Somebody to Love by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
There was a stunned silence in the briefing room of the SGC as the news that Jacob Carter had just delivered sunk in.
"What d'ya mean she's still alive?" yelled Jack O'Neill. "How the hell can she be? I threw the snaky bitch into the cryo fluid myself. I saw her fall, God damn it."
The human contingent in the room collectively winced as the Colonel slammed his fist hard into the solid wooden table.
"O'Neill." Teal'c's voice reverberated around the large room. "I believe it to be in everyone's interests that your metacarpal bones remain intact at this time. Please refrain from trying to damage them on the briefing room table."
General Hammond frowned. "Colonel," he quietly reprimanded the team leader of SG-1.
"Sorry, Sir." Jack said angrily. "I'm just wondering how many times we have to kill some of these damn snakes before they do the right thing and actually stay dead."
"Colonel," the General warned again, motioning with his eyes towards their Tok'ra guests.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Present company excepted," he said, looking over at Jacob. "…Sir," he added, beating his fist on his head in frustration.
The General shook his head at the move and scanned the other members of the team carefully from his position at the head of the table.
Teal'c looked as impassive as ever, Colonel Carter looked stunned and Dr. Jackson…
'Well,' thought the General. 'It's not surprising that there's fear clearly showing in the young man's eyes - not after all the Goa'uld queen has put him through in the past.' Turning back to the Jacob Carter, he asked, "So, Jacob. Do you know the current location of 'Miss' Hathor?"
"Yeah," interrupted Jack. "…and what the hell she's been doing for the past…ooh, what…two and a half years." Looking at the annoyed face of his Commanding Officer he quickly added, "Sir."
Jacob suppressed a smile and allowed Selmak to come forwards. "General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill, I understand that emotions are running a little high at the moment. That is only to be expected due to the unfortunate history that you have with this particular Goa'uld. We are able to, at least partially, answer the questions that you have just raised. The Tok'ra do indeed know the whereabouts of the Goa'uld Queen, Hathor. I will allow Jacob to continue the briefing, however, as I feel you will be more comfortable speaking with him when you hear what we have to say."
Selmak dropped Jacob's head to his chest momentarily and when it was raised again Jacob was back in control. He immediately looked between Daniel and Jack who had the most history with Hathor. He noticed that Jack was bearing up well but Daniel was involved in an intense study of the table top. The young man was resolutely avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room so Jacob began his account. "The location of Hathor, was discovered by accident a matter of weeks ago. A couple of our operatives were travelling back to our base when the Al'kesh that they were piloting collided with a cloaked communications satellite. This satellite was orbiting a relatively primitive world known as Krentah, and should not have been there."
"Sorry, Dad. How primitive is relatively primitive?" Sam enquired.
"The natives of Krentah live in simple rural communities, their homes are constructed from wood and the people raise cattle and cultivate crops." Jacob explained.
"Sounds similar to Edora," Jack said quietly.
No-one dared to breathe, this was a part of Jack's life that he rarely mentioned.
Jacob paused for a moment, however when Jack didn't comment further, he continued. "The Krentans have no contact with other worlds and, although they have a standing Stargate, they appear to have no knowledge of what it is for. It stands unused, a couple of miles from the nearest village, on the southernmost continent of the planet."
"Is the gate functional?" General Hammond asked.
"Yes it is." Jacob replied. "Please, George. I promise that I will get to that in a short while, I need to explain this from the beginning so that you all get the full story."
"That's fine, Jacob," the General said. "Please continue."
