Chapter 23: The Naquadah Crisis Part 3
Above the Mediterranean, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)
As Darla approached Egypt after picking up SG-1 in Colorado, everyone gathered on the bridge. Catra looked around - Adora was looking grim, but that was normal. Glimmer was scowling, which was also normal. O'Neill looked tense, which was… not normal.
"This was recorded by one of the ships in orbit," Entrapta, who had recovered from her collapse after her 'concentrated tea' ran out, explained as she pointed at the large screen showing a patch of desert. A patch of desert with a camp of Earth troops in it, surrounding some ruins on the ground. "It shows the location of the explosion - before it exploded, of course." She pushed a button with her hair, and the image zoomed in.
"Better resolution than our own satellites," Catra heard O'Neill mutter. Well, did he expect anything else?
Catra had seen the record before, but she still studied it. Earth tanks - four of them - were lined up at the edge of the camp. Smaller vehicles drove around them, and a lot of people walked all over the place. "Aren't those American tanks?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"It's the export variant of the M1-Abrams Main Battle Tank," Carter replied.
"The monkey model," O'Neill added.
"That means it's a more primitive version of the American model," Daniel said.
Adora cleared her throat, and Entrapta continued. "Four hours ago, the whole area exploded."
Behind her, the desert, camp and ruins on the screen vanished in a cloud of smoke and fire. The picture zoomed back to show the size of the cloud. It was huge.
"Entrapta and I have independently come to the conclusion that the power of the explosion is beyond what could have been achieved with conventional explosives based on Earth technology," Carter said. "Not to mention that the sheer mass of explosives needed for such an explosion would have strained the logistics of the Egyptian Army. On the other hand, the scanners do not show any radioactive fallout, though, which should be present if this was a nuclear explosion. In any case, the immediate shockwave barely missed the outskirts of Cairo. But part of the 6th of October City was devastated. Civilian casualties are still being tallied up but expected to be in the thousands."
And that was why everyone looked so grim. If the bomb had gone off a little closer… Cairo had, what, millions of people? Hell, the panic from the bomb probably killed as many as the bomb itself - they had seen pictures showing desperate people trying to flee the city…
The Security Council had declared this an international emergency and possible alien attack and assumed authority over the whole affair. Egypt hadn't protested, as far as Catra had heard - Darla had already been on the way to Colorado by then.
"Do we have more information about the cause of this?" Daniel asked.
"Well, we've narrowed the origin down to this structure," Entrapta told him. A building buried in the sand replaced the crater on the screen.
"That's the Desert Tempel of Osiris," Daniel said at once. "But it was empty when it was discovered fifty years ago - plundered by grave robbers." Everyone looked at him, and he shrugged as if he were embarrassed. Well, he might actually be. "It's just one of many such buildings that were left looted. It showed up on our scan with the field of tombs nearby, but I tagged it as a low priority since they were known."
"Well, apparently, it wasn't as empty as people thought," O'Neill said. "And it seems the Egyptians sent soldiers to every ruin in the country that showed up on your scan. Someone must have tipped them off."
"We shared the data with the Security Council, Sir," Carter pointed out.
"I know." O'Neill frowned. "We shouldn't have done that. The United Nations leak like a sieve."
"But we had a leak as well - that's why the NID went to Setesh's base," Daniel retorted. O'Neill glared at him, but he shrugged in return. "Just saying, Jack."
Adora cleared her throat again. "So… do we know what triggered the explosion? We didn't get any data before we left to fetch you."
"We don't have any information yet either," Carter replied. "It could've been an automated defence mechanism left by the Goa'uld."
"You can call it a trap, Carter," O'Neill cut in.
She glanced at him. "That is the most likely explanation. It is theoretically possible that someone brought a nuclear bomb in there, but to generate an explosion of this power, it would have been too large to conceal from any guard - or it would have been a Naquadah-enhanced nuclear device."
Which on Earth, only the Americans were supposed to have, Catra knew.
"We've ruled out a missile, artillery barrage or airstrike," Hordak took over. "Although that is based on the assumption that no force on Earth can defeat our sensors."
And that, in turn, was based on the information SG-1 gave them. Catra looked at the Americans.
"To our knowledge, no country has such a capability," O'Neill said.
"Some of the media in the region blame Israel," Glimmer pointed out.
