Chapter 21: The Naquadah Crisis Part 1
Geneva Airport, Switzerland, August 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"What did you find?" Adora asked as soon as she entered the converted hold where Sam and Entrapta were usually working. Had been working, she corrected herself - now that they were back on Earth, Sam would probably not be working here any more.
"Let's wait for the others," Sam said.
The others? Ah, yes. Jack and Daniel were coming too. "Sorry," Adora said. They probably were as tired of politics as she was.
"As long as they hurry," Catra added, stretching her arms over her head.
"Catra!" Glimmer snapped.
"What?" Catra frowned. "Wait, you're right. The longer they take, the longer we have before we have to talk to those idiots from Russia, China nad the USA again."
"They aren't idiots," Adora corrected her.
"Could've fooled me. They were practically backstabbing each other at the table," Catra retorted.
"Well…" Adora trailed off. They had acted like that, hadn't they?
"That's normal. Remember the first Alliance meetings we attended?" Glimmer smiled at Bow, who nodded with a wry smile.
Well, it wasn't normal for Adora. She shook her head. "We really need to…"
But before she could finish, a beep announced that Jack and Daniel had arrived. Well, it could be anyone, actually, but the codes checked out. And she could see them on the cameras.
A minute later - because they wouldn't open the airlock remotely without personally checking - they were back in the hold.
"So, Captain, what did you find?" Jack asked right away. Was he mad about the meeting? He had seemed annoyed, but had that been aimed at Adora and her friends - or at the others?
Sam looked at Entrapta, who had been twitching a little - and her hair had been twitching a lot - since Adora had arrived. "I think Entrapta could fill you in best, Sir."
"Yes!" Entapta blurted out with a wide - very wide - smile. "We ran the magic scanner, calibrated for Naquadah, over all of Earth! We had to tweak the detector algorithm a little to compensate for the presence of the escorts and the planetary mantle in the way - it would've been easier if we could've done this from orbit, even geostationary orbit, but Sam said taking off might cause some trouble, and asking for permission felt rather weird if we could easily tweak the scanner instead of bothering the Swiss, so, anyway: We ran the scanner, and we found Naquadah!"
"You found a Naqadah deposit?" Jack asked.
"Ah… no." Entrapta shook her head, her hair flailing. "It looks too dense - too concentrated for that. And there's not enough for a deposit unless it was almost completely mined out."
"We think we found artefacts of advanced technology on Earth, Colonel," Sam said.
"Yes! And we marked their positions!" Entrapta's hair tendrils pushed a few buttons, and a hologram appeared in the middle of the room, showing earth. Blinking lights were visible in a few spots.
"That's… Washington, near Seattle," Daniel said. "And the coast before New Jersey."
"And Siberia," Jack added. "And Honduras."
"And Egypt!" Daniel tilted his head. "Well, that was to be expected, actually, since the Stargate was originally there. There must be many lost devices or trash containing Naquadah."
"Well, the biggest and most diverse amount of Naquadah is in… Washington, you said?" Entrapta cocked her head and had her hair point at the location. "The other locations don't have a lot, although the one in Egypt is a little fuzzy."
"Fuzzy?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
"The Scanner detected some interference. It might be the result of micro-contamination with Naquadah," Sam told him. "That would hinder detection."
"Like chaff?"
"Not exactly," Sam said.
"But close enough?" Jack grinned.
Sam looked a little pained. "Yes, Sir."
"So… we have a cache of Naquadah devices on US soil," Jack said. "And another load in US territorial waters."
"Actually, no, Sir - it's outside US territorial waters," Sam said. "I checked."
"Great. More international trouble." Jack sighed.
"How sad." Catra flashed her fangs when Jack glared at her, and Adora sighed. Her love sometimes - OK, a lot of times - was a little too… antagonistic.
Adora cleared her throat. "Given the potential threat those things represent, I think they need to be recovered quickly."
"Yesssss." Jack nodded, drawing out the word. "It's the manner of how they should be recovered that's going to pose some problems."
"You mean the United States can't just grab most of it," Glimmer said.
