Enemies

For a while, Harry did nothing. He was alone again, and he really didn't know what to do. He traveled back to Calaissis and spent time on the surface. He played with his 'magic' and pondered on ideas for what his next course of action should be. He wiled away a week that way.

He considered that he enemy of his enemy was his friend. Harry eventually decided that he needed some friends, enemies of the goa'uld. The problem was finding such people. Harry brainstormed ideas on how to contact anyone who was actively fighting the goa'uld. Sending out a signal would alert the goa'uld. Searching blindly would take too long. Ironically, the only people he knew to be actively fighting the goa'uld didn't want him fighting himself. As best Harry could tell, that left one source to find enemies of the goa'uld: the goa'uld themselves. His one dangerous option was to get access to a modern goa'uld computer terminal, with the hopes of stealing the information he wanted.

Now of course, he needed to find a poorly guarded computer terminal. He compiled a list of planets that were of minor strategic value (eight thousand years ago) and traveled to them one by one. His plan was much like the one that he had used at Thanos's planet; he jumped into the system, scanned the planet, and jumped away again, before going over the sensor data. The first three planets had no signs of active technology, and the next was heavily fortified. Harry most likely could have gotten some rather good information there, but he didn't fancy going up against a modern stronghold in his first mission against the goa'uld. Number five was exactly what he wanted though, a small outpost, probably belonging to a minor goa'uld. Harry jumped back to the planet, coming out behind one of the planet's moons. He edged the ship out far enough to get images from the planet's surface.

There was a ring platform near the stargate, but his sensors also detected one within the compound. That one was protected though; it would remotely activate only for certain other ring platforms. That meant that Harry would have to ring down outside. Fortunately though, there was no shield around the compound. He took note of all Jaffa placements on the outside. He got a close-up on one of the Jaffa's foreheads, but he didn't recognize the mark.

He made a plan, and then donned Isis' most ornate robe. Assuming his most arrogant posture, he ringed down to the planet.

"Jaffa," he spoke with a goa'uld's voice, and let his eyes flash. "What is the name of your god?"

The nearest Jaffa bowed his head. "We serve benevolent Harachte. I ask what business you have."

The god of the horizon; he had probably once been in the service of Ra, before O'Neill killed him. "And who does he serve?"

"That name is not said," said the Jaffa, his voice both firm and deferential.

"Very well, you may tell your master that I have a proposition for him. I will return here tomorrow at the same time, if he wishes to speak to me." Harry activated the rings, but before they could claim him, he dematerialized himself, shooting himself opposite the Jaffa, using the rings to hide his exit. He reappeared in the forest, and then made his way to a position where he could see the compound's entrance. Unlike when he had camped on Calaissis, this planet's terrain was rough and hazardous. Harry found himself going very slowly to avoid both detection and injury. Eventually, he angled himself so that he could shoot behind the Jaffa guarding the entrance. The need for line of sight was a hassle.

As quietly as he could, Harry stole into the compound. For a while he snuck around, before realizing that without any cover, it did him no good. Thinking quickly, he assumed an air that said he belonged there and knew exactly where he was going (he hoped that that was what it looked like). Before he reached the computer terminal he was looking for, he passed two Jaffa, who stared at him, but did not try to stop him. There were two guards in front of the computer access room that Harry was looking for.

"Jaffa Cree!" he said, and both snapped to attention. Harry shot both of them with his zat. He walked into the room, levitating them alongside him as he did. He locked the door behind him.

The computer was password encrypted, but Harry had expected that. Placing his hand on the terminal, he pushed his magic and his mind into the machine, bypassing the security. He inserted a crystal into the terminal, and began downloading all of the information that he could. He noticed a problem half way through: at least a quarter of the information was in a language Harry recognized, but couldn't translate. It was the language of the gate builders, those that had come before. Shrugging, he continued the download. Either he'd find a way to translate it, or he wouldn't.

