Chapter 65: Diplomatic Meetings Part 4
NATO Headquarters Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 9th, 1998 (Earth Time)
Samantha Carter couldn't help feeling that while, without question, having access to shuttles that could take you around the world in less than an hour was a great thing, there were drawbacks. Such as the fact that if you could reach every point on Earth in less than an hour, people adjusted their expectations accordingly.
Which resulted in her being flown to Brussels to provide advice to the Alliance meeting currently held there. And not technological advice - or not primarily - but personal advice.
"...and you think we can trust the claims of the Tok'ra that they won't force themselves on unwilling hosts, Captain Carter?" the German minister present asked.
"I think they are honest in that they won't do that unless circumstances such as an emergency force them to resort to such means," she replied.
"So, despite your own experience, you trust the Tok'ra?" The man seemed honestly surprised.
"Because of my own experience," she corrected him.
And then wished she hadn't done so in such a pointed way when the man nodded and said: "Yes, we can see that."
Glimmer spoke up before Sam could find the best words to respond to the insinuation that she was influenced by the Tok'ra: "You have been briefed about the effects of Tok'ra - and Goa'uld - possession. The mental contamination is restricted to various amounts of fragmented memories. Their hosts, once freed, are not under their mental control any more."
"But we also have reports of lingering effects," the French Ministre des Affaires étrangères cut in.
"Yes," Sam told him. "But not to the extent that they would compromise my judgement."
Most of the ministers present nodded, though Sam wasn't sure that all of them believed her.
"And you called Sam here precisely because she had the memories of a Tok'ra in her head," Glimmer added. "Are there any other questions for her?"
There were none, and Glimmer quickly added: "I move that we recess for ten minutes."
To Sam's mild surprise, everyone agreed, and she found herself leaving the meeting room with Glimmer.
As soon as they entered the meeting room that was occupied by the Etherians for the duration of their stay in the NATO headquarters, Glimmer sighed and sat down in the closest chair. "I'm so tired of this!"
Sam nodded, even though she wasn't entirely sure what Glimmer was tired of - she hadn't followed the state of the negotiations very closely.
"Sorry about that, by the way. They insisted on questioning you," Glimmer added as she opened her eyes and pulled the basket with soda bottles closer to her using her staff.
"You already apologised when I arrived," Sam pointed out while she grabbed a bottle of mineral water for herself. "At least I got to check out the new shuttles," she added.
"Ah, yes." Glimmer shrugged - of course, she wouldn't be impressed by the first piece of advanced spacecraft built entirely on Earth. "Anyway, sorry. I think a few of the ministers are stalling because their governments are still trying to make deals with each other, and you were a convenient excuse."
"Ah." That sounded plausible, in Sam's opinion, but she had no way to tell if it was true.
Glimmer took a swig, swallowed and sighed. "Anyway, how are you doing? Entrapta was all gushing about your spacelab."
Sam smiled for the first time since she had started answering questions in the meeting. "It's quite useful. We can cooperate a lot more this way." And there were much fewer safety concerns now.
"Good." Glimmer took another swallow. "Also, Adora told me that you think we might corrupt your military discipline."
Sam suppressed a wince. "It was mentioned to me that there is a concern about the chain of command suffering if high-ranking officers go around it."
Glimmer snorted. "I don't think your generals pass every order to a soldier through their entire chain of command instead of giving it directly."
"No," Sam admitted. "It was more a concern about subordinates going around their commanders."
"You mean going to Adora and myself," Glimmer said.
"And other princesses, I think."
Glimmer sighed again. "That can't really be helped. A princess is expected to take care of problems - within reasons, of course - if asked to by their people."
"Do you consider Alliance soldiers your people?" Sam asked.
"Well…" Glimmer took another swig. Was she stalling? "In a way, yes. I mean… it's sort of a grey area. In the Princess Alliance, you generally don't meddle with soldiers from another kingdom; they got their own princess to look out for them. But if that princess is not available, you're expected to step in if needed. And, well… you don't really have princesses, so…" She shrugged.
"...so your first instinct is to act as if you would back home," Sam finished for her.
"Yeah. I mean, we wouldn't do it if it's a stupid complaint or concern, but sorting out problems with subordinates is what princesses are expected to do. It's part of being a ruler." Glimmer smiled. "I'll brief the others that this is a sensitive subject with Earth."
