All Right – Chapter 7

Disclaimer in pt. 1

 

“Please accept my condolences, Martouf, on your loss.” Martouf felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up, startled to find the face of Cordesh, staring sadly back at him.

 

“Martouf? Are you alright?” Cordesh asked, concern showing in his eyes.

 

<It’s Cordesh! That traitor!> Lantash fumed.

 

(What is he doing here? Where are we? What happened?) Martouf asked, bewildered.

 

<We will work it out later, for now; the trai- Cordesh is awaiting our answer.>

 

Martouf snapped out of his confusion and asked, “What are you talking about, Cordesh?”

 

Cordesh stared, confused at Martouf’s answer. “Are you unwell, Martouf? I am of course, talking about Rosha and Jolinar’s death, of course.”

 

Martouf felt his heart flip at the mention of his old mate. Questions about what was going on were running through his head.

 

<It would be best not to voice them now. Cordesh looks concerned enough to send us to the healers. Thank him and perhaps by walking around, we will be able to determine what is going on.> Lantash advised.

 

“Yes, of course, Cordesh…Thank you. I must go now.” Martouf bid a hasty farewell to a still-confused Cordesh.

 

As Martouf made his way around the tunnels, he noticed that the Tok’ra uniform was different and he glanced down at himself. He, like the rest of the Tok’ra, was wearing a black tunic with a grey sash going diagonally across his chest, and black leather pants. (Think of the new Tok’ra uniforms except in black leather) Martouf noticed that some Tok’ra while having the same uniform were wearing different colored sashes and Martouf came to the conclusion that this denoted rank and job. He also noted that while he recognized some, others he did not.

 

Martouf felt so confused by what was going on. (One minute we were on Yalan, holding Samantha, talking to some creature and the next…)

 

<It is how the entity said it would be Martouf as we both agreed. It warned there would be changes in our life, now we have to find out exactly what has happened.> Lantash pointed out.

 

(Yes…and to find Samantha.) Both Martouf and Lantash felt a thrill of hope as the thought of their Samantha…alive.

 

<It is entirely possible that she will not know us.>

 

(Yes, it is, but-) Martouf cut off his sentence as he spotted a familiar face walking towards him.

 

“Martouf! I am so sorry about Rosha and Jolinar.” Jacob said patting his back; Martouf noticed Jacob was also wearing a grey sash. “That’s just horrible news.”

 

“Yes, it is, Jacob.” (Perhaps Jacob is the best person to ask directly about how much has changed.)

 

<We cannot possibly explain to him what happened. He will not believe us.> Lantash countered.

 

(We will not tell him of what has happened, we will just ask him to tell us of what is presently going on in the world. I trust him. If he is anything like the Jacob we used to know-)

 

<Which he might not be.>

 

(I trust him, still. Besides, how else do you propose we gather information? I would prefer not being caught unawares.)

 

<True. Go for it, as the old Jacob would say.>

 

“Jacob, are you busy? I wish to speak to you privately.” Martouf lowered his voice and looked at what he considered one of his closest friends.

 

Jacob nodded. “Sure, Martouf, let’s talk in your quarters then.” He suggested.

 

“How about we talk on the surface?” Martouf interjected hastily as he suddenly realized the location of his quarters was still a mystery to him.

 

“Sure, why not. It’s not every day the Tok’ra make a tropical paradise their home base.” Jacob turned in what Martouf assumed in the direction of the transporter rings.

 

(Tropical paradise?) Martouf received no answer from an equally puzzled Lantash.

 

Once on the surface, Jacob nodded to the Tok’ra guards who had emerged.

 

“It’s all right; Martouf and I have some business to discuss.” Jacob reassured them. Martouf noticed the Tok’ra giving him sympathetic glances before following Jacob as he walked toward a nearby lake.

 

Martouf was momentarily awed by the beauty of the place and understood what Jacob had said earlier. The planet was of a warm climate, with blue oceans and swaying palm trees. A paradise and a planet that would look awfully tempting to a Goa’uld system lord to populate which made Martouf wonder what made the Tok’ra come here.

