Jack grinned. “I think we could find a place for it. I actually have the perfect spot in my sun room. Well done.”
Sam nodded in acknowledgement. “Now we just have to convince Kali to help us.”
“Oh, didn’t I mention when you radioed? Yeah, we sorted that whole thing out while you were rubbing elbows with the rich and snooty.”
Daniel said, “You sorted it out.”
“Yep.”
“Convinced a Goa’uld to stop a plague.”
“That’s what we did.”
“A plague that she herself set in motion.”
Jack nodded. “That’s the long and short of it. Actually, I can’t take all the credit. Or even most of it.” He looked at Morello. “I’m thinking of bringing the captain with me next time I have to buy a car. Apparently she is one hell of a negotiator.”
“Wow,” Daniel said. “Well done, Captain Morello.”
Morello smiled, glanced shyly at Daniel and then quickly looked at the pedestal he was holding. “Well, it wouldn’t have meant anything without that.”
Jack said, “Yes. And since we all got gold stars for today, what do you say we combine our victories and get this pedestal somewhere it can actually do some good. We’re cutting it a little close.” He turned to one of the airmen nearby. “Have the prisoner prepared for transport and get a MALP. Wouldn’t want to just take her word that she’s sending us somewhere safe.”
“Yes sir.”
Jack motioned for the team to follow him. “In the meantime, you can regale me with the behind-the-scenes of the party. I want to know everything— the fashions, the red carpet report, the whole glitz and glamour of the event…”
Wyrrick was finally dragged from his grotto by a disheveled and panicked Athen. He only vaguely remembered entering the room, and he had no idea what had happened to the lovely woman he’d been trying to impress. Athen had warned him about the risk of becoming addicted to the light, but until now he thought it had been useless worry. Apparently even without the chemical, the light was a dangerous mistress. Once he cleared the cobwebs from his mind he could hear the cacophony from the ballroom. He grabbed the lapel of Athen’s coat, holding him awkwardly as they charged down the corridor. “What in blazes is going on?”
“Security systems were compromised, sir. At the same time one of the guests somehow found the armory. They assumed the worst, Master Wyrrick.”
“Unfortunately they also assumed accurately,” Wyrrick growled through clenched teeth. His reveal had been planned as the party’s grand finale. He would spend the day wining and dining everyone only to announce that they could throw their support behind him or face the consequences. His security officers would become the head of his armed forces, and his guests would give him the power necessary to overtake the Lucian Alliance. He’d been a few hours away from ascending to the heights of power, and it was all ruined by flirtations. It would take all of his considerable skill and charm to worm his way out of this.
He stopped to survey the damage, rage and distress mixing in his mind as he looked at the destruction of his home. Several guests were lying in heaps around the periphery of the room, and the members of the band he had booked were hiding behind their instruments on the stage. He noticed that the floor was littered with gold coins and the occasional dropped tapestry, and he realized the true loss was less noticeable.
“The treasure rooms! They are robbing me blind!”
He shoved Athen ahead of him, weaving through the crowd of furious guests. His original reasoning for the masks was that it would provide anonymity to everyone, making the most powerful Goa’uld in attendance equal with the lowliest Jaffa. Now it simply obscured the identity of those who were robbing him, prevented him from declaring vengeance simply because he couldn’t be certain who was who. Those who weren’t destroying his home were busy grabbing whatever they could reach and scurrying for the nearest exit.
Amid the chaos, however, he noticed something unusual; the door to one of his treasure rooms was closed. Wyrrick made his way over to it and discovered the lock was welded shut.
“What in blazes…?”
Athen grabbed the nearest armed guest, knocked the man out, then used the staff weapon to blow a hole in the door. Wyrrick rushed inside and stopped when he saw Madame Ai and Miss Oshin crouched against the back wall clutching each other in terror. Both women shrieked at the sight of him, but then Kaori gasped with relief.
“Master Wyrrick! Oh, thank heavens, we’re saved!”
