Chains of Gold
Chapter Four
Martouf prepared himself to return to the
recital of events as they had taken place during the poison incident, not an easy subject, at any time. “To
return to the subject, Anise finally became so concerned, as the substances
became ever more toxic, that unbeknownst to anyone, she began to build
detection devices, for the different poisons, and then to install them, all
over the lab. Therefore, when the poison
reached the lab, it set off one of her devices.
She realized which one it was when the alarm in the lab went off, and
she immediately announced throughout the tunnels which poison it was, and how
it would affect us. Of course, by then,
people were already collapsing in the tunnels.”
“A few of us started
insisting that anyone still walking carry an unconscious comrade to the gate,
otherwise we would not have managed to get as many as we did there. Many were able to get there, but collapsed
after they arrived at the gate. One
group of us continued to transport fallen Tok’Ra ourselves, once all of those
still walking had ringed out. We did our
best not to breathe when we were in the tunnels, but it is not possible to go
through all of them without breathing.
We did not even have simple hazmat suits, which the SGC used. They would have protected us enough to get
the others out. We must begin to think
of this type of equipment.”
“It also appears that
some symbiotes were more resistant to the poison than others. You were one of the most resistant. There was an entire group of us that were,
and they are doing tests to try to find out what is different in either us, or
you, that allowed us to continue to function, even after excessive exposure to
the poison. They figured out how much we
were exposed to, and we should have been completely unconscious within the
first hour. Instead, we did not become
unconscious at all. Our symbiotes awoke periodically, as well, whereas no one
else’s did. There also appears to be a
range of reactions from very sensitive to those of us like you and I. In fact, you and I were probably in the best
condition of all, but since we did not continue to go into the tunnels we can’t
know, if we would have continued to be, or if we would have been on average
with our general group.”
Martouf shook his head and smiled
wryly, “I’ve wandered off the line of
what happened again. Where was I? Anise? Yes, I believe
so. She said that we had to get out
because although the poison wouldn’t kill the host, the symbiote, if it died
inside the host, would, and that eventually, the host would be unable to
continue to filter the poison. If we got
out quickly enough, the hosts would be ill, possibly for quite some time, but
we would all survive. Then she succumbed
to the poison herself. Freya was still viable at that point and continued with
instructions, telling us that the symbiotes would become quite ill, and only
time would heal them. She told us that
the hosts could filter the poison, but the symbiote could not. She said that the hosts would be filtering
for the symbiotes, a total reversal from what normally occurred.”
“She advised an escape to
the Tau’ri, as their medical abilities were the closest that she, or Anise,
knew of, to what we would need. Hearing
that, we made sure we had our GDO, and we were thankful to have been in the
tunnels, while she was speaking.”
“You wished to continue
rescuing other Tok’Ra still in the tunnels, but I convinced you that we should
leave, while we could still stand, and be aware enough to tell someone what was
wrong, and what needed to be done. The
others agreed, since we were the most well-known to the Tau’ri that, indeed, we
should go. You finally agreed, and we
went to the Chaappa’ai, to find those still on their feet, arguing over where
to go. We did not stop to argue, but put
in Earth’s coordinates, sent the code, also indicating we were “coming in
hot”, and coded it as an emergency, it was accepted, and we instructed our
people still on their feet, to allow us a short time to relay information, and
to then begin sending our unconscious people through the event horizon.”
“One of our people that
could barely walk himself, knew he was about to become unconscious, so he
simply picked up the first body lying next to him and stepped through. We stepped through next and handed the one we
had picked up to a medic at once. Samantha
caught us, as our knees buckled, and once we were steady again, we began to
give General Hammond as concise and complete a report as possible. This was not the time to worry about need to
know, and base security. We had to tell
them what had happened and about the poisons.”
“They removed them, and
all information about them, immediately, by the way, so that they would not
fall into the wrong hands, while the base was unattended. In fact, General Hammond sent SG teams in to
keep guard, until we could get some of our own people there, and even then, I
believe that it was agreed that some on them would stay a while longer. Now, of course it is a permanent thing, but
it works differently. These soldiers
were for special duty, to be sure that no one accessed any of the data control
centers, or sensitive areas.”
