Chapter 61: The Tok’ra Part 6
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Chapter 61: The Tok'ra Part 6
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998
"...and then we returned through the Stargate to prepare a habitat and report while Queen Glimmer, Princess Adora, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, Bow, Teal'c and Catra stayed to continue their discussions with the Tok'ra, sir." Samantha Carter stood at ease as she delivered her verbal report to Stargate's Command Council.
"And you didn't ask them to remove the parasite in Lieutenant Lenkova?" Sidorov asked with a deep frown.
"Since we confirmed that the Tok'ra can remove a Goa'ld from their host without harming either, I am certain that this will be amongst the topics being discussed right now, General," Sam told him.
"Yeah!" Entrapta chimed in, nodding emphatically. "Adora and the others would never forget about her. Although if we can analyse how the Tok'ra are doing it when they extract the Goa'uld from Finran, we might be able to copy the method and do it ourselves. I hope they wait for us before they continue."
"They won't start until we have the habitat ready," Sam reassured her friend. They had an agreement about that, after all, and after SG-1 and the Etherians had been instrumental in saving the base and the Tok'ra High Council, Sam doubted that the Tok'ra would break it just to kill a Goa'uld. Though, as experience had taught, you could never be really certain when it came to aliens. "And, speaking of habitats…" Sam looked at General Hammond.
"Go on, Captain."
"It seems that both Goa'uld and Tok'ra have biological and psychological requirements that we weren't aware of so far, sir. Biologically, they need sapient hosts. Without one, their intellectual capacity is diminished to some degree. And they also seem to have a deep psychological need for a sapient host, though we haven't been able to confirm that."
"Ah." the General nodded. "That complicates things."
General Haig nodded in agreement, though Sidorov looked confused. Sam couldn't tell if the Russian didn't understand what she had just explained - or if he did but didn't understand why they thought accidentally lobotomising prisoners was a problem. She also wasn't sure which would be worse.
"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We need to find a better way to keep Goa'uld prisoners. But we haven't found one yet."
Nor had the Tok'ra.
"Understood." General Haig nodded. "In that case, best expedite the construction of the habitat - and make another one for the Goa'uld in Lieutenant Lenkova."
Sidorov scoffed. "You volunteered Stargate Command as a prison for Goa'uld?"
"No, General," Sam told him. "But since the Tok'ra would kill the prisoner, the Alliance has to take them off their hands. Stargate Command would be suitable since we already hold two such prisoners, but the decision whether or not the spy will be imprisoned here as well is up to the Command Council."
"If you don't want them, we'll take them," Entrapta chimed in as Sam had hoped. "We can house them in a ship. Or construct an orbital prison. Or maybe place the prison on an asteroid."
"I was just checking that you did not exceed your orders, Captain," the Russian spat. "You do not speak for Earth or Stargate Command. That you engage in diplomacy is questionable in itself."
"We did not exceed our orders," Sam retorted, tensing up. "We represented Stargate Command as per our briefings."
Entrapta cocked her head. "And you can't really prevent Glimmer from speaking for the Alliance - either one. I don't think so. Although your organisation is sometimes a little confusing."
"I'm certain General Sidorov was merely voicing his concerns over Stargate Command's involvement in this," General Haig said. "Everyone here is aware that Stargate Command has no authority over the Alliance."
"Yes," General Hammond agreed. "But we should hold you up any longer. The sooner you have those habitats ready, the sooner you can free this Tok'ra and Lieutenant Lenkova."
Not even Sidorov could say anything against that. But it was clear he wanted to, anyway.
Sam kept her expression neutral, though, until they had left the briefing room and were headed back to her lab.
P34-353J, December 4th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"...so, while we hope you'll find a way to solve our dependency on voluntary hosts, I don't think it's too pessimistic to assume such a solution will not manifest within the next few years - years which will be spent waging an offensive war. If we are to take a more active and open part in this war, we need more hosts."
Catra refrained from rolling her eyes at Garshaw's words. The Tok'ra were fixated on hosts. Understandably, somewhat - if Catra needed a host so she wouldn't lose her mind, she'd certainly focus on that as well. But this was the tenth time or so they mentioned it - they sounded like a broken record, as the humans from Earth would say. Though Catra still didn't get how a broken record could still work.
But they were here to form an alliance - well, to lay the groundwork for one since they couldn't form an alliance by themselves without making Earth mad - and so Catra kept smiling. And if her smile showed her fangs prominently, well, no one had complained so far.
"Speaking of hosts…" Daniel adjusted his glasses. "You must have a lot of people waiting for a host - do you keep them all in stasis?"
After the slightest hesitation, Garshaw nodded.
"You must have a lot of stasis jars," O'Neill commented.
"Yes," Per'sus said. "The alternative would be to let those amongst us who do not have a host suffer. And that is unacceptable."
Catra could respect that. Even if this must be a huge drain on their resources. On the other hand, if they had some crystal device that could grow stasis jars like they could grow tunnels, it wouldn't really cost them much - if a stasis jar could hold a Goa'uld on Earth for thousands of years, a few decades of them underwater, without anyone checking it, they wouldn't require a lot of maintenance.
"Of course," Glimmer said. "You can't let children suffer. Or anyone else."
Garshaw nodded again, but Catra couldn't help feeling that they were hiding something. But what?
"How do you raise your larvae without Jaffa?" Teal'c asked. The big guy had been mostly silent ever since they had set foot on the planet, so this had to be an important question.
Even though it was obvious that the Goa'uld must have been able to raise their children without Jaffa since they had created them.
"That is classified. We can revisit that once we have an alliance. But this touches on some of our most important secrets," Garshaw said - without looking directly at Teal'c; they were addressing O'Neill, Glimmer and Adora.
"You mean your queen, right?" Daniel blurted out, then winced. "I'm sorry - I know I shouldn't pry."
Garshaw nodded once more, but Daniel had been correct - Catra had caught how they had tensed up.
"So that's why the spy didn't fake an emergency and get out after setting the bombs to explode a minute after he left!" O'Neill exclaimed. He grinned. "He was after your queen - and he didn't want to abandon that mission to kill us until he knew more about us."
Yeah, O'Neill had nailed it. Catra nodded in agreement - a lot made sense now. "You must be keeping your queen isolated from your spies, so one captured operative doesn't spill the secret." Anything else would be… well, even Kyle would realise how stupid it would be to risk your biggest secret with every spy you sent out. Though that meant the queen would only ever meet a few of the Tok'ra. That would be quite lonely. For everyone else, she might as well not… Oh. Catra grinned with more confidence than she felt. "Unless, of course, that's just a smokescreen to ensure that any spy who manages to infiltrate you keeps chasing after a queen who doesn't exist."
All of the Tok'ra High Council tensed up and exchanged glances. And the aides looked confused and then worried for a moment before everyone was all smooth snake-like again.
"We can neither confirm nor deny this," Garshaw said.
But Catra was sure that she was right. The Tok'ra didn't have a queen hidden somewhere.
Before she managed to decide how that changed things, with the Alliance and the war, an aide cocked their head to the side and pulled out a communicator.
"The others have returned with the habitat."
Garshaw smiled. "We can proceed with liberating Finrar then."
And conveniently avoid the current subject, Catra thought.
The snakes were definitely hiding something - spooks always did; Jack O'Neill knew that from personal experience. Extensive personal experience. And the snakes were all spooks. But this particular secret seemed to go beyond the usual 'that's need to know, and you don't need to know' spiel. It could be a double-bluff, of course. Jack didn't know those snakes very well, after all. But after today's negotiations, dinner and bomb threat… He was pretty sure that they didn't have a queen stashed somewhere.
Not a hundred per cent sure, though. But he wouldn't have to lead the actual alliance negotiations anyway. What the diplomats and spooks did with his report wasn't his problem. And, unlike when writing reports about the Etherians, he didn't have any reason to feel guilty about this, either, he added to himself with a smile as he followed the snakes and Etherians out of the room.
