Summary: Pain and sorrow have marred the once hopeful staff of the SGC. With recent changes in the staff, people are questioning the security of their positions. The Tok'ra, faced with problems of their own, depend more on their allies than ever before. Fighting among the Goa'uld has them fearing it is something more. Caught in the middle, can the allies survive an all out war? _______________________________________________________
The Alkesh shuddered in response to the explosions along the hull. Rapid firing caused ship's lights to blink on and off before going out. Several explosions rocked the ship before the walls buckled under the pressure and the entire compartment was exposed to space. Quickly, a force field settled over the hole, but not before two of the Jaffa in the cockpit were sucked out.
They were about to bring the ship around for another attack when the enemy suddenly disappeared from sight. Leaning forward in his chair, the Goa'uld Ptah's mask turned to face his First Prime. "What happened to them?"
"I do not know, my lord. The Alkesh was behind us a moment ago, now nothing." At the main control, Neros stared in shock at the readouts. "I can find no trace of the enemy Alkesh."
Growling in frustration, Ptah gestured for the man to be shot from behind. "Bring us about to the planet, continue scanning."
"Aye, my lord." The new First Prime kicked his predecessor from the chair and took his place. Activating the controls, he controlled the ship to make a descent back towards the planet's surface. "Entering the atmosphere and signaling the palace for repairs."
"Have they found who damaged my Ha'tak?" In his mask, Ptah awaited the response. When none was forth coming, he turned red glowing eyes upon the Jaffa. "I command you to answer!"
"A dead man can tell no tales."
Spinning in his chair, arm raised to fire the ribbon weapon, Ptah was caught off guard and thrown from his throne by a ribbon blast. As he crashed to the ground, his helmet retreated back in to the armored collar. He tried to stand up but was hit by another blast.
"Remain where you are." Ascending to the throne, the figure pressed a jewel on his wrist device. "Ptah has been neutralized, but alive."
"We have no use for it, toss it in to space and retrieve the Alkesh."
Hands curling in to fists, the black garbed figure turned on Ptah. Blue eyes flashing gold, he raised his arm and activated the personal shield. His free hand slammed down on the control panel of the throne and the emergency field holding the air in the compartment shut down.
The last thing Ptah saw before his body exploded was the outside of his ship from the vacuum of space.
"In the last three months we have lost contact with over a dozen minor goa'uld. What all these goa'uld have in common, aside from the fact they are of little to no importance, is that they are on the edge of territories belonging to the most powerful system lords." Kolak waved a hand over the holo imager and the image of a star field exploded over the briefing room table. "The green stars each represent the sight of an attack."
"Do you have any idea who is behind this?" Saroush folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. It was becoming harder for her to come to these meetings, but that would not stop her until she was dead. They still needed her in spite of her advanced age.
"No, and that is what is upsetting the Council." The operative sat forward in her chair, arms folded on the table. "We believed it was important that you know this information. Tension among the system lords is mounting and the situation may be come critical at any time."
"Thank you, it is very kind of our allies." Hammond acknowledged Kolak with a smile then turned to the new heads of his staff. On his right sat Saroush, head of cultural studies; Major Maybourne, head of security; and Dr. Fraiser, chief medical officer. To his left sat Jack, second in command and head of SG-1; Major Carter, head of technologies; and finally Teal'c, arms commander. "With the weapons you have so recently provided, we have begun to train our personnel to repel invasions both here and our off world bases."
"Speaking of bases, how is the new Alpha site coming, General?" Carter tried to keep up a professional expression, but her recent brush with her father put her off. "I am sorry I had to take time off, but it couldn't be helped. Dr. Fraiser says now that my wounds have healed, I can get back to work."
"Only temporarily. You still have three months of therapy before you can return to field duty." Janet gave her friend a smile at the half hearted glare Sam sent her. Adjusting her lab coat, she spun the chair a little to face the General. "She can return to the lab and work on those weapons the Tok'ra have brought us any time, just so long as she doesn't over do it. I am trusting everyone here to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Agreed." Smiling paternally at her sigh, he adjusted the papers in front of him. He could tell something was the matter with her, but decided to wait until after the briefing. "As for your question, Captain, the Alpha site is only one of three off world bases we have established with the aid of the Tok'ra. Most of our experimenting with the new weapons is taking place there. Captain Bach is the head of R&D at the Alpha site, he has prepared briefs for you awaiting in your office."
"Thanks, sir. I've been a little busy so I haven't had the time to stop by there yet." Sam hadn't exactly lied, she had been too preoccupied with what her father had told her to keep much of anything on her mind. It was killing her that he knew he was dying and had basically told her to mind her own damned business. The fact that the job he offered wasn't what she wanted, only seemed to be a bigger affront to his dignity. Now she was back in exile, only this time there was no hope of reconcile. She would be an orphan in name, not just spirit.
Hammond noticed her distracted look and politely ignored it. He had a pretty good idea what this was about. There were times he cursed his old friend more than the Goa'uld. Folding his hands, he turned his attention back to the Tok'ra operative. "Is there anything else we should know about these?"
"Yes." Pulling out a small laser pointer that had been provided by the SGC during the exchange, she pointed it at the green stars. "None of these worlds is in existence anymore. Whatever attacked, destroyed the planet and left no traces that there was ever an occupied world there to begin with. If you check their addresses against those found on the Abydos cartouche, you will find they were previously charted addresses."
Jack waved his hand to get Kolak's attention. "Whoa, hold on a minute. Just to clarify, you mean they wiped out the surface of these planets, right?"
