Not Quite the Lord of the Rings
Chapter 36: Jaffas and Ninjas and Elves, O My!

"Well met, my friends."

Jack O'Neill looked around at the place where they'd been transported; it was different from what they'd come to expect from Goa'uld decorating themes. Gone the ubiquitous gold interior, the Egyptian symbols. Instead, the panels within the cargo hold were scrolled with blue and black on the gray-green material. The effect was depressingly dull. At least the gold-tone was cheery, O'Neill reflected, for all of its cheesiness.

All this he took in an instant; his eyes were drawn to the figures standing on the edge of the room. He signaled his team and they spread out, stepping outside of the ring platform.

"Morlothiel." He stopped five paces away, looking at the jaffa standing next to the elf.

"O'Neill." She made the sound of his name into the warmest greeting. "This is Harq't." The jaffa was eyeing Jack right back, and the P90 that he was cradling in his hands.

Teal'c approached Harq't, commanding the jaffa's attention. "Tek'ma'tek."

"You are the shol'va."

Jack clicked his tongue in disapproval. "We don't like that word."

Teal'c was unruffled. "I am no traitor. It is the Jaffa who have been betrayed, by those who falsely claim to be gods." He spread his hands, indicating himself. "If they were true, would I live to be a Free Jaffa?"

Daniel Jackson was already examining the walls, running his hands over the patterns inscribed there. "This place is old, Jack. I mean… really old."

"Older than Ancient, old?" asked O'Neill, still turning around this way and that.

"Not that old. I think this is—"

"Hang on, there, Daniel. Let's clear this place first." They searched the ship quickly, finding no more than the dead.

Sam Carter returned from the engine room, looking bemused. "The engines are in a state, sir. Very neglected. It's a miracle that they're working."

"Are they going to keep working? At least for a while?"

"Let me put it this way, Sir: Don't sneeze."

"Oh boy."

O'Neill joined Jackson, examining the corpses where they had been composed along the side of the cargo bay. Jack prodded one with the toe of his boot. "This guy looks like he belongs on Wall Street."

"Except for this," Daniel said grimly. While looking for ID on the body, he'd found something else. Peeling back the edge of the man's clothes, he exposed his abdomen to reveal the X carved there; the lips of flesh were slightly parted. Jack swallowed and managed not to lose his lunch. Daniel wiped her hands on his fatigues.

"A jaffa? Good God. Does he—" Jack gestured at the corpse, "you know. Have a, um… a roommate?"

"How should I know? I'm not sticking my hand in—"

"Teal'c… um. Can you tell?"

Teal'c came close, squatting beside the body. "I sense nothing. If he once possessed a larval goa'uld, it is now either dead or gone."

"I hope dead, but we'll let Medical figure it out. Until then, treat the bodies MOP." O'Neill spoke to Harq't. "Did you know he was a jaffa?"

Harq't looked puzzled. "Are not you all?"

"Not in the traditional sense, no." Jack shuddered. "Though not for want of trying on some snakeheads' part." He absently smoothed the fabric of his flack jacket over his own stomach.

O'Neill turned to Morlothiel. "And now, missy… you got some 'splaining to do. This was not part of the tour."

Morlothiel regarded him levelly. "Any reproach you feel toward me for my actions, I understand. I was over-confident and hasty. But it is not in my nature to ignore a threat, to myself or to those I care about."

"Oh, you're not in trouble. Not from me or Hammond, anyway. We can appreciate the strategic necessity of getting neck-deep in trouble. Because of you, we know about this place now," he gestured up and around at the ship. "However, I'd prefer if you took some back-up along next time. That loner-ninja-elf stuff don't fly so well out here in The Big Bad Universe."

The Elf woman ducked her head, a gesture that might have been interpreted as an apologetic bow, but in truth she was trying to hide a smile. She looked up at O'Neill and said, "What is a ninja?"

Jack closed his eyes as if praying for patience.