Wyrrick narrowed his eyes at the woman who had mysteriously vanished from his side. “Saved… what is the meaning of this? How did you come to be locked in this room?”
Kaori pushed her hair out of her face and straightened her spine. “We were overtaken by these ruffians! We tried to make them stop, but it was as if some madness had overwhelmed their senses. Madame Ai fought valiantly to protect your possessions, but there were too many for even the both of us. We were corralled into this room and they… they sealed us in.” She choked back tears and pressed her hand to her lips. “Oh Dysmas. When I think of the damage these hooligans have caused to your beautiful home!”
Wyrrick felt pity for the woman and wrapped her in his arms. “There, there. You did everything you could. It was not your property to defend. Thank you, Miss Oshin, for risking harm to stand up for what is right. But now…” Something crashed out in the main room and Wyrrick winced. “Perhaps now you would consent to remaining in this room just for your own safety?”
Kaori sniffled. “Yes, it sounds quite disastrous out there. Go. We’ll be fine here.”
Wyrrick looked at Madame Ai. “It is my deepest regret that you were subjected to such animalistic behavior at my party.”
“Don’t waste time apologizing to me,” she said. “Go! Stop these foolish people before they destroy your home!”
Wyrrick nodded. “I will close the door but it won’t latch. You might do well to barricade yourselves inside.”
“We’ll do that,” Kaori promised.
Wyrrick nodded and chucked his knuckle against her chin, winked, and ushered Athen back out into the fracas. Wyrrick was a large man, and he was able to forcefully disarm several people simply by grabbing their arms and squeezing until the muscle protested. “This is my home!” he bellowed. “You will not act like animals in my private residence!”
The fighters had broken up into clusters, miniature skirmishes taking place within the larger war, and Wyrrick cringed when he heard something fall to the floor and shatter. Someone grabbed his arm and he brought his fist up in anticipation of striking them before he recognized the chef, Timony. Her uniform was smeared with food and sauces, and there was a glob of something meaty on her forehead that, at first glance, seemed to be a grievous injury.
“Timony! My apologies for these working conditions.” Someone swung the business end of a staff weapon at him rather than firing it, and he deflected the blow with his arm. “If you are looking for the chef you’ve been assisting — ”
“The chef?” She laughed. “That foolish girl is long gone. I sent her back to the village to get my supplies.” She ignored Wyrrick’s perplexed look and carried on with her rant. “This madness will not stand, Master Wyrrick. You have provided a service for our people for a great long while, but subjecting us to this insanity will not stand. We depend upon you to protect us and now…” She swung her arm to indicate the fighting. “You brought the war to our planet, Dysmas Wyrrick. You will be taken to task for this.”
Wyrrick didn’t have the mental room to process the threat that had just been leveled at him. He pushed Timony out of the way and ignored her cry of protest. If the people of this world were turning against him, there was no need to feign propriety. He stepped over her and fought his way back through the crowd, a surge of panic rising in his chest as he got closer to the treasure rooms. The door with the broken lock was standing open, and he knew what he would find as soon as he stepped through the door.
The larger
, bulkier items had been left untouched. But everything that could fit in a pocket or shoulder bag, every item that could conceivably be carried under someone’s arm, the prizes that had been scattered across the tables nearest the door, were gone.
He stared in abject disbelief until Athen joined him in the doorway. “Sir!”
“I’ve been robbed!”
“By several dozen thieves, it would seem. This room is relatively untouched, in fact…”
Wyrrick slammed his fist into the door frame, realizing after his knuckles broke that his sarcophagus and healing devices had probably all been stolen. He cradled his injured hand against his stomach and tried to think of what his next step would be. The house shook violently then, a squall pushed through the broken windows of his front room so strongly that several people were knocked off their feet.
“My al’kesh… no! Not my al’kesh!”
