She left the altar behind and entered the main Stargate chamber. Felger looked up as she approached the DHD. He’d removed the panel to reveal the control crystals, but she was able to use their interface to dial without reconstructing it.
“Whoa, uh, hey. What’cha doing there, Captain?”
“There’s something I need to discuss with General O’Neill.”
Felger said, “Well, we’re scheduled to dial-in and give a progress report in twenty-five minutes. So if you wait until then we can just slap the DHD back together — ”
“This can’t wait that long.” She finished the sequence and the Stargate came to life. She entered her IDC as she stepped around the dialing plinth and walked without hesitation through the event horizon. It seemed to grip her skin as she entered it, each atom pulled momentarily outward in a slightly different direction as if she was dissolving in a pool of water. Some people claimed to be fully aware of passage through the wormhole; they described a twisting and turning tunnel of blue light shot through with stars. Morello had always seen it as a dreamless sleep on a train. She was aware of movement and a passage of time but she lacked any true consciousness.
From a dark and humid tomb, she placed her foot on the ramp in the familiar confines of the base. Dust from the palace fell from her uniform as she continued forward, unfastening her vest. General O’Neill came into the gate room and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
“Captain Morello. I hope this unexpected personal report means you come bearing good news rather than the alternative.”
“I think that depends on your perspective, sir. If we could speak privately?”
He looked intrigued and motioned for her to follow him. They climbed through the control room, and she composed her argument in her head. As they passed the briefing room table, she tried to think of precedents for what she was going to propose, but none came to mind. The general ushered her into his office and shut the door.
“Well, Morello, you have my attention.”
“Sir, we’re running down the clock here. Any second now we could start receiving reports that the Jaffa are dropping like flies.”
“I’m aware of that, Captain.”
“We need to take desperate measures to ensure success. Even if SG-1 comes through the gate right now with the item we need, there’s no way to be certain we’ll know how to operate it. We need Kali’s cooperation, sir.”
“And how do you propose we get it?”
“Me, sir.” She was glad her hands were behind her back so she could grip them tightly together. It helped control the trembling enough that she was motionless as she met the general’s gaze. “We allow Kali to take me as host. We convince her that she’s pulling one over on us, that it’s her chance to escape. But we’ll be prepared. We can find a way to ensure I’ll remain in control, and I’ll access her memories. We use them to stop this plague, and then we find a Tok’ra to extract the Goa’uld from me.”
O’Neill stared at her for a long moment, then finally spoke in a slow, measured cadence. “Are you out of your damned mind?” The last word was the only one with any emotion, and he all but shouted it. Morello rocked back a step, and lowered her head. “You think you can control a Goa’uld just because becoming a host was your idea? You think you can convince it to share information with us just because you ask it nicely? The Goa’uld do not work that way, Captain. This is without a doubt the most reckless, insane scheme anyone on this base has ever come up with.”
He stepped forward, standing directly in front of her, and lowered his voice when he spoke again.
“Seems like you fit right in.”
She looked at him, surprised the tirade had ended so abruptly. “Thank you, sir.”
“What you’re talking about is the nuclear option. It’s sending someone into a blast zone to defuse a bomb.”
“To be fair, sir, that has happened before. One of Dr. Jackson’s deaths.”
“Yes, well, that was different. Daniel didn’t ask permission.” He paused and aimed a finger at her. “Don’t take that as tacit approval. I know I would have jumped on that if I were in your shoes, so let’s nip that in the bud. If someone on this base became host to a Goa’uld, willingly or otherwise, there is no way we could put any stock in the information they gave us afterward. The Goa’uld lie. Hell, the Tok’ra lie. The only thing that would change would be half the people on this base would see a Goa’uld wearing the face of someone they know. We don’t need that emotional element added.”
Morello nodded. “I understand, sir. I guess I just got swept up in the idea.”
“I understand. I hear that clock ticking as loud as anybody. Where are you on the altar?”
“With all due respect, sir, I’m just poking at the thing now. I’d be much more use here.”
“Sure you’re not just trying to get away from Felger?”
“No comment, sir.”
He smiled. “Judicious. In that case, you’re dismissed, Captain.” She started to leave. “Captain Morello.”
“Sir?”
“There are people in the government who don’t trust Teal’c. Don’t even like him.” He gestured out the window with his pen. “And half the people here have exchanged fire with Jaffa forces. They’re keeping quiet right now, but I know a lot of them are wondering why I’m wasting our flagship team’s time trying to save them. You just ran in here offering to host a Goa’uld to save them.”
Morello nodded slowly. “They’re our allies, sir.”
“Yes. Still. That attitude isn’t as universal as I might like. I’ll remember it, Captain.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He waved her away. “All right. Go do whatever people like you and Daniel do when you’re not on duty.”
She smiled. “Pretty much the same as we do on-duty, sir, just with fewer guns.”
