AN: Well, I must say that I feel a little lonely in here with no reviews. I know, nothing is more boring than an author begging for reviews, but I mean, this story has gotten 133 hits and only two reviews. What's up with that, people? I'm not feeling the love here.
sigh
Well, I'm going to update anyway. I would be very happy if you readers out there would return the favor and leave a review. Happy reading, mis amigos.
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She hurtled through the air in a dive that took her a safe distance from the engines of the transport ship. The city was approaching quickly, but she wasn't worried. As an altitude of about one thousand meters, she opened her wings with an audible snap that sent her swooping higher.
Lights lit the city below her, causing it to twinkle with orange and gold sparks as she soared over it. Daria inhaled deeply, feeling the cool night air rush through her feathers. Though a gryphon's sense of smell was poor, even she could pick up the scents of soot, salt air, and the refuse left behind by centuries of human inhabitation. She coughed as one particularly foul gust of air struck her full in the face.
Maybe I will be needing those tablets Nibor gave me.
Above her the ship flew away. It performed a particularly complex series of rolling maneuvers- Vader's signature, of sorts- before pulling up and leaving the atmosphere. She grinned at the sight before angling for the city below.
The human city was a large one, larger than most she'd seen. Certainly, there were other human races that had overthrown their Goa'uld overlords and advanced- the egotistical Kelownans came to mind, but this 'London' had a unique quality about it.
Daria flew lower, using her sharp eyes to pick out details below. In most areas, the streets were fairly well-lit by lamps, but the amount of light could vary dramatically from street to street. The lights illuminated a few passers-by, as well as covered carriages of some kind, pulled by large quadruped mammals that she recognized from her studies and travels as horses. The Tau'ka made a mental note to stay well away from those animals while in gryphon-shape. While Terran gryphons were more or less extinct, there were some on other worlds, and they were notorious for their hatred of –and appetite for- horses. Horses the galaxy over seemed to know this, and would panic if they scented gryphon. She went for a little more altitude, not wanting to raise a fuss that might get her noticed.
Now, where was that rendezvous point? she wondered. She hovered, pulling up a mental map of the area she'd done her best to memorize. It was supposed to be a big tower of some kind…
About half a kilometer off, the sound of a big bell interrupted her train of thought. Several big bells, actually. She looked for the source of the sound, and spotted an ornate tower with an enormous glowing clock face at the top.
…with a clock. Look at that. I think I found it. Daria thought for a moment, trying to remember what the tower was called. She thought it was along the lines of 'Large Bob' or something. Ah, whatever. Doesn't matter right now anyway. She soared in a long, graceful turn and headed towards the tower. A minute or two of swift flight brought her to the building, and close inspection revealed a gap between the clock and the housing, with a ledge that made her think it was used for maintenance purposes. Daria landed on the edge, slightly awkward in the relatively narrow space, but managed to catch her balance and work her way inside.
The space within was dimly lit, the only source of light being whatever it was that lit the clock. She stepped forward, ears pricked for any sound, alert for any movement.
A rustling sound caught her attention. She swiveled her head to look at its source- a short, ferrety-looking man with light brown hair and topaz eyes that glittered in the dim light. Daria judged him to be about a century and a half in age, which was just pushing middle age by Tau'ka standards. He was dressed in a plain black suit and jacket.
The man stood. "Special Agent Noclaf, I presume?" he said. His voice was in the middle range, mellow, and his Goa'uld was marked with a clipped accent.
Daria nodded and began to remove the bags hanging from her harness. Freed of the luggage, she shifted back to her own form. Her contact looked her over.
"Strange. I'd have thought that the Council would have sent someone a little older."
"And I thought they would have paired me up with someone a little more subtle in their derision. Seems we were both surprised."
He raised an eyebrow. "You are pert, Agent Noclaf. You may find that that tendency will get you in trouble here. As it is, I am Shadow Agent Terref Nielssan."
Daria nodded. The Shadow Agents were a branch of the Tau'ka espionage forces, ones that specialized in remaining in deep cover for years at a time. They were permanently assigned to a world, living there, becoming experts on the local situations, passing on information to the Council, and acting as guides for the short-term agents that came to their planets for missions. The Shadow Agents couldn't act in situations like the one Daria was going to be facing- they were too valuable and too difficult to put in place to let them risk blowing cover. A Special Agent like Daria would work with a Shadow Agent to help perfect their own cover and to learn the lay of the land. While Daria hadn't heard of Terref specifically, she knew that much of the information she had studied on the way here would have come from him or one of the handful of other Shadow Agents stationed on Earth.
Terref studied her, as if measuring her against an unseen standard. At last he said, "It is very unusual for the Council to allow the shapeshifters into the Intelligence field. Why did they send you?"
"Because when it comes to the Hawks, I'm the best," Daria said bluntly. "We've tried getting a half a dozen other agents in to eliminate them. They died."
"And you?"
"Clearly, I am not dead."
"Are you certain that the Hawks weren't holding back with you because of your, ah, connection with them?"
