Chapter 3 – Solar Wind
The buzz of speculation in the conference room ended abruptly when the two Generals entered, their subordinates springing to attention in the usual way.
"At ease!" commanded Hank Landry, taking the vacant seat at the side, leaving Jack to pull up the senior officer's chair at the head of the table. "Please be seated." He looked over at the Master Sergeant by the door and added, "Seal the room, please, and post a guard outside. No disturbances until we leave."
"Sir!" replied the veteran NCO, smartly closing the door behind him as he walked out.
"General O'Neill has come straight here from The White House to brief us." Landry continued. "Please listen closely – this is not, I repeat NOT a drill. It may be the most serious situation that you or any of us will ever have faced. General?"
While the SGC Commander had been speaking, Jack had taken his laptop computer from his briefcase and connected it to the projector on the table top. Sam resisted the urge to reach across and help him when he didn't quite manage to connect the blue plug to the monitor port the first time, and their eyes met in the briefest of glances before he became professionalism itself once more. Everyone turned to face the screen on the wall as he pressed the 'Function – f8' keys to transfer the picture from the computer LCD to the large screen at the end of the room.
Expressions of puzzlement greeted the first image. It was a still frame of a football game being held in what looked like a snowstorm.
"Anyone see the Packers or Vikings play yesterday?" asked Jack. "Anyone who says 'yes', you're lying. They got pulled from the schedules because this was typical of the best pictures the Sports network could get." He depressed a key and another image appeared of greenish clouds above a night-time city skyline.
"This was the night sky over Washington DC last night. Same thing could be seen over much of the northern States. Anyone care to comment?"
This was Sam's forte. "It's the Aurora Borealis, Sir. But it's rarely, if ever, seen this far south with that degree of brightness." she explained, wondering at the same time why she hadn't been more attentive to the night skies herself recently.
"Absolutely correct, Colonel." replied Jack. "You just booked yourself onto a transport that's leaving for Ryan Field, Arizona shortly after this meeting ends. The Kitt Peak Solar Observatory will brief you on their findings and theories. The objective of that briefing will enable you on your return to advise the strategy team that will be formed here in this morning. Your background in astrophysics and expertise should allow you to attribute probability factors to the different outcomes of what may be about to happen."
The team leaders who knew Jack well saw in his expression, despite the tell-tale red-eyed tiredness of someone who hadn't slept for more than a day, an intensity of purpose he rarely displayed in public, and paid all the more attention. He quickly looked at the faces around the room in turn, sparing only a moment for each, recognising that they understood his urgency as he continued.
"I could also talk about other recent phenomena you've seen in the news – complaints about poor signals on cell phones, lousy TV pictures and interrupted live broadcasts, and maybe also the record number of intense storms and extreme weather conditions around the world lately." He paused briefly.
"The National Security Advisory Committee has received submissions from a small number of scientists who are concerned that we – and by that I mean all countries, not just the USA – could be at risk. It seems that the heat and radiation we get from the Sun has been less steady than usual over the past few months. Such things have happened before, but there is a worry that this might also be the onset of worse to come with extreme detrimental effects on climate, agriculture and the general health of humanity. Now I know that Carter and Hailey and some others among you can explain this in more accurate detail than I can, but I think you get the picture. The NSAC doesn't want to be spreading alarm and panic in the population at large, and so they're shepherding the geeks for now and keeping them away from Joe public until the degree of risk can be assessed properly. However, there is a time limit for silence and denial as so many amateur and professional astronomers around the world will soon pick up the evidence for themselves."
A soft murmur ran around the room but quickly ceased, and Jack moved on. He put up the next slide. The bold words 'Operation Chevron' appeared against the background of the SGC logo, with 'Top Secret' in slightly smaller print underneath.
"A number of task forces have been formed to explore potential scenarios, ranging from mild economic and social consequences, through more serious effects of climate change, to the ultimate disaster beloved of Hollywood movie producers. The SGC has been tasked with preparing for the worst of all possible scenarios." Jack stated solemnly. "Our objective for this operation is to plan and prepare for a mass evacuation of the Earth. This will include, where feasible, making ready other planets for receiving large numbers of refugees. We will also study, as far as is possible, crowd logistics both within the SGC and in the immediate vicinity of Cheyenne Mountain."
Colonel Griff raised his hand, interrupting the stasis of shock that sat on so many shoulders at that point.
"Yes, Griff?" asked Jack, knowing that many questions were inevitable.
"Sir, how are we going to stop the men and women of the SGC from telling this news to their families and close friends? Top security or not, human nature means a high probability of this situation leaking out faster than we could control it!"
Heads nodded around the room in agreement.
