Chapter 124: Cultural Exchange Part 6
Royal Palace, Kingdom of Salineas, Etheria, December 6th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"Ugh. Giving a demonstration like a trained pet. This is so annoying."
"But think of the opportunity to impress guests from another planet, my love! Another planet that's not Earth, I mean! Anyway, I've prepared a medley of my best sea shanties for this occasion, which will be the perfect accompaniment for your performance!"
"Don't try to steal the spotlight!"
"I would never do that to you, my love!"
Adora couldn't help sighing a little as she watched Mermista and Sea Hawk.
"I don't know why she keeps this up; no one believes her act, anyway," Glimmer muttered next to her. "She loves to show off."
Adora wasn't quite sure about that. Mermista was a bit grumpy at times. And she had a temper - like the sea, Sea Hawk had said once. And that this was one of the countless reasons he loved her and had never given up courting her.
Which was quite romantic, actually. But they were on a schedule. "I think we should proceed with the demonstration of your power," she told Mermista. "Sea Hawk can present his shanties after dinner."
"Oh, yes - when everyone's fed and content!" Sea Hawk nodded with a smile.
And Mermista shrugged, which counted as agreement as well.
"Let's go join our guests, then," Glimmer said.
"Our guests? We're in my kingdom."
"You know what I mean."
"Whatever."
Adora briefly, very briefly, rolled her eyes - it wasn't fair to be annoyed at her friends; this visit was proving to be more stressful than expected, and the whole plot against Jack on Earth wasn't helping. Nor that Catra was so busy with it. She hadn't come back until the morning, shortly before Adora had to get ready for the visit to Salineas, and so they hadn't been able to do much else but kiss and hug.
And then Catra had gone to bed, and Adora had gone to Salienas. Fortunately, they had taken the scenic route in a shuttle, flying at low altitude over the sea, and so the Asgard's reaction to seeing sailing ships plying the ocean's trade routes had not been overheard by Mermista. For a diplomatic delegation from an old species, the Asgard could be rather blunt. Adora didn't think there was anything wrong with using magic and sails together. Or magitech and sails. Weren't the Asgard supposed to be very traditional?
They stepped out of the palace and onto the mole sheltering the private harbour of the queen of Salineas, where the Asgard were waiting with the others.
"...and I had plans for the Horde frigates as well, to make them fly instead of float, but Hordak reminded me that if we wanted flying transport and warships, we might as well go all the way and make spaceships - only, we had a fleet already, and if I constructed a new ship for us, Darla might get jealous," Entrapta explained, hair and arms waving around.
"You won't design new ships because your old ones might get jealous?" Thor sounded doubtful - and a little bit shocked - in Adora's opinion.
"Well… she was abandoned and buried in the Crimson Waste for so long, I don't want her to worry that we would replace her - which we would never do! I can keep her upgraded so she can match any modern ship. Well, any modern ship we know, and in her class. She wouldn't be able to match a battleship, would she?"
"With enough of a technological advantage, yes, she would," Hordak said.
"Oh, right."
It looked like they would have to keep an eye on Entrapta again so she wouldn't neglect either crucial projects or her health so she could build more upgrades for Darla, Adora noted. But that could wait until this visit was over. "Sorry for the wait," she told the group. "Something came up."
"Yeah, yeah," Mermista added, nodding at their guests. "So, you're interested in my magic."
"Yes, we are," Freyr replied.
They were here so the Asgard could enjoy Salineas's culture. Adora almost said something about it, but Mermista had already turned away and was facing the sea.
"So, take a good look." She raised her trident, then gestured with it, and a huge wave suddenly rose from the sea. Higher than the masts of the ships in the main harbour. That was… more than Adora had expected. She knew Mermista could do this, but her friend rarely did that outside emergencies.
"Someone prepared for this," Glimmer mumbled. "And she acts as if she didn't want to show off?"
"Ah, my love - the Queen of the Seven Seas!" Sea Hawk put a hand over his heart and raised his chin as the wave slowly moved closer, then turned around its own axis, barely missing the mole.
