The Trust

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The Trust has expert snipers

Summary

The Trust is a group of ex-NID agents, wealthy businessmen, and government officials who operate against the law in order to obtain advanced alien technology to protect Earth. They have resorted to kidnapping, blackmail, unauthorized surveillance, use of false identifications, coercion, obstruction of justice, and possibly murder to obtain their group's objectives. Currently, however, several members of The Trust have been taken as Goa'uld hosts and are operating on Earth. (8.07 "Affinity", 8.14 "Full Alert")

Stargate References

The Committee Becomes The Trust

The Committee was a group of wealthy businessmen who used former NID agents to gain patents on alien technology, as well as to resort to assassination attempts to keep their operations a secret. They were discovered and it was thought that most of them were identified. Dozens of ex-NID agents, however, were unaccounted for even after a year following the clean-out operations done against the organization. (6.14 "Smoke and Mirrors", 8.10 "Endgame")

During this time, the organization regrouped and called themselves "The Trust". Still consisting of wealthy businessmen and ex-NID agents, the group began to infiltrate Area 51 by buying favors from scientists who worked there. Their goals were the same: to protect Earth from alien invasion by any means necessary, including the exploitation of alien technology. (8.07 "Affinity", 8.08 "Covenant", 8.10 "Endgame")

The Trust and the Knowlege of Alien Life

Because one of their principal goals is to protect Earth from alien invasion, The Trust didn't believe that the world should know about alien life. If someone wished to inform the public about alien life, they were seen as a threat. The Trust learned that billionare Alec Colson had captured the space battle between the Prometheus and Anubis's fleet on his communications satellites (7.22 "Lost City Part 2"). Colson also had a company which had been granted a contract to work on Asgard DNA sequencing, but he didn't realize that it was alien until he decided to create a living being from it. With the space battle footage and the Asgard clone, Colson attempted to blackmail the governments of the world to acknowledge the existence of alien life and to allow the public to prepare for any possible threats. He brought the Asgard clone to a press conference and everyone was astonished. (8.08 "Covenant")

Colson's conglomerate's finances were managed by his good friend, Brian Vogler. He was contacted by The Trust six months before Colson went public with the alien life evidence. The Trust knew he had the information and tried to prevent his using it, but Colson insisted on going through with it. Carter knew Colson and tried to pursuade him not to continue with his plans to inform the public on alien life because the world was not ready to know. She did all she could to publicly discredit him by conducting a television interview where she demonstrated holographic technology as something that the Air Force was working on. In reality, Thor helped her out with this by projecting his image and talking like he were some kind of computer program. Colson admired Carter's ingenuity, but insisted that he was going to carry on with his plan. (8.08 "Covenant")

Colson's companies were over-extended and Vogler secretly changed the books, a federal offense which guaranteed imprisonment and harsh fines. After Colson's announcement of alien life, both Vogler and Colson were almost killed when their plane was sabotaged. Colson, an accomplished pilot, was able to land the plane safely. Vogler finally confessed to Colson the situation with the books after the companies' stock prices began to plummet. An investigation was started against both Colson and Vogler for doctoring their books. Vogler, wanting to keep his family safe from The Trust, committed suicide by hanging himself. It was also possible he was "helped" to do this by members of The Trust. (8.08 "Covenant")

Colson was given an option that very few people in his situation are given: he was given a new life at the Alpha Site as an aircraft design engineer (one of his companies had even provided the Multiple Engine Control (MEC) system for the F-302, but Colson was not aware of the F-302's hybrid design until Carter took him for a joy ride). His companies would be taken care of by the government, but his life as a billionare on Earth was over. Such was the power that The Trust had in governmental and business affairs. (8.08 "Covenant")

The Trust's Offensive Against the Goa'uld

When Teal'c was permitted to leave the SGC base and lease his own apartment, The Trust began surveillance to make sure his true identity as an alien was not discovered. The Trust had a very anti-alien stance, and Teal'c's being permitted to live out in public on Earth was seen as a threat to Earth's security. While they were watching him, they saw that he was becoming close to his neighbor Krista James. They began to watch her as well and to their surprise, they caught her killing her abusive boyfriend in self defense with a technique that Teal'c had taught her. (8.07 "Affinity")

Using the knowledge of Teal'c's innocence as leverage, one of The Trust's operative, Jennings, coerced Daniel Jackson to translate Ancient writings into Goa'uld. Jennings forced Daniel to come with him by demonstrating that he had hidden snipers in a public park by shooting a cup of coffee in front of him. Daniel went with him, but attempted to stall talks with Hoskins, the group's leader, until his rescue arrived, but his strategy was thwarted when The Trust members placed Krista in danger by kidnapping her and threatening her life with a gun pointed at her head. Daniel did the translation, and The Trust members beamed out of the warehouse, leaving him and Krista behind, but alive.

