“I would say relieved.”
Jack sighed. “Well, that would certainly be a change of pace.” The screens receiving the video signal were active, showing a dark stone passageway and the back of Captain Morello’s head as she spoke to someone standing behind her. “Ahoy-hoy,” he said loud enough to get her attention. She turned around fast, eyes wide as she leaned close to the camera lens. Jack winced; he used to do the same thing, and never realized what an annoyingly distorted picture it sent back.
“Hello, General…”
“Captain, why don’t you just… lean back about five inches?”
She immediately retreated to a more comfortable location. “Sorry, sir. I wanted to touch base in regards to the device Dr. Jackson found here, and… if I could be so bold, offer an alternative mission.”
“All right. Start with the update.”
“Colonel Getty and the rest of the team have done an extensive sweep of the room and the rest of the palace, but there doesn’t seem to be any sort of map or guidepost indicating how many of these things there are. I did find a subspace receiver inside the shell of the device which would support the theory that each one sends a signal to the next one in the sequence until they’ve all been activated. It would also serve as a receiver so that Kali could disable them all from a single location through an active Stargate. All she’d have to do is press one button and they all go cold.”
“All good news,” Jack said, “assuming we can actually find that one button.”
“Yes, sir. Like a needle in a haystack, I understand. But I was thinking that if Kali was still around, we could just ask her.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “If being the operative word. Is there any indication she’s still alive following her Jaffa rising up?”
“No, sir. In fact, there haven’t been any reports of Kali anywhere in the galaxy for the past few months. It’s like she just vanished into thin air.”
“And you just happen to know that?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Of course not. Once I learned we were going to be investigating one of Kali’s strongholds, I dug through some recent mission reports. There are sightings of other Goa’uld on the run, but so far nothing on Kali. The Tok’ra also haven’t heard anything about her.”
“Nice. You did your homework.”
“It’s kind of my thing.” She grinned. “Uh, anyway, it makes sense that she would have gone further underground than anyone else. She not only lost her Jaffa, she lost her allies among the other System Lords because she was affiliated with Anubis. Right now she’s persona non grata. It would be extremely difficult for her to find safe harbor.”
“All the more reason to assume she’s dead,” Jack said.
“I don’t think so. Goa’uld don’t die quietly.”
“Do they do anything quietly?”
Morello smiled. “I think she managed to find that safe haven, sir. She couldn’t rely on her former allies, since they all had problems of their own to deal with. Anyone who fell in line with Anubis would be fighting for their own survival.”
Jack glanced at the Stargate again, the ticker in his head clicking over another digit. “Uh-huh.”
“Sir, Bastet was killed a few months before Dakara happened.”
The apparent change in topic was too much for him. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Kali and Bastet were long-time allies, sir. If Kali needed to escape the rebelling Jaffa and the other System Lords, Bastet’s worlds would be the perfect hiding place. Custom-made for a Goa’uld of Kali’s stature but no one would be looking there because Bastet was dead before all this began. Her Jaffa moved on before the uprising and anything that could have been looted was already long gone. It would make sense for Kali to lie low on one of her planets. If she was found, she could be compelled to tell us what we need to know to disable these devices. At the very least she could tell us how much time we have before they go off.”
Jack considered the strategy. “Is there anything else you can do with the device?”
“Not really, sir.”
“Then tell Colonel Getty to get your team back here. You’re going on a snake hunt.”
Morello grinned brightly. “Yes, sir. Looking forward to it, sir.”
Jack nodded and had Walter close the Stargate. It would have to be reopened in due course to bring his people home. Forget heating the whole neighborhood, he thought. I’m holding open a revolving door to the whole damn galaxy. He sighed and patted Walter’s shoulder before turning to go back to his office. In the end it didn’t really matter how much it cost; it was just the price of doing business.
The Stargate on Teunus was located in the bottleneck of a valley that widened just enough to enclose a small village within its walls. On the opposite side of the valley was a squat pyramid that, according to Teal’c, had once been home to Amaterasu. She was one of the many Goa’uld who had been kicked out either by their Jaffa or by locals who had come to understand their ruler wasn’t actually a god. There was evidence of violence all around the Stargate, from staff weapon blasts on stones, to destroyed carts that had yet to be cleared away. Sam noticed that the debris, while seemingly random, had been placed in strategic positions to limit the movement of anyone coming through the Stargate.
When the event horizon collapsed, a strong voice said, “Declare any weapons you have brought with you!”
The team turned slowly to see a group of five Jaffa standing behind the Stargate. Sam and Daniel slowly lifted their hands, but Teal’c stepped forward and lifted his hand to appease the guards.
“Friends! I am Teal’c, of Chulak. I am here under the banner of peace and mean you no harm.”
Their demeanor completely changed as soon as they heard his name, and the weapons were lowered as they gathered around him.
Daniel and Sam kept a respectable distance so Teal’c could serve as their emissary. Approaching one of the carts which had been moved to create the barrier around the Stargate, Daniel said “You know, it’s a shame we don’t have more time to really talk to some of these people in a more relaxed capacity. The Jaffa we know have all been part of the resistance for years. Teal’c and Bra’tac stopped believing the Goa’uld were gods years ago, but so many of them were still proudly serving and worshipping when the curtain was raised. It’s amazing they’ve been able to function at all, let alone start building the foundation of an entirely new nation.”
