Chapter 79 - Initiative
If Vala was more surprised than Sam at the Doriens' reaction, the difference was negligible. They'd both been expecting something separate, but what they received was simultaneously impressive and anti-climactic. Vala had feared revulsion, Sam hesitation and discomfort. The Doriens had given indifference and a tone that said "Oh, were we not supposed to know all that?"
Despite the changes in Vala's appearance, it was made very clear that they remembered who had controlled her, and who was now gone. And for the most part they were openly congratulatory of her good fortune. More than a few had deduced just what the Goa'uld were, after the short explanation needed to foment rebellion against the "false gods", and the terror of what might happen gave them nearly a sense of awe about Vala's survival.
If Sam and Jolinar's "honeymoon" had restored their spirits to full again, this did the same for Vala. She beamed at the world, bright and open and wanting to love everything. The children, with their easily-forgotten and easily-readjusted memories, gave her a starting point where she was totally welcome. Sam watched her play as if one of them, and asked Jolinar what the likely age of Vala's implantation was. Jolinar couldn't know, however.
"Shall I stay here a couple days, then?" Vala asked when she returned later, face flushed after a running game with the Dorien children.
"You can stay forever if you wish," Jolinar offered.
But Vala shook her head shortly. "I still want Earth, where there will be so many who do not know of all this."
Sam and Jolinar understood, and after trying to apologize many times to people who considered it an unnecessary step, they finally just settled down and enjoyed the feel of victory for a couple days. They would have a tough diplomatic road ahead of them on Earth, and every bit of strength was valuable.
ooooooo
"No more speculation," Jack sighed, holding up the note to them all, in a diplomatic fashion that looked hopelessly unlike the Jack O'Neill Daniel was used to. Given the circumstances, however, he could hardly look any better.
A couple days of recovery had done the team good, both physically and mentally. Seeing the base being put back together had been the only emotional upside, on the other hand, and this bit of news seemed ready to tear even that much down.
"We have two more weeks of funding," Jack said, cutting to the chase with a flat tone. "Time to wrap up any diplomatic proceedings, tell everyone we'll be on hiatus, and pull back all assets. Oh, and if we have any notion of fighting this, our only success would be in finding something on one of these last trips that is meaningful defense."
"We're shut down," Daniel summarized, and he felt a headache coming on.
"Overwhelming planetary risks," McKay read off Jack's note from two seats down. He fidgeted, as if about to object, but had nothing. Then, "And that's not even a backdoor, it's more like a loophole," he begrudged, dark circles still under his eyes as he indicated the last clause. "They probably didn't even think about the terms when they put it in."
"I wouldn't totally count us out yet," Dixon said stubbornly, arms crossed as he leaned back in his chair.
"MajorDixon is correct," Teal'c concurred, hands resting on each other on the table. "The tenacity of SG-1 may very likely pull us through still. We need only refuse surrender."
"It's not surrender," McKay amended, "it's fighting your way towards failure. The end's no different, you just use up a lot more energy."
"You get your dignity, though," Jack said in a low voice. His eyes were dark.
"Shall we start the last rites, then?" Daniel said with fake brightness. He had been used to being always fighting to hold on to the last bit possible; he had two weeks to become like that again, before he and Sha're and Shifu would have to face the rest of the world.
ooooooo
Sam, Jolinar and Vala made it back to the Tok'ra base after three days, and just in time.
"First Tok'ra mission," Jacob said brightly, clad in official Tok'ra garb and changing Sam's opinion of him. It would be simple, but change was change, especially active change.
Jolinar simply felt glad to see Selmak back in business. At that, Sam remembered that her father, too, would probably like a reconciliation with Earth. That just postponed their own mission a little further.
"Be back soon," Sam said. "I think we'll have some things to discuss."
Jacob's look told her that he understood, and he nodded and hugged them goodbye.
"Good luck," said Vala as they walked off, and Jacob turned and gave her a soft smile.
