The Daedalus, orbit of Earth, 2225 hours.
Tara looked on as General O'Neill waved at her before he vanished in a beam of light. But not before saying that a car will be sent to Buffy's house in twenty minutes to pick up Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard; all so that the cover is maintained that the three of them really did head to the Sunnydale Army Base. The three of them nodded their head before the General vanished, and then it was the turn of Tara, Major Sheppard and Dr. Weir to be beamed away.
Thor then thanked Tara for what she did for them, with the blonde simply waving her hands and shaking her head before telling Thor that she should be thanking him for showing her such amazing things. The grey being then nodded his head before telling Dr. Weir that he'll beam down to the SGC should the High Council agree with his recommendations.
"Thank you, Thor" said Dr. Weir before the alien pressed a button on the console in front of him. The next thing Tara knew, a white light washed over her and then she was looking out a large glass window at a sea of stars.
"I never get tired of seeing that" whispered Tara as she stepped forward and pressed her hand onto the glass just as she heard someone clear his throat from behind her. She then saw the Major put his hand on her shoulder before turning her around slowly.
"Tara" said the Major as Tara turned her body while looking at the stars before she turned her head to the bald man that was walking towards them. Suddenly the blonde opened her eyes and mouth in shock while she held on tightly to Major Sheppard's shoulder before she took a step back. She was looking at the man while the Major and then Dr. Weir, as well as five others… two of whom were seated on either side of the bald man, looked at Tara when she gave a small scream.
"Tara?" asked Dr. Weir looking at the blonde who took another step back from the bald man while holding tightly to the Major who was looking back at his sister in worry.
Tara knew that the two people next to her were telling her something, but she couldn't hear it. She had never felt what she was feeling now from anyone before; not from demons, not from vampires, and definitively not from anyone human. What she felt was pure hate, anger, spite, and a hunger for conquest from the man who was now just standing in surprise while the others just looked at him, and then at her.
The witch then closed her eyes before opening them again; this time she saw the face of a deformed creature looking back at her, it was something that made her give a little scream before she saw a red pulsing light covering the man's aura… a red light that covered his entire head. She then looked at the Major who had turned her to face him… she could see his lips moving but no sound was coming through because of the sound of her heart thumping in her ears. She then glanced at the bald man again and she sensed his hate again before she looked at the Major.
"Tara!" said Major Sheppard as he placed both hands on her cheeks while Dr. Weir was telling one of the personnel on the ship's bridge to get a doctor.
"N.. no" said Tara as she looked at the Major who was trying his best to coax her, telling her that she was on a ship and that sometimes weird things happened after transport; that whatever she was feeling would soon pass. However, Tara was shaking her head 'no' vigorously before she looked at the Major, and then glanced at the bald man, and then looked at the Major again before saying just one word nervously.
"P..Possessed" said Tara as she looked at the Major, and then glanced over at the bald man, "possessed.. he… he's possessed."
"Possessed?" asked the Major as he looked at Dr. Weir who looked back at him in surprise, before the both of them looked at the bald man.
"Colonel Caldwell" said the Major as he pushed Tara behind him, "Could you come with us to the infirmary?"
"For what?" said the Colonel with a chuckle, "look, Major.. General O'Neill told me that you'll be bringing a guest to tour non-sensitive areas of the ship. There's still a lot of things we need to do before we set off so, let's get on with this tour and…."
"Stephen" said Dr. Weir as Colonel Caldwell glanced at the shaking Tara who was looking at the Colonel as well, "it'd make us feel better if you went for a check-up, as well as Tara."
"Elizabeth?" asked the Major.
"You know protocol's to medically examine every newcomer" said Dr. Weir as she looked at the Major, and then at Colonel Caldwell, "Steven, let's go and check the both of you out. Tara here has vibes I guess you could call it about someone who's not feeling too well. So let's get you checked out, and then…"
The next thing anyone knew, Colonel Caldwell had rushed forward with inhuman speed before he knocked aside Major Sheppard into Dr, Weir. The both of them fell onto the floor of the ship while the rest of the bridge crew looked on in surprise while Tara gave a yelp as the Colonel put an arm around her neck and held on tight to another hand while he was behind her.
"Get weapons" said the Major as he got up and pointed at the crew who suddenly moved into action. The alarms on the ship were set off with the crew member on the left most console got up and headed for a panel to get some weapons while another one called for security to come to the bridge, "the Colonel's been taken over by a Goa'uld… move it!"
"No, everyone stay where you are!" said a deep voice from behind Tara, the young woman didn't see eyes flashing gold.. the same flash that Major Sheppard, Dr. Weir who was being helped up by the Major, and the bridge crew had seen that made them stop in shock, "if anyone seeks to save this human, I will kill her."
"Let her go" said Dr. Weir.
"Cut the alarms" said the Goa'uld occupying Colonel Caldwell as he tightened the arm around Tara's neck, making the young girl scream, "cut the alarms or I snap her neck like a twig."
"Alarms, go" said the Major as one of the crew members cut the alarms just as four S.F's ran onto the bridge pointing their side-arms at the Colonel.
"Good" said the Colonel in that deep voice, "now, you will do exactly as I say. Whatever this female means to you, I know you will not hurt her to get to me. I will take control of the beaming technology and I will go with her to another site and…"
"We'll come after you" said Dr. Weir as she looked at Tara, and then at the Colonel, "Steven.. I know you're in there. Fight for control.. you…"
"Nothing of the host survives" said the Colonel as he looked at the S.F's, "weapons down!"
