“Italics” – Telepathic
communication and/or Symbiote – Host communication
Blood of My Heart, Beloved of my Soul
Chapter 12
Power in Her Own Right
SG1 was on base today after returning
from their anything but routine meet-and-greet two days ago. The Tok’Ra were expected tomorrow, although
it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they came early.
At mid-morning when the gate activated from off world, Sgt. Davis
expected the Tok’Ra IDC, but instead, Merdwin appeared along with a couple of
attendants each carrying what looked suspiciously like luggage.
Major Carter was in the control room,
so she headed down to greet him. They
had become friends over the few weeks Kataya had been with the SGC.
Merdwin smiled at her as he came down
the ramp, “Ah, the beautiful and glorious Major Carter. How are you, my dear?” He asked in his usual way as he took her hand
and gallantly placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
Sam was immediately aware that
something was wrong. On the surface, he
was his usual urbane, charming and teasing self. It took her a moment to realize what was
different. The heart-stopping smile he
sent her way never reached his eyes, which weren’t glowing with their usual
glinting laughter. Something was
definitely wrong, but he obviously wasn’t going to bring it up yet; also
suspicious was that Merdwin never brought luggage. This time it looked like he planned a long
stay.
Shrugging her shoulders mentally, Sam
played along, “Merdwin, it’s a pleasure to see you. The most sought after man in the universe and
I get you to myself for all of a minute and a half.” She turned as Jack, Daniel and Teal’c came
through the door into the gate room.
“You see? It’s no wonder I can’t seduce you. You always have chaperones and you’re much
too popular.”
Merdwin sent her an amused look before
turning to the three men. “Good morning,
Gentlemen,” He greeted them with a slight bow as was his custom, and an
outstretched hand; the normal handshake of the Tau’ri had been added to his
list of greetings. His manners, as
always, were impeccable.
Once the mundane greetings were over,
Jack was the first to ask the burning question in their minds, “So, Mer, what
brings you here?”
“I have brought some news, but first I
need to speak to Kataya. She does not
appear to be with you. Do any of you
know where she is?”
“I left her talking to her father,” Sam
replied.
Merdwin winced and a rueful smiled
touched his lips as he shook his head.
“Then I am afraid we are in for a severe storm. We should go to her chamber and perhaps we
should hurry.” He turned to the
attendants and said, “Place my things over there and then go up to Sgt. Davis
and he will send you back. Thank you for
your help.” Turning to Sam, he asked,
“Shall we go?”
Picking up the urgency in his voice,
Sam quickly said, “All right.” The group
set off down the hall at a fast pace.
In Kataya’s quarters, she was talking
to her father.
“I am glad you contacted
me, my daughter, for I was about to contact you. I have had word that one of the System Lords
in your sector is planning an attack on both the Tau’ri and the Tok’Ra. It is a very serious situation. You must contact the Tok’Ra, and inform them
that a spy among them has given their base coordinates to one of the System
Lords. As we now understand the plan,
they intend to attack first the Tok’Ra and then the Tau’ri.”
“Our people know that the
fleet will be ready in ten to twelve of your earth weeks. Spates of small problems are slowing things,
but that will not put a stop to the overall plan. Our people will do all they can to continue
to slow their progress. Our agent there
has discovered that the main part of the fleet is being hidden on another
planet, and she has no way to see it for herself. I have sent her a partner who may be able to
get closer to the Lord in question.”
Her father was being evasive. “Which
System Lord are we talking about?” She queried bluntly. She felt the deep sigh and the worry he was
trying to hold in.
“I am sorry. It is Bastet.” His reply was quietly sympathetic.
“I see,”
she replied, as her anger raced towards him.
“Try to control your
anger.” He counseled
her.
“I will try. She must be stopped this time.” Her reply was the expected one.
“I agree. Merdwin is on his way. He will be staying until you no longer need
him. He has all of the relevant
information. Kataya, I have returned
Merdwin to active duty. You work well
together, and you can achieve this, hopefully, without loss of human or Tok’Ra
life”</i.> He
knew his daughter would accept Merdwin’s knowledge and abilities.
