Told by Time
Part 19 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'The House of Fires'
By Gumnut
Oct 2003
It happened so quickly.
One minute the weapon was just pointed, next it was firing.
And Jack was moving.
Time slowed.
The beam of burning light, faster than a bullet could ever be, sliced through the atmosphere, its promise of death heating the air before it.
And it was promising Thor.
It didn't reckon on Jack.
A tangle of human and Asgard limbs fell to the floor followed by a yelp of pain, and a loud thump as plaster, stressed beyond design, hit the floor, and cracked, scattering like snow.
O'Neill looked up, his body already in motion for the automatic scramble for cover, one arm clutched to his side, the other full of shocked Asgard.
"Don't you hurt my friend!"
Eelyn.
Oh, my god, no!
The little Asgard was charging up to the angered Frere, distress warring with fury on his face.
"Eelyn, no!"
Frere stared down at his diminutive opponent, disgust rippling across his features.
The weapon levelled.
O'Neill flung himself towards the little Asgard, knowing in his heart, he was already too late.
The weapon fired.
And time froze.
Literally.
O'Neill's momentum carried him forward, his mass knocking Eelyn to the floor where he lay motionless, absolutely still.
O'Neill's heart froze. Too late?
Then the silence around him soaked into his awareness.
Utter silence.
His own breathing was loud in his ears.
"You can not save them all, you know."
Looking up, he found the room to be a tableau of frozen forms, all in midmotion, even the flames had stopped flickering. Thor looked up at him in horror from the floor where Jack had thrown him, his eyes no longer seeing him. Niikrahl was paused like a videotape, anger on his face, hand on weapon, threat in every line of his huge body caught storming around the meeting table. Renaya stood eyes closed, arm raised. And Tethys...
Tethys was walking calmly towards him. Those eyes still contemptuously calculating.
He repeated himself. "You can not save them all."
"Why not?"
"It is impossible."
"I can still try."
The Ancient looked thoughtful. "I have heard of you, but I refused to believe it until I saw it for myself."
Great, his reputation was preceding him again.
"Believe what?"
"Your obstinacy."
"It has served me well in the past."
"And, oh, what a checkered past that is." The Pensiltinaar walked calmly around him, invading his personal space.
Boy, did he not like this guy.
"Your point?"
"You are dangerous."
"Me?" O'Neill had to laugh at the absurdity of the statement. "How on Earth....to whom?" This was incredible.
"Exactly. You are not on Earth, are you?" The Ancient's eyes seemed to breach his defenses and see into his soul.
He honestly didn't know what to say.
"In the past seven of your years, since your race gained access to your stargate, you in particular have managed to alter constants that have been static for millennia. You have changed the face of your galaxy."
"Listen, Tetanus, that was not by our choice." His finger poked the air for emphasis.
"Oh, but it is, Colonel."
O'Neill was beginning to get angry now, where did this guy get off? "Or what? Let ourselves be wiped out by the Goa'uld?"
"It is your place in the chain of life."
"What?!"
"You and your planet are an anachronism, Colonel. You were unexpected, and, quite frankly, unwanted. You should have fallen."
He could not believe this. "And what puts you in a position to judge us? Who died and made you god?"
Tethys' eyes twitched. "Interesting phrasing, Colonel." The man turned his back on O'Neill, walking the length of the room.
Jack struggled to hold his temper. Before him stood one of the most powerful alien species in the known universe. Through Daniel, he knew exactly what they were capable of. Now was not the time for a temper tantrum.
It didn't stop his blood from boiling.
He coughed, his eyes watering.
The Pensiltinaar looked back at him. "Feeling a little angry, Colonel? Frustrating isn't it, being faced with your own inadequacies."
"Inadequacies?" Screw diplomacy. "I think you should check your own backyard before you start complaining about the grass in ours. Yes, we have affected some changes to the political balances in our galaxy." The Ancient's eyes twitched. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget the Replicator incident?" He pointed in the direction of the Asgard. "They were on the verge of defeat, they asked for our help, we gave it. End of story."
