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 Colbourne

"Bra'tac feels that the Free Jaffa are now strong enough to begin offensive operations against the System Lords in a matter of weeks." Teal'c said. He was giving General O'Neill his report on his meeting with the Rebel Jaffa leader. SG-1's resident Jaffa and erstwhile commander had gone straight to the briefing room after Teal'c had returned through the Stargate, so he was still in his warrior armor.

"From what you've told me it seems your people's time away from us has yielded positive results." O'Neill said. "Not that I want them to stay strangers…"

"Bra'tac assured me that the Free Jaffa remain the allies of the Tau'Ri," Teal'c said, "and he will continue to impress upon the leadership council the importance of coordinating our efforts to defeat the Goa'uld."

"I couldn't ask for more." O'Neill said. "Okay, so next time you talk, tell him 'Good Luck' for me, 'Thanks for the heads-up' and I'll look forward to working with him again."

"I will tell him, O'Neill."

"Good. 'Kay, so that just leaves one thing."

"And that is?"

"When're you gonna tell me what's with the hair?"

Teal'c smiled. He and Daniel Jackson had a running bet concerning how long they could keep O'Neill wondering about that. Teal'c never answered him the first time he'd asked, and both Teal'c and Jackson knew it would drive him crazy until he had details. Teal'c decided it wouldn't hurt to explain it now. It was already two weeks past the latest time Jackson said O'Neill would crack, and he didn't want to rub the archeologist's nose in it by stringing it along to the date he guessed. As far as he was concerned, he had proved his point. "Very Well, O'Neill. While you were in the Ancient stasis chamber, it occurred to me--"

"Incoming Traveler!" Sgt. Norman's voice cut in as the base alert siren sounded. "Unscheduled Offworld Activation!"

The split-second look of sheer frustration on O'Neill's face was priceless. "Hold that thought…" He grumbled as he got up to go to the Control Room.

Teal'c smiled wider. Proving a point was one thing, but if the Fates were conspiring to help him take Daniel Jackson's money, who was he to argue? With that in mind, he got up and followed O'Neill.

"It's SG-1, Sir." Sgt. Norman said as O'Neill walked in.

"Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

"Yep! And Sarah Gardner and Pete Shanahan." O'Neill said. "Sent 'em to Amazon World."

Teal'c suddenly glared at the Stargate. "Themyscira," he said, in a voice that was half-dread and half-rage.

"Ye-ess." O'Neill said. "Wanna sit in on the debrief? Should be fun."

"Indeed." Teal'c said.

"Open the iris." O'Neill said. The sergeant opened the barrier and sent an "all clear" response as O'Neill and Teal'c left for the 'Gate Room.

Colonel Samantha Carter was just stepping through the 'Gate as O'Neill and Teal'c entered the 'Gate Room. Daniel Jackson was a step behind her, and he was followed a second later by Sarah Gardner and Pete Shanahan, who landed only slightly off-balance this time. When he realized he was safely back on Earth, he pumped his fist while cheering "Yes!" and then made a big show of kissing the guardrail of the ramp, making his teammates laugh and Teal'c and O'Neill smile wide.

"Enjoy your first trip through the Stargate, Pete?" O'Neill said when Pete was done.

"It was…different." Pete said, smiling. His attention was drawn back to the Stargate momentarily as it closed.

"Perhaps we should make Detective Shanahan a permanent member of SG-1, O'Neill." Teal'c said. Pete's head whipped around when he heard.

"Always looking for new blood." O'Neill said to him.

There was a horrible moment where Pete thought they might be serious, but then he saw the smiles on their faces. "Oh, no," he said with mock reverence, "I wouldn't dream of depriving a more deserving candidate of such a challenging and rewarding experience."

"Wuss." O'Neill said as the team descended the ramp, then to Carter: "So! Colonel! Am I going to enjoy your trip as much as Pete did?"

"Actually, Sir," Carter said, "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with our results."

"Prove it to me in an hour." O'Neill said, then he and the others left the 'Gate Room.

An hour later, Pete and Sarah were back in civilian clothes and Teal'c was in Air Force fatigues, and the old and new members of SG-1 were gathered in the briefing room as Carter and Jackson delivered an oral brief on the events on Themyscira over the past day-and-a-half. As O'Neill expected, it was a strange, exciting tale. "And they're sure Artemis is dead?" He asked when they were done.

"Yes, Sir." Carter said. "Host and Symbiote. Artemis won't be resurrected any time soon."

"Famous last words." He said. "Still, for now I'd say we can chalk up another win for the Good Guys. And you say Iphigenia is now the First President of the Themysciran States?"

"In a manner of speaking." Jackson said. "As Executor she'll perform many of the same functions as our President does. One big difference is that she gets to keep the job for life."

"Good for Her." O'Neill said. He meant it. He genuinely liked Iphigenia. She was one of the few Amazons he met that managed to restrain herself from examining him like a prize bull when he was there, even when Clytemnestra wasn't around to run interference. She'd also seemed very competent and dedicated to keeping her people safe. He also remembered that she had handshake like a linebacker's. you had to respect that. "And she has the final say on an alliance with Earth and wants to get the ball rolling?"

"Yes and Yes." Jackson said. "The main points of her proposal are in the folder I gave you."

It was sitting on the table in front of O'Neill. He picked it up and looked at the contents. Along with a few typewritten pages were some digital photographs of what could only be Themysciran space cruisers.

"Okay." He said. "So far, I'm pleased." He looked up at Jackson. "Are these the ships they used to send Artemis packing?"

"No, actually, they're…older."

