Seaworld, Heimdoll's former lab…
"What's the problem now?" said Harry in exasperation.
"We are having trouble interfacing the Asgard beam weapon with the Artemis," stated Vasir droningly. Harry stared down at the tiny Asgard standing next to him with a raised eyebrow.
"I need you to be more specific."
"The Artemis has too much power," said Vasir shortly. Harry groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Vasir was an Asgard shipbuilder and engineer who had been assigned to Seaworld to oversee Harry's ship building projects. It was an irritating habit of the small Asgard engineer to never explain himself fully…he always assumed that Harry…as an Alteran…would know everything there is to know. It seemed since the Asgard had lost all contact with the Alterans millennia ago, that there had been major exaggerations over the generations about the abilities of the Alterans.
Contrary to what most Asgard had come to believe, the Alterans didn't walk around as living Repositories of all their knowledge. Despite the advanced brain physiology of Alteran's it was still impossible to hold all that knowledge without going insane…only an Ascended could handle it.
"So the beam weapon isn't capable of projecting that much power through its capacitors," said Harry with a sigh, he had been afraid of this. Vasir nodded. "All right, remove the weapon from the Artemis and I'll see what weapon system I can come up with to replace it."
"Very well," said Vasir. The tiny Asgard flashed with white light as he was transported away. Harry concentrated and with a thought teleported himself to the Stargate on the main island. It was a rather beautiful day; totally clear skies and the sun shone down brilliantly on the beaches. Harry turned his attention to the Stargate a few meters away and he brought the coordinates of Earth to the forefront of his mind. He made a circular gesture with his hand towards the gate and a subspace path sprang to life instantly…settling into the calm event horizon.
He pulled out his own GDO (Colloquially called the Garage Door Opener). It had been issued to him since General Hammond was tired of getting the nasty surprise when the iris failed to respond whenever Harry walked through. He typed in his iris code into the GDO and waited for it to indicate that the iris was open. The GDO flashed a green light and Harry walked calmly through the event horizon.
When he rematerialized within the SGC he walked instantly down the ramp and was surprised to only be greeted by Sergeant Walter Harriman. General Hammond and SG1 were nowhere to be seen.
"Welcome back to Earth, Ambassador," said Walter.
"Walter," nodded Harry with a frown. "What's going on? Isn't it protocol that I should at least be met by the most senior officer on watch duty?"
"That is the protocol, Ambassador," said Walter nervously, "but we are all a tad busy at the moment…the Tok'ra are here."
"Oh, who?"
"Her name is Freya and apparently the symbiote's name is Anise," reported Walter. Harry closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt his headache double in intensity instantly at Walter's words.
"Thanks, Walter, you told me all I need to know," said Harry and walked out of the embarkation room and headed down the adjoining corridor and into the lift. Harry idly wondered what new research scheme Anise was busy with these days. The door to the lift opened and was immediately called away after depositing Harry on level twenty.
He walked into the lab he shared with Sam only to find it in complete darkness, yet all the computers and equipment were lit up and powered. He could see Sam was busy intensely concentrating on the laptop on her desk and he could hear the keys of it being tapped at an incredible speed.
Harry reached over and flicked the light switch on.
"Hey!" cried Sam, covering her eyes as if blinded by the normal lighting of the room. A strange neon purple armband that Sam was wearing around her left forearm instantly drew Harry's attention. Its alien design was very evident and it was covered in a runic language, it also seemed to have its own power source as a diamond shaped light was flashing prominently on it. "Oh, hi Harry," she greeted and turned back to her laptop with her eyes squinting and she instantly resumed typing…she was typing so fast that her hands seemed to blur and leave after-images behind them.
"Hello Major," said Harry expectantly, moving to stand next to her. He glanced at the screen and saw what was apparently the nine hundredth page of a book on wormhole physics that was appearing on the screen as fast as the poor laptop could process through it's buffer memory. "Tell me, when did you start writing this book?"
"Oh, about two hours ago," said Sam with a smile. Harry did not look impressed…his right hand coiled and grasped Sam's left wrist with a speed that matched her own. "Hey! What are you doing?" Harry pulled the arm closer to examine the alien device more closely, taking in the minor details. Sam squirmed in an effort to get free, but for some strange reason found she could not make Harry's grip budge despite her enhanced strength.
Harry let go of her arm and asked flatly, "Where's Anise?"
"Probably in the gym with the Colonel," said Sam, looking aggravated. "Now do you mind if I finish this book?"
"Knock yourself out, Sam," said Harry and left the lab to head towards the gym on level fifteen. The fully furnished gym of the SGC was installed with the idea that many base personnel spent most of their time actually living in the base itself. As such a gym was required to keep fit.
When Harry entered there was no one else inside except for Jack and the Tok'ra Anise. The latter of which was wearing a very flattering mini-skirt and blouse combination made from brown leather that did everything to give you a good idea of the beautiful body beneath. She was holding a Tok'ra computing device in her hands and was directing Jack to make adjustments to the stepping machine he had positioned himself on. A similar neon purple alien armband was around Jack's right arm.
"I believe that should be an appropriate setting," stated Anise. "You may begin." Jack started to step on the pedals of the machine…fast…faster…even faster…until his legs were leaving after-images of themselves behind. Anise had a look about her that spoke of scientific curiosity and fascination as she stared down into her computing device at the readings…which was no doubt coming from a sensor she had placed somewhere on Jack. "That is enough," she said and Jack slowed down and eventually jumped off the machine still as fit as a fiddle, and he didn't even break a sweat. "Very impressive," praised Anise.
"Yeah, but you know," stated Jack with a frown, "I think that thing was actually slowing me down." Anise said nothing in response, but handed Jack a metallic sensor ball.