"You had no right to interfere."
"And you had no right NOT to interfere!" He stalked up to Tethys, and, ironically finding himself taller, looked down at him. "Oh, I know all about you guys, sitting up there on your high horses, looking down on the rest of us, choosing not to interfere in case you might get your hands dirty. There are points in time where any help would be good help, but you people stand back denying responsibility while our galaxy is ravaged by the Goa'uld. You even claim an alliance with the Asgard, yet I see no sign of your assistance here. In fact, none of you high and mighty people have lifted a finger to help." He looked around the room at the other members of the Council. "The Asgard have stood alone against the Goa'uld, and offered us what help they could. If you call that interference, I am glad they condescended themselves down to our level to give it. They have what assistance we can give them. That is what having an alliance is for. We help each other survive a damn inhospitable universe."
The ancient lifted his hands and clapped. At O'Neill's reaction, he lifted an eyebrow. "Isn't this the appropriate response to a speech, Colonel?"
Jack was wasting both his time and his breath. "Tethys, what the hell is it that you want?"
"Want? I want nothing, Colonel." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm just delivering a warning. You are in the adult world now, Colonel, and children should be careful that they are not trodden on. We will be watching."
O'Neill stared back at him stoically. "You can watch all you like, but remember adults don't know everything, and children can be precocious."
Tethys ignored him, and glanced down at Thor. 'Please inform Commander Thor that the Pensiltinaar choose to withdraw from these negotiations. We can not provide assistance."
"Or won't."
The Ancient's gaze levelled at O'Neill. "You were right when you told Daniel Jackson that you didn't have what it takes to ascend. You don't."
O'Neill's sharp response was cut off as the Pensiltinaar became the familiar glowing ball of ribboned white light, and disappeared up through the dark that led to the ceiling.
The room exploded into sound and motion.
A keening erupted from the floor. Jack spun to find a distressed Eelyn sitting up where O'Neill had flung him.
Frere was taking second aim.
"No!"
He tried to move, to prevent, but one foot was suddenly not working. He stumbled and fell.
He couldn't stop it. His heart cried for the coming shot.
The world disappeared.
**********
They found themselves in a forest.
Sam looked around in amazement. This did not look like Othalla. For one, there were trees, the non-walking kind. In fact, the whole scene looked familiar, as if they had been here before.
Her assessment of their surroundings was abruptly interrupted by a yell, a crash, and a mournful keen.
As one, SG-1 clambered to their feet, moving in the direction of the noise. Beyond a small group of shrubs they found the source.
Jack O'Neill lay, arm outstretched towards a small keening Asgard. Thor was getting to his feet beside him.
Behind the Commander walked a huge creature with red eyes whose presence made her want to step back, even though it was quite a distance away.
The fifth figure in the group caused all the pieces to fall into place.
A Nox.
The place was familiar because they had been here before.
**********
Involving himself in politics that included a bunch of technologically superior aliens tended to leave one Colonel fully expecting the world to change without notice at any time.
Transporters did have their downsides, particularly if you were not the one at the controls.
Or even asked.
After a while it became extremely disorientating as the world came and went as it felt like it.
But for the moment Jack didn't care. Whoever had flicked the magic switch had saved a life.
A life that was now sitting in a clump of grass keening its little heart out.
Thor made it to Eelyn before O'Neill could even spit the grass out of his teeth. The Commander knelt, putting his arms around the little Asgard. "Eelyn, you are well, calm yourself."
The grip Eelyn applied to Thor's arms had O'Neill wincing in sympathy, but the sight of both Asgard alive and well made everything worth it.
The world suddenly moved by itself, and O'Neill's head spun.
No, no transporter. Just ten feet of Furling.
"Are you injured, Human?" There was a huge fist balled into the back of his jacket holding him upright. A pair of red eyes looked at him in concern.
God, this guy was intimidating. O'Neill bravado kicked in.
"I'm fine, thank you, Niikrahl."
"Good." The Furling let go.
One foot still refused to work, a searing pain shot up his leg, and he stumbled, his body attempting to make itself one with the grass again.