Hoskins, the leader
Jennings, Daniel's kidnapper
Brooks, technological expert

The translation that Daniel was forced to do was the access codes to the systems on Osiris's abandoned al'kesh which was cloaked near Earth's orbit. Osiris had used the ship to visit Daniel at night and invade his dreams in order to search his mind for the location of the Lost City of the Ancients. The Goa'uld thought that Daniel retained memories of his time ascended and attempted to force him to do a translation of a tablet in these dreams, hoping to bring forth the coordinates for the Lost City. The attempts failed and Osiris was caught. The symbiote was removed from its host, Sarah Gardner, and the ship was left in space somewhere, inaccessible even with the control device in Area 51's possession. (7.15 "Chimera", 8.10 "Endgame")

The Trust bribed the key scientist who was working on the device at Area 51, Dr. Bricksdale. He was given one million dollars in a Caymen Islands account. He got the device to work and gave The Trust access to the ship. Once they obtained the access codes from Daniel, they had people working on the ship around the clock. (8.10 "Endgame")

Bricksdale, Area 51 scientist working for The Trust

Once The Trust got the ship set up, they planted one of their operatives within the SGC and he tagged the Stargate with a locator beacon which enabled them to beam the Stargate onto the al'kesh. They had manufactured special rockets and vials of the Tok'ra's symbiote poison (5.15 "Summit Part 1"), and used the Stargate to launch the rockets bearing the poison to planets known to be in Ba'al's domain. Unfortunately, their information was old, and they ended up killing thousands of Rebel Jaffa instead. (8.10 "Endgame")

Carter and Daniel visited Bricksdale at Area 51 concerning Osiris's beaming technology after the Stargate was stolen, and he got nervous. He contacted Hoskins to tell him he wasn't able to work with them anymore, and Hoskins realized that most likely Bricksdale was followed. During Hoskins's run from the rendezvous, he was zatted by Carter. She picked up his locator beacon which he used to signal he wished to be beamed up to the ship and was transported in his stead. (8.10 "Endgame")

In order to find Carter, Daniel interrogated Bricksdale and pursuaded him to get Osiris's transporter device working again. Daniel beamed aboard the ship and took out the ship's cloak so that the Prometheus could locate them. Teal'c sent his radio signal through the Stargate and Daniel responded, urging Teal'c to come through. Teal'c killed Hoskins just as Hoskins pointed his zat at Daniel. Carter kicked Jennings into unconsciousness, but Brooks was able to power up the hyperdrive engines. Using the locator beacons, Carter, Daniel, Teal'c, and the Stargate were beamed onto the Prometheus before Brooks took the al'kesh into hyperspace. (8.10 "Endgame")

The Trust Is Infiltrated by the Goa'uld

Reports came in from the Tok'ra that The Trust members in the al'kesh were successful at delivering symbiote poison to two more worlds after they left the solar system. Afterwards, former Vice President Robert Kinsey went to Jack to tell him that some of his contacts within The Trust had asked him to arrange a meeting with General Miroslav Kiselev, the Russian's Defense Minister, in exchange for a large payment. Kinsey was suspicious of their motives and wished to be protected by the SGC, but Jack wanted to know what The Trust was after and sent Kinsey in as a spy. They wired him with a microphone and camera and followed him to the meeting he had arranged. (8.14 "Full Alert")

Jennings took Kinsey to the house where three of The Trust's businessmen were waiting for him:

Kinsey's electronic devices were jammed and he was left alone with the three men and Jennings. To his complete surprise and horror, The Trust wished to implant him with a Goa'uld symbiote. As it turned out, The Trust members who had escaped in the al'kesh had been captured by a Goa'uld who learned that they were part of a secret organization on Earth. The Goa'uld implanted all of them with symbiotes and then sent them back to Earth in the al'kesh, loaded with possibly hundreds of symbiotes to implant into The Trust's network of ex-NID operatives, businessmen, and government officials. (8.14 "Full Alert")

The Trust, now an organization of Goa'ulds, planned to start a nuclear war between the United States and Russia so that they could gain access to the Antarctic Outpost's Ancient defense weapon. They were successful in implanting Kinsey, Kiselev, and Col. Ruselin Chernovshev, Kiselev's aide and one of the Russians who already had contacts with rogue NID agents. Jack and Col. Chekov determined The Trust's scheme and managed to have Kiselev captured before he gave the order to send the first strike against the U.S. (8.14 "Full Alert")

