There was a safe in General Hammond's office.
It was meant for important documents, commands, sealed orders "to-be-opened-in-event-of". It had also come to contain a limited collection of alien devices.
One of those devices now sat on the middle of George's desk.
"There are two things I'd like to know right out of the box, Colonel," George had said, once the conference room was secure. "What do you know about the Asgard enforcement of our treaty with the Systemlords? And what does this Goa'uld know?"
Mayborne's dispair answered before he spoke,"Everything."
After Ra had been killed, on Colonel O'Neill's first mission through the Stargate (we were so innocent....), it had been over a year before Apophis used the Gate to raid Earth in search of hosts. From that tiny skirmish had come a recon effort, leading to Teal'c's defection. And from that...
Months later Apophis attacked Earth by starship. The best of Earth's weaponry was completely ineffective. Were it not for SG-1's unauthorized, covert operations on the attack ships, the Earth would have been a smoldering cinder.
"Their society is feudal, it would take that long to build an army," Daniel had said, arguing with Senator Kinsey about the approaching menace.
The General hoped that were still true. If Major Carter's calculations were correct, Apophis' flagship had been traveling at something near 4000 times the speed of light, traveling the light-years between star-systems in a matter of hours. Gathering an army might cause a delay. Traveling to Earth would not.
If this Goa'uld were a Systemlord, or served one--one equipped with similar ships and a standing army--how long would it take before a swarm of invading Ha'Tak-class vessels appeared over Earth's sky?
Help--the possibility of help--sat on his desk, in the form of the alien transmitter. It was the "red phone" to the Asgard fleet. The President had given him the discretion. He could call Thor.
He could call "wolf".
The treaty was a bluff. The Asgard forces were engaged in a distant battle against an unnamed enemy which even the Asgard feared. While their commander might provide earth with advice or insight into possible strategies against the Goa'uld, the chance Thor would send ships, hardware, or personnel was remote. If the Goa'uld attacked, the SGC would once again have to defeat them unaided. Without the illusion of Asgard defense, Earth was, as Lieutenant Colonel Samuels once put it, "a vulnerable and unsuspecting world".
The General leaned back in his chair, staring at the device.
How does this particular Goa'uld fit into the equation?
The creature was not a Tok'Ra. Yet it had left both Dr. Coleman and Colonel Mayborne alive after its residence. It had been on Earth for at least two years, and they had yet to find evidence of any mischief it committed. Its escape had been opportunistic, not planned. Apparently, when it left, it recruited Margaret's help rather than simply overpowering her.
Even if this Goa'uld had extracted the information from Mayborne's mind, would it have use for it? Would it act upon it? Would a Systemlord risk Asgard retaliation on the mere word of this being?
George reached for the transmitter, cupping it in his palms.
What impact would it have to future relations, if Hammond alerted Thor to a Goa'uld invasion which never came?
The chance of a standing army awaiting this Goa'uld's return seemed small; a military operative would have been better prepared, and more aggressive in action, like the ashrak who killed Jolinar. The involvement of the shipyard, and of "Thoth" seemed to be by accident--though this Goa'uld would undoubtably exploit it. An attack, if it came, would take months to assemble.
But if I am wrong?
There would be no support from the Asgards. If a Goa'uld attack arrived within days, there was nothing Thor could offer that Earth could not do for itself.
George lifted the transmitter and returned it, unused, to the safe.
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