TITLE: A New Guard

AUTHOR: Methos

DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognise belongs to somebody else, Buffy, Superman, West Wing, Stargate, Spin City… If you recognise it from TV, then it ain't mine... I'm just borrowing them for a spin :)

Day 3

Monday, Nov 3. 1997

122 days until invasion

The Enterprise crash site: Antarctic Shelf

The 'night's' rest hadn't been easy, while Jenny had been resting in the Captain's Ready Room alone, while the Air Force crew had bunked down on the main bridge to give her some privacy to sleep, sleep that hadn't come easy at all. Night at the Antarctic had actually been a misnomer, rather a few mild hours of twilight where the sun hovered around the low horizon before rising again early in the morning had left her without much sleep, combined with the situation they were in, and the disheartening sight of the Enterprise wreckage strewn across the landscape outside, she'd only managed an hour or two of sleep herself.

"Coffee, white, two sugars," She said aloud as she walked over to the replicator at the side of the ready room, sparing a sad glance over to the large fish tank that was in the corner of the room, the glass had obviously shattered during the crash, leaving the floor around it sodden with pools of fresh water where the carpet hadn't absorbed it all.

Thankfully she's tested the replicator's earlier in the night, marvelling at the technology herself while her memories from Doctor Crusher told her that replicators were as much of a day to day piece of technology as a television was for her. The sight of the cup of coffee swirling into creation was still a sight of amazement though, even knowing the principals behind the technology.

Taking a sip of the hot coffee she smiled as she made her way to the desk, dusting it off a bit more with her sleeve from where she'd righted the desk and cleaned up slightly earlier in the night. Sitting down in the chair she knew from memory that Captain Picard always enjoyed, she put her coffee on the desk and tapped on the computer screen, bringing it to life with the standard LCARS interface.

"Computer, communications status?" She asked aloud, moving through the LCARS interface and pulling up details of the ship, wincing inwardly as she saw how badly crippled the Enterprise was.

"Long range communications, offline. Subspace communications, offline." The computer responded to her question.

"Sensor status?" She asked after noting something on the LCARS systems.

"Long range sensors, limited resolution. Astrometric sensors, offline." The computer informed her.

"Patch the sensor controls through to the Ready Room," She announced, waiting for a moment before the LCARS interface in front of her changed to the sensor systems she knew from the bridge. "What's the current range of sensor telemetry?"

"Current range of two light-years without loss of resolution due to damage on lateral array." The computer responded, causing Jenny to raise an eyebrow.

"Two light-years is limited?" She whispered to herself, shaking her head at the level of technology she was dealing with here. "Limit sensors to this solar system, scan for any other vessels within range."

The computer beeped after a few seconds before the results displayed on the terminal in front of her, showing an overview of the solar system without any other starships around. "Any other vessels within the solar system?" She asked curiously.

"Negative." The computer responded.

"Focus on orbit, can we patch in to any of the satellites orbiting earth currently?" Jenny asked hopefully.

"Affirmative, three thousand eight hundred and seventeen active satellites within range." The computer responded.

"That's a lot," Jenny whispered, watching as the LCARS terminal changed to zoom in on earth and show the myriad of satellites currently orbiting. "Computer, can you identify the ones transmitting audio and video broadcasts?"

"Affirmative," The computer responded as three quarters of the satellites blinked away from the LCARS terminal. "Satellites conform to early twenty first century media broadcast network standards."

"Well that makes sense," Jenny muttered to herself quietly. "Can we receive the broadcasts?" She asked hopefully.

"Affirmative," The computer responded with a chirrup as a small window opened on the LCARS terminal.

"Locate channel CNN," Jenny said aloud as she took another mouthful of her coffee, at least now she'd be able to get a vague idea if this was still her earth or if she'd been transported god knows where with the ship.

She nearly dropped the coffee when the screen flickered slightly, showing the CNN logo in the corner but displaying a news report that she could barely believe. "Computer, volume." She said impatiently, staring in awe at the screen that was showing Superman flying down from a burning building with a woman and child in his arms.

'… was the scene yesterday when Superman performed a miraculous rescue in front of media and rescue workers, the second in as many days. We still don't know who Superman is, where he came from or what sort of man he is. Though from the footage, we can all see that he seems to share all the powers of his comic counterpart. The White House had this to say.'

Jenny watched in fascination as the reporter vanished from view, replaced with an official looking woman with blue curtains displaying the White House logo behind her.

"Superman has saved over six hundred lives this weekend, The President, along with all of us at The White House and around the country, send him our thanks for his heroic actions."

The story was cut off again as the reporter came back with a frozen image of Superman flying down carrying the woman and child. "The world is full of questions this morning, where did Superman come from? Who is he? Does he have a secret identity of his own? What other powers does he possess? What is clear, is that the citizens of New York are breathing easier today knowing that there is…"

"Pause," Jenny frowned, staring at the image in disbelief. "Zoom grid, F6, enhance." She said curiously, staring at the frozen image on the screen as she directed the computer to zoom in on Superman's face from the footage and enhance it. The screen blurred for half a second before enhancing the picture to near crystal quality, showing Superman's face clearly for her to recognise. "Xander?" She asked aloud in shock.

Putting her coffee mug down again she stared at the screen in shock, now it was obvious to her whatever had happened on Halloween wasn't just limited to her. She'd been wearing the Star Trek uniform for Halloween, just as she remembered seeing Xander wearing the Superman costume before taking the children out trick or treating. Seeing how it was now obvious Xander had kept Superman's powers, much like the Enterprise had somehow become real, it was clear that both incidents had to have originated from whatever happened on Halloween night, which definitely meant she was still on her Earth thankfully.

