Chapter 113: The Rescue Operation Part 6

Royal Laboratory, Dryl, November 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"..and this is a modular blast weapon - it's not quite as powerful as a staff weapon, but it can be hitched up to any stabilising component, such as a staff or even a broom, and will work as one. And this is a modular zat'nik'tel, which will separate into five components that can be hidden more easily and shouldn't show up on scans. At least not on scans with known Goa'uld technology. I had to redesign the trigger array to make it work, and the frame, but the latter was evident from the start, and it should work like a zat. And this is…"

Samantha Carter had to suppress a wince while watching Entrapta present the results of her recent work. Her friend had been… 'productive' was one description. 'Manic' was another. Both fit.

She glanced at the butler waiting in the wings. Wasn't watching out for Entrapta's health one of his duties? On the other hand, how much could a butler on Etheria do if their princess was set on something?

"...so, with just a few twists, we can have an antenna that will connect to the pocket multitool and increase the scanner's range by one hundred per cent - I wanted a greater increase, but that fried the test bot's matrix when it was used when worn, so I think it wouldn't be healthy to use as a human, though I haven't tested that."

Sam felt both relieved and even more concerned after hearing that.

"Anyway! I was mostly working with Goa'uld technology and haven't touched Earth technology yet since they don't like it if you copy their weapons - even if you improve them; I was told that I need permission to do that, and I didn't have time to get that since they don't have a central authority to do that even though a global system should be obvious, but, apparently, you need to ask every single inventor for permission even though they have a patent office that should be handling that - did you know it's used to keep people from using others' inventions, not the other way around? That seems backwards, doesn't it?"

Entrapta was looking… well, like someone who had been running on caffeine and pure sugar for days. Which, a glance at the tray full of tiny pastries and a large teapot with a tiny cup told Sam, was exactly what Entrapta had been doing. Probably ever since they had returned from Saqqara. "There's a reason for that," she said, almost automatically. "But it's complicated."

"You always say that when something doesn't make sense on Earth," Entrapta replied. "But there's so much that doesn't make sense on your world. Anyway, I also worked on an alternative form of communication in case we can't bring the miniaturised system I showed you. So this…"

Sam felt guilt well up in her. She had been busy with debriefings and reports, and Daniel and Sha're needed help as well, but that was no excuse for neglecting another friend in need of help. And Entrapta clearly needed help dealing with this. But then, Sam wasn't her only friend. Where were the others?

"...and if we can't use the bones as speakers, I am looking into implants that directly connect to your nervous system, but that's a very challenging project. Although I think Alpha should be able to help us with it."

"Where's Hordak?" Sam asked.

"It was his turn to help Loki. But his implants won't help with this - they're not connected to his nervous system. Well, they are, but they aren't wired to be consciously controlled. Although I guess we could just hook up comm implants to our ears - or their nerves - and just have them transmit everything they hear. On the other hand, that would cause a feedback loop. Maybe a central control unit would be needed to filter out loops? A dedicated stealth bot could handle that, I think. But if it loses connection to the network, that would stop, and we'd be back at square one, so to speak."

Sam winced. "I don't think everyone will want such an implant in their body." She couldn't think of anyone off-hand who would want an implant, much less this hypothetical one. Well, not amongst those who would be going on undercover and infiltration missions.

"Really? But it would be so useful if we can't carry our normal or the new modular gear!"

"I think it would need a lot of testing - especially the long-term effects - before it can be used in the field," Sam replied. "So we know it won't damage the user."

"Oh, that's probably right. Adora could probably heal that, but if we're on planets without magic, that won't work."

"We can't plan on Adora healing everyone," Sam pointed out. "She's needed for a lot of other tasks."

"Right. That's why we developed the synthetic symbionts. Anyway, what do you think about this? I just built it before you arrived!" Her hair tendrils held up what looked like a quarter of a spy bot. "It's supposed to fit with others and form a whole!"

Sam sighed and forced herself to smile. "Entrapta, when was the last time you slept?"

"What does that have to do with research?" Entrapta cocked her head to the side.

Sam wasn't fooled. "Did you sleep since we returned?"

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded, though her smile was a bit too wide.

"How long?" Sam asked.

"Did I show you another idea I had?"

That was answer enough. Sam sighed. "Entrapta! You can't… This is not healthy. You need your rest."

"We're at war. I can rest once I'm done with my current project." Entrapta shook her head and avoided Sam's eyes.

