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They were watching the activity of the camp through the mini binoculars they all carried. Movement was casual, there didn't seem to be any sort of sign that their presence had been detected. Casey did a search, and found three men she described as 'bureaucrats'. There were only two scientists that she could identify positively. They were left to assume that the five geneticists on the freighter were from this camp.

Two groups of people, each made up of an equal number of men and women, were lining up to go inside the dining hall.

"Two lab rats and three paper pushers," she whispered into her radio as the five, wearing what looked like Nazi uniforms, left the large laboratory together. One of the scientists was holding a device. The other was gesticulating excitedly with his hands and arms. The three bureaucrats, one of whom looked suspiciously like one of former Senator Kinsey's aides, appeared unimpressed. The scientists exchanged a look, and the one holding the device did something with it. The group of people to the left of the door began to scream, hands pressing against their heads, several of them dropping to their knees. The other group watched impassively.

"What the hell?" Turk's voice asked softly.

The former Aide walked over to the group that watched, but remained silent. The scientist with the device once again did something. There was no response at all. The Aide appeared impressed. An order was given; they could hear the voice, but not the individual words. The people stripped, and stood passively once again.

The Aide chose one of the women from the line, pulled her forward, shoved her to her knees, and within seconds he was receiving a blowjob. They could hear the Aide laugh, and then groan long and loud. He pointed to three men and then to the woman who was still on her knees in front of him. Again, only seconds passed and she was taking on all three of the men.

The two men who were wearing the same type of uniform as the Aide began to laugh, unzipped their pants, and rammed their cocks into the asses of the man on top of the woman, his cock in her ass, and the man who was ramming his cock down her throat. Not one sound was heard from any of the four people busily fucking one another. The others in the line remained completely impassive. Those who had reacted with screams and obvious agony were standing once again. Their faces were a mixture of horror and disbelief.

Casey frowned. Something was very wrong. 'Daniel, we need to get closer.'

'What?'

'Something is wrong. I thought those people worked for the NID. I'm not so sure that's true.'

'Let's go.' He closed his eyes, already moving toward her.

He was frowning as he approached her. "Are these people here voluntarily?"

"So, what else can we make them do?" the taller of the men asked, a twisted grin on his face.

"Sir, if we told them to fuck each other to death, that's exactly what they would do."

The other man in the Nazi type uniform shoved his cock into the woman's mouth. "Clean it off, bitch," he growled. "Can't put it away dirty, now, can I?" He laughed uproariously.

The Aide rolled his eyes. "Other than this very…interesting demonstration…what good is this?"

The scientist grinned. "If you put a weapon in their hands, give them a specific target, they won't stop until that target is taken out."

The Aide smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear!"

"Now, with the transfusions, making them Immortal, we can make sure that a clean up team can return them to headquarters. The best thing about it is, they'll continue to learn and gain experience. Which they'll use each time they're given…assignments."

"Excellent. How long until the entire process is complete?"

"As soon as we have several of the children, we can start taking the plasma needed for the process."

"And the process for the Jackson children?"

"I have strict orders that the plasma derived from them is to be used for the Committee and Senior staff only," the scientist replied.

The Aide didn't seem to like this answer. "Very well, carry on. And for heaven's sake, have those people dress and eat their breakfast!" He spun on his heel, walked toward the Quonset hut on the left.

He could feel her shaking. "It's okay, Angel. They're safe."

He opened his eyes. Slid closer to Jack. Whispered in the man's ear. Casey knew when the news about his girls had been passed on; his face went from pale to red with rage. She scooted closer to Teal'c, motioned for Sam's attention.

"Long story short," she whispered. "Those bastards want any or all of the Immortal kids. Evvie and Amber are with my folks, Richie, Tessa and Carly too."

Sam's face paled, tears filled her eyes. "Please, Casey, I have to know…"

Casey nodded. 'Daddy?'

'Yes, Little One?'

'The O'Neill girls?'

'Are playing on the beach with Nicholas and Emily.'

'Thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

She could 'feel' his smile. "They're playing on the beach with Emmie and Nicholas."

Sam nodded, dropped her head onto her hand for just a moment. Shivered, then took a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Any time, girlfriend."

A  A  A  A  A  A

The group of people who had stripped were dressed once again, and both groups had marched quietly into the dining hall.

Jack sat back against the tree behind him. "Okay, what was with the first group, and the screaming?"

