Brotherhood (14/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10a-- 10b Chapter11 Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14
Note: Here, and in the following chapters, dialogue in italics is a foreign language (usually Abydonian). Similarly, in later chapters, if Abydonian is the dominant language in that section (sections are delineated by XXXXX or ...x...), italics refers to English. This applies to any language (dominant and foreign)--it should be clear when it comes up, but please let me know if it's not.
XXXXX
The Tollan
XXXXX
28 November 1999; P2C-836; 1000 hrs
Daniel tripped on a branch and fell into a puddle of mud on SG-1's next mission.
It wasn't really his fault--it wasn't as if anyone could see much more than a few feet in front of them, and that was without glasses dripping with rain. The branch had been hidden in yet more mud, anyway, and he was mostly just grateful that he'd landed in the puddle, not on the branch. His one consolation was that the rain was washing everything off pretty quickly.
Well, the consolation wasn't that consoling, actually; it was raining very, very hard.
"Let's assume this isn't the place!" Jack yelled over the rain.
"Yeah, okay," Daniel mumbled irritably, wiping his face and deciding that, despite all claims to the contrary, the ponchos were really rather useless. Maybe it had to do with falling into puddles, but even after spending his whole childhood in a desert, the novelty of seeing water pour from the sky several times in a month had worn off at least a year ago, and it was starting to get very cold.
"What?" Jack shouted.
"I said 'okay!'" Daniel yelled back.
"Well, hurry it up! We're late, and I'm getting tired of this rain!"
Daniel wasn't particularly happy about it, either, so he hurried along behind Jack and the others. At this rate, he was starting to wonder if he'd have to test his meager swimming abilities before the day was out.
They had found the ruins of a temple with text that was nearly an exact match for the writing found on the Temple of Kheb--not quite exact, but it seemed similar enough. He was fairly certain he'd been able to interpret something from the surrounding buildings, even if he couldn't read the text.
Unfortunately, what he'd seen suggested that this was not, in fact, the planet where Oma Desala had taken his baby brother, which had been his first thought upon seeing the script.
"Ugh," Daniel muttered as he dialed the DHD. Why was the DHD able to withstand weather like this while his tape recorder had shorted immediately? He shook a glob of mud from his foot. It landed on Teal'c's leg, and the Jaffa turned to him with a scowl. "Sorry," Daniel said, grimacing apologetically as he escaped the Jaffa's wrath by running through the 'gate.
...x...
28 November 1999; Infirmary, SGC; 1030 hrs
"Loosen your belt, please," the nurse said.
Daniel wrinkled his nose but obeyed, though he couldn't stop himself from reaching out to twitch the curtains a little more closed around him. For all that the Tau'ri refused to walk around at work without covering all skin besides their face and arms, they were remarkably immodest in other situations. Daniel was fairly used to the infirmary routines now, but that didn't mean he liked dropping his pants for a nurse to inject him with...something. Whatever was in that syringe.
"What is this, again?" he asked, looking at the approaching needle with some trepidation.
"Listen," Jack's voice was saying from the other side of the curtain, "really jam it in this time, okay?" Daniel made a face at the needle in his nurse's hand.
"Booster shot," the nurse told him. "Turn around." Daniel sighed and braced himself on the bed, deciding not to ask. He could never remember what everything was, anyway.
"Oh, Daniel," Jack called around the curtain.
"What, Jack?"
"Exactly what did that temple thing say? Not like Kheb after all?"
"I don't know," Daniel said, wincing when he felt the needle pinch. "The writings seemed earlier than the writings we found on Kheb, judging by the similarity to early Tau'ri Asian pictographic writing."
"So you don't think that's where Oma Desala took Shifu?" Sam called from even farther down.
"No," Daniel said. "The rain made it hard, but from what I could see, I think that temple was actually...a lot ol-older than..." His vision blurred, and he gripped the gurney in front of him as his legs tried to buckle. "Wh-what...Jack..."