A couple of minutes later the download was complete, and Harry walked out of the room And turned back the way he had come. A loud voice called out to him from behind.

"Halt!"

Harry stopped and put up his hands. Apparently his presence in the computer system had been detected. Closing his eyes Harry dematerialized, shot himself down the corridor, and jumped around the corner. In this way, he made his way through the compound to the entrance. Fixing his eyes on the field where the ring platform lay, Harry shot himself forward, only to find his way blocked by a shield not far from the entrance. Cursing, he shot himself away from the Jaffa guarding the door. With the brief amount of time left to him, Harry pushed his energy into the shield, hoping to disrupt it temporarily. It felt as though a blow had struck him in the head, he sat down abruptly. Shaking his head, he realized that he needed a different plan. He couldn't stay outside trying to bypass the shield.

Eyeing a ventilation grille, Harry peered through. He was in luck, there was a source of light at the end. He used magic to rend back the grilles on both ends, and then shot himself through. Back in the base, he decided to find the second ring platform. He would be able to ring up from within. As he shot himself along the corridors, Harry felt the effort required become greater every time. After a while, he was forced to start running. He found the ring platform heavily guarded. Through his hand device, Harry called his ship out from behind the moon. Using the last of his energy, Harry made two jumps into the room. He quickly punched in the proper command before diving onto the ring platform, and being whisked away. He had the ship jump to hyperdrive, and wearily made his way to the command room.

He plugged the crystal into the control panel, and began copying the data to his ship's computer. Twenty minutes later, he came out of hyperspace around Oberdad, waking out of a light doze. Stretching, he got out of the chair and grabbed the crystal. He went to the dining area and picked up a granola bar, before going to the ring room and ringing down to the planet. He dialed Earth, and left the crystal on the DHD before ringing back to his ship.

"SGC, this is Harry. I've left a crystal on the DHD. It's data from the computer of the goa'uld Harachte."

"This is Sergeant Harriman, is there anyone you wanted to talk to?"

"No," said Harry, "but if any of you know the language of the gate-builders, there is a section of the data that is written in it. I would appreciate the translation."

"I can't make any promises," said the Sergeant.

"Yeah," said Harry, not overly concerned. "Anyway, I'll come back some time."

He let the transmission end, but he didn't move his position. He decided that it was time to get some real sleep, and went to his room. As he drifted to sleep, he decided that he needed to figure out a more versatile mode of teleportation. Some other time, he decided.

!

Really, Harry pondered, there's been an appreciable change in the goa'uld dialect since Isis and Osiris had been captured. Fortunately, it was a surprisingly small one. It was a little awkward, but Harry had no difficulty in reading the files from Harachte's computer. After a couple days of going through the data, he had found that the goa'uld had many enemies, though most of them were other goa'uld. This included a surprising faction called the Tok'ra, who reportedly only took willing hosts. But Harry wasn't quite willing to deal with them yet. Other than them, there was of course the Asgard. Apparently, there was a treaty with them now. Their file included a picture of what was basically a Grey, which took Harry by surprise. Isis had never seen one before though the goa'uld had been aware of them several thousand years ago. There was also a small resistance of Jaffa, interestingly. From humans there was little resistance. Notably, there were those from Earth, which was protected by the Asgard. There were three other worlds that the goa'uld considered a threat, chief among them Tollana. Apparently, they were practically pacifists, which meant that they would hopefully not shoot on sight. Apparently the most approachable, Harry set a course for Tollana. It was clear across the galaxy, and would take over a day to travel to. He hesitated before engaging the hyperdrive, though. He still wasn't sure that he wanted to do this; all he really knew about these people was that they were enemies of the goa'uld. What if they took his ship, or tried to send him back to Earth? Or worse? He dithered over the decision, before starting up his engines. He had to start somewhere, so he'd have to take the chance.