"Thank you, George. As I was saying, the Al'kesh struck a cloaked satellite that had no business orbiting Krentah. The ship was badly damaged and left the Tok'ra with only minimal control. They managed to direct the ship towards the southern continent and crash landed the craft into a relatively unpopulated area. Both operatives were injured in the crash and had to retreat to a system of caves for several days while the symbiotes repaired the damage in their hosts. Once they were fully healed and rested it became obvious that the damaged Al'kesh had been discovered. The local people were in a state of panic and many of the young men fled the area. The Tok'ra watched from their hidden location and were horrified when the youths soon returned with a troop of Jaffa warriors who set up a cordon around the ship. With only the most basic of equipment in their packs the pair of Tok'ra set out in the direction that the Jaffa had come from. Travelling by night to avoid detection they slowly crossed the continent, gradually making their way towards what they imagined to be the location of the Stargate. As they got closer to the gate, they encountered more and more Jaffa and eventually they were located and pursued through the wooded area that they had been sighted in. Taron, the male operative was ultimately captured by the warriors. He had persuaded his mate, Zareena, to hide inside a hollow beneath a tree in the woods and had drawn the Jaffa away from her position. Once he was captured, the Jaffa could sense the symbiote within the host's body and realised that Taron was either a Goa'uld or a Tok'ra. They then delivered him to their God."
"And…which false God would that be?" asked Jack.
"Colonel," said the General, tiredly. "I think Jacob was probably about to tell us. Please carry on, Jacob."
"Don't worry, Colonel, I'm getting there." Jacob said quietly, before addressing the room. "It seems that the Goa'uld had a large base buried deep below the surface of the planet. Accessed predominantly by ring transporters, it proved to be virtually indistinguishable from the natural flora and fauna. Taron was overpowered by the Jaffa and was ringed down into the heart of the base. He was stripped, ordered to bathe and then clothed in clean garments. Once this was done he was considered respectable enough to be presented to the God Nehebkau."
Jack turned in his seat and looked at Daniel who was sitting next to him. The young man was obviously churning through his memories trying to gather together anything that he knew about this particular Egyptian God.
Slowly Daniel started to talk, accelerating as the memories poured into his conscious mind. "Nehebkau…the two-headed snake. Also known as Nehebu-Kau and Neheb Ka. Guardian to the entrance of the underworld. Protector of Ra during the hours of the night when Ra travelled beneath the Earth. He is of somewhat undecided heritage, some people think that he is the son of the scorpion goddess Serqet. Others claim him to be the son of the Earth God, Geb, and the 'nourishing snake' Renenutet - she who rears. It's fascinating how the two stories came to be..."
"Whoa, whoa, Danny. Slow down." Jack cut him off in mid-sentence. "So you know about this Headless Cow, that's great. Does it help us at all?"
"Headless Cow?" Daniel said, with a baffled expression on his face. "Oh, please don't tell me, let me guess. Nay-Head-Cow? Nehebkau, Jack, please listen to me. And yes, I'd like to think that what I'm trying to tell you could be important. We know that a lot of the Goa'uld history tend to agree with the myths of ancient Egypt. Nehebkau is supposed to be pretty much invulnerable to fire and that he can exert the power over snakes and possibly scorpions too, depending on which of his mothers you believe to be the correct one."
"Ooh, so you telling me he's the Scorpion King?" Jack asked. "That's a great film, it's a spin off from The Mummy if I'm not mistaken. That's an excellent film as well, The Mummy, I mean."
"Indeed," added Teal'c. "The Rock performs the part admirably and the computer graphics are most excellent."
General Hammond attempted to get the discussion back into some semblance of order, now that Jack had - once again - completely disrupted the flow. "Doctor Jackson, if you were to make an assumption, which parentage would you ascertain to be the most likely?"
"Well, Sir. Following the mythology I would imagine that Renenutet would be his mother. She is the goddess of cobras, children and fertility. We know from our experiences with Hathor that the Goa'uld Queens name themselves after fertility Goddesses. Isis would have also been a Queen had she survived, I think that's one of the main reasons that Osiris was so keen to locate her stasis jar. Isis was known as the 'ideal mother and wife'. Other possibilities for Goa'uld Queens would be Heqet, Mut, Satet, Taueret, Am…oh…Amonet…" Daniel shuddered to a stop and visibly paled as he mentioned the parasite who had taken his beloved wife from him.
