Ooooook, here is the 2nd part of my "Advance Australia Fair" series. If you could please send me reviews based on the story and characters and any format tips, it would be much appreciated. Also an interesting fact for people outside of Australia - "Advance Australia Fair" is the Australian National Anthem.
P.S- the ruler tool wouldnt work for some reason so I used dashes. It will be amended soon...I hope.
Other than that, Enjoy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stargate: SG-23
"Advance Australia Fair"
Part 2
With Dr. Sarah Barlow slung over his shoulder, Colonel Moss moved as quickly as he could through the fog and uneven terrain of P3X-896 with Captain Swan running behind, bearing the body of the dead Asgard pilot. Although Sarah was still breathing, he wanted to get her to a medic as soon as possible. He was not running out of breath but the weight of Sarah and the potholed ground was taking it's toll on his knees. The young Rick Moss would have made it to the gate by now, he thought to himself. He was coming to the realisation that he was getting older.
"At least I look younger" he muttered as he approached the DHD.
Swan appeared from the fog apparently out of breath. Moss couldn't see him clearly but it was definitely Captain Swan, his stance still very proper and cocky at the same time. He still clutched the little body in his arms. The Colonel began to dial earth on the DHD interface. The gate began to spin and the chevrons began to lock into place. In a matter of seconds the blue shockwave burst from the structure and then retracted as it had in the SGC. Swan activated his GDO, typing in his Iris Deactivation Code quickly with his right hand while holding the pilot's body with the other. The two officers stood still.
"Well?" asked Swan.
"Well what?" Moss replied unmoving.
The two stood stagnant, looking from the gate to each other. The same concern on their minds: the iris.
"What do we do now?" Swan asked, looking at Colonel Moss.
Moss shifted his weight to his other foot. Sarah was heavier than he thought. He placed her unconscious body gently on the ground.
"I suppose we just go through" he answered, the strain was evident in his tone.
Swan paused and looked down at the GDO. He seemed perplexed.
"But isn't there meant to be a reply?" said Swan, holding the device out to show Colonel Moss.
It was pointless to do that, he couldn't read the LCD screen himself through the fog. The two looked at the gate again. They had been thrown into the wormhole, with hardly any time to soak in the information that they had quickly received. Moss turned towards Swan again.
"Did you type the code in properly?" he said carefully.
The last thing he wanted was to die on his first mission. He thought of what the military would tell his parents and sisters. Probably something like: "His death was not in vain", which really didn't fit getting splattered across the iris. Swan thought the same thing, but wondered if his parents would care. The Captain shook his head of those thoughts and focused on the device in his hand.
"I am sure I typed the right code in, I'm from the mobile phone era, sir" Swan said with a small sense of uncertainty in his voice.
It was the first hint of qualm that Moss had seen from the usually confident Captain. Moss looked at his watch. It was tough through the fog but he noticed the glow in the dark hands showed it to be 13:00 hours. Had they really been on the planet that long? It seemed like such a short time. Moss inhaled deeply.
"Ok, lets just go" he shouted, a little frustrated.
"Yes Sir!" Swan replied.
Neither of them moved.
"Well!" Moss exclaimed.
"Well what!" Swan snapped back.
The two began to bicker loudly. The noise woke the knocked out Sarah Barlow. She drifted back to consciousness and sat up. She was on the ground between Rick and Swan, who were getting more irate at each other. Her head hurt and their argument didn't help. She slowly staggered up, moving between the two soldiers. They were acting more like children but she had no patience at that moment to put up with them. She moved to the Stargate and turned back.
"Are you two coming or what?" she rasped, her head still dizzy and her throat sore from smoke inhalation.
With that said, she turned back to the vertical pool and walked through. Moss and Swan stopped their squabbling and looked at each other with a bemused expression. They shook it off and hurried through the gate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They were not smeared across the iris. Swan had typed the code in correctly and all three immediately rematerialised in the SGC. The light in the concrete bunker was bright enough to make the two men blink hard as they adjusted to the new atmosphere. An infirmary team poured into the room and ran to Sarah Barlow who had collapsed on the gangway. General Landry walked in from the left blast door.
