I apologize for the delay, I had midterms and finals to finish. I actually had to pause in the middle of this chapter and pick up where I left off. So, please enjoy, review, and tell me what you think.
-.-
Jennifer Hailey continued working at her laptop, an extended oscillator sword mounted on the rack on the table behind her, still wearing her black mission gear. With a flick of a switch, the sensors around the sword turned on, scanning the weapon down to the subatomic particle. She looked at the reading on her screen, watching the computer model recreate what was happening on the table. She was so focused on her computer that she jumped out of her chair in shock as a case was slammed down on the table right beside her.
"Jeez, Chen," she managed to say through gritted teeth. "Did you really have to do that?" Chen held back a quiet chuckle as he slid out a laptop out of the case.
"Need your help with a little something," he explained as he proceeded to turn the laptop on. "I thought the Dusk Riders were on mission."
"We just got back a few minutes ago. I wanted to get back to studying to oscillator swords. It's incredible; we've always assumed that the molecules in the blade cuts through matter like a chainsaw through wood. But, according to the sensors, the blade is actually warping space-time around it, splitting whatever is occupying it. This seems to be a byproduct of the rapid rotations of the blade's subatomic particles. This is why it cuts through objects so easily. But this also gives it the ability to penetrate any form of shielding as well"
Chen gave Hailey an impatient glare. Samantha Carter was infamous for her long and technical explanations. Jennifer Hailey was her first and often considered her favorite pupil. Carter has taught and worked with many SGC scientists but Hailey was handpicked by her. Jennifer obviously picked up Carter's infamous habit of rambling.
"That was a waste of a perfectly good explanation," he grumbled, going back to the laptop. "You going to help me or you going to continue using pointlessly technical terms?"
Hailey raised a curious eyebrow, minimizing the windows that displayed the data before asking, "What do you need?"
"Did you know Doctor Jared Smith?"
"The technician working on the trams? Yeah."
"He's dead…murdered."
Hailey looked up in shock. The Millennium Expedition was just a small town, everybody knew each other. Suddenly hearing about someone dying in the city, it felt like hearing about the death of a neighbor who lived down the street that you never got to know. The only other thing that disturbed her was that it meant his killer was in the city.
"What happened?" she stuttered.
"He was killed by a hand device but that's not all. We've discovered a Goa'uld symbiote attached to his spine."
"So Smith was a Goa'uld killed by a Goa'uld?" Hailey repeated, still trying to piece it all together.
"Hailey, I need to make this quick," Chen interrupted. "Kauffman's determined the time of death and the Dusk Riders were on mission so I need you to help me hack his laptop!"
"Ok," she managed to say, trading places with Chen. "Let me see what I can do." Her fingers began flying over the keyboard. Computer code began to scroll past the screen but she was still distracted. The System Lords in the Milky Way had been defeated and the Goa'uld had been crippled. They were supposed to be gone. Now, the threat suddenly seemed very real.
"You ok?" Chen asked, noticing how disturbed Hailey seemed.
"I'm fine," she said, trying to shrug off the worry. "Why would a Goa'uld kill Smith anyways? Wouldn't they know he was a one of them?"
"The Goa'uld are power hungry," Chen pointed out, reading the computer code over Hailey's shoulder. "Whoever our killer is, he's probably taking out the competition."
-.-
"Thank you, Donavan," Mercer said, taking another stack of folders from his helper. Major Nova patiently waited as Donavan nodded and left the General's office. Mercer quickly flipped through the pages as if he was looking for something.
"General?" Nova asked, growing slightly impatient. Mercer, finally finding the page he wanted, pulled it out of the folder and tucked it under his arm.
"Follow me," he said, slowly standing up and walking behind his chair. Nova gave him a confused look, since it was nothing but a wall. Mercer could feel her confused stare but he didn't care. He slid open a small panel on the wall and pressed the button behind the panel. There was a hum as the wall behind the chair opened like a door, revealing an entire room on the other side. Nova's eyes widened in shock. The General's office was on the side of the tower, the door should lead outside. Instead, it looked like the front door to a mansion. A brilliant chandelier hovered in the air, floating in the air instead of dangling by a chain. She could see massive murals in several side rooms. At first she thought it was just a painting, but then she saw the image change before her eyes.
