A/N: A couple notes. First off, if you've read previous episodes, you should be familiar with Christopher Umar, a Nigerian Air Force officer. But, in my infinite stupidity, I did not do the proper research about their Air Force and gave him a rank of Colonel. There are no Colonels in the Nigerian Air Force. The only two equivalents are Wing Commander and Group Captain. Since shortening Group Captain to Captain makes him sound like he has a lower rank than he really does, his rank is Wing Commander and I've updated previous episodes to compensate. Colonel Umar is actually Commander Umar.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think.
-.-
Previously on Stargate Millennium
After over a decade of using the stargate, the SGC found reference to a city built by all four races in the Alliance of Four Great Races. Calling upon the best and brightest from around the world, a new expedition was sent on a one way trip to this city. To their surprise, the city was also being explored by a civilization known as the Ror'char, a coalition of empires that was a superpower of the galaxy. However, interest were in conflict and the expedition and the Ror'char were forced to fight each other. A high ranking Ror'char officer known as Vos Dreas feigned defeat and death so he could be left alone with the expedition's leader, General William Mercer. Vos Dreas thought that this would be an easy assassination but was taken by surprise when his attack was stopped by an orange shield protecting the General. The last thing Vos Dreas saw before he was killed was Mercer's eyes glow.
PROLOGUE
It has been twenty years; it's been twenty years since the first team of humans was sent to Abydos. Thanks to the massive stone ring known as the stargate, Earth has made enormous leaps technology. They have a fleet of ships ready to defend their planet. They unlocked the secret of the lost city of Atlantis and the mysterious ninth chevron that led to Destiny. But, they had barely scratched the surface of the Alliance of Four Great Races. To this end, Earth has launched a new expedition to the fabled city Millennium, built by all four races. It's a new expedition in a new galaxy, and these are their adventures...
-.-
Of all the things in the universe, there is nothing as devious or calculating as the Goa'uld. Parasites from a lost swamp planet, these creatures seize control of their victims, gaining their body and memories. They rose through the ranks of the galaxy not as kings or emperors but as gods and forced everyone to worship them as such. Their arrogance eventually got the better of them when a race of fleshy creatures from a backwater planet, the Tau'ri, managed to unite everyone who stood against their regime. Their reign fell, but not before several of them managed to infiltrate a secret organization on Earth. And they are still there, waiting to make their next move…
-.-
Chen stared at the computer screen, watching as dots moved about the map of the complex. His laptop was setup before him, as usual, but a tangle of wires and cables connected it to the interface below it, an interface built by the Alliance of Four Great Races. He looked at the gate room behind him, other technicians busy with their duties of monitoring and maintaining the stargate. Steven Chen was on a spare computer terminal, scanning the maps of the Alliance capital of Millennium.
"Look, mate," Martin's voice said through the radio. "I'm telling you that there is no computer here. There's nothing but office spaces. Ya know, that's an interesting thought: Asgard office worker, or a Nox janitor. We really ought to look into that stuff."
"I'm telling you, that you must have gotten it wrong," Chen argued. "The database said there should be a central computer terminal on the third floor of that building."
"I don't know what to tell you. There's nothing but office cubicles up here."
Chen grumbled in frustration. Usually by this time he would proceed to hit something to make it work but the other engineers were not happy about him hitting thousand-year old alien technology.
"Uh...Charles, I said the third floor," Chen said as he pulled up another screen on his laptop.
"I am on the third floor," the Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant pointed out, walking up to an ark, a map of Millennium being pulled up to greet him.
"According to the internal sensors, you're on the fourth."
"Chen, I'm looking at the ark map. Ground, one, two three; I'm on the third floor."
Chen raised an eye in confusion when he heard this before saying: "The first floor is the ground floor."
"Since when?"
"Since always."
"When you're walking down the street, are you on the first floor or are you walking on the ground?"
"If you're walking down the street you're not on any floor 'cause you're outside!"
