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Prologue
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Sam watched as Joseph leaned out over the railing.
"Go! Sam, go! I'll be fine," he yelled.
She stared down at the open wormhole beneath her, at the rippling blue waves, and bit her lip. Taking out her knife, she was about to cut the rope holding her when with a sudden sound, the wormhole disappeared.
This can't be good, Sam thought.
Borren appeared overhead, holding what seemed to be a gun to Joseph's head.
"Climb up your rope, or I will shoot," he said in a monotone.
As Sam began her slow climb up the rope, she wondered whether the Aschen ever expressed any emotions whatsoever. It seemed that even performing death threats, they were emotionless. As she climbed back up over the railing, she noticed Joseph's pleading eyes.
"Sorry," he mouthed. She gave him a faint smile.
"I thought you were going to just send the bomb through to Earth and kill us all," Sam said.
Borren tilted his head slightly. "There has been a change in plans."
--
"She can't have disappeared!" Jack shouted at Senator Kinsey. He couldn't believe his ears.
Kinsey smoothed down his elegant jacket. "I'm afraid that is what Ambassador Mollem has told us. She would be facing court martial if she returned anyway. According to the ambassador, she and Faxton had an altercation with several influential Aschen individuals. The ambassador informed me that she accused him of genocide."
"They killed off the entire Volian population within two hundred years!" Daniel exclaimed. "You can't think that this is merely a coincidence."
Kinsey smiled thinly. "I'm afraid that is no longer your concern. Due to this latest incident, the President has placed me in charge of the entire negotiation process. He wants a treaty to be signed within two months." He turned to General Hammond. "This means I am now officially in charge of Stargate Command."
Jack stared at Hammond but the older man said nothing. "You are making the biggest mistake of your life," he warned.
"I'm ensuring the salvation of the American way of life from the Goa'uld," Kinsey said. "There is no higher goal."
Without another word, Jack walked off.