"Welcome to the governor's mansion," Mercer greeted. "At least, this would be the governor's mansion back when the Alliance occupied this city." Nova was only half listening to Mercer; she was busy gawking at her surroundings. It was like she had walked into a castle from a fairy tale. "The door behind the office chair is an ark that leads to this place. Only two other scientists know about it and they speculate that the complex exists in a pocket dimension or something of the sort."
"General," Nova interrupted. "Why am I here?"
Mercer did not immediately answer. He just led her to one of the adjacent rooms where they sat down in front of the heater with a holographic fireplace. He spread the papers across the table in front of them as he began to explain.
"After the stargate was reopened and its purpose rediscovered, there were some…disagreements over its handling. There were those who believed that the military would use the stargate for conquest, regardless of what country it is set in. They blamed us for the war against the Goa'uld."
"The Goa'uld would've invaded and tried to enslave us," Nova argued.
"They said that was merely exaggerated propaganda to garner support that the stargate remain in the hands of the SGC," Mercer explained. "The group started out peaceful, trying to sway political leaders to agree with them, but eventually a branch splintered off to perform their own activities that would forcefully ensure their goals. The original organization tried to coerce this splinter faction to stop what they were doing and rejoin. The splinter group branded them as traitors to the cause and…wiped them out. The splinter group is all that remains."
"Do these people even have a name?" Nova asked bluntly. She could not help but think about a planet they had once visited: Elora. It had run its stargate program in secret for a long time, developing advanced technology to defend the planet. When they finally chose reveal the existence of the gate, violence almost instantly broke out because of different views involving the stargate. In fact, the planet nearly destroyed itself as a result. Nova could not help but draw parallels between what happened on Elora and what was happening here.
"We never had a name for them. They weren't even an organization; just a group of people who wanted the stargate out of military hands. However, the splinter group have often referred to themselves as the Stargate Council, often just called the Council for short. The Goa'uld, the wraith, the Ori, the Lucian Alliance, they blamed us for the conflicts with all of them, claimed we provoked them into attacking."
"How come I've never heard of them before?"
"Their voice never carried much influence. They never got far politically and merely forming an operation like the Trust wouldn't have achieved their goals. It was only lately they made their voices heard." Mercer reached into the file and slid several pages to Nova. She glanced at them and almost instantly recognized reports on the deaths of several SGC personnel. "All murdered; the Council threatened to continue killing SGC personnel unless the SGC surrendered the stargate to them and admitted to starting the wars against the Goa'uld and the wraith for resources and conquest. Before the start of the Millennium Expedition, there was chatter that the Council intended on infiltrating the expedition."
"So much for peace," Nova muttered, pausing for a moment, analyzing what she was told. She was so busy focusing on the threats she knew of. The Ror'char, the Harvesters, and now this Council; they seemed to be facing a nonstop onslaught of new enemies. But, while the Ror'char and the Harvesters were relatively indifferent to the expedition, the Council was dedicated for the sole purpose of fighting them. "But what does this have anything to do with our murder investigation?" Nova asked.
"You concluded that Smith's killer was a Goa'uld due to the use of a hand device, but Goa'uld are not the only ones capable of using them," Mercer pointed out. "There was evidence that they have been using injections to get naquadah into their bloodstream so they can use Goa'uld technology."
Nova gave the General a suspicious look. The concept was plausible but unlikely yet Mercer seemed very confident of it. Another question was why he kept it a secret all this time.
"Do you know something I don't?" she asked. She looked at the General's face, trying to find out what he was thinking, but his face was eerily stone cold. Normally, she could read a person from his expression, but Mercer's face was stiff and rigid.
"Major, all you need to know is that there are very powerful factions involved," Mercer warned darkly. "You are going to have to take my word when I say the less you know, the better. This is for your sake."
"What about the Goa'uld?" Nova asked. To her, the risk of being infiltrated by them seemed a lot bigger than any human organization. Mercer should've felt the same way, yet he was ordering her to redirect her attention. "If Smith was one, there's no telling how many others there are."
"Worry about the Goa'uld later. For now, I am ordering you to focus on the Council."
-.-
Kara Osborn stared out across the city of Millennium from on its hospitals on the arms of the city. She loved being able to see the city from a different angle. She stared at the ornate hospital bed. It looked as if it was made of stone but the moment she pushed down on it, the surface conformed to her hand as if it was memory foam. She stared at the abandoned hospital equipment left lying about, dust settling on every exposed surface. She tried to imagine medical practices in the future. The experimental and prototype machines and medicines turned into a regular item? The diseases and injuries that were once fatal turned into a mere inconvenience? She wanted to dig through all the information and see what she could make use of.
