Author's Note: Two LOTR quotes are hidden within this chapter. Kudos to anyone who can spot them.


Compared to the time and trouble it took to make first contact with Bra'tac and the Rebel Jaffa, it was almost laughably easy to make first contact with the Tok'ra, rather surprising considering their reputation. Late one morning, a month-and-a-half (as the Furlings measured time) or so after Daniel and Algar had first met with Bra'tac, Daniel was sitting in Sujanha's office, slowly reading his way through a history of the Furling Empire, a sizable book with small print that could double as a door stop in a pinch, when a knock came at the door.

Sujanha swiped a hand through the holographic screens that were projected over her desk: a mix of battle plans, galactic maps with detailed infographics about a long list of planets, intelligence reports from her scouts and the Rebel Jaffa, and budget sheets (the bane of any commander's existence). Once they were closed, she called loudly, "Come!"

Her office door slid open, and Asik appeared. "Forgive the interruption, Commander," he said, "a soldier from our base on Ushuotis is requesting an audience with you."

The Commander's dark brow furrowed in confusion, "Ushuotis?" She didn't seem to recognize the name.

Ragnar rose and stepped forward from where he had been sprawled in a chair in a shadowed corner of the room—the lights in the office were somewhat dimmer than usual—dozing or cogitating. "One of your brother's new bases," he rumbled, "It isn't even fully set up yet."

"Where?"

"Lord Yu's territory."

"Considering where his other bases are, why does my brother want a base inside Lord Yu's territory?" Now Sujanha seemed even more puzzled. She reached up one shaking paw to rub across her eyes. Daniel could see the greater than usual muscle tremors coursing down her arm.

"The weather is extremely unpleasant, especially for humans," Ragnar rumbled in reply, "the planet has a Stargate but, due to a lack of water and severe temperatures, seems to never have been inhabited and is rarely, if ever, visited."

"Hiding in the middle of the monster's nest. Risky but effective," said Sujanha, half to herself, before she turned back to Asik, who had remained in the doorway. "Why is the messenger here? The bases are my brother's problem, not mine."

"He did not say," Asik replied, "He simply said that his commander had sent him with a message."

"Very well," Sujanha replied with a sigh, making a come-hither motion with one paw, "Let him in."

Asik withdrew, and a few seconds a young human dressed in the uniform of the Furling Army entered. He stopped exactly half-way between Sujanha's desk and the door, came to attention, and gave a text-book salute.

"Your name, soldier, and your commander's?" Sujanha asked.

"Nakix, Supreme Commander," the soldier—Nakix—replied, "I serve under Usprar Trujit."

"Why have you come? Our supply bases in the Milky Way are under my brother's supervision, not mine."

"The morning patrol found an intruder, half dead from the cold and his wounds, near the dunes. We took him back to base and healed him. In doing so, we found that he had a symbiote."

"This concerns me how?" Sujanha asked. To Daniel, she seemed a touched exasperated, which combined with the dimmed lights and headache, probably mean that she was not feeling well. Her patience and temper were always shorter when the lasting effects of the Sicarii poison troubled her more than usual. Almost 500 years of living with the same symptoms gave new meaning to the term chronic illness. "There are protocols in place for such an occurrence. Heal the host, and then transfer the Goa'uld to our prison."

"That's the problem, Commander," Nakix replied, "Commander Trujit and the healers do not believe that he is a Goa'uld."

Sujanha straightened with a start of surprise, her laser-like gaze suddenly focusing intently on the soldier. "Explain!"

"The intruder had a number of injuries, including a bloody wound on the back of his head right at the base of his skull, which—our healer said—injured the symbiote. Since our technology is not made to heal non-humans or humanoids and we know the Goa'uld have a healing factor, we healed the host and decided to let the symbiote heal on its own. As of when I left our base, the host was in control and had been ever since he first awoke. He has not acted like the Lady Sha're did or how we would except a Goa'uld host to act after a long confinement trapped within his own body and his own mind. The host is wary of us but has been polite and seems quite worried about his symbiote, though he has tried to conceal his concern."

"How interesting!" said Sujanha, her golden-eyes distant as she mulled over the situation, "Thank you, soldier. You are dismissed and may return to base. I will come soon to speak with the intruder personally."

