Chapter 3:
"Could this person possibly be telling the truth?" asked General Hammond. SG-1 sat around the conference table pondering Victoria Shepard.
Major Carter leaned towards the table, "Well, the multi-world interpretation of quantum physics postulates…"
"Ahhh hah!" interrupted Colonel O'Neill, "Enough of that multi-world stuff." Doctor Jackson and Major Carter shot him a look. Teal'c arched an eyebrow. "If suddenly people can come through the stargate from other realities then we're going to be knee-deep in goatees faster than you can say lame cliché." He paused, "I didn't intend for that to rhyme." O'Neill looked down at the table; he pretended to straighten his note pad. Major Carter grimaced.
"Major, are you saying that she might actually be who she says she is?"
"Yes sir, I am. Remember our experiences with the quantum mirror device." Major Carter tried to contain her enthusiasm. She was all but drooling over Shepard's omni-tool. And the other equipment! It was almost too good to be true. Shepard had promised to help her interface the omni-tool with their systems. She seemed hell bent on getting as much data on the Reapers into the hands of the SGC as possible as quickly as possible.
Before the SF troops had escorted her to the VIP quarters Commander Shepard had returned the device to her. She said it was a gesture of good faith. One final, longing, look at the image of her wife, and Shepard had powered down the small computer and slid it across the table.
"Well, if she's for real, then we have a very serious problem."
"I couldn't have said it better myself, sir," O'Neill cut it. "If these Reapers are out there, then this whole thing with the goa'uld is almost laughably quaint."
"She certainly seems willing to help us," Doctor Jackson chimed in. He was almost as excited as Major Carter at the prospect of interacting with Commander Shepard. In all of their travels through the gate the SGC had only made contact with a few sentient races; the majority of them were surprisingly human-like. This Citadel Council put it all to shame.
"I believe this Commander Shepard is a formidable woman," Teal'c observed, "She is most likely willing to do anything if it achieves her goal of defeating the Reapers. She will only assist us as long as it furthers those goals."
"Yeah, did anyone else notice the look on her face when she was describing the Reaper War?" O'Neill looked at the group. "I've seen that look before. The woman is a killer, no doubt about it. I for one think we should stay on her good side."
"Sirs, we may have to face the possibility that the Reapers don't even exist in this reality. If the mass relay network is as expansive as she described, we'd have surely stumbled across the council races by now. Also, we may not be able to send her back to wherever she came from. What will happen when Shepard realizes this?"
"We get her to help us with the goa'uld, however quaint she might think they are," O'Neill said matter-of-factly.
"What if she doesn't want to," Doctor Jackson leaned over the table and interlocked his fingers, "Did you see the look on her face when that picture of her wife came up?"
SG-1 shared a worried expression.
"I'll be just outside if you need anything ma'am," said the airman with perfunctory politeness.
"Thank you airman," Shepard was already assimilating the lingo, "I'm sorta climbing the walls in here, do you think you could give me a magazine or something to read?"
The security forces trooper pondered that for a moment. "I'll see if I can scrounge something up, ma'am," she said.
"Thank you, airman. I'll let you know if I need anything," she paused, "oh, maybe some clothes that aren't hospital scrubs?" She plucked the green garment away from her chest and shook it slightly in a show of disgust. The SF nodded. "I'd be up for grabbing some chow whenever it's convenient for you." The airman met her gaze and nodded again. There was still confusion and wariness in her expression, but less open hostility than when Shepard had first arrived. Truly, Shepard was trying to wheedle information out of the young woman, and a certain measure of politeness could go a long way.
Victoria would settle for anything that had a date on it; a periodical, a novel, anything that could give her a rough idea as to what the year was. Of course, if the powers-that-be here had any foresight at all they'd make sure that there was nothing to scrounge, or worse, faked materials. So long as they could keep Shepard in the dark, they could exercise a modicum of control over her.
She had an opportunity to get a jump on the Reapers. Victoria needed to know just how much time she had to play with. She composed a mental list of things that would need to happen; on the top of it was Mars. They needed to get to the archives. It would jump their technology ahead nearly 200 years, hell, maybe 300 if what I've seen is the best they have to offer. It would also tell them if the Reapers, and by extension Liara, even existed in this reality. Then they could move on to the Charon relay; from there, on to the Citadel. Those asshole councilors would have to believe her and all of the war data she carried! Wouldn't they?
The Reapers were priority one, but what about Liara? Oh Liara, how I miss you, Shepard thought to herself. Victoria closed her eyes. She wanted to weep, she wanted to cry out, but she couldn't, they were watching. She looked up at the security camera; she projected an even facial expression despite the inner emotional turmoil. Liara might be lost to her! Her beloved could be gone, and not because she was lost in battle, but because she never existed in the first place. Somehow that was worse. Shepard was a soldier, and so was Liara. Soldiers die. But to never exist in the first place? That wasn't something Shepard could deal with as easily.
Shepard put the thoughts from her mind. She was here and now, wherever and whenever that was. She was going to find a way to destroy the Reapers before the war even started. She was going to protect this Earth from the Reaper menace, just like she had done for her Earth. Then she was going to find a way back to her love.
Or she would die trying.