"That thought has occurred to the NSAC." replied Jack. He took a deep breath. "The decision has therefore been taken that firstly, all leave for SGC personnel is hereby cancelled indefinitely, effective as of now. Secondly, as a priority our Alpha, Beta and Gamma sites will be augmented and fitted out to accommodate the staff and all their families. People are used to military families being moved at short notice. Sure, the families themselves will be confused, scared and overwhelmed at first, but if they're out of harm's way, it's the only way that we can get our staff to concentrate on the job in hand, knowing that they're safe. It is recognised that the secret of the Stargate's existence will probably become public if the threat to Earth turns out to be non-permanent and a safe return can be effected, but that's considered a manageable item in the overall scheme of things."
Jack looked around and his gaze settled briefly on the water jug and drinking glasses in the centre of the table. Without hesitation, Sam knew what he wanted, reached across and poured it for him, for which he nodded his thanks.
"All physical exploration of new Stargate addresses is also terminated until further notice, unless the planets look from the initial telemetry like they can receive reasonable numbers of people and sustain life." said Jack. He looked over at Major Reynolds, current head of one of the diplomatic teams. "Reynolds, your role is being expanded to head teams of negotiators who will make contact with all the current planets we know of populated by friendly races. By 'friendly', that means any we might think would be amenable to allowing numbers of refugees on board without resorting to armed conflict."
"We'll need to induct new staff into the SGC, Sir." Reynolds stated evenly. "I can think of quite a few possible havens for evacuees, but it will take a long time in some cases to conduct negotiations with the locals. I reckon maybe twenty or thirty new people might be needed."
"Do it." said Jack. "General Landry can assist you in trawling the Diplomatic Corps or the ranks of industry, or whatever you need to get them on board soonest." Landry nodded his affirmation.
"What about a call to the Asgard?" asked Colonel Ferretti. "The little buggers might be able to zap the whole population to somewhere safe."
"They might." Jack responded. "But we all know that they're not at our beck and call, and whether they could or would handle a request like that is unknown. Attempts will be made to contact them, but we shouldn't count on it."
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The meeting broke up after two hours, with each of the twenty three officers assigned agreed tasks and sworn to strict secrecy. Sam was on her way out of the room behind the others when Jack called over.
"Colonel Carter! A word, please before you leave for Arizona."
"Sir?" she enquired, moving back to face him. She knew that Jack never mixed serious business with personal matters, and was not disappointed.
"Here's a copy of the initial report from the people running the McMath-Pierce solar telescope at Kitt Peak." Jack explained, holding out a beige folder. "Check it out, Carter. I have a feeling that we're going to be doing this thing for real one day."
"Based on?" she asked, raising her eyebrow, Teal'c-fashion.
"Honkin' big mass coronal ejections, Colonel. Just like that P-whatever time loop planet we went to." sighed Jack, causing as usual a smile on her face with his vernacular science terms. "If they're right, we've been lucky that, by the greatest good fortune, they've been flung into space from the Sun away from the Earth and not directly towards us so far. But don't pre-judge the issue. Report back here tonight for the next team leader briefing at 22:00 hours. Good luck."
"Thank you, Sir." she replied crisply, moving away. She couldn't resist glancing back at him as she reached the door, but only saw to her consternation his tired expression as he closed down his laptop computer. Their mutual feelings were on hold once again, but this time she was determined not to let things slide as soon as the right moment came. If it wasn't already too late, of course.
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Sam had completed her presentation in the Lear Jet that flew her back from Arizona, and now held the floor at the late-night meeting. Normally, her natural enthusiasm for all things scientific carried her through internal briefings without much regard for the style of presentation, but this was different. This was both universal and personal for everyone she knew and cared for, and she began with carefully-chosen words.
"This morning I left here, like we all did, hoping and expecting that the threat of solar instability was a small one. After all, the Sun is an M Class star that, like most of its kind throughout the universe, has been sufficiently stable to provide the conditions for development of life on Earth and to sustain our environment."
She pressed the remote control button in her hand to start a video clip of the Sun on the projector screen. Not the blindingly bright yellow sphere that we see with the naked eye, but a filtered image to uncover a much darker sphere showing in crystal clear detail the fiery turbulence of its being. Dark blotches swam around the surface, while orange and yellow plumes seemed to be boiling away into space. Occasionally larger emanations spewed forth, sometimes dissipating into the blackness of space, and sometimes following a circular arc outwards and then back into the star.
"This is what the Sun looks like most of the time." Sam continued. "Violent, yes, but within limits that keep us all alive. Here's a comparison showing the Earth to the same scale." She pressed the control again and a blue dot appeared, dwarfed by the elements around it. The film finished and another video clip started at her behest.
