Chapter 62: Diplomatic Meetings Part 1
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 4th, 1998
"...and then we returned through the gate." Jack O'Neill resisted the urge to add 'The End!' even if it took some effort. But while it would annoy Sidorov, it would also annoy Hammond, and the general didn't deserve that - he had to deal with Sidorov much more than Jack had to.
The Russian prick hadn't stopped scowling since they had returned. He was almost the total opposite of Dr Iwan the Too-Helpful - where the scientist was all smiles, all the time, the general was seeing enemies everywhere. Of course, with his personality, he was bound to make enemies everywhere…
"Thank you, Colonel." Haig nodded. The Limey was always polite and professional. Too polite for Jack's taste. But better that than Sidorov's paranoia.
"So, you suspect that the Tok'ra do not have a queen and can't grow their numbers?" Petit asked, frowning a little.
"It's a possibility," Jack replied. "We have no way to verify it."
"But if it is true, that will influence the upcoming negotiations." Petit nodded. "Of course, that's beyond our own remit as Stargate Command."
Sidorov scowled even more at that. "We are involved as well - the diplomatic contact was only possible because of the Stargate. Any deal with aliens affects our own security - and the security of Earth itself."
"I concur," General Li said. "While every country is, of course, free to make alliances as they see fit, the Stargate is under the control of the United Nations. It is our duty as Stargate Command to ensure that everyone who uses it does so in a responsible manner and doesn't put our world at risk. This necessitates a certain involvement. We cannot do our duty to guard both the Stargate and the world otherwise."
That sounded rehearsed, at least to Jack. Though Li usually talked more formally. But what were Russia and China planning? Did they really want to seek allies of their own in the galaxy? Or was this just an attempt to force their way into the Alliance by threatening to form an alliance with other aliens if they didn't get their way? Or were they serious about trying to control the Stargate? But the Alliance included three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Russia and China were outnumbered there. They could use their veto powers creatively, of course, or raise some trouble with the rest of the United Nations - the majority of the countries on Earth were not members of the Alliance, after all, and a lot of them had no real chances to join in the near future for a variety of reasons.
"I believe that SG-1 and our Etherian friends took every precaution when reaching out to an alien power at war with the Goa'uld," Haig said. "I also would like to point out that this contact occurred as a result of one of our exploration missions going missing."
"Which is another reason why this involves Stargate Command," Sidorov snapped. "Stargate Teams were involved from the start."
"To recover our missing team," Petit retorted. "Which was accomplished before the mission to contact the Tok'ra was even contemplated, I believe."
"Nevertheless, as my colleague has said before, SG-1 was an essential part of the contact mission." Li smiled. "And SG-1 is part of Stargate Command. They have performed diplomatic duties before as well if I recall correctly."
"First contacts," Hammond told him. "But this isn't about first contact any more - this is now a matter between the Alliance and the Tok'ra, not Stargate Command."
"It is a matter that concerns the entire world," Li objected.
"You got the entire planet into a war with aliens before without telling anyone else on Earth!" Sidorov snapped. "The United Nations took control of the Stargate to prevent a repeat of that. And now you want to form an alliance with Goa'uld!"
"Uh, the Tok'ra do not consider themselves Goa'uld - in fact, they consider it an insult to be called Goa'uld," Daniel pointed out. "That was in our report."
While Jack's friend weathered the glare from the Russian, Jack studied Li. The Chinese general was hard to read, but he had to have a plan - he had to be aware that Haig, Hammond and Petit could and would block him from trying to mess with the upcoming diplomatic negotiations. And even if they didn't, Glimmer wouldn't let Li stop her.
"Whatever!" Sidorov spat. "But they are the same species - they can take control of your body! And we cannot be sure that they aren't infiltrated by our enemies! This contact represents a significant risk for our world!"
"We've taken every precaution to minimise the risks," Haig said.
"And yet, seeing as your country is a part of the Alliance with the Etherians, some might question how objective you can be," Li retorted with a polite smile. "I think this question is a political one, not a military one, and has to be settled on an international level."
