets 
with a wince.  The burn around his eyes had already faded during the 
night, down to a pale pink, but he kept them closed.  "Pad-sha," he said, 
his voice husky.  "Go-sherna Sharma Jack?"

"I'm right here," said Jack.  Daniel smiled.  "How you feeling?"

"Um," he shifted again, "ow - better..."

"How is 'ow' better?"

"Well, there's 'ow, I'm running for my life and might die soon,'" he 
explained, "and then there's 'ow, I made it and now I'm... really 
hungry'."  His fingers brushed across his face, covered his eyes as he 
tried to open them.  "Ow."

"How is it you always manage to make sense when you say things like 
that?"

"Uh, linguist," Daniel said.  His tone added, "duh" as he dropped his 
hand back to the mattress.  "Breakfast?"

Janet elbowed her way past the crowd in the doorway.  "Mind if I look you 
over first?"

Daniel started, then seemed to look right at her for a moment, and she 
shivered.  "Quite the house call," he said, with a tentative smile.

"That's what everyone keeps saying, Dr. Jackson," she replied.  "How do 
you feel?"

"Stiff, mostly," he said.  "I mean, obviously things hurt a little, but." 
Moving slowly, he began to push himself upright with one arm, clutching 
the blankets to his chest with the other.  The girl seemed to materialize 
at his side, supporting his back as he rose.  Janet noticed that she 
never quite seemed to look at Daniel, or anyone else in the room.

"How about we find out whether any of these injuries are more than 
superficial," began Janet.

"They're not," interjected Daniel, but she kept going.

"And *if* they're not, and I don't have to worry about giving you 
stitches, then you can go straight to breakfast."

Daniel frowned, but before he could answer, the girl murmured something.  
He answered her with something that sounded like, "Dyev, sharma-ko?", and 
she spoke some more.  When he nodded, she left the room.

Jack shifted in the doorway.  "What was that about?"

"Oh, um, she said that Shad'aa spoke with her after I went, um, to clean 
up and go to bed," said Daniel.  "He wanted to be notified once I woke 
up."

"He wants to talk to you?"

Daniel sighed, picking at the blankets.  His eyebrows twitched, a 
perfectly typical expression from him, except that his eyes were closed.  
"Probably, yeah."  At the silence in the room, he added, "I mean, I don't 
think we're going to be kicked out or anything, I don't think there's any 
danger to any of us... I'm just, um, not looking forward to confirming 
for him that one of his fellow nobles did - this."

"If he comes to our suite," intoned Teal'c, "I will tell him that you are 
not yet prepared to see him.  Doctor Fraiser must complete her 
examination to be certain of your wellbeing, Daniel Jackson."

"You're sure," Sam started to ask, but Janet held up a hand.

"You can have your briefing outside," she ordered.  "I have a patient to 
examine."

As she waited, they all filed out of the room, closing the door behind 
them.  She turned to Daniel, and added quietly, "It isn't that you don't 
need to discuss things with them - but I'd like to see how you're doing 
before I fall asleep on my feet."

She grinned when Daniel ducked his head, clearly fighting a smile, and 
got to work.

                         *******************

Contrary to expectations, it was Sharma Nadhesh who first came to their 
suite that morning.  He sat nervously, once Teal'c had let him in, and 
fidgeted with the trim on his sleeve under the table, where he thought 
Jack wouldn't see him at it.  He said nothing to anyone, even though once 
or twice it looked like he really wanted to.  Sam was still there, 
looking a little pale but otherwise all right, and Jack thought Nadhesh 
looked uncomfortable in her presence.  The silence in the room clearly 
weighed on him.

From Daniel's summary, Jack knew that Nadhesh had only recently inherited 
his rank; unofficially, Daniel had added his guess that Nadhesh made like 
Switzerland not because he was into being neutral, but because he was 
scared of making a wrong decision.  Jack had seen that stance before and 
didn't have much patience for it, even if he could understand the 
motivation.  After all, this guy had stood up and supported trade with 
the SGC during the talks, and then had turned around and joined the batch 
of nobles, just last night, who were planning on formally accusing Daniel 
of poisoning Kona'a.  Jack kept his face blank, but he couldn't help but 
wonder what the guy was doing here now.

Both men looked up when the door to Daniel's room opened.  Daniel 
shuffled forward with his eyes closed, one hand on Fraiser's shoulder; he 
was moving a little stiffly, but still definitely more easily than he had 
last night.  Instead of BDUs, he was dressed in some kind of long, cream-
colored robe that wrapped around him in front, tying closed at several 
points.  Looked Oriental, kind of.

"Nice," said Jack.  "Not much of a uniform, but nice."

Daniel opened his eyes just long enough to roll them at him. "Civilian," 
he answered.  "Also, comfortable."

"It was hanging in the closet, Colonel," said Dr. Fraiser.  "I 
recommended it because the fabric is soft enough it shouldn't irritate 
any of his wounds."

Jack nodded.  "Nadhesh is here."  The young noble glanced Jack's way, 
then unfolded himself from his chair and stood.  Interesting - Jack 
thought he looked even more miserable now that Daniel was in the same 
room with him.

"Sharma Nadhesh," said Daniel.  He bowed, a little painfully.  "Ne 
hreidi."

"Ne hreidi, Sharma Daniel," he answered.  Then, as the doc led Daniel to 
the table, he went off into a long gabble of speech, which apparently 
Daniel could follow without a problem.  He seemed to be nodding in all 
the right places, anyway.

"Daniel?"

"He's, ah, he's here to apologize, Jack.  It's kind of a long story; I'll 
tell you more later."

The two men continued their conversation for a few moments, as Jack 
traded glances with Carter and Teal'c from where he stood propping up the 
wall.  Carter sat down at the table and started buttering rolls and 
pouring tea for Daniel while they talked.  Nadhesh alternated between 
looking at his hands in his lap and glancing up at Daniel whenever he 
said something.

Fraiser came over to stand by him, and Teal'c joined them.  "He's going 
to be stiff and sore for a few days," she said softly, "but it looks like 
his attacker's only aim was to cause a lot of pain with as little actual 
damage as possible."

"Probably wanted to prolong his entertainment," growled Jack.

Janet glanced over her shoulder at her patient.  "Impossible to say," she 
frowned.  "I do know this could have been much worse."

"Thanks, doc," said Jack, keeping his voice low.  "Go get some sleep."

"Yes sir," she smiled tiredly.

                         *******************

"I am truly sorry, Sharma Daniel," said Nadhesh.  He had taken a roll 
that Sam had offered him, and was turning it around and around in his 
hands as he spoke.  "I am ashamed of my actions, or perhaps, my 
inaction," he sighed.  "It... causes me shame, to know that I avoided 
confronting Kona'a, and you did not."

"Nadhesh, please," said Daniel.  "There is nothing to forgive."

"Sharma Daniel, perhaps, would like to hear the reason that I disagree?"  
His voice was low, but earnest, and after a moment Daniel nodded.

Nadhesh took a deep breath.  "You have, perhaps, heard that I inherited 
the Seat of House Nadhesh only recently.  What you, perhaps, do not know 
is that I was never intended to succeed my father.  I am his second 
child; my older sister was the heir of our House."  He paused, and when 
Daniel kept silent, he continued.

"My father and sister died within a month of each other, less than a year 
ago," said Nadhesh.  "They were traveling, and there was... My father 
died that day, and my sister lived for only a few weeks longer.  We have 
never been able to prove that their deaths were not accidental."

"But you suspected Kona'a," suggested Daniel.

"Our Houses have been rivals since Kona'a inherited the Seat of his 
House, when I was still a child," said Nadhesh.  "He was never satisfied 
with the level of trade between our Houses; he accused us - but I suppose 
that is not important.  What is important is that my father was always 
able to meet his threats and oppose them."  He swallowed.  "I could not.  
I had the same resources, but -"

"But you were afraid of him," interrupted Daniel.  "He may have had your 
father and sister murdered, and you were placed onto a Seat you were not, 
perhaps, prepared to accept."

"Just so," murmured Nadhesh.  "I was afraid of him."

"I still do not understand how you believe you have wronged me," said 
Daniel gently.

"I could have opposed Kona'a, and I did not," said the noble.  "I rule 
three cities and have an army at my command; I am the head of House 
Nadhesh and a member of the Circle of Minu'ua.  There are many things I 
could have done, and instead I did nothing.  I," he laughed painfully, 
"have done nothing at all for the past year.  You, Sharma Daniel - 
forgive me - you rule nothing here.  You came from the Eye of the 
Heavens, with only your three friends, and when Kona'a threatened you 
openly, you faced him. You did not hide from him, as I have.

"You asked how I wronged you, Sharma Daniel," he went on.  Daniel heard 
him shift in his seat.  "When Kona'a was taken from the council hall, 
some of the other sharma and their emissaries came to me.  I learned that 
he had been speaking to some of them, about you, in the evenings after 
the sessions ended.  When we were led to believe that Kona'a had been 
poisoned, they decided that you must have attacked him.  They asked me to 
be their speaker before the other sharma."  His voiced faded.  "To 
formally accuse you and your friends."

"And because you were afraid," Daniel said slowly, "you agreed."

"Just so, Sharma Daniel."  Nadhesh sat very still.  "Just so."

After a moment, Daniel nodded.  "I see."  He took a bite of his roll, 
chewed for a moment, swallowed.  "And now?"

"Now," said Nadhesh, "it is clear that we were all deceived by Kona'a."  
He frowned.  "His body was found; it is clear from the evidence that he 
caused your injuries and attacked Sharma Samantha; his servants even 
confess that they planned to disrupt the city of Shad'aa, to add to the 
confusion once your disappearance was discovered.  The only thing that is 
not certain is how you managed to kill him."

"I would like to know that as well," said a new voice.  Both men turned 
toward the door.

"Sharma Shad'aa."

                         *******************

As he said Shad'aa's name, Daniel felt the odd flicker in his mind that 
he had begun to associate with Pad-sha's presence; he listened to the 
rustle of rich fabric approaching him, and for a moment he saw through 
her eyes.

The common room, normally spacious, was beginning to look crowded.  "In 
front of" him, he could see Teal'c and Jack standing together beside the 
connecting door between their two suites; Sam was curled up on the sofa 
with a blanket across her legs, looking tired and pale.  At the table, he 
saw himself and Sharma Nadhesh picking over the remains of breakfast, and 
immediately "beside" his view, Sharma Shad'aa was striding toward the 
table.  Judging by the way everything kept moving, Pad-sha seemed to be 
following Shad'aa.

"I greet you, Sharma Daniel - Sharma Nadhesh," said Shad'aa.  "May I 
sit?"

"Of course," said Daniel.  "How may I serve?"

"Daniel?" Jack spoke up.  "What's going on?"

"Uh, not sure yet," he replied.  "Care to join us?"  A moment later he 
heard the chair slide back across the carpet, heard the sigh as Jack 
settled himself.

"Please give my greetings to Sharma Jack," said Shad'aa.

"What was it you said a minute ago, Daniel?" asked Jack.  "'Nay ray dee', 
or something like that, right?"

"Ne hreidi," said Daniel.  "It means 'I greet you' - hello."

"So - what's going on." Jack sounded much too cheerful to Daniel's ears. 

"Well, as I said, I'm not sure yet," he replied.  "Maybe I should do the 
talking?"

"As long as you do the translating too," said Jack.

Right.

"Ah, forgive me, Sharma Shad'aa," he said in Arkon.  "Sharma Jack is, I 
think, concerned that the events of last night have made us unwelcome 
here."

"Certainly not," was the reply.  He sounded surprised.  "Indeed, it was 
my fear that you would, perhaps, decide that we were not to be trusted, 
and end our discussions.  I wish to avoid this."  After Daniel had 
translated, he added, "In addition, Sharma Daniel, Sharma Jack, you have 
been attacked while you were a guest in my home.  I must learn everything 
possible about what happened, or I will be dishonored."

"What about Kona'a?" asked Jack.

"As Kona'a was a fellow sharma, and an ally, I am bound to learn as much 
as I can about his death," Shad'aa replied.  "Sharma Daniel, you were, 
perhaps, forced to defend yourself?"

"I am afraid not," said Daniel reluctantly.  "I was unable to do anything 
to stop Kona'a."  He took a breath, and weighed his words carefully.  
"Sharma Shad'aa, I do not know Arkon customs in this area; if... if I 
tell you everything that I remember, I am concerned about what will 
happen to... to the people who helped me."

"I understand," said Shad'aa.  "It would, perhaps, put you at peace, if I 
were to tell you of the unanswered questions that remain to us?"

"What do you think, Jack?" he said, when he'd finished translating.

"You're worried about what will happen to her," said Jack.  "Worst case, 
we can probably take her back with us, get Hammond to grant her refugee 
status."  Daniel heard him shift in his chair.  "Go ahead."

Shad'aa leaned forward in his seat.  "My guards have told me that you 
were found alone, with the shen, unable to walk on your own," he 
explained.  "They found Kona'a's body in a nearby way station, with his 
own knife through his throat, near the ropes that had been used to bind 
you."  Shad'aa folded his hands on the table.  "You could have killed 
Kona'a, and there would be no crime if you had, but you say you did not."

Daniel felt the girl's fear trill through his mind, and tried to send her 
calming thoughts.   "Sharma Shad'aa," he said carefully, "is there... 
perhaps... a penalty, a punishment, that would be demanded of the person 
who killed Kona'a?"

The older man took a breath and let it out slowly.  "If, as I have been 
given to understand, Sharma Daniel were defenseless... then, whoever 
killed Sharma Kona'a would likely have been aiding Sharma Daniel," he 
said.  "If that is the case, then this person was only protecting someone 
who could not protect himself; therefore, no.  I judge that there would 
be no penalty on the person who killed Kona'a."  He held up one hand.  
"But mark you, Sharma Daniel, that my judgment can only stand if the 
reports of my guards are correct."

Daniel released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.  "What you 
have been told is true," he said.  "My hands were bound."  He brushed the 
back of his wrist with his fingertips; the skin there was still abraded 
and tender.

"Unless someone else was present," said Shad'aa, "that leaves the shen, 
although if it were her hand that drove the knife, she should have died 
in the same breath as her sharma."
 
