I haven't been on here in such a long time! My goodness! All the myriad of posts in the first year and then it just kinda drops off... Not really, but that's kinda how it seems. So you can see how much I've written in the past however long, 'cause that's about all I've posted, but very little's up here on my life, my frustrations. That's what this doesn't get updated much: I don't care to take the time to get out the frustrations and such in writing. I mean, when I get really upset, I'll sit somewhere alone and jot down everything that's bugging while bawling my eyes out then I'll keep the three to five pages under lock and key until I finish the notebook, but I kinda just feel melancholy at the moment, and I don't want to do homework. So I'll ramble here for a bit.

As is evident to those who are around me at all, school is really frustrating this year. I don't really love any of my classes. They just drone on and on. Lately, I've approached the whole school/learning thing with a great deal of apathy, which is fairly unusual for me. Every other year, I've just figured that since I have to do it, I might as well try to be content, but now, it's just like there's an undercurrent of unpleasantness that's always got me in a sour mood. I don't want to talk. I don't want to write. All I'm really content to do is eat, sleep, and complain. To everyone who's been around me and listened for the past month (parents, Carey, Jena... add more later), thank you so very much. I know none of you are every going to read this, but the one person who does will you know that you're all such awesome people, and I really appreciate your patience with me! Maybe soon enough, that undercurrent will be gone!

It's pretty depressing, though, that whole undercurrent thing. Whatever it is. A sense of discontent in my life. School doesn't seem to be living up to its mandate. I always feel like I'm on the go, and I'm always happy for some time to step back and relax. Part of this, I think, has to do with braces, as odd as it sounds. With them on, I can't eat half the healthy stuff I used to, so I've been eating a lot more junk. I bet that's it. Body chemistry out of whack from not eating right. They always said there'd be consequences. The Saturday after I get them off or I don't have to do anything with them anymore, I'm going to do absolutely nothing all day but lie on the couch and eat carrots. Maybe and apple or two for some variety. It's insane how much I miss carrots. Of all things! Back in seventh grade, I used to do that a bunch: reading and eating carrots for an entire day. It was nice. Of course, that was before I got into Stargate, but you know what? They don't show new episodes of Stargate on Saturdays, so what've I got to lose?

So back to that discontent.... I've been thinking for a while that since most of my classes get on my nerves and I don't really like most of my teachers, I should try to get in-school-suspension. I know it's a punishment and all, but think about it. They stick you in a room where no-one's allowed to talk for the entire school day. Your teachers send up your work/class notes, whatnot, and you get nine periods to sit there in silence. You know how much reading I could get done with the time I'd have left over? You know how much writing I could get done in that silence? My gosh, it'd almost have to be heaven!!! And this is for a punishment!!!! The only thing is that with the peace comes the shame of having earned it. (Am I thinking like a Yuuzong Vong yet?) That alone would probably crush my spirits. That and the company. I'm such a teacher's pet!! The thought of getting in trouble that big and I'd cry! Seriously. It's...disturbing. I wonder if I could get in there for something minor like getting six or seven lates to a class (not hard when you're world-weary, sick, and have no motivation to get to your class on time) then skip a detention or two... On the other hand, that's pretty hard. Maybe I can just ask for it. Think they'd give me ISS as a Christmas present? After all, they've got nothing to lose by it.

What? You're looking at me funny. Trust me, if you saw things as I see them and had my teachers, you'd have no trouble contemplating ISS. I mean, most of my classes are so boring! Quick run-down, in case you care.
Visual Basic is taught by the teacher who also teaches the lowest level of math someone at my school can be in. She's used to dealing with kids who aren't so bright. So we go ultra-slow, 'cause apparently, some people in our class need it. About every fourth or fifth, maybe sixth day, I can just sit around and read or goof off the whole period, as I did for half the period today. While I'm not incredibly good at programming, I understand most of it, even if I haven't committed the vocab and good programming guidelines to memory. But I'm quick and I type fast. So I finish.
Chem. Okay, it's not to bad. It's one of those classes that has potential. It's half math, and everyone thinks I'm good at math, so it's not so bad. The only really boring thing is that we go over every math problem. I'm more of a mind of "tell me the answer, and if I get it wrong, give me a couple minutes to figure it out before telling me. . . " But it's an honors class with a math prerequisite, so it's not so bad.

English, however, is another story. Officially, it's an honors class, but it's incredibly boring. We do almost all the work in class, out loud, and in groups. It's almost as if she doesn't trust our abilities to figure stuff out on our own. I find it insulting, degrading, condescending, etc. And everytime I get called on to answer a question and just happen to use a, uh, "complicated" word, she asks me to explain it. Which is, again, insulting. She could be doing it for one of two reasons, I rekon. One, she figures not everyone in the class knows the word. My response: everyone in the class knows it. 'Cept for a few, and they either can figure it out on their own or don't care. Or two, she figures I'm trying to be obsequious and don't know what I'm talking about, which I do. I don't try to use big words until I fully comprehend their meaning. By then, they're completely integrated into my vocabulary, which I won't censor just to please someone, especially an English teacher. Okay, seriously, who my age in an honors English class doesn't know the following words, which we have to "learn" for the test: apprehension, annihilate, paramount, recoil, increment, suspense, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, ballad, sonnet, image, connotation, symbol, figure of speech, extended metaphor, poetry, similie, and metaphor. Seriously. Insulting. Can I get an Amen? I read. I write. I want to be an author. Give me something challenging or leave me to my own device!!! Please! Before I go insane! ("To the funny farm, with trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers, who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes, and they're coming to take me away, ha ha!")

*sigh* So to continue...

Speech. Easy. Usually have half the class to sit and do nothing. I've learned nothing except that I can do speeches anywhere but in speech class. Go figure.
Math. So I'm actually doing precalc. Happy, happy, we've mostly been doing stuff we did last year, but we're finally to logs again. Happy, happy. Logs. I usually read during half the class, mostly because of that attitude of apathy (<- Look! It's a word I'd I've to explain in English!). I don't care if I got them right or wrong. Sure, I'll mark them, but I won't look back to see where I messed up. I usually understand what we're doing, or even if I don't, I can do it and just save the effort of understanding for later. (Note: the understanding part alludes to the connection between the actual work and what it means. For example, I can take log(x/2) and change it to log x - log 2 . I know how to do it, but I don't know why it's the same.) Anyway, so I do it, I keep up, and I get a chapter read as well while the teacher's trying to explain something to E. or J.
History isn't all that wonderful either, but it's better than last year. At least now my teacher views history in the same way that I do: who cares what happened back then unless it directly pertains to what's going on now or is just plain interesting. Mostly overviews for whatever happened more than two hundred years ago, and not to much detail on the actual history of a country when compared to how much we learn about the culture and why they're like that. Up my alley except for the just-below-par pacing.
German. I would love it. Wirklich! The only thing is that we spend half the period waiting for the high-school kids to get their skinny little behinds through the threshold of the door. Frau gets distracted easily, too, so we hardly ever learn anything. I hear it gets better next year, though, so that'll be good.

Okay, seeing a theme? For someone like me, who tries to be intellectual (though not everyone knows that now as much as they used to; I've lighted up since starting to write), it's like nails on the chalkboard. The bits and pieces of spare time. It's like pennies. You have a bunch, and it adds up to a lot, but it's in such small increments that you really can't do anything with it. My oft-heard cry is "The school is wasting my life!!!" I hope you agree with me, 'cause I think I've made it plainly obvious. It's frustring. I don't want to put myself on a pedastal here, but I can take stuff a lot faster than many of my classmates can, and it's grinding. It's frustrating. If I don't find something to do, it's going to wear me awfully thin. I feel so apathetic now, but I imagine it can only get worse if I don't try to do something. Gosh, why didn't I ask my parents to send me to a montesari (sp?) school when i had the chance. "No, I'll keep going, I don't need it," I said. And now I'm sitting around, annoyed out of my mind. Just so you know, I did actually go to talk to my guidance councilor (for the second time in my life). She said that there wasn't anything she could do without screwing up my entire schedule. Not that I'd care. I just don't want out of the one class I have friends in.

Alrighty, I suppose I have to get going soon. As I said before, I'm working on neglecting my homework. I think I feel a little bit better, but enough energy is drained out of me at the moment that I really don't know. I should get on tomorrow. Maybe that'd be good.
God be with you.

Wow. More poetry. The "treat" continues. Wait a minute, maybe that should have an "h" in it... Depends on your view of my poetry. (Which you can always communicate to me by leaving a comment, hint hint!) *reviewing first poem* Wow. That really stinks. You can just kinda tell that I wrote that for an assignment in English. We were looking at a picture and had to incorporate two examples of rhyme, onemonepia (which I could spell right if I cared), and alliteration. Unfortunately, assonance wasn't required.

"Jump"
Vroom. Zoom.
I can see from my roost
cars go speeding by.
We are up so high.
If something went wrong
while we wait....
Turn up a song
forego my fate
The bungee is secure.
Chatter.


"Empty House"
He is not here
this man you seek.
He left for the pier
early this week.

A clatter.
A splash.
Kerplundge!
Gurgle.

We wonder why
this gregarious guy
sank without speaking
to kids in his keeping.

Note: That one really isn't much better, but it flows a bit more easily than the first. To my way of thinking, both are pretty morbid. Gee, I wonder how I feel about English class....

The rare post containing poetry. Don't worry; I didn't exactly do it voluntarily--we're doing poetry in English. Most of it's bothering me.

"Brownie"

The gentle, heavenly cloud

creeps up the stairs to my alcove,

tickling my nose, teasing my tongue,

and beckoning for me to travel to the kitchen.

