"She is a lost one. She came to feed me. I knew who she was. I had to help. She would do the same for me."
"Thank you." Daniel took the small girls hand in his and kissed the back of her hand.
"She must be found now. I am weak. I must replenish my source. You need to sleep."
"I can't sleep until I know she's alright."
The little girl was yawning. "She will not be lost anymore."
Daniel didn't understand what the small girl was saying about Vala. He wanted to ask more, but she was fast asleep. He looked to Vala and hugged her to him.
"I promise Vala. I promise to let nothing happen to you ever again." Daniel just continued to hold her close.
The second in command was walking into Kraco's quarters to report his findings. He knew Kraco was not a man patient with bad news, and he had bad news.
"You have the girl and Quetesh?" Asked Kraco coldly.
"No Commander, but a ship is missing. I believe the prisoners are on board that ship. The guards have been dealt with; permanently. I have your ship ready and waiting to follow. Also and Ori ship is sending a transmission on a certain cargo."
Kraco now had to protect his reputation. An Ori ship was going to reward him for capturing Quetesh and now he had nothing.
"I will speak with the ship. Have my ship ready to go as soon as I finish this transaction."
The second left, appreciating the interruption. This gave Kraco a distraction in his opinion, than killing his men.
Kraco prepared to answer. "This is the Orici. Prepare to transfer your prisoner and I will gladly transfer your compensation. This will complete our transaction as agreed."
"There has been a change in plans Orici. There is another bidder. It seems your prisoner is part of an elite organization that wants them more than you do.'
"How dare you break our agreement. You will pay for your treachery."
Kraco half smiled at the Orici's threat. He immediately left for his ship and launched. His second was there to command the ship."
"We are attempting to locate the ship now Commander. They will not get far."
"Make sure we find them. There is a……………….
As Kraco was communicating with his ships, he received a frantic transmission from his base planet that they were being attacked and then nothing.
"Get them back on the screen. Who's attacking?" Kraco was calm, but his second could see his commander seething.
"Sir, from my readings. The base has been obliterated. There………there's nothing left."
Kraco was in a dangerous dead calm. "By whom?"
"The Ori ship Commander."
The second saw the most terrifying look he had ever seen on Kraco's face. Kraco sat back down in his chair, while his crew watched to see his reaction. Now Kraco had a new reason to find Quetesh and the small girl. Vala had cost him a large amount of his men, ships, base and now his patience. Kraco wanted to make no mistake that he was in Command and out for blood. This host had cost him dearly and it was no mistake who he had blamed.
Kraco stood up from his command chair. Walked towards the screen and turned slowly towards his second. His second saw the coldest stare he had ever seen from his commander. It ran a cold chill down his spine. He had only seen that look one other time. Torturing Quetesh and now.
"100 thousand Crenda's for the capture of the snake Quetesh, and the girl. The other prisoners……….kill them."
STOLEN SLAVER SHIP
Sam was working on communications, while Teal'c worked on keeping the slaver ship hidden. Mitchell kept an eye on Daniel, Vala and Takia; especially Vala. Mitchell was grateful for the small mysterious girls help. But he knew his team was worried about Vala's condition. He noticed Daniel had tried to wake Vala and she still had not responded. After everything she went through, he wanted badly to see this quirky woman open her eyes and say something, as Vala would put it; Wonko. Mitchell had come to appreciate Vala's enthusiasm, as he would put it and her zest for life in any given situation. Moral was always important in any outfit and certainly their missions were often dangerous and demoralizing. Mitchell thought about those moments he would sit for hours after a mission filling out endless reports, and Vala would pop in and plop down on in a chair in his office, munching on blue Jell-O and start talking about all sort of things. Whether he was listening or not, Vala made the time pleasant and less stressful. From then on, Vala was his box of lucky charms. Mitchell knelt down next to Daniel.
"How's our Princess doing?"
"She's still out. I can't wake her. We need to get help for her soon Cam."
"I know buddy. Working on it."
"How's the girl?"
"Tired, I think. She keeps saying Vala is a lost one. I didn't have a chance to question her."
"Well, this little lady sure saved us. I'm going to check with Sam and see how she's doing with communications. Hang in there Jackson. We'll get help."
Mitchell put his hand on Vala's forehead. "Hurry up Princess and come back to us. We miss you."
Daniel appreciated the sentiment behind Mitchell's words, as he left. Taika was yawning and waking up. Daniel wanted to ask more questions about Taika's earlier remarks about Vala. He thought maybe it would help Vala in some way. Help him understand why this had to happen to Vala at all.
"She is still sleeping" Asked Taika.
"I…I'm afraid for her. She didn't deserve this. She's been thru so much. Why did this have to happen to her?"
"My people once thought that our weapons solidified our future. Instead; it only excelled our death."
"We evolved, by using our gifts for destruction and gain, instead of insuring our gifts for future generations."
Daniel was trying to keep Vala warm, while intrigued about Taika's people. "What has Vala have to do with your people?"
"Nothing and everything."
Daniel was confused and a bit frustrated at Taika's answer. He was already stressed. He was the one that figured out the riddles of ancient text and now it was like pulling teeth to get a straight answer.
"Do you know of the Alterans and of Origin?" Asked Taika.
Daniel started holding on to Vala unconsciously at the mention of Origin.
"Yes; up close and personal. The Alterans are the Ancients." Said Daniel. "But I'm curious. You barely look old enough to know about their existence."
"I am not what I seem. Always there are those who see only what is outside, not what is inside. I am the same as the Alterans, but young as Origin. We have known of the war between such powerful beings since its conception over Millennia. The Origin had commissioned our weapons to fight, they said, against evil amongst the Alterans. We were deceived by Origin. The Alterans were of a great and peaceful race. When we refused to make any weapons for Origin, they betrayed us and tried to punish us, by introducing a virus among our people. The Alterans tried to save us, but only a few survived. They helped us to evolve the virus into a smaller weapon to help defeat Origin. But our race was weak from the virus and our weapons were only effective for a short period against Origin."
"Yes, we experienced these armbands and used them against the Gou'ald. They sapped our energy after using them."
"Yes, this was the one of the effects of the virus induced weapon. But the virus also harmed us in other ways. My people were no longer able procreate and I was the last child."
"I…….I'm sorry. We discovered the Atonieks died out, but it was a mystery, why." Said Daniel, feeling sympathetic towards the small girl.
"I am the last now and only have limited resources to regenerate such power. But, we were given hope by the Alterans. They said that there would be a bridge between the Alterans and Origin. There would be a child raised amongst the stars, that will be lost to her people and cursed at being found. That the lost child will have a child born of evil and a child born of good. The evil child will be destroyed by the good child. But the lost child must endure to the end. She would be a gift to the universe altered by the Alterans to protect her, for she would be part of the four great races and must endure such evil until she is saved."
TBC