Author's Note: So! This is the newest Campers story. It's going to take place just after Circles, just so you're all on the same page that I am. We'll see where it goes, huh?
Disclaimer: I'm not making any money off this, nor do I claim any characters that I didn't create. So there!
OOOOOOOOOO
"You know, there should be a rule about just how much your mother in law is supposed to see of you…"
Janet Fraiser smiled, and ignored the complaint.
"Take your shirt off, Ian. And don't say what you're going to say, or I'm going to find a needle…"
Since he'd had it on the tip of his tongue to say something that was probably a little out of line – but which would have been amusing, to himself, at least - Colonel Ian Brooks changed his tactics.
"Beckett could have done this…" he grumbled as he stripped off his shirt.
"Beckett isn't here, and your physical is due."
"It could have waited."
"What if you need to go offworld?"
"Technically, I am offworld."
He was assigned to Atlantis, after all. Earth wasn't home just then. He was just there because Cassie wanted a chance to spend time with her mother – and the boys needed a chance to see both sets of grandparents – not just his mom and dad.
"Stop complaining," she said, taking his temperature – mainly because the thermometer in his mouth kept him from talking. "I have to do McKay next."
If anyone should be whining, it should be her, right?
OOOOOOOOOO
"Seriously, General Hunt, you need to understand just how easily someone could come in here and wipe out the SGC – just like that…"
Rodney McKay snapped his fingers, drawing a scowl from Major General Alan Hunt – who had pretty much been scowling for the past ten minutes.
"The shield is working fine, Doctor McKay. Not only have our own people been in here to check it out, but Colonel Brooks checked it yesterday."
"Well, he's a grunt. What does he know?"
"He built it, didn't he?"
McKay rolled his eyes.
"With help from Shawn Adams. And me."
"I'm not going to authorize another shutdown of the gate systems just so you can-"
Alarms suddenly blared all around them, interrupting him, and Hunt turned to look out the window of his office, which overlooked the embarkation room. The Stargate was dialing in.
"Unscheduled offworld activation!" a voice said over the base's loudspeakers. "Repeat; unscheduled offworld activation. General Hunt to the control room."
Hunt had already left his office, heading through the briefing room and towards the stairs. McKay looked after him, stunned by how quickly he'd reacted – which always impressed him even though he'd never had admitted it to anyone in the military – and slightly annoyed that he hadn't been able to finish his conversation without interruption.
Oh well, time enough to convince him later. McKay was very good at convincing people to do things. With that pleasant thought in mind, he headed out of the office as well, making his way much more slowly to the control room to see what was going on.
OOOOOOOOO
"Who is it, Lieutenant?"
The woman in front of the dialing computer shrugged, looking up at her commanding officer.
"No IDC, sir. No code of any kind."
"Is it the Tok'ra?" one of the younger technicians asked, looking over her shoulder, curiously – until Hunt scowled at him and he backed off just a little.
"No idea."
Hunt wasn't one for uncertainty – a trait that was made even easier with the hardware that his Stargate carried.
"Raise the shield, open the iris."
Whoever was coming in would make it through the iris – which would keep them from being immediately killed. A good thing if it happened to be an ally. However, should the newcomer be someone – or several someones – that weren't on the invited list to the SGC, then they'd be cut off from the personnel of the base by the shield, which had been installed only the year before, replacing an older model of one that Shawn Adams had built soon after he'd graduated from the Air Force Academy. This one was more powerful and capable of dealing with intruders without the Marines guarding the base being forced to lower the shield to fight back. Ian Brooks had designed it using Ancient technology and it worked like a charm.
The iris opened, and if you knew what to look for you could see the faint glimmer of light that the powerful shield produced. It spanned most of the embarkation room, but could be compressed at a command to the computer.
"What's going on?"
Major Andrew Stephens appeared out of nowhere – no big surprise to Hunt or the others in the room.
"We're not sure, yet, Major."
Even as he spoke, however, a lone form came running through the gate. A small form that obviously hadn't been to the SGC before, because he stumbled when he hit the ramp and ended up rolling to the bottom, where he sprawled with a pain-filled grunt. The Stargate disengaged behind him, telling them he was alone.
"Medical team to the embarkation room!"
Hunt was already heading for the door, followed by Andrew and several others. By the time he made it into the embarkation room itself, the small form had tried to right itself, and was now on his knees, clearly in pain. He was browned-haired, with gray eyes and a nasty burn on his face and what was undoubtedly a broken arm.
And he was very young.
"Please!" he shouted, shrilly. "You have to help me!"
Hunt motioned for the shield to be lowered as he moved over to the boy – who couldn't have been ten. He was shocked by the crazy British accent the boy had – never had he heard that coming out of the mouth of anyone coming from another planet. And he was certain the kid wasn't one of their own.
"Who are you?"
The boy ignored his question, tears streaking his dirty face. He was clearly running only on adrenaline, because he was already starting to teeter a little, and he was determined to get his own demands answered.
"I need to find Ian Brooks! Please, you have to help…"
Andrew frowned, but Hunt tried again.
"Who are you?"
"Ian Brooks."
It was the last thing he said, though, because he collapsed and would have fallen if not for Hunt reaching out and catching him before he could do any more damage to his already battered frame.
"Get Colonel Brooks up here."