Chapter 8

The children and their teacher were sitting on the floor in one of the large storage rooms, hiding behind a veritable mountain of flour sacks.

"How long do we have to stay in here? We must've been here for hours!" Sam complained.

"I know, sweetheart, but we can't leave until we know it's safe. I'm sure Captain Hailey or someone else would have come for us, if it was safe," Miss Thompson said.

"What if the Goa'uld has killed everyone else and we're the only ones left?" Daniel sounded very worried.

"Or maybe they've just forgotten about us?" Martouf suggested.

"I need to pee," Anise said.

"So do I... and I'm hungry," Sam whined.

"Me too!" Martouf agreed.

"And me!" Daniel chimed in.

"I need to pee, now!" Anise said, her voice taking on a desperate edge.

Miss Thompson sighed. "Let's see if we can find something in here to eat that doesn't need to be prepared first - and then I'll check if the way is clear to the bathroom, okay?"

"We're immune to the queen's pink breath, aren't we? I mean, since we've not reached pu-ber-ty," Sam said.

"Yes," Martouf confirmed. "Though you're always immune - the shri'tah'ista... the 'pink stuff', it only works on males. Unblended males."

"Like me. Yeah, I remember." Daniel shuddered. "I'm not in danger now, am I?"

"No, not from that. She can always kill you, of course," Martouf observed. "And the rest of us."

"We need to find out if the others are drugged. Then we must save the base!" Sam concluded.


After some searching, they had found several vacuum-sealed cakes, which they had eaten, as well as many containers with juice. The need to find the bathroom had only become more urgent, and Miss Thompson had snuck outside to check - carefully - if they could reach a bathroom without danger.

"Okay," Miss Thompson whispered. "Follow me - but be quiet!"

They hurried to the nearest restroom area, and a short while later, they were all feeling much better.

"There's someone outside!" Martouf said, in a low voice, quietly closing the door again.

"What do we do?" Daniel sounded scared, speaking in a voice that was not as low as what would have been advisable.

"Quiet!" Sam hissed.

"Who is in there?" a soldier said, opening the door wide.

"Just us," Sam answered, trying to look even smaller.

"We were playing hide-and-seek," Martouf explained, hoping the soldier would believe him.

The soldier looked at the children and their teacher. "You can't be on this floor. All non-military personnel has been ordered to go to their quarters."

"We'll go there immediately, Airman," Miss Thompson said.

"I'm not non-military!" Sam insisted, sounding insulted.

"Not now, Sam. Just go with the rest of us!" Daniel said, in a low voice.

He and Martouf pulled Sam after them, and they all hurried towards the elevator, so they could go to their quarters, as ordered.


The soldier - Airman Simpsons - had pushed the children into their quarters, and made sure the door was locked behind them. Their teacher had been taken to a holding cell, and locked up with the other women on the base.

Simpsons had then gone to report to his new master, Queen Heqet.

"My queen, we have found the missing school teacher, and the children. She is with the other women, while the children have been locked up in their quarters."

Heqet acknowledged with a brief nod. "Why are there children on a military base?"

"They are the unfortunate victims of an alien device, which de-aged them," Simpsons said.

"Still, why are they kept here?" Heqet frowned, wanting to know the background, and whether there were anything to these children which might mean they could be a threat.

"I know little of what happened. Two of them are former SG team members, the other two are Tok'ra."

"Tok'ra? What is that?" Heqet pondered the name, and again realized how much she did not know, after spending more than 3000 years in a stasis jar. It displeased her. "Against Ra?"

"Yes. They're... a Goa'uld resistance, I guess."

"Two of the children are host to Goa'uld?" Heqet asked, alarmed.

"Eh, yes." Simpsons looked concerned. Why was his Queen angry at him?

"Send someone here who knows more about them. Immediately!"

"Yes, my Queen." Simpsons bowed, and left the room.


"You have knowledge of the children living on this base? The ones that have been de-aged?" Heqet asked.

"Yes, Queen Heqet," Doctor Warner said, bowing awkwardly.

"Are they more than normal children? Do they retain the knowledge of their adult selves? Tell me!" she demanded.

"They have the memories, but do not seem able to access them consistently. Behavioural-wise, they are 8 year old children," Warner assured her.

Heqet nodded, dismissing the two humans as threats. "The two who are hosts to Goa'uld? They were hosts before becoming children again?"

"Yes, my Queen. Also... not only the humans were de-aged. The symbiotes were as well. They are the equivalent of 8 year old human children... that is, they are 4 years old."

"That is so?" Heqet grinned to herself. This meant the symbiotes would be unable to take control, even from the young children. They were harmless! "They are part of a group which desires the downfall of Ra?"

"Yes, they are... and that is something which has already happened."

"Ra is dead?" Heqet smiled, gleefully. This was sounding better and better. Here she was, on the world of the Tau'ri, and Ra was dead! "Tell me all you know of the Goa'uld in this time!" she demanded.


"We can't just stay here! We need to rescue the others!" Sam insisted. "If Heqet's a queen, then she's probably got all the men mes... mes-merized. Like Hathor did."

"Could you not mention Hathor?" Daniel complained.

"Sorry." Sam gave him a hug.

"Samantha is correct. Heqet will have locked up all females on the base, and all adult males will have fallen under her spell by now, so we are the only chance of cap-turing her!" Lantash said, with conviction.

"Maybe, but what can we do? We're little children!" Anise sounded frustrated.

"Which means every-one will under-estimate us!" Daniel said.

Lantash nodded. "I agree, they pro-bably will."

"She'll sense you and Anise, though," Sam pointed out. "Won't she think you're just adult symbiotes in kids bodies?"

"Yes... but if she knows we're kids too, she'll think we can't take control, and she'll not worry about us," Lantash said. "She's Goa'uld... and she won't think human children are a danger."

"Because she's been in stasis since before the Tok'ra existed, so she'll think you're Goa'uld," Daniel realized.

"Meaning our hosts wouldn't give us control. Yup, exactly." Lantash smiled.

"We'll teach her not to under-estimate us!" Sam said, determinedly.



Chapter 9