Teal’c was kneeling with Macri’s body cradled in his arms. “He has no pulse.”
Nardah just stared at Teal’c, seemingly unable to comprehend what Teal’c had just said. “You mean, he’s — he’s dead?”
“Indeed. I am sorry, Tan Nardah. I did not wish for this to happen.”
“It’s — it’s not your fault, Teal’c.” She turned toward the now-empty street where Kif had stood. “I know exactly who to blame, believe me.”
For Carter, it was always a question of multitasking.
This time, though, it was to keep from falling asleep. She had spent days being questioned about the incident on the street, and attending hearings, and testifying in what was referred to as an inquest. However, when she wasn’t actually testifying or answering questions, she was sitting in the gallery. All work save for the barest maintenance had ceased on the machine pending the inquest results.
Carter had been able to go to the sub-basement during one of the recesses and make a quick inventory. Now she was juggling in her head how to kitbash some of the prototypes she found down there to do what her temporal waveform modulator was supposed to do; how they could reconfigure the geothermal taps; what to get Cassandra for her birthday; wondering whether or not O’Neill had gotten to his feet yet; hoping they consulted her notes at the SGC when they installed the beta gate; wondering who created the Replicators in the first place; and wishing that Councillor Ren Ympiz didn’t talk in quite so dull a monotone.
However, Carter did put all the various thoughts aside when Ren announced that the inquest was at an end and a decision had been reached.
“While Councillor Kif’s methods were deplorable, we do not wish to condemn his beliefs solely because he expressed them poorly.”
Carter winced and gave a sad look to Nardah and Xirale. Their brother was dead. That was a lot more than a poor expression of beliefs.
“It is the ruling of this inquest that Kif Mirak be stripped of his councillorship and imprisoned for a period of twelve years. It is the further ruling of this inquest that the audit of the machine will continue and that an observer appointed by the council will look over all work that occurs involving the machine for the next three months and make regular reports to the council. And it is the final ruling of this inquest that Tan Macri died a hero, and will be honored in the plaza, and this day of every year shall be deemed Tan Macri Day in his memory.”
On the one hand, Carter was glad it was over, and glad that Macri was being honored for his sacrifice. On the other, she wasn’t thrilled about the observer.
She was even less thrilled the following morning when the observer arrived. He was one of the council, a man named Ain Anred. He approached Carter and Mardah, and said without preamble, “I just want you to know that I find this entire project a waste of time, and that I voted to have it shut down and to have you and that other awful alien put in chains. Your job is to convince me that I was wrong.”
Carter raised both eyebrows and sighed. “Great.”
The first day was primarily spent explaining what they were doing. Three years of dumbing things down for the other members of SG-1 served Carter in good stead, as Ain had a sub-O’Neill-level of understanding of anything scientific.
And then at the end of it all, he asked, “Why can’t we just shut the blessed thing off?”
“Because,” Nardah said impatiently, “the only reason we’re all still alive right now is because of this machine. If we turn it off, nothing will stop the collision of the tectonic plates and the earthquakes will destroy the city.”
“And you have proof of this?”
“We have mathematical models that conclusively —”
Ain shook his head. “You misunderstand me, Tan Nardah. I’m not speaking of models you made up on your computers. I’m talking about physical proof. Actual real-world proof.”
“Councillor,” Carter said, “if I understand you correctly, the only way you’ll believe that it’ll cause earthquakes if we turn the machine off is if we actually turn it off and we get earthquakes?”
“I believe, alien, that you have summed it up nicely, yes. I would like to propose that you shut the machine off for a day so we can see what it is actually doing.”
Nardah stared at him. “That’s insane.”
“Nonetheless, I think it would go a long way toward proving the machine’s usefulness.”
“So not satisfied with getting my brother killed, you and your fellow imbeciles want more dead bodies on your hands?”
Ain put his hands on his hips. “I will not be spoken to this way!”
Carter stepped between the two of them. “It doesn’t matter. With respect, Councillor Ain, you don’t have any authority to give us orders. Your sole purpose is to observe and report your findings to the rest of the council, correct?”
Reluctantly, Ain said, “That is so, yes. But I still think —”
“I don’t care what you think,” Nardah said. “Now I’ve answered all your stupid questions. From this point forth, you can just observe. If you have any questions, ask Carter. I’m done talking to you.”
With that, Nardah left the room in a huff.
“Her behavior will go in my report,” Ain muttered to himself.
Carter stared angrily at the councillor. “Her behavior is because she just lost her brother — to a person who used a lot of the same rhetoric you’re using right now.”
“Have a care, alien. Your presence will not be tolerated forever.”
And then Ain followed Nardah out of the office area.
Shaking her head, Carter muttered, “Better not be forever.”