O'Neill groaned. "Of course they would."
"Israel and Egypt are at peace," Daniel said.
"Not everyone is happy about that," O'Neill retorted. "A lot of people would be happy if Egypt and Israel went at it again. And while I think we can dismiss an Israeli airstrike, I don't doubt that Israel's government would be happier if the Egyptians don't have advanced technology."
Ah. Catra hadn't studied that conflict in detail, but she had learned enough from an overview that she understood him.
"Other media claim that this was our work," Entrapta said. "A lot of them in the region, actually. They claim that we destroyed the technology before it could be secured by the Egyptians."
"But we said that this was up to the United Nations to decide." Adora shook her head.
"They don't trust us. Or they want us to look bad," Glimmer said.
"And then there are the media who claim that this was the work of a god, removing 'satan's temptation' before it corrupts the faithful," Bow added.
Catra shook her head. Earth people were weird. Very weird.
West of Cairo, Egypt, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"That's one big crater." Jack O'Neill shook his head. "Well, if everything else fails, they can fill it with water and turn the area into a resort."
No one laughed. Daniel made that interrupted gasping noise, Carter would be frowning at him for a moment, and Teal'c was more silent than usual.
Well, it hadn't been a good joke. And it wasn't a pretty sight - they were standing at the edge of a huge crater. A bit away from the wrecked suburb of Cairo.
"Radiation is at safe levels," Carter reported without looking up from her devices.
"Good to know," Jack replied. Though they had known that already - they wouldn't have landed so close to the crater if it were still radioactive.
"Oh, no!" "This looks bad."
Adora and the others had arrived.
"The devastation is impressive. The damage to foundations by the shockwave travelling through the ground will probably need some special sensor to detect," Entrapta commented as she leaned forward to look at the crater's edge.
Jack looked back and saw a bunch of Egyptian soldiers approaching them. "Ah… you locked the spaceship, right?"
"Of course," Catra replied. "We don't want more of those idiots getting killed by trying to break into a spaceship."
"We don't know if that was the cause of the explosion," Glimmer told her. "It could've been a Goa'uld facing capture and deciding to suicide."
"Or trying to fake his suicide," Jack pointed out. Snakes were cunning, and any snake hiding in Egypt would have some sources in the local government that would warn them about the scanners. Not that the scanner was a big secret any more - not after the Security Council had been informed. Jack expected the press to run some articles about it any day now. Probably wondering if that violated some privacy laws.
The Egyptian Humvee pulled up to a stop next to them, and a tall man - a colonel - got out, followed by another officer and two guards. "You! Are you in charge?" he snapped, staring at Jack.
"That depends on who you ask," Jack replied. "Colonel Jack O'Neill. Stargate Command."
The man's eyes widened. Who did he expect that the United States would send on this mission, anyway? The Navy?
"And I'm Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon," Glimmer spoke up. "Are you the officer in charge of the rescue operations?"
"What? No, I'm in charge of the security of the site!"
Jack pressed his lips together so he wouldn't crack a joke about the dire need a crater in the ground had for security. Hammond had been clear about the need to treat the locals with the utmost politeness - the Security Council had been anything but polite.
"You guard a hole in the ground? Someone in charge must hate you."
Obviously, Hammond hadn't told Catra that. The catwoman grinned at the Egyptian.
"You're the alien," the colonel - he still hadn't introduced himself, which was beginning to look less rude and more suspicious - replied.
"We're all aliens," Entrapta replied with a huge smile. "Although it depends on your definition - biologically, I think all of us except for Melog and Hordak could have fertile offspring with you without using genetic engineering. That means we're basically the same species. But all of us were born on another planet, which means we're extraterrestrials!"
Jack briefly wondered if she had watched E.T. - few people used that word any more.
The Egyptian colonel, in any case, looked confused. "What?"
Entrapta repeated her explanation, which didn't seem to help at all. Especially not when she used her hair to handle another device - the soldiers really didn't like that.
Adora cleared her throat and stepped closer. "And I'm She-Ra, Princess of Power. We're here to help you. Do you have wounded in need of healing?"
All of the Egyptians stared at her. They probably hadn't expected her to be so freaking tall - Jack knew how imposing She-Ra looked when she was standing in front of you, and he was used to Teal'c towering over everyone.
But the Colonel shook his head. "Our doctors are handling the wounded," he said through clenched teeth. "We don't need your… magic."
