It was too late. Even before the rings dropped back into the floor, everyone could see the nightmarish figure of the unas.
Hargrove and his team didn't hesitate. He snapped up his PL90 and sprayed fire in its direction, forcing it to hastily activate its forcefield, while the others ran out of the bay. Snarling, the unas raised its gloved hand at them, but didn't quite get it in line before Cayo collided with the monster, yelling and stabbing at it repeatedly with his Zau blade.
With a grunt, it grabbed his shoulder and leg and tossed him into the far wall where he fell, motionless.
Menacingly, it turned to face Hargrove. [Did you truly think this was over, human?]
Everyone else was out except Cayo, and he couldn't wait. With a grimace, Hargrove stepped out and slapped the door control, closing and locking the bay.
Suna gave a sob, behind him.
"That won't hold him." Haley warned, holding Suna close. "If he can't punch through the door, he'll blast it with his glove."
Sure enough, the door started to shudder from repeated impacts. Footsteps rang in the hallway as a few nearby Survivors came running, including Bokal.
"Can we open the bay doors from here?" The Colonel asked, looking at the monitor built into the hallway. "Blow the unas out the back of the ship?"
"No!" Suna protested. "That would kill Cayo!"
"And it wouldn’t work, anyway." Bokal put in, panting slightly. "The inertial dampeners cover the entire ship. We'd have to be out in space for that to…" Suddenly he straightened up and his eyes brightened. "Colonel, I can stop him! Give me ten seconds, and if I don't come back you can still evacuate the entire section and seal the doors."
The Colonel looked at Hargrove, who was just as surprised, as the door creaked warningly under more impacts. Then he nodded.
His face set, Bokal pressed a control on his left wrist, and walked through the weakening door. The metal seemed to sway as he stepped into it, reminding Hargrove of watching someone pass through an active Stargate.
Despite their fear and fatigue, everyone started in surprise. Hargrove had read about Tollan phase-shifting technology, but had never actually seen it in action. Belatedly, he realized he should be keeping count for how long Bokal had been gone.
At about eight seconds the door seemed to sway again, and Bokal stepped back through, looking triumphant. He pressed the door control and metal screeched as the warped door ground most of the way open.
There was no sign of the unas.
"I… I did it!" He said, elated. "I sent him away!"
Suna pushed past him into the bay. Then she broke into a run, yelling Cayo's name. She slid to the ground next to him and screamed for Archie, but even from the door, Hargrove could see that it was too late. His neck was bent at an unsurvivable angle; he'd been dead as soon as he'd hit the wall.
A silence fell on the group, broken only by Suna crying as she held her brother. Hargrove knelt next to her, feeling a sudden odd sense of emptiness. For the first time, though, he knew exactly what to do when it came to Suna. All he had to do was just be there for her.
Beneath them, the deck shuddered from an impact, and then another, and the intercom crackled with the General's voice. "Guys, we gotta go now!"
The Colonel pressed the intercom and responded in a subdued voice. "Acknowledged, sir. Get us out of here."
-.-
Their escape from Tchosal had been a blur, in Tony's mind. While they had been too far away to be an easy target for the motherships, a few gliders had chased them on their way out of the atmosphere. Jahu had handled the gun turret while Carter had flown evasively, and a few more hits on their shields later, they'd jumped into hyperspace again. After setting up a meeting, Tony had begun wandering the ship aimlessly.
All he could think about was Cayo. He'd lost people before, more than he cared to think about, but Cayo was different. At some point he'd convinced himself that those closest to him had somehow been armored against any real harm. Not even Blake's close call back on Hovak had pierced the illusion of safety he'd built up in his mind.
Well, now it was over. And as high a price as he'd paid for his re-education, he knew it was only a pinprick next to Suna's pain. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like, holding onto Julia's body like that.
Suddenly he realized he'd arrived at the Goa'uld version of a mess hall. Carter, Haley, Blake and Bokal were already there, as Ahardt and the Pyrta stepped in from another entrance.
He pushed his introspection to the back of his mind. "How's the ship?"