That wasn't as reassuring as it could've been, in Sam's opinion. Maybe she should ask Daniel about this.
NATO Headquarters Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 9th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"...and I have to point out that when the Tok'ra are looking for hosts, they are looking for life-long partners. This is an extremely personal and intimate choice for them; they will not adhere to some sort of… contingent assigned by us. Would you pick your partner according to a quota?" Glimmer's scowl made it clear to everyone that this was a rhetorical question.
Then again, after some of the proposals they had heard today, Catra wouldn't have put it past some of the Alliance members to suggest exactly that. The news had speculated about marriages of state being proposed, referring to unnamed sources within one of the delegations, and Catra wasn't entirely sure that those sources were fictional. A few of the politicians in the Alliance still seemed to have trouble accepting that Etheria's princesses were different compared to Earth's royalty.
"Yes, yes," the French minister said. "Although we can and should take steps to ensure that the Tok'ra are giving everyone a fair shake, so to say. We do need to decide on how we present the volunteers anyway, to avoid complications and misunderstandings."
"What do you mean?" the American representative asked with a frown.
"I want to make sure this is not going to be handled as 'first come, first served', the French politician explained with a smile that was about as honest as Shadow Weaver's, in Catra's opinion. "If we created such incentives to rush the selection of the volunteers, we would put Earth's security at risk."
"The United States won't flood the Tok'ra with our own volunteers if you wanted to insinuate something like that."
"I did not, but it is good to hear."
Yeah, the smiles were a bit too toothy to be honest and friendly. Although it was getting late by now, and Catra was sure she wasn't the only one getting hungry again - dinner had been a while ago.
"In that case, I move that we settle the details later," Glimmer said. "Perhaps after inquiring with those who have experience hosting such events."
"I don't think anyone on Earth has experience with such an event," the German minister commented with a snort.
Glimmer shrugged. "Everyone mingling and looking for a partner at a social event - doesn't that sound familiar?"
That caused a few chuckles, with Adora joining in a little late - Catra's love had started nodding in serious agreement before she got the joke.
Although it wasn't really a joke, Catra realised. Holding an event like the Princess Prom seemed to be a much better idea than lining up volunteers to be inspected like livestock or something. Or having a bot play matchmaker, as Entrapta proposed - as a joke, or so Catra hoped.
But with the meeting finally winding down, Catra stretched, relieved, and didn't bother hiding her yawn.
"Catra!" Adora hissed.
She snorted in return. "It's almost midnight."
"But still…"
But Glimmer was already ending the meeting, and Catra quickly rose from her seat. "Let's get a snack on the way home!"
"Oh… alright," Adora caved.
Glimmer kept smiling until they were in the questionable privacy of their waiting room, where she sighed. "This was worse than most meetings of the Princess Alliance."
"You handled the thing well," Catra told her, cocking her head while she opened a pre-packaged sandwich.
Glimmer scoffed. "Not as well as I could've handled a Princess Alliance meeting. I don't know the humans well enough."
"Not yet," Adora commented.
"Probably not ever," Glimmer said, grabbing a soda for herself. "They keep changing ministers and generals even without elections."
"But we only see most princesses at the Princess Prom," Adora pointed out.
"But we see those who matter far more often. And they don't get replaced on a whim," Glimmer complained. "Anyway, let's go home. I want to cuddle with Bow and have him tell me I am doing important work, so I don't teleport the next idiot into the ocean."
Catra chuckled. Whether Glimmer was joking or not, it was funny. And cuddling with your love sounded like an excellent idea.
At least they had finally settled the proposal for the Tok'ra. More or less, anyway.
P34-353J, December 11th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"Another day, another planet," Jack O'Neill commented after stepping through the Stargate.
He had his M4 in his hands, even if he wasn't aiming it at anything or anyone - this wasn't supposed to be a hostile planet, and the Tok'ra had sent the codes to indicate that it was safe, but you never let down your guard when you were in alien country. Especially if you had been attacked on the planet before. And if you had civilians to guard. Or shepherd. Civilians who made Daniel look like a special force soldier.
"Colonel O'Neill. Queen Glimmer. Princess She-Ra." Martouf nodded at them in turn. "Captain Carter. Welcome."
"Martouf." Jack nodded back, but he wasn't relaxing. The snake wasn't just politely smiling at Carter. There was something more there. As before, actually.
