A Lot Can Happen In A Week.
I do not own Stargate in any way, shape or form.
Chapter One – 2nd Lt. Vanessa James
…
The Kino looked on as Eli knocked on the door in front of him. Eventually an exhausted looking Lt James appeared at the door having obviously just woken up.
"Eli, do you know what the time is?" she asked bleary eyed.
"It's just after seven!"
That woke her up.
"God, half an hour until my shift!" she gasped. Then she stopped, suddenly confused about why Eli was standing at her door so early in the morning with a Kino floating behind his head. "What do you want." she asked.
"The P.R. thingy." He said, pointing to the Kino.
Off her blank expression Eli realised he had to explain.
"You know the discussion in the mess hall about how it would help relations between SGC military and the civilians if they had a better understanding of each other's roles."
"Was this last night?" Lt James asked; "Brody's hooch was a little strong, my memory of last evening is still a bit fuzzy."
"That's right." said Eli, "Chloe suggested it would be great if we could use the Kinos to get a peek at how the other half lived."
"I think I remember her saying that, yes." said Vanessa, the memory obviously returning. "I volunteered didn't I?"
"Just for a week." said Eli; he worked on the control as he spoke. "I can programme it to follow you bio-print. I'll give you the remote so you can pause it while you… you know… dress and stuff."
"I'm not sure about the idea of having a metal ball following me for a week. What would Colonel Young…" began Vanessa,
"He actually thinks it's a good idea." interrupted Eli, "Chloe is our civilian volunteer. You don't have to talk to it if you don't want to. Think of it as a fly on the wall thing."
Still exhausted and very aware that time was ticking away before her shift started Lt James grabbed the control from Eli's hand.
"Fine." she said looking at the Kino now watching her. "Now if we are done I need to get ready."
"Thanks." said Eli as she shut the door on his face.
Lt James looked from the Kino to her unmade bed and without ceremony instantly pressed pause on the Kino control. When the Kino came back on the bed was made and Lt James was dressed.
"So a week in the life of us grunts." She said looking into the lens of the Kino. "First day, Monday morning and I am now running so late I have missed my shower slot." She sniffed her t-shirt. "But as my clothes were not due their weekly wash until tomorrow I don't think anyone would notice." She smiled, "So first order of business is breakfast." She shrugged on her uniform jacket, twisted her hair into a bun and set off to the mess hall with the Kino trailing behind.
…
The crewman on duty handed Lt James her ration and she took a seat on the table with Lt Scott and Sergeant Greer.
"What's with the Kino." asked Greer pointing his spoon at the floated camera.
Lt Scott laughed.
"Are you our military representative?" He asked.
"What?" protested Vanessa James, "Chloe's got one following her too!"
Greer still didn't know what they were talking about.
"It's 'Eye on Vanessa'." explained Scott. "It's filming a Kino-sode - a day in the life of the military to put the civilians at ease."
"A week." said James, "Eli said it was for a week."
Greer glared briefly at the Kino before going back to industriously shovelling his breakfast into his mouth. Lt Scott looked a little worried.
"Chloe is have one of those things following her for a week as well?"
Suddenly Lt James felt much better. She turned to address the Kino.
"So breakfast; what was now affectionately known as 'the slop', accompanied with our daily portion of not-quite-tomatoes." She rolled one of the fruits between her fingers "Like all the fruit growing in the hydroponics bay they taste a little odd but these things are just about palatable. Unlike the pseudo-strawberries produced with much fanfare a few weeks ago."
"Oh god, those were sour." agreed Lt Riley, appearing from nowhere. He pulled a face as he leant over her shoulder looking straight into the Kino. Laughing he moved to a table with Dr Park and Dr Volker.
Vanessa smiled and nodded,
"They were vile." she said, continuing to address the Kino like a video diary. "The idea of introducing fruit and veg to the slop was heaven until you taste it. Nothing ever tastes like you think it should. No one is daft enough to refuse their rations however, no matter how bad the taste - especially not after Dr Lewis's rather graphic description of scurvy among nineteenth century sailors." Vanessa pulled a face. "I'm fairly certain the powdered ration contained all our daily recommended vitamin requirements but why risk it." She took a bite of the tomato-shaped fruit. "After all I'd rather my teeth didn't fall out. It's bad enough toothpaste is beginning to get in short supply."
Vanessa got on with breakfast, aware that most of the crew were giving her odd looks thanks to the Kino float a few yards above her head. She called hellos it some of the night shift, having supper before going to bed and Camille Wray stopping by to remind her about her earth visit in a few days' time, but Vanessa's morning meal was rather uneventful apart from Scott and Riley's teasing.
…
"Breakfast is immediately followed by a 10 mile run around the decks in full kit." Vanessa told the Kino. "You civilians moan about their weekly work outs with Lt Scott. We have to do this every day."
She joined the squad and they set off on a run around the decks on the assigned route. The fact she was dripping with sweat and red faced at the end of the run meant she was a little less pleased by the cameras close proximity when the 10 miles was over.
"I just hope you all appreciate what we military personnel have to go through to stay fit and keep you safe."
