Chapter Seven Summary - While Sam is being healed by one of Egeria's young that was in stasis, Daniel and Martouf spend the time talking about Earth, Earth's customs, and what Martouf needs to know in order to live there comfortably. They decide that he should begin orientation and lessons with Daniel to learn about his new homeworld and that they can start his lessons while they wait. Daniel is in for some surprises as he learns more about Martouf and the Tok'Ra. In the meantime, Sam meets her symbiote as she battles to save her. They discuss, among other things, one or two of the men in Sam's life.
"Italics" - Symbiote-Host communication
Cor'cyfials shel'lec te dak - Heartfriends sharing the flesh
A Path Not Taken
Chapter Seven
Passing Time
Jack and Teal'c were taken to the communal room and given food and drink. Janet was sitting and talking quietly to the healers. Jacob was sitting beside Sam having finally made Martouf go sit down and rest. Lantash was floating quietly in his tank, his gaze never leaving the pale face of the woman on the table. Occasionally he rose to the top of the tank and allowed Martouf, Daniel, Jacob, or Anise to rub him in unspoken support and comfort. The action appeared to work both ways and soothe both human and symbiote.
Martouf leaned against a wall off to one side where he sat by himself, closed his eyes, and allowed his body to relax some for the first time in what felt like days, but was actually only hours. He opened them when he sensed someone sitting down beside him. He smiled slightly at Daniel.
"How are you doing, Martouf?" Daniel asked quietly.
"I am doing better, Daniel. I will be doing even better if they awaken and are obviously well."
"I understand. Listen, while we have nothing to do but wait, do you think you could explain to me where the symbiote came from? You did say you would explain, and I have to confess to a burning curiosity. I mean, I thought that you were all that was left of Egeria's children."
Martouf nodded. "We are the only blended that are left of Egeria's children. You know, as well as we, how difficult it is at times to find willing hosts, Daniel. Especially when we usually need them for the symbiotes that are already trained and fighting and for those whose hosts are growing too old to go on much longer."
"But that does not answer your question. There are many more of us in stasis. We do not know where they are. No one does. We have certain members who are designated as the Keepers. They have a seal of their office that will activate a certain portal. There is more to it of course, but the thing is that they themselves do not know where they go to retrieve the new symbiotes."
"They are transported there and transported back once it is verified that they are indeed Tok'Ra and not Goa'uld. Only the Keeper knows how they determine that, and they will not discuss it other than to say that if a Goa'uld was ever to find his way there, he would rue the day he ever found it."
"Once they arrive and are verified as being Tok'Ra, they indicate how many symbiotes they require. We know that the keeper takes an imprint of the person with whom the symbiote will be blending."
"We do not know how the selection is made, but a stasis urn or urns, depending on the number needed, are transported to the keeper. If there is more than one, then the recipients imprint is attached to the corresponding urn or chamber. I believe that if it is several, they are transported in something that is easier to carry."
"That, of course, is a rare event. Usually, it only happens after we have helped to evacuate and relocate people to a safer world. We do, in fact, have a few groups that have young men and women who choose to come to us when they reach a mature enough age to be considered adult enough to choose their own life course.. Often older people in those cultures will volunteer if they have lost a spouse and are alone. That has happened many times."
"To return to your initial question though, we do not know how the choice of the symbiote is made. We know that they are somehow given knowledge of the past two thousand years and the changes that have occurred within the Goa'uld and within our ranks as well. We do know that there has never been a blending that was anything other than completely compatible when they are brought and blended."
"We know, too, that there are still many symbiotes that await hosts. We do try, and we do find hosts fairly often, it is not that we never do, but as I said, many times we must have them for those that are not in stasis first. It is always a day of great gladness when a new host and a young symbiote are joined."
"This time it may not be so much, of course, for it will probably be understood that Samantha will return to the SGC. However, it is also understood that she is a soldier working to eradicate the Goa'uld, so she will still be doing that which the Tok'Ra do, only in a different way."
"I see. So if we had people willing to be hosts, they wouldn't necessarily have to wait for a symbiote. That's good to know. I mean, we weren't aware of that you know. Logistics with us are kind of a problem. The only reason we were able to provide Jacob was because we happened to be there when one was needed, and we knew Jacob was dying. This may make a difference. I can't say that for sure, though, so keep it to yourself."
"There is still this Goa'uld-symbiote fear thing, you know. But now that Sam has one, well, it could make a difference, too, especially if she stays at the SGC. I'm not sure why Jacob never said anything, unless it is this Goa'uld-symbiote fear thing, like I said. Hopefully, that may change now."