And Carter looked a bit tenser than normal. "Martouf. Lantash."
"Hello!" Glimmer smiled her polite smile.
"Hello." Adora beamed at the assembled Tok'ra.
"Hey." Catra, though, nodded and kept scanning the area. And she wasn't particularly subtle about it.
In any case, it seemed safe. Jack used his radio to signal Stargate Command to send the actual diplomats through. Well, the actual diplomats from Earth - Glimmer and the others were diplomats as well, after all. And officers. And monarchs. Most of them, at least. Jack wasn't sure if he should envy or pity them for that. Probably both.
A few seconds later, Daniel and Teal'c stepped through the gate, followed by Emily and Entrapta, and then the first of the diplomats arrived, escorted by SG-2.
Martouf didn't seem to mind that they had brought more firepower than usual for a diplomatic mission, but then again, if your diplomats included magical space princesses who could throw tanks and turn spaceships into plants, a few killer robots and soldiers probably didn't make a difference.
Which would be a wrong thing to think, of course. But Jack didn't mind being underestimated. In fact, he preferred it.
"Hello," the leader of the delegation, a British diplomat who wouldn't look out of place in a Monty Python movie, in Jack's opinion, said, giving Martouf a bow. "I am Sir Watson, representing the Earth part of the Alliance."
"Hello. We are Martouf/Lantash. Please follow us - we'll take you to the meeting area." Martouf pointed to the skiffs waiting in the back.
At least none of the diplomats with Sir Whatshisname gawked at the hovering vehicles. That would have been embarrassing.
But, Jack thought as he saw Martouf paying extra attention to Carter, he really had to get to the bottom of this. If his second-in-command was being hounded by an alien, Jack would have to do something about it. Couldn't have snakes messing with his team.
They arrived at an unfamiliar spot in the desert - the Tok'ra had built a new base, it seemed. Or simply moved the location for the transporter pickup, but Jack O'Neill's money was on the former. This was a negotiation, after all, and they would be showing off the technology they knew the Alliance was interested in. Like some arms dealers he had had to work with in the past.
The Tok'ra weren't a front for Russians supporting insurrectionists, Jack reminded himself. They were fighting the Goa'uld, not a proxy war against the United States. He still didn't like them, and it had nothing to do with the way Martouf was smiling at Carter when they stepped off the second vehicle.
"Please stand by for the transporter."
And here it came. Jack tensed a little as the rings appeared around him.
And then he was inside a room, underground. And the air smelt… better than a bunker's air had any right to smell. No wonder the Tok'ra were so fond of creating new bases.
"Colonel O'Neill!"
Jack suppressed a frown and nodded as politely-but-distantly as he managed. "Anise."
The snake was beaming at him. "And Freya," she added in a human voice. And that was the host. She had a whole different body language, he noted. The woman moved more like a human instead of a well, smooth snake. But the look she gave him was the same - and belonged in a bar at happy hour, not at a diplomatic meeting. "How have you been, Colonel?"
"Oh, the usual. Paperwork. Lots of paperwork," Jack claimed nonchalantly. "Boring paperwork in preparation for this mission."
"Ah." Freya nodded with an empathic smile. "A necessary evil."
Then Anise continued: "Documenting your research is, of course, the hallmark of any scientist worth their education, but filing reports for the ones in charge of your budget does get tedious and often frustrating."
"I wouldn't know about that," Jack replied - wasn't it a diplomatic gaffe to talk to the escort at such meetings? But Garshaw was talking to Glimmer, Adora and Sir Watson. Damn. "I'm just the guy with the gun guarding the diplomats and scientists."
"Oh, you are much more than that, Colonel O'Neill!" Anise cooed - and Jack discovered that a snake voice cooing was much creepier than he had imagined. He definitely preferred the creepy megalomaniac snake voice to this.
But they were on a diplomatic mission, so Jack couldn't just tell the snake to get lost. Even worse, his team and his friends had noticed - not that this was hard to miss even for Daniel - and were looking amused. Well, except for Carter, who wasn't amused. Probably because it looked unprofessional, Jack told himself. Even though it wasn't his fault this time. Hell, even the diplomats had noticed! If any of them told Kinsey about this, Jack would shoot them.
