A/N: I don't do this often, but one particular review left by a guest reviewer warrants, in my opinion, a response on here. JC, to address your concerns, where do you even get the impression that this story might turn into a "hate the US" story, where they "must become slaves to the UN"? Seriously, I'm completely lost on where you'd get that impression.
Chapter 17
Ernest paced around outside the door as he and Samuel were waiting outside the infirmary, waiting to speak with the prisoner.
After minute or so, Sam put up a hand, stopping Ernest mid-pace. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to be, I know interrogation isn't your area of expertise." Sam said with a reassuring nod.
Returning the nod, Ernest looked at the door "Thanks Sam, I appreciate that, but I should be here. Something tells me we might be doing this again in the future."
"No worries." Turning to a guard in the hallway, Sam asked several questions to which Ernest hardly heard.
In truth, Dr. Littlefield was wracked with a potent mixture of fascination and worry, not at his safety, he knew that a million and one security precautions were being imposed on the little medical wing. No it was worry about what they might find out about this… well, man and his peoples.
But the academic in Ernest was ecstatic about what they might find out about humans beyond Earth.
"Are you ready?" Samuel asked after finishing talking the soldier standing guard.
"Y-yes." Ernest said.
"Don't worry there will be two soldiers inside the room with us and two more outside and don't forget that the prisoner's strapped down." Samuel said before entering the room. Pausing as he opened the door, he flashed a grin "plus theres the fact he's still recovering from enough broken ribs to lay out a grown man."
"I know, I'm not afraid It's ju-" Before he could finished one of nurses interrupted him.
"Before you start the interrogation the Doctor want to speak with you, sirs." The blond nurse in uniform said, eyes down on her clipboard
"Of course" Samuel said as they entered the medical wing. It was abuzz with activity as a dozen nurses moved back and forth between a multitude of beds, with a couple doctors hovering in the background. Glancing around, he saw Sergeant Shepherd laying back on his bed, a wrip of gauze around his head.
He waved "Sergeant! You doing alright?"
Shepard tilted his chin up, trying to remain motionless "Yep, right as rain, agent." he groaned "Doc says I should try not moving my head around for another day, but I should be fine." He lazily waved an arm to his right "Pete, too."
"Well if theres anything you need, let me know."
"Actually, there is." he said pointing a finger to his left towards a group of beds occupied by several soldiers "Can you get Morehouse to shut up about his grandma's sailfish recipe? Bad enough we're already on military rations, but now we're in medical… on medical rations." Flashing a playful glare at his men, "I'd have to say, listening to stories about such culinary goodness is just too cruel!"
Morehouse turned and cracked a wicked smile at his Sergeant "Sorry sir, you mean you don't wanna hear 'bout the cuts so tender and rich they melt in your mouth?"
"Swear to god Morehouse, I'll have you doing oil changes for a month for this insubordination!"
Morehouse looked back at Monroe and the small group of soldiers stuck in the medical wing, with a small nod he continued "Well, then I suppose I shouldn't mention the chili pepper sauce that my uncle brings in on occasion."
One of the soldiers played along. "Hey, Morehouse, isn't that the one you said tickles the roof of your mouth likes its a cradle of warmth?"
"The very one and the same, let me tell you, first you get some serano and. . ." he began to rattle off a list of spices to the enraptured group.
With arms raised, Shepard called out "Save me, agent, my men are sadists!"
Sam chuckled. "Much as I would like to, Ernest and I have some business to attend to, best of luck though, Shepard." he finished as the two continued towards the isolated room in the back of the wing. Behind them, Shepard groaned again as one of the soldiers was apparently "inspired" to describe a homemade chili chicken recipe.
"Did you see that?" Sam asked with a small smile on his face.
"I did, looks like some progress is being made there."
"Yeah, between being stuck in medical and the ass-chewing Douglas got after his stunt, everyone's been real motivated to be cooperative."
"Hopefully it'll stick." Ernest mused as they neared the back. As they approached the guarded door, an aged doctor flagged them held to his side, he stared into Sam's eyes before he spoke, his gravely voice carrying an air of authority that reminded Sam of his old drill instructor.