“When Freya came through,
she tried to explain what she knew, and how we needed to be treated, but she
was too affected by the poison by then, having stayed to long in the tunnels
giving instructions to our people, and she passed out before she could
finish. Our own healers, the two left
standing, were beginning to discuss removing symbiotes, which they did, before
we remembered what Freya said about the host filtering the poison for the
symbiote. Luckily, Freya did bring her
data pad and had it clutched in her hand.
Once she knew what that
was, Samantha took it and ran with it to her lab. She and Daniel immediately began to decipher
it. Janet Fraiser was getting a better
idea of what was needed on the medical side, and organized all of the
infirmaries, and setup new ones so that we were all cared for as quickly,
efficiently, and kindly, as possible, in the circumstances. It is difficult to have several hundred
Tok’Ra suddenly thrust upon you. They
could not send us to the air force hospital, since we are truly aliens on their
world, a world that does not realize life exists beyond there own, regardless
how many believe it does.”
“Their organizational
skills are amazing. They had makeshift
infirmaries set up everywhere, almost immediately. Some of us even had individual rooms, even if
we did have to share our beds.” Martouf laughed at Lantash’s confusion. “We
were put into VIP rooms, which have one large bed. We indicated to them that we were quite
willing to share the sleeping areas, and they immediately took us up on our
offer. Space was at a premium. You and I shared Samantha’s quarters, along with
Daniel. Many of the unoccupied VIP rooms held extra cots, in addition to the
bed that was already there. Their VIP
rooms will hold several Tok’Ra, or so we have found.”
“Daniel, Colonel O’Neill,
Teal’c, in fact all of the non-mated officers and personnel that had quarters assigned
on the base, offered to give up their quarters, or share them with a
Tok’Ra. As I said, Daniel gave his up
completely, as did Colonel O’Neill and several others that have homes in
“General Hammond
organized a rescue party, and two hazmat units, to go to the tunnels to rescue
the remainder of our people, still trapped in them, and to begin clearing the
tunnels of the poison. That was done,
before most of us were even in the infirmary, Lantash. They had teams suited up and waiting for the
last of our people to be sent through.
As soon as they were, the SGC dialed out, and the teams went through to
get the rest of the Tok’Ra out. There is
no doubt in my mind, or anyone else’s, that if they had not, those symbiotes
and their hosts would have died.”
“As soon as those teams
were through the gate, he sent two teams to go to the council with the news of
the sabotage, feeling it would be better delivered in person, than by
radio. Those teams were also given
strict orders that under no circumstances were they to allow the Tok’Ra council
members to go back to the Tok’Ra base, until the SGC had been notified that the
tunnels had been cleared of all poison…while they brought in the rest of our
people. They were to use zat’ni’ktels,
if they had to, but they were not to allow the council members to endanger
themselves.”
“Not one of us perished,
Lantash. Not one, and it was all because
of the fast thinking and immediate response of the SGC. There was nothing put before a council, no
votes, nothing. General Hammond said, we
will do this, and it was done.
Period. End of discussion.”
“I was still able to
walk. Those who could did so. There were not that many of us, so we were
left until the last, and most of us were the ones that ended up in the VIP
rooms. It only made sense, as we at
least were able to care for ourselves somewhat.
When we arrived in the infirmary, we were led to some cots and handed a
gigantic glass of water, with ice, some small plastic cups with lids, a pen,
and a gallon jug of water.”
“I can only assume they
had found some information that led them to believe the poison would make you
thirsty?” Lantash sounded as confused as they had
all been when the nurses had given all of them their supplies, pointed out the
facilities, and then an opening in the wall where they were to set their
plastic cups. And we were to please not
forget to put our names and our symbiote’s names on them. Otherwise, they would not know whose was
whose, err, in English, please, and if we didn’t know the English spelling, Dr.
Jackson could help us, if one of them couldn’t.
Oh, and don’t wait to long to ask, because they would have to have him
paged, and it might take him a while to get there so, you know, just don’t wait
until we really needed to go. We had
looked at one another and given the Tok’Ra equivalent of a shrug. None of us had any idea of where it was we
might decide we wanted to go. Nor did we
know why we would want to put our names on the cups in English or otherwise so
we saw no reason to disturb Dr. Jackson.
Martouf smiled as he remembered the
Tok’Ra’s faces when they had finally understood what they were to do with the
water, the pen and the cups. It had been
a moment for Tok’Ra history, as they had looked at each other, as if still not
quite comprehending. No one had ever
asked them to do something like this.
