This was a bad idea. It was a bad idea all along but when one person with a bad idea meets someone else with means to implement that bad idea while at the same time not realizing how much of a bad idea it was, bad things happen.
This is one of those bad things.
Sand was rushing around her, stinging her eyes as she ran toward the gate. The heavy metal case bounced against her knee, adding another layer of bruises. Not long behind her, Wan was running as fast as he can, the other case in his right hand. He occasionally turned around and ran backwards so he could shoot with his left hand.
"Stop shooting, we don't have time!" She said, a energy blast whizzing by her head. "Oh forget it!" She turned and fired at the pursuers.
"Almost there," Wan said, trying to run faster. His dark shaggy hair whipped around in his face. He should've listened to his mother when she kept telling him to cut his hair. The case seemed to be getting heavier and his eyes were getting blurred and irritated by the sand blowing in his face. He muttered a curse as he stepped on a rock and stumbled just a bit. The stargate was up ahead and though it really wasn't that far away, it certainly seemed like it was getting father as they ran toward it.
"Next time --" Sand flew into his mouth. "--I pick the planet!"
"Last time you picked the planet,--" Vala spit sand out of her mouth. "--we ended up in prison!"
The wind picked up even more and they fought even harder to maintain speed against it.
"Only for a little while!" He shouted back.
Vala looked at Wan. "Gertrude the bar maid didn't think we were there long enough!"
"Good point." He shifted the case to his other hand and tucked his gun into his holster. It was extremely difficult to do this as he ran. In his past experience, running meant it was usually away from people who were also shooting and holstering a weapon when people are shooting at you is not a usual course of action for anyone. He hoped that he wouldn't shoot a hole into his foot.
They reached the gate and Vala dialed the gate as fast as she could. She started the sequence while Wan fired his gun.
"Got it!" She ran toward the gate, reaching one hand to grab onto Wan's jacket to pull him with her.
She stumbled on a large chunk of rock and fell on top of the silver box. The edge jabbed her in the ribs and knocked the air out of her lungs. She rolled off the box to see Wan tangled with a Roane fighter. They were really the ugliest things she had ever seen and she had seen a lot in her years. She got up and placed her right arm across her ribs, letting out a pained hiss.
"Wan, let go of the ugly lummox and come on!" Talking hurt her side. She ran straight for the gate and she turned around for a split second to see Wan detangle himself from the Roane and begin to run. She turned and was swallowed into the blue.
She burst into the other side and gasped from exhaustion. She fell down from the momentum running through the gate and the case skidded down the ramp. A heavy black boot stopped the case's descent and Vala looked up.
"Need a hand?" Vala took the outstretched hand and Colonel Cameron Mitchell pulled her to her feet. She immediately doubled over a little because of a sharp pain. "Whoa, you all right?" He whistled and a medical team rushed over with a stretcher.
"Wan," she said, looking back. He hadn't appeared.
The gate's blue glow shimmered a little, then disappeared.
"Who's Wan?" Mitchell asked, looking at her.
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"I couldn't do it alone, I had to have another person with me," Vala said, sitting on a hospital bed once again. Those blue gowns really were unflattering and she couldn't understand why these humans on Earth couldn't design something that was a little better suited. Well, she thought, if the gene pool on this little planet is so limited, then obviously their mental capacity for more creative design can't be too large either. She shook her head.
"This Wan, he has the other case?"
She sighed and nodded. "Yes, he has the other box and I'm pretty sure he's dead and they have it back now."
"Who has what back?" Daniel Jackson walked in, looking down at another one of his texts. "General Landry said that we had a visitor."
He looked up.
Vala sent him her brightest, biggest, most radient smile.
The book he was holding landed on the floor with a giant thud.
"What--what is she doing here?" Daniel whispered to Teal'c, who was standing like a stone statue in the corner. Before Teal'c opened his mouth, Daniel stepped forward to stand next to Mitchell.
"No hug?" Vala feigned to be hurt and her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "I spent all this time thinking about you, Daniel."
"As much as I don't want to know, why are you here?" Daniel asked, picking up his book from the floor and placing it on her food tray, next to a small mound of mashed potatoes that had seen better days.
"You're breaking my heart, Daniel. I'm sick!" She said. She stuck a finger at her eye. "Look at this! I haven't gotten any sleep, my eyes are dry and my hair--"
"Vala." Mitchell cut her off and stared at her. She looked taken aback for a second, then her face slipped back into her classic Vala smugness.