His eyes slipped closed, and he felt himself land in an iron-hard grip before he felt nothing else.
XXXXX
29 November 1999; Infirmary, SGC; 1700 hrs
Ironically, as soon as Daniel joined SG-1 after passing all physical, psychological, and artillery assessments, he spent the first major incident asleep and, apparently, hanging from the ceiling while aliens tried to take over the planet. There was something terribly unjust about that.
By the time he woke up and heard the story about the foothold situation, Sam was guzzling coffee like she was afraid it might disappear if she was too slow about it, Teal'c's abused symbiote was being examined in the infirmary, and Jack was insisting that the aliens who'd caused the foothold situation were--
"They looked like fish?" Daniel echoed. "The foothold aliens?"
"No, they really didn't," Sam said. "Is that what we're calling them now, foothold aliens?"
"They kind of did look like fish," Jack insisted, gesturing at his head. "With helmets and purple blood, and funny sort of screaming, bubbly voices, but, you know."
Daniel met Sam's gaze and saw her shrug behind Jack's back. "They had helmets and purple blood and strange voices...so they seemed like fish to you," he said.
"Kind of," Jack repeated. "I wonder how long it'll take to clean off all the goop they left in the corridor. Ah, see! The goop. Fish."
"Fish don't leave goop hanging from the ceiling," Daniel said.
"That's what you think," Jack said. "You've just never seen fish big enough to leave goop."
"The ceiling, Jack."
"Hey, you don't know what you're talking about," Jack protested, stretching his arms wide. "There's a lake in Minnesota where the bass grow this big--"
"That's..." Daniel started, then frowned. He knew that water animals could be pretty big, and it wasn't like he was an expert on Tau'ri bass fish... "He's joking, right?" he asked Sam.
"Would I joke about fishing?" Jack said. "Don't look at her; she's never been out to the lake with me either. You're just jealous you missed out on the action."
"No, I'm not," Daniel lied. Not that he really wished he'd seen what it looked like when fishy aliens were taking over the base... "Oh, wait," he suddenly realized. "When you said they were 'fishy aliens'...oh. You didn't actually mean they looked like fish, did you."
Sam cracked a smile first. Jack's smirk followed a second later. Daniel felt like an idiot.
"I'm just glad it's over," Sam said.
"I wonder what they wanted," Daniel said.
"To take over the world," Jack replied.
"There was no way to...you know...ask one of them?" he asked, though, of course, it was a useless objection now that they had all died or fled to another planet.
"Um..." Sam said. "I figured being drugged and shot at was good enough excuse not to try proposing a peaceful negotiation."
"That's fair," Daniel conceded.
"This is why we should never invite fishy aliens over for dinner again," Jack said sagely.
The door swung open to reveal Teal'c. "Teal'c," Daniel said, standing. "How's your prim'ta?"
"My symbiote is nearly recovered," Teal'c assured them. Daniel decided that maybe he was lucky to have missed the action after all. At least he hadn't had a symbiote yanked out of his stomach for experimentation. "We should proceed to the debriefing."
Dr. Fraiser was already there when they sat down at the briefing room table, and it only took a few minutes for Major Davis, from the Pentagon, and General Hammond to join them. Having been essentially absent for most of the last day and a half, Daniel remained quiet and let the others fill in the missing pieces.
"Those who escaped still possess the knowledge they obtained from being linked to your minds," Teal'c said, his tone warning.
"That's creepy," Jack said. Daniel agreed strongly, especially since the device the aliens and Sam had used to look exactly like him was still active and sitting in her lab.
"We changed all our codes," General Hammond said. "That's all we can do."
"Sir," Daniel spoke up, "in that case, I'd like to go to Abydos to have the iris codes updated, not to mention locking out our old codes."
"And what about other special codes, sir?" Jack added.
"Master Bra'tac cannot be contacted safely," Teal'c said. "However, we should inform the Tok'ra of their new code."
