Life In This Vast Expanse

by Arej

A new race of alien stumbles through the stargate, seemingly innocent and in need of serious help. But deep inside, this new race harbors an enemy...the Goa'uld.

Life In This Vast Expanse:

An SG-1 Fan Fiction

Jera

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SG-1 characters…Well, I think that covers it. Oh yes, and I do not own SG-1 or anything affiliated with it either. The only parts of this story that I own are the parts of my own creation.

One

Anahata activated the stargate, looking around apprehensively. The Goa'uld might have spies.

As the 'gate sprang to life, the symbiote inside her began to squirm. It knew exactly what she was doing, where she was going, and what she would do when she got there. And it was pissed.

Worrying for the fate of her not only her own life but for the lives of her people, Anahata stepped through the glistening blue screen of the active 'gate and let it carry her away.

…

On Earth, the SG-1 team was preparing to go on a mission.

"We're clear," O'Neill called to Hammond. Hammond nodded from behind the glass partition.

"Activating- what the hell?"

The team stared at the active stargate for a second before training their weapons on the 'gate.

"Did you activate it, Hammond?"

"No. It did that on its own. I'm going to close the iris."

Amazingly, the iris refused to close.

"Be ready to fire!" Hammond shouted, bearing down on panic as the scientists rushed to try and force the iris closed.

A figure stepped through the 'gate and stumbled, falling onto the platform. Behind it, the stargate deactivated and the iris closed with a decisive snap! After a split second the figure turned over and placed a hand on its stomach with a quiet moan of pain.

"O'Neill, he's in trouble. We might be able to help," Carter called, glancing over at her superior. She took a step forward.

"No." Teal'c put a hand out in a gesture of warning. "I sense a symbiote."

"Should we zat him?"

"No. Not yet. There is something…strange about this symbiote. It may not be dangerous."

"Or it could kill us all," O'Neill added in his paranoid way. "Everyone out."

Before anyone could move, however, the figure lying on the platform sat up slowly and struggled to stand. It was a woman, they now realized, and she was dressed in drab browns and greens. A brightly colored cloth with strange patterns was wound around her head. As she stood, she turned to face the SG-1 team, still holding a hand over her stomach.

"Who are you?" O'Neill asked.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank stars."

"Who are you?"

For the first time the woman took a glance around, not flinching at the weapons that were trained upon her. She turned a green-eyed gaze to O'Neill. "I am Anahata. I came to speak with you, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill."

"Me."

"Yes."

"You came uninvited through the stargate to speak to me?"

"My people are in dire need of your help."

Before O'Neill could respond, Anahata's knees buckled and she collapsed onto the platform. Her hand was pressed to her stomach.

Teal'c turned to O'Neill. "The symbiote is intent on hurting her at this time. As long as it is so occupied, we can take her to quarantine safely."

Carter nodded in response. "Sir, she may be telling the truth."

O'Neill looked from his teammates to the woman lying on their platform. "Take her to quarantine."

…

Anahata awoke in a strange room. Glancing around, her memory kicked in. They must have taken her to quarantine.

Placing a hand to her head, she fingered the fabric there. Her sight had told her they would bring her here, to this white-walled room with the strange technology. It was never wrong about these things.

There was a hiss as the door opened and Carter stepped in. Although she couldn't see the woman, Anahata knew her steps. "Welcome, Lieutenant Samantha Carter."

"You're awake."

Anahata smiled as Carter rounded the side of the bed and sat in the chair. "So I am."

"What happened back there on the platform?"

"I must speak to General O'Neill."

"Jack's busy."

"It is essential I speak to him. The lives of my people rest in his hands now."

"What do you mean?"

"My people were captured by the Goa'uld and implanted with symbiotes. They recently released us on our home planet."

"What makes you think O'Neill can help?"

"I know he can."

"How-" Carter broke off as the door hissed open again. Anahata went tense.

"Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c. I believe I have received quite a welcoming party."

"I see you're alive, then."

"General O'Neill, my people need your help."

"So you've said."

"I came to ask for this help."

O'Neill rounded the corner of the bed and stood next to where Carter sat. Anahata was aware of Daniel and Teal'c standing at the other side and ignored them for the moment. Her eyes, a bright crystal green, bored holes into his.