Were they planning to use the United Nations to delay further missions to contact the Tok'ra until their demands - whatever they were - were met? Jack couldn't tell but he wouldn't put it past the Russians and Chinese to try to hold the world hostage.
Well, he added with a grin, let's see how that works out for them. Not only were the most powerful NATO countries united in this, but he had a feeling that Glimmer wouldn't be amused either.
Earth Orbit, Solar System, December 4th, 1998
"Do you think Jack is mad at me?" Adora asked after their shuttle had touched down inside Darla's hangar.
"Dunno," Catra replied with a shrug. "He'll get over it," she added as she hit the button to open the door with her fist.
Adora frowned. "I'm really sorry."
"And you told him that. More than once," Catra stretched her hands over her head as she walked down the ramp. "Home sweet home."
Adora sighed. Catra might not be the best person to ask about this. She was incredibly biased in favour of Adora. In fact, Catra would take her side over Jack's no matter what happened, Adora was sure of that. And, of course, Catra's view of what was a serious mistake was slightly skewed because of her past.
She bit her lower lip. And by asking her lover, she was poking at the scars left from that part of their life. Oh, she was just making more mistakes, was she?
An elbow in her ribs started her. "Hey!" she blurted out.
Catra grinned at her. "You were putting yourself down again for no reason. Sure, you made a mistake, but it wasn't a big one. Sooner or later, it would have come out anyway, as Jack said." She narrowed her eyes at Adora with the last bit.
"I know…" Adora sighed. Sure, Jack had said that. But had he meant it? She was well aware of the influence they had on Earth. And while Jack wasn't a politician - he complained about them often enough - he would know that. She didn't think he would actually lie to her because of it, but… How would she know?
"Yes, you know," Glimmer said, joining them with Bow, who had finished shutting down the shuttle's systems. "So stop beating yourself up over it. Besides, Entrapta blurted out your secret, and you're not mad at her, are you?"
"Of course not!" Adora suppressed the urge to check if Entrapta had heard them - they had dropped off their friend in her spacelab before continuing to Darla.
"And we're supposed to be honest with our friends - and future friends," Bow added with a smile. "If they found out later that we've kept such a secret from them, it would be worse."
"And Jack should know that," Catra said.
"I know." But Entrapta blurting out something in her excitement was different than Adora revealing Jack's secret to protect herself.
"Oh, come on!" Catra sighed. "No one's perfect. Not even you."
"I know." Adora couldn't help pouting.
"Now come! I want to grab a snack before we go to bed. It's been a long day." Catra tugged on her arm.
"You've eaten half the buffet at the dinner!" Glimmer pointed out.
"Only the fish dishes!" Catra defended herself.
"Those were half the buffet!" Glimmer snorted.
"No, the fried fish was actually fried brain."
"What? You're joking!" Glimmer gasped.
"No, it's the truth!" Catra grinned widely.
"And you didn't tell us?"
"Well, I thought you could use some more brains." Catra released Adora's arm and dashed towards the kitchen.
"Oh, you!"
Adora giggled while Glimmer shook her head. She felt a little better as well - her friends were right, after all.
But there was something niggling at her still.
A while and a tuna sandwich later - Adora reminded herself to make sure that they took enough canned tuna for Catra back to Etheria when they returned - Adora was on the bed in their cabin, and Catra was changing into her sleeping clothes. Which was stripping down to her underwear, mostly.
And that was a very distracting sight, even when Catra wasn't trying to tease Adora like she was doing right now. And it was working. Especially when she kept stripping past the underwear before crawling onto the bed, and…
But afterwards, even with Catra resting her head on Adora's chest, the niggling was back. Adora stared at the ceiling above their bed - weirdly as it was, the metal ceiling felt more familiar than the decorated ceiling back in Bright Moon - and sighed.
"You know, after what we just did, you should sigh with a lot more satisfaction," Catra complained at once.
"Sorry." Adora sighed again. "I just can't stop thinking about something. I mean, it keeps coming back." She had stopped thinking about anything or anyone but Catra for quite a while just before, after all.
