Chapter 2
Fallout

The next morning, Agatha woke up screaming, causing Krosp to yowl as he nearly jumped out of his fur. That jolted Violetta straight out of bed with a knife in each hand. Agatha gasped for breath and buried her face in her hands in a vain attempt to pull herself together, but she didn't realize how badly she was shaking until Krosp wormed his way under her left elbow to get her arm across his shoulders.

"Nightmare?" Violetta asked, sitting down on the bed to Agatha's right.

Agatha nodded jerkily. "Terrible one. Gil and I had gone up in the mountains outside of Mechanicsburg for a picnic, and we were... we were really enjoying ourselves, but then he started acting strange, wrong, like he was when I last saw him, and then... then there were explosions and the town was on fire, and the Geisters found us and the Wraith started feeding on Gil and he turned into the baron, and then he was himself just long enough to tell me to run before he really started to sound like the baron—he kept yelling at me, calling me Lucrezia—and I couldn't get away, and there were more Geisters and Wraith and they took the locket and..." The words died in her throat and came out as a sob.

Krosp pushed his head against her shoulder and purred soothingly.

"Good thing it was just a dream, huh?" Violetta ventured.

"I can't take this anymore," Agatha confessed. "I want to go home and fix everything so I don't have to keep worrying about it."

"Newsflash, kid," said Krosp. "That won't solve all the nightmares. Even if we get the empire off our backs, we'll still have your mother's plans to combat. And there will be plenty of other things to worry over after that."

"We can't stay here, Krosp. We don't belong here. There are too many rules, too many hazards, and... and I can't do anything because nobody trusts me!"

"Maj. Lorne trusted you yesterday," Violetta noted.

"Not enough. They still think my little helpers are going to go on a rampage and try to take over the galaxy and kill everyone like... like what happened to Shiana's people." Agatha sniffled. "And now we know I can control the Wraith the same way I can control revenants, and that's not going to make life any easier. Herr Woolsey's probably going to confine me to the city until we can go home. Not that I like going offworld as much as we do, but at least it's a way to keep busy. We've read all the books in the library; they've restricted my access to the city's database; people panic whenever I build something..." She tried to swipe the tears off her cheeks, only to have fresh tears fall. "It's like being back at TPU, only worse, because I know what I can do now, but they still won't let me."

"You're still better off than Tweedle. All he gets to do is keep a diary—with a voice recorder he can't turn into a weapon. I'm hoping he'll get so sick of hearing himself talk that he'll take a vow of silence when we get back."

Agatha managed to smile a little at that.

"Look, there are a lot of good people here, and they care about us."

"I know that, and I'm grateful, and that does make things better than they were at TPU. There my only friends were Dr. Beetle and Dr. Glassvitch. And I do understand their concerns and their reasons for the rules they've set. I just... I want to go home."

Krosp took a deep breath. "Yeah, about that. We didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday, but the data burst from Earth that came in while you were gone had a ton of useful information for us. The SGC's found the solar flare we need, in the Milky Way, and the star in question has a planet with a Stargate nearby. According to Zelenka, if we enter the wormhole at exactly the right moment, we should arrive within a few hours of our target time. The catch," he added quickly before Agatha could say anything else, "is that it won't be happening until the end of February. And, well, the other catch is that if we can't dial the Gate precisely enough to thread the wormhole through the rift, we'll end up under a mile of ice in Antarctica with no hope of rescue."

Agatha flopped backward, her head landing on her pillow with a despairing whumpf.

"I mean, it's not very likely that we'll end up in Antarctica, especially if we can get the coordinates for the cathedral portal out of von Blitzengaard and Zelenka can convert them to a Gate address, but... it's still a risk."

Violetta frowned at Krosp. "I thought you said you and Todd had solved the problem."

"Of how to move about the city quickly enough to save both Wulfenbach and Sturmvoraus and stop the baron from triggering the stasis bomb, yes," Krosp replied. "You'll have to get all the details from McKay, but there are a couple of devices that you two can use to make it work. One generates a small, personal energy shield."

"What good is that?"

Agatha frowned, considering. "The Jumper and the city both use the same mechanism to cloak as they do to generate the shield. It should be easy enough to adapt the personal device for the same purpose."

