“Unscheduled off-world activation!”
A heavy-set bald man, Major General George Hammond, descended the last few steps to the control room, having left his office when he heard the Stargate start up. Quickly taking stock of the situation, the seasoned General gave the standard order for situations like this. “Close the iris!”
The order was followed immediately, the composite trinium-titanium barrier sliding into place over the just-formed wormhole.
One of the technicians checked his station, watching as a signal from the gate was automatically copied, checked, double-checked, then identified. “Sir, we’ve received a GDO signal; it’s the Tok’ra.”
Hammond nodded. “Open the iris.” With that, he headed down to the gate room to meet the new arrivals. He arrived just in time to see the wormhole collapse, and a familiar face leading an attractive older woman. “Jacob.”
The other balding man smiled and shook Hammond’s hand. “George, always a pleasure.”
“It certainly is, but somehow I don’t think this is a personal visit.”
Jacob bowed his head, and when he faced the General once more his voice was radically altered. “No, I’m afraid it isn’t.”
“Selmak.”
Selmak nodded. “General Hammond, we have come on behalf of the Tok’ra to request your assistance on a mission of great importance.”
Jack O’Neill was not happy. He had asked for, and been granted, a few days leave for himself and his team, and he had just started his first day of not catching any fish when his phone rang. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have taken the damn thing along, but it had been the only condition the General had insisted on when he gave them the week off. Thus, it was an extremely irritated Colonel who entered the SGC’s briefing room and saw a pair of Tok’ra operatives waiting with SG:1 and the General. ‘Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?’ Fortunately, there was one half-way decent snake in the group. “Jacob, great to see you!”
A slight smile crossed Jacob’s face, and an echoing voice rang from his throat. “It is good to see you too, Colonel O’Neill.”
“…Selmak.”
General Hammond gestured to the chair next to Teal’c. “Have a seat, Colonel.”
Jack moved to obey. “Don’t mind if I do.”
The other Tok’ra, Garshaw, spoke up, looking mildly annoyed. “May I enquire as to the reason for your delayed response to our summons?”
Jack frowned. “I was on leave.”
“As were Doctor Jackson, Major Carter, and Teal’c, yet they managed to assemble promptly.”
‘I can’t believe I gave up fishing for this.’ “Unlike my esteemed colleagues, I prefer to get as far away from the Stargate as I can when I get some time off. You know, get some fresh air and do absolutely nothing for a couple of days.” Jack turned to his CO. “Speaking of which, I have a lot of nothing that needs doing, so I’d like to get back to it as soon as possible.”
Hammond chuckled. “You might have to wait a while, Colonel.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “You have a mission for us, sir?”
Selmak answered. “Several months ago, one of our spies witnessed an incident involving two members of an as yet unknown race and one of the System Lords, Bastet.”
General Hammond and the members of SG:1 turned to Teal’c and Daniel, and after a slow nod from the former First Prime, Daniel spoke first. “Bastet was originally portrayed as either a wild dessert cat or a lioness, eventually becoming associated with the domesticated feline around 1000 BCE. She was an avenger goddess, usually sent out to lay waste to the enemies of the Gods and Egypt. Her supposed duties changed over the years, and at different times she was known as a goddess of love, fertility, birth, music, and dance, and also as a protector of cats, women, and children.”
Carter frowned. “That sounds a bit like Hathor.”
The archaeologist nodded. “The two were often associated with each other, in mythology, at least.”
Jack groaned, rubbing his face before turning to Teal’c. “Any more bad news?”
Teal’c nodded grimly. “The warriors of Bastet are known to be skilled fighters, and it is said that no Goa’uld or Jaffa of Bastet has ever turned against their Mistress.”
“…swell.”
“Indeed.”
Selmak cut in. “As far as System Lords go, Bastet is an oddity. She is far more patient with her servants than any other System Lord, and the people on the worlds she controls enjoy a standard of living that only the servants of Yu can come close to.”
“That’s kinda weird for a Goa’uld, isn’t it?”