The scent carries me down like an elevator,

dragging me on like a puppy on a walk

some sunny summer Sunday.

I am soon that happy pup,

digging into the soft, lucious layers of

brownies.

"Courage of a Friend"

Writing, always writing.

Hiding, always hiding.

Wishing, always wishing.

Grief from a personal past,

gliding through the heart,

a guilletine.

Writing is an escape,

a fire exit

a life boat,

a string of strength

tying back to the grounds of sanity.

A vacation,

a break,

the eye of quiet

in the midst of the hurricane of life.

Quick, keep it hidden!

"Were someone to know the grief,

I could never belong!"

So you think.

Normalcy must remain!

Keep the status quo!

"I must remain!"

Do you know your strength?

Do you know your smarts?

Do you know your friends?

They admire you,

love you,

wish you the best of life,

everything of what you deserve.

You are strong.

You will make it.

You will survive.

You are smart.

You will make it.

You will survive.

You are corageous.

You will make it.

You will survive.

You have friends.

You will make it.

They will help you survive.

"Tree in SC"

I sit upon the lowest branch

of a thick, old oak.

My back leans against the rough bark.

My skin delights in the pleasantly warm air.

I smell the nearby pines and black berry bushes;

their perfect perfume calls,

reminding me of the approaching Christmas

and past summer.

A gentle breeze sways the top branches of the woods,

gently whispering secret messages

from one part of nature to another.

Yards away, dogs bark, kids play.

It is an autumn afternoon.

"Mein Bett"

I breathe deep,

allowing a cloud of comfort

to lift my spirit.

Fresh sheets are always nice.

I close my eyes,

allowing a blanket of peace

to engulf my being.

I do not care to see.

I snuggle deeper,

allowing an igloo of warmth

to relax my muscles.

This is called contentment.

I try not to listen,

allowing no barking

to disturb my mood.

Dogs can be such a pain.

Do not think;

it will not help.

Anxiety belongs elsewhere.

Falling asleep agai--

There goes the clock.

Time to get up.

The day calls.

Groan.

"Your Brain on English Class"

Sitting in a regimented room,

stifling hot in the cold school,

stiff.

Creativity bleeding away,

seeping out of my mind

like blood from a dying warrior's wounds.

Clawing at the noose

closing tight around my neck.

Criticism

Always.

"You're not working in my way,

by my rules."

Self-centered.

I won't do htings your way.

Not today.

Other days I might,

had I the energy

to invest effort in those things

with practicality that defys logic.

You're here to teach, not rule,

so they have told me;

I'm here to learn, not submit,

so I have deduced.

These things are counterproductive,

born to make your life easy

and mine hard.

I do think.

I do learn.

This is not thinking.

This is not learning.

Total submission.

(like reviews, comments are always welcome!)

Announce11::Diamonds Are Forever

Sarah lay back on the cool, wet grass of a park just northwest of Colorado Springs, staring up at a myriad of diamond stars in the coal mine sky. Everything around her was peaceful, still, basking in the sheer perfection of Creation. Deciduous trees and tall wild grasses swayed in the slight breeze that meandered across Earth's surface. The air was cool, crisp; the Tok'ra fleetingly noticed her breath rhythmically rising in to the sky.

As calming and appealing as her surroundings were, Sarah had other things to think about. She and Vinnet were worried about Vandrof, who had been placed in a tank with a low electric charge until he again had a host. While he remained there, the life-preserving contraption was nothing less that solitary confinement. He could see outside, but he could not contribute, could not communicate. Vinnet sympathized with his position since she'd had the same confinement for three months before she blended with Sarah. She did not wish any of it for her friend.

On top of that, she was not unaware of the mounting tension among the Tok'ra. While some were grateful for any host, many felt that too many Tok'ra now sympathized too much with the Tau'ri. Although the former way of thinking still seemed to hold quite a bit of power in the High Council--otherwise they would not have asked for the declassification of their existence--Sarah had always worried that the discontent with strong-willed hosts would increase to the point that the Council would recall her.

A twig cracked, breaking into the crickets' monotonous chorus as well as the Tok'ra's thoughts. Vinnet took over, sitting up quickly, uselessly staring into the deep shadows on every side of the clearing. She sat perfectly still, keeping as low to the ground as she could without looking like a guerilla fighter. A few more twigs cracked, and the shuffling sound of a person making his way through the dry underbrush came to her ears. Finally, she recognized the figure emerging from the shadows as her host's boyfriend, David Rice.

Vinnet retreated on the condition that Sarah propose the symbiote's solution to one of the issues plaguing her. "Hey," the Tok'ra greeted, standing up to give a hug. "Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice."

He smiled as they embraced, his expression showing him to be tense. "It's beautiful out here tonight; I'm glad you thought of it." His voice sounded completely sincere, albeit extremely tired.
"Did you see the news last night?" she wondered, thinking to go about Vinnet's request in a logical way.

David nodded. "I actually did. My boss told me to check the news when I got home. It was interesting, but stuff like that just seems so remote. The news said some people think it's the end of the world."

"Yeah, right," Sarah commented, at first dismissing the idea as ridiculous; the Tok'ra's sudden appearance in the world's view of the universe should not cause a catastrophe. Then she considered another possibility: perhaps the proposed "end of the world" originated not from the Tok'ra but from another source, such as the Ha'tak lurking in Neptune's orbit.

David smiled and took a deep breath. Then he bent down to get to the ground, only to sop halfway through the motion. He took her hand. "Sarah," he began, pulling a small box from his pocket, "if there's any chance the world's going to end or be attacked by aliens or whatever, I need to ask you..." He gently opened the box as he finished, revealing a dainty ring bearing a small diamond. "Will you marry me?"

The Tok'ra stopped breathing for a couple seconds until Vinnet reminded her that it was necessary for their survival. She knelt down to David's eye level, her emotions conflicting. She certainly loved David, but with all that was going on, Sarah was far from ready to become engaged. "I want to say yes..."

"Then say it," he quipped quietly.

"There's so much you don't know about me."

"I know enough."

Sarah shook her head. After hiding an essential part of her life for so many years, she couldn't imagine that it was possible for him to even guess to what she refered. "No, you don't."

"I learn quickly."

She sighed, glancing enviously to the dark, peaceful woods as a tear slid down her face. "I've been lying to you since we met," she admitting, knowing the words set as much ice in David's stomach as it did in her own.

He gazed at the outline of her face he could see in the moonlight as he settled onto the grass. "How so?" he whispered after a while.

Sarah also sat back on the brass. "That's why I wanted to see you as soon as you got off work. Truth be told, I'm glad you saw the news last night but not today."

He frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"I'm a Tok'ra."

"What!"

Sarah continued slowly, ignoring his outburst. "Until yesterday, that fact was classified. I couldn't tell you anything related to my real job or who I really am. I probably told you too much, but I don't regret it, especially now."

His eyes left her face, and he seemed to be meditating on a small, lonely wildflower just in front of him. "So all this time I spent trying to get to know you..."

"Was still worthwhile. I didn't deceive you about everything, just when it came to classified things."

"Then I suppose you've never been to Germany." His voice held a hint of anger... or maybe it was disappointment.

"No, but I wish I could go."

The frustration in his voice grew. "Then, Sarah--and I hope that really is your name--"

"Usually," she admitted quietly.

"--where have you been all the times you went away on business?"

She sighed, knowing this was going to sound loony to him. Why did Tau'ri always have to seem so scared of new, foreign ideas? "I had to go offworld, to other planets. There are too few of us for Vinnet to live here without doing something useful."

"No, just living your own life isn't good enough," he replied sarcastically.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Daivd, the galaxy's a lot more dangerous than anybody's letting on. Earth could be a vacation world, but I've lived here all my life. It's not fair to the other Tok'ra if they're all working their tails off and risking their lives and I'm just sitting here doing nothing."

David sighed. "So living here and building relationships and getting a Masters degree in aerospace engineering and astrophysics all equates to doing nothing?"

The Tok'ra thought about it, then laughed for a moment. "Yes, I suppose it does mean nothing. It's not helping our cause much, though it might eventually help me MacGyver a hyperdrive in the distant future." She shrugged, trying to ignore David's hurt expression. "College is mostly something to pass the time and see if there's anything we know that can help the Tok'ra."

An ackward silence fell about them for a few minutes. Both boarded separate trains of thought while studying the serene environment. Finally, David spoke, carefully watching her reasctions. "If you said anything else, I would believe you in an instant. But how do I know you're really an alien?"

Sarah blinked a couple times. Had she not already explained this? No, he had not heard. Only in times like these did she realize how different the Tok'ra existance was. "You can talk to her if you want. She really does like you."

"What do you mean 'she'? What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting I have to start from the beginning, wherever that is." She sighed, sorting her thoughts and realizing Vinnet's proposal would have to stay on the back burner for a while yet. "A person only becomes a Tok'ra when he or she physically and mentally blends with a symbiote--a snake-like sentient alien. If you want to, I can ask that alien to talk to you."

David said nothing but nodded, anzious to understand the difference between the woman he wanted to marry and the person with him now. As he watched, Vinnet took over her host's body. She flet overjoyed to finally have an opportunity to speak directly to the man her host--and as a result, Vinnet herself--had fallen in love with. The symbiote confirmed that Sarah's eyes had flashed not only by acknowledging the slight discomfort in her eyes but also by seeing David's reaction. The other Tau'ri's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.

