"Acknowledged." Tony answered into the Tok’ra communicator. "Good work, Nelson."
"Thanks, boss, but your friend down here deserves the real credit. He may be the strong, silent type, but he sure gets it done."
"Don’t I know it." Tony said with a smile, and signed off.
He made his way across the cockpit to where David was still analyzing the sensor readouts. "Nelson’s got a lead on the assassin, and they’re running it down now. Any luck here?"
"Actually, I think so. I traced the Soma Voco signal to a geostationary orbit about thirty clicks directly above the Stargate." David zoomed the display in about a hundredfold. "Even with that small a window, there are at least a dozen ships in the area. The Soma Voco could be on any one of them, but I won’t be able to narrow it down further, not unless they use the somaradios again."
Tony nodded. "Then take us over there, as casually as you can."
As he slid into the pilot’s seat and slowly broke orbit, David gave him a sidelong glance. "Why didn’t you go down with the others, Tony? Why sit up here, when Hargrove’s almost certainly down there?"
"Because Hargrove isn’t my only concern here." Tony answered darkly.
He considered leaving it at that, but decided to continue. This concerned the Tok’ra just as much, after all. "The Alliance has been able to outmaneuver the SGC at every turn, so far. They’re like ghosts: seen only when they want to be, and otherwise impossible to trace. They always seemed better coordinated than we thought possible. At first I thought they were just using skills they’d picked up while hiding from the Goa’uld, but now I know better."
David thought about it, and nodded. "The Soma Voco."
"That’s right. If we can locate and destroy that damn thing, none of their somaradios will work anymore. The Alliance will have to start using standard subspace comms. Comms that we can monitor, or jam if we need to. I’m not here just to stop Hargrove; I’m here to stop the war machine that he built, too!" He grunted. "The war machine we helped him build."
David opened his mouth, but closed it again. He seemed to sense that nothing he could say would make things better. Mercifully silently, he continued his careful piloting.
-.-
About five minutes at a straight run brought Nelson to the treeline atop a small hill, south of the pyramid. Thanks to Siali, he’d been able to circle around the only Kek’shara patrol on the way.
Carefully controlling his breathing, Nelson gave a cursory glance at the hill from behind a tree. No one there.
He leaned on the staff weapon Siali had lent him as he considered his options. He was only here because of guesswork, based on what he knew about Hargrove. He might be wrong; Hargrove might have already killed the Goa'uld and left as quietly as he came.
Grimacing, Nelson stopped himself there. No use thinking that way. Tony never second-guesses himself like that, and neither should I. Siali had also given them comm spheres to keep in contact, and he looked back over the forest as he reached into his pack for it.
Then he stopped. Something was up there, in the trees about a hundred yards away. He couldn’t quite make it out, but it was moving, whatever it was. Grateful that he’d remembered to pack binoculars, he fumbled around for them and finally got a better look.
It was a hooded figure with a long tube strapped to its back, slowly climbing up one of the pine-like trees. As he watched, it came to a stop, bracing both feet on one of the branches, and reached for the tube.
Nelson felt dread crystallize in his stomach. Deep down, he’d been hoping Hargrove would be at Avery or Siali’s location, or not show up at all. With a sense of gloom, he realized he didn’t stand a chance of hitting him with a zat blast, not at this range. Knuckles tightening on the staff, he raised it to his shoulder and sighted in.
Squinting, he saw that the outline of Hargrove was raising the launcher as well. Cursing himself, Nelson tapped the firing button.
The blast lanced up through the branches, and caught the cloaked figure in the midsection. Dropping the launcher, he clung to the trunk for a moment before losing his grip and falling with a sickening crunch.
Nelson snatched up his pack and ran downhill towards him, dodging between the trees. The staff blast had probably given away his position, but he had to be sure Hargrove was dead. Or maybe I’m just hoping I didn’t actually kill him.
The tree’s branches had slowed his fall slightly, but he was barely moving when Nelson arrived. Gingerly, Nelson rolled him over and the hood fell back. It wasn’t Hargrove.
It was Bokal.
Hand trembling, Bokal reached up towards him before letting it fall. "Never… broke… my vow." He whispered, before going unnaturally still.
Almost automatically, Nelson reached out and closed Bokal’s eyes. Looking down, he noticed a somaradio on the ground, and one of the Tollan phase-shifting gadgets attached to the launcher. Sure enough, with this thing attached, Bokal probably would have been able to fire straight into the pyramid, and no amount of armor would have helped.
Off in the distance, a horn-call sounded, signaling Jaffa on their way. If he was captured, he doubted that even Siali had the clout to free him a second time.
Pulling out his zat, he aimed it at Bokal. His conscience twinged, stalling him, but he shook his head and pumped three shots into the corpse. Blue-white energy haloed the body for an instant before it disintegrated everything, including the Tollan technology. It’s what Bokal would have wanted.
Snatching up the somaradio, he scurried off towards the rendezvous.
-.-
"It’s done, boss." Nelson’s voice was barely recognizable, but David didn’t think it was a problem with the transmission. "We stopped the assassin in time. It was Bokal."
David shared a somber glance with Tony. They both knew what that meant.
Through the communicator, they could faintly hear a Jaffa horn-call. "Are you all right down there?" Tony asked.
"For now, anyway. I’ve seen Jaffa patrols nearby, but they haven’t spotted me yet." His voice came through more clearly this time. "I’m headed to meet up with Avery. If we can get to the rings, I’ll see you soon. Oh, and I’ve got Bokal’s somaradio, if that helps."
Finally, some good news! David thought, and felt Alvesh’s relief almost like an echo of his own. He leaned over towards the Tok’ra communicator. "Give Hargrove a call, Nelson. If he responds, I should be able to find him from up here."
"He’ll recognize my voice! If he thinks it’s a setup, he won’t answer."
David grimaced, but Tony spoke up this time. "Just double-click the transmission. He doesn’t know you’re not Bokal, so he should respond."
"On it."
Sensor telemetry streamed across the console, and David smiled. "It’s working. I’ve got coordinates! They’re within seven hundred meters at… eleven o’clock."
They both looked out the cockpit window, a little to the left.
Nothing was there.
Before Tony could ask, David was already double-checking. "He should be there!"
No other ships were close enough to be Hargrove’s. There was no interference messing with the sensors. Where could he be?
"He must be cloaked." Tony said suddenly. His eyes narrowed intensely. "A ship’s cloak wouldn’t stop an SV signal, right?"
David slapped a hand to his head. "Sneaky bastard! You’re right. It’s the only explanation that makes sense."
He thought through it quickly. "Cloaked ships can’t use shields. We could probably use the rings to get on board, but knowing Hargrove, he’s probably got his own rings heavily guarded. We wouldn’t stand a chance."
The sensors pinged for his attention, and he growled. "I’m reading an energy buildup here. He must be charging up his hyperdrive!"
"He’s running? We might never get another shot like this. We can’t let him get away!" Tony slammed his fists on the wall. "But how do we stop him?" Then he looked up suddenly. "You said no shields, right? Does this ship have any weapons?"
"It’s a cargo ship." David shrugged with frustration. Desperation fueled inspiration in both him and his symbiote, and they both reached the idea at the same time.
"I have an idea, but you’re not gonna like it." Grabbing the communicator from Tony, he turned it on. "Uh, Nelson, you two had better get to the ‘gate and head back to Earth. Trust me on this; you’re better off down there." He glanced at Tony and pointed to the copilot’s seat. "And you’d better sit down. This is gonna be rough."