“If all else fails, you
will send the Tok’Ra to Avilion until the threat has been taken care of. There are too many Tau’ri to move, so we must
stop the threat before it reaches them.”<i/>
“I understand. I will not fail in this, you have my word as
a Warrior,” Came her prompt
reply.
She could feel his pride and belief in
her abilities across the light years.
Her father paused as if having trouble saying the next words.
“Kataya, because of the
threat she has become to the Tok’Ra and the Tau’ri, the Council of the Table
have met, and they have given special dispensation to you, Merdwin, and any
other Katteri-enti Warrior that becomes involved in her death. Your orders are to destroy her at all costs. There will be no inquiry, no questions
asked. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sire,” The Katteri-enti Warrior replied. “My
assignment is to assassinate Bastet in any way that I can. It will be done.” The Order brought out
the Katteri-enti manifestation in its physical form. She smiled and her incisors showed. The smile was purely feral, cold, and joyful…”It will be my pleasure, Sire,” Her
answer winged its way to him, and he could feel the cold, ruthless
determination and icy implacability behind her answer.
Artereos knew his daughter well. “You
will be careful, and you will use every resource that we can have made available
to you. Is it understood?”
She growled low in her throat. “It
is. I will not fail in this, my father.”
“I will be keeping in
contact with both Merdwin and you. Any
changes that we hear of will be passed along immediately.” He hesitated and then finally
spoke.
“Kataya, I saw both the
Blood Dragon and the Fire Dragon in the Mirror.
There is much emotional as well as physical turmoil and strife around
you; be careful. I believe the Fire
Dragon indicates that all will end well, but the Blood Dragon indicates a
fierce battle, both in war and in a battle of wills. Bastet will want revenge on you as much as
you do on her.” Her
father was obviously concerned about what he was seeing.
“I, too, have seen this,
my father. However, when I look, I also
see the Star Dragon. There is more here
perhaps than we at first believed. I
believe we will be victorious, but the battle will be fierce. I thank you for sending me Merdwin. The Tau’ri also will be proven to be
formidable warriors.” She felt his relief.
“That is welcome news,
Kataya. I have not looked into the
mirror for several days, but I will do so now, for if I too begin to see the
Star Dragon, then you are correct, and there is indeed more here than I first
perceived. It is possible that the Time
is upon us, and your training will now find its fulfillment. If both the Fire and the Star Dragon are in
your mirror, then we must hope nothing happens to change the portend and in the
end all will be well. I will talk to you
later, my daughter, for I must think on this news.” She could feel his love surround her.
“Goodnight.” She felt him smile as she returned his
love.
As soon as the link between her father
and herself was severed, Kataya released the anger she had been keeping so
tightly leashed. The scream that left
her throat was pure animal rage. It was
the scream of an infuriated cat.
It could be plainly heard in the
hall. The marine walking by stopped with
one foot in the air and look apprehensively at the door, as if expecting to be
suddenly attacked by a savage beast. He
didn’t know if he should move, but, escape being the better part of valor in
this instance, he was soon gone from sight.
As a group approached the door from the
opposite direction, Merdwin’s smile was laconic and his voice terse, “Well,
that answers that question. I’d say that
Artereos told her.” He rubbed the back
of his neck as he stood contemplating the door.
Low growls and enraged hisses could still be heard, but at least there
had only been the one scream. There was
however, the periodic sound of shattering glass.
Daniel said quietly, “I’ll go.” He opened the door, stepped inside, and
closed the door on the four people in the hall.
Merdwin nodded his head, but did not
offer to join him. Sam turned large
startled eyes on him, “Merdwin, she isn’t answering her link. Shouldn’t we go in there?”
Merdwin shook his head, “No, she will
calm down quickly. Daniel will probably
be the safest of all of us right now.
She won’t harm him.”
Jack looked at him in astonishment,
“What do you mean? The safest? From what?”
“From an enraged Katteri-enti Warrior,
Colonel O’Neill. I believe that Daniel
will be safe. The only others I would trust
with her at this moment would be myself, only because I am more powerful than
she, and Major Carter, because she is her apprentice.”
“When she calms, we will need to call a
briefing with General Hammond. Artereos
has sent me to help until the situation is resolved. We will also need to contact the Tok’Ra
unless they are already on their way. I
am going to spend a few minutes with Janet.