"You will not stress my patient nor will you do anything to physically aggravate his condition even more so, I'm not going to have you putting the screws on him. Is that clear?" He said.
"And with all due respect why's that Doctor? I don't receive orders from you and I have a job to do, we've got to get as much information from his as we can." Samuel voiced. In truth, he wasn't planning on hurting the prisoner, he just didn't like someone outside his command barging in and dictating thing.
"You will if you want an alive prisoner and not a catatonic or dead one." He said standing closer to Sam, his gaze unflinching.
Sam bit his lip before responding "Well I'm certainly not planning on smacking his around today doc, I've seen a fair share of wounds doctor. . .?"
"Sanderson."
"Well Doctor Sanderson, I can promise that I won't be torturing him if that's what you're worrying about, while he's in medical I won't mess with his recovery. Once he's well though and if he's uncooperative. . ."
Sanderson just glared at Sam for a moment before grunting. Taking out a key, he unlocked the door and gestured for the two to enter. Ernest saw the prisoner in the bed, he had some bandages in the arms and the chest, but they left the X in the stomach free.
He also saw, in more detail, the tattoo in the forehead of the alien, It was an eye.
"Ra's symbol." Ernest said looking at Samuel who narrowed his eyes.
"I took the liberty of having the nurses reduce the patient's sedative a few minutes ago. Based on what we've seen from his physiology, he'll be shrugging this pretty quickly now that he's off the drip." No sooner did Sanderson finish then the alien opened it's eyes and groan. Stirring, the ... well, the man began to wake up. After he blinked for several moments, he started to look around the room. Walking over, Sam roughly shoved an ear piece in the man's ear and stood back. After talking with the doctor for several more moments about the patient's vitals, Sam stepped to the bed's base and grabbed the railing, leaning in ever so slightly.
"My name is Samuel and this Ernest, we're here because. . .Well, I guess because we want to ask you some question about your civilization." He asked, but the alien just looked at them without saying a word.
"If you cooperate I can talk with my superiors and get you a better room." he tried, but the alien never answered. Spreading his palms, Sam continued.
"Of course, you can always just end up in dark cell once you're better, if that's what you'd rather prefer. I can make your life a lot easier if you help me." The silence in the room answered for the alien.
Ernest sighed before speaking "Can you at least tell us this: who do you serve?" that seemed to pique the alien's interest. Tilting his head, he looked at Ernest and spoke for the first time, his voice surprisingly alive for a man who'd been under sedation just minutes before.
"I serve Ra, the glorious lord of the sun, and ruler of creation. He is the greatest God of all and once he finds you," He grinned, "He will make you pay for what you've done."
"Good. Good, that's something." Sam said straightening up "And this. . .Ra is it? Does he rule your nation? Your home?"
The alien chuckled, in the way a man laughed when he knew something the other didn't: "A nation? Ra rules no mere nation, He rules countless worlds personally in his everlasting demesne. Other lords all pay fealty to him in his immaculate imperium. Ra is everything, Ra is supreme. He is the god all others bow to."
'Well, at least he is talking.' Ernest thought. Sam meanwhile raised an eyebrow.
"Other gods? What other… gods are out there?"
The alien continued to smile. "Many."
"Well what are their names?" Ernest asked to silence, the alien simply looked to the side disinterested, grimacing slightly with the movement. "Let me hazard a guess, Isis? Seth? Osiris? Horus? Bast?"
The alien snapped his head back to him, glaring as he hissed "You speak the name of traitors, the son of our lord, and minor lordlings. Whom do you serve?"
"...Ok... lets change the subject, are there other humans out there in the galaxy?" Sam interjected
The alien seemed confused. "Yes, there are many of them scattered across the galaxy but wh?. . .ah." He said before smiling again, his eyes hardening as he renewed his glare at the men, a look of realization on his face " I know you've tried to befuddle my senses, yet know little of a Jaffa's body. You speak the names of the Gods like they're nothing, you know so little of the world beyond. I may be young, but I can still notice a thing or two. You must be so primitive that you just started traveling the stars, perhaps our lords once visited you and ruled in their effervescent glory, but now no longer do. Were you damned by your betters, yet still cling to existence without your gods? Tell me, have you only just discovered your chappa'ai?"
