Stargate Etheria (Stargate SG-1/She-Ra crossover)

[Dur'id the Druid]

Hey congrats on going two posts...... Wait no, they're just short, and still break that +30% content of belittling, denying, and insults somehow.

I asked you to provide examples to support your criticism.

You evaded and posted insults instead.

Click to shrink...

-I did, and to be dramatically blunt, you pissed all over the few points you even acknowledged. But even those few points you are declaring as invalid for 'X' reasons within a sentence or two. Ya then asked me to do it again. Do you really need tampons that much?
-As for insults, I'll post a bullet point list at the end of this post of most of the ones you made on just QQ. I'll even add the narcissist BS as a bonus. Want to count them up and compare?

That's not how criticism works.

Click to shrink...

-THAT'S FIVE TIMES, YOU GOT YATZEE!

-SNIP-

Click to shrink...

For the record I did leave the Seacat forums and stop reading and reviewing. Heck, I pretty much forgot about it except for seeing the title getting updated on different websites. And yet I'm called out here for inadequate critique (and other belittling remarks) on that story and for not reading more of it anyway. I would be happy to not be stalked across multiple stories and websites, but if StarFox would rather focus on and fill their forum with this instead of the few good reviews, well that's the way it's going to be. I used to wonder why she only had only a few reviews on TTHM, Fanfic, SB, and other sites when compared to other stories.

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And as promised, the bullet list highlighting SeaCat's insults and narcissist manipulation on QQ; (Isn't this what you are demanding of me StarFox?)

-That's interesting
-the same as here
-I am interested in the reason you see
-I don't really get why you think
-You should learn how to actually
-one example you ___ you haven't even ___ yet claim ___ I really don't think your ____ is worth anything
-I took that example and checked it ___I came to the conclusion that it was not ____ convincing
-made some far off assumptions
-You failed to provide anything more substantial
-I came to the conclusion that it was not convincing
-made some far off assumptions
-yet felt you could offer valid criticism
-that's not how things work
-You basically didn't like that Adora
-You took offence
-You also don't like
-Basically, you complain
-you don't know
-Which pretty much renders your entire argument moot
-yet fail to bring up any example
-You ignore that and think you can judge a story
-you somehow expect me to heed your criticism.
-you don't like "Seacat"
-if you read the story and complained
-and had examples
-not a convincing argument
-if you only have one actual example for your criticism
-Should you have more examples
-complaining that I only address the single example
-That's not how things work
-I don't think I'm the one who has trouble taking criticism
-the criticism made no sense to me.
-supposedly write this story differently was weird
-the criticism didn't really point out anything that was worth heeding
-I don't think ___ a valid form of criticism.
-Nor are insults a good way to make people heed your criticism
-I answered your "biggest example"
-I asked for more
-You didn't deliver any
-What are those points of yours I ignored?
-You evaded and posted insults instead
-That's not how criticism works
-unsupported claims aren't constructive
-I asked you to provide examples
-You evaded and posted insults instead
-insults and unsupported claims

 

[Starfox5]

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.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Hey congrats on going two posts...... Wait no, they're just short, and still break that +30% content of belittling, denying, and insults somehow.


-I did, and to be dramatically blunt, you pissed all over the few points you even acknowledged. But even those few points you are declaring as invalid for 'X' reasons within a sentence or two. Ya then asked me to do it again. Do you really need tampons that much?
-As for insults, I'll post a bullet point list at the end of this post of most of the ones you made on just QQ. I'll even add the narcissist BS as a bonus. Want to count them up and compare?


-THAT'S FIVE TIMES, YOU GOT YATZEE!



For the record I did leave the Seacat forums and stop reading and reviewing. Heck, I pretty much forgot about it except for seeing the title getting updated on different websites. And yet I'm called out here for inadequate critique (and other belittling remarks) on that story and for not reading more of it anyway. I would be happy to not be stalked across multiple stories and websites, but if StarFox would rather focus on and fill their forum with this instead of the few good reviews, well that's the way it's going to be. I used to wonder why she only had only a few reviews on TTHM, Fanfic, SB, and other sites when compared to other stories.

...
...
...
...

And as promised, the bullet list highlighting SeaCat's insults and narcissist manipulation on QQ; (Isn't this what you are demanding of me StarFox?)

-That's interesting
-the same as here
-I am interested in the reason you see
-I don't really get why you think
-You should learn how to actually
-one example you ___ you haven't even ___ yet claim ___ I really don't think your ____ is worth anything
-I took that example and checked it ___I came to the conclusion that it was not ____ convincing
-made some far off assumptions
-You failed to provide anything more substantial
-I came to the conclusion that it was not convincing
-made some far off assumptions
-yet felt you could offer valid criticism
-that's not how things work
-You basically didn't like that Adora
-You took offence
-You also don't like
-Basically, you complain
-you don't know
-Which pretty much renders your entire argument moot
-yet fail to bring up any example
-You ignore that and think you can judge a story
-you somehow expect me to heed your criticism.
-you don't like "Seacat"
-if you read the story and complained
-and had examples
-not a convincing argument
-if you only have one actual example for your criticism
-Should you have more examples
-complaining that I only address the single example
-That's not how things work
-I don't think I'm the one who has trouble taking criticism
-the criticism made no sense to me.
-supposedly write this story differently was weird
-the criticism didn't really point out anything that was worth heeding
-I don't think ___ a valid form of criticism.
-Nor are insults a good way to make people heed your criticism
-I answered your "biggest example"
-I asked for more
-You didn't deliver any
-What are those points of yours I ignored?
-You evaded and posted insults instead
-That's not how criticism works
-unsupported claims aren't constructive
-I asked you to provide examples
-You evaded and posted insults instead
-insults and unsupported claims

Click to shrink...

I asked for points supporting your criticism of Seacat. I see you don't have any. And seeing as you think that when you post in this thread, and I answer your post, I am stalking you... well, that's a very unique take on stalking, to say the least.

 

[carterhall]

Nice to see that kiting zombies remains a valid tactic in all universes.

 

[Tiktog]

Naquadah crisis part 4 isn't tagged.

 

[Starfox5]

Nice to see that kiting zombies remains a valid tactic in all universes.

Click to shrink...

That was more like "ignore the zombie banging on the armour, just drive on"

Naquadah crisis part 4 isn't tagged.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, fixed!

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

I asked for points supporting your criticism of Seacat. I see you don't have any. And seeing as you think that when you post in this thread, and I answer your post, I am stalking you... well, that's a very unique take on stalking, to say the least.

Click to shrink...

You do realize what your do, right? You can't be this unaware. S.O.P. for you seems to be this passive-aggressive rejection.

I believe I've already responded to this before;

Actually try to understand what I say or ignore me, I don't care. But don't give me this narcissistic passive-aggressive BS. You are just embarrassing us both.

Click to shrink...

You just can't seem to respond to negative critique without denying, demeaning, and belittling it, can you?

Click to shrink...

 

[Starfox5]

You do realize what your do, right? You can't be this unaware. S.O.P. for you seems to be this passive-aggressive rejection.

I believe I've already responded to this before;

Click to shrink...

You do realise that you're basically demanding that I accept your criticism without thinking and consider any arguments that point out flaws in your claims "belittling" and "demeaning" - effectively rejecting any criticism of your claims, right?

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

You do realise that you're basically demanding that I accept your criticism without thinking and consider any arguments that point out flaws in your claims "belittling" and "demeaning" - effectively rejecting any criticism of your claims, right?

Click to shrink...

You do realize what your do, right? You can't be this unaware. S.O.P. for you seems to be this passive-aggressive rejection.

I believe I've already responded to this before;

Actually try to understand what I say or ignore me, I don't care. But don't give me this narcissistic passive-aggressive BS. You are just embarrassing us both.

Click to shrink...

 

[Megaolix]

You do realize what your do, right? You can't be this unaware. S.O.P. for you seems to be this passive-aggressive rejection.

I believe I've already responded to this before;

Click to shrink...

Try to copy paste a post again to annoy the writer and I'm threadbanning you.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 26: The Naquadah Crisis Part 6

Reserva de la Biosfera de Río Plátano, Honduras, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Are they going to fight?" Adora asked in a low voice, looking at Jack and Burke in the corner across the hold. They had been staring at each other ever since they had met today. A lot of tension, but she couldn't quite place what kind of tension.

"Ah, they seem to be making up," Catra whispered next to her.

"Oh?" Adora turned to look at her lover. "So, they were…?"

Catra tilted her head to the side. "I don't think so. Just friends who had a falling out over a dumb secret or something."

"Ah." Adora envied Catra's ears at times. She had had no clue - well, some clues, but nothing that would help - about this whole thing. "So, they're good now?"

"Dunno." Catra shrugged. "Hard to tell."

Adora scoffed. Well, if they hadn't made up, that was their problem. Emily was almost at the ship. She cleared her throat. "We need to catch the… suspect now." She pressed her lips together - she should have thought of a good name for their target before speaking.

"Let's just call him zombie guy," Jack said, grinning.

"We're not calling him 'zombie guy'," Glimmer said with a glare at him.

"What about 'specimen number one'?" Entrapta asked - honestly; Adora could tell.

"Are you really arguing about what to call a walking dead?" Burke asked - the man was, again, looking shocked.

"Yes?" Jack looked at him as if he couldn't understand why Burke would ask that. But that was an act. At least Adora was pretty sure it was an act. "The correct nomenclature is very important in our line of work."

Yes, definitely an act. Adora shook her head.

"Jack!" Daniel protested.

"What? Don't you always insist on using the correct terminology?"

"Emily is almost back with us," Hordak cut in. "We should focus on dealing with the threat instead of on what to call it."

"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "And since we're not in the range of the healing energy - which isn't spreading any more, right?" she added with a glance at Entrapta and Sam.

"It has disappeared," Sam confirmed.

"Right. So, I can go and just grab the man," she said. "If he can't hurt Emily, he can't hurt me."

"Unless it's some infectious disease," Entrapta said.

"What?"

"Well, we haven't detected any pathogen or viruses," her friend explained, "but that's one possible cause for such behaviour - at least according to Earth myth."

"That's Hollywood," Daniel said. "I wouldn't assume that there's any base in reality for that."

"There are parasites that can change human behaviour," Sam added. "But we haven't detected anything - simply magical radiation. Healing magic."

And Adora was all about healing magic. Amongst other things. "Either way, I'm the best choice for this."

She looked at Catra, who sighed and nodded. "I guess so - if there are no germs."

"There shouldn't be."

"Biological warfare…" The Honduran officer shook his head. Adora had almost forgotten that they had guests around.

"Nothing we can't handle," Jack said with a wide smile.

Adora nodded. She could heal entire countries, after all. Granted, that had been a special occasion, but she was She-Ra. She could do this. "I'm going to fetch the man. And hold him outside while you deal with the device."

"We'll prepare the containment unit!" Entrapta said. "And the containment unit for the affected human!"

Adora nodded and headed to the airlock.

Catra followed her. And Melog followed them.

Adora looked at her lover.

"I'm not going to join you," Catra told her with a wry grin. "But I'll be waiting here."

"Ah." She nodded at Catra, then bent forward and placed a quick kiss on her lover's head. "I'll be right back."

"I'll hold you that, dummy." Behind her, Melog glowed.

Adora stepped outside, jumping off the ramp. Emily was approaching - and the man was still trying to stop her - even though all he was doing was hugging one of her legs now. It was almost too easy - she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him away, ignoring his flailing. "All done, Emily."

Emily beeped in return and entered the ship.

Adora took a closer look at her captive - and grimaced at the sight. The piece of wood had gone through his entire throat. Jack had been correct - there was no way he could breathe like this. And his eyes were white. Not glowing, not like when someone was possessed, but… not natural, either.

What kind of healing magic could do this? And could she do such a thing by accident as well?

That was a disturbing thought. Very disturbing. She didn't remember any such incident - but would she have noticed if she had done this to some animals when she healed the Fright Zone?

"We've secured the device," Catra yelled from the ramp. "Melog doesn't sense anything, either. You can bring the zombie inside."

Adora didn't protest the name as she carried the man - or former man - inside and dropped him in an airtight cell Entrapta and Sam had prepared.

*****​

"Oh. The cells are all alive, but the brain is not working at all. The brain cells are working individually, but there's no trace of a neural network. It's like a colony of single-cell organisms all working in concert without a discernable biological directive. This is so fascinating." Entrapta all but cooed, Samantha Carter saw. Then the princess blinked. "I mean, it's horrible that this happened to a person, but the result is fascinating. In a horrible way." Entrapta's smile looked more than a little forced.

But Sam could understand the feeling. Did understand it - this 'zombie' was, from a strictly scientific point of view, fascinating indeed. And horrible. "So, they must be controlled by magic - the human organism couldn't, without a working nervous system, move at all, much less in the way we've observed."

"Exactly! Our sensors show a magic field around the body, focused on damaged cells. See how the field is stronger at the wrists and ankles? It must be repairing the damage done to the body by the attempts to break free."

Sam nodded - she could see that the man - or, now confirmed, corpse - in the cell in front of them was struggling against the thick metal bands that held him, baring his teeth but not making any discernible sounds. Just like a zombie in those cheap horror movies she had watched in college. "So… can we save him?"

"Restore higher brain functions? Or any brain functions at all?" Entrapta cocked her head as her hair moved over the console, pushing buttons.

The things she could do with such hair… Sam suppressed a brief, weird bout of envy. "Yes." That would be… Well, the Colonel would probably call it resurrection. Or 'de-zombification or something similarly silly.

Entrapta shook her head with a sigh. "I don't think so. I doubt we can restore the network that, well, made him him. I doubt that we could even restore the basic brain functions that keep the body alive and breathing - the magic healing must have completely disrupted it."

"Well, that can be relearned," Hordak said. "Or we could attempt to copy an existing lower-level network pattern onto a clean brain."

Sam's eyes widened at the proposal. "What? You want to copy a person's mind?"

Hordak frowned at her. "Of course not - we don't have the technology or magic to achieve such a feat. But we might be able to copy a less complex pattern well enough to speed a relearning process along."

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea. In fact, I think that's a very bad idea," Bow cut in.

"Yeah," Entrapta agreed. "Even if we manage to copy a pattern well enough to imprint on a brain, the new brain cells will be trying to copy actions from another body. That won't work on that level, much less a higher one."

"True," Hordak agreed with a frown. "I forgot that this wouldn't be a basic clone pattern."

"Oh." Bow looked at Entrapta with a grimace, Sam noticed. And Entrpata nodded with a… sad expression?

Ah. That must be how Horde Prime's clones had been… programmed was the word, even though, or especially, since it was dehumanising. Sam cleared her throat. "So, we could only create a new person in an old body."

"More or less. Like a baby. Just with a larger body," Entrapta nodded.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to become a father right now," Bow said with a weak grin. "So… I don't think we should create a new life here."

Sam winced at the implications.

"Right!" Entrapta nodded again. "If we do make a baby, it won't be in the middle of an experiment."

"Yes," Hordak agreed.

Sam glanced at Bow. He looked as disturbed about this exchange as she felt. But they had a task to do. "So… this healing energy disrupted the neural network in people's brains - presumably in other creatures as well?"

"I think so… some of the more primitive creatures might not be affected, and some at the outskirts of the field might not have suffered complete disruption, but those in close vicinity…" She shook her head. "Probably gone."

"So, we have a zombie area in the jungle," Bow said. "Why would anyone do this?"

"I think a lower-powered application would restore a body without wiping the neural networks controlling it," Hordak said. "The network would still suffer some degeneration, but it would, properly controlled, not be significant unless someone was repeatedly exposed to such magic."

"Does that mean that magical healing damages your brain?" Sam asked.

"This form of magical healing does," Entrapta replied.

"People have been healed repeatedly during the war without suffering such effects," Bow pointed out. "And I don't recall any lecture about such a risk. It must be unique to this device."

That was a relief. And yet… "We still have an unknown number of such affected people and animals to deal with," she said.

The others nodded.

"We might consider using a bomb, as was suggested by the representative of the local population," Hordak.

"I don't think we should nuke part of Honduras," Sam retorted.

They had to find a better way to deal with this… zombie infestation.

"Well, we could just wait until the magic effect fades - it takes a lot of energy to keep all the individual cells not only alive, but working together, and without the device to provide the energy, it'll shut down sooner or later - I guess we can calculate a rate of decay if we get more data," Entrapta said.

That was a better solution - provided that this 'sooner or later' was sooner rather than later. Sam doubted that the Hondurans wanted to cordon off the entire area for a decade or two. But she needed more than a theory to suggest a course of action to the Colonel. "Let's check."

"Yes!" Entrapta whirled and started using her instruments again. Sam stepped up to the console and added some calibrations.

*****​

"...and our conclusion is, although based on only one set of data and extrapolated, accounting for the lack of a natural magic field and the interaction between the magic and the internal chemical energy reserves of the cells, that the affected organisms should stop being able to move in about two days to a week. It depends on how much energy they use to move, so more primitive organisms could function for a longer time while people and similar creatures wouldn't last too long," Entrapta explained.

Catra blinked. "So, we just have to wait, and the problem solves itself?" That was convenient!

"Yes," Entrapta replied, nodding.

"Although we cannot completely exclude the possibility that the affected organisms might display unexpected characteristics in the meantime," Carter added. "They might mutate with all the magic energy affecting every cell."

"Mutant zombie mice?" O'Neill asked, shaking his head. "If we tell Hammond that there's a danger of that, we'll get sent to a shrink."

"I think General Hammond will not dismiss the possibility of such a threat after studying our other reports," Teal'c commented.

"Yeah, I was trying to make light of the fact that we have a bunch of effectively dead people walking around without a chance of curing them." O'Neill sighed. "So much for magic healing."

Catra saw Adora flinch and clenched her teeth. How dare he! "That wasn't the fault of healing magic!" she snapped. "That was the fault of an idiot creating a dangerous artefact and another idiot turning it on! Don't blame magic healing for this!"

O'Neill turned to frown at her. "Hey! I'm the one who was healed by magic here - I've got a right to be concerned."

She hissed. "I was brought back from death by Adora's magic! You just got healed!"

He recoiled a little, then dug in his heels. "Then you should be concerned as well!"

"No, neither of you should be concerned," Entrapta cut in. "If Adora's healing had such side effects, we would have noticed them long ago - she did restore the Fright Zone, after all, and healed the forest in Plumeria. If there was anything wrong, Perfuma would have noticed."

"Yes, I think we would have noticed zombie animals wandering around," Glimmer said. "Also, I'm a trained sorceress." She raised her hand. "Mystacore's best sorcerers tested for negative effects of 'overhealing' long ago and found nothing with the standard healing spells."

"Well, something went wrong here," Daniel pointed out. "So, there is a danger even if you didn't encounter it before. Adora's healing is safe, but what if anyone else tries to invent a new way of magic healing?"

Catra heard O'Neill mutter something about unsafe magic and clenched her teeth again. Working with this kind of attitude was so frustrating! "We know what we are doing," she said, flashing her fangs.

"But you want to restore magic to the world," O'Neill shot back. "That means a lot of people who don't know what they are doing will dabble with magic. Who's to say that they won't create a real zombie plague?"

Daniel, to Catra's surprise, nodded. "I have to agree. It seems that this was a localised effect dependent on a single item. But what if it could tap into a natural magic field to power itself?" He grimaced. "Like a magical zombie plague?"

"Zombie apocalypse," O'Neill added.

Glimmer shook her head. "That's not how it works. You don't realise just how difficult it is to create such devices as the one here. You can't just 'dabble' and create that by accident. And the idea that you could create a spell that does this…" She scoffed. "You might as well bang together a pair of rocks and hope to get a nuclear bomb out of it."

"Oh, yes!" Entrapta chimed in. "The thaumaturgic equations used here are incredibly ahead of anything else I've seen. This can serve as inspiration for so much research! Those Ancients were such geniuses!"

Catra had to wince at that. "But let's do any such research in space." Where they could blow up a lab if something got out of control. Melog agreed, she could feel them.

"Right. We really need a lab ship for research." Entrapta nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea," Daniel said. "But even if the risk is minimal, should you really unlock magic on Earth?"

Glimmer frowned at him. "Why not? It certainly didn't prevent this device from being created. Magic being returned to Earth just means that sorcery becomes possible."

"But this device was created when magic was available," Daniel retorted.

Carter cleared her throat. "We've been working with magic since we arrived on Earth. Our scanner works with magic but is powered by advanced technology. That's also how the containment fields work." She looked at O'Neill, Catra noticed, as she went on: "We're using magic. We're doing magic research."

"And you can bet that your government is already working out how to do magic research as well," Glimmer added.

"But we'll do it in a responsible manner!" O'Neill retorted.

Catra looked at Daniel, who winced, and then at Carter, who was not meeting anyone's eyes.

Yeah, right.

*****​

Jack O'Neill suppressed a wince. Yeah, the United States weren't perfect, but if he had to choose who got to experiment with magic, he'd pick a government laboratory with good supervision over some weird New Age Wicca with a grudge against their neighbours any day of the week. "Generally, we'll do it in a more responsible manner than some random person on the street. Carter here answers to the government, for example, and the government answers to the people. That means Carter can't just decide to create magical kudzu and let it loose on the prized garden across the street." He grinned at her, "No matter how much you might want to after the last homeowner association meeting."

She smiled back at him, but he could tell she was… at least slightly annoyed. Even though he was absolutely sure she had thought about doing this at least once. Who hadn't?

Good enough, though. He nodded. "Anyway, the government might not be perfect, but our scientists have supervision. And budgets."

"That feels very restrictive," Entrapta said with a pout. "I don't think non-scientists are the best people to direct research. What if they don't understand the subject? Or have an irrational fear of the potential results?"

"Well," Jack replied. "The restrictions are kind of the point."

A point, or so he believed, judging by some of the glances exchanged between their friends, that the Etherians might accept.

"So much for free enterprise," Catra commented with a toothy grin.

"Well, most scholars would agree that no freedom is absolute, and ensuring the safety of the general population is usually a sufficient reason for proportionate and effective restrictions," Daniel remarked.

"Like no zombie plagues," Burke added.

Entrapta didn't seem to be convinced.

"Or not creating portals that might destroy the world," Glimmer added.

That made Entrapta flinch. "Oh, right."

And Catra flinched as well, Jack noticed.

"But you can't really control all research either," Glimmer pointed out. "Not unless you control every country and its population. Which you don't. And your governments do run secret research projects."

"Like Stargate Command," Adora added.

Jack managed not to wince at that. "Yeah, and imagine what would have happened if that project had been without any supervision or backup by the government. Anyway, how about we talk about this once we're sure the zombie-generator is safely stashed somewhere? Like between Earth and the Sun?"

"Good idea," Adora agreed.

"Yes," Reyes spoke up. "The sooner this is out of our country, the better."

And Jack suppressed a curse. The Honduran had stayed silent during their entire conversation. They hadn't exactly spilt classified information, but the officer would have gotten more insight into the Etherians - and SG-1 - than most people. Ah well, that couldn't be helped right now. Jack would claim it was a trust-building measure.

*****
​

Earth Orbit, Solar System, August 19th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We're in space. Like astronauts." Burke shook his head as he stared out of the window.

"Yep," Jack said as he stepped up next to the agent. "And it's cold out there." And hot if you were facing the sun, but Carter wasn't here to correct him.

Burke scoffed. "It might be old news to you, but to me…" He shook his head again. "I would have never expected to experience this."

"And you can't talk to anyone about it," Jack replied before he could help himself.

Burke snorted. "That's normal in our business."

"Yes. And speaking of your business… You aren't too attached to your cosy little jungle, are you?"

Burke narrowed his eyes at Jack. "What do you mean?"

"We're always on the lookout for people who don't freak out if they encounter aliens. Or zombies."

Burke snorted. "You mean I know too much to keep running black ops."

Jack shrugged. No sense in denying that - Burke knew how the game was played.

"I don't fancy having an accident on the next mission or getting kidnapped, so I guess I don't mind getting a new assignment." Burke glanced at the window again.

"Stargate Command doesn't do that kind of stuff," Jack told him.

"Sure you don't."

"No, really. We have ethical officers and staff who wouldn't look kindly on such antics," Jack explained.

"Ah." Burke looked at Daniel. "So, no one's going to off Reyes?"

"None of us, at least," Jack replied. Who could say what the NID or CIA would do? Jack hoped they would restrain themselves - the Etherians wouldn't be happy if they found out about such operations. He had stressed that in his reports.

"Ah."

"So, welcome aboard. Don't get taken over by space snakes," Jack said with a grin. Now he wouldn't have to feel guilty any more about thinking the worst of Burke for years. Though how could he have known that Burke wouldn't tell the truth at his own court-martial? He ignored the small voice in the back of his head that told him he should have known better since Burke had been a friend.

Burke nodded, smiling almost reluctantly as he looked at space again. And at the frigate they were currently docked with. "Do I get a laser gun?"

Jack grinned again. "Well, those are actually not as good as you might expect. We use carbines, rifles, SMGs - stuff you're familiar with."

"Really?"

Jack nodded. "And if we stick with the Etherians, swords and bows might make a comeback as well."

Burke blinked, then glanced at Bow, who was talking with Glimmer in the corner. And then back at Jack. "You're bullshitting me!"

Jack chuckled. "I sure hope so." He would make a very bad Green Arrow or Hawkeye.

They spent a few minutes stargazing - well, Jack was stargazing; he should have brought his telescope - before Carter, Entrapta and the others returned to the bridge.

"All set!" Entrapta announced. "It's not quite a secure lab, but the frigate will keep it safe, and with a bot crew, so even if the containment falls, they won't be affected."

"Good." Jack wasn't about to comment about how such setups never worked in the movies. "Then we can drop off the good Major now."

"And then go after the next Naquadah item!" Entrapta said.

"Which is classified," Catra quickly added before the princess could reveal even more to Reyes.

Jack nodded in agreement and turned to the Honduran. "Need to know and all, you know."

"Of course, Colonel."

Reyes was far too quiet for Jack's taste. He was sure that the man hadn't missed much. And since he had been in command of tracking down 'bandits', he might have a background in intelligence. Probably counter-intelligence.

Jack would be much happier once the man was off the ship.

*****​

Over the Atlantic Ocean, Earth, Solar System, August 20th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So, what's next? Siberia or the ocean?" Adora asked as Darla kept hovering over the big ocean - Mermista would probably love to explore the sea here.

"Well, the UN Security Council is a bit torn on the issue. It looks like Russia and China want us to go after the thing in the ocean first," Jack said.

"And the United States want us to secure the object in Siberia before the Russians do it, right?" Catra asked, leaning against Adora's chair, her tail brushing against her leg from time to time.

Adora still hadn't been able to make Catra admit that she was doing this intentionally.

"Yes." Jack nodded.

"We could split up," Bow suggested. "Go after both simultaneously."

"I think it would be easier to head to Siberia," Jack said. "Unless this ship can dive better than a submarine, you'll need our help to reach that."

"Well… if the depth is not too high, Darla should be able to withstand the pressure," Entrapta said. "But she's not really ready for operations under the sea."

"We usually left that to Mermista and the Salineans," Bow said.

"It's kind of her shtick," Catra added. "And she gets all huffed up if we don't let her do all the water stuff."

Adora frowned at her lover. That was a pretty biased description of Mermista. "It's only logical that she would take care of such situations, like Perfuma handles plant problems."

"Redundancy is a good thing," Catra retorted. Adora didn't believe her innocent expression.

Glimmer snorted. "Anyway, can we dive that deep?"

"I wouldn't want to risk Darla. What if she springs a leak?" Entrapta said. "We could keep the shields up, but that would mean that we have trouble doing anything outside."

"Or we could leave that to trained divers and submarines," Jack suggested.

"Your divers aren't trained in handling Goa'uld technology," Hordak retorted. "What if they set up another explosion underwater?"

"The shockwave might even be able to cause a tsunami," Carter said.

"I could make diving suits for us. It would take me some time, though," Entrapta told them.

"That's a good idea," Glimmer said. "Just in case."

"We could hit the Siberian location in the meantime," Daniel said. "We can find it more easily than the Russians, right?"

"Oh, yes! We have determined its exact location with the last scan!" Entrapta said. She pointed at the hologram showing both locations with her hair. "It's underground and in some tomb or other structure."

"Is that a Goa'uld site or a facility run by the Russian government?" Jack asked.

"Uh… I can't tell from here. It's blocking our scans to some degree."

"Which could indicate either," Sam added before Adora had to ask. "It's rather deep in the ground, Sir."

"Well, my gut says Russian," Jack commented.

"Are you sure that your gut isn't stuck in the Cold War, Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Are you sure that the Russians aren't back in the Cold War?" Jack snorted. "They want to use the alien technology to surpass us."

"And we want the alien technology to keep our position," Daniel retorted.

"And we need trustworthy allies to fight the Goa'uld and save the galaxy - and Earth," Glimmer cut in. "So… can we hit this already?" She pointed at Siberia. "I don't want to wait until your people make up their minds. This is too dangerous."

"Don't we have a mandate from the Security Council to secure all the technology we discovered?" Adora asked. That was what she had taken from the last meeting.

"Anything that isn't already safe and secure," Catra corrected her. "That was probably slipped in by the USA." She flashed her fangs at Jack.

"But what technology we've recovered is already known. The Naquadah in Siberia is not known."

"The Russians might have lied? I'm shocked!" Jack gasped and held a hand over his heart.

"You know, even at their worst, the Princess Alliance worked better than this," Glimmer said, shaking her head.

"At their worst, the Alliance didn't do anything," Bow objected.

"That's still better than working against each other," Glimmer told him.

"Well…"

Adora cleared her throat. "Let's tell the Russians we can assist them. And that we need to ensure we're not dealing with another 'zombie plague'."

Jack grinned. And Catra patted Adora's shoulder. "Who knew you could be sneaky!"

Adora frowned at her friend. She could be sneaky if she wanted to! She just usually didn't want to - honesty was better than trying to trick people who were or could become friends."

"Yeah, let's head over to Russia with your shiny space ship with the space guns and tell the Russians we're here to help," Jack said. "Let's see them try to tell us to get lost. Hey! Do you think we could land on the Red Square in Moscow first?"

"Jack!" Daniel protested. "We can't just antagonise Russia!"

"We certainly can," Jack said. He was grinning in a manner that reminded Adora of Catra when she was annoying people.

"We won't annoy the Russians - or anyone else - unless we can help it," Adora stated. "Darla, take us to Siberia."

*****​

North of Bratsk, Russia, Earth, Solar System, August 20th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We're right above the location," Entrapta said. "I double-checked."

Samantha Carter nodded. "Yes." She had done the same. Just to be sure. Whoever had hidden the facility holding the Naquada artefact had done a thorough job - she couldn't see any sign of it from above. Then again, if this was a Goa'uld site, the millennia since they had left Earth would have done most of the work. But if this was, as the Colonel suspected, a Russian installation… "Can we map the site?" she asked.

"Yes… although it has a really confusing layout. I cannot make out a pattern… Wait! Let's scan for other metals!" Entrapta's hair flew over the console, pushing buttons and keys before Sam could react.

Other metal… Oh! "You think it's a mine?" Sam asked.

"Yes! That would explain why the tunnels aren't following logical patterns. So, there should be residual ore… Yes!" She beamed at Sam, then at Hordak. "It's an old mine!"

"And was it repurposed?" Sam asked. She eyed the screen. "Can we get more details here?"

"It's not shielded like a First One site, but the ore in the ground and the depth of the site make it hard to detect details," Entrapta explained. "Although… yes, this looks like the entrance."

On the main screen, the map zoomed in on a spot quite far away from the Naquadah's location. And that spot… there were no roads, but… Sam tilted her head. "That looks like tracks."

"Yes. All-terrain vehicles," Hordak agreed. "Someone has been visiting the site recently, or they would've been covered by vegetation again."

"Right. Without Perfuma, you can't easily erase such tracks," Entrapta said.

"There are ways to hide your tracks," Sam corrected her. "But they aren't perfect." And the closer you were to the hidden tracks - or the better your instruments - the harder it was to hide them.

"Right! So… someone's down there. Bandits?"

Bandits? Russia had a problem with organised crime and corruption, but Sam didn't think this was related to either. "I think it's more likely that this is a site controlled by the Russian government - or part of it."

"In that case, we should proceed with caution," Hordak said. "We wouldn't want to accidentally kill government troops."

Or not so accidentally. In any case, they had found the entrance. Sam suppressed a sigh - they had to call the others, who were currently resting. She knew the Colonel needed more sleep, but they couldn't risk another Egypt. "Let's call the others," she said.

"Yes!" Entrapta hit the button for the intercom. "Everyone! We found the entrance!"

Not even a minute later, the Colonel and the others entered the hold. "So, what have you scienced up?" he asked with a grin that didn't quite manage to hide how tired he was.

"We found the entrance to the installation. It's a mine! An old mine!" Entrapta said.

"And it's recently been visited," Sam added.

"So… it looks like the Russians are playing their old games again," the Colonel said, shaking his head.

"You think this is run by the Russian government?" Glimmer asked.

"You betcha," the Colonel replied. He bared his teeth. "Let's see if we can foil whatever they are planning. Without blowing up the taiga, of course."

"Of course," Entrapta added, a little too serious for Sam's taste.

"Why would they do this? They were behind the resolution to secure all alien technology not yet secured," Adora said.

"They're Russians." The Colonel shrugged. "Saying one thing and doing another was the norm for them back in the Cold War, and I doubt they changed since then."

"The United States weren't exactly very honourable and trustworthy either," Daniel said with a frown.

"But we didn't try to hide alien artefacts after telling the UN to secure them," the Colonel shot back.

"Because we already had them secured," Daniel retorted.

"It still makes no sense. They know we can detect the Naquadah," Adora said. "They can't hide from us."

"But they can blame it all on a subordinate and say their orders were misunderstood," the Colonel said.

"Or this could be a splinter group, criminals - or a Goa'uld base," Daniel said.

The Colonel frowned. "That's… also possible. Damn, I knew this was too good to be true! I was so looking forward to ruining the Russians' day."

"Jack…" Daniel shook his head.

"You weren't there," the Colonel replied. "It's a Cold War thing. Well, let's find out if we're going to hunt a Snake or poke the Russian bear."

Catra snorted. "Sounds fun."

"Catra!" Adora shook her head. "This could be a diplomatic disaster!"

The catwoman shrugged. "It's not our fault. We're honouring the request of the Security Council, aren't we?"

The Colonel nodded with a matching grin. The two were quite alike in some ways, Sam thought, not for the first time. Though she was also aware that the US government would be happy if the relationship between Russia and the Etherians would become strained over this.

Very happy.

*****​

"...and thank you. Have a nice day."

Catra leaned against the wall next to the door of the bridge, ears twitching, as O'Neill finished the call. Audio only, since for some reason, the Russians didn't want to transmit a picture or something.

O'Neill was smiling widely - like Glimmer when she got one over Catra - as he turned to face the rest of them. "Hah! I knew it! It's a secret government facility!"

"And they admitted it?" Daniel asked.

"We're hovering over its location with a spaceship," O'Neill said. "Not even the Russians would try to bluff that out. Well, most of them wouldn't." He shrugged. "Anyway, we can land next to the entrance - someone's supposed to meet us there. The 'caretaker to this absolutely not functional research station that the government totally forgot about'."

"My Russian is a bit rustier than yours, Jack, but I don't think that's an exact quote," Daniel commented. He sounded a bit jealous, in Catra's impression.

"It's a concise summary of their claims," O'Neill retorted. "Anyway, let's land - but carefully. We don't know what's in there since the Russians claim they don't know either, just that it is a storage site dating back to the Second World War."

Ah. "So there could be a Goa'uld in charge?" Adora asked.

"The Naquadah concentration hasn't moved and is too large for a Goa'uld, according to our scanner," Carter told her. "Although if a Goa'uld was wearing or carrying Naquadah devices, it might match the result we got."

"Great. So, stay sharp, folks! And don't leave the ship unguarded."

"We can take the shuttle down," Adora suggested. "Who gets to stay on it?"

Since Adora would certainly be going down, Catra would be going down as well, so she didn't even twitch at the question. By now, people should know better than to try and separate them. And Melog would likely tag along anyway - it was almost impossible to keep them out of something they wanted to enter.

Entrapta looked torn. "Someone who can use the scanner should stay… But I really want to see the technology down there! Maybe they have other, non-Naquadah-based technology?"

"Well, Russian technology of the time was said to be so durable, it would keep running even if Russians maintained it," O'Neill said with a chuckle. "But I don't think it'll be impressive."

Catra glanced at Carter. The scientist was fiddling with a gadget - it was obvious that she wanted to go down into the mine as well.

"I will stay on the ship," Hordak said. "I can operate both the weapons and the scanner, should you need assistance."

"Oh, thank you!" Entrapta went to hug him. "We'll bring back the most interesting piece of technology we find!" She blinked. "If we're allowed to, of course."

"Let's stick to alien technology," O'Neill said. "That way, the Russians can't really complain. I mean - they forgot about alien technology? Hah!"

"Well, it's possible," Bow said. "We once forgot…"

"Yes, it's possible," Glimmer cut in with a frown at him. "But we should go now."