The general nodded. "Give us some time to get the 'gate room cleaned up and make sure all our systems are operable after that explosion. You can go after that to Abydos and head to Vorash from there. We'll keep Bra'tac's IDC the same but take extra security precautions the next time it's received."
Footsteps from the other entrance made them look up to see Colonel Maybourne enter.
Personally, Daniel thought going to Maybourne for anything that required someone trustworthy seemed...well, foolish. After his recovery from the sarcophagus addiction, the man had gotten his position back at the Pentagon, but the NID had barred him from direct contact with SGC or Area 51 technology and research. On the other hand, the point seemed to be that everyone trustworthy enough might have been compromised, so maybe it had simply been smart thinking to go to the one person with high enough clearance but without the complications of being actually involved.
At the moment, even if he'd come out of this looking like a hero, Maybourne was clearly very aware of general SGC opinion of him and seemed even more discomfited than the rest of them. Jack broke the silence by saying, "Colonel Maybourne. Good save."
Very stiffly, Maybourne said, "I thought you'd like to know that the alien posing as Daniel Jackson expired, as well as all the other aliens, even those not caught in the 'gate room explosion. We're guessing that they were linked to their leader in some form or another when he self-destructed."
"We appreciate your help on this matter, Colonel Maybourne," the general said.
Maybourne straightened and said, almost reluctantly, "Credit Major Carter. I do." Daniel's eyebrows rose, while Sam and Jack exchanged surprised looks. "Well. I'm returning to liaising with Area 51 and the SGC, so I'm sure we'll see each other again before long."
"That'd be nice, Harry," Jack said sincerely.
Daniel ducked his head until he felt like his expression was less utterly astonished. This was what happened when he slept through the important things.
XXXXX
1 December 1999; Nagada, Abydos; 1100 hrs
"We were attacked," Daniel explained to Kasuf in the 'gate room as Sam uploaded the new iris codes into the Abydos automatic verification system. "The invaders were defeated, but we had to change our codes so that they cannot use the information they gained while on Earth. The new code for Abydos is..." He held out a small slip with the new Abydos IDC.
"I will have several people remember it," Kasuf said, reading it over and nodding to Tobay, Seinah, and perhaps five other Abydons who stood by as well. Then, he switched abruptly to English, and his gaze moved to include the rest of SG-1. "The people of Abydos tell me to ask this. There are some who wish to help the fighting with the Goa'uld."
Daniel frowned, unsure how to respond. He turned his head to see Jack exchange glances with Teal'c, and Sam had paused while examining the device attached to the DHD.
"Well," Jack started, Seinah listening carefully and translating for those less fluent in English, "most of us never thanked you in person, but you helped wipe out Sokar--a very powerful Goa'uld--by relaying the message to us. And the naquadah we've mined from here has been very important. Essential to our research operations."
"I understand this," Kasuf said, and he truly did seem to have quite a few reservations about asking at all. "However, there are some who wish to do more."
"No," Daniel said before he could think about it. "Elder..."
"Our people were taken from here by Goa'uld," Tobay said, and Daniel stopped to translate for his team as duty dictated. "We will not be safe until the Goa'uld are dead."
"The people of Earth might have remained safe," Teal'c spoke up, "until they began to oppose the Goa'uld. The System Lords may not yet be aware that Abydos is so closely allied with Earth. If your people begin to travel through the Stargate to wage war on the Goa'uld, the System Lords will know that you are providing warriors and resources to our cause, and they will not hesitate to destroy every person on this planet."
Kasuf seemed to be more or less convinced--his concern, after all, was the safety of his village and the whole planet--but some of the younger men seemed restless; Daniel knew it wouldn't be as easy to keep their arguments at bay. He knew, after all, how it felt to need to do something.
"If it is so dangerous, why does Earth continue to fight?" one person said.