Krosp nodded. "Exactly. Violetta might not need one because of her training, but you definitely will."

"What's the other?"

"A personal teleportation device. McKay reverse-engineered it from a type they found on a Runner a few years back, and he added some refinements that allow a user with the ATA gene greater ability to control the teleportation. Apparently the original could transport someone only within line of sight, but McKay's will transport you to any point in space you can visualize within a twenty-kilometer radius."

Agatha sat up again. "So I could theoretically jump directly from the cathedral into one of Gil's labs on Castle Wulfenbach."

"If you had to, yes. It would take several minutes for the power source to recharge for another jump, but you'd need at least that long to find where he's being held anyway."

Agatha nodded slowly and heterodyned for a moment as she ran through an imagined rescue scenario. "That ought to work. At the very least, that would let me rescue Gil while you and Violetta rescue Tarvek."

Krosp rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Violetta can rescue Sturmvoraus. I obviously don't have the ATA gene, so I can't use those devices. But that brings me to a part of the problem only you can solve."

Agatha groaned and scrubbed at her tear-gritty eyes.

"No, I'm serious. It's a life-or-death matter, and you're the Heterodyne. Von Blitzengaard, as a prisoner, doesn't get a vote. I choose to abide by your decision; Violetta..."

"Will do the same," Violetta interrupted. "Though I'll give you my opinion first, my lady."

Agatha sighed. "All right. What's the problem?"

"By returning before we leave," Krosp began, "we establish a time loop. But because we're going back only a matter of hours and not, say, to a time before you were born, the loop can never completely close. We'll end up with duplicates of the four of us—well, five, counting the wasp eater, though it might not be affected much. Now, von Blitzengaard, I figure, Violetta can use as a target to catch his own knife."

"Agreed," the girls chorused.

"The other complicating factor is that in order to seal the rift, we have to detonate a shape charge just inside the event horizon while the portal is active. I can see to that part of the plan. The explosion will probably destroy the portal, although McKay thinks he can give us a generator and a shield emitter like the one in the Gateroom to limit the damage. It'll probably also kill the abbess, but..."

"Again, no great loss," Agatha stated. "Why is that a complicating factor?"

"If we seal the rift after the duplicates go through, they—we—they will be trapped wherever the wormhole leads. Violetta would have to change the coordinates on the controls without the abbess noticing, which shouldn't be difficult. McKay says he can give us coordinates for a safe destination Gate, and although it may be affected by the same solar flare or by the residual effects of our travel, it probably won't send them forward more than a decade or two."

"But they would still be trapped in this universe," said Violetta. "And depending on conditions at their destination, they might never make it back to Earth or find out what went wrong with the wormhole."

Agatha frowned and chewed on her lip for a moment as she considered that option. "But if we seal the rift before they go through, we'd still have one live Martellus and two versions of me, both recognized by the castle, and one still possessed by my mother. That's a recipe for disaster in itself."

"Not only that," Krosp continued. "When two copies of identical living matter—not clones or twins, but two versions of the same person from different realities—coexist within the same universe for more than forty-eight hours, it causes what's called entropic cascade failure. The version from another universe begins to have violent seizures and eventually dies. Zelenka wasn't sure whether that would hold true in our case because we'd be going back to our own reality, but if it does..."

"We'd probably be the ones to die."

Krosp nodded. "Probably."

Violetta sighed heavily, then put a hand on Agatha's shoulder. "Being stranded is never a good option, but..."

"It's better than death," Agatha agreed. "Even without the entropic cascade failure, I can think of at least a dozen ways we could all end up dead if we don't let the doubles go through. And if they never find out what went wrong with the wormhole, I—she—the other me... won't have to live with knowing what's happened in our timeline." She took a deep breath and let it out again. "I could have been much happier here without that knowledge myself."

Krosp nodded slowly. "That's what McKay and I both thought you'd say. Of course, Todd figures that means you can't just free Wulfenbach and bring him back to Mechanicsburg. Von Blitzengaard won't grab the other you without the distraction of the baron's approach, but the baron won't come down with the stasis bomb if he thinks there's a chance his son is in town."

"I could—" Agatha caught herself and shuddered. "No. I won't give the baron any orders except to stop."

