DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and all related characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, SciFi Originals, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp and MGM/UA Studios. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended and no money has changed hands. All original characters and events are the sole property of the author and may not be used or archived without express permission.
WOMAN'S WORLD
By Darrin A. Colbourne
"Themyscira," Daniel Jackson began, "otherwise known as P4X-452. Three years ago SG-1 attempted to explore this world, but we were initially prevented from doing so by the inhabitants." Jackson was standing in front of the display screen in the SGC's Briefing Room. Seated around the briefing table were LCOL Samantha Carter, Pete Shanahan and Sarah Gardner. BGEN Jack O'Neill was sitting leisurely at his place at the head of the table. The briefing was mainly for the benefit of Pete and Sarah. "Their purpose at the time was to isolate Sam and test her strength and intellect. Once she successfully completed their tests we were allowed to visit, examine their culture and try to forge an alliance with them against the Gould. Here's what we found out about them." With that Jackson used the remote control to change the image on the display from the Stargate Command screensaver to that of a statue of a woman. The figure dated back to ancient Greece. "According to Themysciran legend about five thousand years ago their ancestors were delivered to their world from Earth by the goddess Artemis, who in Greek Mythology was the goddess of Hunting and Archery. Now, Artemis is actually one of several older pagan goddesses absorbed into the Greek Pantheon by the male-dominated Hellenic civilizations emerging in that era. Her true mythic origins can be found among several matriarchal nomadic tribes that once inhabited parts of Southern and Eastern Europe."
"Amazon tribes." Pete said. When everyone looked at him, he said, "That's what they were, right?"
"Right," Sarah said, "though they didn't call themselves that. The term 'Amazon' is more modern, originating in Greek philosophical works dating back only a little over two thousand years."
"But they did live up to the archetype the term was meant to define," Jackson said, "by performing tasks traditionally attributed to men, such as hunting, tribal defense…"
"Daniel," O'Neill said, "I think he gets it."
"Right." Jackson said. "What's important for us to know is that the real Artemis was a Gould, and sometime between 3000 and 2500 BC she began taking the strongest women from these Amazon tribes and transporting them to Themyscira. We think she did that to guarantee herself a supply of strong, female bodies to serve as hosts for her symbiote."
"Why do that when she could make a host of anyone, Male or Female?" Sarah said. After all, Osiris hadn't been picky about choosing a woman for his host.
"It makes sense for a couple of reasons. By that time Ra had already been ruler of Earth by default for thousands of years, and even though he'd physically abandoned the planet it was still part of his empire, which meant he could control access to it by virtue of his being its System Lord and being the chief System Lord overall. The fact that both the Giza and Antarctica Stargates were inaccessible at the time just made his job of isolating the planet easier. So while pretty much all of the System Lords had access to human hosts, the planet with the greatest supply of them was essentially off limits. This was a problem for Artemis, because the nature of societies that developed under Gould rule made it almost impossible for her favorite hosts, Amazons, to develop naturally. They literally only existed here, so she began conducting secret raids on Earth to steal them and horde them on Themyscira, a planet deep in her territory. She continued this piracy for about three centuries before Ra finally got tired of it and shut her down, devastating a chunk of her empire in the process, but by then she had nearly a thousand Amazons to do with whatever she pleased. She'd been keeping the strongest ones alive all that time using Gould technology, while she mated the rest with her Jaffa to keep the supply replenished. And since Themyscira was virtually untamed, she could be sure that once the Amazons she took from Earth were left alone there they'd do what had come naturally to them, which was carve out a life of their own, becoming stronger and longer-lived in the process. That meant that for centuries to come Artemis would have a vast supply of the only type of hosts that could live up to her standards and a ready-made army to use in case of an emergency."
"Sounds like a good plan," Pete said, "but I'm guessing there was a flaw…"
"The same one that Ra and lot of other Goa'uld ran into." Carter said. "Leave so many strong, smart and motivated people alone in one spot for too long without keeping a tight leash on them---"
"And they begin to think they no longer need gods of any kind," Sarah said, "and decide to do something about them."