"It's too late for Earth to stop," Sam said, straightening from the iris mechanism to stand with the rest of the team. "The Goa'uld are already watching us. We've narrowly survived several attempts to destroy Earth in the past two and a half years, and that was with a lot of luck and more technology than is available here. We can help you increase your technological and defensive capabilities, but--"
"Dan'yel left Abydos to join you," Tobay said. "Other Abydons can do the same. We would fight under the name of Earth."
Daniel looked helplessly to Jack, who said, "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Why?" another spoke up. "Why Dan'yel, if not us?"
"My face is already known to Klorel and Amaunet and to at least three other System Lords," Daniel said.
"And I'll tell you right now, the Tau'ri think that letting Daniel join up was a mistake, too," Jack said. "It's just too late to fix it."
As the other Abydons considered that, Daniel reflected that he'd have been hurt by that statement just months ago. Now, though, he knew it was simply true, and he'd learned to accept that sense of protection over him from the others as a necessity and a comfort more than an annoyance. But this was Daniel's home, he would see to it that Abydos didn't become the next Goa'uld wasteland. If there was one thing he wished to preserve in this war, it was Abydos.
Daniel turned around again and said, directly to Kasuf, "If more of you join, the Goa'uld will find out about our planet. You have no way to protect yourselves from an attack from the skies, and the Tau'ri have no way to protect you."
Sam continued, "Maybe you don't realize how much you've helped us already--you've given us countless Stargate addresses, mineral resources, medical knowledge, friendship... For your own sake, we ask that you not take the war directly to the Goa'uld. It's very likely that they'd destroy you. They've done it to other planets before for much less."
"Perhaps," Tobay persisted. "But--"
The Stargate activated.
Reflex took over, and SG-1 whirled to face the Stargate, weapons at the ready as they found cover. "From the foothold?" Daniel said.
"I already deleted the old IDCs," Sam said. The iris was indeed holding.
"Well, there's no reason the SGC might be dialing us," Jack said.
"No, sir," Sam agreed.
"Hide!" Daniel called as the wormhole was established, urging Kasuf back along with the others. "Everyone, hide!" Tobay and two others picked up automatic weapons hidden around the 'gate room. Daniel turned back around and ducked behind a pillar himself, pistol aimed at the iris.
Sam was crouched by the DHD. She checked the iris code verification device and said, "No incoming signal."
"What is that?" Daniel said, leaning out from behind his cover for a closer look. The iris was...rippling. Stretching, maybe, or something that he didn't think the metal usually did. Some of the Abydons began to murmur. "Uh, Sam, is the iris supposed to do that?"
Sam sucked in a sharp breath. "It's losing integrity."
Suddenly, it looked as if something were pushing its way through, until...
A man stepped out.
Daniel raised his weapon as the Abydons around him did the same, a few gasps interspersed among the shifting of metal and cloth, but Sam stood quickly and said, "Hold! Hold your fire!"
"Cha'hari! Cha'hari," Daniel called automatically, lowering his gun. "Sam?"
But the rest of SG-1 was on their feet, too. Jack took his hands from his weapon and said, "Ah. I remember now. The Tollan have that fancy...walking through walls technology."
The Tollan. Daniel stood and replaced the safety on his weapon, looking on with interest.
"Narim, it's good to see you," Sam greeted the man. "It's okay--he's one of the Tollan."
"He is a friend," Daniel called back, trying to think of what he remembered of the reports from SG-1's first meeting with the Tollan refugees. The Abydons emerged from the various corners of the room, weapons returning to the floor and people crowding closer to see what was happening.
"Samantha?" the man named Narim said, sounding surprised, then looked around at the rest of them. "I apologize for causing alarm. If I had known you would be here, I would have sent Schrödinger ahead to let you know that a friend was coming."
Sam smiled in acknowledgement, more a reminder of their friendship than an offer of reassurance. Daniel wondered what he would have thought if he'd seen a cat walk through an iris and decided that it wouldn't have made much less of a fuss, after all.
"So," Jack said, "if you weren't looking for us...mind telling us why you're here?"
