A few minutes earlier...
The battle continued, but was winding down. Several of Curack's men had laid down their weapons, while many fell.
Curack saw the momentum of the battle wane and he raced into the house where Bratac had hid Teal'c's family. There, Curack ran into Bratac.
He was stunned by Bratac's approach and accidentally pulled the trigger on his staff weapon. The blast went above Bratac's head and hit a wall, which threw debris down. Most of the debris went outward from the blast, but a couple of pieces fell inward, and one hit Bratac with enough force to knock him down on his belly.
Even Curack was stunned by the blast. It took him a moment to recover. When he did, he slowly and deliberately turned his weapon toward Bratac.
Once again, Bratac was forced to look up the barrel of Curack's staff into his would-be executioner. Once again Bratac saw the strange red light on Curack's forehead.
Bratac knew the feeling all too well. Everything was in slow motion. Curack's movement's, his own breath, the floating dust particles. All of it seemed suspended in time. Bratac typically experienced this in battle. It was what gave him the edge. He almost saw things before they happened.
But time jerked forward when Curack's head jerked back. Even faster than Bratac's comprehension, Curack fell to the floor, and did not move.
"Stay down, we do not know what she will do!" shouted Bratac to anyone who would listen. He had thought she would not try to kill him, but the blast earlier seemed to prove him wrong.
"Who will do what?" asked Drey'auc.
"There is a woman in the distance. She is like a caged animal-caged in her mind, and very dangerous," then he pointed at Curack, "as you can see." He knew she was most dangerous to herself. He looked at his leg and saw the blood from the fallen walls. He would heal, but it would take some time.
"Master, what should we do?" It was Sa'tol.
"Stay down for a moment, and still."
But someone did not listen to Bratac. Shora came into the house only to see her husband on the ground. She knelt beside him.
Bratac was relieved that she made it safely-and she was followed by someone he did not expect, Cural. Cural was one of Curack's youngest sons and Bratac had thought it likely he was killed in the attack by the aliens. He looked over his father's body, and at his step-mother caressing his face and hair.
Shora spoke next as she looked at Bratac who was now sitting upright with his back against a wall for cover, "I hate him, and yet I love him. He could be so cruel, and also so kind." She looked back down. She had not yet noticed Cural, who stood their looking at the woman he had plotted to murder. She was younger than he was. He felt nothing but sorrow. He knew how his father had treated her. Curack had completely disregared Cural's mother, except to provide for her sustenance, but could be cruel to Shora.
"Carefully, Cural, assist me. We must secure this location from the soldier." Bratac and Cural stepped quietly outside the house. Bratac judged the angle of the shot that had killed Curack and carefully tracked followed the line. They did not find the woman and-after a few minutes-returned to the others.
Cural looked at Bratac with questioning eyes, "Speak Cural, what would you say?"
"Bratac," Bratac noted he did not use the term 'Master' that his students would use, but nonetheless spoke his name respectfully, "I am perplexed. This enemy that has come, they destroyed many of my friends and people, and now this man has killed my own father. And yet, after speaking with Sa'Tol, I wish for his safety."
"So you found Sa'Tol and Kwan?"
"Yes, I was on my way to report to Klorel on the damage to the fortress. I pressed Sa'Tol who only revealed a little to me-and without Kwan's knowledge. I found it strange that Sa'Tol trusted me more than one of your own men. I deduced much on my own."
"Kwan is not one of my men by training, but by accident. I do not trust him either."
"He's right, Master, said Shora, now approaching with Drey'auc and Rya'c. My father once told me you were too wise to tell him anything about your beliefs. He did not trust himself, but he told me that one day, you would unite the Jaffa, and destroy the Goa'uld. I believe that begins today."
Bratac's men came out of hiding and came toward him, they no longer even cared about the danger in the woods somewhere beyond their sight.
"I am deeply grieved by the price," Bratac said softly.
Sa'Tol had come to the conversation late, and was not aware of Bratac's belief about the alien, "I am confused master, are you now saying that a 'she', and not a 'he' is the soldier we are hunting."
"That is true. I was short-sighted and just assumed that she was a small man, agile yet powerful and skilled. Yes, she is a cunning and skillful warrior, but we must capture her. I believe she may try to hurt herself."
