Nesert

3.19

Episode 10.09 "Company of Thieves" (bold)

"You still have nothing for me, Anateo?"

"I've been busy, Asra. Kefflin is definitely involved, I can tell you that, but you know how secretive he is."

Nes glared at him, but finally turned away. "What did Netan want?"

"He's sending me on a fool's quest. I don't think he expects me to survive, but I have other plans."

"What does he want you to do?"

Anateo smiled sadistically. "Let me worry about that. I think it's time Netan was dealt with, though."

Nes spun around with raised eyebrows. "Dealt with? By me, you mean."

He brought a hand up to her face and Nes barely resisted the urge to remove the hand from his arm. "I will do what he asks of me and I will succeed. And you will take care of Netan himself. His stuffed corpse will be a trophy on my wall and I will have full control of the Lucian Alliance." He brought his face closer to hers. "With you by my side."

He kissed her and she allowed it for a few moments, knowing that the small encouragement she gave would keep him wanting her, maintaining her position of power even as he ascended to new leadership positions. Desire was a powerful tool and she was a master at wielding it to her own purposes.

"Perhaps when I replace Netan, you can congratulate me personally."

"If you replace Netan. Let's not jump ahead."

"I will succeed." He grabbed her face rather roughly then. "Make sure that you do not fail, Asra."

"Have I ever failed you yet? When do you want me to take out Netan?"

"I want my task completed first, but it will be a few weeks before I strike. Wait until you hear of my success."

"How will I know you are successful if you will not tell me what your task is?"

"Oh, you will know. It will be quite the conversation topic."

She bit back her annoyance and curiosity. After all, the task itself didn't matter, only success or failure. That was all that would affect her.

Anateo kissed her again, but Nes pushed him off and told him she had things to do to prepare if she was going to kill a well-guarded man like Netan.

Anateo left again disappointed, but his confidence in himself could not be lowered even by her rejections. He had no doubts of his entitlement to rule, despite the majority of his power being gained only because Nes had happened to find herself in his territories. He was lucky, with enough skill to capitalize on the good fortune that came his way, but would that give him the entire rule of the Lucian Alliance? She was unsure. Lesser men had certainly attained more power throughout history.

Despite the pull back to Earth that she worked to ignore, Nes ventured into Netan's territories. He was almost exclusively aboard his ha'tak as he monitored the Alliance as a whole, though, and Nes would need to find a reason to get close to him. She knew SG-1 had had interactions with him in the past and wondered if their database might have information she could utilize.

She was grasping for a reason to go home, but it was enough. Why she felt she needed a reason was beyond even her own ability to see, but she directed her al'kesh towards Earth anyway. Nes smiled as she looked down on the planet from orbit, though her ship wasn't nearly as happy, since she'd pushed her a bit hard to get back more quickly.

Nes beamed down to her new house before driving over to the SGC. She was escorted down to the briefing room, which had a large whiteboard set up with the Lucian Alliance hierarchy laid out and a man Nes remembered as Major Escher standing next to it.