"Oh? How much 'older'?"

Carter answered. "A generation, Sir."

O'Neill's eyebrow went up. "A generation? As in 20 years?"

"Yes, Sir," Carter said, "but even at that the technology in them is still centuries ahead of where we'd be if we had to start from scratch."

"The ships have only been retired for about ten years." Jackson said. "Until then they were the planet's frontline spacecraft and since then they've been stored in very good condition. Iphigenia proposes to take some of them out of storage, refit them with newer weapons, engines and control systems--"

"Modern technology that is similar to what they used to defeat Artemis." Carter interjected.

"--and then turn them over to us."

"How many would they be turning over?" O'Neill said.

"Thirty."

O'Neill looked at the pictures again. The ships looked like oversized, wingless A-7 Corsairs with twin rockets stacked in the tails and giant Mag-Lite flashlights mounted under the noses. He assumed the giant flashlights were the beam weapons Carter had mentioned. "Okay, but I thought you said they couldn't just give us weapons."

"What I meant was that they couldn't just command their manufacturers to make them for us or hand over ships they currently had a use for. These ships have already been bought and paid for by the Themysciran Governments, but are not considered as vital to the planet's defense as the more modern design."

Carter took over. "With Artemis gone, Iphigenia feels it's better to produce more of the newer ships to deal with Ba'al and other threats in the galaxy than to rely solely on modernizing the older units. They'll still do that, though, and as they refit the reserve fleet they'll give us 30 of the first ones completed."

"Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical when it comes to the 'give us' part." O'Neill said.

Jackson sighed. "Yes, Jack, we have to pay for them."

"And now the million-dollar question - pun intended - How Much?"

"It's right there on the first page."

O'Neill skimmed the first typewritten page. "Only nine zeroes." He said. "Way to haggle."

"Uh, actually, that would be the annual payment. The estimated final cost is further down."

O'Neill skimmed further, and soon his eyebrow went up again. "Do they expect us to rent out Saturn?"

"To be fair, Sir," Carter said, "Those charges are as low as Iphigenia could get them without her people incurring the total costs. The Themyscirans will pay for labor, make sure the contractors make a nice profit and deal with any unexpected cost overruns. We'll be paying the flyaway and maintenance costs, buying the missile weapons ourselves and reimbursing the Themyscirans for the crews' salaries."

"Hold on…what crews? Why can't we just fly the things ourselves?"

"Clytemnestra thought that it would be more expedient if we simply let experienced crews operate the ships for us. Iphigenia agreed."

"Of course she did." My wife used to get her way all the time too.

"I agree as well, O'Neill." Teal'c said, surprising O'Neill. "If we are to safeguard this world against Ba'al, we must assume that the time we have to do so is limited and act accordingly."

"Okay, Fine." O'Neill said. "So, they give us 30 ships and fly them for us, we pay for the ships, the ammo and the upkeep, and pay back the manpower costs, and we do that by paying a couple of hundred billion dollars a year for, oh, a century or two." He looked at the other pages in his folder. "There's more, I see…"

"Right." Jackson said. "They want exclusive basing rights to Selene."

O'Neill looked confused. "As in Dion?"

"No. 'Selene' is an ancient Greek name for the Moon."

"Oh." He looked back at the folder, then at Jackson when it really hit him. "Oh! They want exclusive basing rights to The Moon? How exclusive?"

"From the time the agreement goes into effect until we pay off the ships Earth will relinquish any and all rights to establish bases of any kind on the Lunar Surface or in the area of space around the Moon for a distance equal to that from the surface of the Moon to the libration point between it and Earth."

The General just looked at Carter. "The Libration Point is the point in space where the gravities of the Earth and the Moon cancel each other out." She said. "I can show you where it is…"

"Never mind." O'Neill said. "I'm sure it's a fair chunk o'space. So, do they want us to remove all those pesky lunar rovers and flags we left there?"

"No, we can leave any previously established base intact as long as it's not manned, and we're free to establish or reactivate moon bases once the ships are paid off."

"Generous of them." O'Neill said.

"The restriction does make sense, Sir." Carter said. "The Themyscirans know that the general public of Earth is unaware of the war with the Goa'uld, so they'll try to draw as little attention to themselves as possible while they're here. They plan to set up a forward base on the dark side of the Moon and operate the ships from there. It'll be easier to keep the place secret if Earth isn't maintaining any kind of presence in the vicinity."

"But we're talking the whole Moon! What gave Iphigenia the notion that we'd even consider that?"

"Uh, that would be me." Jackson said. When O'Neill looked at him, he continued. "I was stuck for a way to convince her to help us and the only example I could think of that would work was the Lend-Lease Act."

"I remember that." O'Neill said. "I don't recall us getting a planet for the destroyers."

"But you did get exclusive basing rights." Sarah said. "One of the stipulations of the agreement was that Britain would cede control of its naval bases in Canada to the United States."

O'Neill looked at her for a moment, then said petulantly, "We gave the Brits 50 ships."

"Sir," Carter said, "30 ships is a significant portion of their reserve force. I think not being able to go to the Moon for a while would be worth it in exchange for getting to use them."

O'Neill gave her a dirty look, then relented and grumped "Fine" as he went back to the folder. After a moment, he said, "And what's this 'Defenders' Right to Conduct Business on Earth'?"

"Um, yeah. That's…negotiable." Jackson said.

"Oh, that's nice. What exactly is it that I'd be 'negotiating'?"