And now he got to see a snake being removed from their host. If that worked… He glanced at Daniel. His friend looked… well, Jack had rarely seen him with such hope in his expression.
"If this works…" Daniel muttered.
"Yes," Jack told him.
If the Tok'ra could save a host, then they could save his wife, Sha're. SG-1 would have to find her and then capture her first, of course, but that was a problem Jack was sure they could manage. Somehow. Probably with the help of the Etherians - not that Jack thought he could keep them away even if he wanted to. And they would likely need the Tok'ra's support as well, if only for the intel.
In fact, it would probably be best if the Etherians took the lead on this - at least officially. SG-1's new management might not think Sha're was worth the risks SG-1 would have to take for such a rescue. Hell, Hammond would likely have vetoed any rescue mission as well if he were in charge - but he would have looked the other way and wouldn't have investigated very deeply if SG-1 managed to 'stumble' onto Sha're on a 'routine exploration mission'. That bastard Russian would want to send them to a gulag for such a stunt, though, and Jack didn't think Haig or Petit would be pleased either. Insubordination tended to make generals angry.
But if Queen Glimmer proposed a rescue mission? There might be some protests from some people, but in the end, the Etherians would get their way. Jack didn't always agree with their priorities, and he certainly was no Marine, but 'no friend left behind' was a fine rule to live by.
They met Carter and Entrapta halfway to the room serving as a holding cell - freshly grown, apparently. "That's just a transport container," Entrapta said, her hair holding up a cat-carrier-sized tank. "The habitat is much bigger, so we left it on Earth."
"Ah." Garshaw nodded, though Jack couldn't help feeling as if the snake wouldn't have been bothered if the tank was the habitat - they really didn't like the Goa'uld. A few millennia of war to the knife would do that to anyone, of course - Jack knew a few conflicts on Earth with that kind of hatred after a few decades.
They continued down the hallway, past two guards. Two more stood outside the cell. And another two were inside, next to the bound and gagged snake. Jack approved, though it felt a bit like they were overcompensating for their earlier lapse - they really should have caught the bombs being placed. But then, this was a decoy base with a skeleton crew. If they had been in their main base on the planet, things might have gone differently. Might.
The spy was unconscious - and strapped on a table, facing some device mounted above him. This wasn't just a holding cell, Jack realised - this was where they would extract the snake.
Entrapta blinked. "Oh. Are they sedated? Will they need special treatment?"
"They're in stasis, so they cannot kill Finran," Anise explained. "But it's a field, not a chemical, so they will wake up as soon as they leave the fields' boundaries - or the stasis generator is turned off. They won't be harmed or killed by this."
"Much nicer than what they deserve," Per'sus snarled.
Well, that snake wanted the Goa'uld dead.
"Wouldn't sedating them be safer?" Glimmer asked.
"Yes," Garshaw told her. "But if we capture a Goa'uld, we want them to be conscious when we execute them for their crimes."
"Oh." All the Etherians - even Catra - seemed to be taken aback by this.
But Jack understood the snakes' view here. And, to his surprise, Daniel seemed to nod in agreement.
Not the Etherians, though. "Well, we're not going to execute them!" Adora said.
"So, how do you extract them?" Entrapta had recovered. "Surgically?"
"Yes. We have a precision extractor," Anise held up a device. "It extracts the symbiont and stores them in this capsule."
"Is it an automated process?" Cater asked.
"Semi-automatic. It still requires an experienced operator," Anise replied.
Which would mean the Tok'ra would keep a monopoly on the procedure, at least for the near future.
"Usually, we have a ceremony," Hen'ru explained. "We list their crimes, then extract them. It can take a long time for the older Goa'uld. Then they can speak their last words, and we kill them."
"We're not going to kill them," Adora repeated herself.
"Yes." Hen'ru didn't quite sneer, but he sounded very unhappy.
Not as unhappy as the Goa'uld would soon be, though, Jack thought with a grin as Anise started the device.
He lost his grin a few seconds later, though, when the process began. That was… "Carter," he whispered, "make a note - after we investigate George Lucas for alien contacts, we'll investigate Paul Verhoeven."
"Sir?"
He didn't have to glance at her to know her expression. She always had the same when he surprised her. "That's like in Total Recall." Just with lasers and a needle. He suppressed a shudder as a symbiont was dragged out through a needle that seemed much too small to actually let it pass through.
"Oh! Is that a teleportation effect?" Entrapta blurted out. "Contact-based short-range teleport? For greater precision than a contactless scanner?"
"That's possible," Carter replied. "I don't think a Goa'uld symbiont could be compressed enough to pass through a syringe of that size without dying in the process. They are vertebrates, not invertebrates."
"Their bones would be crushed, yes," Entrapta agreed. "You could reconstitute them, in theory, but I think it would be fatal. Probably."
Jack suppressed a shudder and hoped that they didn't propose testing that.
"And the way a symbiont attaches themselves to the host's central nervous system, a contact-based scan might offer greater precision - and might also suppress the release of the symbiont toxin."
That sounded logical to Jack. Of course, Carter was almost always correct about such things.
Anise pulled the tube attached to the mechanism off and held it up, then ran a scanner over it. "The Goa'uld survived the extraction," she said after a green light went on on her device.
"Great!" Entrapta stepped forward, holding up her snake carrier. "It got an adaptive valve - just put the end with the opening in here… the container has an opening, right? Or do you teleport the symbiont in and out?"
"We usually smash the tube," Per'sus said.
"Oh, right. But isn't that wasteful?" Entrapta tilted her head with a confused expression. "A perfectly fine container… is it a security precaution?"
"It's a symbolic gesture," Per'sus said.
"Ah!" Entrapta nodded. "Like smashing glass, which some Earth cultures do at ceremonies."
"Err… yes."
"So… does it open?"
"Yes," Anise said. "The extractor can also be used in case we have to take out one of our own for a medical reason."
"Ah. So… let's do it!"
The tube with the wriggling snake was out on top of the tank, and a sucking noise later, the snake was in the tank, swimming around.
And the former host started sobbing.
"I couldn't do anything… they took Cordesh… and…"
Adora winced - Finran sounded… well, he seemed devastated as two of the guards led him to a seat.
"The Goa'uld took Cordesh?" Garshaw asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes." Finran sat down, shivering - wrapping his arms around himself. "There was a Goa'uld, Kryse, and she was… in Rosha!"
Several Tok'ra gasped. And Sam did, too.
"They know how to extract symbionts?" Anise asked.
"Yes."
"Who is Rosha?" Glimmer asked.
"She was Jolinar's host," Per'sus said.
She was the Goa'uld who had been in Sam's body. "So… they have Jolinar's knowledge?"
"Yes." Garshaw nodded with a grim expression. "That is… a serious setback."
"Are your bases at risk?"
"Our operatives don't know all our bases - only their own," Garish said. "But Rosha was Jolinar's partner for a long time. The Goa'uld now know a lot about our technology and, more importantly, our tactics."
"Time to change them, then," Catra said. She sounded serious, but the way her tail twitched… Adora suppressed a sigh. Sure, this was an argument for the Tok'ra to change their plans and join the Alliance, but no one liked being told to change what they were doing.
And indeed, the Tok'ra didn't look happy as they took Finran to another room to debrief him.
"So… before we take the spy back to Earth…" Adora smiled at the Tok'ra. "Can I heal your friend? The one who was sick, you said." She couldn't do anything about Finran - that kind of pain She-Ra's magic couldn't cure.
"Saroosh, yes. Selmak's host." Garshaw nodded, and Adora saw her relax slightly. Good. They needed to show the Tok'ra that allying with Etheria and Earth was best for everyone.
"Can we meet them?"
"We'll bring her here." Garshaw looked at her aide, who used their communicator.