Catra smirked as they walked to the shuttle - she had to get that story from Bow once they weren't rushing to secure Naquadah any more.

It took them longer to board the shuttle and fly out of Darla's hold than to land the thing, and by the time they disembarked - after checking for ambushes - the side of the hill in front of them was parting, revealing camouflaged doors. As soon as they opened, a slightly out of breath man the size of, well, almost Scorpia, greeted them with a funny accent. "Hello, Etherians and Americans! Welcome to Siberia! I am Dr Iwan Georgovich, sent here to take inventory of storage site!"

Behind him, four soldiers who didn't look out of breath appeared. Catra kept an eye on them.

"Hello. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, Stargate Command, and these are…"

"Oh, but we know them! Of them!" Georgovich beamed. "The aliens who came to visit Earth and protect us! Magical Princesses from Outer Space! You must have so much knowledge! And stories!"

"Oh great," Catra heard O'Neill mutter. "We've got a royalist Russian."

"Yeah, that's us," Adora said, smiling back. "And we'd love to talk about it. But we need to secure an alien artefact first."

"Wouldn't want to see this part of the planet blown up," O'Neill added.

"Oh, of course not, of course not! And you are in luck - we already secured the artefact - without touching it, mind you! Come in, come in! It's just a short drive!"

"A drive?" Adora asked.

"Da! Long tunnel, for safety reasons - back when Cold War might go hot - so we drive!"

In an Earth vehicle that looked a few decades old, according to the movies they had seen. And it ran on rails. If they ended up jumping tracks in an old abandoned mine, Catra would claw someone.

"So," the big man went on as they got into the car-thing, "this site was made after Great Patriotic War - Second World War - to store all the technology secured from the Nazis."

"The Nazis? Don't tell me that Hitler was a snake!" O'Neill blurted out.

"We do not think so," the man replied. "But we cannot tell. But if he was, wouldn't he have won the war with alien technology?"

"Not necessarily," Daniel said. "He might have been afraid to catch Ra's attention, and so he would…"

"It was a joke, Daniel," O'Neill said.

"Oh."

The Russian laughed. "Hah! Anyway, we take fascist technology and sort it out. Pieces left over are stored here, to be sorted out later. But later never comes, so we forgot. But we're back now, and cataloguing everything!"

"We're close to the concentration now, Sir," Carter said as the car came to a stop.

"Right, we brought crate here."

And there was a wooden crate sitting on what looked like a small loading dock. An open crate, with a…

"A DHD!" O'Neill blurted out. "We've been looking for one for ages, and there's one here? On Earth? You've had it for decades after you took it from the Nazis?"

The big Russian smiled. "Da! Good thing, yes?"

Catra chuckled at O'Neill's expression.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 27: The Naquadah Crisis Part 7

North of Bratsk, Russia, Earth, Solar System, August 20th, 1998 (Earth Time)

A DHD. On Earth. Stargate Command had had to build a supercomputer to operate the gate and deal with all the bugs that popped up until it worked, and the Russians had a DHD stored in some bunker since World War II! Even worse, the Russians hadn't even known about it!

Jack O'Neill barely managed not to snarl at the far too happy scientist.

"So, this is a nice piece of alien technology, da? You know what it does, right?" Dr Georgovich prattled on. "The symbols, they look like on the gate, da?"

"Oh, yes!" Entrapta nodded. "This is a DHD. It's used to operate a stargate. Well, you can use a Stargate without it, but you need to emulate this, and that takes a lot of computing power. Although if we can analyse this, we should be able to streamline the process. Probably - science doesn't always produce the results you want, after all." Her hair flew over the DHD, not moving the dials, but almost caressing it.

"Ah, the key to Stargate. Very important. Good thing Russia secured it before the Nazis could use it." Georgovich nodded. He seemed a little distracted by the hair tendrils.

"You looted it after the Nazis were beaten," Jack corrected him.

"Defeated by glorious Red Army, yes. Before Nazis could use alien technology."

"I remember some other countries fighting the Nazis as well. And delivering lots of supplies to the Red Army," Jack retorted.

"Da! Good example of spirit of international cooperation against tyranny, yes?" Georgovich was beaming at him. "Nazis back then, Goa'uld now!"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the Russian. He was sure that the smiling bastard spoke much better English and was not half as simple as he acted. "It's that how you want to play it?"

"Play? Is no game. Very serious situation. All of Earth needs work together to beat evil space aliens, da? Russia offers secured alien technology for alliance!"

So that was their game.

"Great!" Adora, of course, was eating it up. "So, can we take the DHD off your hands?"

"Da! Russia hands over the alien technology to United Nations and Magical Princess Alliance! In the spirit of international cooperation!"

"Like the Security Council ordered," Jack pointed out. "We were tasked with securing this."

"Security Council ordered all unsecured alien technology to be secured. This technology was secured. Very secured in secret bunker. This is Russia's contribution to alliance against Goa'uld. First contribution."

"And you can make this decision for Russia?" Jack asked.

"Oh, no! Decision was taken by Russian government in spirit of international cooperation. I merely execute it." Gregorovich smiled at Jack. "We all should cooperate like this."

"Yeah, right." Hand over all alien technology to the United Nations? This was a DHD, but Stargate Command didn't really need one. They had built a work-around, and they had a lot more knowledge and technology than a single piece of technology that was useless without a gate. Knowledge and technology Stargate command had often paid dearly for. There was no way they would just hand over everything so the Russians and the others could take over and profit. Next, they would want them to sing The Internationale every morning or something.

But again, the Etherians seemed fooled. Adora beamed at the far too jovial Russian, and Glimmer nodded in apparent approval. At least Catra wasn't fooled - though Jack gave it even odds that she found this amusing.

"So, let's get this on the ship then," Adora said. "Is there any either alien technology stored here?"

"Nothing using Naquadah," Entrapta said, looking up from her scanner thingie. "But there might be more advanced technology. Or interesting Earth technology."

"Is that the alien scanner?" Gregorovich leaned forward and craned his neck. "You can scan for alien metal with it?"

"Yes! Well, it's a remote control for the scanner in Darla," Entrapta explained.

"Ah! How does it work?" The man's grasp on English improved when he was asking such questions, Jack noted.

"It uses the law of similarity for Naquadah," Entrapta said. "That's a basic law of magic."

"Magic?" Gregorovich pulled back a little. "This is magic? Not technology?"

"It's basically the same," Entrapta, apparently not having noticed his reaction, explained. "It just uses different principles, and in order to use a nonmagical power source, you have to have a converter. And you also need to apply First Ones technology so you can scan on a planet - or in space - where there is no magic field. So, it's a bit more complicated than a standard magical scanner but much more useful in various environments."

"Ah! And what's its range?"

"Well… it covers the whole planet? But mostly for a generic scan; more detailed information needs closer attention, and sometimes recalibration."

"It's a complicated procedure that requires extensive experience," Carter added.

"Ah." Gregorovich smiled again. "But anyone can do it, da?"

"In theory, yes, but you'd need to understand both magic and First One - or ancient - technology. Although Goa'uld technology might be enough as well," Entrapta said.

"Ah." And that damned smile widened. "I am looking forward to more cooperation. In science!"

"Great!" Entrapta beamed at him.

"Just don't blow up the planet by accident," Jack commented.

"I wouldn't!" Entrapta protested. "That only almost happened because of special circumstances which are very unlikely to be reproducible on Earth."

Seeing the Russian's smile vanish was very satisfying for Jack.

*****​

Adora was happy that at least one country wasn't trying to be obstructive. And the Russians weren't even forced to cooperate by a zombie plague or a bomb threat. They just handed over the DHD 'in the spirit of international cooperation'. She smiled as she hefted the crate containing the device and carried it to the waiting transport vehicle.

"Very strong indeed!" the Russian, Iwan, commented.

Adora smiled. "I'm the Princess of Power."

"She lifts, she digs, she carries," Catra added.

Adora frowned at her lover - that hadn't sounded like an honest compliment.

"So, this is important contribution, da?"

"It's great! We can examine it and copy it - I think. At the very least, we can copy the communication protocols," Entrapta said.

"The DHD also provides the Stargate with power," Sam added. "It must have an incredible power generation method to provide power for millions of years."

"Or huge batteries?" Jack speculated with a grin.

"Batteries run out," Iwan said. "But generator can explode. If this breaks, and all the energy set free…"

Adora didn't freeze. But she was a little more careful with her cargo. Just in case.

"Well, I don't think we should do destructive testing until we can duplicate the device in its entirety," Entrapta said. "But if the power contained inside it - unless it's just a conduit - were released by an explosion… Hm… I have to calculate if it would destroy the planet or merely cause enough destruction to wreck the biosphere."

Yes, she had to be very careful.

"How about we take it to space as well?" Jack suggested.

"We haven't heard of any such explosion, Sir," Sam retorted. "And none of the Jaffa showed any reluctance to use weapons near or at the DHD on our missions. So, I would assume that they are very hard to set off - if that's even possible. If the power is syphoned off from the source - like another dimension - then destroying the device would merely interrupt the power, not set it off."

"That would make more sense," Daniel said.

"Well, the Ancients didn't strike me as people with a lot of common sense, at least as we see it," Jack said.

"True," Daniel said.

"But they were geniuses! Their technology is still beyond us!" Entrapta protested.

"Yes, but they had a rather tenuous relationship with safety procedures and fail-safes," Jack retorted.

Adora put the crate down and pushed the memory of the First Ones fail-safe away.

"Yeah, maybe we should be a bit more careful when following their footsteps," Glimmer said.

"But the Stargates are safe and easy to use!"

"Ah…" Jack grimaced.

"We are using a Stargate with a control device of our own design, Sir," Sam said. "That might cause some issues - which I hope we can remove now that we can study a DHD."

"Yeah, I bet we would have voided our warranty for using non-factory parts." Jack grinned, and the others laughed. Adora joined in, even though she didn't quite get the joke.

"Before we move the DHD away from Earth, we should check with the Security Council," Glimmer said. "This is all under their authority, after all."

"Da!" Iwan nodded. "And we share scientific knowledge, right?"

"I would think so," Glimmer said.

"Why not? It was yours, right?"

"Because it might contain enough power to blow up Earth if it gets some Russian percussive maintenance?" Jack bared his teeth.

Iwan laughed. "Very funny, Colonel O'Neill. Dark humour - very Russian."

That didn't please Jack, Adora saw.

"Or British?" Daniel added. "They have a reputation for black humour."

"Well, the DHD is secured on the transport now - let's get it to the ship?"

"But we need to check the rest of the mine for more technology!" Entrapta said. "Who knows what else might have been forgotten inside here?"

"Our mandate only covers the alien technology," Glimmer told her.

"There could be alien technology that doesn't use Naquadah," Entrapta said.

"And it could be as dangerous - like magic," Jack added. "Better take a closer look, right? And I'm sure the Security Council didn't want us limited to Naquadah."

"Da," Iwan agreed, although a little less enthusiastic.

"Let's go!" Entrapta dashed away, carried by her hair, striding past the other soldiers present.

"Very enthusiastic scientist, yes?"

"Yeah, that's Entrapta for you," Catra said. "Now, let's go help her sort through your stuff."

Adora looked at the crate. They couldn't leave it unguarded here. "I'll take it back to the shuttle, then I'll join you."

She took the transport back to the entrance, with another soldier operating it, and easily but carefully carried the device inside. By the time she was back in the mine, Entrapta and Sam had already gone through one storage area and were starting on the next.

"So far, it's just been ugly art and some primitive tech," Catra, leaning against the wall, told her.

"Nazi technology and stolen art," Jack corrected her.

"As I said."

"Some of those artworks were thought lost!" Daniel protested.

"Oh?" Adora blinked. "More ancient treasures looted by your Empires?"

"Ah…" Jack trailed off.

"You could say that, yes," Daniel said.

"Shouldn't that be returned to the original owners then?"

"Ah… it complicated," Iwan said. His smile looked rather thin.

*****​

Naval Station Norfolk, United States of America, Earth, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter felt slightly guilty as she looked down at the base. She'd just slept almost ten hours, even though they still had to secure the concentration of Naquadah under the sea off the US East Coast. Of course, she had needed the sleep - almost as much as the Colonel and Daniel - and she knew taking care of yourself was crucial for fulfilling your duty; exhaustion, both mental and physical, led to mistakes. And you couldn't afford mistakes when dealing with Goa'uld.

But she could have studied the recovered artefacts. Recalibrated the scanner. Written a better report about the DHD they had recovered from the Russians - one that might be given greater weight when the government made its decision about how to handle the 'Russians' game', as the Colonel put it. Especially since the DHD was still in the ship's hold.

"So… that's the submarine?" Bow asked next to her, peering down at the Los Angeles Class vessel moored next to a pier.

"That's a submarine," she corrected him. "But it won't do the actual recovery. That will be done by a specialist vessel." She pointed at the USNS Salvor on the other side of the base. "It's a specialised rescue and salvage ship. They have divers and specialised mini-submarines for missions such as this. The submarine here will provide additional security." They already had one sub in place over the wreck that contains the Naquadah and two more patrolling the approaches - the Colonel wasn't the only one who suspected that the Russians wouldn't mind pulling something underhanded.

"Ah." Bow smiled. "Entrapta will be disappointed if she doesn't get to board a submarine."

Sam nodded - she was well aware of that fact. And, speaking of the princess… "Where is she?"

"Still asleep," Bow replied with a slight shrug. "She stayed up longer than you, and when Catra switched her concentrated tiny tea for flavoured water, she fell asleep in the lab. Hordak carried her to bed."

"Ah." She looked around. They were alone on the bridge.

"Most are still asleep as well," he said, smiling - he looked well-rested. "Glimmer's preparing her next speech - but don't tell her I told you. And Adora and Catra are…" He shrugged, blushing slightly.

Sam nodded again. She could imagine very well what the two were up to or had been up to. Catra had never tried to hide it - quite the contrary. The Etherians didn't have any regulations against fraternisation within the same chain of command, after all.

She suppressed the pang of envy. The regulations made a lot of sense. You were never as professional as you thought you would be. And even if you could handle such a relationship, others wouldn't, and personal exemptions would only cause more friction and resentment.

That didn't mean she had to like it, of course.

Bow must have misinterpreted her short silence since he smiled apologetically. "You could say they have a lot of wasted opportunities to make up for."

She was aware of that, if not of the details. But you didn't have to be a genius to figure out that two people on different sides of a war couldn't be together, so she nodded. Besides, it was the Etherians' custom, none of her business.

"Of course, what with the 'unnatural relationship' complaints from your country, Catra might also want to be more blatant about it," Bow added.

Sam blinked. "What complaints?"

"Oh, not official ones. Just some tv show or something." Bow made a dismissive wave with his hand. "We know it's not representative of your country. As Glimmer said, every country has a bunch of idiots." Before Sam could inquire what exactly they had seen - she certainly hadn't had any time to watch TV - he went on: "We're more concerned about the people who blame us for the explosion in Egypt."

Sam suppressed a groan. Of course some would blame this on the Etherians. The Egyptian army and its government would probably not mind if they were cleared of any blame. "Any investigation will show that this wasn't your fault. You weren't there when it happened."

"Well, one of the arguments used is that without our arrival, none of this would have happened." He shrugged. "It might be true, even - without our warnings, the Egyptians might not have investigated the temples."

"We don't know what caused the explosion," she pointed out.

"Yes." He shrugged. "Anyway, let's hope this operation goes off like the last one." He smiled again. "I mean, without an explosion or zombies. Glimmer's aware of the political implications."

Sam nodded. She wasn't certain whether or not Glimmer caught all the nuances - or if anyone, Russian or American, did - but it was a good reminder that while the Etherians might appear naive and idealistic, they were also - at least Glimmer and Catra - pragmatic and had experience with politics. Something Sam feared not all members of her own government, much less Congress, might realise. "Well, we should focus on recovering the Naquadah here," she said.

"Yes. At least to what degree we can, without being directly involved," he agreed. "Staying back and watching while others risk their lives…"

"Adora's not going to like it," Sam said.

He chuckled at that. "I think that half the reason Catra's teasing her about being a nice multipurpose tool is to make her realise that she doesn't have to do everything herself."

That made sense. "And the other half?"

"Because she likes teasing Adora."

"Ah." That made sense as well, of course.

They stared down at the base in silence for a moment before Glimmer stepped on the bridge, complaining about their schedule.

*****​

Off the East Coast, Atlantic, Earth, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We should have stayed on Darla," Catra said, glancing at the railing. "We can react much quicker to anything up there, and we have better sensors to spot trouble. And more firepower to deal with it. This ship is rather flimsy - it doesn't even have shields and barely any weapons." And there was an ocean below them, full of deep, cold water…

"You could've stayed on Darla if you wanted," Glimmer commented. With a grin, she added: "Where you are safe from the big, bad, evil water."

Catra glared at her, but Glimmer giggled in return.

And, worse, O'Neill picked it up. "What? Don't tell me you're afraid of water! Like a housecat!"

She narrowed her eyes at the man, but Daniel piped up before she could come up with a good comeback. "Actually, there are housecats that love swimming in water."

"I'm not afraid of water," Catra snapped. "I just don't like the thought of swimming in this… this sea here, with some unknown Naquadah devices on the seabed that could turn me into a zombie!" There! A perfectly valid reason not to want to go swimming. "And salt water is hell on my fur," she added.

"It's true - it makes her fur all crusty and salty." Adora nodded. "And then we have to spend an hour in the bath to get her clean."

"Well, let's hope that you didn't frighten off our brave Navy divers," O'Neill said with a stupid smirk and a glance at the two people pulling on diving suits and stuff a bit away from them.

"I doubt they heard me over all the noise on this ship," Catra shot back. "And don't tell me that you'd send them down there without telling them the risks?"

"We wouldn't," Daniel said. "They are volunteers."

"Real volunteers?" Catra raised her eyebrows - she knew how that had worked in the Horde.

"Yes, real volunteers," O'Neill replied with a frown. "Some people are like that."

"Not very smart then," Catra said. "Let's hope they're smart enough to handle the artefacts without blowing us all up."

"Well, they're Navy, so they weren't smart enough to get into the Air Force, but since they survived doing dangerous diving missions, I think they should do." O'Neill nodded.

"Jack!"

"Daniel, ribbing the rival services is a centuries-old tradition. Not doing it is supposed to bring bad luck," O'Neil claimed.

"What the…? Oh, for… Sam! I've got a question!" Daniel went on towards the aft of the ship, where Entrapta and Carter had set up.

"That wasn't very nice," Adora said. Of course she meant Daniel getting ribbed, not Catra. Catra frowned at her, and she smiled. "You can take it, Catra. Besides, you do hate water."

Catra narrowed her eyes for a moment. This was… ah! She smiled - saucily. "Oh, I like it when it's hot and soapy, and we're washing each other's back, and you make those cute noises when I…"

"Catra!" Adora hissed, blushing crazily.

Catra snorted in return. As if Adora could beat her at teasing!

O'Neill cleared his throat. "Very informative."

Catra eyed him. He put up a good front, but she was sure that the man was jealous. Or at least didn't like the teasing.

Daniel returned, glaring at O'Neill but not saying anything. O'Neill grinned.

"I believe they are now ready to start the operation," Teal'c commented - he hadn't shown any reaction to the whole scene, not that Catra had expected him. The big man was more stoic than a stone statue. Most of the time. But she wondered what would happen if he ever lost his temper.

And he was right - the divers were now mounting what looked like some underwater vehicle. Or a bot with seats. And some Navy officer was walking over to the group. "Do you wish to follow the operation from the bridge?"

"Naw, we're good here," O'Neill replied before anyone else could say anything. "I bet we have the better view from here."

The officer frowned for a moment before nodding. "As you wish, Colonel."

"Carter and Entrapta probably can see more from orbit than the Navy can see in front of their eyes," O'Neill said as the man left.

"You really take this ribbing seriously, do you?"

"It's a…"

Daniel cut him off with a frown. "He likes to needle others."

"Keeps them on their toes," O'Neill grinned again. "Let's see how the operation is going."

It seemed to be a straightforward operation, in Catra's opinion. Go down, grab the stuff - with Entrapta and Carter directing the divers, if needed - and bring it up. And it did start that way, even though it took the divers longer than she had expected tor each the wreck.

"Looks like an old tramp freighter," O'Neill commented.

"We already knew that," Daniel told him. "We actually identified it as the 'Esmeralda', a ship chartered by the Steward expedition to Egypt in 1930."

"I know."

"And you didn't track it down after you knew about the Stargate?" Catra asked.

"We had no idea where it had sunk," Daniel told her. "I actually recommended checking out every Egyptian relic in public and private collections, but we didn't get around to do it yet."

"Daniel wanted to do some sightseeing on Uncle Sam's dime," O'Neill said.

"Jack!"

"What?"

"Oh!" Entrapta piped up. "Look, they found something!"

Something alright - in the cone of the diver's flashlight, Catra could see what looked like busts.

"That's a depiction of…" Daniel squinted. "...Osiris. And Isis."

*****​

"Osiris and Isis. And that means?" Jack O`Neill asked, cocking his head to the side. Daniel was a great friend and great archaeologist, but he usually needed a bit of prodding and poking to get to the point.

"Osiris was the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead and resurrection. According to legend, his brother Set cut him into pieces, and his wife, Isis, gathered the pieces and put him together again, resurrecting him," Daniel explained… nothing.

"Talk about marital devotion," Jack joked. "So, was that a power struggle amongst the Goa'uld?"

"I don't know. We'd have to ask our captive from Seattle once we find a way to communicate with it," Daniel replied. "And this one, if this contains Osiris and Isis… This could shed so much light on the earliest period of Goa'uld rule!"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "So, these are stasis pods containing two ancient Goa'ulds?"

"Osiris and Isis have been missing since before Ra's retreat from Earth," Teal'c commented. "Which would support that these pods contain them."

"Great. Two more snakes for our collection." Jack grinned. Too bad that the snakes' intel would be outdated, but they were talking about Goa'uld - they carried grudges for millennia, so there might be something actionable to gain from this. But they had to be careful. "Tell the divers to proceed with extreme caution. We don't want those things to break." The last thing they needed was a snaked sailor. Though… "Can snakes survive at that depth?"

"I don't think the pressure would be too harmful, but the lack of oxygen and the sudden shock from their stasis pod breaking would likely be fatal," Carter replied.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed it.

"Well, that's good news," Jack said. He wouldn't shed a tear if the pod broke and a snake died before it could take over people.

But the divers knew their stuff - well, they should; the Navy knew how important this was - and recovered the two things without breaking them. That was one advantage at least of having to reveal the Stargate project: They could tell the rest of the armed forces the truth about their missions. And while Jack wouldn't admit it, ever, no longer having to claim that they were doing Deep Space telemetry was very nice as well. He wouldn't miss the pitying glances from other officers who thought he was a wash-out or screw-up in a dead-end assignment.

"So, anything else down there?" he asked when the pods had been secured.

"Well… there are a few more things according to our scanner," Entrapta said. "Not quite as large, but still looks to be refined Naquadah."

Which turned out to be a zat'nik'tel and a… thingie.

"Oh! That's new! We haven't seen this before!" Entrapta squealed. "I can't wait to find out what it does!"

Jack was about to caution her about being cautious when Teal'c spoke up again: "That is a scales cleaner."

"A what?" Jack asked.

"When a Goa'uld outside a host needs their scales cleaned, they can slip into this device, and gentle pressure from the muzzles inside will clean their scales as they pass through the tube," Teal'c explained.

"It's a snake washing machine." Jack chuckled. "Now I've seen everything."

"Aw! That doesn't sound particularly interesting." Entrapta pouted.

Daniel, though, was intrigued. "It's fascinating. In order to use this, a Goa'uld had to leave a host. So, was this reserved for special occasions? Or did they regularly leave a host - temporarily - to do this? Do they have to clean their scales for a biological reason, or is this merely a convenience? Or a cultural ritual, like a symbolic shedding of an old skin?"

Jack stared at him. Those were… very Daniel questions. Although… "So… if they leave a host for this machine, we could trap those and kill a Goa'uld without hurting the host?"

Daniel's eyes lit up. "Sharee…" he whispered.

Jack clenched his teeth. He shouldn't have speculated like this. They had no idea how to get to Daniel's wife, much less do so without being detected and then wait for such an occasion for who knew how long. Giving his friend false hope…

"We'll save her!" Adora said, nodding firmly. "No matter where she is, we'll save her!"

Jack usually would make a sarcastic remark, but… Daniel looked so hopeful, and Adora looked so determined, he couldn't make himself do it.

And as much as he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help feeling hopeful himself.

*****​

Adora nodded with a smile. They would help Daniel save his wife. That was what She-Ra did - help those in need. Protect and save people.

Though they would have to find her, first. And in order to do that, they would have to be ready for war - and that meant making an alliance with Earth. Or at least with some countries on Earth.

"They're coming up again!" Entrapta said. "Or not."

"They need to take it slow so they won't get the bends," Sam explained.

"Ah. Shouldn't the diving suits do that for them?" Entrapta blinked. "That seems like an obvious feature."

"These diving suits aren't as advanced as the ones you are thinking of," Sam told her.

"Why are they using them, then?"

"They allow more flexibility underwater at those depths."

"Oh. We should have constructed better suits then!"

"That would have taken too long," Sam said.

"Well, we can add it to the list!" Entrapta nodded.

"No, you wouldn't have been able to do it faster," Catra said behind Adora.

"I wasn't thinking about that," Adora retorted with a pout. But now that Catra had mentioned it…

"You're not invulnerable," Catra insisted.

She knew that. And she refrained from rubbing her back, where she still had some faint scars from Catra's claws. "Anyway, that's the last Naquadah that wasn't accounted for," Adora said. "That means that Earth is safe again."

"Safer," Jack corrected her. "I wouldn't say we're safe."

"You've got too many idiots on the planet for that," Catra agreed.

Adora shook her head. "The planet is safer, then." She scoffed. "You need to stop being such…" She frowned. What was the best word?

"Downers," Bow said. "Always seeing gloom and doom." He smiled. "We did well."

"We haven't secured the pods yet," Catra pointed out.

"If anything happens now, Adora can jump in and grab them."

She nodded. She could do that - she had fought a sea monster before she had really understood her power. Powers.

Catra scoffed, as she usually did when she lost an argument. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, after this, it's back to negotiations."

Right. Negotiations with stubborn and weird people. And stupid people.

Not even Bow had a good answer to that.

And before Adora could come up with a comeback, the divers reached the surface, and everyone rushed to take the pods and the other things.

"Put the busts into the containment unit!" Sam ordered them as Entrapta put the container down next to the still dripping underwater vehicle - it wasn't a submarine; Adora had asked.

"Wait!" Daniel held his hand up and knelt down next to the female bust. Pod. Thing. "This…"

"Watch out, Daniel! You're not snake-poof!" Jack moved, and Adora thought he'd pull Daniel back, but the man only knelt down next to his friend.

"The seal!" Daniel said. "It's broken!"

"What?" Adora tensed, and she saw Catra look around. "We need the Scanners!"

"There's no Naquadah nearby - except for the pods, the zat'nik'tel and the tool," Sam told them a moment later.

"Yes," Daniel said. "I think the seal broke long ago. And the Goa'uld is still inside."

"Oh." Adora blinked as Daniel reached out and opened the pod before anyone could stop him.

But the Goa'uld inside looked very dead.

"Well, I guess Osiris isn't coming back from death this time," Jack said.

"That's actually Isis, Jack," Daniel said. "Unless they mixed up the busts when they put them into stasis."

"Well, we could attempt to revive them using the other device," Entrapta suggested.

"Yeah, let's create a zombie snake. That's what I was missing my life," Jack said.

Entrapta looked at him for a moment. "Really? If you had said something earlier, we could have gotten you a zombified snake from Honduras."

Jack stared at her.

"Ah, you were joking." Entrapta nodded. "Anyway, usually, the brain would be wiped clean, so it would just be a mindless creature, but since they have a genetic memory, it might actually restore them with their genetic memory," she said. "If it works. Which isn't certain - we don't know yet how exactly it works, and we also don't know enough about Goa'uld biology to tell." She perked up. "But we could find out!"

"Ah…" Jack grimaced. "I think we should focus on other areas of research first."

"Like the DHD," Sam suggested. "And the alien data core."

"Yes." Entrapta nodded enthusiastically. "We've got so much science to do!"

Well, at least she was happy. Adora smiled.

"And we have another Goa'uld to interrogate. Or not to interrogate, as things are."

Entrapta frowned again. "Oh. We could use the zombies as hosts, couldn't we?" They already are dead and just going on, so… it might just work?" She smiled.

Adora wasn't the only one who grimaced. "Uh…"

"That sounds… morbid," Daniel said.

"Would it even work if the body's actually dead and just the individual cells are kept alive?" Sam asked.

"Worth a try?" Entrapta asked. "Although we might have to hurry because the human bodies probably aren't lasting much longer because the cells will soonish run out of energy."

"I don't think we should use zombie hosts," Jack said. "That never ends well in the movies."

"And we don't know what it would do to a Goa'uld. It could hurt them - then that would be torture of prisoners," Daniel pointed out.

"Oh." Entrapta slowly nodded. "That would be bad."

"Yes," Adora agreed.

"So, plenty of reasons not to risk a zombie Goa'uld escaping," Catra said.

"Oh, we would do it in space, so they wouldn't be able to escape. Unless zombies could survive the vacuum and reentry, or they had help, I guess," Entrapta said.

"Which we shouldn't test," Sam said.

"Well, it would count as a space burial?" Jack asked.

It was probably meant as a joke, but Adora didn't think it was funny. Even though Catra snorted.

Really, her lover's sense of humour was sometimes a bit too dark for Adora's taste.

*****​

Above the Atlantic, Earth, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So… Do you think that using a zombie body as a host would work? Hypothetically, I mean."

Samantha Carter stiffened for a moment when she heard Entrapta's question. Then she put the scale cleaning tool she had been examining in Darla's hold down and turned to face the princess. "We don't know enough about the workings of that ancient device. And we don't know enough about the way Goa'uld possession works."

"That would seem to be a compelling reason to research the matter thoroughly," Hordak commented.

"Yes." Entrapta nodded. "The data would be very useful, wouldn't it? We will probably get other prisoners. We already have two and would have had a third if the stasis pod hadn't have failed."

The pure scientist in Sam agreed, of course. If they wanted to be able to free hosts from the Goa'uld controlling their bodies, they needed to know exactly how that worked. And to be able to interrogate Goa'uld would be very useful for gathering intelligence. And there was the possibility of coming to an arrangement with selected Goa'uld. Making a treaty would be more palatable for Earth - and for the Etherians - if you didn't have to accept that a human being would be used as a host. Of course, for that, the Goa'uld would have to free their slaves as well, and the odds for that were…

She shook her head. "It's not just about what is useful. There are moral aspects to consider. Important aspects."

She wasn't an expert on alien expressions, but Hordak looked like she had said some gibberish. And Entrapta looked confused. "But we already know that the zombies are dead - just a collection of individual cells without a higher consciousness left. Where's the moral aspect in using that?"

"Many cultures on Earth consider experimenting on the dead the same as desecrating the dead unless the deceased gave permission," Sam explained.

"Ah. So, it goes against Earth customs."

And probably Etherian customs as well - Sam couldn't see Adora or Glimmer allowing experiments with dead bodies. She could be wrong, but Daniel would have told them if he had found such an important difference between their cultures.

"With six billion people, it shouldn't be hard to find volunteers who are about to die," Hordak said.

"But wouldn't Adora heal them?" Entrapta objected. "She wouldn't want to let them die if she could heal them, would she?"

And wasn't that an entirely different can of worms! Sam sighed. "Even if we had animated corpses that we could use for experiments without breaking the law and violating moral principles, there's also the fact to consider that we don't know what such a host would do to a Goa'uld. We mentioned that before." Though Hordak hadn't heard that discussion.

"They are enemies. Prisoners." Yes, Hordak definitely hadn't heard that.

"We do not experiment on prisoners. Or torture them," Sam told them. "It's against the law."

"Is that the law in the United States or one of your few global agreements?" the alien asked.

"It's international law," Sam replied, as firmly as she could. "And the Goa'uld being aliens doesn't change that they are protected as prisoners of war." She suppressed the sudden urge to add a qualifier about uniformed soldiers and spies. This was about ethics, not lawyering.

"I see. So, we would need the Goa'ulds' agreement to conduct experiments."

That wasn't what Sam had been aiming for, but she couldn't really walk back on that. So she nodded.

"And we can't get that if we can't talk to them. I guess we'll have to build a tiny keyboard for them so they can communicate with us," Entrapta said, smiling.

Well, Sam thought, there shouldn't be an issue with that. "As long as it's completely isolated - no connection to other systems, just a screen to show the text."

"Right. And maybe to each other? Now that we have two prisoners," Entrapta suggested.

"Since, according to our legends, Set was the one who murdered Osiris, we might want to be a bit cautious with that," Sam reminded them.

"Oh. I forgot about that. But wasn't it several thousand years since that? And he obviously got better!"

"Goa'uld carry grudges," Sam said.

"Perhaps related to their genetic memories," Hordak speculated. "And that would mean such grudges spread to others as they give birth to more Goa'uld. The Goa'uld Empire might be even more fragile than we assumed."

"I wouldn't want to be too optimistic," Sam cautioned. "Ra ruled it for millennia, and while he is dead, his example shows that a sufficiently powerful Goa'uld can control the others."

"Then we should take care to strike at the most powerful Goa'uld, to keep the enemy fractured and foster infighting," Hordak said. "Although if we appear to best their strongest with ease, we might also incite the rest to unite out of sheer fear." He looked at Sam. "That happened on Etheria."

Sam wasn't sure how they went from discussing the ethics of zombie experiments to discussing grand strategy. "I think this is a topic for a strategy session," she said.

"Yes. We should call the others!" Entrapta said.

That wasn't what Sam had had in mind. But the princess was already using the intercom. It seemed they would be discussing strategy instead of analysing technology until they returned to Stargate Command.

Well, it was less stressful than trying to explain the finer points of ethics to Hordak and Entrapta.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 28: Television Troubles

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and Egypt remains in turmoil as the riots following the explosion of what has been declared an ancient alien bomb continue despite brutal oppression by the authorities. According to the latest news, the government is calling for a mobilisation, although numerous experts think this might be counterproductive since…"

"...Honduran government has refused to comment on reports about an incident involving a chemical or biological weapon on its territory, claiming that its armed forces have sealed off a part of a natural reserve for anti-bandit operations. Yet trustworthy sources report that the spaceship of the Etherians has been sighted in Honduran airspace, and…"

"...has called on a 'protest of the faithful' against the Etherians, urging the government to cut all ties with the 'blasphemous aliens trying to tempt the good Christians of this great nation into deadly sin'. The US government has cited that it will not let religious views dictate its policies, yet several members of congress were quoted in…"

"... who has been a member of the Republican caucus since 1980, stated that while he understands the reservations some Christians might have with regards to legalising gay marriage, it wasn't the business of the state to regulate the relationships of consenting adults. 'Marriage is between a couple and God', he said, 'and which god someone follows is a private matter'. Faced with questions about earlier statements of his that condemned gay marriage as a sin against God, he declined to comment, and…"

"...Parliament has been discussing the 'gay marriage bill' proposed by Her Majesties Government, and both Houses are expected to vote on it as soon as possible. The Prime Minister replied to accusations that he was pushing a controversial policy change merely to secure access to the Etherians' technology with the statement that it was past time to acknowledge the realities of today's society and that the United Kingdom would not be left behind by history…"

"...der Bundeskanzler sprach vor dem Parlament und bekräftigte den Willen der Regierung, ein Gesetz für die Öffnung der Ehe für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare so bald as möglich zu verfassen. Konservative Kreise haben den Gang ans Bundesverfassungsgericht angekündigt um dies zu verhindern, aber führende Rechtsexperten schätzen die Erfolgsaussichten als sehr gering ein. Wie Professor…"

"...did the French president call the numerous protests by conservative Catholics in France 'nuisances who would sacrifice our nation's place amongst the leading countries of the world for their bigoted and extremist beliefs'. He declined to respond to questions whether or not his stance was related to his alleged meeting with representatives of leading French businesses in the aerospace and related fields, and went on…"

"...hat ein Komitee angekündigt, eine Volksinitiative zur Legalisierung der gleichgeschlechtlichen Ehe zu starten. Verschiedene National- und Ständeräte haben eine parlamentarische Initiative mit dem gleichen Ziel angekündigt, während sich der Bundesrat weiterhin zurückhält und…"

"...and we're here, in Washington, where a crowd has gathered to protest the aliens' presence on US soil as an affront against God. The police are struggling to keep them and counter-protesters urging the government to legalise gay marriage and ask the Etherians to return magic to Earth apart, and several police officers have allegedly been hurt in the process, although..."

"...and we have to ask ourselves: What is magic? Is it merely a form of technology that we have yet to discover? Or is something more? Something spiritual? Or even… divine? Those who reject magic as evil might be rejecting something precious, even essential, that would prove…"

"...imagine a world where your neighbour could look at you and curse you! On a whim, they could destroy your life! A stranger on the street could strike you down with lighting! Do you want to live in such a world? No! Say no to magic! Say no to evil sorcery and…"

"...while the Pope has not yet spoken on the matter, the Vatican has confirmed that the nature of magic is a topic that concerns the Church, and…"

"...more lynchings of supposed witches have been reported all over the world, and Amnesty International has called on the United Nations and every religious leader regardless of their faith to condemn 'the senseless murder of innocents' and..."