For a moment, Sam was tempted to agree. She knew how annoying it was to cut your lab time short when you were about to solve a problem or finish a project. And she would be a hypocrite if she claimed to have never pulled an all-nighter. But she glanced at the various prototypes Entrapta had laid out, the notes on the screen… "And how long will that take?"

"Uh… that's hard to say. Some of the design challenges are quite, well, challenging," Entrapta replied.

"And you don't think the challenge would be easier if you were well-rested?" Sam asked.

Entrapta looked a little guilty at that. "But the sooner I am done, the sooner I can rest."

"And the more tired you are, the more mistakes you make." Sam took a step forward and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "You're not helping anyone if you work until you collapse."

"But what if we have another mission, and we need this, and it's not ready? We would lose another friend! Maybe more!" Entrapta blinked, then rubbed her eyes for a moment.

Ah. Sam suppressed a wince. "That's not how it works," she said. "We can't know that."

"If we had better gear with us, better weapons, we could have been faster, and our Tel'tak wouldn't have been in position when the building's top fell on it. Bra'tac would still be alive!" Entrapta shook her head. "That's a fact!"

"That's an assumption," Sam corrected her. "The Ha'tak might have shot the Tel'tak down instead."

"That's very unlikely. They didn't shoot the Tel'tak down, and they would have had even less time to do so if we just had been faster. We weren't prepared enough!" Entrapta's eyes were wet again, Sam noticed.

"But if we had different gear, we might not have ended up in the same situation," Sam pointed out. "We might have chosen a different plan. We can't second-guess our decisions like that."

"But that's what we did in the debriefing."

Sam felt a sudden, unprofessional urge to hurt Admiral Kearsy. If he hadn't run such a hostile debriefing, Entrapta might not feel so guilty. Might - Bra'tac's death would have still affected her. And now I am second-guessing our actions, she thought. "Yes, we did. But we still can't be sure how things would have gone if we had had different tools and weapons. Though it helps improving our procedures and equipment," she added.

"And that's what I am doing!"

Sam sighed. "Yes, and there's nothing wrong with that. Except that you're hurting yourself by not resting. It's not…" She blinked. Oh, maybe she should have rested a bit more if she forgot how to reach Entrapta. "All the data we have shows that the less people rest, the worse they work."

"You have data about that?" Entrapta looked surprised.

Sam nodded. "Yes. We've run experiments."

"Can I see that data?"

"I don't have it on me. I'd need to travel back to Earth to get it." Sam hadn't thought she'd need that kind of data.

"Ah." Entrapta glanced at the rest of her lab.

"I can assure you, the data is conclusive," Sam told her.

"If you say so…" Entrapta's hair started fidgeting with her prototypes. "I did notice that I had a slightly higher-than-average failure rate with my experiments. Although the data I gathered did help with improving the prototypes. And Hordak said that was normal."

"Before he took his turn in Research Station Alpha?"

"Yes."

"Does he know you haven't slept since then?" Sam raised her eyebrows.

"Ah…" Entrapta looked guilty.

And Sam felt guilty. But this was for Entrapta's own good. "Come on, take some rest. We can look over the prototypes tomorrow."

"We can do that now," Entrapta grinned a bit weakly. "By my calculations, I have too much caffeine in my bloodstream to fall asleep for another hour and a half."

Oh for… She had calculated this? A part of Sam wanted to throttle her friend. And another wanted that data. Just in case.

But she shook her head. "I think we shouldn't work right now. Let's talk about something else."

"Alright," Entrpata said. "What do you want to talk about?"

That was a good question, Sam had to admit. An embarrassingly good question. Most of what both of them liked was a bit too close to their work - or was their work. She couldn't ask about the weather - she would never live that down should the General hear about it. Which he might; Entrapta had a tendency to reveal such things at the oddest moments. Well, they could discuss how to handle the loss of a friend, but that was a sensitive topic, not something to talk about when Entrapta was hopped on caffeine. And it was a topic Sam would rather leave to a professional, but she didn't want to ask if Entrapta was planning to see a therapist. The Etherians had been looking into that, Sam knew, but she hadn't heard back from them since she had passed on the request for a list of trusted experts. Another topic for the future.

So Sam picked up one of the tiny muffins on Entrapta's desk and asked: "This looks good. Did you teach your staff some Earth recipes?"

Her friend perked up. "Oh, I got them all the data on Earth pastries I could find! Look at this!"