It will not take Kataya long to cool down once Daniel takes her in
hand.”
Jack choked, “You’re going to just stand
there and let Daniel, - we are
talking about our Daniel here, - go in there and confront
a Katteri-enti Warrior without any defenses?
Are you nuts? She’ll rip him to
shreds. I’m going in there.” With that, he jerked the door open and stood
with his mouth open. He didn’t see the
enraged Kat and damaged Daniel he expected to see. What he saw was Kat locked in one of the most
passionate embraces he’d ever seen outside of the movies. He turned on his heel and shut the door.
“I did tell you that Daniel was the
best one to handle this, Colonel,” Merdwin pointed out.
Jack sounded dazed, “Didn’t I just hear
growling and hissing and things being broken in there a minute ago?” He asked incredulously.
“You did, O’Neill. I, too, heard them. Perhaps Merdwin could explain,” Teal’c raised
his eyebrow at Merdwin in a demanding, questioning gesture.
Merdwin sighed. His love was here too, but evidently, this
would have to be taken care of before he could get to her. Kataya would owe him for this, he decided.
“I can only speculate. But, if you insist that I do that, then I
would say that Daniel…”
Sam broke into his statement, “Daniel
walked into the room, pulled her into his arms and proceeded to, ah, calm her,”
Sam grinned. “Works every time. Well,” she added truthfully, “Almost every
time.” She took off down the hall
whistling under her breath.
The three men stood looking after her
with identical blank expressions on their faces. It didn’t take them long to gather their wits
and leave, too. Merdwin to Janet, and
Teal’c and Jack to the gym. Sword
practice sounded good right now.
Inside the room, Kataya was being held
close to Daniel’s heart as he stroked her hair and whispered words of
love. Sam was almost correct in her
assumption, but not even the Kat’s lover approached her recklessly. It had been a few tense moments until she had
realized it was Daniel. Then she had
thrown herself into his arms in a storm of angry weeping. Her incoherent mutterings into his shirtfront
finally caused Daniel to become less sympathetic and more demanding.
“I’m sure that whatever you are telling me, love, is extremely interesting and important, but not only can I not hear you, you are ruining my shirt.” Kataya choked back a laugh and hiccupped a time or two as she sniffed, calming down. Holding her with one arm, Daniel maneuvered her towards the bed where, not only would they be more comfortable, but he could also reach the box of tissues. He managed to snag some as he gently pushed her down onto the side of the bed.
“Here.
Now suppose you tell me what brought such destructive anger to the
surface? You are usually so cool
headed,” He chided her gently.
Kataya looked at Daniel. He was correct, of course. This was very unlike her. It did happen, but it was rare. By morning, this raging white-hot anger would
transform into the coldly calculating implacable hatred it usually was. In turn, that would change until she became
the cold-blooded killer he disliked the most.
She sighed. How was she to tell this man she loved so
much, that her anger was over the death of her lover’s host, whom she had
loved, and the near death of his symbiote, whom she had loved so
passionately. She looked into his eyes. Was this Daniel still the same understanding
person he had been through so many lifetimes?
Sam seemed to think he was. She
would soon find out. She got up from the
bed and softly touched Daniel’s cheek.
He looked so worried; she smiled at him briefly.
“I am going to wash my face and then
clean up this room. Then, Daniel, I
think they are waiting for us for a briefing.
It is very important to the Tau’ri and the Tok’Ra. After that, I think that perhaps the time has
come for our talk. Much has happened to
me in the time you have been gone, my love,” She smiled sadly at him and went
into the bathroom.
Daniel proceeded to clean up the broken
glass and prepare himself for what he would hear later that evening. He instinctively knew it would cause him some
emotional pain, but he hoped it wasn’t something he wouldn’t be able to live
with. He caught his breath. Had she found another? No.
She was his for all eternity. He
knew that instinctively. Kataya came out
of the bathroom and looked at the room, “I would have cleaned up my own mess,
Daniel. I made it after all.”
“I didn’t mind. Kataya, I have to know now. I don’t think I can wait until later.” He drew a ragged breath, “Are you joined with
someone? A Soulmate? Did I wait too long to come to you this
time?”
