Chapter 49: The Magic Question Part 5

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, Earth, October 19th, 1998

"Welcome to Stonehenge! I'm James Mason, and this is Major Smythe-Cranston."

The British official - in tweed like the cliche - looked more cheerful than Samantha Carter had expected someone to look faced with an unidentified magical phenomenon. Perhaps he was just relieved that help had arrived to find out what was going on. At least the officer next to him looked properly stiff when he nodded at them.

"Thank you," she told them.

"We're so happy to be here!" Entrapta said, her hair waving. "This is so interesting! The first expression of native Earth magic!" She blinked. "Well, the first that we know off! I can't wait to analyse everything here!"

"You don't have something like it on Etheria?" Mason asked.

"Nothing that looks like it - but depending on what it is, we might have something similar. Although we won't know exactly what until we finish our examination. At least I think we can exclude the possibility that this is an ancient superweapon's charging chamber - the readings don't match at all."

Mason's smile turned rather brittle, and the major tensed even more. "I'm happy to hear this. I wasn't aware this was a possibility."

"Well, it's theoretically possible but unlikely. Even if Earth had a magical superweapon, it would need a long time to charge," Entrapta went on. "I bet this is something very different."

"Ah… the most prevalent theory, before the return of magic, was that it was an ancient astronomical observatory or a religious site," Mason said.

"That would be boring." Entrapta cocked her head with a slight pout. "It would be far more interesting if it were some portal or beacon related to another dimension!"

"We'll inform you as soon as we find out anything," Sam told the two men. "Unless you have anything else to discuss…?"

"No, I think we're set here," Mason said. "We'll be at the local headquarters if you need anything. You can reach us over the radio, I believe."

"Yes." Sam watched them leave. Obviously, they didn't want to remain any longer on site as they had to. Or they had orders to leave the Etherians to their work.

And speaking of work, it was time to unload their instruments. Sam followed Entrapta up the ramp to pick up the scanners and other gear.

If Sam needed a reminder of how much her life had changed in the last three months, it would be the fact that as a member of the United Nations Stargate Command, she was part of an Etherian mission to England on behalf of Her Majesty's Government to investigate Stonehenge for its magical properties. And, of course, that a few hundred police officers, as well as two companies of British soldiers, had cordoned off the entire area to keep thousands of civilians from storming the place.

"I miss the secrecy," she mumbled as she stepped out of the shuttle.

"What?" Entrapta paused at the bottom of the ramp.

"Nothing," Sam replied. She looked at the line of soldiers and police in the distance. "Just…"

"Oh, we should be safe here," Entrapta said. "We have six frigates overhead, and Darla should also soon be on the way from Geneva." She frowned. "I don't know why Glimmer had to attend the United Nations session about orbital bombardment. Hordak volunteered to answer any technical questions they had."

"I think it's not just technical questions that they want answered," Sam told her as she arrived at the bottom of the ramp as well.

"Oh? But we already told them all about our rules of engagement," Entrapta said. "Who would expect us not to defend ourselves?" Before Sam could answer that question, she went on: "Of course, technically, we were defending the people attending the ceremony since even in the worst case, we were pretty safe thanks to Emily's shield, but I think that's covered as well." She shrugged.

"I think people didn't expect how you would defend yourself," Sam said.

"That's weird. We told them about the ships. And that they have the capability to fire from orbit at targets on the ground. And they had your report as well covering the use of Naquadah-enhanced bombs, where we used lasers to leave a message in the ground."

Sam remembered that. She sighed. "My report was classified, I believe." Not that everyone who should read her reports did it with the attention they deserved, anyway.

"Oh. I forgot about that." Entrapta sighed as well. "How are people supposed to make decisions if they lack the data to fully understand the situation?"

"People rarely have all the information they need for their decisions," Sam replied. "So, they make the best decisions they can think of. Or should." She hesitated a moment. "And not everyone has the same view of a situation. Some people will value short-term benefits over long-term benefits. Or consider harming their own people acceptable if they personally profit."

