Chapter 36 summary: What happens when Mina learns Lantash and Jolinar are not humans? 

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[ Chapter 1: Goodbyes | Chapter 2: An Audience | Chapter 3: A Conspiracy | Chapter 4: Promotion | Chapter 5: Minor System Lord | Chapter 6: An Old Acquaintance | Chapter 7: Diversions | Chapter 8: Plans | Chapter 9: Happy Moments | Chapter 10: Culmination | Chapter 11: Complications | Chapter 12: Daily Life | Chapter 13: Exposed | Chapter 14: A New Host - and a New Master | Chapter 15: New Challenges | Chapter 16: A Necessary Sacrifice | Chapter 17: Information Gathering | Chapter 18: A Surprise Visit | Chapter 19: Bad News | Chapter 20: War and Power | Chapter 21: Emergencies | Chapter 22: Found Out | Chapter 23: In the Tunnels | Chapter 24: Undercover at Bastet's Court | Chapter 25: Discovered! | Chapter 26: Rosha | Chapter 27: Host | Chapter 28: Getting Along | Chapter 29: Safe | Chapter 30: Lantash | Chapter 31: Shared Missions | Chapter 32: Taking A Chance | Chapter 33: Danger and Betrayal | Chapter 34: Some Realizations | Chapter 35: Hiding | Chapter 36: Time for the Truth | Chapter 37: Home | Chapter 38: Together | Chapter 39: Martouf ]


"They are attacking from behind!" Rosha shouted.

Nemura had used the zat'nik'tel to shoot two Jaffa that was standing guard near the construction site, which was abandoned for the evening. It had appeared no one was nearby, but suddenly Jaffa were coming from everywhere.

He threw himself behind a partially built wall, and fired a shot towards one of the approaching guards. They were coming too fast and from too many directions for him to get them all. It would be good if Jolinar and Mina could get hold of a zat'nik'tel or a staff weapon each, but since the Jaffa he had shot were lying in the middle of a road with no cover nearby, they could not get close enough to any of them to retrieve their weapons.

A few staff blasts were enough to remove most of Nemura's cover, and he was exposed to their fire.

Rosha and Jolinar decided there was no other option and Jolinar took control and quickly put on the hand device. She yelled at the Jaffa, to get their attention.

"Jaffa, kree!"

The Jaffa turned, surprised, towards the unexpected voice of a god, giving Nemura/Lantash the opportunity to find better cover.

Jolinar was ready before the Jaffa could decide what to do, and she sent a powerful shock wave in the direction of the largest group, throwing most of them into the half-constructed building behind them. They sank to the ground, unconscious or dead.

Nemura/Lantash quickly shot several of the remaining Jaffa that were still looking at the display, stunned by what had happened. With the help of Jolinar, Nemura/Lantash soon dispatched the rest, and they hurried to grab a zat'nik'tel for each, then vaporized all except those who had uniforms that seemed to fit. Those they dragged aside, and into the cover of a small group of nearby trees.

Mina sat there, looking at them in shock as they pulled the armor of the two Jaffa and began to put it on.

"You...you killed them. Made them...made them go away." Her eyes widened as she remembered Jolinar's voice, remembered seeing the feared ribbon device on her hand... She looked at Jolinar, seeing she had pulled it off and carelessly thrown it on the floor, as she was dressing in the Jaffa clothing. "You are a god." She threw herself to the ground in front of Jolinar.

Jolinar sighed deeply. "No, I am not." She said, using Rosha's voice. "And it was unfortunately necessary to dispose of the Jaffa. We had hoped to avoid killing more than two, but we had not expected so many to attack us."

"You are a god! Your voice...the hand device..." Mina pointed to where it lay on the ground.

"We do not have the time for this right now." Lantash said, making no attempt to hide the distortion. "Believe me, we are not gods. If we were, would we have to resort to such duplicity as this? The Jaffa will kill us if they catch us...and as we are mortals, that would be...regrettable." He put on the last piece of armor and clipped the zat'nik'tel to its holster. "By the way, I am Lantash. You've been talking to Nemura, my host."

