Disclaimer: characters used in this chapter are owned by MGM Television.


Stargate Command

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" sounded through the entire underground facility.

The entire facility got in an uproar. Military people ran as fast as they could towards the so-called Gate-room, as if the devil was chasing them. Or rather, as they'd put it, they expect to see the devil at the door.

In the control room, a technician was looking on his screen, as his superior, referred to as General Hammond, waited for him to give a possible explanation for this.

"Receiving an IDC-code, sir." the technician said, "It's SG-1, sir!"

"Open the iris!" Hammond ordered, to which the technician obeyed.

The Gate's iris opened, revealing the puddle it's supposed to shield. From out of the puddle came one small man with glasses, named Daniel Jackson PhD, one woman, named Major Sam Carter, a tall black man with a golden emblem on his forehead, named Teal'c, and an older man who's the leader of this group, Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"Close the iris!" O'Neill shouted, once everybody got in the room.

The technician did as he was told, again, and closed the iris. Next thing everyone knew, a bunch of thuds came from things bumping against the now closed iris. Other than the four who just came through, nobody knew what it was that bumped in, but thanks to the iris, they will never be any trouble to this command.

Hammond came down to the Gate-room: "What happened?"

"It's an ever-lasting tale to tell." Teal'c replied.

"A long story!" O'Neill simplified him.

"I thought there was only a crashed ship there!?" Hammond couldn't understand.

"Yeah?!" O'Neill exclaimed, using his usual cynical tone, "Well clearly, something survived!"

"Sir." Carter cut in, "There was something on that planet which... well I can't describe it."

"They looked like replicators." Jackson said.

"But they are not!?" O'Neill wondered.

"Well..." clearly Jackson had no answer.

"Their behavior has many similarities with that of a replicator." Teal'c thought out loud.

"But I'm more worried about what makes them different from them." Carter remarked.

"I expect a full explanation next time I see you!" Hammond commanded, "Briefing in one hour!"

As said, one hour later, the whole team, known as SG-1, arrived at the conference room. With General Hammond sitting at the head of the table, all of the team's members were about to tell him everything that had happened on their recon mission.

"Can you finally explain what it was that happened on that planet?"

"Well, sir..." Carter started, "All that the MALP showed us was the wreckage of a ship, which by the looks of the damage must have recently crashed."

"It is possible that there had been a battle which destroyed the ship." Teal'c added.

"Maybe." Jackson reasoned, "But the ship showed no signs of any recent struggle on the outside, so it must have been a malfunction..."

"On the outside?" Hammond appeared to have missed something.

"Inside, was an entirely different story!" O'Neill replied.

"There appeared to be many people inside the ship, died when struggling against an enemy." Teal'c added.

"We had no idea what caused it all, until we saw some... things, creeping out of the shadows." Jackson explained, "Literally speaking."

"They seem like creatures, made entirely out of shadows." Teal'c said.

Carter felt an explanation was needed: "Which is scientifically impossible, coz that would have to..."

"CARTER!" O'Neill could sense it when she was about to use techno-babble which he couldn't understand.

"Point is..." Carter continued, "... these creatures... or shadows or whatever they are, like replicators, they appear to keep making more of themselves."

"How can you be so sure?" Hammond asked.

"Because with every... thing we shot, ten more seem to come out o' nowhere!" O'Neill had been dying to say that.

"Are you saying that by shooting them, you're actually helping them to... multiply?" Hammond still needed to hear this from them.

"That would be Jack's theory." Jackson replied.

"Hey! Can't I have a theory for once?" O'Neill was being his sarcastic self again.

Again, a voice exclaimed through the speakers: "Unscheduled off-world activation!"

Out of reflex, the whole team got out of their seats, while O'Neill found it necessary to say: "D'oh."

Everyone was in the control room, while the technician was still awaiting something: "Still no IDC, sir!"

Carter, meanwhile seemed to notice something else on the screens: "That's weird. If these readings are correct than..."

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, for Jackson screamed: "Wooooh!"

"Daniel?" O'Neill was suspicious, "What's wrong?"

"I... I saw something... there and I think... I think it was one of those shadows." he answered.

"Are you sure?" O'Neill asked.

Suddenly, one such shadows jumped on one of the soldiers. The other soldiers wanted to help him. But when they did, other, different looking ones, jumped them too. It happened quite quickly, but it was obvious that these shadows did something to the soldiers, causing them to disappear, leaving only something heart-shaped behind, which in turn changed into one such shadows.

"Yep, I'm pretty sure!" Jackson replied.

"Zats!" O'Neill figured, "We couldn't use our guns against them, so best thing we can do is stun them!"

"Do it!" Hammond authorized him, "I'd better be putting this base under lockdown!"

As the team ran to the weaponry, Carter had her own say: "Sir, I think it should be alright if we used guns."

"You... think?" O'Neill wasn't convinced.

"Well if I saw this right, these things really turn other people into... whatever they are themselves." Carter explained.

"That would explain why there were so many on that planet!" Jackson realized, "Since it was such a huge ship, which possibly carried so many people, it's possible they were all turned."

"I concur with Daniel Jackson and Major Carter." Teal'c was the one to convince O'Neill.

"Ah! That's what I like to hear!" O'Neill sounded happier.

It took the entire base a long time, but they managed to tear down the shadows anyhow. One type of them was easier to kill than the other, but that didn't stop anyone from stopping them.

Once they were sure they had killed the last one of them, they could seize fire. However, Carter had some disturbing news to report to everybody.

"Sir!" she started talking to O'Neill, "This may not be over yet."

O'Neill didn't seem to be eager to hear this: "Oh come on, Carter! How can this possibly not be over?"

"Major Carter is right." Teal'c agreed, "If these shadows somehow managed to open the Stargate to this world, they could open gates to other worlds as well."

"That's not all." Carter hadn't said everything yet, "I noticed unstable their wormhole was. If they could travel through subspace through an unstable wormhole, yet somehow still molecularise..."

"CARTER!" O'Neill stopped her from going to far with her techno-babble.

Indignantly, Carter summarized what she was about to say: "They may have entered different worlds which can't be accessed through the Gate."

"So rather than visiting Stargate-worlds alone..." Jackson sounded somewhat panicked.

"They could go anyplace, anywhere..." Carter paused, "... Any time."

Though as long as the shadows aren't in the base, everyone is happy, but the idea that they can suddenly pop up everywhere was somewhat disturbing.

THE END