"Well, they shouldn't get elected in that case. Or reelected," Entrapta said. "Isn't that the advantage of a democratic system? That you can replace such leaders without a coup?"

Sam sighed again. "Not every voter knows enough to make an informed decision." You almost never had the complete picture of a situation, anyway.

"Oh." Entrapta frowned. "That seems like a pretty bad flaw of the system."

"On the other hand, without a democracy, you don't even have the option to peacefully remove a leader who values their own profit more than their people." Sam managed not to scowl. There were reasons that monarchies had been replaced with democracies.

"That's true as well," Entrapta said, nodding.

Sam reminded herself that Entrapta wasn't one to argue a point if she thought it was supported by logic and data.

"So… let's set up our scanners. Glimmer and the others should arrive shortly," Entrapta said. "Emily, are you hooked up to our sensor network?"

The bot beeped affirmatively.

"Great! So, we'll be very safe here." Entrapta walked over to the outer stone ring.

Sam followed her. In daylight, the stones were barely glowing, but it was still noticeable. At least it wasn't harmful radiation, as their scan from orbit had shown. Just normal light with a blue tint. Of course, that didn't mean the site was harmless - if the light was of magical origin, and their scans had also hinted strongly at that, then anything could be possible here - no one really knew what Earth magic could and would do.

For a moment, Sam wished the Colonel were present. He had wanted to come, but he had been stuck in meetings all day. And with the Etherians present, and the Colonel's lack of magical skill or experience, he wouldn't have been of any use here. Despite his talent for magic, as far as they knew.

Sam wasn't sure how she felt about that. The Colonel was one of the best officers she knew. Having him spend his time learning magic - provided they found a teacher or sources - would leave Stargate Command bereft of his experience and leadership. On the other hand, of those she would trust with magic, he was at the top of the list. But it was his decision - or should be.

She started setting up the crystal array for a scanner while Entrapta did the same on the other side of the ring. Shortly before they had finished, Emily announced the arrival of Darla - Sam knew those signals by heart now.

And here came Darla, engines lighting up as she came to a stop above them. After hovering for a moment - probably to scan the area for threats - she started descending.

Sam noticed the ship's force fields expanding slightly to cover the entire site before the ramp was lowered. Unless someone had buried explosives underneath them - and somehow fooled their scanners - they were now safer than anywhere else on Earth.

Then the rest of the Etherians appeared, walking down the ramp to join them. Catra was in the lead, followed by Glimmer and Bow. Catra was looking around as she approached them. "No welcoming committee?" she asked, ears twitching.

"We talked to them already and asked them to give us space to set up without disrupting our work," Entrapta told her. "So, they're waiting with the soldiers there." Her hair pointed towards a few tents thrown up near trucks and APCs.

"Ah." Catra nodded, then turned around and yelled: "No one's here to ask you for healing, so get your butt down here!"

Sam blinked. What…?

Then Adora - blonde hair hidden beneath a wide hat and wearing a long coat - appeared at the top of the ramp.

"It's her disguise," Catra answered Sam's unspoken question.

"She was bothered in Geneva for healing by the same people who were angry with us for defending ourselves," Glimmer added. "Damn hypocrites."

"Well, they weren't the exact same people who actually accused us of trying to invade and conquer Earth," Bow said. "Just people who worked there."

"And the dummy healed them." Catra scoffed.

"I couldn't just not heal them - it took me less than a minute." Adora pouted at them. "And they were deadly ill."

"And now more people think they just have to ask you and get healed," Catra shot back.

Bow raised his hands. "It happened. And I think none of us would walk past people dying if we could help them."

Adora nodded, as did Glimmer - though the latter was frowning. And Catra scoffed again.

"Oh, but you wouldn't do it either!" Entrapta chimed in with a smile, her hair tendril patting Catra on the head for about a second before the catwoman shrugged it off.

"But now everyone will think they just have to meet you and get healed!" Catra repeated. "Even on diplomatic meetings!"

"Well, we can just teleport in and out now," Glimmer said. She grinned. "I so missed that!"

"Just don't teleport here before we've finished analysing the magic effect," Entrapta told her.