"...New York Stock Exchange has suspended all trading after yesterday saw a crash that has come to be known as 'Black Thursday 2.0' due to the theory that automated trading by algorithms turned a volatile trading day into a disaster, and…"

"...Russia denied that the emergency measures the government took to 'preserve the country in a time of war' were aimed at hiding the fact that it was about to default on loans, and claimed…"

"...unions called for government aid for struggling businesses affected by magic and alien technology, and…"

"...armed forces were called in to keep a crowd from storming tombs and temple ruins. The government released a statement that they would do 'everything to prevent the tragedy in Egypt from happening here' and ordered a curfew and…"

"...the police in Geneva and the Swiss Army have cordoned off the Palais des Nations after the authorities received threats against both the United Nations and the aliens currently in talks there…"

Sitting in 'their' waiting room in the United Nations building, Catra sighed as she switched channels again. Earth news was, well, not completely depressing, but it came close. She had had happier briefings during the height of one of the Alliance's offensives when Adora had been kicking Horde butt all over the place.

"Can't you stay on one channel? I have no idea what any of the speakers actually said!" Glimmer complained.

Catra turned her head to look at her, rolling her eyes. "Earth people are crazy and kill each other over imaginary sorcerers. They lie about what happened with alien technology and claim their gods say we're evil. And everyone is going crazy."

"You missed that several countries are changing their laws about same-sex relationships," Bow added, looking up from his tablet.

"That's common sense and shouldn't be mentioned." Catra shot back with a sniff. "Or do you want a report each time someone doesn't ram their head into a wall instead of opening a door?"

"This is Earth," Glimmer said. "You can't expect common sense."

Catra laughed with her while Bow frowned. "It's not that bad," he protested.

"I've spent hours in negotiations with the Security Council," Glimmer corrected him. "Yes, it's that bad."

"But the Russians and the Americans are supporting us now, aren't they? And the French and British too."

Glimmer snorted. "Everyone wants to get on our good side - and paint the others as the worst possible choice as an ally."

That was, at least in Catra's opinion, exaggerated. Slightly.

Bow frowned. "The NATO alliance doesn't do that to each other."

"They do it in a more subtle manner. The French representative informed me how quickly they'll change their laws - and expressed his regrets that not every NATO country could do the same. You should have seen the glare from the American!" Glimmer shook her head. "And the British representative gave me another invitation to a dinner with their Queen."

"You could accept," Catra suggested with a grin. "Queen to queen. She likes tea, I think."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," Bow said. "Would it? She's the most important queen on the planet."

"She doesn't have any political power," Glimmer objected, as Catra had known she would. "She would just say what the Prime Minister wants her to say. And yes," she added when Bow opened his mouth, "I know she's rich, and that many listen to her, but that's not the same." She turned to point at the television screen. "And if I meet with her, those people will scream that I want to impose monarchy on the planet."

"They're doing that anyway," Catra pointed out just to be contrarian. Not that it was wrong.

"Yes." Glimmer scowled. "But if I meet with the Queen of England, everyone else will expect a meeting as well."

"And you'll get more marriage proposals." Catra grinned widely.

Glimmer scoffed. "So does Adora."

Catra scowled in return. That was true - some people on Earth had no sense at all. And no shame. Adora was with her! She was taken!

"Uh…" Bow cleared his throat while Glimmer giggled, and Catra glared at him. "What?"

He pointed at her hands. "Claws…"

Oh! She had wrecked the armrests of her chair. For a moment, Catra felt ashamed. Then she snorted. Why should she care about that? It wasn't an expensive chair. She deliberately ran another claw over the fabric, splitting it. "Yes?"

Bow sighed.

Glimmer leaned forward, smiling toothily. "And you got marriage proposals as well, didn't you?"

From weirdos. Catra shrugged as if she didn't care at all. "What can I say? People think I'm attractive."

"They like cats."

"At least they don't want to marry me just for power," Catra shot back.

"If you were a princess, they would!"

Bow cleared his throat again. "Anyway! Leaving offers of questionable morals aside, we are making progress, aren't we?"

Glimmer sighed and nodded. "Slowly, but yes. But the Russians and the Chinese…" She shook her head.

"The Russians have been nothing but friendly," Bow said.

"A bit too friendly," Glimmer said. "I don't trust them."

Catra nodded. Iwan was friendly, but Russia's offer was a bit too perfect for her taste. Spirit of international cooperation or not, every country had some issues that complicated an alliance. That was the same for Earth and Etheria.

"But what can they do to earn our trust?" Bow spread his hands. "They are changing their laws, they have offered all their advanced technology to share, and all they ask for is that everyone cooperates."

"Exactly!" Gimmer nodded. "No hints at special exceptions or advantages. Very suspicious."

Bow rolled his eyes and looked at his tablet.

Catra shook her head as she exchanged a glance with Glimmer. Sometimes, Bow was as naive as Adora. She blinked. Would that make her like Glimmer? She scowled and grabbed the remote for the screen again. "Let's watch more news while Adora is busy helping Entrapta move some stuff."

"...and several civil rights organisations are currently debating whether or not magic is protected by the freedom of religion, as members of various Wiccan organisations as well as representatives of the First Nations claim. So far, no conclusion has been reached, and…"

Mixing magic and Earth religion? Catra sighed and switched channels again.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So, what's the verdict, Doc?" Jack O'Neill asked, trying to sound unconcerned and casual. Just a routine examination, nothing else. No reason to worry about mutations or alien genes turning him into a magical princess.

"You're in peak health, Colonel," Dr Fraser told him, glancing from the notepad in her hands to him and back. "For your age, that is."

"So, I won't need a walker this year, but if I find one on sale, I should buy it for next year?" Jack joked to hide his relief.

She frowned in return. "Puerile jokes aside, your body, particularly your knees, don't show any sign of the kind of accumulated microdamage you had before your contact with Etheria."

"I noticed that," he said. No pain at all was very noticeable.

"That's why you asked for this examination." She shook her head. "Which is a first. How ironic that you asked for a thorough examination because you were 'feeling too well'."

Jack kept grinning thanks to his long practice of putting on a happy face. He knew that Fraser knew that he hated medical exams because he could hear the day approaching when she'd pronounce him medically unfit for the field. He could feel it in his bones every time he got up in the morning. Well, he had - things had changed after Adora had healed him.

"And I have to note that you didn't report this right away," she went on with a deeper frown.

He shrugged. "I wasn't aware that feeling well was a medical condition I had to report. I'll be sure to pass it on to the rest of Stargate Command."

This time, she rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Colonel. This examination should have happened at the first opportunity after your return."

"We were examined," he pointed out. "You handled it personally."

"I focused on the usual - signs of being controlled by a Goa'uld, genetic tampering, foreign substances - and not magical healing of the accumulated damage a life as a soldier causes."

"It was in the report." Not very prominent - he kinda, sorta had glossed over it - and not with many details, but it had been there.

"A classified report I couldn't read," she shot back.

That made him frown. "You should have access to all our medical records."

"'Should', yes. Apparently, someone classified all mentionings of 'magic' as above my clearance." That was a scowl now.

"That wasn't me," he protested.

"I'm aware of that, Colonel." She sighed. "I will have to examine your entire team. And your latest recruit. This is likely related to the… treatment you received from Adora, but it could also be related to this 'healing device'."

"The zombie cube," he corrected her.

She ignored that. "Odds are it isn't, but we have to be sure."

"I'll pass it on," he said. "But Burke will take some time to arrive here." Provided he was vetted by Stargate Command. And released by the CIA.

She didn't like that either. Fraser was a great doctor, but she had a tendency to treat everything related to the medical aspects of Stargate Command as her kingdom and didn't like it when other concerns - perfectly valid operational concerns! - took precedence. "Send your team to me, Colonel."

"What about the Hondurans?" he asked.

"If I find anything amiss with your team, we'll have to look into examining them."

Good luck with that, he thought. "Will do!" He rose, nodded at her and left the med bay.

"So… at this time of the day, Daniel and Carter will be… in their labs." He nodded.

*****​

Jack O'Neill found Daniel in his lab, surrounded by dusty stones, and staring at his computer. "Hey, Danny-boy! Change of orders!"

"What? Jack!" Daniel looked vaguely offended at Jack interrupting him. "I'm writing my report on the recovery mission!"

Jack made a mental note to get a copy of it. It would make writing his own report easier. "Yeah, drop it for now and report to medical. Fraser's orders."

"What? She already examined us."

"That was the usual check to see if you were a snake in disguise or about to turn into a monster. But she wants a thorough examination to check if we got hit with anything related to zombies." Technically true.

Daniel grimaced. "Oh. I guess that's a good idea, even though Sam and Entrapa scanned us already, and we never were in range of the unshielded device."

"Exactly." Jack shrugged. "You know how things are with the Doc - what she didn't personally check isn't reliable in her opinion."

Daniel nodded. "I guess I'll report to her then. Get it over with." He did look a little concerned, Jack noted.

Well, that couldn't be helped.

"I'll inform the others," Jack told him.

"See you there."

"I already got examined."

Daniel blinked, then turned to stare at him. "You did?"

"Yes." Jack turned. Carter would be in her lab or the control room of the Stargate. The lab, he guessed.

"Jack! What's going on?"

"Nothing. Just a routine check."

"Jack!"

Jack hesitated for a moment. "It's really just a routine check."

"Really?"

"Yes." Technically, such examinations were routine after such a mission.

Daniel, though, frowned. "And they examined you before informing us?"

"Yes." Jack nodded and made shooing motions with his hands. "Now go get prodded and poked! I suffered through it already."

Daniel still looked suspicious but nodded.

That left Carter.

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

Adora should have stayed with Entrapta, just in case her friend needed another piece of heavy machinery moved around. Or a bot. Or some tiny tea brewed. Anything would have been better than attending another meeting with the Security Council. She was getting flashbacks to the Princess Prom - and not the good ones about dancing with Catra. The bad ones, where she discovered that for all the hours spent on preparing, she still hadn't gotten a grip on princess politics because they weren't acting rationally at all.

"...and, therefore, we suggest creating an international agency to oversee the Stargate Program and take control of the Stargate. With the DHD graciously donated by Russia under control of the agency."

Oh. The Russian had finished. Adora smiled at him and hoped it didn't look forced. Hadn't they suggested such an agency before?

And the American representative started speaking. "While the United States embraces the spirit of international cooperation…" Adora could hear the sarcasm this time. "...we cannot forget that we are at war with the Goa'uld. This is no time to sacrifice our hard-earned experience and cripple our war efforts for symbolic gestures. The Stargate Program might not be perfect - yet what and who is? - but its successes speak for themselves. To break up the crew who saved the world before and struck decisive blows against our enemies would be foolish. What the world needs now is pragmatism and efficiency, not empty symbols. We need the best and most experienced in charge, not political appointees."

Adora wasn't an expert, but she didn't think that the Russians had suggested breaking up Stargate Command. Although they might have implied it.

The Chinese representative was next. "China recognises the successes of the American program - and its failures - but refutes the attempt to portray a direly needed international oversight and control of the Stargate as a mere symbolic policy. The Stargate is not merely the most crucial piece of alien technology but the one link of Earth to the rest of the Galaxy. As such, it cannot belong to any single nation but has to belong to the world as a whole and, therefore, needs to be under international control. It would indeed be a betrayal of the ideals of international cooperation if the United Nations were reduced to symbolic oversight while the Americans continue to run the program and make decisions for the entirety of Earth."

That had pretty much everyone nodding in agreement, Adora noted. "I think that's a good point," she whispered to Glimmer.

"It is," her friend agreed in a low voice. "But it doesn't really concern us. That's an internal matter for Earth. This meeting was supposed to be about the relationship between the United Nations and Etheria."

At this point, Adora was glad about any agreement. Yet, Glimmer was correct. "So, should we leave and let them hash out how to handle the Stargate?" Because, apparently, they still hadn't come to an agreement despite Adora thinking they had.

Glimmer snorted. "No. That would be rude."

Catra, sitting on Adora's other side, snorted. "What's wrong with being rude?"

"It's not done in diplomacy," Glimmer replied with a slight frown. "It makes working together harder."

"I don't see much cooperation anyway."

The British - or was that United Kingdom? - representative spoke next: "As much as we understand the need for international control, we first need to define the nature and objectives of the Stargate Program. Is it meant to be a military project to wage war? Or a civilian agency responsible for the security of the Stargate? Or a diplomatic initiative to contact other planets for peaceful contact?"

"We're at war," the Russian delegate replied. "A war against an enemy willing to destroy Earth and enslave humanity. Anything has to be subordinated to winning this war."

"China concurs. The military matters have to take precedence."

"France agrees, although we should not neglect planning for the time after the war."

"The United States does not dispute that the war is of utmost importance. And it is because of that that my country opposes reckless changes to the Stargate Program."

"The Stargate Program cannot remain an American operation," the Chinese diplomat retorted. "That is unacceptable."

"Da. Russia proposes to form an international unit tasked with the security of the gate and subordinated to the Security Council."

"France supports this and suggests that the current Stargate Command would form the core of this unit so the experience of the current staff will not be lost."

"The United Kingdom agrees with the proposal."

"China as well."

This looked like they had agreed on that beforehand. So why the posturing in the council?

The American delegate didn't look happy. "The United States has important concerns about this proposal. The Stargate Program represents an enormous investment of my country, and simply handing it over to the United Nations without compensation is not acceptable. Think of the precedent this would set if any nation, at great cost, develops new technology only for the United Nations to take it."

"Like you took the Stargate from the United Kingdom?"

"You took it from Egypt."

"That was covered in a treaty."

"A treaty forced on Egypt at cannon point."

Adora sighed, not bothering to hide her mood as the delegates started bickering again. At least it seemed as if they were making progress.

"I bet if the Horde were attacking Earth, they would quickly come to an agreement," Catra said. "Do you think we should ask Priest to attack a country no one would miss?"

Adora struggled not to giggle at her lover's joke. Well, she hoped Catra was joking.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 21st, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter usually was happy when she was in her lab. Except for when she was desperately trying to find a solution to an urgent and deadly problem, but even then, there was a certain satisfaction to be found in giving your all and saving the day - not that she'd ever admit to liking that particular feeling.

But after spending so much time in Entrapta's lab, her lab in the Mountain felt… inadequate would be a polite description. Not primitive - while not as advanced overall as the Etherian's facilities she had visited, Sam had several pieces of Ancients technology. And as she had found out, Earth Computer technology stacked up decently well against crystal matrices, though the Etherians had a large lead in neural networks. Nor was it the fact that her lab was a little cramped - there were limits in the Mountain, and she had the space she needed. It wasn't as if she needed to pace to think.

But Entrapta's lab… lacked limits in more than one way. Whatever she needed, she got. And kept it. Space, tools, help. Sam felt a little isolated. She had her team - good friends - and there were other scientists to collaborate with, but when it came down to it, Sam was alone. Her against the world, in a way.

And there was the fact that Entrapta had a relationship. A potentially problematic relationship - Sam hadn't missed that even Adora and Bow seemed a bit wary of Hordak - but also a happy relationship as far as Sam could tell. Not that she had examined the issue. Or that she was jealous.

Well, she was a little envious. To work with the partner you loved… As much as she told herself that it was against regulations and prone to cause trouble, she couldn't shake that feeling. Well, with the Naquadah items recovered, and the Etherians back at negotiating with the Security Council and individual countries, Sam could focus on her work. That should help to get over this.

A knock at the door made her turn. Oh. The Colonel stood there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Carter?"

"Yes, Sir?" She tilted her head slightly and straightened a bit. As the professional soldier she was.

"Dr Fraser's waiting for you for an examination. In case we got a bit too close to the zombie cube in Honduras."

She didn't smile at the name. The Colonel liked these kinds of jokes, and they were often funny, but it wouldn't do to encourage him. She nodded. "I'll make an appointment later."

"Ah… it was kind of urgent," he said, smiling almost apologetically. "Well, she did give me the impression that she wanted to examine you right away."

"'You'?" Not 'us'?

His smile slipped a little, then widened but became less honest. "I already got poked and prodded."

She frowned at that. The Colonel didn't like getting examined. "Did she contact you first?"

"I went to get a thorough checkup," he said. "Felt that I needed one - it's been a while since the last, and we kind of travelled the galaxy." He grinned.

The Colonel had gone to Dr Fraser and asked for a checkup? "Sir… is there anything…?" She trailed off. You didn't ask your superior officer about medical issues unless it threatened the mission. But you'd ask your friend. And the Colonel had been acting a little… different lately.

"Oh, everything's fine!" He smiled. "Better than fine, actually. That's why I got a checkup. Turns out I'm at peak health, and while we don't think it's because of the zombie cube, it's better to make sure."

Peak health? She blinked. Oh. "The magical healing you received by Adora." After he had been poisoned by those alien predators.

He nodded. "It's like all the 'accumulated microdamage' - which is Fraser-speak for growing old and frail, I guess - was healed."

"You were rejuvenated?" That was… She drew a hissing breath. If magic could offer eternal youth… People would go crazy. And if it was only Adora who could offer this…

"What? Not exactly." He shrugged, and she couldn't help noticing that it seemed a bit more graceful. And briefly wonder if his body looked any different now. "It's more like the growing frail part was done with. 'Peak health for my age', the good doctor called it. I'm still not twenty any more."

But, a voice in Sam's head said, he would be about as healthy as a twenty-year-old. And with the experience of a man in his forties.

She pushed the voice away into the corner of her mind, where all the other inappropriate thoughts went. The kind of thoughts that would make the Colonel call her a mad scientist. Or something else she didn't want to think about. At all.

"Carter?"

She hid her slight embarrassment with a sigh. "I'll report to medical, Colonel."

"Good. Sorry about that, but better safe than sorry, right?"

She chuckled at that. And hoped Janet wouldn't want to gossip about certain topics. Sam was… distracted enough watching the Colonel walk away.

*****​

Geneva Airport, Geneva, Switzerland, August 22nd, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Adora? Adora! We've got a problem! A huge problem! A really huge problem!"

"What?"

"Hey!" Catra scowled as Adora, on whose lap she had been napping, jumped up, almost sending Catra from the bed in their cabin to the floor.

"Sorry!" Adora turned to smile apologetically at her.

"Adora!"

Then she whipped her head around and continued towards the door. "What emergency, Bow?"

Catra rolled her eyes. "Did the Tau'ri blow up another of their countries?"

Adora opened the door, and Catra saw Bow shake his head. "No! Worse! Priest watched television!"

Adora blinked. "What?"

Catra frowned. Why would that…? She gasped. "He saw some of the nutcases ranting about us?"

Bow nodded with a grimace. "He's calling for a holy war against the heathens. You have to stop him!"

Adora was already running, Catra hot on her heels. They skidded as they took a corner - Catra's claws didn't find enough purchase on the floor - but reached the bridge without trouble.

"...and I doubt that you have the authority to call for a holy war without asking Adora first!" Glimmer was telling Priest on the screen.

"Yes!" Adora cut in. "What's this about a holy war?"

"Your Divine Highness!" Priest bowed so deeply, he almost disappeared from view. "I have seen the most terrible sacrilege! Insults so vile, they call for the blood of the heathen! I dare not repeat the words - I choke on the mere thought of it, my blood is boiling with righteous anger! Such blasphemy demands the harshest punishment possible!"

Now Catra really wanted to know what the clone had seen. That reaction seemed a little excessive even for Priest. Then again, the clone was the most fanatical of Adora's followers.

"Ah…" Adora grimaced, then frowned. "But a holy war in my name cannot be started without my permission!"

"Yes!" Glimmer chimed in. "I've been saying that all along!"

Priest ignored her. Catra had expected that - the clone had a habit of ignoring what didn't fit into his plans. But he couldn't ignore Adora.

"So, what happened?" she asked.

"But your Divine Highness! You cannot possibly expect me to repeat such… such heinous blasphemy!"

Adora blinked, then nodded. "Then send me this… recording. I will judge the matter."

"As you command, Your Divine Highness, but I have to warn you again - it's the vilest filth imaginable! I cannot fathom how anyone would dare to do this!" He turned his head to the side. "Send the…" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "...the recording."

A moment later, the console on the bridge beeped. Catra beat Adora to it and quickly displayed the message on the side screen.

"And what do you think about the aliens and their demands, Reverend?"

"Those heathens are an insult to God! Not only do those vile temptresses entice our youth to follow their disgusting example and live in sin and debauchery, but they also use magic! Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live! Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death! That is what the holy book commands us to do when faced with magic and bestiality! And yet, our heathen government, faithless men beholden to money instead of God, is not only tolerating their existence - in the sky above us, making a mockery of heaven - but they plan to spread their poison in our godfearing country! We cannot let this happen! We cannot sacrifice our immortal souls for the false promises of evil magic! If we falter, if we fail, soon our country will harbour the vilest of sinners, eclipsing even Sodom and Gomorrah!"

"The government claims that the United States need this alliance to successfully battle the Goa'uld Empire. What do you say to that? They claim that your movement is putting the entire world at risk."

"Lies! Filthy lies! God protects his own! And God punishes the sinner! If we bend to those alien demands, if we abandon God, he will strike us down - with fire from the sky! Salvation can only be granted by God, not by vile witches from space who consort with animals and monsters!"

Catra shook her head. Yeah, that would rile up Priest. Hell, the line about not lying with beasts was making her want to go and claw the guy. She wasn't a beast! But if she lost her temper, Adora would take this even worse. "That's one of the more extreme ones, I think," she said, unsheathing her claws.

"Yes," Glimmer agreed. "Most don't go as far as this fool."

"See, Your Divine Highness? We cannot let such crimes remain unpunished! The man denies your divinity! He calls you a false goddess! He wants to kill you!"

Adora grimaced. "Yes, Priest. But we cannot declare a holy war over this."

"What? But why not?"

Adora faltered for a moment. Catra was about to tell Priest that he was not to question Adora's will, but her lover shook her head and spoke up before she could say anything. "Because he is clearly insane, and we do not punish those who don't know better because they are mentally ill."

Priest blinked. "Insane? You mean… defective?"

"Ah… in a way, yes."

"But defective clones are purged - restored. Should we apprehend the… insane man and restore his facilities, Your Divine Highness?" Priest tilted his head. "I think we can duplicate the process."

They wanted to mindwipe the man? Catra hissed through clenched teeth as she remembered what had been done to her. No one deserved that! And she'd kill Priest before she let him do this!

But Adora was already talking again. "No! Absolutely not! We will not follow in Horde Prime's footsteps! We shall tolerate this man and his followers and hope that they will see the error of their ways in due time."

"As you command, Your Divine Highness. Your mercy is as great as your power!"

As soon as the transmission ended, Adora sighed. "This could have ended very badly."

"Yes," Catra agreed.

"Should we tell the Security Council about it so they can do something about this?" Bow asked.

"Yes," Catra said.

"No," Glimmer objected. "Freedom of speech is very important on Earth - remember what Daniel told us? If we ask to stop such talk, that'll cause more trouble for the negotiations."

"If Priest starts an orbital bombardment over the next blasphemy, that'll cause even more trouble," Catra pointed out.

"I think we need to ask SG-1 about this. They should know how to handle it," Adora said.

Well, it shouldn't hurt, in Catra's opinion. Probably.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 22nd, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and that's about it. I've told Priest that he can't declare a holy war on anyone who insults me, and he should be obeying, but we thought we should discuss the situation with you."

Jack O'Neill stared at the screen on which Adora smiled a little embarrassedly. Hearing that the United States might have suffered an orbital bombardment by the very fleet that was supposed to protect Earth if not for some quick words by the resident space magical girl wasn't how he liked his day to start. "Right. We've got a fleet crewed by fanatical clones orbiting Earth. How could that have slipped my mind?"

"Probably because of the lack of sleep and all the other important things we had to worry about," Daniel oh so helpfully replied.

"It was a rhetorical question, Daniel," Jack told him.

"Ah."

"Are you telling me that your fleet almost started a crusade against Earth over a television interview?"

Right. General Hammond was present as well. And he sounded as amused as Jack felt.

Adora looked confused for a moment. "Yes? That's what I just told you. Although I ordered them to tolerate such people, so Earth should be safe."

"For now," Glimmer added. "And it wasn't just an interview - the man was calling for the 'faithful' to murder us." She didn't look amused either.

"So, you could say that you guys started it." Catra, on the other hand, did look amused. Then again, her sense of humour was a bit like Jack's own - very dark.

"Anyway," Adora spoke up again. "We wanted to know if you have any ideas on how to handle that. The whole free speech and murder threat thing Daniel mentioned."

Jack raised his eyebrows at his friend, who was quickly blushing under the scrutiny of most of the room. "I did mention how important free speech is, at least for the United States. Although incitement to violence isn't protected."

"So why's the nutcase calling for us to be killed not in jail? Or dead?" Catra asked.

"Good question," Jack said before he could help himself.

"Well, it touches on erring on the side of caution when it comes to constitutional rights," Daniel said. "And this also touches freedom of religion - he could argue that he was just quoting the Bible."

"So, murdering someone's alright if it's for religious reasons?" Catra scoffed. "We should tell Priest that."

"No, no!" Daniel blurted out. He probably hadn't caught that Catra was joking. At least Jack thought she was joking. "Quoting scripture is protected both by free speech and religious freedom. But you're still not allowed to incite violence."

Adora frowned. "He seemed to be pretty clearly calling for violence - here, let me send you the recording." Her frown deepened after a moment. "Uh. Your computers aren't compatible."

"Let me handle this," Carter spoke up. She hit a few keys on her laptop. "Entrapta shared your protocols."

A few moments later, Jack saw a broadcasting logo appear on her screen. And groaned. "You know, I was joking when I said we'd be doomed by US daytime television!"

The actual interview - if you could call the soundbite that - wasn't funny even by Jack's standards.

"Uh, well… This is obviously a very extreme and not all common view," Daniel said, pushing his glasses up. "And the channel probably broadcast it to, well, raise a controversy. And get higher ratings."

That would fit in Jack's experience. "So, we're going to get nuked for more ad revenue."

"No one is getting nuked if I can help it," Hammond snapped. He turned to address the Etherians. "We'll have the government look into this. Please stay your hand."

"Thank you." Adora smiled. "I've told Priest that the person on the recording was obviously mentally disturbed and so couldn't be held responsible for what they said. But I can't keep using that excuse if too many say the same."

"Oh, everyone knows we're nuts," Jack quipped. "It's part of our charm."

"Colonel O'Neill!" "Colonel!" "Jack!"

Oops. Jack knew not everyone shared his humour, but annoying three out of four - only Teal'c hadn't scolded him - was a bit much.

Catra snickered, but Glimmer frowned. "In all seriousness, calling for our murders is not acceptable no matter how you excuse it. And other countries don't have the same laws about free speech that you have."

"Well, yeah," Jack couldn't help but shoot back, "they tend to like that they can lock up their people if they should disagree with the government. Or not agree fervently enough."

Glimmer scowled at him. "That wasn't what I meant."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Well, authoritarian governments tend to limit free speech, so the United States historically tends to err on the side of caution. And that's even without touching freedom of religion."

"You know, I bet Priest would love that view," Catra said. "And the idea that if it's just a handful of people, it's not a problem for the government."

Was she threatening them - or warning, to be more generous - that Priest might send a hit-squad to Earth and claim it was some rogue clones?

"We will inform the government," Hammond repeated himself, "and get back to you. Please ensure that there are no incidents in the meantime."

"We'll do our best," Adora said. "Please solve this."

Once the connection was cut, Hammond sighed. "What a mess. The President will have to hear of this."

"There's not much he can do about it," Daniel said. "He can't limit free speech. The Supreme Court was pretty clear on how limited the exception for inciting violence is." Jack stared at him, and Daniel flushed. "I had to write an essay in high school."

"Once we're formally at war, the President will have more options," Hammon said. "But this isn't the 1940s any more - we can't just reintroduce censorship."

"We might have to," Jack said. "If only to keep the nutcases from triggering a crusade against us. It's like yelling fire, only not in a crowded theatre, but when facing a machine gun."

"There's a lot we should be doing but can't," Hammond said.

Well, Jack couldn't disagree with that. But that didn't help with solving this problem. He was no lawyer or scholar, but he was pretty sure that endangering an entire country wasn't covered by free speech. Or shouldn't be.

*****​

 

[I_S]

Oddly enough speech on broadcast or cable television is no where near as free as people tend to assume.

The fcc enjoys broad latitude in defining appropriate use especially considering the broadcast spectrum is rented from the government.

It would be pretty simple for a president to enforce anti defamation regulations in regards to commentary on broadcast network channels that refers to the god princess of the giant alien fleet hovering above everyone's heads.

We already enforce much harsher censorship for much less obvious things. Just think of the cost of saying fuck on the air.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 29: Public Relations Part 1

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 23rd, 1998 (Earth Time)

"You know, this feels a little dishonest," Bow said as he stepped onto Darla's ramp. "We're supposed to negotiate with the United Nations right now."

Adora felt a pang of guilt. They had claimed an urgent issue to bow out of the negotiations. Then again, they hadn't actually done much during the last session, except for answering a few questions and not taking anyone's side while the supposedly greatest powers of Earth bickered.

And, this was urgent - if Priest or one of his followers lost control upon stumbling onto another rant, the consequences could be catastrophic. Adora had seen records of what happened when a Horde fleet conducted orbital bombardment, and Priest hadn't really understood the concept of collateral damage last time they had discussed the issue.

"Bah! We were due a break!" Glimmer replied.

"This isn't actually a break," Catra said as they walked down the ramp. "It's work."

"But it's work with friends!" Entrapta objected. "I'm happy to see Sam again. I bet we have a lot of data to exchange! I can't wait to show her my prototype tiny keyboard!"

Adora wasn't an expert, but she wouldn't have thought that it took a prototype to build a miniature keyboard. Entrapta probably added a lot of functions to the thing.

Jack, Daniel and Teal'C were waiting for them at the foot of the ramp. Jack looked a little uncomfortable, Adora noticed.

"What's wrong?" Catra must have noticed it as well.

"I'm still not used to conducting such business out in the open. We've spent years keeping this secret," he replied, and now we've got alien visitors landing right next to the mountain in their spaceship.

"We're on a military landing pad," Glimmer said with a frown.

"But it's open to satellite surveillance. I bet your flight was tracked by half the country."

"We've told the Security Council that we had urgent business with Stargate Command regarding a diplomatic incident," Adora said.

"You did…?" Jack closed his eyes and sighed. "Of course you would."

"Honesty is the best policy," she told him.

"Yeah…" He grimaced. "Are you familiar with 'white lies'?"

White lies?

"That's when you tell a little lie because being honest would be rude," Daniel explained. "Like you don't tell someone that their favourite painting looks ugly, for example."

"Ah." Well, that wasn't a real lie. You shouldn't be rude to people.

Catra snickered. She probably thought this would excuse being rude. Well, they had more important problems than that. Like some people trying to rile up Third Fleet - well, they didn't know about Third Fleet, but still! Since when was it acceptable to insult people like that?

"So, General Hammond talked to the President about the whole thing," Jack told them as they entered the bunker - the Mountain it was called, Adora reminded herself. "It's a tricky problem."

Adora didn't need to see Glimmer to know her friend was rolling her eyes. "If it were easy, it wouldn't be a problem, would it? But why exactly is it a problem to do something about people calling for our deaths? Isn't murder illegal in your country?"

Catra snickered.

"It's not quite the same," Daniel said. They reached an elevator and stepped inside. "Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights in the United States. Limiting it is… a very delicate prospect. Many people fear - not entirely unjustifiedly - that such a limit would just be the first step towards abolishing it entirely."

"No one likes censorship," Jack said.

"You censor your entire media. You censor bad words!" Glimmer objected. "So, it's not allowed to curse on television, but you're allowed to tell people to murder others? You've got some fucked-up priorities!"

"You're not the first one to point this out. But I would wager that your countries have some traditions and peculiarities that seem weird to others as well, right?" Daniel smiled.

"The princesses are all weird," Catra said. "You should've seen them at the Princess Prom."

"That's a matter of perspective," Bow cut in while Glimmer glared at Catra. "Every kingdom has its own traditions, yes. But few of them would be able to trigger a war. Those that did kind of… did that in the Age of War, and well, that settled most of them. Violently."

Glimmer frowned at him, but Adora nodded in agreement. Etheria wasn't perfect.

"That sounds like 'an armed society is a polite society', just for countries," Jack commented. "I don't think that's a good role model."

By the time Daniel had explained what the saying meant, they had reached the meeting room in Stargate Command.

"Welcome," General Hammond greeted them. "And thank you for coming to discuss this issue." He pointed at a tall, thin man next to him. "This is Mr Smith, representing the Department of Justice."

"Hello." The man smiled, but it looked like he was just being polite. Or he was nervous.

"Hello!" Adora smiled at him. "Thank you for coming!" They were here to work together, after all. She shook his hand - he didn't have a firm grip, but he wasn't sweating, either.

"So, what can you do about this?" Glimmer said as soon as they had taken their seats. "We've told Priest to treat those people as insane, but that might not be a permanent solution."

"You think he will disobey a direct order from his 'goddess'?" Hammond asked.

"Priest has a tendency to, ah…" Adora trailed off. How to say this?

"He thinks he knows what Adora wants and doesn't think he should ask her to make sure," Catra said.

"Yes, that." Adora nodded and pointed at her.

"Like every religious fanatic ever." Jack grinned.

"Although God doesn't answer questions, unlike Adora," Daniel said.

"Well, we should treat this as a legal problem, not a religious one," Mr Smith said. "Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has defined the limits of Freedom of Speech quite strictly in several rulings. Inciting violence, for example, needs to be imminent - and this isn't the case here."

"Can't your court redefine that?" Adora asked the obvious question.

Judging by the man's grimace, no, the court couldn't do that.

"You see, the separation of power is the foundation of our country. The President can't order a judge to rule a certain way," Mr Smith confirmed Adora's assumption.

"Ah, the famous checks and balances," Catra commented.

"Why, yes." Mr Smith smiled at her.

Adora closed her eyes for a moment when Catra smiled back, showing her fangs. "Be nice," she whispered.

To her surprise, Catra didn't mention, as she had done before, that it was the same as the Horde leaders' policies of fostering the rivalry amongst Force Captains so they would keep each other in check. Instead, Catra shook her head. "But shouldn't there be an emergency rule or something? If a decision threatens your world?"

"Not that there is currently a threat to your world - from Priest, at least," Adora quickly cut in before someone could mistake Catra's comment as a threat. "But it's a potential threat. Kind of. A danger?" She pouted at the glance from her lover. And at the groan from Glimmer.

"Well, if our performance faced with global warming is any hint, then no," Daniel said.

"Well, it's not quite cut and dry," Mr Smith said. "The President will talk to the broadcasting companies and voice his concerns about the risks to international relations that certain interviews might cause. This should cut down on the, ah, screen time of such extremists."

"Remind them how the First World War started when you're at it," Jack interjected. With a grin, he added: "I think some journalists have forgotten that not every royal is a figurehead. Some have space fleets with big honking space guns at their beck and call."

"Yes, that will be mentioned." Mr Smith's smile looked more than a little forced.

Glimmer smiled. "And what if they won't comply?" She leaned forward. "It's hard to work together if we have to wonder who amongst your people is waiting for a chance to kill us for their god."

"Our soldiers are thoroughly vetted," General Hammond protested.

"Yes. Those here," Catra said. "And once we're expanding operations from a few small teams to massed troops?"

"That might be a problem," the general admitted. "Although censoring broadcasting won't solve this."

"Battling worship of false gods is part of our mission," Teal'c commented.

"Yeah…" Jack grimaced. "Teal'c, I fear the US Army can't declare war on God. We've got laws against that. Freedom of religion and all that. Separation of church and state, and everything."

"They would crucify us in Congress and in the courts," Mr Smith whispered.

"Not on your god - on a false god," Teal'c replied. "You did tell me about your god, about his message of love. It is clear as day that your god would never condone murdering people simply for their choice of partners. Therefore, those people are worshipping a false god." He nodded.

Mr Smith looked as if he had eaten something that didn't agree with him. And Catra grinned. "Yeah. False gods are false gods, aren't they?" she asked, cocking her head.

"It's not quite the same," Daniel replied. "Goa'uld declare themselves as gods and demand worship when they manifestly, provably aren't gods - they merely use technology to fake their divine powers. That's what makes them false gods. The god those extremists worship is a different case since they aren't, well… the only claim that they exist is made by those who already worship them. No one is actually claiming to be god."

"Well, those who do are in the loony bin," Jack said.

"That's not entirely correct," Daniel turned to look at him. "Several people were and are worshipped as gods."

"And did they demonstrate any divine power?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "Loony bin."

General Hammond cleared his throat. "This is a political and not a theological problem."

"It's both, actually," Daniel retorted.

Entrapta frowned. "If the Goa'uld are false gods because they use technology to fake their divine powers, then what's a true god? And what are divine powers?"