Catra snorted. "This better be a subtle way to ask me for another round without asking."
Adora had to chuckle at that despite her mood. "I would just ask," she told her lover.
Or kiss her and see where it would lead to.
"I don't know. Sometimes, you try to do something because you saw it on TV." Catra smirked at her
Adora pouted for a moment. The rose petal thing had seemed a good idea at the time. Who would have known that Darla would send the cleaning bots in?
Catra shifted, sliding on top of her and facing Adora. "So, what's got you more distracted than me?"
"It's not that!" Adora protested. Catra was much more important than that!
In response, Catra raised her eyebrows.
Once more, Adora sighed. "It's about today's mistake - but not in the way you think it is," she quickly added when her lover started to frown. "I was just asking myself if I could trust Jack is telling the truth when he said his secret would have come out anyway and so it's OK. You know, in a general way."
Catra blinked. "How do you mean? He is sneaky, yes, but he also is honest with his friends. Mostly."
Mostly? Adora filed that away for another discussion, "No, I meant in general. We've got a lot of power. On Earth, and back home."
Catra nodded, but in her 'get on with it, you dummy' way.
"So, how much can we trust people to be honest with us? How likely is it that someone's going to lie to us because they fear we wouldn't like the truth and take it out on them?" Adora bit her lower lip.
Catra blinked again, and Adora felt her grow tense for a moment before she took a deep breath and shifted a little on Adora. "Ah. Like in the Horde?"
"Yes, exactly!" Adora nodded. The instructors, Shadow Weaver, Hordak - basically, everyone - had demanded that they were honest, but if you told the truth, be it your opinion or just a fact, and they didn't like it, odds were you got punished for it.
Catra tilted her head, her shoulders twitching a little, the best she could to shrug in her position. "We're not the Horde. People know we won't punish them for being honest. Well, we'll punish them if they deserve it for other reasons."
"But what if they don't know that?" Adora bit her lower lip. "They don't know us that well - they haven't grown up with us. They haven't fought with us." Catra opened her mouth, and Adora quickly added: "I don't mean Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c. I mean the rest of Earth."
"Ah." Another twitch-shrug followed. "They'll learn. We are being honest about it, after all. Even I." Catra grinned.
"But until then?" Adora took a deep breath. "And what about back home? How many people know us there? I mean, really know us?"
Catra snorted, but her smile twisted a little. "Enough know me, at least."
That again. "You've changed," Adora told her - as firmly as she could.
"Even so, many won't know that," Catra told her. "Former Horde soldiers still give me weird looks when they see me."
Adora frowned. "'Weird'? Like, they can't believe you're in the Alliance?" With her? "Or they don't trust you?" Lonnie had taken a while, Adora knew, to trust Catra. At least Adora assumed Lonnie had started to trust Catra since it had been a while since the last time that their friend had asked Adora what she thought about Catra's change of allegiance. Maybe she should ask Lonnie about that…
"That too," Catra said, shrugging again. "But they also look at me like they did back in the Horde. When they think I can't see them, at least. You know, hoping I won't notice any mistake or something and will leave soon."
Oh. That was… well, it made sense. That was how things were - had been - in the Horde. Catra had been in charge of the Horde for a few years, after all. And if you displeased your superior, there wasn't much they couldn't do to you. Every cadet had that beaten into them, Literally sometimes.
"But you know, that's the Horde. Former Horde," Catra said.
Adora knew that. But… "And what if people in Bright Moon think the same and are just better at hiding it?"
"They aren't better at hiding it," Catra said with a twisted smile. "Trust me."
Adora narrowed her eyes. They were giving her a hard time? If she found out who… She blinked again. "Oh."
"It's nothing," Catra said. "I did try to destroy them a few times, after all." She didn't sound entirely honest, though - Adora knew her too well to fall for her tone.
"It's not nothing," Adora told her. "But I just caught myself thinking that I had to straighten out whoever was doing… whatever. And that would be…" She pressed her lips together.
