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
This is exactly what I didn't want! Pete thought as he hurtled helplessly through space at speeds he couldn't even imagine. Though he was fully aware every moment of the trip he had no sense of his own body, so it was impossible to dodge the bright stars that seemed to come dangerously close to him in the tunnel of light. Yet in spite of this paralysis Sam had told him he had to picture himself stepping normally out of the exit of the wormhole, since the Stargate tended to deposit its charges back into normal space the way those charges oriented themselves - whatever the hell that meant.
Still, he did try to picture it, though he was a little too late. The proverbial Light At The End Of The Tunnel filled his vision just a half second before he could properly form the image of his left foot emerging on the ramp on the other side. It actually emerged a couple of inches high, and the resulting drop, though negligible, was enough to throw Pete off balance when his body fully formed. He found himself stumbling forward on reentry and might have gone head over heels had he not been caught and stabilized by Sarah.
"You okay?" Jackson said as Pete righted himself.
"Yeah." Pete said. "Talk about 'Watch that first step'. Do we have to go back that way?"
"Only if we want to get back without a spaceship." Sarah said, smiling.
"It gets easier each time." Carter said. "Come on." She then led the group down the ramp as the wormhole closed. About halfway down Jackson drew Sarah's attention to the artwork along the tops of the walls.
"Look at that." Jackson said. "Those are the friezes I was telling you about. The whole Themysciran story is laid out in this artwork. I used up a bunch of videotape recording them in detail."
Sarah was fascinated. "The carvings are done in impeccable detail, and the realism is reminiscent of the Classical Period, just like the architecture of this building. The only male figures seem to be Jaffa, however."
"You won't find any others. The original structure was built only about two thousand years ago, long after the women here had forsaken contact with men."
Pete took only a moment to look at the art. He was more interested in the emptiness of the Amazons' SGC. The Stargate sat in the center of a completely empty space. There was no evidence at all of the same type of military precautions they'd left back on Earth. Maybe they just think Earth people aren't much of a threat, he thought.
As he stepped off the ramp he was surprised to see that Sam was leading them to a spot behind the Stargate. When she got there Jackson and Sarah gathered close to her. "What now?" He asked as he followed suit.
"Transport rings." Carter said, looking up. He followed her gaze and saw a disk in the ceiling with a segmented cover. The cover opened up as he watched, letting a beam of light shine down on the group. A second after that several black rings descended with an electronic whine and assembled around them with a loud ratcheting noise and a few sharp bangs. Then they were bathed in an even brighter light. When it cleared and the rings rose up again they found themselves in a different level of the facility.
This level was bigger and much more active. The half of the room they were in was taken up by a staging area for people and equipment. A team of six armed Themysciran Warriors were standing near the Transport Rings, presumably waiting for SG-1 to get clear. The half beyond was taken up by technicians sitting in front of control panels and video screens floating in the air. The most complex control systems were operated by technicians on a raised platform at the far end. The whole room was gold in color and dimly lit, with only a few spotlights projected onto a few places, like the Transport Ring area.
Carter led the team away from the ring area, leaving it clear for the Themysciran force to use. As the groups passed each other Pete couldn't help but stare at the natives. They were all 5 or 6 inches taller than him and incredibly fit, like Olympic swimmers or runners. They were all very pretty, with features reminiscent of Mediterranean peoples. Their skin tones ranged from light tan to deep brown and their hair color ranged from brown to black. What surprised Pete most were their weapons and uniforms.
"They're not dressed the way Sam described them in her initial report." He whispered to Jackson.
"I was thinking the same thing." Sarah whispered. "Everyone here looks like they're dressed for a Pilates workout."
Jackson took a moment to study the Themyscirans' mode of dress. Their uniforms consisted of tight-fitting short-sleeved jerseys and loose-fitting slacks with the legs tucked into short, light boots. The outfits were similar to athletic wear on Earth - which included a tendency to bear the wearer's midriff - but were made of a much heavier material and uniformly colored dark green with black trim.
When Jackson took a little too long "studying" the Themyscirans Carter answered for him. "Clytemnestra and other high officials tend to wear traditional dress."
