Ch.109

General Hammond agreed and said he had to be diplomatic before giving us our new mission. We went to the base camp and I saw one of the spirits. I stopped Teal'c, telling Jack. "I was right, be careful."

We found the trinium totem of the story of Xe'ls, the goa'uld and the Salish people. My suit stopped the darts from hitting me and Sam while the rest went down. I stopped Sam and told her. "They aren't dead, just knocked out."

The natives shot more at us and I lowered my suit to let them hit us instead of starting a fight. I woke up in a room with Sam, Jack and the rest of the team unconscious. I waited a good hour before Teal'c woke up while the rest roused ten to twenty minutes later. We met Tonane and he gave us our weapons back after Jack explained carefully everything that happened. Jack asked for our friends back while they gave us our weapons and Tonane told us what happened from his perspective.

Tonane offered to introduce us to Xe'ls and tell him it was all a misunderstanding. I agreed, telling him I'd like to meet the spirits that could free his people from a race of demons like the goa'uld. He brought us to the forest and we greeted T'akaya whom I smiled seeing in wolf form. "Beautiful."

I knelt down to her and asked. "May I? It's been a very long time since I've played with wolves and your form is quite appealing. I knew this one great white dire wolf, as big as a horse and as charming as a shark."

Daniel asked. "Don't sharks eat people?"

I snorted lightly. "People eat people sometimes. Humans are weirder than animals. Besides, sharks are mostly docile and quite happy unless hungry."

I stroked T'akaya's fur and hummed a song of Winterfell that came to mind. I spoke in T'akaya's mind saying her form was quite beautiful and a charming aspect of nature a part of me missed. She actually found my ear scratches appealing and embarrassing which made me chuckle until she nipped at my hand. "Sorry, just reading the surface thoughts and intentions."

I stood up and smiled. "I embarrassed her in front of her husband."

I turned to the raven. "Sorry my friend, if I knew she was married and not a lone wolf I'd have asked your permission. If you like I can embarrass you as well. I'm familiar with how crows prefer to be scratched as well."

I offered a hand and he flew to me, wearily letting me pet him until he got embarrassed as well. He flew back to his branch and I turned to Tonane. "They wish to speak with us alone if you would."

Xe'ls cawed and Tonane said he understood before leaving saying he'd be just outside the forest. Xe'ls and T'akaya changed when I told them seriously. "He's gone, you're free to show your true forms now. Though you should understand my doubts at whether a pure hearted man like Tonane would judge you by appearances."

T'akaya changed first and Xe'ls right after her. They were humanoid with gills along the ridges of their noses. I grunted. "On second thought I preferred the animals. At least them I could pet without looking weird."

Jack asked. "Who said I didn't always look weird being a giant and all."

I shrugged and Jack asked for our people back. I stopped him when Xe'ls told them they'd been warned about blasting on the mountain and they did it anyways. I offered a hand to Xe'ls and told him I would show him the people of earth and why they'd screwed up, but we're willing to make amends as well as ask permission for the rights to mine in a far less destructive and more productive way. He took my hand and I showed him my memories of earth, what happened with Ra, Apophis, all the goa'uld, everything since my descent.

I spoke openly. "The people of earth are this galaxy's best hope of being free of the goa'uld in this lifetime. Not just one world, but thousands more suffering worlds of enslaved people. You freed this one people, but they're the best chance of freeing them all. I can't ask you to fight, but I do ask that you understand they are learning, growing and trying to be better people."

"Now, we have the technology, crystals to be exact, to mine tunnels in seconds and leave the refined trinium on the ground for pickup before we use crystals to close the shafts, leaving no damage to the mountains and lands. We're willing to teach the Salish people of their ancestors on earth where they originated from and we're willing to work out an agreement between bot Tonane's people and yours if you'd like for whatever amount of Ke or Trinium you or they need, but you must understand our need of it to build ships and fight the goa'uld."

Xe'ls nodded slowly and I released his hand. I sighed. "Humans are a flawed race, but they try and that's what makes them worth believing in. You believe so as well or you'd have cut contact with Tonane's people long ago."

Xe'ls spoke hesitantly. "We will follow whatever agreement you make with Tonane's people, but we do ask that you not reveal our true forms to them."

