"Catharine? How is she?"
The elderly woman perked on hearing Daniel Jackson's voice, and then she turned, smiling as he came up to her. "She cried for a while," Catharine Langford admitted before she gazed through the one-way mirror into the small interrogation space where Samantha Carter — to differentiate the bioroid from her template, everyone used the full first name "Samantha" for her while using either the nickname "Sam" or her rank of major for the original — was currently tapping away on a laptop computer. "But after that, a priest summoned by Chancellor Seu-Ch'ek came to be with her and help her overcome the loss of her friends." A sigh. "Right now, she's doing what she can to download all the things her team discovered before they ran into Cronus."
Daniel gaped. "Is it much?"
"It depends." The "grandmother of Stargate Command" (as George Hammond had introduced her to Prince Sheko and the Lady Chancellor Nakkyek the previous day) smiled before she walked over to a desk to pull up a printout chart. "The Noukiites were quite happy to give us information concerning all they and the other partners in the Stargate Treaty have discovered about our galaxy," she said, and then she pointed to the image of the Milky Way galaxy, indicating a place in the Perseus Arm. "Her team ended up exploring planets in this part here," she said as Daniel came up to look at the map. "According to what Samantha told me, the natives of Altair — before they died out — did send some expeditions to these worlds through their stargate."
"Did they find anything?"
A sigh. "She thinks her team may have found ruins of a Goa'uld base on one such world," Catharine stated. "They didn't explore it that much the one time they went there. Turns out they encountered an exploration team from another planet."
Daniel blinked. "One of the other Stargate Treaty worlds?!"
A shake of the head. "No. They were actually a mixed group of races from what Samantha told me. Though they all live on one planet now. They call it Sagussa."
The professor perked. "Sagussa?! Does she know the Gate address?"
A shake of the head. "No, none of her team learned it. It was a brief contact, but they promised the Sagussan team they would get back in touch if they ever passed that way again." Catharine chuckled. "It was actually an interesting contact, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Most of the Sagussan team were androids themselves."
Daniel perked. "Really?!"
"Professor Langford?"
Both perked on hearing that voice, and then turned to see Samantha on her feet, gazing in the direction of the mirror. "I'm finished," the young bioroid said.
Catharine touched the intercom switch. "Well, let's see what you've given us."
Daniel smiled…
Later…
"So you actually explored in this region of the galaxy, correct?"
"Yes," Samantha said. She was now attending a briefing in one of the main meeting rooms at Stargate Command headquarters along with her sister, the other members of SG-1, the commander of SGC, and representatives from both Yehisril and Noukiios. "We never really found anything of interest. One possible old Goa'uld base."
"What were the coordinates?" Ilyirko asked. A handsome man appearing to be in his mid-twenties — on seeing him, almost everyone from Earth was reminded of the actor Kevin Costner playing the role of the Mariner in Waterworld — the native of the earldom of Tizros was the leader of one of the Yehisrite expeditionary groups that often explored worlds through the stargate network. He was currently pointing at a place on a chart of the Milky Way that showed all the known stargate addresses to the members of the Treaty.
Samantha handed him a piece of paper. Gazing at the sketch she made there, the young baron hummed. "I know of this world. This was where Zeus was based."
"Was that the place where Zeus fell?" Teal'c asked.
"Aye." The young baron then smiled. "Was the world healed after the Prince's forces left the planet eighty-five years ago?"
The bioroid smiled. "The Goa'uld base is still a giant pile of rubble, but the rest of the planet — from what my team saw of it — is quite pristine." She then sat back in her chair. "At least you people know how to fight a clean war."
"There is no need to harm innocent trees or animals when one fights monsters," the leader of the Noukiite group here today, Seu-Euch Yesu-A Hechnich'-Kachnuk — "Kuohu" to her closest friends — then said. She then smiled fondly at her adopted sister. "Kyekkyek here wouldn't like that sort of thing."
