Chapter Four: The Galaxy Opens

20th June, 1996

Gateway Centre

Abydos

General Wayne Downing emerged from the rippling pool of the Abydonian Stargate to regard the lowest floor of the SGC Gateway Centre. It never failed to take his breath away and renewed the sense of pride he had in all the people under his command. He was thirty floors below the desert surface of Abydos, and was staring at a vast, brightly lit, eight meter high area that reminded him somewhat of a massive warehouse with over two football fields equivalent of surface area. The steel ribbing of the roof was clearly visible and occasionally a thick concrete pillar would rise up to help support the incredible weight bearing down on this lowest level.

This was the only the second time that the Stargate had been activated in its new home, and as such there was at moment very little cargo or vehicles slated for transfer between Earth and Abydos, though that was quickly changing before his very eyes. The whine of the five mass cargo elevators in operation and cargo handlers moving the large storage crates with various raw ores of titanium, were bustling about the entire cavernous area.

"General, welcome back." George Hammond was there, standing well outside the demarcated plasma blast area in front of the Stargate, with a small detachment of Airmen who immediately came to attention and saluted. Standing next to George, was the reason for Downing's rather unexpected presence in the first place.

"General, Dr Jackson," Downing returned the salute and nodded to the LRI Chief of Archaeology.

"General," Jackson returned with a respectful tone. "I'm sorry to call you on such short notice, but this really…"

Downing raised a hand to interrupt. "Relax, Dr Jackson, your emergency summons saved me from a meeting with the SGC bean counters."

"Ah, I see," Daniel answered with empathy.

"Well, let's get down to it and you can show me this 'discovery of galactic proportions'."


After the long walk across sub-level thirty. They used the personnel elevator that linked all the levels of Gateway Center; by itself it was almost as large as a room and could carry sixty people safely at a time, throughout all the levels of the Center. Downing would've loved to see level twenty eight, the dedicated level for personnel transfer between Earth and Abydos, but it was still unfinished. He honestly wished he could somehow give the engineer who had through up the idea of moving the Stargate between levels on a narrow elevator as needed, the Nobel Prize for Uncommon Logic.

The two thousand feet per minute elevator had them up to Level One in less than twenty seconds. The doors opened up to reveal the astounding sight of the main lobby of Gateway Center. The light brown marble floor was so well polished that it partially reflected the overhead lighting and the view of the upper eight above ground floors, finally culminating in an arched overhead glass ceiling that let in the afternoon sun in grand fashion. Green plants at each structural pillar and even a fountain in the center of the area rounded off the impressive scene.

Downing dearly wished he could spend more time here on Abydos, but his position demanded that he needed to be back on Earth more at the moment, fighting the good fight in the political shark nest that was the Pentagon and White House, as it were, to meet the needs of his command. He also dreaded the day that the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) would also be brought up to speed on the existence of his Command. It was one thing to fight your fellow soldiers for a piece of the defense budget pie; it was a totally different story when politicians on the Hill would get involved. The only reason they had stayed off the 'spending radar' was that the SGC Material Command was doing a fantastic job of bringing in as much money as much as it gave out; thanks to sales of the resources mined on Abydos and the patents on quite a few metallurgical and chemical advances made by R&D Complex or as it was otherwise known, the 'relocated' Area 51. It also helped that the White House had funneled the defense budget that had originally gone to the old Groom Lake facility, back through the other armed service branches, where it was 'funneled' again through a maze of channels, until it finally reached the SGC itself.

He really did not relish the day he would have to stand before the elderly Senator Strom Thurmond, the Chairman of said committee and reveal that there was an entire Unified Combatant Command that had been kept secret from them. Ideally, it would never happen, but Downing knew that the accountants employed by SASC were a downright meticulous bunch of bastards, and they would eventually get whiff of something that had escaped the Material Command's notice and come digging. It was a matter of when, not if, the SASC would find out.

The three men emerged from the air-conditioned Gateway Center and onto the tarmac parking lot, where a converted civilian model Jeep Wrangler waited for them. They got in and the driver speed them off at high speed along the road, heading towards the large Pyramid in the distance.

As the Jeep made its way along Downing became uncomfortably aware of how hot it was. Leaving the Gateway Center felt like driving out into a blast furnace as the Abydonian sun beat unforgivably down on the desert. Sweat broke out on his brow almost immediately and he immediately felt his shirt stick to his back like it would if he had just run a marathon. Hearing how warm it is here and experiencing it first hand is something completely different, he thought running a hand across his brow and noting the fabric of his uniform sleeve darkened with the sweat, wish I could have worn more appropriate clothing.

