"Um, Teal'c, I can't help but notice… that isn't the symbol of Apophis on your forehead anymore. And it's blue now…" Daniel remarked to the former Jaffa after greeting him as he walked through the door of the inn. Sam's attention was also immediately drawn to her teammate and friend's altered appearance.
"That is correct, Daniel Jackson," came Tealc's immediate reply.
Jack, following the bigger man into the inn, elaborated in a slightly enigmatic way. "Yeah, Teal'c here has become a holy man." Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement as the colonel continued, "and in the process prevented me from becoming a holey corpse." Jack pointed to the massive rips on the front and back of his uniform where he had been impaled.
Daniel raised a finger in the air to begin speaking, but as he opened his mouth, words failed him. He closed his mouth, lowered his finger, and lowered his eyebrows in consternation. He couldn't even fathom the question he should be asking. How did Teal'c go off with Jack to find an emissary and come back some kind of priest for a local god?
Samantha Carter was equally astounded. She immediately insisted on inspecting Teal'c. It took her about five seconds to find something odd. It took twice as long for her to make a shocked face, look up and talk to Teal'c about it. "Teal'c, your symbiote pouch is gone." When Teal'c simply agreed, she repeated herself for emphasis. "Your symbiote pouch is GONE."
"Yes, Dr. Carter. When I was given the power to save O'Neal's life by Tyr the Even-handed, he also cleansed me of the taint of the Gou'ald." That comment sparked off questions and concerns about his health. The symbiote had been serving as Teal'c's immune system, as symbiotes did for all Jaffa. Without it he would quickly succumb to sickness and have no means to fight off any sort of infection. Teal'c forestalled their worries. "I too would indeed have worried, if it were not for my trust in Tyr. And my faith has not been misplaced. Since my cleansing I have not fallen ill. In fact, I have noticed that the minor wounds I have sustained in combat have closed and healed on their own faster than previously."
After more questions, mostly originating from Dr. Carter, conversation finally shifted to discuss the mission. Before the debriefing actually started, though, Daniel thought to ask where Tamil and the rest of the party had gone. Only Teal'c and Jack had returned to the Flagon together. There was some worrying as to the well-being of their new friends.
"Eh, believe it or not, our group has actually grown by one. We were joined by a couple more of the locals, you'll meet them later. But we had to ask Qara to leave." Jack explained how the sorceress had been reckless in her magical attacks and how her attitude had not improved in the least.
"Good riddance," Neeshka chimed in from a table where she was drinking some of the house ale.
Jack gave her a nod of agreement. "When we got back to Neverwinter, Captain Brelaina immediately assigned Tamil to help the Harbor Master deal with a ship that just got into port. Apparently it's from some place called 'Luskan' and the captain is afraid that the ship will resist authority when they are turned away. I'm not sure as to the why, but…"
Overhearing the conversation, Tamil's foster "uncle" decided to fill in some details. "Oh, I can tell you why they aren't welcome, alright. Luskan," Duncan's smooth face crinkled with disgust as he said the name, "is largely responsible for the present ills of Neverwinter. Just as the city was recovering from a wretched plague, the city of Luskan attacked us, trying to put Neverwinter under their control. Rumor was that they were working with the very ones responsible for the plague in the first place.
"Now we're recovering from that war, but it is still affecting things," the innkeeper continued. "I'd wager ya noticed a surplus of thieves and bandits since you've been here. Part of that is because the cost of rebuilding takes money away from the Watch. But another part of it is that the war thrust a lot of men into the role of soldiers. They got experience fighting and using a blade, and then suddenly it's all over and these men are sent back to ruined houses, destroyed farms, and broken dreams. Without the availability of honest work, it's no wonder a good number of them turned to the gangs. And even now the Luskans are still trying to put people back in the city to undermine us or to serve as spies."
SG-1 certainly couldn't fault Neverwinter for not wanting more to do with Luskan. Sam, however, had something she wanted to show everyone. Luskan wasn't the only place that had shady dealings going on. Dr. Carter brought everyone into the back rooms where she had some video footage to play.
"Take a look at this."
A well dressed, dark-skinned man sat behind a comfortable desk. From the angle of the camera, it was clear that the office was well-appointed. It looked much like a fairly wealthy merchant's house would appear. Then there was a knock, and a woman in a hooded cloak was shown into the room by some burly men. The woman sat down and waited for the men to leave before she removed her hood. It was Captain Brelaina.