Yes, Sam thought as Entrapta showed her a list of recipes, that was a safe topic.

Royal Palace, Bright Moon, November 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"...and she's now sleeping."

Catra nodded and ignored the slight glare from Sam. She did feel slightly guilty - she should have checked on Entrapta sooner; she had noticed that Entrapta was acting a little off, after all. And she would do better in the future. But she wasn't the only one at fault here - everyone else also had failed to notice that their friend needed help. And she was sure that they would have realised something was wrong once Entrapta had presented her latest designs to them.

Adora, though, looked like she thought she had personally hurt Entrapta. "That's… Thank you, Sam. I should have checked up on her much sooner! I can't believe I missed that."

"We missed it," Glimmer said before Catra could say it.

"Yes." Bow, too, looked abashed. "It's just… I didn't think she'd do this."

"She's been doing such things before," Adora said. "Remember when we met her?"

"That was different," Glimmer protested. "She was having fun then, not feeling guilty."

Ah, right. Catra had heard about that. Mainly from Entrapta, who had a sometimes unique view of things, but she had pieced together the rest later.

"Was that the first time she lost someone?" Sam asked.

Maybe the first time she lost someone she actually knew and cared about, Catra thought. She didn't say so, though - that would have been unfair. "She was a bit isolated from the fighting, so to speak," she said instead.

The others nodded.

"Ah." Sam looked like she got it.

"And we might have focused a bit too much on the lack of special equipment for the mission in the debriefings," Bow added.

"That was Admiral Asshole," Glimmer objected.

"We also used it as an excuse," Adora said in a serious tone. "And Entrapta would have felt responsible. Technology is her field. But she needs to understand that not everything is her fault."

Catra raised her eyebrows at her - her lover thought everything was her fault.

Adora blushed a little in response but then set her jaw in that stubborn expression Catra knew so well.

"Even if it's her responsibility, it's not always her fault," Glimmer said. "As a ruling princess, she should know that, but…" She shrugged.

"She's not like other ruling princesses," Bow said.

"Yes. And it is generally better to take responsibility as a ruler than to try to dodge it," Glimmer added.

"But she shouldn't overdo it." Adora nodded again.

Catra cleared her throat, and her lover flushed some more.

"I wonder why Hordak didn't notice anything," Sam said.

Oh. Catra managed not to sigh. She didn't like Hordak that much, but he had a decent excuse. "He probably thinks that's normal," she said. "He would do the same. Back in the Horde, he was often stuck in his lab while I ran things. And he probably did work himself to exhaustion for Horde Prime before that. He's not really a people person." Though power could make up for that to some degree.

"He did build up the Horde and took over the Scorpion Kingdom," Glimmer objected.

Catra shrugged. "Yeah, but that probably was luck." Or ineptitude on the part of Scorpia's parents.

Sam looked like she didn't agree, but that wasn't Catra's problem.

"We'll have to talk to him as well. So this doesn't repeat itself," Adora said. "There will be more missions, and we'll lose more people."

That was war. Catra knew that. A voice in the back of her head whispered that as long as they didn't lose people Entrapta connected to, things would be OK, and she felt angry at herself for thinking like that. Even though it was true. If you weren't prepared to lose soldiers, you couldn't wage war. And if you couldn't handle losing soldiers, you couldn't lead an army, either.

Something Adora knew - she and Catra had attended the same lessons back in cadet training - but sometimes seemed determined to forget. "So, you're going to talk to Hordak as well?" Catra asked Sam.

"Yes. I should check up on the research base anyway," Sam replied.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "It never hurts to double-check."

Catra nodded. Hordak was a scientist, unlike the princesses usually supervising Loki and Morrison, so he would be harder to fool should Loki try to slip something under the radar, but he was also more likely to go along with questionable things. Like Alpha.

She blinked. On second thought… "Maybe we should also go and check up on things," she said. "Alpha will listen to Adora above everyone else."

"Right." Glimmer firmly nodded. She was probably still a bit annoyed that while she laid claim to the entire moon, Alpha wasn't beholden to her.

Well, that wasn't Catra's problem either. "Let's go then."

HMNB Devonport, Devon, Britain, November 15th, 1999

Jack O'Neill was a little bit torn when he looked at the first Fleet Transport built on Earth, HMS Albion. Should he be glad about the Navy pukes getting shown up, proving that the Air Force should have been in control of the space forces, or annoyed that the Limeys had managed to beat American shipyards by several weeks?

