"So how long's this gonna take?" Martin asked. "I thought we were going to start making friends with the neighbors. 'Bout damn time too."
"The General's already assembled diplomatic teams," Corin said. "Neither Wolf Pack nor the Dusk Riders are included, probably reserved for other mission types. Anyways, I'm guessing this has something to do with Typhon."
Nova looked out across the table. Everyone had sat down to discuss the happenings. But something told her that even with what she knew she had just barely scratched the surface. She had tried to keep all this a secret but failed miserably. Even if they didn't know what the exact issue was, they knew it existed.
"We know the origin of the virus…" Nova said hesitantly. She paused again, suddenly reconsidering this meeting. It seemed a good idea at the time. But so did pointing a gun at Mercer. Still, she had started it. She had no choice but to finish it. She took a deep breath before finally telling everyone the truth. "The virus is Tok'ra."
Nova could see everyone's look of shock. She couldn't blame them. The Tok'ra were among one of Earth's closest allies.
"That's not possible," Hailey muttered.
"It's true," Chen spoke up, everyone immediately turning to look at him. "I've worked with Tok'ra malware in the past and this thing had identical coding."
"Wait a minute, Steven," Hailey said. "You can't possibly tell where a virus came from by its source code."
"Trust me, work code long enough and it becomes like hearing someone speak. You pick up on their mannerisms."
"And they admitted it," Nova added. All eyes were once again directed back to Nova. "I…went to Mercer's office."
"What, he just told you everything?" Corin asked skeptically. Nova cleared her throat in embarrassment. She was the leader. She was supposed to set the xample.
"I held him at gunpoint," she confessed.
"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed in disbelief. Well, everyone except Arcturus.
"You gotta be kidding me," Chen groaned, burying his face in his hand. "Hey, let's hold the most dangerous man in three galaxies at gun point. That'll be sure to work!" Chen exclaimed, waving his hands about dramatically.
"Alright, look," Nova said, trying to think of a defense. But she couldn't. It really was a stupid move.
"Did anything come out of that?" Arcturus asked calmly, clearly trying to keep the conversation on topic.
"Yea," Nova sighed. "The Tok'ra admitted they've been stocking up weapons specifically to fight us."
"They're afraid," Arcturus concluded.
"Of what?" Martin scoffed.
"That's you've gotten too powerful," Corin answered, figuring out the answer. "You guys already stomped on some pretty big threats and now you have Asgard technology and the Asgard core."
"Yeah, that tech was given to us! We bloody spend how many years with them refusing to give us their crap. Now we get it from somewhere else and they lose their shit about it."
"I'm with Martin on this," Hailey remarked. "We earned this technology."
"They're not trying to stop us from using it," Nova clarified. "They're just trying to even the odds."
"I guess this is the reason behind the whole conspiracy too," Chen remarked. Arcturus looked at him in confusion.
"I don't understand," she said. "I think this was before my time."
"A while back we discovered the whole reason the Millennium Expedition was formed as a type of social experiment," Corin explained. "It was apparently an undertaking involving the IOA, Tok'ra, and Jaffa Nation to make a team with SG-1's skills but more obedient."
"SG-1 being Earth's legendary team of heroes."
"Here's a question," Martin cut in. "What are the IOA scared of? They already have oversight of us. What are they cacking their pants over now?"
"Difference in power, probably," Chen said. "I mean, if the SGC decides to use its 304's to start bombing cities from orbit, what's to stop them?"
"You know China, Britain, and France all have their own ships," Hailey pointed out to Chen.
"And the SGC just finished its fifth battlecruiser. Not only is that a five to three advantage, Olympus and the Hammond both have state of the art tech that surpasses the blueprints that were given to the other countries."
"Wait a minute," Martin cut in. "You actually supporting this?"
"Stop jumping to conclusions," Steven groaned in annoyance. "Look, I haven't made up my mind yet but if I'm going to oppose this, I would at least like to know what I'm opposing. Fact of the matter is, the IOA's control of the SGC is superficial. People break protocol and ignore orders all the time without punishment. It seems the IOA want something a little more solid."
"Maybe, but I'm not sure how comfortable I feel about surrendering more control to the IOA," Martin said. "Those guys have a really bad track record. What's to stop them from ordering us to do something stupid? Or what if we need to do something and they stop us?"
"Like they always do," Hailey pointed out.
"Like they always do!" Martin agreed. "Let's bust open the archives, see how many times we were almost boned thanks to the genius behind the IOA."
"The IOA does need reformation," Corin admitted. "But that shouldn't make oversight any less important."
Hailey looked at Corin in disbelief.
"Wait, you're in favor of being controlled?"
"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Corin snapped. He looked like he genuinely took offense to what Hailey said. He was a former citizen of the Ror'char, an absolute dictatorship. The idea that he supported control probably cut deep.
Finally, Corin closed his eyes and sighed. "Look, I've seen what happens when only a single organization or branch gets unchecked power. Isn't the very concept of the US government built upon checks and balances? The idea that no one entity should have all the power?"
"Perhaps," Arcturus spoke up, holding up a hand to quiet everyone down. She paused to consider her words. "Perhaps the solution lies not in either extremes."
"What do you mean?" Steven Chen asked. Arcturus calmly folded her hands on the table, looking around.
"Perhaps there is a balance, a way to give groups such the IOA some amount of power to feel safe while retaining autonomy."
"The problem is oversight is a form of control," Martin said. "Look, we're assuming that we give the IOA or whoever more power over us they'll never abuse that power."
"Also, didn't this whole thing start because the IOA felt like they didn't have enough power?" Hailey pointed out. "They control the SGC's purse strings and can replace their leaders at the drop of a hat."
"You're bitter that they booted Carter from Atlantis, aren't you?" Chen remarked.
"Sam did good! But the IOA couldn't control her so they replaced her with Woolsey. Now they want him out since he's stopped listening to them too."
