Chapter 48: The Magic Question Part 4
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Chapter 48: The Magic Question Part 4
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 17th, 1998
"We're tracking six frigates in orbit above the Indian subcontinent. They're holding positions."
"No further weapon fire detected."
"Six more frigates are in a holding pattern over the northern hemisphere."
"Five minutes until our next satellite is in position to cover the area of impact."
Samantha Carter blinked at the reports from the other officers in the command centre even as she continued to analyse the data from all the sensors networked with her mainframe. They should have satellites in place already… Oh. She pressed her lips together. The United States had satellites in place already. But Stargate Command didn't control them - or had access to them. Not any more. They had to make do with the satellites transferred to Stargate Command.
"What do you have for us, Carter?" The Colonel was leaning over her desk.
"I'm still cross-checking the sensor data, sir," she replied. "But so far, it looks like a limited bombardment. Precision strikes with standard laser weapons from low orbit."
"Precision strikes?" He raised his eyebrows, then looked at the TV screen in the back, where a mushroom-shaped cloud was visible in the distance.
"Those are secondary detonations," she told him - as if he didn't know it already. "The Etherians must have hit the magazines of the base." She hit a few keys, checking the most recent satellite image - which was still not up to date. But the intel report… "Artillery and tank shells were stored at the base," she said.
"And the terrorists would've gone for them so they could use the captured artillery pieces." The Colonel nodded. "And so our magical space princesses blew the base up."
"The magazine was surrounded by revetments," she informed him. "Its explosion should not have destroyed the entire base." They would know more as soon as the satellite finally reached its intended position.
Sam really missed the Air Force Stargate Command and its resources. Having to rely on CNN for real-time intel was a shame. She bit her lower lip. She might not know the access codes for the US satellites any more. But she knew how to get them - which cache memory to access and how. This was a global emergency, wasn't it? Maybe… She blinked, then sighed. She had better alternatives.
"One moment, sir!" she told the Colonel and pulled her phone out.
He didn't make a joke about texting or ordering pizza. Which was kind of reassuring - the Colonel joked and quipped the most when the situation was desperate.
"What are you doing?" And here came Sidorov.
Sam suppressed a sigh as she turned to face the General. "Getting more information, General." She called Entrapta.
"Sam! How are you doing?"
Her friend didn't sound as if she was in danger. Or concerned. But that was Entrapta. "How are you doing?" Sam asked. "We received reports of an orbital bombardment."
"Oh. Yes, Hordak had to destroy the guns and ammunition before they were turned against us. Emily could've protected us, but not everyone else. But we're fine now! And the panic has stopped!"
"Who are you talking to?" Sidorov snarled.
"Princess Entrapta," Sam told him - as if it wasn't obvious. "The situation seems to be under control."
"Under whose control? The aliens'?"
"Well, they have all those ships in orbit," the Colonel cut in.
Sidorov glared at him, then turned back to Sam. "Are they landing troops?"
"Who is that yelling in the background? We aren't invading, by the way. Hordak is just a bit protective."
A little? Compared to Priest, maybe, Sam thought. "So you are safe?"
"Yes, everyone here is safe. I think. The soldiers here didn't start fighting each other."
"How reassuring," the Colonel said with a snort.
Sam didn't smile. India was in a special situation, with significant parts of their Muslim minority opposing magic, not helped by a nationalist Hindu party controlling the government, but the United States had their share of religious fanatics with similar views. Probably in the armed forces as well.
"Yes! Anyway, I'm not sure if the ceremony will continue, but there's no fighting here."
Sam smiled wryly. "Yes, I doubt the festivities will just go on as planned."
"Does this mean that magic won't be restored?" General Petit had arrived with the rest of the generals in tow.
Entrapta must have heard him. "Oh, no, Adora already did that. She used the excess magic to heal the wounded here."
"That was the light show on CNN," the Colonel said.
"What? They already did it?" Sidorov bellowed.
Sam narrowed her eyes. "My report clearly stated that, according to the Etherians, restoring a planet's magic doesn't take She-Ra longer than a few minutes." Did anyone actually read her reports through?
"Or faster if there's artillery fire incoming," the Colonel added.
A beeping noise alerted Sam to the incoming satellite footage. She put it on the big screen. And winced.
The base wasn't entirely destroyed. But the magazine and the parked guns were gone. Presumably with everyone in the vicinity. There were survivors amongst the soldiers, as far as she could tell. And some would just have been wounded.
But she didn't think there would be too many of those. Not where the lasers had struck. Or near the explosions.
"The Indians won't be happy about that," the Colonel said.
Sam nodded in agreement.
National Capital Region, India, October 17th, 1998
The orbital bombardment had stopped, but smoke was still rising on the horizon. At least the target was destroyed, so there shouldn't be any more… Ah, no, there was another secondary explosion. Even Catra's ringing ears - why did crowds have to be so loud? - caught the sound.
She bared her teeth as another smoke cloud rose, this one tinted with red and orange. Probably a fuel depot - Entrapta had explained that this was how fuel explosions looked when they had watched one of Earth's action movies and wondered about the blasts.
"I think their damage control isn't any better than their security," she commented. First, a mutiny, now this… She looked at the crowd around the stage. Most of them looked stunned. Blinking and patting themselves down. One man in a bloody shirt was holding his nose as if he couldn't believe it was still there.
Well, that was Adora's healing magic for you. Catra knew the feeling better than anyone else.
Next to her, Adora sighed, closing her eyes and staggering a little.
Catra grabbed her arm and steadied her.
"Thanks," Adora whispered, taking a deep, shivering breath before standing tall again.
"Anytime," Catra whispered back. She wouldn't let her lover down.
She looked around. The Indian soldiers had used the shock from Adora's magic to form a square around the stage, three lines deep. Others were surrounding the Prime Minister - and arguing. The man didn't want to leave the stage. He wasn't the only one - the British Crown Prince was also still on the stage, although Catra could barely spot him behind the two massive men standing in front of him. Not nearly as tall as Scorpia, of course, but She-Ra wouldn't tower much over them.
But other dignitaries had been dragged off by their security detail; Catra saw cars still rushing off.
"I do not detect any more hostilities," Hordak reported through their comm channel. "The fleet is on standby."
Good. Catra wasn't sure if the danger was over. She straightened, facing the nearest guards. They couldn't look weak. Not surrounded by such a crowd, and right after they had turned a local army base into a crater. Sure, the base had been about to be overrun, and if the mutineers had used the artillery there, they would have caused a massacre, but people didn't like you blowing up their bases no matter your reason.
"So much for their security," Glimmer muttered.
"Why did they have artillery here, anyway? We're not even near their border with Pakistan," Bow asked.
"They must have been fearing an invasion from orbit," Glimmer told him.
"But we're guarding the system." Bow blinked. "And those guns wouldn't do anything against our ships."
"They probably weren't aware of that." Glimmer shrugged. She still looked angry.
"But we told them about our capability when we discussed the security for this, didn't we?" Entrapta asked.
"We did," Catra said, baring her teeth. "But they probably didn't really believe us. Or they just felt better with their biggest guns around."
Glimmer chuckled, and Entrapta looked confused, but before Catra could explain her comment, the Prime Minister walked towards them, pushing a particularly stubborn security guard out of the way.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"We stopped a terrorist attack," Catra replied. She managed not to sneer.
"You destroyed a base of ours!" another man snapped. He was listening to a radio. Right - Catra remembered that he had been introduced as India's defence minister or whatever his exact title was.
"The base was taken over, and they tried to use the artillery there," Glimmer told him. "Did you want us to let them shell us here?" She pointed at the crowd.