“Well, they are Jaffa.” Sam looked at the men speaking to Teal’c. Three of them bore the mark of Moloc, while the other two had elaborate bird-like marks that she couldn’t immediately identify. “Their entire life consists of fighting the armies of other gods. When one was defeated they would shift allegiances. I think deep down most of them knew this day was coming.”
Daniel said, “It’s one thing to know a day like this is coming. Actually living through it and trying to survive in such a vastly different world is something completely different.”
Teal’c finished speaking to the guards and returned to them. “They have agreed to allow us entrance to their village. Word of Kali’s plan had not reached them yet, and they were grateful for the warning. They will disable the Stargate while we meet with the leader of this place, and open it only when we depart.”
Sam lifted her hand in thanks to the men. “Hopefully that will be enough to keep them safe. Did you ask about the items from Kali’s temple?”
Teal’c nodded and led them toward the village. “One of them confirmed they received a great many things originally owned by Kali, but there is no guarantee it remains. There have been several transactions, both authorized and illicit, since Kali’s treasure arrived and much of what came may have already changed hands. If it is still here, we will find it at the base of the pyramid. A bazaar has been set up to spread the wealth of the Goa’uld among other Jaffa settlements. Those who require funds to establish their new homes may find items to sell or barter here.”
Daniel said, “Hopefully if they do have
the means to stop Kali’s devices from activating, they’ll see the benefit in sharing the information with us for free. It’s not like we have anything to trade.”
“On the contrary, Daniel Jackson. When I revealed we were en route to Teunus, the Council provided me with several ounces of naquadah with which we can negotiate a trade.”
“That was nice of them.”
Teal’c said, “They are most grateful for the Tau’ri’s assistance in this matter, Colonel Carter. Seeing as it has become dangerous for us to travel between worlds, there existed the possibility that we would not have the means to combat this threat.”
Sam said, “Of course we’re helping. Why wouldn’t we?”
“Tau’ri and Jaffa have long been enemies, despite your assistance with our struggle to be free. Now that we have achieved our goal, many believe you no longer have an incentive to help us. There is also the fact that you are outsiders who cannot begin to understand the struggles we have been through. This plague that we endeavor to prevent only affects Jaffa. Many would question why you would expend the effort and risk your own lives on this quest.”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Daniel said. “I mean, my God. We’re talking about genocide. If we just stood by and let that happen, we’d be no better than the Goa’uld.”
“Not to mention all the times our asses have been saved by the Jaffa in the past,” Sam said. “Yes, many SGC missions involved fighting Jaffa, and yes, several of those missions involved fatalities. But we’re not going to discount all the times you guys saved our asses, too. If you hadn’t been a member of SG-1, Daniel and I would both be dead a dozen times over. Hell, we wouldn’t even have gotten off Chulak on our first mission if it hadn’t been for you.” She furrowed her brow and glanced sideways at him. “Did we ever actually say thank you for that?”
“Many times and in many different ways, Colonel Carter.” He smiled at her and inclined his head. “And you are most welcome.”
She returned his smile.
“Do not take their wariness as antagonistic. They are simply being… cautious. For the first time in our history we have the opportunity to draw our own path. We would not wish to allow outside influence during these nascent stages.”
“No, we totally understand that,” Daniel said. “The Jaffa need to figure out who they are as a free people. Government, culture… you need to work out what works for you, and you can only do that yourselves. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with seeking advice from people who have gone through this sort of rebirth as well.”
“I thank you, Daniel Jackson. When the time comes, we would greatly appreciate your assistance. But for now the work must be our own.”
They passed other Jaffa on the road to the pyramid, and Sam couldn’t help but think of how recently her reaction to seeing them would have been to grab her gun and take cover. She and Daniel remained behind Teal’c, letting him take the lead so there was no doubt he was their escort. A few of the men and women offered polite head nods or paused to briefly greet Teal’c, but for the most part the groups moved on without saying a word.
Soon they arrived at the town which had grown up in the area around the pyramid’s base. Everything looked new and freshly built, but there were already signs of life in every corner; toys that had been left in the street, laundry flapping on strings that stretched between two buildings, and the smell of something delicious that wafted through narrow alleys. The majority of people Sam saw bore the mark of one System Lord or another, but she also saw a handful of people whose foreheads were bare.
“Siero said this planet was neutral before the Jaffa annexed it. Are these the people who lived here before this place was set up?”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said. “This is a rare planet in which the Goa’uld were not responsible for their woes. There is a quarry on the other side of these hills where the men extract stone used in construction on a nearby world. Raiders and thieves from other worlds took advantage of the lack of men protecting the village and began attacking while they were at work or off-world selling their stone. Their reign of terror ended when a group from the Hak’tyl Resistance arrived seeking to set up trade and saw the dilemma. They offered to remain in order to protect the residents from further attacks, and in return the citizens of Teunus offered to provide shelter to the Hak’tyl.”