"Uh, right…" Jackson said, brought back to reality by Carter's voice. "Her clothes and those of her guardians are patterned after clothing worn during Themyscira's Classical Period, but their regular armed forces and civilians wear more modern clothes."
"Same for their weapons?" Pete said. He got one last glimpse of the Warriors' sidearms before the Transport Rings came down and whisked them away. He didn't know what they shot, but the weapons did look like some sort of pistols.
"Right." Jackson said. "Only the city's Special Guard Force troops carry the energy bows."
Before Pete could ask any more questions someone else's voice. "Major Carter! I'm Ranger Penelope. Welcome back to Themyscira."
Everyone turned to see who had spoken. A Themysciran soldier carrying a portable computing device had come to greet them. She was just as attractive as her fellows and was sporting a bright smile to go with her friendly welcome.
"Um…Hi." Carter said as she extended her hand to the Warrior. Penelope reciprocated and they clasped hands at the wrist. "It's good to be back…and it's 'Colonel' now."
"Oh? I'm sorry. Welcome back, Colonel Carter. And you too, Doctor Jackson."
"Thank you, Penelope." Jackson said as he and Penelope shook hands in similar manner. "Your English is…remarkable."
"Thank you, Doctor." Penelope said. She sounded very pleased with herself.
"You seem surprised, Daniel." Sarah said. "Didn't you instruct some of the Themyscirans in the English Language?"
"Yes, but not more than a few phrases. We spoke mainly in their language. And I never instructed Penelope at all."
Penelope giggled. "Shortly after she took office as Taskmaster, Clytemnestra decreed that everyone in the Stargate Watch Force should learn every language spoken by people we might encounter in the course of our duties." She said. "She was very intent on us learning your language because she was sure you'd be back and she wanted you to feel at home."
"I'll be sure to thank her." Jackson said. "Just as a matter of curiosity, how long did it take you?"
Penelope thought for a moment. "In your time frame, about two months."
"Two months?" Jackson said, incredulous.
"That was the usual amount of time, though some of us learned more quickly. Am I not speaking it properly?"
"Oh, no, you're speaking it perfectly…" He said, then muttered, "…which should be impossible after only two months." It had taken Jackson years of overloaded course work to learn to speak all the languages he knew without inflection, and every one of his instructors had told him that the hardest language on Earth to learn was English if you weren't born and raised in an English-speaking country. Penelope had been born light-years away from every English-speaking country and she was speaking the language without an accent after two months of instruction from people who couldn't speak it conversationally when he last left. Damn.
"Well, they had three years to practice…" Pete whispered to him.
"With whom?" Jackson whispered back.
"Daniel," Sarah said, "aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Oh! Sorry! Penelope this is Dr. Sarah Gardner and Pete Shanahan."
Penelope and Sarah shook hands. "Welcome to our world, Doctor." She said, then turned to Pete. He extended his hand to her, but instead of clasping it she reached up and cupped his chin, then examined his face carefully. "You have all the manly traits," she said softly, "but you're not as big as Teal'c, and not as rough-looking as O'Neill. Are you as smart as Doctor Jackson?"
Pete's eyes went a little wide when he realized her question was serious. "I'd like to think so…" He said.
Carter saved him from the examination. "He is, but his training is in a different field. He's a Law Enforcement Officer on our world."
"Is he?" Penelope said. She looked at him for another moment, then turned to Carter and asked "Is he your Defender?"
Pete was surprised to see Carter blush at the question. "Not exactly…" She said.
"Oh." Penelope said. She sounded disappointed, but brightened a moment later. "Still, he's still young and he's already fulfilling a Defender's role, so it should not take long for him to Sign The Contract." With that she released his face and finally shook hands with him. "Welcome to our world, Enforcer." She said to him.
"Uh…thanks?" Pete said.
With the introductions done Penelope could do what she came to do. "Follow me. I'll take you to see Commander Iphigenia." She moved off and headed into the control side of the facility. Carter was a step behind her, with Sarah at Carter's side. Jackson and Pete hung back a little as they walked.
"What the hell was that?" Pete whispered to Jackson.
