Happy new year to you all! Here is a story that's been in the wait for a while, I started it last year and my muse wouldn't help me writing further. I hope you will enjoy how it turns out. Original SG-1 team and S/J ship of course, because what else could I write?! If you like this, check my other stories too!

This story is rated mature for whump and adult contents further into the story.

Because of the planet and its culture, there will be a few Latin or Greek words. They are mostly self-explanatory but I'll leave a glossary at the head of the chapter just to make sure. A few references to Greek mythology on the way!

Hope you like it!

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HERAPOLIS

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Chapter1

"My!.." Jack huffed "What a dry and rocky planet!"

"Exactly like I told you at the briefing Jack. Mediterranean climate and vegetation" Daniel commented lightly, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah well, when you said Mediterranean, I was thinking sea. Beaches. Olives. Goats even. This is dry rocks and shrunken bushes" Jack whined.

"Try to see the good side of this, Sir, at least there's no sand" Sam said brightly, fishing a sunscreen tube from her bag.

"There's that..." Jack conceded.

"There is a town in sight O'Neill" Teal'c informed, pointing at the horizon with his staff weapon. A grey citadel was lying at the foot of hills mirroring the ones they were standing on.

"How far is that, you think? Five? Six clicks?" Daniel wondered.

"Something like that. Half hour if we find a bridge over the river down there"

"Well, we are on a road, there'd probably be at least a ford to cross over"

"Yeah, about that. Why is the city so far away from the gate?"

"The stargate on Chulak is far from the city as well O'Neill, although I do not know why"

"You have to remember that the stargate was built by the Ancients a very long time ago" Daniel explained. "The city was probably built centuries later, after the goa'ulds brought the people here from Earth. They had probably more use for the river than for the gate so, they built their city on the.."

"Why are they running?" Jack interrupted, pointing at a group of peasants who had showed up some fifty yard to their right and were running past them.

"Could they be hunting something?" Sam suggested.

"They do not appear to carry weapons Major Carter"

"Well, they are running toward the city, maybe it's lunch time" Jack joked.

"You were correct Major Carter, this is a hunt!" Teal'c warned urgently. "But those people are the prey!" he added, assuming combat position. A group of riders had just shown up, following the peasants. They were armed with nets and clubs, some of them also holding spears and bows. They were riding after their preys but there was no doubt they had seen SG-1, and it became soon obvious that they didn't want to kill the peasants. They rode past them in a circle to cut them from the city and force them back toward SG-1. Soon, the peasants were surrounded by the hunters, panicking, some of them crying, others desperately looking for a way out between the horses but they were mercilessly knocked out by the clubs or caught in the nets the hunters were skillfully throwing on them. Back to back in the middle of the group, the members of SG-1 had their weapons ready but they didn't dare shoot the archers who were holding them at point.

"Drop your weapons!" the leader commanded.

"If we shoot them, the arrows'll fly anyway" Jack hissed. He was furious about the situation, the whole mission had gone down so fast and they had no choice but surrender. As soon as they had dropped their weapons, the four of them were knocked out by some sort of white devices, the hunters acknowledging them as warriors far more dangerous than the peasants they were used to capture.

They came to as they were roughly drawn up to their feet, finding themselves chained to a line of prisoners and promptly made to walk.

"I hate when that happens!" Jack complained as he noticed his vest and jacket were gone and his watch had been replaced by irons. Looking around, he saw their things thrown under a bush like the hunters didn't understand the value of their weapons. His Major was two places ahead while Teal'c was at the back between a young girl and an older man. At first, he didn't see Daniel, because he had been placed at the front. They were at least twelve, if not fifteen prisoners, walking away from the citadel.

"Where are we going?" he asked. The closest cavalier glared at him, looking like he wanted to hit him.

"Silence!" he commanded. As they were reaching a turn on the hill, they were blinded by a second sun rising on the horizon, adding its heat and light to those of the one already at the zenith.

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It was kind of funny how the drops on the back of the guy in front of Jack were running the same path as the drops before, and joined other drops along his spine before plunging toward the guy's ass to be sucked up by his loincloth at the waist. Jack didn't know if he envied the guy for being shirtless instead of cooking in his own sweat-drenched shirt, or if he was glad for the protection the shirt was providing against the two suns. His face was already burnt and he missed his shades... They had been walking for at least three hours now and the second sun was high in the sky already, while the first one was annoyingly slow at setting. The members of SG-1 were fairing quite well, they were in good physical condition and still had their boots on, but the weakest prisoners were beginning to struggle to stay on their feet, their stumbling and falling yanking at the chain, pulling irons deeper into every wrist on the line.

