Title: What If They Don't Come Back

Author: Rude's Mom

Disclaimer: It should be obvious by now, I don't own Buffy or Stargate.

Calendon

"...but tor...what I had in mind. Can you hear me now?"

The soft voice sounded normal. If she hadn't seen blonde's eyes flash earlier she might have believed the child/woman beside her bed was human. Well, that and if she wasn't currently using a ribbon device, albeit an apparently modified one. Maybe this was a kinder, gentler Goa'uld. Yeah right.

"Colonel O'Neill?"

Sam blinked as she refocused on her captor.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nimue said as glow of the ribbon device's crystal slowly faded.

"Interesting use of a ribbon device."

Nimue briefly shifted her eyes to the device encompassing her left arm and hand. "It's a tool. It has multiple uses, good and bad, if you know how to use it properly. The Goa'uld, not much interested in anything but self-protection and torturing people. "

"And you're not?"

"A Goa'uld or interested in self-protection and torture?" Nimue lowered her hand and sat down next the bed.. "I'm not a Goa'uld but I am definitely interested in self-preservation. As for enjoying frying someone's brain? No."

O'Neill remained silent for a few minutes.

"The rest of your team is unharmed," Nimue restarted the conversation.

"Where is Captain Harris?" She deliberately refrained from mentioning Thomas and Johnson in the hope that Nimue thought SG-1 was only a two-man team.

"Xander? He's still in his old cell but he will be safe there. I've placed additional guards on duty just in case another Jaffa forgets where his loyalty should be. Major David Thomas and Dr. Howland Johnson are enjoying better accommodations." Nimue frowned. "Of course, I not sure that I believe that those are their correct names. I mean one sounds like he should be serving up Frosties and the other is just a little to close to HoJo's. Kinda lame."

Score one for Harris, O'Neill thought. A Goa'uld wasn't likely to know that much about Tau'ri culture, and more specifically American culture, unless its host really was from Earth. But was he also right about the host being Hok-Tar? What had he called her, a Slayer?

"So, your host really is from Earth."

"I am." Nimue saw no reason to deny it. "A lifetime ago. What else did he tell you?"

"That your host might be considered Hok-Tar, Hok-Taur'i, an advanced human," she explained at Nimue's look of confusion.

"Not exactly. I am a Slayer."

"Your host is, Nimue, not you."

"You've definitely spent too much time with Xander," she replied with a grumpy edge to her voice. "Things change. I was Buffy, now I'm Nimue. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Goa'uld."

Sam could still feel the Goa'uld in Nimue but she decided to let it pass. It really made no difference. Besides, she could feel herself rapidly losing strength and concentration.

Nimue was aware that O'Neill was fading and decided to leave for now. After all, she had other prisoners she could interrogate, or perhaps, another method would be appropriate.

"I'll leave you to rest," she said as she rose to leave the sickroom.

Nimue smiled as she exited the room. Yes, she thought, perhaps Corryn might prove to be useful.

Tok'ra Base, undisclosed planet

Jacob, in perfect harmony with Selmac, stalked through the base's crystalline tunnels. More than one Tok'ra pulled back out of the line of fire as the oldest among them headed towards Anise's laboratory.

"Selmac," Anise began.

"Can it. I'm in charge right now and I want a straight answer," Jacob snarled.

"About?"

"This little recon mission that the Council requested the SG-1 be sent on."

"What is there to know? Nimue has defeated several System Lords making her a potential threat. SG-1 went to assess the level of danger that she represents."

"Nimue hasn't tried to capitalize on her victories. Hardly the actions of a budding System Lord even if she is a Goa'uld queen. Try again."

"I really don't..."

"I just spoke with with Per'sus. We just received word that Menhit is poised to attack Calendon. But you knew that already, didn't you?"

Realizing that her deception had been discovered, Anise capitulated.

"We need to discover how Nimue knows about impending attacks. There is no sign of any technology that would give her advanced warning. Nor is there any sign that she has spies off-world."

"So you used me to send in SG-1 blind."

"It was necessary."

"Was it?"

Calendon

Corryn clutched his scrolls to his chest as he approached the gray chamber. Nimue's charge was unprecedented. Certainly in his lifetime no mere clerk had ever been given such a mission of such magnitude. Neither his father nor his father's father had even hinted of such an important task. He would not fail his lady.

The prisoners had taken up positions at opposite ends of the room when they heard the scraping of the bar on the outside of their cell door. A servant girl had already brought them their day's rations so they were not expecting visitors. They watched as a spindly young man entered. The door closed behind him and the man flinched ever so slightly as the bar was slid back into place.

"I am Corryn, clerk to the Lady Nimue." He placed his scrolls on the table and extracted a small bottle and quill from his robes.

"A clerk?"

"Yes, I'm here to assess what galanas and sarhad may be owed to your people for the lives of your companions."

Thomas looked at Johnson for direction.

Johnson shrugged.

"Galanas? Sarhad?" Thomas asked.

Corryn looked up from arranging his papers. "Compensation for the loss of Colonel O'Neill and Captain Harris. If our Lady determines that you do not serve the Goa'uld then their families are entitled to payment. I am here to determine the level of payment owed based on their familial and social status."

The anthropologist in Johnson couldn't resist the opening.

"How does that work?"

"All humans have a base worth. After that, the galanas is based on whether they are the sole support of their parents or children. The age of the children is also taken into consideration. A infant still at the breast receives more than a child who is near adulthood as its caretaker must be compensated. The sarhad is derived from the social status. I have been given to understand that a Colonel is a higher rank than Captain although both are military ranks, although I am unclear as to the degree of difference."

"Weregild."

"Johnson?"

"A number of early European cultures had a similar concept. Economically it made sense. An eye for an eye didn't do as much for the victim's family as financial compensation."

"Precisely," Corryn nodded happily. "Of course, as the Jaffa responsible is already dead, the Lady will be providing both the galanas and sarhad if required. She is most kind."