Chapter 10
A guttural scream of outrage echoed through the crystalline tunnels of the Tok'ra cell base on the planet of Ulnina.
"You will pay for this insolence! I will personally destroy all of you!"The whine of a zat'ni'katel sent a charge through the air silencing the violent threats.
With fury in her eyes, Garshaw of Belote, former High Counselor for the Tok'ra, looked down at the body crumbled at her feet. Without shifting her gaze she addressed the other Tok'ra in the room.
"Pha'esh will be here momentarily with Major Carter," nodding her head to indicate the body on the floor she raised her dark eyes toward an elderly Tok'ra. Her eyes flashed white in anger, "Do it."
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Pha'esh/Breeshan and Sam ringed down into the underground tunnels of the Tok'ra's hidden cell bases. Once the hum of the rings was gone she was extremely surprised by the silence that enveloped them. She looked down the crystalline hall concerned at the lack of activity. "Where is everyone?" she asked. Tok'ra bases were usually bustling with activity.
"After experiencing heavy losses during the destruction of our main base on Revanna the Tok'ra High Council decided that operating from various cell bases instead of a central one would be wise." Pha'esh extended his arm toward a tunnel to the right indicating the direction they should go, then continued his explanation. "At this time, we have exactly 23 Tok'ra on this base."
"Is the Tok'ra Council here?"
"Two members are here currently to assist in your briefing for this mission and to answer any questions you may have."
"When will I be meeting with them?"
"After you have rested. At this time they are dealing with other matters pertaining to the base's operations."
Rest. The word seem a mockery to her, but the exhaustion that Sam had been fighting earlier was demanding attention and with a quick look at her watch she saw that it was 0800 hours Earth time. Except for her forays into Jolinar's memories earlier she had not slept since the Tok'ra had picked her up on Earth over twenty-four hours ago. She could put it off no longer. She had to sleep. Nodding her head to Pha'esh, she followed him to a small sparsely furnished room.
"These will be your quarters during your stay with us." He bowed slightly to her, "May your rest be peaceful, Samantha."
Sam smiled weakly at him as he left. "Peaceful." She murmured, "Yeah, right."
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Sam's sleep was not peaceful. Random images of Jolinar's life would flash through her mind giving her snapshots of people, places, hints that stayed just beyond her reach and nothing substantial for her brain to process. After hours of useless tossing and turning she sat up on her bed weak from physical and mental exhaustion. Sam scratched the memory device in her temple tempted to yank the thing out, but resisted for the moment. She knew she needed sleep, but she did not want to damage the device or herself by being careless.
I'm thirsty, she thought looking toward the entrance of her room.
There was no door. The Tok'ra believed they had no secrets to keep from each other, so a door was unnecessary.
Having "slept" in her black t-shirt and green BDU pants, Sam stood and raised her arms above her head to stretch out the kinks in her back. Once that was accomplished, she slipped her boots back on and made her way out of her room in search of Pha'esh and hopefully something to drink.
The tunnels were still eerily silent and devoid of movement. Gazing at the crystalline walls she gave into the urge to run her long fingers over the surface and became entranced by the pearlescent beauty that the crystals created in the muted light used in the tunnels. It was like touching the inside of an oyster shell hard and soft at the same time.
"They are beautiful."
Sam jumped at the human voice behind her and turned to see Breeshan standing a few feet from her. Sam said nothing and after a few moments she realized she was openly staring at the man. It was a little difficult not to stare at Pha'esh's host. The man was striking in appearance. His tall athletic form, chiseled features and dark hair reminded her of the statues from ancient Greece. Realizing that she had been caught staring Sam quickly averted her eyes and began to study the toe of her boot with great interest.
Breeshan stepped closer and came to stand beside her near the wall. Reaching out his hand he ran strong fingers over the crystalline surface and smiled.
It was a really nice smile and was reflected in his eyes. His dark hair, a bit long and unkempt, kept falling in his face reminding her of Daniel when he had first joined SG-1. She resisted the urge to reach up and brush the bangs away from his violet eyes and put her hands in her pockets instead.
He studied her a moment taking in her pale features and tired eyes. His smile dimmed a little as he gazed at her. "You did not sleep." He said concerned.
She shook her head and gave him a weak smile. "My brain wouldn't shut down and let me rest." She shrugged her shoulders. "To much information is running through my mind, I guess."
