Chapter 121: Cultural Exchange Part 3
Starfox5
Experienced.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2015
- Messages
- 3,790
- Likes received
- 27,460
Chapter 121: Cultural Exchange Part 3
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and we thought you could help us deal with this. From the Etherian side, so to speak."
"So, you've got a scumbag trying to blackmail you into Adora healing him, and you want me to help you without making Glimmer lose her temper or Adora trying to act innocent?" Catra cocked her head to the side as she looked at Sam and Daniel.
"Err, yes." Daniel blushed a little. Had he really expected she wouldn't figure out why they were coming to her with this instead of to Adora - the Supreme Commander of the Alliance - or Glimmer, Queen of Bright Moon and member of the Alliance Command Council or whatever they called it this week? Catra didn't even have a formal rank in the Alliance.
"Well, that was a good decision." Catra nodded in approval. Judging by the faint smile on Sam's face, that had been her idea, then. "But what do you want done about him?"
"We're working on uncovering the leak," Sam explained.
"And you can't just arrest the guy and interrogate him until he spills his source because that's illegal on Earth, right?" Catra shook her head. Sometimes, she wondered how Earth countries could function with all that red tape. On the other hand, if someone had been able to restrict her more reckless decisions, back in the Horde… Bah. That was the past.
"Yes." Sha're sighed a little as she nodded.
"Err, there are good reasons for that," Daniel said.
"I know, my love, but they are also inconvenient at a time like this."
Catra could agree with that. "Well, I guess we can't really have him disappear on Etheria, either."
Daniel gasped a little. "No, we can't!"
Catra had been joking, anyway. Mostly. A little trip, and he could become 'lost' in the Whispering Woods. If he was as over-confident as some of his roles, no one would question that he wanted to brave the woods alone. But people would wonder why he had been allowed to enter the woods alone and question the competency of the Princess Alliance. Or suspect foul play - Earth media were all about such plots, and from what Catra had learned about Earth's history, their governments were worse. But that wasn't the point here, anyway.
"We just need you to ensure he doesn't cause any trouble," Sam said, "while we handle the Earth part of this."
Catra nodded. "Especially if he wants to cause trouble. Which he would if he suspects something."
"We're hoping he won't," Sam said.
"That's why you came to me." Catra nodded. Slowly. And took a deep breath. They meant well. They just hadn't thought it through. They hadn't considered how this would look from another point of view. Namely, hers. "Yeah, that's a solid plan. Simple goal, clear reason. There's only one problem with it."
"Oh?" Daniel looked surprised. Sam's eyes widened as well. And Sha're was frowning.
"You want me to lie to my friends. To Adora." Her love.
"Ah." Daniel blinked. "Oh."
Sam winced.
And Sha're glanced at Daniel, then met Catra's eyes.
"That's…" Daniel started to say, but Sha're interrupted him. "We're sorry. We should have realised what we were asking of you, but we didn't." She bowed her head for a moment.
Catra let her breath out. "Yeah, it's…" It wasn't OK, but it hadn't been deliberate. "I understand your line of thinking." But to suggest she should betray Adora, hurt her like that… She clenched her teeth at the thought. Never again. She'd rather die.
All three winced at that, and Catra felt a pang of guilt. They still had a pretty serious problem to solve, and their reasons for suggesting to keep this from Adora - and Glimmer, and the others - were not entirely stupid. What Catra had heard of the mission to the Enchanted Grotto didn't fill her with much confidence in the Princess Alliance's capability to conduct undercover operations.
Sighing once more, she said: "So, we'll have to plan this carefully - with the others. And if Her Sparkliness blows her top, I'm not going to intervene."
"That's fair," Sha're said. The other two grimaced.
"Let's hope the Asgard haven't frustrated Glimmer too much today," Catra said as she got up.
"Oh? Are things not going well?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"They haven't threatened war yet," Catra told him. "But they have very different views, and, apparently, they think as little of our art and stuff as we think of theirs." Which was to be expected if the Asgard enjoyed the things Loki had shown them.
"Oh." Daniel frowned for a moment. "Have you tried to show them artwork comparable to the Norse culture's works? They influenced that culture, after all, and so they might enjoy similar art."
Catra snorted. "Yes. But the Asgard apparently thought sea shanties were parodies of their epics." To be fair, Sea Hawk singing them probably hadn't helped. The man had a good voice, but he was just too passionate about it. And turning every second shanty into a love song for Mermista hadn't helped.
Daniel winced again. "And what about rune carvings?"
Catra sighed once more. "Castaspella said most Etherian runes were related to magic and that it wasn't a good idea to try out new runes without proper precautions. The Asgard disagreed. Last I heard, they were still 'discussing' things when you called for me."
"Ah. Well, we didn't hear any explosions on the way in…"
Catra laughed at the weak joke. "Anyway, let's go and see if we can get Adora and Glimmer. If all goes well, they'll probably be happy to be called away."
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
General Smith had been up to no good. Jack O'Neill was sure of that. And serious no-good stuff, not just the usual things a four-star general did to get promoted if they hadn't saved the world from evil alien body-snatching snakes a few times and were friends with magical princesses who had a huge fleet of spaceships with big honking guns.
Jack leaned back in his seat and dropped the report he had been trying to read on his desk.
The problem was finding enough proof of said no-good stuff. Well, that was one problem. The other problem was finding out what Smith wanted. Why would a four-star general send a bloody Hollywood actor to blackmail Jack? It didn't make much sense. Smith didn't have a reputation for gossiping or drinking, so while it wasn't impossible that he had let slip something classified to a civilian friend at a mixer, it was very unlikely. Smith also wasn't stupid - he would know that Jack wouldn't let some arrogant actor push him around. And he would be aware that, especially now that the United States finally were officially at war, said arrogant actor could end up arrested in a heartbeat.
It wouldn't stick, though. The bastard had used a cover story that was bullshit but just plausible enough to get out of prison as soon as a decent lawyer was brought in. Or, if that didn't work fast enough, the press got a story about the evil Alliance trying to send an actor who had found out too much to a gulag. Which the public would take as proof that the Alliance was keeping magic that made you young again for themselves.
And that would be a catastrophe. Everyone with money and influence would try to get this, and most of them would not baulk at anything to be young again. Even worse, those without influence or money would riot. The First Contact riots had been bad enough, but this would put the worst anti-magic riots in the Middle East to shame. And if the Russians and the Chinese leaders decided that they wanted access to this…
The Alliance would be hard-pressed to handle all of this without the war against the snakes and the current issues with the Asgard.
Was that what Smith was counting on? That Jack would rather ask Adora to heal a puffed-up actor than risk such a catastrophe? But Smith would also know that Jack wouldn't let this go. And neither would the princesses. Was Smith trusting the threat of revealing the healing effects to keep him safe from retaliation? That would be short-sighted. And stupid. Such a threat would have to be neutralised. Not to mention that Jack didn't think the idiot actor would be able to keep quiet once people noticed. No, that scumbag would tell his trusted friends - or people he wanted to impress or get favours off. Or the latest starlet in his bed.
And even if Smith were stupid enough to trust such a scheme, what was he getting out of this? Jack couldn't see how this whole thing benefitted Smith. If they gave in to the blackmail to keep the secret, then that would mean the odds of anyone else getting Adora's healing would be even lower. If Smith wanted to have a young body again, it would have been better to do the blackmail directly. Hell, if he skipped the blackmail and just asked Adora directly, maybe added some sob story about being in pain, she might have healed him anyway.
