United States Air Force Academy
North of Colorado Springs, Colorado
Earth
Summoned to the Air Force Academy, by a phone call received at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, Brigadier General Samantha Carter returned to the institution from which she had graduated from many years before. Arriving two hours later, Carter parked her sedan, and took note of young cadets moving around the sprawling grounds of the facility, participating in morning physical training. Making her way up the Core Values Ramp, where all Academy graduates begin their time at the Academy, General Carter passed beneath a stone portal inscribed with the core values held dear by the Air Force; Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. During Carter's time at the Academy, this inscribed portal had simply read 'Bring me men', a quote from the poem The Coming American.
Passing through the parade field, and the Goldwater Visitor Center, Carter made her way to Doolittle Hall. Headquarters to the Academy's Association of Graduates, Doolittle Hall was a building Carter knew well. As she entered Doolittle Hall, a civilian in a business suit greeted Carter, and asked that she follow him elsewhere in the building. Making their way past several security doors, the duo traveled deeper into the inner recesses of the Hall. After several minutes lacking any conversation, Carter and her escort arrived at a secure briefing room deep within the building.
Showing the General in, Carter's escort remained outside, and stood guard over the doorway. That single act told Carter she was about to speak to someone, whom she was unsure, about series information. Stepping through the doorway, Carter looked around to see if she recognized who was in attendance. Instead of a group, a single man, with dour expression, sat at the polished table filling the briefing room. Rising from his seat, the man quickly offered a handshake to Carter. Sizing her host up with a look, Carter quickly reached the conclusion that this man was all business.
"Thank you for coming General. My apologies for waking you so early. Please, have a seat." The man offered.
"Commanding the SGC, you quickly become accustomed to odd early morning summonses. You are?" Carter asked.
"Defense Intelligence Agency." The man replied simply.
"I was more hoping for a name." Carter countered warily.
"Smith will do." The man replied with a dashing smile.
"Well Mr. Smith, you failed to tell me what department of DIA you work for." Carter prompted.
"It isn't a failure, I simply didn't tell you." Smith countered.
"Generally, it is helpful to tell me who you are, what you do, and why I am here. It makes a meeting flow much smoother that way." Carter stated in annoyance.
"Tricks of the trade I'm afraid. Forgive me. I am with the Defense Clandestine Service section of DIA. Specifically, I am in Counterintelligence." Smith explained.
"Ok Mr. Smith, why am I sitting her, and how can I help our esteemed friends in Counterintelligence?" Carter inquired.
"I have requested your presence here today, to inform you my people are going to need full access to your facility, personnel reports and files, the personnel themselves, and all records." Smith explained.
"Facility access is no problem, though my people may question why counterintelligence is roaming the halls. Access to personnel will be made available. Personnel reports, files, and all records is a problem. Before I even consider granting such a request, I want you to lay out your reasoning for needing access." Carter argued.
"Your people questioning our presence at the SGC will not be a problem, as your facility, per a directive from Washington, will be engaging in a three day stand down to evaluate how upgrades within the facility are performing. General Carter, let me be clear; your consent is not needed for my people to review your records and personnel files. Consider the question a professional courtesy." Smith pointed out.
"I will explain to General Ronson at Home World Command the directive you received from Washington. If he approves your access, you will receive the access you desire. Understand the SGC falls under the purview of Home World Command, and not some nameless bureaucrat in Washington. Any stand down order must come from him. The chain of command is quite clear on this, as I am sure you are aware. As for access to personnel records, all other records, anything else you may want to paw through; that requires my consent. Before I let you tear through my people's lives, I want a reason as to why, and I want it before I let you within a hundred feet of that information." Carter argued firmly.
"It's commendable that you want to insulate those under your command. This speaks highly of you as a commander. As for calling General Ronson, I will see your commander of Home World Command, and raise you a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. My authorization and tasking order comes directly from General O'Neill. I think that trumps any say so from Ronson nicely. Your consent to review all records is not needed, but asked for. Obviously, this will move faster with your cooperation, and we would appreciate said cooperation. We are both on the same side here General." Smith extolled.
"Being that we are both on the same side, and you would like my unfettered cooperation, I want you to level with me. All I am asking for is a reason why you want to dig through my people's lives roughshod. I am not asking for much." Carter countered.
"You want me to level with you? Ok, I will play ball. Intelligence has come into our possession that a leak exists, and we believe it likely that leak is in the SGC. We have a traitor in our midst. Simple enough for you?" Smith asked.
"What? How good is the source of the intelligence?" Carter asked in shock.