"Well…" Jack shrugged.

"They aren't actually defined. It's a question of faith," Daniel said - a little too quickly, Adora thought. "It's like… we can't define a true god, but we can define false gods."

"Ah." Entrapta nodded. "So, unless a god makes a claim that can be proven or disproven, they can't be judged, right?"

"Ah… yes." Daniel nodded.

Well, that sounded confusing, but anything that didn't lead to someone claiming that Adora was a goddess was fine in her book. The last thing Adora wanted was to be worshipped.

"But that doesn't give us a solution to handle those nutcases," Catra said. "We're going to keep Priest on a short leash, and Adora will tell him and his followers very clearly that they aren't allowed to attack Earth without her permission, but what are you doing about your fanatics? Just pretending that they don't exist won't work."

"And how can we convince them to stop trying to murder us if we can't prove that their god is wrong?" Entrapta asked.

Mr Smith's smile was so thin, it was barely visible. "We're working on that. For now, I think restricting their reach will already significantly reduce the threat they pose."

Adora wasn't sure that she would agree with that assessment. But she didn't have a better idea.

*****​

Samantha Carter didn't sigh with relief when the meeting with Smith finally ended - well, the official meeting; apparently, Glimmer had some questions, probably pointed ones, about the general US policy with regards to censorship. But Sam certainly felt like sighing.

Entrapta, on the other hand, sighed loudly when they started towards Sam's lab. "Wow, your politics are more confusing than I remembered." She cocked her head to the side. "Wait - they are confusing because I wasn't aware of your stance towards censorship and broadcasting, so maybe I should reword that."

Before Sam could weigh in, Entrapta shrugged. "Anyway! I've got the prototype of the tiny keyboard here! Once we incorporate your additions, we can finally communicate easily and in an ethically appropriate way with the captured Goa'uld!"

My additions? Sam wasn't sure what kind of additions she would make to a miniature keyboard. Well, maybe some added security features so it couldn't be dismantled and used to escape a cell, and she would have to check the software and encryption to ensure that no one could compromise the data, probably some proprietary protocols so it could only communicate with a specific computer…

She was still pondering possibilities when they reached her office, but as she quickly found out, Entrapta had several of them already incorporated. Not all of them, though, and both of them spent half an hour hashing out interfaces that would be safer from hacking than the standard ones.

"I think that's it," Entrapta finally declared. "It would be a tiny bit safer if we used crystals, but you can't produce them yet, and this is meant to be built and maintained on Earth."

Sam wasn't aware that this was a requirement, but it made sense; in the current political climate, any solution that required alien resources would be more difficult to implement unless it was clearly superior to the alternative. And a single percentage improvement wasn't worth it. "Yes. I think we can construct that in an hour."

"So, give it to your… wait! You don't have bots. I forgot, sorry!" Entrapta blurted out. "That's something we should work on, actually - constructing anything goes much easier with bots."

"Autonomous robots are a security issue, I am afraid," Sam replied. She had asked before, after all.

"Yes?" Entrapta cocked her head to the side.

"There are concerns that they could either go out of control or be taken over by an enemy," Sam explained.

"Oh. Well, that can happen - it happened to me when I worked on analysing what turned out to be a First Ones computer virus; all my bots went berserk and tried to kill my staff and me. The others fixed it, though. And it gave me so much data!"

Sam forced herself to keep smiling. While she was aware that sometimes, you had to take risks for science - and be willing to do so - her friend seemed to treat a potentially fatal incident as just another opportunity to gather data. But that was her way. "Well, we've got a lot of people here in the Mountain," she explained. "They would all be at risk."

"Right. You really need a secure lab in orbit or on the moon," Entrapta replied.

"I'll see if I can get the budget approved," Sam told her with a grin before she could stop herself. She blamed the Colonel's influence.

"Yes! It's sooo useful!" Entrapta nodded emphatically. "I've had barely any complaints since I got a lab in space. Well, I was barely home, where people would complain about explosions, but that's kinda the idea."

"I see." Maybe Sam should apply for a lab on the moon and see what happened. With the technology they had recovered, reaching the moon would be child's play once they could build their own ships. Which, of course, would take a while, and the war would take priority. But a lab on the moon…

Entrapta sighed and sat down on Sam's desk, letting her feet dangle. "I still don't get your politics. They're so irrational."

"That's because most people are irrational," Sam replied as she started to fill out a request form to get the keyboards and base stations built.

"They shouldn't be. And there's irrational and irrational. If Netossa doesn't want to work with Sweet Bee because Sweet Bee once was Spinnerella's girlfriend, then that's, well, silly, but I can understand it. But I don't get how you can dislike someone for something that didn't happen. We've never been to Earth, we haven't done anything to those people who want us dead, so why are they like this? We're here to help them. If we wanted to hurt them, we could just bombard them from orbit. We wouldn't play silly games."

That was probably Hordak's influence, Sam thought. "They don't see things like that. They have their own view of how the world works, and they fit everything into that." No matter how much they had to bend and break facts.

"That's stupid."

"Yes," Sam agreed. "But that's how people - some people - are. We have to teach them that they're wrong."

"That's kind of hard if they want to kill you."

"Yes. Fortunately, the vast majority of them don't really want to kill anyone. They can be reached with the right approach." Sam hoped that she wasn't wrong.

"And what is the right approach?"

Sam winced. "I think that's a question for public relations."

"'Public relations'?" Entrapta looked a little confused.

This time, Sam sighed.

*****​

Earth Orbit, August 23rd, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...so those public relations people are experts on how to make people like you, and Sam said we should look into hiring one. She said every government and every big business had one."

Catra, leaning against the wall in Darla's hold, frowned a little at Entrapta's explanation. "That sounds like… Like a bit questionable." People who knew how to make you like them? She knew someone like that.

Adora nodded in agreement. She would, of course - she had been raised by Shadow Weaver as well. "Yes. It doesn't seem to be very honest. How can people trust us if we lie to them?"

"Oh." Entrapta looked confused.

But Glimmer shook her head. "It's another form of diplomacy, of sorts - you know, when you try to present your proposal in the best possible way depending on who you talk to. You don't lie because if you get caught in a lie, people stop trusting you."

"Ah." Adora nodded.

Catra narrowed her eyes. Knowing what to say to whom - that was how Catra had managed to recruit Entrapta to the Horde.

"Well, you also have to consider how far you can and want to go," Glimmer went on. "At some point, there's not much difference between outright lying and omitting things."

"People will feel that they have been lied to even if everything you told them was technically correct," Bow added.

Catra rolled her eyes. That was obvious. No one liked being manipulated and made to look like a fool.

"And how far do we want to go?" Adora asked.

"We want a lasting alliance, so we need to show the people of Earth that we aren't their enemies," Glimmer replied.

"Yes!" Entrapta agreed.

"We've been trying that," Catra pointed out.

"In diplomatic negotiations," Glimmer retorted. "This is different."

Catra shrugged. People were people. Even princesses, when it came down to it, were people.

Glimmer frowned at her even though she hadn't said anything. "I think we all realised that we don't really understand the people here."

That Catra could agree with. "Yes. They're all nuts."

"Not everyone," Adora objected. "But a lot seem to be a little…"

"Irrational," Entrapta finished for her.

"As I said, nuts," Catra said.

Glimmer sighed. "They aren't crazy - not all of them. But they're different. We need to understand them better, and I think such a public relations expert might help." With a glance at Adora, she added: "It's like preparing for Princess Prom: If we know what makes them tick and what they hate, we can avoid blunders."

Adora pouted. "We still made blunders. Like with Frosta. I don't think anyone liked us afterwards."

"That was because Catra manipulated us," Glimmer replied.

Catra didn't react. It was true, after all. She had played them - and she had enjoyed it. Especially the dancing. In hindsight, she should have realised a lot of things back then. But she'd been young and stupid. Very stupid.

"So, we hire someone to teach us about Earth? Like Daniel?" Adora asked.

"Daniel is an archaeologist and historian. Not a public relations expert," Bow said. "But probably someone like him, yes."

"We'll need to find someone we can trust, though," Catra pointed out. "Such a person could easily manipulate us."

"Yes." Glimmer frowned. "This will be tricky. We might have to hire two or even more to guard against that."

"Don't the United Nations have such people? You said everyone has them," Adora asked. "We could ask them for help."

"But they would be loyal to the United Nations, not to us," Glimmer objected.

Catra nodded. Negotiations were tricky enough - they couldn't afford to introduce a spy. And she was sure that anyone recommended by the United Nations would be a spy for one country or another.

"Well, we know there are many such people on Earth," Bow said. "So, let's talk to some of them and see if they make a good impression?"

Catra snorted. If someone made a bad impression, they obviously weren't competent at public relations.

"Yes. Let's put up a wanted ad!" Entrapta said.

"A wanted ad?" Adora asked.

"That's how you hire people - you put up an ad in a newspaper and online. Sam explained that to me." Entrapta nodded. "Well, you could also use a headhunter - which isn't what it sounds like, I asked - and then they would look for one."

"That would be more discreet," Catra commented.

"But we would have to find a trustworthy headhunter first," Adora objected.

Which would put them back to square one. Catra nodded.

Glimmer didn't look convinced. "I was thinking we would contact various public relations firms. Putting up an ad would make us look…"

"...like we need the help?" Catra grinned at the princess's scowl.

"We do need the help," Adora said, nodding. "But I think asking people is better. And we can ask our friends to help us look for trustworthy people."

"The Americans want to manipulate us like everyone else," Catra pointed out.

"Daniel is honest."

Catra had to agree with that. Daniel could be trusted - to an extent. "But his superiors aren't." Not even O'Neill.

"I trust Sam," Entrapta added. "So, we can ask her too!"

Glimmer nodded. "We have to trust someone, anyway."

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 24th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"The Etherians are looking for a spin doctor?" Jack O'Neill looked at General Hammond, then at Daniel and Carter. Carter blushed, which was a surprise. He raised his eyebrows.

"I may have mentioned the concept of public relations to Entrapta," she said.

'May'? Carter usually wasn't as… diplomatic. She must be really embarrassed. But this wasn't some private moment where a joke would be appropriate. They were in a meeting with the general. "And they've asked us for a recommendation?"

"They have explicitly asked for Dr Jackon and Captain Carter's help," Hammond replied.

"I don't know why they would ask for my help. I don't have any experience with public relations," Daniel said. "I don't even know a public relations expert."

Jack was already aware of that. Otherwise, his friend probably wouldn't have blundered into the whole 'cuckoo archaeologist claims aliens built the pyramids' debacle.

"I am familiar with the concept, of course, but I don't know any public relations expert either," Carter added. "Entrapta must have got the wrong impression from my explanation."

Hammond looked grim. "This poses a problem, of course."

Daniel looked confused, but Carter grimaced. Jack nodded. "Washington wants us to recommend specific 'experts'."

"Yes." Hammond didn't like the idea either. "I did point out that the Etherians specifically asked for Dr Jackson and Captain Carter because they trust them." He sighed. "The President pointed out that whoever the Etherians picked would be approached by various groups anyway."

"Like the NID," Jack said. "Or just some interest group with a bag full of money. Or some foreign spy."

"Exactly." The general nodded. "However, I could persuade the President that we cannot afford to lose the Etherians' trust in SG-1, so he agreed that we'll be putting our cards on the table from the start."

"Honesty is the best policy," Daniel agreed.

Although… "Were you just quoting Adora?" Jack asked.

Daniel flushed a little. "It's a sound policy."

Maybe we should start worrying about the Etherians manipulating our own people, Jack thought. Though could you call it manipulation if they were simply being themselves? "So, how do we honestly recommend a trustworthy spin doctor that won't sell out either the Etherians or us?" If such a person even existed - Jack didn't really trust any PR guys.

"We investigate them beforehand," Carter offered - she must have been thinking about this for a while. "As if we were screening applicants for Stargate Command recruitment."

"Right. Because we've done this before." Although Jack knew that despite their best efforts, they would have missed some NID moles in the past.

"And we'll tell the Etherians that," Daniel insisted. "They need to know that whoever we recommend will be loyal to the United States."

"Of course," Hammond agreed.

"Let's hope that they won't take offence at that," Jack said.

"They shouldn't." Daniel frowned a little. "They are, despite their age, experienced politicians, after all."

"Carter had to explain to them the concept of public relations," Jack retorted.

"That wasn't because the concept was unknown to them, but because they must have seen this as part of being a ruler," his friend protested. "And, well, because it was Entrapta. I keep telling people that we can't underestimate them. The Etherians have a sophisticated civilisation, even if their aesthetics might not look like that to us. It's the same with how people tend to see past cultures as ignorant and primitive even though most had complex societies. Like the Bronze Age, which had a complex network of trade and diplomacy relations that covered a significant part of the world and…"

Jack sighed. Here came the history lesson. Although his friend had a point about underestimating the Etherians. They were just so young. And so earnest. Well, most of them. Catra was a sneaky cynic, or tried to be, and Glimmer certainly acted like a politician often enough.

*****​

Jack O'Neill pushed back with his seat and resisted the urge to spin around on it. With no emergency to deal with, he was supposed to catch up on paperwork. Which he had done - at least he had finished the essential reports. And what the government considered essential. Opinions on that differed, of course.

In any case, it was mid-afternoon-ish - time for a break. Usually, he'd drag Carter and Daniel out of their caves, but both were busy working with Stargate Command's support staff on vetting public relations firms. That left Teal'c. Who would, at this time, either by working out with the marines of SG-3, which meant sparring, or meditating in his room.

A quick check confirmed that Jack's friend wasn't in his room. Which meant he would be in the gym - and unlikely to take a break in the middle of a training session. Still, Jack felt like talking to a friend, and the mess hall was on the way, so if he grabbed a doughnut and coffee, he could then watch Teal'c flatten cocky marines in sparring matches. You could have worse breaks.

In the canteen, he stood in the short line - one airman ahead of him tried to surrender his spot, but Jack waved him off. As if he'd pull rank in the chow line! Besides, the TV was on and showing the news. Or what they thought was the news. Nothing new there… Wait! He frowned. He knew that face on the screen - that was the nutcase who had called for the death of the Etherians. He walked closer, listening to the announcer.

"...arrested for misuse of donations and child pornography. The reverend's lawyer refuted the accusations and claimed that his client was being framed."

An airman next to Jack snorted. "They always say that!"

Another cursed about paedophiles.

Jack would certainly not dismiss the idea that the good reverend was a conman and sexual predator. But he couldn't help feeling that the man's arrest so soon after he caught the Etherians' attention was more than a little suspicious.

*****​

Earth Orbit, August 24th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and while the police refused to comment on the speculation that the reverend's recent controversial statements about the Etherians were the reason that his finances had come under scrutiny, several sources claim that despite the fact that the information about the reverend's suspicious financial activities was provided anonymously, the police acted as if they trusted the source, which raises suspicions that…"

"They arrested the nutcase?"

Adora nodded. "According to the news, yes."

"But not because of the death threats," Catra went on as she sat down in the lounge of Darla.

"Financial crimes and child pornography," Glimmer said with a deep scowl. "Figures."

Adora nodded, but Catra snorted. "Easy to plant such material on someone."

Adora blinked. "You think that someone, ah… framed him?"

Her lover shrugged. "It's possible. It's quite convenient that he was arrested - and for such despicable crimes - shortly after he made waves. If you can't get him for what he did, get him for something he didn't."

That was… Adora's first impulse was that this was bad. Very bad.

"We don't know that," Bow pointed out. "And according to what we found out, a lot of such 'televangelists' get very rich on donations."

And a lot of them didn't like people like Adora and Catra - they had said so in the past. Not many had been as hateful as the reverend in question, though. Still… "But child pornography?"

"It's not impossible either," Glimmer said, "according to the information we found about religious organisations."

"Of course," Catra pointed out, "that also means it's an easy and plausible charge."

"But would they do this? Frame a man for crimes he didn't commit just to please us?" Adora asked.

"In a heartbeat," Catra replied.

Adora frowned at her. "We don't know that."

"We know they did such things - and worse than this - in their 'Cold War'," Bow said.

"But that was years ago," Adora protested. When she saw Catra shaking her head with a sigh, she pouted. People could change - Catra was the best example! SG-1 were good people, too.

"But is this a bad thing?" Entrapta looked confused. "He told people to kill us - and we didn't do anything to him. So, he was obviously a bad person who deserved to be arrested."

"Yes, he was - but he might have been arrested for a thing he didn't do," Adora explained.

"But why would that matter, as long as he is arrested?" Entrapta asked.

"Two reasons," Glimmer replied. "First, if he wasn't arrested for telling people to murder us, then that means it's still allowed to do that. Tell people to kill us, I mean, not killing us."

"In the United States. In other countries, it is legal to kill us," Catra interjected.

"We're talking about the United States," Glimmer told her with a frown. "Anyway, the second reason is that we have to wonder if we can trust people who break their own rules like that."

"If a rule is stupid, it should be broken," Entrapta said.

Adora narrowed her eyes - at Catra. She knew that quote.

Her lover frowned. "Hey, it's true - you shouldn't be following stupid rules."

"Sometimes," Adora admitted.

"This isn't about following stupid rules - this is about trusting someone who ignores their rules when it's inconvenient but won't change them," Glimmer explained.

"Ah. So, you think they will do the same when it comes to an agreement with us?" Entrapta asked.

"We don't know if they did it in the first place," Adora cut in.

"It would be wise to assume the worst," Hordak commented. "Your friends in Stargate Command might be trustworthy, but they aren't the rulers of their country."

"And I'm sure that Jack's been involved in such stuff," Catra said. "Remember him and Burke?"

Oh. Adora frowned. "But that was years ago. He's changed."

Catra frowned as well - she understood Adora's point. But she shook her head. "But there will be others. And either the President is behind this, or he tolerates it, or he can't stop it. No matter what, it's not a good thing."

"Indeed," Hordak agreed. "A leader must have total control over his underlings."

"Yeah, how about we don't go there?" Glimmer said. "But a leader is responsible for their people."

"You can't have responsibility without control," Hordak retorted.

"This is getting a bit too philosophical. Can we focus on what this means for us?" Bow frowned.

"We don't even know if our suspicion is true," Adora told him. "We shouldn't assume the worst without any evidence."

"Neither should we blindly trust everyone," Catra objected.

"I think we shouldn't do anything, but we should be more cautious when negotiating," Glimmer said.

"And what about the public relations experts we asked for help with?" Catra leaned back in her seat.

"We already decided that we would hire several people," Glimmer told her. "So, we have to look for some people ourselves."

"Great." Catra, obviously, wasn't fond of that idea. "Just what we wanted to avoid by asking SG-1 for help."

Adora smiled and patted her lover's back. "Not every plan works out."

"But it would be nice if some worked out without having to work harder," Catra retorted.

"You haven't done much work in the negotiations at all, "Glimmer said with a frown.

"I'm not a princess," Catra told her with a grin.

"Anyway," Adora spoke up before her friend and lover could start a row - Catra was a bit lazy when she thought she could get away with it, but Adora didn't think Catra being more active in negotiations would help a lot. Quite the contrary, in fact. "We should wait and see for now. And look for public relations experts. You can help me with that!"

She ignored how Catra sighed theatrically and slumped at the table. Catra couldn't fool her with such antics.

*****​

Earth Orbit, August 25th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter wouldn't call working with Entrapta a chore. Not at all - it was refreshing to work with someone as intelligent and driven as she was who didn't harbour some mixed feelings because Sam was a woman. The number of times she'd had to establish ground rules that should have been obvious with some of her male colleagues… the Colonel's jokes about her enforcing the pecking order had stopped being funny long ago.

No, working with Entrapta, a genuinely nice person as well, was a great experience, especially if they worked in space - despite Sam's experiences, part of her still marvelled at watching the Earth float beneath them through a window. At least it should be.

But part of her had also been dreading today's work on the ring transporter. Because while Entrapta was one of the nicest persons Sam knew - not counting when she had some mad scientist moment - she was also both very open and very curious. Which meant that she would ask rather uncomfortable questions that Sam didn't like answering.

"So…" Entrapta bit her lower lip. "Did you plant fake data in that guy's computer to arrest him?"

Questions like this one. "That would be illegal," Sam replied before she could help herself. Damn, That was an evasive answer if she ever knew one.

"Yes, I had that explained to me." Entrapta nodded. "It's a little weird that getting the right result but with a different method is not allowed, but apparently, the side-effects are bad."

"Yes," Sam agreed. "Breaking the law isn't a good thing."

"Unless it's a stupid law," Entrapta objected. "At least Catra said so, and Glimmer didn't really contradict her - well, not if she really meant it."

That was… a rather worrying fact. Not really a surprise, though - Catra certainly struck Sam as the type to only worry about getting caught with regards to rules, and Glimmer had a pragmatic side that bordered on ruthless.

"Anyway!" Entrapta nodded. "Whether or not it's legal doesn't answer the question I asked."

Damn. "Stargate Command didn't do anything like that. And I have no knowledge of any other organisation of the United States framing the reverend," Sam replied.

"But would you know about that?"

"No," Sam admitted. "Whoever would have done such a thing would have kept it a secret from everyone because it would be illegal."

"That's a lot of 'woulds'." Entrapta pouted a little. "You usually don't use so many."

Entrapta was much more focused on this than Sam had expected - usually, the woman was focused on science. "I don't want to present speculation as facts," she told her.

"Ah." Entrapta nodded, smiling. "That's a good stance."

"But," Sam went on, "some people think the timing of this is suspicious. Usually, such investigations take longer before an arrest is made." The police generally weren't eager to make waves like this without solid proof. Certainly not when it concerned the leader of a local church. The white male leader of a Christian Church, a voice in the back of her mind added. But that was another subject she wasn't going to touch unless forced to.

"On the news, they said they had received information from an anonymous source." Entrapta cocked her head to the side. "Wouldn't that be enough to act?"

Sam pressed her lips together. "The police tend to act a bit more cautious when receiving such information. It could be an attempt to frame a rival. Of course, it could also be information from someone close to the reverend who was pushed to act after the man called for your deaths."

Entrapta frowned. "But if they knew about his breaking the law, why wouldn't they have said something before?"

"Perhaps they didn't think it was bad enough to call the police - especially if they were only aware of the financial crimes," Sam explained. "The police would have discovered the other crimes once they took his computer and examined it."

"Ah. So, it's possible that he did those crimes."

"Yes."

"But it's also possible that he didn't, and someone faked the data."

"Yes."

"Is there any way we can find out which is the case?" Entrapta frowned. "Because this seems to be an important question that should be answered."

Sam sighed. "Not without breaking a few more laws." Such as hacking the computers and electronic communication of a certain Senator. Though not even that would probably help - Kinsey was too smart to leave incriminating evidence on his computer.

"Your laws seem to need a lot of revising," Entrapta said.

"Yes. But altering the law is hard - and that's by design."

"Why?"

"Because people need to be able to trust that a law won't be changed on a whim. They need to be able to trust the government, and they can't do that if they have to fear that whatever was legal yesterday could be illegal tomorrow just because the president didn't like it. Especially if they invested a lot and expected to be able to keep doing it."

"Oh." Entrapta nodded. "Like investing a lot into an experiment and then being told you can't do it."

"Yes." Sam nodded.

"But why would anyone invest a lot in telling others to kill people?"

Sam sighed again. She really didn't want to discuss religion with Entrapta.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Oddly enough speech on broadcast or cable television is no where near as free as people tend to assume.

The fcc enjoys broad latitude in defining appropriate use especially considering the broadcast spectrum is rented from the government.

It would be pretty simple for a president to enforce anti defamation regulations in regards to commentary on broadcast network channels that refers to the god princess of the giant alien fleet hovering above everyone's heads.

We already enforce much harsher censorship for much less obvious things. Just think of the cost of saying fuck on the air.

Click to shrink...

Indeed. But people would cry about censorship. It's one thing to censor curse words and nudity, another to censor death threats. Apparently.

 

[I_S]

Indeed. But people would cry about censorship. It's one thing to censor curse words and nudity, another to censor death threats. Apparently.

Click to shrink...

This story is depressingly realistic at times.

 

[Timurelang]

I'm a little confused as to where the Antarctic gate is, but I'm liking the story.

 

[JudgeKing]

I'm a little confused as to where the Antarctic gate is, but I'm liking the story.

Click to shrink...

The Antarctic gate is either in storage at Area 51 or being used by the NID at an airfield near Parowan, Utah.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 30: Public Relations Part 2

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, August 27th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So… that's the government-approved list of public relations experts." Catra craned her neck to look at the list in front of Adora. "Took you long enough. I would have thought sending us a copy of your payroll would be faster."

As expected, Daniel frowned at that. "We didn't get you a list of government employees," he said with a slight pout.

"We wouldn't have taken two days for that," O'Neill added with a smirk.

"Catra's joking," Adora said. "Thank you."

"Mostly joking," Catra corrected her lover. "I'm sure none of them is hostile towards the government."

"Few businesses are," Daniel said.

"None of them is hostile to their employers," O'Neill said.

"Colonel," Sam hissed.

"Just being open and honest," he defended himself. Then he grinned at Catra. "Besides, I'm sure you already assumed that anyway."

Catra matched his grin. "Of course."

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "It's generally thought to be both rude and crude to point that out."

"Well, I'm no diplomat," O'Neill said.

"As a number of unsuccessful first contacts can attest to," Daniel muttered.

"Hey! None of them was my fault… well, perhaps one or two…" Now O'Neill was pouting. "Anyway, here you got your list of American PR guys willing to sell their souls to land this job."

"We don't need their souls," Adora said. "We just need honest advice and expertise."

"Well, that's good - I think they sold their souls already. Or would have, if Earth had magic."

"That's not exactly how magic works," Glimmer commented.

"Yes. Unless that's how Earth magic works. I've never heard about soul magic until Earth. It sounds fascinating!" Entrapta beamed. "Can we measure souls and analyse them without harming them?"

"It's not quite clear if souls exist," Sam said.

"Those are myths. Souls… well, it's more a question of faith and belief," Daniel added. "Not something you can measure. Or even see."

That sounded like their gods to Catra: Imaginary things.

"Well, Earth tales of magic do seem to emphasise spirits and similar creatures," Glimmer said. "As do your religions. So, it might be possible that Earth magic is focused on spirits."

"That's not quite the same as what we think souls are," Daniel argued.

"Perhaps spirits are what happens when the original body dies, and the intangible consciousness hangs around?" Entrapta speculated.

"That's very fascinating, I'm sure," O'Neill said, "but we're here to talk about public relations."

"You don't like public relations, do you?" Catra asked.

Jack frowned at her. "They're a necessary evil. Too closely related to politics."

"Politics aren't evil," Daniel protested.

"My experience disagrees," O'Neill retorted.

Catra snorted. "Earth politics, maybe."

"Well, Alliance politics were sometimes frustrating as well," Adora said.

"We all know that," Glimmer said. "Let's talk about public relations." She picked up the list. "So, we've got half a dozen names here. Groups, mostly."

"Yes. We've vetted them," Sam said. "They're honest as far as we can tell - reasonably honest."

"For public relations people," O'Neill grinned.

Catra shook her head. "Your jokes are getting older than you."

"Hey! Low blow!" he protested.

"Can we focus on this list?" Adora was getting annoyed. And not the fun kind of annoyed.

"Sorry," Catra said in a low voice.

"Alright." Glimmer read the list. "They're in alphabetical order. No preferences?"

"Ah… no," Daniel said. "We don't really have much experience with this sort of business."

"We were too low on the totem pole to need such people," O'Neill explained. "And too secret."

"You sounded like you had personal experience," Catra pointed out.

"I have personal experiences with the constraints PR shackled us with," O'Neill said.

"I think that means he wasn't allowed to be as snarky and immature as he wanted," Daniel said.

"Hey!" But O'Neill was grinning.

"So… I guess we'll just meet with everyone and see who fits us best," Glimmer said.

"And you need to work out how to pay them," O'Neill said. "They won't work for free."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Bow said. "I've looked up the prices for space travel - passengers or cargo. Just transporting a satellite or two should give us enough cash to pay for them. Or we could offer to take a people to the Moon or Mars."

Catra suppressed a smirk when she saw how surprised the others were. Well, except for Daniel, who looked pointedly at O'Neill.

"You're going to offer space travel for cash?" O'Neill asked.

"It's an obvious service we can provide. There isn't much competition, and it won't require us to give away our technology," Glimmer replied.

"NASA's going to love this," he muttered.

"They will - if they can be the first to hire you," Sam said.

"How much would people pay to be the first person to visit Mars?" Daniel asked.

Catra grinned. It seemed the obvious way to make money for trade hadn't been as obvious to Stargate Command. Well, did they expect them to peddle their technology? Or hire out Adora as a healer for money?

As if Catra's lover would have accepted that. No, offering trips to space was the easiest way to get money.

*****​

Washington DC, United States, Earth, August 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"I'm not a politician. I shouldn't be here," Jack O'Neill grumbled as he shifted in the - admittedly very comfortable - seat in the White House's waiting room.

"We're here to advise the President and the cabinet, not to make policy," Daniel said, looking up from his book. Carter didn't look up from her laptop.

"I'm not a consultant either," Jack retorted.

"Jack! This is just a briefing - you've done those before."

"Under protest," Jack lied.

Daniel rolled his eyes and went back to reading.

Jack frowned. He was old; he had a right to be grumpy! Besides, he was sure that they would get the blame for whatever crazy thing the Etherians did next. "They haven't put up an ad for space cruises, have they?" he asked, looking at Carter.

"No, Sir," she replied.

"You haven't looked!" he accused her.

"I have a program checking for such things," Carter replied.

That was impressive. Jack hadn't known that they could do that.

"And Entrapta said she wanted to run the ad by us before they put it up," Carter added with a slightly embarrassed smile.

Jack groaned. "I was joking about the ad!"

"Well, Jack - how else would they advertise their services?" Daniel asked.

"By giving an interview?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "They wouldn't have to pay a dime that way."

"That's true," Daniel admitted. "How are they paying for an ad anyway?"

"Credit," Carter replied. "They don't have to pay immediately."

Jack couldn't help noting that Carter knew a lot about the Etherians' plans. "Been getting cosy with your mad science buddy, have we?" he asked, taking care to keep his tone light.

"I've been cooperating with our prospective allies as per our last orders, Sir," she replied, tensing a little.

So, his tone hadn't been light enough. Damn. "I'm not judging you," he told her. "I'm just a bit curious - and envious. They aren't as cosy with me."

"That's because the alien you've got the closest rapport with is prickly and too much like yourself," Daniel replied.

The alien he had what? Jack blinked. "What? Catra's a kid! We aren't alike at all!"

"She's a veteran with a dark past and hides her feelings behind dark humour and snark," Daniel explained. "That's like you with cat ears and a tail."

Jack glared at his friend. That was going too far. "She doesn't hide her feelings at all. She's quite blatant about public displays of affection with Adora," he retorted.

Daniel blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it again. What was his problem? And Carter was now hunched over so much, her face had disappeared behind her laptop.

Oh. Jack cursed himself, but before he could rectify the misunderstanding - and it was a misunderstanding, damn it! - the door was opened, and one of the White House interns peered inside. "Colonel O'Neill? Captain Carter? Dr Jackson? The President is now ready for you."

"Perfect timing," Jack muttered as he got up.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." He waved the young woman off. "Let's not leave the President waiting."

"Thank you for coming. Please have a seat!" the President greeted them warmly as they entered the meeting room. The rest of the cabinet was more polite than friendly. And Kinsey, who, of course, had to be here for some damned reason, didn't bother smiling at all.

In return, Jack bared his teeth as their eyes met. If anyone asked, it counted as a smile.

"So!" The President clapped his hands together. "Things with the aliens have taken another turn."

"I'll say," the Secretary of Commerce. "My phone hasn't stopped ringing since news about their latest idea got out."

"Which was supposed to be a secret," the Secretary of Defense spat. "You've got a leak in your department!"

"It could have been any department," the Secretary of Commerce retorted.

"Well, at least it hasn't leaked to the press yet," The President said.

"Would save the Etherians some bucks for advertising," Jack said before he could stop himself.

Everyone turned to look at him. "They're planning to advertise?"

"Apparently," Jack said. He wouldn't throw Carter under the bus. "They seem to want to do things by the book."

"They have been watching Earth TV since their arrival, so they would be aware of many of our customs," Daniel said. "And they couldn't have missed advertising, even though that's not really known in their home."

"Will they apply for a license to operate commercial aircraft?" the Secretary of Transportation asked. "If they do, would we have to certify their craft?"

"We haven't exactly asked them to get their spaceship certified," the Secretary of Defense remarked.

"But they didn't operate it as a commercial transport," the Secretary of Transportation replied. "That's different now."

"You want to set the FAA on the Etherians?" The Secretary of Commerce sounded shocked.

"I wonder how they'll take the fact that Darla is a thousand years old," Daniel muttered next to Jack.

"Folks," the President spoke up, "let's not quibble over regulations. We all know that if we won't let them do this, another country will jump at the chance."

"And NASA will be pissed," the Secretary of Defense added. "They're already starting a crash program to get a Mars habitat ready."

"But what if something goes wrong? What if there's an accident?" the Secretary of Transportation objected. "What if a spaceship crashes on a city?"

"We can weather such a crash better than a complete crash of the economy," the Secretary of Commerce said. "And if we alienate the aliens, that is what will happen."

Jack clenched his teeth and kicked Daniel before his friend could blurt out something impolite. That was one of the reasons he hated politics.

"Surely it can't be that bad?" the Secretary of Transportation objected.

"Have you seen the latest report from my department?" The Secretary of Commerce scoffed. "The global economy is reeling. People are worried about the war. The only thing that kept the stock market from crash-diving into crushing depths is the hope that the aliens will usher in a new golden age thanks to their technology - and even with that factor, the panic is greater, especially in many developing countries. And the number of startups that can't get money is increasing rapidly because everyone thinks their ideas and products are already obsolete.."

"And in the established industry, people scale back their staff. We didn't have large numbers of workers getting laid off yet, but it's just a question of time if this continues," the Secretary of Labor added. "They know that not everyone will profit from the coming tech revolution."

"And even the corporations hoping to profit from the aliens are worried," Kinsey spoke up for the first time. "Several aerospace industries reached out to foreign firms for possible joint-ventures, but the reception in Europe has been… less than enthusiastic." He looked grim, Jack noted, but Kinsey was an accomplished liar. "I've called a few contacts in the United Kingdom, and they told me that their firms aren't convinced that the United States will manage to get an alliance with the aliens."

"What? We've been working closely with them - we just stopped some zombie plague and captured alien infiltrators!" the Secretary of Transportation protested. "They haven't even talked with the United Kingdom!"

"The British have been active in the United Nations," the Secretary of State replied. "And they've been preparing the field, so to speak - they're rushing through pro-gay legislation, so when they officially talk, they can present themselves as the most progressive country. It's the same with the French and the Germans."

"Their industrial leaders are putting pressure on them to make a deal, same as ours," the Secretary of Commerce added. "Only, they can ignore the religious conservatives."

"So can we," the Secretary of Transportation retorted. "They're not our problem. We can replace 'don't ask, don't tell' easily enough."

Daniel cleared his throat.

"Yes, Dr Jackson?" The President nodded at them.

"The Etherians are aware of how easily 'don't ask, don't tell' - or something worse - could be reinstated by a new president," Daniel explained. "And they are aware that you're limited to two terms, Mr President."

The President nodded. "And they're used to monarchs ruling for much longer times."

"Magical princesses," someone muttered.

"Yes, Mr President," Daniel confirmed. Jack knew he struggled not to add: 'I've already told you so'. "And, well… they expect full rights for gay people. Several western countries are passing laws to legalise gay marriage."

"Laws they can change much more easily than we can change ours," the Secretary of Transportation grumbled.

"But they also don't have their nutcases screaming to burn witches on live television," the Secretary of State added. "We do. That's not a good optic."

"He was arrested," someone else said.

Jack winced and raised his hand.

The President looked at him. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"They voiced concern about a possible frame job," he said - carefully not looking at Kinsey.

"Great. The absolute monarchs care about due process," someone else sighed.

"Many of the more extremist religious leaders have been a bit lax with regards to financial regulations," Kinsey commented. "I feel that several of them will want to avoid drawing attention that might lead to an investigation."

"Will that be enough to mollify the aliens?" the Secretary of Commerce asked.

Daniel pursed his lips. "They also mentioned that it's hard to trust people who break their own rules and laws when convenient but won't change them. It's like… they do respect our customs - mostly - and understand that our legal and legislative procedures and rules are different, but they aren't as understanding when we don't follow our own laws. It's a trust issue."

"But they trust you," the Secretary of Defense said. "They consulted your team to hire PR consultants, and you've fought together."

"Yes, but that's a personal relationship which doesn't extend to the United States as a country," Daniel explained.

"So, as a gesture of trust, we need to change the laws." The President looked at Kinsey.

Kinsey nodded. "My people are still working on the other party. This whole magic business has several key members worried about their constituents. No one wants to be primaried for 'consorting with witches'."

"Actual witches, as I understand," the President said. He sighed.

