Chapter Three: The Cat's Out of the Bag
The weather the next day was warm and windy and did a lot for drying out the ground from the previous night's rain. After walking back to the dig site, Daniel did a quick survey of the area and noted that the ground was covered with fine sand. He crouched down and sifted the soil through his fingers and then glanced at each direction. The area they were in was on the edge of a small plateau overlooking a river bed which was about a hundred yards to the north. He walked towards the drop off and saw that there were rocks and large boulders along the river but the area where they stood was mostly covered with fine dirt. He turned and looked at the place where the 'ship' was buried and then laid on the ground and looked at it again. 'There's a gradual rise at the center which could possibly be the top of the ship,' he thought. He stood and dusted off his clothes and then circled the area again, keeping his focus on the center.
Sam sat on a low, flat rock and quietly watched all this. What did she knew about Daniel? He rarely talked about his childhood and when he did… well, no wonder he was the quiet, unassuming type. It took a beer or three to loosen him up and when you did, you would find out the most amazing things about him. Not all good, either. He'd been raised in the foster care program in the state of New York and that hadn't been easy. She didn't know how many times he'd been moved around but she knew it was more than a few. He'd started taking university classes before he graduated from high school at age fourteen. She knew he'd been a lonely child and had learned the hard way to avoid the school bullies. After university, he had worked on numerous digs-mainly in Egypt. He'd been to other places all around the world too but his main focus had been the Mid-East. She knew he was an expert on excavating and had earned a Master's Degree in Geology (among all his other degrees) while attending University. This man knew more things about dirt and rocks than she ever would.
She watched as he moved back up to the plateau, picked up a handful of sand and tossed it into the air, watching which way it went. Then he circled the area and did it again from various points. He turned with his back to the river and walked about fifty yards out and looked around. Again, he tossed the sand into the air and watched it. Then he nodded, dusted his hands off on his pants and began walking back towards Sam.
"I don't think anyone deliberately tried to bury anything here. I think that whatever this is, it's been sitting here for a long time. Maybe hundreds of years but it could be less. The prevailing wind seems to come from the south and I think whoever landed this thing got stuck here and the sand eventually drifted over it." He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief and said "It might have crashed but we won't know until we excavate it and that's gonna take a while. This raised area isn't huge but it looks like this is sitting in a kind of shallow bowl and the dirt settled over and around it. I don't think the top is too far down, maybe twenty feet. But, then twenty feet of dirt in an area this big is a lot of dirt. It's gonna take a few days."
Sam looked up at him and said, "Where should we start?"
He squatted down next to her and pointed to the center. "That area there. When we figure out what it is, we can dig out the door. Once we get all the sand off the surface, it should lift right out. That's if the engines work."
Sam nodded and smiled. "Indiana Jackson at his best."
He looked down and his hands and said, "Don't compare me with that guy. He had a horrible amount of bad luck." He looked at her and grinned.
Sam laughed and said, "Yeah, you wouldn't want to be anywhere close to him. There was always something exploding nearby!"
Daniel nodded and said, "It's getting close to lunchtime so I suggest we stop and put the tent up. That will give us a shaded place to rest and eat. The ground is still pretty wet so I suggest we begin this tomorrow after breakfast." He reached for Sam's hand and pulled her up.
After lunch was finished, they put their sleeping bags down on the tarp floor of the tent and laid on them. Sam picked up one of her scanners and said, "It's 95 out and with the how humidity, it wouldn't take much to dehydrate."
With his eyes closed, he said, "You're probably right. We can start before sun-up and work until late morning. Then rest until its cooler. That's how we used to do it on the digs I was on in the Mid-east."
Sam was glad they rolled up the sides of the tent to let in the breeze. Before long, they were both asleep.
That night, they ate their MRE's and sat watching the fire. Daniel was glad that there was plenty of dead wood around the area. He wouldn't need to cut any for a while. They had some time before it got dark to do some camp chores and take care of some private things and then they sat in front of the fire, both thinking quietly.
They were both tired from the long walk that morning and the emotional stress of wondering if the earth still existed, so they turned in early and crawled into their separate bags. This all felt normal as they had done this for years while on missions so they had a comfortable routine already well-established and soon they were asleep.
In the morning, Sam woke to the smell of coffee and sat up to look around, only to find that Daniel's bed was already rolled up and tucked away by the tent wall. It looked like the sun would be up soon so she dressed quickly, put on her jacket, grabbed a mug and went outside. She saw him sitting on a rock, writing in his personal journal. He looked over to her and smiled.
"Good morning."
"Mmm," She warmed her hands on the tin cup and noted that she could see her breath in the early morning air and decided to enjoy the cool air while it lasted. After taking her first sip, she sat down and looked around. There were birds calling in the distant trees but everything else was quiet except for the scratching of Daniel's pen on the paper. She closed her eyes to allow herself a moment of peace, knowing that they would probably be busy most of the day. The smell of wood-smoke was comforting as she watched it drift lazily towards the river.
