OOC: w/ Echo, Ellri

The call from the XO came rather suddenly. What in the name of devil could be more important than an assassin on the ship right now? The marked urgency was high though, and the request for secrecy also raised captain’s interest. “Helm, you have the bridge. Update me on status if the ground team reports anything new.” she ordered and left, walking the few meters to her quarters/office. Touching her earpiece, she patched to Ariadne: “My office.” she conveyed the place, as it was the one that she had swept for bugs, friendly or enemy.

Ariadne took the fastest route possible to the captains office, ordering the guard to remain outside as she entered. She was incredibly nervous as she stepped over the threshold, both her and her host were. There was a good chance that this would go poorly. Still, as soon as the door was closed she began to speak, keeping her voice as level as possible “[i]Captain. I have discovered the presence of another symbiote on the ship.[/i]” She began, keeping her gaze fixed on the captain to gauge her response.

Having a minute before the XO arrived, Catherine took the time to make a mug of coffee and get comfortable behind her table. When Ariadne delivered the news though, the mug stopped midway en route from the table to her lips.

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, hoping she didn’t hear right despite knowing she did. How? And more importantly: “Yours or other?” she said, her business mode voice deathly calm, not revealing much.

“[i]She says she is Tok’ra[/i]” Ariadne said, relaxing somewhat as she detected no accusation in the captain's voice. “[i]Though if she is, I have not been informed about her presence. Her credentials are old, but look legitimate. I have not yet had time to check with the High Council.[/i]” She took a seat herself before continuing. “[i]Worse still, she seems to have taken a new host only very recently. The body in the morgue, Ylva Falk I believe, shows all the signs of having been recently vacated by a symbiote.[/i]”

The news felt like a cold shower. Falk? Of course it was her. “So that’s the reason for the classified health records. I must applaud her on staying undetected this far, although she had to have help Earth side. That is a matter for another time though.” she said, going over what Ariadne told her once again. “You said she claims to be a Tok’Ra, so you already know where the symbiote is now. Summon her here. I want to have a word.” she said, rubbing her temples as she got up and paced the room from side to side.

“You realize this is a goddamn mess, right?” she said, her tone getting slightly furious with a mix of desperation. “I hope the council has a good explanation as to why she is here, because frankly not only am I personally quite offended, but I am fairly certain Earth wouldn’t like this either. And as for the new host, I am very curious why she thought volunteering for this is a good idea.” she ranted, not sure how far to trust Ariadne in her claim that she knew nothing about it, but willing to give the turned Goa’Uld the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t exactly secret her kind weren’t as trusted as the pure born ones.

Ariadne was not sure what to think of the strong edges that came into the captains tone. Too many conflicting emotions from both her and her host for one to take precedence. “[i]You are right, but I must also highlight what a risk it is for me to come to you with this. If this infiltrator, who calls herself Vanja, is Goa’uld, then anyone who knows of her is in danger, myself moreso having told her I would keep this quiet. If she is a sanctioned Tok’ra agent, then the Council will not look favourably on my bringing her to the attention of the Tau’ri, and my presence on the ship will be jeopardised as the Tau’ri officials push the Tok’ra away for once again lying to them.[/i]” As she stopped she took a deep breath, this had so much potential to go terribly. It was almost like being a servant for one of the more eclectic System Lords again. “[i]The new host is Ingrid Berg. The ships lead scientist. One other thing. Vanja cannot be the traitor that disabled the Asgard weaponry. Whether Goa’uld or Tok’ra, our race is not prone to martyrdom.[/i]”

“Berg? Wow, she certainly doesn’t take nobodys for hosts.” Captain verbally spat, but forced herself to calm down. “If the council can not verify her, her life ends on this ship, so I wouldn’t worry about that. But let’s say I trust her, even though I don’t really. You are quite correct that this could jeopardize the alliance and we know that is a bad thing, assuming this is just a misplaced operative as hard as it might be to believe. I would be content of burying this if we can come up with good enough story that everyone who already knows agrees to, but even if we don’t, the truth is my higher ups probably will anyway.” she said, sighing and getting back to her chair.