Inclining her head, Kolak flattened her lips in distaste. "I did not lie, Colonel O'Neill. The planet itself was completely obliterated." At a gesture from Saroush, she sat back and took a less hostile posture. "The technology exists, but it is a tightly controlled weapon only in the power of the system lords. Beyond our grasp at the moment."
"Bet that gauls you that ya haven't been able to get your hands on these weapons yet?" There was a dangerous tone to Jack's question that made even him flinch. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face. "Sorry, I just found out the goa'ulds have the ability to drop a bomb on us and wipe out all of civilization."
"It is quite all right, Colonel. Your limited understanding of the universe is easily forgivable." Kolak smiled sweetly at him before aiming the laser pointer at the largest green star. "Until three days ago, this was a disputed territory of the former supreme system lord Ra. When he died, his generals split up the empire he ruled, each claiming to be his successor. One of the more disputed sectors until now has been this solar system.
"Up to just three days ago, it was controlled by the ruthless system lord and architect of Ra's fleet, Ptah. His design of war ships was renown among the Goa'uld. He preferred to use the Alkesh design, a type of heavy bomber. In fact, of the one thousand ships he controlled, only four were Mother Ships." She flashed the laser at the star and it enlarged to take over the entire holo image.
"Two days ago Baal launched a fleet against Ptah to test his defenses once again, he found no resistance. Not in any of the twelve solar systems Ptah controlled. Ptah's entire fleet has simply vanished, his home world left to rubble." The reactions of the people gathered didn't impress Kolak enough so she leaned on the table to get their attention. "Ptah was no minor, insignificant lord. Ptah was a rival even for Apophis before you shamed him in defeat. If nothing else, this is a clear message to the System Lords that someone among their number is serious. Whoever they are, the threat to not just us but your civilization is unprecedented."
"Do you have any idea who it might be? Your network is pretty extensive, surely you must know something." Harry felt pretty stupid to be the one asking, but it had to be said. From what he learned about these people, they didn't lie to you directly. However, unless you specified what you wanted to know, they wouldn't tell you.
"We know what the System Lords do not know. It is one entity or organization. Every major System Lord has been hit. Our theory is that a group of minor lords have taken possession of the planet destroying technology. They are using it in coordinated strikes to amass a fleet then destroying the planets. This serves two purposes, to hide their involvement and place blame on another System Lord." Swallowing, Kolak took a deep breath to steady her panicking host. "It is working. Two of our Operatives were killed by the Goa'uld Cronus when they tried to infiltrate his armies as defectors from rival Goa'uld. This was just days after a border world on the far side of his empire was destroyed."
"Unless we find out who, there is a chance that all of our operatives may be at risk. The Council has asked that you keep the worm hole on the beta site unshielded in case one of our people must flee through the gate."
Hammond sat back in his chair, raising an eyebrow in thought. "I don't think..."
"Please, we understand that it is risk. We need a world to act as a stopping point before they may gate home safely. The Beta site has not been established beyond ground surveys and would work best. We could install weapons on the gate to stop any unwanted incursions without putting an iris over the worm hole. Colonel Shirkov has given his support on this, despite that it would be his command forfeited if you agreed." Kolak tried not to sound too desperate.
"Very well, I will take this into consideration." Nodding at her, Hammond felt disturbed by the lack of information she provided. "What else can you tell us about these attacks? Aside from the fact they are provoking the System Lords in to war with each other, is there anything specific about them, a pattern?"
"No. That is what has been most disturbing." This she felt more comfortable with discussing. She had been studying the Tau'ri and their information gathering ways. "According to the Council and Major Davis, whom I have been working with to understand your language, there has been no MO on which to project any specific attacks. That is why we believe there is more than one person planning these attacks. What may seem random to us, may in fact be a set of collaborations based around personal vendettas. Which, as you know, is the source of most Goa'uld battles."
"Damn. Thank the Council and Major Davis for me." As he spoke, she rose from the table. "You will of course keep us informed."
Kolak nodded her ascent. "Of course. The Council wishes nothing but open existence between us."
"That's good."
She smiled at him, bowed slightly then swept out of the room.
"Well that was painful." Fiddling with his pencil, Jack swished his chair from side to side. "That woman's edges are so sharp I thought she was gonna cut her way through the table."
"She is efficient." Placing her hands together, Saroush tapped her fingers against one another in thought. Her mind kept going over the information that was implied and wondering just how bad it had gotten in her absence. "From what little they know, I am surprised they even reported this to us at all. Usually they wish to have some form of solid evidence before they presented their findings."
"Perhaps they wish to know if we had any information we had not shared," Teal'c added. He too found this strange, if not alarming.
Sighing, Hammond felt that it was more than that. "Perhaps. Then again, perhaps they wish us to find out for them. They are after all unable to infiltrate the major goa'uld strong holds. Teal'c, I want your teams ready for action by the end of the month. If we are going to have to be the ones to find out, I don't want any surprises."
Teal'c inclined his head. "As you wish, General Hammond."
"Major, get those new designs for security systems on my desk by the end of the day. I want to approve them and begin implementation immediately. Doctor, the same goes for you. If we can improve the triage and save as many lives as possible, all the better. Jack, you and I will brief the team leaders, you will handle any problems they have in those regards." Taking a quick breath, he turned to Captain Carter. "I need you to review the weapons data Captain Bach has sent us. There are some new designs he was talking about. The flaws in them, if solved, can provide us with greater protection."
"Aye, sir, I will get right on it."
"Dismissed. Captain, if I may have word with you." Hammond waited until the others had left before he addressed his concerns. Leaning forward on the table, he patted her hand tenderly. "I heard about your father, if there is anything I can do to help fix this, I am willing to try."
