Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or themes in this story that are affiliated with the television series Stargate Sg-1 or Stargate Atlantis or the movie Stargate. Or any other show…Witness if you will…squat (in reference to owning anything)

"Damn, he's already gone." Jack grumbled when they reached Martouf's cell. "Do you know which way the throne room is?" He asked Daniel.

"Yeah, we can catch them if we hurry. Come on!" They slipped quietly in through the door and moved cautiously to the back of the room to stare up at the throne. It was occupied by the Goa'uld Daniel recognized as Heru-ur. He was staring condescendingly down at Martouf, who had been forced to his knees.

"A Tok'ra spy." Heru-ur said in an amused fashion. "How convenient that you were captured at this time, I should like to know where your base is. Then I can finally wipe out your kind for good."

"You can torture me but I will tell you nothing." He said, a slight edge to his voice. Heru-ur raised his eyebrows and smiled somewhat.

"Torture? No, I no longer need to use torture to extract information from my prisoners. I think you'll find my way much more appealing. River." Both Jack and Daniel got a start when a young girl, (she could be no more than 17), stepped out from the shadows of the throne. Heru-ur gave her a stern look and she bowed her head.

"My lord?" she asked in an acidic, wintry voice.

"Find out where the other Tok'ra are located, and what he was doing here." The girl's eyes traveled to where Martouf was kneeling and gave him a look of pity as she walked gracefully over. River smiled weakly as she kneeled before him and laid her forehead on his.

"Forgive me," she whispered. Martouf looked into her eyes and couldn't help but feel bad for her. Whatever she was about to do, she obviously didn't want to. Quite suddenly, River placed her hand on his shoulder and the other the back of his neck and he was completely still, staring into her eyes. His body jerked somewhat, not as though he was in pain, but in an uncomfortable way.

"He is Martouf of Highgarden and Lantash of the Tok'ra." River said. Heru-ur narrowed his eyes.

"A member of their high council?"

"N-no, he is their representative to someone else…" Daniel and Jack were both breathing heavily. Was River actually reading Martouf's mind? Neither of the humans thought it could be possible. Then again, Daniel thought, he had seen first hand that Nirrti could make Cassandra mildly psychic.

"Who?" Heru-ur asked impatiently.

"Another enemy of the Goa'uld. The…the Tau'ri." Heru-ur looked ecstatic.

"How does he communicate with them? What scheme do they have planned here? Where are the rest of the Tok'ra hiding? These are the things I need to know." He said.

"The Tok'ra had information that one of their operatives was your prisoner, my lord. He came back looking for him." There was no doubt in Daniel's mind, River's face showed it plainly; she was lying to Heru-ur on purpose.

"And the Tau'ri?" Heru-ur couldn't tell she was lying, even better, Daniel thought.

"The Tok'ra have a box made of a certain mineral that they throw through the Chappa'ai and the humans can recognize. The Tau'ri have a device called an iris over-"

"I know that, what is this mineral you speak of?" River grasped Martouf's head more roughly and waited a moment before speaking again.

"He doesn't know, my lord. They throw the box at the Tau'ri iris and the humans can recognize the mineral." Heru-ur sighed and rubbed his chin.

"Where is the Tok'ra base?" River looked as though she was struggling with this question, and Jack wanted more than anything for her to lie just one more time.

"I…" she paused again.

"Yes?" Heru-ur asked impatiently. River abruptly let go of Martouf, who fell to the ground, as if exhausted. She too fell backward, leaning on one arm and holding her head like she had a massive headache.

"The symbiote was able to force me out, my lord. He is too strong at this time." She lied. Heru-ur leaned back in his throne, looking angry.

"Will torture make him any less so?" River immediately shook her head.

"No my lord, I do not believe so." Heru-ur sighed uninterestedly.

"Fine, we shall have to do this the hard way." He looked to his jaffa. "Kill him." Daniel and Jack could do nothing but watch the staff blast kill their friend. Martouf took one last breath, and with his eyes glowing, died, still lying on the floor.

"Place him in the sarcophagus."

"Yes my lord." A jaffa moved forward and lifted Martouf's lifeless body, dragging him away. River stayed where she was on the floor, still looking straight at the place where Martouf's body had been.

"Leave us." Heru-ur dismissed the other guards so that only he, Jack, Daniel, and River were left in the room. He stood up and walked slowly around until he was standing behind her.

"My lord?" she asked, not daring to look back at him. Heru-ur glared down at her for a moment and spoke.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. Daniel narrowed his eyes at Heru-ur. The statement was completely void of emotion, the Goa'uld only wanted to know if River could use her power again. River shook her head, still refusing to look up.

"No my lord." Heru-ur tilted his head somewhat.

"Will you be able to penetrate the Tok'ra's mind completely when he wakes?" River shook her head once more.

"I don't know my lord, he is strong. He used all the strength he had to protect the other Tok'ra; it his most closely guarded secret. I doubt very much that I could ever learn where they are." Heru-ur walked around until he was standing directly in front of the frightened girl.

"You should hope very much that you can, because if you do not, there are consequences."