Chapter 31: Self-destruct
The representative from the Pentagon was looking very ired. "So you're saying that…" The klaxons went off, cutting him short.
"General?" An airman stuck his head around the door. "It's the Alpha Site, sir. They're evacuating." "I'm coming," he got up. "Any idea what's going on?"
"The Goa'uld motherships are on the way," the airman said. "They're sending a lot of the people through now. Major Carter wanted to stay behind to finish her work on the energy weapon."
"Right," he strode into the control room where the Stargate was disgorging troops with boxes and bags in a constant stream.
"How many more to come?"
"About thirty, sir," a seargent told him.
"How's it going?" Varielle asked nervously as both Carters hovered over their prototype.
"I just need to erase the information. We can't leave it lying around for them to find…" The roof shook hard.
"Got a better idea," she drew her blaster. "How about I just shoot up the computer?"
"No!" Sam yelled, typing frantically. Jacob Carter then got to watch a sequence of events that happened almost too fast to see. Varielle drew a slender metal cylinder from her belt and turned it into a golden blade of light. She also twisted frantically to one side, hair flying, and bolt of energy blasted a hole through the door which she caught on the blade and it somehow was deflected through the ceiling. The doors of the laboratory flew inward to reveal a supersoldier in full dark armour raising its weapon just before its arm was cut off near the elbow; finally Varielle whipped her lightsaber in a practiced elegant movement that sent the armoured head flying.
"Are you finished?" she asked, gasping.
"Yes," Carter grabbed the prototype weapon.
"Good. Let's run." They ran.
"How long?"
"Not very," Sam said.
"This way." She dodged sideways. "There's a whole bunch of them over there." "Are the others alright?"
"They just went through the Stargate."
"How do you know that?" Jacob asked.
"Run faster," she told them both, heading into the woods. "Right now." They sprinted, reaching the trees just ahead of lumbering black figures, and Varielle took the rear, calling out directions until they reached a stand of rocks.
"Take cover," she said.
"That auto-destruct should be going off in twenty seconds," Sam Carter said as they hunkered down. "How'd you know this would be here?"
"I didn't." She peered around one side of the rock, loose strands of hair plastered to her forehead. "Good thing everyone else has gone."
"How'd you convince that lady to leave?"
"Yeren? I didn't. She decided. She's not stupid."
"What are you?" Selmak asked.
"What?"
"You reacted to the attack before it happened. What are you?"
She smiled mirthlessly. "A Jedi." Behind them the base exploded and all of them ducked. The noise was incredible.
"Well," she said as soon as the debris had ceased raining, "I must say you certainly know how to host a party."
"Was that supposed to be funny?"
"It was supposed to be sarcastic." She peered around the rock again. "They're not all dead. I think one survived."
"Why do you think that?"
"It's coming this way."
"Oh, crap."
"Will that thing work?"
"Yes."
"We don't know."
"Make up your minds. All three of them."
"I can try."
"Well, if that doesn't work, I know this can kill them," she hefted the lightsaber. "I'll need to get close, though."
"How close?"
"Close enough to cut it," she triggered the blade. "They're fast," Sam warned.
"Let's hope I'm faster." She frowned. "They don't feel quite human."
"They're not. They're genetically engineered."
"That would explain a lot." Sam stood up, took aim, fired, landed two good shots and ducked down.
"Did it work?" Jacob asked.
"No," Varielle said.
"The power module…"
"Don't tell me the batteries are flat," Varielle pleaded. "Alright, plan two."
"What's that?" Jacob asked warily. Varielle closed her eyes and paused, poised, then leaped straight up more than twenty feet, twisting in mid-air to come down on top of the supersoldier with the lightsaber pointed straight down, hilt braced in both hands. The pair collapsed into the gritty dirt, one dead and one bruised. After a moment she rolled to her feet and spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Wow," Sam finally said.
"Thanks for that. Can we get out of here now?"
"Where's the Stargate?"
She spun, looking for it. "There. It's been knocked flat."
"I don't suppose you can lift it up," Jacob said tentatively, looking at her with new respect.
"It's too heavy," she shook her head. "If we want to go home, we'd better find a lever and some rope."
"Could others lift it?" Selmak asked.
"Some of them," she acknowledged. "I could if I didn't mind the fact I'd probably be unconscious for a day or two afterwards. And that's normally; right now it'd be longer."
"Ouch," Sam said. "Why?"
"The energy has to come from somewhere. Just because we lift things in a different way - you call it the Law of Conservation of Energy. Our name is a bit different, but the principle is the same. Some of us can draw energy from outside us; I can't, not really."
"Why not?"
She shrugged. "It just doesn't work that way for me. There's a lot of 'whys' and 'hows' we still don't know, even after thousands of years."
"Does that make you weaker than others?" Selmak asked.
"Yes, but it also means I can do work others can't, because I have finer control. It's a trade-off. It's almost impossible to have both strength and control at the same time. Now, how do we get this thing upright so we can get out of here?"
"We could just direct-dial and jump through," Jacob said.
"Wrong way up," Sam and Varielle chorused.