At Jack’s comment the Tok’ra adopted decidedly uncomfortable expressions and glanced at each other. It was Garshaw who broke the silence. “Bastet is not a Goa’uld. She is a Tok’ra.” The reactions of the gathered Tau’ri and lone Jaffa were predictable; expressions and exclamations of disbelief from General Hammond, Major Carter, and Doctor Jackson, a raised eyebrow from Teal’c, and a shout of “WHAT!?” from Colonel O’Neill.
Adjusting his glasses, Daniel recovered first. “Just how is that possible?”
Garshaw sighed. “A little under two thousand years ago, one of the first Tok’ra blended with a fierce human warrior named Bast. A short time later they grew dissatisfied with the methods Egaria and the rest of her children chose to employ, and they became a servant of Ra. They quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a brilliant and feared General, contributing greatly to Ra’s rise to supreme power. When the Stargate on Earth was buried, and the Goa’uld left for the stars, Ra gave them control over several small out-of-the-way systems, and over the millennia since, Bastet, as the symbiote chose to name herself, rose to the rank of System Lord.”
Sam frowned. “If she did all that, why do you still consider her a Tok’ra?”
“Despite being a servant of Ra, Bastet has never taken an unwilling human host, nor has any of the Goa’uld under her. She still believes in the Tok’ra ideals, she just chooses to fight for them in a radically different manner.”
“It also doesn’t hurt that Bastet is the only other Tok’ra Queen ever born.”
The female Tok’ra scowled, her eyes glowing briefly in her anger. “SELMAK!”
He waved her off. “It’s best if they know what’s at stake. I think we all know just how many System Lords they’ve taken out over the years, and neither you nor I want Bastet to be one of them.”
Garshaw gritted her teeth, but conceded the point. “While the true Tok’ra may be slowly dying out, Bastet’s forces grow ever stronger. As long as she lives, the Tok’ra will survive.”
“Which is precisely the reason why we need your help.”
Daniel frowned in thought. “The two unknown aliens?”
Selmak bowed his head, and in moments Jacob was back in control. “Right. According to our spy, they were picked up in the forest just outside of Bubastis. They were escorted to meet Bastet herself, but as soon as they entered the room, Bastet completely lost it and ordered them killed.”
Jack smirked. “I take it they didn’t co-operate?”
Jacob snorted. “That’s one way of putting it. Long story short, the two aliens kicked the crap out of nearly two-dozen Jaffa guards, displaying superhuman strength, speed, and something that appeared to be telekinesis. But it’s when the male went to subdue Bastet that things got really interesting.”
“How so?”
“He bit her, and she started to change into something like him.”
Jack and the other members of the SGC blinked in surprise. “What, you mean like a vampire or werewolf?”
Jacob shook his head. “From what I read in the report, it’s more like a werecat then a werewolf. The male stranger is probably a cheetah-man – the black-spotted golden fur and super speed are a dead give-away – and the female is probably a tiger. On top of that, once Bastet grew her own fur coat she forgot all about killing them and became exceedingly affectionate towards the male.”
Daniel winced. “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh is right. Whoever this guy is, he just gained a great deal of influence over not only a System Lord, but a Tok’ra Queen as well. Add in the fact that a growing number of high ranking Jaffa and Goa’uld in Bastet’s service have also become cat-people, and the Tok’ra High Council wants to know what the hell is going on.”
Jack arched an eyebrow in a very Teal’c-ish fashion. “So you want us to find out for you? Why can’t your spy do it?”
Garshaw answered, somewhat annoyed. “For some reason, the cat-people induce tremendous fear in any Tok’ra operative who tries to get close. This has, quite naturally, severely hindered our attempts to gather more information.”
“Naturally.” Jack turned to the General. “What do you think, sir?”
The bald senior officer thought it over for a minute, looking from SG:1 to the Tok’ra, before nodding. “I think this situation warrants an investigation. Colonel, I want you and your team to discuss the mission with Jacob, Selmak, Garshaw, and Yosuuf, while I file the appropriate paperwork with Washington.”
Jack saluted. “Yes sir, we’ll get right on it.” Once General Hammond had left the room, the Commander of SG:1 turned to Daniel. “Ok Daniel, first thing I want you to do is to go down to the mess and see what they’ve got in the way of canned tuna…”
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(Posted Sun, 17 Jul 2005 21:08)
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