Mermista grinned, then jumped into the sea, startling the Asgard - and even more when she emerged, her legs having turned into a fishtail, and rode the wave all across the harbour, then out to the sea.
"Telekinetic control over liquid on such a scale!"
"And the ability to manipulate her own body to transform into a hybrid life form!"
Well, the Asgard were impressed, Adora told herself.
"Now we just have to make sure Sea Hawk's shanties won't mortally insult the Asgard, and this trip wasn't a waste," Glimmer commented while they watched Mermista show off more of her powers.
Adora nodded, though she didn't think that was likely. Not after sitting through their best epic before. Sea Hawk was a master performer compared to that.
Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, December 6th, 1999
Being healed by She-Ra when she was channelling the magic of an entire planet wasn't quite a rejuvenation treatment, but it came close. Samantha Carter had felt a lot younger ever since that moment on Saqarra. Although, as she was reminded today again, feeling younger didn't mean she was actually twenty again. At the age of twenty, she had been able to work through the night without feeling it in the morning.
Or, she amended her thoughts as she stepped out of the shuttle that had brought her to Stargate Command, maybe she hadn't been old enough to realise that her efficiency had been affected by lack of sleep. It wasn't as if most of the tests at the Air Force Academy had been too challenging.
"Major Carter." General Hammond himself was there in the hangar, greeting her. "We're happy you found the time to come."
Was that a trace of resentment? And if so, was it aimed at her or at the fact that he was stuck at Stargate Command and hadn't been transferred to Alliance headquarters? Sam couldn't tell. "Of course, I'd make the time, sir," she answered, stifling a yawn. She'd had almost five hours of sleep, she reminded herself - she shouldn't be so tired.
"Well, I am glad it's not my command that's keeping you awake until the morning any more," General Hammond flashed her a wry smile.
She returned the smile. Of course, he'd see through her act - he knew her almost as well as the General did. "Needs must," she said. "But I don't make a habit of it."
The General would have made a joke about Sam only doing it every second night, but Hammond merely nodded. "Anyway, we're glad you came. Dr Gregorovich tried his best, but he couldn't solve the issue with the Stargate central computer program."
Sam frowned. She had documented the code and written a user and maintenance manual for the entire system before she had transferred to the Alliance - precisely because she wouldn't have the time to run back to Stargate Command to solve every issue that cropped up. Or shouldn't have the time - the Stargate was crucial for the Alliance, so fixing any issues with it took priority even over the latest problem. She wouldn't have left the General face Kinsey by himself, otherwise. But, still! Iwan could read English perfectly fine, his accent notwithstanding! "And what about the other scientists?"
"They couldn't solve the issue either." General Hammond nodded at the guard at the lift, who stood at attention as they entered. "To their great chagrin, as General Petit put it."
She eyed the general with slightly narrowed eyes. Was that a pun? Or was she imagining things? She focused on the task at hand. "So, none have found the reason why dialling an address suddenly takes longer than it should? Did anyone look for a mechanical defect yet?"
"Yes. The gate itself is not affected."
Of course, they would have checked that. Still, Sam had to ask - sometimes, people overlooked the most simple cause for a problem. She nodded. "So, not a hardware problem."
"Not as far as we know."
Oh. General Hammond was being a bit too… bland. Sam narrowed her eyes again. "Did Iwan ask for my assistance?"
"Yes, he did. General Sidorov and General Li wanted him to keep trying, but he insisted that he had tried everything to fix it."
That sly Russian - a quarter Welsh - scientist! Sam was pretty sure he knew far more about what was wrong with the Stargate Command computer than he had let on. And he wanted her to find it. And that meant this wasn't a computer problem.
This was a security problem. And a political problem.
"I'm a scientist," she muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?" General Hammond turned to look at her right when the doors opened.
"Nothing, sir."
Just an overdose of politics, she heard the General comment in the back of her mind.
