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Chapter 1: Someone’s Knockin’
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“SG-1 to the control room immediately. I repeat, SG-1 to the control room immediately.” Walter’s voice boomed through the halls of the SGC and caused four people to drop their work and head over to the specified area.

 

General Hank Landry was there to greet the team as they filed in.

 

“Dr. Jackson.”

 

“General?” Daniel questioned.

 

The General pointed to the computer screen.

 

“There’s a call for you.” he elaborated.

 

Daniel’s brow furrowed in confusion and he shot a quick look to his teammates before stepping closer. On the viewscreen was a stocky, middle aged man staring gaily into the sky. He was balding and his girth and fine clothing clearly displayed that he was not lacking much in life.

 

“Hello?” Daniel put forth and the man returned his attention to the M.A.L.P.’s screen.

 

“Hello!” he said with an exuberant smile, “Daniel Jackson? Historian of the Tau’ri?”

 

Daniel hesitated and glanced again to his teammates who didn’t seem to recognize the man anymore than he did.

 

“Yes. Do I know you?”

 

The man’s beady eyes crinkled as his smile widened.

 

“Oh, no, no, no. We’ve never met before. My name is Jeim Salesh of Tara’q.” he said with a small indistinguishable accent that Daniel could only place on the stereotypical sellers of market worlds. “It is so nice to finally meet you, sir.”

 

“Likewise I’m sure.” Daniel responded politely though his brow was still furrowed.

 

“What can I do for you, Mr. Salesh?” he finally asked.

 

“Oh just Jeim, please. Titles are too formal for our business.” he responded genially but cryptically.

 

“Okay, Jeim, what can I do for you?” Daniel repeated.

 

“Well,” he started, leaning into the M.A.L.P.’s camera “I do believe we have a mutual friend: Vala Mal Doran?” he peered expectantly into Daniel’s digitized face.

 

A vision of the temptress thief barged into Daniel’s mind and it took him a moment to respond.

 

“Dr. Jackson?” Jeim piped up with concern.

 

Daniel shook his head clear of the memories of the Prometheus and turned again to the viewscreen.

 

“Yes…well, I’d hardly call her a friend. She tried to steal our ship.” he glowered.

 

Jeim laughed heartily.

 

“Yes, yes! That is Vala!”

 

“What about her?” he cut through the man’s laughter and Jeim settled down.

 

“Ah well, you see, I am the executor of her affairs…in the event of death, you understand. And she has left you a few items.” he explained standardly.

 

For reasons that escaped him, Daniel felt the bottom of his stomach drop out and twist excruciatingly at the same time.

 

“She – Vala, she’s dead?”

 

The little man nodded sadly but then straightened.

 

“Well, probably. Soon, anyway. ‘As good as’…you know.” he shrugged.

 

Daniel looked to him incredulously.

 

“What??”

 

General Landry cut in.

 

“Mr. Salesh, this sounds like a long story so why don’t you come on through and we can talk face to face.

 

“Oh certainly.” he agreed pleasantly.

 

“One of our teams, SG-16, will meet you on your side and escort you through to Earth.” he informed the alien.

 

Jeim nodded and smiled amiably.

 

“Yes, of course. Precautions, I understand. I’ll wait right here.” he enthused, pointing to the ground at his feet before the connection was cut.

 

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SG-1 was waiting in the briefing room for General Landry to come out of his office and for Jeim to be cleared by Dr. Lam. Daniel paced to soothe the irritation his disorganized thoughts caused in him. To think that such a spirited and vivacious person was gone forever hurt something deep inside him. But who was he to care? He’d known her for such a brief time and most of that time had been spent fighting with her. He had admired her though. As immoral and careless as she appeared, she had great skill, a sharp intelligence, and if she’d been telling the truth, had survived being taken as a Goa’uld host without obvious handicap which was something formidable in and of itself. But she had also shot him, put his people in danger and stolen his chance at Atlantis.

 

And he wasn’t even sure she was really dead. Jeim had said – Ugh, where was he? He needed answers now.

 

Sam had noticed that Daniel’s frown had been deepening for the past few minutes until he’d been positively scowling. She’d heard the edited version of the events that took place on the Prometheus like the rest of the team and hadn’t really given the space pirate a second thought. This woman had kidnapped their friends and colleagues, stole the Prometheus, beat Daniel up, and all for some deal she had going with other pirates. The woman was an escaped fugitive in her mind but seeing Daniel fidget and pace, Sam got the idea they’d missed something, some part of the story that their friend had decided not to share.