There was a quiet hiss as the doors to General William Mercer's office opened, the old man stepping out. He peeked to see what the commotion was, smiling in amusement when he realized it was just Chen and Martin bickering again. His gentle footsteps did not alert anyone to his presence as he walked down the steps, his arms folded behind his back as he listened the two friends continue to argue.
"Actually," General Mercer interrupted. "Different countries measure floors differently. Locations such as the United Kingdom, India, and Australia count floors by how far they are off the ground, the first floor being the first level off the ground, while places such as the United States, Russia, and China count how many levels are in the building, the first and the ground being one and the same."
Chen groaned in pure frustration when he heard this.
"You gotta be kidding me. This whole international thing is starting to become a major headache. Charles, go one floor down."
Mercer smiled slightly, glade he could help. Though, he did find it amusing that they were having so much trouble understanding each other because of the cultural differences.
"I'll hurry it up for you," Martin spoke through the radio. "Wouldn't want to make you late for your date with the Doc."
"First off, it's not a date; it's lunch." Chen could hear Martin snickering on the other side. "Second, I won't be late…'cause I still have another thirty minutes!"
Mercer turned to leave the control room, chuckling in amusement. Most of the people on the expedition never even met until now. Doctor Kara Osborn and Doctor Steven Chen seemed to be the only two who were close before Millennium Expedition.
"General," Donavan called out, jogging up the stairs with a stack of papers. Donavan was usually at the DHD in the control room, busy maintaining the stargate. But, he also served as the General's adjutant, keeping Mercer informed and up to date. "I have the report of our current food and water supply, Major Hailey from astrophysics is requesting materials for a number of projects. Also, Doctor Osborn wants to see you in the conference room."
"Did she say what she wanted?" Mercer asked, taking the stack of papers and flipping through them.
"No, sir."
Mercer raised a curious eyebrow at this but quickly strolled to the conference room where, sure enough, Doctor Kara Osborn was waiting for him. She didn't notice Mercer walk in though. In her hand was a digital pad where she scrolled through boxes of texts with a few diagrams of human and asgard bodies at the side.
"Light reading, Doctor?" Mercer asked friendlily. Osborn practically jumped out of her chair when she heard this, not expecting Mercer's voice to just cut in like that. The old man could not help but chuckle when he saw Osborn jump.
"Please don't do that," Kara sighed with a smile, laughing that he could scare her like that. Mercer slowly eased himself into a seat at the far end of the U-shaped conference desk.
"I hear you have something for me," he said, folding his hands in front of him. Osborn eagerly slid the pad to him, which now showed diagrams of human and asgard bodies.
"Took the liberty of scanning through the medical research members of the Alliance performed," she said. "This one caught my attention." Mercer did not speak as he slowly went through the data presented. "Now, as you know, the Asgard suffered a genetic disorder after thousands of years of cloning. According to this, during a time when the Asgard's genetic problems were still relatively minor, the Ancients and Nox began an experiment to help."
"Why would the Nox or the Ancients be the ones to help with this problem?" Mercer wondered aloud, sliding the pad back.
"Ancients, since they are human, bear a strong resemblance to the Asgard's ancestors. As for the Nox, their medical technology surpassed any of the other races in the Alliance. They had a treatment that could cause rapid regeneration. The hope was to give the individual the ability to…evolve. They could not cure the genetic defects technologically so they were hoping that if they evolve the Asgard body, it would cure itself. They were actually giving out experimental treatment before they had to abandon the city."
"It would be saddeningly ironic if we found the cure to the Asgard's genetic disorder several years after they've died out," Mercer commented.
"The Asgard and their allies had this research for who knows how long and they couldn't find a cure," Osborn pointed out. "I doubt we can but it would excel our medical research."
"What do you need then?" Mercer asked, convinced to help Osborn in any way necessary. He wasn't much interested in helping the Asgard renegades in Pegasus but he was more than eager to try to find this research for the Millennium Expedition.