"In the opinion of the DIA, this information and its source are gold platted. Sources and methods obviously will not be provided." Smith said firmly.
"The largest problem I see with what you are requesting is a matter of logistics. Off world operations from the SGC, take place around the clock. I have teams deployed on dozens of worlds throughout the galaxy. We can postpone off world missions moving forward, but teams already on mission will periodically dial in to report, or return to Earth. Simply shutting down the SGC for a few days is not a workable plan, especially when unannounced." Carter further argued.
"That has already been taken into account. Gate operations will transfer for a short time to Borealis in San Francisco Bay. Returning teams will simply enjoy a few days aboard Borealis, while we take a look around. Once we are done, gate operations will transfer back to the SGC." Smith countered.
"Hold it for a second. If you think a leak is present at the SGC, how can you be so sure I am not the leak?" Carter questioned.
"We have already dug through your background, phone records, off world deployment schedules, and finances. You have already been ruled out as a suspect. Per General O'Neill's request, you were the first member of the SGC we checked out. As the General believed, you came back clean." Smith said without a trace of regret.
"Do not sit there and think I am overjoyed at the announcement that you dug through my life. Ok Mr. Smith, I am going to plan on transferring gate operations to Borealis tomorrow tonight." Carter huffed in irritation.
"That will not be necessary General, as gate operations transferred to Borealis fifteen minutes before you arrived here. My people are already on site. All SGC personnel are now in the process of vacating the facility now. As I said a moment ago, this meeting is more a formality than anything. Now, I would ask that you come with me. We are both going to Cheyenne Mountain." Smith finished.
Star Gate Command, Cheyenne Mountain
Earth
Milky Way
Upon receipt of instructions from the Pentagon, the permanent staff of Star Gate Command swung into action. An announcement went out over the public address system throughout the facility that all personnel were to cease activities immediately, and exit the facility. It was explained to all, that an unannounced period of evaluation of the facility was to take place. Classified information was secured and weapons lockers were sealed. In the gate room operations center, control crystals needed for the facility's gate to operate were pulled, and locked away. As this took place, in San Francisco Bay, the gate of the city ship Borealis was reconfigured to act as fill in gate for Earth. SGC support personnel soon beamed from beneath Cheyenne Mountain, as a brief window in the bunker shielding fields allowed, to Borealis.
In groups of six, teams of personnel from the Defense Intelligence Agency exited elevators, and began to spread out throughout the subterranean facility. With them, these teams brought sealed containers. From these containers, technicians removed equipment with which they would scour all levels of Star Gate Command, to locate any eavesdropping device present. No stone would be left unturned, to include the gate itself. All would be checked, and then rechecked, in the effort to rule the SGC free of intelligence gathering devices.
Making their way into the Administrative section, where all personnel records were stored, both on computer and hardcopy backups, other teams from the DIA tore into voluminous files. This task was also being repeated on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, location of DIA headquarters. Every nook and cranny of the lives of those assigned to the SGC would be explored. In the case of an anomaly, investigators would be dispatched to look into whatever questions might arise.
In weapons armories and locker rooms, any and all gear used for off world missions was examined closely. First, each piece of gear was checked for signals emissions. From there, each piece of gear was scanned, down to the molecular level, in hopes of uncovering anything that did not belong. Uniforms, weapons, medical gear, communications gear, and even canteens were examined. Each examination failed to turn up any anomaly.
A team of communication system experts busied themselves delving into the communications logs of Star Gate Command. Not simply reviewing logs, these experts also closely examined each communications system, looking for a corruption, and trace of a message sent that was not logged. Further examination was put into other systems, to include communications devices used by off world teams, and even the facility's public address system. Aboard Borealis, discreet scans and observations were made to each off world team member's subcutaneous locator. These observations would be used to disprove the hypothesis that subcutaneous locator's might be used to relay information to other parties.
For a day and night, information technology specialists of the Defense Intelligence Agency team poured through the master database of Star Gate Command. Looking over login activity, it had become clear that dozens of personnel assigned to the SGC had high level access to many parts of the database. This discovery caused many of the forensic database analysts to roll their eyes in frustration. Homing in on the access logs of subspace capacitor schematics, the team took note of the individuals who had access the files containing the engineering secrets of the device in question. Handing these notes to another team, the forensic analysts continued their search for login activity and abnormal usage patterns in other sections of the database.
