Disclaimers and Warnings on part 1.
Enjoy.
It was a few minutes before anybody moved. Isis, noticing the others, repositioned herself to give SG-1 a clear view as she fondled the other woman. Her eyes locked with Jack's as she grabbed Osiris by the ass, roughly forcing her tongue inside the other woman's mouth at the same time. She threw her head back in pleasure as Osiris reached up and grabbed her breast, her eyes flaring as waves of pleasure washed over her.
"I've just received word that the…" Danu stopped in mid sentence when he realized they were ignoring him. Following their gaze, he erupted in fury at the sight. "Guards!" Suddenly security forces burst on the scene. They quickly separated the two women, and it seemed the sudden activity was enough to break SG-1 out of their trance. Jack stormed out of the room, followed by Jacob a few seconds later. Danu approached the three remaining members of SG-1. "Perhaps it is best if you return to your assigned quarters. We shall sort everything out and I shall come and find you afterward."
"Indeed," Teal'c replied, guiding the other two out of the room.
"We need to find Jack," Daniel numbly spoke up.
"Indeed." Teal'c led them through the halls and into their room, surprised to see Jack pacing by the window. He noticed one of the bedroom doors closed and made his way to investigate.
"I wouldn't go in there," Jack warned. "Jacob isn't in the best of moods right now." Teal'c nodded his head and went to stand near the door. Janet and Daniel sank numbly into chairs, while Jack continued his furious pacing. It seemed like hours before they heard a tentative knock at their door. Danu cautiously poked his head inside.
"Am I interrupting?" he asked.
"No," Jack barked. Danu looked unconvinced but stepped inside the doorway.
"I must apologize," he began.
"What happened?" Daniel interjected.
"There was a failure of communication between myself and Nyka, the ambassador for the Goa'uld. I assure you the situation will not happen again. Nor will any open form of passion be allowed. Nyka and I will compose a schedule of meeting times for each party, as well as determine the official time of Triad. I shall send a messenger in the morning with the schedule." Danu quickly left after delivering his message.
"You know she only did that to get to us," Daniel said after a long, uncomfortable silence.
"It worked," Jack snarled. He had stopped pacing and now stood glaring out the window. Janet opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and silently crossed the den to an empty room. Daniel followed her lead a few minutes later. Jack scowled as he looked around the room. Three of the four rooms were taken, which left the last room and the den. "You gonna stay by the door all night?" he snapped.
"Indeed." Jack glared at the Jaffa then stormed out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind him. Teal'c settled himself down for Kelno'Reem. This was going to be a long night.
SG1SG1SG1SG1
The next morning came far too quickly. It was obvious nobody got any real sleep, but they all came to grips with what they had seen. Breakfast had been delivered and the schedule was being finalized as they ate. Deciding to use this time productively, Jack decided to get the group thinking about the mission again. "So Isis? Isn't she supposed to be dead?"
"I can't explain it Jack," Jacob told them, finally emerging from his room. "The Tok'ra has always thought she was killed during the rebellion on Earth."
"But we have a dead snake in the Isis Jar. You," he pointed at Janet, "even cut it open."
"There is no real way to confirm the identity of any Goa'uld," Daniel said.
"It is possible Isis deceived her captors during the rebellion," Teal'c said. A knock on the door stopped the conversation. Teal'c opened the door, talked briefly with whoever was on the other side, and returned a few minutes later holding several sheets of paper. "The schedule of events for the next several days has been decided upon."
"Let me see that," Daniel said, reaching for the paper. Teal'c handed over the bundle. "We have a two hour block with Sarah right after breakfast. Sam," he shuddered, "I mean Isis, has an hour after us. It looks like we start Triad immediately after lunch."
"Looks like they want to get Triad over quickly and get the Goa'uld out of here," Jacob said.
"Can you blame them?" Jack sighed. "Daniel, you and Doc Fraiser go talk to Sarah. Find out anything you can about their plan, or anything about Osiris. We may never get this opportunity again."
"What about you Colonel," Janet asked.
"We're gonna figure out what Carter's up too."
SG1SG1SG1SG1
"We should go in," Janet said.
"Maybe we should knock first?" Daniel added. "Make sure she's alone."
"Danu guaranteed our paths wouldn't cross again." Janet reminded him.
"I know. It's just…"
"Hard," she finished for him. They had been standing in front of the conference door for five minutes and had yet to enter and see Sarah. "How could she do that to us?"
"It wasn't Sam," he quickly reminded her. "You can't hold Sam responsible for any of this. It's all the snake. And our emotional attachments to the host are just more strings for it to pull and more ways to manipulate us."
"I know that. I mean, in my mind I know that. My heart just…"
"Hurts." Janet nodded and turned to look at him.
"But, if I allow my heart to lead me, the snake will win. I will not allow any manipulation to stop me from helping an innocent woman. I came here to help Sarah. I won't let Isis stop me." She abruptly opened the door and calmly walked into the conference room, leaving Daniel no choice but to follow her. Sarah looked up from the table, her eyes bloodshot and puffy. She engulfed the two of them in a fierce hug, sobbing quietly on their shoulders.
"I wanted you to leave, but I hoped you would stay at the same time." She spoke between quiet sobs, still not letting go of the two of them. "I am so scared Daniel. I don't know what to do. I can't fight this thing inside me, and nobody even knows I'm gone, do they?"
"I know," he quickly reassured her, "and my friends know. We will fight that thing inside you until we take our dying breath. We will get that thing out of you Sarah. You have my word. But we need your help." Sarah calmed down and nodded.