"Saroosh is very old, which has aggravated her condition," Per'sus said. "Age catches up with everyone - we can grant our hosts our longevity, but only to a point."
No matter - Adora could help with that. As Jack had proven.
But when Saroosh arrived, about twenty minutes later, on a cot, Adora had second thoughts. The woman looked so frail… And so old. Not like Madame Razz, who was a thousand years old but still spry. Saroosh looked like she could die at any moment. She-Ra would have healed her on the spot, but Selmak was still inside her.
"So, you're the one who has offered to heal Saroosh." Ah, that was Selmak speaking.
Adora nodded. "Yes. I can heal everyone."
"But you're not sure if I would be expelled - or killed - by your magic."
"Yes."
Selmak laughed. Softly, and ending in a coughing fit. "That sounds like magic. I remember it."
"Oh?" Glimmer cocked her head.
"I saw a few… magicians?" Selmak squinted.
"We call them sorcerers. Or witches," Glimmer told him.
"Yes. I saw them do magic. But they couldn't heal."
"They probably never learned it. But She-Ra's special," Glimmer said. "She can heal Saroosh."
Adora nodded, though she wasn't as confident as her friend.
"My leaving Saroosh might kill her," Selmak said.
"I can heal her as soon as you have left her body," Adora said, drawing her sword.
"I appreciate the attempt." That wasn't Selmak - the voice had changed. That was Saroosh! "But I've lived a long life. If I don't survive, don't blame yourself. Or anyone."
Adora wouldn't let the woman die. She nodded anyway.
"Let's do it," Saroosh whispered.
Adora wasn't sure if the woman was talking to her or to Selmak. It didn't matter. She raised her sword, pointing it at Saroosh and prepared to do her magic. Healing. She had to heal the woman.
Saroosh made a gagging noise and opened her mouth. Adora first thought something had gone wrong - but then she spotted the symbiont's head appearing on the woman's tongue, quickly wriggling out of her mouth - and into a container prepared by one of the Tok'ra.
As soon as Selmak was clear, Adora released her magic, and bright, golden light filled the room.
Saroosh froze for a moment, and Adora held her breath. If anything had gone wrong…
But then, the woman sighed, blinking and shivering. "Oh…"
"How do you feel?" Garshaw - no, that was her host, Yosuf, talking. Adora had rarely heard them.
"It's… the pain is gone…" Saroosh blinked again, a smile slowly appearing on her face. A moment later, she started to sit up.
"Wait!" Another Tok'ra said, moving to help her.
But Saroosh waved him away, sitting up in the bed - and then turning, swinging her legs off the bed. "It's… it's incredible." She shook her head and stood up, wobbling for a moment, hunched over, before straightening. "I can move… I feel like I'm young again!"
"Well, you aren't young again," Entrapta said, looking up from her scanner. "Your cells weren't rejuvenated, and your neuroplasticity is at a normal level for an adult. But all the accumulated microdamage in your body was healed."
"That sounds like a rejuvenation effect," Anise pointed out.
"Well, technically, it's not," Entrapta told her. "It's more that this is how her body would be if she had led a perfectly healthy life."
Saroosh seemed to ignore them and moved in front of the aide holding Selmak's container, smiling at the symbiont inside. "It worked."
Adora couldn't see any way that the symbiont could talk or communicate with the woman - except, maybe, the way it swam around - but Saroosh nodded. "Yes, let's rejoin."
The aide handed the container over, and Sarsoosh opened it, then held it below her mouth.
And the symbiont - Selmak - jumped into her mouth. It looked like Saroosh ate them. Well, swallowed them whole.
Once more, Saroosh shivered. And then her eyes lit up, and Selmak spoke. "This is… incredible."
"If we could have all our elders healed like this…" Per'sus shook his head with a wide smile.
"If this works on symbionts as well…" Malinor turned to face Adora and the others. "You haven't tested it on symbionts outside a host, have you?"
Adora shook her head. "We didn't want to risk harming them." You couldn't experiment on prisoners. That would be horrible!
"Well, I volunteer!" Malinor said. "We need to know if it works on all of us."
"Ah…" Adora blinked. That was… a little rash.
"Are you sure?" Glimmer asked. "This could be dangerous. We don't think that you, as a sapient being, would be harmed by the magic, at least as long as you're not inside a host, but we have never tested it."
"Yes, I am sure." Malinor nodded emphatically. "The knowledge is well worth the risk. If magic can heal symbionts like you healed Saroosh, then this would change everything."
Adora frowned. They would live a little longer, yes, but how would it change anything?
"Of course, if it works, the next question would be whether it can counteract the negative effects of a sarcophagus," Anise said. "They aren't biological in nature."
"I can't heal, ah, psychological conditions," Adora told her. If she could, things would have been a lot easier. A lot of people wouldn't have had to suffer so much. But that wasn't her fault.
"Ah. Still, we need to know if you can heal a symbiont." Malinor nodded again. Firmly.
"Alright." Adora lifted her sword again as Malinor left her host and slid into the container that had held Selmak before.
Once more, she focused on healing. Just healing. This time, she held her breath as the magical energy hit the container - and the symbiont inside. If she had just killed Malinor…
But the symbiont was moving - and her host, Kalet, grabbed the container so fast, Adora almost expected her to spill the liquid inside. Then Malinor entered Kalet again.
A second passed. Then another, before Kalet took a deep breath - and spoke with Malinor's voice. "Ah… I was healed. As far as I can tell, at least. And it subtly changed my body - I had to reconnect to Kalet as if I were bonding with her the first time."
"Oh! Interesting. So, healing has an effect on your neural connections? It didn't affect Selmak, did it?" Entrapta beamed at her.
"No, it did not. Or, rather, Saroosh was not significantly changed by the experience, so I could easily reconnect," Selmak replied.
"But symbionts are affected." Sam looked pensive.
"Yes, that's certainly a very interesting point that probably should be examined in detail - at some point. But we're kinda up past our bedtime, and we should return to Earth now before we get grounded by the parents," Jack cut in, clapping his hand.
"Yes," Catra agreed. "Unless you have another emergency, we should continue this later."
"Indeed." Glimmer nodded. "We can schedule a diplomatic meeting at your convenience, where we can discuss this and other topics at leisure."
Garshaw nodded, but Anise and Malinor looked like they disagreed. Well, they looked like Entrapta, who pouted. "But we shouldn't take too long!" Adora's friend said. "This is such an interesting subject to explore!"
And it would be a major part of the negotiations, or so it seemed.
Saroosh had been healed as expected. Samantha Carter made a note that being a host, even for a long time, did not affect the healing. But it had affected Selmak differently, which was a surprise.
"As we've expected!" Entrapta said, dictating into her recorder. "The subject - I mean, Saroosh - was healed like any other human target of She-Ra's magic. All the microdamage is gone, though the neural structure wasn't altered in any way - though it did have such an effect on Malinor - apparently, a symbiont's body and or neural structure can be altered by the magic." She switched her recorder off. "This is so exciting - a whole new field to study. Glimmer! Do you have records of healing magic from Mystacore? I need a comparison of the healing effects on different species to check if this is specific to symbionts or if it happens to other species as well."
"I don't have such records on me," Glimmer replied. "We can look in our archives once we're back."
Sam didn't know if Glimmer meant back on Earth or back on Etheria and made a mental note to ask about Mystacore once they had some privacy.
"Alright!" Entrapta switched her recorder on again, Sam saw. "Also, there was no transformation of the symbiont into another species, as observed with Swift Wind, though that may be a result of She-Ra controlling her magic. Further research is necessary."
"A transformation into another species?" Anise asked. "Magic allows a transformation on that level? But you'd have to alter the genetic makeup… just how drastic are the possible changes?"
"There was a chance to alter Malinor's species?" Per'sus asked.
