Author's note: I find myself occasionally calling the gate ship a Jumper (go figure). So far I've managed to catch them all – I think – but if I don't, just ignore it!
OOOOOOOO
"Oh boy…"
The cloak worked. The moment they dropped out of hyperspace behind Pluto, Teal'c engaged it, and unnoticed they worked their way into the inner part of the solar system, flying by the other planets tensely, waiting for some indication that the powerful scanners of the Goa'uld mother ship had noticed them. It never came, though. They managed to slide right by the large ship without anyone detecting them, and they had a magnificent view of the thing as they went by, and it was just a bit unnerving to see it floating lazily in space near Mars.
Sam looked over at Jack.
"Do we contact Hammond?"
"No. He'll know we're here as soon as NORAD picks up our trail coming in…"
"We hope," Daniel added.
"He will." Jack was far more confident. After all, NORAD was probably watching everything right then – with everyone on such high levels of alertness. "We just have to hope that they have some kind of distraction…"
"I am entering the coordinates Ian Brooks gave us for the Ancient weapon, now," Teal'c told them. "We will enter Earth's atmosphere in four minutes."
"Brace yourself, folks," Jack ordered. Even with the dampeners, it'd still likely get bumpy, and they all knew it. Sam and Daniel simply sat down on the floor of the bridge with their backs against the wall – and were joined a moment later by Jack Jacob and Thor both flanked Teal'c's chair, bracing their hands on it.
On the screen the Earth grew larger and larger, continents easily discernable, now, and Jack took a deep breath. It'd be over soon. One way or the other.
OOOOOOOOOO
The briefing room was a tense place. The diplomats were all seated, each of them with a laptop opened in front of them, waiting on word from Hammond's people to let them know when – and if – to scramble their fighters.
They had one advantage - and it was only a slight one. They knew where the ship was going to be and had already quietly started gathering their forces in the area. All around the world aircraft carriers had been on the move, heading for the chilly waters surrounding Antarctica. American, European, and Soviet carriers, all holding far more craft than just their normal compliment, and all backed by several more air groups that had been heading that direction in short, hopefully unnoticed, stages. It was the largest build up of military air might ever known to mankind, and they were being kept appraised of the situation as well as they could be - and knew that time was short.
All around thearea pilots were getting into cockpits, cocky and confident of their skills, or quiet and silently making their peace with their God and saying a final prayer that they might see their loved ones soon. The briefings were over, they knew what was coming. They just were waiting now for a battle that none of them had ever really expected might come. The world versus aliens. The kind of thing only seen in movies – where of course the world always won. The pilots knew it wasn't such a given, though, and they also knew that they were going to be going up against technology that was far more advanced than their own.
But they were ready. This was what they'd trained for, after all; protecting their own, and putting it all on the line. Maybe not on a global scale, but really, that just made it that much more important.
"How much longer?" Andrew asked Shawn, knowing that his friend had been keeping track of the estimated times that it would take SG-1 to get where they were going and return.
Shawn shrugged, trying to hide just how tense he was.
"It should be any time, now…"
Hammond looked over at them. The boys were doing a good job staying out of the way of things, but he wondered just how safe it was for them to be here. If Anubis found the SGC, he'd destroy it without hesitation. The boys would be better off in some bomb shelter somewhere else in the city. Andrew's folks were up in the mountains; he could send them up to join them. They'd be as safe there as anywhere, most likely.
He hesitated, about to mention it, when the door flew open and an agitated sergeant entered the room without the usual diffident knock.
"NORAD's picking up the path of something entering the atmosphere above Australia!"
Hammond stood up, thoughts of sending the boys away completely out of his mind, now.
"SG-1?"
"They don't know, sir. Whatever it is, it's hidden. All they have is an ion trail from reentry."
"It has to be them," Shawn said, standing up as well, his nerves too taut to allow him to sit any longer.
The diplomats all looked at Hammond, their hands poised to type out commands, but he held up his hand, stopping them.
"Let's see what – if anything – Anubis does, first… we don't want to play our cards until we have to."
They all nodded, agreeing, but the tense atmosphere of the room only increased.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The gate ship emerged from hyperspace behind Jupiter. Completely intentional, since Ian was hoping to use the mass of the giant planet to hide the little ship for that one instant that they'd need to engage the cloak.
"Are we there?" McKay asked, nervously, looking at the HUD.
A moment later the star map that came onto the screen was one that they both knew well, and Ian nodded.
"We're there."
"Has the other ship arrived, yet?"
"No idea."
How the hell was he supposed to know?
"Maybe you could just drop me off at-"
"I would if I could, but I can't get through the atmosphere without announcing we're here," Ian interrupted. "And then we'll just get our asses shot off without doing anyone any good…"
McKay's look was pained, but he wasn't hearing anything he hadn't already known, so he nodded.
"Where's the Goa'uld ship?"
Ian silently asked the ship the same question, and the HUD obligingly changed readouts. Now it showed Mars, with the large ship hiding in the shadows of the red planet. Hiding from view, maybe, but not from the sensors of the gate ship – and probably not from Jack's ship, either – if they were around. Which hopefully they were.
"What do we do now?" McKay asked.
"We wait and watch…"
He moved the gate ship closer to the Goa'uld ship, counting on the cloak to keep it from being spotted, and they watched, waiting for the first sign that the status quo was changing.
OOOOOOOOO
"My lord!"
Anubis looked over at the Jaffa who was standing at the sensor array. Hard to ruffle, he knew something had to be out of the ordinary for the Jaffa to seem so tense all of the sudden.
"What is it?"
"An ion trail, my lord. Through the atmosphere of the Tau'ri planet."
"Caused by what?"
"Nothing, my lord… the sensors are not picking up-"
"It has to be something!" Anubis snapped.
"The sensors do not-"
"Check them again. I want to know if it is an asteroid or one of their satellites-"
"It is not an asteroid, my lord. We would have seen it coming. And none of their satellites has lost orbit. It is unknown."
"A hidden ship, perhaps?" Anubis asked into the fearful silence that followed.
The Jaffa turned helplessly.
"It may be, my lord."
How would he know? If it was hidden, he could not tell the system lord what he was seeing, could he?
Anubis turned to another Jaffa; the one who had replaced his recently killed First Prime.
"Launch fighters. If someone has come to assist the Tau'ri, they will be destroyed. If you cannot find the ship, then destroy a few cities on the surface – as an object lesson."
"Yes, my lord."
The Jaffa hurried out of the room, and Anubis turned back to the main screen, radiating satisfaction.