He knocked Athen over in his haste to get to the nearest exit. The antique ship had lifted off its platform, shuddering like a leaf caught between two air currents for a moment before it rolled to the west. Its initial burst of power had caused the gust of wind that nearly toppled his house, and now its engines were struggling to keep it airborne. Wyrrick saw that Athen had joined him with a staff weapon, and he yanked it from his hand. He aimed it at the back of the ship, hoping irrationally he could disable the cargo hatch so its contents would be dumped. Unfortunately it had been years since he’d actually fired a weapon, and his shot went pathetically long. He slammed the butt of the weapon against the ground in impotent rage.
“Get the word out,” he growled. “I will have the heads of Ai Okano and Oshin Kaori for my trophy wall. They will be the centerpieces of my new collection.”
Something inside the house gave a weary groan, and then there was a chorus of screams as a large portion of the second floor collapsed. Wyrrick let the staff weapon fall to the ground next to him as he watched the ship cut a shaky and inelegant course along the coastline. The al’kesh was an old design, but it was sturdy and he had ensured it was maintained enough to be spaceworthy. Right now they were struggling against the pull of gravity and the weight of too much atmosphere, but that would vanish once they ascended high enough. All they had to do was keep it aloft for the next few minutes and they would be home free.
“Get someone to the DHD,” Wyrrick said, his voice weary with defeat. “See if they can figure out the last dialed addresses. Try to track down anyone who is fleeing with my things.” He gave a heavy sigh. “On second thought, don’t waste their time.”
“As you wish, Master Wyrrick.”
He looked at the staff he’d dropped, rubbed his face, and then went to see if there were any survivors from his party.
“Well, that could have gone better.”
“Could have gone worse,” Vala said.
They had flown to the nearest gate planet and dropped the antique ship into a sand dune. The ship handled fantastically in space, but once they broke atmosphere it transformed into a tremulous bucket of metal that threatened to break apart at every shift in trajectory. They had been forced to move quickly after Wyrrick freed them from the display room. She and Tanis had pieced together their story while trying to hack the lock. When they heard Wyrrick outside they had gotten out of the way just before he blasted it open.
After that they had only seconds to load up whatever they could, using tarps and tapestries as makeshift slings. Now that their getaway was complete, they were taking the time to inventory their takings before figuring out what their next step would be. They hadn’t gotten everything they wanted, but what they did have would translate into a veritable fortune for thieves like them. It was one of the biggest single paydays either of them had ever had. Vala picked up a chalice, considered it, and put it aside as a possibility.
“We got away with the treasure,” Vala continued, “and we have an al’kesh. Antique.” She reached up and patted the wall of the cargo hold.
“An al’kesh that barely works.”
“Yes, well… whoever we unload it on doesn’t have to know that. As long as it flies a little, we can cover the rest with lies.”
Tanis nodded. She was sitting next to the door with her back against the wall, her arms on her knees. “So how is this going to work? You wanted Kali’s wealth so you could make up for the lost opportunity you had with Qetesh’s riches. But what’s my part of the take? We never really discussed what the split would be.”
Vala pursed her lips. “Yes. Right…” She crossed her arms and drummed her fingers on her biceps. “To be honest, we didn’t really get away with as much as I’d hoped. In fact our take was quite paltry by anyone’s standards, I have to say.”
“I was noticing that. We lost everything we’d already loaded onto the tel’tak… not to mention the tel’tak itself. Again.”
“Right. Sorry…”
“Hmph.” Tanis scratched her chin. “Seems like a conundrum.”
Vala nodded slowly. Finally she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, put the weapons away, Tanis.”
Tanis froze. “Pardon me?”
Vala gestured at the way Tanis was sitting. “What is it, a pistol or a blade? Either way you can just leave it concealed in your boot. I heard you fumbling on the other side of the ship after we landed. Your right hand hasn’t been away from your left boot for more than thirty seconds since we started counting this stuff, so I know there’s something hidden in there. Keep it where it is.”
“It’s nothing personal. You are planning to cut me out of this, aren’t you?”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She sighed. “I want you to take all of it.”