Sam knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help herself - she was too curious. "So, what was the meeting's result?"

Catra snorted. "They couldn't come to a decision."

Glimmer frowned at her. "The United Nations decided not to condemn us for defending ourselves. The motion to do so failed to pass. That's a difference."

Catra shrugged. "Same thing."

Well, Sam had expected that. Between the allies of the Etherians, the prospective and hopeful allies and the countries who didn't want to provoke a power that could lay waste to their forces without taking any risk, the odds that there would be a majority were very slim, even discounting the almost certain veto in the Security Council.

"We still have to return to talk about 'the magic question'," Catra said

She was making air quotes. Was that a sign of Earth's popular culture being adopted by the Etherians? Sam made a mental note to mention it to Daniel. He expected such cultural adaptions. "I doubt the outcome of that will be different," she said. Too many countries saw magic as a way to even the odds against technologically superior rivals.

"Let's hope so. And let's hope they don't invite all their sick and wounded for Adora to heal," Catra said. "I bet some ambassadors are already thinking about selling spots."

"Catra!" Glimmer scoffed. "We're talking about high-ranking diplomats!"

"Exactly."

"Let's analyse the magic here," Adora spoke up. She was eyeing the cordon around them, Sam noticed.

If those people decided to push, Sam doubted that the police and soldiers could hold them back. And despite their reputation, the British could be very unruly.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "We've placed a crystal array to enhance our scanners!"

"And I can now cast a few spells to help us identify what kind of magic this is," Glimmer added, raising her staff.

Sam made another mental note that it seemed the staff wasn't a piece of magitech, but probably what Entrapta had called a focus when she had mentioned magic tools. Or maybe Glimmer hadn't used her staff so far because she wanted to appear less threatening. After the orbital bombardment, a mere staff wouldn't matter any more, of course.

Then Sam focused on the readings from their scanner. That was… She frowned and did another scan, compared the data… She had to run another scan!

"It looks like a minor healing effect," Entrapta said, sticking her head under Sam's arms to stare at the screen.

"Like the one in the jungle?" Catra asked, tensing up.

"Not like it. Similar, but since this is healing magic, not an unguided regeneration effect, there shouldn't be any zombies," Entrapta said.

Sam nodded. "Yes." She had already scanned for such results - to her relief, the small mammals and insects in the area didn't show any effects like those that they had observed in Honduras.

"So, is this a healing site?" Catra asked, stretching her arms over her head.

"It might have been one," Sam replied. "But if the stones had been glowing in the past, we should have had records of that, I believe."

"Are you sure?" Bow asked. "From what I found out, a lot of records didn't survive various catastrophes. And purges."

"The glowing might be a result of magic returning after so long. The enchantments might be slightly overloaded," Glimmer said. "Or something broke with the missing stones."

"Or the stars aren't aligned. Or are aligned. The stones were placed in accordance with astronomical observations, after all." Entrapta beamed. "We need more data!"

Could Earth's magic - Earth's magic traditions - be relying on constellations? Sam hoped it wasn't the case. The thought that astrology might be based on actual magic was almost too much to bear…

Whitehall, London, United Kingdom, Earth, October 19th, 1998

"...and that's the data we used for our conclusions."

Catra watched the others' reactions to Entrapta's presentation. Most of the members of the British Government - Her Majesty's Government, she corrected herself, even though it was more the other way around - who were present seemed to be relieved that they weren't sitting on an Earth version of the Heart of Etheria. Most but not all. A few were almost disappointed.

The Prime Minister, though, smiled. "Thank you very much for your help."

"Oh, you're welcome!" Entrapta beamed at him. "It was a very interesting examination. We now know more about Earth magic. Although it's too bad that the site isn't a portal to other dimensions. That would have been even better!"

"Yes." Sam nodded. "It was very informative. Especially with the increasing number of similar reports."

"Well, at least most of the supposedly haunted locations didn't show up," the Home Secretary commented with a laugh. "We can handle a few prehistoric magical sites. Especially if they are just healing places."

"We would have to check all of them to be sure of that," Sam told him.