"Oh," Catra echoed her. "Yeah, that would make them hide their real feelings. More than they do, at least."
"You think they're already doing that?"
"Everyone's doing that," Catra said with a snort. "Somewhat, at least. You don't take out your bad mood on people. And you don't complain to just anyone if you feel down."
"You know what I mean," Adora retorted.
"Well, do you go up to people and tell them: 'I think you're with the wrong person and should pick someone else'?" Catra raised her eyebrows.
What? Adora clenched her jaws as she felt another, stronger urge to have a talk with whoever was… Oh, she was doing it again. But this was different. "Well, if they were a friend and I were really concerned…" But she didn't know anyone like that.
Catra snorted once more. "So, that's normal. It wasn't a Horde thing. Or not just a Horde thing."
"But it was worse there," Adora retorted. "And it's one thing to not mention something about someone's private life, but what if it's about the war?" Lying about the war could lead to disaster. You needed to trust your troops and the information they told you.
"I don't think either the Princess Alliance or the Earth countries in the alliance are like that," Catra said. "We've been working with the Americans long enough to tell."
"Yes." Adora slowly, if a little awkwardly, nodded - she was still on her back, after all.
But she still couldn't help worrying that things weren't as well as they should be.
Because Catra, Hordak and Scorpia had changed for the better - well, Scorpia didn't really have to change, just realise a few things - but what if a princess changed for the worse? Not Adora's friends, of course; they might carry grudges, but they were good people. But there were a lot of princesses on Etheria. And not all of them would be as brave and good as Adora's friends.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 5th, 1998
"Normally, I'd hate to work on a Saturday, but I'll make an exception to watch another Goa'uld get sucked out of their host."
Samantha Carter suppressed a chuckle at the Colonel's comment - it would only encourage him, and she wasn't sure how General Sidorov would react to more humour. The man seemed determined to prove the Cold War stereotype of humourless Russians true. Fortunately, the general was hovering near the stretcher onto which they had strapped Lieutenant Lenkova and so was out of earshot.
A fact the Colonel seemed determined to exploit. "Well, looks like even our Russian paranoid officer in charge isn't too far gone. Unless, of course, he hovers over the Lieutenant because he expects her to break the straps and go for a gun, and he wants first dibs at shooting her."
Sam knew better than to comment. Daniel, of course, didn't. "Why would he want to shoot his own officer, Jack?"
And, as expected, the Colonel jumped on it. "For failing, of course, Daniel! A true Russian soldier wouldn't have let themselves get possessed, don't you know? And failure is treason!"
"But…" Daniel's also inevitable retort was cut off when the gate crew started the activation sequence.
Sam raised her head as she watched the chevrons getting locked, followed by the vortex billowing out, then collapsing into the stable wormhole. Even after countless trips, it was still an awe-inspiring sight for anyone who realised just how advanced the technology behind this was.
"Our request was answered. Codes match the ones we exchanged with the Tok'ra," Siler announced.
"Alright, kids! Time to get another snake prisoner!" The Colonel turned to the Russian team guarding Lenkova. "We'll go first, and you follow. And don't stumble while going through the gate - we don't want you to get lost on the way!"
The Russians didn't react to the weak joke and only moved at a nod from Sidorov. Sam sighed, hefted the transport box - she wasn't going to call it a snake carrier despite the Colonel's suggestion - and walked up the ramp. Once more into the breach. At least it felt like it.
And then she went from the slightly stale and ionised air of the gate room into the hot, dry air of a desert planet. A group of Tok'ra were waiting for them on the other side of the gate, as expected. Martouf/Lantash was amongst them, which Sam had expected as well. And dreaded to some degree - she wasn't ready to deal with… their expectations. She wasn't Jolinar reborn. She had some of Jolinar's memories, but that was it. And she most certainly wasn't ready to enter a relationship with anyone, least of all a host/symbiont union! Would that be a ménage-à-trois? Technically, she supposed. Not that they would have actually said anything concrete, but the undertone… She pushed the thought away as they walked down the ramp. They were here for Lieutenant Lenkova, nothing else.