"I will keep it in mind, Daniel, although I believe that Jacob's reluctance to discuss it was more from the fear of outsiders finding out there are young symbiotes. If the Goa'uld knew about them, they would begin looking for them, and that is something, which we cannot allow to happen."
"Therefore, we do not tell even possible hosts of them. They assume they will be taking someone's place and are not told the truth until the time of blending. At that point, before the Keeper goes to collect the symbiote, they may still change their minds, although we have never had anyone choose to do so. In normal circumstances, Samantha would have been given the same choice. This time that was not to be, however. It would be best if you mentioned it to no one."
"All right, I won't say anything about it. I can definitely see your point, and it makes sense to do it that way. It's not like you don't give them a choice before you go get the new symbiote." Daniel nodded as he considered their method.
He didn't have a problem with their system. Martouf was correct. The Goa'uld could not be allowed to find out about the young symbiotes. He looked at Martouf and smiled slightly, "I see your reasoning. I won't mention it to anyone." Suddenly, he took on an air of excitement. "Martouf, do you know if there are any queens among Egeria's young? I mean, do you know there definitely is not one?"
"We have no such knowledge, and as far as I know, the keepers do not know either. I would think that, if there was one, with the losses we have sustained, it would have been brought forth by now. Therefore, I do not hold out much hope nor do the other Tok'Ra. Of course, it may simply be that since we have never had an abundance of hosts, it is felt that there is no point in bringing a queen forth, until we have more hosts than symbiotes."
"For all we know, there are always young because there is a viable queen spawning new symbiotes. Since we have no way of knowing, we are simply happy that there are more of us. And, also, perhaps one day Anise's genetics research will come up with a way to induce one of us to become a queen."
Daniel nodded his agreement, but said, "Yeah, but it would be great if there was a queen somewhere among all of them. I really hate the thought of the Tok'Ra dying out because there is no queen, or for any other reason as far as that goes."
It was obvious to Martouf that Daniel was truly saddened by the idea of their race dying, but suddenly his attention was caught by something going on across the room, and he frowned, asking, "Martouf, what are they doing? Is something wrong with Sam?"
Martouf was on his feet in a second and walking toward the healers that were around the bed. He stopped and stood next to Jacob. They were looking at Samantha's side. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. It looked much better. Still not healed, but better.
He watched Arwanna place her hand on Sam's forehead. She smiled at Jacob and then at him. "She still seems quite strong, so even after three hours she is not terribly depleted by this much healing. We cannot yet know, of course, but it is a good sign and even though it has taken her a long time, we do not know how difficult this is to disperse, and then heal the wounds themselves."
"Per'sus saw this type of healing about seven hundred years ago. It was very difficult and took a long time. The bacteria are strong, persistent, and prolific, so it takes quite some time to defeat them. I thought I remembered a similar case a very long time ago, and that Per'sus was involved. He gave me the information," Selmak told them.
"I suspected it would not be easy from the difficulty we had in containing it. There are, of course, some things that the healing device will not work on at all; however, I believe that had we started earlier, before the bacteria had such a deep and strong hold, we might have been able to defeat it with time and effort. That we could not do more than control it led me to believe that it would not be an easy thing to defeat even for the symbiote, at this point."
"Some diseases and infections are simply easier than others," Arwanna shrugged, as she made her statement, which was common knowledge to the Tok'Ra, but probably unknown to the Tau'ri.
Martouf felt a gentle tug on his arm and looked down to see Daniel's hand on his arm. "Come on, Martouf. You just left her side. You need a break, and Jacob needs to sit with her for a while. Let's go sit back down."
Sighing, Martouf nodded and followed him back to their space against the wall. He was unprepared for Daniel's comment. "You know, you made it pretty plain that you were staking a claim on Sam. Is she aware that you are in love with her?"
Martouf stared at him blankly. "I am not in love with Samantha, Daniel. I am very fond of her, however, and I cannot but think that if I had noticed earlier that her fever was rising, we could have gotten help sooner. I feel a great deal of guilt about that."
"And Lantash? Is he in here because he feels guilt about not realizing she had a fever? And is that why Jacob said he wouldn't make a decision about what to do about the symbiote without your input or his? Let's see. And, is that why you and Lantash had a heart to heart talk about what you should tell him, and your answer almost killed you?"
"Jacob wanted all of our opinions, Daniel. He asked for your opinions, as well."
