Chapter 3
Zeus sighed as if disappointed or resigned. "Samantha, I have told you no lies, nor have I done anything to harm you. Why do you repay me with deceit and an attempt to destroy my vessel?"
"You lied about my friends," Sam protested weakly. The fact that he "deceived" her and he really did know who she was had made her very nervous.
He was giving her a disapproving look but the mocking amusement was clear in his eyes. "I did not," he replied as if speaking to a particularly dull child. "As I have told you, I am many things, but a liar is not one of them."
"We never leave a man behind," Sam argued.
Zeus gave a mirthless chuckle. "My Jaffa watched the Chappa'ai. No one came through. I believe I have already told you this?"
Sam recognized the question as rhetorical. He had told her that, but she didn't believe him. What if he was telling the truth? No, she thought firmly, They wouldn't leave me behind. Then a thought chilled her and she visibly shuddered. She wouldn't have been in the sarcophagus for a day unless she had been fatally injured...or dead. And she knew that both Jack and Teal'c had to have seen her shot. What if they thought she was permanently dead—which she would have been without Zeus, she grudgingly admitted—with no hope of ever coming back so they just left her body behind?
"I was dead," she whispered with certainty. No fatal injury would mean a day's worth of time "recuperating" in the sarcophagus. Anger began to form in the pit of her stomach at her teammates and the SG-1 for not caring enough about her—or what would have been her body—enough to come back and get it so they could at least have a proper burial for her. She could forgive Daniel considering he was too badly injured to have much say in the matter…and possibly dead, but the others could have had more decency at the very least!
Zeus smiled in mock sympathy. "You were. Otherwise I wouldn't have even bothered to use the sarcophagus. I'm surprised they didn't bother to mount a rescue. You are invaluable to the Goa'uld and Tau'ri and, what's more, you're their friend."
The full extent of the truth hit Sam in the chest and left her standing nearly breathless in anger. She had been left behind by three of the most important people in her life. But the small, defiant part of her had to say, "They had to've come back so that Jaffa who were shooting at us wouldn't take my...body back and put me in a sarcophagus. They probably assumed that you would torture me to death, bring me back, and keep doing it over and over until I was messed up enough to tell you everything."
"And yet I have done nothing of the sort," said Zeus softly. "But even so, they haven't returned."
He walked over and gently put his arms around her. She was numbed by her revelation but anger kept her grounded, and she was aware of what he was doing but not why. She stiffened.
He began rubbing her back soothingly but it had the opposite effect. Gentleness and compassion were the last things she would expect a Goa'uld to show, genuinely felt or not (with the obvious exception of Hathor, who used such things to seduce men). She knew the Tok'ra were capable of feeling them—hell, she felt it—but she never knew a Goa'uld was able to as well.
It was creeping her out.
"What are you doing?" she asked flatly. Contrary to her tone, she felt herself relaxing, no matter how hard she fought.
"This is something the people of my host do to comfort each other if one was in pain," he replied.
Sam couldn't see his expression to gauge his sincerity without putting their faces in an uncomfortably close proximity, so she remained still and rigid.
"Since when do the Goa'uld care about others besides themselves?" she asked bitterly.
"You must have realized by now that I am different than the others of my kind?" This time, Sam could hear a trace of mockery in his voice.
Enough was enough; she broke out of his embrace. "But still a Goa'uld."
"I have observed my fellows and learned from their stupidity, their faults. It is true that I am Goa'uld, but that does not mean that I do not have any emotion like the others. How do you think the Tok'ra are able to feel human emotions?" Sam was surprised to see that nothing about him was mocking any more. He was being genuinely serious, as if he was trying to prove something to her. "Do you despise me for what I am? For what you were?"
"What?" asked Sam sharply. "What I was?"
"You were Tok'ra, no matter how short a time that was, and the Tok'ra were once Goa'uld. That in itself proves my point. I have told you the truth so far and you have shown no inclination to believe me. Do you believe me now when I tell you that I am different?"