"Well, even though the Themyscirans have an active Stargate and interstellar spacecraft they've never established any kind of large, permanent presence outside of their solar system. For instance, they don't have any colonies, or anything like our Alpha Site. Their Moon Base and the fleet stationed there would be the first, and they aren't sure how being separated by such a distance for such a long period of time will affect the Defenders - the spouses - of the warriors who'll be stationed there. So, what they want to do is give the Defenders the option of living here."

"Okay, I still don't see what…"

"I mean here. On Earth. They want to set up housing for the Defenders somewhere on the planet."

O'Neill just looked at Jackson for a few moments, then folded his hands over the folder and looked around the table. "Am I the only one here who sees boatloads of problems in letting them do that?" He said.

"Do you not recall the trouble I experienced when I attempted to live among the General Public, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

"Yes I do, Teal'c, but those problems weren't caused solely by you living in the community. They were entirely the work of the Trust."

"And if the Themyscirans have similar problems," Carter said, "they can deal with the Trust in ways we can't."

"But why invite the problems?" O'Neill said. "I can understand setting up base housing, but why not just put it, I dunno, where the base is?"

"Because the Defenders can't just sit there passively while the Conquerors are doing their jobs!" Jackson said. "They have an obligation to enrich the homes they live in, and they can't do that easily living on the Moon. They have to be able to buy things, invest their money, start businesses…"

"And that would be the 'Business' part…" O'Neill mumbled. "Look, I thought the whole point of giving them the Moon was so they could keep a low profile."

"It is." Carter said.

"Well, don't you think somebody will notice if a housing complex with nothing in it but women who speak ancient Greek and use alien dinars for currency suddenly pops up in their neighborhood?"

"Well, they're not stupid!" Carter said, quickly adding: "Sir!"

"Clytemnestra assures us that they can set up a trust that will convert the base personnel's salaries into precious metals on Themyscira, which can then be converted to any Earth currency." Jackson said. "And if you give them enough information to work with they can learn any language they need to in a matter of weeks."

"That still leaves us with a community of women that have to be real creative about who they say they're 'enriching' all these homes for." O'Neill said.

"Oh, honestly!" Sarah said, exasperated. "If that's what's bothering you, I'm sure there is an abundance of places on Earth where no one will care who they make their homes with."

"Hey, I don't care!" O'Neill said. "But the arrangement will definitely be different from the norm, which means it will attract at least some attention, and I thought that was the exact opposite of maintaining a low profile."

Pete raised his hand cautiously at this point. "Can I say something?"

"Absolutely." O'Neill said, leaning back in his chair.

Pete lowered his hand and began. "Okay, they only said they'd give the Defenders the option to move here, right? Some of them might choose to stay on their world."

"True," Jackson said, "but a lot won't. Most will be drawn to the challenge of starting a new life here."

"Well, okay, so you make it a real challenge. Don't build a housing complex anywhere. Tell them that the ones that want to come can live here, but only if they do it the way us poor Earth schlubs do it. They come to Earth, figure out where they want to live, then find out what they have to do to make their homes there."

"Hard enough for folks from this planet to do that." O'Neill said.

"True, but they'll have a few advantages, like they're really quick studies, so they should pick up on local cultures easily, and from what I've heard about their money even their military salaries ought to give them a lot of options. But the point is if they make their own choices they're likely to spread out, so no big community to explain to anybody, and they're all used to city living so they'll probably want to live in cities on Earth. They'll blend in easily in a modern city, like New York or Chicago. I mean, they'll just be women to whoever looks. Women shopping, or opening investment accounts, or opening a boutique or whatever. They'll be extraordinarily fit women, with what I think is a really unhealthy obsession with weapons, but, Y'know, just women."

Everyone just looked at him for a moment, then Carter smiled and said to O'Neill: "I couldn't have said it better myself, Sir."

"Well…" O'Neill said, "just so long as they don't go around selling Themysciran Flux Capacitors or something…"

"As Samantha said earlier, General, they're not stupid." Sarah said. "I'm sure they'd only offer goods that potential customers would think were made by ordinary folk."

O'Neill thought about it for a minute, then said, "Okay, so do you think they'll be willing to do it the way Pete says?" He asked Jackson.

"I don't think they'd be able to resist the challenge." Jackson said.

"And how long do we have to give them our response?"

"They'll leave that up to us, but it's likely they assume Ba'al's impending arrival will light a fire under us."

"Right. And if we say 'Yes', how long before the first ships arrive?"

"They have to negotiate contracts with their suppliers first," Carter said, "but Iphigenia said it would go faster if the officials handling the deals can show a firm commitment from us. She estimates from the time we sign to the first delivery it should only take four months. No more than five."

"Can they guarantee we have five months?"

"They can try. They intend to begin harassment operations against Ba'al to keep him off-balance. And at any rate, we'll see some of their ships much sooner than five months."

"How so?"

"They can start building the base using prefab structures and modular equipment within a week after we sign, and a military base in a war zone has to be defended, so they'll deploy several of their medium attack craft for that job. Officially they'll just be there to protect the base, but practically speaking that requires helping us defend Earth in the process."

O'Neill's eyebrow went up a final time as he considered that. "Okay," he said, "I'm not as pleased as I was when we started, but I'm willing to be open-minded about this. Before I make any recommendations, I just want to know one more thing: Anybody have any gut feelings? Is anyone sensing a massive fly somewhere in this ointment?"

No one said anything for about half a minute, then slowly, nervously, Jackson raised his hand, surprising everyone.

"Daniel?" O'Neill said.

The archeologist lowered his hand and said, "I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with the way Iphigenia came into her new role."

"Do you think she might have engineered it in some underhanded way?" O'Neill said.