"Thank you for coming, Captain," the man said.
Brelaina frowned. "Let's skip the pleasantries, Axle. What is it that you want? I had half a mind to ignore your 'summons' and insist you come into my office to have this chat."
The camera didn't show the man's face, but he leaned forward and his tone became slightly menacing. "Let's not get testy here, Captain Brelaina. You and I both know neither of us wants our dealings to come to the attention of your higher-ups. Were I somehow to be arrested, the bribes I paid to ensure your promotion and placement in the position you now enjoy would be brought to Lord Nasher's attention. We're in the same boat, you and I. Let's not rock it."
The City Watch Captain grumbled. "Do not think to threaten me, Devrie. Your cushy position here in the Merchant's Quarter with its convenient river access could be taken away much easier than my rank in the Watch. I would not need to expose your direct criminal activity to make things difficult for you."
Axle's response was more placating. "Captain, please, I called this meeting to smooth over our misunderstandings. Not to antagonize you. I have no intention of giving up your valuable contact or of embarrassing either of us."
"Arresting your lieutenant, Moire, was no misunderstanding, Axle. You let her and your men loose on the city and it was all I could do to reign in the Watch so that you were not destroyed along with her." Brelaina's voice was cool and controlled. "I did my best to curb the purging of your informants and influence, but the proof my new recruit brought back was undeniable. My hands were tied."
Axle sat back in his chair. "That issue is not the matter. In fact, the miscommunication was that you thought Moire was acting under my instructions when she performed her more brutal actions. The fact of the matter is she went against my instructions when I ordered her to handle things with delicacy. As capable of an enforcer as Moire was, she lacked the finesse of your Lieutenant Farlong and her stranger friends."
Captain Brelaina smirked, but seemed obviously mollified. "Yes, my new recruits have strengthened the position of the Watch throughout the city… at your expense. So, what do you propose now?"
Axle clearly didn't like how the conversation had gone, but really had no easy way to steer things back to a position of power. "I need… some favors from you. You are right that you have greatly weakened my position. All the sources and informants I had within the Watch are closed to me now, save for my most valuable one—yourself. Without the sort of power I had before, though, my influence on the street is no stronger than any gang with knives. I need you to help me put some men in position to look the other way at the right times."
"And in return you will continue to keep the worst of the chaos from spilling over to where it does not belong?" Captain Brelaina stood up and pulled up her hood. "I'll get back to you on this. Have one of your boys get picked up for something minor and sent to me." She walked out of the room.
Breaking the silence, Daniel said, "The good news is that now we have a pretty sure way of getting all of us into Blacklake. We'll get to see the more detailed records in the archives that will hopefully reveal the location of the Stargate. And Tamil can get to see the sage about the pieces of silver he needs examined."
"And we can get the tin man a heart and the scarecrow a brain, yada, yada," Jack deadpanned. Teal'c and Neeshka, understandably, didn't get the humor. Daniel and Sam did, unfortunately and let out a groan, though Sam smiled.
Sam needlessly explained that the video feed was setup before Moire's arrest and death while following one of her bodyguards who was unknowingly carrying a tracking device. Axle's place had been a difficult house to bug, but obviously well worth the effort. Captain Brelaina had obviously thought the surveillance had stopped with Moire's capture, or perhaps she just had not realized that the team had managed to penetrate to Axle Devrie's hideout.
A few minutes later, Tamil Farlong walked into the inn muttering about Luskan idiots. She had a few cuts and burns on her which she waved away as minor when she was asked about them. She was followed by Khelgar and Elanee, and then Casavir and Grobnar entered the inn last. After everyone played a brief game of "let's share back stories" and introductions were taken care of, Major Carter brought Tamil back into the room set up for video monitoring and showed her the surveillance footage.
Tamil whistled. "Well, that her reluctance to arrest corrupt watchmen before we showed her the video evidence." The bard looked to Jack. "What do you suggest we do with this? Find a member of the Nine?"
Jack shook his head. "No, I think the captain deserves to at least be confronted by us about this before we go over her head. But when we ask her about Blacklake this time, we don't take 'no' for an answer."
When Tamil and SG-1 came into Captain Brelaina's office and asked to speak to her alone, she asked what the matter was about. When Jack dropped a subtle hint about a house with access to Neverwinter River, she ordered Marshal Cormick to leave. When Sam played part of the audio between her and Axle, the watch captain's calm expression and self-assurance were replaced by paleness and anxiety.
