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Can I just say that I love discovering all the fancy options that this site has for publishing. For instance, the traffic stats option that shows you the readers' different countries. It's so cool! Right now we have representatives from all the continents reading this story! (except Antarctica. Probably because whoever lives there is too angry that we took their stargate to want to read more about what happened afterwards.)
State of Affairs, pt. 4
"Here you go."
Cassie turned and smiled when the young man handed her a large wooden mug filled with something that smelled vaguely like apples.
"I think we have to share, though, couldn't find another mug that didn't leak. So," he noticed the small phone in her hand, "did anyone else have better luck?"
"Uhm...Pete and Laney ran into some kids' camping trip, but that's about it. Everyone else says it's quiet."
"At least we got the fun site," the young man pointed out, laughing when two people in front of a nearby tent engaged in a mock sword fight. "What about your friends, anything on their end?"
Cassie pursed her lips. She would get Jack back for this. "Nope. Not a thing. Sorry," she sighed after a second, "I hope you're not too disappointed..."
"Are you kidding? If it's not tonight, it'll be tomorrow, or another night!" His eyes lit up with excitement. "You saw those photos, there's no way anything other than a spaceship made those marks. I'm telling you Cas, we're onto something here... can you imagine, meeting a real live alien?"
Cassie dipped her head and a took a long sip from the chunky wooden mug.
The driver of the black van had just opened the door to climb back in when two flashlight beams blinded him, and a shout came from the treeline.
"Alright people, this is Homeworld Security! Time to break up this party –"
That was as far as Jack got before a salvo of gunfire rained on the source of the lights and the voice. Immediately, return gunshots rang out from a completely different side of the clearing, and two of the armed men fell down with painful cries. The hostages started screaming and threw themselves on the ground, while everyone else took cover and returned fire blindly.
Crouched behind one of the thicker trees, Jack reloaded his gun. "I said 'break up the party'," he shouted, "didn't anyone teach you, that means you're supposed to stop shootin' and surrender! Fer cryin' out loud!"
Gunfire was the only response.
"Forget about him, just get out of here!" the woman ordered the ship's pilots. She shoved one of the hostages toward the ship. "Take them and the prototype back to your bosses!"
More gunshots rang out when one pilot tried to grab the second hostage from the ground, so he let go and ran for the ship instead. The two drivers and the passenger of the black van were still returning fire. The woman scrambled across the clearing and shouted something in Mandarin to her driver, who immediately ran for the car.
"Take care of him," she yelled to the others as she climbed into the passenger seat. "Go!" she ordered the driver.
Right as he started the engine, another series of shots rang out from the patch of trees right behind the car. Two of them hit the windows, another the door.
"There's two of them!" one man shouted, and immediately their gunfire changed targets.
"There!" another pointed at a moving silhouette right behind the tree line.
The woman's car pulled out and blocked their view before they could get a good aim, and by the time she was gone, so was their target. Across the clearing, a hatch seemed to open out of thin air. One of the pilots ran through and vanished from view, while the other tried to drag a hostage over. The second hostage had made his way into the trees, and was stumbling around, trying to take cover.
"Move or die, worm," the pilot rasped, giving the still captive hostage a hard shove toward the open hatch. "Inside! Now!"
"Sorry, no carry-on allowed on this flight." Jack stepped out from around the cloaked ship and tackled the man, sending the two of them rolling into the gunshots echoed from the far side of the clearing, along with indistinct shouts.
Suddenly the black van's engine rumbled to life. A few last shots rang out amid a stream of swearwords, then the gunfire ceased.
"He's dead, let's go!" one of the men shouted.
"…you sure?" Their voices were partly drowned out by the distance and the noise of the engine.
Jack shoved his opponent off him and tried to scramble to his feet. "Daniel!" The man tried to get him in a chokehold, and the general turned back with renewed anger, delivering a few strong punches that sent the other reeling. "Daniel!"
The black van was pulling out of the clearing.
Jack surveyed the area with an anxious gaze. "Damn it, Daniel, where the hell –" Aided by instinct, he threw himself out of the way at the last second, and an energy blast flew right by him. He rolled away, heard another blast hit the ground that he had just been on, and braced for the inevitable hit.
Instead he heard a muffled grunt and the last shot went wide.
He looked up to see Daniel and the pilot locked in a clumsy sort of close-body combat. The archaeologist managed to deliver an admittedly impressive punch to the other man's jaw, right before falling for a very obvious feint and getting knocked off his feet. Luckily, he rolled within range of the man's dropped weapon, managed to grab it and squeezed off a couple of shots. Terribly aimed as they were, they were enough to send the pilot running for the open hatch.