"The research was performed only by government-level scientists who succeeded in making a working prototype that they wanted to test," Kara explained, ripping a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbling something down on it. "Their files not only talked about the research data but it gave a gate address." She slid the paper cross the table and right into Mercer's hand.
"Doctor…this is the gate address for the Millennium," Mercer pointed out. Kara smiled at that before saying, "I know. The research for the project is hidden somewhere in the Alliance capital city of Millennium."
-.-
It was the equivalent of midday on the floating space station and everyone was busy with their lives once again. Everyone was to go back to work as usual. One scientist was at the doors to his friend's quarters, knocking on it so they could go back to work together.
"Smith, c'mon, we're going to be late!" the scientist called, but there was no answer. "Smith!" he yelled again, waving his hand in front of the control panel, the door sliding open. He didn't like intruding on his friend but he was beginning to worry. Still, he didn't think it could be that bad. Smith probably overslept or something. But, as the doors pealed apart, his heart sank. The floor in the room was covered in books and papers. A lamp laid shattered on the ground. Two chairs had been flipped. And, on the other side of the room, was Smith, blood leaking from a gaping wound in his chest, a pool of blood spreading across the floor.
"SECURITY!" the scientist called, looking around frantically. "SOMEONE GET SECURITY!"
STARGATE
MILLENNIUM
Chen eagerly gobbled his General Tso's chicken, pausing for a moment to examine the taste. He had been living in America for easy access to the stargate and always had trouble finding any place that could recreate his favorite food. Now that he was in another galaxy on a one-way expedition, finding it was next to impossible. Lucky for him, Kara Osborn learned that the chefs in the mess hall decided to have a go at cooking it and came to have a lunch with him.
"So?" Osborn asked curiously from across his work bench where he was eating. Normally the bench would be a mess of papers and computer parts but Chen had cleared it to make way for two platters of food. "What do you think? Genuine enough?"
Chen didn't answer, still taking in the taste.
"Close enough," he finally said, setting down the fork. "No more pseudo-Chinese food. Hey, shouldn't you be out doing your treasure hunting thing?"
"You kicking me out of your room already?" she asked cheerfully.
"You visit me regularly anyways."
"Yeah, after being avoided for the first month by Mister Short-Tempered-and-Indecisive," Kara muttered.
"Excuse me?" Chen coughed. "You know, it's remarks like that which make people wonder how we know each other…and I'm not indecisive!"
"Since when has gossip ever bothered you?" Kara laughed, going back to her food. "You, MIT for engineering, me, Harvard for medical. Two foreign students getting their education at schools within minutes of each other. Just tell them the truth: we're old college friends and you suggested me when the SGC was looking for new recruits."
"I prefer my method: telling them to stick it. Besides, you could've easily gone to Oxford or some other renowned medical school in England or the UK."
"You know I never miss an opportunity or make an excuse to travel and studying abroad was the perfect excuse. You've seen my room; I have pictures of me next to just about every famous building and monument around the world. Why do you think I joined the Millennium Expedition?"
"You mean despite me insisting that you stay in Milky Way," Chen reminded her with a hint of frustration.
Osborn paused for a moment. She wanted to say it; she's been waiting to say it. Now, just as she was about to, it suddenly seemed like a bad idea.
"You going to spit it out or just leave me in suspense?" Chen asked impatiently. He could tell from her expression that she wanted to say something.
"I just feel like I should apologize," Osborn finally admitted.
"You mean for joining the Millennium Expedition even though I told you to stay in Milky Way?" Chen asked humorously. Osobrn could not help but scoff at this.
"Blimey, you can be annoying," Osborn laughed.
"I'm annoying," Chen repeated. "I'm annoying? I thought you said you were going to apologize, and hit me with another insult."
Osborn burst out laughing when she heard this, putting down her fork to make sure she doesn't cause an accident.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, I was talking about our college years. We had a good run back then."
"Yes, we did," Chen agreed solemnly. Osborn paused again, finally getting to the part she dreaded.