"We're on the right track," Osborn announced, looking at an empty container. "These containers held retroviruses waiting to be transcribed with the appropriate DNA."
"So is the machine in the hospital?" Porter asked loudly as he peeked into another empty room. The giant Casanova silently walked over, curious what Osborn had to say. Whenever Osborn had to go off-world, she was usually had armed guards escorting her. It was almost strange to be exploring without any of them being armed.
"Well, if the medical equipment was still experimental, they would have to document every use of it," Osborn through aloud, pacing back and forth with the container in her hand. "We should check the computer logs. By the way, where's Greer?" Her question was promptly answered as Greer appeared from around the door.
"Just enjoying the scenery," he said innocently. Osborn actually could believe this. She knew that the Ancients and Asgard inspired many religious icons on Earth; she could not help but wonder if the Millennium inspired the concept of heaven. If she were to imagine a technologically advanced heaven, this would fit the description perfectly, from the glowing clouds to the regal city.
"We're going to have to go through the computers," Osborn explained. "See if they used any new pieces of equipment of machinery."
"Got it!" Greer said with a smile, his right hand instinctively reaching into his pocket, feeling the cold hard data crystal concealed within.
-.-
Corin looked at the data pad in his hand, scrolling down the list. The sound of the mess hall echoed around him. A civilian was supposed to feel safe in his own home, not be suspicious of everyone around him. Now, anyone, even the person he accidentally bumps into in the hall, could be an enemy. Millennium may be a massive city but the expedition was a small town. Everybody knew everybody. The trust and security they once had was gone.
"This is the last place," Corin announced to Martin as the Lieutenant looked over the balcony, observing the people eating dinner. "Ok, this is a waste of time. What're we doing here?!"
"Checking every location Smith regularly goes to," Martin recited. "It's the Major's orders."
"I don't see the point," Corin exclaimed, looking around.
"You never watch cop shows? You travel the victim's route right before he died, see who he ran into that would want to kill him. We really gotta work on Earth-anizing you."
"Well, considering we're looking for a person with a snake in the head, why didn't we grab an Alliance scanner?" Corin asked. To him, it was common sense. If they had a scanner made by the Alliance of Four Great Races, they could scan each person they talked to and determine if he was a Goa'uld.
"If they were Goa'uld, they'd notice and avoid us," Martin pointed out loudly; but Corin could see Martin's eyes flicking toward his right pocket. It took Nevec a moment but he realized what Charles Martin was trying to signal. "You know, as much as I miss Milky Way, I was really hoping that we never see another Goa'uld."
"The General let me read the mission reports about them," Corin said. "You guys never finished getting rid of the ones on Earth, did you?"
"No we didn't," Martin answered, shaking his head. Ba'al had become the leader of the Goa'uld infested Trust. The death of the last bloody Goa'uld System Lord severely weakened their organization but we never finished them off."
"What do we do now, then?" Corin asked, going over everything they could possibly cover.
"Martin, come in," a voice suddenly crackled through the radio. Corin and Charles Martin exchanged curious glances at Nova's suddenly call. "Chen, Martin, do you read?"
"I'm here, Terra," Chen immediately answered. "The laptop's a dead end; the thing had a defense mechanism which made it fried itself the moment Hailey hacked into it."
"Wouldn't have happened if you told me you knew about it!" Hailey's voice protested in the background.
"Corin and I are also here, Major," Martin said calmly, still looking around the room.
"Just got new intel from General Mercer. Our killer is not Goa'uld. We're looking for a human that is taking injections of naquadah in order to use Goa'uld technology."
"Don't you just love it when the guy in charge keeps secrets from you?" Chen muttered sarcastically.
"Sorry, Chen, but I'm going to have to do the same thing. According to General Mercer, they might target us for knowing."
"I'm sure he did," Chen grumbled. He knew there were times when a person needed to keep secrets but he felt that this was not the case; he needed to be able to trust the people he was working for. Nova sympathized with Chen, she remembered how much she hated the higher-ups keeping secrets from her. They would give her orders and expect her complete obedience with not a single explanation of why. After rising in the ranks, she's had to make decisions to keep secrets of her own.