 

Just as she was going to approach Daniel, Jeim walked in with his guard, positively beaming at the new sights of this alien world. As he spotted Daniel, he walked briskly up to him, extending his hand with a wide smile.

 

“Dr. Jackson, so good to finally meet you in person. These sad circumstances aside, I’ve heard great things about you.”

 

Daniel’s frown spoke of confusion.

 

“From Vala?”

 

The little man nodded enthusiastically as he took the seat beside Daniel. 

 

“Oh yes, yes. She spoke quite highly of you. She was very much looking forward to seeing you again.”

 

The others turned to look at him in surprise and Daniel was quick to deny their assumptions.

 

“We’d never made any plans to meet again. She escaped the Prometheus on our way back to Earth.”

 

Again, Jeim nodded jovially as General Landry left his office and took his place at the end of the table.

 

“Oh yes, of course, I know. Sneaky girl that one.” he winked at them conspiratorially.

 

“But she was looking for something, you see. Something that would give her a good reason to call on you again. A map, of sorts, I believe, for your planet or some text in one of the many languages you know. She was quite busy scouring the known worlds for any such item. That is until, well, you know…” he finished glumly.

 

“No, actually, we don’t know.” General Landry spoke “That’s why you’re here, Mr. Salesh, to tell us what happened.”

 

“Oh Jeim, please.” he asked of the General who simply motioned the man to continue with his tale.

 

“Yes, well, from what I could gather, Vala had temporarily taken partners with two mercenaries from Van’et, the trading capital of the galaxy” he endorsed the locale. “It’s a bad idea, partnering with strangers but she desperately needed them.”

 

“Why?” Cameron interrupted.

 

“Well because she had a lead on such an item, a treasure, that she could bring to you, something that referenced your world and it was inaccessible to her on her own.” he explained.

 

“So what happened?” Daniel pressed as he ignored the tensing of his chest at the lengths Vala had gone to just to get to Earth, to him.

 

“Well, I got the impression that they weren’t too thrilled when they got to the aforementioned treasure. Apparently, the daunting fortress within which the item was held was filled with nothing but papers, texts. It was a detail Vala had forgotten to mention to them, you see.” Jeim continued.

 

“There was no treasure for them. No cut.” Sam concluded.

 

“Quite so, quite so.” Jeim affirmed.

 

“I must say the mercenaries did not take too kindly to being tricked and caught her as she tried to escape them.”

 

The ire Daniel felt as he’d heard of her dishonesty faded and was replaced with cold dread.

 

“So they just killed her?” Cameron demanded incredulously and all pairs of eyes turned again to Jeim for confirmation.

 

“Hmm? Oh, no, no. They didn’t kill her.” Jeim shook his head vigorously.

 

They all shifted back into their seats.

 

“Though it might have been preferable to Vala for them to have simply killed her.” the stocky alien continued cryptically.

 

Daniel’s patience ran out.

 

“Jeim, is she or is she not alive right now?” he demanded.

 

The alien man winced and shrunk back slightly at the bite in Daniel’s tone. Hadn’t Vala mentioned something about a temper?

 

“Well it’s very hard to say, isn’t it? They left her locked to the town square of Talkena on Plitis.” he replied.

 

He was met with blank stares and a frown from the General.

 

“You mean to tell me that this woman single-handedly hijacked the Prometheus, removed all its crew, then escaped her armed guards but she couldn’t find her way out a set of chains?” General Landry asked with disbelief.

 

Jeim frowned.

 

“It isn’t that she was tied to the town square, it’s that the Talkenans would have spotted her very shortly after her arrival.” he elaborated.

 

“The people of Plitis have grievances against ValaMalDoran?” Teal’c posed.

 

“Oh, you could say that. She was host to the Goa’uld who tortured those people for twelve consecutive years.” he enlightened them.

 

The wide eyes of the Tau’ri told him he’d finally been understood and Jeim sat back, satisfied.

 

“So, the people of Talkena killed her.” Daniel spoke softly.

 

Jeim thought for a moment.

 

“No.”

 

Goddamnit. This man was infuriating. Daniel wanted to smack his head against the table and he was sure the others wouldn’t be far behind. Thankfully, the dumpy little man continued.

