For a long moment there was total silence in the briefing room.

'Excuse me?' Jack asked. He spread his hands out on the table in front of him. 'I thought you said the weapon on Dakara wasn't destroyed?'

'I did.' Delek confirmed.

'But the Jaffa destroyed it.' Sam protested her alarmed blue eyes on Delek.

'Did they?' Delek challenged her. 'Are you certain of this?'

Jack scowled at him. 'Teal'c and Bra'tac wouldn't lie to us.'

'Perhaps not.' Delek admitted as he shifted in his chair. 'But can you say the same for the other Jaffa?'

Jack rubbed a hand through his grey hair; as much as he hated to admit it the Tok'ra had a point. 'How do you even know this anyway?'

'We assure you, General O'Neill,' Delek said firmly, 'our source is reliable.'

'Exactly who is your source?' Jack asked.

'We are not at liberty to reveal that information.' Delek said smoothly.

'There's a surprise.' Jack replied sarcastically. The Tok'ra's unwillingness to reveal their covert activities was one of the reasons why the treaty was currently in abeyance.

Sam frowned. 'You must have spies on Dakara.'

'We do not.' Delek rejoined quickly. 'Of that I assure you.'

'Ba'al then.' Sam said in stunned realisation.

Delek tried to maintain his expression but there was a faint flicker that told Sam she was on the right track.

'You have a spy in Ba'al's court.' She deduced. 'That's where this information came from.' She turned to the General. 'Sir, my father told us the Tok'ra had spies with Ba'al when he came to assist us during the fight with the Replicators. It's possible that Ba'al's agents on Dakara might have supplied Ba'al with this information and it was in turn passed onto the Tok'ra.'

'Is she right?' Jack asked with exaggerated patience when the Tok'ra didn't reply.

'Yes.' Delek admitted reluctantly. 'Our information did come from our operative in Ba'al's court.'

'Then you know where Ba'al is.' Sam concluded.

'I don't suppose you want to share that with us?' Jack asked bitingly.

'General O'Neill, there is a greater concern here.' Delek said impatiently. 'The machine on Dakara is dangerous.'

'We're well aware of how powerful the weapon is.' Jack retorted. 'We're the ones who used it to eliminate the Replicators.'

'Then you agree it must be destroyed.' Delek said.

'We don't even know if your information is correct yet.' Jack pointed out.

Sam nodded. 'It's also possible this is misinformation from Ba'al.'

'What do you mean?' Delek asked rudely.

'Ba'al has been trying to break the alliance between ourselves and the Free Jaffa by building up anti-Tau'ri feeling amongst the Jaffa.' Sam explained tersely. 'It could be argued that what to do with the weapon after we destroyed the Replicators created the initial tension that allowed Ba'al's agents to gain a foothold.'

'So it's possible Ba'al has planted this information so the Tok'ra would tell us, we'd go charging to Dakara making accusations,' Jack deduced 'and stirring up all the old anti-Tau'ri feeling.'

'It is not possible.' Delek stated. 'For such a plan to work, Ba'al would have to know that we have a spy within his court and…' his voice trailed away as the realisation hit him fully that Ba'al was probably aware of their spy.

'It's also possible both scenarios are correct in some way.' Sam stated. 'If the weapon was not destroyed and Ba'al was aware, he could have allowed the information to leak trying to use it to his advantage.'

'So,' Jack said rubbing his eyes tiredly, 'let me summarise; the Ancient weapon on Dakara may or may not have been destroyed and Ba'al is probably trying to play us either way.' He looked around the table. 'Is that right?'

There were nods of agreement.

Jack decided a delaying tactic was in order. 'If you'll excuse us, Delek, I think we need some time to discuss this.'

'We understand,' said Delek rising.

Jack got up and called in a couple of SFs to escort the Tok'ra down to the VIP quarters. He waited until the Tok'ra was gone before he turned to Sam. 'OK. I guess we can't just ignore this.'

Sam shook her head in agreement. 'No, sir.' She folded her hands on the top of the table. 'Even if we were inclined to, there's no way the Tok'ra will let this go unchallenged.'

'So we have to find some way of discovering whether this weapon is active without restarting the whole anti-Tau'ri thing.' Jack stated.

'Not just that, sir,' Sam said, 'but if the weapon is active we have to convince the Jaffa Council to follow through on destroying it,' she gestured vaguely, 'without restarting the whole anti-Tau'ri thing.'

'So,' said Jack, 'piece of cake.' Sam's lips lifted in a brief smile and lightened Jack's mood. 'OK, what's our plan?'

'I don't see how we can do this without upsetting the Jaffa, sir.' Sam admitted. 'I'm sure any suggestion from us that they might have deceived us and any demand for proof that the weapon is destroyed will play into Ba'al's hands.' She gestured. 'You have to hand it to him, sir, he's manipulated the situation perfectly. Even his choice of informant was inspired; just the fact that the Tok'ra are involved is likely to make the Jaffa Council less likely to cooperate.'