"Our shields held, so we took only minimal damage. The engines are fine, now that we're not pushing their limits anymore." Carter answered. "We're down to about eighty percent of our energy reserves, but we're still well in the green. Jahu turned out to be a pretty good shot with the turret."
"The damage to the cargo bay was superficial." Bokal added. "Even if we lost pressure in the bay, there's still no risk to the rest of the ship."
"Good. And our people?"
"I scanned them and found no serious ailments," the Pyrta reported, throwing a concerned look in Haley's direction, "but they are exhausted, and I have no idea what kind of long-term effects they can expect from their… suspended animation. I'll do a more detailed scan of all of them when we get back." He grimaced. "I've placed… the body in a field that should preserve it."
Tony tried to keep his face calm. Suna and Hargrove were with the body, and it was unlikely that she would leave it for a while, or that Hargrove would leave her.
"Any idea how that unas got on board?" He asked Blake. "I thought you said a ring transmission couldn't get through our shields."
Blake shook his head. "I went over the transmission logs. According to the computer, the second ring transmission used the same access code as the first. He must have found a way past the plant's lockdown and gotten back to the rings. Instead of reintegrating and killing you, I guess he was watching and waiting for us to use our rings, and recorded the access code when we did. An easy way to get on board, for him." He hung his head, and Haley put a hand on his shoulder.
"I take it you changed the code."
"And put in a program that would randomize the code each time, yes. Still, we'll have to be careful using the rings if we ever have to do something like that again."
"That's a big 'if' for now." Tony sighed. "Hargrove told me that the unas was after him, personally, but I think there's more to it than that. It waited until a rescue arrived before acting, which means it wanted more than just him."
"But we went through hell getting away from it!" Haley objected. "You don't know how close it came to killing us down there! If all of that was just for show, what else could it have possibly been after?"
A silence fell on the group.
"Hovak." Ahardt put in suddenly.
He looked around, somberly. "Think about it. They don't care about the ship- they've got plenty of bigger and better ones, right? But one look at our navigational computer and he'd know exactly where we came from. If Bokal hadn't gotten rid of him, I bet we'd all be dead by now, and a fleet would already be on its way to Hovak!" He glanced at Bokal. "How did you do that, anyway?"
"I touched him, altering his physical structure for about three seconds, and pushing his body out of phase with the rest of the ship." Bokal explained slowly. "The deck plates couldn't hold him up, and he fell through the ship." He grimaced. "Little good it did your friend, though."
"Well, you probably saved the rest of us. And Nelson's right about the unas' target." Carter responded. "It's really the only other thing he could have been after. Apophis has probably scouted enough planets by now to know that your home base isn't part of the regular Stargate network. Short of sending a ship to every planet in the galaxy, this is the only way he could find out where you're hiding."
"Congratulations, boss. We're officially in the Big Leagues now."
Tony gave him a bleak smile. "I guess that means we should bring our A game from now on." He looked at Carter. "Are you sure they can't track us in hyperspace?"
Carter nodded.
"Good. Blake, earlier you said you might know more about this particular unas Goa'uld."
"Maybe, yeah. Haley told me about the tattoos on his face and neck, and it rings a bell with something I read out of the Goa'uld database. Some kind of splinter faction of Goa'ulds called Prog-something: they all have markings like that."
"Pragon." Haley corrected him. "That's what he called himself, back in the plant."
"Yeah, that's right. All I remember is that the database claimed they were just a myth, or something."
Carter bowed his head for a second. [Are you sure of that name?] Selmak asked, suddenly.
Haley gasped and shrank away from him, before Blake could put his arms around her. Bokal looked at Carter, apparently fascinated.
It's understandable, Tony realized after a moment. The last voice like that Haley heard came from the unas, and she's never heard Selmak speak before. And I doubt Bokal’s ever heard a Tok’ra’s true voice before now.
When Blake quietly explained it to her, she reddened and mumbled an apology, which Selmak accepted graciously.
[The Tok'ra have heard of this group as well,] he explained, [based on the name and the facial markings. We also assumed they were extinct.]
