Chapter 57: The Tok'Ra Part 2

P34-353J, December 4th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Things were going well. At least Adora thought so. They had made contact with the Tok'ra, proving that Jakar had told them the truth, the Tok'ra had invited them to their base and were preparing to talk about an alliance. She frowned - well, they hadn't said so outright, actually. But they also hadn't denied it. So, it was implied, at least. And they had prepared guest quarters for Adora and her friends. Even more importantly, they weren't under guard. That was a sign of trust, in Adora's opinion.

Not that they had reached the guest quarters yet - Entrapta and Sam were examining the tunnels here. Quite thoroughly. Both had their scanners out. Well, their personal ones, though Adora had a feeling that Emily was also using hers, and Emily's scanner was a copy of the magically-enhanced scanner the two had built.

"Oh, look at the molecular structure here!"

"Yes. They are aligned… almost as if they were…"

"Yes, exactly! Emily, check the crystals again!"

Emily beeped.

"Oh, look at that!" Entrapta held her tool out to Sam - presumably to show the results of that scan.

"Definitely a connection to the crystals - the patterns complement each other."

Adora winced. Her friends were being a little rude. More than a little, in her opinion.

"Your scanners can analyse the molecular structure in that detail?"

"Yes. Look? That's the crystal's pattern. And that's the wall's!"

Well, at least Anise didn't seem to mind - though that was probably because the Tok'ra scientist was fascinated by Entrapta and Sam's technology.

Adora glanced at Jakar. The agent looked amused. So, they weren't insulting their hosts without meaning to - a danger, as Daniel had stressed, that was always present when making first contact. He had a number of stories to show that, too.

"Oh, I see! The crystals have been… altering the stone. The density is much higher than further away, but it's not high enough to account for the entire volume we're standing in."

And now Bow was getting into it. Adora softly sighed. If things continued like this, they wouldn't reach their guest quarters before the Tok'ra High Council was ready for them.

"And what does it mean? For non-scientists?" Catra asked suddenly, interrupting the others. She had her head cocked to the side and a bored expression - but Adora could tell that it was fake. Just like in cadet training when she had been fooling other squads. And instructors sometimes.

"Oh… isn't it obvious?" Entrapta asked, looking surprised.

Adora shook her head, as did Glimmer and Catra.

"Oh! Wellll… the tunnel here was created completely artificially."

"And that's never the case with tunnels, right?" Jack must be a little tense as well - he was usually a bit less sarcastic when talking to Entrapta.

"Well, technically…"

"They were created very quickly using the crystals to form and mould the stone, sir," Sam explained. "Judging by the readins we took, the stone's structure is still adjusting - cooling down where it had been compressed so much, the molecules heated up."

"Yes! But not the whole mass was compressed - a big part isn't here. So, either it was used as fuel - converted into energy in a non-explosive way - or it was disintegrated," Entrapta added.

"We didn't find any traces of loose molecules in the environment, though," Bow said.

Adora blinked. Did that mean…

"You made the whole base to meet us, didn't you?" Jack said.

Anise looked surprised, but Jakar smiled. "Indeed, Colonel O'Neill. Quite perceptive."

"I have my moments," Jack replied.

Adora glanced at Catra. Her lover didn't look surprised. Which didn't surprise Adora. Catra was much better at the sneaky stuff than her.

"Yes," Anise confirmed. "We can rapidly grow tunnels using our technology."

Catra whistled, then grinned at Adora. "Imagine what we could've done with that in the war."

Oh. Oh, yes. Adora could imagine that. Very well. If they had this technology… they could assault any bunker from any side they wanted. They could create safe and hidden supply lines. Entire bases could be fabricated in no time, out of sight of the enemy.

She glanced at Glimmer. They needed this alliance more than they had expected.


