Alarm klaxons resounded through the control room and Harry surveyed the Stargate through the glass shield ahead of him, as its inner wheel spun and began locking in the co-ordinate chevrons. General Hammond and the rest of SG-1 were standing around him and also waiting for the Stargate to finish. The General, O'Neill, and Samantha Carter were all looking the picture or finely pressed military in the formal blue uniform.
"Here we go people," said General Hammond with a grim look toward the Stargate.
"It's hard to believe they are actually coming here," said Harry with a deep sigh.
"What do you mean?" asked Sam.
"I have hunted Chronos and Nirtii for a long time," he said with a grin. "But finding out exactly where they are located in their domains at any one time is quite difficult, as they keep their movements secret. Not even the vaunted Tok'Ra intelligence network has information that up to date. And even if they had," Harry snorted bitterly, "they wouldn't share it as that would risk compromising their oh-so-precious intelligence gathering techniques. So it is ironic that I finally know where they are, and I can't do a thing to them."
"You assassinate Goa'uld's specifically?" said Daniel Jackson looking dubious.
"Of course, when I can," said Harry with a look that said it should obvious. "But, as I said, killing a System Lord is no easy feat. And I have only managed to achieve that once; I got lucky and took out Anuk-sun-amun, but another previously minor Goa'uld just rose up and took her place."
On that note the seventh chevron locked into place and a wormhole shifted into phase within the confines of the Stargate and exploded outward in the visual illusion of water and settled back into the familiar event horizon of the wormhole, again looking like a shimmering pool that settled on its side.
O'Neill led the way down into the gate room and Harry positioned himself to the right of the embarkation ramp while the General, O'Neill and Sam waited at the base. The wormhole remained open and silent for a tense half a minute. Harry rolled his eyes at this little intimidation tactic, it would be just like Chronos's style to stuff his arm into the event horizon and keep the wormhole engaged but make the members of the SGC sweat a little.
Finally, a tall figure emerged from the event horizon. Harry recognized the long graying hair and condescending smirk that Chronos seemed to keep on himself at all times. The System Lord was dressed in the manner of an ancient Greek king would; cape, fur, fancy leather armor.
How easy it would be just to raise my hand and end it all, thought a disgruntled Harry. But instead he focused and weaved a reality-altering matrix into his eyes and directed his gaze towards Chronos. To Harry's eyes the room was bathed with various colors of light, this was a perception of reality that went beyond the visible light spectrum and could see at any wavelength. Harry could not see anything amiss on Chronos, no concealed weaponry, no discernable energy emission, except for the Naquadah in his blood stream.
Next to emerge was a beautiful woman who had central Asiatic features, wearing a shawl over her head and an elaborate light blue dress with a bare midriff. Nirtii wore a condescending expression on her face as she surveyed the interior of the SGC. Harry's extra-sensory evaluation of the System Lady as it were, was slightly confusing though. He thought he saw something on her left wrist but it was vague at best, it was a slight emission of energy on the tachyon energy range, but just as he tried to bring it into focus it was gone.
Beside Nirtii a Chinese man walked out wearing a traditional Ming dynasty clothes in red and green, but Yu showed similar results to Chronos.
Harry released the matrix and the room returned to normal. He turned to O'Neill and shook his head. O'Neill nodded that he understood and Harry walked from the gate room and re-entered the control room. He did not wish to tempt fate by remaining near Chronos; it would be bad enough having to tolerate his presence when the summit was on.
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Two years earlier…
The Stargate's inner wheel began to spin. The world it was located on was known as Sparta to its inhabitants, and as the name suggested it was populated by descendants of Ancient Greece. The Stargate was located a few kilometers outside the main city and it was settled in a small defensible valley with turreted walls surrounding it, from where anyone could fire upon attackers coming through the gate. Sparta itself was a world sporting a semi-arid climate and a blazing sun, with the result being that the dominant traits of the Spartans were black curly hair and very well tanned skin.
The seventh chevron locked and the Stargate exploded into life and eventually the event horizon calmed and only rippled occasionally.
Harry emerged from the gate, and had opened his mouth to deliver the ritual greeting in Attic Greek but he shut his mouth as his eyes comprehended what he saw around him and a feeling of dread passed though his spine and his stomach lurched.
The protective battlements around the Stargate were in ruins, smoke rose from the gashes in the walls and there were large sections of it that was completely destroyed and anyone was free to pass through. The large reinforced gate that allowed for authorized travelers to exit was gone. Harry instantly fell into a defensive posture, his hands raised, palms outward, ready for anything. When no attack came he broke into a run and sped out of the ring of battlements.
"No," he said aloud to himself. But denying what he saw was futile. Behind the battlements the ground was littered with dead Spartan warriors, dressed in only their black leather skirts and clutching their ornate swords, spears and bows, and from what he saw of the wounds, Goa'uld staff weapons inflicted them. There were also dead Jaffa, but they were few and far between; either killed by a well-marked arrow or impaled upon a flung spear.
Harry approached the closest dead Jaffa, and saw the mark of Chronos branded on its forehead. Anger welled up in him, as he had never known it before. He had to close his eyes and turn away from the mass of dead to control the emotion. He needed to know exactly what happened. With that in mind he picked up a staff weapon from one of the fallen Jaffa, and ran out of the valley. Harry tried to mentally prepare himself for the view of the city but it did little to help.
