"Never?" she repeated. "Bullshit, I've seen you be careful."
"Careful gets you killed," he said, but she wasn't paying attention any more. She looked confused. "What?"
"Nothing, I was just looking at this. What is it?"
"Kaya's royal medallion... or something. I can't seem to get rid of it."
I kinda like it.
Figures.
Sam turned the medallion over in her fingers. The mirror image indented on the back wasn't quite the same. The snake was different. Its mouth was open.
"I think its a key!"
"How can you tell?" he asked taking it to examine again and noticed what she had, "I see. you must be right."
"Of course I'm right! Daniel would be proud of me."
"And I have a feeling I know where to use it."
Lantash sensed Kaya's communicator -- now his -- activate and held it up to see the glyphs glowing on its surface. He read the message silently to himself.
"It's the general. Something's wrong."
Samantha came up to look at it from over his shoulder, "what's going on? What does it say?"
He quickly replied to the message and told Samantha, "its says I Ômust return immediately'. I've demanded an explanation." He mused quietly, "why didn't The General send an escort?"
They waited a long few minutes, exchanging somber looks. There was no reply.
He glanced to her. She nodded. They took off running.
As he pulled off the path to shortcut across a meadow he heard her unsteady steps slow and glanced back to see if she keeping up. She'd disappeared. In surprise he tripped and rolled into the grass. It was too long to see anything.
"Samantha?"
She jumped up close by holding a slipper in each hand, they grinned to each other then she hurled them back over her shoulders into the meadow, and ran over to pull him up by the hand.
The meadow ended on the grey hill where the fort stood. Lantash ran out into the shadow of the fort, crushing shards of rock under his boots.
"Stop!" he yelled back but she was standing next to him.
She stood completely still, her expression a grimace staring straight ahead. There was blood on the rocks under her feet. He lifted his own boot and saw the shards had fixed like nails into the heel.
"I'll give you a lift back," he punned not wanting to make her feel weak and lifted her with apparent ease.
A strange realisation came to him as he trudged quickly up the steep hill.
It feels wrong to be carrying Samantha. She's so much more enchanting when she's standing on her own feet.
Because that's her nature."
In the forts outer wall a small door opened to a stone room where a group of soldiers were relaxed. The men stood to attention as fast as they could.
"What is going on?" Lantash demanded.
They didn't know what he was talking about.
"I received an emergency message."
The soldiers' weapon hands twitched but they remained dutifully staring ahead.
Lantash considered a moment then nodded his head slowly, "Go. Be discrete, don't alert the other men."
Lantash swept through the next set of doors and motioned two guards into the outer room.
"Seems to be business as usual," said Sam, "must be a management crisis."
"Yes," he said meaningfully.
As he headed up through less used rooms Sam was catching glimpses of the people at work in the other rooms.
She whispered, "The servants are all boys?"
He replied in hushed tones, "orphans, some will remain servants, some will prove themselves and become soldiers."
"The other night the hall was full of women."
"That was the celebration of the men's return from their tour of duty. Only the healers here are female."
"Is that because of tradition... or superstition?"
"That may have something to do with it."
Lantash burst into the main hall which was brightly lit and Sue was seated on the throne. She eyed him with silent calm.
The General appeared at the centre of the floor and confronted Lantash, "you have been found out."
As he glared cooly at Lantash Samantha's enthusiastic voice sounded through the hall over a PA, echoing.
::So you did find something!::
::Someone, a General to be specific. He believes I am still possessed by Kaya so he readily told me of Torres' attempt...::
Lantash was reeling, he glanced quickly back and forth over The General and Sue, sizing them up and flexing his fingers as his own words filled his ears.
::We both know you couldn't possibly handle a mission so dangerous all by yourself.::
::Lantash is rather furious with you.::
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Lantash yelled over the private moment.
They have no right to have listened to this.
Neither The General nor Sue said a thing as they watched him.
::Yeah?::
::I'm sorry, Samantha, but as a Tok'ra I could not justify myself standing in his way at this particular moment.::
"Sholva," The General mouthed icily, his eyes glowing for a moment.
Lantash twitched. His mind flashed back to the mutiny. He realised the General had been there and done nothing to stop it.
Lets kill him.
Yes.
He almost did, there and then, but he thought again.
"You want this planet."
The General shook his head and gestured to Sue, she does. So I have informed Anubis of your true intentions and he will be here very soon. I suggest you leave."
"You're lying."
"Do you want to take that chance?"
"Maybe another time... So what are your plans?"
Sue mused, "oh, start some community programs, overhaul the education system, that sort of thing."
"Commendable" Lantash wiped the smile off his face when he saw the look of disbelief on Samantha's face, "I guess we'll be going," he backed out of the room with Samantha. Once outside they rushed up to Kaya's bedroom to get her bag with the GDO and walked back to the control room where he stopped.
"Go quickly."
"What?"
"I'll watch," he moved to the console, "I'll make sure you get there."
"No, you're coming!"
"This is the only way you'll escape. He won't let us both go. It's just a trick."
She was silent for a moment but then she shook her head, "I'm not leaving then."
"You cannot chose my life over the lives of all the Tok'Ra."
"I already have."