"I wasn't aware that Earth medical science was as advanced as Etherian magic," Hordak commented.
"It isn't," Daniel told him.
"Then it seems ill-advised to refuse She-Ra's help. I can assure you that it's safe." Hordak smiled at the colonel. Or tried to - Jack had seen better smiles from greeters at Walmart shortly before closing time.
"I'm sure they have their reasons," Jack said. Like pride. Or they didn't want magic to be used on their countrymen.
"And what are your reasons?" Adora asked with a deep frown. "I can heal your wounded in an instant. Why would you want them to take longer to heal up?"
"We can handle our problems ourselves," the man spat.
"Yeah, we can see that," Catra retorted, pointedly looking at the crater.
"The cause of the explosion hasn't been determined yet," Carter said.
One of the Egyptian soldiers muttered something - Jack thought it might have been 'sabotage'.
"Well, that's why we're here," Glimmer said. "To find out what happened and how to prevent similar accidents." She looked at the crater as well. "This can't be allowed to happen again."
The Egyptian Colonel snorted. "I'd like to see that."
"Well," the queen replied. "We'll be glad to show you. Are you our liaison, Mr…?"
"Colonel. Colonel Salah."
"Colonel Salah. We're here to secure the remaining potential artefacts left by the Goa'uld. For the United Nations," Glimmer said, smiling widely. "We were also here to help your rescue and recovery operations, but if you don't want our help with that, we can proceed to take control of the Naquadah."
The Colonel scowled in return. It was clear that he wanted them gone from the country.
Tough luck - the Security Council wasn't screwing around any more. Not after someone nuked part of Egypt - no one sane wanted this to happen to another country. Or that power in the hands of someone else.
Those people were… Adora shook her head and pressed her lips together so she wouldn't blurt her thoughts out as they walked towards the centre of the crater. She knew that they couldn't alienate them. Not more than they already had, at least. Though the sheer stupidity grated on her. They had had a huge crater blown into their country, almost destroying their capital, and they still insisted they could handle it? They were worse than Catra had been at her worst.
She blinked and buried that thought. Catra wasn't like that any more. Not at all. And the local people would learn better as well. Hopefully without going through the same experiences as her lover.
And yet… people were suffering here for no other reason than pride. The pride of someone who wasn't hurt themselves, to boot. At least, that was Adora's assumption.
Entrapta waved her device around. "Radiation levels are normal for the area, I think. Nothing that would indicate that a fission-based bomb had gone off here," she announced. "Although it could've been a fusion bomb, of course - you have that technology."
"Even a fusion bomb would have needed a fission bomb to trigger," Sam added. "I think we can safely exclude the possibility of an Israeli strike with a nuclear weapon."
"I thought we already did that thanks to our surveillance from orbit?" Daniel asked.
"We did, but it's good to have confirmation, "Jack said.
"We need to tell the world so they stop blaming Israel for this," Glimmer said.
Adora nodded in agreement as she climbed over a broken rock the size of a cart. The protests she had seen on the television, aimed at both Israel and the Alliance…
"Yes, we should. And we will. But that won't stop the claims," Jack said.
"What?" Adora turned to look at him. He was standing on the rock she had just climbed over, then clenched his teeth and jumped down - and seemed surprised afterwards for some reason.
"Let me guess: It's easier to blame foreign saboteurs than your own people, right?" Catra said, glancing over her shoulder at the Egyptians following them.
Adora did the same. Colonel Salah had fallen a bit back - he seemed to be struggling with the rocks in their way. The rest of his men didn't seem to have such a problem but didn't pass him. Which was fortunate since they might have heard Catra's remark otherwise.
"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Of course, we can't exclude a Mossad operation with conventional explosives triggering a Goa'uld bomb - the last thing Israel wants is an Arab country with advanced technology."
"But they are at peace with Egypt," Adora pointed out, recalling the briefing. "They have been at peace for almost twenty years." Almost as long as she had been alive.
"And the Egyptian leader at the time was murdered for making peace," Jack said. "Not to mention that leaders change, and currently, everything's changing."
Once more, Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't blurt out what she thought of that.
"I think there's the epicentre," Entrapta pointed out a little later. "It matches the geographic location, and the concentration of Naquadah in the environment shows a pattern that would support this."