So, what was Smith's goal? Was he being blackmailed by someone? Had he had some affair with a starlet, courtesy of his 'friend', and now it turned out that his friend had some demands to keep it a secret from Smith's wife? But would Smith go that far? Not for an affair, Jack thought. That sort of stuff still damaged your career, but they were at war now, which meant standards were looser - and Jack wasn't going to dwell on what might mean with regards to other rules that he wouldn't break anyway - and Smith was a decent officer and would know similar secrets of politicians and fellow officers. Enough to keep his post, though it might cost him a future promotion.
So, if Smith was being blackmailed, it had to be something more serious. And it would have a Hollywood connection. Drugs? They regularly tested for that - when you had to check for snake possession or weird alien stuff, scanning for drugs at the same time was just routine. So, if Smith had a secret, it had to be something more serious.
Which brought Jack back to his main problem: Finding out what Smith was hiding. And who was helping the bastard. Maybe he should do some field work himself, check out the man's home… No. He snorted at his own foolishness. If he got caught breaking into Smith's house, not even Adora's influence could save him from getting cashiered or worse. He had made too many enemies to escape such a blunder, both in politics and the general staff. Too many would be happy to see him gone.
He blinked.
Maybe that was Smith's goal.
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and so we would like you to act as if nothing is wrong while we investigate further."
Adora took a deep breath after Sam finished her explanation. So, in the middle of the Asgard visit, they were facing another crisis. This was….
"We've got a scumbag trying to blackmail the Alliance, and we're supposed to do nothing about it?" Glimmer blurted out as she stood, both palms pressed on the table.
…infuriating, yes. "We can't just do nothing," she agreed with her friend, looking at Daniel, Sha're and Sam.
"We're not expecting you to do nothing," Daniel told her - wincing a little. "But until we know what's going on, we don't want to let the, ah, suspects, get spooked - we want them to think their plan is working."
"And Melog and I are going to help find out what's behind this blackmail," Catra added.
Melog glowed briefly in a smattering of colours.
Right. Sam had mentioned that as well. Adora nodded.
"Why you?" Glimmer asked with narrowed eyes.
Catra grinned. "Because we're unlikely to lose our temper and blow up this operation."
Adora winced, already knowing Glimemr wouldn't like that. Especially not when she was already angry.
"Says the woman whose mood can be spotted on Melog!" Glimmer spat, as expected.
Melog did flicker red for a moment before switching back, Adora noticed.
"Not too many people know that," Catra said. She cocked her head to the side, listening to her friend. "And Melog won't be visible often."
Adora bit her lower lip. That was one potential problem handled. "But if you leave, the Asgard will wonder why," she added before Glimmer could say something else to continue the argument.
Catra shrugged. "So? Let them. We're fighting a war. They can't expect us to focus everything on them."
"Well, they could - we don't know much about their culture and customs," Daniel pointed out. "But they have to be aware that both Etheira and Earth have different customs."
"If they want to take offence, they will take offence anyway," Sha're added. "Whether at this or at any other excuse."
That would ruin the entire plan of earning their trust. But if they were not willing to be open-minded, then the plan had been doomed from the start. Still… Adora shook her head. One problem at a time, she reminded herself of the old lesson from cadet training. If she tried to do everything at once, she wouldn't succeed at anything. "So… you'll go to Earth for a while?" she asked Catra.
Her lover shrugged. "I can return through the Stargate anytime I want. But we'll probably need some time to find out what's behind this."
So, they would be separated for a time. Again. Alone. Adora briefly pressed her lips together. She was better than that. And Catra and Melog were needed on Earth, less so on Etheria right now, while Adora had to be here to handle the Asgard's visit. They could do this. It wouldn't be too long, anyway. Either they would find the culprit quickly, or the Asgard visit would end, and Adora would spend more time on Earth in the Alliance Headquarters. At least until the cultural exchange with Earth started. Though if Adora was on Earth, then that would be a good reason not to heal that traitorous actor…
She nodded. "Alright. Anything else?"
Glimmer frowned at her. Had she expected Adora to veto this plan? What was the alternative? Risk having everyone on Earth think she could turn back old age? It was bad enough that so many wanted her to heal them, they were willing to riot. Adora suppressed a shudder when she remembered Paris.
"I can't believe they'd do that," Bow spoke up. "I love that show!"
"They're an actor," Cara told him with a scoff. "They are just playing a role. You can't trust them."
Was she talking about all actors or this one in particular? Or was she talking about Double Trouble? The spy's actions hadn't really left a good impression on, well, anyone, but Catra carried a particular grudge. Adora could understand it, of course.
She wished things were different, though. It was too bad that they couldn't trust Double Trouble. They would be perfect for such a mission. But letting them loose on Earth? That would be a disaster. If they were lucky, Double Trouble would finish the job before going off on their own to cause chaos, but they wouldn't be able to resist stirring up trouble.
And they wouldn't care that Etheria was in the middle of a war or that the situation on Earth could break out in riots or worse with just a slight provocation.
"Well, they're a good actor," Bow defended himself.
"But not a good person," Adora said.
"As far as we know," Daniel cautioned.
Even Sha're rolled her eyes at him at that, Adora saw.
He flushed a little. "I am just pointing out that we don't know what is behind this yet. We shouldn't judge people without all the information."
He was right about that, but things were not looking good for the man, in Adora's opinion.
Above the Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
"So, you have checked the 'suspect's' offices in the Alliance headquarters already, and found nothing suspect? That's suspicious."
Samantha Carter nodded at Catra's question and ignored the wording. If her friend wanted to make fun of the correct terms for an investigation, then that was fine as long as it didn't hinder the investigation. "He has not been working in Brussels for long, and he seems not to have made many friends amongst the general staff of the other Alliance members." Something unfortunately quite common for many American officers, as Sam had also found out. It apparently wasn't just because the Stargate had been kept a secret from the other countries, either - many NATO members had long memories. But that was a problem for another day.
"Yeah. He certainly has no friends in our ranks. Acquaintances yes - he did good work on the PZ-921 offensive - but he wasn't really friendly. Juliet thought he might have issues with magic." Catra shrugged and shifted in the copilot seat of the General's stealth shuttle.
Or women, Sam thought with a slight frown. From what information she had gathered, General Smith had never shown open misogyny - he wouldn't have kept his position, much less have been integrated into the Alliance command structure if he had - but he hadn't spoken up for female officers either. Or had had any trouble with the more open misogynist officers in the force. Of course, he might just have had issues with General Juliet's style. The commander of Bright Moon's forces liked to wear her armour when on duty. Which included a cape.
But that was irrelevant right now. They were not investigating Smith's views on women but his potential crimes. "If he is doing anything illegal, it's unlikely he'll do it in his office."
"Which you have bugged already." Her friend grinned.
"Appropriate measures have been taken," Sam confirmed. "We're tracking his electronic communication as well." Including all cell phones used at his home, in case he was using burner phones.
"And you think it won't be enough, or we wouldn't be here." Catra nodded at Melog, who was sitting on the floor next to her seat.
"We haven't found any electronic trace of General Smith being in contact with our primary suspect. So, it was likely done face to face or through an intermediary."
"Like we do things on Etheria." Catra flashed her fangs, and her tail swished, then she turned to frown at Melog. "That was different! That was just regular communication during the war."
