Chapter 21 – Let Them Eat Cake!
"Janet."
The doctor turned at the sound of the general's voice, and knew from the sound and his expression that he bore bad news. "Is it Cassie?" she asked with all the concern of a mother.
"She's alive," Jack answered, not wanting her to think the very worst.
"But?"
"The NID found where she was, but she was kidnapped before they got to her."
"I thought she was already kidnapped," said Janet in confusion.
"She escaped, was picked up by the police, was nearly kidnapped again and escaped, caused an electrical explosion when she was nearly captured again, was taken to the hospital, and that's where they picked her up again."
"The hospital – she was hurt?"
"She wasn't wounded any more than before, but... since the explosion, she can't see or hear."
"No! Not Cassie!" The very idea of her precious daughter cut off from the world in such a manner was simply horrifying.
"She... she can speak fine and she can hear radio transmissions," Jack said as a small comfort.
"But now the Gould have her. They'll... you know what they'll do with her," replied the distraught doctor.
"The NID are hunting her down. They'll get her back," Jack assured her. "Listen, you should take the day off."
Janet shook her head. "They've taken my daughter, but they won't stop me from doing my job."
"Take a break, then see if you feel like working. I'll instruct the other doctors to keep an eye on you." Normally such a statement would earn him larger needles for his next injection, but he knew he could get away with it this time.
"I'll do that. Thank you, General."
"You heard that they didn't find Daniel or Cynthia?"
"Yes, Sir. SG-3 filled me in."
"Daniel's most likely trying to talk his way back home, and my daughter will be concocting some highly technical and explosive escape plan," Jack guessed.
"I'm sure they are," Janet agreed.
"They'll be back. They'll all be back."
"I believe it," Janet answered. She had to. She couldn't afford to believe anything else.
-
"And here we are on the larger moon of Bryx," Vala Mal Doran announced.
"What's it called?" Cynthia wondered curiously.
"We call it the larger moon of Bryx," Vala replied. "It doesn't have a name of its own."
"Oh."
"What happens now?" Daniel asked.
"Now I dock with the superintendent's satellite and pay for a months rental of one of the nicer high-security beach-front apartments."
"Superintendent?" Daniel sounded somewhat incredulous.
Vala shrugged. "It's a rough translation."
-
In a small out of the way town, early that evening...
"You're sure we're safe here?" Leah asked, as she'd asked many times before. She wasn't used to being afraid for her life.
"As far as I can tell, they won't find us any time soon. They aren't likely to look for us in this place, but I'll know if they do," Ivan assured his friend, for whom he had somehow become responsible.
"I never expected something like this would happen when I ran into you. You were never this much trouble back in school," she reflected.
Ivan shrugged. "I'm not the one who took pictures of an alien cargo ship. But enough about that. Let's see what's on TV." The pair were holed up in a run-down hotel, and had begun to finance themselves with their respective trades of photography and labour at the general store. Ivan supplemented his meagre earnings with a variety of crazy bets. It was enough to cover the room and food, but a larger income wouldn't have helped much, since there were no other hotels. At least there was a working TV set.
"It'll be about the Stargate," Leah declared. That was the topic of the day, not that people had stopped wondering whether it would rain, how the crops would fare, or if taxes would go up. Some things remained constant.
"No bet," Ivan joked, switching on the box.
"How's the headache?" Leah inquired as the news began.
"I'm coping." It ranged a dull ache when he was blocking the visions of other times, and extreme pain after excessive use.
"Please be careful," she urged him.
"Careful not to let anyone sneak up on us?"
"You know what I mean."
Ivan didn't answer, as the TV had taken his attention.
-TV-
"Tonight we are privileged to interview Mr Edward Blake, the well-known millionaire philanthropist, and now a member for the organisation known as Creating A Kinder Earth. Mr Blake, what can you tell us about the organisation?"
"Before I answer, I'd like to thank you for having me on the show, Amy. You do a great job."
"Thank you," the interviewer replied brightly."
"Now, Creating A Kinder Earth, or CAKE, as we prefer to call it, is an international effort to remove the Stargate from control of the United States military. We believe that the Stargate belongs to the entire planet, and everyone should be allowed to reap the benefits, including cheap interstellar travel."
"So, in a sense you're a lobby group?"
"You could see it that way, at least in part. We hope to gain support of citizens of all nations, to the point that Russia will allow us to use the gate rather than allowing the USAF to have near-exclusive access. Once that happens, CAKE will oversee the use of the Stargate and the technology we gain from it."