The smoke of fires rose in multiple columns from various destroyed buildings. The pattern of it suggested bombardment from space. Harry allowed a single tear to fall from his eyes and he broke into a run again and crossed the distance between the lip of the valley and the city outskirts.
The streets were filled with silence and death; not only of Spartan warriors but, men, women, and even a few children and Jaffa. It spoke of a systematic search and the subsequent slaughter of everyone; as the Goa'uld Chronos could have destroyed the city easily from space. What Chronos was searching for was the question now. But Harry had a more pressing need it seemed. He carefully walked through the streets to a specific place near the central palace. It was a modest cottage by all appearances, with solid white walls so typical of ancient Greek dwellings that made up the city.
Once Harry was inside the cottage he looked around for anyone who might still be alive. He found only the body of Evie, the servant of the man he was hoping would still be alive. She had taken a staff weapon blast directly into her stomach. And her eyes were still open and frozen in visible fear. Harry knelt next to her and closed her eyes, a terrible horror and sadness descending on his heart. He recited a blessing for the dead in Greek and grabbed a handful of gold coins that had fallen to the floor from a broken clay jar and placed one coin over each of her eyes. "May the boatman bear you swiftly across the river Styx with this payment." He had known Evie well, as it was she who had been charged with educating him in the Greek traditions.
"Harry…" came a weak voice… "is that you?"
Harry snapped to attention in a moment and found that the voice was coming from underneath an overturned table. He grabbed it and flung it away easily. Underneath lay a gravely injured man, his face matted in blood, his long gray hair was caked with it as well.
"I'm here, Ambrosius," said Harry with a worried frown as he stared at the thin white robes the man was wearing; which was wrinkled with dirt and bloodstains vividly visible. Harry could see no apparent blast or stabbing wounds but there was bruising on his forehead.
"You were tortured with a Goa'uld Hand Device, was it Chronos?"
"No," said Ambrosius weakly, "one of his immediate underlings. They came by a space ship, thus avoiding the protections you put within the Portal. He…" the old man coughed a few times and fresh blood marred the hand that he used to shield his mouth, "…was looking for the ship of the Ancients you found a year ago in the catacombs beneath the palace."
"And when he didn't find it…"
"…Chronos was very angry about it, he personally came down to interrogate me as to where it was. I tried to deny that I knew anything about it, but he was not convinced…" he coughed violently again, "and so he started to rain fire down on us from his space ship to coerce me."
"Oh, Ambrosius," sighed Harry, shaking his head. He knew the old man was too stubborn for his own good. "You could at least have told him a half-truth or anything that might…"
"No," said Ambrosius. "I would not give any clue to him, no matter how inconsequential, because eventually he'd have tracked it to you, and despite your power, there is a chance it would have fallen into his hands and then there would no hope for anyone, as Chronos would learn some of the secrets of the Ancient Ones…arrrggh." He grunted in pain.
Harry placed his hands on Ambrosius, one over his forehead and another over his heart, and he opened his mind and senses to the Universe; focusing his gaze on the aged body beneath his hands.
"You have internal bleeding and your heart is arrhythmic from the neural feedback of the Hand device," reported Harry, his face marred with a worried frown. "Your heart's rhythm I can restore but your bleeding is too extensive, I have to take you back to Seaworld for treatment."
"Very well," nodded Ambrosius. Harry closed his eyes and focused carefully and slowly on the transference of energy, channeling it from within him and around him. He guided the energy towards the heart…being careful not to send it in an unnatural direction; moving with the waning flow of life within the old man and finally…towards the heart… Harry heard a deep gasp from Ambrosius and a sigh of relief that showed he was successful.
"Feeling better?" asked Harry, shaking his head to get the cobwebs out of it.
"Somewhat," said the old man.
"I tried to relieve some of the pain of the bleeding for you as well, so don't be fooled, you're still in danger but at least you won't die on me while I get you to the Stargate," said Harry, he stood and gestured with his hand in an upward motion. Ambrosius was slowly lifted off the hard floor and hovered a few feet above the ground.
"Oh, Harry, do be a boy, and fetch my staff, I think the Jaffa chucked it somewhere in the corner," asked Ambrosius with a weary, tired grin. Harry looked to the corners of the room and saw the gnarled wooden staff on the floor; he made a grabbing motion with his hand and it flew towards his outstretched hand and he caught it expertly. He turned his focus on the hovering old man and willed his body to move forward. As they walked through the carnage filled streets, Harry distinctly heard Ambrosius mutter, "What am I going to tell my daughter?"
"The truth," said Harry simply. "We will tell her the truth."
Whatever the old man would have said in reply was drowned out by the sudden roar of a passing Goa'uld Death Glider; the curved craft swooped overhead and into the distance.
"Shit!" snarled Harry and walked faster, making sure guide Ambrosius without bumping him accidentally into any debris.
"That pilot will not have missed our presence," said Ambrosius.
"Which means the blasted mothership must still be in orbit," said Harry angrily, glaring upward at the blue sky. "How long ago did the attack take place?"
"Slightly more than a day," winced the old man.