…
With workout over Lt James paused the Kino and found time to grab a mist-shower. She reset it and it followed her as she headed to the cargo hold. She signed off her rifle and two clips of ammunition and a high powered torched; checking everything very thoroughly, ready for her assignment.
"Right," she told the Kino, "Three new sections have been opened within the ship. I am leading the team for section Beta. My squad consisting of Palmer, Rivers and O'Hara." She said introducing them in turn. "Exploring new sections breaks some of the monotony while we are stuck in hyper space. Admittedly all we usually find are more quarters or store rooms but sometimes we find something vital."
"Like that robot you found." said Palmer, "Very cool."
"And Sergeant Greer's team found 'the chair'" added Rivers, "Both pretty vital. Not sure anyone can top that."
"It's definitely my turn to find something." said Lt Scott from across the cargo bay. "Maybe a million ZPM's so we can power the stargate home."
"I'm hoping for a weapon's locker." said Greer, who was leading the third team. "These bullets won't last forever."
"This isn't a competition." said Lt James, "We'll find what we find. Let's get going."
Lt James, double checked her map references before heading out. She led her team to their assigned section with the official mapping Kino operated by Lt Riley following Vanessa's own. When they reached the door marked with a chalk cross, Lt James turned to what she hoped was her Kino.
"This door has been sealed since our arrival on Destiny. In a moment we will be entering a room which has been undisturbed for centuries."
"Very dramatic." said Lt Riley, from the Kino she addressed. "But the 'Eye on Vanessa' is actually behind you."
Embarrassed Lt James turned to the other floating camera and then back to Riley's.
"Sorry." she muttered.
…
The next forty minute of Kino recordings did not make for very thrilling viewing. The team went from hatch to hatch, unsealing the door and making a full search of the room beyond. Despite the monotony of it all Lt James made sure the team maintained discipline and they took it in turns to take point. Lt Riley was being a little grating from the voice box of the mapping Kino, he was probably getting bored sitting in front of his Kino remote somewhere back in the control room. The mapping Kino kept disappearing ahead of them down the corridors or entering rooms before they had been properly checked and cleared. Despite Vanessa's protest that this wasn't a competition, team morale was a little low. Every room they searched so far were empty storage areas. The most useful item of the day had probably already been found by Lt Scott's team. They were searching abandoned crew quarters in section Gamma and had found a second charging plate.
"Hey guys." said Riley's voice from the mapping Kino. "You might want to check this out."
The Kino was floating in front of a large reinforced metal door. It was different in design to the other doors in the section, bulkier and in the torch light, very menacing in appearance. O'Hara came forward with the unlocking device and with a hiss the door slid slowly open.
"Palmer, take point." ordered Lt James as they entered the dark room beyond.
Palmer got ten paces ahead before he cried out, his torch going out as he crashed to the ground. The rest of the search team cautiously but quickly moved to his position.
"Airman, are you alright?" called Lt James.
"Careful." Palmer called back. "It's slippery."
They found Palmer on his side in a pool of green fluid. He was struggling to get to his feet in the goo and in the end crawled back to them, not attempting to stand until he was clear of the pool.
Lt James instantly grabbed her radio.
"Control, I need to report a chemical leak in section Beta," she paused as she checked her location. "Section Beta twenty-seven. Over."
It was Dr Volker's voice that answered.
"It this leak from a cargo container?" he enquired.
Shining her torch around the areas to get a better idea of her surroundings Lt James eventually located the source of the fluid.
"The fluid is coming from a large piece of machinery. It's fixed and I think it connects to the deck above. The fluid kind of smells like fudge, I'm not entirely certain it's toxic" she reported
Palmer who had recovered from his embarrassment, moved to a nearby console.
"I think I can get us some more light on the subject." he said, "There's still some power in these circuits."
"That isn't protocol." replied Lt James. "We clear this room and wait for decontamination and quarantine."
"It's not like I can be any more exposed than I am." he said not leaving the console.
"Palmer." warned James.
At the same time Dr Rush's voice came through from the Kino.
"Palmer, I need you to stop what you are doing."
It was too late. Palmer pressed the last of the buttons and the lights came on. At the same time a spark shot from the console he was working on. Lt James briefly blinded by the light turned at the soft 'woof' that accompanied the spark.
Palmer screamed as his arm caught on fire, the chemicals from the spill burning a strange deep purple. Palmer screamed louder as he quickly became a human torch of fire and smoke. He unthinkingly began to run to the door into the direction of the large pool of green inflammable chemicals. The Kino recorded as Lt James ripped off her jacket and charged at Palmer. She knocked him to the floor, getting him to roll, not letting him stop, using her hands and her jacket to try and put out the flames. In a matter of moments, but what felt like hours the fire was extinguished. Palmer was still screaming but alive.
Lt James turned to give an order the rest of her team, but had a coughing fit instead. O'Hara was already on the radio calling for assistance. The Kino recorded as Vanessa looked down at the red raw burns on her palms, she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. Rivers patted her on the back,
"Inhaled too much smoke?" he joked. But when Lt James looked up at him he looked very concerned. "Lieutenant are you alright?"
Lt James gasped and coughed, her face was turning red and her lips blue.
"I can't… breath…" she managed before passing out.
End of chapter one – next instalment 1st Lt. Tamara Johanson (TJ).