Chapter 10: The Farm

Royal Gardens, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Perched on a ledge on the palace wall, Catra spotted her prey almost at once. He was working out - stretching right now. But even from this spot, she could see that he had been running - his top was drenched with sweat. She looked around some more but couldn't see anyone else. There shouldn't be - Teal'c was in the guest quarters, 'meditating', Carter was with Entrapta and Hordak doing tech-stuff, and Daniel was with Glimmer in the Royal Archives. Or the private family archives. Whatever.

Perfect. She grinned as she stood, then jumped off, landing on a windowsill a bit to the side and below her. Another jump took her to a small ledge for a lantern, and then it was a safe drop to the ground.

She landed on all fours on the grass below. As she rose, O'Neill turned to face her from then yards away. "I thought the garden was off-limits to others," he said, raising his eyebrows.

She shrugged. He was correct, actually - Glimmer had ordered that to give their guests some privacy - but it wasn't as if Catra cared. Instead of answering, she looked him over. His rifle was next to him, leaning against the tree he had been using for his stretches. Close enough to grab it quickly. "Never cared much for every little rule."

He snorted at that. "Just for the important ones?"

"I focused on results." Overly so, but that was neither here nor there.

He cocked his head to the side. "In the Horde?"

"Yes."

"What I heard of the Horde didn't make me think it was a very flexible organisation," he said as he started some squats.

She flashed him her fangs. "It was very flexible when I was in charge."

"Ah." He stopped and faced her again. "You were in charge of the Horde?"

"Effectively, yes. Highest ranking Force Captain." And she had earned it. "Directly below Hordak. And he was too busy with his research to meddle with command."

"Must have been a cushy job. Why did you quit?"

Because everything had been rotten from the start. She forced herself to shrug and grin. "I had a disagreement with Horde Prime about general policies."

His eyebrows rose for a moment, and she was sure he didn't really believe her. But he nodded. "That tends to happen with megalomaniacal dictators. Sooner or later, they go off the rails."

Oh, she knew that from first-hand experience.

"So, why did you come here? I suppose you have a gym of your own to work out."

She shrugged. She could use the training hall for the guards. But she only did that when Adora trained. "I wanted to check on you. You've gone through a lot in two days."

This time, he did snort. "You're worried for us or about us?"

She grinned. No need to mince words or with him. "About you. You look like you can take care of yourself well enough."

"About us? We're just four soldiers who got lost." He picked up one of the fluffy towels the Bright Mooners loved so much and wiped some sweat from his face and neck.

"You've blown up a palace before, according to your friend." She leaned against the tree, crossing her arms. "But I'm more worried about the rest of you."

"Little old Earth? We don't even have a single spaceship. You've got three fleets."

So they claimed. Catra wasn't quite sure if that was true. They would have been able to recover technology. And they knew about First Ones technology - Carter certainly did. "You've got six billion people. And you're afraid of their reaction to us." And that worried her.

"Yep. It would really make things easier if you wouldn't reveal yourself to the whole planet." He sounded flippant, but he was serious, or so Catra thought.

"Easier for you," she replied. "But only in the short run. The longer you lie to someone, the worse it'll get." Especially if you were lying to yourself.

"The longer it lasts, the more time you have to prepare for dealing with it."

"You mean the higher the chance that someone else will have to deal with it."

"Hey! Delegation and procrastination are the base of good leadership."

She snorted at that. "I was never any good at either." She tilted her head as he jumped up and grabbed a low-hanging branch to do some pull-ups.

"So, what are you worried about specifically?" he asked between pull-ups. "You hold all the cards."

"Until you start building your own spaceships."

"Well, by then, we'll have kicked some Goa'uld butt together and will be friends. No need to worry."

Catra snorted again. "Six billion people. And no princess to lead them. That's like the biggest army ever, without a commander in chief."

"We do have leaders."

"Leaders elected by the people. How good would an army be if they elected their officers?" She knew the answer to that - soldiers would vote for the worst officers who let them be lazy. Or run wild. "You don't elect your officers, do you?" She certainly hoped they weren't that crazy.

"People aren't an army." He dropped down, grabbed the towel again and turned to face her. "But we had long discussions about that. So why are you here by yourself?"