"Computer, can you access the mobile communications satellites?" She asked quickly, remembering how Major Ferretti had asked her to do the same yesterday, but they hadn't tested to see if it was actually viable.

"Affirmative," The computer responded.

"Access them, and give me a dialling screen," She said, waiting for a moment before the computer chirruped in response and the LCARS screen came back with a small touch screen dialling pad. "Rupert, you'd better be there." She muttered to herself as she dialled in Rupert's number from memory.

She waited impatiently as the dial tone came from the terminal, seconds stretching into a minute and continuing on, leaving her frustrated as she took another mouthful of her coffee. "Cancel," She said aloud, obviously Rupert was somewhere else, probably still with Buffy dealing with the aftermath of Halloween himself. "Computer, can you access the world wide computer network via the communications satellites?"

"Confirmed," The computer responded.

"Search for a phone directory, last name Summers, resident in Sunnydale California."

"Accessing," The computer responded, the LCARS terminal changing a second later to display three names on the list. "Three entries for Sunnydale California found."

"Joyce Summers," Jenny said, picking the name off the list she recognised. "Dial that number." She said aloud, crossing her fingers as she picked up her coffee mug again and took a sip. The dial tone went on for about thirty seconds or so before a sleepy voice replaced the tone. "Mom?" The voice came over the line.

"Buffy, is that you?" Jenny asked aloud, quieting her voice slightly. She knew the doors on the ready room were normally soundproof for security reasons, but didn't quite know how well the soundproofing would have held up after the crash.

"Who is this?" Buffy's voice came back over the line.

"It's Ms Calendar, from school?" She asked hopefully. "Is Rupert there?"

"Giles, no, he's…" Buffy's voice trailed off. "The weekend's been a bit hectic here," She explained.

"I saw," Jenny nodded, inwardly grimacing at the understatement. "I assumed you'd both be dealing with whatever happened on Halloween?"

"You know about that?" Buffy's voice came back, sounding a bit more alert. "Oh god, were you changed as well?"

"You could say that," Jenny nodded thoughtfully, looking around the ready room. "I saw Xander on the news, is he…"

"Xander, oh my god, Xander!" Buffy's voice came back, nearly shrieking. "Xander you're floating!" The voice came over the line, followed by a muffled grunt and then a crash.

"Buffy? Is everything ok?" Jenny asked, trying to figure out what was going on from the sounds alone.

"Xander was floating above the couch," Buffy's voice came back. "Asleep!" She said louder. "And I think he just slayed my couch."

"He's there then?" Jenny asked, taking another mouthful of her cooling coffee as she tried to piece everything together. "How many others were affected?"

"We thought it was just Xander," Buffy's voice came back. "Something about a guy from the future, some costumes, the future Xander trying to change something, oh and there's something about some aliens or something."

Jenny smiled as she could picture Buffy's yawn and shrug as she trailed off.

"So, uh, you got changed as well huh?" Buffy's voice returned after a moment's pause. "It wasn't anything yucky right, 'cause that'd suck?"

"No, nothing like that," Jenny half smiled. "Something a bit bigger and a bit more complicated though, which was why I was trying to get in touch with Rupert."

"Oh, hold on a second, Xander might know where he is." Buffy's voice came back before going silent and muffled voices replacing it for a moment.

"Ms C?" Xander's voice came over the line this time. "You know it's like eight am right?" He asked, stifling a yawn. "'Cause I'm kinda relishing this not going to school thing, and you're ruining it for me."

"I called as soon as I realised I could," Jenny said, standing up and walking around the ready room with her coffee. "I saw you on CNN, they were asking a lot of questions."

"Oh yeah, that," Xander's voice came back, giving her the image of him blushing in his half-awake state. "Guess from what Buffy said, you got caught up in it as well?" He said before yawning then continuing. "Ethan said it was just supposed to be me though, no one else was supposed to be changed like this, or like whatever you got."

"Ethan?" Jenny asked curiously, the name ringing a bell for a moment before she snapped her fingers, remembering that was where she'd hired the Star Trek uniform from. "The costume shop guy?"

"Uh, yeah, it's a long story, too long for phone story," Xander's voice came back.

"I can imagine," Jenny nodded, thinking back to what Buffy had said about time travel and aliens. "I was dressed as Doctor Crusher from…"

"Star Trek?" Xander's voice came back. "Ok, that's pretty awesome." Jenny could imagine his grin over the line.

"You'd think so," Jenny smiled back, taking a sip of her coffee. "The costume you were wearing, it changed you into Superman right? You kept his powers and memories?"

"Uh, powers yes, memories, not really." Xander's voice came back. "That would have been cool though, 'cause trying to get a hang on this all without knowing how they work, kinda harder than it looks."

"You didn't keep his memories?" Jenny asked curiously.

"You did?" Xander's voice asked. "You remember Doctor Crusher's stuff, like Starfleet Academy and all that?"

"Right up to the Enterprise E," Jenny nodded, looking around the room. "Which, is actually where I am."

"You're ON the Enterprise?" Xander's voice rose an octave as he responded. "Like, on the ship, in space, a real life Enterprise?" Xander asked, his voice sounding more and more excited as he continued on. "The spell thing actually brought a real life Star Trek ship here?" He asked in amazement. "Oh man, Ethan is going to freak!"

