AUTHOR's NOTE: This story is set two years after the events of this author's story "Faces" which is also available on this site. Since that would place it in season 9 (which had not been written at the time this story was originally posted), it obviously becomes an alternate reality story. The story was originally rated M due to an implied non-consensual sexual encounter involving a main character but has been downgraded to T based on input I've received.

Many thanks, as always, to my wonderful betas, Matt and Cathy, for their continuing feedback, patience and thoughtful critiques. None of what I write would be possible without their inspiration and support. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated and gratefully accepted.

STARGATE: SG-1
Unity

Chapter 1

Dr. Daniel Jackson staggered and tried to keep from falling as the momentum of his exit from the collapsing wormhole continued to force his body forward while his feet struggled to maintain their position at the top of the short flight of steps leading from the stargate platform to the dimly lit chamber below. The wormhole finally closed behind him, leaving only the 22 foot tall stone ring with its series of alien symbols that could send a traveler who knew its secrets across the galaxy in a matter of seconds.

Jackson quickly scanned the room to see how the rest of SG-1 had fared. The team leader, Lt. Col. Samantha Carter had caught herself halfway down the small flight of stairs and managed to keep from falling. She was now sweeping the room with her assault rifle as she moved toward the MALP remote monitoring device that had been sent ahead of them to make sure the area was safe before the human explorers came through. The third member of their team, Teal'c, formerly a resident of the planet Chulack and the first prime to the evil goa'uld Apophis before he'd allied himself with SG-1 in order to free his people from slavery, was standing calmly at the bottom of the steps as though the trip through the wormhole had not ruffled him in the least. He held his staff weapon at the ready and automatically moved to cover the opposite side of the room from Carter.

Assured that the rest of the team was safe, Jackson moved to the center of the room and scanned the walls of the large chamber looking for indications of which god or gods were worshipped by the inhabitants of this world. The first thing that caught his eye were the clear signs of disuse. Dust and cobwebs coated the walls making any symbols difficult to read. Jackson pulled out his flashlight and moved closer to the wall, focusing on a particular symbol that had captured his attention. Shifting his attention to the area around the symbol, he pulled a cloth out of his pocket and wiped away a layer of cobwebs and dust, before peering intently at the symbols hidden underneath.

"Sam!" he shouted.

"What is it?" Carter asked, looking up from her inspection of the MALP, her assault rifle at the ready.

"These people worshipped Ra."

"That explains why this place looks like it hasn't been used in awhile," responded Carter who was moving from checking the readouts on the MALP to running a check on the circular Dial Home Device located a dozen feet from the stargate that was their key to getting home from this remote planet. "The DHD looks fine," she reported to her teammates.

"It is strange that one of the other system lords did not take over this world after Ra's death," Teal'c said. "It is unlike them to neglect an opportunity to scavenge from the dead."

"Perhaps there's nothing left here worth stealing," Daniel posited. "It's possible someone came right after Ra's death and took anything worth taking then. This world may not be strategically important enough for them to have left any kind of guard or outpost."

"Well, I guess we'll find out," Carter said moving away from the DHD. "There are two doors. Teal'c, you stay here and cover the gate. Contact us immediately if there's an activation. I'll take the left door. Daniel, you take the right. Do a full sweep of each room, and try not to get distracted by any inscriptions. Report in immediately if you find anything interesting."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jackson responded with irritation.

Carter gave him an easy smile, but said in a serious tone, "I'm going to need your expertise to interpret what we find out there, Daniel, or I'd have Teal'c doing the sweep. I know you can handle yourself, but we don't know who or what's still here and you need to stay focused."

Jackson nodded in acknowledgment as he pulled the 9mm Beretta out of its holster and moved cautiously toward the door on the right. Passing through it, he found himself in a long corridor lined with several doors offset on either side of the hall. Carefully advancing to the first door on the left side of the corridor, he moved to the side of the door out of the firing range of anyone who might be inside and activated the doorswitch. When it swished open, he quickly stepped inside, sweeping the room with the gun. His searching eyes found only a small windowless room that had probably at one time been used for storage, but was now completely empty.

Daniel returned to the main hall and started down to the next door, which was on the right side of the hall. His heart was racing as he hit the doorswitch and pivoted into the room. His first impression was that it appeared to have been an antechamber of some kind. There were some ornate decorations on the walls -- mostly depictions of Ra -- but nothing else. As he returned to the hall, the silence in the building was almost deafening.

