Serpent's Vow

27: Duality of Existance

A/N: Below is the Goa'uld translations.

*ha'taaka ~ a derogatory term for someone vile, worse than a traitor

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"Incoming wormhole," Harrimon's voice filtered up from the control room below.

Seto gazed fixedly through the conference room at the glowing chevrons on the spinning Chappa'ai below. Something in his reflection caught the light and Seto immediately stilled his hands, releasing the Duel Monsters card locket and letting it dangle freely from his neck. He couldn't allow his self-control to slip, especially not in front of the Tok'ra.

"Nervous?"

Dr. Jackson's voice was quiet and nonjudgmental as the archaeologist approached the windows to stand by Seto's side. One sharp glare at Dr. Jackson's reflection successfully halted that train of questioning. Seto was well aware of his slip. He didn't want to talk about it.

Nervous? Osiris's thunderous gullet, Seto was terrified. Not about the impending negotiation with the Tok'ra though. A negotiation was a negotiation was a negotiation. He'd conducted, participated, and presided over too many to be surprised or intimidated by them anymore. From his experience, human businessmen could give a Goa'uld System Lord a run for their money when it came to scheming and sucking up to potential allies and enemies alike. The Tok'ra, despite being against the System Lords, were still Goa'uld. Seto was prepared to deal with them.

No. It was the mysterious Ishtar woman. She was the root cause of all of Seto's anxiety at the moment. What little he'd been able to find on her was literally that, little. It was pathetic and nipped at his pride. He was reluctantly impressed by Ishtar's ability to conceal her existence from his far-reaching resources. It was the strangest thing. If Seto didn't know better, he would've guessed the woman had just popped up from a hole in the ground.

Hell, did he know better?

"Is this the first time you've seen the Stargate open in..." Dr. Jackson shrugged in place of a time and Seto couldn't help but sigh in response.

"We buried the Cha-" No. That wasn't the word these people used. Might as well start adapting, however much it irked him to do so. At least for now. "-the Stargate. We buried it, Dr. Jackson. We did so deliberately. We never intended for it to be used ever again."

Dr. Jackson's curious eyes lifted from the very active Chappa'ai to Seto's profile a second before he spoke. "Did you really think you'd never see it again?" he asked softly.

Seto snorted derisively and shot the linguist a wry look. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I'm very aware of your species' incredible capacity for imagination, innovation, and insatiable curiosity. I never doubted for a second that I would see it again." His gaze returned almost uncontrollably to the Chappa'ai. "I just always thought it would be in a museum or as a curiosity in some billionaire's collection. Not in a military base let alone in active use."

"Why not?" the archaeologist asked with a thoughtful frown.

Seto felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in sardonic amusement. The silence hung heavy as the sixth chevron locked in place and the spinning device moved to the final chevron, the point of origin. Seto liked Dr. Jackson, but there were times when the man reminded him too much of Yugi and the dueling midget's endless patience and understanding.

"Tell me, Dr. Jackson," Seto said as the final chevron locked in place and the blue-white, watery event horizon fwooshed outwards before settling in its stable, rippling pool within the Chappa'ai's containing ring. "Did you ever wonder why the Stargate was buried without its accompanying dialing device?"