Complete
Drama
Set in the early 20th century
Disclaimers:
Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, The SciFi Channel, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is written purely for my own entertainment, and that of anyone else who may happen to read it. No infringement of copyright is intended. It is not intended and should never be used for commercial purposes.
The original characters, situations and ideas contained within this work are the property of the author.
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to my beta reader, Sho.
Akrotiri, on the planet Kritos
Becoming a regular had only changed Meriope's daily routine very slightly, but as a Gorgon, her life was very different. She still trained hard, day in and day out, but everything else changed. Firstly, she left the section barracks which had been her home for so short a time and entered the Gorgons' dormitories. Unlike the regulars, the Gorgons did not have a single sleeping area for each section, instead they bedded in groups of twelve, two squads to a dormitory. These clusters inevitably grew close and so Meriope found that she suddenly had more friends than at any time since leaving Halicarnasus.
In the regulars, Meriope had led a squad; in the Gorgons she found herself at the bottom of the ladder once more, but this actually comforted her. She was well aware that she had skill but little experience, and the fact that she now had the chance to work her way up and earn whatever command she gained made her feel like less of a fraud. Moreover, the Gorgons appeared to bear no grudge against her for the speed of her promotion; they accepted her as she was. Even Ilena seemed less hostile now, which was just as well since Meriope had been placed in the second section, of which Ilena was Primus.
She was much busier now and it was difficult for her to find the time to return home to Halicarnasus. She missed her husband greatly, but she did at least have his letters to comfort her. She had also her new friends and of course the old; Rathe and Nissa were always glad to receive her at their home. Meriope had more freedom than ever to leave the Hall and explore Akrotiri in Nissa's company and, moreover, she was permitted, when off-duty, to dress as she chose instead of wearing service robes. With some delight, Nissa had dragged her around the port market and chosen for Meriope a number of flattering chitons and gowns.
It grieved Meriope that she saw so little of Arachne after their promotion, but it could not be avoided. Her friend was often called away on her mysterious and secret missions as Medusa's scout and even in the Hall she spent less time around the barracks than she had done before. Meriope had a sneaking suspicion that Arachne was being courted by the Tek ma'shen's new apprentice – a young man of seemingly infinite patience, named Oloros of Kalipolis – but as Arachne said nothing, neither did Meriope.
As time passed, Meriope's skill began to shine. She grew rapidly in confidence and experience and the officers of the company were not slow to notice. Meriope became the second of her squad in her second year and squad leader three years after that, when her squad leader was promoted. After seven years she was a senior squad leader whose opinions and ideas were respected by her peers and even by the junior primes who led the Company's specialist platoons.
That was how things stood when Minos ordered the Company of Gorgons into battle against one of his rivals, Polythemus. Meriope had taken part in dozens of missions for her Captain by then, but she knew at once that this would be different. Even before the briefing, Medusa's eyes told the Gorgons that this was a fool's fight, but they had faith in their Captain. Where she led, they would follow.
Meriope was rather surprised to be summoned to Medusa's command briefing, but it proved that all of the senior squad leaders had been summoned, alongside the platoon and section primes. She listened attentively as Medusa outlined their mission, an assault on Polythemus' fortress on Aeolchis. The first and third sections of the Gorgons would actually form the spearhead of the main assault, by Minos' Taurus Guard, while Ilena's section would be detailed to secure the landing field and hangars. This task was vital, for if Polythemus were able to launch even half of his gliders, they would devastate the Gorgons from the air.
Medusa drilled her plans into all of her officers, making certain that each of them knew their role and the overall scheme of the battle. More importantly, she gave to them their parts in each of three fallback plans and detailed a dozen routes of retreat. "If the assault is successful we are to withdraw from the breached defences and permit the Taurus Guard to take the fortress."
"And the glory," Kephalos, Primus of the First Section, muttered.
Medusa gave a grim smile. "Do not think that theirs is the easy part," she assured her warriors. "Even within the walls this fortress is designed to be held against a determined foe. However, I do not think that it will even come to that. Resistance will be heavy and retreat will be difficult," she explained. "If the assault should collapse, Minos and his warriors will not hold the Chappa'ai for our evacuation, let alone make any kind of sally to retrieve us. Unless we punch all the way through these defences – more than two thousand paces of moats and bulwarks, automated guns, bunkers and mines – to knock on the very doors of Polythemus, there will be no support; no reinforcements."