 

“However, I suspect they will have soon. She’s been with them three days already though I’ve really no idea what methods of torture they prefer.” he reported matter-of-factly.

 

Incensed by Jaim’s apparent indifference, Daniel’s hand hit the table with distinct ferocity.

 

“You mean to tell us that you’ve know where she was and that she was being tortured and you haven’t tried to help her? You haven’t rallied her friends to try and save her?” he accused the man.

 

Jeim looked stupefied for a moment and when he faced Daniel again, it was with an expression of seriousness they’d never thought his mirthful face could support.

 

“Dr. Jackson, Vala Mal Doran has no friends; I am merely someone she does business with, someone who prides himself on keeping appraised of his clients’ status. Besides, even if I were inclined to offer my assistance, how do you propose I defy an entire village of angry former slaves and escape with a likely half-dead woman?” he asked gravely.

 

“I don’t know, you could have – ” Daniel broke off red-faced. He had no good answer to that question.  But he did have a solution.

 

“General, permission to go to Plitis.” Daniel asked of General Landry.

 

“Dr. Jackson, we don’t even know if the woman is still alive.” he protested.

 

“But she could be, and leaving her there out of doubt is condemning her to death.” he persisted.

 

“She’s not even an ally. As a matter of fact, she hijacked the Prometheus and put our people in danger.” the General pointed out.

 

“No one was harmed and we got the ship back. Besides, she might still have the Tau’ri treasure, it could be invaluable.” he pled Vala’s case.

 

“Dr. Jackson, there is no point in mounting a rescue that could potentially cause an incident between our worlds unless there’s still someone there to rescue.” he told the archeologist firmly before turning to Jeim “Mr. Salesh, what are Ms. Mal Doran’s odds?”

 

Jeim had been taking a well-deserved repose as the attention shifted to the Tau’ri leader. Now, he looked troubled at the thought of relaying the atrocities Vala could be facing.

 

“Well, Qetesh, the Goa’uld that took Vala as host,” he clarified “well she was an evil queen with no regard for human life whatsoever. If the villagers were able to look past the immediate rage the sight of her would incite and get organized…” he stalled before plunging ahead as detached as he could. Vala wasn’t a friend but she was still a human being, one he knew personally.

 

“First they’ll beat her some…lash her too, most likely. Then she’d be…” he choked on the word and went a different route. “Qetesh…emasculated many of the male population, it was one of her cruel pleasures, you understand. I can only imagine those men will be seeking…well…retribution.” he finally sputtered out.

 

Jeim stared at the table top to avoid their disgusted eyes. He wasn't finished yet.

 

“Then, after days of starvation, will come the stoning, usually just to unconsciousness and then she most likely will be either drowned or burned alive. At least, that’s the order in which events occurred the last time she was captured by former slaves of Qetesh.” he finally ended his beastly report and wished he could take back the last sentence when he finally raised his eyes to see his audience.

 

Sam’s eyes were wide in her pale face; Daniel’s regard was a mixture of disgust and frustration. The rest of the men at the table were obviously affected but trying hard not to let it show. 

 

“Of course, she escaped before death last time, I believe she broke free of her bonds and swam away as they tried to drown her.” he reassured needlessly.

 

“Honestly, it depends on how angry they are, if they can organize an agenda for their revenge, how creative they can be and whether or not they’ll let her heal herself between tortures with the healing device she carries. I’m afraid that’s the only answer I can give you, General.” Jeim said apologetically. 

 

There was a tense moment of silence as they all tried to process the variables to this problem and Daniel was busy trying to stop his mind from associating the picture of her face smirking invitingly at him on the Prometheus with the horrors Jeim had just described.

 

Sam turned to the General.

 

“Sir, I think we have to try.” she spoke her opinion respectfully and Cameron added his own thoughts in.

 

“Even if she isn’t quite an ally,” he winced at his own gross overstatement “now that we know, it doesn’t seem right to not at least check things out.”

 

Teal’c added his support with a significant tilt of his head and Daniel, well, his feelings on the matter were more than obvious.

 

General Landry nodded.

 

“We send a M.A.L.P., if it’s clear, you can go and do recon only.” he warned.

 

At Daniel’s indignant protests he added “If she’s alive and in a position to be extracted without detection, then you may do so. If not, you do recon and return to Earth to plan a proper rescue.”