This was fascinating! The Tok'ra could grow tunnels. Samantha Carter had thought, at first, that they used advanced technology to rapidly drill tunnels - probably by using a way to disrupt the molecular bonds to facilitate excavating the material - but it was so much more. Their technology - she still hadn't found out how the crystals did this - shaped the stone. And used part of it to fuel the process. Probably not a self-sustaining reaction, though - at least, she hoped not. If such a thing ever went out of control, it might actually manage something close to the - impossible as far as Sam knew - Grey Goo scenario. Not that she had any idea how a self-sustaining partial disintegration process might work, either.

"So, the crystals are the key. That means they must be used to project a field that changes the matter," Entrapta said.

"Yes." Anise nodded after a moment's hesitation. Then she cocked her head. "And your scanner is a very advanced multi-frequency device. However, that wouldn't result in some of the readings I see here. So… how are you doing this? It must be this crystal here." She tapped part of the externally-visible crystal array that boosted the scanner with magic.

"Yes, that's the key part of the scanner," Entrapta confirmed. "It bypasses the limits of the standard scanner. Some of the limits, at least - we still have trouble with the finer details at longer ranges, and its range itself is still limited, though planetary scans are reliably possible, and some effects do reduce the scanner's effectiveness. But we're working on that!"

If not as often as we probably should, Sam thought as she nodded in agreement. But there was so much else to do… and so few who could assist, much less take over some projects. Years of secrecy meant even geniuses like Hawking had to first catch up before they could contribute to the field.

Which, Sam admitted to herself while she ran another scan, had some good side as well - some of those geniuses could do with a little humbling. At least in her opinion. While none had said so to her face, she knew that some of them looked down on her for being a woman, a soldier, or both. Iwan never did that. Or, she couldn't help adding, in the Colonel's voice, he was too well-trained to let it slip.

"Oh, look at that!" Entrapta interrupted her thoughts. "That trace here… the structures are half-formed."

"Yes." Sam narrowed her eyes. That was the first trace of a denser but not quite fully formed area they had seen. And that meant they could deduce something about how the process worked. After extensive modelling and more scanning, and probably not enough to understand, much less replicate the process, but it was a start.

"This is remarkable. You aren't just enhancing the scan with a different sensor - you're enhancing the scan itself! This is… Not even supercharging a scanner with Naquadah would achieve that."

Supercharging a scanner with Naquadah? Sam blinked. That would…

"If you empower the scan and have Naquadah present…" Entrapta frowned.

"...it could destabilise the entire array," Sam finished for her friend. "Violently and exothermically."

"Boom!" Entrapta mimed an explosion.

Anise frowned. Either she didn't like the miming or… "Yes, it can lead to remarkable explosions if mishandled," the Tok'ra said.

She was speaking from experience, Sam was sure. But she wouldn't ask - it was clear that Anise didn't like to be reminded of such a failure.

"Oh! Did that happen to you? Did you lose your entire lab? That happened to me once. Well, more than once, but only once through a completely unexpected explosion instead of an unexpectedly powerful explosion," Entrapta said, beaming at Anise.

"Something like that, yes," Ansie said with a wince.

Entrapta nodded. "Well, you can make a new lab easily with this technology, though the tools might be a bother to replace - although that means it's also an opportunity to upgrade!"

"Especially your safety procedures," Bow cut in with a forced smile.

Anise didn't look very impressed. She nodded, quite curtly. "Yes. However… the way your scanner works, you either have it slaved to a much more powerful array somewhere else, close enough to work…" She glanced at Emily. "But the signals would be detected. Or you have added another element. And those crystals…" She gasped. "It can't be!" Her eyes widened as she looked at Entrapta. "Magic?"

Sam hesitated just long enough - should she lie or not? It would come out sooner or later anyway; Adora would ask to return magic to the planet - for Entrapta to nod. "Exactly! It's a magic scanner."

"But… magic stopped working long ago," Anise said.

"We're bringing it back!" Entrapta beamed at her. "Technically, it never stopped working - you, that means, the galaxy, simply lost access to it. Did you work with magic before it was taken away?"

"Taken away? The common theory amongst System Lords is that magic was the work of the Ancients and that whatever system had powered it had finally broken down a thousand years ago," Anise said. "You mean that was a deliberate action?"