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Captain Baker, standing next to him on the pier, was beaming as he looked at the spaceship currently sitting in what used to be a drydock, according to what Jack knew about the Royal Naval base.

A beauty? The ship looked like someone had taken a Horde frigate, stuffed it into a container and then blew it up until it filled out most of the container, ending up with something that looked more like a brick with the edges smoothed out than a Horde frigate. Horde Prime had supposedly been fond of elegant designs, so Jack didn't know how that had slipped through. But saying that would needlessly annoy Baker, who seemed to be a decent fellow when he wasn't gushing about his new command. Jack found it a bit annoying, but he could understand the enthusiasm. "It has a certain charm," he said diplomatically.

"Oh, yes!" Baker nodded. "As fast as a frigate, but able to carry an entire brigade ready for combat! And she carries the shuttles to deploy the troops and enough firepower to provide ground support - or see an Al'kesh or two off!"

"No fighters, though." Jack couldn't resist.

"Well, no - but she's a transport and landing ship, not a carrier." Baker grinned. "We've got other ships for fighting an enemy fleet. I think the US Marines were looking into variants that could carry fighters, though last I heard, that didn't prove viable."

Yeah, Jack had heard about that. Mostly from Carter venting about having to look over the design notes. Apparently, the crayon-eaters wanted baby carriers, not just landing ships. Probably didn't trust the Navy to keep them safe. Well, Jack had mixed feelings about that himself. "They're still working on the modular transport concept," he said. "And probably will be working on that for years."

"I can see the appeal, but modifying an existing ship - and an alien design to boot - to that degree seems a bit tricky. It might be better to design that from scratch," Baker commented diplomatically.

"I think the idea was to create 'Space Jeep Carriers'," Jack explained.

"I see." Baker was Royal Navy - he would be familiar with the CVEs from World War 2. Built to civilian specs and about as tough as that would suggest. "So, let me show the inside. Then we can discuss the best way to load and unload your troops."

"Yeah." That was what Jack was here, in Merry Old England - to help write the manual for embarking and disembarking troops from the new transports. He still thought it was a mistake - he had written the manual for embarking and disembarking troops from shuttles, but that was because they were basically transport aircraft that went into space, and he had experience with those. But troops didn't live for weeks on a Hercules or Super Galaxy. On the other hand, Jack's troops were the ones who would likely use these transports first, and if the Navy took over and treated this like a simple transport… He winced at the thought. Better do this right, he thought as he followed Baker to the gangway leading into the ship.

Inside, the ship looked as sleek and clean as Jack expected from a Horde ship - though instead of white, the Limeys had used grey paint. Jack liked the change. It felt more like a warship should look. The white made him think of a luxury yacht, too clean for a soldier.

"We've kept the bot storage areas," Baker said as they walked through the crew quarters. "If we don't get bots to transport, we can store additional supplies there."

Was he fishing for information? Jack shrugged. "I think the bots are going to Etherian and mixed units. And to us," he added with a grin.

"Oh? I heard they make good fire support units."

"Yes, they do, but we don't have the doctrine yet to use them effectively," Jack explained. The first time they had trained with bots had been a disaster. They had been lucky Entrapta had programmed the bots so well, or they might have seriously hurt one of the soldiers getting in their way. And his troops were the cream of the crop of the Alliance - he didn't want to imagine how the conscripts from France or Germany, or the National Guard units back home, would have done.

"Ah. Well, we'll figure it out. Just as we're figuring out space combat." Baker beamed again. "I can't wait to take her into action."

Once again, Jack managed to make a diplomatic comment. Barely.

Research Station Alpha, The First Moon of Enchantment, November 15th, 1999 (Earth Time)

"Well, the base is still standing," Catra commented as they stepped out of the shuttle that had brought them to the moon. "At least the hangar."

Adora frowned at her, as did Glimmer, but Catra shrugged in her usual way. And Adora couldn't really say that she would disagree. Hordak was not exactly the most trustworthy supervisor. She didn't think he would betray them, but he was too much of a 'mad scientist', as they said on Earth, for Adora to trust his judgement implicitly. Of course, he had more common sense than Entrapta, but that wasn't a high bar to clear - and he hadn't even noticed that something was wrong with her!

Which, she thought as they entered the base proper through the airlock connecting it to the hangar, we'll have to point that out to him quite clearly.