"That's about it, yes." Jack grinned at Adora's friend.
"We need to tell the Egyptians. They need to know that they might have dangerous relics in their country," Daniel said.
"And what if they become a danger once they recover them?" Jack looked at his friend.
"A greater danger than the United States?" Catra asked.
"The United States are more trustworthy than Egypt," Jack argued. "We've been the most powerful country for decades, and even with advanced technology, we didn't go after other countries. Not without good reasons," he added when Daniel opened his mouth.
Adora frowned. That sounded… loaded.
"Sure you would say that," Catra grinned again.
"Are you accusing me of lying?" Jack retorted.
"Is it lying if you leave out information that might make your country look bad?" Catra's grin turned very toothy.
"We didn't," Daniel cut in. "Not deliberately, at least. We - that is, I - actually covered the United States more than the rest of the world. But maybe we should explain a few things about the other countries."
Adora nodded. They wouldn't want to make a mistake if they could avoid it. And she trusted Daniel not to lie to them. "Yes, please. We need to deal with those… whatever they are, and we need information for that."
"Data!" Entrapta chimed in.
Catra sighed, but Glimmer and Bow nodded, and Daniel pushed his glasses up.
"Alright. Let's start with Russia! The country's an old one, but it went through a lot of changes this century. First…"
"...and the Chinese state has been cracking down on the movement ever since."
Samantha Carter nodded as Daniel trailed off. It had been quite a decent summary of the history of Russia and China. Not as succinct as may have been possible, but not as meandering as she had feared either.
But it had clearly disturbed the Etherians. Adora was shaking her head. "To think people could do such things!"
"Horde Prime did worse," Glimmer pointed out with a frown.
"He was… well, we already knew after we learned about the Goa'uld that he wasn't as unique as we thought," Bow told her.
"And he was more efficient," Hordak commented.
"'Efficient'?" The Colonel narrowed his eyes, Sam noticed - and he sounded slightly tense.
"Yes." Hordak nodded. "He dealt much more swiftly with, ah, dissenters. Resistance. He wouldn't have let things be dragged out like this."
"Wow. What a great guy." The Colonel scoffed.
The alien frowned for a moment, looking puzzled as far as Sam could tell, before nodding in agreement. "He was great, yes. Terrible and cruel, but no one can deny that he was great."
"Too bad we can't get an autograph from him any more," the Colonel added, baring his teeth.
"Jack!" Daniel gasped.
"Colonel!" Sam said in a lower voice as the Etherians stared at either Hordak or the Colonel or both.
"Horde Prime was a monster," Glimmer hissed.
"A great monster," Entrapta agreed, patting Hordak's arm.
"And he's dead," Catra said, rolling her eyes. Her tail was twitching, though. "So, can we focus on the Naquadah stuff we need to recover? Instead of on ancient history?"
"Well… it's not exactly ancient history," Daniel said. "Those events happened a few years ago or are happening now."
"And you told us that, so we'll stop negotiating with the Russians and the Chinese," Catra said with a sneer.
Daniel blushed a little. "That's what some people hope will happen. But I told you this so you can make an informed decision. Or, at least, so you will not blindly trust any claims made to you."
"They will claim anything so they can get your technology," the Colonel added.
"They're not the only ones," Glimmer replied.
"No. But we've been pretty honest with you." The Colonel smiled, then sighed. "I know my country isn't perfect - no country is - but we don't claim that we can simply change a law, and everything is fine."
Catra snorted. "No. You claim you can't even change a law."
"Ah, there are good reasons to make changing a law - or the constitution - not too easy," Daniel cut in. He adjusted his glasses. "You don't want to change either on a whim. And you generally want to have broad support for such a change, not a minimal majority. In a democracy, I mean. But even in a kingdom, you wouldn't want to live where the rules and laws change too easily. People need stability in their lives."
"Yes. But people don't need discrimination," Glimmer retorted. "How can we trust your country when the majority of your people won't end discrimination?"
Daniel winced. "It's a bit more complicated than that. It's not the majority of the people, but the majority of the representatives and the senators - the qualified majority, for amendments to the constitution."