"What the heck did you think you were doing?" Jack helped Daniel up, fighting the urge to pat him down and make sure nothing was broken.
"Saving your life," the younger man grumbled "you're welcome, by the way."
"Next time, just shoot the bad guy, Jean-Claude."
"Funny. I ran out of bullets trying to stop that car."
The hatch closed with a metallic screech, and a familiar whirr filled the clearing, indicating that the ship was close to taking off.
"Come on, as soon as that ship's up in the air, they're gonna toast us." The general looked around for the two hostages, both of whom were still stumbling around in confusion, not knowing which direction to run in. "Get into the woods!" he shouted, then, pulling Daniel along, helped herd them as far from the clearing as possible.
Within moments, the heat wave and loud noise confirmed that the ship was indeed taking off.
"Maybe they've had enough and they'll just leave us alone," Daniel suggested as the four of them stumbled through the trees.
"Yeah." Jack risked a glanced back, just in time to see a Tel'tak drop its cloak right above the clearing. "Then again, maybe not."
Sure enough, an energy blast burst from the ship, sending half the clearing and the woods around up in flames.
"Go!" Jack shouted to the two hostages. "Run!"
"You know they can probably scan for us," Daniel panted as they moved as quickly as they could through the thick woods. "We can't outrun a Tel'tak!"
"If you have any other suggestions…" The trees right behind them were blown up with another salvo. "Now's the time to make them!"
And then the ship was right above them, hovering ominously in the dark night sky, the flames from the burning trees reflecting off its copper hull, and they could see the weapons ready to fire again and knew there was nowhere left to run…
…and suddenly a barrage of gunfire ricocheted off the Tel'tak, and several fighter planes converged on the larger ship from all sides, sending it off its axis, drawing its fire, giving the people down on the ground time to move again.
"Yes! I love it when that happens! Come on," Jack led the rest of them away from the fight, through the trees, until they were far enough that no stray shots could hit them. From there they watched the Tel'tak finally retreat, the F-302s in hot pursuit, until they all vanished out of sight. "You gotta love the cavalry," Jack grinned.
"Who do you think sent them?"
"I don't know, d'ya actually text Landry?"
Together with the two hostages, Jack and Daniel made their way to the side of the forest road, just in time to see two sets of headlights wind around the nearest corner. A few moments later two black cars pulled up to them, and several people in black mission gear got out, among them…
"Teal'c, buddy!" Jack caught the Jaffa's hand in a firm grasp. "You still haven't lost your great timing."
"Nor you, O'Neill,your ability to encounter danger in unexpected places."
"Nah, that's all Daniel's fault."
The Jaffa narrowed his eyes doubtfully. "Indeed…"
"And Carter," Jack greeted with another smile, "always good to see you."
Sam's tight-lipped smile hinted that she may not share his opinion, but she nodded a greeting and saluted anyway. "Sir."
"Glad to see you're okay, general," the commander of the Homeworld task force walked over and saluted Jack.
"Davis! Didn't I just sign your vacation slip?"
"One week today, Sir." Major Paul Davis grinned. "Made it longer than I thought, actually." He looked past Jack's shoulder toward the clearing and its surrounding woods, still crackling and smoldering after bearing the ship's fire. "Never a boring day at the office, right, General?"
"You know how I hate boring," Jack agreed. "Did we get that ship?"
"Pilots report that it engaged its cloak and escaped before the F302s could force it down," Carter informed him. "We lost it."
"It might not get very far," Daniel offered. "Those fighters probably did a lot of damage."
"And it's definitely not coming back. By the way – Carter, we need to talk about fixing that sensor network."
"Yes, Sir." Her tone was still a few notes below her usual cheerful pitch, and a little slower and more sedate. Jack cleared his throat.
"Okay…good! In that case, let's get back to that clearing, I've got a feeling our friends left behind plenty of clues. Oh and," he looked around, spotting the two former hostages who were now being attended by the HS task force medic. "Someone get their story. They had a first class one-way ticket outta here on that ship, and I wanna know why."
As they made their way back to the clearing, Jack leaned toward Daniel's ear.
"Daniel, you remember our deal of not mentioning anything to Carter about Cassie, right?"
Daniel grinned. "That depends."
Jack gave him a warning glare. "Daniel."
