Chapter 7

Hidden Trust facility:

He stood looking out a window while Ba'al walked back and forth in an office ranting about how He had put everything they had worked for in jeopardy. For the most part He ignored it. But after 10 minutes of it He was compelled to interrupt.

"Ba'al, I had to do something. This puts all attention back on finding me. My disappearance in correlation with the rise in TRUST activities would have sent some warning bells to someone in the CIA or whatever intelligence service looking for the TRUST. This brings all focus back on me as and individual entity. Besides, it was fun."

Ba'al bristled. "The other leaders are furious with your impromptu action. They are saying you cannot be controlled and what can't be controlled cannot remain in this organization." Ba'al's eyes glowed and his voice was the deep tone of the Goa'uld not the human host.

"An organization and initiative started by humans." He countered. "Remember, Ba'al, you and the other leaders have just assumed positions that had been held by the humans that first started the TRUST. You did not come up with it yourselves. You learned from their minds how to conduct subversive operations and guerrilla warfare."

"Your point?" Ba'al crossed his arms.

"My point is that trying to control everything is what gets you in trouble in the first place. My value comes at my ability to surprise and act where others cannot or will not. The humans for all their abilities were un able to destroy the Goa'uld." He raised a hand and made a waving motion to Ba'al. "Why? Because they were unwilling to go the distance to show the necessary inhumanity needed to commit genocide. The imprisoned those that were. The System Lords were stuck in their fuddle system ways and couldn't keep up with the Taur'i adaptability till you started adapting yourselves. Now here you are. I am the best of both. Adaptable and ultimately ruthless."

"You expect me to argue that?" Ba'al looked unimpressed. "Control is the key to survival…our survival. I can't believe you don't understand that."

"Oh, I understand control, but I keep control by adapting to what comes my way. You should too."

Ba'al's jaw clenched. "There is an assignment coming up. The Ori have knocked out one of our listening posts. A Jafa turned Ori worshiper is moving in on several worlds with naqida mines we desperately need to keep. I'm sending you to take care of it. Do as you see fit."

Pleased that the argument had changed course he smiled. "When do I leave?"

"We have few cloaked cargo ships right now. The next will be here in four days."

"I shall be there ready to destroy all who appose us."

Ba'al did smile at that. "If you had no other redeeming qualities that mentality of yours would be your saving grace."

"I'm a predator at heart…"


Pennsylvania: Secret Lab site:

Jack had walked around the huge where house. Cassie was sitting in a corner on a box. "What is taking so long?" She asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," O'Niel responded. The only other person here was that Gregory guy and he had a date right now.

"We were supposed to meet him in the lab right?" Cassie got off her box.

"Yup." Jack passed some more. "He isn't normally late. Did he tell you where this trust thing was supposed to be?"

"No, why do you think he would tell me?"

"I don't know. I catch him looking at you some times like he is planning something."

"Looking at me…when?" Cassie was interested and nervous at the same time. Their great leader so far talked a good game and was scary enough that she believed him but if he showed interest in her more than Jack…EWWW.

"I don't think it was that kind…" Jack says seeing her reaction. "More like He is planning something. You can kind of see the wheels in his head turning."

"That's creepy." Cassie said.

"Definitely," Jack jumped and spun around. Their alien leader was standing in a dark suit right behind him. His head leaned sideways. "Miss me children?"

"Yah, sure." Jack said.

"I have to go off world in four days. Time for phase two…"


Mr. & Mrs. Dillon Everett. The Young Jack O'Niel red the mail box. It was a nice looking house in a sparkly populated Suburb. It was white with brick on two sides and that face plastic wood stuff on the other two. Looked about three floors.

Jack moved on pretending to be jogging. His rental car was a block down. Once he got back into the blue BMW he picked out the file from the glove box. In side was a photo of a guy in his early fifties or late forties. Hard to tell. The other photo was of a man that looked almost like he was in his nineties and as skinny as a skeleton.

Jack didn't need a photo of Everett. He had done two separate operations with Dillon in the Gulf and South America. It was the kind of black ops stuff that brought people from all branches of military life together. They had raised some hell back than. He had been a Captain, then and Dillon was a Marine Lt. The memory was just as crisp as if it had been really him. Jack pushed those thoughts aside. It was him. He was Jack O'Niel. A different Jack O'Niel but still himself.

He thought back to his briefing:

Flash Back:

The file was placed in front of him with two neatly stacked piles of crisp dolor bills. The 100 could be seen in the corner. "Find this Everett. He is a former black-ops Marine. From sources he has soldiers and other fighters still loyal to him, the non mercenary type. Your job is to convince him to put support behind us. We will provide the equipment but he will bring to us the men."

Jack looked perplexed. "I thought Cassie was the last to join the team."

"Cassie was the last four our team not our side. Do not tell this man who I am, or what I am. All he needs to know is that his country has an alien foot hold and he can do something about it. I'm relying on his patriotism to be his motivator. You fought with this man before am I correct?"