Not only did they want them to do something like this, but then they
wanted the cup, with it in it, and their name on it. It was—odd and—well, odd. One of the Tok’Ra scientists asked for
clarification. The Tau’ri lab technician
had explained the process and what it would tell them. The scientist asked to be allowed to watch
some of the testing, and Janet agreed, understanding that they had no way to
comprehend what the Tau’ri were doing to us.
He said later that their method made
perfect sense, once he saw it being done.
It was somewhat laborious, but perfectly accurate, and they knew by
those two tests what was happening in the host and the symbiote. They were, he said, efficient and, for doing
what needed doing for this problem, amazingly good at it. There were ways they could be helped to bring
some of their methods more up to date that did not require naquadah
in the blood. He was going to see to it
that they learned about it. Perhaps it
was time to share a little more knowledge and less suspicion between them.
Realizing he had not yet answered
Lantash, Martouf said, “No, but they had
found out that as we, the host, would be filtering the poison out of you, it
would show up in two places, our urine and our blood. So, in order to encourage the filtering of
the poison from your system, we were to drink as much water as we could, take
our little cup to the, bathroom, is their word for the facilities, urinate in
the cup, be sure our name and our symbiote’s name was on it, in English, and
put it through the little door. Some
very diligent person on the other side, would then check it and chart it under
the correct name, so they would have an ongoing record to see how well, and how
quickly, we were filtering the poison.”
“They also stuck a needle
into a vein in our arm. They closed it
off, and then every thirty minutes, at first, and then at longer intervals, as
time passed, until now they only do it every few days, they would come and draw
a small tube of blood from it, and again, some diligent person, would see how well we were filtering for you. Primitive by some standards perhaps, but
extremely effective. Anise and Freya
were correct in their belief that the Tau’ri and their treatments were more
effective than any we would have devised.”
“I believe I glossed over
some very important things, so I wish to go back and tell you of them
now.”
Martouf gathered his thoughts and then
began his recollections, saying quietly, “When
I finally joined my fellow Tok’Ra in the infirmary, before the room situation
was sorted out, they told me that we were living a waking night-terror. The healers had removed many symbiotes
already, the worst possible thing they could have done, and they wanted to
continue to remove more, not believing the Tau’ri Doctors knew what they were
talking about. They had even gone so far
as to call the Tau’ri medical facilities and the personnel in it “primitive”. All of us who became witnesses to the drama’s
that played out in that room, were thankful that the Tau’ri put the remarks
down to stress and the poison, rather than taking offense as they would have
had the right to.” Martouf shuddered again.
“Regardless how primitive
their methods might appear to us, there is no doubt that our methods would have
failed, and many of us would have perished during the “poison incident”. I personally, will never consider their ways
primitive again. Perhaps they have not
made the advances we have made in the last two thousand years, but considering
where they started two thousand years ago, and where they are now, I would say
they have made the greatest gains in technology. I would also say, that their ways are different,
not primitive; they are uninformed, not stupid.
I have told many others the same thing and many agree with me.”
“The attitude to the
Tau’ri is much different than it was two months ago. There have been murmurings of the possibility
that there has been an active propaganda machine to keep our two races from
learning too much of one another and planting views that would cause
mistrust. It is being looked into. Once again, I have strayed to politics
instead of facts. I will try not to
digress further.”
“Therefore, I will return
to my recitation of the events that occurred the day of the “poison incident”. Samantha and Daniel had deciphered Anise and
Freya’s notes. All of the Tok’Ra sitting
by and watching so helplessly were very aware that those symbiotes that had
been removed would die, and nothing the Tau’ri healers could do would prevent
it. They, too, at that point, felt the
Tau’ri medical knowledge and facilities were simply too backward and primitive,
to be of any use.”
“It was obvious to all
that only if the Doctor could re-introduce them to the host could they be
saved, and they already knew what the Tau’ri thought about doing something like
that. They all knew that the Tau’ri would
allow them to die, before they reintroduced them to a human. Not only that, but many of the Tok’Ra
symbiotes were unconscious anyway, or so lethargic, as were their own, that
they were barely moving. They probably
could not blend, even if the Tau’ri would re-introduce them. That was the belief at that point; the
Doctors didn’t have the abilities, equipment or desire, and the symbiotes were
too close to death to reattach anyway.”