Furling reflexes appeared to be quite good.
Niikrahl looked at him curiously. "Are you sure, O'Neill?"
"Ah, okay, I'll just sit down here for a moment."
He was promptly deposited on his backside. The Furling was, if anything, efficient.
O'Neill finally had a chance to look around, to find where the wizbang transporter had dumped him this time.
He was in a forest.
A familiar forest.
But how was that possible?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of his team.
Alive, in one piece, and whole.
Thank the God Almighty.
"Colonel!"
"Jack!"
"O'Neill, are you well?"
"I'm fine, kids. What about you? Where have you been?"
Carter had obviously been taking notes from Fraiser because the first thing she did upon reaching him, was kneel down and examine him thoroughly with her eyes. Talk about making him feel self conscious. He saw her flinch the moment they landed on his broken cast, but it was when she reached his feet that she exclaimed out loud.
"Colonel, your foot!"
My foot?
He lifted his right leg and an immediate explanation as to why his foot wasn't working was supplied.
The outside of his boot had been seared away leaving his ankle and part of his foot exposed. The skin was burnt, blistering, and in parts completely raw. Now his brain had been informed by the sight of it, it had begun to hurt.
And, oh, god, did it hurt.
"Shit!"
He clutched at his leg managing to jar his semi-healed broken arm in the process. And that began to hurt, too.
This so wasn't fair.
**********
The sun was setting by the time the Council had managed to sort itself out and reconvene.
O'Neill was hobbling around with the assistance of Daniel, sporting some makeshift bandages on one foot since the Nox had been unable to assist him with healing - apparently it had something to do with staying hidden. He had to inform Thor of his little encounter with his royal snitness, Tethys.
Thor did not seem in the slightest surprised. Things were no longer as they had been, once, long ago. The look in the Asgard's eyes spoke of years of remembrance, of a time before certain calamities had changed the the face of the Alliance. O'Neill had no concept of what a memory spanning several thousand years of change would be like.
He had enough trouble with his own paltry fifty or so.
Carter had had the unpleasant task of informing Thor regarding Frere and his Goa'uld guest. The Asgard had looked at her in disbelief at first, apparently Asgard physiology had previously not been able to support a symbiote, but when she made it clear that she was absolutely sure, Thor went very quiet. O'Neill watched as the Commander took the news on his shoulders, controlled his reaction, swallowed his worry, and faced the world once again.
It was so familiar, O'Neill shivered.
The news was horrific, and the possibilities defied coherent thought, but there was nothing any of them could do for the moment. Time would have to reveal all, and they would have to face it as best they could.
The Asgard depended upon it.
If the Asgard fell....No, he wouldn't let it happen. Not while he lived. He had given up his career for this exact reason, for if the Asgard fell, Earth fell with them. O'Neill could not allow that, so he had come, he had thrown his life on the line, to do what he could, and to be there, even if he couldn't.
It turned out that the forest was a forest in name only. It resembled the world of the Nox because it was a recreation of that world. A portable one.
They were aboard the Nox starship 'Athenayer'. Apparently it meant 'blessed' or somesuch, but O'Neill didn't really care. They were in orbit around Othalla and, as they had been since the ship had transported the Furling and Nox delegates to the meeting, under cloak. And it hadn't been an Asgard transporter that had saved them, Renaya had done her Nox bit instead. Not even the Asgard could detect a hidden Nox.
And if there was one thing the Nox were capable of, it was hiding.
Unfortunately, it looked like they fully intended to keep on doing just that.
Renaya sat at the rough hewn wooden table declaring that the only assistance the Nox were willing to provide the Asgard was non-violent - a place to hide, a place to recuperate.
O'Neill had never come across such a blatantly narrow sighted race. No matter how many times he tried to get his point across to the petite Renaya, she just refused to listen. Any ally willing to provide refuge, ultimately became a target.
Ambassador O'Neill, failure number two.