"Wait a minute," Corin interrupted. "They?
"Look, Corin, I'm can't let you in on this until I know more, especially if the General's right," Nova explained. "I have the files on some sort of Stargate Council. Our killer might be in here but I rather tell you in person. Chen, I know you capable of watching your own back. Martin, watch Corin's. I'm going to do some reading and get back to you tomorrow." There was a click as Nova set her radio down, letting Chen grumble about the secrecy. Martin exchanged worried glances with Corin. Whatever would make Nova scared made them scared.
-.-
Whenever Nova needed time alone to think, she headed to a nice empty room in the middle of the city. It was probably a warehouse that the Alliance used to store things when they were in control of the city. Now, it was where she could do woodwork in private. Different exploration teams were bringing back rocks and wood. In her spare time, Nova could go back to do craft things in private. The smell of saw dust hung in the air. It was as if the whole room just naturally smelled like saw dust. The stack of folders on a nearby desk were already picking up the smell. Another folder lay open, a pair of wood scraps holding it open. The sound of sawing finally subsided as Nova set her hacksaw down and walked over to the paper, the piece of wood she had just cut in her hand. Her eyes scanned the paper in front of her.
Nova was still suspicious of Mercer's insistence of redirecting their investigation but she could question him about that later. He knew more than he was telling but if she wanted to dig deeper, she couldn't let the General find out. For now, she had to focus on the folders in front of her.
There was a crack as she opened a bottle of water that she had left on her desk this morning. She quietly walked to the cabinet in the back and took out three bags of ice tea mix, shaking them to make sure all the saw dust was off. She went back over to her bottle of water and, one by one, ripped an opening in the bags and poured them into her water bottle. After a long stressful day, a strong bottle of ice tea helps her think. She capped the bottle and shook it up, looking at the color before deciding it wasn't strong enough. She grabbed another two bags and poured them into the bottle. It was up to five bags of ice tea; the color was right; the mix should be strong enough. She picked up the bottle and took a sip…and froze.
Nova was surrounded by metal equipment; creating plenty of reflective surfaces. Her hacksaw was lying right in front of her, a distorted reflection shown on its blade, revealing the doorway and the two men sneaking in. Normally, she wouldn't have thought much of it, maybe a random member of the expedition getting lost and walking in and she didn't see any reason to think otherwise now. She turned to face the newcomers and her blood chilled. They were definitely not lost. The average expedition member didn't wear gray leather jackets and gloves or wear balaclavas to cover their faces.
Nova's skin tingled as she felt the adrenaline shoot through her body, her vision narrowing as she got ready for a fight. One of the men had his hand raised as if he was asking for a handshake, but she could see the strange ring on his finger. In a single motion, Nova stepped to the side and kicked the metal table over. Just in time. A red bolt of energy streaked through the air and hit the metal table as it toppled over, the stack of folders sliding across the ground. Nova instantly knew what was happening. These two men were here to kill her and destroy the files she was reading.
Nova dove over the table, grabbing the hacksaw off the floor and flung it at the two men. It wasn't very dangerous compared to a bullet but a flying piece of metal still hurts. The one in front raised his arms in surprise as the saw harmlessly bounced off him. He lowered his arms just in time to see Nova's fist heading right for his face. The other man tried to take aim at her with his ring but his hand was almost immediately slapped away, the red bolt of energy flying toward the wall. There was no thought in Terra's mind, her every move based on instinct as she continued to land punch after punch after punch, shoving away their weapon to avoid getting shot. Most people think that a gun or energy weapon is better than basic unarmed combat. Perhaps at a distance but up close, Nova had already left the two battered and bruised. But, she could not keep it up forever. All it'd take was one mistake, and she made it. In a last ditch attempt to save herself, Nova grabbed the arm of one of her attackers and used it like a crowbar, flipping him between her and the ring aimed at her. At the last moment, a red bolt of energy flew from the attacker's ring, hitting his partner in the chest and erupting out of the other side in a shower of ash and sparks. Shocked by what just happened, the shooter looked up, horrified that he just shot his partner. Nova took advantage of his surprise and took off down the hall. It didn't take long for the shooter to regain his senses and take off after her. But, he barely made it into the hall the phrase "STOP RIGHT THERE!" echoed through the hall. He looked up to see Commander Umar standing in front of him. The shooter recognized the alien stun weapon known as a trazer aimed at him.