"But we've got leverage - we have the Stargate. And we have alien technology. And the most experienced and powerful army in the world," the Secretary of Labor said. "Surely we could find a compromise?"

"We'll lose the Stargate," the Secretary of State told him. "The other nations in the Security Council are bickering over the details, but everyone is in agreement that the Stargate belongs to the whole planet."

"And we can't stand against the entire world," the Secretary of Defense added.

"We'0ve got a spare gate, don't we?" The Secretary of Labor looked at SG-1. "Can't we hand that one over and keep the first?"

"Stargates on the same planet tend to interfere with each other," Carter explained. "It's not entirely safe running two on the same planet."

"To be fair, with all a Stargate entails, it is hard to argue that they shouldn't belong to the entire world," the Secretary of Education said.

"And 'one gate for us, one for the rest of the world' won't really go over well either," the Secretary of State said.

"What about the war we're fighting?" the Secretary of Labor asked.

That was Jack's cue. After a nod from the president, he said: "The Ehterians have a space fleet. They need ground troops - but given our performance so far against the Goa'uld, pretty much any modern military will have the troops to beat the Goa'uld on the ground if they have support from space." And between all of their countries, the Europeans had enough ground troops for that.

"So, we might have the most experience and the best troops, but we're not irreplaceable," the Secretary of Defense said.

"What about our alien technology?"

Jack glanced at Carter. That was her field.

*****​

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, August 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Hello, Mr Finnigan." Adora smiled as friendly as she could at the man in a suit. "Please have a seat."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Your Highness. Your Highness. Miss Catra. Mister Bow." The man nodded at all of them as he took a seat in Darla's lounge. He wasn't gawking around any more, unlike when he had entered the ship.

Adora glanced at Catra, who seemed ready to comment on her form of address. "Don't," she whispered.

Her lover snorted as the man opened his suitcase and pulled out one of the small computers with a keyboard that they liked on Earth - a laptop, they were called. Catra found the name very amusing for some reason she hadn't shared yet.

"So, Mr Finnigan, you represent Mackenzie and Sons," Glimmer said when the man seemed finished setting up.

"Yes. We're a traditional consultant firm specialising in public relations." He nodded, then added with a smile: "You certainly don't need any introduction - I think everyone on Earth knows you by sight now."

"I don't think everyone has seen pictures of us," Entrapta retorted at once. "And we've got data that there are several communities which do not follow global media. So, not everyone would recognise us on sight. And we also need to consider that not every human being has the same ability to recognise individuals based on pictures. So, I would say we are probably known to the majority of the population of Earth, but not to everyone." She nodded several times.

Finnigan blinked, and his smile slipped a little. "Ah, yes, of course. Thank you for the correction."

"No problem!" Entrapta beamed at him. "I'm happy to help!"

Glimmer cleared her throat. "So, do you know why we are looking to hire a public relations expert?"

"You want to get your message out to the people on Earth and control your image," Finnigan replied at once. "Mackenzie and Sons specialise in that sort of task. Whatever your message, we can get it out - and make people accept it."

Adora frowned a little. "Whatever our message?"

"We're professionals, Your Highness."

"Just Adora," she interrupted him. 'Your Highness' reminded her of how Priest addressed her.

"Certainly, Adora. Anyway, we're professionals - we don't care about your message or your goals, only how we can present them to your target demographic in the most effective way possible."

He didn't care about their message or their goals? Adora blinked.

"Sounds very mercenary," Catra commented.

His polite smile turned a bit more genuine, or so Adora thought. "That is one way to look at it. We don't judge our clients or try to influence them - we don't have a horse in any race. All we want is to do our best to help our clients."

"And to earn money," Glimmer said.

"Of course."

"But what if we had goals that would run counter to your personal principles?" Bow asked.

"As I said, we're professionals. Whatever the client wants, they get. Our own private views play no part in this. We've worked for politicians from both parties in the USA - usually at the same time, albeit in different areas."

"I see." Glimmer's smile was also very polite.

*****​

"...and I was thinking that you are a shoo-in for the younger market - the younger demographics. They can identify with you. They, too, are faced with a world of adults who do not take them seriously due to their age, and they often feel alienated from their parents because of their different life experiences. And, of course, you already cover part of the teenage pop culture - magical princesses? Catgirls? The ads practically write themselves! What you mostly need help with are the older generations." Miss Glendale beamed. "And we at PR Solutions Inc. know how to catch them. Leave it to us, and you'll reap the benefits of a targeted campaign in no time!"

Adora had the distinct impression that Miss Glendale, who was about forty, didn't really take them seriously either.

"I think for the older generation - especially those who remember the Second World War - we should focus on your war experiences. That will create common ground. Of course, you'll have to manage your appearances; what appeals to the younger demographic won't appeal to the older demographic. I would suggest you split your appearances. Some of you focus on the younger targets - I would think you, Adora, and Catra, are best suited for that since they are the most tolerant demographic and you fit several popular archetypes in comics and animation - while Queen Glimmer should focus on the older demographic. We'll have to see what the polls say about your choice of partner to decide whether or not to emphasise your relationship in contrast to Adora and Catra's or not. But I think with careful brand managing, your approval rates should soar."

Adora wasn't sure if she wanted to be managed. But she was sure that she wasn't a brand.

*****​

"I'll be frank - you've got some real issues when it comes to public relations. I took the liberty to have our data department run some polls in preparation for this interview, and, honestly, you're very polarising. The liberal urban population is poised favourably towards you, especially the younger generation, but the politically active part of that demographic is somewhat sceptical of your political views with regard to democracy. And the fringe groups there are concerned about being colonised. Still, that's your core support demographic - they share a number of your values and can be worked with." Mr Brown, of 'Brown, Wallander and Co.', nodded.

"However, on the other end of the spectrum, the Evangelicals are, at best, very sceptical. At worst, they loathe you. You represent everything they fear - you're literal aliens, you have same-sex and interracial couples, you don't follow their religion and you can do magic. And you're very open about everything." He took a deep breath. "And between those, you have the average American - they're sceptical, worried about the war and the changes that your arrival will cause to their lives, but also hesitantly optimistic. You need to convince those that you're not here to destroy their way of life but to help them if you want their support. Brown, Wallander and Co. can help you there, but whether or not they will be convinced depends on your actual plans for the planet."

The man - middle-aged and balding - sounded quite… Adora would say 'professional', but Finnigan had called himself that, and she didn't want to associate Brown with that.

"And, of course, this all depends on what is your ultimate goal," the man went on. "Do you need popular support to put pressure on the government? Or on certain factions in Congress?"

"We would like it if we didn't have to fear that whatever changes to your laws the current President does, the next one undoes - after we have shared our technology and magic," Glimmer summed it up. "And, as far as we know, for some reason, the people who loathe us have a comparable greater influence on your politics than their numbers and economic power would suggest."

"And that is because your democracy is weirder than most other democracies we saw," Catra added.

Brown nodded with a wry smile. "Yes, the system does favour certain demographics. Which in turn, means politics favour them. But changing - breaking up - that conservative alliance will be difficult. Not impossible - you already have big business on your side, so to speak, and the big donors are putting pressure on the usual suspects to change their policies - but a lot of the politicians involved need the Evangelicals to keep their positions."

Adora frowned. Such people shouldn't be in power.

"So, what can we do?" Bow asked.

"We - that is, Brown, Wallander and Co. - can help you with battling the Evangelical propaganda." Brown nodded. "But you won't really convince the hardcore Evangelicals since, in their eyes, you are a threat to their way of living."

Adora shook her head. "We aren't. All we want are equal rights for people like us."

Brown's smile turned sad. "They see that as a threat because their way of life includes forcing their views on everyone else. So, don't expect miracles. Some of them can be reached, but many, perhaps even most, won't change."

"Which means we need to hit the switch voters?" Catra asked - she and Adora had read up on American politics, though Adora didn't think that was the correct term.

"In a way. You mostly need to convince most of the rest of the conservative base that legalising gay marriage and magic isn't going to turn them into gay witches."

"They actually believe that?" Adora blurted out.

"Yes." Brown nodded. "Part of the reason for that is, of course, that no one really knows what magic can do. The rumours of a zombie plague didn't help there."

Adora winced.

"Well, we don't exactly know what Earth magic will do," Entrapta spoke up. "But based on your myths and history, I don't think the sexual preferences of people will be changed."

"I see." Brown slightly inclined his head. "In any case, Brown, Wallander and Co. can help you improve your image in the United States. No more and no less."

"Thank you, Mr Brown. We'll contact you once we have made our decision," Gimmer said.

*****​

"...and if you want to improve your image, you need to optimise your presentation. Get people to focus on your strengths and ignore your flaws. Give the public what they want. You're young, attractive and fighting evil body-snatching aliens. That's enough to forgive a lot of sins - people love war heroes. Keep your private life private, and you'll have them singing your praises soon enough. Of course, if you really want to gain the Evangelicals' support, then converting to their faith would be a big help - they love repenting sinners." Alois Baker, of Smith and Baker, flashed pearly white teeth. "As long as you go through the motions, you're set and can do what you want in private. Most of them do the same, after all."

"Thank you," Adora lied. "We'll stay in touch."

*****​

"Frankly, trying to correct your image by catering to the kind of people who rant about hell and damnation is a fool's quest." Julie Callaghan shook her head. "You won't ever win over most of them - unless you're white, male, straight and Christian, they will never accept you as equals. You have to change them if you want them to stop hating you, and that will take a lot of time, and you won't be able to change all of them."

"That's kind of pessimistic," Bow said.

"It's realistic. You can't win them all, so you need to decide who you want to support you. I've advised several politicians and I've always told them that if they have to lie to gain the support of a group, if they have to hide their real self, play a role, put up a facade, then that will, sooner or later, blow up in their faces. Someone will tell on you and the truth will get out. And that will cost you a lot more support than any lies could gain you."

Adora nodded in full agreement. As did her friends. Well, Catra smirked, but that counted.

"But ignoring them won't really stop people calling for our deaths," Glimmer pointed out.

"Oh, you shouldn't ignore them - but you shouldn't bend over to cater to them. Stress what you have in common. Whether gay or straight, most people want a loving, happy relationship. They want their children to be happy and safe. You want them to realise that they aren't losing anything that matters just because gay people can marry." Julie smiled before turning serious. "Of course, magic complicates that."

Adora sighed.

*****​

"So, the first question you need to answer is: What do you want? What is your ultimate goal? Then we can find out who you need to target and focus on them. Don't waste your money on people who don't matter, I always say - targeted ads are where it's at. And once you have your target group defined, you analyse it and then go for the opinion leaders. The world works top-down - but, being monarchs, you'd know that, wouldn't you?" Mr Cassidy, of Cassidy Analytics, smiled. It was a nice smile, but a little… Adora couldn't really put it down, but it felt a little condescending.

"According to what we know, the United States are a democracy, and public opinion greatly influences policies," Glimmer told him.

"Yes, yes, polls make policies, I always say. But people don't make individual decisions - people are, by and large, followers. The democratic ideal of the informed voter, carefully weighing the pros and cons before making a decision, is an illusion. People don't think. They pick a candidate by gut feeling. Or because someone they trust told them to. And those people - the opinion leaders and shapers - are your targets." Cassidy nodded at his own words. "Let's take the Catholic Church. You don't change the opinions of the Catholic Church by appealing to the masses - you influence the Pope because the Catholics listen to him. Well, they listen, and then they break their own rules all the time, but the Catholic Church considers all of humanity as sinners for a reason, right?" Another smile appeared.

Adora frowned. That sounded… well…

"And who leads those opinion leaders?" Catra asked.

"Well, those who know how they tick and how they can be motivated." And again, he smiled. "You, if you hire me."

"But how do you influence people who believe that their god wants us to die?" Bow asked.

"Oh, they don't - the leaders never believe their own words. It's all an act." Cassidy chuckled. "They're too smart to fall for the lies they tell their rubes."

"You think every leader is like that?" Adora asked.

"I know it."

"Thank you. We'll contact you once we have made our decision," Glimmer said.

*****​

Washington DC, United States, Earth, August 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and so it is my informed opinion that the United States couldn't match a program by other industrialised nations supported by the Etherians with a domestic effort of our own." Samantha Carter finished her explanation.

Or so she thought - the Secretary of Commerce frowned at her. "But we have more samples of alien technology than any other nation. And we have the most experience - I distinctly remember the budget for the Stargate program and the research into adapting advanced technology for domestic production. Are you telling me that all the claims made by Stargate Command were false?"

"No, Sir," Sam replied, managing not to frown. "I stand by our claims - but, as our reports clearly state, it will take considerable time until we can reasonably expect results - even accounting for the lack of secrecy now," she added before the man could bring that up. "We simply don't have the resources the Etherians can provide. We have a dozen scientists who have been researching alien technology - for the Etherians, this technology is what they work with. They can provide engineers and technicians to their partners who have been working with this technology all their lives - and know it inside out."

Most of them were clones, as far as Sam knew, but there were hundreds if not thousands of former Horde soldiers who had experience building and maintaining Horde technology as well. She went on: "While we will be trying to teach our engineers and technicians the basics of the technology, the Etherians will be teaching their partners how to build and run factories for finished products."

"Ah."

"Our assets would, of course, use any opportunity to gain information and knowledge," Kinsey added, "but I don't have to explain to you that that would never replace such a deal."

"And it might be seen as an unfriendly act," the President added.

"It would be an unfriendly act," Daniel corrected him. Many glared at Sam's friend for his remark, but he raised his chin and weathered the hostility.

"So, you see - we need that alliance if we want to maintain our technological and miliary lead," the Secretary of Defense said.

"Easier said than done. The Etherians don't understand how our system works." The Secretary of State snorted. "Or, rather - they do understand, but they don't care."

"They're concerned about the extremist elements in our country," the Secretary of Education said. "And with good reason, I dare say."

"Tell that to the conservatives," the Secretary of State grumbled.

"We did speak with them," Kinsey said. "They understand the problem, but… they have some difficulties reining in the radical fringe they cultivated for so long."

"Die Geister die ich rief, die werd ich nicht mehr los." The Secretary of Education chuckled.

"That's from Goethe's 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'," Daniel whispered.

"I don't remember Mickey Mouse speaking German," the Colonel replied in a whisper.

Daniel looked shocked for a moment - until he realised the Colonel was teasing.

"Well, their problems are now our problems," the Secretary of State said. "We can't get a good deal if people keep screaming to burn witches on live television."

"We can't limit Free Speech," the Attorney General said.

The Secretary of Defense muttered something that Sam couldn't hear. She was certain that it wasn't a compliment.

"We could reclassify calling for a lynch murder as inciting violence," the Secretary of Education said.

"We can't keep people from quoting the Bible!" the Attorney General replied. "It would violate both Free Speech and Freedom of Religion!"

"We certainly could!" the Secretary of Education snapped. "If it's done to incite violence, it shouldn't be protected."

"The press would crucify us," the Secretary of Transportation said.

"The press will crucify us if we don't get a deal," the Secretary of Commerce retorted.

The President looked at the Attorney General. "Can you talk to the Supreme Court? Ask them if national interests would be considered in a ruling whether or not the definition of inciting violence could be expanded?"

"I don't think they'll be receptive to that," the man replied. "They generally don't value economic interests higher than our freedoms. And they don't react well to any political pressure."

The President scowled for the first time. "Remind them that we're not just talking about the economy - we've got a fleet crewed by religious fanatics in orbit, and our religious fanatics are talking in public about burning their goddess and her consort. This is a clear and present danger for our country."

"Also, not too many of our allies agree that calling for murder should be protected by Free Speech," the Secretary of State added. "It's not as if we're talking about violating the UN charter of human rights here."

The President nodded. "Yes. I'm not asking to suspend our freedoms - I am asking for a bit of common sense."

The Attorney General sighed. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe we can use the lynching angle."

And the Colonel muttered: "Common sense? From lawyers?"

*****​

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, August 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So…" Catra stretched her arms over her head. "Who do we pick?"

"Not Smith and Baker!" Adora blurted out. "They're too…"

"..dishonest, cynical and smug?" Catra asked.

"Yes!" Adora nodded emphatically. "Too manipulative."

Catra pressed her lips together. That summed it up.

"Well, we want to manipulate public opinion, don't we?" Entrapta asked.

"We want to improve public opinion - but not by manipulating people like Cassidy wanted to," Adora retorted. "I don't want to hire him either."

Not like Shadow Weaver would have done it. "Neither of them cared about our goals and principles - only the end result."

"And the end doesn't justify the means," Bow agreed.

Catra glanced at Glimmer, but she didn't contradict Bow. Instead, she said: "And such manipulations tend to blow up in your face."

Catra clenched her teeth. Like her own. She had been so stupid! She had been… A hand on her thigh distracted her. She looked to her side. Adora smiled at her, shaking her head. Alright.

"So, we're all in agreement: Smith and Baker as well as Cassidy Analytics are out," Glimmer said. "What about Mackenzie and Sons?"

"I don't like them," Bow said. "They didn't seem to care at all about what we are doing."

"They only care about money," Catra said. Such people had their uses - but only if you didn't have any other options. And you couldn't trust people who were in it for the money. "They might sell us out if the offer is good enough. Or use what they learn after they stop working for us."

"I don't think they would still be in business if they did that," Glimmer objected. "No client would trust them."

"If they keep their knowledge for their own use, who would be able to tell?" Catra retorted. "I vote for not hiring them."

"Yes," Adora agreed.

"Me too," Glimmer added. "That leaves…PR Solutions, Brown, Wallander and Co. and Julie Callaghan."

"The woman from PR Solutions was pushy," Entrapta said.

"And she talked as if we were children," Adora added.

Catra thought the same. "She acted as if she would take over. But we're looking for a consultant, not a commander."

Glimmer scowled. "Yes. So, all in agreement that they're unsuitable?"

Everyone nodded.

"What about Brown, Wallander and Co.?" Catra asked.

"I like their method!" Entrapta piped up. "He came with data!"

"And he didn't make big promises," Bow added.

"Yes. And he didn't treat us like idiots," Adora said.

"So, we'll hire them. What about Julie Callaghan?" Glimmer asked.

"She seemed a lot like him," Catra said.

"But she didn't have any data," Entrapta pointed out.

"I think she simply didn't gather fresh data like Brown did," Bow told her. "But her conclusions were close to his."

"So… should we hire her as well? We need more than one consultant so we can check their plans, but if she thinks like Brown…" Glimmer shrugged.

"Well, if they have the same correct answer to the same question, then that's a good thing," Entrapta said.

"Yes," Catra said. "But we need a few consultants who aren't Americans. Or referred by the government."

"Yes. But I think we should hire these two," Adora said. "They made a good impression."

"And their rates are reasonable. I think," Bow said. "Compared to the others, at least."

"Alright. Let's hire them. And then see what we can do about those nutcases," Glimmer said.

"And then see who else we can hire," Catra corrected her. "And see how many trips to space we can sell."

"Yes." Adora nodded. "We need to get money to pay them, after all. Let's hope we get enough offers."

Catra snorted. Sometimes, Adora was an idiot. But she was her idiot.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

I'm a little confused as to where the Antarctic gate is, but I'm liking the story.

Click to shrink...

The Antarctic gate is either in storage at Area 51 or being used by the NID at an airfield near Parowan, Utah.

Click to shrink...

Yes. Area 51, in this case.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 31: The Interview Part 1

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 7th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"The visitors have arrived, Sir."

Jack O'Neill nodded at Siler. "Thank you, Siler." He sighed and got up. Usually, he'd appreciate any break from paperwork, but today… "Let's go give the commies the tour."

"Russia isn't communist any more, Jack." Daniel had to comment, of course, as they filed out of his office.

"They've still got the same people in uniform. Every one of their generals was in the Red Army," Jack retorted. "And the Chinese are communist."

"Well, that's a matter of debate," Daniel replied. "Some might claim that they are more capitalist than many western countries since their economic reforms took off."

"They're still ruled by the Communist Party," Jack shot back. Who had brutally crushed protesting students not even 10 years ago. Literally crushed in some cases, or so he had heard.

They collected Carter on the way. Teal'c joined them before they reached the elevator.

"And the British are ruled by socialists," Jack said as they stepped inside the cabin.

"Sir?"

"Just telling Daniel why calling our visitors 'commies' is perfectly factual, Carter," he explained.

"It's actually not," Daniel insisted. "And calling the delegation from the United Nations Security Council 'commies' would be a major diplomatic blunder!"

"I'm not going to tell them that to their faces," Jack assured his friend. "But I am permitted to be grumpy about a bunch of strangers coming and taking over."

"Our government agreed with the decision," Daniel said.

"Under protest."

"Actually, they didn't file any protest," Carter said.

"Because that would've been bad for our image." Jack snorted. It had probably been inevitable - not even the United States could defy the entire world. Especially with the Etherians willing to uplift, as Daniel called it, other countries. But that didn't mean that he had to like it.

"Well, that is a consideration," Daniel said. "But the Stargate is supposed to be for the entire world, so… we shouldn't expect to be able to monopolise it."

"Monopolising is a proud capitalist tradition," Jack quipped as they entered Hammond's office.

"Don't make any jokes about communists, Colonel O'Neill," the general told him. "The President himself told me to extend every courtesy to our guests."

"My lips are sealed," Jack replied and mimed zipping them.

Hammond snorted. "I don't like this either, but politics are politics. We can but try to make the best out of this."

"At least it's going to be a military operation," Jack said. "Some people wanted to put us under civilian oversight." You couldn't wage war like that.

Daniel was about to comment, as Jack had known he would, but Siler's voice over the intercom informed them that the delegation had reached their floor.

And there they came. Russian, Chinese, British and French officers. Undoubtedly taking in everything - this was, after all, one of the most important military installations in the United States even if you didn't count the Stargate.

"General Sidorov, General Li, General Haig and General Dubois, welcome to Stargate Command," Hammond greeted them. "This is SG-1, our best team."

"Thank you, General. And I think everyone here knows SG-1." Sidorov smiled. "We've met at the United Nations."

Jack returned the smile with about as much sincerity. Yes, he remembered those briefings. Or interrogations.

"And I think you've met Dr Georgovich already."

The Russian scientist beamed at them. "Yes! Hello! Fancy meeting you here, da? Who would have thought we meet again so soon!"

Just about everyone with half a brain, Jack thought. Too bad that telling Georgovich to drop the act would be undiplomatic. He glanced at Carter - she was smiling. She didn't actually like the Russian, did she?

"So, gentlemen, let me give you a tour so you can get an impression of how we run things here," Hammond said.

"Yes," General Haig replied. "We need to know that in order to determine how to transfer the entire operation to a more suitable location." He looked around. "While this is very secure, I can't see us operating an entire invasion through this installation."

"Or peaceful exploration and diplomacy," Georgovich added. "Bunker makes not good first impression, no?"

The General Sidorov didn't look angry that the scientist spoke up without having been asked a question. That told Jack a lot about the dear doctor's standing in Russia.

"So the decision has been made to move the Stargate?" Hammond asked. He was taking that much better than Jack would have in his place.

"Yes. Although the new location hasn't been finalised yet," General Dubois answered. "The need of the new location to be accessible for bulk transport as well as being secure and easy to defend pose a slight challenge."

"And prestige warring with security. Great honour to host gate, but great embarrassment if gate invaded and need to be blown up," Georgovich said.

"It's a tricky decision indeed," General Haig agreed. "Completely out of our hands, though."

And that was another reason Jack wasn't happy with this. He didn't want to move to some foreign country where he couldn't go out and have a decent American dinner in town. It was petty, but after travelling the Galaxy - and getting shot at - he really liked heading home instead of to some barracks.

But there was nothing he could do about this.

*****​

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, September 7th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and I believe that it is past time to start giving interviews," Julie finished her, well, briefing. Even though she was a civilian. "Some members of the press are already portraying you as 'aloof' and 'distant', and the longer this goes on, the worse it will get. If you wish to improve your public image, you need to start talking to the press."

Adora frowned. They had been busy with negotiations and diplomatic meetings nonstop - even the so-called European Union hadn't actually spoken for their members. Apparently, the military alliance part wasn't included in the Union. But since they regulated trade, they had a say about any agreement being made. Or something - even Glimmer was still a little confused about how this was supposed to work.

"Democracy in action." Catra snorted. "Why is it that the people's opinion only counts when it's making trouble for us?"

"That would be because the media and the public in the United States have certain expectations that politics need to take into account," Julie said. "And in true American fashion, they extend that to everyone else."

"Charming," Glimmer commented. "And once we start giving interviews, we can't really stop until everyone got theirs, right?"

Julie shook her head. "You can stick to the most important ones. A snubbed journalist is one of the worst enemies you can make in the USA - if they have the backing of their employer. Some of them are so petty, they will portray everything you do in the worst light possible in retaliation. But if they don't have the reach to cover the country, they can't really hurt you no matter how hard they will try."

"You mean they aren't doing that already?" Catra asked. "Some of them could've fooled me."

Adora nodded. "Do they really expect us to talk to them before we actually finish our negotiations with the United Nations?"

"In a word, yes," Julie replied. "Some of them - most actually - will understand that you're not American and won't act like our own government. But a few have such huge egos, they think they have more influence on the public than the government and should be treated accordingly. And in some states, they would be correct. Now, some of them won't really change their attitude and will use the interview merely as another source for their criticism. They are too invested in their fanbase. But others can be won over if you handle this right." Julie slowly nodded. "But you will have to prepare thoroughly for this - a blunder could seriously damage your reputation."

Adora perked up. She was good at such preparations! "Oh, we can do that! We'll prepare as if this were a diplomatic mission of utmost importance!"

Glimmer sighed. "Oh, great - it's Princess Prom again."

Adora frowned at her friend. Granted, her preparations hadn't been as helpful as she had hoped, but that didn't mean they had been bad. If she hadn't prepared as extensively as she had, things might have gone worse. And her worst mistake had been that she hadn't accounted for Catra's presence, anyway - and that wasn't a problem any more!

Julie wrinkled her forehead a little. "Princess Prom?"

"The most important ball on Etheria," Bow explained. "All the princesses and their consorts gather at the Princess Prom every ten years. It goes back centuries, to the Age of War, and is used not only to socialise but also to negotiate agreements, alliances and settle disputes."

"Oh, yes," Adora added. "And the list of rules for it is longer than I am tall - as She-Ra."

"But you don't need to know all of them, just the most important ones," Catra said.

"You would think that - you blew up the last one!" Glimmer protested.

"You blew it up?" Julie looked… well, the most surprised Adora had ever seen her in the week since they had started working together.

"Not really," Catra said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "It was mostly a distraction. I didn't use decent charges."

"Yes." Entrapta nodded. "Those were microcharges. Scorpia told me about them after I joined the Horde."

"They caused a panic," Glimmer said.

"And they caused Frosta to ally with us," Bow added. "Even after Adora alienated her."

"I was surprised at her age," Adora defended herself.

"And she would have joined the Princess Alliance sooner or later anyway," Catra said. "But others were scared off, and we got our objectives, so I'd say, overall, it was a qualified success." She turned and flashed her fangs at Adora in that way of hers that made Adora feel butterflies in her stomach. "And I got to dance with you!"

"The dance that will live in infamy," Bow said. "Or would, if there were any records."

"Actually, there are," Entrapta said. "I recorded everything for my research into social occasions and interactions."

Adora felt herself blush a little. Entrapta had recorded that dance?

"Oh, great! I need a copy!" Catra beamed. "Did you record how I fooled Adora as well?"

"I think so?"

"You recorded the Princess Prom?" Glimmer blurted out. "But that's against the rules!"

"It is?" Entrapta looked confused. "They said you weren't allowed to use magic to record the events at the ball, but I used a completely different way of recording things!"

"I think you and I both better clear our schedule to prepare for your first interview, " Julie commented.

Adora frowned. The Princess Prom had been an exception, and that had been years ago. Everyone had changed since then. And for the better.

But Julie didn't look as if she'd believe that.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 7th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and this is the central vault where we store the recovered alien technology. While I'm not going to detail the exact security measures, you can see that it is quite secure," Samantha Carter said as she approached the vault and nodded at the two guards there.

"Yes, yes. Very solid door," Dr Georgovich said, nodding. "The walls - reinforced as well, right?"

"Of course," Sam replied. "It wouldn't make sense to have a reinforced door anchored to walls that you can easily breach."

"You would think, but sometimes, mistake happens. I saw vault that had door one metre thick, stainless steel, but the walls? Natural stone. You see, specifications only said thick door, not walls, and workers did follow specifications to the letter. Was very embarrassing for officer in charge when hinges broke out of wall and door almost fell on important visitor." The Russian eyed the door - no, the guards. "Ah, no flinching, they trust door. Good."

Sam narrowed her eyes at the man. "I can't believe someone would make such an obvious mistake." He had to be joking.

"Ah, you never visited Soviet Union, da? If door was your task but not wall, you only did door. Wall was other problem. You did your problem and done."

"Yeah, I can believe that," the Colonel commented.

"Ah, you've visited Soviet Russia, da? No comment or no confirm or deny?" Dr Georgovich beamed at the Colonel.

"Something like that, yeah." The Colonel shrugged. "Anyway, that's the vault."

"So, can we enter? Just for a look - evaluate."

"We do need to take stock, after all," General Haig added.

"As long as you keep your fingers to yourself," the Colonel said.

Sam would have frowned at him - suggesting that their guests might attempt to steal from the vault wasn't very diplomatic - but they were under scrutiny right now.

So she had the guards open the vault and then stepped into the door - she wouldn't let anyone actually enter the vault. Not until and unless they had the necessary clearance.

"Oh! I feel like Dr Jones! You know, movie with Harrison Ford, Han Solo, right?"

"Yeah, we know Indiana Jones," the Colonel said.

This had to be an act. Sam was certain now.

"I have watched Star Wars fourteen times," Teal'c said. "Han Solo is undoubtedly Harrison Ford's best role."

Dr Georgovich blinked. "Fourteen times?"

"It was thirteen times, but I found myself with time on my hand after our return from Etheria," Teal'C replied.

When he had been sidelined by their superiors. Sam clenched her teeth for a moment - she didn't support that decision. Teal'c had earned their trust over and over again.

And seemed to have confused the dear Dr Georgovich - a feat not even the Colonel had managed so far.

"Ah, I see." The scientist blinked. "So… how many alien artefacts are in vault?"

"That's classified," the Colonel told him.

"I thought you were told to cooperate," General Li said.

"Yes. Within limits set by the President himself." The Colonel grinned widely. "You aren't in our chain of command yet, and treating you as if you had the necessary clearance would be a grave breach of regulations."

"Da!" Dr Georgovich smiled. "Very loyal, very obedient, yes! Good soldier follow orders, right?"

"Yeah…" The Colonel narrowed his eyes at the man, but the scientist was already talking to Sam again. "So, here is vault, but where is your lab? How do you work here? I am very curious about working conditions!"

"My lab is a level above this floor," she told him.

"For safety? So not blow up both vault and lab, da?"

"Oh, Carter hasn't blown up anything in ages - it should be pretty safe to enter her lab."

That was too much! "Colonel!" she hissed under her breath.

He made an innocent face.

And Georgovich beamed again. "Ah, joke! I understand. Good joke!"

Sam turned to lead them to her lab, rolling her eyes as soon as she was facing away from their guests. What was with the Colonel? He couldn't really be holding a grudge from the Cold War, could he?

They reached her lab after another short ride in the elevator.

"Oh. Very small. Not much room for pacing - do you not pace? I think best when pacing."

Well, Sam hadn't really expected that their guests would be impressed, but… this was a little rude.

"Think when relocating, get better lab. More spacious. And with bed and shower, in case you work late. Maybe kitchen and fridge, tto. Good idea?"

Sam blinked. That was actually a very good idea. She had lamented the lack of space in her lab a few times in the past. And to be able to sleep in the lab would save time in a crisis…

"Carter! Accepting a bribe is illegal!" The Colonel commented - she must have let her expression betray her thoughts.

"No crime!" Georgovich protested. "But scientists need space to work. No poaching - unless you feel like getting poached, of course!" He beamed at her. "We offer spacious lab and much better coffee!"

He was joking. Probably. But the Colonel was glaring as if this had been a serious attempt to recruit her.

"As things stand, most of Stargate Command will be transferred to the United Nations Stargate Command," General Haig cut in. "But we will add both military and civilian staff. The scope of the operation has to expand, after all, now that we're going to have a proper war."

"'A proper war'?" The Colonel narrowed his eyes at the General. "Sir?"

The British officer didn't seem impressed at all. "Yes. So far, you've conducted the war through special operations. With the Etherians, this will change. We'll be shifting to conventional warfare, with special operations in support of planetary invasions."

"There will be independent operations as before," General Sidorov said in accented English, "under control of the United Nations."

"We will have to hash out with the Etherians how best to move troops and supplies," General Haig went on. "But the Stargate will play an essential part of any invasion, I think."

"You seem pretty confident that you will manage to negotiate an alliance with the Etherians," the Colonel commented.

Sam had to agree - this sounded very optimistic to her.

"Shouldn't we?" General Haig shrugged. "The conditions set by them can and will be easily fulfilled by Her Majesty's Government."

"Indeed," General Dubois agreed with a smug smile, "full equality before the law for every citizen, no matter their sexual orientation, is certainly in line with the founding principles of the république. France is united in this."

The Colonel pressed his lips together instead of answering at once. That wasn't a good sign.

Daniel, though, spoke up: "But the Etherians expect more than lip service. They expect full commitment to ensuring that the laws you pass are enforced."

General Haig was unfazed. "As I said, Her Majesty's Government's stance is that such conditions are easily fulfilled. Inquiries were made, and assurances received that the Etherians are aware that attitudes among some part of the population wouldn't change overnight."

The Colonel glanced at General Sidorov. "Equal rights by authoritarian decree should be a good trick. Especially after killing off the Tsar and his entire family."

The Russian didn't seem to let himself be baited. "That is a matter for politics. Even without an alliance with the Etherians, the Stargate will be under the control of the United Nations, and exploration and diplomatic missions will continue - for the world."

Sam blinked. That sounded like…

"You want to keep us out of the war?" the Colonel blurted out.

"That's a question for the politicians," Sidorov replied. "But in order to wage war, we need an alliance or at least a way to coordinate with the Etherians."

"And with their allies," General Dubois interjected.

"We only know for sure that the Stargate will be under international control," General Li said. "but we remain optimistic that an agreement can be reached - in a war, compromises must be made, after all."

"Good luck getting the magical princesses to compromise," Sam heard the Colonel mutter next to her.

"In any case, we will do science!" Dr Georgovich spoke up again. "And in new, spacious lab!"

That would be a small consolation, in Sam's opinion, if Stargate Command ended up relegated from Earth's premier force facing the Goa'uld to some… guard and support unit for diplomatic missions. She wasn't arrogant, but SG-1 had the most experience in dealing with the Goa'uld. That kind of knowledge shouldn't be dismissed.

And she wanted to keep doing crucial work, a small voice in the back of her mind added. Especially now that she could publish her findings.

*****​

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, September 8th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"I agree with my colleague," Brown said. "An interview is almost overdue. But you need to prepare extensively for your interview. And you need to pick your interviewer carefully. I would suggest CNN - the channel has a global reach and a good reputation."

Catra suppressed a snort when she saw Adora nod eagerly - she'd already had to keep her lover from spending all night working out increasingly complicated relations between the most prominent journalists without even knowing who would be relevant - or what.

"They're an American channel," Gimmer pointed out. "And one that isn't too popular in the conservative circles, as far as we could tell."

"Yes." Brown nodded. "But you hired me to improve your image with the American public, and picking a news service in the USA will play better with the conservative crowd. Though no matter their views, almost everyone will be watching CNN for your interview."

"No pressure," Bow mumbled with a grin, too low for anyone except for Glimmer, who was sitting very close to him, and Catra to hear.

She chuckled. Adora was fretting already about being watched by billions.

"Won't that be resented by the other countries?" Entrapta asked, tilting her head.

"Not as long as you don't wait too long with giving foreign news services interviews as well," Brown told her. "And your image in most countries in Europe is better than in the USA, according to the latest poll we ran."

"Oh! You've got new data?" Entrapta piped up.

Brown smiled. "I'll send you a summary."

"Thanks!"

"But now for your preparations. I don't know what my colleague told you already, but there's a whole science to presenting your best side on television. Elections were lost for bungling up a TV appearance," Brown went on. "So, I would like to hire a specialist for the visual aspect of that."

They still hadn't hired more public relations consultants from other countries, but this sounded like a good idea. Catra glanced at her lover. Adora was already fretting too much about this as things were. If she had to sit through a few hours worrying over what to wear… "Good idea!" she said.

Bow stared at her. "You want a stylist working on you?"

Catra returned his stare with a frown. Why would that surprise him? "Why do you think I wouldn't want that?" Granted, it was mostly for Adora, but it wouldn't hurt her either.

"You're always wearing the same clothes!" he blurted out.

So was he. "Did you forget Princess Prom?" she shot back.

He blinked, then nodded. "Ah."

She rolled her eyes. She was wearing her old uniform so she had a reminder of… things she wanted but couldn't allow herself to forget. Not because she thought it was the best outfit ever. And she wouldn't beg for a new outfit.