Jackson proceeded further down the hall to the next door, on the left side of the corridor, thumbed the control and pivoted into the room with his weapon at the ready. It was another small room, barely the size of a supply closet on the SGC base, and, again, totally empty. Letting out a breath of nervous impatience, he backed carefully out of the room, returning to the hallway to move to his next door, which was on the right.

Bingo! he thought to himself as he approached carefully and saw that it was a large double door, with ornate carving all around it. He activated the door switch and the twin doors swished open. As he entered the room, Jackson's first thought was that it was much larger than any of the others he had seen so far, and almost three times as large as the gate room. Moving further into the cavernous space, his attention was caught by the ornate carvings and intricate scrollwork that decorated the space. He noted that several of the walls had inscriptions, but he ignored them for the time being, remembering Carter's warning.

Facing him in the center of the room was a large platform with a pair of thrones, one larger and more ornate than the other and topped by the symbol of Ra. To the left of the thrones, the far end of the room was divided from the main space by a row of columns. The Roman architecture of the columns piqued Jackson's interest since it was so different than the Egyptian influence displayed throughout the rest of the room. As he approached the columned section, he heard a low hum coming from the area. Carefully moving forward, using one of the columns as a shield, Jackson slid his head carefully from behind the limited cover provided by the column and could only stand and stare dumbfounded at the scene before him.

The area behind the columns contained a chaise lounge, a small table with two ornately carved chairs and a life-sized statute of the human host of the goa'uld who had called himself Ra. Jackson winced at the likeness, remembering clearly how the man's soft, effeminate features and slight frame had been in sharp contrast to his cruel and inhumane treatment of those around him.

Jackson was so focused on the statue, he almost jumped out of his skin when a soft voice inquired in the goa'uld language, "Has Lord Ra finally returned? It has been so long, I was beginning to think he abandoned me."

Clutching the 9mm tightly, Jackson turned toward the voice and aimed the weapon. Standing on the other side of the column barrier, and slightly hidden behind one of them, was a beautiful young woman. She had alabaster skin, long black hair and dark eyes and wore a Roman style gown that appeared to be of 1st or 2nd century A.D. design. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked.

She stared at him assessingly, "You do not bear the accoutrements of Ra's guards. Who are you and what are you doing in his palace?"

"We're explorers. We came through the stargate and found this place. We thought it was deserted."

"Then you should go before Ra returns. He will be very angry if he finds you here and may cause you harm."

"Ra is dead," Jackson responded relaxing his grip on the 9mm slightly. "He's been dead for almost 10 years now."

"Dead?" she asked, clearly confounded by the concept. "How could he be dead? He is a god who has lived for millennia. I know because I have been his prisoner for much of that time. Have you come to free me at last?" she asked hopefully.

Not sure how to respond to that, Jackson activated his walkie-talkie. "Sam, I've found something very interesting. You should come right away. Second door on the right."

"On my way," Carter's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.

Daniel started to move toward the woman, but she cried out, "Stop!"

"I won't hurt you," Daniel said comfortingly, but he stopped anyway. "I just wanted to come a little closer so it would be easier for us to talk."

"You mustn't get too close to the barrier," the woman said, reaching her finger out tentatively toward a place between the columns. There was a loud sizzling sound accompanied by a burst of light, and she cried out in pain as she pulled back from the barrier nursing her finger. Daniel was startled to see it had been badly burned by the contact. "I do not know if it will harm you as it does me. Ra could move through it as though it were not even there."

"His personal shield probably protected him. Why are you his prisoner?"

The woman was still cradling her injured hand as she stood across the barrier from him looking down at the burned finger. When her eyes raised slowly back to his, they were misted with tears. "My people were enslaved by another goa'uld long ago. I was given to Ra as a peace offering so that he would not attempt to take our world for himself."

"Daniel! Where are you?" Carter's voice came from the door leading to the hallway.

"Over here, Sam," Daniel called back. "On the left side of the room, past the thrones, down by the columns."

The sound of Carter's boots smacking against the stone floor reverberated through the chamber. "This place is the size of Grand Central Station," Carter commented as she made her way over to Daniel, her assault rifle held at the ready. "What's up?"

Daniel pointed and Carter's mouth dropped open for a moment when she saw the young woman. Recovering herself quickly, she kept the rifle pointed directly at the stranger.