"Yes. Although technically, it was done by the Ancients, I guess," Entrapta said. "Do you remember it?"

Anise shook her head. "No. I wasn't born back then. And I never worked with magic - our species has no talent for it."

"But shouldn't you have genetic memories of your progenitor?" Entrapta blinked.

Sam narrowed her eyes. Indeed, a Goa'uld or Tok'ra should remember the time when magic worked. And Goa'uld couldn't do magic? Not even with talented hosts? Something to confirm.

The Colonel interrupted by yawning. "Say, can we get to those guest quarters? My back's killing me."

Right. Sam refused to blush even though she just realised that they had been holding up everyone else. But it was such a fascinating technology…

At least Anise and Bow looked as sheepish as Sam felt. Entrapta, of course, wasn't fazed. "Aw. This is so interesting… although I guess we can continue with the walls in the guest quarters! Let's go, Emily!"

Sam could tell that the Colonel wasn't pleased about that, but he should have known better than to expect Entrapta to stop examining such fascinating new technology.

"So, Bow, getting distracted by the shiny new technology? Should Glimmer get jealous?" Sam heard Catra ask as they started to follow Jakar.

Although, Sam suddenly realised as Catra and Adora teased Bow, with Glimmer joining in for a mock-disappointed complaint that had the man flounder for a moment, the Tok'ra agent couldn't have known the base beforehand. Nor could have Anise - both had been away when the base had been built. So, if they could serve as guides, then this base must have a pre-set layout or there were markers indicating where which part was. Since she hadn't noticed any such markers, she was betting on the former. But she'd have to check with the others about this - she could have missed something, after all.

"Here!" Jakar announced with a bow that seemed just a bit too intricate to be genuine or completely serious, and next to him, a sliding door opened. Big enough to let Emily pass through.

"Neat! Can you grow such a mechanism as well?" Entrapta asked, bending over to examine the door.

That was a good question. If this technology wasn't limited to growing tunnels and rooms but could be used to grow furniture and more complex things…

"Standard packages can be easily installed," Anise said, which was a little evasive, in Sam's opinion. "But come inside."

The guest quarters looked spartan compared to quarters a state visit could expect in most countries on Earth, much less the lavish luxury of Bright Moon, but for a group in hiding, they were quite generous, in Sam's opinion. The furniture mostly but not completely matched, so that might indicate that the Tok'ra couldn't grow more than tunnels. Well, they could ask Anise.


"Nice digs," Catra commented as she looked around. "Quite a step up from Horde barracks."

"Catra!" Adora hissed under her breath.

"What? It's true. It's a compliment," Catra said. "This is their equivalent of generic construction." And as bland as a guest room on Earth - in Bright Moon, someone would have added little touches to make the guest feel more at home. Or feel more out of their depth if the guest had been raised in the Horde, Catra added mentally with a snort.

"We're guests here!" Adora insisted.

Yes, they were. But since they didn't have privacy - not that Catra expected the room to be private even if the two Tok'ra had left; in the Tok'ra's place, she would have crammed it full of surveillance - she felt justified in ribbing their hosts a bit.

Or trying to rib them - Anise was busy examining Entrapta's technology while Entrapta and the others were examining the walls of the room, and Jakar looked perfectly at ease. The spy really was too smooth. And too friendly. Not as bad as Double Trouble - Catra didn't have the urge to claw his face off every time he smiled - but he got her hackles raised.

"We do our best, but our means are limited - we do wage war against an Empire that has us outnumbered many, many times over, forcing us to remain in hiding and be prepared to move at the shortest notice."

"That's terrible!" Adora said. "How often do you have to move?"

"Often enough to keep us from setting down roots anywhere, I'd say," he replied with a shrug, "but not enough to force us to constantly move."

Another non-answer. Catra suppressed a theatrical sigh. "So, do your decoy bases see regular use against the Goa'uld?" She sat down on one of the couches - or were they supposed to be beds? They were not as soft as Bright Moon's 'swallowing pillows' but softer than a normal couch. "Since you don't have a Stargate in the base, you would have to outwait any attackers before you could leave. Letting them destroy a base would probably speed that up." And keep them from just blowing up the planet if they couldn't find the Tok'ra but knew that they were present.

