Disclaimer: 'Stargate SG1' and all the characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. As I doubt that the owners would be willing to trade their rights for some magic beans that aren't in any way magical, this is not going to change at any point in the foreseeable future.

Author's Note: For all those following 'A Life Interrupted', it's been updated today. I've also posted the first part of a new Sam/Jack story, cowritten with SionnachOghma – 'The President and I'.

Chapter Nine

Though initially thrown by the revelation that Jack O'Neill was the ambassador with whom he would be dealing, Samuels recovered with commendable speed, his shock quickly giving way to irritation. He was not devoid of intelligence and he was suspicious of this new development.

For his part, Jack was beginning to enjoy his new role – or, more accurately, the effect it was having on a man he had never had and would never have the slightest respect for.

"Some wine, Samuels?" He offered genially, motioning for one of the pages, who scurried forward with a jug in hand.

"No, thank you." His response was curt.

"Are you sure?" Jack passed his own goblet to the page, taking a sip when it was returned to him. Several of the other members of the council also accepted the wine, all chatting as comfortably as they would have at a dinner party.

"I'm sure." Samuels scowled, feeling out of place and hating it. "Where is Maj… the Queen? She and I have a treaty to sign."

"Her Royal Highness, Queen Samantha I, will be here presently Colonel Samuels," Lord Cai's tone was cool, his expression neutral, "however, under Armidan law any treaties with a foreign power must first be discussed and agreed upon among a council of Armidan citizens before the Queen may give her consent."

"What is this, O'Neill?" Samuels demanded, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"There is no joke, Colonel Samuels," Lord Cai told him, "before Queen Samantha's arrival, it had been many years since a monarch sat on the throne of Armida, therefore a study of our laws during the reign of our last king had to be made."

"And this study happened to turn up a law regulating deals with foreign powers?"

"What are the odds?" Jack asked with a wry shrug.

"I discovered the law in our archives, when I was helping Queen Samantha in her study of our laws and customs."

Despite having rehearsed it with him, Jack was impressed by how natural the Sir Drustan's lie sounded. Had he not known better, he would have believed the younger man.

Samuels' acting skills would never win him an Oscar.

His irritation, frustration and anger was all but palatable as he scowled across at Jack, knowing that, regardless of what anyone said, he – and probably his whole team – were responsible for this new development but at the same time knowing that there was no way that he would ever be able to prove it.

His brief glimpse of the castle as he was escorted to the hall, along with Jack's obvious ease, had also led his mind to conjure an unpleasant possibility; he had expected, and was sure that Colonel Simmons did too, that Major Carter and the rest of SG-1 would be only too eager to get the treaty signed and out of the way so that they could get back to work, but if they refused and were unable to return to Earth, they would always have a home here, one where they would literally be treated like kings.

In their shoes, he would have been in no hurry to leave.

His unhappy musings were interrupted when a herald loudly announced the arrival of Her Royal Highness, Queen Samantha I, who made her entrance flanked by Teal'c and Dr Jackson. The diamonds and sapphires she was adorned with glinted in the torchlight.

"Colonel Samuels," Sam extended her hand, leaving it in his for the briefest of instants before withdrawing it.

Knowing that it was expected of him, he inclined his head slightly by way of a bow but she had already moved away and was taking her seat next to O'Neill, who held her chair out for her.

Daniel passed out copies of the drafted treaty, written with painstaking care by the palace scribes, first to Sam, then to Jack and the other members of the council and finally to Samuels. He moved away from the table and took a seat in the far corner of the hall.

Samuels' frown deepened as he perused the short document. When he was finished reading, he scowled at Sam and Jack. "I think that we need to discuss this…" he looked around at the Armidan lords. "Privately."

They exchanged an unreadable look, and then Sam rose, smiling at the council members. "Please excuse us." They all stood when she did and Samuels felt compelled to do the same. Sam motioned for him to accompany her and Jack and they moved towards the fireplace, out of earshot if they spoke quietly.

"I don't know what it is you think you're playing at here, Major," he hissed angrily, "or are you the one behind this, Colonel?" He demanded of the other man.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sparky," Jack told him in scathing tones.

"We were supposed to negotiate a treaty to allow access to the naquadah and trinium on Armida. We did that." Sam pointed out.

"You know that this wasn't what Colonel Simmons had in mind!"

"Yeah… we feel just sick about that."

"This is no laughing matter, O'Neill!"

"We were thinking of this in terms of a long-running treaty," Sam defended, "it's no use getting Earth access to all of Armida's resources if that access is short term, if the Armidans stage a revolt because they don't want to see their planet carved up and all it's materials carted away, is it?" She knew that there was very little likelihood of the Armidans revolting against her when they saw her as their divinely appointed ruler but Samuels didn't.

"I…"

"Think about it,"

"If you can." Jack chimed in. Sam's frown silenced him.

"If we have a treaty that's mutually beneficial, Earth will have access to Armida's materials for longer."

"Partial access." Samuels corrected sharply, waving the draft at her. "I don't think that the Pentagon will consider this satisfactory, do you?"

"Earth gets permission to mine for naquadah and to take half of what they are able to dig up, in exchange for providing Armida with the aid and supplies listed" Sam explained patiently, "but since the Armidans don't use naquadah technology, I'm sure that the council will be willing to use it to trade."

"And who do you think they'll be trading with?" Jack asked rhetorically.

They could practically see the cogs working in Samuels' brain; while the treaty may not have been what Simmons and the Pentagon had had in mind when they had ordered that Sam assume her role as queen, it was still an extremely beneficial one for them and one that was, as Sam had suggested, likely to be long-lasting – and, as the one to negotiate it, to get Earth access to the material it needed to build new ships, to power their naquadah generators, he would surely be honoured, maybe even promoted.

"Well," he said at last, with the air of one granting a huge concession, "maybe this could work…"

Jack clapped him on the shoulder, "That's the spirit."

"So," Sam gestured towards the round table, where the Armidan nobles were waiting patiently for the trio to rejoin them. "Let's talk."

TBC.

Author's Note: Just the epilogue to go now. Don't forget to review.