"Sir, he's dying and he doesn't want me around to see it. There is nothing you or I can do about it, and quite frankly, sir, I don't even want to try. His mind is made up and I just can't handle being told to fuck off again by my own father." Taking a shuddering breath, she rubbed at a spot between her eyes. "If you don't mind, sir, I got a lot of work to do."
"Actually, Captain, there is something else." Shifting the folders in front of him to grab at the one on bottom, he handed it over to her. "Recent events have made the security arrangements around here even more complicated. With off world bases operating with commissioned staff and the SGC being the central hub, your position can no longer be held by the rank of anything less than a Major."
Sam froze, letting the folder fall back on the table unopened. "Are you telling me I am no longer in charge of the technologies department, sir?"
"No. I am telling you that as of the end of this month, you will be given the field promotion of Major. At the next congressional meeting, the promotion will be confirmed and everything it entitles will be conferred on to you. Congratulations, Major Samantha Carter."
Nirrti sat the flask down she had been drinking from, the sweet liquid inside making her feel slightly flushed. Recent changes in the guard had allowed her to once again indulge in the recreational substances. Stretching back over the couch, she allowed her hair to fall in cascades from the end. When her cats batted at the beads in the locks, she broke out into a laughing fit. Seeing her son playing with his pet made her laugh even harder.
Holding Aldwin by the back of his neck, Daniel gathered him close and trailed his free hand down the drugged Tok'ra's body. His fingers caught in the pubic hair and twirled them in to curls. His fingers lightly touched the warm erection, each time causing Aldwin to softly gasp. Daniel bent down and ran a tongue over his throat to his ear and nipped the lobe. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Naked from tip to toe, Aldwin shivered from the words. "Yes."
Daniel's fingers tightened until painful. "You should enjoy this, it is the last time you will ever feel the narcotic effects of the hash hisha!" Pulling him to his feet, he dragged the now struggling man from his the queen's bed chamber.
"Let me go! What do you think you are doing?" Aldwin tried to gain some footing only to have his legs kicked out from under him by Daniel. His hands shot out and locked on to Daniel's belt and tugged himself up.
"Did you spawn with her?" The harsh whisper filled the empty corridor of the palace. Daniel had purposely dismissed the guards so he may confront his fellow operative in private. When Aldwin only continued to hold on to him for support, Daniel grabbed him by the head with both hands and forced him to look him in the face. "Did you spawn with her?"
Aldwin frowned. Trying to concentrate, he found his mind kept wandering and losing his train of thought. "Spawn?"
"Did you fuck Nirrti?" His fingers tightened until the drugged Tok'ra cried out in pain. "Pay attention. Did you have sex with the queen?"
Trying to shake his head, he found the grip prevented him. "No, no. She wanted to, but I couldn't make it work. I think she drugged me."
"Of course, you fool." Hauling him to his feet, Daniel slid his hands down Aldwin's body and gripped him by the balls and ass hard. "You belong to me, remember. If I wished to, it would not be beyond me to cut this off."
He winced from the pain. Nodding, he found himself slammed up against the wall by Daniel and pinned bodily there. "What are you doing?"
"I've been very busy. You will distract me from my work." Placing his face in the neck of his lover, Daniel inhaled the sickening scent of the drugs and growled. "There will be no more of this, do you understand. No more. We can't afford you to become so careless!"
"I wasn't! She drugged me!" Aldwin found himself the unwilling bearer of several bite marks as he wrapped himself around Daniel. "Jolinar, I would never willingly jeopardize the mission."
"See that you don't." Daniel pulled back. Staring in to the man's eyes, he pressed him by the throat in to the wall. "I have been lenient up til now with your petty indulgences, my pet. If you are caught in her presence unguarded again, I will not spare you a second time." Pushing the other man from his body, Daniel let him fall to the floor and walked away.
Aldwin rubbed at his sore body and coughed. Gasping for air, he caught sight of the barely clothed figure of Nirrti retreating back to her rooms. Fear gripped him as he realized how close they had come to discovery. Yet again he wondered why Jolinar delayed their return to the Tok'ra. This was becoming far too dangerous for them.
Making up his drug addled mind, he climbed to his feet and shakily headed for Malek's rooms. If Jolinar was back, then so was his fellow operative. If he couldn't talk sense in to his supposed lover, then he would reason with their colleague.
Sam sat at her desk reviewing the data on her computer. This was the tenth time she had tried to figure out what was wrong with the presentation but couldn't understand why. Everything seemed in order, it was a straight forward information packet about a modified, multi shot staff weapon. The design was for Teal'c's people and the Special Forces teams he had been trying to teach the Jaffa fighting tactics too.
There was something wrong with the design of the entire thing, yet she couldn't put her finger on it. It just felt wrong some how. Setting it down with a sigh, she decided to take a break from it.
Thinking to take a break, she pushed back from the desk. The knock on her door distracted her and she shot back in to the wall. Wincing from the twinges of pain, she climbed out of the chair. "Come in."
"Carter, just coming to check up on ya." Jack poked his head in her door. Upon seeing her, he walked in all the way. "Is there something the matter, Captain?"
"No, sir. I just can't seem to concentrate on these designs." Gesturing at said item, she walked around to stand in front of her desk. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"Not really." Frowning, he continued to glance around her office. With his eyebrows raised, he returned his attention to her face. "Hey, heard about the new promotion, congratulations are in order! Wanna go out and celebrate? My treat. What do ya say?"