Meriope shook her head; a slight gesture, but Medusa caught it.
"You have something to say, Meriope?"
Meriope flushed, but spoke out boldly. "Even with the battalion regulars, we do not have the numbers for a frontal assault," she explained. "There are weaknesses in that fortress. Too many ring receivers, weak inland defences; an assault from space..."
"The God-king is most insistent that we make a direct show of his strength," Anthus interrupted her.
"We can accomplish this mission," Meriope insisted, "but not from the Chappa'ai. If he insists on this he will be humiliated in defeat. He must know this."
"He does," Ilena agreed, "but you are wrong. He will not be defeated; we will. The Captain will."
Anthus nodded, grimly. "He will announce that it was Our Captain's errors which cost the battle; he shall establish his superiority without ever having to test himself."
The assembled Jaffa muttered angrily. The idea of their beloved Captain being so abused enraged them. At last Medusa held up her hand for silence.
"I am touched by your concern," she said. "You are correct, Meriope, that this is a foolish way to assault this stronghold. Anthus and Ilena, as you have discerned, this is a blow against me. It seems my efforts in Minos' name have been too successful and he believes that I must be taught a lesson before I become too...arrogant."
The Gorgons snorted in disbelief; one flaw which Medusa could not be accused of was arrogance.
"It is possible that the fortress could be secured by a frontal assault, but the cost would be greater than I am prepared to pay for Minos' vainglory. I therefore believe that no effort should be made to achieve our assigned goal." She allowed a moment for that to sink in. "Instead, our aim shall be to stay alive in spite of this battle. I will not sacrifice you all for his benefit."
The Gorgons said nothing; such talk had long since ceased to shock them. Instead, they listened.
After the other officers of the company had left, Meriope remained in the briefing room, studying the map. She understood Medusa's plans, but she also understood what the Captain had not said. Even with their efforts directed towards survival this would be a bloody struggle. Meriope was certain, however, that there must be some way even those odds a little; something had caught her attention during the briefing, if only she could remember it.
Suddenly it struck her and she was so excited that she hurried to Medusa's chambers without further consideration.
Meriope had been so often in and out of Medusa's outer chambers since her arrival at the Hall that the guard at the door barely batted an eyelid at her arrival, merely called in to the Captain then allowed her to pass. The Captain was in conference with Anthus and the Primarch was apparently in a state of some distress.
"He knows," Anthus was saying as Meriope entered. "It is now or never, My Captain..."
"Hold your peace, Anthus," Medusa commanded, her eyes flickering to Meriope. "We shall speak of this later; I understand your fears, but rash action can only endanger us."
"Yes, My Captain."
"Approach, Meriope," Medusa instructed.
Meriope obeyed, although an awkward feeling that she had heard too much made her stomach squirm.
"My Captain," Meriope said. "Primarch."
"Speak your mind."
"I have a thought regarding this assault, My Captain," Meriope explained. Under Medusa's watchful eye, she laid out her thoughts for the Captain's consideration.
At last, Medusa nodded her head. "I will think on this, Meriope. In the mean time, I would like you to accompany me to Stymphalia."
"Yes, My Captain."
"Anthus," Medusa said. "Bring the section primes to the roof garden and summon my teltac."
*
Stymphalia's precipitous beauty had never ceased to awe Meriope, but although she had come to the city a hundred times to train in the gliders she had never before met the Master of the Udajeet himself. Icarus was a reclusive individual and did not emerge from the construction and maintenance hangars to train Jaffa pilots. When Medusa arrived on his doorstep, however, he was there to greet her in person. His golden armour flashed brightly in the sunlight, but Meriope was struck by the fact that it would be difficult to think of anyone less like a god than Icarus. He was small, almost as small as Medusa, and his green eyes were full of fear. His hair, long and red, was remarkable, but his bearing was so nervous and ungodly that all his physical beauty did nothing to alleviate the feeling that this was a man without strength.
Yet despite this, Medusa greeted Icarus with respect and even fondness. "Tek udajeet," she said, holding out her hands to him with a warm smile. Meriope was astonished that she would address this craven godling with a Jaffa honorific and even more so that he would bear it. Most Goa'uld considered the Jaffa dialect to be a peasant tongue and rejected all its trappings; one of the reasons why her Jaffa loved Medusa was her willingness to be addressed by her students as Tal ma'te.
