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alexs_storybook) wrote2010-09-10 10:42 am
alexs_storybook) wrote2010-09-10 10:42 am
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scifibigbang: Balance of Power - Part Three
Title: Balance of Power - Part Three
Author name:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alexcat
Artist name:alexcat
Beta name:larian and Larry.
Word Count: 25, 945
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Main Characters and/or pairings: SG-1. SG-18(Atlantis crew), Jonathan O’Neill. Jack O
Neill, Hank Landry.
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary: Is there a new threat to the galaxy after the Ori and Goa’uld are defeated?
Warnings: Some violence but not very graphic.
Disclaimers: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters
~~~
Part Three
Chapter Thirteen
- The Tok’ra Homeworld
There were more people watching this drama unfold than anyone on Earth knew about. The Tok’ra had been monitoring everything the entire time. Not that they would actually tell the humans or anyone else for that matter. Their work was done, more or less, and they waited to die out if they could not find hosts for themselves.
But they still kept a watchful eye.
“Should we inform them of what we have found?” The operative asked her superior.
“Not yet. That would just open us up to questions that we can’t answer to their satisfaction right now.”
“Do you think they have an inkling of what is happening?”
“I believe that they do, some of them do anyway.”
“Did you know the O’Neill clone is with SG-1 now?”
“I had heard something of that nature.”
“Do you believe him to be dangerous?”
“No more than O’Neill is. He won’t like us any more than O’Neill does.”
“You must admit that he has some cause.”
“I suppose so. Did our operative send you any information of what the plan is?”
“He did not. Said they found out what they’re to do just minutes before they launch.”
“Damn. How about our other agents?”
“We lost them… when the planet blew. I assume they gated somewhere. We monitored Carter telling O’Neill the Stargate was operational six minutes before the planet blew up.”
“Any ideas?”
“Wherever Jackson’s ninth chevron took them?”
“That could be a problem eventually.”
“So what’s next?”
“Contact Landry at the SGC in a day or two. Ask if we can be of help. He’ll tell us a lot of what he knows. Who knows? Maybe we can actually help them.”
*
- Chulak
Teal’c read the message from Landry. He immediately went searching for Bra’tac.
“Bra’tac, I must go. SG-1 and General Landry need my assistance. The naquadria rich planet from which they were attempting to reach the destination of the ninth chevron has been attacked and it exploded from the instability of the naquadria. SG-1 is in orbit around Langara and I wish to be there to aid them in any way I can.”
Bra’tac nodded. There were no crises at the moment for Teal’c to help deal with and he knew that Teal’c always felt the need to join his Earth friends when there was trouble.
Teal’c bowed to his old master and friend and headed to Langara through the Stargate. Jonas Quinn met him.
“Teal’c! It is good to see you! We weren’t expecting you though.”
“Good day to you too, Jonas Quinn. It has been many days. I decided that I needed to be here to offer my assistance to SG-1 if need be. There is nothing that Bra’tac cannot handle without me on Chulak right now.”
“I’ll let them know and Col. Caldwell can have you beamed up.”
Within minutes, Teal’c was standing on the bridge of the Daedalus with his old teammates.
Teal’c looked at Jonathan. “You are the O’Neill clone, are you not?”
Jonathan nodded. “It’s me.”
It felt really odd to Jonathan since Teal’c was probably the best friend O’Neill ever had.
“You are one of SG-1 now?”
“New kid on the block.”
“It is fitting,” he said as he made a slight bow to the boy.
They took a bit to catch up on old times then Mitchell briefed Teal’c on what was happening now.
“No one has come forward?” he asked.
“They seem to be taking pains to avoid being identified,” Mitchell said.
“Then you must know them or why would they do such a thing?”
“That’s how we see it too. But it still doesn’t give us answers.”
“They will show themselves eventually, if we do not find them first,” Teal’c said.
Carter had been away from the bridge, in the ship’s science lab with McKay. When she walked in and saw Teal’c, a smile lit up her face. She hugged him. “Teal’c, it’s good to have you with us.”
“It is always a pleasure to see you, Col. Carter.” He gave her a rare smile.
*
- Jack O’Neill’s office at the Pentagon
“Is Teal’c on the Daedalus?” Jack asked his assistant.
“Yes sir. He gated to Langara and was beamed up a few minutes ago.”
“Good.”
“Will that be all?”
“For now. Thank you.”
When he was alone, Jack opened his desk drawer and poured himself a Scotch. If anyone needed a drink, it was him.
He had a suspicion of who was causing all this trouble but he was concerned they’d lock him away if he spoke the name aloud. Dead men couldn’t command fleets.
Could they?
*
- On P3X-403
The Unas knew someone had landed on the planet but had said nothing to anyone yet. They could smell the newcomer and none of them liked the smell. So far, he had eluded capture but it was just a matter of time.
The chieftain handed each one of his retinue a necklace made of shells and bid them put it on. Many of them had no knowledge of what the necklace was for and thought perhaps it was just for luck but the chieftain knew better. They had a purpose and if what he could smell was what he thought, perhaps they would need the necklaces.
*
When he was a safe distance from P3X-403, the man on the cloaked ship sent a message to his leader. It read: ‘Beacon dropped. Subspace signal set to begin sending at my remote command.’
*
Col. Edwards had noticed that the Unas seemed unusually agitated since the raid. He had put it off to fear but now he thought perhaps it was something else. The heat sensors had shown an extra person in the vicinity. He’d hoped it was maybe just Jackson come down to check on the Unas but when he’d called the ship, they’d said Jackson was there.
If it wasn’t Dr. Jackson, then who was it?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
*
- Langara
The Ruling Council was in session. All he needed was to get inside the building. The armed guard was very young. He walked up to the man.
“Young man, I am supposed to present a proposal to the Ruling Council and I was delayed. I seem to have come without my pass. Could you possibly let me in?”
“I’ll check, sir.” The boy clicked his mic and before he could say anything, he was on the ground, dead. The stranger dragged him out of sight and a few moments later, he let himself into the building.
The security center was quick to respond when the boy didn’t reply to their calls. They sent someone to check his post but all they found was a dead young man in civilian clothes.
At the same time, the man in soldier garb walked into the council chambers and smiled.
“Rest well, my friends.” He dropped a shock grenade and waited outside until it detonated. He stepped in and took the blueprints to the naquadah and naquadria deposits. He left quickly and boarded the tiny cloaked ship he’d landed in and sped away, undetected.
~~~
Chapter Fourteen
- Langara
“The only things missing are the blueprints from the mines. Whoever took them either wants the naquadah or wants to make us think he does,” Jonas said to Carter and Mitchell, who’d come back down to the planet to investigate. Teal’c, Jonathan and Vala were examining the council chambers for any clues.
“I’m very sorry about the guard,” Mitchell said. “The thief had to have come in something cloaked for none of our sensors or yours to see him.”
“Col. Mitchell is right,” Carter added. “We are doing a poor job of protecting your planet and catching the culprits.”
“I think they have planned it this way. Their goal is terror,” Jonas said.
“They’re doing a good job of it too,” Mitchell said.
There were no clues, nothing to be done. The clothes left on the dead guard were not of any particular make. They were from a planet that made clothing and sold it on many planets throughout the galaxy so that was no help.
He left nothing else behind. Nothing. They couldn’t even find where he’d put his ship. They couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that he’d not used the Stargate. They’d have to check to see where it had dialed last but that would take some time. Time they felt they didn’t have.
Mitchell was so frustrated that he wanted to hit something. Only their enemy was like a ghost. He seemed to disappear into thin air. He knew that eventually the person behind this would show himself. It was too personal for him to remain in the shadows forever. But how much havoc was he going to wreak first?
*
- P3X-403
The Unas came for Jackson. They told Col. Edwards in their odd halting words that they wanted to talk to Daniel. Edwards sent for him immediately. After Daniel met with them for several hours, they finally returned to their home ground.
“What did they want?” Edwards had been curious when they asked for Jackson and the seriousness with which both the Unas and Jackson spoke told him that it was not good news.
“They say there was a human here. They did not see him but they smelled him. They say he left into the sky.”
