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.

Tok'ra Base, undisclosed planet

"Per'sus, you approved this?"

The leader of the Tok'ra High Council spoke."Selmac, calm your host."

Jacob's eyes flashed as Selmac took over his body. "Considering Anise sent his, no our, daughter into a war zone with inadequate information he and I arequite calm. The mission that the SGC agreed to was to determine the level of threat Nimue posed."

"And her ability to determine when an attack was imminent is part of that threat," Per'sus stated.

"They had a right to know."

"And if they had been captured, their foreknowledge of the attack might have fallen into Nimue's hands. The Tok'ra need to know how she learns of an attack."

"SG-1 had a right to know. They are our allies, not cannon fodder."

"They are soldiers."

"But not disposable ones."

------------

Calendon

"Nimue," Merdden said quietly as he entered their bedchamber.

His beloved continued to look of the room's main window with unfocused eyes, her left hand slowly rubbing the ribbon device on her right.

"Nimue," he said again as he reached her side.

"Time is running out." She turned towards her husband. "The Hunters have failed to find the Tau'ri's ship. I can not wait any longer. I need to know if they are connected to the upcoming invasion. Corryn's report was less than helpful."

"As you knew it would be," Merdden countered.

"They needed to believe that the other prisoners are dead. They also expected to be interrogated. I did, however, expect to get some information," Nimue stated. "I was hoping to eventually get more reliable information from the Hunters but SG-1 has hidden their ship well."

"If there is a ship, perhaps they were only dropped off by one."

"Perhaps. But either way, it has not been found." Nimue flexed her right hand. "I need to know if they are involved with the attack."

"And if they are? Wouldn't you have foreseen it?"

"I don't know but we can't take the risk. If they are part of the attacking force, they die," she said. "If they are innocent, I'll send Johnson and Thomas through the Chaapa'aii before the battle."

"And O'Neill and Harris?"

"Harris will remain where he is. O'Neill," she paused, "O'Neill will be sent to one of the shelters, under guard."

------------

Thomas and Johnson were slowly going crazy. It had been over a week since Corryn's visit. Nimue had not returned and no one, other than the same two servants with their Jaffa guards, had entered their room since.

The only thing that was keeping them slightly sane was watching the goings on in the courtyard. Activity had been steadily building, with troop levels rising and the civilian population slowly diminishing. The previous day they had watched as Nimue and Merdden escorted a young girl, presumably Aurora, to the courtyard below where she joined a small troop of Jaffa and humans. As the group left, the watching men had realized that they were going to have a ringside seat of yet another attempted Goa'uld invasion of Calendon. Their jailers refused to confirm or deny it but the evidence was steadily mounting.

Thomas was dozing off on the room's only bed when Johnson finally made the connection.

"They knew didn't they?" Johnson asked.

"They who?"

"The Tok'ra."

"Jacob wouldn't have sent the colonel in blind. Anise, probably. The rest of them, who knows."

"Remind me again why we call them allies."

Before Thomas could reply, they heard the bolt drawn back on the cell door.

This time, no human servants entered. Only four Jaffa.

"Come, Nimue will see you now."

------------

SGC, Earth

A furious Brigadier General Ferretti leaned back in his chair. Across the conference table sat a subdued Jacob Carter.

"Jacob," he asked, "is there any chance that you might be mistaken?"

"No. Per'sus eventually admitted the truth. Nimue is not considered a threat by the Tok'ra at this time. The true goal of the mission was to determine where Nimue's intelligence was coming from."

"And damn the consequences."

The base alarm sounded off closely followed by the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation.

The pair headed to the control room.

The sergeant on duty confirmed that the wormhole originated from the Alpha site and that they had incoming travelers.

Ferretti and Jacob watched as only two members of SG-1 arrived.

------------

Unknown planet

Menhit watched from the balcony of his pyramid ship as the preparations continued for the assault on Calendon. If the reports of this new Goa'uld were true, there was a queen for the taking. Her current consort would be disposed of but by holding one or both of her children hostage, he was sure that she would be compliant. A fertile queen would ensure the increase of Jaffa to the point where, in time, he could take his rightful place as the leader of the System Lords.

------------

SGC, Earth

The debriefing of the surviving members of SG-1 began in the base infirmary, starting with why only Thomas and Johnson returned.

"According to Nimue, one of her Jaffa killed them."

"Any proof?" Ferretti barked.

"No sir, but there was no sign of either the Colonel or Harris after we were captured," Thomas reported. "Other than a brief interrogation on the first day, we were just kept locked up in what was known as the gray tower. The only people we saw were the Jaffa guards, a couple of servants, and a clerk. It wasn't until today that she became serious about finding out who we were."

"So, what changed?" Ferretti asked.

"We did notice a build up troop levels in the city over the last few days as well as an exodus of civilians including Nimue's oldest daughter."

"So do you think that between the time that you were captured and today, she learned about Menhit's plans?"

"Yes sir. But her information didn't include whether or not SG-1 was part of the Goa'uld's attack. She used a ribbon device on us to find out what we knew before sending us through the gate."

"She just tortured you and then let you go?" Jacob was surprised.

"Not exactly," Thomas said. "I've been ribboned before. She just wanted information. She could have made it hurt a lot worse than she did."

Johnson nodded in agreement.

"What information was she looking for? Or should I ask, what information did she extract?"

"She found out that we didn't know about the attack," Johnson said. "Since we weren't involved, she let us go."

"After she finished with us, she had us escorted to the Stargate. We dialed to Cimmeria and from there we 'gated to the Alpha Site," Thomas added. "But she did warn us that if we came back, she would not be so generous."

"And you saw no sign of Sam or Captain Harris?"

"No, not after they were captured. I'm sorry Jacob."

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Calendon

He was given bread and water twice a day which allowed him to keep track of time. It had been at least two weeks since he had seen anyone besides the Jaffa that brought him his rations. As the bread was exceptionally coarse and dry, he found himself longing for the joys of an MRE. At least Buffy, no Nimue, wasn't intending to starve him to death although the joys of malnutrition were definitely a possibility if his diet didn't improve.

Xander stared at the bars of his cell. For the thousandth time he replayed his earlier encounter with Aurora. If the child had been telling the truth, his team was not going to be riding to the rescue. Given the unpleasant reality that he was still locked up after nearly a week, he doubted that she had lied. There were no signs of even a thwarted rescue. Odds were that Thomas and Johnson had been captured. With colonel badly injured (he wasn't even going to contemplate that she might be dead) SG-1 was royally screwed unless the SGC sent in a retrieval team.

He rearrange his long body in an attempt to find a more comfortable position when he heard the first explosions.