Chapter 25: The Naquadah Crisis Part 5
Earth Orbit, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"And guard it well. Do not let anyone tamper with it." Adora tried to smile as she gave the order. Just so the clones wouldn't…
"We shall defend it with our lives! None shall even as much as gaze on it while one of us yet draws breath, Your Divine Highness!"
…do that. Overreact to every little request. She suppressed the urge to grimace. They didn't know any better. Not yet. "Very well. We will depart, but we - or some of us - will return to properly analyse the threat this container poses."
"As you command, Your Divine Highness!" every clone present chorused, saluting her.
Adora didn't sigh until she was back inside Darla. It wasn't the clones' fault that they had been raised to revere a leader as if it was a god. Horde Prime had committed many crimes, and while most wouldn't think what he had done to his clones was comparable to rendering entire planets and species extinct, Adora had to disagree. The way he had raised his clones, shaped them - indoctrinated them so they would blindly follow him, even at the cost of their lives, thinking it was a great honour to serve as his vessel… She couldn't help thinking of her own training. And what she might have done, not knowing any better, if she hadn't found the sword. And if she hadn't met Glimmer and Bow.
At least WrongHordak and Second Fleet showed that they could change - and grow past their conditioning. Even First Fleet's remnants were, in a way, encouraging with their reluctance to commit to the Alliance - they were not blindly following a leader any more.
"Cheer up! At least they'll keep it safe. Unlike everyone else," Catra told her with a scoff.
As usual, she knew what Adora was thinking. Then again, everyone knew how Adora thought about the clones worshipping her. Even the clones, but they somehow ignored it completely.
Although… "That's unfair. We don't know what happened in Egypt or in Honduras," Adora said with a slight frown.
Catra shrugged and stretched her hands over her head, stretching. "We do know that the relics or whatcha call them weren't kept safe."
"The people on Earth didn't know about them until we told them," Adora pointed out.
"Details, details. Our success rate is a hundred per cent, and theirs is… zilch?" Catra retorted as they entered the bridge.
"SG-1 has a great success rate when it comes to handling alien technology," Jack told them with a frown.
"Too bad your planet is ruining it," Catra shot back.
"Well, you wanted to deal with the entire planet." Jack bared his teeth in a grin.
Catra narrowed her eyes and flashed her fangs in return. "Who let a Goa'uld create a cult under their nose?"
"Oh, stop it, you two!" Glimmer snapped. "We have a country to save, and we don't need this posturing."
"Yes," Adora agreed. "Did we get any more information about what's going on while we handed over the container and the Death Glider?"
"No," Catra said.
"You weren't on the bridge," Jack pointed out.
"I've got good ears," Adora's friend told him.
Glimmer loudly sighed. "Nothing concrete. Just more translations of what's basically screaming and crying about the 'walking dead'."
"Zombies," Jack said. "The walking dead are zombies."
"Zombies are fictional, Sir," Sam told him. "And, seeing as Earth's magic hasn't been activated, we can rule out a magical origin of whatever is happening in Honduras."
"Unless someone sneaked out and did the magic thing," Jack said - looking at Adora.
She glared at him. "I wouldn't do that behind your back!"
"But you would do it against our will." He stared at her.
"Many people on Earth want magic returned," Adora said. "We know that."
"From your own television," Catra added with a grin.
"Many don't want magic to make a return," Jack countered.
"Too bad for them," Glimmer said. "They don't have to use magic if they don't want to, but they don't get to forbid others from having magic returned to them."
"Ah, that's oversimplifying things, I think. The matter is more complex. Even those who do not want to use magic will see it used on them." Daniel smiled weakly. "And they are afraid of that."
"You shouldn't make decisions motivated by fear," Entrapta cut in. "They tend to be illogical. And usually bad for you."
"Yes," Adora said, nodding firmly. "From what we can tell, the same people who fear magic also fear gays."
"Or science," Entrapta added.
"So, screw them!" Catra grinned. "We're not going to listen to those idiots."
Jack pressed his lips together.
Daniel frowned. "Their fear might be irrational, but it's still something to take into account. The world is complex, and simple solutions often turn out to have unintended consequences."
"Sometimes, it's not about what's simple or complex, but what's right and wrong," Adora told him. "Just as we won't let others tell us who we can love, we won't let them tell us that we can't return magic to Earth. Not when people on Earth want it back. It's their birthright."
