by Geonn Cannon
Pemphero laughed, sitting up straighter and resting his hands over his stomach, fingers lightly scratching the material of his shirt. His smile was condescending. “Oh, a recall device. I heard some Goa’ulds started using those when the Jaffa began rising up. The Lucian Alliance has been reprogramming them. Easiest way to steal a ship is to make it come to you. Bad luck for you, though.”
“You’re telling me,” Cam said. “We’re stranded here with Ma Barker and no way to deliver her. If we don’t confirm delivery on this contract, we won’t get paid.”
“Ma Barker? Never heard of her.”
“Neither had I, until the contract came along. Someone’s paying a hefty price to make sure she never sees the light of day. I stumble over her, luckiest day of my life, and now karma’s biting me in the ass. I’m sure it’s happened to you.”
Pemphero gestured at the screen with his head. “How do you think I ended up on a solo delivery? It wasn’t by design, I assure you.”
Cam leaned forward. “That’s what I’m saying! I see you over here by yourself and I think, this guy could be the answer to our problem. And we could be the answer to his. If you take us to Viaxeiro so we can drop off our prisoner, we’ll provide security for your prisoner.”
“And half the bounty.”
“Whoa, half?”
Pemphero raised his eyebrows. “The way I see it, right now you’re looking at zero percent.” He rested his elbows on the table. He had a sly and greedy look in his eye now, swaying a little in his seat as he found the upper hand. “You saw me and thought I would be a pushover? Desperate for your help? You thought you would play my savior. But I don’t need saviors. What I need is a reason to give a damn about your problem. And that reason is money. You could pass on it, look around for someone else who might take less of a cut. I get the feeling you won’t be very successful, though.”
Cam pretended to consider the offer, when really he was weighing the options of getting on a ship with this man. He had been hoping SG-1 would easily gain the upper hand on a solo space pirate, but Pemphero was obviously a shrewd criminal. It wouldn’t be easy to manipulate him. Then again, they really were pressed for options.
“When do you leave?”
“As soon as I finish my meal.”
Cam looked past him to Daniel, Teal’c, and Carolyn. Daniel gave a questioning shrug. Time was running out. Someone could find the guards at any moment, and who knew what hell Sam and Vala were going through. He couldn’t afford to be picky.
“Looks like we have a deal, Mr. Pemphero.”
He extended his hand. Once again, Pemphero didn’t take it. Instead, he hunched over his food and continued shoveling it into his mouth.
“I eat alone. Go away. If you see me leave, you’re welcome to follow.”
Cam curled his fingers into his palm and transitioned the gesture to a thumbs-up.
“Enjoy the rest of your meal.”
Pemphero was already focused on the screen again. Cam stood and walked back to where the team was waiting.
“So?” Daniel said.
“He’ll give us a ride. We let him take us to Viaxeiro. Once we’re there, we can overpower him and take over the ship. I’m still Lee Majors.” He looked at Carolyn. “I told him you were Ma Barker.”
Carolyn shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I was afraid you would call me Hot Lips Houlihan or something ridiculous like that.”
“Oh, damn, that is better. Maybe next time.”
Daniel said, “So now we wait until he’s done eating?”
Cam nodded. “Shouldn’t take very long. He, uh… he also expects half the bounty we’re allegedly getting for Carolyn here.” Daniel stared at him. “He wasn’t biting! I had to sweeten the pot a little bit. He was our best, quickest shot of getting to the prison.”
“He’s not going to like us very much when this is all over,” Daniel said.
Teal’c said, “We will burn that bridge when we have arrived at it, Daniel Jackson.”
“Doc, when we get on the ship, we’ll have to treat you like a prisoner. I don’t know how far it’ll go, but I get the feeling just putting some handcuffs on you isn’t going to cut it. We’ll be as gentle as we can with you.”
“I understand,” Carolyn said.