“Our heat sensors picked up an extra person yesterday. We couldn’t find him though. Then there was nothing. We decided that it was some sort of malfunction,” Col. Edwards told Daniel.
“The Unas say there was someone here. We need to find out if he took anything. We just got a report from Langara that they had visitor who killed a Langaran guard and stole the blueprints and plans for their mines,” Daniel told him.
“Damn! I’ll get my men on it. I don’t see how someone could get away.”
“Maybe he had a cloaked ship?”
“Then how did the Unas know he flew away?”
“They said they heard it. They do have quite sensitive hearing.”
“I can’t argue with you. Everything you ever said about them was true and if they say we had company, then I’m sure we did. I need to make a report to General Landry too.”
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Landry got their reports and so did General O’Neill. Landry read over them and then called O’Neill.
“Sir, I think we are dealing with someone we’ve dealt with before. This is all too personal to be some stranger.”
“And who do you think it is?” Jack didn’t let on that he had the same thoughts.
“A Goa’uld. It has Goa’uld written all over it.”
“But as far as we know, all the system lords are gone.”
“It’s hard to kill the bastards, Jack.”
“That it is. Thanks for the call. You have SG-1 and SG-18 poke around some and see if they come up with anything. Maybe Vala can rattle some Lucian Alliance cages too. She does know some unsavory people.”
“I’ll see what they can find out.”
*
- On board the Daedalus
“General Landry wants what?” Vala asked Mitchell. “He wants me to contact the Lucian Alliance? Is he crazy? They’ll kill me for sure and they’d do worse to you if they get their hands on you.”
“We’ll have to capture one of them, I suppose,” Mitchell answered her though his thoughts on the matter were pretty much the same as hers. They would kill him first and ask questions later. Of that much he was sure.
“Well, I do know some people we can contact,” Vala said.
“But will they shoot us first too?”
She grinned. “Could be. You never can tell. Maybe we need something to trade.”
“Like what?”
“A ship?”
“I don’t think anyone is going to give us a ship to trade.”
“What about the Al’Kesh that Muscles has?”
“That might work,” Mitchell agreed. “And you can ask him for it.”
“I can do that.” Vala actually feared very little except being alone. She had no problem asking Teal’c for the Al’Kesh. He contacted Bra’tac and it was agreed that they loan it to Mitchell. The three of them gated to Chulak and began the one day journey to a planet that Vala felt was their best chance of finding some leftover Lucian Alliance members.
Carter, McKay and Jonathan stayed on the Daedalus.
*
- The Smugglers’ planet
Cam and Vala were no longer dressed as soldiers but as a couple of smugglers. Cam was in black leather and armed to the teeth with a mix of weapons from several different worlds. Vala was dressed in a tight black leather outfit not unlike the one she first showed up at Stargate Command in. She certainly looked the part of Mitchell’s woman right down to the way she pressed herself against him suggestively every chance she got. Cam was fairly sure that she didn’t need to be quite so authentic, not that he minded.
Teal’c stayed aboard the ship. He was too well known everywhere to expect to slip in unnoticed.
The man behind the bar looked them over. “What can I do for you?”
Cam ordered them two drinks. He sat at the bar and sipped his while Vala tossed hers back in one swallow and slammed it onto the bar.
“Another!”
The bartender obliged her and she disposed of that one too. Cam was about to say something to her when a man walked into to the door and spoke.
“Vala Mal Doran! As I live and breathe. Hasn’t anyone killed your lying ass yet?”
Vala turned without even flinching and smiled.
“Boern Jax! You dog! What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been looking for you for a long time. I was about to give up.”
Vala looked at Cam, grinned and leaped at Boern Jax with an ear piercing yell. Soon, everyone in the bar had joined in the fun. Cam grabbed her from the grasp of a scrawny blond man and dragged her out the door.
“What the hell was that?” He asked when they’d gotten a safe distance from the bar.
“I … I think I was married to him once.”
~~~
Chapter Fifteen
- The Smugglers’ planet
Vala and Mitchell were still hiding in an alley outside the bar when another man came down the alley. Vala peeped out from behind a wood box then turned to Cam.
“Crap! I know him too. I stole a ship from him once.”
Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Is there anyone on this planet who doesn’t want to kill you?”
“Well, there is Garen Toker.”
“Toker?”
“I, uh, was only engaged to him. He still liked me when we parted.”
“Would this Toker be of any help to us?”
“Maybe.”
The man had finally reached them but he was so lost in thought that he walked on by without even seeing Vala. They thought they were safe until he stopped dead still in the middle of the street.
“That scent! I know that perfume! Vala Mal Doran! Where are you? I know you’re here.”
Cam motioned for her to go and she stumbled out from behind the crate. “Hullo, Demetrius. How are you?”
“How do you think I am? You left me and took everything I had.”
Being Vala, she couldn’t help but say, “You didn’t have much, Dem. I did you a favor.”
“I don’t quite see it that way.”
He was a big man, rough and hard edged, and he towered over Vala as he moved closer to her. He appeared to be reaching for a weapon. Cameron popped up from behind the crate with his weapon drawn.
“I’d take it easy there, Demetrius.”
“Who are you?”
“Named Cameron. Jason Cameron. I’m Vala’s husband.”
Demetrius began to laugh, almost uncontrollably. “You poor fool! You’d be better off to turn that gun on yourself than to save her. Believe me. I was her husband once too.”
“That’s not your concern. Me and Vala, we do all right.” He pulled her close to him and kissed her cheek. “Don’t we, hon?”
“Uh, yeah, we do at that, Lambikins.” She pushed her backside hard against him.
“We could use some help. Vala is looking to hook us up with some old business associates. Maybe you can help us.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“I won’t shoot you where you stand for threatening my wife.” Cam looked dead serious as he spoke. Even Vala was a bit impressed with him.
“That isn’t quite what I had in mind.” He made a grab for Vala and ended up on the ground with a foot on his chest, a gun aimed at him and the knife Vala had relieved him of touching his throat.
“What did you have in mind, Demetrius? Shooting Jason and beating me up like you did in the old days?” She stood up and kicked him.
“Now you know I didn’t hurt you.”
Cam put his weight into his foot. “A real man don’t have to beat his woman.” There was real anger in his voice now.
“Where might we find Garen Toker? We would like to do some business with him,” Vala asked her former mate.
“Toker? Are you crazy? He’s mixed up with the Lucians and they’ve gone crazy since Netan was ousted as leader.”
“Crazy?” Cam asked.
‘They’re more terrorists than thieves these days.”
“Who is their leader?” Vala asked.
“That’s just the thing. No one knows. Whoever he is, he’s ruthless and greedy.”
“We’d still want to meet with Toker.”
“Ask Ed in the bar,” he finally said.
“You mean old drunk Ed?” Vala remembered the old man who was always in the same seat every time she’d ever been there.
“Yep, ask him. He ain’t near as old or as drunk as he seems.”
“If we let you go, can you behave and be quiet?”
“If you cut me in on your deal.” The big man’s eyes shone with greed.
“I could just cut you,” Vala purred as she moved the knife up to his throat again.
“All right! All right! He lives with MaryAna Poole when he’s home. She lives out past the old mine.”
“I know where MaryAna lives. I followed you out there enough times,” Vala told him.
“Can I go now?”
“I don’t think so,” Cam answered. “I think you’re going with us, help us find Toker.”
Soon the three of them were walking down a small dirt road in the moonlight. Vala walked beside Demetrius while Cam kept his gun trained on the man’s back. The house was an old rundown shack, more or less, but most houses on this planet were like that. It had once been a prosperous agricultural planet but as the land had been overused and became poor, it became a haven for people with nowhere else to go and it still was.
Vala knocked on the door. A once pretty blond woman came to the door. “Whatd’ya want? Vala!? Is that you? And Demetrius? Who else is that?”
“My husband, Jason Cameron,” Vala answered her. “Is Garen here? I need to talk to him.”
“Naw. He ain’t been home in several days. Went off with that damned Falker again. Something about the Lucian Alliance. If they make so damned much money, why don’t he bring me none?”
“Did he say when he’d be back?” Cameron asked her.
“Never does. I just expect him when I see him.”