Smiling, she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Jack. I am still on the medicine and a night of boozing it up is not on Janet's list of okays. Besides, I have too much I need catch up on here." Leaning back against her desk, she winced.
Jack caught the reaction. Stepping closer to her, he put a hand on the unharmed shoulder and squeezed gently. "We are friends, yes?"
"Yes, we are." There was nothing more to say about it. They were friends, but he was still her CO, it kinda forbade any other situations. As it was, in her opinion they had been spending too much time together recently. Putting on a fake smile, she patted his hand. "Sir, why don't you take Teal'c with you and pick me up something from the Mushu Taipei. Bring it back and we can eat here. All three of us."
Jack caught her meaning and smiled. Stepping back, he held his hands at his sides with no where else to put them. "I'll do that. Anything special?"
"You know what I like, sir. Just make sure to get extra duck sauce this time. Daniel eats that.... You know what, just get me whatever is on the menu. I am sure I will enjoy it." For a minute there she had forgotten. The last time they had gotten the take out was before Daniel... Her mind bulking from the idea, she stood up suddenly. "Get Teal'c something from the fried menu tonight, he hasn't had that yet."
"Yeah, I'll do that." Backing out of the room, he gestured over his shoulder. "I'll just go get T and be right back."
"Thanks, Jack, I'll be here when you get back." She waved him through the door then sighed with relief as he disappeared and the door closed. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around him, it was the fact that he was starting to look at her in more than just a CO kinda way. Sam felt the attraction to him, but it was more than she could handle right now. Ignoring it was the best option.
Figuring there was no need to take another break, she turned around to look at her desk. Seeing them upside down, it suddenly occurred to her. "Of course!" She ran around behind her desk and pulled out a packet of trace paper. Holding it over the design, she redid several parts and smiled at the new product. "Now it works."
"It amuses me to no end that you are still with us." Garshaw pushed the crystal across the playing board towards her opponent's goal. When she captured his piece, she smiled at his glower. "That you have lasted these many months among our people is a testimony to your strength of will."
"Not really." Taking her piece with one of his own, Paul set it aside with a smirk. His triumph grew as her eyes glowed. "I find your people very interesting. They are like nothing I have encountered, yet there is very little difference between us."
"I see. It has been our pleasure having you here. The ties between our peoples have increased greatly thanks to you. There was so much about the Tau'ri we have forgotten since the goa'uld abandoned it." Frowning, she moved another piece and removed his next to it. She was about to declare game when his piece took hers. Glancing up at him, she almost slapped the triumphant look off his face. "It appears you are learning fast."
"I didn't get this job because I was the prettiest one at the SGC. Had you shown up sooner, it would have been Dr. Jackson who got that title." Sighing, Paul reset the board for a new game. "From what little I met of him, he was an okay guy. Very prissy at times, but nice."
"Prissy?"
"High maintenance, full of himself. He was pretty sure of himself, but then again, he was always right. Colonel O'Neill just hates that."
Martouf drew the scythe back across his stomach, cutting the stalks of wheat he held in his other arm. The stalks fell limp in his arm. Standing, he carried them towards the pile and deposited them on the growing bundle. The stalks would be mixed with mud and baked to create bricks. Tying the bundle, he set them standing so the heads were up.
He stood up and rubbed at his back as it protested the movement. Holding a hand over his eyes, he surveyed the vast fields of the Abydos crops. The wet season had come with a violent storm last night and today they had to pull in the crops if they were going to survive the flooding. Like him, there were hundreds of Abydoneans in the field cutting the wheat, flax, beans, and dozens of other crops.
The brilliant sun shown down as it climbed in the sky. Soon they would stop until the evening because of the intense heat. Before then, though, the carts drawn by the Schads would come this way and carry away the sheaths. The women would beat the wheat with flails until it was loosened from the stalks. It was all a pattern that was very familiar to him.
Martouf had spent the last three months helping these people, learning of the, from them. He knew almost every one of them by name and face, but not the one he had come to learn about. They never spoke of his Jolinar's host in his presence. His questions went unanswered with a polite, yet condescending smile.
Sighing, he decided that perhaps after the harvest was complete, he would return to his people. This entire mission was pointless. The Abydoneans didn't want to enlighten him and he wasn't about to go to the Tau'ri.
His ruminations were interrupted as a shadow passed over the sun. He recognized the glint of the sun off the surface that it was indeed a Ha'tak class mother ship. Clenching his hand around the scythe, he tracked the ship until it landed on the pyramid which housed the gate. Apparently someone had become victorious enough to claim this part of Ra's disputed territory.
"Koshac kree." Bending down, he went back to work. Whoever this was, it would become apparent soon enough when the Jaffa would come among the people and demand their worship. He would keep his head low and an eye out to try and infiltrate the army when necessary. Until then, he had work to do.
Activating the wheel chair, Saroush powered up the speed control to her usual preference. She lowered her goggles over her eyes and tied the scarf around her neck. Gloves in place, she placed hands down on the controls and gripped the rests. "T minus six, five, four, three, two... Ignition!"
The wheel chair shot down the empty corridor, rocketing around the round corners. Cackling madly, she adjusted the control to avoid a collision with a laundry cart on the right side. As she passed it, too late she noticed the person standing down the corridor and hit him with the front grate.
Ferretti crashed like a sack of cement in the laundry cart. Feet hanging over the edge, he laid back dazed and confused. "What the hell just happened?" The whirring of a small motor drew his attention. "Hello?"
Standing up shakily from her wheel chair, Saroush grabbed on to the edge of the cart and looked down in to it. "Major, are you unhurt?"