Sam to his credit remained stoned face, but Ernest couldn't help but widen his eyes at the alien's rapid deductions. It seemed ludicrous that he could figure this out, especially with the drug cocktail they had him on, either he was delusional enough to believe in this idea of his gods...or they existed and were powerful enough to make this hyperbole the truth. Either thought wasn't of much comfort to Ernest. The alien saw him and his wide eyes and chuckled, satisfied with that as his answer.
He laughed, wincing in pain. "The arrogance of the primitives is something we always hear stories about, but I never thought I'd witness it first hand." He laughed again and after after another grunt, he looked at the pair "I will tell you this. There are many Gods, far more than your paltry list. Each commands great armies and massive fleets. The most pathetic of lords might have a few ships and mere thousands at his command, others have fleets of hundreds of warships and millions of warriors at their beck and call. But none, none of them compare to Ra, millions if not billions of humans and Jaffa serve him and him alone. His armada can darken the sky of any world he sees fit. His power is so great all the lords, no matter their strength and size, pay allegiance to him. All serve Ra, Goa'uld, Human, Jaffa." he coughed, his chest on fire with pain, wheezing, he finished "and eventually. So. Will. You."
Sam and Ernest looked at each other, Sam remained stone faced, and Ernest remained as calm as he could, though inside he was worried. As they let the alien catch his breath, Ernest pondered his next questions. When he looked well, he began.
"Ja-ffa what's that? You've mentioned that several times now, is that your name?"
"Jaffa, It's what we are, we who serve our Gods, we who fight in their battles and we who give our lives for them."
"So you're soldiers?"
"We are warriors." he said in a serious tone.
Ernest was going to ask another question but Samuel was quicker "What can you tell us about the parasite that's in your body?" he said while pointing his stomach.
The alien's eyes widened, his nostril flared "PARASITE!" he raised his voice "Watch your tongue, this is a god! Every Jaffa carries a god inside them, to protect them and in exchange, we're given strength, health and longevity. It is our covenant with our masters"
"A-are you telling me that what's in your abdomen. . .is a God?" Ernest said incredulous.
"They are our Gods, we've been instructed to protect and nurture the young of our masters, only the Jaffa are given this sacred task. What do you know, you ignorant savage as to dare to profane the sacred bond we share?!"
Noticing his agitation, the doctor moved in "I think that's enough for now, my patient needs to rest." The doctor said. Narrowing his eyes at Sam in particular.
"Fine, let's go Ernest!" He said
"Wait, one more question. What's your name?" Ernest asked
"My name?" The alien asked, labouring in his breathing "My. . .my name is Korus!"
"We'll Korus, we'll be seeing you around."
The two men swiftly departed, as soon as the door closed, Sam called out to the nearest nurse
"I assume you got all that?"
"Yes sir agent, all on the film reel, and the microphone picked up everything."
"Good, lets get a copy of those made pronto and sent back to Earth, that meeting between the president and the Commonwealth will be in a few days, we've gotta make sure they have all the up to date information they'll need."
. . .
One Week Later
Truman adjusted his tie for what felt like the millionth time as he mentally prepared for this meeting. They'd kept it as low key as possible, but the media caught whiff of it and were of course asking their usual questions. While it was parlayed as a simple meeting between the leaders of several Allied nations, it didn't take an intelligence officer to notice that this gathering was strictly between leaders of America and the Commonwealth nations and not just ambassadors and other diplomatic functionaries, but the actual heads of state of several nations and the foreign ministers of several more. Rumors were circulating, but the common line was being repeated, simple diplomacy.