The moment Thor had addressed him as 'Ambassador' in front of the kids had been a memorable one. Daniel's jaw suddenly seemed to stop working and dropped to the floor, and Jack thought Carter's eyes might suddenly pop out if she widened them any further. Teal'c....
Teal'c just bowed, as if he had expected it all along, his eyes glistening with humour. Sometimes the Jaffa seemed to know more about his CO than his CO did.
Unlike the Nox, the Furlings were ready to get down to business and kick some serious Goa'uld butt. Niikrahl was gaining points in O'Neill's book by the moment. Brash and honest to a fault, the Furling stared down the length of the wooden table at Renaya.
"Nox, are you aware that by providing refuge to an ally, you are yourself a target?"
Wasn't that exactly what he had said a moment ago?
Renaya barely battered an eyelid. "An enemy can only retaliate against an opposition they can locate."
O'Neill had had enough. He shot to his feet, suppressing a flinch as his injured foot hit the base of his chair. Pain echoed up his leg, stirring his already shattered temper.
"The Goa'uld know where your people are, Renaya. They don't need to see you, they can scorch the surface of the planet from space."
She turned to him calmly, and, as if explaining to a particularly dense child, said, "Colonel, you know very little of our people. What leads you to believe you know anything?"
He may not know much about the Nox themselves, but he did know warfare. And it was a sad fact that a pacifistic people not willing to defend themselves were usually the first to be slaughtered.
He knew from Thor, and the previous discussions on Othalla, that the Nox had been stirred into a civil war at the hands of a Goa'uld. Their race had barely survived it. They had since sworn themselves off any form of violence, focusing on the calm of healing and the beauty of nature.
While O'Neill could sympathise with their beliefs, he was far too aware of the consequences of failure, and the simple thought of children such as Nephreyu as prey to the Goa'uld made his heart miss a beat. He felt his face flush with heat, and he coughed out his frustration.
"I know enough, Ambassador. And it is for that reason I plead and beg for you to reconsider."
It was no good, she would not listen.
Niikrahl kicked the table, causing both it, and the Council, to jump. "Thor, you have our support. What little we can provide." He turned to Renaya. "Nox, be aware that when they come for your children that it was Furling blood, Human blood, and the blood of the ever vigilant Asgard that strived to keep it from your doorstep. Never forget, because it is your children who will never forgive."
The Furling turned his back to Renaya obviously disgusted. Thor rose, apparently intending to say a few words, but was interrupted as the Nox Ambassador stood abruptly. "Ambassador Thor, please direct your attention to the viewer."
One half of the room suddenly dissolved into a view from space.
God, these guys all had one thing in common, they excelled in special effects. Lucas and Spielberg, eat your hearts out.
O'Neill heard SG-1 come to their feet behind him. Eelyn was muttering to himself, but O'Neill didn't have to look to know that the little Asgard was glued to Carter. He had been since the moment he had laid eyes on her. Carter seemed to have that effect on all men, regardless of species.
In the centre of the view was the huge Othallan space station, an elegant series of arching spires attached to a fan of energy collectors. On their first trip into Othallan orbit aboard the ill-fated 'O'Neill' all those weeks before, Carter had thrown a whole bunch of technical jargon in his direction about those energy collectors. Something about Othalla's magnetic field and the solar wind. She had looked like she might wet herself with excitement at any moment. He had sworn that Thor had pointed them out to her only to get a rise out of him from the inevitable result.
It still looked to him as incomprehensible as ever. Asgard ships of all shapes and sizes weaving in and out - wait a minute, what were they doing?
Beside him, Thor had risen to his feet, disbelief on his face. "No, they can't have."
As O'Neill watched, several large Asgard battlecruisers dropped out of hyperspace, shortly followed by several more. They coasted in quietly, ignored by all except the silent members of the Alliance Council.
Even O'Neill could see they weren't supposed to be there, their presence ominous in the echo of the forest around him. They were aiming directly at the space station, almost as if they were going to dock.
But they weren't.
Thor moved to Renaya, his face etched with disbelief, denial, and desperation. "Renaya, I-"
He was too late.
They were all too late.
The ships opened fire.
**********
FIN.