“Okay, then.” Cam focused on the cluster of carts and shopfronts that were selling food nearby. “As long as we’re waiting, we might as well get something to-go. I’m half-starved over here. You think they’ll have barbecue?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SAM HADN’T really gotten a good look at Lokelani’s home during her first visit. Now that she was back under different circumstances, she was led through the public areas to a smaller study that looked more lived-in. The walls were completely hidden behind shelves weighted down with books, scrolls, and loose pamphlets tied together with string. A table near the door was covered by a map. Sam could tell there were multiple other maps underneath the top one. She glanced down and saw it was a star map, but she couldn’t tell much else without being obvious about her examination. Two of the guards had followed them through the house but stopped in the corridor.
“I don’t think I thanked you properly back there,” Sam said. “I get the feeling it’s dangerous to show weakness in this place, and I looked pretty weak.”
Lokelani sat on the edge of her desk. “We’re not animals, Fraiser. Living in a prison doesn’t erase our humanity. Yes, there are rogues who make us look bad. But the rest of us are just trying to build our lives and make the best of a bad situation.”
Sam said, “But you still have people who try to escape. Vala and I saw one when we arrived.”
“Oh, of course. None of us came here willingly. It’s almost a rite of passage to test the boundaries of our new cage, and the guards assigned here by the Overseers do a good job of keeping those prisoners in check. But then there are others who realize what they have here. Peace. Prosperity they don’t have to fight or risk their lives for.”
“And yet…” Sam gestured at the guards waiting outside.
Lokelani smiled. “That’s just common sense, dear. I’ve been here a very long time. I’ve built a very nice home for myself. The new arrivals, those like you who are still clinging to their old ways, might decide they want to live here instead of those dreary cold-waters. I assume you spent the night in one of them?”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “This would definitely be an upgrade.”
“It certainly is comfortable.”
“I wanted to ask you the last time I was here.” Sam nodded at the shelves. “Where did all of these come from?”
“Oh, I have so many sources. Compassionate jailors sometimes allow the condemned to pack before bringing them here. And the ships doing the supply runs will occasionally bring luxury items.”
“And those come to you, and you decide who gets them.”
Some of the kindness faded from Lokelani’s face. “Someone has to. Imagine yourself wandering in a desert. You find an oasis, a source of shade and food and water. If you allow everyone to take whatever they want, the well soon runs dry and the tree is plucked bare of fruit. I serve the purpose of ensuring there will always be enough for everyone. No more, no less. The Cai Thior serve as guardians to protect the surplus. Have I satisfied your curiosity?”
“I’m sorry if I was prying. I’m just trying to figure out how this place works.”
Lokelani smoothed her hands over the front of her gown. “The way this place works is simple. Someone has to be in charge to prevent this world from becoming chaos. To stop those sharks outside from devouring one another. I’ve elected myself for that role. If you have a problem with that, then perhaps I should leave you outside with Vala and her cohorts.”
“No, no,” Sam said, raising her hands in surrender. “You’ve made your point. I’m just… you know… I’m a little dense. Slow on the uptake.”
Lokelani’s smile returned, now patronizing. Sam had seen the same look on countless faces over the years, usually directed toward General
O’Neill. His philosophy had always been that it was better to play the fool so people underestimated him than to lay all his cards on the table at the beginning of the game. Sam had no reason to let Lokelani know how smart she really was, so pretending to be an imbecile might work to her advantage.
“Of course you are. That’s how you wound up in Vala’s net in the first place.” She stepped forward and looked past Sam into the hall. “Sukhan? Take Sri Fraiser upstairs. Find an empty room to her liking and provide her with a uniform.”
The woman who responded was slightly older than Sam, with silver threaded through her dark braided hair. She was dressed in the same uniform as the other Cai Thior, but hers had the added element of a scimitar hanging from her belt. Sukhan bowed in response to Lokelani’s order and faced Sam. Her eyes were a vibrant blue and, for a moment, Sam thought she saw something behind them. It was just a flicker and was gone before she could even confirm it had been there.