"I think so. What the fuck just happened?" Rubbing at his rear, he dragged his legs in the cart. He rolled in to a sitting position and glanced about the corridor. "Did something hit me?"
Nodding, Saroush gave a grim smile. "I am afraid that was me. I did not think anyone would be on this level this early. The mornings on Level 1 are usually spent to myself."
"Yeah, well, I kinda need to clear my head. I thought walking around these deserted halls was a good idea." Frowning as he climbed out of the cart, he stretched out the sudden cramp. "So much for that idea."
"No, it was a good idea, just not practical in its application I am afraid. Not especially with an old maniac like myself flying down these corridors, or so General Hammond has said." Chuckling, she sat back in her wheel chair and pulled it back so Ferretti could stand. Her chair made a beeping sound and she glanced down at the controls. "The timer on the little digital clock the soon to be Major Carter has attached to this transport informs me that I am behind schedule. I was heading for the elevators, do you need a lift?"
"Where would I sit..." He trailed off as the back of her chair lowered down a reverse facing seat complete with buckles and safety harness. "Let me guess, Major Carter?"
"Correct." She lowered the speed by two clicks, enough to compensate for the drag and extra weight. "Strap yourself in and hold on, this is going to be a bumpy ride."
Holding back for a moment, Ferretti thought about it. Flying down the corridors with a half mad Tok'ra at the controls or limping back to the elevator and being late. Not much of a choice. "To hell with it, you only live once." Climbing on the back, he ran the waist buckle over his body and strapped it down. Grabbing the cockpit harness, he tightened the buckles in to place. Glancing down, he noticed something hanging underneath the seat. "Hey, what's this thing?"
Janet tightened the acewrap around Ferretti's leg, giving him the evil eye. "How did this happen again?"
Rubbing at his wind whipped hair, Lou shook his head. "That crazy old bat ran me over this morning coming around those corners like a bat out of hell. She's dangerous with that thing Sam made her. Someone ought to have a talk with the General, telling him just what the hell she is designing in that laboratory of hers." Grabbing Janet's hand from his leg when she tried to make him lift it, he glared at her. "Don't that hurts! Did you know she has a gun mount on the back of that damned chair?"
"Of course it hurts. If you were more careful, this wouldn't have happened. And don't say she blind sided you, I seriously doubt the chair can reach that kind of speed." Taking back her hand, she slid it up under his knee. Grabbing his ankle with the other, she forced him to stretch the sore appendage despite his protests.
"Damn that hurts!" Ferretti hissed as she flexed his leg three more times. "And yes, it can. Sam cannibalized a damaged FRED to get it. Eight tires with a multi-terrane function, it sure in hell can pick up speeds of almost thirty miles per hour."
"Okay, so you were road kill. What were you doing up there this morning anyways? I thought we had plans to meet for breakfast before the briefing for P3X-219." Setting his leg down, she was satisfied it wasn't damaged beyond sore muscles. "You will have to take it easy, that means no mission for three days."
"I hadn't plan on going anyways." Sighing, he thought it might be best he tell her. "I am considering asking for a temporary leave of absence like that quack shrink of yours suggested. Since we've finally got the security measures in place and the new weapons are coming along, I figured SG-2 could stand down for a few weeks. What say you? The four of us on a little time off?"
"What are you talking about? Who else would we be taking along." At his pointing finger, she placed a hand to her stomach. "Oh." Backing up a step, she adjusted her coat around the slight bulge. Even without it, her uniform covered the showing pregnancy. "When did you find out?"
"It just came to me last night. I placed my hand over your stomach and thought, 'I wonder if it is a boy or girl?' Finally came to me why Cassie has been so excited these past couple weeks. She about squealed my ears off when I asked her this morning." Taking her hand in his, he pulled her close enough to embrace. "What say you, mommy? You wanna take the little ones and go on a small vacation? We've been constantly working for too long."
Catching her breath, Janet frowned at him. Glancing about the infirmary, she nodded. "I'll see about it first thing after the briefing this morning."
"Jolinar." Nirrti glanced to her son from the corner of her eye. Gesturing at the stream of data flowing over the holo graphic device in front of them, she sneered in disgust. "What is the meaning of this?"
"This is a report from Raja Kuhle. Apparently the planet of Nekbhet is no longer." Smiling in amusement, Daniel waved the page turner over the device. The image wavered and the symbols changed. "He goes on to state that it was not his fault. There is nothing left of our forces that had inhabited the planet nor any of its thirteen moons. Even the station we had in orbit was destroyed." Turning back to his mother, hands behind his back, Daniel smiled. "Apparently he is worried we will kill him for this news."
"As well he should be." Tapping her fingers against her side, she considered the information. Waving a hand over the image, she balled her fist and smashed the device. Her hair flew behind her as she set out from the council chamber down the hall to the Court. "You will meet with my Generals. Assign those you believe are trust worthy to my guard. Take the rest and the fleet. I want the border secured before my next brood is ready for Jaffa!"
Inclining his head, Daniel followed along side her. "Am I to engage the enemy should I happen upon them?"
"No." Snorting, she raised her head as they passed through a crowd of courtiers. "Burn them from the skies!"
Daniel paused as she grabbed the closest man. "What am I to tell Raja Kuhle?" Watching her maul the man as he sank to his knees in front of her was not his idea of a good time. However, the way her coutiers stared in shock was.
Stripping off her blouse, she smiled down upon the soon to be sire of her next brood. "Tell him I am most displeased."
"As you wish." Bowing his head again, Daniel backed from the room. Closing the doors, he locked them in place. He smiled patronizingly at them. "Oh goody, more brothers and sisters."