"Yes, the Naquadah that was all blown up and spread through the area," Jack said, looking grim.
"Oh, don't worry!" Entrapta smiled. "We can calibrate our scanners to ignore trace elements of Naquadah."
"I was more concerned about the trace elements getting into people's bodies. People such as us."
Ew. Adora grimaced. She didn't think that she had to worry, but Catra and the others?
"Oh, that shouldn't reach any critical level. And we can purge it, I think - I would have to work out the details for a procedure, but it shouldn't be too hard."
They were at the lowest point of the crater now. And the ground…
"Glassed," Daniel said.
"Yes. The heat must have been…" Sam mumbled something Adora didn't catch. "If this wasn't a nuclear bomb, then this had to have been a Naquadah-enhanced explosive, Sir."
"Great. So, another suicide device by a snake?"
"In theory, you could create such an effect accidentally by using a conventional explosive near the right amount and isotope of Naquadah," Sam explained. "Processed Naquadah is safe - the Goa'uld wouldn't want to risk such explosions in combat - but there are certain isotopes that would be unstable enough to react to explosions."
"An accidental nuke. Now we've seen everything." Jack shook his head.
"We don't know if that has happened here, Sir."
"We'll need more data to find out!" Entrapta announced. "But we should find traces of conventional explosives if those were used." She cocked her head sideways. "Of course, if the soldiers here had explosives with them, we would find traces anyway, even if they didn't use them."
"So, in other words, we can't find out if this was a Goa'uld trying to hide their tracks, or an accident, or sabotage?" Catra asked. She had lowered her voice, Adoara noticed - she must not want the Egyptians, who were arriving now, to hear this.
"That depends on the data we gather. There should be differences between explosives used to trigger Naquadah and explosives triggered by Naquadah. I think." Entrapta was still smiling. "We might have to do some tests."
"Right. Tests with Naquadah bombs." Jack looked like he had bitten into something disgusting. "Let's not do that right now. People get antsy if you want to blow up their country."
"What?" Colonel Salah asked. He was huffing a little and red in the face.
"We were talking about tests to find out who blew up the area," Entrapta told him. "We'll have to find another location, then."
"And we need to secure the other Naquadah artefacts in the country," Catra reminded them.
Yes. Adora nodded again. That was what they were here for.
Inside what she had come to think of their mobile lab in Darla's hold, Samantha Carter peered at the readouts of their latest scan. "I think that's as good as we can get," she said.
"Yes. That should be all the Naquadah left that isn't dust," Entrapta agreed as she fiddled with the controls of the scanner.
"I concur," Hordak added. He bent over the microphone and said: "No, to your left. The last artefact is to your left."
"How do you know which way I am facing?" Adora's voice came over the radio.
"We have the most advanced scanner on the planet," Hordak replied. "I can tell which way your hair is blowing."
"Big deal! That's where the wind blows!" another voice - Catra - cut in.
"Not if you take local conditions and windbreaks into account," Entrapta objected.
Sam stopped herself before becoming engaged in the discussion of windswept hair. The Colonel would never let her forget it. "Please focus on the recovery," she said instead.
"Why does it feel as if all I do is dig holes these days?" Adora complained.
"Because you're the best we have at that," Catra commented.
Neither the Colonel nor Daniel had spoken up, Sam realised. And this had been the perfect opening for a comment about archaeologists. "Sir?" she asked.
"Yes, Carter?"
He sounded as usual. Good. "What's the status of the Egyptians?" she asked. It was a logical question - Colonel Salah had been obviously unhappy to support them or their presence. And it was a good excuse as well.
"They're grumpy," the Colonel replied. "But that's all so far. They haven't tried to take any Naquadah and squirrel it away, have they?"
"Not according to our scanner," Sam replied.
"Good. Anything about the explosives?"
Sam pressed her lips together. "We're still analysing the samples." After a moment, she added: "I think that Entrapta is correct, and we need more testing to have a baseline. It wasn't as if they had a lot of data about conventional explosives enhanced with Naquadah. "But we've identified the standard plastic explosive used by the Egyptian army," she added.
"Good."
It wasn't really helpful - a competent saboteur would have been able to use the same explosives, probably stolen or purchased from a corrupt officer - but it was another clue.