"I'll tell you everything I know."
SG1SG1SG1SG1
"What do the Tok'ra know about Isis?" Jack asked. Daniel and Janet had just left, leaving the three of them to figure out what the snake was up to.
"I do not know much about that period of time," Selmak answered. "The Tok'ra were not as unified as they are now. Many operatives undertook missions without the council's knowledge. In all honesty Isis and Osiris probably worked under the Tok'ra radar."
"The stasis jars?"
"Was not the Tok'ra way. It's possible there is some information in the archives, but without access to the Stargate it is impossible to know."
"Remember O'Neill, the System Lords have been know to take unified action against a Goa'uld."
"Only when they're uber evil Teal'c," Jack said, the light bulb going on in his head. "So we're dealing with the super evil snake heads. Great." He turned to Jacob. "Any news on what Osiris has been up to since she was freed?"
"Nothing the Tok'ra heard about since Sam, but we always figured it would just be a matter of time before she made a move."
"She is attempting to secure an ion cannon," Teal'c stated.
"Isis is trying to steal the cannon Teal'c, not Osiris."
"Yet Osiris chose a host for her mate with great technical and tactical knowledge."
"If they can get an ion cannon, and Sam can backward engineer it and start mass producing them, they're place as System Lords would be guaranteed." Jacob looked grim at the prospect.
"So they get one cannon and they can write they're own ticket," Jack surmised. "How did they get this information anyway?"
"Narim," Teal'c stated. "The two of them had talked at length during the last Triad. Narim could have told Major Carter any number of things."
"Well, it seems pretty simple to me," Jack said. "All we need to do is win Triad, keep Isis from smuggling out an ion cannon, and kidnap Sam on our way out the door. Simple stuff for SG-1."
"I hope so Jack," Jacob said solemnly, "because knowing my daughter she has a couple of curve balls to throw at us."
Lunch was a very quiet affair. Daniel and Janet arrived a few minutes after their food arrived. They told what they learned from Sarah, which unfortunately wasn't much. Most of Osiris's time was spent finding and freeing her lover, who had taken the predominant role in the new 'rise to power' plan. She did agree to let both Daniel and Jack serve as her archons. Daniel for his intellect, and Jack so he could keep an eye on Sam.
"Any chance we're overcomplicating this?" Daniel asked as he finished up his meal.
"Daniel, this is Carter. She doesn't leave her lab without a plan that she has thought over twice already. Do you think they just happened to be passing by and lost control of their ship?"
"I believe it is highly unlikely Isis does not possess a battle plan," Teal'c said, helping himself to another plateful.
"But think about it," Daniel continued. "She doesn't have any ships, no Jaffa, no servants, no weapons, and the Stargate is inaccessible. Not to mention she's surrounded by people with superior technology who made it perfectly clear they are not afraid to use it if they feel threatened. How can she possibly hope to get anything out of this?"
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure Carter does." A knock on the door interrupted their discussion. Danu entered and motioned for them to follow him. Jack acknowledged him and he and Daniel stood. "She's up to something. Teal'c, Jacob, keep a look out. The ball is in her court, but I want us to be prepared to act whenever she does."
"Okay," Jacob answered. "Good luck." Jack just smiled as he went to follow Daniel out of the room.
"Aren't the Tollans keeping an eye on her?" Janet asked as their food trays were removed.
"Much more than an eye," Jacob told her. "They have around the clock surveillance on both of them."
"Then what more can we do?"
"Remain vigilant," Teal'c told them, "and prepared to act as soon as the situation arises." They all jumped when the door opened again. "Have they arrived at a decision O'Neill?"
"Ah, no," he said, closing the door that he had left just a few minutes before. "Say Jacob, we just ran into a friend of yours. A Tok'ra, so Isis said, by the name of Nuhbia. Sound familiar?"
"Yes," Selmak answered. "Nuhbia is currently on assignment to infiltrate Ba'al's inner circle."
"You might want to check your log books," Jack told him, "'cause he's here."
"What?" he shouted, looking up as Daniel led a confused man into the room.
"Selmak," he said as soon as he saw the man. "I was not aware the Council decided to send another agent."
"The council?" Jacob asked.
"Yes, when I made my report to the Council a week ago. About the assignment Ba'al had given me."
"The council knew about Sam and Isis?" Jacob asked again.
"I told them Isis had asked for someone to argue on behalf of Osiris in a Tollan Triad. Ba'al gave this assignment to me. I reported the development to the Council and was told to proceed." He looked around to all the shocked faces. "You are here on order of the Council, are you not?"
"Not exactly." He turned to look at Jack. "What the hell happened in there?"
"Oh it was going great," Jack told him sarcastically. "We all got in the same room, we all sat down, we were all told why we were there, and we were about ready to start our arguments when all of a sudden Carter went ballistic. Accused her council of being Tok'ra and started yelling 'how can a traitor to our race argue on our behalf?'"
"What did they do?" Janet asked.
"Agreed with her," Daniel said, "once Nuhbia admitted to being Tok'ra. They're giving her one day to find a replacement arbitrator. She will be allowed one hour in the communication center to talk with her ship and ask for another arbitrator. If she can't find anyone during that time, she gets to spend the rest of the night with Osiris so they can decide how they want their case argued. We start again same time tomorrow."
"She's up to something," Jack said. "Ten to one they find someone who just has to come in a mothership, waiting patiently in orbit until they're done so they can be whisked away to their next engagement."
"Well there's nothing we can do about it," Daniel told the group. "Until Triad resumes tomorrow we aren't allowed anywhere near Sarah or Sam."