"Why are you so intent on getting our help?"

"Your help," she corrected. "You are the only one who can help. You are the only one who knows how."

"And how exactly do you know this?" He asked skeptically.

"I have seen it."

"Right. Seen it." His eyes reflected his thoughts. She's loony.

Anahata switched her eyes to Dr. Jackson. "I think you may know what I mean."

"There's a theory, yes, but it's never been proven…it's all just myth."

"There is no myth involved. I am Sarkan, I was born Sarkan, and will remain Sarkan for eternity."

"Sarkan. You mean those people who were thought to have some kind of weird sixth sense?"

"It is called sight," Anahata corrected icily, her eyes hardening as she looked to O'Neill. "And it is perfectly natural for my people."

"Look, Ana-whatever your name is. I'm not gullible."

"I never believed you were, General. My sight told me that it would be a trial to receive your help, and it has never been wrong. I had, however, hoped that it would not be as difficult as I feared."

"I don't trust you."

"I did not believe you would. It is also not essential for you to trust me. It is essential that you believe me and help my people."

"Believe you? You're sitting there, calm and rational as can be, telling me you can 'see' things? I can't believe you…miss."

"It is Anahata, and yes, you can. I have seen that you will."

"Look, I'm not going to do something just because some freak alien comes stumbling through our stargate and begging for my help. For all we know, you could be a Goa'uld spy."

Anahata's eyes shot daggers of icy fire at O'Neill. "If you shall excuse my insolence, General, I am no spy. I came here to escape those demons, not let them plague a new land. I did not beg, although I may have stumbled. And I am not a 'freak alien'." She rose partly up from the bed, pulling against the restraints that held her down. "I am human, like you, and just because I have been given the gift of sight does not make me a freak. Alien I may be, but freak I am not." She turned her eyes to Teal'c, rage at the injustice of O'Neill's words firing her usually calm temper. "You are alien, yes? And you have different qualities than humans." She glared back at O'Neill. "And yet he is not a 'freak alien'. Why is that, General?"

O'Neill took an involuntary step back. Though her voice had suddenly gone sweet, there was unquestionable fury in her eyes. His mind raced for something, anything, to say.

"Sir."

Relieved for the interruption, O'Neill broke Anahata's intense gaze and looked at Daniel. "What?"

"I think she's right."

"I agree with Dr. Jackson," Teal'c added. "It was not proper to call Anahata a freak. After all, I am alien, as she is, and I am no freak."

O'Neill took a deep breath as Carter added her thoughts. "They're right, sir."

"I apologize…"

"Anahata."

"Anahata. I was out of line."

"Of course you were."

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to help you. We still don't know what you are, yet. For all we know you could be a lunatic from Kelowna."

"Kelowna…I have heard of this place. This is where Jonas Quinn is from, yes?"

"How do you know Jonas?"

"I have seen him."

"Seen…right." Still skeptical, O'Neill nodded slowly. "And has your 'sight' told you anything else?"

"Many things." Anahata's eyes were suddenly wise and knowing as she smiled slightly. "I know more than you believe, of past, present, and future."

"Right."

"If you wish, I will tell you some of what I know."

"Go ahead."

"I know that Dr. Daniel Jackson once ascended to the high realm and was then banished from this place of spirits. I know Teal'c uses tretonin to keep himself alive. I know that Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter has a doctorate in astrophysics. I know that Jonas Quinn brought the element Naquadria to Earth as a peace offering for being part of the cover-up of Doctor Jackson's fatal accident. I know that Doctor Janet Frasier was killed while tending a wounded airman on P3X-666. I know General George Hammond holds the Pentagon position as chief of defense for the planet Earth. And I know, Brigadier General Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill, that you were once happily married and had a child."

"Impressive."

"That is only basic, General. I can go deeper if you wish."

"No, no, I think that'll do. So you say you can 'see' things?"

"I know I can, as you so elegantly put it, 'see things'. I have had this gift since birth."

"Sarkans," Daniel interjected, "are a sub-race of the people who created the stargates."

"Yes." Anahata smiled at Daniel. "You are correct, Dr. Jackson. We are descended from Liana Anial, who married Doches Cireir. Both had the rare gift of sight. All of their children received the gift and married into other families with the same gift. So the Sarkans were born."