"What are they?"
He lowered his head again, and suddenly Carter was back. "That's a little tough to explain. You know that the Tok'ra are different from the Goa'uld, but do you know why that is?"
Tony nodded. "Your ancestry is different, right? You got a different set of genetic memories than the others."
"That's right. Our queen Egeria spawned all the Tok'ra with her own sense of ethics and responsibility. A few Goa'uld joined us a long time ago, but most of us have her memories in addition to our own."
Carter paused, apparently lost in thought, before continuing. "Well, the Pragon are the other side of the coin. Like us, they all had the same parent, and are different from your average Goa'uld, but that's where the similarities end." He grimaced. "The best way to describe their progenitor, Belial, would be to call him… criminally insane, even by Goa'uld standards. All of his offspring ended up just like him. They're violent, sadistic, pleasure-seeking animals, from what Selmak remembers."
"Sounds like the Goa'uld to me."
"Not exactly. These guys are a pretty nasty bunch, but they don't care about personal power or galactic domination, and they're not vain like the others. They hired themselves out to provide for their basic needs, but all they've ever really cared about is whatever gives them instant gratification."
"In this case, killing and eating us." Haley muttered.
Carter nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty common for them. Back in the day, most of the Goa'uld didn't really care, as long as the Pragon got the job done. However, when we- the Tok'ra, that is- started messing with the Goa'uld in general, Ra put a death mark on all such splinter groups just to cover his bases. He executed Belial personally, and most of the Pragon were wiped out overnight."
"But not all of them."
"Apparently not." Carter mused. "Selmak heard rumors back then that a few had hidden in Sokar's territory- that was a few centuries after he'd gone rogue and been banished by the System Lords. I guess they thought they'd be safer in his service."
Haley spoke up again. "And now that he's gone, they're working for Apophis? The unas said his name when we were down there."
"This one is, at least. I doubt there are more than a handful left alive after all this time."
"But why would any Goa'uld trust them?" Tony wondered aloud. "If they can't be controlled, like you said?"
"Because no other Goa'uld would be able to control them, either. As long as he kept them happy, Sokar could be almost entirely certain they'd never turn on him. That's pretty rare for a Goa'uld."
A quiet fell on the group, which Haley eventually broke. "Do you think it's still alive?"
"Probably." Ahardt replied. "We were hovering over a crevice when it fell out of the ship, but I doubt even a hundred-foot fall would kill it."
"That could be a problem for me." Bokal put in, worried. "Right now, the System Lords have an uneasy truce with Tollanna. If word gets back to my people that there is a Tollan out here, fighting them…"
"I don't think you need to worry about that, Bokal." Carter responded. "Apophis isn't one of the System Lords anymore. I doubt he'll tell your people anything. Actually, he'll probably want you for himself. To learn what you know."
Bokal sniffed a little haughtily. "He's welcome to try. No matter what happens to me, he will never get his hands on any Tollan technology."
"In a way, I'm glad." Ahardt continued, apparently trying to move things along. "That the unas is still alive, I mean. I doubt either Suna or Hargrove will rest easy until they can put that monster down themselves."
Tony shook his head. "No, Hargrove's a professional. He'll keep his eye on the goal, like always, but Suna… I'll be very careful about assigning her on missions, at least for the near future."
"If you're willing to help, Bokal, I'll start working on writing an encryption program for our computers." Blake said slowly, after a long pause. "If another intruder gets on board, it'll make it much harder to figure out Hovak's location. I doubt it'll be done by the time we get home, though."
Tony looked down the side passage, towards where Suna and Hargrove were. "Actually, you've got more time than you think, Blake. We'll be making a side trip on the way back."
-.-
The cold wind picked up from behind, blowing her hair across her face. Suna ignored it. She hadn't cut it since she'd joined the tau'ri, and it was now long enough to braid for the first time since her childhood.