As he traveled, Harry pondered the quandary of his teleportation problem. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for the ability to teleport; already it had come in very handy. But it was so limited. He had only been able to transport to a line of sight, he couldn't transport through shields, and he estimated a limit of about sixty miles, enough to get him out of a planet's atmosphere, a low orbit, but not to a moon. He recalled the incident in primary school, where he had appeared on the school roof. Of course, it made more sense now, but notably, there had been no line of sight. That being said, he couldn't remember at all how he had done it. He came up with a few ideas, most of which he binned. Like Sam had said, he shouldn't try something that could end up killing him. Accelerating his particles to near light speed, turning himself into energy, and copying himself, didn't seem like bright ideas.

Resolving to think more on it later, Harry made himself some macaroni and cheese, and set about filling the time of his voyage. He worked out, read, and spent more time going through the stolen data. Frustratingly, Harry could tell that a lot of really good data was hidden behind the dead language of the gate builders. He had to wonder who would choose the language to write their files in, as no goa'uld had even translated it in Isis's time.

Two minutes away from Tollana, Harry was alerted that the journey was near its end. He went to the command room and waited, going over in his head what he would say to the Tollans. The words, "don't shoot," came to mind. Dropping out of hyperspace, Harry was unprepared for what he saw though. There was a massive battle underway. A goa'uld mothership, three al'kesh, and two squadrons of death gliders were waging war against the supposedly mighty Tollans, and apparently winning. There were numerous gargantuan ships that seemed to be trying to flee the planet. Making a fast decision, Harry broadcast to the Tollan ships.

"Fleeing vessels, focus your fire on the death gliders and al'kesh. I will destroy the mothership." Or distract it at least.

Harry opened fire on the mothership, which was still taking fire from the surface. An al'kesh moved to intercept him, but it's shields buckled when it came between the two ships. As it was destroyed, Harry realized that it contained the first people he had ever killed himself (non-goa'uld people, anyway). He continued firing on the mothership, and started taking fire. His ship was small though, and dodged much of the mothership's volleys. A number of death gliders started firing at him, and Harry's ship started to shake with each blast, as there were now too many opponents to dodge and fire upon at the same time. His ship didn't have the swiveling turrets of the al'kesh, or the maneuverability of the death gliders.

The fleeing ships were easily handling death gliders, but the al'kesh were too powerful for them. Already, three of the vessels had been destroyed while he was fighting, and Harry could tell that many more already had been. Harry decided to extend his attention to the al'kesh, as he still dodged fire from the mother ship. He came into range of one al'kesh, and opened fire, destroying it quickly. As he did though, the other al'kesh was able to take several clean shots at him. His ship shook violently as they did. With a large blast, he lost his weapons and hyperdrive, as well as various other non-important systems. Knowing his ship wouldn't last much longer, he did the only thing he could.

Harry hailed the Tollan ships. "My ship will soon be destroyed, I hope to take out the mothership with me. I will attempt to board the remaining al'kesh." He ended the transmission. Working quickly, he flew his ship at the mothership and set his engines to explode on impact. He removed the ship's data crystal, and summoned the storage box that held the naquadria. Focusing on the al'kesh's position, Harry willed his crazy idea to work. Harry activated his personal shield as he dematerialized himself, and simultaneously opened a micro-window into hyperspace. He disappeared moments before his unnamed ship hit the mothership.

All those who witnessed the explosion would later agree that it was most impressive. The shields of the ancient goa'uld ship buckled less than a second before it's naquadria reactor exploded. The energy lashed against the mothership's shields for milliseconds before they too were pierced, and a lance of energy tore into the ship. The ship started drifting, stopped shooting, and for a moment, it was as though the ship had simply died. Soon though, fiery eruptions started spreading on the ship, before the entire ship exploded. The death gliders around it had no chance. Most of the larger ships were far enough away to survive the blast though.