Daniel nodded toward him.  "Pad-sha - the shen - told me that she 
expected to die," he said, letting the implication sink in.  "Why would 
that have happened?"  As he translated for Jack, Daniel felt a flicker of 
surprise from her; for an instant, he saw both Nadhesh and Shad'aa 
looking directly at her, before exchanging a glance with one another.

"Shen," said Shad'aa, "is this true?  Did you kill Sharma Kona'a with his 
own knife?"  Try as he might, Daniel could not read tone of the noble's 
voice.

"Yes, sharma," she whispered.  Her shame and fear rippled through 
Daniel's mind.

"Shen, tell us why," said Shad'aa.

"She saved my life," interjected Daniel.

"Please, Sharma Daniel," he replied, in the same inscrutable tone.  
"Allow her to answer."

"This one - th-this one d-did," she stammered, "as she w-was commanded."

Daniel started in shock; he sat up straight in his chair, wincing as his 
injuries protested.  "Pad-sha?" he asked, but Shad'aa ignored him.

"And how were you commanded?"

Daniel clearly heard her swallow once, before answering, "This one h-
heard Sharma Daniel speak, into h-her thoughts."

His jaw dropped.

"Thank you, Sharma Daniel," said Shad'aa.  He heard fabric, heavy satins 
sliding and whispering over one another, as the two nobles stood.  "This 
explains a great deal, and answers many questions."

"I - forgive me, Sharma Shad'aa," said Daniel, his voice rising, "but I 
do not understand at all."  He fought to get up, flinching as he tried to 
push his chair back from the table.

"Of course," said Shad'aa.  "And there is no doubt that you deserve an 
explanation, but I cannot give it to you now."

His voice gentled, and he laid one hand across the back of Daniel's to 
stop his fumbling.  "I will say this: I now understand everything that I 
must about Kona'a's death, and I swear on the honor of my House and this 
city that there will be no penalty, for either of you.  I beg you to be 
at peace in this.

"Now, I must perform my duties, and share what I have learned with the 
other sharma.  We will be occupied for much of the day, which is why I 
cannot stay to answer your questions," he explained.  "I invite you, and 
your fellow sharma from the Eye, to rest, at least for today.  Truly, it 
is my hope that you would not leave until you have fully recovered.  This 
evening, if you wish it, I will do everything I can to satisfy your 
curiosity."

As Daniel sat there, still struggling to wrap his mind around the older 
man's words, slippered feet padded quietly away from him across the 
carpet.  He heard the door open, a softly murmured "Sharma Jack," and 
then heard the door click shut.

                         *******************

"Well, this may be the longest day I've ever spent," muttered Daniel.  
The team had spent the entire morning going over Shad'aa's visit: what he 
had said, variations on the translation of what he'd said, what he might 
have meant, and all the possible implications and consequences that might 
come back to haunt them.  All they'd really gotten out of their 
discussion was a series of headaches and dead ends.

In the early afternoon, Doctor Fraiser had woken up and joined them, 
adding another round of discussion to the general mix - this time 
focusing on the weird link that Daniel and Pad-sha seemed to share.  
They'd only stopped when Fraiser had noticed Daniel's fatigue and pain, 
and made him retire to the bath to rest.  By that time, everyone's 
patience was wearing thin.

"Nah," said Jack wearily.  "We've been in dungeons before, remember?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel optimistic?"  At the moment, he, Jack, 
and Janet were the only people in the suite.  Daniel was pacing, furrowed 
brow over closed eyes, trailing one hand along the back of the couch to 
keep his balance.  "We're a full day's hike from the Stargate, two of us 
might as well be wounded, we're indirectly responsible for the death of 
one of their nobles -"

"Hey, he brought that on himself," shot Jack.  Daniel didn't even pause 
in his rant.

"- and we have no idea what kind of fallout Shad'aa's judgment is going 
to land on our heads - but we're not officially prisoners, so it's all 
okay?"  He threw both hands into the air, and immediately regretted it.  
"Ow."

"Well, we're not prisoners.  If we were, do you really think they'd have 
let Carter and Teal'c go wandering off?"  Sam, in what was probably the 
smartest move any of them had made all day, had requested permission to 
go for a walk and clear her head.  She and Teal'c were in radio contact, 
while the big guy showed her the sights down in the market district.

"Not to mention," Janet spoke up, "that I don't think Fad'ye would have 
been quite so inclined to drop by for a visit, much less provide all 
those medical samples from his kit.  I'm really looking forward to seeing 
if we can synthesize some of those painkillers."

Daniel heaved a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.  "Yeah, 
you're probably right.  It's just... not knowing is driving me nuts."

"Short trip," said Jack.

"Bite me, Jack," said Daniel mildly.  "Is there anything left to eat?"

"Yeah, sure."  Jack watched as Daniel sat down at the table with him, 
sorted through a few of the snacks with his help, and fell to.  The 
mundane actions seemed to calm him down a little.  "How are your eyes?"

"Only hurt when they're open," Daniel mumbled around a mouthful of some 
kind of meat pie.  "At least they aren't burning anymore.  I left the 
lights off in the bath, and I was able to open them for a little bit 
longer; not that I could see anything in the dark."

"Give it time," said Jack.

The two men ate in silence for a few more minutes, then the door opened, 
and Teal'c and Carter came into the room. 

"Ah, the prodigals return.  So, like, how was the mall, Carter?"

"Uh - fine, sir," said Sam.  "Daniel?"  Her tone added multiple layers of 
meaning to the question.

"He's bored," said Daniel.  Unfortunately, Jack said the exact same 
thing, at the same time.  While Daniel scowled, Jack added, "Is it 
evening yet?"

"It is indeed," said Teal'c.  "We timed our return so as to arrive by 
sunset."

"Actually, sir, we got here a little early, and tried to look in on the 
meeting hall," said Sam.  "It looks like whatever they were doing is 
going to break up soon."

"You mean, you didn't have any trouble getting in there?" asked Daniel.

Sam shrugged.  "No.  Granted, that might be because they knew we don't 
speak the language, but no one really tried to stop us.  At any rate, we 
only looked inside for a minute."  She sat down on the couch next to 
Janet.  "There was someone new in there."

"Oh?" asked the colonel.

"We believe she is another noble, perhaps of higher rank than the other 
sharma," said Teal'c.  "Like the others, she wore lavish robes; however, 
unlike them, she also wore a circlet of silver."

"Well," said Daniel slowly, "Kona'a was a noble.  Maybe they needed to 
bring in a higher authority, to discuss his case."

"So it would appear," said Teal'c.

"I am ordering all of you *not* to launch into yet another round of what-
ifs and maybes.  My headache is bad enough as it is," said Jack.  "I'm 
not happy about the situation either, but it doesn't look like we're in 
immediate danger."  He glanced at Carter and Teal'c.  "We're not, right?"

"I didn't see any activity to suggest that, no," said Sam.

"Nor did I," put in Teal'c.

"So our best option is to stay here and wait to see how things pan out," 
concluded Jack.

Pad-sha backed into the room from Sam and Teal'c's suite, carrying a tray 
loaded with steaming mugs.  At Daniel's insistence, she had spent the 
entire day recuperating from the ordeal they had shared.  "Sharma 
Daniel," she said, "nebve-hau ka veshe shoru'dir Sharma Per'ua mekhesh."

"Ne roshyi, Pad-sha," said Daniel.  "She says Sharma Per'ua is going to 
be here soon."

"Explanations?" asked Sam.

"That's my guess," said Jack, sitting up.  "We want to clean up the mess 
in here a little bit, guys?"

                         *******************

"Well, Sharma Daniel," said Per'ua, "you do know how to make a journey 
worth the effort."  She had knocked politely, waited to be let into their 
suite, and walked stiffly toward the couch where she was settled now, a 
mug of the ever-present hot tea cradled in her hands.  She was the 
picture of elderly grace and dignity.

Instead of her formal robes, Per'ua wore a soft, robe-like gown identical 
to the one Daniel had put on that morning.  The only difference was that 
hers was overlaid with a knee-length green vest, ornately embroidered in 
copper thread, with slippers that matched.  Sitting next to her on the 
couch, with his head bowed and eyes closed, Daniel looked a little like 
an avowed monk receiving a royal visitor.
 
"I had thought that this gathering would be uninteresting - beneficial 
for trade, mark me, but still uninteresting."  Per'ua added powders to 
her tea as she spoke, shifting in her seat with a delicate wince.  "I 
would have endured sitting all day while my joints pained me, listening 
to petty grievances disguised as trade concerns... but instead, I meet 
you."

"Ah... thank you?" said Daniel uncertainly.  Per'ua laughed, the wrinkles 
at her eyes deepening as her eyes twinkled.

"Truly, Sharma Daniel, you delight me, and not only because I may cast 
aside intrigue and speak plainly in your presence."  She sipped her tea, 
and sobered.  "Sharma Shad'aa tells me that he promised you an 
explanation for his questions.  You and your friends would, perhaps, hear 
that explanation from me?"

"Yes, of course," said Daniel.  "Your presence honors us, Sharma Per'ua."

She chuckled again, and patted his hand.  "Flatterer.  Would that I were 
half my age."  She drained her mug in one toss and handed it to Pad-sha 
to refill.  "Now then," she said, "all is just as it was when you arrived 
in Shad'aa's courtyard.  I shall talk, and you shall listen and eat."

"And translate," smiled Daniel.

"And translate," she nodded.  "Ah, but I have been impolite.  You will, 
perhaps, give my greetings to your friends as well?  Then I shall begin."

The old noblewoman waited while Daniel relayed their conversation to his 
friends.  By the time he finished, Jack had pulled the chairs closer to 
the couch, Teal'c had moved the table, Pad-sha had refilled everyone's 
mugs, and Sam had gotten blankets to drape across her and Daniel's laps.  
After a moment's thought, Jack locked the doors to their suite, while 
Janet and Per'ua introduced themselves to one another.

"Looks like a slumber party in here," he quipped.  Daniel smiled into his 
mug, but didn't answer.

When all was ready, Per'ua took a breath.  "The beginning," she said 
slowly.  "The beginning of this story lies, I think, with the keeping of 
shen-er.  This is against custom for your people, is that not so?"

"We believe it is wrong for one person to own another," nodded Daniel.

"Ah, but strictly speaking, we do not own any of the shen-er," said 
Per'ua.  "They are required to serve, as punishment for crimes they have 
committed, or debts that they were unable to pay.  The people of Arkon 
have kept shen-er in this way for a very, very long time."

"The shen are different?" asked Sam.

"Just so," Per'ua replied.  "The first shen were... discovered, I 
suppose... as much as they were made.  They were an accidental creation; 
you see, at one time long ago, it was legal for parents to sell their 
children into slavery to pay off their debts, or to work their penalty 
for them, if they were guilty of a crime."

"They sold their kids?" Jack frowned in disgust.

"Be at peace, Sharma Jack; our culture has moved beyond that practice," 
said Per'ua soberly.

"How are the shen different from the other slaves?" asked Sam.

"The answer is complicated," replied Per'ua.  "Shen are trained to a 
level of service so complete that their will, as individuals, is erased.  
This causes them to depend on their sharma, to create what we call a 
'bond' between them.  Each shen becomes, in a way, an extension of the 
sharma to whom they bond.  Very few shen can survive without a sharma to 
direct them, to act as their will."  She sipped at her tea.  "As I said 
before, the first shen were accidental.  I am speaking of the children, 
who were sold: it is believed that their lives were disrupted so badly 
that, for some of them, the bond with their masters developed as a way to 
survive their ordeal."

Dr. Fraiser held herself rigid in her seat, her fists clenched at her 
sides.  "And now, instead of creating this, this 'bond' accidentally, you 
do it deliberately."

"We do," said Per'ua.  "And I do not apologize for this.  As before, the 
reason for our practice is more complicated than it may appear on the 
surface."

"Explain to me how institutionalized child abuse is complicated!" Janet 
flared.  Daniel braced himself for the reaction, but there was no way he 
could avoid translating her words for the noblewoman.

"I shall," said Per'ua evenly.  She kept her composure, but her eyes were 
narrowed at the doctor's tone.  "You will not, perhaps, be so quick to 
judge a culture which has not shaped you, once you have heard all that I 
have come to tell."

Daniel held his breath while the two women measured one another.  
Finally, Janet nodded, and Jack said softly, "Go ahead, Daniel."

The older woman tipped her head to one side, a thoughtful expression on 
her face.  "First," she said, "as I have told you, the bond between 
sharma and shen makes the shen, in effect, an extension of the sharma's 
will.  Because of this, directing a shen is a great responsibility.  
Other servants can be expected to look after themselves; keeping a shen 
is somewhat like caring for an infant.  Also, if any harm comes to a 
sharma, then the shen is likely to suffer as well."

"Yes, you warned me to be careful in the commands that I gave," said 
Daniel.

"In exchange, however, the shen is absolutely trustworthy, in ways that 
you, perhaps, cannot imagine." She leaned forward, an earnest frown on 
her face.  "The shen can sense when danger threatens the sharma to whom 
they have bonded.  It is not known how this happens; what is known is 
that, were it not for the shen, the intrigue that you have already 
witnessed would be, perhaps, less complicated, but far more deadly."

"Intrigue?" prompted Daniel.

"Our Houses have always quarreled in some measure," she explained.  "The 
great game of intrigue within each House, between Houses, and from one 
region to another is nearly an art form, it is so complex.  Sharma Kona'a 
and Sharma Nadhesh both attained their seats as a result of conspiracy 
and murder - although, to be sure, Nadhesh was as much a victim as his 
father was."  She sat back, closing her eyes for a moment.

With a shake of her head, Per'ua opened her eyes and continued. "As you 
might guess, in a climate where everyone plots against his neighbor in 
some fashion, having a trustworthy ally, one who can protect you even 
when you are not aware of the threat, is extremely valuable."

"This is where borrowing someone's shen got to be such a big deal, 
right?" asked Jack.

"Just so," said Per'ua.  She held out her hands, balancing an invisible 
scale.  "To ask for one's shen is to... open oneself... to another 
sharma.  He may see through his shen's eyes at any time, and learn of 
your most secret plans - especially if they are a danger to him.  To open 
oneself in this way is an indication of great trust."

"I'm still not sure that you've justified the practice of making children 
into shen," said Janet warily.

"You are correct, Healer Janet," she replied.  "If it were only our 
plotting, the shen would be merely a convenience which we could not 
support.  But there is another reason we keep shen, one which you, 
perhaps, will not believe.