"But they are supposed to represent the people." Glimmer frowned.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that they are supposed to just do whatever the population wants."
"I thought that was the point of democracy," Adora said. She looked honestly confused.
"The founders of the United States didn't want what they deemed 'mob rule', so they created a system where power was divided between several institutions. And the people get to choose who represents them in those institutions. But they don't get to directly make decisions," Daniel explained.
"So… basically, you pick your council of princesses and hope for the best," Catra said. "And then you wonder why nothing good comes of such a council."
"Catra!"
"What?" Catra turned to pout at Adora. "I know how the Alliance leadership worked. Or didn't work. Glimmer complained about it often enough when she had some drinks."
Hordak nodded. "Glimmer's talent for leading the alliance was most impressive given the circumstances."
Glimmer looked, in Sam's opinion, as if she didn't know whether she should be angry or flattered upon hearing that.
She picked angry and spat: "Everyone did their best." Then she turned to glare at the Colonel and Daniel. "And I don't understand why you think it's difficult to stop discriminating people like us. We don't hurt you at all. It should be a no-brainer to adjust your laws and form an alliance. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!"
"Well, it's complicated," Daniel said. "Many people honestly believe that relationships like yours are wrong. And they don't want to let others do what they consider a mistake or a sin."
"Those people are idiots," Catra spat with a hiss. "And you're idiots if you listen to them."
"Many people think all politicians are idiots," the Colonel said with a grin.
"You're not exactly convincing us of the values of democracy," Glimmer commented.
Catra shook her head. This discussion again! Couldn't they just admit that it wasn't working as well as they claimed?
"The advantage of democracy is the ability to change governments peacefully and in an organised fashion which ensures continuity and stability along with the capability to adapt to changing circumstances," Daniel said.
"I'm not seeing much of that vaunted ability to adapt right now." Catra snorted. "And leadership doesn't mean simply going along with what your troops want. It means making them do what they need to do no matter what they want." Troops rarely had the big picture. Of course, she had sometimes missed the big picture herself - in quite spectacular fashion…
"But we're not talking about military leadership," Daniel protested.
"We're talking about an alliance for the war against the Goa'uld," Catra told him. "That's a military question."
"But gay marriage is not a military question," O'Neill retorted.
"Your policy of dismissing gay soldiers is a military matter, though," Adora pointed out.
"And that can be changed by the president." O'Neill held up his hands. "We want to do the right thing, but it's not as easy. But once we do something, it sticks."
"And if you do the wrong thing?" Adora asked.
"Well, Churchill once said that the USA will try every wrong solution before they use the right one," Daniel commented, then winced when O'Neill glared at him. "But unlike other countries, change supported by the population is generally far more effective. Just changing a law means nothing if the population ignores the changes and opposes its enforcement."
"But if the reason you can't change the law is that the population doesn't support it, then that's even worse." Glimmer shook her head. "Like with slavery and those civil rights."
"That was mostly in the south," O'Neill said. "Things were different in the other parts of the country."
"And that was a result of the federal nature of the country," Daniel said. "As with many things, federalism had good and bad consequences. If a ruler has absolute power, that can lead to many good things - if the ruler is good and wise. But if they aren't, if they are foolish or evil, then the same system can lead to horrible results."
Catra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. But that still doesn't change that your country wouldn't accept our relationship."
Daniel produced a weak smile. "Well, the relationship isn't illegal. Just gay marriage isn't recognised."
"Even though it's recognised on Etheria?" Glimmer shook her head. "If you won't recognise our institutions, an alliance won't work."
"Whether the United States legalises gay marriage or not doesn't really change your relationship," O'Neill cut in. "What about polygamy? Multiple marriages," he added. "What if there's one man married to multiple women?"
Catra frowned. "What about it?" Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio hadn't married yet, but it was on the table as far as Catra knew.
O'Neill stared at her, then mumbled: "Figures…"
Daniel cleared his head. "In any case, I think the most important aspect is whether or not a change is both enforced and lasting. And history is full of examples where a change imposed on a population took years or decades to become accepted."
