She roused him about 8 hours later with a tray of breakfast and a pot of coffee. The two of them sat on the big bed and ate, while she explained to him what her plan was.
"We're going to go after Metaphous first," she said, taking a sip of her coffee. "He has fewer Jaffa, but a larger area of operations, and by taking him out, we'll take control of a sizable chunk of real estate."
"And get the attention of the other system lords once more?"
She nodded.
"How do you control the armies once you have them, Melony?"
"I don't. I control the First Primes, and allow them to control the Jaffa under them for me. There's far too many for me to deal with on my own. Especially when I'm off searching for more to take out."
"And the First Primes do what you tell them?"
She nodded. "They've seen what I can do. Power is the key with them. If you're strong enough to kill their gods, then you're more powerful than their god, and you take the position of power. The Jaffa all know this – they've been dealing with the Goa'uld for a very long time, after all."
He nodded, but he could see that although she spoke very matter-of-factly about it, she didn't like the system or approve of it any more than he did. But it was working for her and Talon and they'd continue to use it as long as they could continue to gain power.
"So first Metaphous, and then Paleneus?"
"Yes. We go in, wipe out the Goa'uld, and my First Prime will bring in Jaffa to finish the coup while you and I wait for the Major System Lords to contact us. By then, they'll be scrambling."
"You have a first Prime?" Daniel asked.
"Of course." She seemed surprised by the question. "I wouldn't be much of a system lord without one, would I?"
"Um, no. I suppose not." Daniel felt a little foolish for asking that question, since she was right. All the system lords had a First Prime – a Jaffa commander to lead their armies for them. It saved time.
"Finish eating, Daniel, and we'll get going." She got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. When you're done, go ahead and put your bag back on Fugly." She hesitated. "You can look around the lab, but you might not want to touch too many things. Nothing will kill you if you get too close to it, since I've introduced you to all the shields now, but better safe than sorry. I'd rather you didn't blow us up before I have a chance to do it myself."
"I'll keep that in mind."
She smiled and disappeared, and Daniel finished his coffee.
.........................
"This thing is similar to the one I wear on my wrist," Mitchell told Daniel much later. The two of them were on Fugly once more, and hurtling through space on their way to a meeting with Metaphous and Melony had just handed Daniel a device that looked familiar.
"What can I do with it?" Daniel asked, looking at it with interest as he took his watch off and strapped it on his wrist.
"Quite a few things, actually."
There were several small panels on the device, all of them a different color and each lit up as he passed his finger over it.
"It'll only work for you," Mitchell told him.
"Like that thing you made Jack?"
She nodded.
"Is it common for the Tok'ra to make such personalized devices?"
She shook her head, smiling.
"It's common for Talon, though. It's a trick he picked up from his first host, who was apparently something of a pirate and didn't like to run the risk of someone stealing his stuff. So he made it all only work for him."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
She turned her attention back to the device, drawing his there, as well.
"The blue one is communications. The red is weapons. The green is shielding and the yellow is ship's systems. The white controls sensors that will tell you what is going on around you – air quality, stuff like that. It's not really necessary here on the ship, but you might need it if we end up crashing somewhere for some reason. I locked out the red, green and yellow from your device for now, since we don't want to have any accidents."
"What's the orange one?" Daniel asked, looking down once more.
"It tells you the time – in SGC time, since that's the one that means the most to me." She shrugged apologetically. "There's also a stopwatch and a count down timer."
"This is pretty cool."
She nodded. "I thought you might like it."
Daniel put his obsolete wristwatch into his pocket, and for the next few hours Mitchell gave him a crash course in how to use the device, with which he could communicate with her, communicate with the ship's systems – although he couldn't change the settings, he'd still know what was going on within her. Same with the weapons and shields. He'd now know what was going on with the weapons and shields without having to ask Mitchell every time he was curious, and if she unlocked it, he'd be able to do pretty much anything she could. Which was a scary thought, and made him glad he was locked out of those particular controls for now.
They had nothing but time, though, and Mitchell was a good instructor. Probably part of that was Talon helping her, but the majority of it was that she was far more patient than other Colonels Daniel knew. Jack in particular. By the time the 'day' was over – with only stops to eat and take bathroom breaks and to make coffee – Daniel was fairly confident of his abilities to handle the deadly technology he had strapped to his wrist.
The next few 'days' she spent teaching him the ship's systems – using the wall panels, not the wrist devices – and again she was patient as she made sure he completely understood what was going on around him. The controls were all labeled – those that were labeled, anyways – in English, although none of them would respond to anyone but Melony at the time. Daniel learned quickly, and before too long, he wasn't quite as intimidated by the ship – although he was even more impressed with it than he had been before.
She'd told them all Fugly was a deadly little ship, but now he knew better than anyone – except maybe Sam, depending on how much she was learning from the notes Mitchell had left with her – just how deadly it was. As he learned more and more as the 'days' passed, he couldn't help but think that maybe they'd be able to do what she said they could do. And maybe even live through it.