"At one time, very, very long ago, another - another kind of people came 
to Arkona.  Like you, they sought the heavy rock that covers our wild 
lands.  Unlike you, their intentions did not lean toward trade, but 
conquest."  Per'ua chose her words carefully, placing each one with care.  
"According to our histories, these... creatures... could inhabit a person 
- dwell inside them - and direct that person as you or I might direct our 
own hands.  The person survived as a prisoner, helpless inside his or her 
own body."

"You speak of the Goa'uld," said Teal'c, in Arkon.  Per'ua looked at him 
in surprise.

"Just so," she said, her eyes wide.  "You know of these beings?"

"The Goa'uld are our enemies," he replied.  "They once ruled my people as 
gods.  We who sit before you have destroyed many."

"How do the shen have anything to do with the Goa'uld?" asked Sam.

"In this, at least, my answer is simple," said Per'ua.  "The shen could 
tell when their sharma were... overtaken by the Goa'uld.  According to 
some, the bond permitted them to hear their sharma, begging for release.  
There are historical accounts, from trustworthy, reliable sources, mark 
me, of the shen killing their sharma, and collapsing to die themselves - 
yet insisting with their final breath that they had done as their sharma 
had commanded."

"They died... because..."

"Because," said Per'ua, "as I have said, the sharma serves as a shen's 
will.  When a sharma dies, the shen rarely survives for more than a few 
days.  Most often, they die in the same instant as their sharma - they 
feel the moment of death as if it were their own."

The room was completely silent for a long moment.

"I see," said Janet.  The rest of the room turned to look at her.  "If a 
Goa'uld came anywhere near a sharma, the shen would recognize the danger, 
and the Goa'uld would be killed.  If the sharma still had the bad luck to 
be infested, the shen would kill the Goa'uld themselves."  She shrugged.   
"And we all know the Goa'uld would never attempt to pass themselves off 
as anything less than royalty."

"The shen are the perfect defense," said Sam, astonished.

Per'ua nodded.  "Eventually, they gave up their attempts to conquer our 
people.  But we have kept shen ever since, in order to prevent their 
return."

                         *******************

"No offense," said Jack after a moment of stunned silence.  He was 
chewing thoughtfully on the last of the food on the table, some kind of 
sour fruit picked from the fruit trees surrounding the house.  "The 
history here is pretty cool... for pretty much the first time ever..."  
He stopped chewing, and looked directly at Per'ua.  "What does it have to 
do with Daniel?"

The noblewoman acknowledged his question with a dignified nod.  "Sharma 
Shad'aa told you, perhaps, that what he learned from you and the shen 
answered many questions?"

"He did," said Daniel, "but he did not say what his questions were."

"Very well," she replied.  "I shall tell you his questions.  Much of the 
answers center upon the bond between sharma and shen; perhaps you will 
see these answers clearly."  With a gesture, she took the teapot from Sam 
and refilled her cup.  "When it was discovered that you were no longer 
within Shad'aa House, we still believed that Sharma Kona'a had been 
poisoned.  Your disappearance was suspicious to us as, perhaps, you can 
understand."

Daniel translated, and when the others nodded, she continued.  "Sharma 
Jack was the first to note that the shen was missing as well.  It was 
then that we realized she had not reacted in even the smallest way when 
Sharma Kona'a collapsed in the council hall."  She pressed the palms of 
her hand together in front of her.  "If his life were in danger, why did 
the shen not immediately go to her sharma?  Why did she not detect the 
attempt in the moment that it occurred?"

"Is that how you realized that Kona'a was deceiving you?" asked Daniel.

"Not then, no," said Per'ua, "but that was the moment in which we 
realized that not all was as it appeared.  This was significant 
information to us, and I thank Sharma Jack for seeing what our eyes did 
not."

"You're welcome," said Jack.  "Go on."

"As we saw the matter, one of several things might have happened to keep 
the shen away from Sharma Kona'a, though only two were really likely.  
The first was that the bond between Kona'a and his shen was imperfect; 
this is not common, but neither is it impossible.  If that were the case, 
then the shen could not protect her sharma as she should."  She shrugged.  
"The second, of course, was that perhaps Sharma Kona'a were not as ill as 
we believed."

Placing her hands in her lap, she continued.  "Not long after Sharma Jack 
called our attention to this, we discovered that Sharma Kona'a was also 
missing.  Again, there remained two explanations: either Sharma Daniel 
had taken Kona'a away from the city, or Sharma Kona'a had taken Sharma 
Daniel.  Either possibility would explain why the shen could not be 
found."

Per'ua barely paused long enough to allow Daniel to translate before 
continuing.  "When I ordered your rooms to be searched, the evidence 
began to mount against Kona'a, and, of course, once we searched his 
chambers, our suspicions about you vanished.  Kona'a's servants were very 
foolish to attack Sharma Jack."

"Got that right," muttered Jack.  Sam coughed into her hand, and cleared 
her throat.

"Finally, Sharma Daniel, when you were found, it was obvious what Sharma 
Kona'a had done.  He has dishonored himself and his entire House for many 
generations to come," Per'ua said coldly.

"Forgive me, Sharma Per'ua," said Daniel, "but Sharma Shad'aa did not ask 
me any questions about Kona'a's attack on me and Sharma Samantha.  He 
wanted to know who killed Kona'a, since it was not me.  I... am grateful 
for the information you have given us, but -"

"Is it not obvious to you, Sharma Daniel?" asked Per'ua with a smile.  
"Are you still unable to understand?"

"I am sorry, Sharma Per'ua," Daniel began, but she reached out to squeeze 
his hand, and he stopped, confused.

"Sharma Daniel," she said gently.  "As I understand the reports, you were 
unable to defend yourself from Sharma Kona'a.  You could not have killed 
him yourself; you should not have been able to escape.  His shen would 
never have obeyed your commands, would not even have acknowledged that 
you had spoken, if your wishes were in conflict with what Kona'a wanted.  
Further, I have explained to you the nature of the bond between sharma 
and shen.  How then could the shen kill Sharma Kona'a?  How could she aid 
you to escape?"  She looked at everyone in the room before letting go of 
his hands and sitting back again.  "There is only one instance in which 
any shen could possibly have done these things, and live."

Daniel started to repeat Per'ua's words, then stopped as he saw what she 
was getting at.

"Daniel?" asked Sam.

He swallowed.  "Um..."

"Spill," said Jack.

So he translated, frowning in thought, and waited for the realization to 
sink in for everyone else.

"Oh, for crying out loud," said Jack.

"Sir?"

"I can see where this is going, Daniel, and I'm not liking it," he 
snapped.  "And you can tell her so."

"I'm not too thrilled either," said Daniel.  "Sharma Per'ua, are you, 
perhaps, saying that I have... that Pad-sha and I have bonded?"

"The shen told Sharma Shad'aa and Sharma Nadhesh that she did as you 
commanded," replied Per'ua.  "Further, she told them that the command was 
given within her thoughts.  You were, perhaps, unable to speak at that 
moment?"  When Daniel nodded, she went on, "Such a thing is only possible 
between a shen and the sharma to whom he or she has bonded."

"Perhaps this explains the manifestations which you have described, 
Daniel Jackson," suggested Teal'c.

When Daniel translated, adding in a brief description of the strange 
flickers of eyesight, the glimmers of emotion that he thought he had felt 
from Pad-sha, the older woman nodded.

"Just so," said Per'ua.  "It does not surprise me to learn that you have 
done this, especially since your sight is dark, for the time being."  She 
smiled, perfectly calm once more.  "You have bonded with this shen," she 
said.  "Yes.  It explains much."

                         *******************

"Wait," said Sam, holding up one hand tentatively.  "If she was... 
bonded, I guess... to Kona'a, then how is it possible that Daniel could 
bond with her too?"

Per'ua stood slowly, and cast a glance in Pad-sha's direction.  "Sharma 
Daniel will, perhaps, question her," she said, "but I suspect that 
Kona'a's bond with her was imperfect, especially given the mistreatment 
which Healer Fad'ye tells me she has suffered."  The woman frowned.  
"Certainly Kona'a put far more effort into his discipline than was 
necessary."

"The bastard enjoyed it," said Jack.

"Yes, I had believed that he chose to entertain himself in this fashion, 
as well," she replied.  "There is another question, now that I think of 
it: with no one to direct her properly, this shen should have died long 
ago, yet she lives."  She sighed.  "In any case, when Sharma Daniel began 
to command her, and, perhaps, to behave kindly toward her according to 
the customs of your people, the bond shifted to him."

There was silence for a moment, then Daniel cleared his throat.  "You 
have given us much to think about, Sharma Per'ua," he said carefully.  
"If you will permit, I do have one more question."

"Of course," said Per'ua warmly.

"There are, perhaps, consequences to these events which we are not aware 
of?" he asked.  His fingers rubbed nervously along the edge of a welt, 
running along the side of his thigh.

"Ah," said Per'ua.  "Yes.  You have, perhaps, learned that Ta-sharma 
Minu'ua has come to Shad'aa?"

"Is this the woman we saw in the council chamber," asked Teal'c, "wearing 
white and silver?"

Per'ua nodded.  "As ta-sharma, her Seat controls this entire region, and 
several cities besides," she explained.  "Originally, it was her intent 
to arrive in time for the conclusion of our trade discussions; now that 
she is here, she finds herself called to judge the final outcome of 
Kona'a's attack upon the Sharma of the Eye."

Everyone in the room tensed as Daniel translated, and Per'ua held up a 
hand to stop their protests.  "Be at peace," she said quickly.  "You have 
come from the Eye of the Heavens.  She does not rule over your lives; it 
is the law that she cannot impose her will upon you, unless it is to 
demand that you leave Arkona.  As you were clearly not at fault in these 
matters, I do not believe that she will do this.  Besides," she smiled, 
"you propose valuable trade with our people."

Per'ua lowered her hand as SG-1 took in her words.  "She is here to judge 
Kona'a, and to determine what will become of his House and lands."

"And we're involved," said Jack.  "Politics," he muttered under his 
breath.

"You will likely be requested to be present when the Ta-sharma passes 
judgment," she replied thoughtfully.  "I cannot say whether she will 
request more than that of you.  I can, however, promise that you are in 
no danger, regardless of the outcome."

                         *******************

That night, Daniel had difficulty sleeping.  At first, his mind wouldn't 
let him drop off, as he worried over the possibilities and consequences 
of his ordeal: What would this Ta-sharma say to them?  What was the 
fallout from Kona'a's death? Would there still be trade, or would all 
their work have been for nothing?  What would happen to Pad-sha?  And so 
on and so on, until he felt his neck muscles tightening up.

Finally, he managed to drift into a fitful sleep, punctuated by 
disturbing dreams.  He woke several times, the wounds across his body 
throbbing and stinging in cold sweat; in his mind he could hear Kona'a 
laughing at him, or could see through the shen's eyes.  One of the 
highlights of the night was a dream where he was trying to convince Jack 
of something, only to find that he had no voice - and as he'd put his 
hands up to his mouth, he saw they were bound, and Jack turned into 
Kona'a before his eyes while Pad-sha whispered and pled in the 
background.

He woke from that one with a start and glanced around the room.  The 
light coming in from under the door was almost painfully bright for his 
eyes, they were still so sensitive, but he could dimly see the rest of 
the room without any problem.  At least his eyes were beginning to 
recover, true to the healer's word.

With a sigh, Daniel lay back, kicking a little to untangle the sheets 
around his legs.  Echoes of the dream chased themselves through his head, 
and he could feel the tremors of reaction shivering through his body.  
Closing his eyes again, he gave himself over to the sensation, breathing 
into it as best he could.  It had been a couple of days now since the 
attack; he'd begun to wonder when the aftershock would actually set in.

Sometime after his first few missions, Daniel had done research into the 
symptoms that accompanied surviving a traumatic event.  Unlike his 
military colleagues, Daniel saw no reason to subscribe to the "be strong" 
theory of coping with disaster - it wasn't that personal strength was a 
bad thing, just that most people's idea of "strength" involved shutting 
themselves off from their emotions, refusing to acknowledge that they'd 
gone through something horrible, and generally only managing to screw 
themselves up worse.  Daniel knew the odds of a mission going badly, 
sooner or later, and wanted to have his coping skills up to speed before 
a disaster happened.

He'd discovered, to his surprise, that most trauma symptoms could be 
attributed to the body's instinctive attempts to get a handle on all the 
energy that was stirred up in the classic "fight or flight" response.  
With a few simple exercises, and a willingness to let oneself "freak out" 
for a bit, the massive energy stirred up could be gently released - which 
meant that, even beyond simply managing the symptoms, it was actually 
possible to fully heal trauma, just by letting those instincts guide the 
process.

If Daniel was truly more resilient than his teammates, it was only 
because he'd trained himself to be.

So he lay in bed now, shivering gently, breathing deeply, sweating the 
fear out of his system, replaying the dream in his head.   There were 
other exercises that would have to wait until he got home - letting 
himself scream, for example, physically giving in to the impulses to 
fight and struggle - but for now he did what he could, and just let the 
reaction wash over him without trying to fix it or suppress it.   As he 
shook, he felt muscles loosen that he hadn't even realized were tight; 
felt warmth suffuse him, filling him to his fingertips.

Gradually the shivering subsided; Daniel relaxed, breathing deeply, and 
realized he was thirsty.  As he sat up, thinking to get a drink before 
going back to sleep, the door to his room opened; the sudden flare of 
light made him turn his head away, throwing one arm up to shield his 
eyes.  "Who is it?" he asked, his voice still husky from sleep.

"Didn't mean to wake you," said Jack.  "I thought I heard something."

"It's okay," he answered.  "I was up already."

"Bad dreams?"

Daniel pushed himself up, yawning.  "No surprise, considering.  They're 
gone now, though."

"Yeah."  Jack sat on the edge of the bed.  "Want to talk about it?"

He shrugged.  "I'm good."  Jack looked at him doubtfully, then did a 
double-take.

"Your eyes are open."

Daniel smiled tiredly.  "Yeah."

"They hurt?"

He shook his head.  "No - well, not until the door opened.  The light..."

"Still pretty sensitive then," Jack nodded his understanding.  "You, uh, 
you sure you're okay?"