"Do not worry; eye-flashing is perfectly normal among Tok'ra." Vinnet took on a casual demeanor, leaned back slightly, and gazed up at the stars. "From here, you cannot see most of the systems we have visited." Sarah silently cheered as she noticed that Vinnet might again practice her hobby of "Name that System!" The symbiote pointed to one of the brighter stars. "One of the planets around that sun was called Abydos. Sarah nicknamed it Tatooine, though she has never personally been there." David remained quiet, having been quite startled by her strange voice. "One of the dimmer stars in that direction," she continued, swinging her arm around and pointing westward, "is where one of our friends recently died."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"You can help," she insisted, catching the other off-guard. "And possibly spend the next century with Sarah... and me."

He slowly shook his head, still gazing int he direction Vinnet last pointed. "Last week, I would've jumped on that opportunity, but now that you, whoever you are, are here..."

"I have been present since before you met us. Sarah is still fundamentally the same person you have always known. The only differences now are that you know of me and we can tell you more about our life."

"Such as?"

Vinnet shrugged and met his stare. "The man I told you had died was a Tok'ra. His symbiote is still alive and in need of a host."

"What are you suggesting?" he wondered, fairly certain he didn't want to know, but too curious to just let it go.

"I am suggesting that it would be a great relief to both of us if you were to volunteer to be Vandrof's new host."

"I don't think I could do that," he replied, faltering. He shuddered. Although he was not quite sure why, the idea of this "blending" did not evoke warm, fuzzy feelings, especially when the word "host" was added into the deal. "How did Sarah become a, uh, host in the first place?"

Vinnet nodded, accepting that David had less motivation to volunteer than did most of those she had spoke with int he past few years. She retreated again, giving Sarah control of her body. "I hope you understand I still can't tell you everything," the Tau'ri began.

David's head came up quickly. "Sarah?"

She laughed lgihtly. "You'll get used to it, hopefully. Vinnet's going to try to remember that she doesn't have to mask her voice when talking to you."

He shrugged a bit. "O-kay... So how did you become a 'host'?"

Sarah's expression sombered a great deal. "A lot of what happened is still classified, so this isn't going to make too much sense. In eighth grade, I was taken off-world. The people who took me were going to, um, do something unpleasant. My blending with Vinnet prevented them from being able to do that. The Tok'ra High Council wasn't extremely happy about it, but they let us come back so I could finish high school."

"What was it like?"

She shrugged. "Annoying. Vinnet refused to help me with anything. Expecially in biology and chemistry, I knew she could tell me how to do something, but she tried as hard as she could to not give away answers."

He finally smiled a tad; Sarah's tone strongly reminded him of the person he had grown to love. "No, um, what was it like when you two... um..."

"Blended," she finished, sobering from her rant. When she next spoke, her voice was soft, her pacing slow. (So incredibly slow, that it's not going up here.)

Announce11: Eve of Enlightenment

Jack had barely clambered into the back seat when the SUV lurched forward, speeding away from the school and pressing the clone into his seat. "Whoa, Reeses, what's the rush?"

While Jack buckled in, Matt spun around in his seat to stare into the back. "Jonathan?"

Jack looked up again, more than used to responding to his formal first name again. "Matt King?"

Both looked toward the driver, and Matt grinned. "I told you he knew."

Jack's eyes widened in confusion, and he gestured to Matt, who he had always thought of as just another high school football player. "Reeses, how does he know?" He paused, his eyes growing wider. "What does he know?"

Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Although it's nice you two finally know each other, we've got bigger problems to worry about." The two boys watched her in silence, Sarah's tone causing ice to settle in their stomachs. "There's a Ha'tak sitting out by Neptune."

Matt's face showed no recognition; he had never heard of Ha'taks. Jack, however, leaned back in his seat again, thinking. "Just one?"

Sarah nodded. "That's the good news. We might be able to take out a force that small, even though Prometheus and half the F-302s were severely damaged in Anubis's attack."

"Anubis attacked?" he repeated, feeling more out-of-the-loop than ever.

"Yeah. A mothership and countless Ha'taks, all destroyed by a super-weapon in Antarctica," Sarah reported. "But the power source to that is about dead, not to mention we have no one who can operate it. There's only one ship now, so that would be overkill anyway." She sighed. "The rest of the good news is that it's probably not BaÂ’al or any other system lord.

"Ba'al as in the snake-head who killed me over and..." Jack wondered.

"Yes."

Though he didn't know half of what was going on, Matt still tried to follow the conversation. "Bad news usually follows that much good news, especially when you and Vinnet are so shook up," he observed.

A hint of a smile appeared on her face but quickly left. "The bad news is that it seems to be waiting for something either here or elsewhere, presumably backup, but why they'd wait here is beyond me."

"To make sure no one leaves?" Matt guessed.

Sarah shook her head. "It's even easier to leave through the Stargate." Matt nodded, leaving Jack to wonder how he knew about the ancient device. "There's more," she continued. "Now that people are aware of Tok'ra, they're going to expect to see Supreme Councilor Per'sus leave. Last I heard, no one at the SGC had any ideas of what to do." She sighed again, trying to convince herself that she could do nothing, but she knew it might be possible for her to contribute. "And since it's probably not a system lord," she added slowly, almost hesitantly, "I can't help but wonder if it's Banebdjedet or his master, Nepthys."

Matt frowned, recognizing the names long before Jack did. "I hope he doesn't have any more business with the NID."

As Jack continued to be confused, Sarah shook her head dismissively. "Even if he thinks he does, the shol'vah he was dealing with should all be in jail."

Before Jack could add any comment, Sarah's phone rang, intoning a simplified version of "Across the Stars." As quick as she could bring the pone from her purse to her ear and press the green button, she answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a minute, the SUV's speed steadily decreasing, even though the next traffic light was still green. As the light gradually turned red and traffic in the next lane sped past for a couple more second, she stopped the car and closed her eyes. "Okay, I understand. Thanks." With that, she hung up and concentrated on her driving when the right turn indicator turned green.

"Who was it?" Matt inquired after a couple more turns into another residential area.

The Tok'ra drew in a deep breath. "That was Sam. I guess part of her news isn't as terrible as it could be, but..." While she had lived through a few family deaths, this somehow seemed worse. Vinnet had shared her grief then, of course, but she had never known Sarah's grandparents. Now that they both knew the deceased, Sarah felt overwhelmed with emotion. It was as overpowering as the loss the two had felt after Setira's death, but even sharper since she'd seen him twice in the past year. "Gavan died. Just after Per'sus and his entourage arrived back at the base, it was attacked. Gavan was hit, but Vandrof made it out."

In the hope of keeping tears from the driver's eyes, Vinnet surfaced. She tossed the cell phone to Matt; it would do no good for the alien to speak to any other Tau'ri at the moment, especially since she didn't care to make the effort to mask her voice. "Call David. Tell him to meet us in the park when he leaves work." Before he could begin, she continued, "Jonath--Jack, I will drop you off at the SGC after it is dark. Sam said it would probably benefit them to have another O'Neill in the vicinity."

"Just like they did when Anubis attacked," the clone growled.

Vinnet rolled her eyes. "We were are preoccupied. The SGC was having a difficult time pacing one O'Neill; they would have gone insane with two. Since Jack is tied down now, you are suddenly remembered, though I doubt the General knows you are coming."

Jack shrugged. "I think I always got on Hammond's bad said; maybe it's better this way."

Vinnet shook her head. "I was not referring to General Hammond; the general I spoke of was Brigadier General O'Neill."

Neu

It had taken Dann Herr and Veronica five hours of hard research in three different libraries to determine that the script in the blue book didnÂ’t match any known script: ancient, modern, or otherwise. They figured it to be composed of the alphabet on Iechnor, but Dan still felt confident he could solve it. Then again, confidence went only so far.

He held the tiny book in his hands, staring at the pages, when he finally noticed that one particularly dark symbol recurred many times on the page. It kind of looked like a rounded X that didnÂ’t touch in the middle. Another appeared to be an upside-down T and another an upside-down A. After figuring out all those symbols, he noted that some looked to be backwards. Another seven deciphered symbolsÂ… Finally, he found twenty-four different symbols, all of which bore some resemblance to the alphabet he had always known.

"Look at this, Roni," Dan said, breaking into the reporterÂ’s research of foreign scripts. "ItÂ’s intriguing; each symbol corresponds to a letter in the alphabet and displays the same distinct characteristics as that letter." An absurdly large grin began to grow on his face.

"You mean you figured it out?" she asked, shocked. "What does it say?"

He looked down at the notes he’d scribbled while deciphering. " ‘Naturo telmac Sarah Anderson.’ "

She stared, a bit disheartened. "So it is another language."

"Yes." He shrugged. "But it sounds Egyptian. Remember that time we went to Egypt for that story and the one guy was randomly speaking to us in ancient Egyptian?" Veronica nodded. "This sounds very similar, especially since I remember him saying ‘naturo’ over and over."

"ThatÂ’s right. Here, be right back." The reporter tromped off into the libraryÂ’s labyrinth and returned shortly with a green paperback book. "Think this will help?" she asked, holding up An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary.

"These arenÂ’t hieroglyphs," he stated, knowing she had to realize that. On the other hand, she did have blonde moments every now and then.

"I know, but this has pronunciation."

"Alright, then letÂ’s get started."

Neu

After he waved good-bye to the retreating SUV, "duplicate" OÂ’Neill turned to the front guard post. "Sorry, Sergeant, but ReeseÂ’s couldnÂ’t stay long."

The guard skeptically glanced over the teenager standing before him, a grin forming on his face as if he thought it to be a joke. "Go home, kid."

"That’s ‘Colonel’ to you," he corrected, figuring the last rank he remembered to be the one he deserved. That was how it had been each time he retired. "Look, just tell General O’Neill that Colonel O’Neill’s up here."

The guard shook his head. "YouÂ’re too young to be a Colonel, boy. Now stop playing pretend and go home."