"Sarkans are only myths, though."

"No. I am a true-blooded Sarkan. Do I appear to be a myth to you, or do you believe yourself to be imagining things?"

"It's strange to see a supposed myth lying in quarantine."

"Supposed myth." Anahata grinned at that. "I believe my people would enjoy hearing that."

"You call them 'your people'," O'Neill said. Anahata turned her eyes to his. "What are you, some kind of leader?"

"In a sense. There is a council of five leaders, and I hold a position on the council as Leader of Heart."

"Leader of Heart…" Daniel muttered, searching his memory. Anahata didn't even blink. Her sight had told her he would be the one to make the connection.

"Right. And the other leaders…" O'Neill asked.

"I apologize, General. I have remembered that there are also two sub-council leaders in the event that the entire council must be present on another planet."

"What are the names of the other leaders?"

"Yes. There is Vishuddha, Leader of Throat, Ajna, Leader of Brow, Muladhara, Leader of Root, and Svadhisthana, Leader of Sacral. The two sub-council leaders are Shasrara, Leader of Crown, and Manipura, Leader of Navel."

"Heart, throat, brow, root, sacral, crown, and navel. Sounds like a regular body."

"In a sense, it is," Daniel replied to O'Neill. Anahata looked over with a half smile and Daniel directed his next words to her. "The Chakras."

"Yes. If you wish to take it further, Sarkahc is chakras in reverse. The name of our planet," she added in response to O'Neill's inquisitive gaze. "We are strong in the chakras, and our gift comes from this."

"I have heard of these Sarkans," Teal'c said. "Apophis spoke of them on occasion when he was considering how to spread the Goa'uld race."

"I have no doubt of that. They have known of us for generations, but not until recently have they made a move against my people. They must be stopped before they destroy us."

"And what exactly was this move against the Sarkans?" O'Neill asked. His skepticism was set aside for the moment as he learned this new information: the Goa'uld were attacking the Sarkans.

"They captured our people in their ships and implanted us with these demons."

"All of you?"

"All of us."

"Well, I don't think there's anything we can do to change that-"

"Ajna saw what they were to do with us. They have some kind of connection to our symbiotes, and they are using our visions to plan for the destruction of other races. These demons see what we see, General."

"And what are we supposed to do to stop that?"

"There is nothing that you can do to stop the demons seeing. That is what this is for." She touched the brightly patterned cloth on her forehead with shaking fingers as she remembered the ordeal with the Goa'uld. "We need you to stop the Goa'uld."

"I don't see how we can do anything."

"You have the knowledge of our ancestors, General O'Neill. Among it is the information of how to stop them from killing us after we have fulfilled our usefulness."

"When will they try to kill you?"

"We do not know."

"Then why are you coming to us now?"

"Because had I not, we may never have been able to reach you. General, you also have the knowledge of how to take these demons from my people."

"Now, Anahata, don't be crazy. There is no possible way to extract a symbiote."

"There is, and you know. Even if you are not aware you have this knowledge, you do."

"I think I know what it is I know a little better than you do, even with your weird sixth sense."

"No." Anahata shook her head violently. "No, you know. I have seen that you know. You must- OH!" Her unbound hands went to her stomach as she squirmed under the restraints. Her eyes were glazed over in pain as she clutched at her stomach.

The team exchanged glances over the form of the struggling Sarkan, feeling helpless. Teal'c looked at O'Neill. "Sir, I have never felt a symbiote quite as angry as this one. It appears to be upset that she is speaking to you, and is punishing her for it."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do."

Anahata pressed her hands to her stomach with enough force to make the symbiote screech from inside her. The sound erupted on the silent air as Anahata's head whipped from side to side in agony. A quiet moan escaped her lips and she bit down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Apparently Anahata had been pressing hard enough on the symbiote and it surrendered, curling up in her gut and glaring at her insides. She slumped down on the bed, breath whooshing out of her lungs with a force to rival a Zat.

"Are you okay?" Carter asked. She had stood up when Anahata had first cried out, and now pressed her hand to Anahata's head worriedly. "Your skin is red and you have a fever."

"I am alright for the moment. It was angry at me."