Daniel nodded again.  "Mostly.  I'm working through it."  He tilted his 
head thoughtfully for a moment.  "I'm more worried about Pad-sha right 
now, to be honest."

Jack snorted.  "You would be."

"Well, think about it."  Daniel leaned back onto his elbows.  
"Apparently, without a sharma, she loses the will to live.  I can't... 
I'd take her back to the SGC to, to recover from her abuse... if I 
thought it would help.  But I can't, I won't -"

"Keeping her around as a slave doesn't cut it," Jack summed up, "and you 
don't know how to free her without killing her."

Daniel sighed.  "And it's impossible to keep her and somehow pretend she 
isn't really a slave," he finished.  "Even if I never... commanded her," 
he wrinkled his nose, "she'd still need, literally need to serve me.  
Serve someone."  He rubbed his fingers across the bridge of his nose, 
feeling the still-tender burns there.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Jack stood and stretched.  
"We'll figure out something," he said.  "Better we do it on a full 
night's rest."

"You're probably right," said Daniel, sliding out from under the covers. 

Jack was at his side, supporting him as he tried to balance.  "Need 
help?"

"Just let me get something to drink," he replied, flexing his calf 
muscles carefully.  "Could you dim the light out there?"

Daniel puttered for a few minutes in the semi-darkness, sipping juice, 
going to the bathroom, splashing his face with water.  He was on his way 
back to bed when a low keening made the hairs on the back of his neck 
stand up.  His link to Pad-sha trembled; he could feel dread, guilt, 
shame, fear rippling in his mind.  Over it all was a kind of haze of 
grief, coloring everything else he could feel.

"Pad-sha?"  Jack poked his head back out of his room, as Daniel shuffled 
around the back of the couch to where she lay.  "Pad-sha, ker'sa bven?"  
She moaned again, a soft wail that cut his heart to hear, coupled as it 
was with the intensity of emotions washing over them both.

He knelt gingerly beside her; she was deeply asleep, but in the dim light 
he could see tears glinting on her face.  "...ama...," she murmured, 
"ama... dor'yi amadi... tserdi'e bven, tserdi'e bven... dor'yi amadi..."

"Daniel?"  Jack stood over them both, his voice soft.

"She said," he swallowed, "she said she wants her mother."  He brushed 
the hair off her forehead as gently as he could.  "I'll be good, I'll be 
good; I want my mother."  Daniel looked up at Jack, his eyes wretched.  
"She's not even supposed to remember her childhood."

"Jesus," said Jack, as the shen tossed in her sleep.  He nudged Daniel 
out of the way and got down on the floor himself.  "Here.  Let me."  
Without another word, he gathered the young woman up into his arms, and 
started rocking her back and forth.

"Jack?"

"You can't help her, Daniel," he said, his voice low but harsh.  "If you 
do it, it'll only make the bond worse for both of you."

Reluctantly, Daniel pushed himself to his feet and folded his arms 
tightly, his earlier relaxation gone.  Jack was right, and they both knew 
it.

                         *******************

SG-1 waited for two more days while the trial continued.  Daniel 
recovered from his injuries, to the point that he could see indoors as 
long as he kept his sunglasses on, and could move around without hissing 
in pain, much.  He still wore the long gown-things that Shad'aa's people 
provided, but Hammond had ordered Fraiser back to base, and she had left 
without more than a token protest.  Daniel was going to be fine.  It was 
Jack's studied opinion that Daniel would get to "fine" a lot faster if he 
weren't so worried about, well, everything.

Carter bounced back from her ordeal much better; in fact, by the morning 
after Pad-sha started having nightmares, she was going on short trips 
outside the city, collecting soil samples with her local guide, and 
working her laptop in the evenings like her life might depend on the 
thoroughness of her reports.

Teal'c kept doing what he did best, watching over the science twins and 
not letting them see it when he was concerned for them.  He let Jack see, 
though, in that subtle way he had; when he wasn't following Major Carter 
everywhere, no matter how boring the expedition, he was standing guard 
over Daniel.  Hovering, even.  This should have annoyed Daniel, but he 
was too wrapped up in his own worries to even notice.

Which in turn worried Teal'c, and Jack couldn't blame him.  Daniel was 
bonded to Pad-sha, and Pad-sha was quietly falling apart.

By night, the girl had nightmares where she remembered things Daniel 
insisted were supposed to have been brainwashed out of her head when she 
was still a child (and didn't *that* set Jack's teeth on edge).  By day, 
she followed commands when Daniel gave them to her, but that was about 
it.  Instead of padding around after him wherever he went, she was more 
likely to find an out-of-the-way corner to sit in and huddle into a 
little ball.  Or she'd stand there with her eyes on the floor and a 
haunted expression on her face (if you were lucky enough to see her face 
at all), and flinch if anyone came near her.  Jack caught her staring 
into space and shivering more than once.

It was hell on Daniel, Jack could tell.  It wasn't enough that the 
potential outcomes of the trial gnawed at him; the possibility that they 
would find themselves in a hostile situation, twelve miles from the Gate 
and trapped in the heart of an entire city full of enemies, had him 
climbing the walls.  It wasn't enough that the guilt-trip he was laying 
on himself for getting himself wounded could have shaved a few decades 
off of his afterlife in Purgatory - assuming he still had any time left 
on his account.   No, to top it off, Daniel apparently got to feel every 
detail of whatever Pad-sha was going through.  Jack had caught him 
staring into space and shivering, too.

In an unpleasant change of pace, Daniel spent more time by himself than 
he did talking to anyone, about anything.  He didn't work; he had no 
reports to complete, and no treaties to translate.  He didn't write more 
than a few lines in his journal at a time, before looking over his 
shoulder to wherever Pad-sha was hiding and chewing on his lip.  Mostly, 
he sat at the table and fidgeted with his pen, or else hung out on the 
balcony outside their suite, staring down into the trees.

"Daniel," Jack would start, trying to get him to open up.

"Not now, Jack," he'd say, flicking his eyes away.  "Sorry."  And that 
would be the end of it.

The colonel had a suspicion that Carter was diving into her work because, 
as usual, she couldn't handle what she couldn't quantify, and had no idea 
what to do about the freaky emotional stuff Daniel and Pad-sha were 
suffering together.

"Daniel, what if she's so nervous because you're nervous, about the 
trial?  What if -"

"It's not that.  I'd be able to tell if it were."

"How can you be -"

"I'm sure, Sam."  And that would be the end of that conversation, too.

Daniel ate; he made sure that the shen ate.  He looked after himself, and 
made sure that she did the same.  But that was about all he did. Jack 
doubted he was sleeping, even.  Certainly the girl wasn't.

For two days.

Some missions, the fun just never stopped, you know?

It was with considerable relief, then, that Jack answered the door on the 
third morning to find a servant dressed in the red-and-gold of House 
Shad'aa waiting for him.  Jack had seen him around, once or twice; it 
usually looked like he was directing things in some capacity or other.

"Ne hreidi, Sharma Jack," said the guy.  He bowed and came up again.  
"Sharma-ko, veshi merkhe-jia?"  Jack looked back over his shoulder into 
the room.

"He wishes to come inside, O'Neill," said Teal'c.  Hovering again while 
Daniel pretended to write in his journal.

"Yeah, sure," said Jack.  He stepped back; the servant took three steps 
into their suite, paused, and then started gabbling something.  Not that 
Jack could make out a word of it, but there was something about the way 
the guy spoke, with a measured sort of cadence, that made Jack think he'd 
memorized whatever he was saying.  Announcing something.

He'd certainly caught Daniel's attention: he sat up, gabbled something 
back, and as the servant bowed and responded, he flipped his journal 
closed and began to get up.  He said a few more things; the servant bowed 
again, and answered him.  Pad-sha even came out of her corner and 
spirited Daniel's things into his bedroom, then came back to stand behind 
him and to one side like he'd watched the other nobles' pet slaves doing 
all week long.

"Daniel?"

The servant bowed at them again - lot of bowing going on - as Daniel 
looked up at him and Teal'c.

"The trial is over," he said.  "We're being asked to come join the rest 
of the sharma, and hear Ta-sharma Minu'ua's decision."  He glanced down 
at his feet, muttering, "I need shoes."

Jack took a deep breath.  "So this is it?"

Daniel looked up again, and Jack finally saw what he'd been hoping for; 
his friend's face was still tired-looking and pale, but he seemed to 
finally be coming back from whatever dark place his thoughts had taken 
him for the past few days.  He pushed his sunglasses up on his nose, and 
nodded.

"This is it."

                         *******************

The six of them made a colorful procession along the boardwalk toward the 
meeting hall; Teal'c and the colonel each wore a fresh set of olive BDUs, 
slipping back into their official role as bodyguards for Carter and 
Daniel on this mission.  The major looked smart in her dress blues; their 
guide, of course, wore red and gold.  Daniel, however, was still wearing 
white: he'd been requested to stay in the gown-like bvidir, with the shen 
dressed to match.

"It's ceremonial, I suppose," explained Daniel.  "This is a court, after 
all."  He rubbed carefully at his eyes and adjusted his glasses.  "We 
look unorthodox enough compared to the other sharma; maybe this is just a 
compromise, a concession to their etiquette."

Sam piped up, "Or it could be that you're expected to dress like a noble, 
since you're bonded to a shen."

Daniel looked uncomfortable until Jack said, "As long as you're not all 
dressed up for ritual sacrifice or anything."  The look of disgust Jack 
got in return was exactly the reward he'd been hoping for.

Once they were out on the boardwalk, they didn't waste any time heading 
to the central meeting hall where the other sharma were gathered.  
Shad'aa's servant talked to Daniel the entire way, his voice low but 
urgent, giving a crash course in the special etiquette demanded by the 
occasion.  Daniel relayed the bits that were pertinent to the team as 
they walked; as they rounded a corner, he frowned and paused.

"You're not going to like this," he warned.

"What is it?" asked Sam.  The colonel and Teal'c exchanged a look between 
them.  

"Well, Desh'ye just told me that I shouldn't translate for you while the 
proceedings are... proceeding," said Daniel, indicating the servant with 
a gesture.  "Apparently, it would make the Ta-sharma look bad if someone 
needed to repeat everything she said."

"Which you *do*," Jack said, his eyes narrowing.

"Which I *will*," Daniel replied in the same tone, "once the ceremony is 
over, or if it's an emergency and you have to know what's going on right 
then."

They stopped outside the doors and waited while Desh'ye looked them over, 
adjusted Daniel's collar, and straightened his own tunic.  "From the 
sound of it, none of us is really expected to say much, anyway; this is 
the formal end of the trial where we hear the Ta-sharma's verdict, so 
nobody needs to testify or anything like that.  All you have to do is, 
um," he smiled nervously, "follow my lead."

The little group arranged themselves as Desh'ye indicated, and Daniel 
pressed his palms against his stomach to dry them.  With a deep breath, 
he nodded, and the servant opened the door into the meeting hall.

For the most part, the room looked unchanged from the past several days, 
when he and Sam had used it to conduct trade negotiations with the other 
sharma.  The first big difference, that Daniel could see, was that each 
of the nobles now had almost their entire retinue seated with them, 
crowding around the ring of low seats and spilling back toward the walls 
of the chamber.  The effect reminded Daniel of a garden filled with beds 
of gold, red, white, and green planted right next to one another, making 
shimmering islands of color against the pale backdrop of the walls.  Only 
Kona'a's blue and silver was absent, and it looked as though that were 
deliberate: the only empty seats were Daniel and Sam's usual spots, 
toward which Desh'ye led them.

The other difference was that there was now a "high" seat - insofar as it 
was raised a few inches above the others - at the opposite end of the 
room from the main doorway.  If Daniel hadn't been experienced in looking 
for such things, he might have missed the way the lights had been 
rearranged to brighten as they approached that end of the room, focusing 
the eye on the personage who sat there.  It was a clever trick, and 
subtle.

It was also unnecessary: Daniel was certain that the woman seated on 
those cushions would have caught the attention of her audience in any 
setting.  Her colors were white and silver, which contrasted sharply with 
the rich jewel tones worn by the sharma around her; the embroidery on her 
robes sparkled brilliantly as she reached for her drink.  Her face was 
finely boned, with only the barest hint of lines at her eyes and the 
corners of her mouth, and her skin was so pale that it almost seemed to 
match the cream of the bvidir at her throat.  Even her hair was nearly 
white, that rare shade of blonde that most children outgrew before they 
were old enough to go to school.  She wore it swept back into a knot on 
the nape of her neck, topped with a silver circlet that carried a single 
white jewel, set to hang down onto her forehead.

The only color in all that whiteness were her eyes, a startlingly vivid 
Nordic blue, which only served to emphasize Daniel's first impression: a 
reminder of ice - not forbidding, necessarily, more like the mountains in 
Colorado on a sunny day.
 
This was Ta-sharma Minu'ua.

She nodded to a waiting servant, and Daniel blinked and stepped closer to 
his seat, painfully aware that he'd been staring at her for who knew how 
long.  Sam's eyebrows were raised as she sat, and he heard Jack behind 
him muttering "wow", so at least he hadn't been the only one.

As he'd been instructed, he remained standing; this was another small 
concession, but one commonly granted out of respect for one's injuries.  
Pad-sha brought him a cup filled with the ubiquitous hot tea, and knelt 
beside him on the floor as he sipped.  It was strange, after the past two 
days of turmoil, that once Desh'ye had summoned them to the trial, Daniel 
hadn't felt anything from her.   With luck, he might be able to ask 
Per'ua about her once the ceremony was over.

Sharma Shad'aa stepped into the center of the room and waited, his hands 
folded before him; one by one, the other sharma brought their hushed 
conversations to a close.  When the room was silent, he bowed to the ta-
sharma, who nodded in return, opening the ceremony.

                         *******************

"Is everyone present?" Minu'ua's voice was lower than he'd expected, and 
surprised him with its rich warmth, juxtaposed with her, well, icy 
appearance.  Daniel guessed that the contrast was deliberate: she had 
probably spent her life speaking for audiences, and had trained 
accordingly.

Shad'aa bowed, and turned toward the assembled sharma. "Everyone is 
present, Ta-sharma."

"Who is the accused?" asked Minu'ua.

Shad'aa turned in place, making a show of searching the room.  "The 
accused is Sharma Kona'a, but he is not present," he said.

"Who speaks for the accused?"

