It was time for the attack. After giving Atli stringent orders to stay where he was, no matter what happened, the 4 Tok'ra silently moved into position.
Much to their surprise, the attack was a complete success, and all 4 Jaffa fell to the ground without any of the Tok'ra being hurt. They then shot them twice more to remove all evidence of what had happened.
Malek walked to the DHD and started dialing. Atli ran to them. "Wow - they...they just vanished...what did you do..." he stopped as he saw a group of Jaffa emerge from the shrubbery. He pointed at them and was about to yell a warning, when shots started to zip by them.
The Tok'ra turned quickly and ran for cover, while shooting back at the Jaffa. One of the guards fell, but not before hitting Malek's shoulder. The wound was relatively deep and he staggered and fell before managing to haul himself up and get behind a large rock.
Atli stood as frozen, gaping at what was happening. Zarin realised he was not following and yelled at him to get out of there. He finally reacted and started looking for a place to hide. Lantash, who was closest, ran back to him and managed to push him aside just as the Jaffa fired several shots at them. The staff blasts which had been about to hit Atli instead struck Lantash in the back, and he fell immediately.
"No!" Atli looked horrified at the man who had just saved his life. He now lay on the ground with two large smoking wounds in his back. Atli grabbed hold of him and started to pull him to safety. A short while later Thoran and Zarin had managed to shoot the remaining Jaffa and came running back to help.
Thoran went to check on Malek, while Zarin quickly examined the still unconscious Lantash.
"Will he be all right?" Atli asked worriedly. "He saved me...it is my fault he was shot. Please tell me he will be all right!"
"He is alive, but unless we can get him to a healer very quickly he will not live. Perhaps not even then..." Jena said, looking very sad.
Milek came over to them. "Ma..." he looked at Atli. "...Johan will live. He just needs time to heal."
"We need to get Lantash back to the tunnels immediately, if he is to have any chance of living." Jena said, not caring if Atli wondered at her sudden use of what he thought of as a surname. "Open the chaapa'ai, quickly."
Milek nodded and was just about to do that, when he saw a couple of death gliders in the distance. Then the chaapa'ai started to dial in.
"That will have to wait...incoming enemies!" He ran to Jena and started helping her to carry Lantash to the treeline. He shouted at Atli to help Malek.
Atli hurried to assist Malek, who was already slowly staggering towards the forest. They all made it to safety, just as the wormhole opened.
Taking a quick look back, they saw the area around the chaapa'ai was already full of Jaffa. Realising they would not get through in the foreseeable future, they continued further into the forest. At least they had disintegrated all the Jaffa they had shot, so there would be no one to give them away. The lack of a welcoming guard would look suspicious, but it might be blamed on the Jaffa being incompetent. Hopefully the truth would not be found out too quickly.
In any case, no one followed them. Soon they decided they had gone deeply enough into the woods to safely make a short stop. They needed to rest, to allow Malek to heal his wound, and to try and save Lantash and his host.
Thoran went to Malek and began using a healing device on him, while Zarin did the same for Lantash. Atli saw to his surprise that Malek's wound had already begun healing on its own. These people were definitively not normal!...and what kind of technology was this? He remembered seeing one of those things in the museum, but no one had known what they had been used for. There was no clear way to activate them, and they were generally accepted as purely ornaments with no real function.
That was definitively not the case. Before his eyes Malek's wound started to disappear.
"You were lucky," Milek observed. "The blast were not as deep as it could have been. You will soon be completely healed."
Atli went to stand beside Zarin, as she still attempted to heal Lantash.
"He is not going to make it, is he?"
"I am sorry, but...probably not." Zarin said, remembering to use Jena's voice.
"I really wish there was something I could do..."
*I cannot heal him...the damage is too extensive. Lantash will need a new host - and soon, or they will both die.*
*Ask him..tell him who and what we are,* Jena indicated Atli.
*He is too young - his family and whole world as he knew it is gone... He knows nothing about symbiotes except that it is what the Goa'uld are - those who caused him all this pain. He would never agree...*
*Then explain to him that the Tok'ra are different, or let me do it...or you will have to explain to Jolinar and Rosha why you let both of their mates die, when one could have lived!*
*All right...try then...* Zarin conceded. She turned off the healing device. She had done all she could for now. It would help keep Lantash alive for a little while longer. Long enough for them to talk to the only available potential host.
"Atli, perhaps there is something you can do to help him." Jena started, having been given control.
Atli looked up. "Anything..."
"Wait...do not say that until you know what it is you would have to do...Atli...you know that we are not traders, but rather enemies of Nephthys..."
"Yes, Lantash told me."
"He did not tell you everything..." she sighed. "There is precious little time, so listen carefully. Yes, we are part of a resistance movement against the Goa'uld, but there is more...as you know, Nephthys is a parasite, a...symbiote. The Goa'uld are a large and powerful group of beings, and most of them are evil. However, they are not all alike. A small minority oppose those who conquer and enslave other sentient life forms. They are called the Tok'ra. They too need hosts to live and interact with their surroundings...biologically, they are the same species as the Goa'uld...Atli...we carry symbiotes within us...but ours is a truly symbiotic relationship. The Tok'ra do not suppress their hosts as the Goa'uld do...we would never take an involuntary host, and we share control of the body...we keep the host healthy and safe...we become very close friends...Atli...we ask...beg that you consider helping in this extreme emergency. You will not lose your individuality, but you would share your life and body with Lantash."
Atli felt his head spinning. "You are not human?"
"No...yes, I was human, now I am Tok'ra - a joined life form. We are still two beings, but in many ways we are one. As I said, we share the body equally."
"...but you are not Goa'uld?"
"No...and yes...as I said, the Tok'ra are biologically Goa'uld - ideologically they are very different. Think of it this way - about 20 years ago your world were close to a war because the majority disagreed with a relatively small but powerful group. You considered them evil, is that not correct?"
"Yes, but..."
"Your side did not consider themselves evil?"
"No...of course not...the other side wanted to return to the old religion and worship Anubis - they followed an evil cult, while our side chose technology."
"...but you are all humans...biologically the same species...and one side was considered evil...should not all be then?"
"No. I see what you mean - biologically they were all the same, but ideologically they were very different. Just as humanity is not evil because there are evil humans, not all symbiotes are evil because there are evil symbiotes...I apologize for not seeing that before." He was quiet for a moment.
Just then Lantash woke up. His eyes glowed briefly and he tried to speak.
"Lantash...do not try to speak. Save your strength."
"...I will not be able to heal us...please, do not risk yourselves by staying here. We are not far enough away...I still ...feel the chaapa'ai strongly..." he coughed weakly. "Our necklace...take it and give it to Rosha and Jolinar...we wish them to have it."
Atli looked at him, terrified for a moment, both because of the glowing eyes, and the strangely distorted voice. He had only ever seen either when Nephthys spoke to them. Then he managed to calm himself. Lantash had saved his life - that did not seem like something the Goa'uld would do. Besides, if they were Goa'uld, and one of them badly in need of a host - would they not already have taken him? He took a deep breath and turned to look at Jena.
"I believe you. If you truly were the same as Nephthys, then you would not waste time trying to convince me to volunteer..." he turned back to Lantash. "I...I offer myself as your...your host...now, what do I do?"
"Are you...certain of this?" Lantash managed to ask.
"Yes...yes, I am certain."
"Then...kiss me."
Atli was surprised for a moment, then did as he was told, realising the symbiote would enter through the mouth. He felt something slide in past his lips, followed by a gagging sensation, and then a sharp pain in the back of his throat. Then everything went black.