'There is that.' Jack sighed. He pressed his lips together firmly. 'Well, I'm not letting that overdressed pompous no-good son-of-a…'

'Sir.' Sam cautioned him.

'Snake,' Jack continued without pausing, 'get the better of us. There has to be something that he hasn't considered.'

Sam wished Daniel and Teal'c were there. It would be good not to be the only person the General was looking to for a way out of the mess the Tok'ra had dumped on their heads. She was about to respond that she didn't think there was a way out when a thought popped into her head. She bit her lip as she turned it over.

Jack pointed his pen at her. 'I know that look. You're thinking something. What are you thinking?'

'Sir, if we assume the information is correct then Ba'al had to have been informed by one of his agents on Dakara.'

'Makes sense.' Jack said.

'Which means that it's likely one of those agents was directly involved in ensuring the weapon wasn't destroyed.' Sam continued.

'Yes.' Jack said emphatically.

'So you see where I'm going with this, sir.' Sam said.

'No.' He responded just as emphatically.

Her lips twitched and her blue eyes gleamed with amusement briefly. 'We turn the tables on Ba'al, sir.' Her head tilted. 'Rather than going in accusing the Jaffa of not destroying the weapon, we go in stating we have information that Ba'al ensured the wishes of the Jaffa Council were thwarted and the weapon was not destroyed.'

'That could work.' Jack said turning the idea over in his head. 'The Jaffa are not too fond of Ba'al at the moment; they could believe he's meddling.'

'But it would strengthen our position if we knew for certain if the weapon was destroyed or not.' Sam murmured.

'How would we do that?'

'I think we could use the chair on Dakara, sir.' Sam said. 'We know the control chairs usually access the weapon systems on a planet. It's possible the control table my Dad and I used was only constructed when the buildings were buried and I think we could access the information without the Jaffa being aware of what we were doing.' She paused. 'I know it's a risk, sir.'

'But one you think we need to take?'

She nodded.

Jack sighed. 'OK. We go back to Dakara and check out the status of the weapon with the chair and if it hasn't been destroyed we let Teal'c and Bra'tac take the information about Ba'al's interference to the Council.'

'We still might have a problem if the Jaffa Council changes its mind about destroying the weapon, sir.' Sam cautioned.

'Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, Carter.' Jack said. He thumped the table gently and stood up. 'I'd better give Hammond the good news and inform Tweedle-Dum.'

Sam bit her lip to stop from giggling. 'I could inform the Tok'ra, sir.' She said standing.

'You sure?' Jack asked his brown eyes intent on hers.

'Yes, sir.' Sam held his gaze firmly.

'OK, Carter. He's all yours.' Jack said taking the opportunity to duck out. 'I'll get the SFs to bring him back.'

'Thank you, sir.' Sam indulged in watching him stride out of the briefing room. She sighed and wandered over to the observation window to look out at the Stargate. It took a while before Delek was shown back into the room.

'Colonel Carter.' Delek's brown eyes swept over her. 'Where is General O'Neill?'

'He's briefing our chain of command.' She gestured for him to resume his seat and she updated him on the plan.

Delek leaned forward. 'You intend telling the Jaffa that Ba'al was responsible for the weapon not being destroyed?'

'If the weapon is still active, yes.' Sam said.

'And you believe you can find out if the weapon is active without alerting the Jaffa High Council?' Delek asked sceptically.

'As I explained…'

'About the chair, I know.' Delek said dismissively.

Sam's lips thinned and her blue eyes flashed dangerously. 'The control chairs are usually an integral part of the Ancient weapons systems.'

Delek frowned. 'And you really believe the Jaffa will proceed with destroying the weapon?'

'If they believe Ba'al was responsible for ensuring their previous decision to destroy it wasn't carried out, we think there is a good possibility they will proceed as they originally planned if for no other reason than to ensure Ba'al does not achieve a victory.' She sighed.

'I will accompany you to Dakara.' Delek stated presumptively.

Sam shook her head. 'With respect, Delek, if there was one thing guaranteed to get the Jaffa not to destroy the weapon, it would be the presence of the Tok'ra insisting they do and if we turn up with you, they'll be fairly annoyed with us. You would play right into Ba'al's hands.'

'This is unacceptable.' Delek said. 'I insist that I am part of the delegation.'

Sam's patience was teetering on a fine edge. 'Why are you so insistent about this?' She stared at him and he jerked his eyes away to stare at the table. She came to a sudden and startling realisation. 'You didn't come here to inform us at all, did you? You came because we're your only ticket to Dakara.' She shook her head angrily. 'You were planning to use us to get to Dakara and destroy the weapon yourselves.'

Delek's head whipped around. 'You know how powerful that weapon is. It cannot be allowed to remain active.'

