It was beautiful.

The glow from the interior of the crystal was mesmerizing.

Without conscious thought, Daniel found himself inches away from the glowing green orb; his eyes fixed intently on the throbbing light.

He'd never seen anything like it before.

A sound that may have been a voice suddenly broke through the buzzing white noise that had taken over his sense of hearing, but it was only brief, and his fogged-out mind discounted it as unimportant.

A small part of his brain was concerned about his inattention to everything else going on around him, but that objection was quickly drowned out by the myriad of voices in his mind.

It was beautiful and he had to touch it.

It was calling to him.

She was calling him home.

He had a bad feeling about this.

The silence of the streets was only marred by the slight shuffle of their feet on the dirt-covered roads.

With his weapon swinging from side to side, its path matching the track his eyes were taking, he stole between the buildings, ever mindful of where he placed his feet, of everything that was around him.

Carter was several steps in front of him, her back tense as she surveyed the area in much the same way that he was.

Why had he allowed everyone to separate? From the moment they'd stepped on the planet, Jack had had a bad feeling about this place. He should have made them stick together. If he'd listened to the little voice in his head, they wouldn't be going through this right now. Teal'c would be at his side and they wouldn't be searching for Daniel.

He sighed, trying to push the negative thoughts to the back of his mind. They weren't helping.

"Carter," he said, his voice unnaturally loud. "You said Daniel was about three blocks west of the monument, correct?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied, her eyes meeting his briefly before turning back to the search.

"Okay. I want you to take the right side of the street. I'll take the left. He couldn't have gone far."

She nodded immediately and changed her path, heading directly for the first open door while Jack mirrored her movements on the opposite side of the street.

The light on the end of his P90 illuminated every dark corner of the structures he entered and after a quick sweep each room he was able to move on. Building after building of half-destroyed and broken walls and furnishings were the only things he saw.

Where the hell did Daniel go?

As he stepped back out into the street, Jack spotted Carter several yards ahead of him, her steps sure, her attention focused on the structures before her.

Moving quickly, Jack's eyes scanned the area outside the next open doorway, but nothing had changed.

The quiet was unsettling, almost as if the ruins themselves were holding their breath, waiting for something to happen.

Flicking the light back on as he entered the next room, Jack was surprised to see something other than the broken tables and chairs that had littered the rooms he'd investigated before. Daniel was standing in the back of the room, his eyes fixed intently on a strange device embedded in the wall.

"Daniel!"

After a quick survey of the room, noting the archeologist's abandoned pack and digital video camera in a pile on the floor, Jack ran the several feet to where his friend stood unmoving.

A tug on the younger man's arm, however, was not enough to dislodge him or even draw his attention away from the glowing crystal in the middle of the device on the wall. And, much to Jack's surprise, the Daniel's hands were nowhere near the object in question. For once in his life it looked like he hadn't touched some alien object. In this case, however, not touching didn't seem to have helped.

"Daniel, for crying out loud, what's going on?"

When no answer seemed imminent, Jack toggled his radio with his left hand, his right one resting on Daniel's shoulder, his fingers immediately finding the pulse on the younger man's neck. The steady beat under his fingertips was reassuring. Daniel was alive, unresponsive, but alive. "Carter, get over here. I found Daniel, but something's wrong. He's conscious, but not responding. I'm about four buildings east of you."

"I'll be right there, Sir," she replied as Jack began a much more serious examination of his friend and the predicament he found him in.

Simple sometimes worked the best. Jack grimaced slightly. "Sorry, buddy," he muttered as he wrapped his arms around Daniel's middle. Jack tried to lift him, but it was as if the archeologist had gained thousands of pounds. Panting, Jack tried again. And again. And again. Nothing he did, from pulling and tugging to trying to shove him a centimeter in any direction, was working.

This was so not fun.

With two swift steps he was at Daniel's backpack. Pilfering his boonie hat, Jack returned, flopping it down on the archeologist's head, making sure the rim cut off Daniel's vision of the hand-size crystal mounted in the wall.

Waiting a few beats, Jack tried to move him again.

No change.

Sighing, he pulled the hat off Daniel's head and tossed it over his shoulder, not looking at where it landed. Quickly kneeling, he took his knife out and began digging around his friend's feet. Something had to be holding him in place. But what? Jack couldn't see anything or feel anything, and except for the fact that Daniel was absolutely rigid, the younger man could have just been looking at another artifact. His skin was warm. His heart was beating. He was breathing.

He just wasn't moving.

What the hell was going on?

A scattering of pebbles and sand alerted him to Carter's entrance. Jack spoke without lifting his head as he dug a little deeper, finding only dirt and more dirt. He was getting nowhere fast and digging to China with his knife was not on his daily agenda. "Carter, get over here and help me get him away from this thing."

"Did he touch it?" she asked, the words filled with a foreboding that Jack did not like.

"I don't know," he remarked sharply, glancing up at her. "He wasn't touching it when I came in."

"That's good, because I don't know what it'll do."