Although Sam had her doubts whether they would be able to find out for certain what, and who, caused the explosion. She glanced at the screen to the side, where several television programs were running. She was still leaning towards a breaching charge accidentally setting off Naquadah, but with several prominent religious leaders announcing that this was 'a sign of God's displeasure with the aliens and their blasphemous demands', it wasn't hard to imagine that this might have been a deliberate action by a fanatic amongst the soldiers. And she couldn't discount the saboteur hypothesis either. Or the failsafe.
"We got it! It's a… crushed zat," Bow announced over the radio.
"Great! That's the last piece then!" Entrapta replied. "We can move to the next site!"
"Finally!" Daniel's voice told Sam that he was pouting.
Well, it was understandable - the next 'site' was the Valley of the Kings. He was sure that the Naquadah artefacts their scan had shown would be in graves that hadn't been discovered so far. She chuckled - with the Stargate exposed, he could finally publish his findings, and this would be another feather in his cap, so to speak. And…
"Uh-oh!"
Entrapta sounded concerned. And that was, Sam had learned quickly after meeting the princess, a very bad sign. "What happened?" she asked.
"Darla said that there's a large number of people moving towards us from the city." Entrapta's hair pointed at a screen showing a text, then started typing on the console next to it. "I think I can get a feed… there!"
The picture on the screen changed, showing a protest. No - a mob. She could see crude depictions of aliens hanging from gallows carried along. They must be blaming the Etherians for the explosion. "Colonel!" she snapped. "We've got a mob heading towards the ship and the crater. I suggest you evacuate the site."
"We're coming back! Everyone, pack up!" the Colonel snapped.
But they wouldn't make it back in time. Sam pressed her lips together. "We need to pick them up."
"I concur," Hordak agreed. "Unless the screening forces use lethal force, I doubt they can stop this attack. Even with lethal force, I have my doubts."
"Darla! Lift off!" Entrapta yelled as she headed out of the hold.
By the time Sam reached the bridge, the ship was hovering above the landing site. She couldn't see any sign of the riot - or mob - headed their way, but the soldiers around them were restless. That could just be a reaction to the ship's sudden movement, of course.
"We're coming to you!" Entrapta said as Darla started flying westwards.
"You've heard her, folks! Get ready for the pick-up!" the Colonel ordered over the radio.
They reached the centre of the crater, now sporting more holes courtesy of Adora, in less than a minute, and Sam went to lower the ramp.
"Great to see you! Things were just getting boring," the Colonel greeted her. "Everyone on board!"
"Colonel O'Neill! What are you doing?"
Colonel Salah had arrived, huffing - he must have hurried. His aide and the two soldiers with them were obviously in better shape.
"We're moving to the next site," the Colonel told the man.
"Before the mob gets here. Want a ride?" Glimmer added.
"Mob? What mob?" Salah blinked.
His aide checked the radio and paled, then said something in Arabic.
After a moment of gaping and looking over his shoulder and some quick back and forth in Arabic, Salah seemed to steel himself. "We will accompany you to the Valley of the Kings."
Catra snorted at the officer's attitude as they boarded Darla. Salah made it sound as if this was some daring mission instead of him just coming along with them. Which, unless she was sorely mistaken, and she didn't think she was, would be what his orders said anyway.
Though, given the mob bearing down on them, maybe the colonel was worried about being attacked for siding with them? Either way, she'd keep an eye on him and his people - the possibility of saboteurs in the ranks of the Egyptian military was not negligible, after all.
And speaking of sabotage… She walked over to Entrapta, taking care to strut with her hands folded behind her head to appear bored, then whispered: "Did you scan Salah and his men for explosives?"
Entrapta blinked and looked at her, then at the two Egyptian soldiers, which were still sticking together near the ramp after Salah and his aide had followed the others to the bridge. "You think… You think they might want to hurt Darla?"
"And us," Catra added. "It's a possibility. We still don't know who caused the explosion here."
"They aren't carrying explosives," Hordak cut in. "Not unless you count the propellant in their weapons, although even if they pooled all their ammunition, they wouldn't be able to create a bomb that would be able to significantly damage a crucial component of Darla."
That was a lot of qualifiers - too many for Catra's taste - but Entrapta seemed satisfied. "I'll still have Emily keep an eye on them!"