Part 19 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'The House of Fires'
By Gumnut
Oct 2003
It happened so quickly.
One minute the weapon was just pointed, next it was firing.
And Jack was moving.
Time slowed.
The beam of burning light, faster than a bullet could ever be, sliced through the atmosphere, its promise of death heating the air before it.
And it was promising Thor.
It didn't reckon on Jack.
A tangle of human and Asgard limbs fell to the floor followed by a yelp of pain, and a loud thump as plaster, stressed beyond design, hit the floor, and cracked, scattering like snow.
O'Neill looked up, his body already in motion for the automatic scramble for cover, one arm clutched to his side, the other full of shocked Asgard.
"Don't you hurt my friend!"
Eelyn.
Oh, my god, no!
The little Asgard was charging up to the angered Frere, distress warring with fury on his face.
"Eelyn, no!"
Frere stared down at his diminutive opponent, disgust rippling across his features.
The weapon levelled.
O'Neill flung himself towards the little Asgard, knowing in his heart, he was already too late.
The weapon fired.
And time froze.
Literally.
O'Neill's momentum carried him forward, his mass knocking Eelyn to the floor where he lay motionless, absolutely still.
O'Neill's heart froze. Too late?
Then the silence around him soaked into his awareness.
Utter silence.
His own breathing was loud in his ears.
"You can not save them all, you know."
Looking up, he found the room to be a tableau of frozen forms, all in midmotion, even the flames had stopped flickering. Thor looked up at him in horror from the floor where Jack had thrown him, his eyes no longer seeing him. Niikrahl was paused like a videotape, anger on his face, hand on weapon, threat in every line of his huge body caught storming around the meeting table. Renaya stood eyes closed, arm raised. And Tethys...
Tethys was walking calmly towards him. Those eyes still contemptuously calculating.
He repeated himself. "You can not save them all."
"Why not?"
"It is impossible."
"I can still try."
The Ancient looked thoughtful. "I have heard of you, but I refused to believe it until I saw it for myself."
Great, his reputation was preceding him again.
"Believe what?"
"Your obstinacy."
"It has served me well in the past."
"And, oh, what a checkered past that is." The Pensiltinaar walked calmly around him, invading his personal space.
Boy, did he not like this guy.
"Your point?"
"You are dangerous."
"Me?" O'Neill had to laugh at the absurdity of the statement. "How on Earth....to whom?" This was incredible.
"Exactly. You are not on Earth, are you?" The Ancient's eyes seemed to breach his defenses and see into his soul.
He honestly didn't know what to say.
"In the past seven of your years, since your race gained access to your stargate, you in particular have managed to alter constants that have been static for millennia. You have changed the face of your galaxy."
"Listen, Tetanus, that was not by our choice." His finger poked the air for emphasis.
"Oh, but it is, Colonel."
O'Neill was beginning to get angry now, where did this guy get off? "Or what? Let ourselves be wiped out by the Goa'uld?"
"It is your place in the chain of life."
"What?!"
"You and your planet are an anachronism, Colonel. You were unexpected, and, quite frankly, unwanted. You should have fallen."
He could not believe this. "And what puts you in a position to judge us? Who died and made you god?"
Tethys' eyes twitched. "Interesting phrasing, Colonel." The man turned his back on O'Neill, walking the length of the room.
Jack struggled to hold his temper. Before him stood one of the most powerful alien species in the known universe. Through Daniel, he knew exactly what they were capable of. Now was not the time for a temper tantrum.
It didn't stop his blood from boiling.
He coughed, his eyes watering.
The Pensiltinaar looked back at him. "Feeling a little angry, Colonel? Frustrating isn't it, being faced with your own inadequacies."
"Inadequacies?" Screw diplomacy. "I think you should check your own backyard before you start complaining about the grass in ours. Yes, we have affected some changes to the political balances in our galaxy." The Ancient's eyes twitched. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget the Replicator incident?" He pointed in the direction of the Asgard. "They were on the verge of defeat, they asked for our help, we gave it. End of story."