"And if we're lucky, that all they'll be getting." Truman though as he splashed some water in his face. By all accounts he shouldn't be nervous, compared to commanding the nation at the end of the War, everything else should have been a cakewalk, but then again this wasn't anything. After all, one typically didn't prepare on a daily basis to reveal to several key allies that the Earth was under the threat of alien attack. Spending decades in politics and one could still never account for everything.
"At least Bevin will be there, that'll help." Foreign policy hadn't been his forte even before he became president, but he felt that'd he'd acquitted himself so far in the grand scheme of things, though he was more than willing to admit to his shortcomings and was glad to bring in help when he could, this would be no exception. The Brits certainly had a lot more experience in dealing with their former colonies. Brushing himself off, he met with his guard outside and walked down to the meeting room in the White House. Given the wide spread of Commonwealth nations who'd be attending, Washington was deemed an acceptable place to meet, a nice central location for all the incoming dignitaries. As he entered the room, he noticed that the British delegation had been the first to arrive. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin was sitting with a uniformed military officer and another gentleman in a suit.
"Punctual as usual." he thought as he approached the group.
"Ah, hello Mr. President."
"Mr. Minister, its good to see you, I assume your two fellows have already been briefed."
"Of course, it wouldn't do for our people to looked surprised at this meeting, it'd make us look a bit unprofessional." The large man said with a small smile.
"Of course. I won't lie, it'll be good to have you here, I'd hate having to break this news alone."
"Mmh, yes quite. Just know Mr. President, His Majesty's Government still stands ready to assist in any capacity it can, regardless of the outcome of this meeting."
Truman raise an eyebrow. "Ah, so you got the proposal then?"
"Indeed, and I must say that it does make a good bit of sense, and I'm confident that the others will be most amiable to this agreement, though it may take a little bit of extra persuasion."
"Well I hope so, we've gotten bit more information from Fort Roosevelt, but nothing more substantial than what was provided earlier, I think. . ." Truman was interrupted by a guard rushing over and whispering into his ear.
"We'll it looks like the South African delegation is ready to come in, I've gotta go play diplomat before we blow the lid off this. Hope you're ready."
"I always am" Bevin finished as he fished into a briefcase looking for several documents. As he placed the papers on his table, he looked up and saw President Truman shaking hands with Prime Minister Smuts, whom arrived with a pair of uniformed men.
"And so it begins." Bevin thought as he and his group stood, ready to greet their Commonwealth compatriots.
The rest of the delegations filed in slowly. Australia's Foreign Minister Herbert Evatt came in together with Peter Fraser, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, along with their combined staffs as a sign of ANZAC solidarity. Finally the last delegation lead by the Canadian Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent, marched in. The groups quickly settled into their respective placed, the room was arranged into a crescent shape, with the tables forming a half circle, with the American president and his staff in the center of the arrangement. A projector and screen had been assembled ahead of time, but were shut off for a moment. As the politicos settled in, a veritable flood of reporters swarmed into the room. While the understanding was that most of this meeting would be conducted behind closed doors, for this opening portion and closing portions they'd be allowed access to the room for photos and a few questions. Ideally Truman would have liked to keep this whole meeting as closely under wraps as possible, but the reality of multiple high level dignitaries all gathering together meant that any hope of privacy would have been quickly quashed. Plus, they all also realized that such a meeting would be attracting eyes from not only the friendly nations of the world, but some of the more. . .paranoid gazes as well.
"Better off airing at least some of it to deflect the sting." Truman reflected. As everyone found their seats and settled down, the President assumed his position behind the central table and addressed the assembly.
