"If I did not know better," Bra'tac said, staring at the contents of the box, "I would say that you held a Goa'uld symbiot."

"Indeed," Teal'c echoed.

Stevenson glanced at Bra'tac and they exchanged a long look.

"You make speak freely," he said, giving his blessing. "I trust no other more tha, Teal'c."

Stevenson nodded. "Symbiot yes, but it is not Goa'uld. It is a creation of my own…and it is completely technological."

Bra'tac looked at the moving symbiot and raised his eyebrows. "It does not live?"

"No," Stevenson explained. "I recently had the opportunity to study Tok'ra physiology in great detail. From the data I gathered I was able to create this replacement for the Goa'uld symbiots…and your more recent Tretonin."

"For what purpose have you done this?" Teal'c asked.

"Since they left the Goa'uld," Stevenson said, "the Jaffa have lost their purpose. I intend to give them a new one, as we had discussed before," he said, nodding towards Bra'tac. "What I now propose is to offer all Jaffa a choice…retain your newfound democracy within the Jaffa Nation, or enter into a new covenant and serve the Alterra as guardians of this galaxy, with this symbiot as reward for faithful service."

Bra'tac extended his hand toward the symbiot and Stevenson gave it to him for inspection. It was not slimy, yet slippery. Completely white save for a small red ring around the center. It had no eyes, fins, or any surface features. It was completely sealed to the outside environment and moved slightly within his hand.

"And you say this will function the same as a regular symbiot?" he asked.

"Better, my friend. It will give the Jaffa the same immunity to disease, yet it will extend their lifespan considerably. It grows as a Goa'uld symbiot would. What you now hold in your hand is the mature version, but unlike the original, this symbiot can still be used when mature. All you will ever need is one…you will never have to seek a replacement unless the symbiot should become damaged."

"If it is technology as you say," Teal'c asked, looking none too happy, "then how can it grow?"

"The same way the Goa'uld did," Stevenson answered. "It siphons nutrients from the Jaffa that carries it and uses them to fuel and add to itself."

Bra'tac shook his head in wonder. "I have never seen the like. This will go far towards our efforts to unify the Jaffa."

Teal'c looked at him as if he had spoken the words of treason, but was preempted from speaking by Stevenson's revealing words.

"That is not the end of it, Bra'tac. I wish to reestablish some of the old ways."

"Yes?" Bra'tac asked, thoughtful.

"I wish to reestablish the System Lords and their command hierarchy."

Both Teal'c and Bra'tac were silent.

"You would have us serve the Goa'uld again?" Teal'c finally said.

Stevenson shook his head. "No. The System Lords would be Alterra, and the symbiots would be to free the Jaffa from both the Goa'uld and the creators of the drug that now sustains you…permanently."

"You speak of the Tauri?" Teal'c said, again with misgivings. "You are one of them…why do you imply that they now hold us in bondage?"

"Until the Jaffa are able to produce the drug themselves, that is exactly the position you are in," Stevenson said, locking eyes with Teal'c. "Do the Jaffa now have the ability to recreate the drug?"

When Teal'c was silent Bra'tac spoke. "No, we do not. We rely entirely on the Tauri and the Tok'ra for its production."

"As I thought," Stevenson continued. "Speak, Teal'c. I sense I have angered you."

"As it should be for all Jaffa," he said, glancing at Bra'tac. "While many revere the Ancients, and have for generations, we will not give up our hard fought for freedom so lightly. And despite the changes made to both of you, you are still Human," he turned to Bra'tac, "and you are still Jaffa. How can you even consider this?"

"I have said nothing, Teal'c."

"You need not. I see the truth in your eyes," Teal'c said as if Bra'tac had just betrayed him. "You favor his proposal…and would return the Jaffa into bondage once again."

"No," Stevenson said emphatically. "What I am offering is a choice to every Jaffa, to choose of his or her own accord. Your service will not be compelled…and I am Alterra, not Human…not anymore."

"Say what you will," Teal'c said defiantly. "This will only serve to undermine the few gains that the Jaffa nation has been able to make," he turned to look at Bra'tac. "You will fracture us beyond mending, and our goal of a unified, free Jaffa nation will be ground unto dust before it has a chance to see the light of day. I will take no part in this, and advise others to do the same," he said, walking them both off in a rush, ostensibly to head back to the gate and warn others of what they were planning.

Stevenson watched him go, wondering if he should blank his memory before he did. "What are your thoughts, Bra'tac?" he asked in Ancient.

"Teal'c is right about one thing," he said, walking up and standing beside him as they watched Teal'c go. "Reestablishing the System Lords will be the end of the Jaffa Nation, one way or another. It could also invite a civil war."

"What would you advise then? The status quo will not do."

"No, it will not," Bra'tac agreed. "Allow me to mediate on this. I believe your thinking is along the right lines, but without careful implementation it could be disastrous."