"No, actually, I'm pretty sure she didn't even want the job…and it didn't even exist until the Taskmasters came up with it."

"So you think the Taskmasters have some ulterior motive in giving it to her?"

"Not all of them - at least, not that I can tell. The only one who seems to have an ulterior motive is Clytemnestra."

Carter was getting tired of this. "Daniel, Clytemnestra has always been open about her motives. She may have engineered Iphigenia's being chosen Executor, but her main goal was to find a way for her people to help us."

"I agree, Sam. She has been open about her motives, but…"

"So, you think this is some nefarious scheme of Clytemnestra's to give us everything we could want?" O'Neill said to Jackson. "Didn't we already do that plot?"

"I'm not saying she's setting us up for the Gould, Jack!" Jackson said, remembering the incident with the Tollan. "I'm just saying that, given the nature of their culture we may want to think long and hard before we enter into any agreement with Iphigenia."

"In other words, 'Beware of Foreign Entanglements'." O'Neill said. "Not like you."

"Should we be seeing a potential problem?" Pete said.

"Well, Pete, there've been a few times when we thought some of our more advanced contacts were giving us the shirts off their backs and realized they were really stabbing us in ours."

"That's true, Sir," Carter said, "but in each of those instances we didn't know the real cost of their help until it was almost too late. The Themyscirans are telling us how much it will cost up front, and they've gone out of their way to make sure it's a price we can pay."

"Yes! Really, General," Sarah said, "these women are offering to defend our world, and all they want from us is just compensation for doing so, and the chance to have a stake in what they're defending."

"Pete?" O'Neill said.

"I gotta go with Sam." Pete said. "It looks like it's a lot to pay, but we need their help…and it's not like we were using the Moon anyway."

"I think NASA had plans for a Mars shot from there…"

Carter smiled. "With Prometheus and the other ships we could go to Mars from orbit. We wouldn't need to launch a mission from the Moon."

"Where's the fun in that?" O'Neill said. "Kidding. What about you, Big Guy?"

"I will go with Colonel Carter as well." Teal'c said. "If there is a danger in accepting the Themyscirans' offer, it does not outweigh the danger involved in not accepting it."

"True enough. Looks like the 'Ayes' have it. Sorry, Daniel." O'Neill closed the folder. "Okay, so I will send this to the President, with my recommendation that he and the other Stargate-cleared leaders accept it. Do we have to go back to Themyscira to close the deal?"

"No, Iphigenia wants to come here, so she can see some of the planet and the Moon and discuss the deal with our leaders before we sign the contract." Jackson said.

O'Neill chuckled. "Contract this, contract that…" He said. "It's like dealing with militant lawyers."

"Well, at least they're hot militant lawyers." Pete said absently. Carter kicked him under the table, and he and O'Neill shared a knowing smile when he recovered.

"Right." O'Neill said. "Well, Pete, Sarah, thank you for lending us a hand on this one, and you're welcome to come back when Iphigenia pays her visit."

"That would be wonderful, General. Thank you for offering." Sarah said. Pete nodded his agreement.

"And Daniel, Colonel, the usual detailed written reports, if you please, and we will meet back here tomorrow to discuss your next mission. That's all, people." With that, O'Neill stood up and picked up the folder. As usual, Carter was on her feet a second later. Teal'c was next, and he moved to talk to O'Neill as he headed for his office.

"It occurs to me, O'Neill," he said, "that if the Themyscirans are now more open to forming alliances against the System Lords they may be willing to assist the Jaffa rebels."

"Maybe," O'Neill said as their voices faded, "but you might want to let Ishta handle the negotiations…"

By the time they were out of the room everyone else was standing. Carter turned and glared at Pete. "'Hot militant lawyers'?" She said.

"Again, your selling point!" Pete said. "And it was your idea for me to come." He was grinning.

Carter just shook her head and grinned back. "Come on," she said, then led him out of the room. When they were gone, Sarah looked at Jackson, who seemed lost in thought.

"Aren't we going now?" She said. When he didn't answer, she said, "Really, Daniel. It's for the best. You'll see there's nothing to worry about."

"I hope so." He said.

It took a little over a week for the Stargate Countries to agree to the Themysciran proposal, and a formal invitation was sent to Themyscira for Iphigenia to visit Earth and hammer out the details and sign the contract. She accepted the invitation via the Stargate, through which she came to Earth with an entourage that consisted of Clytemnestra, Phoebe and a platoon of Special Guards (the protection of whom the cities of Themyscira decided she now rated). She was greeted in the SGC by an Air Force Honor Guard that included Brigadier General Jack O'Neill and Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter - resplendent in dress blues - as well as Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, Sarah Gardner and Pete Shanahan, all of whom were in their "Sunday Finest" outfits. Iphigenia herself, in stark contrast to her traditionally-clad traveling companions, was wearing a dark, slim pantsuit. To make her feel at home, O'Neill arranged a special tribute to her. When she stepped out of the event horizon, it was a cue for a technician in the control room to play a recording of "Hail to the Chief" over the 'Gate Room loudspeaker. He knew he was violating American Tradition - and maybe a law or two, he wasn't sure - by having it played for someone other than the President, but he thought Iphigenia would appreciate the gesture. He was right, but he and his ribs immediately regretted it when he told her the title and significance of the piece and she hugged him in gratitude.

