Hydra by Stargate

Author:Stargate
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781905586103
Publisher: Fandemonium Books
Published: 2008-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

NID Primary Project Site, Perseus (P66-421)

September, 2002; one month before the invasion of Eshet

“Is this all of it?” Carlos sorted through the color-coded files, losing bits of stray paper as he shuffled the folders. He’d asked for a comprehensive briefing. It was getting more difficult to wrap his head around the scope of what they were creating, and he was going to have to fully account for the technology acquired (or lack thereof) soon. It was impossible to predict when he might be visited by someone higher up in the chain of command. It was also impossible to predict who that person might be. Carlos loved the job but not the uncertainty. Better to be prepared. He held out the thin sheaf of papers marked ALPHA to Peterson and said, “After five months of accumulating data, shouldn’t there be more on the first team?”

“These are briefs and summaries,” Peterson told him. He looked like a guy who’d been staying up a little too late and not eating enough to compensate. There was a pinched look around Peterson’s eyes, and his complexion was grayish. “I didn’t think you’d want entire project files on every team.”

“I’m most interested in your analysis of the theta team,” Carlos said. “Whether or not the programming changes are effective.”

“I have some mission video for you,” Peterson said. He flipped through a stack of DVDs, selected four, and handed them to the lab technician standing beside him. “Load those, please.” Peterson sat back in the chair and adjusted his glasses. Behind the lens glare, his blue eyes looked gray. “The alpha team was engineered to be as close as possible to the originals, with some slight memory alterations — no recall of specific gate addresses, no recall of power specifications, short-term perfect recall only.”

Carlos pushed one of the folders around in a circle on the table with his index finger. “Has this prevented the teams from engaging in escape-oriented behaviors?”

“Thus far.” Peterson produced a flowchart and placed it in front of Carlos with a gesture suspiciously like a proud flourish. “As you can see, each successive team has had their abilities changed as well according to schedule. The results are mixed. The enhanced communication abilities permit teams to speak to one another directly, instead of just within one group, but this has been problematic for the handler. They often leave the handler out of the loop until the last minute.”

“A solvable problem, I assume,” Carlos said.

“Eventually.” Peterson set the team roster on the table and turned it so Carlos could see. “Once all the teams are back in from the field, we’ll begin a period of further adjustment.”

“The kill switch?”

Peterson angled his head in a reluctant shrug. “We’ve integrated it in the zetas and the thetas.” He slid a folder in Carlos’s direction. “The field test on the zetas was less than optimal.”

Carlos scanned the file. “You fried them.”

“There was no way to reacquire core memory or conscious function once the switch was activated. The units

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