The temporary CIC
They all settled around the table in the conference room that had been converted temporarily into a CIC. Rollins and Harrington sat next to where Adam and Kono were and got busy plugging in their laptops and USBs to call up the relevant reports they had with them. Dr. Kusanagi was also seated closer to their side but was busy on her own highly advanced-looking laptop that didn't seem connected to anything.
'She must have already paired up with the system before we got here,' Steve figured.
The three bosses found seats at the head of the table, with Sumner ending up in the middle. The lawyer seated himself to the CIA directors' right. Danny maneuvered himself to sit between Higgins and the Marine Captain Cadman, earning sour looks from both of them. He gave them both a charming smile that did nothing to soothe the feathers he ruffled by his dick move. Cadman smiled right back with flinty eyes that promised painful payback at the first opportunity. Steve took his seat beside Sheppard with a much-relieved sigh. He did not need a repeat of their journey here with Danny sitting next to him again. Bates sat close to Kusanagi, and they were ready to begin.
"We will start with the locations. If one of you would pull up a satellite map of the region in Afghanistan and put markers on the places we've had action, please?" Colonel Sumner suggested, looking at the area where the LTs and the agents were seated, which Steve mentally labeled, 'the Analysts' Corner.'
The projector screen in front of them came to life with the requested map of the region. The village that SGC had secured was marked with a black circle. Kusanagi also put a marker at the crash site with the same color, since the target had been an SGC chopper. She also tagged details such as the name of the village, population, names of the agents taken into custody, and names of the personnel who died at the crash site. She left the name 'J. Smith', tagged with 'MIA' at the crash site as well. Steve glanced at Sumner and then Sheppard curiously. They hadn't found anyone else except for the bodies and Sheppard. Then he saw John giving him a tiny headshake, indicating that they'd get to it later.
Rollins then marked the 'Valley of the Lions' with a yellow circle and she added the number of neutralized terrorists and the apprehended ones. Then she zoomed out of the region and re-focused on Libya. She circled the location of W-F7/24A - Detention Facility and added the names of the agents killed by the recent attack. She also added the three names of the terrorists, Anton & Victor Hesse and Wo Fat, since they'd been inside the facility during the attack as well. Then she reset the map to focus on the Afghanistan region again and connected the three sites in Afghanistan in a rough triangle, adding distances to each place, completing the picture.
"Ok, so according to this, those two villages are about thirty miles away from each other. But they are both right up against the Hindu Kush mountains. We sealed a couple of cave entrances that went right through the mountain - some were leading towards the Valley. Was it the same at the base you raided?" Colonel Sumner directed the question to Steve.
"Yes, Sir. I caught one of them when he was just about to disappear into a cave system in the mountains. We sealed those entrances before we left the site as well. We couldn't risk blowing it up and causing landslides as we did with the rest of the base," Steve replied.
"A secondary team was sent there a few days later to survey the cave system. They found a maze in there that was leading in several directions. They were still there when I left Bagram. They're clearing the tunnels slowly looking for booby traps and such. So far they haven't really come up with anything." Joe White added to Steve's report. " I believe it's the same there at the cave system in the village you secured?" He inquired Sumner.
"Yes. Same story." Sumner replied."What about any grave sites? Did you find anything like that there?" he asked the naval contingent in general.
"You've got reports of ongoing investigations regarding the 'Lions of the valley' base, right Harrington?" Commander White added, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, Sir. About 15 miles away, deeper into the jungle, one of the cave exploration teams stumbled into it by accident. The reports said that it looked to be a mass grave site of old people. They left the bodies because they didn't have reason to disturb a graveyard any further," said the Lieutenant.
"We'll have to get one of our teams there to retrieve a few of them now, though. If they're what I fear they are, I think we may have another connection." Colonel Sumner commented. "So what about the terrorists you caught?"
The screen split and the map got pushed to a side - but stayed on display. Anton Hesse's image appeared with a description of his age, height, weight, nationality, and rap sheet. Rollins also gave a summarized report on what the man had spilled during his brief incarceration. The image of Victor Hesse followed with the same details about him and his involvement in the weapons smuggling empire the brothers had been running. She finished the report with a detailed list of illegal operations they had managed to shut down and the assets that had been seized after their capture.
