Chapter 146: The Secret Base Part 6
Research Station Beta, PU-9623, January 31st, 2000 (Earth Time)
Jack O'Neill liked watching Carter work. Especially if she was so focused, she forgot that she was being watched - in a way, the tension and complete focus on the task emphasised everything about her. It made her more… honest. There was no room for her polite, professional act. Just her and the task.
And she looks hot when she…
He pushed the utterly unprofessional voice away and ignored it. Carter was a fine officer, and both of them were members of the United States Air Force, anyway. Chain of command or not.
He leaned back against the wall in the main lab of Beta and watched Carter work on the laptop she had connected to the crystal array thingie. She was a faster typist than anyone else he knew. Well, except for Entrapta, but having magic hair that could use half a dozen keyboards at the same time, as she was demonstrating right now, was cheating, in Jack's opinion.
"OK! If we extrapolate the data gathered with this setting, then we should be able to narrow down the specific frequencies resonating with the background of the target dimension. And based on that, we should be able to detect frequencies that differ in crucial patterns from that," Entrapta announced.
Jack looked at Carter and raised his eyebrows.
"We will be able to detect people who aren't native to the target dimension, sir," Carter explained.
Jack nodded. He had suspected that - he wasn't a dumb marine; he was Air Force - but it was best to check.
"So, you'll be able to find Catra!" Adora leaned forward. She looked almost feverish - she hadn't really rested enough since this whole mess had started, in Jack's opinion. But good luck trying to tell her that when others - like Carter - were pushing all-nighters as well.
"In theory, yes. We still need to test it," Bow cut in. "It's not that easy."
"It would be easy if we were dealing with an actual parallel universe - the beginning of entropic cascade failure would give off specific radiation that we could detect," Carter added. "Although that's only if that theory about entropic cascade failure is actually correct. Of course, Beta's data supports that."
"Ancient records mention such cases, yes." Beta had popped up next to them, and Jack barely managed not to jerk. "That's why we were using a specific transfer dimension as a target. The fact that the dimension is influenced and even formed by sapient minds guarantees that you will not meet a dimensional analogue, reducing the risk of fatal consequences related to dimensional travel. Of course, that is merely for research; the actual value of travelling to such dimensions is debatable. There are no resources to be extracted or knowledge to be gained since everything depends on someone imagining it."
"Not a good spot to found new colonies, huh?" Jack asked.
"Exactly!" Beta smiled at him - he had to work on his sarcasm. "Nothing created in such a dimension could survive the return to our dimension - the central laws of nature work differently there. Even the simplest material gathered in such a place might suffer rapid entropic decay once introduced to a less metaphysically unstable universe."
"Is that the kind of decay that makes it crumble to dust or go critical?" Jack asked.
The way Carter, Entrapta and Bow blinked and glanced at each other wasn't very comforting.
"That's an excellent question." Beta nodded approvingly in that condescending way of hers. "We should find out."
"Only under the strictest security, of course," Carter added.
Entrpata nodded in agreement, but Jack still didn't trust the glint in her eyes.
"No blowing up the planet by mistake!" he told them with a frown.
"Of course not!" Beta frowned at him in return. "That would threaten the research station itself and all our work!"
"And kill us all," Jack added in a flat voice.
"And prevent us from saving Catra and the others!" Adora glared at everyone. Or she was trying not to fall asleep - it was hard to tell.
"Right!" Entrapta nodded. "We'll have to do that in space then - and on the other side of the planet so any exotic radiation generated by such a decay won't affect the base."
"But first, we need to test our new sensors," Carter said, bringing everyone back on course.
"Yes!" Once more, hair tentacles flew out, and keyboards started to sound like automatic weapons.
Jac slightly shook his head. Before he could make a comment - or tell Adora to catch some sleep - his communicator vibrated, indicating someone wanted to talk to him. "Work calls," he said, leaving the lab to check who thought they had a problem only he could with this time.
Some people really needed to show more initiative. As long as they weren't researching potentially planet-wrecking superweapons, of course.
Research Station Beta, PU-9623, February 1st, 2000 (Earth Time)
Taweret glared at them when Adora had Beta depolarise the force field that kept her locked up. She should have done this earlier, but between ensuring that her friends had everything that they needed to get Catra back and sorting out a few issues with the occupation of the planet, there hadn't been time for that. And Taweret had been safe and comfortable, sort of, in her cell anyway - not as comfortable as she was used to, of course, or if she would have been held in Bright Moon, but it wasn't as if she was in a Horde cell.
