by Stargate
“There are actually two distinct signals within the anomalous reading,” noted Geddel. “Very close together, operating on almost the same pattern. It’s quite fascinating.”
“There is nothing else it could be?” she asked him. “Not some sensor reflection artifact, perhaps? There is no possibility that any ships within the migrant fleet detected us as we followed them through hyperspace?”
“Negative, Administrator. We traversed from the Golla system inside their thrust wake.” He said it with an air of disdain. “These nomads do not possess the science to track and locate a craft of this class. It can only be as I described.” Geddel tapped another control and the display changed to show a graphic of a Stargate. “The energy pulse, however it was contained, was directed through the open wormhole from the Tau’ri homeworld. I doubt the Earthers were even aware of it.”
Mirris’s annoyance ebbed for a moment, replaced by cool, analytical thought. “A matter stream from a molecular transporter. Something came through the Stargate with the Tau’ri. Something moving in stealth.”
“Undoubtedly.”
She tapped a sensor tab on her desktop. “Signals,” she ordered, opening a voice link to the ship’s communications grid. “Collate a tight-beam transmission using full emissions security protocols and encoding.”
“You’re going to contact the migrant operative?” Geddel asked. “That presents a risk of discovery.”
“This information cannot be ignored,” Mirris retorted. “I must pass on a warning. There are unknown infiltrators on Kytos and I have little doubt that they are part of the same group that attempted to sabotage the accord meeting on the Tau’ri planet.” She considered it for a moment. “I suppose I should not be surprised that they would attempt to disrupt it a second time.”
“If I might remark, Administrator. Your operative’s performance to this point has not been noteworthy. What makes you believe that imparting this new intelligence will improve that?”
“What do you propose?” she snapped back at him. “That we deploy an assault force, reveal ourselves to the Tau’ri and the Pack?”
“It is an option,” Geddel said in a small voice.
“This is supposed to be a clandestine mission,” Mirris replied. “The execution of it hinges on that factor! I will draw our weapons directly only if and when there is no other recourse open to us.”
“Of course.” Geddel bowed slightly. “I was merely offering all alternatives for your consideration.”
“Leave me,” she told him, turning away. “Continue your surveillance of the migrants and the planet.”
When he was gone, Mirris took a deep breath and spoke into her communicator. “Listen carefully,” she began, “There is a threat…”
From almost the instant they had rematerialized among the trees, the cloak around the Commander’s shoulders began to malfunction. The device was old and it had been running too much recently, first with Jade on Golla IX and now here on Kytos. The flexible pigmentation cells wavered between dozens of different camouflage settings, some of them wildly inappropriate for the emerald shades of the rainforest. Finally, the old man swore under his breath and flicked the controls to a neutral, olive drab. “Forget it,” he growled. “More damn trouble than it’s worth.” He beckoned the Re’tu toward him. “Stay close. I need you to watch my back while I get this set up.”
The Commander shrugged off a small backpack made of non-reflective material and pulled open the seal tab. Inside, a compact cylindrical device glittered dully; the black-and-yellow radiation trefoil on the weapon’s flank was the first thing that drew his eye. He realized the alien wasn’t responding and glanced up. “Ite-kh!” he hissed in a low voice. “I’m talkin’ to you!”
The Re’tu attention was elsewhere. The semi-visible smoke-shape of the insectoid raised a taloned hand in a signal for silence. In his other grip, Ite-kh was carefully manipulating a sensor pack.
“You got something?”
The alien’s head bobbed and it pointed into the makeshift camp. It turned the scanner so that the old soldier could see the display.
His face creased in concern. There on the device was a tell-tale energy signature that the Commander had come to know intimately through their long and hard battles with the enemy. Somewhere in that camp, a device of enemy origin was operating.
He wavered for a moment, his hands still on the weapon in the bag, unsure of how to proceed. “Forget it,” he said, at last. “It won’t matter how many of them are here. We set this up, and the job’s done.”