"And once this gets out, there will be a lot of people pressuring us to let them visit Stonehenge," the Prime Minister said.

"And a lot of disappointed people once they realise it's not a stone version of Adora." Catra scoffed.

"Ah… What exactly does the, ah, magic there do?" That was the Health Secretary.

"It's a weak healing effect. You recover faster if you're resting there," Glimmer explained.

"Just recovering faster? Or will you heal from conditions that would not improve without treatment?" The Health Secretary looked intrigued rather than disappointed.

"The latter," Glimmer replied. "But it's not very powerful. You'd have to stay a long time to get healed from a serious condition. Although casting heal magic would be improved as well."

"We'll have people camping there. And fighting each other for a spot on the ground." The Home Secretary wasn't laughing any more. "This is a disaster."

"We could transfer the site to the NHS," the Health Secretary said.

"That won't keep people away - quite the contrary."

Catra nodded in agreement. People would want magic healing. Who wouldn't? But the more options they had, the less they would bother Adora.

"Then we need trained, ah, sorceresses, as soon as possible." The Health Secretary wasn't looking at them, but Catra knew the comment was aimed at them. Not very subtle.

"We can't yet tell what kind of instructions will work best for your sorceresses." Glimmer said. "And which magical traditions are the best option."

"We haven't found actual sorceresses on Earth. Not yet," Bow added. "You need the talent to work magic."

"But using this as a blueprint, we could probably create magitech devices that heal," Entrapta suggested. "Well, we would have to avoid the zombie side effects." She scrunched her nose. "That's probably what the First Ones were doing with their prototype. But we should be able to build something that doesn't turn everyone nearby into zombies. I think."

"Zombies?" the Prime Minister asked.

"That's what you call mindless aggressive regenerating people, right?" Entrapta smiled.

"Err, yes."

"Then zombie it is!"

Sam muttered something about the Colonel Catra didn't catch.

"I would be glad if we could avoid creating zombies." The man looked quite queasy.

"Me too!"

The Health Secretary coughed. "Would the current effect at Stonehenge be enough to heal disabling diseases and conditions? One of our most brilliant scientists is suffering from a paralysing disease that is robbing him of the ability to move and talk."

They meant Hawking. The name had come up several times when they were discussing how to reveal magic and healing magic. And now, with magic exposed…

Adora gasped. "I'll heal him right away!"

Catra didn't miss how the Prime Minister and others smiled. She was sure they had planned that.

"We can't take her anywhere," she mumbled.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 19th, 1998

Jack O'Neill was looking at the FNGs train on the field - melee combat this time, with bayonets, knives, Entrenching tools and staffs - but he wasn't really focusing on them. They were good enough anyway; the other countries hadn't sent desk jockeys. Though the Russian with an axe had been a little worrying. Jack was just here to supervise, anyway; he wasn't here as an instructor. And he had other things on his mind. Like Carter.

Jack didn't like it if his team went into danger without him. He trusted them, of course - even Daniel had learned to be a bit cautious, and he could talk his way out of trouble almost as often as he could get into trouble. And Teal'c and Carter were amongst the most skilled soldiers he knew.

But he was their commanding officer. Their leader. If they were in danger, it was his duty to be with them. He shouldn't be staying behind, safe at the base, while Carter went and examined a glowing stone ring that was under siege by thousands of crazy people. Even if she was with Entrapta. Especially if she was with Entrapta, he corrected himself. The woman was undoubtedly almost as smart as Carter but didn't have half the common sense of Daniel.

At least nothing had happened, and they were now talking to the British government. And even if the limeys botched things, the rest of the Etherians would step in. With magic restored, Glimmer could now teleport.

He sighed. That was also a security risk. At least they had already implemented revised security protocols after the encounter with the Asgard and their transporter.

The instructor in charge called for a break - without glancing at Jack to check, Jack noted approvingly - and the groups broke apart. Jack kept an eye on the axe guy; the Russian looked a bit too happy swinging the thing around. And on Lenkova, who had been walking towards the snack line but diverted and was now making a beeline towards Jack.

"Vladimir is a good soldier."