Again rolling his eyes, Jack headed back down the darkened road, head down and feet dragging until he rounded a bend where the guard could no longer see him. Then he doubled back, intending to enter the base via a back door.

Neu

Sarah lay back on the cool, wet grass of a park just northwest of Colorado Springs, staring up at a myriad of diamond stars in the coal mine sky. Everything around her was peaceful, still, basking in the sheer perfection of Creation. Deciduous trees and tall wild grasses swayed in the slight breeze that meandered across EarthÂ’s surface. The air was cool, crisp; the TokÂ’ra fleetingly noticed her breath rhythmically rising in to the sky.

As calming and appealing as her surroundings were, Sarah had other things to think about. She and Vinnet were worried about Vandrof, who had been placed in a tank with a low electric charge until he again had a host. While he remained there, the life-preserving contraption was nothing less that solitary confinement. He could see outside, but he could not contribute, could not communicate. Vinnet sympathized with his position since sheÂ’d had the same confinement for three months before she blended with Sarah. She did not wish any of it for her friend.

On top of that, she was not unaware of the mounting tension among the Tok’ra. While some were grateful for any host, many felt that too many Tok’ra now sympathized too much with the Tau’ri. Although the former way of thinking still seemed to hold quite a bit of power in the High Council—otherwise they would not have asked for the declassification of their existence—Sarah had always worried that the discontent with strong-willed hosts would increase to the point that the Council would recall her.

A twig cracked, breaking into the cricketÂ’s monotonous chorus as well as the TokÂ’raÂ’s thoughts. Vinnet took over, sitting up quickly, uselessly staring into the deep shadows on every side of the clearing. She sat perfectly still, keeping as low to the ground as she could without looking like a guerilla fighter. A few more twigs cracked, and the shuffling sound of a person making his way through the dry underbrush came to her ears. Finally, she recognized the figure emerging from the shadows as her hostÂ’s boyfriend, David Rice.

Vinnet retreated on the condition that Sarah propose the symbioteÂ’s solution to one of the issues plaguing her. "Hey," the TokÂ’ra greeted, standing up to give a hug. "Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice."

He smiled as they embraced, his expression showing him to be tense. "ItÂ’s beautiful out here tonight; IÂ’m glad you thought of it." His voice sounded completely sincere, albeit extremely tired.

"Did you see the news last night?" she wondered, thinking to go about VinnetÂ’s request in a logical way.

David nodded. "I actually did. My boss told me to check the news when I got home. It was interesting, but stuff like that just seems so remote. The news said some people think itÂ’s the end of the world."

"Yeah, right," Sarah commented, at first dismissing the idea as ridiculous; the TokÂ’raÂ’s sudden appearance in the worldÂ’s view of the universe should not cause a catastrophe. Then she considered another possibility: perhaps the proposed "end of the world" originated not from the TokÂ’ra but from another source, such as the HaÂ’tak lurking in NeptuneÂ’s orbit.

David smiled and took a deep breath. Then he bent down to get to the ground, only to sop halfway through the motion. He took her hand. "Sarah," he began, pulling a small box from his pocket, "if thereÂ’s any chance the worldÂ’s going to end or be attacked by aliens or whatever, I need to ask youÂ…" He gently opened the box as he finished, revealing a dainty ring bearing a small diamond. "Will you marry me?"

The TokÂ’ra stopped breathing for a couple seconds until Vinnet reminded her that it was necessary for their survival. She knelt down to DavidÂ’s eye level, her emotions conflicting. "I want to say yesÂ…"

"Then say it," he quipped quietly.

"ThereÂ’s so much you donÂ’t know about me."

"I know enough."

Sarah shook her head. "No, you donÂ’t."

"I learn quickly."

She sighed, glancing enviously to the dark, peaceful woods as a tear slid down her face. "IÂ’ve been lying to you since we met," she admitting, knowing the words set as much ice in DavidÂ’s stomach as it did in her own.

He gazed at the outline of her face he could see in the moonlight as he settled onto the grass. "How so?" he whispered after a while.

Sarah also sat back on the brass. "ThatÂ’s why I wanted to see you as soon as you got off work. Truth be told, IÂ’m glad you saw the news last night but not today."

He frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"IÂ’m a TokÂ’ra."

"What!"

Sarah continued slowly, ignoring his outburst. "Until yesterday, that fact was classified. I couldnÂ’t tell you anything related to my real job or who I really am. I probably told you too much, but I donÂ’tÂ’ regret it, especially now."

His eyes left her face, and he seemed to be meditating on a small, lonely wildflower just in front of him. "So all this time I spent trying to get to know you—"

"Was still worthwhile. I didnÂ’t deceive you about everything, just when it came to classified things."

"Then I suppose you've never been to Germany." His voice held a hint of anger.

"No, but I wish I could go."

The anger in his voice grew. "Then, Sarah--and I hope that really is your name--"

"Usually," she admitted quietly.

"--where have you been all the times you went away on business?"

She sighed, knowing this was going to sound loony to him. Why did Tau'ri always have to see so scared of new, foreign ideas? "I had to go offworld, to other planets. There are too few of us for Vinnet to live here without doing something useful."

"No, just living your own life isn't good enough."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Daivd, the galaxy's a lot more dangerous than anybody's letting on. Earth could be a vacation world, but I've lived here all my life. It's not fair to the other Tok'ra if they're all working their tails off and risking their lives and I'm just sitting here doing nothing."

Announce11 (w/ spoilers for season 7 and probably 8, too)


Jack had barely clammored into the back seat when the SUV lurched forward, speeding away from the school and pressing the clone into his seat. "Whoa, Reeses, what's the rush?"

While Jack buckled in, Matt spun around in his seat to stare into the back. "Jonathan?"

Jack looked up again, more than used to responding to his formal first name again. "Matt King?"

Both looked toward the driver, and Matt grinned. "I told you he knew."

Jack's eyes widened in confusion, and he festured to Matt, who he had always thought of as just another high school football player. "Reeses, how does he know?" He paused, his eyes growing wider. "What does he know?"

Sarah shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Although it's nice you two finally know each other, we've got bigger problems to worry about." The two boys watched her in silence, Sarah's tone causing ice to settle in their stomachs. "There's a Ha'tak sitting out by Neptune."

Matt's face showed no recognition; he had never heard of Ha'taks. Jack, however, leaned back in his seat again, thinking. "Just one?"

Sarah nodded. "That's the good news. We might be able to take out a force that small, even though Prometheus and half the F-302s were severely damaged in Anubis's attack."

"Anubis attacked?" he repeated, feeling more out-of-the-loop than ever.

"Yeah. A mothership and countless Ha'taks, all destroyed by a superweapon in Antarctica," Sarah reported. "But the power source to that is about dead, not to mention we have no one who can operate it. There's only one ship now, so that would be overkill anyway." She sighed. "The rest of the good news is that it's probably not Ba'al or any other system lord.

"Ba'al as in the snake-head who killed me over and..." Jack wondered.

"Yes."

Though he didn't know half of what was going on, Matt still tried to follow the conversation. "Bad news usually follows that much good news, especially when you and Vinnet are so shook up," he observed.

A hint of a smile appeared on her face but quickly left. "The bad news is that it seems to be waiting for something either here or elsewhere, presumably backup, but why they'd wait here is beyond me."

"To make sure no one leaves?" Matt guessed.

Sarah shook her head. "It's even easier to leave through the Stargate." Matt nodded, leaving Jack to wonder how he knew about the ancient device. "There's more," she continued. "Now that people are aware of Tok'ra, they're going to expect to see Supreme Councilor Per'sus leave. Last I heard, no one at the SGC had any ideas of what to do." SHe sighed again, trying to convince herself that she could do nothing, but she knew it might be possible for her to contribute. "And since it's probably not a system lord," she added slowly, almost hesitantly, "I can't help but wonder if it's Banebdjedet or his master, Nepthys."

Matt frowned, recognizing the names long before Jack did. "I hope he doesn't have any more business with the NID."

As Jack continued to be confused, Sarah shook her head dismissively. "Even if he thinks he does, the shol'vah he was dealing with should all be in jail."

Before Jack could add any comment, Sarah's phone rang, intoning a simplified version of "Across the Stars." As quick as she could bring the pone from her purse to her ear and press the green button, she answered it. "Hello?" She listened for a minute, the SUV's speed steadily decreasing, even though the next traffic light was still green. As the light gradually turned red and traffic in the next lane sped past for a couple more second, she stopped the car and closed her eyes. "Okay, I understand. Thanks." With that, she hung up and concentrated on her driving when the right turn indicator turned green.

"Who was it?" Matt inquired after a couple more turns into another residential area.

The Tok'ra drew in a deep breath. "That was Sam. I guess par tof her news isn't as terrible as it could be, but..." While she had lived through a few family deaths, this somehow seemed worse. Vinnet had shared her grief then, of course, but she had never known Sarha's grandparents. Now that they both knew the deceased, Sarah felt overwhelmed with emotion. It was as overpowering as the loss the two had felt after Setira's death, but even sharper since she'd seen him twice in the past year. "Gavan died. Just after Per'sus and his entourage arriaved back at the base, it was attacked. Gavan was hit, but Vandrof made it out."

In the hope of keeping tears from the driver's eyes, Vinnet surfaced. She tossed the cell phone to Matt; it would do no good for the alien to speak to any other Tau'ri at the moment, especially since she didn't care to make the effort to mask her voice. "Call David. Tell him to meet us in the park when he leaves work." Before he could begin, she continued, "Jonath--Jack, I will drop you off at the SGC after it is dark. Sam said it would probably benefit them to have another O'Neill in the vicinity."