"Think of it as returning something that was stolen from Earth a thousand years ago," Catra said. "Oh, wait - returning stolen things, that's also a complex problem on Earth, isn't it?"
Jack glared but didn't say anything. Daniel, though, dug his heels in. "It's not quite that simple. In the past…"
"Hello! We're about to land in Honduras!" Glimmer interrupted him. "You can argue about magic and stolen goods once we've solved the problem!"
Adora nodded, once again in agreement with her friend. Saving people came first.
*****
Reserva de la Biosfera de Río Plátano, Honduras, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)
"Alright, let's meet the locals! Let's hope they're friendlier than the last batch."
Samantha Carter smiled wryly at the Colonel's comment as the ramp of the ship started to extend. It wasn't entirely the Egyptians' fault that they had parted on less than cordial terms.
"Well, if you're polite and friendly, it's generally reciprocated," Daniel said.
"I'm very friendly," the Colonel replied.
"Not everyone has the same cultural norms, Jack. What you consider friendly might be seen as rude by others," Daniel retorted. "The stereotype of rude Americans exists for a reason."
"Technically, we're in America," the Colonel said.
"Central America. The people here have had some unfortunate experiences with the United States policies in the past," Daniel said. "And some might carry a grudge."
Sam was all too aware of that. And she was certain that the Colonel knew it as well - he might have been involved in some of it, in the past - his file had a lot of classified parts, as she knew from testing Stargate Command's computer security. But she also didn't expect the Colonel to change his general approach to meeting new people. That just wasn't him.
"Great," Glimmer commented with a sigh. "More old grudges."
"People should learn to let go of the past," Entrapta said. "You shouldn't let past grievances define your future."
"Well… there's a saying: Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it," Daniel said.
"And there's another saying: Don't waste time when you're under attack," Catra cut in.
The ramp touched the ground, and the airlock opened. The Colonel was first out of the door, walking with an easy gait. Sam narrowed her eyes. Something was different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the Colonel was… not off. Just different.
Four people were waiting at the edge of the landing site. One of them would be the local commander of the Honduran Army - probably the major to the right. The general next to him was too old to be in the field - and too high in rank. There was a captain, probably an aide, and a man in camouflage clothes without any rank insignia.
And the Colonel tensed. That was a bad sign.
"Hello!" Adora said - she must have missed that. "I'm She-Ra." She proceeded to introduce everyone.
"I'm General Bonilla." The older officer nodded at everyone. "These are Major Reyes, commander of our forces in the area, Captain Benìtez and…"
"Burke," the Colonel spat.
"O'Neill." The man - apparently Burke - replied with a glare.
"You know each other?"
"Yes."
"Jack?" Daniel asked.
"Classified."
"Oh."
Burke snorted.
"Ah." The general looked from the Colonel to Burke and back. "This won't be a problem, I hope."
"No." "No."
Sam hoped that neither was lying.
"So, you've got a zombie problem?" the Colonel nodded at Bonilla.
"We have a problem," Bonilla replied, gesturing towards a tent nearby - a mobile command centre. As they walked over, the general continued: "We've sent forces into the reserve to secure the site of the alien artefact. They had strict orders to avoid contact with any piece of technology - observing and guarding only. But soon after entering the area in question, they reported a clash with unknown forces. The officer in charge considered them to be bandits or poachers."
"Or guerrillas," Burke commented.
"We don't have guerillas in Honduras," the general replied with a frown. "In any case, soon afterwards, we received the reports you already saw and then lost contact completely."
They reached the tent, and two soldiers drew the flaps back for them. Inside was a rather modern radio and computer centre - Sam honestly hadn't expected that kind of quality here. She saw top of the line encryption gear - even SG-1 didn't have anything better except for what they had constructed themselves using advanced technology.
"So… what's so important that Uncle Sam sprang for all of this?" the Colonel asked Burke, nodding at the gear.
The Honduran officers glanced at each other. The soldiers present carefully didn't look at anything except their screens.
"Uncle Sam?" Adora asked. "The United States?"
"We've been running a clean-up operation here," Burke said.
"'Clean-up' operation?" The Colonel snorted. "Some formerContras going freelance for the Cartels?"
Burke grinned, which was probably answer enough.
"So, your troops got wasted by veterans from the Nicaraguan civil war, and now they control the alien technology." The Colonel sighed.
"We don't know the identity of the forces in question," Bonilla insisted.