"Sam, it's okay. She's behind some kind of forcefield. She can't do anything to us."

"How can you be sure?" Carter asked.

"Because she showed me. When she touched the barrier, it burned her. Show her your hand."

The woman held out her hand and Daniel felt the first pricklings of alarm. The burn that had covered most of her finger a few minutes ago was practically gone.

"It doesn't look like much of an injury to me," Carter said.

"It was worse before," Daniel said quietly.

"How much worse?"

"Her entire finger was red and swollen."

"So she heals very quickly."

"So it seems."

Carter and Jackson stood surveying the captive woman warily. She began to move restlessly behind the barrier, clearly becoming agitated. "Have I done something wrong? Are you angry with me?" she asked.

It took Jackson a moment to realize that she was speaking in English. "How do you know our language?" he asked.

"I heard you speak it," she said, clearly perplexed by the question.

"But that was only a few sentences. How could you speak it so fluently after only hearing a few sentences? Have you seen others like us before and heard them speak it?"

"Ra has had others similar to you over the years, but none who spoke in exactly the same way."

"Then how . . ."

Carter cut off Daniel's question with one of her own. "Is there anyone else here with you?"

"Only you," she responded softly.

"And how long were you here by yourself before we came?"

"It is hard to be sure. Five years, maybe six. When Ra went away several years before that, he left some guards here to protect the palace and ensure that none of his enemies attempted to steal me from him. As the years passed and Ra did not return, the guards slowly disappeared. The last one tried to free me before he left, but he did not know how to turn off the barrier. So he left without me."

"And you've been here all alone for five years," Daniel asked, compassion clear in his voice.

"Yes."

"Daniel." Carter's voice held a warning and Jackson looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

Carter stared at Daniel as she asked the next question. "And how is it you've survived for five years without any food or water. I don't see any supplies in that room."

Startled, Daniel turned back to scan the space again and realized Carter was right.

"I have no need of such things," the woman responded.

"Why not?" Daniel asked. "All human beings need food and water to survive."

She looked at him, perplexed, then realization dawned on her face. "You could not have come for me, then. You do not even know what I am."

Slowly she backed away from the barrier and stood in the center of the chamber, closing her eyes. She lifted her hands toward them, but as they watched in stunned surprise, the hands seemed to just melt away, with the rest of her body following. The gelatinous fluid that remained flowed into the shape of bird, and within seconds a phoenix appeared, as though it had sprung to life from one of the ornate carvings on the walls. The bird moved closer to the barrier toward them, then turned and flew into the air, gracefully soaring around the small enclosure until it began melting again, this time becoming a hooded cobra that crawled it's way back across the floor and stood on the other side of the enclosure, it's tongue flicking out periodically as it surveyed the astonished humans. Finally, the snake drew back from the barrier and the creature melted one last time, returning to the human form they had first seen.

"What the hell!" Carter said, unconsciously shifting her rifle into a clearer firing position. "I thought she was just a goa'uld. What was that?"

"Shapeshifter," Daniel mumbled as he felt something pull inside of him, a memory that wanted desperately to break free but would not. He closed his eyes, trying to force it to come, but finally gave up in frustration.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Carter asked.

"What? Oh, nothing. I just thought, for a minute, that I was remembering something. I felt something, like recognition, when I thought about shapeshifters, but whatever it was won't come."

"Do you think it's something from when you were ascended?"

Daniel thought for a moment and finally shook his head in frustration. "I don't know. It just won't come."

Carter pulled out her walkie-talkie, "Teal'c, report."

A moment later the walkie-talkie flared to life, "All is quiet here, Colonel Carter."

Carter thought a moment, weighing the various options. Finally, she clicked the walkie-talkie on again. "Teal'c, Daniel and I have found something . . . interesting. Maintain your position for the time being. I may need you to activate the gate so we can contact the SGC."

"Very well," Teal'c responded.

As Carter examined the barrier, Daniel sat on the ground beside it, looking in at the shapeshifter, who was still in the form of the dark-haired woman. "What's your name," he asked.

"Ra called me Phoenix," she responded.

"The Phoenix is constantly reborn so I can see why he thought that was fitting, but that's what Ra called you. What is your name," Daniel repeated. "What do you call yourself or what did others of your kind call you before you came to Ra?"

