When I first wrote this piece, it ate my brain. Literally, for weeks I could think of nothing else. Then one day I finished it, took a good look at it, and decided it was too controversial to post. So it sat, completed, on my hard drive until the wonderful Jmas looked it over and accepted it for her Stargate zine, Ancient's Gate 18: Falling Inside. Without Jmas and Eilidh, I doubt this piece would have ever come off my hard drive. Thanks ladies!
This piece has timed out of publication restriction as of August 11, 2010. Enjoy.
Zine summary: Earth is a noisy planet, sending all those signals into space. Someone, somewhere, might be listening. But what - or who - are they listening to?
Title: Dangerous Whispers
Author: samantilles
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Spoilers: 4x02 The Other Side
Category: Episode Tag
Word Count: 1657
Warnings: Deals with the perspective of the Eurondans and of another genocidal group here on Earth. Please note that the feelings and emotions in this story is not the perspective of the author.
Beta: many many thanks to eilidh17 and ancientmuse for guiding me through this story and to jmas for thinking it good enough to be included in her zine.
Artist: Art credit goes to eilidh17 and JayEm.
"Here in Germany, however, there are 360 persons per square mile. The others cannot manage with 26 persons per square mile, but we must manage with 360. This is the task we face. That is why I expressed this view in 1933: 'We must solve these problems and, therefore, we shall solve them.' Of course that was not easy; everything could not be done immediately. Human beings are the product of their education, and, unfortunately, this begins practically at birth."
It was as if the gods were speaking to them personally. For over four years while the war raged above the bunkers, Eurondan technology picked up the weak signal of truth. Four years ago, Alar held little hope of success against the breeders. They were on the verge of defeat. And then, a voice came over the radio as a young technician scanned the entire span of radio frequencies. He had almost missed it; the signal was on the far range of their technologies. It was certainly the gods speaking to them, giving them hope.
Alar requisitioned the transcription of the new messenger of truth, and throughout the years Alar kept a copy as a personal inspiration, something he turned to when he began to lose hope in the cause. Often he sat for hours listening and reading with the great orator. "The struggle for world domination will be fought entirely between us, between Germans and Jews. All else is facade and illusion. Behind England stands Israel, and behind France, and behind the United States. Even when we have driven the Jew out of Germany, he remains our world enemy." Alar found solace, power, and renewed vigor in the words of Adolph Hitler; he knew that he must be a great leader of his oppressed people and Alar sympathized with him on their similar struggles. Adolph's words came frequently through the radio, each moving speech and every dramatic reading of what must be these people's holy scriptures, Mein Kampf reinvigorated the Alar's and his people's struggles against the vile breeders.
Then, it seemed that fate was on his side. Eurondan archaeologists uncovered a large stone ring deep within the caves. The inscriptions on the wall talked of a place of ancestors. At first the historians and archaeologists kept quiet the translations of the massive stones that covered the "portal" as they thought it might be. To bring more attention to it might divert manpower, and everyone knew the importance of winning this war. Reports were written and distributed amongst the leadership, and Alar utilized every man and woman whose specialities were not geared towards maintiaining the war on the project. The translations of the coverstones took nearly two years to complete, though linguists still admitted the translations had holes. They only were able to complete what they could because of a secondary discovery of a large console with symbols that matched the strange symbols on both the coverstones and the walls.
Alar sat at the head of the council table, his cabinet feasting on a feeble meal of hydroponically grown yeast and water. His heart ached for the taste of fresh fruit he enjoyed as a young child. Even after forty years of bland food, his palette remembered savory and sweet sensations even his best scientists could not mimic. But tonight was a conversation six years in the making. The archaeologists, historians, and linguists put their best theories forward and came to a final decision, whether or not to turn on the machine.
"Are we sure this will lead us to the home of our ancestors?" The commander betrayed herself with inflections of both doubt and hope in her question.
"Are there any other worlds out there?" The questions came more quickly than originally expected. "Can we be certain that the Reich won the world war? What if Hitler or his successors aren't in power? What if glorious Germany lost? What if they want to help the breeders instead?"
