Chapter 15.
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/ Xander's thoughts /
% Jolinar's thoughts %
# Tok'ra or Goa'uld voice #
% How do you feel? %
/ Like we stayed awake for 36 hours and fought 13 vamps. / Xander answered. / Oh yeah. And hungry. /
% Yes, the activities over the last few days have put us far behind in our energy requirements. I don't suppose it would be possible to visit that 'Buffet' again? % Jolinar requested.
Xander kicked his legs out of bed and stood up. / Not open yet. Tell you what. You dial down the hunger for now and I'll sneak us over there for lunch. Okay? / Xander didn't hear a response, but his hunger died very suddenly.
Xander walked to school and made his way to the kitchen there. / Turn the hunger back on. / he told his symbiote. And very quickly he was again hungry enough to eat and drink an entire industrial sized can of fruit. Fruit cocktail mix this time. Tossing the empty can in the garbage he felt his hunger die again without him even asking. He wondered if it was just them getting used to each other or if it was the merging the other night. He met Giles just as he reached the library.
"How'd the rest of the night go?" Xander asked.
"Fairly well, we captured and then lost Ford. But we did discover his plan to trade Buffy in exchange for becoming a vampire. And we saved the deluded fools who bought into his promises for immortality." Giles summed up the previous night's activities.
"He wanted to what?" Xander stopped walking. "Why?"
"He was dying. Possibly still is dying. We haven't seen him since he escaped and he's not in this mornings obituaries." Giles explained the deluded boy's reasoning.
/ Well, I think that settles what we're building first. / Xander thought.
% The healing device? % Jolinar guessed his host's intentions. They had been discussing the pros and cons of what to build first since Xander found the knowledge of how to build the devices.
/ Yeah, with the healing device I can beat him up as much as I want without killing him. / Xander said darkly.
% Sounding a little close to a Goa'uld there. % Jolinar warned.
/ No one messes with my friends. / Xander answered. / On the other hand, with the device we could have healed him and made the deal seem stupid. Or stupider at least. /
"Xander, are you alright?" Giles asked.
Xander snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah. Just thinking to ourselves. What alien tech we'd like to build first. How much I'd like to wring Ford's throat for trying to betray Buffy. That kind of thing."
"Did you say alien technology?" Giles queried.
"Oh yeah. Some cool stuff too. We just need money. Speaking of which, do you have that $300 you promised?" Xander asked.
"No. Tomorrow's Friday. I'll have it for you then. Would you like to work on your sword work for today instead?" Giles waved to the swords.
"Please." Xander answered and took up a sword. They went through various forms that morning. Even though he felt he had been doing better against Angel, it was almost like he was starting over with Giles. It was Jolinar who noticed that they were teaching him two different styles of swordsmanship. It wasn't unexpected. Their styles were developed on different islands almost 200 years apart. There were likely to be differences. The style Giles was teaching relied more on cuts than thrusts and vice versa for Angel's style. It was good to learn both styles. Though Xander preferred Giles' style, since it seemed like it would be better and killing demons. In fact, when Xander asked, Giles confirmed that it was indeed designed for Slayers for that purpose. Though, before last night, he wasn't going to teach him some parts as they were impossible for anyone without Slayer strength. But if he was capable of it, then Giles would teach it to him... eventually. Best to learn the basics first. Then they sparred the last 15 minutes before kids started to arrive.
"Xander, nice form!" Buffy cried, breaking Xander's concentration. He received a rap to the side of his head for that.
"Terribly sorry, Xander." Giles apologized, then switched to scolding. "Buffy, you should know better than to interrupt someone when they're training. Xander is still very new at this."
"Looked pretty good to me. My forms never look that good." Buffy countered.
"If you're saying that you need to practice your forms, you are 100% correct." Giles smiled. "We can practice tonight. But you're right. Xander does have the basic forms down already. Now it will be more a matter of practice and doing them faster and in combination with each other."
"Combinations?" Xander asked.
"Well yes. You don't just defend. You parry and then attack." Giles showed them a combination that demonstrated his words. "Parry, riposte."
Xander thanked Giles for teaching him and left for class with Buffy. After all the excitement of the past week, a nice normal day was a god-send.
