“No, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known how important it was — and we don’t even know what it looks like.”
Nicia said, “Perhaps all is not lost. You know only that you’re seeking the mechanism through which Kali could prevent the Purge?”
“That’s right. We’ve found a device on one of her planets, and we were able to shut it off. But its construction proves that it’s just one piece in a larger network.”
Nicia thought for a moment. “There was an item among the spoils that may be what you seek.” She motioned Sam closer and began flipping through her book. “It was a large faceted pedestal with a control panel built into one side. There was a pad with Stargate symbols that she could use to dial, and a set of alphanumeric keys with which she could enter a code.” She put her finger on one line and nodded slowly. “Does that sound similar to the device you have seen?”
“It does. I don’t suppose you marked down who has it?”
Nicia smiled. “I am a businesswoman, am I not?” She looked again. “It appears it was one of the items that was given away illicitly. But just because it was stolen does not mean the trail goes cold.” She grinned. “The last person authorized to handle the pedestal was Imeda. She does most of her trade with a fence named Baleya Pani.” She drummed her fingers on the paper and narrowed her eyes as she thought. “And Baleya Pani would not keep something that valuable for very long. The question is who would have the funds to buy it. Someone she has an existing relationship with.” She smiled. “Dysmas Wyrrick. He made his fortune running arms for the Goa’uld and now he’s reaping the benefits of his hoarding. Baleya was one of his sources, and I believe she would go to him to move something this large. He is one of the few people who could afford to buy it. She would definitely contact him as soon as possible.”
“Do you have any reason to believe he actually bought it? What if she showed him the items and he decided not to buy?”
Nicia shook her head. “It is possible, but Wyrrick is hosting a party soon. He’s using it as an excuse to show off all the beautiful items he’s acquired over the years. I doubt he would pass on the opportunity to increase his collection.”
Sam said, “Would he be open to trading with us?”
“No. Even if you approached him honestly about your intentions, he would be unmoved by the plight of the Jaffa. And any Tau’ri who set foot on his planet will be imprisoned until he can think of an amusing way to execute them.”
“Sounds like a fun guy.”
“These are difficult days, Colonel Carter. We do not have the privilege of choosing the people we must do business with. But you are correct, Wyrrick has few friends, only those who do business with him because they have no other choice.”
Sam nodded. “I understand. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But that does leave the question of how we can get the pedestal. It’s not like we can just sneak in and rob the place.”
“On the contrary. I mentioned that he is holding a party in the next few days to show off his collection of finery from across the galaxy. If he did purchase Kali’s items from Baleya, they will be among the items he’s displaying. And the party will be a masquerade.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “You think we could get inside just by wearing a mask?”
“Yes, I do. As long as you had the proper invitations. Before you ask, yes, I happen to know where you can get a couple.”
Sam recognized a shrewd negotiator when she saw one, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “And what exactly would that information cost?”
Nicia matched Sam’s pose and smiled. “That depends, Colonel Carter. What do the Tau’ri have to offer?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
After fleeing Baleya’s stronghold, and confirming the woman had indeed taken a reasonably unreasonable price for the information she’d stolen, Vala and Tanis agreed to find a quiet little backwater planet to recuperate. Neither of them were willing to talk about what they had seen in the pods, but Vala could tell from Tanis’ silence and the haunted look in her eyes that she’d seen something as bad, or even worse, than Vala’s experience. They spent the trip avoiding each other as much as possible in the cramped quarters of the ship, taking turns at the controls so the other one could retreat into the cargo hold for some alone time.
Vala wasn’t too concerned about taking time off from their search. If Kali’s treasure was indeed going on display at Wyrrick’s party, they had more than a week to kill before they could get close. That was plenty of time to allow them some rest and relaxation, even if they were forced to travel by ship. Tanis was still wary of Stargate travel, partly because it was so advanced that even she was unable to grasp how it worked but mostly because she saw it as a tactical disadvantage.
She had explained it once when Vala asked about her aversion. “Picture this. You get a Stargate address and you dial it on the platform. Stargate opens and you think you’re going one place, but instead you wind up standing in a concrete box with a whole damn army aiming their weapons at your head. Not to mention the fact that you could walk through the thing, and when the shimmer drops, you have an armed response team standing behind the gate with their weapons aimed at your back.”
“Good lord. Did that happen to you?”
“Not to me,” Tanis admitted, “but I heard there were Jaffa who had started doing it to protect their new settlements. Traveling by ship may take longer, and it may have its own inherent risks, but at least you’re in control.”
Vala couldn’t find any fault in her argument and, when they worked together, she yielded to her partner’s preferences. She found she quite enjoyed it. Traveling by Stargate could get them wherever they needed to be in a matter of seconds, but going the slow way opened up a world of possibilities. She had encountered at least a dozen different spacefaring civilizations cluttering up the sky, and all of them had been ripe for the plucking. The extra funds they gathered from their occasional side work as highwaymen more than made up for the delay in getting to their destination.