"No," Adora told him. "That was a fluke - I had just gained my powers and wasn't in full control of them. It hasn't happened since then. Not when healing."
"Oh, the changes didn't go further than First Ones experimentation," Entrapta said. "Swift Wind just got functional wings, a horn and sapience - and magic powers."
"Sapience?" Anise stared at them. "You changed a non-sapient species into a sapient one?"
"I didn't mean to!" Adora defended herself.
"You did it by accident?" Even Garshaw was now staring at Adora.
"You achieved what the Ancients did?" Malinor added.
"Well, Adora is a First One," Entrapta said, "Although they generally used magitech, that wouldn't preclude them from doing it with magic."
"Wait!" Anise said, blinking. "You mentioned the First Ones - they were descendants of the Gate Builders. You're an Ancient!"
Sam winced. They hadn't told the Tok'ra that, technically, Adora was an Ancient, had they?
"It's not like that! I never knew them!" Adora protested.
But the Tok'ra didn't seem to be listening to her.
"That's why you have such advanced technology - and magic!" Anise said.
"No!"
"It's well-known that the most powerful and dangerous technology of the Ancients - and their bases - are genetically locked to their own species," Molinar went on. "Genetic engineering hasn't been able to fully bypass that - the System Lords have tried, but there has to be some factor that they are missing."
What? You couldn't use genetic engineering techniques to ensure that the Ancient Technology Activation gene was passed on? Of course, the Goa'uld might have simply made a mistake… no. Not for something important. And not for a thousand years. If you couldn't reliably ensure that your descendants had the gene - no, the gene had to be passed on, or it would have died out amongst humans. But what if it needed an activation trigger…? She glanced at the Colonel.
"Don't I feel special now," he muttered.
But did he understand just how special he might be? Of course, the trigger could be something simple - like passing through a gate. You could never tell with the Ancients.
"Well, yes, we can activate their technology," Adora said. "But I don't have some genetic memory that tells me how it works. Except for the language…"
"But the First Ones didn't leave manuals for their technology," Entrapta said. "Which goes against basic principles of science!" she added with a pout.
"How sloppy of them," the Colonel commented in a sarcastic tone.
"Exactly!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "Just think of how much more advanced we would be if they had left proper documentation!"
"And how much more advanced the Goa'ld would be," Catra commented.
"Oh. Right, that would probably be a bad thing," Entrapta agreed.
"It would be a catastrophe!" Garshaw said. She seemed to have recovered from the surprise, but she was still focusing on Adora. "So, the Ancients survived. Or rather, they haven't all gone."
"Horde Prime claimed he had wiped the First Ones out," Glimmer said. "Adora might be the last of her people."
"And the First ones were an offshoot of the Ancients, as far as we know," Bow added.
Adora nodded. "Yes! I'm not an Ancient - I grew up in the Horde. I can't just… do what they did." She turned her head to look at the Colonel. Sam opened her mouth to step in, but Adora was already talking. "In fact, I'm not really any more an Ancient than Jack, who has the Ancient gene. At least Alpha told us that. We're descendants of colonists."
Sam suppressed a wince as the Tok'ra turned to look at the Colonel with various but strangely unsettling expressions. Especially Anise's.
"So, you are a descendant of the Ancients as well, Colonel O'Neill."
"So I've been told. Although I'm still waiting for a second opinion."
"I can check your genes, Colonel."
Catra suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Anise was staring at O'Neill as if he was… well, if Anise were staring at Adora like that, Catra would consider marking her claim - or clawing the woman.
"I like my genes where they are."
And speaking of claims… She glanced at Sam. But the woman didn't seem to be ready to do anything violent. Or anything at all. Although she didn't look happy. Not at all. Hell, what did it take for Sam to admit her feelings? Granted, Catra didn't have a lot of room to talk, but Sam hadn't been raised in the Horde by Shadow Weaver but in a normal family.
Well, unless Sam started building killer bots or something to attack rivals or tried to blow up the world, it wasn't any business of Catra's. She had her hands full with Adora, anyway.
Leaning closer to her love, she whispered: "Next time, limit the secrets you blurt out to yours."
Adora grimaced. "I'm so sorry - I panicked!" she whispered back.
"You don't have to apologise to me." But Catra saw that Glimmer didn't look happy either. "I guess we need to talk about OpSec again." And with Entrapta, of course.
"I'm sorry. I'm not used to keeping secrets from everyone."
And wasn't that the truth? Adora wouldn't have made it far as Force Captain - she was just too honest. Not without Shadow Weaver's protection. Then again, Shadow Weaver wanted a loyal, honest minion…
"Anyway, I think we've discussed everything relevant for now," Glimmer said with a fake smile.
Anise opened her mouth to protest, but Garshaw nodded. "Yes. We will start focused negotiations about forming an Alliance soon. And we will extract the Goa'uld from your officer as soon as possible."
"Thank you."
And they would conduct the negotiations with diplomats. And without Adora, if Catra had anything to say about it.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998
"I'm so sorry! They were looking at me like I was a goddess or something, and I, uh, panicked and blurted out your secret!"
Catra sighed. Adora hadn't even been able to wait until they were off the ramp in the gate room. Sure, it had been a gaffe, but it wasn't the end of the world - Catra and the others were very familiar with the difference.
"Well, it probably would have come out anyway at some point, what with all the magic scanners around. Or when we walk into the next Ancient base." O'Neill shrugged, but it looked a little forced to Catra.
Adora, though, seemed to be relieved. "I'm still sorry - I should have been more careful. It wasn't my secret to share."
Glimmer nodded in agreement. "But what's done is done. And we can probably use that in the negotiations."
"What happened?" Ah, the generals had arrived, Sidorov in the lead.
"Well, we didn't start a war," O'Neill told him with a wide grin. "We got a new snake prisoner to go, the Tok'ra have agreed to remove the snake from Lieutenant Lenkova, and we will start negotiations for an Alliance as soon as possible. But I have to insist that there won't be any marriage as part of the Alliance."
"What?" The Russian stared at him in apparent confusion.
Hammond, though, looked like he wanted to sigh. Loudly. "I believe we need a more detailed report, Colonel."
"I made a mistake and revealed that we're descendants from the Ancients," Adora said.
"And that got the Tok'ra very interested in Adora and Colonel O'Neill," Glimmer said.
"Of course it did." Entrapa looked confused as well. "Why wouldn't it? They can access gene-locked First Ones technology - although we don't know if that extends to all Ancients technology. But the potential is obvious and so helpful with research! Once we find another base, at least - the artefacts we have don't require them to be studied so far."
"Yes," Sam explained. "But we don't want everyone to know about Adora and Colonel O'Neill."
"Well, only our friends and allies, right? Honesty is the best policy." Entrapta nodded.
"The Tok'ra are potential allies. We hope they will join the Alliance, but they haven't yet," Glimmer said. "And even then, some secrets are not meant to be shared with everyone."
"Yeah. Some are private. Or embarrassing." O'Neill grinned. "I feel old enough even without all the Ancient ancestry jokes."
"Oh. I shouldn't have mentioned Adora's species, then?"
"You revealed classified information?" Sidorov glared at Adora and Entrapta.
Catra narrowed her eyes at him in return. "None that would concern you. Alliance business. Not Stargate Command business."
"If it concerns Colonel O'Neill, it's our business!" he protested.
Well, he wasn't completely wrong. But she wouldn't let Sidorov attack her friends.
"This was an Alliance mission, General Sidorov. And the Alliance will discuss how to proceed with the Tok'ra." Glimmer curtly nodded at him. "We'll retire for the evening - it's been a long day." Without waiting for a response, she started towards the door, leaving the Russian fuming and everyone else from the humans trying to hide their smiles. At least, that was Catra's impression.
Grinning, she tugged on Adora's arm and followed their friends. Sometimes, Glimmer going all "queen" was annoying.
