Act 3:

The view from the Balcony was as equally enthralling as the one he'd seen through the window on the corridor walking towards Etherington's office about an hour ago. This time the view he had overlooking more of Eboras faced south…assuming of course the window view before had been facing north. Looking out onto the horizon, he noticed several wisps of smoke rising up from the occasional point in Eboras' vast forest area and figured these points must be where some of the settlements he'd been told about were located. He'd been informed during General Landry's briefing back at the SGC that Eboras was a planet already populated by around several dozen indigenous tribes by the time this very base had been established. He remembered being eager to learn more about these tribes at the time but unfortunately the briefing moved swiftly on to something about the construction of the base and he'd lost interest. Now he was on the planet himself, he was very much looking forward to meeting the locals and learning as much as he could about them and hoped it wouldn't be long until he got the chance to do that.

The commissary hadn't been all that hard to find, all he'd had to do was follow the smell of bacon and butter and he'd found it almost straight away. It was located on the other end of the long corridor where Etherington's office was situated, through the double-doors at the end, up a few stairs and into a large cafeteria area. Brandon had found a nice empty table on the balcony and had been sitting there on his own since. He was on his fourth coffee already.

The news about not being the CO of GB1 as he had expected had taken a little while for Brandon to stomach. He had spent the last few days joking with Jase about whose team would be the best and the two had already planned several inter-team football matches among other things. By his third coffee however, Brandon had come to terms with the news and was fine about it. Etherington's words kept floating back into his head; 'GB1 is the front-line team, you have been selected as part of that team for your exceptional skills…the best in your Regiment.' The General had intended those words as a compliment and, despite the disappointment he was feeling, Brandon was treating them as such. The frontline team was the one that got all the juiciest missions and as a result would need a team with a range of skills and capable of handling any problems facing them. The more Brandon thought about it, the more he was happy about just being a part of that set-up and felt that pride seeping slowly back into his mind. He pondered what his CO would be like: Would he stick by the book? Would he be as willing as Brandon to dig deep and go that 'extra mile' as it were? Would he have anything remotely resembling a sense of humour? Brandon chuckled as he drank to the bottom of his fourth coffee, thinking aloud; 'for his sake, I hope he has.

The smell of melting butter eventually got the better of him and decided he would grab a few rounds of toast to go with his fifth coffee. Truth was he'd not had a bite to eat since that…'stuff' he'd eaten back at the SGC commissary for breakfast. The food here appeared, smelt and indeed tasted infinitely better than back at Stargate Command and Brandon thanked the Lord above for that at least. As he collected his toast, he heard the noise of the Stargate kawoosh from the Embarkation room and was glad the base alarm on Eboras sounded not nearly as annoying as the one back under Cheyenne Mountain. The noise and flurry of activity sounded like it had died down by the time he returned to his table.

Tucking in to his toast, he lost himself in thought - looking back on his military career to date and the recent chain of events that had led to his involvement with the Stargate Program here on Eboras. He left school with good grades and was all set to further his education into College then University, much to the delight of his family who had expected him to end up a Lawyer or a Solicitor. He turned his back on education by 17 however and joined the Army instead, something he and Jase had always dreamed of doing since childhood. His aim was to get fit and become a leader, as he always knew he had it in him to do just that. Within just a few months he had transformed himself into a lean, athletic, eager soldier who was always itching to better himself and push at his own boundaries. Jase had joined him at Catterick Garrison a year later and the two showed themselves to be exemplary soldiers of the whole of their Regiment, showing a remarkable ability to work together to complete any task thrown at them. A little part of him felt slightly disappointed that Jase wasn't going to be joining him on GB1, but if anyone had deserved their own command then it was Jase. Besides, Brandon had always enjoyed competing against his best friend just as much as working alongside him.