Jack gave Daniel's arm a gentle squeeze. "You OK?" he asked quietly. "Take a moment, have a drink and get yourself back in the here and now." Jack pushed a glass of water towards his team-mate.
General Hammond realised that Daniel had shaken himself. He'd got so wrapped up in discussing the Egyptian Goddesses that he had run into Amonet's name without thinking about it. The moment the name had left his lips it had shocked him back to the present and all the unpleasant memories had come flooding back.
Leaving Daniel in Jack's capable hands, the General turned back to Jacob.
"So, Jacob. Taron was presented to Nehebkau. Where was Zareena, during all this? Did she manage to evade the Jaffa patrols?" he asked.
"Zareena managed to evade the patrols simply by remaining in the hollow beneath the tree, during the hours of daylight. Either the Jaffa thought that there was only one occupant aboard the Al'kesh or they felt that she was no threat to them being that she was a small female. Either way they did not carry out a thorough search of the area so she was able to avoid detection without too many problems. Once the sun had set, she left the safety of the tree and, using the moonlight to guide her way, she followed the tracks left by the Jaffa. She found the area where the ring transporter entered the base and then continued to search further until she found ventilation shafts cut into the earth."
"This Zareena certainly sounds like a plucky young lady." General Hammond commented. "I take it there was no way for her to get to the Stargate and use it to leave the planet?"
Jacob's brow crinkled slightly as he replied, "I have no idea if she even attempted to approach the gate. Taron was her life-mate and they were inseparable, she would not have left him behind - not for any reason. The symbiotes were bonded many centuries ago and where one went the other was sure to follow. It is the only reason that the both of them were on the Al'kesh together, they worked as one unit. Usually the Tok'ra work alone - for example when working undercover in a Goa'uld stronghold. When we travel to friendly civilisations - such as our visits to the Tau'ri - we usually take a workgroup containing three members. That is why I am often accompanied by any two out of Martouf, Anise and Aldwin."
"But you're here on your own now," Jack pointed out.
"Ah, yes," replied Jacob. "Well, Selmak demands a certain amount of leeway where the SGC is concerned. There was no reason to think that our reception would be anything other than welcome here today and due to the delicate nature of what is going to be requested of you we felt it better if we travelled alone."
"Oookay," Jack answered. "Thinking I'm not going to be liking what we've got to hear later…not one bit. By the way, what's all this got to do with Hathor? What's this Cow guy got to do with our least favourite snaky b!tch?"
"I think I can answer that, Jack." Daniel spoke softly but in the quiet room everyone heard him. "Hathor was identified as being a 'jolly wife for Nehebkau'. Am I working on the right lines here Jacob?"
Jacob barely nodded his agreement before Jack opened his mouth once more.
"Jolly? Jolly? Where does anyone get off calling that cow - pardon the pun - calling that cow 'jolly'?"
"That depends on which way you translate the word 'jolly'." Daniel reminded him. "It could just mean that people thought she would be a good match to Nehebkau. There are many confusions over that section of Hathor's history but it was said that she would welcome the newly dead to the underworld with food and drink. This is why people place her with Nehebkau because he guarded the entrance to the underworld - the dead would have to pass by both of them to enter the underworld."
"Still not very jolly," grouched Jack.
Daniel threw his arms in the air in mock defeat, "OK then, if it'll make you happier - think fertility, inebriety and music."
"Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'roll, you mean, Daniel?" Jack reminded him with a smirk. "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'roll."
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Jack. Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'roll."
Turning away from Jack, Daniel looked across the desk at Jacob. "Just like in the myths, Hathor has aligned herself with Nehebkau. What happened with Taron? I can't help but think you weren't accidentally talking about him in the past tense. Was he presented to both the Goa'ulds?"
"Not initially, no." Jacob explained. "The Jaffa presented him to Nehebkau but the God only seemed vaguely amused with him at that time. Nehebkau explained that he was to be saved for his Queen - Hathor. She required a 'willing' participant for a training exercise and if he was lucky Hathor would only let their daughter torture him for so long before he was put out of his misery."