Catra snorted. "If you can't enforce your orders, you're not a leader."
Glimmer glanced at her, then looked at SG-1. "But that's the thing, right? Your population doesn't want this change."
"Well, that's not certain," Daniel said. "So far, the question of gay marriage has never been coupled with something like an alliance or technological advances. Although, while this should influence acceptance positively even amongst religious people - to paraphrase Berthold Brecht, people prioritise wealth over morals - some might resent that, feeling forced."
"Oh, those poor people, being forced to stop discriminating people like us!" Glimmer scoffed. "How do you expect an alliance to work if you can't even treat us like everyone else?"
"Well, it worked with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the Gulf War," O'Neill said. "Tolerance goes up on both sides if you need each other."
"Within limits," Carter added. "Female soldiers were tolerated, but not accepted." She seemed about to add something but stopped herself.
"Well, then I guess we'll see how badly your country wants this alliance." Glimmer shook her head.
Catra snorted. "So, let's go back to the Naquadah items."
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded several times. "We need to examine them - they could be anything!"
"That's a little difficult," Daniel said. "Not all of them are in areas we can reach."
"Well, we could, but the diplomats would be angry with us," O'Neill added.
Catra shook her head. She didn't really miss the Horde, just… sometimes, she really missed being able to give orders or do something without having to ask everyone else if it was OK.
"And there's the question of precedent even for the items in Seattle," Daniel said. "If we just grab those, other countries will consider artefacts on their soil theirs to do with as they please. And there are a lot of artefacts in Egypt, it seems, one in Russia, one in Honduras…"
"Great," O'Neill muttered. "We have to pass this up the chain before we can do anything."
Well, at least someone else has the same problem, Catra thought.
"Can't we secure the artefacts and then sort out who gets them?" Adora asked. "Some of them might be dangerous. What if there's a Goa'uld on Earth?"
That question had everyone wincing.
"Yes, Sir. There's a possibility that we're facing a Goa'uld on Earth," Jack O'Neill said, nodding at the large screen on the bridge of Darla, where General Hammond and Teal'c were looking at him. "The concentrations of Naquadah Captain Carter and Princess Entrapta have detected could easily include a snake." And his gut told him that this was probably the case. No matter what Carter said about probabilities.
"They could just be collections of artefacts," Teal'c pointed out. "Remains from before Ra left."
"Yes. But then, who collected them? Who brought so much Naquadah to Seattle? It wasn't Starbucks trying to create an Egyptian Latte." On the other hand, if it turned out that Starbucks was a vehicle for an alien infiltration, that would explain why that franchise had spread so far despite their horrible prices…
Hammond slowly nodded with a sigh. "And even if there's no Goa'uld present, we can't risk such a collection of advanced technology falling into the wrong hands."
"Unless it already has," Jack reminded his commanding officer. "We need to recover those artefacts. And it has to be done by someone with the experience to handle whatever might be hiding there." SG-1, in other words. And probably the Etherians.
"That will be difficult in the current situation, Colonel." Hammond looked grim. "Washington was quite clear that we need to regain the trust of our allies at almost any cost. Unilaterally recovering alien technology from foreign countries would destroy what headway we made in that area." He shook his head. "Even recovering the technology on US soil will be a delicate affair."
"But we can't ignore the danger a Goa'uld hiding on earth would present!" Daniel protested. "Or their technology."
"Yes." Hammond smiled wryly. "I'll take it up with my superiors. You will probably be called to brief the President soon, Colonel."
"Yes, Sir." Jack nodded. That was likely. He wasn't looking forward to it, though. He wanted to go out and recover the Goa'uld technology. Do something productive, for once - discussing politics with the Etherians wasn't helping anyone.
"Hammond out."
The image faded to black. "Well, let's tell our friends that we've made the call," Jack said. Not that he thought he had to tell them - this was their ship, after all. Hell, the way Entrapta talked to and about the ship, the ship might have told the Etherians already.
But appearances had to be upheld. Jack walked to the door and found Catra and Adora waiting outside. "Done already?" the catwoman asked.