“Have at it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
She left the office and looked at her watch. There was no way to know how long they had before the devices activated. It was Schrodinger’s plague. But until they got word that the deadline was past, she was going to do everything in her power to find an answer. She straightened her jacket and went to the elevator. She didn’t have a lab like Dr. Jackson or Colonel Carter, but she had a whiteboard and a brain. She was sure with those tools she could figure something out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Wow. This is unexpected.”
Sam looked at Daniel as he scanned the mansion. “What? You’re surprised? The guy decorates Goa’uld palaces for a living. Some of that grandiosity had to rub off a little.”
“No, you’re right about that. It’s typical Goa’uld excess, ostentatious nonsense. But beyond that it’s a… a house. No palace walls, no idols, nothing to make visitors cower in fear at the owner’s presence. It’s very un-Goa’uld.”
Teal’c nodded. “Indeed, it is quite modest.”
Sam had to admit they had a point. The house was extravagant by most standards, a sprawling estate built on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean, but for the home of someone who had turned every Goa’uld throne room she’d seen into a Vegas nightmare, it was quite understated. The green lawn was wide and rolling as a golf course, and portions of the roof looked large enough to land a cargo ship on, but for the most part it was quite demure. It was far enough from the Stargate that she presumed Bellee was also a man who appreciated his privacy.
At the moment Anton Bellee’s home was made to appear even less impressive by the flock of security vessels hovering like carrion birds around the property. Sam eyed one of them as she passed, aware that she was being scanned. They had elected not to wear the normal uniform of the SGC for fear of sending the wrong message. Instead they wore clothing borrowed from Teal’c’s allies among the Jaffa. Sam wore a sleeveless leather tunic with a wide belt across her midsection, grateful that it wasn’t quite as revealing as some outfits she had seen. Daniel was stuck with a shortened black cape that he kept shrugging and tugging at when i
t would brush the backs of his arms.
Only Teal’c looked comfortable, and Sam was happy seeing him once again immersed in his culture. He’d fought tooth and nail for the right to rejoin his people, to be seen as more than a shol’va, and seeing him in Jaffa robes was a visual reminder of his victory.
The little security drone declared Sam unthreatening and moved on. She noticed that Teal’c and Daniel received a longer examination and wondered if she should be offended that she was cleared so quickly. She fought the inner O’Neill that urged her to make a nuisance of herself just to prove she could cause some damage and focused on the machines themselves.
“What do these things remind me of?” Sam asked.
Daniel watched one of them skim along an air current over the water. “Batteries not Included. That eighties movie with the little flying robots.”
Sam grinned. “Right. God, I loved that movie.”
“Was that before or after you started watching sci-fi just to tear apart the plot holes?”
“There are no plot holes in a movie about cute little robots.”
As they approached the front door a man wearing a security uniform stepped out of the house and held up a hand to stop them.
“I apologize for the inconvenience, but Master Bellee is not receiving guests at this time.”
Teal’c stepped forward with Sam and Daniel flanking him. “I believe it would be in his best interest to grant us audience.”
The security officer started to reply, but he was cut off by a shout from within the house.
“I am supposed to have dark-to-dark security! I am supposed to be personally guarded every moment of sunlight, so where in…” Anton Bellee himself, a short and grumpy-looking man in a silver jacket, appeared in the doorway. “There you are! What are you doing out here when — ” Bellee cut himself off when he saw their guests. He stared for a moment, then laughed. “Because of course! Of course the day I’m rebooting my security system and I’m at my most vulnerable, two Tau’ri and a Jaffa are going to show up. Let me guess, you’re Samantha Carter and you’re Jonas Quinn.”
Daniel coughed and furrowed his brow, but didn’t bother correcting him.
“And if they’re SG-1, you must be the infamous Teal’c. The shol’va.”
“I wear that term with pride, Anton Bellee.”
“I’m sure you do. Look, whatever you’re here for, I can’t help you. The Stargate is that way, so kindly shove off…”
Sam said, “Actually we were sent here by Nicia. She said you had an invitation you needed taken off your hands.”
Bellee laughed. “The invitation to Wyrrick’s party? She was asking for you? Oh, that is rich. The three of you want to attend Dysmas Wyrrick’s party?” He put his hands up against his lips and chortled quietly. “Oh. The temptation of sending the infamous SG-1 into that den of snakes is almost too good to pass up. But you’re lucky I’m not personally vindictive toward you. The invitation is useless to you, okay? Tau’ri aren’t getting through the door and a Jaffa certainly isn’t going to get very far. Tell Nicia I’m sorry to back out on our arrangement, but I’m not going to give you something you can’t even use. I do have a few morals. So if you don’t mind, I have to supervise the repairs to my abode.”
Sam stepped forward. “Mr. Bellee…”
“That’s Master Bellee to you.”
“No.”
He sighed. “Fine.”
“Mr. Bellee, you’re in a precarious position here. You’ve made a living, a very fine living from the looks of it, decorating the palaces of various System Lords. It’s because of you that their palaces look as… magnificent as they do.”
Daniel made a pained face. Sam glanced at him but didn’t comment.