"They have been used in that capacity in the past, yes," Jakar admitted. "Mostly to fool the Goa'uld into thinking that we already moved before they arrived." He smiled wryly. "Which is why Garshaw will not be happy to hear that you have realised our building capability and will oppose sharing this technology - if the Goa'uld suspect we can do this, they will be much harder to fool with fake bases."

Entrapta wouldn't be happy to hear that, Catra knew. She glanced at the corner, where Entrapta, Bow and the others were still examining the stone wall. It seemed she hadn't overheard them.

"You won't have to fool them any more if you join us," Adora said. "We can match them in open warfare. Not that we are planning to strike openly from the start, of course - the element of surprise has tobe preserved as long as possible."

"I sincerely hope so," Jakar told her. "But I am not on the High Council. You will have to convince them to change our ways. My own voice will not move them much, especially since I am still a little suspect after enjoying your hospitality."

So, they thought he was compromised? Catra narrowed her eyes.

But Jack spoke before she could. "Why don't they trust you? You've got all that genetic memory and a thousand years of working together."

Jakar, for once not smiling so smugly or overly friendly, shook his head. "Unlike the Goa'uld, we do not extend our lives with sarcophaguses. So, while we share the memories of our distant ancestors, we do not live for thousands of years. Our life spans are more comparable to yours."

Oh. Catra glanced at the others. That changed a few things.


So the snakes were as mortal as humans. That was crucial intel, Jack O'Neill knew - their calculations had been based on the assumption that they were dealing with aliens who had been alive for a thousand years or more. And who probably counted on being alive for another few thousand years. Then again, they had that genetic memory…

"Really?" Of course, Daniel would jump on that.

Jack was almost relieved - Daniel being quiet while meeting new aliens was very uncharacteristic. Almost. Daniel was just a little bit better at talking himself out of trouble than he was at getting in trouble.

And there he went. "But you still have the genetic memory of your ancestors - all of them, I suppose?"

Jakar's smile turned a bit blander, Jack noted. "That's a very personal question, Dr Jackson."

"Oh, I am sorry - it's just that we have, although not nearly enough, quite the amount of information about Goa'uld society, so we know that the fact that its members, especially its leaders, were so extremely long-lived, was crucial in shaping it. Although this is merely an assumption, and a generalisation, and based on human behaviour, older people tend to be more conservative, and that would explain the relative stagnation of Goa'uld society." And there came his charming smile. "So, the existence of a society of, well, people who share the same biology, but have a very different lifespan, provides a fascinating counterpart to check such assumptions." He blinked. "I mean, that sounds… I didn't mean it like an experiment. But I would love to learn more about your society."

Jack nodded in agreement, if not for the same reasons as Daniel. They needed to know more about the Tok'ra - as much as possible. Not just for the upcoming negotiations but for the future as well. Whether they managed to form an alliance or not, the Tok'ra were extremely dangerous.

Jakar's smile remained polite as he tilted his head a smidge to the side. "Half of our society is formed by humans, Dr Jackson." Then his voice switched. "Yes. I fear that you might be operating from a mistaken assumption. The Tok'ra aren't like the Goa'uld - we are their partners, not their slaves."

Daniel blinked. "Of course." He bowed his head. "I didn't want to give offence. Obviously, the comparatively reduced lifespan of the symbiont would affect their relationship with the hosts as well. The power imbalance between a being who has lived for thousands of years and a human would render any relationship less than equal no matter the intentions of everyone involved, but if that factor is gone…" He frowned in his half-pouty way. "There's still the genetic memory to consider, of course. As I said, fascinating."

Great. Jack glanced at the corner where Carter was still geeking out about snake science. He was in danger of losing half of his team to the snakes! He bit down on the first comment that came to mind - neither of his friends would have taken it well - and joked: "Careful with that enthusiasm, Danny, or they'll end up offering you a symbiont."

Daniel glared at him. "Jack!"