But sometimes, it was great.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998
"...and then we returned through the Stargate to prepare a habitat and report while Queen Glimmer, Princess Adora, Colonel O'Neill, Daniel, Bow, Teal'c and Catra stayed to continue their discussions with the Tok'ra, sir." Samantha Carter stood at ease as she delivered her verbal report to Stargate's Command Council.
"And you didn't ask them to remove the parasite in Lieutenant Lenkova?" Sidorov asked with a deep frown.
"Since we confirmed that the Tok'ra can remove a Goa'ld from their host without harming either, I am certain that this will be amongst the topics being discussed right now, General," Sam told him.
"Yeah!" Entrapta chimed in, nodding emphatically. "Adora and the others would never forget about her. Although if we can analyse how the Tok'ra are doing it when they extract the Goa'uld from Finran, we might be able to copy the method and do it ourselves. I hope they wait for us before they continue."
"They won't start until we have the habitat ready," Sam reassured her friend. They had an agreement about that, after all, and after SG-1 and the Etherians had been instrumental in saving the base and the Tok'ra High Council, Sam doubted that the Tok'ra would break it just to kill a Goa'uld. Though, as experience had taught, you could never be really certain when it came to aliens. "And, speaking of habitats…" Sam looked at General Hammond.
"Go on, Captain."
"It seems that both Goa'uld and Tok'ra have biological and psychological requirements that we weren't aware of so far, sir. Biologically, they need sapient hosts. Without one, their intellectual capacity is diminished to some degree. And they also seem to have a deep psychological need for a sapient host, though we haven't been able to confirm that."
"Ah." the General nodded. "That complicates things."
General Haig nodded in agreement, though Sidorov looked confused. Sam couldn't tell if the Russian didn't understand what she had just explained - or if he did but didn't understand why they thought accidentally lobotomising prisoners was a problem. She also wasn't sure which would be worse.
"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We need to find a better way to keep Goa'uld prisoners. But we haven't found one yet."
Nor had the Tok'ra.
"Understood." General Haig nodded. "In that case, best expedite the construction of the habitat - and make another one for the Goa'uld in Lieutenant Lenkova."
Sidorov scoffed. "You volunteered Stargate Command as a prison for Goa'uld?"
"No, General," Sam told him. "But since the Tok'ra would kill the prisoner, the Alliance has to take them off their hands. Stargate Command would be suitable since we already hold two such prisoners, but the decision whether or not the spy will be imprisoned here as well is up to the Command Council."
"If you don't want them, we'll take them," Entrapta chimed in as Sam had hoped. "We can house them in a ship. Or construct an orbital prison. Or maybe place the prison on an asteroid."
"I was just checking that you did not exceed your orders, Captain," the Russian spat. "You do not speak for Earth or Stargate Command. That you engage in diplomacy is questionable in itself."
"We did not exceed our orders," Sam retorted, tensing up. "We represented Stargate Command as per our briefings."
Entrapta cocked her head. "And you can't really prevent Glimmer from speaking for the Alliance - either one. I don't think so. Although your organisation is sometimes a little confusing."
"I'm certain General Sidorov was merely voicing his concerns over Stargate Command's involvement in this," General Haig said. "Everyone here is aware that Stargate Command has no authority over the Alliance."
"Yes," General Hammond agreed. "But we should hold you up any longer. The sooner you have those habitats ready, the sooner you can free this Tok'ra and Lieutenant Lenkova."
Not even Sidorov could say anything against that. But it was clear he wanted to, anyway.
Sam kept her expression neutral, though, until they had left the briefing room and were headed back to her lab.
*****
P34-353J, December 4th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"...so, while we hope you'll find a way to solve our dependency on voluntary hosts, I don't think it's too pessimistic to assume such a solution will not manifest within the next few years - years which will be spent waging an offensive war. If we are to take a more active and open part in this war, we need more hosts."
Catra refrained from rolling her eyes at Garshaw's words. The Tok'ra were fixated on hosts. Understandably, somewhat - if Catra needed a host so she wouldn't lose her mind, she'd certainly focus on that as well. But this was the tenth time or so they mentioned it - they sounded like a broken record, as the humans from Earth would say. Though Catra still didn't get how a broken record could still work.
But they were here to form an alliance - well, to lay the groundwork for one since they couldn't form an alliance by themselves without making Earth mad - and so Catra kept smiling. And if her smile showed her fangs prominently, well, no one had complained so far.
"Speaking of hosts…" Daniel adjusted his glasses. "You must have a lot of people waiting for a host - do you keep them all in stasis?"
After the slightest hesitation, Garshaw nodded.
"You must have a lot of stasis jars," O'Neill commented.
"Yes," Per'sus said. "The alternative would be to let those amongst us who do not have a host suffer. And that is unacceptable."
Catra could respect that. Even if this must be a huge drain on their resources. On the other hand, if they had some crystal device that could grow stasis jars like they could grow tunnels, it wouldn't really cost them much - if a stasis jar could hold a Goa'uld on Earth for thousands of years, a few decades of them underwater, without anyone checking it, they wouldn't require a lot of maintenance.
"Of course," Glimmer said. "You can't let children suffer. Or anyone else."
Garshaw nodded again, but Catra couldn't help feeling that they were hiding something. But what?
"How do you raise your larvae without Jaffa?" Teal'c asked. The big guy had been mostly silent ever since they had set foot on the planet, so this had to be an important question.
Even though it was obvious that the Goa'uld must have been able to raise their children without Jaffa since they had created them.
"That is classified. We can revisit that once we have an alliance. But this touches on some of our most important secrets," Garshaw said - without looking directly at Teal'c; they were addressing O'Neill, Glimmer and Adora.
"You mean your queen, right?" Daniel blurted out, then winced. "I'm sorry - I know I shouldn't pry."
Garshaw nodded once more, but Daniel had been correct - Catra had caught how they had tensed up.
"So that's why the spy didn't fake an emergency and get out after setting the bombs to explode a minute after he left!" O'Neill exclaimed. He grinned. "He was after your queen - and he didn't want to abandon that mission to kill us until he knew more about us."
Yeah, O'Neill had nailed it. Catra nodded in agreement - a lot made sense now. "You must be keeping your queen isolated from your spies, so one captured operative doesn't spill the secret." Anything else would be… well, even Kyle would realise how stupid it would be to risk your biggest secret with every spy you sent out. Though that meant the queen would only ever meet a few of the Tok'ra. That would be quite lonely. For everyone else, she might as well not… Oh. Catra grinned with more confidence than she felt. "Unless, of course, that's just a smokescreen to ensure that any spy who manages to infiltrate you keeps chasing after a queen who doesn't exist."
All of the Tok'ra High Council tensed up and exchanged glances. And the aides looked confused and then worried for a moment before everyone was all smooth snake-like again.
"We can neither confirm nor deny this," Garshaw said.
But Catra was sure that she was right. The Tok'ra didn't have a queen hidden somewhere.
Before she managed to decide how that changed things, with the Alliance and the war, an aide cocked their head to the side and pulled out a communicator.
"The others have returned with the habitat."
Garshaw smiled. "We can proceed with liberating Finrar then."
And conveniently avoid the current subject, Catra thought.
*****
The snakes were definitely hiding something - spooks always did; Jack O'Neill knew that from personal experience. Extensive personal experience. And the snakes were all spooks. But this particular secret seemed to go beyond the usual 'that's need to know, and you don't need to know' spiel. It could be a double-bluff, of course. Jack didn't know those snakes very well, after all. But after today's negotiations, dinner and bomb threat… He was pretty sure that they didn't have a queen stashed somewhere.
Not a hundred per cent sure, though. But he wouldn't have to lead the actual alliance negotiations anyway. What the diplomats and spooks did with his report wasn't his problem. And, unlike when writing reports about the Etherians, he didn't have any reason to feel guilty about this, either, he added to himself with a smile as he followed the snakes and Etherians out of the room.
