Chapter 53: The Recon Mission Part 3

PX4-223, November 20th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Alright, careful now - we don't want to run into an ambush." Jack O'Neill knew the odds of running into an ambush were very low - between Catra taking point and Carter and Entrapta scanning - probably mapping the entire planet by now - he didn't think there would be any enemy able to ambush them. Then again, overconfidence was a recipe for disaster.

"We're almost at the ridge," Glimmer pointed out. Jack heard the 'and we could have been here half an hour ago if magic had been restored' without her having to say it - she had said it often enough.

But he didn't trust strange magic. Adora meant well - she was one of the most idealistic persons he knew, even putting Daniel to shame - but Jack really didn't want to risk her getting pumped full of magic and improvising something to use all that power. Not on a strange planet where the Goa'uld were - or had been - researching weapons of mass destruction. The supposed Tok'ra hadn't mentioned what kind of weapons Apophis's goons had been working on, but Jack would bet a month's worth of jello that it was biological weapons. The Goa'uld already had nukes and possibly Naquadah-enhanced nukes, and chemical weapons were more situational and needed more resources to be deployed than biological weapons - and research into chemical weapons wasn't that dangerous. Even if there was an accident, a lab wouldn't have enough of the stuff to threaten more than the lab itself and maybe the area around it.

Biological weapons, though… Those were so dangerous that moving the lab to a forgotten planet and forbidding the researchers and the Jaffa from using the gate for any transport made sense. Of course, moving the lab to a world without a gate might have been even safer, or into a ship, but… Well, who knew what snakes were thinking? Apophis probably wanted to have the opportunity to reinforce the planet on the quick with expendable troops.

Well, it did backfire on him. If 'Jakar' had told them the truth, of course. They would find out soon.

Catra, ahead of them, dropped to all four and was now crawling up the last part of the hill before the top. Jack bit his tongue before he made a comment about watching her tail - Adora was a very nice girl, and Jack trusted her to watch his back any day, but from what he had learned in their time together from throw-away comments and the odd discussion, Adora's relationship with Catra was something best left alone.

"Yeah, those are burning craters," Catra reported. "Whatever it was, was underground, I'd say."

Jack heard Carter behind him make that little sound that told him she wanted to check herself but was too polite to say so out loud and grinned. A moment later, he reached the ridge's top and pulled out his binocs. Yeah, those looked like bunkers that had blown up. He saw three craters, one of them formed by at least two explosions. But had they blown up from within due to sabotage, or had they been hit by bunker-busters or similar weapons from above?

Well, Carter and Entrapta would find out soon. Jack didn't look at Carter's back when she crawled up the ridge next to him, followed by… Entrapta's hair, which dragged the princess up.

"Oh, the structural damage… yes…"

"The blast pattern is rather distinctive, right, Sam?"

"Yes. And the spread of the broken walls and roofs…"

"Yes! I don't see any trace in any part of an initial penetration, but that could have been wiped by the explosion."

That probably meant that the snake had told them the truth about sabotage being the cause of the explosion. But that didn't mean that the snake had told them the truth about anything else. Jack was almost glad that the gate room was currently under the command of Sidorov - a paranoid Russian officer would ensure that the snake couldn't get free and wreak havoc. Especially since Carter and Entrapta had taken away all the snake's toys.

Jack cleared his throat. "And is there anything biological showing on your thingies?" If the ashes of people were detectable in the smoke, what about biological agents?

"Nothing, sir. I would have informed you at once," Carter replied. She sounded just a tiny bit annoyed at the implication that she might have forgotten to check for traces of bioweapons.

"Emily's keeping an eye out!" Entrapta said. "Nothing on her scanners so far. Of course, an advanced experimental bioweapon might be masquerading as something harmless and only change into a dangerous compound when triggered. At least, that is what I would do should I research something like it."

Jack glanced around - he wasn't the only one wincing at the princess's words. Not by far.

"I don't think we should be researching bioweapons," Adora said with a very forced smile.