Ite-kh threw him a look, and with the same studied motions the Re’tu shook its head. Before he could stop it, the alien shimmered and became completely invisible. Grasses and underbrush shifted as the arachnid raced away toward the camp.
The old man swore under his breath. “Fine,” he said to the air. “I won’t wait for you. I’m not going to screw this up because you went John Wayne on me!”
His eyes dropped back to the cylinder, and it was as if a shadow crossed his face. The cold reality of what he was going to do settled on him like a shroud. In other times, when he was a younger man, he might have hesitated, he might have wanted some kind of forgiveness for taking measures as drastic as these. Things were different now, though. The war had burned those kinds of emotions from him, taken that away along with all the people he cared about. Their faces floated in the back of his mind as he began to assemble the device; he would do this for them, and for all the billions who had followed them into death.
O’Neill dropped into the chair across the table from the woman and studied her. The first thing he noticed was that she wouldn’t meet his gaze; she just kept her eyes down, staring at the scuffed olive-drab vinyl of the tabletop.
“Conundrum,” Jack offered to the air. “Found that in my copy of Improve Your Word Power. Sums you up pretty good, I reckon.” When she didn’t speak, he went on. “Jade. Cute name. That your real one, or is it someone else’s? I only ask because you seem to like being who you’re not.”
“It’s my name,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t lie about that.”
And strangely, Jack had the sudden impression that she wouldn’t. He’d dealt with enough liars in his time to have a feeling for the truth, and this seemed like it. Either that, or she was such an accomplished con artist he was being snowed and not even knowing it. “Where’s Major Wells, Jade? It would go a lot better for you if you just told us where she is.” More silence. “Is she dead?” The colonel asked the question in a deceptively light tone.
“I don’t think so.”
“We’re going to find her sooner or later, you understand that, right? Carter, y’see, she figured out that if we could track the naquadria traces on you, we might be able to use ‘em to pinpoint where you’d been hiding out recently.”
The woman’s brow furrowed. “That’s… Clever. I didn’t think she knew how to do that yet.”
“Oh, she’s real smart, Jade. Like you wouldn’t believe. Sometimes, the stuff she comes out with, even I have a hard time keeping up with it.” He pointed up at the ceiling. “Right now, there’s a DOD surveillance satellite floating over Colorado following a trail of radioactive breadcrumbs. You could save me a lot of time and just cut to the chase.”
She hunched forward. “I think I’ve said enough already.”
Jack tapped his finger on the table. “Just so we’re clear, you do understand the depths of crap you’re in, right? Acts of infiltration and attempted terrorism on a United States military base? That pretty much negates anything close to legal rights you might have, and that’s before we get into the whole ‘above top secret Stargate program’ part.” He shook his head. “Collusion with known alien aggressor forces. You’re not going to get a fair trial, Jade. We’re going to put you in the deepest, darkest hole on Earth and leave you there.” He kept his voice conversational, and that made the menace of the threat seem harsher still.
At last, she looked at him. “You’ve done things you’re not proud o
f, Jack O’Neill. Things you did in service to the flag or your planet. You’ve sent men on missions you knew would kill them. You’ve made choices that keep you awake at night.” None of what she said was a question; it was simply that she knew the answers already. “And you’ll do it again.”
“Comes with the job,” he said warily. The girl’s sudden insight made him feel uncomfortable. He had the sudden, distinct impression that she knew him, on a level far more intimate than he could fathom. “Are you telling me that’s what you were doing? Just following orders?” He stiffened. “The difference is, Jade, that I’m a soldier and I wear a uniform. What I am is right here in front of you, I don’t hide it behind names I stole from other people.”
“I’m just like you,” she replied. “It’s just that my war is different.”
Before he could respond, there was a swift knock on the door and he turned as the guard on duty opened it to allow Sergeant Siler to peer in. “Colonel? We got a hit. Downtown Colorado Springs, a residential district. Doctor Jackson and the sweep team are moving in as we speak.”
