(Thanks for the reviews.
Telboriel, the best stories have twists. It's also fun to see people react to them.
Pagan Twylight, you didn't like Apophis? I was kind of disapointed when they finally killed him off. Lol. Though I guess it was about time. :grins:
1 fan, interesting prediction. Those are always fun to read.)
The Mirror
Part 3, Trust
Alternate Apophis ignored his name, and approached alt-Martouf's symbiote. "Have they told you anything"
"They claim to have never been contacted by the Tok'ra. Selmak has suggested that we work together."
Selmak was slightly disturbed that these alternate Goa'ulds knew who she was, briefly wondering if she is blended with Jacob in their universe as well.
"Selmak probably only did so because you threatened Kela'an" Apophis replied.
"I realize that, however"
Apophis interrupted, and lowered his voice. "She's not the Selmak you know. You must put your feelings behind you when dealing with them. This Selmak is Tok'ra."
What in the blaze is that about? Selmak thought, and very disturbed that an alternate version of her was Goa'uld.
The other Martouf also lowered his voice. "I know. I just miss Selmak, my Selmak."
"Would you prefer"
"I can handle it, Apophis."
"Right, because the cages don't at all show a preference" Apophis replied with sarcasm.
Selmak made a mental smirk with that, and was glad she wasn't the one in control.
Alt-Martouf's symbiote chuckled lightly. "I can handle it, however, I think I should let them think about this for now."
Apophis shrugged lightly. "You're in charge." He left.
That was about the strangest conversation I ever heard, Selmak thought. She couldn't decide what part was the oddest.
I think it was Apophis saying "You're in charge" Jacob thought. He must be a minor Goa'uld.
Alt-Martouf's symbiote looked back to Selmak. "How do you propose we work together? Why do you think I could trust you"
"This mirror would have as much interest for us as it does you. You seem to want to return to your universe."
"That is correct."
"Well, we would prefer that as well."
"No offense" Daniel added, not wanting to anger whoever was in control of alt-Martouf.
Selmak glanced to Daniel. "Right. We both want the same thing. Despite what you may think, we don't have the mirror. We might be able to help you find it." And send you through it, and break it.
"I'll consider this." Alternate Martouf left.
Selmak glanced to the others. "Did anyone else hear them"
"I could not" Teal'c responded, while everyone else just shook their heads.
"I heard some of it" Samantha said. She and Jacob were the closest, and not being blended, her hearing was not quite as good as her father's.
"They do seem to just want to return home, and I think the alternate Martouf's symbiote...what do we call him? Well, he seems to be in charge."
Lantash chuckled lightly.
"Alternate Lantash" Daniel offered.
"He does not act like me" Lantash said, slightly offended by that idea.
"Well, Apophis did not act like Apophis" Selmak replied"and that was Apophis. Also, being Goa'uld it seems reasonable he is not going to act like you."
"I know how I act when I am pretending to be Goa'uld, and that is not it. His actions were more like..." Lantash shook his head. "I doubt that is me."
"Well, for now we'll call him Alternate Lantash."
Lantash frowned.
"Dad" Samantha said quietly.
Selmak glanced to her host's daughter, and gave Jacob control. He moved closer to her. "Yes" he whispered.
Her voice became more quiet. "We have a quantum mirror on earth."
Jacob felt surprised. "Could it be the one they are looking for"
"We've had it for seven years, and it was abandoned when we found it."
Jacob wondered if it was possible that these others had been here that long without anyone's knowledge.
Martouf and Tur have visited their world a several times in the last seven years, Selmak reminded.
"There is something else" Sam said. "When two of the same person is in the same universe, the one not belonging goes into convulsive shock. If they stay long enough it will kill them. Alternate Martouf should be experiencing this."