Just when he suspected that Anise was about to grab his arm and try to drag him off to some lab or bedroom - and Jack didn't know which possibility he would find more disturbing - Garshaw spoke up, addressing everyone. "Please follow us to the meeting room. Your guest rooms are adjacent to it, and we've prepared a light meal before we start the negotiations."
Food sounded great right now. Jack might even go for a drink. On second thought, no - he needed all his wits to deal with the snake trying to seduce him.
Adora smiled fondly when Catra stacked her plate with all sorts of fish and almost fish dishes. Things were going well so far. The Tok'ra were friendly, and since the Alliance had decided to grant them their greatest demand, more hosts, they should be able to get them into the Alliance. Preferably as part of a new alliance between Etheria, Earth and the Tok'ra. A Triple-Alliance? They would have to sort out the exact name later. Adora didn't think that the Tok'ra would join as another member state like the individual countries on Earth, even if Earth might want that. Earth just had too many people for that.
"Jack's playing with fire," Catra commented after wolfing down a few pieces of fried fish.
"Eh?" Adora turned her head to look at what Catra was nodding at. Oh. Jack was talking to Anise, who was very close to him - she was almost touching the plate their friend held before him. And he had his back to the wall. "It looks more like Anise is bothering him," Adora commented with a frown.
"He's not doing much to push her away," Catra retorted. "And Sam's mad."
"Oh." Right, Sam didn't look happy. But was that because of Jack or Martouf, who hadn't left her side since they had arrived? Adora couldn't tell. Their friend was often glancing towards Jack, but that might be because she expected him to do something about Martouf. Maybe - the whole situation was needlessly complicated because of these stupid American regulations. She should really talk to the President about that… No. That would be meddling with their friends' love lives, and that was a bad thing. All the human TV shows agreed about that, too. And there was another point to consider, Adora realised. "He probably doesn't think he can push her away without being rude, and that might damage the negotiations."
Her lover scoffed. "If the Tok'ra don't understand that Anise is being rude, then that needs to be settled before we form an alliance."
That was true, of course. Jack shouldn't have to feel uncomfortable like that just for politics. Or worse. But… "Maybe we should do something."
"No," Catra objected. "This might be the thing they need to finally stop avoiding their feelings."
Her lover was serious, Adora realised. "You've been watching those weird TV shows again?"
"Huh?" Catra seemed confused. Or tried to appear so - her tail gave her away.
"The ones the Japanese gave us as a gift?" Adora raised her eyebrows. "With the catgirls?"
"Oh." Catra shook her head with a grin. "I was saving them for us to watch together. Should be funny."
"Oh. OK." Adora didn't push. Catra's interest in how humans saw people like her was understandable, even though the humans had never met actual people like her. But those shows were, well, weird.
"Oh, look! Sam's doing something! Oh, smooth!"
What? Adora turned her head again. Oh. Sam was talking to Entrapta. But… Ah.
Adora smiled when Entrapta went to fetch Anise, and she, Sam and Anise quickly started huddling together in a corner near Emily, who served as a holoprojector.
"She got rid of Martouf and Anise in one smooth move." Catra nodded - and then pouted. "But she's still avoiding the real issue."
Yes, Adora thought, Catra really has watched too many TV shows, weird or not.
"...and if we adapt this piece so it can be powered by magic, we should be able to increase the efficiency by at least 75%. As a rough estimate."
Samantha Carter nodded at Entrapta's suggestion. That would solve the power issues of their current proposal.
"If your numbers are correct - and I bow to your experience in magitech here - then yes, that should allow us to run several crystal arrays simultaneously," Anise agreed. "Though I can't provide details about the exact specifications until we have finalised the treaty."
"Of course." Sam nodded. This was merely hypothetical. Theorycrafting, so to speak. It was still enjoyable and productive. Far more so than watching Anise trying to seduce the Colonel. Or watching the Colonel let the Tok'ra all but crawl into his lap. Really, he should know better than that! Sam suppressed a frown. And a wince when she reminded herself that she hadn't really told off Martouf herself - but then, her… Jolinar's former lover hadn't been nearly as obvious as Anise, and he had lost his love, so putting him on the spot would have been very rude.
And this was a diplomatic meeting. Not some… other meeting. Even though some aliens might be mixing them up. On the other hand, the Tok'ra were looking for more hosts most of all, so maybe this was a sort of marriage meeting…
Sam nodded again as she studied Entrapta's next proposal to improve the tunnel-growing technology based on what their scans had shown. As long as no one expected her - or the Colonel - to get involved with any of this, that was none of her business.