"Just like they did when Anubis attacked," the clone growled.

Vinnet rolled her eyes. "We were are preoccupied. The SGC was having a difficult time pacing one O'Neill; they would have gone insane with two. Since Jack is tied down now, you are suddenly remembered, thgouh I doubt the General knows you are coming."

Jack shrugged. "I think I always got on Hammon's bad said; maybe it's better this way."

Vinnet shook her head. "I was not referring to General Hammond; the general I spoke of was Brigadier General O'Neill."

Re: Fwd: Victory speech

I'm sorry, but this is a piece of junk. If we were to do this, we'd have a war on our hands bigger than any that has ever taken place on this planet. And all the countries "on List 1"? They'd be right beside the countries on "List 2". There are reasons for many of these things; politics do not have a simple common denominator within ten miles of x.

 

By the way, x = US isolationism. China did that once, back when they were the greatest nation on Earth. Wow. If we were to do that, just imagine... Not a happy thought. That means we'd be out of the loop when it comes to new technologies developed in foreign countries like Japan, Germany, and Hong Kong. No anime. No imported goods. Few to none when it comes to customer support. Sure, I suppose that solves the issue of outsourcing, but then it also eliminates the exchange of ideas. Say good-bye to your Nintendo game systems, your Susuki vehicles, etc, etc, as well as half of the books in Barnes and Noble (aka Books-a-Million for some of you). As much as you apparently hate to admit it, the United States is not a self-sustaining country.

 

(I have to admit, though, that this speech isn't completely horrible. We should just drop out of Iraq and stop playing World Police.)

 

As for diplomatic embassies, you have to remember that good things often come with a price. You're just looking at the price, but look at all we've gained from those diplomatic relations. Without those, this would be an isolated country. But it's not. And because of that, we get stuff.

 

As for the "if you are reading this in English" part, a final thought: the soldiers you're supposed to thank for that aren't doing anything about the increased use of Spanish in southern states. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing (though I'm not saying that I adore it), but I hope the author of this realizes that Spanish is not English. Ha!

 

That's about all. No hard feelings towards those of you I know, and no happy feelings toward any of this year's presidential candidates. They all stink from here to Pluto.

Penguin Queen <hyperpenguinchick@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

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> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 16:16:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Ashley Rhodes
Subject: Fwd: Victory speech
To: Amanda McCreery , Anna Fuzy ,
April Johnson , Audrey Fennell ,
Ben Pinson ,
Bethany Faucette ,
Brittany Holcombe ,
Buddy Ballew ,
Cassea Fowler ,
Charity Zimmerman , Cole McCook ,
Connie Edwards , Crystal Evans ,
Emilee Watkins , Emily Cook ,
Heather Waddell ,
Jody Fitzsimmons ,
Kate McAlister ,
Katie Wood ,
Kerry Fincher ,
Kristy Fincher ,
Lauren Hughes ,
Melissa Allsopp ,
Paula Nicholson ,
Sabra Pittman ,
Sarah Brady ,
Taylor Nicholson ,
TJ Frances

HONEYBEE8903@aol.com wrote:

From: HONEYBEE8903@aol.com
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 19:56:23 EST
Subject: Fwd: Victory speech
To: Beanbandit63@aol.com, psychoaticblondetigerduchess@yahoo.com,
Busterbladeranra@aol.com, bite_thebluehairedfreak@hotmail.com,
luckymonkey013@yahoo.com, xmasbabygurl@yahoo.com, goth209@msn.net,
Mac_and_cheese22@hotmail.com, Khnter@aol.com, joshuahoward@hotmail.com,
barcode696@yahoo.com, kfoundos@yahoo.com, strltht928@yahoo.com,
Navygurlly@wmconnect.com, NekoNall@aol.com, Player506P@aol.com,
LtMissy13@bellsouth.net, JJR927@peoplepc.com, Vernadsmith2@aol.com,
WildThing0711@aol.com, nikkicoles4ever@hotmail.com



> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
From: Gilbogirl@aol.com
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 12:19:58 EST
Subject: Victory speech
To: dndnlynn75@yahoo.com
CC: HONEYBEE8903@aol.com



> ATTACHMENT part 2.2 message/rfc822
From: SIXPAK340@aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 19:04:52 EST
Subject: Victory speech
To: Gilbos440rt@aol.com
CC: Gilbogirl@aol.com, mrbenz@yahoo.com, joysthndr@netzero.net,
froootay@yahoo.com



WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR GEORGE W. BUSH GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?
> >
> > My Fellow Americans:
> > As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed.
> >
> > Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war,
> > Our mission in Iraq is complete.
> >
> > This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of
> > All American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30
> days.
> >
> >
> > It is now to begin the reckoning.
> > Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries
> which
> > have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict.
> > This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria, Australia, and
> > Poland are some of the countries listed there.
> >
> > The other list contains everyone not on the first list.
> > Most of the worlds nations are on that list. My press secretary will be
> > distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
> > Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid
> > To those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely.
> > The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the
> > costs of the Iraqi war.
> >
> > The American people are no longer going to pour money into
> > Third world Hell-holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on
> > corruption. Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic?
> > Call France.
> >
> > In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect
> > this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still
> > have at home.
> >
> > On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us
> > And we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your
> > Friends from the face of the earth. Thirsting for a gutsy country to
> > terrorize?
> > Try France, or maybe China.
> >
> > To Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Yo, boys. Work
> > Out a peace deal now. Just note that Camp David is closed. Maybe all of
> you
> > can go to Russia for negotiations. They have some great palaces there.
> > Big tables,too.
> >
> > I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations
> > with France, Germany, and Russia. Thanks for all your help, comrades.
> >
> > We are retiring from NATO as well. Bon chance, mes amis.
> > I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN
> > diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid
parking
> > tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and
> > crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps
> > have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or
> > watch your precious Benzes, Beamers, and limos be turned over to some of
> > the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.
> >
> > A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2.
> > Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks
might
> > want to try not pissing us off for a change. Mexico is also on List 2.
> > President Fox and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude
> > adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and infantry divisions
sitting
> > around. Guess where I am going to put em? Yep, border security. So start
> > doing something with your oil.
> >
> > Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty ---
> > starting now. We are tired of the one-way highway.
> > It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its
> > Own citizens.
> > Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying,
> > "damn tootin."
> >
> > Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life
> > Around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about
> > everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America.
> > It is time to eliminate homelessness in America. It is time to
> > eliminate World Cup Soccer from America.
> >
> > To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thanks guys. We
> > owe you and we won't forget. To the nations on List 2, a final thought.
> > Drop dead.
> >
> > God bless America. Thank you and good night.
> >
> > If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in
> > English, thank a soldier.
> >
> > ( Please forward this to at least ten friends and see
> > what happens. Let's get this to every USA computer!)

__________________________________________________
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"Teal'c, look scary and take point!"

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The Seven Tribes

Freude and her friends had always grown up hearing about the Seven Tribes. There were always seven tribes in the nighttime stories mothers told their children, and the tribes all faced challenges together. But if one were to ask about the Alegri tribe, he would find that any given member could name no more than six who attended the Versammlung, the Meeting, an annual inter-tribal celebration. And each tribe name had a meaning. Freude's own, Alegri, meant Joy. Her mother's clan, Geist, meant Spirit. Umore meant exactly what it sounded like: Humor. Suerte and Sante meant Luck and Health, respectively. And Caradad meant Charity.

Then there was the fabelled Mascari tribe, the last of the seven.

Some said Mascari meant maliciousness. Others said it meant malcontent or murder. No one knew.

According to the Elders, who taught the younglings everything they might should know to live well, there had been no contact from any Mascari since before the last Great Famine, which was known to have occured in the Elders' elders' time.

* * *

Space-Time Engineering

Kecksburg, PA

Kecksburg, from ufoevidence.org

Thought I might want to use this page for a speech. It looks really cool! Can't wait until I have time to read it!
Gotta love blogger, where I can post notes to myself about where cool sites are so I can find them from school or anywhere else I might be!

A 'Tween Story
( Symbiote's thoughts )


The most annoying thing about being a Tok'ra at her age, Sarah decided, was that Vinnet refused to help with homework. She knew so many of the answers, and yet, she wouldn't just tell them to Sarah. Well, the girl could access anything Vinnet knew, but if the Tok'ra had to figure it out, Sarah couldn't just tap into it. She stared down again at the English homework, one of the few things that Vinnet couldn't do quicker than her host.

About half-way through the worksheet, the doorbell rang. Sarah leaped up and pulled open the front door, which had barely aged since they'd gotten it a couple months before. She was quite surprised to find an older man in a suit and tie standing on the other side.

"Can I help you?" she asked cautiously, trying to keep the door between her and him as much as possible, mostly to keep her dogs from escaping.

"Yes, you can," replied the man. His smile definitely gave Sarah a bad feeling. "Are you Sarah Anderson?"

She started. How did he knew her name? And why? "Should I know you?"

His grin faltered with the unintended insult to his pride. "I'm Senator Robert Kinsey."

"You know, I'm too young to vote, even in the next election, and my mom's not home right now, so you can't talk to her."

Kinsey nodded. "That's okay. I'm actually here to see you."

(opening credits.... :D )

Sarah swung the door open a bit more, allowing a short, spirited dog to leap at the screen door. Surprised, Kinsey took a defensive step back. The Tok'ra smiled sweetly. "Sorry about that. Ted gets excited when we have visitors." She stared at the car in the driveway, a black Cadillac SUV. "Should I be worried that a Senator's come knocking at my door?"

He laughed lightly. "No, not at all. May I come in?"

"No."