There was no surrendering. The last attacker raised his hand to fire at the Nigerian soldier but never got the chance. Christopher Umar fired a burst at the attacker, the pellets hitting and bursting, the fluids inside immediately undergoing a chemical reaction that unleashed a violent jolt of electricity. Steam slowly rose from the attacker's body as every muscle began to fire off at once. For the shooter, it felt like he had just ran around an entire planet. His body refused to obey his commands as he toppled over.
"It's over," Umar said, still hoping that the man would surrender so he would not have to drag an unconscious man out of there. Nova approached from behind the Commander, peering down at the man, who looked right back at her.
"I know," he said. His cheeks were stiff but he still managed to make a weak grin as he finally gave in and collapsed onto the ground. He could barely move, but he had managed to angle his fall so that his finger would slide against the back of the ring as he hit the floor. It started off as a gentle whine but it soon grew to a loud ring. Umar and Nova widened their eyes in horror as Nova yelled, "GET BACK!" The two turned and ran, diving to the ground as the air around them felt like it was ripped open by the explosion, the shooter vaporizing into ash and charcoal from the heat as his blackened remains were scattered across the ground.
Terra put her hand to her ear, waiting for the ringing to subside before asking Umar, "What're you doing here?" He lent her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Ma'am, when a man hears 'pew, pew, pew' walking down the hall, he knows something's wrong. Are you hurt?" Nova didn't answer. At the mention of being hurt, she remembered the other attacker still lying wounded in her woodshop. He was still there, clutching his bleeding wound, the red puddle slowly expanding across the floor. Seeing Nova and Umar rushing in, he reached to activate his ring's self-destruct.
"Not so fast," Nova said, stepping on the hand that was reaching for it. "We have questions for you."
-.-
No matter how advanced a society becomes, they still needed ways to deal with crime. As technology grew more and more advanced, so did the crime…and the ways to fight it. Nova could only imagine all the rules the Nox would enforce when it came to how to deal with criminals due to their pacifistic beliefs. Still, she could not wonder if crime was at an all-time low by this point. The area of central city they called the 'barracks' was most likely used by law enforcement back during the city's glory days. Now, the military personnel usually receive their orders and assignments through the barracks. Still, the holding cells and interrogation rooms were immensely useful.
"Who is he?" Corin asked, staring at the hologram of the prisoner in the dull tan interrogation room. On Earth, there would be a pane of glass dividing the interrogation room from the observation room. While technically it was glass, in the eyes of the interrogated, it was merely part of the wall. Corin looked from the glass to the hologram being recorded.
"Devon Shire," Nova answered, rubbing her bruised knuckles. "He works in the astrophysics department under Major Hailey."
"All of a sudden, this place seems a little less safe." Nova couldn't blame Corin for feeling this way. Nova has been thinking about asking other members of the expedition for help but hesitated because she no longer knew who she could trust.
Before their conversation could continue, Martin opened the door and entered.
"Well, it's confirmed," he said, holding up the ring that Shire had been wearing earlier. "It's a za'tarc ring."
"I remember reading the mission reports about them," Corin immediately chirped, almost eager to show off his knowledge of SGC missions. "Za'tarcs were brainwashed Goa'uld agents that were given these rings to execute assassination missions."
"The question is: why'd this bloke just try to kill the Major," Martin remarked, glaring at the prisoner.
"It's the files I told you about," Nova immediately answered. She quickly explained what Mercer had told her about the Council and their history, their motivations and intentions. "The files Mercer handed me had information about the Council."
"Obviously there's something in there that they don't want you to find out," Martin remarked.
"I think I know what it is. When the SGC realized the Council was targeting SG personnel, they needed a way to infiltrate the group and predict future attacks. They sought the Tok'ra for technology that could help them. The infiltrator was implanted with a Tok'ra symbiote so he knew how to use all the equipment."
"Let me guess, Smith was the host," Corin chirped, to which Nova simply nodded.
"His participation in the Millennium Expedition was simply part of his undercover work. It was purely observe and report. He must've gotten too close and was eliminated for it. One thing that was suspicious was that Smith's name seemed to be the only one that wasn't expunged. I mean, the names of the other people involved were all blotted out except Smith's. It was almost as if-"
"As if Mercer wanted us to know Smith was involved," Martin finished. "Hey, if Smith really had infiltrated the Council, you think there's something in his room we missed?"