"And I must bury my dead," said Shora.
"We will all bury the dead here, and then you and Cural, along with Bora can bury your husband with the honor he deserves. We will bury Chal with Hon'Teck."
"What is to become of me and my son?" asked Drey'auc, now understanding her plight as the wife of a Shova, and now in league with them regardless of her desire.
"I will see to your safety as I am able," said Shora.
"As will I," confirmed Cural.
"That may be your right Cural, for the Shova is responsible for the death of your esteemed father," added Bratac.
Bratac now knew he could no longer continue his pursuit. He would have to report to Klorel. But report what?
They resolved to bury the dead, and then leave tomorrow to their respective posts, leaving their prey to roam the forests un-harassed. Rya'c found a shovel, while others went to nearby houses.
After they all returned and started digging, a small dark-complected woman wearing all green carrying a small spade began to dig. Rya'c was the first to notice her. "Mommy, who is that?"
"Bratac!" she said in a hurried and frightened tone.
They all stared at her. She did not look up, but kept her head down. She dug with her spade, and only dug. From a distance she appeared remarkably similar to Drey'auc, except this new visitor's skin was darker. She was much smaller than even Bratac had realized. She continued digging and did not look up.
Kwan approached Bratac, "Who is that?"
"That," answered Bratac, "is our quarry."
No one dared approach her. She dug quickly, her spade helping her to do the work of a more powerfully built person.
Finally Bratac took the shovel Rya'c had found, approached the woman, and without saying anything began to dig near her.
Cural and Shora walked away from the scene. They could not stand to see Curack's killer, even if they did not wish her ill.
Sa'Tol directed several of the others to guard the approach to Teal'c's house.
Kwan, however stared at the woman. He began to yell. "Woman, how dare you oppose the gods!" She did not respond to him, but kept her head down digging quietly.
He kept shouting at her, then quite abruptly raised his staff weapon, charged it, and fired it into her shoulder. Before he could do or say anything else, Sa'Tol fired his weapon into Kwan's armor, and there he died.
The alien woman, however, survived the blast. Bratac rushed to her side. She tried to speak. He did not understand what she said at first. Then she pointed at him and said, "Hope, Jaffa". He did not know the first word, it was foreign to him. Somehow that surprised him.
Shora, Cural, and the other Jaffa came running. Bratac grimaced at the death of one more person. Kwan now had met his fate. This woman, if Bratac could save her, must live.
"I will give her my symbiote as Primta," he said, knowing the consequences of his actions.
"No, master," said several of the Jaffa.
Kral reminded him of the words of Chal, "Master, you must not do this. Let us draw sticks between us, but you must lead the rest of us, and report to Klorel."
"You are young, one day you will understand."
Then with the two-toned voice that frightened the entire party, a Goa'uld spoke, "And you too, Master Bratac, are young in my eyes." They were discovered. But the Goa'uld, whom they recognized as the goddess Coranette continued, "Your men are right Master Bratac. You must live on, and so must you all."
Bratac's men were too frightened and confused to fire. Bratac eyed the older looking Goa'uld woman. She was known as eccentric even among the gods. Several times she had passed over a younger body at the Choosings. Bratac saw the god and did not want to hurt anyone else, but how could he not. She swiftly, but gently walked to the injured woman.
The Goa'uld stooped down to the injured woman, as if assessing. "I think it now my place to save her life."
"Without a sarcophagus," puzzled aloud Bora.
"I am not Coranette, at least that is not my given name. I am Arinor." Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head, and spoke again, but this time in a plain one-tone voice, "And I am Ti'appany of the world Centus, and we are Tokra."
Staff weapons raised and mouths guffawed. Tokra were the enemy. The Jaffa dreaded the word, but Bratac was not sure what all this meant.
"I am old, as you can see. Goa'uld like their hosts to stay young. It is time for me to lay down this life for the good of the cause. This woman is the hope for all of us."
Bratac's caution arose, "How do we verify this? It seems to me that the wise thing to do is to kill you, and use my symbiote to save her life."
