Chapter 39: The Training Session
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
"So, there are our FNGs," Jack O'Neill commented as he looked at the soldiers assembling on the field in front of him. "We've got our work cut out for us, Teal'c." They were the worst kind of FNGs, too - FNGs who didn't understand that they were FNGs. Jack knew the type. Most of the members of Stargate Command - the old Stargate Command - had been like that: recruited from elite units, used to being the best. They took a while to be broken down and rebuilt into useful soldiers.
"They are veterans, as I was told, and merely inexperienced where fighting the Goa'uld is concerned. I foresee no trouble teaching them how to fight the servants of the false gods and the false gods themselves as we did to our comrades in arms before."
"Yep. But those aren't Americans, so they'll be more prickly and difficult." Then again, getting Marines to listen to an Air Force officer when it came to ground combat was a challenge by itself.
"I have no doubt that we will rise to the challenge, O'Neill."
"That's the spirit." Jack grinned and kept grinning as he started walking towards the rough formation that had assembled on the field. The officer in charge of the Brits noticed him first and bellowed, the rest of the limeys quickly coming to attention.
The French and Chinese followed, with the Russians a little behind, but all finished before Jack stepped onto the actual field. Four different formations, all of them assembling on their own, with four different officers reporting for training.
"What a mess," Jack whispered after returning the salutes.
Only Teal'c heard him, and his friend didn't react at all.
Then Jack raised his voice. "Welcome to Stargate Command! I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, the senior field officer of the unit. This is Teal'c, former First Prime of Apophis. He is a Jaffa." He nodded at his friend and tried to gauge the men's reactions. There was some tensing, but nothing serious that he could see.
"We're going to teach you about the way the Goa'uld and their Jaffa fight. I know you've been briefed and seen the news, but there's nothing as impressive as first-hand experience," he went on. "For that, we've prepared some target dummies."
Everyone turned their heads to look at the range to the side of the field, where, in the open and behind earthen walls, a dozen dummies had been erected by some grunts. "Line up at the edge!"
A minute later, the soldiers were watching the range - and Teal'c, who had stepped into the centre of the firing line with his staff weapon. It was always better to start with something that drew attention when teaching soldiers, and explosions were a sure way to do that, in Jack's opinion. He nodded at his friend.
"This is a staff weapon," Teal'c said, holding the staff up. "It can fire plasma bolts upon command. They explode upon hitting the target, generally burning through standard body armour of Tau'ri and Jaffa alike."
Jack saw a few of the soldiers whisper to each other - some might not have been aware of the Goa'uld term for humans. One of the Russian female soldiers - or spies; they were far too pretty in Jack's opinion - seemed to be the resident expert for her group. He made a mental note to look up her file later.
Then Teal'c turned to face the field and aimed at the closest dummy. A moment later, the staff fired, and the dummy exploded, sending rubber bits and ballistic jelly all over the place. Teal'c didn't stop and fired again and again, blowing up another dummy and blasting off the top of a wall of earth, then decapitated the dummy behind it.
Jack's friend wasn't quite smiling when he turned to face the soldiers, but he was standing in a sort of smug way. Jack could tell.
He grinned himself. "That looks impressive, but the staff has a few drawbacks as well. Aiming is kind of hard since the thing isn't ergonomic. And it has a low rate of fire - relatively low." It easily beat an M79 or an M203, of course. "But one hit, and you're dead even if you're wearing body armour. So, don't get hit." He grinned.
The chuckling amongst the soldiers sounded just a little bit forced; they weren't green soldiers.
"Now, the second common weapon in our enemies' arsenal." Jack drew the zat'nik'tel from his holster. "Looks weird, doesn't it? That's a zat'nik'tel." He demonstrated the safe and active modes. "It's smaller than a staff weapon and works differently. If you get hit with it, you'll be stunned. Hurts like a bitch, too, trust me about this." This time, the chuckling was a little more reluctant. "Then if you get hit a second time, even if it's minutes apart, you die. Just like that. Dead as a doornail, leaving an intact corpse."