His thoughts led him to consider the current political state back home on earth. He looked back on the day he was ordered to ship out to the Middle East and attempt to bring peace to those lands. He remembered the young men and women who'd shipped out with him on that day also, some of which he'd come to know very well during his time serving his country, more than a few of which were sadly no longer around…he remembered them with a smile. Perhaps if their fates had been kinder to some of them, they may well have been sitting at this table eating toast and drinking coffee instead of him at this moment. All of a sudden, Brandon felt extremely fortunate to be part of this Program. He thanked the Lord again for blessing him with an opportunity like this and at the same time said a silent prayer for his colleagues and friends he'd once served with who hadn't been given the same chance that he was given.

"Capt. Turner." A solid, assured, familiar voice snapped him back to reality and Brandon quickly spun his head around. General Etherington was striding towards him, somehow he seemed even bigger and more imposing from further away. He was not alone however. Several well-dressed men and women were following suit behind him. Brandon wondered just for a second whether or not he was in trouble. He placed his half-drunk fifth cup of coffee back down on the table and rose to his feet.

"At ease, Captain." said Etherington as he approached the table. He returned the salute Brandon had offered; "Enjoy your lunch?"

"Did you ever try the food while you were at the SGC, General?" Brandon replied as he attempted a small joke to measure how the General responded. He was pleased to see the General smile once more and even detected a hint of a laugh; "Yes I did enjoy it Sir, thank you."

"That's good." Etherington replied; "As I said before I would let you know the moment the other members of your team were ready to be introduced."

"Yes Sir. I remember."

"We will get to that in a moment, I promise. I know you're eager to meet your colleagues. For now though, I'd like to introduce you to some of the Eboras crew you will be working alongside also."

"You mean this isn't my new team, General?" enquired Brandon, trying another small joke. The men and women who had congregated around Brandon's table alongside the General laughed at each other. Etherington seemed to ignore it, however.

"This is Dr. David Tisdale." Etherington said, motioning toward the man immediately to his left; "He is Britain's foremost expert on Wormhole Physics and will be evaluating your trips through the Gate on a regular basis as well as continuing his research on the Stargate."

'Great.' Brandon thought, 'That's all I need. More suits…'

"Pleased to meet you, Captain." Dr. Tisdale said grinning and holding out his hand for a formal greeting. Brandon looked at the Doctor as he shook the hand extended out in front of him; "What the General didn't tell you is that I'm also an Astrophysicist and Mathematician. Any problems or questions you have about Gate Travel or anything like that, I'm here to help." Brandon offered up a rather half-assed smile as the handshake was ended, electing to not even attempt to try and hide the half-assedness of it.

"And this is Joseph Bennett..." Etherington continued, motioning his hand toward the man at the far left and seemingly hiding behind the Doctor; "...Dr. Tisdale's assistant."

"Hello Captain…" Bennett said, sheepishly; "…pleased to meet you. We are all v-"

"We are all very excited to get to work alongside you, Captain." Dr. Tisdale appeared to talk over his assistant as though he wasn't there. Bennett almost seemed to shrink inside of his brown suit as Dr. Tisdale grinned once again.

Brandon was the type of person who, once he'd formed a first impression about someone it was very difficult for him to alter his perception of them from then on. Within the first twenty seconds or so of meeting Dr. Tisdale his opinion about the man had been very much established and…well, it wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Tisdale came across as nothing more than a bully and a bit of a slimy smart-ass and wasn't sure about the relationship between him and Bennett, whether it was more Master & Servant than Professor & Assistant, however he had a feeling he would probably find out soon. He made a point to snub the Astrophysicist or whatever he was as he turned to Bennett and said; "Yes, thank you. Pleased to meet you as well Mr Bennett. I'm looking forward to getting started and working alongside you guys as well." Brandon saw Bennett's face light up at the same time as Dr. Tisdale's face melted into a frown.

"Captain…" Etherington said, continuing his little meet and greet; "I'd now like to introduce you to our Chief Medical Assistant on Eboras: Doctor Kayleigh Grodin. And this is her assistant, Doctor Amanda Long."