"Then they will have a reception of Jaffa waiting for us at the Stargate, I knew I should have moved the ring transporter away from the gate."
Harry called to reality around him and within a few moments he and Ambrosius was shifted out of phase, effectively making them both invisible as they moved among the debris and bodies littering the streets. When Harry finally caught sight of the Stargate inside the valley, it was to find a contingent of twenty-four Jaffa guarding it; all of them standing on what remained of the ruined battlements. The Death Glider that had spotted them earlier now patrolled the sky around the gate. Harry and Ambrosius were prone against the lip of the valley despite their invisibility; it was best to play it safe.
"How are we going to get through that?" whispered Ambrosius.
"A frontal assault is not preferable, one of the Jaffa could get a call off to the mothership and I would be fighting a near constant battle because of that damn ring transporter," said Harry softly. The Glider came around for another pass and it gave Harry an idea. He turned his gaze to follow it and reached out with his mind towards that of the Jaffa pilot. It was extremely hard and draining to influence a mind at this distance but Harry managed to alter the perception of the hapless pilot. The results were rather apparent as the Death glider immediately commenced a strafing run on the surprised Jaffa on the ground. Orange bolts of energy walked among the Jaffa on the western battlement, sending bodies flying in every direction…and creating a large gap in the Jaffa perimeter.
The surviving Jaffa on the ground were too distracted by the sudden onslaught of the Death Glider to hear the near running footsteps of an invisible Harry bursting through a gap in the battlements. A single blow to the head from the butt end Harry's staff weapon easily knocked out the single Jaffa that had remained to guard the control panel of the Stargate. Now the tricky part came. He did not have the concentration to directly manipulate the Stargate with his mind and keep the pilot of the Death Glider distracting the remaining Jaffa. As such he would have to engage a subspace path the old fashioned way, so to speak, and that took time. But he had no choice.
He pressed the Orion glyph on the control panel and the Stargate began to whine as the inner wheel began to lock the coordinates into place. It was only by the time that the fifth glyph was locked in place that the nearest Jaffa noticed the activating Stargate. Harry saw it and had no choice but to send a blast of orange energy into the side of the large Jaffa who had been just a moment away from warning his colleagues. The seventh glyph locked into place and the Stargate roared to life in a burst of energy that settled to the familiar pool effect.
Harry slung Ambrosius over his shoulder; he let go of his concentration and as a result; freed the pilot's mind from his influence and broke the invisibility over themselves. Harry rushed through the event horizon and he perceived the disembodied, mind-blowing ride through the cosmos as usual…only to emerge seconds later onto the soft island ground of Seaworld.
He turned to face the open subspace path with a grim certainty and gestured with his hand toward the gate; mentally engaging a device he had installed in his home's Stargate. A blue energy shield sprang into existence over the mouth of the subspace path and not a few moments later the shield flared eight times before the gate finally shut down.
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Present day…
Harry was jarred out of his thoughts when Major Carter appeared next to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What can I do for you, Major?"
"Something's been bugging me ever since I met you," she declared with a frown.
"Oh?" said Harry with a lopsided grin and a raised eyebrow, inviting elaboration.
"Were you blended with a symbiote in the past?"
"Ah, I should have guessed you would be able to sense the naquadah in my blood," said Harry with a grin. "Yes, I was blended with a Tok'Ra symbiote named Jamilla for two years. I rescued her from Ra's imprisonment but her host was mortally wounded in the escape and I offered to become a temporary host until a new one could be found for her; but we enjoyed each other's company and learned so much from each other that we decided to remain blended for an extended period of time."
"Jamilla…" said Carter in deep thought, "it does ring a bell." Harry said nothing further but returned his gaze to the Stargate. "Oh, yes, I was curious, how did you scan for weapons on the System Lords?"
"I looked at them," said Harry cryptically with a grin and turned to walk away, leaving a confused astrophysicist in his wake.
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The summit room was quite nicely prepared in Harry's opinion, considering the limited amount of time that had been allocated to preparation. Flag staffs representing each of the System Lords, the Asgard and Earth (or Tau'ri in the Goa'uld language meaning the First Ones or First Humans) hung on each wall of the room, illuminated by lights fixed above them. The table was specifically designed for the event as well, it was shaped in the form of a pentagon with bright illumination from above and high backed leather chairs at four of the five sides (the empty fifth being for Thor, as he would transport down in his throne chair).
Harry had placed himself next to this fifth side, so that he was between Thor and O'Neill.
Nirtii, Chronos, Yu and O'Neill had already taken their seats and they were waiting for Thor to beam down.
"We're just…er…waiting for…" said O'Neill uncomfortably. There was flash of an Asgard transporter beam and Thor appeared. "And here he is…gang's all here. You all know each other, guess we can get started."
"The Asgard High Council extends its greetings to all of you and wishes to express its thanks for this opportunity to preserve the peace," began Thor.
"The Goa'uld System Lords are prepared to hear the Asgard proposal," stated Yu with the characteristic distorted voice of a Goa'uld. Harry had always wondered how that effect was achieved when he first heard it, many Jaffa and enslaved humans believed the distorted voice was a mystical power, but it was hardly that. It was caused simply by the symbiote pulling against the larynx and voice box of the host. The Tok'ra symbiotes did it only to distinguish to each other as to whom was speaking, host or symbiote, whereas the Goa'uld kept it going all the time unless subterfuge was needed.