"Yah, but…" Jack looked down at himself.

"I know you are not what he would expect. But the Colonel has also gone through some rapid changes. And you are still Jack O'Niel. You can get him."

"I'm not so sure this is my strong side." Jack said.

"I would send you with support but I know how Fraiser makes you uncomfortable." Jack tried to conceal his blush. Truth was he had mixed feelings. On one level she was still the Cassie he had always known, Doctor Fraiser's adopted daughter, but some other times, wow she was hot and…bad thoughts. Jack focused on the scary life sucking alien. "Besides she will learn more here with me. You are the only one I have to do this. I made a mistake about trusting too many too fast and two people I cared about paid the price. We keep this in the group. You go. The money should be enough. Do not get caught."

"And what should I tell this guy he should do with his men?"

"He needs to find those that can keep there mouths shut and will not be missed for a few weeks. We will make our move with little preparation and training time. I will go on this last assignment but when I get back I will bring the Trust Leadership together for our coup."

"So this is a stand by?"

"Do you have a better idea?" He looked at Jack with a half grin.

"While you are gone we start mobilizing these guys so they are all in one place. If anyone notices their movements it won't be tracked back to you because you will be off world." Jack smiled pleased with himself.

He thought about that for a second. "I like it. I expect to be gone at least a week, maybe two, I will be leaving in four days so wait an appropriate amount of time to start mobilizing. As a commander I will trust in your best judgment. I will make some calls. Soon the equipment I commissioned for us will be off the line. Sheppard Inc. will deliver it to a warehouse. Then you handle moving it to the men. Be careful not to be in force. Large numbers attract attention and there are eyes everywhere."

"Got it."

"I won't see you till I get back. Here…" he gave Jack a cell phone and a credit card. "I shall email you the info you need before I leave. The card is if you need to make purchases that the bills won't cover."

"Okay…"

End flashback:

Jack tried to think of how he was going to approach Everett. The just knocking on the door and 'hey how are you' thing didn't sound so good. Something that would get attention and make the man listen. Was this what their leader thought about when recruiting them? Jack realized just how clever the son of a bitch must be.


Pennsylvania:

Cassandra Fraiser had just finished her run. Her instructions were to exercise for one hour and come back to the front office section of this Pennsylvania hid-out. Bill, their boss wanted to talk with Jack for a moment. She felt the sweat go down her back. Amazing just a few weeks ago she went to sleep feeling like crap and woke up feeling worse but now. She felt strong, and clean. Ignoring all the weird stuff this was better than what she had been doing.

She went through some doors and was in the other empty section of offices. It was more like a lounge with a few cubical walls. "Cassandra, come here." The deep voices of her leader called her over into one of the cubicles.

She went around a cubical wall and saw the small table and some strange silver and purple objects. They looked alien, defiantly alien. He was seated on the other end of the table with his hands in his lap. Strange how He could pass in a suit as almost civilized but change into a pair of jeans and T-shirt and look almost regal. Regal, I have been hanging out with this guy too long.

He used his hand to indicate 'take a seat'. She sat down. "Do you recognize these?" His hand waved over the table and the objects.

"Nope." She said with absolute certainty.

"These belonged to Nirti, the Goa'uld that killed your original village and is subsequently responsible for your unique evolutionary status. These were the tools she used to save your life when you were close to dying from the metamorphosis."

"I remember that but…" Cassandra fell silent. "What are those doing here?"

"I have been wondering how best to use you in my plan, Cassandra." He turned away from her and focused on the table. It was really weird talking to this Vampire like figure. She waved off the notion. "I knew you would be a motivated piece of my plan and you have. In only a few weeks you have done a remarkable job of training your body." Cassandra found herself blushing at the praise… "But you are not a soldier; you have not been trained to the standard that you would be effective in a fight. Jack took you shooting once and you did well enough but that is a far cry from killing trained professionals in battle."

"What…I'm out…" Cassandra practically hurled herself to her feet. "After all this you are just going to throw me out…My Mom, you promised!"

He remained seated and watched her do her outraged rant. About a minute of cursing and what would politely be called sailor talk Cassandra seated down and looked sheepish. Good she was seeing that outrage got her nothing. "You do have what others do not however." He resumed as if she had never interrupted him. "Your genetic code I read in the file and your physiology had changed to such an extent that you were an enhanced human of sorts if human at all." He paused.

"Yah, so, Nirti fixed me so she could get a deal and leave. I think SG-1 found her later but no one told me anything because I didn't have clearance."

"Yes, they did. But that is not what I want to propose. Your abilities were maturing at an alarming rate, probably due to your bodies change from child to adult. A chaotic time for the body. I theories however that with these tools I…procured from the US Government, I might be able to reawaken those parts of your physiology. I believe now that you are physically mature you might be more capable of surviving the transformation especially with some help from myself and other substances I can provide. This is no small decision. What I do will most likely be difficult and painful for you. But it will make you a wild card in my plan. A secret weapon that our enemy will not predict."