She smiled softly. "In their natural state, our kind do not communicate as you do. There is no need for words to describe who we are. We simply are. If you wish to give me a designation, you may call me Aurora."

"Aurora, that's a pretty name. In Roman mythology, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn, the bringer of the new day. I'm Daniel Jackson and that is Colonel Samantha Carter," he said, pointing to Sam who was staring intently at one of the columns.

"What I am frightens your friend . . . and you," she said softly.

"We've encountered shapeshifters before," he said. "We had a . . . misunderstanding with them. They thought we were trying to harm the people they were protecting so they infiltrated our world by taking the forms of some of our people and tried to destroy our facility. So we're a bit nervous about your abilities. Can you change into anything you want, or are there limitations?"

"Within the confines of my prison, my ability to shift is limited to things I know or remember from my previous life. If I am able to touch something, I can duplicate it exactly. Otherwise, I can only try to copy it, but the appearance will not be exact."

"DNA," came Samantha Carter's distracted voice. "Do you mean that if you touch someone you can reproduce its DNA exactly?"

Aurora frowned, considering. "If the DNA you speak of are the tiny cells that make up all living things, then yes, that is what I can do."

Carter signaled to Daniel to join her several yards from the barrier, "So she's similar to the aliens who protect Tonane and the Salish. If we let her out of that cage and she touches one of us, she can become that person and the rest of us wouldn't know the difference."

"We can't just leave her here, Sam," Daniel protested. "She's a living being. It would be inhumane to leave her here totally alone. Besides, how do we know who would eventually find her. Do you really want her falling into the hands of someone like Anubis? Can you imagine what he'd do with his own personal shapeshifter at his disposal."

Carter gripped the assault rifle tighter in one hand as she ran the other impatiently up and down her thigh, weighing her options.

"We need to contact the SGC and get the General's input on this."

Daniel nodded agreement and Carter activated her walkie-talkie. "Teal'c, I need you to dial home so I can send a message through, then bring the MALP down here. There's something the General is going to need to see.

Less than five minutes later, Teal'c came striding through the door with the MALP in tow. "What have you found that is so interesting?" he asked.

"You'll see in a minute," Carter said. "Let's set it up over here."

They moved the MALP into position a few feet from the barrier. Carter adjusted the camera so it was pointing at her for the moment.

"What's going on, Carter?" came the voice of Brig. General Jack O'Neill.

"We've found something interesting, sir, and need to know how you want us to handle it," she responded.

O'Neill's face filled the screen as he leaned into the camera back at the SGC, squinting at the viewscreen on his end. "Where? What is it?"

"Just a minute, sir," Carter said, turning the camera toward the barrier. "Aurora, would you mind repeating what you did a few minutes ago."

"If you wish," the woman said with resignation, moving to the center of the chamber again. A few seconds later the phoenix flew across the chamber, then the snake crawled toward the barrier and then Aurora was herself again.

"Holy shit," O'Neill said. "What the hell was that?"

"She's a shapeshifter, sir. She's been a prisoner of Ra for centuries. She was abandoned here when Ra's guards defected after his death. There's a forcefield trapping her."

"Interesting, indeed," Teal'c said, his staff weapon aimed unwaveringly at the alien.

"She's been here totally alone for five years, Jack," Daniel added poking his head into the camera's field of vision. "We need to help her."

"Help her how?" O'Neill asked, running his hand through his close-cropped hair.

"Get her out from behind that barrier for starters," Daniel said. "Then help her find her way home or, at least, to her own people. We think it's possible that she's related in some way to the shapeshifters who protect Tonane and the Salish."

"Are we sure setting her free is a good idea?" O'Neill asked. "How do we know she's not behind that forcefield because she's dangerous?"

"She was Ra's prisoner, Jack," Daniel said in frustration. "He's kept her in a cage, treating her like some kind of exotic pet for centuries. That's no way for any sentient being to live. The least we can do is free her."

"Carter?" came O'Neill's annoyed voice.

"I've examined the forcefield device and think I can deactivate it without harming the shapeshifter or destroying the technology. It would be good for us to have an opportunity to study how it works. We might be able to use the technology or at least find a way to adapt it to other uses."

"Technology is good," O'Neill said still frowning, "but I want you to be absolutely sure before you turn it off that you're not in any danger from . . . her, it, whatever that thing is."

"We're not," Daniel said, surprising even himself with his conviction.