"It?"

"The symbiote." She shuddered. "The demon."

"Does that happen often?" O'Neill asked, brow furrowed in thought.

"Yes."

"It may be trying to get out."

Anahata blinked up at him, her former demeanor of diplomacy forgotten. Her eyes glistened for a second. "I have considered that possibility, but my sight has told me otherwise. It is angry at me for speaking of these matters to you, just as it was angry that I came through the stargate to speak to you."

"Why did you press down on your stomach?" Daniel asked.

"If it is to punish me for something I have not done, or for something it sees as wrong and I know not to be, it is only fitting that I punish it for hurting me. It does not hurt the demon," she added. "I cannot harm."

"Well, if this symbiote is evil, since you're calling it a demon, then you should be able to harm it to protect yourself. Even kill it."

"Not so. You know Sarkan laws well, even though they may seem myths to you. Yes, there is a loophole that allows me to inflict harm in self-defense, or kill in extreme cases. I can inflict harm upon the demon so long as it is trying to kill me. But as it stopped, I could no longer inflict harm upon it, and therefore had to stop. I can only harm to save my own life."

"What?"

Anahata looked at O'Neill patiently. "There is a law that my people live by. To break it would mean that the gift would kill us. Believe me, it has happened before. The gift once took a life because the man tried to force himself upon an unwilling woman, and before she could scream, he was dead. The gift intervened."

"What is this law?"

"A simple line of eight words. Roughly translated, it means…" she trailed off, glancing over at Daniel, who was restraining himself from responding. With a smile she nodded. "Go ahead, Dr. Jackson."

"'An it harm none, do what ye will'," he quoted. "No Sarkan can bring harm to another except in self-defense."

"Right."

"It is true, General. I cannot harm you unless you decide to try and take my life." Anahata smiled at O'Neill. "I hope you do not decide to try that."

"I don't plan on it. Tell me, Anahata, why do you think I can help?"

"Again we go over the same territory. I know you can help my people because I have seen it. My sight is not wrong, nor has it ever been. You will be the one to free my people of these demons we have been given."

"If they're demons like you say, wouldn't your 'gift' reject them?"

"No. The gift cannot harm the symbiote."

"But it can kill you if you harm something and not in self-defense."

Anahata nodded. "Correct."

"This 'gift' sounds like something really strange."

"To one who does not receive the gift of sight it may seem so. But it is as natural as breathing to a Sarkan. Perhaps even more natural than breathing."

"But don't Sarkan leaders sometimes have to speed up their visions?" Daniel leaned forward on the balls of his feet, his hands behind his back. He looked like a scholar. "Isn't there a time that they have to do that?"

"Yes. We must quicken the time of appearance for our vision as soon as we become a leader so we shall know who will follow us. It is a precaution we all take in the event that something like this may happen. My people need a council of five leaders and two sub-council leaders. We cannot function properly without it."

"Aren't Sarkans supposed to have long life spans?"

"We do. In comparison to the lifespan of you Earth humans, we have very long lives. The oldest known Sarkan lived to be two thousand years old."

"Two thousand?"

Anahata looked back at O'Neill. "Yes."

"That's a long time to live."

"And an even longer time to rule. He was Svadhisthana, Leader of Sacral. He passed on only a little more than two centuries ago."

"But I thought you said that you had a Svad-whatever, Leader of Sacral."

"We do. The person who is to follow the dying leader takes that leader's name. It is ritual."

"So Anahata's not your real name?"

"No. My real name is something undeniably sacred now."

"Sacred?"

"Yes. It is something only those who knew me before I took my position on the council know. I never use it."

"Why not?"

"As I just said, it is sacred. I have no use for it now. Perhaps one day, if I trust you enough to confide in you, I will tell you my true name. But not until then."

"Is it that important to you?"

"Each person fulfills a role in the way of Sarkan life. A Leader forfeits all ties to the past and fully submerges their entire being into the role they play from then on. Were I to be called regularly by my true name, I would have a connection to my past, and would not be able to serve the Sarkan people to the best of my ability."

"Right."

"Believe me, General. I also do not truly remember my full name. I must meditate on it."

"Anahata, Leader of Heart, you came to us for help."