"Emily can't cover everyone here with her shield," Entrapta added. She still was too open with military information, in Catra's opinion. "We would have been fine, probably, but if they missed us, the shells would have struck the crowd."
"And that would have been a massacre," Adora said.
"You killed our soldiers!" the minister protested.
"They were mutineers," Catra retorted. "And about to take the guns."
"We had it under control!"
"Yeah, right - we saw it from orbit. Your soldiers had already lost." Catra sneered.
"We weren't about to wait until they shot at us here - at everyone here - before stopping them," Glimmer said. "We're sorry about the dead loyal soldiers, but we had no choice."
"You could have…"
The Prime Minister interrupted the man. "I didn't mean that." He looked at Adora. "What did you do here? With your magic?"
Oh.
She glanced at Adora. Her lover straightened, towering over everyone but the two British bodyguards. "I restored magic to Earth. And then I healed everyone," she said with a slow nod.
"Everyone?" the Prime Minister asked.
And Adora winced, suddenly looking embarrassed. "Well… everyone present in the area. I couldn't exactly limit the healing magic to just the wounded, and there was a lot of magic available, so I just healed everyone here."
"Everyone?" the Minister of Defence asked.
It has to be stupidity, Catra thought - if he were hard of hearing, Adora would have cured it.
And, of course, her lover was too nice to just call the man out for it and explained again: "Everyone I could see here, well, figuratively - even if they were in the middle of the crowd, I could heal them. It's more a figure of speech."
"We haven't much data for targeting healing spells," Entrapta cut in. "Usually, it's either aimed at a single person or a clearly defined area effect. She-Ra's magic is kinda an exception."
"Sorry if you would rather have stayed wounded or sick," Catra added with a toothy smile. "But saving lives was more important."
"But the healing was safe?" the Prime Minister asked.
"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "I controlled the magic. So there won't be any side effects - I just healed you."
"That won't bring back our dead!" the Minister of Defence spat, still holding his radio. "The base was wiped out! Hundreds of our soldiers are dead!"
"Does that include the mutineers?" Catra asked.
"Catra!" Adora hissed.
"Just asking," Catra said, shrugging. "It must be hard to sort out the mutineers from the loyal soldiers if all were wearing the same uniform."
"We know how many soldiers were stationed at the base."
"Ah."
Glimmer took a step forward. "We're sorry about your losses, but we couldn't let the mutineers take control of your artillery."
"Yes." Adora nodded. "I can heal your wounded soldiers, but I cannot raise the dead."
"Thank you," the Prime Minister said. "It was a very difficult situation, but…"
Loud yelling from the crowd behind them interrupted him. He turned, frowning. "What are they…?"
"I can see! I can see!"
"It's a miracle!"
"I can see again!"
Catra narrowed her eyes at a man walking towards the line of soldiers, the crowd parting before him. He was surrounded by crying people and holding a white staff above his head.
The Prime Minister blinked. "You gave him back his eyesight?"
Catra rolled her eyes. "Adora healed every one of everything," she said.
"Of illnesses and wounds, cancerous tumours and accumulated microdamage over the course of your life," Entrapta said.
More people were screaming and yelling. Catra saw one man stand on shaking legs but raising a wheelchair over his head while he cried.
The Prime Minister seemed to freeze for a moment, then quickly bent his knees, straightening up. "I feel no pain," he said. "It's as if I were young again. Is… Is this permanent?"
Entrapta spoke before anyone else could say anything. "Well, as permanent as healing - you're not hurt or hurting any more, but you can still get hurt again. You're just very healthy right now. You're not immortal if you wondered about that."
He laughed. Then he blinked again. "And you did this to everyone here?"
Adora nodded.
He smiled widely, then bowed. "Thank you very much."
The Minister of Defence was staring at them, his mouth half-open, as all around them, the diplomats and dignitaries started to talk to each other. They sounded excited.
"Well, that's one crisis averted," Bow said behind Catra.
She turned and glared at him. "Bow!"
"What?" He looked confused.
"Don't jinx it!"
"But…"
"We've started a bigger crisis," Glimmer mumbled. "Look at the crowd!"
Catra did. The people - even some of the soldiers - were staring at the stage. At She-Ra. Smiling. Crying. And…
"What are they doing?" Adora asked.
Catra snorted.
Praying. They were praying to She-Ra.
"They're worshipping you," she told her lover.
"Oh no!" Adora shook her head.
"That might actually be a good thing," Catra said. "Priest is less likely to attack a country full of people worshipping you."
Adora glared at her, but Glimmer and Bow nodded.
Entrapta was busy scanning the crowd.
And Catra looked at the mass of journalists and their cameras. Earth would know, or knew already, what She-Ra's magic could do.
She cursed under her breath.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 17th, 1998
"...and many are calling this a true miracle, although the Etherians' press release stated that this was merely 'high-level healing magic powered by a unique build-up of magic'. Are those merely semantics, or is this a meaningful difference? We have invited experts on…"
"...of Pakistan denied any ties or responsibility to the mutineers who attempted to attack the Restoration Ceremony in India, yet…"
"...police and military forces have been deployed to prevent violence as many Hindus are blaming all Muslims for the attack despite the Prime Minister himself speaking out against this and calling for all Indians to remain peaceful and celebrate the return of magic 'despite the brutal and bloody terrorist attack', as he called today's incident…"
"...reports of hundreds of thousands of Indians being healed of all ailments haven't been confirmed by independent agencies. Her Majesty's Government declined to comment on the status of the Crown Prince, who was present and presumably affected, but…"
"...and the reverend called the event in India 'a hoax and a transparent attempt to deceive the faithful with trickery and sorcery', claiming that 'only God can heal people, and no heathen would receive His grace'. He also called on 'all true Christians' to be on guard against witchcraft, and…"
"...an ambulance had to be called for a self-declared witch who hurt herself repeatedly attempting to cast a spell that supposedly required her own blood. A request for clarification whether or not this was real magic has not yet been answered by the Etherians, but we'll keep…"
"...and while the government declined to comment, experts are concerned about the Etherians' use of orbital bombardment in response to a terrorist attack. Will other countries suffer the same fate? Will we see city blocks melting under a hail of laser fire from space in response to a bomb threat? Does the military have the capability to respond to or prevent such attacks? The public has a right to know, and here at…"
"...of the Vatican declined to comment on the issue and…"
"...more than a dozen were killed when the military fired on the mob attacking the Indian embassy…"
"...reports of soldiers exchanging fire at the border in Kashmir have not been confirmed yet, but the militaries of both countries have been put on alert, and…"
"...far, there have been no confirmed reports of magic despite the Etherians' claims, so there is growing doubt that…"
"...the Indian government hasn't released any casualty numbers yet, but hundreds of soldiers were stationed at the destroyed base, so conservative estimates…"
"...in Tehran claimed that the fire that destroyed an entire apartment building was caused by magic and not negligence, stating that a suspect had already been arrested and would…"
"...the number of suicides by people afraid that the return of magic would imperil their souls might be low overall, but our government cannot ignore this. These people need help, and we demand…"
"...and shrines to She-Ra have already been erected at various locations, even outside the National Capital Region, as grateful people offer their prayer in thanks. However, we have received reports that there have been disputes over the question of whether She-Ra, the Princess of Power, is a goddess in her own right or the latest incarnation of an established goddess such as Shitala Mata or Parvati, and…"
"...the Shinto temples saw far more visitors than expected following the events in India, although no magic has yet been confirmed…"
"...a sangoma claiming to be able to heal has caused a riot in Capetown, forcing the authorities to intervene…"
Jack O'Neill shook his head. The world was going crazy over magic. And over the orbital bombardment that the Etherians had conducted - the Pentagon was in an uproar. He snorted. The brass really shouldn't be surprised; SG-1 had told them what a single Ha'tak could do, and the Etherians had tons of ships that, according to Carter, outclassed a Ha'tak. And yet, it had taken an actual orbital strike for the generals to take it seriously? The politicians were worse, though. Some were already demanding that the United States start building spaceships right now.