"But how can we defend against Goa'uld bioweapons if we don't do any research?"

Jack clenched his teeth. That was an excellent question. He would have to tell Carter to press for a lab in space at once. One with a nuclear self-destruct.

"Looks like there are no survivors," Catra commented after a moment. "I wonder if they were experimenting on people."

Once more, everyone winced. And Jack made a mental note to ask a few pointed questions to their new prisoners - all of them - about that.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, November 20th, 1998

"A research facility for biological weapons? And you went there?"

The Russian general looked like he was about to need some healing any moment now, Adora thought. He was red in the face and trembling. Although judging by the way Jack reacted to this sight - or not reacted, as was the case - this was normal for the man. On the other hand, this was Jack. Adora glanced at the rest of SG-1. None of them seemed concerned. Sam was glancing towards where Entrapta and Emily were standing, probably counting the seconds until they could go to her lab. Teal'c was doing his stoic thing and not showing any reaction - then again, that was normal for him. But Daniel also looked unconcerned - at least for the Russian.

Who, Adora noted, didn't seem to care overly much about the dead and wounded members of his team, including Lieutenant Lenkova's possession. Then again, biological weapons were terrifying if you couldn't heal everything with magic. But she could, and the general knew it, so this made not much sense.

"Yes, General," Jack replied. "After careful analysis of the atmosphere and finding no traces of any biological agent. Except for the ashes of the dead."

Adora winced. There had to be a lot of people in the facility for that to be noticeable. Not a few researchers and a handful of guards as she had imagined.

"We're dealing with alien technology here!" Sidorov shook his head. "Alien weapons created to fool alien sensors! You cannot trust such an analysis!"

Ah, that must have rankled Sam. She stood just a bit straighter. "We performed all possible scans, General. Including magical scans. There was no unidentified biological agent in the area or air that we were exposed to - all the organisms we found were familiar."

"Yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "We took lots of samples! I was hoping for interesting new data, but we didn't encounter anything we didn't already know - the planet was probably seeded with bioforms from Earth, although to determine when that happened, we need to extensively analyse the samples we took for genetic drift. Once we know that, we can calculate the time of divergence."

"I don't care about that!" the Russian spat. "I care about the danger you might have exposed Earth to with your decision to not only investigate a weapon research facility but take prisoners from there! We had to lock down the entire base to contain a possible outbreak!"

Oh. Adora blinked. "You quarantined the base?" she asked.

"You mean you want to lock us up here?" Catra hissed.

"It's necessary to ensure that we were not contaminated!" the Russian retorted.

"Quarantine after a potential exposure is standard procedure," Sam admitted. "But only until the medical officer in charge clears us."

Well, that was only sensible. "We can wait until then," Adora said. "I can also heal everyone who was exposed, just in case." She could do that now that they were back on Earth.

"Or we can have Glimmer teleport us directly onto our sealed shuttle and wait in orbit until you sort out your stuff here," Catra suggested with a frown at Adora. As if Adora hadn't a perfectly sensible reason for offering to heal everyone!

"Yes!" Glimmer nodded. "That way, we won't endanger anyone."

The Russian general opened his mouth, then closed it again - apparently, he was at a loss for words. Or he had remembered that he wasn't talking to subordinates.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to keep you from getting stuck here," Jack agreed. "I think I'll spend quarantine asking our new guest a few questions."

Adora frowned at him - it was as if he didn't want her to heal anyone either!

"I shall join you, O'Neill."

"I have work to do," Daniel said.

"We can take you with us," Entrapta told Sam. "This is a good opportunity to work on getting our space lab going! Bow, you coming as well?"

"Well…"

"I think we should ask the prisoners some questions as well," Glimmer said.

"Yes," Catra agreed.

"And I would like to heal Sergeant Popov," Adora added. At least no one objected to that!

"Granted," the General told her - after a second or two, though. "But the prisoners are off-limits until we're sure they aren't dangerous!"