When lunch rang he was surprised to hear % Buffet % ring in his head. He had forgotten all about his symbiote. His hunger came back with a vengeance and he snuck off school grounds and headed for the buffet. He was glad that the owner didn't seem to be there. This time Xander counted. They ate 9 plates of food and drank 12 glasses of pop.
/ We good? / Xander asked.
% Yes, though that only puts us back where we were before the merge. I would like to eat here again tonight if we can. % Jolinar responded.
Xander paid before leaving. / Bad idea. Buffy got banned from this place for eating too much too often. /
% They can do that? % Jolinar wondered.
/ She was costing them money. She might have been able to fight it, but it really isn't worth it. / Xander explained. / Buffy's mom might be willing to feed us. She might not notice another huge stomach. I'll see if I can't get us invited over for dinner tonight. /
The Inquiry into the actions of Major Louis Ferretti and Lieutenant Samuel Turner was quick and rather painless. The prosecuting officer either didn't notice or chose to ignore the holes in the official reports. As long as everyone's story matched, it didn't matter to the Inquiry. O'Neill wasn't happy that they had gotten identical sentences. He didn't think that Ferretti's actions were equivalent to Turner's and had made that point when he testified. But he was satisfied that Ferretti's sentence had been commuted more than Turner's. They both received 2 weeks of docked pay and 2 weeks in the brig. Turner's had been commuted to 1 week in the brig for a first offense. Ferretti's brig stay had been commuted entirely though it would still remain on his record. Jack figured he could live with that.
Which was good since it meant that SG-2, with a temporary replacement, could take SG-1's next mission while SG-1 went to visit the Tok'ra... maybe.
SG-1 and General Hammond sat around the conference table.
"Are we really sure we want to go visit these snakes? I mean they are Goa'uld, aren't they?" Jack groused.
"I'm sure that they can be trusted, sir. And that Daniel's note is right. I can't explain it. It just feels right." Sam explained.
Teal'c added, "According to Jaffa legend, the Tok'ra are the Goa'uld resistance. Their stated goal is the destruction of the System Lords and a change in the ways of the empire. They are hunted and despised by the Goa'uld."
"Yes! My kinda guys!" O'Neill did an exaggerated fist pump.
Carter turned to Hammond. "Sir, if this note is right, then the Tok'ra will be under attack soon. Warning them of this attack could be a nice way to start relations."
"Or it could make them suspicious that we led the Goa'uld to them." Hammond reasoned.
"If they're attacked and wiped out, or if they simply leave these coordinates, we would lose a powerful potential ally. I think it's worth checking out." Sam argued.
Hammond considered for a moment before turning to his 2IC. "Colonel?"
"General?" Jack answered.
"I'm prepared to send SG-1 through to the coordinates in the letter, if you agree." Hammond explained.
"Colonel, I know you're skeptical about these things, but I am confident that I am right on this one." Carter insisted.
"Let's check it out." Jack nodded.
They didn't so much find the Tok'ra as the Tok'ra found them. And negotiations were not going well. Teal'c, as a Jaffa, was not welcome. Carter sensed the symbiotes and called them Goa'uld. That didn't make them happy at all.
"Okay, okay. Not Goa'uld. We got it. I have a message here from... well we think it's Jolinar of Malkshur." Daniel reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the note.
The leader stepped forward, #"Where is Jolinar?"#
"He's dead." Carter answered. "He died saving my life."
"Sam was Jolinar's last host. He was killed by an Ashrak. But Sam didn't write that note. We think there might be someone else on Earth that has Jolinar's memories. If not Jolinar himself." Daniel explained.
#"Why did you not bring this person with you?"# the leader asked.
"Well, he didn't want to come with us yet. Though he and his friends did save our lives. It seemed like they might be dealing with their own problems right now. I'm guessing that he wanted to deal with that before meeting back up with you?" Daniel guessed. "That's why we're here. He asked us to seek out the Tok'ra."
"Assuming of course you are the Tok'ra." Jack stated.
#"And if we're not?"# the leader asked.
"Well, I guess we all start shooting, there's blood, death, hard feelings…it'd suck." Jack explained sarcastically.