"Real, yes, in space, not so much," Jenny winced, looking out the window at the trail of debris outside in the snow.

"Not in space, then…" Xander's voice came back. "The Enterprise can land?"

"Only once," Jenny frowned to herself. "There was some sort of subspace shockwave while the Enterprise was in orbit, it knocked out the shields and warp field, propulsion was offline." She frowned, trying to say it as easily as possible. "Doctor Crusher wasn't a pilot or anything, but I kept the ship together as much as I could."

"Oh my god, you crashed the Enterprise?" Xander's voice came back in shock. "Is… are you ok?" He asked, changing his question half way through.

"I'm fine," Jenny responded. "I don't know what I would have done if the Air Force hadn't…"

"The Air Force?" Xander cut her off. "Those guys are everywhere. they kinda helped me out as well. Colonel O'Neill right?"

"Major Ferretti," Jenny said aloud. "The Enterprise is pretty badly damaged though, and Major Ferretti thinks that some other countries are going to get here and try to take it first."

"Oh man, no way," Xander's voice came back, leaving her with the image of him shaking his head. "So that's why Jack kept asking about an alien ship and if I'd left one in orbit or something, it wasn't Superman's ship, it was the Enterprise." He said, piecing it together. "Where are you? I'll come and give you guys a hand."

"The Antarctic shelf," Jenny winced as she looked out the window again. "You can't really miss it." She said sadly. "The Air Force, they don't know about Halloween or anything though, do they?"

"I haven't told them, don't think Giles would like us talking about spells and magic and Slayer stuff to the army right?" Xander's voice came back.

"I didn't think so," Jenny nodded thankfully. "Major Ferretti thinks the Enterprise came from another dimension or reality, and that I came with it." She explained.

"Ok, we'll stick with that," Xander's voice came back. "Easier than magic and costumes anyway." He laughed over the line. "How many Air Force guys are down there?"

"Four," Jenny replied. "Three Air Force, and an alien member of their team I think, a Jaffa if I got that right?"

"Ethan told me about them, then the Air Force guys filled in a bit more. Didn't know there was aliens working with them," Xander's voice came over the line again. "Ok, let me suit up and I'll get down there to help you guys out ok?"

"Thanks Xander," Jenny smiled, thinking how nice it would actually be to see a friendly face.

"Then we can fill Giles in together, oh man, the Enterprise, he's going to have a fit." Xander's voice came back, trailing off with a laugh. "I'll see you soon ok?"

"Be careful Xander," Jenny smiled as she put her now cold coffee down. "I'll see you when you get here." She said before moving back to the desk where the LCARS terminal was and ending the call, smiling to herself at the thought of someone giving Xander Superman's powers.

"I'd say our odds against the aliens just went up," She grinned to herself as she put her empty coffee mug back in the replicator and pressed the button to recycle the energy from the mug, smiling as she watched it dissolve in a swirl of silver and blue energy.

"Six coffee's, black, milk and sugar separate." She said aloud. "With a tray." She added before watching as the replicator swirled into life again, creating a tray with Six large mugs of coffee on, along with a jug and a small bowl of sugar.

Taking the tray she put it on the desk for a moment, turning to the LCARS terminal quickly and closing it down before picking up the tray and moving to leave the room, thankful for the fact Starfleet doors opened automatically for her as she walked through onto the bridge carrying the tray.

"Morning guys," She said with a smile, looking around at the group who had camped out on the bridge overnight.

"Commander," Teal'c nodded from where he was stood at the far end of the bridge by the cracked view screen.

"Morning," Major Ferretti said as he stood up from the Captain's chair where he'd been sat. "Hope you don't mind, I was, uh, just…"

"Its fine," Jenny smiled. "I brought coffee?" She said, holding the tray for them all to see.

"Did I hear coffee?" A sleepy voice from the side of the bridge replied a moment before Major Warren poked his head over the tactical console where he'd obviously slept on the floor.

"I too am fond of this beverage," Teal'c nodded as he walked across the bridge.

"The coffee machine survived the crash?" Major Ferretti asked in surprise as gestured to Commander Calendar to put the tray down on one of the spare seats around the bridge so everyone could help themselves to a mug.

"The replicators," Major Warren corrected him. "They're all working?" He asked hopefully.

"I did a run through this morning," Jenny nodded. "They're running on emergency power from the fusion stations, but without the impulse engines or shield using the power, there's more than enough to keep the secondary systems operational for now."

"But we could have shields?" Major Ferretti asked as he spooned some sugar into his black coffee before taking a blissful sip. "Damn, now that's good coffee." He grinned as he moved aside to let Teal'c and Warren take their mugs.

"Not for long," Jenny shook her head. "The fusion stations will pump out enough juice for emergency power, impulse drives and shields during a power break, but without the warp core the shield power would be minimal at best."

"Ok, not the news I was hoping for, but it could have been worse," Major Ferretti shrugged.

"What about the rest of the ship?" Major Warren asked as he came over to fetch his own coffee, Casey and Sands following him.

"Limited sensors, the array must have been damaged during the crash," Jenny replied, resisting the urge to smirk at the idea of two light-years worth of sensors being limited. "I'm not an engineer though, so I couldn't…"

"I was thinking about that," Major Ferretti nodded thoughtfully, interrupting her. "I think we should ask General Hammond to send Captain Carter down on the double. She'd be better at all this techno stuff than any of us I'd reckon, as much as your blueprints and stuff are useful, don't get me wrong Warren, but I'd rather have someone here who can figure this stuff out from a real world perspective, not some drawn up blueprints from a TV show if you catch my drift?"