Nova looked up and down the table, trying to take in what everyone was saying. Normally hearing her teammates was helpful. But now, she didn't know.
"Arcturus," she said. "Do you have any input?"
Everyone at the table fell silent and looked at the knight, who gave Nova an annoyed glance. It seemed that she did not want to be put at center stage.
"During my time as High Warden of the Order and even before, I made many decisions," she said slowly, folding her hands on the table. "Many of them were mistakes. I was not infallible; however, I could always be assured of my own intent."
"Thank you!" Martin said.
"But as I said earlier," Samanya continued. "Perhaps the solution lies between our suggestions."
"Arc," Chen said. "Taking the middle ground is great in theory but doesn't really work in practice. Try to please everyone and you only succeed in pissing off everyone. Even if we did find a nice middle, chances are the SGC will say the IOA has too much power and the IOA will still say they don't have enough. What I don't understand is why would the IOA agree to let the Tok'ra plant viruses on our ships?" Chen asked.
"I don't think they did," Nova answered. "I think the Tok'ra planted the viruses without their knowing. Look, the Tok'ra are afraid of Earth, but the IOA is only afraid of the SGC."
"It seems they think their goals have enough in common to work together," Arcturus observed.
"It makes sense," Nova said, nodding. "The virus wasn't the IOA's, it was the Tok'ra. The IOA just wants more control. And the Tok'ra don't have oversight so they're taking more drastic measures instead."
"So the Tok'ra are up to their usual tricks," Martin grumbled.
"It's not just the Tok'ra," Nova added. "I think there are other races involved in this."
Hailey's face was one of pure shock.
"Who?!" she cried out.
"The Jaffa, the Langarans, Hebridan," Chen just recited off the top of his head. "It could be anyone Earth's encountered in the past. Could be all of them."
"I still don't get what they're so scared of," Martin said. "We saved the galaxy. Well…not 'we' we, but Earth."
"So did the Quinterans," Chen pointed out.
"We're not the Quinterans," Hailey argued.
"Maybe not now, but what's to stop us from going bad in the future? The Quinterans prove that any nation can use its influence for bad, regardless of their history. Hell, even if we never met the Quinterans, I'm sure there are plenty of examples on Earth. There's no way to be sure your neighbors aren't going to blow you up one day."
"Hey," Martin barked. "I can think of plenty of times when you had a gun and I didn't. I wasn't afraid that you might decide to blow out my brains."
"Analogies about individuals can't apply to entire countries," Corin said. "Countries change leadership. Who's to say the next leader won't be a psychopath?"
"If all the aliens are so scared of the Asgard technology, why don't we just give them some?" Nova suggested.
"The Asgard gave us the technology out of good will," Hailey said. "If they wanted to give their technology to everyone, they would have done so themselves. If we just start sharing technology with whoever, aren't we betraying their trust?"
"Well," Nova sighed, trying to find some positive in all this. "Maybe just make it a gift to the Tok'ra. I mean, as bad as what they're doing is, it probably won't destroy the world."
Everyone around the table fell silent, exchanging glances as if unsure what to say.
"What?" Nova asked. It was obvious that she was missing something.
"You didn't hear?" Martin asked. "About a month after we left, twelve Lucian Alliance motherships appeared over Earth."
Nova felt her blood run cold. Earth's only faced down two direct alien invasions in the past and both times they got lucky.
"What happened?" she asked.
"There were only four ships in orbit at the time," Chen explained. "All twelve ships were destroyed but not before they managed to bomb three cities."
"A lot's happened after we left," Hailey added. "We're looking at Cold War II. Every country is pointing weapons at everyone else. One bad move and every country will be launching at someone else."
Nova opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. How could this have happened? What led to this? Last time she was on Earth, the Director revealed the Stargate Program to the world. She knew there would be some difficulty adjusting to this new knowledge, but she didn't think it would come to this. That's when Nova realized she hadn't even thought about that. Even if her father was gone, her mother was still on Earth. They hadn't spoken after the truth about the Stargate Program was revealed.
"You know the biggest irony is..." Chen remarked. "We actually achieved world peace from this. Just about every major conflict has stopped. Or, at least, been put on pause."
"That's because they're all afraid they'll incur the wrath of someone stronger than them potentially with giant spaceships," Hailey countered.
"Can we even call that 'world peace'?" Martin asked. "And even if the major conflicts have been put on hold, entire cities are being burned to the ground from the civil unrest.
"Wait a minute," Corin spoke up. "How do you know all this?"
"The Typhon's crew," Chen explained. "Everyone wants to know what's been happening back on Earth. Typhon was the last thing the SGC was able to send off. After that, they've agreed to suspend operations."
"Were there any other attacks?" Nova asked worriedly.
"Attempts at skirmishes and hit-and-runs but those got stopped," Martin said, shaking his head. "From what we've been told, the Lucian Alliance isn't doing so hot either. They're fracturing at the seams. I didn't get the details but one of the tech guys said that there is a civil war taking place in the Lucian Alliance."
"I asked Captain Connors about that," Hailey said. "Even before the Millennium Expedition, the Lucian Alliance was split on what they wanted to do with Earth. Some wanted full scale war and others feared us."
"Major," Arcturus spoke up. "From what you've said, I believe that the political turmoil is what caused the civil war."
"But why now?" Chen asked. "I mean, if they couldn't agree on what to do about Earth before, why'd they decide to fight about it now? Shouldn't Netan's death have triggered it?"
"It doesn't matter," Hailey concluded. "Their civil war might be the only thing keepign Earth alive. If Earth is imploding then at least we don't have to worry about an alien invasion to take advantage of our weakness."
"Uh, Hailey, Alliance Tech," Martin pointed out. "I'm pretty sure we can take on the next invasion."
