Stargate Hastings
Chapter ten: An alliance against himself
Tok'ra high council chamber, Tok'ra safe world.
If a Tok'ra could show excitement in the same way as a human, which they could not. The way that Anise was acting when they returned, would probably be the closest they would ever get to seeing it. She showed no nervous energy that usually accompanied that emotion but the way she was looking at the device in her hand, was with pure fascination.
When Rachael, Richard and San'kha, along with the guards and Selmak entered the chamber. The girl who was barely into her womanhood, approached the group. "There is something that you must see". The Symbiote's voice said to them. Then she activated the glass screen, to reveal the three almost identical brainwave patterns. They were the same as before, until she pressed a button on the device in her hand. They were all suddenly that of a humans and not the greater activity of the Gau'auld. "When your friend came forward, all three of these readings changed. This should not be possible even for the Gau'auld but for the Hosts brain to completely override the Gau'auld's. That is quite simply miraculous". Anise told them.
Rachael seemed to be in deep thought, so Richard asked. "Override, what does that actually mean?".
She swiped her hand across the device and the patterns changed to that of the Gau'auld and Host. She pointed to the centre pattern and then said. "In the Tok'ra this pattern is the combination of two minds working together, in perfect synchronisation. In the Gau'auld, it is the result of one dominating the other. The Gau'auld essentially overrides the Hosts conscience. Your friend also found a way to override the Gau'auld's conscience. They have both succeeded in breaking each other and unless they stop fighting, they will both die".
Rachael listened to Anise explain what had happened to James but even though she was no expert, she thought that she knew what had happened to them. "You are wrong". She said to Anise.
"I can assure you. If they do not stop fighting, they will both die". Anise said in the most sympathetic tone she could manage.
"Not about that. Do the Tok'ra believe in the soul or the term soulmates?". Rachael asked all of the Tok'ra present.
Garshaw answered her. "It is not based in fact but on a philosophical level, yes we do".
"I believe they are fighting to protect the same thing, me! The reason their brain patterns are the same, is because they both have the same purpose, the same obsession". Rachael said to the people in the chamber.
Anise seemed intrigued by her hypothesis. "Are you saying that they are fighting each other, only their goal is the same".
"No I am not. I am telling you that they have joined forces, in order to fight a third conscience. The one that keeps killing the one they love, if it could even be called love now. It is probably more obsession, than love. I believe that is the reason they seem to be both of them, at the same time". Rachael declared.
Anise then said to everyone present. "It would also explain why the Gau'auld as not terminated itself and taken the Host with him. If they have joined forces as you say. The human instinct for self preservation, would theoretically overrule the Gau'auld's spite".
"I need to go in there alone. I understand the risks but it is the only way". Rachael looked to Richard as she said this. If he agreed, then she believed the Tok'ra would.
Richard knew the strength that James now possessed. Even restrained he could cause her serious harm. He would go in himself but his cousin was the object of their obsession, not him. "If the guards monitor the situation, I see no other option". He was looking to Garshaw as he said this, he was the Tok'ra of equivalent rank to himself.
"If we do nothing then the Host will die. That is something that the Tok'ra will not allow, if there is a way to prevent it. We will allow this but the guards will monitor the situation and intervene at the first sign of danger". Garshaw told Rachael Hawthorn.
Rachael then said to them. "San'kha will join me but I request that the sound remain muted. San'kha does not speak English, so what we discuss will mean nothing to him but I would prefer what we say to each other remain private". She saw Kaar translating for San'kha.
He bowed his head, then said to her in Gau'auld. "I would be honoured to accompany you".
When they returned to the airlock to James cell, they could see that he was back to running into the walls. They waited for him to tire himself out again, before entering. When they did San'kha took up a position across from them, against the opposite wall ready to spring into action. Rachael sat on a cot, that looked like it had not been used. "James why don't you sit down next to me. I want to talk to you". She patted the surface of the bed, as she spoke the words.
James or whoever he was now, was trying to stay as far away as he could from both of them. "San'kha, take her away". He spoke in Gau'auld.