"Lantash is correct. We must leave - find a place to hide." Jolinar used the voice distortion as well, since Lantash had already done so, there was no reason not to. "We will explain it all...and I am Jolinar."

Mina looked as if she was about to panic, but she did as she was told and followed them, as much from fear as anything else.

Wearing Jaffa armor - and concealing their faces - meant that Jolinar and Lantash had no problems walking past other guards, dragging Mina along as their prisoner. They found a suitable hiding place and stayed there until midnight, when they walked the relatively short distance to the naquadah mine.

-----
Next morning, they had managed to calm Mina, and - mostly - convinced her they were not gods, or at least that they were enemies of Bastet and would take Mina with them when they left. For now, this was enough for the young woman.

The production of naquadah was important and did not stop just because the rest of the planet was being searched for traitors. Jolinar and the others were in luck, and there were several boxes of naquadah waiting to be transported out. Since it was raw ore, the quantities in each box were much larger - refined naquadah would have been to heavy too carry in anything but very small boxes.

As it was, Mina would just fit into one of the boxes.

"Surely they will think to check the cargo being transported out through the portal?"

"No, most likely they will not. Neither Jaffa nor Goa'uld are used to thinking out of the box."

As soon as the Jaffa were ready to transport the naquadah, Nemura and Rosha lifted the box with Mina and walked with the others to the Stargate. The new leader of the Jaffa - the former one had apparently been replaced after his error - dialed the address and they went through.

On the other side the guard was much lighter. Nemura and Rosha carried their box the small distance to the refinery and placed it on the floor. They then left the room with the other Jaffa, but walked slowly and managed to end up at the back of the group. When the Jaffa turned a corner near a large group of trees, Nemura and Rosha quickly hurried in between them and hid, pulling out their weapons just in case.

Strangely enough, no one noticed they were missing and they stayed long enough to be certain the group had disappeared through the Stargate. Then they hurried back to the place they had put the box with Mina in.

A group of workers were already unloading the naquadah ore and putting it into the processing plant. Rosha and Nemura slowly walked closer, waiting for an opportunity. It came when only three workers were present, and the two Tok'ra quickly shot the workers with their zat'nik'tels, then ran to the box where Mina was hidden, opening it.

"That was about time!" Mina exclaimed angrily. Most of her fear had clearly disappeared along with her belief they were gods.

Rosha smiled, much preferring this. "Quiet. We could not return sooner. We need to flee. Quickly."

Helping Mina out, they then part carried, part dragged her as they hurried away from the place - her legs were still numb from the awkward position she had been forced to remain in.

They worried some of the other workers would see them before they got away, but it did not happen. They had cleared the buildings before they heard shouts behind them, and ran as quickly as it was possible in the bulky, heavy Jaffa armor.

Throwing themselves behind some large rocks, they pulled out their zat'nik'tels and fired at the approaching Jaffa. After firing a few shots, Jolinar pulled her ribbon device from a pocket and put it on, while Lantash held back the attackers, shooting as many of them as possible.

The Jaffa had pulled back to the buildings in order to avoid being shot, but it would not be safe for the Tok'ra and Mina to leave their hiding place. The Jaffa had staff weapons and would use them as soon as they got a chance.

Worse, at any time more Jaffa could arrive through the Stargate. Jolinar and the others had to do something - and quickly.

"Jolinar - that building the Jaffa are hiding behind...do you think you can blast it with your hand device?" Lantash suggested.

Jolinar considered it. "Perhaps, but I think it will take several very strong shock waves. We have slept little and eaten less. I do not know if I have the strength right now."

"We can take turns."

Jolinar nodded. "We will try." She summoned all her strength and sent first one powerful blast towards the building, then another.

After a few more blasts, she tiredly gave the weapon to Lantash, who continued. The building was creaking and clearly starting to give. A few more shock waves might topple it.

And so it did. Lantash focused as much power as possible and the relatively flimsy building cracked and partially crashed down over the now terrified Jaffa, who tried their best to get out of the way, then run from what were obviously very powerful, very angry gods.






Chapter 37: Home