"You know as well as I do coordination is as important if not more important than technology," Hailey argued. "If none of the countries work together, a proper strategy will be enough to end us. We're lucky the Lucian Alliance isn't able to take advantage of this."
"Actually, Jen," Steven Chen spoke up. "I think it's the exact opposite. Nothing unites better than a common enemy. If the Lucian Alliance posed a threat, people might actually work together if for no other reason than to not get blown up. Without a common threat, there's nothing to stop all the countries on Earth from blowing each other up. Cold War II, remember? One disgruntled soldier firing off his gun could be the spark to get everyone sending up their nukes."
"It might be worse than that," Corin spoke up. "I read about your first Cold War. Well, now you have something even worse than your regular nukes."
"What, the naquadah nukes?" Nova asked.
"Starships," Arcturus answered. "A capital ship's firepower vastly overshadows the power of any standard nuclear weapon."
"And that's not to mention the practical applications," Hailey added. "If we wanted to bomb a planet, we could just drop asteroids on it."
"It's not the ships I'm worried about," Nova muttered. Everyone around the room looked at her in confusion. "Have any of you heard of a hyperspace missile?"
Everyone around the room shook their heads. Everyone except Hailey.
"Where did you hear that?" Jennifer asked, her face turning pale with worry.
"It's bad isn't it?" Corin questioned.
"Well, under normal circumstances it isn't," Hailey said. "It was a conceptual weapon design I worked on before I left for Millennium."
"Wait a minute," Martin interrupted. "I saw this in a crappy movie once. You're going to use the hyperdrive to send something flying at faster-than-light speeds into a target."
Martin clearly expected something to confirm his suggestion. But Hailey simply gave him a flat stare.
"What?" she coughed, thinking that he had to be making some kind of joke. "No! If we could do that, don't you think we would've done it already? My god, if we could do that, we could vaporize a planet with something the size of a car."
"Then what is it?" Chen asked impatiently.
"While I was working at Area 51, I was ordered to look into more efficient ways to deliver weapon payloads. I came up with the idea of an interplanetary missile, also known as a hyperspace missile or Interplanetary Hyperspace Missile, IPHM. After launch it would enter hyperspace, exit in a planet's orbit, and hit a target on its surface."
"So, it's like an ICBM," Chen said. "Just on a galactic scale."
"What was the problem?" Nova asked.
"Too expensive. This was still when we had Prometheus. We didn't have a warhead destructive enough to warrant losing a hyperdrive every time. That was before we had Horizon. If we finished the designs then we can glass any planet in Milky Way without ever endangering a ship."
"Why would Earth have to worry about that?"
"Cuz it's all the more reason for our alien allies to be afraid," Chen said. "If it's like what Jen described, then it would be bad if any of them found out about it."
"Well, too late for that," Nova said with an awkward laugh. "The only reason I know about it is because the Tok'ra decided to call the IOA out on it. And nobody was happy."
"The missile isn't based on Asgard technology," Corin pointed out. "Couldn't these Tok'ra make their own?"
"Maybe eventually," Hailey said. "But before they were barely scraping by as it was. They need to first rebuild. If anyone's makes their own IPHM it'd be the Jaffa."
Nova put her hand to her head. Her head was beginning to spin from all this.
"Alright, we can finish this later," she said. "But whatever happens, we need to keep this to ourselves. No one outside of Wolf Pack or Hailey can know about this."
Chen paused when he heard this, glancing at Arcturus.
"What does she count as?" he asked, pointing at the blonde.
"She was on the ship with us," Martin argued.
"So were Kara and Soren. Why aren't they here?"
Nova cleared her throat, instantly getting both their attention.
"I confided Arcturus about that back on the ship," Nova explained. "Look, I don't know what's going to happen so we need to keep this as close to the chest as possible just to be on the safe side. Alright?"
Everyone around the table nodded. So it was agreed.
"What now then?" Corin asked. Nova looked around, not sure what to do. They all now knew what was going on. What could they do with this information?
"All we can do now it just go about our day," Hailey said. "I'm grounded until my team is healed up. And Wolf Pack is grounded while Martin finishes his physical evaluation."
"I'm fine!" Martin cried out indignantly.
"Doctor's orders," Chen reminded him. "Kara wants an additional 24 hours to give the healed muscles time to rest."
"So we might as well take some time to ourselves," Hailey added. "We aren't going to achieve anything by worrying."
"Honestly, though," Chen added. "Does this really change anything in our everyday lives? Let the politicians do what they do."
Nova knew Jennifer and Steven had a point. Still, Terra could not help but worry. She had practically been praying in front of the Furling obelisk in the Sanctum, hoping someone would answer. And now she had to act like nothing was happening.
"Hey, Major," Martin spoke up. "I was gonna take Corin and Sam to the batting cages. Wanna join?"
Nova glanced at Chen, surprised Martin didn't list his name.
"What about Steven?" she asked.
"Oh, he has movie date with Felger," Martin said, waving him off.
"Don't call it that!" Chen snapped. Nova closed her eyes and smiled. Her friends were right. Technically speaking, nothing had changed. The conspiracy was going on before today. And it would continue even if she didn't know about it. She might as well try to enjoy her free time before she was back on duty.
"Alright," Nova said. "Hey, Hailey, wanna join?"
Hailey just smiled at that statement.
"It's fine," Jennifer said. "I have a friend to catch up with."
-.-
Hailey looked out across the lush green plants that lined the paths before her. If she didn't know better, she would never have been able to tell she was in space. She often forgot that fact. Sure she could look up at the sky but during the day she could only see the glowing clouds of the artificial nebula around them and at night she could see a night sky.
"Hailey," a voice behind her said. She turned around, immediately spotting Grogan standing amongst the plants.
"You made it," she said.
"Yea, I was in the VR room," Grogan said, gesturing toward the left wall as if to point at the adjacent room.