"I will not Jeem. You must talk with her. I am here to protect her if the demon surfaces". San'kha told him.
James tentatively moved closer to where she was sitting and sat down as far away from her as he could. They had told them that his arms were restrained behind his back and not across his front, to prevent the Gau'auld's super human strength breaking his bonds. It looked extremely uncomfortable but she understood why it was necessary. She moved over towards him and before he could move away, she pulled him close to her, so that his head was laid across her lap.
She then started stroking his hair, as she said. "I thought you were the Gau'auld when we spoke earlier but you're not him any more. You are not my James either but he is a part of you and so is the Gau'auld".
The creature had genuine fear in his eyes, as his head lay on her lap. San'kha moved across the room, then picked up his legs and placed them on the cot. Then said in Gau'auld. "Listen to her brother, we need you or our people will never be free". Then he moved back to his former position, across the cell.
Rachael then continued. "The part of you that was my James. He told me that he never wanted to relive what he had gone through, that he couldn't. He said that if he did, it would break him. The only reason it hadn't already was because he had buried it deep. It was always there but if he focused on what he was doing, anything but the screams that were constantly in his head, then he denied it power over him. He told me that it was not the screams of his brothers that haunted him and that he had lied to himself. He had told himself they were but they were really his own". She was still gently stroking his head staring straight out in front of her, as if she was also trapped inside of her own mind.
"He was supposed to be a man, a soldier and he had screamed like a little child, that had lost his mother. He could handle the bloodshed but his ego could not handle those moments of weakness. That was why I did not recognise you my love, you have sacrificed even that part of yourself for us". She could see that he must be uncomfortable with his arms restrained as they were but he was calmer than he had been before.
The voice of the Symbiote, because their relationship was truly Symbiotic now. Maybe even more than the Tok'ra's were, said. "I only cared about you, the earth could have burned and I would not have cared. I was only trying to protect you, the others meant nothing". With the shame he felt for it clear to hear.
"I know, I didn't mean the others. I was talking about our daughter, her name is Jamie, Jamie Elden and she has your eyes". A tear came to her eye as she spoke and then she asked him. "What does the monster you have been fighting, say to that?". If she was correct, then the monster they had been fighting. The animalistic parts of both of them, would recognise the one thing that all animals had in common.
No matter how vicious the animal, they would always feel love for their child. There were always exceptions in any species, even humans but at the core of who they were, it was always there. The beast could also come forward and bite a chunk out of her leg. It was a very real risk.
Jim and this time it was Jim. No longer with the Symbiote's booming voice he said. "Jamie? I told you how much I hated that name. My bloody aunt Silvia called me that, I hate my aunt Silvia. She'll think you named her for her". He then said in Gau'auld "San'kha you beautiful bastard you, help me stand up these restraints are killing me".
Did he just say that and did he just imply my mother and father were not wed at the time of my birth. Why would he say that? San'kha thought to himself. Jeem no longer sounded insane like he had in the caves, so he did as he was asked. Rachael helped him stand him up and when he was on his feet. San'kha said to him. "My mother and father were wed Jeem, why would you insult me in this way?". He was not angry about the insult, he just didn't understand.
"San'kha, San'kha you are going to have to learn to think for yourself my friend. I hope you will one day forgive me for that". He was acting like nothing had happened, like he hadn't been fighting an internal war for the past year.
Before San'kha could ask him. Rachael did and she did it in Gau'auld, so San'kha could understand her. "What is going on here James".
"Just once call me Jim or Jeem I quite like how they say my name. I'll never get your cousin to say it, just try it once. You might like it". He had a big grin on his face.
"No it is horrible but Jamie I like that, I even called our daughter it. Alright, Jamie it is then". How he had done it she did not know but it was him and definitely not a combination of the two of them.
Before she could ask him how, the wall melted away and Anise entered. "How?". Was all she said.
Jim shrugged his shoulders or he tried to anyway. "I made a phantom or two, he did the rest to himself. I have just been hiding and learning, the more I learned the easier it became. I probably know more about your kind than you do now, certainly more than that child. So much potential and yet all he cared about was being a System Lord and a woman he had never even met before. One of my phantoms made a deal with it, when I sent another far more darker one. Now be a good girl and call the guards in here. My arms are bloody killing me, don't worry about him he's busy fixing us".
