OK, this is a re-write to correct quite a few errors in grammar and a few things that just didn't make sense. I guess I should stop writing on less than an hour or so of sleep. There is more coming soon, just been a bit busy.

The Shape of Destiny

Supply Convoy

Route Purple

North East Baghdad

20 Feb 1995

Prologue

"Contact right! Contact right! Contact right!" Sergeant First Class Jacob N. Hammer yelled. Another flash of yellow light streaked in from the right side of his supply convoy and another gun truck exploded.

"What the hell was that?" Hammer yelled to his driver. The four remaining gun trucks were converging on the right trying to provide suppressing fire to allow the vulnerable supply trucks to escape the carnage. Several more flashes of yellow light came screaming in and two more of his Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP for short) exploded. SFC Hammer was doing everything he could to stay calm and radio HQ about the ambush.

"Copperhead main, Copperhead main, this is Copperhead One Seven; Charlie Echo is receiving heavy fire. I say again, Charlie Echo is taking heavy fire, requesting air support, my location, time now!" He knew his people in the T.O.C. could pin point his convoys exact location via the satellite tracking computer in his MRAP.

"Copperhead One Seven, this is Copperhead Main, understand Charlie Echo taking heavy fire, C.A.S. in route. Please advise direction of incoming." The calm voice of the radio operator responded. SFC Hammer's remaining Squad Leaders were directing the defense while he was occupied with his Tactical Operations Command. He breathed an audible sigh of relief knowing AH-64 Apache gunships that were flying Close Air Support would be entering the battle soon.

"Acknowledged Copperhead main, incoming fire is coming from my three o'clock. Whoever is hitting us is packing one hell of a knockout punch! They've literally destroyed all but one of my gun trucks and the last one has been disabled." Just then another streak of yellow light slammed into the engine compartment of his RG-33, knocking out both his radios and his satellite.

"Screw this!" SFC Hammer hollered starting to crawl across the center console. "Get out before they roast us alive!" He told his crew. As his driver, Private First Class William Tucker hit the ground. SFC Hammer dove out of the driver's door. He looked around for his gunner but the turret was a melted pile of slag. Sorrow tore at his heart at the loss of another one of his men. The sorrow quickly turned into a burning rage as SFC Jacob Nicholas Hammer low crawled around his burning truck looking for a target.

Looking through the scope on his accurized M-4, SFC Hammer spotted an insurgent pointing what looked like a stick with a wide arrow shaped head in the direction of some of his pinned down men. There was a weird high pitched whine and a yellow ball of light screamed out of the end of the staff. Centering the cross hairs on the insurgents head, Hammer squeezed the trigger and watched in satisfaction as brains sprayed the wall behind the terrorist. He had no idea where these terrorists had acquired such terrible weapons but he was determined to kill as many as he could to take away their new advantage.

SFC Hammer moved away from his destroyed truck to the cover of a low wall paralleling the road. Once he was in position, he searched for and killed three more staff wielding terrorists. Taking advantage of his platoon sergeants disruption of the ambush, PFC Tucker ran from his position and hit the wall next to his mentor. "Nice shootin' Sarge." The young Mississippian drawled. At that moment a round ball with glowing lights landed between them. "Oh shit!" Was all they could say before a blinding light flared and all went black.

Unknown Location

The being stirred as it felt something brush the edge of its awareness. Whatever it was that had brushed his consciousness was emanating deep pain, sorrow, and rage. The entity, paused, "Who am I and what is happening?" More pain and fear, this from a different source but also close. The first being it had sensed was throwing off waves of hate, burning rage, and determined strength. The second was also sending out waves of hate but also overwhelming fear. Confused the entity tried to sort out what it felt but its mind was clouded as though it was digging through a dense fog. The strain was too much and blackness was closing in.

SFC Hammer awoke to intense pain as someone kicked him in the ribs. "Wake up infidel. You have much to answer for." And the beating began. Jake Hammer didn't think this much pain existed in the entire world. He wasn't sure how much more he could take when he felt an unfamiliar consciousness touch his mind. "Relax great one, it will beover soon." Hammer was confused but the touch to his mind provided the distraction he needed to endure the beating.

Hours later he lay battered and bleeding on a cold stone floor. Jake Hammer's mind was drifting, wondering how many of his men had been killed when he heard a faint squeak near his head. He froze as a large rat entered his field of vision and began sniffing around his bloody face. Again he felt the touch of the other mind. "Now! Strike now!" Without thinking he snapped his head forward and caught the rat by the back of its neck with his mouth. The rat squealed once then quieted when Hammer bit through its spine killing it. He rolled on his back letting the blood from his kill fill his mouth. Jake almost gagged and threw up, but he knew he would need the strength the dead rat would provide him. As he finished his disgusting meal he felt the touch still with him. "Sleep now." It told him.

After the beating of the first day, he saw little of his captors. The other mind was with him most of the time. It seemed as confused and lost as he was. Sometimes Hammer could get perfectly clear images of beautiful stone pyramids, flowing rivers, luscious gardens growing in steeped terraces, and beautiful women. Other times it was as if he were standing in a dense fog where he couldn't see his upraised hand in front of him. He tried to communicate with this other mind but other than the time of the beating and killing the first rat, it had said nothing. All he got now were the images and feelings. He continued to try to contact the mind and also to kill as many rats as he could catch. Hammer could feel himself slowly regaining his strength so he began working to free his bonds.

It seemed like an eternity but in actuality it had only been five days since his capture. The door to his cell opened and a man dressed in a flowing robe entered. The tall man crossed the tiny cell and lowered himself to look into SFC Hammers face. "You killed four of the men that ambushed you. Their Brothers wanted to continue to beat you making you pay for your crimes. I have another purpose for you and need your face to be recognizable so I have sent them away. Your friend is not so lucky; he does not hold your rank." Jake seethed in rage and lunged forward at the smug prick in front of him. The man simply placed his foot on Hammers neck and continued. "Your face is almost healed, that is good." He turned and left the cell. "Wash the remaining dry blood from his face and give him two more days. I will return then." He told one of the guards in the hall. Hammer struggled to his knees. "I'll kill you, you fucking prick! You just wait! I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed before the guard slammed him in the forehead with his rifle butt.

The next two days were much worse than the first. Guards beat SFC Hammer mercilessly. They avoided his face and anything that would kill him but he could feel himself slipping anyway. Hammer knew he was bleeding internally and there was nothing he could do but try to escape. He had just finished eating another rat and pushing the remains into a hole where he had hidden the others when the door opened and another guard slipped in. Jake lay still until the guard went to kick him in the ribs. Jacob Hammer kicked off the wall with both feet and slammed his shoulder into the guard's knee. He laughed savagely as he felt the knee snap and buckle even over the guard's blood curdling scream. He rolled and drove his own knee into the guard's throat, silencing him forever. He went to stand up when the cell suddenly filled with more guards and the robed man. He knew his chances for escape were gone but he lunged toward the man he swore to kill anyway. It took several minutes and many strikes with the butts of the staffs the guards were carrying, before SFC Hammer was subdued.

"You fight like a true warrior and are indeed a worthy opponent, but today is the day I have need of you." He turned and walked from the cell. "Bring him." He ordered the guards. The guards dragged him from the cell and down the hall to an open space where a camera was sitting on a tripod. As he passed a barred cell he saw PFC Tucker lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Tuckers eyes were following him as the guards dragged him past. The guards sat SFC Hammer in a wooden chair facing the camera and stood on either side of him but slightly to the rear. A large jar covered in cuneiform writing was sitting on a shelf off to the right. For some reason Jake's attention was drawn to the jar and nothing else.

"Soon..." It was the first word he had heard from the now familiar mind in six days.

The robed man stepped to Jake Hammers right with a large, wicked looking knife in his hand. Another guard stood behind the camera. With a wordless signal from (as Jake had come to think of him as) "Man dress" the guard behind the camera began recording and "man dress" began to speak. "People of America, The Great Satan. You have invaded our homes, killed our people, and corrupted our way of life. This is a crime against the Iraqi people and ALL the people of Islam. It is a Holy War and we will carry this Jihad to your very doorstep when you least expect it. Today, one of your Infidel soldiers will be punished for your crimes." He stepped closer to Jake and one of the guards grabbed Hammer by the forehead and pulled back, exposing his throat for the saw edged blade. That was the moment Jacob Hammer lived up to his nickname. He threw himself to his left and kicked "man dress" in the chest with all of his might. The move caught everyone totally off guard.

"Man dress" flew backwards and slammed into the shelf containing the jar, snapping his back instantly and fulfilling Hammer's promise to kill him. With a surge of adrenaline Hammer pulled at his already weakened bonds, separating the zip cuffs. Roaring like an enraged bull Hammer grabbed the dropped knife off of the floor and drove it through the closest guard's throat. Neither Hammer nor the two remaining guards noticed the jar crash to the floor or the snake like creature that was freed when it shattered. The entity was suddenly free and recognition came quickly now. It sensed the strong mind close by and remembered its earlier question. "Who am I?"

"I am Bilgames and I am of the Tok'ra!"

The initial surprise had worn off of the two remaining guards and they had attacked Jake with a vengeance. Hammer was hard pressed to keep them off of him with his injuries beginning to slow him down. The knife he killed the first guard with had become lodged in the guard's spine so he grabbed the staff and slammed it into the camera guard's groin. He was turning to face the last standing guard when a flash of movement caught his eye. He jabbed the arrow head shaped point of the staff directly into the guards Adams apple. Hearing a satisfying crunch and gurgle he turned to face the movement. The occupant of the broken jar launched itself at SFC Hammer before he could react and flew straight into his mouth. Hammer gagged and fell to his knees trying to force himself to vomit to expel the creature that had just flown into his throat. It was to no avail as the symbiont had passed through the thin lining in the back of the throat and was integrating itself into his spinal column and brain. Normally the Tok'ra didn't take hosts against their will but this was a special situation. Bilgames had sensed something special in this man's mind and knew both would die if he didn't take Hammer as a host.