Jack's eyes narrowing as he leaned back, resting his weight on his feet, wiping his dusty knife on his pant leg before sliding it back into its sheath. Digging was not helping. "Can you at least hazard some sort of a guess?"

"I'm not sure, but the last time I got readings like this was when the Ancient's device grabbed your head, Sir."

"Oh, for crying…Carter—" He took a deep breath. "I want him, and us, out of here ASAP."

"I agree, Sir. How?"

Jack waved in the archeologist's direction. "I was trying the simple grab and run routine, but good old Danny-boy has apparently discovered a case of alien crazy glue. He ain't moving."

"This never happened before."

His mouth rose in a humorless smile as his eyes rolled heavenward. Thank you, Captain Obvious. "Ya think?"

"Let me check something, Sir," she said, grimacing slightly, as she stepped back a few feet. Jack watched as she unclipped her pack and knelt down, rummaging through its contents. Standing, careful of his creaking knees, he turned his attention back to the archeologist and noticed two things.

First, the light from the center of the device was getting brighter—at least it seemed like it was.

And second, Daniel's hand was nearly touching the clear surface of the crystal. Only a minute ago it had been at the younger man's side.

Lurching forward, Jack clamped on it tight, tugging at the younger man's arm, trying to lower it, trying to make sure it didn't reach its intended destination.

"Carter, whatever you're doing…hurry."

"What?" Without looking back, he could clearly see her in his mind's eye—her puzzled expression, her forehead furrowed as she glanced up at him.

He was too busy trying to move Daniel's arm away from the crystal to see if he was right.

She appeared at his elbow a few seconds later, her eyes expressive, her empty hands raised in an offer of assistance. "Let me help."

He shook his head emphatically. "I can handle this. You can help by finding out how to get him out of this mess. I need one of us mobile."

She nodded once before moving off again out of his direct line of sight. He could feel the tension in the air, thick enough to cut it with a knife.

But even as he hung onto the archeologist's right hand, Daniel's left arm began to rise as well. Shifting positions, Jack reached around, capturing both of Daniel's hands, trying to force them back downward.

Sweat was popping out along his hairline and he could feel the hot trickle of a solitary drop sliding down his face, following the line of his jaw.

He wasn't winning. He needed someone stronger.

He forced the question out through gritted teeth. "Where is Teal'c?"

"I don't' know, Sir, but we have to get out of here now. The energy readings are starting to go off the scale."

Jack chanced one glance toward the scientist, his brown eyes wide as he watched her wave her tricorder-thingie around, her eyes fixed to the screen. "I am not leaving him here."

"I can't explain this, Sir, but it seems as if the energy is building up right in this building—maybe it's tied in with the crystal—but if we don't get out of here soon—"

"We all go boom? I need another option, Carter." He turned back to the archeologist, realizing that the younger man's hands were barely an inch from the crystal. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw Carter toggling her radio.

"Teal'c, come in."

"Tell him to hurry," Jack said, wishing he were anywhere except here, hanging onto his friend's arms for dear life. If Carter was right—and she nearly always was—the minute Daniel touched that crystal they'd all be blown to kingdom come.

That was so not an option.

"I am just entering the city limits, Captain Carter. What is the situation?"

"Daniel's stuck in some kind of trap, and the Colonel's trying to keep him from touching this large crystal. He needs your help."

Jack nearly laughed, but knew how much that would cost him in term of his concentration and right now, he needed every ounce.

"I will endeavor to speed up my pace, but it will still take time."

"How long, Carter? Ask him how long?" Right now, Jack was measuring the distance between Daniel's hand and the crystal by the width of hairs. It wouldn't be long before contact was made.

"The Colonel wants to know how long it will take you. We're three blocks west of the big monument in the center of the city."

The answer when it came was not encouraging. "Ten minutes."

Jack groaned. Unless some kind of miracle occurred, they were dead. "Carter, get out of here now," he ordered, a bead of sweat inching down his neck heading for his shirt collar.

"Sir?"

"I gave you a direct order, Captain. Get out of here."

"Teal'c's on his way," she protested.

"Not enough time," he said, finally turning to look at her, his brown eyes conveying the hopelessness of the situation. Daniel's hands were nearly touching the crystal. Even if Jack let go now, there was no way he would make it out of the building in time. He was already a dead man. At least if Carter left now, half of his team would make it home.

It wasn't a good solution, but it was better then none.

"Go."

Sam Carter looked up from the device she held in her sweating hands right into the intense eyes of her commanding officer.

In them, she saw his resignation of the situation, his anger, his regrets, and his desire to make sure his team still made it home—even if it was without him.

"Go."

She nodded, the inevitability of the situation settling over her like a thick sodden wool blanket. Her body and hands moved automatically on autopilot, her mind too shocked to comprehend anything beyond the physical sensations as she pulled her things together.

Swinging the pack onto her back, her left hand immediately went to toggle her radio. There was no sense in Teal'c hurrying to meet them…to meet her.

Pausing at the door, she looked back over her shoulder toward the two men silhouetted by the now bright glow of the crystal, locked in a struggle with an invisible enemy.

