Last Resort
Chapter 7
Several hours later Nareem found himself again in the Captain's small meeting room, staring out the observation windows. The Captain had somehow made the permaglass console at the head of the table disappear. Now he stood watching, his hands clasped behind his back.
He let his thoughts wander through the paths of his memory like the blurred light of hyperspace transit, light energy with no coherence as it shifted from the purest white to shades of blue and purple.
He had only been a child during the war, but he knew its history as well as any veteran. He did remember, however, the times of the destruction of Tollanus' sister world, then the secession. And then had come the days when even the best scientists had said that their world's decaying orbit was, sometimes, bordering on erratic.
The desolation of his home had come much quicker than anyone had anticipated, and definitely happened faster than they had told SG-1. It had hardly taken a generation for all the animals to die off, victim of radiation, volcanic activity, and countless things. Nareem's amazement at the Tau-ri's biodiversity had been completely real, though. He had loved glimpsing the wildlife with Sam, having grown up and lived in a city for most of his life. To walk with his beautiful friend in the mountains...
Soft brown eyes unfocussed, lost in thought, Nareem wondered what Sam would think of what he was doing now, and of his plan. Would she do the same thing, if it had happened to her world and it had been her people the Goa-uld Mothership had fired on? In his heart, he knew she would. She would be proud of him. He had to remember that. Really, it was the only thing that had let him come so far.
He only wished he could talk to her about it.
His thoughts were interrupted by the whoosh of the automatic door-hatch sliding open as someone entered the small room. Keeping his back to the door, Nareem saw the reflection of the man in the permaglass viewport. He did not look Tollan.
The man came around the table to stand next to Nareem, looking out at the view. Nareem turned to look him full in the face. This had to be a Tok-ra. He wore the tan rustic clothes and not-so-subtle zat gun. Taller than Nareem, he had blonde hair and light blue eyes.
"Hello." Nareem greeted him.
"Hello, I am Martouf, of the Tok-ra." The alien man introduced himself, in a slight accent. "As I'm sure the Captain told you, I am attached to the Fleet."
"Yes, he did. I have never had the opportunity to meet a Tok-ra before, Martouf, but I do know of your people." He said. He knew the Tok-ra. They were drifters, for thousands of years fighting a slowly losing war with the Goa-uld.
"You and me, we really are not that dissimilar as you may think." Martouf said, "Neither of us have a homeworld."
"That's where you are wrong. I do have a home, even though the one I grew up in is now destroyed. I'm sure the Captain has told you the story." Nareem replied, giving him a significant look.
"Yes, he has." The Tok-ra said in a quiet but confident voice. He turned back to looking out the viewport at passing hyperspace.
Nareem's first response was being angry at this man, who obviously saw in the exiled Tollan Fleet only an opportunity for an advantage over their long-time sworn enemy. He just wanted to use the ships to attack the Goa-uld's, longing for a new victory in their thousands of years of warfare. And these ships would do a huge amount of damage to the conventional Goa-uld mothership.
But he couldn't help the little thought, 'Isn't that just what I want too, why I even came here? Why I didn't follow Sam though the Stargate... We are here for the same ultimate goal, really, despite how primitive I had always been told the Tok-ra were...'
It was something to think about.
Author's Note: Okay, do ya'll like Martouf being the new character? I know, I haven't posted in a long time, partly since I couldn't decide whose side Martouf was gonna be on... But do you still want me to continue this story? Do you like how it's going? I promise more action and meeting the Commander of the Fleet soon! (soon chapters, that is!)