Stargate SG-13

Episode 1: Chaos

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the Stargate. However, I have a team from Omalya working on finding yet another Stargate on Earth, and if they do, their orders are to bring it to me as a souvenir. A Stargate makes one big honkin' souvenir, don't you agree?

Elfcarii: Yes, Sha're did die, in the episode "Forever in a Day." But in my reality, Teal'c shot her with a zat, thus not killing her, thus she is still alive. Which will become an important part of another episode. Fun episode. I was working on writing it recently. Very fun. Poor Danny-boy, though. He never realized I had a crush on him. I should tease him about it relentlessly. Just like I tease Chris Kiley because he's cute. He thinks it's really wrong that I think that because I'm two years older than him. His reactions are quite amusing, actually.

A/N (12/15/04): Sorry about the long wait. It may end up being even longer, but I'm trying. I've been working on other SG-13 episodes. I'm planning to type up the prequel to this (Stargate SG-1: World of Magic) after I finish typing this story. I may even start it before I finish this one. I have it all written out already, but there are a few changes I may want to make.

"Have we met?" That was Jack's reaction upon being introduced to Nai'óbí.

"Why, I do believe we have," Nai'óbí replied as if it were the most amazing thing in the world.

Jack turned to face me. "Explain."

"Later, sir," I said. "In private."

He nodded. "It had better be good."

I jerked my eyebrows up in a self-deprecating way. I now had a limited time to come up with a way to explain Nai'óbí that would be acceptable to Jack. The hardest part was going to be her identity as Chaos. I was in trouble, there was no doubt about it.

"So, who's in charge here?" Nai'óbí asked.

Before Jack could open his mouth, I answered, "I'll handle any negotiations."

"Are you authorized to decide how much to pay me for my help?"

No, I wasn't, but I wasn't about to tell her that. If I didn't get permission after the fact, I could always pay her myself, out of my earnings from my books.

I took a quick peek inside her mind. It was sneaky and underhanded, but that's my preferred method. Five years in Military Intelligence had erased all moral training instilled in me at West Point. I had to know what I was dealing with. I had to know how much was the least she'd accept.

What I found should not have surprised me. She was prepared to help us for nothing, but was trying to extort some money out of us all the same.

"We're not going to pay you anything," I announced.

Jack gave me one of those are-you-sure looks. "Trust me," I said.

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Not if I can help it." I smiled.

Nai'óbí looked distinctly put off. "If you displease me, I can kill you where you stand."

"You want to threaten us? Two can play that game. I know who you are," I said. It was a bluff, as was her threat to kill us; neither of us would carry out our threat. However, the threats were only implied; if I explicitly threaten something, and someone tries to "call my bluff," they'll learn that I wasn't bluffing. I decided long ago that the best policy was only to make threats that I was willing to carry out.

"Akhíód!" she swore. "I forgot. You do know who I am. Fine, I shall help you at no charge. What is it you need me to do?"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts together. "Ah, we would like you to help us rescue a couple of gods. Méra and Zak, to be precise."

Nai'óbí just looked at me with that you've-got-to-be-kidding expression. "You are joking, yes?"

"Ah, no," I replied. "It's a long story. The thing is, we need your help. And you just agreed to help us."

"Yes, I did." She sighed. "You realize that if this gets out it will ruin my reputation."

"For what?" I asked. "Rumor has it that Jacob has reformed you. It's rather hard to hide the fact that you're in love with him."

"Oh." She looked rather disappointed. "I thought I had been doing a rather good job."

"Not quite good enough. Maybe you should take lessons from me. I'm madly in love with General O'Neill, but he doesn't even realize it."

"Whoa there," Jack said. "Just a minute. That is just so wrong, on so many levels."

"I know. Isn't it though? That's why I said it. Beautiful reaction, though, sir."

Jack looked like he wanted to pound his head on a nearby wall. He even looked about for a convenient barrier. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending—there were no walls within several yards of us, the room in which we were situated being very large. Or should I say extremely large? Instead, he turned to Blake. "Is she always like this?"

"Well, it depends on your definition of 'like this.' Within a few millionths of a personality percentage point, yes. But within a few quadrillionths, maybe not."

Yep, that's my little brother, alright.

"Is that even a word?" Jack asked.

"What?"

"Quadrillionth." Surprisingly, he actually managed to pronounce it correctly.

"Actually, it is," I informed him. I have a habit of doing that. Answering for other people, that is. "A quadrillion is the next level up from trillion."

"Ah."

"So, where exactly are Méra and Zak?"

"They're on a spaceship."

"Spaceship?" Nai'óbí hadn't heard the word before. With her, however, I wasn't surprised when she pronounced it correctly. She was Khéósin, after all.

"Big flying metal thing. Up in the sky."

"But the sky is where they have the most power."

"Not exactly." I really didn't want to ruin her religion, nor did I want to get into a religious argument with her, but we really needed her help. "They are powerful, but only within Omalya's planetary system."

She looked at me quizzically.

Okay. Take this from the beginning. "Imagine a little ball right here. That's Omalya. Now imagine an even smaller ball orbiting it—that means going like this around it. That's the Moon. Now imagine a much bigger ball, here. Omalya goes like this around the big ball, which is the Sun. Now here's the hard part. Imagine a sphere encompassing all of it. That's as far as Méra and Zak's power goes. Imagine a little tiny dot outside the sphere. That's the spaceship. They're outside the place with magic, so they have no power. They're just ordinary mortals, even more ordinary than they were before they died because now they have no magic."

Nai'óbí seemed to be understanding. For the most part. "So we just have to bring the spaceship back inside the sphere, and Méra and Zak can take it from there. But why did they allow themselves to be caught in the first place?"

"They were distracted, and they were caught by surprise. Their captors knocked them unconscious." It was the truth. I had a feeling Nai'óbí would accept nothing less. Okay, I take that back. I knew Nai'óbí would accept nothing less.

Nai'óbí cast a searching glance in my direction. "I don't trust you."

"Well I don't trust you either, love, so we're square."

She smiled and nodded. "As long as we're clear. I shall go and tell Jacob where I am going."