Daniel was sent to Russia to talk with Kiselev, but Chernovshev detained him and added to the mystery by showing him that Kinsey had become a Goa'uld. Daniel beamed himself and Kinsey to the Prometheus before Kinsey could be assassinated by Kiselev's soldiers. When The Trust members Parker, Wayne, Kent, and Jennings discovered that Kinsey was onboard the Prometheus, they attacked the ship from the al'kesh to kill him. Kinsey, however, managed to escape custody and used the Prometheus's ring transporter to board the al'kesh, where he killed Jennings and took Osiris's beaming technology control device. After The Trust fired upon the Prometheus, the Prometheus destroyed the al'kesh. It is possible that Kinsey escaped back to Earth, but not certain. Parker, Wayne, and Kent, however, died on the al'kesh. (8.14 "Full Alert")

After this incident, the CIA got involved with investigating the extent of Goa'uld infiltration into The Trust. CIA Agent Kerri Johnson was assigned to lead the investigation. She was given full security clearance to conduct her investigation. (8.15 "Citizen Joe", 8.18 "Threads")

Ba'al Takes Over The Trust

Although it was never said which Goa'uld captured The Trust members originally, the best possible candidates were Anubis and Ba'al, the two strongest Goa'uld at the time. After the Replicators destroyed the System Lords' fleets and Anubis was taken out of the equation by Oma Desala, Ba'al was the only System Lord left of any significance. He took advantage of The Trust's network to hide on Earth. He didn't hide in secret, however. Instead, he put himself in public view by becoming a wealthy businessman building a conglomerate of aerospace and technology corporations, no doubt those companies already headed by members of The Trust before they became Goa'uld hosts. (9.07 "Ex Deus Machina")

In order to ensure his success, Ba'al created several clones of himself. There were five on Earth, but one was caught by the Free Jaffa and executed on Dakara. The Free Jaffa had learned about Ba'al's whereabouts by capturing and torturing one of the executives who had been taken as a host, Alex Jameson. The four remaining clones, however, remained to continue Ba'al's plans, aided by Charlotte Mayfield, Vice President of Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics. (9.07 "Ex Deus Machina")

Charlotte Mayfield, Ba'al's chief aide

The Trust Threatens Atlantis

Because of the threat that the Wraith pose to Earth, The Trust decided to destroy Atlantis in order to prevent information about Earth from falling into the Wraith's hands. They implanted Col. Steven Caldwell, the commander of the Daedalus which made regular trips between the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies, with a symbiote and had him engineer a way for the ZPM which powers the city to overload when a certain level of power was demanded from it. Fortunately, NID Agent Malcolm Barrett discovered the plan, and Caldwell was caught before the ZPM reached critical levels. Amazingly, the Asgard Hermiod who was assigned to the Daedalus used the Asgard beaming technology on the ship to remove the symbiote safely from Caldwell, possibly making him the first host to survive the Goa'uld's infiltration into The Trust. (Stargate Atlantis: 2.13 "Critical Mass")

Col. Steven Caldwell, survivor of Goa'uld implantation

The Trust Compromises the NID

The NID had been successful at finding most of their rogue operatives and was considered "clean" (8.10 "Endgame"). But, because their agents were actively investigating the Goa'uld's infiltration of The Trust, any of their agents on the front line were open to being captured and implanted just as easily as Col. Caldwell had been. Agent Malcolm Barrett was the lead in the NID's investigation and he was apparently captured and brainwashed to perform in Ba'al's interests. His programming became evident when he behaved uncharacteristically when several of Ba'al's clones, and perhaps even the original Ba'al himself, were captured by the SGC. Barrett wished to interrogate the Ba'als, but Landry kept him from the investigation until Ba'al's plan was discovered, for it was one of the Ba'als who contacted Earth to be helped in getting rid of the clones in exchange for protection and information leading to the location of Merlin's anti-Ori weapon (the Sangreal). (10.04 "Insiders")

Barrett finally lost his patience and went to speak to one of the clones on his own. He went into the interrogation room with his pistol and Ba'al overpowered him, shot the guard, and escaped. This Ba'al then helped all of the clones escape and obtain weapons. They took Barrett, Carter, and other SGC personnel hostage. Ba'al #1 threatened to kill Barrett unless Carter gave him the Stargate address database which the SGC obtained from Jack O'Neill's Ancient download (2.16 "The Fifth Race"). Carter stalled as long as she could, but the Ba'als made their escape with the data through the use of the Asgard beaming technology before symbiote poison was successfully released. (10.04 "Insiders")