"Good." Catra grinned as she passed the Egyptians on her way to the bridge. Emily bearing down on them should spook them enough to keep them from doing anything they shouldn't do. The bot was a walking tank, especially after Entrapta and Hordak's enhancements.
Her good mood vanished as soon as she entered the bridge, though, and saw Adora staring at the side screen with a grim expression. And with good reason - it showed the protesters attacking the soldiers. And the soldiers shooting them.
Catra didn't whistle at the sight - Adora wouldn't take any levity, even gallows humour, very well right now.
"Why are they doing this?" Adora asked. "Do they really blame us for the explosion?" She pressed her lips together.
"In a word: Yes." O'Neill shrugged. "At least that's what their signs say, though my Arabic is a little rusty." He apparently couldn't read Adora.
"It does say this on the signs, yes," Daniel added.
And the various depictions of Catra and her friends hanging from gallows or being burned were a big clue as well, in Catra's opinion.
"They have been misled by traitors," Salah said. "But this wouldn't have happened if not for the… alien artefacts exploding."
"Or being blown up," O'Neill said. "So, let's avoid blowing up more artefacts and parts of Egypt, alright?"
Salah glared at him. "There won't be any saboteurs at this site."
"So you claim." O'Neill shrugged. "As long as you stop trying to find the artefacts yourself, you should be fine with proper security."
Adora shook her head. "Feuding amongst us won't help anyone. We need to secure the Naquadah before another catastrophe happens." She glanced at the television screen again even though they were reaching another military camp. "And this needs to be stopped. We aren't here to hurt anyone - we aren't hurting anyone. We just want to help you."
"Whether you wanted it or not, your arrival did result in a lot of my people getting hurt!" Salah spat.
Adora flinched, and Catra clenched her teeth. How dare this idiot do this to Adora! "Your people got hurt because of your own damn fault!" she spat. "If you hadn't tried to secure the Naquadah for yourself, none of this would have happened!"
"There were riots before all this!" Salah retorted. "People got hurt then - lots of them!"
"That's not on us either!" Catra snarled. "It's not our fault that you people freak out at meeting aliens!" It wasn't as if they were very different from Etherians, anyway.
"Or cannot stand people who love the same sex," Glimmer added with a scowl.
Salah opened his mouth with a gasp but closed it again without saying anything - even though it looked as if it was killing him to keep his mouth shut.
Catra bared her teeth in a sneer in return.
"So… we've landed," Bow said into the sudden silence. "Let's go and…" He looked at the main screen, which showed a group of soldiers walking towards them. "...meet the locals?"
Salah nodded, still clenching his teeth - Catra thought she could hear the noise they made - and then turned to leave the bridge, followed by the grimacing aide.
They stepped down the ramp just as the dozen soldiers led by another colonel arrived. Salah and the other colonel exchanged salutes, then talked to each other in their own language.
Catra glanced at Daniel and O'Neill. Both didn't seem to be concerned, so the two Egyptians probably weren't saying anything worrisome.
"This is Colonel Khaled," Salah finally introduced the man. "His men have secured the valley but haven't started excavating any site yet."
"We don't have their precise locations," Khaled admitted with a grin. "And I didn't want to have my men dig holes at random." Then he grew serious. "Given the events at the other site…"
Glimmer nodded. "This won't happen here. We won't let it happen."
And they had the exact locations thanks to Entrapta and Carter's scanner, Catra knew. This should be a breeze.
Valley of the Kings, Egypt, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)
Jack O'Neill jumped off the short ledge, landing on the sandy ground below without the slightest hint of pain. He really needed to talk to Adora about this - as much as he liked his body working as if he were twenty again, it was the result of magic. Magic he knew nothing about. If there were side-effects, or if this would suddenly revert back, he needed to know that.
He shook his head - he had to focus on the task at hand. Namely, the Goa'uld artefacts hidden under the sand and rock here.
"You're impatient, Jack," Daniel commented as he caught up - the others had taken a small path leading down the slope.
Jack glanced at his team. Daniel seemed honestly curious, but Carter's lips were doing that twisty thing they usually did when she was pondering something, and Teal'c… it seemed his right eyebrow had twitched about a tenth of an inch. "Just taking the direct way down," Jack said.
"We don't want to stay here forever, after all."
"Right!"