"When's the next ship leaving for Atlantis, again?"
"Daniel." Since the archaeologist looked utterly unrepentant, he finally rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. I'll talk to Hank. And just so you know, that's blackmail."
"…and the dead man in the clearing was identified as Terrence Evans." General Landry clicked the projector remote, and a picture of the man came up on the screen. "As you may remember, he was the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company that illegally funded the Trust. And he had been believed dead for the past two years."
"At least now we know for sure," Daniel piped in from across the conference room table.
"Yes, but that also raises the question of who else might still be out there that we don't know of." Landry sounded displeased. "Ba'al may have tried to reform the Trust during his stay on Earth last year, or it might be someone else entirely. And unfortunately our best source of intel was shot by his own men."
"Yeah, bad guys don't have the best retirement plans," the archaeologist commented.
"Well, if Evans was acting as the delivery boy in the middle of the night, he can't have been that high up in the food chain," Jack pointed out from seat next to Daniel's. "Someone else is pulling the strings here."
"What about the woman you saw?" asked Sam.
"We're looking into Daniel's ladyfriend Xiaoyi Shen," Jack replied, "but so far she's clean. She's even got an alibi for yesterday night. But I've been authorized to put her under surveillance twenty-four seven…so if she so much as thinks about any shady business, we'll know about it."
"Hang on – and I know I missed out on all the action here, so maybe I'm missing something," Mitchell couldn't help sounding a little disappointed, "but why are we looking into the IOA rep with an alibi, when we already know a lady who's buddies with the Trust and likes to kidnap people?"
"Athena…" Sam nodded.
Daniel looked unsure. "But why would she speak fluent Mandarin Chinese?"
"Why wouldn't she?" Mitchell held up his hands. "Heck, we don't know what that Goa'uld can do… maybe she's been hiding away in China all these months that we haven't managed to find her."
"Perhaps she has taken a new host," suggested Teal'c.
In the seat next to him, Sam gave another small nod. "Just because we can't find Charlotte Mayfield doesn't mean she's still...alive," she hesitated for a moment, not sure if being the unwilling host to a Goa'uld could really qualify as 'alive'.
"We'll look into it. But even if it wasn't Athena we saw at the rendezvous site, that doesn't mean she's not into this up to her snakey elbows." Jack shook his head with disgust. "The Trust is like that damn hydra, the more we chop off its heads, the more it keeps popping up newer and uglier ones." He rolled his eyes at Daniel's expression. "Yes, Daniel, I pay attention to your little stories sometimes."
"Good to know," the archaeologist smirked.
"What about that…thing they left behind?" asked Mitchell.
"The woman called it 'the prototype'," Daniel remembered. "She told the Tel'tak pilot that his employers would know what to do with it. We found it in the clearing, he must've dropped it when Jack tackled him."
"Hope they don't ask for their money back," Mitchell joked.
"Actually, I don't think the Tel'tak pilots were buying it," Daniel pointed out. "It seemed more like they were...picking up a delivery. They even got paid for the job. Nice big suitcase...although we didn't see what was in it."
"Probably gold…gems…weapons," Landry shook his head. "A lot of things that have value on other planets can be used to buy the services of mercenaries."
"If we find out for sure what was in that suitcase, maybe we can track it," Daniel proposed a little uncertainly, "see who'd be interested in buying or using it..."
"That sounds right up Vala's alley," commented Mitchell.
Landry nodded his agreement. "You can talk to her about it when she returns from the Tok'ra. Now, this device that they left behind..." He clicked through the slideshow to a photo of the open silver briefcase, and the few mechanical pieces it contained. "Colonel Carter, have you been able to identify what it is?"
As if on cue, all eyes turned to Sam.
"As far as I can tell, it's of Ancient design," she replied. "I'm not as familiar with Ancient technology, but the schematics in the briefcase were very detailed. According to those, it's a smaller, more stable version of the phase-shifting technology we used to defend against the Ori attacks."
"Could it be a prototype that Merlin built before making Arthur's mantle?" asked Daniel.
"I don't think so. Merlin's device used lepton radiation to shift anyone near it out of phase. This prototype uses a molecular decomposition mechanism."
"Like the Asgard beam?"
"Sort of... but not exactly."
Sam looked uncharacteristically reluctant to launch into a technical explanation, but there was no getting away from it.