"Makes sense," Major Warren nodded in agreement. "I'm a fan of the show and know my stuff, but a lot of this goes way over my head. The EPS grid is definitely something we should stay away from as well, what about the internal sensors?"

"I haven't checked yet," Jenny answered honestly. "I tried communications and external sensors, replicators, life support, the essentials. Well, obviously we don't need life support here, but to keep the ambient temperature comfortable, I thought it was worth a check."

"If it means staying warm and not freezing our butts off, I'm all for it." Major Ferretti said with a grin.

"I tapped in to the television news as well," Jenny explained. "CNN?" She asked, holding back a smile as Major Ferretti nodded.

"A news channel, pretty much twenty four seven international news, not always reliable, and biased as hell during political coverage, but it'll do." Major Ferretti explained to her. "Seeing how bad our Earth is right?" He asked with a wince. "'Cause all that middle east stuff, there's a lot more going on there than you'll see on the news, the history and…"

"CNN didn't show any of that," Jenny smiled, being careful not to let on more than she actually knew, not that she'd actually been following the middle east conflict, but she knew about it in passing. "The reporters seemed more interested in talking about Superman than anything else." She said with a smile.

"They still on that?" Major Ferretti said, rolling his eyes. "I caught some bits of that before we got sent down here," He explained to Warren, Teal'c, Sands and Casey. "General Hammond sent SG1 out to investigate." He said with a shrug. "Probably just some movie stunt or something."

"Super man?" Teal'c asked curiously, raising his eyebrow.

"It's a comic T," Major Warren explained. "Or a comic character I guess. A superhero with super strength. He can fly, run faster than a bullet, powers like that."

"I see," Teal'c frowned thoughtfully. "Why would your news stations be covering the adventures of a fictional character Major Ferretti?" Teal'c asked, turning to him with a curious glance.

"It doesn't look like he's fictional anymore," Jenny said with a smile. "CNN showed him rescuing a woman and her child from a burning building yesterday."

"Superman's real?" Major Ferretti asked with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding me right?"

"That's what it looked like on the news." Jenny smiled to herself, having put all the pieces together herself now and knowing that Xander would have done the same. "You said you knew who'd been sent to talk to him?"

"Colonel O'Neill, yeah," Major Ferretti grinned. "Oh man, Carter's probably going crazy trying to figure this all out." He laughed, trying to imagine Carter's face. "We've got a space ship and you here from one television show, and Superman flying around from another?" He grinned and turned to Major Warren. "Oh man, the Goa'uld aren't going to know what hit them if they try and come back here." He laughed, raising his coffee in a toast and grinning when Major Warren tapped his own mug against his.

Washington DC

Doctor Weir turned the alarm off on the bedside clock, the hotel standard clock showed the time as quarter to six, which matched when she'd set the alarm for, though she'd already been up for nearly an hour, odd nightmares about other fictional characters coming to life and invading the planet had woken her up, leaving her little chance of getting back to sleep.

She'd been sat in bed reading through the reports that she'd been given, marking down notes and noting things to research further. The keyhole satellite picture of the crash site in the Antarctic was laid out prominently on her bed, where she'd been looking at it regularly. The name across the large surviving portion of the ship, along with the registration number, were easily visible even on the grainy black and white image.

She'd matched them with the small briefing packet she'd been given titled 'Enterprise E', the registration number one seven zero one dash E matched up, as did the pictures that had been printed off for her.

Crew of eight hundred and eighty five, with a length of nearly seven hundred meters, and weighing in at over three million metric tons, according to the briefing packet she'd been sent, obvious printed off from some official Star Trek site, there was a star at the bottom of each page noting 'uncorroborated details, use as estimates only.'

She raised her eyebrow as she flicked to the third page and started reading aloud. "The Sovereign class currently employs fourteen Type-XII phaser arrays at key locations throughout the ship's hull." Turning to her notes section she wrote down 'Type-XII phaser?' for further research later on. "Each array fires a steady beam of phaser energy, and the forced-focus emitters discharge the phasers at speeds approaching .986c." She paused, reading that again to make sure it wasn't a typo. "Fourteen weapons systems firing energy weapons at the speed of light?" She asked aloud, resisting the urge to whistle.

If it had strictly been theoretical, she could imagine being impressed by thinking about weapons like that, but knowing those weapons were now real, and were potentially salvageable by any nation on the planet, put a whole new spin on how deadly they actually were. "Maximum effective range is 300,000 kilometres." She continued to read, her eyes going wide at that information. She'd already understood that a space ship would have to have weapons that far out reached weapons that would be used on earth, but hearing that the Star Trek weapons had an effective range over a hundred times the diameter of the earth ready put things into perspective.

"I bet the military haven't stopped drooling yet," Doctor Weir muttered to herself as she shuffled the papers away. More than ever now she could understand the urgency behind achieving a safe treaty around the crashed vessel, the weapons technology alone was horrifying, but the propulsion, shielding and medical technology that was literally centuries ahead of their own was something every country on the planet would by vying for soon enough.

Putting the papers aside she pulled back the bed covers and actually got out of bed, she wasn't due to start her briefing until eight, which gave her a good two hours to get showered and dressed before heading to the White House, though which briefing would be first, the Superman or the Enterprise, she wondered, and which would be more fantastic sounding.

