Kouna was a humid world. For what seemed like the thousandth time, David shifted his shirt trying to keep sweat from trickling down his back. He and SR-1 slowly threaded their way down the dirt trail towards the only village for miles.
He'd been assigned to be temporarily in charge of Cayo's team until a suitable replacement could be found. While not exactly the job he'd wanted, he still marveled at their discipline and effectiveness. If it weren't for their clothes, he would have sworn that they'd trained on Earth. Obviously, Cayo had picked the best and brightest for his team, and they had only improved under his leadership.
Also, if they were sweating as badly as he was, they sure weren't letting on.
As they approached the north end of town he could see Hargrove, also dressed in local garb, conversing with one of the townsfolk. The two of them exchanged abbreviated bows and the local headed back into town. David nodded to his 'team', and headed to Hargrove while they all sat down for a rest.
Hargrove looked him up and down. "Find anything up there?"
"Nada." David answered, acutely aware of just how much dirt and sweat he was covered in. "The mine's been abandoned for several hundred years at least. We found some mining equipment, and picked up trace amounts of naquadah, but nothing worth writing home about."
"That's what I was afraid of. The Goa'uld probably abandoned this planet centuries ago. All I've been able to piece together from the local folklore is some vague stories about evil spirits who possessed some of their ancestors."
"So… back to base, then?" David asked, hopeful. Shortly after setting up shop on Hovak, he'd helped transfer a shower system from the Redoubt into the mountain facility, and right now he longed for one, as well as for the comparatively dry air of that planet.
"Not just yet, Captain." Hargrove dashed his hopes. "While we're here, we might as well build some goodwill with the locals. Before he left on the ship, I convinced the Colonel to lend me Blake and Haley for a few hours. These folks are having some pretty serious agricultural problems, and they might be able to help." He raised a hand, forestalling any objections, not that David was about to say anything. "I know, it seems like a waste of time, but we could do a lot of good for these people, just by taking soil samples and giving them some good advice."
Forgetting his discomfort for a moment, David stared at him. "When did you become a humanitarian, Hargrove? Even if we do these people a good turn, I doubt we could recruit anyone from this planet."
Hargrove nodded somberly. "I'm not, and you're right." He looked over at SR-1, sitting in the shade of a large tree. "The truth is, I extended this mission for our benefit as well. We could all use a change of pace, and this mission is the perfect opportunity. We did get this address from the subspace wiretap on Apophis' communications, but I fully expected to find nothing important here at all. It's just good for us to have a mission where we aren't fighting for our lives for a change." He glanced back into the village. "You may have noticed we've been going on a lot of similar, low-stress missions, recently."
"I did, actually." David couldn't argue with that logic. "Is that why Pol's been coming along with us on these trips?"
"That's right. He wanted to see what it was like on a mission, and to learn more about how we do things. He's pretty green, though, so I assigned Suna to keep an eye on him. She's showing him the basics of the 'gate right now." He shook his head. "I doubt Pol will ever be much of a fighter, but you and I both know there are other ways he can help."
David leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Any luck on narrowing down where the terminal is?"
Hargrove grunted. "Not yet. Between reports from people we've placed on several of Apophis' worlds, the Tok'ra rumor mill, and the subspace wiretap, we've assembled quite a list of leads to run through. It could take months to cover them all, and we still may not find the terminal." He looked over in the direction of the 'gate, though it was several kilometers away. "Still, every day we're eliminating possibilities, which means every day we're that much closer, right?"
David couldn't contain a smile at that. "I knew it. You are becoming an optimist, aren't you?"
Hargrove shrugged, a little uncomfortably, David thought. "If you say so. All I know is, things go a lot more smoothly with Suna when I focus on the positive."
David smirked and slapped him on the back. "We'll make a romantic out of you yet, Hargrove."
-.-
From the edge of the treeline, Jouwat scanned the village angrily. Aside from a small group of tau'ri, including the insolent one he remembered from Tchosal, the only humans within sight appeared to be natives. The tau'ri hadn't moved since he'd landed, which was a good sign. If they suspected trouble, he might lose more than an eye this time.