"Yeah, we should also figure out how to interrogate this guy," Corin added. The moment Corin mentioned this, Nova and Martin had to hold back stifled laughs.
"You haven't been in the conference room," Martin chuckled. "Mercer's called a meeting of the department heads to discuss the situation. They are raising hell over how to interrogate the guy."
"Different countries have different standards of interrogation and the department heads come from over a dozen different ones," Nova explained. "Some say extract the truth out of this guy through whatever means necessary. Others are worried about the moral implications. I barely got out of there alive." Corin knew Terra was joking when she said the last bit but he understood how chaotic it must be.
"The only way to make everyone happy is to get this guy to spill his guts without torture," Martin said. He was naturally against enhanced interrogation methods but he was still trying to figure out a way to make him talk. At this mention, Nova got an idea. It seemed farfetched but it might work depending on Shire's personality.
"Hey, do you know if Chen finished is General Tso's?" Nova asked. A grin spread across her face as she formed a plan. "Corin, tell Chen and Hailey to double check Smith's room." Corin nodded and reached for his radio. "Not over the radio," Nova interrupted. "That's how they knew I had the files on the Council; they're monitoring our radio transmissions. Tell him in person. Martin, come with me."
-.-
Devon Shire glared at the wall, his right arm in a sling in front of his chest. The energy blast had gone straight through, cauterizing all the surrounding muscles, including the ones needed to use his right arm. He didn't know where the cameras were but he knew he was pissed. He had worked so hard to be able to infiltrate the Millennium Expedition and it looked like it was all for naught. It didn't matter. He was loyal to his cause and he wasn't going to say anything to these self-righteous brutes no matter what they do.
There was a hiss as the interrogation room door opened. Nova looked around, taking in the room. She could see why some found it so disconcerting. Aside from the table and three chairs, the room was completely plain. She and Martin both walked in and sat across the table from Shire as the door slid close behind them, turning back into the wall. If it wasn't for the fact she already knew where the door was, it would look like it was a room with no way in and no way out.
"Here," Nova said cheerfully, sliding over a container of General Tso's chicken. She had to break into Chen's room and microwave it but it should be fine. "It's just chicken." Martin was about to disperse the forks but a quick glance from Nova made him stop. She, instead, dispensed a pair of chopsticks to everyone before picking up a piece of chicken and eating it. She eyed the pair in front of the prisoner carefully. He may be willing to take his own life so he wouldn't be interrogated, but with his weapon out of reach, any attempt he makes would be easily stopped and would simply have made it even harder for him to try again. She knew that he knew it would be better to play along until he found the right moment to end it in a way that no one could stop him. But for now, he had to play their game.
"General O'Neill actually taught this to Doctor Chen who then taught it to me; he called it the 'tuna-torture'," Nova explained. "But, we don't have any tuna on hand so we're going to have to make due with chicken." She eyed Martin, who was clearly struggling to use the pair of eating utensils. He finally set it down, conceding defeat, and picked up the fork.
"You should've just let me die," Shire sneered. "I have nothing to say to you people."
"Why all this talk about death?" Martin remarked, his mouth full of chicken. "Just eat."
"Doesn't matter what country you come from. You're all just a bunch of mercenaries." Shire just sneered at them before hesitantly picking up the chopsticks. He did pause to consider using them against himself, but he knew the woman was careful and would immediately stop him. He proceeded to use the pair of sticks to eat. Nova carefully watched his every move out of the corner of her eye. She could tell that while he could use chopsticks but wasn't comfortable with them and was even less experienced with using them with his left hand. This was good. She monitored every tiny detail of his body, the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, where his eyes looked as he moved, the expression on his face, the movement of his mouth.
"I'm just going to ask you a few questions," Nova said, casually leaning back in her chair.
"Don't be too busy eating your chicken; you have kids to kill and naquadah mines to conquer," Shire spat venomously. "Or is it quarium in this galaxy? Doesn't matter; I'm not telling you anything." Nova had to hold back her smile. His callousness towards them was exactly what she was counting on.
"If you don't want to talk fine," she said with a shrug. "That's not going to stop me from asking questions." Shire glared at her in agitation; she could see the hatred burning through his eyes. He was determined not to talk no matter how much they screamed or tortured him. Martin glanced at the Major, still wondering what she had up her sleeve. It was time for her to work her magic.