Jack's chuckle died, though, when he saw Jakar's reaction.

Jakar switched back to his snake voice. "Actually, Colonel O'Neill, we're always looking for willing hosts. I can guarantee that this will come up in negotiations."

Oh, no! Hell, no! Jack wouldn't let anyone of his team get snaked! Or anyone else, if he could help it!


Jack looked like he had bitten into a brown Horde ration bar that had gone bad. Or, Adora added in her mind, one that had been disguised as a grey one and gone bad.

"Oh? Do you have trouble finding willing hosts?" Daniel asked, cocking his head.

"It's not always easy to find a human who can make an informed decision," Jakar explained. "Consent is meaningless if it's based on wrong information or on indoctrination. And with the Goa'uld keeping their human slaves ignorant and teach them to worship their masters as gods…" He shrugged, and his voice changed again. This was Mats talking, now. "It took a long time for me to truly understand what joining with Jakar would mean. I was raised as a slave, to faithfully worship a false god, and to overcome that…" He shook his head. "We have to be sure that there will be no false expectations which could lead to resentment afterwards."

Daniel looked impressed. "I see. Of course, recruiting from a Goa'uld slave society, or less technologically advanced civilisations like the Cimmerians, would pose such problems."

"And we cannot just kidnap people to teach them the truth. The more they learn, the greater the risk they would pose, should the Goa'uld get ahold of them, which means we couldn't allow them to return even if they rejected our offer to become a host," Jakar, back in charge of the body, explained.

"And you would have to educate them as well so they can function in your society, which is obviously more technologically advanced than the typical Goa'uld slave society. You cannot be an equal partner in a relationship if you depend on your symbiont for everything." Daniel nodded. "If Sha're had come to Earth with me, instead of us staying on Abydos, where she could teach me about daily life, I wonder how we would have fared…" He trailed off, a pained expression on his face.

Adora bit her lower lip. She felt for her friend - she knew what he was going through. Better than almost anyone else, she added with a glance at Catra, remembering when her lover had been controlled by Horde Prime. But they would rescue Sha're and remove the Goa'uld possessing her. Reunite Daniel with his love. She was She-Ra; saving people was her duty.

"We'll save her," Jack echoed Adora's thoughts.

She nodded in agreement. "Yes," she said as confidently as she could. "We will."

Jakar cocked his head, frowning a little. "Your partner was taken by the Goa'uld?"

Daniel nodded. "Not just taken. Taken as a host," he spat through clenched teeth - quite an unusual tone and expression for him, Adora thought.

"And you wish our help to remove the Goa'uld from her."

So, they could do it! That was part of the reason they were here. They could save Lieutenant Lenkova first, then! Adora smiled.

As did Daniel. "You can do it?"

"We can remove a Goa'uld from their host, yes," Jakar confirmed.

"Without killing the host, I hope," Jack cut in.

"Of course." Jakar narrowed his eyes at him, Adora noted.

"Just checking," Jack replied with a slightly toothy smile. "Wouldn't want to find out too late about side effects."

"We aren't Goa'uld, Colonel O'Neill. We do not consider people expendable."

"You blew up a lab with all the prisoners still inside," Jack shot back.

Jakar met Jack's eyes. "As I explained, as far as I knew at the time, I could not save them without failing my mission, and allowing Apophis to develop biological weapons would have doomed far more people. I did not make this decision lightly, Colonel, but I would make it again. We are compassionate, but not foolishly so. We are fighting a war."

Adora pressed her lips together. That was… well, he wasn't wrong, but if Adora had been there, they could have saved everyone. They couldn't give up hope lightly when it came to saving people.

Catra, though, nodded. "Yes. You made the call, and while it was a bad one, you didn't know any better. If we had been informed, things would have gone differently."

Jakar frowned - did he expect them not to point that out? - but slowly nodded as well.

In the sudden silence, they could hear Entrapta point out something about their scanner to Anise that Adora heard but didn't understand. She glanced at Glimmer, who seemed to follow the conversation. As a trained sorceress, she knew more about magic than Adora. And also about magitech. Maybe Adora should study magic as well…

"So, how long do Tok'ra live?" Catra asked, breaking the silence.