The third image appeared with the name 'Wo Fat.' Apart from the basic biological information, they had virtually nothing on this particular terrorist.
Cadman broke the silence with a muttered hiss and a curse.
"Apologies, Sir. But I've seen this man before." She had gone pale as if she had seen a ghost. Well, considering the circumstances, Steve thought that was a normal enough reaction.
"Where?" Inquired Colonel Sumner.
"He was at the Mountain yesterday at the reception,"
"What?" Sumner snapped leaning forward on the table.
"I was on escort duty and was seconded to the IOA delegation. I saw him with the Chinese Representatives. At the time I thought he was just another creep. But now I see who he is, it changes things. I'm really sorry, Sir." She was directing her apology towards Sumner and for some reason, Sheppard. Sheppard, who noticed the same, frowned at her in confusion.
"It's alright, Cadman. You didn't know. None of us did." Marshal Sumner regained his composure. "Miko, you think you can pull yesterday's footage from the network?" he asked the scientist.
"Any specific time or place, Laura?" Miko asked while accessing the footage in question.
"Access the feed of the reception area from around three pm."
Cadman had gone to stand next to Miko and was peering over her shoulder to look at the feed she was accessing. Then she found what she was looking at and pointed.
"Ok, pick that feed, the one from the camera by the left exit."
They all focused on the feed.
The camera had a direct angle on the entrance in front of it. Wo Fat was staying close to the wall by the entrance and was facing the camera. He appeared bored to death and was staring intently at something pinched between his thumb and forefinger. A few seconds into the feed, Sheppard made his entrance, looking sharp in his dress blues and chest candy.
Steve heard Kono whistle softly in admiration and Danny unsuccessfully try to swallow back a snicker. It was understandable. The camera had a direct view of Sheppard and the look on the man's face was priceless. He looked like he had been ordered to attend his own execution. Even White and Sumner were watching with amusement. In the periphery, Steve could see the man in question had gone red in the face in embarrassment.
Then it happened.
Wo Fat choked on whatever he had just put in his mouth and straightened. He had gone entirely focused on Sheppard and his gaze tracked John's movement like a predator. Then the president of the United State swooped into the frame right in front of John, startling him to falter briefly before straightening to salute the POTUS. It would have been funny if it wasn't for the silent malevolence pouring off from the sinister observer, they were all now witnessing. Then the president whisked Sheppard away to a different area, leaving Wo Fat and another new addition behind. The blonde woman was also staring at the group who had just walked away, along with the creep. Then Wo Fat turned his attention to her and said something that made her throw her head back and laugh. Then he escorted her out of the reception area; hand in hand, after shooting one more intense look towards the meeting room Sheppard had entered.
"He was there looking for you, Shep. I have a feeling whoever that lady was in the feed is probably in trouble right now," said Steve.
He was quite sure that the scene must have looked entirely normal to anyone who had seen a man and a woman walking out of the reception hall. But the context they'd all just seen added a completely different meaning to the couple's exit.
This whole thing was beginning to look very bad. And Steve didn't like this new development around Sheppard, one bit. The man had just gotten back on his feet and now there was someone planning something nefarious towards him already. As if sensing Steve's concern, Sheppard turned and gave him a small smile. But Steve could clearly see the tension in his gaze.
"Her name's Stephanie O'Connor. She is the secretary to the SecNav." Miko, who had already accessed the guest list, reported.
"Get a message to the Mountain to have somebody locate her now Miko, priority. And to get a team to that second burial site in Panjshir as well," said Sumner.
He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face before speaking again.
"This changes things. It means the attack on W-F7/24A - Detention Facility served two purposes. To break out the prisoners and then destroy the evidence. We have to assume the Hesse brothers were also taken by whoever broke them out," he said to the group.
"Are we sure we don't have any footage at all of the attack at the facility? None?" inquired Joe White from the Analyst's Corner.