So that was his name. Of course the woman would have noticed his attention. Jack shrugged. "I didn't know Russia trained soldiers in axe combat."

"We don't," she replied. "Vladimir grew up in Siberia in a logging family."

"His brawls with his siblings must have been a bloody affair."

She giggled at that, which made her suddenly look younger. Not any less dangerous, of course. He kept his eyes on her face, not her shirt. Not that her face wasn't attractive either.

"He's a good comrade. Helps out everyone in need," she said.

"And splits heads and logs, depending on what's on the menu." Jack snorted once.

"Yes." She was still smiling. "Although you seemed a little distracted today."

There was no point in denying it - that would only make him look foolish. "There's a lot happening on Earth," he said. "Riots, witch hunts, two nuclear powers ready to go to war with each other…"

She scoffed. "India and Pakistan have been at war before."

"Circumstances were different back then," Jack shot back. There hadn't been any aliens or magic.

"Wouldn't the Etherians stop a nuclear exchange?"

"They said they wouldn't interfere," Jack reminded her.

"Politicians and diplomats say a lot," she retorted with a more cynical grin. "But you know them personally; would they let a nuclear war happen?"

That was a good question. "I don't know," he said. He was pretty sure Adora wouldn't let millions die. But would the fleet be able to intervene in time? Were they even looking out for nukes?

"Well, let's hope we don't find out the hard way," she said.

He could agree with that.

"But was that the reason you were distracted?" She cocked her head, her hair - longer than Carters - touching her shoulder and drawing attention to her tank top. "Or were you worried about Captain Carter?"

He narrowed his eyes. What did she know?

She smiled in return. "I heard she was investigating magical places with the Etherians. The last time you did that, you had to fight zombies, right?"

Jack was, once more, reminded how much he hated that their files were now almost public knowledge. "I didn't know you had the security clearance to read those files."

"I didn't read them. But that there was a zombie invasion is public knowledge."

He wasn't sure if he could believe her. But she was right about people knowing about zombies - he had even heard, through the grapevine, that some Hollywood people wanted to shoot a movie about the mission. Still… the woman was a Russian spy. So he shrugged. "She's with the foremost experts on magic; they've dealt with worse things."

He half-expected her to ask what things the Etherians had dealt with, but Lenkova was too skilled for that. "Do you worry about every soldier under your command?"

"Yes." Of course he did! Well, there were a few exceptions from his time in Special Forces.

"So, you'd be worried about me when I go on my first mission?" She was grinning again.

Jack bared his teeth and said in a flat voice: "You'd be a soldier under my command."

She nodded and smiled again. "I hope we'll go on a mission before you are transferred."

"Transferred?" What had she heard?

"I read newspapers. America is close to finally passing the laws the aliens demand," she explained.

Constitutional amendments, but he wasn't Daniel; he didn't feel the need to correct her.

"So, once you are allied with the Etherians, you will certainly be transferred to an active combat command."

Ah, that. He shrugged. "I can't fathom what the brass will do. After all, I spent years in deep-space radar telemetry." The former cover story for Stargate Command.

Lenkova laughed at that. It sounded honest.

But she was a Russian spy. And under his command, not that that mattered.

Earth Orbit, Solar System, October 20th, 1998

Adora took a deep breath. She could do this. She had prepared for this. She had rehearsed this. She just had to be firm. Firm and friendly.

Nodding, she said: "Open a channel to Priest, Darla."

The ship did as ordered, and a moment later - Third Fleet never let her wait - Priest appeared on the big screen on Darla's bridge.

"Your Divine Highness! How may your faithful serve you?" He bowed so quickly, Adora didn't see his expression until he rose again, a wide smile on his face.

"I have considered your request to visit Earth," she said. He perked up. "I feel, in the current circumstances, it wouldn't be advisable."

And his face fell. He looked worse than Wrong Hordak had looked before he recovered from getting disconnected from Prime's mental network. "But Your Divine Highness…"

"The political situation on Earth is volatile," she explained. "Many humans are afraid that we're here to conquer them."