Sharma Per'ua stood.  She bowed to Shad'aa, and then to Minu'ua, 
following the ritual as Desh'ye had explained it to him.

"Who is the victim?" asked Minu'ua.

Again, Shad'aa turned in place, stopping when he faced Daniel.  "The 
victim is Daniel, from the Eye of the Heavens, but he is foreign," he 
replied.

"Who speaks for the victim?"

Sharma Nadhesh stood, surprising Daniel.  He bowed to Shad'aa, and then 
to the ta-sharma, before glancing nervously at SG-1.  Daniel thought he 
saw the briefest of smiles flicker across Nadhesh's face.

"Are there others who must face this court and receive my judgment?" 
asked Minu'ua.

For the third time, Shad'aa turned in place, this time making eye contact 
with every noble in the now-silent hall.  "There are no others, Ta-
sharma," he said.

Minu'ua nodded to him, and Shad'aa bowed deeply and took three steps 
backward.  Recognizing his cue, Daniel stepped into the center of the 
hall, Pad-sha close behind him.  He and Nadhesh stood on one side of 
Sharma Shad'aa, and Per'ua took the other side.  As one, they bowed to 
Ta-sharma Minu'ua, Daniel trying not to wince, while the shen dropped to 
her knees and touched her forehead to the floor.  Daniel felt a tremor 
along their bond, something like barely contained tension; with an effort 
he managed to keep his eyes on Minu'ua as she spoke.

"Hear, then, my review of this case," intoned Minu'ua.  "Sharma Nadhesh, 
you have spoken on behalf of Daniel from the Eye of the Heavens.  You 
have told us of his proposal for trade between his world and ours; you 
have told us of his respectful behavior toward all the sharma assembled; 
you have told us of his reluctance to keep shen-er, because it is against 
the customs of his world.  Do you now swear that your testimony is 
correct?"

"I swear it, Ta-sharma," said Nadhesh.

"Sharma Per'ua," continued Minu'ua, "you have spoken on behalf of Sharma 
Kona'a, who is now dead.  You have told us of his concerns regarding 
trade between the Circle of Minu'ua and one who is not part of that 
Circle; you have told us of his reluctance to trust blindly the word of 
one who is not noble, and who does not know the customs of our world; you 
have told us of his obedience in providing his shen to serve Daniel 
during his visit.  Do you now swear that your testimony is correct?"

"I swear it, Ta-sharma," said Per'ua.  Daniel felt another flicker, this 
time of fear, from Pad-sha; he sent her reassurance as best he could, in 
spite of his own nerves.

The ta-sharma went on. "Sharma Nadhesh, you have presented evidence that 
Sharma Kona'a arranged to feign an attack on his person, and to implicate 
Daniel in that attack; you have presented evidence that Kona'a took 
Daniel hostage, attacking one of his companions in the process; you have 
presented evidence that Kona'a sought to delay pursuit by disrupting the 
city of Shad'aa.  Do you now swear that your testimony is correct?"

"I swear it upon my honor, Ta-sharma," said Nadhesh.

"Sharma Per'ua, you have told us that Sharma Kona'a believed his shen was 
stolen from him by Daniel; you have presented evidence that Daniel 
disrupted the bond between Kona'a and his shen; you have told us of his 
belief that trade with Daniel represented a dishonor to the Circle of 
Minu'ua, which he sought to correct.  Do you now swear that your 
testimony is correct?"

"I swear it upon my honor, Ta-sharma," said Per'ua.  Daniel swallowed.

Minu'ua looked at Nadhesh for a moment, her gaze unreadable, before 
continuing.  "Sharma Nadhesh, you have presented evidence that Kona'a did 
inflict injury upon the person of Daniel; you have presented evidence 
that Kona'a used excessive measures to discipline his shen; you have told 
us that the bond between Daniel and this same shen is true; you have 
presented evidence that Daniel and his companions have acted honorably, 
though perhaps passionately, during their entire visit." To Daniel's 
astonishment, Minu'ua favored him with a brief smile before adding, "You 
have also presented evidence that this shen acted to defend Daniel when 
he could not defend himself.  Do you now swear that your testimony is 
correct?"

Nadhesh stood very tall.  "I swear it upon the honor of my House, Ta-
sharma," he replied softly.  Daniel could feel Pad-sha tremble where she 
knelt.

"Sharma Per'ua," said Minu'ua once more, "you have presented evidence 
that Sharma Kona'a was killed with his own knife; you have told us that 
he was killed by the hand of his own shen, whose bond was transferred to 
Daniel.  Do you now swear that your testimony is correct?"

"I swear it," said Per'ua, "upon the honor of my House, Ta-sharma."

Minu'ua nodded, and the three of them bowed in response.  The Ta-sharma 
stood, and Daniel watched out of the corner of his eye as every noble 
seated around the ring of cushions bowed to her.

"Hear, then, my judgment," she said.  "I do judge that Sharma Kona'a 
attempted to exercise justice upon Daniel, without lawful cause or right 
to do so, using dishonorable methods.  Kona'a attempted to deceive the 
Circle of Minu'ua, and desired to prevent trade between the Circle and 
Daniel of the Eye of the Heavens, through dishonorable means.  Kona'a 
compounded his actions by attempting to punish Daniel for following the 
customs of our people and accepting the use of his shen.   I further 
judge that the bond between Kona'a and his shen was flawed, causing a 
true bond to be created between that shen and Daniel of the Eye of the 
Heavens.  Finally, I judge that in no instance did Daniel give Kona'a 
just cause to perform any of the actions described in this case."  She 
looked once around the room, then said to Shad'aa, "Are there any here 
who dispute this judgment?"

Shad'aa stepped forward and, as he had done at the beginning of the 
trial, turned slowly in place, making eye contact with each sharma in 
turn.  From Daniel's point of view, one or two of the nobles frowned, but 
none gave any other signal that he could see.

"There are none, Ta-sharma," said Shad'aa.

"Then upon Sharma Kona'a I pass the following sentence," said Minu'ua.  
"I do proclaim and command on this day that, for his actions, Kona'a 
shall be cast from the Circle of Minu'ua.  He is to be stripped of the 
title of Sharma, and his dishonor to be declared in the most public place 
of every city within the Circle."  Daniel heard a sigh around the room.

"I further command that House Kona'a be broken; all properties held by 
House Kona'a revert as of this moment to House Minu'ua.  House Kona'a 
shall remain broken for not less than three generations of his line, and 
not more than six."  At this, Daniel was certain he heard at least a few 
gasps of shock; he would have to ask someone to explain the sentence to 
him, once everything was over.

"Upon Daniel of the Eye of the Heavens, I grant the following award," 
continued Minu'ua, making Daniel blink in surprise.  "I do proclaim and 
command on this day that, by his actions in offering trade, and by proof 
through his true bond with a shen, Daniel shall be granted the title of 
Sharma, and offered membership within the Circle of Minu'ua."

Daniel couldn't quite tell if the stunned feeling rolling through him was 
his own, or if it came from Pad-sha.  Not that it mattered; Minu'ua 
wasn't finished.

"I further command that, in recompense for the harm he has suffered, 
Sharma Daniel and his House shall be awarded the cities of Redstone, 
Bridge, Three Peaks, and Kona'a, which shall be renamed after Daniel's 
House, with all their surrounding lands, properties, and military forces; 
these cities currently held by House Minu'ua are as of this moment the 
property of House Daniel to govern personally, or through the offices of 
stewardship, as he sees fit."

Daniel's jaw dropped.   Beside him, he heard Nadhesh make a little squawk 
of stunned surprise; it was sheer luck that Daniel hadn't done it first.  
The room was filled with soft exclamations and murmurings, until Minu'ua 
held up her hand.

"As I have commanded these sentences, so let them be carried out."

Daniel barely remembered to bow along with the other sharma, and hardly 
heard Shad'aa's voice announcing, "So closes this court of the Circle of 
Minu'ua," over the erupting shouts around the room, and the cheers of 
Per'ua and Nadhesh, standing by his side.

                         *******************

"You were *what*?"

"Ennobled!  Daniel, are you serious?"

"You were WHAT?"

With the trial over, all the nobles and their attendants in the meeting 
hall had made a sort of mass exodus toward the outer courtyard of Shad'aa 
House, where an impromptu celebration was in the process of unfolding - 
at any rate, Sharma Shad'aa had seen fit to add musicians and 
refreshments to the chaos of mingling nobility, servants, guards, and 
Daniel's incredulous teammates.  Of the three of them, only Teal'c seemed 
able to stay calm about the whole thing.

"All right, Daniel, spill."

Daniel shrugged and adjusted the long blue-and-silver vest that one of 
Per'ua's people had brought him to wear over his bvidir, resisting the 
temptation to take the thing off and hide it under a bush somewhere.  The 
rest of the sharma might have thought of it as poetic justice, but Daniel 
simply couldn't bring himself to feel comfortable wearing Kona'a's 
colors.

"From what I've been able to gather," he said carefully, "this is the 
most logical thing they could do.  Kona'a was apparently prejudiced 
against trade with Earth from the start, not just because we were 
foreigners, but because we weren't noble.  Even with everything that he, 
uh, did, he had enough influence with the other sharma to make them 
question whether trading with us was a good idea."

"And now that you're a noble, the problem is solved," finished Sam.  She 
looked at him tentatively, and he shrugged again and nodded.

"I don't like it," frowned Jack.  "Making you a noble drags you into 
their politics, and that makes you a target.  You said a couple days ago 
that they keep their little brainwashed slaves around to help guard 
against assassination." His eyebrows went up on the word.  "Am I right?"

"I'll need to check on a few things, but I think there might actually be 
a way to get out of that," replied Daniel.  "The judgment was that I 
could rule these cities myself, or appoint a... something like a regent, 
no, a steward... a steward to run things in my place."

"Cities," groused Jack.  "Plural?"  When Daniel nodded, he made a sour 
face and looked away.

"Wait a minute," said Sam.  "If you're part of their council now, do we 
still even need to negotiate for the naquada?  I mean, couldn't you just 
order whatever's in your territory to be delivered to us?"

"Don't even go there, Carter," warned the colonel.  "Can you even *say* 
'can o' worms'?"

"Jack's right," said Daniel.  A servant came up to them with a tray full 
of steaming cups of tea; when everyone had one, he continued, "Per'ua has 
given me the very basics, but in essence, the Circle of Minu'ua is a 
trade alliance, between all of its members.   Everyone trades with 
everyone else, as much as it's feasible.  In other words, if the SGC 
wants to trade for naquada, they have to get the agreement of everyone in 
the Circle - which is what we were trying for, anyway, when we set up the 
treaty."  He blew on his tea, sipped, and swallowed.

"It's complicated, but what I think it boils down to is that, since 
resources here are pretty hard to come by, 'trade' equals 'power'.   
Obviously, it makes it easier that my 'House' is included in the Circle 
now, but it still would be really bad form to try and set up some sort of 
exclusive deal between my cities and the SGC."  Daniel found a convenient 
bench near the lily pond and sat.  "From what people have hinted at, the 
worst of the political intrigues occur when lower-ranking nobles are 
trying to get into the Circle, or when people who are part of the Circle 
try to undercut their alliance partners in some way."  He shook his head, 
and finished, "It'd be seen as some kind of power-play. We wouldn't be 
asking for trouble, we'd be begging for it."

Sam thought that over; Daniel drank his tea and tried not to brood.  Jack 
sat down next to him on the bench and tossed a pebble into the pond.  
"You sure you can get someone else to rule your cities for you, without 
making an even bigger mess?"

"I think so," he said.  "At least, I know who I want to ask."

"How many cities did you actually get, anyway?"

"Four."  Daniel ducked his head towards his mug, looking distinctly 
uncomfortable.

"*Four*?"  Jack started to glare, then changed his mind and smirked 
instead. "The geek who would be king."

Behind the sunglasses, one eyebrow went up.  "That's 'Sharma Daniel' to 
you, mister," was all he said, but Jack didn't miss the beginning of an 
extremely satisfied smile on his friend's face.  Jack chuckled, and 
reached up to lay a hand on the blue- and silver-clad shoulder - 
carefully; Daniel still wasn't completely healed.
 
"You know, in case you haven't figured it out yet - you did good.  Really 
good."

To his surprise, Daniel only shrugged again.  "Mostly I got lucky; they 
just felt like being nice to us -"

"Because you got them on your side *before* everything hit the fan," 
insisted Jack. 

"And even if I did, that still doesn't help us figure out what to do with 
Pad-sha," said Daniel.  He took a breath, and looked like he was about to 
say something else for a moment; then he let it out in a long sigh, and 
shook his head.

"Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c.  As one, the two men looked up to see the 
Ta-sharma and her entourage coming toward them.  Daniel stood quickly; 
Jack was a heartbeat slower.

"Is it just me," murmured Jack, "or does she look like an ice queen to 
you too?"

Daniel elbowed him, as discreetly as possible.

                         *******************

"I greet you, Sharma Daniel," said Minu'ua.   With one gesture, she 
caused a servant to deliver her a mug of tea; with another, she dismissed 
her attendants to a discreet distance.  "Would you, perhaps, give my 
greetings to your friends, as well?"

"I greet you, Ta-sharma," said Daniel.  He bowed, carefully, and was 
rewarded with a smile that made Minu'ua even more strikingly beautiful, 
as she looked up at him.  Daniel was surprised to see that she wasn't 
much taller than Dr. Frasier.  "It is an honor to speak with you."

To his surprise, she shook her head.  "I have heard much about you, these 
past few days, Sharma Daniel; it is I who have looked forward to speaking 
with you."  She sipped at her tea, and added, "Sharma Per'ua has assured 
me that meeting you would make the long journey to Shad'aa worthwhile."

Daniel translated, fighting not to blush; then he lost the battle, as 
Jack nodded politely to her, his face completely neutral, and said, 
"Daniel, you dog."

"Jack," Daniel warned, showing teeth.  Behind them, he heard Sam cough, 
and Teal'c offer to refill her mug.

"What is it with you and princesses, anyway?" Jack pressed.

"I don't know," said Daniel mildly.  "I can ask her for you, if you'd 
like."

"You wouldn't."  Suddenly, Jack was looking a little flushed, himself.  
"I said, you wouldn't."

Daniel just smiled.

"Sharma Daniel?"