Aboard the al'kesh, Harry found himself remarkably whole, and alone in the cargo area. He set down his naquadria and drew his zat. He made his way to the ship's bridge, where the Jaffa were entirely unexpecting. He shot two in the back, and took a zat blast to his shield from a third before he shot the man. A Jaffa ran into the room with a staff weapon, and Harry tore it from his arms with a gesture, before shooting him as well. No one else came in, and Harry hoped that that meant that he was now the only conscious person on board.

He assumed the controls and assessed the situation. The roughly twenty now stranded death gliders were fighting to their last, and continued to attack the fleeing vessels. Two had so far managed to leave their planet's atmosphere, and Harry could make out a further nine making their way out. He hailed them.

"Tollan vessels, I have taken control of the al'kesh."

He started firing on the death gliders, and with the Tollan vessels, now five in orbit, they were quickly destroyed.

!

In the SGC control room, a dejected group listened to what seemed to be the last words of Narim.

"It isn't good at all… the stargate destroyed…"

Another voice was heard in the background. It was familiar to Jack and Sam.

"Fleeing vessels, … fire on the death gliders and al'kesh. … destroy the mothership."

"Oh my God," said Sam. "That's Harry."

"What the hell is he doing there?" asked the General.

"He said that he wanted to strike back against the goa'uld," said Sam.

Narim's voice came back. "…ship…joined us … destroyed an al'kesh…"

For a while, there was nothing but static. Again, Harry's voice was heard.

"My ship … destroyed, … take out the mothership with me … board the remaining al'kesh."

"Not again," whispered Jack, thinking of his son Charlie, and how he had failed to bring Harry home.

Narim's voice came back. "… ships destroyed … mothership … no sign… al'kesh…"

They waited for further news with baited breath. Minutes passed by and static filled their ears. Finally they heard what they were hoping for, Harry's voice.

"Tollan vessels, I… the al'kesh."

There was a collective sigh of relief. Again there was silence, and this time there was no static; the transmission had been shut off.

The signal came back, this time clear of the distortions caused by weapons fire.

"Major Carter, members of the SGC, we are saved. As I understand it, it is a citizen of your world who has come to our rescue. Eleven of our ships have escaped, roughly- a third of our population. We must go now, our home is gone, and we must seek refuge before more ships arrive. I will contact you when we are settled. I wished to apologize, on the behalf of my people, for the treason of our government."

The transmission ended, and Sam decided right there to work on their subspace communications project. Next time, she wanted to be able to respond.

The General spoke up. "Did Harry Potter just destroy an advanced goa'uld mothership?"

"That's what it sounded like, sir," said Sam.

"I don't understand," said the General. "The Tollan weapons were useless against its shields."

"He said that his ship was about to be destroyed, it's possible that he set the explosion of the reactor to be as large as possible.

He shook his head. "Seven months ago, he was just a nine-year-old boy going to school. Why is he determined to fight a war?"

"It could be revenge," said Jack, "Isis and Osiris may be dead, but he's still furious with the goa'uld. It might be that this is all him trying to find a place in the galaxy. The galaxy is in a state of war, and he figures he has to be a part of it. Maybe he feels it's his responsibility because he has power. It's hard to say, I guess."

"This situation remains one of the most bizarre this program has had to deal with," said the General. He changed the subject. "Doctor Jackson, how are you doing with that translation?"

"It's slow work," said Daniel. "That is, it's not too much of a challenge, but there is a lot of data. As best as I can tell, the sections in ancient contain tactical and technological data. I'm still going through the first file, I'll forward it to Sam when it's finished."

"Very well," said the General.

"Sir," said Sam, "are we going to share the translation with Harry?"

"I haven't decided yet. We are stuck between treating him as a nine-year-old citizen, and an off-world ally."

"Either way, sir, we want him to trust us," said Sam. "I think that sharing the data would work towards that end."

"I've considered that, Major, but I have to wonder what he would do with the information."

"In light of his recent victory," said Teal'c, "we might expect it to be something equally good."

"We can only hope," said the General.

"We can only hope he survives again," said Jack, feeling at his nerves end.

