(Elemental-sparky, really curious to what you think of the rest of the fic. Hope you enjoy it. Wraith816, glad you enjoyed it. I found it to be a little harder writing Jacob than I do Sam. JDalienfreak, glad you liked it. As for the question about the Tollan, have you seen all the episodes? I kind of made an assumption from the show.)

Part 15, New Problem

--Selmak--

From the way Pete said the name of my host, I assume he suddenly remembers who Jacob is, though I can't fathom why a civilian would have known anyway.

I don't care, Jacob thinks, still very offended. I don't like him.

"I wish you had come sooner," Narim says. "Pary and Hovar were here." He glances down. "They died a few days ago. I haven't been able to figure out why."

"Samantha hasn't tried to figure out why?" Jacob asks in surprise. Samantha isn't a medical expert, but it still surprises us that she wouldn't try to figure it out.

"She's only stayed at the above level since arriving there..."

I don't like that hesitation, and neither does Jacob.

"..She's been sick," he finishes. "I don't think it has anything to do with what killed Pary and Hovar," he adds very quickly.

Even if one has nothing to do with the other, Jacob still doesn't like it. "You left her alone?!"

"She insisted I stay here for most of the day to make sure Pete is safe, and I'm sure you know, she's very stubborn. Almost as stubborn as you."

I think I like Lantash's new host, and he's made a good impression on Jacob as well. Is it me, or does Narim smile a certain way whenever he mentions Samantha?

It's not just you. "We could use the rings to bring Pete up," Jacob says, and then stops when he sees we entered a room with many decaying bodies.

"Er, sorry," Narim says quickly. "I've gotten kind of used to them. Use the rings..." he pauses in thought. "If you and Samantha can use something small to activate the rings, then it could bring up Pete, Pary, and I up. It would be best if I stayed. It wouldn't be good to have Pete stand among the prisoners with Pary's body alone." He makes a soft wince, and I wonder if perhaps there is another reason he doesn't want to make the climb again.

"That is a good plan," Jacob says, and he looks down at an almost empty riverbed. "This is where that water in the other room came from?"

"Yes, after the first climb, we needed to clear it in order to bring up supplies."

"You and my daughter went into that water?" Jacob could see where the water level used to be. Standing in puddles of it was one thing. Swimming under it was something I don't want to think about.

"Yes...might have something to do with why she is sick now."

Great, and I bet she smells like Narim and Lantash.

Jacob gives me a mental glare for that comment, and then starts climbing up.

Oh, this is going to be a long climb.

--

We made it!

Jacob climbs out and quickly looks around for his daughter, except we are in an empty pool. He sees her as soon as he stands. "Sam?"

He climbs out of the pool, and heads over to her. "Sammy?"

She's curled up asleep.

Jacob touches her forehead, and it's hot. "Sam."

"Lantash? Wait, Narim..." She opens her eyes. "Dad?"

Jacob smiles. "Yeah, I'm here."

"How?"

"We received your distress call."

"Dad," she says again, fully realizing that she is in fact seeing her dad. She sits up, and hugs him.

He hugs her tightly. "Sammy, I missed you. Can you walk? I need to call the ship over here to bring us to the other building. Then I will activate the rings to bring up the others."

She nods. "I can walk." Even so, Jacob helps her up, and doesn't let go.

"Did you meet Pete?" she asks.

"Yeah," Jacob says with a slight annoyed tone.

Sam seems to pick up on it. "You didn't like him?"

"Let's say he didn't give a good first impression, and I don't plan to ever had a second."

As Jacob opens the door, I notice Sam looks nervous.

"He a friend of yours?" Jacob asks.

"We've been dating, Dad."

Jacob gets annoyed, while I find that to be positively funny.

That's not funny, he thinks.

"How serious is it?"

She glances up to him. "I think it might better if Selmak were in control when I answer that."

It can't be that serious, he thinks. He didn't even know who I was.

He probably never realized you were Tok'ra, and so couldn't place you.

Jacob uses a remote to call the ship, and it's there when we open the next door. We enter, and he gently helps his daughter sit on the floor. "How serious is it?" he repeats as he heads over to helm.

"We're engaged."

He stops and turns around. "What?"

