hathor_girl | Fic, A Promise of Better Times to Come, 2/4, Sam/Martouf/Lantash

I have not eaten today - or much at all, recently, actually - and I decide to eat a sandwich with Martouf and Lantash. They are really quite hungry, and get a large portion of chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, a couple bread rolls, and a salad. They also grab a large glass of milk.

We eat in silence for a little while, then Martouf/Lantash look up from their food and sigh. "We have been considering how to explain things, and it is probably best to simply start from the beginning..."

"Yes?" I ask, somewhat tensely, prodding Martouf to continue. "You do know it hurt, thinking you were dead... after having to shoot you!"

"I know, and I am very sorry for this subterfuge. We both are. However, there was no other option."

"Did I our didn't I shoot you?"

"You did, Samantha, and I would have died, had it not been for Lantash being a very strong and skilled healer - and the assistance of several Tok'ra healers, with healing devices. However, Lantash and I both survived."

"Who was the symbiote claiming to be Lantash then? The one that took Lieutenant Elliot as a host, and then sacrificed himself to take symbiote poison to the attacking Jaffa?" I look directly at him, I cannot help feeling angry at this trickery!

"That was a clone of Lantash...and before you ask, no, he didn't know he was a clone. I don't know if you know this, but the symbiote genetic memory is not updated instantaneously. New memories are coded into it with a few weeks delay, meaning the clone did not know what had happened during the summit and after. The sample used to create the clone was taken from Lantash not long after we were healed. The plan was hatched by some members of the Council - it was not known by any others - to send me off to find the ones guilty of creating the zatarc, but let everyone else think I was dead, and that Lantash had been removed to save him."

"Because they would then have a perfect operative, that no one would suspect - since no one though he existed. And he would not be missed in the tunnels, so any traitors there would not suspect an operative was sent to whatever Goa'uld... Yes, I can see this is clever, but it still hurt!"

"I know, Samantha." Martouf takes my hands in his, and I look at him, swallowing. I can't be angry at him, but why did they not tell me?

"And you've been undercover since?"

"I have, yes. The mission is now successfully concluded. I have given all the information to the Council, as well as the research the Goa'uld had made to create the zatarcs. We have found and caught the two spies that were among the Tok'ra, and the Goa'uld will be killed - a special Tok'ra force has been sent to take care of it."

"All right." I smile at him. "I must admit I am happier than you can ever know to realize I didn't kill you! To find that you're still alive, both of you!" I sigh. "You're sorely needed...the alliance isn't going well, so hopefully...someone like you, you can support my dad and his group? Better the relations between our people again?"

Martouf nod. "I intend to do that. It saddens me greatly to see how bad it has become. Just as it saddens me how many Tok'ra have been killed." He looks down for a moment. "Egeria...it was difficult to hear that she was found, only to die."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." I squeeze his hands. "Martouf, I...I don't mean to make light of all of this, but what about my dad and Selmak? You...or rather Lantash...said you hoped he would be okay? What's wrong with Selmak? She isn't dying of old age, is she?"

Martouf shakes his head. "No, not at all. Did you think that?" He frowns. "She may be called 'the oldest and wisest', but she is not actually old. Well, not for a symbiote, anyway." He gives me a wry smile. "She is only a little over 2000 years old. She is still young, and should easily live for many many thousands of years more."

"What's wrong with her then?"

Martouf bows his head, and moments later Lantash looks up.

"Samantha, this is something Jolinar told me, something Selmak wanted kept secret. Selmak has a...defect, in her code of life. It is due to strong radiation that affected her and her Jaffa shortly after she was implanted. It killed him, and damaged her, stunting her growth, among other things. She is...sensitive about this, because symbiotes do not have defects in their code of life. To say they do, is an insult to not only them, but to their queen as well. The Goa'uld would have killed her immediately, but Egeria - and her ally Jolinar - decided to let Selmak live, if she survived. She did, and was placed in another Jaffa, but while she lived, she never became as large as other symbiotes. She still resembles a larva in many ways, but she is able to take a host, as you know, and is strong enough to do all other symbiotes can - though I am not certain if she could take control from her host, if she wanted to. However, Jolinar and Egeria feared she would grow weaker over time, affected by the defect, and I believe that is what has happened. In order for her to survive, and become healthy again, the defect needs to be repaired."

"Wow. So...uh, those instruments you brought...they are to use for, uh, genetic engineering?"

"This means changing the code of life, if I understood your healers correctly?"

"Yes."

"In that case, yes. More specifically, a small sample from me will be used to...switch out the defective building blocks for functioning ones."

"And you guys know how to do something like that so quickly? Just like that? I mean, we have just begun looking into that..."

"It is not a problem, and since we have the same mother, it should not be problematic. However, Selmak may be too far gone, for the repair to help her." Lantash looks at me with an apologetic expression.

"I really hope it works...regardless, I'm very grateful to you! I just wish you hadn't had to go undercover like that...then Selmak wouldn't have gotten so sick, probably...and...for other reasons too."

I blush. I wonder if he is still interested in me? If the real Martouf and Lantash loves me like the Lantash clone said he did? Or if it was...a defect from the cloning? There were clearly other defects, which were hidden as injuries. So many things I wish had gone differently. But Martouf and Lantash are alive, and back. I suddenly have to figure out if I am actually interested in them, or if it is just a dream.

Of course, I can answer that quickly. I know I love them, I realized that when I mourned them so terribly.

I need to talk to them, but not now. Not until I know how my dad and Selmak are doing, and not until I have broken up with Pete. At least I had decided on that before I knew Martouf and Lantash are alive.

An airman approaches us, and Lantash and I both turn to look at him.

"Major Carter? Martouf and Lantash of the Tok'ra?"

"Yes?" I say.

"General Carter has woken up."

"We will go to the infirmary immediately."

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