And now he got to see a snake being removed from their host. If that worked… He glanced at Daniel. His friend looked… well, Jack had rarely seen him with such hope in his expression.
"If this works…" Daniel muttered.
"Yes," Jack told him.
If the Tok'ra could save a host, then they could save his wife, Sha're. SG-1 would have to find her and then capture her first, of course, but that was a problem Jack was sure they could manage. Somehow. Probably with the help of the Etherians - not that Jack thought he could keep them away even if he wanted to. And they would likely need the Tok'ra's support as well, if only for the intel.
In fact, it would probably be best if the Etherians took the lead on this - at least officially. SG-1's new management might not think Sha're was worth the risks SG-1 would have to take for such a rescue. Hell, Hammond would likely have vetoed any rescue mission as well if he were in charge - but he would have looked the other way and wouldn't have investigated very deeply if SG-1 managed to 'stumble' onto Sha're on a 'routine exploration mission'. That bastard Russian would want to send them to a gulag for such a stunt, though, and Jack didn't think Haig or Petit would be pleased either. Insubordination tended to make generals angry.
But if Queen Glimmer proposed a rescue mission? There might be some protests from some people, but in the end, the Etherians would get their way. Jack didn't always agree with their priorities, and he certainly was no Marine, but 'no friend left behind' was a fine rule to live by.
They met Carter and Entrapta halfway to the room serving as a holding cell - freshly grown, apparently. "That's just a transport container," Entrapta said, her hair holding up a cat-carrier-sized tank. "The habitat is much bigger, so we left it on Earth."
"Ah." Garshaw nodded, though Jack couldn't help feeling as if the snake wouldn't have been bothered if the tank was the habitat - they really didn't like the Goa'uld. A few millennia of war to the knife would do that to anyone, of course - Jack knew a few conflicts on Earth with that kind of hatred after a few decades.
They continued down the hallway, past two guards. Two more stood outside the cell. And another two were inside, next to the bound and gagged snake. Jack approved, though it felt a bit like they were overcompensating for their earlier lapse - they really should have caught the bombs being placed. But then, this was a decoy base with a skeleton crew. If they had been in their main base on the planet, things might have gone differently. Might.
The spy was unconscious - and strapped on a table, facing some device mounted above him. This wasn't just a holding cell, Jack realised - this was where they would extract the snake.
Entrapta blinked. "Oh. Are they sedated? Will they need special treatment?"
"They're in stasis, so they cannot kill Finran," Anise explained. "But it's a field, not a chemical, so they will wake up as soon as they leave the fields' boundaries - or the stasis generator is turned off. They won't be harmed or killed by this."
"Much nicer than what they deserve," Per'sus snarled.
Well, that snake wanted the Goa'uld dead.
"Wouldn't sedating them be safer?" Glimmer asked.
"Yes," Garshaw told her. "But if we capture a Goa'uld, we want them to be conscious when we execute them for their crimes."
"Oh." All the Etherians - even Catra - seemed to be taken aback by this.
But Jack understood the snakes' view here. And, to his surprise, Daniel seemed to nod in agreement.
Not the Etherians, though. "Well, we're not going to execute them!" Adora said.
"So, how do you extract them?" Entrapta had recovered. "Surgically?"
"Yes. We have a precision extractor," Anise held up a device. "It extracts the symbiont and stores them in this capsule."
"Is it an automated process?" Cater asked.
"Semi-automatic. It still requires an experienced operator," Anise replied.
Which would mean the Tok'ra would keep a monopoly on the procedure, at least for the near future.
"Usually, we have a ceremony," Hen'ru explained. "We list their crimes, then extract them. It can take a long time for the older Goa'uld. Then they can speak their last words, and we kill them."
"We're not going to kill them," Adora repeated herself.
"Yes." Hen'ru didn't quite sneer, but he sounded very unhappy.
Not as unhappy as the Goa'uld would soon be, though, Jack thought with a grin as Anise started the device.
He lost his grin a few seconds later, though, when the process began. That was… "Carter," he whispered, "make a note - after we investigate George Lucas for alien contacts, we'll investigate Paul Verhoeven."
"Sir?"
He didn't have to glance at her to know her expression. She always had the same when he surprised her. "That's like in Total Recall." Just with lasers and a needle. He suppressed a shudder as a symbiont was dragged out through a needle that seemed much too small to actually let it pass through.
"Oh! Is that a teleportation effect?" Entrapta blurted out. "Contact-based short-range teleport? For greater precision than a contactless scanner?"
"That's possible," Carter replied. "I don't think a Goa'uld symbiont could be compressed enough to pass through a syringe of that size without dying in the process. They are vertebrates, not invertebrates."
"Their bones would be crushed, yes," Entrapta agreed. "You could reconstitute them, in theory, but I think it would be fatal. Probably."
Jack suppressed a shudder and hoped that they didn't propose testing that.
"And the way a symbiont attaches themselves to the host's central nervous system, a contact-based scan might offer greater precision - and might also suppress the release of the symbiont toxin."
That sounded logical to Jack. Of course, Carter was almost always correct about such things.
Anise pulled the tube attached to the mechanism off and held it up, then ran a scanner over it. "The Goa'uld survived the extraction," she said after a green light went on on her device.
"Great!" Entrapta stepped forward, holding up her snake carrier. "It got an adaptive valve - just put the end with the opening in here… the container has an opening, right? Or do you teleport the symbiont in and out?"
"We usually smash the tube," Per'sus said.
"Oh, right. But isn't that wasteful?" Entrapta tilted her head with a confused expression. "A perfectly fine container… is it a security precaution?"
"It's a symbolic gesture," Per'sus said.
"Ah!" Entrapta nodded. "Like smashing glass, which some Earth cultures do at ceremonies."
"Err… yes."
"So… does it open?"
"Yes," Anise said. "The extractor can also be used in case we have to take out one of our own for a medical reason."
"Ah. So… let's do it!"
The tube with the wriggling snake was out on top of the tank, and a sucking noise later, the snake was in the tank, swimming around.
And the former host started sobbing.
*****
"I couldn't do anything… they took Cordesh… and…"
Adora winced - Finran sounded… well, he seemed devastated as two of the guards led him to a seat.
"The Goa'uld took Cordesh?" Garshaw asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yes." Finran sat down, shivering - wrapping his arms around himself. "There was a Goa'uld, Kryse, and she was… in Rosha!"
Several Tok'ra gasped. And Sam did, too.
"They know how to extract symbionts?" Anise asked.
"Yes."
"Who is Rosha?" Glimmer asked.
"She was Jolinar's host," Per'sus said.
She was the Goa'uld who had been in Sam's body. "So… they have Jolinar's knowledge?"
"Yes." Garshaw nodded with a grim expression. "That is… a serious setback."
"Are your bases at risk?"
"Our operatives don't know all our bases - only their own," Garish said. "But Rosha was Jolinar's partner for a long time. The Goa'uld now know a lot about our technology and, more importantly, our tactics."
"Time to change them, then," Catra said. She sounded serious, but the way her tail twitched… Adora suppressed a sigh. Sure, this was an argument for the Tok'ra to change their plans and join the Alliance, but no one liked being told to change what they were doing.
And indeed, the Tok'ra didn't look happy as they took Finran to another room to debrief him.
"So… before we take the spy back to Earth…" Adora smiled at the Tok'ra. "Can I heal your friend? The one who was sick, you said." She couldn't do anything about Finran - that kind of pain She-Ra's magic couldn't cure.
"Saroosh, yes. Selmak's host." Garshaw nodded, and Adora saw her relax slightly. Good. They needed to show the Tok'ra that allying with Etheria and Earth was best for everyone.
"Can we meet them?"
"We'll bring her here." Garshaw looked at her aide, who used their communicator.
