Jack hadn't slept. He had held a shivering Roslyn all night and tried, unsuccessfully, to figure a way out. Roslyn was sleeping deeply at the moment, almost to the point of being unresponsive. His nerves were taunt when their giant made a sudden appearance in the rough doorway of the cave. He put his finger to his lips indicating to Jack the need for quiet.
Jack saw the rage on the big man's face when he saw Roslyn's condition that quickly turned to sadness. His eyes met Jack's and Jack knew that Ustalus was not going to get away with torturing Roslyn.
The giant pulled a zat out of his robes and Jack grew very alarmed until he also pulled out a small travel sized package of tissues. The giant smiled and said in a stilted accent, "Danail"
It only took Jack a moment to process that the giant had been in contact with Daniel and that Daniel was sending him a message that it was okay to trust this huge man. A wide smile broke across Jack's face, "Daniel."
Nodding, the giant put the zat on the ground near Jack and fished in his robe again, this time coming up with a water skin and a couple of SGC issued energy bars. Jack took those gratefully, they hadn't had any food in days and he would need the energy to escape. And escape was what the giant had in mind. So as Jack ate the energy bars, in hushed whispers, hand gestures, and drawing on the sandy floor, the two of them formed a plan to get Jack and Roslyn out.
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Daniel was getting frustrated. He and Jacob had scoured the entire base of ptegu, and found nothing. They were taking a brief rest underneath an odd outcropping of rock to escape the sun beating down on them. Daniel was fidgeting with some sand, letting it pour from hand to hand as his mind conjured up worst case scenarios for the rescue attempt.
Selmac and Jacob could see the worry etched on Daniel's face, and Jacob tried to offer some encouragement, "We'll get them back, Danny."
"Roslyn shouldn't be out there, it should have been me."
Jacob's head bowed and Selmac's voice came forth, "You are taking on guilt that is not yours to bear, Daniel. Roslyn is a very capable woman that knew full well the potential dangers of traveling through the Stargate."
Daniel was left with a walnut sized rock in his hand after all the sand had run out and was fidgeting with it as he replied, "Intellectually I know that, but emotionally I've known her more than half my life and I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."
He vented his frustration by chucking the rock in his hands at the rock face of ptegu and was surprised when it dislodged what at first glance was more stone, only to turn out to actually be a clump of sand that must have been plastered to the rock face in a sandstorm. Daniel stared at the spot where the sand had fallen from and realized that the sand had hidden some sort of smooth panel full of writing. He and Jacob scrambled to their feet quickly.
It only took Daniel a couple of minutes to translate what was there, the writing was a very old version of Goa'uld. The panel was in fact a mechanism for opening a doorway into the mountain. They activated it and a part of the rock face simply shimmered and as the illusion of rock disappeared they were left with a smooth, well constructed doorway. A moment later it the door slid to one side allowing them entrance. Prudently Jacob decided to wait on the outside on the oft chance that the door would close behind them and leave them stuck with no way to open it from the inside.
The doorway opened to a narrow corridor carved out of the rock, as Daniel made his way through, small panels along the walls began to light up, showing the way. He had gone about fifty yards into the mountain when suddenly the corridor opened to a large circular cavern that lit up gently as he entered it. His attention was immediately drawn to the center of the room where a stone byre held what appeared to be human skeletal remains. He approached the byre carefully, wary of booby traps.
Studying the remains, Daniel was sure that they were female and he was surprised to see the remains of a symbiote nestled along her upper spinal column. What looked like a data storage crystal was clutched in the bony fingers. A golden amulet with what appeared to be a large diamond in its center, etched somehow with the image of ptegu, lay on top of the skeleton's ribs.
As he walked around carefully, studying things from all angles he found that there were more carvings along the side of her byre that he translated out loud, "They called us their little mother here in this life and that is how we wish to be known in death. I leave my knowledge in the hope that it help those born of Egeria to free us all. Know that though I was born of the Goa'uld but I have the heart of a Tok'ra. We journey into death together, my host and I, to be at peace together. May history look upon us kindly, and know that the people of this world are forever precious to us."
Daniel quickly radioed Jacob, the discovery enormous. Not only for the information that she might had relayed, but simply the historical significance of it all to the Fratarians as well as the Tok'ra.
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Sam and Calvorn's trip back to the oasis with Gana was a slow one, Gana's far along pregnancy made frequent rest stops necessary. It gave Sam and Calvorn the opportunity to talk about a variety of things, most importantly was the Taur'is aversion to blending.
They spoke at length, Sam being very honest and open with her answers as they related to her personal experience. There was something else bothering Calvorn and Oshra and Sam finally asked, "What is it that want to know? I don't feel like I've answered the question that's really on your mind."
Calvorn ducked his head and Oshra answered, "You are aware of the emotion connection that Tok'ra have to their mates?"
"I can't say I experienced it completely in my short time with Jolinar, but I think I understand."
"My mate's name is Mianash..." Oshra shared the story with Sam and her reaction to it was similar to Roslyn's, but Sam was step ahead of Roslyn.
"You want to ask Roslyn to be Mianash's new host."
"Yes."
"I guess you and Roslyn have really hit it off."
Calvorn answered with a chuckle, "Roslyn is similar in personality to both Mianash and Livvan and Oshra is drawn to that. I on the other hand have never met anyone like her before, and I don't have the words explain how I feel. It's more than an attraction, it is almost as if I have known her my entire life and just had not met her yet. Does that make any sense?"
Sam smiled and nodded, "Perfect sense. On Earth we call that love at first sight."
"However, it would just be impossible for she and I to have any sort of a relationship if she were opposed to blending with Mianash."
"I honestly don't know Roslyn all that well personally, but she is a very open minded and accepting person. I don't know what her answer would be but it seems to me that the two of you need to have that conversation once Teal'c and Keenal rescue she and Colonel O'Neill. You won't know until you ask."
He nodded and replied as an afterthought, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Your honesty." His head ducked and Oshra's voice continued with a chuckle, "He also wants to thank you for not being interested in him yourself. Selmac and your father were attempting to play... what is that word he uses? Ah, matchmaker. I think perhaps the two of them need a mate of their own to keep them out of trouble."
They laughed together as the oasis came into sight.
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tbc...