"Let us see what your strength quotient is now." Jack began to squeeze the sensor ball until it crumpled in his hands. Harry hated to admit it, but even he was fascinated and impressed by this. "You have the strength of about twenty men combined," stated Anise, near breathless in astonishment.
It was then that Jack finally spotted Harry.
"Ah, Ambassador," said Jack jovially, "you just have to try one of these armbands. They rock!"
"No, thank you, Colonel," said Harry politely in return, staring at Anise with narrowed eyes. "I'll pass."
Anise, for her part, did not look remotely abashed at Harry's presence, but he did detect a gleam in her eye and he knew that she would like nothing better than to get one of these armbands on him.
"Anise," Harry bowed his head in greeting.
"Tyr," she bowed in return. "It is agreeable to see you again."
"Indeed," said Harry stoically, their gazes competing for domination. Jack looked mightily uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"I'm going to see what Daniel is up to," said Jack and hurried out of the gym.
"I take it Dr Jackson also has one of these devices strapped to his arm," said Harry with a slight edge of accusation in his tone.
"They agreed to the experiment Tyr," retorted Anise.
"Perhaps they did," relented Harry, "but did you give them all of the facts? In my time with the Tok'ra you told me that you have been searching for the Atonieks armband technology for almost all of your life. Now it seems you have succeeded finally. Would you let the health and well-being of three Tau'ri stand in you way of obtaining the power of these devices for the Tok'ra?"
Anise dipped her head and raised it, her eyes flashing her symbiote came to the fore, "We make no excuses for fighting for our own survival."
"What is the long term price of wearing the armbands?" demanded Harry in anger.
"I don't know," said Anise, "that's precisely why I'm running this experiment. If it all works out, then the Tau'ri stand to gain three very powerful operatives and I will have gotten all the data I need to replicate the effects for the host of a Tok'ra."
"If, Anise, if," said Harry. "You know as well as I do, that everything has a price. Tau'ri physiology hasn't evolved yet to the point where it can sustain even half of the potential the armbands are giving them."
"But your physiology would…" Harry's hand snapped forward and gestured to Anise, hitting her with a neural block matrix, effectively silencing her vocal cords. He had also at the same time willed the security camera to shut down so it wouldn't record what had happened. Anise tried to speak but found her voice would not respond, she looked for a moment like a gaping fish.
"Do not speak of it in this place!" he said in anger. "Such an armband would have no effect on me. Do not worry, I will not interfere in your little experiment, or whatever scheme you have going on here. But I will be there to pick up the pieces when it all comes crashing down." Harry dropped his hand and the neural block lifted.
Anise gathered her computing device and the remains of the strength tester and left the gym without saying a word.
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For the next few hours Harry tried to keep himself busy by staying in the laboratory and working on the research for the X-project. The scientists at Area 51 had finally finished building a prototype two-meter long plasma cannon (a design based off the working principles of the PR7), which would be affixed, to the X302. Harry was watching a video taken of the first successful test firing of the weapon (after over fifteen various failures). The lead scientist reported they were now working on an even larger version, which was slated for the X303.
Harry was now looking at schematics for the redesign of the current generation of anti-fighter and anti-ship missiles in use on terrestrial fighter aircraft to allow their use in space and against the Goa'uld. While the Goa'uld and any advanced civilization out there largely considered missiles a primitive weapon, they would be highly effective against Death Gliders and would destroy an Al'kesh bomber with three consecutive hits.
The crux of the matter would be anti-ship missiles. The shields around a Ha'tak mothership allowed it to withstand even a direct naquadah enhanced nuclear explosion (1); hence conventional wisdom would state that the idea of using missiles against a Ha'tak is ludicrous. The scientists at Area 51 theorized that if explosive energy would not breach the shields then another type of energy had to be released by the missile. Harry was staring at a list of all the ideas they had come up with…some of which had merit.
One of the most noteworthy ideas was to use a 'tokamak' (or magnetic containment bottle) to store pure super energized plasma that would be generated from a fusion reactor (ie. the ones currently being built for the X303). This would be encased within the anti-ship missile. Another idea (which would need a lot of help from Harry to implement) was to use the giant particle accelerator in Switzerland (called the CERN) to generate anti-deuterium in vast quantities and store it using the containment fields recently developed in the work on the plasma cannon and fusion reactor.
Harry thought it was a bit of a pipe dream for Earth to be able to successfully harness the power of anti-matter. The CERN particle accelerator had generated anti-matter successfully in the past, but only in tiny quantities as the anti-particle only lasted for nine petaseconds before it encountered a normal particle of matter and there was mutual annihilation.
The development of containment force fields would potentially solve that problem…but Harry doubted the US military would be allowed access to the CERN facility, not unless they disclosed the existence of the Stargate program to Switzerland…which in the current political climate would not happen.
Harry's musing was interrupted when Teal'C entered the lab with a troubled look on his face.
"Ambassador Tyr," greeted the Jaffa, bowing his head.
"Teal'C, what can I do for you?"
"You were a Tok'ra for a time, were you not?"
"Yes, I counted myself as one of them for two years," said Harry with a sigh.
"And in that time, did you ever work with or encounter Freya, host to Anise?"
"Ah," said Harry, he should have seen this coming. "I take it by the fact that you are not wearing an Atoniek armband that it will not work on you. And that you are concerned for your friends?" Teal'C only nodded solemnly. "Well, what can I tell you about Anise? Yes, I did encounter her quite frequently in my work when I was a Tok'ra. She is a very driven Tok'ra. An avid and brilliant scientist, but her failing is that she loses sight of those around her and the consequences of her actions to them when she dives into her work too deeply. In fact, Anise is one of the main reasons I decided to leave the Tok'ra. One of her experiments nearly killed me."