A little surprised by Daniel's use of her proper title, Anahata looked at him. Not only had he used her title, he had addressed her as was custom for her people. "Perhaps you know more of my people than you believe, Dr. Jackson."

"Maybe."

"Yes, I came to you for help. I believe the entire SG-1 team will play a vital role in saving my people, but I know as fact that General O'Neill holds the knowledge that will enable you to do this. I came as a dignitary in the hour of need. I am afraid my people do not have much longer."

"There isn't much we can do."

"Yes. Yes, there is. I have seen it. I know it to be fact."

"If you know it to be fact, then why can't you tell me what it is I need to know to save your people?"

Anahata looked at O'Neill, her eyes patient. "My gift does not work that way. I see who will save us, not how, and I also do not see how you know this. You just know it, just as I have this gift."

"I wouldn't compare knowledge to your 'gift', necessarily."

"General, you must help us. If you do not and we are destroyed, our deaths will be your responsibility. They will weigh on you for the rest of your life and then they will weigh in when it is decided what plane you will dwell in after your death. They will haunt you for the rest of eternity, and you will never be able to escape."

"Do they teach you the guilt tactic when you become a leader?"

"I do not understand what you mean. What I say is true."

O'Neill sighed and shook his head. "We'll help."

Anahata smiled with the hard-won victory.

"But I can't guarantee we'll stop the Goa'uld."

"You will."

"Did you see that, too?"

"No. I know it in my heart. You are a good man, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, and will save many lives with your decision. I speak on the behalf of my people when I say we owe you our strength and knowledge, such as they are."

"Yeah, yeah," O'Neill replied, slightly embarrassed by her words. "Don't think I'm doing this just out of the goodness of my heart. No people deserve to be annihilated."

"Of course not," Anahata replied soberly. But her eyes twinkled.

…

O'Neill made his way down the hallway, talking with Carter and Teal'c. Daniel had stayed behind in quarantine to ask Anahata questions about her people and her…gift.

"Why do I feel like this is a lost cause, and all we're going to do is make things worse for them?" he asked.

"Because there's not much we can do except piss off the Goa'uld for messing with their experiment," Carter replied with a sigh. "But how could you tell her no and let her think that you were leaving her people to die in their time of need?"

"I couldn't, and that's the problem."

"Perhaps the Goa'uld do not wish the Sarkans dead," Teal'c interrupted. "It is quite possible that this 'connection' Anahata spoke of is essential to the research of the Goa'uld. Apophis often spoke of being able to foresee the future. Perhaps this is what he meant."

"That's entirely possible."

They entered the conference room ,where Hammond was sitting at the head of the table, looking over a pile of papers. He looked up when they entered.

"How is our new alien?" He asked, setting the papers aside as they took their seats.

"Alive and well. She had another episode with the symbiote while we were there." Carter nodded almost imperceptibly at O'Neill, who cleared his throat.

"She wants us to help save her people."

"And? Surely we can't just go barging in there without some kind of idea why."

"Apparently the Goa'uld have implanted her people with symbiotes."

"There's nothing we can do about that."

"Well, according to Anahata, we can. And, to top it all off, I'm the one who knows how."

"Uh-huh. And just how do you know this?"

"She has no idea."

"Where's Dr. Jackson?"

"Speaking with her. Anahata calls herself one of the Sarkans, and Daniel is naturally curious."

"Did it ever occur to you that she may be Zatarc?"

"It did. However, I don't believe she is."

"Have you lost your mind, General? Just because she doesn't seem to be Zatarc doesn't mean she isn't. By leaving Dr. Jackson alone with her you exposed him to immediate danger."

"Daniel can handle himself, sir," Carter interjected. "Besides, Anahata says she lives by an unbreakable law."

"And how exactly does this 'law' have any importance to the matter at hand?"

"She says she can't harm people, sir."

"People break laws all the time."

"Unlike human laws, Anahata says that if she breaks this law, she'll die. It's tied in to what she calls her gift."

"And what exactly is her gift?"

"Sight. She has some kind of weird sixth sense that allows her to 'see' things." O'Neill spread his hands on the table. "If she breaks the law, her sight will kill her."

"Uh-huh. And you believed this?"