Jack shrugged. "It's out of my hands now. Up to diplomats."
She scoffed. "And now we wait until they figure out how to do anything without ruffling any feathers?"
"Pretty much, yes." Jack grinned widely. "And more politics!"
"That's Glimmer's job." Catra scoffed again.
"Oh, you've been quite active in the meetings yourself, haven't you?" Jack cocked his head.
She scowled at him, which made him grin more widely.
Adora cleared her throat. "But Catra is correct - we can't just let this go on. The risk is too great."
"Yes," Daniel agreed. "Your arrival has changed the entire world and might prompt whoever controls those artefacts into action."
Adora nodded. "And that means that we need to act." She raised her chin. "And if we need an international agreement on this, then let's get one right away!"
"From the United Nations?" Jack snorted. "We'll be here for a year before they agree on who gets to speak first. And that won't do anything, anyway." Everyone knew UN resolutions were generally ignored. "All it would do is to alert everyone else about this - and start a race for the Naquadah."
But Adora looked mulish. "We'll have to see about that. This calls for action. Even your diplomats need to see that."
"Feel free to try," Jack said, shrugging. "I bet we'll get called in shortly after things go out of control. If we're lucky."
"Then let's talk to the Security Council. If they can't do anything, then we can always act ourselves," Adora said. "After all, no matter what the UN decides, we're fighting the Goa'uld, and so we won't just ignore a potential base of them."
Ah. Jack almost smiled. Almost - the threat of the Etherians going ahead and tracking down Goa'uld on Earth without the consent of the countries affected would hopefully spur the UN Security Council into action. But it would also strengthen the faction that wanted the aliens gone or feared them taking over Earth. Still, they really couldn't ignore the potential danger.
Another fine mess, and it was all the fault of the damn snakes.
"Well, let's go then. The sooner we sic Glimmer on the United Nations, the sooner we can move," he said. "I bet she'll scare them into doing something."
"Jack! You can't talk about a reigning Queen that way!"
He chuckled at Daniel's expression. Catra outright laughed, and Adora frowned in that way of hers that told Jack that she wanted to laugh as well but thought it was wrong.
As it turned out, Glimmer was all too ready to call for an emergency session. "Oh, yes! That should speed up negotiations! Once they see our technology in action, they will know what they are missing. And those who claim that the Goa'uld aren't a threat will shut up!"
"But they'll expect to share the Goa'uld technology we recover," Bow pointed out.
Glimmer snorted. "We can hand it over to the United Nations - they'll have to agree on what to do with it before they can even start trying to use the technology."
And such an agreement, Jack knew, could take a long while.
Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, August 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"...and that's the last area with a substantial concentration of Naqadah!"
Adora watched the Security Council as Entrapta pointed at the holoprojection floating in the middle of the room. They didn't give much away, or not much that she could tell, but she thought they were concerned. Of course, being concerned about potential enemies on your planet was just common sense, and some of the people on Earth didn't have common sense at all, so she might be seeing things that weren't there…
Glimmer cleared her throat. "As you've seen, there are multiple locations on Earth that could hide a Goa'uld - or more of them. They can take over humans as easily as animals, as we found out on the way to Earth when we found a planet where Goa'uld had taken over large predators. Even leaving out the danger such advanced technology represents should it fall into the wrong hands, we need to make sure that there aren't any Goa'uld on Earth."
A delegate - from one of the small countries which didn't have veto power, Adora knew - tapped their microphone. "But you don't have actual proof that one of those aliens is present on our planet, do you?"
Hadn't they explained that already? Adora frowned. And she saw that Glimmer clenched her teeth for a moment.
But her friend controlled her temper. "No, we don't have proof. But the only way to get proof is to investigate those locations."
"Surely the affected countries can investigate their own soil," the Russian delegate commented.
"With the possible exception of the United States," Glimmer replied, "I don't believe any country on Earth has the experience and resources to handle the worst-case scenario: A Goa'uld with access to advanced technology who has been infiltrating Earth for hundreds of years." She shook her head. "You don't have the technology to detect Goa'uld in the field. They could easily go into hiding - or take over your own people. We can deal with them with the least risk."