"But if we wanted to conquer them, we would have done so already! Their defences are nothing against the firepower of even the flotilla in orbit, much less the Third Fleet, Your Divine Highness!"

Adora sighed. "I know. And they should know."

"How could they not, after our intervention in India? Were they distracted by the demonstration of your divine might and grace, Your Divine Highness?"

She pressed her lips together for a moment. That hadn't been one of her finest moments. Although she would do it again in the same situation - she wouldn't let people die if she could help it. But saying that wouldn't help here. "They aren't always rational. Although some fear that the destruction of the base was the first step in a campaign to conquer Earth."

"They don't know you, then, Your Divine Highness. Or us."

She nodded. "Yes. That is why they fear us." Well, some of the countries would fear them even more if they knew Adora and her friends better. Those who had horrible customs and laws.

Priest nodded. "I see. But if ignorance is the problem, shouldn't we educate them instead of staying away from them, Your Divine Highness? If they could meet us and talk to us, we could show them that their fears are misguided!" He looked at her with an expression full of hope.

Uh… She managed not to bite her lips. How to tell him that some people on Earth would fear and hate Adora - and Priest and his faithful - even or especially if they knew them better? She hadn't prepared for that question, but… "Are your people trained in diplomacy?" They weren't; Adora knew that.

"We have studied the work of those on Earth who spread the word of false gods, Your Divine Highness. Missionaries, they are called." Priest smiled at her. "We know all about door-knocking!"

"Ah…" He obviously didn't mean the Goa'uld when he talked about false gods, Adora realised. That could be a bigger problem than she had feared. "Many people won't like it if you call their gods false."

He frowned. "But they do the same, Your Divine Highness. The majority of the population worships single gods and denounces all other gods as false. And doesn't the freedom of religion protect missionaries?"

Adora almost smiled. "Freedom of religion isn't granted in every country. Many countries do not respect all religions - or outlaw missionaries." Not too many prohibited missionaries, actually, but that was a detail.

"Ah!" Priest bowed again. "And yet, aren't such countries those which need to learn about your divine wisdom the most, Your Divine Highness?"

"We have to respect their laws," Adora replied. "At least as far as missionaries are concerned," she quickly added.

"So, our missionaries shall stick to countries where religion is free, Your Divine Highness."

"I am not a goddess," Adora said through clenched teeth. She had tried to avoid this.

"You are as humble as you are powerful and wise, Your Divine Highness," Priest replied, bowing so deeply that she couldn't tell if he was smiling or smirking.

"I'm really not," Adora repeated herself.

"Your Divine Highness, we have also studied the gods that are worshipped on Earth - and their deeds. You have healed the sick, let the blind see again and the lame regain their legs. You have struck down the false god who lied to us and oppressed us. You have turned the heart of his Empire into a garden in space. You have freed our souls and cast his soul down into the Abyss. And you have saved not merely one world but all the worlds in the sector. These facts do not lie, Your Divine Highness - you more than met the standard for divinity on Earth." Priest smiled at her with shining eyes. "You saved us, and you will save everyone from the false gods. It is only just that we will spread the word of you in return, so everyone can bask in your grace."

No, no, no! That was wrong! Terribly wrong! "I don't have a grace!" she snapped.

"Your humility is divine!"

Adora opened her mouth to yell at Priest, then took a deep breath. This was going all wrong! She had wanted to explain to Priest why he and his people couldn't visit Earth to convert people. She could just tell them not to visit Earth, of course. And she was tempted to do so - very much.

But she had talked about this with her friends. What if Priest took this to mean that the people on Earth are to be ignored because they were beyond saving? Or, worse, that Adora didn't want them saved or whatever? You couldn't win a war if a big part of your soldiers thought their allies were traitors or at least ungrateful heathens.

She sighed. "You won't visit a country without permission from that country and from myself or Glimmer as our commander."

"Yes, Your Divine Highness!"

"And you'll stick to short trips." No invasion. Just some sailors going on shore leave. "And not everyone at once."

"Of course, Your Divine Highness. We have to remain ready to fight at your command at a moment's notice!"