"I'll admit, I can't imagine what it was like growing up in the heart of gang territory and I know you were hoping to be able to get a good job to get the money to relocate your family, no matter how much they disowned you. Witnessing their murders…it created a void in you. I can even see it now. I saw what would happen, I saw that it would end badly." Osborn could not tell what Chen was feeling. His face was a stiff as it always was. "So… I made the decision to end it…so that we would only have good memories of it."
Osborn stared into his eyes, still not sure what he was feeling. She had finally told him but was now regretting it.
"Well then," Chen sighed, picking up his glass of wine. Osborn smiled in relief and picked up her own glass. "To the good old days." There was a gentle clink as their glasses met before they took a sip.
A hard knocking echoed through Chen's quarters. Chen glared at the door, agitated by the interruption, before heading over and opening the door.
"Terra?" Chen coughed in surprise when he saw who knocked. She stood at attention in her purple T-shirt and sweat pants, a fine layer of brown dust on her clothes. "You smell like saw dust."
"I was doing wood work before I was called."
"Called? What do you mean?" He could see the seriousness in her face. Normally, Major Terra Nova was relaxed when she was off duty. Now, it looked like she was preparing for a firefight.
"You know Jared Smith?" she asked.
"You mean the techie working on the trams? Yeah, what about him?"
"We just found him dead in his quarters," Nova explained. "We think he was murdered." Chen felt his jaw drop when he heard this. Kara Osborn stood up in shock. They knew the dangers of exploring the universe but they expected dangers to come from outside, aliens or animals or technology. They just found out there was a danger from within.
"How?" Chen asked darkly.
"We don't know. Mercer's ordered Wolf Pack to investigate."
"Us?!" Chen repeated in shock. "Why Wolf Pack?"
"You can ask Mercer," Nova explained, turning to leave. Chen and Osborn quickly ran to catch up. "He wants us to pick up Martin and Corin and meet him in front of Smith's quarters." Chen didn't need to say another word to agree.
-.-
Mercer maintained his serious expression as he looked at the room from the door, three guards waiting outside. His eyes scanned every inch, recording it all in his memory. A chair closest to the door was on its side, lying atop a mess of books and papers that got knocked off the table and shelves around the room. At the far end was another chair, completely knocked on its back. And, behind that chair, was the body of Doctor Smith, his body crumpled at the base of a bookshelf.
"General," Nova greeted as she walked up with the rest of her team. Martin peeked into the room, taking in the scene. Almost immediately, his instincts as a tracker kicked in as he tried to imagine what happened that would make the room what it is now. It was obvious there was a fight but he had to go into the room before he could figure out any more.
"What happened here?" Nova asked. There was already a small crowd gathering beyond the perimeter that had been set up. She wanted to get this started and finished as soon as possible.
"It is as you see here," Mercer said darkly, looking at Wolf Pack. He was moderately surprised to see Doctor Osborn with them but it wasn't really worth commenting on. "The Dusk Riders are currently out on a mission so I am putting you in charge of the investigation." Nova could see the hate in Mercer's eyes as he glared at the untouched body. "We have a traitor in our midst. I want him found."
Nova gave her team a wave telling them to walk into the room to check things out.
"We should get a kino something to record everything before we start moving stuff," Martin suggested. He and Corin instinctively looked at Chen, expecting him to retrieve the kino.
"I'll get it," Steven groaned. He knew where the kino dispenser was; he just didn't want to walk all the way there.
"Doctor Osborn," Nova called out as Chen angrily stumbled out of the room. "You think you can help us examine the body?"
Kara opened her mouth to speak but Mercer was able to answer, "I'm afraid she can't. I've assigned her to an on-station mission. Speaking of which; Doctor Osborn, I managed to find three volunteers who will accompany you for your search. I was going to find you but it appears that you came my way." Osborn realized that Mercer was gesturing toward the guards. In fact, they weren't guards at all; they were her escorts for the search.