"Saroosh is very old, which has aggravated her condition," Per'sus said. "Age catches up with everyone - we can grant our hosts our longevity, but only to a point."
No matter - Adora could help with that. As Jack had proven.
But when Saroosh arrived, about twenty minutes later, on a cot, Adora had second thoughts. The woman looked so frail… And so old. Not like Madame Razz, who was a thousand years old but still spry. Saroosh looked like she could die at any moment. She-Ra would have healed her on the spot, but Selmak was still inside her.
"So, you're the one who has offered to heal Saroosh." Ah, that was Selmak speaking.
Adora nodded. "Yes. I can heal everyone."
"But you're not sure if I would be expelled - or killed - by your magic."
"Yes."
Selmak laughed. Softly, and ending in a coughing fit. "That sounds like magic. I remember it."
"Oh?" Glimmer cocked her head.
"I saw a few… magicians?" Selmak squinted.
"We call them sorcerers. Or witches," Glimmer told him.
"Yes. I saw them do magic. But they couldn't heal."
"They probably never learned it. But She-Ra's special," Glimmer said. "She can heal Saroosh."
Adora nodded, though she wasn't as confident as her friend.
"My leaving Saroosh might kill her," Selmak said.
"I can heal her as soon as you have left her body," Adora said, drawing her sword.
"I appreciate the attempt." That wasn't Selmak - the voice had changed. That was Saroosh! "But I've lived a long life. If I don't survive, don't blame yourself. Or anyone."
Adora wouldn't let the woman die. She nodded anyway.
"Let's do it," Saroosh whispered.
Adora wasn't sure if the woman was talking to her or to Selmak. It didn't matter. She raised her sword, pointing it at Saroosh and prepared to do her magic. Healing. She had to heal the woman.
Saroosh made a gagging noise and opened her mouth. Adora first thought something had gone wrong - but then she spotted the symbiont's head appearing on the woman's tongue, quickly wriggling out of her mouth - and into a container prepared by one of the Tok'ra.
As soon as Selmak was clear, Adora released her magic, and bright, golden light filled the room.
Saroosh froze for a moment, and Adora held her breath. If anything had gone wrong…
But then, the woman sighed, blinking and shivering. "Oh…"
"How do you feel?" Garshaw - no, that was her host, Yosuf, talking. Adora had rarely heard them.
"It's… the pain is gone…" Saroosh blinked again, a smile slowly appearing on her face. A moment later, she started to sit up.
"Wait!" Another Tok'ra said, moving to help her.
But Saroosh waved him away, sitting up in the bed - and then turning, swinging her legs off the bed. "It's… it's incredible." She shook her head and stood up, wobbling for a moment, hunched over, before straightening. "I can move… I feel like I'm young again!"
"Well, you aren't young again," Entrapta said, looking up from her scanner. "Your cells weren't rejuvenated, and your neuroplasticity is at a normal level for an adult. But all the accumulated microdamage in your body was healed."
"That sounds like a rejuvenation effect," Anise pointed out.
"Well, technically, it's not," Entrapta told her. "It's more that this is how her body would be if she had led a perfectly healthy life."
Saroosh seemed to ignore them and moved in front of the aide holding Selmak's container, smiling at the symbiont inside. "It worked."
Adora couldn't see any way that the symbiont could talk or communicate with the woman - except, maybe, the way it swam around - but Saroosh nodded. "Yes, let's rejoin."
The aide handed the container over, and Sarsoosh opened it, then held it below her mouth.
And the symbiont - Selmak - jumped into her mouth. It looked like Saroosh ate them. Well, swallowed them whole.
Once more, Saroosh shivered. And then her eyes lit up, and Selmak spoke. "This is… incredible."
"If we could have all our elders healed like this…" Per'sus shook his head with a wide smile.
"If this works on symbionts as well…" Malinor turned to face Adora and the others. "You haven't tested it on symbionts outside a host, have you?"
Adora shook her head. "We didn't want to risk harming them." You couldn't experiment on prisoners. That would be horrible!
"Well, I volunteer!" Malinor said. "We need to know if it works on all of us."
"Ah…" Adora blinked. That was… a little rash.
"Are you sure?" Glimmer asked. "This could be dangerous. We don't think that you, as a sapient being, would be harmed by the magic, at least as long as you're not inside a host, but we have never tested it."
"Yes, I am sure." Malinor nodded emphatically. "The knowledge is well worth the risk. If magic can heal symbionts like you healed Saroosh, then this would change everything."
Adora frowned. They would live a little longer, yes, but how would it change anything?
"Of course, if it works, the next question would be whether it can counteract the negative effects of a sarcophagus," Anise said. "They aren't biological in nature."
"I can't heal, ah, psychological conditions," Adora told her. If she could, things would have been a lot easier. A lot of people wouldn't have had to suffer so much. But that wasn't her fault.
"Ah. Still, we need to know if you can heal a symbiont." Malinor nodded again. Firmly.
"Alright." Adora lifted her sword again as Malinor left her host and slid into the container that had held Selmak before.
Once more, she focused on healing. Just healing. This time, she held her breath as the magical energy hit the container - and the symbiont inside. If she had just killed Malinor…
But the symbiont was moving - and her host, Kalet, grabbed the container so fast, Adora almost expected her to spill the liquid inside. Then Malinor entered Kalet again.
A second passed. Then another, before Kalet took a deep breath - and spoke with Malinor's voice. "Ah… I was healed. As far as I can tell, at least. And it subtly changed my body - I had to reconnect to Kalet as if I were bonding with her the first time."
"Oh! Interesting. So, healing has an effect on your neural connections? It didn't affect Selmak, did it?" Entrapta beamed at her.
"No, it did not. Or, rather, Saroosh was not significantly changed by the experience, so I could easily reconnect," Selmak replied.
"But symbionts are affected." Sam looked pensive.
"Yes, that's certainly a very interesting point that probably should be examined in detail - at some point. But we're kinda up past our bedtime, and we should return to Earth now before we get grounded by the parents," Jack cut in, clapping his hand.
"Yes," Catra agreed. "Unless you have another emergency, we should continue this later."
"Indeed." Glimmer nodded. "We can schedule a diplomatic meeting at your convenience, where we can discuss this and other topics at leisure."
Garshaw nodded, but Anise and Malinor looked like they disagreed. Well, they looked like Entrapta, who pouted. "But we shouldn't take too long!" Adora's friend said. "This is such an interesting subject to explore!"
And it would be a major part of the negotiations, or so it seemed.
*****
Saroosh had been healed as expected. Samantha Carter made a note that being a host, even for a long time, did not affect the healing. But it had affected Selmak differently, which was a surprise.
"As we've expected!" Entrapta said, dictating into her recorder. "The subject - I mean, Saroosh - was healed like any other human target of She-Ra's magic. All the microdamage is gone, though the neural structure wasn't altered in any way - though it did have such an effect on Malinor - apparently, a symbiont's body and or neural structure can be altered by the magic." She switched her recorder off. "This is so exciting - a whole new field to study. Glimmer! Do you have records of healing magic from Mystacore? I need a comparison of the healing effects on different species to check if this is specific to symbionts or if it happens to other species as well."
"I don't have such records on me," Glimmer replied. "We can look in our archives once we're back."
Sam didn't know if Glimmer meant back on Earth or back on Etheria and made a mental note to ask about Mystacore once they had some privacy.
"Alright!" Entrapta switched her recorder on again, Sam saw. "Also, there was no transformation of the symbiont into another species, as observed with Swift Wind, though that may be a result of She-Ra controlling her magic. Further research is necessary."
"A transformation into another species?" Anise asked. "Magic allows a transformation on that level? But you'd have to alter the genetic makeup… just how drastic are the possible changes?"
"There was a chance to alter Malinor's species?" Per'sus asked.
"No," Adora told him. "That was a fluke - I had just gained my powers and wasn't in full control of them. It hasn't happened since then. Not when healing."