Kataya was in a quandary. How did she answer this? Finally, she decided on a compromise, “No,
Daniel, I have not joined with a Soulmate.
How could I? My Soulmate is my
mate for eternity unless he chooses to part from me. You know this.”
“You have the same choice, Kataya. You could choose to part.” Daniel waited half-afraid of her answer. He need not have worried.
“That has not happened in millennia,
Daniel. It will not happen now either.”
He nodded, “We should go.” He stopped and looked searchingly at
her. “Kataya, will you stay with me
tonight?” Her answer was important. It would tell him what he needed to
know.
Kataya looked at him for a long moment,
as if seeking an answer in his eyes. She
must have found what she needed because she said, “Yes, Daniel. I will stay with you tonight.”
Daniel nodded, relieved. It would be all right.
They left the room together and decided
the fastest way to let everyone know they were ready to start, was to announce
a briefing for SG1.
“Sergeant Davis?” Kataya searched for him.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m here.”
“Would you please
announce that there is a briefing for SG1 in the conference room in ten
minutes?” She asked
him.
“Yes, ma’am, I can do
that.” Kataya smiled at him and he smiled in
return. He liked this alien, who was
invariably polite and appreciative of little things done for her.
“Thank you very much, Sergeant,” She replied before closing the
link.
She and Daniel went straight
there. It didn’t take long for everyone
to turn up. Merdwin and General Hammond
were the last to arrive.
Merdwin’s gaze went straight to
Kataya. He was palpably relieved. She had her emotions under control
again. She was not a mercurial person,
given to bouts of anger or emotional outbursts, by nature. She could however, be one of the most coldly calculating,
logical, and deadly people he knew when the situation demanded it. She was definitely her father’s daughter.
Merdwin knew only two things could
cause one of those emotional outbursts.
Unfortunately, those two things were irrevocably entwined. One was Bastet. The other the death of Dominic, host of
Kataya’s Tok’Ra lover.
He knew she had vowed Katteri-enti
revenge on Bastet if their paths ever crossed again. Now it looked like they would.
General Hammond greeted everyone as he
entered the room. “Merdwin, I understand
that Artereos has sent you to deliver some information important to the SGC?”
“Actually, General, I have been placed
on active duty and assigned to Earth until the situation has been
resolved.” The room was completely
silent. They had come to know this man
and Kataya well enough to know his status on his world. Even if Kataya had not told Major Carter
about him, it was evident that, under his dilettante façade, he was a very
powerful man. The fact that he had been
assigned to them told its own story, and it was a very disturbing one. He would not have been sent to them unless
the situation was very serious indeed.
“What situation are we talking about,
Lord Merdwin?” General Hammond slowly
asked as the implications continued to set in.
“General, there is a System Lord in the
process of readying a fleet to attack both the Tok’Ra and Earth. Our agents estimate that she will be ready to
launch her attacks in ten to twelve of your weeks if they are unable to delay
the fleet.”
“Therefore it is imperative that if the Tok’Ra do not come tomorrow as scheduled, that we contact them to send someone else. The information we have obtained is too important to them as well as to us, to delay in telling them. It must be someone you trust explicitly. I am afraid that we have proof of a spy in their ranks who is funneling information to the System Lord involved.”
“Who is the System Lord involved?” Jack questioned, his curiosity coming into
play. “Is it one we’ve met?”
Kataya answered, releasing her breath
with a hiss. “It is Bastet, and I do not
believe you have come across her before,” she spit the name in a voice filled
with contempt and loathing.
“Why would she be after us then?”
“You have become close to the Tok’Ra
and for her that would be reason enough.”
Her anger coming to the fore, she faced Merdwin.
“She will not escape this time,
Merdwin. This has gone on too long. She is determined to wipe out the Tok’Ra and
now the Tau’ri. She will pay for
Dominic’s death and her vendetta against the Tok’Ra with her life. This I vowed as a Katteri-enti Warrior then
and I renew that vow now.” They heard a
low, feral sound from her. This was not
the Kataya they had come to know over the past few weeks. This was a coldly furious, enraged,
Katteri-enti spirit who had been given a quest.