"Do you have any idea what he did to Wul—er—to Gil?" Violetta asked.

Agatha sighed. "No, and neither did Tarvek, apart from it being some form of mind control. I suppose we ought to see whether the Girl Genius comic can give us any more clues and maybe help us narrow down exactly when I need to get there in order to stop it. Depending on the time frame, though, it may be tricky to find the time to bring Gil up to speed before the baron sends him into Mechanicsburg to try to capture me."

"This may make more sense after we watch Star Wars, but... Torren was telling me about the Jedi mind trick, where you give someone an order like 'These are not the clanks you're looking for' and the person believes it. I think Lucrezia tried to do that to me after I took the locket off for the Si Vales Valeo. Apparently all the Smoke Knights are in thrall to her."

Agatha shuddered again, then paused. "But it didn't work on you."

"No. I think Tarvek knew and did something to keep me safe."

"He did say he'd left Gil his notes on a formula that makes a person immune to the wasps... do you think he has one to break the wasp's control, too?"

"Probably."

"If so, we could use that to treat the baron."

"But not too soon," Krosp cautioned.

"No, obviously, it would have to be after we get Gil out, which will have to be after we seal the rift—"

"Anyway," Violetta interrupted, "my point was, if I'm right, Lucrezia tried the Jedi mind trick on me because she thought I was wasped. So you ought to be able to do the same thing to the baron, especially if you have the personal cloaking device. If you stop him before he can do whatever to Gil and order him to think he's already done it, that should at least buy you a couple of minutes to tell Gil to act mind-controlled."

"Maybe more than a couple. He'd changed clothes, and he looked pretty put together except... huh. Now that I think about it, he wasn't wearing a sigil brooch like he normally does when he's in official mode."

Krosp looked skeptical. "You think he can pull it off just on a few minutes' briefing?"

"He's a good enough actor to fool Zola. He's good enough to fool Tarvek, apparently. And he's smart. I should try to take him some sort of script—maybe even the Girl Genius pictures, if Herr Foglio drew that fight—but if there isn't time for him to read it, I think he'll be okay without it."

"You still trust him."

"As long as he's himself," Agatha said quietly. "I mean, he did help us before the baron turned up again, and... well, it can't be good for the empire for him to have to deal with the time stop, either." There was more—much more—she could have said, but they knew she was in love with him, and... well, as much as she trusted them with her life, Zeetha was the only one with whom she felt safe confiding about such things. And some of her reasons went too deep for words.

Why didn't anyone ever ask her why she trusted Tarvek? He'd actually double-crossed her in Sturmhalten, sabotaging her message to the baron and shutting down the clanks that were helping her keep her mother suppressed. The worst thing Gil had ever done, at least that she could remember, was to try to take her back to Castle Wulfenbach at his father's orders. She'd forgiven them both, but still!*

Violetta looked at the clock, then patted Agatha's shoulder. "Come on, let's get dressed. We should have just enough time to get tea before you have to meet Col. Sheppard and Herr Dex for your run."

Agatha sighed. "All right. I just hope I didn't wake up half the city, screaming like that."

Not to worry, replied Lantea. I sensed anomalous brain activity consistent with nightmares and soundproofed the room temporarily.

Agatha blinked. Do you do that often?

There was a pause before Lantea answered, I believe that may be one secret that is not mine to share. But fear not.I shall guard yours just as carefully.

You, I will miss, Agatha thought warmly as Violetta stood to let her get up.

Life more or less settled back into its usual rhythm during the day Friday and over the weekend. People checked on Agatha every now and again, but mostly only when they had other reasons for talking to her, which helped lessen the sense that anyone was making a fuss over what had happened with the Wraith. She didn't really expect Todd to wear the hat she'd given him; it didn't fit, for one thing, and looked only slightly less ridiculous on him than some of the hats real Jägers wore, which was the problem with their insisting on wearing only hats taken from vanquished enemies. And he didn't, but one of the guards confided to her that he'd hung it on the wall in his quarters, which made her smile. (Gen. Khrizhan didn't wear a hat, either, although Todd reminded Agatha more of Gen. Goomblast's geniality in everyday conversation.) And while Herr Woolsey did decide that Agatha shouldn't go offworld for a while, he promised to reevaluate the situation after New Year's and even gave provisional approval to the list of devices she requested to take back to Mechanicsburg.