"I'm quite happy to have everyone here for this meeting today" he began, his bespectacled eyes scanning the room "As we all know, nearly two years ago, the devastating conflict which plagued our globe, and touched all our lives finally came to a just and final end. While it might be tempting and even some might say, enjoyable, to lionize the achievements of each of our nations in ending the evil which wanted to destroy the freedoms we hold so dear, we can never forget that it was through the combined efforts of multiple nations which shattered the Axis Powers. While the UN is enjoying its inaugural year and hopefully will serve as a forum for us to facilitate a global peace, America would also like to extend a hand to some of its closest allies and work towards bringing everyone closer together to ensure that peace. For this moment, America has invited one of its closests friends in the war, the United Kingdom, as well as several of its partners within the Commonwealth of Nations to begin this process of tightening bonds and strengthening relationships with the world. " Placing a hand on the desk, he continued "It may be tempting and easy to see our victory and return to our patterns and habits of non-intervention in the globe, but for our success, America, like it or not has moved towards being a major partner in the global community of nations. We stand now at a crossroads of history. America can try and shrink back to the past, or it can move towards the future and act as one of the guiding beacons of freedom and liberty across the globe. This is just a first step in creating a more cohesive plan and consensus among our partners to ensure global stability. Overtime, more and more nations can and should take apart is this project of peace and together, help work towards the better future for all mankind."
"And thank god Taft is onboard with this." he thought as the glare of the flashbulbs temporarily blinded him as the small applause in the chamber echoed, he could see over the flare multiple journalists frantically scribbling down notes as he waited to begin fielding several of the questions. The forum was open for the other representatives to speak if they were given a question, but Truman wanted to get the meeting underway as soon as possible.
After about twenty minutes of questions, ranging from the sincere (would there be more foreign aid?) to the superfluous (what was Prime Minister Smut's favorite food in the states?), the guards in the room began to shoo out the reporters. As the last of the shutterbugs left the room, security came in and quickly searched for any bugs that might have been left behind. After a few minutes, the men in suits also filed out, leaving behind a pair of very carefully vetted guards, and the dozen delegates in the room.
Stepping behind his desk, Truman lowered his voice to a much fitting tone that matched the importance of the meeting.
"Now that they're gone, we can get down to the actual matter at hand." he said gesturing to the guards. One lowered the lights, while the other began to rig up the movie reel.
"Gentlemen, while this meeting is indeed about building closer ties between the global community, it's not quite in the way you likely imagined. If you would direct your attention to the screen. . ." The film reel began to project an all too familiar sight, the ring activating in a faint glow as the technicians turned the inner circle.
Images of the Stargate, the early experiments, the first groups, survivors from the ES-5 skirmish, the construction of Fort Roosevelt and the main base in the states. The dissections of the Eagle Warriors and the interrogation of the patient, to the demonstrations of the staff weapons, to name a few of the many scenes played out before the crowd. All painted the same picture though, its message loud and clear to everyone in the room.
Humanity wasn't alone.
After about two hours of footage, report presentations and descriptions from intelligence dockets, the delegates had become fully immersed in the basic premise of the SGI and their functions and goals, to say nothing of the technological miracle buried beneath the sands of Nevada. While obviously the nuances and the finer details of the operations were still to be discussed, for the general purposes of this first day Truman wanted the others brought up to speed as fast as possible and was quite prepared to devote this whole day to fielding any questions they might have.
A low murmur carried over the room for several minutes as each group conversed with themselves, processing everything they'd just witnessed. Delegates pointed at their dockets, scribbled more and more notes and huddled together as they figured out their next course of action.
Finally, Fraser was the first to speak to the small assembly, keeping his eyes on his docket while running a pencil down, his voice rose '"So as I understand, we've recovered more than one hundred and twenty five of these staff weapons, nearly fifty lightning rods, and seven to eight damaged or destroyed fliers?"
"You'd be correct, Mr. Prime Minister. Truman said
"And so what do you propose we do then about this, Mr. President?" Fraser asked.
"Well, I'd like to put forward to this assembly the idea of an alliance between our nations specifically for the common defence of our world from any possible alien threats, as well as to also coordinate research and development into technologies derived from the stargate." Truman announced to a general murmur of the crowed.
"Sensible." St. Laurent said as he looked around, the group others nodded in agreement.
Fraser spoke again, his pencil down "I agree, as will most of us here, having a united defence for our world is going to be paramount, I think we can all safely agree on that point?" he asked to the group, with a collective murmur of agreement being the response. Holding up a hand though, he continued "However, I think we need to be responsible about this and figure some things out."