The Jeep halted right by an entrance to a tunnel that led into the Pyramid from the west side. It had been completely covered by the shifting sands of Abydos but was now exposed thanks to the meticulous efforts of the Abydonians and the team of LRI archaeologists. There was only a minimal crew left working on the entrance way of the tunnel, meticulously brushing away the accumulated dirt from the front edifices on either side of the entrance.

Dr Jackson led the way into this tunnel, handing both Generals electric lamps before proceeding down into it. Downing found it entirely eerie walking in a place that had never seen any light or a human for untold millennia. He kept on getting that feeling that can best be described as 'someone was using your back as a xylophone'. There was absolute silence between the three men as they walked onward until his ears were positively ringing.

Mercifully, sound reached them, voices of people talking with excitement. Dr Jackson ducked into an opening that had been carefully cut open through a stone door. Hammond preceded Downing inside and he could hear the gasp that had come from his subordinate. It had to be something spectacular to make a man as disciplined as George Hammond lose control. When Downing himself was inside and his eyes adjusted to the higher light level of the portable flood lights, he couldn't stop the gasp of astonishment that escaped his own lips either.

A vast chamber, easily twenty five meters in length, and over five high, with curving walls lined in gold. The yellow glow of the precious metal was unmistakable and Downing would bet anything that if Hernan Cortés was still alive he would give his right nut to be in a room like this. But that was not all; the golden walls were alive with countless lines of hieroglyphics that had been carved in relief style out of the walls.

"Captain Carter?"

George's voice brought Downing out his amazed funk and now he also noticed that the Air Force Captain was here. Her now perpetually tanned features from over a year of living under the Abydonian sun were clearly visible under the floodlights. She was busy slowly panning a digital camera on a tripod that was in turn connected to a laptop and apparently recording the glyphs on the walls.

She straightened at the call and seeing who had entered the room, was at attention instantly.

"At ease, Captain." Downing waved her down.

"Greetings General," her eyes were positively brimming with restrained excitement. "Sirs, this is just amazing…"

"I'm not totally up to speed yet, Captain." He interrupted her and gestured to the room. "Dr Jackson, while finding gold would ordinarily be very important, I gather it's what on it is even more so?"

"Most assuredly, General," Dr Jackson nodded, putting on his glasses. "This is a sort of a chart, more of a…map."

"Of what?"

"Well, the cartouches seem to be separated clearly into groupings. Each grouping is attached to the others with a series of lines. And each grouping of glyphs contain seven symbols. So you can see where this is going, of course."

"Seven symbols? Stargate addresses?" Downing frowned in confusion and glanced at the walls again, clearly seeing now the groupings of seven.

"Exactly," Dr Jackson raised a pointed finger to the ceiling. "All of the symbols are on the Stargate in the Abydos chamber. And Captain Carter has already managed to chart some of them based on astronomical images taken of the Abydos night sky. General, I believe that this is a map of a vast network of Stargates—Stargates that are…are all over the galaxy."

George shook his head. "But scientists on Earth have since tried hundreds of symbol permutations using Earth as the point of origin, whenever the Gate is unused and it never worked."

"I'm clearly not as versed in astrophysics as Captain Carter here, so…" Dr Jackson gestured for her to continue.

"Sirs, according to the expanding universe model, all bodies in the universe are constantly moving further apart. Now since this Stargate map was inscribed onto the walls, in the thousands of years since the Stargate was built…"

"All the coordinates have changed," Downing nodded. "But why does it still work between Abydos and Earth?"

"Sir, Abydos is as far as we know the closest planet in the network to Earth. I mean the closer they are, the less the difference in relative position due to expansion—the further away, the greater the difference. In a few thousand more years, it won't work between Earth and Abydos either."

"Unless we can adjust for the displacement," Dr Jackson pointed out.

"General, with this map as a base, that should be easy. All we have to do is correct for Doppler's Shift. Then I should be able to arrive at a computer model that can predict the adjustments necessary to get the 'gate to connect to all these locations in the Galaxy. Any civilization advanced enough to build this 'gate network would be able to compensate for 50,000 years of stellar drift."

An extremely troubling thought just occurred in Downing's mind. "This was Ra's map."

"Uh…yes," Dr Jackson confirmed, clearly not sure why General's mood had taken a dive.

"If Ra built this network his capital class spaceship was clearly capable of some form of Faster than Light travel, he now also had access to not just Earth and Abydos, but a Galaxy full of potential worlds…"

Dr Jackson also lost his excited mood as well and his eyes sparked in comprehension. "Oh my God."

"What is it, Doctor?" Hammond asked.