“As for yourself… You work for… With [i]me[/i] now. And I can only thank you for taking the risk and bringing this to my attention.” Black smiled weakly, tapping earpiece: “Bridge, DND unless the planet is blowing up.” she ordered, then rerouting her channel to another place: “Takanashi? Take two more men, arm yourselves with Zats and escort Dr. Berg to my office. If she resists, stun her and put her to a brig. Be advised, she is presently a host to a symbiote of unknown allegiance. Security level UPSILON.” she said, laying her hands on the table with her fingers intertwined. All she could do now is wait.

Too many things were floating through Ingrid’s mind after she and Vanja solved the greatest problem with the Asgard weapons. Her head felt like it was going to explode from all the new knowledge. Not to forget that there was also the kink in her neck where Vanja lay buried. She imagined she could almost feel Vanja settling better into place, but of course she knew that couldn’t be true. She did not really know how Vanja had fitted herself in there, but also knew she’d rather not think too much on the issue. It wasn’t a particularly comfortable subject.

Both of them realized they had time to spare while the ship systems completed the repairs upon the Asgard weapons. That would take a while, so other projects could be pursued meanwhile. It was not unnatural to consider the queen project, but Ingrid wasn’t sure if that was quite at the stage it could be input into the core. There were still too many unknowns. That was when she hit on the idea of an energy weapon modification for the P90. She had been thinking on it for over a year. It was undeniable that bullets were generally effective, but sometimes she knew the soldiers would come up against opponents unharmed by bullets. The Goa’uld Ma’tok Staff, while effective enough, was imprecise. Not to mention being bulky.

It was too bad the Atlantis database had not revealed any handheld deadly weapon designs yet. She had realized the only truly viable design would be the Ori staff weapon. Not as right as alteran designs, but still better than any from the Milky way. Back on Earth, someone had apparently scanned one such weapon in its entirety and uploaded the specs to the database, so Ingrid could just begin stripping it down to fit into the adaptation slot on the P90.

She was almost finished with the design when suddenly the door to the core opened and a pair of airmen stepped inside, both armed. one of them raised a zat and pointed it at her. Within their mind, Ingrid could feel Vanja’s shock. She could also feel the prejudice the Tok’ra felt for this ‘Ariadne’. The half-hearted satisfaction the Tok’ra felt about being betrayed by a so-called former goa’uld. That no true tok’ra would have betrayed like that. Not a nice set of thoughts.

Neither Ingrid nor Vanja put up any resistance. They pressed a single command for the core to begin the final assembly, them moved slowly back, letting the soldiers escort her out to wherever they would take her. She had no reason to fight them. They were only following orders.

It didn’t take long and the doctor was escorted into her office. “I believe you know why you’re here?” Captain said, her fingers drumming on the table. She has had a silent moment before the doctor arrived to think of some way out of this bloody situation, and she thought she got one. “So let’s cut to the chase. Assuming you are who you claim, we’ll verify you with your council. As to how you ended up on my ship and on Earth for that matter is a thing we’ll discuss later, but for now I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in an attempt to keep this alliance intact. along with the verification we’ll send a request to play along so to speak. Your former host would have been fatally wounded and beyond help and you need a new one. the good doctor here will volunteer and leave for your homeworld for about the length that would be normal. Once you come back, I’ll decide what to do with you, but I am [i]not[/i] losing another head of one of my departments over to you.”

Her tone was barely louder than normally, but inside Catherine was quite furious. “As for you, dr. Berg, what in the hell were you thinking when you decided volunteering for this without notifying anyone was a good idea?” she continued, indeed very curious to hear the response to this particular question.