"Like what Mr. Prime Minister?" Truman asked
"Well for starters, how is this defence going to be coordinated? What will our obligations be, if any? How will benefits be apportioned to each member? Will it be by contribution, because if so, then I think I speak for some of the small powers here when I say that won't do at all!" Smuts and Evatt nodded as he continued "And finally, and possibly most importantly, how will our armed forces in this alliance be organized? Will our forces have independent command, or will others be directing them? Because while of course New Zealand will fight to defend Earth,if we join this group, will we be expected to surrender the command of our militaries to the larger nations of the alliance?. Generals coordinating or even leading an expeditionary force is one thing, but when you say global and greater peace, it sounds like you're talking about something much bigger than us just throwing a few units at the problem and calling it a day."
Truman though for a moment as he processed the barrage of questions, which to be fair, were all legitimate points. Much as it would make the whole damn thing simple, Fraser was right, they couldn't just ask member nations to give up the command of military forces for the SGI if they were going to keep the reason for it a secret. He knew a lot of people in every nation weren't keen to see greater foreign involvement and commitments. Payouts for contributions would also be one of those matters as well. While it was one thing to say that of course all members should share in the research and the benefits of the program, would the larger nations really want their hard work to be given away? The risk of security leaks were always present too and given the time, money and other resources to needed to invest in such a feat, would everyone be so willing to share what could be incredible leaps forward in technological progress? This latest war had shown after all, the prowess of the march forward when it came to R&D.
"You're right, Mr Prime Minister." Truman spoke. "This isn't a small problem we can just throw things at and call it good. Quite frankly, we're looking at the long term when discussing this plan, something on the magnitude of years, if not decades. Obviously things will have to come in phases and increments as we work our way forward but for the short term, if you'll look at your dockets, is as follows." Truman opened his own folder and thumbed through several pages before getting to the one he wanted.
"We need to get our nations comfortable with the idea of working with each other permanently, yes, we know, theres a lot of sentiment across the globe to just pull back and settle down, especially after the war. We have to do our best to combat this attitude because, like it or not, this alien threat is something we'll have to face one day, and the sooner we can do so as a united front the better. For this beginning portion of the alliance, what the plan is is to have groups from each nation coordinating with each other and working to form a cohesive unit, but still distinct and independent for each nation. Cooperation will be just that, cooperation, no integration, no subservient commands, just an agreement among allies to assist each other if they need be. Give it a few years, and then we can publically start talking about more integrated units and command structures. The ultimate goal here, decades down the line, is to basically have our alliance be able to cohesively respond to any hostile incursions here on Earth if such an event were to happen. The more integrated our militaries can become, the better. It would mean more smooth transitions between commands, access to greater and greater resources, and most importantly, it would prevent nations from becoming lynchpins to defence when it comes command. Though again, I acknowledge that this is the very long term goal and agenda and that all is strictly for the public side of the alliance. In private, I think we can all agree, our forces protecting the Stargate and engaging in any operations going off world will be far more representative of our cooperation and will feature a greater integration of command and operations." Truman finished to a chorus of agreement from the men.
Fraser had returned to scribbling some notes and after a few minutes spoke once more. "And again, how should benefits be apportioned in this hypothetical alliance? As I said if we go purely by how much one nation contributes, than most of us here won't be able to match or even come close to contributing what the United States or the U.K can. It would be poor form for us to throw our lot in this and not see much benefit come from the program, especially when it comes to technologies."
Minister Evatt chimed in as well. "In addition, many of our governments are quite committed to fulfilling our promise to the voters. Our people are tired of war and of the war's economy. Prime Minister Chifley is adamant to continuing his pledge to build a better state for the people of Australia. Better healthcare, more universities and public utilities, a stronger safety net. What would our expected contribution be and what will we get out of it? We can hardly justify large expenditures towards military endeavors when we have to keep the main reason for such an alliance a secret, and while we will have to approach some in the Shadow Cabinet to explain this situation, we can hardly barge in and demand they go along with our plans."
