Qui Habitat
While everyone else is yuletiding, I'm working on the first update of a story since March 2012.
From somewhere early in Chapter 19 of Qui Habitat:
“We have to hide that it was our people,” Abel said quietly to Cam, pulling him slightly aside. “We can dig out the bullets, burn the bodies, leave something profane - they want to believe in savages, then let us be savages. But even the Bargashi will realize who did this if they see them like this. They will recognize Tauri ammunition, Tauri competence - we cannot let them do that. We are not ready to face the consequences of this action.”
Cam frowned. Abel wasn’t wrong, but... But. Sheppard had told him to do what he needed to do and in that order had been leeway to do some less than pretty things, but Cam did not think for a second that desecrating the corpses of their enemies and torching a planet was in that leeway.
“Okay, before we start planning all the ways we can violate International Humanitarian Law in an hour or less,” Cam said, holding up a hand so Abel would pause because he was winding up to argue. “Let’s remember that this is a galaxy where large amounts of people disappear all the time. We can dig a hole, police what brass we can, make it look like a Wraith attack. We don’t have to go all Colonel Kurtz here.”
Even odds whether Abel would think Kurtz was an SGC commander gone looney or assume Cam was making a reference, but he understood the gist.
“You’ve never seen a scoopy-beams attack and neither have they,” Cam went on. “We can fake one well enough to fit the ghost stories they must have heard.”
He looked around for Reletti was and whistled for his attention when he saw him, calling him by rank and gesturing for him to come over. Reletti trotted over, wiping his kabar knife on his thigh and sheathing it as he arrived.
“Sir?”
“What do we need to stage a Wraith attack for people who’ve only heard about them?” Cam asked, gesturing at the field of fallen behind them. “A big hole somewhere out of the line of sight, garbage bags for the brass, and what?”
He watched as Reletti took in the question and realized why it was being asked. Reletti sucked on his teeth and turned to face the battlefield. “A couple of blasters, sir, maybe a piece of Wraith armor or two. I’m pretty sure the Colonel or Major Lorne can get Engineering to cough up a piece of a dart, make it look like it was air attack and the Bargashi got some.”
Next to Cam, Abel was looking at the nearby trees with intent.
“It’s the Bargashi, Abel, we don’t need to be sophisticated here,” Cam reminded him. “They’re not going to look if anyone survived by running and hiding.”
I will need to go back to Chapter 18 and make this all fit better than it does, but that's minor compared to 7.5 years of "crap, I have no idea what happens next." Which does not mean that I have an ending, just that I have more of what happens before I get to the ending I don't have.
From somewhere early in Chapter 19 of Qui Habitat:
“We have to hide that it was our people,” Abel said quietly to Cam, pulling him slightly aside. “We can dig out the bullets, burn the bodies, leave something profane - they want to believe in savages, then let us be savages. But even the Bargashi will realize who did this if they see them like this. They will recognize Tauri ammunition, Tauri competence - we cannot let them do that. We are not ready to face the consequences of this action.”
Cam frowned. Abel wasn’t wrong, but... But. Sheppard had told him to do what he needed to do and in that order had been leeway to do some less than pretty things, but Cam did not think for a second that desecrating the corpses of their enemies and torching a planet was in that leeway.
“Okay, before we start planning all the ways we can violate International Humanitarian Law in an hour or less,” Cam said, holding up a hand so Abel would pause because he was winding up to argue. “Let’s remember that this is a galaxy where large amounts of people disappear all the time. We can dig a hole, police what brass we can, make it look like a Wraith attack. We don’t have to go all Colonel Kurtz here.”
Even odds whether Abel would think Kurtz was an SGC commander gone looney or assume Cam was making a reference, but he understood the gist.
“You’ve never seen a scoopy-beams attack and neither have they,” Cam went on. “We can fake one well enough to fit the ghost stories they must have heard.”
He looked around for Reletti was and whistled for his attention when he saw him, calling him by rank and gesturing for him to come over. Reletti trotted over, wiping his kabar knife on his thigh and sheathing it as he arrived.
“Sir?”
“What do we need to stage a Wraith attack for people who’ve only heard about them?” Cam asked, gesturing at the field of fallen behind them. “A big hole somewhere out of the line of sight, garbage bags for the brass, and what?”
He watched as Reletti took in the question and realized why it was being asked. Reletti sucked on his teeth and turned to face the battlefield. “A couple of blasters, sir, maybe a piece of Wraith armor or two. I’m pretty sure the Colonel or Major Lorne can get Engineering to cough up a piece of a dart, make it look like it was air attack and the Bargashi got some.”
Next to Cam, Abel was looking at the nearby trees with intent.
“It’s the Bargashi, Abel, we don’t need to be sophisticated here,” Cam reminded him. “They’re not going to look if anyone survived by running and hiding.”
I will need to go back to Chapter 18 and make this all fit better than it does, but that's minor compared to 7.5 years of "crap, I have no idea what happens next." Which does not mean that I have an ending, just that I have more of what happens before I get to the ending I don't have.