Gate Area, Near Bright Moon, Etheria, December 6th, 1999 (Earth Time)
Catra smiled as she approached the Stargate. It was afternoon, and she had spent the entire day in bed while everyone else was dealing with the Asgard. And with the grumpy water princess. Sure, Catra had worked through the night before, but that had been while infiltrating a spy headquarters and hunting traitors - interesting, not boring. Or annoying.
And now, it was time to head back to Earth and check up on the plot against Jack. And avoid more paperwork.
Work waiting.
She snorted, tilting her head to raise her eyebrows at Melog. "It's not the same."
Same.
She snorted again. "It's not." If it was interesting, it wasn't really work. Earth had a saying about that.
Melog radiated some smugness in return.
The guards at the Stargate didn't even twitch; they were used to them communicating like that. The officer in charge nodded at her while the Stargate started to rise. "To Earth?"
Where else would she be going? She had been doing that trip every day for a while now. She nodded instead of pointing that out; better to stick to procedure than to let the gate crew get used to anticipating any requests. That could really mess up things in the worst moments.
The Stargate started spinning a few moments later, followed by the vortex extending and collapsing. Catra suppressed the slight unease she felt as she approached the stabilised wormhole. If there was a mistake, or sabotage, she would end up splattered against the iris at Stargate command at lightspeed or something. She had to trust that this wouldn't happen. Had to trust the people at Stargate Command. And all the stories she had heard from Jack and the others made that a bit difficult. All those crises…
Well, they hadn't messed up in that way. Not so far. She nodded at the guards and stepped through.
A disturbing but also thrilling moment later, Melog and Catra stepped into Stargate Command on Earth. "Hi, everyone!" She waved with a grin - but narrowed her eyes when she spotted Sam in the control room, bent over the console there, with the Russian scientists next to her and Hammond and the Russian general hovering a bit behind.
"I think something's not right here," she muttered. Sam wasn't assigned to Stargate Command any more. And she had better things to do, many more, than helping out her old command - unless she was urgently needed here for another crisis.
Yes. Problem, Melog agreed.
"Then let's see what the problem is - and what we can do about it," she said. Turning to the Gate guards, she added: "We're going to meet Major Carter." She flashed her fangs to make sure the men knew this wasn't a request.
A minute later, they entered the command room. "Hi, Sam! Hello, General Hammond. Dr Gregorovich. Everyone else."
They were expecting her. "Catra." Hammond nodded at her. "Melog."
"Miss Catra! Melog! Welcome to humble abode!" Gregorovich smiled at her.
Sidorov, of course, glared. The man didn't like to be lumped in with everyone else. Which was why Catra had done it.
"So, what's wrong this time?" she asked, hopping up to sit on the console next to Sam's.
"We're dealing with a computer problem," Sam explained. "The core unit doesn't perform to spec."
"Da! Half as fast as it should be," Gregorovich added.
"It isn't quite that bad," Sam corrected him. "But it's still a noticeable drop in performance."
"Someone messed with your code?" Catra asked. It would have been stupid, but people were stupid. Even the smart ones. Or especially the smart ones. Many of them just couldn't let things be as long as they worked. If someone had tried to improve the computer and messed up…
"The core programs are working fine. We're checking the subroutines now, then the peripherals."
Catra wasn't a computer expert - Entrapta and Bow handled that stuff - but she had kept up with the basics when she had led the Horde. If they were checking every part of the system… "No documented changes, I guess."
"No." Sam frowned.
"And no one admitted extra work." Gregorovich shook his head. "Not even after we say that no gulag waiting for them for mistake."
Catra snorted, though it might not be a joke. Or a mistake. Sidorov hadn't commented yet, she noticed. The Russian was glaring at everyone, especially Gregorovich, though.
And wasn't that interesting? She grinned.
Then her ears twitched when Sam's computer beeped. She knew that kind of alert - it had found something.