"That would be an intrusion on the territory of sovereign countries," a third delegate commented. Again, a minor country. "If it's done without the consent of the country in question."
"And it could be seen as the attempt to deprive a country of its own resources," the first delegate added. "Surely those Naquadah artefacts belong to the country on which soil they are found - that's a basic principle. Unless they were taken from their country of origin, of course - we all know how many works of art and historical artefacts were taken from our countries and moved into the museums of colonial powers."
Adora bit her lip. This was a threat to the entire planet! This wasn't the time to squabble over resources!
The Chinese delegate spoke up: "We're faced with a threat against our entire planet. Single countries cannot deal with such a threat. This is the responsibility of all of us and should be treated accordingly. Therefore, we propose to put all alien artefacts under international control."
Adora wondered, privately, what the Chinese would have said if there were Naquadah artefacts in China.
The Russian delegate leaned towards his own microphone. "Would that include the advanced technology already recovered by certain countries?"
"Yes, of course. The time for single countries to face the Goa'uld and endanger our entire planet has gone. We need a united response to this thread." The Chinese delegate slowly nodded.
"The United States have the most experience with the technology recovered so far," the American delegate objected. "It makes no sense and could cripple the war effort to remove the technology already being used to fight the Goa'uld. Especially in light of our success so far."
"You almost got Earth invaded twice," the Russian shot back.
"Keeping the technology recovered so far would seem to reward the United States for their questionable actions in the past," another delegate cut in.
"Trying to take over a sovereign country's research and development programs would set a precedent that I doubt most countries here would want," the American countered.
"Maybe it is time to unite such programs," the French delegate suggested. "We cannot afford to waste our resources, and uncoordinated research by various countries would surely be less efficient than a coordinated program under international control and guidance?"
"I think the outcome of the Cold War has decisively proven that competition drives progress far more efficiently than planned directives from the state," the American delegate pointed out.
"Your Stargate program was entirely driven and controlled by the government," the Russian retorted. "And international control over the existing alien technology - including artefacts recovered prior to today - seems a suitable response to this threat."
Glimmer cleared her throat. "Why are you focusing on the technology already recovered instead of the imminent threat to the planet? We first need to ensure that Earth is safe. And that means investigating and securing those Naquadah artefacts we discovered and hunting down any infiltrating Goa'uld."
"That's a tricky matter involving international law and can't be easily solved," someone pointed out.
Glimmer narrowed her eyes. "We're in a war, and those are potential enemy bases. We cannot afford to leave them be until you have sorted out who gets to use all the technology you might find or have found. Time is of the essence."
The delegates looked at each other. "To clarify," another of the smaller countries' delegates asked, "are you talking about a response by the Princess Alliance or a response by a multi-national force?"
"I am telling you that the Princess Alliance cannot afford to let potential enemy bases be. The risk is too great," Glimmer said. "We're at war with the Goa'uld. We want to work with you - but not if that means we can't deal with a potential threat."
"We have enough ships in the fleet to stop an invasion from space," Adora added. "But that won't help if the invasion already started on Earth." Well, they could bombard sites from orbit, but if the Goa'uld hid amongst humans…
This time, she could plainly see that the delegates were concerned.
She hoped that that was a good thing.
Geneva Airport, Switzerland, August 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)
Samantha Carter suppressed a yawn as she entered Darla's hold. It was early, and she hadn't had too much sleep. And she was still affected by the jetlag to some degree. But she had no time to sleep in - not with the current crisis brewing. She had had to brief the President and his cabinet until midnight, and it was barely six in the morning.
She took a sip from her coffee - the situation wasn't nearly dire enough to brave Entrapta's 'concentrated tiny tea' and walked over to the scanner. "Good morning."
"Sam!" Entrapta whipped her head around to smile at her. "You're here early!" She blinked. "I think?"
"I'm just a few minutes early," Sam corrected her. "Any changes during the night?"