And all because a bunch of terrorists managed to take over a military base at the worst possible moment. He felt a bit guilty about that - he had mentioned that possibility when he had talked about security with the Etherians, but he had considered it a very low risk. Teach me to overestimate the Indians, he thought. Well, that couldn't be helped now. The Etherians had revealed their military power - part of it - and what magic could do. And the world wasn't exactly ready for it.
"...and here, in Salem, hundreds of witches are celebrating the return of magic with a broom race. Although, apparently, the start has been delayed while the coven organising the race is debating whether or not pointy hats or helmets should be worn. Until they sort it out, we'll be watching the curse competition going on. Ugh! I just stepped on a frog!"
He blinked at the latest segment. What the hell? That was… Jack narrowed his eyes. "OK, who's the joker who put up Saturday Night Live on the screen?" he yelled through the control room.
One of the new Warrant Officers spoke up: "Sorry, sir! The algorithm must have selected this because of the magic keyword."
Jack glanced at Carter.
"There are search algorithms, sir, but the final selection is made by an officer," she answered his unspoken question.
Which meant that someone had either thought it would be funny to slip in a comedy show or hadn't noticed that this was a comedy sketch and not an actual news report. Jack hoped it was the former - they could need some laughs right now.
"Colonel O'Neill? Captain Carter?"
Jack turned. That was General Haig's aide. "Yes?"
"Your presence is requested."
Oh, damn! Just what he had been waiting for: A meeting with the brass at almost midnight.
Jack sighed.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 18th, 1998
"...and that is our estimate of the firepower the Horde frigate brought to bear against the Indian base. Although we cannot say whether or not they have used their maximum firepower or held back to avoid collateral damage. We are tracking the frigates in high and low orbit."
Carter sounded slightly annoyed, in Jack O'Neill's opinion. Not because it was now past midnight, but because she didn't like repeating what she had already reported - or what was obvious to anyone who could read a radar screen. Which, admittedly, wasn't everyone. Still, she usually hid her annoyance better. She must be tired as well.
"How much time will we have to react should they decide to strike at Stargate Command?"
Or just fed up with Sidorov's paranoid questions.
"None, General," Carter replied. "By the time our sensors register their weapons firing, they have already struck the surface."
"I mean, how quickly can they move into a firing position?" The Russian glared at her.
"That depends on the angle from which they want to fire downwards and their position relative to us. A few minutes at most." Carter was using her 'I want to roll my eyes at you' voice - Jack was very familiar with it.
"And we're not going to sound the alert every time they pass overhead or appear on the horizon. I, for one, like to sleep sometime," General Petit added with a grin.
Carter smiled as well, even though, as far as jokes went, that one had been old when Jack had been born.
"We don't have the capability to stop the Etherians from striking any spot on Earth," General Li summed up what everyone with half a brain would have known on the day the Etherians showed up.
"Yes, General," Carter confirmed.
"Thank you, Captain Carter," General Haig said. "This matches our own estimate."
Jack refrained from sighing loudly. Was this just a cover-your-ass meeting? Did they need SG-1's official statement to inform their respective governments?
"With that settled," the limey went on, "there remains the question of magic."
Jack clenched his teeth. That really wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about at midnight. Or at all.
"I am afraid that I am no expert on magic, General," Carter tried to avoid this.
"You're the best we have, Captain," Haig retorted. "You have the most experience with magic and magitech at Stargate Command."
Or on Earth, Jack added for himself.
"Yes, sir."
"So… is there a way to tell whether magic was restored to Earth or not?" General Li asked.
Carter frowned. "The Etherians said so, sir."
Sidorov scoffed. Loudly.
Jack narrowed his eyes at the Russian. "In my experience, they wouldn't lie about this," he said. "And why would they lie in the first place?"
"They could attempt to deceive us into believing that magic has returned, making us waste time and money trying to control it while leaving us unable to defend ourselves against their magic!"
Jack sighed. Yes, the Russian general was as paranoid as ever. "As we just concluded, we are already unable to defend Earth against their fleet, General."
Hammond was frowning at him, but Jack didn't care. Carter was his subordinate. She wouldn't have to face inane questions from a paranoid Russian if he could help it.
"That would be an open attack, which would reveal their aggression," Sidorov spat. "But with magic, they could strike far more subtly. Without magic of our own, we cannot defend against that!"
Well, that was theoretically possible, but the Etehrians wouldn't even dream of doing that - Jack knew them.
"Without restoring magic, the Etherians are limited to magitech, minor inherent effects such as Entrapta's hair control and Adora's powers," Carter cut in. "They cannot use teleportation or spells."
"That's what they claim!"
"General." Haig didn't sound annoyed, but his meaning was clear, and the Russian glared at him before leaning back with a huff and crossing his arms over his chest. Haig looked at Carter. "But can you confirm that we currently have no way to detect whether or not Earth has magic?"
"Except for observing a magical effect that is not the result of magitech, no sir."
"Ah." Haig nodded.
Petit spoke up: "And what can you tell us about the 'healing' Adora did, Colonel O'Neill? According to your file, you were healed by her."
Jack clenched his teeth for a moment, remembering the moment he had almost died and was healed. Then he pushed the memories away and shrugged. "She points her sword at you, and magic heals you."
"A few more details would be appreciated, Colonel." The Frenchman kept smiling at him.
"I'm sorry, but those details are classified." Jack smiled back. "That happened before the United Nations took control of Stargate Command." Hammond didn't look happy but wasn't frowning at Jack, he noted.
"And you can't or won't elaborate on the detailed effect said healing had on you," Haig said.
Jack spread his hands. "Sorry, sir."
"From the information that we gathered so far, the healing magic is not limited to specific injuries and doesn't seem to discriminate," General Li said. "You are remarkably fit for your age, Colonel."
"Good living," Jack replied with a fake smile. So, they knew about that.
"Is there any way we could ask the Etherians to duplicate this feat at Stargate Command, should we suffer casualties?" General Haig asked. "Or would they be willing to restore the health of soldiers who have been medically discharged?"
Adora would heal pretty much everyone in need, Jack was sure of that. But her friends wouldn't let her heal everyone and burn out. "I don't know, sir," he replied.
"I think her services will be in high demand," General Petit stated the obvious.
And a lot of people would probably regret not having attended the event in India. Still… this was a problem for the Etherians.
Petit seemed to be about to say something else, but the door was opened, and an aide stepped in. "I'm sorry for the interruption, sir," he told Haig. "But I think you should see the latest news from the BBC." He barely waited for the general to nod before pointing a remote at the screen in the meeting room.
"...reporting directly from Stonehenge, where the police have had to disperse a crowd of people wishing to see magic return, we haven't noticed anything unusual so far, yet we… What's that? The stones are glowing. They are glowing! Is this a trick? I don't see any spotlights, and… yes, the light is coming directly from the stones, as the shadows prove. Oh, here are the police coming towards us…"
Earth Orbit, Solar System, October 18th, 1998
"The United Nations are holding a special session to discuss 'the incident involving orbital bombardment' and invited us to attend and answer questions."
Adora frowned at Glimmer's words. "They don't want to talk about magic?" That had been the topic the United Nations had wanted to talk about for weeks, after all.