"Major," Mercer added, turning toward Nova. "You have the full resources of this expedition at your disposal. Do what you need; I want the killer found." Mercer turned and left the group to their business.
Kara looked at the three men that would escort her. They were scientists, not soldiers.
"Doctor Osborn," one of them said, stepping forward. He may not be military but it looked like he should be. The man was enormous, only a little less than seven feet tall with arms so thick it looked like thighs were growing from his shoulders. "Devin Casanova."
"From the anthropology department?" Osborn asked. "I remember you from the gym."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the short one with the black spikey hair said. "Can we cut the chit chat and get straight to looking for whatever this thing is? I'm Gary Porter by the way. The staring guy's Bryan Greer." Porter was referring to the third man, who seemed stabbed on the room, staring and Nova and Martin.
"Uh…you ok?" Osborn asked when it obvious that Greer was fixated on the two military personnel in the room.
"Just thinking," Greer said with a slight chuckle. "It just think it's ironic: murderers investigating a murder."
Just that comment alone immediately caught Nova and Martin's attention.
"Excuse me?" Martin coughed. He was so caught off guard by the phrase that he suspected he heard wrong or misinterpreted the comment. Corin peeked out from the corner of the room he was in. He didn't know what to say or how to react.
"Smith gets murdered and a team with two murderers are sent to look into it," Greer remarked with a smirk. "This whole 'I'm doing it to defend my country' thing is nothing but a sick joke. Admit it, you do it because you like putting bullets in people."
"Doctor Greer," Osborn warned darkly, not liking where this was going.
"You know, I don't know who's worse," Greer hissed with a smug grin. "The happy killer from down under." Martin glared at Greer in anger. "Or the murderess from Earth's grease shack."
Charles Martin finally had enough, standing up from his work and rapidly rushing toward Greer.
"Martin," Nova called out, rushing in front of him and putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "Don't take your anger out on the ignorant; he doesn't know anything."
"Oh, I know a lot more than you," Greer snapped with a laugh. "I was studying to be a biologist while you were in your fast food restaurants filling your ugly bellies with burgers and hotdogs and studying to be the insidious, self-righteous, fallacious, baby-killers you really are."
"GREER!" Osborn yelled angrily. She looked at him then at Wolf Pack, not sure what to say. "I think we should go." She stiffly led the group away. About an hour of walking, or two hours, or more like two minutes, Osborn finally turned around and faced Geer.
"What was that?" she asked with as much composure as possible.
"What?" he asked, cocking his head. "Facts make soldiers cringe."
"I think you doing a lot more than stating your opinion."
"You're right. I was stating FACTS. And, if we manage to contact Earth, they'll realize that having the stargate in the hands of a group whose job is to murder people is a bad idea."
Greer then shoved past Osborn for the ark ahead, ready to begin searching for the research.
-.-
Chen carefully steered the kino into the room, where the rest of the team was still working.
"What'd I miss" he asked as he stepped in. He could feel the frustrations still lingering in the air.
"You don't want to know," Nova warned. She knew Martin was still fuming over the confrontation earlier and Corin was just in his corner confused. If she could make her team move on from this she will.
"Look who I found," Chen said as he sent the kino to examine the body in the room. As he said this, Doctor Markus Kauffman cheerfully strolled in.
"Guten tag, everyone," he greeted warmly in a strong German accent with his case of equipment. "I do wish I could say the same for Doctor Smith over here."
"Hold on," Chen said as he floated the kino over the body and scanned the whole thing with the floating camera ball. "Ok, go ahead."
"With Doctor Osborn busy I thought I could help, even once worked as a medical examiner," Kauffman said as he knelt by the body, the kino that had just finished recording footage floating away. The Doctor pushed up his large round glasses before going to work. "Haven't had to autopsy anything in a very long time. I believe the last time was a suicide. The poor man decided to end it by laying on a set of railroad tracks. As you can imagine, the scene was quite gruesome. I think my only consolation was that it was quick and painless."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Chen mumbled. "Kara said you had a lot of stories."