Behind them, the Russian team - formerly their second team, now their first, with Lenkova's team all but wiped out - followed through the Stargate, two carrying Lenkova on her stretcher and the other two with their weapons out.
They looked nervous and were trying not to show it. Well, Sam had to trust that they wouldn't start shooting their allies. Perhaps a subtle warning to the Tok'ra would not go amiss…
But their hosts were already bringing up their transport.
"So, are we going back to the decoy base, or did you grow a special base for this?" the Colonel asked with a wide smile. "Hey, is it actually easier for you to grow a new base than clean your old one?"
To Sam's relief, the Tok'ra didn't take offence. Martouf - no, that was Lantash - even laughed. "No, Colonel, it's not quite that easy. And we wouldn't want to leave too many bases, lest we make the Goa'uld wonder how we are building them if they stumble on a complex we left. Of course, now that they are aware of our capability, we might reconsider your suggestion - no one likes to be on janitorial duty, after all!"
The Colonel laughed in return. "Oh, yes!" In a lower voice, he added: "Who would have thought that aliens have a better sense of humour than our own allies?"
"Well, Jack, since you always complain about Russians - and Germans - having no sense of humour, obviously, you should have expected that we would encounter aliens with a better sense of humour sooner or later," Daniel said as they climbed into the transport. "Although, of course, just as what is considered funny varies considerably on Earth, the same would be true for alien civilisations…"
"It was a rhetorical question, Daniel."
"Oh."
Sam was sure the Colonel knew that Daniel was aware of that and was just using the opportunity to annoy the Colonel back a little. But it was all part of their team dynamic.
"How have you been?" Martouf asked, sitting down near her as the transport took off.
Sam forced herself to smile. Politely. "Busy writing reports and dealing with other paperwork. Assessing experiments." Instead of, say, working on the spacelab with Entrapta. "What about you?"
"Ah, we were also busy dealing with the aftermath of the infiltration." He smiled in that familiar manner - familiar to Jolinar, Sam reminded herself. "Entrapta isn't coming?"
"No. She is busy in her lab," Sam told him. And, as she had confided in Sam, she didn't want to risk revealing more information to the Tok'ra that might get her friends angry or in trouble until they were officially part of the Alliance.
"Ah. Anise and Molinar will be disappointed." Martouf grinned. "They will attempt to monopolise you, I fear."
"I hope it won't be too bad." Sam would actually prefer dealing with Anise and Molinar to chatting awkwardly with her former symbiont's ex-lovers.
Very much so, she added to herself when she saw Martouf smile again.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 5th, 1998
"...and if we were to provide them with hosts, we would create a huge security risk - the Tok'ra would be aware of everything their hosts know. Everything," the German representative, their Verteidigungsminister, repeated himself.
The German general next to him nodded in agreement. He had been doing that a lot, Catra had noticed. She couldn't tell if he was just going along with his superior's opinion or if he fully shared the view. Not that it mattered - the Germans were very clear about how their military was under the complete control of their government, as if that was not how things should be anyway. Glimmer would fire any officer in Bright Moon's military who disobeyed her orders, and many princesses would do the same - or worse.
"So what?" The French Ministre de la Défense shrugged. "Don't let them possess any member of the military, past or present, and I don't see the problem."
"Even civilians know a lot about our military and politics!" the German retorted. "A significant part of the population has military experience!"
"Experience that is now outdated in key points," the British Secretary of State for Defense cut in. "Yes, they will be familiar with our combat doctrine and weapons, which we will be using in the upcoming campaign, but the enemy is already aware of at least our small unit tactics thanks to their little war with the United States. And once we start a serious ground campaign, they will also be aware of our armoured forces and air forces."
That ruffled the Americans' feathers, Catra could tell. "We have dealt decisive blows to the enemy," their Secretary of Defense snapped. "But we do share our German allies' concerns about crucial intelligence being fed to the Tok'ra. As we all have agreed, this war won't be a strictly military affair but will also rely on a civil campaign to educate the indoctrinated population of the enemy and especially their forces. Even information about Earth's culture is significant in this context."