Sam dropped all pretence that she had been paying attention to their talk and focused on her screen. "Ah! The peripherals have undocumented activity showing." Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Another beep. Different tone. "And there just was an attempt to access my computer."
"A hacker?" Hammond asked.
"More like a virus, sir." Sam looked up with a grim expression. "Someone infected the Stargate computers with malware."
Catra hissed under her breath. Sabotage. Or spying. Or both. If that virus had gotten to the controls for the iris in mid-transit… She glanced at Sidorov. He was tense, but everyone was.
Afraid.
Catra bared her teeth in a grin. Infecting the Stargate computers wasn't easy. Sam and Entrapta had done the security; the core computer and its peripherals weren't connected to the outside. So, it had to be an inside job.
And Catra was sure she knew who was responsible.
Hammond was still cursing under his breath. "Can you remove the virus?"
"Yes, sir. But it will take a while. And we should shut down the Stargate until we've purged the systems."
"Da. Better safe than sorry, right?"
Catra nodded in agreement. "And we need to find the traitor behind this," she added.
Sidorov tensed up even more.
Capitol, Washington D.C., United States of America, Earth, December 6th, 1999
"Thank you for coming to see me on such a short notice, General O'Neill. Even for a Senator, getting a flight on short notice so close to the Holidays would have been a hassle, and some things shouldn't be trusted to a phone call."
Jack O'Neill was pretty sure that Kinsey was lying. The first clue was that the man was talking. But Jack was also sure that Kinsey wouldn't have any problems getting a flight, even if it were Christmas Eve. "It was no trouble," he replied, leaning back in his seat.
"Ah, yes - I heard about your personal shuttle." Kinsey smiled almost wistfully. "It's remarkably convenient. I don't think even the President has a shuttle at his disposal like that."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the man as his polite smile faded. "It's assigned to my command. When it's not needed for combat missions or training, it serves as transportation." He managed to close his mouth before he added a comment about Kinsey's office being much nicer than his own. Even if it was true - the scumbag probably had lots of equally corrupt visitors to cater to.
"Of course. I'm sure all the i's are dotted, and the t's are crossed." Kinsey's smile wasn't as patronising as it usually was when the guy thought he had the upper hand, but he couldn't hide his attitude completely.
Jack nodded. "Of course. I've got nothing to hide." He made a point of glancing around the senator's office.
Kinsey was unfazed. "Of course not. Although in politics, appearances matter as much - or more - than facts." He put his elbows on his desk and laced his fingers
Jack shrugged. "You would know. I'm a soldier, not a politician."
"Isn't there a saying that war was just the continuation of politics by other means?" Kinsey asked.
"Clausewitz." His exact quote was a bit different, but that was the gist. "But he didn't mean for soldiers to make politics." Well, maybe he had meant that - there was the old joke about Prussia being an army with a state, which had some grounding in facts.
"You're a member of Alliance High Command, General. At your rank, you are involved in politics whether you admit it or not." Kinsey's smile grew a few teeth. "And, seeing how close you are to the Supreme Commander of the Alliance and key leaders of the senior member in the Alliance, I would say you are doing very well."
And I bet you're envious, Jack thought. He didn't say that, though, but snorted instead. "That's not politics, senator. We're friends."
"And friends help each other."
Oh, for… Jack clenched his teeth for a moment. "What are you insinuating, Senator?"
Kinsey's smile grew just a smidgen. "As I said, appearances matter in politics. You appear to be rising beyond the reach of many of your peers, General, thanks to your friendship with the Etherians."
Jack slightly tilted his head to the side. "My peers, who cultivated the friendships of American politicians to advance their careers?" Such as yourself?
"Precisely." Kinsey's smile didn't falter. "Unfortunately, some of your peers are not quite as skilled in politics as they thought they were and are misjudging their situation."
Jack frowned. "Misjudging their situation?"
Kinsey nodded. "They - and, unfortunately, a number of my esteemed colleagues in Congress - don't seem to understand our Etherian allies, and their actions reflect that."
Jack nodded, wishing the man would get to the point.
