Title: Emerald Ignition (2/7)
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link.
Rating: Just a little bad language.
Spoilers: Anything and everything.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to other people. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: All the cards are on the table. It's time to change the future. Part two of Emerald Flame.
Author's Note: Nothing to say here, really. Hope you enjoy.
Jack eyed Green Lantern suspiciously. Something about the way the boy -- and he was a boy; the mask couldn't hide that -- moved and the occasional distant look in his eyes set off all sorts of alarm bells in Jack's head. He just wasn't sure what or why.
"What's with the green glow?"
"The symbiote might make a break for it while we're talking," Xander answered. "The shield will protect me if it does."
"Oh," Jack nodded. That made sense. It didn't mean he trusted the kid, though, even if he had saved his life a while back.
Carter -- or was it Jolinar? -- had been relocated from the standard holding cell to one of the VIP suites that had been set up for visiting dignitaries as well as in anticipation of off-world diplomacy. It wasn't ideal, but the VIP suites were the most secure rooms next to the holding cells... and they didn't rely on bars.
Xander swept in with confidence, the faint green glow outlining his body, radiating from him like a halo. Jack was a step behind him but stayed at the door as Xander crossed the room to where Carter had retreated to at the stern command of the two armed Royal Marines guarding the makeshift cell. Satisfied, the marines withdrew their weapons, allowing Jack to close the door behind them.
The Green Lantern looked at Carter coolly, subtlely scanning her with the power ring. The results matched with everything he had been told so far. Unfortunately, it gave no insight as to whether Jolinar was telling the truth or not.
So, E, how do you think we should handle this? Xander asked.
You should not have so much faith in me, Alexander.
Why not? he shot back. You're the oldest of us, E. You and me and Faith. We're all that's left. And this Jolinar is...
She is not one of mine! she snapped. After a moment, she added solemnly, And as for why... because I failed. I am the last of the old order, Alexander, as you are the first of the new. My order died millenia ago, and I was unable to stop it. If yours follows the same path, it will suffer the same fate.
That's not helpful.
You still seek my advice? Very well, then; here it is: Trust yourself, Alexander.
He considered that.
"So," he said, causing Jolinar to jerk in surprise at the sudden break in silence. "Jolinar of Malkshur."
Jolinar nodded warily, "That is my name." Jolinar recognized the young man from Carter's memories. More than that, she easily matched it to the legends she had heard, legends that were centuries old even before she was birthed. She was uncertain what would bring his attention, so she prepared herself for anything.
"I've accessed our records. Egeria made no mention of you."
Anything except that.
Subtlety, thy name is Alexander.
Well, what else do you expect me to do with Colonel Suspicious watching us from the corner, E?
"Ah, question," Jack called from the door, raising his hand.
"Yes?" Xander asked, his voice filled with strained patience as he glanced at the colonel.
"Who's Egeria?"
It was Jolinar who answered, "Mother of the Tok'ra movement and an inspiration to those of us who followed. Most Tok'ra are her children, but I was underlord to Cronus when I rebelled."
"Bet that ruined your shot at Employee of the Month," Jack muttered. Xander and Jolinar ignored him.
Xander's gaze swept back to Jolinar, "You know what I need to verify this, Jolinar: Contact with the Tok'ra, or at least one Egeria would trust."
"How do you know Egeria?"
"That's complicated."
"Most things are with our kind," Jolinar said, hoping to provoke a response by implying a similarity between her and him, despite the fact that she could sense no naquadah in him.
"Yes," Xander agreed, "they are."
"You have not answered my question."
"At this point, I don't have any reason to. You're the prisoner here, not me, and I don't trust you. More to the point, you're in no position to negotiate anything. Tell me how to contact someone Egeria knew who can verify who and what you are."
"Or?" she asked.
"You don't want to know 'or,'" the colonel said from where he stood by the door. It bothered him that he seemed to be missing half the conversation.
"Shut up, Colonel."
As Jolinar considered his point, her -- or rather, Carter's -- eyes flicked over to where Jack stood by the door. Xander nodded in understanding and said, "Colonel, would you please step outside for a moment?"
"Sorry, not happening."
"Sir, please," Carter turned to look at her superior officer, "I'm asking this to expedite things."
"And I'm telling you it's not going to happen, Captain."
"Not to put too fine of a point on it, Colonel, but I can make you leave," Xander pointed out, never taking his eyes off of the woman. "And not necessarily through the door," he added after a moment.
"The Royal Marines outside might take issue with that."