That was a good question. Because Adora was busy and Catra was bored wouldn't be a good answer. And not true either. "I'm not a princess. And I wasn't raised with princesses, either. I was a Horde cadet since I can remember."

He frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "And?"

"So, I'm not like my friends." Not like Adora. She flashed her fangs at him again. "I overheard your discussion. I know that there's more to your story and your planet."

"Ah. And you want the truth."

She scoffed. "Not particularly. I just want you to know that if Adora gets hurt because of you or your people, I'll take it out on you." She nodded at him, then jumped up, landing on the next higher branch. A few more jumps and she was on the palace wall again.

Mission accomplished.

Royal Archives, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and then just down the hallway until you reach the entrance to the archives."

"Thank you." Jack O'Neill nodded at the helpful guard - a woman, like about half the guards in the palace, part of him registered - and started walking down the corridor. Seeing guards in chainmail and carrying spears on a world with spaceships in orbit still threw him off a little - it was too much like a Goa'uld palace. At least the spaceships weren't pyramids, and the hallways in the palace, while wide enough to fit two cars next to each other, weren't covered in gold and murals praising a snake. In fact, there was a distinct lack of decorations - no statues or pictures, actually.

He'd been to palaces on Earth - well, one, during a stay in England that he couldn't talk about until everyone involved had died from old age - and they tended to be a little cluttered with such stuff. Another cultural difference, as Daniel would say. Plenty of those going around.

Passing a window, he glanced outside. Two people were unloading a horse cart next to a skiff. This must have been how the country had felt back when people were still using horses to get around while planes were already carrying passengers and the mail. It would be interesting to find out how the people outside the palace lived. Perhaps he could arrange a little excursion before they left for Earth?

Two more guards, a woman and a man, stood in front of the door. "Howdy!" he greeted them with a wide smile and his best fake Texan accent.

Unfortunately, they didn't react at all. "Are you here for the archives or are you looking for someone?" the woman asked.

"Both!" He grinned at her, but she didn't react this time either.

"Your friend is inside."

The other guard opened the door for him.

As he entered, Jack was tempted to ask them if they didn't have to tell him not to touch anything and be on his best behaviour. He didn't, though. Those people were just too nice and trusting for that. Or appeared to be.

Inside, he had to whistle - shelves upon shelves formed rows in a huge room, and each of them was full of scrolls, stacks of sheets, and… "Crystals?"

He cocked his head and walked forward, looking at a line of purple crystals sitting on the shelf.

"It's a form of data storage. Obsolete, though, since a century, or so I've been told."

"Hi, Daniel." Jack nodded at him. "They told you that?"

"I asked." Daniel smiled. "This is incredible - the records go back to the founding of the kingdom! To the day the First Ones arrived - officially arrived, I mean."

"Well, enjoy it while you can," Jack told him. "We're still set to leave in a few days."

Daniel's face fell. For a moment, Jack worried that his friend might choose to stay. But he wouldn't. He had never before, after all. Then Daniel smiled again. "Yes, I know. I hope we'll be done with our search by then."

"Good." They needed Daniel for this. The people back home were good - the government wouldn't have campaign donors represent them in the negotiations with Etheria - but Daniel was the one who had the best insight into their future allies. And, speaking of insight… "By the way, isn't this anachronistic?" He nodded at the crystals. "Magical data storage, but horse-drawn carts? And spears?"

"Not at all!" Daniel beamed. "You can't expect technology to advance just as it did on Earth. Certain technologies depend on others, but not everything is interconnected in that way. And magic, as well as different species, will completely change how a civilisation develops. Etheria had electronic - well, magical, but with similar results - communication a hundred years ago!"

"And how widespread is that?" Jack asked.

"Ah…" Daniel blushed. "I haven't actually asked. I should."

"Do that." Knowing how the average commoner lived in Etheria would be very valuable to know. You couldn't judge a country according to the palace of its king, after all. Some of the poorest countries had leaders who lived in luxury while their people starved. Jack didn't think this was the case here, but neither did he think everyone lived in such a palace.

"Oh, by the way," he went on. "I got a shovel talk at my age. Should I be flattered or afraid?"

"A shovel talk?" Daniel gasped.

"Yes," Jack went on, hiding his grin. "That's when you are threatened with death should you hurt your date."

"I know what a shovel talk is, Jack!" Daniel bristled. "But why did you get one? What did you do?"