"That's the subject of another special session," her friend replied. "But they apparently want to talk about us blowing up terrorists first." She would know - she'd been talking to diplomats since she had woken up.
"And an Indian army base," Catra, sitting next to Adora in Darla's lounge, added. "Don't forget that."
Glimmer clenched her teeth. "The Indian Prime Minister said they understood our decision."
"That doesn't mean that he liked it," Catra shot back. "They lost too many soldiers to just forget it."
Adora nodded in agreement. You couldn't just ignore such losses. Those soldiers had families. Friends.
"They were already being killed by the mutineers," Glimmer retorted. "We had no choice."
"Yes. But not everyone will see it that way," Bow said. "Some journalists complain that we didn't ask the Prime Minister before firing on the base."
Adora had watched the same news. But Bow had been compiling the news from various channels.
Glimmer snorted. "Most of them are trying to use this to attack the Indian government so they can replace it. And what if we had asked and he wouldn't have given permission fast enough to react? Or not at all? They would have blamed us for the massacre those guns would have caused. And if we had shot at the base anyway, we would have made the Prime Minister and his country look powerless."
"They are powerless," Catra said.
"Yes, but it would be rude to rub their noses in it." Glimmer shook her head.
"We were rude anyway, though," Bow said. "There was no good solution."
"It could have been worse," Glimmer said. "At least from the military angle," she added with a glance at Adora.
Right. Adora closed her eyes and sighed. The orbital bombardment was only one part of their problems. The other part was Earth's reaction to magic. To magical healing. To She-Ra.
"Speaking of magic…" Bow trailed off, and Adora didn't need to open her eyes to know he was grimacing.
"How many want me to heal them?" she asked, slumping forward.
"Many," Bow told her. "There are complaints that we acted unfairly by healing Indians and demands that we repeat the healing in every country."
"What?" Catra hissed. "Who's demanding that?"
"Mostly individuals being interviewed," Bow said. "We haven't received formal requests."
That was good. Adora couldn't heal everyone - and she couldn't repeat what she had done n India. The magic she had used had been part of the blocked magic. "We need to tell them that I can't use that kind of magic normally."
"Yes," Catra agreed. "Too bad we can't tell them that you can't heal at all."
Adora sighed again. She couldn't heal everyone - she knew that. It was impossible. There were simply too many people on Earth. Too many sick and dying people. She could heal some, though. But how to pick who got healed and who didn't? It was unfair to only heal a few lucky ones, but to not heal anyone at all sounded… wrong.
"Well, once their own sorceresses learn how to heal people, that shouldn't be a problem any more," Entrapta said.
"That will take years," Glimmer pointed out. "And we don't know how that works with Earth's magic."
"Well, we know they have some magical sites and probably items," Entrapta said. "There are glowing stones in England! They aren't runestones, I checked - that would have been neat."
"It also would have made us look like liars after Glimmer told them that magic won't result in princesses ruling countries." Catra snorted.
Glimmer glared at her. "I told them what we knew. And I was right - they don't have runestones."
"But they have glowing stones." Catra grinned.
Adora sighed and gently squeezed her lover's thigh. "And I guess the British want to know what is going there?"
"Yes." Bow nodded. "They are concerned since they don't know what the stone ring - Stonehenge - did before magic vanished."
"They don't have records from the time before?" Glimmer narrowed her eyes.
"Apparently not." Bow shrugged. "There's speculation that the records were destroyed by some of their priests since the stone circle was older than their religion, but no one knows for sure." He sounded almost angry at that.
Well, he was the son of two historians.
"And they want us to come and examine the ring?" Entrapta sounded delighted.
"It won't be the only such site," Bow pointed out. "They might expect us to examine every magical location on Earth."
And that would take too much time, probably. Not that Entrapta seemed to mind - she nodded enthusiastically. "Imagine the data!"
"The United Kingdom is allied with us. So, we can help them without having to help everyone else," Glimmer said. "But we should keep an eye out for other locations. Just in case they turn out to be dangerous."
"Yes," Adora agreed.
"Yes." Bow nodded. "Anyway, so far, there haven't been any confirmed reports of Earth sorceresses working magic. But a lot of unconfirmed reports."
Carta scoffed. "Fools."
Adora frowned. "They might not have forgotten their entire magical tradition. Some lore might have survived." And would be working now.
"Yes. But I don't think actual sorceresses would want to reveal themselves right now," Bow went on with a wince. "Witch hunts have grown worse with magic returned."
Adora winced as well. She wanted to say they should stop those, but… If they started to intervene for such crimes, where would they stop?
"Any witch hunts organised by a country's government?" Glimmer asked.
"Well, none that have led to anyone being executed so far," Bow said.
"The cowards don't want to risk another orbital strike," Catra said with a scoff.
"Then it's not an urgent issue." Glimmer shook her head. "We have countries calling us returning magic an aggressive act and trying to get the United Nations to condemn us for it."
"They did that before we returned magic," Catra pointed out.
Glimmer nodded. "Yes. But now that magic is back, the situation changed. And that we had to destroy the base isn't helping - some countries claim that's an act of war."
"Great." Catra bared her fangs. "Now that they have realised we can destroy them from orbit, they're growing even more aggressive? How have those idiots survived all those wars of theirs?"
Adora didn't point out that Catra hadn't exactly rolled over either on the occasions that she had been caught on the backfoot during the war. "They're afraid," she said instead.
"Well, they should be afraid."
"We don't want even more enemies." Glimmer shook her head. "I'll be meeting with the United Nations to explain that we just defended ourselves."
"Yes." Adora nodded. "And I can explain about magical healing."
Glimmer was wincing. Bow as well. And Catra… was shaking her head. "No," her lover said, "I don't think you should appear in public on Earth for a while."
Bow nodded. "Yes. People are putting up shrines and temples for you."
"And others are burning dolls that look like you," Catra added.
Adora opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I am no goddess!" she spat after a moment.
"Well…" Catra grinned, then grew serious when Adora glared at her. This wasn't the time for jokes about this!
"Actually," Bow said, "you do fit the definition of most gods on Earth. Not the most popular god, though."
"Right now, at least. You look much better than that god," Catra said.
Adora pinched her thigh in retaliation, making her yelp. This really wasn't a joking matter!
"Anyway, I think you should limit your visits to Stargate Command," Bow said. "Or discreet visits to other places. Nothing official."
Glimmer nodded. "The Swiss sounded very concerned when they asked if you planned to visit the United Nations."
Great. Adora clenched her teeth. Because of that stupidity, she couldn't even help Glimmer sort out the mess she had caused?
"Or you can help Sam and us working with magitech!" Entrapta suggested. "We should be creating a magic scanner - a scanner to detect magic."
"That should lay some of the irrational fears about magic to rest," Hordak said.
Before Adora could say anything in response, Darla patched a call through to the screen in the lounge.
"Your Divine Highness!"
It was Priest. Adora wanted to scream. "Priest," she managed to reply while he was bowing. "This isn't another request for a preemptive strike against those countries that don't like us, is it?"
"Ah, no, Your Divine Highness." Priest beamed at her. "Your command was as clear as it was gracious. No, this is a request to help Earth in this time of crisis! In your divine name, of course."
Adora blinked. "What help… what do you want to do?"
"Now that the humans have finally also seen the light and are worshipping Your Divine Highness, we wish to help your new faithful!" He nodded. "You asked us not to deploy the Holy Legion to convert the humans - peacefully, of course! - for political reasons, but surely, now that they have seen the light and are spreading your holy message themselves, the situation has changed?"
Adora managed not to scream. But it was a near thing.