"Sir, the facility was located in a very secluded area and all the security was from within the building and the wall around it. Everything disintegrated within fifteen minutes. Confirmed according to the statements from all the responders and local Police who got there after the explosion." Rollins answered the question from Joe looking slightly afraid.
"What about satellites? Didn't we have anything passing over the area at the time by any chance?" This was from the CIA director.
Miko typed an inquiry on her laptop and pulled up a log sheet. "Here's a list of all of our satellites that were making passes over the region."
"Hmm... It almost looks like they used the perfect window of opportunity. It is as if they already had this exact information," Adrian Charles let the CIA's famous paranoia out to play, as he studied the log and time schedules.
"I agree," said Sumner.
"What about Chinese Satellites?" At the questioning looks he received from the group, Sheppard went to clarify his rather pointed inquiry.
"I'm just saying. This Wo Fat character is Chinese, there were two Chinese agents along with the others when I was there in the prison. It's worth a look." He shrugged and slouched a little bit more into the seat. Steve didn't buy the nonchalant act for a second. He knew the man was onto something here.
"Ok, give me a minute," Kusanagi was typing away a mile a minute a touch too gleefully.
"Is she..." Joe let the unfinished question drift away. The CIA director was also looking a bit concerned. The lawyer was shaking his head in resignation but wasn't saying anything.
"Better not to ask. Deniability and all that," Sumner coughed into a fist.
"Miko, concentrate on their private satellites first. They have this thing called 'Black Unicorn' - or should I say - used to have, because they're supposed to have been destroyed. They are stealth satellites and usually pretend to be private satellites such as comms, weather, etc." Sheppard was full of suspicious offhand suggestions. Steve hid a smirk.
Miko was nodding along as she typed.
Director Charles was staring at Sheppard as if he had just sprouted another head.
"How in the hell would you know about those, Major?" he asked incredulously.
"You guys sent me to shoot one down," said Sheppard with a smirk.
"Hah. Small world." The director shook his head. "I should add - this was done at the request of the Chinese government. They claimed they were stolen out of their labs. Which one was your target?"
"I got the one circling above Korea," answered the pilot.
"Ah, so you were Striker-One then. From Striker-One and Three, we had confirmed kills. Striker-Two shot one down somewhere above Indonesia. China confirmed that kill. Guess we know what happened to that one," he said with a grimace.
Steve could almost see him mentally composing the call that he was going to be making to his Chinese counterpart about the seemingly resurrected illegal spy satellite.
"Aha!" Kusanagi declared triumphantly after about fifteen minutes.
"I got one. Yep, this one is running on the civilian codes. But seems to have a subroutine that takes it out off its normal route for a few minutes and diverts, pretending to be a private comms satellite. Clever. Let me see..." She was mostly muttering to herself while she expanded her search on her rather ill-gotten gains.
"Gotcha!" She flashed a feral smile after a few more minutes.
"This one made a pass at 1500 hours on the date of the attack over the facility and captured data till 1513 hours. This is what it captured," She sent the footage onto the projector screen.
Every one of them was avidly looking at the map that pixelated as it zoomed in over Libya. A few seconds later, the image cleared.
They all stared in amazement as the alien rings appeared out of thin air as if in a science fiction movie, in a flash of light. Then they disappeared, leaving behind a group of twelve people. They all watched the group of eight going inside the building and returning, roughly dragging eight more people with them. It took only twelve minutes. Then the rings appeared again and took the group away. The explosion followed a few seconds later.
A deafening silence had fallen in the CIC. Steve looked around. His team, Kono, Adam, and the CIA director were all staring at the group from the SGC. It was clear to all of them now, what happened to the Hesse brothers and Wo Fat. But the rest; not so much. Why would they take five of their agents with them? Was it some sort of a revenge plot?
But judging by the various looks of disbelief, anger, disgust, and even fear on the SGC group, they knew something. It left the others even more confused.
"I take it you guys know about this group of jokers then?" Joe White asked the SGC group in general, breaking the silence after a few moments.
"Yeah. we do. This is bad. This is very, very bad," Sergeant Bates, who was stoically quiet through the whole meeting, was muttering through clenched teeth, looking at his CO.