"You want to put me through that again. I remember what that was like I was…out of it, deranged. What use could I be?"

"The file said you detected a Goa'uld that was using some kind of invisibility device much like my cloak. You were able to generate magnetic and electric fields that distorted electronic equipment. A walking EMP might be useful, especially if you could control it. Manipulation of magnetism to the point of near telekinetic proficiency. Even records of a greater durability to internal body temperatures was marked as some of the changes. I am not saying you will be superwoman but when we make our assault the TRUST will pull out everything to defend themselves. You would be an unpredictable variable that they may have no preparations for."

Cassandra sat numbed by all she had heard. "Cassandra, I will not be changing you beyond what you already are. These abilities and the genetics that gave them to you are still with in you. All the Goa'uld did was suppressing them so you would survive. It is very possible that your children, if you choose to procreate one day, would have the same condition. This is an opportunity to examine this aspect of yourself and when we are finished if your life is threatened by your condition I will do all that I can to put back what we open. And you will have your mother. But this is your choice…I will not take liberty with your body without your full and consensual participation. And I will not lead you into dilution. There is a risk that what we do may not be undone, though I am confident.

Cassandra sat thinking. She lifted her head and met his yellow eyes. "How…?"


Northern England: Hours later

They had moved quickly. Private plain had moved Him and Cassandra from the US to England as fast as modern travel was possible. Vehicle services were already waiting for them and from there it was a drive to what many would see as the middle of no where. He had sat in the passenger seat to consult maps while she drove.

After several hours He told her to stop the car. He left the car abandoned on the side of the road with a note saying 'Be Back Soon'. From there He pushed Cassandra to her physical limit in a near runny pace.

"Keep going, Cassandra, we are almost there." He encouraged her and pressed on up a steep hill.

Cassandra was huffing. "I…can't…go any faster." He had already explained on the plain and in the car where they were going. Another hiding place He had used almost a thousand years ago. Such a number was impossible for Cassandra to conceive of let alone understand so she had just accepted it. But He had been in a hurry from the moment she agreed to let Him play with Nirti's evolution tools. What He didn't explain was why if he had to leave for a TRUST meeting to keep his cover was he so interested in doing this now and especially if they have no time. He had just smiled and said 'What is time to an immortal?'

"We are here." He said and stopped and looked at a large rock partially buried in the ground.

"What…there is…nothing here?" Cassandra said panting for breath. The sun had set and they were in near total darkness with no moon for light. The change in time zones was also wreaking havoc with her insides.

He looked back at her. "We made good time. Good work."

"You…are not…answering…the question." She remained focused though exhausted.

"CLARIST'ICA!" He said. Cassandra choked down her last gasp as the rock sunk into the ground leaving a wide tunnel into the earth. "You were saying, Cassandra Fraiser?" He smiled and entered the hole. Tentatively she followed after him.


Secret Lab:

Cassandra felt like she was on a set for some sci-fi show. At first it looked like they were in a cave then everything, the walls, the dirt floor, seemed to melt into a smooth surface and crystals jutted out of the walls and ceiling.

"Many years ago I traveled the stars and found a crystal. It let me shape the environment as I needed it. I brought it back to earth with me to help in…another cause. The cave is a hologram, it activates when the door is opened and is just a secondary security measure. Some very dangerous things went on in this laboratory." He busied himself at a pedestal.

"What are you doing?" Cassandra asked. Here second wind had returned to her. Now she just watched in a kind of awe.

"Getting us more time." He said not looking up. "Now…" Just hen a bubble or what looked like a bubble exploded and grew encompassing all of them so fast and spreading out to sink into the crystal walls.

Cassandra jumped. "What the HELL was that?"

"Time dilation field. A man I worked with had to perform his experiments away from prying eyes. He did this by shifting in and out of this dimension and even occupied other planes of existence. Another way was to alter time or the perception of time. The Pedestal creates a field where everything within is sped up in the time stream. It gets complex but lets just say we now have all the 'time' we need to work and develop you before I must leave. The world out side will go on for perhaps a day at most while we work in here."

Cassandra was completely bewildered. "So, we get more done in less time?"

His eyes looked down and considered. "In an overall simplistic explanation, yes. We get more done with less time to do it."

"So what is next?"

"We clean this place up, and get started by examining you…"


Note: Sorry it took so long to write this chapter. I did some moving and then lost some of my files. Had to start from scratch again. You know how that can be. I know giving Cassandra powers is a bit over the top but ultimately it is too soon to make her a bad-ass fighter. If I get some bad responses I will figure out how to make it temporary or give some good downsides to being different, but I kind of like it because it will separate her from everyone else and bond her to Bill more.

The next Chapter is going to be a bit Mini-Jack centric, because I have been ignoring him. Hopefully, and don't hold me to this, there will be one more chapter then I'll get to some conclusions, like the big take over, "Yah, GOT A PLAN!"

Just want all my loyal readers and reviews to know that I appreciate your patience and your loyalty. It motivates me.