Barrett was confronted on his behavior which was strictly unorthodox and uncharacteristic. He was told that he was most likely brainwashed by a Trust operative. Although he was put on the defensive, he willingly relinquished his weapon and was placed into custody. Barrett was examined and it was apparently determined that the brainwashing was not as extensive as to threaten his position or loyalty and he resumed his duties with the NID in a week's time, continuing to lead the investigation of the Goa'uld's infiltration of The Trust. (10.04 "Insiders", 10.05 "Uninvited")

The Trust Spies on SG-1

In the war with the Ori, The Trust knows that it is the SGC's frontline premier team, SG-1, which plays an important part in Earth's and the galaxy's safety. To make sure that they know what is happening with the team, The Trust sent an operative to a cabin where Landry and Mitchell were taking a brief respite to build SG-1's comradery. In order not to be seen, the operative used a Sodan cloaking device he obtained from Area 51. As long as he couldn't be seen, he could get as close to the cabin and the teammembers as he wished. (10.05 "Uninvited")

Trust Operative

What the operative didn't know was that the cloaking device had been altered because it had been discovered that it emitted harmful radiation which endangered the wearer. The Sodan Jaffa were able to use the device without harm because their symbiotes protected them, and most likely, the radiation was not harmful to the Ancients who had originally designed the technology. The radiation emitted by the device was meant to prevent bleed-through from one alternate dimension into another, since the cloak did a partial dimensional shift in order to render the wearer invisible. This bleed-through came in the form of a leech-like creature which would enter the wearer's dimension. No longer repelled by the radiation, these parasites crossed into the wearers' dimension, bored into local animals, and mutated them into vicious creatures. The operative at the cabin had activated his cloak long enough for two of these parasites to find their way into the local wildlife and mutate them. In the midst of hunting season, the hunters became the targets of these creatures. (10.05 "Uninvited")

After a man was found dead, several hunters made it their goal to track down the creature and kill it. They thought that it was a grizzly bear, but weren't certain. Because the operative was hiding in the woods at the time the hunters were hyper-focused on killing anything that moved, he was shot at and was actually hit while still under the cloak. Mitchell tracked his blood trail and challenged him. He was taken away by SGC personnel, presumably to be given medical attention and interrogated. The two creatures were tracked down and killed, leaving behind three innocent dead men. (10.05 "Uninvited")

The Trust Abets Goa'uld Rivalries on Earth

To a certain extent, The Trust became another organization of the System Lords, but instead of being feudal in nature, it was corporate. Ba'al not only led the organization, he was also the most powerful of the System Lords to remain in the galaxy. Through the infiltration of The Trust, Ba'al's lieutenants had access to corporate funds and manipulated the stock exchange with insider trading, as well as took advantage of the network for their own personal gain. One such lieutenant was Athena, a Goa'uld who had never really made it high up on the System Lord ladder, but instead aligned herself with Cronus, Camulus, Svarog, and Anubis when they were in power. She then allied herself with Ba'al in The Trust as Charlotte Mayfield, Vice President of Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics. (9.07 "Ex Deus Machina", 10.08 "Memento Mori")

Athena and Qetesh, the Goa'uld formerly hosted by Vala Mal Doran, once had a partnership in their search of the legendary Clava Thessara Infinitas, a tablet which would provide the Stargate address of a vast storehouse of riches hidden away by the Ancients prior to their ascension. She used the contacts that Mayfield had within The Trust to capture Vala in order to probe her mind for Qetesh's memories for the code to decipher the tablet. She ordered an operative named Weaver to use a memory recall device on Vala to access Qetesh's memories which she believed Vala still harbored in her subconscious. (10.08 "Memento Mori")

Weaver, Trust operative

Athena's use of the memory probe on Vala was interrupted when the SGC found her hideaway, a warehouse, but Athena herself was not present when Vala escaped right before the warehouse exploded. The SGC captured Weaver, the only survivor at the scene, and took him back to base where Teal'c succeeded in obtaining information behind Vala's abduction. Putting together this information with intelligence from the Jaffa and Tok'ra, Daniel uncovered Athena's reason for kidnapping Vala. Vala was still missing because her memories had been erased when the probe's power surged during the rescue attempt, so for a while she wandered aimlessly in the area until she took a job as a waitress in a diner. (10.08 "Memento Mori")

