After returning her weapon to its holster, Sam stood waiting calmly for the Goa'uld to react. Admiral Chegwidden and President Ryan were both staring at her as if she had lost her mind. The other three agents were slightly behind her and to her left, but Sam was fairly certain that if she could, she'd see similar expressions on their faces.
"Insolent human!" the Goa'uld swore at her as the jewel in the center of the ribbon device on his hand began to glow once more. "You will pay for this. I will leave this planet, and when I return I will..."
"...crush us beneath your feet," Sam once again interrupted. The bored tone of her voice was designed to infuriate the Goa'uld. "Yes, I've heard that one before, and yet here we are. The System Lords have tried more than a few times to destroy this planet. They've failed. You'll fail too. And don't bother telling me to kneel before my god. I've heard that one before too. You're no god. Gods can't be killed, but Goa'uld can. Ra is dead after all. So are Apophis and his queen, Ammonet. Sokar, too. I killed Seth and Hathor myself."
The Goa'uld's eyes flashed golden for a split second warning Sam in time to brace herself. Still she dropped to her knees in the dirt when it turned the ribbon device on her. The pressure on her skull was incredible, and for a moment she found herself flashing back to the chamber on Eszia's ship. She could smell the overpowering scent of blood. Before her she could see the trail of that blood leading from the wall where Jack had been restrained to the sarcophagus that hummed with activity in the center of the room. Sam was ruthlessly pulled from the memory by the sound of a single gunshot just before the Goa'uld's shield deflected the bullet into the ground spraying up dirt.
With the pressure on her skull gone, if not the lingering pain, Sam was able to clear her thinking. From where she knelt on the ground, she noted the Goa'uld's attention focused on the rooftops from which the shot had been fired. Colonel Rivers' attention was also focused away from her. The zat was no longer pointed at A.J. Chegwidden but at the three Secret Service agents to her left. "Do anything stupid like that again, and they're dead!" Rivers shouted. "You hear me?" The crying from the SUV also served to distract the Goa'uld and Rivers, but it disturbed her even more. Every instinct within her told Sam to get to her children. Sam could see Chegwidden coiling to strike against the distracted man. Fighting against the instinctive need to attack now and free her children, Sam caught the admiral's attention and subtly shook her head. Taking the opportunity their distraction gave her, she quickly slipped her knife from her boot and concealed it in the sleeve of her shirt. She accepted that this first attempt hadn't worked. It was time to look at plan B. Sam didn't like plan B. In fact, just thinking of it made her nauseous. So nauseous she decided to attempt to stall for more time hoping an alternative would present itself.
A.J. nodded understanding at once that the time wasn't as yet right for him to move against Rivers. As she slowly got to her feet, he could see her signaling someone in a position behind him and by extension behind the hostage takers.
"How did you get from Conrad into this host?" Sam asked hoping this Goa'uld like every other Goa'uld they'd encountered would want to brag about how clever it was. She wasn't disappointed.
"The good doctor was brought to examine my former host and I," it told her. "This host was ill. He had a seizure while preparing us for surgery. I took the opportunity to free myself. Unfortunately, Mr. Conrad died on the operating table."
"No one thought to give you an MRI?" Sam asked.
"Of course they did," the Goa'uld scoffed, "but my 'son' took care of that. Didn't you?"
Rivers glared angrily at the Goa'uld. "Get on with it," he growled. "This is just a stall tactic."
Sam turned her head slightly to glare at Rivers. "You helped them take my children knowing they were going to be turned over to a Goa'uld!" she accused him.
"Your children for my father!" Rivers snarled back.
"Is that what it promised you?" Sam asked. "That it would leave your father if you helped it? That it would cure his Parkinson's?" Her research into Rivera's background had revealed that at least. Rivera's reckless experiments had been done in the hopes of finding a cure for his Parkinson's disease. He hadn't cared about the cost to others who also suffered from the disease in his search for his own cure.
"Eventually," the Goa'uld within Rivera confirmed as the old man's face twisted into a macabre smirk.