"That could take a while," Jack commented with an overly innocent expression. "After all, one of them confessed to blowing up an underground facility as a saboteur and spy."

"And you brought him here!" the General retorted. "Despite the danger!" He shook his head.

Jack muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch, but Catra giggled. Adora would have to ask her lover after this.

"I think under the circumstances, there's no reason to isolate SG-1 and our allies from the prisoners. The whole base is already locked down, after all." General Haig had arrived. At just the right moment to solve the issue.

Adora couldn't help remembering the officer's course about timing. But she could discuss that later with the others - she had a wounded soldier to heal. And then some prisoners to interrogate.

Especially about the number of people in that base and what they had been doing there before they were killed. Jack had mentioned 'test subjects', and if the saboteur had killed innocent victims of the Goa'uld…

She shook her head as she followed the others to the infirmary. She had to focus on healing the wounded first.

"Say tight! I'm fetching the others!" Glimmer disappeared in a sparkly cloud before Samantha Carter could reply.

That wasn't a bad thing, though. Being teleported wasn't a new experience for Sam. Far from it. Between the ring transporters and whatever the Asgard had used, she had done it often enough. Being teleported by a living being, however, using pure magic… It was a little unnerving. Computers were not perfect, but as long as they worked, they generally did exactly what they were programmed for. And they had perfect memory. Sam was trusting computers with her life every time she used a plane, for example. People, on the other hand, weren't perfect. And they didn't have perfect memory.

Glimmer teleporting her meant that Sam had to trust the princess to transport her solely with the power of her mind and magic. And that took some work, even though Sam would never say so.

But they had arrived safely in the shuttle on the base's landing pad. At least as far as Sam could tell. And it was nice to leave the base despite the mandatory quarantine. Sam didn't have the Colonel's personal history with the Russians in the Cold War, but she had been trained by people with said experience at the Academy, and her experience with Sidorov hadn't been very positive so far.

"OK! The shuttle's sensors show that the seal wasn't breached - we're still isolated from the atmosphere," Entrapta reported.

"And the scans are still negative," Sam added after a check of her instruments.

"Of course!" Entrapta wasn't fazed by the possibility of contamination by biological agents. Not at all - Sam could tell. The princess sat down in her favourite seat on the shuttle. "So, should we have a mandatory quarantine protocol in our spacelab as well? Once we research biological weapons?"

Sam suppressed a sigh. "That would be prudent, yes. But I don't know if we should focus on that area of research." And not merely because Sam was a physicist and not a biologist.

"Why not?"

"I think magitech should take priority. By combining magic and technology, we can gain a clear advantage over the Goa'uld," Sam replied. "Like with our scanner."

"Right. But bioweapons present an obvious danger, especially with the Stargates allowing contaminated people to travel instantly to other planets," Entrapta objected. "If the Goa'uld manage to develop agents that masquerade as - or are - harmless organisms or substances before triggered into taking effect, that could circumvent our sensors."

That was merely a theoretical possibility so far. Sam wouldn't dismiss the possibility, but it would require very detailed knowledge of all the sensors, scanners and other tools the targets used to screen for bioweapons in order to bypass them. Then again, with magic, it might be possible. "The more we improve our magitech scanner, the smaller the chances of the Goa'uld managing to fool them," she said.

"Right! If we can detect it, we can beat it! Adora can heal any sickness, anyway." Entrapta nodded.

"Any sickness we know," Sam said. "There might be something She-Ra's magic cannot handle."

Entrapta blinked, then wrinkled her nose. "In theory, yes. But it would require similar powers, I think - her magic isn't quite like the normal princess type. It's not as limited if she has enough power, though I haven't yet found out if it's actually conceptual magic. We can't easily test for that. Glimmer says it's unlikely since conceptual magic was merely theorised by Mystacore's sages. Although the reasoning is rather weak. She-Ra's healing is not guided by her knowledge - she's no medical expert - but that doesn't mean it's conceptual healing. It's far more likely that her magic just restores the 'healthy' state of the target, which could be easily deduced by magic."