Daniel had just taken a large swig of his drink, just as Jacob said the last part of his sentence. Valiantly he tried to swallow the hot coffee past the large lump that appeared to have suddenly formed in his throat. Unfortunately he failed and ended up choking on the drink, he turned aside to hide his predicament but Jack noticed immediately and turned with him to give him several large slaps on the back. Once Daniel could breathe freely again Jack handed him a handkerchief as a great deal of the coffee had left Daniel's mouth via his nose.
Daniel clamped the handkerchief over his nose and blew thoroughly. He then dropped his head into his hands and sat for a moment of quiet embarrassment. He felt Jack's hand firmly rubbing between his shoulders blades and took comfort in the closeness of his best friend. Suddenly he felt another, more gentle, touch on his knee and he raised his head to see Sam looking worriedly at him. She smiled gently and held out a glass of water which Daniel gratefully took from her, before slowly sipping the contents.
Sam left the two men alone and Jack slowly sat back up in his chair. The older man remained facing in Daniel's direction, with his back to the table, while the linguist composed himself.
After a short time, Jack leaned forwards again and quietly asked, "You OK now?"
"Yeah." Daniel nodded, "I'm sorry, Jack."
"S'okay, Danny. Was a bit of a shock to me too." Jack replied. "I just didn't see fit to try and drown myself in my coffee cup because of it."
Daniel tried to bite back a grin but wasn't entirely successful. "What a way to go though - eh?"
Jack chuckled quietly, he was glad that his light-hearted sarcasm was breaking through Daniel's embarrassment. "It's different, I'll give you that." He gave the young man a brief onceover before he said, "D'ya think you're ready to face the room now?"
Daniel didn't reply, just simply swung around in his seat and took his place back at the table. He scanned the room and found that Sam appeared to be absent. The two Generals were deep in conversation at one end of the table and Teal'c was sitting as impassively as ever in his usual seat. Daniel could feel the Jaffa's gaze burning into him and he caught Teal'c's eye to let the large man know that he was alright. Teal'c acknowledged this with a small nod of his head.
Daniel looked at Jack who gave him a supportive smile. The linguist momentarily wondered if he should be annoyed that everyone was acting like his little outburst had never happened. Was he so flaky that everyone came to think that Daniel Jackson breaking down in the middle of a briefing was normal? Even something to be expected?
The young man shook his head and smiled to himself, he knew that wasn't the case really. His friends cared deeply for him and were just giving him the time he needed to compose himself again. He knew that when Sam returned, the briefing would resume where it left off and nothing would be mentioned about Daniel's little episode.
It wasn't long before Sam came back into the room and retook her seat at the table. Daniel caught her eye and she winked at him, knowingly.
The General addressed the room, "Alright people, Jacob had been filling me in on how Taron and Zareena managed to get the information back to the Tok'ra high council. Apparently it was intended that Taron be used as a teaching aid so that Hathor could begin the training of her daughter. Zareena described it as something similar to a cat teaching it's kittens how to hunt. First the cat catches it's prey, then damages it sufficiently that it cannot escape. The kittens are then let loose on the animal to learn how to kill, the death is often slow, painful and messy.
Jacob took over from General Hammond at this point. "Zareena crawled through the ventilation ducts for many hours looking for any sign of Taron and eventually she found him. He was chained to the ceiling and floor, by his ankles and wrists. When Zareena first saw him she said that he was barely conscious. His back and face showed tell-tale signs of being hit with the ribbon device and he had burn marks on both legs from what she assumed was a Goa'uld pain stick. She intended to go down and try to free him but had just started to undo the hatch in the ventilation system when she heard movement in the corridor outside. She froze, almost fearing to breathe in case she was discovered in the ducting. She knew that it would mean certain death for both her and her mate if she was found within the base so she did the only thing she could do, in the circumstances, she hid in the ducting and hoped for a chance to free Taron."
