Chapter 1
He hated to admit it but he loved the blue of the watery, rippling surface of the Stargate. It was source of so much of his life: adventure, novelty, comrades, danger. In fact, it was also the source of his daily bread, without it he was a retired has been. It had made him a hero of sorts, though few knew. And for his liking, it probably was a few too many. Today was just another day filling reports, planning missions, training for all possibilities and expecting the unexpected to come through that undulating surface of blue.
Today as the Fates would have it two Tok'ra emerged: Jacob and Charlie. Jacob, the father of Samantha Carter and host of Selmak and Charlie was a Retu creation, who without the symbiote, Hazt'el, would have perished as a child and almost did in Jack O'Neill's arms.
Briefing Room
Around the briefing room table sat the two Tok'ra, SG-1, SG-3, SG-13, Dr. Lee and two of his associates and, at the head, General Hammond. Selmak rose to engage a device which projected a holographic image of the Milky Way Galaxy.
"As you all are aware our galaxy, the Milky Way, as you term it, is a spiral galaxy with two arms and a decidedly unequal distribution of stars. One of our newest Tok'ra has taken quite and interest in Earth history and also the stars."
Jacob glanced over to the members of SG-1 who so influenced the boy.
"I'm sure you remember Charlie. Although he was a child when he left here, it was not possible for us to immediately halt his accelerated aging but we think he is now at normal levels. He has blended with distinguished scholar and he has something he wishes to share with you."
Some of the cohort where annoyed that their precious time was being wasted by the whims of an adolescent but the General, a judicious man, decided to gather all intel and weigh it carefully before act on or ignoring it.
Charlie rose to speak as Selmak sat. He looked over at the members of SG-1 and touched the device. At this a second chart was superimposed on the blow up of a segment of the first; the second chart was a map of the ancient civilizations of the Middle East of Earth. It was, however, Hazt'el who spoke.
"We believe the original distribution of the domains of the Goa'uld is analogous to the map of your ancient world. With the destruction of Ra, Apophis has assumed rule of his worlds and wars of the System Lords have altered the disposition of territories somewhat and so the distinction is now a bit muddied. However, here in this rather barren area is a planet we think may be worth exploration."
Hazt'el used a device the highlighted various sections of the holographic chart as he spoke about them.
"You will note this is the former territory of Ra; here on the very edge is the territory of some minor underlings of Ra as the star systems thin out. Then the next dense section of the galaxy is the domain of Ba'al. And here, in between, is a system in the barren wastes of space, like the barren wastes of the desert. It is an oasis, if you will; a city-state whose sole means of survival is trade."
Selmak rose again as the soldiers and scientist muttered to one another.
"We think exploration of this world will help in the understanding of the structure of the System Lords a perhaps help bring them down."
O'Neill looked dubious.
"Why haven't you done the recon yourselves?"
"If fact four Tok'ra were sent on a mission about one hundred years ago but we lost contact and never could establish it again with them."
"Just getting around to it now, are ya?"
"Colonel, we have limited resources but we do think that if this world is not dominated by the Goa'uld it could be a site to drive a wedge. If it is ruled by the Goa'uld it may be a source of intel on much of their domain."
The mission was fascinating to Daniel but both General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill wanted more information before its approval. And for this they sought out Bra'tac. Teal'c volunteered to gate to Chulak, however, the information garnered was sketchy at best. Bra'tac had heard of the trade world called Mari that seemed to fit. He thought that it was ruled by a Goa'uld, named Lugal, who was not seen as a threat to the System Lords and was allowed to survive only by their beneficence and his ability to supply them all. In fact he wasn't sure that Lugal was the one pulling all the strings but had heard mention of Inanna or maybe it was Ninsun, who might be either Lugal's mate or the power behind the throne.
Colonel O'Neill and the other team leaders discussed the pro and cons of the mission. The draw of finding weapons or possibly the worlds on which they were manufactured, and disrupting the flow of these resources was too much to ignore. So the report on General Hammond's desk was one of approval and SG– 1 was tentatively assigned the mission.