The pen stopped and she looked up to see that he was watching her. "Sleep well?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Yeah, for the most part. Did you?"
"Okay, I guess. I think I was too tired to dream." He picked up his mug and took a sip. "I dug a hole for a latrine by that tree over there," he said as he pointed to a tall, maple look-alike about thirty yards away. "The TP is in a plastic bag next to it."
"Thanks," she said. It was one of the first things they always did on missions which made this situation feel normal. It was practical and at the same time familiar. There were some short bushes in front of it that he'd draped a tarp around for privacy.
"How long have you been up?"
He looked at his watch and said, "About an hour."
She put her cup down and said, "We're going to be here a while, aren't we?" It was a sobering thought and one she wasn't happy with. She felt anxious to get this ship (hopefully it was a ship) dug up, repaired and on their way.
"We should have dialed someplace else." She looked at him and said, "Other than the Alpha site. Maybe the Nox planet."
He sighed and said, "I personally think we should just quit worrying about the gate. In order to get home, we need a ship. If this is one, and I really think it is, then we'll dig it out and get on our way."
She nodded. He was right and the best thing to do was stay calm. "You seem more resolved now than you did the other night."
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." He watched as she looked away and stared off into the distance.
"You're thinking too loud," he said. "Want to talk?"
She shook her head and then looked anywhere but him. She heard him move and then felt him sit down next to her and put an arm around her.
"Hey," he said. "Talk to me." His hand caressed her shoulder and he said, "Look at me."
She shook her head 'no' but he reached for her face and gently turned her towards him. "Please, Sam. It looks like you and I will be spending a lot of time together for the next while. You've been my friend from the first day we met. You know you can say anything at all." He squeezed her shoulder and continued, "Tell me what's bothering you."
She paused for a moment as she looked into his blue eyes and then said, "I'm fine. Just thinking about all this. It's a bit overwhelming. I'm worried and I'm trying really hard to be brave and believe but I'm scared."
"Me too." He pulled her into a momentary hug and then said, "C'mon."
He got up, tied a rag around his head and said, "I'm gonna fix some breakfast and then we'll get started." He saw how quiet she was and asked, "You gonna be okay?"
She shrugged and said "I'll be fine."
He nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. Look, let's just try to focus on one thing at a time. Today, we'll get started on this project. Maybe it won't take too long, especially once we can see exactly what we're dealing with. By the end of the day, we should know something. Okay?"
"Okay." She smiled and thought he had the right attitude.
"Good. Now, I need you to scramble some powdered eggs. You do know how to cook, don't you?" He gave her a sly grin and laughed outright when she threw a twig at him.
"Are you implying that I can't cook, Doctor Jackson?"
"No, Colonel Doctor. I've had dinner at your house but it usually involved something out of a box."
She chuckled a bit and said, "Well, if it means boiling water, I can do that." She smiled, shook her head and then helped fix breakfast. She was grateful for his teasing. Then thought about it for a moment and decided that if she had to be stranded off world, she was glad it was with him.
0o0
The sun was hot so they had to stop frequently for water breaks and at the end of the day they reached the 'thing'. Daniel was elated and wanted to keep going but Sam quietly reminded him that it would be there in the morning and they needed their rest.
They took turns with a bath in the stream (privately, of course) and dinner was a bit more upbeat and enjoyable than breakfast and lunch had been. Afterward, he read another short story from the book and even though they were tired, they looked at the night sky and tried to use the book to compare the constellations.
He was convinced that earth had been attacked and almost everyone killed, just like in his dream. She decided to be devil's advocate and tried to use logic to argue but after a while, she gave up and just decided maybe he was right and stopped arguing with him. The only problem was trying to figure out what they would do once they got home, if what he believed was true. And that was assuming that they could get home. Will those who attacked still be there? What would their world be like if almost everyone was dead? It was impossible to imagine.
0o0
The speech was scheduled for 8:00 in the evening. The Hubble telescope was showing that there was no movement towards earth. President Hayes was trying to remain cool but this was something that hadn't happened on earth in a few thousand years. Ra was the last one and he's only affected Egypt, as far as anyone knew.
People around the world were going about their lives, not knowing that they might be invaded at any time by hostile creatures from outer space. Some were indifferent to the news that their nation's leaders from China, France, Great Britain, and more, were making some announcement. They apathetically ignored the government's pleas to watch as if it was just another news conference to disregard even though the networks had announced that the White House had requested that everyone that could should listen. Some sent their kids to bed and watched a channel that didn't automatically carry the news conference. Others were just heading off to work. Some were meeting their friends for lunch. It was just another ordinary day for most people on earth.