"I am looking for someone," Narim said formally. "I was told I might find someone here called Dan'yel, son of Melburn of Earth, who may be using the name Jackson. If he was not found here, I was to go to Earth to find him or, failing that, to seek out your team, Colonel O'Neill."
At the sound of his name, Daniel started and suddenly felt the weight of several sets of eyes on his head. "I am Dan'yel. Daniel Jackson, son of Melburn," he said, stepping away from the other Abydons and holstering his gun. He glanced at Jack, who looked as lost as he was. "What is this about?"
Narim turned to him and handed him something that looked like a triangle, with a blue crystal screen in the center. "I am here to deliver a message from our highest governing body. Dan'yel, the Tollan Curia requests your presence for Triad."
Daniel looked at the object in his hands. He wondered whether he should know what that meant--'Curia' seemed clear enough, as the Tollan used some terms related to Latin, and must be a authoritative body of some sort, but what was 'Triad?'--but when he snuck a surreptitious glance at the rest of the team, they seemed just as much in the dark as he was.
"Sorry," he said; "what's Triad?"
Narim took his confusion in stride and explained, "It is an ancient ceremony of justice."
"Like a trial in a court of justice on Earth," Sam said. "A...a gathering to determine someone's guilt or innocence."
"Or to make other decisions to determine the justice of an action, yes," Narim said.
Daniel frowned. "Uh...am I being judged for something? I've never even met your people before."
"Oh, no," Narim said. "The person who sits in judgment has requested your presence specifically to help him sway the outcome in his favor. He is an Abydon by the name of Skaara."
Whispers broke out behind him as SG-1 straightened in interest. "What?" Daniel said faintly. "Wh--Skaara? He's...he's alive--he's all right?"
Narim nodded. "He is well. But he does need your help for Triad."
"But...I mean, of course I'll help," Daniel said, shaking his head and pushing away the fog of shock that tried to descend over him. "Of course, but...but how..."
"Where's this taking place?" Jack said, taking over while Daniel collected himself.
"Our destination is the new homeworld, Tollana," Narim answered. "The Nox and the Tollan devised a way to transport us to the planet and built a Stargate there."
Sam's eyebrows rose, and distantly, Daniel figured that building a Stargate was probably a lot more advanced than even technology that let a person walk through an iris, but no one commented on it. "All right," Jack said, his tone even and measured. "Daniel, why don't you go let everyone know we're done updating their iris and tell Kasuf where you're going. We'll dial the SGC and let the general know that we're going to be on Tollana."
"You're going, too?" Daniel said, looking around at SG-1 surrounding him.
"Well, yeah," Jack said, as if it should be obvious, then nodded toward the back of the room. "Go on."
Daniel hesitated for a minute, not sure if he was supposed to do something with the oddly shaped object in his hands or if it was simply a sort of summons to the Tollan Triad. Teal'c reached around him and plucked it out of his hands, nudging him back to attention, and he turned around and walked toward where the Abydons waited at the back.
Before he could speak, however, Kasuf stepped forward. "I heard. These people have your trust?"
"They do, Elder," Daniel said. "The Tollan are a people advanced far beyond the Tau'ri, but they are peaceful. They are our friends."
"They can help Skaara?" Kasuf pressed.
Daniel nodded. "Yes. Narim says he needs us. Skaara must still carry a Goa'uld within him. We have allies who can cure him, but we need the Tollan to help us so we may take him somewhere to remove the demon." He hoped that was what it was about, anyway.
"Then I will go with you and the Tollan," Kasuf said simply. "He is my son--your brother. We will speak for Abydos."
XXXXX
1 December 1999; Courtroom, Tollana; 1300 hrs
There was a very distinguished-looking woman sitting on a high podium. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c looked perfectly poised and professional as usual. Kasuf seemed, by all outward appearances, utterly unruffled by the impressive architecture or the atmosphere of grandeur that permeated the courthouse or by the woman who must be in charge here. For his own part, Daniel hoped he looked a lot less anxious than he felt.
"These must be our visitors," the woman said with a cool smile. "Welcome."
