Disclosure
by Chaoseternus

The Truth Is Out At Last, Are You Ready For It?

Chapter 1

Distracted and weary, no-one noticed when it began. Even those who jobs were to specifically look out for such problems were busy, dealing with the fallout from the Aschen attack at Alpha Centauri, and the vicious war across the hyperbarrier in which many people had lost their lives.

It was perhaps unfortunate that the first time the RSS or SGC knew something was up was when the Red Phone on Admiral Thompson's desk rang, waking the veteran officer from where he was sleeping on a small cot hidden in one corner of the room, to hear the Prime Minister asking why Disclosure had been authorised without him being warned, or for that matter, consulted.

Admiral Thompson, having been woken from the first decent sleep he had had in weeks, wasn't exactly coherent, it didn't help. He knew Disclosure hadn't been authorised, but he was tired, irritable and worn down. His response wasn't exactly diplomatic.

“"What the hell do you mean ‘Why was Disclosure authorised?' Disclosure hasn't been authorised, you know that as well as I do”"

"“Don't take that tone with me Thompson, if Disclosure hasn't been authorised, what the hell is on the front of every newspaper in Britain, from the bloody Sun right through to the Daily Mail?”"

"“Not having seen today's issues yet, on account of having been asleep for the first time in three days, I wouldn't know would I?”"

“"Well then, you had better get yourself awake and check them, and call me back when you're a bit more caffeinated or I'll have your stars!”"

The phone slamming down did nothing to help Thompson's already raging headache and it was a struggle to resist the urge to fall right back to sleep, but the PM had ordered and what the PM ordered, the PM got, even if he would much rather be asleep.

Besides, one of the advantages of being in Command was that if you were awake, you could make damn sure no-one else was sleeping either.

Groggily he flicked the small kettle hidden in a cupboard at the back of the room on, then reached for the phone and began waking people up.

"“Well... shit”"

Thompson grunted, and dropped a king-size box of paracetamols on the desk. He had a real feeling they were going to need them all. Joan Williams might not have been entirely awake when she got here, but like him, she certainly was now. Her tone also covered the matter perfectly.

“"Do the Yanks know yet?”"

Thompson shrugged, "“If they don't, they sure as hell will soon enough”"

“"So, what's the plan?"” Sarah asked.

“"Well personally, I am heading towards blind panic myself”"

"“Not helpful boss”"

Thompson grinned wryly, “"No, but it's appropriate. Reporters are like vultures, they know exactly how to build up even the slightest problem into the end of the world so what they are going to do with a very real threat to the Earths existence I don't know. But, I would be surprised if they didn't know far more then they have revealed so far”"

Joan nodded, exchanging a worried glance with her twin, “"timed release for maximum effect?”"

“"Most likely”"

“"We need to check the comms logs for the off world reporters"” Sarah said, reaching for the phone, “"some of this had to come from off-world”"

“"Warn the base commander too, I think we need to go to a full alert, we're definitely going to get swamped here"” Joan added.

“"Joan, start shifting craft, if it can get out of atmosphere I want it out. We get swamped and we could end up like the Russian Space yards, a smoking crater several miles wide”"

Joan nodded, and reached for the second phone as a loud ringing filled the room, the red phone blaring again, this time with the button marked SGC flashing for attention.

Thompson sighed, and wearily reached for the phone, “"Thompson”"

“"...right now, we now for certain that the US and Britain have, in direct violation of international treaties, a number of spaceworthy warships. This has brought international outrage from almost every nation in the world, not to mention most of the religious leaders. It has become noticeable however that France and China have yet to comment at all. At the moment, Russia's involvement, and remember they were believed to have control of an Alien warship at what is now the Lena Crater, is unknown but they too are refusing to comment. This is Leonis Dexter for CBC news…..."

“"...now as you can clearly see behind me, an evacuation is underway at RAF St Athan, the bulk of the craft clearly not matching any known aircraft design. Indeed, several do not appear to have conventional Jet or Prop engines at all. They do not appear to be making any attempt at all to hide these efforts, nor are they hiding the massive numbers of soldiers patrolling the perimeter. This is John Hodges for BBC News..."

“"fifty-seven body bags now line the tarmac at St Athan after an attempt to storm the base was put down forcibly by Soldiers of the Royal Welsh Regiment. I must warn you that some viewers may find the following scenes disturbing..."

“"Protests in New York, London, Paris, indeed, almost every city across the planet as the world rocks with news that Britain, America and its now been confirmed that Russia too has tried to put warships into space.

Indeed, many people are asking the question now, what truly happened to Dauntless? We reported several months ago on the now hidden memorial whose unveiling was attended by representives from every permanent member of the UN Security Council and which a source within the RSS has confirmed was of a lost warship. Whether this ship was lost due to accident or hostile action is unknown..."

"“Comets being destroyed before they could hit Earth or Alien warships being put down by aggressive and paranoid military commanders?

What do you think? Well, in the next half hour..."

“"Critique Flash Traffic for all ships, Flag has now shifted to Ravensbright station. Sol system is now under a class one restriction, all ships requiring supplies, orders refits etc are to report to Ravensbright NOT, repeat, NOT Thundersdawn station”"

“"Martial Law declared in London, Moscow and Washington as rioters and protesters tear large portions of those cities to the ground. The damage is unestimateable, indeed, the Insurance Assessors must be weeping for all they are worth as the totals begin to climb..."

“"Greetings to all the people of the Earth, not just of the nations of the Alliance, because what I am saying should be heard by all. Indeed, we are overriding the normal channels in several areas just so that everyone can hear what I am about to say.

My name is General George Hammond, and for many years I was in charge of Project Bluebook, or as it is better known, Stargate Command..."