"Captain Medusa," Icarus returned. He took her hands in his and bent over to kiss her fingers, reverently. The look he turned on her was one of worship. "You grace my humble eyrie with your presence. You and yours are ever welcome in the fortress of Stymphalia."
"Thank you, Master Icarus," Medusa said. "Is the Cha'pal jeet ready?"
"She is, although to my shame I have not been able to locate any others of her kind." He cast his eyes down with a look of such heartfelt and pitiful dejection that Meriope almost wanted to take him in her arms and rock him like a child.
Medusa reached out and laid a hand on his cheek. "My dear Icarus, you always expect so much of yourself. That we have this one is better fortune than I could hope for. Please, show us."
Bouncing on the balls of his feet like an eager child, Icarus led Medusa and the company officers to the uppermost levels of the city; to his private hangar. Meriope had heard rumours of the Master of the Udajeet's collection of rare and unusual vessels, but so far as she knew no Jaffa had ever seen them. They were a truly impressive sight, almost two dozen fighters and a dozen larger craft, each one as beautiful as the bronze-winged Stymphalian Birds.
"Here she is," Icarus said, guiding them to a fighter of much the same size as conventional glider, but with its flight surfaces drawn in a ring around the fuselage instead of spreading outwards. The hull plates of the glider had an unmistakable patina of age, save where a layer of bronzed trinium steel had been laid over it to create the feather design of Icarus' hawks. "I finished my repairs and the renovations that you requested ahead of schedule and took the liberty of adding a little decoration to the craft," the nervous Goa'uld admitted. "I hope that you do not mind, Captain Medusa."
"Not at all," Medusa assured him. "She is beautiful, and you deserve such recognition of your work. I must confess that I did not believe you could restore the craft that I first saw here eight months ago. I apologise for my doubts."
Icarus blushed.
"Would you leave us now, please, Tek udajeet," Medusa asked. "I must speak with my commanders alone. Afterwards, they will require refreshment in your pilots' hall," she added as Icarus' face fell.
Icarus' eyes lit up again; it was clear to Meriope that the godling was quite passionately in love with Medusa. "Perhaps, Captain, you would do me the honour of dining with me in my apartments?"
"That would be charming," Medusa replied.
"Then I shall make preparations to receive you, Captain." Icarus bowed, then left the Gorgons to their discussions.
"Well, my Gorgons; what do you make of this?" Medusa asked.
"I have never seen a craft such as this," Meriope said.
"The Cha'pal jeet," Medusa declared. "Known less formally as the threader of the needle. It is an unorthodox design, but most effective; at least, when the pilot is skilled enough to use it." She ran her hand lovingly along the prow of the fighter. "Master Icarus has excelled himself this time," she sighed. "You think very little of him, Meriope, but he is undeniably a genius."
Meriope blushed as the section primes turned to look at her.
"A craft such as this can tip the balance of a battle, but she is a difficult vessel to control and the slightest slip can be fatal," Medusa went on.
"Then who shall pilot her?" Meriope asked. She did not dare to hope that she would be entrusted with this task; she knew that her skill as a pilot was sorely lacking and indeed the reason for her presence here still eluded her.
"It will take the finest pilot I have ever trained to master this hawk. Ilena; do you still feel yourself up to the challenge now that you have seen her?"
"I do," Ilena replied in an awestruck tone. "Capable, but perhaps not worthy."
"That will suffice," Medusa assured her. "Primus Agenor, the weapons of this craft are turret based. Who is the best gunner in your section?"
"Timais of Knossa," the primus of the third section replied.
"Excellent; he will be assigned to operate the weapons systems of the Cha'pal jeet."
"What of the second section?" Meriope asked. "If Ilena is piloting the craft, who will command us?"
"Ilena will assign one of her squad leaders to assume command of the section," Medusa explained. "Have you had cause to reconsider your decision, Ilena?"
"I have not," Ilena replied.
Meriope nodded her head, slowly. Presumably the first squad leader would be given this honour; Helos, Primarch Anthus' former apprentice, protégé and rumoured lover. "Primus?" she asked, embarrassed, as she heard her name spoken but realised that she had lost the context in her musings.