There was little to do but thank her and head back to town.
“What are we gonna do with him?” Vala asked Cameron, meaning Demetrius.
“I guess he’s our guest for the night. We need to find a room though.”
“There’s a boarding house in town. Not fancy but they do have beds and the owner makes breakfast every day,” Vala said. “That place still around, Dem?”
“Yep, old Etta is still renting out her rooms and making gravy and biscuits every mornin’.”
The three of them got a room, one with two beds. Vala slept with Cam, who kept one eye open all night. He wasn’t sure which one he trusted less, Vala or her former husband. Morning brought breakfast, which reminded Cam of his Grandma’s cooking. He told Etta so too and made a lifelong friend of the tiny old woman. She even gave him a hug.
Just as they were leaving Etta’s, Demetrius poked Vala. “There! There he is. Garen Toker!”
~~~
Chapter Sixteen
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
“No, Jack. I haven’t heard any more from Mitchell and Vala. Teal’c is still orbiting the planet but he’s heard nothing. I’m sure, knowing Vala, they’ve found some trouble to get into,” General Landry told General O’Neill.
Jack told him to keep him updated.
“I’ll let you know when I hear anything.”
*
- The Smugglers’ planet
The subjects of the Generals’ conversation were at the moment stepping out in the street to meet Garen Toker.
“Our friend tells us you can hook us up with the Lucian Alliance,” Mitchell said as an opening.
Toker pulled a weapon but he was not as fast as Mitchell; they stood with weapons aimed at one another.
“Who told you that? Vala here? She don’t know nothin’ about me.”
“Never mind. Is it true?”
“If it is?”
“We want to deal with them.”
“Buying?”
“Perhaps,” Cam made his answers as short and uninformative as Toker’s were. “Or maybe we have somethin’ to sell.”
“I’ll have to get back to you.”
“No good. We have to go if it’s no deal.”
“All right but if they shoot you when you walk in, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cam nodded.
“Meet me at MaryAna’s in an hour.” And he was gone, slipping away behind a building.
Cam turned to Vala. “I’m not sure what we’re getting into but we need to let Teal’c know.”
“Who is Teal’c?” Demetrius asked.
“He is our partner.”
Cam walked a distance from Vala and Demetrius and contacted Teal’c.
“We are about to meet with the Lucian Alliance. Just wanted to give you a heads up. If things get weird, leave.”
“I shall monitor airspace for ships. I have no intention of leaving you two alone.”
Cam knew there was no use arguing with Teal’c so he agreed and rejoined Vala and her former husband. They were arguing.
“Darling, will you tell Dem that he isn’t going with us?”
“Well, is he any good with a gun?” Cam asked.
“I’m better and I don’t trust him not to shoot me,” Vala answered.
Mitchell knew that if they left him behind, Dem be in a saloon in less than an hour telling anyone who would listen that Vala and her new husband were looking to join the Lucian Alliance.
“Let him tag along. We can use another pair of eyes.”
Vala started to protest until Cam pulled her close and kissed her to shut her up.
In one hour, the three of them were at MaryAna’s house when Token arrived with a woman. Vala stared almost openmouthed. Using one of Jack O’Neill’s favorite terms, she leaned close to Mitchell and whispered, “Snakehead.”
Mitchell stiffened.
Vala had never been subtle and she wasn’t now. “Why is a Goa’uld representing the Lucian Alliance?”
“Whatever do you mean?” She was almost as tall as Mitchell with blond hair to her hips. She wore black leather much like the clothing that Vala sported.
“You are a Goa’uld.”
“Is this true?” Toker asked the woman.
She flashed her eyes at him and Cam hit her with a Zat gun. She went down.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!”
He messaged Teal’c and they headed for the landing place. Toker had been too stunned to follow them though Demetrius was right on their heels.
“You can’t go with us!” Vala shouted at him as they came into the clearing where Teal’c would land.
“I sure ain’t stayin’ here! I’m as good as dead.”
“He’s right… we have to take him with us,” Cam said as they ran.
They still didn’t see anyone behind them but there was no need to linger. Teal’c landed the ship and opened the hatch so they could get inside and soon they were leaving the tiny planet behind.
Demetrius looked at Teal’c and back at Vala and Cam. “Just who the hell are you?”
“That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is we get away.”
And they did.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Landry held the phone away from his ear to keep Jack O’Neill’s shout from deafening him.
“Yes, you heard me right. The representative from the Lucian Alliance was a Goa’uld. Yes, they got away but they sort of brought an ex-husband of Vala’s along. He was unfortunate enough to witness the whole thing and they were pretty sure that he’d be killed if they left him.”
He held the phone away from his ear again.
“I don’t know. They are on the way back to Langara but I expect this Demetrius person is going to have to stay on the ship with Teal’c. We don’t know for certain that he isn’t with the Lucian Alliance too.”
*
- Aboard Teal’c’s Al’Kesh
“What are you going to do with me?” Demetrius was getting concerned for his safety. After all, it had been years since he’d seen Vala and evidently, lots had happened to her since then.
“We’re going to leave you here with Teal’c right now. Vala is going to stay and keep you company.” Mitchell smiled at Vala, whose only reply was to stick her tongue out at him.
They arrived back at Langara in a fairly short time. Mitchell contacted the Daedalus. “Miss us?” He asked Carter.
“We had an uneventful day while you were gone. Jonathan threatened Rodney with the lemon but that was about all that happened. I just got word from General Landry on what you found. I do find it quite disturbing that the Goa’uld seem to be involved in the Lucian Alliance.”
“Tell me about it!”
“I’m headed over but am leaving Vala and our guest here with Teal’c for now.”
“I’ll have Col. Caldwell to beam you aboard. I’m sure that General Landry has more questions for you too.”
Vala tried wheedling to get Mitchell to take her back to the Daedalus too but it was to no avail.
“Look, this guy is scared and scared men do stupid things. We don’t need stupid right now.”
She reluctantly agreed that Mitchell was right. “But you owe me one, Mitchell, a big one and I won’t let you forget it.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” he said as he grinned at her and then was gone.
~~~
Chapter Seventeen
- Aboard the Odyssey
“So now we know the Lucian Alliance has been infiltrated by Goa’uld but which ones?” Sheppard said as SG-18 and Dr. Jackson sat in the conference room.
“That’s the question,” Daniel said. “We are fairly sure that the system lords are gone and if they are gone, then there isn’t anyone producing new larvae and most of the Jaffa, if not all, have joined with the other Jaffa in trying to forge a government of their own. So who are they?”
“The Wraith were easier to deal with… they didn’t look like us,” John said with his patented wry look.
“The Goa’uld are too arrogant to keep who they are a secret for long. And having Vala and Carter help us too,” Daniel replied.
“Oh yeah, both of them carried symbiotes once, didn’t they?” Sheppard asked.
“Vala was actually host to a very powerful Goa’uld system lord herself and the Tok’ra freed her.”
“We need to catch our Lucian too. That will be impossible if they don’t send another one though,” Sheppard said.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Jack O’Neill was sitting at the conference table, looking gloomily into his cup of coffee. He wasn’t the only person there. Carter and Mitchell along with Sheppard and Jackson were sitting on either side while General Landry sat all the way down at the other end.
“Snakeheads? We’ve got snakeheads? How the hell did that happen?” Jack was livid. There was no one in the galaxy who hated the Goa’uld more than General O’Neill. Not even the Jaffa.
“No one knows, Jack.” Daniel was brave enough to speak, always had been. “You know there was no way to kill them all. Getting the most powerful ones was the best we could do.”
“When we de-Baaled Baal, I thought that was the end of it,” Jack said, almost pouting.
“We always knew there could be small groups of them out there and we’ve never uncovered all the people we knew were in the Trust,” Carter reminded him.
“Still, I think they are doing this for spite.”
“That, I wouldn’t doubt. They always seemed to have something personal against you, but then you were the one who upset their little game when you and Daniel traveled through the gate all those years ago,” Carter said.
“Hooray for me.” Jack said gloomily.
“Seems to me we just have to catch the one Vala and I met,” Mitchell said. He always was the optimist of the group.