"That's understandable." Truman said as he spread his arms to the group. "I'll be honest, the dual nature of this alliance proposal, of creating a united front here on Earth while secretly keeping the SGI supplied and funded will be difficult, so I'm open to any and all proposals from all of you. I feel that from the inception of this idea, it needs to be based on unity among the participants, otherwise we won't have a snowball's chance of actually coming together when the situation might become dire enough for it to warrant a mass mobilization or deployment."
The room was quiet for a moment before the assembled groups returned to speaking among themselves, the low cacophony was broken by a soft voice carrying over the room.
"While I of course believe that deciding on these political matters are of paramount importance, perhaps first and foremost, we should discuss more of the tactical matters relating to this Initiative, specifically what we've learned about our foe." Prime Minister Jan Smuts spoke, slowly rising out of his seat as he addressed the assembly. Truman looked at the older man, wracking his memories about the briefing he'd received about all the leader present. Smuts was something of a respected figure in the Commonwealth, the old man had been some kind of commando in his youth, back when the settlers of the area fought a war against the British, and later had been a general. Truman supposed out of all the men present he'd likely have some of the most military experience, or at least enough to be able to appreciate tactics and and other more localized facets of information.
"Of course, Mr. Prime Minister." Truman said, meeting his gaze.
"This Stargate is the only known method of egress and ingress from Earth to other worlds is it not?"
"Well as the dockets say, they're the only known method, though given the advanced nature of the Goa'uld, its quite likely they possess other technologies to travel between the stars, an ability that we sorely lack. As we've seen, such abilities do exist."
"Hmm, yes, and we've so far had two armed encounters with this group."
"Correct."
"And as Mr. Fraser pointed out, we've managed to...acquire a fair sum of technology from a raid we launched against them."
"Indeed we did."
"And you are certain that none of the opposing survivors gleaned any … threatening knowledge regarding the Earth?"
"We are. The precautions that were taken ensured that fact. Earth is secure for the time being."
"Hmm, and what precautions are those?"
"Well, during the raid in question, a smokescreen was deployed to obscure the dialing code for Fort Roosevelt. At Fort Roosevelt itself, the base is built near a natural gas pocket that we've managed to tap into. Our onsite fail safe is to overload those pipes with gas and then spark them, causing an explosion that should level the base. In addition, we've rigged several of the staff weapons back on Earth to fire through the gate in the event obstructions are placed in front of it. If Fort Roosevelt was to be compromised and the gate blocked, we'd fire a number of staff shots through to remove any obstacles then implement our own contingencies from our end."
"And those are?"
"Well in a few years, it'll be to push a nuclear bomb through the gate and level the other side, but since production of those is limited right now and heavily scrutinized, we've settled on an alternative. We've rigged up a rail on our end to shuttle through a modified sixteen thousand pound block buster bomb through the gate, that has enough power to blow off anything near the gate. Afterwards, a battery of incendiary mortars and explosives will follow through, followed by a number of mustard gas canisters. On Earth, the defences have already been detailed in the docket."
"But what about operations away from Earth? How was we ensuring the safety of not only our outposts, but of Earth as well? No offence Mr. President, but from what I've seen and read so far, we've been getting lucky. We've not lost any personnel to the enemy, by which I mean we've yet to see one of our soldiers captured, and the compromised soldiers who'd been assimilated by these snakes were neutralized. We can't rely on this though, surely you don't believe that your luck so far can hold indefinitely? All it would take is one prisoner, one person who knows the gate address, and Earth is lost. If these aliens do have transport capacities beyond the gates, then even if we block off ours, they'll still be able to approach from the stars."
"We have already considered this possibility. Standing policy, which we thankfully have yet to have to exercise, is to … not allow prisoners to be taken."
"You can't mean …"
"I do. And I have no doubts that, should the need arise, our men will carry out that order."