It was obvious she meant to see to it that it was completed.
She turned to General Hammond, “We have
our orders, General. She is to be
eliminated. I promise you, she will be
destroyed before she has a chance to harm this world or the Tok’Ra. She will
die, and if at all possible it will be by my hand.” Her eyes flashed with lavender fire.
She turned back to Merdwin, “Father
said you had all of the relevant information.
You will give it to us now, please.”
She sat down and watched him intently.
Merdwin nodded his agreement, “As you
can see, there are packets of information in front of you. We will be adding to what we now have, so
please keep them. The Tok’Ra spy is named
Torleck. Bastet has gone to an
uninhabited world, moving everything she needs there. It seems there were some undiscovered
naquadah deposits, which made the planet a perfect place for her to hide her
activities. She is building a stronghold
and landing platforms. Because the
planet has long been considered worthless, no one knows she is there.”
“Not that her fellow System Lords would
care, unless they thought she was hiding from them in order to build a fleet to
attack them. The majority of her battle
fleet is located at another location, also an uninhabited planet, while she is
keeping a few of her ships patrolling in their usual fashion as a cover. Our agent has found out where the majority of
the fleet is, but is unable to go there.
We have sent an agent to infiltrate that site so we should have more
information shortly. This is Bastet’s
usual mode of operations when she is planning a large strike.”
“I assume,” Jack spoke up, “that the
other System Lords are being informed that she is hiding in order to build a
fleet that can attack them?”
“It has been attempted but,
unfortunately, it is well known that Bastet has long planned the destruction of
the Tok’Ra.” He watched Kataya carefully
as he spoke. “This is not her first
attempt to do so, although, it has been over a hundred years since she last
tried. By now, our agents have managed
to ensure that the other System Lords are aware of where she is and what she
might be planning. I am sure they are
keeping an eye on her.”
“What about the protected planets
treaty? Isn’t she afraid the Asgard will
retaliate? At the very least, the other
System Lords are compelled to turn on her if she breaks the treaty,” Daniel reminded
everyone.
“Unfortunately, by hiding from the
other System Lords, they can claim they knew nothing until it was too
late. It is in the treaty that they must
attack her, and they certainly will in a half-hearted way, but by then Earth
and the Tok’Ra will be destroyed, so it will be a moot point. As you know, the Asgard are in no position to
send a fleet here. They will no doubt
retaliate after the fact, but that will not do anything for us now,” Merdwin
stated the unpalatable facts.
“We have sent a message to Thor, but we
have had no response from him. That is not
unusual if they are evacuating a world or in pitched battles themselves.”
“Has Lord Yu been informed,
Merdwin?” Kataya suddenly asked.
“Yes, but he is in a serious dispute
with Baal. We will not be able to get
help there in time.” Kataya nodded her
understanding.
“What does Yu have to do with
this? Like he’d help,” Jack said
sarcastically.
“If he was in a position to do so, he
would do as we ask, Colonel O’Neill. He
has a soft spot for us,” Merdwin said.
Jack knew there was a story there.
Maybe Mer could be convinced to tell it later.
General Hammond brought Jack’s
attention back to the discussion. “The
Tok’Ra will be here tomorrow. I see no
point in changing that. One day will not
make a difference, and since they are already scheduled to come here for a
meeting, there will be nothing to alert the spy that it has become more
important. He will not be suspicious of
a meeting put off for three weeks already.”
Sam spoke up, “As it stands now, we
have at least ten weeks to get our plans in place.”
“I don’t want to use the entire ten to
twelve weeks. I want a plan in place and
ready to execute long before her fleet is ready,” General Hammond replied and
then continued, “In fact, I want it in place within the next 8
weeks."
“I am confident that our people will
continue to slow her progress. General,
you also must inform your President as soon as we are finished here. We cannot make definitive plans until the Tok’Ra
arrive, but we can at least have a better idea of what we will have to work
with,” Merdwin reminded the General.
“Absolutely,” General Hammond
agreed. “I’ll call him as soon as the
meeting is over. I see no problem with
obtaining approval of whatever plan we draw up.”
“Merdwin, what of our fleet?” Kataya asked suddenly.