She knelt, sitting on her heels on the hill where she and Cayo had played as children. It had been barely five years since she'd last walked this hill, but it felt like lifetimes ago. As she slowly looked around, she could remember the details. There, Cayo had tackled her, rolling her over and over to the bottom of the hill. There, she had tripped him, and then tried to fend him off while screaming her innocence to their parents. There, she-
Tears blurred her vision, and she looked down. Cayo's blade was embedded in the top of the hill; a fitting marker for his resting place.
Silently, she ran through one of the breathing exercises Hargrove had taught her. Emotional control, she reminded herself sternly. A warrior's greatest ally.
He’d stayed behind at a respectful distance down at the base of the hill, waiting patiently. Suna didn't dare look in his direction. Would she see the man she loved, or the man who’d left Cayo behind?
In her mind, she knew the truth. Hargrove had made the only choice he could under the circumstances. He’d placed the good of the group over the individual, as she hoped she’d be able to do. Still, in her heart, she blamed him.
She didn't know. Perhaps if she'd known what the cost would be, she never would have followed the tau’ri through the chappa'ai with Cayo in the first place.
Perhaps the cost hadn't been paid in full, yet.
She clenched her fists. It certainly hadn't for that unas, that much was sure.
Suna kissed the blade’s hilt and slowly rose. As she turned to head down the hill, she stopped short.
A small crowd had gathered at the base of the hill. Haley, Blake, Jahu, Tony, Nelson, and at least a dozen more surrounded Hargrove. Hand in hand, Haley and Blake approached, followed by the others. Tears shining in her eyes, Haley gave her an embrace. "You didn’t think we’d let you go through this alone, did you?" She whispered.
"Cayo’s life had a big effect on all of us." Blake followed suit. "It only makes sense that we’re all here to say goodbye to him."
As her friends gathered around her, Suna knew that she’d finally reclaimed what she’d been seeking for so many years: a family.
-.-
Digging up the 'gate and the DHD had been the easy part; moving them would be another matter entirely. While their alkesh could easily lift and carry the giant ring, they had no way of cabling it to the ship. In the end, Tony had settled on propping it up and dialing Hovak for help. He had a list of return windows during which they could call.
He nervously scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of activity, but it seemed as though the Zau had no reason to come out here anymore. He didn’t want to risk upsetting them, but he knew that the Deuca would want to reconnect with their trading partners on Zau. According to Suna, they would be able to unearth the Zau 'gate and hide it in a set of isolated caves she knew. That way, if the Goa'uld visited, the people of Zau might be spared, and she could sneak back home now and then to visit her brother's grave.
Ahardt had suggested that Cayo be buried on SR with the others, but Suna had insisted on here, instead. A side trip to Zau delayed them by only about a day, and gave her the time she needed for a traditional Zau funeral. Everyone had been in attendance for the burial, and the farewell song by Suna, but then had gotten to work, leaving just Hargrove and her alone again.
Speaking of work. Tony checked the stone beneath the 'gate one final time, and began dialing. Assuming it didn't tip over, he'd be able to send most of his people home, and call for the Oxen to help move this 'gate. By some miracle, no one here had noticed their little excavation project yet, but there was no guarantee that'd last. Thankfully, the ship was parked well out of sight of any roads or settlements. He didn't want to deal with a Zau mob right now, assuming the previous Elder was still in charge.
The 'gate connected, and didn't sway at all, he noted with relief.
He pulled out one of the normal radios and turned it on. He didn't want to risk using the somaradios any more than necessary, in case the Goa'uld were developing a way of tracking them. "Hovak, this is Marcus. Desousa, come in."
There was a moment's delay, and Desousa's surprised voice responded. "Sir! We didn't expect to hear from you so soon. Or through a 'gate. I was expecting a check-in call from SR-6. Are you… all right?"
Tony smiled tightly. "We're fine, Captain." He hesitated. "For the most part, anyway. I know it's not our return window, but I'm sending most of the strike team through. Have the Deuca scan them, as usual, and then get the Oxen prepped and dial back here to Zau. We've got a 'gate to move, and probably not much time."
"Did you say Zau, sir?"
"That's right." He waved his arm, and people started heading towards the 'gate. "On the double, Desousa."
"Yessir."