Jack snorted. "Nothing like that. Catra just warned me that if Adora gets hurt because of something on Earth, she'll take it out on me."

"What?" Daniel stared at him.

"What? What did she do?"

Oh damn… Queen Glimmer had been on the other side of the shelves. Time for damage control. "She was joking," Jack quickly said.

"Was she? Even if she were, that's not how you treat a guest!" Glimmer scoffed through clenched teeth. "I'll talk to her. And I'm sorry about this!"

"It's nothing. She's just looking out for her girlfriend," Jack said.

"It isn't nothing!" Glimmer insisted. "And she should've known better." She sighed. "I'll handle this."

Oh, damn. Jack felt like a tattletale. "Really, it's nothing," he repeated himself. "I understand where she's coming from."

And now Glimmer was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "You do?"

"Don't you feel protective of your friends?"

"Of course I do!" she replied. "But that doesn't mean I threaten guests without any reason!"

Well, whether or not Catra had a reason was debatable. Jack clenched his teeth for a moment. How to handle this? Hadn't Catra talked to Glimmer about what she heard? "It's not all sunshine and rainbows on Earth," he said. "She's got a reason to be concerned - we have a lot of differences, after all." More than they knew.

"We know that," Glimmer said.

"But also many things that we share," Daniel cut in.

Jack refrained from asking what exactly, other than a desire to kick snake butt and help their victims.

"Well, of course we do," Glimmer said. "Even if you have a weird system for governing your kingdoms - your countries. And you don't have stage plays, but those 'movies'."

"We do have stage plays," Daniel said. "And concerts. Both are quite popular."

"You do?" Glimmer smiled. "That's a relief. We thought that all that you did for entertainment was staring at a screen."

"Don't knock it until you've tried it!" Jack protested - but with a grin. Situation defused? "Anyway, we've got six billion people, which means our fair share of idiots is much bigger than yours."

"In total numbers," Daniel explained.

Jack frowned at him. Judging by the way Glimmer pursed her lips, she didn't like being talked down to, even by accident. Well, few people did. And she was royalty. "Anyway, don't, ah, scold her, OK? It's really no big deal. I probably would do the same thing in her place if I was worried for my team."

Glimmer snorted. "There's always a reason to scold her." But she was smiling. "So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, I wanted to check up on Daniel. Maybe drag him out to see the sun for an hour or two. Take a trip through the countryside before we get stuck in a spaceship for a month?"

"Oh!" Glimmer blinked. "That's right - we've been here for hours!"

"That's not a problem!" Daniel reassured her. "I love this!"

"Yes, you do," Jack agreed. "But it's not healthy to stay inside all day."

Daniel stared at him, then frowned. Jack kept smiling at his friend. Yes, I need you outside, he thought. Come on, pick up the hint!

"I guess a break wouldn't go amiss," Daniel said with obvious reluctance. "And you might be needed for, well, ruling?" he asked the queen.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "Dad should be able to handle it. He will have to when we leave for Earth. But I guess a break sounds fine." She looked at the crystal in her hand and shook her head.

Possibly troublesome information? Jack wondered. Not that he'd ask the queen right now.

Glimmer sighed, then smiled. "I'll ask Adora to be your guide. She must be all worked up about planning and logistics by now."

"Thank you," Jack said. He would have preferred to walk around without a 'guide', but he couldn't fault their hosts for being cautious. And, he added to himself, with all the magical creatures around, maybe there were monsters to be wary of outside the city.

Getting ripped apart by an alien Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog because Jack didn't recognise the threat until it was too late would be an embarrassing way to die.

Outside the Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So, where do you want to go?" Adora asked with the best smile she could manage as they stepped through the gate. She didn't need to take a break no matter what Glimmer had said. Not when they still had so much to plan for their expedition. They would be gone for months, and that required extensive planning to cover all eventualities! She had barely gone through everything that was needed in case they all lost their engines at the same time.

Catra, walking and stretching at the same time, snorted.

Adora frowned at her. Her lover, of course, had agreed with Glimmer - but only so she could take a break as well.

"Well, I was always fond of the countryside," O'Neill told them. "You know, farmlands and such. Makes me feel nostalgic."

"You want to compare farms," Catra said with another snort.

"Well… I'm curious, yes," he admitted. "We don't have magic at home, so I wonder how that changes things."

