DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.  Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.  Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).

"And which little beauty would this one be?" O'Neill said, almost with resignation. Hell, System Lords kept creeping out of the woodwork. Trust them to find themselves on a planet which was host to another one.

"Khepera," came the quiet response. Teal'c turned his head and looked at Daniel, his eyes widening.

"Daniel Jackson. Khepera is dead. I have heard the tales from men who watched Ra destroy him many years ago."

Daniel shrugged and reached into the bowl of grapes again. He knew what he'd read. Sam got up off the steps and sauntered across to them.

"Well I guess they thought Hathor was dead once," she added to the conversation.

"Yes, but there's a difference, Captain. Hathor disappeared. If Teal'c's right, and there were actual witnesses to his death, how in hell's name is he here?" O'Neill asked. "Daniel, suggestions?"

Daniel sighed. He hated what he'd read. "All the inscriptions on the chamber wall tell of a continual cleansing, a purge of the lower caste here. Anyone who didn't fit whatever warped standard Khepera had established, got shipped out and the weak simply disappeared. It fits with what we know of Khepera as an Egyptian God. He was the God of self-generation and self- renewal. Ethnic cleansing suits his MO. You see all the scarabs everywhere? Khepera was seen by the Egyptians to have the head of a beetle. That's one more pointer for the theory that this is his stronghold."

Sam fingered a gold scarab which wound its way up the column nearest to her. She shuddered inwardly.

Daniel continued. "He was also known as the God of the Rising Sun and I expect that pissed off Ra, who was also known as the God of the Sun. Khepera was a self made God in Egypt. Ra probably saw him as a usurper to the throne."

Teal'c interrupted. "Daniel Jackson is correct. It is doubtful that Ra would tolerate Khepera's insolence. But those tales of his death that I heard, were told by men who do not lie, nor fabricate to gain attention. If they say that Ra killed him, then I believe that is what they saw."

O'Neill shook his head. "Okay, let's say this Khepera somehow rose from the dead."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

O'Neill caught the look and raised his hand. "Stay with me on this one, Teal'c. Say Khepera miraculously survived. What's he doing here? And more to the point, why is he sending half the population back to Goa'uld town? Doesn't make sense if he was on Ra's hit list. Not exactly my idea of low profile."

"But, sir, Ra is dead. Maybe Khepera is back in favour again," Sam offered shrugging.

O'Neill nodded. "Okay, I'll buy that. With Ra dead, Khepera might be sneaking back into favour, but the whole set-up here still doesn't make sense," O'Neill said.

Daniel nodded reluctantly. "I'd have liked to have got more of the inscriptions translated."

"I'd like to get the Tokra's take on this," Sam muttered.

"Well we're on our own on this one, kids," O'Neill replied and thought for a minute.

"If the people here are used to seeing Goa'uld foot soldiers come through the gate and take slaves back, why aren't they afraid of you, Teal'c?" he said.

"Because your Jaffa friend does not wear the armour of the guards," a voice replied.

SG1 swung around in unison. Teal'c lowered his staff and pointed it.

The tall figure, which stood in the doorway laughed. "You think I would face the Tau'ri without some sort of a personal force field?" His laughter ran across the room, echoing off the walls.

O'Neill waved a hand at Teal'c who lowered the staff.

"Khepera, I assume?" he said, his eyes taking the Goa'uld's and locking with them.

"How astute of you," Khepera replied and moved forwards. "The Tau'ri have progressed well since we left your pitiful little planet. The tales I have been hearing do you justice."

O'Neill acknowledged the barbed compliment with a nod.

"Strangely, we can't return the compliment. I mean, you're supposed to be dead," he said.

Khepera pulled himself to his full height, his eyes glowing slightly. "My death was widely exaggerated," he replied and flicked his eyes to Sam.

O'Neill caught the look and stiffened.

"A Tau'ri female? How delightful," Khepera said and moved into the room. "Zophra was very excited about you my dear. I see your beauty was not exaggerated," he added.