"When did you start caring so much about practice?" Hailey laughed.
"Eh…about when I stopped getting shot."
Hailey stared at Grogan for a moment, not understanding what he meant. Finally, she remembered his propensity for getting shot at least once in every mission and she burst laughing.
"Hey, I'm on a streak here," Grogan said. "Two years and going. This is a record for me."
"I love how our norm is your achievement," Hailey said, her face still red from laughter. "Wasn't the last time when you got a wraith stunner to the ass?"
Grogant made a face at the memory.
"Couldn't sit straight for a week," he muttered.
"Couldn't shit straight either," Hailey said with a smile.
"Exactly! So, I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't get shot from here on out."
Hailey merely smiled and nodded, walking down the path, Carl Grogan following her.
"Where are we anyways?" he asked, looking around.
"The park," Hailey said, stopping at the rail that looked over the river. "The Alliance really could do anything."
"And these plants?" Grogan asked.
"Oh, they're from this galaxy but most of them aren't anything special. That said, we need to avoid section 3. One of the plants there releases a very powerful aphrodisiac."
"Ooh, that sounds messy," Carl remarked.
"You have no idea. Prying those two botanists off each other was not pretty."
"Geez. It sounds like Millennium gets as many incursions as the SGC."
"Nah, I think the SGC has us beat. Barely three minutes after you guys finish your training, we get a real alien incursion. You were so convinced that it was another training scenario that you had to get shot to realize it wasn't."
"Ok, listen…" Grogan said, preparing to explain himself. But his voice trailed off.
"I'm listening," Hailey said to his silence.
"Alright, I wasn't the only one who thought it was a test," was Grogan's argument.
"I know," Hailey chuckled. "Elliot thought so…"
Her voice trailed off.
Elliot.
Saying his name brought memories back.
"Sorry," Grogan said.
"It's…it's fine," Hailey mumbled.
"I know that you and Elliot had a fling…"
Hailey immediately shot Grogan an agitated glare.
"My god, why does everyone keep bringing that up. Yes, me and Kevin secretly had a thing for a bit. Why is that the first thing everyone brings up?"
Jennifer's voice trailed off again, realizing that she was just exploding on Grogan.
"Sorry," Hailey said, looking down in guilt.
"It's fine," Grogan said waving his hand as if to dismiss the subject. "I shouldn't have brought him up."
"No, I shouldn't have snapped like that," Hailey insisted, not sure what to say next. It was clear Grogan didn't know what to say either, leaving an awkward silence.
"Hey," Grogan said, breaking the quietness. "Why don't you give me a tour around the rest of the city? I mean, it's a city isn't it? Got any cool places?"
Hailey smiled at this. After all that's happened between Elliot from years ago and the Typhon and the conspiracy today, she could still take time out of her day to enjoy herself.
-.-
Chen finally reached the lounge Felger wanted to meet him at. It was one of the smaller lounges, a somewhat narrow rectangular room with a throw rug on the floor on a sofa on top of it. There was a countertop with a microwave behind the couch, and a crystal screen in front of it. With nothing on it, it was a serene blue with a lattice of flat crystals canvased across it.
But Chen's eyes fell upon who was already in the room.
Soren was sitting on the couch, munching away at a bowl of popcorn.
Chen was so used to seeing Soren in a long coat when on missions it was strange seeing him in jeans and a hoodie.
Chen had to hold back an irritated grumble. Felger had to invite the murderer to join them.
"Hey, Soren," Chen said with a sheepish smile. He had to remind himself that he was doing it for Kara. She wanted him to forgive, let go of his anger and all that jazz. He was doing it for her.
Soren grunted in acknowledgement of Chen's greeting. At least he didn't have to make conversation with the guy.
"Oh, Steven!" a shrill voice said. Chen turned around. Felger had returned with another bowl of popcorn. "Oh, so you're friends with Soren. That's awesome! You guys can sit together."
Chen's body turned to stone. He now had to sit by the murderer.
Chen swallowed the thing building up in his throat. This was a reward for Felger's progress. And he clearly liked hanging out with Soren. Chen would silence his aggravation for now.
"What popcorn do you have?" Chen asked as he reluctantly sat next to Soren.
"Caramel," he said, holding the bowl out.
"I'm good," Chen said. "I prefer butter."
"Oh, Soren has the double butter," Felger said. "That's his favorite."
Of course it was…
"Anyways," Chen said. "What are we watching?"
-.-
"Martin's explained baseball to you, right?" Nova asked Arcturus as she readied her bat. Makeshift batting cages were among the recreational material first brought with the expedition. Set up in an abandoned building of some sort, they didn't know what it was used for before but now it was where expedition members came to relax.
Chain-linked fenses creating batting stations, a green carpet laid out on the floor all the way to the other side where several pitching machines stood. Control panels were attached to the sides of the batting cages, letting batters program the pitching machine from a distance.
"I understand the basics," Arcturus replied, prepping her own bat. "With my sword skills, I have no doubt I will master this with ease." Corin and Martin were also in separate batting cages, programming the pitching machines from a distance.
Nova quickly programmed her machine to the highest setting before getting into position.
"So, Major," Martin remarked, prepping himself as well. "You any good at baseball."
As if to answer his question, her machine fired. There was an earsplitting crack as Nova smashed the ball with her bat, launching it back across the room.
Corin and Martin watched as the ball was practically returned to the machine.
"Bugger me…" Martin muttered, looking at his commanding officer. Martin gaped at the sight as Nova did it again.
And again.
And again.
Finally, he got ready.
"Right," he said. "I'm not letting her one up me."
Corin just rolled his eyes, not as competitive as the other two. Soon, the four of them were having at it. Baseballs flew out of the pitching machines before flying off in the other direction after getting cracked by the bat. Martin and Nova sent baseballs streaking through the air while Corin went at a more leisurely pace.