"On'nek at ai, kree," said Nirtii, speaking in Goa'uld. Harry bristled internally with anger. Nirtii was supposed to speak in Tau'ri, but he couldn't correct her, as it was not his turn to speak. Thankfully, Chronos did so.
"Konakka as si mo," said Chronos, narrowing his eyes at Nirtii.
"Kona kree!" said Yu angrily, also berating Nirtii, bashing his fist against the table. "Kee na ori Asgard."
O'Neill stared at the three Goa'uld and then at Harry and Thor…Harry tried to catch O'Neill's eyes to telepathically stop him from speaking but the Colonel turned his head away and talked to Thor directly. "I thought we were going to speak the same language here."
Harry closed his eyes and sighed. I knew I should have drilled the negotiation protocol into his skull telepathically. Thor's small mouth distorted in a grimace.
Chronos stood angrily and cursed, "Ko nag!" and walked to the doors, banged them open and walked into the corridor. Nirtii and Yu rose from their seats, the latter giving O'Neill a withering glare and followed in Chronos's wake.
"What'd I say?" said Jack in confusion.
"You insulted them," said Thor, while Harry merely rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"How?"
"You spoke out of turn," said Harry with a sigh. "Did you read the negotiation protocol, Colonel?"
"I…uh…skimmed through it," said O'Neill uncomfortably. Harry gazed sharply at O'Neill. "Oh, come on, that was over six hundred pages long!"
"O'Neill, that was a rookie mistake," said Harry sharply. "If you had even read the first hundred pages you wouldn't have made it."
"Do not be too harsh, Harry," said Thor. "Even if O'Neill had not made the mistake, it would have ended soon anyway, rarely does a first session with the System Lords last beyond two minutes."
"But they were yelling at each other before I said a word," said O'Neill in his own defense.
"The System Lords have a very fragile relationship with one another," said Thor, "as do we with them."
"You mean they're always like that?" asked O'Neill incredulously.
"Pretty much," said Harry.
The conversation was interrupted by a worried looking Daniel Jackson walking into the room, "Excuse me, sorry for interrupting. But what just happened?"
"Apparently, we said hello, insulted each other, and broke for a recess," said O'Neill sarcastically. Then he turned back to Thor with a frown. "Can I ask you a question?" Thor nodded. "Why did you let the Goa'uld get that much power in the first place? If you've got the technology…" Harry felt his lips compress into a thin line. O'Neill had hit upon Harry's only bone of contention with the Asgard's decisions in the past.
"We are not proud of the fact that we have been forced to ignore the situation for as long as we have," said Thor solemnly. "But you must understand, there are other concerns for the Asgard. We have an enemy in our home galaxy that is far worse than the Goa'uld." Harry grimaced, That's an understatement if there ever was one.
"Worse?" asked Dr Jackson wearily.
"I cannot explain further," said Thor sadly. "For now we use what limited resources we can spare to enforce these treaties with the Goa'uld."
"What happens if a rogue Goa'uld…like Sokar," said Dr Jackson, "whose been banished by the System Lords decides to come after us?"
"In order to maintain the treaty the System Lords would endeavor to prevent it," replied Thor. "Our greatest advantage has been the feudal nature of the Goa'uld, our greatest concern has been a single Goa'uld rising to domination. If Sokar were to overtake the System Lord collective, the Asgard may not have sufficient power to stop it."
"So…basically, you guys are bluffing," said O'Neill in consternation, looking at Harry and Thor alternately. Harry winced inwardly at the blunt truth.
"There is no other alternative, Colonel," said Harry with a sigh. "There is currently no race in the galaxy who possesses the sheer numbers of military that the Goa'uld have at their disposal. The best defense is often the one that exists only in the mind of your opponent."
"Yes," agreed Thor. "And now I need to return to my ship. It will be some time before the System Lords will reconvene. If you need to speak to me personally, just tell Harry."
"We appreciate you doing this," said Dr Jackson sincerely.
"The Asgard will be required to sacrifice much before this is over," said Thor ominously, "and so will you."
And the small alien vanished in a column of white light.
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General Hammond, the Defense Secretary and Harry were waiting in the briefing room. The negotiations had resumed after Dr Jackson had typed a formal apology in Goa'uld and had O'Neill sign it. Harry had decided to sit this session out in order to 'gauge the field' so to speak; by speaking to the General and the Secretary.
"Thor mentioned that you would be the Asgard representative to Earth, if the treaty happened," stated the Secretary, inviting elaboration.
"Indeed," said Harry. "I would act as a direct line of communication between the SGC and the Asgard, which is not dependant on the Stargate network."
"But surely we could just go to Hall of Thor's Might on Sumeria and contact the Asgard directly if we needed to," opinioned the General, and Harry sensed that the portly base commander was none too enthused by the Asgard's request that he be stationed here. Almost as if he thinks I'm going to be a spy for the Asgard, thought Harry amusedly. The Asgard did not need a person in the SGC to do spywork. Asgard sensors were amazingly sophisticated and could scan and classify every single atom of matter that made up the mountain and its interior.