!

Aboard the al'kesh, Harry disarmed the Jaffa and locked them inside one of the living quarters. He went back to the control room and hailed the fleet of Tollan ships, requesting a visual dialogue. A man's face appeared before him. The man bowed his head.

"My name is Narim, I currently speak for the Tollan People. On their behalf, I extend our deepest thanks; you have saved us from extinction."

"My name is Harry, and I come from a planet called Earth," by way of introduction.

"Harry, I would continue this conversation, but we all must flee; we can expect more goa'uld to arrive."

Harry' sensors alerted him as small explosions peppered the planet's surface.

"We are destroying all vestiges of our technology on our planet. It would not do for them to be discovered by others."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I came all this way to speak to your people, may I join you on your journey?"

"Of course, we can use any aid we can get at this moment."

The coordinates they were going to were forwarded to his ship. The Tollan ships began to jump into hyperspace, some of them being towed by others. Harry followed them. Their ships were faster than his al'kesh though; Harry would arrive the next day, a few hours behind them. The navigational computer didn't recognize the planet as having a stargate.

Harry delved into the ship's system, first linking his hand device to it. He searched for, found, and destroyed the anti-theft programming. The software was rather drastic; it would have set the ship to self-destruct if it didn't receive a subspace code every fourteen hours. Fortunately, there was no tracking device giving off his position. He searched through the ship's systems, finding it refreshing to search through something so advanced. Many of the inefficiencies of his old ship were solved in this ship. The shields and weapons obviously had had a recent advancement, because the information he had gathered on the Tollans said that they normally could have defeated goa'uld ships with ease. Harry would have spent hours exploring the new technology, but his growling stomach begged his attention.

He found the ship's stores, and discovered that Jaffa field rations were nearly inedible. He forced some down, and chased with some water. Deciding to take pity on his Jaffa prisoners, he stood at the end of their hall, opened their door, and levitated in some food and water for them. He was undecided to whether he wanted to speak to any of them. Perhaps he'd give them to the Tollans; let them take care of the prisoners. Harry went to the cargo area and retrieved his naquadria. He wanted to start on a new naquadria drive for his new ship, and had formed a core by the time he reached the coordinates he was given.

The eleven ships had already landed on the planets surface below, and Harry's sensors showed that work was underway. Structures were being put up, small craft were flying around the surface, satellites had been placed in orbit, and Harry could even detect a few weapons platforms dispersed around the planet. He hailed the ship he had communicated with earlier, and was answered by a young man.

"My name is Harry, I was given the coordinates to come here. I was hoping to speak to Narim, please."

"Sir," the man replied, and Harry raised his eyebrows at the salutation, "I will patch you through."

The man's image disappeared, and moments later Narim's replaced it.

"Greetings again, Captain," the man said. "What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping that we could speak together about our common enemy."

"Soon, we will be able to speak. Currently though, there is much confusion, and I seem to be in the middle of everything. In the mean time, have you any injuries, or other problems that need to be dealt with?"

"I'm fine," said Harry. "I do have a few Jaffa prisoners though. I was hoping that you might have some idea of what I could do with them."

"If you wish, I could arrange to have them taken into our custody," said Narim. "No harm will come to them from us."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

"I will have someone contact you to make arrangements. In the meantime, you may land at these coordinates."

Their conversation ended, Harry set down in a large grassy field that he was directed to, miles away from any of the developing areas. A few minutes later, a large hovercraft came zooming towards his position; it hailed him.

"Captain, sir, I am Second Rank Orrens, I was informed that you had prisoners that you needed to have transported."

"That's right. I have no restraints, so I'll deliver them unconscious."

"Very well, captain."

"Um, my name is Harry Potter, by the way."

The man nodded. "Captain Potter, then. I've landed just next to you."

Harry chose not to argue the point. "I'll see you shortly then."