"The door opened and a flame haired woman entered the room, she was followed by a small girl and a couple of female handmaidens. Zareena had no prior knowledge as to which Goa'uld Queen this was but from the tattoos on the handmaidens it became clear that this was Hathor. The child was dressed in fine robes including a veil that covered her entire face. Apparently the girl is very small, Zareena estimated that she could be no older than four years of age." Jacob scrubbed a hand over his nearly bald head and took a deep breath before continuing. "The Queen had an air of confidence about her and she walked up to Taron and blew a powdered substance in his face of wake him up. He immediately started struggling against his bonds but it was a futile gesture as he was securely shackled. Hathor stepped aside so the child could see the prisoner and he stopped struggling and started trying to reason with the Queen. He tried to persuade Hathor that a child should not see people treated like that, how could a young girl be expected to thrive and grow, if she was subjected to such horror at such a delicate age. Hathor took great pleasure in hitting him with the hand device, again and again, in response to his pleas."
"And Zareena could see all this?" Sam asked, horrified at what she was hearing.
Her father merely nodded. "This went on for quite a while until Hathor realised that the child had backed away and was cowering among the hand maidens. She flew into a rage and dragged the child to stand directly in front of the burnt and bleeding form of Taron. The girl proceeded to squirm and wriggle in her mothers grasp although Zareena said she appeared to issue no verbal complaint against her treatment. Hathor ordered the handmaidens to approach and they fitted the girl with a miniature hand device, an exact replica of her mothers' one."
"That's just sick," Jack commented.
General Hammond looked over at him with a grim expression on his face. "I agree, Colonel."
"It seems that the child was either unwilling or unable to use the hand device but without being able to see her face Zareena was unable to determine which. Hathor struck the girl across the face with the back of her naked hand and the child fell to the floor. She cried out as she fell and Zareena said this was the only time she heard the girl vocalise in any way. The Queen looked down at her daughter and calmly told her that if she wasn't willing to play with her 'toys' then she would have them taken away. She then turned around and directed the ribbon device between Taron's eyes, and left it there until he collapsed and died. His body was left hanging from the chains and the entourage of mother, daughter and handmaidens left the room for another part of the base. Zareena lingered in the ducting in case anyone returned. When no-one appeared and all remained quiet she opened the ventilation grating and slipped down into the room where Taron's body hung from it's chains. She checked the neck of the host for a pulse but found none, and in a last vain hope that something of her lover was still alive she felt the back of his neck for any signs that the symbiote may still be active. When she found nothing she clung to Taron's body for a long while before eventually realising that she had to leave without him. If she didn't find a way to make it back home then no-one would ever know what had happened to them, no-one would know about the alliance between Hathor and Nehebkau and, most importantly for Zareena - no-one would ever avenge the unnecessary death of Taron."
"I'm guessing that's where we come in?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"In a way, Colonel, yes." Jacob admitted. "We're not asking for revenge, however. We're asking for your help in splitting up this unhealthy Goa'uld alliance."
"Are you expecting us to separate all three of them?" Sam asked. "You can't take a child away from her mother. Dad, that's just wrong."
"Carter," Jack said, raising his voice slightly higher than he intended it to. "This is Hathor we're talking about. What kind of life do you think that little girl's going to have if she stays with that b!tch? From what we've just heard do you think she's having even a half way decent life at the moment? In all good conscience could you really leave a child with a Goa'uld - of any description? If we're taking her off Hathor we're damn well not giving her to her father. I'm sure we can find someone to take her in. Some quiet little planet with no gate, perhaps, where she won't be discovered. Kids adapt, Carter - just look at Cassie. She was much older than Hathor's daughter is and she's fitted in here fine."
Sam glared at Jack for a moment while she mulled his words over in her mind. "I see your point, Sir. Dad, I'm sorry I argued with you."
"That's alright, Sammie. I don't like the idea of splitting up a family, any more than you do. In this case however, it's in the best interests of everyone - except maybe Hathor and Nehebkau, of course."