Notes in hand from the forensic analysts pouring over the database, a security protocol team examined the names of all those who had access the subspace capacitor files over the previous two year period. Many of these were engineers and scientists, most of whom were not currently residing within the Milky Way, and had not been present for some time. Those were easily ruled out from preliminary investigation, but would be included during a later follow up. Topping this list was an individual unlikely to have need to access the files in question. That this individual was neither an engineer, nor a scientist served to highlight the odd act of accessing schematics for the subspace capacitor. This name was quickly whisked away, to the briefing room abutting General Carter's office.
Since her and the DIA team's arrival at the SGC, Carter had sequestered herself away, in her office. Instead of participating in the ransacking of her command, Carter busied herself with compiling list after list. Each of these related to the subspace capacitor; a device she was intimately familiar. While the materials needed to construct the subspace capacitor were plentiful throughout the galaxy, the engineering prowess to turn these materials into an actual functioning device could only be found on a number of worlds. Putting herself in the shoes of a lesser engineer, with no experience with the capacitor or its design, Carter went about the mental process of turning a schematic for a less than well understood device into a functioning example. Quickly, Carter came to the conclusion that while construction of the device was possible, a less than perfect understanding of the science and engineering behind its design would result in a capacitor that operated at less than optimum levels of efficiency. That was the one piece of good news to be found. The fact that optimum levels of efficiency could be overcome with multiple devices did little to please Carter at all. Standing in Carter's office doorway, the silent appearance of Mr. Smith tore the General away from these thoughts.
"Yes?" Carter asked in a tired voice.
"We need to discuss something found in the database." Smith prompted.
"I bet you do. Proceed Mr. Smith; I am all ears." Carter urged.
Before setting, Smith handed Carter a copy of the document he had received minutes before. On this document was a long list of names, highlighted in differing colors of fluorescent ink.
"This is the log of everyone who accessed schematics and other pertinent files relating to the subspace capacitor, its development, and test data. See anything out of place?" Smith asked softly.
As someone who had been heavily involved with the development of the subspace capacitor, Carter was not surprised to see her name on the list. Alongside her name were the names of those who had worked on this project with her. Each of these names represented a man or woman with whom Carter had a long working relationship with, and in many cases considered a friend. Bringing her eyes to the top of the long list, Carter squinted her eyes slightly.
"Are you sure this is correct? Why would Colonel Andrews access this data? He has no need." Carter said, more to herself than anyone else.
"The fact that he did is there in black and white. Tell me about Colonel Andrews." Smith suggested.
"Ernie Andrews has been a member of the SGC since he was a Major. Started as a member of an SG team during the Ori incursion, and later transferred to Pegasus for a time. When we offered him the chance to join Icarus, he turned down the assignment. One thing worth considering is that Colonel Andrews is not an engineer, and lacks an engineering background. It is unlikely he would be able to understand the schematics." Carter explained.
"Has the subject ever come in contact with the Lucian Alliance?" Smith asked pointedly.
"No, he has not." Carter answered.
"Let's suppose for a moment that the subject is working with the Alliance. It would make sense that he would turn down an assignment to Icarus. The first rule of intelligence gathering is not to put all your eggs in one basket." Smith hypothesized.
"You can't sit there and convict the man on the basis of an assignment he passed on. It is entirely possible that his access code to the database was somehow compromised. Before we lay blame on Andrews, I suggest that you review the internal surveillance feeds at the times his access code was used." Carter suggested forcefully.
"That has already been done General, before I brought this to your attention." Smith pointed out.
"And?" Carter demanded.
"The surveillance footage, facility wide, was corrupted and therefore unrecoverable for time periods coinciding with the Colonel's access code being used. If anything, this makes it more likely the subject is simply covering his tracks." Smith explained.
"Or, that Colonel Andrews is being set up, and the real mole is simply leaving a trail of crumbs at Andrews feet." Carter snapped.
"General, you're a scientist, and one of some note. Consider Occam's razor for a moment. Given many options, the simplest is often the best. Is it more likely that Andrews is the mole, or that the real mole is capable of stealing valuable technology secrets, while diverting the blame to an innocent party?" Smith asked scornfully.
"I am very aware of Occam's razor. What is your next step then? Are you going to grab the Colonel, and lock him and his team away until wrongdoing is admitted to your liking?" Carter asked in anger.
"The odds of Andrews bringing in those under his command in on this have been considered, and judged unlikely. We would like to keep the Colonel in place for now, while we monitor what he passes on. That might present an interesting opportunity to pass along something of our choosing." Smith admitted.
"Keep an eye on him how? It is not as if you can approach his team with this, and not expect word to filter back to Andrews. An SG team is a tight family, and in a family, secrets are short lived. A way may be possible though, if only to prove Andrews innocence in this matter." Carter mused.