"Neither would Seuchsa," Seu-Nuk Yesu-K'i Hechnich'-Kingch'eng — "Kyekkyek" to everyone she met as she wasn't much into formality — added.
Teal'c blinked. "Who is Seuchsa?"
"Her pet battle porcine," Droko, Ilyirko's half-brother, said, smirking.
Silence.
"You actually go into a fight with a PIG?!" Jack O'Neill asked.
"Well, when said pig is as big as one of your cargo ground flitters…" Kuohu noted as she gave her adopted sister a knowing look.
A whistle. "That's some pig!" Jack breathed out.
"Sir!" both Sam and Samantha snapped together.
Everyone jolted, and then roaring laughter filled the room. "Lady Samantha, you seemed to be very interested in this particular world. Any reason why?" Ilyirko asked.
"Because that's where we met the Sagussans," Samantha answered.
"THE SAGUSSANS?!"
BOTH Kuohu and Kyekkyek had cried on hearing what the bioroid had to say. "You know of these people?" George Hammond then asked.
"Sir, Sagussa is the home planet of the race that built that spacedock Kōgetsuei and Bunjaku both used to build OUR ships," Jack reminded him.
Daniel's jaw dropped. "Oh, my God! How could I've forgot that?!"
"We've been busy with other things," Sam reminded him.
"Indeed so," George noted before he gazed on the aliens in the room. "What do you people know of these Sagussans? Mister Ki and Miss Ayami stated that the race that built that spacedock are extinct, but there is a successor race on that planet."
The Yehisrites and the Noukiites exchanged looks. "The Maidens of the Soultaker, brother," Droko said as he gazed knowingly at Ilyirko.
A nod. "Most likely," the baron noted before he took a deep breath. "Lord General, you and your friends are now about to hear one of the local cluster's more interesting legends," he stated. "Ever since our races began to travel through space in ships and through the Stargate, we often encountered…"
The explanation took about a half-hour. At the end of it, the Terrans were all overwhelmed. "So this ship — the 'Gatherer' seems to be the proper name for this vessel given that the Zephyrites are genetically descent of the Sagussans — has, for at least ten thousand of our years, collected the bodies of thousands of recently deceased humanoid women from two dozen planets to restore to life, correct?" Daniel asked. As the aliens all nodded, the archaeologist breathed out. "Almost like the sarcophagus technology the Goa'uld use to heal injuries and restore people to life."
"There have been brief contacts between the Maidens and their former homeworlds," Kuohu noted. "The most famous of which is when the Great Mother Noa came back to Uru two hundred years ago to obtain the Lady Aruka Syl, who had just been mortally wounded by Imperial troops when she tried to provoke a rebellion against the feudal Houses in control then." She shrugged. "That provoked the Union Revolution that transformed the government of Lum's people from an absolute monarchy to a military meritocracy."
"And you people discovered that Ataru Moroboshi is this 'chosen one,' correct?" Tom Kazanski asked; the captain of Arizona had been invited to this meeting.
The Noukiites nodded. "It was discovered by a good friend of ours when he was on Okusei and we learned that the souls of the Most Venerable Lady Grandmaster Negako and Hiromi were within his mind," Kuohu confirmed.
"So why would this happen?" Sam asked before she gazed on her sister.
The bioroid shrugged. "We never really asked them about it," she admitted. "We were just pretty happy to encounter such different beings than what we knew of beforehand, even if they were androids." She closed her eyes. "They were a pretty interesting mix of races. It was a team of six. Two were Urusian; I realise that now. One was Neptunian. One was Fukunokami. One was either Terran or a race very similar." She then blinked as she gazed on Ilyirko and Droko. "And one was Yehisrite."
"Did they ever give their names?" the baron asked.
"Yes, but the names were actually Terran in origin, I think. Heavily influenced by Japanese names, I think," Samantha noted. "The black-haired Urusian — she's of Ran's particular group — called herself 'Sylia.' The Neptunian was 'Rei,' spelt the Japanese way. The Oni-Urusian was 'Asuka.' The Fukunokami was either 'Rinna' or 'Linna.' The other girl was 'Nene.' And the Yehisrite called herself 'Priss,' short for 'Priscilla.'" She then shook her head. "No family names, though."