"I've just realized something. It was going to be in my next archaeological findings report…" He began to pace back and forth. "We found catacombs beneath the Pyramid, essentially a maze. Navigating it took some time and we had to dig considerably to get through to all parts of it, but it eventually led to a large room that contained a hieroglyphic story of sorts. It talked of the size of Ra's domain, how great he was…and how he triumphed over his enemies."

"Enemies?" Downing didn't like where this was going.

"It talks about how he defeated other gods, and dominated over them as Supreme Ruler."

"Are you sure about that, 'domination'?"

"Yes, that's the closest translation."

"To be dominated over you have to be alive, and if I remember your report correctly Dr Jackson, you stated that Ra's race was dying and he survived by taking over the body of a human host, an Egyptian boy."

"And who's to say more of his kind couldn't have done the same thing as well," Captain Carter concluded.

"Dr Jackson, I want a full report and assessment from the LRI on this," Downing ordered in a grim tone. "Captain Carter, I want you and whoever can be spared at R&D to begin working on this Stargate map. I want all the facts we can possibly gather on my desk as soon as humanly possible."


Since its first day of construction the SGC had never been such a flurry of activity. Mass shipments of supplies were pouring through the Stargate and out of the Gateway Center in an almost unending wave. At the heart of the wave was the newly completed High-speed MagRail transport. The state of the art freight transport ran from beneath Gateway Center, up through a secure tunnel system, and out to the industrial heart of the SGC commonly called "The Forge". The crews who had labored tirelessly to complete the project got to enjoy its 5 minute christening before it, and they, were been thrust into immediate and non-stop service.

Most of the rank-and-file personnel of the SGC didn't know what was going on precisely, but everyone knew that whatever it was had to be big. In the week since General Downing's visit the entire base had been working overtime no matter what area they were in. Massive shipments of raw materials were flying along the magrail toward The Forge to allow them to crank up production lines that were barely complete. However, of all the segments of the SGC it was LRI who had jaws dropping.

Normally, the profession of Archeology is a meticulous and fairly slow moving one. Yet, since General Downing's departure LRI had conscripted anyone unfortunate enough to not look immensely busy and put them to work. The first ever "speed excavation" was put into action under the slightly crazed oversight of Dr. Jackson. Where before the progress of excavating the Pyramid and connected ruins had been impressive it was now mind blowing. Jackson and LRI had commandeered an entire room's worth of computers and digital cameras to facilitate translation efforts as rapidly as new hieroglyphs could be uncovered.

As if that wasn't enough, the LRI had also been asked to form a task team that would brainstorm and develop methods and protocols of 'First Contact'. A single conference room had been given to the assembled group of fifteen people; scientists, engineers, an Air Force Major, Marine Captain, Army Colonel, and a retired Ambassador from the State Department …were all sealed into the room and essentially told that until they had a solid protocol that could get a Presidential seal of approval, every other duty they had was on hold. What they produced after a week of passionate debate and sometimes even outright hostile arguments was by no means perfect, and would be sent back for revision as the hard lessons in the wider Galaxy was learned.

Another part of the SGC that was experiencing an absolute frenetic increase in operations was the R&D Complex. Its massive Cray Supercomputer, encompassing an entire floor of the Complex main building, suddenly found itself ramped up to full bore operations at its maximum capacity of five hundred teraflops for the first time since it was fully re-assembled and upgraded after being moved from Earth. It had up until that point only been used for the research into the physics and materials behind the Ra fighters, but now it was being used to turn the out-of-date Abydos Stargate network map into a usable one.

Scientists and engineers working on the X-023 Aerospace Fighter, Earth's answer to the Ra Fighter, were also given a figurative 'boot up the ass' by the brass. They wanted a working test fighter. An exasperated Dr Lee had retorted that the X23 was no Grumman Hellcat that could be tweaked within a year to beat the Japanese Zero. In many cases they were still trying to come to grips with the sciences that made the Ra Fighter tick; the least of which was they now had empirical lab results that with a few exceptions, threw out everything ever theorized on Quantum physics. Area 51 scientists had already compiled everything together and were starting to call these scientific principles Neophysics. He stated that at current development rate it would be at least another two years before even the X23 could even be considered safe enough for a test flight, then another year for ironing out the bugs that the performance data revealed.

Gateway Center itself was also experiencing a refurbishment due to the new reality that the Abydos Cartouche revealed. Level Twenty Eight was finished off and now Level Twenty Seven was also designated as a Stargate arrivals/departures area, only this level was completely dedicated to diplomacy, and as such was design for form over function. It used whites, silvers and natural plant life to provide a calm mediating atmosphere, it was also the most structurally advanced piece of architecture humanity had ever produced – making use of the new extreme alloys that resulted from mixing the Stargate element with traditionally known metals, such as titanium, iron and steel. The element was also finally named after a majority consensus was reached; Gravicite. With the revelation of all the Stargates out in the Galaxy, the prudent measure was also taken to create static defenses and inside Gateway Center, as the potential was there for 'anyone or anything in the great unknown' to possibly connect to the Earth and Abydonian Stargates.