No one was chuckling now.
"And if you get hit there times in succession…" Jack turned and fired at the closest standing dummy. The first and second shots didn't do anything. The third disintegrated it. "...you're literally gone."
Everyone was staring now. It really was like teaching Marines.
The FNGs were good. Better than the average SGC recruit, Jack O'Neill had to admit. Of course, the other countries would send their best for this assignment - if only so they could build up a cadre to train more troops back home once they had experience fighting the Goa'uld.
He watched a squad of British soldiers navigate the simulation field, trying to get close to Teal'c. Fire and move, the simulated shots not quite as loud as the real thing. Jack didn't see any obvious mistake - but they had never fought Jaffa. And they had no idea how fast Teal'c could run. One more leap… yes.
Teal'c dashed out from under cover, staff weapon firing - at the ground in front of the closest soldiers, throwing up dirt and smoke, temporarily blinding the limeys. Not for long - they changed positions as soon as they realised what had happened - but they reacted as if they were fighting humans.
Teal'c closed the distance far quicker than they expected - he jumped over the rock the first two were hiding behind before the dust cloud had settled. Two jabs, not even shooting, and both men's simulation gear marked them dead.
The rest of the squad started firing, but Teal'c jumped to the side, behind another rock, then returned fire. Simulated fire. One soldier was caught in the open and went down, and Teal'c used two more real blasts to throw up more dust clouds.
The limeys fell back, expecting another charge - and ended up flanked by Teal'c, who had sprinted to the side even faster than they had expected. And that was it for this exercise.
"Bloody hell!" one of their mates behind Jack cursed. "No one told us we'd be fighting Superman!"
Jack clenched his teeth to keep from correcting the soldier. Teal'c was closer to Captain America, not Superman, but it wouldn't do to appear a nerd. He turned and grinned. "Welcome to the galaxy, boys! Don't worry, with training, you'll be able to handle Jaffa."
Another soldier scoffed. "And with artillery."
"No heavy artillery for Stargate Command, alas." Jack smiled. "But anything portable, we can use."
"Why don't we get heavy weapons?" the soldier complained.
"Because our task is exploration and scouting - and guarding scientists and diplomats," Jack quoted their new mission statement. "We're not going to conquer planets."
"Well, we should!" the soldier insisted.
"Hey! Even artillery wouldn't hit the guy when he's right in your trench!" another limey said. "Besides, we got his number now. When it's our turn, we'll get him for sure!"
Jack didn't bother hiding his grin. Just like his latest batch of recruits, they had to learn the hard way.
"So, how is it…" Daniel took a step back from where he had joined Jack O'Neill when Teal'c tossed another Russian across the mats in the base's gym.
"...going?" Jack grinned. "As expected."
The Russian cursed and rolled to his feet, then charged in again. Teal'c used one Jaffa-martial arts move Jack didn't remember the name of and redirected the Russian's charge into the other Russian trying to sneak up on him from behind.
Both went down in a tangle of limbs. When they got up, one had a split lip, and the other was favouring his left leg.
"Let's take him all together!" the first spat in Russian.
"They didn't say we could."
"They didn't say we couldn't."
"It makes us look bad."
"I don't care! Just take this bastard down!"
Jack chuckled loudly, which made the Russians sitting around the mat glare at him - they would know he spoke enough Russian to understand them - but the four fighting Teal'c didn't seem to care and attacked together.
It didn't help them. Teal'c blocked two strikes, took a kick to his chest and slammed the first Russian down, then tackled two more. All went down, but only Teal'c got up, catching the last one with a mule kick in the chest.
Jack winced - he knew how much that hurt. Dr Fraser wouldn't be happy - she never was when they flooded the infirmary with training accidents. But this was necessary to avoid flooding the morgue once they were in the field.
Anyone with SGC needed to know just how dangerous Jaffa could be.