"It's lying," Sam said. "You're NID, Rivers. Didn't you check the information the Tok'ra supplied about potential hosts? Parkinson's is one of the few diseases the symbiotes can't cure because it affects the brain."
"My father is better!" Rivers argued. "Look at him," he commanded Sam. "No tremors. He's walking without a cane..."
"The Goa'uld is walking without a cane," Sam countered. "It's bypassing your father's brain and commanding his body. As soon as it leaves your father's body the symptoms will return, and they'll be worse because..."
"Silence!" the Goa'uld abruptly roared.
"See," Sam said. "It knows I'm telling you the truth." She turned to the Goa'uld then knowing she had run out of time. Plan B it was. "It's painful being in that body isn't it?" she asked it. "The host's brain misfiring like that. Sending shocks through you." From its silence, Sam knew her supposition was correct. "How'd you like to trade that host in for a better one?" she asked.
"And what host do you offer me?" it asked in return.
Before Sam could answer, Agent Price said, "Me. You can have me."
"And why would you offer this?" the Goa'uld asked.
"Because she doesn't know what the Hell she's offering," Sam answered for Price glaring the other woman into silence, "but I do. Let Admiral Chegwidden take my children and go then you can have me as your host."
"And why would you offer this?" the Goa'uld repeated.
"To save my children," Sam told it honestly. The weight of the knife in her sleeve reminded her that this offer was just another tactic. Over the Goa'uld's shoulder her eyes met Jack's shocked gaze for a moment before sliding back. "We both know why you'll accept my offer," she added. "Knowledge to defeat the Tok'ra. Power enough to rule the System Lords. Maybe even defeat the Asgard."
"Then come," the Goa'uld said accepting her offer.
"A.J. and the children first," Sam demanded.
"Let the admiral go," the Goa'uld commanded Rivers.
Rivers motioned Price forward with the zat replacing one human shield with another before releasing his hold on A.J. The admiral stepped around the two and opened the rear passenger door of the SUV. Reaching inside he released the seat belt securing the baby seat. He gently lifted the first seat down and placed it on the ground at his feet before repeating the process with the second. As soon as the second seat had cleared the door of the SUV he reached down and picked up the other with his free hand. He cautiously scooted around the Goa'uld and Colonel Rivers walking towards Sam at a brisk pace. When he reached her he stopped and set the two infant carriers on the ground.
"Come, Samantha," the Goa'uld demanded impatiently.
"Not yet," she replied as she bent to the closer of the two car seats. She flipped back the canopy screening the baby's sensitive skin from the sun. Sam's eyes swum with tears as she finally saw her child with her own eyes. Her hands were shaking so much it was difficult for her to unfasten the straps holding the baby secure. "Hey, J.D. It's Mommy," she whispered as she lifted the whimpering blue clad bundle from the seat. Sam tucked her son close to her chest as she offered him her finger to grab. J.D. immediately brought his small fist to his mouth. Sam was dimly aware of Admiral Chegwidden softly calling her name. When she looked up, she realized he held her daughter in his arms. She disengaged her finger from J.D.'s fist, and a moment later she held both of her children in her arms for the first time.
"This pitiful sentimentality will be the downfall of the Tau'ri," the Goa'uld sniggered.
"Possibly," Sam acknowledged as she bent her head to press a kiss to her daughter's head. "Or maybe it will be our salvation," she predicted.
Both Sam and the admiral stiffened as they heard the hum from the ribbon device on the Goa'uld's hand. "Enough delays," it said. "Come."
Sam took a deep shuddering breath as she nodded. She pressed one more kiss to the forehead of each of her children then handed Gina back to A.J. As she bent to place J.D. back in the carrier she said, "A.J., I need you to do something for me."
"Name it," Chegwidden answered immediately.
"Be executor of my will for Jack," she told him turning to look him in the eye. "I don't want Jack to have to do it."
A.J. nodded slowly. In his eyes she saw that he understood the real meaning of her request. She wasn't asking him to execute her last will and testament. She was asking him to execute her living will, the special one that read under no circumstances was she to be made a host. A.J. picked up the two infant seats and walked quickly away to the safety of the buildings.