“At about the same time
that I was hearing these dark warnings and predictions, Dr. Fraiser became
immersed in a battle of wills with Per’sus directly in front of us. She told Per’sus that he had the IQ (I do not
think that any of us know for certain what that is, although we believe we do,
and I keep forgetting to ask) of an amoeba, and that if he wasn’t going to
help, by ordering the healers to stop removing the symbiotes from their hosts,
she’d have him, and his healers, zatted where they
stood. She had symbiotes to try to save,
who, thanks to him, would probably die because she was standing and arguing
with someone whose intelligence was on par with that of a banana slug, no make
that tree moss. Now, get the hell out of
her way.”
“Luckily, Per’sus waved
the healers away, just as Dr. Fraiser waved the Security Forces in, and then
one of the healer’s finally succumbed to her symbiote’s illness. Dr. Fraiser was heard to mutter, “Well, it’s
about time. I kept thinking she’d become unconscious over an hour ago. She’s finally down, Dan, get her into the bed
we have ready for her.” Martouf smiled, remembering the feisty little
auburn-haired Doctor, as she astounded Per’sus.
“Per’sus stood and stared
at her in amazement, blocking her path in the now crowded room, she attempted
to shove him, which did not work, he being so large, and she being so
small. In exasperation, she finally told
him to go, err, do something impossible to himself, and then waved the SF’s
over and had him forcibly moved to the side, so she could pass. It was not an auspicious beginning to their
relationship.”
“Not long after that,
there was a meeting of several of their doctors, nurses and Samantha. After some discussion and argument, Dr.
Fraiser held up her hand, pointed to several of the group, and Samantha.”
“Lantash, the healers
removed the symbiotes with nowhere to put them.
Only the quick thinking of the nurses in putting them in basins,
covering them with warm water, and leaving them with their hosts kept them
alive. By leaving them with their host,
they knew who belonged to whom. They
were getting weaker by the moment. Some
of the weaker ones were being carried by SGC personnel, being kept warm by body
heat and warm wet cloths. I believe that
they were stroking them to try to keep their failing circulation up as
well”.
“The host they approached
first was Ellia, and Dr. Fraiser talked to her,
obviously explaining something in detail.
The healers had removed Jortel first, so she
was the weakest of the symbiotes, at that time. Whatever they asked, she agreed
at once, and immediately moved to the movable bed they brought in. Someone injected something into the back of
her neck in several places, while Janet, ah, Dr. Fraiser that is, injected
something into the symbiote. They
watched it, and in a short while Samantha nodded and relaxed a little bit. Janet looked Ellia
over and was not happy with something and sent one of the medics out for
something else.”
“Shortly, another bed was
brought in and Ellia transferred once again. This bed had an open place for her face to
fit in, and the other one was removed.
Each time they moved her, she moved closer us. We realized they were about to attempt
something, and we all stood in order to watch, mesmerized by the drama going on
in front of us. We watched Dr. Fraiser
make an incision in the back of Ellia’s neck. It was a shock to us, Lantash, to see a large
deep slit opened in a host like that.
Samantha unwrapped Jortel, and laid her on Ellia’s back. Jortel did not move at all.
It was a very emotional moment for us, seeing her like that, unable to
move, probably dying.”
“We wondered how they
were going to get an unconscious symbiote into the body of a host, which was
obviously what they were going to attempt.
It was impossible. We muttered
among ourselves wondering why they were bothering to try to do what was so
clearly impossible. They were hurting
the host for nothing. Dr. Fraiser and
Samantha looked at each other and nodded once, as the Doctor was handed a
syringe filled with some type of fluid.
She took a hold of Jortel, and then carefully
inserted what appeared to be a long metal tube into her and began to depress a
plunger. The liquid slowly entered
her. Dr. Fraiser removed it from her
after about half of the liquid was introduced.
Samantha stroked her.”
“Suddenly, she began to
move, and they set her at the incision, encouraging her to enter. Samantha was bent close, whispering to her,
and in a moment, she lunged into the opening.
Ellia screamed and grasped the nurse’s
hands. We knew what that meant. Jortel had used no
numbing agent as she burrowed, she had simply torn through, sending out
filaments and attaching as quickly as possible.
