[I]Ariadne had almost reached the Bridge elevator when a Tau’ri male arrived, apparently with the intent of taking her to the bridge. He’d said he was a ‘Lt. Commander’ which equated roughly, in her mind, to a First Prime or Underlord. His greeting seemed respectful, but there was an edge in his tone she couldn’t quite identify yet. “You are the Underlord on this ship then Creon Thomas? I am Ariadne. It is an honour to make your acquaintance.”[/i]

“Right. It’s a pleasure having you aboard,” he said, neutrally. Underlord? Like hell. Creon added that comment to the mental list of things to lecture about on the elevator. For now, though, he held off, waiting for the doors to close. It wouldn’t do for a marine or sailor to see him “talking” to their guest. She did, after all, technically outrank them. Not to mention that he didn’t need the crew treating her as any more of an outsider than she already was. The doors closed smoothly shut.

He hit the emergency stop button, turned calmly to her, and contrary to his usual methods, kept his voice in an even, quiet monotone. “I don’t know, and I don’t care how the Tok’Ra do things,” he started. Damnit, he needed a better way to start these lectures. “But on board this ship, my rank is Lt. Commander, not ‘Underlord’. And however much freedom you may be used to operating with - let’s get one thing clear - there is a direct chain of command on this ship, and it ends with me. Captain Alexis is not your commanding officer. Captain Alexis is God. And if she says something, then you’re going to do it like God himself told you. Am I clear?”

[I]Ariadne stared at the taller man for a few seconds after he finished his tirade. She’d hoped to get away from exactly this kind of thing when she’d joined the Tok’ra, and was taken aback by seeing it in the Tau’ri. She could hear Idalia urging her not to do anything extreme, but that wasn’t her plan anyway. “You sound exactly like a Goa’uld Underlord. I don’t think you quite understand the idea of a Commander being a god either. The System Lords styled themselves as Gods, and having served under them in the course of my infiltrations, I know what it is like to have a ‘God’ above you. It was my understanding that the Tau’ri were different. I will not treat your commander as a God. Because it is the Tok’ra’s purpose in existence to eliminate false gods. As it happens, I was simply trying to ascertain your role with the comparison, the Tau’ri have many more ranks than I am used to. And for the future, when talking to any among the survivors of the System Lords reign, the idea of someone being a god does not get a favourable response, especially without the death threats that usually came with it.” Ariadne could feel Idalia’s amusement at the whole situation, but she could also tell her host was masking a very primal fear and anger at the idea of being under the thumb of a ‘god’.[/I]

He took that as a ‘no’.

“That’s not quite what I was…” Creon started to say. He was a little flummoxed, actually. Even his usual [i]unusual[/i] approach seemed to have failed him. He felt, in fact, like he was back on his first ship. Way back when highly important messages were delivered by hand. And he’d accidentally dropped one overboard. He was, in short, simultaneously in over his head and in some trouble. Which was when he snapped himself out of it. He was an XO, not some seaman greener than leaves in Spring.

“If we ever meet a Goa’uld,” he said, much more confidently, “then I will fight next to you until either we die or it dies. So long as you follow orders, I think we’ll be fine.” He pressed the bridge button again. Creon didn’t want to be anywhere near someone who could throw him so off balance.

[I]Seeing that her response had the desired effect on Thomas Creon Ariadne lightened a little. What he’d said by way of reply was, according to the Tok’ra philosophy, simply a rule of existence. Goa’uld existed to be cast down. She was still unsure herself, she was mostly happy she’d seen the fate of the Goa’uld early enough to survive it. She didn’t feel the need to add anything to the conversation. She’d follow the orders of the Commander because this was the territory of the Tau’ri, and she was here voluntarily. It seemed strange to her that the Creon Thomas felt the need to tell her. She simply turned back to face the door, stepping out into the corridor as it arrived moments later.[/I]

The elevator doors opened, and Creon stepped out. He automatically pulled out his badge and showed it to the guard, who scanned it and let him through. He muttered, “Add her to the 24-hour bridge access list,” as he passed the guard. Creon stepped into the bridge, waiting for Ariadne to get through.

[I]Ariadne saw the method by which Creon Thomas entered and pulled the card she’d been given from the sash at her waist. The man guarding the door looked up at her with an expression of surprise on his face. She was probably the first alien he’d seen. Ariadne flashed her eyes at him, just to drive the point home, laughing mentally even as Idalia told her off. Then she entered the Bridge, leaving the flummoxed human in her wake.[/I]

As Alexis lifted her gaze from the controls, she saw the door in the back open and the XO along with who she assumed was the Tok’Ra walk through. The tiniest of smirks appeared on her face as she turned to Astridh: “[i]All[/i] crew reported to be at assigned posts?” she said, a hint of joke but also a silent reprimand noticeable in her tone. She has been briefed about what Tok’Ra are and that there are essentially two minds in the host human body, yet she expected something at least a little bit different about them. Small things - The composure, body language - but apparently, their role as infiltrators was very well trained. Waving her hand, she motioned for the Tok’Ra to approach.