Kinsey leaned back. "They act as if the princesses were American politicians, beholden to public opinion and certain standards."
Jack snorted again. "They should attend a lecture or two of Daniel about that topic. He loves talking about the differences between Earth and Etheria."
"Oh, yes. Dr Jackson's lessons were very insightful. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues tend to listen to lobbyists more than to scientists." Kinsey sighed. "Many are also too conservative to adapt to changes, even drastic, fundamental changes. But I digress."
Yes, you do, Jack thought. You didn't call me here to vent about your colleagues.
Kinsey leaned forward. "They don't get that Etherians consider politics a personal affair. And they don't get that the Etherians won't throw a friend to the wolves to maintain appearances because they don't have to care about appearances - at least not as far as the public is concerned."
So that was why Kinsey hadn't moved against him, Jack realised. A great deal made sense now. "Are you talking about General Smith?"
Kinsey nodded, his expression shifting to show satisfaction. "Of course. You've been aware of his attempts to slander you as corrupt for some time now."
Kinsey made it sound as if Jack kept tabs on all potential 'rivals' or something. Like Kinsey surely did. Jack shrugged in response. "Not in any detail."
"You are too modest, General. I know you've been investigating him and his contacts." Kinsey smiled, showing all his teeth. "And so have I."
And now came the offer. Jack tilted his head. "Ah."
"Yes." Kinsey nodded in that smarmy, self-satisfied manner of his. "Smith thinks that if you look like you're abusing your position, you will be relieved of your post. He's wrong, of course - even if you were abusing your position for personal gain, your friends wouldn't care. That's just how leaders in absolute monarchies act, after all. Something anyone with experiences with dictatorships on Earth should have been aware of, of course."
Jack glared at the scumbag. "Are you really comparing Adora and the other princesses to dictators, Senator?"
Kinsey nodded. "They effectively are dictators, General. Absolute monarchs. Friendly, idealistic and, as far as it looks like, benevolent ones, but they aren't beholden to anyone and not bound by any law but, possibly, outside pressure. Pressure which not even a united Earth could bring to bear at the moment."
That was… not as completely wrong as Jack would like. It was still not right, though. "And yet they are more trustworthy than anyone on Earth," he retorted. "They'll keep their word even if it costs them." As their issues with the Asgard proved.
Kinsey shrugged. "You're not exactly unbiased, General. But as long as the interests of Earth and Etheria align, I doubt that the princesses' honour will be put to the test, so to speak."
Jack pressed his lips together. As if Kinsey knew anything about honour! "I doubt that you called me to Washington just to talk about our allies'."
"Not just to talk about our allies, no." Kinsey smiled again. "But your relationship with the Etherians features a great deal in many talks at the highest level, General. And that means you are a person of great interest and importance to our government."
Something you no doubt hate, Jack thought - but he nodded slowly. No point in denying the obvious.
"Should anything happen to you, the repercussions would be grave and unpredictable. And that means many people keep tabs on you."
Jack snorted. "Like the NID."
"Amongst others." Kinsey didn't quite shrug but tilted his head to the side for a moment. "Not just American groups, of course - our NATO allies are aware of your influence as well, and so are Russia and China, especially with their access to Stargate Command's records. Even redacted, they reveal quite a lot about you."
"Only good things, I hope." Jack flashed a grin at Kinsey.
Kinsey's smile twisted for a moment. "That's a matter of opinion. The insights those records allow into your characters are a two-edged sword, so to speak. In more ways than one, actually - you have a history of doing what you think is right, sometimes to the point of insubordination. While your results speak for themselves, that is not a trait everyone considers admirable in a soldier, much less someone with your personal influence on the highest level of politics."
"Mindless obedience is not a trait encouraged in the US Armed Forces," Jack retorted. "That's the Goa'uld way."
"Soldiers acting independently of, or even against the will of the civilian government is not the American way either, General."
Oh, that was rich! "Neither is having secret services running out of control," Jack snapped.
