AN: Thanks to Llama Angel for the review and the clarification. And here is the next chapter.

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Daria scanned the main maintenance bay thoughtfully, looking for one individual in particular. She spotted him and clambered up onto the wing of the udajeet he was working on, peering over the side.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"Hmm? Ouch!" There was a thump as the man tried to sit up and banged his head on the underside of the wing. Daria shook her head.

"Forgot that you weren't wearing that helmet?"

A few irritated grumbles issued from below, before he managed to work his way out from below the fighter. "Seems like it. When did you get back in?"

"Last night. I've got a favor to ask of you, Vader."

Vader Skywalker, ex-Dark Lord of the Sith, made a face. "No one ever stops by to say 'hello' anymore," he said in a mournful tone. The half-mocking attempt was made more effective by his scarred, grim-looking face, a visible relic of his years on the Dark Side. Daria didn't pretend to know what that was all about- all she knew was that Sith were bad and it was best to stay clear of them on a general basis. Her friend, however, was a special case. After nearly twenty years of serving Emperor Palpatine, Vader's loyalty and devotion to the Dark Side were shattered when he discovered that his master had ordered his son killed. At that point, Daria had been thrown into the mix by what seemed to be a completely random twist of fate. Over the course of several months and battles against Palpatine and his lackeys, the two had formed a rather unique friendship that each now prized very highly.

Vader clambered to his feet and looked up at Daria, who was still perched on the wing of the udajeet starfighter. "What do you need?"

"Can I get a ride?"

He blinked, and frowned suspiciously. "Where?" he asked.

The Tau'ka shrugged off-handedly, pleased that her friend was playing along. "Earth," she said.

"The Council is sending you out again?" Vader ran the fingers of his gloved right hand through his cropped tawny hair. "Daria, you just got in! What could possibly need your attention so soon?"

"Glad to see I'm not the only one not happy about it." She swung down from the udajeet's curved wing, landing lightly on the servicing platform. The Council had always been something of a thorn in Vader's side, and they tended to overlook him because he was a full human. In fact, the only reason that they had allowed him to stay with the Tau'ka in the first place was the fact that he could easily overpower most- if not all- members of their race. That grudging half-acceptance had never sat well with him.

He sighed. "Why are they sending you out so soon?" he wanted to know.

Daria made a face. "Black Hawks."

"Ah." Those two words were all Vader needed to hear. He had dealt with the leaders of the militant faction before, and despised them on both professional and personal levels. The tall man nodded. "I can run you over as soon as I'm finished here. When do you leave?"

"Soon as I'm packed and drop in to see Nibor, I'll be ready," she told him.

Vader nodded again and went back to work on the udajeet.

OSCOSCOSCOSCOSC

By virtue of necessity, the Trauma Ward of the Verris base's infirmary was located very near the hangar bays, to facilitate the transfer of injured patients. Daria wasted no time in getting there.

The ward was mostly empty now. The cots and benches that lined the wall of the entrance room were unoccupied, the emergency equipment not in use. A single Tau'ka was on-duty, sitting at a table and idly bouncing a small ball against the wall. He looked up as Daria entered, and his intensely blue eyes lit up.

"Catch!"

He flung the ball at her, and her hand whipped out to snatch it from the air.

"Hello, Nibor."

Daria's cousin grinned broadly and held out his hand. She tossed the ball back to him. He caught it and set it down on his desk before standing. "How was your mission?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Got in, blew a few things up, got out. Didn't get enough sleep."

Nibor rolled his eyes. "Pretty much the same here, only with fewer explosions. What are you doing down here so early?"

Daria told him about her new assignment, and the older Tau'ka reacted much the same as Vader had.

"And there isn't anyone else who can take care of the Hawks?" he wanted to know, running his fingers though his short, fire-red hair. "Daria, you know I don't like this."

"You have a grudge against them in general," Daria pointed out. "I just have a bigger one. Besides, I'm the only one who can stop them. I've done it before."

Nibor gave her a penetrating look. "Your ability to do so isn't what concerns me, cousin. Your mental stability does. K'Wah and Koor are-"

"I know who they are," she said shortly. "And I am completely stable."

"Are you certain about that?"

Daria succumbed to the childish temptation and stuck her tongue out at her cousin. He quirked an eyebrow and limped around to the front of his desk. The irregularity of his stride was the result of an injury he had received in his one field assignment nearly six years ago.

"Well, since you insist on going out-"

"Rather, the Council does," Daria corrected.

Nibor made a condescending gesture. "Since the Council insists on having you go out, then it is my responsibility that you come home in one piece."

"I would appreciate doing that," she said wryly.

He handed her a small satchel. "One field kit," he announced. "Put together by yours truly. Contains everything an enterprising Tau'ka spy might need short of major surgical equipment. Bandages, painkillers, even antibiotics in case you have to save someone else's life."

Daria smiled at that last comment. The Tau'ka immune system was designed to be pretty much invulnerable to harmful pathogens and parasites, so they rarely used antibiotic drugs themselves.

"There's also enough water-purification tablets in there to last several years."

"I'm going to be in a civilized area, Nibor," she pointed out.

"Oh, yes, industrialized London," he replied sarcastically. "Conservation is very high in its inhabitants' lists of concerns. Why don't you do a check for toxins on the Thames while you're there?"

The agent rolled her eyes. Nibor had obviously been hacking into the reports from the Earth agents again. Either that or getting someone else to do it for him. "I rather doubt it's as bad as you say."

"I'm just saying that if you get yourself sick, don't come running to me, cousin."

"You know better than I do how resistant to toxins we are."

He folded his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Tau'ka may be resistant to drugs and poisons, but we are not immune. Take the tablets."

"Yes Nibor." Daria snapped the case shut. "Any other helpful hints? Besides 'don't drink the water'?"

"No laudanum. I'm not sure what the effects will be on a pure-blood." Nibor shrugged. "Hybrids seem to be alright with it, somewhat, but just to be safe-"

"Gotcha. No lauda-whatsit."

"Be careful."

"Yes Nibor."

"Don't drive your pilot crazy."

"Yes Nibor."

"Don't blow cover."

"Yes Nibor."

"No wild parties."

"Nibor!" Daria cried exasperatedly. Her cousin held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Someone's got to say it."

"I'm going now." Shaking her head ruefully, Daria left the infirmary, clutching the case.

Glossary:

Udajeet: "Death Glider"- a small, short-range Goa'uld starfighter with no hyperspace capability. Particularly suited for atmospheric flight.