Her inspection of the Earth and its environs was conducted from the backseat of an F-302 with Gen. O'Neill at the controls. The first order of business was to make a few low orbits around the planet to give Iphigenia a Star God's view - her phrase - of the place some of her people might soon call "Home". Though she didn't recognize every geographic feature, the sight of the continents of the Eastern Hemisphere reminded Iphigenia of her days in primary school, where several of her educators proudly displayed maps of Gaea as the Mothers knew it. On one particularly low orbit, she thought she could just make out the area between the Thermodon and Euxine rivers, the place where the Mothers had planned to create a great village - the original "Themiskyra" - before Artemis began her reign of terror. She was sure Clytemnestra wouldn't be able to contain herself when she heard.

O'Neill decided to take it slow - only about 2800 kps - on the trip to the Moon. It was the first time he would have a chance to talk to Iphigenia without needing Daniel to translate or having Clytemnestra or anyone else hovering nearby, so he wanted to make the most of it. He found that Iphigenia was willing and eager to talk, so they spent the twenty minutes or so that it took to reach Selene commiserating about their respective promotions, comparing notes on their enemies and conversing frankly about their personal lives. The General made sure to switch his external comms to "Standby" to be sure none of the conversation inadvertently got back to ground control. In Lunar Orbit, O'Neill took great pleasure in playing tour guide, pointing out the landing sites of the Apollo missions that made it to the Moon and talking about the space programs that allowed Humanity to first set foot on another world.

Back on Earth and back in her pantsuit, Iphigenia's next stop was the SGC Commissary, which had been cleared out and set up for a conference between her and representatives of the Stargate Countries. Lieutenant General George Hammond, the Homeworld Security director, was assigned to represent the United States in the conference. Daniel Jackson and linguists from each country handled all the necessary translations. It was the shortest international conference anyone there had ever heard of, but there really wasn't much to discuss. Iphigenia readily accepted Earth's terms for allowing Themyscirans to live on the planet, but would not budge on the annual payment Earth was required to pay, though she was willing to add a short grace period to the due dates, in recognition of the fact that the various nations on Earth would have to haggle over who contributed what percentage of the fee. Phoebe supervised the final drafting of the legal agreement and wrote the ceremonial scroll herself, then bore witness as a dozen representatives of Earth and the Executor of Themyscira fixed their names to both the computer-printed contract and its traditional-scroll equivalent.

With the deal done, all that was left was to fulfill a request by Iphigenia to take a closer look at Earth and Humanity. Specifically, she wanted Clytemnestra to have that look with her, so she'd been hoping to arrange some sort of night out. For security reasons the excursion had to be limited to Colorado Springs and couldn't be made unescorted, so O'Neill arranged for them to go on a triple date with Samantha Carter, Pete Shanahan, Daniel Jackson and Sarah Gardner. He also fixed it so that the U.S. Air Force would foot the bill.

Thus it was that Pete Shanahan found himself on another walking tour of Colorado Springs the night of the signing, only this time, besides Samantha, he was also leading Daniel, Sarah, Iphigenia, Clytemnestra and several carloads full of SGC Security Personnel mingled with Themysciran Special Guards that were shadowing the three couples. He chuckled every time he thought of how absurd it was, but at least the Themyscirans had prepared for the outing. All of them had brought civilian clothes along that were indistinguishable from Earth outfits, including Clytemnestra, though the Taskmaster still stood out, since she had decided to bring what was apparently the Littlest Black Dress and strappiest high-heels she owned.

The open-air Italian restaurant they were going to didn't have seating available for a party of six on short notice, so the group settled for a table for two and one for four. Since the tables were close enough for them to keep an unobtrusive eye on their guests, the Earth couples took the table for four, letting the Themysciran couple have a little intimate time. When the menus came, they noticed that Iphigenia let Clytemnestra do the ordering, deferring to her greater knowledge of the local languages and customs.

Sarah noticed something else while they waited for their food. Daniel seemed more than professionally interested in the Themyscirans. His eyes darted to them every few minutes, glancing as if he expected them to explode any second. "Daniel, what is it?" She asked.

"Hmm?" He said as he turned to her. "I'm sorry, was I staring?"

"Yes," she said, "and don't try to act like it's harmless girl-watching."

"Well, how would you know it isn't?" He asked.

"Because you don't have that silly, starstruck gaze most men get when they see legs like Clytemnestra's."

"What 'silly, starstruck gaze'?"

"It's the same look Pete gets when he looks at them." Samantha said.

"Hey!" Pete said. It was all he could think of. Samantha merely pointed at him and gave him a warning glance, then turned her attention back to Daniel.

"Seriously, Daniel," she said, "Sarah's right. You look worried, like they might be offended or something, but they seem to be enjoying themselves. In fact, I think they're actually impressed with what they've seen of our world."

Daniel chuckled. "I don't think 'impressed' is the word." He said. "I caught a few of the things they were saying to each other in Themysciran. They were along the lines of 'Ooh! Isn't it quaint that their cars still run on internal combustion?'"

"O-kay...then at least they're not letting a little thing like our being so backward stop them from allying with us."

"No, they aren't, are they?"

"You sound disappointed." Pete said.

"I suppose I do." Daniel said.

"Well, why?" Sarah said. "Why are you so suspicious of their motives? Does it have anything to do with the Taskmasters' decision?"

"So now you want to know." Daniel muttered.

Samantha sighed. "Yes, Daniel, we want to know. What has you so bothered about the Taskmasters giving Iphigenia the power to make deals with other worlds?"

"Because that doesn't come near to describing all the power they gave her!" Daniel said. he almost shouted, so gave himself a minute to calm down before he continued. "How can I explain this?" He muttered, thought for a moment, then decided to fall back on his college lecturing skills.