"Well, Doctor Smith has his own story to tell," Kauffman mumbled. "There are only slash and stab wounds, very deep ones at that. Major arteries severed…I suspect he bled to death after being cut open."
"Any idea what did this?" Nova asked, kneeling beside Kauffman.
"A very long bladed weapon. As silly as it sounds, I'd say this man was killed with some kind of sword."
"A sword?" Corin repeated, coming out of the bed room. "Oscillator blade?"
Kauffman shook his head. He knew Corin was talking about the buzz sword, a sword that spins the molecules in the edge of the blade like a chainsaw at several million RPM.
"No, the buzz sword creates a high amount of friction and heat that would instantly cauterize the wound. "These wounds are open, letting the poor man bleed to death. It was a slow and excruciatingly painful end."
"It also begs another question," Martin said as he knelt down by the scattered bullet shells on the floor. "Why a sword? Why not a gun? And, where did he get the sword?"
"You sure it wasn't from a knife?" Nova asked Kauffman. Nova remembered training with knives and sticks, and even with a bayonet, but never with swords. Just thinking about it, it seemed like something out of a fantasy movie.
"The slash wounds are too deep and the stab wounds are too narrow for anything that would be qualified as a knife. Even in the modern world, there are countries that equip their soldiers with swords for close quarters combat. This expedition was composed of several of those countries. After being trained with it for so long, it would become a weapon of choice for close quarters combat. Maybe one of their soldiers…"
"That's just speculation," Corin pointed out. "And it still doesn't answer why he would use that and not a gun
Martin stared at the body suspiciously. Something about it had been bothering him the moment he looked at it.
"Martin, what do you see?" Nova asked.
"What?" Martin stuttered, caught off guard by the question.
"You're a skilled tracker. Track the killer."
Martin groaned in agitation at this: "You do a little hunting and a little tracking in your spare time and suddenly everyone thinks you're Sherlock Holmes!"
"As a tracker, you examine the environment and draw conclusions. Do the same here."
Martin walked into the center of the bullet shells that littered the ground, still shaking his head in disbelief. He made a gun finger and pointed at the bullet holes in the wall and above the overturned chair before drawing his conclusion: "He was talking to someone who sat in that chair. Something happened and he started…spraying…everywhere." Martin moved his hand back and forth, measuring the angle between the bullet holes spaced furthest apart. Martin began to walk backwards, trying to reenact what happened, nearly tripping when he backed up into the overturned chair in front of the body.
"Achtung, you're going to step on the body!" Kauffman cried out as Martin put a foot behind himself for support. The Lieutenant looked down beside him and leaned over.
"Oh, that's where his gun went," he said, eyeing the weapon Smith used under a book. Charles straightened himself back up and looked around. "That's not right," he mumbled as he looked back at the body. "Look at the way his body is positioned. It looks like he fell!"
"From where, the ceiling?" Chen coughed sarcastically, looking up. Corin walked over to the body in interest. Looking at the remains of a person just made him feel empty. He was still not used to the death that he was now surrounded by. People hear about murders and deaths and react with sadness. But to seeing someone that he knew dead in front of him, all those emotions of shock and horror he felt when he heard about someone's death suddenly seemed woefully insufficient.
"I don't know!" Martin argued. "From the way his legs are bent, all I can tell you is that he fell at least three feet. With how the chair is oriented, I'd say he was chucked against this bookshelf right here."
"The bruising on the back of his head and damage on the bookshelf behind him would also support the theory," Kauffman said. "He likely hit his head against the bookshelf when he was thrown and his body fell to his current position."
"Ok, let's say he did fall," Corin thought aloud. "How did that happen?"
"Well, something would have to lift him off the ground and throw him," Nova said. "Maybe a really strong person."
"The killer had already cut the poor man open," Kauffman said. "Physically throwing him would result in more sporadic blood splatter. And it would be redundant if he was armed with a blade."
"Ion rifle?" Martin suggested. "Even on intermediate yield, it can throw a body."