And that was how she liked it. She was a soldier in the United States Air Force. She knew her duty. And she knew that the regulations governing her life were there for a reason. An excellent reason.
Even though she really loathed them sometimes. But that wasn't something she could change. Not unless a lot more things changed - for her and SG-1.
She forced the gloomy thoughts away and focused on the topic at hand. Advanced technology was something she could deal with, at least.
"...and while we see no reason to object to our people volunteering as hosts, we do hope that you will understand and respect our security concerns with regard to how such hosts are then chosen by you," Sir Watson said with a smile that Catra would have considered genuine if she hadn't been at half a dozen meetings where this had been hotly, very hotly, debated. "There should be enough suitable volunteers from amongst our population, anyway."
More than enough, in Catra's opinion - Earth had a stupidly high population. That was something that the Tok'ra agreed with. Some of them hadn't even believed the numbers they were told until Anise had run a few simulations. Apparently, the Goa'uld were deliberately keeping their slaves' numbers from rising too high to avoid another rebellion like the one on Earth thousands of years ago.
Though Catra had her doubts about the theory that sheer numbers of rebelling slaves had been the defining factor for pushing the Goa'uld off the planet. Numbers counted for a lot, but her bet was still on powerful magic. She had fought the Princess Alliance often enough - far too often - to know that the Horde would have crushed any number of the rebel soldiers if not for the princesses and the few sorceresses who had not hidden in Mystacore or one of the kingdoms not involved in the war. Although the Princess Alliance also had had access to far better technology than Earth, especially thousands of years ago, had had.
Adora squeezed Catra's thigh - and not in the teasing way. In the 'pay attention' way Catra was so familiar with from countless boring lessons as cadets. She snorted softly and patted her lover's hand, digging her nails into Adora's skin just a little - it wasn't as if anything important was being discussed right now.
"...although the exact conditions for choosing hosts have to be determined. This is a highly personal decision, which cannot be delegated, so…"
Yeah, Per'sus was just saying what Glimmer had been saying for days. And Catra didn't really care about how the Tok'ra wanted to do the matchmaking. That was none of her business - as long as none of the little snakes tried to go for Adora, of course.
Oh, Glimmer was standing up to talk. Catra's ears tilted forward a little.
"I agree with Per'sus, and I suggest that any volunteers - after being vetted by the Alliance - will meet the Tok'ra at a location of their choosing, although for security reasons, they will not travel alone."
Catra half-expected the Tok'ra to make a comment about the Alliance not trusting them with security, but they just nodded in agreement. Probably didn't think they could object after their first meeting with the Alliance had almost ended with a Goa'uld spy blowing them up.
Catra snorted softly again. If that was what it took to run such meetings more smoothly, they needed more such spies.
Jack O'Neill would really love to have a Goa'uld attack right now. Or any attack that gave him an excuse to ditch the meeting and go shoot something. Or comb the desert for a possible spy. He was so sick of people arguing over minor details.
Of course, how the Tok'ra contacted potential hosts from Earth wasn't exactly a minor detail, given all the security concerns involved. And the diplomatic concerns on Earth since if they used the Stargate for transport, the Russians and Chinese - hell, the rest of the United Nations - would want in as well, and telling them off would piss them off. More than they already were. And probably have them look for ways to mess with the whole project - or infiltrate it. Or both. Though they would likely try that anyway. And if they held the host matchmaking meeting on Earth, they would have to pick a suitable location that was acceptable for most members of the Alliance without causing security concerns - no one wanted a snake, friendly or not, loose on Earth. Or kidnapped. Jack's bet was on Canada - close enough to the USA and Europe while not being the USA.
OK, some important concerns were being discussed, he admitted grudgingly to himself. It was still damn boring. And, more concerning, it was apparently boring enough for Anise to focus on him instead of on whoever was talking. At least she was too far away - separated from Jack by Carter and Entrapta - to actually talk, but the glances she kept sending him… If she was using her alien scanner to see through Jack's clothes, he would have some words with her.
He blinked. That might actually be a real concern. He would have to ask Carter about that - but how, without sounding like a… well, sounding like he was actually worried about alien peeping toms.
"...and with that, I think we could use a break from negotiations."
"I concur. We have refreshments and snacks prepared in the room next to this."