A moment later, she frowned again. "It was an undercover operation as part of the war. And that was in the Horde."
It seemed that Melog was disagreeing with her claim. And being pedantic about it - or facetious. Not being able to directly communicate with Melog was a bit frustrating, but it was merely a nuisance. And Sam couldn't really expect Catra to serve as a translator for every quip the other cat made.
The General would, though. And he would probably find it incredibly amusing to banter with Melog through Catra.
She pushed the thought away. "Anyway, I'll continue to monitor his electronic communications."
"And we'll spy on him in person." Catra nodded. "And if we don't find anything, we'll go after the actor."
The man was currently under observation by some of the General's 'acquaintances' who owed him a favour or two, as he had called it. "If you turn up nothing here," Sam told Catra.
"If we don't find anything, we can poke him and see how he reacts." Catra cocked her head to the side, and her ears perked up. "Melog can't read minds, but he can detect emotions. Should give us some clue." Suddenly, she frowned at her friend. "I don't always annoy everyone, so if he is annoyed, that's still a clue!"
Sam couldn't help snorting at that. It was a bit like seeing the General and Daniel banter during a mission.
Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
Smith lived in a pretty nice house, in Catra's opinion. It was on the outskirts of Washington, but that was a nice area in America. You wouldn't catch General Juliet living in the countryside instead of in the palace. Or any of Mermista's admirals. But the United States didn't have a palace - the White House came closest, but anyone could see it wasn't a palace; it was much too small to house a court.
No one inside.
She nodded at Melog. That was what the shuttle's scanners had shown them, but it was always good to double-check intel.
"Good," she whispered. "Now, let's take a closer look at his home." She didn't expect to find anything incriminating, but if you could do recon in person, you did it. It would help with finding the best approach to observing the general's home life.
And she was curious how the man lived. She had only visited one Earth general's home before, and Jack hadn't been a general at the time.
Breaking into the man's home was easy. Not suspiciously easy - they had magitech tools to fool his security system, and Catra had been sneaking into restricted areas all the time as a cadet - but she would have expected a bit more from someone apparently trying to blackmail the Alliance. Or taking a shot at a personal friend of She-Ra, if Jack was right.
"Looks a bit… drab," she commented once they were both inside. "Nothing too personal."
Family.
Melog stared at a couple of pictures on the sideboard next to the couch.
"Those are the same pictures he has on his desk." In fact, the living room left a similar impression as the man's office. Tidy. Neat. Like the barracks before an inspection.
Catra wasn't sure what that said about the man, but it was something.
Above the Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
Smith is a … workaholic is the Earth term, Catra thought. It was past eight, and he was still in his office in the Pentagon. Which was a weird structure, in her opinion; until the shield generator had been installed after the United States joined the Alliance, it hadn't had any protection from air or orbital attacks. Why would you put most of your military leadership into an easily identifiable and destroyable building? And in the same region as the not-palace of your supreme leader? Sure, they had the bunker where they had first placed the Stargate, but most of the people running the military were in Washington.
Of course, the people in the bunker might be enough to keep the armed forces going just fine, but if that was the case, why would they need the Pentagon in the first place?
Well, they had shield generators now, so the point was probably moot, but she made a note to ask Jack about it anyway. At the least, his answer would be entertaining.
Much more entertaining than tracking Smith. She sighed and stretched her arms over her head, then shifted a bit in the shuttle's seat. "No change?"
No.
Melog was sprawled out on the backrests of the two seas behind her in a very comfy position. She would also have to try that when she wasn't nominally on pilot duty. And they weren't in the middle of an operation.
"You know, with all those millions of soldiers, I would have expected you to have more spies available," she commented, twisting her head a bit to look at Sam, who had installed herself at the comm console in the back. Which, Catra noted, fit her gear perfectly. Jack must have had that installed just for her, but whether he had done so intentionally or not was another question that should have an entertaining answer. Or reaction.
"Smith is a four-star general. We cannot be sure how much influence he has in the various government agencies, so using American assets to investigate him increases the risk that he will become aware of it," Sam replied without taking her eyes off the screen in front of her.
The man would be expecting an investigation anyway since his acting stooge had made contact with SG-1, though it was a fair point. "And so you came to us."
"Yes."
Not to any of America's allied nations. No, Jack trusted Catra and her friends more than anyone else amongst his contacts to handle this crisis. Well, they were his friends, so that was normal. Still, it said something about Earth that…
A beep from the scanner interrupted her thoughts. Smith was moving! Catra twisted and grabbed the shuttle controls, tracking Smith's icon on the holoprojection display in front of her.
Smith was moving through the Pentagon towards the exit. His usual exit, close to his car.
"No change in his routine," Sam reported.
"Yeah," Catra replied.
She checked the sensors in case another shuttle, or one of the old choppers, but those were growing scarce here, was arriving, but the sky was clear. Grinning, she accelerated a bit and started following Smith once he got in his car. "Fancy a car chase?"
"We are invisible to him."
No challenge.
"Spoilports." She chuckled. Still, they had to be pretty close for Melog to sense the man's emotions so she could at least practice some nap-of-the-earth flying. Which would be more fun if the Americans didn't have all those flimsy powerlines crossing the airspace.
Still, she managed to avoid them all - it wasn't hard with how slow those ground cars here were going.
Anticipation.
"Oh?" That was new. "Smith is expecting something," she said for Sam's benefit.
"There's nothing on his schedule," Sam replied.
"He might have planned a romantic evening with his wife." He certainly should, in Catra's opinion, for how much time he was spending at work and not with her.
She felt Melog's amusement clearly. Her friend didn't think Smith would either.
"You did not see any preparations for such an event in his home or office," Sam said.
"You can plan a romantic evening without any of that," Catra pointed out. She had done so herself plenty of times. Though Sam was more like Adora, who couldn't plan anything without at least a whiteboard and three different pens to draw on it.
Anticipation grows.
"Oh! He's growing more excited!" Catra reported.
"He's still driving along the highway," Sam said. "But he's slowing down a little. A few miles, tops."
Catra frowned. There was nothing down there, and the traffic looked normal, so… Wait! There was a truckstop, or whatever those things were called. A big parking lot with a cheap diner. But Smith wasn't driving off the highway - he drove past the exit. And accelerated again to his usual speed.
Disappointment.
"He was checking the parking lot," Catra said. "And whatever he expected wasn't there. Or whomever."
"He didn't call or mail anyone about a meeting here," Sam added.
Catra grinned. "Someone's trying to be clever." But not clever enough for them.
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 4th, 1999
"If anyone asks, we are inspecting a potential site for the Alliance base on the Moon," Jack O'Neill said as he entered his stealth shuttle.
"We are supposed to do the Moon survey in two days, sir." Carter frowned at him.
"So we've decided to reschedule because something else came up." Jack grinned - she was always a little peeved when her schedule was changed. "It's even true. And it's not as if we're the actual surveyors, anyway. We're just checking to see if we like the locations."
"So, you've got the final word?" Catra asked. She was sprawled all over the pilot seat in a position that would break Jack's spine if he attempted it. "I wasn't aware we're building a special forces base on your Moon."
"We aren't. It's supposed to host an early warning system and secondary fleet base."
"Why would the Alliance need either?" Catra frowned. "We've got the spy bot network covering the entire system - and the area beyond it - and you've got plenty of secondary bases."