"High Chancellor Travell," Narim said, "this is Colonel Jack O'Neill--"
"Hi," Jack said.
"--Major Samantha Carter, and Teal'c, the team SG-1 from Earth. And these are Dan'yel and Kasuf of Abydos."
"Hello," Sam said politely as Teal'c inclined his head. Identified as an Abydon despite his clearly Tau'ri clothing and SG-1 insignia, Daniel crossed his arms over his heart and bowed to Travell as Kasuf did the same beside him.
"We are honored that you have agreed to participate in Triad," the High Chancellor told them. "Your Seeker will decide which of you will be Archon."
"Seeker?" Jack repeated. "Archon?"
"With all due respect, ma'am," Sam said, "Narim didn't have the chance to explain Triad to us. We don't know what those terms mean."
Neither annoyed nor offended, Travell only nodded gracefully and explained, "There are two arguing parties called Seekers. Triad requires one Archon who is sympathetic to each side and one neutral Archon. The Archons argue the dispute until a decision is reached."
Daniel puzzled that out and then summarized, "So the Seeker is the one being judged, and the Archon is his advocate." A glance at SG-1 showed no disagreement, so he continued, "Skaara is our Seeker?" Kasuf tensed very slightly at his side. Daniel had to force himself to hold steady.
Just another mission. Achieve the objective and--
No, that was wrong. If they were to speak for Skaara, they had to remember who he was and why they were doing this, not just that he was an objective to be achieved.
"That is correct," Travell said. "Narim will take you to him now."
Daniel's heart began to race as Narim nodded to the High Chancellor and gestured them out of the courtroom. He barely even noticed Jack giving the device on the wall--the one that had somehow disabled their weapons--a thoroughly disgusted look as they followed Narim toward another part of the courthouse.
"In here," Narim said, sliding a door open.
Jack and Sam both stepped in first, but even after nearly two years, even with his back turned to them, Daniel immediately recognized the person standing inside. SG-1 was waiting for them to make the first move, but Kasuf seemed transfixed by the sight, so Daniel cleared his throat, tried not to hope for anything, and said, "Skaara?"
Skaara turned. His eyes glowed. Daniel's stomach dropped.
"You," Klorel growled. "You will pay for what you did to my father."
At those words, Kasuf flinched, then stood tall, his expression firm.
"Good to see you, too," Jack spoke up, breaking the tension.
Suddenly, Klorel stiffened. A red crystal on his chest, which Daniel had taken to be merely ornamental before, changed suddenly and began to glow blue. "Father," he gasped, speaking in Skaara' voice.
Sensing the change, Kasuf began to step forward toward his son. Reflexively, Daniel moved to stand in front of him, physically blocking his path. "It is Skaara," Kasuf said angrily. "Can you not see the difference?"
"The demon Klorel is still within me, father," Skaara said, looking dejected but not making a move toward them--he knew the dangers, too, and knew that the greatest danger here was within his own body. "Dan'yel, I cannot believe you are here. Sha'uri told me you lived, that I should go to you, but I remember..." He pressed his lips together and lowered his face.
"Skaara is not to blame for what Klorel has done," Daniel said carefully, quivering with the warring impulses to run forward and to hold his position. Was this a trick? Then the rest of the words registered. "You spoke to Sha'uri? When? Where?"
"Ah, look, sorry to jump in," Jack said, taking two apologetic steps in and standing so he faced all the Abydons at once, "but we've got this thing to do. And, no offense, but we'd like to know what's going on, so..." He turned to Narim. "What's going on?"
"The Tollan designed the device worn about his chest," Narim explained, pointing to the blue crystal. "It suppresses the Goa'uld's ability to silence its host. The Goa'uld and host are free to speak at will. Red indicates it is Klorel who speaks; blue, Skaara."
"It is I," Skaara said, straightening so that his stance matched his father's proud bearing. "With your help, I will soon be free of this demon. Every day I fight, I listen. I learn."