Then his eyes widened as if something had just clicked for him. "Doc, can we rewind and play the footage from the reception again? The first few seconds when this character notices the Major, with a slower rate of frames?" he asked Kusanagi."There's something about the way he moved, sir, after seeing what the satellite captured. I've got a hunch," he said to Sumner at the questioning look he received.
"Ok, here you go, Sergeant." Miko played the feed.
Then they all saw something that was missed on the initial viewing. Just before Wo Fat started choking, the exact second he noticed Sheppard, his eyes flashed - a literal bright white-light, like twin novas, over his pupils. It reminded Steve of the same white light they used to travel and the same flare that disintegrated the facility in Libya. Then in a blink, it was gone. And the footage continued slowly with him staring at Sheppard again. Kusanagi stopped the play, rewound the feed, and froze the frame with Wo Fat baring flashy eyes. She also brought up a frozen frame of the group that conducted the prison break alongside it. The images told a story of the worst-case scenario the SGC team seemed to have been dreading.
"Ah, fuck!" Cadman muttered.
"So are you gonna fill us in on the flashy eyes and horror movie costume thing, those guys got going on?" Danny asked the group jokingly, but Steve could hear the underlying tension in his tone.
Sumner took a deep breath and released it slowly before answering the question.
"Yes. We are." He said decisively. "But not here. All of you go grab your bags and get in here. We are moving this meeting to a secure location."
With that terse command, he got up and moved away to a corner of the room. Steve saw the Colonel putting on an earwig and starting a call in a hushed tone; most probably to the SCG HQ.
"All right then," said Joe White. He was getting up from his seat as well. "There was a possibility of this happening - however unlikely it seemed at the time. Steve, you are going to report to the Colonel directly from now on, until this mess is sorted. You'll be in the capacity of special consultants." He said pointedly to the SEALs.
"And you two will also tag along." He turned and said to Adam and Kono next. The director was nodding along, agreeing to what Commander White was saying.
They all took a moment to do as ordered and returned to the CIC with their duffels. Commander White took a moment to pat his SEALs on the back, telling them to watch their backs and herded Rollins and Harrington out. CIA director, Adrian Charles did the same with Kono and Adam. Once only the group who would go with the SGC remained, Sumner, rejoined them.
"Odyssey, this is Sumner, ten to beam up." He said to his earpiece.
Danny opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment, but he never got the chance.
A white light surrounded them with no warning and swallowed them whole.
Briefing Room
Stargate Command
Cheyenne Mountain
Colorado
"We have no right to play God, but neither do the Goa'uld. Now, I know none of this seems real to you on paper, but trust me - they're pure evil."
The bespectacled figure, introduced to Steve and his team as Dr. Daniel Jackson, emphasized this with great importance.
And Steve believed him. Granted, the Doctor had it right - it was freaking unreal, come on - Aliens? But the screens that were in front of them bore plenty of evidence to support the case. The entirely too detailed color images of the symbiotes, their incubation process/period, the need for hosts, the genetic memory, the healing process and the subsequent side effects, their tech, weapons, spaceships, and the known Goa'uld agents, were taking up every bit of space on the screens, and Steve felt like his brain was about to explode. He wished the doctor wasn't quite so generous and thorough with his descriptions of every single aspect of these evil aliens.
And as if that wasn't enough, there were videos.
Argh, the videos! Steve was absolutely not thinking about them - he didn't need to see what he had for breakfast, thank you very much.
Even if any of them wanted to laugh at the incredulity of the whole thing and deny it all to their last breath, the real-life alien that was sitting right there in the briefing room with them, looking so serene, was doing a fantastic job of shoving the ugly truth right down their throats. Steve was secretly relieved he was not the only one who kept surreptitiously glancing at Teal'c of Chulak and the gold stamp on his forehead.
...