"Asgard technology mostly relies on the basic energy conversion principles of quantum physics. It has a more…" she struggled to find the word, "mechanistic, or naturalistic feel to it" She did not look satisfied with the explanation, but moved on. "A lot of Ancient technology does work like that, like the stargate system for example. But we've also seen Ancient devices that seem to tap into a wholly different concept of energy, that exists independent of particle physics. An energy of the mind, so to speak, like…"
Again, she struggled for a word.
"The Force?" Jack suggested.
Sam put her face into her palms for one moment, before admitting. "Pretty much. That's about as far as my understanding of it goes right now."
"It's not surprising that the Ancients could manipulate energy on a different level, that was probably how they discovered ascension in the first place," Daniel pointed out.
"But it's hard for us to understand," replied Sam, "let alone quantify or use this kind of energy."
"And this prototype uses the...Force?" Jack arched his eyebrows. "To...decompose our...molecules?"
"I'm not sure," Carter admitted. "For the most part, the schematics are straightforward, but there are a few components that feel...off. It almost feels like there should be more, like half the instructions are missing..." She shook her head, and flipped through her copy of the debriefing file. "But at first glance, it's just a small-scale phase-shifting device."
Jack was the only one who picked up on the slight hesitation in her tone. "And...at second glance?"
Her eyes flickered to him briefly.
"Colonel?" This time, Landry, too, noticed her wavering.
"I can't put my finger on it," Sam finally said, "but for some reason these schematics have a familiar...feel. Maybe it's the details of the molecular decomposition mechanism, or maybe it's just a general familiarity with any Ancient device... but they remind me of something."
"Something...?" Jack prompted.
Sam exhaled slowly. "The Dakara superweapon."
Everyone around the table reacted with the same mixture of surprise and horror.
"Are you saying, Colonel, that this prototype could be developed into another superweapon?" Landry sounded furious, which in turn caused Sam's denial to be a little more emphatic than she had meant it.
"No! I mean, this is definitely just a phase-shifting device," she recovered, "and only for small-scale use, too. There's nothing about it that would make it into a weapon. But…" Again she was at a loss for words. "I'm sorry, Sir, I don't know how to explain it better. I've only had one day to study the schematics, maybe with a little more time I'll pinpoint exactly why I get this familiar feeling about it."
Landry's frown persisted, though it was not directed at her. "Thank you, Colonel." Then he exchanged a concerned glance with Jack.
"Well, that makes things interesting," the other general deadpanned.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "If you can call someone trying to build another unstoppable superweapon 'interesting'…"
"Okay, let me say again that there's absolutely no evidence for that," Sam reiterated. "This prototype could not, in any way, be converted into a Dakara-like superweapon."
"You did say it was missing half the instructions…"
"No, I said it felt like it was missing half the instructions," she corrected Mitchell. "The schematics are complete for the device. It just … feels..." she was really beginning to hate that word "…that there could be more. But there isn't. There is nothing more to this prototype than what is written in those schematics."
"Does O'Neill not believe that the mercenaries in the Tel'tak had travelled to Earth several times already?" Teal'c looked thoughtful. "Is it not possible that a different prototype, or additional design instructions, were picked up on previous transports?"
"Uhm…yes, I guess that is possible."
"So, someone could be out there building a superweapon," Daniel concluded, and was a little taken aback by the irritated glare that Sam sent him.
"Someone could always be out there building a superweapon," she countered. "I don't think anything we've seen here necessarily points to that conclusion. I'm sorry, Sir," she looked to Landry, "I didn't mean to imply that we have to worry about that."
"Forewarned is forearmed, Colonel," Landry replied. "I'd prefer to worry unnecessarily rather than be surprised when someone shows up in my backyard with a superweapon."
She sighed and gave up. "Yes, Sir."
"Uh…not to harp on this point too much," Daniel said slowly, giving Sam a cautious look lest she became more annoyed at him, "but didn't the two hostages we rescued turn out to be genius scientists, too?"
"You are indeed correct, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c nodded, catching the drift. "Dr. Thompson is a nuclear physicist who was part of the original technical crew of the Prometheus."
"The kind of guy I'd snatch if I wanted to build a superweapon," Jack commented.
"Indeed."
This time, Daniel played devil's advocate. "But Dr. Anders is a biomedical engineer who has nothing to do with the stargate program and never worked on any high-clearance project. He's researching some sort of support interface for stroke victims at Johns Hopkins. Why take him?"
"I don't know, Daniel,"Jack arched his eyebrows. "Maybe one of the evil masterminds of this conspiracy had a stroke."