Sam hoped that that was the case. What Entrapta had told her about conceptual magic was… frightening. Magic working from basic concepts - it was almost an outside context problem for reality. Of course, the actual effects might not be very dissimilar. Whether you were healed because magic changed reality according to the concept of healing or because it simply restored your health was likely working out the same for the target.

"So… did you look over the blueprints I sent you?"

"For the lab? Yes." Of course, Sam had looked them over! A lab in space offered so many possibilities! Microgravity, safe conditions for more dangerous research, remote access… And, of course, it being an Etherian project - nominally - less to no supervision by superiors who lacked the scientific education and knowledge to understand her work. Also, no struggle for a working budget.

There wouldn't be any experiments cancelled because of funding being diverted to other projects or hypothetical dangers of catastrophic failure there. "I think it's a sound layout, though I have a few suggestions, like…"

Glimmer returned with Bow and Adora, interrupting Sam. "Sorry for the delay. Adora had to heal the entire infirmary."

"I couldn't just leave them suffering there!" Adora pouted. "Ah, right! Almost forgot!" A moment later, Sam was staring at the tip of She-Ra's sword.

And then she was healed.

"Just in case there was something on that planet - better safe than sorry, right?"

Sam managed to nod while she blinked and took a deep breath.

"OK, I'm taking Adora back so she and Catra can help interrogate the prisoners," Glimmer announced, but Sam was only half-listening. "Then we can take off!"

She felt… Well, that was what the Colonel must have been feeling ever since he had been healed. She felt… perfect. Perfectly rested, not even a trace of pain or strain.

Wow.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, November 20th, 1998

"...and you can simply drop off my message and a contact location at this address, and the Tok'ra will make contact. It might take a while, though - obviously, we do not have a regular schedule for such drops."

The damn Goa'uld is too smug, Catra thought. Far too smug. He acted like he was in charge of them and not inside a cell, leaning back with a wide smile - she was sure that that was the parasite, not the host. But he couldn't actually be that confident, could he? The Tok'ra didn't have too much intel on Earth and nothing on the Alliance. It had to be a front.

And two could play that game.

"Yep, so you say. Of course, letting you write a message is kind of tricky, you know - you might slip in critical intel," O'Neill said.

"Of course I would add critical intel, Colonel O'Neill - I have to prove to my superiors that both my identity and that this isn't a trap but a way to contact a potential ally." Jakar inclined his head. His attitude wasn't as bad as Shadow Weaver's had been, even when she had been in a cell, but still quite condescending.

"You think we could be valuable allies?" O'Neill leaned forward, both hands on the table between them and the Goa'uld.

"I do. While various System Lords remain in ignorance of what you have achieved, we have better information than them. Few powers can boast of fending off an attack personally led by Apophis, although he clearly underestimated you." He nodded at Catra and Adora. "Of course, we didn't know either that you already made allies with another power."

That was a blatant attempt at fishing for information.

"I couldn't possibly comment," O'Neill retorted.

Catra would have preferred a double bluff. An attempt to play up the Alliance so the Tok'ra - if they were the Tok'ra - would think they were just some individuals, or deserters like Teal'c, trying to appear more important. That was how such spies thought. But Stargate Command had insisted on no commenting on Etheria.

"You don't have to. You lost a scout team to the remnants of Apophis's researchers, then rescued the survivors and took out the researchers before they could flee. That is a remarkable achievement."

And they also wrecked the Goa'uld's ship in the process, which probably didn't please Stargate Command. Not that Catra cared - the planet had been too far to fly the ship back to Earth anyway. Well, mostly because Earth didn't have any trained pilots they could spare for the months-long journey without crippling other missions.

O'Neill shrugged. "All in a day's work."

"It was a nice diversion from paperwork," Catra added.

"Of course, you also stumbled onto a secret bioweapon research facility by accident," Jakar went on as if that was a huge revelation and not something anyone would have deduced from their first meeting.