They had all been beamed - how freaking awesome was that?- to Stargate Command - only about two and a half hours ago. They had all been given a moment to digest that incredible feat and then escorted to this Briefing Room. Then the lawyer had gotten busy, getting them all up to date on the new security clearances they had all just landed, what they entailed, and the secrecy that shrouded the entire situation. Then they had all signed what had felt like hundreds of papers of the Non-Disclosure Agreement. Sheppard hadn't been kidding about the hundred-page thing, Steve had reflected. Then the man and his mountain of paperwork, and of course the PDAs they'd had to put their electronic signatures on - because obviously, papers were not enough - had taken their leave, leaving the team alone for about fifteen minutes.
"Man! You land the coolest of jobs." Higgins, who had been thoroughly impressed with everything so far and harboring high hopes for cooler and bigger guns, found time to praise Sheppard.
"Yeah, wait till you hear the rest of it." Sheppard had responded with a lop-sided grin, barely hinting at the flood of information that was about to hit them full force.
Then Doctor Daniel Jackson had entered and started his lecture on the alien species called 'the Goa'uld.' The man had been meticulous in his presentation; putting on visual aid after goddamn visual aid supplemented by videos, until they could see and hear nothing but the Goa'uld.
Teal'c of Chulak had made his entrance smoothly, just as Jackson had started on the Jaffa, like a walking, but not-so-talking visual aid himself, and had taken a seat. They had then been told about his incredible story as well.
Then Jackson had told them about the Tok'ra. The same species, but with an entirely different attitude and agenda. He had clearly been trying to uplift the mood by telling them about the good version of the bad guys - but the attempt had fallen flat - seeing as they had all still been trying to wrap their minds around the fact that alien snakes slithered into humans, wrapped around their spines and used them as freaking puppets - for fucks sake!.
...
"Daniel Jackson is accurate. The megalomania and the intense notions of superiority cause the Goa'uld to act in certain ways that are quite detrimental to the well-being of other worlds. Miko Kusanagi showed me what you have seen. I recognized the Goa'uld and his First Prime; Montu and Gerak. It is safe to assume that the System Lord Ba'al is ultimately responsible for the enterprise Montu and his Prime are involved in, for he is a known servant of Ba'al. And Montu seems to have gained another Goa'uld in the form of this human, Wo Fat. Ba'al may have gifted Montu with this assistance to further their plans involving earth, whatever they may be." The oddly formal and intense speech gave what the alien was saying more gravity.
"Yes. And the fact that the Wraith are now shacking up with them is making the situation much worse. Because let me tell you - if there was anything worse than the Goa'uld, that would be the Wraith," said Jackson.
"Wait! What? You mean the long-haired dudes are worse than the brain-riding snakes? How is that even possible?" Danny stared in disbelief at the Doctor.
"Because, Petty Officer Williams, while the Goa'uld use humanoid species as their personal chauffeurs, the Wraith use us for something else,"
Williams was gesturing impatiently at him to continue, and Jackson gave a smile utterly devoid of any humor.
"They use us for sustenance. The Wraiths literally suck the very life force out of humans and leave dead and withered husks behind. That's how they survive. We are their staple food source."
...
They had all been dismissed from the briefing room after that for a late lunch and had been told to take the rest of the day off. The next day would start bright and early with the session on the Wraith. Colonel Sumner, Sergeant Bates, and Miko Kusanagi, who had disappeared the moment they had beamed to SGC, would also be joining them after that information session to plan their future missions. They'd been told that Sumner & Bates had gone to brief the brass on these new developments and Kusanagi had returned to Apollo to conduct further intelligence gathering (read: hacking). Cadman and Sheppard had hung around for the full briefing on the Goa'uld with Steve's team; Sheppard because he was getting the info for the first time as well and Cadman, as she claimed, for moral support.
...
Lunch was a somber affair. Although nobody had much of an appetite, they all consumed their meals, their military conditioning taking over. Ever-efficient Sergeant Walter Harriman showed up somewhere during the meal with details about their living arrangements. Steve's team was housed in level 15 and they were all issued with SGC uniforms that they were told to collect from the quartermaster after they finished lunch. Then by mutual agreement, they all retired to their quarters, the long flights and the longer briefings catching up to them, leaving them exhausted.