"It's mostly to lay claim to the Moon, I assume." Jack shrugged. "Or prevent that someone else lays claim to it. Like the United Nations."
"OK." Catra nodded.
Her reaction made sense, of course. Others might have commented that the Moon belonged to all of Earth, but Catra came from a planet where Bright Moon laid claim to three moons. Or she just didn't care. Jack was betting on the latter.
"Anyway," he said, "it's mostly Carter who's involved since she's supposed to build the sensors used there. But guarding the station might be part of my command's job - they're still sorting that out - and doing that will allow me to send my folks out on patrols on the moon, which will be good training, so we're involved as well." And they were friends with Princess of Power She-Ra, Supreme Commander of the Alliance, and while Jack wouldn't really abuse that - unless some idiot picked a truly awful place - others would, and the officers responsible for planning this were playing it safe.
Damn, he was starting to think like a politician instead of a soldier! Jack shook his head.
"Sir, if we're supposed to use the survey as a cover, then they will expect us to actually do the survey."
He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Just pick a location you like."
"But there are several important factors that will influence this choice," she protested.
"And I am sure that you've already considered them all." He flushed her a grin.
She actually blushed a little in return. "Yes, but strictly based on the data I had already - I haven't surveyed the actual locations myself."
"Just check the best location, and if it's good enough, pick it. We've got the technology to build a base anywhere anyway. We've got more important things to do."
"Not every decision has to be planned out like a night assault with green troops," Catra commented.
Jack nodded in agreement.
Carter obviously disagreed, but she was in the minority here. Not that this was a democracy, anyway.
He clapped his hands together, then took control of the shuttle from the co-pilot seat. "So, let's head to orbit and go over what we found out about Smith's dead drop!"
"Well, sir," Carter began as Jack took the shuttle up, "we've run the records we recovered from the diner through the Space Lab's main computer, but we didn't get any suspicious matches. Whoever General Smith might be exchanging messages with probably paid in cash. We've analysed the data from a traffic control camera next, and we've placed advanced sensors in the area, and we have a potential hit there, sir."
Jack refrained from commenting on whether or not Carter had acquired this data legally. They couldn't risk Smith or one of the man's unknown backers catching wind of their investigation. That was a good excuse, at least. "A potential hit?" He checked their course and the sensors, then looked over his shoulder at her screen. It showed a particular car. "The FBI?"
"Yes, sir."
Potential Base Site, Moon, Solar System, December 4th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"So, he's in contact with an FBI spook. Special Agent Wilkinson. Hank Wilkinson."
No one chuckled at Jack O'Neill's Bond impression. Catra probably didn't get the reference, and Carter was staring at her screen, trying to do a complete survey on the sly, but Daniel…
…was gazing at his wife.
Jack cleared his throat. "Focus, people! This whole thing just became a bit more complicated!"
"I would say so," Daniel replied. "It's one thing to investigate a general, it's another to investigate the FBI."
"Why?" Catra asked. "As you told me, you don't have the official authority to do either."
"Ah, well… the FBI is in charge of counter-espionage," Daniel said.
"So is the Alliance Joint Military Intelligence. And they have better stuff," Catra retorted. "Or did you funnel Alliance gear to your local organisations?"
Jack wouldn't be surprised if such a thing had happened, under the table or disguised as 'testing potential uses' or whatever excuse the gang around Kinsey could come up with, but he would have expected that to go to the NID.
"We would have detected any non-registered piece of advanced technology in use in the USA as long as it depended on Naquadah or used hyperspace fields or waves," Carter commented. "They cannot detect this shuttle."
Which was one reason Jack had wanted a stealth shuttle as his private shuttle. No way to track his movements should he have to alter his filed flight path.
"But we'd still be spying on the FBI. That's…"
"...perfectly fine, Daniel," Jack interrupted his friend. "We're going to get to the bottom of this one way or the other. Besides, if there's corruption in the FBI, we best find out as soon as possible." And success generally meant forgiveness, as long as you didn't break too many rules or laws. Or made the wrong people look stupid.
"So, we bug the FBI?" Catra asked.
"Not quite," Jack said. "Or not yet."
"We'll use standard electronic information gathering."
"You can call it hacking, Carter." Jack grinned at her.
"It's not limited to accessing FBI computer systems. We're also going to use advanced sensors to track key suspects."
"So, hacking and stalking." He nodded. "We need to find out if there's a rat in the FBI or if they are used as stooges."
"Stooges?" Catra frowned. "Like in those old movies?"
"Patsies," Daniel explained. "Being used as unwitting tools of the real culprit."
"Ah." Catra nodded, then nodded again at Melog. "Right, shouldn't be too hard - if we can check the suspects' reaction."
"Which brings us back to Hank Wilkinson," Jack said. "Not quite first of his class, but not bad either - you don't make Special Agent if you're stupid or lazy. Good career so far, but he's fallen a bit behind on promotions. Good in the field but 'untested as a leader', according to his file." That could mean he either wasn't good with people - unlikely based on the cases he had solved - or he had stepped on the wrong superior's toes. Or he had simply been in the way of someone's protege. Jack knew how office politics worked. And based on what they knew so far, Wilkinson didn't. He didn't have a patron and didn't know where the right bodies were buried. He seemed to be the stereotypical honest detective in a not-so-honest organisation. Seemed. "I wonder if he's a stooge or player," Jack said.
"We'll find out," Catra said. "Once you put us down on the planet again." She cocked her head at the other cat. "Yes, it's getting late. Tomorrow, then."
By then, they should have a better picture of the situation in the FBI. He looked at Carter. "Carter?"
"A few more minutes, sir," she said without looking up from her screen. "The preliminary scans are done, but a geological survey takes a bit more time."
"Wouldn't want our base to vanish into some sinkhole we missed, yes," Jack said, nodding.
"Given the moon's geology, there is no danger of sinkholes - and we would spot such an anomaly in the early stages of building," Carter replied. "Even if we don't use Tok'ra tunnelling techniques."
"Which we are supposed to use," he reminded her. "To preserve the Moon's environment or something."
"And for camouflage. Like the First Ones did with Alpha," Catra commented. "Too bad you can't completely hide its existence from your people."
Jack sighed. The crazies were already spreading conspiracy theories about secret alien moonbases. This actual hidden base wouldn't help. Too many politicians had access to the Alliance's budget numbers. At least the Ancients' little mad scientist base was still classified somewhat. If people started fearing that they would be turned into animals…
"Apart from the concerns the United Nations have voiced, several groups are protesting the militarisation of the Moon," Daniel said. "And there are concerns about the effects it might have on Earth's magic, given the importance of the moon in myths. To be fair, we don't know much about that."
"It didn't affect Etherian magic," Catra said.
"But Earth magic is different," Daniel retorted. "We don't know if that's the case here as well."
"And it could affect Etherian magic without you being aware of it - the research base has been on the moon since before your kingdoms were founded," Sha're pointed out, "so without older records, you cannot know if there are any differences."
That was a good point, but as long as things worked, Jack was okay with not caring about the details of magic. It was bad enough that even without the Chinese being in the Alliance or having a realistic chance of joining the Alliance, some people wanted Feng Shui consultants to approve of every planned construction.
What was next, sacrificing goats to bless new ships? Jack was almost glad about some good, old-fashioned corruption plot to deal with instead of that nonsense.