"What took you so long?" asked the General.
Moss shrugged.
"It was a pea-souper, sir" reported the Colonel.
"We couldn't tell if the iris would be retracted" added Swan.
The General smiled and scratched the back of his head, chuckling a little as he replied to the Australian's comments.
"It is designed to register quickly for under fire situations, boys" he said.
Landry turned more serious as he looked at the limp body in Captain Swan's arms.
"Dead, sir" Swan said, not waiting for the question.
Swan lay the body of the pilot onto a stretcher. When he looked down at the body he noticed something terrible. Swan gasped and stood back. When Colonel Moss looked down at the blue grey body of the pilot he grew angry.
"What the hell happened Swan!" yelled Moss suddenly.
The body of the pilot was covered in more scratches including another wound but this time on the torso. Where there once was a full gate address, there was now only four symbols and a huge bloody gash. Swan looked and felt horrible.
"When I was running I tripped over a crater and dropped him. I didn't think that he was any more damaged, I'm sorry sir" Swan said sincerely.
Sincerely didn't seem to make up for it in General Landry's opinion. He looked angry like a grizzly bear about to kill. The General turned quickly on his heels towards Captain Swan.
"Your clumsiness may have put this pilot's death in vain, Captain!" snapped Landry.
Swan was not going to say anything, he had been yelled at by people far more important and intimidating than Landry, his father came to mind. But General Landry was, for better or worse, Swan's boss. If he wanted to be part of the Stargate Program he would have to behave himself. Moss stood and watched this display of the General's wrath for a long enough time to let Swan learn a touch of humility, stepping in after a minute or two.
"General, in all fairness it was my order to run for the gate. We had one man down and I thought it important to get Dr. Barlow immediate medical attention. I knew the risks of running in that fog and chose to ignore them. This should go on my record, Sir" reasoned Colonel Moss.
Moss stood ready to receive a blasting from the General but was not given that experience. Instead Landry seemed to cool down. The General understood the reason for the order and respected Moss for taking the responsibility.
"Ok, SG-23 dismissed, debriefing at 14:30 hours" said the General as he walked down the metal ramp.
Swan looked at Colonel Moss with a curious expression. No one had ever taken the blame for anything he had done wrong. His commanding officers had always let him fall for his own mistakes. Swan was conflicted, he admired Moss for his moral code but while no officer had taken the blame for him, he didn't like the idea of owing a favor. He walked with Colonel Moss down the ramp and out of the blast doors. This was a good time to suss out the rumours and information he had gathered on the way to the base.
"So you fought in the gulf war" stated Swan.
Moss didn't notice that Swan was telling him he did, the Australian Colonel just took it as a question.
"Yes I did" Moss replied hesitantly.
The Colonel did not want to talk about it.
"Tough battle, I mean I fought in the sequel but you had it a little tougher. Enough to drive a man crazy" Swan said trying to sound nonchalant.
Colonel Moss quickly turned to the side to look at the young Captain. Where was Swan going with this? Had the egotist read Moss's file?
"You ever see a man get shell shock on a battle field, Colonel? It's not pretty, there are all manner of things that could happen."
Moss looked to Captain Swan with a concerned expression. He was certain that the Captain knew what happened in 1991 and was now trying to make Moss snap. He almost did.
"There are a lot of people who say that the battle just gets to them, which is fair enough. I say that it's an enormous sign of weakness and fear, especially in an officer" Swan said this in a very harsh tone.
Moss was now holding back either furious rage or saddened tears. He couldn't be sure what it was but he held it anyway. The two stared daggers for a while until Swan smiled a brazen grin. Moss still felt angry, he probably would until he could get rid of Swan in the personnel review in a month or so. Until then he was stuck with the bastard. Swan felt he had what he wanted and changed the subject to his favourite topic.