The smile dropped off his face. "Please, I need to speak to you about a matter of grave importance."

"Front door's as good a place as any. We're already speaking, so speak up." At this point, she bent down to pick up her dog, who set his chin on her shoulder.

Kinsey's eyes narrowed. "You don't understand. This is very important. We should talk about it inside."

Sarah smiled again, checking to make sure the screen door was locked. "No, you don't understand. I don't know you, so you're not coming in. If you try, my dogs might become rather agitated."

"Are you threatening a senator?"

She thought a moment, playing the words back in her head. "You know what, I guess I am. But you see, the dogs get riled when any strange person comes in, especially if they sense that I don't particularly like them, so you might as well give if up and say whatever you're gonna say here and now before I close the door. 'Cause for all I know, you're some psychopath from downtown."

Kinsey was not amused. "Fine," he snapped. "Tell me about your recent experience with the Goa'uld."

Sarah stared for a moment. No one was supposed to know about that. "The what?"

The senator squirmed a bit, not completely sure this was the right house. "The Goa'uld. The Stargate. Any of it."

Sarah shrugged, which was a little difficult with a good thirty-pound dog in her arms. "See? I knew you were some psychopath from downtown." As she finished, she bit her tongue. Mouthing off to a member of one of your government's ruling bodies wasn't a federal offense, right? Right?

Kinsey glared for a few seconds then began to turn back to his car. "I'm not done with you yet," he snarled before walking away.

*--*--*

The next afternoon, the phone rang. "Hello?" Sarah answered.

"Hel-lo, Sarah," came Colonel O'Neill's perky voice from the other end. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," she replied. "Uh, Jack, some guy showed up at my door yesterday. He asked me to tell him about Goa'uld and the--"

"Yeah, about that," Jack interrupted, not really willing to speak about top-secret stuff like that over the phone. "Kinsey got the president to order us to tell you to cooperate with him."

Sarah stared. "You know how much trouble I could get in with my mom?"

"The president, Sarah."

"So what? I didn't vote for him! He's just some guy I don't know who just happens to be our Commander in Chief." She sighed. "But I guess I see what you're saying. This senator guy, does he know about... all that?"

"Yup," Jack answered. "Every detail he can get his slimy little hands into."

"All right. But I'm not going out of my way for this."

"That's fine."

An hour later, the doorbell rang again. Having a pretty good idea of who it was, Sarah took her time getting there, but she made certain that both dogs were inside and on the main level of the house. Finally, she opened the door.

"Hello, Miss Anderson. May I come in?" Kinsey questioned.

"Na'nai," the Tok'ra answered, but she reluctantly held open the door, leaving the senator to get the screen door himself. The man grinned and entered the house, only to be greeted by a chorus of barking and two dogs running up to him. He finally made his way over to the furniture, where he sat down, vaguely aware that his black suit was now covered in white fur.

Sarah plopped down into a chair opposite Kinsey's position on the couch. "What do you want?"

"No respect for elders," Kinsey grumbled under his breath.

"No," Sarah corrected, "no respect for people who insist on barging into my house uninvited. Like you."

His eyes narrowed; she wasn't supposed to have heard that. "Tell me about your experiences with the Goa'uld," he demanded.

"Sure," she replied somewhat sarcastically. "How long ago do you want me to begin?"

"Your experiences."

She nodded. "I had this dream last night..."

"The Goa'uld, not your dreams!"

"It's a memory," Sarah continued, unfazed by his interruption. "I was thrown down to my knees in front of Ra."

"Ra is dead. Tell me about Baneb... Baneb..."

"Fine," she said, sounding a bit miffed. "He's about five foot six, not all that thin, fairly light complexion..."

"No!" Kinsey yelled. "The president told you to cooperate."

Sarah shrugged. "I know. And I really don't care." Then she grinned. "I'm an obstinate little teenager, remember?"

Kinsey frowned. "Just tell me what I want to know and I'll leave."

"Well, what do you want?" Kinsey opened his mouth, but she continued. "I've got chocolate milk, lemonade, a few sodas downstairs, old orange juice, water..."

His frown grew deeper. "You are a Tok'ra, correct?"

Sarah decided that this was fun, provided it wasn't a capital offense, so she pretended to take offense to the question. "I'm a person, thank you very much! Are you a Tok'ra?"

"Are you a Tok'ra?" he repeated, less than amused.

"What, you can't sense the naquada in my blood?"

"No," he answered shortly. "May I please speak to... what was its name... Vanet?"

Sarah stared for a moment. "Vinnet doesn't particularly want to speak to you. She says that from what she's seen of Earth politics, it would put a mark on her honor to do you the favor of speaking directly to her. But if you give me a minute, I'll see if I can convince her that every human had the potiential to be a good person at some point or another."

Kinsey scowled. There was no other way to put it; he just scowled, but sat quietly, staring at the Tok'ra girl, who stared right back. Finally, she nodded once before her eyes flashed. (Sarah had made certain to have her eyes fully open and visible to the senator.) Kinsey's eyes narrowed, but he didn't flinch.

"I assure you, Senator, my host was exaggerating. She has no appreciation for your visit, and so is attempting to take it out on you."

"I understand, Vonet."

The Tok'ra's eyes flashed again. "My name is Vinnet of Iechnor."

"Yes, of course. So can you tell me what happened on this Setite?"

"I suppose," she answered flatly. "What happened was that I finally took a new host after three months."

"Three months?" Kinsey repeated calmly. "How did you survive that long?"

"We have methods. Needless to say, they are not pleasant and are considered especially... boring."

"I see. Why did you take this young lady as a host?"

"Senator, I had very little choice in the matter. I could risk exposing my identity and sending this girl to die or I could take her as a host. Which would you prefer?"

"At the moment?"

"At the moment, I am especially pleased with Selmak's decision."

"Selmak?" Kinsey repeated. "As in Jacob Carter?"

"Yes."

"He chose this young lady as your host?"

"In a manner of speaking. I do not regret leaving it to him."

The senator shook his head, getting back to business. "What kind of technology does Banebdjedet have?"

Vinnet shrugged. "I am unsure. Our objectives were to dispatch his queen and kindle enmity between his Jaffa and that of Nephthys. I was also to take a host. Nothing about that included any particular attention to the technology he had at hand."

"I see."

"So how do you intend to use that knowledge?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "What technology did you notice while there?"

Vinnet rolled her eyes then sat forward in her chair. "Considering I was confined to a tank for my survival until I took a host, Sarah can probably tell you more." With that, she dipped her host's head, allowing her to speak. When he saw this, Kinsey groaned.

Sarah looked up toward the ceiling. "Lesse. When they walked into my house, they had staff weapons. Getting off the ship, they had staff weapons. Taking me to blend, they had staff weapons. When Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter beat them up, they had staff weapons. So I think we could safely say that Banebdjedet's Jaffa have staff weapons."

"What else did you see?" Kinsey grumbled.

"Well, I suppose they also had sliding doors and artificial lights. Obviously some way to build bases and the like. If he's a typical Goa'uld, he'd have a hand device and a sarcophagus, although that might have been too expensive for him, considering what politicians have done to drop medicare for elder Goa'ulds..."

"You can stop there," the senator announced. "I don't appreciate your responses. The President of the United States of America asked you to cooperate with me."

"Yes, I suppose he did," Sarah replied. "Come to think of it, I think I actually heard of you before." The representative sat up straighter in his seat. "Jack mentioned you. He said you thought the Goa'uld wouldn't pose a threat to Earth because God would protect us. (I only slightly disagree with you there.) So, as a God-fearing man, you'll understand that obeying my parents weighs heavier than obeying the president. I'm only doing you this favor because Jack asked it as well, and he's my friend."

Just then, the two heard the front door opening. Sarah sighed, trying to prepare herself for any trouble she might get in. As she expected, her mother entered the house, immediately turning toward the living room. "Sarah!" she scolded. "Who is this? Why--"

The senator stood, now appearing more respectful than he usually did. "Ms. Anderson, I'm Senator Robert Kinsey. I'm here to speak to--"

"Sarah, why in the world did you let him in here? You don't know who he is!" she continued, her voice now beginning to convey anger.

"Mom," she replied, wondering how she could explain herself. "Colonel O'Neill called--remember him from a couple months ago? He said the--"

"Ms. Anderson," Kinsey interrupted, "I've been sent here to ask your daughter a few questions about that incident."

The mother sent a warning glare to her daughter then sat beside her. "Then continue."

Sarah shot a glance to Kinsey, at once glad that they could no longer discuss her trip truthfully and disappointed that she would no longer be able to taunt him with snippets of details. "Go ahead, Senator. I'll try to answer your questions as fully and as truthfully as I can."

He glowered briefly. "Ms. Anderson, what we have to discuss is classified. I'm afraid I'll have to ask that you leave the room."

"No. I will hear whatever you have to say to my daughter."

Sarah sighed. "Mom, he's right. It's classified for a reason."

"You know about it."

She closed her eyes, exasperated, knowing that the sooner the pain in the mikta had his answers, the sooner he could get out of her house. "A lot had to happen for me to come back," she replied, speaking truthfully. "And a lot of people aren't too happy about it."

"Then tell me."

Sarah dropped her head into her hands, trying to make the well-practiced Tok'ra motion look normal. To Kinsey's dismay, her voice still sounded normal when she spoke. "I'll ask Jack later if I can tell you what we're talking about, but because of certain nay-sayers," she commented, glancing pointedly to the senator, "I don't know if I'll be able to tell you."

The mother glanced to Kinsey, in his perfect suit and cocky manner. "Get out before I call the police."

He put on his usual arrogant smile. "Ms. Anderson, I am an elected official of the United States. There's no reason to call the police."