Teal'C took in Harry's words and he seemed even more troubled.
"What is it, Teal'C?"
"Anise has reported the apparent success of the experiment to the Tok'ra High Council," said Teal'C. "They have revealed intelligence that Apophis is building a new more powerful class of Goa'uld mothership on PX9-757. All conventional attempts by the Tok'ra to sabotage the vessel have failed."
"And Anise hopes Sam, Daniel and Jack can take advantage of the armbands and succeed where the Tok'ra have failed," concluded Harry.
"Indeed," nodded Teal'C. "Their behavior has also been rather uncharacteristically reckless. Dr. Frasier believes the armbands have a near narcotic effect on the user."
"What is General Hammond's opinion on all this?"
"He is thankfully bowing to Dr Frasier's wisdom in this," reported Teal'C. "He has taken SG1 off active duty, he is doubtful of the control they have over their abilities and their judgment is suspect."
"He obviously realizes that he is being manipulated by the Tok'ra, good for him," mumbled Harry, staring into the screen of his laptop. A thought then occurred to Harry, he turned his gaze to Teal'C and frowned, "You think that SG1 will do it anyway? You think they will try to destroy the ship?"
"As I said, their judgment is clouded by the effect of the devices," nodded Teal'C.
And it went from their mouths to God's ears. Red alarm klaxons began going off all over the base, and the fact that no one was announcing what type of gate activity was occurring meant that something was wrong. Harry grabbed Teal'C and brought forth an Asgard jewel device. In the next instant they were transported directly into the gate room on level 28.
They arrived just in time to see Sam, Daniel and Jack begin to head up the embarkation ramp…the gate was active…presumably to PX9-757.
Jack turned to face Harry and Teal'C.
"Not this time, guys," he said, and with that all three turned into blurs of light as they ran at near impossible speeds straight through the event horizon, leaving behind only after-images.
The gate shut down…they had timed it perfectly…they were gone.
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"We have a problem," said Dr Frasier.
"Famous last words," said Harry with a sarcastic grin. They were seated in the briefing room an hour after SG1 had left without authorization to go on their mission of sabotage. Teal'C looked as if he was ready to throttle Anise already, who was standing unflinchingly beside the Doctor.
"Please continue, Doctor," said Hammond, narrowing his eyes at Harry.
"We have discovered the way the armbands work," stated Anise.
"Apparently, the device releases a virus into the wearer, it is this virus which taps into the natural abilities of the wearer and enhances it twenty fold," reported Dr Frasier. "However, Anise and I have found the presence of a naturally developing anti-body within the last samples provided by SG1. Their bodies are fighting the 'interface' virus…and winning."
"Are you saying that SG1 is out there in enemy territory with enhanced abilities that will suddenly disappear on them?" asked General Hammond with a thunderous voice.
"Yes," said Anise.
"How long do they have?" asked Harry.
"I can't be exact, but an educated guess…within the hour," said Dr Frasier grimly.
"Ambassador, Teal'C, get geared up and report down into the gate room yesterday," ordered Hammond with a frown. "The gate will be ready for you when you arrive."
"Yes, General," nodded Harry. He and Teal'C rose from the chair and ran to the armory.
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PX9-757
Harry and Teal'C emerged onto the planet and found that it was rather a lush and beautiful world that Apophis had chosen to build his new battleship. The gate was situated at the bottom of an incline of soft natural grass, which had been cleared to give an unobstructed line of fire to anyone who would come through. The Jaffa who would guard the gate would have a clear advantage of the high ground and could at their leisure dispatch any attacking force coming from the Stargate.
This did not make a bit of difference to three enhanced humans though. The entire Jaffa squadron guarding the gate was knocked out…not even the three Staff cannon emplacements could have done anything to stop SG1.
"Zat 'em?" asked Harry. Teal'C nodded. As the two walked up the hill they used their Zat guns to ensure that the Jaffa squadron would not awake before they could affect a rescue. As Harry and Teal'C crested the hill they finally caught sight of the unfinished battleship Apophis was building.
It still retained they basic pyramid central structure, but that was where any similarity with a Ha'tak ended. It was two hundred meters larger than a standard Ha'tak, making it near six hundred meters in diameter; it had two large rings that orbited the pyramid, which looked like all round coverage for weapon firing arcs, the main superstructure around the pyramid was still unfinished though and the unfinished battleship itself was resting on a mountain and additionally supported by anti-gravity engines.
They rushed down the opposite side of the hill and set a strong running pace all the way to the unfinished battleship. It took twelve minutes to reach the support structure for the battleship and another two to find the entrance SG1 used to get in.
They found Daniel within the very first corridor. He was lying exhausted on his back; the Atoniek armband he had worn had fallen off. He had apparently stumbled onto five heavy blocks of weapons grade naquadah…very valuable. Harry lifted his Asgard jewel device and the material dematerialized and was stored as energy within.
"Hey, guys," said Daniel weakly. "Thanks for coming after us." Teal'C hefted Daniel to stand and slung his arm around his shoulders, supporting the archeologist. "We rigged the coolant system to explode in a few minutes, the battleship itself will be destroyed fifteen minutes afterward."
"Where's Sam and Jack?" asked Harry urgently.
"Uh, I dunno exactly, we split up when I went after the naquadah," said Daniel vaguely.
"Ok, Teal'C, get Daniel to the entrance, I'll go after the others, if the bomb goes off, get your ass to the Stargate," said Harry and ran off before Teal'C could protest. Harry spread his mind out…searching…for the unique minds of Sam and Jack…he turned a corner…turned left…then right…down another corridor…they were just ahead.