As soon as the soldier had retired, Sujanha called for her aids, "Asik, please go upstairs and update my brother on the situation. If he is absent, give the message to one of his aids. Jaax, please contact Knight Commander Shandel. I need two of his men for the rest of the day. … And Ragnar, please send for your brother. I'll need him as well."

After being appointed as one of Sujanha's aids, Daniel had spent the majority of his time at Headquarters when he was not in the Library or checking on Sha're. He had heard enough talk to known that Knight Commander Shandel was the current commander of the Imperial Guard, which numbered about 5000 men. The Imperial Guard, Daniel also knew from his reading, was one of a handful of elite shock-troop units within the Furling Army. Ragnar and Ruarc had both actually served in the Imperial Guard before being assigned by Anarr to guard Sujanha in 6298 AS (about 250 years previously) after they had recovered from injuries gained at the Battle of Three Peaks the previous year, an important battle near the end of the Furling-Sicarii War.


Despite its great size, Furling Headquarters was extremely efficient, and within an hour Sujanha, Daniel, her two regular bodyguards, along with the two extra guards were standing by the Stargate as it began to dial. The two guards had introduced themselves as Kex Keshork, a tall Etrair with chocolate brown fur, and Cosnann Vraigdirru, a hulking figure inside a suit of armor that made Iron Man's armor from the old comic books look like a tin can.

The moment the group stepped through the Stargate onto Ushuotis, the new guards in front of Daniel and Sujanha and the two brothers guarding the rear, the heat was so stifling that it almost smacked him in the face. From the look of the sun, it might not even be the heat of the day yet.

Once the group made it a few steps away from the gate, they were beamed away. They emerged in an underground passageway carved from stone. Only three people were there to meet them: a Lapith, the base commander maybe, and two Furling guards.

"Your messenger tells me that you have had an unusual visitor, Commander Trujit," Sujanha began in lieu of a greeting. Daniel stood on her right with the four guards in a semi-circle behind them.

"We have, Ssupreme Commander," the Lapith replied, a hissing like tone to his words. Daniel had met quite a number of new and unfamiliar races during his time with the Furlings, but in his mind, the Lapiths were the freakiest of all with their reptilian features and weird eyes. "The hosst hass remained in control and sstill doess not act like a Goa'uld or Goa'uld hosst. However, I am keeping him confined until proof of his identity and race is known or until you or your brother order me differently. I left two of my human ssoldiers to guard him and converse with him. Perhapss we will learn ssomething that way."

Sujanha nodded her head in wordless assent, "I concur with your actions. If you would show us to his cell…"

"Of coursse, Commander," the Lapith replied and turned, motioning for the others to follow. Then he continued, "He is being kept in an isolation room in the healing halls for now. Whether hiss ssymbiote is Goa'uld or Tok'ra, the healers wanted him kept in the halls until hiss ssymbiote iss healed." The Furling Empire had standards as to how all its prisoners, even their worst enemies, were to be treated.

The subterranean compound on Ushuotis was simply massive, as the group threaded their way through long tunnel after long tunnel, all part of one large complex. The tunnels appeared to be made of stone or possibly some kind of metal, it was hard to tell. The tunnel walls went straight up from the ground for about seven or eight feet before the two sides met in a curve about ten to twelve feet up at the apex. Boxes and crates were stacked neatly along one wall or the other, where they would impede the flow of traffic less. Only a few soldiers or other personal passed them as they headed to the infirmary, several of whom Sujanha greeted by name. She had a fantastic memory, Daniel had noticed many times previously, for names and faces, often greeting low ranking aids (other than her own) or even janitors and cooks by name when she passed them.

The healing halls were laid out like the Halls of Healing on Uslisgas. The main infirmary was a large, rectangular shaped room with a row of beds along either wall. High-tech holographic screens were projected on the wall above the heads of any occupied beds, displaying the vital signs and other pertinent information about the injured occupant. Several doorways at the far end of the hallway led off to other rooms. Today only two of the beds in the main hall were occupied: one by a human, who appeared to be asleep and had no immediately obvious injuries, and the other by a half-blood Furling with very raspy breathing.

Of the three doors, one led into a storage room (Daniel could see a glimpse of several shelves stocked with equipment), and the other two led to the isolation wards so the warning signs indicated.

"He'ss in that room," the Lapith Commander said, motioning to the door on the farthest right, "The two guardss are just insside the door, and a portable sshield hass been sset up a pace from the door to guarantee hiss confinement."