Thirty-six hours after departing Baleya’s planet, they arrived at the nearest planet Vala knew of that had the sort of nightlife they required. It was a crowded and cluttered world called Qacha Teq, a jumble of clashing enclaves. The rich had their city centers, and the poor had sprawling ghettos that clung to the affluent areas like carbuncles. The atmosphere was so polluted that it seemed to scrape across the screens of the ship as Vala descended. Finally breaking through the cloud cover, she set her course for one of the largest of the shanty towns. Any and every method of distraction was available for the person with enough funds to buy it, and Vala thought it was a worthy expense before heading off on the next step in their journey.
Vala had been to the city before and she easily found a place to leave the ship. Tanis was out the door almost as soon as the engines died down, and Vala knew better than to follow her. They’d had this kind of layover before and she’d found it was best to leave Tanis to her own devices. Odds were good that she was going in search of a willing local or two for a night of debauchery to forget whatever she’d seen. Vala’s intentions were slightly different; she wanted to numb the memory and push it back from the forefront of her mind, but she didn’t want to forget. She never wanted to forget those harrowing days.
With Tanis gone, securing the ship was up to Vala. She took a handful of credits, more than she would need but not so much it would harm them too terribly if she was mugged, and folded them into the inside pocket of her vest. Once she was satisfied that their ship wouldn’t be robbed in their absence, she put her hair up and tugged a floppy-brimmed hat down over her eyes before heading out to find the nearest pub.
The best part about being in a slum was that one never had to venture far to find alcoholic content. The people forced to live in this sort of environment were always eager to spend their meager paycheck on cups of liquid amnesia. The wealth of options gave her the freedom to skip some of the more crowded venues, and she avoided the sleazier di
ves where the drinks were more water than intoxicant, wandering through the dark and winding streets until she found a perfect medium in a little rathskeller in a dead-end spur. She assessed the clientele from the door and saw a mixture of Jaffa, human, Oranian, Enkarans, and a few others she couldn’t identify. She had a feeling she would fit in well among them.
A woman on the stage was gesticulating wildly as she sang, hunching her shoulders and throwing her upper body back to indicate the passion in what she was singing. She swung to and fro, the green and black curls of her hair whipping against the side of her face as she contorted her lips around each word, fingers stretched out in desperation. Most of the patrons paid no attention to the theatrics but the band was too loud to ignore. Vala welcomed the clatter; it kept her from spending too much time inside her head.
Vala moved to the bar and rested her elbows on the rail until she could get the bartender’s attention, eyeing the other customers as she waited. There were certain possibilities if she wished to take Tanis’ methods as her own. She had often used sex as a weapon and a distraction, not to mention it was a fantastic way to take the edge off when she was bored. Normally she preferred seduction to actually going through with the act, but sometimes it was unavoidable. She tried not to deploy her seduction method on anyone she wasn’t actually willing to bed, so it was rarely unpleasant. Then again, she had very little to gain by seducing anyone in the bar, and after reliving her experiences in Qetesh’s palace, however, she was feeling decidedly unsexual.
After several minutes of waiting patiently for the bartender to notice her, she was finally able to place her drink order. The haggard man behind the bar handed her the glass and took her money with one fluid motion before turning to the next customer. Vala blew the head off the drink and brought it to her lips for that first wonderful sip.
“Vala… Mal… Doran!”
The shout echoed off the rafters, even cutting through the shriek of the band. Vala’s eyes widened and she slowly turned, feeling the bubbles of her drink on her upper lip. She licked it away as she watched the man barreling toward her and tried to identify him. He was a few inches shorter than her, his face almost obscured by a beard and the too-long curls of his hair. His hands were balled into fists and he held his arms out so that they bracketed his stone-shaped body. Images of past victims shuttered through her mind in quick succession until she found a match, and she put on her widest and most innocent smile as she put her back to the bar. Only when she mentally erased the beard and pulled his hair back in a braid did she realize who it was.
“Jocia! What a pleasant surprise! How long has it been?”
“Three years,” he growled when he was standing in front of her. Vala leaned back and chuckled nervously. The men on either side of her scooted away to avoid being caught up in whatever was about to happen. “It has been three years since you last darkened my door, since you filled my head with your lies! I was held responsible for your theft!”
Vala couldn’t help but think that was only fair. After all, if he hadn’t been so moon-eyed over her, she wouldn’t have been able to steal his access codes. She never would have gotten into the vault and the hangar locks certainly would have been impossible to break. He’d been a completely invaluable accomplice. Of course she understood how he might not agree with her on that mark.
“Jocia, Ocie, darling! How could you possibly think I would do such a horrible thing to you? No, no, I was a victim as well. These horrible men burst in when you weren’t home and demanded — ”
He cut her off by aiming a stubby finger in her face. “Save it! Thermal registers revealed you acted alone.”
Vala dropped the smile and rolled her eyes. “Well, it was worth a try.” She swung her arm around and smashed her mug against the side of his head. The glass shattered and his head was drenched with the alcohol she’d sadly not had a chance to sample. She pushed herself up to sit on the bar and placed her boot in the center of his chest. She kicked him backward, stood up, and high-stepped over the glasses of the bar’s other patrons. No one seemed more than mildly perturbed by the distraction, giving her the impression it was a normal occurrence.