"Very well," Stevenson said, "I leave it in your hands. Just so you know, I intended to make you the first System Lord."

Bra'tac glanced at him. "And not yourself?"

"No. I have 23 galaxies to watch over. The System Lords will safeguard Avalona and only Avalona. I cannot devote enough time to such an endeavor."

Bra'tac stared at the forest as he lost himself in thought. "Who else did you intend for the rank of System Lord?"

"No one at this time," he said reluctantly. "There are only two of us…soon to be three. But Teyla's interest will not be in this galaxy."

"But her own," Bra'tac finished. Stevenson had informed him of her transformation several weeks ago. "On another note," he said, changing topics slightly. "I have found a suitable location for our shipyard…and now that I think of it, the location will serve us in many ways."

Stevenson raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Bra'tac smiled. "To effectively answer that question, you would have to know the history of the Jaffa. To put it into simpler terms, let me just say that the world that I speak of holds a significant place in the hearts of all Jaffa. It is the world where we received our first symbiots from the Goa'uld, and it would be a fitting place to receive this," he said, holding the synthetic symbiot in his hand, "and announce a new covenant between the Jaffa and the Alterra."

"What world is it?" Stevenson asked.

"I speak of the ruins of Dakara, my friend."

Stevenson smiled, seeing another irony. "Very good," he said, glancing at Bra'tac's forehead. "Though before we establish a new covenant, we must put an end to the old."

"Of what do you speak?"

Stevenson tapped the gold symbol of Apophis upon his forehead.

"This is not what I signed up for!" Woolsey heard someone say from around the corner. Two seconds later McKay walked out of the doorway into the hall, nearly running him over.

"Excuse me," Woolsey offered, but McKay just kept going. Woolsey straightened his tie and walked in the door McKay had just exited. He found General Carter sitting at a table in front of a viewport with her head in her hands.

"Am I intruding?" he asked her.

Carter looked up. "No…not at all."

Woolsey took a seat opposite her. "Is there some problem with Dr. McKay?"

Carter sighed. "Nothing out of the ordinary. We have one of these spats every couple weeks. I think it helps him blow off steam."

"If you don't mind my saying so, you look a little worse for ware because of it."

Carter smiled humorously. "Burden of command and all. Is there something you wanted?"

Woolsey cleared his throat. "I've been reluctant to broach this subject with you up until now because I didn't want to…how shall I say it? Rock the boat. But I have to ask…we've already exceeded our 12-month deployment window. Why haven't you ordered us back to Earth?"

Carter sighed. "I've just had a similar conversation with McKay. We've got our first real lead, and the weapons system is almost finished. If we manage to get the gate address from the planet in question, we can query the gate system for its spatial coordinates and find out where they're going. We're close to finding them, and I don't want to call it quits just yet."

"Do your deployment orders give you that latitude?" Woolsey asked.

Carter nodded. "They do. I can call off the op after 12 months, I don't technically have to…though I'm going to need to contact Earth before too long so they don't start to worry about us."

"On behalf of the I.O.A., I can say that we approve of your aim to accomplish this mission, and I'm not arguing against it, but I thought you'd want to pull the plug as soon as you were able, given your friendship with Sheppard."

Carter lightly glared at him. "I'm a professional, Woolsey. I follow my orders even if I don't agree with them. But above and beyond that, I know how valuable Atlantis is to Earth. We need the technology and data that is within the city. The Asgard gave us a lot, but most of it can't hold a candle to the knowledge of the Ancients. I'm not willing to throw all that away because of my relationship with Sheppard."

Woolsey raised an eyebrow. "Relationship…as in?"

"Friends," Carter said, forcefully.

"My apologies," Woolsey said quickly. "I didn't mean to infer anything…well, my point is…how comfortable are you going to be bringing him back to Earth for what will amount to nearly a life sentence in prison?"

Carter leaned back in her seat and thought for a moment before she spoke. "Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd pin a medal on his chest for what he did. Unfortunately it's not up to me. He's made his choice, and if it comes down to me making a choice between him and Earth…I choose Earth."

Woolsey nodded. "I think we're on solid ground then," he said, getting up to leave.

"But," Carter said, getting his attention back. "If Sheppard flees the city, I'm not going to hunt him down. My orders are to recover Atlantis, not Sheppard."

"Perhaps not," Woolsey said standing, "but the I.O.A. still wants him and Captain Stevenson returned to Earth custody. They have crimes to answer for."

Carter smiled ironically. "Not my problem."

"I see," Woolsey said dispassionately. "I'll make sure to note your voluntary extension of the mission in my report to the I.O.A. For that at least, they will be grateful. And frankly, if we are able to recover Atlantis and Stevenson, I don't think the I.O.A. will care that much about Sheppard. That's off the record, by the way."

Carter smiled and nodded. "I understand."