He went to the Jaffa's room and opened the door, before shooting each Jaffa in turn with his zat. He levitated them behind him, and made his way to the ring platform. The man he had spoken to was there with two others. None of them remarked on the levitation, past looking curious. The other two men went past him and began scanning and securing the prisoners. Orrens extended his hand.

"Your people shake hands?" he asked.

"That's right," said Harry, shaking the man's large hand. "You've met people from Earth?"

"Oh, not personally. But officers are taught the basic customs of our allies," he said. Harry thought that the man's voice had changed when he referred to Earth as an ally; a hint of guilt. He hoped that the Tollan's relationship with Earth wouldn't get in the way of things. "Captain, I've been directed to request that you ascent to a scan. Your use of goa'uld technology is worrisome to our leaders."

"You may scan me," said Harry. "I used to be a host to a goa'uld." The man had already pulled out a scanner.

The officer smiled as he scanned him. "That would explain things. It caused some confusion when you broadcast your face to us, and your youth was clear." He slipped the scanner back into a belt pouch. The two other men had all ready loaded the prisoners into the transport and remained with them. "I was also directed to ask if you have any needs that we can meet, seeing as you have just acquired this ship."

"Well I don't know what you can spare. I'm going to want to refit this ship, and that will require some materials that I don't have, mostly trinium, but I also need food and clothes. I'm afraid that all I have are Jaffa rations and what I'm wearing now."

"I see. I'll pass that on. Do you know yet what exactly you need for your ship?" the officer asked.

"No, I still need to work that out, said Harry. "I'm used to working with much older technology."

The officer nodded. "Just forward what you need when you can. We'll send you some food and clothes soon, but I'm afraid that we'll have to put off any formal meetings for a while. It will take us a couple of days to settle in."

"That's okay, I can wait. I'll be happy with just some decent food to eat, planning the refit should keep me occupied."

"In that case, Captain, I'll be on my way. Good day.

"Good day."

The officer boarded his craft and zoomed away. Half an hour later, another craft came with his food and clothes. There was a lot of fresh produce, and not one bit of meat. The comfortable clothes ranged from formal, to rugged, to casual, and to mechanics garb. Obviously, the scanner had reported more than whether or not he was a goa'uld, because everything fit perfectly. Harry began work, mapping out power conduits, and designing a new reactor. He could have used the one currently in place, but with such a big ship, he figured that he should maximize the output of the naquadria. The work was far more challenging this time, because some of the technology rather was beyond him at the moment. He was only able to manage because he could put himself inside the systems. He forwarded the list of what he would need to the Tollans, and spent the next day exploring the systems. Grounded as he was, he couldn't run them, and manipulate them, but he was able to tweak them in some ways where he felt they could do things more efficiently.

That evening, he got his materials and more. The officer who delivered everything explained that they had taken the liberty of putting his reactor together, though they of course didn't know what would be powering it. He was also extended an invitation to a formal meeting the next morning with their new leader, who happened to be Narim. He now had the title of High Chancellor.

Harry's nights were once more filled with nightmares. He dreamed of fire, and screams he had never heard. Both mornings though, he woke up, and life went on. It was as though he led two lives: dark nights, and empty days.

Harry put off putting in the new reactor for the later, he'd need help with it anyway, if he didn't want to be powerless for an extended period of time. The next morning, a transport arrived to pick him up. Harry had dressed in the formal clothes he had been given. The ride to the nearest city was almost silent, and the young man driving the vehicle seemed almost afraid of him. Part way into the city, they stopped, and Harry was escorted to a transport pad, which took him half way across the world. Harry found himself outside a large building. He marveled at the speed with which the Tollans had started developing their new world.

As he entered the building, he felt an energy field deactivate the offensive functions of his hand device. He looked up to his escort.

"I'm sorry, captain, but no one is allowed to visit this place armed."

"That's fine, but I would appreciate warning in the future," said Harry.