"They'll think every Jaffa is Teal'c," Daniel commented in a low voice.
"Yes. Better than thinking they are pushovers."
"They might be more easily intimidated when they meet the first Jaffa," Daniel worried.
"Doesn't matter. They'll still fight as well as they can." Jack knew those people. Spec Ops and Black Ops. And some spies. He glanced at the woman he had noticed before. She was getting ready to fight Teal'c next. She was wearing camo pants and a t-shirt that left her arms bare, and Jack studied her muscles. Definitely no desk jockeying data analyst. And not a honey trap, either. Or not just a honey trap. And she moved like… well, not quite like Teal'c, or Catra, but… Jack wouldn't like to fight her on the mats. Not because he wouldn't win - he had about fifty pounds of muscle on her and fifteen years of experience, and that would be telling - but it would be closer than he would like. And he would get hurt.
"Are you sure about that, Jack?"
"Yes. I know the type." Jack would do the same in their place. Had done the same.
"Well, if you're sure that…" Daniel trailed off when more Russians started flying. Not the woman, though - she evaded Teal'c and almost caught him in the back. And she took two throws to stay down.
Yeah, Jack would have to keep an eye on her.
Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
"Horses!" Adora couldn't help it - she beamed as they stepped out of Darla. There were two carriages waiting for them with horses! And more people on horses! Swift Wind would love this! Or not - he probably would want those horses freed.
"Did they put this together to impress us?" Catra asked, looking around with a barely-hidden scowl.
"No," Glimmer said. "This is standard procedure for state visits."
"We checked," Bow added.
Adora nodded. He had researched things.
"And you didn't tell us?" Catra asked with a frown.
"I thought Adora would tell you," Glimmer replied before taking a step forward and greeting their hosts - represented by the Crown Prince, apparently, and a minister of the government.
And lots of horses. And, of course, lots of reporters.
"I hope they have more effective security than horse cavalry," Catra muttered after a frown at Adora.
"Smile," Adora whispered before she shook the Prince's hand. He looked about as old as Micah.
They exchanged the usual greetings. By now, Adora was kind of familiar with the customs. Shake hands, say how happy you are to be here, smile and wave for the cameras - that came before, when you left the shuttle or ship - and don't say anything too honest.
After the spiel, they climbed into the waiting carriages. Glimmer and Bow rode with the Prince, Adora and Catra with the minister - the Foreign Secretary.
"We're using standard protocols for visiting royalty," the man explained as they took off, travelling at low speed.
Adora nodded. "Of course." They were princesses, after all. And their consorts - even if it wasn't yet official. But that didn't seem to matter to the British. Though Catra suspected that they would care about those details if they didn't have to suck up to the Alliance.
By the time they reached Windsor Castle, they had covered the landmarks on the way, the history of the Horse Guards, food and the weather. No politics. And Adora didn't even have to pinch Catra to keep her lover from making comments about figurehead princesses and queens.
Such as the one they were meeting now. She was old. Adora had known that, of course - she had seen pictures and met her son today - but actually meeting her made that even more apparent. She wasn't like Angella. And not like Madame Razz, either. No disapproving glances or absent-minded remarks.
The protocol for meeting the Queen was supposedly complicated, but it was nothing compared to the rules for the Princess Prom, so Adora didn't make any mistakes while greeting the Queen or walking down the line of soldiers. It wasn't an actual inspection, though - the Queen didn't check every soldier for regulation-conforming uniform, nor did she check their weapons.
Unlike the French, the British didn't have them proceed to the signing of the alliance treaty right away. First, they moved, again with the carriages, to the Queen's palace. Without the Foreign Secretary this time. And past a lot of people, many of them waving tiny flags of the United Kingdom and the Alliance.
"Let's hope none of them tries to kill us," Catra mumbled. Her ears were twitching - she was on edge, Adora realised.
Well, they were surrounded by throngs of people. And Adora knew that not everyone on Earth liked them. But here, she didn't see any signs of a protest. Just cheering people. And lots of children.
Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
They were having tea. Adora had had tea before, but not like this. And not just because they were in the Queen's palace - Buckingham Palace. She'd had tea in palaces before. But not with so much food. And good food, at that - Catra was scarfing down those fish sandwiches. Adora preferred the scones, actually.
"So, how was growing up on Etheria as a princess?" the Queen's second-eldest grandson - the 'spare' according to Catra - asked. He was very young, barely fourteen. Two years younger than his elder brother. The whole Royal family was present, which was, as far as Adora could tell, unusual for state visits.
"You'd have to ask Glimmer that," she told him. "I grew up as a Horde cadet."
"Yeah," Catra cut in after swallowing her latest sandwich. "We grew up in the barracks. Glimmer's the one who grew up in a palace."
Glimmer frowned slightly. "I was trained as a soldier as well," she said.
"In a palace." Catra grinned. "With good food and beds so soft, you could drown in them."
Adora nodded. "Oh, yes. I remember my first night at Bright Moon. I couldn't sleep because it was so soft." And because she had missed Catra's presence, but she wouldn't talk about that.
"We're going to enter the military as well," the young prince told them, nodding solemnly before grinning. "We might even get to fight the Goa'uld, too! Like Uncle Andrew fought the Argentines."
Adora hid a grimace. She wasn't the only one, she saw - the Queen wasn't amused. She looked like Angella right then, just older.
"We shall do our duty," the Queen said. "As we have done before."
She had served in the army as well, or something like it, according to Bow. And her consort had been in the Navy. Like proper princesses.
"Nazis, Argentines, and now snakes," the old man - a prince as well, although now he was the Royal Consort - said with a chuckle. "I wonder what's next. Martians?"
Mars was not inhabited… Oh, he was joking again. Sometimes, it was hard to tell. And some of the consort's jokes were… a little mean. Catra liked them, though.
Adora nodded and took another scone.
"We can't actually be sure that there aren't other realms in the galaxy that might be a threat to us," Glimmer said. "Just because we haven't encountered them so far doesn't mean they don't exist."
"Yes," Bow agreed. "The galaxy is so big, the Goa'uld Empire is a very small part of it. And they limit themselves mostly to the worlds linked by Stargates. We've encountered several different species while we've dealt with Horde Prime and they didn't use Stargates as far as we know."
Species like the Star Children or Melog, whose worlds had been destroyed by Horde Prime. Adora bit a little harder into her scone. So much pain and suffering, so much destruction just because of one man's desires…
"Species like you?" the youngest prince asked, looking at Catra.
"Huh?" Catra shook her head. "No, I'm from Etheria." She patted Melog's head. "They're such a species - Horde Prime destroyed their world."
Melog growled softly for a moment.
"And they remember," Catra went on. "They also remember the Goa'uld."
For a moment, no one said anything. Then the Queen nodded. "Such atrocities must be remembered lest they will be repeated."
"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "We won't let anyone destroy another world if we can help it." She flashed her teeth in a grim smile.
"And we will do what we can to help you," the Queen said.
Adora half-expected their hosts to point out that they could do more to help if they had advanced technology, but no such comment followed. Then again, the Queen was just the figurehead, not the ruler of the country.
"So, how many different species do live on your planet?" the older of the two princes asked, leaning forward a little.
He was addressing Catra as well, Adora noticed with a slight smile.
"Lots. I don't know how many, actually. But there has to be a list in some archive. Or in the research base on the moon," Catra replied.
"A research base on the moon?" The younger prince blinked.
"Yes," Bow told him. "The reason we have so many different species on Etheria is that the First Ones created them as part of their research using genetic engineering. All of Etheria's species are related to humans like yourself."
"Ah." The boy nodded.
And the First Ones had also built a superweapon into Etheria's core to destroy Horde Prime, but that wasn't the time to mention this, in Adora's opinion. "The First Ones were destroyed by Horde Prime as well," she said instead. All but herself. Although Jack also was a First One, so… there probably were more people like her left. On Earth, even.