"This Earth business may be a little more complicated just from the start," Sam said, aloud for both Jolinar and Vala's benefit.
"I'm hungry," Vala said shortly.
Sam gave her a droll smile, and put a hand on her shoulder. "That is a very good idea. To the mess hall we go, then."
They needed took the entire meal time to get through the information, surprisingly. Vala's first question, how they had gotten Sha're back, had opened up too many possibilities.
"We can't just ask the Jaffa for a ship to carry us," Sam spoke her and Jolinar's thoughts aloud, for Vala's continual inclusion in the conversation. "That was a one time trick; they'll have defenses in place by now, and we wouldn't even get that far."
"But the only other way to a planet is through the gate," Vala said, popping a small fruit into her mouth and looking intense but not worried yet.
"And we've got an iris to deal with, yes," said Sam, leaning back and sipping hareshna slowly. "They've changed the GDO signals, but I wonder if I could hack through somehow." Then, blinking. "No, wait, I don't even have to do that. Radio travels through the gate, so I can just send a signal."
"But that would not get us through," objected Vala.
"That's where negotiation comes in," Sam said, even as Jolinar started to feel a little uneasy. "By now, I'm sure they'd trust me enough to let me through the gate, even if they have armed guards on the other side. The worst they can do is not let me through, since I know they wouldn't just keep the iris closed on me."
"You trust them that far?" Vala asked, giving her a close look.
"Yes," Sam answered, and it was perhaps a little more faith than usual, but in this case she felt they deserved it.
*I am willing to take any risk if you are,* Jolinar said.
"So, I just need to construct a radio," Sam thought out loud, tapping her finger on the edge of the table, "and find the right signal for the Earth radios to receive. Then I can focus on the message."
"And where will we send this message from?" Vala asked.
"For symmetry's sake, Abydos would be the right choice," Sam said and shrugged. "We need to accomplish four things here. First, the other Abydonians need to know that their kin are freed and living on Abydos again. Second, you need to be given asylum on Earth. Third, my father and I would like to connect again with the people we cared about. And fourth, some kind of agreement has to be reached about the Tok'ra/Earth relations. At the very least, they need to avoid damaging our operatives if they come across them."
"But first we create a radio," Vala clarified with a nod. "I do not know how that works."
"Oh that's simple," said Sam, feeling a surge of excitement at the idea of doing science again. "I'll talk to Reyfa and Dru'ri, and I'm sure we can get the right supplies."
Since Selmak and Jacob would be gone for the next three days, Sam had time to scavenge and assemble and calibrate. Vala proved more adept with small work than she had at the more physical defense exercises that Sam had introduced her to. She had a keen eye, and once her interest was captured, she stuck like a burr to whatever it was and let no setback get in her way.
That proved a blessing, given the complications. Tok'ra communications were nothing like shortwave radio, and though Dru'ri was familiar with the concept, the execution of it proved almost beyond her. Had Vala not been there to keep track of the busywork, Sam might have gotten lost in the need for explanations.
"This will go through the gate, yes, but I need to know that our radios will hear it," Sam said. "It's best to go with a frequency I know they use."
"With these supplies, it will require extensive testing to get accurate readings," Dru'ri warned, already tapping information into her data screen.
"We've still got time," Sam reminded.
By the time Selmak and Jacob returned, however, Sam had solid evidence to show them.
"This is an unconventional approach to beginning diplomacy," Selmak said, with a raised eyebrow. "So it is very much within your comfort zone, I believe."
Jolinar smiled at him. "And in the planet Earth's, from what I remember."
"So my host tells me," Selmak nodded. "I approve."
"Once it is finished, then," said Jolinar. She paused. "It is a shame that we may not wait for Martouf and Lantash as well. This is just as much their area as it is ours, and the connection is even personal."
"We do not need to push things so early," Selmak cautioned. "Remember their fear. Even with Sha're, there may be vestigial reactions of threat to a large presence."