"We're going to go after Metaphous first," she said, taking a sip of her coffee. "He has fewer Jaffa, but a larger area of operations, and by taking him out, we'll take control of a sizable chunk of real estate."
"And get the attention of the other system lords once more?"
She nodded.
"How do you control the armies once you have them, Melony?"
"I don't. I control the First Primes, and allow them to control the Jaffa under them for me. There's far too many for me to deal with on my own. Especially when I'm off searching for more to take out."
"And the First Primes do what you tell them?"
She nodded. "They've seen what I can do. Power is the key with them. If you're strong enough to kill their gods, then you're more powerful than their god, and you take the position of power. The Jaffa all know this – they've been dealing with the Goa'uld for a very long time, after all."
He nodded, but he could see that although she spoke very matter-of-factly about it, she didn't like the system or approve of it any more than he did. But it was working for her and Talon and they'd continue to use it as long as they could continue to gain power.
"So first Metaphous, and then Paleneus?"
"Yes. We go in, wipe out the Goa'uld, and my First Prime will bring in Jaffa to finish the coup while you and I wait for the Major System Lords to contact us. By then, they'll be scrambling."
"You have a first Prime?" Daniel asked.
"Of course." She seemed surprised by the question. "I wouldn't be much of a system lord without one, would I?"
"Um, no. I suppose not." Daniel felt a little foolish for asking that question, since she was right. All the system lords had a First Prime – a Jaffa commander to lead their armies for them. It saved time.
"Finish eating, Daniel, and we'll get going." She got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. When you're done, go ahead and put your bag back on Fugly." She hesitated. "You can look around the lab, but you might not want to touch too many things. Nothing will kill you if you get too close to it, since I've introduced you to all the shields now, but better safe than sorry. I'd rather you didn't blow us up before I have a chance to do it myself."
"I'll keep that in mind."
She smiled and disappeared, and Daniel finished his coffee.
.........................
"This thing is similar to the one I wear on my wrist," Mitchell told Daniel much later. The two of them were on Fugly once more, and hurtling through space on their way to a meeting with Metaphous and Melony had just handed Daniel a device that looked familiar.
"What can I do with it?" Daniel asked, looking at it with interest as he took his watch off and strapped it on his wrist.
"Quite a few things, actually."
There were several small panels on the device, all of them a different color and each lit up as he passed his finger over it.
"It'll only work for you," Mitchell told him.
"Like that thing you made Jack?"
She nodded.
"Is it common for the Tok'ra to make such personalized devices?"
She shook her head, smiling.
"It's common for Talon, though. It's a trick he picked up from his first host, who was apparently something of a pirate and didn't like to run the risk of someone stealing his stuff. So he made it all only work for him."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
She turned her attention back to the device, drawing his there, as well.
"The blue one is communications. The red is weapons. The green is shielding and the yellow is ship's systems. The white controls sensors that will tell you what is going on around you – air quality, stuff like that. It's not really necessary here on the ship, but you might need it if we end up crashing somewhere for some reason. I locked out the red, green and yellow from your device for now, since we don't want to have any accidents."
"What's the orange one?" Daniel asked, looking down once more.
"It tells you the time – in SGC time, since that's the one that means the most to me." She shrugged apologetically. "There's also a stopwatch and a count down timer."
"This is pretty cool."
She nodded. "I thought you might like it."
Daniel put his obsolete wristwatch into his pocket, and for the next few hours Mitchell gave him a crash course in how to use the device, with which he could communicate with her, communicate with the ship's systems – although he couldn't change the settings, he'd still know what was going on within her. Same with the weapons and shields. He'd now know what was going on with the weapons and shields without having to ask Mitchell every time he was curious, and if she unlocked it, he'd be able to do pretty much anything she could. Which was a scary thought, and made him glad he was locked out of those particular controls for now.
They had nothing but time, though, and Mitchell was a good instructor. Probably part of that was Talon helping her, but the majority of it was that she was far more patient than other Colonels Daniel knew. Jack in particular. By the time the 'day' was over – with only stops to eat and take bathroom breaks and to make coffee – Daniel was fairly confident of his abilities to handle the deadly technology he had strapped to his wrist.
The next few 'days' she spent teaching him the ship's systems – using the wall panels, not the wrist devices – and again she was patient as she made sure he completely understood what was going on around him. The controls were all labeled – those that were labeled, anyways – in English, although none of them would respond to anyone but Melony at the time. Daniel learned quickly, and before too long, he wasn't quite as intimidated by the ship – although he was even more impressed with it than he had been before.
She'd told them all Fugly was a deadly little ship, but now he knew better than anyone – except maybe Sam, depending on how much she was learning from the notes Mitchell had left with her – just how deadly it was. As he learned more and more as the 'days' passed, he couldn't help but think that maybe they'd be able to do what she said they could do. And maybe even live through it.