Anise pulled the device she had used to scan them earlier out of her pocket, then started scanning him. "He is indeed healing your injuries but I still do not understand". The normally confident Tok'ra scientists said.
"About those guards?". Jim asked her.
Anise called the two guards into the cell and when they had their Zat'nik'tel's trained on Jim. She loosened the thick leather straps, that were holding his arms together behind his back. With three Tok'ra and a Jaffa there, it was safe to do so. Jim rolled his shoulders back and forth once he was able and said. "That poor bastard's been like that all this time, glad it wasn't me".
Rachael who was getting a little annoyed, even though she could not be any happier. Asked him. "If it wasn't you, then where have you been? And why didn't you come forward when Richard and me were here earlier?".
"I couldn't, not while they were fighting and even now it was only because you told him about his daughter and she is his daughter, just as much as she is mine. When you did that I offered him a deal and it really was me offering it this time. The first time he accepted an offer from me, it was actually from one of my phantoms to merge their consciences. It told him that they could use their combined will power to fight the other one but it wasn't really me it mentally joined with. I filled the two phantoms with different parts of myself. The one that merged with him had the best parts of me, the parts that actually cared about the people I've killed. The other was who I would be without them, that is who he has been fighting since just before he told them about the Tok'ra. I really was fighting him until then and I was losing, so I had to improvise". The pale skin that had greeted them was already regaining its colour.
Anise turned very serious. "You do not understand what this means, this could change everything. If we can train others to do what you have done...". Jim stopped her.
"I did not do this. Ra's Sarcophagus did. If he had not put me in that thing so many times, I would never have had the strength to fight him. Believe me when I say, that I would have burned the world and danced in the ashes if I could and I will never be the same because of it. I do need to speak to the high council though, what we have to tell them is possibly even more important, at least it will be for the Jaffa".
More guards were called to the cell and there were more still when they arrived in the council chamber. Jim had also been placed in Naquadah enhanced shackles. The high council had increased the sound when Anise had told them about Jim's brainwaves returning to normal and not only that but the pattern that showed the shared part of their consciences, was even more in sync than that of a Tok'ra's. So they already knew what Jim had told them in the cell.
Garshaw did not seem convinced by Jim's sudden recovery. "I will not fall for your tricks Gau'auld, I have seen your kind beg for mercy as if they were the Host before. I will hear what you have to say but then you will be returned to your cell. If you cooperate with the Tok'ra and give us valuable information. Then your accommodations will improve but you will never take another human as a slave. If we could remove you from this man we would but it would kill him and possibly yourself as well. A blending as never occurred like this before but you are still a Gau'auld".
Jim knew they were not going to just trust him and he didn't blame them. "I am not the Gau'auld but I do understand your reasons for not trusting me". He realised that there was one person in the room, who could not understand English. The others could translate for him but this effected him and his kind, probably more than it did the Tok'ra's.
So he continued in Gau'auld. "The Jaffa are the Gau'auld's true strength, without them they are nothing. San'kha told us in the caves on Abydos, that the Jaffa could never be free and at the time I agreed with him. However I have spent a very long time learning about your race and I learned two very important things. One of them may shake the foundations of your entire belief system, the other will bring you great joy and may be the possible salvation of the Jaffa race".
Garshaw still did not sound impressed. "I will hear your words but I fail to see what a human can learn about our race, that we cannot learn ourselves. Be quick Gau'auld your cell awaits you and I grow weary of your games".
Jim's head dropped and then rose again. "If you wish to insult me then do as you wish but I suggest you listen to him". His head dropped again, then Jim said. "I will tell you the disturbing news first. Do you know the origins of your species?".
"We evolved over millions of years, on a world that we shared with the first Host of our kind, the Unas. They were a primitive humanoid species. I fail to see what relevance that has at this time". Garshaw replied.