"It's more than styling, actually," Brown spoke up. "It's also about how to sit, move and talk, treat the camera, body language in general and, crucially, what pitfalls to avoid.

"Pitfalls?" Adora tensed.

"Verbal pitfalls - statements that might be misconstrued, phrases and their meaning in the United States, and such things. How you say something is as important, sometimes more important, than what you say." Brown spread his hands. "It's a science."

Entrapta perked up. "Fascinating! Can we do experiments?"

Brown's smile slipped a tiny bit. "I think rehearsals would be mandatory, but I wouldn't experiment with public relations. Failures will have consequences."

"Oh." Entrapta blinked. "So, if we wanted to test a hypothesis, we would need to run an experiment without the test subjects being aware of our involvement. Although that might influence the results…"

Catra drew a breath through her clenched teeth. "Maybe wait with running social experiments until you have a better baseline?"

"You mean stick to passively gathering data?" Entrapta cocked her head. "I guess that would make sense. You need data to prepare a proper experiment, after all." She nodded with a smile. "I bet we'll get a lot of data from this!"

Brown wasn't the only wincing, Catra noted. But when it came to wrangling Entrapta, this was a good result.

She was a great friend and a very nice person, but she could scare you without meaning to.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 7th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill was thoroughly sick of Dr Iwan the Terrible Comedian. His - absolutely fake! - accent grated on Jack's nerves, his constant smiling made Jack feel like he was about to be ambushed, and his subtle-as-a-brick-to-the-face attempts to poach Carter begged for some good old Cold War-style retaliation.

"...oh, what ingenious solution! Very Impressive, Dr Carter - I mean, Captain Carter. No wonder you are head scientist here."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Call me Iwan, please - we are colleagues of sorts, yes?"

No, you are rivals. Rivals from rival powers, Jack thought.

But Carter didn't rebuke the man - she was just too polite to do the right thing. "Call me Samantha, then. Or Sam."

"Thank you! Which do you prefer?" The Russian spy was beaming again.

"I don't have any preference."

That was a lie. Jack was sure Carter had a preference.

"Samantha then. It is a beautiful name."

"Thank you."

"And speaking of names," Daniel cut in, finally making himself useful, "I noticed on your name tag that your name doesn't use the usual Russian spelling of 'Ivan'. Do you have German ancestry, perhaps?"

Asking a Russian if he was German? Jack winced.

But the man smiled at Daniel. "Ah, common assumption, yes, but mistaken. It is actually Welsh name."

Jack blinked. "Welsh?" he asked before he could help himself.

"Yes. Grandmother was from Cardiff."

So he was both British and Russian - that explained why he was doubly annoying.

But the man was still talking. "She was nurse in Spanish Civil War, fighting fascists, and met my grandfather, who was volunteer from Russia. Commissar, actually, but we don't talk about that."

Then why are you mentioning it? Jack thought. But both Daniel and Carter were listening attentively.

"So, they met, fell in love, and when fascists won despite best efforts, she went back with him to Russia. She was killed in Great Patriotic War but already had my father, also named Iwan. Family tradition of naming first son Iwan."

"Ah." Daniel looked torn between his curiosity and empathy. And Carter looked…

…entirely too sympathetic for Jack's taste. The man's grandfather had been a political commissar, for crying out loud! If they hadn't killed more republicans than fascists in Spain, it hadn't been for lack of effort!

"That is why I have been learning English. Too bad grandmother died before teaching father. I also hope to learn Welsh - perhaps after retirement."

And there went Daniel. "Oh, it's a fascinating language!"

"Da! But need to improve English more, to work together at Stargate! Fortunately, science is universal language, right? Especially mathematics."

Carter smiled far too kindly at the man.

"Do not worry, O'Neill," Teal'c said, sotto voce, as Carter showed Dr Iwan-the-Terrible the main gate control room, "Captain Carter is an honourable soldier and will not leave your service in the middle of a war."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Jack replied. "But I don't think Carter would leave the team even if we weren't at war with the Goa'uld." At least he hoped so.

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded sagely, but there was a hint of a grin - or smirk - on his face.

Jack stared at him, but Teal'c had put up his usual inscrutable expression again.

*****​

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, September 10th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...so, let the interviewer speak. Don't interrupt them - even if you think you know what they are asking. And don't lecture people. The public reacts negatively to presumed arrogance. Also, watch your body language like - exactly like that! Don't do that on TV!" Melissa Barnaby, Brown's 'specialist', pointed at Catra, who had her arms crossed over her chest and was frowning at her.

Adora suppressed a sigh. The woman certainly seemed to know her business - her advice about Earth fashion sounded very, well, sound. But Catra didn't like to be told, well, that pretty much everything she did was wrong.

"I thought we also should be authentic," Catra snapped. "And not act as if we were all sunshine and roses even when we're talking to idiots."

"You aren't going to talk to idiots," Melissa retorted. "Not unless you pick the wrong channel to give an interview."

"So, make it 'even when we're faced with lies and questions from idiots they quote' then," Catra said with a sneer.

"Even then, you can't lose your temper - that would leave a bad impression. You want to appear friendly. Firm in your stances but polite and respectful. No one likes a gloating jerk."

"They seem to be very popular in media," Glimmer pointed out.

"Jerks are popular in a certain crowd - if they are rude to people whom that crowd doesn't like. So, yes, being rude and dismissive about conservatives will be popular in more liberal circles, but won't make you more popular amongst conservatives," Melissa replied. "And that's your goal, isn't it?"

Glimmer's expression mirrored Catra's.

Bow cleared his head. "But we shouldn't put on an act," he said. "We don't want to lie to people to get them to like us."

Adora nodded emphatically. "We want to be honest."

"Besides, I'm already being nicer than usual if I don't scratch an idiot," Catra added with a scoff, flexing her claws.

Melissa blinked.

Adora quickly said. "Catra's kidding." She added a glare at her lover to ensure that this was true.

Catra nodded with a pout. "Unless they attack us, I won't touch them."

"You won't be attacked in a studio," Melissa told her.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Catra retorted. "I've organised an attack at a ball."

Melissa blinked.

"Stop sounding so proud about it!" Glimmer snapped.

Adora sighed.

*****​

"What's wrong with my uniform?" Adora asked a short explanation and a quick assessment of her wardrobe later. "It's comfortable and sturdy." And it held a lot of memories.

"But it's rather plain," Melissa said. "The cuts in the sleeves are a nice style element, but the shoulders are a bit over the top. Overall, it lacks a certain something."

"Something what?" Adora frowned.

"Something that says 'I'm an alien magical princess and I'm here to help you' without being too in your face about it. No tiara, but…" Melissa took a step to the side and eyed Adora's hair. "...maybe a change of style there as well."

Adora resisted the urge to put a hand on top of her hairdo. She liked her hairstyle just as it was!

Catra snorted, and Adora glared at her - her lover's hairstyle had been deemed 'passable' already.

"What about a bare midriff?" Bow asked. Melissa narrowed her eyes at him, and he recoiled.

"That would not go over well at all with your target crowd."

"Are you sure?" Entrapta chimed in. "A lot of your media popular with conservatives feature such outfits rather prominently." She showed a picture of a woman in shorts and a knotted shirt in front of an orange car on her tablet. "See?"

Melissa sighed. "You don't want to be likened to such characters, trust me - that would sabotage your image."

"Ah." Entrapta frowned. "Is this an example of them liking something but pretending not to like it because it goes against a dominant part of their culture?"

"No, that's an example of conservative sexism. If you appear like that on television, they won't take you seriously at all," Melissa said.

Bow looked taken aback. "They won't?" He stared at his midriff.

Melissa sighed again. "It's different in your case."

"Homophobes! I got data about them!" Entrapta smiled. "Most of them will be attracted to you, Bow, but they will try to deny and suppress their feelings."

Bow grimaced. "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or alarmed."

"Alarmed. Definitely alarmed," Melissa said. "But we can work with your style - but it's not for everyone else."

"Aw! I bet Adora would rock that look!" Catra crowed.

Adora felt herself blush in response. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, we have been seen on television already. Shouldn't we stick with our, ah, image?" The Earth leaders basically always wore the same suits anyway, right?

Melissa nodded. "But a few touch-ups would greatly improve your image. You might even set a new trend. Or rather, you'll boost an already starting trend."

"Well, Glimmer, you can put your royal coronation outfit on," Adora suggested.

"That's just my cape," Glimmer replied.

"It still looks nice and, uh, regal?" Adora tilted her head with a forced smile.

"We should stick you into your prom dress," Catra said.

"But it's not a ball," Entrapta protested. "Or is it? I'm still working on gathering data on Earth social conventions."

Melissa sighed once more.

*****​

Pentagon, Washington DC, Earth, September 11th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter wished she had a spaceship. Or a working ring transporter. It would make the trips to Washington to brief generals and politicians more bearable. Since there hasn't been a C-37 available today, and commercial flights had been deemed not safe enough, she'd had to hitch a ride on a C-130 today. That hadn't been comfortable enough to work efficiently and had taken much longer than a spaceship would have. And all for a briefing she could have done remotely through a video conference, anyway - and she had refuted the Pentagon's security concerns thoroughly in her latest report, which apparently had been ignored.

'Ours is not to reason why', as Daniel would quote if she complained to him. And that was why she was here for what the Colonel would call 'a complete waste of time'. At least she had been able to catch up on paperwork on the flight.

"No, Sir, I don't think handing the spare Stargate over to the United Nations is a workable solution," she repeated herself. They had gone over this already, back when it had first been proposed as a response to the demands from the Security Council. There was a reason everyone was busy planning to make the takeover of Stargate Command go through with the least amount of friction.

"I wasn't talking about diplomatic issues, Captain." The Army general who had asked her about it frowned at her. "We called you here for technical advice."

"And I am talking about the technical aspects," she retorted. "As my report about this stated, running two Stargates in one location - on one planet - creates interference since both use the same gate address." A report she had written shortly after discovering the second gate through this very effect, which had ended with herself and the Colonel getting stuck in an ice cave in the Antarctic. "We would end up with multiple misconnections - and possibly fatalities from our defences."

"Thank you. We didn't call you here to discuss that, anyway," the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, shutting up the obnoxious general with a glare. "There is talk about relocating the Stargate to a more accessible location, either in Canada or Australia."

Ah. She nodded - Iwan had told them about that. Russia's proposal to use Siberia had apparently been rejected despite, as he claimed, their great experience with 'building entire research centres and bases in the middle of nowhere so expected accidents do not hurt civilians.'

"So, we would like your assessment of the proposed locations from a technical point of view," the Chairman went on.

Did they expect her to give an assessment of the logistical issues without any time to study said locations in detail? Sam almost shook her head. "As long as the power requirements for the operation of the Stargate are met and there is enough space to house the equipment and staff, any location will be suitable for running Stargate Command, as far as the technical aspect is concerned," she said. "Unlike with satellite launches, location provides no inherent benefit or drawback." And with alien technology, the advantage of being closer to the equator for launches would vanish as well.

"That would require a large power plant," another general said. "A very large power plant."

"Yes, Sir."

"Are there alternatives to such a plant?" he asked.

"The DHD the Russians recovered could fuel the Stargate independently, but its capacity is limited," she said. "Enough for the average use of a Stargate, but not enough to power it for constant high-volume traffic. Its recovery rate is not high enough, and we haven't yet managed to duplicate its power generation method." Not for lack of trying on her part.

"Ah."

"Etherian technology would offer compact alternatives - compact compared to a conventional power plant, not a DHD," she went on.

She noted that several Generals frowned or even winced. The Chairman nodded, though. "That would require their support."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded emphatically. If any of the people present thought the United States could accomplish this without outside help, they hadn't read her reports at all.

"Wonderful," the Army general who had asked her about the second Stargate muttered. "More leverage for them."

"Speaking of the Etherians," an admiral spoke up, "did they voice any preference or resistance to specific locations or climates?"

Catra didn't like the ocean, but Sam didn't think that was relevant here. "Based on their references to events during their war, I think they would prefer to avoid arctic climates as well as deserts."

"We can plant our Stargate where we damn well want," the first general muttered again.

"You mean where the Security Council wants it," the admiral corrected him. "Canada would be much closer to us - and to Europe. Wherever this gate is installed will become a hub for the entire planet. It needs a good harbour - we'll want to base a fleet there to protect the shipping."

"A space fleet," another general - Air Force - added with a smirk.

The admiral frowned at him. "I do not think cargo ships will be replaced by spaceships any time soon, at least on Earth. And by the time space cargo ships are common, the Navy will have adapted."

"What?" The Air Force general glared at him. "Space is clearly the domain of the Air Force!"

"Only as long as it was about satellite reconnaissance. If anyone has the experience to run a ship, it's the Navy. You can't run a ship, or a spaceship, as if it were a plane!"

"Oh, yeah? Just watch us!"

Sam refrained from rolling her eyes or otherwise showing her reaction. They still hadn't made much progress forming an alliance with the Etherians, and the Navy and the Air Force brass were already squabbling over who got to run a hypothetical fleet in space?

They needed to get their priorities straight!

Besides, it was clear that the Air Force had the most experience here.

*****​

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 32: The Interview Part 2

Earth Orbit, Solar System, September 12th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Oh, my! I never expected to do an interview in space!"

Catra raised her eyebrows at the outburst from the CNN journalist.

Mr Pullmann - he hadn't asked them to call him Bob, unlike in his latest interview - stared through the windows on Darla's bridge, shaking his head before he turned to face them. "You know, it looks exactly like on the picture I've seen, but it's so different if you're seeing it in person."

"Really? That is weird," Entrapta spoke up. "Are you sure that this isn't just an emotional bias?"

Pullmann blinked. "Ah… Actually, that is what I was talking about."

"Ah! So it wasn't because of inferior optics." Entrapta nodded, satisfied, then turned around and started to dictate her findings into her device.

Pullman blinked again.

Glimmer cleared her throat. "So, do you want to do the interview on the bridge or in the lounge?"

"We would also offer the hold, but it's also serving as our laboratory, so that's not going to work well," Entrapta added, looking up and letting her hair handle her device.

That didn't seem to unnerve Mr Pullmann, Catra noted - he had prepared for this, of course. Or had been prepared. That made her wonder if his awe at the sight of space was an act as well.

"I think the bridge will do nicely. The throne makes for a nice background," he replied.

"Throne?" Glimmer frowned.

Catra chuckled. "That's not a throne. That's the Captain's Chair."

"Yes!" Entrapta piped up. "Darla is She-Ra's ship, and when Mara, Adora's predecessor, was in control of it, she wasn't a Princess. Well, as far as we know - there probably were princesses back then, but we don't have any definite records about She-Ra's status. Especially since Mara was a foreigner."

"Oh." Pullman nodded. "I know you should never ask a lady about her age, but… how old is Darla?"

"About a thousand years, give or take a century," Entrapta replied as Pullmann's eyebrows rose. "But we completely restored her and brought her up to modern standards."

"Yes." Adora nodded. "Darla's the equal of any other ship in her class now."

Catra knew Darla was now actually better than any other ship in her class that they knew about, but there was no need to share that information. So she shrugged. "She still looks ancient, of course. But I doubt that we could fool anyone like we did in the war."

Pullman, as expected, perked up at that. "Maybe we could talk about that during the interview?"

"Of course," Adora said. "Although you'll understand that we can't go into every detail - we're still at war."

"Oh. Do you expect there to be more alien spies on Earth?"

"It's just good practice not to share potentially crucial intel," Catra told him.

"Loose lips sink spaceships, huh?" He smiled.

"Something like that," Glimmer said. "Although usually, it's Sea Hawk who sinks ships."

"And sings," Catra added.

Pullman frowned just a little but didn't ask who Sea Hawk was. Too bad - Catra would have loved explaining.

"So, let's start?" Adora said. "What about the Earth as a background?" she pointed at the seats lining the wall below the window. Just as Melissa had suggested.

"It's your ship," Pullman replied.

"Then let's get set up," Adora said. "We have the camera prepared."

"It should be compatible with your system - just from watching your program, we didn't hack your systems to check," Entrapta said. "But once you upgrade to full holographic projections, you can use the recording for that as well."

"Ah. Good to know - although that will probably take a while. No one in the United States, or on Earth, has a holographic system," Pullman said.

"Well, that should change once you start upteching. Until then, you could run both systems in parallel - I thought about a way to do that if you're interested in some outlines."

Adora coughed.

"Oops. Sorry - we didn't start the interview, and I'm already questioning you instead of the other way around. Sorry!" Entrapta beamed at him.

Pullman smiled. "Oh, no - I like it when an interview feels more like a discussion than an interrogation."

"Oh, yes. In a discussion, people don't get annoyed if you keep slipping out of your cuffs."

And there he was confused again. Catra still wasn't entirely sure that including Entrapta in the interview was a good idea, but it seemed to be working for them so far.

"So, let's take our seats," Adora said. "The camera's here."

"I wanted Emily to record it, but she doesn't fit into the bridge," Entrapta added. "Emily's my best bot. She's a modified assault bot with reinforced armour plate and a stronger blaster. I'll introduce you after the interview."

Pullmann's smile didn't slip, but his eyebrows rose again. "I'm looking forward to it."

And then they sat down. Adora and Glimmer in the middle, flanked by Catra and Bow, with Entrapta on Bow's other side and Hordak next to her. And Melog next to Catra.

"So, we're here, floating above Earth," Pullman started, "in Darla, Princess She-Ra's personal spaceship. And I think everyone knows Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, She-Ra, Princess of Power, Queen Entrapta of Dryl, Catra, Bow, and Hordak. And Melog. I'm Bob Pullman, for CNN."

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and I'm just saying - the Marine Corps has the experience when it comes to landing operations and boarding ships. We're the obvious choice to expand into space-based landing operations and security on spaceships."

Jack O'Neill rolled his eyes as he stepped into the lift - he could do that; he was a Colonel, Warren was a Major. And the commander of SG-3 was a Marine. Of course he'd claim that the Marines were the first choice to go into space. "No one has any experience with space-based landing operations," he replied.

"But the fundamentals are the same - we're used to living on ships for lengths of time, landing on hostile shores… the Army isn't used to that."

Jack shook his head. "It's not the same. Space is different." Otherwise, might as well let the Navy take over.

"Really? And you're not just saying this because the Navy's trying to take over space-based forces from the Air Force?" Warren asked.

Jack snorted. "It's the same for them - they have no experience in space."

"But they have experience with submarines. Which are pretty close to spaceships."

That was a good argument, actually. But Jack would be damned if he'd let such a thing influence him when it came to defending Air Force turf. "Stargate Command is an Air Force program - we've got the most experience with aliens, alien technology, other planets - you name it, we did it."

"I recall SG-3 being Marines," Warren retorted.

"You're honorary Air Force." Jack grinned at Warren's scowl. "But yes, in a pinch, I'd take the Corps over the Army. You're more used to operating on a thin supply line."

"Good. This is going to be bloody. Very bloody," Warren said. "I've got calls from every officer I know or have heard of about Stargate Command. And I've been called in for a meeting with the top brass."

Jack snorted. "Of course it's going to be bloody. The service that gets to control the American space forces will dominate the armed forces. The Navy is looking at becoming obsolete in short order." Once spaceships were on the horizon, the Navy would lose all relevance - who wanted or needed aircraft carriers if you had spaceships? Or missile cruisers? Or destroyers?

"They will suffer so many cuts, the Coast Guard will have a bigger budget," Warren said.

Jack chuckled. Served the Navy pukes right.

"On the other hand, if they get to expand into space, the Air Force's done for," Warren went on.

Jack clenched his teeth to avoid cursing. Warren was correct - if the Navy became the space force, they would get all the shiny new space fighters. The Air Force would lose out - hell, they might even get folded back into the Army, to provide close air support and transport or something. "That won't happen," he said. "We've got both the Space Command and Stargate Command. We've got too much experience." And personal contacts with the Etherians. "You'd have to be an idiot to throw that away."

"That never stopped Washington," Warren said. "And Space Command? Really?"

Jack shrugged. General Naird and his bunch of nerds didn't have any real experience with aliens or combat, being glorified satellite handlers. But they were Air Force Space Command. And with Stargate Command apparently being put under United Nations control, the Air Force needed every little bit of help.

They reached their floor - the canteen. Where the television would be showing the first-ever interview with the Etherians. Warren and Jack entered and moved to the front, where Daniel waved. "I saved us a table!" he said.

"I'll be sitting with my guys," Warren said, nodding and walking over to SG-3 in the corner.

Jack sighed as he sat down. "So… what are the pundits saying about this?"

Daniel shrugged. "Mostly nothing."

"But in many, many words." Jack chuckled.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "Their use of words was very inefficient."

"That's because they are paid to talk," Carter said.

Jack nodded. "And if they don't talk at length whenever they can, people might question their salaries." But he didn't want to discuss budgets again. "So… does anyone have the inside scoop?" He looked at Daniel and Carter.

"No," Daniel said. "I know they've been preparing for this with consultants, but that's all."

"Entrapta sounded quite optimistic about their preparations," Carter added.

"Well, it's not live at least," Jack said. "So, whatever is being broadcast won't be too bad."

His friends didn't seem to share his optimism. "CNN won't accept too much editing," Daniel said. "If they accept any at all."

Carter nodded. "Entrapta didn't mention anything about final approval."

Great. Jack wished the canteen would serve alcohol. He had a feeling that he'd need a stiff drink soon.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Earth, Solar System, September 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"It's starting!"

Adora couldn't help feeling that Catra sounded far too cheerful about this. Or far too confident about the interview. Adora didn't share that confidence. She was sure she had done something wrong. Mr Brown had been a bit… diplomatic after watching the recording. And Julie had been terse. And Melissa had stuck to comments about their body language, makeup and clothes. But if it was truly bad, wouldn't they have said something? Or kept Entrapta from handing the recording over to Mr Pullman?

"Good!" Entrapta, of course, was happy as ever as she used her hair to lift her over the back of the couch she had installed in the hold and plopped down in front of the huge television screen she had constructed for the occasion. "I made popcorn since I was told that that is the traditional meal to eat while watching this!"

"I think popcorn is for watching entertainment," Bow commented as he took a seat on the second couch.

"This certainly should be entertaining," Catra said. "Come on, Adora! It's starting!"

Adora glanced at Glimmer, who sighed, obviously also not as confident as the rest of them, and joined her lover on the third couch.

Hordak, carrying a huge tray loaded with Earth drinks of all kinds - Adora wondered if he needed his armour's servos to lift it - arrived just as the logo on the screen faded, and they saw a studio with Mr Pullmann seated behind a big desk.

"Good evening, America! I'm Bob Pullman," he said - even though his name also appeared in a small band at the bottom of the screen, "and I'm here to present the first in-depth interview with our visitors from the planet Etheria."

"So they did count the questions we were asked in Switzerland as an interview!" Entrapta nodded.

"Not necessarily," Hordak retorted. "They might just want to stress the personal aspect."

"Shhh!" Bow hissed. "It's starting!"

And indeed, once more, the screen changed - this time to a view of Darla's bridge, every one of them lined up, with Earth visible behind them and Mr Pullman on the right side, facing them. And their names and titles appeared below them on the screen.

"Queen Glimmer, Princess She-Ra, Princess Entrapta, Mr Bow, Miss Catra, Mr Hordak, Melog, thank you for granting me an interview. I am aware that you are terribly busy with politics and the war, and I appreciate that you made time to answer the questions of the public." Mr Pullman nodded with a smile.

"Oh, think nothing of it!" Adora said. "We appreciate the opportunity to explain more about ourselves. You should never blindly trust people, after all, right?"

Adora winced. Her smile looked forced - but she had been so nervous!

"Honesty is the best policy, or so you said, right?" Mr Pullman asked.

"Yes!"

"I don't want to pry, but that sounds as if this stems from personal experience." The man leaned forward with an earnest expression on his face.

"Ah… Yes, we've had experiences with betrayal and lies." Adora nodded earnestly. As did Catra, although with a scowl on her face.

"But also with misunderstandings based on a lack of reliable data!" Entrapta piped up - she was sitting on the edge of her seat, her hair moving around her. "Once I thought I had been abandoned in the war, but my friends thought I had been killed, so they didn't send a rescue mission while I was waiting."

"Oh?" Mr Pullman tilted his head, eyebrows raising. "That sounds like a harrowing experience, But you obviously survived."

"Yes! And I met Hordak and Catra through it!" Entrapta replied. "Although I had met Catra before, at the Princess Prom."

"Which is a ball for all the Princesses and Princes of Etheria, held every ten years," Glimmer cut in. "It is the most important event in international politics and diplomacy."

Adora saw herself reaching over and squeezing Catra's thigh before her lover could say that she had blown it up. Catra might be doing it because she still felt guilty about it or because she liked to grandstand or a bit of both, but this wasn't the time for either.

"Which brings us to the first topic. Etheria." Mr Pullman nodded. "It is a planet ruled by princes and princesses, right?"

"Yes," Glimmer told him. "There are over a hundred kingdoms of various sizes."

"And you're the queen."

"The traditional title for the ruler of Bright Moon is Queen," she said. "But that doesn't mean I have a higher rank than Princess Entrapta. We're both sovereign rulers of our respective kingdoms."

"Yes! Although Dryl is much smaller than Bright Moon, and I'm not an Elemental Princess," Entrapta cut in. "My magic power is my prehensible hair while the Elemental Princesses control the elements - well, after a fashion."

"But we're all equal in the Alliance," Glimmer said.

"Speaking of equality," Mr Pullman spoke up again. "You are undoubtedly aware that on Earth, absolute monarchies are very rare nowadays. Most countries are democracies. Are there any democracies on Etheria?"

"Not really," Bow spoke up. "Not on a kingdom level, at least. Many villages elect their leader or mayor, but that's often the son or daughter of the previous leader. And of course, pirates elect their captains, but I don't think they count." He grinned before growing serious again. "The rule of princesses and princes goes back to before the Age of War and has never been seriously challenged on Etheria. Part of the reason for that is, of course, tradition at this point, but in the past, it was likely based on the fact that all princesses and princes have a magic talent."

"That sounds as if it would be very difficult to replace a princess with a democratically elected representative," Mr Pullman said.

"Well, certain kingdoms do rely on the magical power of their ruler. Like Mermista's control over the Seagate, which keeps Salineas safe. Or Perfuma's control over plants, which feeds her kingdom," Bow said.

"Two kingdoms, actually, since the Fright Zone still needs her help," Glimmer said.

"Ah. So, if people would turn against their princess, they would lose their help?"

"Yes," Hordak said without hesitation. "Not unlike the Earth custom of granting special privileges to the rich in the hope that they will share their money with the poor, I believe."

Mr Pullman's smile grew a bit blander in response, and he leaned forward. "Do you think that the position of rich people on Earth is comparable to princesses on Etheria?"

Hordak looked as if he didn't understand the question. "I just said that, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." Mr Pullman nodded.

"It's similar," Adora spoke up. "As a princess, you have responsibilities. You have power but also a duty to use it well. Especially as a ruling princess. You have to protect and help those who need it."

"Noblesse oblige?" Mr Pullman asked. "Privilege entails responsibility?" He smiled. "With great power comes great responsibility?"

"Of course!" Glimmer agreed, nodding emphatically. "That is what the princess alliance is all about."

"It's also a defence pact," Hordak added.

"Yes," Glimmer told him, looking a little annoyed. "But at its core, it's about using your power to protect your people - and everyone else."

"Let's come back to the comparison of princesses to rich people on Earth," Mr Pullman said. "Or, to be precise, to rich people. Do you need to be a princess to be rich on Etheria? How does the economy work?"

"That depends on how you define 'rich'," Bow replied. "There are many merchants and other people who are wealthy, but the differences between them and the other people aren't as large as on Earth." He frowned. "As far as the economy goes… I'm not an expert, that would be my brother, Count, but Etheria has a much smaller economy. And it's not quite as industrialised."

"Yes," Catra chimed in. "The Horde's factories were a major advantage in the war. The Alliance couldn't match their production."

"We did pretty well in blowing up the tanks and bots," Glimmer said with a toothy smile.

"Only once She-Ra appeared," Catra shot back.

Bow coughed. "Anyway, one difference I spotted is that more of the economy is run by the kingdoms. There are lots of farmers and artisans, but most of the big projects are controlled by the princesses and princes."

"A state-controlled economy?"

"Of course," Hordak spoke up again. "How could you efficiently run a kingdom if you didn't have control over its production? Salineas would have fallen far sooner if they had been producing merchantmen instead of warships during the war."

"That sounds like a planned economy," Mr Pullman said. "That was attempted on Earth a few times, but with mixed results."

"You probably lacked the data to properly plan," Entrapta said. "That happened to me a few times - I had built so many bots, I couldn't use all of them. And the Horde ran into supply issues when it built too many tanks and not enough transports."

"Oh. You're talking about a war economy," Mr Pullman said.

"Yes?" Adora tilted her head. "We are at war, after all. Well, we were recovering from the war against the Horde when we heard about the Goa'uld, but we were quickly back on a war footing."

"Something Earth hasn't done," Catra added. "Despite being at war with the Goa'uld."

"Well, we weren't even aware of being at war with them," Mr Pullman replied. "Most of Earth, at least."

"Yeah, we were very surprised when we heard that," Entrapta said. "But now that you know, you can spin up war production!"

"That's for the government to decide," Mr Pullman told her. "But let's talk about the war some more. You were fighting the Horde on Etheria for decades, or so I've heard."

"Yes," Glimmer said. "My parents were founding members of the Princess Alliance. That was before I was born, after the Horde had taken over the Scorpion Kingdom and started its conquest of Etheria."

"It was the first such alliance since the Age of War," Bow added. "And the largest in recorded history. There were temporary alliances since then, but none involving so many princesses."

"And it barely managed to slow down our advance at the start," Hordak said. "Despite my preparations having been, in hindsight, insufficient."

"You mean you underestimated us," Glimmer retorted.

"Pardon me," Mr Pullman said. "But you fought each other?"

"I created and led the Horde on Etheria!" Hordak said. "I introduced its technology to Etheria - although since I was alone and had to rebuild my tech base by myself, my means were limited."

"Which was a very good thing," Bow quickly said. "Otherwise, you might have conquered Etheria for Horde Prime."

Hordak scowled. "Yes, as it turned out, I was misguided. Manipulated and exploited."

"You weren't the only one," Catra said.

"But it all worked out in the end!" Entrapta patted Hordak's thigh with her hand. "We came together and beat Horde Prime!"

"Yes," Adora said, nodding emphatically. "Once Horde Prime's fleet arrived, everyone fought him, and we won."

"You allied with former enemies? Even the leader of the Horde?" Mr Pullman sounded surprised.

"I was the leader of the Horde on Etheria. Until Horde Prime made it very clear that there was only one leader in the entire Horde - himself. And that we others were merely vessels for his will." Hordak scowled. "He tried to wipe out my consciousness, but I defied him."

"And you beat him," Entrapta said.

"Adora did kill him," Catra pointed out.

"We all worked together," Adora said. "And yes, we took in everyone who wanted to change. I was a former Horde soldier myself."

"You were a cadet. You never led the Horde," Catra cut in. "I did."

"You got better," Adora shot back. After a moment, both of them laughed.

Mr Pullman looked… very surprised.

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Samantha Carter suppressed a groan while on the screen, Adora started to explain how they grew up and how they 'split up temporarily', with Catra making snarky remarks.

The Colonel didn't hold back. "For Crying out loud!" he muttered. "Why did their consultants let that go through?"

"Probably because if they tried to hide that, it would have been revealed anyway, possibly at the worst moment?" Daniel speculated. "You know that Adora isn't the best at hiding something like that."

Or anything. Sam agreed with the assessment. Anyone expecting Adora to hide anything about her relationship with Catra was a fool. "I concur."

"Yeah, yeah, she's all for being honest - but I bet that 'reformed conquering warlords' wasn't the public image the Etherians were aiming for," the Colonel said.

Teal'c tilted his head. "Why would they not aim for such a revelation? As I was told, and have seen on television, the people of the United States love repenting sinners."

The Colonel winced. "Yeah, but repenting sinners usually don't joke about their sins. Not on television, at least. They do that repenting thing."

Sam had to agree.

"...and then we saved her and returned to Etheria to fight Horde Prime," Adora finished her - quite edited, Sam knew - story.

"Now that's a story!" Pullman was smiling widely again. "So, not only did you recruit former enemies during the war, but after you won, you incorporated them into your countries?"

"Not quite," Glimmer spoke up. "Scorpia restored her kingdom, the Scorpion Kingdom, that the Horde had turned into the Fright Zone. And she decided to join the Alliance."

"She decided to join Perfuma," Catra commented with a grin.

Adora frowned. "I am sure that Scorpia would have joined the Alliance even if she weren't together with Perfuma. It was a sound decision, given her experiences."

"Well, you said that she defected during the war on Etheria. But what about the Horde soldiers who didn't defect to the Alliance during the war?" Pullman asked. "Weren't you concerned about what they would do - and what they had done?"

"If they want to change they still deserve a second chance," Adora said. "Everyone deserves the chance to change. Just because you made mistakes in the past doesn't mean you should be damned forever."

"And there weren't many die-hard Horde soldiers - most of their troops defected before the end," Glimmer replied. "Horde Prime made it clear that he didn't really care for anyone but himself. Not at all. Not even for his clones."

"Yes," Hordak said. "And with Horde Prime dead, my brothers were, for the first time in their lives, free to make their own decisions. So it was easy to recruit them."

"We didn't 'recruit' them," Adora protested. "They joined us because of WrongHordak and Priest."

"WrongHordak was our first friend from the Horde," Entrapta explained. "We saved him when we saved Catra. Priest saw She-Ra eradicate Horde Prime and decided to worship her. And many followed his example."

"When you say 'worship', what exactly do you mean?" Pullman asked.

"Uh… exactly, that, worship?" Adora said with a strained smile.

"They consider her a goddess," Catra added with a smirk.

"I didn't ask for it! And denying it doesn't work!"

"And this 'Priest' would be in command of the ships currently orbiting Earth?" Pullman's smile looked fake now.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "And the rest of the Fleet currently stationed outside the Solar System. We didn't want to scare you accidentally by bringing all the ships. And their numbers might distort the night sky, which might affect the work of your astronomers."

"I see." Pullman nodded. "And, speaking of space and war fleets, you first heard of the Goa'uld when a team from Earth accidentally landed on your planet, right?"

"Well, they arrived through a Stargate, so they didn't technically land, but yes," Entrapta said.

"You'd never heard of them before?"

"Melog did," Catra said, pointing at the big cat next to her seat. "Their people knew them and what they were. We almost fought SG-1 because they felt the larva inside Teal'c."

Sam winced, and the Colonel cursed. That hadn't been widely known yet. Teal'c wasn't showing any reaction, but Daniel looked worried.

"Teal'c?" Pullman asked.

"Yes." Adora nodded. "He defected from the Goa'uld and joined Stargate Command."

"And he carries a Goa'uld inside him?" Pullman was leaning forward.

"Yes, a larva. That's how the Goa'uld breed, you know," Entrapta explained. "They put a larva inside one of their Jaffa, where it grows over several years until it is mature, at which point it gets a host, usually a human, and the Jaffa gets a new larva. The Jaffa depend on the larva for their immune system, you know? I would have thought that that was a defect, but the Goa'uld made the Jaffa that way so they had to stay loyal." She frowned. "They could have had their loyalty just by being nicer, I think."

"That sounds… horrible, actually," Pullman said.

"Yes! Not only do they enslave people, but they also use them as hosts, trapping them in their own bodies, and treat their soldiers as slaves and incubators." Glimmer nodded with a grim expression. "They are as bad as Horde Prime was. As soon as we heard about them, we knew we had to fight them."

"Yes," Adora agreed. "Such evil can't be tolerated. They already oppress countless people and they want to conquer everyone else - and they have destroyed worlds like Horde Prime did."

"Not on the same scale or using the same means," Entrapa added, "but for the dead people it works out the same, I think."

"So you think everyone needs to fight the Goa'uld?"

"Of course," Adora said. "If you don't fight them, they'll destroy you. They'll wreck your cities, kill your people and raise your children as their brainwashed slaves. Together, we can beat them and free their slaves!"

"That seems logical." Pullman nodded. "Although something seems a little strange. If the Goa'uld are such a threat, and you're used to working with former enemies, why are you so hesitant to form an alliance with Earth? Or at least with the United States, since you've been working with Stargate Command for a while already?"

Sam winced again. She was certain that many Americans wouldn't like the answer.

*****​

Earth Orbit, Earth, Solar System, September 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"Now comes the best part!" Catra grinned. Adora groaned, and Catra patted her arm. "Honesty is the best policy, right?"

On the screen, Adora raised her chin with that adorably determined expression of hers. "That actually ties back to our history. When Hordak was stranded on Etheria, he was welcomed by the Scorpion Kingdom and taken in as a shipwrecked stranger. And in a few years, he had taken over the kingdom, turned it into the Fright Zone and started to conquer Etheria."

"It wasn't quite as simple," Hordak cut in. "The rulers of the Scorpion Kingdom didn't just take me in out of the goodness of their hearts - the princesses were interested in my technology. Especially my weapons. Without their support, I couldn't have formed the industrial base for the Horde on Etheria."