"Which is exactly what happened on Themyscira around 2300 BC." Jackson said. "The Themyscirans rebelled against Artemis and ejected her from the planet, sealed off the Stargate there, dismantled its control device and fought her Jaffa tooth and nail every time she attempted to land them there from spaceships. Eventually, greater problems elsewhere in her empire forced Artemis to abandon Themyscira entirely, but during their defensive campaign the Themyscirans were picking apart any technology she left behind, so by the time Artemis was gone for good they were already advancing technologically at an accelerated rate. We've seen this happen on other former Gould worlds, but the Themyscirans are especially gifted, so much so that by about 1900 BC they'd already mastered long-range flight and were talking about space travel, had microwave and laser weapons at their disposal and - though I wasn't able to get them to commit to exactly when - at some point had found a way to reproduce among themselves without the aid of men."
"You make it sound like it's a state secret for them." Pete said.
"Oh, I only wish it were, Pete," O'Neill said, "Because while Daniel wasn't able to get them to say when they pulled it off he did finally get them to tell us how they did it."
"Not pretty?" Pete said.
"Not even close." O'Neill said.
"Well, regardless," Jackson said, "they did it, and with the ability to procreate they could spread across the planet while sustaining their technological progress, until Themyscira developed into the world we'll be visiting." Another click of the remote and the scene switched to video footage of a Themysciran city. "Their population now stands at about 100 million people, scattered among several communities similar to Greek city-states. The one we're going to is called 'Arachinopolis', and while it's not the largest city-state it has the oldest roots. It was the first large-scale community established on the planet. It allowed its founders to give up the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and begin modern domestic living, while it's proximity to the Stargate allowed its citizens to mount a large, rapid response to any Gate-borne attack. From here, Themyscirans spread out and established other similar civilizations around the globe. Although each city-state has its own unique culture, they do adhere to some planet-wide agreements, including one that establishes the Arachinopolans as the Administrators of the Themyscira Stargate."
After a slight pause, Pete raised his hand. When Jackson nodded, he put it down and said, "So, we're going to see these Arackin…Arra…these people in charge of the Stargate on that planet and ask them to help us out against the Gould?"
"Yes. Specifically, we'll get in touch with Clytemnestra, the city's Chief Educator. She was the one who conducted Sam's testing and she was our principle contact the last time we attempted negotiations."
"So…you've done this already?" Pete said.
"Well, yes…once."
"Okay, that's what I don't get. If these Amazons are so willing to accept people from Earth and enter into some kind of agreement with us, why aren't they already our allies?"
O'Neill snapped his fingers and pointed at Pete. "And that's why he's the Detective!" The General said. "Colonel, why don't you answer the man's question? Pay attention, Pete. You'll like this."
Pete looked at Carter then, who glanced quickly at O'Neill. The General was sporting the same "I so told you so!" smile he'd given her when they first got back from Themyscira. Even after three years, it didn't look like he'd ever get tired of saying it, even if he didn't say it out loud.
She decided to ignore him and speak to Pete. "The thing about an alliance is that it has to be mutually beneficial to all the parties involved. In the case of Themyscira we were negotiating from a position of extreme disadvantage. For instance, in a strict military alliance they would have to do most of the heavy lifting, since they have weapons and transports that we aren't even close to developing yet. Also, to do us any good they would have to carry the fight to the Goa'uld, bringing the Wrath of the Gods down on themselves after five millenia of trying to keep the gods from coming anywhere near them. They had the advantage of being off the Goa'uld radar and we were asking them to give up that advantage for essentially no other reason than that it would buy us time to come up with our own defenses."
"But it certainly wouldn't be the only time Earth has allied itself with more advanced peoples." Sarah said. "What about the Asgard and the Tok'Ra?"
"We actually had something to offer the Tok'Ra." Jackson said. "Willing hosts, like Sam's father…and, actually, there's not much of an 'alliance' there right now anyway. As for the Asgard, we've been able to help them occasionally against the replicators…but ultimately we only ended up delaying the inevitable."