“Why didn’t you catch her when you had the chance?” Jack asked.
“Well, that is the question but we were taken completely by surprise and by the time we realized what was going on, we needed to get away from her and her glowing eyes.”
“Maybe she’s still there,” Daniel said doubtfully.
*
- Aboard the Mother ship
The she in question was reporting to her lord.
“Mitchell and Vala?” He laughed. “I’ll bet they were surprised when they realized you were Goa’uld. They are going to start hunting us. I’m not quite ready to be found yet. Maybe we should disappear for a few days.”
And they did.
*
All of the watched planets reported complete quiet. It was so quiet that it was eerie. Everyone knew that this had to be the calm before the storm. It always seemed to happen that way.
Mitchell and SG-1 were bored aboard ship with little to nothing to do. Carter and McKay did bounce theories about the ninth chevron off of one another and argued over mathematical problems that only gave Mitchell a headache. Demetrius had been sent to Earth for the duration then he’d be returned home.
On the Odyssey, Daniel chattered to anyone who would listen about the interesting things about the Unas and their culture. Ronon, oddly enough, seemed to be the one who listened the most or perhaps he didn’t listen at all but had perfected the art of acting as if he did.
Jack O’Neill paced in his office and cursed a lot. He hated the Goa'uld!
*
Out in a quiet corner of the galaxy, a massive fleet began to gather together. This fleet was not human nor Goa’uld. They would fly in silently when the time was right and do what they needed to do. Their days of surgical strikes were over. They had amassed enough hardware and ships to take on almost anyone in the galaxy now and they had one target, the same target they’d always had.
They were the battle fleet of the Tok’ra, a fleet that neither Earth nor any of its allies knew about. And they were going to destroy the last of the Goa’uld, even if it meant their own destruction.
*
Cameron Mitchell woke in the middle of the night. He’d had a very strange dream. His father kept saying to him, “Look behind you, son. Just look behind you.”
How odd.
Did it mean something? If so, what?
*
Vala dreamed too. She was host to Qetesh once more and Baal kept asking her if she wanted to be his queen. She was laughing at him as she woke in a cold sweat.
She tried to never think of her days as host to Qetesh. She had done many horrible things to many people and despite the fact that she, Vala, was not Qetesh, she still felt a certain amount of guilt for all the suffering she had caused.
She got up and went in search of a cup of coffee. There would be no more sleep tonight.
*
The Unas waited and listened. They knew he was coming back. They knew he wanted the rocks they mined for the humans. They had cleaned their weapons and sharpened their blades. They would not be enslaved again, especially not by the ones they could smell when they tracked the intruder back to his ship.
They would never serve the Goa’uld again. They would die first. Every last one of them. Iron Shirt had given them all necklaces as protection from the Goa’uld.
*
Several communication tracking stations began to pick up coded and encrypted messages going to different locations all over the galaxy and all at about the same time. Though they couldn’t decipher the coded messages yet, they did know one thing.
They all originated in the same place. And they knew where that place was.
*
O’Neill got the call at 2:27 am.
His first thought was that something had happened to Carter, Jackson or Teal’c but he brushed those thoughts away as he listened. After a few minutes, he told the caller that he would call back as soon as possible.
“We’ve got you, you son of a bitch!” He shouted as he hung up the phone.
He had no doubt it was all a trap but that had never stopped him before.
~~~
Chapter Eighteen
- A Mother ship, somewhere in the galaxy
The leader of the Lucian Alliance laughed.
“The trap is set and Jack O’Neill knows it but he can’t resist it! This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.”
The Lucian Alliance members in the room realized that they were being used as puppets by their new leader. Many of them didn’t care very much but some were seriously only in it for money. They had no other agenda and they knew now that there would be little for them in the end. Little but death.
These few members began to think of ways to turn a profit and rid themselves of this Goa’uld who had taken over after their leadership crumbled when Netan was killed by one of their own. The Alliance members had fought like dogs over a bone and somehow this man, this - creature had come out on top.
He had to be disposed of was the thought in more than one mind.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Landry was on the phone with General O’Neill.
“Are you sure you want everything we can muster?” Landry wasn’t too sure about this idea of sending all their ships to one place. It would leave Earth almost completely unprotected.
“Yes, I know it’s a trap. But we still have to assume he’s going to be there, whoever he is.”
“Maybe he’s heading here to Earth instead,” Landry said.
“I’ll be waiting.”
“You think he’s coming personally for you?”
“No, I think he’ll go after SG-1. That will hurt me more.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I am. And if anyone in the galaxy can beat this man, it is SG-1.”
“I can’t argue with that. They’ve beat the odds so many times already.”
“Then send them all to the coordinates and trust them,” Jack told him.
“As you say, Jack.”
General Landry ordered all ships within striking distance of the coordinates in the intercepted message.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Col. Caldwell read the message from General Landry.
“It’s a go. We are to proceed to P3X-403.”
Mitchell nodded. “Whatever happens, maybe this time we’ll find out who the leader is.”
Jonathan said little since he was the junior member of the team but he knew as well Jack O’Neill did that this attack was personal, not motivated by money and he knew it was against Jack O’Neill, so in his own mind, it was directed at him too. This fight was his fight.
“Mid range scanners picking up ships. Lots of them. Heading on an intercept path,” the young aerial recon officer said. “No way of knowing who they are yet.”
“So we wait,” Mitchell said.
“Long range sensors are picking up a large group of ships too.”
Everyone looked around, surprised. “This may be worse than we thought,” Mitchell finally said, stating what everyone else was thinking. The other carrier ships were heading to the same destination as they were.
*
- In orbit around P3X-403
Daniel Jackson was watching the sensors as they picked up more and more ships heading toward them. John Sheppard was at his elbow.
“This isn’t good, is it?” Sheppard asked, almost to himself.
“Not if we have to rely upon our few ships to defeat all those. I think we’d be better off trying to make a run for it,” Daniel said.
“Generals O’Neill and Landry beg to differ. Maybe they know something we don’t.”
“I hope so!” Ronon said from behind them. They turned in surprise at the usually silent man’s words. No one argued with him.
*
All the ships converged around P3X-403 in the next few hours. There was no radio chatter among the unknown ships though aboard those ships, there was much discussion.
The Leader of the Lucian Alliance was a little surprised to see another fleet of Goa’uld ships. He had no idea who they were either. So he blamed his underlings.
“What are they doing here?” he bellowed to the bridge crew aboard his Mother ship. No one answered because none of them knew an answer.
His next question met with equal silence. “Who are they?” No one knew the answer to that one either.
“Which ship is O’Neill on?” He asked. He felt sure that even though O’Neill was a general that he wouldn’t miss this.
‘There is no indication that O’Neill is here, sir.”
“Find him!” The leader bellowed again. “I want him dead!”
“How, sir?”
“His DNA should be on file. Try scanning the Daedalus for a match. That would be the ship he is on… he’d feel safe with SG-1.”
The technology wasn’t perfect but they did have it, stolen from a tiny scientific settlement a few years back. The scans were run.
“We’re getting one hit on the Daedalus, sir, though it’s not a perfect match, it’s very close.”
“Beam that one over here!”
“Yes sir!”
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
SG-1, Sam and McKay were on the bridge, watching more and more ships come out of hyperspace around the tiny mining planet. Jonathan O’Neill felt more and more that he might know who was responsible for this but he wasn’t sure anyone would believe him.
“Why did they all come here?” Carter wondered. “This planet has plenty of naquadah but not enough to bring that many ships to fight each other for it. I’d have thought Langara would have been a richer target with the naquadria there.”
“They’re not after naquadah alone,” Jonathan said. “They’re after me.”
“Why you?” Mitchell asked.
“They don’t know it’s me; they think I am him.”
“Him?” McKay even sounded confused.
“Him! Jack O’Neill.”
“Why would they want the general?”
Jonathan decided to throw caution to the wind. “Because it’s---” And he disappeared. He was beamed off of the bridge in the middle of his sentence.
SG-1 stood there stunned but only for a moment before Carter was on top of a console of instruments, clacking away at the keys as if her own life depended on it. Maybe it did.