Merdwin shook his head, “Artereos has
said he will try to have at least one ship available for us as a lot can happen
in eight weeks, but for now they are fully engaged in the Collilium and
Morovian sectors. There has been heavy
fighting there recently, particularly in Cardwellan.” Kataya’s head jerked up from her study of the
papers in the report and her gaze pinned Merdwin.
“What are you not telling me?” She asked, tersely.
He sighed deeply, “I will tell you the
particulars later. They are both all
right, Kataya.”
Kataya’s eyes narrowed as she looked at
him and she gave him a short curt nod of agreement.
She straightened and said somewhat more
grimly, “So, you are telling me our fleet is in no position to help
either.” Merdwin nodded just as bleakly. “So it will be infiltration and pitched
battle. Katteri-enti killing. You are powerful, Merdwin, but even you
cannot take on an entire
Merdwin laughed shortly. “Neither can you and I together, Kataya, which
is why Artereos is sending us a small group of hand-picked Warriors as soon as
our plans are laid.”
Merdwin turned to General Hammond, “We
will need both the Tau’ri and the Tok’Ra warriors. The plans will have to be carefully
laid. It will be a difficult and
dangerous mission, but it can be done. I
have every confidence in your soldiers and mine.” He cleared his throat and seemed at a loss
for a moment, although it was clear he had something to say. “General, once we have a definite plan of
action, it would be best if all of the warriors who will be taking part were
here together, unless you wish us to launch the attack from Cadwaellon?”
General Hammond frowned. “I can’t let so many of my people leave this
facility at once, so the other soldiers will have to come here. Could I ask why you think it necessary, so
far in advance?”
“We will understand if you cannot
accommodate them, General, but my reasoning for wanting them together is so
that they can drill and practice together.
I imagine we will try to have at least one Katteri on each team. We need to teach the soldiers who are going
how to link. There are multitudes of
reasons. The most important one being
that these units will need to be perfect together and that will not happen if
they are all on different planets until the day of the battle.”
“You are correct, of course. We have areas we can convert to barracks
unless your people each need their own room?
We can partition around each sleeping area with screens.”
“That will be fine, General. Once the Tok’Ra arrive, we will also need to
begin having some tactical briefings. I
strongly suggest that Kataya be a part of that group. She is one of our best tacticians and she has
dealt with Bastet before.”
“I have no problem with those suggestions,
Lord Merdwin.” The General responded.
“I believe that is all we, that is
Kataya and myself, can do for today.
You, I know, will have superiors you will need to contact and decisions
you will have to make as to which troops you can spare for this.”
“If you do not mind, I am returning
home with Janet this evening. I will be
in contact with Artereos later tonight.
We are expecting some detailed plans of the stronghold within the next
few days. There are two duties I need to
perform here, for Artereos, if that is permissible.”
General Hammond nodded his
agreement.
Merdwin picked up a long oblong box,
which had been resting under the table, evidently since he had arrived at the
SGC. He opened it to reveal a
beautifully worked, gold sword. On the
blade was an inscription.
On one side, it read: To Samantha of
the Tau’ri… Onewellwyn Avilionium Sanctisorium wyn Tau’riellon, …….Alphellyn, Omegellyn,
Universium …….unisillium Maestllyn allaewon wyn Universium. Artereos, Lord of Cadwaellon, & Kataya
the Warrior
On the other side was the translated
version: To Samantha of the Tau’ri…I am one with Avilion, the Sanctuary. Tau’ri, I come to thee. You, the universe, are the beginning and the
end. I would join with thee, transforming
into a Master of the All, at one with the Universe. Artereos, Lord of Cadwaellon & Kataya the
Warrior. There is no darkness where the
light of the universe shines.
Merdwin brought the sword to Sam,
“Major Carter, please accept this gift, from Artereos and Kataya. It has been made specifically for you at
Kataya’s request.”
As Sam reached out and took the sword
in her hand, it began to glow. Kataya
smiled and Merdwin turned to her, “You were right, my dear, she definitely has
power in her own right.” He turned back
to Sam, “If you will bring your circlet and your sword to me, I will calibrate
them whenever you wish.
Congratulations.”