"Alright, alright. If you really are wanting to know...the case contains gems from Roanndis. I guess they missed them."
"Why did you steal them?" Mitchell held up a hand before she could respond. "--Scratch that. I know why. But why did you come here?" He looked tired.
"We were trying to escape and I had to go somewhere they couldn't follow us to. The original plan was to go to Tiburos Six but the Roane fighters saw us leaving." She sighed, threw her hands up and quickly dropped them when the action caused pain.
"Why couldn't you go there?" Daniel asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
She squinted up at him, speaking through a twinge of pain. Mitchell went to the IV she was connected to and looked at the pack of medication.
"We had a buyer on Tiburos Six. But he doesn't know the gems come from Roanndis. See, he wanted a very special kind of gems and they're not very plentiful. The easiest planet to take them from was Roanndis. Unfortunately, Roanndis and Tiburos Six don't neccesarily have the best relationship and anything to set them off would be--" she looked up at the men. "very bad."
She saw Mitchell touching the medication pack. "You're not Doctor Lieutenant Colonel, are you?"
Mitchell looked at her. "Maybe you should just focus on telling us what's going on." He stood by her bed and his hand left the IV. He had spent plenty of time in the hospital staring at his own. Having nothing but daytime television to entertain you meant you listened to the nurses and doctors.
Daniel buried his face in his hands. He took off his new pair of glasses and put them on the book. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at her.
"That still doesn't explain why you came here instead." He said.
"The Roane would have seen where I had gone and would have started a war. And if we had gone to Tiburos Six, we would have been in the thick of it. See? We were doing a humanitarian deed."
"Now they will come here." Teal'c spoke up from his corner.
"Not really. They don't know much about Earth and don't seem to have an interest in other planets. Most of the Roanes haven't left their planet in centuries. They inbreed." Her face wrinkled up in disgust.
"What kind of back up plan was this?" Daniel asked her. "We don't need to get involved in your trouble."
"I'm not asking to stay, we were just coming so that if they did follow, we could be safe. The Roane aren't incredibly skilled fighters but fifteen against two were hardly good odds."
"That makes me feel so much better." Mitchell said.
"Well, they're not very good at fighting," she said, shrugging a little.
"Good enough to chase after you." Daniel said.
Vala sat up and sent him a dazzling grin to him. "Well, I'm very chasable."
"I want to know one thing and you will reply with one simple answer." Mitchell stood by her bed. "Where are you going to go? Because you aren't staying here."
Her grin fell and she simply looked at him. "I have to go back to Roanndis. Wan is there. So is the other case. Half the merchandise does not please a buyer."
"This Wan, what part does he play in this?" Daniel asked, wishing he hadn't. The more they knew the more they would get involved. They always get involved. Sometimes he wished they were a little more ruthless.
"He's an old friend. We've been on a few jobs here and there. Usually, I find something worth stealing and it's up to him to find a buyer and figure out the financial side of it." She shook her head. "I guess he must have fallen behind."
The intercom buzzed. "This is General Landry. All command personnel, please report to conference room A."
Daniel and Mitchell turned to leave. "He doesn't sound happy." Vala muttered to Mitchell, giving him a small smile.
Before they got to the door, Vala cleared her throat.
Daniel turned and noticed his glasses and book were both still sitting on the tray. He walked toward the bed and she held up the book. The motion and weight stretched her bandages a little and she winced. Her arm wavered a bit and before she or Daniel could stop it, the pair of glasses slid down and fell straight into the pile of mashed potatoes with a wet plop.
Daniel stared at his potato-covered glasses and sighed. He picked them up, flinging mashed bits off. He was very happy the book hadn't been subject to the mush.
"Sorry." She said quietly.
--------------------------
"I want to know why the hell she's here and what the hell is going on!" Landry shouted, while dropping a file about Vala onto the desk. It was getting thicker by the hour.
"Sir, Vala signaled the gate." Mitchell said.
"We let her through without properly preparing for it." He said. "We're in enough mess as it is. No one needs any more reasons to think we're reckless."
"Sir, with all respect, she has been an asset in the past." Mitchell said. "In some unconventional ways, yes, but for the most part, an asset."
"We did look at the contents of the box she brought with her." Daniel said. "Her story is legitimate."
"I'm sure that her legitimacy only springs up when it suits her Doctor Jackson." Landry said.
He turned to Mitchell and gave him a stern look.