What? Already? Jack blinked. That was…
"Colonel O'Neill!"
And Anise came at him like a Sidewinder locked on his engine. Carter got up to intercept her, but the snake was focusing on Jack. "I would like your opinion on how demographics affect the war strategy."
Oh. That was a safe topic - unless they started talking about personally doing your part to increase demographics. So Jack shrugged as they were walking to the buffet next door. "Well, the Goa'uld still have us outnumbered with soldiers, but the numbers of soldiers don't count nearly as much as the number and quality of spaceships." Who controlled the air - or space, in this case - controlled the war. Usually. Vietnam came to mind as a counter-example, of course.
He relaxed a little as he picked up a glass of fruit juice from a tray at the door. Talking about strategy and tactics was something he could easily do.
"Well, according to your claims - backed up by the evidence so far - your ships are technologically superior to the Goa'uld ships," Anise said after taking a sip - more like a gulp, actually - from her own drink. "But numbers are crucial; the Goa'uld fleet is spread out, which facilitates defeating them in detail, but it also allows them to strike at many, many targets - in addition to the attacker's advantage of picking when and where to attack. And, unlike us, you have worlds you cannot easily evacuate and have to defend. That's a strategic liability."
"Yes." Jack nodded. No need to lie about that. "But in order to attack a world, you must first know where it is. And while they know about Earth, Etheria is not known to the Goa'uld." And the planet had only recently returned to this universe according to the Etherians - something Jack still had trouble understanding or even accepting. Sticking an entire solar system, planets, moons and sun, into a pocket dimension? It was mind-boggling!
"But you still need to guard it anyway, just to be safe. The political cost of exposing it to danger, much less the blow should it be lost, allow nothing else. And, of course, the Goa'uld will quickly learn of its existence once the war switches to open invasions. If they manage to capture an Etherian, they might even gain enough information to find the planet," Anise retorted.
Jack nodded, hiding a frown. He wasn't talking to a snake version of Entrapta, he reminded himself. Anise had the experience and background of a spy as well - and knew politics much better than Jack's friend.
But Anise's interpersonal skills were still a bit less than impressive, he added mentally when the woman shot him another look that was far too obvious and added: "But I am sure a man of your talents has solutions ready for such problems."
"Well, I'm not in charge of strategy," he said, raising his glass. "I'm just a colonel in Stargate Command."
"Not for long, I would hope." Anise looked him over again. "Surely your government realises what a waste that would be."
"I quite like it where I am," Jack said. "I've got the best team possible, and I do very important work. And other people are better at the paper-pushing thing. Strategy and logistics," he added when he saw her frown. "You know, the thing that wins wars."
"Do not sell yourself short, O'Neill. You are a very experienced and skilful warrior. Did not General Hammond comment that you could expect a promotion in the future?" Teal'c gave honest but completely unwanted praise.
And, of course, for once, Anise deigned to acknowledge Teal'c, nodding. "Exactly!"
"That still won't put me in any position where I could move fleets around," Jack pointed out. "I won't even be in charge of Stargate Command." At least, he hoped so.
Anise drained her glass. "That is a pity. On the other hand, if you are not burdened with such a high position, you have much more freedom to take part in missions - or other projects, correct?" She beamed at him,
Oh, Hell and damnation! Jack had absolutely no doubt what kind of 'projects' Anise had in mind. "Ah, I need another drink. I'll be right back!"
He glanced around as he went to refill his glass. Carter was talking with Entrapta and Martouf and not even looking in his direction. Daniel was talking with Per'sus. Adora, Glimmer and Bow were talking with Garshaw and Sir Watson. And…
"Just tell her you're not interested."
…and Catra was standing at his side, refilling her plate. She sounded bored, too, but that was probably feigned.
"That would be rude. And you know what they say about a woman scorned," he told her.
"No? What do they say?" She cocked her head, then plopped a fried piece of fish into her mouth.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," he quoted… he didn't actually know who had written that. Shakespeare?
To his surprise, Catra nodded in apparent agreement. "Oh, yes." Why was she…? "So, why are you risking such fury by flirting with Anise?" she asked.
Jack blinked. What did she…? He pressed his lips together to avoid lashing out at the insinuation.
And she sighed and shook her head. "You really need to sort this out. Trust me, I know."