"Do you now?" Smuts said shaking his head "Its so easy to craft policy, to create an order that will seemingly give us the best security, but that only assumes it will always be followed. Tell me, do you honestly believe that a soldier will murder one of his fellows in cold blood? Do you expect them to be able to, at the drop of a hat, be willing and able to train their gun on their friends and pull the trigger? To do so while looking at a man he'd fought beside, bleed beside, trained beside? Sure we can detail it a thousand and one times, how the safety of Earth is paramount, how one sacrifice is for the greater good, but in the field, when things have gone sour, while people are frantic, do you honestly expect that such an order can be followed in such a circumstance? Even if our men follow it ninety nine percent of the time, that still leaves the one, and that's all it will take…" he finished as he let his voice trail off, the room silent as they soaked in the man words.
As he retook his seat, he spoke again "Any contingency which asks that we disregard our most basic instincts, moralities and aversions is a contingency doomed to failure when these natural responses have to compete with our artificial expectations."
Bevin spoke up. "Obviously, it's an imperfect solution, rest assured, that is not the only precaution. We have also had some of our best people laying plans for other contingencies. In light of recent events, both the United States and the United Kingdom have begun to arrange for active implementation of these plans."
"And what plans are those?" Fraser asked
"Colonies. Offworld safepoints where earthly civilization can be preserved. Places of refuge we plan to establish to ensure that, should the worst befall Earth, our people, our culture, will survive. These sites will become home to groups of people who are willing to brave a new frontier, to carve out these bastions of civilization from scratch. In time, these colonies will be as capable of supporting modern civilization as any first-world countries cities."
"'In time?'" Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent finally spoke again.
"You can't expect them to go from prefabricated structures to towering buildings and full infrastructure overnight. It will take time before these colonies are sophisticated and wholly self-sustaining."
"That's understandable, but how much time are you talking about?"
"Optimistically, twenty years. Realistically, closer to a half-century before they're on par with modern cities."
The Prime Minister's gaze narrowed as he looked around the room, the corners of his mouth narrowing. "Twenty to fifty years...Gentlemen, you do realize the type of work needed to build a city, and to make one from scratch is no meager endeavour, especially one on what would be an unsettled frontier. Add to that the need for secrecy, and this project will make an already slow process more difficult. And those are resources we also need to use to defend Earth. Tell me, are you planning to continue exploration efforts while this building occurs?"
"Well of course." Truman said, returning the man's gaze.
"Then I tell you now, this is not going to work. We'd be dividing our resources between our exploration and defence endeavours while trying to make these secondary cities and posts viable. You say twenty to fifty years, do you honestly expect that we can conceal our presence for that long while we build? As the honorable Mr. Smuts said, it only takes one and if our operations are compromised in that twenty to fifty years, before the colonies can be self sustaining, the outcome would be apocalyptic!"
"So what do you propose then Mr. Prime Minister."
"Simple. Until we have these back up colonies built, from what you've said we've uncovered several worlds already without a Goa'uld presence. I say, if we're going to do this, then until we have a secure foothold and redundant locations built up, we don't explore anymore. As you've said, so far, the enemy doesn't know where we are, and we've managed to secure a number of their own technologies for our own use. Add to that the base at Heliopolis, which in and of itself might hold a treasure trove of technology, and we have absolutely no incentive to continue stomping around the stars in our current state. I say nestle down in the holdings we've found and start to build up. Make our fall back points, and in the meantime, work at understanding these technologies, both from the Eagle Warriors and from Heliopolis. If it's going to take us decades to make sure our off world locations are that secure in material and personnel, then we'll have plenty of time to try and crack these technologies. We've captured parts for flying machines that use no discernable engines, weapons that can kill with bolts of energy and others that can incapacitate our foes, to say nothing of the metallurgical properties of the armor we've secured. Until we gain more of an understanding of these and possibly reproduce our own copies, then we have no business being out there until we're good and ready to meet the threat. Once we have a better technological base, once our own weapons systems and defences have become more sophisticated, only then should we go venturing out once more because otherwise, we'll be gambling on our luck."
Smacking a hand on the table the man looked around at the assembly "And that's something Earth cannot rely on!"