The guard Jake had hit in the groin was starting to try to stand up when Hammer looked him in the eye. SFC Hammers eyes flashed yellow as if they had a light behind them. Jake Hammer spun the staff toward the still crouched guard and shot him in the face with it. More guards were running down an adjacent hallway toward the prison cells. Bilgames spoke to Jake's mind clearly for the first time. "I am healing your injuries and I am already weak. If you do not kill them all and then escape, we will both die." Jake grimaced and stepped into the open hallway firing the staff weapon as if it were a full auto machinegun. Bilgames had placed the knowledge of the auto fire setting into Jake's mind before emerging himself in healing the injuries.

When no more guards showed themselves, SFC Hammer moved back down the row of cells until he reached his drivers cell. He pointed the staff at the lock and blasted the door open. He stepped inside the door and began to evaluate Tucker's injuries. "Dude, you're busted up pretty bad, but I have to get you out of here." He explained. Tucker just nodded his head. Jake helped him sit up then lifted him onto his left shoulder as gently as he could. The injured private managed to stifle a scream and keep it to a long moan. "That's it kid, hang in there." Hammer tried to reassure the young soldier. He felt the Tok'ra symbiont in his mind. "I've at least stopped your internal bleeding; I can do no more until I recover. You are on your own until then." With that Bilgames literally passed out.

Hammer made his way down the hall as quickly as he could. He could feel PFC Tucker breathing against his back but could tell he had passed out also. A guard stepped into the hallway and tried to fire an AK-47 at Hammer. Jake was too fast for him even with the symbiont sleeping. He hit the insurgent right in the heart with a staff blast. He killed eight more before he made it to the archway leading into an open courtyard. Across the courtyard he could see a heavily barred gate leading to freedom. He eased forward looking carefully at the walls lining the courtyard.

He spotted another guard taking aim at him from the wall. He turned the staff toward him but before he could fire, the guards head vaporized and he fell from his perch. Hammer heard four more bodies hit the ground and then the gate was blasted into toothpicks. SFC Hammer took cover and trained the staff on the still smoking hole where the gate had been. A file of fast moving soldiers rushed through the smoke and fanned out in covering positions. Jake recognized the pattern as that taught to most American line units for covering an open area or room with interlocking fire. He stayed under cover but called out. "Don't shoot! I'm an American soldier! I have another wounded soldier here with me!" He lowered the staff weapon and moved into the open. The soldiers covered him with professional ease. "Drop the weapon and don't move!" Jake did as he was told and soon both he and PFC Tucker were in a Medavac bird bound for Camp Liberty.

After the Special Forces team had loaded SFC Hammer and PFC Tucker onto the Medavac bird, they began collecting all of the weapons they could find and placing them in a centralized location out of sight. Master Sergeant Frank Ascott was holding the staff weapon that SFC Hammer had used to make his escape. "Hey Q, what do you make of these things?" He asked the team's weapons expert. Q, (aka Tim Harris) stood scratching his head in puzzlement. "I don't know Boss; I ain't never seen nothing like it." He picked one up from the pile at his feet and began looking it over.

As he was carefully inspecting the staff he flipped the toggle switch about halfway down the shaft. The "arrow head" split with an audible click exposing the firing port. He looked at his team leader and grinned as he pointed it toward the wall and pushed the toggle all the way forward. A yellow streak of light screamed out of the firing port and blasted a smoking hole in the wall. "Holy crap! Did you see that Boss? I gotta get me one of these!"

MSG Ascott just looked back and forth between the staff and the smoking hole in the wall. "Better put that down Q, before someone gets hurt. No wonder we've been getting our asses kicked. How the hell did these savages get their hands on something like this?" He held up his hand to signal the other members of his team to stand down as they called out from the corridor. He reached up and keyed the wireless headset. "Viper base this is Viper 7 over, theory confirmed, package is present." After a slight pause he heard, "Roger Viper 7, understand package is present." With that transmission confirmation, he knew it was going to be a very long night.

Within minutes of that short radio conversation, MSG Ascott heard a light crackle in his headset. "Viper 7 this is Viper Base, secure courtyard, specialists in route for extraction." Ascott grimaced at the word "specialists" and keyed his throat mike. "Roger Viper Base, acknowledge secure courtyard, specialists in route." It wasn't long before he heard the roar of a MV-22 Osprey overhead as its rotors tilted from horizontal flight and eased down into the courtyard. A squad of heavily armed Marines fanned out around the Osprey and took up defensive positions. Two men in suits strolled down the ramp behind them followed by another squad of marines carrying only side arms. MSG Ascott met them as they stepped of the ramp. Before he could introduce himself, one of the men held up his hand. "Just show us where the package is." Ascott just stared at the man for a bit.

Finally he shook his head in amazement and lead the way to the pile of arrow headed staffs and other assorted stuff that he had no idea what it could be. The man that had spoken in the courtyard looked over the pile and then to MSG Ascott. "How many of your man have seen this and is this all of it?" This question made the hair on the neck of the battle seasoned Special Forces Operator stand up. "This is all we found and what difference does it make how many of my men saw it?" The man just smiled a cold, humorless smile. "I'm just trying to be thorough Master Sergeant, just trying to be thorough."

With that he nodded to the squad of Marines behind him. The Marines quickly loaded the "package" into the waiting Osprey then disappeared in different directions throughout the compound. While they were gone the two men in suits walked back to the Osprey and stood at the top of the ramp talking quietly with one another. MSG Ascott's battle honed instinct was telling him something was wrong. He stepped around the corner out of sight of the two men in the Osprey and the Marines still guarding it. Ascott reached up and keyed his throat mike three times. A few seconds later, he heard twelve distinct pops as his team each keyed their throat mikes once each in acknowledgement.

Almost as one, the squad of Marines the first spook had sent into the compound returned carrying a large box. They loaded it onto the Osprey and took seats along the walls. The other squad that had been guarding the Osprey quickly filed up the ramp and took their seats as well. As the MV-22's rotors began spooling up, the man in the suit locked eyes with MSG Ascott. Ascott had been in the Army twenty-seven years and the Special Forces for twenty-five of that. He had never felt anything like the cold chill that went down his spine from that one stare. As the Osprey lifted into the air and out of sight, MSG Ascott turned and ran as fast as he had ever run toward the blasted open gate.

His men had already made a discreet exit after he had transmitted the bug out order by the keying of his mike earlier and were waiting for him at the prearranged rally point. When Ascott didn't slow down upon reaching the rest of his team, they exchanged looks and took off to catch up to their leader. Behind them they heard a screech of an incoming missile and a large explosion that knocked them to the ground even from over a kilometer away.

The compound where they had found SFC Hammer and his driver was nothing more than a smoking crater now. MSG Ascott was not happy. Matter of fact he was positively livid. His government or specifically the CIA had just tried to kill him and his men. He didn't know why but he was determined to find out. With that thought burning through his brain, MSG Ascott got up, dusted himself off, and looked to his men.

"They just tried to kill us. If we go back to base, they will try again. Hopefully they think they got us since they haven't fired a second missile. We need to hole up until we can escape back home or figure out why our country tried to kill us. If they tried to take us out, they will most likely try to take out SFC Hammer and his driver too. We can't let that happen, they've been through enough already. Q, Boomer, you're with me, the rest of you, head to the cave." His men were professionals and not a single one let slip what most of them were truly feeling. As one, the Elite Special Forces team melted into the desert going two separate directions.

Field Hospital

Camp Liberty Iraq

SFC Jacob Hammer was lying in his bed pretending to be asleep. He was still pretty freaked out by this voice in his head and from the fact he had an alien inside him. The symbiont had awoken a few hours after Hammer had been admitted to the hospital. It had explained to the Soldier what it was and the benefits he could provide. "We of the Tok'ra normally only take willing hosts. Unlike the Goa'uld we live a truly symbiotic relationship with our host."SFC Hammer could see the images of great battles long passed and realized he was sharing the memories of Bilgames, the symbiont he was carrying.

He came to learn that Bilgames had originally come to Earth around 2600 B.C. and had inhabited the Sumerian Hero King, Gilgamesh. He had been defeated and imprisoned in the stasis jar (the jar that SFC Hammer had been drawn to in the camera room) by the Canaanite God Ba'al (who wasn't actually a God at all but another member of the same race as Bilgames.) Bilgames and Ba'al were part of a race known as Goa'uld that could form a symbiotic attachment with a host by entering a host body and integrating itself into the hosts spinal column and brain. But Bilgames was a part of what was called the Tok'ra or basically the Goa'uld Resistance that was sworn to fight the Goa'uld.

While Jacob Hammer was trying to wrap his mind (literally) around all of this, a Doctor came into the room with a syringe in his hand. Hammer pretended to still be asleep as the syringe was inserted into his I.V. A cold feeling started to flow up his arm and he felt relaxed. That is when the symbiont spoke again. "Do not move or let them know you are awake. That is a poison flowing through you but I can neutralize it so no harm comes to you. Just lie still and trust me." With the warning given Bilgames went to work to eliminate the poison. He also started slowing reducing Hammer's heart rate until it was undetectable. The Doctor (who was actually the CIA suit that had spoken to MSG Ascott) felt Hammer's neck for a pulse. Satisfied that another witness was eliminated, he slipped the syringe in the pocket of his smock and left the room.

MSG Ascott and his two team members watched from the shadows as the fake Doctor left the room. "Damn," muttered Ascott under his breath. "We're too late. Q, go find his driver and see if maybe we can at least save him." Q nodded and faded further into the shadows before silently slipping away. MSG Ascott and Boomer moved into Hammers room to see if there was anything they could do.

As Ascott felt Hammers neck for a pulse, SFC Jacob Hammer flew off the bed and grabbed Ascott in the most powerful choke hold MSG Ascott had ever felt in his life. "Who the hell are you and why did you try to kill me?" Boomer held up his hands to show he wasn't a threat. "Dude, we didn't try to kill you, we are the S.F. team that found you. We came here to try to rescue you but saw the CIA dude, that tried to have us killed, leaving your room as we got here. We thought he had beaten us to you." Hammer released Ascott. "He did, no time to explain right now, but yeah, he shot me up with poison but I survived. I'll explain later, let's get my driver before they do and get the hell out of here.

Just then Q slipped back into the room. "Too late Boss, Suit Boy must have gone there first before he came here. The kid's been dead for awhile." Hammer swore softly and almost punched the wall but stopped himself before actually hitting it. Bilgames had warned him that as long as he had Bilgames as a symbiont, his strength would be greatly magnified and hitting the wall would be a very bad idea if they wanted to escape undetected. "Easy Great One let us leave and avenge his death later."