"Thirst is a bitch" Jack thought, his throat hurting under the hard breathing. They had been following the river for miles and Jack was sure someone was going to faint in the heat if they didn't get some water soon. It seemed their captors were thinking the same thing, because the leader announced that they would take a break at the ford.

Encouraged by the promise of water, the prisoners hasted their pace. Suddenly, the road was meeting the river, and they all threw themselves in.

"Don't fill your belly with water like a child" the old woman before Teal'c scolded.

"No?" Jack answered, reveling in the fresh and clear element.

"You should just rinse your mouth and drink a little. Everyone knows that. You are not from these parts"

"Er.. no. Where are we?"

"We are coming from Kolkos, going to the slave market at Herapolis"

"The slave market?!" Jack protested.

"Lower your voice. You do not want the guards to be angry at you"

"The slave market?" Jack whispered in a hiss.

"Yes. We will be sold there. Hopefully to a good house" the woman explained.

"Will not the people of your city attempt to rescue you and your friends?" Teal'c asked. The woman watched him, clearly impressed by his stature, before she answered.

"The town of Kolkos is not rich, we can not afford to entertain an army to protect us against slave hunters, many of us are captured each year before the big market of Herapolis. I was sold there once, and served for many years before I could buy my freedom and return"

"You can buy your freedom? How?" Jack demanded.

"If your master allows it, you can earn money and use it to buy your freedom. Herapolis is a good place to be slave. If you are not sent to the mines, the galleys, or die in the amphitheater, you could have a good life there"

Jack and Teal'c exchanged a concerned look before resuming their place in the line as they started to walk again.

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It was late when they finally stopped for the night. They had been allowed to drink again before being chained at several trees that had obviously been used to that purpose many times before. The old woman told them that the city of Herapolis was just ahead. The slave hunters used to stop at that place so that their prisoners could wash up before entering the city.

"That's a good thing! Some of those guys have obviously never seen a soap in their lives" Jack complained.

"With all due respect Sir, you don't exactly smell like roses yourself"

"Yeah well, good point Major.. But at least, I don't smell like I peed in my pants. I'm sure some of those folks did"

"They must have been very scared when those hunters were chasing them Jack"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. The washing part is still a good idea"

"Sir, what are we going to do? I mean.. Tomorrow we will be sold as slaves and I'm afraid we will be separated"

"You can be certain of it Major Carter. Very few citizens would be able to afford four slaves in such a good condition as we are. Furthermore, it would be unwise to buy slaves who know each other and could conspire to escape or rebel" Teal'c supplied.

"I'm not letting any of us being sold!"

"Jack, you have to be realistic! They won't give us a choice!"

"We can escape tonight" Jack replied.

"With those chains on?"

"OK, then we escape in the morning when they send us in the river to wash up, we let ourselves sink and we swim away"

"The water is very low here, I don't think we'd have water over our ankles..." Daniel reasoned.

"Then what?" Jack hissed "You want to be sold as a slave? End up in a mine? On a galley? And what do you think they'll do to Carter? We can't let that happen!" he added, furious.

"Silence!" one of the hunters said.

"Please Sir, calm down. I can take care of myself" Sam whispered.

"No offense Carter but I'm not sure you realize what you're up to..." Jack shivered, reminiscences of Iraqi prisons sending bolts of fear along his spine. "We have to escape!"

"We will Sir, but we probably won't be able to before we are sold. Then each of us will have to find a way to escape, but we also need to find each other again"

"You can be certain that it will take many days before our purchasers are confident enough to let any of us wander freely, if they ever trust us"

"Is this possible? I mean, slaves? Free to wander around?"

"Oh yes. This seems to be a culture very similar to the Greco-Roman in the Antiquity. They had many slaves and many of them lived normal lives, entrusted with their master's business, children or health. It could be very rewarding.."

"Yeah well, I'm glad you are enjoying the prospect Daniel, but I'm not. I've seen that movie with Spartacus and it didn't seem to be that much fun"

"But Spartacus was a rebel gladiator Jack! You can't compare our situation..."