Alpha's projection appeared in front of them. "Adora. Welcome to Research Base Alpha! Do you wish a status report?"

"Yes, please," Adora replied without slowing down.

The projection fell in, floating next to them as they kept walking. "We have made further progress on the Asgard project. The lack of test subjects is still slowing down progress, though that cannot be helped without altering the base orders."

Catra rolled her eyes next to her. Adora knew what her lover meant - she thought this was a blatant attempt to get Adora to relax her orders to the bot. It was a touchy issue. Adora didn't like commanding bots like Alpha or Light Hope like that. But Alpha was as driven as Light Hope when it came to pursuing their goals - maybe worse. Light Hope had tried to do the right thing despite her programming. Alpha… well, the bot had been constructed to facilitate and assist in biological research, according to Entrapta and Sam, but she seemed a bit too eager to work around Adora's orders.

So Adora nodded and said: "I'm sure you'll cope."

"Yes. In fact, the alternatives to live testing we were forced to develop are projected to improve overall efficiency once we have more robust models for our simulations. Though I must point out again that it would violate safety standards to skip the final live testing," Alpha went on.

"In my experience, the Ancients - the First Ones - often skipped that part," Sam commented.

"I am bound to obey my superiors," Alpha replied. "Even when they ignore standard safety procedures."

Adora winced at the implications of that. Maybe…

Catra frowned again. "Well, some of those safety procedures sound rather unsafe for the 'test subjects'", she said. "How many 'prototypes' died during the final testing of the genetic experiments here?"

"That's restricted information," Alpha retorted.

"Please answer," Adora said firmly.

"None." Alpha sounded a bit too bland.

Adora blinked. What? That didn't sound right.

Sam spoke up: "And how many died during the 'final live testing' that revealed the need for more tests?"

"Twenty-seven developed unexpected fatal flaws after maturing."

Sam hesitated for a moment, Adora noticed. But her friend pressed her lips together, then asked: "And what happened to those who developed unexpected non-fatal flaws?"

"Depending on the severity of the flaws, they were released or recycled."

"You don't recycle people!" Adora spat. "And sapients of all species are people!" she added after a moment. That was wrong! Completely, utterly wrong!

"Noted."

"Wait! Does that mean you didn't have that noted down yet?" Adora asked. Hadn't Alpha understood her orders?

"Not explicitly as a general order," Alpha replied. "Only as a specific order covering the current research project."

Adora clenched her teeth. Alpha was a bot constructed by the First Ones, she reminded herself. She couldn't be fully trusted. Even if it might not be her fault but the fault of the First Ones who had created her - who were the same people who were willing to destroy Etheria to defeat Horde Prime. In any case, whether she was consciously or unconsciously doing it, it was clear that she would try to find loopholes in Adora's orders wherever she could. "I think we need to go over the supervisor shifts again," she muttered.

"Definitely," Glimmer agreed. "It's worse than I thought."

They couldn't trust Alpha. The AI was utterly amoral - and more cunning than Samantha Carter would have expected. She couldn't think of the bot as a sophisticated computer - it was a true sapient being, she reminded herself. Able to think for herself - and to think about ways to get around orders. She could probably think of malicious compliance as well. But there were ways to deal with that - Sam had worked with people who had their own agenda before.

They arrived at the actual research lab - and found Loki, Morrison and Hordak standing around a projection that looked like a blend of ancient Asgard and human.

"Ah, you've arrived. Good," Loki turned to nod at them. "You might be able to help us here - would this be considered attractive for you?" He pointed at the projection.

Sam wasn't the only one to blink. What kind of question was that?

Catra was blunter: "What?"

"We are considering restoring sexual reproduction to the Asgard as a possible way to ensure their genome won't enter another degradation process," Alpha explained. "Though while the biological and genetic aspects are clear, we haven't been able to extrapolate the sociological changes."

Sam looked at Morrison. Hordak was a clone, and Loki was… well, also a clone, but Morrison was a human. He should know about sex. According to what she had heard, he had a certain reputation in his circles.

The scientist blushed a little. "Well, we're dealing with an alien species that has abandoned sexual reproduction for millennia. We cannot expect them to mimic humans."

"Although if we want that to be possible, the new appearance should be both compatible and attractive to humans," Loki added. "Which is why we need your data."

Oh, God! Sam closed her eyes for a moment and muttered: "I really hope this is their idea of a joke. The General will never stop joking about 'Asgard needs women' once he hears this."

