********************************
Chapter Ten: Meeting the Natives

*
Renat and Lelan led the visitors from Earth off of the beach and towards a forest. The trees looked similar to what one would find on Earth, though a trained botanist could probably recognize differences. They continued walking for about an hour through the forest, until they reached a hilltop. Standing at the top of the hill, they could see the lights of a gigantic city several miles away.

"Wow," said O'Neill, "that's....big."

"I'd say at least one hundred kilometers in size, sir," said Carter.

"That is the ruling city," said Renat. "It was once home to the royal family and their followers. The followers of Kivar once occupied these woods, trying to find ways to pierce the city's defenses. They never did, until someone betrayed the royal family."

Isabel and the others knew it was Vilandra that betrayed her family for Kivar, but didn't say anything. Max was the one who asked the burning question on their minds.

"Do you know who it was?" asked Max.

"We do not," said Lelan.

"So, how do we get into the city?" asked Major Ambrose.

"Gather around," said Renat. "We should be in range now."

"Range for what?" asked O'Neill.

"Come, do not fear," said Lelan.

They all stood close to Renat and Lelan. They closed their eyes, and soon a bright flash of light surrounded them. Within a matter of a second, the open area around them changed to some kind of tunnel. The visitors from Earth were disoriented for a moment.

"What just happened?" asked Michael.

"It was a standard mid-range transporter," said Renat. "If one knows the proper mental coding, it can be called upon at certain ranges to transport matter within a certain radius."

"Similar in some respects to the Asgard transportation devices," said Alex.

"You know of the ASGARD?!" asked Lelan with excitement. Renat's face also reflected surprise.

"Yeah, they're...buddies, of ours," said O'Neill.

"They are our allies against the Goa'uld," said Teal'c.

"What are Goa'uld?" asked Renat.

"Long story," said Max. "Sufficed to say, Earth has enemies that we were hoping the people of Antar might help us to combat."

"Wait, are you not here to reclaim your throne?" asked Lelan.

"Its difficult to explain," said Tess. "Perhaps if you could take us to your leadership, we could discuss the matter."

"Of course," said Lelan. "This is for Shayman to consider."

"Shayman?" asked O'Neill.

"Our leader, once a war master of the royal family, loyal to King Zahn," said Renat. "He will be pleased to see you. Come."

They moved through the tunnel, which was lighted by glowing crystals on the ceiling. As they walked, Dr. Barrows asked Lelan a question.

"Where exactly are we?" he asked.

"These tunnels run under a portion of the city," said Lelan. "The leaders of the resistance hide here, since the tunnels are vast enough to evade Kivar's forces here."

"Do you live here?" asked Isabel.

"No," said Renat. "We live in the city. Only the leadership lives here, the resistance is spread amongst the population."

After about a half-an-hour of walking, they came up to a smooth metallic wall. Renat raised his hand, and the wall seemed to melt away and a lighted room became visible. Several men were there, with some kind of round devices in their hand, pointed like weapons at the group.

"State your purpose," said one of the men.

"Renat and Lelan, to see Shayman," said Lelan. "Yesala."

"Code accepted," said the man. "Who are these others?"

"They are from Earth," said Renat. "This one...is King Zahn, reincarnated in human form."

The men looked at each other with startled expressions. After a few moments of apparent confusion, the man who spoke before finally told them to proceed. They walked down a lighted corridor, and entered a large chamber that seemed to glow with blue phosphorescent light.

An older man came out of another door on the opposite end of the room, seemingly distraught.

"Great Shayman," said Renat. "You were...."

"Informed, yes," said the older man. "This is not supposed to be happening!!! What are you doing here?!!!!"

"Um, these two people, your friends..."began Dr. Jackson.

Shayman ignored Dr. Jackson and walked right up to Max. "You....you are the one called Max, are you not?"

"Yes," said Max.

"King Zahn," said Shayman.

"Yes," replied Max.

Shayman walked over to Michael, Isabel, and Tess, all in turn. He looked them over like lab rats, even reaching up and pulling Isabel's hair.

"It worked better than we could have hoped," said Shayman. He then walked back over to Max. "But, you should not be here? Now was not the time. Where is Nasedo? He was placed in charge of your care? Where is he?"

"Nasedo is dead," said Tess. "The Skins...killed him, years ago."

"Ah, I see," said Shayman. "Regretful. He was one of our best operatives. The Queen Mother selected him specifically to guard you, to guide you as well. But, how did you get here? We would have known if you had used the Granolith."

"Um, I think I can answer that," said O'Neill.

Shayman turned and looked at him. "Human, species homosapien," said Shayman. "Unimpressive. Why were you brought? Do you serve the royal four?"

"Serve!" said O'Neill. "They only people I serve are my General and my commander-in-chief, mister!"

"Um, what Colonel O'Neill is trying to say," said Dr. Jackson, "is that...we brought them to Antar."

"Impossible," said Shayman. "Humans have not yet developed interstellar travel, at least not the ones from Earth."

Shayman was looking over the rest of the visitors from Earth, and froze with a startled expression when his eyes rested on Teal'c.

"What is this?!" asked Shayman. "HE IS JAFFA!!! A servant of the Goa'uld!!! Do you all serve the Goa'uld?!!"

"We do not," said Teal'c. "I am one of many Jaffa who have rebelled against the Goa'uld System Lords, and seek to destroy them."

"I have not heard of this," said Shayman. "Though, granted, my off world information has been greatly reduced since the fall of the royal government to Kivar's forces. When did this happen?"