Sam stepped backwards. Khepera's eyes glowed brighter and his hand came up, the palm glowing.

"I don't think so," O'Neill said as he side stepped quickly and stood in front of her.

"Colonel, I can..." she started.

"Not this time, Captain, not this time," he said firmly.

Khepera lowered his hand and smiled. "I can wait. There will be other times," he said. He stood feet from O'Neill. His head moved to one side and he digested what he saw in front of him.

"Touching. The Tau'ri's weakness is still prevalent I see. Protection of each other at any cost. You will never win against the Goa'uld, you are too weak, too bound up in compassion and acts of self sacrifice. The Goa'uld are strong, they care little for such things. Your weakness will be your downfall."

"Well we weren't so weak when we got rid of Ra, were we?" Daniel said.

Khepera rounded on him, his eyes flashing. "Ah, so this is indeed the Tau'ri group who killed the great God, Ra, is it?"

"Not so great...." muttered Sam under her breath.

Khepera spun around again. "You dare to take Ra's name and lessen its significance. You would dare?"

"Hey, now Ra's not your buddy. You kinda got killed by him, or so we heard," O'Neill said, interested at his reaction.

Khepera drew himself upright and hissed. "You are fools. You believe what you hear and not what you see with your own eyes. Ra did not kill me. Ra was my ally. Ra faked my death and sent me through the Gate to provide us both with an invincible army. My death was a ploy. My destiny was to provide a secret army for us both, and then to sit by Ra's side when he had defeated those who would challenge him. You have destroyed our original plan. Your meddling has cost me greatly."

"So I guess going home is out of the question?" O'Neill quipped and raised his eyebrows at the others.

Khepera smiled. "I will send you to your home planet when I have finished with you. But your homecoming will be as painful for those who find your bodies as for yourselves," he said.

"Revenge is sweet," muttered O'Neill.

"My revenge for Ra's death will be very sweet indeed. However, I must acknowledge that your team has caused many problems to my enemies. For that I may thank you in some small way. Perhaps your bodies will never return home." Khepera turned towards the door.

"Gee, don't be a stranger now," O'Neill shouted as the door shut behind him.

"Way to go, Daniel. Telling him how we kicked Ra's ass right into hyperspace," O'Neill muttered.

"Well, I did think that Ra was his enemy. Goa'uld don't usually form alliances." Daniel replied shrugging.

"Daniel's right, colonel. If Ra had been his enemy then logically Khepera would have been grateful," Sam said.

"Okay, okay, you don't have to gang up on me," O'Neill said and sat down heavily. "Choices?" he said looking around at each of them.

"Get to the gate," offered Sam. As the words left her lips she knew it would be a pointless effort even trying.

"Yeah, well Captain, somehow I don't think we're going to get very far past those damn guards," O'Neill said and looked across at Teal'c.

"I could take out the next group who enter through the door, O'Neill," Teal'c said, fingering his staff intently.

"Sure, we could try that," O'Neill said thoughtfully, and a thought started to come to mind.

"Daniel, do we know anything about the so-called underclass on this planet?" he asked.

Daniel took off his glasses and took out a handkerchief to clean them. He was silent for a second and then spoke. "The walls did indicate that the underclass were "multitudinous" - the inscriptions' words, not mine. If that's so, then possibly there are some left somewhere. You thinking resistance?"

O'Neill nodded. "We need for two of us to get out of here and track down anyone who can help us. The other two need to get back to the gate and fast. If we can get some reinforcements here...." his words trailed off as the door opened again, and he swiftly put a finger to his mouth and then sat back against the cushions.

Six guards entered through the door, together with Zophra and a young woman, heavily veiled but wearing a side arm. Her eyes peered out from behind the veil, dark and cold.

"The great Khepera demands that you be taken to our preparation rooms," he said and bowed.