Hammer wrinkled his brow. "Why do you call me Great One?" Bilgames chuckled in Hammers mind. "When you first brushed my mind, I sensed something special about you. To be honest, we should not have been able to communicate with each other until we blended. I wasn't sure why until we did blend. You have a special and powerful genetic make-up. There once was a great race of people that populated this galaxy, they were called the Ancients. They built a vast network of Chappa'ai, a great ring that could transport a person or object instantly to another world, and which the Tok'ra believes once ruled most if not all of this galaxy. You have much of the genetic make-up of that race. I can teach you how to build a device that will enable you to locate theChappa'aion this world and other technology that will prove very useful to you. I may be able to access your genetic make-up to learn how to build some Ancient technology. I cannot guarantee that I can, but it is worth a try I would think."

As they moved down the hallway and out the same way MSG Ascott and his men had entered, Hammer chuckled slightly to himself. "You were a bit of a rebel weren't you? One thing at a time though, we get out of here first and get back home if possible."

"But most of the technology you will find will be in this part of the world."Bilgames countered. "There may be more elsewhere but most of the Goa'uld ruled from Egypt to China. There were a few on another continent across the sea, but not many." Jacob wrinkled his brow in though again wondering if all the "Gods" of old were Goa'uld or Ancients. "No, the Ancients never really portrayed Gods, just wise men and women from afar. But there was another race that I do know of that did portray Gods. They were called the Asgard. But they did not rule with fear and torture as the Goa'uld did. They were more like parents and nurtured the humans as their children. They did honor prowess and strength in battle though. They were at war with the Goa'uld last I knew." Hammer almost felt dizzy from all he had learned in the last couple of days. "Let's just concentrate of getting out of here and go from there."

"Agreed."Bilgames added before becoming quiet to further study the remarkable genetics of his new host.

The four men made their way to a part of the wall that was hidden from view. The only thing able to "see" that part of the wall was a series of sensors that Boomer had temporarily disabled to allow them to slip onto Camp Liberty undetected. Once they were over the wall and out of range of the sensors, Boomer reactivated them before following the rest of the group. After about an hour on the move, MSG Ascott signaled for a halt. He approached Hammer. "Are you alright? You looked like hell warmed over when we put you on that chopper. But now, you look good as new and able to take on my whole team at once?" Hammer chucked and repeated part of the phrase Bilgames had used explaining to him why their minds touched before the blending.

"Good genetics I guess Boss…" Ascott looked him over then signaled the group to move on. "How can I explain to them what is happening so they won't get suspicious of me? He looked at me like I had some disease or something."Calmly Bilgames answered. "Do not tell them anything more than you just did. From what I see in your mind, the people of this world would not understand and would attempt to separate us. We can do a lot of good for this world if you trust me and allow me to remain." Hammer thought quietly for a little bit. "I've had a lot of ideas about how I would really like the world to be. I can see in your mind, technologies that would make the world a much better and safer place. I also see technologies that, if allowed to slip into the wrong hands, could destroy the planet."

Bilgames agreed silently. "The choice is yours Great One. We can stay here and help to make this world a better place for all, we can just leave and go to another world, or we can do both. We can find the Chappa'ai, make a place for ourselves on another planet, use that planet as a base of operations, and return here whenever we want." Hammer liked the idea of having a base of operations on another planet. "I've always wanted to go to another Planet. And it would make it easier for us to work and build the technologies you describe. We could work in peace without interference from the Governments of Earth. Then return when we are strong enough to make a difference." Bilgames sighed inwardly to himself. Though the Tok'ra never took an unwilling host except on very rare occasions, he knew this had been a stroke of destiny.

The four men moved silently through the night and arrived at the cave just before daybreak. As they approached the cave MSG Ascott let out a low whistle that sounded like a desert night bird. He didn't move forward until he heard the responding whistle from one of his men posted on sentry duty just above the cave entrance. Once inside and sitting comfortably around a small camp stove, MSG Ascott looked toward Hammer. "Ok, so tell me how you are now completely healed of all your wounds in less than 24 hours." Hammer looked into the fire from the small stove. "You really wouldn't believe me if I told you. Can we just leave it at good genetics for right now? I promise I will let you know everything once I've got everything sorted out myself." Ascott was a battle seasoned vet and he could tell Hammer was fighting an inner battle. Actually Hammer wasn't fighting a battle he was trying to make sense of all the new knowledge he was gaining from blending with Bilgames.

Hammer looked up and saw Ascott watching him. "Let me guess, they tried to kill you and your team after they landed and collected all of the Alien Technology?" Ascott blinked, "Alien Technology? You're telling me that staff thing and the other stuff is from another world? You must have taken a harder knock to the head than you think." Hammer just laughed. "No, I'm not delusional. Those and the round shock grenade they used to knock me and my driver out are alien tech."

He looked around the cave to see if it might contain the components he needed. "I'm going to need a few things and I'll prove it to you. I know you aren't happy at the fact they tried to kill you, trust me, I'm not happy they tried to kill me either, or the fact that they did kill Tucker." He looked around the cave at the men arrayed there. "I'll need a metal detector, some isolinear circuit cards, one of the radios, a tool kit, and one of the LRAS (Long Range Advanced Surveillance System)." Ascott laughed until he could barely breathe. "Does this look like a Radio Shack? Where the hell are we going to find isolinear circuit cards? Everything else we can scrounge up around here." Hammer thought for a bit and inwardly consulted Bilgames to see if there might be a substitute. Bilgames searched through the memories of his host. "You should be able to build a suitable substitute from a laptop and one of the GPS's I believe." Hammer chuckled at the unfamiliar way his new friend described the laptop and GPS.

"If someone is willing to sacrifice a laptop and one of the GPS's, I think I can piece one together from the circuit cards in them." Once all the pieces of equipment had been collected and brought to Hammer, he set to work dismantling each item and piecing together the parts he needed. MSG Ascott moved over to watch with curiosity as Hammer worked. "What are you building Bro?" Ascott asked. Hammer furrowed his brow as he answered. "If this works the way I'm thinking it will, this will become a short range scanner that will detect the energy signature of the alien technology I was telling you about. Granted it won't have a range of much more than 500 to MAYBE 1000 meters if I'm lucky. But I think some of the Archeological digs around should be a good place to start looking."

Ascott's head snapped up. "Why would those places be a good place to look?" Not wanting to give too much away just yet, Hammer answered carefully. "Well, if my theory is correct, the Gods of the ancient Sumerians or any of the ancient worlds were not Gods at all but members of an advanced alien race posing as Gods." Hammer could see that the S.F. team leader was skeptical so he went on. "Have you seen the destructive power of one of those staff weapons? I watched as my convoy of heavily armored gun trucks was torn to shreds by those. They melted the armor like it was butter. Granted they aren't as accurate as our rifles but I don't believe they were made to be. I think they were made as weapons of terror. Yes they are destructive, yes they are powerful, but that screech they make when fired and the blinding flash are made to scare the hell out of you even if it doesn't hit you."

MSG Ascott sat thinking about what he had just heard. "You may be right, but I would sure like to harness that kind of firepower into an accurate rifle or even pistol type weapon." Hammer smiled. "Give me time Bro; give me a little more time. First we have to try and find some of the tech if we can. We'll just need to move at night and hold up someplace during the day." He continued working with the scanner he was slowly piecing together.

Three hours later Hammer sighed in satisfaction as he soldered the last piece into place. He stood up, stretched and walked over to a shelf on the wall that held food and soda. He grabbed a quick bite to eat and a warm can of Pepsi before strolling back to his newly created scanner. As he was munching on some cheese and crackers, he reached over and flipped the switch to turn on the scanner. It pulsed slightly as it warmed up. Hammer took a drink of the warm soda then froze as the scanner started beeping.

"Ummmm, MSG Ascott." He called to the sleeping form across from him. "Either we have some of that tech real close or I wired this wrong and it's picking up your gear." Ascott came awake instantly at the sound of his name and sat up. "Frank, call me Frank. There is a wall made out of some type of metal at the back of the cave with some strange writing on it. It sounds solid and our ground penetrating radar couldn't see past the wall." Hammer jumped up and ran toward the back of the cave. "Jake, call me Jake, follow me." Frank Ascott laughed and followed Jake.

When he reached the back of the cave he found Jake carefully studying the wall in the beam of a flashlight. He was mumbling slightly under his breath in a strange language that Ascott couldn't understand. Once Jake realized that Frank was looking at him strangely he explained. "Sorry, ancient cultures have been a fascination of mine since I can remember. This is ancient Sumerian. This says that the goddess Inanna resides within. Inanna was the Sumerian Goddess of War, Sexual Love, and Fertility." Ascott shook his head, "Well if she is, she's buried deep. Like I said, our GPR showed it is solid behind the wall." Hammer just smiled as he continued to look over the wall. He saw what he was looking for and looked at Frank. "Care to make a bet on that? Before you answer, grab your weapon, a couple of your guys, your gas masks, and loan me a weapon and mask."

Frank looked a little puzzled but quickly gathered two of his men and the requested equipment. As Hammer accepted the loaned H&K MK-23 he grinned and explained. "These tombs have been sealed for thousands of years. The air inside them is usually toxic, thus the gas masks. You might also want to warn your remaining men that when I open this door, the air will flow out and into the cave. Probably best to set a fan blowing toward the exit of the cave to clear out the toxins." Ascott donned his mask and told his men to do the same and set the fan where Hammer had suggested. He still wasn't sure why he was following along since he KNEW that behind the wall was nothing but dirt and rock.

As he returned to where Hammer and his other two men stood waiting, Jacob Hammer reached to the wall and turned a small star symbol. Frank Ascott almost fell over when a large door formed in the wall in front of him and swung inward. "What the hell? How did you know about that?" Hammer looked toward the astonished Green Beret. "I've learned that most of the "False Gods" like Inanna used their symbol as a key. With Inanna, it's the star. With Nanna, the God of the Moon, It's a half crescent moon, and so on." With that explanation he interlocked his hands back to back and entered the dark tomb with his flashlight shining into the dark opening.