"Hello, Taweret," she said with a nod and a smile. "Hello, Zahra," she added for the host the Goa'uld was controlling. "I am She-Ra, Princess of Power." She gestured at the others. Taweret had already met them, but she might not remember them. "You already know General O'Neill and Sha're. These are Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon and Dr Jackson. And Jakar and his host Mats."
Taweret nodded curtly after standing up from her cot - she was still shorter than Adora but a bit taller than Glimmer, Adora noted. She didn't miss that the Goa'uld ignored the Tok'ra, either.
"I'm sorry it took a while to get around to you, but we were kind of busy taking over your bases and dealing with your ships," she said.
"I hope they accounted themselves well," Taweret said with a toothy smile.
"Not really," Jack drawled. "Paperwork was more challenging than your guards."
The Goa'uld sneered. "Apophis assured me that he sent his best warriors with me."
"Well, if they were his best, this would be a short war," Jack replied.
"You defeated one fleet of his. He has more. Many more," Taweret retorted. "More than enough to destroy the Tau'ri and your new allies."
"Ah." Daniel raised his finger. "That's a bold statement, but since you don't know how many forces our Alliance can field, it's just a boast."
The Goa'uld glared at him. "The Goa'uld Empire rules the galaxy, and Apophis is the most powerful of the System Lords. No force can stand against him. Certainly not the Tok'ra, who only survived by hiding in the shadows for millennia."
That sounded like empty bravado to Adora - the galaxy was far too large to be ruled by the Goa'uld. And Apophis wasn't the most powerful of the Goa'uld any more.
"And yet, you never dared to intrude into Horde Prime's territory - or challenge the Asgard," Sha're said.
Taweret tensed, glaring at her, then raised her chin and scoffed. "If either of those powers were allied with you, where are they? Do you expect me to believe that they would let their clients deal with me?"
"We might need to get a bigger cell for her ego," Jack muttered next to Adora.
She chuckled at that while she pushed the button on her communicator. "Hordak?"
A moment later, Hordak walked into the hallway facing Taweret's cell, and the Goa'uld queen recoiled, gaping.
She recovered quickly, though. "That's not Horde Prime."
"You are correct," Hordak told her. "I am Hordak. The first of his clones to gain my freedom."
"So, you're a deserter." Taweret laughed, though it sounded a bit forced. "What will you do once Horde Prime finds you?"
"Horde Prime is dead. I killed him," Adora told her.
"An empty boast!" Taweret retorted with a sneer. "This is a farce! Will you claim to be a Gate Builder next?"
"It is the truth," Adora said. "Horde Prime attacked our home and we defeated him - and freed his clones from his control. They joined our alliance."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Actually, no," Jack said with a grin. "We don't. But it makes telling you the truth more fun."
Adora resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. "We want you to understand your situation. And your options."
Taweret narrowed her eyes. "You need my help. That's why you are doing this… production! To impress and fool me!"
"We don't actually need your help," Adora said. "Beta already told us that you don't know anything useful about the experiments here."
"But you want my knowledge of Apophis's court and his plans!" Taweret scoffed. "You expect me to betray him because of such a transparent lie!"
"We expect you to betray him to save your own skin," Jack told her. "Or because you want to usurp him. Or just because. You're a Goa'uld."
"Cooperation is your only chance of survival," Jakar spoke up using his Goa'uld voice, and Taweret flinched. "If you kill your host, you die. If you let yourself be removed from her without killing her, you'll live."
"Traitor!" Taweret hissed in return. "I know what you do to those you capture."
"We would like to mete out the punishment you deserve, but our allies do not condone that," Jakar replied with a glance at Adora.
She nodded. "Yes. We don't kill prisoners. Cooperate, release your host, and we will guarantee your life."
"You will meet Amaunet and the other Goa'uld prisoners who can confirm this," Sha're told her.
Adora tensed. If Taweret decided to kill her host… They could stun her, of course. If they were quick enough, they could keep her sedated until the Tok'ra could remove her. But it was dangerous. It was better to persuade her to cooperate.
"You made a lot of fantastic claims. Who are you?" Taweret was sneering again.
"I told you already - I am She-Ra, Princess of Power."
"And I'm Glimmer, Queen of Bright Moon. We represent the Princess Alliance of Etheria."
"That means nothing!"