"Down! Down!" said the Major as he signalled the men to lower the weapons, which they reluctantly did while the Colonel moved and dragged Tara to the screen on the port side of the ship where he stood next to a console. Major Sheppard took a few steps forward when the Colonel looked at him and let go of her hand and put one arm tightly around her waist while tightening his arm around her throat and dragging her backwards to another console in the rear of the ship.
"Don't" said the Colonel as he glared at Major Sheppard before he looked at the Console and started pressing some keys.
"Colonel Caldwell, this is Hermiod. The transportation system is being locked out using your command code. Is something the matter?"
"I will take her to my lord Ba'al using this console" said the Colonel as Hermiod's voice came over the P.A system again, asking for an answer, "you claim she has special abilities… I am certain that she will make a good queen for him."
"Tara" said Major Sheppard as he looked at his sister whose eyes were wide open while he walked slowly over to the command chair when the Colonel was distracted and typing on the console with the arm that had been around Tara's waist just a few seconds ago, "Tara, I need you to look at me."
Tara looked at her brother while the Colonel's arm was threatening to crush her throat. She could feel the vice like grip around her throat and was afraid that if she tried to move, then she'll be dead. Tara could hear Major Sheppard asking her to stay calm, and to look at his eyes. She saw that he was glancing down repeatedly towards his hands. She then looked at his hands which were pointing to his left; glancing over to the left… she saw the handguns on the floor next to the S.F's just as the Colonel tightened his grip again and she yelped.
"Colonel" said Major Sheppard as he took a step forward before stopping and gently pushing aside one of the S.F's while still looking at Tara whose eyes followed him, "she's not important to you."
"Take me" said Dr. Weir, "I know everything about Stargate Operations. Ba'al would have more need for me than Tara."
"Your time will come, Elizabeth" said the Colonel in that deep voice with a sneer on his face, "but Major Sheppard said this female has abilities… special abilities. I believe Lord Ba'al would want that in his queen, perhaps you would make a suitable First Prime.. or a consort perhaps."
"Her pies are real good" said the Major as he stepped to one side glanced down at a weapon that one of the crew members had dropped after taking it out from a compartment on the wall, "that's Tara's special talent right there. Really good apple pies."
"Don't try it!" said the Colonel after he finished typing and then looked at the Colonel with a sneer on his face. In the meantime, Dr. Weir was looking at a corner of the ship while making signals with her hands which were on her side before she looked at Colonel Caldwell whose finger was hovering over a button.
"Tara" said the Major as he glanced down towards his feet, which were pointing to the dark purple object lying on the floor, and finally he glanced to his open hand, "if he activates the beams, both of you will go down to the surface. I need you to push… hard."
"I have the strength of ten men" said Colonel Caldwell, "she will not be able to do anything. Goodbye."
"No!" shouted the Major as Colonel Caldwell pressed the button but nothing happened. There was no buzzing sound, there was no flash of light.. the two of them were still here.
"No! No! No!" shouted the Colonel as he held on to Tara tightly again and used her as a shield while the Major quickly picked up the Zat that was lying on the floor and activated it. The Colonel then looked at the Major and smiled, "she'll be dead before that beam hits me. Shoot… I dare you."
"You have nowhere to go" said Dr. Weir as she looked at the corner of the bridge and nodded her head before looking at the Colonel, "you forgot the security cameras. When Hermiod didn't get a response, he and the others in the engineering room activated the cameras to see what was going on. The transporters have been disabled. You've got nowhere to go… surrender."
"Hermiod!" shouted the Colonel, "I need you to…"
"Tara" said Major Sheppard, "push… as hard as you can."
"I will kill her if you interrupt me again!" shouted the Colonel before shouting at Hermiod to release the transporter controls or else he would kill her. He told the Asgard not to even try beaming just him out, that he knew they were too close that the beam would take the both him and Tara instead, "and you will not kill the host, Asgard."
"Tara" said the Major as Tara looked at the man and closed her eyes.
Even now Tara could feel it; even this high up in orbit she could feel just a brush of the Earth's magic against her skin. She gathered what magic she could from all the way up in orbit while whispering a spell.
"Silence" said the Colonel as he whispered in her ear.
Tara opened her eyes just as a great forced pushed her, and the Colonel, back against the wall behind them. It knocked the wind out of the blonde when the Colonel was slammed against the wall.. leading him to release her. It was then that the S.F's got into action again while Dr. Weir rushed to Tara and pulled her away while the Major shot one beam of blue light from the Zat to the Colonel. Tara turned around just in time while holding her hand to her throat to see the blue energy crackle throughout the man's body as he lay on the floor; his eyes glowing gold before the eyelids shut.
"Tara" said the Major as he rushed to his sister after handing the Zat to one of the S.F's. The young woman hugged him tightly while Dr. Weir told the S.F's to take the Colonel to the brig. She then pressed a button on the control chair that connected to the Engineering room telling Hermiod to restore control to the transport beams. She then told one of the crew members at the consoles next to the command chair to connect her to the SGC; that she needed to speak with General Landry.
"John" said Dr. Weir to the Major who was holding on to Tara, "take Tara to the infirmary; then once she's cleared, take her home."
"Yea" replied the Major as he guided the shaking Tara out of the bridge just as General Landry's face appeared on screen.
TBC.