"So Methuselah, what do you think of me?" asked Swan offhandedly.
Moss was still aggravated by the previous questioning but he pushed his anger back. He looked at Swan dismissively and turned forward again.
"Captain Swan you work in two modes; Soldier and Prick" said Moss with much malice as they rounded a corner.
At this remark Swan stood still as Moss kept moving. The Captain's face looked surprised, no one had ever said that to him. He thought it was because Colonel Moss didn't know just how powerful the Swan family was. But on speculation this was not right, Moss knew exactly who he was dealing with, he just had no fear.
"Hey grandpa! What do you mean I'm a prick?" Swan yelled down the corridor.
Moss heard him but didn't answer. He knew that the boy would be wondering about that remark for a while.
"What does he know of weakness and fear!" Moss said to himself as he entered the elevator. His mind recalled the years of treatment that he had after the war and then he remembered Sarah. She stood with him through the worst of his shell shock and now it was time for him to sit by her bedside.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sick bay of the SGC was reasonably quiet. With not much to do around the base, the doctors stood around chatting. Sarah lay on a bed near the far end of the room, an oxygen mask placed gently over her mouth and nose. Moss walked in from having his routine check-up and sat beside her. The stocky country boy held her hand. He turned to Dr. Lam who was closest to Sarah's bed.
"How is she doing?" he asked.
The doctor looked down at Sarah's chart and smiled. Dr. Lam had a beautiful face but something about it said that it hardly smiled. Given this opinion, Moss felt that the smile meant something good
"Colonel, provided all goes well, she will be good to go in a day or two."
Moss felt relieved, he turned back to Sarah.
"Sarah I'm sorry this happened" he said sincerely.
She didn't respond at all to his words of apology. Her breathing still less than healthy. Moss looked at her with saddened eyes. He had never intended to put her in danger, really he had never thought they would see each other after she left with the Atlantis project. Moss patted her hand and stood up slowly. He remembered why they had parted in the first place. He wanted his military career and she wanted to research in Atlantis. The two loved each other with a deep passion, at least they had before Sarah went "abroad". Moss still had feelings for her, but he knew that it wasn't fair on either of them to act on those emotions. It could put their personal careers at risk and, in the case of the field, their lives.
"I missed you so much, I just wanted you to know how much you meant to me," Moss said earnestly, "You saved me".
Moss stood up and left the infirmary solemnly. After he left, Sarah opened her eyes and shed a tear.
"I missed you too, Rick" she whispered forlornly.
She knew as well as he did that it couldn't work. To Sarah, the sterile infirmary got lonelier as Moss left.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The briefing room was more comforting to Colonel Moss and Captain Swan, now it would be finished and the next mission would await them. Closure was a necessary part of the military. It meant that life continued when it was in constant threat of being extinguished. Moss liked that feeling, it made him feel better about what had happened on P3X-896. General Landry walked in from his office prompting the respectful exchange of salutes.
"Take a seat gentlemen" Landry said as he sat down at the end of the table.
Moss hoped this particular briefing wouldn't take too long but then he realised that he had nothing better to do. Sarah was still in the infirmary and he wasn't about to spend any more time with Swan than he had to. Moss tried to concentrate on what the General had to say.
"Well for your first mission it went ok" Landry said.
That was a little optimistic of the General, Moss thought.
"It was unfortunate that Dr. Barlow was injured but I am told by Dr. Lam that she will recover soon" the General continued.
Moss felt uncertain about the mission. He now had a team of an unconscious archaeologist, an over confident and rude Captain and himself. It looked like SG-23 would stand down until Sarah Barlow recovered. As if reading the Colonel's mind, General Landry said something that made Moss and Swan perk up.
"Your fourth member is now on base, he is currently on the administration level receiving his identification cards."
Moss and Swan looked at each other with smiles of hope. Maybe they would get some gate travel in before Sarah returned to active duty.
