"You don't think it was just a dream."

"No Sir. It was real. I could tell."

Eleven

The Tok'Ra

Lantash became aware that he stood in his new Tok'ra quarters. He walked out the doorway and through tunnels looking around and discretely planting bugs at close intervals on his way. Eventually he reached Garshaw's chamber and found it surrounded by frantic and shocked Tok'ra. All of them knowing they were too late to save her life they avoided trampling any evidence.

So we have been successful.

As he slowly walked from the scene Jolinar turned a corner ahead and stopped in his path. He pulled her aside and tried to get her attention off the controversy unravelling behind him.

"Jolie… Jolie!" he scolded.

Her head snapped up, eyes searching his, "what's happened?"

He stopped her from pushing past an pulled her into a fast pace beside him. He didn't want to say it for fear of being overheard, but he had to whisper, "give me your weapon and communicator," the expression and tone he used was commanding.

She handed them over quickly and luckily for him, she was discrete in all her movements as usual.

"Lantash, what's going on?" she asked and he cringed every time she glanced back over her shoulder. She gasped and put a hand on his upper arm. "You suspect…" she stared, beginning to annoy him with endless questions.

"Please, stand away. Over there…" he pointed to a dead-end fork of the corridor.

She stepped back and he gestured impatiently for her to go much further. When she was too far to stop him he pulled a small crystal from his pocket and slammed it into the wall letting the energy drain from it.

From that point crystal bars shot out in rays. Spearing their ends into the other side of the tunnel they cracked it and slowly grew thicker.

Blocked from each other, he looked her over for the last time and walked away.

"Lantash, what the f…!" she screamed after him a minute later, pounding on the thickening barrier that had become a flat wall between her and the main corridor.

He walked on trying to ignore it and think about the other things he had to do that day but then a small and gentle voice caught his attention. Foreign, clear and ethereal.

"Martouf."

There was merely a hint of uncertainty. Whoever she was, it was obvious she was curious about him.

"I'm right aren't I?"

He stood looking over his shoulder. There was no one in sight. There was no sound of any distant conversations or footsteps but his own, which since they'd left no prints may not have existed to begin with.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Come here."

He turned his head to the side, "Rosha? How are you doing that?"

At no response her went back the way he'd come, searching until he stood back at her cell. The wall he'd made was now too thick for light to penetrate.

"Rosha?"

Nothing.

He pressed an ear to the wall for a while.

"Alright, I'll let you out if you tell me how you did that," he said

Nothing.

Then there was a loud thud against the crystal he was listening through. He reeled back with wide eyes at the pain, trying not to touch his ear.

The pounding returned. It grew louder and the ground and everything shook. His body suddenly felt very heavy and he became stuck to the floor by the its weight. He decided to give up and lay down waiting for the shaking to subside. He began to feel cold.

The second he woke up and could focus Martouf rushed out of his quarters running frantically around the Tok'ra base searching for Jolinar and Garshaw.

"Hey, Martouf! You're on patrol today," called Aldwin catching up to where Martouf had stopped and turned when he'd heard him, "we had better go down to the storerooms and get our stuff, I feel Garshaw on the move towards us and I believe she's not in a good mood," he grinned rushing Martouf along.

"But she is alright?" he asked.

"Who? Garshaw? Of course," Aldwin gave him a strange look.

"Just checking," he relaxed.

They walked into the storerooms smiling at one of Lantash's jokes Martouf had acted out on the way and they greeted Cordesh and the other men gathered there preparing to head out.

His thoughts became focussed on the patrol and staying alert as half of the group transported up to the surface then his half used the rings and they all walked slowly in formation, in a roundabout way towards the gate, without sound and leaving no tracks behind them.

Then, a surprise to everyone, they heard the gate spin and Cordesh instantly motioned for Azi to climb a nearby dune to watch. Azi signalled there were four, armed and on foot then he snuck back down slowly. As they heard the foreign steps coming towards them Cordesh sent his message to the Tok'ra underground and with barely enough time the men rolled into the dune walls, tunnelling their bodies deeper in with their legs. They waited until they knew the visitors were well into their trap to spring out.

And then there she was. Her eyes darting around the standoff to detect any threatening movents made by the men. Her eyes turned to his stance and weapon's aim then flicked up to settle on his face and expression.

"Martouf," she said with wonder in her eyes, just the way she had sounded in the dream and her expression was of open curiosity, she looked so young. Only a little shorter than him, fair too but with bluer eyes and blonder hair.

Its you, he felt as though he'd almost said it aloud.

Her guard dropped, she was almost smiling.

Their team member in stance of leader spoke, "I'm assuming you are the Tok'ra."

Cordesh tensed, "and if we are?"

The Jaffa replied, "if you are indeed the Tok'ra of Jaffa legend, we should form an alliance," he said.

The woman lowered her weapon.

"Carter!" said the leader and she instinctively raised her weapon slightly.

"Its safe, Colonel."

"They're Goa'ulds, Carter."

She bristled, "they're not Goa'uld."

"And you, what, feel this?"

She looked back to Martouf who couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, "no, I can remember."

"O'Neill, if they are the Tok'ra, we are in no danger," said the Jaffa.

The man next to O'Neil said, "if you're asking for opinions, I vote we take the chance."

"Okay. But I want it understood that we're doing this in the spirit of future relations. I expect us to be treated as such."

And the rest put their weapons down.

"Please, come closer together," Martouf asked.

"Why?"

The man next to the leader sighed, "Jack."

They stepped within the rings and were transported into the tunnels. Cordesh led everyone towards Garshaw's meeting chamber.

"This looks just like the last place," Carter said to Martouf.

"This plan is very similar to the last one," he explained wondering if he should be suspicious and how much to say.

"It is said throughout the legend of the Tok'ra, when they arrive on a planet they go deep underground, it is said they possess the technology to actually grow tunnels," the Jaffa said as he walked ahead of them with the rest.

"It's made of crystals, so it is grown," Carter said. She managed to fall back from the group as she looked around and Martouf walked back towards her.

Moving up beside him "My memories of you are so strong," her head tilted as she focused on him. "This is such a… strange bond."

He looked over this foreign woman again, with nothing to say, wanting some idea to come quickly before those she'd come with would notice she was gone and rush back for her. But she didn't wait, passing by him without a word and walked ahead to where Cordesh was ushering the visitors into a chamber to wait for Garshaw.

Martouf entered soon after looking for Carter and was met by the Tauri leader, "Colonel? Jack? O'Neil?" he asked.

"Yah," he said rocking on his heels.

"…By which should I address you?"

"Sir will be fine."

"Sir?"

"And you are… Martouf?"

Martouf nodded and began to explain, "Jolinar–" then he noticed her nearby and caught the barely perceptible shake of her head through he corner of his eye. He understood, she did not want their relationship revealed to the others with her. Perhaps she would at least talk with him alone at some point.

"You knew Jolinar?" asked Colonel Jack O'Neil.

"Yes," he said simply.

Martouf looked back to the woman and he knew she'd known who he was to Jolinar from when she first saw him but neither of them said anything more.

For some reason we must keep up the pretence that she doesn't know everything about us.