Adora couldn't think of anything else. She nodded. "Good." It was anything but good.

"As you command, Your Divine Highness! I will relay your orders at once!" Priest bowed even more deeply.

Adora sighed. Her friends wouldn't be happy about this. Nor would the humans on Earth like this. Well, they'd inform the United Nations about this. And find out which countries would allow such 'visits'.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 21st, 1998

Once, Samantha Carter would have been delighted to see real teleportation in action - and in an environment where she could use all sorts of sensors to take readings to analyse later. But there was such a thing as too much of a good thing. And so, when her lab was lit up with another set of sparkling lights, she didn't even look up - Glimmer had been teleporting every five minutes, sometimes just a few metres in the lab. She must have really missed using her power.

"Sorry, I forgot - did anyone want dessert as well?" the princess asked.

"What dessert is on the menu today?" Entrapta cocked her head, pausing in the middle of working on an improved long-range Geiger counter. Something the world could really use right now, what with two nuclear powers butting heads - Sam knew that the Horde frigates in stationary orbit over the Indian subcontinent could shoot down missiles, but a better early warning system would be great.

"Oh, silly me!" Glimmer laughed and disappeared in another cloud of sparkles, only to reappear five seconds later. "Blue jello and apple cake."

"Oh! I've never tried that combination! Yes, I'd like dessert!"

"Sounds very American. Me too, please!" Iwan added.

"Just the cake," Catra chimed in from the counter she had taken over, not even looking up from her magazine.

"For me too. Just the cake, that is," Adora, who was apparently content with serving as a pillow for Catra to sprawl over, said, lowering her own magazine. "Thank you!"

"I'll try the jello," Bow said.

"Jello," Hordak grumbled.

"Are you sure you don't want to try the cake?" Entrapta asked, beaming at him.

"I'll take the cake as well," Hordak replied at once - as expected.

"If you don't like it, we can swap," Entrapta said as Glimmer disappeared once more. Sam wondered how the mess hall was reacting to the princess popping in and out in short order. If the Colonel were present, he'd tell her about it. With a joke.

But he was supervising the training of the foreign teams in the field again. If you could call them teams already - they were still forming. Not that the Colonel was needed there - he was nominally in command of the teams, but others were training them, and he wasn't scheduled as an instructor for today. But he said it was a good idea to keep an eye on the foreigners. Sam couldn't disagree with that, although she would like it if there were fewer rumours about the Colonel having his eye on a particular foreign officer. Not that anything would happen - the Colonel would never start anything with someone in his chain of command.

Sam buried the mixed feelings she had about that just in time for Glimmer to return with a tray full of jello and cake.

"Finally! What did you do, bake the cake yourself?"

"Catra!"

"What?"

"No, I didn't!"

"Can we do that? I'd like tiny cakes! Oh, but this is good! Try something, Hordak!"

"Hmph."

"Since you didn't say anything, I brought you both!"

Sam looked at Glimmer. The princess was holding out the tray with a bowl of jello and a piece of cake left on it. And she was smiling widely, so Sam would feel bad to refuse. Even if she wasn't overly fond of either dessert. At least not of what passed for it here. Still, she had to eat it now.

And it tasted quite a bit better than expected. Had the French replaced the cooks? Or brought in confectioners? She could imagine General Petit bringing one along; the man liked his personal comforts.

"So, what do you think?" Entrapta asked Hordak.

"It is… adequate."

"I've had better," Catra added. "But for military food, it's better than Horde rations."

"Even rocks are better than Horde rations. Easier to chew, too," Adora said.

Both laughed at that.

Sam felt herself relax as well. They still had lots of work to do - apart from enhanced scanners for nuclear weapons held ready, they also had dozens of reports of magical sites 'going active' all over the world to cover. And reports to write so the brass would realise that Sam couldn't 'whip up' a healing device in her spare time. But she could take a break joking around with the Etherians. Maybe she could convince Daniel to join them in the afternoon - he was still sifting through his stack of books covering myths and fairy tales in an attempt to find working magical spells and traditions.