Harry took in the scene with trepidation. Sam was trapped behind a forcefield barring the corridor while Jack was on the other side. Both their armbands were off and lying on the floor…they were helpless. Jack had already tried to disable the forcefield by prying apart the control keypad and smashing it, in sheer desperation. He and Sam were staring at each other intensely through the shield, emotions of anger, sadness…and…
Harry put it out of his mind.
"Colonel, out of the way!" shouted Harry, hefting his PR7. Harry altered his vision and saw the frequency oscillation that the shield operated at and cast a matrix into his weapon so that it fired energy at the exact inverse of that frequency. Jack dived out of the way as Harry fired a stream of plasma shots at full auto onto a specific section of the forcefield. The shield withered and shorted out as Harry's plasma ammunition ran dry.
Jack grabbed Sam by the arm and they ran as fast they could. It was then that two serpent guards appeared down the corridor. Harry had reloaded his PR7 just in time to send the two Jaffa scurrying for cover.
As they were turning a corner…the world rocked underneath their feet. Sending them all sprawling to the ground. The explosives on the cooling system had gone off.
"Fifteen minutes and counting, come on!" encouraged Harry, pulling a bone weary Sam and Jack to their feet. They arrived at the entrance two minutes later to find that Teal'C and Daniel had waited for them. "Dammit, I told you to get to the Stargate."
"We do not leave anyone behind," said Teal'C stoically, before turning and helping Daniel out of the support structure. Harry similarly supported Sam and Jack by running between them and slinging their arms about his shoulders.
They had just approached the DHD when the massive battleship finally groaned with the power overload caused by its reactor overheating.
"Ignore it!" shouted Harry, raising his Asgard jewel device and it glowed with an inner light and a subspace path was instantly formed in the mouth of the Stargate. He had thankfully thought ahead and also sent the iris code the instant the subspace path formed from his device.
The battleship exploded. A massive concussive shockwave spread out from it in a giant sphere. Putting on a last burst of effort they managed to hurl themselves through the event horizon just as the shockwave passed over the Stargate.
SG1 and Harry piled on top of each other as they fell through the event horizon in the SGC. Making sure that all their limbs were through Harry rolled over to shout, "CLOSE THE IRIS!"
With the grinding of a thousand swords the iris closed, and not a moment afterwards heavy debris kicked up by the explosion slammed against it. The path remained on for an agonizing few moments as the iris strained against the debris being destroyed against it…then finally…the path shut down.
Harry walked into the Infirmary and regarded the slowly recovering Sam, Jack and Daniel. All three had numerous Intravenous medications and supplements flowing into them to replenish their badly overtaxed bodies with electrolytes and vitamins. It was readily apparent now to Harry why the Atoniek civilization had died out. All their warriors using the armbands had eventually become immune to the 'interface' virus and as Murphy's Law dictated, it probably happened at the worst possible time (when they were at war with someone else) and they were swiftly defeated.
Harry blew into his steaming mug of coffee he had brought with him and took a tentative sip. Perfect, he thought.
"Is that coffee?" asked Daniel eagerly, sitting up in bed.
"Down boy," smirked Harry, speaking as if he was addressing a dog looking for his bone.
"Ha, ha," said Daniel wryly.
"You know you can't have any, besides, you're getting a lot more nourishment from the IV's than from eating at the moment, which is the whole point," stated Harry. "Anyway," he turned to face all three of them, "you'll be happy to hear Anise has gone back to the Tok'ra base on planet Vorash."
"Thank goodness," said Jack in relief.
"I can't believe she still wanted to get medical data from us," said Sam in an outraged voice.
"Apparently she believed that monitoring your recovery process will be helpful in further refining the technology," explained Harry. "She hopes that she can one day make a temporary version of the armbands that can be used like a drug and will be effective with Tok'ra physiology. But I highly doubt she'll succeed. The whole concept is flawed."
"Amen to that," said Jack.
"Ambassador, can I ask you a question?" said Sam with a thoughtful frown.
"Most certainly," said Harry, sipping into his coffee.
"When I was writing my book, you managed to catch my wrist, even though my hands were moving at an incredible speed," she stated.
"I have very good reflexes and visual acuity," said Harry with a grin. "And despite your hands moving so fast they were staying within the limited area of the keyboard, I merely anticipated where your wrist would go."
"But I also tried to break your grip, unsuccessfully," said Sam curiously.
Harry only smiled enigmatically in answer and finished his coffee with a last sip. "Well, I must be heading back to Seaworld, things to do, and the Mrs doesn't like it when I'm late…"
"And when do I get to meet your wife?" asked Jack with a smirk.
"Well next time you have vacation, tell me and I will arrange it," said Harry loftily.
Harry placed the empty coffee mug temptingly on Daniel's empty lunch tray and headed out of the infirmary.
"Hey!" said Daniel's voice indignantly.
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Seaworld…two weeks later…
Harry stood on the soft white beach not a few hundred meters away from the stilted huts, with arms folded he stared out into the endless ocean, letting the rhythmic breaking of the waves sooth his senses. He wore only a short black leather skirt (as was tradition for Spartan men (2)) as he occasionally just had to get out of the chromesuit and let the breeze play over his skin freely.
He stood in contemplation of an issue that was bothering him lately.
The Tok'ra-Earth alliance.
The alliance had in the beginning looked to be very promising for the future. Earth could provide hosts for Tok'ra symbiotes with no risk of Goa'uld interference in the process. While in turn the Tok'ra would provide whatever intelligence it could in their common fight against the Goa'uld. Providing mutual aid as well, when the situation called for it.