"Barring an unfortunately not quite rare death at the hands of the Goa'uld or their servants," Jakar said with a glance at Teal'c, "we can live for several centuries."

He had hesitated a moment before answering, Adora realised. And that was a bit vague, still.

Jack whistled. "Several centuries?"

"Oh. That's… quite long compared to the average human lifespan," Daniel commented. "What about your hosts?"

"They share our longevity. It would hardly be a true partnership if they died long before our time," Jakar commented.

His voice changed, and Mats said: "Indeed. Which is another reason finding hosts can be difficult. To see your family, maybe your children, grow old and die while you stay young is not something everyone can stand. If you have a family left, of course."

"Yes," Jack commented. He looked like he wanted to say more but kept his lips pressed closed instead, looking rather grim.

He must be thinking of his dead son, Adora realised, and had to refrain from trying to console him. Jack wouldn't appreciate her hugging him or squeezing his shoulder. Even if he really needed it, in her opinion.

And they weren't in private, anyway.

"You know, you've been telling us a lot about what the Tok'ra want and would expect," Catra spoke up again, tilting her head as she looked at Jakar. "And right before our negotiations with you." She flashed her fangs at him. "Mighty generous of you."

"I believe that the more you know about us and understand our situation, the easier you will find common ground, "Jakar, back in control, replied. "Both of our people need this alliance, and to see it fail because of misunderstandings and ignorance would be unacceptable."

"Ah." Adora nodded.

"Laudable," Glimmer said. "But will your friends understand?" She glanced at Anise, who was, at least as far as Adora could tell, still captivated by the magitech scanner.

Jakar shrugged. "I do what is necessary even if it costs me."

"Even when it means going against your friends?" Jack asked.

"I would not betray them, but I won't blindly follow a course of action I consider foolish either." Jakar shrugged. "Blind obedience is what Goa'uld expect and demand." Once again, he glanced at Teal'c.

"Indeed."

"You don't like Jaffa, do you?" Catra asked.

"They do most of the System Lords' killing," Jakar replied. "It is hard to... not see them as the willing tool of our enemy. Too much blood has been spilt at their eager hands."

Oh. "But Teal'c turned away from that," Adora said - Catra was looking grim as well, she noticed. "Once he had the opportunity."

"He may be an exception. But how many of your prisoners turned against Apophis?" Jakar asked.

"Everyone can change," Adora told him. "Sometimes, all they need is the chance to do so."

"And sometimes, it's not enough," Catra muttered next to her.

Adora wrapped her arm around her lover's shoulder, pulling her against her side despite her squeaking protest. Catra had changed. Adora knew that even if Catra sometimes forgot. "We know about being raised in ignorance and sent to fight for evil rulers," she told Jakar.

His eyebrows rose. "I see."

"Yeah, I think you do," Jack cut in. "To avoid mistakes and ignorance, improve understanding yadda, yadda."

Jakar slowly nodded with a faint smile.

Ah.

Jakar was a spy, Adora reminded herself. And information flowed both ways.


"I see. So, this is the converter that powers the magic part of the scanner. Ingenious. And with that, you can use magitech." Anise hadn't taken her eyes off the scanner since Entrapta had opened it. Not that Samantha Carter would have expected anything else - the Tok'ra scientist had been very enthusiastic since they'd met. And very quick to understand their explanations.

They hadn't gone into too much detail, of course - that would have been sharing technology, and Anise hadn't exactly shared blueprints of their tunnel growing technology either, but Sam felt that this needed some clarification. "You can use existing magitech, yes - but to construct a new magitech component, you need to work in a magically active environment."

"A planet where magic has been returned," Entrapta added. "There aren't many of those around yet."

"A planet like yours?" Anise asked, cocking her head in a way that looked just a bit weird - alien - to Sam even though part of her, no, the remnants of Jolinar, found it perfectly normal.

