They all spun around as the gate began to activate.
“Firing positions,” Cam said, crouching down beside the control panel. If someone were making a grab for Ba’al’s facility…
The wormhole opened and stabilized, a glittering puddle of blue. Cam’s radio crackled. “SG-1, this is Stargate Command. You are to return to Earth immediately.”
What the…? Cam chinned his radio on. “Stargate Command, we still have a lot to do here. Colonel Carter…”
“Return immediately,” the voice of Sergeant Harriman said firmly. “Stargate Command has been attacked.”
They came through the gate into a quiet gateroom. Other than the extra guards on duty at the bottom of the ramp, Sam wouldn’t have known anything was wrong. There were no signs of an explosion, no spent cartridges or signs of a firefight. She frowned. Even Sergeant Harriman was at his usual place in the control room windows.
“Welcome back, SG-1,” he said. “General Landry would like to see you in the briefing room immediately.”
“Of course,” Sam said, handing off her weapon and her tac vest to one of the airmen and glancing at Cam. He looked worried. And also perplexed. Was she stepping on his feet again? He’d run SG-1 for a year without her while she was in Atlantis. Technically, he still was, as she was spending more time with training and stepping into the role of Landry’s exec than with the team, but when she was in the field it was a little awkward. She’d gotten used to command in Atlantis, and while she loved the team and being home, it was like putting back on a pair of jeans you had years ago. They may fit, but somehow they don’t look right.
“Let’s see what’s up,” Cam said, and they followed him through the doors.
The control room was more of a mess. A couple of workstations looked like they’d taken fire. No blood, no ballistics teams — what in the world had happened here? Daniel must be thinking the same thing, because he galloped up the stairs to the briefing room ahead of her.
Landry had a big bruise across his forehead, and he was sitting up in his usual chair at the head of the table holding an ice pack on it. Vala was pacing around the room, a mug of coffee in her hands.
“Are you OK?” Cam asked.
“Fine,” Vala said. “I was zatted. My head hurts.” She sounded terse, an unusual thing for Vala, and a sure sign of how bad this was.
“What happened, sir?” Sam said.
“We were attacked.” Landry gestured to the briefing chairs, and Sam sunk into the one to his right, Daniel beside her. “By the Tok’ra.”
Teal’c’s head came up sharply. “That is impossible.”
“I wish it were,” Landry said. “Five people. They had the IDC of the Tok’ra High Council, and Vala says she recognized two of them from the Tok’ra at Ba’al’s Extraction Ceremony. I don’t think there’s much doubt that they were Tok’ra.”
“Why would the Tok’ra attack us?” Sam asked. “They’ve been our allies for the better part of ten years. We haven’t had any recent disagreements, no policy problems, no breakdown of relations…” It was entirely out of the blue.
“That is what we’re wondering, Colonel,” Landry said testily. “They used zats only. Nobody was killed. But…”
“They tried to set off a charge in the gateroom,” Vala interrupted. “That would have killed people. And they kidnapped Dr. Lam.”
Cam swung around. “What?”
Landry looked gray. He actually looked old for the first time Sam could remember. “They stormed their way in here and stole Janus’ experimental puddle jumper. Since obviously none of the Tok’ra could fly it, they kidnapped Dr. Lam. Fortunately, Vala saw the address they dialed out to. SG-15 just checked it out. It’s an uninhabited barren world with a gate that hasn’t been reactivated since they dialed into it. But as far as we can tell, they aren’t still there.”
“Picked up by another ship,” Teal’c said firmly. “That is possible. If they rendezvoused with a larger vessel…”
“Hasn’t been reactivated since they dialed in,” Sam said, with a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach.
“I just said that,” Landry snapped.
Daniel was on the same wavelength. “But if that gate was activated to dial somewhere else more than six months ago, the address wouldn’t be in the buffer.”
Landry blinked. “What?”