She was still somewhat wary when she arrived at the gym Monday morning for her run and Col. Sheppard said, "Agatha! We were just talkin' about you." Both he and Herr Dex were smiling, though.

"Oh?" she replied.

"Yeah, looks like most everyone you know here is headed to Earth for the promotion ceremony and staying there for Christmas and New Year's. You want to come with us? Got plenty of space at my place in Colorado Springs, since Rodney and Jennifer are goin' to Toronto to spend time with his sister's family, and since it's in the mountains, might give you a taste of home."

Herr Dex nodded. "It's real nice. Lotta snow. Pretty, but... kind of a pain for travel."

Col. Sheppard huffed a little in amusement. "'Course, the downside is that we'd have to come back on the Daedalus, which takes forever, but it'd get you out of the city, use up most of your suspension. Woolsey's already okayed it if you want to."

"America," Agatha said, considering the offer. Apart from the Heterodyne Boys, no one from Europa had been to the Americas since the days of the Storm King. It was a different universe, of course, but she might never have an opportunity like this again. "I'll have to talk it over with Violetta and Krosp, but... I'll... I'll certainly think about it. Thank you."

"Sure. We're not leavin' 'til Friday afternoon, so that gives you some time to decide."

Her spirits lifted further as they ran, and discussing the invitation with Violetta and Krosp over breakfast and with Teyla over bantos helped her move past her mild intimidation and become truly excited about the idea. Dr. Beckett and Dr. Zelenka had already agreed to join Col. Sheppard, Teyla, Torren, Herr Dex, and Sgt. Banks, so it would indeed be a lively party of friends. Violetta would come with Agatha, of course, so the only real uncertainty was whether Krosp could pass for a normal cat well enough to escape scrutiny once the group left the SGC. Krosp found the question mildly offensive but admitted that he wasn't sure whether being left behind in Atlantis would be more boring than having to behave himself around civilians.

They were still discussing it when Sgt. Banks' quiet but urgent voice interrupted by radio: "Lady Heterodyne, you're needed in Stargate Ops right away."

Agatha frowned, puzzled, but replied, "We'll be right there. Excuse us," she added to Teyla, who nodded her understanding.

"Why Stargate Ops?" Violetta wondered as she and Krosp hurried with Agatha to the nearest transporter. "Why not the Gateroom or the conference room?"

Agatha shook her head. "I know, and why is it so urgent? Something's wrong here."

"There's a camera mounted above one of the monitors on the back wall of Stargate Ops," Krosp reported, ears back. "I think that's where Woolsey and Sheppard talk to people at the SGC during dial-outs when they need to. Given its placement, the viewing angle probably covers most if not all of the Gateroom as well as most of Stargate Ops. We should take the back way into the room, scope out the situation first before you show yourself."

Nodding, Agatha selected a destination transporter located in a hall that led to a room behind Stargate Ops, one that was still part of the technical hub of operations but would not be visible to the camera. On arrival, they followed the wall toward the doorway into Stargate Ops but stopped out of sight to listen for a moment. It sounded as if both Col. Sheppard and Herr Woolsey were arguing with someone.

"She's not a threat!" Col. Sheppard insisted.

"She can command Wraith!" retorted an unfamiliar male voice.

"And saved thousands of lives, maybe millions, by doing so—including Maj. Lorne and his team. Hell, she gave them the chance to take out that cruiser. Is that a crime now?"

"You yourselves have restricted her movements, her research..."

"For her own safety! If she blows something up, she's gonna be the first one killed, not our people. And she knows that—that's why she complies voluntarily."

"I still don't understand the objection here, James," Herr Woolsey interrupted. "If the IOA feels that Lady Heterodyne's presence in Atlantis represents a security risk, the most logical solution is to allow her to return to her own time and her own universe."

James, whoever he was, scoffed. "With alien technology, including a naquadah generator and a shape charge that could easily be combined into a weapon that she could send back through the Gate and destroy Atlantis, to say nothing of the classified information she's had access to." He lisped through his molars, from the sound of it.

"I can't believe this," said Col. Sheppard. "You know damn well she's had plenty of time to destroy the city if she wanted to. If she goes home, she's not comin' back, and neither will anyone else from her world."