"Carter!" O'Neill barked, the hand raking through his short crop of hair a sure sign he was losing patience with the discussion.

"It's all right, sir. Everything's under control," she said calmly to O'Neill before stepping out of camera range to round on Daniel. "What is with you?" she hissed. "You've been here a sum total of 20 minutes. How can you be so sure she's not dangerous?"

Daniel's face was troubled, "I don't know how, Sam, I just know. I feel it in my gut. We have to help her. It's wrong to leave her here like this. It's just wrong."

Carter shook her head and stepped back in front of the camera. "Sir, I concur with Daniel that we should release the alien. If we found our way here, it's only a matter of time before Ba'al or one of the other goa'uld does too. It would be much more dangerous to leave her here and let her fall into their hands."

"So what do you propose we do, Carter?" O'Neill asked testily, "Bring it back to the base? What happens if it suddenly decides it doesn't like the guest quarters and turns into the jelly stuff and just slides under the door? We can't have a shapeshifter running loose on a top secret military installation."

"Perhaps you could try contacting Thor, O'Neill" Teal'c suggested. "Perhaps the Asgard will know how to contact the shapeshifters on Tonane's world as we will not be able to reach them since they buried their gate. Or perhaps they may know where others of her kind are and can take her to them."

O'Neill was still frowning, but said, "I'll make the call and get back to you."

"We'll leave the gate open as long as possible and continue to transmit the visual from the MALP, sir. If it looks like anything is going wrong, you can shut it down from your end immediately."

"Make sure nothing goes wrong, Carter. O'Neill out."

The video screen went blank and Carter finally let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Well, all of this discussion is moot if we don't figure out how this forcefield works and how to deactivate it," she said. "Aurora, has anyone ever fired a staff weapon at the forcefield from the outside?"

"The last of my jailers tried that in an attempt to free me before he left," the woman responded. "The energy was simply absorbed by the field and made it even stronger for a time."

"Did he point it directly at the field or did he try shooting the columns themselves?"

Aurora frowned a moment in concentration. "I believe he aimed for the space where the field comes out of the column."

"Did it hurt you at all when he tried that?"

"No. I stood far away from the barrier."

"Then that'll be our last ditch effort. Did you ever see anyone tinkering with controls or panels of any kind for the forcefield?"

"Ra had a handheld device he sometimes used to change the strength of the field. At lower levels the guards could pass through some items to me without harm to themselves, while the field would still cause me harm."

"It sounds like it's specifically tuned to her cellular structure," Carter said thoughtfully.

"Is that good?" Daniel asked.

Carter shrugged, "It could be. It might mean we'll be able to pass through the field without injury. That might be helpful if I need a closer look at those columns. Our best bet, though, is to find that control device she was talking about. Unless Ra had it with him when his ship was blown up, it should be here somewhere."

Daniel looked around thoughtfully and his eyes landed on the thrones. "Let me do some poking around. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Jackson went over to the dais holding the thrones and walked thoughtfully around its circumference, studying the design of the elaborate pieces intently, looking for any indication of a secret drawer or panel. After a few minutes with no success, he sat down in the larger throne, hoping the different perspective would prove more fruitful. He ran his fingers carefully over both arms, finding nothing. He sat back for a moment looking over the room and drumming his fingers on the right arm. The throne was so large that even at 6', Daniel felt small sitting in it. And Ra had been even smaller, Daniel remembered. His host had been a teenage boy, barely 5'6", if that, and very slender. He would have looked like a child in this seat. Unless, of course, there was a reason he wanted it to be this large.

Daniel shifted his body to the left side of throne and carefully ran his fingers over the exposed seat area on the right side. Just as he was about to give up and try the other side, one searching finger passed over a small indentation where the seat met the arm. Ra had also had small, delicate hands, so Daniel was not surprised to find that his own fingers were too large to manipulate the control. Undaunted, he pulled a small tool kit out of one of the inner pockets of his fatigue jacket and selected a thin probe from it. Carefully, he worked the probe into the indentation and couldn't help grinning when he heard the satisfying sound of a latch coming open. A small section of the seat popped up slightly, giving him just enough of a handhold to pull it the rest of the way open.

"Sam!" he called out excitedly. "Can you come here for a minute."

"What is it?" Carter asked as she crossed the room toward him. "What did you find?"

"Oh, lots of good stuff," he said with a smile. "This haul should keep them busy at Area 51 for quite awhile."