He looked up at the interruption and saw that Catra was already jumping down from the top of the slope - that was almost twenty feet. His eyes widened for a moment as the catwoman landed on all fours, then straightened as if that was just a particularly tall step. But he nodded as if he had expected that. "See?" He looked at Daniel. "That's impatient!"
Catra laughed. "I'm practical."
"You're a show-off!" Adora yelled.
The rest of the Etherians arrived in a less showy manner - though Jack had no doubt that Adora at least could've just jumped down as well. Hell, the woman could probably drop from orbit without feeling it! He blinked, then suppressed the urge to ask Carter whether that would actually be possible - she would probably try to work it out. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, now that everyone's here…"
"The Egyptians are still on the way," Catra interrupted him.
He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, now that that everyone who actually matters is here, where's the Naquadah thingie?"
Entrapta pointed to the side with a tendril of her hair. "About… twenty metres that way!"
"Right!" Jack saw that Salah and Khaled and about a dozen soldiers were just joining them. "There you are. We're about to begin the excavation."
"Ah." Khaled nodded, then looked around. "Are you planning to use explosives?"
The man looked rather queasy at the thought, not that Jack could blame him.
"No, we're going to use a shovel," Catra said, grinning widely. "And by 'we', I mean 'Adora." Adora frowned at her friend, which didn't impress Catra at all, from what Jack could tell. "Atta, girl!"
With a sigh, Adora walked over to the spot Entrapta had indicated - and which Carter had confirmed, Jack checked with a glance - and raised her hand. A moment later, the by now familiar giant shovel appeared.
The soldiers started muttering at the sight, but Khaled seemed to take it in stride. Salah, of course, had seen it before and puffed his chest out a little.
Well, whatever let the guy save some face - the orders had been to play nice with the locals.
Grunting, Adora started digging, and Jack wandered over to check the perimeter. They were supposed to be far away from any mob, but he didn't exactly trust the soldiers guarding the site - it only took one fanatic to sabotage everything if they got the opportunity.
Well, between Jack, Teal'c and Catra - he hadn't missed how she tended to lounge just where she had a good view of most of the soldiers - any saboteur would find their mission quite difficult.
It didn't take Adora long to reach worked stone - the roof of a tomb, according to Daniel. Jack refrained from making a Tomb Raider joke. Mostly so he wouldn't have to explain why he knew the game - he had a reputation to defend, after all.
A few minutes later, they were staring at the sealed door. And Daniel was almost salivating. "This is… an untouched tomb!"
"Yes," Jack said, nodding. "Unless thieves got in and were polite enough to close the door behind them."
"Jack!" Daniel pouted. "Don't joke about this! Besides, the fact that there's Naquadah behind this door is a very strong clue that it is untouched - grave robbers wouldn't have left any item made of Naquadah behind!"
"In other words, we get to rob the grave!" Catra said, grinning widely.
Daniel turned his frown on her. "We're here to secure the Naquadah artefacts, not to rob a grave! We need to be extra careful so we don't destroy priceless historical artefacts!"
"No acting like Indiana Jones, got it," Jack said. "But we need to get through the door."
"That would be a lot easier if we had already activated Earth's magic," Glimmer said. "I could just teleport into the tomb."
"Or into a trap," Entrapta said. "Like in my castle, remember?"
"Don't trigger any trap!" Salah blurted out.
"We won't," Entrapta told him. "We're going to drill a hole and then check carefully for any traps." Just as the man - and Khaled next to him - started to relax, she added: "The odds of drilling into a trap are very, very low."
"And we're not going to drill through without checking ahead with our scanner," Carter quickly added.
That didn't seem to do much to calm the two officers down.
Jack snorted. Well, that was Entrapta for you.
He quickly grew serious, though - he hadn't missed that Glimmer was talking as if activating Earth's magic was just a foregone conclusion. He could only hope the Egyptians had missed that.
"Alright… penetrating the chamber now!" Entrapta announced.
Adora nodded. Finally! This had taken them long enough. She knew that they had to be cautious, but… Adora had trouble waiting and doing nothing while others worked hard. Unlike Catra, she added in her head while she looked at her lover sprawled over a larger rock, apparently enjoying the sun.
Though in this case, Catra wasn't as calm and bored as she appeared - Adora could see her friend's tail twitch.
"So, now we'll find out if there's a spoilsport device," Jack commented. "Anyone taking bets?"
"Jack!"
"You are? Great. Five bucks on 'we're not going to get blown up'!"