Stargate Command

"What is it?" General Hammond looked up from his morning briefing packet and put his coffee down, the overnight shift had actually been relatively quiet, with no 'gate activity at all. With SG1 and SG2 investigating the Superman incident and the Antarctic shelf respectively, primary missions had been shifted to SG3 and SG4, both of who were offworld and weren't due to return for another day.

"We have Major Ferretti on radio link sir," Walter explained from the door where he was stood.

"Very well," General Hammond nodded, putting down his morning briefing and standing up from his desk, glancing forlornly at his coffee for a moment before following Walter down to the main control room area.

"General Hammond is here now major," Walter said as they entered the control room, Walter quickly moving to the microphone and switching the controls so that General Hammond could speak and hear openly in the room.

"I'm here Major, how are you all?" General Hammond asked patiently.

"We're good General," Major Ferretti's voice came back over the link. "Situation is pretty clear down here today, blue skies, no sign of anyone else in the vicinity overnight."

"That's good to hear Major," General Hammond nodded to himself. "Admiral Fitzwallace will be in meetings today with the rest of the Joint Chiefs and the President to try and organise some relief and clean-up crews to come down, I won't lie, this is going to be a long haul people." He explained.

"We're aware of that General," Major Ferretti's voice replied. "Sir, I've discussed things with Commander Calendar, and if it's possible, I'd like to request Major Carter be set down to advise on the situation here. Commander Calendar is doing the best she can, but she's not an engineer General, and we could really use someone who has the scientific background to know what sort of things we're dealing with here."

"I've been considering it Major," General Hammond nodded thoughtfully. "I agree that she can do more good on the Enterprise than she can with Colonel O'Neill. I'll be ordering her to head to McMurdo as soon as SG1 check in, as long as Commander Calendar is amenable to more personnel arriving"

"That's good to hear General," Major Ferretti's voice came back. "I spoke with her about the idea this morning, and she's happy to have any assistance she can."

"Very well Major," General Hammond nodded happily, the fact Commander Calendar was openly welcoming more SGC personnel to the Enterprise was definitely a good gesture and hopefully a good sign for future negotiations. "I'll advise you once I hear from the Joint Chiefs, but for now you're standing orders apply."

"Yes sir," Major Ferretti's voice came back. "Captain Casey has asked permission to do some further investigation on the structure Commander Calendar identified under the ice, Major Warren and Commander Calendar think it would be possible to identify the life sign buried there and 'beam' it directly to the Enterprise for further study."

"By 'beam', I'm assuming you mean the transporter technology?" General Hammond paused thoughtfully.

"Yes sir," Major Ferretti confirmed. "They'd have to drill several…" Major Ferretti trailed off.

"Major? Major, are you there?" General Hammond asked as a soft 'holy crap' was heard in the distance over the radio link.

"Yes, yes sir, sorry about that." Major Ferretti's voice came back. "We're in the shuttle bay now, it's the only place I can radio through to McMurdo and get patched through. Something about the ship's construction blocks radio transmissions, I'll leave that to the tech's to figure out." He explained. "Sir, was Colonel O'Neill investigating the possibility that the Superman thing wasn't a hoax?"

"He was Major, is there something…"

"I think we can confirm it's not a hoax sir," Major Ferretti said softly. "He's outside the shuttle bay, floating a clear six feet off the ground and waving at me sir."

"I see," General Hammond frowned to himself. "Very well, I will inform Colonel O'Neill that we've found his wayward Superman, can you advise him to please stay in the area, and I'll have the remainder SG1 on the first flight to McMurdo to meet you at the crash site."

"Yes sir," Major Ferretti said quickly. "Superman is… he's a friendly then sir?" He asked cautiously over the line.

"Very much so," General Hammond replied with a smile. "Colonel O'Neill is hoping to bring him aboard the SGC as a stopgap should the Goa'uld come to Earth again."

"That'd definitely tip the balance in our favour sir," Major Ferretti replied over the link. "Between him, and Commander Calendar's ship, I think the worm just turned General."

"We're all hoping the same Major," General Hammond smiled thoughtfully. "Do try and keep Superman out of trouble while he's there, I've been told his sense of humour is frighteningly alike to Colonel O'Neill's."

"I'll do my best General," Major Ferretti replied after a moment of disbelief. "SG2 out." The voice came over the link before static resumed.

"Very well," General Hammond nodded, turning to Walter. "Get me Mitchell Base on the line, and patch it through to my office," He said, turning and moving to the stairs. "And arrange for a high speed transport from Mitchell to McMurdo, ASAP."

"Yes sir," Walter nodded back, already dialling Mitchell Air force base.

Antarctic shelf

Enterprise Shuttle Bay

"Uh, hi?" Major Ferretti said offhand as he walked closer towards the entrance to the shuttle bay where he could now easily see Superman hanging in the air as if it was the most natural thing in the world, the cold and wind didn't seem to bother him though it was whipping his cape around behind him making him look even more impressive.

Commander Calendar had stayed at the rear of the shuttle bay with Major Warren, looking at one of the shuttles that had been tipped on its side during the crash, but glancing back now he could see them both making their way towards him.

"Hi," Superman waved back. "Do you mind? Or do I have to ask permission to come aboard?" Superman grinned down.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Major Ferretti grinned back. "Come on in." He smiled watching as Superman hung in the air a bit longer hovering forward into the shuttle bay itself before seemingly dropping out of the air like a puppet with his strings cut and landing sharply on the shuttle bay floor.