To do it that way would have been very painful for the host. No doubt, Jortel
had been assured that Ellia agreed to it or she would
not have done it. Ellia
gasped out something, and the nurse sitting under the table talking with her
repeated the comment to Dr. Fraiser.”
“I remember the
conversation. The nurse said, /“She’s attached, Dr. Fraiser, but she
doesn’t think she can make it. She told Ellia that she simply doesn’t have the strength to finish
the blending and heal Ellia’s neck.”/”
“Doctor Fraiser answered
saying, /“Tell Jortel not to worry about healing the incision on her
neck. We can do that with a healing
device. All she has to do is get in and
blend well. We’ll do the rest. I’m going to give her another shot to give
her the strength she needs, as soon as she’s ready.”/”
“She responded, saying, /“She says do it now, before she loses
consciousness again, so she’ll know what she is supposed to do.”/”
/“All right. I’m injecting her now. I know it hurts her and I’m sorry.”/ “She apologized for hurting her,
Lantash. Saving her life and apologizing
for hurting her,” Martouf’s “voice” was husky with emotion.”
“Ellia
murmured to the nurse. The nurse told
Dr. Fraiser. /“She said Jortel
told her that she is grateful, for all you have done, do not worry about the
small amount of pain, at least she knows she is still alive.”/”
“A couple of minutes
later she completely disappeared into her host, and she even managed to heal
the neck wound. Then Ellia
told them, /“She is
fully blended, but is now unconscious. I
do not believe I will remain awake much longer myself, as I am fast succumbing
to the poison. I thank all of you for
helping us.”/
“/We’ll continue to help you both, Ellia, don’t worry about it. Let the sleep take you now, and we’ll watch
over you both./”
“/Yes, thank you./”
“We learned that the
Tau’ri don’t believe in the word impossible, until they’ve at least tried. It was another enlightening moment for the
Tok’Ra as a group as well as individuals.
You and I have seen it before in SG-1, Lantash. Now, we have seen that it is not a rarity,
but a human trait to at least try to see if it will work.”
“Once they knew it could
be done, they formed three teams to work on the symbiotes that had been
removed, the most ill being re-introduced first. None were lost, but it was close several
times, and one actually “died” but was pulled back to life by the Tau’ri. That was the ultimate turnaround for many of
the Tok’Ra. Not only did they not want a
symbiote to die,” Martouf
laughed softly, “they would not leave
them dead if they did die.”
“So the Tok’Ra from the
base that were less affected watched, as the Tau’ri that they believed were disgusted
and repelled by us, who would rather see us dead than alive, worked feverishly
to save many from death. They watched as
they fought the poison, and re-blended symbiotes with their hosts, that their
own healers had misguidedly removed. Not
for just a while, but for hours, because those symbiotes were near death. The medical staff, and others, hovered over
them constantly, for almost two entire days, before they were declared out of
danger. And so many, Lantash. Twenty-three.
There were twenty-three that would definitely have died, without the
Tau’ri stubbornness and compassion.”
“The Tok’Ra had to admit
that their words were completely and absolutely wrong. Not only did the Tau’ri re-blend the
symbiotes with their human hosts, but they did it in a way that even the Tok’Ra
would have thought they would have abhorred.
They were profound and sobering thoughts, ones that forced many to
rethink their entire attitudes and belief systems in regard to these Tau’ri.”
“Per’sus finally stopped
pacing, when word came that the symbiotes were out of danger, and he sought out
Janet Fraiser, or as he has been heard to call her, the beautiful auburn haired
termagant that saved his people, and kissed her. Then he told her how much he admired her, for
her dedication, and that he owed her everything, for saving his people. She looked and smiled at him a little bit,
for the first time in two days. And this
time, instead of telling him to go do something that was physically impossible
to himself, when he kissed her, she told him that was nice to know and good
night. She didn’t tell him to get out of
her way, that he had the IQ of tree moss, compare him to an amoeba, or a banana
slug, whatever that was. He was making
progress.”
“And away from the
infirmary, those that only needed minimal care watched, as the base personnel
gave up their own rooms and beds, their recreation room, their racket ball
court, their basket ball court, and sundry other nooks and crannies that one
rarely thinks of, but that make life a little easier.”
