AU FIC!
I have no idea what just inspired this but it came pouring out of my fingers. Perhaps its the semester finally being done, or the beautiful blue sky...
Disclaimer: SG1 isn't mine, etc.
XOXO
Colonel Jack O'Neill was not fond of scientists. He frowned at the scientist before him. "Come again?" he asked with exaggerated patience.
"Well, sir, the thing is..." the short, plump scientist swallowed at Jak's intimidating stare. He was quite proud of his stare, he'd developed this glare especially for scientists.
"Well, Colonel O'Neill, the best we can tell is that... er, it's a box," replied the now-sweating scientist. Jack refused to make eye contact with Teal'C, Daniel or Kawalsky, knowing he would burst out laughing if he did.
"Isn't there anyone on this base who can figure this thing out?" demanded Jack, throwing his hands up in frustration at the alien box they had picked up on PX3-988. It gave off a very low level of radiation, some mild form of UV light, but otherwise was harmless. There was no writing on it per se, just a few strange symbols. "Aren't you all supposed to be experts of some kind?"
The plump doctor glanced at his e yally short, plump companion nervously. "Well, sir, Dr. Carter is supposed to be arriving today ad may be able to help shed some light on it," replied the scientist, who, despite having been struggling for the last fifteen minutes, Jack still couldn't remember his name. Scientists sometimes forgot to put their badges on their outermost layer of clothing, much to Jack's frustration.
"Well, when's he getting here?" demanded Jack, who wanted to get the info for hireport as quickly as possible.
"She is here now," said a cool, collected voice from the dark doorway. Jack swiveled his stool and felt his jaw drop. "Dr. Samantha Carter, just transferred from Area 51. You must be the infamous Colonel O'Neill." She beamed wickedly at him, extending a hand for him to shake. Daniel recovered before Jack and jumped off his own stool to shake the doctor's hand. Jack didn't like doctors. Usually. Maybe he'd make an exception, he thought as he took in all 5' 9" of the blonde before him.
"Dr. Daniel Jackson," said Daniel helpfully, then gestured to Teal'C, Jack, and Kawalsky, the last two of whom had straightened considerably upon Dr. Carter's arrival. "This is Teal'C-" Teal'C inclined his head in silent greeting "-and my two strangely silent companions are Captain Charles Kawalsky, and of course, Colonel Jack O'Neill." Daniel shot them both a look as Dr. Carter came fully into the room. Jack hastened to his feet, nearly tripping over his feet. Smooth, O'Neill, he thought grumpily to himself. He'd finally recovered his jaw function.
"Infamous, did you say?" he queried, taking her still outstretched hand.
"Yes," replied the doctor, blue eyes glittering with mirth. "Your first mission through the gate... that sphere you brought back last year... the Jaffa weapons you've brought back, as well as the great big Goa'ould bomb your team brought back a few months ago and nearly blew up the SGC... Shall I continue?"
Jack winced and released her hand, not so sure if he liked her as much any more. Her blue eyes still sparkled up at him. He found himself at a loss for words.
"Well, we have a new one for you, Doctor," Daniel interjected quickly, indicating the strange gray box on the table. "We just brought it back from PX3-988... it emits a low level of UV light but otherwise..."
"Doesn't do squat," Jack interrupted. He needed to go nurse his wounded pride with some cake or something.
"Hmm," Dr. Carter said thoughtfully. She set her bag down and immediately zeroed in on the device. "Colonel... Was this light blinking when you found it?"
"What? What light?" Jack demanded. Had they brought another bomb back!? He leaned over the worktable to examine the device, trying to ignore the way Dr. Carter made him squirm. Lord, was he a grown man, or a hormonal teenager? Pull it together, O'Neill, Jack groused at himself.
"This one," Dr. Carter said, pointing out a small blue light now blinking within one of the strange shapes etched on the device's surface.
"Noooooo," Jack said slowly, glancing toward his team. They all peered curiously at the device once more. "Fellas?"
"It was not, O'Neill," rumbled Teal'C. Dr. Carter glanced up at him, before snatching a radiation scanner to check the device. She frowned.
"Dr. Lee, may I see your readings from earlier?" she said politely, glancing at the first short, squat scientist who Jack couldn't remember. She studied the print outs with a deeper frown, glancing between those and the scanner's new readings. "Dr. Jackson, what does this symbol on the side look like? - when viewed from this angle?"
Dr. Carter tilted the cube and suddenly Daniel saw it. "Oh," he said, feeling ten kinds of idiot.
"Oh?" demanded Jack, looking between the two scientists. "Oi!"
