Note: this story is meant to be read after Stargate: SVU 4 and before Stargate: SVU 5 (which is coming soon).
The New Guy
A Stargate: SVU short story
"The Gate Room is just down here, Dr. Rush," Dr. Lee said with a smile.
Nicholas Rush just smiled back absently as he followed the balding scientist down the incredibly busy corridor within Stargate Command, an underground military facility deep within the mountains of Colorado. Air Force personnel brushed past him, both men and women, all with pressing deeds that they needed to do immediately, judging from the way they briskly walked.
'Welcome to the military,' Rush thought warily. He supposed he should have been careful what he wished for, because he now had his wish in spades. He shadowed Dr. Lee as he expertly navigated the thick crowds, which included a group of heavily armed soldiers who hustled past them.
"Thought the Stargate program was strictly Air Force," Rush commented to Lee. He nodded at the passing soldiers. "Didn't know the Army was here, as well."
Lee's eyes grew wide behind his glasses. "Uh, actually, Dr. Rush, they're Marines. You might want to keep that in mind…you know, for future reference."
Rush nodded. "Got it."
"We also have Russian and Chinese troops working with us now, though none of them are on duty today," Lee added.
Rush raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Given the total devastation that the Sons Of Darkness did to China, Dr. Lee, I'm quite frankly surprised to hear that any of their troops survived."
"Many of them did, thankfully. And they're proven to be fierce fighters against the Sons."
Rush could certainly understand the Chinese eagerness for payback against the Sons Of Darkness, but something that Lee just said had caught his attention. He grabbed the man's arm. "Wait, are you implying that the Sons are still active? Because the news said they were completely wiped out when they tried to invade Earth."
"They were," Lee said. "At least the invasion force itself was destroyed by the drones that SG-1 had activated in the Ancient base in Antarctica. But since then, we've been finding small pockets of the Sons here and there…not enough to pose a major threat against Earth, but they've proven to be quite a nasty surprise to our teams out there." Lee glanced down at the ID tag that was clipped to Rush's jacket. "You've got the clearance, now, I'm surprised nobody told you."
"I finally got my approval from the IOA just this morning," Rush explained. "Next thing I know, some men in black are hustling me into a car, then into a jet, and then right into here. During that time, I've been given files to read and forms to sign. Frankly, Doctor Lee, I've been on the move for so long my head's spinning."
"That's the military for you," Lee said, as they resumed walking. "Most of the time, it's just sitting around doing nothing, being bored out of your skull…and then you're suddenly moving at the speed of light." He pointed to a well guarded door that looked like a bank vault. "That's the main door for the Gate Room, but we'll be going in through the Control Room door here."
Rush entered through a more normal looking doorway that led to a short flight of steps. Ascending the steps, Rush paused when he saw the nerve center of Stargate Command.
An Air Force Sergeant sat at a control console which faced large windows. Two very pretty women stood behind him, one woman with long brown hair who wore a dark blue military outfit that Rush recently learned was called a BDU. The other was an Asian woman dressed in a snazzy business suit. Rush instantly knew who the business suit-clad woman was: Camile Wray, the civilian co-commander of the SGC.
He looked around the control room for General O'Neill, the military leader of the SGC, but didn't see him. The bright, sparkling light that shone in through the windows caught his attention, and when he turned, Rush was shocked to see that it wasn't sunlight.
It was the stargate.
As tall as a building, the metallic circle stood vertically behind a ramp, it's center a shimming pool of what looked like water, but Rush knew full well that it was the event horizon, the actual portal through which a person stepped through and wound up on another world. He had seen it on the TV, when the IOA, along with the U.S. military, decided to reveal the Stargate program to the world after the invasion. Yet it was quite another thing to see this beauty in person.
"Amazing," he whispered in awe.
"Yes," a female voice said. "We're quite proud of it, too."
Rush glanced over at Wray, who had spoken. Lee stepped in and said, "Dr. Nicolas Rush, this is Camile Wray, co-commander of the SGC. Camile, this is Dr. Nicolas Rush, the scientist with the incredible new theory about boosting the range of the stargate."
"Yes, I've heard," Wray said. "So the IOA and the pentagon decided to let you try out your theory with us, Dr. Rush?"
Rush nodded. "Just got the word this morning and I just arrived here now. I am to lead the expedition."
"Well, you are to lead the science contingent of the expedition," Wray amended. "You shall be assigned a military co-leader."
Rush was surprised, and annoyed, to hear that. "Really? Interesting, doesn't the SGC trust me?"
"It's nothing personal, Doctor, it's just how things are done here," Wray said.
Lee gestured to the other woman. "And this is Casey Novak."
Rush gave the diminutive woman a double take. "Miss Novak, yes, I've read about your exploits."