Breeshan frowned, "I will have Pha'esh deactivate the devices before you sleep tonight. That will help."
"Where is Pha'esh?" Sam frowned as well and then realizing what she said, "I mean I know where his is…." She waved her hand toward his body.
Laughing lightly, Breeshan dropped his hand from the wall. "He is resting before we attend the meeting with the council members." Slowly his smile faded and Sam watched Breeshan fidget for a moment before he spoke again. "As a matter of fact, I was coming to see if you might be hungry and like to eat something before the meeting."
Sam resisted to impulse to smile at Breeshan sudden nervousness. It was obvious that for all of his good looks that the young man was shy by nature and she wondered how he came to be the host of a Tok'ra. 'Well, only one way to find out.' She thought then nodded toward him. "I think food sounds great."
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Daniel leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over head. He had just spent the last hour working on the information General Hammond had requested on Bastet. He scanned what he had already written about the goa'uld itself.
"A member of the Goa'uld System Lord, Bastet did not come to power until the Goa'uld's second ruling dynasty collapsed. Uniting forces with the System Lord Kali, the two made a treaty with the Goa'uld Sobek. Then, at the celebratory feast, they moved against him. Rumor has it that Sobek's head still decorates Bastet's palace in Bubastis."
It wasn't much. Although a System Lord, Bastet had not come into conflict with the SGC or Earth so their information was limited.
Okay, Daniel decided, lets look into history a bit.
The archeologist had learned long ago that Earth's mythologies could come in very handy at times. He reached over and grabbed the book he had let Sam borrow and flipped to the chapter on Bastet.
"The Egyptian cat-headed goddess, the cult of Bastet was centered in Bubastis (located in the delta region, near modern- day Zagazig) from at least the 4th Dynasty. In the Late Period Bubastis was the capital of Egypt. She is depicted most commonly as a woman with the head of a domesticated cat or as a cat itself. She was commonly paired with Sekhmet and Hathor."
'Ok, not much help there,' he thought, 'Hathor is dead so lets check out Sekhmet.' He turned to the chapter on Sekhmet noted her hieroglyphic name and began reading.
"Sekhmet
A fiery and destructive Egyptian goddess associated with war and divine vengeance. Her name means "the Mighty One" and she was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness. Her main center of worship was the Old Kingdom capital of Memphis."
Daniel turned the page and noticed a tan sticky note with a star written on it affixed to the brittle paper. The scholar frowned as he carefully pulled the note off of the page and threw it in the wastebasket next to his desk. He hated the little notes being used in his books. The glue could damage the pages. He wondered who could have placed it there, Sam was the only one to use the book that he knew of, but since the base only used the obnoxious yellow ones, it could not have been her.
Irritated and needing a caffeine fix, Daniel looked over to his coffee pot and scowled when he found it empty.
"Oh, well. I need to stretch my legs anyway." He stood up, made his way out of his office and toward the elevators. Pressing the button, he tapped his foot to a random tune running through his head, then cursed violently when he realized it was that damn Simpson's tune again.
The irritated man was just about to take the stairs when the doors opened and one very pissed off Jack O'Neill stepped out. He took a step back when Jack noticed him. "Oh! I….um…."
Seeing Daniel, a dangerous look came into the Colonel's eyes and he stepped menacingly toward him. "Oh, you are sooooo dead!" He yelled. "I promise you, Daniel, the next time we meet one of those hostile tribes I gonna…." He broke off leaving the threat open and glared at the young man.
Daniel began back-pedaling as Jack advanced on him. "I…uh…I guess Janet found you…." he asked trying not to laugh even though he was sure Jack was considering killing him at the moment.
"Ya think!" he said angrily. "She threatened to castrate me, Daniel!
Daniel almost lost it when Jack cringed and shifted uncomfortable at the thought. The Colonel glared at Daniel's obvious amusement to his predicament. " If the next time she has me under the knife and I come out singing soprano……"
The scholar decided a change of subject was needed and quickly. Cutting Jack off he asked about General Hammond. "What did he say about Sam and Area 51?"
Jack allowed the change of subject, but it was obvious he was not done with Daniel yet. "The General said nothing. Still I think there is something he's not telling me, ya know? He looked….well….uncomfortable when I started asking questions about it."
"That's odd."
"Yeah. When Janet showed up and started yelling the roof down around us he almost looked relieved. Of course then the doc started talking about removing body parts….he finally had to call her down."