"Yes, I believe her. This isn't someone who's out to destroy the world, sir. She wouldn't have come here unless she needed help."

"And how do we know she isn't some crazy loon from another planet? How do we know she isn't a Goa'uld spy, and that the episodes with her symbiote aren't faked?"

"Sir, symbiotes don't make noise unless they're angry. During the second episode, Anahata pressed down on her symbiote, causing it to screech in anger or agony. After that it stopped hurting her." Carter entreated.

"But it would've done the same if it was in on it." Hammond shook his head. "I don't like this."

"I don't either, but she's telling the truth."

"How do you know she's telling the truth, O'Neill? What proof does she have?"

"She told us things that are in sealed files."

"Sealed files can be broken."

"Yes, but only here on earth."

"So she makes a trip here, back home, and then through the stargate with her new information she's learned."

"But the only way to get here from another planet is through the stargate or by ship. We'd know if a ship landed somewhere on Earth, hacked into our security systems, and then left."

Hammond sighed. "I still don't like this. Maybe we should take her to the Tok'ra."

"That would clear up the question of whether Anahata is Zatarc or not," Teal'c added. "Perhaps it is the best course of action."

"Then it's settled. We'll take her to the Tok'ra and find out what she is once and for all." O'Neill began to stand but Carter cleared her throat.

"Oh. Sir," O'Neill added, standing, "I told Anahata that we would help her."

…

Anahata smiled. "Yes. We live very long lifespans, as I told you. The typical Sarkan lives to be one thousand to fifteen hundred years old."

"And how old are you?"

"Do you not know better than to ask a woman her age?" she teased, and laughed when he flushed. "I will tell you anyway. I am relatively young. Four decades past I reached my three hundredth birthday."

"So you're three hundred and forty?"

"I believe so."

"That's a long time to live."

"And a very long time to lead. I have been Leader of Heart since my two hundredth birthday. I was appointed on that day."

"I can't imagine living that long."

"When your entire race lives as you do, it is not difficult."

"There are conflicting beliefs on the way Sarkans view marriage. What's true?"

"Our people marry much in the same way that your people do. For a young woman, a marriage is arranged by her family. Sometimes it is the same for young men."

"Actually, here on earth people choose their own partners."

"Then I am behind. No matter. It is not the same as the way your marriages are- were- arranged. The two people are brought together and left to talk. Should they like each other, they will be given more time to learn the other person's personality. If the two fall in love, the marriage is made legal. If not, then another suitor is chosen and the process begins again."

"Couldn't the parents just see their child's future partner?"

"In some cases, yes. But it is rare. There are also times where a marriage is on the verge of becoming legal when one of the two is called to be a leader." Anahata reflected on her own experience. She had been of marrying age, and on the eve of her wedding night, when her predecessor had passed away. It had come as a shock to everyone excepting the council, who had shown up at her parents' doorstep the moment the sun rose the following morning to take her to the palace-city where she would learn to be the Leader of Heart. She still remembered her partner's face as she was taken away. He had been so angry. Even more so, he had been sad. The last words he had said to her were 'I love you, my darling, and I will not marry in your honor. Strength to you as you lead. I will never forget our love.'

"Anahata?"

Anahata broke from her reverie and smiled at Daniel. "I was remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"The eve of my wedding night, and the following morning."

"I thought Leaders weren't allowed to marry."

"They are not. I was on the eve of marriage when my predecessor passed away. The council came for me the following morning, one hour before the ceremony was to begin."

"That must have been hard."

"It was."

"Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"But you said you weren't allowed ties to the past."

"I have never had any contact with the young man I was to marry past that day. I have never contacted my family, nor have I seen any of my old friends. I was taken to the palace-city and it was there I celebrated my two hundredth birthday, on the day I was supposed to marry."

"Did you love him?"

"Very much. He told me he would never remarry in my honor and that he would never forget our love. One hundred years later he was killed in a fatal accident when one of our patrol ships crashed over the sea. He never remarried."

"That's sad."

"It is life, the way the Sarkans must live it. I admit, on the day I addressed the families of the deceased, my tears flowed more freely knowing that I had loved one of the dead. His family did not approach me, but they did smile as I left. That was the extent of our communication."

"I can't imagine-" he stopped as the door hissed open.