But that was another topic not suited to this conversation.
"So, can you breed with humans?" the Royal Consort asked Catra.
Catra shrugged. "Sure." She glanced at Adora for a moment and then grabbed another sandwich.
"Any species on Etheria can have children with another species, though they might need magical help in some cases," Bow said. "We haven't any, ah, data on how it works with other species not related to humans, but theoretically, you could use the same methods the First Ones used to create Etheria's species to create offspring."
The Royal Consort laughed at that. "Oh, that will ruffle some feathers!"
"The ramifications for various legislation will be quite complicated," the Queen said. "We will have to bring that up in Our next talk with the Prime Minister. It wouldn't do to be caught unaware by one of Our subjects having offspring with an alien."
"Or an animal," the Royal Consort added with another chuckle.
The Queen didn't seem to be amused but she slowly nodded. "Quite."
The young princes grimaced, and the Crown Prince frowned. "That seems rather far-fetched," he commented. "And such magic would be restricted, wouldn't it?"
"Probably not," Glimmer replied. "Don't you have myths about horse people?"
"Centaurs," Bow corrected her. "And there were minotaurs mentioned as well. Earth magic might make this possible. Technology certainly will, once you master First Ones tech."
"We really must have a talk with the Prime Minister." The Queen lifted her cup of tea and took a sip.
Glimmer frowned. "Can you actually tell him what to do? We were told that the power rests with the elected government."
The Queen smiled. "It's not quite as cut and dry as it sounds. The power does rest with the government. However, the reasons for that are a mix of custom, tradition and laws. And as Queen of England, we wield influence - soft power. The Prime Minister cannot easily dismiss our concerns, certainly not if they are well-founded."
"Which the prospect of people having kids with their pets certainly qualifies as," the Royal Consort added. "I can think of a few people who would have rather married their dog than their spouse."
"Animals cannot consent to marriage, though," Glimmer retorted. "Only sapient species can. You couldn't marry a pet. Well, not according to our laws."
"Nor according to ours," the Queen said. "But we are more concerned about genetic engineering creating new species. Even leaving aside the moral questions about mixing humans and animals, what about the practical aspects? People rarely succeed at their first attempt when they are trying something new, and while a craftsman discarding a ruined piece is normal, we would rather not see people discarded - or suffer from mistakes made in their creation that leave them in pain or crippled."
It was Adora's turn to wince. The Queen was correct; people trying to create a new species would likely make mistakes while experimenting. Even worse, she had a feeling that this was a problem the First Ones - her people - had had to deal with when they experimented in Etheria. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what they had done with 'failed experiments'. Even though the answer was probably buried in all the data from the research base.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
"So, this is a zat'nik'tel. Weird design. But powerful. And non-lethal. Boon for police, you think?"
Samantha Carter shook her head at her new colleague. "Two shots kill, three disintegrate, Iwan." Far too easy to kill someone before you realised that you had hit them the first time.
"Make it one shot only?" He cocked his head sideways and frowned at the weapon he was holding. "And limit it to one per squad?"
"Reducing the number of shots - or introducing a hard-coded delay so it would be safe - would mean you'd have to hit with the first shot," she explained. "And that would mean it would only see marginal use. Especially in incidents with multiple assailants." She had had to explain that to a senator before. At least no one had told the NRA yet that there were actual stun and disintegration ray guns on Earth.
"Ah." He nodded. "Too bad. Reliable method of non-lethal takedown would be great. Especially for hostage situations."
"Yes. But not even the Etherians have anything like that." Although they might have some spells which could be used for that. Sam hadn't asked.
He put the gun down and beamed at her. "So! What work do you do?"
"I'm waiting for Entrapta to arrive," she said. "We're working on space surveillance drones." The princess apparently had overslept - after working through the night. Or so Hordak had claimed.