“He is probably on that Mother ship,” she finally said as she pointed to the large view screen at the Goa’uld Mother ship that seemed to be parked in front of them.
~~~
Author name:
alexcatArtist name:
alexcat Beta name:
larian and Larry.Word Count: 25, 945
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Main Characters and/or pairings: SG-1. SG-18(Atlantis crew), Jonathan O’Neill. Jack O
Neill, Hank Landry.
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary: Is there a new threat to the galaxy after the Ori and Goa’uld are defeated?
Warnings: Some violence but not very graphic.
Disclaimers: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters
~~~
Part Three
Chapter Thirteen
- The Tok’ra Homeworld
There were more people watching this drama unfold than anyone on Earth knew about. The Tok’ra had been monitoring everything the entire time. Not that they would actually tell the humans or anyone else for that matter. Their work was done, more or less, and they waited to die out if they could not find hosts for themselves.
But they still kept a watchful eye.
“Should we inform them of what we have found?” The operative asked her superior.
“Not yet. That would just open us up to questions that we can’t answer to their satisfaction right now.”
“Do you think they have an inkling of what is happening?”
“I believe that they do, some of them do anyway.”
“Did you know the O’Neill clone is with SG-1 now?”
“I had heard something of that nature.”
“Do you believe him to be dangerous?”
“No more than O’Neill is. He won’t like us any more than O’Neill does.”
“You must admit that he has some cause.”
“I suppose so. Did our operative send you any information of what the plan is?”
“He did not. Said they found out what they’re to do just minutes before they launch.”
“Damn. How about our other agents?”
“We lost them… when the planet blew. I assume they gated somewhere. We monitored Carter telling O’Neill the Stargate was operational six minutes before the planet blew up.”
“Any ideas?”
“Wherever Jackson’s ninth chevron took them?”
“That could be a problem eventually.”
“So what’s next?”
“Contact Landry at the SGC in a day or two. Ask if we can be of help. He’ll tell us a lot of what he knows. Who knows? Maybe we can actually help them.”
*
- Chulak
Teal’c read the message from Landry. He immediately went searching for Bra’tac.
“Bra’tac, I must go. SG-1 and General Landry need my assistance. The naquadria rich planet from which they were attempting to reach the destination of the ninth chevron has been attacked and it exploded from the instability of the naquadria. SG-1 is in orbit around Langara and I wish to be there to aid them in any way I can.”
Bra’tac nodded. There were no crises at the moment for Teal’c to help deal with and he knew that Teal’c always felt the need to join his Earth friends when there was trouble.
Teal’c bowed to his old master and friend and headed to Langara through the Stargate. Jonas Quinn met him.
“Teal’c! It is good to see you! We weren’t expecting you though.”
“Good day to you too, Jonas Quinn. It has been many days. I decided that I needed to be here to offer my assistance to SG-1 if need be. There is nothing that Bra’tac cannot handle without me on Chulak right now.”
“I’ll let them know and Col. Caldwell can have you beamed up.”
Within minutes, Teal’c was standing on the bridge of the Daedalus with his old teammates.
Teal’c looked at Jonathan. “You are the O’Neill clone, are you not?”
Jonathan nodded. “It’s me.”
It felt really odd to Jonathan since Teal’c was probably the best friend O’Neill ever had.
“You are one of SG-1 now?”
“New kid on the block.”
“It is fitting,” he said as he made a slight bow to the boy.
They took a bit to catch up on old times then Mitchell briefed Teal’c on what was happening now.
“No one has come forward?” he asked.
“They seem to be taking pains to avoid being identified,” Mitchell said.
“Then you must know them or why would they do such a thing?”
“That’s how we see it too. But it still doesn’t give us answers.”
“They will show themselves eventually, if we do not find them first,” Teal’c said.
Carter had been away from the bridge, in the ship’s science lab with McKay. When she walked in and saw Teal’c, a smile lit up her face. She hugged him. “Teal’c, it’s good to have you with us.”
“It is always a pleasure to see you, Col. Carter.” He gave her a rare smile.
*
- Jack O’Neill’s office at the Pentagon
“Is Teal’c on the Daedalus?” Jack asked his assistant.
“Yes sir. He gated to Langara and was beamed up a few minutes ago.”
“Good.”
“Will that be all?”
“For now. Thank you.”
When he was alone, Jack opened his desk drawer and poured himself a Scotch. If anyone needed a drink, it was him.
He had a suspicion of who was causing all this trouble but he was concerned they’d lock him away if he spoke the name aloud. Dead men couldn’t command fleets.
Could they?
*
- On P3X-403
The Unas knew someone had landed on the planet but had said nothing to anyone yet. They could smell the newcomer and none of them liked the smell. So far, he had eluded capture but it was just a matter of time.
The chieftain handed each one of his retinue a necklace made of shells and bid them put it on. Many of them had no knowledge of what the necklace was for and thought perhaps it was just for luck but the chieftain knew better. They had a purpose and if what he could smell was what he thought, perhaps they would need the necklaces.
*
When he was a safe distance from P3X-403, the man on the cloaked ship sent a message to his leader. It read: ‘Beacon dropped. Subspace signal set to begin sending at my remote command.’
*
Col. Edwards had noticed that the Unas seemed unusually agitated since the raid. He had put it off to fear but now he thought perhaps it was something else. The heat sensors had shown an extra person in the vicinity. He’d hoped it was maybe just Jackson come down to check on the Unas but when he’d called the ship, they’d said Jackson was there.
If it wasn’t Dr. Jackson, then who was it?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
*
- Langara
The Ruling Council was in session. All he needed was to get inside the building. The armed guard was very young. He walked up to the man.
“Young man, I am supposed to present a proposal to the Ruling Council and I was delayed. I seem to have come without my pass. Could you possibly let me in?”
“I’ll check, sir.” The boy clicked his mic and before he could say anything, he was on the ground, dead. The stranger dragged him out of sight and a few moments later, he let himself into the building.
The security center was quick to respond when the boy didn’t reply to their calls. They sent someone to check his post but all they found was a dead young man in civilian clothes.
At the same time, the man in soldier garb walked into the council chambers and smiled.
“Rest well, my friends.” He dropped a shock grenade and waited outside until it detonated. He stepped in and took the blueprints to the naquadah and naquadria deposits. He left quickly and boarded the tiny cloaked ship he’d landed in and sped away, undetected.
~~~
Chapter Fourteen
- Langara
“The only things missing are the blueprints from the mines. Whoever took them either wants the naquadah or wants to make us think he does,” Jonas said to Carter and Mitchell, who’d come back down to the planet to investigate. Teal’c, Jonathan and Vala were examining the council chambers for any clues.
“I’m very sorry about the guard,” Mitchell said. “The thief had to have come in something cloaked for none of our sensors or yours to see him.”
“Col. Mitchell is right,” Carter added. “We are doing a poor job of protecting your planet and catching the culprits.”
“I think they have planned it this way. Their goal is terror,” Jonas said.
“They’re doing a good job of it too,” Mitchell said.
There were no clues, nothing to be done. The clothes left on the dead guard were not of any particular make. They were from a planet that made clothing and sold it on many planets throughout the galaxy so that was no help.
He left nothing else behind. Nothing. They couldn’t even find where he’d put his ship. They couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that he’d not used the Stargate. They’d have to check to see where it had dialed last but that would take some time. Time they felt they didn’t have.
Mitchell was so frustrated that he wanted to hit something. Only their enemy was like a ghost. He seemed to disappear into thin air. He knew that eventually the person behind this would show himself. It was too personal for him to remain in the shadows forever. But how much havoc was he going to wreak first?
*
- P3X-403
The Unas came for Jackson. They told Col. Edwards in their odd halting words that they wanted to talk to Daniel. Edwards sent for him immediately. After Daniel met with them for several hours, they finally returned to their home ground.
“What did they want?” Edwards had been curious when they asked for Jackson and the seriousness with which both the Unas and Jackson spoke told him that it was not good news.
“They say there was a human here. They did not see him but they smelled him. They say he left into the sky.”
“Our heat sensors picked up an extra person yesterday. We couldn’t find him though. Then there was nothing. We decided that it was some sort of malfunction,” Col. Edwards told Daniel.