“I will show you the way,” Sukhan said.
“Thank you.”
Sam followed Sukhan out of the study and into a dark, narrow hallway. The walls crowded in on either side, brushing against her sleeves. She was led upstairs into a room she would’ve considered cozy at a resort on Earth. The bed was huge, with a spacious night table on either side. A tall armoire stood in one corner next to a writing desk. Sukhan walked to the wardrobe and opened it to reveal a rack of orange uniforms like the one she wore.
“Everything else you’ll need is in the drawers below,” she said. “I’m only guessing at your size. If you require adjustments, just let someone know.”
“Thank you.”
Sukhan moved toward the door but stopped. She looked down at her feet for a long moment before she met Sam’s eyes.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
Sam tensed. “Should I?”
“I’ve been here for nearly five years. Before that, I sold weapons. My homeworld was very technologically advanced, and it was easy for me to find things just lying around that I could sell to more primitive worlds for whatever price I wanted. Before that… I spent a thousand years in suspended animation with my consciousness kept alive inside a virtual reality. I might still be in there reliving the same memories over and over again except, one day, we were given new memories.”
“Oh my God. The Keeper’s planet.”
Sukhan wrinkled her nose. “We don’t call it that. Would you name your planet after the man who had kept your entire race unnecessarily imprisoned?”
“Probably not.” Sam still wasn’t sure if she should be ready for a fight. “So I assume you know my name isn’t Fraiser.”
“I wasn’t entirely sure about your name, but I know who you are. My people were close allies with the Tau’ri when I left. They probably still are. You were the great liberators who brought us back to reality. Back to a world unprepared for us, and which we were unprepared to maintain. We were forced to rely on whatever your people could bring us in order to survive. Some, like me, didn’t like being so dependent on aliens after spending a millennia in prison.” She looked around with a wry smile. “I guess I just sort of gravitate toward captivity.”
Sam said, “Where does that leave us?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have any true loyalty to Lokelani. It didn’t take me long to realize the best place to stand on this rock was at her side. But I’m not going to put my life on the line to protect her. Everything she told you was true, but a simpler truth is that people in Viaxeiro get by with their heads down. We don’t make a fuss. I know you’re lying. To what end, I don’t know, but I assume it will only affect me if I become involved. So I’m not getting involved. I only wanted to tell you so you’d know I wasn’t a fool.”
Sam nodded slowly. “Noted. Thank you. May I ask you a question about this place?”
“Of course.”
“How does the Cai Thior… exist? The guards should be afraid of you and the other prisoners should resent you. I know Lokelani has some influence due to how long she’s been here, but I can’t understand why she’s allowed to have her own militia.”
Sukhan chuckled. “Well, the prisoners are easy to explain. They accept us because we’re like them. We understand what they’re going through. So they prefer to deal with us rather than the guards because they feel we’ll treat them justly. We’re not faceless men sent here by some faraway Overseers who think of us as cattle and treat us accordingly.
“As for the guards,” she continued, “look at it from their point of view. There are hundreds of women here, and this is a very large city. Lots of places to hide and hold secret meetings. If you were a guard, wouldn’t it make more sense to have one group in charge instead of many smaller ones?”
Sam said, “I suppose that makes sense.”
“The guards allow us to have power because it’s preferable to all of the prisoners being equal. The other prisoners allow us to have power because it’s preferable than dealing with outsiders who see them as less than human. And in that delicate balance, we thrive.”
“I see. Thank you for enlightening me.”
“Of course. I’ll leave you to change.” Sukhan stepped around Sam to leave, but she stopped on the threshold. “What I said earlier was not entirely true. I revealed that I knew the truth of your identity because I wanted to thank you. Nothing that happened on my world was your fault. You didn’t destroy our habitat and, in fact, without your people we would have died during the first winter after we were released. Regardless of what came after, it’s preferable to being stuck in that virtual hell. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sam said.