"How d'you know?! How d'you know you and I won't end up fighting each other in an arena?"

"Well I..."

"Slaves are more frequently sent to work in mines O'Neill. Or as house servants"

"Oh well, in that case... We've worked in mines before, if they ask for my resume. I'm sure it'll just swell!"

"We're gonna get a very good price for this one" A couple of hunters had stopped in front of Sam. "Get some light over here" one of them ordered. A third one joined them with a torch and lifted it in Sam's face, his hand grabbing her hair to turn her toward the light. Jack and Teal'c were barely containing themselves. Daniel wasn't sure if he should try to calm them down or prepare himself to join in an attack.

"Yes, so beautiful..." one of the hunters said, satisfied. "Wonderful eyes... and very unusual hair too. Fair skin..." he added, his fingers trailing down Sam's throat. "Too bad we have to sell you tomorrow already, I could have used you tonight but I don't want you to have bruises. I'll get a better price for you then" he smiled knowingly, his mouth dangerously close to her skin. He licked her neck and she struggled to free herself but he was holding her chain and she couldn't use her hands. He pressed himself closer until she whimpered.

"Hey, don't mark her" one of his friends warned, dragging him from Sam. "We want her nice and fair tomorrow" he added with a smug.

But the members of her team had heard enough and they all jumped to their feet, aiming at the throats of the hunters to strangle them with the chains. Several hunters rushed to them to try and contain the rebellion, which was spreading fast. Teal'c had a good grip and could feel his opponent weaken already, when a sharp pain burned his back and he felt all his nerves numb as in slow motion. He missed control of his limbs and fell. As he touched the ground, the numbness was suddenly replaced by a burning pain in every part of him and he wriggled in agony. His companions were soon incapacitated in the same way and the hunters freed themselves from their attackers.

"Ah! What was that?!" Jack groaned. It felt like a zat but they hadn't passed out, feeling the burnt the whole time.

"It appears to be a punitive device" Teal'c supplied.

"Silence!" Sam's aggressor barked, rubbing his neck. He walked menacingly up to Jack, who had attacked him "I'll sell you to the galleys! And you to the salt mines!" he growled to Teal'c. "And you'll end up with the wild beasts in the arena!" he barked at another of the prisoners who had nearly strangled the guy holding the torch. He produced a white stick and discharged it on the three of them, sending them again wriggling to the ground. "Tie them up for the night!"

Soon, both Jack, Teal'c and the third guy were lying straight in their ropes, unable to move a muscle. Teal'c was stoical as ever "It seems reasonable to think that Major Carter and Daniel Jackson will gain the trust of their new master faster than we will, O'Neill"

"Mm yeah.. You might be on something there T. Hey Carter! There's a stone digging in my shoulder blade. Would you mind? Left one.." Jack said, trying to lift himself to let her remove the offending mineral. "Aah, thanks. So, what we do?"

"I hid the GDO under a bush when we were captured. Hopefully it will still be there when we... if we ever go back before our codes are locked out of the base computers"

"Carter..." Jack warned. He couldn't fail to notice how her hand was still on his arm and how she was nervously clenching her fingers around it to stop her shivers.

"I'm sorry Sir, but it looks like this is going to be a very difficult mission to walk home from"

"We'll see Major. We won't know anything before we know where each of us ends up. Whoever gets free first looks for the others. If you don't find them, you go through to the alpha site and come back with reinforcements"

"But Jack! We don't know what we are up to! This is a little different from the Antiquity on Earth, they have those... zat-sticks they punished us with. I'm sure they used them to knock us out this morning. This points to a goa'uld somewhere. Maybe not directly on the planet, but they have technology the Greco-Romans didn't have!"

"Doesn't matter Daniel. We'll just have to improvise as we go. Gather information and make decisions along the way. I just hope Hammond doesn't send another team through before one of us makes it back. We'd end up having to rescue them too. Now try and get some sleep, you never know when you'll get the chance again. Hum.. Carter, would you mind?" Jack said, twisting his hitching nose. She stroke her thumb on the side of his face to relieve him, and their eyes locked, passing the many words they couldn't tell. Finally, she lowered herself to the ground, lying beside him and resting her head close to his shoulder, both worried about what would happen the following day.

- TBC -