"Jeez! I hope you didn't tell the Amazons that the first time you talked to them." Pete said.
"Actually, the really bad stuff hadn't happened yet back then…" Carter said.
"Still," Jackson said, "I think the reason that most of the Themyscirans rejected an alliance with Earth is that they saw too many potential downsides…and in hindsight they might have been right."
"Okay, forget an alliance." Pete said. "If their weapons are so great why didn't we just trade for them and use them ourselves?"
"Again, we were at a disadvantage." Carter said. "They're centuries ahead of us scientifically. We had nothing to offer that they hadn't already rendered obsolete."
"Sorry," Sarah said, "but none of this makes sense. We've all read the report of your initial contacts with the Themyscirans, Colonel, and your descriptions of them make them sound like a generous, giving people. There's nothing to indicate that they would be so mercenary."
"Ha!" O'Neill said. "'Mercenary'! Good word."
"Well, is there no charity in their hearts at all?" Sarah said.
"Actually, there is." Carter said, looking pointedly at O'Neill before she turned her attention to Sarah. "They were more than willing to share their knowledge of Stargate Technology and provide us with humanitarian aid in the event of a crisis. Unfortunately, most of what they know about Stargates we already know, and the rest is beyond our ability to exploit."
"And the humanitarian aid is only useful after a devastating attack." Jackson said. "Our main goal is to either prevent or defend against one."
"Wow." Pete said. "It sounds like those negotiations really sucked."
"Oh, we haven't even gotten to the 'sucks' part yet, Pete." O'Neill said.
Jackson finally let his growing exasperation show. "Jack…!"
"Don't 'Jack' me, Daniel. Just tell them the rest of it."
Jackson let out a breath and continued. "The technological disparity isn't the only reason trade wouldn't work. Usually when we set up a trade agreement with another world the details are based on an exchange of either goods or services, essentially barter. The Themyscirans totally abandoned the practice of bartering about a thousand years ago. Even if we had something to trade with them, they wouldn't trade."
"That's crazy." Pete said.
"That's what I said." O'Neill said.
"Jack, you were wrong then and Pete, you're wrong now." Jackson said. "It is not crazy. It is simply an outgrowth of their cultural idiosyncrasies. These women live to solve complex problems in all aspects of their lives. Their economics are no exception. Once they began to mint and circulate currency it was only natural that they'd be attracted to the intricacies and mysteries of Capitalism. Once they got it to work successfully they developed a cultural bias against all other forms of commerce. They won't barter because they think it's too simplistic a way of doing business. Asking them to barter is like insulting their intelligence. If we had something they wanted they would gladly pay what they considered a fair price for it, and they would expect us to reciprocate."
"Rush Limbaugh would be proud." O'Neill said. Jackson ignored him.
"All of Themyscira's industries are privately owned, including those that manufacture weapons and ships. There's also very little government regulation, so there's no way for the Themyscirans to just gather some up and give them to us. The city-state governments purchase what they need from contractors, just like Western countries here on Earth. That meant that if we wanted Themysciran weapons we had to order them and pay for them like everyone else."
"Actually, finding that out almost made the negotiations worthwhile." Carter said. "Once we knew all that Clytemnestra said she would do her best to clear away any regulatory problems that might hinder our efforts to purchase weapons and weapons platforms. They even arranged a little impromptu Air and Space Show so we could pick out the stuff we liked."
"Now that was pretty." O'Neill said.
"Yeah, but," Pete said, "if all that's true, why didn't we just buy the weapons we needed?"
There was an awkward silence. Carter looked at Jackson, then Jackson looked back at Carter, then they both looked at O'Neill, who let out a breath and said in an even tone, "Well, the Themysciran version of Standard and Poors worked out the exchange rate between American Dollars and Themysciran Dinars and helped us to see how much we'd have to spend in numbers we could understand…and we found out that the things we really needed would have been a little 'pricey'."
"We couldn't afford to buy everything we'd need to truly combat the System Lords on their level." Carter said.
