General Hammond and Major Davis hurried down the stairs their footsteps jangling on the metal treads.
Harriman, who was still listening intently announced without turning round "Sir, NORAD's reporting that they've spotted an unidentified object entering the upper atmosphere over the Pacific."
It soon became clear that this time, it was no false alarm. The North American Aerospace Defence Command had identified a huge vessel moving at lightening speed and visible both on radar and satellite scanners. Instantaneously a small red dot appeared in the middle of the pixilated green and black map, moving steadily across the image.
Daniel, who had re-tuned his own set into the US feeds, looked up "They've disabled the ship's cloaking device." For the ship to be visible, it had to mean that someone had turned off the controls ensuring radar blackout. Furthermore, if the cloaking was deactivated then it might be possible to achieve radio contact, or even to beam people on – or off the ship. Daniel listened hard, willing the babble of voices in his ear to be replaced by the calm tones of Jack, or Sam, or Teal'c.
"Object's on a controlled entry" called in a second technician from another computer terminal behind Davis and Hammond.
"Projected landing on the West Coast of the United States, sir" Sargent Harriman updated.
Major Davis looked seriously at General Hammond "Of course this could also be a sign that they've already lost the battle."
Controlled entry was bad. A ship on controlled entry was on target to land.
Resignedly General Hammond gave an imperceptible nod and his jaw tightened as he turned and strode over to the phone. Picking up the receiver with determination he said calmly and firmly "This is General Hammond. At this time I recommend going to DEFCON 2." Daniel watched, licking his lips nervously. Hammond continued "Deploy all available assets to intercept the alien ship."
"General!" Daniel said in tones of quiet dismay. His head was again suddenly full of 'what ifs' as his imagination went into overdrive. What if SG-1 had destroyed the bugs? What if they had triumphed only to be shot out of the sky by their own air-force? It was surely at least possible that the battle had taken out the ship's communications leaving them unable to contact the SGC to tell them that the threat had been neutralised. A spaceship wasn't like a car; you couldn't flash the lights or wind the windows down and wave merrily or paint a message on the side. If the communication systems were down SG-1 would have no other way of transmitting a message. He had a sudden image of Sam frantically working at the controls. Jack saying 'Carter…' in that warning way he had and Sam replying with a tight 'I'm trying sir' while Teal'c looked on. A new thought flashed into his mind: What if his own misgivings were some form of prototype Asgard telepathic link? It wasn't as thought they had not come across mental linking technologies before. He looked pleadingly at the General.
Hammond put the phone down and turned to him. "I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson," he said firmly, but sorrowfully "but if that ship makes it through the atmosphere intact, we have no choice to assume SG-1 failed. We must destroy it by whatever means necessary." He hadn't wanted to give the order any more than Daniel had wanted to hear it but it was his responsibility to safeguard earth. From a military perspective, it was inconceivable to take the risk of allowing the ship to land.
Daniel understood. Rationally he knew that Jack would never try to land an alien ship without first communicating his intentions. He would know that to do so would leave the military no option to intercept them. But what if they were injured and had no choice? Or if the ships course was determined by autopilot and they couldn't disengage it. The wailing moan of the sirens cut through the control room and Daniel dropped his head in resignation. There was to be no last minute reprieve. He was about to watch the death of his friends. He was also about to watch the world wake up to the secret that he had helped to keep so well. There was life on other planets.
"Major Davis sir" said the second technician, beckoning the Major over and pointing to the telephone.
With intense focus Daniel watched the computer scene in front of him, following the red dot as it moved across the glowing monitor; Closer and closer. Of course, it was quite possible that Earth was not up to destroying an Asgard ship. In that case, he was witnessing the first strike in an alien takeover of the Earth. Whatever happened, he doubted life would ever be quite the same again. He felt weirdly nostalgic for that morning when his main concern had been how bored he was going to be. What was that saying? Be careful what you wish for!
Major Davis announced "The Russians have also spotted the incoming object and are inquiring" Daniel looked round; The political fall-out was beginning.
"The Joint Chiefs will respond" replied Hammond dismissing the concern with a nod. The legacy of the Cold War was not his primary concern right now. He was about to say more, but suddenly the gateroom glowed in a brilliant white lights. It was so bright that for a moment it became impossible to see anything and the faces of the people in the control room glowed as though transfigured. Major Davis held the phone limply away from his ear, staring in utter befuddlement before him. It was the type of flash that one might compare to a nuclear weapon, but without the bang. Instead, Daniel looked up to see the stargate dematerialise in a low frequency buzz. The normally implacable Hammond gave a start and ran over to the window, shadows dancing in front of his eyes, after-images from the flash. He peered urgently out of the toughened glass; all that was left was the stargate was the ramp and the footings.
"We'll have to call you back" Major Davis spoke into the phone, rallying hurriedly.
Still staring at the empty gateroom and the blank wall behind where the stargate usually stood Daniel was the first to make sense of it. "They…They're going to use it to escape!" He stuttered the words tumbling out in sudden excitement.
"Like you did from the Apophis mother ship" Davis interjected quickly. "It could work!"
"It will work" Daniel replied with sudden happy certainty "they…they'll gate to another planet and then home!" 'Home'! The word sounded so good. Relief flooded over him so fast that he felt drunk and his tongue tingled SG-1 had a plan! Sam, Sam had done it.
"You had a DHD. They don't" pointed out Hammond sharply.
Davis looked at him "Even disconnected, there should be enough power to dial out once."
The General, momentarily impressed again by the depths of Davis's understanding of the stargate programme, hurried back over to the phone. "This is Hammond. I want the Beta Gate unpacked from storage immediately. Yes, you heard me. I want it unsealed and ready for use as soon as humanly possible!"
Daniel sat, still staring, breathing heavily, daring to hope that he might see his friends again. Yet there was still the little matter of the alien ship, the unknown techno-bugs and the fact that the world was about to discover that humans had been in contact with life on other planets for years.