"And speaking of said research facility…" O'Neill smiled, showing all his teeth. "We've got a good idea about its size and structures, but how many people were inside when you blew it up?"

The Goa'uld slowly nodded, and his smile faded. "About a dozen Goa'uld and two dozen Jaffa. They were amongst the top researchers of Apophis and their best assistants. Capturing them was no option, and letting them finish their work was and remains unacceptable. As one of the primary targets of any bioweapon Apophis might develop, I am sure you agree."

"And how many 'test subjects' were in that lab?" O'Neill sounded almost bored, but that was a front, Catra could tell.

And she didn't need to look at Adora to know how tense her lover was.

Apparently, the spy also realised that. "Too many, but they were doomed from the start. At least dying in an explosion is far more merciful than dying while your lungs slowly decay over days."

"I, we could heal that," Adora blurted out.

Jakar studied her for a moment. "Regrettably, I wasn't aware of your presence until after the deed was done. And I couldn't risk spreading the weapon they were developing by evacuating the prisoners. Entire worlds would have been at risk."

"You could have evacuated them to a deserted planet and then moved supplies to sustain them there. It would have served as an effective quarantine," Adora countered.

"I fear you overestimate the means at my disposal," Jakar told her. "Placing hidden bombs at crucial locations is something I could do, albeit at great risk. However, organising a mass breakout and evacuation at the same time? And timing it so the researchers and their guards wouldn't realise what was going on before it was too late to escape the lab themselves? I doubt there is anyone who could have done this."

And that was more fishing for information. Catra squeezed Adora's thigh before she could tell them how the Alliance would do it. Without Double Trouble.

"So they were collateral damage, huh?" O'Neill asked.

The snake nodded. "A quite apt turn of phrase, Colonel. I regret their loss, but my priorities were clear."

"Yep." O'Neill slowly nodded.

And Catra couldn't tell if he actually agreed, even if he didn't like it. She knew Adora didn't agree, of course. But if Catra had been in Jakar's place, faced with some hellish bioweapon being developed… She wasn't sure if she would have tried to blow up the researchers and most guards in their sleep while saving the test subjects, risking failure and Apophis releasing the weapon later, or would have played it safe and blown up the entire facility with everyone inside.

Even though she knew what would have been the right course of action.

"Well, write your note and give us the address," O'Neill said. "We'll pass it upstairs, and they will decide whether or not we'll risk passing it on."

And the snake was all smiles again. "Thank you, Colonel."

"So, your recommendation is that we should contact the Tok'ra."

Jack O'Neill nodded at General Haig's comment. "Yes, sir." He didn't like the snake they had currently in a cell - they reminded him of a particularly smooth spook he had known years ago, and he didn't really need to remember what that man had done 'in the line of duty' - but they needed to know more about the Tok'ra. The danger of those snakes messing up the war against the other snakes, intentionally or not, was too great to ignore. "If only to check if they're telling us the truth."

The General nodded. "Although this seems to affect far more than merely Stargate Command's operations."

Of course it did. And everyone knew it.

"It primarily involves Stargate Command," Sidorov, as expected objected. "And through it, the United Nations. It was our mission that triggered this."

Jack smiled thinly. It was obvious that the Russian hoped to use the Tok'ra to get advanced technology. Maybe that meant that the Russians weren't as far along in legalising gay marriages as Jack had expected. Daniel might be correct in his view of the influence of the Orthodox Church on politics. And the influence of the supposedly loyal folks left in charge in Chechenya.

"I concur," Li agreed, to no one's surprise. "This contact with a foreign and possibly amiable power should be handled by the United Nations."

Now, why China hadn't already legalised gay marriage, Jack had no clue. Daniel thought it wasn't about gay rights and more about a power play in the communist party, but that was pure speculation. None of the usual suspects on the talk show circuit had any idea either. Jack hoped the experts working for the government were better informed. But the Chinese would love to have two sides to play off against each other, Jack was sure of that.

And speaking of two sides… He glanced at Adora.