Jack glanced back at the woman. “Told ya.”
The three-vehicle convoy drew to a halt under the highway bridge, just short of the mouth of the cul-de-sac. Daniel was in the trailing car, a black Suburban with smoked windows and government plates. Across from him an agent from the Office of Air Force Intelligence listened intently to a wireless radio headset in her ear. “Copy,” said the woman, an austere brunette who had introduced herself as Agent Janine Cooper. “Tactical confirms, positive tracking of anomalous signature is concentrated in the fourth house along.” She glanced at the screen of a palmtop in her hand. “Number fifty-two, Ventura Terrace. Residence is listed as domicile for Farrell, Keesha, adult female, and Farrell, Tyrone, juvenile male.” Cooper hesitated, then continued. “Be advised, I’m seeing flags here from the local PD. The kid’s on their gang unit’s watch list.” She paused, and Jackson heard the tinny whisper of voices coming from the headset. “Roger that. All units, stand by to deploy on my command.” She looked at him. “This Tyrone— he goes under the name of Tyke, apparently— he’s been seen in the local mini-mart a couple of times over the past few days, acting strangely.”
“How so?”
“Guy at the store said he was ignoring his buddies, shuffling around like a zombie. Just bought stuff, paid for it, walked out. Never spoke.”
Daniel squinted though the SUV’s windshield and saw the van in front of it. Inside was a strike team of men in black tactical body armor with automatic weapons; nobody was taking any chances today. Jackson carefully unzipped a gear case that O’Neill had handed to him and removed a TER from inside.
Cooper’s eyes widened. “My youngest has a water gun just like that,” she told him.
“Not like this,” Jackson replied. “And believe me, I don’t want to have to use it.” He thumbed the activation stud and the rod’s emitter cone went live.
“Oh-kay,” said the agent. “Anything else you’d like to volunteer, Doctor Jackson, before we start kicking doors down? Like why Air Force Space Command have us raiding some no-name gangbanger’s crib on the wrong side of the tracks?”
“Need to know, I’m afraid.” Daniel replied. He tried to sound convincing, but to be honest, all this cloak-and-dagger stuff had never been his strong point.
“Right,” Cooper replied, with a frown. She tapped her headset. “All units. Remember, we’re looking for a friendly here, so watch those sight lines.” The woman gripped the door handle. “On my order. Execute, execute, execute!”
Jackson had to scramble to get out after her, as the agent moved low and fast toward the single-story dwelling. He swung the TER this way and that, watching for the tell-tale shimmer of a Re’tu, hoping all the while he wouldn’t see one. He imagined himself explaining it to Agent Cooper. Oh, didn’t I mention there might be a alien monster from outer space hiding in there? Sorry.
The metal gate protecting the front door went down as the men on point used a directed cutting charge on the heavy lock; then two more agents took out the hinges on the door itself with shotgun blasts. It fell back like a drawbridge and the black-clad men boiled inside, fanning out into the rooms of the house. Cooper and Jackson were close to the back of the group, and as the reverberation of the shots died away the next sound to reach Daniel’s ears was the incongruous theme music to Wheel of Fortune.
“Clear!” called a voice from the hallway. Jackson panned the TER around just in case it actually wasn’t clear, as other agents chimed in on the same chorus. In the living room, he saw the flickering blue glow of a television set and on it the grinning face of a game show host.
“Doctor!” called Cooper. “Get in here.”
Daniel threaded his way past the black-suited tactical officers to the agent’s side. Cooper stood facing two unhealthy-looking people on a threadbare sofa. He recognized the real Hannah Wells from her service records. The teenage boy sitting next to her was most likely Tyrone Farrell. He gave the room one more sweep with the TER and then let it drop on its strap. If the Re’tu was here, it would have made itself known by now. “Major Wells?” he asked, leaning down. “Hannah? Hannah, can you hear me?”