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 17th, 1998
"We're tracking six frigates in orbit above the Indian subcontinent. They're holding positions."
"No further weapon fire detected."
"Six more frigates are in a holding pattern over the northern hemisphere."
"Five minutes until our next satellite is in position to cover the area of impact."
Samantha Carter blinked at the reports from the other officers in the command centre even as she continued to analyse the data from all the sensors networked with her mainframe. They should have satellites in place already… Oh. She pressed her lips together. The United States had satellites in place already. But Stargate Command didn't control them - or had access to them. Not any more. They had to make do with the satellites transferred to Stargate Command.
"What do you have for us, Carter?" The Colonel was leaning over her desk.
"I'm still cross-checking the sensor data, sir," she replied. "But so far, it looks like a limited bombardment. Precision strikes with standard laser weapons from low orbit."
"Precision strikes?" He raised his eyebrows, then looked at the TV screen in the back, where a mushroom-shaped cloud was visible in the distance.
"Those are secondary detonations," she told him - as if he didn't know it already. "The Etherians must have hit the magazines of the base." She hit a few keys, checking the most recent satellite image - which was still not up to date. But the intel report… "Artillery and tank shells were stored at the base," she said.
"And the terrorists would've gone for them so they could use the captured artillery pieces." The Colonel nodded. "And so our magical space princesses blew the base up."
"The magazine was surrounded by revetments," she informed him. "Its explosion should not have destroyed the entire base." They would know more as soon as the satellite finally reached its intended position.
Sam really missed the Air Force Stargate Command and its resources. Having to rely on CNN for real-time intel was a shame. She bit her lower lip. She might not know the access codes for the US satellites any more. But she knew how to get them - which cache memory to access and how. This was a global emergency, wasn't it? Maybe… She blinked, then sighed. She had better alternatives.
"One moment, sir!" she told the Colonel and pulled her phone out.
He didn't make a joke about texting or ordering pizza. Which was kind of reassuring - the Colonel joked and quipped the most when the situation was desperate.
"What are you doing?" And here came Sidorov.
Sam suppressed a sigh as she turned to face the General. "Getting more information, General." She called Entrapta.
"Sam! How are you doing?"
Her friend didn't sound as if she was in danger. Or concerned. But that was Entrapta. "How are you doing?" Sam asked. "We received reports of an orbital bombardment."
"Oh. Yes, Hordak had to destroy the guns and ammunition before they were turned against us. Emily could've protected us, but not everyone else. But we're fine now! And the panic has stopped!"
"Who are you talking to?" Sidorov snarled.
"Princess Entrapta," Sam told him - as if it wasn't obvious. "The situation seems to be under control."
"Under whose control? The aliens'?"
"Well, they have all those ships in orbit," the Colonel cut in.
Sidorov glared at him, then turned back to Sam. "Are they landing troops?"
"Who is that yelling in the background? We aren't invading, by the way. Hordak is just a bit protective."
A little? Compared to Priest, maybe, Sam thought. "So you are safe?"
"Yes, everyone here is safe. I think. The soldiers here didn't start fighting each other."
"How reassuring," the Colonel said with a snort.
Sam didn't smile. India was in a special situation, with significant parts of their Muslim minority opposing magic, not helped by a nationalist Hindu party controlling the government, but the United States had their share of religious fanatics with similar views. Probably in the armed forces as well.
"Yes! Anyway, I'm not sure if the ceremony will continue, but there's no fighting here."
Sam smiled wryly. "Yes, I doubt the festivities will just go on as planned."
"Does this mean that magic won't be restored?" General Petit had arrived with the rest of the generals in tow.
Entrapta must have heard him. "Oh, no, Adora already did that. She used the excess magic to heal the wounded here."
"That was the light show on CNN," the Colonel said.
"What? They already did it?" Sidorov bellowed.
Sam narrowed her eyes. "My report clearly stated that, according to the Etherians, restoring a planet's magic doesn't take She-Ra longer than a few minutes." Did anyone actually read her reports through?
"Or faster if there's artillery fire incoming," the Colonel added.
A beeping noise alerted Sam to the incoming satellite footage. She put it on the big screen. And winced.
The base wasn't entirely destroyed. But the magazine and the parked guns were gone. Presumably with everyone in the vicinity. There were survivors amongst the soldiers, as far as she could tell. And some would just have been wounded.
But she didn't think there would be too many of those. Not where the lasers had struck. Or near the explosions.
"The Indians won't be happy about that," the Colonel said.
Sam nodded in agreement.
*****
National Capital Region, India, October 17th, 1998
The orbital bombardment had stopped, but smoke was still rising on the horizon. At least the target was destroyed, so there shouldn't be any more… Ah, no, there was another secondary explosion. Even Catra's ringing ears - why did crowds have to be so loud? - caught the sound.
She bared her teeth as another smoke cloud rose, this one tinted with red and orange. Probably a fuel depot - Entrapta had explained that this was how fuel explosions looked when they had watched one of Earth's action movies and wondered about the blasts.
"I think their damage control isn't any better than their security," she commented. First, a mutiny, now this… She looked at the crowd around the stage. Most of them looked stunned. Blinking and patting themselves down. One man in a bloody shirt was holding his nose as if he couldn't believe it was still there.
Well, that was Adora's healing magic for you. Catra knew the feeling better than anyone else.
Next to her, Adora sighed, closing her eyes and staggering a little.
Catra grabbed her arm and steadied her.
"Thanks," Adora whispered, taking a deep, shivering breath before standing tall again.
"Anytime," Catra whispered back. She wouldn't let her lover down.
She looked around. The Indian soldiers had used the shock from Adora's magic to form a square around the stage, three lines deep. Others were surrounding the Prime Minister - and arguing. The man didn't want to leave the stage. He wasn't the only one - the British Crown Prince was also still on the stage, although Catra could barely spot him behind the two massive men standing in front of him. Not nearly as tall as Scorpia, of course, but She-Ra wouldn't tower much over them.
But other dignitaries had been dragged off by their security detail; Catra saw cars still rushing off.
"I do not detect any more hostilities," Hordak reported through their comm channel. "The fleet is on standby."
Good. Catra wasn't sure if the danger was over. She straightened, facing the nearest guards. They couldn't look weak. Not surrounded by such a crowd, and right after they had turned a local army base into a crater. Sure, the base had been about to be overrun, and if the mutineers had used the artillery there, they would have caused a massacre, but people didn't like you blowing up their bases no matter your reason.
"So much for their security," Glimmer muttered.
"Why did they have artillery here, anyway? We're not even near their border with Pakistan," Bow asked.
"They must have been fearing an invasion from orbit," Glimmer told him.
"But we're guarding the system." Bow blinked. "And those guns wouldn't do anything against our ships."
"They probably weren't aware of that." Glimmer shrugged. She still looked angry.
"But we told them about our capability when we discussed the security for this, didn't we?" Entrapta asked.
"We did," Catra said, baring her teeth. "But they probably didn't really believe us. Or they just felt better with their biggest guns around."
Glimmer chuckled, and Entrapta looked confused, but before Catra could explain her comment, the Prime Minister walked towards them, pushing a particularly stubborn security guard out of the way.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"We stopped a terrorist attack," Catra replied. She managed not to sneer.
"You destroyed a base of ours!" another man snapped. He was listening to a radio. Right - Catra remembered that he had been introduced as India's defence minister or whatever his exact title was.
"The base was taken over, and they tried to use the artillery there," Glimmer told him. "Did you want us to let them shell us here?" She pointed at the crowd.
