A/N: I've been a bad author, I know. But Revelations is still coming along, albeit a little bit more slowly than before. I know where I'm going, but it's getting there that's sort of the hard part. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this next chapter. I'll try my best to post the next one very soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
When they caught up with the group, they were in the Infirmary. Carter was just saying, "The staff here is capable of dealing with a slew of problems, including off-world diseases and Goa'uld symbiote care."
"Although I don't know why they'd want to," Mitchell murmured.
Carter smiled at his comment but didn't say anything. "Now, if you'll follow us, we have a few more things to show you before we take you back to the Control Room."
Agent Scully appeared to very interested in the infirmary, and Carter reminded herself that Agent Scully was a medical doctor. The FBI agent looked very disappointed with having to leave so soon.
Mitchell and Carter led the group around the rest of the floor, careful not to show them too much in the way of weapons or other technology. They did feel it fit to show the two Dr. Jackson's lab, which had some alien artifacts, all with only cultural value and nothing more.
Mitchell turned to Carter as they went along. "Sam, why are we showing them all of this?" he asked in a low whisper.
Carter turned to look at her friend. "He wants to know the truth," Sam said. "And it's better that he hears it from us before he goes off and threatens the higher-ups." Mitchell was about to protest, but Sam interrupted him. "And you know he would, Cam. He's that determined." She placed a hand on his arm gently. "Look, just trust me on this one."
Mitchell sighed and then smirked at Sam. "I guess if they threaten to go public, we can always just send them to Atlantis or something."
Sam laughed softly, so as not to arouse suspicion from the two guests as they made their way back to the Control Room.
"Just finishing the diagnostic, sir, ma'am," Harriman said when Mitchell and Carter walked in.
"Great," Mitchell said, clapping his hands together in anticipation of going through the gate again.
General Landry came down the stairs and looked to Carter for a status report. "Just finishing, sir," she told him.
"Good," General Landry said. "Raise the blast doors and let's give it a go," he said.
They raised the doors, and the two agents looked on in awe as they got their first look of the Stargate. Neither had expected what they saw before them: the huge stone ring with strange glyphs.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Daniel asked when he saw their faces.
"This is the Stargate?" Mulder asked. Daniel nodded. "It's just a hunk of rock," he said.
"That and so much more," was Daniel's mystic answer.
Before the team at the computers could do anything, the wheel began turning on its own. Mulder was shocked to see that it was capable of doing that. Daniel smiled as he watched the change in Mulder's expression.
"Unscheduled off-world activation," Harriman said into the microphone at his side.
"Close the iris," General Landry ordered as the gate was almost done dialing.
Carter looked at the computer. "Receiving IDC, sir," she said. "It's the Tok'ra," she added.
General Landry looked at her before looking back at the Stargate. There was now a shimmering blue light coming from behind the iris, indicating that the gate was open. He sighed and then said, "Open the iris. Colonel Carter, why don't you show our guests some more of the base?"
Carter was eager to hear what the Tok'ra had to say, as they had had very little contact with the Tok'ra since her father's death. Still, she knew that any guests at the SGC were not allowed to become involved in on-going missions, and, as it had been she who had convinced the generals to invite the two agents, she knew that it was her responsibility to keep them occupied. "Yes, sir," she said, before turning to Agent Scully. "You looked like you wanted to get a better look at the Infirmary," she said. "Why don't we go back there?"
General Landry turned to the rest of the team. "The rest of you with me," he said before making his way out of the Control Room to the Gate Room.
Mulder looked back through the window at the gate just before Carter ushered them back out. The metal covering that had appeared a few minutes before was gone, but instead of the empty space within the ring that had been there when the "iris" was closed, there was a shimmering pool of what appeared to be blue water. A figure emerged through this pool just as General Landry and the other men reached the Gate Room.
"That's the event horizon of a wormhole," Carter explained when she saw what Mulder was looking at. "And that," she added, pointing to the man who had emerged from the gate, "is one of the Tok'ra. Another race," she added, when she saw the agents' confused expressions. Then she turned quickly and led the way back out of the Control Room.
Mitchell had never met the Tok'ra before. As he had joined the Stargate program after the alliance with the Tok'ra had been all but severed, there had never been an opportunity. Regardless of how many mission reports he had read, he had absolutely no idea what the experience would be like.
The Tok'ra in front of him stared as the four men entered the Gate Room. He showed signs of recognition when he saw Daniel and Teal'c. Then he turned and scowled at General Landry. "Are you the new leader of this facility?" the symbiote asked.
"I am," General Landry replied. "Major General Hank Landry."
"Where is General O'Neill?" the Tok'ra asked.
"He's at another facility now," General Landry replied vaguely.
The Tok'ra shot a look at Mitchell. "Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, head of SG-1," Mitchell said, just short of rudely, as he extended his hand to the Tok'ra.
Ignoring the hand, the Tok'ra, Delek, asked, "And where is Colonel Carter?"
Daniel was seething by this point. "She's busy," Daniel said with more rudeness than he had intended. He knew, perhaps better than anyone else in the room, how arrogant the Tok'ra could be, and he was not sure that the SGC was up for another one of their ill-thought plans. And perhaps, his emotions were getting the better of him as he thought of the injustice the Tok'ra had done to his friend by forcing her father to stay away from Earth for the last year of his life.
The Tok'ra ignored him and turned back to Landry, ignoring the others. "I request an audience with you immediately. There is some information that I have about the Ori threat that is of crucial importance," he informed the General.
Landry nodded and led the way to the Briefing Room, where all of the men sat down and turned to Delek.
Delek immediately jumped into his explanation, eager to share the information that he had so that he could return to the Tok'ra base. "Our intelligence informs us that Ba'al has been approached by a Prior. He was intrigued by the power that the Prior showcased and by the promise that he would be able to Ascend. He remembers well the power that Anubis had in his partially ascended form. He wishes this power for himself now."
"Are you saying that Ba'al wants to become a Prior?" Daniel asked.
Delek bowed his head, an affirmative answer.
Daniel challenged this. "Why would Ba'al ever give up being a false god to serve other false gods?" he asked.
Delek looked at Daniel as if Daniel were the most unintelligent being he had ever laid eyes on. "Ba'al merely seeks the power. He will use it to achieve his own ends," he answered.
"And what do you propose we do?" Landry asked.
"Ba'al must be stopped," Delek answered.
"Obviously," Mitchell said. "But what do you want us to do?"
"We suggest that you simply take him by force. Capture him, and we will interrogate him together," Delek suggested, trying to make it sound as if he was proposing a good plan.
Mitchell scoffed at the suggestion. "So, you want us to do the dirty work so that you can get all the benefits?" he asked.
Landry looked at the Tok'ra, admittedly with a slight twinkle in his eye. "We're not going to put our people at risk on this one. The Priors will most likely see right through Ba'al anyway, and he won't live to see what we'd do."
"You do not understand," Delek insisted. "Ba'al has already undergone the transformation."