Daniel could see his friends' expressions stir with interest--intelligence on the status of any of the Goa'uld would always be welcome. Daniel thought he'd gladly discard all of that in exchange for having his brother back.
"It is time for Skaara to choose his Archon," Narim said.
Skaara's gaze swept over all of them, and suddenly, Daniel couldn't decide whether it would be a good or bad thing to be named Archon. He understood the situation with Goa'uld and their hosts better than Kasuf and knew Skaara better than SG-1, but he couldn't deny the hours he often had to spend asking Air Force lawyers for help when they were working on some treaty whose wording he wasn't sure he was interpreting correctly. Like many others who specialized in communication, he had experience working with and learning from the diplomats and the attorneys on base, but it didn't mean he was suited for this. This was too important.
Indeed, Skaara's eyes lingered on Jack--the legend, his childhood hero, and a face probably known by the System Lords to be a dangerous adversary--and finally, he said, "I must choose only one person as my Archon?"
"You may choose no more than three to argue for you," Narim told him, "but they will have only one vote together."
"Kasuf is the leader of the Abydonian people. But Dan'yel can speak for the Earth people as well," Skaara said. "Therefore, I choose my father and my brother."
Daniel looked instinctively toward SG-1. Sam smiled encouragingly. Jack looked apprehensive but tilted his head slightly, as if to say, 'why not.' Teal'c gave him a solemn nod. Kasuf nodded as well, so Daniel turned to Narim to ask, "What is being decided at this Triad?"
"Two days ago," Narim explained, "a small Goa'uld vessel crashed in a remote area. Skaara was the occupant."
"The demon Heru-ur has been attempting to regain strength," Skaara said. "He wished to combine his power with what Apophis left behind and asked Klorel to meet him on his ship. Heru-ur then turned against Klorel when we arrived."
"You escaped from Heru-ur himself," Daniel clarified, finding the story suspicious despite the part of him that didn't really care, as long as Skaara was standing here before him, "even after being taken directly onto his ship?"
Now Skaara looked around himself at the others, then focused intently on Daniel, as if to convey another message. "Heru-ur had another prisoner, brother. Her escape gave me the distraction I needed to run." Daniel's eyes widened, and he started to turn to see if the rest of his team had heard the message, too, but Skaara was already continuing, "My demon knew the Tollan could stop Heru-ur."
"Which we did," Narim said, reminding Daniel that, whether or not Sha'uri and Amaunet had truly escaped from Heru-ur, they could do nothing about it now; first, they had to deal with Klorel and Triad before they could learn anything more. "We warned them, but our defense grid was forced to destroy them."
"So Heru-ur is dead," Sam said.
"No," Skaara told her. "But two of his motherships are destroyed."
Daniel opened his mouth to ask again what this Triad was about, because he was pretty sure no one had actually explained it yet, but before he could, Jack said, "Wait a minute. You blew away two Goa'uld motherships? Just like that?"
"We are not a warring people," Narim said, looking unperturbed by the incredulity, "but our defensive technology is far more advanced than the Goa'uld's."
"What about the Triad?" Daniel interrupted impatiently, not particularly interested at the moment in the weapons. "I still don't understand what the issue is."
Narim nodded. "When he first arrived, Skaara asked us to free him of his Goa'uld. But the Goa'uld refuses." Daniel frowned. Of course the Goa'uld had refused--what had they expected? "Therefore, under Tollan law, we have no choice but to hear both arguments before acting. Klorel is the other Seeker."
Surprised into silence, Daniel looked back to Skaara, who seemed to be resigned to this fact. Kasuf moved out from behind him and said, "Klorel also has his Archon?"
"If you will return with us to the courtroom, you can meet him," Narim said, gesturing them out the door.
XXXXX
1 December 1999; Waiting Room, Tollana; 1400 hrs
"So it's Daniel and Kasuf versus a Goa'uld," Jack summarized as they walked into the waiting room, "with a Nox called Lya as the jurywoman."