Sujanha turned to her guards, "Keshork and Vraigdirru, you will remain outside and only enter on my command. Once I call the guards out, Ruarc, you will enter with me, and you as well, Daniel; Ragnar, please take up a position in the doorway. Daniel, you have had more interactions with the Goa'uld, and I wish your opinion on this visitor of ours."

"Commander," Trujit added, "The healerss who tended him were also human. He has sseen no otherss of uss. Be prepared."

"Of course. Your assistance is appreciated. Please, do not let us keep you from our other duties," Sujanha said.

Sujanha swiped open the door, giving Daniel his first look at the room within. It was small with only a bed for furniture. A man set cross-legged upon the bed. His skin was pale, and his short-cropped hair was brown. He was dressed in the typical tunic and trousers of a Furling soldier, probably taken from the wardrobe of one of the base members who was of similar size and build. His face was young, but with a host, the apperance of age meant little. A small box, likely the portable shield generator, sat on the floor in the middle of the room several feet away from the door. The two guards stood leaning against the wall on either side of the door.

"Come!" Sujanha commanded in Furling to the two guards who had instantly straightened to attention when the door opened. The visitor, seeing her strange form silhouetted in the doorway, had also straightened, a look of mingled astonishment, confusion, and wariness in his open face.

The two guards exited the isolation ward. Sujanha caught the arm of the one last out and spoke to him quickly in an undertone for a moment, before dismissing both guards back to their regular posts. Then Sujanha entered with Daniel and Ruarc, Ragnar taking up his position in the doorway.

"How fare you?" Sujanha asked bluntly, leaning back against the wall on the left side of the door and crossing her arms across her chest. Daniel noticed, with a little concern, that she was leaning her weight heavily on her left leg, another indication that she was not feeling well. The main left-over symptoms of the Sicarii poison were muscle tremors and muscle weakness, especially on her right side, that varied somewhat from day to day. Hence the attempt to unobtrusively keep her weight off her bad leg and support the weaker arm.

"Better," the man replied, seemingly surprised to be addressed in English, making Daniel wonder in what language he had been talking with the guards, although his surprise could have been as much because of the rather unusual appearances of the three Furlings, "and for that I thank you. I feared when I came through the chappa'ai that I was dying. Are you the commander of this place?"

"No," Sujanha replied honestly, "but close enough for the purposes of this conversation." The man's eyes narrowed slightly at her words.

"Why am I being kept here?" He asked after a long pause.

"On account of the same creature inside you that has been causing you concern ever since you awoke here," Sujanha was never one to beat around the bush.

There was no point in directly asking the host if he were Tok'ra. If he were actually a Goa'uld and had a modicum of brains, he might lie in an attempt to trick them. If he were a Tok'ra and had a modicum of brains, he would be insane to admit he was a Tok'ra before knowing more about whom he was making the admission in front of and whether he was going to be promptly executed or, worse, handed over to a System Lord.

Daniel did not think that his eyes were deceiving him, seeing the man's face pale just slightly at Sujanha's rather blunt statement.

"Tell me," Sujanha continued, "and speak truthfully, why did you come to this place?" Daniel wondered if he heard an unspoken or else in her voice.

The man was quiet for several long moments, perhaps thinking, perhaps planning his answer. Sujanha's assessing gaze never wavered from his face.

"We had no intention of coming to this world, wherever it is," he said. Daniel noticed the deliberate switch from singular to plural: no reason to continue the former with his secret revealed, "We were attacked and tried to make our escape through the chappa'ai, but I misdialed. I do not where we are or who you and your people are, nor do I believe that L… my symbiote would know either."

If Sujanha noticed his slip of the tongue regarding his symbiote's name, she didn't show it. The young man seemed to be getting slowly uneasier by the minute. Daniel wondered slightly at Sujanha's rather forceful (for her) line of questioning. "Attacked by whom?" She pressed.

For several long minutes, he just starred at her. "By whom?" Sujanha asked again, this time a bit more forcefully.

"Jaffa belonging to Heru'ur," he finally answered reluctantly, seeming to realize that he might be better off answering than trying to keep silent.

Daniel saw Sujanha, who had lowered her arms to her sides a few minutes before, make a quick hand signal behind her back. A moment later, Ragnar spoke, "Always infighting the Goa'uld are. Killing their own people, their own kin, they have no honor."