"Colonel... this looks an awful lot like the symbol of Ra," Dr. Carter said slowly. "The Sun God?"
"Yeah, I knew him," Jack replied quickly, folding his arms over his chest. "What of it?"
"Well... based on these readings, I would postulate that there's a sun in this box," Doctor Carter said slowly, glancing between Jack and his teammates.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jack asked, dumbfounded.
"Well, obviously it's very small right now..." the doctor said, examining the reading from the radtiation machine. Another blue light began to flash on the device. "What did you do!?" this was directed to Jack, who jumped back immediately even though he hadn't touched it since he brought it back a few hours ago.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" spluttered Jack. The triangular etching on the box light up orange.
"Colonel, we need to return this to an empty planet immediately," Carter told him, sounding nervous for the first time.
"Call the gate room," Jack ordered Kawalsky. "Pick an uninhabited planet, we're on our way down."
Kawalsky hurried to the phone on the wall as Jack snatched the device and dashed out of the room, the others following quickly behind. He took nine flights of stairs at a near sprint, practically falling down the last flight. He could hear the gate dialing, the technician calling out the final symbol lock. The gate whooshed open just as Jack made it to the Gate Room. He dashed up the ramp and tossed the cube through just as the entire cube turned orange. That couldn't be good.
"SHUT IT DOWN!" Jack yelled. The iris slid shut and the gate disconnected. Jack dropped onto the end of the ramp, gasping for air; he really needed to start running more on his days off.
He heard the gate disconnect just as the remainder of his team and Dr. Carter hurried into the gate room. Jack found himself glaring at the doctor, though she seemed entirely unfazed by his glare. Dang it, he was losing his touch.
"Colonel O'Neill, what the hell is going on!?" shouted General Hammond, coming into the gate room.
He waved at Dr. Carter and she stepped forward as Jack struggled to his feet.
"General Hammond, sir," Dr. Carter said as she moved. "I believe the device that SG1 brought back was some form of star incubator."
"Come again?" replied Hammond.
"Based on Dr. Lee's initial readings of the device from a few hours ago versus the time I arrived, about twenty minutes ago, I theorized that the star inside was preparing to emerge," explained Carter slowly. The gate room seemed to hold its breath for a moment. "Somehow, one of them must have activated its wake up cycle. When Dr. Jackson and I realized the picture on the side of the box was actually Ra's symbol... and I factored in the rate of radiation emission-"
"Sir, we brought back a baby star," Jack summarized, cutting off the doctor before she could continue rambling. He stepped up beside the scientist and nudged her as she opened her mouth. She frowned at him but glanced back at the General.
"I see," he said evenly, his round face giving none of his emotions away. "Well, I will expect a full report from everyone involved by 0800 tomorrow. And Doctor Carter-"
"Sir?" she said, looking far happier than Jack would have thought.
"Welcome to the SGC," finished Hammond. "As you were, people." He waved the tense airmen in the room back to their duties and departed. Carter released a breath and then beamed at him. Jack could have sworn in that moment that his heart stopped. What a woman. Her blue eyes sparkled up at him.
"Well, that went well," she quipped. Jack found himself grinning. At a scientist. "Care to show me to the comissary? I'm starving. I've been on a plane all day."
"I- yes, right this way, Doc," Jack said gesturing toward the hall. He turned to find all three of his teammates watching them carefully. He had almost forgotten he and the doctor weren't alone.
"Sam, please," Carter said, still smiling broadly and leading the way back into the hall.
"Sam, the commissary is up a few floors," Jack explained. "They don't have much by way of real food, but their dessert is pretty great. Ya know, for a military installation."
"Oh! Do they have jello?" she said, her brilliant blue eyes lighting up. Jack stared at her as they arrived at the elevator.
"You want Jello?" he asked, dumbfounded once more. "There's pie, and cake..."
"Jello is my favorite," she said with a shrug. "Always has been. I was that weird kid who always wanted a jello cake for her birthday."
"Wow- I- I don't know what to say, Sam," Jack replied as he hit the button for the elevators. His team followed quietly behind them. "I'd have pegged you for Rocky Road."
"Only every fourth Thursday," Sam replied with a broad grin. She stepped into the elevator as it dinged open.
"Oooo, I'm afraid that's not gonna fly around here," Jack said, shaking his head as his team filed in behind them. She glanced up at him, startled. "I'm afraid that every fourth thursday is my day to eat ice cream and since that's actually my favorite..."
Sam looked up at him with another wicked grin, and suggested, "We could arm wrestled for it if you like."
Oh yes, Jack O'Neill had finally found a scientist he liked. A lot.