Then…things started to sour for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was the patronizing attitude of the Tok'ra…their 'don't call us-we'll call you' approach…the manipulation of Anise in using the Atoniek technology for the Tok'ra's benefit only. Then a few days ago…a Jaffa Priestess named Sho'noc, had arrived in the SGC using Master Bratac's iris code…with an incredible claim.
She said that she had managed to communicate with her larval Goa'uld over the years and convinced it that the Goa'uld were evil, and it in turn stated that it was willing to defect to the Tok'ra.
Everyone was justifiably skeptical of the claim, no more so than Teal'C, who stated that it was impossible for a Jaffa to influence his larval symbiote. Harry on the other hand thought it was simply a rouse for the Goa'uld to infiltrate the Tok'ra.
But then, things changed. Sho'noc instructed Teal'C on how to commune with his own symbiote, and it worked to the surprise of everyone.
Reluctantly, the SGC made contact with the Tok'ra. And Anise was sent to investigate the possibility of welcoming Sho'noc's rapidly maturing symbiote into the Tok'ra fold. Harry understood the importance of this, having a new defector would mean the Tok'ra would gain the two thousand year old difference in genetic memory that separated the Tok'ra from the Goa'uld.
Anise returned later with word from the Tok'ra High Council that it was accepting the new defector into their ranks. Harry and SG1 accompanied Sho'noc to Vorash and within the Tok'ra's secret base they were introduced to the prospective host for the defector, a young man named Hebron of Parabel; whose world was conquered by the Goa'uld generations ago and he appeared eager to do his part for the Tok'ra cause.
Sho'noc's time ran out and the defecting symbiote had no choice but to leave her and unflinchingly Hebron offered himself. The symbiote leaped into the young man through the throat and not a few moments later the defector emerged. A new larval symbiote was placed into Sho'noc and she later recovered.
The defecting symbiote identified itself as Tanith and pledged himself to the cause of the Tok'ra in front of everyone. Harry was still doubtful of Tanith's sincerity and was clearly looking forward to hearing an interrogation of Tanith, but Anise stated that whatever intelligence gained which concerned Earth would be shared at an appropriate time.
Harry knew from his own experience as a Tok'ra that things were not as they seemed. And indeed, not a day later, Anise returned with Sho'noc's dead body. It was then that Harry knew for sure…Tanith had lied. And what shocked him more was when Anise told a bold faced lie to Teal'C and everyone else; he sensed that she uttered a falsehood when she explained that Sho'noc died because of the larval symbiote was too young and that Sho'noc had waited too long.
Harry kept his peace and did not call her on it. Just as he was contemplating how to make Teal'C realize that Sho'noc's death was not an accident, the Jaffa figured it out himself and after an autopsy and bloodwork by Dr Frasier…the truth was out.
And what was even worse, the Tok'ra knew that Tanith had not really defected. They wanted Tanith within their midst, where they could control what he saw and heard…spreading disinformation. Teal'C was understandably furious and his revenge on Tanith would have to wait.
Harry scuffed the beach sand with his toes absentmindedly. It was events such as these, which reminded him why he eventually chose to unblend with Jamilla. The Tok'ra's methods while effective at times…always left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. Their priority was never to their own and they sacrificed themselves too willingly into the jaws of the Goa'uld.
His musings were interrupted by the swishing sound of footsteps on the sand behind him. He turned and saw Apollonia approach. She wore open toe leather sandals with laces that snaked up her calf and ended just below her knees and a smile. Harry smiled appreciatively at the sight of her.
"Good morning, my love," she said, her eyes twinkling.
"Morning," he said, and they placed their hands on each other's faces, speaking of things that cannot be communicated by words. Their hands dropped and they embraced tightly against each other. Harry enjoyed the feeling of her lithe body being squeezed against his own and felt as if he spend the whole day like this. "You've been performing magical rituals?" he questioned; he judged this from the fact that she was nude (it was a requirement of the rituals, though she rarely walked about with clothes as was custom among the Ancient Greeks) and he felt the residual energy on her skin.
"Only standard morning blessings, as such," she said in response. Apollonia had been on her way to become a Priestess at the time she and Harry first met. Obviously those plans had been cancelled during their courtship. But Harry knew she did them only as a means of reminding herself of her destroyed civilization and all those that perished, to give herself a sense of the familiar. "Come with me, I want to show you something," she said and they broke the hug but their hands remained firmly intertwined as they walked from the beach and toward the island's interior.
After a few minutes of walking they broke through the brush into a clearing that Harry hadn't seen before. The clearing was also paved with what looked like newly cut stones and a knee high stone bench seating that formed a perfect circle of around ten meters in diameter. Rising in perfectly spaced intervals were Greek style columns.
"What do you think?" she asked expectantly.
"It's perfect," said Harry thoughtfully. "It looks like you are building a reproduction of one of the temples on Sparta."
"One of the small ones in the countryside at least," said Apollonia whimsically. "It's still missing the dome roof, I haven't managed to program the automated builder to do it."
"A dome is a relatively complex structure to erect," said Harry with a grin. "I'll program the builder later today."
"Thank you." Apollonia stepped into the center of the burgeoning temple pulling Harry along with her. "Do feel the power here?" Harry closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes, a perfect circle…there is a good reason our ancestors chose to shape the Stargate as they did," said Harry solemnly.
"Well, I brought us here for a slightly different reason," she said with quirked grin, and her hand snaked down to the leather skirt he was wearing and she un-ceremonially whipped it off and let it fall to the ground. She whispered into his ear.
"You sure?"
She nodded.
SGC, Earth…
The Stargate disengaged and Harry ran down the ramp without pausing. Teal'C met him and they walked at a brisk pace through the corridors of the SGC.