"With all due respect, General, but if the Goa'uld launch an attack on the Stargate by keeping an active wormhole with Earth, then there will be no way for you to reach outside help, either through the Tok'Ra or the Asgard," explained Harry patiently, tenting his fingers under his chin. "I, of course, know that you will not allow me free access to this facility without earning your trust first, since how do you know whether I really am who I say I am. So, until you verify my story, I will offer you this incentive; I will offer my widely diverse services to your direct command General Hammond."
"What kind of services?" asked Hammond with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, I'm somewhat of a jack of all trades, assassin, soldier, warrior, scientist…"
"…technology?" asked the Secretary neutrally.
"I cannot, of course, provide you with technological knowledge beyond what is wise for the level of maturity our civilization has reached, especially with regards to weapons," said Harry with a rueful grin. "However, I will assist in the development and implementation of any technology or knowledge that you acquire otherwise."
"That's a very fine line," noted General Hammond.
"I know," said Harry with a sigh. "But it is one I will have to walk and I would like nothing better than to ensure that Earth has an effective ability to resist the Goa'uld. But the sad fact of the matter is that neither I nor Thor nor you can guarantee that any advanced technology simply given and not earned would be used for good and wise purposes. As you know the Tollan learned that the hard way."
Any further conversation was interrupted by the appearance of O'Neill; who looked supremely irritated and angry, judging by the way he undid his tie and opened his shirt to free his neck from the stifling tight air force uniform and sat down, the rest of SG-1 following in his wake.
"What happened?" asked General Hammond.
"If Earth wants in to the treaty, the Goa'uld are demanding we give up both our Stargates," said O'Neill with a snarl.
"What did they demand of the Asgard?" asked Major Carter.
"Oh, the right to go into some or other part of space, called the passage of Nylo…nylon or something like that," muttered O'Neill, stumbling on the word.
"The Passage of Nylor," provided Harry. "And before you think that it's not a major sacrifice on behalf of the Asgard…the Passage of Nylor is a highly strategic cluster of star systems, rich in not only naquadah and trinium but is also a strategic hyperspace crossroads for that entire sector."
After everyone digested this new information Dr Jackson spoke up, "While that certainly put things in perspective, are we seriously going to consider giving up gate travel?"
"Considering the alternative…" stated General Hammond ominously.
"I believe that ring out there is the single most important thing on this planet," said the Secretary seriously. "And I understand what losing the gate would mean, but it is on your word," he gestured to O'Neill, "that we trust the Asgard. And peaceful solutions to this crisis must be considered."
"True, but…" said O'Neill disgruntled, and thankfully Major Carter, who apparently sensed that the Colonel was about to put his foot in his own mouth, interrupted him.
"The point is, sir," she said, "with all due respect, it's not nearly as simple as you put it."
"There are other threats to this world this treaty will not protect you from," intoned Teal'C seriously.
"From what Harry and Thor have been hinting," said O'Neill earnestly, "an enemy far worse than the Goa'uld."
"If any of you can tell me absolutely, why we can not accept this proposal, I will forward your opinion to the President, and I assure you it will be given serious consideration," said the Secretary, inviting anyone to speak. Harry so wished he could convey the sheer threat the enemy of the Asgard posed to not only Earth, but to all biological life in the two Galaxies. But Thor had been adamant that Earth would only be involved as a sheer last resort.
Harry had just sent O'Neill to Thor's ship for further consultation on the issue of giving up gate travel when Dr Jackson approached him with an offer to take a walk on the surface. Once they were outside the mountain, Harry breathed in the familiar early morning air of Earth, the sun just peeking over the horizon; a warm feeling of relaxation entered him and he felt a weight lift off his shoulders that he had not even been aware of.
"Thanks Dr Jackson," said Harry sincerely, breathing deeply again as they walked along a mountain trail.
"I figured you would appreciate a walk on the surface," said Jackson with a grin. "The SGC is not really something that can give you the true sense of Earth."
"No it doesn't," agreed Harry softly. "But I sense you didn't really invite me here to allow me a reconciliation with the planet of my origin."
"No," said Dr Jackson. "I just wish to know if you could perhaps, tell me of the Asgard, their culture, values, attitudes…anything you'd be willing to share."
"Well," said Harry with a frown, thinking it over. "I suppose that wouldn't be information that Thor would keep restricted, if Earth's going to be an Asgard ally. Anyway, the Asgard as a species evolved in the Ida Galaxy and is a dominant force there. They are governed by an assemblage of various Council's…the High Council is at the top of the societal structure, while minor councils, each tasked with a specific function, reports to them. For example, Thor, while he has a seat on the High Council, is also the leader of the Military Council and Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet."
"Is there a specific leader of the High Council?"
"None, the Asgard have no single individual vested with executive power, the High Council as a collective are vested with that power."
"Culture, any religion?"
"Culture, yes, the Asgard are capable of many art forms, however the means with which they do the arts are usually outside of our experience. Their range of hearing is much higher than ours, and they see higher wavelengths of light, all the way into the Infrared spectrum. So you could be looking right at an Asgard artwork and not even know it," explained Harry with a smile, but it turned to a frown. "Religion, no, nothing you could phrase as such. There is nothing structured to what the Asgard believe."