As the four men moved down the long corridor, Bilgames was explaining more history to his host. "Inanna was probably one of the cruelest of the Goa'uld to rule out of this region. Her host was a truly beautiful woman so the dual Goddess of War and Sexual Love fit her perfectly. She was utterly ruthless in battle and equally as insatiable in the sleep chambers. If she is truly entombed here, do not wake her, shoot her on sight. She will not hesitate to kill you and all humans that oppose her."

Hammer signaled for a stop then motioned Frank over. "Ok, you see I was right about this being here. Now, the reason you couldn't see passed the wall with your GPR is this place is shielded against scanning. The only reason my scanner got a hit is it picked up the shielding, nothing beyond. But if this place is truly the resting place of Inanna, she may very well still be here." It was all Ascott could do not to ask Hammer again if he had taken a much harder hit to his head than he thought. Hammer could see the skepticism in Frank's eyes. "Frank, I'm serious. If she's here she will have been placed in a sarcophagus made of the same advanced alien technology that fooled your GPR. It could be keyed to activate the second we entered the tomb or when we enter her actual burial chamber. If so, do not hesitate to fire. But make sure you aim for the head, chest shots will be ineffective against her unless you empty the mag into her."

As they moved further down the corridor, torches along the walls suddenly flared to life. They found several skeletons encased in a type of plate armor. Jacob paused to inspect the skeletons and the staff weapons they still clutched. "Ok, this is interesting; these are what are known as Jaffa. They served as foot soldiers and supposedly incubators for the race posing as Gods. From what I have been able to learn from my research, this race called themselves Goa'uld".

Frank Ascott was getting increasingly uncomfortable with all this talk of aliens and advanced technology. He was puzzled at the reawaking torches. "Ok, if they are so advanced, why torches? Why not light bulbs of some kind." Hammer walked to one of the torches and placed his hand in the flame. Frank leaped forward to pull his hand from the fire. He stopped cold when he saw the wrinkles around Hammer's eyes and knew he was smiling. "The flame is a hologram. It has no heat. It is simply for effect and to light the way." Frank furrowed his brow in thought and followed Hammer on down the corridor. As they passed doors, they would clear each room and mark the door frame with a piece of chalk. When they realized several of the rooms led to other corridors or rooms, Ascott sent one of his men back to gather all but one of the team. "Go back and grab everyone except Boomer. Send Q on down with us and have the others start clearing and securing these rooms behind us. Shoot anything that moves that isn't us." Hammer nodded in affirmation when Ascott looked his way. They waited for Q to join them before moving on.

At the end of the corridor, the path became a T junction. Ascott signaled for another of his men to come forward and sent them down the corridor to the right as Q, Hammer, and he took the left. Forty meters down the left corridor, the hallway turned back to the right with doorways scattered along both sides of the hall. Hammer reached up to wipe the sweat out of his eyes before he remembered he was wearing a gas mask. He chuckled to himself as Bilgames' words filled his mind. "If the lighting is coming on, the life support should be functioning as well."Hammer could feel a light breeze on his bare arm. He signaled another halt and approached Ascott. "Feel that?" He asked as he held his hand up to the light circulation. "It must be some kind of air circulation system. It might be safe to remove these masks." With that he reached up and removed his mask. He wrinkled his nose at the stale smelling air. "It's safe, it just smells a bit musty and stale." He stowed his mask as the other two men removed their masks and Ascott spoke softly into his throat mike to let the other search teams know as well.

The four teams slowly searched every inch of the complex except the two massive doors at the end of the long corridor. The right corridor had followed the same pattern as the one Hammer and his team were searching, joining up with that corridor and leading to the two massive doors. The main difference with the right corridor was the doors on the right side of it were larger than the corridor on the left. While they left one man in the corridor to guard it, team two searched the rooms on the left side of their corridor. Once those rooms (which turned out to be sleeping quarters the same as the doors on the right side of the left corridor.) were cleared, Staff Sergeant Johnny Belkin, radioed Ascott. "Boss, I think you guys are going to want to see this. The doors on the right side of our corridor look like barn doors or something." Ascott looked at Hammer. "We've got these cleared and JB says there are barn door size doors on his right side. He thinks we should see them."

Hammer, Ascott, and Q took up a light jog back the way they had came and followed the right corridor until they linked up with SSG Belkin's team. Hammer looked at the doors but didn't open them. "Radio the rest of the team and see if they've cleared everything behind us." Ascott radioed the rest of his team. They said they were almost finished clearing the last room which appeared to be a very large kitchen.

Ten minutes later teams three and four joined up with the rest of the group. "All clear back that way Boss. It was mostly storage rooms, a few bedrooms, a huge kitchen, and some cells it looked like. Two of the cells had skeletons in them. What was weird about the skeletons was it looked like a snake skeleton wrapped around their spinal columns and into the base of the skull.

Hammer could feel the sadness emanating from his symbiont. "Those in the cell must have been Tok'ra or subservient Goa'uld that proved a disappointment to their Mistress. Either way it bodes well for our chances of Inanna not being here. If she were still alive when they were imprisoned, they would not be dead now. She would have tortured them to death then placed them in a sarcophagus to raise them from the dead so she could torture them to death again. As I said, she was a very cruel and ruthless Goa'uld. We should search further down before we enter these doors. If this follows the layout of most Goa'uld palaces, Inanna's burial chamber should be at the end of the two adjoining corridors."

Hammer waved for Frank Ascott to join him. "I think we should leave a guard here and another at the end of the corridor ahead. Unless this place is laid out different than the other tombs I've studied, this corridor should turn left up ahead and join the corridor we just searched. There should be another long corridor that leads to Inanna's burial chambers. As you saw earlier, this is not only her tomb, but it served as her Palace and temple while she ruled. There are sleeping chambers for her servants and worshippers, prison cells for her enemies, and a kitchen to prepare food for her and her worshippers.

Some of those storage rooms may also contain weapons and other technology we can use. I would prefer to check on her Burial Chambers and hope she is not there." He could see Frank was still not convinced that anyone could live that long no matter what technology they had. Frank still followed Hammer down the corridor, leaving team four guarding the "barn doors" and team three guarding the corridor junction where the left and right corridor met. At the end of the long corridor leading away from the junction was a pair of large metal doors. Hammer studied the twin doors for a bit. There was a strange looking device with a star shaped hole on each side joining the two doors. "Damn, it's locked and I didn't see anything that looked remotely like a key in any of the rooms we searched." JB shook his head. "Neither did we, maybe one of the other teams did."

Ascott radioed teams three and four but got the same negative results. "Well, they have to be here someplace; otherwise we'll need Boomer in here with some detcord or an acetylene torch." Ascott sent team two back to search all of the rooms behind them more thoroughly. Since they had already been cleared, one man could search through each room safely. Hammer asked Bilgames if he had any suggestions."Locks like these are rarely used unless the ruling Goa'uld is extremely paranoid or has offended another more powerful Goa'uld. They are usually filled with a powerful explosive so I would not suggest trying to cut through them. A staff blast would not be wise either as the doors are usually made of a very dense naquadah alloy."

Hammer thought for a bit. "On second thought, send someone to replace Boomer and have him bring a block of C-4 and a remote detonator. These things may be booby trapped and I'd rather everyone be around the bend of the corridor if we can't locate the keys and have to blow this thing." Frank thought that was a pretty good idea and radioed SFC Hopper (the leader for team four) to send one of his men back to replace Boomer and pass the message to him on what to bring.

Ten minutes later Boomer arrived with the explosive and the detonator. He looked over the lock for several minutes before deciding the proper spot to attach the C-4. He pulled the small tab on the detonator that armed it. "Ok, she's set." They all turned and trotted to where the corridor made a T and ducked around the corner. "Fire in the hole!" Boomer called before flipping the protective cover over the switch up and pressing the button on the detonator. There was a loud crack of the C-4 detonating followed almost immediately by a second loud crack of the explosive that was the trap in the locking mechanism. Hammer raised his weapon and moved down the corridor to the now wide open doors.

Inside the chamber, the Special Forces team fanned out to cover Hammer as he took in the impressive view around him. As with the rest of the temple/tomb, torches and large brass braziers leapt to life as they entered the room. Against the far wall, opposite of the door they entered, was an ornate throne. On a raised dais to the right of the throne was a large golden sarcophagus. At the foot of the sarcophagus, lying sprawled on the floor was a skeleton. Jake Hammer approached the skeleton and pointed to the point where the spine and skull were connected. "Look there, another small skeleton wrapped around the spine and traveling up into the base of the skull." He then walked slowly passed the two skeletons and turned his attention to the writing on a small plaque in the center of the dais. "Here lies Inanna, who will rise again to take her rightful place as ruler of all gods."

Spread over that in something similar to spray paint was a larger word. "Ok, well this explains a lot; it says simply, Shol'va, which basically translates into traitor, heretic, betrayer, etc. It seems she made someone mad, so they killed her and sealed the doors, probably took the keys with them, to keep anyone from placing her back in the sarcophagus."

Hammer turned back to the skeleton and began to examine it with care. Immediately seeing what he was looking for, he leaned forward and eased the strange looking glove from the hand of the now dead Inanna. "This little beauty is a hand device or in the language of this race, Kara kesh. I believe it was used to deceive followers and slaves alike into thinking the Goa'uld were Gods by emitting a wave like energy beam, throwing the intended target across the room. There were several other uses for this device if I understand some of the text I have read correctly."

He slipped off his assault pack and placed the hand device in a zippered pocket. After shouldering the pack once more he moved to the throne and began to study it. "So far this temple has followed the layout of the few temples I have been able to study. That means there should be a secret passage leading to an escape tunnel somewhere near the throne; I wonder why she didn't use it and tried to get to the sarcophagus instead?" As he was studying the throne he noticed a small keypad on the left arm of the throne. Hammer puzzled a bit over the keypad before tapping a series of three keys ending with the star shaped one in the center. A door slid open in the wall behind the throne. Jake looked up at Frank Ascott and grinned, "Shall we?" Frank ordered the other two men to stay there and keep the room secure before moving off to follow Jake into the dark tunnel.

The two men had moved about twenty feet into the tunnel when Jake's light fell across another set of bones crumpled against the back wall of the tunnel. "Well that explains why she didn't use the escape tunnel. Her assassins had sent at least one of their numbers through the back door to secure the tunnel. Inanna opened the tunnel, ran a little ways into it, saw the assassin, killed him with the hand device, and ran back out of the tunnel. She must have been trying to make it to another escape route. She was most likely trying to get to a ring transporter or something similar, when they caught and killed her."

