Sorry I've taken so long to update but it's worth the wait, this chapter's twice along as all the others. It would have been shorter but I couldn't find anywhere to cut it. Oh well, on with the story...
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It had been an hour since they had confronted Cordesh, Garshaw's orders had been carried out and he was dead, the poor host was sleeping and would remain so while the Tok'ra attempted to discover what had become of her symbiote.
O'Neill had ordered some of the humans, those he called Sg3 to return to Tau'ri but he had insisted that he was not leaving without his team and Samantha Carter refused to leave until she was sure that her father was going to be alright.
"Master Garshaw." A soldier addressed her, "Everyone else has left, you must come too."
"What of Selmak and Martouf?" She had to know before she left.
"I have not sent them."
"Then go, I will follow shortly." He looked like he was going to argue, "Go!" she ordered, her eyes flashing, he hesitated for only a moment longer then left. "This way," She said to the Tau'ri who were still with her. She led them to Selmak's room.
Garshaw listened while Yosuuf tried to convince Samantha Carter and Martouf/Lantash to leave with them. Privately Garshaw wished she could remain with her mate but she knew she could not. In one day the Tok'ra had lost one of the high council and it was quite possibly another, to lose both the Grand Council and the Eldest as well could set the cause back decades.
Yosuuf couldn't get Martouf to see reason and finally forced Garshaw to take control in the same way the symbiote had forced her to do earlier.
"I cannot allow you to die in this way, we must leave now." Garshaw told Martouf but she saw the resolution in his eyes, he wasn't going anywhere, and neither apparently was Samantha Carter.
"You are even more vulnerable since you contain the memories of Jolinar." Garshaw told her dreading the thought of the younger woman been caught by the Goa'uld, she had already been through a hellish experience with Jolinar she didn't deserve the torture that the Goa'uld would inflict upon her if they found out she was once a Tok'ra host.
"I cannot allow you to stay," Party because Selmak's new host wouldn't forgive her if anything happened to his daughter, "We must leave now!"
Garshaw saw that the resolution in Martouf's eyes was matched by that in Samantha's and she knew that she wasn't going to win this argument. The Tau'ri commander evidently recognised this as well and after a bit more pleading from Samantha he ordered his team to leave, Garshaw didn't try to dissuade Martouf any more and left with the Tau'ri.
Garshaw followed O'Neill and the Jaffa Teal'c out of the room, just outside the doorway she paused of a moment and whispered in Goa'uld, "Good bye beloved" She caught the startled look that Dr Jackson gave her as he followed and suddenly realised that he spoke Goa'uld fluently.
"You should have guessed that based on the fact that he knew what Tok'ra meant."
"Well I'm not exactly thinking straight at the moment, would you mind taking control for a few minuets while I get my thoughts straight." Garshaw didn't pay any attention to the next few minuets and didn't even realise they were on the surface until Yosuuf told her that they were going to Tau'ri and it was defiantly Garshaw's turn to be in control.
"How did someone as shy as you end up as host to the Grand Council?" Garshaw asked sarcastically just as she always did when Yosuuf said something like that.
Yosuuf responded as she always did, "Just lucky I guess"
Garshaw swiftly took control and dived through the Chaapa'ai just after Dr Jackson, the shocking cold transfer through the wormhole followed and she fell through the other side.
Much to Garshaw's surprise she landed on a metal ramp instead of the typical stone steps. The ramp was not, however, any softer and she made a mental note to heal the resulting bruise on her shoulder as soon as she could, she heard two more thuds as O'Neill and Teal'c hit the ramp next to her.
O'Neill yelled for someone to close the iris, Garshaw heard a whirring sound and looked back at the Chaapa'ai and saw that the centre was now covered in metal.
"Impressive, a very ingenious idea."
"You're jealous that the Tok'ra didn't come up with it first," Yosuuf said
"It wouldn't be very practical for our purposes would it?
O'Neill ordering the armed men in the room to stand down caught Garshaw's attention. It was then that she noticed that the men in the room were all pointing weapons at her, primitive chemical propelled weapons if she was any judge, she was sure that Selmak would loved to study them at some point. Selmak's passion for primitive weapons was well known, and joked about, amongst the Tok'ra.
"Friendly bunch aren't they?" Garshaw muttered to her host
"We did the same thing to them, remember?" Yosuuf pointed out and then directed Garshaw's attention to the balding man who had just entered the room.
"General this is Grand Council Garshaw of the Tok'ra, her hosts name is Yosuuf. Garshaw this is General Hammond he's in charge of the SGC." Dr Jackson said.
"It is an honour to meet you." Garshaw said bowing her head
"Likewise." Hammond answered giving her a suspicious look. Garshaw couldn't help but notice that most of the men in the room flinched slightly when she spoke.
"They either don't like us or don't trust us." Garshaw said "I feel insulted, we haven't done anything to harm them, and yet they treat us like this."
"Remember what Jolinar did, and besides they have had some bad experiences with the Goa'uld and like it or not, biologically you are Goa'uld."
"Don't remind me. It's a fact we would all change if we could but we cannot."
"Coronal O'Neill what the hell is going on, where is Captain Carter and her father?" General Hammond asked
"They stayed behind Sir." O'Neill said, Garshaw could tell that his commander was less than happy about the answer he received, Hammond looked as though he was about to start demanding answers when Daniel Jackson started to explain things. Once again Garshaw was left wondering why O'Neill and not Jackson was in command.