Using Mayfield's contacts, Athena continued to search for Vala for either recapturing her or proving to herself that she was dead from the warehouse's explosion. The Trust were able to intercept communications from the SGC, so they were aware of SG-1's whereabouts in their own search for Vala. Mayfield's chief aide during their search was Devon. After locating Vala at a police station, Devon sent Trust operatives disguised as Air Force officers to pick her up. One of these operatives posed as Col. Carter. (10.08 "Memento Mori")

Devon, Mayfield's chief aide
Fake Carter

Vala escaped from the Air Force imposters (all of the imposters were killed in a car crash and in a firefight with Mitchell) and eventually was saved by SG-1 in another warehouse to which The Trust had followed her. Although she didn't have all of her memories, Vala recognized Daniel as a friend and returned with his team to the SGC where she was helped to regain her memories. As soon as she was cleared by Dr. Lam, she became a member of SG-1. (10.08 "Memento Mori")

Somehow, all of Athena's research notes concerning the Clava Thessara Infinitis were obtained and given to Daniel Jackson for study. It was never revealed whether or not Charlotte Mayfield was freed from Athena, since it wasn't revealed how it was that the SGC obtained Athena's research notes. (10.16 "Bad Guys")

Current Status of The Trust

Currently, it isn't known how many Goa'uld have infiltrated The Trust or what their next moves might be. The international community, including the CIA and NID, are actively searching for all former members of The Trust who could have been implanted with symbiotes. Because there is the possibility that hundreds of people are affected, the search is a long and arduous one.

Notable Characters

  • Hoskins - He was the leader of the group assigned to steal the Stargate from the SGC and use it to deliver rocket-borne symbiote poision to various planets known to have been under Ba'al's rule. He was killed by Teal'c with a staff weapon.
  • Jennings - He engineered the kidnapping of Daniel Jackson and Krista James in order to coerce Daniel to translate Ancient into Goa'uld so that The Trust could obtain access to the control systems of Oriris's abandoned al'kesh. He was taken as a host to a Goa'uld symbiote and was killed by the Goa'uld who took Robert Kinsey as a host.
  • Robert Kinsey - He had been in on several of the rogue NID operations for several years while he was a United States Senator. His campaign funds for Vice President most likely came from the businessmen whose interests were served by The Committee and The Trust. He was taken as a Goa'uld host and was last seen onboard Osiris's al'kesh which was destroyed by the Prometheus. It is possible that he escaped back to Earth via the ship's Asgard beaming technology, but that isn't known for sure.
  • Alex Jameson - Once the Chief Financial Officer of Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics, Jameson was taken as a Goa'uld host who helped Ba'al rise in power on Earth. He was captured and tortured by the Free Jaffa so that they could learn the location of Ba'al. Most likely, he died from this torture.
  • Charlotte Mayfield - She was the Vice President of Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics, the host to the Goa'uld Athena, and closely associated with Ba'al's clones on Earth. After being identified as the host to the Goa'uld Athena, it is possible that Charlotte was freed, but this is not known for certain.
  • Col. Steven Caldwell - An unwilling host to a Goa'uld symbiote, the Daedalus's commander, Col. Caldwell, brought the threat of The Trust to Atlantis. He was discovered and the symbiote was successfully removed from him through the use of Asgard beaming technology.
  • Malcolm Barrett - Like Caldwell, NID Agent Barrett was unknowingly a victim of The Trust, but this time in the form of brainwashing. His actions helped Ba'al escape Earth with a copy of the Stargate address database, including those which were from the Ancient download and not part of the Goa'uld network. Ba'al intends to use this data in order to find Merlin's anti-Ori weapon. Once he's found it, he plans to use it to destroy all Ascended Beings, including the Ancients themselves.

Alliances

  • Goa'uld - Most likely all of the humans who became hosts of the Goa'uld symbiotes became such unwillingly, but their positions on Earth are now being used to support the Goa'uld's purposes. The Goa'uld who are within The Trust currently report to Ba'al.
  • Ba'al - As the leader of The Trust, Ba'al has incredible influence on the affairs of Earth. He uses his network of Trust operatives to make sure things are situated to help him in his various schemes to reclaim galactic dominance.

Enemies

  • Earth - Various Earth organizations, including the SGC, NID, CIA, and the Russian and American governments, are involved with tracking down all of The Trust members, especially those who have become Goa'uld hosts.

Episodes

Related Articles

Characters

Keywords

Actors


--DeeKayP 18:55, 1 July 2006 (PDT)