Jolinar nodded. "We are confident of the current situation."
Selmak rested a hand on her shoulder. "This is a large step, but so are we."
ooooooo
"Look, so we've got another choice to make in all of this," Daniel said quietly, as the team assembled in a diner near to the base.
"What are we going to do about Earth's safety?" Jack guessed.
"Exactly," said Daniel.
McKay's eyebrows rose over the brim of his coffee cup. "Oh, that."
"There's a week left before the base is shut down, and we've got nothing yet," Daniel further elaborated, leaning on his elbows over the table. It wasn't the most secure place, but what he was bringing up would be disastrous if heard by SGC authorities. "We broke rules last time to save the planet, are we going to do it again?"
"I in any case will refuse to stay on this world," Teal'c said gravely.
"Oh, yes, about that," Daniel said, putting up his finger. "The report from Chulak."
The team and the SGC in general had been shocked to find not only Bra'tac, after a long absence in communication, but a fully functioning Free Jaffa society. And, as Bra'tac had proudly said, there were not only other planets like Chulak, but other planets with free humans as well, and they were allied under the moniker of the Free Peoples. For the moment their purpose was survival, but long-term goals of destroying the Goa'uld were well in place.
And, as they explained, they had reason to trust their abilities. It had been a final low blow to the SGC to hear of how the Tok'ra had aided the Free Peoples in defeating a Goa'uld who aspired to be a System Lord, releasing all the captured slaves in the process, and helping them in setting up a rival free empire. With Sam and Jolinar's help, no less, as Bra'tac said with a disapproving glance to the team.
Not that they'd had much of a doubt on that front, given Sha're's testimony, but with everything going downhill it just added to the bitterness. At the moment, though, it was important information.
"I will be joining my people if this base falls," Teal'c said stoutly.
"And we could leave the base, join the Free Peoples," Daniel offered. "Sha're could find her captured people among them, maybe. If nothing else, they are organized and fighting against the Goa'uld. If the SGC is shut down, they will be the main threat to the Goa'uld, so they'll be the front line."
Dixon hadn't said a word, frowning and staring at his section of the table. "I've got a family, Jackson," he said after a moment. "We have a life here."
McKay seemed about to say something, but held back.
Daniel swallowed. "Yes, yes I know that," he said quietly. "This would all be personal choice, of course. We'd—it wouldn't be easy for us, either, but especially not with breaking up the team. I can do it, I've got the means to help my family and fight the Goa'uld."
"I don't," Dixon said bluntly, brow creased but no conflict on his face.
"Don't worry about it," Jack said, slapping him hard on the back.
Daniel looked at him, wondered if he was thinking about Sara, about their growing connection. Would it matter enough? Was it possible that he might convince her to leave?
"I don't know what I'm going to do," McKay admitted.
"Just for the record, this sucks," Jack said, dark tone making his light words hold double weight.
"We've still got a week, nothing has to be settled yet," McKay said, sighing and sipping his coffee.
Daniel nodded, and then the waitress came by for their orders of food. At some point they'd have to fully commit to treason, leaving their world for the purpose of defending it, but against their orders. For the second time, well, third for Daniel, in less than five years. He wondered what that said about him, and about the universe that kept pressing the choice on him.
oooooooo
Sam had to face the Tok'ra Council yet, and negotiate just what she would be doing.
"It won't be like last time," she assured over and over again.
After all the recent breaches in protocol, the Council was less sure. "There will be no talk of alliances," Garshaw declared after an hour of negotiation. "This is purely for the sake of recon, to understand and explain how the Tauri relate to our structure."
Sam nodded slowly. "In the same fashion as our original dealings with the Free Peoples, then?"
Some of the Council raised eyebrows, but Garshaw nodded after a minute. "You may see it as such."
With that in place, Sam and Jolinar began to leave the Council chamber.
"Samantha, Jolinar," Garshaw called, following them down an exit corner.