“That’s all changed. The System Lords are running scared, and I think it will be a very long time before you get another commission. They aren’t going to be doing a lot of redecorating in the next few months. Or years. Or… well… ever. You just lost your entire customer base and they took their checkbooks with them. You know who will be redecorating in the coming months?” She turned and looked at Teal’c.
Bellee stuck out his chin as he considered her argument. “Huh. You may have a point.”
“Teal’c’s word carries a lot of weight with the Jaffa,” Daniel said. “The Jaffa might be reluctant to work with someone who is so closely associated with Goa’uld excess, but if he vouches for you…”
Teal’c said, “Assisting us in this matter would make great strides in proving you are more than just a hireling for the Goa’uld. It would prove that you can also be a friend to the Jaffa nation.”
Bellee pursed his lips, looked at his security officer, then finally threw his hands in the air. “Fine, you know what? Whatever. Everything’s topsy-turvy right now anyway so why not help the Tau’ri and the Jaffa? Fine. Come in. But I’m not just going to hand you the invite and let you waltz in looking like that. You may not realize this, but your little troupe is quite distinctive. People will recognize you.”
“Apparently not that distinctive,” Daniel muttered.
“Quiet, Jonas,” Sam said.
Bellee pushed the guard out of his way. “Come inside. I’ll find something for you to wear that will help disguise you when you’re at the party. If anyone can do it, I can. You’re just fortunate this is a masquerade or you’d be out of luck.”
Daniel said, “Oh, so getting dressed by a grumpy fashionista counts as lucky?”
“Look at the bright side,” Sam said. “We’re one step closer to reaching Kali’s treasure and ending the threat once and for all.”
Daniel sighed. “One step closer… let’s hope it’s the last hoop we have to jump through.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said as they reluctantly followed Bellee into the house.
The next morning Tanis woke to find Vala was still in the front room. She was cross-legged on the floor, elbows on her knees with her fists balled under her chin as she stared at the drawing. Before Tanis had retired for the night they had marked out everywhere that would be a hot spot during the party. The central room of the house was large enough to house a good number of people, and it boasted a large glass wall that would provide a great view for the gathering. A corridor wrapped around the main room with entrances to smaller interior rooms. Vala assumed these secondary locations would be utilized as display rooms. Access would be easy, but getting enough privacy to actually steal anything would be a hassle. She had marked doorways at either end of the hall that could be used for a quick escape to the hangars, and a staircase in the main room could take her to the second floor and provide access to the private landing pad on the roof.
Tanis scratched her head and pushed her hair out of her face, standing with her other hand on her hip as she examined the miniature home spread out in front of her bare feet. “You’re still looking at this thing? What else is there to figure out?”
“The biggest problem, the most obvious hurdle. The thing we never once stopped to consider in all of our planning.” Vala unfolded her legs and grunted as she stood up. She shook her right foot out to the side to get rid of the pins-and-needles as she walked the line of the eastern wall. “We’ve determined that these spaces — heavily fortified and sparsely furnished — will be the display rooms during the party. The security will be lessened to accommodate the amount of people moving through the space. It would destroy the ambiance if he had bells and whistles going off every five minutes.”
“Exactly. All we have to do is walk in and grab it.”
“Yes. How?”
“How… what? How will we make our escape?” Tanis walked to stand next to the exit at the end of the corridor. “We’ll go out through this side door to the hangar. We covered that last night.”
“Indeed we did. But what I mean, my dear Tanis, is how exactly are we going to move the treasure in the first place? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been working on the assumption he would have it safely locked away in a vault, not sitting ou
t in full display surrounded by people. Either we’ll have to carry a huge amount of valuable items past a large group of partygoers or we’ll have to make multiple trips as the collection slowly shrinks. Getting it out the door isn’t even the biggest problem when you consider that we’ll be stealing these items from displays while groups of people are mingling and looking at everything. We’re going to be robbing this place in the clear view of over three dozen guests. Care to explain how to accomplish that?”
Tanis stared at the map for a long moment. Her expression changed from sleepiness to full alertness, then to alarm as she realized the extent of the problem. “Damn it.”
“Damn it indeed,” Vala said, planting her fists against her hips. “I figure we can arrange for some sort of distraction, and there’s bound to be entertainment to draw people’s attention away from the displays. We simply have to find ways to use those moments to our advantage. By my estimation we can manufacture five trips in and out of the building.”
“A lot of risk involved. He’s bound to have security, and if any of them notice when stuff starts to go missing, we could get nabbed.”
Tanis was speaking in a clipped manner in an effort to control her anger. Vala couldn’t blame her for being annoyed. After everything they’d gone through to get this treasure, only to have this final hurdle thrown up at the last second just because neither of them managed to think of it before… Vala had been kicking herself for the same reason all night, but the recriminations hadn’t given her insight into how to fix their problem. Five trips, carrying only what they could conceal on their persons, avoiding security the whole time. It left out the larger, more valuable items that might fetch more in the black market. They might be able to make up for it with enough smaller items, but it always came back to whether they would be able to move very much at all.
SG1-24 Two Roads Page 16