"Actually, he didn't, Martouf. If you'll think back, he wasn't paying any attention to us at all. He asked you. Then Jack plowed in with his 'how can there even be a question' thing, and we all kind of offered our information and opinions. Jacob never asked us at all. He did use us against you to get you to change your mind."
Martouf sat quietly contemplating Daniel's words and realized that what he said was true. He frowned. "Why would Jacob ask me and not her teammates, Daniel? That appears to me to be an inappropriate thing for him to do."
"Oh, I don't think so. I think he was right on the money. Evidently, the two of you haven't figured it out yet, and that's okay."
"At least tell me something of what you are thinking, Daniel, that would make Jacob's asking for our feelings about it being important to know."
Daniel stared at him for a moment, and then he shook his head, "All right. Let's see. Go back over what happened when Sam woke up for those few precious minutes. Think about who she asked for first, who she wanted to be with, who she didn't want to leave her. Then think of who she didn't mention at all. Not one time. Just, think about it."
What had been Samantha's first word? Dead? No, she had said something before that. What was it? Lantash. She had asked for Lantash, then him, then her father and then Daniel. Then she had informed them that she was supposed to be dead. Seeing Lantash in his tank had not upset her either. She had wanted to see him, to know that he was there with her and alive.
But what did it mean? Did it mean that she was having those dreams while she was unconscious? No, he did not think so. Perhaps it meant that their return was on her mind. That would make sense. It was a very large shock that she received only yesterday, and today it would still be something of which she was very much aware. That was why she had said Lantash first. She wanted to know if he was really alive.
"Daniel, I believe that Samantha is still suffering from the shock of seeing me yesterday. We should not have come through the gate as we did. We should have sent a message first, so that she could become used to the idea of us being alive. I am sure it was very much on her mind. No doubt she was thinking about it; therefore, her first thought was of Lantash, for she had not yet seen him to know for sure that he was alive."
Daniel stared at Martouf in disbelief before smiling, "I am quite sure that you are correct, Martouf. I'm sure that Sam would have been thinking about whether or not Lantash was alive, when she thought she was dead. Yup. This," he said, "is going to be interesting."
Martouf frowned at him again. "What is going to be interesting, Daniel? Have I misunderstood some of your English idioms?"
"You are doing very well with the idioms, Martouf. It's other things you might have a little problem with. But, it's nothing to worry about. You'll get it down eventually, and in the meantime, it will be a lot of fun helping you out."
Martouf scowled, "Somehow that does not reassure me, Daniel. Why is that?"
Daniel smiled with real warmth this time, as he laughed softly, "Actually, it should. You just have a lot to learn about Earth, Earth's men, and Earth's women. I'm going to enjoy watching you learn it. It'll be like seeing us up close and personal, brand new, as if I've never seen us before."
"I plan on enjoying every minute I spend with you, and I hope that you enjoy it along with me. I think we'll have some very good times together, you and I, but also the three of us, you, I, and Sam. Then there will be group outings. Those will be a completely new level of idiocy for you to try to decipher. It will be like having Teal'c back when he first came here. I really can hardly wait."
If possible, Daniel's eyes lit up even more. "And when Lantash joins you. Wow, what a kick that will be. I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about Earth culture. Don't you dare let him see too many memories. We'll want him to experience some things for himself, first, before he gets to see it in your memories. Promise me right now that you will allow Lantash to learn some things on his own." Daniel frowned, saying, "Can you do that? Keep some things to yourself, I mean?"
Daniel's enthusiasm was hard to resist, and Martouf found himself smiling at him, his usual, placidly cheerful personality reasserting itself, if only for a while, as he talked to Daniel. "Yes, we each have a private space for ourselves and our private thoughts, Daniel. I give you my word that I will not allow Lantash free reign in my memories. I will keep some of them for him to experience for himself."
He forgot the original nature of their conversation. As the conversation began to wander onto Earth and the Earth customs that he would need to know in order to be able to fend for himself, he realized that there were a great many things that he did not know about his new home. It was not an agrarian culture. It was quite industrialized.
"You know, Martouf, I think you should remain with us for a while when you are off base. If you got into any kind of trouble at all, it would be a real mess. I also think that it might not be a bad idea, if you would want to that is, if you and I started getting together and had some sessions kind of like an orientation. Almost teaching sessions."
Daniel looked thoughtful and then pulled a notebook and pen out of his pocket before beginning again. "I mean, do you know what a stoplight is? A crosswalk?"
"How much English can you read? Do you know what any of our foods are? Do you know if you can tolerate the alcoholic beverages we have here? Do you know about streets and sidewalks and parks? Do you know what kind of people to avoid when you are out alone at night on Earth?"