"Well, we'll find out."
"So, we'll have to fight bandits over alien technology." Catra chuckled. "That brings back memories."
Adora groaned. "At least it's not a desert."
"I'd prefer a desert - fewer places to hide," Catra said.
"Our scanners show the location of every concentration of Naquadah in the area," Sam spoke up. "But they won't detect humans who aren't using the technology. And we haven't detected anything that would explain those reports of 'zombies'." Sam pressed her lips together. She didn't like using this terminology, but if she used a more technical term, the Colonel would joke about it and call it zombies anyway.
Catra stretched her arms over her head - and that did attract the attention of the soldiers near them, Sam noticed - and yawned. "Well, whatever it is, we'll deal with it."
"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "We won't leave you to deal with this, trust us."
That was potentially stretching their mission objective. On the other hand, Sam expected whatever was posing as zombies to fall under the definition of alien technology anyway.
But the Hondurans smiled - for the first time since they had met. Burke, though, was scowling.
*****
"The Naquadah concentration is now directly below us," Entrapta announced.
'Below us' apparently meant 'below in the jungle, hidden by the trees'. Catra shook her head. She had been right - a desert would've been much better. You couldn't hide as well in a desert. "So, let's land?" she asked. "Darla can crush the trees beneath her, right?"
"But that could damage the landing gear!" Entrapta protested. "And all the crushed trees could block something!" She blinked. "And there are people below us," she added belatedly, tapping a few keys on the console with her hair. "Dozens of them."
"Some might be civilians. Or captives," O'Neill said.
Burke, standing next to him, nodded.
"We weren't going to land directly on top of them," Catra replied while she rolled her eyes. Even if there were no people around, that would be a bad idea since they didn't know what the device did. "Just land nearby."
"That would still crush a lot of trees. It's a nature reserve," Daniel pointed out. Then he blinked and blushed a little.
"I doubt that this would do enough damage to be noticeable," O'Neill said. "It's a big reserve."
"We would consider this an acceptable sacrifice," Reyes said. "We've cleared landing zones for helicopters as well if we needed them."
"Sir? Scanners are showing unidentified radiation," Sam said.
"Radiation?" O'Neill tensed.
"Yes," Entrapta added, cocking her head to look at the screens in front of her and Sam. "It's not radioactivity, though. It seems… magical in nature. Yes," she added after the screens flickered in rapid succession, "definitely magical."
"I thought magic didn't work on Earth without Adora… unblocking it?" O'Neill asked.
"Well, sorcery and most powers of princesses won't work," Entrapta explained. "Those rely on the magic field generated by life on a planet. But magical devices, unless constructed to rely on that field as well, work as long as they have another source of power." She smiled. "And no one would construct magic devices that only worked on a planet if they went to space!"
"Great. So we could have magic zombies running around," O'Neill commented.
"What?" Burke blurted out. "You're bullshitting me!"
O'Neill turned to glare at him. "You're surrounded by magical princesses, Burke. She-Ra here could turn an aircraft carrier into a plant. A few zombies wouldn't strain her."
"I wouldn't create such creatures!" Adora protested.
"It was just an example," O'Neill retorted.
"A stupid example!" Adora frowned.
Catra nodded in agreement. Adora didn't create monsters - she killed them. And she healed people and kingdoms. "What kind of magic is it?"
Entrapta wrinkled her nose. "It's… healing magic."
Catra blinked, surprised. "Healing magic?" That was a good thing, wasn't it?
"Very strong healing magic," Entrapta went on. "It's healing all damage suffered by living organisms in the area of effect."
"Then there'll be some very healthy wildlife down there," O'Neill said. "But that doesn't explain zombies."
"Unless the magic has side effects," Sam speculated. "If it induces a trance while it works, and if it's strong enough to heal bullet wounds, the effect could look like… zombies."
"But wouldn't that have affected our troops as well?" Reyes asked. He looked a little queasy.
"Well…" Entrapta bit her lower lip. "If they were caught at the edge of the area of effect, they wouldn't be affected. Though…" She turned away and checked the screens again. "Oh. It's spreading. The magical field, that is." She beamed at them. "So, they encounter tranced people, shoot at them - the tranced people shoot back maybe, we don't know how functional they are, but shooting usually doesn't take much cognitive activity - but the people inside the field are getting healed, and then the expanding field catches your soldiers, who then enter a trance as well and stop reporting."