"The…process…isn't complete in them. Using the device attached to their temple only causes pain at this point in time…probably because they're still fighting…or at least struggling a bit, to retain control of their minds," Casey replied.

The older man nodded. "Okay, we need to know about that group camped by the river."

She nodded, reached out for Daniel's hand. A few minutes later she opened her eyes, and smiled. "Runaways. And Mr. Menendez doesn't have the warm bodies to go after them."

"Think they'll help us?"

"I doubt it. Every one of those people have been taken from prisons, I can only sense about four states. All south of the Mason-Dixon line," she added. "Most people there believe that the criminals in the prisons are there because they deserve to be. Not too much concern if one or two die due to unknown circumstances."

"They faked the deaths of these people, then brought them here," Jack surmised, a frown on his face.

"I'm thinking that they brought them all in one large group," Casey said.

"And by the time they got here, they were freaked out and pissed off," Daniel said. "So those who are by the river have probably been there since this place…opened…or whatever."

"I think so," Casey agreed. "And these guys are the worst of the worst. Probably would have made formidable…soldiers…since that's what the NID goons are trying to create."

"So this…Committee wants the soldiers Immortal, but they want the psychic powers for themselves," Jack mused.

"Seems that way."

"What are the chances of those…in those Quonset huts fighting us?" Sam asked.

Jack shook his head. "It's a damned sure bet that those that've been…processed…won't. The others, I don't know."

"There's a woman…she should be there…" Casey cocked her head sideways. "She's at the river!"

"What?" Jack hissed in surprise.

"NID leader. She's with the group at the river. She has been for several…weeks…yep, several weeks now."

"Willingly or unwillingly?" Daniel asked.

Casey reached out again. Grimaced slightly. "Unwillingly. The river group is trying to force her to take them back to Earth. Mr. Menendez has taken over in her absence, and he doesn't want her to come back. If she's killed, he moves up to become a part of the 'Senior Staff'."

"Which means he falls in line for some of their miracle serum," Daniel said.

"Yep."

"Sir, how about taking out the five assholes now. Those bosses…the Committee, should be here soon. It might be entertaining to watch them show up to no geneticists, and nobody in charge," Turk said quietly.

Jack smiled. "Probably be the best thing for that group of folks who haven't completed the process."

"Case, is there any chance these people can be…rescued?" Daniel asked.

She shook her head. "They were all…psychotic…to begin with. They needed…subjects… with no conscience, or very little conscience. I'm thinking that a 'normal' person wouldn't have been as…malleable, to the process, the underlying conscience would have been difficult to overcome."

"What about quality of life?" he asked.

"The ones who have completed the process would probably do all right in controlled environment, but the others…too unpredictable," she replied.

"Who does the cooking and cleaning for these people?" Sam asked.

"There were three people in the kitchen. I'm thinking that they're part of the group that hasn't been 'processed' yet."

The blonde major nodded her understanding.

"Okay. When the neo-Nazi's and the lab rats come back out, we take 'em down," Jack said quietly. "We'll take 'em all back with us, ship those who need to be back to prison, the others …we'll find somewhere nice and quiet for them."

The two teams settled back down to wait. By now the Committee had received Kyle's message, supposedly sent from the freighter, that the Jackson children had been taken. There had been enough time for them to reach the SGC. At any moment the 'gate should activate. They were right…the wait was over.

The sound of the inner ring moving filled the air. Nine bodies tensed, weapons were carefully aimed, fingers caressed triggers. The three neo-Nazis and the two geneticists hurried to stand in front of the 'gate. One by one seven figures stepped through.

"Make it count, campers," Jack's voice said softly in their ears. "Fire!"

The multiple cracks of P90's on semi-auto mode filled the air. Screams competed with the sounds, as the NID agents fell, each of them dead before they hit the ground. The noise attracted all of the residents of the huts, only half of them bothered to look around, trying to discern where the rain of death had come from.

"Fall back, people," Jack said quietly as a group of men seemed to head toward them.

Quietly, moving as quickly as possible without leaving an easily recognized trail, the teams moved deeper into the forest. After being on the move for thirty minutes, Jack instructed the teams to dig in. Casey, Sam, Daniel, and Haberman went up four individual trees that stood together.

"Talk to me, Casey," Jack's voice said.

She waited for Daniel's comforting presence, then reached out. "About fifteen of those guys hit the supply hut. They're armed and heading this way." She checked the group by the river. "Is it possible for the people at the river to have heard the gunfire?"