The woman blinked owlishly, staring right through him, her glazed expression fixed on the TV. The boy had exactly the same look on his face. A blank, soporific daze.
“Are they okay? Are they on something?”
“Something,” repeated Daniel. Both of them had the look of borderline malnutrition about them, and in the flickering light of the television he saw a grainy white residue marking the skin of their necks, in a spot just below the right ear. He thought about the white powder he’d found on his jacket where Hannah… Where Jade had touched him.
Cooper snapped her fingers in front of Tyrone’s face. “Huh. Looks like whatever party these guys were having, we missed it.”
“Yeah,” Jackson allowed, rising as another agent entered the room.
“Ma’am,” began the other officer, “got some traces in the other parts of the house. Empty beer bottles, utensils and stuff in the sink. We found till receipts from the store, food and drink. I’d say we’ve had four, possibly five persons in this house for the last couple of days.”
“Any signs of weapons, illicit equipment?”
“Nothing yet. We’ll give the place the full treatment, see what turns up.”
Daniel listened carefully. “You’re not going to find the stuff they were using with conventional sensors, Agent Cooper. I’ll get General Hammond to send a team of our people to do a sweep.”
“Your people?” Cooper replied, arching an eyebrow. “And what about these people?” She pointed at Wells and the boy.
“They’re going to be coming with me,” he replied.
The woman placed her hands on her hips. “Is that right? Well, then, perhaps Doctor Jackson, you might give me some kind of idea of what exactly I’m supposed to put in my post-operation report for this little outing.”
“Training exercise?” he suggested. “Believe me, it’s best you don’t know.” Daniel hesitated. “Do you like spiders?” He made an eight-legged shape with his hands, wiggling his fingers.
In spite of herself, Cooper shuddered. “Not really, no. They give me the creeps.”
“Then trust me, you really don’t want to know.”
O’Neill came back into the room with a hard look in his eye. The guard inside the room shut the door behind him and locked it, standing across the threshold.
“Bus-ted,” Jack told Jade. “Nice digs you had there. Very Boyz N The Hood, so Jackson tells me. You gonna start talking now?”
For a split-second, he saw a flash of panic on her face, but then she buried it and schooled her expression. “Major Wells was recovered alive.”
“Yup. Her and the kid. No thanks to you.” He drummed his fingers on the table. In truth, Jack was annoyed by the apparently cavalier mistreatment of Wells and the Farrell boy, but he couldn’t let it show too much. “So
how’d you do it? Dope them up with some kind of drugs to keep them obedient, while your buddies hid out in the house and you stole Wells’s identity?”
“Not drugs,” she admitted. “That wouldn’t have worked. I used nanomachines to edit their neurochemical processes, just temporarily.”
“Oh, that sounds much more humane,” Jack retorted, his irritation poking through.
“It would have been much more expedient to kill both of them,” she snapped back. “That they’re still alive should tell you something.”
O’Neill snorted. “You’ll pardon me if I’m not overcome by your kind-heartedness.”
She sighed. “Listen to me carefully. A tight-beam electromagnetic pulse on the kappa-band frequency will trigger an automatic shutdown of all the nanites in their bloodstreams. They’ll come out of the somnambulant state in about five hours.”
“I’ll pass that along.”
Jade eyed him, and O’Neill felt uneasy under the girl’s sudden scrutiny. “The others weren’t there, were they? Ite-kh and…” She halted. “They’ve already gone.”
“We’ll find your bug-eyed buddy and whoever else was hiding out there,” Jack replied. “It’s just a matter of time.”
She shook her head. “No. They might not….”
Her expression changed suddenly, from a tense, fixed façade to a sharp look of real, immediate fear. It was so quick and so fluid that O’Neill knew it had to be real.
“You have to release me!” she blurted suddenly.
“Ain’t gonna happen,”