That sounded like a good theory, in Catra's opinion.
"It's expanding? At what rate?" Reyes asked.
"And is it affecting us?" O'Neill added.
"We're too high above the ground to be affected," Entrapta replied. "And our shields should block the radiation. If we tweak them a little."
"But the rate of expansion is growing," Sam added before Catra could feel much relief.
"So, if the theory is true, we can't approach the device without being turned into zombies," O'Neill said. "Great. How do we stop it before Honduras is zombified?"
Reyes gasped at that. "We need to bomb it! We cannot risk that! Nuclear bombs, if needed!"
And Daniel gasped at that.
"Don't worry - there's one who can work safely inside the area of effect!" Entrapta announced.
"Me!" Adora nodded with a grim expression.
"You might be able to ignore the magic, yes," Entrapta said, nodding. "But I was talking about Emily!"
"Oh." Adora looked almost disappointed.
Catra shook her head at her stupid lover. "Yes, this sounds like a job for Emily."
"Emily?" Reyes asked, looking around on the bridge.
"She's a bot!" Entrapta explained. "Not organic, and her hull has been strengthened to be fully sealed. She can walk into the affected area and contain the device."
"Or destroy it with her laser cannon," O'Neill added.
"It's actually a blaster cannon," Entrapta corrected him. "But that depends on how tough the device is."
"But if it carries it back to us…" Reyes trailed off.
"Oh, don't worry - we'll build a containment device that will block the healing energy." Entrapta grabbed Sam's hand with her hair. "No time to lose! To the lab!"
O'Neill stared as Sam was all but dragged off. "What kind of shows did you let her watch?" he asked.
Catra gave him a look. "Don't blame your entertainment on us."
*****
When Jack O'Neill had been told by General Hammond about this mission and how urgent it was, he had imagined quite a few things. Like fighting a zombie plague in the jungles of Honduras, shooting the walking dead and blowing them up, maybe desperately holding the line while Carter and Entrapta tried to defuse some evil artefact. Or charge some magic thingie to wipe out all the zombies.
Safely waiting on the bridge of a spaceship high above the jungle while Carter and Entrapta prepared a robot to go and retrieve the artefact hadn't been amongst his ideas. Though maybe it should have been, given what he knew about the Etherians. Still, he had at least expected to stand next to Adora when she did something impressive, not… watch from way behind the lines while others risked their lives. Or their… circuits? Crystals? Whatever robots used to think.
"So… is this how it works?"
Jack clenched his jaw. He also hadn't imagined meeting Burke on this mission. The bastard who 'mistakenly' shot Wood on their last op. Which never happened, of course, since there were no records of it.
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.
Jack cursed inwardly. He should've told his team about Burke. But there hadn't been a good occasion since they had gone straight back in the air after meeting the Hondurans - he couldn't really call for a huddle and whisper explanations while the rest watched and wondered. Catra would probably blurt it out anyway just to see what would happen.
"I was called in to fight bandits or maybe zombies." Burke tapped the grenade launcher he was carrying. "I didn't expect to… watch a robot do the job, I guess. But maybe that's normal for you guys?"
"Ah." Daniel smiled. "Well, it's not abnormal, but usually, we…"
"That's classified," Jack snapped with a glare at his friend.
Daniel blinked. "But…"
Jack narrowed his eyes at him. For someone so smart, Daniel sometimes really failed to read the mood. "Past missions are classified."
"Oh."
Burke snorted, and Jack glared at him. The man was the last person who had any right to comment about classified missions.
Burke met his eyes, frowning as well, then looked away and scoffed.
"Oh," Daniel repeated himself.
"Wow, you guys are tense," Catra cut in. "Don't start shooting up the bridge, you hear? If you want to fight it out, do it outside."
"We're not going to fight it out," Burke said.
Jack snorted at that. He wouldn't mind getting back at Burke for killing Wood, but they had a mission. Even though they were just about useless right now.
Burke stared at him again, and, once more, he looked away first. Jack hoped that the bastard felt at least guilty about what he had done.
"And we're checking our targets carefully," Jack couldn't help adding.
Burke jerked at that but didn't react any further.
At least Daniel, even though he looked confused, had the wits to keep silent.
Catra, though, didn't. "Oh!" she almost crowed. "You already shot each other?"
"If I did, he'd be dead," Jack said, at the same time Burke said it as well.