"I was, you know," Superman grinned over, motioning with his hand to indicate flying, trying not to sound stupid. "And saw the wreckage, thought I'd see if I could help out?" He offered, looking over at where Commander Calendar and Major Warren were heading towards them quicker now.

"Major Ferretti," Major Ferretti introduced himself, holding out his hand for Superman to shake. "And here we have…" He trailed off waiting for the other two to reach them. "Major Warren, and Commander Calendar of Starfleet."

"Major's, Commander," Superman smiled at them both.

"Superman, wow." Major Warren breathed out. "Skin-tight in these temperatures, you're definitely invulnerable." He laughed.

"Actually feels great down here," Superman laughed back. "But uh, no, not really cold, but all that sunlight is feeling great." He grinned, gesturing to the bright sun outside that was now lighting up the snow around the crash site.

"Solar powered, right," Major Warren nodded. "The Antarctic must be heaven for you." He smiled thoughtfully. "Hey, you don't have a crystal palace or something buried under the ice here do you? 'Cause that would explain a few things."

"Ok Warren, don't badger the superhero with questions," Major Ferretti laughed. "By the way, General Hammond asked if you could stick around? He's sending Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter orders to head down here to group up."

"I forgot about them," Superman said with a bashful smile. "I'll say sorry when they arrive."

"Its fine," Major Ferretti shrugged. "General Hammond didn't seem too bothered about it, guess he can't expect anyone to keep up with you too much."

"I had some other things to take care of," Superman said with a nod. "I'll explain it to Colonel O'Neill when he gets here." He smiled over. "And no, no crystal palace." He laughed over. "Though that'd be cool." He grinned at Major Warren.

"No problem with me," Major Ferretti nodded. "But we're not all as invulnerable as you, so can we take this somewhere warmer guys?"

"Back to the bridge," Commander Calendar said with a nod, leading them back away from the shuttle bay entrance towards the front of the shuttle bay. "Actually, Superman, would you mind?" She asked carefully, gesturing to the shuttlecraft that was still on its side by the far wall.

"Uh, sure?" Superman shrugged, looking over at the two Majors who nodded in response.

"Go ahead, we'll wait by the doors," Major Ferretti nodded over as Commander Calendar led Superman to the upturned shuttle.

"Oh my god, this is amazing!" Superman whispered to Commander Calendar once they were out of earshot of Major Ferretti.

"Says the man that's flying around out there," Jenny smiled back. "Where's Giles?" She whispered, gesturing between him and the shuttle craft when she realised that Major Ferretti was looking over.

"Back with that Colonel O'Neill guy in New York, they were with the costume guy who did all this as well." Xander explained. "Do you really want me to… uh…" He asked, gesturing to the shuttle craft.

"Oh, well, if you can I mean…" Jenny trailed off. "I just thought we could talk without the…" She paused, watching as Xander moved around the shuttle to find a good grip before he reached down, grabbing the rear of the shuttle craft and lifted it off the ground like it weighed no more than a piece of paper. "Wow," She breathed out, watching him rotate it around in his hands before gently lowering it to the ground again. "How strong are you?" She whispered with wide eyes.

"I don't know?" Xander answered honestly. "But these things must weigh about a car or two right? Think that's the heaviest I've lifted so far." He explained. "I'm sure Colonel O'Neill will bring Giles down here with him, I mean if not, I can always just go and fetch him right?" He grinned over. "And what's with the questions about a crystal palace thing? Is there one? Because I could totally use a getaway place and the sun here feels great." He grinned.

"You two ok?" Major Ferretti called over from the doors where he was waiting with Major Warren.

"We're fine," Jenny called back. "Come on, we can figure this out later." She whispered back to Xander. "Remember, it's Commander Calendar here, we've got to keep this up." She said before turning back to Major Ferretti. "Coming now." She smiled over.

"Gotcha," Xander nodded as he followed Jenny towards the Air Force guys. "So you're stuck calling me Superman then." He grinned over, leaving Jenny no room to respond as they approached Major Ferretti.

"Everything ok?" Major Ferretti asked with a smile.

"Fine," Jenny smiled back. "I was just wondering if Superman here would be able to help us clearing up some of the wreckage. I don't really like the idea of leaving parts of the Enterprise scattered over the ice like that, half of it is already buried under snow, and if we have any more heavy weather, there's a good chance even more of it could be buried out of reach."

"That's a good idea," Major Ferretti nodded. "I'll run it past General Hammond when we check in, but for now let's head back to the bridge and check in with the rest of the guys, see if that sensor data on the buried stuff you left them looking through means anything to either of them." He explained.

"Uh, yeah, happy to help." Xander nodded over as he walked, sparing a glare at Jenny who just smiled back at him. "So, this crystal palace thing?"

"Well, we don't actually know if it's crystal or ice or what the hell it is," Major Ferretti explained. "But Commander Calendar says there's something buried under the ice down there, and it might be worth a look."

"The sensors picked up a life sign about two miles under the ice," Jenny explained. "I'm not the archaeologist Jean-Luc was, but I thought it could be worth a look."

"General Hammond agrees," Major Ferretti nodded as they walked through the Enterprise corridors back to the turbolift doors. "If there's something buried down there, we'd like to know about it, especially with all this happening." He gestured around to the ship around them. "If there's going to be a clean-up crew coming down, we'll need to know if there's something under the ice that could be a problem."