Sam swallowed. He did have a point. "Yes." she whispered.
"Then do you also believe me when I tell you I mean no harm?"
She replied quietly, "Yes."
But she didn't. Not really anyway.
With rapidly fading willpower, she steeled herself to go along with Zeus. Who knew? Maybe she'd run into another SG team and be able to go home and relay the information she had learned from him.
"Then will you be my queen and accept your new name?"
"New name?" she asked quizzically.
"Yes." Zeus's eyes narrowed. "We can't have the other System Lords thinking you're still on the side of the Tau'ri. They will see that you have willingly become my queen without the influence of a symbiote."
Sam gritted her teeth in annoyance but didn't let it show on her face. "Did you have a name in mind?"
He smiled. "A few, in fact. Though I believe you should be the one to select it."
"I'm not that familiar with Greek names," said Sam.
"Semele, Danae, Alcmene, Leda, Callisto, Io, Aegina, Europa, Maia, and Ganymede," he listed.
The whole thing seemed ridiculous to Sam but she decided to humor him anyway. From everything she'd heard Daniel say, she recognized most of the names Zeus mentioned were the mythological Zeus's lovers. Immediately, she dismissed Ganymede. According to Daniel, in mythology, Ganymede was a Trojan prince and Zeus made Ganymede his cupbearer. She just didn't like Danae, Alcmene, Leda, Io, Aegina, and Europa. That left Semele, Callisto, and Maia.
Sam smirked inwardly. It was time to see exactly how different Zeus was. "I can't decide between Semele, Callisto, and Maia. Maybe you can choose between those three," she flirted. It was poor and she knew it, but would Zeus go along with it?
Apparently. "I believe Maia was one of the lucky few that escaped punishment for her affair with your mythological Zeus. Perhaps we should see if it brings you any luck." Sam didn't have time to figure out what he meant before Zeus pulled her into a deep kiss. Her eyes widened in shock, but she had to go with it. Feeling sick, her allowed her lips to part and for Zeus to explore his new prize: herself.
Her new strategy was to go along with Zeus and then get away as soon as she could to report to the SGC or Tok'ra to tell them what she learned. Or maybe she wouldn't. It just depended on whether she decided to forgive them.
Zeus picked her up and carried her to his bed chamber.
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Sam awoke the next morning and breathed a sigh of relief. Last night hadn't gone beyond touching and kissing. She thought that maybe he did it because he knew she was uncomfortable for obvious reasons. Or maybe he didn't. She didn't know. At the moment, between everything she thought she knew and all Zeus had told her, she had succeeded in becoming thoroughly confused.
Shaking her head, she sat up and reached for the robe that had appeared next to her side of the bed some time after she had fallen asleep.
It was time to find out what Zeus had in store for her.
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Six Months Later:
Sam was standing next to Zeus up on the bridge. Now anyone from the SGC would not have recognized her. At least not by how she acted. Apparently, living with a Goa'uld would change a person, no matter how different from the others he was.
Presently, Zeus wore a plain, yet still impressive white tunic. He had a golden head band shaped in a miniature version of olive branches. Sam was wearing a long traditional Greek dress. It was a soft sky blue to complement her blue eyes. She, too, wore a head band that rested on fairly long hair, which was pulled back and plaited, but her band was plain gold, unshaped. Both of them wore hand devices.
They were awaiting the arrival of Osiris, who had wanted to meet them but was reluctant to explain why.
While they waited, Sam thought about how both she and her life had changed in the past six months. Her anger at the rest of the Tau'ri, which had started as a small simmer, had threatened to boil over the more she had time to think about it. It wasn't the sarcophagus that influenced her thinking; the only time she had had to use it was when Zeus first brought her aboard his vessel. Her killer's instinct had been honed into a Goa'uld's. For example, it didn't matter if a Jaffa deserved death for disobeying an order, she wouldn't hesitate to retire him permanently.