“If they used the time function on the puddle jumper after they went through, sir,” Sam said. “There’s no other reason to steal that ship other than to use the time function. But they wouldn’t want to use it here, because if they were going further back than the 1950s they would emerge into solid rock. They’d want to make the translation on a barren world where they wouldn’t affect anything unintentionally and where there wouldn’t be anything to run into, and then use the gate in that time to go wherever they wanted. We wouldn’t see any evidence of where they dialed out to if they did so more than six months ago. The buffer patterns degrade after a certain amount of time…”
Landry waved away the rest of the explanation. “You’re saying they’ve traveled through time.”
“That seems the most likely thing, sir,” Sam said. As much as she disliked the idea. “The question is when.”
“No,” Landry said. “The question is why. Is there any further data you can get out of the gate they dialed to, Colonel?”
Sam shook her head. “Unlikely, sir. If they dialed out years ago, the pattern in the buffer would have degraded completely. There’s nothing I could learn from the DHD.”
“Then you’re going to go see the Tok’ra,” Landry said.
Daniel blinked. “What do the Tok’ra say about this?”
The general spread his hands, the ice pack still in one of them. “They disavow all knowledge of these events and say they couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with them, even when we sent them the security video.”
“They’re stonewalling,” Daniel said.
“Which is why I’m sending Colonel Carter to talk to them,” Landry said. He looked at Sam. “You’ve always had a good relationship with the Tok’ra. I want you to leverage some answers. Colonel Mitchell, you and SG-1 will back her up. And by that I do mean backup. I want you to nail their feet to the wall and get some answers.”
“We’ll do our best, sir,” Sam said, and inwardly winced. That was what she would have said ten years ago, not what she should say now.
“What about the puddle jumper?” Cam said. “Anything we should know?”
“Dr. Lee said it was completely operational. Before he was zatted.” Landry shook his head at Lee’s unfortunate honesty. “He’s in the infirmary because he hit his head on the lab bench when he fell over, but he should be fine.” He looked at Sam again. “Colonel, you are authorized to take whatever measures you see fit, including saying we’ll break off relations with the Tok’ra. Is that clear?”
“Very clear, sir,” Sam said. Of course that would never have been necessary when her father was alive, retired General Jacob Carter, who had become a Tok’ra host. But Jacob was dead, and Martouf, and many of the others she had known well over the years. The Tok’ra casualties in the last years of the war had been high, and there were a lot of new faces in command positions. They were unknown quantities.
On the other hand, so was she. She wasn’t a thirty-year-old captain anymore who just happened to be Jacob’s daughter.
She looked at Cameron Mitchell. “Ready to go?”
“We’re ready,” Cam said. “Vala?”
“Oh, I’m coming,” Vala said determinedly. “You aren’t leaving without me.”
Chapter Three
It was hard not to notice that the tunnels were less crowded than they had been the last time, confirming all the reports that the Tok’ra were in serious decline, but Daniel found it hard to muster much sympathy under the circumstances. At least their escort seemed suitably embarrassed, leading them briskly through the tunnels without making an effort to assert Tok’ra superiority. Daniel glanced sideways as
they approached the entrance to the council chamber, gauging Sam’s reaction. She was still furious, all right, but he didn’t think anyone else would realize, at least not at first. The Atlantis command had improved her poker face. Mitchell, on the other hand, was frankly scowling — which might not be a bad thing; he was there to be the heavy. And Vala was looking focused and intent, which for her might well count as seriously annoyed.
“Colonel Carter and SG-1, of the Tau’ri,” the escort said, and stepped back to let them enter.
Sam stepped briskly through the door — Atlantis had gotten her used to being in charge, too — and stopped abruptly. Daniel stepped sideways to avoid running into her, and felt his own breath catch in his throat. The membership of the High Council had changed since the last time they’d dealt with the Tok’ra. Per’sus he recognized, the graying man in the center seat, and Sal’tor — and Anise. Though what she was doing on the Council, after the last time she’d screwed around with them… The scientist saw him looking and met his gaze defiantly.