"Her wounds are too severe. Your symbiote is too immature, and will die in the process. I will tell you what I know, but we must hurry.
"The Goa'uld are too proud, and Klorel too frightened to venture to believe that you would betray him. You have his confidence, but others vie for it as well. You must now go to him or another will become his First Prime."
"I can live with this," responded Bratac.
"But can you live with this," the human with the mature Goa'uld continued, "These are the Tauri. Apophis told Klorel that he had dialed the forbidden address, and had succeeded in gaining access to their world, but added that the Tauri had advanced, and would have to be dealt with. The Jaffa are not alone in their plight. We Tokra need the Tauri as well, and now they need us.
"His last visit was to Abydos, where the Tauri had given weapons to the natives. Tauri were there as well and challenged the Apophis again. Both times Apophis was victorious, but both times the Tauri were caught off guard and still nearly destroyed Apophis. Teal'c and Hon'Teck were on both missions. We now know the destruction they are capable of.
"Apophis could make no plans before they destroyed him except to order the upgrades of two Hateks. Their weapons, shields, and hyper-drives are being improved as we speak. You must stop this threat. It will take months for the work to be completed, and for Klorel to man the Hateks. Klorel will try to follow through on his father's designs for the Tauri homeworld," finished Ti'appany.
"Much of this is known to me. How did you know about all this, my actions I mean?"
"Master, Bratac. I have thoroughly investigated your affairs, much as these have," pointing to Shora. "Your secret is safe from the Goa'uld. Their pride blinds them, but not for long. You must return to Klorel. He would choose you as first prime, but while you are away you may lose it. Curack wanted it most of all."
"I stand convinced, you must save her life," Bratac responded cautiously, knowing the risk he was taking.
"One thing remains," said Ti'appany as she stooped down. "Tauri, you are going to die, there is only one way for you to live. The price is high, will you pay it?"
By now the human was too far gone to choose for herself. Bratac spoke in her place. He felt he knew her, but more than that, he needed her. "Do it."
Several days earlier…
She got in the suv with Dr. Jackson and was still flush from what she had just learned.
"Are you okay?" the young man asked.
She knew she had little time to wrap her head around the situation, so she gave it up-for the moment. "You are a linguist, and you speak the language of the place we are going?"
"Actually, I can't answer that question. I don't know where we are going, or what language they speak."
"Tell me what you do know then."
"I can speak the language of Ra, but that's all I can be sure of. And he's dead."
"All right, you write out in Ra's language what I tell you to write." He took a paper and pen and began to write her first phrase. She stopped him when he began writing in the ancient script, "I need you to use the Latin script, not Ra's, and write it phonetically. You have to help me learn to pronounce it."
"Do you plan to use it?"
"I may have to, and I want to be ready."
"How will you get the accent?"
"Teach me, then let me worry about the rest. Now write!"
They passed the Cheyenne Mountain security checkpoint with ease and drove onto the grounds and approached a tent. Daniel helped her carry her gear. He had never seen one person, let alone a woman, with so much gear, so many weapons, and so much ammunition. She had food, nets, radio and camera equipment, and climbing gear. She was given an ID device for the gate and before he could ask her any questions, Hammond gave the order, the airman dialed the gate.
Daniel was given a pack. He had no idea what was in the pack. She did not even stop to appraise the swirl of water.
He had barely gotten the pack on when she said, "Let's go." And they went.
The sunlight was warm in the cool air. The pool behind her and her companion swirled shut. She moved quickly to the top of the ridge followed closely by the linguist.
"So what do we do now?" asked Dr. Jackson.
She laid on the ground and propped herself on her elbows and eyed the area through a set of binoculars. After a moment she responded, "We'll scout out about a mile from the gate. The follow on group will be here in a couple of hours. Let's get going."
The linguist found it difficult to keep up with the soldier, she moved briskly and stealthily. He felt like he was plodding through the forest, while she was graceful with every step. He said little. She said less.
She would stop every few yards and make notes, which he could barely see. Then they would move on and she would repeat the process. Finally she stopped and said, "There, see that tree?"
Daniel was confused, "All I see is trees."