Sam stood holding the sword and looking
from Merdwin to Kataya, “I – I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful. Thank you so much.” She took it in her hand and swung it in a
graceful arc and the light danced around her and it.
“Merdwin and I will start working with
you and the sword soon, Sam. I am glad
you like it, but, um, you might want to put it away for now. You have a lot of energy resources, you know,
and until you are trained you could hurt someone,” Kataya smiled at her and
Merdwin passed her the case. She put it
away to some sighs of relief.
Merdwin then turned to Kataya as he
took a clasp from a case he’d had in his pocket. Walking to Kataya, he said, “It is a great
honor for me to present to you this clasp designating your promotion to the
Advisory Council of Artereos.” He
attached it to her belt next to the other one and kissed her cheek. “You are only the second Warrior to be
promoted while on active duty.
Congratulations, Kataya.”
Kataya smiled at him, “Thank you, very
much.” She returned his kiss and gently
touched the clasp. “It means a great
deal to me.”
Jack piped up with a question. “So, who was the other one?” He wanted to know.
“I was,” Merdwin answered.
Merdwin turned back to the General,
“That is all I have, General.” He waited
respectfully for General Hammond’s dismissal as if he was his superior officer.
General Hammond had to admire the man’s
sensitivity and diplomatic skills, which he had learned, no doubt, over
thousands of years of working with many alien races.
It was time to make that phone call,
“We’ll need to meet after I’ve talked to the President and the Tok’Ra get
here. I’ll know more by some time
tomorrow I’m sure, and we can start scheduling briefings then. For now, people, dismissed.”
As the group slowly filed out of the
room Kataya stood still, lost in thought.
She looked troubled. Merdwin
approached her.
“Do you wish for the information here,
or in your chamber, Kataya?” He asked
her.
“I believe here would be fine.” Daniel, who was standing beside her, felt her
reach for and clasp his hand.
Merdwin nodded, and began to tell her what
he knew, “I am sorry. Taesha was taken
prisoner. We retrieved her, but she was
hurt. She’s at Avilion and doing
well. I promise you, Kat. She will be back on active duty very soon. Long before the start of this mission. Gwennetha is with her. We only found out today. I would not have kept the information from
you, although she did not want you to know.
Artereos is furious, as you can imagine.”
He paused for a moment, and then
continued, “It will be your duty to knight two of the Warriors …Lanwin and
Taesha. They have volunteered for this
assignment, and they will be given their rank by their mother, here at the
Tau’ri before we enter the battle, Kataya.”
He smiled once more into her eyes,
knowing what this would mean to her.
“Gwennetha has also volunteered and will be back on active duty here at
the Tau’ri. With the addition of the
Tau’ri and the Tok’Ra, we will have a formidable Special Force, and I believe
we will emerge victorious. However, it
will need to be a joint effort. I do not
believe that any of us could succeed without the other in this endeavor.” He stated his belief with calm certainty.
Kataya indicated her agreement, and
added, “The Tau’ri are excellent warriors.
The Tok’Ra’s specialty is working from within, but they, also, can be
extremely competent and reliable warriors when the need arises.” He nodded and turned to leave when her voice
stopped him.
“Merdwin.”
“Yes?”
“The mirror,” she began.
“I know. I have seen it, also. The Blood, the Fire, and the Star. And you?”
“Yes.
All three,” she admitted, then added, “So far Artereos only sees two.”
Merdwin paused, and then said, “I
believe he will see them soon. You
joined Samantha to the universe, did you not?”
“Yes.
You think that will change what Artereos sees?” She asked him anxiously.
“I do.
I believe he will now see as we do.
It was inevitable that it would come to pass. We will know for sure soon. There will be much blood shed before the
beast is conquered,” He said.
Then, he smiled, “Vengeance shall be
yours, Kataya. It has been promised, and
the light of the universe has shown it to be truth.”
She nodded slowly, then answered, “And
the blood of the dragons shall be shed upon the soil, and from the fire, we
shall rise again and shine.”
“Yes,” he said, and then giving them a
short bow, he turned and left the room.
Kataya turned to Daniel and said, “We
should talk. I think you should come to
my quarters. There are things you need
to know.”
TBC