"The most striking thing about Themyscira is that hundreds of light-years and thousands of years removed from Earth its development paralleled that of Ancient Greece so closely, and one of the things that the Themyscirans had in common with the Greeks was that the city-states in each case were only truly united when they faced a serious common threat. For the Greeks, that threat was a possible invasion launched against all of them by another nation, like Persia. Absent that threat, the Greek states were mainly rivals to each other, like in the case of Athens and Sparta. There really hadn't been one common Greek society until Alexander of Macedonia conquered the other states on his way to conquering the wider world. On Themyscira, we just witnessed the demise of their common threat, Artemis, and I'm sure the Taskmasters, having never heard of Alexander, were still capable of imagining someone similar - say Alexandra of Whatever - coming to power there and carrying out a similar act. So it's likely that the main reason they created the post of Executor was to head that possibility off at the pass."

"So why is that a problem?" Samantha said.

"Because that particular solution isn't Greek. It's Roman." Daniel said. "The Greeks before Alexander would never have gotten together and decided that one person from one of their states should have that much authority, but for the Romans it was a matter of policy.

"In the Roman Republic, executive power was divided among three men. There were two Consuls, whose job it was lead the Roman armies and generally run Roman foreign policy, and there was a Proconsul, whose job it was to maintain law and order at home. Yet, in times of extreme crisis, they would give the power of the consuls and proconsuls to one leading citizen, endowing him with what they called imperium, or 'Right to Command'."

"Wait, so you mean they made him Emperor?" Pete said.

"Well, the Latin word was Imperator, which translates roughly to 'Supreme Commander'. He essentially had dictatorial authority over Rome until the crisis was averted, at which time he was expected to turn that power back over to the Roman Senate."

"Well, the power Iphigenia has might seem like 'imperium' from our perspective..." Samantha said.

"No, Sam. Not 'seems like'. It's Imperium! It's right there in the contract! She can Command their armies! She can Command their governments! She can Command the Taskmasters! She's been made Imperator of Themyscira! All the Taskmasters did was give her a different title!"

"Okay, fine, but they are faced with a crisis! Ba'al is still out there! So are the other System Lords..."

"But they're more a crisis for us, not for the Themyscirans! They have all manner of ways of cutting themselves off from contact with the Gould, yet they deliberately chose a way of dealing with the wider universe that would bring them into direct contention with the Gould and all manner of civilizations, and thus, in their minds, required them to grant that kind of power to a single person, with the added bonus that that person never has to give that power up, period."

Sarah suddenly stared into space. "I think I see what's bothering you..." She said.

"Well, couldja explain it to me?" Pete said.

"You know who Julius Caesar was, I assume," she said to him, "and how he died?"

"I suppose so. Wasn't he the first Roman Emperor?"

"Not quite. He was a Roman Consul who was adept at garnering political power for himself. At the peak of his career, after having eliminated his closest rivals, he planned to take the title of Imperator for himself. The Roman Senate, desperate to stop him, conspired to assassinate him. Several of their number stabbed him to death on the eve of his claiming the title. The problem was that his death left a power vacuum, resulting in a Civil War, which was won by his nephew, Octavian. To avoid another such crisis, the Senate granted imperium to Octavian soon after, and he was named 'Supreme Commander' for life." Then she turned to Daniel. "That's what's been bothering you! You think the Taskmasters made Iphigenia their Augustus Caesar!"

Daniel nodded. "It took centuries on Earth for Western Civilization to transform from Greek Democracy to Roman Imperialism. The Taskmasters brought their world through the same transformation in the space of about half an hour."

"Well, all right, Daniel," Samantha said, "so she's Caesar, but the Taskmasters made her Caesar, and you remember what Persephone said. If the women they select to make such choices for the world make a choice like this, isn't it the Themyscirans' problem?"

"No, because given their role in Themysciran society they wouldn't make a decision that would be a problem for Themyscirans, or at the very least they'd make sure the benefits of their choice outweighed the drawbacks! The fact is Iphigenia's new role as Executor is everyone else's problem!"

"Okay, how?" Pete said.

"Remember when you asked me what the significance was of their making the announcement in Lysippe Hall?" Daniel said. Pete nodded. "Okay, Themysciran society is based almost entirely on a give and take between Those Who Conquer and Those Who Defend. One of the chief acts that helped shape that society was Lysippe's creation of the Taskmasters. She essentially gave a certain set of Defenders, the smartest educators, a limited version of imperium. The significance of signing the contract with Iphigenia in Lysippe Hall was to show they were returning the favor, with interest. Not only did they give a Conqueror imperium, but they also gave her a mandate to use her power to do what Lysippe did on Themyscira: pave the way for Amazon Civilization. Only Iphigenia is meant to do that across the entire galaxy!

"Oh, come on, Daniel!" Samantha said. "You make it sound like they want Iphigenia to conquer the universe!"

"She's a Conqueror, Sam. That's her job."

"But Iphigenia's not like the Goa'uld! I can't picture her even wanting to overthrow the galaxy!"

"Iphigenia doesn't have a choice in the matter!" Daniel made himself calm down again and continued. "Her contract with the Taskmasters is essentially a renewal of her marriage contract with Clytemnestra, extended to all of the Taskmasters and, through them, the rest of the planet! That means any action she takes as Executor has to show tangible gain for her entire world. So she can't just explore the galaxy or make a few friends in it. She has to take pieces of it for Themyscira...and any piece with the potential to yield the kind of gain she has to provide is likely already occupied, by the Gould, by the Tollan, by the Aschen...or by us!"

Samantha wanted to protest further, but she found herself unable to say anything for a moment. When she found her voice, it lacked the same conviction as before. "No...you're wrong. You have to be. Clytemnestra would never..."