And maybe the Colonel would join them as well - all of them needed a break, after all.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 23rd, 1998

"...tensions are still high at the Kashmir border, but there hasn't been a shooting incident in two days, which experts say is a sign of increased control by the respective governments over their forces, although it remains unclear how the separatists will react to this. The United Nations have called on all parties to remain peaceful, although China's stance remains unclear, as does the stance of the Etherians, who have three space ships in geostationary orbit over the subcontinent, yet have not voiced an opinion on the matter so far. This leaves the world in doubt whether or not a nuclear war would cause them to intervene or not, which experts have claimed is similar to the United States' stance towards a defence of Taiwan and might be a calculated move to influence both India and Pakistan into negotiations, though…"

Sitting in her - it was hers now - corner in Sam's lab, Catra sighed and flicked the pad off. Bow had done all the work to let their pads access all of Earth's media, and yet there wasn't anything worth watching on. Or if there was, she hadn't found it, and she wasn't about to waste an hour switching channels to find something. If she did it on her pad instead of on a screen, it wouldn't annoy anyone anyway except herself.

"Back in the USSR, we joke that it no matter that we have fewer channels if Americans have dozens of channels and nothing good to watch." Iwan, the Russian spy scientist, smiled at her. "It was good joke, not approved by party, but not enough for gulag."

Catra snorted at the last line. "Sounds like Horde humour," she said before she could help himself.

"Da. I think. Horde much like USSR? Lots of tanks and soldiers, not much good food or fun?"

Catra nodded. "Pretty much, yes." As cadets, she'd had Adora, but Shadow Weaver had done what she could to ruin everything, and when Adora had left… She sighed. Then Catra had done what she could to ruin everything.

"Bad memories?"

Catra narrowed her eyes. That was a bit blatant. She glanced around. Adora was working with Glimmer on a press release. So much for 'I'm just coming along so I can visit Earth without getting hounded by petitioners'! Bow and the other tech heads were working on the enhanced Geiger counters - or were that enhanced-enhanced Geiger counters by now? In any case, it was a good opportunity for a spy to gather information. Add his obviously fake bad English he used to make people underestimate him… On the other hand, it wasn't exactly a secret that Catra had been leading the Horde before… Before. "Yes, bad memories," she said.

"People in Russia drink to get rid of bad memories, but not work well."

"Yeah." Not that Adora would let Catra drink anyway. Carve a few funny lines into a stupid pastel palace wall one time with your claws, and they never let you forget it.

For a moment, the Russian remained silent, looking at whatever he was working on. Then he nodded. "What helps is doing better. Helping helps."

She snorted, but he had a point, sort of. "Helping can also hurt." Adora proved that.

"Da. Life is pain, and then you die. Painfully." He nodded sagely.

She shrugged. Life didn't have to be painful. Usually, some idiot was responsible for that part. Or a Horde of idiots. Or some ancient idiot bot trying to make Adora sacrifice herself. But life didn't have to hurt. Not really hurt, at least. You just needed to get rid of the worst idiots.

Iwan went back to working, and Catra switched her pad back on.

"...representants of several religions have voiced their concern about the Etherians intent to send missionaries to Earth, but the government has released a statement that aliens were also protected by the constitutional freedom of religion and that it would not take any steps to prevent Etherian visitors from proselytising. When asked whether or not he would push for reciprocity with regards to Christian missionaries visiting Etheria, the President said that visits to Etheria were currently restricted to military needs and that this question would have to be revisited once civilian travel was possible. He did not say when he expected this state of affairs to change, but…"

Catra shook her head. "It's not us who wants this, but Priest," she muttered. But the crazies were already screaming - sometimes literally - about an alien plot to brainwash the humans to corrupt their souls or something. And missionaries visiting Etheria? She snorted. Good luck trying to convince people that an invisible intangible god existed when you just had to look to the sky and see what She-Ra could do.

They should be more concerned about all the magical places activating, in her opinion. As Bow and Daniel had explained, most of them were holy sites of religions that had been more or less replaced by the current mainstream religions. Depending on how things worked out, they might need every missionary on Earth just to keep up with magic.

Or with Priest's followers.