"A mere pilot for the present," Ilena replied. "That title is yours until this mission is done."
"I...Mine?"
"With My Captain's approval, of course."
Medusa nodded. "I maintain that you have made an excellent choice, Ilena; if only she can stop flapping her mouth in that piscatorial fashion."
The other section leaders chuckled, good-naturedly, at Meriope's discomfort.
"Honestly, Meriope," Ilena asked. "Why did you think you were here?"
"But I am only a squad leader, My Captain."
"A senior squad leader," Ilena corrected, "and the best candidate for this post. I trust my section in your hands, Meriope. Do not let me down."
"Ilena is correct, Jaffa," Medusa agreed. "You have the skill to accomplish this mission, if you will accept this commission. You are still inexperienced and I will not press you to this duty."
"Thank you, My Captain," Meriope replied. "I accept this commission, with great humility."
"Thank you, Jaffa."
"For what, Tal ma'te?"
Medusa gave a melancholy smile. "For the bloody duty that you are to do me in this fight."
*
Aeochis
Aeolchis was a maul; brutal and ugly. Any assault through a defended Chappa'ai was a messy affair and even with the support of the Cha'pal jeet, early losses were heavy. Wearing heavy assault armour – massive, ablative plates to protect against heavy defensive fire – the first section's leading squads did not expect to take any part in the mission beyond establishing a beachhead on the enemy world.
On Aeolchis, the sun shone down with inappropriate brightness on the scene where the bloody battle was to take place. When the strange death glider burst from the event horizon of the Chappa'ai, spitting fire in all directions, the garrison were disoriented. The fire line were easy prey for the lead squad, but once the heavy weapons were brought to bear the Gorgons were left to withstand a salvo of plasma fire before the Cha'pal jeet could circle around for another strafing run.
As the main body of the Gorgons came through, they saw that the lead squad had been decimated. Those who were not dead were severely injured and the Captain ordered them to return to Knossa as soon as the Gate could be cycled. They had been in battle for less than ten minutes, but they would return in glory.
"Check the enemy weapons," Medusa ordered, turning to the rest of her troops. A trumpeter stood at her side to relay her commands by horn signal and a servant followed him, carrying the transponder unit for a crude communications unit, scavenged from a glider. "Defence squads, dig in. First and third sections, salvage any additional heavy weapons you can, then on to the fortress. Meriope; to the landing field. Kree!"
Air superiority was the key factor in this mission. Ilena had already taken the Cha'pal jeet forward to strike at the defences between the Chappa'ai and the fortress. The Cha'pal jeet had given the Gorgons an early advantage, but without it the retreat to the Chappa'ai was all but impossible and it would be vulnerable to attack by enemy gliders. Meriope's task was to ensure that there were no enemy gliders to present that threat.
"Skirmishers forward," Meriope ordered, at once. "Air defence, follow; all other squads protect the air defenders. Let no enemy glider take to the wing."
Speed was one of the Gorgons' greatest weapons and it did not fail Meriope now. It was over a mile from the Chappa'ai to the landing field, but the first skirmishers reached the perimeter in less than seven minutes. They struck hard and fast, piercing the defences leaving the bulk of the walls standing and capturing rather than destroying the static defences. Meriope had detailed one of her squads to carry adapted glider cannons for use against enemy emplacements and – more importantly – any gliders that flew over their position or tried to launch once they had arrived and these air defenders carried out their role with ruthless efficiency.
Once inside the perimeter, the section spread out across the field, but Meriope's command squad made directly for the control building. There was no way that a single section could hold the entire field for long and she knew that she could not allow any ships to remain after the Gorgons were gone. Capturing the control building was Meriope's idea; she had seen an opportunity, overlooked in Medusa's original plan, to take advantage of the unusual skills of a young Jaffa named Calibos.
To most Jaffa, the technology of the Goa'uld was magic. Even to the Gorgons, anything beyond field maintenance of military equipment might as well have been magic for all that they understood it. Calibos was different. He understood technology – and in particular, computers – on a deep and practical level. Given time, he could make the control systems at the heart of any Goa'uld operation do whatever he wanted them to, whether he had the authority of the god in question or not.