With a barely suppressed growl, he fingered the gaping pit where his left eye had been. He'd broken most of the bones in his body at the end of his long fall back on Tchosal, but that had been only the start of his troubles. After rejuvenating him in a sarcophagus on Delmak, Apophis had proceeded with a long and particularly painful interrogation.
His 'lord' had been furious, not only to learn that the tau'ri had a ship, but that they'd escaped, and that he'd been unable to find their base's location. Only the promise of discovering Tollan secrets had saved Jouwat's life. Still, a punishment had to be exacted, and in his rage the Lord of Delmak had reverted to Sokar's old method and gouged out an eye.
Then, days later, Apophis had abruptly hauled him from his cell and sent him to this miserable planet. Apparently, he had somehow discovered tau'ri here, and had decided to give Jouwat one last chance to redeem himself. In his haste to get here, Jouwat had nearly destroyed his ship's engines.
If there was a benefit to this experience, it was that he was finally working alone again.
Jouwat stepped out of the overgrowth and towards the village. The ground was firm, thankfully, and he left no noticeable mark on the hard-packed soil. It had taken him some time to get used to not having a shadow, as well.
He checked his control interface. His cloak was stable, as was the one on his ship. Even during his time as an Ashrak, he'd never had the chance to become completely invisible, as he was now. He could see himself of course, but the field was practically skin-tight, so as far as anyone else was concerned he simply wasn't there.
Early Goa’uld stealth technology had been problematic, at best. At first, scientists had bombarded test subjects with a specific form of radiation that seemed promising. Unfortunately, subjects that no longer blocked light rays often lost their sight, or went insane at their new circumstances. Locating dead test subjects had also proven equally difficult. Jouwat had enjoyed reading the results of such experimentation.
More recent machines based on Ancient designs apparently created a field around the wearer, pushing him slightly out of step with the ‘normal’ dimension occupied by others. The result was a dull, gray-looking world from his perspective, but a highly effective tool for his work.
If all went according to plan, the tau'ri would remain completely unaware of him, right up until it was too late. Not even their Tollan puppet would be able to save them this time.
Salivating at the prospect of the feast to come, he started off towards the chappa'ai.
-.-
"So, six symbols to point where among the stars we wish to go, and the seventh to mark where we are?" Pol looked up from the crude drawing she'd made in the sand.
"That's right." Suna said encouragingly. She pointed to the square-ish drawing. "From what David told me, each symbol on the DHD is based on a starshape in the night sky. See how that one looks like a tree with only two branches? Last night, I saw that shape just above the horizon."
Pol nodded slowly. "It seems familiar. He knew all of this, I think. My Goa'uld." He added, at her confused look. "I never understood any of it, back then, but now with you explaining it, I can make some sense of it." He squinted past the 'gate at the near-setting sun.
If yesterday was any indication, it would be dark in less than an hour.
Pol sat down and stared out at the approaching sunset for a while. "It's amazing, isn't it?"
"What is?" Suna looked at him curiously.
"Being Seraus' puppet was a living nightmare. An unending series of tortures mixed with atrocities, and no matter how I tried, I couldn't stop him. Yet now, now that I'm free of him, I've had nightmares almost every time I close my eyes!"
She nodded as gently as she could. "That's no surprise. You were a prisoner within your own body for a long time."
"No, it's more than that. I realize that now. Despite all of the horrors I saw and caused, despite the struggle, and the shame I felt when I failed that struggle, despite how I loathed him and wished nothing more than that my head would explode and kill us both…"
He trailed off, and his face contorted. Suna knew better than to say anything.
"In some horrifying way, I miss him."
"You miss him??" She couldn't help but stare at him.
"Don't you see?" He seemed desperate to explain it. Possibly even to himself, she realized. "I was never alone! Not once in over ninety years! And now I'm free of him, but I'm also afraid, because for the first time in all that time, I'm all by myself! I go to sleep alone, I wake up alone. I don't hear anyone's thoughts but my own, and as exhilarating as it is, it also terrifies me. I don't know what to do, now that I'm not being bent to his will. I don't know how I will continue without his strength. In many ways, it was easier being a host!" He sighed. "I don't think you can understand."