"Do you know anything about our money and how it works? Could you order a meal? Or a coke, or a bottle of water? Could you hail a taxi or grab a bus? Train, planes," he stopped and sighed.
He looked over at Martouf, and mumbled something about Jack or Sam, and wrote motorcycle. "Do you know which of our animals are dangerous and which are not?"
"Can you use a stove or a microwave? A dishwasher or a coffeepot? An iron? Do you know how to do laundry, or even what a washer and dryer are let alone how to use them? Did any of that stuff sound familiar?"
"A phone, a pager, a cell phone, an answering machine, a copier, a computer, a printer. Shopping for clothes. Sam. Can opener, refrigerator, garbage disposal, vacuum cleaner, good lord, the list goes on forever."
Martouf broke into Daniel's growing list of "things to teach Martouf". "Daniel, I believe we should begin my lessons now while we wait for Samantha to awaken. What could we study first that we can do here?"
"I have some money in my pocket. That reminds me, are you on the SGC payroll, or what, while you are there? If it's none of my business tell me, but I'm wondering how you will pay for things off base. Whether they will issue you a wage, or a card, or what."
"I do not know, Daniel. I do not receive a wage as such. The Tok'Ra have their own sources of income. Lantash and I have precious metals, including naquadah, stones, silks and fabrics. We are fine. What type of currency do you use on Earth?"
"Each country has their own currency." Daniel dug out his billfold and drew out some bills. These are ones, tens, twenties and a fifty. It goes on up, of course."
"How do you trade with one another if your currency is all different?"
"There is an exchange rate. I'll explain it sometime when I have some papers to show you the different countries and how it works."
"You do not use precious metals? I am afraid that is all I have to trade."
"Well, you could trade in some of your precious metals for some of our paper money. The stores take it so you can buy goods with it."
Martouf cocked his head and looked at Daniel. "So, you will take my precious metal and in exchange I will be given this very lightweight paper money. I take it into a shop, and I pick out goods which I wish to purchase. The shopkeeper totals my goods, and then tells me the amount that I owe them. They then take this very lightweight paper money in exchange for my purchases." Martouf nodded, saying, "This seems to be an efficient system. It is very awkward to carry around pounds of metals when one wishes to purchase things."
"Yes, I am sure it would be. So, what kind of precious metals are we talking about? I mean, it has to be something of value on Earth."
"Of course. We have many kinds. Silver and Gold would be the two that you would probably be the most familiar with, although if we could compare the metals, I am sure we could find others for which we use different words."
Daniel nodded. "Okay, do you have enough to bring several ounces with you?"
Martouf looked at Daniel, an expression of surprise on his face. "Of course, Daniel. I had planned to bring several pounds."
Daniel was glad he was not drinking or eating anything because he probably would have choked at such a casual answer, as if he had more gold than he knew what to do with.
"Martouf there's no reason to bring it all with you. Gold isn't exactly high right now, but you'll get quite a bit for an ounce. Of course, on the other hand, if you aren't being paid by the SGC, and if you are here for very long, you may need more down the road." Daniel frowned at the thought that Martouf would be supporting himself from his personal funds. "Still, like I said, you shouldn't need all that much."
"Twenty-five or thirty of your pounds will be no problem, Daniel. The bulk of our assets are scattered among the different worlds for safekeeping, but we always keep sufficient with us wherever our tunnels are. We always keep at least a hundred pounds each with us. Most Tok'Ra do so. One never knows when something needs to be purchased."
"We rarely keep more than several hundred pounds in one place. Usually not even that much, but Lantash and I have thousands of pounds each, and it is difficult not to leave fairly large amounts when you are setting it aside in that way. The other metals are much the same."
"Thousands of pounds, Martouf? You are joking, right?"
"Not at all, Daniel. Is this a great deal? You must realize that through the years we have done much excavation on many worlds. The Tok'Ra as a group have to fund the resistance some way and investments seemed to be the best way to do so. For that reason, we have always watched for large veins of ore and when we find it we all share in it."
"Each new host and symbiote is given a small 'inheritance', consisting of about five hundred pounds of gold, some jewels, and those types of things, from the General fund upon becoming Tok'Ra, as it is acknowledged that one must have a means of support."
"Therefore all of us have built up fairly large amounts of metals in our assets. Lantash and I also have a naquadah mine and some trading vessels that we use to trade exotic materials and spices, oils and jewels. That is something else we have found in abundance. Lantash and I have some very lovely jewels."