"Just keep in mind that you're likely only the third non-Jaffa male she's seen in the flesh in her lifetime," Jackson said, "and Clytemnestra stopped everyone from examining Jack, Teal'c and I that closely when we first came here."
"Okay, fine, but what was that 'Contract' business?"
"Eh…I'll explain that later."
Pete wasn't satisfied, but decided to let it go for the moment. They continued walking until they reached the far end of the space, just beyond the raised platform. There didn't seem to be anything but a blank wall, but after Penelope touched her hand to it a door appeared and opened. Inside was an elevator. Penelope gathered them in, and after a short trip up they found themselves in an office. There were more floating screens in here as well, being monitored by the uniformed Themysciran sitting at the desk in the center of the room.
Penelope straightened up noticeably in the other woman's presence. "Colonel Carter of Earth has arrived, Commander." She said.
"Samantha!" The woman said as she rose from the desk. She was the tallest Themysciran yet. When she smiled her lips formed a wide grin which she beamed at Carter all the way as she came over. Their handshake made Carter wince slightly. "It's good to see you again. When were you promoted?"
"A few weeks ago." Carter said. She massaged her wrist after the Themysciran let go.
"Wonderful. And welcome to you, Doctor Jackson." She said, before giving Jackson a crippling handshake as well. "Are Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c not here?"
"Jack was promoted as well." Jackson said as he recovered. "He's been made General Commander of the Stargate facility on Earth. Teal'c, unfortunately, was unavailable for this mission."
"Oh. And who are your new teammates?"
Carter handled the introductions. "These are our friends, Doctor Sarah Gardner and Pete Shanahan. Pete, Sarah, this is Iphigenia, General Commander of the Stargate Watch Force."
Sarah managed to keep smiling as she and Iphigenia shook hands, but she thought her wrist might break. Pete suffered worst, though, because Iphigenia held the handshake long enough to thoroughly examine him with her eyes.
"He's an Enforcer, Chief." Penelope volunteered.
"Really?" Iphigenia said. "Are you Samantha's Defender?"
Pete looked over at Carter and caught her blushing again. You so owe me for this, Sam! He thought.
"No he's not." Carter said. "He's just my companion."
"Oh." Iphigenia said, and there was that disappointed note again, but this woman took the opportunity to try and comfort him. She leaned in very close to him and said, "Don't worry. If she thought enough to bring you here you'll be contracted in no time." She finally let him go after that and turned her attention back to Penelope.
"Scout Commander Dirce and her team should be entering the Stargate right now, Chief." Penelope said.
"Very good. That will be all, Ranger." Iphigenia said.
"As You Command." Penelope said, then excused herself to the elevator. When she was gone Iphigenia turned her attention to Carter.
"I believe I know why you're here." She said. "There was an attack on Earth. You managed to fend it off, but are unable to use whatever method you employed again, so you came here to ask for our help in defending Earth should another attack be launched."
"That's it in a nutshell." Carter said.
"How did you know?" Pete said. He didn't recall any advance messages being sent here other than the clearance request.
"We watch everything, Enforcer." Iphigenia said. She turned to grab one of the floating screens and turn it to face her visitors, then she pressed some of the controls. A three-dimensional starfield was projected into view and Iphigenia moved to where she could point things out on it. As her finger touched an object or area it identified itself in Themysciran script. "This is Earth, and this is a hyperspace contact we tracked headed for Earth several weeks ago. The interesting thing about the contact was that it seemed to be a collection of spacecraft, approximately thirty."
"Anubis's fleet." Jackson said.
"Once they departed hyperspace we tried to identify them in Earth orbit, but we were not able to get a good enough picture of them. By the time they did show up clearly they began disappearing from our screens. We did not detect a similar hyperspace track leaving the vicinity of Earth. In fact, since then we've only detected two other hyper-transits, both between Earth and a galaxy outside our own."
"That was actually me." Carter said.
"You went to someone else for help first?" Iphigenia said. "Cly will be hurt."
"I-it's complicated." Carter said. "But I'm here now."
"And the fact that you're here confirms what we thought. Had those ships landed and taken over you'd be the last people we'd expect to come through the Stargate from Earth, and had they been friendly we'd never have lost contact. So, Earth was attacked, you successfully defended it, but having exhausted whatever means you used you have resumed your search for weapons to fight our common enemies."