Arcturus meanwhile…
She tried a one-handed technique. She tried the crosswise swipe. She a horizontal strike.
But when she wasn't missing, she barely grazed the balls. After the umpteenth miss, her shoulders sagged as she heaved a sigh.
Martin noticed her frustration.
"Sam?" he asked.
Arcturus didn't answer. She looked up and cracked her neck, ready to try again.
-.-
Grogan still didn't know the layout of Millennium so he had no idea where he and Hailey were going.
"Over here," she said, leading Grogan up another flight of stairs. He knew he was in the central tower of central city but that's about it. They had already passed the gate room and they continued going up.
"Where are we going?" Grogan called out, running after her.
"You'll see," Hailey said. Grogan wished she didn't have to be so ambiguous. He hoped that they were getting close to whatever it was she wanted to show them.
They had to be close to the top of the tower. The ceiling was so low that his head was practically touching it. And the ceiling at the far end of the room was slanted. It was like they were in an attic or something.
Hailey went over to the slanted roof, opening the hatch in the ceiling leading outside. She stepped through the hatch, pausing to offer Grogan a hand.
Grogan took Hailey's hand, letting himself get pulled up onto the roof.
"Are were there yet?" he panted, picking himself up. As he got to his feet, he looked up at the sky. And his jaw dropped.
The day cycle was coming to an end, the golden clouds losing their glow.
But what replaced with a beautiful wash of colors. Columns of violet clouds jutted through the darkening sky, green and blue splashes across the background. That were sparkles sprinkled across the sky.
The two of them were at the very tip of the central tower, hundreds of feet above the ground, a perfect view of the clouds past the cities on the four arms of the city.
"Does this happen every night?" Grogan asked in amazement, his mouth still agape.
"Every night and every morning," Hailey answered. "Thought it'd be a nice way to end the day."
Grogan was satisfied with that. He and Hailey both sat back, just staring at the sky.
"Millennium what you thought it'd be?" Hailey asked. Grogan could only laugh at this.
"The Alliance really did know how to build 'em," he said. "Man, I wish I could show this to my family."
"Yeah, I wish I could show my little sister this."
"How did she react when she found out you were a space marine?" Grogan asked with a mocking smile.
"That's exactly what she called me," Hailey said. "I told her, it's Air Force." She leaned back against the roof, putting her arms beneath the back of her head.
"You told me you always wanted to be someone your sister looked up to," Grogan reminded her. "Well, I think being the younger sister of a 'space marine' is something to admire."
"Air Force, fly boy; we're both Air Force," Hailey said. "And…I guess it is."
The two of them just looked up at the sky, a gentle breeze blowing through their hair.
"Carl," Hailey said, interrupting him from his trance. "You ok? You seem distracted. If you're tired, we can call it a day."
Cral opened his mouth, not sure how to answer.
"Hey, Hailey," Grogan spoke. "You mind doing me a favor?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"I have some waveforms I'd like you to take a look at."
Hailey paused for a moment, sitting up and looking at him curiously. This clearly wasn't the favor she expected.
"Ok," she said. "Am I looking for anything?"
"Well, could you compare them?"
"Compare them," Hailey repeated. "That doesn't really help."
"Here, I'll show you," Grogan said, standing up and waving for her to follow him.
-.-
Hailey's room wasn't completely neat. Yet it wasn't completely messy either. A better description would be explosion. The the edge of the 'blast' was untouched, with all the books and notes neatly organized on rows of shelves along the square room, doorways leading to her sleeping area and her work area being just at neat. But as one would move closer to the 'epicenter', the messier it would become with instruments scattered about the floor. And at its center was a table with a pair of dismantled X699's on them, a project that she could do in her own room without a team nor a proper lab. The table was a complete mess with tools scattered about.
Hailey and Grogan were in her work area, a computer set up on a desk under a bookshelf. She plugged the USB into the computer, pulling up all the necessary programs. After a few clicks, the first waveform was pulled up.
"Ok, it looks like a modulated waveform," Hailey said, immediately getting Grogan to look at her in disappointment.
"That's it?" he asked.
"I don't know what you want me to say! It looks like a standard SGC transmission with a carrier wave and a modulating wave containing whatever transmissions we want to send. There seems to be a secondary modulating wave but-"
"That secondary wave," Grogan immediately said. "Tell me about it."
Hailey typed a few commands into her console, bringing up another window.
"Ok, so not interference," Hailey muttered. "It looks like this secondary wave is a digital modulating wave that alternates between amplitude and frequency modulation at consistent intervals."
"Ok, and what does that mean?"
"Modulating waves are used to send messages. We would have a carrier wave and modulate it to send whatever messages we need to send. But there's like background noise or something. It's like if you record yourself speaking and I'm in the background whispering."
"Alright, bring up another one," Grogan said. Hailey clicked a few buttons and another waveform appeared on screen.
"Ok…" Hailey said slowly. "That's interesting. This waveform has also been modified by a secondary modulating wave, another digital modulating wave that alternates between amplitude and frequency modulation at the exact same intervals."
"What about the wave?" Grogan asked.
"Completely different," Hailey said. "But the fact they use similar methods and alternate at the exact same intervals…this is certainly odd."
Hailey looked at Grogan curiously.
"Carl, what is this about?" Hailey asked. Grogan didn't answer. He simply put in another request.
"Hailey, look at the last file in the drive."
Hailey immediately complied, opening the window and scrolling to the bottom.
"That's the one," Grogan said when Hailey's cursor hovered over the last file. She clicked it and opened the file, immediately analyzing the wave.
"Same deal," Hailey said. "Same style of digital modulation with an alternating pattern of frequency and amplitude modulation. Grogan, where did you get these?" Hailey could see the look of concern on Carl Grogan's face.
"The first one was a transmission from the SGC," he explained. "The second one was a transmission from Atlantis. And the last one was a transmission from Millennium."