"Let's start with a few simple questions. Is your name Devon Shire?" Nova watched his eyes twitch, almost confused by the nature of the first question but his mouth continued chewing at a constant rate. She had hit him with an obvious question to which the answer was yes. It was time for an equally obvious question which the answer was no. "Have you dyed your hair blue recently?" The twitch in his eyes was more obvious now as he was beyond puzzled by the nature of these questions. Martin was also confused by what Nova was doing, but he had to trust that his commanding officer knew what she was doing. It was time for a question she already knew the answer to but Shire didn't know she knew. She waited for him to take another bite of chicken before asking, "Are you a member of the Stargate Council?" Nova watched Shire's mouth carefully as his jaw rhythmically chewed the chicken in it. Then, when his teeth should've clamped together again, his jaw froze for a split second before going back to chewing.
"Was that a pause?" Nova asked cheerfully.
"That was a pause," Martin confirmed. He truthfully didn't know what she was talking about but it was clear she knew what she was doing.
"He paused."
"I didn't pause," Shire glowered. "I'm just eating!"
"You're also getting as bent as a scrub tick," Martin pointed out. He now realized what Nova was doing. She was probing Shire's reactions, examining his subtle and almost unnoticeable reactions to her questions. He had subconsciously reacted to Nova's question despite his attempts not to and was getting angry that he had been caught.
"Let's just move on," Nova insisted with a gentle smile. She actually wasn't sure about Shire's pause. She had to make fun of him about it. If his hesitation was a reaction to her question then he would grow agitated because he thought he had accidentally revealed something. If it wasn't true, then he wouldn't care because it would look like they were being misled. "Is your right arm broken?" Nova continued as Shire continued to angrily eat. No reaction to the misleading statement whose answer is yes. "Are there more than five fingers on your right hand?" No reaction to the misleading statement whose answer is no. It was time for the question. "Does the Council have a plan in motion right now?" Nova stared at him but the man had no reaction. She could not help but feel that there was some plan in motion but he did not give any hint to it. His stone-cold face would mean no, but she had to double check this response by saying, "I'll take that as a yes."
Shire had been trying to eat with chopsticks in his left hand this whole time, not an easy feat even for people who are experienced with these eating utensils unless they were left handed. Martin understood why she had insisted on the prisoner to eat with those when his fingers slipped, sending one of the sticks flying across the room and gently clattering on the floor. Of all the times Devon could've slipped up, he did it when Nova pretended she had gotten information from him. Devon knew that they were trying to read his expression for any hints of the answer, so his only duty was to make that impossible. When Nova said that she would 'take that as a yes', she acted as if he had just failed, further angering him.
"Oh, that's definitely a yes," Martin agreed.
"Why are you people make such a big deal?" Shire exclaimed defensively. "I'm not left handed. You try using chopsticks with your left hand!"
"You tried to kill me and destroy the files I had," Nova said, ignoring his defensive remarks. Shire lowered his head over the container of chicken and continued eating, hoping that this position would make it even harder to notice any change in his expression. "You wouldn't expose yourself unless there was something important in there. Are you afraid that it holds details about your organization?" The man continued eating with his face down. "Or do you think the file might contain details about your master plan?" Nova couldn't see his face but she did see his eyes quickly flick up at her for a brief, probably a fraction of a, second. This wasn't a reaction to her statement. This was a glance to see if she saw any reaction. Still, she wanted to double check.
"Once we're done, I'm going to finish going over the files," she said loudly and clearly to Martin. "Their big master plan is in there somewhere." That was the last straw for Shire. He spit out the chicken in his mouth before using his left hand to violently shove the container off the desk, the food and sauce spilling all over the floor.
"Enough with the chicken!" he roared. He sat back against the chair, glaring at the wall.
Nova paused to think about the next question. Now they knew the Council had a plan in motion but they still needed to figure out what it was. Shire was getting angry and each step closer they took made him even more uncomfortable. If she just started asking random questions, she would lose all the momentum she had. She only had one more question to ask.
"Did the Council kill Smith because he got too close?"
Nova watched Shire carefully. His eye lids twitched, the same way they did when she started interrogating him, when he was confused. But what was there to be confused by? Shire knew Smith was dead.
