AN: I'm thrilled to have such wonderful readers! Here's this week's chapter!

Chapter Two: Invitations

The meeting room was decorated in a manner similar to the false meeting room that M had used, under the Albion Museum. A long table surrounded by chairs dominated the space, and bookshelves full of books and files took up much of the wall space. One corner of the room had been set up as kind of communications center- Daria recognized the telephone and telegraph systems from her previous visit to Earth.

Sawyer sat himself down at the head of the table, with Mina at his right and Captain Nemo on the left. Skinner, as was almost to be expected, swiped the seat next to the vampiress. Jekyll held out the chair next to Nemo for Daria, who sat. The doctor then took his place next to the Tau'ka

"Alright then, what's the news, Daria?" Sawyer asked.

Daria sat a little straighter in her seat as her fellow League members looked at her. "In a couple of weeks, the annual Freedom Day celebration will be taking place at the Verris base," she told them.

"Freedom Day? What's that?" Skinner wanted to know.

"It's a commemoration of the day when the Tau'ka killed the System Lord Hecate," she explained. "The one who created us and kept us enslaved. Traditionally, it's also the day where we officially meet with potential new allies for the first time."

"You mean you only meet people one day a year?" Sawyer asked. "That seems kind of silly."

"The Council-and the people- officially meet new representatives during the celebration. No real relations and negotiations can begin until allies are introduced to the Tau'ka at large. Freedom Day is just a convenient day for that introduction- nearly all of the Tau'ka attend, except for agents in the field, or the Shadow Agents in deep cover."

Mina frowned. "What does that have to do with us?" she wanted to know.

"I gave a very good report of you during my debriefing," Daria said. "The Council was impressed, and would like to meet you and perhaps give you some sort of recognition. If they do, it would mean that I would probably be allowed to stay here- Europe already has three Shadow Agents, but nobody who is active."

"Hang on," Jekyll interrupted, looking confused. "'Shadow Agent'? What's that?"

Daria winced. "Sorry about that. Tau'ka Intelligence has two kinds of field agent- Shadow and Special. Special Agents are like me and Sawyer- we go in when we have a mission, poke around, do our job, and get out. However, Shadow Agents are assigned to a world or an area of one. They live with the populace, learn all the customs, and are essentially like any civilian on the street. They collect information, report to the Council when there's any trouble going on, and assist and advise Special Agents who come in to take care of a situation- they're the local experts. They aren't allowed to interfere with anything, because it takes a long time to set up their identities."

The humans looked at one another. "So you are saying," Nemo said slowly, "that there are three more of your people on Earth collecting and passing information to your superiors?"

"Just in England and Europe," Daria replied. "There's also a couple covering Asia, two or three in Africa, one in Australia, and five in the American continents, I think. Earth has the largest number of Shadow Agents assigned to it- more than any other world we work on."

"Why so many?" Skinner asked.

The Tau'ka bit her lip nervously, wondering if she had gone too far. But there was no way to escape the skeptical looks her peers were giving her now. "Because Earth is a part of the galaxy at large," she said at last. "There are plenty of people who would love to conquer it- it is the original homeworld of all humans in the galaxy-"

"There are humans on other worlds?" Nemo asked, his dark eyes large with surprise. "How is that possible?"

"Remember me telling you about Hecate- the one who created my people?"

Her teammates nodded.

"Hecate was one of a race called the Goa'uld. They took over Earth thousands of years ago and exported humans to colony worlds- like the slave trade. The humans of Earth- the Tau'ri, we call you- overthrew their Goa'uld overlords and kicked them off-planet. The Goa'uld were the basis for many of the ancient gods."

Jekyll nodded. She'd told him all of this before, but the others had only gotten a very abbreviated version that didn't go into the existence of human colonies on other planets.

"Anyway," Daria continued. "Earth was one of the few Goa'uld-controlled worlds that got rid of its suppressers. That makes you Tau'ri very special. There are prophecies among my people that indicate that the Tau'ri will become pivotal in overthrowing the Goa'uld for good within the next century or so. My people are also working towards defeating the Goa'uld, and so we've been keeping an eye on you for centuries. Quietly, of course. The dozen Shadow Agents stationed here keep the Council informed of any attempts to stop your advancement."

"Because if we advance, these Goa'uld of yours get their collective rears kicked," Sawyer concluded.

Daria nodded. "Exactly. There's been a couple of close calls- we think one of their agents instigated the Dark Ages in Europe, for instance. Otherwise, we've been lucky. But as the deadline approaches, we expect more trouble to crop up."

"Like your brothers?" Skinner asked.

She shook her head. "The Black Hawks had their own agenda, but the results would have been the same. No Tau'ri, no one to contend with the Goa'uld."

"Okay then," Sawyer said. "Your Council wants to meet us."

"Yes. They were impressed and since you've been established to stop trouble on this world, your goals and the Tau'ka's' are the same. If we're lucky, the Council will recognize the League as an ally and will allow you to be able to draw on some of our resources if needed. Recognition will also allow for a Special Agent to be assigned to the group full-time, and frankly, I fully intend for that agent to be me. I like humans, and I like you five in particular." At this Jekyll and Skinner both grinned. "Obviously, we can't reveal ourselves to the world at large-"

"Heavens, no!" Mina exclaimed.

"- but we as a League can probably inform a few selected world leaders. The heads of the America, British, and Indian governments makes sense, once you consider your own nationalities."

Her companions nodded in agreement. Then Skinner brought up a crucial point. "'Ow do we get there?"

Daria grinned. "Someone is coming to give us a ride," she said.

"Just think of it," Mina said wonderingly. "We'll be going to another world. No modern human has ever done that."

"No one ever thought there might be life on other worlds, either," Sawyer pointed out. "Except for that one author, whatever his name was."

"Wells," Jekyll supplied. "H. G. Wells."

"Yeah. Him."

Daria leaned back in her chair. "So, is there anything I missed?"

"We've been invited to Lord Alderscroft's All Hollow's Eve party," Mina said. "That takes place three days from now."

"Yippee," the Tau'ka said. She sounded rather less than thrilled at the idea.

"The invitation does request all of us," Nemo said.

She winced. "I don't think I have anything to wear," she admitted.

"Don't worry about it," Mina said. "I'll help you with that."