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and we thought you could help us deal with this. From the Etherian side, so to speak."
"So, you've got a scumbag trying to blackmail you into Adora healing him, and you want me to help you without making Glimmer lose her temper or Adora trying to act innocent?" Catra cocked her head to the side as she looked at Sam and Daniel.
"Err, yes." Daniel blushed a little. Had he really expected she wouldn't figure out why they were coming to her with this instead of to Adora - the Supreme Commander of the Alliance - or Glimmer, Queen of Bright Moon and member of the Alliance Command Council or whatever they called it this week? Catra didn't even have a formal rank in the Alliance.
"Well, that was a good decision." Catra nodded in approval. Judging by the faint smile on Sam's face, that had been her idea, then. "But what do you want done about him?"
"We're working on uncovering the leak," Sam explained.
"And you can't just arrest the guy and interrogate him until he spills his source because that's illegal on Earth, right?" Catra shook her head. Sometimes, she wondered how Earth countries could function with all that red tape. On the other hand, if someone had been able to restrict her more reckless decisions, back in the Horde… Bah. That was the past.
"Yes." Sha're sighed a little as she nodded.
"Err, there are good reasons for that," Daniel said.
"I know, my love, but they are also inconvenient at a time like this."
Catra could agree with that. "Well, I guess we can't really have him disappear on Etheria, either."
Daniel gasped a little. "No, we can't!"
Catra had been joking, anyway. Mostly. A little trip, and he could become 'lost' in the Whispering Woods. If he was as over-confident as some of his roles, no one would question that he wanted to brave the woods alone. But people would wonder why he had been allowed to enter the woods alone and question the competency of the Princess Alliance. Or suspect foul play - Earth media were all about such plots, and from what Catra had learned about Earth's history, their governments were worse. But that wasn't the point here, anyway.
"We just need you to ensure he doesn't cause any trouble," Sam said, "while we handle the Earth part of this."
Catra nodded. "Especially if he wants to cause trouble. Which he would if he suspects something."
"We're hoping he won't," Sam said.
"That's why you came to me." Catra nodded. Slowly. And took a deep breath. They meant well. They just hadn't thought it through. They hadn't considered how this would look from another point of view. Namely, hers. "Yeah, that's a solid plan. Simple goal, clear reason. There's only one problem with it."
"Oh?" Daniel looked surprised. Sam's eyes widened as well. And Sha're was frowning.
"You want me to lie to my friends. To Adora." Her love.
"Ah." Daniel blinked. "Oh."
Sam winced.
And Sha're glanced at Daniel, then met Catra's eyes.
"That's…" Daniel started to say, but Sha're interrupted him. "We're sorry. We should have realised what we were asking of you, but we didn't." She bowed her head for a moment.
Catra let her breath out. "Yeah, it's…" It wasn't OK, but it hadn't been deliberate. "I understand your line of thinking." But to suggest she should betray Adora, hurt her like that… She clenched her teeth at the thought. Never again. She'd rather die.
All three winced at that, and Catra felt a pang of guilt. They still had a pretty serious problem to solve, and their reasons for suggesting to keep this from Adora - and Glimmer, and the others - were not entirely stupid. What Catra had heard of the mission to the Enchanted Grotto didn't fill her with much confidence in the Princess Alliance's capability to conduct undercover operations.
Sighing once more, she said: "So, we'll have to plan this carefully - with the others. And if Her Sparkliness blows her top, I'm not going to intervene."
"That's fair," Sha're said. The other two grimaced.
"Let's hope the Asgard haven't frustrated Glimmer too much today," Catra said as she got up.
"Oh? Are things not going well?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"They haven't threatened war yet," Catra told him. "But they have very different views, and, apparently, they think as little of our art and stuff as we think of theirs." Which was to be expected if the Asgard enjoyed the things Loki had shown them.
"Oh." Daniel frowned for a moment. "Have you tried to show them artwork comparable to the Norse culture's works? They influenced that culture, after all, and so they might enjoy similar art."
Catra snorted. "Yes. But the Asgard apparently thought sea shanties were parodies of their epics." To be fair, Sea Hawk singing them probably hadn't helped. The man had a good voice, but he was just too passionate about it. And turning every second shanty into a love song for Mermista hadn't helped.
Daniel winced again. "And what about rune carvings?"
Catra sighed once more. "Castaspella said most Etherian runes were related to magic and that it wasn't a good idea to try out new runes without proper precautions. The Asgard disagreed. Last I heard, they were still 'discussing' things when you called for me."
"Ah. Well, we didn't hear any explosions on the way in…"
Catra laughed at the weak joke. "Anyway, let's go and see if we can get Adora and Glimmer. If all goes well, they'll probably be happy to be called away."
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
General Smith had been up to no good. Jack O'Neill was sure of that. And serious no-good stuff, not just the usual things a four-star general did to get promoted if they hadn't saved the world from evil alien body-snatching snakes a few times and were friends with magical princesses who had a huge fleet of spaceships with big honking guns.
Jack leaned back in his seat and dropped the report he had been trying to read on his desk.
The problem was finding enough proof of said no-good stuff. Well, that was one problem. The other problem was finding out what Smith wanted. Why would a four-star general send a bloody Hollywood actor to blackmail Jack? It didn't make much sense. Smith didn't have a reputation for gossiping or drinking, so while it wasn't impossible that he had let slip something classified to a civilian friend at a mixer, it was very unlikely. Smith also wasn't stupid - he would know that Jack wouldn't let some arrogant actor push him around. And he would be aware that, especially now that the United States finally were officially at war, said arrogant actor could end up arrested in a heartbeat.
It wouldn't stick, though. The bastard had used a cover story that was bullshit but just plausible enough to get out of prison as soon as a decent lawyer was brought in. Or, if that didn't work fast enough, the press got a story about the evil Alliance trying to send an actor who had found out too much to a gulag. Which the public would take as proof that the Alliance was keeping magic that made you young again for themselves.
And that would be a catastrophe. Everyone with money and influence would try to get this, and most of them would not baulk at anything to be young again. Even worse, those without influence or money would riot. The First Contact riots had been bad enough, but this would put the worst anti-magic riots in the Middle East to shame. And if the Russians and the Chinese leaders decided that they wanted access to this…
The Alliance would be hard-pressed to handle all of this without the war against the snakes and the current issues with the Asgard.
Was that what Smith was counting on? That Jack would rather ask Adora to heal a puffed-up actor than risk such a catastrophe? But Smith would also know that Jack wouldn't let this go. And neither would the princesses. Was Smith trusting the threat of revealing the healing effects to keep him safe from retaliation? That would be short-sighted. And stupid. Such a threat would have to be neutralised. Not to mention that Jack didn't think the idiot actor would be able to keep quiet once people noticed. No, that scumbag would tell his trusted friends - or people he wanted to impress or get favours off. Or the latest starlet in his bed.
And even if Smith were stupid enough to trust such a scheme, what was he getting out of this? Jack couldn't see how this whole thing benefitted Smith. If they gave in to the blackmail to keep the secret, then that would mean the odds of anyone else getting Adora's healing would be even lower. If Smith wanted to have a young body again, it would have been better to do the blackmail directly. Hell, if he skipped the blackmail and just asked Adora directly, maybe added some sob story about being in pain, she might have healed him anyway.