"Several years ago," said Teal'c. "I and the rebel Jaffa have now allied ourselves with the Tauri, the humans of Earth."

"But how did the Jaffa...the Goa'uld come into contact with humans on Earth?" asked Shayman. "The Goa'uld abandoned Earth millennia ago."

"The United States Air Force is operating a Stargate," said Major Carter.

Shayman's eyes widened with shock. "A STARGATE!!" he said. "You primitive fools!!! You are not ready for the forces you would meat in the galaxy traveling through the Stargate network."

"HEY!" said O'Neill. "We do pretty well for ourselves! We've kicked the living crap out of the Goa'uld a number of times, and we have made allies."

"Some of which brought us here," said Dr. Barrows. "Are you familiar with the Tokrah?"

Shayman nodded. "So, they are your allies. I see now how you came here. They must have a ship somewhere in the Antar system, cloaked no doubt."

"Great Shayman," said Renat. "They also claim to be allied with the Asgard."

Shayman smiled. "If the Asgard have put that much trust in you to call you ally, then you humans must not be as dim witted as I believed. At any rate, you have aided King Zahn and the royal family in returning to Antar. For that, we should be grateful. But, now is not the right time to try and reclaim the throne from Kivar. This should not have happened for at least two more Earth years. We would have signaled you."

"How would we have received it?" asked Michael.

"You just would have, that is all you need to know," said Shayman.

"Look, I'm not even sure if I would want to reclaim the throne," said Max. "We all have lives on Earth now. I have a wife back on Earth, and I am expecting a child...."

"Oh, no," said Shayman. "You have taken a human MATE. This is...oh, if only Nasedo had not died. He could have guided you properly."

"Look, Nasedo abandoned them when they were born!" said Alex. "They were raised by humans, loved by humans!! What the hell did you ever do for them?!"

"At ease, Lieutenant," said Major Ambrose, calming the younger man down.

"I do not understand why you are here then," said Shayman.

"We were hoping that we could recruit Antar as an ally in our quest to rid the galaxy of the Goa'uld," said Teal'c.

"A noble cause to be sure," said Shayman. "But we have our own problems to deal with. We can not help you solve yours."

"How about in the area of technology?" asked Carter. "Weapons, ship designs, alternative power sources..."

"Why should we give you such things?" asked Shayman.

"You just said getting rid of the Goa'uld is a noble cause," said Dr. Jackson.

"Noble causes run amuck it seems," said Shayman. "We have our own here, to end the tyranny of Kivar. Perhaps, if you help us to do that, we might aid in your crusade, eh. But....I would imagine the Asgard will not interfere. I know their ways. The Tokrah have a single purpose, to defeat the Goa'uld. They will not come to our aid either. Humans alone can offer no assistance. So, any such arrangement would be a useless thing to consider. Besides, Kivar already knows the royal four have been reborn as human-hybrids on Earth. He has been considering attacking Earth directly, both to destroy you and to take the humans as slaves."

"Well, I wouldn't recommend he do that," said O'Neill. "That's another reason we are here, to let this Kivar guy know that he'd better not threaten Earth."

"Your military forces could not stop them," said Shayman.

"Well, you see, we are a protected planet, by treaty with the Asgard," said Dr. Jackson.

"An Asgard protected world," said Shayman. "Hmmm. I would love to see Kivar try and attack Earth then. The Asgard would defeat his forces soundly."

"I'd rather not see that, thank you," said O'Neill.

**
Kivar, the ruler of Antar, stood on a balcony overlooking his realm as he often did at night, enjoying the view of the city lights that stretched seemingly into infinity. He was master of all he surveyed, and nothing pleased him more than reminders of his power of the lives of millions of Antarians. He loved his power, and used it as he pleased. No one can challenge his power. All who once tried to prevent him from ascending to his destined reign over Antar are now dead.

The sound of heavy boots were heard by Kivar coming up behind him. Kivar knew the gate of the approaching person all too well.

"War Leader Nakalleen," said Kivar. "It is late. This had better be important."

"Lord Kivar," said the black uniformed Nakalleen. "Our spy in the resistance have reported in."

"Oh," said Kivar. "What is that old fool Shayman up to now?"

"My Lord," said Nakalleen. "Our agent reports that the royal four are here, on Antar."

Kivar turned sharply to face his loyal warrior-servant. "WHAT?!" he asked. "Here! That is not possible!! I would have known if they had used the Granolith to return to Antar from Earth!!"

"My Lord," said Nakalleen. "Our spy said that there were human warriors with them. They were found along the coast, and brought before Shayman!"

"Humans are not capable of traveling here!" said Kivar. "They have not even settled their own natural satellite!!"

"Nevertheless, My Lord," said Nakalleen. "They royal four are here. Shall we implement the plan we had prepared for their return?"

"Immediately," said Kivar. "Bring them before me, so that I may interrogate and execute them myself. I have looked forward to this for so long, for the day they would return. Now, the final failure of the followers of Zahn will come to fruition. Shayman, the royal four, their human traveling companions...all will die by the coming of another night."

End of Chapter Ten. Chapter Eleven coming soon.

Thank you, everyone, for your patience in waiting for me to post a new chapter. I had a major case of writer's block, but I'm over it now, and I can't wait to take you where this story is going next. So, stay tuned for new installments, and please...take a moment to review this chapter and let me know how you think the story is going. And thank you for all of the reviews I have gotten so far.