Chapter Thirteen

General Landry was staring down at the stack of papers on his desk in exhaustion. It seemed like the Tok'ra summit would never arrive for all the work that kept piling up. With just one more day left until the president arrives, he was more than pressed for the time to get it all done. He looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching and seemed relieved to see Dr. Jackson.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Daniel's question went unanswered as the siren announcing unscheduled offworld activation rang through the base.

General Landry paused, shaking his head slowly. "Never fails. Walk with me?"

Daniel nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as he followed the general to the Control Room. "I assume you would like to know the progress of the treaty I've been working on that would grant the Tok'ra access to Atlantis?"

"Among other things, yes. I have to say, as reluctant as they've been to share their technology over the years, I'm finding myself pretty reluctant to recommend this to the President."

"Yes," the diplomat stifled a groan, wondering why it was that he always found himself in the same argument with military leaders when it came to the reluctance of their allies with advanced technologies to share, "but you have to agree that the Tok'ra have always come through for us when we needed it. They might not be willing to hand us over weapons of mass destruction, but they have been willing to trade intelligence when needed."

"Yes and I also have to note that they never exactly showed themselves when we needed the manpower against the Ori." The General nodded to Walter. "What is it?"

Walter gave the General a double take at his tone, but noted his look of warning. "It's SG14, sir."

"Aren't they the ones who went back to Vala's home planet?" Mitchell asked as he approached with Colonel Sheppard.

"Yes they are. Open up a channel, chief." The general paused while Walter obeyed and Colonel Connors face appeared onscreen, looking more than annoyed. "This is General Landry. What's the problem son?"

"Well, sir, they refuse to talk to us," the Colonel responded as his eyes cut to the people in question. "There's definitely evidence of the Lucian Alliance being here with the intelligence we've been able to gather, but it seems all they want to talk about is Vala Mal Doran of SG1, sir. They want us to bring her back. Seem to think we're holding her against her will."

"She was throwing rocks at them and screaming profanities....and they think we're holding her against her will?" Cam clarified with disbelief.

Daniel was already shaking his head. "There's no way we're sending her back there." His eyes widened in question as General Landry's head swung around to him. "Right? I mean, you can't be thinking of sending her back there after all they've put her through."

"I'm not," Landry replied sternly. "But we can't just let the Lucian Alliance get a foothold in this planet because one of our members has a bad history with them."

"Then I'll go back through," Daniel volunteered. "I was able to get Amotis to listen to me before."

"Negative, Dr. Jackson. I need you here for the summit," the general sighed audibly.

"Sir," Colonel Connors spoke up, "the one Dr. Jackson mentioned is here. He said he's willing to come through if he can talk to Vala. He said he'd like to talk to Dr. Jackson as well."

Daniel wasn't sure he liked the look on Mitchell's face as he crossed his arms and addressed the General. "Send him through. SG1 would be glad to keep our guest company."

"The tone of your voice makes me wonder if that would be such a good idea, son." General Landry turned to Daniel expectantly. "Can you two keep it under control long enough to deal with him?" He waited for the two to nod before turning back to the screen to address Connors. "Very well. Send him through. Walter, open the iris." Landry gave a hesitant glance to the two members of SG1. "We'll discuss the summit after our guest has settled in. And I do mean 'guest' gentlemen."

Sheppard followed Daniel and Cam down the stairs to the gateroom. "Who is this guy again?"

"A jerk," Cam replied bitterly. "A jerk with a lot of nerve."

Both Cam and Daniel stiffened, their eyes in a mirroring glare aimed at the man coming through the gate. Amotis stood on the ramp looking around the gateroom before focusing on Daniel. "Where is my fiancé?"

Sheppard waited for someone to respond but only felt the tension in the room thicken. He noticed that Cam had clenched his jaw at the question and Dr. Jackson had let out a humorless laugh. He shifted his torso to lean more toward Mitchell as he whispered, "And who is his fiancé exactly?"

"No one," Cam responded through clenched teeth.

"He's talking about Vala," Daniel clarified as he gestured for Amotis to follow him. "Would you mind finding her and letting her know what's going on? She won't want to see him, but I'm sure she wouldn't like to round a corner and run into him, either."

"Yea, tell him we'll take care of Amotis here," Mitchell remarked as he clapped the man on the back a little too hard.