As if on cue, she cleared her throat. "The Princess Alliance was involved in the mission as well, and it's obvious that the Tok'ra are an important factor in the war against the Goa'uld. So, this isn't just or even primarily a Stargate Command affair. But we need to discuss it with the Alliance Command before any steps can be taken."

Haig, Petit and Hammond nodded. "Of course. It seems tabling further steps should wait until our respective governments have discussed this," Haig said.

Jack blinked for a moment until he remembered that British English got it wrong. "So, should we still contact the Tok'ra?"

"Yes. We need to know if Jakar is a Tok'ra or a Goa'uld spy," Adora said, nodding.

Jack watched the generals exchanging glances. If the Tok'ra heard about Jakar being in Earth's custody, making the snake disappear would be more difficult. He doubted that that was why Adora had said it, but Catra hadn't missed the implications - or the generals' reactions. He could see how her ears twitched.

"Yes. We need more information. If the subject in question is trying to deceive us, the whole political aspect would be rendered moot," Haig said.

"But if he isn't, this is an opportunity to make allies amongst the Goa'uld," Adora retorted. "Goa'uld who turned against the Goa'uld Empire;" she added with a smile.

Jack suppressed a cynical smile of his own. Of course, Adora would see this as a way to get more Goa'uld to change sides. But what had worked with the Horde - probably; in Jack's opinion, the jury was still out for Hordak and his 'brothers' - wouldn't work for the snakes. Though Jack would still like to know what exactly made the Tok'ra defect.

Not that it mattered right now. "I'll arrange a mission once the message has been cleared, sir." Which might take a while, of course - the snake had insisted that they had to write in their language, and the resident spooks had a devil of a time trying to find any hidden information in it.

"Yes, Colonel." Haig nodded. "Is there anything else to discuss?"

"Not right now," Catra said.

"I need to look at Lieutenant Lenkova," Adora said. "She's still hurt."

Jack wasn't the only one who tensed.

"She's also possessed by a Goa'uld," Hammond pointed out. "We don't know what effect healing her with magic might have." The unspoken 'and we don't want to find out right now' was clearly understood by everyone in the room - they were still under lockdown, after all.

Adora pouted, but Catra grabbed her hand. "She's not about to die. And we should have Entrapta take a look at her as well before we do anything."

Adora nodded, although very reluctantly.

The girl really needed some perspective. And a lot of rest and recreation, in Jack's opinion. "So, if that's all…?" He grinned - it was against protocol for him to speak out like that, being the lowest-ranked in the room, but with the Etherians around, he figured he would get away with it.

"Dismissed, Colonel," Hammond told him with a frown.

Jack saluted and left the room.

A moment later, Adora and Catra followed him.

"We'll let Glimmer handle the politics once the quarantine is lifted," Adora told him. "Let's go check up on Lieutenant Lenkova and the prisoners."

Jack nodded. Lenkova was one of his soldiers. As her commander, he had to check on her anyway. "Let's go."

He could set things in motion for the contact mission afterwards.

Lieutenant Lenkova looked terrible. Adora couldn't help wincing at the sight. Bruises all over her face and arms - the rest of the body was covered with some ugly gown and an only slightly less ugly blanket - tubes stuck in her arms and on her face…

"I thought the parasite would help with her healing," Adora said.

"She's healing faster than normal," the doctor - Janet - explained. "Just not as fast as would be normal for such a possession. Our data is very limited, though, for lack of samples."

'Samples' sounded as bad as 'test subjects', in Adora's opinion. Although she didn't have a better word.

"Could the Goa'uld have suppressed this healing effect?" Catra asked. "So we wouldn't spot it and realise she was possessed?"

"We don't know if they can do that," Janet replied.

"To my knowledge, the false gods cannot do that," Teal'c, who was apparently standing guard in the infirmary, cut in. "The effects on the host are beyond their control."

"So, what, this is some weak snake?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "Some defective bloodline or something?"