"General the blending wasn't complete, if we had brought Jacob Carter back with us he would probably have died." Jackson looked at Garshaw who nodded in agreement. "Sam refused to leave her father, and one of the Tok'ra, Martouf, stayed with her. He promised to get her out of there."
When Jackson had explained Hammond looked at Garshaw, "Can your man defend them against an attack?" He asked her
"Only minimally."
"Garshaw what will Martouf do if the Goa'uld get to close?" Jackson asked her
"I regret that at the risk of capture, Martouf will destroy the underground compound, with himself and all your people with it." Garshaw said sadly, as they continued to watch the Chaapa'ai with its protective iris in place, waiting for the signal to open it.
"Still no SG1 signal Sir" Said a woman in the control room.
"Interesting Garshaw, they must have a different code for each of their teams so they know exactly who to expect."
"Yosuuf, this really isn't the time."
"I'm trying to take your mind off things, you're stressed and worried and that gives me a headache."
"I'm sorry old friend, I know you're trying to help, but there's nothing you can do. Nothing will make me feel better until I know one way or the other what Selmak's fate is."
"And the fates of Martouf, Lantash and the Tau'ri woman Samantha Carter." Yosuuf reminded her
"Of course." After that no other thoughts passed between the blended pair as they both watched the wormhole disengage and then all they could do was wait. Both knew that if they didn't see their missing people within the next half-hour then the chances of ever seeing them again were vanishingly slim.
It seemed to take and age before the chevrons began to light up, as the seventh one engaged the iris closed a moment later the woman in the control room announced, "There's the signal!"
"Open the iris." Hammond ordered. Three figures fell through the horizon; guards rushed to help Samantha Carter and her father up but left Martouf to help himself. Garshaw was relived beyond words to sense Selmak within Jacob Carter.
"Praise be to Egeria! She's alive."
"He now Garshaw, and not in a bad package either." Then they both realised just how inappropriate such comments were at that exact moment, Garshaw was sure their new allies would love to know that the leader of the Tok'ra was acting like a lovesick schoolgirl.
Garshaw and Yosuuf listened as Jacob Carter explained to General Hammond about the blending and that the Tok'ra could be trusted; Garshaw was relived to see that Hammond evidently trusted Jacob's word on the subject. She was also glad that Jacob volunteered to serve as liaison with the Tau'ri; she only hoped that O'Neill didn't drive Selmak as crazy as he did her. She also had a feeling that, if the looks they were giving Samantha Carter were anything to go by, Martouf and Lantash would be making as many visits to Tau'ri as they could get away with.
Garshaw heard Hammond invite them to 'do a little debriefing' unfortunately Garshaw had to turn down that request. If a Tau'ri debriefing were anything like the Tok'ra ones they would be there for days and they really had to be somewhere else.
Samantha sounded genuinely upset that they had to go so soon, though neither Garshaw nor Yosuuf were sure if it was because her father had to leave or because Martouf did, or both. Garshaw decided to leave that thought for the moment and looked around her "Do you not have a dialling device?"
It was O'Neill who answered, "Yeah, we slapped a little one together."
"Hmm, you made it yourself, impressive," Though Garshaw doubted it was O'Neill personally who'd made it, his intelligence level seemed nearer to 'you point out the bad guys and I'll shoot them'. "Will you show it to me? I would like to put in the coordinates myself."
"This way." Hammond said gesturing for him to precede him. He led her up a flight of stairs and into a control room that over looked the Chaapa'ai. It was full of people; half of whom Garshaw was sure didn't actually need to be there and all of whom were watching the room below. Until she walked in, at which point every eye in the room turned on her.
Hammond showed her to a keyboard that had different symbols on it to the others in the room, symbols that Garshaw recognised as been those from the Chaapa'ai. "If you would be so kind."
"Thank you." Garshaw said and heard a gasp go round the room; honestly you'd think they'd never heard a symbiote speak before.
"They've probably never heard a symbiote say 'thank you' before" Yosuuf pointed out
"Well the Goa'uld aren't known for there diplomacy." Garshaw said as she typed, when she was done she stepped back from the keyboard.
"Carry on Sergeant." Hammond ordered the man and then started to lead Garshaw back to the Chaapa'ai, "Garshaw, Captain Carter suggested the possibility of an alliance between the Tok'ra and the people of Earth."
"The council will need time to discuses it, but I too believe it is a good idea. For too long the Tok'ra have stood alone against the Goa'uld, and hopefully by working together there will come a time when the Tok'ra and the people of the Tau'ri will destroy the System Lords." Garshaw said as they returned to the Chaapa'ai
"This'll be a good day." O'Neill said and Garshaw couldn't work out if he was been sarcastic.
"I don't think he likes us much Garshaw."
"I don't like him much either."
Daniel Jackson handed her a metal box, explaining "This box has a signature in it we can recognise. Just send it through the 'gate and we'll know you want to contact us."
Garshaw inclined her head to him, "Thank you." Martouf was already waiting by the ramp having backed off to give Samantha some privacy to say goodbye to her father. "Come Selmak." Garshaw was eager to leave so that they would reach the Tok'ra and stop the tunnels from been grown as soon as possible.
Jacob hugged his daughter and then turned to the others "Selmak says, let me see if I can translate this, don't call us, we'll call you."
Garshaw nearly groaned as she walked up the ramp, Saroosh wasn't around anymore to keep Selmak's smartass comments under control and if his new host was anything like the other Tau'ri then the next centaury or two were going to be interesting.
"Heaven help the Tok'ra." She and Yosuuf said at exactly the same moment.
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Please review, there's just one more little chapter after this