Chapter 21: The Rude Houseguest
Daniel spent the first few days on Cythera watching Sam closely. He was trying to justify his feelings of wrongness, but he had yet to see anything that could be construed as truly abnormal behavior in his teammate. Her unusual good mood had slowly deteriorated into a sort of perpetual PMS. She was quick to anger, but was always in complete control of her temper.
However, as Janet had oh so politely pointed out, Sam had a right to be angry and her anger was a healthy response to her captivity. She had also stated that mood swings were also normal. In fact, Janet had told Daniel to 'back-off' in not quite so many words and that 'for the record' she was against sending Sam back to Cythera. He had smarted at Janet's rebuke.
But still Daniel watched. Sam had taken on the logistics and planning of the evacuation with a fervor that Daniel found hard to deny. Sam had made it perfectly clear that she was going to get these 'people', and she used the term loosely, moved as quickly as possible so that she could forget about them sooner, rather than later. To this end, she had reorganized the entire evacuation plan and began helping Anise with the Za'tarc detectors.
Daniel and Jacob had been impressed with how quickly she had turned around the small Tok'ra operation. And while Anise and Daniel had both felt the sharp edge of her tongue, her father was the victim more often than anyone else. To the Cytherans, she was the epitome of a rude house guest. She barely talked to any of the natives and if she did it was with barely contained rage spilling over in her voice. She refused to meet with Aphrodite in person, and for that Daniel was immensely grateful. Teal'c had taken up position as her shadow, though Daniel didn't know if it was to protect Sam or the Cytherans. He suspected it was the former, but feared it might be the latter.
Sam's evacuation plan had actually been rather simple. Move half the Jaffa to the new world to secure it. Next, move the farmers and ranchers with their livestock to begin the hardest task of breaking new fields to feed the population. Next up, the craftsmen and laborers to begin building the new settlement. The remaining tradesmen, Jaffa, and higher-class citizens will organize the remaining supplies and push them through the Stargate to the new world. When everything was moved, they would join their people at the new settlement. Finally, leaving the queen and her entourage to arrive last, signaling the end of the migration. At that point the Tok'ra would remove the Stargate from the planet, ensuring that the population would remain isolated from the rest of the galaxy.
To secure the site, the Tok'ra removed the dialing device from the new planet and installed a force field iris on both the old and the new planets. Only the Tok'ra had the code to disable the force field. Every supply, animal, and person was scanned or put through the Za'tarc detector before traveling to the new world.
But, while the plan itself was simple, the sheer volume of people, goods, and animals being transported was still a logistical nightmare. Into this nightmare waded one angry Major with a self-imposed timeline and the Cytherans loved her for it.
Now, a week and a half after arriving, Daniel was trying to pinpoint what bothered him the most. His best guess was that the Cytherans seemed to celebrate Sam's anger. Every time she lashed out with her sharp tongue, the Cytheran receiving the brunt of her attack would smile and comply, even Aphrodite's Jaffa… and Jaffa were not generally known for holding their temper. It just didn't make sense.
"Doctor Jackson," H'rak greeted formally.
"H'rak, how fares the queen?" Daniel greeted in return.
The big man smiled, "She is very happy. Major Carter is making swift progress. My queen is most impressed."
Daniel nodded, "Yes, Sam says that the bulk of the livestock should be through by tomorrow. She believes that your people could be moved within the next 60 days."
"That is indeed good news," the First Prime replied with a nod.
They both stood and watched as Sam personally coordinated the transit of the next shipment to the new planet. As usual, Sam noticed something slightly out of place and proceeded to lay into the nearest worker. Daniel winced as her voice rose. He turned to the First Prime to apologize for Sam's outburst only to stop as he noticed the slight smile on the First Prime's lips.
The words caught in his throat. What is wrong with these people?
H'rak turned his grin back to Daniel, "Major Carter is a strong warrior."
"Yes," Daniel replied in confusion. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore; he had to know, "Why do your people smile when she yells at them? Why are you smiling now?" He instantly regretted it. Shit, so much for your diplomatic touch, Dr. Jackson.
But H'rak continued to smile, "We cannot help it. She is highly favored and she shows much restraint. Only the strongest of warriors could resist the call of their bonded for so long. We are truly honored that she would choose to stay and help us when she is in such need."