So, what was Smith's goal? Was he being blackmailed by someone? Had he had some affair with a starlet, courtesy of his 'friend', and now it turned out that his friend had some demands to keep it a secret from Smith's wife? But would Smith go that far? Not for an affair, Jack thought. That sort of stuff still damaged your career, but they were at war now, which meant standards were looser - and Jack wasn't going to dwell on what might mean with regards to other rules that he wouldn't break anyway - and Smith was a decent officer and would know similar secrets of politicians and fellow officers. Enough to keep his post, though it might cost him a future promotion.
So, if Smith was being blackmailed, it had to be something more serious. And it would have a Hollywood connection. Drugs? They regularly tested for that - when you had to check for snake possession or weird alien stuff, scanning for drugs at the same time was just routine. So, if Smith had a secret, it had to be something more serious.
Which brought Jack back to his main problem: Finding out what Smith was hiding. And who was helping the bastard. Maybe he should do some field work himself, check out the man's home… No. He snorted at his own foolishness. If he got caught breaking into Smith's house, not even Adora's influence could save him from getting cashiered or worse. He had made too many enemies to escape such a blunder, both in politics and the general staff. Too many would be happy to see him gone.
He blinked.
Maybe that was Smith's goal.
*****
Royal Palace, Bright Moon, Etheria, December 3rd, 1999 (Earth Time)
"...and so we would like you to act as if nothing is wrong while we investigate further."
Adora took a deep breath after Sam finished her explanation. So, in the middle of the Asgard visit, they were facing another crisis. This was….
"We've got a scumbag trying to blackmail the Alliance, and we're supposed to do nothing about it?" Glimmer blurted out as she stood, both palms pressed on the table.
…infuriating, yes. "We can't just do nothing," she agreed with her friend, looking at Daniel, Sha're and Sam.
"We're not expecting you to do nothing," Daniel told her - wincing a little. "But until we know what's going on, we don't want to let the, ah, suspects, get spooked - we want them to think their plan is working."
"And Melog and I are going to help find out what's behind this blackmail," Catra added.
Melog glowed briefly in a smattering of colours.
Right. Sam had mentioned that as well. Adora nodded.
"Why you?" Glimmer asked with narrowed eyes.
Catra grinned. "Because we're unlikely to lose our temper and blow up this operation."
Adora winced, already knowing Glimemr wouldn't like that. Especially not when she was already angry.
"Says the woman whose mood can be spotted on Melog!" Glimmer spat, as expected.
Melog did flicker red for a moment before switching back, Adora noticed.
"Not too many people know that," Catra said. She cocked her head to the side, listening to her friend. "And Melog won't be visible often."
Adora bit her lower lip. That was one potential problem handled. "But if you leave, the Asgard will wonder why," she added before Glimmer could say something else to continue the argument.
Catra shrugged. "So? Let them. We're fighting a war. They can't expect us to focus everything on them."
"Well, they could - we don't know much about their culture and customs," Daniel pointed out. "But they have to be aware that both Etheira and Earth have different customs."
"If they want to take offence, they will take offence anyway," Sha're added. "Whether at this or at any other excuse."
That would ruin the entire plan of earning their trust. But if they were not willing to be open-minded, then the plan had been doomed from the start. Still… Adora shook her head. One problem at a time, she reminded herself of the old lesson from cadet training. If she tried to do everything at once, she wouldn't succeed at anything. "So… you'll go to Earth for a while?" she asked Catra.
Her lover shrugged. "I can return through the Stargate anytime I want. But we'll probably need some time to find out what's behind this."
So, they would be separated for a time. Again. Alone. Adora briefly pressed her lips together. She was better than that. And Catra and Melog were needed on Earth, less so on Etheria right now, while Adora had to be here to handle the Asgard's visit. They could do this. It wouldn't be too long, anyway. Either they would find the culprit quickly, or the Asgard visit would end, and Adora would spend more time on Earth in the Alliance Headquarters. At least until the cultural exchange with Earth started. Though if Adora was on Earth, then that would be a good reason not to heal that traitorous actor…
She nodded. "Alright. Anything else?"
Glimmer frowned at her. Had she expected Adora to veto this plan? What was the alternative? Risk having everyone on Earth think she could turn back old age? It was bad enough that so many wanted her to heal them, they were willing to riot. Adora suppressed a shudder when she remembered Paris.
"I can't believe they'd do that," Bow spoke up. "I love that show!"
"They're an actor," Cara told him with a scoff. "They are just playing a role. You can't trust them."
Was she talking about all actors or this one in particular? Or was she talking about Double Trouble? The spy's actions hadn't really left a good impression on, well, anyone, but Catra carried a particular grudge. Adora could understand it, of course.
She wished things were different, though. It was too bad that they couldn't trust Double Trouble. They would be perfect for such a mission. But letting them loose on Earth? That would be a disaster. If they were lucky, Double Trouble would finish the job before going off on their own to cause chaos, but they wouldn't be able to resist stirring up trouble.
And they wouldn't care that Etheria was in the middle of a war or that the situation on Earth could break out in riots or worse with just a slight provocation.
"Well, they're a good actor," Bow defended himself.
"But not a good person," Adora said.
"As far as we know," Daniel cautioned.
Even Sha're rolled her eyes at him at that, Adora saw.
He flushed a little. "I am just pointing out that we don't know what is behind this yet. We shouldn't judge people without all the information."
He was right about that, but things were not looking good for the man, in Adora's opinion.
*****
Above the Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
"So, you have checked the 'suspect's' offices in the Alliance headquarters already, and found nothing suspect? That's suspicious."
Samantha Carter nodded at Catra's question and ignored the wording. If her friend wanted to make fun of the correct terms for an investigation, then that was fine as long as it didn't hinder the investigation. "He has not been working in Brussels for long, and he seems not to have made many friends amongst the general staff of the other Alliance members." Something unfortunately quite common for many American officers, as Sam had also found out. It apparently wasn't just because the Stargate had been kept a secret from the other countries, either - many NATO members had long memories. But that was a problem for another day.
"Yeah. He certainly has no friends in our ranks. Acquaintances yes - he did good work on the PZ-921 offensive - but he wasn't really friendly. Juliet thought he might have issues with magic." Catra shrugged and shifted in the copilot seat of the General's stealth shuttle.
Or women, Sam thought with a slight frown. From what information she had gathered, General Smith had never shown open misogyny - he wouldn't have kept his position, much less have been integrated into the Alliance command structure if he had - but he hadn't spoken up for female officers either. Or had had any trouble with the more open misogynist officers in the force. Of course, he might just have had issues with General Juliet's style. The commander of Bright Moon's forces liked to wear her armour when on duty. Which included a cape.
But that was irrelevant right now. They were not investigating Smith's views on women but his potential crimes. "If he is doing anything illegal, it's unlikely he'll do it in his office."
"Which you have bugged already." Her friend grinned.
"Appropriate measures have been taken," Sam confirmed. "We're tracking his electronic communication as well." Including all cell phones used at his home, in case he was using burner phones.
"And you think it won't be enough, or we wouldn't be here." Catra nodded at Melog, who was sitting on the floor next to her seat.
"We haven't found any electronic trace of General Smith being in contact with our primary suspect. So, it was likely done face to face or through an intermediary."
"Like we do things on Etheria." Catra flashed her fangs, and her tail swished, then she turned to frown at Melog. "That was different! That was just regular communication during the war."
A moment later, she frowned again. "It was an undercover operation as part of the war. And that was in the Horde."