"He proposed, and I said yes. He's a good guy. He's a cop, and he transferred so he could live closer to me."

"So, you love him?"

"Yes."

Jacob turns around, saying nothing. He sits at helm, and brings the ship quickly to the other building, which is a very short way. Could make the walk easily if it was on another planet. He stands up after the land, and heads down. He pauses as he turns to his daughter. "You must have been surprised to see Lantash was alive."

She smiles. "Yes, him and Narim. I have missed them."

Jacob is pleased. Well, I don't have to worry about trying to like Pete. She's not marrying him.

While in a case like this, I'd usually argue and tell the host to accept it. In this particular case, we both saw the same thing. The expression on her face when she spoke of Pete didn't compare to the smile for when she spoke of Lantash and Narim.

Jacob leaves, and heads down that tunnel again. This time he stops before the end, and throws in small items until the rings are activated.

Narim smiles after he is brought up. "The other prisoners are probably going to wonder how we did that."

Jacob nods, both in response to his words, and giving me control.

"Lantash, what became of Elliot?"

Narim's smile fades. "Elliot died a few months ago."

Jacob and I both wonder why Narim is the one telling us about Elliot, but perhaps it is hard on Lantash to speak of him. I know all too well the pain of losing a host. Again I feel bad. "If we had known sooner, we could have saved Elliot."

Narim walks passed us, with effort, as he and Pete both carry Pary and Hovar. "No, I am afraid that would have not saved him. He...he lost his mind over a year ago due to the torture Zar put him and Lantash through."

I realize just how much we failed them.

"Elliot realized what was happening, and asked Lantash to think of him as dead once he was...mentally gone. Afterwards, he soon was, and became very violent. Lantash had to take control."

It's quiet the rest of the way, but his words repeat in my head. I can't imagine what it would be like to be forced to take control of a host because he's lost his mind. What Elliot and Lantash went through makes me sick. No wonder Narim was the one telling us about it.

As we enter the ship, Pete quickly finds Sam. "Sam!" He practically runs to her.

I glance over to Narim, and see clearly as he watches them, it hurts him. Lantash takes over, but after knowing him for so many years, I can see he too is in pain. He turns away, and instead starts concentrating on Pary.

Jacob finds a healing device, and heads over to his daughter. He starts using it on her. We learn she was a lot sicker than she let on, however the device will heal her.

"It's almost sad," I hear Lantash say. "All that food and water I stored, and I don't get to have it."

"We can go back and collect what we can," Jacob says.

"No, it tasted horrible. I'll never complain about Tok'ra rations again."

Jacob chuckles, and finishes healing his daughter. "Feeling better?"

She nods.

"The rest of the healing will have to be done by you. You should feel normal in a few days. You'll be a bit tired until then." Jacob goes over, and starts scanning Pary. "I don't see anything wrong. If we take him back to our base, perhaps we can figure out why he died there." Jacob then scans Hovar. "I can't be sure, but I think Hovar died first. Lantash, was there anything that would harm a symbiote?"

He doesn't answer.

"Lantash?" Jacob turns to him, and sees Lantash staring.

"Lantash, are you all right?" Samantha asks.

Lantash turns to her. "What? Oh." He turns back to Jacob. "If there was anything, then it should have effected me first. I was there longer."

Or it's just taking longer. The idea of something on that planet that can kill a symbiote makes me very nervous.

Jacob starts another scan. "From the scan it almost looks like...no, that can't be. Lantash, would you look at this?"

I hear the sound of someone hitting the floor.

Samantha's voice exclaiming "Lantash!" soon follows.

I turn around, and see her check for a pulse. "Narim," she says quietly.

I take over Jacob and start another scan, but this one is not on Pary or Hovar. I feel a knot in Jacob's stomach as the results start coming up. I quickly go to Narim and Lantash, and scan them. "They are alive. Samantha, did anyone open the door to the outside?"

"Yes, Lantash did."

"Did Pary and Hovar die soon after that?"

Her eyes widen slightly. "Yes, now that you mention it."

"I just figured out why Zar left the planet. The entire atmosphere is filled with the Tok'ra poison..."

She looked at me in disbelief. "What?"

"...and now it's on this ship."

To be continued...