At the edge of the room, three figures watched the sexual acts of their queen and nodded to each other. The time was near.
Sirens blared in Stargate Command as the gate opened. Sargent Davis ran a check over the screen and nodded to General Hammond. "Sir, it is SG-9's IDC."
"Open the iris!" Bending down, he waited at the microphone for the team to come back through. When all four men came through the gate and it shut down, he pressed the talk button. "Welcome home, SG-9. Why are you so early?"
Taking off his helmet, Major Kovacek frowned. Glancing at his soot covered team, he shook his head. "Sir, there was nothing there. The entire planet has been burned to the ground."
"What the hell happened? I thought your report said there were signs of an advanced civilization." Hammond felt a chill grip his heart at the serious expressions on his people's faces.
"Sir, the Taldur were an advanced race, more so than us." Captain Marsh started down the gate for the doors. "The goa'uld, sir. We found the marker just as we came through the gate. Apparently our first contact with them was the last. Now we'll never know what happened to SG-5."
"Understood. Get cleaned up and report to the briefing room. Dismissed." Letting go of the button, George stood up. He hated this part. Running a hand over his face, he made the long march to his office. Four of his people gone, probably to their deaths. God, sometimes he hated this job.
Martouf laid the flail down, rubbing at this browe to remove the dirt and sweat that had caked there while he beat the wheat stalks. The thrashers had been working in tripple shifts for the past two days, trying to get the harvest done before the local Goa'uld decided to take his tarif. Nothing had been seen from the goa'uld yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Two days ago he had tried looking around, but the inner doors to the pyramid had been shut, effectively locking out the gate and any way off the planet. He only hoped that no one tried gating through without sending a probe through first. The last thing any of his people needed were to be caught by the System Lords.
While outside the tent city they were using as temporary bases before going home after their five week work interval, he would always keep one eye on the pyramid ship. Today was no different and like every day for the past week, nothing was happening. It was like they had landed the ship, locked it up, and then took off through the gate. Like they were leaving it here for safe keeping.
His time would just have to be here that much longer. Just in case they weren't really gone, but biding their time. Seeing the foreman giving him a dark eye over his own flail, Martouf smiled. He picked up his own tool and began beating the wheat again.
The Abydonean sun beat down on them and burned all who it touched. Very soon he might be as dark as the locals with some help of Lantash. Speaking of the lazy serpint, Martouf tried once again rousing the slumbering other self. Lantash had been dormant almost since they had come here, prefering to let Martouf make his own mistakes.
At first he had felt crippled without the constant presence of his other self. Then over time, he had grown to accept the almost silence of it all. Lantash was grieving his loss, much more than Martouf. They both had given in to the fact that Rosha was gone forever. Some how he had taken it better than Lantash. Despite them being as one, the older's feelings seemed to run deeper.
Now Lantash spent most of his existance providing only the minimal of assistance and imput, prefering to wallow in his dreams and memories. The moment he could get back to the others, Martouf decided he would have someone examine his other self. Perhaps together then they could over come his grief.
In the mean time, the dark eyed Abydonean was once again staring at him. He might have to break his vow to Jolinar and sleep with the man just to get him to shut up about lazy foreigners. It wouldn't be too much of an imposition, he was attractive for a desert dwelling rat. Smiling at him, Martouf began using the flail once more.
For the ten thousandth time, Paul Davis wondered just what the hell he thought he was doing. They were on a cargo vessel in the middle of some god knew where asteroid belt waiting for a contact. They being: himself; the insufferable Ibera/Gert who fancied himself an expert on Earth culture, but came across more like an ignorant tourist from New York; Resain/Loana, a woman who claimed ancestry all the way back to Ra himself, and spouted off about it repeatedly; and finally, the only one he could stand, Garshaw of Belote.
"Okay, let's say I am an infernalist. Just what are you doing here, again?" Adjusting his posture so he could kick his feet up on the unlit controls, he smiled at Garshaw. "You are the most hunted of your people, and yet you are running a routine fact finding mission, why?"
"This is hardly routine, Paul." She grimaced. Even after three and a half months, she still found using his first name distasteful. It just felt too familiar for someone so strange that he still surprised her daily. "We are here to meet a Tok'ra contact that has urgent information we desperately need. Since the loss of any operative even attempting to infiltrait a System Lord's numbers recently, we have been desperate to keep our people in the places they have already attained without exposing them."
"I understand that. We have long term undercover operations on Earth that are very precarious." Lacing his fingers over his head, he stared out through the main visual barrier. "Things get pretty deadly when a new regime comes in to power or civil unrest drives the people to witch hunts. Any one not fitting in is a target. That's why you try to anticipate the problems and get your spy network set up before."
Stressed, she clenched her hands around the control orb. "Exactly. Only, we did not anticipate this soon enough and few of our people were in any position of importance. Only this operative and three others are and it is very damaging to our organization. If it weren't for our technology, we would be as you put it, damned useless as allies."
"Now don't quote me out of context, I was refering to Earth in relation to you. And it wasn't technology so much as information on planets and human resources, if you catch my meaning." Laughing at his own bad joke, he sighed. Times like this would serve him well during those long boring meetings he would have to attend when his tenior was up in three months.
"Yes, Major, I am well aware of your prediliction for inappropriate humor." Smiling tightly, she adjusted the position of the ship to avoid a slowly tilting asteroid. It would have hit the ship, eventually, say in about a hundred years. "It would seem we were the ones more dependant upon you this time."