Daniel said, “Sounds like a beneficial arrangement for both sides.”
“Indeed. The Hak’tyl taught the women of the village to defend themselves, while the villagers taught the Hak’tyl valuable lessons in farming, building shelter…”
Sam said, “Probably even simple things, like setting a household budget.”
Teal’c nodded. “When it became necessary to create a safe haven that was restricted only to our people, the people of Teunus were more than happy to oblige.”
Daniel said, “And the woman we’re meeting…”
“Nicia.”
“Right. She was one of the first to use tretonin after Ishta’s group.”
Teal’c said, “And that is one of the reasons she has agreed to meet with us today. She credits the Tau’ri with the creation of the drug.”
Sam said, “It’s nice to know some people in the galaxy still see us as the good guys.”
Teal’c smiled at her. “The ground is still shaking beneath our feet, Colonel Carter, but it will eventually grow still. When that day comes, the Tau’ri will be given the credit they so richly deserve. I shall make certain of it.”
They walked on until they reached a pair of open-air cabins connected by a covered porch. A breezeway ran between the two buildings, and the space was filled with people crouching, sitting, or leaning against the wall. As they stepped onto the porch a dark-skinned woman in a sleeveless V-neck tunic came out of the cabin on the right. She carried a bag so heavy it made the muscles of her arms bulge as she crouched to set it down next to the nearest person, a weary-looking woman with tears in her eyes.
“This will pay the merchants and get you the grain you require. There should be enough left over for you to build your savings back up. Don’t let them cheat you on the price.”
The woman nodded, barely containing her tears as she pushed herself up. “Thank you, Nicia.” She wrapped her arms around Nicia’s shoulders. “Thank you so much.”
“That is unnecessary, Phera. Now, do you need someone to help you carry this home? I’m certain we can find some trustworthy men who are willing to help you.” She looked at Teal’c and Daniel. “Why, here are two such men now. Sirs? Would you help this woman take the bag back to her home?”
Daniel stammered and looked at Sam, who cut off any denial he might have made. “They’d be happy to, Nicia. In the meantime, perhaps you and I could speak inside?”
Nicia agreed with a silent nod of her head. As Daniel and Teal’c gathered the bag and helped the woman past the crowd, Nicia assured those who were waiting that she would be as quick as possible. Sam smiled apologetically as she skipped the line, waved goodbye to Daniel as he hauled away the sacks of whatever bartering material Nicia had given to the woman. She stepped into the cabin and was surprised by how hot it was. The temperature on Teunus was a good twenty degrees warmer than what they’d left behind in Colorado Springs, and this particular room had to have another thirty degrees on that. She felt a film of sweat on her forehead by the time Nicia had crossed the room and bent over an open ledger.
Sam waited until Nicia had marked the transaction before she spoke. “I’m Colonel Samantha Carter of SG-1. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.”
“I am Nicia. You and your team are well known among the Jaffa, Colonel Carter, if not always well-regarded.”
“We’ve had some differences of opinion,” Sam admitted warily.
Nicia smiled reassuringly. “I am among those who believe we would not have our freedom were it not for your efforts. We owe the Tau’ri a great debt, and if what you fear is true, then I am willing to do whatever I can to assist you in your endeavor. T
his Purge could be the end of us all.”
Sam blinked in surprise. “Wow, word travels fast. Teal’c said the people at the gate hadn’t even heard about the situation.”
Nicia smiled and nodded her head. “On a world such as this, information is key. Thankfully we have ways to communicate with the men we have stationed at the chappa’ai.” She picked up a small radio off the table, and Sam recognized it as a slightly out-of-date SGC issue. “Scavenged, of course, but they still work very well.”
“I’m afraid to ask where you got that.”
Nicia said, “And where do your soldiers gather the zat’nik’tels they carry?”
“Point taken,” Sam said. “That radio looks pretty beaten up, though. We can see about getting you some newer models.”
“I thank you. But before we begin discussing trades, I must regretfully inform you that what you seek is no longer here.”
Sam’s shoulders sagged. “Everything from Kali’s realm has already been moved out?”
“Everything we received from her palaces was in excellent condition, and I was able to get good exchanges for what I had. There is also the matter of inventory loss.”
Sam said, “Which means?”
“The current atmosphere allows for an unfortunate amount of illicit activity. I am sorry to say that much of what we recovered has been moved onto the black market. I understand that the need is great, and the theft is far too small in the grand scheme to take the time to investigate. We must operate in the knowledge that certain things will go missing under the table. Larger and more valuable items were either stolen very quickly, used to pay for the treasure’s transit, or were given to those in the most need as soon as it arrived. All we have left are baubles and trinkets, nothing that could possibly be used for the purpose of which you speak. I apologize, Colonel Carter, but the simple truth is that whatever you’re looking for has already been given away.”
Sam tried not to sound too disappointed. “It’s surprising it could be moved so quickly.”
“Not really,” Nicia said. “In my work here, speedy turnaround often means the difference between helping someone out of a bind and sending them away empty-handed. Kali had many items that could have easily been sold or exchanged for a high price. They would have been the first out the door. Had I but known what I had…”
SG1-24 Two Roads Page 11