[I]The doors were opened swiftly - it seemed the ships commander valued the alliance with the Tok’ra, even if some of the inferiors didn’t understand. She walked over to what appeared to be the lords chair, a woman standing beside it. The Pel’tak of this ship was quite different to that of a Ha’tak or Al’kesh, even more so than she had been expecting. According to Tok’ra records, Tau’ri ships were designed based off of Asgard technology now, even though the early ones had used much Goa’uld technology. Still, she kept her attention focused on the ships Lord for now, there would be time later to marvel at the systems and the view. The woman stood as a Lord should, yet she was dressed in the same accoutrements as the rest of the people on the bridge. That gave Ariadne pause for a moment. But only a moment. As usual, her voice was slightly deeper and hollow when she spoke, although this time it was respectful.

“You are the Lord of this ship?” She trailed off in such a way as to make it clear she was also asking the woman's name.[/I]

Captain West continued to observe the new addition to her crew as she approached. From her stance she got a sense of pride and maybe a speck of superiority. With anyone else she would have expected a report to duty and to be given the assignment order, but she was prepared to welcome the Tok’Ra representative according to diplomatic protocol, but when the woman simply asked a question without as much as a greeting, her mood went down a peg. Getting the hint at the end, she decided not to be (too) conflicting, but also to stand her ground: “That I am. Captain Alexis West. You must be Ariadne and Idalia. I trust your quarters have already been assigned to you, and that you received….,” she looked at her XO suspiciously, “a … Warm welcome?”

[I]So it was this woman. That was good. If one of such apparent commanding bearing had been less than the Lord of this vessel, Ariadne would have been disappointed at the mismanagement of resources. She nodded her head in deference and spoke again. “It is an honour to be aboard your vessel-” She was unused to the titles the Tau’ri used. They made little sense to her, but then the Tau’ri had long ago dissociated ruling with the command of armed forces. Ariadne had often wondered if that was why they were so effective. “Captain Alexis West. I have seen my Quarters, and I must say that Idalia is quite pleased with them.” She paused for a moment then, conferring with Idalia about whether to give an honest opinion or a diplomatic one as to the welcome. Given what she’d already said, Idalia suggested the diplomatic one, and Ariadne agreed. “My welcome to the ship has been… mixed. Nothing I cannot forgive, however. Some friction is to be expected when two cultures collide.”[/I]

From what she said, Alexis would have gathered it was the symbiote speaking, although the deep voice gave that out straight away. Nodding once sharply, she had a few things to say. “And we are honored to have you here. I understand you are here as the representative of the Tok’Ra, but you either volunteered or was assigned to my primary strike team. As such, you DO fall under our chain of command. I just want to be clear on that. I understand you have many centuries of experience, which gives you some benefits to your position, and if your CO on the ground is not using that experience or is misbehaving to you in any other way, I want to know of it. I will not have an incident that breaks the alliance happen in my crew.” She said, taking a breath and softening her tone a bit, “Also regarding your experience, I will confess that the ship and crew are new, and that includes me. If by a chance you see us doing some critical mistake, I would gladly listen to your opinion and advice, preferably on personal channel straight to me, or to Tactical Officer Nic Shitric.” The captain said, indicating the Lieutenant with her hand, ”If you’re right, good for us. If you step out of line, I’ll have you for lunch.” she finished. “If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. I will also ask you to remain here for now, we are about to clear the dock any second now and just in the mild chance something fails miserably, we can not have people wandering through the halls. Besides, we have the best seats in the house.” She smiled, pointing over to the bridge window.

[I]As far as introductions to service went it was a far more polite one than most Ariadne had received in her long life. Most System Lords generally threatened you with death if you failed them more than once. Since the Tau’ri were not known for cannibalism, she gathered that the reference to ‘eating her for lunch’ would be figurative rather than literal. Idalia was nagging her to get a view through the window before they launched, as well as quite happy to hear they’d been asked to stay on the bridge, and the feelings of her host washed over Ariadne, mellowing her otherwise stern mood. She smiled and turned to face the window. “When you live as long as I have, you learn how to be patient. There will be no incidents. I am not very familiar with your culture, however, as you are likely not familiar with mine. I will try to avoid having that become an issue. Now if you will excuse me, Idalia has been nagging me to let her take in the sights.” She lowered her head for a moment as she relinquished control to her host.[/I]

Just as West was about to head for the window herself, the navigation officer stormed to his post, apologizing for being late. “It’s all right, man your post.” West quickly waved to him, making a mental note to go talk to the IOA representative to explain who ran the ship. Taking a stand at the window, she looked out, taking the scenery in for a fraction of a second before giving the order: “Take us out.”