Sukhan slipped from the room. Sam pushed the door shut and went to the armoire, checking the clothing to see if there was any kind of recognizable sizing chart. The inside of the jacket was marked with characters she couldn’t read, but it seemed to be about the right size. There was also a sleeveless jerkin that she assumed went under it, and a variety of underwear that actually looked like it might be comfortable. She picked up one of the bras and examined it.
“Okay,” she muttered, “an all-woman prison planet might not be all bad…”
She pulled out one of the uniforms and began to change, hoping Vala and Tanis were faring well on their end.
~#~
“You didn’t have to enjoy it quite so much,” Vala said.
“Sure I did,” Tanis replied. “I had to sell it for Lokelani. Authenticity required enjoyment.”
They were on the roof of a cold-water near Lokelani’s compound, lying on their stomachs. Shein was down in the streets doing reconnaissance of the guards, making sure none of them were getting too curious about what was happening. Tanis was wearing a pair of sight enhancers which allowed her a view of the other building as clear as if she was standing beside it. She reached up to adjust the lenses. Sam had gone inside fifteen minutes earlier and as yet no one else had left.
Vala stacked one fist on top of the other, her chin on top of them both. “I know you think she’s a bore, but she’s saved my life more than once.”
Tanis made a rude noise in her throat. “What the hell did they do to you on that planet, Vala?”
“They gave me a home,” Vala said quietly. “They saw through all of my defenses, they saw the worst parts of who I am, and they still invited me in. And when I was at my absolute lowest moments, they held me up. Their kindness doesn’t make them weak, it’s what makes them strong.” She turned her head to look at Tanis. “It’s why you and I were so good together. We trusted each other. Yes, sometimes we got on each other’s nerves, but we could always count on each other.”
“Yeah.” Tanis sighed. “That’s one reason I didn’t fight too hard when I was sent here. I tried doing the solo thieving thing, but it just wasn’t fun anymore. I looked around for partners, but no one clicked. It was like they were playing music but I was dancing to the wrong beat.”
Vala beamed. “I ruined you for other thieves!”
Tanis reached ov
er and twisted Vala’s ear.
“Ow!”
“You’re still a brat.”
“And you’re still mean!”
Tanis took off the goggles. “I guess I just decided that if I wasn’t going to do crime with you, then there was no point in doing it at all. Especially not with the Ori sticking their noses in everything. You run into one of those pasty-faced weirdos and you never need to see another. My past caught up with me, fair and square. If I tried to run, someone else would chase me down eventually. This is a nice enough place to retire.”
“Plus you can’t beat the company.”
“Yeah.” Tanis sighed and rolled her eyes. “Go ahead. Get out your jokes. Tanis Reynard, settling down like a tej’ro…”
“No, no. Maybe the old me would have mocked you a little bit. I might have thrown some of your own words back in your face, like how entering a marriage contract is an invitation to be a victim to a con down the road. Or how you don’t want anyone to see you vulnerable, and a relationship is just an unending stream of defenseless days…”
Tanis said, “I remember!”
“So what’s different about Shein? Was it just because she’s, you know, convenient?”
“No,” Tanis said immediately. “It’s nothing like that. You know what I hate more than anything else? Going into a dangerous situation without a plan. I was dumped on this planet and surrounded by women as villainous as I am, and I had no clue how to defend myself. I decided to go on the offensive. Find someone, start a fight, prove I’m someone to be reckoned with. I chose wrong. The fight was over in seconds, and I was completely humiliated. Shein found me. Took me to her cold-water and made sure I could recover without anyone else picking on me. She told me how this place worked. By the time I was well enough to go out on my own, I didn’t much feel like it.”
Vala smiled wistfully.
“Look at you,” Tanis said. “Miss Sentimentality.”
“Hardly. Would you be more willing to leave if we could take Shein with us?”
She didn’t know how that would go over with Sam and the rest of SG-1, but it was a moot point since Tanis was already shaking her head.