"Emily can't cover everyone here with her shield," Entrapta added. She still was too open with military information, in Catra's opinion. "We would have been fine, probably, but if they missed us, the shells would have struck the crowd."
"And that would have been a massacre," Adora said.
"You killed our soldiers!" the minister protested.
"They were mutineers," Catra retorted. "And about to take the guns."
"We had it under control!"
"Yeah, right - we saw it from orbit. Your soldiers had already lost." Catra sneered.
"We weren't about to wait until they shot at us here - at everyone here - before stopping them," Glimmer said. "We're sorry about the dead loyal soldiers, but we had no choice."
"You could have…"
The Prime Minister interrupted the man. "I didn't mean that." He looked at Adora. "What did you do here? With your magic?"
Oh.
She glanced at Adora. Her lover straightened, towering over everyone but the two British bodyguards. "I restored magic to Earth. And then I healed everyone," she said with a slow nod.
"Everyone?" the Prime Minister asked.
And Adora winced, suddenly looking embarrassed. "Well… everyone present in the area. I couldn't exactly limit the healing magic to just the wounded, and there was a lot of magic available, so I just healed everyone here."
"Everyone?" the Minister of Defence asked.
It has to be stupidity, Catra thought - if he were hard of hearing, Adora would have cured it.
And, of course, her lover was too nice to just call the man out for it and explained again: "Everyone I could see here, well, figuratively - even if they were in the middle of the crowd, I could heal them. It's more a figure of speech."
"We haven't much data for targeting healing spells," Entrapta cut in. "Usually, it's either aimed at a single person or a clearly defined area effect. She-Ra's magic is kinda an exception."
"Sorry if you would rather have stayed wounded or sick," Catra added with a toothy smile. "But saving lives was more important."
"But the healing was safe?" the Prime Minister asked.
"Yes." Adora nodded firmly. "I controlled the magic. So there won't be any side effects - I just healed you."
"That won't bring back our dead!" the Minister of Defence spat, still holding his radio. "The base was wiped out! Hundreds of our soldiers are dead!"
"Does that include the mutineers?" Catra asked.
"Catra!" Adora hissed.
"Just asking," Catra said, shrugging. "It must be hard to sort out the mutineers from the loyal soldiers if all were wearing the same uniform."
"We know how many soldiers were stationed at the base."
"Ah."
Glimmer took a step forward. "We're sorry about your losses, but we couldn't let the mutineers take control of your artillery."
"Yes." Adora nodded. "I can heal your wounded soldiers, but I cannot raise the dead."
"Thank you," the Prime Minister said. "It was a very difficult situation, but…"
Loud yelling from the crowd behind them interrupted him. He turned, frowning. "What are they…?"
"I can see! I can see!"
"It's a miracle!"
"I can see again!"
Catra narrowed her eyes at a man walking towards the line of soldiers, the crowd parting before him. He was surrounded by crying people and holding a white staff above his head.
The Prime Minister blinked. "You gave him back his eyesight?"
Catra rolled her eyes. "Adora healed every one of everything," she said.
"Of illnesses and wounds, cancerous tumours and accumulated microdamage over the course of your life," Entrapta said.
More people were screaming and yelling. Catra saw one man stand on shaking legs but raising a wheelchair over his head while he cried.
The Prime Minister seemed to freeze for a moment, then quickly bent his knees, straightening up. "I feel no pain," he said. "It's as if I were young again. Is… Is this permanent?"
Entrapta spoke before anyone else could say anything. "Well, as permanent as healing - you're not hurt or hurting any more, but you can still get hurt again. You're just very healthy right now. You're not immortal if you wondered about that."
He laughed. Then he blinked again. "And you did this to everyone here?"
Adora nodded.
He smiled widely, then bowed. "Thank you very much."
The Minister of Defence was staring at them, his mouth half-open, as all around them, the diplomats and dignitaries started to talk to each other. They sounded excited.
"Well, that's one crisis averted," Bow said behind Catra.
She turned and glared at him. "Bow!"
"What?" He looked confused.
"Don't jinx it!"
"But…"
"We've started a bigger crisis," Glimmer mumbled. "Look at the crowd!"
Catra did. The people - even some of the soldiers - were staring at the stage. At She-Ra. Smiling. Crying. And…
"What are they doing?" Adora asked.
Catra snorted.
Praying. They were praying to She-Ra.
"They're worshipping you," she told her lover.
"Oh no!" Adora shook her head.
"That might actually be a good thing," Catra said. "Priest is less likely to attack a country full of people worshipping you."
Adora glared at her, but Glimmer and Bow nodded.
Entrapta was busy scanning the crowd.
And Catra looked at the mass of journalists and their cameras. Earth would know, or knew already, what She-Ra's magic could do.
She cursed under her breath.
*****
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 17th, 1998
"...and many are calling this a true miracle, although the Etherians' press release stated that this was merely 'high-level healing magic powered by a unique build-up of magic'. Are those merely semantics, or is this a meaningful difference? We have invited experts on…"
"...of Pakistan denied any ties or responsibility to the mutineers who attempted to attack the Restoration Ceremony in India, yet…"
"...police and military forces have been deployed to prevent violence as many Hindus are blaming all Muslims for the attack despite the Prime Minister himself speaking out against this and calling for all Indians to remain peaceful and celebrate the return of magic 'despite the brutal and bloody terrorist attack', as he called today's incident…"
"...reports of hundreds of thousands of Indians being healed of all ailments haven't been confirmed by independent agencies. Her Majesty's Government declined to comment on the status of the Crown Prince, who was present and presumably affected, but…"
"...and the reverend called the event in India 'a hoax and a transparent attempt to deceive the faithful with trickery and sorcery', claiming that 'only God can heal people, and no heathen would receive His grace'. He also called on 'all true Christians' to be on guard against witchcraft, and…"
"...an ambulance had to be called for a self-declared witch who hurt herself repeatedly attempting to cast a spell that supposedly required her own blood. A request for clarification whether or not this was real magic has not yet been answered by the Etherians, but we'll keep…"
"...and while the government declined to comment, experts are concerned about the Etherians' use of orbital bombardment in response to a terrorist attack. Will other countries suffer the same fate? Will we see city blocks melting under a hail of laser fire from space in response to a bomb threat? Does the military have the capability to respond to or prevent such attacks? The public has a right to know, and here at…"
"...of the Vatican declined to comment on the issue and…"
"...more than a dozen were killed when the military fired on the mob attacking the Indian embassy…"
"...reports of soldiers exchanging fire at the border in Kashmir have not been confirmed yet, but the militaries of both countries have been put on alert, and…"
"...far, there have been no confirmed reports of magic despite the Etherians' claims, so there is growing doubt that…"
"...the Indian government hasn't released any casualty numbers yet, but hundreds of soldiers were stationed at the destroyed base, so conservative estimates…"
"...in Tehran claimed that the fire that destroyed an entire apartment building was caused by magic and not negligence, stating that a suspect had already been arrested and would…"
"...the number of suicides by people afraid that the return of magic would imperil their souls might be low overall, but our government cannot ignore this. These people need help, and we demand…"
"...and shrines to She-Ra have already been erected at various locations, even outside the National Capital Region, as grateful people offer their prayer in thanks. However, we have received reports that there have been disputes over the question of whether She-Ra, the Princess of Power, is a goddess in her own right or the latest incarnation of an established goddess such as Shitala Mata or Parvati, and…"
"...the Shinto temples saw far more visitors than expected following the events in India, although no magic has yet been confirmed…"
"...a sangoma claiming to be able to heal has caused a riot in Capetown, forcing the authorities to intervene…"
Jack O'Neill shook his head. The world was going crazy over magic. And over the orbital bombardment that the Etherians had conducted - the Pentagon was in an uproar. He snorted. The brass really shouldn't be surprised; SG-1 had told them what a single Ha'tak could do, and the Etherians had tons of ships that, according to Carter, outclassed a Ha'tak. And yet, it had taken an actual orbital strike for the generals to take it seriously? The politicians were worse, though. Some were already demanding that the United States start building spaceships right now.