"And you saw all that from here?" Pete said.
"Our long range tracking systems are quite capable." Iphigenia said. "In fact, let me tell you some things you may not know." She changed the image on the screen again. Now the entire galaxy was displayed. "The ships originated from this area, one of the strongholds of the Star Gods. You said he was 'Anubis', Dr. Jackson?"
"That's right." Jackson said. "For a while he was well on his way to becoming the supreme 'Star God'."
"Well, soon after you destroyed Anubis's fleet, another Star God began to take over his stronghold. There are indications here, here and here of rapid, massive attacks using both Stargates and hyper-capable ships."
"That much we did know." Carter said. "Anubis's empire was taken over by a System Lord - sorry, a Star God known as 'Ba'al'. Ever since Anubis was defeated Ba'al has been using his forces and special weapons to devastate the others."
"True," Iphigenia said with a smile, "but do you know what his strategy is?"
"Well…I assume you wouldn't be asking if it were as simple as 'Kill all the other Goulds and take their stuff'." Jackson said.
"No," Iphigenia said, "but I'm sure he'd like you to think that. It's the type of tactical sense you'd expect from a Star God, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, she went back to the screen and touched more controls. An area around one of the systems Ba'al attacked expanded in view, then identifying markers in Themysciran came up for the small collection of stars. Then Iphigenia turned back to her visitors, looking mainly at Carter.
Test time, Carter thought as she came closer to the screen. At first she didn't know what she was supposed to be looking at. It just seemed like an innocuous cluster of systems, though there was something familiar about the configuration. That didn't make sense, though, since the only stars she would recognize…
"Wait a second…" Carter said softly, then went over to the screen and touched some controls. It took a few tries before she could get the image just the way she wanted it, but when she was done everything seemed clearer.
"This is P8X-261." She said as she turned to the others. Jackson reacted with surprise, but when Sarah and Pete gave her confused looks she explained further. "When you enter an address you give the Stargate a series of constellations to use as reference points to target the destination. As part of the planning for each mission we use observatories on Earth to locate the destination the old fashioned way and add the information we get to an astronomical database, which we keep to help us make sure the stars we want to get to are not out of range. This" - she pointed at the screen - "is a world SG-15 is slated to visit within the next two weeks." She turned back to Iphigenia. "Can I see Ba'al's other targets again?"
Iphigenia nodded and worked the controls herself. Ba'al's strikes came back up. Carter took a closer look at the star systems that were hit, this time examining them in the context of what she knew about the SGC exploration schedule. She immediately pointed at another star. "This is P7X-804!"
Jackson got closer. "Isn't that one on our mission list?" He said.
Carter just nodded as she examined the rest of the targets. When she spotted another one she recognized from the database she cursed under her breath. "Can I send a message to Earth?" She asked.
"As soon as we're done here." Iphigenia said.
Carter nodded her thanks and showed the other star to Jackson. "SG-10 is supposed to be going to this one tomorrow."
Jackson's gaze locked on that star and stayed there. "I'll be damned…" He breathed.
"Wait…" Pete said, "…this 'Ball' guy is taking over planets you guys are planning to explore?"
"Look's that way." Jackson said. His voice conveyed his frustration.
"But how would he know which ones to go to? Did he get hold of your mission plan somehow?"
"He wouldn't have to." Sarah said. "He could go anyplace in the galaxy that's reachable from Earth just by knowing what symbols are on Earth's Stargate and trying possible combinations. And all the System Lords who've had dealings with Earth have detailed intelligence on its Stargate as a matter of course."
"But he wouldn't be able to pinpoint the SGC's destinations just from guessing." Pete protested.
"Maybe he's not just guessing." Carter said. "We're not choosing the destinations randomly. The Stargate addresses we assign missions to come from two sources: a list found on Abydos and an Ancient archive."
"And while he probably doesn't know about the addresses the Ancients left he might know exactly what addresses were on Abydos." Jackson said. "He could have gone there at any time since we killed Ra…and he might have gone at any time in the 10,000 years before that."