"Well, you don't have to get everything at once," Pete said. "Maybe three or four nice ships…"
Jackson shook his head. "Nope. Not even one. Not even the little ones."
"We couldn't afford it?" Pete said.
"We couldn't afford it." Jackson said.
Everyone was startled by a chuckle. It came from Sarah. "I'm sorry," she said, "It's just…the United States of America, the largest military spender on this planet, whose defense budget dwarfs those of the next ten military powers combined, couldn't afford to buy one spaceship from Extraterrestrial Amazons."
"Yeah," O'Neill said, "that was kind of my reaction." He leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table. "And now that this particular bit of dirty laundry is dangling out there for everyone to see, I ask you, Colonel Carter, what in this or any other world would make you think that this mission will end any more - dare I say it - profitably for us than the last one?"
Carter was ready for him. "Sir, the Themyscirans no longer have the luxury of staying invisible. The Jaffa I fought there couldn't possibly have been the only probe any of the System Lords ever sent. In times of relative peace they might pass off all those Jaffa MIAs as having been lost in an inhospitable environment, but eventually one of them is going to use his imagination and send a ship there - especially if he's being goaded into desperation by Ba'al - and what he's going to find is a technological bonanza that he won't want to leave without. Whether that System Lord is some total stranger or Artemis herself the Themyscirans will have to join our fight when he shows up. Maybe we can use that somehow, maybe convince them to launch a preemptive strike. And we're not alone anymore. Maybe all twelve nations that now know about the Stargate can chip in with us for some fighters. And, frankly, I'm not above begging, Sir. At the very least maybe we can get some of their technicians here to figure out some way to make Antarctica Base work."
The room was silent while O'Neill let all that sink in, then he said, "Lotta 'maybes'." Another pause, then, "A couple of days after I took over here I got a postcard from General Hammond. There was nothing on it but his signature and two words. I quote: 'Ha. Ha.' Carter, Daniel…any idea what he might have meant by that?"
"Actually, I think I have some idea…" Jackson muttered.
"Me too, Sir…" Carter said.
"Me too." O'Neill said. "I only mention it because I want you to understand the mindset I'm in as I say the following: Mission Approved. Get Pete and Sarah up to speed on whatever SGC procedures they need to know about and be ready to go at 0900 tomorrow." With that O'Neill stood and turned to leave. Instinctively, Carter was on her feet a few seconds after O'Neill was on his. Pete and Sarah were up by the time O'Neill was out the door.
"So," Pete said, "that means we're going, right?"
Carter was smiling when he turned to look at her. "Yep." She said. "We're going."
"Uh, Sam," Jackson said, "remember the price we were quoted on fighters? I don't think even all twelve countries together could--"
"Daniel," Carter said, "shut up before General O'Neill hears you and changes his mind."
Carter and Jackson spent the rest of the day familiarizing Pete and Sarah with SGC protocols and mandates and equipment like the GDOs and field radios. Carter made doubly sure that Pete had SG-1's identification code and Earth's Gate Address committed to memory. Jackson only needed to do half that job with Sarah. Osiris had already thoroughly imprinted Earth's address in her brain.
The next morning the modified SG-1 Team breakfasted early and split up by gender to get ready in the base Locker Rooms. As he got dressed in the black skivvies, green combat fatigues, brown combat boots, black body armor and equipment harness that constituted the standard SGC excursion outfit, Pete felt like he was getting ready to participate in a forced entry to serve a warrant on a drug lord. He supposed that was what Sam meant when she said their jobs' respective training and tactics weren't that different.
When they were almost done getting ready, Pete turned to Jackson and said, "Can I ask you something, Daniel?"
He didn't have to. "You're wondering about Sarah." Jackson said as he closed his locker.
"Aren't you?" Pete said. "I mean, I don't know much about these things, but isn't it possible that she can still be…I dunno…'possessed', I guess?"
"Not really." Jackson said as he turned to Pete. "Osiris is as dead as he can be, and though he's certainly left his mark on her psyche he doesn't actually have any kind of control over her."