Alarm bells started ringing in O'Neill's head as the others leapt instinctively to their feet.

"Preparation for what?" O'Neill asked, his face registering a mixture of apprehension and anger.

"I am not permitted to inform you. However, Selphic will be carrying out our Master's instructions. She will explain," Zophra replied, his face impassive.

Selphic bowed and then clicked her fingers.

Two human/reptilian guards moved swiftly towards Teal'c, his staff coming up in seconds and opening fire on them immediately. They staggered backwards momentarily and then launched forwards. Teal'c stared at his weapon in disbelief, the discharge had merely damaged their clothes, their skin appeared intact. He looked at O'Neill in surprise as his staff was removed and he was bundled through the doors.

"Perhaps you would wish the guards to become more violent with your other friends?" Selphic said, her eyes narrowing as she stood in front of O'Neill.

"Oh, I don't think so," he replied and swiftly reached forwards towards her, his hand taking her veil and pulling it swiftly away from her face, his other hand grabbing at the weapon which nestled at her waist.

One of the guards lifted his energy weapon and fired.

As O'Neill fell to the floor he noticed through the mist which became his companion, that the woman had a strangely deformed face, her features part reptilian, part human and part something he couldn't comprehend. As a fog took his senses and muted the pain he wondered if he cared.

"Jack. Come on out of it." The voice was damn persistent. The fog felt nice. He didn't want to wake out of it. Damn it, why should he? Then he felt the shaking and it irritated him. He pushed the perpetrator away with his arm and slowly opened his eyes reluctantly.

"Jeez, Daniel. Can't a guy get some rest around here?" he said as he pushed himself up on one hand and massaged his temples ruefully with the other.

"You've been out for four hours. I kind of thought you might like to know what's happened to the others," Daniel said as he helped O'Neill to a more upright position.

O'Neill grimaced. "What were those things, anyway?" he said as he shook his head fiercely, trying to shake the ache and the fog away.

Daniel shrugged. "Some sort of stun gun," he suggested.

O'Neill nodded and then looked over to him. "You okay?" he asked.

"Sure. I'm more worried about the others. That woman or whatever she was, Selphic, she took Carter away when you were hit. Teal'c was already gone. It seems like they've got different plans for each of us," he said glumly.

"Divide and conquer," O'Neill said slowly and then got to his feet with a grunt, the exertion causing his head to pound.

Daniel nodded and looked up at him. "You might as well sit down, Jack. I've had four hours to look over this place. There's no way of getting out."

O'Neill looked at him sceptically. "Mind if I take a look. Nothing personal," he said, and winced as he stretched his arms.

Daniel nodded, understanding. "Be my guest," he offered.

O'Neill walked slowly around the room, his eyes scanning the walls and then the ceiling. Then he walked back again, this time scanning the walls and the floor. The room was a simple square shape. The walls were white, the ceiling was white and the floor was white. There was one entrance, which was also the exit. A set of eight bars running vertically down the length of the wall, each one set four or so inches apart from the other. There was no sign of a lock. There was a small silver convenience in the corner and a small metallic tap which protruded from the wall. A tiny droplet of water had found its way to the end of the tap.

Finally he dropped down next to Daniel. "Okay, you win," he said.

"It's not a victory I want," Daniel mumbled and leant back.

O'Neill nodded in agreement. "Do we know where they took Carter and Teal'c?" he asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Daniel looked at him, his eyes hollow. He knew that they were the only chance the other two had. He knew that somehow they had to get out. He also knew that when Jack found out where they had been taken and why, his urge to get out would make him as desperate as he'd been while Jack had been unconscious.

He looked down at his hands and the scratched and bleeding nails and fingertips. He hadn't told Jack how long he'd tried to wrench the bars apart, even though he knew it was impossible. He hadn't told him how long he'd tried to wrench the damn tap from the wall just to get some sort of weapon to get them out. Now he knew Jack would do the same and he also knew how futile it would be.

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