"Well… the position of some of the artefacts in your country changed a little. Not by very much, but either they were moving around a bit - say, a few dozen metres, tops - or the scanner needs some adjusting," Entrapta said, cocking her head. Her goggles hid her eyes, but Sam knew the princess well enough to know they would be showing the woman's fatigue.
But this was alarming. That looked like someone was carrying the Naqadah concentrations around. "Did you check the calibration?" Sam asked.
"All night," Entrapta replied. "I think I improved the efficiency, but the results didn't change. Well, they kept changing, but that didn't change. You know what I mean."
"Yes." As Sam knew that Entrapta needed to rest. What was Hordak thinking, letting her work like this? And, speaking of… "Where's Hordak?"
"Oh, he has been working on ways to recover the Naquadah under the sea. He said we might need a specialised vessel or a bot," Entrapta replied. "I wanted to help, but then the scanner started showing movement, so I took over here and left him to his work." Her hair pointed to the door leading into the next part of the hold.
Sam glanced at it. "The United States Navy has submarines and trained divers," she pointed out. The artefacts weren't that deep - there was no need for a deep-submergence vehicle.
"But we need to go down there as well," Entrapta retorted. "How else can we do something if things go wrong?"
That was… well, it was the kind of argument Sam should've expected. The Etherians were very 'hands-on'. Or, a less kind interpretation, they didn't trust others to do such a mission.
Then again, Sam wouldn't trust the Navy either - they had no experience with Goa'uld or their technology. "I think the Naquadah in Seattle takes priority," she said. She finished her coffee just as her phone vibrated.
"Samantha Carter."
"Carter?" It was the Colonel. "We've got a situation."
Oh. "In Seattle?"
"How would you… The scanner showing movement?"
"Yes, Sir. Entrapta just informed me that the Naquadah concentrations are moving around - about a few dozen yards, tops."
He scoffed. "Yeah, that would track. Anyway, the location was placed under surveillance - it's some resort or communal ranch or whatever. A religious community, according to the records."
"A cult?"
"Don't let Daniel hear that," he joked. "Anyway, we were still planning how best to approach that without tipping off a Goa'uld and without ruining our diplomatic reputation further when someone raided the resort."
Sam closed her eyes. "The NID?"
"They claim that they have no information about any such operation."
The old 'rogue NID cell' excuse then. "What happened?"
"They got in and didn't get out. Shots were heard by the other agents in place, but no one called the police."
That was even more worrying. "We need to intervene, Sir!" SG-1 need to intervene. Before things deteriorated even further. If the Goa'uld managed to take control of NID operatives…
"Yes, we do. But we can't do it alone - not with the Security Council about to decide that this is an international affair under their control or something. And I bet that our alien friends will jump at this."
"I concur, Sir." And given the possible consequences of a Goa'uld base on American soil, having the Etherians with them was a good thing.
"So, the excuse will be that we have reports of fighting, and so we're sending in troops with the Etherians. That should shut up the complaints from other countries. And probably get the diplomats to finish their wheedling and dealing before the heat death of the Universe."
She laughed at the joke. "I'll inform them, Sir."
"Good. We're on our way to the ship. We'll be picking up Teal'c on the way."
"Yes, Sir."
He hung up, and Sam turned to Entrapta, who was staring at her with - presumably - wide eyes. "There's been an incident in Seattle," Sam told her.
"Yes!" Entrapta nodded several times. "I'll call the others. Wait! Darla! Wake up the others and get ready for liftoff! Hordak! Science-Buddy! We have a mission!"
The door from the other part of the hold opened, and Hordak stepped through. "Did they find a Goa'uld?"
"Possibly?" Entrapta pursed her lips. "Someone's in control of all that Naquadah, and they fought off an attack already. So… either a Goa'uld or someone else. But I bet it'll be interesting! And we can now go there without waiting for the Security Council!"
"Good. Any hope that we can expect similar developments in the other areas?"
"I don't know - the stuff there didn't move."
"A pity," Hordak commented.
Sam shook her head.
Above Seattle, United States of America, Earth, August 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"Any new developments?" Catra asked as Darla closed in on the target area. It was still night here, unlike when they had taken off in Switzerland.