“They found themselves
sharing rooms with soldiers and were amazed when they patiently showed them how
things worked, where things were, and how to ask for more, if they ran out of
something. They were shown the mysteries
of the DVD and entertainment centers, Country music, rock music, Classical
music and lots of stuff in between. Once
they realized the stories and movies were not true but “fiction”, meaning
“pretend or false”, they began to enjoy this “entertainment.” They learned to eat big Macs and French
fries. They were given food, medicine,
and clothing. And a roof over their
heads. And all at a few seconds notice. Not one or two of them, but several
hundred.”
“I say they, because I do
not count us among those that had to learn that there was more to the Tau’ri
than we knew, although we, too, are still learning of them. We already knew that they could be kind and
patient, with a sense of humor and honor.
Although, I was not aware of the various forms of entertainment, blue
jeans, boots, tee-shirts, pool, O’Malley’s, mini-skirts, poker, or slow
dancing. I find I am particularly fond
of the blue jeans, tee-shirts, very short skirts, and slow dancing.” He quickly showed Lantash each of these
items, especially the slow dancing, the very short skirts, and the blue
jeans. Which, of course, brought images
of O’Malley’s.
Martouf sighed, “Anyway, needless to say, it was a turning point in Tok’Ra – Tau’ri
relations.”
“I can see where it would
be.”
“I believe you know of some
of the other things that happened, Lantash.
If not, then we can go over some of it later, and since you are sure
your memories have all returned, you are welcome to ransack my memories, for a
more complete replay of the entire sequence of events, as they happened. For now, there are perhaps some other things
we should talk of, instead.”
“Samantha.”
“Yes.”
“What do you wish to say
to me, Martouf? That we should remain
friends with her? My feelings for her
are not those of a friend. And I am not
confusing her with Jolinar or Rosha.” Lantash sounded somewhat testy at what
he assumed his host was about to say.
“Well, actually, I was
going to tell you that I do not think I can remain just friends with her for
very much longer. We, the evening that
you awoke, and we had just kissed, we had given free reign to our feelings,
that is, those she feels for us that are from Jolinar, and I gave reign to
those I believed I still felt for Jolinar, as I held her. It was—not what either of us expected. It was like a faded portrait that had once
been vibrant. You still love the
portrait and always will, but it will never be that vibrant and alive, as it
once was.”
“Then we kissed as us, as
Samantha and Martouf. It was,
enlightening. It was much more than I
expected it to be, much more emotional, as well as physical. We were both surprised and were stepping back
to discuss it, when you woke up and took over.
We have never discussed what happened that evening. I do not think she is angry about it, and I
sometimes think there is something in her eyes when she looks at us, but
Lantash, I have also seen it in her eyes, when she looks at Daniel.”
“So, I was not
mistaken. You have seen it as
well.” Lantash sighed. “You realize that we will be
able to deny her nothing. Moreover, it
is not as if we have never shared a mate before. We enjoyed sharing with Malek and that
relationship has the benefit of knowing your loved one is cared for should
something happen to you. I believe we
could come to enjoy sharing with Daniel, as well, but I am not sure how Daniel
would feel about that idea, or how Samantha would, either, for that
matter. ”
“I do believe that today,
when she stood facing the two of us, she realized, for the first time, that she
wanted us both in that way. She is
beginning to realize that she loves all three of us. I am just not sure if she will be able to
accept that, if she cannot choose between us, and she will not enter into a ketra’kesh’cor with us and Daniel, then she will have none
of us, and we will all be unhappy. It
would be easier if we were living with the Tok’Ra of course, where it is an
accepted way of sharing a mate. The
Tau’ri frown upon it, I believe, at least if it is done openly.” Lantash’s
remark was laden with irony.
“Yes, I believe that they
do.” Martouf opened his eyes and let them rest upon Samantha,
as she sat in the chair and made lazy circles on the armrest with her
fingers. She was such a beautiful and
exciting woman. It would be agonizing to
give her up. Perhaps they should talk to
Daniel about the situation? Thoughts were sometimes the same as words
for them, and the thought was immediately translated, “Lantash, perhaps we should talk to Daniel about the situation. He may not be as interested as we believe him
to be.” He paused for a moment before
continuing wryly, “but I do not believe we are wrong about his interest in her
at all. If anything we may have underestimated it.”