Suna sat down next to him. "I understand better than you know. On my world, the Goa'uld ruled with absolute power. When they chose someone to be taken, only the most foolhardy would object. The rest would just stand back and watch. I remember seeing it happen again and again. Then, when the tau'ri arrived to free us, most people resisted at first. One even tried to warn the Goa'uld!" She put an arm around his shoulder. "We all cling to the familiar, Pol. Even if we know it is wrong. Just give it time. You are already on the road to recovery. All you need is time."
He nodded, looking miserable. "I think about it every day, you know. Every time I remember something new. I think about how he used me; what he made me do. What he took from me." He sighed. "I'm not the same person I was. I don't think I can ever be that person again."
Suna gave him a moment before responding. "I remember thinking the same thing when Cayo and I lost our parents." She almost choked up at speaking his name, but swallowed hard and pushed past it. "It gets better, you know. Yes, you aren’t the same person, and you never will be again, but that’s not the end of the story. Just do everything you can to make sure that this new person is someone you can be proud of. If you ask me, you’re already well on your way."
He gave her a weak smile, before his expression changed to concern. He put a hand to his head. "I'm not feeling well, Suna. My headache's back. Can you do the rest without me?"
It took her a second to realize what he was really saying. Only through long experience was she able to keep her breath from catching or her back stiffening as she stood up. She casually looked around, but didn't see anyone nearby. Still, she knew what to do. "Of course, Pol. You rest there for a while. I'll dial home and get a status update."
Putting her uncertainties aside, and trying not to rush, she began punching in symbols on the DHD.
-.-
"Home base, this is Suna." His radio crackled loudly. "David, can you hear me?"
David stared at it for a second. "What is she talking about? We're not on Hovak; she knows that." He picked up the radio. "Desousa here. What are you-"
"Please tell me the evacuation's on schedule." She cut him off. "We can't afford any more delays. The Goa'uld may already be on their way."
Before he could respond, Hargrove grabbed his arm. "Play along with her." His voice was as serious as his grip. "Trust me on this. Play along."
Mystified, he answered. "Uh, yeah, we're still on schedule over here. How… are things going on your end?"
"We're fine. I'll dial again in half an hour. Be sure to have the first group ready to go to our new planet by then." Her signal abruptly cut off.
He slowly lowered the radio, confused. "Ok. What on Earth was that all about?"
"I'm not really sure." Hargrove admitted. "Let's find out. Blake! Could you come out here?"
After a few seconds, Blake emerged from one of the mud-brick buildings. Hargrove didn't give him a chance to ask any questions. "You're with us, Blake, and bring your pack. You three-" he called out to the rest of SR-1, "keep an eye on Haley until we get back."
They double-timed it back to the 'gate for about five minutes. Still wondering what was going on, David did notice offhandedly that Blake had no trouble keeping up. For a civvy, he'd come a long way, David had to admit.
They finally arrived to see Suna and Pol standing in front of an active wormhole. Pol looked apprehensive, as usual, but Suna had an expression that was hard to read. She was aiming her radio towards the 'gate and holding the button. David wondered why for a moment, before belatedly remembering that even if no one was passing through, a continuous radio signal could keep the 'gate open, at least for thirty-eight minutes.
"Is it what we thought?" Hargrove asked without preamble.
Suna nodded. "I think so. Pol no longer senses anything, so it must have gone through." She looked at the 'gate.
"Blake, could you send a MALP through? We need to be sure."
Looking similarly confused, Blake pulled one of his modified MALPs out of the pack, activated it, and rolled it through the 'gate's event horizon. He then pulled up his laptop and began receiving telemetry, as everyone clustered behind him to look. "What are we looking for, exactly?"
It took David a moment to process what he was seeing.
It looked like footage from the moon landing, at first. Despite the poor resolution, he could clearly see stars beyond a white dirt and stone landscape pitted with impact craters. He glanced at the DHD, but didn't recognize the address off the top of his head.
At Hargrove's urging, Blake panned the camera across the 'moonscape' before pausing it. A strange flickering light could be seen briefly, before fading.