'And you don't trust the Jaffa to destroy it.' Sam completed. She stood up. 'I think you should leave. I've told you what we intend to do and we have no intention of taking you to Dakara with us. Whatever you decide to do from here is up to you.'

'Trusting the Jaffa is a mistake.' Delek said furiously, getting to his feet. 'It would be better if you worked with us to destroy it.'

'The Jaffa are our allies,' Sam began heatedly.

'You were blended,' Delek interrupted her, 'you have to know that you are doing the wrong thing in trusting them over us.'

'I wasn't blended,' Sam snapped, 'I didn't have a choice about it.' Something stirred in her memories or rather Jolinar's memories buried in her subconscious.

'Jolinar died to save your life.' Delek said angrily.

'She didn't die to save me. I had someone die to save me recently and I know the difference. She only ensured I lived because it was the only way of preserving anything of herself.' Sam shot back and knew in a way that she never had before that it was the truth. For the first time ever she could access Jolinar's memories as though they were her own; the realisation would have scared her if Delek hadn't chosen to retort.

'Those memories allowed you to save your father on Netu.'

'The Tok'ra used those memories, and my desire to rescue my father, to get to Netu because you needed the information about Sokar's fleet.' Sam's hands fisted and she clasped them behind her back. 'The Tok'ra were prepared to blow us all up. If it hadn't been for Teal'c we wouldn't have made it out.' She glared at him. 'And don't ever mention my father again, not after the way you accused him of…of negatively influencing Selmak and forced him to choose between us and you.' Her previously carefully hidden resentment at being deprived of her father in the last year of his life coloured the words with anger and had her wavering on the point of losing her temper.

'The actions of the Tau'ri were leading to the extinction of our race.' Delek bit out. 'You're too aggressive. We had to separate ourselves from you.'

'You didn't leave because you were worried about extinction; you left because you thought you knew better than us. You've never shown us any respect.' Sam replied heatedly. 'I won't deny that the alliance with the Tok'ra has benefited us in the past but more often than not you show up when it suits you and with a hidden agenda, like now.'

'I assure you, Colonel Carter…' Delek tried again.

'Your lack of respect for humans even extends to your hosts,' Sam continued as though he hadn't spoken, 'Selmak and others like Lantash were from the older generation of Tok'ra; those who sought a true blending and who held their hosts in high esteem. You act more like the Goa'uld because, after all, your hosts are like us, only human and so not deserving of equal respect. The Jaffa and the Tau'ri could be your allies again if the Tok'ra weren't blinded by the same arrogance as the Goa'uld.'

'We are done here.' Delek interrupted her with exactly the arrogance she had accused him of, his brown eyes gleaming with anger. 'I do not need to explain myself to you.' He whirled away from her.

Sam's mind was suddenly flooded with the clear image of sitting in a room, young Tok'ra at her feet including Selmak, her father's symbiote. She knew instinctively she was accessing the Tok'ra's genetic memory; this was a memory of Egeria teaching. 'Am ro gel no as tek ma rel. Kal yui fre dak mel shar'el a Egeria schol.'

Delek froze at the perfect ancient Goa'uld and turned slowly to face the Air Force Colonel again.

'Your host is the other half of your Soul; respect the differences between you always.' Sam translated quietly. 'As Egeria teaches.' Her blue eyes looked at him with contempt. 'You have fallen far from Egeria's teachings. I hope you and the rest of the Tok'ra can find your way back to them.'

There was a fraught silence.

Jack slowed his step as he walked in the briefing room, taking in the flushed cheeks and bright eyes that spoke of a heated argument. 'Carter, what's going on?'

'Delek was just leaving, sir.' Sam responded. She reluctantly dropped her eye contact to look at her CO. 'I discovered that the Tok'ra were intending to use us to gain access to Dakara where they intended to destroy the weapon themselves.'

Jack sighed heavily as his brown eyes hardened. 'Why am I not surprised?' He turned to Delek. 'I believe you were just leaving?' He gestured for Delek to precede him down the stairs. A few minutes later, they all trooped into the gate room where the blue event horizon of the wormhole stood ready.

'Well, I'd say it's been a pleasure seeing you again,' began Jack, 'but I would be lying.'

Delek glowered at him. 'You're making a mistake trusting the Jaffa.'

'Don't let the iris hit your backside on the way out.' Jack retorted.

The male Tok'ra whirled and stormed up the ramp and into the wormhole. The event horizon disappeared in a flash.

Jack glanced over at Sam's pale face. 'Carter?'

Sam opened her mouth to tell him she was fine and couldn't do it. She didn't know what disturbed her more; the argument with Delek or her sudden newfound ability to access her deeply buried Tok'ra memories. She rubbed her forehead. 'Just a headache, sir.'

'Yeah, the Tok'ra always have that effect on me too.' Jack sympathised as they left the gate room.