Alar shushed them. "My comrades, fear not that the war was lost over there. We continue to receive reports daily of the ongoing success of the Reich. The reports seem to indicate they are assured victory over the Jews, the Russians, the French, and the English. A cause like ours is righteous; the gods above would not let us fail." He smiled gently upon his cabinet. His faith was like stone.
"Chancellor, I must point out that those radio transmissions could be hundreds, if not thousands of years old. We know of a time delay just from one side of the planet to the other when communicating with our fighters. Surely you must have considered this!" A young brunette lieutenant spoke up. "A lot of time may have passed on the homeworld." Her voice faltered when she pointed out the obvious.
"Marcal, as I mentioned, a cause like ours is righteous; it is timeless. Our ancestors will either be still fighting for the cause or have already come up with a solution. If the former, then perhaps we can help each other in our individual battles, and if the latter, then they will surely sympathize and help us as they so gloriously overcame the oppression of the vile." Alar's face lit up as he spoke passionately. His innate leadership skills shone to those in his cabinet as he held up his personal journal filled with the transcriptions of Hitler's speeches and readings of the past six years. He waved the book reverently and drew strength from it.
"So we open the portal. Who goes?" A stout man decided for the cabinet, his age dignified with a tuft of greying hair.
Alar stood up. "I will go as I'm sure my father would have wanted to go himself if he were still with us."
Farell stood up as well. "Sir, we cannot allow this. We are not certain of anything; not certain whether this will go to the home of our ancestors, or the home of Chancellor Hitler, or if this will be a one way trip to your death. No, sir, I insist you be the last person to go until we have some confirmation of where the portal leads." Her face and posture betrayed her; her love for Alar was apparent, if not cleverly hidden as reverence. "Please, sir, I can have a dozen volunteers ready to go in an hour. Any one of them will serve our cause honorably and act as representatives of Euronda in the highest esteem. Please, sir."
Alar smiled at his lieutenant. "Of course, Farell, you are wise beyond your years. Go. I'll be with you shortly." He waved her out the door.
The speaker for the cabinet again addressed Alar. "I also caution against announcing our knowledge of the Chancellor to whomever we meet through the portal. While I am confident Chancellor Hitler has decimated his enemies in the field of battle and leads a utopian society, we must not be hasty or naïve. Their gate might be in enemy hands. I urge the volunteers to be keen on their surroundings. They should be able to quickly decipher the situation on the ancestral homeworld and act accordingly. We may not even reach the Reich. This portal may lead to another homeworld altogether. Prudence and intelligence are what hold us superior to the breeders." The speaker had been a crony of Alar's father and it was imprudent not to follow his advice.
"I agree," commented Alar thoughtfully. "Until we know more about those we are contacting, it is forbidden to mention any knowledge we have of the Reich, of Hitler, or of Germany. Only once we have confirmation that our comrades are on the other side of the portal should we mention the radio transmissions. I will go directly to meet with the volunteers, and we shall commence opening the portal in about two hours." Alar took his glass in his hand and held it up in toasting. "To the valiant volunteers who go before us in diplomacy and the hope of salvation!" The room shouted in "Here! Here!" and "True!"
"To Alar and his leadership in bringing the possibility of new friendship and connection with our ancestors! Without your keen mind, we may never have connected the opportunity today with the potential of new allies we know are out there! To Alar!" The response to the toast was more robust and Alar blushed in modesty of the kind words bestowed upon him by the speaker of the cabinet. The meeting broke up as Alar departed to open up the portal, the cabinet returning to their battle stations with a less grim outlook on the end of this war.
"Well, you call them 'the enemy'. Understandably they are your enemy but they must have a name. For example, I'm American. My grandfather was Dutch. What do you call them?"
Farell felt an immediate dislike for one Dr. Jackson. She didn't recognize either of the names he had given her, Dutch or American, as she wasn't nearly as educated in the recordings, but she knew instantly that if he was either of these, they must be against the Reich. She felt relieved he hadn't mentioned any of the Reich's enemies like the English or the Jews, but his blasphemous argument to leave Euronda proved his disloyalty and his inferiority.
Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel noticed a pile of books on one of the war tables in the main war room. He never noticed though that half the title of the bottom book showed. Mein.