Daniel nodded after a moment. That was a little weird - he was usually much quicker.

But Adora could show them farmland easily. "Most farms are near Bright Moon," she explained as they walked over to a skiff. "The Whispering Woods aren't good for farming - too many monsters venture out of them - though Plumeria manages well enough in their part."

"That's because Perfuma controls the plants," Catra said.

Adora sent her another frown. She had been about to explain that! "Anyway, the farms surround Bright Moon." She had already said that, damn. "Most produce, uh, vegetables. And they have cows."

"Ah. Where do you get your grain?" Daniel asked.

"Mostly through trade, I think," Adora said.

"Trade from the plains before they turn into the Crimson Waste," Catra added. At Adora's surprised glance, she grinned. "I was planning to cut you off from that supply once. Decided against it since Perfuma could have made up the difference easily."

Adora blinked, then frowned at her lover. Did she have to bring her Horde past up?

"Ah. That would facilitate logistics," O'Neill said.

"But if they could replace your grain source, why don't they do it?" Daniel asked. "They could make a profit, right?"

They could, but… "Perfuma's busy helping Scorpia," Adora explained. "And she wouldn't want to hurt the farmers in the plains."

"Ah."

"That's good to know," O'Neill said. "So, where is the next farm?"

"Get on, I'll drive us there," Adora told him, pointing at the skiff. She knew a few farms - well, she had seen them while travelling to and from Bright Moon. It wouldn't be hard to find one.

"Do you know the farmer?" O'Neill asked as they climbed into the skiff. Well, Catra showed off and entered with two jumps. At least she hadn't scratched the hull this time.

"No," Adora told him as she took her position at the controls. Catra joined her, as expected.

"We don't have to visit the closest farm if there's a farmer you know a bit further away," O'Neill said. He was standing near the bow.

"Ah, sorry, I don't know any farmer," Adora replied. She might have met some at one of the festivals, but she wouldn't be able to tell if they were farmers, of course. Bow had a brother who was a farmer, but Adora had never met him, and his farm wasn't near Bright Moon anyway. At least as far as she knew. "But it shouldn't be a problem; everyone I met was very friendly. They won't mind showing you their farm." At least they shouldn't.

"Ah." O'Neill looked at Daniel, who seemed to be frowning.

"Is something wrong?" Adora asked while she guided the skiff next to the road - you didn't drive on the road with a skiff, after all.

"Nothing." O'Neill smiled. "Daniel's grumpy because he wanted to spend more time in the dark cellars of the palace, staring at mouldy books."

"It is a bright, well-illuminated archive, and there's no speck of mould in sight!" Daniel protested.

"Ah." Adora smiled. The two were friends and joking around with each other. Just like Catra and Adora had, back when they had been cadets.

But Catra was narrowing her eyes at the two, Adora noticed. So, something was wrong.

"We're not exactly involved with farming," Catra said, leaning against the railing. "We were raised as cadets in the Horde."

"So I gathered," O'Neill replied.

"Do you know any farmers back on Earth?" Catra asked.

"Neighbours of my parents," he told them.

"Ah." Catra grinned again. O'Neill smiled back, showing his teeth.

"As I said, I don't think they'll mind showing you around," Adora repeated herself. "Whether we know them or not."

"Unless you wear a Horde uniform," Catra added.

"Well, we don't," O'Neill said.

"Is the symbol still in use?" Daniel asked.

"Not officially, but a lot of people are wearing their old uniforms. Even Adora does it," Catra said.

Adora frowned at her for a moment before paying attention to the road again. She had removed the Horde symbol, but the uniform was just too comfortable. And practical. Bright Moon's clothes felt a little off. "It's a very good uniform," she defended herself. "And you're wearing your old one too!"

"I'm wearing it since it annoys Glimmer," Catra replied with a grin.

"You two don't get along?" Daniel asked.

"They do," Adora said at once. "They just like annoying each other."

Catra snorted again. "We have an understanding."

"Ah."

"There's the farm!" Adora pointed out. She could see the fields on both sides of the road and the farmhouse a bit away.

"It looks new," Daniel said.

It did. "The old one was probably damaged or destroyed during the war," Adora said.

"Probably. I think I sent a tank platoon through this area," Catra added.