The Colonel turned his head once again and the glow from the orb reflected eerily off of his eyes; eyes that were narrowing at her hesitation.

He didn't have to say a word.

He wanted to make sure she was clear, that she was safe. It was what he did—and he did it well.

She inclined her head once, a gesture of respect to her commanding officer and her friend, before turning back to the door. But even as she turned, her finger already touching the transmission button on her radio, the sudden increase in the intensity of the light caught her eye once again.

O'Neill's strangled words were wrenched from his chest. "Carter, get out of here now!"

Half in the door and half out, she froze for a moment as the light suddenly flashed through the room. The bodies of both of her friends flew through the air, landing with a sickening thud against the wall next to her before sliding down into a tangled heap on the dirt floor.

"Teal'c!" she cried, even as she felt the edge of the energy wake as it caught up with her, sending her into the street beyond the door.

Her own echoing cry was the last thing she heard.

Even before Captain Carter's voice died on the air, Teal'c's legs were pumping, trying to propel his body even faster along the avenues of the city.

There was something about her tone, about the sounds of that frantic call that frightened him.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

Of that, he was certain.

As he ran, he tried to contact the rest of his team, but all he got was static and an unnerving silence.

Three blocks from the monument, just as Captain Carter had said, Teal'c slowed, looking for signs of his friends, signs that someone had passed through.

With the wind blowing the dirt and the dust, it was difficult—but not impossible—to track their movements. Two had passed this way recently, most likely O'Neill and Captain Carter. Any sign of Daniel Jackson's passing had long since vanished.

Following the trail, his staff weapon poised, his ears and his eyes searching for anything out of place, he moved slowly but steadily.

The silence of the city was suffocating.

At the entrance of one of the buildings he paused, the dirt disturbed more here than anywhere else. Peering inside, Teal'c squinted trying to make out the details of the room in the dim light.

Moving cautiously, the tip of his staff weapon cleared the doorframe, his body following seconds later, his dark eyes scanning the interior.

This had to be the building of which Captain Carter had spoke. At about eye level a large device was embedded in the rear wall, its central crystal dark.

Of his friends, however, there was no sign.

Determining the room to be empty, Teal'c straightened, the butt end of his staff weapon resting lightly on the floor beside him. His eyes continued to examine the building's interior, noting several places where the ground had recently been disturbed. One section near the crystal looked as if someone had dug into the ground. Along the opposite wall the dirt was scuffed, indicating that something had once lain upon it.

Tilting his head, Teal'c's gaze caught something on that wall and his feet immediately moved, allowing him to examine the spot closer. It was up high, several inches above his head, a dark smudge on the tan-colored sandstone bricks.

He reached up, his finger pausing above the area before touching it lightly.

The substance was sticky, its consistency familiar.

Bringing it closer to his face, he rubbed his two fingers together, letting the dark substance coat the tips. A quick sniff only confirmed his initial thought—this was blood.

A growing sense of anxiety and apprehension filled his mind.

How did this blood get there? And whose was it?

Kneeling down, his hands moved with a purpose. He unclipped his backpack and reached in; grabbing the small medical kit he carried. Ripping open one of the sterile gauze packets, he rose, wiping the dark smudge of blood from the wall, trying to get enough of the substance for Doctor Frasier to examine.

It was the only way he would know for certain if the blood belonged to one of his teammates.

Folding the gauze pad in on itself, he uncapped a small sample container and shoved it in with a finger before closing the lid tightly, placing it in his vest pocket for safekeeping. The rest of the items repacked quickly, and less than a minute later he was standing, his pack returned to its original position on his back.

It had only taken a minute to collect the sample, but had it been too long? The still wet and tacky blood indicated that someone had been here recently—very recently. And he had spoken to Captain Carter less than fifteen minutes ago.

Where could they have gone?

Moving toward the door, he glanced around one last time, his eye catching the edge of something else. Crossing the room, he knelt down, reaching under the broken remains of what could have been a table, his fingers encountering soft fabric.

Pulling it out, he recognized it immediately: Daniel Jackson's hat.

Clutching it in his hands, he rose and headed for the door.

Moving as quickly as his feet would take him, Teal'c surveyed the street outside, looking for any other signs, for any further evidence that someone had passed this way.

A smaller set of single tracks across the street sent him moving again, investigating the buildings where they led. He moved quickly, efficiently, his mind and body working in total unison, all of his senses on high alert.

And even when the tracks ended, he continued on, moving even quicker now, searching all of the buildings on the remainder of the street that were still standing, the fear and anxiety only growing in his mind.

They were gone.

Even though he wanted to remain, to continue searching, he knew what had to be done. He had to report to General Hammond immediately. Something had happened to his team. There was too much city for one Jaffa to cover thoroughly. Another team—several more teams with high-tech equipment—would cover the area much more effectively.

He wasn't giving up. He merely needed additional assistance.

Maybe if he told himself that enough times he'd believe it.

But how was he going to explain to General Hammond that his friends—his team—was missing?