“The Unas say there was someone here. We need to find out if he took anything. We just got a report from Langara that they had visitor who killed a Langaran guard and stole the blueprints and plans for their mines,” Daniel told him.
“Damn! I’ll get my men on it. I don’t see how someone could get away.”
“Maybe he had a cloaked ship?”
“Then how did the Unas know he flew away?”
“They said they heard it. They do have quite sensitive hearing.”
“I can’t argue with you. Everything you ever said about them was true and if they say we had company, then I’m sure we did. I need to make a report to General Landry too.”
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Landry got their reports and so did General O’Neill. Landry read over them and then called O’Neill.
“Sir, I think we are dealing with someone we’ve dealt with before. This is all too personal to be some stranger.”
“And who do you think it is?” Jack didn’t let on that he had the same thoughts.
“A Goa’uld. It has Goa’uld written all over it.”
“But as far as we know, all the system lords are gone.”
“It’s hard to kill the bastards, Jack.”
“That it is. Thanks for the call. You have SG-1 and SG-18 poke around some and see if they come up with anything. Maybe Vala can rattle some Lucian Alliance cages too. She does know some unsavory people.”
“I’ll see what they can find out.”
*
- On board the Daedalus
“General Landry wants what?” Vala asked Mitchell. “He wants me to contact the Lucian Alliance? Is he crazy? They’ll kill me for sure and they’d do worse to you if they get their hands on you.”
“We’ll have to capture one of them, I suppose,” Mitchell answered her though his thoughts on the matter were pretty much the same as hers. They would kill him first and ask questions later. Of that much he was sure.
“Well, I do know some people we can contact,” Vala said.
“But will they shoot us first too?”
She grinned. “Could be. You never can tell. Maybe we need something to trade.”
“Like what?”
“A ship?”
“I don’t think anyone is going to give us a ship to trade.”
“What about the Al’Kesh that Muscles has?”
“That might work,” Mitchell agreed. “And you can ask him for it.”
“I can do that.” Vala actually feared very little except being alone. She had no problem asking Teal’c for the Al’Kesh. He contacted Bra’tac and it was agreed that they loan it to Mitchell. The three of them gated to Chulak and began the one day journey to a planet that Vala felt was their best chance of finding some leftover Lucian Alliance members.
Carter, McKay and Jonathan stayed on the Daedalus.
*
- The Smugglers’ planet
Cam and Vala were no longer dressed as soldiers but as a couple of smugglers. Cam was in black leather and armed to the teeth with a mix of weapons from several different worlds. Vala was dressed in a tight black leather outfit not unlike the one she first showed up at Stargate Command in. She certainly looked the part of Mitchell’s woman right down to the way she pressed herself against him suggestively every chance she got. Cam was fairly sure that she didn’t need to be quite so authentic, not that he minded.
Teal’c stayed aboard the ship. He was too well known everywhere to expect to slip in unnoticed.
The man behind the bar looked them over. “What can I do for you?”
Cam ordered them two drinks. He sat at the bar and sipped his while Vala tossed hers back in one swallow and slammed it onto the bar.
“Another!”
The bartender obliged her and she disposed of that one too. Cam was about to say something to her when a man walked into to the door and spoke.
“Vala Mal Doran! As I live and breathe. Hasn’t anyone killed your lying ass yet?”
Vala turned without even flinching and smiled.
“Boern Jax! You dog! What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been looking for you for a long time. I was about to give up.”
Vala looked at Cam, grinned and leaped at Boern Jax with an ear piercing yell. Soon, everyone in the bar had joined in the fun. Cam grabbed her from the grasp of a scrawny blond man and dragged her out the door.
“What the hell was that?” He asked when they’d gotten a safe distance from the bar.
“I … I think I was married to him once.”
~~~
Chapter Fifteen
- The Smugglers’ planet
Vala and Mitchell were still hiding in an alley outside the bar when another man came down the alley. Vala peeped out from behind a wood box then turned to Cam.
“Crap! I know him too. I stole a ship from him once.”
Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Is there anyone on this planet who doesn’t want to kill you?”
“Well, there is Garen Toker.”
“Toker?”
“I, uh, was only engaged to him. He still liked me when we parted.”
“Would this Toker be of any help to us?”
“Maybe.”
The man had finally reached them but he was so lost in thought that he walked on by without even seeing Vala. They thought they were safe until he stopped dead still in the middle of the street.
“That scent! I know that perfume! Vala Mal Doran! Where are you? I know you’re here.”
Cam motioned for her to go and she stumbled out from behind the crate. “Hullo, Demetrius. How are you?”
“How do you think I am? You left me and took everything I had.”
Being Vala, she couldn’t help but say, “You didn’t have much, Dem. I did you a favor.”
“I don’t quite see it that way.”
He was a big man, rough and hard edged, and he towered over Vala as he moved closer to her. He appeared to be reaching for a weapon. Cameron popped up from behind the crate with his weapon drawn.
“I’d take it easy there, Demetrius.”
“Who are you?”
“Named Cameron. Jason Cameron. I’m Vala’s husband.”
Demetrius began to laugh, almost uncontrollably. “You poor fool! You’d be better off to turn that gun on yourself than to save her. Believe me. I was her husband once too.”
“That’s not your concern. Me and Vala, we do all right.” He pulled her close to him and kissed her cheek. “Don’t we, hon?”
“Uh, yeah, we do at that, Lambikins.” She pushed her backside hard against him.
“We could use some help. Vala is looking to hook us up with some old business associates. Maybe you can help us.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“I won’t shoot you where you stand for threatening my wife.” Cam looked dead serious as he spoke. Even Vala was a bit impressed with him.
“That isn’t quite what I had in mind.” He made a grab for Vala and ended up on the ground with a foot on his chest, a gun aimed at him and the knife Vala had relieved him of touching his throat.
“What did you have in mind, Demetrius? Shooting Jason and beating me up like you did in the old days?” She stood up and kicked him.
“Now you know I didn’t hurt you.”
Cam put his weight into his foot. “A real man don’t have to beat his woman.” There was real anger in his voice now.
“Where might we find Garen Toker? We would like to do some business with him,” Vala asked her former mate.
“Toker? Are you crazy? He’s mixed up with the Lucians and they’ve gone crazy since Netan was ousted as leader.”
“Crazy?” Cam asked.
‘They’re more terrorists than thieves these days.”
“Who is their leader?” Vala asked.
“That’s just the thing. No one knows. Whoever he is, he’s ruthless and greedy.”
“We’d still want to meet with Toker.”
“Ask Ed in the bar,” he finally said.
“You mean old drunk Ed?” Vala remembered the old man who was always in the same seat every time she’d ever been there.
“Yep, ask him. He ain’t near as old or as drunk as he seems.”
“If we let you go, can you behave and be quiet?”
“If you cut me in on your deal.” The big man’s eyes shone with greed.
“I could just cut you,” Vala purred as she moved the knife up to his throat again.
“All right! All right! He lives with MaryAna Poole when he’s home. She lives out past the old mine.”
“I know where MaryAna lives. I followed you out there enough times,” Vala told him.
“Can I go now?”
“I don’t think so,” Cam answered. “I think you’re going with us, help us find Toker.”
Soon the three of them were walking down a small dirt road in the moonlight. Vala walked beside Demetrius while Cam kept his gun trained on the man’s back. The house was an old rundown shack, more or less, but most houses on this planet were like that. It had once been a prosperous agricultural planet but as the land had been overused and became poor, it became a haven for people with nowhere else to go and it still was.
Vala knocked on the door. A once pretty blond woman came to the door. “Whatd’ya want? Vala!? Is that you? And Demetrius? Who else is that?”
“My husband, Jason Cameron,” Vala answered her. “Is Garen here? I need to talk to him.”
“Naw. He ain’t been home in several days. Went off with that damned Falker again. Something about the Lucian Alliance. If they make so damned much money, why don’t he bring me none?”
“Did he say when he’d be back?” Cameron asked her.
“Never does. I just expect him when I see him.”
There was little to do but thank her and head back to town.
“What are we gonna do with him?” Vala asked Cameron, meaning Demetrius.