Kinsey smiled in return. "Like having a team investigate General Smith and various civilians?"
Jack clenched his teeth. Can't lose my temper, he reminded himself. "Investigating potential alien infiltrations falls under the mandate of the Alliance."
Kinsey laughed. "Oh, I have no doubt that you ensured your private investigation was authorised by the Supreme Commander. But we both know what you did - and why, General."
You think you know, Jack thought. "What do you want?"
Kinsey leaned back, smiling in that self-satisfied way as if he had just won something. "I want you to be more careful, General."
"What?" What did he mean?
"As I've said before, you are a very important person. With the possible exception of Major Carter, no one else in the Alliance, or on Earth, is as close to the leading Etherian princesses as you are. And most of them are very young, barely out of their teens. Idealistic. Passionate. And absolute monarchs in control of the most powerful member of the Alliance. Who could tell how they would react should anything happen to you?"
Was that a threat? Jack narrowed his eyes. "They're veterans. They fought in a decades-long war. They know the risks." Or should, though She-Ra's ability to heal anyone would skew that.
"Oh, yes. Combat isn't what I - and others, including the president - are worried about. No, it's attacks of a different nature against you, General."
"Like Smith, you mean."
Another smug grin. "Exactly. Appearances matter, General," Kinsey repeated himself. "If you are seen as corrupt, as abusing your position for personal gain - or to sabotage potential rivals - and the Supreme Commander of the Alliance makes it clear that you will not suffer any consequences, how will that look to the public? And to your peers in the Armed Forces?" He shook his head. "It would undermine the support for the Alliance and even the war. Not fatally, of course. Not in the middle of a war for our lives. But it will strain our relations with the Etherians and the public's trust in our soldiers, our allies and our government. And that will affect the war."
And probably your plans, Jack thought. "Unless such detractors were revealed to be corrupt themselves."
Kinsey chuckled. "Indeed, General. Whether they actually are corrupt or not, should they be perceived as such, the whole affair would look very different, wouldn't it? And that's where we come in."
Ah. Jack forced himself not to snarl at him. "You want the NID to handle this."
"What I want is you and your friends to stop meddling in this and focus on the war. The NID is already handling this. You're a very capable officer, General, but this is not your area of expertise. And the more you meddle, the harder you make it for us to handle this and keep your reputation clean."
Jack wanted to deck the bastard. Smash his grinning teeth in. "You've been handling this for a while, have you?" he spat. That would explain why Smith thought he had the support to pull this off. And probably how the damn actor got involved. And Wilkinson… had probably been on the NID's list as a useful crusader for justice or something, perfect for this kind of plot.
Kinsey smiled. "It pays to be proactive in this business. You do your job, General, and we do ours. Everybody wins."
Until those jobs collided with each other, Jack thought. Or Kinsey would attempt to use this as leverage. But he hadn't, so far. If Jack pushed the issue, things would go as Kinsey had mentioned, only worse. And while Jack was tempted to stick it to Kinsey anyway, it wasn't worth it. Not now.
Damn.
Royal Palace, Kingdom of Snows, Etheria, December 6th, 1999 (Earth Time)
The ice skating show was great, in Adora's opinion - she was clapping with a wide smile when the skaters - or would they be dancers? - showed up at the end to bow to the audience after dazzling them with jumps and stunts, performed to live music, for an hour.
"Encore!" Bow yelled. "Encore!"
"Huh?" Glimmer looked as confused as Adora felt.
"That's what they yell on Earth when they want another song at a concert," he explained.
"And do you think they know that?" Glimmer asked.
"Ah…" Bow winced. "I didn't think of that."
"Duh!"
Adora glanced around. Indeed, no one seemed to have caught Bow's meaning in the audience - and the cast of the show left the stage - or rink to applause without performing another scene.
Sighing, she glanced at the Asgard - the show had been so captivating that she had almost forgotten about them.
