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There were a number of questionable things in Thmei's suite, not all of them of a suspicious nature. Jack found a bottle of what he presumed to be the same wine she'd had served the night before and took a small sample of it, not wanting to risk taking the whole bottle. He found another potion hidden in the small cabinet next to her bed, five glass vials of it, and slipped one into his pocket for Sam and Jacob to study, hoping it wouldn't be missed.
He was vaguely disappointed to find no Goa'uld communication devices in either of their rooms and was just about to make his way out of Thmei's suite when he heard the door to it open.
Muttering a curse under his breath, he made his way to the large window and the balcony beyond, hoping the curtain would conceal his presence until he found a way to make a safe escape.
"My Lady," the low voice of a Jaffa reached him as the door to the bed chambers opened to admit the Goa'uld and her companion. "Your orders have been followed out."
"Perfect," Thmei purred, satisfaction colouring her tone. "The slave girl, she knows what to say and do?"
"She does, my lady. She was extremely receptive once the drug was administered. She will tell Heset that the Jaffa has decided to defect to Ament's ranks and will report back on what Heset's reaction is. She has also received instruction to ensure the one known as Borral does not find out of her allegiance to you, my Lady."
"Excellent. You will be rewarded richly for your loyalty, Faron," Thmei murmured. Jack's expression contorted behind the curtain as he heard the unmistakable sound of the Goa'uld kissing her Jaffa. "Now," Thmei said after a long moment. "We need you to locate the one known as To'ran and the one known as Jo'han. We wish to know the location of the worlds that were formally under the control of the Goddess Nirrti. One of them must know."
"My lady, if I may," the Jaffa, Faron, began.
"Of course. Speak freely."
"From my observations, the one known as Jo'han is more likely to know Ament's secrets. I do not believe To'ran is as close to Ament as he led us to believe."
Clever Jaffa, Jack thought grimly, hands clenching into fists.
"Indeed, but To'ran could still provide useful. The one known as Jo'han has proven elusive," Thmei added, frustration edging into her voice. "You could not find him last evening?"
"He spent the night with Ament," Faron answered. "I had one of my men keep watch. To'ran returned to the servant quarters after the evening meal but Jo'han remained with his Goddess."
"They are lovers, then. We had suspected as much. Jo'han will know her secrets but will be harder to gain access to. Still, it would be worthwhile should we be able to claim him as our own. He would be most… useful."
"I will do what I can, my lady," Faron vowed.
Jack flinched at the thought of ever being 'claimed' by Thmei and resolved to keep his distance from her and her Jaffa. In the meantime, he needed to find a way out of her suite without being noticed…
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"Is there a reason you're climbing through my daughter's bedroom window?" Jacob asked, his voice tinged with amusement though his expression was serious as Jack had ever seen it.
"Just give me a hand, will you, Dad?" Jack muttered, perspiration glistening at his temples and on her forearms. He'd had to climb over the balcony of Thmei's rooms when it became apparent the Goa'uld was going to reward her Jaffa right there and then, and it'd taken almost all his strength to keep a hold on the stone walls as he'd navigated his way from Thmei's suite to Sam's, conscious of the considerable drop down if he lost his footing or grip.
Jacob was still smirking as he went to help Jack climb through the window, an eyebrow arched as the Colonel fell the rest of the way in, flexing his fingers to try and get the feeling back in them. "You do know there is a door, right? It would be easier than the window."
"Sir?" Sam emerged from the bathroom to see him on the floor, confusion warring with concern. "What…? Are you okay?"
"Oh, he's fine, Sammie. Just decided to scale the building, apparently." Jacob's smirk faded a little – just a little – at the flicker of worry on his daughter's face as it took Jack a moment longer to catch his breath. He reached down and offered Jack a hand, using Selmac's strength to pull the other man to his feet. "Did you find anything?"
Jack nodded, reaching into his pocket. "Couple of things. Heset's clear," he added, handing the two vials to Jacob. "Thmei's definitely up to something. She's got another one of Heset's attendants under her thrall now, and I think she's had one of the Jaffa killed. Don't know where or how, but her First Prime, Faron, was getting rewarded for it when I made a hasty exit."