"We defeated Horde Prime. We freed his clones. And we're restoring magic to the galaxy," Adora said.
Taweret gasped at the last part. Oh - of course! She was old enough to remember the time before the First Ones stole the magic from the sector for the Heart of Etheria.
Adora smiled at her. "We did that to Saqqara. You probably noticed that." Well, they had been forced to, as a last resort, but she didn't need to know that.
Taweret stared at her. "An empty boast!" she spat - but it sounded hollow.
"Hordak! You're back! How was the talk with Taweret?"
Samantha Carter looked up at Entrapta's comment. Indeed, Hordak had returned.
"It went as expected. Without proof, Taweret did not believe our claims - or professed such doubt, at least. Although since she seemed unsettled at the end, I believe we had a conditional success," he replied. "Whether it was worth my absence from our work, time will tell."
Sam swallowed a comment about self-importance; Hordak had been absent for less than an hour, and while he was a great scientist, even double that time wouldn't make much of a difference, if any at all, in their search for a way to save Catra and the other missing people. They had to take longer breaks to eat and sleep, after all.
But provoking an argument would be wasting time and creating friction; Hordak was quite prickly. Not as bad as some of Sam's colleagues from Earth, but he wouldn't shrug off such a comment as easily as Entrapta or Bow.
So she focused back on her sensor analysis while Hordak returned to studying the remote projector's focusing crystals with Entrapta. Their last experiment had proven that their idea could work, but they needed to refine their approach to get the details needed to actually track non-natives in the other dimension by the changes they caused. And improving the sensors to that point not only required improved computing power, which they had acquired by linking advanced machines from the lab and the fleet above, but also better algorithms.
And coding those, especially so they could run on a hodgepodge of different operating systems, was a challenge. Even for someone like Sam, who had a lot of experience linking First Ones, Horde and Earth technology thanks to her research with Entrapta.
A challenge she would beat, Sam reminded herself as she adjusted her code a bit more, then ran another test on the raw sensor data. If only she had a way to make the computers copy her own thoughts… She blinked. Maybe she needed a break if she was thinking about things like that.
The test would run a few minutes, anyway, producing thousands of individual analyses and compiling them into one data set so she wouldn't waste time either way. "I'll be right back," she announced before leaving the room.
When she entered the secondary control room serving as a break room, the huge holoscreen there was showing a comedy from Earth - Entrapta had linked it to the spy bot network so they could get a feed from Earth. The lag was bad, but that didn't matter when you were merely watching media instead of communicating.
Sam used the remote on the table - like the rest of the furniture, it was from the expeditionary force meant for a field headquarters and looked a little out of place in the room - to switch channels. No one else was present, and she preferred the news over some sappy Hollywood movie. Especially if it was a sappy Hollywood movie featuring a scientist in too-tight clothes flirting with a dashing military officer and a plot with holes large enough to fly a frigate through. At least there was no love triangle with an alien this time.
"...and despite the mounting pressure for transparency, Alliance Command insists that they cannot reveal the files from Stargate Command for military reasons. So, fact-checking claims remains a challenge, which is why we have invited two experts to the studio to discuss this."
Sam closed her eyes and sighed. She was tempted to switch channels again, but it would be useful to keep up with Stargate Command's media reputation in the public. Getting blindsided once by rumours about a - completely fictional, thank you - near-catastrophe featuring black hole research had been bad enough.
So she sipped coffee and nibbled on a pastry while watching two 'experts' discussing her former team.
"...and while there was a civilian on the team, that doesn't change the fact that it was a military team, led by an officer, and part of a military operation. That will have coloured their interaction with the galaxy at large. A civilian team would have reacted quite differently to alien cultures."
"But that is understandable since we were already at war with the Goa'uld. You have to consider military necessity in such a situation."
"The war was started by a clandestine program of the United States Air Force, funded from black accounts, without more than perfunctory oversight, and focused on developing advanced alien superweapons."
"To defend Earth."
"If it had been about defending Earth, Stargate Command would have recruited the best and brightest scientists for their research, regardless of their nationality. But they stuck to the military instead."
"Samantha Carter is amongst the world's foremost physicians."
"And a Major in the Air Force. That has far more weight than…"
Sam sighed. In a way, it was ironic that after years of having to struggle against the perception that she owed her commission to her scientific expertise and wasn't a 'real officer' despite having more combat experience than most of her peers, now people were using her military rank to disparage her scientific credentials. Although it was hardly surprising - some of her colleagues in the field had massive yet very vulnerable egos and would latch onto any excuse for their lack of success in research. At least the experts hadn't claimed that she had slept her way to the top here.