"We are talking about the Tok'ra, not the Goa'uld. If we agree to let them recruit hosts, then that will be part of the Alliance agreement. Which means they will be our allies," Adora pointed out.
"That doesn't mean we can trust them with such information," the German minister insisted. "Even amongst allies, you do not share everything."
"Although sometimes, that includes things you should have shared." The British minister wasn't looking at the American one, but it was clear what he was talking about.
And this time, the American gritted his teeth and didn't respond.
They were still carrying grudges over Stargate Command being kept a secret. Catra sighed softly. She could understand the sentiment, but it wasn't really helpful.
"Are you saying that you expect the Tok'ra to… undermine our efforts to liberate and educate the Goa'uld slaves?" Adora frowned at them. "Have you read our report about how much care they show in recruiting hosts?"
"We're aware of their claims, yes," the German minister replied. "But we have to consider the long-term issues. Nations do not have friends; they have interests, as our British allies are fond of saying. And while currently, everyone's interests align with regard to the war against the Goa'uld Empire, that might not be the case any more once the enemy is defeated."
Adora scowled at that. Catra did so as well. That sounded as if they expected another conflict to break out after they had beaten the Goa'uld - just like it had on Earth after their last world war. Not a really unrealistic view, in Catra's opinion, given what she knew about Earth. On the other hand, she knew that one of the surest ways to start a conflict - or a war - was to assume it would happen anyway.
"But even if we disregard that slightly pessimistic view," the French minister said, "there remains the question of loyalty. Any host would become a Tok'ra, according to what we know about their society - a life-long partner of their 'symbiont'. How is that supposed to be a true partnership?"
"Just as marriage is supposed to be a true partnership?" Catra asked, cocking her head. That was the obvious answer, in her opinion.
"There are parallels to marriages between citizens of different nations, though as our history taught us, couples formed by people from different countries are often put under heavy strain if their countries are in conflict," the British minister said.
"And it's a bit more… encompassing… than mere marriage," the American general pointed out with a smile. "I'm not sharing the same body with my wife."
"The issue is, can we trust our citizens to remain loyal when entering such a relationship? Ultimately, the Tok'ra can enforce their will on them if push comes to shove," the American minister said. "This needs to be a concern when selecting hosts."
Adora frowned again. "The Tok'ra would be selecting the hosts from volunteers."
"Yes, but it's obvious that we need to veto those amongst the volunteers that are unsuitable for security reasons," the American retorted.
"That depends on whether or not there are many volunteers," the Minister from Canada added. "I can't imagine that there would be too many of them who would want to share their body with an alien."
"There are billions of humans. There will be a lot of them," the American minister told him. "And what do we do about volunteers from outside the alliance?"
"We need to stipulate in any agreement with the Tok'ra that they limit their recruiting efforts to our own countries," the German minister replied. "If we successfully negotiate an alliance, of course."
That seemed to be a tad optimistic. Catra shrugged. "The Tok'ra are already aware that Earth isn't united. What if they want to open relations with other countries if they feel we're too restrictive or something?"
"And do we have the right to keep someone from entering such a partnership? That would be like telling people they can't marry," Adora added.
"Well, I think it's not quite like that," the American minister said.
"Imagine if the Tok'ra get hosts from the Russians… or the Chinese…" The German minister shook his head. "Either would love to send a spy to get all the advanced knowledge of the aliens."
"Or Iran or North Korea. And if the Tok'ra become influenced by such extremist ideologies…" The American minister looked grim.
"Well, don't try to restrict them too much, then, so they have no need to seek out other hosts?" Catra offered with a shrug.
None of the people present seemed to like that idea. But they didn't seem to like the alternative even less.
"I guess we can't really keep them off Earth. Not unless we are ready to go to war…" the American general muttered.
"We are trying to make allies, not enemies," Adora reminded him. Once again, the others present didn't seem to like it.
Catra hoped that Glimmer was doing better in her meeting with the foreign ministers.