The Briefing Room
SGC
Cheyenne Mountain
Colorado
The next day...
"So, the people with this gene, turn into super-soldiers and then go on a killing rampage when these things are in the vicinity? And they have no control whatsoever over this transformation?"
'Leave it to Williams, to put it in the nutshell in a way that makes us all sound like crazy weirdos who should be locked up somewhere with the keys thrown away,' Sheppard thought to himself at the exclamation from Danny.
"Well, Petty Officer Williams, that is exactly what I'm saying. The Alterans who manipulated the genes did not leave any chance to resist the metamorphosis in the gene carrier. They embedded it as a most basic instinct. This 'online experience' for an ATA gene carrier is as normal and vital as breathing for the rest of us," replied Dr. Lam, who had been doing the briefing on the Wraith.
Danny shook his head and sent a look of mixed awe and sympathy towards Sheppard.
"Doctor, about this telepathic control they exert over humans - how do we defend against that? You said these gene carriers are somewhat immune to this attack?" The question came from Agent Adam Noshimuri, who had been mostly quiet, yet focused, throughout the brief.
"The best way to react in a situation where you find yourself going against a Wraith male or a female, is to retreat fast and get out of their area of influence," said Sheppard, answering the question at Lam's behest.
Seeing the reaction of distaste from the SEALs as well as the two CIA agents at being told to run away from the enemy, Sheppard hastily clarified.
"Look, I know that doesn't sit well with you guys. But just think - these things can dig into your mind from a distance of about a hundred yards away and sift through it like an open book. They can find your deepest fears and make you believe that it's real and it's happening to you right that moment - they can make you go mad without much effort, either making you act out disastrously - like attacking your own people - or just shut you down completely. So, by retreating to a safer distance, you ensure the safety of your team, as well as yourselves."
"Sounds like the snipers would come in handy while tangling with these things, brah," said Kono with a crooked smile, and Sheppard agreed. "Yeah. When you are sure you are out of their range, aim for the neck or the right palm; those are the most vulnerable points, and they don't recover or heal from a shot to either of those."
"But Shep, how do you know you're out of the range? How do we get the warning?"
"That's where the gene carriers come in, Danny. Most of us can sense them, way before they can start any sort of mental assault. We warn you to get the hell away, and engage the Wraith - you get to a nice high ground spot as far away as possible, shoot the assholes dead and save the day." Sheppard answered with a grin.
"What about these guards of theirs, the Drones?" Steve asked.
"Well, at least those things don't have any telepathy; but they are just as dangerous and as hard to kill, especially after feeding. Again, the same weak spots, if you can get to them. But they're about five times stronger and faster than an average human and that just doubles after a feeding. The Wraiths are much, much stronger."
"When you say feeding..." Danny just let the question fade away, not wanting to say out loud the bit about life-sucking.
"Yeah." Sheppard nodded in the affirmative.
"Guess that makes some things clear," said Steve thoughtfully. "Those shallow graves the Colonel was talking about earlier, they were the leftovers from Wraith feedings. And the agents who got grabbed in Libya, they took them for lunch,"
John saw him turning pale as he understood the implications.
They all took a few minutes to digest that, and Sumner and Kusanagi chose that moment to enter the room. Dr. Lam left the meeting, after informing everyone to contact her if they had any further questions. They all had their own PDAs with all the information, issued to them by the SGC as well.
Sumner took a seat at the table, where he could face all of them, and updated them on some of the events that'd been taking place.
"So, a team's been sent to Panjshir, where you guys conducted your operations," he nodded towards the SEALs. "The preliminary tests on the bodies dug from the graves confirm that they were fed on by the Wraith. Most probably the same ones that Sheppard killed. You guys got lucky, your op wouldn't have gone the same way had there been more of those things around."
The SEALs and the Agents agreed.
"We've also been trying to locate Stephanie O'Conner - so far no luck. The office of SecNav has been informed and they haven't heard from her since that day. The local authorities have been informed of her disappearance and they are handling it as a 'missing person's case' for the moment. Needless to say, we don't have high hopes of her turning up alive,"
Then he addressed Kusanagi. "Doc, you said you and your team sorted the whole story with these transporter signals and the spy satellites?"