Tanis furrowed her brow. “We went through all of this because you were on a mission to make up for your missed opportunities.”
“Right.” Vala tucked her hair behind her ears and looked longingly at the treasure lying spread out between them. “I did horrible things to accumulate Qetesh’s wealth. When I think about them… I…” She pressed her lips together and waited until she could speak with confidence. “What am I going to do with all of this, anyway? Fence some of it, run around looking for the best deal, getting caught up in different adventures? Sounds tedious. And I’m sick of you always hanging around. Think it’s best if we just part ways for a little while. So you take all of this, and you sell it, and you get a good price, and… you go home.”
Tanis tensed. “There’s nothing for me at home.”
“The Loop of Kon Garat?” Vala said. “Come on, Tanis. You are brilliant, and you’re the best pilot I’ve ever flown with. You have an immense talent, and you need the opportunity to put it to use. You could find a ship, kit together some neat tricks, make it the best thing flying so that it’s worthy of having you at the controls. Whoever you crew with is bound to win, then you could write your own ticket. Get out from under your convictions.” She poked a finger at Tanis. “A brain like yours doesn’t belong in a prison and it certainly doesn’t have a place pulling con jobs with me. Not that it ever came in handy. Oh, no, Miss Genius always needs me to come up with — ”
Tanis got to her feet. “Are you saying you saved me more than I saved you? Because if so, there are quite a few things I could remind you of. Remember that depleted power coil you traded…”
“Oh, please, I had him wrapped around my little finger.”
“Is that what you call teetering on the edge of oblivion, because if that is what having a handle on the situation looks like…” Tanis flinched as if she had been hit, then shook her head. “You’re trying to pick a fight.”
“Trying and succeeding,” Vala said. “As always.”
Tanis bared her teeth. “You are an insufferable egotist.”
“You’re an accident waiting to happen. Honestly, have you heard of sticking to a plan?”
“You’re a petty thief,” Tanis snapped.
“Big words from a sloppy brigand.”
Tanis balled her hands into fists. “I should never have taken pity on you.”
“Taken pity on me? If not for me, you’d still be rotting in that cell on some nameless moon. Would you prefer that? Because I would gladly drop you back there.”
“You lost my Kull warrior suit of armor!”
“Oh here we go… did I lose it? Because I don’t think you’ve mentioned it in the past ten minutes! You are far too sentimental!”
“You are far too reckless!”
“Three years stuck on a rock, and you, the big tech genius, couldn’t even figure out what a Stargate was for! It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so pathetic.”
“That streak in your hair makes you look old!”
Vala was brought up short. She reached up and threaded her fingers through her hair. “It does?”
“Well. A little.” The fire went out of Tanis. “It’s not bad. I just think you would look better without it.”
“Hm. Well. Who knows? One of these days I might be up for a change.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Are you done picking a fight?”
“I didn’t pick…” She let her voice trail off and sighed heavily. “You’re not the first person I’ve partnered with, you know. Corso and Pender? When I was done with them, I made sure they were stuck in a dark deep tank charged with crimes I’d committed. The guys before them? Well. I made sure no one ever decided they had hurt feelings in retrospect and came looking for me. I dissolve partnerships with knifepoints and projectiles and two blasts from a zat’nik’tel.”
Vala shuffled her feet. “Yes. Well. I’ve made it an art of leaving without saying goodbye, so it’s very odd to be standing here right now telling you to go. Take it. Let me do something good with the wealth of a System Lord. It won’t heal any old scars, but maybe it will be a start of… I don’t know. Redemption?”
Tanis laughed. “Redemption. Now who are you trying to con?”
“Oh, the other guy. Always the other guy.”
Tanis stared at Vala for a long time, then held out her hand. “When I win the Kon Garat, I’m going to hire a crew, buy my own ship. I’m going to call it the Mal Doran.”
SG1-24 Two Roads Page 25