Catra shook her head. "Whatever it is, keep it down." Then she tilted her head to the side. "Though… What was it, anyway? Did you have a nasty break-up? Cheated on the other?"
Jack stared at her. She sounded
sincere. Did she really think Jack would have…? With Burke?
"What?" Burke blurted out. "How can you even suggest such a thing?" He sounded shocked.
Oh. Jack blinked as he understood - of course, Catra would assume that, given her history with Adora. And Burke must have missed that part about the Etherians. He smiled. "Ah, no, we never were together," he said, as innocently as he could. "I was already married when we met." He suppressed the brief guilt and pain he felt when he remembered how his marriage had ended. And why.
"What do you mean?" Burke snapped at him.
"Ah." Catra nodded. "Well, then I guess I can't give you any advice how to get over this." She nodded at them and turned away.
"What the fuck?" Burke cursed as soon as Catra had stepped away. "She just called us… And you acted as if that was OK!"
Jack grinned. "Why, Burke, is there anything wrong with it?"
"Yes!"
"Don't worry, I've got it on good authority that 'don't ask, don't tell' will be revoked as soon as possible. Being gay won't be grounds for being discharged any more."
"That's not…" Burke trailed off. "You're bullshitting me!"
He sounded both offended and almost glad, Jack noticed with surprise. About the bill being repealed, or about Jack bullshitting him?
"Actually, no," Daniel decided to cut in. "Equal rights for homosexual people is one of the conditions for an alliance with the Etherians. Haven't you heard about that?"
"I was busy in the jungle," Burke replied.
"You missed hearing about aliens?" Jack shook his head.
"I missed that detail," Burke retorted.
Like he had 'missed' that the guy in the jungle in front of him was Woods, not some guerilla. Jack stopped grinning. For a moment, Jack had felt like before the last op. Just bullshitting around with friends. But Burke wasn't a friend. Not any more.
Not since he murdered Woods and claimed he had mistaken him for an enemy. As if Burke would have made such a mistake. And if he had made such a mistake, he would've acted completely differently than he had when Jack had found them.
He turned away and watched the screen again. "I hope they'll hurry. The magic must be spreading."
*****
Waiting. Adora didn't like to wait. She was She-Ra. She should be doing something while danger was threatening people. Or wait for others to do something like… like…
"Oh, stop pacing!" Catra snapped.
Adora turned to frown at her friend. "But this wave is spreading below us! It's harming people as we wait!"
"They evacuated the surrounding area," Catra pointed out. "And the people inside the area of effect were already hurt before we arrived."
"It's still spreading."
"Slow enough so it won't really pose a problem for a long time." Catra shrugged. "So, stop fretting and let Entrapta and the others do their thing."
"I should help them…" Adora eyed the door leading from the bridge to the rear of the vessel.
Catra rolled her eyes. "I think they'll call if they need you."
Adora pressed her lips together. She knew she wasn't a genius like Entrapta or Sam. Or a techmaster like Bow. She could use her power as a princess, but she couldn't build stuff. She was a brute. And she was utterly useless right now. She was…
…getting hit on the head?
"Stop brooding!" Catra glared at her. "You aren't useless just because you can't do everything by yourself."
Adora bit down on what she was about to say, then sighed. Catra was right. "I know." She sighed again. "But it doesn't feel right."
Catra shrugged. "Trust our friends to do their job and focus on yours."
"I don't have a job right now." That was the problem!
Catra grinned, though. "What did Earcut teach us in cadet training?"
The grizzled instructor? Adora blinked. He had taught them melee combat - the basics of it. How would that be applicable… Oh!
Her lover grinned. "Yes. If you have nothing to do, rest. Soon enough, you'll get another task. So, be a good cadet and rest."
Adora scoffed. "Resting while below us, some harmful magic is spreading?"
"Oh, don't worry," Catra told her as she hooked an arm through Adora's. "I'll help."
Oh. "But…"
"No buts! We'll be good soldiers and rest now. And relax."
And then Adora was pushed into the captain's chair, and Catra planted herself in her lap. "You'll relax even if I have to sit on you."
"But…"
"No buts! We'll wait until the others have the bot ready, like the veteran soldiers we are!"
She could easily push Catra off her lap. But… Her lover was right. She couldn't do anything useful right now.
Grumbling, Adora tried to relax.
*****
"OK, I think I've nailed down the thaumaturgical frequency of the healing energy. Now we need to attune the crystal to it."