"What do they believe?" asked Dr Jackson eagerly, finding Harry's lecture fascinating.
"That creation is infinite, and that a Creator must also exist, since the structure behind nature could not be a mere accident of fate or whatever you want to call it," said Harry, but they were interrupted by a beeping coming from Dr Jackson's pocket. The archeologist pulled out a small mobile phone and stared at the message on it.
"We have to get back," he said, his tone urgent as he stared with wide eyes at the message.
"I'll have us beamed back into the mountain," said Harry, who pulled out an Asgard jewel device and gave it a mental command. There was a flash and two columns of white light engulfed them. They reappeared inside the SGC; where alarm klaxons were going off everywhere.
"I'm going to check on the Goa'uld," announced Dr Jackson and headed down the bustling corridor. Harry decided to follow and a few minutes later they were running along a corridor in level 25, where the Goa'uld were being housed for the summit in as lavishly decorated rooms as the SGC could manage on such short notice. SFs ran up to Dr Jackson and escorted him towards the rooms in question, Harry just a step behind.
"I demand to know what has happened!" shouted the voice of Nirtii from her doorway, she and Yu was kept from advancing further by two large SFs.
"Stay in your rooms please," said Jackson hastily as he and Harry brushed past them. The doors to Chronos' quarters were open and Harry could see the white uniforms of medical coremen kneeling over two bodies. The inside of the room was in a state of shambles, destroyed furniture and ripped furnishings were strewn about, and in the center of the mess lay an unconscious and bloodied Teal'C. Chronos was in much worse shape; a larger pool of blood had coagulated on the floor and heavy bruising was evident on his face.
"I don't understand," said Jackson a confused grim frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, just as grim. It would take a miracle to get the treaty worked out now.
"I got a message from Jack, we were going to agree to the System Lord's demands to give up our Stargates…and now this…"
Teal'C was stable in the infirmary and his larval Goa'uld was assisting the healing, Chronos was not so lucky…the host's body was too severely damaged.
A few hours later General Hammond, Dr Frasier and Jackson, O'Neill and Harry were gathered in Major Carter's laboratory. They were watching a video screen, which showed security camera footage of the corridor outside the Chronos' quarters. The Major herself was delivering the report.
"The SF's in the corridor sounded the alarm," said Major Carter, "they say Teal'C passed them and told them he was going to see Chronos."
"Well, Nirtii and Yu are demanding an explanation," said Dr Jackson delicately.
"Do we tell them?" asked O'Neill.
"Lying now, would only make a bad situation worse," said Harry. "Based on the video tape evidence, it looks like Teal'C is somehow involved."
"Hey!" said O'Neill, looking affronted. "Teal'C would never…"
"I'm not accusing Teal'C of complicity in the attack, Colonel," sighed Harry wearily. "Merely that he was involved somehow."
"I don't believe for a moment that Teal'C would sacrifice our interests to satisfy a…personal vendetta," said Dr Jackson earnestly.
"What personal vendetta?" asked O'Neill with narrowed eyes.
"Well…" said Daniel reluctantly. "Apparently, Teal'C and Chronos have some pretty heavy history."
"Such as?" asked Hammond.
"Chronos killed Teal'C's father." Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose at a situation that was just becoming worse and worse. O'Neill groaned in desperation.
"Oh for crying out loud, why doesn't he tell us these things?" he bemoaned. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"He confided in me," said Daniel uncomfortably.
"That certainly provides motive for Teal'C to attack Chronos, and he was in the room when the attack occurred," said Harry. "Though we have to get Teal'C version of events first before making any further judgments."
"Perhaps we can also ask the Goa'uld if they could help Chronos in some way that I can't," said Dr Frasier, "we still have that handheld Goa'uld Healing Device."
"You have one of those?" asked Harry in surprise.
"Yes," said Carter. "Hey, that's right, you could use it to heal both Teal'C and Chronos, since you used to be a host to a Tok'Ra. And you would be much more proficient with it than me, because your blending was voluntary."
"I will have no problems healing Teal'C with it," said Harry, he had considered using his Ancient Healing powers to heal both Teal'C and Chronos, but it would raise too many questions and he did not think they were ready to witness such power. "But I think it will be telling to ask either Yu or Nirtii to try to heal Chronos."
"What do you mean?" asked Major Carter.
"Just a hunch," smiled Harry deviously.
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Harry stood over Teal'C's bed in the Infirmary, Dr Jackson, Major Carter and Dr Frasier stood on the other side; looking nervous and fascinated at the same time by witnessing this. Harry threaded his hand through the circular jewel-like Goa'uld Healing Device and closed his eyes. Almost immediately a yellow glow emitted from the device and a low warbling hum resonated through the air. Harry moved the device over Teal'C up and down.
"The device does two things at once," explained Harry. "The first is a diagnostic scan of sorts that gives the user a 'mind's eye' image of the body and internal organs; allowing for a diagnosis as to what is wrong. In this case, there is inter-cranial swelling in Teal'C's skull, he also had a few broken ribs but his larval symbiote has already taken care of it."