She explained, "The tall one. Once we've finished our tour, we'll come back to that tree. "
Daniel could not make it out, but she seemed sure of herself. They finished their tour around the gate and returned to the tree from a different angle. Jackson was lost by now and figured that if he lost her, he would be lost forever.
They stopped at the base of the appointed tree-he hoped. Shooter took a rope and climbed the tree. Then she let down the rope. Daniel tied her equipment and she pulled it up.
"You have the paper?" she asked.
"Ah, yeah," he said.
"You give that to Hawk, and no one else, do you understand?"
He wondered why 'Hawk', and how she knew he would be there. And who was Hawk, anyway?
"One more thing Jackson," she added.
"Yeah,"
"If anyone asks, you were here alone."
What in the world? thought Daniel. How am I going to explain this to Jack and Kowalski?
He did not even know how to find the gate. "Um, I hate to be a bother, but could you point me in the right direction to the gate?"
"It's that way. Go through the forest until you reach the thicket we saw. Then hustle around the thicket and back into the forest out of sight. Stay out of sight until the next group arrives. Remember, you were here alone."
Daniel hesitated to leave. "What are you waiting for? They will be here soon."
Daniel looked down at the ground-as if to say Awe shucks. Then he told her, "Thanks."
"Thanks for what?"
"All that you have done-or are going to do-to rescue my family."
After a moment of silence, he felt awkward and turned and walked away.
She did not answer him. She could not answer him. For the first time she realized that she was in a potentially live combat situation. For the first time in years, she would be asked to kill. She did not know if she could go through with it. She really did not know if she could help Daniel, and she felt ashamed.
Present day…
The emotion was intense-it was overwhelming. She could feel herself being carried into the building. She was laid on the ground. There was a horrible stench. She could feel a woman take her clothes off, and wash her carefully and gently.
"Rya'c , take this away!" said one. It was a strange sensation. They were the first words she had heard and understood in days, but they were neither in English, Arab, or Spanish, among some of the other languages with which she was more remotely familiar.
She now understood that there were two women caring for her. She felt the women gently wrap her, the blanket gave her warmth.
Her body felt clean and refreshed, but her mind had never been more confused. She now had memory upon memory of life upon life. It's as if she had lived generations of lives, only to watch herself die-over and over and over again. She could not make sense of the memories.
She felt crowded. She was not alone. She felt no sense of privacy. She could say nothing, but her mind screamed Leave me alone! She wrapped her arms around her knees and held them close to her chest and sobbed inaudibly.
She hoped the women had not heard her thoughts. Their presence comforted her and she hoped they would stay, even though she did not know them-but she knew who they were.
One was the wife of the man the Tauri woman had shot. Who was this Tauri woman? Ah! Yes, Shooter. The other was the wife of Teal'c, and the boy was his son. She did not know either of their names-except Rya'c-but she knew they had all experienced great losses.
She heard footsteps then, "We've bathed her. We have no clothing for her."
"Yes we do," it was him, Bratac. "Get her a priests cloak."
"What will we do with her then?" asked one of the women.
"Shora, will you care for her?"
"Yes," a male voice seemed to interrupt. "We can."
They carried her outside and laid her near some of the other injured, or perhaps they were dead.
For the first time she opened her eyes, but not her. She saw a face she had never seen before, and felt a fondness like that she felt for her nieces.
Then she heard a voice. It was similar to the strange voice she had heard earlier, but it was her mouth moving. She did not know the language-but she did. "Please, do you have a place of honor to bury Ti'Appany?" She had not said it, but she had. She felt fondness at the name of the woman. She looked over and saw the woman lying near her, peacefully.
"Yes, Arinor, we do. We have buried a Jaffa who died in the cause not far from here, and we will also bury Chal there."
"I do not wish her buried with just anyone. These other Jaffa were collaborators, especially the one who shot the Tauri woman, and I do not want her numbered among them."
"She will not be," Bratac assured.
They waited for some time until more Jaffa arrived.
Once again Bratac came over to her, and her mouth moved, but it was not her who spoke. "Her name is Jamie, Jamie Craig. On missions such as these, the unit she belongs to uses pseudonyms. Hers is 'Shooter'."