"Makes sense," Xander nodded as Jenny stood by two doors for a moment before they opened to reveal a turbolift inside. "So, it's a life sign, not a palace?"

"It's both," Jenny said with a nod. "There's a life sign and some sort of structure down there, but it's hard to get a clear reading on it."

"So we need to get down there somehow," Major Ferretti explained. "Or bring the life sign up here."

"Ok," Xander frowned. "And if the life sign is one of these alien guys that Colonel O'Neill told me about? Wait, it's buried in the ice, it's dead, whatever it is, right?"

"The fact we're getting a life signs reading would mean whatever's down there is still alive, even if only just alive." Jenny explained.

"Right, alien bad guy buried in the ice," Xander shook his head. "This is why you have force fields." He grinned.

"And phasers," Jenny nodded back.

"And… P90's?" Major Ferretti added with a shrug. "I didn't want to feel left out." He said with a small smile.

Mitchel Air Force Base: New York

Close to 7am

"Pack your gear campers, we're heading out." Colonel O'Neill said loudly as he walked back through into the cafeteria where Carter, Jackson, Giles and Ethan were enjoying their breakfast and morning coffee, and where he had been enjoying his fruit loops too until he'd been interrupted by a call from General Hammond.

"Sir?" Captain Carter asked, looking up from her toast and coffee at him.

"We've found the kid, or, well, the kid found Ferretti," O'Neill shrugged. "Apparently General Hammond was ready to give you orders anyway, but since the kid's there, we're all going."

"Going?" Giles asked curiously. "By the kid, I assume you mean Xander?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, this…" O'Neill paused, trying to think about this. "We're kinda in a grey area here ok, and chances are it's going to get dicey before it gets better." He explained. "We're setting up a jet to take you back to Sunnydale, nothing against you two, kinda enjoyed having you guys around actually." He smiled. "But this is military now, and we're heading down to some classified levels that I can't actually talk about yet." He explained with a grimace, wondering how he was actually going to explain the Enterprise crash site to Carter and Jackson when he didn't even fully believe it himself.

"I… I see," Giles frowned thoughtfully. While he understood the need for classified information and the fact that the military couldn't take civilians around with them regularly, the idea of leaving Xander alone with the military without any guidance didn't sit too well with him.

"Look, I'm not saying you can't see the kid," O'Neill explained. "It's just, we can't take you where he is right now. It's a lot of political stuff that even I wish I didn't have to deal with, if I'd had my way, he wouldn't have even left the city yesterday, but…" He trailed off with a shrug.

"Yes, I think holding Xander back when he wanted to leave would have been a rather Herculean task," Giles admitted with a nod.

"I was going with impossible, but that works too," O'Neill admitted with a smile. "I'll get the kid to check in with you as soon as we can alright? Or tell him to check in with you over radio, or call, or whatever." O'Neill explained. "I'll get him in touch."

"I am loathed to agree to this, but very well." Giles nodded slowly. While he still had his own thoughts about the US military, he had to admit that the past two days with Colonel O'Neill and his team had shown him that the man himself could be trusted, as could Captain Carter and Doctor Jackson. The other reassuring thought was the knowledge that if they tried to hold Xander anywhere he didn't want to be, they would face a rather angry teenager who had the power to literally bring the buildings around them down on their heads. "We'll return to Sunnydale and wait for word from Xander there."

"It won't be long, promise." Colonel O'Neill nodded back. "Besides, from what I've heard, the kid made it coast to coast in under an hour, figure wherever he is he's only a short trip away right?" He smiled over.

"There is that," Giles accepted with a smile. "Do look after him Colonel, his powers aside, he is still just a young man trying to figure this out himself." Giles explained, knowing Colonel O'Neill was the only one of the military team there that knew even half of what had actually happened to Xander.

"You've got my word Doc," Colonel O'Neill said, holding out his hand for Giles to shake. "Want him fighting fit ready to take through the 'Gate anyway, got a few snakes I've been dreaming of introducing him to." He explained with a grin.

The White House: Washington DC

Seven am

Even at this early time the White House was a hub of activity as Doctor Weir walked into the lobby area, the security checkpoint had waved her through quickly after a thorough check of her jacket and leather satchel. Glancing at her watch as she walked through she noted it was seven am on the dot, leaving her plenty of time to familiarise herself with the notes she'd taken overnight once more, and find any more questions that needed posing to the scientific minds and ambassadors she would be meeting throughout the day.

"Ahh, excuse me, excuse… yes, if you wouldn't mind… Doctor Weir, yes, I thought that was you."

She turned as she heard her name called over the hub of lobby activity, turning around in time to see an older man blustering and waving his identification lanyard at the security gate before pushing his way through towards her.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Doctor Weir asked, noting the way the man was hastily stuffing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter into his suit jacket pockets.

"Yes, sorry, I caught sight of you across the foyer, dreadfully rude of me to shout like that, but I believed it would be best if we were introduced as early as possible." The man explained as he caught up to her and nodded. "Lord John Marbury at your service."

"Lord…" Doctor Weir trailed off. "Yes, of course. Lord Marbury from the Indo-Pakistani treaty signing. I'm sorry, it's been a rather hectic morning."

"Yes, one can imagine," Lord Marbury chuckled. "Your President brought me in for discussions yesterday, I'll be sitting in shall we say at the behest of the British Ambassador, a friend though inexperienced in international matters like the ones we will be dealing with today."