I shook my head. "We won't, but you should understand the difference between a young race and one who has grown as a people instead of technology. Tonane and his people trust and believe in you more than you believe in them at this point. If you trust them I think you'll find them accepting of you no matter the form you take. The decision is yours though and not our concern since you aren't taking advantage of them or abusing their belief in you."

Xe'ls nodded and bowed politely. "Thank you wise one."

I scowled. "I'm no more wise than the next guy. I'm just old, well, older than you and your people anyways."

T'akaya looked to Xe'ls and he nodded so he asked. "You're of the race that built the gates are you not?"

I nodded and told them. "Yes, I do believe my people weren't quite thinking that one through, but yes I am."

They released our real people and we went to speak with the elders of his village. I told them of the crystals and offered a demonstration where the blasts were. They agreed for the demonstration and we headed back to the mining camp before I scanned the ground with my suit. I set one crystal and it dug a tunnel into the mountain once activated. Refined trinium fell to the floor of the tunnel in large quantities as I'd hit the largest vein in the mountain just perfectly. I held up a hand and made the trinium float out if they tunnel in stacks thanks to the bar form the crystal left them in.

I turned to Tonane and the elders that came with us. "One crystal digs without a mess and the other fills in the hole like so."

I set another crystal and the hole was filled in with the dirt and rock taken from the first one and compressed, pulling it out of the compacted form and leaving just a rock facing like before. I gestured to the Trinium in several large piles before saying. "Earth's people require a lot of it, possibly more than one mountain can give, but there are other mountains on this world and other worlds to find it on eventually so they can share, but you must understand that like Xe'ls freed your people, the people of earth are trying to free many others across the stars. Hundreds of worlds, millions upon millions of people. We are fighting a war against the same demons that enslaved your ancestors and we must win or many more will suffer."

Tonane nodded and said it was good enough for him, but only so long as it doesn't upset the spirits. I smiled and Jack told him Xe'ls himself had agreed to follow whatever agreement Tonane's people made because the spirits had no use for ke. Tonane asked Xe'ls if that was true and the raven cawed before Tonane smiled. "It seems our peoples have come to an agreement then. We will take one in ten blocks of ke that your people dig out and your people will ensure that things are put back to the way they were when the Ke is removed."

I stopped him there and made a gold bar fly out of the pile next to me. "Actually, we have other things your people can have as well. Ke isn't the only metal in the ground nor the only thing the crystals can mine for. To that end, this is called gold."

I handed him the bar. "Be careful, it's heavy and may be a bit soft. It's very pure, but if you mix it with ke or something it can become extremely hard and beautiful."

He barely held it and smiled when I told him there were other things we could mine for as well in the process of getting ke and his people can trade those with earth for books and knowledge on their ancestors or things to learn and games to play. I told him earth has a great many things they can trade for and it's entirely up to him and his people what they wanted to do so for. Knowledge, wisdom, culture, wildlife, fruits, vegetables and other things were all up to them because a world of new experiences can be opened for them.

Tonane agreed to consider it but for now one in ten of everything was more than enough. I brought out a pallet, setting one in ten bars on the ground in a stack for each thing including cut and polished diamonds and gems. Soon Tonane and his people had their first trade off while the SG teams returned to the SGC where the team was briefed on the crystals and reprimanded for blasting and pissing off the locals. General Hammond asked me if that was truly them afterwards and I nodded before telling him to let Tonane see all Daniel had on his people as part of the agreement.

The old team was briefed on the crystals and sent back to mine with pallets and warned that one in ten stayed and any theft will be on their heads if the spirits catch them doing it or the SGC does. In the meantime I made a trinium, carbon and Naquadah alloy that was a hundred times stronger than trinium and heat resistant. From windows to blast doors, a new Iris and so much more, the entire base was under construction night and day.

Walls were lined with the alloy and windows were replaced all over in the observation rooms, control rooms and even General Hammond's office. Regular doors were replaced as well while the staff turrets were upgraded and replaced with better designed ones. The entire gate room was remodeled including the doors to the silo overhead. The capacitors were upgraded with the new alloy which is when I left the project to work on armbands for SG members.

They would replace the Iris code bands and be portable DHDs.