Chapter 13: She doesn't mean us any harm
"How the hell did the NID find out about her?" Hammond stormed down the passageway.
"How'd they get someone into the base?" O'Neill asked.
"How did Varielle Mizabwe learn the doctor was in the employ of the NID?" Teal'c asked.
"Actually, that's a good question, sir," Carter asked. "Daniel?" They crowded into the General's office.
"Daniel?" Jack prompted when his best friend seemed reluctant to speak.
"She's telepathic, Jack," he finally said.
"WHAT?"
"Like Shifu, or…" Sam trailed off. "Daniel?"
"She doesn't mean us any harm, Jack," Daniel said. "She said it's not something she is, it's something she learned. Like it's a skill. A few of her people can do it. She's been using it, 'at a low level', she said, since she arrived. Sort of an extra sense for danger. From what she said her people have some pretty strict rules about what you're allowed to do, and even if she's not breaking any she's certainly bending them, and she'll have to answer for it when she goes home."
"Like a Board of Inquiry?" Carter said.
"Something like that."
"She could have access to all our codes, our mission reports, our file of Stargate addresses…"
Daniel was shaking his head. "General, she just wants to go home and warn her people of the Goa'uld. They're not a bloodthirsty people, they're not looking for a war. She's more worried that they'll take their Stargate and bury it again."
"Bury it again?" Teal'c echoed.
"Apparently they only dug it up about ten of their years ago - and she's seventeen by their count, so their years are about the same year as ours…"
"Daniel!" Jack reminded him sharply.
"Sorry. She said it took them a while to figure out what it did, because they had no DHD and no writings or records of any kind, and they wouldn't be able to read them if they had. They had to do a cold dialling program, Jack, just trying random combinations until they found one that works. They didn't have the leg-up of the Abydos cartouche that we did."
"Where did they find the Stargate?" Carter asked.
"In a vegetable field. A farmer hit it with a plough."
"You're kidding," Jack finally said. Something so prosaic…
"Nope. But they had space travel already."
"You're sure of that?" Hammond said.
"Yes, and it's better than ours. Maybe better than the Goa'uld. What happened is they came from another galaxy, generations ago. The journey took hundreds of years, but they came here and found an inhabitable planet, and settled. They've got the knowledge for a lot of things they can't make yet, because they don't have the population base to support it. They hadn't run into any sentient species in this galaxy, so until they found their Stargate they thought there might not be any."
"They never assumed they were the only ones?" Hammond asked.
"Which galaxy?" Carter asked.
"How many of them are there?" Jack asked.
"Well, apparently they thought humans originated in their galaxy," Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose. "General, they had a civilisation that spanned most of their galaxy, some kind of republic. Interstellar democracy. And not just humans. One reason Varielle speaks so many languages is not all the people who made the voyage were human, and some of them have their own languages that they've kept alive. And their laws define your rights by whether you're sentient or not. There are actually laws against species discrimination."
"Wow," Carter said after a moment.
"So… they won't have a problem with Teal'c?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. Varielle is the only survivor of her team, and a lot of them were famous. Influential families and friends. The news of how and why they died isn't going to go over well. They've got a set-up a bit like America, when it comes to the media, and their Stargate program is public knowledge. There's going to be a lot of public bad feeling against Goa'uld and Jaffa."
"You actually discussed this?" Jack said. "How long did you talk for?"
Daniel had to stop and think. "About ten hours last night and another six today… what? I've been teaching her English and trying to learn her language. She's very talented, but it's still hard work."
"None of this changes the fact that she could have completely compromised the security of this installation," Hammond said decisively. "We need to change all our access codes."
"We've still got six teams off-world, sir," Carter said.
"Fine. Leave those. Change the rest. When she leaves, we change them again."
"General, she doesn't want to hurt us," Daniel said again.
"I can't take that chance, Doctor. Is there anything else?"
"No, General."
"Dismissed."
"How the hell did the NID find out about her?" Hammond stormed down the passageway.
"How'd they get someone into the base?" O'Neill asked.
"How did Varielle Mizabwe learn the doctor was in the employ of the NID?" Teal'c asked.
"Actually, that's a good question, sir," Carter asked. "Daniel?" They crowded into the General's office.
"Daniel?" Jack prompted when his best friend seemed reluctant to speak.
"She's telepathic, Jack," he finally said.
"WHAT?"
"Like Shifu, or…" Sam trailed off. "Daniel?"
"She doesn't mean us any harm, Jack," Daniel said. "She said it's not something she is, it's something she learned. Like it's a skill. A few of her people can do it. She's been using it, 'at a low level', she said, since she arrived. Sort of an extra sense for danger. From what she said her people have some pretty strict rules about what you're allowed to do, and even if she's not breaking any she's certainly bending them, and she'll have to answer for it when she goes home."
"Like a Board of Inquiry?" Carter said.
"Something like that."
"She could have access to all our codes, our mission reports, our file of Stargate addresses…"
Daniel was shaking his head. "General, she just wants to go home and warn her people of the Goa'uld. They're not a bloodthirsty people, they're not looking for a war. She's more worried that they'll take their Stargate and bury it again."
"Bury it again?" Teal'c echoed.
"Apparently they only dug it up about ten of their years ago - and she's seventeen by their count, so their years are about the same year as ours…"
"Daniel!" Jack reminded him sharply.
"Sorry. She said it took them a while to figure out what it did, because they had no DHD and no writings or records of any kind, and they wouldn't be able to read them if they had. They had to do a cold dialling program, Jack, just trying random combinations until they found one that works. They didn't have the leg-up of the Abydos cartouche that we did."
"Where did they find the Stargate?" Carter asked.
"In a vegetable field. A farmer hit it with a plough."
"You're kidding," Jack finally said. Something so prosaic…
"Nope. But they had space travel already."
"You're sure of that?" Hammond said.
"Yes, and it's better than ours. Maybe better than the Goa'uld. What happened is they came from another galaxy, generations ago. The journey took hundreds of years, but they came here and found an inhabitable planet, and settled. They've got the knowledge for a lot of things they can't make yet, because they don't have the population base to support it. They hadn't run into any sentient species in this galaxy, so until they found their Stargate they thought there might not be any."
"They never assumed they were the only ones?" Hammond asked.
"Which galaxy?" Carter asked.
"How many of them are there?" Jack asked.
"Well, apparently they thought humans originated in their galaxy," Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose. "General, they had a civilisation that spanned most of their galaxy, some kind of republic. Interstellar democracy. And not just humans. One reason Varielle speaks so many languages is not all the people who made the voyage were human, and some of them have their own languages that they've kept alive. And their laws define your rights by whether you're sentient or not. There are actually laws against species discrimination."
"Wow," Carter said after a moment.
"So… they won't have a problem with Teal'c?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. Varielle is the only survivor of her team, and a lot of them were famous. Influential families and friends. The news of how and why they died isn't going to go over well. They've got a set-up a bit like America, when it comes to the media, and their Stargate program is public knowledge. There's going to be a lot of public bad feeling against Goa'uld and Jaffa."
"You actually discussed this?" Jack said. "How long did you talk for?"
Daniel had to stop and think. "About ten hours last night and another six today… what? I've been teaching her English and trying to learn her language. She's very talented, but it's still hard work."
"None of this changes the fact that she could have completely compromised the security of this installation," Hammond said decisively. "We need to change all our access codes."
"We've still got six teams off-world, sir," Carter said.
"Fine. Leave those. Change the rest. When she leaves, we change them again."
"General, she doesn't want to hurt us," Daniel said again.
"I can't take that chance, Doctor. Is there anything else?"
"No, General."
"Dismissed."