"...and rumours of her close relationship to Princess Entrapta remain in light of Etheria's known stance on such things and…"
Sam clenched her teeth. That should teach her to taunt Murphy. She shook her head and left the room. The test should be finished by now, and if the results matched projections, they should be ready for another experiment soon.
Unknown Location, February 1st, 2000 (Earth Time)
Catra eyed the door and held her breath, ears twisting. She couldn't hear anything or anyone outside. Of course, the doors were thick - she knew that from her Bright Moon - and so that didn't mean the coast was actually clear.
She clenched her teeth. She couldn't wait any longer. This Bright Moon was too different, this Angella too messed up and dangerous, for Catra to risk waiting any longer in the hope that her friends would find and save her. At any moment, Angella could decide that Catra had to die. Either for her past crimes or to keep her from telling everyone that Angella was not this dimension's Angella. Or both.
Catra had to save herself.
She resisted the urge to look once more for hidden cameras observing her - she couldn't do anything about them, anyway - and lifted the carpet, revealing the lightly scratched stone floor below. "Here goes nothing…" she whispered as she unsheathed her claws, then slashed down.
It took a bit more swipes and slashes to cut through the stone than she had expected, but it was fast work, and she soon had the stone cut and broken into pieces she could easily lift out of the growing hole.
And then her claws cut through stone and found nothing - not a force field painfully stopping her swipe, but empty air. She grinned, dug the claws of one hand into the stone and cut around it with her other hand, then lifted with a grunt.
A hole. Not yet large enough to fit through, but she could see the floor below her in the soft light of the moons that shone through the windows. Perfect! Now she just had to…
Her ears twitched as she not only heard a waterfall but also breathing, and her eyes widened. That wasn't an empty room below - someone was sleeping there! Damn! In her Bright Moon, those rooms weren't occupied!
She dropped the stone on the floor of her cell, next to the other pieces - no sense in trying to hide them - and quickly enlarged the hole by cutting off another piece. She could squeeze through now, though it would be a tight fit. Better widen it some more.
Then she was done. Taking a deep breath, she laid down on the floor, frowning at the dust covering the carpet and getting into her fur, and pushed her head through the hole to take a peek.
There, at the wall, was the waterfall she had heard. There was also a big window facing East, a balcony to the south, vanity and armoires, a half-open door leading to a huge bathroom, and a massive canopy bed in the off-centre that looked vaguely familiar. This was a guest room, and a first-class one.
She held her breath and looked around for a sword. If this was Adora's room… No. No sword. But she saw a trident peeking out from under the bed and had to swallow a curse.
This was Mermista's room! She cocked her head and eyed the bed, whose occupant was hidden by the curtains. She didn't hear two breaths and saw no clothing strewn around the room, so Mermista hadn't been busy with Sea Hawk and was now exhausted and sleeping deeply.
Well, that wouldn't stop Catra. She could sneak past an alert awake Mermista; a sleeping one was child's play. Baring her teeth, she pushed headfirst through the hole and dug her claws into the ceiling below before swinging through and letting go, landing on all fours on the thick carpet in the middle of the room with barely a sound.
Perfect!
She grinned as she moved past the bed towards the balcony. She could easily climb down from there to the yard below - she knew that from experience. It was a little hard on the wall there, but Catra didn't give a damn about this Bright Moon's appearance.
She brushed the curtain half-covering the door to the balcony aside and slipped out, peering down at the yard. Yeah, she recognised the location. From here, she could easily slip out of the palace, and then she had multiple routes to the fields surrounding the town. If she went all-out, she could reach the whispering forest before the sun rose and anyone would notice her absence. So, she just…
Something was moving down there! Hissing under her breath, she moved back and ducked, waiting for an alarm to be raised, ready to scramble down the wall and fight her way out.
But instead of yelling, she heard a grunt, followed by something flying over the balcony's railing and hitting the floor next to her with a thud.
A grappling hook? She stared at it, blinking, while it was pulled back, then got hooked over the railing. Who would…? She closed her eyes and stifled a groan when she realised who would scale the wall like this.
"Oh, my love, I'm coming!"
Yeah, the whisper confirmed it. Sea Hawk was visiting Mermista at night. Judging by the slightly slurred words, he probably carried a rose between his teeth.
