Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.
Consequently they agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.
The White House, Situation Room, March 1st 1997
The alien weapon lay on the table, in the middle of everyone, proof of the threat that Earth faced. He stared at it, examining its every detail. The strange design was more like a wizard's staff than a real weapon, covered in decorative lines and carvings. Its snout looked menacing, as did the 'stunner' shaped like a cobra's head at the butt.
What manner of men had created this, he thought idly, as the meeting began. He looked up, signalling that he was ready, observing the generals and advisors assembled for the occasion. It was a small gathering;
Shalikashvili the Chairman, Ralston the Vice-Chairman, Fogleman for the Air Force, Reimer for the Army, Johnson for the Navy, Krulak for the Marines, and Anthony Lake, the National Security Advisor.
Fogleman was the only one standing, at the opposite end of the table, next to a series of blown-up images of the aliens, their 'Jaffa' hosts' corpses, images of a fighter of some kind and of the weapon that was laying on the table disassembled.
"Mr. President, the situation out of Cheyenne has to be addressed," said Fogleman, the Chief of Staff for the Air Force, "General Hammond has created a unit under his own called Stargate Command to search for technology and allies that can help defend our country and planet."
"The alien defector they brought back has told us there are thousands of habitable worlds out there, many of them in the hands of his former masters. You have the report on the Goa'uld."
The files on the alien enemy had been a collection of nightmares-come-true.
"Makes for grim reading, General," the President replied, "Hundreds of mother ships capable of interstellar travel, with weapons that can devastate us from orbit. Hundreds of millions of slaves, who worship them. Aliens masquerading as the gods of ancient Egypt, capable of possessing the bodies of humans..."
"Sounds like a god damn episode of the X Files," Krulak growled, "Conspiracy theory stuff. How do we develop strategy against that."
"It's very real," Shalikashvili replied gravely, "The Air Force put a team through the ring onto an alien planet a year ago and nuked the place to stop the same alien threat."
Omitting the fact the original intent had been to close the gate, back when it was thought there was only one destination.
"We thought that was the end of it, until this attack on us and our rescue mission," Fogleman explained, "As total authority over the Stargate device was given to the Air Force during the Abydos Incident, Hammond has the right to form a unit to undertake missions unless we decide otherwise. However, he has to fund it out of his own budget, and he has NORAD to consider. We need secret funding at once, by whatever means necessary and by the truckload."
"We also need to put more people through that gate and find out what's out there, sir," Krulak added, "I don't think we can trust the word of a defector, even one as high ranked as this 'Teal'c' seems to be."
"He's being debriefed fully," Fogleman said, "We are confident we can detect any hidden agenda on his part, but considering he killed many of his own to escape, we don't think he's lying... though we won't know for sure until after."
"Either way, I want my Marines involved," Krulak continued, "We'll provide funding for three more teams under Hammond's command, if that's what it will take. The best way to get the mettle of an enemy is to fight him. Since it'll be the Marines doing a lot of the fighting in the future, we need to know him."
"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves," Admiral Johnson replied, "We're facing an overwhelming enemy. By attacking him, are we not just provoking a more immediate response? Are you not proposing to go to war before we have a... what? A space navy?"
"Already getting ready to take responsibility for that from the Air Force?" General Reimer joked, "How many of your sailors have been to space anyway?"
There was some amusement at this. Good, the President thought, that meant there was some confidence in the leadership at least. If only a sliver.
"The enemy is divided into warlord factions ever since the Abydos Incident," Fogleman explained, "We killed their leader, though they don't know it was us. We are not much of a threat to the warlords compared to one of their own with spaceships, Mr. President. We need to play the long game, gathering technology, intelligence, maybe even allies if we can find them. There may be targets of opportunity out there, but we'll only find out if we go looking."
The President scratched his chin. It was a strange feeling, not being in total control of your own destiny. The United States was the only remaining superpower of Earth. Its President could conquer the world like Charlemagne if he wanted. Though he did not want to. He wanted a new world order, a global consensus of peace and prosperity.
The damn aliens just had to come and ruin the possibility of a golden age.