P34-353J, December 5th, 1998
And there went another snake, Jack O'Neill thought as the laser-syringe-teleporter thingie started to work on Lenkova. The woman was, fortunately, sedated - the procedure hurt like hell as far as they had been told by the Tok'ra.
They also had been told that there was a chance of failure. Failure to stop the Goa'uld from killing the host, to be exact - it wouldn't fail to extract the snake. But Jack wouldn't dwell on that. It had worked with the Tok'ra host taken over by the Goa'uld spy. It would have to work with Lenkova as well. The woman didn't deserve to be killed by a damn snake, and certainly not in that way.
He carefully schooled his features, projecting confidence as he watched the procedure. Lenkova was one of his soldiers. He was, at least partially, responsible for this, anyway. If he had trained her a bit better, maybe she could've avoided capture. If he had let the fact that she was a Russian spy influence his training her... No, he didn't think he had. But he had been avoiding her outside training.
Daniel was watching intently as well. Jack wondered if his friend was seeing Sha're on the table here. Jack was familiar with things like that. And with personal failures.
He pressed his lips together. This wasn't the time to go there. He forced the thoughts of his family - his former family - away and glanced around. The Tok'ra present were mumbling under their breath. Probably doing that recital thing on the sly - Jakar would have told them the name of the Goa'uld inside Lenkova and their crimes. Jakar was present himself, but that was understandable. This was the Goa'uld scumbag who had almost got away when he had blown up the bioweapons research lab. Jack would've attended as well in the Tok'ra's place.
Anise was at the controls of the extractor, with Carter watching her as intently as the others were watching Lenkova. Jack envied his SIC. To be able to focus on something in a situation like this instead of having the time to let your mind wander to places you didn't want to touch must be great. And Jack would bet a week's worth of dessert on Carter already planning to copy the extractor. Or improve on it. Probably with Entrapta's help. They couldn't rely on the Tok'ra for this forever, could they?
He looked at the Russian team. They looked a bit nervous and trying to hide it. That was understandable, in Jack's opinion - this was their first real mission off-world. Their leader, Lieutenant Babanin, wasn't the most creative officer Jack had ever met, to say the least, but he wasn't the worst either. Solid came to mind as a description, though he was a bit too prone to follow orders to the letter. But that was a problem with all Russian soldiers. And the Chinese, too. But he and his men would do. At least for this - Jack wasn't quite sure he'd trust them in every situation. Not with Sidorov in charge. If the damn Russian started meddling and endangering Jack's people…
His thoughts were interrupted by the extractor finishing - the lights changed, and Jack could spot some snake inside the tube. Jakar stepped forward and took it, removing the container from the extractor. The spy stared at it for a moment before handing it over to Carter.
Yeah, I would have wanted to smash the snake as well, Jack thought. But they needed prisoners, and the Etherians wouldn't take well to such killings. For people coming from a world ruled by absolute monarchs and the closest thing to United Nations or international law being a ball thrown for princesses every ten years and 'whatever they agreed upon at the buffet small-talk', they certainly took human rights seriously. Or alien rights.
"I'm administering the counter-agent to the sedative," Anise announced. She stepped up to Lenkova and injected something into her. "Provided you have given us the correct data and drug, she should be waking up soon."
"We have," Jack told her, nodding curtly. No sense encouraging the snake - she had been staring at him like some recruit in basic seeing a decent home-cooked meal for the first time in weeks before the procedure had started.
"Good. It is a pleasure working with you, Colonel O'Neill." And there she was doing it again, smiling far too warmly at him.
He shrugged. "Ah, just doing what we can."
"And you can do a lot, I am sure." She took a step closer, and Jack fought the urge to take a step back. Or call for help. He could handle a pushy woman, snake or not.
That didn't mean he wasn't grateful for the distraction when Carter spoke up: "Lieutenant Lenkova is waking up."
And she was. He could see her shift, pulling against the straps - which Carter quickly released - before opening her eyes, blinking and mumbling. "Что случилось?" Then her eyes focused on Jack, and she gasped.