Carter peered into the small opening and her eyes widened as she realized that even though the opening was narrow, the hidden compartment it served went down almost a foot and was as long and wide as the seat of the throne. And it was crammed full of jewels, coins, figurines and a variety of what looked like goa'uld control devices. She could see at least two of the hand devices that could cause injury or healing depending on the skill of the user, several of the small personal shield devices and a few others she didn't recognize. At the top of the pile, though, closest to the opening was a small device that was obviously meant to be used as a hand held controller.

"That looks like the device Aurora told us about," Sam said, reaching in tentatively to pick it up.

"Be careful, Sam," Daniel said intently, "Ra wasn't stupid. It might be booby trapped."

"You've been watching too many Indiana Jones movies, Daniel," Sam responded with a smile, as she pulled the controller out of the compartment without incident.

"You never know," Daniel said with what Sam thought might actually be a tinge of disappointment that the room hadn't started to collapse around them. "There are plenty of those types of incidents that have been written up in the archaeological journals over the years. It's not all made up."

"I'm sure it's not," Sam said distractedly, more concerned with figuring out how to operate the small device than with ancient booby traps.

"Hey, Teal'c, come over and help me out here," Daniel called out, burying his arm in the seat of the throne as he started to shovel out a variety of treasures. "And bring my knapsack over."

Carter approached the barrier and started fiddling with the buttons on the controller. As she watched, the electronic buzz of the barrier flared, then slowly began to ebb. "Daniel, Teal'c, I need you over here," she said. "I'm going to try and bring it down now."

Teal'c was at her side in seconds, his staff weapon at the ready. Daniel lagged behind, the overstuffed knapsack thrown over his shoulder. When he finally reached the others, he made no move to draw his weapon and simply stood watching dispassionately.

"Daniel?"

"She won't hurt us, Sam," he said with a mixture of conviction and stubbornness that infuriated the Colonel while giving her a momentary flash of sympathy for O'Neill, who she now realized had shown incredible restraint over the years with the archaeologist and his idealistic streak.

"Besides, she's a shapeshifter. What good's a gun going to do if she does decide to hurt us," Daniel added, giving her his best 'whatever will be, will be' look.

Shaking her head, Carter said, "If you're not going to be armed, then stand back a little so you're not in the way in case we have to fire."

Holding the controller with one hand and her zat with the other, Carter flicked the switch to what she believed was the 'off' position. The buzzing from the area of the barrier stopped. Aurora stepped forward tentatively and carefully reached her hand out to where the barrier had been. Her hand continued through and she cried out in delight, leaping quickly through the space where the barrier had been.

"I'm free! Free at last! How can I ever thank you?" she gushed. "Just ask and it shall be yours. When I return to my people, they will be so grateful, they, too, will give you anything you ask."

The conversation was interrupted by a loud groaning sound from the columned area. "Damn!" Carter shouted. "There must be structural damage over there. The columns are shifting. The forcefield must have been the only thing holding that section together. Now that it's gone, the columns are starting to collapse." She worked the controller frantically. "The initial shift must have knocked it far enough out of alignment to prevent it from reactivating. Let's get out of here! Fast! Before it all comes down on top of us!"

"Are you sure it wasn't a boo. . .?"

"Don't even say it, Daniel. Just get moving!" Carter shouted. "Teal'c, bring the MALP if you can. If you can't, just leave it."

Daniel grabbed Aurora's hand and pulled her with him as they raced from the main chamber, listening to the sounds of collapse cascading behind them. "It sounds like the whole thing is coming down," Daniel yelled.

"I hope they saw what's going on back at the base and shut the gate down already. Be ready to dial as soon as we get to the gateroom. We're going to P5C-898."

"Why?" Daniel asked, "there's nothing there." Carter's quick glance at Aurora was his only answer.

They sped into the gateroom and were relieved to see the gate had indeed been shut down. Daniel's hands started hitting the appropriate symbols almost before he'd stopped moving. He hit the final symbol, then pressed the red activator in the center of the device. Within seconds, the wormhole opened, but even the loud whoosh it made couldn't drown out the sounds of the building falling down around them.

"Let's go," Carter shouted, jumping into the swirling puddle of energy. Teal'c followed after her dragging the MALP behind him as if it were weightless. Daniel took one last look back and saw the doorway to the room starting to buckle before he pulled Aurora up the stairs and into the wormhole.