"I'm sure they didn't want to conquer Etheria," Glimmer said.

"But a little border adjustment?" Catra grinned.

"Anyway!" Adora raised her voice a little. "We want to limit our technology to countries that we can trust not to abuse our help to conquer their neighbours - or attack us."

"And you don't trust the United States?" Pullman raised his eyebrows. "Your actions with Stargate Command seem to indicate a close relationship."

"We trust SG-1," Adora replied. "They're our friends. But that doesn't mean we trust everyone else in their country." She wrapped an arm around Catra's shoulders. "I mean… they wouldn't have let us into the army just because we love each other! How can you trust a country with such… such…"

"...such prejudices," Bow finished for her. He nodded with a serious expression. "I have two Dads. That wouldn't be possible in your country - it would be illegal. They couldn't marry. They couldn't have my siblings or me."

"But that doesn't mean that the USA would turn on you - the United States isn't in the business of enforcing their own morals on others," Pullman retorted. "Least of all their allies. Just look at Saudi Arabia or Kuwait."

"Well, a lot of your people seem to disagree," Glimmer said with a frown. "They call for our murder." She shook her head. "Yes, they are supposed to be a minority - but what kind of ruler would tolerate such demands when trying to form an alliance? What kind of ruler would let his subjects plot their supposed allies' death?"

"And it's not just the hostility - it's the insanity of it," Catra added. "We haven't done anything to them. Just because Adora and I are in love…" She blushed a little. "...apparently is enough of a reason for them to demand that we should be killed."

"Yes!" Adora nodded emphatically. "It's so insane! Completely crazy! What does it matter if we're both women? We love each other! We want to be happy together! Perhaps… form a family sometime in the future!" She blushed. "Just like everyone else! Why would that be wrong? We're not harming anyone!"

"We're not trying to 'make people gay'," Bow added with a scowl. "We're not telling anyone to stop loving their partner or partners."

"Unlike your people," Catra added.

Pullman frowned at that. "Well, as you said yourself, those people calling for violence are a tiny minority…"

Catra snorted. "A minority who can legally plan our death in your country."

"That's not entirely correct. Actually planning a murder is illegal."

"But telling others to murder people isn't against your law. Marrying your love is, though - if they're the same gender as yours." Glimmer crossed her arms over her chest. "That sounds insane to me."

"We just want the same as everyone else," Adora repeated herself: "Being happy with our love. Why are so many people against that? Why should that be illegal?"

Pullman cleared his throat. "Well, many of the more conservative people in the United States - and elsewhere - think same-sex relationships are immoral."

"Why?" Entrapta leaned forward. "There has to be a reason for that. Murder is wrong because you kill innocent people. Stealing is wrong because you take what isn't yours. Conducting experiments with new high-explosives in your laboratory instead of in the desert or a bunker is wrong because you risk hurting others in the castle if something goes wrong." She nodded. "But who would get hurt if my friends marry each other?"

Pullman didn't like those questions, Catra thought, but he was back to smiling politely. "Well, some people think that allowing such marriages would encourage such marriages - and would set an example for impressionable teenagers."

Catra snorted. "You don't want your people to have loving relationships and families?"

"A lot of the conservatives in the United States consider same-sex relationships a sin. They don't want people to sin. Or be tempted to sin."

"That makes no sense," Entrapta said.

"Would they rather have their family be unhappy?" Bow asked. "Why would it matter if you have two Dads or two Moms, or a Mom and a Dad? What matters is whether or not you love your family and care for them! And that doesn't depend on your gender!"

Pullman cleared his throat. "Well, as I said, those who advocate for violence are a tiny minority, and those who think your relationships should be illegal are also a minority according to our last polls."

"If they're a minority, why can't you change the laws? That's how democracy works, right? The majority sets the laws!" Catra said, staring at Pullman. "So, if you can't actually change your laws, doesn't that mean that those people aren't a minority?"

"And that is why you fear they would turn on you?" Pullman asked.

"It's one of the reasons," Glimmer replied. "How can we trust people who hate us just because we're not following their religion? People who are trying to force their views on others by outlawing relationships they don't like? If they're willing to force everyone like us in your country to be unhappy, why wouldn't they do that to everyone else if they had the power to conquer Earth?"

"We've read about your religious wars and conquests," Bow added.

"Those were hundreds of years ago," Pullman replied. "No one is calling for a crusade any more."

Catra scoffed. "I think some people in your country would disagree about that."

"Anyway, that's why we won't share our technology with a country we cannot trust to at least accept us as we are," Adora said. "But there's another reason for that. Those people who want us gone just because we love each other, because they think others could see us and realise that they have the same feelings, they don't know how much pain and misery they cause. Catra and I, we were orphans, raised in the Horde by a… manipulative woman."

Catra leaned into her love. Shadow Weaver had a lot to answer for.

Adora took a deep breath. "She left us ignorant of what love was - we didn't realise what we were feeling for each other. As a result, we hurt each other, very much. We almost killed each other - we almost doomed our world over this." She raised her chin. "We don't want anyone else going through this pain. And that is why we won't share our technology with any country where people can do this to each other."

"Legally, that is," Bow added.

"Yes." Adora stared at the camera. "Because you cannot trust someone like that - someone who can't be happy if you're happy with your love. We know this."

*****​

The Mountain, Colorado, United States, Earth, September 13th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill closed his eyes and sighed. The Etherians didn't pull punches. "I thought they had some PR weenies advising them," he muttered.

"They do, yes," Carter replied.

"Then why did they just push every damn button of the conservatives?" Planned economy, monarchy, being worshipped as a god, gay marriage… He looked around - a number of the soldiers watching the interview looked angry.

"They haven't talked about magic yet," Daniel unhelpfully pointed out.

"I'm sure that'll happen as well," Jack told him. "But seriously? I thought they wanted to play nice with the conservatives!"

"I believe that they realised that the more extreme members of the conservatives are a hopeless cause and decided to appeal to the moderates," Teal'c commented.

Jack blinked and stared at his friend. Political commentary from Teal'c?

"I had ample time to watch television since our return, and I decided to educate myself on the domestic politics of the United States." Teal'c nodded.

Ah. Which was kind of worrying. But the interview went on.

"Let's address another subject that is controversial: Magic," Pullman said. "There have been several reports that you are planning to 'return magic' to Earth. Could you elaborate on this?"

"Well, it's simple," Adora said. "About a thousand years ago, the First Ones stole magic to power their superweapon to destroy Horde Prime - and they planned for a lot of collateral damage. They were stopped by my predecessor, Mara, but she couldn't return the stolen magic. Since we defeated Horde Prime, we've been working to return magic to the various planets." She smiled. "It's slow going, especially with the war, but we'll get there. And once we have won the war, we can use the Stargate Network to visit the affected planets more easily and much more quickly."

"Those planets which haven't been destroyed by Horde Prime," Glimmer added with a frown.

"So… you carry magic with you and then release it?" Pullman asked.

"Oh, no!" Entrapta shook her head. "That's not how it works. You can't store magic like that - well, you could, if you had the right crystal matrix, but it would be very hard to transport, and releasing it wouldn't return magic to the planet, not in the way that matters. Magic is constantly generated on life-bearing planets. Or it should. Anyway, the First Ones kind of shunted the magic generated off to collect it to power their weapon. It's a very complex and fascinating piece of magic engineering, actually. The possibilities if we could duplicate the basic mechanics…" She coughed. "Anyway, so, once you dismantle that shunt, the planet's magic is available again for the people on it."

"The natural order restored," Glimmer added.

"So, you claim that until a thousand years ago, magic was real on Earth? And then we lost access to it?" Pullman raised his eyebrows.

"Exactly," Entrapta said, nodding.

"We have no records of magic," Pullman retorted.

Bow frowned at that. "You have such records - we saw them. People turning into animals. Or controlling the weather or the sea. Flying through the sky."

"Healing the sick," Adora added. "Magic's all in your history."

"Those are myths," Pullman replied. "Are you claiming that those are historical records?"

"Well, a lot of historical records turn into myths over time when primary sources get lost or forgotten, linguistic drift happens…" Bow shrugged. "We experienced that on Etheria as well, and we have excellent archives in Bright Moon."

"Of course, a number of the recorded magic events and miracles might be the result of Goa'uld technology used to impress people," Entratpa said. "That wouldn't be magic, of course - the technology is completely different. But Earth magic is totally real - Adora can restore it."

"Many people think magic is evil," Pullman said cautiously.

"They're wrong," Adora replied bluntly. "Magic isn't good or evil, it's like… technology."

"You can use it for good or evil," Glimmer added. "Like everything else. And many people want magic back, according to the news. I heard there's going to be a formal petition from various people."

"Various indigenous people," Bow added. "Magic is an important part of their religion."

"I see. But many people are also concerned that 'restoring' magic would create inequality. Some people would be able to use magic, others wouldn't. That would create a huge power imbalance." Pullman tilted his head. "People fear that this would lead to a magical monarchy being imposed on Earth."

"They're wrong," Glimmer repeated Adora's words. "Or they're lying. You already have power imbalances and inequality. Some of your people - or countries - are vastly more powerful than the others. Magic wouldn't change anything about that - not fundamentally."

"It would just add another variable, so to speak," Bow said.

"A huge variable," Pullman insisted. "The ability to… to heal the sick is huge."

"Incorrect," Hordak spoke up. "On average, a sorceress is no real threat to a trained soldier. Few have the talent and discipline to even learn magic that can make a difference on the battlefield, and fewer still amount to a threat that can't be dealt with by a squad or two of soldiers with armour support. Even princesses, who, thanks to their innate magic, don't have to study for years to learn how to cast spells, are rarely powerful enough to turn the tide on the battlefield by themselves."

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded. "My own magic talent is prehensile hair - very useful for lab work or housework, but I couldn't really do anything on the battlefield that a net launcher and some other weapons couldn't do as well. The elemental princesses are the exception since they are bonded to runestones, which Earth lacks." She smiled. "So, you don't have to fear that, once magic is restored, princesses are taking over. Not that we know if you'll even have princesses, mind you!"

"I see. But if magic is as weak as you say, why should it be restored in the first place if people oppose it?" Pullman asked. "They might be wrong, but their fear and loathing are real. Why should you ignore their wishes?"

"Because it's the same attitude we already covered," Catra said with a sneer: "Some people think magic is evil, so they don't want anyone else to use it."

"That's selfish and stupid," Glimmer added.

"Magic is a natural part of Earth - your birthright. It was stolen from you by the First Ones," Adora said. "Why should a part of you get to decide that no one can get it back? If you don't like magic, you can just not use it. But you shouldn't try to forbid others from using it! It's not any more dangerous than one of your guns."

"I see." Pullman nodded. "You've certainly made your position clear about that. Now, I already mentioned concerns that your arrival and magic might lead to the imposition of magical monarchies on Earth. You've explained your view of how with power comes responsibility - or duty. But what's your view of democracy?"

"Well… it's certainly an interesting concept," Glimmer said very diplomatically. "We don't have much experience with it. But if it works for you, then that's good for you."

"It's just that it doesn't seem to work for you as well as it should," Adora added.

"Yes!" Bow nodded several times. "Like when the majority wants something, but it doesn't matter because they're controlled by the minority."

"Or manipulated by your rulers," Catra said.

Jack closed his eyes once more. "Here we go again." The Etherians were going for a full sweep, it seemed.

*****​

 

[I_S]

I love/hate how well the SG1 characters play as foils to the actual discourse around these subjects.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

Well. That happened. I just don't have the energy to sort out that mess of a chapter.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 33: Alliances Part 1

Dulles International Airport, Washington DC, Earth, September 16th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and you can see that the interview resulted in more positive and more negative reactions amongst American conservatives. The polls we ran show that the number of moderate conservatives - those who held a slightly negative opinion of Etheria - shrunk as a result," Mr Brown explained, pointing at the big screen on Darla's bridge, where a diagram was displayed.

Adora frowned. That didn't sound like a good result. "We made more people hate us?"

"Yes. But you also made more people like you," Mr Brown said. "In short, you polarised the moderate conservatives. We're still analysing the exact reasons, but so far, it looks like your, ah, appeal to progressive family values was the central argument that convinced the more liberal of them, although many have other reasons as well, such as your willingness to defend Earth, while the other end of the spectrum saw their negative opinion confirmed by several of your statements. However, we're still not sure how many of the reasons given were merely excuses for reasons that made the difference but were less socially accepted."

"What? What do you mean?" Adora asked.

"Well…" Mr Brown glanced at Glimmer and Bow. "While few answered our respective questions directly, we have reasons to suspect - based upon other polls in the past - that the relationship between Queen Glimmer and Techmaster Bow also influenced them."

What? But Glimmer and Bow weren't… Oh! "That racism thing, right?" Adora asked.

"Yes. Although the overlap between people who show an extremely negative reaction to same-sex relationships and people who show negative reactions to interracial relationships is very high."

"Most racists," Julie cut in, "are also sexist and bigots. At least in the USA. But they don't want to be seen as racists, so they generally make up other reasons."

"Ah."

Catra snorted. "Idiots, all of them."

"Yes!" Bow agreed - with a rare expression of anger, Adora noted. And Glimmer…

"Well, fuck them!"

Yes, Glimmer was livid.

"So… we basically made the almost good ones better and the almost really bad ones worse?" Entrapta asked.

"Yes. As expected, actually. And the numbers are positive - together with the progressives, we're looking at a very solid majority of the Americans who have a positive opinion of you." Mr Brown nodded. "Helped along, of course, by the propaganda efforts of the government."

"Of course, that could and will change - opinions shift all the time," Julie said. "But you met expectations, more or less. And yes, the government's PR campaign is helping here, though they probably didn't appreciate your frank statements."

Well, that was their problem. Adora wouldn't lie to the people. And yet… "But we also increased the number of people who really hate us," she pointed out.

"That couldn't be helped," Julie told her. "You have very divisive opinions. And you didn't want to commit to a more extended public relations campaign."

Adora frowned but didn't pout. It wasn't as if they had the time to 'interact with the public in casual ways' for weeks. And that sounded far too much like playing a role. And lying. 'Just be yourself' was no guarantee that people would like you. Entrapta and Catra were great, but you had to know them a bit to understand that.

"And some of your opinions are not well-received even amongst progressives and liberals," Mr Brown cautioned. "There are already attempts to paint you as communists because of the way your economy is set up. That may get some traction, though we might be able to counter that by stressing that we're talking about a war economy and showing the similarities to our own war economy during World War II."

"And the palace economy of Minoan culture," Bow added with a smile. "There are parallels, even if the social conditions are different."

Mr Brown and Julie looked as lost as Adora felt.

Bow sighed. "An ancient culture based on... Crete, I believe. Yes, ancient Crete. Daniel told me about it during the trip here."

"Ah." Mr Brown nodded. "I fear most Americans won't be able to place such a reference. A pity, I'm sure."

Catra snorted as Bow pouted.

Mr Brown went on: "Anyway, some of the more left-leaning segments also didn't like how you recruited and apparently pardoned your enemies after the war. It didn't play well with some of the civil rights activists either, but not enough to measurably affect their opinions. The religious aspect of your followers pretty much was a wash - the more religious ones who were affronted by what they saw as an attempt to replace God already were disapproving of you for your social stances - but your plan to return magic did affect people who would have supported you otherwise."

"I thought we explained that their fears are baseless," Glimmer commented. "Even if they have the talent, they'll need years of training to do anything noticeable, much less anything impressive."

"Well, they don't believe you," Mr Brown said. "Interestingly, you have anti-colonialist activists split between those who think you are acting like colonialists, making decisions without concern about the opinions of the people affected, and those who laud your willingness to return magic to indigenous cultures despite the objections of former colonialist societies."

Not for the first time, Adora wondered what was wrong with Earth. "We won't return magic if no one wants it back," she said. "But we know people want it back."

"You don't have to tell me that," Mr Brown said. "I've seen the polls. Anyway, basically, we're talking about a solid majority in support of gay marriage now."

"Great!" Adora beamed.

"Of course, for actual changes in legislation, that doesn't mean much. What matters is whether or not you have a solid, even a supermajority, in the House of Representatives and the Senate," Julie said. "And the states."

Adora blinked. It was all for nothing?

"Well, that will take a while to shake out, and we can't poll the politicians, so we should focus on your next interview," Mr Brown said.

"Right." Adora sighed.

*****

Pentagon, Washington DC, Earth, September 16th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and those polls are clearly biased! Why would anyone change their opinion after seeing just how depraved and dangerous those aliens are? The government should stand up to their insane demands! We all - all the patriots, at least - have taken the pledge! One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all! And this offence against God is no justice at all!"

Samantha Carter pressed her lips together and stood up, walking towards the TV in the corner of the canteen. A warrant officer almost dropped his tray to get out of her way. She reached the remote control and quickly changed the channel to something less stupid.

"Hey!" A man at one of the closer tables stood. "What are you doing? Change it back!"

She eyed him. He was a major - he technically outranked her. But he was an Army staff officer, and she was Stargate Command's best scientist. "The television is supposed to show the news," she told him.

"This is the news!"

"Technically, this isn't news but entertainment, despite the name," Daniel spoke up in support of her from their table. He smiled at the glare from the major. "That's what they claim."

"But they show the news!"

"No," Sam told him. "They show some selected polarising 'interviews' in an attempt to gain better ratings. There is nothing informative about the rantings of extremists."

"Why are you calling them extremists?"

"Because they are extremists." She glared at him. This should have been obvious. "They refuse to acknowledge facts to push their own narrative." And every scientist knew that that was a cardinal sin.

"They're just stating their opinion."

"And we don't need to listen to their opinion," she retorted. "Not in the canteen. What you do in the privacy of your home is your business, but this kind of propaganda has no place in the Armed Forces of the United States." She turned away before he could retort and stalked back to her table. Where, she saw with a sinking feeling, the Colonel had joined Daniel.

He grinned at her. "Wow, you read the man the riot act. And he outranks you! Way to go, Carter!"

She refused to blush. "I was merely enforcing regulations, Sir," she said as she sat down stiffly.

"Yeah, yeah, Carter." The Colonel snorted but quickly grew serious. "We're all sick of the stuff."

"Actually, the reactions of the various segments of the population are fascinating," Daniel retorted.

"You wouldn't say this if you had been at the meeting I just had to attend," the Colonel said.

"Oh?" Sam raised her eyebrows, prompting him as much as she would.

"Yes. Kinsey," he all but snarled. "He's got his hooks into the government."

"We, ah, already knew that," Daniel said with a frown."

"No, we knew he had influence - but he's now running an NID operation to shatter the right-wing movement in the United States. And the government has basically given him carte blanche."

"What? But… that's illegal!" Daniel protested.

"Yes." The Colonel's smile was devoid of any humour.

"Then we have to report this!"

"Report what? It was all between the lines." The Colonel scoffed. "Kinsey didn't say he was going to blackmail, frame and assassinate people whose political views were in the way of government aims. He was talking about 'persuading' and 'offering incentives', and 'making them see reason' and 'exposing those who preach water and drink wine'."

Ah. Sam nodded. "But the NID could still make mistakes, and their machinations could become exposed." She had a few ideas on how to arrange that.

Usually, the Colonel would say something like, 'machinations, Carter? Did you fall asleep on the dictionary yesterday?' But he merely shook his head. "Yes. And then?"

She pressed her lips together. She knew what he was thinking.

Daniel, though, frowned. "Then they'll get arrested, and the whole illegal operation exposed."

"And then?" The Colonel asked, staring at their friend.

"Their victims get exonerated, the government will have to… Oh." Daniel blinked.

"...drop any plans to pass gay marriage legislation as the right-wingers resurge with popular support as the victims of evil government manipulations," the Colonel finished for him. "And the United States can forget about an alliance with the Etherians because we'll be doubling down on the anti-gay legislation."

That wouldn't be the only thing such a comeback of the right-wing conservatives would bring, Sam knew. If they gained the presidency and control of Congress, they would also try to crack down on women's rights. Funnel more money into the military, of course - but without the help of the Etherians, and most of Stargate Command working directly for the United Nations, much of that money would be wasted. "They'll also call us away from the Stargate," she said. They would want everyone with knowledge of the aliens working for the USA.

"But…" Daniel looked lost. "They wouldn't do that, would they?"

"Daniel!" the Colonel snapped. "They've been crying for exactly that ever since they heard that the aliens aren't heterosexual Aryan princesses."

Sam blinked. "'Heterosexual Aryan princesses', Sir?"

He frowned at her. "I was quoting the Secretary of Education."

Ah.

"So…" Daniel licked his lips. "Are we going to, ah, sit on this, then?"

The Colonel snorted once more. "That's the question, isn't it?"

*****

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, September 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and the protests in Riad turned into riots as a mob assaulted several embassies of European countries…"

"...the state of emergency in Egypt has been prolonged indefinitely as the civil unrest continues, the armed forces and the police cracking down on any protests to avoid a repeat of the Goa'uld riots in…"

"...statement from the Vatican that the Pope is still deliberating and urges the faithful to remain calm and kind to those in need…"

"...has resigned after serving twenty years as Senator, citing that recent events make it impossible to serve both his personal principles and the needs of the country. His successor will be appointed by the governor of…"

"...arrested and charged with multiple counts of embezzlement. His church declined to comment on…"

"...hat der Bundestag die erste Lesung des geplanten Gesetzes abgeschlossen und weitere Änderungen vorgeschlagen. Der Bundeskanzler erklärte, er sei enttäuscht, dass das Parlament die Dringlichkeit der Gesetzesänderung offenbar nicht ganz realisiert habe, und…"

"...Prime Minister's refusal to comment on the apparent favoured treatment of the United States in comparison fueled speculation that his diplomatic efforts had encountered obstacles that passing the gay marriage act in Parliament wouldn't solve, yet…"

"...le Président de la République est arrivé à Genève, où il va rencontrer la reine Glimmer…"

"Can you stop switching channels all the time? I want to actually understand what they are saying!"

Catra snorted at Glimmer's familiar complaint and switched channels a few more times. "It's not my fault you're too slow, Sparkles."

"Slow?"

"Yeah!" Catra nodded. "I got everything I needed."

"Really."

"Yes." She smirked.

"And what did you get from switching through three dozen channels in a minute or so?" Glimmer crossed her arms and glared at her.

"That nothing much has changed. The people on Earth are still rioting because we aren't following their customs, and their rulers still try to flatter us at every opportunity." Catra grinned. "You really should reconsider not accepting gifts - I am sure Adora would have enjoyed that private island we were offered."

Glimmer clenched her teeth. "Those were bribes! The man expected Etherian weapons in exchange!"

"So?" Catra shrugged again. "Just hand him some spears and swords." The man hadn't specified which weapons, after all, he wanted.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's exactly what we need - a reputation for trickery and deception!"

"It would be an improvement over 'witchcraft', 'carnal sin', 'heathen debauchery', 'offending God' and…"

"I've seen the report!" Glimmer snapped. "And things are improving."

"In some countries," Catra pointed out. "We've been basically banned from entering an entire region."

"And other regions are complaining that we haven't visited them yet," Glimmer retorted.

"The people or the governments?" Catra grinned at her friend's scowl. "Anyway, we don't need them. We just need a few countries and their armies to start conquering planets."

"Liberating planets!" Glimmer glared at her again. "And the more allies we have, the more effective we'll be in the long run."

"Provided they don't betray us." Catra scoffed. Not everyone was as untrustworthy as Double Trouble, but a number of the people they had met here…

"That's why we are doing all those negotiations. Not that you're doing much," Glimmer complained.

"I'm analysing them and keeping Adora from being swayed by their sob stories," Catra retorted. "If you want me to actually negotiate, just say so!"

Glimmer scoffed in return. "And have you fleece the Earth countries out of their treasury?"

"Well… we can use it for the war?" She flashed her fangs. "Even with the support from the fleets, and with Perfuma doing her plant growth thing, it'll be costly."

Glimmer sighed and sat down in the seat next to her. "I know. We still haven't recovered from the Horde War. And the Earth people want to open free trade with us."

Catra frowned. "So? They are really desperate for our technology. We could make a killing!"

"Yes, until they have our technology, and then we get flooded with cheap Earth products." Glimmer shook her head. "Bow has read up on that. We need to be really careful with any trade agreement."

Catra would have to read up on that stuff as well, then. She knew how to wage war, but trade politics… In the Horde, you just requisitioned everything. Trade was for the black market in the barracks. "So… stick to the military?"

"That's the plan. But they have plans of their own."

"They're not stupid, despite all this." Catra pointed at the screen on the wall.

"I know. I just wish they'd stop being stupid where it matters." Glimmer sighed. "We've got a meeting with the French president in ten minutes. Where is Adora?"

"She is still reading up on French history with Bow." As if there'd be a test later on.

"Ah." Glimmer nodded.

"And how did your talk with the Australians go?" Catra asked.

"They wanted to know more about magic. I'm not sure they fully understood my explanations - or Entrapta's." Glimmer shrugged. "They don't get that Earth magic isn't the same as Etherian magic. They don't have runestones. They don't have Mystacore. They think once magic is back, people will spontaneously start flying and throwing lightning around." She scoffed. "It's frustrating."

"Better you than me." Catra grinned again.

"You're up for the strategy meeting with NATO as soon as we can get a time and date."

Catra hung her head. Great.

*****

Pentagon, Washington DC, Earth, September 16th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and speculation about who will succeed as senator is rampant, with the governor remaining tight-lipped about any prospects, but with the polls showing that a majority of the state's population support a more progressive stance, he is expected to…"

So, it had begun. Jack O'Neill pressed his lips together as he forced himself to turn away from the television and focus on his jello. He would bet all his desserts for the next ten years that the senator in question hadn't resigned out of his free will but had been forced to by Kinsey and the NID. The guy was claiming some noble principles and the good of the country, but Jack didn't believe any of it. It just didn't fit the man's policies.

So, it wasn't a great loss to see that politician go. It might actually be a good thing if he was replaced by someone not as selfish and greedy, but the man had been elected by a majority of his state's voters. Forcing him to step down through underhanded means was a blow against democracy and the rule of law. Against the constitution Jack had sworn to defend.

"So… what do we do?" Daniel asked. "About that, I mean." He gestured at the television as if there was any doubt about the topic of the conversation.

Out of habit, Jack glanced around. Still no one close enough to overhear them. "We don't actually have any proof," he said, trying not to wince at his own words. They sounded like… excuses.

"Without proof, there is no way to legally stop this," Carter pointed out.

"So we would be breaking the law if we did anything?" Daniel sounded weirdly hopeful and desperate at the same time. "And we don't have proof, so we don't really know…"

Jack hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. He didn't like excuses. "We do know. This…" He pointed at the screen, then blinked. They had already switched to covering the latest scandal involving a minister, a luxury yacht and church donations. "Well, that too. We know this is the work of the NID using illegal means to affect national policy. We don't have proof, yes, but this is no coincidence." This was Kinsey at work.

"Yes, but…" Daniel fell silent, then raised his chin. "We also 'know' what will happen if this gets exposed."

"That's a good guess," Jack replied. Then he raised his hands, "Yes, I also think if the NID gets thwarted, we'll see the right-wing nutters take over." It would be just like Watergate. The public wouldn't tolerate such blatantly illegal acts by the government.

"'Thwarted', Jack?" Daniel blinked.

Jack stared at him. "Not the point, Daniel."

"Uh, right. Anyway - so… what do we do? Whatever we do would be breaking the law, sort of."

"It's not against the law to keep speculation to yourself," Carter, prim and proper as usual, said. "Without any proof or even clues except for the timing, we aren't required to take action."

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "Otherwise, we would have witch hunts all the time. I don't mean literal witch hunts."

Those were good arguments. Sound, logical, perfectly fine. But Jack knew that they were excuses, nothing more. Under different circumstances, he would be doing all he could to stop the NID. And Carter and Daniel would be with him all the way. Doing the right thing, no matter the cost.

But what if the cost was America? There was some Latin saying about justice and the world ending that Jack did not quite remember from West Point. Something about enforcing justice even if it doomed the world. Did he want that?

He snorted, startling Carter and Daniel. If he did, he would have quit the Air Force long ago. Some of the things he had done during the Cold War… His friends were still staring at him. He sighed. "We don't have any proof. And doing anything illegal to gather proof…" Carter blushed a little, he noticed. "...would have us act like the NID." Not quite, but close enough. At least for his conscience.

"You could argue that the only reason this is happening is because the American system is flawed, so a minority has too much influence, controlling the majority," Daniel said. "So, those suffering from the NID breaking the law were already violating the spirit of the law."

Jack stared at him. "Let's not sound too smug or noble, OK?"

Daniel blushed. "OK. So… we don't do anything. Illegal, I mean."

"Yes." Jack nodded. As did Carter.

He turned to look at the television again. They were showing a report from some country in Africa - he had missed the start. Something about witch hunts. The reporter sounded concerned in that professional way some managed.

"...and the reports of people lynched after being accused of being 'witches' keep increasing. The government has announced that in light of the Etherian threat to restore magic, they will outlaw witchcraft. In response, a rebel faction has called upon the population to 'embrace the ancient magic of our people'. Experts disagree about…"

And there were the literal witch hunts. Jack scowled. If they or the NID bungled this, this could become the future of America. He'd do a lot more to avoid this than turn a blind eye to rumours.

No matter how bad it made him feel.

*****

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, September 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Adora was prepared. She had read up on the history of France - and there had been a lot of revolutions and quasi-revolutions; they were up to their fifth republic! - and on the current politics of the country and on the Président himself. She was prepared.

But she was still nervous when she walked towards the meeting room. She had only briefly met the man before, she didn't know any French people she could have trusted to tell her more about him, and the news was pretty divided about him.

Catra stretched next to her, then leaned over. "Relax. He wants something from us, not the other way around."

"We want allies on Earth," Adora whispered back. Allies they could trust. If only SG-1 were princesses - well, princes and one princess - in charge of the USA! "And we need allies."

"Not as much as they need us," Glimmer cut in from Adora's other side. "If everything fails, we don't need to share technology - Earth troops can fight the Goa'uld on the ground just fine, as SG-1 has proven."

"Yeah," Catra agreed. "Though in the long run, we might be pressed for resources."

Adora knew that. Second and Third Fleet had their logistical tails and could get resupplied. Bots could be used. Entrapta and Hordak also were positive that they could rebuild Horde Prime's cloning facilities. Well, replace them - the originals were currently part of the space plant above Etheria. But that should be the clones' decision, not anyone else's. And it certainly shouldn't be done because they needed more soldiers.

Of course, if they managed to get an alliance, the point would be moot.

They reached the meeting room and entered.

The Président was tall, was Adora's first thought. Not as tall as She-Ra, but… maybe half a head shorter? Which meant he was far taller than her friends and herself.

"Queen Glimmer! Princess She-Ra!" The Président beamed at them, shaking their hands - she had half-expected him to kiss their hands, based on some reports about the French. But he had a firm handshake.

"Monsieur le Président," Glimmer nodded at him.

"Hello!" Adora added.

"Techmaster Bow. Catra." More smiles all around, even if Catra's was a little toothy.

Then they met his staff. General Dubois. And the Minister des Armées. And what Catra called flunkies or minions.

"I am so happy to meet you again," the man told her as they took their seats at the table - decorated with the French flags and… the Princess Alliance Crest. That was a nice touch!

Adora smiled at the Président. "Yes." They had met briefly before, when they had met the United Nations. But this was their first personal meeting.

"It's an honour," Glimmer replied.

"The honour is all mine." Another smile. "I hope to invite you to France one day - you must see Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The City of Love, she is known as."

Adora didn't have to glance to the side to see Catra perk up.

"That would be lovely," Glimmer said. "Should we form an Alliance, then signing the agreement would be a great occasion to visit."

Adora nodded. Perhaps they should have visited for this meeting, but… Geneva was close to France, and they had so many meetings with the Security Council anyway. Besides, this was mostly a preliminary meeting, according to the schedule.

"France would be honoured."

"As would we," Glimmer told him. "But let's get down to business. Let's talk about an alliance."

*****

"...and we will pass legislation that will grant everyone, no matter their sexual orientation, the same rights to marriage and everything that entails, including adoption." The Président nodded. "We expect the laws to be passed soon."

Adora nodded. She could have done without the list of France's achievements with regards to human rights - she had read up on the country - but it would have been rude to mention that.

"Now, I'd be the first to admit that we're not perfect. France has done much to be ashamed of in the past. Sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes for worse motivations," he went on. "But we strive to be better than we were."

Adora nodded again. She had read up on that as well. "As everyone should."

"No one's perfect," Glimmer added. "We understand that."

"So we've heard." The Président didn't look at Catra, Adora noted. But it was clear what he meant.

And Catra knew it - Adora saw that she was pretty tense. She reached over and patted her knee. Catra had changed. She wasn't the Catra who had led the Horde any more. Well, she was, in some ways, but not the ones that counted most.

"As long as you don't go back, this will be fine," Glimmer said. "Of course, laws also need to be enforced to matter."

"France is a country of law and order. We will enforce those laws." He smiled again. "You have my word. Although I don't expect many problems - it's not as if we are limiting people's rights; we're expanding them. That rarely causes any problems with people."

"Except for the bigots," Catra said. "They hate that."

"We have a handle on them," the Président told her. "France is a secular, laicist state with a strict separation of religion and state. The religious extremists do not hold any power here."

That was aimed at the USA, Adora was certain.

But Glimmer didn't comment. "Now, with that dealt with, let's talk about the military."

*****

Capitol, Washington DC, Earth, September 16th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"But can't we outproduce them? They said their planet has a population of fifty million - we have six times that number!"

Samantha Carter had to refrain from correcting the senator that the United States' population was five and a half times Etheria's. That wouldn't only further alienate the man and his conservative cohorts. So she gently shook her head and repeated what she had been telling her superiors and various members of the government since they had returned from Etheria: "If we had the same technology and resources, we could. But we don't. We don't have enough people who understand alien technology."

"Can't we teach more people?" another conservative senator asked. His accent sounded as if he had stepped out of 'Gone with the Wind'.

The people who understood alien technology enough were not good teachers. Sam included herself in that category, seeing as she really wanted to curse at her audience. She had gone over that before! It was in her reports!

"We would have to teach all scientists and all engineers. And then every worker. And we would still lag behind the Etherians' technology. They, on the other hand, have a fleet full of people who know to use, maintain and create alien technology. They can teach that to others much more easily than we can. And on Etheria, they have a society used to both magic and technology." Sam shook her head. And there was also the threat of brain drain - those who came to study and work in the USA because it was the most advanced nation would look elsewhere if the USA lost that position.

"A society that's still using swords and bows and arrows," the first senator said.

"Magic swords and arrows. They defeated an army that had hovertanks with laser cannons," Sam shot back. She was fudging the truth a little here, but only a little. "They aren't primitive. They have different aesthetics, that's all. People in the USA hunt with bow and arrow, yet we don't think the USA is stuck in the medieval age, do we?" Why couldn't they see that? The rest of the conservative senators did!

"My cousin swears by his composite bow," a third senator - an overweight older man from the South - said with a smile. "I swear by my Remington, of course."

"That's irrelevant. The question we're here to answer is: Can we defy those aliens who attempt to force their ideology on us and chart our own course as a proud nation, or do we have to bend our necks and accept their demands so we will not be relegated to a third-world country?" the first senator snapped.

"They don't make demands, Senator," Sam corrected him. "They have requirements to be met for anyone who wants access to their technology."

"Semantics!" the senator who had asked after teachers said. "If we want their technology, we have to bend to their whims. That's what it boils down to."

"Well, they're just doing what we did to our backyard," another said with a chuckle.

Sam cleared her throat, then had to wait a few moments before the assembled senators turned their attention back on her. Why exactly had the President sent her to talk to those people? She knew their type; they didn't like listening to women as a rule, and if the woman was pretty and young… She managed not to clench her teeth. Well, the Colonel would have lost his patience long ago and would have antagonised everyone with his flippant remarks, and Daniel… would have lectured them in his earnest but accidentally offensive way.

Still, as grating as this was, she had faced worse sexists. "As I said, senators, if the United States is forced to tackle upgrading our technology without any help from the Etherians, we will lag behind. We simply aren't on a sufficient level, educationally, scientifically and with regards to infrastructure, to match whatever country they support."

"But ultimately, we'll catch up, right?" the first senator asked again. "We might have a slower start, but we're the United States - we will persevere. With God's help, we'll show them!"

"By the time we catch up to where they are now, they will have progressed even further. And we would have to spend a lot of resources just to catch up - money we could spend on more advanced programs." Not that education didn't need a huge investment, but this wasn't the crowd to address that even - or especially - since they were the exact crowd who had caused the damage to the United States' schools and colleges.

"We would certainly lose our role as leader of the free world," another Senator who had stayed silent so far spoke up. "And we wouldn't have the strongest military in the world any more. Not when the French and the British are rolling over and showing their bellies to the aliens just so they can get spaceships."

Of course, that made an impression on the politicians in the room. Sam refrained from scoffing - whether or not the USA had the strongest military in the world didn't matter, not when six ships in orbit could easily defeat the entire world's militaries.

"So, we either grant the dykes the right to marry each other and raise children, or we lose everything we have achieved in the last two hundred years."