Meriope's second, Glaucus, was uncomfortable with her plan, but he followed where she led. As they waited for Calibos to pierce the system defences, however, he was visibly nervous.
"Check the perimeter sensors," Meriope suggested, principally to give Glaucus something to do.
"A battalion of Jaffa are approaching the perimeter," Glaucus reported. "The defences are holding them at bay but they are spreading along the line and we do not have enough to man the entire wall."
"I am aware of that," Meriope assured him. "Calibos...?"
"A few moments more," the young warrior said. "There. I have it."
"Excellent!" Meriope crowed. "Glaucus, issue the primary fallback signal, then join the other pilots at the fifth hangar. Take control of the gliders there; support the advance, but be ready to fall back to the Chappa'ai if need be."
"Yes, Primus," Glaucus agreed, taking no trouble to hide how impressed he was.
"The rest of you, with me," Meriope ordered. "Another prize awaits us."
While Glaucus and the pilots seized control of a wing of gliders, the rest of the second section fell back to a different hangar. They made short work of the guards who had retreated there, only to find all of the systems locked against them by Calibos' intervention, and entered the hangar to seize a fine prize indeed: an al'kesh. It was the work of minutes for the section to secure the cruiser and gain control of the peltac.
"Calibos; override the security codes and give me systems access," Meriope ordered. She went forward to the flight cabin and took her place in the command chair, while two of her most skilled pilots took the flight seats.
Meriope picked up a communicator unit and fixed it on her cheek. She touched the console at her side, recalibrating the ship's antenna to receive and broadcast on the command frequency which Medusa was using to communicate with the Cha'pal jeet.
"Engines engaged," Calibos reported from the peltac. "Turret cannons activated; ordnance bays...fully-loaded, Primus."
Meriope smiled. "Fates be thanked," she sighed. She toggled the shipwide address system. "All Jaffa to launch stations; secure for departure." Without needing to await confirmation, Meriope switched to an external channel. "Glaucus?"
"We are on our way to the fortress," Glaucus reported.
"Excellent. Captain?" she asked, tentatively.
"Kree Jaffa!" Medusa snapped. "There is a ha'tak vessel in orbit; evacuate the landing field before you become a target."
"Yes, My Captain," Meriope replied. "Jaffa; take us up, now!"
The pilots obeyed at once and the al'kesh tore from its hangar mere moments before the structure was pulverised by a volley of orbital fire.
"How may we assist, My Captain?" Meriope asked.
"Our retreat is cut off and Polythemus is using the ha'tak's transport rings to relay reinforcements from around the planet," Medusa said.
"I understand, My Captain," Meriope said. She turned to her pilot. "Make for the fortress; target the torpedoes on the ring arrays. We shall cut off their reinforcements and then concentrate on those who have surrounded the first two sections. Gliders, clear a path to the Chapp'ai. All craft stay on the move and change course often."
The al'kesh moved off, evading a stream of fire from the ha'tak vessel until it was too close to the fortress for Polythemus' gunners to risk firing. Obeying Meriope's orders, the Jaffa lunached a salvo at the ring arrays, crippling the transport receivers and tearing rents in the walls. Seeing the danger, the gunners on the ha'tak risked a few more shots, but only succeeded in blasting a greater hole in the fortress wall.
Even Meriope was stunned by the success of her plan; the fortress of Aeolchis was laid bare. Supported by the Taurus Guard, the Gorgons would sweep in and conquer where they should have died.
"Ilena," Medusa snapped. "Has Lord Minos launched his strike?"
"No, My Captain," Ilena replied. "The Taurus scouts have retreated."
"Fates destroy that coward," Medusa muttered. "We had a chance. I am sounding the retreat; let all ships guard us as we go."
The al'kesh swept back to support the gliders and blast a path to the Chappa'ai for the beleaguered Gorgons. Once the retreat was in full flow, she ordered the gliders to land and the pilots to return home, leaving only her own craft and Ilena's in the air.
"Jaffa!"
"My Captain," Meriope responded.
"My squad has been cut off while defending the rear," Medusa said. "You will retrieve us."