“Supreme High Councillor Per’sus,” Sam said, and he inclined his head in answer. “You know why we’re here.”
“We do,” Per’sus said, and gestured toward the waiting chairs. It was the host speaking, Daniel realized. “We welcome you, though we profoundly wish it were under other circumstances.”
“As do we,” Sam said, and seated herself. “I’m going to cut to the chase, Councillor. Some of your people attacked our base, stole an Ancient spacecraft, and kidnapped one of our people to fly it for them. General Landry is not happy.”
“We cannot blame him.” That was the symbiote, Per’sus, his voice resonant. “And we can only offer our most sincere regrets. Yet we cannot accept that any of our people would have been so foolish as to attack our allies.”
“Oh, come on,” Mitchell said, not quite under his breath.
“You’ve seen our security video,” Sam said.
“Renegade Goa’uld —” Per’sus began, but Sam kept speaking.
“And they had the High Council’s IDC. If they aren’t Tok’ra, you have an even bigger problem than we do.”
Per’sus winced at that.
“And I recognized them,” Vala said. “I was at the extraction ceremony, and I saw two of them there. I could identify them from your records, if that would help.”
Sal’tor folded careful hands. The host was a small woman, her gray hair wound into a bun, lines bracketing her mouth. “I believe, Per’sus, that — further investigation — has made what seemed impossible somewhat more likely.” Her head dipped, and this time it was the host who spoke. “And perhaps it would be advisable for us to show Vala our records of the extraction. If we can identify the miscreants for certain, then we can act.”
Per’sus nodded. “Yes, that might be the best course of action.”
You’re stalling, Daniel thought. Before he could say anything, Sam shook her head.
“We can get to that, certainly. But you’ve had the chance to look over our footage, so you must have some idea of who these people are and what they want.”
“The images were blurred,” Anise said. “Precise identification was impossible.” It was the first time she had spoken, and Sam gave her a cold stare.
“I’m sure you’re more than capable of cleaning up our data.” She looked back at Per’sus. “You understand, of course, that if our allies have been compromised, either by renegade Goa’uld —” Her tone made it clear how unlikely she thought that was. “Or by factions within their own government, that we will need to take measures to secure our own operations.”
“I can assure you that we will take all appropriate action to deal with this situation,” Per’sus said.
Sam shook her head. “Per’sus, we have been attacked. One of our people has been kidnapped. It’s only due to the intervention of Vala here that no one was killed — your people planted explosives in our gateroom. They also stole a puddle jumper equipped with a time travel device, and we have reason to believe that they have used it. I think you are as aware as we are of the inherent dangers of meddling with the timeline.”
Sal’tor took a deep breath. It was the Tok’ra who spoke, not the host. “I believe that the leader of this group is one called Marik.”
Daniel glanced at Sam, but she looked as blank as he felt. Mitchell frowned. “He was leader of the team who worked at the SGC last year. Which explains how he knew about the jumper.”
“Marik was indeed part of that team,” Per’sus said, reluctantly. “And he has acquired a reputation as one who acts precipitously. But I assure you, we had no knowledge of any such plan, nor any idea of what he could have intended.”
“That’s very unfortunate,” Sam said, after a moment. “Because we need to locate them as soon as possible. For all our sakes.”
“And we will give you all the help we can,” Per’sus said. “But, as you know, our numbers and our influence have dwindled over these last few years. We have far fewer resources to offer.”
Not that they were ever really happy to share, Daniel thought. From the sound of things, Sam and Per’sus could go on fencing all night. He looked at Sal’tor, who sat with tightly folded hands, and then at Anise. She sat motionless, her face utterly still under the cap of golden hair, her eyes barely moving as she tracked the discussion.
“What we need is a starting point,” Sam said. By some miracle, her voice remained coldly patient. “Some idea of Marik’s intentions.”
Anise’s eyes flickered. It wasn’t much of a change, and if Daniel hadn’t been watching so closely, he would have missed it, but it was unmistakable.