"What's the situation?"
"We believe SG15 were recently compromised by the Goa'uld," explained Teal'C.
"In what way?" asked Harry as two scientists in white lab coats had to scatter for their approach through the corridor.
"They were apparently victims of Goa'uld mind control technology," reported Teal'C stoically. "A mission was programmed within them…to be carried out when certain events unfolded before them."
"Such as meeting somebody?" asked Harry with a shrewd suspicion.
"Indeed, just yesterday, Major Graham of SG15, during a Tok'ra–Earth treaty seminar, pulled a Goa'uld hand held beam weapon the moment he saw High Councilor Per'sus of the Tok'ra and attempted to assassinate him," reported Teal'C. "The attempt was thwarted but two Tok'ra were killed and Major Graham killed himself immediately afterwards."
They walked into the elevator and it went on its long upward journey to the appropriate level for the isolation rooms.
"The Tok'ra Anise and Martouf are here with a device they believe is capable of detecting anyone influenced by the mind control technology or as she calls them 'za'tarcs'."
"They 'believe'…" snorted Harry, shaking his head. The elevator finished its journey to the appropriate floor and a few minutes later they entered the observation room looking down into a cleared out isolation lab; inside was a chair with restraints in which a rather pretty looking female soldier was strapped, who looked very nervous. Facing her was a device of clear Tok'ra design; large and curved with gold and neon purple colors and display controls and an eye shaped sensor jutting out…into which the strapped down soldier was staring. Anise was behind the controls tapping buttons and frowning into the displays.
"Ambassador," greeted General Hammond. Harry turned his attention to the other occupants of the observation room. In addition to the General, Jack, Sam and another Tok'ra was seated in chairs looking facing the large window into the lab.
"General," said Harry. "Martouf," bowed Harry to the Tok'ra, who smiled and bowed his head in return.
"It's good to see you again, Tyr," said Martouf. "How has the galaxy been treating you?"
"Well enough," replied Harry, and then turned his gaze into the lab. "Teal'C has brought me somewhat up to speed about the Za'tarcs. Can you perhaps explain what Anise is attempting to do?"
"She believes that the Za'tarcs are created by implanting a false memory to cover the programming within the mind," explained Martouf, "the device she is using on Lieutenant Astor,(the female soldier in the chair apparently) examines both conscious and subconscious and compares them as the person in question is being asked to recount events where they might have been compromised by the Goa'uld."
"And because there is a false memory in the conscious and not the subconscious, that allows you to compare the two and discover the programming," concluded Harry. "A good idea but has obvious flaws."
"It is an experimental technology, the Za'tarc detector," reiterated Martouf. "There's bound to be problems with it."
"So what has the results shown with Lt Astor?" asked Harry.
"There is clear indication of a false memory," said Martouf. "In addition she was in Major Graham's team on a recent mission where the programming most likely occurred. Anise is going to attempt to destroy the false memory and the Za'tarc programming together by creating a small amount of brain damage to the affected area in her mind."
"Sure, that's one way of doing it," said Harry wryly. "If you want to ensure Lt Astor's death."
"What do you mean?" asked Sam.
"This is the Goa'uld we're talking about," said Harry with clear exasperation. "Do you think that all they would do to protect the Za'tarc programming is a pithy little false memory? A brushing of the dirt under the proverbial rug?"
General Hammond frowned in consideration and moved towards the microphone to seemingly stop the procedure…but was apparently too late. Anise had just activated the device and a beam of multi-colored light hit Lt Astor's right eye and began moving up and down.
"Stop! Stop the procedure!" shouted the General.
"Shit…too late!" said Harry and rushed out of the observation room as fast as he could. By the time Harry was just outside the blast door sealing off the isolation room he could already hear shouts and gunshots going off inside. Two airmen were outside with drawn firearms.
"I advise you both to stay behind cover," said Harry, and before the two airmen could question him, he willed the blast door to open. Harry walked in the room to see that Lt Astor had gone bezerk. She had managed to break free from her restraints and appropriate a weapon from one of SFs assigned to guard her in the room…who was lying dead with bullet through the chest. Anise was taking cover behind the Zatarc machine.
Astor turned the handgun towards the observation window and fired three shots into it…making the glass shatter into a million cobwebbed lines, the people in the room took cover despite the fact that the glass could handle the slugs. In an effort to get Astor's attention away from the people up there he drew the Zatarced Lieutenant's attention.
"Lt Astor!" he shouted, standing unflinchingly in the middle of the room.
Astor turned the gun towards him and fired off three shots. The bullets were stopped three inches away from his chest by a shield that flared with a vivid electric green. Astor, seeing she couldn't win and that capture was inevitable began to bring the gun over to her own head. Harry had to hand it to the Goa'uld on this one…it was ruthless, but they did good work in the programming.
"No!" shouted Anise in desperation at seeing what was happening.
To cover for the use of his own powers he raised the ubiquitous Asgard jewel device and shot a Temporal-freezing matrix at Astor. The effect was instantaneous. Lt Astor was seemingly immobilized.
Everyone came out of cover and stared in astonishment at the frozen Astor, who was halfway bringing the gun to her own temple.
"Anise," Harry turned to her. "I suggest you think of something else. I think its clear that the Zatarc programming reacts self destructively to any attempts to alter it." He walked forward and wrenched the gun from Astor's frozen hands and handed it off to a nearby SF.
"What did you do to her?" said Sam, having entered the room and carefully examining Astor, but remained a cautious distance away.
"She is in a…restraining field…of sorts," answered Harry evasively.
"She's not even breathing," stated Anise with alarm.