Henry Hayes knew that this was going to go over very badly but he was as ready as he could be, all things considered. He sat at his desk in the Oval Office and waited patiently as the technicians set up the lights and the TelePrompTer. He was given his cue, and then he spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the United States of America, I come to you this evening over an extremely serious matter; one that hasn't faced our nation, no less our world in thousands of years. I'm asking that each one of you listen to my words and keep an open mind. Let me begin at the beginning.
"In 1928, in the Giza Plateau in Egypt, a device was found buried deep in the sand by a team of archaeologists. [A picture of the Stargate was shown on the screen]. It was a large round ring made of an unknown mineral and it had 39 strange markings around its surface. It was sent to Area 51 for research purposes. Nobody knew what it was or what it was meant to do. For years, our best scientists went over it with a fine tooth comb but to no avail.
"In 1994, a young man- a very intelligent man by the name of Doctor Daniel Jackson [Doctor Jackson's picture was shown on the screen] was asked to look at the device and see if he could discover its purpose. Two weeks later, he had the answer. He deciphered the strange symbols associated with it and theorized that the device was a transportation portal- one that could be used to send someone through space to another planet. Now, I know that this sounds like some strange movie or television series that you'd watch on the Syfy channel but I assure you, it's true. With his help, the device, which he translated to mean 'Stargate' was turned on and eventually he and a group of our bravest, led by a Colonel Jonathan (Jack) O'Neill [O'Neill's picture was shown on the screen] went through it to a planet named Abydos that was closest to us in the gate system and found that it was inhabited by humans who had originally come from earth thousands of years ago. They found that these people had been enslaved by an alien being that was posing as an Egyptian God called Ra. This team helped liberate the people there by destroying this alien impostor. The team then returned to earth but one man stayed there and lived among their people. Doctor Daniel Jackson was welcomed into their homes and married one of their women.
"Eventually, Stargate Command was formed, led by General George Hammond [General Hammond's picture was shown on the screen] The original team members returned and were reunited with Doctor Jackson and his wife and family. While there a group of aliens named the Goa'uld attacked. Doctor Jackson's wife, Sha're [Sha're's picture was shown on the screen] was kidnapped, along with her brother Skaara and many others. During the attack, one of the soldiers was able to see the 'gate' address. They returned to earth where a team was assembled. They were accompanied by others, including one Captain Samantha Carter [Carter's picture was shown on the screen]. Colonel Carter is a brilliant astrophysicist and had worked on the Stargate project for two years before Doctor Jackson was able to discover the gate's purpose.
"Colonel O'Neill's team went to this planet, named Chulak to try to find the enemy who kidnapped Doctor Jackson's wife and the others They were unable to rescue Sha're and her brother but they rescued many other people there who had been held prisoners and eventually we were able to send them to their own worlds. And yes, there are other inhabited worlds. For the last thirteen years, we have gone to hundreds of these other inhabited planets and have made many allies against the Goa'uld and the Goa'uld were eventually completely destroyed. Unfortunately, Doctor Jackson's wife died during that time but he continued on in the program to help liberate many thousands of people from slavery. He truly is one of our heroes.
"In the meantime, we have also made some other enemies, which over time we have also destroyed. You can be proud of the many men and women of the SGC who have worked diligently to protect this planet from those enemies.
"Now, comes the difficult part. Recently, it has come to our attention that a large armada of alien ships is gathering on the edge of our galaxy. So far, they have posed no threat. We do not know who they are or if they even plan on visiting us. They may be new allies come to say hello. In light of this fact, we, the leaders of this world who know of the Stargate, have decided to tell you all about this so that you would not be surprised if or when they arrive.
"Now, I understand that this is a lot to take in. We also know that some people will be frightened and some may panic. We did not do this to alarm you and we want to assure you that we will do everything we can to keep you safe. There is no reason to believe that these visitors have any harmful intentions.
"In order to keep you safe, I will be enacting Martial Law and calling out the National Guard. There will be a curfew from sunset to sunrise. Anyone who is listening to this and wants to prey on their neighbors by looting and destroying private property will be arrested. If you stay in your homes, you should remain safe.
"There has been a television special produced that will explain everything I've talked about tonight. I've asked that it be aired immediately following this program. I am sure that you will hear from me in the near future about further developments. Good Night and God Bless America."
The announcement ended and after the lights dimmed and the microphone was removed, Within seconds, the phone started ringing and it didn't stop.
A few minutes after the leader's speeches, chaos ensued. In many countries, people were running through the streets screaming and looting. In the United States, whole battalions of the National Guard were called up and sent out to keep the peace. Surprisingly, there were few protests and the Guard attributed it to shock. Nobody could believe what they'd heard.