Catra glanced back. She could hide - perhaps under the bed - and just let him and Mermista get it on, then sneak out and climb down. But if either Sea Hawk or Mermista spotted the hole in the ceiling…
And hiding under a bed while two people had sex on it wasn't exactly how Catra wanted to spend her time, either. Not with her sensitive ears and nose.
Screw it! She moved back, then dashed behind the curtain at the door, her back to the wall, and peered through the small gap facing the doorframe.
"Oh, my dear Mermista! Your love is coming!"
Catra saw a hand grip the railing and heard a grunt. Then Sea Hawk pulled himself up and swung his legs over it. And he really was holding a rose between his teeth! Catra resisted the urge to shake her head and held her breath while he straightened, then walked into the room.
Now!
As soon as he was past her, she slipped out behind his back, vanishing around the corner.
"My Love! I've climbed mountains to reach you!"
"Ugh… What the…? You're late!"
Catra shook her head and ignored the couple's greeting as she gripped the rope dangling from the grappling hook and started to climb down. At least they seemed distracted, so she would…
"Look at the ceiling! Sea Hawk!"
"My love!"
"Not that - the ceiling! Someone broke into the room! That's… the prisoner! She escaped!"
Damn! Catra clenched her teeth and dropped the rest of the way down, then started to run.
Catra's Mermista was loud enough 'to be heard through a hurricane', as Sea Hawk had once described it at an Alliance dinner, and this Mermista was no exception. Catra knew the palace guards would be on alert in moments. Her original escape plan would need to be adjusted - she couldn't count on sneaking out into the town. Not with the palace lighting up as guards - and soon princesses - started looking for her.
She changed course and headed to the corner of the yard, running straight at the wall to the outer part of the palace, dropping down to all fours to pick up speed. One, two… She launched herself into the air and hit the upper part of the wall with her claws extended, shredding the surface as she scrambled the last few yards up.
She slid over its top, trying to flatten herself to minimise her silhouette to anyone looking her way, and dropped down on the other side. She tore up the lawn as she landed, but that couldn't be helped. Though she could use that to lay a false track.
She tore off, claws ripping chunks of earth and grass, towards the gate to the side, but changed direction as soon as she hit the stone-plated path that led through this ornamental yard. Let the guards think she still wanted to escape to the town.
But her real destination was the back of the palace. She moved a bit slower, without her claws granting her traction at high speed, and vanished between two rows of bushes with fancy flowers, then ducked under a fence and dashed past an empty stable - had this Glimmer also had a pony in the palace once? It seemed like it.
And the original Angella hadn't skimped on pasture for the poor pony either - the fence reached all the way to the outer wall of the palace. It was high enough to shield the entire princess playground from view and would do the same for Catra now.
Until she went over it, of course. She could scale it easily using her claws, but if anyone spotted the traces that would leave before she could get away from the palace, she would likely be caught halfway down the cliff on the other side…
She should have taken Sea Hawk's grappling hook and rope with her. Hissing at her mistake, she eyed the wall, then the tree next to it. It had been carefully trimmed by the palace gardener into a decoration, but it was still tall enough to reach halfway to the wall's top. It would have to do.
And while climbing the tree, she would be covered from view by the foliage. She quickly went up, weaving around the many branches, until she reached the top, which was slightly swaying under her weight.
Glancing back, she could see the palace fully alert - all the lights were on, and she could hear more shouting and yelling and see movement behind windows. Yeah, operation 'Catch the Cat' was in full swing.
But Catra hadn't almost beaten the entire Alliance through dumb luck. Scoffing, she shifted her weight, causing the treetop to sway even more. Back and forth, back and forth, back and… She jumped, holding her breath, reaching out as she stretched her body. Her fingertips clamped down on the edge of the top of the wall, and she clenched her teeth as she resisted the urge to unsheathe her claws and get a better grip.
Instead, she pulled herself up, shifting grips to find better purchase on top, and swung her legs over the wall, followed by her body until she was hanging by her fingertips on the other side - straight above the cliff overlooking Bright Moon's lake.
Exactly where she wanted to be right now, she reminded herself. If not for long.
On this side, she had no choice and had to use her claws to descend; the wall ended where the cliff began, and there was no ledge to drop down on. If she fell, she would bounce off the cliff a few times until she hit the water at terminal velocity, as Entrapta would say.