"We've trusted the Genii with far more, with far less cause," Herr Woolsey added. "In fact, we've trusted the Wraith with far more when we needed the help of Todd's alliance."

"The Wraith," James returned acidly, "do not build Replicators out of the spare parts on a watchmaker's workbench."

Agatha's lip curled. She had included a diagram of her clanks in her report, for crying out loud; this James person should know they didn't replicate!

"So what," asked Col. Sheppard, "you're gonna force an innocent young woman who's here through no fault of her own to stay in the wrong universe, in the wrong year, on the wrong planet—or worse, on the wrong Earth—just because of one incident after she's been here a month?! I did more damage in my first day!"

"Yes, well, the IOA has never had great confidence in you, either, Colonel," James sneered.

"And the IOA has not exactly covered itself in glory in handling the Destiny situation," Herr Woolsey returned evenly. "Not that Homeworld Command hasn't made its own mistakes, but Gen. O'Neill is not the one ordering us, in essence, to hold a teenaged girl prisoner without a trial for a crime that so far you have failed to define."

"Don't jump to conclusions, Richard. Did I say 'without a trial'?"

Agatha didn't like where this was going. A glance down at Krosp told her he was thinking the same thing, given the way his fur and whiskers were bristling. So she stepped away from the wall, squared her shoulders, and walked through the doorway.

"Oh, right," Col. Sheppard said as she entered, his full attention still on the screen she couldn't yet see. "One of your Star Chamber hearings?"

"I wouldn't call it that," James replied.

"Not one of you is nobility. Where the hell are you even gonna get a jury of her peers?"

"Colonel, I assure you the interview will be completely fair—"

"Sure, and I'm Reed Richards!"

"Lady Heterodyne is a head of state, James," Herr Woolsey stated, raising his voice for the first time. "I will not allow you—"

"Thank you, Herr Woolsey," Agatha interrupted, having by this time passed in front of the console where a visibly worried Sgt. Banks was working and thus entered the camera's field of view. "But I believe I can speak for myself."

Startled, Herr Woolsey and Col. Sheppard both turned to her, and the ferret-faced man on the monitor nervously straightened his tie. Agatha suspected she would have disliked him on sight even if she hadn't overheard so much.

Herr Woolsey recovered first. "Ah. Lady Heterodyne, may I present Mr. James Coolidge of the International Oversight Advisory. James, Lady Agatha Heterodyne." He motioned her toward the monitor.

Herr Coolidge cleared his throat and gave her an insincere smile. "Lady Heterodyne, it's a pleasure to speak with you."

"Herr Coolidge," she returned.

"The IOA would like to ask you a few questions about your involvement with the Atlantis expedition and your plans to return to your own universe. If you would, please come through this wormhole to Earth. We'll explain everything when you arrive."

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm afraid I must insist."

Agatha looked the image in the eye. "I have prior commitments upon which the safety of this galaxy depends. I will meet with you next Monday at 8:00, and not a minute sooner."

"Lady Heterodyne—"

"You have no authority over me, nor can you send anyone from Earth to come and arrest me. I am a sovereign and a guest, and I have committed no crime. Next Monday or not at all."

That shook Herr Coolidge's composure. He leaned forward and hissed, "Listen, honey—"

"HEY!" Sgt. Banks yelped, and the transmission ended as the Gate suddenly shut down.

Agatha turned to see Krosp, coat off, jumping down from the console with the air of having just happened to step on the right button by accident. "What?" he asked as he stood up straight again. "Now he can't order anyone here to arrest Agatha, either."

"Cat's got a point," Col. Sheppard deadpanned.

Herr Woolsey sighed and turned back to Agatha. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that they've already made up their minds about me," Agatha replied. "How much authority do they have over the expedition?"

"They can order me to deny your requests, confine you to the city, possibly even send you to the brig. If I refuse, they can have me replaced."

"Probably by that guy," Col. Sheppard added, nodding toward the now-dark monitor.

"Hm," said Krosp. "So we can't just 'steal' what we need and disappear."

"Which is why I wasn't exactly exaggerating about needing to stay for the safety of the galaxy," Agatha admitted. "In that scenario, I would feel obligated to steal Todd as well, and there's no telling what the four of us would do out there."