“I guess he’s our guest for the night. We need to find a room though.”
“There’s a boarding house in town. Not fancy but they do have beds and the owner makes breakfast every day,” Vala said. “That place still around, Dem?”
“Yep, old Etta is still renting out her rooms and making gravy and biscuits every mornin’.”
The three of them got a room, one with two beds. Vala slept with Cam, who kept one eye open all night. He wasn’t sure which one he trusted less, Vala or her former husband. Morning brought breakfast, which reminded Cam of his Grandma’s cooking. He told Etta so too and made a lifelong friend of the tiny old woman. She even gave him a hug.
Just as they were leaving Etta’s, Demetrius poked Vala. “There! There he is. Garen Toker!”
~~~
Chapter Sixteen
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
“No, Jack. I haven’t heard any more from Mitchell and Vala. Teal’c is still orbiting the planet but he’s heard nothing. I’m sure, knowing Vala, they’ve found some trouble to get into,” General Landry told General O’Neill.
Jack told him to keep him updated.
“I’ll let you know when I hear anything.”
*
- The Smugglers’ planet
The subjects of the Generals’ conversation were at the moment stepping out in the street to meet Garen Toker.
“Our friend tells us you can hook us up with the Lucian Alliance,” Mitchell said as an opening.
Toker pulled a weapon but he was not as fast as Mitchell; they stood with weapons aimed at one another.
“Who told you that? Vala here? She don’t know nothin’ about me.”
“Never mind. Is it true?”
“If it is?”
“We want to deal with them.”
“Buying?”
“Perhaps,” Cam made his answers as short and uninformative as Toker’s were. “Or maybe we have somethin’ to sell.”
“I’ll have to get back to you.”
“No good. We have to go if it’s no deal.”
“All right but if they shoot you when you walk in, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Cam nodded.
“Meet me at MaryAna’s in an hour.” And he was gone, slipping away behind a building.
Cam turned to Vala. “I’m not sure what we’re getting into but we need to let Teal’c know.”
“Who is Teal’c?” Demetrius asked.
“He is our partner.”
Cam walked a distance from Vala and Demetrius and contacted Teal’c.
“We are about to meet with the Lucian Alliance. Just wanted to give you a heads up. If things get weird, leave.”
“I shall monitor airspace for ships. I have no intention of leaving you two alone.”
Cam knew there was no use arguing with Teal’c so he agreed and rejoined Vala and her former husband. They were arguing.
“Darling, will you tell Dem that he isn’t going with us?”
“Well, is he any good with a gun?” Cam asked.
“I’m better and I don’t trust him not to shoot me,” Vala answered.
Mitchell knew that if they left him behind, Dem be in a saloon in less than an hour telling anyone who would listen that Vala and her new husband were looking to join the Lucian Alliance.
“Let him tag along. We can use another pair of eyes.”
Vala started to protest until Cam pulled her close and kissed her to shut her up.
In one hour, the three of them were at MaryAna’s house when Token arrived with a woman. Vala stared almost openmouthed. Using one of Jack O’Neill’s favorite terms, she leaned close to Mitchell and whispered, “Snakehead.”
Mitchell stiffened.
Vala had never been subtle and she wasn’t now. “Why is a Goa’uld representing the Lucian Alliance?”
“Whatever do you mean?” She was almost as tall as Mitchell with blond hair to her hips. She wore black leather much like the clothing that Vala sported.
“You are a Goa’uld.”
“Is this true?” Toker asked the woman.
She flashed her eyes at him and Cam hit her with a Zat gun. She went down.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!”
He messaged Teal’c and they headed for the landing place. Toker had been too stunned to follow them though Demetrius was right on their heels.
“You can’t go with us!” Vala shouted at him as they came into the clearing where Teal’c would land.
“I sure ain’t stayin’ here! I’m as good as dead.”
“He’s right… we have to take him with us,” Cam said as they ran.
They still didn’t see anyone behind them but there was no need to linger. Teal’c landed the ship and opened the hatch so they could get inside and soon they were leaving the tiny planet behind.
Demetrius looked at Teal’c and back at Vala and Cam. “Just who the hell are you?”
“That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is we get away.”
And they did.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Landry held the phone away from his ear to keep Jack O’Neill’s shout from deafening him.
“Yes, you heard me right. The representative from the Lucian Alliance was a Goa’uld. Yes, they got away but they sort of brought an ex-husband of Vala’s along. He was unfortunate enough to witness the whole thing and they were pretty sure that he’d be killed if they left him.”
He held the phone away from his ear again.
“I don’t know. They are on the way back to Langara but I expect this Demetrius person is going to have to stay on the ship with Teal’c. We don’t know for certain that he isn’t with the Lucian Alliance too.”
*
- Aboard Teal’c’s Al’Kesh
“What are you going to do with me?” Demetrius was getting concerned for his safety. After all, it had been years since he’d seen Vala and evidently, lots had happened to her since then.
“We’re going to leave you here with Teal’c right now. Vala is going to stay and keep you company.” Mitchell smiled at Vala, whose only reply was to stick her tongue out at him.
They arrived back at Langara in a fairly short time. Mitchell contacted the Daedalus. “Miss us?” He asked Carter.
“We had an uneventful day while you were gone. Jonathan threatened Rodney with the lemon but that was about all that happened. I just got word from General Landry on what you found. I do find it quite disturbing that the Goa’uld seem to be involved in the Lucian Alliance.”
“Tell me about it!”
“I’m headed over but am leaving Vala and our guest here with Teal’c for now.”
“I’ll have Col. Caldwell to beam you aboard. I’m sure that General Landry has more questions for you too.”
Vala tried wheedling to get Mitchell to take her back to the Daedalus too but it was to no avail.
“Look, this guy is scared and scared men do stupid things. We don’t need stupid right now.”
She reluctantly agreed that Mitchell was right. “But you owe me one, Mitchell, a big one and I won’t let you forget it.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” he said as he grinned at her and then was gone.
~~~
Chapter Seventeen
- Aboard the Odyssey
“So now we know the Lucian Alliance has been infiltrated by Goa’uld but which ones?” Sheppard said as SG-18 and Dr. Jackson sat in the conference room.
“That’s the question,” Daniel said. “We are fairly sure that the system lords are gone and if they are gone, then there isn’t anyone producing new larvae and most of the Jaffa, if not all, have joined with the other Jaffa in trying to forge a government of their own. So who are they?”
“The Wraith were easier to deal with… they didn’t look like us,” John said with his patented wry look.
“The Goa’uld are too arrogant to keep who they are a secret for long. And having Vala and Carter help us too,” Daniel replied.
“Oh yeah, both of them carried symbiotes once, didn’t they?” Sheppard asked.
“Vala was actually host to a very powerful Goa’uld system lord herself and the Tok’ra freed her.”
“We need to catch our Lucian too. That will be impossible if they don’t send another one though,” Sheppard said.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Jack O’Neill was sitting at the conference table, looking gloomily into his cup of coffee. He wasn’t the only person there. Carter and Mitchell along with Sheppard and Jackson were sitting on either side while General Landry sat all the way down at the other end.
“Snakeheads? We’ve got snakeheads? How the hell did that happen?” Jack was livid. There was no one in the galaxy who hated the Goa’uld more than General O’Neill. Not even the Jaffa.
“No one knows, Jack.” Daniel was brave enough to speak, always had been. “You know there was no way to kill them all. Getting the most powerful ones was the best we could do.”
“When we de-Baaled Baal, I thought that was the end of it,” Jack said, almost pouting.
“We always knew there could be small groups of them out there and we’ve never uncovered all the people we knew were in the Trust,” Carter reminded him.
“Still, I think they are doing this for spite.”
“That, I wouldn’t doubt. They always seemed to have something personal against you, but then you were the one who upset their little game when you and Daniel traveled through the gate all those years ago,” Carter said.
“Hooray for me.” Jack said gloomily.
“Seems to me we just have to catch the one Vala and I met,” Mitchell said. He always was the optimist of the group.
“Why didn’t you catch her when you had the chance?” Jack asked.