"Our first thought was to add a new member to SG-31." Smith stated.
"That won't be necessary. Let me make a phone call." Carter replied.
Lifting her direct line to the Pentagon, Carter quickly navigated the maze that is communications within the headquarters of the United States military. Watching Carter work, Smith realized that the General was indeed as inventive and resourceful as her reputation suggested. After hanging up the phone, Carter wordlessly rose from behind her desk for her eighth cup of coffee of the day. Though she wanted and needed coffee, and the caffeine it contained, Carter simply refused to sit in a room with Smith if it could be avoided. Minutes later, the visual and auditory signature of an Asgard transport beam filled the briefing room, announcing the arrival of the expected guest.
Returning to material form, a young woman stood near the window looking down upon the star gate below. Dressed in Multicam patterned fatigues, the young woman had a serene expression on her face. The newest member of SG-31; this woman was not human at all. She was a human form replicator. Inviting the young woman into her office, Carter asked that the young woman take a seat.
"Thank you for joining us Lyza." Carter said in welcome.
"It is my pleasure General. Your request of my presence was quite unexpected." Lyza replied.
Wordlessly, Smith cast his gaze between Carter and Lyza. Instead of participating in the conversation, the counterintelligence agent preferred to remain a spectator.
"How are you adapting to your addition to SG-31?" Carter asked.
"It is a duty I enjoy. Those on my team are professional, and entertaining to speak with and observe." Lyza replied.
"Tell me, why is it you agreed to become a member of an SG team?" Carter inquired.
"Upon my creation, I was consumed with the desire to seek out the unknown. Elizabeth Weir surmised that I have an explorer's heart. Knowledge of all that Elizabeth discovered during her exploration of Pegasus intrigued me. I admire her greatly, and seek to follow in her footsteps. When I learned that those of my kind would be selected to become members of SG teams, I approached Elizabeth directly to announce my desire to volunteer." Lyza explained.
"Let me be clear; everything discussed here today is to be treated as classified, and to not be repeated. Do you understand?" Carter asked seriously.
"Yes General, I understand fully." Lyza answered.
"Since your integration with SG-31, have you witnessed any unusual actions by members of your team?" Carter questioned.
"No General Carter, I have not noticed any deviation from normal operating patterns, nor divergence from standing procedures and guidelines established for SG team operations." Lyza replied.
"What of unusual behavior of team members?" Smith asked, joining the discussion.
"Several behavioral anomalies have been witnessed, yes." Lyza admitted.
"Please explain." Smith urged.
"The anomalies I have witnessed are of a personal nature." Lyza demurred.
"Lyza, nothing you tell us will become known by your team members. You have my word on that." Carter pledged.
"Colonel Andrews is a very proficient commanding officer. Those under his leadership are highly valued by him. He has made me feel welcome as a member of SG-31. Though unspoken, he has a certain fondness for Lieutenant Goodly. His unspoken affection for the Lieutenant is reciprocated. Often, I see them exchanging glances at one another. In no way does this compromise either of their abilities to function as members of SG-31." Lyza said with an uneasy tone.
"From this point forward, I would like you to monitor your teammates. Do not allow them to discover that you are observing their behavior and interactions. Report your findings daily to Colonel Carter. Is that understood?" Smith asked.
"Yes, I understand." Lyza replied.
Exiting the room for her return transport to Borealis, Lyza contemplated the meaning of the meeting. Many possibilities existed for the human form replicator to ponder. Her pondering would continue, while she carried out her secondary task of watching her teammates closely.
Videum
Videum Solar System
Andromeda Galaxy
Rising majestically from the waters of a peaceful bay, the towers of the city ship Videum stabbed upwards into the air. Unlike her sisters Atlantis and Borealis, Videum's age was not measured in eons, but simply in years. Built within Arkos, Videum was the first new build city ship yet constructed by the Tau'ri. In her short lifespan, Videum had played a crucial role in the fight against separatist Jaffa forces, as had her crew. Official Earth policy called for a city ship to serve as the central outpost of Tau'ri efforts in foreign galaxies. Atlantis stood guard over Pegasus; Borealis remained for now on Earth, but would soon deploy to a new and uncharted galaxy; Videum served in Andromeda. Unlike her sisters, Videum was commanded by the military, instead of a civilian nominee.