Eh… what? "Oh…" Daniel replied absently.
"I must return to my queen." H'rak turned fully to face Daniel and gave him a short Jaffa salute.
As the First Prime walked away, Daniel was left to ponder his words. "Bonded?" he whispered aloud with dread.
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It had taken Daniel another three days to corner Jacob and the High Priestess Alana without the distracting presence of Sam. In that time he had mulled over all the possible connotations of what H'rak had said. Well, more like obsessed over it.
"Okay, Daniel, we're here. Now spill it," Jacob started with little patience. Daniel didn't have the time to explain why he needed them both. Only that it was urgent and involved Sam.
"Right," Daniel turned to the High Priestess, "A few days ago, I was talking with H'rak about Sam and he said a few things that I need clarified." Daniel licked his lips nervously. "He said that the people of Cythera were honored to have Sam here helping them," he paused, trying to find the correct way to phrase this next bit.
"We are honored that Major Carter would devote so much time to us. Especially, after we had harmed both her and Colonel O'Neill as we did," Alana replied smoothly in her dual toned voice.
"Yeah, well, he also said that she was highly favored and was strong to resist the call of her bonded for so long," Daniel continued.
Alana considered her answer carefully, "I was under the impression that Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill were human."
"What?" Jacob shouted. "Of course, they're human."
Daniel frowned, "Why do you ask? Does it have to do with being bonded?"
Alana frowned, "H'rak would not use the term 'bonded' lightly. Very rarely, the most favored of Aphrodite's followers will bond to a priest or priestess. However, this only happens to her blended children and even then it is very rare."
Jacob spared a glance for Daniel before Selmak took control, "What about those humans who were previously hosts?"
Alana appeared confused, "I don't understand. Previously hosts?"
Daniel winced, "Previously hosts… they were both blended with a symbiote but the symbiote was forced to leave them or died… Jack and Sam were both blended twice."
"Twice? What? When?" Jacob exclaimed, rounding on Daniel.
Daniel ignored Jacob and turned back to the High Priestess, "Would this potentially cause this… bonding?"
The High Priestess seemed to consider it, "I believe that it could be possible, but I highly doubt it." The priestess seemed to consider her answer before continuing, "A bonded couple are physically drawn to one another. They would find it difficult to leave the presence of their bond mate. The mere scent of their bond mate is like an addiction. Without it they would be aggressive and violent."
"Oh, no…" Daniel stated flatly.
"I doubt that any bonded couple would be strong enough to be separated for two weeks without the scent of the other… at least, without violence," Alana said with a haughty dignity.
"And you don't know my friends," Daniel replied in a flat tone. "How could I prove it? How do I fix it?"
"Scent, Daniel," Jacob answered. "If Sam is this bad, just think about the chaos that Jack is causing at the SGC. Take her T-shirt to him. If he settles down, you have your proof. If not… we keep looking for a cause."
"Right… But… how do we fix this?" Daniel asked, and they both turned back to the High Priestess.
Alana duly considered the question, "If they are truly bonded, there is no 'fixing' it. When a newly bonded couple are identified, the priest or priestess is released from service of the temple. The bonding is celebrated by all the people and the couple is given the temperance to live together. Together the bonded couple is stronger, smarter, more creative, and faster. Apart, they are weaker, slower, and easy to anger. Frustration is their driving emotion when they are apart."
Alana turned a benevolent smile on them both, "The bonding takes place on a molecular level. The naquadah changes their pheromones. I doubt it is possible to undo the changes, even if the couple wanted it."
"I'll definitely agree with the 'easy to anger' part in Sam's case," Jacob seconded.
"Oh yeah," Daniel answered and then sighed, "I'll get Sam to send me back to the SGC. Until then, you keep an eye on her… and let Teal'c know what's going on."
"I will, Daniel. Thanks for bull-dogging this," Jacob said solemnly.
"You're welcome, Jacob. I couldn't do anything less for my friends," Daniel replied.
"No, I guess not," Jacob gave Daniel and the High Priestess a polite nod and left.
Daniel gave the High Priestess all the correct polite noises as he left to swipe one of Sam's dirty T-shirts. With luck, he would have a reasonable excuse to go back to the SGC in place by this evening's check-in.
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