Jacob glanced up to the door that alt-Martouf went into. "If they use the mirror often, they may have found a way around that. They did say the mirror was theirs." He paused for a second. "This sounds like a different mirror than what is on earth. Selmak doubts they have been here for over seven years. I agree. If they have been on this planet that long we should have encountered them before. If they have been moving from planet to planet the Tok'ra would have heard something about it. Three people looking like Martouf, Freya, and Apophis working together would have gotten someone's attention. There's probably only been"
All three of their captors came in, and were carrying some type of weapon.
Selmak took control, and stood up as alt-Martouf's symbiote approached. She glanced back to see the other two were approaching the rest of the Tok'ra. She turned back to their leader. "What do you"
Alternate Martouf fired the projectile weapon.
"Argh" Selmak felt as if she had been shot, and a sense of burning spread from the leg the weapon hit.
"Dad" Sam grabbed her father as he fell. A quick glance confirmed the other Tok'ra were going through the same thing. She looked to Alt-Martouf's symbiote. "What did you do"
"What we should have done in the first place" Alternate Apophis said as he stood by alt-Martouf.
For Jacob the burn ended quickly, but he knew it was still hurting Selmak. Selmak? He was suddenly in control. Selmak!
"Dad"
Jacob saw his daughter. "Sam? What happened"
"You were shot. How you alright"
Jacob looked around suddenly feeling very alone. "Selmak"
"Dad"
"I'm fine." He got up, and looked to the other Tok'ra. Martouf was first to stand, looking more afraid than he had ever seen. Jacob turned to their captors. "What the hell did you do"
Sam actually took a step back. She very rarely saw her father this angry. She was even more surprised when seeing that the captors seemed surprised. They quickly started whispering to each other. "Dad, what is going on"
Jacob glanced to her, very upset, afraid, but refused to show it. I can do this. I've done this. "I can't feel Selmak." He'd been unblended most of his life, and yet the feel of his symbiote as if she was ripped away left him feeling like half of him was missing.
"If you think this will weaken us, you are wrong" It was Martouf, though the statement sounded more fearful than angry.
Jacob glanced to Martouf, remembering the man was not quite seventeen when he had blended with Lantash, and they had now been blended for over a hundred years.
Alt-Martouf's symbiote looked to Martouf, frowning slightly. He looked back to Jacob, deciding to speak with him. "Your symbiotes are unharmed. They are only suppressed, and will return within the hour. They are in a dreamless sleep."
"Why have you done this"
"It was the only way we could trust you."
"You do realize trust needs to go both ways" Daniel said. "By" He stopped when he saw the Goa'uld leaving. "Couldn't you have warned them at least" They disappeared behind the door.
Martouf paced a couple times, and then faced everyone else. "We cannot work with those who would do this." He took a deep breath, though his mind was continually calling out for Lantash. He glanced to Amb, Malek's host, who dealt with the temporary loss of Malek by sitting in the corner and hugging his legs. He knelt by him. "We must he strong" he said quietly.
"Because pacing is such a sign of strength" Amb responded. "You're afraid I can hear it in your voice."
"I must be stronger then" Martouf replied, knowing the man's words were from fear.
"I hate missions. Malek is always control during missions. I feel safer when he's control. He's not in control anymore, Martouf. I can't even feel him. It's like he's been ripped from my head."
"He will return." Martouf stood up, and shivered slightly. The place seemed colder all the sudden.
"I feel like doing that" Kela'an's host, Drack, said as he looked to Amb. He sat down next to Amb, and they started quietly speaking to each other.
Martouf paced again, silently calling for Lantash.
"I believe they are watching us" Teal'c said.
"Then we need to prove to them that they haven't done weakens us" Jacob said. Having been blended most recently, and at a much older age than the others, he was much easier able to deal with his currently missing symbiote.
"Yes, yes, we'll be strong." Martouf stopped his pacing, and knelt by Amb and Drack. "We are strong" he whispered.
They nodded slightly, but neither looked stronger.
Samantha approached her father again. "Dad" She was worried.
He looked from the other Tok'ra to her. "I'm fine, Sam." Inside even he was a bit surprised by the effect this had on him. His outward appearance was very strong with a side of anger.