"Yes, Colonel. We went through all the data we've been gathering since the first disappearance of the Blackhawk and this latest attack in Libya. Here's what we found."
She then projected some sort of running algorithms, a sea of numbers scrolling up, down, and sideways, which none of them had a hope of understanding. Miko started to explain while pointing at the relevant clusters of numbers.
"Here's what we initially tracked, when the Blackhawk transport got hijacked while on its way to Russia. This is the time it happened and the origin of the signature. As you can see, it originated at the village the SGC later secured and the destination is somewhere above the North Atlantic ocean - where the chopper disappeared. Then we have the second incident. This time the signal originated from Bagram and the destination was the crash site. And here we have the third incident, the signal originated from orbit and the destination was the CIA facility. Then it originated again, transporting the group back to their ship."
Then she took a moment to do something with her PDA and the data sorted itself to a different representation.
"As you can see, the first time they transported our chopper to Afghanistan, this satellite - we have designated it-SS-1- passed over the position of our chopper and activated for exactly 10 seconds. It received a signal from the chopper - then it sent a signal to the transporter they had in Afghanistan, activating it to capture the chopper and bring it there. Next, we have the second incident. You can see the similarities - the signal going from the chopper, SS-1 receiving it and sending it to Bagram, and the signal returning with the bomb on a timer,"
"Hah, that might explain why they questioned Sheppard, the satellite didn't catch him killing those two Wraiths," Sumner noted.
"Yes Colonel, it only activated during that 10-second-window for the signal exchange. We believe this was pre-arranged with one of their agents in the chopper; they were given the radio that was pre-coded with signals that locked onto it for transportation and then later, its destruction." Kusanagi let them in on the working theory.
"Convenient. They most probably didn't know that the Wraith and the Keepers were going to blow them up, once they delivered the cargo - even if they did manage to land in that village, they'd have been fed and then blown up," said Sumner, glancing at Steve who nodded agreement.
"The third incident had some differences. They had changed the transporter signals - we think because they realized that we cracked their initial signal. They used a different satellite this time; we've designated it SS-2 and they kept the coverage throughout the prison break and the subsequent explosion. Most probably to make sure that they didn't have any surprises like the last time. But it helped us - thanks to John's suggestion, I caught this one and this, in turn, led to the other; making it possible for us to backtrack to the first two incidents and get the picture," said Kusanagi.
" Apollo already had all these signals in her archives, but since SS-1 and SS-2 act like private communication satellites, and those particular signals were hidden inside millions of other comms signals, we never caught them. We only decoded the signals that originated during the transporter activity. But when we knew what we were looking for, it became much easier to separate comms signals that went to those transporters," she explained.
"Please, tell me you guys have put some sort of surveillance on those satellites - you know, the next time these assholes decide to take a trip, we need to know about it." Implored Sumner.
"Yes, we have trackers in both of them as well as all other Chinese satellites, just in case. We will receive a ping, here at SGC and at all our warships in orbit, whenever another transporter activity occurs," Kusanagi promised.
"That's good to know because we need to be ready to move when they do," said Sumner and addressed everyone seated at the table. "I want all of you to go over the field protocols when it comes to Goa'uld and the Wraith. I'm going to assign SG-11- that is Major Lorne, Captain Cadman, Captain Vega, Sergeant Bates, and Major Sheppard - to you for a joint operations team. When combined, your team will have two gene carriers and Marines who have experience dealing with the Goa'uld. And Lieutenant Commander, I need you and your team to get everyone involved in the ops planning and wargaming, because I know you SEALs are the best when it comes to field ops. You will have the tactical lead when it comes to engaging the Goa'uld and their human agents - and the lead will go to Sheppard when it comes to anything relating to Wraith. Now, all of you get to work - pool your resources, ideas, come up with strategies and start training. Because the next time those assholes make a move, you are going to go in and put a stop to it."
With this last order, Colonel Sumner baptized the team that was going to take the lead in the future missions, against the Goa'uld/Wraith Alliance.