"I honestly don't care, Colonel. What I'm asking from Jolinar, if she's telling the truth, would endanger the lives of all the Tok'ra if it fell into the wrong hands."
"And you think I'm the wrong hands?" Jack scowled, feeling a little insulted. "Just whose side are you on?"
"I'm on the side of Earth and at war with the System Lords," Xander replied evenly. "Whether that actually puts me on the same side as the UNSC has yet to be determined. I don't much care for secret military organizations, Colonel; they tend to stink of rat. The only reason Jolinar and I aren't having this conversation elsewhere already is because I don't have adequate facilities to contain her if she's lying. So, you are leaving the room. Voluntarily or otherwise."
"All right," Jack ground out between his teeth. "Fine." He knocked a pattern on the door and stepped out after the marines unlocked it. They were recording everything on the security cameras and newly-placed bugs anyway.
He frowned as he saw someone approaching down the hall. "Hey," he called, stepping forward and placing a hand on the intruder's chest, "this area's under lockdown."
The man's hand came up and took hold of Jack's wrist. The Ashrak's eyes glowed as electricity coursed into Jack's body from the hara kesh concealed in the Ashrak's hand, paralyzing the surprised colonel. The two Royal Marines responded immediately, opening fire. The Ashrak raised his hand, generated a defensive shield with his hara kash, deflecting the incoming rounds, even as he reached down with his free hand, pulling the colonel's service pistol free from its holster as Jack slumped down.
After using Jack's pistol to shoot the two marines, the Ashrak opened the door, only to see something green flash before darkness claimed him.
"God damn assassins," Xander grumbled.
"Unscheduled activation!" Ianto announced over the PA system a little disbelievingly as he stared. "Unscheduled activation!"
The activation was clearly not an off-world activation, as Green Lantern was standing right in front of the stargate, an unconscious figure slung over his shoulder. Energy poured from his power ring into the stargate, dialing it manually, leaving the dialing computer powerless.
The wormhole was established, and SG-1 and the Brig arrived just in time to see Green Lantern disappear through the event horizon before the stargate disengaged at the sudden loss of power, as the UNSC's systems weren't routing any power to it.
The Brig stared into the embarkation room for a long moment before turning and glaring at Jack, "Briefing room. Five minutes."
"When exactly did leaving the room seem like a good idea to you, Colonel?" the Brig asked, his voice deceptively mild.
"When it came down to either leaving voluntarily or possibly ending up in the infirmary, sir," Jack answered honestly. While the camrea footage was fine, the multiple listening devices they had placed in the room were worthless. Right around the time they saw Green Lantern using his power ring to generate another force field, one that surrounded both of them, the audio feeds cut out.
Presumably, that was the purpose of the second force field.
"What was the situation in the room?"
"Tense, sir, and it would have probably continued to go south if I hadn't left. Green Lantern doesn't trust us. Well, more accurately, he doesn't trust secret military organizations as a general rule. Sir, he was requesting Jolinar provide information on someone vetted by someone named 'Egeria' to verify her status as a Tok'ra."
"Roman goddess of fountains," Daniel interjected.
Jack turned, "Fountains?"
"Also childbirth."
"How do those two go together?" Jack asked, a mixture of confusion and morbid curiosity on his face.
"It doesn't matter," Daniel shook his head. "She was also adviser to Numa Pompilius, a legendary ruler."
"So their talk about her being the mother of all Tok'ra could be legit?"
"I'd say that's a reasonable conclusion," Daniel nodded.
"Great," Jack said. "So how does Green Lantern know her?"
"If you hadn't given up, we might know that," the Brig growled.
"Sir, this goes back to the choice me leaving willingly and you filling out the Joint Forces Casualty Incident reports. And me being benched for at least a month. Let us please not revisit the possibility of me being under the long-term care of Napoleon Fraiser."
"I'll remember that crack the next time you're in the infirmary, Colonel," came a voice from the entry way. Jack paled and turned.
The Brig nodded a greeting to the UNSC's Chief Medical Officer and asked, "How are my marines, Doctor?"
"We lost McCoy," she said. "Givens took a round to his left lung, but he's stable now."
"I see," the Brig nodded. "Thank you, Doctor. Dismissed."
Janet gave Jack a smirk as she left the room. It wasn't friendly or innocent in the least. Sharks came to mind. Jack was worried, really worried. She wasn't also called the Queen of Needles for nothing.
Author's Postscript:
There you go. My first update for the new year.