"Great! Space spy drones!" Dr Georgovich clapped his hands together. "You go to space to test, da?"
Sam nodded. She felt almost nostalgic - he was so enthusiastic about space. When was the last time Sam had felt like that? After weeks in space, and several visits to orbit, it had become almost mundane. Of course, all the urgent work piled on her had done its share of taking the wonder out of space travel.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, no." She smiled. "I was just thinking about all the other projects waiting for me." Some of which she wouldn't be allowed to work on, now that she was - technically - under the command of the United Nations.
"Oh! What other projects do you work on?" He looked around.
Now that was a little blatant. "Currently? I don't know." She inclined her head with a slightly toothy smile. "Others are going over the classified material to see what will be moved." She suppressed a frown. That was logical, but she still didn't like it.
"Oh." He pouted, then shrugged. "Like in Russia, then. Secret Service controls science."
"Not quite," she told him with a frown. "But not all the work I did was for Stargate Command."
"But you cannot decide what work was and was not, da? Secret Service can classify it."
She kept herself from frowning. "That is out of my hands. I focused on science, not internal or international politics." Technically true, even though she had followed either as well.
"Ah." He nodded with a wide smile. "Again, like Russia! Or USSR!"
It wasn't like that. But saying so would make her look petulant. So she shrugged. "Perhaps. Now, the work on spy drones involves Etherian technology. Horde technology."
"Ah!"
Yes, that would interest Dr Georgovich. He hadn't yet asked if he was allowed to work with Entrapta, but was that because he was aware that this wasn't covered by the new agreement with the United Nations or because he knew that this was entirely up to the Etherians and he hoped that Entrapta would invite him to work with them?
If so, he might be disappointed. Entrapta would do so in a heartbeat, Sam was certain, but Hordak wouldn't. The former warlord had more of a mind for keeping things classified than Entrapta.
"In any case, we have work to do for Stargate Command. Recalibrating for stellar drift, for one." That was needed to keep the Stargate working with their computers.
"Oh. That's what Russian DHD does automatically, da?"
"Yes. But we shouldn't just rely on an artefact we can't duplicate," she retorted.
"Da! We need to learn how to build DHD!"
Oh, if Sam achieved that… It wasn't just the controls for the Stargate or the software, but the power sources… "Let's start with the charts," she said. "We got a lot of astronavigation data from the Etherians and still haven't implemented everything yet."
"Da! Let's do science!"
"Sam?"
Samantha Carter looked up from the latest readouts when she heard Daniel enter her lab. "Yes?"
"Do you want to do lunch together?"
She narrowed her eyes at her friend. Was he being subtle about 'feeding our scientist', as the Colonel put it, or did he just want to eat with her? It was hard to tell with Daniel.
"Lunch? Oh. Already past noon!" Dr Georgovich exclaimed. "Time to eat! Cannot live on coffee and tea, no matter how much sugar we add, da?"
Daniel blinked, apparently surprised by Dr Georgovich inviting himself along. "Ah… yes." He looked at Sam again.
Was something wrong? If something had happened to the Colonel or Teal'c, Daniel would have said so right away. Was it about the Russians? The Colonel was training the new arrivals today.
"So, let's go? Before only spam is left?" Dr Georgovich was beaming at them.
Daniel nodded. "Ah, OK!"
Sam almost snorted as she followed them out of the lab. "So, will the Colonel and Teal'c be joining us?"
"I don't think so," Daniel said. "Teal'c told me that they will be eating 'in the field' when he came to grab his mess kit."
"How did the training go so far?" Sam asked as they waited for the lift to arrive.
"As expected, I think. Teal'c wasn't very talkative."
Sam chuckled.
"Strong and silent type, yes?" Dr Georgovich asked.
"Ah, yes." Daniel nodded. "Though he also said that Jack was interested in a female soldier."
Sam blinked. What?
10 Downing Street, London, United Kingdom, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
"...and I'm happy and proud to see this historic agreement signed today!"