No one batted an eye at the man's slur, Sam noted. But most nodded in reluctant agreement.

"At least a chunk of my state is in favour of this," one senator said. "According to the polls at least."

"Lucky you. My constituents will murder me for this," another said.

"Aren't they busy murdering your church right now?"

"It wasn't my church! I have attended a few services there, but I hardly knew the minister! And I certainly wasn't aware of his… inclinations!"

Ah! So that scandal was happening in his state. Sam kept a polite expression on her face as the senators complained about having to go along with the government's proposals.

She just wished she could already leave. More such meetings and she might become as bad as the Colonel about politicians.

*****

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, September 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and we can send la Légion d'Étrangère out at once - it's one of the best units in the world and ready to deploy," the Minister des Armées said. "Though they would need support from other forces - they don't have integral air support."

Catra nodded. "Unlike the US Marine Corps." She had read up on Earth's military history.

The French general frowned. "Of course, how valid air support is on foreign planets remains to be seen. And going up against space ships?" He shrugged. "I assume you have sufficient space forces to take over this, and we can handle everything on the ground, provided our intel about the enemy forces is correct."

"It should be," Adora said. "Teal'c was a highly placed officer, and he didn't know about any armour units in the ranks of the Jaffa."

"Or artillery." Which was a weird deficiency. How could you wage war without armour and artillery? Well, if you had princesses to pick up the slack, you could, Catra amended. "They are said to rely on their bombers for such support. But the core of their ground forces is composed of infantry. And Earth-made weapons are very competitive in that area." She had examined the zats and staff weapons herself. And the American rifles.

The French general nodded. "That is a small consolation. To find ourselves completely outclassed, and many of our best weapons rendered obsolete, was a heavy blow."

"Of course, it helped that every army on Earth was rendered obsolete at the same time," the French Président added with a chuckle. "Our pride might have suffered some blows, but others who used to look down on us suffered relatively worse."

Which meant the US Army, Catra knew. There was, well, she wouldn't call it a feud, but certainly some bad blood there. And the French were supposed to be allies of the Americans. Then again, the USA hadn't exactly been honest with the rest of the world - and also more than a little arrogant, or so it seemed.

"But a few thousand soldiers are not enough to tackle an Empire that spans the galaxy. We'll have to mobilise more, and that will take some time. As will converting our existing weapon designs to incorporate advanced technology," the minister went on.

"Well, the Goa'uld Empire is, as far as we know, fractured. After the death of Ra, his underlings split and started fighting each other. Or at least competing with each other," Glimmer added. "And this is a weakness of theirs."

"Yes," Catra agreed. "If we can keep them divided, we can defeat them piecemeal." What the Horde had almost done to the Alliance. "We have the edge in technology, and we can concentrate our forces as long as we have the initiative. If we use a few flotillas to strike various planets far apart, we can force them to spread out their ships to cover their realms. Of course, that will become harder and harder as we take more planets. So, it's essential that we develop ground-based weapons to protect planets and more ships."

"France will do what she can to help there," the Président said. "Our industry is ready for this challenge. Even the unions agree," he added, which prompted some chuckling from the others with him.

"But we won't be able to win this war on the defensive," Catra went on. "We need to take out their leaders and either conquer or destroy their core industries to cripple their ability to wage war. Most of the planets they control aren't important from a strategic sense - they don't have any infrastructure other than some mines, and they only have as many troops and gear their that they can supply through the Stargate." Which, Catra didn't need Teal'c to tell her that, was great for travelling, but not so great if you had to supply an army through it - much less several armies and bases.

"And we want to avoid pushing them into fighting to the bitter end," Adora added.

Catra kept her mouth closed. It was a sound decision - an enemy who had nothing to lose would fight harder than someone who could surrender - but she didn't think many, if any, of the Goa'uld could be trusted to stick to an agreement if they were even willing to make one in the first place. It would have to entail giving u their slaves, after all.

"As long as we can keep Earth and Etheria safe," the Président said.

"That's the main objective, of course," Glimmer agreed. "Strategically."

"But back to the alliance," the Président said. "We've covered the laws we'll change. Is there anything else left to discuss that needs to be altered?"

"As long as you make an honest effort to enforce the new laws and don't start conquering other countries, I don't think so," Glimmer said.

Adora nodded.

"Then we need to discuss how the command structure will work," Catra said. "Who's in charge of which operations, how discipline is being handled."

"Trade agreements, training, how to keep restricted knowledge safe from spies," Glimmer added.

"With regards to trade, that would have to involve the European Union," the Président replied.

"Well, we won't really see much trade for the foreseeable future, what with the distance between Etheria and Earth," Glimmer said.

And the issues about economic imbalances, Catra added to herself. France had more people than Etheria as a whole. And they were also meeting with the British and Germans. At least all of them were in the same Union which should simplify trade agreements.

Still, she preferred to talk tactics and strategy rather than trade, so she leaned back while Glimmer and Bow started talking about economic details. It looked like they would have their first ally on Earth soon enough.

*****

 

[Starfox5]

I love/hate how well the SG1 characters play as foils to the actual discourse around these subjects.

Click to shrink...

It's sometimes tricky to have them witness the more obscure proceedings.

 

[Starfox5]

Chapter 34: Alliances Part 2

Capitol, Washington DC, Earth, September 17th, 1998 (Earth Time)

Jack O'Neill didn't like politicians. No matter their party affiliation, the lot of them were generally more concerned with pandering to their backers - and looking good to their constituents - than doing what was good for the country. At least Hammond was aware of that and had sent Carter to talk to the idiots who still hadn't gotten the message that the times of playing the usual games were over. Or at least suspended for the duration of the current crisis.

But that meant that he was stuck with watching how the cabinet tried to deal with the fact that the French had stolen a march on the United States.

"Look, they haven't signed an alliance yet. That is contingent on legalising gay marriage, and the French haven't done that yet," the Secretary of Agriculture said.

Why the man was voicing his opinion on this, Jack didn't quite understand. Perhaps he had dealt with the French over cheese and champagne exports and thought that had made him an expert?

"They'll pass those laws in a heartbeat. With the alliance all but signed, they won't hesitate," the Secretary of State replied. "The French Président doesn't have to deal with a bunch of religious nutcases who think God is American and they are the chosen people. When did the conservatives actually start believing in their own propaganda?"

The man must be either exhausted or incredibly annoyed, in Jack's opinion - he usually was far more restrained.

"Most don't believe that," the President replied. "But they have grown used to the status quo. And they have been cultivating the religious right for years. They fear that they are riding a tiger and can't get off without getting mauled."

And that was why Jack didn't like politicians. If you were a patriot, you did what was best for your country, no matter the cost for yourself. Soldiers were ready to lay down their lives for America, and those hypocrites in Congress were baulking at the thought of losing their seats?

"A tiger? More like a lemming," the Secretary of Education commented with a snort. "A lemming grown fat on money from bribes and running heedlessly towards the edge of the cliff."

"Now, to be fair, no one could have predicted that we'd make contact with helpful aliens who care about gay rights," the Secretary of Agriculture retorted.

"That doesn't matter. Have you seen what they were doing to America's education, all in the name of their ideology? Intelligent design! Chastity as sexual education! Cutbacks on public education wherever they could! They were ruining America long before we opened that gate!"

Jack refrained from smiling at the rant as the President spoke up. "Now, now - let's not dwell on the past. We have the future to deal with. And we have most of the conservatives in Congress on board. Or we'll have them, once the holdouts realise that they can't do any horse-trading like usual. Not with their own backers breathing down their necks."

"And the true believers?" the Secretary of the Interior asked.

"I think Captain Carter's briefing today helped impress upon them that their views of the situation were not entirely correct," the Chief of Staff replied.

"Must be tough to realise that your god abandoned you." The Secretary of Education snorted again.

The President frowned at her. "Anyway, if we just wanted to pass a federal law, we could do that easily. But as I was told by our experts, that won't be enough for the Etherians." He glanced at Jack, who straightened in response. Daniel had been the one who had explained to the Etherians how the United States worked, including the role of the Supreme Court, but Jack was the leader of SG-1, and so it was his responsibility.

"Why can the French do it, and we need to amend our constitution?" The Secretary of Agriculture pouted.

"Because they have a different system," the Secretary of Education told him. "They don't have a Supreme Court in charge who could change its rulings whenever they chose to."

"The Supreme Court can't just change its rulings."

"Of course they can. They did it before with the death penalty, remember?" The woman scoffed. "And the magical princesses from the space kingdom are all too aware how that works when someone is elected for life without any checks and balances."

"You can't compare the Supreme Court to an absolute monarch!"

"I just did."

"Folks!" the President spoke up again. "There's no point to bicker about the hand we've been dealt. We have to play it. So… assume the French seal the deal in a few days; how long until they start building spaceships?"

Damn. The President was looking at Jack again. And this was a question for Carter, not for him. "They will have to spend months just learning the new technology," Jack repeated what Carter had told him. "And unless they want to copy a Horde frigate, they will have to design a ship as well."

"They'll want their own designs. The French always do," the Secretary of Agriculture claimed.

Jack wasn't so sure. The French had cooperated with other countries in the aerospace industry before. Airbus was the most famous example.

"Well, even if the French get a headstart, it won't matter much as long as we can get an alliance in a few weeks to a few months," the Secretary of State said.

"As long as the Etherians have enough teachers to cover all our needs," the Secretary of Education pointed out. "I don't think they'll stop their first teaching programs just to start with us. They might expect us to work together with everyone else."

Jack wasn't the only one who winced. The United States had trouble getting the Air Force and the Navy to cooperate - all the fault of the Navy pukes who didn't want to admit that space was covered by the Air Force - but to work so closely with the Europeans? The French didn't like America, and the Brits probably hadn't forgotten the whole Skybolt mess. Or the Suez Crisis. Or the Tizard Mission.

Great.

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...the secretary general of NATO confirmed today that the member states have collectively decided that the attack by the Goa'uld constitutes sufficient cause to trigger Article 5. Following this, the individual member states are expected to officially declare war, although to preserve operational security, the Goa'uld Empire will not be formally notified of this, which has several experts on International law express their doubts about the legality of the current and future hostilities…"

"...the police had to intervene to protect anti-war protestors from counter-protestors in Washington DC…"

"...several US embassies were the target of protests claiming that the United States were the aggressor in the conflict with the Goa'uld Empire…"

"...and many are wondering, with NATO invoking Article 5 and France about to sign an Alliance with the Etherians, whether or not a formal alliance with the Etherians is still necessary. We don't know the details of the alliance yet, but if France is fighting as part of NATO and allied to the Etherians, that would forge close ties between the Alliance and NATO, and that…"

"...and has no one looked at the money? How many defence contractors are pressuring their bought and paid for members of Congress to vote in favour of this travesty of justice just so they can profit from the war? Are we really willing to sell our souls for profit? I say: NO! This is a conspiracy to corrupt the heart of America so…"

"That weird conservative channel still hasn't changed," Adora commented as she switched the television in the waiting room off. They were still focusing on the extremists.

"Well, they claim that they are merely showing both sides of the issue equally," Bow told her, looking up from his tablet.

Catra snorted. "Yeah, right."

Adora looked over. Her lover was… you couldn't call it sitting; Catra was sprawled in one of the seats in the waiting room, back arched over the armrest as she looked upside down at the others in the room. "At least they are showing the positive reactions as well, now," Adora said.

"How nice." Catra, obviously, didn't think this was a sign of progress.

"Let's focus on today's meeting," Glimmer said. "The British delegation is supposed to arrive in twenty minutes - unless their flight gets delayed."

"Maybe we should have landed in London," Adora said. "This is close to France but not to England."

"The French Président still had to fly in," Glimmer retorted. "And it would be a snub to France if we went to London for the meeting with the British Prime Minister. And Geneva is one of the seats of the United Nations."

"You just like the sweets here," Catra commented.

Glimmer stuck out her tongue at Catra. She was in a good mood. Everyone was after they had finalised the agreement with the French. Now, if things with the British went well as well, and then with the Germans, they would be ready to start liberating planets. Too bad the United States were still dragging their feet - Jack and the others wouldn't be able to help them until their country adjusted. "Well, let's hope things go well today."

"They should," Glimmer said. "I just wish the people from Earth wouldn't complicate everything so much." She scoffed. "They have the United Nations taking control of the Stargate. And their NATO is now officially at war with the Goa'uld. And we're forming an alliance separate from NATO. How can you wage war like that?"

"Well, if anyone can, you should know how, Commander," Catra told her. "It sounds like the old Princess Alliance."

"We didn't have three partially overlapping alliances," Glimmer retorted. "Planning who gets to use the Stargate will be a nightmare. Not just logistically, but who wants to bet that some nations will attempt to leverage control over the gate into influence over us?"

"I'm not going to take a sucker's bet," Catra declared promptly. "That's Adora's thing."

"It's not!" Adora protested. Just because she had made a few unfortunate bets as a cadet… She pouted at the grinning Catra.

"Let's get serious," Glimmer said. "We don't want the British to think we're not serious."

Adora spoke up before Catra could make a joke about Glimmer's wording. "Isn't it a snub, talking to the prime minister of a queen instead of the queen herself?" She might be a figurehead, but she was the head of state.

"It's not," Catra replied. "The Prime Minister is the actual ruler of the country."

Which was either England, the United Kingdom or Great Britain depending on what you read. A very weird country.

"Anyway, since the head of state is the queen," Glimmer said, "we can expect to meet her when we sign the alliance."

"If we sign an alliance," Catra said. "They didn't get the name 'perfidious Albion' for nothing, I bet."

"That was actually enemy propaganda," Bow countered.

"Like calling the Horde the 'Evil Horde'?" Catra grinned.

"That was just telling the truth!" Glimmer retorted.

"Guys, please!" Bow said. "Let's focus on the meeting."

Catra snorted. "It'll go like the one with the French did. We have something they want very badly, and they are willing to do what is needed to get a deal."

Adora frowned, but she couldn't really counter that argument.

*****​

Pentagon, United States of America, Earth, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...so, the others are busy meeting the British, but that's politics, so they don't need us for that - Bow knows about our technology, Glimmer is a trained sorceress in case they have questions about magic, and Catra and Adora know everything about our logistics, even though Catra acts as if she wasn't interested, and the French didn't have any questions that would have needed us - so we thought we could take the shuttle and visit you to do some science, but then they told us at the mountain that you were here, so we flew here to meet you, in case you had some free time to discuss this adaption of the anti-gravity generator you mentioned! I hope we aren't disturbing you when you're busy with something important!"

Samantha Carter liked Entrapta. She really did. But sometimes, the princess was a little too impulsive and enthusiastic. And Sam didn't like Hordak.

Then again, Entrapta's arrival had gotten Sam out of another meeting with recalcitrant conservative members of the House of Representatives who just couldn't be bothered to face reality. And she was very sick of having to listen to Bible quotes. So Sam smiled a the beaming princess and nodded at Hordak. "No, just another meeting."

"Ah." Entrapta nodded. "Good! As Catra and Glimmer say - and if they agree on something, you know it's true: If you have time for a meeting, you don't have anything important to do. Unless it's a diplomatic meeting, I think."

Sam suppressed a chuckle; they weren't alone at the landing pad at the Pentagon, and with the current struggle between the Navy and the Air Force over the Space Force, she didn't want to hand the Navy any ammunition. "Well, I'm available to look at your modifications to the generator."

"Great! I've changed the power modulation. And Hordak had a very interesting idea about the main regulator." Entrapta opened the shuttle's back to show her the generator stashed there.

"An obvious modification that any technician should have realised long ago," Hordak commented.

Sam suppressed her annoyed reaction at the implied insult. "The Goa'uld aren't much for encouraging creativity amongst their slaves."

"How very short-sighted of them. Although having been the target of a coup myself, I can understand that they might have thought drastic measures were necessary."

"I don't think Catra was trying to replace you when she sent me to Beast Island," Entrapta said.

"She was working up to it. I merely preempted her attack."

Sam tried to focus on the generator. She was already aware that Hordak, Entrapta and Catra shared a quite convoluted past. She didn't really want to hear the details. Well, she did, but whatever she heard, she was supposed to report to her superiors. And that felt like a breach of trust.

So she cleared her throat. "I see you doubled the crystals here."

"Yes. Added redundancy." Entrapta nodded. "You can blow half the relays and still have full power! But it will need a case that will vent the power of the explosion. And that won't offer the same protection as an armoured case."

"Any external force that penetrates the hull and reaches the generator will likely wreck the vehicle anyway," Hordak retorted. "Unless it's a capital vessel, in which case losing a minor backup generator won't affect its combat performance."

"What about a cellular array?" Sam asked. "Earth tanks use a system to offer both armour protection and a way to vent an internal explosion away from the crew compartment."

"Oh, yes!" Entrapta beamed. "That would work. It would even work for bots - it would keep their decision matrixes intact so they can continue learning after repairs."

"That should enhance their long-term combat performance, yes," Hordak agreed.

"So, how does that work? Oh, blast panels, maybe? Mounted so they resist force from one direction but can easily be pushed away into the other direction?"

Entrapta was a genius, Sam reminded herself. She nodded with a smile. "Yes - it's quite obvious, isn't it?"

Hordak frowned. "Only if you are used to weapons that use explosives as propellant. Energy-based weapons make such construction pointless."

Sam knew a face-saving argument when she heard it and grinned. "You also need internal armour, though. And that will make it heavier."

"Yes. Unless we could… Hm… if we calculate the maximum power a blown crystal array could develop, we would know the minimal amount of armour we need…" Entrapta scrunched her nose while she started tapping buttons on her multi-purpose-device. "That means… Hm… It is related to the amount of power transmitted to the generator, so whatever metals the power lines or blows up the regulator is the upper limit of what could reach the relay crystals, so…"

She was interrupted by a beeping noise.

Hordak frowned. "Someone's trying to enter the shuttle."

"Oh?"

Sam tensed. They were on a landing pad at the Pentagon. Who would be willing to disturb them? If it was the NID… No. They wouldn't want to risk the Etherians' anger. Kinsey had clearly understood that. "It might be important," she said.

"Let's check!" Entrapta was already on the way to the door controls.

Outside, two men in dress shirts and slacks, but without jackets or ties, waited. Both carried laptop cases - and both had multiple pens in their shirt pockets.

Sam could be mistaken, but this style? She was familiar with it.

"Dr Carter? Princess Entrapta? Mr Hordak? We're sorry to disturb you, but when we heard that you had a shuttle here, we couldn't resist. I'm Mark Bower; this is Gerald Cline. We're from NASA, and we'd like to talk to you!"

Sam knew it. And since no one had stopped them from bothering the alien shuttle, the brass approved of whatever they were here for.

Well, Sam was pretty sure she also knew what this was about.

*****​

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Earth, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and in addition to crafting the Marriage Rights Act, we've also adjusted the Human Rights Act. As soon as those receive Royal Assent, same-sex marriage, with all the duties and rights that marriage grants, will be legal in the United Kingdom. All people, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, will have equal rights with regards to selecting their partner."

The British Prime Minister had been stressing the kingdom part of the United Kingdom Catra had noticed. And the role of the Queen of England. A rather transparent attempt to appeal to the princesses, in her opinion. And like the French, he hadn't mentioned that they had executed one of their kings after a revolution. Not that it mattered - that had happened centuries ago.

"Thank you!" Adora beamed. Catra was tempted to kick her under the table to remind her lover that the Earth politicians were trying to butter them up. Then again, that was Adora for you: always willing to see the best in people. Even when they did their worst to her and her friends, like… She suppressed the urge to shake her head. That was the past; Catra couldn't change it. She could only do better in the future. Like here.

"It's very good to hear that," Glimmer said. "I assume your queen won't hold up the process for ceremonial reasons?"

And now Catra had to hide her grin. Glimmer smiled as politely as before, but the Prime Minister's slight flinch meant the small barb had found its mark. The British might have a queen, but she wasn't their actual ruler.

"I don't foresee any delays on that front," the man replied.

"Good!" Adora glanced at Glimmer for a change, not at Catra, before beaming at the delegation from the United Kingdom. "So, provided the act goes through, let's talk about military and technology!"

*****​

"...and so the Royal Navy would expand to cover space as well. While we work on building our own space vessels, we would like to have our sailors gather experience in space combat on your ships," the British admiral finished.

Now that was a good idea, in Catra's opinion. That would certainly speed up the time until Earth had space assets worth a damn. She knew best how useless most cadets were before they got some experience in the field. "That sounds reasonable," she said.

"Of course, we would also like to purchase spaceships from you once our sailors are ready to crew them," the man went on. "It's very likely that we'll pattern our own production after your ships, after all, so this would make a lot of sense."

That might be going a little too fast, though. Catra didn't trust the British - or any Earth country - yet with their own spaceships.

"That is certainly a good way to train up your forces, but it will take quite some time until your people are proficient with handling and especially maintaining Horde frigates," Adora said.

Time enough to see if they were trustworthy.

"We're aware of that from our own history. But the sooner we start, the sooner we are ready."

"There's also the fact that the way the Horde frigates are run might not suit your navy," Catra pointed out. "Horde Prime had his clones made to perform exactly as he wanted, and that's how they still work in many areas."

"Not big on lower ranks showing any initiative, was he?" the British general asked.

"Not at all," Catra said, frowning. Anyone who stuck out got… brainwashed. Like Hordak. Or herself.

"Then our crews might be an advantage for you as well - we've got a long naval tradition that favours showing initiative," the admiral said. "Of course, sailing the blue sea isn't quite comparable to flying in space, but the basic principles of running a ship tend to remain the same - at least that was the case for us while we went from sailing ships to ironclads to dreadnoughts and to aircraft carriers."

Catra tried not to sneer. She didn't like water. And she didn't remember her time with Horde ships fondly. Well, she had mixed feelings about conquering Salineas, but that wasn't something she liked to dwell on either.

"Well, basically, yes," Adora said with a smile. "At least that was our experience - we fought on sailing ships and in space."

The British soldiers looked surprised at that. "You did?"

"Yes." Adora nodded. "Of course, it wasn't a warship, and it floated above the water until it sank, but, yes, it was propelled by sails and magic."

"The Horde had actual warships," Catra cut in. "Not sailing ships. But yes, there are quite a lot of similarities between those ships and Horde frigates."

"But copying Horde ships might be harder than adapting a few crucial systems to your own technology," Bow pointed out.

"We're aware of that. But we think the priority is now to get ships into space. And working designs tend to have fewer issues to work out than new designs," the admiral said.

"Hopefully fewer delays," the Prime Minister added. "We don't have decades to get the perfect ship. Good enough will have to do."

"Perfection is the enemy of good enough, yes," Bow said.

Catra had a comment about this, Adora and Shadow Weaver, but this wasn't the time or place for it. "So, let's talk about numbers," she said instead.

*****​

Pentagon, United States of America, Earth, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...so, you see, if we had just one of your ships available for transporting supplies, we could settle Mars and start terraforming it! Unless, of course, our calculations of their minimum cargo capacity are wrong."

Jack O'Neill frowned as he approached the shuttle parked on one of the Pentagon's landing pads. Who was talking inside? As far as he knew, it was just Carter, Entrapta and Hordak in there. Perhaps he should have asked one of the guards outside, but that would have made him look as if he didn't know everything that was going on with the aliens.

Well, he trusted Carter. Absolutely. Even with that damn Russian. But he didn't trust the aliens. Entrapta was too naive and trusting, and Hordak was a former warlord whose 'change of heart' might not be as thorough as some, namely Entrapta, thought. Jack had dealt with warlords in his past.

So he stepped onto the ramp and called out: "Permission to come aboard?" And then had to suppress a wince. That was something a navy puke would say - and space was Air Force turf.

"Jack?" Entrapta replied. "Come in! It's open!"

Not the best policy even with guards outside, Jack thought as he entered the shuttle.

Carter smiled and nodded at him. "Sir."

"Hi, Jack!" Entrapta's greeting was as friendly as Hordak's was curt - the alien merely nodded at him.

"Hello… Oh, you're Colonel O'Neill!"

"Wow! Hello!"

Two men - two nerds - smiled at him. Jack raised his eyebrows. "And you are?"

"Oh, sorry! I'm Mark Bower; this is Gerald Cline. We're from NASA!"

"We heard that a shuttle set down here and decided to use the opportunity to see if we could talk to them - to the aliens," the other added.

"And you just walked up to the shuttle?" If that was true, heads would roll in the Pentagon. Jack would make sure of that.

"We wish!" Bower complained. "We had to go through security checks as if we were terrorists!"

"They even x-rayed us and our laptops! If we'd have sensitive equipment, that would have been damaged!" his colleague added.

Jack nodded. So, someone had greenlighted the 'spontaneous' visit. Probably some general who thought that Entrapta would react favourably to talking to those nerds. Well, it didn't seem as if they had been wrong.

"And they have such interesting ideas!" Entrapta gushed. "I mean, we told people that we would offer travel to space, but with all the other negotiations we had to do, and the security concerns that Catra and Glimmer were talking about, we didn't get anything done yet, but this! This is so much more interesting than some boring trip to space - we'll be settling another planet in this star system and terraforming it! And without magic! Although…" She scrunched her nose. "Magic would speed up terraforming by a lot if we can get Adora to create some space plants on the planet. Or ask Perfuma if she can change plants to survive there."

"As would self-replicating machinery," Hordak added.

"That, too!" Entrapta nodded several times. Then she pouted. "But people here have hangups about self-replicating machines. Even though they could be soooo useful! And we've disproven the grey goo scenario that you mentioned. At least I think so."

Bower and Cline nodded in obvious agreement with her, and even Carter didn't look like she was opposing those plans with much fervour, Jack noted with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Well," he said, "we've had some bad experiences with nanites." Namely, Jack himself. "Better safe than sorry."

"But we wouldn't use nanites!" Entrapta countered. "Well, not self-replicating nanites - we would use nanites to build micromachinery, of course. But we're talking automated mining machines and factories. And if we can't get Adora or Perfuma, probably rapid-growing plants that will turn the atmosphere breathable. As long as we can get exponential growth going, we'll see Mars turning into another habitable world in our lifetimes!"

"The calculations work out!" Bower added. "All we need is transport capacity."

"And perhaps some way to get a few ice asteroids to Mars," Cline said.

Jack glanced at Carter and, once more, raised his eyebrows.

She blushed a little - which was a very bad sign. "Well, Sir, the concept sounds plausible. And the scientific and engineering challenges do not seem unsurmountable."

"And it's all civilian, non-military, so it shouldn't be a problem for all the political stuff!" Entrapta added, beaming. Then she blinked. "Although I guess that someone would have to decide if Mars would be counted as part of Earth or not, and who gets to rule it." She shrugged. "Well, that's not a science problem."

"But a pretty difficult political problem," Jack said. What if they actually pulled it off, terraformed Mars and settled it, and then the planet decided to declare its independence? Would they throw instant coffee into the Sea of Dunes or something?

"Well, it's a future problem - settlements would be small habitats for science," Bower said. "And while we'd push them to become self-sustaining, they'd still be science outposts, not some… country."

"And by the time there are enough people on Mars to form a country, we'll probably have colonies on other planets thanks to the Stargates, so any political problem will have been solved already." Cline smiled.

Jack frowned. "NASA sent you here to talk about colonising Mars?"

Bower coughed. "Ah, we were supposed to talk about chartering a transport to Mars - which we did - but once we got talking, well…" He smiled. "We quickly realised that we could do so much more!"

Jack grinned. The kid was too naive. With open war looming and the United States gearing up to produce spaceships as soon as the idiots in the Capitol managed to get their act together, the budget for terraforming Mars would be smaller than the budget for the design of the Space Force's unit patch.

"Oh, yes!" Entrapta nodded again. "This will be great! We'll have to do something about the lack of a magnetic field and the loss of the atmosphere, but that doesn't sound impossible to solve. Maybe an energy field to keep the atmosphere in and the solar wind out?"

Although, Jack realised, the Etherians might not quite share his view.

*****​

Earth Orbit, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"...and as I said, Jesus Christ never condemned homosexuality; all the quotes people like to cite when they claim he was a homophobe are from the Old Testament."

"Thank you, Reverend, but last I checked, the Old Testament was still part of the Bible - the Word of God?"

"Oh, yes, technically. But a lot of the Old Testament is not part of Christian dogma. Last I checked, the Evangelicals haven't condemned spare ribs or pulled pork, have they? Or veal with cream sauce. Neither did they refrain from mixing fabrics. The Old Testament just isn't as important as what Jesus himself told us. And he never condemned homosexuality."

"But he valued the union between man and woman."

"That does not mean he condemned the union between man and man, or woman and woman. Jesus's message is one of love - not of homophobia. And he certainly didn't mean that whatever he didn't mention was to be condemned - that would hamper a lot of televangelists since Jesus never said anything about television, either."

Adora frowned as Catra changed the channel to some music video. "Why would a god leave such a confusing book? Rules have to be clear; everyone knows that."

"Well, I like unclear rules; it makes breaking the rules without breaking them easier." Catra grinned.

"I bet you would." Adora snorted. Catra had never liked any rules that got in her way. "But at least it sounds better than what the others said."

Catra scoffed and shifted on her seat, twisting until she was watching the screen upside down. "When's Entrapta coming back?"

"The shuttle is on the way from Washington and will reach us shortly," Adora told her after a check with Darla.

"Ah." Catra reached over and changed the channel again.

"...the end times are coming! Rapture awaits us! God is…"

"...the Queen is expected to sign the acts at the first opportunity. A state visit by the Etherians has also been announced to celebrate the upcoming alliance even though several details have not been finalised and…"

"...protests by indigenous people in Brazil continue. They demand that the government contacts the Etherians and formally asks for magic to be returned to Earth. The Brazilian government has not yet commented on…"

"...casualties of the riots are estimated to reach over a hundred, and there is no sign of the riots ending…"

"...a mob demanding that the government in Tehran declare war on the Etherians has been forcefully dispersed, though rumours about elements of the Revolutionary Guards refusing to obey orders continue to circulate…"

"...the Prime Minister, reportedly after consulting with representatives of the zaibatsu, addressed the Diet, stating that Japan's stance towards same-sex marriage has to be re-examined in light of the recent developments in Europe and expressed his hope that access to alien technology will revitalise Japan's economy. At the same time, Article 9 will have to be…"

"...the IDF has been put on alert as the border with Lebanon saw several skirmishes…"

"…Russia's president announced several emergency measures to stabilise the economy, blaming the war with the Goa'uld for the disruption and called on the Etherians to provide support…"

Adora blinked. "How are we supposed to help them?"

Catra shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a soldier, not a princess."

Adora frowned at her lover. "I'm a princess, and I don't know either."

"You don't have a kingdom to rule."

That was true. "We should ask Glimmer." Adora frowned. "But I think she has advisors for that." Glimmer hadn't talked a lot about economics - although she had mentioned the potential trouble if there was unrestricted trade between Earth and Etheria, hadn't she?

"Or Bow. He's got a brother who knows that stuff, doesn't he?"

Right, Count. But Adora had never met him, and he was on Etheria and not available. "Maybe we should… Oh!" She saw the shuttle approach them. "Entrapta and Hordak are coming."

"Good. Let's hope they haven't given the Americans a frigate or two."

Adora frowned at her lover as they left the bridge. Entrapta wasn't like that - and Catra knew it.

"I was joking," Catra said. "Besides, Hordak would never let her do that."

That was true. "Let's meet them and hear what happened in Washington."

"Virginia, actually."

Adora narrowed her eyes at Catra, who grinned. "Since when do you care about geography so much?"

"I read up on where the USA has its army headquarters, of course."

Of course.

But they had reached the hold and were just in time to see the shuttle set down on the deck.

"Adora! Catra! How was the meeting with the British kingdom?" Entrapta asked as she walked down the ramp, followed by Hordak.

"We only need to hash out a few more details and we have a second alliance ready to be signed," Catra replied. "They really want our tech."

"Everyone wants it!" Entrapta nodded. "Oh! We talked with NASA about terraforming - that means turning a planet into a second Earth or Etheria - the fourth and second planets of this system! It's so fascinating - they made plans without having the technology for it, but now that we're here, we should have the technology!"

"Ah." Adora smiled. "That's nice. How long would that take?"

"Oh, years and years! But it's fascinating - and if it works here, we could, maybe, restore some of the planets Horde Prime destroyed."

That had Melog, who had been dozing in the corner, perk up. Catra cocked her head to the side. "Melog would be interested in that."

"I'm sure they would!" Entrapta grinned.

"I thought we'd restore their planets once I found out how to do it," Adora said.

"Yeah, that was the plan, but if we can do it without magic, then everyone can do it!" Entrapta beamed. "It'll take longer, but it'll be so much more useful!"

"Right." Adora wasn't quite sure what to think about that. It felt… well, weird, not to be needed.

"Oh! Mark and Gerald - they're from NASA - also told us about the smartest man on Earth! Stephen Hawkins! He's dying from an illness. Can you help him? I think you could, couldn't you?"

Adora blinked. That was…

"People are dying all the time," Catra told her with a frown. "You can't heal everyone, and if you start, you won't be able to stop. I know you."

"Yes. But this is an exception. He's the smartest man on Earth!" Entrapta said.

"He should be useful for the war," Hordak added. "And he is British, not American."

Did that mean healing him fell under rendering critical assistance?

*****​

Pentagon, United States of America, Earth, September 18th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"So. Not only might we have inspired our alien mad scientist princess to create a green goo swarm and unleash it in our solar system, but we might also have asked them to reveal the full extent of their magic healing power to Earth by curing Hawkings. Not bad for an afternoon's worth of work. What's for tomorrow? Ask them to send missionaries of the Church of Adora to Earth?"

The Colonel's sarcasm was biting, but he wasn't entirely wrong; Samantha Carter knew it. But he wasn't entirely correct, either. "Sir, that was the result of NASA engineers meeting Entrapta. We couldn't exactly shoot them, and if we had ordered them to stay silent, this might have led to a diplomatic incident that would have undermined our efforts to win the trust of the Etherians." The Colonel had been present for half the meeting, after all.

"Well, we could shoot them now and make it look like an accident. I bet the NID could cover it up," the Colonel joked as he sat down in their temporary office in the Pentagon. Then he sighed. "Wrecking Mars and Venus isn't a big problem - it's not as if there's anything alive on those planets - even though the resources spent on terraforming them will be missing somewhere more important. But telling everyone that Adora can heal every illness with magic? Desperate people will hound her everywhere. And if she refuses to heal them, what will they do?"

"She might not be able to heal Dr Hawkins," Sam retorted. "We've only observed her healing wounds and counteracting poison." When Adora had saved the Colonel's life.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "You know what her magic did to my body. Do you really think she can't cure whatever Hawkins suffers from?"

"No, Sir." A scientist had to be honest.

"And if that 'side-effect' becomes known, what do you think will happen?" He cocked his head.

Everyone would want it. It wasn't a true rejuvenation, but it was probably coming close. All the microdamage and lingering effects of wounds and broken bones healed? "They would be swamped with offers and demands."

"Yes. Every rich old bastard will want to be 'healed'. But what will the Etherians do?"

Sam pressed her lips together. That was the question. "I think Adora will have a hard time refusing to heal dying patients." Especially if they were children.

"Yes. But she can't heal everyone. And her friends won't let her sacrifice herself like that," the Colonel said. "And we need her for the war." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "We need to talk to them about this. In secret."

Sam nodded. "I'm sure we can arrange something, Sir." It shouldn't be hard - it was obvious that this had to be addressed.

"Without telling anyone."

She blinked. Did he mean that not even their superiors would be informed?

"We need to talk to the Etherians before this spreads." He looked around. "And if we tell anyone, it will spread."

"The two engineers from NASA will not keep silent about this," Sam pointed out. Not even if they asked or ordered them to stay silent - she knew the type.

"They'll focus on the terraforming and colonisation parts. They'll say they asked the Etherians to heal Hawkins, but they don't know what the Etherians can do. And Entrapta only said she thought they could help." He shook his head. "We can contain this, at least to some degree, if we act quickly."

"Do you want to arrange a clandestine meeting?" That wouldn't be too easy - anything related to the aliens was under close scrutiny by everyone - but if Sam called Entrapta, asked to do some experiments in space…

"Yes." He suddenly grinned. "Let's invite them to a movie night. Teal'c is dying to watch Star Wars with them."

That was… well, that might actually work. She slowly nodded.

And the Colonel smiled widely at her. "You know what? Let's make it a barbecue!"

*****​

 

[Tiktog]

I love everybody's Interactions in this one especially the panic and problems that might ensue from magical healing. Of course this could be used as a way to sell magic to the world

 

[htgriffin]

Being an old fart that recalls the Late '90s Internet and knows not to get this detailed on SB/AH....

Presume that smut of She-Ra is a thing on Etheria, lots of "Tijuana Bible" equivalents floating about that Adora is fully aware of if more than a little mortified by, Thing is... as perverse and anything-but-vanilla as they get they are (esp. after Horde Prime's defeat) outright worshipful and adoring in tone.

Now on Earth, after a few weeks of coverage... she stumbles across the misogynist and sex-negative porn that has locked onto her along with all those other magical princesses being raped and broken all day long.

(The Horde was far more frightened of her, and what they passed around along those lines tended to paint her as a predator....)