“I have considered that
option as well, but like you, I believe he is in love with her and has been for
quite some time. He has hidden it well,
but I saw it very clearly today. His
eyes are sometimes hungry, when he looks at her. Much as ours are, I would imagine.”
“Perhaps we will get a
chance to talk to him later today, before the dinner. If not today, then tomorrow. It has waited this long, it can wait a little
longer.”
“Yes, and I do believe
that Samantha is just now beginning to believe that not only does she not want
to be only friends with us, she no longer desires to be Daniel Jackson’s
sister. We should allow her to find her
way, before we do anything more, for the moment. Perhaps space is what she needs, as much as
anything. I believe we should continue
to show her that we do not consider her just a friend, and push that as far as
she will allow it to go. It is the
commitment that I do not believe we should push her for. So please do not misunderstand what I am
saying.”
“I’m glad you clarified,
Lantash, because I did think you meant not to pursue her at all for now.”
“Not at all,
Martouf. Now is the best time to pursue
her, while she is off balance a little.
She will work through it, whether we push her for intimacy, or not. It is not the intimacy that will bother
her. It will be the chains of gold that
will trouble Samantha. I have a feeling
that ours may need to come from the three of us, not the two of us.”
Martouf smiled slightly, “You may be right, but as you say, we have
shared a mate before quite successfully, very happily even. Had Rosha and Jolinar not come along, we
would have stayed in that relationship for a very long time. At least, being the secondary lovers we felt
no guilt in leaving.” He paused. “I
wonder if she would choose a primary lover.”
Lantash smiled. “Possibly. Get some rest Martouf. I will awaken you when
they come to check O’Neill’s leaves. The
days on this world are extremely long, as I remember.”
“Thank you. I believe I will.”
Jack watched his teammates as they sat
quietly around him waiting to see what the leaves did for the burns. They were unusually quiet. Too quiet.
All of them were thinking about something. He just wasn’t sure he liked where he thought
their thoughts were taking them.
He’d seen the look on Daniel’s face
earlier, quickly though it had been covered.
Martouf’s had been a mirror image, again for only a moment. Great, just great. He was going to have two of his team fighting
over a woman, also a teammate. And that
teammate? If the look on her face had
been anything to go by, she was shocked to realize she viewed them both as men,
desirable men, men she desired. Both of
them.
Maybe, if he was very lucky, she would
choose both, and a bloodbath would be avoided because they realized that they
both had always wanted to participate in a ménage. They would participate in some weird local
custom they had to undergo in order to get a scientific treaty to explore, and
possibly use this wonder plant. Maybe it
would include marriage of some form and get him off the hook.
Yeah.
He could do that. Whatever
happened, happened under the auspices of, “anything
for the betterment of Earth and the
The problem with that was that real
life never turned out like you imagined it would. Something always screwed it up. This time, he figured it would be the plant. Yup, it was the plant. Surely Carter, Martouf, and Daniel wouldn’t
screw up his plans. Jack snorted to
himself. Right. Well, for now, he’d pretend it was the plant.
This silence was getting on his
nerves. “Shouldn’t you guys go find out
what we do for lunch around here? You
said that it wasn’t a gathering, so do we get our MRE’s
out and get up a campfire somewhere when noon finally gets here?” Jack finally asked in exasperation.
Daniel looked up from some fascinating
instruments he was examining, and said, “No, we’re fine. I think we still have time, Jack. They’ll let us know, I’m sure.”
“Daniel, I’m sure you should all be
going and finding out, or something,” Jack reiterated more pointedly, as he
jerked his head toward the door. Daniel
looked at him blankly.
“No, really, Jack, we’re fine. Just relax,” Daniel assured him, as he once
again lost himself in his study of the instruments. Or so it appeared. The reality was that Daniel was somewhere
deep in his mind, and his thoughts were nowhere near the instruments he
appeared to be studying so intently.
He was thinking about Sam. His friend, Sam. His almost sister, Sam. His hot as hell and wonderful woman, Sam. Yeah, that one. When, had this happened? When, oh when, exactly, had Sam his
friend--become Sam, the woman he loved? He sighed. Stop trying to fool yourself, Danny-boy. It was long ago, and far, far, away.
TBC
Chapter Three
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