Samantha Carter nodded. Once the crystal was attuned, it could be used to counter the energy, shielding an area from its effects. Or, if six such crystals were aligned in a cube - or along the hull of a bot - form a containment unit. Provided they had a sufficient power supply. "How do we power it? Emily's main battery won't last long if it has to counter the amount of radiation we're registering." Sam had studied the battery's output.
Entrapta blinked. "Right. So, we could pack her hull with spare batteries - though that would only work for a limited amount of time, either."
Sam nodded and quickly ran a few calculations. "If the power of the healing device remains steady, even six batteries would last barely long enough to reach the device and bring it back to us. No safety margin at all." And from what she could tell, six batteries was about the maximum Emily could handle and still move.
"Yes." Entrapta bit her lower lip.
"I vote for a bigger safety margin," Bow spoke up. "Our plans tend to run into some hiccups."
"Not always," Entrapta retorted. "But often enough to plan for it, I guess. So… no battery packs."
"I would suggest an alternative solution," Hordak cut in. "If we connect Emily to the main reactor of Darla, the power should be sufficient to counter the device.
"Like, a long line?" Entrapta asked. "Like in that show?"
"Show?" Sam asked.
"A television show with huge bots running around fighting other constructs. They are supplied with power through giant power lines that they have to plug in."
That sounded… weird. Sam couldn't recall hearing about any such tv show. "The cable would be vulnerable," she pointed out. Even bandits would have weapons that could damage such a cable.
"We could armour it, but that would mean it would be too heavy to be dragged along by Darla," Entrapta mused. "And you can't use wheels in the jungle to take the weight of an armoured power line. Maybe a bot to carry it?"
"We could send escorts to guard the cable," Hordak suggested. "A few guard bots should be enough to discourage interference."
"But we don't have guard bots or bots to carry the cable. We would have to ask Third Fleet," Bow said with a grimace.
The others looked torn as well, Sam noticed. Well, that was understandable. Third Fleet was run by fanatics, after all. And in the current political situation, it wouldn't take much to set off another powder keg. Although… "What about wireless power transfer?" she asked. "If we add another crystal to act as a conduit and attune all of them to each other…" The crystals were linked and sharing power, after all, and the range of the synchronisation effect should cover the entire area.
"Yes! That would work - they'd form a thaumaturgical grid and spread the power equally!" Entrapta cheered. "And the crystal would act as an additional shield for Darla. And us. Let's do it!"
As the princess rushed to the side of the hold where the crystals were stored, Bow smiled at Sam. "That was a good idea. How did you come up with it?"
"People are working on wireless power transfers. I just applied the basic principles to enchanting," Sam replied. It still felt weird to talk about magic like this. Then again, magic was a bit of a misnomer - it worked according to rules and could be experimented with. It was a form of advanced technology following general principles. Principles Sam still had yet to fully learn in some cases, though.
"Ah!" Bow nodded. "I guess once Earth's magic is restored, you'll produce more such devices."
Sam pressed her lips together for a moment. 'Once Earth's magic is restored'... That was a touchy subject, to say the least. "A lot of people would start research into magic," she said. "And not all of them would be good people."
Bow shrugged. "That can't be helped. But how many of them are as smart as you are? They would have to start without any information about magic, either. Just like your sorcerers won't be able to do much for quite some time. Not without help from Mystacore."
Sam knew that she was smarter than most other scientists. It wasn't arrogance - she was well aware that she was exceptional. "But there are too many who will work on this. Some of them will have ideas that pay out. And some will cause problems."
Bow nodded. "But you can handle those."
He sounded very confident. Sam wished she shared his confidence. And yet… thaumaturgical technology offered so many possibilities…
*****
"Alright! Go, Emily! Don't be afraid - the magic can't hurt you!"
The massive bot beeped in return, turned in place, then started to head down the ramp. Catra watched it touch the ground and then stalk into the jungle.
"Power transmission is steady," Carter announced from the hold behind her. "Fluctuations are within the expected range."
"Good! Emily's a good bot; she'll do her job!" Entrapta said, nodding firmly.
But Catra didn't miss how her friend bit her lower lip when she turned to look at the screens. She was worried, then.
"If anything happens, I can retrieve her," Adora said. Apparently, she hadn't missed that either.