"It's probably just a glitch in the computers," Hailey said with a shrug. She had to admit it was odd seeing all the waveforms changed in the exact same way but she didn't see what the big deal was.
"I'm not so sure about that," Grogan said. "I have one more thing to check. If I get you the Typhon logs, can you scan for this modu-wave thing?"
"Just get me a signal file," Hailey said. "Wait, what are you taking from the Typhon?"
Hailey's words fell on deaf ears as Grogan vanished through her door.
-.-
The Typhon was left exactly where it had parked. There weren't many people around with the ship's supplies being catalogued and redistributed. And, Grogan just walked up the ramp and into the ship. Being on the ship during its maiden voyage, he knew how to get to the empty bridge. It didn't take long for him to snatch a flashdrive left behind by one of the tech monkeys, plug it in, access the computer files, copy them, then snatch the drive and leave.
Grogan looked at the flash drive in his hand as he made his way back down the hall. This was the moment of truth. He looked up, ready get going. With how small the ship was he could easily get off within a few moments. At least he was going to. He had just turned around a corner when he saw him: a dark figure standing at the end of the hall. Grogan squinted, trying make out who that was. But for some reason, the lights were all out in front of him.
"Hello?" he called out. The figure didn't answer, at least not immediately. Instead, the dark figure started clapping.
"My, my," the shadowy silhouette said. "I really must congratulate you. I guess it's true what they say: never underestimate the ability of the average person to realize when something is wrong. Figuring all this out simply by listening to the discussions of technicians who had served in the SGC, Atlantis, and Millennium. Very observent of you."
Grogan's hand drifted to his waist but stopped when he realized he didn't have a gun to draw. Why would he? He wasn't on mission. He was on Millennium. He was supposed to be safe.
"Who are you?" Grogan asked. He couldn't figure out who this person was or why he was revealing himself. From how it was behaving, he would guess it was somehow involved in all this. Maybe the figure was even behind it all. But if that was the case, why did it choose to show himself?
"Spoilers," the figure chuckled, slowly walking forward. "That being said, I can't let you start blabbing about all this."
Grogan's eyes went wide when he saw the figure reach down toward his belt. He could only guess that the person was reaching for a pistol. He had no weapon and here he was stuck in a hall with someone reaching for a gun. He immediately turned around and took off down the hall.
What the hell was going on here? Who was that guy? Grogan needed to get this information to Hailey and Mercer. But with that hall blocked, he was going to have to take a detour.
It took a minute longer than he would have liked but he made it to the ship's ring platform. Where the hell was the rest of the crew? He was about to punch the code into the console when he noticed something: the lights were flickering.
Grogan's heart sank as he turned around. He didn't even need to see it to know it was there: the dark figure stood at the end of the hall. Grogan couldn't see its face but he knew that that thing was smiling.
He wasn't waiting any longer. He punched the code into the bad and rushed back to the ring engraved in the floor.
The dark figure had begun to walk forwards, every light in front of it shorting out one by one, keeping it in a cloak of darkness. But it was too late. Five massive rings emerged from the floor, surrounding Grogan. There was a brilliant flash of light, the world around him vanishing behind a curtain of white light. When the curtains were drawn back once more, the world around him had changed. He was now below the ship, standing in a park on Millennium.
Grogan looked around to get his bearings. He had to leave before that thing, whatever it was, followed him. He took off for the door. If he wanted to escape, he would have to go through chemical labs.
Mere moments after he left, the ring platform on the ship activated once more. The rings descended to the ground. There was a flash of light and the rings returned to the ship, the hooded figure now standing where the rings once were. He raised his left hand to his jaw, speaking into the radio attached to his wrist.
"He's moving into position," the man said. "Tell Asag to proceed."
"Sir, I don't understand why we are making this such a tedious process," the man on the other end of the radio said. "We could easily silence Carl Grogan."
"And what do you think would happen if an expedition member turns up dead? No, no, no. Follow my lead. Carl Grogan will be silenced. And we can have some fun in the process."
-.-
Arcturus shrunk back in embarrassment, her eyes darting back and forth between the members of Wolf Pack.
"What is it, Martin?" she finally asked, her eyes falling on Charles Martin. "I don't feel comfortable being stared at like that."
Martin's entire expression had practically become a series of flat lines. His eyes were narrowed with discontent. His lips were a thin line across his face.
"I had no idea you were such a sore loser," he said, his tone as flat as his expression.
"I completely didn't see that coming," Nova remarked, leaning back. "With how calm she is normally, I didn't think she could get that competitive."
"You should see her when she thinks you're taking it easy on her," Martin scoffed.
"What, she sulks then too?" Corin asked.
"No. She gets bloody pissed off."
"But Martin, you were also very competitive," Arcturus said as if desperate to find a defense.
"When the person next to you matches you hit for hit, you get a little worked up," Martin explained.
"You're just mad you lost," Nova remarked with a grin.
"Nah," Corin remarked. "I think there's only one loser here."
Nova and Martin laughed at this as Arcturus just shrunk further back.
"Well," Martin said, jumping off the bleachers and stretching. "I think it's food time."
"Sounds good to me," Nova said. "We should-"
Nova didn't get to finish that statement. The intercom immediately came to life, Donavan's voice projecting across the entire city.
"Alert, chemical spill in Bio-chemical lab C. The area around the labs is under lockdown. Military heads, please report to the conference room."
Nova and Martin exchanged confused glances.
"The hell is going on?" Martin mumbled.
-.-
Chen looked at the ceiling curiously. Without a word, he got to his feet and got to work putting his shoes back on.
"Steven?" Felger said, watching Steven head for the door.
"Don't wait for me," he called back, vanishing into the hall. He headed for the closest arc. Since the hospitals were emergency services, there would be an arc in it. He had to get to Kara before she left.