Hammer moved closer to what was left of the assassin. "Look here, several of these bones are literally crushed, especially the back of the skull. He must have hit this wall with tremendous force." Just then he noticed the two ornate, ring like objects on either hand of the skeleton. "That may explain a thing or two. She wasn't trying to escape; she had been wounded and was trying to get into her sarcophagus to heal herself. There are the keys to the lock on the main door. So looks like only one assassin did all of this. I guess it's lucky for us that Inanna bled out before she could reach the sarcophagus." He slowly removed both items from the skeletons hands.

He slipped the "ring" from the left hand onto his hand then formed his hand into a gun like shape with his index and middle fingers extended. He pointed his fingers toward the wall and concentrated a bit. A bright yellow bolt of energy shot from the small muzzle on the palm side of the ring and blew a small chunk out of the wall. "Oops," Hammer said out loud. "My bad guys, my bad. It's cool, just trying something I didn't think would work." He said loud enough for the other members of the team to hear. "Well, that should teach me to play around with alien devices". He said with a grin as he slipped both devices into the same pocket as the other hand device. "Ok, let's see where this tunnel leads too".

He stood up and continued to follow the passageway around a bend to the right until they came up against another closed door at the end of the corridor. Jake played the light of his flashlight across the door and grunted when it illuminated the burn marks on the top, bottom, and one side of the door. "The assassin must have used something, probably that small hand laser to weld the door shut. Either he wasn't planning on coming out of the tunnel alive or they had very good intelligence that there was another way out of the tunnel." MSG Ascott wrinkled his forehead in thought. "Alright Jake, what's going on? You seem to know an awful lot about how these aliens operate how their technology works and how they lived? Something doesn't sit right with all of this." Jake knew he was going to have to come clean sometime about the Tok'ra symbiont he was carrying. He just didn't think it would come up this soon.

"I guess I should have known a battle hardened Special Forces Operator would sense something wasn't right. Ok, I'll come clean. There are actually two groups of Goa'uld. One is the cruel dictators I have described to you. The other is basically what is the Goa'uld resistance or Tok'ra officially. They are Goa'uld but have totally opposite philosophies if you will. They have worked in the shadows for thousands of years to subvert and eventually try to overthrow the Goa'uld System Lords. Jake could see that Frank Ascott was starting to get a little impatient. "Ok, here's the bottom line. Have you ever heard of the Sumerian Hero-King Gilgamesh?"

When Frank nodded that he had heard of Gilgamesh, Jake Hammer continued. "Gilgamesh was host to a Tok'ra symbiont called Bilgames whom was sent here to spy on and hopefully find a way to defeat the Canaanite God Ba'al. This failed as Ba'al proved too powerful and cagey to overthrow. He eventually defeated Gilgamesh and took the Tok'ra symbiont out of the human host and imprisoned him in a stasis jar. That jar was in the compound you rescued me and my driver from." MSG Ascott replayed the rescue and subsequent search of the compound. "I remember finding a broke clay jar in the room with the camera….." Frank Ascott froze when he realized the implications. He quickly stepped back and pointed his MP-5 at Hammer. "My God, it's inside you isn't it? Hand over the pistol now or I will shoot you."

Bilgames spoke then as Hammer's eyes flashed yellow. "As my host has explained to you, I am no danger to you. I only want to be free of this planet and to continue my fight against the Goa'uld. I can offer you valuable knowledge and technology that your planet would take hundreds of years to discover if they discovered it at all. From the things I can see in my hosts mind, this planet needs my help." Frank just stood there staring in total disbelief. "What's up with your voice? Why did your voice change?" Jake bent his head forward slightly and began speaking in his normal voice.

"The symbiont, whose name is Bilgames by the way, can speak through me when he wants to. When he is speaking, my voice deepens considerably and sounds like it is being amplified. But the Tok'ra are not like the Goa'uld Frank. When the Goa'uld take a host, they completely suppress the consciousness of the host and force him to do whatever the Goa'uld wants to do. The Tok'ra live in a true symbiotic relationship with their hosts, sharing the same body without suppressing the consciousness. The host and symbiont share memories and thoughts together. Please Frank, lower your weapon and trust me. If I had wanted to hurt or kill you, I could have done it already a dozen times over. Bilgames has been a part of me since before you rescued me. It was him that allowed me to heal as fast as I did and have the strength to escape from those Insurgents."

Seeing he was getting nowhere with the SF Operator, Jake decided to prove it to Frank. He moved so fast that MSG Ascott was taken completely by surprise. Jake sidestepped and moved forward in one smooth motion. Frank Ascott was disarmed and pinned to the ground faster than he had ever seen anyone taken down. He tried to fight free but Jake was too powerful. He felt the MK-23 being pressed against the base of his skull and knew he was about to die.

The next thing he knew, Jake had released him and was standing in front of him offering the pistol to him butt first. "If I wanted to kill you Frank, you couldn't stop me. Now take the pistol and trust me please. Our government has tried to kill me, you, your whole team, and they did kill Tucker. I am not your enemy and I can help you get to the bottom of this. I am going to get to the bottom of this with or without you. I would prefer to do it with you though. But it's your choice Bro….."

Frank Ascott sat up and slid himself back against the wall with his arms draped over his knees. Jake could see he was wrestling with the decision. Finally Frank stood up and brushed himself off. "Keep the pistol. God knows you don't need it to kill me. There are probably dozens of different alien devices in this temple that would work just as well if not better than a bullet. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm telling my men everything." Jake nodded his head in acceptance and holstered the pistol." Ok, let's go back to where team four is and check out that room. It should be a hanger for Goa'uld ships, assuming the Ashrak (assassin) didn't destroy or take any ships that might have been left. The door behind us, should lead into it as well."

When they got back to where team three was, they gathered them up and continued down the hall to team four. Jake nodded at Frank and stepped slightly away from the group. Frank went over the story of the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra. Once he had finished, SFC Hopper looked toward Hammer. "What does that have to do with any of this Boss, unless there's something you ain't telling us?"

Jake kept his hands in plain sight and let Bilgames speak. "Because I am Bilgames, of the Tok'ra and I now share the body of Jacob Hammer." Every weapon in the team came to bear as one except that of MSG Ascott. "Stand down boys, that's an order. I told you the story about the difference. Besides, if he wanted to kill any of us, he could have done it at anytime he felt like it. He says there should be a hanger for ships behind that door." He pointed to the large doors.

As soon as MSG Ascott had ordered his men to stand down, they had reluctantly lowered their weapons. Boomer looked nervously at Hammer. "I still don't like it Boss, he's an alien." Ascott looked at his explosives expert. "I know Boomer, but trust me on this. If he wanted to kill us, there is nothing we could do to stop him." Boomer glanced down at his pouch of C-4. "I'm not so sure about that Boss." He said with a grin. When he looked back at Hammer, he noticed that Hammer had put on the funny looking glove he had taken off of the skeleton in the throne room. "As I said, you have nothing to fear from me. I donned the glove as a precaution since it has a personal shield device in it. None of your weapons, not even all of the C-4 you are carrying, can penetrate it." With that, he walked past the SF team and opened the doors to the hanger.

Inside the hanger were several funny shaped ships that reminded MSG Ascott of the Droid Fighters on Revenge of the Sith. There was also a cone shaped ship that looked like a Hermit Crab. Hammer walked around each ship, inspecting it carefully. "I can't detect any outward signs of tampering but it could be hidden. I will need a hand scanner or a security console to know for sure. The ships with the folded wings are called Death Gliders. They are capable of flying in atmospheres and space. They are not capable of interstellar travel though. The other ship is a Goa'uld cargo ship also called a Tel'tak. It is capable of entering hyperspace for interstellar travel."

He moved over to the side of the hanger to a door. He attempted to open it but found it was indeed the door at the end of the escape tunnel. "MSG Ascott, this is the door that was welded shut as I suspected it would be. It was supposed to provide Inanna with an easy escape route to her ship." He moved to a console beside the door. He carefully studied the console for damage or tampering. Seeing none of either, he activated the controls. "As I suspected, the Ashrak placed traps on the remaining ships. It won't take long for me to disarm them."

Boomer had been looking over the ships himself and whistling softly in wonder. "I don't see anything Boss, where are you seeing the traps?" Hammer motioned for him to come over to the console. "The reactor on each ship has been tampered with so that on start up, they will explode." He indicated the affected area of each ship on the read outs of the maintenance console. "It is a simple matter to reprogram the main computer to return them to their normal operational mode. We will need the Tel'tak to assist in getting to the bottom of why they tried to kill us." He then entered each ship with MSG Ascott and Boomer both looking over his shoulder.

Within minutes he had reset all of the reactors to normal operating mode. "I am done. I need to leave to see what the state of affairs in the galaxy is. You are welcome to accompany me or you may stay here. As I said earlier Frank, it's your choice." Frank thought for a minute then turned to Boomer. "Come on Boomer; let's see what he is talking about. The rest of you head back to the cave and get some rest. We'll contact you when we get back." He turned back to Hammer and said. "How are we supposed to get this thing out of here? It looks like several thousand years of sand storms have buried the complex."

Hammer was seated in the pilots chair looking over the readings on the console. "This hanger has always been buried according to these readings. I just need to flip this switch to open the hidden bay doors."He studied the sensor readings a bit longer to make sure the area around was clear. "I will also cloak the ship so your military radar cannot see us launching." With that he opened the hanger bay doors and eased the cloaked cargo ship out into the Iraqi night.

Jake slowly orbited the planet with the cargo ships scanners set to maximum. Frank and Boomer both watched him closely. "What are you looking for?" Frank asked. "I am looking for hidden signs of advanced technology and trying to locate the Chappa'ai or Stargate in your language."

After several minutes of scanning from orbit, Hammer zeroed in on some readings that had caught his attention."It appears your government has found the Stargate and has it in a hidden base under a mountain on Ft. Carson. The sensors can barely pick it up but none the less, there it is. It doesn't appear to be operational from these readings. I would have to monitor it continuously to be certain though. I will run one scan of the entire planet then we can return to your men." He set the scanners to record and made several low level passes around the Earth. "I will land outside of the cave entrance and keep the ship cloaked instead of trying to return to the hanger."