They had their heads stuck together and were talking. Had the show fascinated them as well? Adora hoped that was the case. Sea Hawk's shanties hadn't, unfortunately. "So, what do you think?" she asked.
"The ice that covered the stage," Freyr said. "Princess Frosta couldn't have produced so much water out of the air; we would have felt the effects. She must have magically created the water."
"Uh… yes?" Adora tilted her head and tried not to look confused.
"How long will it last?" Penegal asked.
"Normally, until it melts?" That was how it had been when Frosta had fought in the war. "But since we're here in the Kingdom of Snows, it won't melt unless someone heats the ice," she added.
"By 'melting', do you mean ice turning into water or disappearing?" Freyr sounded very intently for such a simple question.
"Frosta's Ice turns into water," Glimmer told him. "It's magically created, but otherwise works as normal ice."
"So, she creates matter - water - out of nothing?" Thor shook his head.
"Yes?" Adora answered him anyway.
"But… that means…" Freyr seemed concerned. "You're creating matter from magic. How does that affect the planet over time?"
Adora frowned. That was a good question, actually. Constantly adding water to Etheria over time would probably affect the climate. On the other hand… "I don't think Frosta creates enough ice to affect the entire world," she said.
"But if her successor inherits her power, and if her predecessors had the same power…" Freyr trailed off.
"The whole line would only be a thousand years old," Glimmer said. "That was when the First Ones created the powers."
The Asgard quickly nodded, but Adora was sure they would try to calculate the total amount of water Frosta and the other princesses of the Kingdom of Snows had created since the founding of the line.
She blinked, then sighed a second time. Once more, the Asgard had been focusing on the magic used in and for the show, not on the performance of the artists. "What did you think of the show?" she asked, already suspecting the answer.
"It was rather interesting," Freyr said, but Adora didn't think he sounded honest.
"It was a little light on magic and magitech. I thought this was a core part of your culture," Penegal commented.
Thor nodded. "And it was a little hard to follow the plot."
"And when the performers moved to the back, it was hard to see what they were doing," Penegal added.
"Yes." Freyr nodded. "If you could play the recording as it's being recorded on a big screen, that would probably make it easier to watch the performance."
"It wasn't recorded." Frosta had arrived, and Adora winced - she must have been too distracted to notice the princess's approach. If Catra were here, she would tease her mercilessly about it.
"It wasn't recorded?" Thor looked surprised.
"This was a royal performance in your honour," Frosta explained. "Recording it would have been rude."
"So… the only recording of this performance are our memories?" Freyr shook his head.
"Exactly," Frosta said.
"But you aren't… You will all die one day. And the memory - the memories - will be lost. Your heirs will never know this performance." Penegal looked at them. "Don't you think this is a great loss?"
Bow looked a little torn about it, but Frosta shook her head without showing any doubts. "No. My successor will make their own memories."
"That's part of our culture," Glimmer added. "Not everything is recorded for prosperity."
"But you'll lose so much…" Thor sounded as if this was the weirdest thing he had ever heard during this visit.
"And we won't get weighed down by it," Micah cut in. "We won't have to live up to our predecessors. Our performances won't be compared to those of the distant past. That's rather liberating, I think."
The Asgard didn't look as if they'd agreed, but Adora understood what he meant. And so did the others, judging by the way they smiled at Micah.
Though Adora didn't really feel like smiling - the more of Etheria they showed to the Asgard, the deeper the rift seemed to grow. And the Asgard only seemed to be interested in finding out more about magic and magitech.
She blinked. They really only seemed to care about magic. Much more than they cared about the deal with Loki, even.
Stargate Command, CFB Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, December 6th, 1999
The full Stargate Command Council had been assembled before Samantha Carter had finished her examination of the last peripherals of the system. Of course, she had expected that - any commander in charge of a military installation would come running if told that their computer systems had been infiltrated.