She glared at the older agent. "I'm certain. They want to kill me as much as I want to see them stopped in one form or another."
"I see." Terref shrugged. "Well, as much as I dislike the idea of sending a pure-blood into something like this, here you are, and we'll be working together for the next few months. For this assignment, you will be playing the role of my niece, recently come to London from Egypt."
Daria nodded. "I read the file. You own a newspaper, do you not?"
"I do indeed." A hint of a proud smile touched his face. "Being able to act as if you were gathering material for the paper should allow you to gather information without being remarked upon. Now, you will stay with me for a week or so until we can perfect your disguise, then I will set you up in a small household of your own. I will coordinate with you, providing background information that you may need." The older agent pulled out a small pocket watch, glanced at it, and nodded to Daria. "We should be going."
He picked up two of the bags she'd brought with her, indicating that she should get the other and precede him down the narrow staircase that led to the lower floors. "As a point of curiosity, what are your powers?"
"Telekinetic, sixth rank; Communications-Telepath, third rank; and Shapeshifter, second rank," she rattled off automatically. The rankings marked her as a very strong shapeshifter, but limited in her forms; as a Telekinetic able to move objects about the size of a small dog; and as being able to communicate with thought-speech over a distance of nearly three kilometers. Com-Pathy and 'Kinesis were about as common as dirt among the Tau'ka, but shapeshifting was extremely rare. It was only found in purebloods, and only in few of those. There were perhaps fifty shapeshifters alive that she could think of.
"Second rank?" Terref commented. "That is strange- I was under the impression that gryphon, having six limbs and being both mammal and bird, was one of the more difficult shapes to take on."
"I would be first rank," she admitted as she carefully maneuvered both herself and her gear down the narrow steps. "But I can't become anything aquatic."
"Oh," he said in realization. "You are a strong Fire personality."
The Tau'ka had a tradition of assigning personality traits to the different elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Fire and Water were antagonistic to one another, as were Air and Earth, although they were not as strongly opposed to each other as their co-Elements. Personalities that were strong in one element tended to have difficulty with things associated with their opposite- hence, a shapeshifter with a Fire personality would be unlikely to be able to turn into a fish.
Daria shook her head. "I'm more Air than anything else. I'm just…" She gritted her teeth. "I'm afraid of water, alright? If it's not the kind I'm about to drink, or hot and deep enough to immerse myself to the neck in, I can't stand it. I can't swim and I despise rain."
"I see. Then the gryphon shape is easy for you."
"It's my shape of inclination."
They were silent for a moment as they reached the bottom floor of the tower.
"How are you with fog?" Terref asked suddenly. "London gets a great deal of it."
She shrugged. "Fog I can deal with, and snow, too. It's liquid water and I that don't get along. What are your powers, anyway?"
He smiled modestly. "Com-Path fourth rank; Illusionist second rank, and Mind Alterer first rank."
Daria whistled appreciatively. Illusionists could project images into the minds of other people, and a second-ranker like Terref could even put a permanent illusion on other objects. Mind Altering involved being able to wipe memories from targets, and someone of first rank would be able to craft entirely new, detailed memories, practically from scratch, and implant them in a target's mind without the target being any the wiser. Both talents would be extremely useful for a Shadow Agent. "Well, I'm impressed."
Terref led the way out into the cobble-stoned street. They walked for a block or so before he signaled for one of the small horse-pulled carriages to pull over for them.
A 'hansom', it is called, Terref told her mind-to-mind. A common form of transportation in these parts.
The male Tau'ka and the driver of the hansom piled Daria's packs into the vehicle, then Terref indicated that she should climb in first and get settled. She did so, slightly awkward in the heavy skirts that were the primary feature of her disguise. Inside the two-passenger vehicle, Daria sat, folding her hands in her lap and trying not to sneeze at the smell of the dusty horsehair upholstery. Terref gave the driver an address and climbed in next to her.
I am known as Terrence Nelson here, Terref said. As you are playing my niece, you will refer to me as 'Uncle' or 'Uncle Terrence'.
Daria nodded. They were silent for the duration of the trip, not even speaking telepathically. She stared out the window, gazing at the first wisps of rising fog as the hansom rattled along the cobbled streets.
At last the hansom pulled up in front of a medium-sized townhouse. " 'Ere we are, Guv'nah," the driver said. He had a thick accent that Daria was hard-pressed to make sense of. The man removed Daria's luggage from the back of the hansom, passed it down to Terref, then tipped his hat as the older agent handed him a few coins. " 'Ave a good evenin', Guv'nah, Miss." He climbed back up to his driver's seat and slapped the reins against his horse's back. The little vehicle clattered off down the street and vanished around the corner, leaving Terref and Daria standing on the walk.
"Very well then," Terref said in English, back in his role as Terrence Nelson. "Let's get you settled, my dear."
Yay. Daria is finally on Earth, so the story can start moving forward. Pleasepleaseplease review! I know you're out there! The little hit count on my Stats page says so!