"General O'Neill, Lieutenant Carter, Teal'c. Greetings."

O'Neill came around the side. "That's unnerving."

"What is? I can recognize you by your steps. It is not unnerving, but a simple task my people learn at early ages."

"It's still unnerving."

"I can only apologize, General."

The door hissed open again. "General Hammond. My greetings."

Hammond stopped in the doorway. "How does she know who I am?" he asked O'Neill. O'Neill shrugged.

"I know who you are, General, because I recognize your steps. Each individual has a unique way of walking."

"But we've never met before."

"No, we have not. Yet I know your steps, just as I knew the steps of General O'Neill, Lieutenant Carter, Doctor Jackson, and Teal'c. It is in me to know this."

"You're Zatarc."

Anahata rose as far from the bed as possible as Hammond came around the side. Her eyes shot green bolts of fury at him. "I am no Zatarc."

"You've been subjected to Goa'uld mind control. You're Zatarc."

"How dare you insult me so. I may be a dignitary from Sarkahc, a planet you do not believe exists, and I may be an alien, but I am still a human and I deserve a glimmer of respect. How dare you," she hissed at him. "My people would never, never treat someone as you have just treated me. Especially if the dignitary has shown neither malice nor any danger towards them. Never."

Hammond opened his mouth to respond and then thought better of it. He closed his mouth again and nodded. "I was out of line."

"Of course you were." Anahata glared again but settled back against the bed with an agitated sigh. "Then, I must not expect kindness. I am of the race that your people do not believe exists."

"Sarkan."

"Very good, General Hammond," she responded in her sweetest voice. Sarcasm dripped from her words like honey on a hot day. "I do believe you may be taught."

"I thought you said your people would never treat a dignitary the way I treated you," Hammond replied, his temper firing up at her insult.

"Very true, General. In fact, we would never accuse a dignitary of something so terrible as being Zatarc. We do not, however, have any reservations about sarcasm. As we cannot be violent, we have learned to play the word game to its peak. I trust you would find it very difficult to outmaneuver a Sarkan in the game of words." She smiled sweetly and relaxed.

"Point taken," Hammond said, nodding his head slightly in her direction. "But it doesn't explain why you're here."

Anahata closed her eyes briefly, calling on all her strength to keep from screaming. When she opened them again, the patience had returned. "I am here to ask for the assistance of the SG-1 team. My people are in dire need of their help."

"What's wrong with them?"

"We were captured by the Goa'uld, implanted with symbiotes and then returned to Sarkahc. We are being used as an experiment for the Goa'uld."

"Right. Do you have proof of this?"

All five people assembled in the room saw her eyes fire up at what she obviously saw as an insult. They watched as she fought with the angry words that rose in her.

O'Neill had to give her credit for not exploding when Hammond said "Well?"

"If you would be so kind as to stop insulting me, General Hammond, I may be able to stop myself from losing my temper. As it is, I am sorely tempted to explode now. So if you would, General."

"I'd like an answer."

Anahata took a deep breath and turned her fiery green eyes to Teal'c. "Would you be so kind as to explain to the General that the symbiote residing in my body is real, as much as any one of you are real?"

Teal'c nodded at Hammond. "She is correct. The symbiote is real."

Before Hammond could respond, Anahata looked at Carter. "And would you be so kind as to explain to your superior that the times the symbiote has attacked me it was very much real?"

"It was, sir," Carter responded.

Hammond sighed. "This is all circumstance. For all we know, you're the only one." He expected her to explode at that.

Instead, she smiled. "I understand. My people have instructed me to return as soon as possible, and if it is impossible, they will come through the stargate in a month's time. I know the combination to reach Sarkahc by heart, General. It is committed to every Leader's memory."

"Are you asking us to send a team through the stargate to an unknown planet on your word alone?"

Anahata leveled her green gaze at him, her smile gone. "Yes," she responded in a serious tone.

Only slightly surprised by the answer, Hammond sighed. He looked at O'Neill. O'Neill raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Hammond sighed again.

"Fine. But we leave when I say."

"On behalf of the people of Sarkahc, General Hammond, I thank you. Your choice has saved many lives from the terror that would surely have come on swift wings were you to send me back without your help."