Catra clenched her teeth. Adora didn't have to risk herself at every opportunity. But… Emily was not just a bot. She had been with them for years and was family for Entrapta. "We can send in a few more bots if anything happens to Emily," Catra said. "Anything that can stop her can also be a problem for us."
"I can handle much more than a bot!" Adora insisted.
Catra clenched her teeth again. It was true - but it was also stupid. "But we don't know if you can resist the magic down there."
"If I go into a trance, you can send bots to retrieve me," Adora retorted with a pout.
"We don't know what exactly the magic does - a trance is just a theory," Catra pointed out.
"Yeah, let's not be too hasty," O'Neill chimed in. "Let's stick to sending robots in before we risk people."
"Emily isn't just a bot!" Entrapta protested. "She's not a tool - she has feelings!"
"Emotions?" Daniel tilted his head slightly to the side as he pushed his glasses up. "Simulated or… how does that work?"
"It's a neural matrix, like a neural net," Carter explained. "Artificial Intelligence research has been exploring such concepts for a while."
"Yes," Entrapta said. "Emily is smart. Smarter than many people."
Catra bit her lower lips to keep herself from making a comment about Adora; it wouldn't have been funny.
"So… are all your bots like that?" O'Neill asked.
"No," Hordak said. "Many bots are just programmed with a set of instructions. Not every task needs intelligence. Often, it's a hindrance. And it takes a lot of different experiences for neutral matrixes to adapt to and develop even rudimentary intelligence."
O`Neill snorted and mumbled something about marines.
Entrapta shrugged. "And even Emily wasn't as smart at the beginning - a neural matrix takes time to learn." She smiled. "But she did learn!"
"So… those combat robots you mentioned are like… baby bots?" O'Neill looked queasy. As did Daniel. And Carter looked shocked.
Hordak, though, nodded. "Those with neural matrixes, yes. Although larvae would be a more correct term. They need stimuli to develop their cognitive facilities. Merely growing older won't do anything."
"But do they have a sense of self?" Daniel asked. "Once they are, ah, like Emily?"
"Yes." Entrapta nodded.
"That throws up a lot of ethical questions," Daniel commented.
"Why?" Hordak, of course, didn't understand.
"Oh! Emily is approaching the device - the location from which the energy spreads!" Entrapta interurpted them. "Look at her go!"
The screen showed what the bot saw - with a map in the lower corner. She was breaking through the underbrush, shooting thicker trees if she needed to.
"Very effective. If the armour can withstand staff blasts, she will be a terror on the battlefield," Teal'c commented.
"Yes! She's got an experimental blaster cannon!" Entrapta beamed. "Go, Emily!"
The bot beeped in return.
And then she entered a clearing - a campsite. Or what was left of it. The tents were torn, and… there was a man standing next to a glowing cube within a cube-framework thingie. A bit bigger than a head, all in all. And he was armed with one of the Earth rifles. A different model than what SG-1 carried, Catra noticed.
"He's shooting at Emily!" Entrapta complained.
And he was. Not that the rifle had any chance of hurting the bot. Catra had to give the man kudos for standing his ground, though - few soldiers would have managed that in the war. But… something was off. That was a weird trance.
Emily, meanwhile, ignored the man and walked past him to the cube, her hull opening and two metal tentacles shooting out of the bot's body to grab the cube. The man tried to stop her, but a quick jerk sent him flying into the underbrush.
Then the cube disappeared into Emily's body.
"Containment field active," Carter reported.
"And… no more healing magic radiation!" Entrapta announced with a smile. "Our plan worked."
"Someone needs to tell the guy that," O'Neill said. "He seems to have missed the memo."
And indeed - on the screen, Catra saw the man stumble out of the bush and attack Emily again. And… "His eyes. Check his eyes," she said.
Entrapta frowned, but Emily zoomed in on the man's face.
His eyes were white and looked… wrong. And his throat…
"I think the healing energy did more than just trancing people," Hordak commented.
*****
"No shit, Sherlock," Jack O'Neill blurted out before he could stop himself. The man on the screen - probably one of the 'bandits'; his uniform didn't match the Honduran fatigues - had a piece of wood embedded in his throat. He hadn't turned yet, so Jack couldn't check if it went all the way through, but the way it stuck out of the throat… "Even if the wound were healed around that, he couldn't breathe properly."
Daniel looked at Jack with a disturbed expression. "Ah…"
"Speaking from personal experience?" Catra asked.