"No blast marks," Corin pointed out. "The ion rifle would blow chunks out of the body. And, why didn't he just use the ion rifle to begin with? Why'd he first cut and stab the guy?" Corin looked around the room. He couldn't think of anything in his galaxy that could do what they were thinking. "Is there anything you guys encountered that could throw a guy across a room without actually touching him?"
Nova exchanged worried glances with Martin and Chen.
"That's not bloody possible," Martin said, not sure if he was trying harder to convince Nova or himself.
"It's the only possibility," Chen argued, not liking the idea any more than Martin did. "They're sadistic enough." Corin looked at the two, realizing they knew something he didn't.
"What is it?" Corin asked. Nova looked at her friend with the grim answer: "A Goa'uld hand device." Corin felt his blood run cold. Mercer had finally given him access to the files about the Goa'uld and he knew how dangerous they were.
"But that would mean…" he stuttered.
"There's a Goa'uld on Millennium."
-.-
The city tram whooshed down its tracks. After thousands of years of advancing, all four races were able to make their subways and trains next to silent. The line of cars made nothing but humming. Kara Osborn was with her crew: Greer, the short and eager Porter, and the giant Casanova.
"Hey, Osborn," Porter called out. "What exactly are we looking for?" Osborn looked up from her data pad.
"Not really sure," Kara said as she went back to reading. "According to the reports, the research is primarily Asgard but was assisted by the Ancients. It may provide breakthroughs in medical research. The notes say that it's in a city arm. We know which arm, we just don't know where." She glanced up when a small orange bulb in the ceiling began blinking.
"We're here," Casanova grunted, standing up. Osborn slung her backpack over her back.
"Let's get this done, then," Greer remarked with a smile, grabbing his own bag. Kara just glanced at Greer, not sure she wanted him on her team after his earlier debacle. Still, she had to focus on her mission. The sooner she finishes it the sooner she can part ways with him.
The moment the doors slid open, Osborn jumped off the tram with the three men behind her. Normally, the arms would only be fed minimal power but this one had been fully charged so Osborn could make her search. The white marble floor and walls seemed to glow from the reflecting light. The marble underground was beautiful but the outside was breathtaking.
The expedition was restricted to the central city, between all four arms. When they looked out across the city they looked down on a metropolis built on the inside of the arm. Now that they were on a branch of the Millennium, the view had completely changed. They had a clear line of sight with central city. Osborn grabbed a set of binoculars and looked the city in the distance. It wasn't much different than looking down on a city from an airplane in a sky. She could even see people standing on the balconies of several buildings, looking at them from above. She looked up and saw another arm of the city directly above her like a ceiling, hundreds of towers hanging off the road like stalactites. She could only imagine Asgard or Ancient children perhaps playing a game where one would stand on one arm and one on the other and they could both grab binoculars, look up, and stare at each other. It was incredible to see a city in every direction, even above.
"There's a hospital a few blocks down," Osborn said, putting her binoculars away. "That's a good place to start."
"Shouldn't we be looking for some high-tech research center or something?" Porter asked.
"When an experimental treatment's been tested a certain number of times, hospitals give them to volunteers along with placebos to test its effectiveness."
"So, we're seeing if the grey men started giving out their medicine," Greer commented. "We find the hospital and check their records."
"Sounds about right," Osborn said. "Let's go." With a few slides and taps on the data pad, a map of the arm was pulled up and she eagerly began walking down the road. It took about a second before she realized the other three weren't following.
"What you waiting for?" she asked.
"Are we just going to walk?" Porter asked, imagining how far the hospital was.
"It's not like there's a Nox cab we can call."
"You seem very excited," Greer commented. Casanova simply cocked his head at that comment with a slight grumble.
"Every time we go looking for something left behind by the Ancients or the Asgard we're always looking for some giant weapon," Osborn said, eagerly marching on ahead. "I always had to wonder: why're we always finding their stuff made to destroy the galaxy? Why don't we ever find an Ancient restaurant or a Furling daycare? It's be a nice change."