"International…" Doctor Weir trailed off. "You're the acting British Ambassador for the meetings this morning."

"At your service my lady," Lord Marbury said with a small bow and a flourish. "However, I would believe that our discussions would be better suited away from ears like these." He said, gesturing around the busy lobby area.

"You know the official discussions don't start until eight?" Doctor Weir asked, raising an eyebrow and hoping Lord Marbury wasn't going to try and pressure her like Senator Kinsey had already done. "I'm here to see mutual cooperation between all of the countries in these matters, not just to see one country move in ahead of everyone else."

"Oh yes, quite, quite agree." Lord Marbury nodded fervently. "The furthest thing from my mind I assure you. I meant only that as two people already briefed on the subject, it would be nice to have a discussion before the official talks begin, so we can better understand the questions and demands that will be imposed by the other ambassadors." He explained, watching Doctor Weir's face carefully. "If only that we can…"

"Lord Marbury, Doctor Weir. Good, right this way please."

Both Lord Marbury and Doctor Weir turned at the interruption, seeing Leo McGarry looking at them from only a few steps away.

"The President only has a few minutes this morning, and I'd like to get you two seen to as quick as possible. So if you would be so kind?" Leo asked, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Of course, sorry." Doctor Weir nodded, following on with Lord Marbury as Leo led them out of the lobby and through into the main corridors of the West Wing of the White House. "I thought I was going to be mediating meetings between the Ambassadors, at least, that's what I was told?" Doctor Weir asked as she followed Leo's brisk pace through the busy corridors.

"You will be, and more," Leo explained. "Look people, we've got a lot going on here, playing it fast and loose with room for flexibility is the game plan today. I wouldn't expect anything to stay on course if I was you."

"Yes, if nothing else the events of this last weekend have shown us to anticipate the unexpected or impossible." Lord Marbury chuckled to himself as Leo led them through into his office and closed the door behind them.

"Truer words have never been spoken," Leo nodded over as he looked through to see President Bartlet talking with CJ and Josh in the Oval Office before closing the side door as well. "Four of the five ambassadors have already arrived and have been shown to the discussion rooms. We've set tables aside to make room for anything you would need, but if anything comes up, Admiral Fitzwallace will be your first contact."

"I see, and Admiral Fitzwallace will be sitting in on the talks?" Doctor Weir asked curiously.

"The discussions will be part ambassadorial and part military," Leo explained, watching Doctor Weir and Lord Marbury for their reactions. "Admiral Fitzwallace will be your counterpart during these meetings Doctor Weir. Lord Marbury, Vice Admiral Sir Philip Johns has already arrived is with Admiral Fitzwallace now."

"Ah, very well." Lord Marbury nodded thoughtfully.

"The Chinese, Russian and Australian delegations are already here," Leo explained. "As you can imagine, keeping calm heads during this will be difficult, especially with some of the latest information coming to light."

"Hmm?" Lord Marbury raised his head at that and looked at Leo questioningly.

"We've received word that Superman, and yes, we do have to call him that," Leo commented, brushing off the comment he knew was coming. "Has been sighted at the crash site in the Antarctic."

"Ah," Lord Marbury nodded. "Then the chances of passing Superman, if we must, off as a neutral party to all have just gone up in smoke it would seem."

"More than likely," Leo nodded as he lent back against his desk. "The Chinese are already amassing ships in the East China Sea, we have satellite photos of several large salvage ships being flanked by destroyers, with more moving to join them."

"And the Russians?" Doctor Weir asked with a wince.

"Holding their hand," Leo said thankfully. "They know something's down there, they don't know what. Or we don't think they do at least. But they do know they don't have the naval capacity to move something that big without being challenged, either by us or the Chinese."

"Do the Chinese?" Doctor Weir asked curiously.

"It's possible," Leo admitted after a moment's pause. "They certainly have the manpower, enough to strip down everything into cargo sized loads."

"We cannot permit this," Lord Marbury shook his head. "The technology aboard that vessel could reshape the world as we know it, and possibly destroy it along the way. No, I will not stand by and allow the Antarctic to become the site of the next world war. All over a fictional vessel." Lord Marbury said sternly.

"We feel the same," Leo nodded as he saw Doctor Weir was about to speak. "The Antarctic treaty holds, for the moment." He added quickly. "For the moment, no single country can hold claim to the crash site or the vessel itself, and we intend to keep it that way." He said, turning to his desk and picking up some papers. "About fifteen minutes ago, Admiral Fitzwallace in conjunction with Vice Admiral Sir Philip Johns of the British Navy, agreed to a joint protective venture."

"I had anticipated as much," Lord Marbury nodded solemnly. "Might I ask how many ships you're deploying?"

"Classified, for now." Leo said with a frown. "But between us and the British Navy, enough to make the Chinese think twice about attempting to lay claim to anything."

"I see," Lord Marbury nodded. "And have you given thought to the idea that this act might be exactly what pushes the Chinese to send more forces to the Antarctic?"

"It's a risk we'll have to take." Leo said with a nod, walking to the side door and knocking loudly before pushing it open. "Mr President, are you ready?"

"Yes, please," President Bartlet's voice came from within the Oval Office.

"Let's do this then," Leo said, gesturing for Lord Marbury and Doctor Weir to follow him through into the Oval Office to begin proper discussions with President Bartlet now that CJ and Josh had left the room.