It was hard to think of the Queen as a mere figurehead after meeting her, Catra had to admit. Even harder when meeting the Prime Minister right after having had tea with her. He was trying too hard to be nice, in Catra's opinion.
Of course, he wanted this alliance signed, so he had to be nice. But, still… Catra refrained from scowling when everyone present clapped their hands. And his smile was a bit too wide. He just… didn't look like a princess. Or prince, in his case. And he didn't live in a palace. It was a big house, of course, but it wasn't a proper palace. Unlike the French President's palace.
Of course, the French didn't have a queen, so their president filled the spot, so that was probably why he got to have a palace - no princess to show up.
"As are we." Glimmer stood straight, but she wasn't trying to appear taller than she was in an attempt to match the Prime Minister. "We are looking forward to fighting side by side with your troops against the Goa'uld to free their slaves."
More applause while some flunkie presented the alliance agreement to them. A few strokes with a pen later, they had their alliance.
And even more clapping followed. Well, they finally had their second alliance in the bag. And the Germans would follow tomorrow.
So, it was time to celebrate. Only, they had to face the press next. Like with the French. Catra kept smiling while she stared at a dozen cameras and more microphones. "Imagine if we had to deal with that back home," she whispered to Adora as they lined up for the questions.
"Shh!" Adora hissed back.
"You know I'm right." Catra had the last word.
Then the questions began.
"I'm sorry, but as the Prime Minister already told you, we cannot comment on plans and missions." Catra saw that Adora's smile was frozen as she answered the same question the Prime Minister had already answered. For the third time.
"Audrey Collins, BBC. Prime Minister, are you planning to reintroduce military conscription? According to our sources, the British Army currently has just shy of fifty thousand soldiers available for deployment. This seems quite low for a galactic war."
The man's smile didn't waver. "We're looking into all options once we have a clearer picture of what exactly the military situation demands. Of course, I hope that we will not be forced to reintroduce conscription."
"Does that mean you support extending the alliance with Etheria to countries with more soldiers available for deployment, regardless of their human rights record?"
"That question hasn't been raised so far."
"It seems to be an obvious question. It hasn't been brought up so far?" The woman's frown was impressive.
Adora cleared her throat. "As I have said before: We cannot comment on plans and missions at this point."
"And that includes future diplomatic overtures." Glimmer frowned. "However, we have no intention to lower our standards and ally with people who would discriminate against us."
"Tim Brown, the Sunday Times. Isn't that a form of discrimination?"
That again! Catra rolled her eyes as Glimmer glared at the fool: "Do you think you have a right to our technology? That we have an obligation to share it with everyone, regardless of their deeds and character? Regardless of their stance towards us?"
"No, of course not, but some might consider your stance as forcing everyone to accept your values and morals."
"All we require is to treat people like us - people loving the same gender - equal to others. If that violates your morals, then that says a lot about your morals, but nothing good." Glimmer bared her teeth.
The reporters in France had been much more polite. Or picked better.
"Stop shilling for bigots, Tim!" someone from the reporters yelled. "We're here to get information, not push conservative policy!"
"Indeed," the Prime Minister said. "Ken?"
"Ken Smith, The Guardian. Will you send teachers and instructors to Britain to proliferate technology or invite students to Etheria or both?"
Glimmer glanced at Bow, who took a step towards the microphone. "We're still evaluating how we can share our technology in the most efficient way. However, transporting large numbers of people to Etheria seems not very efficient even with the Stargate, not when the industry to be converted is here."
And it would also flood Etheria with spies. Though saying so would be rude. Which was why Adora had told Catra she couldn't comment on that. Spoilsport.
"Karen Calloway, The Independent. Will there be a supreme commander for the Alliance?"
"Why wouldn't there be a supreme commander?" Adora looked as surprised at the questions as Catra. Of course there would be a supreme commander! You couldn't wage war effectively without one person in charge. Trying to fight a war under a committee was a recipe for disaster, as the Princess Alliance had found out early on. "It would be foolish not to fight under a unified command."