"A hasty exit from where?" Sam asked, glancing between him and her father as Jacob opened one of the vials to cautiously sniff its contents.
"Her bed chambers." Jack's expression said everything he didn't say aloud. "Careful, Jake. Whatever's in those vials is what she used on Borral, and on the other one. Her game plan is to drug 'em and find out Heset's secrets. She's planning to do the same thing to To'ran and me, too."
"You?" Jacob looked up, startled.
"They've realised To'ran isn't as close to his so-called Goddess as he had them believe," Jack said with a grimace. "She's got her Jaffa looking out for an opportunity."
"We'll have to make sure they don't get one," Jacob muttered, grimacing as he put the top back on one vial and started to undo the other. "If Selmac is right, this first one is the same as what was in the wine yesterday."
"The truth serum," Sam murmured, shifting a little uncomfortably. She glanced at Jack and felt her face flush at the small grin on his face. Thankfully her father was preoccupied with the second serum, his brow furrowed as he conferred internally with Selmac. "What about the other one? Dad?"
Jacob's gaze was distant, his jaw slack. Since he was nearest, Jack gave him a small shove. "Hello? Dad?"
"Sorry." Jacob blinked sluggishly, his expression taking time to clear. "That's potent. It took Selmac a moment to counter its effects."
"Does Selmac know what it is?" Sam asked, eyeing the vial warily as her father hurried to recap it.
His eyes glowed as Selmac took over. "I believe it is tonic long thought lost to the Goa'uld. It was synthesised by the Queens, used in the act of securing the strongest of the species whom they wished to use as hosts to procure the necessary DNA that would guarantee the compatibility of the symbiote."
"Hathor," Jack muttered, staring at the vial as though it might come alive and bite him. "That sounds like the stuff she used."
"It is," Selmac confirmed gravely. "The Goa'uld Queens have the ability to ingest it without experiencing any harm."
"It was in her breath," Sam murmured, eyes narrowing in thought. "But you said Queens used it, Queens as in those who can produce symbiotes? I didn't think there were many of them left."
Jacob nodded, back in control. "There aren't, and those who do still live are fiercely protected. Thmei isn't one of them. She, like the other Goa'uld who identify as female, calls herself a queen but she isn't one in the true sense of the word."
"How sure are we about that?" Jack asked warily. "She's definitely not gonna start, you know, popping out the little snake babies, is she?"
"We're sure, Jack," Jacob assured him, his tone amused. "But somehow she's got hold of this formula, and that could make her a useful ally for any of the System Lords. Selmac believes, and I agree, that she may be using this summit as a way to judge whether Heset still has a connection with Ba'al that she can exploit. Can you imagine what he would do with this kind of control?"
Jack grimaced. "I'd rather not." He looked between Jacob and Sam. "So the plan is to make sure she doesn't get to do that, right?"
"We had hoped to simply gather information during this summit," Selmac answered, the expression on Jacob's face grave. "However, we cannot allow Thmei to make contact with the more powerful System Lords. We must therefore ensure that she is unable to do so."
"Kill her, you mean," Sam mused, shoulders squaring at the different direction their mission had taken. "What about Heset?"
"If it becomes necessary," Selmac agreed. "However, we would prefer not to. As we have discussed previously –"
"Yeah, yeah. We don't want to kill off all the minor Goa'uld and just leave one big power-hungry snake in charge of everything," Jack reeled off with a shrug. "We got it. So we get rid of Thmei, and head home. Sounds easy enough." There was a moment of silence and he realised both Sam and Jacob – and it was definitely Jacob now – staring at him. "What?"
"You and I have different definitions of the word easy, Jack," Jacob said, shaking his head. "Let's come up with a plan of action. The sooner we get this done, the better I'm sure we'll all feel."
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Choices, choices... Should Thmei get her claws into one of Sam's servants, or should Heset confront them over her missing Jaffa?