Adora couldn't help but giggle at Daniel's expression, and she wasn't the only one. But the Egyptians didn't seem to think this was funny. Perhaps it was something cultural.
"And we're through!" Entrapta beamed at them. "Without blowing up! Now, let's see what's hidden here!"
And Jack was serious again, waking over to Sam and Entrapta, who had been joined by Daniel. "What do you see?"
"It looks like the expected interior of an Egyptian tomb of this era," Daniel said. "The sarcophagus, the different vessels for the organs extracted during the mummification process and the burial objects."
"The treasure, you mean." Jack chuckled.
"Scanners show no active power sources, Sir," Carter said.
"Batteries died?" Jack asked.
"No. But there's no power being consumed right now."
"Ah, good. We wouldn't want to recover expensive paperweights." He chuckled.
"So, this is safe?" Khaled asked.
"Define safe?" Entrapta turned to look at the man. "I mean, we didn't detect a bomb - and my analyser shows no chemical explosive compound, either - but we haven't checked for biological agents yet. With regards to chemical weapons, it should be safe since we didn't detect anything particularly complex, so…"
"Biological weapons?" Colonel Salah's voice sounded higher than before.
"One of the theories about the 'curses' placed on some tombs was that the Egyptians hid some toxic mushrooms or similar organisms in the tomb so any grave robbers would get sick and die," Daniel explained. "It hasn't been verified so far, though."
Which was a very good thing, even though Adora was pretty sure she could heal such a poison. To do all that, just to protect a grave… She shook her head. "So, once it is safe, want me to break down the door?"
Daniel gasped. "But that would destroy it!"
"I think we can use a bot to open it - we need to repair the mechanism that sealed it, then you should be able to open it," Entrapta replied.
"Or we can cut the door out and have it taken away whole," Sam suggested.
"I guess that would be faster," Entrapta admitted. "But it would destroy this fascinating mechanism."
"Let's go with 'faster' - we're kind of on the clock here. A doomsday clock," Jack said.
Most seemed to agree, and Entrapta pouted a little but then started on the cutting process with Sam.
Adora walked over to Catra. "Relax," she whispered as she reached her friend. "It should be safe now."
"I'm not concerned about the tomb," Catra replied. "I'm keeping an eye on the soldiers."
"Oh." Adora blinked.
"It would only take one traitor amongst them to wreck this mission," Catra went on.
Adora bit her lower lip to avoid mentioning Double-Trouble. That was still a sore spot for her lover - and probably the reason why she was so suspicious of everyone except for Adora and her friends. Well, that and Horde Prime's mind-control chips. "Ah," she said instead, looking up at the people guarding the site.
Fortunately, Entrapta called for her before the silence became awkward.
"I'll keep an eye out. Go use your muscles!" Catra grinned at her.
Adora smiled back, then bent down, placing a quick kiss on Catra's lips. "Thanks."
"Someone has to keep you guys alive," Catra mumbled when Adora withdrew - but she was blushing.
And then Adora was grunting as she pulled the stone door away. It wasn't particularly heavy, but getting a grip was difficult. She would've liked to cut some handholds into the stone, but that would probably upset Daniel.
She almost dropped the thing - and wouldn't that have been embarrassing! - but finally managed to lean it against the wall next to the door. Whew!
Daniel was already trying to move past her, but Jack held him back. "Let's check for booby traps first."
"We already did, Jack!"
"I mean, let someone else enter," Jack explained. "Just in case."
And that meant Adora. She stepped into the grave, wrinkling her nose at the stale and dusty air, and looked around. It seemed safe. "Looks safe," she said. "At least this room."
"'This room'?" Daniel asked. "Jack!"
"I said wait, Daniel!"
"Well, there's a door to another room, I think," Adora replied, walking past the stone casket. It looked like a door, at least.
"Scanners do show a second room, now that the seal has been breached," Sam reported.
"Oh! Let's open the door!" Entrapta suggested.
"Let's drill through it first," Jack told her. "Nice and slow."
Adora smiled when she heard Entrapta sigh. Her friend was still very impatient when she was intrigued.
And here came Daniel. "That's a fake door, carved into the wall after building it. But if there is a room behind it…" He looked at the symbols on the door. "'Chariot of the Sky'?" He gasped. "This must be a ship!"