"However, to return to the Tok'Ra's funds, as I mentioned, from them, we are all housed, fed, and clothed. If there are particular clothes for missions they pay for them. Expenses we have during missions come out of the Central fund, which is separate from the General fund. Those are our wages."
"So you see, they can hardly pay me while I am at the SGC. Since that is what we do, the SGC is doing the same. They are housing me and clothing me. I believe I must pay for food at some time although they told me last night that I did not have to. I see no reason for the SGC to pay me any type of wage at all."
"I will arrange my own funds. I will remember to pick up twenty-five or thirty pounds of gold. That will be a nice amount to start with. I think I will bring some of the jewels with me as well. There are several that are quite beautiful. I have several blue diamonds that are very lovely and—Daniel, are you quite all right?"
"Err, yes. Yes, Martouf, I am fine. Let's see. I have here about a hundred and fifteen dollars. More than I usually carry but I was going to be picking up some dry cleaning and running some errands that I prefer to pay cash for, but that is neither here nor there."
"One ounce of gold right now in the US, which is where the SGC is, is worth around four hundred and fifty dollars. For one ounce, not pound, one ounce of gold you would have almost four times what I have here. I really think that ten pounds of gold will get you through many months at the SGC if you remain living on base. Twenty-five to thirty pounds would leave you with extra to buy pretty much what you wanted, er, within reason. That is, if you aren't really extravagant."
"Now, if you were to move off base that would be different. You'd have all kinds of expenses, then, and the thirty pounds would get you a really nice place and take care of it and the bills for quite a while. I mean that at today's price for gold it would give you almost a hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. Of course, taxes might have to come out of that. I don't know what your status in regard to that would be. Even so, you'd still have quite a bit."
"But we aren't talking about that. We are talking about you living on base with no expenses other than what you want to get for yourself. And who knows? It could be that if you do finally move off base, you'll be living with one of us anyway, so your expenses wouldn't be as high as they would be if you were on your own. That's all in the future, though."
"Okay, so, money. This is a one dollar bill. It doesn't buy a lot but you find yourself using a lot of them. I'm sure you've already figured out that our money is based on ten. So," Daniel pulled out some coins from his pocket as well. "This is a penny. One hundred pennies equals one of these one-dollar paper bills. There's also a one dollar coin, but I don't have one on me."
Teal'c came in and sat down quietly beside them, saying, "This is a picture of General George Washington. He was the first president of the United States of America. That is the country on the Tau'ri world, Earth, in which we now live. He was a good man and a brave warrior who led his men with little and yet still won his war for independence. I have great admiration for him. His fight, while not the same as the Jaffa's was still a striving for freedom in its way."
Daniel smiled at Teal'c, remembering how fascinated he had been when told of Washington and the war between the mother country and its children. A war that was only to be expected as the children grew up and found their own places in the world.
However, he continued his lesson on money, allowing Teal'c to do the history. "This is a nickel. It is worth five pennies. Twenty nickels are worth one dollar." Daniel was writing down the information as he was saying it. Obviously, he felt a study sheet would be needed. Looking at Martouf's face, he couldn't be sure he would need it, but as they say, better safe than sorry.
As Daniel wrote down the information to give to Martouf, Teal'c continued the history lesson using the money to explain who the different people were, what their particular contribution to the country he would now be residing in was, and any other bit of trivia he could think of that he felt might be of interest.
Across the room, Jacob sat with his fingers in the tank, stroking Lantash and talking to him occasionally. Both the man and the symbiote had their eyes glued to the figure on the med bay healing platform. Neither of them seemed to be able or willing to look away from her.
Arwanna once again came over and laid her hand on Sam's forehead. She looked at Jacob and smiled. "She still feels quite strong, Jacob. Not as strong as she was of course but that is to be expected. Coming out of stasis and going directly into an emergency healing would be stressful for an experienced Tok'Ra. For one that has never been blended, I am sure that it is a daunting task; however, this one seems to be doing extremely well. Better than most, actually."
"Either that or the bacteria were not as hard to control and destroy as we thought." She frowned as she remembered working on the infection; then she shook her head. "No, it was not easier. This is just a very strong symbiote, which is a very good thing in the circumstances. Perhaps Samantha's imprint showed what was wrong, and they sent this symbiote because of her healing ability. I suppose that could be it."
"Per'sus said that it took hours for his mate to heal Kiowa when she was injured by those creatures."
Arwanna nodded, suddenly remembering what it was that had been tugging at her own consciousness in this situation. She remembered the healers speaking of it many hundreds of years ago. "I remember that now that you mention it. It was a very long time ago."
