"You better have a damn good reason to demand my presence Doctor." Rawford's scowl said everything he hadn't voiced. He didn't like being ordered around by a scientist, he didn't care for being dumped on a glorified guard duty and most of all he didn't appreciate being stuck on some backwater planet, guarding what appeared to be an Ancient solar plant while mankind waged war against the Ori.
Smiling, Dr. Errus head bobbed up and down as he gestured to the computer in front of him. "I think I do Major. In fact I might be bold enough to say that I've found something to justify all the time we've spent here." He cleared his throat before carrying on, hands working quickly over the keyboard. "In Earth myth, specifically Ancient Greek, there is a story of Theseus and the Minotaur. To simplify King Minos had a labyrinth built, within which he held a creature called, as you may have guessed, the Minotaur." Errus, flashed pictures up on the screen, crude drawings depicting a half man, half bull creature standing over the bodies of the dead. "Every cycle, whether this be one year, seven or nine depending on what you read, Athens sent seven men and seven women as tribute, food for the Minotaur. In one such time Theseus, son of the King of Athens, vowed to take a tribute's place and slay the Minotaur." Errus paused in his narration as Major Rawford raised his eyebrows, clearly not amused with the situation.
"Tell me Errus, is this your idea of simplified explanation," Rawford sighed. "I think I know this story. Boy goes into maze, kills Minotaur and follows string back out. That's a simplified explanation. Now tell me, just why in the hell should I give a damn about this?"
"Simply," Errus replied, "because the database here suggests that the Labyrinth does in fact exist and this facility is the key to activating it." He flashed a series of images on the screen, showering power generation and variety of figures that Rawford could barely understand. "As we have deducted, this place is a variation of what we call a solar plant. What is noticeable is that, every seventeen years, the plant stores enough energy to automatically generate a wormhole. From what I can figure out the wormhole opens directly to another galaxy or, more specifically, an Ancient research base." Errus smiled, a look of triumph plastered across his features. "Simply put a small faction of the Ancients took it upon themselves to slowly seed this galaxy with mankind and then built a vault, referred to as the Labyrinth, containing a series of technologies which would spur on the development of these people when the time was right for them to access it." He looked up at Rawford, still grinning like a child. "What is more, a year after each wormhole is established, the other galaxy establishes a connection with this planet and the Ancient faction would travel back here with their findings and spend the intervening years pondering how to further push the development of the various human nations that arose without influencing it too much."
Errus shot up suddenly, his chair falling over in haste. "There is obviously no data on the state of the other galaxy since the Ancients disappeared but from what I can gather the human nations had barely advanced past sharp sticks. Predictions show that, by now, they should have advanced, at most, to a level similar to our own, if not less." He clapped his hand together, the giddy smile once more appearing, "I can't say what we are to expect out there, Major nor can I truly say what is in the vault or indeed what the vault even is. What I can say is this - In three weeks we will have the chance to step through this wormhole and explore a whole new galaxy for an entire year. Within that time we may find the technology that could not only propel humanity into an entirely new Golden Age but turn the tide against the Ori. Quite frankly, as a race, we would be fools if we did not take this leap."
Silence greeted his speech as Rawford reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar. He'd been saving it for when he got off this damn planet but now seemed as good a time as any. Blowing smoke into the air he turned his gaze to Errus. "Well then. We better get on the phone to Earth. Seems we have little trip to organise."
Writer's Note: Just a relatively small first chapter, largely just to get the premises out there; with the setting set further chapters should expand more both on story and characters. Enjoy