 

Martouf sat himself on a rock next to Jacob as both men stared out into the ocean and the departing sun.

 

“So what’s going on? How are you handling Rosha and Jolinar’s death?” Jacob asked gently.

 

Martouf swallowed as he struggled to find an answer. While he would always love his first mate and cherish the time he spent with them, his mind was most concerned with finding Samantha. “I am well, Jacob. But that is not the reason why I brought you up here to talk. I wish to speak to you about a different matter.”

 

Jacob turned to him, eyebrow arched. “Oh, what about?”

 

Martouf hesitated before asking, “I am feeling somewhat confused about some things and I was hoping that by answering a few questions, you would be able to help me sort some things out.”

 

Jacob looked puzzled, but said, “Sure thing. Ask away.”

 

“Please do not feel alarmed if some of the questions I ask you seem trivial and I ask that you do not say a word about this to anyone.” Martouf looked at Jacob silently until the latter nodded.

 

“You are host to Selmac, are you not?”

 

Jacob’s forehead furrowed as he heard Martouf’s question. “Yes, I am.”

 

“And you have come from the first world, the Tau’ri, where you once part of their…military?” Martouf stumbled over the word, looking over at Jacob.

 

“Yes, I did. Remember? I was dying of cancer. I was told about the Stargate and the Tok’ra by Geor- General Hammond a few years back when we first met the Tok’ra.”

 

“You were brought here by SG-1, who is led by Colonel O’Neill, Dr. Jackson, Teal’c, and…Major Samantha Carter…your daughter.” Martouf held his breath as he said this.

 

Jacob’s eyes widened and he looked at Martouf as if he was crazy, as Martouf took in his reaction; he felt his hope lessen which deflated into nothing as Jacob gave his answer. “My daughter? Martouf, I don’t have a daughter, I have a son, Mark, but no daughter. Furthermore, you got Colonel O’Neill right and Jackson, but he isn’t just a doctor, Major Jackson is in the military and is a linguist too. I have no idea who this Teal’c is, but the two other members of SG-1 are Captain Peterson and Lt. Hailey.”

 

“But you do know of a Samantha? A woman who has blonde hair and blue eyes? Perhaps she is a doctor of…astrophysics on the Tau’ri home world?” Martouf persisted, his eyes frantically searching his friends.

 

Jacob shook his head and looked back at Martouf with pity. “No, I don’t. I don’t know of any woman named Samantha.” Jacob paused and laughed a bit. “You know, it’s funny you should say that ‘cause I remember my wife telling me that if she ever had a girl, she’d name her Samantha.” Jacob lost his smile as he looked at Martouf. “Are you sure you’re okay? Why are you asking questions to things you should already know? I mean, you were there when the Tok’ra first encountered the Tau’ri when the Tok’ra was involved in rescuing some fellow operatives from the system lord Ra.”

 

Martouf’s eyes widened as he heard Jacob’s response, never mind how the Tok’ra and Tau’ri first met. “Ra is still alive? The supreme system lord? How is that possible?”

 

“Supreme system lord? Ra? Martouf, Ra is just another plain old system lord, there’s nothing supreme about him. If you wanna worry about system lords, you should worry about Apophis.”

 

Martouf stayed silent for a while until Lantash reminded him of something.

 

“What about Cordesh?”

 

“What about Cordesh?” Jacob repeated.

 

“Is he not a traitor?” Martouf asked.

 

“A traitor!” Jacob exclaimed, making a move to stand up. “How did you come by this information? Have you confirmed it? We must warn the High Council at once!”

 

Martouf hurriedly went to place a restraining hand on Jacob’s arm. “Forgive me, I did not mean to imply that Cordesh was anything but loyal. There is no need to tell the High Council anything. Trust me.”  Martouf added, as Jacob looked unconvinced. “Please Jacob, sit down, there are still some questions I need you to answer.”

 

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