"Forgive me, Ta-sharma; my friend Sharma Jack was just saying that your 
beauty had made our journey worthwhile for him."  She raised one delicate 
eyebrow and laughed, while Jack turned even redder and began to fidget.

"I very much doubt that he truly said that, Sharma Daniel, but it is good 
of you to say so."  She looked at him, barely hiding a twinkle in her 
eye, and in that moment they understood each other.  Daniel felt himself 
relax, and smiled back.

"Ta-sharma Minu'ua is kind," said Daniel, and the two of them bowed to 
one another.  Beside him, Jack cleared his throat once.

"Uh, Daniel?"

"Not telling," he said, with just a hint of singsong.  Behind them, Sam 
choked again.  "Be a good servant and bring us some snacks, won't you?"  
Still smiling, he held Jack's gaze; when Jack started to put on his 
"stubborn" face, Daniel showed a few more teeth and blinked at him.  "Or 
do you want to look bad in front of my date for the evening?"

Jack bailed, and took Pad-sha with him.

Minu'ua held her breath until he was out of earshot before bursting into 
laughter.  "I would love," she said as she calmed down, "to hear what was 
truly said between you, Sharma Daniel, but I am certain that it is better 
if I do not."  She glanced at Jack as he disappeared into the crowd, and 
chuckled again.  "He is, perhaps, a difficult friend, but true?"

Daniel couldn't help the weary smile that appeared.  "He is my most 
difficult friend," he replied with a nod.  "And my most true."

"Ah, but we are rude not to include your other friends in our 
conversation," said Minu'ua.  "Please, share with them our words.  Shall 
we sit?"  She moved closer to the lily pond and found a second bench for 
herself, while Daniel brought Carter and Teal'c in on the joke.

When they all had had their laugh, Minu'ua leaned forward a little.  "I 
had wished to offer Sharma Daniel and his friends from the Eye my 
admiration, for your skill in surviving a very difficult situation."  Her 
expression sobered as she added, "I would also offer my apologies to you 
all; you will, perhaps, forgive us for being deceived by Kona'a?"

Daniel cleared his throat to translate, but it was Teal'c who said, "It 
is not needed.  Ta-sharma Minu'ua has done us no wrong."  As Minu'ua 
looked at him in surprise, he inclined his head to her, and added 
haltingly, "We meet enemies when we walk through the Eye.  Kona'a is not 
our first enemy, and not our most strong.  We learn at each enemy, and we 
know Kona'a does not speak the same words as Sharma Shad'aa, Sharma 
Per'ua, Sharma Nadhesh, and Ta-sharma Minu'ua."

After a moment, Minu'ua bowed to him.  "Sharma Teal'c is wise, and 
generous.  I am grateful."  She looked at the three of them appraisingly, 
and smiled. "I think I envy Sharma Daniel his choice of friends."

Sam blushed, and shared a look with Daniel as she touched his hand.

"But come," Minu'ua went on, "I wished also to learn of your people and 
customs, if, perhaps, you would share.  Is it true that you do not keep 
shen-er on your world?"

"Our histories tell us of different cultures on our world that used to 
keep slaves," said Daniel, "including our own.  But the keeping of slaves 
was forbidden several generations ago.  To be most truthful, some of our 
cultures are still recovering from the wounds that were done to their 
ancestors."

"Wounds?" said Minu'ua.  "Do you mean, perhaps, the harm caused by being 
kept?"

Daniel considered for a moment.  "Yes, Ta-sharma," he said, "but also the 
harm caused by keeping.  We have learned - we are still learning - that 
it is not any person's natural thought to deny another person's humanity, 
to deny their dignity.  We must be taught this, and also taught that it 
is acceptable... and learning such a lesson changes us into something 
less than we deserve to be."

He caught himself, self-consciously aware that he had begun to lecture 
the highest-ranking noble that he had met on this planet.  He looked 
down, adjusting his sunglasses.  "Ta-sharma Minu'ua will, perhaps, 
forgive my tone?  My friends and I fight an enemy who would make slaves 
of our entire world, if they could.  We have met, and loved, many who 
were once slaves themselves.  You can, perhaps, imagine that this worry 
is often in our thoughts."

Minu'ua nodded, and kept silent while Daniel translated for Sam and 
Teal'c.  As he was speaking, he noticed Jack weaving his way through the 
crowd with a tray full of food held up high.  Behind him, Pad-sha was 
shuffling with a pitcher of something, her eyes downcast.  She looked so 
lost and small to Daniel.
 
"I do understand, Sharma Daniel," said Minu'ua quietly.  "Per'ua tells me 
that she has taught you some of our history - the reasons that we keep 
shen in addition to other shen-er."

"Yes," said Daniel.

"Perhaps, after we have concluded the negotiations for trade with your 
world - perhaps you would share some of your history with us?"  Minu'ua 
sighed.   "It would interest me to see what we might learn."

"I would like that," said Daniel.

"And your shen?" she asked, then smiled tentatively.  "This would be a 
rude question if you were from our world:  What will you do with her?"

He frowned, and echoed her sigh.  "I have given it thought, these past 
few days, Ta-sharma," he said.  "And, in truth, I do not know.  Nothing I 
consider seems to be without harm to her, or our customs."

Minu'ua nodded; instead of answering, however, she smiled at Jack and 
stood, collecting a handful of hors d'oeuvres from the tray he offered 
her, while Daniel caught his team up on the conversation so far.  The 
five of them shared out the food, talking about nothing important, and he 
absently registered it as Minu'ua gestured for Pad-sha to refill her mug.

And then, for Daniel, the world stopped.

                         *******************

Out of nowhere, Daniel's bond with the shen filled his mind; an 
unbelievable torrent of anger, fear, despair, and grief flooded through 
him, along with other emotions that he was no longer capable of 
identifying.  He turned his head, with infinite slowness, to look at Pad-
sha as she stood trembling before Minu'ua, her knuckles white on the 
pitcher she held; there was a rushing sound, a kind of white noise, 
overwhelming everything else around him so that it was as if he stood 
alone in the center of a tempest.

Somewhere far, far away, somewhere beyond the noise and the emotion, he 
thought he heard Sam say, "Daniel?" at the same time that Minu'ua 
frowned; he saw her lips move, shaping the word "shen" as she frowned, 
but no sound reached him.

He could feel two heartbeats inside him now; one he knew to be his, a 
living fist beating its rhythm lightly against his ribs, and the other, 
faster, moving in and out of sync with him, was Pad-sha's.  The pattern 
as the two beats came together, then broke apart again, distracted him 
for some unknown interval, and he blinked... when his eyes opened again, 
an eternity later, he had taken a step closer to her, unaware of when 
he'd first stood up.  He felt, dimly, as if he was floating.

He exhaled, the sound and feel of it adding to the rush in his mind; 
incredibly, Minu'ua only seemed mildly impatient - how could she be 
unaware of the maelstrom spinning around her? Slowly, so slowly, her 
mouth moved again; "Shen, come here," she said.

The tempest grew; there was nothing else.  The world had stopped, and now 
it fell away, sound and light dimming in the face of the emotions 
flooding through Daniel and sweeping him up in their currents.  
Somewhere, a hand touched his shoulder; somewhere else, two heartbeats 
came together; they beat once, twice, in unison, and Daniel felt 
something snap in his mind.

Pad-sha's hands opened, and so did his.  The pitcher she had held hung in 
the air, a few drops on its rim shimmering in the sun, before 
deliberately, gracefully, beginning to fall.  Daniel felt the texture of 
his mug as it slipped, equally slowly, across his fingertips.

He inhaled; so did Pad-sha...

and, as the pitcher struck the stones...

as the mug shattered...

she spoke.

Her voice contained the entire tempest in Daniel's mind.  Somehow, she 
distilled it, concentrated it, focused it...

as, barely above a whisper, she said, "No."

Daniel's knees buckled.

He exhaled, and the world returned.

                         *******************

Sound came back, and light, painfully bright in his tender eyes; he 
reached up and felt for his sunglasses, vaguely surprised that they had 
been knocked askew.

"Daniel, answer me, damn it," came the voice from somewhere over his 
head.  Jack was holding him up, but only just; Jack's forearms were under 
his armpits, making his shoulders and ribs ache, and he was leaning much 
too heavily against Jack's legs.  He turned his head toward the sound, 
dizzily, wincing at the light.

"Daniel?"  That was Sam.  With an effort, he managed to get his feet 
under him, and pushed himself upright.

"Um," he said.  Swaying a little, leaning on Jack, he turned to look 
around him.  Minu'ua still stood there, although her look of impatience 
had been replaced with astonishment.  The pitcher that Pad-sha had 
dropped was still rocking slightly, its contents slopped across the 
paving stones at their feet.  Sam was staring at him in shock and 
concern; one of her hands was still on his shoulder.  The only one of 
them to have moved, apparently, was Teal'c, who was standing at his elbow 
and looking across the courtyard. Daniel followed his gaze, but only saw 
a crowd of nobles and servants, none of whom were looking back at him.  
He realized he was panting, as if he'd just run to them straight through 
the storm he'd felt, but oddly, it looked as though only an instant had 
passed for everyone else.

"Where did she go?" Daniel asked.

"Not important," snapped Jack.  "Here, sit."  With a shift of his weight, 
he unbalanced Daniel enough so that there was no choice but to drop onto 
the bench behind him.  The shards of his mug crunched under his feet; 
Daniel looked around again.

"Where is Pad-sha?" he repeated.  He wiped sweat off his forehead with 
shaking hands.  "Ta-sharma?  Go-sherna Pad-sha?"

"Sharma Daniel," she looked at him wonderingly, "ker'sa bven?"

He nodded.  "Khei," he said willing his breathing to slow.  He looked up 
at his friends.  "I'm fine... I'm fine."

"You're white as a sheet, Daniel," said Sam.

She sat down next to him and reached for his neck, but Daniel shied away.  
"Let me take your pulse."

"I'm fine," Daniel insisted, pushing her hand down.  "A little light-
headed, but that's going away."

"What the hell just happened, Daniel?"  Jack was somehow managing to 
glare at him, motion Teal'c to stand guard, and force another mug into 
his hands, all at the same time.

"Um," said Daniel, "the ta-sharma asked Pad-sha to get her a drink, and 
she, um, said no."  He took the mug in both hands, tasted it, then 
realized he wasn't really thirsty.  "We have to find her."

His teammates all froze, and turned as one to stare at him.  "She said 
no?" asked Jack; his expression spoke volumes.

Daniel nodded.  "I know," he replied.  "I felt what it did to her.  I 
think that must be why I, um..." he gestured aimlessly.

Sam nodded.  "The bond?"

"I felt it," he repeated.  "I don't think she's ever refused an order in 
her life.  She... she snapped.  I felt that, too."  He shook his head and 
stood.  "I felt something break, inside her mind.  We have to find her, 
Jack."  He took a step, but Jack had other ideas.

"Hang on," Jack snarled, twisting Daniel's collar up in his fist.  "How 
do we know she didn't break something in *your* head, huh?"

"Well, um, because she didn't?"  Daniel fired back.  He twisted out of 
the colonel's grip; Jack moved to reach in again, but Daniel grabbed his 
arm instead.  The words were spilling out of him, desperate to be heard 
and understood.  "She said no, Jack, she's been made her entire life, her 
entire *identity*, is built to obey people's commands and she just 
refused one, and I felt everything she felt, Jack, *everything*."

He paused just long enough to take a breath.  "It was... it was huge," he 
said.  "What I felt, the, the bond, it just washed over me and it was 
like the whole world went away for a few seconds.  That's why I passed 
out, or whatever."

"And you're fine now?" said Jack, his voice coated with sarcasm.

Daniel ignored it.  "Yes, I am, but she - I think she did it, I think she 
said no, because of whatever has been happening to her these past few 
days," he said.  He let go of Jack's arm, and looked at his friends one 
by one.  "Even if I'm wrong, the fact remains that she just did something 
that's supposed to be impossible for her.  Now the last time that 
happened, she expected to die - and I just don't know what might happen, 
what *could* happen to her now."  He stopped, and looked Jack in the eye.  
"We *have* to find her."

Jack glared back at him, saying nothing, his eyes narrowed.  Daniel held 
his gaze; held his ground.  The moment stretched.

"Teal'c?"  The colonel's eyes flicked away, and Daniel knew he'd won.

"I agree with Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c.

"Maybe we should find Shad'aa, or Per'ua," suggested Sam.

"Yes," said Daniel.  "Both.  But especially Per'ua."  Teal'c nodded, 
bowed to Minu'ua, and moved off into the crowd.

Minu'ua... Daniel turned toward her, suddenly realizing.  "Ta-sharma, I 
beg you to forgive my rudeness," he said, but she held up her hand to 
stop him.

"Sharma Daniel, I have just seen the impossible.  The rules of etiquette 
may be ignored, I think."  She glanced quickly at all of them.  "If I may 
ask, what do you intend?"

"I fear for her," said Daniel.  "We must find her, and help her, if we 
can."

The ta-sharma nodded.  "Do you, perhaps, require assistance?"

"I," Daniel began; then another idea came to him, and he closed his eyes, 
concentrating.  "No," he said, opening his eyes once more, "but I am 
grateful."

She bowed to him, and when she came up, Daniel saw that she was smiling.  
"Sharma Per'ua was right about you," she said. "You have made my journey 
here worth all the effort, and more."

Daniel bowed in return, not sure how to respond.

"Go," was all she said.

Daniel led the way across the courtyard.

                         *******************

It took a few moments to make their way through the crowd in the main 
courtyard; Daniel was required to stop and accept the greetings of a 
handful of sharma or emissaries, wave off servants who kept approaching 
with trays of food, and try not to hurt himself or offend anyone by 
pushing past them.  Finally, however, the three of them were able to 
break free of the press of people and step onto the boardwalk that led to 
their rooms.

Sam started ahead of the two men, brisk and business-like, before 
remembering that Daniel still wasn't up to exerting himself.  She dropped 
back, trying not to look like she'd goofed.  "How should we start the 
search, sir?" she asked.

The colonel shrugged.  "We'll start with the places she's most likely to 
be," he said.  "Maybe the kitchens..."

"No," said Daniel.  "I know where she is."

"Oh?"

"Oh," he said, tapping the side of his head.  "I just... closed my eyes 
and looked for her.  She headed this way.  I'm pretty sure she's in our 
rooms."