"Get her off my base, Colonel." the General said. "Wherever you send her, just get her off. You're in command, this is on you. I'm late for a meeting to discuss why we shouldn't be strung up by our bootstraps, so excuse me."
Mitchell nodded and Landry left the conference room. He left his angry mood behind. Cameron Mitchell sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Why does this keep happening to us?" Daniel asks. "Is-is there some kind of do-not-dial registry somewhere so we can stop her from coming in all the time?"
Mitchell said nothing. Instead, he tucked one arm under the other and quietly rubbed his thumb against his lip. He had a lot of thinking to do, on Vala, what she wanted, how to avoid getting involved...and how this affected his team. He sighed.
"Let's go talk to our little thief." Mitchell stood up, followed by Daniel and Teal'c.
----------------------
In the medical bay, Vala was putting her jacket back on, being careful as to not disturb the bruises. Her knee was feeling much better and hopefully she would not hurt it anymore. She had requested her weapon back but they didn't grant her wishes and she felt there was much injustice to that. She had to find another weapon. Perhaps she should go to Perseis first to requisition a weapon before heading back to Roane.
Vala didn't show fear. She was just not that type of person. She also mostly did not feel fear either. It wasn't wise to feel fear, not in her line of work. Fear means weakness. She had survived for a very long time relying on the weakness of others as a stepping stone. But, for one of the first times in a very long time, she felt fear. Not sadness like the time she couldn't save those villagers who thought she was Katesh, no. They were defenseless people and even Vala, the great thief of the galaxies, could not often bear to see defenseless people led to their deaths. Unless she was the substitute for their unbearable torture that is, Vala made exceptions to that.
She also knew that the Stargate team made it perfectly clear without even saying it, that they would not be lending her any assistance. In fact, they seemed to be throwing her a bon voyage party already, breaking open that "champagne" that Daniel had joked about on one of the occasions they spent time together.
Shoving her things into her pockets, she took the case from the corner of the room and dusted it off. Of course they had already scanned it for dangerous materials and of course they would not tell her what else was inside. If per chance, there was more than a few gems in there, she would have liked to take them as a reward for a job well done. Except the job had not been well done. In fact, it had been pretty much sent down the excrement drain of a Roane transport pod and shot out into space.
Sighing, she turned and before she could leave, the door opened and Mitchell, Daniel and Teal'c walked in. How much does Daniel work out? she wondered, looking at him, then at Mitchell. He almost died and he looks like he's spent more time in that exercise facility they have. Really, Daniel, you should read less. She was not about to tell either of them that she had sneaked a peek into Mitchell's files when Landry was away from his office. She was pretty sure they didn't have a death penalty for non-citizens of Earth but in a planet where a man can steal a woman's rightfully stolen desert, what other atrocities could they do?
"You...have some 'splainin to do." Mitchell said.
"I already told you everything, what else do you need to know?" She asked. "I need to find Wan."
"What is your course of action?" Teal'c asked. He didn't want to get involved as much as Landry, Mitchell or Daniel did. But he also did not approve of anyone whom he could call an ally walk into a situation unprepared.
"I don't know exactly. Since your men won't give me back my weapon, I suppose I could get to Perseis and obtain one. Then I'll head back to Roane." She sighed.
"That's going to take a while." Daniel said. "We looked inside the case, I'm curious, where did you get them?"
"I just...got them," she said, her eyes wandering to another direction, not wanting to meet the three sets staring at her.
"Where did you steal them from?" Mitchell said, not wanting to play any more games.
"might'vebeena'roanuncil," she mumbled quietly, turning and faking a cough.
"What?" Mitchell and Daniel said simultaneously.
"A Roane Council, I got them from the council."
Daniel stared at her as if she had broken his glasses again. "Wait, you--you stole from a Roane council?"
"The Roane are a primitive species but highly protective of their rituals," said Teal'c. "To obtain access to their council halls, one must--"
"Be a council member, yes we covered that also." Vala said. "Now, what are you trying to say?"
"You became a Roane council member?" Mitchell asked. "From what I've read of the Roane, that doesn't seem like a position that is up for election."
"No, the Roane don't elect anyone, they actually breed themselves into position. So the head of the council is the son of the previous head of the council who was the son of-- you get it." Daniel said, moving his hands in a circle.
"Which is exactly why we were going to cut one of the particularly stupid and young Roane council members on our profits," she said, sitting back down on the bed. Standing up meant her side was stretching and that meant pain. Sitting down eased it a bit. "He gave us access to the main council halls and we were going to provide him with enough to get off Roanndis."