"And who would be that commander?"
"That remains to be seen. None of us has experience waging war against the Goa'uld, so we can't tell yet who's best at it." Adora nodded with a smile. "I think it will take a while to find the right person."
"And to convince them to take the job," Catra added with a grin. "Those who have been in command of an army at war before know what I mean."
But it was a good question - who would lead the alliance forces? Adora? Glimmer? Not Hordak. And certainly not any of the other princesses. Adora would be best - Catra could work best with her.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, September 23rd, 1998
"...and the Etherian delegation is currently attending the state dinner in Buckingham Palace. According to usually well-informed sources, informal talks following the signing of the alliance have gone well, and concrete results are supposed to be released soon. Neither the Etherians nor Her Majesty's Government was willing to comment, though, so speculation is running rampant."
Sitting in the mess hall, Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes at the reporter on the screen. Of course they wouldn't comment on informal talks - or release anything before the alliance agreement with the Germans was signed and the Etherians could actually start hashing out concrete details with the limeys, the Germans and the French.
Well, there were rumours that at least half the smaller European countries wanted to join the alliance - like the Swedes and the Finn, once they worked out how to handle their neutrality. That might delay the whole process further. Or the big three might just go ahead anyway and expect the smaller countries to follow their lead. Jack had a feeling that the last thing the Europeans wanted was to have the United States join the alliance too soon. Or at all.
To quote the limeys he had trained today in the field: bloody wankers. They were in this together - all of Earth was. They had to work together to defeat the Goa'uld. Though Jack wouldn't mind if the Russians and the Chinese were a little less involved.
He glanced over at the table where most of the Russian soldiers were sitting. How many of them were spies? It was hard to tell. All of them had military experience; Jack had confirmed that today. But how many had training as spooks? Some didn't hide their interest in everything in the Mountain, whether or not it was part of Stargate Command, but were they spies - or just distractions for the real spooks? Or was it a triple bluff?
He studied the woman who had caught his attention earlier. Lt Svetlana Lenkova. She was most certainly a spook - she had combat experience, Jack was sure of that, and women weren't allowed to serve in combat units in the Russian army. According to her file, she was a communication specialist, but he had seen her shoot and fight in close quarters, and he'd eat his service cap if she was a radio operator with basic combat training. The way she sat, a little too relaxed, and the way the Spetsnaz soldiers listened to her was another clue. No special forces would act like that towards a radio operator. Certainly not with one as pretty as the woman.
"Jack?"
He blinked and turned to Daniel. "Yes?"
"You were staring at the Russians."
"Yes?" Why wouldn't he stare at them? They were a security risk. This was still an American base, no matter whether or not the Stargate was now UN property or whatever.
"So, Teal'c was correct - you're interested in the blonde."
"What?" He blinked again.
"He said that she caught your attention." Daniel was… not quite frowning.
"Indeed." Teal'c nodded.
And Carter… was focusing on her meal. Probably going over some data in her head that Entrapta had brought up in the afternoon or something.
"Well, yes," Jack told his friend. "I'm sure she's a spy."
"A spy?" Daniel looked surprised. And Carter stopped eating to stare at Jack.
He sighed. Daniel was a little naive, but Carter should've known better. "Yes. I'm sure she's GRU. Russian military intelligence," he added for Daniel's benefit.
To his friend's credit, he didn't ask if that meant KGB. "So, that's why you're interested in her?"
"Yes?"
"Ah."
Jack narrowed his eyes. What was Daniel thinking? Or implying? Oh, for crying out loud! "Do you really think I would fall for a honey trap?" He scoffed and shook his head.
And caught Lenkova smiling a rather toothy smile at him. Had she been watching him? She couldn't have been listening in, but if she could read lips… He bared his own teeth at her in a wide smile. She might be a lethal GRU agent, but Jack had decades of experience in black ops.
Let's see who comes out on top, he thought.