"Seems like a logical place for her to hide," said Jack.

"Unless she thinks we're - Daniel's - going to punish her," countered 
Sam.

"I don't think so," said Daniel.  Footsteps sounded behind them; they 
turned and waited, and after a moment Teal'c came into view, with Per'ua 
leaning on his elbow and her healer, Fad'ye, right behind.

"Ne hreidi, Sharma Daniel," said Per'ua.  Everyone exchanged nods and 
greetings as she continued, "Teal'c tells me that your shen is ill; have 
I, perhaps, misunderstood?"

"I am not certain, Sharma Per'ua," said Daniel.  "She behaved in a way 
that I believed was impossible for her.  You taught us earlier about 
shen, and I thought that, perhaps, you would be able to help us 
understand what has happened."  He bowed to the Fad'ye and added, "It was 
wise of you to ask your healer to join us."

"I shall be happy to try," said Per'ua.  "And my thought was that, if I 
had understood Sharma Teal'c correctly, Fad'ye might be able to treat her 
sickness."

"I thank you," said Daniel.  He translated quickly, and waited.

"Wait, Daniel," said Sam.  "From what you said, I don't think she's 
actually sick.  I think it's something psychological.  How is Fad'ye 
going to be able to help?"

"For crying out loud," muttered Jack.  He pointed up the corridor toward 
their rooms.  "Brainwashed slave."  He pointed at Fad'ye.  "Familiar with 
the grand tradition of brainwashed slaves."  He drew a little circle in 
the air, indicating Carter and the rest of SG-1.  "*Not* familiar.  Get 
it?"

"Yes sir," said Carter.

"Good," said Jack.

"But being familiar with the traditions doesn't necessarily mean he'll be 
able to help.  I mean, is he a psychologist as well as a medical doctor?"

"It doesn't mean he won't be able to help, either."  Jack was starting to 
get his mission-gone-sour expression again.  "Now, please explain to me 
why we're all still standing here trying to guess whether or not he can, 
when we could just put the two of them together and find out?"

She looked surprised, started to say something, stopped.  "I - sorry, 
sir."

"Forget it," he answered.  "Let's go."

They found her in their suites, just as Daniel had said they would.  To 
be specific, they found her huddled inside the armoire in Daniel's 
bedroom, shivering and rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped 
around her head; as Daniel got closer to her, he saw that she was 
clutching his necktie in one hand, squeezing the fabric tight.

"Pad-sha?" he said softly.

She said nothing, only flinched and drew more tightly into herself.  
Per'ua's eyebrows went up.

Jack frowned, and brought three chairs into the room; then, with a jerk 
of his head, he ordered Teal'c and Sam out to the common room.  He 
followed them out, and shut the door behind him, leaving Daniel, Per'ua, 
and Fad'ye in the room.

Daniel moved his chair closer to the armoire, and cautiously reached 
inside.  As gently as possible, he rested his hand on Pad-sha's knee. 

"Pad-sha, are you all right?" he asked, but her only response was to 
flinch again and cower away from him.  He closed his eyes, fighting for 
calm.

"Sharma Daniel," said Per'ua, "did you, perhaps, name her?"

"I did," he said.

"May I ask why?"

His control faltered for a moment.  "Because she's not a thing," he began 
sharply; he took a deep breath.  "She is not an object," he continued, 
his hand on Pad-sha's knee, "no matter what the customs among your people 
may say.  She is a person, and she saved my life.  Kona'a treated her 
like an object.  He did things to her that no person should ever suffer.  
And I believe he paid for it."

Daniel looked at Per'ua and his voice grew cold.  "If saying this to you 
means I cannot be a sharma, then I accept that, and if I must, I will 
accept that our worlds cannot trade together.  But I will not pretend to 
accept this custom anymore.  Pad-sha, every shen, deserves better."

Per'ua held his gaze for a long moment.  "I believe you," she said at 
last.  "More than that, I believe that you may be right about her - and 
about our custom.  At this moment, however, I ask why because it may 
explain something of what is happening to her."

Daniel let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.  "I thank 
you," he replied.

Per'ua tipped her head.  "Is this the first time she has behaved 
strangely?"

"No," he sighed.  "I wished to speak with you earlier, Sharma Per'ua, but 
the Ta-sharma had come, and you were all discussing the... recent 
events."

She nodded.  "You will, perhaps, tell us everything that you believe to 
be important about this matter?"

"Yes, of course," said Daniel; with as much detail as he could remember, 
he described the nightmares she had had, the things she had said in her 
sleep, and the way that she would stand and stare at nothing when she was 
awake.  Reluctantly, he also included what he could describe of the 
emotions he'd felt through their link, feeling like he was violating her 
privacy, yet knowing that he had to give them everything he could in 
order to help her.

When he finished, Per'ua was frowning, deep in thought, and Fad'ye was 
rubbing his chin.  After a moment, the healer looked at Daniel, then at 
Per'ua.  "If I may, Sharma?"

Per'ua blinked, glanced at him, and shifted in her seat.  "Do you have an 
idea, Fad'ye?"

"Yes, sharma," he said.  He turned to Daniel.  "I would like to ask this 
shen some questions, if Sharma Daniel will allow it."

Daniel slid his chair over a bit, and moved his hand to her shoulder.  
"Her name is Pad-sha," he said softly.  Then he turned toward her again.  
"Pad-sha?  Can you hear me?"

Her body tensed, and Daniel heard her swallow.  After a moment, she 
twitched her head; Daniel remembered the night they had first met, when 
she had nodded like that.  How frightened she had been then.

"Do you remember when I told you that I would not hurt you, the first 
night you were given to me?" he asked.

Another swallow; another long moment; then he heard her whisper, "Th-this 
one re-m-members, Sh-sharma Daniel."  There was the faintest tremor in 
his mind.

"That is still true, Pad-sha," he said carefully.  "I am not angry with 
you.  I do not think you have done wrong.  I am not going to punish you.  
Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, Sharma Daniel," she said.

Daniel stroked her shoulder, gently. "Healer Fad'ye is here because I am 
worried about you," he said.  "He is here because you are suffering, and 
we want to help.  He wants to ask you questions, so that he can help.  Is 
this, perhaps, acceptable to you, Pad-sha?" He asked the last question as 
formally as the language would permit - giving her as much respect as he 
could.

She nodded, once.  Daniel looked up at the healer, and nodded.  Fad'ye 
stayed where he was, but he gave them both a look full of sympathy that 
reassured Daniel more than words could have.  He squeezed her shoulder 
once, and felt another quiver along their link.

"Pad-sha," said the healer, "whom do you obey?"

Daniel could tell that was supposed to be an easy question; sure enough, 
she answered immediately, "This one obeys Sharma Daniel," in the same 
whispering tone.

"And have you ever disobeyed a command from Sharma Daniel?"

"N-no, nadharma healer," said Pad-sha. Daniel felt her shiver.

Fad'ye tilted his head and thought for a moment.  "Have you completed all 
of the commands that Sharma Daniel has given?"

She gasped sharply, and her shivering grew worse.  "N-no, nadharma 
healer," she said, and Daniel could hear tears in her voice.  "This one 
is sorry, s-sorry, this one -" she began to sob, "I'll be good, I'll be 
good, I'm sorry, th-this one, this one is good, this one d-does as Sh... 
sharma Daniel... I'm sorry..."

Daniel shoved his clothing onto the floor and sat inside the armoire with 
her.  "Shhh, Pad-sha," he said, wrapping his arms around her as she 
started to rock, "shh, it is well, it is well.  You are safe, Pad-sha.  I 
am not angry.  It is well."

She was shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering.  "This one," she 
gasped, "th-this one does as Sh-sharma Daniel com-m-mands."

"Shh," said Daniel.  "I know.  You are good, Pad-sha.  It is well."  She 
buried her head in his arms, and he held her while she cried.

As he waited, hoped, for her to calm down, he looked at the sharma and 
the healer.  Per'ua held one shaking hand over her mouth, and Daniel 
could see that she looked stricken with shock.  She noticed him watching 
her, and shook her head wordlessly.  Fad'ye, on the other hand, looked 
thoughtful; his eyes were narrowed, and he seemed almost to be nodding to 
himself, as if he had found an important clue.

"Healer Fad'ye?" he asked softly, once Pad-sha had quieted.

"I believe that I have only one more question, Sharma Daniel," he 
replied.  "You will, perhaps, permit me to ask her?"

"You may ask," said Daniel, "but Pad-sha does not have to answer if she 
does not wish it.  Is this acceptable?"

Fad'ye nodded.  "I give my word, Sharma Daniel, that this is a simple 
question; I only wish to know what command she is attempting to fulfill 
for you."

Suddenly, Daniel saw where Fad'ye was going.  He looked down at the young 
woman in his arms, and stroked her hair.  She was still for a few 
moments, then she sniffed wetly, and ducked her head.

"Pad-sha?" he asked.

"Yes, Sharma Daniel," she said.

"I do not understand Fad'ye's question.  What command have I given you, 
Pad-sha - when did I give it?"  She shifted, and Daniel released her and 
moved away a little.  "Have I harmed you?"

"No, Sh-sharma Daniel," she replied.  She gulped once.  "This one - when 
Sharma Daniel was with Sharma Kona'a...  This one believed that she would 
die, after killing Sharma Kona'a."

Daniel frowned.  "Yes, I remember."

"Sharma Daniel commanded this one," she said.  "Sharma Daniel said, 
'Live.  Do not die.  Live, and be well, and heal'."  She sniffed again, 
and took a deep, shaky breath.  "This one... I-I... try to do as Sharma 
Daniel commands."

Daniel sat back, stunned.  "You... do you mean - you, perhaps, are trying 
to heal, from being made a shen?"

He blinked back tears as Pad-sha cautiously raised her head, and looked 
him in the eye for the first time.  Her eyes were a muddy gray-green 
under damp lashes, with sandy eyebrows half-covered by her black-dyed 
hair.  There was a scar that ran from her nose across one cheek, all the 
way to the jaw line.  She looked much, much too young for everything that 
had happened to her; yet she met his gaze, and held it.

Daniel heard Per'ua gasp softly.

"This - I... I do not want to be shen, Sharma Daniel."  She swallowed.  
"Sharma Daniel has said that it is wrong for one person to own another.  
This one - I, I want to be a person, Sharma Daniel."

She started to duck her head, then, but Daniel recovered his wits in time 
to catch her chin in his hand.  She looked up again, a little fearfully, 
and he smiled at her.

"Do you remember what I told you, once, about the customs of my people?" 
he asked.

She thought for a moment, then looked back at him.  "Sharma D-Daniel... 
has many strange customs," she said, and he smiled again.  He glanced 
away, and caught Per'ua's eye, and Fad'ye's.

"I have an idea," he said.

                         *******************

Not long afterward, Pad-sha went to bed on the couch, where she slept 
soundly throughout the night.  Much later, after a very long, very 
detailed discussion in the suite next door, Per'ua, Fad'ye, and SG-1 did 
the same.

                         *******************

Three days later, SG-1, which in this case mostly meant Daniel, succeeded 
in getting unanimous approval for trade between the people of Arkona and 
the SGC.  On the fourth day, they formally bid farewell to Sharma Shad'aa 
and his city; the team and the entourage with Sharma Per'ua left the city 
together, going their separate ways only after they reached the Stargate.

Pad-sha remained on Arkona.

                         *******************

"It's cold."  Sam's breath fogged in the wintry air as she scanned the 
horizon.

"MALP said it would be," shrugged the colonel.  Behind them, Teal'c and 
Daniel stepped through the wormhole.  The sound of its disengage was 
enormous in the stillness.

"Wow."  The team's footsteps made very little noise on the frozen ground.

"Daniel?"

"Nothing - just glad I brought my scarf."

Jack tugged his pack a little higher.  "Scarf... that's 'dirin', right?"  
Daniel's only reply was a soft chuckle, his breath gusting in little 
clouds.  "What, did I get it wrong?"

"No," Daniel shook his head.  "No, I just never thought I'd see you in 
one of my language lessons."

"Your accent is pretty good, sir," said Carter.  They took off at a brisk 
walk along the road that led to Shad'aa.

"Motivated," he said with a shrug.

"Kha dor'sa, Jack."

"'As you w-'... did you just say 'whatever' to me, Daniel?"

Daniel stretched his pace a little faster.  Jack tried to catch up, but 
Daniel's long legs quickly took him out of arm's reach.

"Yeah, well, kan'au-jia nash ta ferna hau, buddy!"

"I do not believe Daniel Jackson is likely to trip himself, O'Neill," 
said Teal'c.

The team drew closer to the city.

"Sir?"

"Carter."

"It's 'hau-jia', sir."

Jack ignored the sound of his friend failing utterly to hold back his 
laughter.  "Thank you, Carter."

                         *******************

It was fully dark when the team reached the gatehouse to the city; from 
the look of things, winter days on Arkona were even shorter than they 
were on earth.  By the time they were indoors, they were all freezing, 
and trying not to shiver too obviously in front of their teammates.  
Luckily, the guards had hot tea ready in the pot, and mugs waiting for 
them as soon as they stepped under the arch.

"I missed this," Daniel said.  He'd pulled his scarf down to bunch under 
his chin, and his nose was bright red.

"Me, too," said Sam.  She cradled her mug carefully between her gloved 
hands.   "I didn't think I would, but I did."

Jack didn't say anything, just sipped the steaming drink as fast as he 
could without scalding himself.

Once they finished, a guard led them through the streets toward Shad'aa 
House.  While lights glowed outside a few awnings in the market district, 
there was very little traffic this late, and the few people they did see 
moved quickly to finish their errands and get out of the cold.  Music 
sounded faintly behind a few doors, but for the most part, they only 
heard their boots gritting against the sand spread on the cobblestones to 
keep them from getting slippery.

"So, Daniel," Jack said, "explain to me again why you decided it was best 
to leave the girl here."

His voice was muffled, but Daniel still managed to sound affronted.  
"Well, obviously we couldn't bring her to Earth, you said so yourself..."

"Right, right, I know about the bond and everything.  I meant in the 
briefing - you lost me with the words 'Spanish Inquisition'."  He sniffed 
behind his scarf, and tucked his hands under his armpits as he walked.

"You nodded along with everyone else," Daniel just had to point out.