"You are not completely healed yet, my Sam. It will take a while longer. However, we can talk some if you wish."
"Are you doing all right? Not getting too tired? Can you stop and rest?"
"I am doing fine. They are almost defeated, and then I will finish the healing of the wound. They were very persistent."
"Charesh, are you sure you don't need to stop and rest for a while? Surely that wouldn't hurt, would it?"
"It is unnecessary. I really am fine, my Sam. I am quite strong. I have been in stasis for a very long time, so I am as strong and healthy as I was the day I was put into my chamber to await a host. It should take no more than an hour, possibly less, to finish completely. Tell me about our mates."
"We don't have mates. I've never joined with anyone. Not in a getting bonded sort of way. Sexually yeah, I'm not an innocent, but I've never gone the distance and actually joined with someone on a permanent basis."
"However, that does not explain why we are not with our mates, even though it is an interesting bit of information."
"There isn't anyone to be with. I told you that."
"But you think you might like for them to be. You are afraid that the feelings you have do not belong to you. They do, I assure you. I suggest we allow these feelings to grow naturally and see where they take us. I believe that we will have mates before very many more years go by."
"We'll see. I've agreed to get to know Martouf as a friend. Lantash, too, when he is well again. I worry about him," Sam told her softly. "He should have been healed by now, but I know the Tok'Ra wouldn't allow me to help with him."
"Why do you say that?"
"I've tried to get information before, and I've offered to help them in other things at different times. They don't like to share information with outsiders, and there are those that consider the Tau'ri too primitive to really be of much use."
"You sound very bitter, Samantha. You have much resentment towards some of our people. I do feel it is only towards some of them, though, not all of them. They will share with you now. You are Tok'Ra."
"I don't want them to share now, just because I've suddenly become acceptable to them because I have a symbiote. Piss on them. They can keep their information."
"Your resentment and hurt goes very deep. Much of it is over Martouf and Lantash. You wanted to help with them, and they refused you. You spent time believing them dead, when they were not; although, if I understand it correctly, that was not exactly their fault. However, if they had accepted your help, you would have been here and known they were alive. So, you are very bitter about it. I see."
"And what I see about the way they have treated you and your people at times also angers me. On the other hand, neither will I accept your Colonel's remarks about me and mine. However, beyond that, you are correct, my Sam. We will not stay here to be patronized by some of these Tok'Ra, even though, normally, newly blended Tok'Ra do stay here within the tunnels, yes?"
"Yes, but we will stay with my people and work from the SGC. I am Tau'ri by birth and Tok'Ra by blending, but my work is there, and that is where I'm needed the most. I'm not averse to helping the Tok'Ra out if they need us to, though. We've done it before, and there's little doubt that we'll do it again. After all that is what the formal alliance is all about. Now that they've started the exchange program, I'm hoping things will be better between our two peoples."
"Yes, I have seen a great deal. You have shared much very willingly. You are a brilliant scientist. With my added memory capacity and intelligence, we will be very formidable in that way, Dr. Carter. I am sorry, I could not resist." Charesh chuckled and Sam smiled with her.
"I am almost finished. It will not be more than three-quarters of an hour now and will very probably be much less than that. They are becoming easier to defeat now that there are so few of them left."
Reverting to their previous topic of conversation she stated, "Eventually, we will have to reconcile with my people, my Sam. Nevertheless, I agree that I do not wish to do so at this time nor, perhaps, even anytime in the near future. You seem to have some of my people that you are very fond of individually, though. In fact, it seems to me that most of your bitterness is towards a few members of the council, and a group of sub-council members, some of which you do not trust."
Sam mentally shook her head before answering, "It's not just that I don't trust them. There are several of them of which I am actively suspicious. I know it probably sounds really bizarre and crazy, but I'm not sure they are even Tok'Ra."
Sam paused, allowing her words time to sink in. "I mentioned before that I am worried about Lantash. I haven't said anything to Martouf, but I'm going to tell my dad to keep a really sharp watch on a couple of people."
"I think Lantash should have recovered faster. I can't believe that all of his delays are caused by Martouf's depression over him. If anything, it seems to me that would make him get better quicker, and besides that, I don't think the za'tarc incident could have caused this. It just doesn't make sense to me. I think that we should consider having him brought to the SGC if he doesn't start getting a lot better, a lot more consistently, a lot sooner. And, definitely if he starts to go downhill."