"For what purpose are you taking donations?"
"Well, we don't expect the Russians to give us the Stargate for free. Also, we will need initial capital for infrastructure."
"You mentioned 'cheap' interstellar travel. I assume that means you will be charging people to step through the Stargate?"
"That is correct. There are considerable power costs involved in connection to another planet. We plan to minimise costs by building an offworld terminal, to which travellers will be sent in large batches. From there, they can split off to whatever planet they wish to visit. This will reduce the number of outgoing wormholes from Earth required, since we are only dialling a single address for everyone."
"What about ships? Spaceships, that is."
"We have plans to have a 'space port' as part of the off-world base. We belive this would be safer than increasing the air traffic around Earth. Of course, conventional aircraft will eventually be replaced by safer technology, so we'll see what eventuates."
"What about Earth's enemies, such as the Goa'uld?"
"For the time being, we will need world military forces to provide security, and expect to allow continuing off-world missions, subject to our approval. While we eventually intend to only allow peaceful missions, we do not wish to neglect the security of our planet."
"How does CAKE intend to assure the entire planet benefits from alien technology?"
"We plan to allow R&D companies to have access to technology encountered off-world. Since there will be many companies doing this in public, rather than a few in secret, we will see better and faster results. Since these companies will be competing with one another – they can't patent alien technology – then consumers are guaranteed the best technology for the best prices. CAKE will also regulate these companies to ensure any technology they develop is only used for the good of all citizens of this planet, and they adhere to strict safety protocols."
"An ambitious plan, but also one that sounds necessary for the continued peace and prosperity of Earth. Thank you for sharing with us, Mr Blake."
"I thank you for the opportunity to share CAKE with the world. My greatest hope is that the world gives CAKE a chance."
-End TV-
"That was interesting. It sounds like a good idea, though you've told me that the SGC are doing a good job with the current arrangement. What do you think?"
"Hmm, I..." Ivan seemed to freeze.
Leah waited for him to continue. "Ivan?" she prompted. When the stillness remained, she tried poking him. "Hey, are you with me?" Ivan moved sluggishly away from the offending finger. "What's up?" The young man made several slow but sloppy movements, and then tried rising from the couch. He failed and would have fallen on his face if Leah hadn't caught him. "I think you'd better keep still," she suggested.
Ivan's lips contorted, as if we was attempting to speak. "T ... ooooooooooooo ... ffffff ... aaaahhh ... sssssss ... t ..." he seemed to whisper. The sounds were very drawn out and badly formed.
"What's too fast?" Leah asked, but he didn't seem to hear her. She was at a loss for a minute, but finally an idea came to her. "Paper. I'll get a pen and some paper." She left Ivan, who didn't seem to be in immediate danger, and after some rummaging, returned with the supplies. 'What is too fast?' she wrote in large letters.
Ivan fumbled for the pen, his movements slow, yet continually overshooting the goal. After several tries he successfully gripped the writing implement and began to write in large unsteady letters, 'E... V... E... R... YT." The last two letters were written increasingly quickly, and with far less difficulty. Ivan let out a sigh of relief. "Back to normal," he declared seriously. "I was rather worried for a moment."
"What happened, Ivan?"
"Everything seemed to speed up, or my mind slowed down," Ivan informed her. "I couldn't understand a thing you were saying, and my apparent reaction time was extremely slow."
"That sounds nasty. How long did it last? For you."
"About half a minute."
"It was around five for me. So you could have been ten times slower."
"Yeah." Ivan was a little frightened, and with good reason. "It must be a side effect. Not only does my mind see things from other times, but now it has a loose grip on the correct passage of time. I expect it will only get worse if I allow it to."
"Then don't allow it," was the simple answer.
"That means not seeing the futures. If I ignore them, I might not be able to avoid something which I ought to."
"Maybe you should just... take it easy. Try to get some sleep."
"Easier said than done."
"A sedative might help."
"If we had any."
"I could sing," Leah suggested.
"You can sing?"
"Don't you remember my singing?"
"Oh, yeah, you can sing. Worth a try."
-
At the Alpha Site...
"And that's the end of Svarog," Sam declared as she climbed out of the Game Chair. "And most of his minor lords. We're ready for the cleanup phase." She turned to face Lieutenant Hailey and saw the look on her face. "Bad news from Earth?"
Jen nodded. "I... I think you'd better hear it from General O'Neill."
Sam gave an answering nod and reached for the subspace communicator.