Col. Sheppard narrowed his eyes. "You don't trust Todd, do you?"

"Not entirely. On some points, not at all. He reminds me too much of the Jäger generals and even of Castle Heterodyne. But he has been working with me and has a good grasp of the technology, and I know I couldn't convince Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka to come with me."

Col. Sheppard chuckled. "Good call. So. You said Monday. That mean you're coming for Christmas?"

Agatha nodded. "I was planning to accept anyway, but... now it looks like I don't have much choice."

Herr Woolsey sighed again with a grimace that said he was still seething. "Prince Martellus threatened the personnel of this base within five minutes of his arrival. I have no qualms about keeping him prisoner pending his extradition back to Mechanicsburg. This? This is totally illogical, totally unjust, especially since he asked you to go and apparently meant for you to go alone, without me to be your advocate. You shouldn't need Lady Mondarev's protection, but you shouldn't have to go in unprepared and without counsel, either."

"Well, I suppose it's a sign they think I'm dangerous. And to be fair, they're right. I can be."

Col. Sheppard put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah. You are. Krosp is. Violetta is. But so am I. So's Woolsey. So's everyone in this city—even Torren. Being dangerous doesn't make you a bad person. And we are not gonna let the IOA railroad you over a situation that nobody could have handled any better."

Agatha bit her lip in an attempt to stave off the threatening tears. She didn't know why the unexpected praise hit that particular button, but it did. "Thank you, Herr Oberst. I, um..." She swallowed hard. "I never knew my father except from stories, but if... if even half of what I've heard is true... I think you and he would have had a great deal in common. And... I just..." Her voice failed her, and she gave up and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered again.

Col. Sheppard hesitated a moment before returning the hug. "We're not gonna let them hurt you, Ags."

"I know. I trust you."

"We've got a week. Anything you need to know about the IOA, come ask, any of us. Even Ronon."

Agatha nodded. "I will."

"And y'know... I don't really know anything about your dad, but... I'm honored by the comparison. And I'm pretty sure he'd be proud of you." Col. Sheppard paused. "I'd be proud if you were my daughter."

Agatha drew a ragged breath. "Really?"

"H-eck, yeah. Your first encounter with wild Wraith, and you cripple their cruiser? I think that's a record!"

Agatha giggled and stepped back.

Col. Sheppard smiled at her. "Seriously, though, if you need to talk, I'm not doin' anything this week more urgent than paperwork."

"That offer stands for me, too," Herr Woolsey said. "I worked for the IOA for several years before they assigned me to Atlantis. Even though I suspect they're not going to accept my request to accompany you to the meeting on Monday, I'll be glad to do what I can to help you prepare."

"Thank you both," Agatha replied. "I'll take you up on it later. But right now, I think I'd best get to my lab; Todd's about to start wondering what's keeping me."

Both men nodded, and Agatha led Violetta and Krosp back to the transporter.

Violetta looked at her narrowly as the transporter door closed. "What are we really doing, my lady?"

"Going to my lab to talk to Todd," Agatha replied and pressed the button. "I will want to talk with everyone else, too, but I have an idea that I don't think they'd help me with."

Krosp's ears turned to the side. "You're planning something for the weekend, aren't you? That's why you said Monday and not Friday."

Agatha neither confirmed nor denied, just led the way to her lab.

Todd was pacing when they arrived but stopped and looked anxiously at Agatha. "I heard you were called to Stargate Ops. What happened?"

"The IOA wants to question me about Thursday."

Todd snarled quietly. "I have dealt with the IOA myself. They care more about their own power than about the lives of anyone on Atlantis."

"I thought as much. Col. Sheppard and Herr Woolsey have offered to coach me for the interview before we leave for Earth on Friday, and I've accepted."

"You will need far more than information."

"I know. That's why I need your help." Agatha stepped closer and looked Todd in the eye. "I need you to teach me how to hack."

Todd smiled and nodded once in understanding. "With pleasure."

.

* Nolettersonthatpleasethankyou—I'm well aware that reader perspectives may vary wildly, but Agatha doesn't know everything the audience knows (for good and ill) and has different standards, even from mine, of what behavior would be acceptable from a suitor.