Adora frowned. Did she have to remind everyone of her past in the Horde every day? And act as if she were proud of it at times? Adora remembered that battle. And not too fondly, even though the Alliance had come together as one here.

"That would have torn up the fields," O'Neill said, looking down.

"Hovertanks," Catra told him. "They don't touch the ground."

"Ah." O'Neill nodded. "That's easier on the countryside."

"But they might have flattened the house anyway," Catra went on. Adora pressed her lips together. There she went again.

"Bad drivers or standing orders?"

"Both. Anyone could hide with a grenade in the house."

"Well, either way, it was rebuilt," Adora said as they came to a stop near the main house. "Hello!" she yelled as she jumped down from the skiff.

A young man came out of the house, wiping his hands on an apron. "Who is… She-Ra!" He gaped at her.

She smiled at him in return. "Hi! Our guests here said they were interested in seeing a farm, so I wanted to ask if they could take a look at yours."

"We're not planning to take up farming," O'Neill added. "We're just curious how it compares to our own country."

"Of course!" the man blurted out. "Jesa is working in the fields, but I can give you a tour here. What do you want to see? Ah, I'm Ketro."

"Just show us around," O'Neill said. "No need to make a production out of it."

"Ah. Well, here's the barn, and there's the stable. It's empty right now since Jesa is using the plough and the cows are on the field. And there is our well. Over there…"

Adora smiled. This was going well. And Ketro didn't seem to mind Catra, either, which had been a worry for her.

Laboratory No 2, Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and if we replace this part here with a smaller, more efficient one, we gain the space to add a second booster unit here! Do you see?" Entrapta asked with a smile.

Hordak nodded. "Yes, I see. Very good. But we need to compensate for the reduced redundancy in case there is a power fluctuation."

"Oh, yes. But we can handle that with a better power supply that can store the excess power as well. We just need a dual-way regulator here." Entrapta's hair strand twisted and pointed at the main crystal array.

Or at least what had been the main crystal array - Sam Carter wasn't sure any more whether the secondary array hadn't eclipsed the main array's capacity after all the modifications they had done. And speaking of modifications… "But can it handle fluctuations quickly enough?" she asked.

Hordak frowned at her, but Entrapta nodded. "Good question! We have to reinforce all power lines to compensate for the possible delay."

"Unless we use the improved regulator," Hordak said.

"But that model isn't ready…" Entrapta's eyes widened. "Did you finish it?"

Hordak's pale, alien face twisted into a smile. "I did."

"How did you manage to solve the synchronisation issues?" Entrapta cocked her head sideways.

"I replaced the control crystal with a more advanced one that could anticipate more requests So…"

"...it's always ready to reverse the flow even as it feeds the engine! That's perfect, Hordak!" Entrapta's hair lifted her up, letting her hug Hordak.

The alien's smile grew a little more… a little softer? Sam couldn't really tell. "I would say adequate. Perfection is… overrated," he said.

Entrapta's smile grew softer as well as she nodded. "Yes."

Sam was sure she was missing something. But asking for an explanation right now? Interrupting the two felt rude. The Colonel would do it anyway, of course, but Sam wasn't him.

She still cleared her throat after a short while. "So, with those changes to the engine, do we need to adjust the controls as well?"

Entrapta blinked and released Hordak before turning to look at Sam. "Oh, yes! We need to update the controls, or the automated security programs will not allow the shuttle to use the improved engines. Silly limiters!"

Limiters generally had a reason, in Sam's experience. If the shuttles had been meant for civilian use, it made sense to regulate the engine's output so it wouldn't go past safe levels. For a combat craft, though? A military pilot was expected to handle such a challenge easily - and would be needing the full power at one point at least, no matter the risk or strain.

"And we need to make a note in the manual," Hordak went on.

"Right! Someone other than us will be flying this shuttle!" Entrapta nodded. "So, let's do it! Come on, lab buddy!" She dragged Hordak along with her hair.

Or, Sam amended her thought, Hordak let himself be dragged along. He was strong enough, according to Sam's estimates based on seeing him work on the shuttle, to resist Entrapta.