In command since her construction, Colonel Albert Reynolds never tired of admiring Videum. Much had changed since his days commanding SG-3, but many faces remained the same. During their time in Andromeda, the crew of Videum had become a family. A highly educated and at times unruly family, but a family still. To retain his command, Reynolds turned down a promotion, which would have meant his return to Earth. This is where he wished to stay, and would retire here, if necessary. Making his way into the operations center of the great city, Reynolds could hear his chief scientist giving instructions.
"The message was very specific. Come on people, we have minutes to power down the Arcturus." Lee pressed.
As the city's primary power source was taken offline, power from reserves flowed into power conduits to meet the city ships demands. Technicians within the Arcturus chamber watched as the undulating energy portal the device drew power from dimmed, and fell from view. Seconds later, these technicians reported the Arcturus was now fully offline, and powered down. As this report arrived in the operations center, Lee directed technicians to bring online the subspace capacitors fitted to each city ship. Fitted to each of her piers, Videum contained six of these devices. Each of these capacitors was set at different power generation percentages, ranging from sixteen percent to ninety nine percent of total capability.
"Capacitors are up and running Colonel. Why are we doing this exactly?" Bill Lee asked.
"I am no sure myself. You know all that I do. The Asgard asked that we do this, while they perform a flyby." Reynolds explained with a shrug.
"It is a sensor calibration flight. Really, that is all it could be." Lee theorized.
"Hopefully our friends tell us why at some point." Reynolds added.
"My sensors show a vessel approaching rapidly in hyperspace." The avatar of Videum announced.
"Asgard?" Reynolds asked.
"Yes Colonel." The avatar replied.
Hurtling through hyperspace, an O'Neill Class vessel charged towards the Videum. Upon Freyr's report to the Asgard High Council regarding Carlyle's debriefing, the High Council coordinated with the Tau'ri for the mission now unfolding. Sensors aboard the Asgard vessel scanned hyperspace before the proud ship. Approaching the area of hyperspace, where arrival at the planet home to Videum would require return to normal space, the vessels scans intensified. Invisible to Asgard and human eye alike; the sensitive sensors aboard the vessel easily detected a number of anomalies.
At six points in subspace, disturbances in the very fabric of subspace existed. From these disturbances, energetic particles blossomed into existence, before decaying rapidly. As the normal laws of physics did not apply in subspace, these energetic particles posed no threat to the approaching Asgard vessel. Discovery of these disturbances validated a theory posed by both Asgard and Tau'ri alike. Drawing their power from subspace, an operating capacitor, and the disturbance caused, was detectable to a vessel in hyperspace.
This first step in the mission profile complete, the O'Neill Class vessel altered course. Power surged through power conduits, as the O'Neill increased speed to maximum sustained velocity. Effortlessly, the imposing vessel hurtled through subspace, towards the Milky Way galaxy. Driving deep into subspace surrounding this galaxy, the vessel charged towards Possara; current home world of the Lucian Alliance. Undetected by those residing on Possara, the O'Neill Class vessel once again focused its sensors on the fabric of subspace. Unlike the flyby of Videum, the O'Neill Class vessel now detected hundreds of disturbances in the fabric of subspace. Though this information would be unsettling to many, thanks to Asgard efforts, a new method for tracking Lucian Alliance vessels equipped with the subspace capacitor now existed.
Langara
Langaran Solar System
Milky Way
On Langara, tensions were high, waiting for the incoming attack by Lucian Alliance forces intelligence told defenders to expect at any moment. Thus far, sensor arrays on Joint Base MacArthur revealed no approaching forces. These findings were confirmed by the cloaked Tau'ri vessels standing guard over the Langaran solar system. Thankfully, no fleet yet approached Langara, or her defenders.
At a heightened state of readiness, sentries patrolled the large perimeter of Joint Base MacArthur. On foot, and in vehicles, these patrols continued around the clock. At the main entry point of the Joint Base, additional security was present. Normally, those stationed here would enjoy their time off duty in the city near the base. Increased readiness levels made that an impossibility. Standing at the main entry point, two gate guards spoke to pass time.
"I think this is just another readiness drill." A young Corporal mused.
"Nothing is happening, and that isn't a bad thing." A Staff Sergeant replied.
"Ten bucks says stays quiet." The Corporal challenged.
Before the Staff Sergeant could reply, noise carried on the wind towards the two gate guards. Sirens from Langaran law enforcement vehicles screamed from various unseen points. Joining this symphony of racket, clattering fire alarms from other parts of the city beyond the gate joined the audible fray. At points throughout the city, smoke billowed into the air, above the rooftops of buildings several stories tall.
"Spoke too soon. Looks like this just got real." The Staff Sergeant countered.
"I'll call it in." The Corporal frowned.