"The second function is healing, of course. It does this by applying rejuvenating mitochondria energies directly to the damaged areas the user wishes."
"Fascinating," said Dr Frasier. "The ability to manipulate mitochondria energy would be every doctor's dream come true. I assume the power comes from you?"
"Yes, the device is using the radiant energy of the naquadah in my blood and converting it into mitochondria energy," said Harry, his eyes still closed as he spoke. "Which I am going to do now…" The yellow light noticeably became brighter and stronger and bathed Teal'C. After not more than five seconds Harry let out a breath and the device powered down his eyes opening. Not a few moments later, Teal'C opened his own eyes.
"Hey, Teal'C, can you hear me?" asked Major Carter.
"Indeed," said Teal'C softly. Dr Frasier brought out a penlight and tested Teal'C's cortical response by shining the small bright light into his eyes.
"You're going to be fine," she declared happily. "And in record time, thanks to Harry." Teal'C eyed the Goa'uld healing device in Harry's hand and narrowed his eyes.
"Don't worry Teal'C, he was a host to a Tok'Ra in the past," said Major Carter, interpreting Teal'C's sudden weariness.
"That is good to hear," said Teal'C. "I thank you, Harry."
"You're welcome, now if you don't mind, would you be up to answering questions about what happened when you went into Chronos' quarters?"
"One of the soldier's guarding level 25 handed me a note written in Goa'uld, it was apparently from Chronos, asking if I could meet in his quarters," said Teal'C. "I was hesitant at first, but did not want to give him a reason to abandon the treaty negotiations. I went at the time indicated. He admitted me into his quarters, but claimed to have sent no such communication to me. Before we could even exchange a word further we were attacked."
"By whom?" asked Major Carter.
"An invisible force," said Teal'C with reluctance.
"A Rituu?" said Daniel; referring to the aliens who existed out of phase with normal space and were enemies of the Goa'uld. "What would they gain by stopping our treaty?"
"I didn't sense the presence of a Rituu," said Teal'C firmly.
"Hathor could appear and disappear," said Daniel with realization.
"Hathor is dead," said Teal'C just as firmly.
"I know who attacked you and Chronos, Teal'C," said Harry suddenly; the pieces of the puzzle clicking together in his mind.
"What?" asked Major Carter and Daniel in chorus. "Who?"
"There is a difference between knowing, and proving it," said Harry in reply. "The fact that Teal'C was attacked by someone that has phase shifting technology immediately narrows the list of suspects."
"No one on Earth has that technology," said Major Carter.
"So that leaves the Rituu, who we agree has nothing to gain from sabotaging the treaty," said Daniel.
"By sheer process of elimination then, it has to be either Yu or Nirtii," declared Harry. "Yu also has no real motive in sabotaging the treaty. But from what we know, the Goa'uld do not possess the technology either."
"We've eliminated all possibilities it seems," said Teal'C.
"Not necessarily," said Daniel, in deep thought, twirling an elastic band around his fingers. "What if Hathor's phase shifting technology was claimed by another Goa'uld when we killed her."
"That makes sense," said Major Carter.
"It is Nirtii then," said Harry. "When I performed a subtle scan on the Goa'uld for concealed weapons, I picked up a momentary minor emission of a specific energy particle from Nirtii; one that I know is required for shifting the phase of any object."
"That's all and well," said Carter. "But as you said, how do we prove it, especially to the other Goa'uld."
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Harry stood in the observation booth above the darkened operating room where Chronos was still convalescing. Major Carter and Dr Frasier offered the Goa'uld Healing device to Nirtii, asking the System Lady whether she could do anything with it to heal the dying Chronos.
Nirtii accepted the device and began the same process Harry did with Teal'C, under the watchful eye of Lord Yu. However, Harry noticed the twitches of strain around Nirtii's eyes as she moved the light of the device. After ten seconds of trying, Nirtii stopped and handed the device back to Carter.
"I have done all that I can," said Nirtii in her distorted voice. "There is too much damage for even this device to work. What he needs is a Sarcophagus."
"There is no way anyone is leaving the base, until the attacker is found," declared General Hammond from behind Dr Frasier.
"You would doom your world," snarled Nirtii. "If we fail to report back to the other System Lords, they will send the full might of the Goa'uld to descend upon your pathetic planet!"
"Then we'll at least take you with us!" snarled General Hammond back. "Get them out of here!" he barked to the SFs. O'Neill waved cheekily goodbye to them.
Once the Goa'uld were gone, Harry walked into the room.
"She held back the healing aspect of the device," reported Harry at once.
"You sure?" asked the General.
"Yes," nodded Harry. "The strain around her eyes showed it and no mitochondria energy was released."
"Then by all means, Harry," gestured Hammond to the dying System Lord. Major Carter handed the healing device to Harry, but he refused it.
"It is best if you do this, Major," said Harry. "You must learn, for it could be critical in the future."
"I really don't know what I'm doing with it," said Carter sheepishly.
"I will guide your thought processes to the correct paths," said Harry encouragingly with a smile. "Slide it over your hand…" she did so, "…breathe in and out, relax, calm your mind…" Harry guided her hands so the device hovered over Chronos's chest. "Now, feel your strength, your potential, imagine you are a river of energy…the device is a waterfall…" The device gave a few strangled bursts of energy. "Don't be afraid, the device won't kill you…let it happen, trust, belief…know that you can do it." The yellow light became constant.
