Beyond the Iris: A Stargate Story

Chapter 14

Lytta

The days I no longer had to work among these disgusting Tauri troglodytes the better. Filling out papers, watching meddlesome scientists bumble around with my technology. My legacy in the making at their hands, and I just stood and watched as they pressed buttons and plugged things into one another telling their bosses false claims of how brilliant they were. Weekly reporting to Ba'al from my personal orb device he gave me was tiresome. A year now of this ongoing ordeal. I understood that it was a slow process, that Anubis had a plan. He was wonderfully wicked in ways I could only dream, and yet here I was in this weak human's body every day, walking into the military base unsuspectingly causing havoc from the inside. My coworker, Frank Torres, always one office over from me came to Stargate Command the same time I did. Never really thinking anything of me, just keeping the peace and filling in his duties. He arrived exactly the same day I did, and every day after I saw him annoyed me. I wanted to strangle him with his incessant questions, and files and comments. I started coning into the SGC an hour or so early to "take care of some loose strings," but it was honestly so that I could see what early posts I could send to Ba'al and make sure I didn't run into Frank Torres. Since restrictions things were a lot harder for me to work around sending gate addresses to Ba'al and Frank seemed to know how to do his job as well as I did, which was not much. Constantly coming in and asking questions, asking about who was where and doing what. I had my own problems to deal with.

I turned on the light to my office and jumped. Jack O'Neill was sitting in my chair, feet propped up on the desk and summoning orb in hand. "Hello Rineman." His face was contorted into a false smile, a crazed look in his eyes. "This yours?" I spun around and saw the shol'va shut the door behind him, zat in hand pointed directly at me.

"I have no idea where that came from." I lied.

"No? Crazy." He tossed it over his shoulder and I flinched as it cracked against the polished concrete floor. "We need to have a little chat you and I."

"Where is General Hammond?"

"I imagine he's filling out letters of condolences for the families of the three men that died yesterday evening on a diplomatic mission." He got up to his feet. "Hear about that?"

"I did, it is deeply upsetting that something like this would happen." I stood back, staring into his unbelieving eyes. He knew. I had been caught. There was no point in playing along now. "I'm surprised that it took this long for you to put the pieces together Colonel." My eyes flashed before him, showing Jack O'Neill who I was, letting him see the destruction I have brought to his pathetic compound. He stepped closer to me, calmly, one foot at a time and I inched my fingers into the sleeve of my jacket in an attempt to remove the knife I kept there. Instead I felt the push of the zat against my back.

"Do not resist," Teal'c hissed in return.

"Here's what we're going to do, you're going to tell me who else here is working with you, because you're not smart enough to do this alone." As he stood there in front of me I could feel the rage radiating off of him and it fueled me. A grin spread across my face and a chuckle escaped.

"Why would I do that?"

"Teal'c here has lots of hidden talents, and I have a way of getting what I want." I felt a blade trace along my neck, the dermis so tightly pinched under it I wasn't sure if I had been cut yet or just on the edge. My own Goa'uld body wrapped tightly around the vertebrae slithering deeper into protection. "He's been studying human anatomy and his work is unparalleled. You see, your slimy little parasitic body really matter, because you can feel everything Rineman can. I'd feel bad about her part of the bargain if I didn't know about her personal deal with Ba'al and the Trust." He shrugged and turned back to the desk. "I don't have much respect for people who sell out their own kind." My heart stopped momentarily and my head snapped back to him as he walked casually to the desk again.