"Your body parts will be safe, Jack. Janet will cool off." The older man gave him a withering look. "Come on, Jack. She would never do something like that and you know it."
"Well, you better hope not."
"Me? Why?" The young man asked suspiciously.
"Because I told her that you had agreed with Sam that working at Area 51 was a great opportunity and that you helped her pack."
Daniel paled slightly at Jack's words. "But I didn't do that!"
Jack gave him an evil smile and brought up two fingers to create a scissor- like cutting motion at the young man as he walked away from him. "Snip, snip, Danny-boy, snip, snip."
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Sam and Breeshan chatted amicably as they walked down the tunnels toward the meeting chamber. Lunch had been a relaxed moment for both of them and Sam was almost sad to end it. After the turmoil of the last week, a moment of peace had been wonderful.
For Breeshan, the time spent in Samantha's company had been welcome as well. The young man felt a mental nudge from Pha'esh and the obvious amusement that symbiote was feeling.
'What?' His mind questioned his friend.
'You are enamored with Major Carter.'
Sam saw Breeshan suddenly frown, "Is everything all right?" she asked.
The young man nodded, "Pha'esh is being…. What did you say earlier? An….ass."
'Hey!'Sam laughed and gave Breeshan a brilliant smile. He laughed as well. Samantha's laugh and Pha'esh's indignant response made it impossible not too.
The tunnel they were walking down made a hard right turn and they entered the meeting room. Upon entering, Pha'esh took over and directed Sam toward a group of Tok'ra inside the room. The Tok'ra leaned over and spoke quietly in her ear.
"I am not an ass," he said good-naturedly, "however, I would be very interested in meeting this Colonel Maybourne who you believe is." Sam smiled at him and he suddenly understood what Breeshan felt.
'Ha! I am not the only one am I….?' The young man thought triumphantly.
'Don't be an ass.'
Breeshan's laughter echoed though his mind and Pha'esh couldn't help but shake his head at his host.
Sam gave him a curious look, but the Tok'ra was saved from having to explain himself, when Garshaw of Belote broke away from the group and approached them.
She graciously extended her hands taking Sam's warmly in her own. "Thank you, for assisting us, Major Carter." Yosuuf, Garshaw's host, gave Sam a genuine smile. "Your knowledge and expertise will be a great advantage to this mission."
"I am glad I can help." Sam replied returning the smile.
Yoosef bowed her head and Sam watched as she shifted to Garshaw. The smile was replaced with the business like manner so common to the Tok'ra. "Major Carter."
Sam acknowledged Garshaw with a nod of her head. "Councilwoman."
"Are you ready to begin?""Yes, of course."
"I understand from Pha'esh that you were able to access a memory of Jolinar's on your flight here."
Sam nodded and they got down to business.
The Major proceeded to report to the Tok'ra the details of what she remembered.
"The goa'uld Nergal was working on a way to stop the decline of the Goa'uld race due to the loss of too many queens over the centuries."
Garshaw nodded that she was aware of this. "It has been the same concern with our people as well. With Egeria gone we are unable to procreate and replenish our people. It has been a minor consolation knowing that the Goa'uld also have this problem. Our spies tell us that the death of Hathor signified the end of the Goa'uld queen's lines. There are no more."
Sam nodded. "Also, there was a ton of medical information that I could not understand and from what I can tell Nergal had not come up with a solution. However, there was one word the did scare Jolinar, but I have no idea why."
"What word?"
"Ras'teeh"
Garshaw frowned as she filtered through her mind the meaning of the word and then suddenly she paled noticeably. She closed her eyes as Sam continued.
Watching the woman closely Sam continued, "When I asked Pha'esh the meaning he said it meant 'reborn'."
Garshaw shook her head despairingly, "No, that is not its true meaning." The Tok'ra opened her eyes and Sam was unnerved by the empty tone to her voice, "It means to Re-create."
The silence that filled the chamber at Garshaw's words was unsettling. Sam wasn't sure what had upset them, but their reaction had been exactly like Jolinar's had been when she had read the computer screen. She turned questioning eyes on Pha'esh silently asking what was going on.
Pha'esh returned her gaze his violet eyes filled with worry and fear. "I am sorry, Samantha, when you first asked my about this word, I did not take into account how the word had changed over the years. It original meaning makes what Nergal was trying to do clear."
Still confused, Sam motioned with her hand to continue.
"He may have found a way to recreate the Goa'uld queens."