"This is a time-compressed collage of solar activity over the last 6 months. It doesn't look much different, does it? But just watch closely here."
Everyone strained to follow the events on screen. A faint glow appeared as a halo around the Sun's circumference, quickly fading.
"Watch again." commanded Sam as events moved on. Twice more the transient halo was visible before Sam stopped the movie.
"That was an intense Solar flare, bordering on what we call a 'Mass Coronal Ejection'. It has happened four or five times over the last six months, but on each occasion we have had the great good fortune that it was directed away from the Earth from the far side of the Sun." A slide showing a graph appeared, recognisable immediately to the astronomers present as the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, and Sam moved on without hesitation.
"The Sun burns steadily by converting hydrogen into helium in a nuclear reaction. Most of you know this. This long central part of the graph shows where most stars spend their lifetimes, doing just this, slowly and calmly." She illuminated the relevant area on the screen with her laser pointer.
"However, when nearly all the hydrogen is gone, dramatic changes start to occur. The heat and outward pressure of the nuclear reaction no longer matches the inward force of gravity, and the star starts to collapse into itself, becoming hotter in the process and starting a second series of nuclear reactions, turning the helium into heavier elements. The result is often an immense explosion – a nova – throwing most of the star's matter into space and frying any planets in the vicinity." Her pointer moved to the lower part of the graph. "Stars move out of the steady 'Main Sequence' and end their lives either as interstellar gas, or collapse back to a cooling super-dense ball. Either way, no life is sustainable on any orbiting planets."
"But doesn't that process take millions of years?" asked Colonel Dixon. "Why should we worry this time?"
"Good question." Sam replied. "Yes, it does take millions of years. But the onset of the end of a star's life is marked by occasional unstable episodes. There is also a telltale. Small quantities of the higher atomic elements, like iron and carbon for example, start to be formed from the helium long before all the hydrogen is gone. Today I had the scientists at Kitt Peak run detailed spectral analyses of records taken over the last few years. They show very faint traces of these elements in the heliosphere during the outbursts of the last few months. In other words, there is a reasonable chance that the Sun is entering a period of instability like no other in recorded history. We cannot predict whether this would affect us within days, weeks, months, years or generations. It would however seem the right thing to do to take sensible precautions. We probably have the time to plan ahead and not to rush into a situation that would panic society. On the other hand, to do nothing and pretend everything is normal would be foolhardy."
"Sounds like a typical political solution." murmured an anonymous voice, bringing nervous laughs from a few.
"In any event, there are some measures that should be taken immediately." Sam continued. "The interference to radio will become a regular topic of conversation. It's annoying for TV programs and cell phone conversations, but it can have major impacts on air traffic navigation and comms generally. It would also be advisable to de-man the International Space Station until additional radiation shielding can be installed. It's going to be difficult to hide things like that from the public."
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Sam felt exhausted when the meeting broke up around midnight. She returned to her quarters but knew she wouldn't sleep straight away, and decided to sneak a snack from the vending machine in the commissary. To her surprise, Jack was sitting alone at a corner table nursing a coffee. He looked up and smiled through tired eyes as the machine disgorged a chocolate bar with its familiar 'clunk'.
Sam recalled the determination she had felt yesterday, before the world turned upside down. Without hesitation she walked over and pulled out the chair opposite, raising her eyebrow as if to ask, and yet to tell him at the same time, that she was joining him. Jack smiled fleetingly again.
"Nice presentation, Carter." he grunted. "You may be needed in Washington to make the point more clearly than I can."
"It'll be a pleasure, Sir." she smiled back, unwrapping the bar and offering him a piece, which he gratefully accepted.
Noting that they were alone, she said in a low voice. "I'm so sorry that I lied to you, Jack." He looked sharply up at her. "Pete wanted me to join him for a farewell drink with his buddies and I didn't have the heart to say 'no'. I didn't know he'd planned to have us photographed, and I've rectified that situation."
"Sam," sighed Jack, "you don't have to…… What the hell?" His eyes had just alighted on the screen of the cell phone that she was holding out to him. A black-clad arm swung quickly in a blurred arc across the picture, a fist connected with a skull with a satisfying smacking sound, a cry of "Jesus, Sam!" was heard and a familiar face impacted the floor. Jack's tiredness disappeared.
"Carpe diem." Sam said calmly. "Which leaves just one other matter, Jack."
"Oh?"
"Whatever happens to us all, you and I are not going to continue like we have in the past."
She decided to get to the point quickly, so as to deter his well-known ability to get the wrong end of the stick insofar as their personal situation was concerned.
"Book a date, Jack. We're getting married."
She tensed as no apparent reaction appeared on his face. But then, a slow grin, causing her to exhale in relief.
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