hathor_girl | Fic, Choices, Sam/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash, PG-13, 7/37

7. Going Undercover

It is early evening on Heru'ur's homeworld, and when we arrive there are Jaffa stationed at the Stargate. Jolinar immediately fall to her knees in front of them.

"What are you doing here, woman!" the lead Jaffa yells.

"My lord, I apologize for trespassing, but I am looking for my husband who is a trader. He has been missing for several weeks, and I know this is a world he trades with. I have come to look for him, and to convince him to come back to me."

The Jaffa laughs. "So, he has run off with another woman, eh? But you are an exotic beauty!" He runs his hand through my hair, obviously liking it. "Are you sure you want him back? Perhaps you would enjoy someone else more?"

"Ah, good sir, despite his failings, I feel much enamored by my husband still. I would like him back."

"Pity." The Jaffa grins lecherously as he caresses my cheek. If I had control I would smack him up his head!

Perhaps it is a good thing I do not have control - we would probably find ourselves in a bad situation quickly if that was the case!

"I will remember your kind offer, sir." Jolinar winks at him as she gets up, then bows her head respectfully to him before leaving on the path towards the nearest city.

~How could you talk nicely to that lecherous loser?~ I ask Jolinar as we walk towards the city.

~Long practice in playing various roles. As an undercover agent, it is necessary to blend into the culture, and while few human women would be happy to be a Jaffas plaything, they would also know better than to openly say so to a Jaffa in a high position. We would quickly have found ourselves in a very bad situation, and if they had not killed us out of spite, we might have ended up the slave of that Jaffa anyway. They are not all so, but there are always a number of people - be it humans, or Jaffa - who do not handle power well.~

~That's true.~

~You need not fear, though, I have no intention of being unfaithful to my mates.~

We have reached the city and walked around for a little while, trying to hear rumours at first the market place, and then at an inn. There are a lot of rumours, but none about new prisoners being brought to the palace. That makes sense, I guess. It's not something the locals would be hearing about.

There is little else we can do today. It is getting late, and we decide to rent a room at one of the guesthouses. After taking a new dose of the masking drug, we go to bed.

Tomorrow we will attempt to find work in the palace, so we can hopefully learn if Martouf and Lantash are there. We are both getting very worried. The lab had been blown up more than three days ago, so that is how long our... I mean Jolinar's... mates, can have been prisoners. I really hope they are okay.

Jolinar assures me the Goa'uld prefers to see their enemies suffer for a while before killing them, so Martouf and Lantash should at least still be alive. She tries to reassure me, and herself just as much, I suspect. I get the feeling Jolinar fears they may have been tortured to death repeatedly, and brought back to life in the sarcophagus. Neither of us can stand those thoughts, and we both try to suppress them.

Neither of us sleep well that night.

Next morning, we bathe and prepare to go and look for work. We are hoping to get to work inside the palace, either as a kitchen slave, or a cleaning slave. That would give us the opportunity to talk to the other slaves inside the palace, and perhaps to sneak off during the night and look around.

When we arrive at the palace, we find that we are in luck. Apparently they are in need of servants. It would seem Heru'ur has a bit of a temper, and he killed five servants during a recent celebration, because they were 'disobedient'.

I am not sure I wish to know what they did, but Jolinar helpfully suggests they may have done something as simple as serving the wrong dish at the wrong time.

I shudder at what we are risking by working here, but my fear for the lives of Martouf and Lantash far outweighs any fear I have for myself.

For now we will be doing whatever work we are needed in - until they have determined what we are best at. I am currently in control, and they show me to a room with a lot of mattresses on the floor. This is one of the rooms where the servants sleep, and I get assigned to row four, column ten. That suits me just fine, as it is in the corner, near an exit, but Jolinar points out that it is probably considered for those of lowest rank - since it is colder there, and people would walk past it and disturb you if they need to go to the bathroom or have errands at night. Of course we are given that spot - we are the new ones.

I suddenly realize that I am more and more thinking 'we', instead of 'me'. How odd. I push the thought aside - we are two people on a mission, who need each other to succeed, so of course I am thinking we.

I kneel beside the mattress to put my few things beside it - though I keep the vial with the masking drug hidden in my bra. I touch the mattress, it is hard and seems to be filled with straw. The pillow is small, made of course cloth, and also filled with straw. Aside from that, there is a woolen blanket. Oh, well. I guess I have slept in worse places.

The leader of the servants glare impatiently at me, and I quickly rise and follow him.

We have spent much of the day washing, peeling and chopping vegetables. Even when Jolinar's help, my back is sore, and my fingers hurt. The other servants don't speak to us much - we are the new ones - but we have started talking to one of the young girls working there. She started working only a week ago, and remembers how it is to be new - and she has few friends yet.

I leave Jolinar in control most of them time, since she is much better than I at blending in. Strangely enough, I do not mind so much that I don't have control.

Jolinar tells me she uses the lives of her previous hosts as base for the character we are playing.

~Then perhaps it would be a good idea if I knew some more about the person we are pretending to be? Aside from us being a young woman called Noska from Kiwwa.~

~Noska was - or is, I do not know if she still lives - the sister of Rosha. Rosha was my host before Quinta, the Nasyan man you found me in. She was my host for 20 years, and became my host at the same time Martouf became Lantash's host. Kiwwa is the name of the village Rosha and Noska was from.~

~Thanks, that's something, but it doesn't tell me much about Noska. How did she behave? What did she do?~

~She was a happy and positive individual, but also completely convinced the Goa'uld are gods. Rosha's world is not a pleasant one. The people are poor, and women are considered second-rate citizens. Love and physical pleasure are not something women dare even dream of. It took me a long time to convince Rosha that men and women should treat each other well, and should be equal. Fortunately, Martouf's world is different, and he has never been taught any such nonsense.~ Jolinar sighed. ~Noska was humble and obedient, which we will pretend to be - to a certain degree.~

"Would you like to see some of the palace?" our new friend, Ha'lana asks in a low voice, throwing a quick look at the supervisor in the corner.

"Yes." Jolinar says. "But can we just leave the kitchen like this?" She gives the supervisor a nervous look.

"Food needs to be brought to our Lord's room before he arrive with the slave he has chosen for the night. Toana and me are carrying the food and drink there, and we can use the extra help."

"Will we not risk meeting the Lord himself, then?" Jolinar says, with a fearful edge to her voice. No human would willingly approach a Goa'uld, so this is a question that would be expected.

"Do not worry. We will be gone long before he retires to his rooms. I have heard he has prisoners, and he is interrogating them." Ha'lana leans close and whispers in my ear. "Rumour has it that it brings him pleasure - I am grateful none of my friends have been chosen to share his bed tonight. He is more brutal than normal after such sessions, and the unfortunate girls suffer greatly."

Jolinar shudders - and it's not fully an act. I get the impression she has had to endure similar things, and that she would rather not discuss it. "In that case, I would very l much like to follow."