“Stop her!” Jocia shouted, still struggling to see through his soaked bangs.
Vala reached the end of the bar and leapt for the staircase stretching overhead. She grabbed the banister and, after a bit of kicking and swinging, managed to pull herself up. She slithered between the posts, got onto her hands and knees, and stood up as she ascended the steps to the second floor landing. She could hear Jocia shoving his way through the crowd in pursuit of her, his rough tactics turning the initially impartial crowd against him. They held him back long enough for Vala to push through a curtain separating the main corridor from the more private areas.
She could hear Jocia on the stairs as she reached the window at the end of the hall. She gave the glass a quick shove and, when it opened, she squirmed out onto the small landing that encircled the building. She took the time and risk to push the window back down, scooted sideways along the precarious ledge so that she wouldn’t be seen, and flattened herself against the building’s clay brick façade. Though she knew it didn’t make a difference, she closed her eyes and held her breath.
Inside she heard Jocia in the hallway. There were six private rooms, and Jocia began pounding on one of the doors. “Come out of there, Vala!”
The door was opened violently. “You are interrupting our transaction!”
“I’m looking for the woman who ruined me! Stand aside! I’ll search every one of these rooms if I must.” There were sounds of a scuffle, followed by Jocia grunting as he forced his way into the room. Vala rolled her eyes; six rooms carefully searched? Odds were good that she would be trapped out on the ledge for a good long time. She hoped Tanis was having a more relaxing evening than she was. She looked around for an alternative escape route. Across the alley was another building with darkened windows, but it was much too far to jump. The roof was a good ten feet away, which might as well have been a hundred feet.
Below her, there was a wooden cart stacked high with wooden boxes. She didn’t know if the boxes would bear her weight, or if what was inside would hurt her if they shattered, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She said a silent prayer and jumped. The boxes held, and Vala rolled off the side of the cart. She hissed and rotated her shoulder, massaging the point where it met her neck as she got back on her feet. She tossed her hair, looked up to see if anyone had heard her, and hurried out of the alley to the safe anonymity of the street.
“The things one has to do in order to get a drink in this town,” she muttered as she adjusted her vest and slipped her hands into her pockets. She had only gone a few blocks before she passed another bar and, though she hadn’t planned to enter, two Jaffa cut her off on their way inside. She would have ignored the rudeness if she hadn’t overheard a snippet of their conversation. “…truly supposed to be afraid of someone like Kali?”
She changed direction and followed the men inside. They were dressed casually and she could see weapons dangling from sheaths on their hips. Both of them had burned away their tattoos but the shape indicated they had once fought in the service of Ba’al. One was several inches taller than the other, with thin salt-and-pepper hair. The other was shorter, balding, and wore a thick mustache that obscured his lips. The taller man was the skeptic, while the shorter seemed to be the one sharing the gossip.
“Kali has been known to employ methods such as this in the past. It would not be outside the realm of possibility to believe she’s doing it again to punish her Jaffa for turning on her.”
The taller Jaffa shook his head. “You heard wrong. The message was too short.”
“The length of the message does not change its meaning. They had time to prepare the message before activating the Stargate to send it through, so I know I can take it at face value.” He signaled for a bartender and rapped his knuckles on the bar. He snorted, which made his mustache twitch. “I understand why they
must bury the Stargate, but after everything we have accomplished… cutting off all communications until further notice makes it look like we’re running and hiding.”
“Yes, but it’s to protect you! From the plague of the gods that will descend upon us for our hubris. This is all just a bunch of religious zealots harping on the end of days in a world without gods. Their altars have been shattered and they have nothing left. They’re grasping at straws and all it will do is serve to make us look foolish in the eyes of every other race out here.”
“It would be simpler if you were right. Cowards and alarmists afraid of what freedom would mean. I would much prefer that to the alternative.” He sighed and slapped the taller Jaffa in the side. “If he returns before I do, order me something alcoholic.”
As he made his way through the crowd, Vala sidled up next to the tall Jaffa. “Well, hello. Tall, dark, and muscles. Quite a combination.”
He smiled at her. “I am Miri’k.”
She extended her hand. “Vala. A bright spot in the darkness.”
“You certainly are.”
She arched an eyebrow and pressed closer to him. “I hate to intrude, but I couldn’t help overhear part of your conversation with your friend. Some sort of plague threatening the Jaffa? I think I heard you mention, uh… Kali? Was it Kali?”
“That’s the rumor. Baq’rel doesn’t believe it’s worthy of concern.”
Vala said, “Then he’s a fool! The Goa’uld are petty creatures. I’ve no doubt one of them would go to devious lengths to respond in the event of a Jaffa uprising.”
Miri’k nodded. “That is my fear. Perhaps if the rumor were less vague, or if it named a different System Lord. Kali is notorious for disposing of her enemies in this manner. The message warned that a sickness, a plague, would soon be sent through the galaxy via the chappa’ai. Every Jaffa exposed will fall ill and die. It is very similar to the way she eradicated the followers of Shiva after taking over his realm.”
SG1-24 Two Roads Page 12