Eventually, the Tok'ra took them to their underground base and Daniel handed over the note and watched as the two Tok'ra read it. It wasn't hard to see what part they were on. He had committed it to memory. On it was the address for the Tok'ra world along with a message. 'There is a spy among the Tok'ra. It is the only way that Jolinar could have been found by the Goa'uld. Go there quickly and explain the situation to them. If Jolinar was betrayed, it is only a matter of time before the Tok'ra base is as well. Explain to Martouf/Lantash that Jolinar is in a better place.'
While they were reading, Carter came closer to Daniel and Jack. "I think the younger one is Martouf."
"And how do you know that?" Jack inquired.
"I don't know, sir. I just do." Carter explained. As they came closer she asked, "Are you Martouf?"
"I am. What made you say that?" Martouf confirmed.
"I don't know. This whole place seems familiar though. You seem more familiar." Carter explained.
After a meet and greet followed by a couple hours of pleasant interrogation by Gershaw. Yosuf came forward from Gershaw and brought them into a room where an old woman was sitting half asleep. "This is Selmak."
Martouf added, "Her hosts name is Saroosh. She is one of the oldest and wisest among us, an important leader for our cause. However, she is unfortunately very ill, and will soon die."
"Oh hush." Saroosh raised her head. "You're going to give her an inflated ego and flush 200 years of hard work on my part down the drain. And we have plenty of time left. Weeks. Maybe months."
"It's nice to meet you, Saroosh." Daniel led the introductions. "My name is Daniel Jackson, this is Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c. We're travelers from Earth. Jolinar of Malkshur was there recently and left us a note that we should contact the Tok'ra and warn them of a spy in their midst."
"I see. I don't suppose any of you are interested in becoming a host?" Saroosh said softly. "I would like to ensure that Selmak finds a good home when I'm gone."
When they declined and Carter fled the room and everyone else had followed, Saroosh said to one of her caregivers, "Ask Samantha Carter to return. I'd like to talk to her some more."
When the attendant arrived, Gershaw was yelling at SG-1, #"That was you? We had operatives who died on board those vessels."#
"Hey!" O'Neill yelled back. "If they had stopped Apophis, then we wouldn't have had to blow the ships up. And if we had been allies then, we could have warned you to get your people out before we blew the place. You see? An alliance might not be such a bad idea. Because we're going to keep blowing up Goa'uld."
"At least now we know how and why our operatives died, and for that we are truly grateful." Yosuf said. "Perhaps you are correct. I will try to convince the Council of Tok'ra to meet with you."
The attendant stepped forward. #"Saroosh requests to speak with Samantha Carter."#
Carter gave a nod to O'Neill who returned it before she went with the man.
"Please come in." Saroosh said quietly and waited until Carter sat down. "I wanted to let you know that I understand. If Selmak were somehow taken from me. I'm not sure I would ever be able to take a new symbiote. I care for her as if she were both my child and my parent. For like a child, she is unable to survive without me. And like a parent, she is older and wiser than me in many, but not all, ways."
Carter sighed and leaned forward in her seat. "Thank you. It's been so hard to come up with an analogy to what I'm feeling right now. It's like losing my mother all over again, but worse. And it's just too hard to explain it to someone who hasn't experienced it." Saroosh just gave a knowing smile. After a while, Carter collected herself. "It's not that there aren't people on Earth who might be willing to be hosts. But most of the few people who know about aliens have been involved in fighting the Goa'uld for some time now. It's as if you're worst enemy's twin sister asked to join your side. It's not that we don't like you, but most of us have some very ingrained responses to Goa'uld."
"I understand." Saroosh assured her. "Tell you what. Just keep us in mind. If you come across anyone who might not think of us as their enemy?"
"I will." Samantha assured her. "Now, what about the spy? Jolinar seems to think that one of the Tok'ra betrayed her."
Saroosh frowned and dipped her head. Selmak answered. #"As you said before, our numbers rarely grow. We do take in the odd Goa'uld that claims to have turned on the System Lords. Jolinar was one of these. Usually they are just hiding from one particular System Lord. Sometimes they really do join us and sometimes they don't. We limit the knowledge they receive until we are sure of their intentions. Usually the first time they change hosts will tell us for sure if they are Tok'ra or not."#
"The first time you can be sure the host is talking of his or her own free will." Carter reasoned.