He smiled as warmly at her as he could. "You were possessed by a Goa'uld, Lieutenant," he told her. "But our new friends removed it. You're free."
She kept blinking. "Free… he's gone… Oh."
Then the tears came, and Jack stepped away. Carter could handle this. Lenkova wouldn't want her superior officer to see her cry.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, December 5th, 1998
"Oh, I'm so glad we got an excuse to skip the next 'planning session' in Brussels!"
Adora smiled at Catra's comment as she stepped off the shuttle ramp at the Stargate Command landing pad. The military had already discussed all of the parts of the Tok'ra Alliance proposal to be put forward that fell under their area of influence. At least as far as Adora could tell - they had been rehashing the same points at the end of the last session. So, it wasn't as if they were doing any harm by skipping the rest of the meetings.
"Welcome to Stargate Command!"
Jack was there, personally greeting them? Adora frowned. He hadn't been doing that for months now.
"What's wrong?" Catra asked before Adora could. "You wouldn't be out here for no reason."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What? You don't think I would want to personally welcome you to the hallowed halls of Stargate Command?"
Catra narrowed her eyes. "And stand around in this cold?" She pointed at the snow on the ground to the side. "It's so bad, I have to wear shoes!"
"Ah, you get used to it after the first bout of frostbite. And soon, anything above freezing starts feeling hot." Jack grinned for a moment, then grew serious, More or less. "I've actually used the opportunity to check out the work on the 'shuttleport'," he added, pointing to the construction site next to the pad.
"You're expanding?" Adora asked. "I thought you were relocating. Or is this to make it easier to move?"
"Stargate Command is moving. The Mountain's still one of the key command centres of the United States - and the world. With shuttles finally in production in the US - and rolling off the assembly lines in Canada already, somehow - that means we'll need shuttleports to be ready for them. At least, that's what the Pentagon says."
"You could use airports and Air Force bases," Catra pointed out. "Shuttles don't need more space than a landing pad."
"Yep, that would be the logical course of action." Jack snorted. "But unlike constructing entirely new ports, using existing infrastructure wouldn't net the construction firms as much money. And the brass claims we need the experience." He shrugged. "Some people are already predicting that airports will be replaced by shuttleports, causing mass layoffs and all that stuff. Stupid, of course, as long as most countries of the world don't have shuttles and are stuck with airplanes, but I expect some protesters forming outside our base any day now. Well, maybe once it's a bit warmer…"
Catra shrugged. "Shuttles are more convenient. And safer."
"But we don't have enough of them, and won't have for a long while, to replace civilian air traffic. Not to mention we don't have civilian shuttle models at all." Jack grinned. "And trust me, civilians won't want to fly military. Hell, I don't want to fly military if I can get a nice American Airlines flight instead. The service is much better, and the stewardesses are prettier."
Adora chuckled at his weak joke.
"You want to flirt with stewardesses?" Catra shook her head. "You like to court danger, do you?"
Jack narrowed his eyes for a moment before grinning - a bit toothily. "As an Air Force officer, it's my duty to flirt with stewardesses. It's in the regs."
"Should I ask Sam what she thinks of those regulations?"
"Female officers are exempt," Jack retorted in a flat voice. "Anyway," he continued a little more loudly, "let's get inside before we freeze our butts off here." He clapped his hands together for emphasis.
"Yes," Adora agreed. "How's Lieutenant Lenkova?" she asked as they walked towards the entrance.
That caused Jack to wince and grow serious. "She's doing as well as you can expect when you've had a snake in your head. Fortunately, she was unconscious for most of it, so it was just a short time, but…" He shrugged.
"Yes," Catra agreed in a clipped tone.
Her lover was remembering her time under Horde Prime's control, Adora knew. She reached out and held Catra's hand, squeezing gently, and was rewarded with a familiar smile and Catra's tail rising.
Adora nodded as they stepped through the gate. Catra had recovered. And Lieutenant Lenkova would as well. In any case, Adora would do what she could to help her along, which included healing her. That's what they were here for, after all. Amongst other things. And to get away from more meetings.