People in the room shook their heads. "Don't really recognise any of the names," Jack noted. "If Ataru was here, he might be able to give an answer…"
"Let's keep Mister Moroboshi out of it for the time being," George advised.
"Samantha?" People looked over as Kuohu drew out what appeared to be a circular laptop, and then she placed it on the table. Tapping the touch-screen there, she then stood back as a holographic image then formed. "Do you recognise this woman?"
Samantha gaped. "That's Sylia!"
"That was once the Lady Aruka Syl," Ilyirko stated, and then he gazed curiously at Kuohu. "But why would the Lady Samantha and her friends only encounter replicas of these people? What happened to the originals?"
Samantha shook her head. "We never really thought to ask them. Their trip out there was actually a test run using their own stargate. They were severely lacking in ships. That's what Sylia told us. People back on Sagussa were debating whether or not to make full use of the Stargate system or just find some way to build new ships." She took a deep breath. "We never thought to ask them anything further."
"Did they tell you when they might be back on that planet?" Daniel asked.
A hum. "What's today's date?" After Daniel told her that, Samantha closed her eyes for a moment as she ran some mental calculations before she opened then. "I would suggest — if you're actually thinking of going to this world — that we move real quick."
"Sometime soon?" Jack asked.
"Within the next week."
Nods all around. "Colonel, prepare your team," George ordered.
"Lord General?"
The Terrans all gazed on Ilyirko. "We should make this a three-way mission," he said as he indicated himself, then Kuohu before waving to the members of SG-1. "To actually encounter the Maidens of the Soultaker — even if they are just heralds from that world and not the real Maidens — has often been a dream of many from Yehisril, Noukiios, Vos and even Zephyrus and Dominos…" — that was the homeworld of the Seifukusu — "…over the years."
"An expedition to officially welcome Earth into the Stargate Treaty!" Droko said.
"Aye!"
George nodded. "Fair enough! Let's get ready."
People grinned…
Later…
"Chevron Seven, locked!" the technician called out.
Everyone watched as the event horizon formed within the Stargate with the usual geyser of energy. Once it was stabilised, Kyekkyek smiled as she patted the flanks of the rather BIG pink-fleshed pig at her side. "Go on!" she urged Seuchsa.
Grunting, Seuchsa walked up the ramp and stopped before his snout twitched several times. Seeing that, Catharine walked over to stand beside the tomboyish red-haired, green-eyed free warrior in the buff gold and dark brown gi-like uniform that Noukiites often wore as normal clothes. "He seems a little skittish," the older woman noted.
"No, he's just making sure it's safe to go through," Kyekkyek said, smiling. "He can actually sniff out a world through the Stargate to see if it's safe or not…"
A squeal then echoed from the area of the stargate as Seuchsa trotted through the event horizon. "Seems pretty safe," Jack noted. "Let's get…"
"Wait," Kuohu called out. "Wait until he returns."
The others gazed on the woman with the golden-brown eyes and the long black hair done up in a flowing ponytail from the left side of her temple, and then the Yehisrites nodded. "We normally use robots for this part of the trip," Sam noted.
"Sometimes, Lady Major, an animal's senses are far more accurate than a machine's sensors," Droko noted, and then he perked.
"Something's coming back!" the technician called out from the control room.
People in the stargate room braced themselves, and then they blinked as Seuchsa returned, a happy squeal escaping him. "Seuchsa!" Kyekkyek called out as she walked up to gently caress her pet's head. "What did you find?! Tell me!"