Novak gave him a wry half smile. "Exploits? Is that what they're now calling what I've been through?"
"I'm sorry," Rush instantly said. "I didn't mean…."
"Don't worry about it," Novak shot back, with a shake of her head. She walked past him towards the door. "Good luck with your expedition…."
"Thanks," Rush called after her.
"Uh, word to the wise," Lee whispered to Rush. "She's spoken for, and her better half is a Jaffa. Just saying…."
Rush really had no intention of chasing after Novak, anyway. Yet he nodded his head nonetheless. "Duly noted."
"We're still at a hold, Ms. Wray," the Sergeant said.
"Dr. Rush, Sergeant Walter Harriman," Wray introduced them. "Thanks, Walter."
"Hello," Rush said to Harriman. "If I may ask, what are you holding for?"
"SG-1 is due to visit a planet for diplomatic reasons," Wray explained. "But the area of the planet where the stargate is located is suffering a bad rainstorm right now."
"Try hurricane," Harriman added.
Wray looked startled. "It's that bad?"
Harriman pointed at one of the screens above him. It showed trees wildly dancing around in pouring rain. "Winds are up to fifty miles an hour and still climbing."
Lee leaned into Rush and said, "The images you're seeing are from the MALP…."
Rush nodded when he recalled reading about that on the plane ride over here. "Yes, the automated rover. You send it through first to check the area out before risking anybody, very smart."
"Hey Walter!" a man's voice shouted from the gate room.
Harriman spoke into a microphone. "Yes, General O'Neill?"
Rush stood on tiptoe and saw a large group of BDU-clad people, both men and women, all waiting patiently on the ramp before the stargate. He recognized General O'Neill, who was also all dressed up for an excursion off world.
"You sure you don't have a button in there that can turn off the rain?!" O'Neill asked. "Because, at this rate, by the time we finally get moving, the Ukulele will have forgotten all about us!"
A gorgeous blonde who bore the rank of colonel just dropped her head into her hands in a weary manner. Then she glanced back at the general and said, "Um, sir, the name of the people we're meeting is the Ulnae."
"I knew that, Carter," O'Neill said with a wave of his hand.
"No you didn't, Jack," a man who wore glasses muttered. "You just called them the Ukulele."
"Now I've got this mental image of visiting a village of musical instruments," an equally gorgeous dark haired woman said. She leaned so close and casually on the man wearing the glasses that Rush wondered if they were lovers.
"Daniel, Liv, do you mind?" O'Neill said to them. "I'm consulting with my science team, here. Hey, Bill, how about it? You invent that weather controlling gizmo I asked for, yet?"
"Do you need it before or after I invent the gold making machine, General?" Dr. Lee sardonically asked into the microphone. "Because I can only work on one of your ideas at a time."
This caused everyone in the gate room to break up into laughter, with the exception of a tall, bald black man with a strange tattoo on his forehead. He just smiled serenely at the mirthful scene as another raven-haired woman pointed at him and said, "Muscles, you're actually smiling!"
"Indeed I am, Vala Mal Doran," the bald man said with a nod.
"A rarer sight than sunshine during the spring rainy season," a man who also bore the rank of Colonel said. "But a sight that's just as welcome, none the less, Teal'c."
"I don't know, Colonel Mitchell," a young Asian woman jokingly commented. "It's kind of creepy, sort of like seeing the Sphinx suddenly break into a smile."
"The Sphinx just so happens to be a distant relative of mine, Grace Satterfield," Teal'c solemnly told the Asian woman.
There was an uneasy silence as everyone in the gate room stared at Teal'c for a moment.
"I can never tell when he's joking or not," O'Neill finally said to Colonel Carter.
"He's joking, sir," Carter assured him. Then, after a glance at Teal'c stony expression, she added, "I think…."
The vault door to the gate room slid open, and Rush saw two more blond women, both fully dressed in the same BDUs, run in. Then they both stopped short when they saw everyone casually waiting in front of the stargate.
"You're still here?!" the shorter of the two blondes said incredulously. "We thought you had all gone through already!"
"Bad weather on the flip side, Hailey," Mitchell called to her. "We're waiting it out."
"TJ!" O'Neill gaily called to the other blonde. "Good to have you along! You never know when these Ukuleles might need a band aid."
Carter just shook her head in exasperation at this. "Sir, please, please," she sincerely pleaded. "Do not call them that!"
The woman called Liv walked up to O'Neill and said, "The Ulnae, Jack, the Ulnae. C'mon, say it with me…the Ulnae."
Rush stared in disbelief at O'Neill as he patiently repeated the proper name of the aliens with Liv.
"Something wrong, Doctor?"