But he wouldn't. Sam was sure - the former Horde leader hadn't quite ignored Sam, but his attention had always been on Entrapta. Was that how Entrapta had been convinced to join the Horde? She had said it had been Catra who had offered her a lab, Sam remembered. And neither Hordak nor Entrapta struck her as the type to seduce an enemy into joining them. Still…

She shook her head. She was here to work on the First Ones shuttle, not to speculate about a workplace romance between a magical princess and an alien warlord. And she certainly wasn't here to wonder whether or not this had happened while Entrapta had been Hordak's subordinate and scientist. She wouldn't touch that thought in a hazmat suit!

No, she would do what she did best: Focus on the technology and learn as much as she could while she had the opportunity. Personal relationships could wait. A long time.

Guest Quarters, Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and the farmers, even though they are living right next to the capital, use animals to pull the plough and other large farming tools," Daniel said. "Obviously, they haven't mechanised agriculture so far. Though with magic, they probably don't need to."

"The fields are too big to be handled by a single draft animal," the Colonel added. Samantha Carter raised her eyebrows at him, and he grinned. "I grew up with farmers as neighbours."

She filed that bit of information away as she nodded.

"Yes, Jack. But they manage to tend to those fields. So that means either their draft animals are much more efficient than Earth's, or they use magic to compensate. Somehow." Daniel shook his head. "Though I don't see how that would work."

The Colonel grinned. "See? Isn't that more interesting than mouldy old records?"

"They aren't mouldy!" Daniel snapped. Then he sighed. "But yes, we did find out more about Etheria's society - well, Bright Moon's. They don't have mass media as we do. Ketro and Jesa have a communication tablet, but it's mostly used as a telephone with video. The palace apparently can use the network to give out warnings and other information, but they don't use it for entertainment."

"So, the state controls the news - what passes for news here," the Colonel said.

"For now," Daniel replied. "Glimmer is interested in our media, so this might change. She was talking about adapting our entertainment media."

"Then let's hope that daytime TV won't kill Etherian agriculture," the Colonel joked. He grew serious quickly, though. "Other than the video phone thing, the farm wasn't very advanced. Could've been taken straight out of the 1930s on Earth."

Sam nodded. "Such technological discrepancies aren't uncommon on Earth either," she pointed out.

"They aren't, no. But not in developed countries," Daniel said. "If Bright Moon is their most advanced country, then contact with Earth will be more disruptive than we thought."

The Colonel nodded. Sam agreed as well.

This could be a problem.

Planning Room, Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and logistics look good. Third Fleet should have stocked up on provisions by tomorrow," Bow said. "They are eager to escort us."

Catra snorted as she saw Adora wince at the comment. Her lover had left talking to Priest and his clones to Bow and the others and felt guilty about it. Typical! As if her friends didn't know how uncomfortable talking to those clones made her feel!

"Sorry…" Adora said. "I was busy."

Bow smiled at her. "We know - you showed our guests around."

"Kept an eye on them as they scouted your farms," Catra corrected him.

"Catra! They were just curious!" Adora said with a pout.

"Very curious," Catra agreed with a snort.

"Besides, what is to scout there? It's not as if we're hiding the fields. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. Nor the barns.

"Actually, between Perfuma and Entrapta, I'm pretty sure we could create underground farms," Catra told her. "But that wasn't what I was thinking about. They were curious about the farmers." At least O'Neill had been.

"So? That's a good thing, meeting more people," Adora said.

"They are a little odd about princesses," Glimmer added with a nod.

"Odd? How so? I didn't notice anything odd," Entrapta said with a frown. "Sam is a great scientist!"

Hordak tilted his head slightly. "She's skilled. But she doesn't have much experience with our technology."

Are you jealous? Catra wondered privately. Or just concerned? As if he had to worry about Entrapta falling for someone else; Catra's friend was head over heels for Hordak. But that was a topic for another day. "You know how they are about their 'democracy'; they wanted to find out how you treat farmers," she explained. "Whether we treat them like the Horde or not."

"Oh!"

Glimmer scowled. "Who do they think we are?"

"They have certain preconceptions about princesses," Bow said. "Based on their own planet and the Goa'uld."

"Well, they better lose them if this Alliance is going to work out," Glimmer retorted. "So, did their visit go well?"

"Yes," Adora said, nodding firmly. "Ketro and Jesa liked them, too."

"Good. They're good people, too. Anyway, we're ready to leave as soon as Darla is ready," Glimmer said. "Dad'll handle Bright Moon in my absence."

King Micah nodded. "We've informed the staff."