That night, she went back to Macri’s former dwelling, which Xirale and Nardah insisted that Teal’c and Carter use. As a peace officer’s dwelling, it was more secure than most. Even with Kif disgraced, a lot of his attitudes still prevailed, as Carter’s conversation with Ain had proven. Better to be safe.
“Teal’c, I think I may have — what is that on your chin?”
The Jaffa raised an eyebrow.
Then Carter grinned as she realized that over the past few days, he had grown a soul-patch and dyed it blond, just like the peace officers. “You’re growing one of those beard things?”
Nodding, Teal’c said, “Tan Macri died saving my life. I am growing this patch on my soul in order to honor his memory.”
Carter nodded. Then she pulled out her minicomputer. “I think I may have found a way to build my waveform modulator. Apparently, years ago, someone experimented with making a sonic weapon that he wanted to sell to the peace officers. But he never was able to properly weaponize it; he just made a gun that makes a subsonic noise that might give a few people a headache.”
“How does that assist in your endeavor, Major Carter?”
“It’s the delivery system I need. I’ve already got a power source and something I think I can convert into a dimensional shifter like the one in the quantum mirror. I should be able to get this together in the next week or so.”
“I am grateful to hear that, Major Carter.”
“Yeah.” She sat down on the couch. “I just hope I still have access to the institute for that long.” Then she told Teal’c about Councillor Ain.
“It would seem that Councillor Kif was not the only opponent to the machine.”
“No. And it’s ridiculous. It’s like those people back on Earth who dismiss evolution saying ‘it’s just a theory.’ A theory isn’t ‘just’ anything, it’s a conclusion based on detailed, hard data that has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb. But the only evidence Ain will accept is an actual disaster!” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rant.”
“You may rant all you wish, Major Carter.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Teal’c. Truly, I don’t think I’d have gotten
through this without you.”
“You would not have been in this situation were it not for me, as it was I who chose to dial this world.”
“True.” She got up from the couch. “I’m going to take a bath.” Another technological invention that had passed by this world was the shower, but they valued baths quite a bit, and tonight, Carter definitely needed one.
Ain observed Nardah and Carter for two months. During those eight weeks, Carter and Nardah managed to find a way to streamline the geothermal taps’ work, and for the first time in years decrease the power used by the machine. That, if nothing else, did a great deal to shut Ain up, which made everyone happy. (Except Ain, but few in the science institute were all that concerned with the councillor’s happiness.)
In her spare time, Carter also finished constructing the prototype for a temporal waveform modulator. Her military training forced her to give it a designation, and she went with TWM-1.
When she got to the top of the mountain, she saw that O’Neill was not only upright, but also staring angrily at a spot where there wasn’t anything she could see.
“Why is O’Neill staring at the air?” Teal’c asked her.
And then Carter saw it. Or, rather, didn’t see it. “Where’s Thor’s pod?”
“Perhaps it moved through the field into the same time stream that we occupy.”
Carter shook her head. “It hasn’t been long enough. The antigrav units on that pod kept it slow-moving for Thor’s health. It can’t have moved to the force shield in the time since we’ve gone through. Besides, if it had gone through, the colonel would’ve chased it.”
“Indeed.” Teal’c raised his eyebrow. “Perhaps the Asgard were able to locate Thor and transport him to their ship.”
“And not take the colonel?” Carter sighed. “Well, let’s test the TWM-1, and then maybe we can ask him.”
She fired the converted sonic pistol at the force shield, and then picked up the test object: her safety goggles.
The goggles bounced off the force shield just as the bullets had that first time. “Dammit.”
She tried the three other settings on the TWM-1, but none of them worked. The sonic pistol’s design was only for four settings, and changing that wasn’t really practical.
Carter frowned. “I thought I found the right range of wave modulations to make this work.” She stared at O’Neill, still standing with his mouth open in a look of grumpiness. “Maybe I have the time ratios wrong. I need to get back and try another —”
Her musing was interrupted by the ground shaking beneath her feet.
“What the hell — ?”
She lost her footing, but Teal’c reached out to grab her arm and steady her, but then another quake hit, twice as rough as the first.
Pulling out her binoculars, Carter glanced down at the city to find that the machine’s lights had gone dark.
“I don’t believe it! Some idiot turned the machine off!” And she had a pretty good idea who the idiot in question was.
Another quake, and this time Carter and Teal’c both fell to the ground. Luckily, they were high enough up on the mountain that there was very little danger of anything falling on their heads.
That was the final quake, and Carter again peered through her binoculars. The machine’s lights were coming back on.
“C’mon, Teal’c, we have to get down there.”
“Indeed.”
By the time they finished the long trek down the mountain, the peace officers and medical personnel had things mostly under control. They still provided assistance, Teal’c’s strength and observational ability and Carter’s field medical training proving beneficial.
Carter finally made it to the science institute after nightfall. Nardah was there drinking something alcoholic. “Carter, where the hell’ve you been?”