"I never said you were going."

Anahata's eyes went wide with disbelief. "What?"

"No, you're going to stay here."

"I will do no such thing."

"You will stay here in quarantine while the SG-1 team goes to Sarkahc."

"I will not."

"You have no choice."

"I will kill myself before giving you unstopped access to my planet. We are a peaceful people, we have done nothing wrong. You must trust me in that I will do nothing to harm you. To do so would kill me."

"I don't make practice of trusting unknown alien races."

"Neither do I, General. But you must understand, we are a cautious people. Were you to arrive through the stargate without the protective presence of a willing Sarkan, the protective shields we have erected around the 'gate would not hesitate to incarcerate you."

"I thought your people can't harm."

"We cannot, General. In that you are correct. The shields will immediately teleport you into our jail system, where you would be questioned and tried for invading our planet."

"Sounds a little advanced."

"It is advanced, yes. But you must remember, we are descended from what you call the Ancients. Their technology was passed down to us."

"So you can create stargates?"

"No. That is the one thing we have no need of learning. All other knowledge was passed down to us through Liana Anial and Doches Cireir."

"Why don't you know how to create stargates?"

"As I said, it was unnecessary knowledge. I am sure that one of our people has an idea of the creation and how to create another, but as a people the Sarkans are not overly worried about gaining the ability to create stargates."

"Right."

"When are we leaving, General?"

"When I say. But we're taking you to the Tok'ra first."

"Tok'ra?" she whispered, her voice strained. All the color drained out of her face. "Tok'ra? Do you wish me dead? Why would you take me to a sub-race of the people who wish me dead? Surely they have the same outlook on the Sarkan race as the Goa'uld do."

"No. Tok'ra are a rebel group of Goa'uld-"

"Even worse." Her face was death white and her eyes looked like deep pools of terror. "Please, I beg of you, General, do not take me to the Tok'ra. They will surely wish my death."

"Look, miss…whatever your name is…they won't hurt you. We'll be right there watching."

Anahata shook her head violently. "I beg you, sir, please, do not take me to my death. I beg you. My people are not ready to lose another Sarkan, much less a leader. Please."

Her terror was evident. Hammond rocked back on his heels and looked at her. "Why are you so afraid of the Tok'ra?"

"They will kill me."

"They will not harm you," Teal'c cut in gently. "They only inhabit willing hosts."

"No. No, they will kill me. I know it."

"Have you seen it?" Daniel asked.

"No. But I know. I know it in the depths of my soul they will wish me dead." Her breath came in short gasps of terror and her entire body shook. "I must not go to them."

"Anahata."

Anahata turned her terrified eyes to Teal'c. "They will."

"No." He shook his head in response. "No. They will not harm you. We will be there to protect you from any danger. The only reason we would take you to the Tok'ra is because the government will need validation of your claim."

"Is the word of the SG-1 team not enough?"

"No, it is not. Carter and I can only sense a symbiote, not a symbiote's intention. The Tok'ra will be able to perform tests in which they will find the symbiote's intentions."

"Please. No. It would mean certain death."

"It is the only way that our government will believe you. We would not ask this of you were it avoidable."

Anahata took a deep breath and bit her lip. Tears glimmered in her eyes but she fought them back and gathered her strength. Finally, she nodded. "I will go on one condition," she said.

"What is it?" Hammond asked.

"That I have the protection of the SG-1 team. If you have such a good relationship as you seem to believe, then I would be safer than if I were to go with only a military escort."

"We'll go with you," O'Neill replied. He was more than a little angry that they had to put this dignitary through such an outrageous test that she was obviously terrified of. The word of Carter, Daniel and Teal'c should be enough. But Hammond was the boss, and he dictated over those choices. He smiled gently in an uncharacteristic way as Anahata turned her liquid terror-filled eyes to his. The trace of respect he had felt for her previously, for keeping her temper at Hammond's incessant insults, grew. Not only was she able to control herself, but she seemed to be a strong and able leader for her people.

"Are you sure I will be safe?"

"Trust me, Anahata. We'll keep you safe."

At his words she took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she closed her eyes, visibly forcing her fears away. When her eyes opened again, the irises were clear. Fear lingered there, but she had it under control. "Then I will go."

……