#"Exactly. Even the Tok'ra cannot tell for sure whether host or symbiote is speaking."# Selmak confirmed. #"Though you can rest assured that Jolinar has changed host while she was with us and confirmed that her intentions were good."#
A thorough search of the Tok'ra base discovered Cordesh trying to destroy his long range viewer. A quick arrest and the offender was quickly taken care of.
#"Cordesh has almost certainly told them our position. We will have to move our base."# Gershaw said. #"We owe you a great debt for your help in discovering him. There is no telling how many Tok'ra lives he has cost us."#
"It's what we do." Jack smiled a little smugly.
#"However,"# Gershaw continued. #"Selmak will not be able to make the move to a new base. She is too weak to be moved. I beg of you. There are more humans where you are from. Surely, there must be one or two who would welcome being a Tok'ra host."#
O'Neill and Carter shared a look. Carter explained again, "The problem is that there are very few people who know about aliens right now. If everyone knew, we could probably come back with a hundred people willing to try. But we will ask."
#"That is all we can ask."# Gershaw bowed.
Then Yosuf added. "And thank you for all that you've done."
Jack smiled at the host, "It was our pleasure."
Gershaw took control again. #"A few Tok'ra have volunteered to care for Selmak until a new host is found."# she handed Carter a device. #"This will announce to them that you have returned. Hopefully with a host."#
After SG-1 had departed, Gershaw turned to Lantash. "You must go to the Tau'ri home-world. Seek out the one who sent this note and bring them back to us. If you determine that it truly is Jolinar, then peacefully. Otherwise, use whatever means necessary."
"We will find her." Lantash assured his leader.
Gershaw nodded and brought up a set of coordinates on the computer. "There is a cloaked ship on this world. It's the closest one to the Tau'ri, but it will still take you several weeks to reach their planet. Call us when you arrive."
"As you command," Martouf saluted and bowed.
Gershaw frowned at his back. Lantash was far too willing to let Martouf be the primary personality. Sharing was all well and good, but they were still Tok'ra.
"So even with the note and helping to root out a spy we still don't have an alliance with the Tok'ra?" General Hammond summarized.
"No, sir." Carter replied. "Not that they weren't grateful for our help. They did seem to warm to us more after that. We even got our weapons back. But what they really need are hosts. Willing hosts. Any form of alliance on their part seems to hinge on that." she explained. "It makes sense though, sir. They don't need our technology and they've done fine without us for a long time. But they always need hosts. If we could offer even just a few people willing to try it, we could add a very powerful ally. With your permission sir, I'd like to set up some interviews and psychological screening of non-essential base personnel. Just to see if anyone might be willing and able to be a host."
"And you're sure they won't just take over the host we provide them?" the general asked.
Surprisingly it was O'Neill who answered. "Sir, we were there for a while. They could have easily forced us to become hosts. The fact is that we can't be completely sure. And I'm not willing to try it myself, but I won't stand in the way of someone who wants to take the chance. They seemed nice, though at least as suspicious of us as we were of them."
Hammond thought for a minute then nodded to Carter, "Run your interviews and tests. I'm not signing off on the... what do we call it? Hosting?"
"They call it blending, sir." Carter said with a smile at the word that could be applied to computers and aliens.
"Fine. I'm not signing off on the blending yet. But it would be good to have an idea of who might be available when we come to a decision. I'm going to have to go to the President on this one. Next on the agenda, Colonel, how are those contingency plans for extracting our friend from Sunnydale coming?"
"Great sir. I've got the best case scenario done. I'll finish up the ones that don't involve every team in the SGC and a Goa'uld mothership later today." Jack answered.
Hammond gave a small chuckle. Leave it to O'Neill to go completely overboard on what should be a quiet extraction. "Fine. What about the search for the young man?"
Daniel answered, "We've gathered the high school and college records for the last ten years. We've gone through all the kids with names starting with a Z or an X and came up with nothing. Next, we're just going to go through pictures of all the males one by one until we find him. Depending on how lucky we get, were talking another day. Two days tops unless he never went to school in Sunnydale."