"I don't care if you're the president. Get out of my house," she insisted, standing again.

He glanced from her to the Tok'ra and to even the dogs then hurried back to his car, the Tok'ra's mother locking the door behind him.

"Don't you ever do that again! Inviting someone into the house while I'm gone! What were you thinking?"

Vinnet sighed, then spoke, careful to keep her voice sounding normal. "Senator Kinsey doesn't pose a threat to us." *Not physically, anyway.* "I've heard of him. The president asked Colonel O'Neill to tell me to talk to him."

"You don't know that that's true," she replied. "Mr. O'Neill could just be saying that."

"He wouldn't. He doesn't particularly like Kinsey."

"And that doesn't throw up a red flag in your mind?"

"No. It doesn't," Vinnet replied honestly, wishing she could provide her reasoning.

"Sarah, go to your room."

The Tok'ra nodded slightly then headed up the stairs to her room, where she closed the door and stared at the portable phone on her now-computer-less desk.

Vinnet, I can deal with you mouthing off to my mother and all, but seriously, I don't know if I want to risk her catching us talking to anyone after coming home to Kinsey in the house.

*I suppose that would not benefit the situation.*

Ya think?

*How do you suggest we resolve it?*

You know the past as well as I do. The best thing to do is exactly what she asks without comment or complaint.

*Senator Kinsey will most likely return. How do you suggest dealing with him?*

In the event she doesn't ground us for your mouthing off to her, we could always bring Lauren and meet up with him at some coffee shop. Then he'll have to hide a lot of his exasperation and keep his voice down. For now, though, we might as well write a letter or something, do homework. Keep occupied.

*Communication counts as keeping one occupied.*

I knew you were going to say that. Sarah sighed, yoinking control from her newfound friend and lying back on her bed.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Vinnet, again in control, heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she called after a second, still unused to the idea of doors.

Sarah’s mother entered and sat on the edge of her bed. "You understand that I worry about you, that I trust you not to let any strangers in."

"I have betrayed that trust," Vinnet replied, feeling a pang of guilt for destroying something her host had apparently worked so hard for.

The other nodded, her expression confused. "You couldn’t have thought about that before you let him in?"

*Now I understand why Colonel O’Neill was so firm in his dislike of that politician.* "It did not come to my mind," she lied, careful to stick with singular pronouns. "When a senator showed up at the door, I was too surprised to think about the consequences." The good news is, Sarah thought sarcastically, your frankness will either annoy her or comfort her. *Your faith and certainty in the outcome is overwhelming.*

"Next time, think about them."

"I will," the Tok’ra promised.

The conversation halted for a couple seconds before Sarah’s mother again spoke. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Fine," Vinnet replied warily. *Will she always be this astute?* Nah, if you talk to her often enough, she’ll figure something about "being caught hacking databases" changed me. *She’ll be right.* …True.

"So what did you and the senator talk about before I got home?"

She shrugged. "What I saw on the databases, what the people at the Air Force were like, how they treated me," she lied, resisting the urge to add that he asked about the base’s menu.

"Sarah," she began, staring at her daughter’s face. "Why did you do it?"

"The hacking?" Vinnet guessed, her question confirmed by the mother’s silent nod. I didn’t! Sarah replied in her thoughts, These Jaffa minions barged into our house, and they took me on their ship. I couldn’t help it! I wouldn’t ‘ve gone if I’d had a choice, ‘course then I wouldn’t have become a Tok’ra… Maybe I would have gone anyway if I knew that’d happen… "I couldn’t help it," the symbiote continued, echoing her host’s words. "I was bored."

"I thought I’d taught you better."

"You did, Mom," Vinnet replied, again using her host’s words. "I just didn’t listen."

The older human shook her head, ending the conversation. "Listen, you’re grounded. That means no visiting with friends, no phone calls, and you don’t talk to that Kinsey fellow again."

"Yes, ma’am," the symbiote replied, careful to keep her tone from being offensive, just as her host instructed. Sarah’s mother left, closing the door behind her.

No! Sarah thought to her "soul mate." Don’t even think about it! If this is what she does for talking to Kinsey, I don’t even want to think about what she’d do if she caught you. Please, I mean…

*If you don’t want to risk him returning here, we’re going to have to do something.*

Vinnet, are you even listening? What if—

*Don’t worry. I’ve had plenty of experience being discreet.*

Yeah? That’s nice. What are you going to arrange?

*You’ll see.* After checking the hall to make sure her host’s mother had returned to the main level, Vinnet picked up the phone and dialed the number for the SGC. A few seconds later, she heard a familiar voice on the other side. "I need Kinsey’s phone number to prevent him from doing something rash…"

* * *

The next day, Sarah and Lauren sat alone at a corner table in the lunch room, which was within a few feet of a door to the outside. It was the beginning of the last lunch of the day, a time when the cafeteria was overly noisy and anyone who didn’t belong wouldn’t be recognized.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lauren wondered. "From what you tell me, this guy’s a real jerk."

Sarah shrugged. "Vinnet’s got a point. With me being grounded, it wouldn’t make much sense for him to try to come to my house again. Nor could I meet him anywhere else. This isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can talk about over the phone, either."

"Here he comes," she noted, motioning to a well-dressed old-ish man walking across the parking lot. "Want me to lock the doors?"

Sarah smiled. "Nah, just let him in so we can get it over with." After Lauren did so, the two found seats at the table with Kinsey two chairs to the left of Sarah and Lauren on the Tok’ra’s right.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly.

"Her friend, Lauren Krege," she replied.

He turned to Sarah. "You told her?!"

The Tok’ra rolled her eyes. "Look, she went with me, so she already knows everything. Now, we figured you wanted something else. Speak now before I’m supposed to leave for health class."

He glanced from one teenager to the other. "Was this necessary?"

"Yes; because of you and Vinnet’s unfamiliarity with the workings of my family, we’re grounded. Which means I shouldn’t be talking to you. But you made it clear you’d turn out to be a real Goa’uld about the whole thing, so we’re sitting in a loud room trying to settle it." She took a deep breath. "Now what do you want?"

"Tell me about your experiences with the Goa’uld," he demanded, not looking particularly happy about being the only one not eating at the lunch table.

"Look, I hear you’re high-up on the get-what-you-want chain. Why don’t you just get your hands on a copy of the mission report?"

"You didn’t write one."

Lauren rolled her eyes, butting into the conversation. "Look, whoever you are, we didn’t see any Goa’uld. We saw Jaffa, lots of stoic Jaffa who did exactly what their higher-ups told them to do."

"Fine," Kinsey snorted, looking back at Sarah. "Why are you here?"

"What?" Sarah exclaimed. "It’s my school. I’m here because I can’t drop out until I’m sixteen, though I won’t then either. Or, if you’d rather, I’m here because it’s my scheduled time to have lunch. I’m here because I’m not sick. I’m here because I don’t have any classes. Why?"

"No, why are you, as a Tok’ra, here on Earth?"

"Oh." She glanced at her friend then allowed her symbiote to surface.

"We are here, in part, because Sarah is so young," Vinnet answered, keeping her voice low, but not making the effort to modify it. "Goa’uld do not generally take children as hosts, so Sarah and I cannot go on a mission for the Tok’ra. As for why we are not at the base, I’ll tell you the truth: we need hosts. Earth is a prime resource to retrieve some."

"Hosts?!" repeated Kinsey. "You won’t have a single host from this country if I have anything to do with it!"

"Settle down and keep your voice low," ordered Vinnet. "If the teachers notice you, life will not be so easy. As for your assertions that we’ll have no hosts, that is not up to you."

"I have ways of making sure you don’t harm the population of this grand country."

"We won’t ‘harm’ anyone here, Senator, nor will we take anyone against his or her will. But if you’ll remember, the promise of hosts was one of the main reasons why we decided to become your allies in the first place."

"We don’t need you as allies," he replied, narrowing his eyes.

Vinnet sighed. "So you say, but you have very little idea of how much we’ve done for you."

"Oh?!" he replied. "Perhaps you don’t realize how much we’ve done for you!"

Vinnet retreated, allowing her host to speak. "Alright, so most people at this point have determined that bickering like this is pretty pointless. Both parties have done a lot for each other. It’s a rewarding alliance. Now what’d’ya say we get on with our lives?"

"Fine. Are there any other reasons why you’re here?"

"Sure," Sarah replied. "Vinnet wanted her own way. I thought it’d be cool to stay at the Tok’ra base, but she was curious about our culture. Not to mention that she thought I didn’t know enough science and math to really be able to contribute."

"Hosts from other places know more?" Lauren wondered.

The Tok’ra shook her head. "No, but she wanted to see if we knew anything that could help them. That and she wanted me to know as much as possible on my own."

"Enough. So curiosity is why we’re letting an alien loose on Earth," he concluded.

"You son of a Goa’uld!" Sarah shouted, her voice just barely above the constant noise level. "Jack said you probably had a purpose in mind when coming here. I should’ve listened. All this just so you can have ammunition to get me off Earth? You self-righteous Ha’shak! You’re all into protecting Americans! I’m an American citizen, too, if you haven’t noticed! Whether Vinnet is or isn’t, I’m still here, and I’m still the one talking most of the time!"

Lauren leaned back, a little shocked by her friend’s sudden rage.

Kinsey began to stand up, but thought better of it. "I will do whatever needs to be done to ensure the safety of the other Americans. It’s no different from sending a murderer to prison."

"Except that I haven’t done anything. The only thing people think I’ve done to break the law is hacking into Air Force computers, and wouldn’t ya know it, I never did such a thing. The next closest thing was probably not picking up after my dog when I took him on a walk. Oh, yeah, let’s just lock up all—"

Her eyes flashed, and all involved parties were grateful she’d chosen to sit with her back to the rest of the crowded room. "Your accusations are premature, Senator. You don’t know that we are any threat to you."