As they eased in for a landing, Hammer worked programming a security code into the main console. "Not that I don't trust you Frank, but as long as the government has control of the Stargate, whether they are using it or not, this ship is my only means off of this planet. I need to be able to travel freely to gather allies and technology if we are to find out the truth about the attempts on our lives. I can also offer you another alternative. I can take you, your men, and all of your equipment to another planet where we can work in peace and put together a better plan in safety."

MSG Ascott sat pondering that last offer. "Well, we are technically considered dead now, so we would have a measure of freedom to work on another planet." He suddenly realized he had just calmly discussed going to another planet like it was flying to another continent. "Ok, that was weird, I never thought I would ever hear myself discussing going to another planet in anything but a dream." Hammer chuckled. "I would have never thought I would be host to an alien symbiont or seriously discussing going to another planet. But with Bilgames memories, I feel as if I have traveled to hundreds of worlds already." Hammer lowered his head slightly and Frank realized Bilgames was about to speak. "I will understand completely if you or any of your men decide not to travel with me. I will not hold it against you. But I must leave soon to scout for a base of operations and see what the Goa'uld have been doing over the last several thousand years."

Just then Q stepped through the door. "If you're looking for volunteers Boss, count me in." He said with a wide grin. "I was a little spooked by what Hammer is now, still am spooked, I won't lie about it. But the prospect of traveling in a space ship to another planet really intrigues me." MSG Ascott looked toward Hammer. "I don't doubt that the entire team will want to go, especially if it gives us a leg up on finding out why they tried to kill us." Hammer nodded his head in understanding. "It would be better to only take about half at once. This is a relatively small ship and all 12 of you plus me would over tax the life support if we had to search for an extended time period. It may take several weeks to find a suitable planet to establish a base on. You must remember, I have been in a stasis jar for the last 4,500 years. I have no way of knowing the extent of the Goa'uld domain until I can get caught up on current events."

Frank thought that over for a minute before turning to Q. "Go grab Boomer and whatever gear and equipment you two want to take. Also grab several cases of MRE's and four of the five gallon water jugs." Q looked like a kid in a candy store and ran off to gather Boomer and the supplies MSG Ascott had told him to get. Within fifteen minutes both Special Forces Operators had loaded the requested food and water along with extra ammo and two of the staff weapons from the fallen Jaffa. Q also had in his hand two small snake head looking hand weapons. "Those are what are called Zat'nik'tel. They are less powerful than the Staff Weapons but still deadly. One shot will stun most any target, a second shot will kill most any target, and a third shot will totally vaporize the target." Q whistled then tucked one of the "zats" (as he thought of them) into his belt. Hammer smiled and shook his head as he piloted the cloaked cargo ship out into space. He used the moon to shield the ship from any observation from the Earth as he decloaked and jumped the ship into hyperspace.

Boomer was extremely fascinated by the concept of hyperspace and was staring out the window watching the patterns of it. "So this is what traveling at warp speed really looks like?" Hammer chuckled before answering as Bilgames. "Actually we are just traveling through hyperspace. I can see in my hosts mind the reference you are making to the speed tables in Star Trek. Our method of travel is much faster than any warp speed used. Hyperspace more closely resembles going though the wormhole in the spin-off Deep Space 9. Granted Goa'uld hyperdrive engines are not nearly as efficient as the Asgard, they are still many times faster than warp speed." Boomer looked at Hammer. "You know it's still very weird hearing your voice change when the little guy is talking." Hammer knew exactly what he meant. "I still find it very weird myself trust me. It will take awhile to get used to. No offense intended."He thought to the symbiont inside him. Hammer can sense the chuckle from Bilgames as the symbiont replies. "No offense taken my friend, I'm the one that has to stare at your insides."

The rest of the journey is spent in silence at least for the ones not carrying a symbiont. Bilgames kept up a running dialog with Jake to explain what he was looking for and to prepare him for whatever they may find at their destination. Boomer had been sitting in the chair next to Jake and had dozed off but was instantly awake at the sound of his name being called. "Boomer, would you please wake MSG Ascott and ask him to join me? We are almost to our first destination." Boomer slipped out of the chair to do as he was asked.

Less than a minute later, Frank Ascott was seated in the co-pilots chair. "So what should we expect?" Bilgames took over to answer that question. "We are approaching the last place I remember the main Tok'ra base to be. I doubt anyone will still be there after so long, but I need to have a solid starting place. I can also see if they moved on willingly, as the Tok'ra never stay in one place for very long, or if they were forced out against their will. The reason they never stay long in one place is basically the same reason as you SF types move often."Frank nodded in understanding. "If you stay too long, your enemy can find you easier and take you out." Bilgames nodded in agreement.

"The Tok'ra are small in number and have to fight a gorilla style war of attrition and subterfuge. As a Tok'ra myself, I should return to them and help carry on the war against the Goa'uld. But I believe I can do more good by using my knowledge to help your world. I see great potential for the human race. SFC Hammer has some pretty interesting ideas on how to make your world better and stronger than it has been since the Ancients ruled there. I am not sure what we will find here so I will cloak the ship the instant we drop out of hyperspace. If we find nothing here, I will proceed to the next world the Tok'ra would have moved too. I know the coordinates for the next five planned locations but that is all. Hopefully we will either find the Tok'ra or an indication of where to look."

Frank looked hard at Jake. "Do not worry, as I said, I am not staying with them. But they are the best way to find out the current state of affairs in the Galaxy. I could just scan known Goa'uld bases while cloaked but the Tok'ra have or at least used to have a vast intelligence network."

Bilgames dropped the ship out of hyperspace, cloaked, and immediately changed course just in case there was a hostile presence in the system. After a thorough scan of the entire star system, he found nothing at all except the stargate on an empty planet. "They have moved on and there are no signs of weapons fire or any residual energy signatures from any type of an attack. They moved on without incident."The next two systems were the same but on the fourth system there were readings showing there had been a massive bombardment from space. Bilgames scanned the system for any possible hidden weapons or remaining enemy but found neither. He pulled up the readings he had taken of the signs of attack and studied them for a little while.

"These readings are fairly old, at least 500 to 750 years ago. The actual energy residue left from the weapons fire has dissipated. I am just reading the crystallized sand from the heat of the blasts. Well, one more system that I know of. Hopefully we will find something there. If the Tok'ra are not there or have not left a marker to point the way forward, we will have to proceed on our own."With those words he jumped back into hyperspace.

A few hours later he repeated his actions on the previous four planets. This time it saved his life and the lives of the men with him. The instant he changed course after cloaking, a Goa'uld Ha'tak (mothership) fired on his previous location and saturated the area around where he had left hyperspace. "That was close and a sign we are close to our goal."Hammer whistled softly as he studied the Mothership on his scanners. "It looks like the Goa'uld have upgraded their Ha'taks while I've been in stasis. I've never seen one like that."He switched the comsystem to an encrypted Tok'ra frequency and began transmitting. "This is Bilgames of the Tok'ra. I have returned to assist in any way I can. I have been trapped in a stasis jar for several thousand years."

He waited for some type of response. After a few tense minutes he heard what he was waiting for. "Welcome back Bilgames, this is Garshaw, it seems you arrived at a most opportune moment. We could use some help with the evacuation."MSG Ascott just stared in confusion at Hammer. "You're not going to fight back? You're just going to run and hide?" Hammer/Bilgames just shrugged. "As I explained earlier, we are small in number and do not have the firepower to take on a Goa'uld Ha'tak much less three of them."Frank turned and pointed out the window at small fighters leaving one of the Ha'taks. "What about those?" A glow came to Hammers face.

"Garshaw, I have an idea that could take some pressure off of you on the ground and give you more time to evacuate. If you can have at least three or four good pilots get to the rings, I will ring them up and then to one of the Ha'tak with me. We would also need someone to stay with the cargo ship to help with the evacuation."After a few seconds of static, a confused reply came through the speakers. "I'm not sure what you are planning and am not sure if I want to know. You have always been a bit reckless Bilgames."

MSG Ascott looked over at Hammer with a curious look in his eye. Hammer just shrugged. "What can I say? I have never been one that could leave well enough alone. I always have to push my limits. Garshaw, I have three Elite Soldiers from the Tau'ri on the ship with me. We can ring to one of the Ha'tak and steal three Gliders to use to attack the Ha'tak as a distraction to give you more time to evacuate. I know it's risky but you cannot deny the value of a few extra minutes." After a few seconds pause Garshaw responded. "You are right this time Bilgames, three of our best pilots are waiting to ring to your ship."Bilgames piloted the cargo ship closer to the planet. "MSG Ascott, you do not have to come along on my planned assault. But know that if you do come along, it will increase our odds of success by 90%."

As he moved the cargo ship into position just a few feet off the planet MSG Ascott gave him his answer. "Are you kidding? After just being described as "Elite Soldiers, how good we refuse?" Both of his men grinned as they nodded their heads in agreement. "Good, make sure all the weapons you decide to bring with you are loaded with Teflon coated or steel core projectiles. The Jaffa on the ship will be wearing body armor and nothing else will penetrate it. If they are wearing the helmet as well even head shots without armor penetrating bullets will not be effective." All three Special Forces Operators did an ammo check and attached sound suppressors to their weapons. MSG Ascott handed a suppressor to Hammer for his MK-23 as well. "Thank you, hopefully I won't need it as I will carry the other Zat that Q didn't take."

Once the three Tok'ra pilots had ringed aboard, Hammer cloaked the ship, moved into position to ring aboard one of the Ha'taks, and relinquished the pilots chair to one of the other Tok'ra. "Good, you brought some stun grenades. Also, I've been kind of out of the loop for awhile and those are a design I have never seen." He had noticed the sack two of the Tok'ra pilots wore at their waist. One of the pilots looked toward him. "The central pyramid is very close to the same layout as the Cheops class that Ra and Heru'ur use."Bilgames nodded in understanding as he went over his plan in his head.

"My plan is to ring aboard the Ha'tak, steal three Death Gliders or Al'kesh if they are still in the bay, and attack the Ha'taks long enough to draw their attention away from the evacuation. If there are Al'kesh still on board, hopefully we can destroy one or two of the Ha'taks." Hammer then moved to the circle in the cargo bay where the ring platform was located before crouching low. "MSG Ascott and Boomer, shoot low at the area just above where a human's navel is. It is the quickest way to kill a Jaffa. Q, if you use the Zat, just hit the trigger twice, fast." With each of the six forming a circle with weapons pointed outward, Bilgames nodded to the pilot still on the ship.