"No, she's the neutral Archon," Daniel said, because he had a general idea of Tau'ri court proceedings and thought the Archons corresponded to attorneys, not jury people.
"Realistically," Sam pointed out, "hers is the only vote that counts, so she really is, essentially, the jury that you have to convince. You'll vote for Skaara, and the Goa'uld Zipacna will vote for Klorel; whoever sways Lya's opinion will win."
"We must fight to show my son should have life?" Kasuf said, his tone disbelieving.
"Yes," Daniel said unhappily, but added, "They are only trying to be fair. But Skaara has justice on his side, and the Nox are known to be a fair and...and very intelligent people, so we do have a good chance."
Jack waved a hand. "It'll be a piece of cake. A walk in the park, a day at the beach--"
"But if we lose?" Kasuf asked.
"We won't," Jack insisted.
"We'll be back to where we were last week," Daniel corrected, dropping his hands into his pockets and unable to accept Jack's optimism even though he appreciated the support. "It'll be no better but no worse than before. Skaara and Klorel will be out there somewhere...and we'll keep looking."
And Sha'uri...
But if Kasuf wasn't asking, Daniel wasn't going to mention anything that could turn out to be false hope, not until Skaara was free and they could talk and find out exactly what had happened. Time enough for that later, after they won the Triad. If they won the Triad. When they won.
"My son," Kasuf said carefully to Daniel, "I understand enough, but I do not speak as well as you. You will be my voice. You speak for us both." Daniel nodded. It wasn't as if he hadn't had enough practice in simultaneous interpretation over the last few years.
Tollan historians had known of a dialect similar to Tau'ri Middle English for years, and the Tollans who had been stranded on Earth a few years ago had learned more of the modern language. Daniel supposed they tended not to use own language because it was more efficient to use English--the Tollan interpreters were apparently better than Tau'ri ones.
If it weren't for the fact that Skaara's fate was at stake now, Daniel thought he might be very interested in the fact that the so-called human slave language, based on Ancient Egyptian, was only vaguely known to the Tollan. Perhaps that was why they were willing to see the Goa'uld as simply another race, not as treacherous tyrants.
And, with treachery in mind... "I don't believe for a second that Zipacna's come to talk Klorel out of here," Jack warned.
"Wouldn't Skaara know if Klorel were plotting something, sir?" Sam said.
"Perhaps Zipacna is acting alone," Teal'c said. "He brought several Jaffa with him."
Kasuf looked alarmed--they were talking about a conspiracy before the proceedings had even begun--but Daniel nodded again. He trusted the Goa'uld no more than his team did. "You two watch out for yourselves," Jack said, nodding at him and Kasuf. "We'll keep an eye on Zippy's kids out there, see what they're up to."
"You're staying?" Daniel blurted. "For the Triad?"
Jack turned to him. "Obviously," he said, but his hand rose and patted the shoulder of Daniel's jacket, needlessly straightening the collar and smoothing down the zipper, the kind of thing he always did when he was very nervous or relieved for someone. "I'd go in with you, but like Narim said, it's a closed session. We'd be more useful making sure Zipacna's not up to something."
Daniel nodded, feeling like that was all he'd been doing so far, agreeing and agreeing.
"Don't give me that!" Jack said, sharp enough to make him jump. "No nodding and smiling today. You argued with Cronus to his face, for cryin' out loud. Fate of the world and all that. In fact, I'll bet you know more about this Zipacna guy than I do."
"Minor Goa'uld," Daniel recited, relieved. "A demon from Mayan mythology--feared but not particularly powerful. He's been known to form alliances with--"
"Aht!" Jack said, wrinkling his nose and raising a hand. "I don't need to know that. You know what to do. Just...be better at the etiquette thing than I am, huh? It'll be fine."
A chime sounded through the room. The door slid open to reveal Narim. "They are ready for you."
From the next chapter (" The Nox"):
Zipacna turned to him with a sneer. "Nothing of the host survives."