"You had no right to interfere."
"And you had no right NOT to interfere!" He stalked up to Tethys, and, ironically finding himself taller, looked down at him. "Oh, I know all about you guys, sitting up there on your high horses, looking down on the rest of us, choosing not to interfere in case you might get your hands dirty. There are points in time where any help would be good help, but you people stand back denying responsibility while our galaxy is ravaged by the Goa'uld. You even claim an alliance with the Asgard, yet I see no sign of your assistance here. In fact, none of you high and mighty people have lifted a finger to help." He looked around the room at the other members of the Council. "The Asgard have stood alone against the Goa'uld, and offered us what help they could. If you call that interference, I am glad they condescended themselves down to our level to give it. They have what assistance we can give them. That is what having an alliance is for. We help each other survive a damn inhospitable universe."
The ancient lifted his hands and clapped. At O'Neill's reaction, he lifted an eyebrow. "Isn't this the appropriate response to a speech, Colonel?"
Jack was wasting both his time and his breath. "Tethys, what the hell is it that you want?"
"Want? I want nothing, Colonel." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm just delivering a warning. You are in the adult world now, Colonel, and children should be careful that they are not trodden on. We will be watching."
O'Neill stared back at him stoically. "You can watch all you like, but remember adults don't know everything, and children can be precocious."
Tethys ignored him, and glanced down at Thor. 'Please inform Commander Thor that the Pensiltinaar choose to withdraw from these negotiations. We can not provide assistance."
"Or won't."
The Ancient's gaze levelled at O'Neill. "You were right when you told Daniel Jackson that you didn't have what it takes to ascend. You don't."
O'Neill's sharp response was cut off as the Pensiltinaar became the familiar glowing ball of ribboned white light, and disappeared up through the dark that led to the ceiling.
The room exploded into sound and motion.
A keening erupted from the floor. Jack spun to find a distressed Eelyn sitting up where O'Neill had flung him.
Frere was taking second aim.
"No!"
He tried to move, to prevent, but one foot was suddenly not working. He stumbled and fell.
He couldn't stop it. His heart cried for the coming shot.
The world disappeared.
**********
They found themselves in a forest.
Sam looked around in amazement. This did not look like Othalla. For one, there were trees, the non-walking kind. In fact, the whole scene looked familiar, as if they had been here before.
Her assessment of their surroundings was abruptly interrupted by a yell, a crash, and a mournful keen.
As one, SG-1 clambered to their feet, moving in the direction of the noise. Beyond a small group of shrubs they found the source.
Jack O'Neill lay, arm outstretched towards a small keening Asgard. Thor was getting to his feet beside him.
Behind the Commander walked a huge creature with red eyes whose presence made her want to step back, even though it was quite a distance away.
The fifth figure in the group caused all the pieces to fall into place.
A Nox.
The place was familiar because they had been here before.
**********
Involving himself in politics that included a bunch of technologically superior aliens tended to leave one Colonel fully expecting the world to change without notice at any time.
Transporters did have their downsides, particularly if you were not the one at the controls.
Or even asked.
After a while it became extremely disorientating as the world came and went as it felt like it.
But for the moment Jack didn't care. Whoever had flicked the magic switch had saved a life.
A life that was now sitting in a clump of grass keening its little heart out.
Thor made it to Eelyn before O'Neill could even spit the grass out of his teeth. The Commander knelt, putting his arms around the little Asgard. "Eelyn, you are well, calm yourself."
The grip Eelyn applied to Thor's arms had O'Neill wincing in sympathy, but the sight of both Asgard alive and well made everything worth it.
The world suddenly moved by itself, and O'Neill's head spun.
No, no transporter. Just ten feet of Furling.
"Are you injured, Human?" There was a huge fist balled into the back of his jacket holding him upright. A pair of red eyes looked at him in concern.
God, this guy was intimidating. O'Neill bravado kicked in.
"I'm fine, thank you, Niikrahl."
"Good." The Furling let go.
One foot still refused to work, a searing pain shot up his leg, and he stumbled, his body attempting to make itself one with the grass again.