The instant the ring platform deposited them onto the Ha'tak; all 6 men fired their weapons, killing several Jaffa guarding the ring room. Bilgames signaled the two Tok'ra to move out before turning to Frank and his team. "Follow us; the hanger deck should be just below us." The small group worked their way down to the deck below them, killing and disintegrating several more Jaffa on the way. At the door to the hanger, Hammer smiled as he peered in. "Just as I was hoping when I chose the ship farthest from the planet. This ship was held in reserve in case the other two need back-up. All the Al'kesh and Gliders are still in their bay."

He nodded to the other two Tok'ra. Both pulled a small round ball roughly the size of a large grapefruit from the pouch at their waists. One of them pulled a 2nd ball from his pouch and handed it to Bilgames. They all three pressed a button on the ball and rolled them into the hanger bay. "Cover!"Hammer ordered as a bright white light and high pitched screech filled the bay. "Goa'uld stun grenade. It's what was used to capture myself and PFC Tucker in Baghdad." He said in way of explanation to MSG Ascott and his team. With that he stood and sprinted into the hanger bay.

Jake Hammer paused as soon as everyone was inside the bay and turned to shoot the panel next to the door. "That will buy us enough time to power up the ships and get out of here." He pointed to two separate Al'kesh as he passed them. "Frank, assign Q and Boomer each an Al'kesh to help secure, you're with me on the lead one."MSG Ascott pointed to each of the two Tok'ra pilots, assigning his men one each. Hammer ran to the Al'kesh closest to the hanger bay doors. "We'll have to blast through the bay doors; I doubt any of us will have the override codes to open them manually."As each team neared their perspective Al'kesh, each Tok'ra armed another stun grenade and rolled it into the ship.

Each team found the same thing once they boarded the Al'kesh; dozens of unconscious Jaffa sprawled throughout the ship. Hammer handed the Zat to MSG Ascott. "Go through the ship and shoot each Jaffa three times. I know this isn't what we would normally do, but we do not have the time to carry each one off of the ship. People are dying on that planet and we're the only hope they have of surviving." Frank took the weapon but baulked at what he had just been asked to do. "Look, I would do it myself but I have to fly the ship and that means preflight checks that you don't know how to do. I'm sorry Frank, it's them or us and I can guarantee they wouldn't hesitate to do it to either of us or any of your men."Frank stood his ground. "No, I won't murder defenseless men even though they would not show me the same consideration. I will disarm all of them and lock them into a room until we are done with the rescue. He stalked off to do just that after radioing his men and telling them to do the same thing.

Hammer sighed but knew he would not convince the MSG to do otherwise. "Wait, Frank. I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable and since I see your mind is made up, once all of them are moved to the cargo bay, hit this series of symbols on the panel just outside the door to the room. That should lock out the rings, lock the door, and disable the keypad on the inside so they can't use it to override your lock command."Frank relayed the lockout code to his men and left to do his part of the mission.

Bilgames finished prepping the ship for launch then signaled the other two Al'kesh to follow him out and stay in a standard arrow formation. He powered up the staff cannon turret and blasted the hanger doors open.

Once all three of the mid range bombers had cleared the hanger, they fell into formation as Bilgames had instructed. As they looped around to begin their attack run on the Ha'tak they had just left, Bilgames explained his plan to the other two pilots. "Keep in this formation as we begin the attack. Use the plasma bombs in the pass and then fire behind you, then split left and right after the pass. The bombs should collapse the shield allowing the turret cannon to do massive damage to an unshielded ship. Splitting left and right while I peel up and roll should keep retaliatory fire to a minimum and allow for damage to three different areas of the ship. When I finish my roll, I will be in position to make another bombing run and take it out completely."

As the small formation of Al'kesh approached the Ha'tak, the larger ship opened fire with its own cannon emplacements. Hammer reached over and keyed the intra ship communications. "I would suggest you find something solid to hold on to Frank. It's about to get a little bumpy." The ship rocked with multiple explosions around it. Frank staggered into the control room. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. What's going on?" Bilgames fought to keep the bomber on course. "We are making our first approach and our prey isn't taking the attack very kindly. I think they've figured out we aren't their friends. Hold on tight after we make the pass. I am going to peel straight up and roll back over the top of the Ha'tak. They will have a clear shot as we start the roll but we have no choice if we want to avoid crashing into one of the other ships."Frank looked around at the chair he was clinging too. "What, don't you people believe in seat belts?" That struck Hammer as funny and he cracked up. "I will make a note to complain to the designer if we make it through this in one piece."

They reached their target point and each Al'kesh bomber released three heavy plasma charges onto the Ha'tak. As Bilgames was in front of the other two Al'kesh, his bombs struck first. They flared the shields brightly but did not collapse them. They did however weaken the shields enough that when the second Al'kesh's charges struck, they completely overloaded the shields and collapsed them. The third Al'kesh's charges had been dropped just a couple of seconds after the other so they struck an unshielded hull causing considerable damage.

Bilgames had cleared the Ha'tak and was beginning his roll when a stray cannon shot penetrated the shields. The ship bucked wildly and started to spiral out of control. Hammer fought the yoke with all of his might and virtually willed the Al'kesh to come back under control and finish the rolling loop. "That last shot penetrated the shields and ruptured the hull. We're venting atmosphere from the cargo hold. I'm trying to stabilize it and reroute power to the containment shields. It's working but I think we lost everyone and everything that was in the cargo hold."He finally fought the ship back under control and finished the looping roll he had started.

As he came back level on an approach run, he lined up his target and released the plasma bombs again. He also continued to fire the cannon turret into the Ha'tak. The larger ship shook like a wounded beast and went dark. As the Ha'tak went dark it started listing heavily and drifting closer to the sun. Both of the other Al'kesh had finished their turns and each fired more cannon shots into the dying Ha'tak. As the last few bolts of energy struck the unshielded Ha'tak, it exploded in a great fireball leaving nothing but debris in its place. "Form up and let's see if we can take out another one. I took a hit on the last one so I'm not sure I can pull off the same maneuver. I will break right this time and follow around in your wake Boomer."

The second run went off like clockwork and a second Ha'tak exploded in a fireball. The problems with the second run didn't appear until the third Ha'tak turned and fled into Hyperspace. Gliders and the Al'kesh from the two ships attacking the planet began to make their return from the planet. Bilgames looked up at the approaching ships. "I was afraid of this but we were only trying to give the Tok'ra on the ground some relief, prepare to defend yourselves. Stay close to each other and provide covering fire for one another. Target the Al'kesh first. Team up and pick your targets. Coordinate your fire so you overload their shields by doubling your firepower. I'll try to hold off the Gliders. Maybe we can still pull this off." With those orders given, the other two Al'kesh peeled away and opened fire on the enemy Al'kesh. Two ships firing as one, made short work of a single ship.

Meanwhile, Hammer charged into the swarm of Gliders with his cannon blazing. Several Gliders took direct hits and exploded, while the rest staggered and scattered in all directions to avoid the deadly cannon fire. Within minutes all but two of the returning Al'kesh were destroyed. The remaining two, seeing they were out matched by a strategy they had never encountered from the Tok'ra, jumped into hyperspace and fled.

Once the Al'kesh were all gone, the two Tok'ra flown Al'kesh returned to help Hammer finish off the last of the Gliders. The remaining Gliders were doing everything they could to escape. They had completely given up trying to attack as they were totally overwhelmed by the tactics of an Al'kesh charging into a swarm of Gliders. Normally the Al'kesh would try to run from them while firing behind it to shake the chasing Gliders. Never had an Al'kesh CHASED them. With the three Al'kesh in pursuit, the few remaining Gliders were caught and destroyed easily. Although a few did manage to land close to the Stargate where the Jaffa flying them were captured or killed by the Tok'ra on the ground.

Hammer eased the damaged Al'kesh into a landing near the gate as well and went to check on his prisoners. The other two Al'kesh landed in formation with him. The captured Jaffa on Hammer's vessel were all dead. They had been killed by the decompression of the cargo hold when the Ha'tak cannon fire breached the hull. The other two groups of prisoners were escorted at gun point to the gate. One of the Tok'ra pilots asked Hammer what they should do with the captive Jaffa. "Well, if it were my call, I would say strip them of their armor and let them carry their dead and wounded home. An entire Ha'tak and two Al'kesh have already escaped with knowledge of our coordinates."

A voice behind them caused all to turn. Garshaw had emerged from the Tok'ra tunnels when the last of the Jaffa were captured or killed. "That is surprising to hear you say Bilgames. Normally you would have said to execute all that lived?"Hammer smiled toward her. "I have come to realize there are more ways than one to deal with an enemy. This new host and over four thousand years of imprisonment, have given me a different perspective on life and how things are."

Garshaw nodded to one of the Tok'ra guarding the Jaffa. He did as Bilgames suggested and stripped them all of their armor and allowed them to carry their dead and wounded through the gate. Before the final Jaffa was through the gate Bilgames looked toward Garshaw. "I would be standing by the dialing device and dial the evacuation site the instant the gate closes on this end, just as a precaution."Again, Garshaw nodded that Bilgames advise should be followed. "You must tell us where you have been these last few millennia."

Hammer let out a long sigh. "To make a long story short, I lost the battle with Ba'al, was captured, and imprisoned in a stasis jar on the Tau'ri planet. I know you warned me a direct confrontation was ill advised and to continue to work from the shadows. I still feel forcing Ba'al into a battle was the right thing to do. The rest will hold for another time. We need to finish the evacuation and then you must fill me in on what has transpired during my absence."

With the three Al'kesh and the cargo ship to assist, the planet was completely empty in less than an hour. Bilgames loaded the gliders the Jaffa had left on the planet into the cargo bay of the Al'kesh after winning an argument with Garshaw over them. Garshaw had at first ordered them destroyed but Bilgames argued that they were more valuable left intact and taken with them.