Neither Ingrid nor Vanja had a good answer there. They could make one up, tell the truth, or something in between. The best lie was said to contain a few parts truth. [i]“Thank you for trusting me here, Oberst Kateřina Černá.”[/i] Vanja answered, her hollow voice awkwardly revealing the presence of a Symbiote. [i]“You will find it is not misplaced. Your plan, which I assume the former Goa’uld Ariadne is in part responsible for, is daring but workable.”[/i] She lowered their head, then released control back over to Ingrid. She knew the truth would be risky, but so would a complete lie, thus the only real option was a mix of the two. Ingrid knew from their shared memories that Vanja was an expert at such. “It was a bit of a rushed decision. She lay there, dying. Though not a doctor of medicine, I cannot let someone die when I can prevent it. I didn’t know what was wrong with Ms. Falk, but I do have some first aid training, so I did my best.” She paused a few seconds to suck in a breath.

“When the offer came, I can’t deny I was a bit stunned. She was writhing in agony, yet she spoke her mind through the pain. One cannot help but respect such strength. My reasons for accepting were twofold. One, I respect strength when I see it, and two, as a scientist, I am ever curious. After Vanja entered me, Ylva died quickly. Unlike you, I have never served in the military. When confronted with death, I cannot deny that I panicked. I didn’t know how to react. So I ran.” Ingrid paused once more to breathe “The fact that Vanja was already in here,” she said, pointing to her head, “Did not make things easier. The sheer extent of just how much she knows is unimaginable.” Ingrid finally stopped speaking, quite out of breath and having finished saying what she felt needed saying. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but neither was it exactly a lie. More like a padded truth. 

Ignoring the nudging feeling she wasn’t entirely honest, Kat decided she didn’t want to know more especially if it got even worse politically. She still wasn’t entirely certain to keep silent. There were far too many variables - She had no way of swearing the medical staff to secrecy, and she was really too small a person to even make this decision. But she could file it away for alter this way. Perhaps the Tok’Ra council might even disagree to the plan and come clean. [i]Right, for the first time in history.[/i] she thought bitterly.

“As far as other matters are concerned - do you have any idea who attacked Ylva in the first place and why? Could they have been after you?” she asked, her mind recalling the first contact with the Tok’ra being made through having one of their operatives in a fairly similar situation, and an assassin on her heels. 

Vanja once more seized control, much to Ingrid’s relief, for she had no good answer there. [i]”I do not think they were after me, but I cannot say for sure. I do not know how much Ariadne has said, but I have been hidden among the Tau’ri for the past fifteen years. Other than Ylva’s doctor, nobody had any idea she was anything other than a Tau’ri military scientist.”[/i] She paused a few moments to think. [i]”If I am to make a guess, it might be related to the recent battle. I know many Tau’ri are hesitant about utilizing biological and chemical weapons. No doubt such individuals exist among the Lucian Alliance as well.”[/i]

Captain scratched her chin. She didn’t think to look at it from this point of view. “Maybe, maybe. We suspect a Lucian alliance spy was behind the sabotage, hence the lockdown. Could be the same person. Although with both the spy AND yourself slipping by the screening, honestly I wouldn’t be surprised anymore if there were more alliance moles on this ship.” Catherine groaned and rubbed her temples.

“This is what happens when you put a warship under the jurisdiction of the civilians. Well, first things first.” she said and got up, “Since you have been on earth for over a decade, I assume you have no way of contacting the council. If we hope to keep this a secret we need different means than the ship’s communication array as that is all logged, so is gate activity. Before you are confirmed as friendly, I’m afraid I’ll have to keep you under guard. Gentlemen! please escort the doc to her quarters.” she ordered, being quite confident a brig wasn’t necessary. “And one more thing. As someone coming from a place with not so shiny history myself, I’d appreciate if you stopped addressing my XO as a ‘former Goa’Uld’, as much as she might be.”

Heading back to the bridge, she approached Ariadne: “Can you contact the council without the ship’s system or the gate, or possibly just without dialing your homeworld?” she whispered, thinking that maybe an off world operative of theirs could relay for them.