Samantha left his side, knowing he wouldn't want her obviously worrying about him. She watched the other Tok'ra. Martouf seemed to be fighting the urge to pace. His overall appearance made it clear that out of the two, Lantash was much better at hiding emotion. When he wasn't pacing, he was staring down at the floor. Amb was still in the corner, and didn't seem to be talking to Drack anymore. Amb's eyes were closed, and he was probably calling out for Malek. Drack most of all seemed not to know what to do with himself. In just the few minutes that Samantha watched, he paced, stood, sat, sat in another place, or sat in another way. Martouf finally started speaking with him, and that seemed to get him to settle into sitting in the middle of the cage.
She found herself wishing Martouf was in the same cage as her. Perhaps she could help him then. Her father didn't want any help, but Martouf might find a conversation a nice distraction. He stopped pacing briefly when he noticed she was watching him. He smiled sadly, and then continued pacing. Sam turned away, figuring he probably wouldn't want her staring at him. She looked to Daniel and Teal'c. Daniel was watching the Tok'ra discreetly, while Teal'c made no effort to hide it. She knew both enough to know their thoughts on this were similar to hers. It was strange to see the effect on the hosts when the symbiotes disappeared. Even her dad had looked slightly distressed by it. A blending to save two lives clearly became a close relationship she would never fully understand. She was a bit curious to what Jack would think of this.
"Teal'c" she called out. Her reason was mostly to get him to stop staring.
It worked. The Jaffa turned away from the Tok'ra, and headed to her. "Colonel Carter."
"How long has it been" she asked quietly.
"I estimate it has been ten minutes."
Samantha nodded. "Teal'c, could you not stare? That probably doesn't help."
"I understand."
Over the next forty minutes time seemed to move slowly. None of the actions of the hosts had changed. Martouf was still fighting the urge to pace. Amb was still in his corner. Drack would stay in one place for several minutes, and then jitter around for several more minutes. Jacob just stood there, waiting for the Goa'uld to return, and at times watching over the other Tok'ra.
"Selmak" Jacob said suddenly. He continued when everyone turned to him. "I can feel him, but I can't talk to him yet."
Martouf stopped pacing, and made a stronger mental search for Lantash. When he sensed him, he started calling out. Lantash! Lantash! Lantash! Lantash!
What?
Lantash! he thought happily.
You sound surprised. Lantash had no idea he had been out of it. What did they shoot us with. Where did they go?
It's been nearly an hour since they shot us.
I don't remember them leaving.
You have been asleep, Lantash. I couldn't sense you.
Lantash went through Martouf's recent memories to confirm this. That's a lot of pacing.
I was scared.
Lantash gave his host a mental hug. I'm back.
Malek stood up after given control. The look on his face indicated he was having mental conversation with Amb.
The Goa'uld, minus Apophis, returned almost immediately after the drug's effect stop.
Selmak glared at Alt-Martouf's symbiote.
Alt-Martouf's symbiote seemed to ignore the glare. "You must-"
Two zat'nikatel shots came from an unseen hall, hitting Alternate Freya. Alt-Martouf's symbiote glanced down to her concern, and then quickly fired back as he moved closer to the cages. A thump sound indicated he either knocked his opponent unconscious, or killed him.
Martouf watched his other self as he moved too close to Teal'c's cage. The Jaffa quickly took this opportunity to try to grab the zat'nikatel from the Goa'uld. He made a grab for the weapon with his right hand, and tried to grab alt-Martouf's arm with his left. Alt-Martouf's symbiote moved out of the way, but his weapon was caught. He tried to pull it away, but it was twisted from his hand. Alt-Martouf's symbiote grimaced in pain, and then headed for the door. Teal'c moved the weapon up to shoot, but the Goa'uld moved to where a direct hit was impossible. Martouf saw himself glance back, not seeing the door open, not seeing as he ran straight into...
In surprise, Martouf quietly whispered, "Rosha?"
To be continued...