There were seven gliders still intact but the Al'kesh could only hold two maximum after the wings were folded. So Bilgames left a nasty surprise by rigging the last with a time delay naquadah bomb deep inside the glider so it would not be found until it went off. After losing two Ha'tak and several Al'kesh, Bilgames knew the System Lords would return in force to wipe out the Tok'ra. He also rigged another bomb but placed it in the pilot's seat. This one he purposely rigged with a faulty timer so it would not detonate but would look like the Tok'ra had tried to destroy it and failed.

Garshaw just shook her head in amazement at Bilgames. "You really are devious. I might have thought to hide a bomb as you did the first one, but to openly plant a second one?"Bilgames smiled at her.

"As I said, this new host has given me a different outlook on everything. He was a Soldier of the Tau'ri for nearly 30 years so his insight into tactics and knowledge of warfare have given me some very inspirational ideas shall we say? For instance, the System Lords know we would normally destroy anything we deemed not useful to our cause. Now that we have taken six Death Gliders and left a bomb in the seat of the seventh, they will be confused. They will be asking themselves why we would take the gliders since they are not capable of cloaking or interstellar travel. Are we going to use them to defend our next home or was it for something else? They will be second guessing what they know of our tactics and trying to decide how to deal with us in the future. A good secondary result will be if they take the last glider on board one of the command Ha'taks with at least Cronus or maybe more of the System Lords aboard. The bomb will detonate in less than 5 minutes once the wings are folded for storage. It is attached to the reactor and the secondary explosion of the reactor itself will be enough to take out the Ha'tak's reactor and anything unshielded within 500 to 1000 kilometers."

Bilgames looked over to Garshaw who was sitting in the co-pilot's chair next to him on the Al'kesh. She had a troubled look on her face and seemed as if she were a million miles away. Bilgames paused and thought for a minute. "You have operatives in Cronus' forces don't you old friend? I am sorry and I will grieve for them if they are caught in the blast. But they knew what they were signing up for when they accepted the mission. I'm also sorry you do not approve of my methods of direct confrontation with the Goa'uld, I still believe the only way to ever truly defeat them is direct conflict."

Garshaw remained quiet for a bit longer and Bilgames could see she was trying to figure out how to word her reply. "You are going to go against our policies and defy the counsel again Bilgames. Why will you not see that our methods are better?"Bilgames/Hammer sighed deeply. "Garshaw, the Tok'ra have been fighting a war of attrition for centuries against the Goa'uld. It has shown little results other than hundreds of Tok'ra being slaughtered and the Goa'uld growing even stronger. The Goa'uld have queens that can replenish their numbers while we have lost Egeria and our numbers shrink with each passing year." Garshaw looked at her old adversary in total shock. Bilgames couldn't help but laugh.

"Relax old friend, you know I always question everything. I talked to one of the pilots at length while we were dealing with the captured Jaffa and sending them through the gate. He filled me in on most of the major events for the last several thousand years. I think I know who might have killed Ra also."Again Garshaw could only stare at him in utter shock.

"The Tau'ri have a Stargate in one of their most secret and secure military facilities. I don't think it's active and I am not sure why. When I scanned the complex from orbit, there were only six life signs in close proximity to the Gate. I learned from my new hosts mind that something that important would have many more people in the complex if it were active. Once we have finished assisting you with your evacuation, I plan on taking one of the Al'kesh back to Earth to find out why it is not in use. Earth is the name of the Tau'ri homeworld. The Tau'ri have made remarkable progress in the last few thousand years. There are nearly seven billion of them crammed on that one little planet. They have limited space flight, small unmanned probes, satellites, orbital shuttles, things of that nature. They have discovered nuclear fission, internal combustion engines, limited power lasers, and I believe from the description of the destruction of Ra's ship, it may have been one of the Tau'ri nuclear devices that did it. Again, another reason I must return to learn for sure. The men that came with me from the Tau'ri are Soldiers of the nation state that has the Stargate. My new host also has the highest concentration of Ancient DNA I have ever heard of and not BE an Ancient."

Garshaw again could only stare in amazement at Bilgames as he continued. "I have been trying to access some of the subconscious memories embedded in the DNA of my host but so far I have only succeeded in vague images and distant memories that make no sense. Hopefully I will at least be able to locate a gate address or two where I can begin my search."

They flew on through hyperspace in contemplative silence for the rest of the journey. They had abandoned the next base they had gone too after the attack and moved to a more distant and isolated world.

While Hammer and his passengers were still in hyperspace several Goa'uld Ha'taks emerged from hyperspace above the abandoned Tok'ra base and immediately opened fire on the previous coordinates of the now erased Tok'ra tunnel system. As Bilgames had hoped, Cronus was on board the lead Ha'tak. The First Prime of Cronus turned toward his God. "As the released Jaffa stated, I am picking up a single Death Glider near the Chappa'ai even though we were told there were seven." Cronus spun in rage to a Jaffa standing to his right. "First you defy your God by allowing the pitiful Tok'ra to capture you then you lie about it? You deserve the death of a Shol'va!"

With that Cronus plunged his hand into the symbiont pouch of his victim, grabbed the symbiont that resided within, and crushed it. The Jaffa screamed in pain and fell to the floor to writhe in agony for several minutes before the mingled blood of the symbiont and his own killed him. Cronus watched in pleasure as the Shol'va died in a very painful manner. He then turned to his First Prime. "Golnak, send a Jaffa down to retrieve the remaining Glider. We will not leave such things to waste. The Tok'ra think 6 tiny Death Gliders can oppose my flagship? They are sadly mistaken."Golnak bowed his head and crossed his right arm across his chest, his fist touching his left shoulder. "Yes My Lord, I will retrieve it personally."

Ten minutes later Golnak sent a message that the Tok'ra had tried to destroy the glider by placing a bomb in the pilot's seat but the timer had malfunctioned and had not gone off. He removed and discarded the bomb before flying the Death Glider back to his God's ship. He was just returning to the Pel'tak (bridge) when the hidden bomb on the Glider's reactor detonated. The resulting blast destroyed the flagship, killing Cronus and everything within 100 kilometers. Two Ha'taks out of the five that had joined Cronus in the counterattack escaped the destruction because the planet was between them and the blast.

After landing the Al'kesh and completing repairs on it, Bilgames stripped the cloaking generator from the cargo ship and managed to retrofit it into the Al'kesh. As Bilgames and the three Special Forces operators were preparing to return to Earth, Garshaw approached them. "Bilgames, may I speak with you in private please?"Bilgames looked toward MSG Ascott, smiled, and rose to join the Tok'ra council leader outside. Frank Ascott had been in the Special Forces for many years and had learned to rely on his instincts. And his instincts were telling him he needed to follow Hammer to the hatch and eavesdrop on the conversation. And again his instincts served him well. For the instant Hammer stepped through the hatch, several armed Tok'ra confronted him with weapons leveled.

Bilgames face instantly went from passive to a flush red of rage."So, it's come to this has it? We have lowered ourselves to the level of the Goa'uld by pointing weapons at our own?"Garshaw looked at him in utter defiance. "I am sorry it has to be this way, but we cannot allow you to leave with the knowledge of our base or with an Al'kesh. It is simply not an option."The Infantry Sergeant in Hammer came to the surface. "You mean you can't allow me to leave because it doesn't fit into the petty plans of the Tok'ra Council."

Bilgames just sighed in disgust and dove back into the hatch of the Al'kesh. At the same time MSG Ascott threw one of the stun grenades out of the hatch and slammed his fist onto the panel to close the door. Before he had left the Pel'tak of the Al'kesh, he had told Q that if he signaled, to be ready to raise the shields as fast as he could. He had watched Hammer intently as he worked the controls of the ship during the battle earlier. So the instant the stun grenade cleared the door and before the hatch slammed shut, the shields powered up to protect the ship from the staff blasts that the Tok'ra, not knocked out by the stun grenade, began firing at it. Hammer rolled through the airlock and looked toward MSG Ascott in genuine surprise. "How did you know that was going to happen?"

Frank just chuckled as they headed to the Pel'tak. "You don't survive as an Operator through as many missions as I've had without learning to listen to your gut." Jake Hammer settled himself in the pilots chair and lifted the Al'kesh from the planet. "Let's get out of here before they can get the other Al'kesh fired up to chase us. They will be a bit taken off guard that we didn't just meekly give in to their demands." Once they were clear of the atmosphere, Hammer opened a hyperspace window and jumped to hyperspace.

Once they were safely on course for Earth, Jacob Hammer started fuming over what had just happened. "I can't believe they just shot at us. Something like this has never happened among the Tok'ra. Something must have really changed over the last several thousand years." Just then the comsystem started beeping. Jake almost ignored it because he suspected it would be Garshaw trying to convince him to come back. Finally he gave in and answered the hail. To his surprise it wasn't Garshaw at all but one of the younger members of the Tok'ra Council he remembered as Martouf host to Lantash.

"I want to apologize for Garshaw and the rest of the Council. You have to understand that we are getting desperate because as you pointed out; our numbers are not growing as the Goa'uld. What triggered the sudden change in attitude was receiving word that your trap worked and Cronus was killed along with three of his Ha'taks. That makes two System Lords killed in as many years by someone other than another System Lord. It has thrown the remaining System Lords into chaos causing them to step up attempts to solidify their positions by wiping out as many of their opposition as possible. So the fact that you have returned, changed, and you have new ideas, has them on the defensive. They have not changed their way of thinking since we began our rebellion many thousands of years ago. I understand your need to find out what has happened and that you do not like to operate under the constraints of the Council though and wish you luck. Just know that some on the Council are of a like mind with you."

With that he closed the channel allowing silence to fall over the small bridge of the Al'kesh. Hammer sat quietly thinking about his next move. He had a better ship than when he left Earth and he had a good idea of what was going on with the System Lords now. He was still puzzled over the attempt by Garshaw to force him to stay against his will. MSG Ascott broke his train of thought with the same question he was thinking to himself. "So Boss, what's our next move?" The question struck Jake as extremely funny considering Frank out ranked him and that less than a week ago the whole team had been ready to shoot him.

After he settled down so he could breathe again, he responded. "Sorry, that just struck me as funny after you and your teams original reaction to the fact I am sharing this body with an alien symbiont, plus the fact that you out rank me. Well, first off, I thought I'd return to Earth and see if I could get access to someone that might know something about the operation under Cheyenne Mountain. I would also like to go to Abydos and see if I can find out exactly what happened to Ra."