Chen ran up to the arc doors, the panel opening upon his approach. He immediately selected the central hospital. Chen could hear the arc power up before the doors slid open. It was across the city but the arc connected the two locations like walking through a door. He could even see the surprised look of some of the doctors even before he went through.
"Kara," he called out, looking around. He immediately spotted his ex-girlfriend amongst the crowd, rushing to gather all the medical supplies she needed. She had already donned her medical HAZARD suit, an orange body suit with an elaborate pink metal exoskeleton on the outside of it. She still had yet to extend its helmet, likely to savor as much fresh air as possible.
"Kara, what's happening?" Chen called out, making his way across the room.
"Steven," she said. "Now is not a good time. I need to get all the supplies to-"
Steven didn't even let her finish. He rushed up to one of the cabinets, taking out a box with the words SPILLKIT labeled on the front. He immediately rushed across the room and took a chest with the words Emergency Shower labeled on its lid.
"You actually remember…" Osborn said in awe as Chen dumped the stuff on the table.
"You always said I was a good listener," Chen mumbled, trying to organize all the items on the table. "Once we get all the stuff ready, I'll put on a HAZARD suit and play pack mule. What chemicals are we dealing with."
"I don't know," she said. "But I was told that its side effects include hysteria, hallucinations, and violence."
Chen looked at Osborn in disbelief. Just hearing the list, he knew it meant every person affected would probably attack them on sight.
"Don't worry," Kara said. "Guards armed with trazers have already been sent ahead. Another medical team's been sent ahead to set up a medical station. Once you finished up here, meet me there."
Chen gave a thumbs up as he went to grab another bag. Kara pushed a button on her suit and the helmet extended over her head, a faceplate with two horizontal pink veins of energy running over where its eyes would be.
"Alright, people," Osborn called out. "Let's go!"
-.-
Grogan's world was an endless mist. He was in a fog, bumbling forward blindly. He didn't know how long he was stumbling through the fog, but he finally saw it: light. There was light ahead of him. He didn't know what it was but he stumbled toward the light. He stumbled into the light, the blinding white filling his vision.
Grogan's eyes opened, the lights in the ceiling nearly blinding him. He blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings. He tried to sit up but couldn't. He couldn't move his arms. He looked down, realizing his arms had leather straps around them.
Adrenaline flooded his system as reality finally dawned on him, his eyes widening as he looked around. He was on a gurney, his arms restrained to the rails.
"What?" he called out. "What's going on?!"
He looked around. He was in some sort lobby. But how did he get here?
The last thing he remembered was escaping the Typhon and heading for the chemical labs. But he couldn't remember anything that happened after that.
That's when he realized: his USB was gone.
"Hey!" he called out, looking around. Finally, someone responded. He watched as a person entered the room. Grogan couldn't tell who it was, his entire body encased in a HAZARD suit, two view ports glowing with energy making what looked like eyes on the helmet.
"Captain Grogan," the man said. "It's fine. You're safe."
"What's going on?" Grogan demanded to know.
"There was a chemical spill. Vapors were carried by the ventilation system."
"Why am I restrained?"
"Side effect of the chemical is paranoia and hysteria. We had to restrain you for your sake and ours."
With what has been happening lately, Grogan wasn't sure whether or not to believe this. He was definitely feeling more panicked than normal. But how could he not? Something was going down that not only involved the SGC but Atlantis, Millennium, and even their alien allies.
"I had a USB," Grogan said. "Do you have it?"
"We found it when we found you," the man said reassuringly, showing Grogan a USB in his hand. "Don't worry. We will make sure Hailey and Mercer get the data. But for now, rest."
Grogan gave a sigh of relief and leaned back. Even if he was exposed to whatever this chemical was, at least he had the data. And that data was going to be taken to Mercer and Hailey.
"Wait a minute," Grogan said, sitting up, or at least trying to sit up. "How did you know what I was going to do with the drive?"
The man paused, his back still turned to Grogan. He didn't say anything. But Grogan didn't need him to. Grogan knew the answer. The man held his hand out to the side, showing Grogan the USB in his hand. Finally, with a twist of his hand, the man crushed the USB between his fingers.
Grogan's eyes went wide as the plastic twisted and snapped, the green chip inside snapping. Whoever this was, he destroyed the evidence. And Grogan knew he was next. He began thrashing in the gurney, the rails rattling with every shake. He looked around in panic, trying to find something to help him.
He could see the person taking out a syringe and walking toward a cabinet at the far end of the room. Grogan could only be glad the person was moving so slowly. But that still didn't help him.
He could start shouting, making noise and hope someone hears him. But that might make things worse. The guy was clearly taking his time. If he started calling for help, the man might move faster.
Grogan kept looking around. There was a cart next to his head but he couldn't see what was on it. And even if he knew what was on it, he couldn't reach it.
Grogan looked down. His feet weren't restrained. This may be the only way for him to escape. Using his feet to help, Grogan tossed himself to one side of the gurney with all his weight. The felt the cart tilt. But it was slight and only for half a second before it landed back down.
This was going to be harder than he thought. But he had to hurry. The person had taken out a jar of something and had begun filling the syringe with the liquid inside.
Grogan tossed himself to the side of the gurney once more. He didn't wait for it to start coming back down before he tossed his weight in the other direction, the cart tilting further in the other direction. Grogan then tossed himself in the other direction.
Finally, he gave in. These things were made not to tip.
He was about to give up when he realized something: his struggling had repositioned the gurney. He was now right next to the cart that was originally by his head. And in it he could see a scalpel laying there.
He couldn't move his hands much but he was able to move it enough. He reached past the edge of the gurney's rails, feeling the cool metal of the cart. His fingers felt around the edge of the cart, trying to find handle of the scalpel. Finally, he found it. He could feel the smooth metal blade.