"Which is probably how he's making his choices." Carter said. "All these addresses come from the Abydos list. So does Themyscira."
Iphigenia took that as her cue. "Over the past two weeks, our time, several attempts have been made to infiltrate Themyscira through the Stargate." She said. "The first few probes were armed groups of Jaffa, but the rest were made by warriors we've never seen before. Their bio-signs were confusing when we scanned them. It was as if they were nothing more than heavily armed and armored walking corpses."
"Anubis Drones." Jackson groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose and winced.
"He's trying to isolate Earth." Carter said. "He wants to put as many of his forces as he can anywhere we might go."
"Is Earth really that important?" Pete asked.
"It's still the largest source of Humans to act as hosts and slaves." Sarah said.
"It also provides a place of refuge or a source of aid to several underdeveloped races." Jackson said.
"And its position at the edge of the galaxy makes it more defensible in astronomical terms than most of the Goa'uld worlds we've come across." Carter said.
"Gotcha." Pete said. "'Earth Very Important'. So he scouts out Stargate addresses that can be reached from Earth…"
"Takes over the ones that are uninhabited or undefended…" Sarah said.
"And when he finds one that's part of another Gould's territory…" Jackson said.
"…that's the Goa'uld he attacks." Carter said. "And when it's all over he'll have the ability to attack Earth from too many points for us to defend against. Even having an Alpha Site to escape to won't help. He'll eventually find that planet if it's one we use the 'Gate to get to. No wonder he hasn't attacked yet. He's trying to surround us."
"But that could take years…" Pete said, "…couldn't it?"
"He has millennia." Jackson said. "And all of his and Anubis's resources, and those of any other Gould he's knocked over."
"Do you know where he'll strike next?" Carter asked Iphigenia.
"That's why it's good you came back." The Amazon General said. She adjusted the image one more time to show another set of stars. This cluster looked to be alive with activity. "Ba'al is currently attacking the outer edges of Artemis's empire."
"Isn't that where we are right now?" Pete said, astonished.
Iphigenia nodded. "Though she doesn't actively control our world, Themyscira lies at the center of the area of space that makes up her domain. As far as we can tell most of her starships are engaged with Ba'al's forces at the edge, while detectable Stargate activity has increased significantly from normal levels and mainly indicates transits from other worlds in the empire to worlds directly along the battlefront."
"Troop movements." Sarah said.
"Precisely."
"Any chance that Artemis will beat Ba'al?" Jackson said. Iphigenia just shook her head.
"Then he'll be coming here soon." Pete said.
"Artemis will get here first." Iphigenia said. "This is the very situation she created Themyscira to get herself out of. When she realizes she can't win against her fellow Star God she'll gather what forces she can spare and bring them here. She'll attack our homes, our leaders, our children, or do anything else in her power to coerce us to battle her enemy in her defense. She'll simply wait until we're victorious to enslave us again."
"How much time do we have?" Carter said.
"At the rate she's losing Jaffa and ships? A few hours at most."
Carter let that sink in before responding. "I wish there were something we could do to help, Iphigenia, but under the circumstances we still need your help more than you need ours."
"But maybe helping us can help you." Jackson said. "Ba'al's ultimate aim is Earth, and he's a much bigger threat…"
"But Artemis is the more immediate threat to us, Dr. Jackson." Iphigenia said. "I'm sworn to defend this world against her, no matter what. She's my ultimate concern. I only told you about Ba'al's plans so that you would be better informed in your search for a defense. Anyway, I'm the wrong person to ask. You should talk to Clytemnestra. She's discussing this crisis with our Senate at this moment."
"Then is it possible to talk to her now?" Carter said.
Iphigenia nodded, then went to her desk and pressed a contact. "Penelope," she said, "as soon as the Stargate's free please dial Earth and let Colonel Carter talk to her people, then arrange for her team to be escorted to the Hall of Arachne."
"Yes, Chief." Penelope's voice answered, then Iphigenia closed the contact.
"Thank you." Carter said.
Iphigenia smiled as she left the desk. "I don't want you to worry, Samantha." She said. "I expect both our worlds to survive this ordeal." With that, she led SG-1 back to the elevator.