Catra giggled, so she must have caught Sam's words.

Adora, though, shook her head. "Wait! You can't just decide that your species will sexually reproduce from now on!"

Loki frowned - at least it looked that way. "If that is the best way to keep our genome stable - and preliminary data seems to indicate that, especially since it worked for the Ancients - then that is the course of action needed to save my species."

Adora opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Catra shook her head. "What if they don't want to be saved if that's the price?"

"No one will be forced to have their genes altered," Loki said. "And they could still opt for asexual reproduction if they wanted - which they should since it's the objectively superior option as long as you mix genes from multiple donors - but straight cloning will have to be prohibited to avoid a repeat of our current problem."

"Yes." Hordak nodded. "While the act of initiating sexual reproduction is quite pleasurable, the actual reproduction using a human body as an incubator is inefficient, debilitating and dangerous to the host, and, therefore, not recommended. Which should be obvious to anyone looking into the matter."

That was… Well, Sam couldn't say she disagreed with the idea.

Catra snorted. As if anyone sane would want to carry a baby to term inside them unless they had no access to magic or medicinal technology! She remembered those lessons from their time as Horde cadets very well. Of course, Hordak would follow the same advice. He might have sex with Entrapta, but any babies would be grown in a pod.

"Right." Adora nodded.

"But just adding the option for sexual reproduction will alter your species on a fundamental level," Sam pointed out.

"We're altering our very genes - that's a much more fundamental change," Loki retorted.

"Of the individual. But changing your entire society goes further than that," Sam said.

"Which would also be the result of altering genes." Loki tried to be clever.

"You don't have to add sexual reproduction as long as you don't do straight cloning, which you already said will be prohibited." Sam shook her head. "I'm not a geneticist, but I have reviewed your reports."

"Yes, we don't have to - but more options are better," Morrison said.

"And sexual reproduction is the norm in the known sapient species, therefore indicating a significant evolutionary advantage over asexual reproduction," Loki added.

Ah. "And here I thought you were just curious about sex," Catra said. "Which, by the way, is something great you're missing out on right now." She stretched and grinned when she saw Adora blush and Glimmer roll her eyes.

"The Asgard have abandoned such things long ago, but we have kept records," Loki replied.

Records they apparently kept better than their data about their own genome. If Jack were here, he'd make a joke about deleting vital information to save porn. Since he wasn't… "I see you've got your priorities settled," Catra said.

Adora looked confused, Glimmer rolled her eyes again, and Loki… nodded in apparent agreement. "Indeed. Since we're already changing our genome, it makes sense to add more improvements - or options - while we're at it."

Catra wasn't so sure about that. In her experience, adding more objectives and complexity to a plan generally lowered its chances of success. But whether or not the Asgard had sex again was neither her problem nor her decision.

"That doesn't explain why you would ask about human aesthetics," Sam said, still frowning.

"According to our data, humans are one of the species most open to sexual relationships with other species and, therefore, a good role model - as long as the aesthetics are compatible," Loki said.

Sam looked surprised for a moment, then glared at Morrison. "What kind of porn did you show him?"

"I didn't!" Morrison protested.

"I accessed your cultural data," Loki said. "Both ancient and recent."

Catra nodded. "That would do it." Sam glared at her, but she ignored it. Daniel had told them about ancient Earth legends and myths often enough on the way to Earth. Of course, Loki would come to that conclusion! Wait… hadn't he been part of some of those myths?

Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, November 16th, 1999

"...so, Entrapta is on forced leave?" Jack O'Neill asked his former second-in-command. He didn't think anyone had the formal authority to order her to rest. Well, maybe Adora had, as the Supreme Commander.

"Not officially," Carter replied. "But effectively, yes. Adora and the others will ensure she has completely recovered before she returns to work."

"Ah." He nodded before grinning. "And she built a lot of nifty gadgets for us."

Carter frowned at him. "That's what drove her into exhaustion."

"Well, scientists do that from time to time. Working too much." He shrugged as casually as he could.

Carter blushed at that. Too bad Daniel wasn't here - Jack's friend had pulled overnighters more than once as well, and not always for critical translations. But he was with Sha're in a retreat, helping her recover from her ordeal. They would probably move to Etheria for a while soon, last Jack had heard, before they'd brave an Earth city. And speaking of Etheria… "And our mad scientists haven't been developing bioweapons or plotting to take over the world?"