"It comes and it goes. Perhaps what this operative guy of yours has something really juicy to say only your people can handle and they we will be the ones again to have to drag our asses from the fire." At her grimace, he snorted. "Or may be not."
"It is not that I would not enjoy a reversal of our fortunes, but that the price we must pay in that event would be very great." They sat in silence for a while more, neither of them moving but to twitch from nervous energy and boredom. At times she would let herself observe his muscled form and yearn to touch him. However, it would prove futile, she had seen the way he watched her brothers. Sighing, she turned her attention back to the controls.
A flashing light caught her eye and she tapped the control sphere. "There is a Ha'tak fast approaching our position. They are apparently chasing a smaller vessel." She scanned the read out. Her eyes flared in anger. "They are attempting to fire upon the Tel'tac! Our operative is on board that ship!"
Paul, who had sat up and taken the pilot's controls, activated the drive. "Manuevering us closer!"
"Get us between them and the Ha'tak. I am telling them to ready the transport rings." After relaying the commands, she stood up from her controls and headed for the panel at the room's entrance. Once there, she began pressing the crystal keys in the proper sequence. The doors opened and the cargo bay lights came on. "How long until we are within range?"
"Thirty-seconds. Hold on!" The ship shook from an impact. "Sorry about that, but I think the Goa'uld might know we are out here, cloak or not."
"How is that possible? They are unaware this technology even exists!" Josef held on to the wall as the ship rocked again. Her eyes flashed white as Garshaw took control again. "Keep the damned ship steady!"
"Sorry, but some how they can sense we are here!" He manuevered the ship between the tel'tac and the Ha'tak. However, his efforts were too late. "The Tel'tac has taken too many hits, their engines are about to explode. If they are going to ring over, it has to be now!"
"Activating rings!" Garshaw pressed the control button and held on for dear life as another blast rocked the ship. As the rings rose up from the floor, a power surge ran through them. Two figures reintegrated inside before collapsing. She hit the button to turn off the rings. "Get us the hell out of here!"
"On it!" Racing his fingers over the control sphere, he activated the hyper drive. The ship decloaked long enough to form the jump window. "We're going through!" As he punched the engines in to full gear, another blast rocked the ship and they hit the window faster than the drive anticipated. Paul desperately ran his hands over the controls, trying to in vain to get them working. "We're out of control. The hyperdrive isn't responding. I am trying to switch to manuel, but I can't control the slip stream!"
Panick finally set in the ancient Tok'ra and she threw herself towards the control chairs. "Shut it down!"
"I can't! That last hit destroyed the pathways, we're going faster than we should be, and I have no idea where we'll end up." Watching through the viewport, Paul stared in wide eyed shock as the ship's outer hull seemed to waver. "I think we have another problem."
After taking her seat, Garshaw took command of the controls. "The cloak is activating in Hyperspace, this should be impossible."
"Don't tell me about it, I can see it happening." The ship shook again as the controls exploded. Paul screamed in pain from the rain of fire and sparks. Dully, through the pain, he heard the ship groan as the engines accelerated. As the world whited out in a buzzing hiss, he saw the Tok'ra agents enter the control room.
"Major, it has only been three weeks since you returned to duty and two days since your official promotion. I find it highly suspect that you are finished with these weapons when we could not even get a workable model done in three months." Glaring at the pale Major Carter, his lips tightened in to a scowl. Leaning forward in his desk chair, he tried to be more fatherly agressive. "I thought I had ordered you to take it slowly."
Smiling sheepishly, Sam looked down to try and compose herself against the ache in her arms. She had been working too hard today assembling the power cell for the new Staff Weapon and it had strained her burns. At least she was now fairly certain it would work.
When she hadn't responded, General Hammond's glare intensified. After a few minutes, he shifted back in his chair and took a clearing breath. "All right then. You have my permission to go through the gate only long enough to test this new power cell, then you are to come straight back here. No if, ands, buts, or emergencies will be tolerated. Get your ass back here, pronto. Is that understood?"
Standing up, Sam smiled at him. "Yes, sir, I promise to make this work and be back in time for your coffee break."
"By your own estimates, this should take no more than thirty minutes, you have exactly thirty minutes. My established break is still two hours away." Giving her a wary glance, he nodded towards his door. "Get out of here before I change my mind."
She saluted before turning on heel and rushing from the room. Sam couldn't help it, she felt giddy for the first time in four months. To be doing something useful again and to go off world so she could participate was the best experience in her life at the moment. Those other situations that made her life seem to slowly drift away piece by piece were pushed aside so she could revel in this.
Who cared that her father was dying? Who cared that she was one person shy of a family? Who cared if Mark refused to believe her about their father? Who cared that the SGC was turning in to a weapons depot for the US government and their shady dealings?
Really? Who cared?
Not her. That's for sure!
Sighing, she slowed down to lean against the wall. Lowering her head, she fought back the overwelming sense of loss again. Her breathing hitched, she forced her body to stop shaking. She wasn't going to cry!
There were times like this when she just needed a little break from it. She was pushing herself too hard, it was just a little too much stress for her. She could deal with. Or so she kept telling herself.
After a few minutes, she composed herself to wipe the tears that weren't in her eyes. To clear the clog that wasn't in her throat was a little harder. Banishing the not shaking from her frame was the last sign she had not been losing it. Finally clearing her head, she stood away from the wall and continued on down the hall.
From the Pel'tac, Daniel surveyed the debris field that had once been a planet. His eyes flared in anger at the haughty snort of the Goa'uld behind him. The incompetence of the Raja behind him was evident in the arogance he effected the moment Daniel had arrived at the border planet. He had been posturing ever since and Daniel had had enough of it.