Furling reflexes appeared to be quite good.
Niikrahl looked at him curiously. "Are you sure, O'Neill?"
"Ah, okay, I'll just sit down here for a moment."
He was promptly deposited on his backside. The Furling was, if anything, efficient.
O'Neill finally had a chance to look around, to find where the wizbang transporter had dumped him this time.
He was in a forest.
A familiar forest.
But how was that possible?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of his team.
Alive, in one piece, and whole.
Thank the God Almighty.
"Colonel!"
"Jack!"
"O'Neill, are you well?"
"I'm fine, kids. What about you? Where have you been?"
Carter had obviously been taking notes from Fraiser because the first thing she did upon reaching him, was kneel down and examine him thoroughly with her eyes. Talk about making him feel self conscious. He saw her flinch the moment they landed on his broken cast, but it was when she reached his feet that she exclaimed out loud.
"Colonel, your foot!"
My foot?
He lifted his right leg and an immediate explanation as to why his foot wasn't working was supplied.
The outside of his boot had been seared away leaving his ankle and part of his foot exposed. The skin was burnt, blistering, and in parts completely raw. Now his brain had been informed by the sight of it, it had begun to hurt.
And, oh, god, did it hurt.
"Shit!"
He clutched at his leg managing to jar his semi-healed broken arm in the process. And that began to hurt, too.
This so wasn't fair.
**********
The sun was setting by the time the Council had managed to sort itself out and reconvene.
O'Neill was hobbling around with the assistance of Daniel, sporting some makeshift bandages on one foot since the Nox had been unable to assist him with healing - apparently it had something to do with staying hidden. He had to inform Thor of his little encounter with his royal snitness, Tethys.
Thor did not seem in the slightest surprised. Things were no longer as they had been, once, long ago. The look in the Asgard's eyes spoke of years of remembrance, of a time before certain calamities had changed the the face of the Alliance. O'Neill had no concept of what a memory spanning several thousand years of change would be like.
He had enough trouble with his own paltry fifty or so.
Carter had had the unpleasant task of informing Thor regarding Frere and his Goa'uld guest. The Asgard had looked at her in disbelief at first, apparently Asgard physiology had previously not been able to support a symbiote, but when she made it clear that she was absolutely sure, Thor went very quiet. O'Neill watched as the Commander took the news on his shoulders, controlled his reaction, swallowed his worry, and faced the world once again.
It was so familiar, O'Neill shivered.
The news was horrific, and the possibilities defied coherent thought, but there was nothing any of them could do for the moment. Time would have to reveal all, and they would have to face it as best they could.
The Asgard depended upon it.
If the Asgard fell....No, he wouldn't let it happen. Not while he lived. He had given up his career for this exact reason, for if the Asgard fell, Earth fell with them. O'Neill could not allow that, so he had come, he had thrown his life on the line, to do what he could, and to be there, even if he couldn't.
It turned out that the forest was a forest in name only. It resembled the world of the Nox because it was a recreation of that world. A portable one.
They were aboard the Nox starship 'Athenayer'. Apparently it meant 'blessed' or somesuch, but O'Neill didn't really care. They were in orbit around Othalla and, as they had been since the ship had transported the Furling and Nox delegates to the meeting, under cloak. And it hadn't been an Asgard transporter that had saved them, Renaya had done her Nox bit instead. Not even the Asgard could detect a hidden Nox.
And if there was one thing the Nox were capable of, it was hiding.
Unfortunately, it looked like they fully intended to keep on doing just that.
Renaya sat at the rough hewn wooden table declaring that the only assistance the Nox were willing to provide the Asgard was non-violent - a place to hide, a place to recuperate.
O'Neill had never come across such a blatantly narrow sighted race. No matter how many times he tried to get his point across to the petite Renaya, she just refused to listen. Any ally willing to provide refuge, ultimately became a target.
Ambassador O'Neill, failure number two.
The moment Thor had addressed him as 'Ambassador' in front of the kids had been a memorable one. Daniel's jaw suddenly seemed to stop working and dropped to the floor, and Jack thought Carter's eyes might suddenly pop out if she widened them any further. Teal'c....