And all because a bunch of terrorists managed to take over a military base at the worst possible moment. He felt a bit guilty about that - he had mentioned that possibility when he had talked about security with the Etherians, but he had considered it a very low risk. Teach me to overestimate the Indians, he thought. Well, that couldn't be helped now. The Etherians had revealed their military power - part of it - and what magic could do. And the world wasn't exactly ready for it.
"...and here, in Salem, hundreds of witches are celebrating the return of magic with a broom race. Although, apparently, the start has been delayed while the coven organising the race is debating whether or not pointy hats or helmets should be worn. Until they sort it out, we'll be watching the curse competition going on. Ugh! I just stepped on a frog!"
He blinked at the latest segment. What the hell? That was… Jack narrowed his eyes. "OK, who's the joker who put up Saturday Night Live on the screen?" he yelled through the control room.
One of the new Warrant Officers spoke up: "Sorry, sir! The algorithm must have selected this because of the magic keyword."
Jack glanced at Carter.
"There are search algorithms, sir, but the final selection is made by an officer," she answered his unspoken question.
Which meant that someone had either thought it would be funny to slip in a comedy show or hadn't noticed that this was a comedy sketch and not an actual news report. Jack hoped it was the former - they could need some laughs right now.
"Colonel O'Neill? Captain Carter?"
Jack turned. That was General Haig's aide. "Yes?"
"Your presence is requested."
Oh, damn! Just what he had been waiting for: A meeting with the brass at almost midnight.
Jack sighed.
*****
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, United States of America, Earth, October 18th, 1998
"...and that is our estimate of the firepower the Horde frigate brought to bear against the Indian base. Although we cannot say whether or not they have used their maximum firepower or held back to avoid collateral damage. We are tracking the frigates in high and low orbit."
Carter sounded slightly annoyed, in Jack O'Neill's opinion. Not because it was now past midnight, but because she didn't like repeating what she had already reported - or what was obvious to anyone who could read a radar screen. Which, admittedly, wasn't everyone. Still, she usually hid her annoyance better. She must be tired as well.
"How much time will we have to react should they decide to strike at Stargate Command?"
Or just fed up with Sidorov's paranoid questions.
"None, General," Carter replied. "By the time our sensors register their weapons firing, they have already struck the surface."
"I mean, how quickly can they move into a firing position?" The Russian glared at her.
"That depends on the angle from which they want to fire downwards and their position relative to us. A few minutes at most." Carter was using her 'I want to roll my eyes at you' voice - Jack was very familiar with it.
"And we're not going to sound the alert every time they pass overhead or appear on the horizon. I, for one, like to sleep sometime," General Petit added with a grin.
Carter smiled as well, even though, as far as jokes went, that one had been old when Jack had been born.
"We don't have the capability to stop the Etherians from striking any spot on Earth," General Li summed up what everyone with half a brain would have known on the day the Etherians showed up.
"Yes, General," Carter confirmed.
"Thank you, Captain Carter," General Haig said. "This matches our own estimate."
Jack refrained from sighing loudly. Was this just a cover-your-ass meeting? Did they need SG-1's official statement to inform their respective governments?
"With that settled," the limey went on, "there remains the question of magic."
Jack clenched his teeth. That really wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about at midnight. Or at all.
"I am afraid that I am no expert on magic, General," Carter tried to avoid this.
"You're the best we have, Captain," Haig retorted. "You have the most experience with magic and magitech at Stargate Command."
Or on Earth, Jack added for himself.
"Yes, sir."
"So… is there a way to tell whether magic was restored to Earth or not?" General Li asked.
Carter frowned. "The Etherians said so, sir."
Sidorov scoffed. Loudly.
Jack narrowed his eyes at the Russian. "In my experience, they wouldn't lie about this," he said. "And why would they lie in the first place?"
"They could attempt to deceive us into believing that magic has returned, making us waste time and money trying to control it while leaving us unable to defend ourselves against their magic!"
Jack sighed. Yes, the Russian general was as paranoid as ever. "As we just concluded, we are already unable to defend Earth against their fleet, General."
Hammond was frowning at him, but Jack didn't care. Carter was his subordinate. She wouldn't have to face inane questions from a paranoid Russian if he could help it.
"That would be an open attack, which would reveal their aggression," Sidorov spat. "But with magic, they could strike far more subtly. Without magic of our own, we cannot defend against that!"
Well, that was theoretically possible, but the Etehrians wouldn't even dream of doing that - Jack knew them.
"Without restoring magic, the Etherians are limited to magitech, minor inherent effects such as Entrapta's hair control and Adora's powers," Carter cut in. "They cannot use teleportation or spells."
"That's what they claim!"
"General." Haig didn't sound annoyed, but his meaning was clear, and the Russian glared at him before leaning back with a huff and crossing his arms over his chest. Haig looked at Carter. "But can you confirm that we currently have no way to detect whether or not Earth has magic?"
"Except for observing a magical effect that is not the result of magitech, no sir."
"Ah." Haig nodded.
Petit spoke up: "And what can you tell us about the 'healing' Adora did, Colonel O'Neill? According to your file, you were healed by her."
Jack clenched his teeth for a moment, remembering the moment he had almost died and was healed. Then he pushed the memories away and shrugged. "She points her sword at you, and magic heals you."
"A few more details would be appreciated, Colonel." The Frenchman kept smiling at him.
"I'm sorry, but those details are classified." Jack smiled back. "That happened before the United Nations took control of Stargate Command." Hammond didn't look happy but wasn't frowning at Jack, he noted.
"And you can't or won't elaborate on the detailed effect said healing had on you," Haig said.
Jack spread his hands. "Sorry, sir."
"From the information that we gathered so far, the healing magic is not limited to specific injuries and doesn't seem to discriminate," General Li said. "You are remarkably fit for your age, Colonel."
"Good living," Jack replied with a fake smile. So, they knew about that.
"Is there any way we could ask the Etherians to duplicate this feat at Stargate Command, should we suffer casualties?" General Haig asked. "Or would they be willing to restore the health of soldiers who have been medically discharged?"
Adora would heal pretty much everyone in need, Jack was sure of that. But her friends wouldn't let her heal everyone and burn out. "I don't know, sir," he replied.
"I think her services will be in high demand," General Petit stated the obvious.
And a lot of people would probably regret not having attended the event in India. Still… this was a problem for the Etherians.
Petit seemed to be about to say something else, but the door was opened, and an aide stepped in. "I'm sorry for the interruption, sir," he told Haig. "But I think you should see the latest news from the BBC." He barely waited for the general to nod before pointing a remote at the screen in the meeting room.
"...reporting directly from Stonehenge, where the police have had to disperse a crowd of people wishing to see magic return, we haven't noticed anything unusual so far, yet we… What's that? The stones are glowing. They are glowing! Is this a trick? I don't see any spotlights, and… yes, the light is coming directly from the stones, as the shadows prove. Oh, here are the police coming towards us…"
*****
Earth Orbit, Solar System, October 18th, 1998
"The United Nations are holding a special session to discuss 'the incident involving orbital bombardment' and invited us to attend and answer questions."
Adora frowned at Glimmer's words. "They don't want to talk about magic?" That had been the topic the United Nations had wanted to talk about for weeks, after all.