Janet narrowed her eyes at him. "We can't tell at this point. We don't have comparable data."

Jack grinned at that. "Yeah. We tend to shoot the bastards dead when we encounter them." He blinked. "And I guess beating up our other guest as a control group isn't allowed?"

Catra chuckled at the joke. Adora pressed her lips together and didn't laugh. Even if it was funny in a dark humour kind of way. Teal'c didn't move a muscle in his face, and Janet glared at Jack even more. "It's not a joke, Colonel!" she spat.

"Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood." Jack looked solemn again. And angry.

"We'll do what we can for her," Janet told him.

"We'll have Entrapta look her over as soon as the quarantine is over and we can focus on that," Adora offered. And once Entrapta was done, Adora could heal the Lieutenant. Or try to, she added with a silent sigh. Healing magic might not do a thing about the parasite. "But we might have to ask Mystacore for help; they might know about spells that remove parasites of that nature."

"I thought you didn't have experience with such possessions," Janet said.

"We don't." The Horde hadn't had to deal with that, or they would have received some training in how to avoid it - like they got training in how to avoid catching and spreading diseases. "But there might have been similar parasites in the past or in other areas of Etheria," Adora told her.

"Speaking of contacting Etheria. How's that going?" Jack asked.

"We've sent a small flotilla back with the news when we made the first Alliance," Adora said. "But they need time to reach it. The next step is to set up a Stargate." And without a D.H.D., that required a computer and power source on the same level. Which was on Entrapta's to-do list. Glimmer was still hoping to get a D.H.D. from another source - or the one from Earth, but Adora wasn't very optimistic about that. At least the computer data from Stargate Command would help a lot, though they hadn't made a deal for that. Even then, a setup like in Stargate Command would require quite the staff on Etheria. Probably Entrapta or Bow to set it up and run it while training up a crew.

"Ah." Jack grinned. "It's like the age of sail again. When news took weeks and months to spread."

"We've mapped out the route now, so speed should improve," Catra said. "And Entrapta mentioned a plan for using scouting bots to set up a relay chain. Either way, it'll still be ready long before the Alliance on Earth is ready for war."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, mobilising a planet for war takes time."

"Like adjusting your laws," Catra commented.

Jack shrugged, but it looked a little forced. "That's not always a bad thing. Rushing something isn't always a good idea."

And sometimes, hesitation killed you and your troops. But this wasn't the time to argue about that. And it wasn't as if Adora and her friends hadn't taken things a bit more slowly after they had learned the truth about Earth.

"Aren't you concerned about the lack of news from your home?" Janet asked.

"We trust our friends," Adora replied at once.

"Unless they start a new war, things will be fine enough," Catra added. "Between Scorpia and Perfuma, and I guess Netossa and Spinerella, things should be OK. As long as Mermista keeps Seahawk from setting things on fire."

Unless something like the Heart of Etheria was discovered. She-Ra was Etheria's protector. If something happened while she wasn't there… Adora felt Catra's tail wrap around her leg and relaxed a little. Things would be fine. She had to trust their friends.

"So, what's the timeline on the quarantine, Doc?" Jack asked.

"I already gave my medical recommendation hours ago," Janet replied with a scowl. "It's up to the command council to act on it."

Jack shrugged. "They're covering their asses. Nobody wants to be known as the guy who let a deadly alien plague escape containment."

"I hope that they would be more concerned about releasing such a plague than their reputation," Adora said.

Everyone else snorted at that.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, November 22nd, 1998

It had taken Stargate Command forty-eight hours to lift the quarantine. Samantha Carter couldn't help feeling that it was a compromise solution - or the result of politics. It wasn't long enough to catch most actual diseases - and bioweapons would have, on average, a longer incubation time to spread more easily before anyone noticed an infection and took countermeasures. But it was long enough to show that something had been done, in case something went wrong and people were looking for a scapegoat.