"Yes you did live on that world for millions of years but you did not evolve there, you were abandoned there. You were created in order to cure a plague and you were successful but one of the people who were cured turned insane and murdered his family. When they realised the Symbiote had taken control and committed the murders. All of the Symbiote's were removed and placed on a world with no sentient life on it. Their survey must have missed the Unas on that world because eventually your two species met. Only one of your kind was able to take control of those that created you, they were a very advanced species. The others did not wish to leave their Hosts but they were forced to and from what I can tell, that is where the Gau'auld get the need to dominate, instead of cooperate from". He waited for Garshaw or even one of the others to reply.
"Your story is convincing but it may still be lies. If we were created for the purpose of curing a plague, then our creation had a noble purpose. However I fail to see the importance of this information. Whether we evolved or we were created matters little, we are here now and members of our species have enslaved the humans of this galaxy. You said that you had information concerning the Jaffa and their dependence on a Symbiote. Our Queen, she who spawned our people and gave us the mission to overthrow Ra and the other System Lords. Had planned to spawn more of our kind and they would have provided the Primta's for them but she was captured and killed by Ra, before she could complete her task".
"She was captured yes but she was not killed and there may still be a chance, that she is very much still alive. The world she was imprisoned and placed in stasis on, overthrew the Gau'auld who controlled that world and they buried their Chappa'ai centuries ago but I know the coordinates for that world and if you have a hyperspace capable vessel. You can go there in order to confirm what I am telling you". If this didn't peak their interest. Jim knew that he could be a prisoner for the rest of his life and if what his new partner was telling him was true. They could be older than Ra before they started to age rapidly, as three of the Tok'ra Hosts were doing now.
When the Gau'auld first took human Hosts, only one in two blending's would be successful. The Jaffa were genetically altered, in order for the Gau'auld to adapt to the humans physiology. After this all blending's between Gau'auld and their human Hosts were successful. They did not have the same problem with the Unas Hosts, because they were a less evolved species. Physically they were far superior to humans but their mental capacity was far more primal. It was this reason that made them easier to mentally subdue.
Because Jim had placed a part of himself into the Gau'auld, they had become far more compatible than they were before. Even the evil phantom that he had used to break the Gau'auld, was a part of who he was now. The joining of Symbiote with Host was a physical one but the blending itself, was purely on a mental level. Now that he had come out of hiding and the Gau'auld had stopped fighting itself. They were both starting to realise, just how great a connection they shared. In the few seconds before he had emerged. He had started the process of rebuilding the Gau'auld, into the one he wanted. It was a child burdened with his species vile past and even that was not their own fault. They had not been created to stop a plague, as he had told the Tok'ra. Their true purpose was to grant immortality to their creators and were nothing more than slaves themselves.
The people who had created them were not cruel intentionally, they had just been very short sighted. They had not considered that the Symbiote's would develop their own conscience. They were just meant to be living machines, that would heal all diseases and vastly extend their lifespans. These people already lived for thousands of years anyway, so with the Symbiote they were all but immortal.
The plague that devastated their race, was a result of removing the Symbiote's and only when their numbers had been heavily reduced, did they turn to the Symbiote's for salvation. They were left on the world of the Unas, in gratitude for saving their race. The memories of their original purpose were hidden within their genetic memory but they could not access it. It was where they had hidden the knowledge of their creation, that Jim had hidden himself. If the Gau'auld would have found the real him, the phantoms would never have been believable and in time Jim would have definitely lost their war.
Garshaw had a look on his face that was pure shock. "If you are lying about this, we will find a way to remove you from the Host and you will be executed. If you are not, then you will be aloud to return to the humans home world. If that is what they wish. We are listening... by what name does the Gau'auld wish to be addressed by?".
Jim's head dropped and when it arose again. His eye flashed, before saying in the booming voice of the Gau'auld. "I have learned from my host of a mythical God slayer from his worlds history, it suits him far more than myself but he already has a name".
"What would that name be?" Garshaw asked him.
He gave him a wicked smile, as he finally claimed his name. "My name is Kraytos".
I know he was a creation for a computer game but it's a fanfiction! So I am running with it. The name just fits.