"Can you tell me about the Tauri?" Shooter had known this man as Hope. Now hope seemed alive within her, if only a little.
"I cannot say much," said the two toned voice. "She has such pain that it is overwhelming for me. She has fought in one of their world's wars and on more than one occasion had dreadful experiences. But she is a decent person, wanting to do good. She hoped that by joining her nation's army she could better her life and make a difference."
"Perhaps she will," said Bratac, "for more than just her own world."
"They are a divided world in many ways, just as she is divided in her mind."
"What do you mean? What god do they serve?"
"I cannot clarify it yet for myself. Her world has many gods. Her nation has no god, though the history is closely tied to a religion called Christianity. Jamie identifies herself as a Christian though her logic is often quite silly."
"What do you mean?"
"They are allowed no images for a god they do not see."
"Then they serve no one."
"Perhaps, but she is mad at a God whose existence she will question in open conversation. In the end, she is convinced this God is responsible for all, but cannot understand why-she refers to him in masculine pronouns, though denies it a gender. She cannot understand why he allows evil and suffering."
"She has not met our gods then."
"No, she has not. I must rest, this woman has much confusion and it wears me out. She is tired also."
Shooter fell asleep in the company of Bratac and his men. She finally awoke in a tent during the night. "Where am I?"
A woman's voice answered, "You are in the company of the house of Toren'ra. His sons have taken us in. Bratac says they use more discretion than he believed. They will take us to their home tomorrow. They are working today to clean up the mess your people left." It was Teal'c's wife, and her son was also there. She spoke with some disdain, though Shooter did not believe it to be a personal affront. They introduced themselves, Shooter introducing herself as Jamie.
Drey'auc made sure Shooter had something to drink. After a meal she even rose and stepped out of the tent, aided by Drey'auc to the latrine. Then she ate some food. She lied back down feeling stronger and knowing that in the morning they would be traveling.
The next day the clan began a journey back to the home of Toren'ra. Drey'auc wore the armor of the Jaffa while Shooter wore the hood of a priest. Shooter was becoming more and more aware of Arinor, but it appeared that Arinor was resting, having worked hard to both heal her pained body, and come to grips with the pained mind.
Shora had chosen to grieve her husband's death with her brothers and they would take Shooter to their home. Shooter was carried on a bed. Her face was covered. The sheet on her face was refreshing in the cold air.
They arrived at the house and Shooter was able to walk into the house. Toren'ra's family was not wealthy, but they were very industrious. They had built a log fence around the compound, and the compound was secluded in the picturesque hills of Chulak. Their were cornfields, and a lot of grain. They also had grazing livestock just outside the compound wall.
For the next few weeks Shora's brothers cared for Shooter, Drey'auc, and Rya'c. While they were cordial, it was still difficult to relate to them. Drey'auc was the wife of a Shova. Shooter had been one of the people who had caused the wanton destruction of the capital city. Add to that the Tokra, Arinor, who had been the hunted enemy of the Goa'uld known to Toren'ra's family, and who had in their attempts to sabotage the Goa'uld, been responsible for the deaths of many Jaffa. The people of the house did not socialize with their guests, with one exception. Shar'one was the youngest sister, and Shooter saw in her Shora's beauty. She was perhaps more silly, but Arinor attributed much of that to her youth.
The three outcasts stayed in the house of Toren'ra for several weeks when one day they received a visitor. Shora had left several days before, had finally returned with her step-son Cural, along with Bratac.
After pleasantries and a meal in honor of Bratac's coming, Shora, Cural, and Bratac met with Gorack, Shora's brother, and Shooter.
Bratac eyed Shooter, "So, Jamie, Arinor has done you well."
"Thank you, Master Bratac-for everything."
"You will thank me no longer. The time has come to begin your training."
"My what?"
"You have caused Arinor much pain. You are skilled as a soldier, but your mind is not disciplined. I have arrived here because Klorel has sent me to gather an army to man his ships that are coming to pick him up, and then attack your planet. I must be sure you are ready for this."
Shooter knew he understood her. She could not fire in the field, and then snapped on Bratac and would have shot the wife of Teal'c. Arinor may be helping her, but she needed something else.