It seemed that Melog was disagreeing with her claim. And being pedantic about it - or facetious. Not being able to directly communicate with Melog was a bit frustrating, but it was merely a nuisance. And Sam couldn't really expect Catra to serve as a translator for every quip the other cat made.
The General would, though. And he would probably find it incredibly amusing to banter with Melog through Catra.
She pushed the thought away. "Anyway, I'll continue to monitor his electronic communications."
"And we'll spy on him in person." Catra nodded. "And if we don't find anything, we'll go after the actor."
The man was currently under observation by some of the General's 'acquaintances' who owed him a favour or two, as he had called it. "If you turn up nothing here," Sam told Catra.
"If we don't find anything, we can poke him and see how he reacts." Catra cocked her head to the side, and her ears perked up. "Melog can't read minds, but he can detect emotions. Should give us some clue." Suddenly, she frowned at her friend. "I don't always annoy everyone, so if he is annoyed, that's still a clue!"
Sam couldn't help snorting at that. It was a bit like seeing the General and Daniel banter during a mission.
*****
Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
Smith lived in a pretty nice house, in Catra's opinion. It was on the outskirts of Washington, but that was a nice area in America. You wouldn't catch General Juliet living in the countryside instead of in the palace. Or any of Mermista's admirals. But the United States didn't have a palace - the White House came closest, but anyone could see it wasn't a palace; it was much too small to house a court.
No one inside.
She nodded at Melog. That was what the shuttle's scanners had shown them, but it was always good to double-check intel.
"Good," she whispered. "Now, let's take a closer look at his home." She didn't expect to find anything incriminating, but if you could do recon in person, you did it. It would help with finding the best approach to observing the general's home life.
And she was curious how the man lived. She had only visited one Earth general's home before, and Jack hadn't been a general at the time.
Breaking into the man's home was easy. Not suspiciously easy - they had magitech tools to fool his security system, and Catra had been sneaking into restricted areas all the time as a cadet - but she would have expected a bit more from someone apparently trying to blackmail the Alliance. Or taking a shot at a personal friend of She-Ra, if Jack was right.
"Looks a bit… drab," she commented once they were both inside. "Nothing too personal."
Family.
Melog stared at a couple of pictures on the sideboard next to the couch.
"Those are the same pictures he has on his desk." In fact, the living room left a similar impression as the man's office. Tidy. Neat. Like the barracks before an inspection.
Catra wasn't sure what that said about the man, but it was something.
*****
Above the Pentagon, Washington D.C., United States of America, December 3rd, 1999
Smith is a … workaholic is the Earth term, Catra thought. It was past eight, and he was still in his office in the Pentagon. Which was a weird structure, in her opinion; until the shield generator had been installed after the United States joined the Alliance, it hadn't had any protection from air or orbital attacks. Why would you put most of your military leadership into an easily identifiable and destroyable building? And in the same region as the not-palace of your supreme leader? Sure, they had the bunker where they had first placed the Stargate, but most of the people running the military were in Washington.
Of course, the people in the bunker might be enough to keep the armed forces going just fine, but if that was the case, why would they need the Pentagon in the first place?
Well, they had shield generators now, so the point was probably moot, but she made a note to ask Jack about it anyway. At the least, his answer would be entertaining.
Much more entertaining than tracking Smith. She sighed and stretched her arms over her head, then shifted a bit in the shuttle's seat. "No change?"
No.
Melog was sprawled out on the backrests of the two seas behind her in a very comfy position. She would also have to try that when she wasn't nominally on pilot duty. And they weren't in the middle of an operation.
"You know, with all those millions of soldiers, I would have expected you to have more spies available," she commented, twisting her head a bit to look at Sam, who had installed herself at the comm console in the back. Which, Catra noted, fit her gear perfectly. Jack must have had that installed just for her, but whether he had done so intentionally or not was another question that should have an entertaining answer. Or reaction.
"Smith is a four-star general. We cannot be sure how much influence he has in the various government agencies, so using American assets to investigate him increases the risk that he will become aware of it," Sam replied without taking her eyes off the screen in front of her.
The man would be expecting an investigation anyway since his acting stooge had made contact with SG-1, though it was a fair point. "And so you came to us."
"Yes."
Not to any of America's allied nations. No, Jack trusted Catra and her friends more than anyone else amongst his contacts to handle this crisis. Well, they were his friends, so that was normal. Still, it said something about Earth that…
A beep from the scanner interrupted her thoughts. Smith was moving! Catra twisted and grabbed the shuttle controls, tracking Smith's icon on the holoprojection display in front of her.
Smith was moving through the Pentagon towards the exit. His usual exit, close to his car.
"No change in his routine," Sam reported.
"Yeah," Catra replied.
She checked the sensors in case another shuttle, or one of the old choppers, but those were growing scarce here, was arriving, but the sky was clear. Grinning, she accelerated a bit and started following Smith once he got in his car. "Fancy a car chase?"
"We are invisible to him."
No challenge.
"Spoilports." She chuckled. Still, they had to be pretty close for Melog to sense the man's emotions so she could at least practice some nap-of-the-earth flying. Which would be more fun if the Americans didn't have all those flimsy powerlines crossing the airspace.
Still, she managed to avoid them all - it wasn't hard with how slow those ground cars here were going.
Anticipation.
"Oh?" That was new. "Smith is expecting something," she said for Sam's benefit.
"There's nothing on his schedule," Sam replied.
"He might have planned a romantic evening with his wife." He certainly should, in Catra's opinion, for how much time he was spending at work and not with her.
She felt Melog's amusement clearly. Her friend didn't think Smith would either.
"You did not see any preparations for such an event in his home or office," Sam said.
"You can plan a romantic evening without any of that," Catra pointed out. She had done so herself plenty of times. Though Sam was more like Adora, who couldn't plan anything without at least a whiteboard and three different pens to draw on it.
Anticipation grows.
"Oh! He's growing more excited!" Catra reported.
"He's still driving along the highway," Sam said. "But he's slowing down a little. A few miles, tops."
Catra frowned. There was nothing down there, and the traffic looked normal, so… Wait! There was a truckstop, or whatever those things were called. A big parking lot with a cheap diner. But Smith wasn't driving off the highway - he drove past the exit. And accelerated again to his usual speed.
Disappointment.
"He was checking the parking lot," Catra said. "And whatever he expected wasn't there. Or whomever."
"He didn't call or mail anyone about a meeting here," Sam added.
Catra grinned. "Someone's trying to be clever." But not clever enough for them.
*****
Alliance Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Earth, December 4th, 1999
"If anyone asks, we are inspecting a potential site for the Alliance base on the Moon," Jack O'Neill said as he entered his stealth shuttle.
"We are supposed to do the Moon survey in two days, sir." Carter frowned at him.
"So we've decided to reschedule because something else came up." Jack grinned - she was always a little peeved when her schedule was changed. "It's even true. And it's not as if we're the actual surveyors, anyway. We're just checking to see if we like the locations."
"So, you've got the final word?" Catra asked. She was sprawled all over the pilot seat in a position that would break Jack's spine if he attempted it. "I wasn't aware we're building a special forces base on your Moon."
"We aren't. It's supposed to host an early warning system and secondary fleet base."
"Why would the Alliance need either?" Catra frowned. "We've got the spy bot network covering the entire system - and the area beyond it - and you've got plenty of secondary bases."