He turned to see Wray gave him a bemused look. Rush struggled for the right words to say that would express his shock at seeing General O'Neill in action for the first time. "The General, um, he's very, uh…."
"Oh, yes, he is, most definitely," Wray said with a broad smile. "And get used to it, Doctor, because the General is like this all the time."
"All. The. Time," Lee calmly added.
"I guess the Sons Of Darkness must not be as big of a threat as they once were for everybody to be shirking their duties like this," Rush said, with a shake of his head.
Wray suddenly gave him a hard look.
"Camile, he doesn't know about them, yet," Lee told her.
"Know about who?" Rush asked.
"The stargate program may be out in the open these days, but there's something that we've kept from the public," Wray told Rush. "A new threat, one that's arisen within the past year. We've tangled with them briefly last year when they built a super gate."
"A super gate?!" Rush said with amazement. "You mean there're larger stargates than this one?!"
"A super gate is far larger than this one, about a thousand times larger," Lee said. "It floats in outer space and serves as a gateway for huge fleets of warships."
"Dear God," Rush whispered, stunned at the implication. "Who are these people that can build such things?"
"They call themselves the Ori," Wray replied. "They're religious fanatics who're backed by a lot of manpower and superior firepower. Even with the Netian Empire backing us up then, it still took everything we had to fight them off and destroy their super gate. We have reason to believe the Ori are now back in our galaxy in force, and if that intel from the Tok'ra is correct, then Earth is facing its greatest crisis."
Wray then stepped close to Rush, almost so they were face to face. "And General O'Neill and his people may seem extremely casual to you, but that's how they vent, Doctor. They are professionals who have fought hard and sacrificed much to keep this planet safe and free from alien incursion, and acting silly like this is just their way of blowing off steam. So please spare me any further haughty comments about them shirking their duties. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I understand," Rush said contritely.
Rush stood mentally kicking himself for saying such a loutish thing, especially to the co-commander of the SGC. 'Got to watch your step here,' he told himself. 'I've come so far; wouldn't want to blow it all just on a bad comment.'
He noticed that SG-1 had quieted down in the gate room. But it wasn't completely quiet. There was a strange humming, and it came from General O'Neill.
'It's a song,' Rush realized. 'He's humming a song…something that I recognize, but I can't put my finger on what it is….'
Right at that moment, Carter turned to him and sang, "And I wonder…"
"….still I wonder," O'Neill joined in with her.
"Who'll stop the rain?" all of SG-1 abruptly sang in unison.
Rush nodded when he realized what the song was. "Clarence Clearwater…."
"No, Creedence Clearwater Rival," Lee corrected him. "They're one of the General's favorite bands."
There was silence in the gate room once more, until Carter glanced at O'Neill with a wonderful smile and very sweetly began to sing, "I went down Virginia…."
"….seeking shelter from the storm," O'Neill joined in with her.
Carter then turned and raised her hands, leading the others through the lyrics of the song like a conductor. Mitchell just stood there, grinning, while Vala watched with fascination. Another slight smile crept across the stony face of Teal'c as he stoically listened.
Liv, Daniel, Satterfield, Hailey and TJ all sang along with Carter and O'Neill. Some of them were off key, and a few flubbed the lyrics, but their enthusiasm was infectious. Rush found himself wishing he was down there with them as they sang.
"Still the rain kept pourin', fallin' on my ears. And I wonder, still I wonder, Who'll stop the rain."
At the end of the song, SG-1 then broke into cheers and laughter. O'Neill gave them all a thumbs up.
Harriman leaned into the microphone and said, "Looks like the song worked, General. We now have clear skies. You have a go. I say again, SG-1: you have a go."
O'Neill and Carter went through the event horizon together, looking for all the world like an old married couple as she once more pleaded with him to properly pronounce the name of the Ulnae. O'Neill just nodded his head and patted her on the arm as they vanished through the shimmering curtain of light. Liv and Daniel followed, and Rush's assumption that they were lovers was correct, for they held hands.
"This place is ground zero for all the conflict in the galaxy, Doctor," Wray said, as she watched SG-1 walk through the stargate. "We're under a lot of pressure, and whatever silliness it takes to relieve that pressure is much needed by everybody here."
"Yes, I understand perfectly," Rush said sincerely. "I apologize for my comment; I meant no disrepect. And it won't happen again. Still, I must confess that…this was not what I was expecting. It's all a little weird for me."
Wray just glanced at him with a warm smile. "Welcome to Stargate Command, Doctor Rush. We specialize in weird here."
The End
Author's note: this was originally the first scene of the fifth SG1/SVU story, but I cut it for pacing. I liked the scene enough to turn it into a stand alone story. This is also my way of dipping a toe back into this universe, and the water feels just fine. What do you think? :)