"I know enough to know that you’re only going to be trouble," he replied.

Lauren rolled her eyes, then glanced behind her to see an approaching teacher. "Excuse me, but we’ve got another problem."

Vinnet and Kinsey caught sight of the teacher. "Mr. Kinsey, as much as you may dislike it, it might benefit you to act as Lauren’s or my parent."

He shook his head, sent one last glare to the girls then stormed away toward the school’s main entrance, quickly passing the teacher. When she arrived at the table, she glanced over the two students. "What’s going on here?"

"My step-dad just stopped by to pick up my brother," Lauren explained, giving Vinnet time to switch back to Sarah. "He was mad I didn’t have him ready to go this morning."

The teacher nodded then continued walking through the room.

"Sarah," Lauren began, "you think he’s done annoying you yet?"

She shook her head. "All I know is that I’m not done with him yet. The very suggestion that Vinnet’s evil or that she’s come to, I don’t know, terrorize people—it’s absurd! I doubt he knows the difference between Goa’uld and Tok’ra, so that’s my mission."

"Wait, you’re going to try to convince Kinsey that Tok’ra aren’t evil? Good luck!"

Sarah grinned. "Yup. Thanks."

* * *

Sarah and Vinnet sat on the bed in Sarah’s room, reading a magazine on Ancient Egypt. Or at least, pretending to.

When are you going to start working on your master plan?

As soon as I get an idea.

Of course. It won’t work, though. You were fairly accurate at lunch when you called him a son of a Goa’uld. You were off by only one generation.

Sarah grinned. True. There’s just that little problem of not sensing any naquadah in him.

Perhaps he hides it; he’s definitely no harcesis.

This brought another grin to Sarah’s face. Maybe the parent Goa’ulds were as stupid as he is.

"Sarah!" her mother repeated, standing in the doorway. The Tok’ra looked up expectantly. "I need to talk to you. Will you come downstairs?"

A weight settled in the pit of the Tok’ra’s stomach; all cheer and merriment evaporated. "Sure," she replied, dropping the magazine and hurrying down the stairs after her mother. Once on the main floor, they sat on opposite ends of the couch.

"It’s been two months," her mother began, "and you still haven’t told me what happened with the Air Force."

Sarah sighed. She doesn’t believe me. I hate keeping secrets. No; to tell her would betray the trust the SGC and Tok’ra have invested in you. She won’t believe me. "I was abducted by aliens. They messed with my head. The Air Force brought me back to Earth."

"Sarah," she replied, warning in her tone, "don’t lie to me. Just tell me the truth."

"What do you want me to say?" she snapped. "That I regret my part in what happened? That I’d do it differently?"

"Just tell me what happened?"

"Fine, I’ll tell you what they told me I could tell you—again."

"No, tell me what really happened, not what they told you."

So if I really tell her, the SGC, the Tok’ra, and Banebdjedet are all going to want to slap me upside the head, right? Or something similar. She thought briefly of Jack and Sam, even Jacob, all of whom trusted her to keep the secret. "I can’t. I’ve promised them. I love you a lot, but… While I was there… It could have turned out so much worse!"

"It still may turn out worse if you don’t tell me."

Stick to the cover. Throw details in. I won’t let you say too much. Sarah rolled her eyes, belatedly realizing her mother would see. Have to get used to that… "Fine. I was upstairs, on my computer. They rang the doorbell. I looked outside to see who it was, and when I saw, I didn’t want to answer the door. So I didn’t. And they came in."

"The door was burned."

Why didn’t they ever come up with a good explanation for that? Curse Jaffa. They can not make anything easy. "It was?" Yes, feigned innocence might work, but I don’t know that that will work. "I didn’t see," she replied truthfully, though she knew full well that it had been hit with several staff weapon blasts. "Anyway, when they came in and saw me at my computer, they paused for a couple seconds then told me I had to go with them…"

"I’m having a hard time believing you," her mother admitted. "You don’t sound like you’re telling the truth."

Maybe because I’m not? You can’t tell her, Vinnet warned. Too much is at stake. Suppose she were to find out then confided in one close friend, who confided in one or two close friends? While that wouldn’t be our problem, it doesn’t disprove what Kinsey was saying. "Tough; I am," Sarah replied after listening to Vinnet.

"Then why do you take so long to answer? How come it almost always takes so long to get your attention?"

Sarah rolled her eyes and sat back against the couch. "I think too much. And then I get really caught up in thinking." True…

She shook her head. "Well, if you don’t want to answer me truthfully, I guess you’re going to be grounded for a long time."

"I guess so."

* * *

Sarah picked at her cereal, not really hungry but obliged to eat since lunch wasn’t until noon.
You’re going to have to talk to her sometime. The enmity between you two cannot continue for the next four years.
"Really?" the host whispered sarcastically. "I would’ve never guessed." What would you want me to do, anyway?

Working on your cover story might help.

"You’re the one sitting in my head all day and refusing to help me with schoolwork. You think of something." I wouldn’t have to think of anything if we hadn’t blended in the first place.

Do you think I’m not aware of that?

"No. I’m sorry," she replied, really meaning it. "I’m just…"

I know, remember? You noticed the emotion-sharing the first day.

Sarah smiled slightly. "Will you, though?"

Yes, I will. Unless there’s something particularly interesting in science class.

"Will I what?" a voice behind Sarah asked.

She spun around in her chair. "Mom! Hi! I thought you were in the shower?"

"No." She glanced around the room. "Who were you talking to?"

Kal’ma, Sarah whined. "No one. I was just practicing for my project in theater class."

"I see. If you ever need to talk, I’m here."

"Uh, thanks… That, um, means a lot to me." Her mother nodded and walked away. Too close! Sarah thought. If anything like that ever happens again, Vinnet, your cover’s blown sky-high!

I know. Perhaps you shouldn’t talk aloud, though I understand it’s hard to do for the first year or so.

Great. So I have to go through a whole year before people stop being so suspicious. Real comforting.

Up to a year. I’ll remind you when you’re ‘talking to yourself’. It should be no problem at all to get you to stop.

Sarah sighed, finished her cereal, and headed out the door for school. During homeroom, one of the school’s secretaries called over the intercom, asking for her to report to the office. Three minutes later, she entered the bustling room. "Excuse me, I was told to come here," she explained to an official-looking person.

"Anderson?" The lady looked up to see Sarah’s nod. She pointed back and to the left. "It’s that open door right there."

The Tok’ra nodded then ventured into the smaller room labeled ‘guidance office.’ There, she found a councilor and Lauren waiting for her. "Please close the door behind you," he said. After she did so and sat, he continued. "Yesterday, several students and teachers reported seeing the two of you with a man at lunch."

Sarah dropped her head into her hands, sighing. "Sorry to drag you into this, Lauren."

"It’s all right," she replied.

"This man," the councilor continued, "hadn’t checked in with the office, but a couple of the teachers recognized him."

Seth spawn! Sarah thought. That’s the last thing we need!

"How is it that you know Senator Kinsey?" he pressed.

Sarah shook her head. "Couple months ago, I hacked into some computers," she lied. "Kinsey wanted details on what I saw."

"That doesn’t make sense."

"He’s the chairman of a civilian oversight committee," Lauren explained. "And she saw some top-secret stuff."

"Next time," he scolded, staring at Sarah, "you can meet on your own time, not at school. Tell me, why did he meet you here anyway?"

Any time you want to bail me out, you’re more than welcome. You’re doing fine. Remember: as important as all these things have been to you in the past, you are now aware of greater things. Thanks for telling me all I care about amounts to a pile of mastradge fodder. It’s just what I needed to hear. Vinnet sent a warm, encouraging feeling to her host.

"He wouldn’t gotten me in trouble with my mom," Sarah explained. "Next time, I’ll just meet him in the parking lot or something."

"Your own time, Miss Anderson."

"Yes, sir." Whenever I actually have time again. If all this works out, maybe we can arrange a bit of vacation this summer. No sooner? We’ll see.

He paused for a few seconds. "Are you always so quiet and well-thought out?" he wondered.

"No," Sarah answered quietly. "I’m not always this quiet, but I suppose I do think stuff out a lot."

The councilor ignored Lauren’s sudden burst of laughter and nodded. "You understand I’ll have to contact your parents."

Sarah’s eyes widened. "No, please! I’d much rather take, say, a week of detention than have you call my mom!"

"Why?"

"Think about it. She found out that I broke into some government computers then found me talking to a senator about it when I can’t tell her. If she found out I talked to him again…"

"Maybe you’ll think about the consequences more in future situations." With that, the councilor left the room, presumably to do paperwork and call parents.

"Alright, Vinnet, any time you want to go home…"

A small laugh escaped Lauren. "What, she’s actually considering it?"

"She’s just thinking in terms of a vacation instead of an internship or permanent residence, unfortunately." I’m a field operative; I don’t have much experience in weapons development. Since you are so young and do not possess a broad knowledge base in science, it is doubtful that we could contribute as much as we could after you finish your education. "Thanks for the support, Vinnet," Sarah groaned.

"What if you told your mom part of the truth? If she knew about Vinnet, I’m sure she’d understand why you had to talk to Kinsey and why you act weird sometimes."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do. You talk out loud to a snake in your head. You talk to each other a lot, and when you do that, it’s hard to get you to snap out of it."

Sarah thought a moment, easily recalling examples to prove her friend’s point. "I’m sorry," she said, her voice sincere. "I guess you’re right. I should tell her."