"That's the subject of another special session," her friend replied. "But they apparently want to talk about us blowing up terrorists first." She would know - she'd been talking to diplomats since she had woken up.
"And an Indian army base," Catra, sitting next to Adora in Darla's lounge, added. "Don't forget that."
Glimmer clenched her teeth. "The Indian Prime Minister said they understood our decision."
"That doesn't mean that he liked it," Catra shot back. "They lost too many soldiers to just forget it."
Adora nodded in agreement. You couldn't just ignore such losses. Those soldiers had families. Friends.
"They were already being killed by the mutineers," Glimmer retorted. "We had no choice."
"Yes. But not everyone will see it that way," Bow said. "Some journalists complain that we didn't ask the Prime Minister before firing on the base."
Adora had watched the same news. But Bow had been compiling the news from various channels.
Glimmer snorted. "Most of them are trying to use this to attack the Indian government so they can replace it. And what if we had asked and he wouldn't have given permission fast enough to react? Or not at all? They would have blamed us for the massacre those guns would have caused. And if we had shot at the base anyway, we would have made the Prime Minister and his country look powerless."
"They are powerless," Catra said.
"Yes, but it would be rude to rub their noses in it." Glimmer shook her head.
"We were rude anyway, though," Bow said. "There was no good solution."
"It could have been worse," Glimmer said. "At least from the military angle," she added with a glance at Adora.
Right. Adora closed her eyes and sighed. The orbital bombardment was only one part of their problems. The other part was Earth's reaction to magic. To magical healing. To She-Ra.
"Speaking of magic…" Bow trailed off, and Adora didn't need to open her eyes to know he was grimacing.
"How many want me to heal them?" she asked, slumping forward.
"Many," Bow told her. "There are complaints that we acted unfairly by healing Indians and demands that we repeat the healing in every country."
"What?" Catra hissed. "Who's demanding that?"
"Mostly individuals being interviewed," Bow said. "We haven't received formal requests."
That was good. Adora couldn't heal everyone - and she couldn't repeat what she had done n India. The magic she had used had been part of the blocked magic. "We need to tell them that I can't use that kind of magic normally."
"Yes," Catra agreed. "Too bad we can't tell them that you can't heal at all."
Adora sighed again. She couldn't heal everyone - she knew that. It was impossible. There were simply too many people on Earth. Too many sick and dying people. She could heal some, though. But how to pick who got healed and who didn't? It was unfair to only heal a few lucky ones, but to not heal anyone at all sounded… wrong.
"Well, once their own sorceresses learn how to heal people, that shouldn't be a problem any more," Entrapta said.
"That will take years," Glimmer pointed out. "And we don't know how that works with Earth's magic."
"Well, we know they have some magical sites and probably items," Entrapta said. "There are glowing stones in England! They aren't runestones, I checked - that would have been neat."
"It also would have made us look like liars after Glimmer told them that magic won't result in princesses ruling countries." Catra snorted.
Glimmer glared at her. "I told them what we knew. And I was right - they don't have runestones."
"But they have glowing stones." Catra grinned.
Adora sighed and gently squeezed her lover's thigh. "And I guess the British want to know what is going there?"
"Yes." Bow nodded. "They are concerned since they don't know what the stone ring - Stonehenge - did before magic vanished."
"They don't have records from the time before?" Glimmer narrowed her eyes.
"Apparently not." Bow shrugged. "There's speculation that the records were destroyed by some of their priests since the stone circle was older than their religion, but no one knows for sure." He sounded almost angry at that.
Well, he was the son of two historians.
"And they want us to come and examine the ring?" Entrapta sounded delighted.
"It won't be the only such site," Bow pointed out. "They might expect us to examine every magical location on Earth."
And that would take too much time, probably. Not that Entrapta seemed to mind - she nodded enthusiastically. "Imagine the data!"
"The United Kingdom is allied with us. So, we can help them without having to help everyone else," Glimmer said. "But we should keep an eye out for other locations. Just in case they turn out to be dangerous."
"Yes," Adora agreed.
"Yes." Bow nodded. "Anyway, so far, there haven't been any confirmed reports of Earth sorceresses working magic. But a lot of unconfirmed reports."
Carta scoffed. "Fools."
Adora frowned. "They might not have forgotten their entire magical tradition. Some lore might have survived." And would be working now.
"Yes. But I don't think actual sorceresses would want to reveal themselves right now," Bow went on with a wince. "Witch hunts have grown worse with magic returned."
Adora winced as well. She wanted to say they should stop those, but… If they started to intervene for such crimes, where would they stop?
"Any witch hunts organised by a country's government?" Glimmer asked.
"Well, none that have led to anyone being executed so far," Bow said.
"The cowards don't want to risk another orbital strike," Catra said with a scoff.
"Then it's not an urgent issue." Glimmer shook her head. "We have countries calling us returning magic an aggressive act and trying to get the United Nations to condemn us for it."
"They did that before we returned magic," Catra pointed out.
Glimmer nodded. "Yes. But now that magic is back, the situation changed. And that we had to destroy the base isn't helping - some countries claim that's an act of war."
"Great." Catra bared her fangs. "Now that they have realised we can destroy them from orbit, they're growing even more aggressive? How have those idiots survived all those wars of theirs?"
Adora didn't point out that Catra hadn't exactly rolled over either on the occasions that she had been caught on the backfoot during the war. "They're afraid," she said instead.
"Well, they should be afraid."
"We don't want even more enemies." Glimmer shook her head. "I'll be meeting with the United Nations to explain that we just defended ourselves."
"Yes." Adora nodded. "And I can explain about magical healing."
Glimmer was wincing. Bow as well. And Catra… was shaking her head. "No," her lover said, "I don't think you should appear in public on Earth for a while."
Bow nodded. "Yes. People are putting up shrines and temples for you."
"And others are burning dolls that look like you," Catra added.
Adora opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I am no goddess!" she spat after a moment.
"Well…" Catra grinned, then grew serious when Adora glared at her. This wasn't the time for jokes about this!
"Actually," Bow said, "you do fit the definition of most gods on Earth. Not the most popular god, though."
"Right now, at least. You look much better than that god," Catra said.
Adora pinched her thigh in retaliation, making her yelp. This really wasn't a joking matter!
"Anyway, I think you should limit your visits to Stargate Command," Bow said. "Or discreet visits to other places. Nothing official."
Glimmer nodded. "The Swiss sounded very concerned when they asked if you planned to visit the United Nations."
Great. Adora clenched her teeth. Because of that stupidity, she couldn't even help Glimmer sort out the mess she had caused?
"Or you can help Sam and us working with magitech!" Entrapta suggested. "We should be creating a magic scanner - a scanner to detect magic."
"That should lay some of the irrational fears about magic to rest," Hordak said.
Before Adora could say anything in response, Darla patched a call through to the screen in the lounge.
"Your Divine Highness!"
It was Priest. Adora wanted to scream. "Priest," she managed to reply while he was bowing. "This isn't another request for a preemptive strike against those countries that don't like us, is it?"
"Ah, no, Your Divine Highness." Priest beamed at her. "Your command was as clear as it was gracious. No, this is a request to help Earth in this time of crisis! In your divine name, of course."
Adora blinked. "What help… what do you want to do?"
"Now that the humans have finally also seen the light and are worshipping Your Divine Highness, we wish to help your new faithful!" He nodded. "You asked us not to deploy the Holy Legion to convert the humans - peacefully, of course! - for political reasons, but surely, now that they have seen the light and are spreading your holy message themselves, the situation has changed?"
Adora managed not to scream. But it was a near thing.
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