"Yes, My Captain." Meriope's blood ran cold to think that Medusa was one of those trapped. She did not dare to consider the tortures that might be inflicted on her beloved Captain if she were captured by an enemy Goa'uld. More than that, however, Medusa was the one who made the Gorgons what they were. If she should die, her soldiers would surely be absorbed by Minos' army; after Medusa, Meriope knew that she could never serve under such a witless butcher.
The al'kesh swooped low over the battlefield, her turret cannons scattering Polythemus' Jaffa and allowing the vessel to settle over the stranded group of Gorgons. To Meriope's relief, Medusa was still on her feet.
The ring transporter activated.
"Move!" Meriope ordered, and once more the al'kesh evaded a blast from the ha'tak.
"The Chappa'ai is almost over-run," Ilena reported.
"Go, Primus," Medusa ordered. "Complete the retreat. We shall return home by ship."
"Yes, My Captain," Ilena responded, reluctantly.
The door from the peltac opened, admitting the Captain in person. Her armour was stained with soot and blood. "To the Chappa'ai," she ordered. "Destroy the dialling device."
"Yes, My Captain," Meriope agreed. She began to rise from the command chair.
"No, Jaffa," Medusa said. "This command is yours. Once the Chappa'ai is disabled, make for deep space and set a course for Kritos."
"Yes, My Captain."
"I..." Medusa paused, an expression of infinite weariness flashing momentarily across her features. After that moment, her defences were back in place, her face a perfect mask of calm. "I must see to our wounded."
Medusa turned and left the cabin; after a moment, Meriope addressed the pilots. "You heard the Captain's orders."
"Yes, Primus," the pilot replied. "We are in position over the Chappa'ai."
"Our warriors?"
"None remain...alive."
Meriope closed her eyes. "Destroy the dialling device," she ordered. The al'kesh shivered as the bomb bays discharged their load; the ground around the Chappa'ai boiled and the ring itself – although physically unharmed by the raging plasma – toppled sideways. The gliders that her pilots had abandoned in the area were consumed, their power cells erupting in a series of brilliant flares.
"Activate the cloak," Meriope said. "Quickly; while the ha'tak's sensors are blinded by the explosion. Bring the al'kesh around to the far side of Aeolchis so that out hyperspace window will be concealed, then take us home."
"Yes, Primus."
"And pray the Fates that we go unseen."
*
The first hour of the hyperflight was the most terrifying of Meriope's life. She knew that the al'kesh's engines could not possibly compete with the ha'tak's and she knew that their course could easily be predicted. The pilots did their best to confuse the trail, but for all of their precautionary manoeuvres, Polythemus must have known that they would head for Kritos and they could not afford to spend long jinking to-and-fro while the wounded lay in the cruiser's meagre infirmary and the dead were wrapped in cloths and laid in state in the depleted bomb bays.
Once she was reasonably confident that there was no pursuit, Meriope ordered her crew to set a direct force for home at maximum speed. It would still take over two weeks for the al'kesh to cover the vast distances between Aeolchis and Kritos and she wondered how many would die in the mean time. She wondered how many would die when they arrived home in disgrace. Would a new captain command in Akrotiri? Meriope could hardly bear the thought that it might be so.
Meriope put her hand to her communicator and activated the channel to the peltac. "Glaucus," she said, before remembering that her second had been with the glider pilots. "Calibos?"
"Yes, Primus."
"What is the known status of the Company?"
There was a pause as the young warrior collated reports. "Information is incomplete," he began, "but the company has suffered losses of between thirty and one-hundred dead; at least twice as many wounded. In our section, twelve were slain on the ground and eight in the air; nineteen wounded are currently in the askap'on and seven dead have been laid in state in the empty aft bomb bay. Primarch Anthus is among the dead," he added, in a reverent tone. "They say that he took a blast to save the Captain."
"And this vessel?" Meriope asked.
"The al'kesh was well-stocked," Calibos confirmed. "We have adequate food and water for the journey to Kritos and although the ordnance is largely depleted, all systems are fully functional."
"How long until we arrive at Akrotiri?"
"Twenty-five days and seven hours at maximum speed, Primus. We can achieve greater speed by running the engines beyond their safe limits, but we would have to stop periodically to allow the drives to cool and to effect maintenance. If you wish, I can calculate a pattern of such pauses to optimise our flight time."
"Do so," Meriope ordered. "If you can reduce the time by more than two days, you have my authority to implement the pattern."