"Sir, I wasn't aware of a fourth member" Moss said curiously.
Swan's information gathering hadn't produced anything on a fourth member either. Who ever this person was, he had been a closely guarded secret.
"Lieutenant McCoy will be here soon" said Landry.
That instant a man, that can only be described as "built like a brick shithouse", entered the room presenting his documents to the General and saluting. His fatigues sported the same Australian patches that Moss and Swan wore on their sleeves. There was no doubt that this was indeed the Lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Mac McCoy, Royal Australian Engineers, Sir!" He boomed over the briefing room.
Mac's voice was loud and reasonably deep. He had a very strong presence in the room and his muscles bulged as he stood to attention. When the General set the Lieutenant at ease, the muscular movement was very definite. This was a man Moss could work with. It was a good fortune that the team would have an engineer. Now there would be less trouble with situations like the crashed ship. McCoy sat down and listened intently to the General debrief the mission. After the de-briefing was over General Landry explained the standby.
"Now you have a full team and some time before you return to active duty. I suggest you get some rest and get used to each other" he said as he stood up and headed to his office.
The door shut and the three Australians were relatively alone in the briefing room. Colonel Moss looked at both the tall thin Swan and the muscle bound McCoy.
"Well I intend on learning more about the Asgard Pilot rather than resting, if you gentlemen need me I will be looking over the symbols on the body" Moss said as he left the room.
As he walked through the door he bumped into Dr. Daniel Jackson, sending the pile of books in the doctors arms flying. Jackson looked a little irritated but not angry, Moss got the feeling that this happened often. The stocky Australian Colonel helped Jackson pick up the books but stopped and stared at one of them. The two men stood up but Moss still stared at the book.
"Umm, Colonel?" Jackson said.
Moss looked up from the book and snapped out of his trance.
"What is this book for?" Moss asked intensely.
"I was going to present some basic findings on Stargate references in Aztec culture. In fact that is why Dr. Barlow was sent to my lab earl-" Jackson was cut off by Moss striding down the corridor, taking the book with him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The lab where the body of the Asgard pilot lay was a cold, clinical room. The temperature was kept low to ensure the body would not decay. There were a few doctors in the room but they hardly had anything to do and when Moss barged in, book in hand, they left the room. Colonel Moss went straight to the body of the pilot and flipped through the pages of the book until he found the Aztec calendar. On the page, Jackson had made some notes. The clearest of which was a few Stargate symbols at the top of the margin.
"It could work" Moss said quietly as Jackson, McCoy and Swan entered the room.
Swan was clutching his shin and had a sour look on his face. Jackson ran up to Moss to grab his book but stopped when he saw the body of the pilot. Now he was also checking his notes and stood in amazement. The room fell silent only to be broken by Swan's pained voice.
"We ran here to look at that pilot? We could have walked, he isn't going anywhere" Swan said scornfully as he rubbed the sore spot on his shin.
Moss broke his gaze from the pilot's corpse to turn to Captain Swan.
"You didnt have to walk, Swan" Moss said dryly.
McCoy stood next to Swan and grinned.
"I hit that trolley harder than you and I'm not carrying on like a headless chook" Mac said mockingly.
Swan looked irritated at this show of disrespect. McCoy was of a lower rank so to Swan that meant the Lieutenant was his for ridiculing, not the other way around. The Captain made a grimace as he tried to suppress his pain.
"Colonel, Lieutenant McCoy is being disrespectful to a superior officer!" Swan complained.
Moss rolled his eyes.
"Superior officer, that's debateable" he said cynically as he turned his attention back to the corpse.
Swan could do nothing but pout as McCoy stood strong and grinned. They had an automatic detest for each other, but seemed to be enjoying the sport of it. Swan would make a witty remark soon enough and the game would start over. Moss and Jackson looked intently a the notes before them, they knew exactly what the next course of action would be.
They had to get General Landry's permission to proceed.
"Advance Australia Fair" Part 3, Coming Soon…