"The Naqadah concentrations keep moving around," Carter reported. "But none of them have strayed outside the resort."
"They were attacked…" Catra checked the clock. "...almost two hours ago. And they didn't move? Haven't they realised that they have been exposed?" This was suspicious.
"They might think this was an attempted robbery, not a government action," O'Neill said. "The NID is quite careful when staging their deniable operations. So they probably want to interrogate any prisoners for more information. In their place, I would want to know who attacked me and why before I made any plans."
"But whether there's a Goa'uld or just someone using their technology, they have to know about our arrival," Adora cut in. "Why wouldn't they expect us to come after them?"
Catra nodded. In their place, she would have been running already.
"If they don't know how they were found, they might not want to flee and give up whatever resources they have in the resort," O'Neill replied.
That was a good point. Still, the enemy should have run - now that Darla had arrived, the enemy couldn't escape any more. Catra scoffed. "Well, whatever they planned, time's just run out for them."
"Well, let's just make sure that none of them can run out on us," O'Neill said. "We've got the perimeter under surveillance, but… if they have alien technology, they might have other options to escape."
"Scans show an extensive underground network of chambers and tunnels," Carter reported.
"Yesss!" Entrapta nodded. A lot.
Catra winced. They should've made sure that Entrapta rested instead of working through the night. With all the 'concentrated tea' she had drunk, she hadn't even been able to sleep during the flight to Denver and then here.
"So… escape tunnels?"
"It looks like it, Sir," Carter replied. "We've marked the exits on the map."
"Major Warren? We need to deploy SG-3 to cover those exits," O'Neill said, turning to the new officer on the bridge.
Catra bit her tongue to refrain from making a comment. SG-3, currently filling the hold, was under O'Neill's command. And they were supposed to work together in a 'joint operation' with them.
As long as they didn't get into their way… Catra would still feel better once the soldiers were off Darla.
"I'll brief the men, Colonel."
"There's one irregularity, Sir." Carter frowned.
"Yes?"
"There's a large tunnel not connected to the main building or any building," Carter explained. "It has an exit outside the compound, though."
"An unfinished escape tunnel?" O'Neill frowned.
"That's a possibility, Sir. But why would they have dug so far from the outside instead of starting inside - or from both sides?" Carter asked.
"Good question," O'Neill said, nodding. "I'd say they are stupid, but… stupid people don't overwhelm an NID assault."
"And we shouldn't underestimate our enemies," Adora added.
"Let's just block the exit and leave it be for now," O'Neill said.
Catra pressed her lips together. Something didn't add up there. But O'Neill was right - sealing the exit should work.
"Yes, Sir," Warren said.
"Good. So… how are we going to do this?" O'Neill asked.
Catra stepped closer to the hologram depicting the resort - including the escape tunnels. From what they had observed, the people inside the resort were not heavily armed. Just small arms and some crew-served light support weapons.
"We can hover above the building and drop down through the roof," Adora said. "Right into their midst."
Subtle as a brick, Catra thought with a fond smile. But sometimes, brute force was the best solution.
"If they have Goa'uld weapons, that might be very dangerous," O'Neill said.
"And we can't just blow up the resort - we don't know how many innocent people are in there," Daniel added.
"We're not going to blow up the building!" Adora shook her head.
Catra bit her tongue again. And Hordak looked confused but, for once, didn't comment.
"Well, we could sneak in," Bow suggested. "Use the tunnels that we know."
"They are likely trapped if this is the work of a Goa'uld," Teal'c said.
"We can deal with traps!" Entrapta announced.
"We could drop Adora outside and have her draw attention, and we sneak in and hit them from behind," Glimmer proposed.
"I can handle them, yes," Adora said.
Catra sighed through clenched teeth. She loved the idiot, but sometimes… But it was a better plan than dropping into the middle of the compound. "Well, we should look into…" She trailed off.
All the Naquadah markers were suddenly moving - spreading out.
And people ran out of the buildings, towards the garage - and the gates.
"We need to move in now!" O'Neill barked.