Suddenly Daniel realized what the Commander was doing. Ragnar's words were true enough no matter who he was addressing, but considering what the young man—whatever his name was—had just said, he would probably deem the comment to be referring to him, and if he were a Tok'ra, would probably take great insult at being compared to or thought to be a Goa'uld.

The instinctive flinch and flash of anger from the already rattled young man, following Ragnar's comment, seemed to confirm Sujanha's line of reasoning in her questions, for she immediately relaxed and a cat-like grin spread across her face. "So … it is as we thought, you are Tok'ra …Your face betrays you, young one…"

The young man's face went deathly pale as she spoke before becoming confused and surprised as Sujanha continued, saluting him in the Furling fashion, "You are welcome among us."

Suddenly his posture and body language changed completely from the wary confusion of the host to tense hostility that tried to hide his fear and defensiveness. When he spoke again, it was with the dual-flanged voice of the symbiote, "What do you want with us?" His voice was a low growl.

"My greetings," Sujanha replied, unruffled by the angry emergence of the symbiote, "I am glad to see you awake. You were injured when we found you, but our healing technology does not work on non-humanoids."

"Why would you care?" Now the symbiote seemed confused, too, after his first flare of anger had quieted.

"Because we have a common foe, and I have heard of the bravery and courage of the Tok'ra as they resist the long defeat," Sujanha replied, "All will be explained in time."

She turned to Ragnar, still in the doorway. "Find the healer," she said, "Tell him our guest's symbiote has awoken."

Ragnar departed swiftly without a word, and one of the two guards outside took his place in the doorway. Sujanha turned back to the watching symbiote and spoke again, "Do you have a name?"

There was a long silence. From the absent look in the visitor's eyes and remembering the interactions of Sam with Jolinar, Daniel wondered if the host and symbiote were talking.

Finally, the symbiote replied, "I am called Lantash."

"And your host? I would know his name as well."

"Martouf. Who are you?"

"I am Sujanha," the Commander replied, "My bodyguard, Ruarc; and my aid, Daniel Jackson."

"From earth?" Martouf was back in control and spoke with great surprise.

Daniel glanced at Sujanha, wordlessly asking if he could answer. She nodded assent. "I was born there, yes," he replied, "I was exiled over a year ago."

Martouf relaxed, "We met your friends some months ago, the other members of SG1. They came to our world, seeking the Tok'ra, and proved … a help to us."

"They were well then?" Daniel asked. He knew that now was probably not the best time to ask such a question, but Bra'tac hadn't had any recent news of his friends, and he just couldn't help from asking. As he spoke, Sujanha gave him a look that he couldn't decipher but didn't chide him.

"They were," Martouf confirmed. A moment later, he bowed his head. His eyes flashed, and then Lantash was back in control.

"Who are you?" The symbiote asked again, this time seeking more than a name, "Your kind are strange to me."

Sujanha flashed a sign, and Ruarc stepped forward and, crouching by the shield generator and making several quick motions, dropped the shield. "My people are called the Furlings, and long have we been absent from this galaxy, only returning after many trials and many wanderings."

"Why did you return?"

"To see the Goa'uld fall, the same reason the Tok'ra fight. The Goa'uld are a plague and a stain upon this galaxy. It is time their reign ends," Sujanha replied, "Rebel factions within the ranks of the Jaffa have always pledged their aid to our strength."

"What do you want from us?" Martouf was back in control.

"Intelligence. Strength of arms loses much of its value without knowledge of where to strike." The Furlings had learned much from Bra'tac and the Rebel Jaffa, but Sujanha was nothing if not thorough.

There was another long silence, as Martouf and Lantash seemed to speak to each other silently again. "We cannot tell you what you wish to know without permission, but we will bear your message to our leaders. It will be their decision."

"I understand," Sujanha replied, straightening up from her slouch against the wall.

"Are we free to depart?"

"You are, though I would prefer that you allow a healer to look at you first. Once you are ready to depart, one of my guards will escort you to the gate and teach you the symbols of this world. You or any of your people are free to return, whether or not you agree to aid us."


Four days later news came to Uslisgas that a Tok'ra elder, named Selmak, had arrived on Ushuotis. After several days of discussion and negotiations between the Tok'ra High Council and the Furling High Command, an alliance was formed.

The days of the Goa'uld were numbered. Their doom was near at hand. The Milky-Way would have to face a galaxy-wide war, but it would be a war of deliverance.