"I see it," said Carter, with a smile.
"Excellent," said Harry. "You're doing great, now…think of healing, of getting better, or any memory of excellent health you can call forth and…" The device emitted the brilliant glow of healing energy and soon enough stopped.
Chronos opened his eyes.
"You have healed me," he said, with a surprised air, but it only lasted a second. "I am sure you only spared my life to prevent your own destruction."
"Hey!" said O'Neill. "We didn't do this to you. And we saved your snakey little butt because we want this treaty to happen."
"That is not possible now," said Chronos, shaking his head. "Nirtii and Yu have undoubtedly blamed the Tau'ri for this attack on me."
"Good catch," said O'Neill sarcastically. "Look, it's obvious to everybody, that one of them did this to you. What if I can prove which one? What's that worth to you?"
There was silence for a moment. "What do you ask in return?"
O'Neill smirked and stared at Harry, who nodded.
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O'Neill, Dr Jackson and General Hammond stood in the meeting room, facing a seated Yu and Nirtii, while two armed SFs stood menacingly behind them.
"You lied about being able to heal Chronos," said O'Neill. Yu looked suspiciously at his fellow Goa'uld for a moment, but turned away.
Nirtii scoffed in disdain, "I tried honestly and failed. I was willing to save Chronos by taking him to a Sarcophogus."
"Maybe you were, maybe you weren't," said O'Neill neutrally. "But the fact is that you are the only Goa'uld here who has the technology to become invisible."
Nirtii narrowed her eyes for a moment in anger and then stood, "That is a lie!"
"Whose lying?" asked O'Neill. "We called the Tok'Ra."
"They say you've been experimenting with phase shifting in order to battle the Rituu," said Daniel carefully. The latter was a carefully constructed lie. The Tok'Ra did not know, but the fact of the matter was that Nirtii could not know if she had a Tok'Ra infiltrator in her domain. They wanted her to assume that she had. The best spy is often the one that is not even there. Yu, of course, also assumed this, therefore deduced it to be fact. He slammed his fists on the table and stood accusingly in front of the System Lady.
"You would not share this technology with the System Lords?" said Yu menacingly.
"They are lying," said Nirtii.
"You dare attack Chronos and defile our treaty with the Asgard!" said Yu, invading Nirtii's personal space, forcing her to back up.
"It's not true!" she said defiantly.
"You are the one who opposed this treaty," declared Yu. "You have long coveted Chronos' territory."
"Go dagh!" swore Nirtii in Goa'uld.
This enraged Yu who in a flash raised his hands to strangle Nirtii. But before his fingers could close around her neck…her form seemed to shimmer and totally disappear. This surprised Yu and allowed Nirtii to push him away. Not a moment later one of the two guards were attacked and knocked out and his weapon swung around in mid-air to point towards Yu.
"Look out!" shouted O'Neill and tackled Yu to the ground just as a burst of gunfire swept towards them, making everyone duck underneath the table.
The doors opened and the remaining quick-witted guard opened fire on the doorway, bullets sparked and ricochet against the hallway outside ineffectually, but it served the purpose of forcing Nirtii to run away.
Meanwhile, the invisible Nirtii was running for her life.
She was surprised however, to feel her invisibility being counteracted. Harry and Major Carter had come from opposite ends of the hall, both toting Transphase Eradication Rods; weapons that were designed to battle the Rituu and gifted to Earth by the Tok'Ra. It worked by eliminating the field that pushed the Rituu out of phase with normal space, and luckily enough it covered such a wide range of frequencies that it worked for just about any form of phasing technology.
"Drop the weapon, Nirtii," said Harry calmly. "Slowly."
Nirtii looked highly reluctant and still held her appropriated M-16 resolutely.
"You ever seen one of these things work?" asked Major Carter threateningly. "Because there is nothing I'd like more than to demonstrate."
Reason seemed to take hold of the System Lady and she slowly placed the weapon on the floor. Harry walked forward and switched off the phase shifter on her wrist, disguised as a bracelet and pulled it off. An SF also came forth and bound her hands, and soon they escorted Nirtii back to the meeting room to face Yu.
Harry arrived just in time to hear how Yu agreed to the same proposition Chronos had agreed to. Earth would keep its Stargates and allowed into the Protected Planets treaty; but if any Tau'Ri were found on a Goa'uld world, they would be fully subject to Goa'uld attack.
Harry also found O'Neill's response amusing when the two System Lords delivered their warning just as they were leaving through the Stargate with a restrained Nirtii in tow.
"Well, that certainly makes life more interesting," said O'Neill dryly.
Chronos narrowed his eyes at O'Neill and sneered, he and Yu whirled around and grabbed Nirtii and disappeared into the event horizon of the subspace path…the Stargate shut down…
"Boy, is she going to get it," said Daniel.
"She'll probably be killed once or twice and revived with sarcophagus," said Harry with a satisfied grin. "Then after the System Lords takes her phase shifting technology, she'll probably be banished to a backwater planet with an ineffectual number of Jaffa."
"My heart bleeds," said O'Neill sarcastically.