"Also, Klorel calls for Coronette. He seeks your council."
Shooter's head was beginning to spin. She was Jamie Craig, codenamed 'Shooter'. She was now merged with the Tokra Arinor, who using the name Coronette has wormed her way into the confidence of Klorel.
Bratac continued, "Klorel expects you to fix the gate, and then return to him in your new host."
Shooter felt the strange change and then heard the two toned voice, "It is as I predicted." But then Arinor countered, "You do not have time to train her, I must go to the gate and return to Klorel."
"If you do, you will fail. Your host is not ready." They proceeded to argue over their agendas. Finally Bratac answered, "I have built in time to train Jamie. My men are now doing the recruiting in my name. I suspect that many will come, they are targeting those most loyal to Apophis and the gods. But while they recruit I will train you, Cural, son of Curack, and the house of Toren'ra. I have 40 days before the gathering near the gate."
It was Shooter's voice now that spoke, "Do you think we can pull off Arinor's plan? Can we few really rid this planet of every Goa'uld?"
Bratac was now cautious, "I will trust that part of the plan to the houses of Curack and Toren'ra."
From that day on Bratac trained his new students hard. Even Shora, Sharone, Drey'auc and Ry'ac took part in the training. Shooter's skill was such that she took part in the training with the men of Shora's family. Bratac had to coax her into the skills of the staff weapon. Once she learned the basics she far surpassed all of the class in marksmanship.
Arinor added to Shooter a physical strength that matched, and even exceeded the men. Add to that the skills she had learned on earth, she was easily the best hand to hand combatant, though she still wished she had practiced with Snakeyes. She was already the best prey during hunting exercises, and was quickly learning tracking skills from Bratac.
In casual conversations Shooter offered explanations to Bratac and her new peers, clearing some of the misconceptions concerning her people. Snakeyes was not the 'Black Death', and Scarlett was neither a witch, nor a plague-though in her mind after knowing what they had done on Chulak she could see how the Jaffa might believe that. She had briefly met Scarlett once but did not really know either of them, though she had read their bios thoroughly and began to wonder if the Jaffa weren't actually right.
There was no gate-witch. In fact, her people did not really believe in magic, but felt that anyone could learn the science of the gate technology. Bratac responded with this philosophy, "If one does not understand this science, then it will appear as magic, and we must allow it to stay that way without perpetuating this myth ourselves. The Tauri must be feared as equal to the Goa'uld."
After three weeks Sa'tol arrived and began to assist Bratac in his training regimen. Bratac, however, saw that Shooter was not progressing as he liked. Sure she was his best student, but she either acted in rage, or was too passive, which was made up for by her skill. But this was training, and someone could get killed when they went into action. Bratac knew his life depended on her.
After Sa'tol had been there a week, Bratac sent his class on a march and spoke quietly to Cural. Shooter had not seen Sa'tol all day and wondered what was going on.
Bratac pulled her aside and told her, "Sa'tol disappeared last night. I have sent the others away so that if Sa'tol makes it to Klorel, they will not be found and destroyed. You and I must find Sa'tol and capture him."
"That may not be so easy," pondered Shooter aloud.
"You are right Jamie," then Bratac hesitated. "Most likely we will have to kill him."
Shooter paused at the thought. "Can you do it?" Bratac asked.
Arinor answered, "Yes, we will."
"Then you must go on ahead to the desolate fortress. He will attempt to make it to Point Forward, but if you hurry to the fort, I will chase him toward you and there I will confront him. If he does not respond as we hope, you must kill him."
She did not fully comprehend. "But won't he be ahead of us."
"I hope not," sighed Bratac. "Sa'tol is the best of my students, next to Teal'c. I have never trained one better. He has always challenged me, and I believe that he will toy with me now, daring me to hunt him. I am no longer young. While I could take out a squad of most Jaffa, Sa'tol will be more difficult than four Jaffa. I need your help."
"I will do my best."
"That is all I can ask. Now, run!"
Shooter took off with all the speed she could muster. She was dressed in Jaffa armor and only carried a staff weapon. It was not her weapon of choice, but on the Jaffa home-world a Tauri weapon would be conspicuous.