"Oh, she's still breathing, don't worry," said Harry with a grin. "She's just doing it, very, very…very slowly."
"You've stopped Time for her?" asked Sam incredulously. Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "How's that possible? The energy required…"
"You've seen Thor open an inter-galactic subspace path in moments with one of these," said Harry gesturing to the jewel device. "Compared to that, the power required to stop Time around a person is rather trivial." Sam blinked with wide-eyes and shook her head in awe of the way Harry was casually referring to such energies.
"Well," said Jack firmly, getting into the conversation. "Ignoring the fact that Astor over here just became…well…a human statue, just what are we going to do to save her life?"
"I think the idea that Anise had was a start," said Harry with a nod towards the Tok'ra who was still staring at Astor. "But it lacks precision. Destroying the Zatarc program by destroying the part of the brain effected is like trying to kill a cockroach underneath your floor by bashing through it with a sledgehammer."
"So we need poison?" said Jack keeping with the metaphor.
"Don't take my metaphor too literally, Colonel," advised Harry. "Anise, have you ever considered approaching the Zatarc problem as if it was a computer virus?"
"It occurred to me," confirmed Anise. "But the brain is too complex to treat that way."
"That's true," conceded Harry. "So what do you do if you have a computer virus that you have no anti-virus for?"
"You format your hard drive," said Sam.
"Are you suggesting we erase everything Astor was and is?" said Jack incredulously.
"Not her whole mind, Colonel," sighed Harry wearily. "We merely 'format' the brain where the Zatarc program is located, by erasing the information stored in the effected neurons. I can't explain it in more simpler terms to you in English."
"Hey, that's right," said Sam. "When the Colonel had the Ancient's Repository downloaded into his mind, the Asgard removed the knowledge somehow…do you have the means to do something similar?" she asked Harry.
"I do," confirmed Harry. "But this particular device is not capable of the required function, I will need to return to Seaworld."
"Very well, get to it Ambassador," nodded Hammond. "Oh, and just how long will Lt Astor remain…like this?" He gestured at the unnaturally still woman.
"She will remain like that until I disperse the field," said Harry, "until then I suggest you perhaps move the Zatarc detecting to another isolation room."
A Stargate trip and half an hour later Harry was back within the SGC and walked into the secondary isolation room's observation post to find a grim looking group of people. A look into the isolation room showed a dark expression on Jack's face as he was unstrapped from the chair.
"What's their results?" asked Harry.
"It appears that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are both Zatarcs as well," said Martouf with a worried frown on his face, staring at Sam who had two SFs flanking her.
"Which memory has been duplicated?" said Harry astonished,
"It happened during their unauthorized mission to sabotage Apophis's prototype mothership," reported General Hammond. "Apparently, they were separated by a force field in a corridor when their Atoniek armbands failed. The Colonel attempted to shut down the force field and it's believed that this is when they were caught and the programming done…after which they were let go for you to find."
Harry considered this for a few moments, reviewing his own memories of the events of that day.
"I suppose it's possible," said Harry slowly. "But we should see if I can help Lt Astor…then I can help the Colonel and the Major."
When everyone returned in the original observation room Harry entered the isolation room with Anise, to find the still frozen Astor had slightly moved in the intervening time, thankfully it was slightly little more than an inch.
Harry stood directly in front of the crazed looking suicidal Lt Astor and raised another jewel device and mentally activated it. Soft white light shot out of it and hit the woman in the forehead. The moment it made contact, Harry closed his eyes and through his mind's eye he was presented with a mental landscape. Everything seemed normal on the surface, but at a right-angled dimension within the landscape there was an ugly unnatural protrusion, which shot out black light to other parts of the mind…motor controls, adrenaline, stamina, logical reasoning…all of them were being influenced. No doubt this was the Zatarc program. Harry guided the energy from the neural manipulator device towards this ugly portion of the mind…and instantly the Zatarc program perceived the threat and the black lines retreated and shot towards the energy intended to erase it.
Very soon, it became a power battle…the energy of the erasure device versus the Zatarc program using the very energy of its host to battle back. Harry gritted his teeth in frustration. Then on an impulse he threw in his own energy behind the device…the effect was immediate…the Zatarc program began to lose ground…pushed back and back…until finally it was backed into a corner and died under the strain.
Harry opened his eyes and released a breath, feeling like he had just run a sprint.
"Did it work?" asked Anise.
"Yes," said Harry with a satisfied grin. "The program is destroyed. However, a consequence is that Lt Astor has lost all memory of the mission she was on when she was compromised." Harry pulled out his original jewel device and simply raised it towards Astor…who promptly collapsed to the floor as the temporal field vanished under his command.
Astor was taken out on a stretcher as Sam was escorted in and strapped down into the chair.
"You, Ok?" asked Harry softly.
"Yeah," said Sam, her neck twitching in nervousness.
"Now, since your Zatarc program has not been activated yet, it will be consequently much harder for me to find it within your mind. I just warn you now, that I might stumble through some memories that you consider personal as I try to search for it."
"Can't you just…I dunno, go straight to the memory of me being trapped behind the forcefield?" asked Sam, looking twice as nervous now.
"The mind is not a book with an index page, Sam," explained Harry. "It has multiple facets in endless dimensions and can only be interpreted through a subjective viewpoint. I will narrow my focus as much as possible but realistically it's impossible for me not to stumble onto something that you don't want me to see."
Sam took a deep fortifying breath…and eventually nodded, knowing she had no choice. "Go ahead."