Anthony, the only other civilian in the room, cleared his throat. He had kept remarkably quiet, letting the military minds speak first. But it was inevitable that the National Security Advisor would have his say.
"It occurs to me, Mr. President, that this 'we' the General speaks of is a little... restrictive," he declared, "Earth was attacked by aliens, and worse, we counterattacked."
"We rescued a kidnapped airwoman," Fogleman corrected the man, harshly, "We do not leave our people behind, Mr. Lake."
"I was not suggesting that we change that policy, General," Anthony continued, "What I am saying is that this problem is bigger than the United States. It requires a multilateral solution, cooperation with the rest of the world. Planetary security is not the sole purview of this administration. We can lead the response as the foremost power, but we cannot act on behalf of the rest of the world."
"We have done the heavy lifting," Krulak replied, "It was the Air Force and our scientists that discovered how to make the Stargate work. We know the most about it. Our Air Force has done the fighting. I don't see why we shouldn't keep it to ourselves, at least for the moment."
The President felt a tingle of fear in his gut. This could spin out of control. A single leak by someone who thought 'the world had to know' would be devastating to his administration and the security of the world.
"You're not suggesting we go public?" he asked his advisor, "I don't know how the world would react to that."
"No, Mr. President. That would create a mass panic, it would be suicide," Anthony said, "We need people to continue their everyday business, keep paying their taxes, working their jobs. But we still cannot go alone on this."
"If we fight a war against aliens, which already seems to have been declared, others are going to notice. We need diplomatic cover, an agreement to keep it quiet among the countries our public will actually believe. We also need the best and brightest working on this, and not all of those are American."
The President leaned back in his chair, relieved.
"So what are you suggesting?" Fogleman asked, "The UN Security Council? Only the Permanent members? I can't say Hammond will be happy to see Russian or Chinese troops marching around under the same mountain that NORAD sits in. I can't see any officer we replace him with being happy with it either."
"We'll need to tell the Canadians soon anyway," Ralston added, "There's no way their staff in Cheyenne have failed to spot the strange goings-on there. The base being locked down at random, troop movements."
"Mr. President, gentlemen, the United States has been attacked on its own soil by a hostile power," Anthony said, "What we need to do is trigger Article 5, secretly. We have NATO declare war on the Goa'uld. It represents the bulk of human military might, as well as the most democratic nations. We need a multi-lateral response, or when this does go public, we will be blamed."
There was silence in the room for a moment.
"That's a surefire way of going public unintentionally, Mr. Lake," Krulak said, "The Russians still have spies in Europe, you know?"
"We tell the Russians and the Chinese that we were attacked at Cheyenne by aliens," Anthony replied, "We just say 'we were attacked by aliens with advanced weapons', maybe even give them a demonstration of this … staff, and say absolutely nothing about how the aliens got here. The Stargate remains our secret. All information about it is kept at Cheyenne or Area 51. No files or papers are transferred to NATO or allies. It all stays here."
"It has advantages, like keeping command of Stargate Command under our jurisdiction, but it's also risky," Shalikashvili said, "If even one of our allies feels they need to go public, or the Russians find out about how the aliens got here, the whole plan is rumbled."
"Then we put the fear of God into all of them," Krulak smiled, "We claim that we have hundreds of these alien... weapons, that we're reverse-engineering them, that anyone who goes public will be considered to be cooperating with the enemy and will be treated as such."
"That'll be a bluff," Anthony said, "We can't destroy international trade either, or the economy goes down and so does any funding we might put into this."
"It's only a bluff for the moment," Shalikashvili replied, "By the time they figure out it is a bluff, it won't be any more. We'll have the technologies. Then we can promise some of that in return for cooperation."
He looked to his Commander in Chief.
"Mr. President, it seems like a good idea," the Chairman stated, "I think we should start immediately. Give Hammond the money he needs, give him the three Marine teams that General Krulak has offered, and we can integrate NATO into what he builds as it comes into play."
The President nodded.
"I agree," he said, "Anthony, I'll need the Canadian and British Prime Ministers and the French President on a plane here tonight. We will brief them... and talk to the Russian and Chinese ambassadors before we call a session of the full North Atlantic Council..."
"May God have mercy on us."