"So you have no reservations about her coming along?"
"Didn't say that. While I'm sure she's not under a symbiote's control anymore I'm also sure that she retains memories of a good portion of the things she did while she was possessed. Your experience with them so far is limited so you may not fully comprehend the kind of megalomaniacal evil they're capable of. Sarah knows better than any of us. She's watched herself doing it. I'm not sure if she's completely recovered from that. I'm not even sure she can completely recover, but I think the best way for her to start is to find a way to put her time as Osiris behind her. She needs a long respite from those memories, but she won't get it on this mission."
"What do you mean?"
"Sam picked her for the same reason she picked you. She has expertise relevant to the mission that it would take years for one of our new recruits to obtain. The difference is she gained that experience by way of having been taken as a host. Sarah has a great deal of experience with interstellar negotiation and intrigue, space travel, Stargate travel and combat, but all as a result of having been Osiris. Sam wants her to tap those memories in order to help her in talks with the Themyscirans. Granted, Sarah didn't take long to say 'yes' when I explained that to her and asked if she would come, but that's really what has me worried. I'm afraid she thinks using her Gould experience to do good will help her forgive herself for the evil she was forced to do - and I'm also a little afraid that Sam was counting on that when she asked."
It took a minute for Pete to digest that last part. Could His Sam really be that calculating? "Maybe I shouldn't have given her the idea after all…" He muttered.
"Hmm?" Jackson said.
"It's just…Sam told me I gave her the idea for this mission when I mentioned Wonder Woman the other day." Pete said.
Jackson suddenly winced the way he always did when he remembered something important. "That's right! She did tell me…listen: You do not want to mention Wonder Woman while we're on Themyscira."
"Why? How would they even know about her there?" Pete said.
"Because I told them about her the last time we visited." Jackson said, regret plain in his voice. "At one point I met with some of their historians and we got to talking about how Amazons were represented in our respective popular cultures and I brought up the Wonder Woman comic and TV show."
"Were they insulted?"
"Not 'insulted' so much. They just found the background stuff an odd way to depict people who they knew intimately from meticulous historical records and stories handed down almost intact for centuries. Mostly they just nitpicked as I explained it to them, like they mentioned that Hippolyte would be a Chief, not a Queen, and that 'Diana' isn't a name that one would normally give her child, and the Amazons in Wonder Woman are depicted as living like Greeks in their Classical Period, a level of civilization real Amazons on Earth never reached, all of which is true, of course…"
"It doesn't sound like they reacted too badly…"
"No, the reaction didn't get bad until I made the mistake of describing Wonder Woman's costume."
"What happened?"
"They laughed. A lot. Loud and long."
Pete had to stifle a laugh of his own. "Man…it must have been fun to be you in that room at that moment."
"Oh, but nowhere near as much fun as when Sam found out and relayed the story later to every woman on this base," Jackson said, "so you can probably understand now why mentioning Wonder Woman would remind Sam of Themyscira - and why I'm not eager to repeat that particular experience."
"Gotcha." Pete said. "Ixnay on the Wonder Woman."
Jackson patted Pete on the shoulder and let out a breath. "Many thanks." He said with a smile, then the two men left the locker room. They met up with Sarah and Carter at the Stores and Equipment room and loaded up with First Aid kits, emergency ration bars, compasses, lighters, their GDOs and radios. After that, the last stop before the Gate Room was the Armory.
Jackson, Carter and Pete all signed out Colt M1911A1 pistols and K-BAR combat knives for emergency weapons. Carter picked the familiar P-90 submachine gun for her main weapon and Pete followed suit. He'd never tried one before Carter introduced the weapon to him the night before, but he liked it instantly. It seemed like a much better close-quarters weapon than the police-issued ones he was used to. Jackson, as usual, didn't take an automatic weapon, satisfied that he could protect himself with his sidearm and knife. All three loaded their equipment harnesses and pockets with as many spare clips of ammo as they could carry, and Carter had everyone take a smoke grenade, just in case.