Meriope cut the channel and leaned back in her seat. Her own part in the fighting had not been as strenuous as some, but she felt exhausted. She desperately wanted a chance to shower and perhaps even to take a long, hot bath; she wanted to lie on one of the pallets in the steam room while Arachne rubbed all the aches from her muscles. Unfortunately, the al'kesh had neither baths nor showers, and certainly not a steam room. The Jaffa would not starve or die of thirst during their voyage, but they would begin to smell rather bad.
"Primus Meriope."
Meriope's eyes snapped open. "My Captain," she replied, concerned. Medusa sounded weary; she seemed almost to be distraught.
"You must join me in the askap'on at once, Primus."
"Yes, My Captain."
By the time Meriope reached the askap'on, the nineteen wounded had already been reduced to fourteen; one had been healed, four more had succumbed to their injuries. Those who remained were quiet, many of them sleeping for the time being. Captain Medusa sat beside one of the occupied bunks, but her healing device lay, unused, by the side of the bed.
"My Captain," Meriope whispered.
"Approach, Meriope," Medusa replied. She stood and turned to face her Primus; as she did so, Meriope saw who it was that lay on the bunk.
"Rathe!"
Medusa laid a hand on Meriope's shoulder as she started forward. "His prim'ta is dying," she said. "It is slipping away very slowly, but it is dying; his body can be healed with my hand device, but a prim'ta..." she shook her head, sadly. "Alas that there is no other surviving in the pouches of the dead to take its place. I am sorry, Meriope."
"Warriors die," Meriope replied, forcing herself to be stoic and calm.
"Weep," Medusa said, "for he was your friend." She moved past and left Meriope alone with Rathe.
Meriope sat at Rathe's bedside, took his hand and wept.
"Meriope?"
"Rathe."
"I am dying, am I not?"
Meriope tried to deny it, but she could not speak.
"I know I am," Rathe assured her. "I can feel it, but even if I could not, I have not heard you cry in years, my friend. You do not have to cry; we have always known the perils of our life and it is at least a life that we chose."
Meriope squeezed Rathe's hand, tightly. He was an experienced campaigner now; a warrior and a father, whose eldest son would soon begin his own training in the bash'ak; a skilled commander in the Gorgons, respected and granted great status within the city of Akrotiri. Looking at him, Meriope did not see that; she saw only her friend, the fresh-faced young vineyard hand who had smiled so sweetly when he received her first kiss.
"What can I say to Nissa?" Meriope asked.
"You can tell her that I died without pain," he suggested.
"That is not true," Meriope protested.
Rathe forced a smile onto his pallid, bloody face. "It hardly matters," he assured her. "It would please me to know that she believed it. Tell her that I died peacefully, knowing that I had served My Captain faithfully, and that my last thoughts were of her and of our children."
"Rathe..."
"Meriope. There is nothing else for me to say, is there. She is my wife and I love her; there is nothing that matters more to me than her happiness. She is..." He tried to sit up, but broke off, wincing in pain.
"Lie still," Meriope begged. "Rathe, please..."
"Oh, Meriope," Rathe sighed. "Mine has been a good life, my dearest friend."
There was a long pause before he spoke again, and Meriope's hand tightened on his. His eyes closed and he grew so still that she almost thought that he had passed away, but at length he whispered:
"Would you...Meriope; please take the prim'ta from my pouch. I think that it is dead anyway, but I wish for the Rite of M'al Sharran. You will stay with me?"
"Of course."
Meriope bent forward and laid a gentle kiss on Rathe's brow. Then she reached beneath his armour and pulled the bloody ruin of his prim'ta from his body. "Do you see?" she whispered, in a voice choked by tears. "Do you see the path that you have walked?"
"Yes," he murmured. "I see it and I am pleased. I have few regrets, Meriope. I only wish that..."
"Yes?"
"I wish that I had been wiser as a boy," he admitted. "I wish that I could have seen then what I know now; that the love that sought me out was more fine than the love that fled from me."
"I do not understand."
Rathe's lips curled into a wistful smile. "I see myself in the hills of Halicarnasus. I am running; chasing. Chasing after Meriope. Nissa is here, but I do not run after her; I find little sport in chasing Nissa, for she never runs away. Sometimes, she even chases me."