"Why, Sam?" Daniel said. "Because she's always been clear about her motives? And what motives are those?"

"To help Earth...and to explore the galaxy..."

"Well, she may very well want to do those things, but are we sure that's all she wants? Let's look at it from Clytemnestra's perspective. Think of it as a puzzle. Say your people descended from a matriarchal civilization that existed on another planet five thousand years ago. Now, that civilization faced two significant threats. One of them is a threat you yourself face every day. That would be Artemis. The other threat, however, is something you never really faced. That would be the rise of Patriarchal Civilization.

"So let's say one fine day you receive a contact from the world of your ancestors and, as a result, discover that while your parent civilization survived the predations of the first enemy, it was left too weak to avoid being overrun by the second. Now, say that really ticks you off, that you think it's unfair for your Founding Mothers to have survived Artemis only to be submerged by a culture that you consider, oh, inferior. What do you do about it?"

"Daniel, you're talking about 5000 years of cultural evolution! What could I do about it?"

"See? That's the thing. You see it as an insurmountable obstacle, but Clytemnestra would see it as a challenge to do what she and her colleagues do best, which is solve complex problems! So think of it the way she would. Try to answer your own question."

"Okay, but even then there wouldn't be any big need for all this intrigue. If she really wanted to overthrow 'Man's World', she could do it anytime she wanted. They're not Anubis or anything, but the combined might of Themyscira is more than enough to kick Earth's ass."

"But you might not have the combined might of Themyscira to use." Pete said, to no one in particular. When everyone looked at him he continued. "Iphigenia told us that any enemy that their SGC encountered by using the Stargate was something her city alone was responsible for dealing with. Earth would qualify as an enemy encountered through the Stargate, so if Clytemnestra did want to invade, she could only guarantee that her own city would do what she wanted. She'd have to ask the others for help, and they could all say 'No'."

"And do you really want to 'Kick Earth's Arse'?" Sarah said to Samantha. "I mean, the goal isn't to destroy it or enslave it. You simply want to switch the balance of power, so that Earth's civilization resembles what it might have been if your ancestors had thrived instead of being hunted and suppressed into extinction. For that you'll need the Women of Earth on your side. If you come in with guns blazing, you might simply end up with them fighting to defend their current civilization as hard as the men."

"So I'd have to turn Humanity from a Male-Dominated species to a Female-Dominated one without the backing of most of my planet and without alienating more than half of Humanity in the process?" Samantha said. "Gee, no pressure..."

"Don't get hung up on not being able to do it all at once." Daniel said. "You're a Taskmaster for life, so the one thing you have in abundance is time. What do you do?"

"Well, first I'd want to know a few things, mainly about Earth's women. I mean, I'd have to know if they can be relied on to hold onto a world that my ancestors couldn't."

"And the first thing Clytemnestra did when we made contact was test you."

Samantha could only stare at him for a moment, then she went on. "Well, then I'd want to know how Earth managed to advance technologically. Artemis and Ra may have abandoned the planet, but there are other System Lords out there. I'd want to know if Earth simply avoided their attention or somehow managed to keep them at bay."

"That was easy. All Clytemnestra had to do was invite you back. You brought the rest of SG-1 with you, and we pretty much told her everything we'd gone through with the Gould to that point. And since then they've had their long-range sensors trained on Earth to further monitor our progress. Heck, for all we know they have scouts somewhere on or near Earth right now to give them eyewitness confirmation of what the sensors see."

"All right, but wouldn't Clytemnestra have to apply force on Earth at some point if she wanted to do what you say she wants?"

"Not necessarily." Sarah said. "Or, at least, not immediately. There's a Roman solution to empire-building as well. Rome's conquest of the world didn't always require brute force. In the days of the Republic, the same goals were often achieved through the formation of alliances."

"Sort of like with the Aschen," Daniel said, "only without the forced sterilization."

Sarah continued. "They offered the leaders of the provinces they wanted to control Pax Romana, or 'Roman Peace', meaning the security of Roman Citizenship and the protection of its Legions. It was an attractive offer to several peoples, especially when they could see powerful, disciplined Roman Legionaries on parade."

"Like a 'really cool' Amazon Air and Space Show." Daniel said.

"But the best sales pitch was a practical demonstration of the Legions' power, applied against a common enemy."

"The way the Amazons just dusted Artemis!" Pete said. Daniel touched his finger to his nose and pointed it at the detective.

"And, of course, once the alliance is formed, you have to send a garrison to the new province to protect all those new Roman Citizens."

"Like a moonbase in this case."

"But aside from protection, the garrison would also be there to keep the new ally in line."

"Wanna guess what those 30 space cruisers will be used for if we, say, miss a payment?"

"But how could she get the other Taskmasters to agree to all this?" Samantha said. "I mean, if Artemis was a uniting influence, how could Clytemnestra unite them against Earth after she's gone?"

"Well, if Daniel's right about everything else, it wouldn't be that hard." Pete said. "The Taskmasters were against joining forces with Earth just to fight the Gould."

"And against exploring the galaxy just for the sake of exploring." Sarah said.

"But suppose," Daniel said, "as soon as she had the chance, Clytemnestra said to them 'We have an extraordinary opportunity to make the World of our Mothers what it should have been, and to remake the galaxy in our image, and all we need is unity, time and a single person with the authority and dedication to make it happen.'"

Samantha suddenly stared straight ahead. "The 'smoking gun' argument..." She muttered.