All I really know about the Spanish Inquisition is that nobody expects 
it," he replied with a shrug.  "Hammond and Carter got what you were 
talking about.  That's usually good enough for me.  Anyway, I didn't want 
to delay things." Jack's voice dropped, and he admitted, "I... knew you 
wanted to get back here... and I figured, we'd be through the 'Gate 
quicker if I didn't hold you up in the briefing."

"Oh," said Daniel.  His boots crunched on the pavement for a few steps.  
"Uh, thanks."

"So, Spanish Inquisition?"

Daniel tugged his hood down a little lower over his forehead.  "In the 
Middle Ages, all the very best doctors were reputed to come from Spain.  
Their knowledge of the human body and how it worked was more advanced 
than anywhere else in Europe."

"Oh."  Jack sounded disgusted.  "I think I know where you're going."

Daniel nodded.  "Notwithstanding the influence of the more advanced 
Moorish culture, the biggest reason they knew more in Spain about anatomy 
than anywhere else, was because the perpetrators of the Spanish 
Inquisition made a concerted effort to learn all the most effective 
methods of torture," he said, "to cause pain with as little damage as 
possible, or to cause as much damage without killing the subject as they 
could."

"And... the Arkon," Jack said carefully, "know more about how to mess up 
a person's mind than we do, so you think they'll be more likely to know 
how to fix it than we could?"

"Well, it stands to reason," said Daniel.  "At least, I hope it does."

"Banking a lot on this," suggested Jack.

Daniel was quiet for several steps.  "I know."

                         *******************

The team was greeted warmly by Shad'aa and an entourage from Sharma 
Per'ua, who relayed her regrets that the weather affected her health and 
kept her from traveling.  To their surprise, Sharma Nadhesh was also on 
hand to meet them.

"Sharma Daniel," he said, "it is a pleasure.  Could you, perhaps, convey 
my good wishes to your friends as well?"

"That is not necessary," replied Teal'c.  Shad'aa smiled in surprise; 
Teal'c's grasp of the Arkon language had grown by leaps and bounds in the 
intervening months, and now he spoke with barely a trace of accent.  

"Daniel has taught us some words," added Jack haltingly.  Nadhesh grinned 
impishly as he added, "He warns me not to give him trouble or he will 
only teach me to speak insults.  I tell him this would be better, but he 
does not listen to me."

"I am not surprised," said Shad'aa.  "Sharma Daniel is wise."

                         *******************

The next morning found the team inside Shad'aa's greenhouse, a very large 
building just off the main compound that the team had only visited once, 
on their first mission to this world.  With the sharp cold outside, the 
building was not exactly warm, but the weak sunlight that filtered 
through the roof kept the climate bearable, both for them and for the 
rows of plants being tended.  Some were clearly ornamental, but there was 
a section of seedlings that they recognized.

"These plants are from Earth," Sam said.

Shad'aa smiled.  "That is true," he nodded, and gestured to their guide, 
a woman named Tam'il who wore the green and copper of House Per'ua.

"We wished to test the plants, and see how well they would adapt to our 
soil," explained Tam'il.  "In the spring, those that do well will be 
planted with our other crops."  She pointed to another row; gardeners 
were carefully applying measured amounts of water and fertilizer to the 
plants, while others seemed to be examining the beds and comparing notes 
with one another.  "We also are learning the best uses of your farm 
techniques on our own plant species."

Sam waited while Daniel translated the gaps in her vocabulary.  "Does the 
work go well?" she asked.

"So far," replied Tam'il with a shrug.  "Winters here are long, so we 
have plenty of time to try again if these first samples do not grow as 
they should."

"Tam'il is being cautious," said Shad'aa.  "My gardeners tell me that 
these new plants, and the new ways of caring for them, show great promise 
already.  We are very pleased, Sharma Samantha, and grateful to your 
people."

                         *******************

Daniel listened to the conversation with only half an ear.  His teammates 
had learned the language well enough that his usual function as the 
team's translator had been rendered mostly unnecessary, and he found 
himself enjoying the opportunity to play tourist for a change.  With 
luck, he mused, he might be able to get some recordings of the local 
music as a favor for one of his colleagues. 

He was just starting to think of how to persuade Jack, when he spotted a 
lone figure in blue meandering through the rows in the next room.

//Blue,// he thought with a frown; //that's House Kona'a.//  Then he 
remembered the color of the bvidir still stashed in his pack, and 
realized who it must be.  He was inside the next room and halfway along 
the rows before it occurred to him to tell Jack where he was going.

Oh, well.

"May I join you?"

Pad-sha started at the sound of his voice, then ducked her head shyly and 
looked away - but not before Daniel caught the flash of a smile on her 
face as he got closer.

She had stopped to lean one hip on the edge of a large basin or tub 
filled almost to the brim with water, half-hidden among decorative trees 
and hanging vines in the far corner of the room.  As he watched, she 
pulled pieces off of something she held cupped in one hand, eating most 
of each piece and flicking what was left into the water.  The lily-pond 
outside was frozen over, perhaps even frozen solid, but in here, the 
lilies floated safely, and the water rippled and surged as the fish came 
up to snatch her offerings.

Daniel stopped a few feet away, suddenly uncertain.  "May I join you?" he 
asked again, his voice soft.

Again she glanced in his direction, again she ducked her head.  "I - 
yes," she said finally.

He took the last steps slowly, trying not to frighten her, just in case.  
"I could go, if you would rather be alone," he began, but she shook her 
head.

"No, no, I..." She tossed another crumb into the water.  "It is only that 
I had thought you were arriving tomorrow, Sharma Daniel."

"I see."  A purplish-red fish the size of Daniel's hand floated just 
under the surface, appearing to look the food over for a moment before 
making it vanish.  "You, um.  You seem well."

"I am healing," she said simply.  "The work goes slowly, but Healer 
Fad'ye is pleased."

"I see."  Oh, yeah, great communication skills there.  Daniel winced.

"And you, Sharma Daniel - are you well, also?"

"I am well," he said.  It was the closest to "I'm fine" that the language 
had.  Daniel thought it sounded as believable in Arkon as Jack thought it 
did in English.   "I, I sort of wish... that is, it is not necessary..."

"Sharma Daniel?"

"You do not have to call me 'sharma'," he blurted.  Sharma: noun.  A 
title of nobility, as in the English "lord" - but also, in the right 
context, "master."

"But you are a sharma," she said.  Daniel couldn't quite read her tone, 
but he thought, at least he believed he thought, that she didn't seem too 
distressed.  "I was there when it happened.  Sharma.  Daniel."

"I - " he looked up, desperate for words, and noticed something: she 
still wasn't looking at him, but her ears were pink.

Blushing?  He took a second look, startled.  Grinning and blushing?

"Are you, perhaps, playing with me, Nadharma Pad-sha?"

For the first time, he heard her laugh, and it delighted him.  Daniel's 
uncertainty vanished like crumbs on the water, and as he looked at her, 
really looked, he found that he liked what he saw.

Her hair, once dyed black to match Kona'a's coloring, had apparently been 
cut off completely and allowed to grow back in more-or-less untouched.  
Now it was a sandy, dark blonde that matched her eyebrows and looked, 
well, fuzzy.  Jack would probably describe it that way, anyway - just 
long enough to be soft like a puppy's coat, maybe a little frizzy, with a 
tendency to stick up in places.  It was definitely too short for her to 
hide behind, the way she had before, but then it looked like Pad-sha was 
through with hiding.  She stood taller, straighter than Daniel 
remembered, and it looked like she had put on a little weight.  She still 
didn't look straight at him for very long, but now her glances seemed shy 
rather than terrified, gentle rather than helpless; and her smile was the 
same genuine expression Daniel had seen when she had told him children's 
stories, so many months back.

"Forgive me, Sh- ... Daniel," she said.  "I knew that you were coming, 
and I wanted very much to see you again, even though I was... afraid, a 
little.  Nervous.  But I never stopped to think that you, perhaps, would 
be nervous too, and... when I saw..."  She tossed the last of her snack 
into the water.

Daniel nodded, understanding.

"Are you well, then?  Truly?"

She tipped her head to one side for a moment, considering.  "I am... 
becoming well.  The work to heal is difficult, but also it is easy, it is 
like remembering who I was before the training to become shen.   Healer 
Fad'ye says that I do well."  She smiled again, a bit sadly this time.  
"He also says that, that Kona'a taught me more than he must have intended 
of medicine.  Now I assist Healer Fad'ye to tend sick people, in the city 
of Per'ua."

"Wow," Daniel said.  "Ah, I mean, sula.  That is not something I would 
have expected."

"In a way, it is part of re-training me to be something that is not 
shen," said Pad-sha.  "It is like... I was afraid of knives, before.  Now 
I use them, sometimes, and I see them differently.  Healer Fad'ye says 
that much of my healing will be done in the same way - learning to see 
myself differently."

"I am glad," he replied.  "You - you deserve this healing."

"She does," said a man's voice.  Sharma Nadhesh had come up to them, 
twirling a leaf in his fingers.  "If she continues as she has begun, 
House Daniel will earn a reputation for teaching and healing."  He bowed 
to both of them.  "I greet you, Sharma Daniel, Nadharma Pad-sha."

"Forgive me, Sharma Nadhesh," said Daniel, "but I am not sure I 
understand you."

Nadhesh smiled.  "It is a simple thing, Sharma Daniel, with many reasons 
to be true.  The first is that, with the permission of Sharma Per'ua and 
Nadharma Pad-sha, Healer Fad'ye and I have been conversing about his 
methods of healing, and I have been working to apply them where I can in 
my own cities.  There are perhaps a dozen children who would have become 
shen, who now are remembering to be children again."

"Healer Fad'ye told me of this," said Pad-sha.  "I am very grateful to 
Sharma Nadhesh."

"I have just had further news from Sharma Shad'aa, to make another 
reason," Nadhesh went on.  "Sharma Daniel helped all of us to see that 
the time to keep shen has come to an end.  It will be announced formally 
tonight, at the meal, but Shad'aa and Per'ua will both declare the 
training of new shen to be illegal.  Those who are already shen will be 
healed, if possible; if not, they will be cared for and treated well, 
until there are no shen left in any of the cities of the Circle of 
Minu'ua."

Pad-sha turned away abruptly, her hand to her mouth.  Daniel could see 
her blinking back tears; he hesitated, and then took her free hand and 
squeezed.

"And - one more reason, I think," Nadhesh said quietly, studying the leaf 
in his fingers.  "Sharma Daniel, you taught me a great deal when you last 
visited us.  And then, you trusted me to serve as the steward over the 
cities of your House.  Since you left, I... I have truly taken my place 
in the Circle of Minu'ua, as I should have when my father - when I 
inherited the seat of House Nadhesh."

"I am glad," Daniel began, but Nadhesh shook his head.

"To repay you - to thank you - I could think of nothing appropriate, 
except to request that the children who were shen, and the families who 
have adopted them, wear the colors of House Daniel, instead of those of 
House Nadhesh.  I have tried to tell your story, and to explain the value 
of your lessons, where I could.  I have even received petitions from 
several teachers, and a few healers, asking to join your House, so that 
they might wear blue and silver in your honor."

"I - this..." Daniel stopped, swallowed hard.  "This is... more than -"

"More than you deserve?" said Nadhesh.  "I think not."  He drew himself 
to his full height and looked down his nose with a stern expression.  "I 
was warned by Sharma Jack that you would attempt to convince me of this."

"This is a bad habit he has," said Jack.  Daniel nearly jumped out of his 
skin; his team, no, the entire tour from this morning, had snuck up on 
their conversation, all wearing conspiratorial grins - even Sharma 
Shad'aa let a hint of mischief show through his usual dignity.

Jack pretended not to notice Daniel's shock.  "You came, you saw, you 
turned their culture upside-down just by being... well, you," he added in 
English.  "Now say thank you, and let the nice people wear their pretty 
blue clothes."

"I, um," Daniel said.  Stopped, cleared his throat.  "These petitions?"

"Such things require your approval," said Shad'aa.  "Nadhesh was planning 
to send them to you, and to await your response, but Per'ua and I 
convinced him to wait until your visit."

"May I speak?"  said Pad-sha suddenly.  She had turned to face them, 
wiping at her eyes.  "As the only member of House Daniel who lives on 
this world, I would advise the Sharma."  Suddenly her face was alight; 
she looked like it was costing her a great effort not to bounce up and 
down.  "Say yes, Daniel," she whispered.  "Please say yes."

Daniel looked at the girl who had saved his life; looked at his team, his 
friends; looked beyond them to the nobles and their attendants.  They 
were, one and all, looking at him as if they really believed he deserved 
this, this incredible honor.  He cleared his throat, feeling vaguely like 
an idiot.

"Sharma Nadhesh tells me that there is a formal dinner evening, where 
certain announcements are planned," he said, licking his lip.  "Is there, 
perhaps, still time during the meal for another to be added?"

<end>

                         *******************

sharma = master, noble
sharma-ko = pardon, excuse me

veshe = come
veshi merkhe-jia - may I come in?
go-sherna = where is
tamvak = bath house
nesh-tersha = bathroom

kan'au-jia nash ta ferna hau-jia = don't trip over your own two feet
kan'au = trip, fall over, fall upon
jia = own, or command form of a verb
nash = no
khei = yes
ta = your
ferna = foot
hau = two

ket're = a type of snack or hors d'oeuvre
bvidir = floor-length garment similar to a robe, caftan or nightdress, 
fastened with buttons offset from center ("batwing" closure), similar to 
Oriental clothing

pekh = whore, slut: strong insult

kere bven = it is well
ker'sa bven? = are you well?
tserdi'e bven= I will be good

ama = mother
dor'yi amadi = I want my mother

Nadharma = middle class free person; general greeting for those of 
unknown rank
Tuarma = lowest class of free person

Sharma Shad'aa = (red, gold) host and lord of the city where they are 
staying
Sharma Kona'a = (blue, silver) lord of a neighboring city-state, bad guy
Sharma Per'ua =  (green, copper) lady of a neighboring city-state
Sharma Nadhesh = (gold, black) lord of a neighboring city-state
Em're, Keresh = emissaries from outlying city-states; Em're is a paranoid 
little terrier of a guy
Ta-sharma Minu'ua = (silver) elder stateswoman, titular head of this 
region of city-states (more honorary than anything)