"Ok, rewind that, and pause right there." Hargrove instructed. Blake complied as best he could, clearing up the image from the MALP.
"Holy hell…" Blake whispered.
In the interval between the lights, a green-skinned, mostly humanoid creature could be seen keeled over in front of the other 'gate. Its eyes had frozen, and trails of green blood had apparently flowed from its ears and nose before freezing as well. A pair of gaping holes could be seen where its chest had burst open, as air had escaped from its lungs.
David had never seen anything like it before, but from descriptions he'd heard, this had to be the same ‘unas’ that had terrorized his friends and killed Cayo. Or what was left of it, anyway.
Hargrove whistled. "Not a good way to go."
"You will never harm anyone ever again, laien." Suna said softly, and Hargrove hugged her from behind.
"That's enough, Blake," he said, and Blake cut the feed off, shutting down the wormhole as well.
Everyone stood in silence for a moment.
"Could someone please tell me what’s going on?" David finally demanded, feeling more than a little bewildered. From their expressions, Blake and Pol were just as confused.
"Suna has her revenge." Hargrove explained, letting go of her. "To put a long story short, we set a trap for the unas, using Hovak’s location as bait. I knew that eventually Apophis would try again, and send someone to find out the ‘gate address. I hoped it would be the unas."
"But how did you know it would come here, and when?" Blake asked.
Hargrove shook his head. "We didn’t. We’ve been dangling planets in front of the Goa'uld for almost two weeks now, hoping they’d bite. Thanks to the Tok’ra, and the subspace wiretap, we knew they had a list of planets we’d be visiting. Every mission that Pol’s been on, in fact."
"Why is he so important? No offense." David added belatedly, looking at Pol.
"Pol can sense when a Goa'uld is nearby, thanks to the naquadah in his blood, so he tipped Suna off. She then gave you a bogus call on the radio, making the unas think that the wormhole was open to our home base. We wanted it to be in a hurry, so she said the base was evacuating. It went through, probably to do whatever it could to stop the evacuation…"
"And ended up on an airless rock." David was starting to understand.
"P5C-353, yes. It may sound a little extreme, but we had to be sure it would die, and hard vacuum seemed like a good way to do that."
"I don’t understand, though." Pol cut in. "I never saw anyone but Suna. I sensed a presence, just as I did with that Tok'ra, but I couldn't see who it was coming from!"
Hargrove nodded "We've heard of the Goa'uld using their technology to become invisible before, even once on Earth. A personal cloak, if you will. That's why you never saw him, Pol. He's using a device to stay hidden from view." He tapped on the laptop's screen. "That must be why he's flickering like that. The device probably wasn't meant to be exposed to extreme cold."
Feeling overwhelmed, David sat down on the ground, and Blake joined him. "Just how many people knew about this… plan of yours?"
"Only the three of us and the Colonel. Don't feel bad, Desousa. We had to make sure your reactions were as realistic as possible. Suna radioed you because the unas probably knew I was here on this planet. He's seen me before, remember."
"So everything you said back there about building goodwill with the locals, getting Pol used to missions, getting some downtime, those were all just excuses?" David frowned. "I should have guessed."
Hargrove shook his head. "No, those were all good reasons, and still are. Just think of this as… icing on the cake."
David looked back at the computer, and the image of the flash-frozen bad guy. It was hard to argue with results. Suna still seemed fixated on the same image.
"But what made you think he wouldn't just bring a bunch of Jaffa along, like he did last time?" Blake asked after a moment, sounding more curious than indignant at being left in the dark.
"That was a possibility, yes. Still, it seemed unlikely that the unas would try brute force again. It saw that we have a Tollan on the team now. Even if it did beat us, it had to know we'd take Hovak's location to our graves." He shrugged. "I thought it would take one of the locals as a host instead, and try to trick us into taking it to Hovak, but this probably seemed like a good idea, too."
Unexpectedly, Suna straightened up, looking away from the screen. She grabbed Pol in a brief hug, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Pol. You faced your fears well, and helped me face mine. You are a true hero."
Pol blushed furiously.