It was almost a day to the fort. Bratac was sure he would not travel over open paths, so she did. She stopped to rest and eat food only a couple times. Shooter was confident that if Sa'tol did make it to Klorel, she could hide indefinitely. She was not thinking about that though. She was thinking about the other consequences: to Bratac, to his people, to the increased hunt for the Tokra, and to Earth.
After about nine hours of running she arrived at the fort. Shooter was exhausted, but the Tokra helped her to push beyond her normal limits. She approached in secret because there were still Jaffa there cleaning up. Dusk would be there soon and it would be difficult to distinguish between targets.
Shooter decided to watch from a location in a tree in the hills above the fort. She could be still. She had even trained herself to remain still while resting, simply keeping an eye out for any motion that is out of place, or for the familiar face of Sa'tol.
She went through the night without sleeping. There was no sign of the hunted, or the hunter, all night. At first light she caught a second wind and had more energy. She watched, more attuned to everything-every motion of the workmen at the fort. They were almost finished.
Bratac had told Shooter that once they had taken everything of value, they would burn the fort and then leave whatever remains as a sign of what can happen to those who fail their gods. The fact that there was no logical connection between the attack on this fort, and the death of Apophis- ie nothing they could have done to prevent it-escaped Klorel.
Most Goa'uld did not pay attention to details. Tokra do. That is why they excel in becoming advisors to the system lords, their narcissism knows no bounds. Klorel needed Coronette. Shooter was now aware of another feature that could complicate things. She was much younger than Ti'Appany, and Klorel would find her beauty appealing. Shooter was not comfortable with this, though Arinor was thrilled.
She needed to finish this hunt, fix the gate, and return to Klorel. Arinor wanted no more delays.
Then she heard the snap of twigs. Bratac had said that Sa'Tol's skill was not in the hunt, but more in combat. Shooter brought the staff weapon up and pointed it in the general direction of the rustling. Then she saw them.
Bratac was animated. Sa'Tol stood towering over the smaller Bratac, but Bratac would not back down. Finally Sa'Tol knocked Bratac down. Shooter honed in on him. She did not like the clumsy staff weapon, but she could hit her target.
Sa'Tol walked away from Bratac after knocking him down. Bratac got up and ran to him again. This time they were closer to the tree where Shooter hid. Once again, Sa'Tol knocked him down, and walked away.
Shooter did not know what was going on. Finally Bratac got up to his knees but did not continue to follow Sa'Tol. Shooter froze-again. Even Arinor could not bring her to shoot.
Instead, Shooter hesitated. When Sa'Tol walked directly under the tree she jumped. Sa'Tol heard the leap and stepped aside. Shooter missed Sa'Tol and landed face first on the ground. She figured she broke her nose. There was pain everywhere
There wasn't even a fight. Sa'Tol stood over her and put his foot in the middle of her back. She groaned a muffled scream. Sa'Tol aimed his staff weapon and Shooter heard it charge. She closed her eyes awaiting the blast from which there would be no rescue.
"That's enough!" Yelled Bratac. Sa'Tol disarmed his staff weapon and pointed its head toward the air. He then lifted his boot out of her back. She slowly raised herself, turned over and sat looking at Sa'Tol.
"Thank you, Sa'Tol. Return to Cural and the others and complete their training. I will take Jamie and continue her training alone."
Even Arinor was confused.
"This was a test, and you failed. Sa'Tol killed you and now your life is mine."
"But what?..." Shooter asked incredulously.
"This was all a test to see if you could do what you needed to-and you couldn't."
"But what if I would have killed Sa'Tol?" asked the woman.
"I knew you still weren't ready. Now you and I must go to the hills. We will walk to the south and there I will work with you alone until you are ready."
"Don't we need to go back?"
"No. We will only take what we have with us. I have only twelve days before I must report to Klorel. His armies will gather near the gate one week after that and then I will train them. He rightly believes you are with me, and that you will come once you have fixed the gate. Now we must march, I must explore your soul. No more physical training for you, that is too easy. Come."
Shooter did not question him. Arinor did not question him. They had witnessed the display for themselves. They were not ready to do what was necessary. And so they went with Bratac without debate.