Sam turned, surprised. "Yes?"
"I have not had a moment to speak with you since your decision to remain blended," Garshaw said, hands clasped in front of her. She eyed Sam closely. "I will tell you now that it was my hope that you do so from the beginning, despite your initial rejection."
Sam had no words, even as Jolinar started flicking back through their memories and wondering if she had suspected something like that.
"Though your joining with Jolinar has proved...distracting...at times," Garshaw continued, "it has proved beneficial overall. Not all the Council may agree with me, but your unique qualities in a host are what is needed, if our race is to prosper. Those of us, Selmak and I, who were there to see the first days of the Tok'ra, have a longer perspective than many of the children of Egeria. With that in mind, we at least are fully satisfied with your decision. And I am glad for your sake, Samantha, that you may have such triumphs as this looks to be."
"Thank you," said Sam, surprised by the words, but appreciating the straight-forwardness.
Garshaw looked at her once again from under hooded eyes, a glint of something there, then she gave a short smile and nod, and walked back to join the rest of the Council.
*She is right,* Jolinar said after a moment. *I believe our time together will be remembered by the Tok'ra, even once we are gone. Somehow, Samantha, even though you have pulled from them almost as much as I, we are more accepted by them because of you.*
~We really are a volatile combination, I think,~ Sam mused, feeling a little glow of pride for them both.
They stopped later that day at the infirmary, where Sam asked Larys about Vala's health and if she would need any treatments.
"No, her aging has been slowed as much as we can help, and beyond that her systems are recovered," Larys said.
"My other question is, if all goes well, she won't be coming back, so what should she take with her?" Sam continued.
"I am assuming that she does not wish to take Tok'ra garb with her," Larys said, frowning as he thought.
Sam nodded.
"I have two options, then," Larys said. He beckoned to Sam, and she followed him to another room. He reached down to a shelf, and pulled up folded BDUs.
Sam breathed out slowly, feeling nostalgia strike her sharply on seeing the old uniform.
"The full one was Jacob's when he came here," Larys explained. "The other jacket was yours."
*I had forgotten that,* Jolinar commented, as Sam reached out to brush her fingers over the worn green fabric.
"The jacket will work for Vala, as she's near to my size," Sam said with a nod. "And it will help her feel an automatic connection, I think. Can we make adjustments for the pants from my father's size to hers?"
"That will take only a few hours," said Larys nodding.
"Good, good," Sam said, smiling. She patted the Earth clothes. "It's hard to believe that I could give these up."
She and Jolinar had already decided, they would be going in the dark brown of the newer Tok'ra uniforms. Jolinar appreciated the smoother lines of the design, while Sam had a more visceral appreciation of the smell and feel of the leather. And as a representative, it would give a much better impression than any of Jolinar's other outfits, however comfortable Sam now felt in the elegant lines of some of the dresses.
Jacob and Selmak would be in the dark brown uniform as well, they found out upon coming to their quarters the next day. It would still be many hours before optimal time to contact the SGC, in Sam's judgment.
"Vala will be joining us shortly," Sam said, as she sat next to Jacob on a bench. "I think she's taking one last bath, after hearing what Earth showers are like."
Jacob smiled, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Have you ever considered what our experience has been?" he asked. "Both of us on our deathbeds, saved almost against our will, and we then choose of all things to go across the galaxy? All for the sake of these people we now love..."
Sam smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. Jolinar thought it sounded pretty much normal for being a Tok'ra, though slightly more poetic when he said it.
Vala walked up to them a couple hours later. Her hair was freshly done, pulled back in a neat bun that would have given her a sharp look had her eyes not been shining, mouth twitching as if ready for the first impulse to smile. The green BDUs fit snugly, and other than a pair of Tok'ra boots, she looked like any other human.
"Nervous?" Sam asked sitting up.
"New life is always nervous, but the good kind," Vala said, smiling with a bright flash of teeth as she sat next to them.