He knew she wasn't just talking about telling Anise to stop hitting on him. But she didn't understand. Things were complicated. And against regulations. They were in the middle of a war - which would heat up soon - and they couldn't afford to wreck the best team Stargate Command had. Or disrupt… He shook his head. This wasn't like whatever Catra and Adora had. It was completely different. If this was even a thing at all - it wasn't as if he had talked to Carter about anything. But even without anything being said, there were moments…
"There is nothing to sort out," he snapped - knowing it was a lie.
Catra shook her head and turned away, headed back to Adora and the others.
"...of course, this tunnelling technology is very useful, but it can be replaced by conventional tunnelling techniques, while magitech opens entirely new fields of study - and more applications - so I do not think that an exchange with Ancient technology would be equal."
Adora frowned - Sir Watson did sound genuine, but what he said went against what she had heard about the Tok'ra technology from Bow and Entrapta.
"Even leaving aside the potential inherent in adapting the technology to other fields, as well as the sheer value for building infrastructure on planets you have just taken, I think you're undervaluing the fact that our technology, while based on Ancient technology, is not gene-locked to descendants of the Ancients," Garshaw retorted.
"Yes!" Entrapta piped up, nodding several times. "Working with this technology is much easier, from a researcher's point of view, than with First Ones technology. Sometimes not as interesting, though," she added with a pout.
Sir Watson didn't frown, Adora noted, but his smile grew a little more… polite. "Earth has the ability to produce prefab housing and bases. The differences in efficiency might be significant, of course, but not as significant as space superiority."
"But in order to take advantage of better FTL drives on a strategic level, you need to be able to produce ships in large numbers. We are limited by population and industrial capacity," Garshaw pointed out. "Advanced technology could improve existing ships, but that would mostly facilitate some operations, not change the balance of power."
"You could use your technology to quickly set up yards, though." Sir Watson nodded.
"Those would still require a workforce that we cannot provide and tooling we lack at the moment, and even with both requirements filled, we'd be talking years to show the first results."
"We can help out there! We did that for Earth's shuttle factories - bots are working there while the humans learn how to produce the designs!" Entrapta smiled widely.
"And we already agreed to let people volunteer as hosts, so that should cover the numbers you currently lack." Sir Watson added.
"In theory, but even so, we could not match the numbers of one of the prominent System Lords, much less your numbers." Garshaw shook her head.
It wasn't about who was more powerful within the Alliance! Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't yell at the diplomats. They were here to form an alliance to defeat the Goa'uld, not to compete with each other.
Glimmer stood. "We cannot lose sight of the overall goal - the defeat of the System Lords and the liberation of their worlds and slaves. While we do have to take the future after the war into account when we discuss the proliferation of advanced technology, we first need to secure victory. Also, it should be obvious that Earth could easily, once the humans adapt Ancient technology, become a dominant power in the Galaxy by sheer weight of numbers."
That… wasn't quite how Adora would have put it. You couldn't effectively fight in a war if you were already worried about what your allies would do after the war.
"We will need time to adapt advanced technology," Sir Watson objected.
"And you aren't united," Adora pointed out. "Many of your countries do outnumber Etheria, many times in some cases, but most of them lack full access to advanced technology."
"Yes." Sir Watson nodded again.
"And you'll probably fight each other before you would unite," Catra commented.
Sir Watson frowned at her. "I would hope that humanity has grown beyond that."
"Well, you might stick to a cold war like last time." Catra shrugged.
Adora cleared her throat. "We're here to form an alliance against the Goa'uld," she reminded everyone. "Working together, we're much stronger than alone since we complement each other."
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts," Sir Watson agreed.
"We have a common enemy," Garshaw said. "But we do need to take care not to sow the seeds for a new conflict while we fight this war."
Adora nodded. They needed trust and cooperation. And she knew that fighting the Goa'uld could provide both - if they managed to form an alliance first.
Which they would. Adora would make sure. The others would see that it was the best course of action.
Of course, she added to herself with a glance at Sam and Jack as the debate continued, sometimes, even smart people don't see what is obviously the best course of action. Stupid Air Fore rules! On the other hand, judging by what Adora had read up, the rules didn't say officers couldn't have a relationship with each other at all - just not within the same chain of command. But that would mean breaking up SG-1, which would be stupid as well.
The Air Force really needed to be more flexible, in Adora's opinion. Not every rule needed to apply to everyone. Everyone was different, after all.