 

“Sir, if I may,” Sam piped up “depending on the distance between Earth and Plitis, the Prometheus might be able to travel there in time to coincide with our arrival. Then all we’d have to do is tag Vala and the Prometheus could beam us all up without any fuss.” she suggested.

 

General Landry nodded. “I’ll call Col. Pendergast. SG-1, you leave in an hour.” he told them before turning to Jeim. “Mr. Salesh, thank you for your help.”

 

The alien had regained his exuberant cheer and promptly dismissed his contributions.

 

“Not at all, not at all. I do hope you find her in good health. She’s a good girl under the lying, stealing and cheating pirating exterior.” he imparted. 

 

“Oh, Dr. Jackson, I should give you the items she left you, in case you don’t find her in good health. And if she is, I’m sure you’ll be able to return those items to her much sooner than I could.” he trailed after Daniel who was exiting the briefing room with the rest of the team.

 

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She was so cold. It wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t so wet. She’d been running for so long, her entire body was drenched in sweat. Every muscle in her body ached with various pains. The bruises indiscriminately sketched all over her skin were the least of her concerns. Her ribs jostled excruciatingly with ever step she took. It was hard to breathe and harder to think with the constant pounding in her head. She didn’t even want to think of what her back must look like but she seriously doubted that all the moisture back there was sweat. 

 

She’d escaped quickly. Too quickly to stop and steal a pair of boots or a weapon. The guard she’d subdued was only one half of a pair and the other had been coming around the corner when she left. She kept wishing she’d stayed and at least tried to subdue the second guard to give her time to take his boots and weapon. Now she was empty handed, cold, and in pain in a strange forest, trying to escape the search parties the villagers had formed and make her way to the chappa’ai.

 

She wasn’t far now, she was sure of that. She recognized the jagged cliffside of the small mountain she’d been following. It wasn’t smart since she was in a prime position to be cornered but she didn’t have much choice seeing as how she wasn’t keen on the idea of wandering blindly in the lush foliage of the forest, desperately hoping that the direction she followed would lead her to freedom.

 

As she rounded the final bend, she knew she’d made the right choice. The chappa’ai stood proudly before her. She was free. 

 

In her ecstasy of discovery, she still remembered to listen to her surroundings before taking a step out of the safety of the bushes. Hearing no sounds unfamiliar to a forest, she took a hesitant step onto the beaten road and winced as gravel and dust entered the wounds on her feet. It didn’t matter, she’d be free soon and could take care of all her wounds herself.

 

She approached the dialing device and began dialing quickly with exhilaration. 

 

The symbols didn’t light up. Her jubilation turned into morbid fear.

 

 

She took a deep breathe and focused all her clarity on following her hand to the symbol on the dial and registering the feel of the device against her fingers. Satisfied that she was in fact all there, she pressed down hard. 

 

Nothing. 

 

She wanted to weep with helplessness and frustration. She’d come so far! 

 

 

She took another cleansing sigh and crouched down painfully to remove the side panel.

 

Nothing! 

 

She stared thunderstruck at the empty compartment. Those bastards had gotten to the chappa’ai before her. They’d taken all the crystals. She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t fix this. She couldn’t – she couldn’t breathe.

 

She remained there, crouched before the dialing device, eyes wide and staring into nothingness until the sounds of an approaching search party broke through her catatonia. 

 

She might not be getting off this planet but she certainly wasn’t resigning herself to certain death either. She got up gingerly and ran into the woods. The destination didn’t matter anymore. Now, she just needed to get lost.




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That's the first chapter. I'd like to mention that Cleo the Muse's awesome fic Honor Amongst Thieves (found at ff.net) partly inspired this fic, so thanks to Cleo!! And Jeim's last name 'Salesh' might have struck you as familiar, I was watching Heroes when I started typing and Suresh is soooo gorgeous, my fingers just took over! Ew, though Jeim doesn't look a THING like the beautiful Suresh, nono, I was thinking more like a cross between Urgo and Danny DeVito if that helps anyone's vizualisations!

Also, my betas are on holiday so please tell me if you find major errors so I can fix them!

Lol, and unfortunately for those wanting to get ahead in the chapters, I'll be posting to FF.net and the DV community pretty much simultaenously.  Sorry ^_^