The man nodded and they were on their way. The building was mostly unfurnished, and Harry supposed it was a little much to expect them to have already hung paintings on the walls. Finally, he was taken to a large conference room where Narim was waiting.

"Captain Potter," the man greeted him. "My condolences for the many lives you were forced to take. Again, I give you the sincerest thanks of my people."

"Oh, I just responded to the situation I found myself in," said Harry. "I give you my thanks as well, for your hospitality, and for the reactor."

A voice reached them from the other side of the room. "Him you give technology to."

They looked over to see Jack O'Neill with Sam, Daniel Jackson, and a man Harry supposed was Teal'c from Sam's description.

Narim answered him. "Captain Potter designed the reactor, we merely fabricated it for him as a courtesy."

'Captain?' Sam mouthed at him, and Harry could only shrug.

Narim turned to Harry again. "It is my understanding that they wish to bring you back with them to Earth. However, as I've all ready explained to them, you are currently recognized as an independent ally, and, as such, immune to such actions while you are here."

"Oh, thanks," said Harry. "But the best that they could do anyway is try to talk me into it anyway."

Narim introduced him to a couple other members of the Tollan governing council. Before their meeting could begin, Harry spoke to Sam and the rest of her team. Sam surprised him by giving him a tight hug.

"Oh, Harry, we were so worried about you. When your ship exploded, we though you were dead for sure."

"They told you my ship exploded without telling you I survived?" asked Harry

"No, Narim was transmitting to us as the battle went on, we heard you over his speakers. It came as quite a shock to us. What were you doing there in the first place?"

Harry shrugged. "Hoping to make friends with an enemy of the goa'uld."

"Hey, we're enemies of the goa'uld," said Jack.

"Enemies that don't want to give me a bed time," responded Harry.

The Colonel brought them back on subject. "We were also wondering," he said, "how you managed to acquire that data."

"Er, just a little stealthy raid on a minor goa'uld," said Harry, nonchalantly.

"Jeez, kid, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?" asked Jack.

"Hey, I needed information, and I needed someone to call a friend, or at least an ally. The rest just worked out like it did. Now I have a new ship that will be even more formidable when I fix it up."

"Harry," said Sam, "we just don't want you to get hurt."

"I bet half the time you guys go through the gate, you see children who are in constant danger, and you have to live with it. I may be taking it to another level, but I can take care of myself. Now, we can talk more later, I think we should get started with this meeting."

They all took seats, and Narim spoke up.

"On behalf of the Tollan people, I extend greetings to everyone here. To Captain Potter, our thanks, and to the people of Earth, our most humble apologies. Before we get into the main purpose of this meeting, I was hoping to hear from you Captain Potter. What was your purpose in coming to Tollana in the first place?"

"I was coming to test the waters," said Harry, hoping the colloquialism would be understood. "I wanted to know if I could find a friend in your people, perhaps exchange technology."

Narim nodded. "A few days ago, you likely would have been politely rebuffed. However, in light of recent events, we must consider ourselves for the first time, at war with the goa'uld. We have only ever acted to defend ourselves, but I am afraid that that is no longer possible. We are relatively safe here; the goa'uld do not know the location of this world, but we can no longer rely on our technology to protect us, should we be discovered. As much as it pains us, we feel we must take an active role in ensuring the destruction of the goa'uld system lords."

"If you are hiding here," said Harry, "and you didn't know if I could be trusted, why did you lead me here?"

"I must admit, we had a small craft follow you, ready to block any transmissions."

Harry blinked. "I didn't detect anything."

Narim smiled. "You wouldn't have."

"Talking more about this active role of yours," said Jack, "does it include you changing your minds about sharing technology with us?"

"To a degree," Narim replied. "Many of our concerns about sharing technology are still valid, however, you are obviously not as protected by the Asgard treaty as one would hope." He motioned to an aide who brought him a wooden box. Narim pulled out a black device, which looked like nothing more than a black polished curved brick. "Affix this device to your stargate, and phase shifting technology will not be able to bypass your stargate. It pains me that you could need such a device, but I cannot allow our technology to be used against you in the future. We will also grant you the use of our weapon disarming technology, and a scanner. I'm afraid that none of these can be reverse engineered by you, nor will they work without proximity to your stargate."