“We do not know,” Per’sus said. “You are welcome to make your own inquiries, of course, but — we know nothing.”
“You may not,” Daniel said, “but she does.” He nodded to Anise.
Sam fixed her eyes on Per’sus. “I’m inclined to believe Dr. Jackson’s assessment, here.”
The Tok’ra leader hesitated, and Sal’tor said, “Colonel Carter is Jacob’s daughter, and was host to Jolinar.”
Per’sus nodded at that, and the host said, “It is a fair argument.” His head dipped again, and this time the Tok’ra spoke. “Answer them, Anise.”
“We cannot be certain,” she said.
“I don’t expect certainty from you,” Sam said. The words had bite, and Daniel guessed that she was thinking about the za’tarc, and how Anise’s untried device had nearly gotten her and Jack branded as Goa’uld agents. “What I expect from an ally is information.”
Sal’tor said, “You are aware, Colonel Carter, that we have suffered greatly in recent years. Our numbers are dwindling, and we found our lost queen, Egeria, mother of the Tok’ra, only to have her snatched away from us.”
“Colonel Mitchell is correct,” Anise said. “Marik was the leader of the group we sent to the SGC last year, and he did indeed learn of this time travel device while he was there. On his return, he placed a proposal before the High Council: that we obtain the device from the Tau’ri and use it to replenish our ranks. Of course the Council refused to sanction such a risk.”
“But you think they’ve done it anyway,” Sam said. She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. You know as well as anyone how dangerous it is to meddle with the timeline.”
Not that mere danger had ever stopped Anise, Daniel thought. But Sam was right, it had to be something big, if the Tok’ra were going to risk changing the past. Their victory over both the Goa’uld and the Ori rested on so many little things, so many moments when the slightest change, one choice tipping the other way, could lose everything. It couldn’t just be that they needed more Tok’ra — Egeria, he thought. That was the key. “You don’t have any queens left,” he said. “There’s no one left to spawn new Tok’ra.”
Sal’tor winced, and Per’sus reluctantly bent his head. “That is so.”
“And that’s why,” Daniel said. He looked at Sam. “That’s it. That’s why they were willing to risk it. If they don’t get a
new queen, the Tok’ra will become extinct.”
Sam nodded slowly. “OK,” she said. “I’ll buy that.”
“We refused to sanction such an adventure,” Per’sus said. The Tok’ra sounded suddenly very tired. “Dr. Jackson is right, we are staring extinction in the face. All our females have been killed, and our mother, our best hope, died on Pangor.”
“She died according to her principles,” Sal’tor’s host said. “Saving human and Tok’ra lives.”
“If we are to survive as a people, we must make some difficult choices,” Per’sus said. “Choices which may well be impossible. We cannot breed more Tok’ra — Egeria’s line is ended. We have found a few surviving larvae, and preserved them in secure tanks, but they are Goa’uld. Their genetic memories are of their parent, not our own, and we do not know if even the most careful rearing can overcome their inborn instincts. Nor do we dare recruit any of the few minor Goa’uld who have survived. They are even less likely to convert to our ways. We have pinned our hopes on cloning technology, and hope that we can produce a new generation before we ourselves die out, but that road is long, and the Tok’ra are painfully few.”
“Marik proposed a different solution,” Anise said, her voice distant. “He believed that we could travel back in time to a recent, or even a long ago spawning, and bring back a larval queen to replenish our line. He claimed to have identified several possibilities, points where the disappearance of a single larva would make no difference to the timeline. However, as Per’sus has said, the High Council believed the risk to be too great.”
“Apparently Marik didn’t agree,” Mitchell said.
“And no Tau’ri have never acted without the approval of their superiors?” Anise asked sweetly.
Daniel ignored her. “It would be way too dangerous,” he said. “Unless you found an instance where a larva — or larvae — had vanished already, and presumably you have records of such instances, if there are any?”
“We do not keep such records,” Anise said. “It was too great a risk to our own security.”
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