"Doctor Grodin, hello…pleased to meet you." Brandon said as he offered his hand in greeting. He was struck by her rather bright, ebony face…and of course her doctors outfit. He made sure he remained professional - especially seeing as the General was stood right there and who may as well have been her father. "So you're the one who's looking after us all? I'll be sure to stay on your good side."

"You better make sure you do." Dr. Grodin replied with a laugh as she took his hand and shook it; "Nah, I'm just kidding. You're in safe hands. What the General didn't tell you is that I'm also a horse-owner and keen Poker player!" Brandon understood the joke straight away. He looked over at Dr. Tisdale to see if he got it as well. He smiled a little as he saw the Mathematician's face melt even more into its frown. Now though, it wasn't so much of a frown as it was a grimace. It appeared that most of the Eboras staff had reached the same conclusion about Dr. Tisdale as he had just done.

"Poker, huh? Well we will just have to see how keen you are when we get the chance won't we?" Brandon said, turning back to Dr. Grodin; "I play a little too."

"Excellent! You're on." Dr. Grodin said with a cheeky smile on her pretty face. She seemed a few years older than Brandon, probably around thirty years of age. She had the look and aura of an experienced and very capable professional, but Brandon could tell that despite her age and occupation, she knew how to have fun with the best of them - another one of his first impressions that he had no doubt was very close to being right.

"You'll have to beat me first, Captain." said Dr. Long, stepping forward from behind Dr. Grodin; "Doctor Amanda Long, Pleased to meet you."

Brandon was slightly caught off-guard as the young Doctor - extremely beautiful, no more than 25 years of age and a shock of exquisite long blonde hair - stepped forward to greet him. She smiled as she held out her hand to greet Brandon, only extending it ever so slightly so she was forced to get quite close to complete the greeting. Brandon felt Etherington's eyes literally burn through his face and Brandon dared not let his own eyes meet them.

"So err, Dr. Long…you're a Poker player too?" Brandon enquired nervously.

"No." Long replied, looking straight at Brandon, the crooked, flirty smile displayed proudly across her smooth face. For the first time in a long while, Brandon was genuinely speechless. Had the commissary been a nightclub, he'd have known exactly what to say, but this was no nightclub and he was desperately trying to make sure he remembered where he was and appear professional…but it was hard.

"Cool. So ummm…m'very looking forward to working with you, Doctor." Brandon said eventually. Only realising at that point he was still shaking the pretty Doctor's hand. He withdrew his hand as quick as he could and let out a very nervous sound which was sort of half laugh, half sigh.

"Yeah, me too." Replied Dr. Long and turned to walk back behind Dr. Grodin, who Brandon noticed was shaking her head slightly and hiding a smile.

'This place is great' Brandon thought to himself.

"General, they're ready for him." said Officer Kennedy as she approached the table all of a sudden.

"I know they are Officer, thank you." Etherington said; "We're on our way there now." He turned to address the group who had accompanied him to Brandon's table; "OK everyone thanks for your time…now back to work." With that, the Doctors and Astrophysicists said their goodbyes to Brandon with the exception of Dr. Long, who added a coy wave and another crooked smile.

"I'm looking forward to that Poker game, Captain." said Dr. Grodin over her shoulder as she was about to exit the commissary. Brandon nodded and smiled. He was too.

"Captain! How are you? You ready to meet your team?" said Officer Kennedy cheerfully once they and the General were alone.

"Good to see you again Officer." replied Brandon; "Yes I am ready, I can't wait to be honest. Are they all…you know, sane?"

"Ha ha of course, just about!" Officer Kennedy replied with a laugh. "I'm sure you'll fit right in, so you will."

"Then I guess you had better introduce yourself to them, Captain." said Etherington with a smile of his own. "If you would like to follow myself and Officer Kennedy you can meet them right now."

"Thank you, General." Said Brandon as the General and Officer Kennedy strode toward an exit on the other side of the room to where the earlier group had left. He quickly picked up his half-full fifth and last coffee that was still on the table and drank it down as quickly as he could then proceeded to follow them out the commissary.