"We still need some time to get the shuttles modified - well, one of them," Entrapta said. "We might need her if we want to visit a Goa'uld planet. I am thinking of calling her Delia. Hordak told me that 'Tiny Darla' would be misleading."

Right. Catra pressed her lips together. She wouldn't mind skipping all those planets and not giving Earth a lot of time to prepare for their arrival. Less chance of them hiding something important. On the other hand, if their people really would be shocked by the existence of other planets, maybe a little warning would be good. Enough to avoid the worst, but not enough to fool Adora and the rest.

"Can you do it in a day?" Glimmer asked.

"Uh… It wouldn't be as good as it could be," Entrapta said. "We've got some ideas about a stealth system upgrade."

"You can tinker with it on the trip to Earth, can't you?" Glimmer looked at her.

"Well, yes. Though we would have to take more parts with us."

"Please do it." Glimmer nodded. "I want to leave tomorrow."

And if Entrapta was busy working on the shuttle, she was less likely to modify Darla literally on the fly.

"Why the rush?" Bow asked. "Is this about the archives?"

Glimmer pressed her lips together in return. So, it was about Queen Angella's diaries. Catra suppressed the guilt she felt - the former Queen was lost because of Catra's plan to win the war. A rather foolish plan, all things told, that had almost doomed them all and had led to Entrapta almost dying on Beast Island…

A hand on her thigh interrupted her thoughts. Adora. Catra snorted softly and nodded at her lover. She was fine.

Adora frowned slightly but nodded back.

"I've read through several entries," Glimmer said, "and Mom didn't mention any experiments. She also didn't mention any war to take over Bright Moon's land."

"She founded Bright Moon," King Micah said. "That is known."

"Yes. But was it a wilderness? Or another, earlier kingdom?" Glimmer shook her head. "I can't tell either way. Mom didn't say anything about it."

"There might be other entries," Bow suggested. "You only looked for half a day."

"Which was O'Neill's fault," Glimmer grumbled. "But going through the entire archive will take weeks. Weeks we don't have to spare. Not with a war looming."

"The Goa'uld don't know that we're about to fight them," Adora said.

"We can't count on that," Catra pointed out. "Not only might they strike at Earth at any moment, but they might regularly probe our sector or have spies planted on some planets." She certainly wouldn't have ignored a threat like Horde Prime - she would have had her troops keep an eye on him.

"Could they have spies on Etheria?" Entrapta asked.

"No. We were in Despondos for a thousand years," Glimmer said. "Any spies would be long dead."

"They could've hidden amongst us and survived so long by taking over other people," Bow said.

"For a thousand years? Never trying to take over a kingdom?" Glimmer shook her head.

"Maybe they have, and we never noticed," Entrapta speculated.

"Great. More things we need to search in the archives!" Glimmer cursed under her breath. Angella's records must be something disturbing, then.

"Well, even if they had spies on Etheria in Mara's time, they might not be loyal to the Goa'uld any more," Catra said. "They might have gone native - or deserted." Like Double Trouble. Oh. "We should probably keep an eye on Double Trouble, though," she said.

"Double Trouble? Do you really think they could be a spy for the Goa'uld?" Bow asked.

Sometimes he was just too naive.

"They would betray us in a heartbeat, as long as they think it would be fun," Glimmer said. "Remember how they vanished the first time?"

Catra nodded. She was biased, but she knew that you couldn't trust that spy.

"But finding them will be hard," Glimmer went on.

"We will do our best," King Micah cut on. "Don't worry about it."

Catra was sure Glimmer would worry, of course. The princess had some issues with delegation.

Not that it mattered - since they were leaving for Earth in a day, she would have to leave that to others.

Courtyard, Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, July 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

The Etherians were no slouches, Jack O'Neill had to admit. When he had seen the amount of supplies they had readied for Darla, he had worried they'd be loading for days - they didn't have containers, or so it seemed, and he hadn't seen any cranes - but the big hulking half-scorpion-woman, Scorpia, and Adora in her magical amazon form, were making short work of that. The sun was still up, and the ship was, supposedly, almost ready to lift off.

He looked at his team. Teal'c was standing straight and not showing any emotion. Jack hadn't expected anything else. Carter was helping with last-minute adjustments of the shuttle, off to the side. And Daniel was… sulking. Jack snorted. "Cheer up, Daniel! You'll get more chances to visit!"

