AN- Not nearly as long as the last chapter, but I think that it's just as powerful...wonder what you guys think. Leave me a review please!

“We weren’t on P3x-584 sir,” answered Altman.

“Somehow,” Sam began looking confused. “We got sent to a different planet.”

“Walter?” Landry asked, calling up to the control room.

“I’m reviewing the gate diagnostics sir,” he replied over the intercom.

“How could this have happened?” Landry asked turning back to Sam.

She shrugged. “If it is a gate malfunction, it’s a pretty big one,” Sam stated looking worried. “Unlike any we’ve seen before.”

“Chief,” Landry began turning to Walter who was clicking on the computer as Daniel and Vala came to the control room. “Inform all off-world teams to use the Alpha site from now on.”

“Why?” asked Daniel.

“They ended up on a different planet,” answered Walter as he continued to run a gate diagnostic. “Colonel Carter doesn’t know why.”

“She might not know,” stated Vala as she looked over Walter’s shoulder. “But I do…”

IOI

“Interstellar call forwarding huh?” asked Cameron as Vala finished explaining the safe-guards that certain top secret goa’uld facilities used. “That’s pretty cool.”

“How did the MALP get through then?” asked Daniel. “I mean, it was on the right planet.”

Vala nodded. “That’s because your MALP has no organic material on it. The program on determines organic being to be a threat, any thing that’s bolts and wires will have no problem getting through….anything living and breathign however…..” she paused, shrugging her shoulders as if to say tough luck. But Sam had an idea, and asked for Vala’s help to get it working.

IOI

“Wow,” stated Cameron as he arrived at a clearing to see Daniel, Teal’c and Vala looking at a ring platform. “It’s amazing what people leave laying around! Where do those go?”

Daniel shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

“Um, are we sure we want to do that?” asked Vala. “I mean this was a secret base of some unknown goa’uld. Who knows what might be down there.”

“We’re going to find out,” Daniel stated.

Vala shook her head. “Why? I mean I’m sure that there’s a lot we can learn on the surface.”

“Yes but exploring is what we do,” Daniel stated with an exasperated sigh as he pulled Vala onto the rings, watching as the surface disappeared from view.

IOI

The rings deposited the four of them at the entrance to a cave which was pitch black. They had to turn on their flashlights to see where they are going and then they entered. From the small patches of lights they could see that it was a lab with equipment everywhere. Of most interest was a pedestal near the entrance but everything seemed turned off.

“Well this is exciting,” Vala muttered.

Cameron nodded. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been home for a while.”

“This looks like a science lab,” Daniel pointed out.

“This alone looks familiar,” Teal’c stated as he referred to a raised circular platform on the floor. “It is the DNA Manipulation Device that the goa’uld Nirrti used.”

Vala’s eyes narrowed with distain while Cameron’s raised in interest. “Nirrit? She was the goa’uld that was trying to create an advanced host right? She ended up with a bunch of super freaks who turned on her….that was a cool file to read.”

Daniel suppressed a smile, shook his head and pressed some buttons on the pedestal. The DNA device activated showing a hologram in colour of a DNA strand with labels written in yellow pointing to individual genes. “It’s in Ancient…”

“Daniel,” Vala began slowly, stopping Cameron from moving from her side. “Anubis used ancient writing.”

“So did the ancients,” Cameron pointed out.

Daniel nodded. “I know, but safeguarding their lab in this way isn’t quite their em-oh.”

“Yes,” Vala agreed. “Which means that this place belonged to-”

“Hey-” Cameron interrupted pointing his flashlight across the room. “Look what we have here,” he paused and only started walking forward when Daniel and Vala joined him. “Looks like when everyone abandoned ship, this guys went down with it.”

“Ship?” asked Vala, looking quizzically to Daniel.

“Metaphor,” he stated. “Remember- sometimes humans say things-”

“That are meant to convey something else,” Vala finished, “Right of course….what are you guys going to do with him?”

IOI

They decided to study him for a while until the IOA decided that he needed to be studied, despite the risk that he was some science experience of the goa’uld Anubis. “It’s a bad idea having him here,” Vala stated as she and Daniel walked away from their interview with Khalek whom they found out was a genetically grown individual and had all of his ‘father’s memories. “He’s a goa’uld.”

Daniel shook his head. “Not technically.”

“Not technically?” she asked. “Daniel how can you say that? Not technically. Technically I’m not a goa’uld anymore because the snake is outta my head but some sicko could twist it so that because I have the occasional memory of Quetesh that makes me a goa’uld as well…that man in there is a goa’uld because he processes the egotistical, psychotic personality of one.”

Daniel sighed. “I know, but there’s nothing that I can do.”

Vala nodded and let Daniel continue on his way. “You might not be able to do anything about it Daniel, but I can.”

IOI

“What do you have to say for yourself?” asked Landry as he sat across Vala who was sitting across from him in another interrogation room. “Well?”

Vala closed her eyes, knowing full well that Daniel was watching her through what she called the magic windows which were a mirror on one side and a regularly viewing window on the other. “I’m not sorry,” she whispered.

“What?” asked Landry. “You’re not sorry?”

Vala shook his head. “No. That man, that Khalek was basically the son of your worst enemy and you were letting him live. I understand that you could have learnt something from him but it wasn’t worth the risk. He could have ascended or worse used his enhanced abilities to destroy this base and all of us along with it. I did what had to be done. I did what no one else could or would do. I solved the problem….and if I am going to be punished for that well then, maybe I don’t belong here after all.”

IOI

“Sir, she’s right you know,” Sam defended as she followed Landry down a corridor. “Khalek posed a significant threat, Dr. Lam’s just now going over his MRI with a fine tooth comb and she figures that Khalek was only hours away from reaching a point of advanced brain activity that would have caused some serious trouble…”

“What are you saying?”

Sam sighed. “What I’m saying is that she saved us all….again.”

IOI

Vala was waiting, just waiting. She could still feel Daniel’s eyes upon her, but when the door opened a part of her was hoping that she was wrong. And she was. “I thought Mitchell told you to stay out of trouble,” he stated sitting across from her.

She sighed. “I know…I know.”

“Vala,”

“Daniel?”

“I know that you think you did the right thing,”

Vala shook her head. “You’re right. I do know that I did the right thing and you know what, you know it too.”

“I do,”

She threw her hands up in frustration. “Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem,” he began slowly, reaching out to take her hand. “Is that-”

“I’m playing with a different set of rules,” Vala interrupted. “I know.”

“Then you know that what you’ve done, while it did save us was wrong so far as the IOA are concerned,” he explained. “I know that that doesn’t seem fair to you or to anyone but-”

“But what’s done is done,” she whispered, interrupting Daniel. “And we can’t go back…” Vala paused, looked up into Daniel’s eyes and gave his hand a worried squeeze. “What’s going to happen to me?”

Daniel shook his head. He didn’t know the answer. But he could see that Vala was in the verge of tears so Daniel moved around the table and gave her a hug- which she gratefully accepted with open arms.