Daniel rolled his eyes. A brief silence followed, while everyone tried to process what they had just discussed. Finally, Landry spoke again.
"Alright, so we don't have a clear picture yet. We don't know if the Trust has been reformed, or who is leading the operation on Earth, and we don't know what their exact plans are. But one of the players is out of the equation, and we have a lead on at least one other, as well as a possible lead to their off-world partners. And whoever these partners are, they did not get their prototype or their hostages. And we've stopped the illicit transports to and from Earth – " he looked to Carter, who nodded.
"I set up a three-tier configuration for the satellite network, with separate functional loops and back-up sensors. Even if some of the sensors go out, there will essentially be two layers of back-up. We also have a rudimentary cloak-detection setup in place, although we'll have to transition to something more permanent once I learn how to safely integrate the Asgard technology with our own."
"Good. Given that two days ago we had no knowledge of any of this happening, I'd say quite a lot has been accomplished." There were nods of agreement around the table. "Most of all, we are forewarned," Landry continued, "which means that we can work to get to the end of this, and if necessary, get ready to defend against a potential new threat."
"The President has authorized General O'Neill to make this case a priority for Homeworld Security," he informed them. "We can't spend as many resources on it here at the SGC, but keep your eyes open. I have a briefing with all the SG team leaders later today, where I'll be telling them the same thing. Pay attention, look for details, make connections. Whoever's behind this here on Earth, isn't working alone, and chances are, you may be meeting some of their associates, or someone who knows their associates, in your off-world missions." There were nods from all around the table. "Someone out there in this galaxy knows exactly what Mister Evans and his as of yet unknown partners are up to, and someone's going to be willing to let something slip. So keep your eyes and ears open," he repeated. "Dismissed."
The End
Epilogue:
The team left the briefing room after being dismissed, while Landry and Jack stayed behind to finish up some details. Mitchell barely waited until they were out of earshot of the two generals, before launching into an animated recap of everything they had just discussed.
"…and wow, did I miss a lot. Seriously Jackson, I was only out for a few days, and you join O'Neill to take down some alien smuggling op right near DC, and uncover a potential plan to build a superweapon?" Mitchell shook his head. "You couldn't wait another week?"
"As the Tau'ri say, Colonel Mitchell… A subsequent occasion inevitably follows."
The colonel paused for a second, then his face lit up with understanding. "There's always next time, yes, thank you Teal'c."
"Well, you can go with Jack next time," Daniel offered "I am hopefully not going to be here by then."
"You finally takin' a break, Jackson? Off to some tropical island? Or…library?" he amended.
"A little of both, actually," Daniel grinned, undeterred by the tease. "Jack's going to convince Landry to let me go to Atlantis."
That caused Mitchell's jovial tone to disappear. "You – what now? Wait a second, how long are you – when did you...why wasn't –"
Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she advised.
That wiped the grin off Daniel's face.
"Don't worry about –"
But Sam was already walking away, toward the two generals who were just leaving the conference room. "Sir," she smiled at O'Neill, "could I talk to you for a minute?"
Daniel stared after her in confusion. "'Don't worry about it?' What does she mean, don't worry about it?" He looked at Mitchell, who shrugged. Teal'c bore his usual inscrutable expression, but Daniel knew how to read it by now. "You know what she means, don't you? What do you know? Why did she say that? Wh…"
He exhaled slowly.
"…she knows, doesn't she?"
Teal'c's eyebrows rose a millimetre.
"She knows about Cassie."
The Jaffa maintained a serene silence.
"Who's Cassie?"
But Daniel was still watching Teal'c intently. "Sam knows about Cassie, doesn't she?"
Slowly, the Jaffa inclined his head. Daniel's shoulders slumped.
"I'm not going to Atlantis, am I?"
This is it! The end of the first virtual episode! This is still very much a learning experience for me, so there will be small changes here and there in format, style etc. as we go on (hopefully changes for the better!). Thank you for reading this story and to everyone who sent their feedback, it was greatly appreciated! And thank you, Myosotis and SC, for your constant support and awesomeness and for being the best partners in crime!
Next episode up: 'Legacy', to be posted in a few days. You can find the synopsis in the episode guide posted on my author page.
As always, we love to hear from you!
Also - for any of you still reading these author notes. Does anyone know who the VP was to President Hayes by the end of the show? The last VP I know of was Kinsey, and he's *definitely* out of that job. We might need the VP to make an appearance in the future, so we're trying to figure out if it was ever expressly stated who followed Kinsey...