But it did affect her attempts to complete her scans. General Hammond, of course, knew better than to bother her. And General Haig had merely asked for a short explanation and then let her work, but General Petit had offered both questions and suggestions that were neither new nor helpful and only showed that he wasn't a trained IT specialist. And Sidorov and Li…
"Are you absolutely certain that the system was hacked? After you were reassigned, other specialists took over maintenance. They might have changes you mistook for unauthorised alterations," Li asked. Or suggested - after a few similar questions, his tone and manner had subtly shifted and now implied that Sam should 'carefully consider' this. At least in her impression.
"I can safely discard that possibility, General," she replied.
"Who's to say that you didn't plant those programs yourself? To frame others or sabotage the Stargate program now that you aren't in full control of its systems any more?" Sidorov glared at her, then at General Hammond. "I know NATO is just waiting for a pretext to take over Earth's gateway to the stars!" he blustered.
"Really? Is that the best you could come up with?" Catra burst out laughing before Sam could think of a response that would let her call the Russian a paranoid liar while remaining within the bounds of proper conduct for an officer.
Sidorov rounded on her. "And what are you doing here? This does not concern aliens! This is a highly secret matter for the United Nations Security Council's appointed task force!"
"I'm here because I was passing through when I heard that the facility we use for crucial Alliance tasks was compromised," Catra retorted with a wide grin that showed her fangs. "So, I'm here to find out what happened - and who did try to sabotage the Stargate."
"This is none of your business!" Sidorov snapped. "You do not have any authority here! And neither do you!" he added with a glance at Sam. "Who let an outsider access our computers, anyway?"
"I specifically called Major Carter because of performance issues with our systems which she, as the one most familiar with our computers, would be most likely to solve," General Hammond spoke up. "You were aware of that, General."
"Da!" Iwan nodded. "It was my recommendation - Sam is best specialist for computers here we know."
Judging by the glare Sidorov sent at him, Sam expected Iwan to ask for asylum in the West - or on Etheria - after this so he didn't end up in a gulag. There weren't supposed to be any gulags left in Russia, but Russia also wasn't supposed to bug Stargate Command's system, and while Sam hadn't proof of the latter, she was sure that Sidorov was involved - and Li as well.
And she really doubted that either of the two Generals had done this on their own initiative. The real question was why they had done it.
She pondered this while her programs worked on analysing the code of the last group of peripherals and Catra needled Sidorov. From what she could tell, the programs she had discovered monitored all traffic, both data and Stargate traffic. But Russia and China already had access to Stargate Command's records. They had access to the Stargate as well. They could track any Alliance movement already.
But the Alliance, through the U.N. Security Council, controlled the Stargate. And that must rankle Russia and China. And half the world's nations that had issues with the Etherians, the West or both, she added. Still, what was the point of this software? They already had access to Stargate Command's systems.
She frowned and ran a few more checks while the scan continued. Yes, the programs monitored the data traffic, but that shouldn't lead to performance issues. And wouldn't have necessitated such a complete infiltration of the systems. No, the reason the performance had suffered was that the program effectively ran the entire system, all peripherals, anything connected, through a subsystem of its own. Merely monitoring the data wouldn't be enough of a reason for that, nor for the risks they had taken.
No. She pressed her lips together. Whoever had done this wanted to manipulate the system. But to what point? It wasn't as if they could hide using the Stargate from the Alliance. Not when three-fifths of Stargate Command was staffed by the militaries of allied nations.
Or could they?
Sam ignored Sidorov's yelling in the background - Catra had made him lose his temper entirely - and focused on the subverted systems. If you could manipulate the security system and the database, you would be, in theory, able to manipulate the system so you could sneak strangers through the Stargate by placing trusted people in key positions.
But because of such threats, the Alliance ensured that no matter what, someone trusted kept eyes on the Stargate at all times. And Russia and China already had the opportunity to sneak spies or diplomats on missions by listing them as military personnel; it wasn't as if the Alliance could dispute such claims. So, this was pointless.
Unless, Sam realised with a sinking feeling, some of the trusted staff on Stargate Command had been suborned by Russia or China. Or both.