"Uhm, excuse me." Daniel waved a hand to attract everyone's attention. "Before you start getting all these grand ideas are you sure you're not missing a rather large point here?"
"What's that Doctor Jackson?" General Hammond asked, looking at Daniel with a kindly expression on his face.
Daniel realised that his hand was still hovering above the table-top and he quickly pulled it down and lay both hands on top of the notepad in front of him. "Well…if this child is the offspring of Hathor and Nehebkau then wouldn't it stand to reason that she is Harcesis? Knowing what Shifu is capable of I think it's safe to assume that she won't come quietly. Who's saying that she'll even want to leave her mother? Many mistreated children remain with their abusers because they don't know that the world outside is any better than what they currently have. If this little girl has spent her whole life on the base then she won't know any different."
Jacob nodded. "It is true that she could be Harcesis but we have no way of knowing. Harcesis children are rare - so rare that we do not know the percentages involved. Most Goa'uld would not dare to try and create a Harcesis child for fear that they will call down the wrath of all other Goa'uld onto themselves. There is also the issue that the Queen will have to remain dormant for a long period of time while the host body creates the new life. It is not in the nature of the Goa'uld to trust one another so the Queen would have to be completely sure of her partner before undertaking such a thing. She would be completely vulnerable at that time and will be at the mercy of whomever is guarding her…"
Daniel shuddered. Apophis had taken Sha're home and hidden her with her family, in plain sight of anyone watching. That's where Daniel had found her, just hours before she gave birth to the Harcesis baby, Shifu. Seconds after the baby had been delivered, the Goa'uld Queen Amonet had reawakened. Teal'c and Daniel had managed to trick her and she had returned to her Pharaoh empty bellied and empty handed. When Daniel had left the baby with Kasuf he had thought he was doing the right thing by the child. Little did he know at the time, just how valuable a commodity the Harcesis child would prove to be. Not only were Apophis and Amonet searching for the boy but Heru'ur was also hunting for him. They was only the System Lords that they had encountered in the hunt for the child. Once it was common knowledge that there was a Harcesis child around containing the knowledge of both Apophis and Amonet, who knew how many others would have desired that knowledge for themselves?
"Is there no way of finding out in advance, whether the child has powers or not?" Daniel asked.
"Without seeing a demonstration of their powers it is not easy to identify a Harcesis. If you can get close enough to one, then you may see that the eyes of a Harcesis child are wise beyond their years." Jacob replied. "Zareena did not get a clear look at the child's face though because she was veiled at all times. The only thing that we know about her appearance is that she has long hair and that it's the same flame-colour as her mother's. Zareena caught a glimpse of it when the girl fell to the floor after Hathor struck her."
"Do you think that's why she's wearing the veil?" Sam asked. "To hide the fact that she is Harcesis from the Jaffa and the other staff on the base? We know the Goa'uld are paranoid - maybe they are keeping her covered to reduce the chance of anyone finding out who she is?"
"I believe that to be a credible reason, MajorCarter." Teal'c opined. "The Goa'uld are indeed a suspicious race and the Queens more so than the males. I consider this to be true with many races where it falls to the female of the species to protect the next generation. It is not conceivable that Hathor was required to teach the child control of the ribbon device at such a young age specifically so she can defend herself should the base come under attack?"
"I suppose that could be true," Jacob agreed. "It is unfortunate that we have so little intelligence in regards to the child but at least Zareena has been able to draw us quite a comprehensive map of the base. It took her several days to get out of the base undetected and then another day to locate the gate. She managed to cause enough of a commotion to distract the Jaffa guarding the gate for long enough that she was able to dial an address and jump through. As far as Zareena was aware, her escape had remained undetected but for safety she had to gate jump several more times to ensure no-one could follow her. Finally she gated onto one of our Tok'ra safe-worlds and make contact with the base. Her host was severely malnourished when they were picked up and both symbiote and host were suffering from shock and grief. I'm afraid that it took several days before we got any sense out of either of them but gradually the details have been filled in we feel that we finally have enough to work with. After that, as they say - here I am."