Harry raised the neural erasure device; still looking like the ubiquitous Asgard jewel device, and the soft white light once again was emitted and hit Sam on the forehead. To the outside observer, Harry stood in front of Sam with his eyes closed, the white beam of light almost seeming to connect them. After a near half an hour, everyone in the observation room was getting restless. Daniel was apparently just going to say something when the white light retreated back into the Asgard jewel and Harry opened his eyes.
"She is not a Zatarc," declared Harry, breathing slightly faster due to the exertion.
"What makes you say that?" asked Anise with a frown.
"I cannot speak of it in detail to protect Major Carter's privacy," said Harry solemnly. "But suffice it to say, she lied to you in your examination with the Zatarc device, only she didn't realize she was lying. When she recounted being trapped behind the forcefield, you asked her to elaborate on her feelings at the time…she was not honest with herself on her subconscious feelings…something which the Zatarc detector picked up."
"So it gave a false positive?" asked Sam, who had opened her eyes by now.
"In essence," confirmed Harry. "I believe that Colonel O'Neill will have the same result."
"Nevertheless, I'd like to be sure of that, Ambassador," said General Hammond. "If feel up to it of course," he amended, seeing Harry leaning against the restraining chair.
"I will be fine."
Soon after, Jack was brought in and strapped down into the chair as well. Harry drunk on some water and ate a piece of pie that Sam had brought for him, on the theory that the sugar would help him with his energy levels. The soft white beam of light was once again emitted and allowed Harry entry into Jack's mind. This time the search took a few minutes less and when it ended Harry looked up into the observation room.
"He also has no Zatarc program," declared Harry.
"Sweet," breathed Jack in relief and the SFs began to unstrap him from the chair.
"Ok, now what?" asked Daniel to the group. "All the active field personnel have been cleared, Astor is free of her program."
"Who has not undergone an examination yet?" asked Harry.
"Only you, Anise and Martouf," said Hammond.
"I have never been in a position where I could be compromised by the Goa'uld," said Anise for herself.
"Its unlikely that I would be a Zatarc," said Harry in turn. "My mind is not susceptible to any form of external manipulation."
"How is that possible?" asked Sam.
"My brain physiology is…unique," answered Harry carefully. "It's one of the reasons why I was abducted from Earth all those years ago. And to prove it further, assuming that the Zatarc programming is meant to derail the signing of the Tok'ra – Earth treaty, I will leave before tomorrow."
"Very well, Ambassador," said Hammond.
"Martouf, if you will," said Anise, and gestured to the Zatarc detector. Martouf, looking highly reluctant stood from his chair in the observation room and was soon seated and strapped down into the chair. The Zatarc detector was brought forth and after an initial scan, the questioning began. Harry had pulled up a chair of his own and seated himself in a corner of the room where he had a clear line of sight on Martouf.
The questioning continued for over an hour, Martouf had to recount all his own actions for the past year where he had exposure to the Goa'uld. It was when Anise began to ask questions about an infiltration into the Goa'uld Cronos' territory not a month ago that things became interesting. Martouf recounted a meeting with a contact on the central planet in Cronos' domain. He stated that it was uneventful and he had gotten the information from his contact and gotten out using a cloaked cargo ship.
Anise sighed heavily and stared at the display of the Zatarc detector.
"You are recounting a false memory, Martouf," she declared.
"That is not possible, I…it…can't…" said the Tok'ra beginning to stutter and suddenly without warning he began to scream and strain against the bonds that held him. Harry lifted his jewel device and Martouf was frozen in temporal field before the bonds that held the Tok'ra could snap.
"I take it Martouf avoided the testing done on the Tok'ra on Vorash?" asked Harry expectantly.
"Yes, now that I think about it," said Anise thoughtfully. "He arrived on Earth with me to begin testing the SGC personnel, he remained at my side as I did the testing of the Tok'ra."
"The Zatarc program must have concluded it to be the best place to hide from testing, it theoretically has access to all of Martouf's memories and would conclude that when you become too focused in your work, you would overlook him."
"And it was right," sighed Anise ruefully. "It's a pity we cannot leave him like this, the opportunity to actually study the Zatarc technology is invaluable."
"Indeed," acceded Harry. "So it seems Cronos doesn't want an alliance between Earth and the Tok'ra."
"That seems to be the case," said Anise.
"Just how could Cronos have found out about it though?" asked Hammond.
"I can't even begin to speculate on that, no Tok'ra operatives have been captured by Cronos in recent months, so there is no leak there," reported Anise.
"I guess that will remain an unanswered question," said Harry, "but there is no doubt about Cronos' motive, he fears the possibility of an alliance."
"Then that is all the more reason to go forward with it," said Hammond strongly. "Ambassador, get rid of that damn program in his head and let's get this over with."
"Yes, General."
The program erasure for Martouf took almost an hour; things were made much more difficult with the presence of the Lantash symbiote within Martouf. Harry had to first sort out where the program resided, in the mind of the host or symbiote. When he was finally sure it was within Martouf…he spent the rest of the time sifting through memories…he had to make sure he categorized whether the memory was from Lantash or Martouf before attempting to search for the Zatarc program. Finally, the task was complete.
Harry opened his eyes only to fall on his behind from mental exhaustion.
"I seriously need a nap," he said with a weak grin.
"You OK?" asked Sam worriedly, helping him stand upright again.
"Just tired," said Harry. "Sorting through a blended mind is much more taxing," he said in explanation.
"I can somewhat imagine that," said Sam.
"Help me get to the gate room," instructed Harry. "I can't be here for the summit."
"You can certainly wait and rest a bit," she chided back.
"I don't want there to be any doubt that I'm not a Zatarc," argued Harry and with Sam's help headed out of the isolation room.
The next day, on Seaworld, Harry received a subspace message from the SGC.
The Tok'ra – Earth Alliance had been formalized.
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