"I agree. We must convince Martouf. He should be aware that you believe that there could be a danger for Lantash here. We will stop and talk to Lantash before we leave here, will we not?"
"Yes, and I want to talk to Anise. I don't necessarily trust her, but she did save his life, so I don't think she'd be trying to kill him now. She could have done it already, anytime these last four months, if she wanted to do it, and if she was the one trying, then she would have done it already, of that I have very little doubt. /i
Sam abandoned that train of thought, only to continue with what else was going on around Lantash. "Anyway, whether it will do any good or not, I will at least try and I want her to be aware that I think he should be watched closer. He isn't gaining strength as quickly as he should be. Not that she'll believe me, either. Although, it looked like she was the one that brought Lantash in to me, so maybe she is more on our side than I was aware."
"It is very possible that she is; your own words show this to be true, if you will only think about it. In fact, I believe that you feel there is much more to Anise than what she allows to be seen."
"Do not forget, my Sam, that sometimes it is better to appear to be against someone in order to learn what the opposition is thinking and planning. She may have to appear to consider the Tau'ri as lesser beings to play into someone else's ideas of what they want to see in someone they can trust. We should not assume anything at this point."
"However, now that I am here, we will be able to begin to watch and listen much more closely. After all, now that you have a symbiote, we can visit the tunnels more often should we chose to do so. Legitimately, I am sure."
"Yes, I agree." Sam hesitated, before saying softly, "I think that you and I will get along very well, Charesh. We are so far, anyway. Of course, I suppose this isn't a real test, is it?" It was easy to hear the doubt and mild apprehension that crept into her voice.
Charesh answered swiftly, but calmly, "Perhaps not, but I believe you are correct, and we will find ourselves in tune with one another. From what I understand, when the Keeper comes for one of us, he takes an—image or an imprint—I suppose you would say, of the person that will be blended, and then we are chosen for compatibility. Therefore, you can rest assured that we will have much in common, and we will be very much attuned to one another in many, many ways."
She continued, sighing softly, obviously unwilling to say it, but knowing she should. Adding a gentle caress, she said, "I believe we have talked enough for our first time, though, I wish it were not so; therefore, why do you not try to sleep some more? Otherwise, you will be very tired when we finally truly become conscious, and I would prefer you to awaken alert and ready to resume whatever duty you would normally be doing."
"I have no problem with that, Char. I am tired. Those wolf-bear creatures were not a lot of fun."
Sam heard Char's gurgle of laughter at the understatement. "Sleep well, my mate. I will awaken you when I am finished."
"All right. Night."
"Night." A charmingly melodious laugh was the last thing Sam heard as she fell farther into unconsciousness.
Charesh continued, humming soothingly and thinking to herself. Now, I know how you are, and you are doing very well, my Sam. Another half an hour and you should awaken quite well and ready to return to the SGC, but not until we spend time with our future mates. You, my dear Sam, have very good taste in men. I would like to believe that he is our future mate. He and the so beautiful Martouf.
Daniel is very nice, as well, though, and you already care for him in a very deep way as a much-loved friend. It would not surprise me if we became Cor'cyfials shel'lec te dak, heartfriends sharing the flesh. There is no rush for us to bond; we can have a great many interesting and "fun" experiences before we take that step.
Furthermore, we must allow our feelings to mature slowly and fully into friendship, as you both wish it to, for now. It will take time, and we will wait patiently. If we are very lucky, they will become our mates, and if not them, well, who knows what the future will hold in store for us? At the moment, it is not even important.
Martouf sat on the edge of the healing platform, careful not to jostle Sam or disturb her in any way. Everyone was beginning to become anxious. They had waited for many hours now, and there had been no indication that Samantha was waking from her state of unconsciousness. Her side was healed. All of the other scrapes, bruises, and scratches were gone as well. She had regained her usual beautiful coloring and looked quite lovely.
Then, they all noticed that she was frowning and everyone became tense, hoping it was a sign that she was about to awaken.
Sam's eyes flew open. She immediately sat up, and looked straight at Martouf, saying, "You're the one that is always standing at the bottom of the ramp, Martouf. I don't know how you expect me to be able to control you and do anything about it. I suggest you lay down your laws to yourself in the future, before you try to do so to me," Sam scolded him, obviously quite put out at his high handedness in lecturing her.
Evidently, some of Martouf's speech as he became conscious had come through and into her consciousness as she lie unconscious in the other bed. He had been talking quite loudly and very sternly.
He turned a bright pink as everyone that had been in the infirmary, or who had heard about it, began to laugh. The relief in the room was palpable.