"She loves you," Meriope whispered. "Always, she loved you."
"I knew it, yet...I was a fool, Meriope. I chased after you because you would not give in to me. I believed that that which could not easily be won must be sweeter than that which was freely offered. When you found another, I ran away; Nissa gave herself to another man in order to stay close to me and still I could not see that she – not you – was the one for me. Oh, Meriope; we were such fools and you were so wise."
"I have no wisdom."
"You found Damos and you stayed with him; I should have stayed with Nissa and she should have known better than to try and follow me."
"You know that I do love you, Rathe?" Meriope asked.
"And I you, Meriope," he replied. "I have two sisters and neither one is dearer to me than you are, but I should have seen sooner that ours was not the love of lovers."
"Do not dwell on regrets," Meriope told him. "Think of what you have achieved. Think of your family."
Rathe's eyes opened and stared at something that Meriope could not see. "Yes," he whispered. "Nissa; oh, dearest Nissa. And my children."
"Yes. Four children; few Jaffa unions are so blessed as yours."
"You will look after them, will you not?"
"Of course I shall."
"Say nothing to Nissa yet," Rathe added, "But...but if she should...should find..." He swallowed hard. He was breathing his last now and Meriope leaned over to hear his final words. "If she should find someone new, tell her that she has my blessing," he murmured.
"I shall, Rathe," Meriope promised. "I shall tell her."
Rathe squeezed her hand with the last of his strength. "I die well, old friend," he gasped. "I die true."
And then he was still.
Meriope laid her hand across his face and closed his staring eyes. She folded his hands across his breast and placed his dagger under his grasp. She closed her own eyes and steadied her breathing, then she straightened her back and gave voice to the ancient lament of the hill folk of Halicarnasus. As she sang, she thought that she heard a second voice joining hers, but her eyes stung with grief as the pain flowed up from her heart and fells as tears from her eyes, and she could see nothing but a blur.
As the final note of the lament faded away, Meriope wiped her eyes. To her astonishment, she saw the second singer standing opposite her; it was Medusa.
"In seven millennia, I have sung for every one of my dead warriors," the Captain said. "It is rare that I do so as publicly as this."
"I am honoured to have witnessed it," Meriope said. "May I...?" She averted her eyes.
"Yes?"
"Tal ma'te; it would mean a great deal to Nissa if I could tell her that you sang the lament over her husband's body."
"I can not allow you to do that," Medusa said, apologetically. "I always make a point of bearing such news to the family in person."
"Thank you, My Captain."
Medusa leaned down and kissed Rathe's brow in benediction, then she led Meriope from the askap'on. "I have lost many fine servants today," she said, "but few will grieve me so much as he loss of Rathe. He was skilled and the regulars revered him, and loyalty such as his is rare indeed. He was your friend: the first that you have lost?"
Meriope nodded her head. "For a time I thought I might marry him," she admitted. "Long ago; before I even met Damos. It would have been a mistake, but he has always been very dear to me; he and Nissa alike."
"I know of your history together. I had Rathe tell me all that he knew of you, before I came to meet you at the Market."
"You did?" Meriope was taken aback.
Medusa nodded. "Did you think that I came to Agora simply to buy cloth? I have servants to attend to such tasks, Meriope; the real Niao among them. I came for one reason only; to meet with you .You intrigued me. Few Jaffa women volunteer for service in war; they are taught that it is not their place. Some learn to defend their homes, but it is usually only if one such as myself spots their potential that a woman becomes a warrior."
"I...I did not mean to be impertinent," Meriope assured the Goa'uld.
Medusa laughed, kindly. "If you have not already realised it, Meriope, I am rather fond of those Jaffa who show me a little impertinence. I knew before I met you that you would have potential. The last time that a woman sought to train with my company must have been fifty years ago. That was Ilena."
"I do not have her skill," Meriope demurred.
"No," Medusa agreed. "But you are only forty-five; she is eighty-one. You shall learn much in thirty-six years."
"Yes, My Captain."
Medusa touched a hand to Meriope's brow in benediction. "You did well on this mission," she said. "You have saved the lives of many of your comrades, and perhaps rescued me from an eternity of torment."
Meriope bowed her head. "It was my duty and my honour, Tal ma'te."
"The honour is mine," Medusa assured her.