"Not to our best knowledge, sir." Carter nodded. "Although if they wanted to, Alpha would probably help them."

"Aren't AIs supposed to take over the world themselves?" Jack joked, even though the thought of an Ancient AI supporting such plots was very concerning. The things they could create on that moon…

"That is a movie cliché, sir." Carter didn't show any reaction to his comment and remained the professional officer he knew and lo… liked to work with. She was the best second-in-command any officer could wish for. Even now that she - technically, he reminded himself - wasn't his subordinate any more. Which had effects on regulations that he didn't want to think about.

"More seriously, is it safe?"

"To the best of our knowledge, yes, sir." Carter nodded again. But she seemed to hesitate, Jack noticed.

He raised his eyebrows.

She pressed her lips together. "The changes to the Asgard genome they are planning are quite extensive, sir. More extensive than expected."

That sounded… also concerning. "Aren't they trying to build a better body and genome from the ground up? I've seen the pictures," he said. And he had read the reports. The Asgard had changed a lot since they started cloning themselves. And Loki was planning even greater changes?

"Yes, sir. But they're also planning to add the ability to reproduce sexually."

He slightly tilted his head, prompting her to explain.

"That would cause a drastic change in their society. They've been living without sexual reproduction for tens of thousands of years. To add this back in would upset their entire society on a fundamental level."

"Yeah, I guess everyone going through puberty at once wouldn't be great for society," Jack commented.

Instead of pretending she didn't find his comment funny while she twisted her lips into a hint of a smile, Carter nodded as if he had been serious. "That is an apt comparison, sir. They would be like teenagers - only without any adult help or even up-to-date information about how to deal with this. It would be mitigated to a degree, I think, by the fact that this would be a conscious choice, so not everyone would be affected at once, but that would also cause the risk of dividing their society."

"And sooner or later, most of them will want to find out what the big deal is about sex," Jack said.

She nodded again. "That is a plausible outcome, yes."

"It's too bad Daniel isn't here. That would be right up his alley."

"Yes. He'd love it."

But Daniel was busy being reunited with his wife. And so someone else would have to deal with this. "Well, I'd say that sounds like a future Asgard problem, but since they're busy with their war against the Replicators, anything that shakes their society might also affect us."

Teenagers in command of space battleships was a frightening thought, though Jack hoped that the Asgard would have the sense not to let their generals and captains do this until the war was won. Though they had only met two Asgard, and one of them was a mad scientist and the other a high-ranking officer, so it wasn't as if Jack - or anyone else - knew enough about the Asgard to tell. They certainly couldn't trust Loki's information.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have an estimate for how long our dear alien mad scientist will take to finish his project?"

"No, sir. I would have to guess blindly. Any new and unforeseen problem could delay the project for an unknown length of time. It's ground-breaking research, after all."

He narrowed his eyes a little. Carter wasn't considering joining that project, was she? He needed her on Earth. For the Alliance.

"Well, it's a potential problem, then." That meant he could focus on how to deploy his troops from the Fleet Transports. And maybe ask for one of them to be permanently assigned to his command. "But I think the Asgard can sort this out themselves. They're old enough. I don't really think they will need or want sex advice from us." He chuckled at his own joke.

Carter still didn't laugh. She cleared her throat. "That might not be entirely accurate, sir."

"Did you just quote Independence Day?"

She blushed. "Loki seems, ah, interested in the human approach to sexuality. He may consider humans as potential sexual partners for the new Asgard. He was asking for aesthetical advice so the new bodies would be attractive for humans."

Jack blinked. That was… "That's supposed to be a Hollywood cliché! A cheap, silly B-movie cliché! Asgard needs humans?" He shook his head. Oh my God, first Anise wanted a baby from him, and now this? What was it with mad alien scientists and babies? he asked himself.

Carter nodded with a grimace. "Yes, sir. No one seems to have told Loki that. On the other hand, if we consider the Norse myths about Loki…"

Jack grimaced as well. Daniel had gone into details in that briefing that Jack really could've done without. And speaking of Daniel… "Alright, I don't want to disturb Daniel, but… as soon as he is back with us, we'll get him working on this!"

"Yes, sir. That should…" A beep from her laptop interrupted her. A familiar beep.

"Message from Etheria?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Carter slowly nodded, eyes on the screen. "It seems the spy bot network picked up a request from Thor to meet with us."

"What a coincidence," Jack said in the flattest tone he could manage.