The representative from the Pentagon was looking very ired. "So you're saying that…" The klaxons went off, cutting him short.
"General?" An airman stuck his head around the door. "It's the Alpha Site, sir. They're evacuating." "I'm coming," he got up. "Any idea what's going on?"
"The Goa'uld motherships are on the way," the airman said. "They're sending a lot of the people through now. Major Carter wanted to stay behind to finish her work on the energy weapon."
"Right," he strode into the control room where the Stargate was disgorging troops with boxes and bags in a constant stream.
"How many more to come?"
"About thirty, sir," a seargent told him.
"How's it going?" Varielle asked nervously as both Carters hovered over their prototype.
"I just need to erase the information. We can't leave it lying around for them to find…" The roof shook hard.
"Got a better idea," she drew her blaster. "How about I just shoot up the computer?"
"No!" Sam yelled, typing frantically. Jacob Carter then got to watch a sequence of events that happened almost too fast to see. Varielle drew a slender metal cylinder from her belt and turned it into a golden blade of light. She also twisted frantically to one side, hair flying, and bolt of energy blasted a hole through the door which she caught on the blade and it somehow was deflected through the ceiling. The doors of the laboratory flew inward to reveal a supersoldier in full dark armour raising its weapon just before its arm was cut off near the elbow; finally Varielle whipped her lightsaber in a practiced elegant movement that sent the armoured head flying.
"Are you finished?" she asked, gasping.
"Yes," Carter grabbed the prototype weapon.
"Good. Let's run." They ran.
"How long?"
"Not very," Sam said.
"This way." She dodged sideways. "There's a whole bunch of them over there." "Are the others alright?"
"They just went through the Stargate."
"How do you know that?" Jacob asked.
"Run faster," she told them both, heading into the woods. "Right now." They sprinted, reaching the trees just ahead of lumbering black figures, and Varielle took the rear, calling out directions until they reached a stand of rocks.
"Take cover," she said.
"That auto-destruct should be going off in twenty seconds," Sam Carter said as they hunkered down. "How'd you know this would be here?"
"I didn't." She peered around one side of the rock, loose strands of hair plastered to her forehead. "Good thing everyone else has gone."
"How'd you convince that lady to leave?"
"Yeren? I didn't. She decided. She's not stupid."
"What are you?" Selmak asked.
"What?"
"You reacted to the attack before it happened. What are you?"
She smiled mirthlessly. "A Jedi." Behind them the base exploded and all of them ducked. The noise was incredible.
"Well," she said as soon as the debris had ceased raining, "I must say you certainly know how to host a party."
"Was that supposed to be funny?"
"It was supposed to be sarcastic." She peered around the rock again. "They're not all dead. I think one survived."
"Why do you think that?"
"It's coming this way."
"Oh, crap."
"Will that thing work?"
"Yes."
"We don't know."
"Make up your minds. All three of them."
"I can try."
"Well, if that doesn't work, I know this can kill them," she hefted the lightsaber. "I'll need to get close, though."
"How close?"
"Close enough to cut it," she triggered the blade. "They're fast," Sam warned.
"Let's hope I'm faster." She frowned. "They don't feel quite human."
"They're not. They're genetically engineered."
"That would explain a lot." Sam stood up, took aim, fired, landed two good shots and ducked down.
"Did it work?" Jacob asked.
"No," Varielle said.
"The power module…"
"Don't tell me the batteries are flat," Varielle pleaded. "Alright, plan two."
"What's that?" Jacob asked warily. Varielle closed her eyes and paused, poised, then leaped straight up more than twenty feet, twisting in mid-air to come down on top of the supersoldier with the lightsaber pointed straight down, hilt braced in both hands. The pair collapsed into the gritty dirt, one dead and one bruised. After a moment she rolled to her feet and spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Wow," Sam finally said.
"Thanks for that. Can we get out of here now?"
"Where's the Stargate?"
She spun, looking for it. "There. It's been knocked flat."
"I don't suppose you can lift it up," Jacob said tentatively, looking at her with new respect.
"It's too heavy," she shook her head. "If we want to go home, we'd better find a lever and some rope."
"Could others lift it?" Selmak asked.
"Some of them," she acknowledged. "I could if I didn't mind the fact I'd probably be unconscious for a day or two afterwards. And that's normally; right now it'd be longer."
"Ouch," Sam said. "Why?"
"The energy has to come from somewhere. Just because we lift things in a different way - you call it the Law of Conservation of Energy. Our name is a bit different, but the principle is the same. Some of us can draw energy from outside us; I can't, not really."
"Why not?"
She shrugged. "It just doesn't work that way for me. There's a lot of 'whys' and 'hows' we still don't know, even after thousands of years."
"Does that make you weaker than others?" Selmak asked.
"Yes, but it also means I can do work others can't, because I have finer control. It's a trade-off. It's almost impossible to have both strength and control at the same time. Now, how do we get this thing upright so we can get out of here?"
"We could just direct-dial and jump through," Jacob said.
"Wrong way up," Sam and Varielle chorused.