"I don't think so," Jack replied. "Why?"

"Well, they're on the move. Heading for the 'gate." She winced when she saw the woman. She was nearly catatonic after weeks of rape, torture, and abuse. "Don't know what will happen if the two groups run into each other."

"They might join up," Daniel said quietly.

"Possible," Jack agreed. "Okay, quiet time."

They could hear the excited shouts, the sound of the men moving rapidly and haphazardly through the forest.

"I want them taken alive!" yelled the man who seemed to be the leader. He was a tall man with toffee brown skin, his hair falling to his shoulders in dreadlocks, his thin body covered with blue and green tattoos. "They had to have come through that stinking ring, and they're gonna take us back!"

The men who were looking for them were prisoners. None of them had been trained in combat. Those they sought had been. The hunters passed their prey without realizing it. It was only a matter of time before the men pursuing the SG teams would tire and return to the camp.

A  A  A  A  A  A

After an hour, Casey did a hurried check. The group from the river was nearly to the camp, and those men were still searching the woods for their unseen enemy. For the time being, SG-1 and Marine-2 were going nowhere.

"What's it look like, Case?" Jack asked after another hour.

"We need to move deeper. The campers have circled back, they're certain that we did. The river people are at the camp now, and have hit the store room. Right now they're eating and partying. I have no idea what's going to happen when the Quonset people return. I'm thinking showdown; there can only be on leader," she replied.

"Okay kids, slow, easy, quiet," Jack said. "We're going to head for that river."

The sun was low on the horizon as the two teams headed for the river. Which was a generous term to use for the narrow band of water that flowed sluggishly over colorful stones. It couldn't have been more than four feet deep. Perhaps twice that wide, although it was quite narrow in several places. The water had a faint orange color to it, Sam speculated that it came from minerals that were probably abundant in the alien soil.

It was decided that the teams would split up. "Thirty-six hours, and we meet at the 'gate," Jack said. "We can expect a hell of a fire fight to get out. Turk, you and your men come in from the north. We'll come in from the south."

"Got it," the Marine said. "See you in thirty-six."

"Right. Radio check in twenty-four, just in case," the general warned

"Right." With a jaunty grin, he led his men back into the forest. They seemed to disappear in a matter of minutes.

"I think we should take a look at that camp that was set up near the river," Jack said. "See if we can learn anything."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"Identities would be a good start," was the reply. "Know who we're dealing with."

"Which way?" Daniel asked.

Sam looked at her compass, checked her map. "This way." She took point, moving carefully back into the underbrush.

Casey was starting to get 'that' feeling. She examined it for a few seconds. "Hold up," she said softly. As she knew they would, her teammates surrounded her, waiting. "I'm picking up some very bad vibes."

"As in we're heading for trouble vibes?" Jack asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know…not yet anyway. Just that things are going to get…bad."

Daniel barely held back his groan. Should have known something like this was about to happen. Too many missions where things had gone right. Or at least not horribly wrong.

The bad feeling began to deepen...images flashed across her brain. "Goa'uld!"

Four bodies tensed. "At the 'gate?" Jack asked.

She nodded. "Those people have never seen a Goa'uld, and if I don't miss my guess, they won't understand that the wormhole is one way only."

"That will thin the ranks out," Daniel muttered.

"Yes, it will," she replied. "The problem is, the Goa'uld will control the 'gate."

"Any idea who we're about to meet?" Sam asked.

Casey shook her head. "Not a clue. At least not yet. I think some of the prison population will take off when they realize that the Jaffa aren't the good guys."

"Why would any Goa'uld be coming here?" Daniel asked.

Slender shoulders moved up and down. "I have no idea."

"Time frame?" Jack asked.

"Not sure," she admitted. "Soon, very soon."

"Too soon to just make a run for the 'gate and take our chances with the prison population now?"

She nodded. "I don't think we'd make it back before the Goa'uld arrives."

"If nothing else, we can have Casey contact her father, they can send the Phoenix or the Persephone," Sam said quietly.

"Well, let's find a place to bed down for the night. We'll take a look at that camp tomorrow, see what we can find, then head for the 'gate. If it doesn't look doable, we'll call for a ride," Jack decided.

Moving single file, the team moved into the darkening forest. It would be a cold camp tonight; they had no way of knowing whether any of the prisoners would decide to do another search for their invisible enemy or not. Whatever happened, staying out of sight was priority one at the moment.

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