"Yes. Etheria never lost its magic, and Earth has had its magic restored." Entrapta smiled. "We're planning to restore magic to the galaxy, but it's going a little slow because of all the security concerns."

"You can restore magic to a planet?" Anise looked… Well, Sam hoped she never looked like that when faced with exciting new technology. The teasing the Colonel could come up with about wanting to marry a computer…

"Not me," Entrapta said.

"It's not a technological problem," Sam cut her friend off before she could mention Adora's name. "I am sure it will come up at the negotiations," she added, with a glance at Entrapta.

"Right!" Entrapta nodded, her hair bopping a little as it held the scanner. "Some people tend to be a little nervous about possible side effects, even though it's perfectly safe - generally."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Anise said. "The potential of magitech outweighs any possible danger magic could pose. Although I remember reading that magic was limited to those people who had a particular talent for it…"

"Yes. And they need training as well to do magic," Entrapta said. "But anyone can work with magical components. That's just science. And some magitech allows you to refine or effectively create magical components."

That, once again, was just a little too much information. "So, it's not as if restoring magic will turn a planet into a magitech factory," Sam said. "But, again, such details are best left to the negotiations."

Anise nodded. "Of course. They're bound to be interesting. And speaking of the upcoming negotiations… I think I need to talk to Garshaw and the others before those start." She looked at the scanner again, shaking her head, then turned away with obvious reluctance.

Sam knew the feeling.

"Jakar," Anise said. "We should let our guests rest before the negotiations."

"Ah, of course." Jakar bowed to the Colonel and the others. "We'll take our leave then."

"You do that," the Colonel replied, smiling until the doors closed behind the two Tok'ra. Then he sighed and turned to Sam and Entrapta. "So… where are the cameras I should wave to?"

"Huh?" Entratpa looked confused.

"We haven't scanned for surveillance devices yet," Sam replied. Not with Anise watching them.

"Well, let's do it. I guess they already know all about your fancy scanner anyway." He tilted his head a bit towards her, Sam saw.

She pressed her lips together at the rebuke. Yes, she should have kept Entrapta from spilling more intel, but… This was a diplomatic meeting. As Adora had said, trust required trust, and someone had to make the first step.

Though they might have taken a few steps too far, should negotiations fail. On the other hand, they had gotten detailed scans of the crystal used by the Tok'ra. Enough to have at least some idea about how it worked. Emily's scans should be even more detailed as well - and they hadn't revealed that to Anise. Although she probably suspected.

But first, they had to scan for surveillance devices. Or security devices, depending on your point of view.

"Found it! Them!" Entrapta announced thirty seconds later, hair pointing at two corners of the room.

"Two cameras and microphones," Sam added, looking at the readout. She looked at the Colonel, raising her eyebrows.

"Let's get some privacy without destroying our new friends' tools," he replied.

"Yes, that would be rude," Glimmer agreed, if with a touch of sarcasm.

Sam nodded and triggered a noise-cancelling field. They'd have to avoid letting the cameras see their faces to protect against lip-reading, but that wasn't too hard now that they knew where the cameras were. "Done, sir," she announced.

"Those are rather standard devices - for Goa'uld," Entrapta added with a pout. "I would have expected better technology from people spying on the Goa'uld."

"They probably didn't use their best technology here," Catra said.

"Then why install it at all?" Entrapta shook her head.

"Habit?" Catra shrugged. "They're spies, after all."

"It might be merely standard practice," Daniel pointed out. "Something everyone expects."

"Whatever," the Colonel spoke up. "They know that we know that they know. Let's talk diplomacy. And secrecy."

Sam winced a little at the glance he sent her.


O'Neill wasn't happy with Sam and Entrapta, Catra could easily tell. And, well, he had his reasons - the two had spilt some intel to the Tok'ra; Catra had followed their conversation with Anise quite closely. There hadn't been anything too important, and they had gotten some intel back, but still, it could've gone better - although it could've gone worse as well. And Entrapta was Entrapta. She wasn't a spy or professional soldier. If you wanted or needed her talents, you had to make some allowances for her quirks.

And she was Catra's friend.