He didn't have time to try to find the handle. He didn't know why the strange man was taking so long but he had no complaints. He grasped the blade of the scalpel, feeling the sharp edge digging into his thumb, before he moved his hand back to the gurney.
His wrist was beyond sore. He had pushed into the restraint in order to get that. But if he could escape, it was well worth it.
He fumbled with the bladed tool for a bit, trying into insert it into the leather restraint. Finally, with it in, he grasped the handle and began cutting. But the sound of a new set of footsteps caught his attention. Grogan looked up as a new person entered the room. And he felt his blood run cold. His fingers slackened around the scalpel. He's seen this man before. He was back. The man from the ship was back. But now standing in the brightly lit room, Grogan could see the black long coat that covered its figure, a hood covering its head. But Grogan couldn't see the face.
"You…" Grogan breathed, the hooded man not facing him.
"I see our patient has awoken," the hooded man said, his voice distorted like it was being muffled by something. "How are you feeling?"
"Let me go and I'll show you," Grogan remarked, trying his best to make light of the situation. He was restrained to a gurney, two people trying to kill him now standing in the same room, he could be drugged for all he knew with all the talks about some sort of mind-altering chemical, and he had lost the evidence he needed to show Hailey. If he learned anything from his training with SG-1, it's to always see the positive side of any situation. But he was really stretching right now.
"You could just finish cutting yourself loose and show me yourself," it said. Grogan felt a chill down his spine. So, they knew he was cutting himself free. Then why were they letting him? "Something I've always enjoyed about people from Earth: they're always so positive. It's always a pleasure listening to them."
"So, you know about us?" Grogan asked. That was the other thing Grogan wanted to know. Who was this guy? He heard about the Ror'char and Quinterans. Was this one of their spies? Maybe a space pirate.
"Oh yes," the hooded man said. "Very impressive resume. A single primitive planet, and you've overthrown the System Lords, wiped out the replicators, stopped the Ori, vanquished an entire race of ascended beings, you've even brought the Wraith, the enemy of the Ancients, to the brink of collapse."
"If you know who we are, then you should know your best decision is to give up," Grogan said. "You know we have Asgard technology. You know what we've faced so you know we've faced far worse than you."
The hooded man let out a cold chuckle.
"The rousing speech," it said, clearly amused. "I've always wanted to hear one in person. The Tau'ri really are something to behold."
At that moment, Grogan felt the blood drain from his face.
"Tau'ri," he repeated. There were only a small handful of races that used that term and none of them were from this galaxy.
"You are wrong about one thing," the hooded man said, finally turning to face Grogan. "You've never faced anything like me."
Grogan's jaw dropped. It wasn't possible. He looked at the face of the hooded man. At least he would if it wasn't covered by a white mask. A tall man in a dark long coat, a hood over his head and a white featureless opera mask over his face. Grogan knew of only one person that fit such a description.
"That's not possible," Grogan breathed. "You died. They had your body! Director?"
The figure chuckled at this.
"I am more than a mere man," the Director said. "I am a concept. You can destroy the flesh, but I am immortal. The Goa'ulds, the gods of our galaxy…" The Director scoffed at the notion. "A god is only as potent as his worshippers. I, I am eternal, existing in the hearts of every individual no matter how ignorant they are to my existence."
"It all makes sense now," Grogan stuttered. "You've been sending secret signals to our alien allies. You put the virus on the Typhon!"
"I simply activated the virus," the Directory laughed. "Your good friends the Tok'ra did. But one out of two isn't bad."
"You're lying!" Grogan shouted. "Why would the Tok'ra…"
The Director laughed at Grogan's reaction, a long hollow laugh.
"You'd be surprised what people will do when they believe their cause is right and just," he sneered, taking out a dagger from his coat and flicking the blade. "Just look at you and all you and your planet has accomplished. What was it that that jaffa Teal'c always said? Our victory is certain because our cause is just?" The Director swatted the air with a chuckle. "Don't quote me on that. But you see the trouble with being on the right side of history: everybody thinks they're on it. If villains are the heroes of their own story, how can you ever be sure of the cause you fight for? Have you ever considered that you aren't heroes at all? Perhaps you are all villains, deluded to the truth."
Grogan couldn't dawdle. He resumed cutting as he watched the Director pace the room. The Director knew that he was cutting the straps. So why wasn't the Director stopping him?
He took a while, but he felt the leather suddenly slacken. He immediately freed his right arm. He reached over and undid the belt holding his left.
Grogan leapt to his feet, grabbing the tray from the cart and tossing it at the Director. The hooded man slapped aside the tray, not even distracted by it. His subordinate prepared to attack but the masked man called him off with a mere raise of his hand.
Grogan lunged at the masked man. A scalpel was tiny for a knife it would do. But the Director stepped aside, pushing past Grogan. Grogan whipped around, ready to make another stab. But that's when he realized: the scalpel was gone. He looked up, realizing the Director held the scalpel in his hand.
He was out of options. Grogan bolted through the door, sprinting down the hall.
"Run all you want, Carl. But you cannot escape inevitability."
Grogan couldn't tell if the Director was chasing him. He didn't dare look behind. But the Goa'uld's voice seem to emanate from the walls. The colors around him were awash and it felt like the lights were too bright. Was this the chemical? It felt like the entirety of existence was watching him, studying him like a child watching ants through a magnifying glass. The Director was everywhere and nowhere, watching his every move, his voice coming from every direction.
"I am eternal. I existed before this body. And I will continue long after its destruction. I am the chisel and the righteous cause that you claim gives you strength will be the hammer that will tear down everything you hold dear. You don't need to search other galaxies or higher planes for greater threats. You will always be your own worst enemy and all you love will be crushed under the weight of your sins."
-.-
A/N: Hey guys. Next chapter. I thought I wouldn't drag out the completely-not-obvious mystery out any longer. And it would let me play without the Director's colorful personality.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.