"Oh, the changes didn't go further than First Ones experimentation," Entrapta said. "Swift Wind just got functional wings, a horn and sapience - and magic powers."
"Sapience?" Anise stared at them. "You changed a non-sapient species into a sapient one?"
"I didn't mean to!" Adora defended herself.
"You did it by accident?" Even Garshaw was now staring at Adora.
"You achieved what the Ancients did?" Malinor added.
"Well, Adora is a First One," Entrapta said, "Although they generally used magitech, that wouldn't preclude them from doing it with magic."
"Wait!" Anise said, blinking. "You mentioned the First Ones - they were descendants of the Gate Builders. You're an Ancient!"
Sam winced. They hadn't told the Tok'ra that, technically, Adora was an Ancient, had they?
"It's not like that! I never knew them!" Adora protested.
But the Tok'ra didn't seem to be listening to her.
"That's why you have such advanced technology - and magic!" Anise said.
"No!"
"It's well-known that the most powerful and dangerous technology of the Ancients - and their bases - are genetically locked to their own species," Molinar went on. "Genetic engineering hasn't been able to fully bypass that - the System Lords have tried, but there has to be some factor that they are missing."
What? You couldn't use genetic engineering techniques to ensure that the Ancient Technology Activation gene was passed on? Of course, the Goa'uld might have simply made a mistake… no. Not for something important. And not for a thousand years. If you couldn't reliably ensure that your descendants had the gene - no, the gene had to be passed on, or it would have died out amongst humans. But what if it needed an activation trigger…? She glanced at the Colonel.
"Don't I feel special now," he muttered.
But did he understand just how special he might be? Of course, the trigger could be something simple - like passing through a gate. You could never tell with the Ancients.
"Well, yes, we can activate their technology," Adora said. "But I don't have some genetic memory that tells me how it works. Except for the language…"
"But the First Ones didn't leave manuals for their technology," Entrapta said. "Which goes against basic principles of science!" she added with a pout.
"How sloppy of them," the Colonel commented in a sarcastic tone.
"Exactly!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "Just think of how much more advanced we would be if they had left proper documentation!"
"And how much more advanced the Goa'ld would be," Catra commented.
"Oh. Right, that would probably be a bad thing," Entrapta agreed.
"It would be a catastrophe!" Garshaw said. She seemed to have recovered from the surprise, but she was still focusing on Adora. "So, the Ancients survived. Or rather, they haven't all gone."
"Horde Prime claimed he had wiped the First Ones out," Glimmer said. "Adora might be the last of her people."
"And the First ones were an offshoot of the Ancients, as far as we know," Bow added.
Adora nodded. "Yes! I'm not an Ancient - I grew up in the Horde. I can't just… do what they did." She turned her head to look at the Colonel. Sam opened her mouth to step in, but Adora was already talking. "In fact, I'm not really any more an Ancient than Jack, who has the Ancient gene. At least Alpha told us that. We're descendants of colonists."
Sam suppressed a wince as the Tok'ra turned to look at the Colonel with various but strangely unsettling expressions. Especially Anise's.
*****
"So, you are a descendant of the Ancients as well, Colonel O'Neill."
"So I've been told. Although I'm still waiting for a second opinion."
"I can check your genes, Colonel."
Catra suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Anise was staring at O'Neill as if he was… well, if Anise were staring at Adora like that, Catra would consider marking her claim - or clawing the woman.
"I like my genes where they are."
And speaking of claims… She glanced at Sam. But the woman didn't seem to be ready to do anything violent. Or anything at all. Although she didn't look happy. Not at all. Hell, what did it take for Sam to admit her feelings? Granted, Catra didn't have a lot of room to talk, but Sam hadn't been raised in the Horde by Shadow Weaver but in a normal family.
Well, unless Sam started building killer bots or something to attack rivals or tried to blow up the world, it wasn't any business of Catra's. She had her hands full with Adora, anyway.
Leaning closer to her love, she whispered: "Next time, limit the secrets you blurt out to yours."
Adora grimaced. "I'm so sorry - I panicked!" she whispered back.
"You don't have to apologise to me." But Catra saw that Glimmer didn't look happy either. "I guess we need to talk about OpSec again." And with Entrapta, of course.
"I'm sorry. I'm not used to keeping secrets from everyone."
And wasn't that the truth? Adora wouldn't have made it far as Force Captain - she was just too honest. Not without Shadow Weaver's protection. Then again, Shadow Weaver wanted a loyal, honest minion…
"Anyway, I think we've discussed everything relevant for now," Glimmer said with a fake smile.
Anise opened her mouth to protest, but Garshaw nodded. "Yes. We will start focused negotiations about forming an Alliance soon. And we will extract the Goa'uld from your officer as soon as possible."
"Thank you."
And they would conduct the negotiations with diplomats. And without Adora, if Catra had anything to say about it.
*****
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998
"I'm so sorry! They were looking at me like I was a goddess or something, and I, uh, panicked and blurted out your secret!"
Catra sighed. Adora hadn't even been able to wait until they were off the ramp in the gate room. Sure, it had been a gaffe, but it wasn't the end of the world - Catra and the others were very familiar with the difference.
"Well, it probably would have come out anyway at some point, what with all the magic scanners around. Or when we walk into the next Ancient base." O'Neill shrugged, but it looked a little forced to Catra.
Adora, though, seemed to be relieved. "I'm still sorry - I should have been more careful. It wasn't my secret to share."
Glimmer nodded in agreement. "But what's done is done. And we can probably use that in the negotiations."
"What happened?" Ah, the generals had arrived, Sidorov in the lead.
"Well, we didn't start a war," O'Neill told him with a wide grin. "We got a new snake prisoner to go, the Tok'ra have agreed to remove the snake from Lieutenant Lenkova, and we will start negotiations for an Alliance as soon as possible. But I have to insist that there won't be any marriage as part of the Alliance."
"What?" The Russian stared at him in apparent confusion.
Hammond, though, looked like he wanted to sigh. Loudly. "I believe we need a more detailed report, Colonel."
"I made a mistake and revealed that we're descendants from the Ancients," Adora said.
"And that got the Tok'ra very interested in Adora and Colonel O'Neill," Glimmer said.
"Of course it did." Entrapa looked confused as well. "Why wouldn't it? They can access gene-locked First Ones technology - although we don't know if that extends to all Ancients technology. But the potential is obvious and so helpful with research! Once we find another base, at least - the artefacts we have don't require them to be studied so far."
"Yes," Sam explained. "But we don't want everyone to know about Adora and Colonel O'Neill."
"Well, only our friends and allies, right? Honesty is the best policy." Entrapta nodded.
"The Tok'ra are potential allies. We hope they will join the Alliance, but they haven't yet," Glimmer said. "And even then, some secrets are not meant to be shared with everyone."
"Yeah. Some are private. Or embarrassing." O'Neill grinned. "I feel old enough even without all the Ancient ancestry jokes."
"Oh. I shouldn't have mentioned Adora's species, then?"
"You revealed classified information?" Sidorov glared at Adora and Entrapta.
Catra narrowed her eyes at him in return. "None that would concern you. Alliance business. Not Stargate Command business."
"If it concerns Colonel O'Neill, it's our business!" he protested.
Well, he wasn't completely wrong. But she wouldn't let Sidorov attack her friends.
"This was an Alliance mission, General Sidorov. And the Alliance will discuss how to proceed with the Tok'ra." Glimmer curtly nodded at him. "We'll retire for the evening - it's been a long day." Without waiting for a response, she started towards the door, leaving the Russian fuming and everyone else from the humans trying to hide their smiles. At least, that was Catra's impression.
Grinning, she tugged on Adora's arm and followed their friends. Sometimes, Glimmer going all "queen" was annoying.
But sometimes, it was great.
*****
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