Lantash turned to stare at him. Martouf looked at him. "I will explain later, Lantash. They are teasing me about something I said as I regained consciousness from my concussion. I will explain that later, also, I promise," he continued hurriedly.
It was obvious that Lantash was shaking his head in disbelief. You could almost hear him saying, "I can't let you out of my sight for one day…"
Sam, now sitting up on the healing platform, wondered where that speech had come from. Frowning again, she searched inwardly and found a smug Charesh. "Where did you find that, and what in the world was it about?"
Charesh allowed her to listen to Martouf telling "her Sam" about no more incidents on or around the ramp. Sam smiled and raised her head. "You really can be firm when you want to be. I don't think I've ever heard you sound quite that stern."
"Don't worry about it, Sam, he can't ever follow it through. He's too much of a softy for that," Jacob assured her.
"Well, in this particular case, I'm agreeable to going along with him, Dad. I think he has the right idea. No more incidents on the ramp. Or, for that matter, anywhere else, either. Ah, what exactly happened? I mean, I should have been dead."
"You almost were, Carter." Jack and Teal'c had returned from their snacks earlier and were waiting with the others for Sam to awaken. Jack wasn't comfortable enough to talk with the symbiote in the tank, yet, but he wasn't avoiding him either. "We shouldn't have left you behind."
Martouf turned from watching Sam to speak to O'Neill, "On the contrary, Colonel. I have analyzed the entire incident many times. In each scenario, no matter what you and I had done, it would have ended with more death and destruction. Samantha made the correct decision, and, as much as we may have wished it otherwise, she gave the correct order."
"I, too, feel guilty for leaving her behind, but we followed the orders of the commanding officer. It was a command decision, and she did give that order. Furthermore, it was the only order she could give at that time and be correct."
"He's right, Jack. It wouldn't have mattered. You would all three have been dead instead of Sam being here and alive. You did the best thing by leaving her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be here," Daniel spoke up quietly.
"Ah, that still doesn't tell me what happened," Sam quickly broke in hoping to thwart the obviously upcoming debate. She seemed to have succeeded.
Martouf turned back to answer her, "We cannot be completely sure, but we believe that after the Colonel and I went through the Chaappa'ai, you, knowing you would not make the event horizon before you lost consciousness, pulled a grenade from your belt, or perhaps already had it in your hand."
"We are not sure if your intent was to blow up yourself, or the creatures, but our opinion was that you were trying to keep them from coming through the gate and, at the same time, keep yourself from dying from, ah, them."
"What came through the gate were you, and numerous body parts from at least one of the creatures. Evidently, the grenade went off under one of them; the blast took it, and you, through the event horizon, and onto, ah, me. I then hit the floor. You, I managed to keep from doing so. That was when I received the concussion, although they believe the lump on my forehead was probably from one of the creature's body parts."
"They could not tell for sure, but it looked like you might have blown up more than one of them from the number of pieces that were strewn around the gate room. It was quite, er, bloody and gory. The pieces of the creatures, that is. I was not the only one that ended up wearing some of them. It is my belief that the majority of what was on me was from you."
Sam was staring intently at the tank and Lantash. He was curled tightly on the bottom of it, and he was quivering very noticeably. While having heard the story from Martouf, her concern for Lantash kept her from commenting on the situation. Instead, she immediately asked, "What's wrong with Lantash, Martouf? Shouldn't you be doing something?"
Martouf shook his head sadly, "No, Samantha that is not necessary. There is nothing wrong with him."
Sam looked at him as did all of the Tau'ri in the room.
Martouf sighed. "He is laughing hysterically as he sees the mental image of me catching you as you were blown through the Chaappa'ai. He is picturing me falling with you in my arms, attempting to keep you from getting a concussion or worse, and thereby getting one myself, instead, all the while being pelted and splattered by gory animal body parts. There are times," he assured them all solemnly, "when Lantash has a perverted sense of humor."
Daniel laughed. "Well, if he thinks that's funny, wait until we tell him the entire speech you gave to Samantha, or so you thought, as you came back to consciousness, about the new rules pertaining to the ramp, and how you were forbidding her to involve you, or herself, in anymore incidents there. End of discussion."
Lantash raised his head and looked at Martouf as if to say something, shook his head, recoiled, and proceeded to quiver some more. It was quite obvious to all that Martouf's incident and subsequent speech was giving Lantash a great deal of enjoyment. It was also plain, by the look in Martouf's eyes and the smile curving his lips, that he was very happy to have it do so.
TBC
24