"Do you see for yourself? We had nothing to do with this! Now slink back to your master and tell her my fleets are ready for the next attack." Raja Kuhle twisted the band of pearls hanging from his mustache. His black eyes dimissed the man he considered a child and turned to face the men he considered the real threat. If the Generals of Nirrti's fleets decided he had failed, not even his status as a Raja among her people would be enough to stop the uprising.
It was almost with pleasure Daniel drove his dagger in the back of the goa'uld's neck. Twisting the handle, he severed the parasite's body. After removing the blade, he let the body drop to the ground. Daniel turned his attention on the Raja's own generals. "Take him to the sarcophagus, I want him revived then interogated until you are sure you have every useful bit of information. Once you are through, have his head adorned with jasmine garland and sent to my mother. Koshek, Kree!"
"Kree!" The supreme general nodded and gestured for his guards to grab the body. As Kuhle's body was dragged away, he stood fast and stared hard at Jolinar. "What do you wish of us?"
Smiling slowly, Daniel trailed a hand down the side of the control platform. He circled the platform, glancing up twice to the generals. "I... have no use for you." When they tensed, he only smiled again. "However, Nirrti has expressed the desire that we use all resources at our disposal in securing the border."
"My lord, the border is secured!" General Kulang was the next to find himself with a knife in the back of his throat, curtosy of a Jaffa. As his body hit the floor, Daniel raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Anyone else wish to lie to me?" All traces of levity fled his face in the sudden rage. Eyes glowing and voice growling deep, he launched himself on to the control console. "The border is not secure! You have failed!" He gestured wildly at the view ports. "There is my proof of your incompetence! Two million subjects, slaves, and Jaffa gone, not a single trace of who is responcible! This is not the sign of an ever vigilant army!"
Slidding off, he stormed around the console as the generals retreated back from him. "If I did not need your presence to command the loyalty of your Jaffa, I would have executed every one of you! E'sh Ut, Kree! Goa'uld, Kree!"
Three Jaffa to every General stepped forward and grabbed the men. Each one struggled very little as Daniel came to stand in front of them.
Eyes wide in madness, Daniel squeezed his hand in to a fist. His bronzed locks fell from the head scarf giving him a crazed appearance. "You have failed me. But in recognition of your years of loyal service, I have decided to reward you. My brothers are in need of hosts, you will become gods. Take them away."
They cried out to a man as they were dragged from the room. The last of them screamed and pleaded with Jolinar to let him prove his loyalty.
Daniel ignored his cries, choosing to focus on the Generals before him. At their amused stares, Daniel righted his hair and blinked his eyes clear. "That was far more satisfying than it should have been."
"My lord, Jolinar, I have never questioned your reasoning until now." General Kumahl stepped forward, hands raised in questioning fashion. He gestured over his shoulder towards the doors. "If word of this spreads, they will believe you completely insane."
"All the world fears a madman, all the world respects a madman with power." Removing his turban, Daniel let the cloth slip from his fingers to the deck below. He shook the now permanent curls, formed from the braids, until they were arrayed out of his face. "I would rather have them fear me, what I might do, than the death their enemies might bring. If that death is preferable to failing me, then I have succeeded."
"Ah, I see." Kumahl blinked in surprise before following Jolinar towards the view port. His own braids hung tied towards the back, held in place by gold threads woven in the locks. He nervously tongued the golden hoop in his lip. "What are we going to do that was not already being accomplished? Their patrols were dependant upon this system for securing the border. We have reviewed the tactical information, there is no evidence we could have anticipated something on this scale of happening. They didn't even try to annex the system!"
Eyeing the stars, Daniel felt his ire rise. "They have lost their fear. Having nothing to worry about has cost us our edge, that which made us gods in the first place. We have grown lapse in our judgement, our belief in our superiority making us bloated with pride. When even the destruction of an entire world can go unnoticed, it is time for the thing to die and a new to take its place."
Turning to face the generals and his fellow Goa'uld, Daniel cleared his mind of all emotions. The time for action had come. "This world is the closest to the border of Cronus' territory. Since only the System Lords have the ability to destroy a planet and we can assume Nirrti has not done so, there is only one other option. Ready our forces, alert the entire empire. Cronus has played his final game." Closing on the console, he smiled. "Tell my mother we move on Cronus."
As the Generals, Jaffa, and Goa'uld moved about to begin preperations, Malek came from the crowd to stand beside Daniel. His usual black uniform was replaced by a white replica. Clearing his throat, he waited for Jolinar to acknowledge him. When his fellow operative didn't even so much as twitch, he tapped him on the back. "I lost him."
Daniel's jaw clenched in anger. Hands curling up in to fists, he clutched the control crystals. "Did you destroy the tel'tac at least?"
"Yes. If they wish to replicate the modifications, it will take them quite some time based upon his sketchy knowledge." He knew it was very little comfort to Jolinar, but it was the best he could offer considering the circumstances. "We should never have included him in the last mission. I warned you it was too risky. He would never have understood."
"He is too loyal to their cause, blah blah blah!" Shifting to face the angered Tok'ra, Daniel raised his hand to grab him by the throat. He pulled Malek close until they were nose to nose. "If the drugs I infected him with do not keep him silent until it is too late, I will feed your symbiot to Nirrti's pets." With a sudden twist, he crushed their lips together and then pushed the struggling Tok'ra away. "Take your ship in to Enkart, gather as many Jaffa, death gliders, and supplies as you can, then bring them back here. In two days time, we invade Cronus' territory and we aren't stopping until every last member of his court is dead!"