"Not on the receiving end, no," Jack replied.
"Ah."
"What's a Sherlock?" Hordak asked.
"A fictional character renowned for his powers of observation," Daniel explained.
"Ah." The alien nodded. "Sarcasm, then."
Jack held his next comment back. "So… how long until the healing energy runs out?"
"Uh… it's no longer radiating," Entrapta said. "So…" She cocked her head sideways. "Perhaps some energy lingering in the body? Probably directly keeping the cells alive and working, so damage like that doesn't incapacitate him. But how do they control the body? Is the central nervous system still working? It must."
"He, uh, doesn't look particularly aware," Daniel pointed out.
The guy was still trying to stop the robot from walking away. Emphasis on trying. Jack made a mental note not to engage any robot with anything lighter than an RPG.
"Wait!" Carter snapped. "Move back to a shot of the man's chest and freeze the picture!"
"Alright!" Entrapta's hair tentacles flew over the console, and the screen changed.
Catra whistled. "Either the man picked his uniform fresh from the morgue, or he was shot earlier."
She was right - Jack could see holes in the man's top, some covered with dried blood. "So it is a zombie."
"We don't know that!" Daniel objected. "He could've been healed before death happened."
"We need to scan him closely," Carter said. "We need to find out what happened - and how we can deal with it. Sir," she added belatedly.
Jack nodded, overlooking the slight lapse. "Yes. So, how do we do that?" He wasn't keen on entering the zombie area even with the thingie contained. Who knew how many animals had been affected? Would zombie mosquitos still suck your blood, or would they go for your brain fluid?
"I can go grab him!" Adora offered.
"Or we can just let Emily lure the man to us," Catra objected. "No need to expose ourselves."
"Right. He can't really hurt Emily," Entrapta agreed. "And he seems to have run out of ammunition. That's a drawback with your weapons."
"He would've run out of power as well with a Horde laser rifle," Catra pointed out.
"Right. Still…"
"Can we focus on capturing the zombie?" Jack asked. This wasn't the time to discuss weapon technology and doctrine.
"Possible zombie. We don't know what happened. All we know is that he's a victim of alien technology," Daniel said.
Jack rolled his eyes.
"And we need to track the other victims," Glimmer spoke up. "If they wander off…"
"We don't want a zombie apocalypse." Jack nodded. He noticed that Burke was staring at all of them and snorted. "Welcome to the galaxy."
The mangled quote shook Burke out of his apparent shock. "What the hell is going on, Jack?"
"You heard the scientists: Possible zombie plague." Jack shrugged with more nonchalance than he felt. "Just wait until they tell us how to deal with them."
"What?" Burke shook his head. "Since when do you trust the brass about intel?"
"Since working with Stargate Command," Jack told him in a flat tone. His team had never let him down. Or shot each other.
"Lucky you," Burke spat.
"Well, if you don't 'mistake' your teammate for an enemy and shoot them, people tend to trust you with more than some shitty counter-terrorism mission in the ass-end of nowhere," Jack shot back. All this jungle needed to recreate Vietnam were some rice fields. And a horde of Viet Cong trying to kill you.
Burke glared at him again, opened his mouth, but closed it without more than a muttered curse.
Jack scoffed. Couldn't even defend himself.
"It wasn't like that!" Burke blurted out as if he had read Jack's mind. "Wood was about to shoot me."
"Really?" Jack scoffed again. "And you forgot to mention that at the court-martial?"
"I couldn't say anything! It would have cost Cindy his pension!"
Cindy? Jack blinked. Who was Cindy? Then he remembered. Cindy Wood. The widow. "What?"
"He was going to shoot me because I discovered that he was selling us out," Burke snapped. "I was faster than him. But if he had been exposed as a traitor, Cindy would have lost his pension."
"What?" Jack stared at him. "Wood was trying to sell us out, and you kept quiet about it?" For his widow?
"What good would have come of it?" Burke shrugged. "Wood was dead, and I knew you weren't a traitor, so there was no other leak."
Well, of course Jack wasn't a traitor! But… Burke trusted him? Well, he should have. Jack still felt some guilt. "You should have said something anyway," he said.
"You knew Cindy. Would you have said anything?" Burke shot back.
Would he have said anything? Jack hesitated. That had been a different time. He had just married; Charlie hadn't been born yet… Would he have said anything?
Burke nodded as if Jack had given him an answer. Damn jerk.
*****