She wondered what the other Tau'ri would think if they did see her now. Or Tok'ra for that matter. She had yet to see or hear from one for over six months. But perhaps that wasn't surprising considering she made her allegiance to Zeus known.
Unfortunately, allegiance to Zeus had cost her respectability amongst the System Lords. They refused to acknowledge her as a queen to Zeus, but, rather, a misled concubine.
"My lord." The first prime interrupted Sam's wandering thoughts. "Osiris has arrived."
On cue, Osiris emerged. Sam recognized Daniel's old friend Sarah as the host. He smirked when he saw Sam. "I see you have your...queen here as well," he said in a tone akin to Zeus's when Sam was a newcomer.
Zeus's eyes flashed but he managed to keep his tone neutral with a hint of amusement. "You do not think Maia is a queen?"
"My lord," said Osiris, lowering his eyes in mock respect. "I intend no disrespect by any means. There have just been rumors among the other System Lords saying how you found yourself a lovely little concubine. One that betrayed her own people to rise in status."
"Oh, but surely the great and wise System Lords would not be so dense as to believe such things." Zeus carefully studied Osiris's face. Sam smirked inwardly.
Osiris smiled grimly, ignoring the insult. "Of course not. But now to the matter at hand: I have allied myself with a powerful new Goa'uld who wishes to join the System Lords. I—"
"You are here merely to beg support for this new Goa'uld. If he is so strong, why does he send a servant around to solicit support from others to aid his desire to ascend to the rank of System Lord?"Zeus asked unconcernedly.
"I do not ally myself with weak Goa'uld. Otherwise I would have sought allegiance with others," Osiris said, narrowing his eyes.
Zeus smiled. "So you consider every other System Lord below this...powerful new Goa'uld? They send you around to root out who is worthy of supporting them?"
"Not worthy of support," Osiris replied. "Worthy of allegiance."
"Well, I feel honored to be considered one of the select few," said Zeus mockingly. He was being obtuse and he knew it.
Sam grinned at the barely concealed dumbfounded look on Osiris's face. No matter how, Zeus had defected an insult that Osiris meant as some sort of trap. For what, Sam had yet to figure out. That was one thing Zeus wanted her here for: to study Osiris and uncover hidden meanings within his conversation, while Zeus would try to goad Osiris into revealing as much information as possible. As Teal'c had once said, the Goa'ulds' arrogance was their greatest weakness. This was a strategy they often used. Sam didn't mind; she learned a lot more about the Goa'uld in six months than she had in four years.
"Very well," said Osiris, finally. "It appears that you will not support me or my ally." With a contemptuous glance at Sam, he added, "For this, you will be among the first of our victims."
"You seem confident of victory," noted Zeus calmly.
"I have no reason not to be," Osiris retorted. With that, he turned and stalked out of the room.
"Wonder what he means by that," muttered Sam.
"That is one thing I intend to find out," Zeus replied. "Osiris seems too confident for my liking. Others feel the same before they are destroyed but this appeared to be different, did it not? He was too secure in the thought of victory."
"Mm hmm. Do you have any idea what you're going to do?"
"Not at the moment," Zeus bitterly admitted. "What did you observe?"
"He's not lying. He's way too confident and he's one of the oldest Goa'uld. You don't live to be tens of thousands of years old through stupidity," replied Sam carefully. "I just wonder who his powerful new ally is. It would help us figure out how to deal with this."
"It would," Zeus agreed.
"I think we should to a little more investigating before we come to a conclusion." Zeus looked curiously at her. "That's what scientists on Earth do. Look how far they've come in just a few decades," Sam pointed out.
"Though they have yet to advance to the superiority of the Goa'uld," he said quietly.
"But how long did it take for the Goa'uld to advance to this level? Don't underestimate the Tau'ri," Sam warned. "They're probably stronger than both of us know."