So when O'Neill started talking about not revealing secrets, Catra shrugged pointedly and interrupted him. "Trying to keep things secret that will come out anyway if we form an alliance is stupid."

"It also weakens our negotiation position," O'Neill retorted, frowning at her rather than at Entrapta. "The more they know about us, the better they can make demands. They can't ask for something they don't know."

Catra was about to answer, but Glimmer was faster. "That's short-sighted, Jack. We're here to get an ally we can trust, and we won't get that if we play games with them." She shook her head. "This isn't a compettion."

"We're not going to play games. But they're not telling us everything, and you can bet that they want the best deal for themselves." He snorted. "Jakar's good at playing the helpful friend, but he's a spy - and he really wants this alliance."

"The best deal for everyone is an alliance with trusted friends," Adora said, nodding firmly.

Catra suppressed a sigh - and a sappy smile. That was… well, so like Adora. And her lover wasn't wrong, of course, but… "Yeah, but not everyone wants to be your friend, even if they act like it." She tried not to wince at Aora's frown.

"Exactly!" O`Neill said with a sharp nod.

"But we didn't do that," Sam spoke up. "We discussed fairly obvious technology, not anything crucial."

O'Neill frowned some more. "Magic seems quite crucial to me. Healing, scanning, zombifying…"

"Magic is an obvious topic that would have come up during negotiations anyway," Glimmer said. "This way, they won't feel as if we tried to trick them or attempted to hide it from them."

"Not that we have to hide magic from the Tok'ra," Entrapta said. "Anise was very interested! I don't think they'll fear it."

"That was one Tok'ra. We don't know what the others will think about it," Daniel cautioned her. "Especially if they can't use magic."

"They can use magitech, though," Entrapta pointed out.

"That might not appeal to everyone." Daniel pushed his glasses up with one finger. "And what will they think about magical ways to eject a symbiont from a host, possibly killing the symbiont in the process?"

That was a good point, Catra had to admit. Of course, magic spells and powers could kill anyone, but that was something you were used to on Etheria - especially in the Horde. If the Tok'ra were not used to it, magic might terrify them.

"Jakar didn't seem to mind, either," Adora said.

"Jakar has an agenda." O'Neill shook his head. "He's been far too helpful to be trusted."

And he was a spy.

"He told us about the Tok'ra's goals and needs," Adora protested.

"About some of them. And he was slippery at that. 'Several centuries'? 'Comparable'? Remember how he dodged the question about their genetic memory?" Jack scoffed. "He would make a fine politician."

Daniel frowned at him, Catra saw. "That's a very biased view, Jack. It's clear that the relationship between the symbiont and the host is at the core of the Tok'ra society. That's what separates them from the Goa'uld. They go as far as to consider themselves a different species because of this. You don't expect him to tell us everything up front, do you?"

Catra smirked at the way Daniel turned O'Neill's words back at him.

"It's so crucial for them, they will ask for more hosts from us!" O'Neill shot back. "You heard him - they're always looking for hosts!"

But who would want to share their body with a snake that could take control of it anytime they chose? Catra shuddered at the thought.

"Which is an interesting point, Jack," Daniel said. "If a host lives roughly as long as the Tok'ra, and they always need new hosts, then they must have a significant number of Tok'ra without hosts. And that means…"

"They must have a queen," Teal'c said.

Catra shrugged. That seemed obvious to her. "Well, someone has to give birth to all the Tok'ra, right? Especially If they don't live as long as the Goa'uld."

"They didn't mention anything about us meeting their queen," Glimmer said, frowning a little. "Just the High Council."

"Maybe they want to surprise us?" Adora asked.

Catra suppressed a snort.

"I doubt that." Daniel shook his head. "Their queen would be crucial for their entire civilisation. Should anything happen to her, they would be doomed unless they find a replacement - they would die out. So, they would likely keep her as safe as possible, far from any threat no matter how remote."

That made sense. "Their biggest secret," Catra said.

"Indeed," Teal'c said.

Catra grinned. The upcoming negotiations should be fun.