Sarah, for her part, hadn't wanted to take any weapons at all, and expressed that to Carter as they were getting ready. Carter had sympathized, but reminded Sarah that if she went totally unarmed there was no reason for her to come along. If something went horribly wrong while they were offworld the archeologist would be useless as backup if she had nothing to fight with. Sarah acquiesced, but decided to take only two zat'n'ktels - one ready and one backup. It was a weapon she knew how to use, and one that if used properly would let her avoid killing anyone.
Finally the team made its way to the Gate Room. O'Neill, watching from the Control Room, had the technicians begin dialing as soon as Carter and the others entered the main door. Pete's attention was immediately drawn to the Stargate as the middle ring began moving. Like everyone else, the first thing that came to his mind as he looked at it was the bevel on a sports watch. He stared unblinking until the ring stopped and one of the styluses opened, closed and lit up with a Chuck-Chung sound.
"Chevron One, Encoded." Sgt. Norman's voice said over the Public Address system. That made Pete turn to look at the wall behind him. He could see into the window to the Control Room. General O'Neill was standing behind the people at the control stations. From there Pete looked higher up the wall into the window to the Briefing Room they were in Yesterday.
"Chevron Two, Encoded." The announcement drew his attention back to the Stargate. Now two of the styluses were lit. From the angle he also realized that he had stopped short just inside the door. The others were standing at the bottom of the ramp. He hurried over to catch up and found himself standing next to Sarah and behind Jackson and Carter. As a third stylus lit up he glanced around the rest of the room. There was at least a squad of soldiers in combat gear and sporting M-16s arrayed around the perimeter of the ramp.
After counting all those guns, then reviewing all the weapons they were taking along, he began to have doubts. He tapped Carter on the shoulder. When she turned her head, he said, "Are you sure this is a safe planet we're going to?"
She smiled when she answered him. "We prepare like this every time we go through the 'Gate, no matter the destination. You have nothing to worry about."
"You promise?" He said.
"Of course." She said, then turned back around.
At this point he had no choice but to trust her. He was content to watch the 'Gate as it went through its motions, but a moment later his gaze was drawn to Sarah. In her current mode of dress she was a far cry from the woman in black with the laser-finger he'd seen weeks ago. She wasn't wearing any make-up at all, and her blonde, wavy hair was tied back in a ponytail.
Soon Sarah caught him staring out of the corner of her eye. "I know what you're thinking." She said.
He smiled at her. "Guess my mind's an open book today."
"You can't reconcile the woman you see before you with the woman you saw when we first met." She said. It was the first time Pete got to appreciate her clipped British accent up-close.
"It was a pretty unforgettable first impression." He said.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Detective," She said, "I find that lately I'm having the same problem." With that she turned her attention back to the 'Gate.
Pete nodded in acknowledgment before he followed suit, just in time to hear "Chevron Seven, Locked!"
The Stargate opened with its customary Boom! and sideways flush, making Pete flinch backward. He didn't straighten up until the pillar of water boiling out from the middle of the device settled back into a stable pool, what Sam had called the "Event Horizon."
"Transmitting Request for Clearance." The PA said, then after a minute or two: "Clearance granted."
Finally, General O'Neill's voice announced: "SG-1, You have a 'Go'."
Carter and Jackson looked at each other before they started up the ramp. "Is it me, or did he sound more cheerful than usual when he said that?" Carter said.
"I get the feeling this is the one time he's happy he's not going with us." Jackson said.
"I think you and he are just being way too sensitive about what happened the last time. You don't see Teal'c still moping about it after three years."
"Yeah…but you also don't see Teal'c rushing back here to go with you again, do you?"
Pete and Sarah were a step behind them. Both were staring intently at the event horizon. "So you've been through this thing before, huh?" He said.
"Several times." She said.
"You got used to it, right?"
"Osiris was used to it. I was scared senseless every single time."
"That's comforting." Pete said under his breath. It was the last thing any of them said before SG-1 walked through the Stargate.