"It's mostly to lay claim to the Moon, I assume." Jack shrugged. "Or prevent that someone else lays claim to it. Like the United Nations."
"OK." Catra nodded.
Her reaction made sense, of course. Others might have commented that the Moon belonged to all of Earth, but Catra came from a planet where Bright Moon laid claim to three moons. Or she just didn't care. Jack was betting on the latter.
"Anyway," he said, "it's mostly Carter who's involved since she's supposed to build the sensors used there. But guarding the station might be part of my command's job - they're still sorting that out - and doing that will allow me to send my folks out on patrols on the moon, which will be good training, so we're involved as well." And they were friends with Princess of Power She-Ra, Supreme Commander of the Alliance, and while Jack wouldn't really abuse that - unless some idiot picked a truly awful place - others would, and the officers responsible for planning this were playing it safe.
Damn, he was starting to think like a politician instead of a soldier! Jack shook his head.
"Sir, if we're supposed to use the survey as a cover, then they will expect us to actually do the survey."
He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Just pick a location you like."
"But there are several important factors that will influence this choice," she protested.
"And I am sure that you've already considered them all." He flushed her a grin.
She actually blushed a little in return. "Yes, but strictly based on the data I had already - I haven't surveyed the actual locations myself."
"Just check the best location, and if it's good enough, pick it. We've got the technology to build a base anywhere anyway. We've got more important things to do."
"Not every decision has to be planned out like a night assault with green troops," Catra commented.
Jack nodded in agreement.
Carter obviously disagreed, but she was in the minority here. Not that this was a democracy, anyway.
He clapped his hands together, then took control of the shuttle from the co-pilot seat. "So, let's head to orbit and go over what we found out about Smith's dead drop!"
"Well, sir," Carter began as Jack took the shuttle up, "we've run the records we recovered from the diner through the Space Lab's main computer, but we didn't get any suspicious matches. Whoever General Smith might be exchanging messages with probably paid in cash. We've analysed the data from a traffic control camera next, and we've placed advanced sensors in the area, and we have a potential hit there, sir."
Jack refrained from commenting on whether or not Carter had acquired this data legally. They couldn't risk Smith or one of the man's unknown backers catching wind of their investigation. That was a good excuse, at least. "A potential hit?" He checked their course and the sensors, then looked over his shoulder at her screen. It showed a particular car. "The FBI?"
"Yes, sir."
*****
Potential Base Site, Moon, Solar System, December 4th, 1999 (Earth Time)
"So, he's in contact with an FBI spook. Special Agent Wilkinson. Hank Wilkinson."
No one chuckled at Jack O'Neill's Bond impression. Catra probably didn't get the reference, and Carter was staring at her screen, trying to do a complete survey on the sly, but Daniel…
…was gazing at his wife.
Jack cleared his throat. "Focus, people! This whole thing just became a bit more complicated!"
"I would say so," Daniel replied. "It's one thing to investigate a general, it's another to investigate the FBI."
"Why?" Catra asked. "As you told me, you don't have the official authority to do either."
"Ah, well… the FBI is in charge of counter-espionage," Daniel said.
"So is the Alliance Joint Military Intelligence. And they have better stuff," Catra retorted. "Or did you funnel Alliance gear to your local organisations?"
Jack wouldn't be surprised if such a thing had happened, under the table or disguised as 'testing potential uses' or whatever excuse the gang around Kinsey could come up with, but he would have expected that to go to the NID.
"We would have detected any non-registered piece of advanced technology in use in the USA as long as it depended on Naquadah or used hyperspace fields or waves," Carter commented. "They cannot detect this shuttle."
Which was one reason Jack had wanted a stealth shuttle as his private shuttle. No way to track his movements should he have to alter his filed flight path.
"But we'd still be spying on the FBI. That's…"
"...perfectly fine, Daniel," Jack interrupted his friend. "We're going to get to the bottom of this one way or the other. Besides, if there's corruption in the FBI, we best find out as soon as possible." And success generally meant forgiveness, as long as you didn't break too many rules or laws. Or made the wrong people look stupid.
"So, we bug the FBI?" Catra asked.
"Not quite," Jack said. "Or not yet."
"We'll use standard electronic information gathering."
"You can call it hacking, Carter." Jack grinned at her.
"It's not limited to accessing FBI computer systems. We're also going to use advanced sensors to track key suspects."
"So, hacking and stalking." He nodded. "We need to find out if there's a rat in the FBI or if they are used as stooges."
"Stooges?" Catra frowned. "Like in those old movies?"
"Patsies," Daniel explained. "Being used as unwitting tools of the real culprit."
"Ah." Catra nodded, then nodded again at Melog. "Right, shouldn't be too hard - if we can check the suspects' reaction."
"Which brings us back to Hank Wilkinson," Jack said. "Not quite first of his class, but not bad either - you don't make Special Agent if you're stupid or lazy. Good career so far, but he's fallen a bit behind on promotions. Good in the field but 'untested as a leader', according to his file." That could mean he either wasn't good with people - unlikely based on the cases he had solved - or he had stepped on the wrong superior's toes. Or he had simply been in the way of someone's protege. Jack knew how office politics worked. And based on what they knew so far, Wilkinson didn't. He didn't have a patron and didn't know where the right bodies were buried. He seemed to be the stereotypical honest detective in a not-so-honest organisation. Seemed. "I wonder if he's a stooge or player," Jack said.
"We'll find out," Catra said. "Once you put us down on the planet again." She cocked her head at the other cat. "Yes, it's getting late. Tomorrow, then."
By then, they should have a better picture of the situation in the FBI. He looked at Carter. "Carter?"
"A few more minutes, sir," she said without looking up from her screen. "The preliminary scans are done, but a geological survey takes a bit more time."
"Wouldn't want our base to vanish into some sinkhole we missed, yes," Jack said, nodding.
"Given the moon's geology, there is no danger of sinkholes - and we would spot such an anomaly in the early stages of building," Carter replied. "Even if we don't use Tok'ra tunnelling techniques."
"Which we are supposed to use," he reminded her. "To preserve the Moon's environment or something."
"And for camouflage. Like the First Ones did with Alpha," Catra commented. "Too bad you can't completely hide its existence from your people."
Jack sighed. The crazies were already spreading conspiracy theories about secret alien moonbases. This actual hidden base wouldn't help. Too many politicians had access to the Alliance's budget numbers. At least the Ancients' little mad scientist base was still classified somewhat. If people started fearing that they would be turned into animals…
"Apart from the concerns the United Nations have voiced, several groups are protesting the militarisation of the Moon," Daniel said. "And there are concerns about the effects it might have on Earth's magic, given the importance of the moon in myths. To be fair, we don't know much about that."
"It didn't affect Etherian magic," Catra said.
"But Earth magic is different," Daniel retorted. "We don't know if that's the case here as well."
"And it could affect Etherian magic without you being aware of it - the research base has been on the moon since before your kingdoms were founded," Sha're pointed out, "so without older records, you cannot know if there are any differences."
That was a good point, but as long as things worked, Jack was okay with not caring about the details of magic. It was bad enough that even without the Chinese being in the Alliance or having a realistic chance of joining the Alliance, some people wanted Feng Shui consultants to approve of every planned construction.
What was next, sacrificing goats to bless new ships? Jack was almost glad about some good, old-fashioned corruption plot to deal with instead of that nonsense.
*****