"You guys didn't kill him," Nova breathed, putting the pieces together. "You didn't even know he had infiltrated the Council." Shire's eyes immediately locked onto Nova as he learned that they had a mole in their ranks. For Major Nova, this was confirmation that he was oblivious but it also meant that the Council was not responsible for killing Smith as General Mercer had led her to believe. She guessed she should've realized it when they attacked her with za'tarc rings. If they killed Smith, they would've used the same weapon. Instead, Smith was apparently hacked apart by a sword or some other bladed weapon. But if it wasn't the Council that killed Smith, then his killer was still out there.
-.-
Nova was certainly impressed with Martin's self-control in the interrogation room. The moment they stepped out, his agitation for immediately apparent on his face.
"Take it easy," Nova said gently as Martin glared at the door. He was usually the one talking about whether or not something was moral and now it looked like he wanted to march back into the room and deck the prisoner.
"May his ears turn to arseholes so he may take a dump on his shoulders!" Martin cursed.
"Charles," Nova said. Martin looked at the Major in surprise. They were usually so formal to each other, this was the first time he ever heard her use his first name. "You need to try to see it from his perspective."
"His perspective?" Martin repeated, stunned that Nova had suggested such a thing. His frustrations suddenly subsided when he realized how empathetic she felt. She almost pitied him. "Major, how can we not judge when blokes like them do nothing but judge. My parents were both doctors and that gave my family a fair amount of money. Blokes think that just because I've had an easier life than most I'm a spoiled brat. Yeah, I had it easy, but that's why I'm here; I want to try to give other people the chance to live lives like mine. I was always taught we are given privileges so helping other people is easier. My sister became a lawyer because she wanted to give innocent people the chance to defend themselves. I joined the Royal Australian Air Force so I can protect the land I love."
"Charles, the more we view any battle as us versus them, the more we hate them. Look at him; he's already filled with hate. Understand the people we fight so we can understand why we're fighting and we can avoid becoming them. There's other stuff we have to worry about anyways."
"Like what?" Martin scoffed. The idea of them being infiltrated seemed more important at the moment.
"The Tok'ra agreed to help if they were allowed to implant several members of the Millennium Expedition."
Martin tensed when he heard this. Normally, he wouldn't be very concerned if the Tok'ra decided to come along. But, why did they keep it a secret? With several hundred people in the colony, it would be next to impossible to know who the Tok'ra were.
"Did the file-?"
"Expunged," Nova interrupted. She knew Martin was going to ask whether or not the file contained the names of those who were Tok'ra. "But, it says two branches of the Tok'ra were brought along. One was the scientific branch, the other was the orak vu'lom. That's Goa'uld for Unholy Shadow; that's the assassination branch of the Tok'ra. They were rarely used out of fear that every killed System Lord was simply replaced by another, but when they were used, success was guaranteed."
"We've been in this galaxy for over two months and no one's been killed yet," Martin remarked, trying to understand why the Tok'ra would send assassins with the expedition. He could understand why they would send a science team, but why assassins?
"They must be here to keep an eye on someone so they can get rid of him at a moment's notice," Nova concluded. "But, that still leaves the question of who?"
-.-
Chen flipped through every single book on Smith's bookshelf while Corin went through the drawers. The floor was mess before but the two of them had completely covered it in random items.
"What're we looking for anyways?" Chen asked in agitation as he closed another book and put it back on the shelf.
"Something out of place," was all Corin could answer. He knew Terra wanted them to find something but he didn't have any more of an idea than Chen. Corin tossed the empty drawer in the bed and poked his head inside the space where it once was.
"You know, if you're wondering whether or not you should ask a question, the answer is usually yes," Chen announced loudly.
"It's not a question for you," Corin said, dumping another drawer onto the bed. "I'm just wondering about stuff." Corin simply hung his head. A lot of the rhetoric Shire was talking about was bringing back memories from when he was still a Ror'char citizen. The basic Ror'char belief was that if people were allowed to form different views on the same issue, there would inevitably be conflict. Corin thought that the Millennium Expedition, a colony out in the middle of nowhere, could prove them wrong.
"Hey, Corin!" Chen called. Corin rushed in, curious why Steven was shouting. Chen had just opened what he thought was a plain old dictionary, but a section of several pages had been cut out, creating a space that held a long white crystal. "Either he went to Jared or this doesn't belong here."
Corin examined the crystal for a moment. The truth may be within their grasp, just waiting to be read.