Another squeal escaped the porcine…
…just as someone in a hooded dark blue jacket and form-fitting, red-trimmed dark green pants bloused into red buccaneer boots walked through the event horizon. As the security personnel automatically tensed on seeing the stranger there — especially since said stranger had a very nasty-looking rifle in hand, the carrying strap slung over her right shoulder — she paused as she gazed around the room. Noting the steely looks on the faces of the people now aiming weapons at her, she then seemed to smile before her finger clicked what appeared to be the safety switch of her weapon. She then calmly ejected the magazine and slipped that into her jacket pocket before she moved to clear the firing bed, catching what seemed to be a mix of a rifle bullet and a shotgun shell as it was ejected from the breech. Once that was slipped into her pocket, she then reached up with a tanned hand to draw the hood off her head.
As the Yehisrites all gaped in awe, Samantha blinked, and then she said, "You're not Priss. It's the same tattoo, but she has brown hair, not black."
The newcomer blinked, and then she smiled. "You must be one of those Altairian androids Sylia and the others told me about," she said as she walked up, and then she stopped as her eyes — the same shade as Kuohu's, Daniel immediately noted — narrowed as she peered intently at the bioroid. After a moment of staring like that, she then slung her weapon over her shoulder as she drew out a scanner from her jacket pocket to pass over the Terran-form Avalonian. One pass told her plenty. "How did you become an Avalonian?" she then asked. "Did the people who returned our spacedock and fleet encounter a factory line before they brought their ships here?!"
Samantha smiled. "They did." The smile then faded as she stared at the stranger for a moment, and then she leaned over to gently touch her cheek. As the Yehisrites all sucked in their breath on seeing the bioroid be so forward with this great warrior that had once lived on their homeworld eight centuries ago, the newcomer then smiled as Samantha drew her hand back. "You're human!" she gasped. "But…"
"I never had a companion android replica made of me," the newcomer said.
"So who are you, anyway?" Jack then asked.
She gazed on him, and then she straightened herself. "My name is Sylvie, Colonel. I'm a chief petty officer in the Navy of the Republic of Sagussa, assigned now to Pathfinder Troop Six." A polite bow of the head, and then she relaxed herself. "What little of it exists, that is." She then raised her hands to give them a spayed-finger prayer-like gesture, bowing her head to her hosts. "Neka do'a hagh wae ronghki wae joghza va," she then said in a beautiful, lilting tongue.
The Yehisrites and the Noukiites returned her gesture with a bow and their own standard greetings in their native languages. "What does that mean?" Daniel asked.
Samantha grinned as she stared at him. "'I bid you all peace, logic and harmony.'"
"Oh, joy!"
Sam gazed on Jack. "You okay, sir?"
The colonel sighed. "We just met Vulcans, Carter!"
"Actually…"
Eyes locked on the Yehisrite-turned-Sagussan now standing beside Seuchsa, who was now munching on an apple Kyekkyek had given him. "If this was ten years ago, we would have definitely matched that description," Sylvie admitted before the smile slipped from her face. "Ataru helped us change that." Tears then appeared in her eyes. "Oh, Lyna!" she breathed out as she gazed heavenward. "Why did he have to die…?"
"Um, excuse me…"
Sylvie gazed on Daniel. "What?"
The archaeologist looked apologetic. "Ataru Moroboshi is alive and well," he said.
"That's impossible!"
Jack perked. "What's your proof?"
Sylvie took a deep breath; people had been quick to see the look of total disbelief on her face. "Many like me met him ten years ago when the Elder Mother Noa brought him to our world so we could all learn how to properly emote," she stated. "During that time, those that were on Sagussa at that time — a hundred thousand of us altogether — formed empathic bonds with him. Shortly after he was returned to his parents' side here on Earth, those bonds were destroyed." She closed her eyes. "Only death can break a bond like that. Even if the body is alive now…"
"The Most Venerable Grandmaster Negako…"
Eyes locked on Kuohu. "And Hiromi as well!" Daniel exclaimed as his eyes widened.
"Who are they?!"
People looked back at Sylvie. "I think, Chief, you better stick around here for a bit," Jack then said. "You need to catch up on some things."
Sylvie gazed on him as we now…
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