"After all we've done, I've no doubt that you'll pick up on everything just fine," Sam said, squeezing her hand. "We just need to convince them to let us in."
"Not to put any pressure on things, but this is your mission, it is your lead," said Selmak a few moments later.
Sam almost expected Jolinar to take control, but realized a few seconds later that this would not be the impression they wanted. It was almost confusing, after all the time away.
"Right," Sam said, and rose.
They took the radio they had made, had Shan'ak dial Abydos, and then waited for the wormhole to close. A few short words explaining to the Abydonians that they might be in contact with their kin within the day, and they were ready to roll.
Sam took a deep breath and, with Jolinar on edge at the back of her head, stepped forward to dial an address she thought she'd never dial again.
Earth.
ooooooo
"Unauthorized incoming wormhole?" Jack asked incredulously, as the alarm went off.
With only four days left of their probation before shut-down, and Hammond himself off base, this was no longer a moment of excitement. Still, the entire team gathered curiously in the control room, arms crossed.
"What do we have?" McKay asked Walter.
"No GDO," the gate tech answered. "But...something's coming through. I think it's a radio signal."
"Patch it through," Jack said, in charge in Hammond's absence.
A slight crackle, and then—
"This is Samantha and Jolinar of the Tok'ra, calling the SGC of Earth on a diplomatic mission. We wish to talk, and we come in peace. Please respond."
Daniel's stomach did flip-flops.
"We trust her now, right?" McKay asked, brow furrowed.
There was a pause. It hadn't ever been set in stone what the precedent would be, it was just assumed that there would never be an opportunity to put their opinions to the test. Now that there was only one shot at this, also, they couldn't postpone or wait or set another location.
Knowing her aid with Sha're, and with the Jaffa as well, made a lack of trust not an option. Especially not now.
"Have a team of marines standing by," Jack ordered. A few seconds later, the men rushed into the gateroom, guns at the ready.
"Wait," Daniel said, suddenly remembering Sha're. She should be here for this. They all carried radios now, and thankfully she had both heard the alarm and was standing nearby. Less than a minute later, she arrived in her work BDUs.
"Here goes nothing," Jack said, as they all stood at the bottom of the gate ramp. He called up to the control room. "Open the iris."
The bare blue wormhole appeared in front of them a moment later.
"This is Colonel O'Neill of the SGC," Jack said into his radio. "We acknowledge your request for diplomacy, and have lowered our iris. You are clear to enter."
Daniel felt strange, as if this was an odd bookend to the disaster that the Stargate Program was turning out to be. A random meeting at the end.
But then three figures walked through the gate, and the guns aimed but didn't fire, and they all stood and stared.
How could that possibly be Sam? Daniel's eyes were startled by the clean lines of dark leather in her uniform, long hair darker than he had ever seen it pulled back tightly. And when he looked up to her face, he had a hard time seeing Sam in it—the lines were deeper cut, her skin slightly darkened with tan, accentuating a long silver scar running down to her neck.
Daniel realized that they weren't the only ones whose situation had been flipped on its head—but he didn't know how to tell her that.
Jacob Carter was there behind her, in the same uniform, and he barely noticed the dark-haired woman in BDUs. What was he going to do about this Sam? Sam and Jolinar, as she said. How were they supposed to bridge the gap that had grown wider with how far they had both strayed from it?
The silence was awkward as they all just stood, faced one another, said nothing.
Suddenly Sha're darted forward and up the ramp, and threw her arms around Sam, a half-cry escaping her throat. "Sa'm!"
And then Sam embraced her tightly back, eyes squeezing shut for a moment, and the relieved smile on her face was Sam all the way. Despite the strangeness of seeing Sha're belonging here, and Sam belonging somewhere else, with grey-green and dark brown contrasting in their hug, it was the first step to reconciliation.
Daniel heard Sam give a little laugh, too emotional to be mirthful, but a laugh all the same. They all breathed out—Sam Carter was back in the SGC.