"So, before we turn this over to the Nine or Lord Nasher, is there something you'd like to say?" Tamil asked with a voice that sounded like a honey coating on a poisoned dart.
Captain Brelaina took a few moments before responding. Her demeanor became a mix of embarrassment and resolve. "Look, I know this doesn't look good. And it isn't good. But it is not as bad as it appears. Yes, I admit I do have an arrangement with Axle Devrie, and I know he's connected to the Neverwinter's underworld. But he doesn't own me." Hearing that the watch officer wasn't attempting to hide anything, SG-1 and Tamil were a bit heartened, despite having seen her in what was obvious corruption.
"When I first got involved with Axle, I was a lieutenant in the Watch and I thought he was just one the many wealthy merchants in Neverwinter who wanted to play politics. It started out with him doing favors for me, eventually resulting in getting me promoted to captain. I didn't even realize Axle was connected to crime until he demonstrated that he could put an end to some embarrassing robberies in the Merchant Quarter that the Watch had been unable to handle. Eventually it became clear that he expected me to allow the watch to be infiltrated and for me to look the other way on bribed patrolmen. In return, I was promised that he would keep things from getting out of hand.
"I know it was against the oath I took to uphold the laws of Neverwinter. But I went along with it because I knew the only way to keep crime from getting out of hand was to have a criminal leader who could control things. I knew Axle did not want to destroy Neverwinter. And I made double sure that he was not involved with Luskan. I know I'm guilty of accepting bribes, but I swear that my loyalty is to Neverwinter, not to the thieves."
Teal'c turned to the rest of the group. "I sense no deception in her words. She believes the things she has said are true."
Jack gave Captain Brelaina a critical appraisal. "You sound a bit guilty to me." When the captain started to protest, he forestalled her. "Which is good. Because if you sounded like you didn't feel guilty at all I'd have to think you didn't really care about the oath you made or serving Neverwinter. And if you sounded a lot guilty then it would be hard to believe the story you just told all of us."
"So, now what?" she asked.
"Now, we do things our way. And if you do things our way, by the time things are over you will have nothing to fear from anyone hearing or seeing what we have recorded. You'll continue serving Neverwinter and you'll have a clear conscience," Jack paused for a second. "But that doesn't mean we're not going to use this for a little blackmail. But all we're asking is for what you've already promised. Tamil needs to get into Blacklake to see someone, and Daniel here needs to see the Neverwinter archives.
"But more importantly, you're going to tell your commanding officer about Axle. You can still give Axle what he wants, within reason, but you're going to let him know that it will be on Neverwinter's terms, not his. Back where we're from we use criminals in much the same way as you planned, but it all has to be on record or things get messy. The men you let take bribes from Axle's people will need to be the ones you can trust to come and report it all to you, and you need to keep your superiors informed."
Captain Brelaina smiled, and then she went to her desk and pulled out some documents. "These are the signed orders allowing all of you access to Blacklake district. Despite some additional murders while you were away, I had already intended to let you in to the district. Originally I had planned to keep your visit on a tight leash, but in light of this… situation, I'll write a further note to your escort letting him know that you are in charge of the visit.
"However, before you make use of these documents, there is one more service I need to ask you to do for the Watch." When Tamil began to protest, Captain Brelaina shook her head and continued, "This is more of a personal assignment related to you, Tamil. When you first arrived in Neverwinter, you reported to Cormick that West Harbor had been attacked and that you had been repeatedly ambushed by an enemy on Neverwinter controlled lands. Correct?"
Tamil nodded and then the captain continued. "Recently, watchmen have reported sightings of creatures matching the descriptions you gave out at night in the streets of Neverwinter. From the looks of things, they are scouting the city to find you specifically, Lieutenant. They are apparently assassins. Under my orders, the infiltrators have not been stopped, but followed back to their hideout. Originally, I was going to turn over this matter to the Nine to handle as I did not think the Watch could deal with the threat without sustaining unacceptable losses. But with you returned and Commander Callum's report of your exploits against the orc tribes, I believe there is no one in the city better suited to dealing with the threat." Captain Brelaina paused to give Tamil a chance to digest all the information. "So, Lieutenant, will you handle this last assignment in service of Neverwinter before making your way to Blacklake?"
As beautiful as Tamil was normally, now she was just as frightening. When she thought of all the people in her village who were killed in the attack her blood ran cold. She looked the captain in the eye and pointed to the Watch's map.
"Just show me where they are," she said with vengeance in her eyes.