"Well, there're both in Millennium," Porter pointed out, jogging to catch up.
"Exactly!" Osborn chirped. "And when I get the chance, I'm going to see them all!"
-.-
"What you're suggesting is disturbing," Mercer commented grimly from behind his desk. Major Nova decided to debrief the General on her team's findings.
"It makes sense," Nova explained. "The Goa'uld are sadistic; they have no problem about overkill of leaving someone to die. A Goa'uld hand device is the only thing that can hurtle a body across the room without actually leaving a mark. Chen's already made a computer model and only a hand device can leave the body where it was found. But, this still leaves questions over why and how a Goa'uld infiltrated the expedition."
"Has Doctor Kauffman uncovered anything else?" Mercer asked calmly.
"He's still autopsying the body but I don't know how much he'll find that's going to actually be pertinent. I recommend that we do blood tests, see if we can find naquadah in anyone's blood starting with myself and my team."
"Get it done fast and return to investigating," Mercer ordered, grabbing a stack of papers. "Come in," he called when he heard knocking at the door. Nova briefly glanced behind her in time to see Captain Ronaldson step in.
"Ready to turn in my report, sir," the captain said nervously, glancing at Nova.
"It's all right, Captain. Major, Wolf Pack is also not above suspicion for this. You are the primary team in charge of the investigation because of your successful record but I've assigned Captain Ronaldson and the Storm Cutters to investigate as well."
"You mean investigate my team?" Nova asked. She couldn't exactly blame Mercer for suspecting her team along with the rest of the expedition but she still didn't like her and her people were being investigated.
"Major Nova," a voice crackled over the radio attached to her blue sweatpants. She hadn't really bothered changing so she was still in her purple shirt and sweatpants. "This is Doctor Kauffman, can you meet me in the infirmary."
"On my way."
-.-
The walk to the infirmary was not long; the place was directly under the gate room. The blue walls turned a light shade of pink as she went into the medical wing. Doctors and nurses still went about their business. But, Nova's destination was near the back, a little place that people have begun to call 'the freezer'. It was the place that kept everything in stasis pods. The biology department has been using it to bring in and study alien animals. But, Kauffman had chosen to use it as a place to store the body in the meantime. She knew the doctor would be there, but she was somewhat surprised to find the rest of her team waiting for her.
"Doctor," Nova called out as she entered the room. Kauffman abruptly stood up, taking the ear pieces out.
"Major," Kauffman greeted warmly. "I'm sorry to call you on such short notice but these findings are important." The rest of Wolf Pack turned their attention to Kauffman, wanting to know what his findings were.
"I'm listening," Nova said, walking swiftly to the body that laid covered under a tarp. She put her hand on the edge of the table. She didn't know Smith but she felt like she should at least see him off to whatever awaited him after death.
"Been using Alliance medical technology to do my autopsy," Doctor Kauffman explained. "It's made my work very efficient."
"What'd you find?"
Doctor Kauffman cleared his throat before going to explain his findings.
"There is bruising on the back of the head and on several sections of the spine consistent with the shape of the bookshelf behind him. It certainly supports the theory he was thrown against it before being left to bleed. Though, the organ trauma certainly did not help. But, it is not his cause of death that has me so concerned."
The Doctor swiftly stroke to a computer monitor on the wall and turned it on. Several images began to slide across the screen until one that held what looked like an x-ray stopped at the front. The team all leaned forward, almost immediately seeing what had caught Kauffman's attention.
"Is that...a snake?" Corin stuttered, looking at a long skeleton attached to the spine near the base of the skull.
"Space snakes," Chen sighed. "I think we're all thinking the same thing."
"I've read every SGC and Atlantis report and there is only one thing that's like this," Corin added.
"Now we also know why it happened," Martin remarked. "At least…sort of."
Nova nodded, understanding what Martin was saying.
"The Goa'uld killed Smith because he was also a Goa'uld."