"Very well. Report to me once you've found him. Do not start a wider search for him without my approval. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." they both intoned.
"Very well, Teal'c if you'd like to help any of your teammates, I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Dismissed people."
As luck would have it, Xander was able to get himself (and Jolinar) and Willow invited to Buffy's house for dinner that night. He and Buffy agreed that they wouldn't leave the table until not a scrap of food remained.
Xander, Willow, Buffy, and her mom sat around the dining room table eating. Joyce was glad that there was another teenager in the world who could put away food like Buffy. The parenting books warned her that teenagers ate a lot of food, but she never believed just how much until she saw her food bills. Seeing Xander eat just as much as Buffy gave her an odd sense of comfort and even happiness that her daughter was a normal teenager and that she and her friends liked her cooking so much. Even if Willow ate like a bird compared to the other two.
After dinner the kids thanked Joyce and then headed up to Buffy's room to talk. "So Xander," Buffy began. "What's it like?" Willow leaned forward eagerly.
"What's what like?" Xander replied.
"To have that... thing in your head?" Buffy said as tactfully as ever.
Xander scratched his chin to hide the grimace that Jolinar was putting on his face. / Easy buddy. We just have to make them understand. / Xander thought, then continued out loud, "It's incredible. I have access to memories of so much. Births, deaths, fighting, hiding... and a lot of meetings. The Tok'ra really like meetings. But there's just so much knowledge that it's worth watching a few meetings. And then there's the day to day talking. I get my own advice channel. He-"
"She." Buffy interrupted. "Jolinar told us that she's a she last night."
/ You told them that? When? / Xander asked.
% After you were asleep. % Jolinar answered.
/ You didn't feel like telling me? / Xander sighed. / Do you have any idea how much I'm going to get teased about this? /
% I didn't think it was important. And to answer your last question, yes. % Xander was sure there was more than a little amusement when she said that.
"You okay, Xander?" Willow asked with concern on her face.
Xander nodded. "Just a little internal conversation. What you saw last night was some of what we talk about every day. Just we were talking out loud instead of thinking it. I like thinking it better. I've always considered myself a very internal person."
"Right Xan." Buffy patted his knee.
"Anyway, I lost my train of thought. But to answer your question. It's cool." Xander finished.
"Cool. Maybe I'll have to see about getting myself a symbywhatever." Buffy grinned.
#"NO!"# Xander and Jolinar both shouted.
"Buffy? Everything okay up there?" Joyce yelled up the stairs in response.
"Yeah Mom. Willow and I were just teasing Xander." Buffy covered.
"Okay. Try to keep it down." Mrs Summers said before she went back to whatever she was doing.
"Okay. What's wrong?" Willow asked, dangerously close to her resolve face. "First you said it's great to have a symbiote and then you say no to us having one?"
"Not you, Will. If you want one. I will get you one. But Buffy can't be allowed to have one. There's an old memory that the Goa'uld carry of someone called a hok'taur. Basically it means Superman. Goa'uld have been chasing the hok'taur for thousands of years. It's like the Holy Grail for Goa'uld. Being a host makes me faster, stronger and smarter than I used to be. If a Goa'uld got a hold of Buffy, they might be able to rule the galaxy." Xander explained.
"Well, I didn't want a Goa'uld. I wanted a Tok'ra. They're the good guys, right?" Buffy pouted slightly.
"The answer is still no. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Which is why we have to keep your existence a secret from everyone. If the Tok'ra find out, the Goa'uld will find out and then every Goa'uld in the galaxy will be looking for you." Xander replied. "And it's not completely perfect. Along with the good memories come bad. The Tok'ra Queen, Egeria, had Goa'uld parents, so I remember a lot of bad things like I did them myself. And Jolinar wasn't always a Tok'ra. She defected, so there are things in her past she doesn't like to talk about. But I try not to think about that stuff too much."
The three of them talked for quite a while longer. Buffy and Willow asked him all sorts of questions about the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra and about Jolinar. After they were done, Buffy walked Xander and Willow home before going patrolling.