"We understand," said Daniel, "you only want them to be used against attack from the stargate."

Narim nodded.

"What about attack from space?" asked Jack.

"Recognizing that the Asgard may not always be able to help you, we have decided to loan you two new weapons satellite platforms that we are currently developing. Tanith's plan to use our phase shifting technology against you has given us the unfortunate concept. We are creating drones that can be launched from these platforms, which will be able to pierce the shield of any attacking goa'uld ship."

"And if this unnamed goa'uld finds a way to counter this weapon as well?"

"That is always a possibility," answered Narim, "though for now, we can only hope that it would never happen."

"I might be able to help there," said Harry. "What manner of defense did you formerly employ?"

"We used ion cannons, the technology is likely beyond you."

"Probably," said Harry, "but did you use naquedah as a power base?"

"We did."

"I have a rare element, called naquadria, which can greatly enhance power output. It gave me a significant advantage in the battle over your former home world."

"You would share this technology with us?"

Harry grinned. "How reciprocal would this sharing be?"

!

"I've seen nine-year-olds bargain," said Jack, "but I've never seen one get an ion cannon out of it."

Harry was walking with SG-1 on the grassy field next to the Tollan capitol building.

"The Tollans recognize me as a powerful friend and ally against the goa'uld. They figured that if I'm going to be fighting in battles, perhaps by their side, then I should have every advantage. And talking about allies and advantages, I don't suppose you've managed to translate that data I sent you?"

Daniel spoke up. "I've made some headway, and before you ask, yes, I can give you the translation. I've only gotten through one file; it lists assets on the few planets that this goa'uld possesses. Whoever he is, he obviously isn't a system lord." He handed Harry a crystal, and Harry pocketed it.

Harry turned to Sam. "So, I figured that since we work so well together, I might let you help me. You've never worked on an al'kesh before, have you?"

She smiled at him. "And what might you want in return?"

"Another computer, and more food. Mac and cheese, and some meat. The Tollans gave me produce and bread. I'm a growing boy, I need more than that."

"We'll see what we can do," said Sam.

Harry shuffled his feet for a moment. "Sam, could I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure," she said, and turned to the rest of the group. "I'll see you later."

The two walked away.

"Sam," said Harry. "You blew up a sun once."

"Yeah," said Sam, a little taken by surprise.

"It blew up a fleet of motherships," Harry went on, "killing thousands."

Sam looked at him morosely. "You can still come home, Harry."

He just smiled at her, sadly. "I didn't like destroying that mothership, but I know that I did the right thing. But they still weren't all evil, were they?"

"No, they weren't," agreed Sam.

"But they all still had to die," Harry concluded, frustrated.

"Harry, this is what it means to be a soldier. Defending the innocent doesn't always mean fighting evil, sometimes it means fighting good people, who serve a bad cause. Narim gave his condolences for the people you killed, and he was right to. It takes a toll on us, to kill people, and it should. It's okay to empathize with the soldiers you fight, but you can't let it eat at you. You'll destroy yourself like that."

"What if I don't feel anything?"

"Nothing?"

"Well, I've dreamt about it. I dreamt that I was on the ha'tak, and there was fire everywhere. It was awful. But now, it's just- I'm numb. I don't know what to feel, what to think. I wish I felt bad about it, I really do, but I can't. What does that make me?"

Sam put a hand on his head, and Harry was relieved to see that she wasn't condemning him. "It means you're still in shock, Harry. It will go away, and you will feel about this. Let yourself mourn for what happened, and move on."

Harry hugged her then. It was the first embrace he had ever initiated. "Will you be here?" he asked. "To help with my ship, I mean."

"I'll be here, Harry."