"And the rest of the Taskmasters probably expected something like that when Clytemnestra called the Congress, so it may have surprised them when she didn't start out with that argument immediately. That she didn't was most likely a clue to them that someone from Earth was listening in on their discussion."

Sarah snapped her fingers. "That's how they knew we were there! They knew Clytemnestra was speaking for our benefit! And since they expected the monitoring systems to be turned off, the only way people from Earth could listen would be to be in the room physically, and the only place they wouldn't stand out would be in the ranks of the Special Guards! All they had to do to test their theory was take a good look at us, which was what they did when we came to attention!"

"They were biding their time!" Samantha said. "However they figured out we were there, they wanted to know why Clytemnestra had bothered to bring us into the Congress, so they played along with her until Artemis attacked and we had no choice but to reveal ourselves, and then, after the attack was over, they could throw us out, and Clytemnestra could say what she really wanted to say."

"It was probably a little Show and Tell on Clytemnstra's part." Daniel said. "After all, she was probably the only one of them who'd ever seen you in action close up. I bet she was hoping Artemis would hit the Hall of Arachne just so her colleagues could watch you work."

"So she could demonstrate that the Women of Earth were worthy of the sacrifice she was going to ask Themyscira to make." Samantha said.

With that, they all turned to look at Clytemnestra and Iphigenia. The Taskmaster was sitting with her legs crossed and her body leaning forward, and she was gesturing with her hands and looking up at the Moon as she talked a mile a minute, though they couldn't tell what she was saying over the noise of the other diners and the sounds of the street. Iphigenia, meanwhile, simply sat with her chin leaning on her hand and smiling while she watched Clytemnestra chatting away, looking for all the world like there was nothing else in the universe for her to see.

"They just...look so innocent." Samantha said. "So nice."

"So happy." Sarah said. "Like two people just enjoying a night on the town."

"They probably haven't been together like this since before the first time we went to Themyscira." Samantha said. "I guess it's a special time for them."

"But it's also an opportunity," Pete said, "for them to demonstrate to each other how they've fulfilled their obligations." He turned to his companions. "This date was Iphigenia's idea, wasn't it?"

"Well," Daniel said, "if you were in a position to give the love of your life The Earth and The Moon, wouldn't you want her to see them for herself?"

When Pete turned back to the Themyscirans Clytemnestra was looking at Iphigenia as she talked more seriously. After a moment, she turned to see the Earth couples looking. She grinned at them and gave them a friendly wave, while Iphigenia turned her head just enough to see them, then smiled and nodded. When they turned their attention back to each other, they leaned in close so Clytemnestra could whisper in Iphigenia's ear. They were giggling when they broke apart.

"We're screwed!" Pete said, still staring at them.

"Daniel!" Samantha hissed through clenched teeth as she turned to her teammate. "Why didn't you say something before we signed the contract!"

"Well, Geez, Sam," Daniel hissed right back, "I tried to say something about it the day they crowned Iphigenia, but you said - and I'm paraphrasing - that I should put it in my cultural brief! And I couldn't get it out in the briefing room with the three of you playing cheerleader every time Jack questioned a point!"

Samantha wanted to protest further, but found she couldn't. She turned to lean her elbows on the table and leaned her head on her folded hands. "Oh, you're right!" She moaned. "You're right! I'm such an idiot! She scammed me!" She raised her head and looked at Daniel. "I honestly thought Clytemnestra wanted to help Earth."

"That's what I mean, Sam." Daniel said. "I'm sure she does want to help Earth, but mainly as a means to an end...and her idea of 'helping' is vastly different from ours."

"Look, it's not your fault, Sam," Pete said when he and Sarah turned back to the table, "but whatever happened we need to find a way outta this and fast!"

"Is it too late to back out of the agreement?" Sarah asked.

"Themyscirans look on contracts as holy documents." Daniel said. "We signed, so we're committed."

"Okay, then maybe it won't be so bad." Pete said. "I mean, we do have a contract. There's nothing it that says they can invade if we don't hold up our end."

"You forget, Pete. Hot, militant lawyers. There's nothing in the contract that says they can't either, and 'Substantial Penalty for Failure to Pay' can be interpreted a lot of ways."

"Well, then, we just keep paying! They can't do anything if we don't default, right?"

"True," Sarah said, "but that just leaves us at the mercy our political leaders' ability to retire their debts in a timely fashion."

A pause. "We're screwed." Pete said again.

"There must be something we can do!" Sarah said.

"There is." Samantha said. "We look at it as a challenge and act accordingly. It will take time for Clytemnestra to get the world she wants. We have that same amount of time to figure out how to stop her without giving up the support we just bought."

They all sat silent for a minute to think about it. Daniel broke the silence. "Hear, hear." He said, then raised his drink in a toast. "To Challenges!" He said.

"To Solving Puzzles!" Sarah said.

"To Beating The Amazons At Their Own Game!" Pete said.

"To Lessons Well-Learned." Samantha said. As she clinked her glass with the others she looked over to Clytemnestra. The Themysciran was looking directly at her. When their eyes met, Clytemnestra smiled a knowing smile at her. Samantha smiled right back.

First round to you, Taskmaster, she thought as she sipped her drink.

FINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE: First, a big Thank You to all my readers and reviewers! Feedback is always greatly appreciated!

Second, I offer a word or two in honor of Pete Shanahan. Pete, you may have been roundly hated by a lot of the Sam/Jack drones out there, but I liked you! You were a breath of fresh air from the usual "Will Jack and Sam admit their love?" or "When will Sam's new boyfriend die?" storylines. Good Night, Mister Shanahan, and Good Luck, wherever you are.