She suddenly grew stern and her demeanor changed. "If that's why the Roane found us, I'm going to wring that little ugly man's neck," she said, sounding quite angry.
"Don't--get your panties in a bunch." Mitchell said, holding up a hand. He paused. "--or whatever. I don't want to know. You're sure that the Roane won't come to Earth?"
"Yes."
"I have reason to believe--" Teal'c began. He didn't have the chance to finish. An alarm blared, like a warning to ships at sea or to schoolchildren in the 50's about the impending nuclear holocaust. If there was a desk, Mitchell felt like he could have dived under it. He looked a bit aggrabated. "Stay put," he said to Vala. Then he, Daniel and Teal'c left the medical bay.
"What's going on?" He asked as they walked into the control room.
"We're getting a request from another world," the technician said. "Designation PX-566743."
"Roanndis." Teal'c said grimly.
"Oh no, they won't come here. We should really stop talking to her so much," Daniel said.
"Let's see what they want. Open the stargate." Mitchell said. He walked out of the control room and looked at several team members around the gate. They nodded and stood, poised with their weapons. Mitchell himself was only carrying his handgun. No sense in inciting a battle when all he wanted to do was talk.
The stargate burst to life in a shimmering sea of blue and silver. One figure emerged, then two, then three. They seemed to be walking in some kind of formation. The only thing Mitchell could think of to describe it was that they were walking like a set of six pool balls, ready to be hit.
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell," he said, trying to sound diplomatic and resisting the urge to do the Vulcan salute or to say 'we come in peace.' He still got a bit of a shiver whenever he stepped off Earth. He felt that same shiver, with a bit of unease, whenever other races stepped off their planet and into his.
The Roane were pale, though their skin looked extremely thick and leathery, probably from being out in the dessert environment for such a long time. From what little time he had to read about them, he knew they were mostly agriculturally based. Those who weren't farmers were part of the ruling class, which meant that being a farmer wasn't so bad, it just meant that you were not born into a ruling family. He also knew that they were a fierce people. What they lacked in technological advances, they made up for in sheer determination to crush any forces that stood in their way. From the data they had on the Roane, Mitchell knew there had been at least four attempts to conquer Roanndis. None of them were successful and the Roane fighters had killed at least ten thousand enemy forces.
These weren't people to mess with or bring home to mom.
"I am Mahnes, head of the security council of Roanndis," he said. "On behalf of the councils of Roanndis, we apologize for the intrusion we have caused."
Mahnes wore a green robe, something Daniel had muttered earlier about being one of their chief colors. One of his attendants, dressed in a darker shade of green, carried a large box. Mitchell glanced at the soldiers standing near the gate and knew they had spotted the case.
Well, they seemed polite enough for being a vicious tribe. "On behalf of this base, we appreciate you calling first."
"We believe a fugitive may have entered your planet through this portal," he said. "This thief has taken a valuable piece of our legacy."
Sometimes being in charge meant difficult decisions. He did not want to tango with the Roanes but he also did not want to give up Vala. She may be a thief, a liar, and generally a nusiance but being a petty thief was not reason enough to send her to slaughter, which to his discomfort, was what he knew deep down these people were very good at doing.
"I assure you, no one has passed through here," Mitchell said. "We're not an port or harbor, we don't let people through."
"You let us emerge," Mahnes said.
" It would have been rude to refuse a request from a council member of Roanndis," Mitchell said, putting on his diplomat cap.
"So you refused this request for admission," he said.
"Yes," Mitchell said, hoping it was convincing enough.
"Our records show this is the last destination accessed by the portal."
Mitchell's eyes darted to Daniel, who was quickly trying to find a way to explain things without seeming suspicious.
"Perhaps this criminal masked the signal? Diverted your inquiries to another planet while dialing into a different one," Daniel said.
Mahnes looked at him with curiosity.
"This is Doctor Jackson. He is our foremost expert on other cultures," said Mitchell.
"Perhaps this is what has happened," Mahnes said, seeming uninterested in Jackson. "We are not a people to misjudge, Colonel. However, as you are an unfamiliar people to us, we cannot be certain as to the truthfulness of your assertions."