"But when? I doubt we'll be sent back to Etheria to search their archives, what with the war and all."

"The information will keep. Patience, young grasshopper," Jack told him. "Or: Priorities!" he added with a grin.

Daniel's glare deepened. "This information could give us crucial insight and information about the First Ones and their technology!"

"Then you can bet that General Hammond will send you back as soon as possible."

"Indeed. The General is very pragmatic."

"'As soon as possible'!" Daniel spat. "I've heard that before."

Right. He had heard something similar about saving his wife. Jack suppressed a grimace. "Come on, cheer up!" he repeated himself. "Wouldn't want our guests to worry that they might have accidentally offended you."

"I think they'll understand my frustration," Daniel retorted.

They probably would, Jack agreed. The princesses did seem to place a lot of importance on friendship. Which was a recipe for nepotism, of course, but it meant Daniel would have an easier time earning their trust. He shrugged. "And they want to win this war as well, so they'll prioritise accordingly." At least Jack hoped they would - he wasn't quite sure about some of them. And Hordak… Jack carefully didn't clench his teeth as he watched the alien walk up the ramp of the spaceship.

Cheers from the shuttle to the side drew his attention. Was that Carter in the cockpit? It was!

The shuttle slowly started to float, about a yard above the ground, then turned towards the loading ramp of Darla. Jack held his breath for a moment - he trusted his team with his life. And with his car, if they needed it. But piloting a ship that size up a ramp and into a spaceship? Carter was a pilot, but she had never piloted this kind of ship! But she was Carter. A genius.

So he watched as the shuttle vanished into the spaceship without the tell-tale sounds of metal hitting metal. She was the smartest woman he had ever met. One of the most beautiful ones, too. And the bravest by far.

And she was his subordinate, and he wouldn't even think of anything beyond that. They were both professionals. And they knew the rules. So, nothing could happen. And nothing would happen.

He sighed.

"Don't tell me that you suddenly want to stay!" Daniel blurted out. A little hopefully, too.

Jack snorted. "Just feeling a little nostalgic," he lied. "Let's go over to the others."

Now that the ramp was clear again, Adora was just lifting up another crate of supplies while Scorpia had already one on her shoulders.

"I guess if the shuttle hadn't been able to fly, you could've just carried it up the ramp, huh?" Jack joked as he approached the princesses.

Adora wrinkled her nose. "I actually don't know how much the shuttle weighs."

"More than a tank?" Scorpia asked. "I guess so. We'd probably have to carry it together then!"

Adora nodded. Probably yes.

Jack blinked. "Are you serious?" They couldn't be serious, could they? They had been carrying heavy crates without effort, but a shuttle? Or a tank?

"Well, when I was mind-controlled by Horde Prime, I threw a tank at Adora," Scorpia said.

"Yeah." Adora frowned. "And I wasn't allowed to throw one back."

Both laughed. But Jack had the distinct feeling that they weren't joking. He glanced at his friends. Daniel was staring as well, his mouth slightly open. Teal'c was unflappable, of course. "Well, you could try to lift the shuttle in the hangar inside," Jack said with a grin. "Wouldn't want to find out in the field that you can't carry it."

"Good idea!" Adora smiled. "Let's check it!" She lifted her crate on her shoulder and hurried up the ramp, followed by Scorpia.

"You were joking, Jack, weren't you?" Daniel asked.

"Let's just go and watch what happens," Jack told him, stepping on the ramp.

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"We have not seen the tanks they threw around," Teal'c pointed out as they entered the ship. "There is a significant difference between a light tank and a main battle tank."

"Yeah," Jack said. But even throwing a bloody M-3 Stuart around would be a huge feat.

Then he saw Adora lifting one side of the shuttle. She was grunting and straining, but she was lifting it.

Damn. "DC will sue for copyright infringement," he muttered. "Supergirl is trademarked."

"Jack!" Daniel hissed.

"What?" Jack stared at him. "It has to be Supergirl. Power Girl got short hair." And a bigger bust.

"That's not the point!"

Of course it wasn't. But Jack didn't want to think about what he had just seen here.

At least Carter seemed to be shocked as well.

Jack had never thought that their trip home would be boring. But he wouldn't mind a few surprises less. Not at all.