She wouldn't fall. Digging her claws into the wall, she let go of the top and started her descent.
She clenched her teeth at the sound her claws made as they slowed her down until she hit the base of the wall. If anyone heard that… But she was committed now.
The cliff itself was steep but far from smooth, so she had to start climbing down instead of sliding. That slowed her down some. She still made a good pace - thanks to her claws, she could make her own hand- and footholds.
But when she was still halfway to the ground below, she heard a familiar and thoroughly unwelcome sound: Flapping wings. Large wings. A quick glance around confirmed her fear: Adora was riding Swift Wind - and headed to the cliff.
Catra looked down. She was still too far up to risk jumping into the water below her. Going up was out of the question. And she was too exposed on the cliff to hide.
Damn.
Maybe if she hid herself in a crook in the cliff, Adora might miss her in the dim moonlight. But where was such a spot? Pressed against the stone, Catra had trouble seeing a good hiding spot. And if she moved, she would draw more attention to herself.
She muttered another curse. Move and hope to find a hiding spot before Adora found her? Or stay still and hope Adora missed her in the middle of the cliff? No, this Adora wasn't her Adora, but she was likely as stubborn - or more so.
Catra slowed down a little bit, though, and tried to keep an eye on Adora. If she moved smoothly and not too quickly, and timed her faster movement to the moments when Adora wasn't looking in her direction, she might escape notice.
Adora swept past her - and above her. She was starting her search from the top, then. Not the bottom, to cut off any escape. Did she know Catra hadn't had time to reach the bottom yet? Or was that because Adora wanted to be able to swoop down once she found Catra instead of having to climb up?
It didn't matter why, just that she did. Catra clenched her teeth and kept climbing down. There! That might be a hiding spot - a small gap between a protruding rock and another, just large enough for her to fit in.
Baring her fangs in a grim smile, Catra started making her way to the spot. A glance up confirmed that Adora, while closing in, was still about two passes away from her height. That should be enough time to slip around the rock in the way and hide.
She held her breath as she waited, in the barely-there shadow of the rock, for Adora to pass above her. Almost. Almost. Now! Swift Wind swept past, and Catra pushed off, claws digging into the hard rock as she traversed the rock as fast as she could. She only had a second or two… She panted for breath when she slid into the narrow gap, pressing herself against the stone. Now she had to wait until Adora passed this spot, then wait some more until they finished here and went away to search the stables or something. Then Catra could finish her descent and disappear into the forest below.
Her ears twitched - Swift Wind was approaching. Catra resisted the sudden urge to turn and face the rock, not looking until she heard the flying horse pull away. She had to see what was happening. She wouldn't cower like that.
So she watched Adora fly towards her. It wasn't her Adora, but it was a beautiful sight anyway - Adora's outfit shone in the moonlight. Almost ethereal. Even Swiftwind didn't distract from it - his white fur and wings caught the light as well.
Then the two were past, and Catra sighed with relief. That was… She froze. Adora was turning early - and coming back. Had she…?
She must have - she was coming straight at Catra! Damn. Catra looked around. Still too high to jump. Hell, she was so high, if she jumped, Adora could easily catch her before she hit the… Catra's eyes widened. It was a foolish idea. Stupid. But… even if this Adora wasn't her Adora, she couldn't be completely different from her Adora, could she? Not if things had happened more or less like in Catra's dimension.
It was the best shot she had. If she was recaptured, she would be put in a cell from which she couldn't escape. Or killed.
So she pushed herself out of the gap, only holding on to the rock with one foot and one hand, and turned to face Adora. Familiar eyes widened with surprise before they narrowed again.
Smiling, Catra closed her eyes and jumped.
"CATRA!"
She didn't open her eyes and let her body go limp as she fell, the wind tearing at her as she picked up speed. If she had misjudged this Adora…
"CATRA!"
Closer. And she sounded a bit concerned. Catra's smile widened a little, though she kept her eyes squeezed shut. Yes!
Then, an arm wrapped around her waist, fingers digging into her side, and she was pulled into Adora's side. A moment later, her stomach lurched as Swift Wind started to pull out of his dive.
"You idiot!" she heard Adora yell as they slowed down and levelled out. "Trying to kill herself?"
"Without wings, you cannot fly," Swift Wind commented.
And now they were above the lake at the foot of the cliff. Far above it - but not so far that a fall would be fatal.
Catra twisted in Adora's grip, turning her head to face her. "I'm sorry about this," she said, smiling.