"I understand. I'm telling you we definitely have not let anyone in," said Mitchell. "We will even show you." He walked to an intercom nearby and paged the control tower. It was a useless action since he had turned on the intercom as soon as he left to greet the Roanes. He needed control to hear everything they were saying. "Bring up the records for the last ten incoming transmissions, please."
He hoped they got the hint. A man in green fatigues brought Mitchell a LCD pad of information.
He glanced at it quickly as the technician passed it to him, slowly breathing a sigh of relief as he noticed the last entry was from the council members on Roanndis and that before it was something else entirely.
"As you can see there, you are the only call we have received from Roanndis," said Mitchell. He wanted them to get off his base. He just had to figure out how to diplomatically nudge them in that direction.
"We have no reason to distrust you, Colonel," Mahnes said, looking at each and everyone one of them. Teal'c had disappeared into the control room, perhaps to not incite any reaction in case the Roanes had previous encounters with Jaffa, pleasant or not. "I am satisfied that you have not aided the criminal who committed this act of treachery."
"Thank you," said Mitchell.
"Piraih, Colonel Mitchell," he said.
Mitchell nodded.
They disappeared back through the gate and as soon as the gate closed, Mitchell turned and waved to Daniel.
"Give me everything we know about these people, including what you determined right then from meeting them," he said.
"Why, what are you thinking?" Daniel asked, running after Mitchell. Teal'c followed, casting a glance at the gate before leaving the control room.
"I'm wondering why our visitors were so trusting," he said. "Get Vala, plus anything you need and meet us in the conference room."
He stopped and Daniel almost ran into him. "Teal'c, I need you too, to tell me what you know about the Roane."
He nodded and began to walk to the conference room.
Mitchell watched him silently walk off. "O...kay! Good, we're good to go."
He walked off in the same direction as Teal'c, leaving Daniel to stand in the hallway alone, a perplexed look on his face.
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"He just...left?" Vala said in a bit of disbelief. "Well, that doesn't sound like the Roane I know and dislike."
"It doesn't sound like the Roane that anyone has heard of and dislike," said Daniel. "I'm not sure what's been going on politically, but we are supposed to have the most updated information about all of the planets in the database. SG-9's encounters with the Roanes were last documented only six months ago."
"Wait, SG-9 was there on Roanndis?" Mitchell said, looking at the documents Daniel had brought up on the main screen. "So how come Mahnes, our jolly green security council head, treated us like we had three heads?"
"Do you suspect they are not who they claim to be?" Teal'c asked. "Their apparel seemed authentic."
"Yes, I'm pretty sure it was," Daniel said slowly. He turned to Vala. "Did you notice anything while you were there?"
Vala looked at the three men and shrugged. "I didn't notice anything really out of the ordinary, just brutish, humanoids walking around in their dark green pajamas."
"Dark green?" Daniel asked. "What do you mean?"
He scrolled through the documentation SG-9 had provided. There was one vague entry about the robe colors Roanes wore.
"The Roane security council heads wear dark green," she said. "The attendants wear bright green. To them, brightness is associated with new, not experienced. Once you become experience in ritual and tradition, your soul grows and your robe should reflect growth and age."
"Mahnes was wearing bright green," Mitchell said.
"It says here that all of the high council members wear bright green and all the lesser counterparts wear darker colors," Daniel said. "Are you sure that that's wrong?"
"Yes, I am quite sure. I haven't been there in a while but the last time I looked, high council wears dark colors."
"If that's true...then why did our friendly head council have a wardrobe change?" Mitchell asked. "Teal'c?"
"I am not certain as to why this Mahnes would present himself falsely, however, it is noted that SG-9 had not returned to Roanndis for one year prior to their last trip," he said. "Political upheavel is possible."
"What are we going to do about it?" Vala asked. "Are we going back in? I'll get my things."
She stood up from the conference table and Mitchell grabbed her arm.
"Not so fast," he said. "If we are going back, it is only to corroborate that the Roanes are who they say they are and for you to return the thing you stole."
"Return? They're vicious killers, I don't think sneaking back into the council hall is very advisable," she said. "Poor Wan must be dead."
"How sad you must be, not being able to hand you your treasure before dying," quipped Daniel. Vala glared at him, fire dancing in her eyes.
"Do not think for one second that you know me well enough to assume my allegiances to someone you do not know at all are anything but loyal," she said firmly. She turned to Mitchell. "I'll be waiting at the gate."
Teal'c stood and informed Mitchell he would be waiting as well.
Mitchell looked at Daniel. "Good going, you really appealed to her sensitive side."
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