“Well, that is the question but we were taken completely by surprise and by the time we realized what was going on, we needed to get away from her and her glowing eyes.”
“Maybe she’s still there,” Daniel said doubtfully.
*
- Aboard the Mother ship
The she in question was reporting to her lord.
“Mitchell and Vala?” He laughed. “I’ll bet they were surprised when they realized you were Goa’uld. They are going to start hunting us. I’m not quite ready to be found yet. Maybe we should disappear for a few days.”
And they did.
*
All of the watched planets reported complete quiet. It was so quiet that it was eerie. Everyone knew that this had to be the calm before the storm. It always seemed to happen that way.
Mitchell and SG-1 were bored aboard ship with little to nothing to do. Carter and McKay did bounce theories about the ninth chevron off of one another and argued over mathematical problems that only gave Mitchell a headache. Demetrius had been sent to Earth for the duration then he’d be returned home.
On the Odyssey, Daniel chattered to anyone who would listen about the interesting things about the Unas and their culture. Ronon, oddly enough, seemed to be the one who listened the most or perhaps he didn’t listen at all but had perfected the art of acting as if he did.
Jack O’Neill paced in his office and cursed a lot. He hated the Goa'uld!
*
Out in a quiet corner of the galaxy, a massive fleet began to gather together. This fleet was not human nor Goa’uld. They would fly in silently when the time was right and do what they needed to do. Their days of surgical strikes were over. They had amassed enough hardware and ships to take on almost anyone in the galaxy now and they had one target, the same target they’d always had.
They were the battle fleet of the Tok’ra, a fleet that neither Earth nor any of its allies knew about. And they were going to destroy the last of the Goa’uld, even if it meant their own destruction.
*
Cameron Mitchell woke in the middle of the night. He’d had a very strange dream. His father kept saying to him, “Look behind you, son. Just look behind you.”
How odd.
Did it mean something? If so, what?
*
Vala dreamed too. She was host to Qetesh once more and Baal kept asking her if she wanted to be his queen. She was laughing at him as she woke in a cold sweat.
She tried to never think of her days as host to Qetesh. She had done many horrible things to many people and despite the fact that she, Vala, was not Qetesh, she still felt a certain amount of guilt for all the suffering she had caused.
She got up and went in search of a cup of coffee. There would be no more sleep tonight.
*
The Unas waited and listened. They knew he was coming back. They knew he wanted the rocks they mined for the humans. They had cleaned their weapons and sharpened their blades. They would not be enslaved again, especially not by the ones they could smell when they tracked the intruder back to his ship.
They would never serve the Goa’uld again. They would die first. Every last one of them. Iron Shirt had given them all necklaces as protection from the Goa’uld.
*
Several communication tracking stations began to pick up coded and encrypted messages going to different locations all over the galaxy and all at about the same time. Though they couldn’t decipher the coded messages yet, they did know one thing.
They all originated in the same place. And they knew where that place was.
*
O’Neill got the call at 2:27 am.
His first thought was that something had happened to Carter, Jackson or Teal’c but he brushed those thoughts away as he listened. After a few minutes, he told the caller that he would call back as soon as possible.
“We’ve got you, you son of a bitch!” He shouted as he hung up the phone.
He had no doubt it was all a trap but that had never stopped him before.
~~~
Chapter Eighteen
- A Mother ship, somewhere in the galaxy
The leader of the Lucian Alliance laughed.
“The trap is set and Jack O’Neill knows it but he can’t resist it! This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.”
The Lucian Alliance members in the room realized that they were being used as puppets by their new leader. Many of them didn’t care very much but some were seriously only in it for money. They had no other agenda and they knew now that there would be little for them in the end. Little but death.
These few members began to think of ways to turn a profit and rid themselves of this Goa’uld who had taken over after their leadership crumbled when Netan was killed by one of their own. The Alliance members had fought like dogs over a bone and somehow this man, this - creature had come out on top.
He had to be disposed of was the thought in more than one mind.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Landry was on the phone with General O’Neill.
“Are you sure you want everything we can muster?” Landry wasn’t too sure about this idea of sending all their ships to one place. It would leave Earth almost completely unprotected.
“Yes, I know it’s a trap. But we still have to assume he’s going to be there, whoever he is.”
“Maybe he’s heading here to Earth instead,” Landry said.
“I’ll be waiting.”
“You think he’s coming personally for you?”
“No, I think he’ll go after SG-1. That will hurt me more.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I am. And if anyone in the galaxy can beat this man, it is SG-1.”
“I can’t argue with that. They’ve beat the odds so many times already.”
“Then send them all to the coordinates and trust them,” Jack told him.
“As you say, Jack.”
General Landry ordered all ships within striking distance of the coordinates in the intercepted message.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Col. Caldwell read the message from General Landry.
“It’s a go. We are to proceed to P3X-403.”
Mitchell nodded. “Whatever happens, maybe this time we’ll find out who the leader is.”
Jonathan said little since he was the junior member of the team but he knew as well Jack O’Neill did that this attack was personal, not motivated by money and he knew it was against Jack O’Neill, so in his own mind, it was directed at him too. This fight was his fight.
“Mid range scanners picking up ships. Lots of them. Heading on an intercept path,” the young aerial recon officer said. “No way of knowing who they are yet.”
“So we wait,” Mitchell said.
“Long range sensors are picking up a large group of ships too.”
Everyone looked around, surprised. “This may be worse than we thought,” Mitchell finally said, stating what everyone else was thinking. The other carrier ships were heading to the same destination as they were.
*
- In orbit around P3X-403
Daniel Jackson was watching the sensors as they picked up more and more ships heading toward them. John Sheppard was at his elbow.
“This isn’t good, is it?” Sheppard asked, almost to himself.
“Not if we have to rely upon our few ships to defeat all those. I think we’d be better off trying to make a run for it,” Daniel said.
“Generals O’Neill and Landry beg to differ. Maybe they know something we don’t.”
“I hope so!” Ronon said from behind them. They turned in surprise at the usually silent man’s words. No one argued with him.
*
All the ships converged around P3X-403 in the next few hours. There was no radio chatter among the unknown ships though aboard those ships, there was much discussion.
The Leader of the Lucian Alliance was a little surprised to see another fleet of Goa’uld ships. He had no idea who they were either. So he blamed his underlings.
“What are they doing here?” he bellowed to the bridge crew aboard his Mother ship. No one answered because none of them knew an answer.
His next question met with equal silence. “Who are they?” No one knew the answer to that one either.
“Which ship is O’Neill on?” He asked. He felt sure that even though O’Neill was a general that he wouldn’t miss this.
‘There is no indication that O’Neill is here, sir.”
“Find him!” The leader bellowed again. “I want him dead!”
“How, sir?”
“His DNA should be on file. Try scanning the Daedalus for a match. That would be the ship he is on… he’d feel safe with SG-1.”
The technology wasn’t perfect but they did have it, stolen from a tiny scientific settlement a few years back. The scans were run.
“We’re getting one hit on the Daedalus, sir, though it’s not a perfect match, it’s very close.”
“Beam that one over here!”
“Yes sir!”
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
SG-1, Sam and McKay were on the bridge, watching more and more ships come out of hyperspace around the tiny mining planet. Jonathan O’Neill felt more and more that he might know who was responsible for this but he wasn’t sure anyone would believe him.
“Why did they all come here?” Carter wondered. “This planet has plenty of naquadah but not enough to bring that many ships to fight each other for it. I’d have thought Langara would have been a richer target with the naquadria there.”
“They’re not after naquadah alone,” Jonathan said. “They’re after me.”
“Why you?” Mitchell asked.
“They don’t know it’s me; they think I am him.”
“Him?” McKay even sounded confused.
“Him! Jack O’Neill.”
“Why would they want the general?”
Jonathan decided to throw caution to the wind. “Because it’s---” And he disappeared. He was beamed off of the bridge in the middle of his sentence.
SG-1 stood there stunned but only for a moment before Carter was on top of a console of instruments, clacking away at the keys as if her own life depended on it. Maybe it did.
“He is probably on that Mother ship,” she finally said as she pointed to the large view screen at the Goa’uld Mother ship that seemed to be parked in front of them.
~~~