Teal'c just bowed, as if he had expected it all along, his eyes glistening with humour. Sometimes the Jaffa seemed to know more about his CO than his CO did.
Unlike the Nox, the Furlings were ready to get down to business and kick some serious Goa'uld butt. Niikrahl was gaining points in O'Neill's book by the moment. Brash and honest to a fault, the Furling stared down the length of the wooden table at Renaya.
"Nox, are you aware that by providing refuge to an ally, you are yourself a target?"
Wasn't that exactly what he had said a moment ago?
Renaya barely battered an eyelid. "An enemy can only retaliate against an opposition they can locate."
O'Neill had had enough. He shot to his feet, suppressing a flinch as his injured foot hit the base of his chair. Pain echoed up his leg, stirring his already shattered temper.
"The Goa'uld know where your people are, Renaya. They don't need to see you, they can scorch the surface of the planet from space."
She turned to him calmly, and, as if explaining to a particularly dense child, said, "Colonel, you know very little of our people. What leads you to believe you know anything?"
He may not know much about the Nox themselves, but he did know warfare. And it was a sad fact that a pacifistic people not willing to defend themselves were usually the first to be slaughtered.
He knew from Thor, and the previous discussions on Othalla, that the Nox had been stirred into a civil war at the hands of a Goa'uld. Their race had barely survived it. They had since sworn themselves off any form of violence, focusing on the calm of healing and the beauty of nature.
While O'Neill could sympathise with their beliefs, he was far too aware of the consequences of failure, and the simple thought of children such as Nephreyu as prey to the Goa'uld made his heart miss a beat. He felt his face flush with heat, and he coughed out his frustration.
"I know enough, Ambassador. And it is for that reason I plead and beg for you to reconsider."
It was no good, she would not listen.
Niikrahl kicked the table, causing both it, and the Council, to jump. "Thor, you have our support. What little we can provide." He turned to Renaya. "Nox, be aware that when they come for your children that it was Furling blood, Human blood, and the blood of the ever vigilant Asgard that strived to keep it from your doorstep. Never forget, because it is your children who will never forgive."
The Furling turned his back to Renaya obviously disgusted. Thor rose, apparently intending to say a few words, but was interrupted as the Nox Ambassador stood abruptly. "Ambassador Thor, please direct your attention to the viewer."
One half of the room suddenly dissolved into a view from space.
God, these guys all had one thing in common, they excelled in special effects. Lucas and Spielberg, eat your hearts out.
O'Neill heard SG-1 come to their feet behind him. Eelyn was muttering to himself, but O'Neill didn't have to look to know that the little Asgard was glued to Carter. He had been since the moment he had laid eyes on her. Carter seemed to have that effect on all men, regardless of species.
In the centre of the view was the huge Othallan space station, an elegant series of arching spires attached to a fan of energy collectors. On their first trip into Othallan orbit aboard the ill-fated 'O'Neill' all those weeks before, Carter had thrown a whole bunch of technical jargon in his direction about those energy collectors. Something about Othalla's magnetic field and the solar wind. She had looked like she might wet herself with excitement at any moment. He had sworn that Thor had pointed them out to her only to get a rise out of him from the inevitable result.
It still looked to him as incomprehensible as ever. Asgard ships of all shapes and sizes weaving in and out - wait a minute, what were they doing?
Beside him, Thor had risen to his feet, disbelief on his face. "No, they can't have."
As O'Neill watched, several large Asgard battlecruisers dropped out of hyperspace, shortly followed by several more. They coasted in quietly, ignored by all except the silent members of the Alliance Council.
Even O'Neill could see they weren't supposed to be there, their presence ominous in the echo of the forest around him. They were aiming directly at the space station, almost as if they were going to dock.
But they weren't.
Thor moved to Renaya, his face etched with disbelief, denial, and desperation. "Renaya, I-"
He was too late.
They were all too late.
The ships opened fire.
**********
FIN.