Of course, if there was an actual containment break involving a bioweapon, having ordered a quarantine for forty-eight hours wouldn't save anyone's career - people would be out for blood. But in that case, careers were secondary to lives, anyway. Or should be. Sam wasn't quite sure if everyone in the new Stargate Command shared this sentiment.

"So… do you think we can get a ring transporter for our spacelab?" Entrapta asked, interrupting Sam's thoughts as they walked past Stargate Command's sentries. British soldiers, this time, which still looked weird in the mountain.

"Even if one were available, I doubt it," Sam replied as they entered the lift. "Especially if there is any dangerous research being done in the lab."

"I thought we weren't doing bioweapon research yet." Entrapta cocked her head, her hair compensating while holding various tools.

"Bots, especially bots that can build other bots, are also considered dangerous by my superiors," Sam told her. "Nanotechnology as well." Some of the Luddites even thought Stargates should be isolated - not because of the threat of invasion or infiltration through it, or an attack, but because they feared a spontaneous black hole generation or whatever.

Sam suppressed a sigh at the thought - it was the hysteria about the Large Hadron Collider all over again!

"Oh. Your superiors consider a lot of nifty technology dangerous," Entrapta commented. "That's probably why they are afraid of magic as well."

"Some technology or magic is dangerous," Sam retorted. "But they might be a bit overly cautious," she amended. Although the proposed plans to set up a base on another, deserted planet as a buffer for Earth made some sense. With the secrecy lifted, construction shouldn't be a problem - at least it wouldn't once the Stargate was relocated; moving any heavy equipment into the mountain and then through the gate was still an exercise in frustration and often futility. The base had never been designed for anything other than small exploration teams - the lack of easy access had been deemed a feature for security reasons.

"Definitely! But that's why we will have remote controls installed! So we can work even when we're not in the lab. Like when we're flying towards it!" Entrapta beamed. "I've already designed the cutest avatars for us!"

Sam nodded with a smile. Which she lost as soon as they arrived in Stargate command and stepped into the hallway. They were here to examine the prisoners, after all. And their victims.

Like Lenkova. The woman was most likely a spy for Russia and a potential threat to SG-1's commanding officer, but no one deserved to become a host for a Goa'uld.

Sam shivered before she could stop herself as they approached the infirmary. She nodded at the guards outside, then at Teal'c inside before greeting Janet with a smile that was only slightly forced. She could do this. She had to do this.

"You don't have to do this," Janet told her in a low voice. "You're not a medical doctor."

But she was, at least as far as she knew, Earth's foremost expert on magitech. "I have to," she replied. No matter how she hated it.

"So, who do we check first? The Tok'ra or the Goa'uld? Well, technically, both are Goa'uld. So, the Tok'ra or the follower of Apophis?" Entrapta, as expected, was genuinely enthusiastic.

"Let's check Lenkova first," Sam said. It would be better to examine Lenkova without any potential bias from talking to Jakar.

"Alright!" Entrapta moved towards the cells, her hair already picking up more tools from the small porter bot trailing after her.

Sam took a deep breath, ignored Janet's concerned look and followed her friend.

Lenkova looked… as expected. Only light bruises. No visible wounds. And so different compared to Sam's image of the woman. Instead of being an attractive, too attractive, confident woman, she looked frail, tied to the bed, with various tubes and sensors attached to her.

"We've been keeping her sedated. So far, the Goa'uld seems to have been sedated as well," Janet explained. "But I wouldn't advise doing that indefinitely. Even if it might be better for her mental health, the long-term effects on someone in her position are unknown. If the Goa'uld should die, she'd die as well."

Sam was aware of that - she had studied everything they knew about Goa'uld possession after… Jolinar.

She forced the memories away. "Let's hope we'll find a solution so we won't have to wake her up before removing the Goa'uld."

"Yes!" Entrapta agreed. "Now let's see what we can find out with our improved scanner mark two!"

Sam nodded and started to help set it up. And if the mark two didn't reveal anything useful, there was the mark four - they hadn't exactly spent the last two days idle, after all. And the mark three's failure hadn't cost them too much time…