“I told you I was —”
Nardah waved her off, her brief moment of anger burned to ashes. “Right, right, up the mountain, testing your new toy. Sorry, it’s been a bad day. We had a power outage. Apparently, Ain saw that we had reduced the power needs for the machine, so he had the council authorize less power for the machine overall. But he got the figures wrong — of course — and it took too much away. So the machine shut down.” After gulping down some of her drink, Nardah added, “The good news is, Ain has his proof now that the machine is vital. With any luck, he’ll recommend that we keep the machine going.”
“With any luck. Have any more of that?”
Smiling, Nardah poured another glass of the drink, which Carter recalled was named yeriz.
Then a buzzing noise interrupted them. Nardah put a communications device to her throat. “Yes?”
“Tan Nardah, this is Officer Ham Solvig. I’m afraid that we have some bad news. I believe you were searching for Councillor Ain Anred?”
“Yes, I was concerned about his wellbeing.”
That surprised Carter — but then, something bad happening to the councillor would probably translate to something bad happening to the science institute.
“His wellbeing is quite poor, I’m afraid,” Ham said. “He’s dead.”
Carter’s second time experiencing an inquest was more exciting than the last, but it also made her realize how much better boring was in the grand scheme of things.
One councillor testified: “According to Councillor Ain’s reports, the staff at the science institute was abusive toward him. More than once, he felt that his life was in danger.”
An aid to the council, who wore a topknot, but one that was much shorter than those of the councillors: “I reviewed Councillor Ain’s figures, and they were enough to cause the machine to shut down from lack of power. The councillor told me that they were the figures provided by Tan Nardah and the alien woman. I believe that Tan Nardah and her colleagues deliberately had Ain be responsible for the temporary deactivation of the machine so they could make him look foolish.”
Nardah muttered to Carter in the gallery, “No, the universe made him look foolish.”
Carter snorted in agreement.
The testimony continued in that vein, with only Nardah herself providing the truth. “The figures we supplied to the councillor were correct and would not have shut down the machine. But while I’m sure that Ain Anred had many virtues, a head for mathematics was not one of them. He barely understood the principles that Sam Carter and I laid out for him. It’s not a surprise that he got the numbers wrong. Councillors, I am sorry for what has happened, but it was an accident. And this accident has also proven just how necessary the machine is.”
After all the testimony was taken, Councillor Ren said, “The council will deliberate, and take into full consideration the testimony given today, as well as the allegations of manipulation of data. We will render the rulings of this inquest tomorrow.”
The crowd filed out of the government building, and as soon as they got outside, Nardah turned to Carter and Teal’c. “How close are you to getting through to the ring?”
After glancing at Teal’c, Carter said, “I’ve readjusted the TWM-1 to four new possible waveforms. I think it stands a good chance of working this time.”
“Then go — get up to the mountain at first light and go through. Because I can guarantee that, based on Ren’s tone, the council is not going to be favorable toward us.”
Carter hesitated. “Nardah, we can’t just —”
“Yes, you can go. You need to go. This isn’t your world, and this isn’t your fight, it’s mine. I appreciate the help you’ve given me, but I think this last incident will bring a lot of our good work to an end.”
“Nardah, I —”
“No, Carter. No goodbyes. I’ve already said goodbye to my brother unwillingly, I won’t do it for the pair of you. Just go.”
The next morning, Carter and Teal’c
put on the fatigues that they’d been wearing when they’d boarded the Beliskner. Neither of them had said they were going to do it, and Carter wasn’t surprised that Teal’c was thinking the same thing as her. They also made sure to grab plenty of food and drink, in case they did make it through. “O’Neill will, I suspect prefer these to boysenberries,” Teal’c said.
“Indeed,” Carter said with a smile.
As they reached the plateau on the mountain, Carter saw that O’Neill hadn’t changed position, but he had closed his mouth.
She tried the first setting, tossed the goggles. Nothing.
Then the second setting.
On the third setting, the goggles flew through, but hovered in midair as soon as they crossed the event horizon.
And then the ground started to shake, far more violently. The very rock of the mountain started to split apart, and Carter and Teal’c both fell to the ground.
Teal’c shouted over the din of the quaking earth. “We must go through, Major Carter!”
Her first thought was of Nardah and Xirale, but her next was that she didn’t want to die on this time-displaced mountain, and the quakes were getting more intense, no doubt in response to the lessened influence of the machine.
So she dove toward the plateau at the same time that Teal’c did.
This time, her shoulder roll was perfect.
“There you are!” O’Neill cried. “First Teal’c disappears, then you disappear, Carter, then the Asgard come and take Thor away, then you come back.” He frowned. “What happened to your hair?”
Carter blew out a breath. “It’s a long story, sir.” She glanced over at Teal’c.
However, the Jaffa was staring at Carter’s hands. “Where is the TWM-1?”
Stargate SG-1 & Atlantis - Far Horizons Page 17