Adora's expression darkened. "Oh, you will be…"
Catra wriggled - her arms were caught by Adora, but she was flexible, and Adora was so close… She twisted, then leaned forward and cut Adora off with a kiss.
And when Adora froze, gasping with shock and surprise, her grip loosening, Catra bent her knees, brought her feet up, and jumped out of her grip, diving for the lake below.
This time, Adora wasn't quick enough to catch her before she hit the water.
Research Station Beta, PU-9623, February 2nd, 2000 (Earth Time)
"...and while the actions of SG-1 are undoubtedly heroic, one has to consider the situation during which they were taken: They were active during a war that only started because the United States government tampered with an alien relic in secret."
"I'm not sure it's 'heroic' to visit another planet with a group of soldiers and a nuclear bomb in tow and then blow up the government there when they take exception to that, Jim."
"It was an expedition to another planet - of course, they had to be prepared for the worst. Matter of fact, the worst case happened, and they dealt with it, Frank!"
"And they weren't all soldiers - Dr Jackson was with them."
"He was in uniform!"
"But he's a civilian!"
"That's a technicality. He looked the same as the soldiers. And during his time with SG-1, he was armed and fighting like any other member of SG-1."
"But he was still a civilian!"
"As much a civilian as any other private military contractor!"
Jack O'Neill turned to Daniel, who was staring at the screen with his mouth hanging open. "Did they just call you a mercenary?"
"They… they did! But that's preposterous! I am a consultant!" Daniel shook his head. "A scientist!"
Jack grinned. "Well, you have taken part in pretty much every battle we've been involved in. And you did get combat pay, didn't you?"
"I didn't get combat pay!" Daniel protested. "That's reserved for members of the Armed Forces. My recompensation was just adjusted for hazardous duties."
"Potato, potato," Jack retorted, still grinning. "The media thinks you were a mercenary."
"That's not the media! That's just the most extreme bunch of pundits they could throw together for a cheap rating boost!" Daniel shook his head. "Why are we watching this.. this sensationalist drivel?"
"Because Carter wanted to know what people back on Earth were saying about us," Jack replied as he grabbed another soda from the cooler they had installed in Beta's new break room. Not that Daniel was wrong - this talk show was more 'Jerry Springer' than anything else.
"...and all that still doesn't make SG-1 any less heroic! They've saved Earth from alien invasions long before the princesses arrived, Robert!"
"As part of the United States Armed Forces! They aren't some… some superhero team operating outside the law!"
"Stargate Command was operating outside the law!"
"It was not! The operation was covered by regulations."
"Regulations that obviously need heavy revisions!"
"You want to hamstring our military in the middle of a war?"
"Accountability for the military is most needed in the middle of a war! That's when rules and laws are in danger of being ignored in the name of expediency!"
Jack nodded. The guy was a genuine frothing-at-the-mouth lunatic, but he was right about that. Pretty much only about that, though. At least, even here, the majority of the 'experts' seemed to have a pretty positive view of SG-1, so…
"Or in the name of love. We've all heard the rumours about what SG-1 did when operating on alien planets."
"Oh, yes."
"Are you serious? We are talking about Stargate Command, not a Hollywood romance!"
"Dr Jackson brought a war bride home from the very first mission!"
Scratch that thought! Jack pressed his lips together. He glanced at his friend. Daniel was glaring at the screen. Probably not a good time to ask whether Sha're got a green card yet through their marriage. Though Jack better checked up on that before some bureaucrat with delusions of importance tried to make a fuss. He'd have one of his staff look into that.
"So much for the rally behind the flag effect," Daniel muttered as the pundits descended into another loud argument about the legality of Stargate Command and its actions in the past.
"For most people, it hasn't really sunk in that we're at war. We don't have a lot of casualties, and all the battles are fought off-world, without press coverage. So…" Jack shrugged.
"So that," Daniel said, nodding at the screen again. "Let's change the channel. I don't want to watch this any longer."
"Alright." Jack reached for the remote when the door opened, and Glimmer stuck her head inside. "There you are! We're about to start the experiment!"
Right. Jack got up. He wasn't going to miss that. If only to make sure Adora didn't try again to volunteer herself as a test subject. They couldn't risk her with the first experiment. They couldn't risk her with the second or third experiment, either, but Jack had a feeling that Adora wouldn't let that stop her if the first experiment succeeded.