Level 30, being the largest and dedicated to utility and military needs, received the most defenses. Remote controlled turrets mounting the Bofors Forty Millimeter Autocannon, with integrated Mk19 Auto Grenade Guns, were strategically placed for fields of fire bearing on the Stargate. Mounted in the roof girders and looking down on the entire level were also remote turrets holding M249 Machine guns. Level 28 received a similar treatment, but more care was taken in the defense turret placement and it had much less of them. The Diplomatic Level was also given a defensive makeover, but these were completely concealed and merged seamlessly with the peaceful atmosphere of the first line of defense on the Stargate would not be the firepower of these weapons, however. The moment any unauthorized incoming wormhole stabilized within the Gate, its narrow elevator would literally fall and be accelerated into a slot that fit it perfectly below Level 30.

Anyone or anything coming through would only have slightly less than a millimetre of space to materialize, the rest of their body would come through and try to occupy that same space, by pushing it out of the way in the only direction it could go – sideways. The result in an experiment with a single pig carcass, was in the words of Master Sergeant Harriman; 'mushy meaty goop'. The second system of passive Stargate defence and would most likely replace the 'Goop' defense was an Iris made of gravicite-titanium alloy and would be installed within the maw of the gate, to open and close, like a camera eye. It would first be installed on the Earth Gate and if everything worked out, Abydos would receive it as well.

All of this work was building up to one significant event; the opening of a wormhole into the unknown of the greater Galaxy and possibly sending a team to whatever was on the other side of the new Stargate. In the two months that all these simultaneous preparations were taking place, a total of six new Stargate addresses had been calculated and it was finally time to try a connection.


A thin streamer of smoke rose into the cooling night air. The young sergeant gazed up at the alien night sky and shook his head before taking another drag off the dwindling cigarette. He'd been on Abydos for nearly six months and it was still disorienting to star up at the foreign stars above.

Despite the strangeness of the night sky he found that this was a dream assignment. Everyone serving on Abydos was genuinely excited to be there and it showed in the attitudes.

While tempers did flare from time to time the vast majority of personnel at Stargate Command got along without problems. The civilians and military contingents actually worked together well for the most part. Shaking his head in amusement the sergeant mused that next to the strange stars above it was the cooperation between the two groups that was the most alien. The young man figured it was a testament to the importance of the work being done.

Taking a final drag from the Marlboro the sergeant dropped the smoldering butt into the cigarette receptacle. It was time to get back inside.


The Gateway Center would one day be called one of the most organized operations in military history. That day, however, would be far in the future when the combined armed forces of the United States weren't trying to cram several hundred thousand tons of materials through the Stargate from Earth to Abydos and out of the Center at break-neck speeds. It was a miracle that the Material Command personnel were managing the feat as well as they were.

When the young sergeant returned to his post at the security desk in the Center's foyer it was to the grateful look of his partner. "All you VanDise."

"Thank god man. They've," he replied while tossing a none-too-subtle glance at a group standing a few feet from the security desk, "haven't stopped arguing since you left."

Glancing to the group of assorted civilians the sergeant couldn't help but wonder what they could possibly still be working out. Shrugging it off he replied with a simple, "We'll you're good to go now. Just be back in fifteen."

Changing places with his fellow NCO he gave a quick look over the security monitors while inputting his security code to the keypad on the station. With a blink of a green light his code was accepted and on one of the screens the name beside "Foyer" flashed from VanDise to Landen.

The proper procedures taken care of he once again turned his attention to the arguers.

"Anything I can help you with," he inquired with a tone that broke right through the veil of the heated discussion.

Instantly the argument stopped and the group collectively adopted a somewhat guilty countenance. That was when he knew they weren't arguing over anything important. With a sigh he simply leveled an unamused glare at them and waited.

"We're sorry Sergeant," one of the men finally responded. "We're just trying to work out the best way to get the shipment we're waiting for moved up on the delivery list.

"And this has to be argued in the middle of the night in the middle of the Center's entry?"

Assorted hmm-ing and haw-ing followed the question and Sergeant Landen's expression remained impassively unimpressed. In short order the men exited the building followed only by a sigh and shaking head from the sergeant.

Ten minutes into his partner's fifteen-minute break the security desk phone began to beep. The LCD screen on the phone came to life and proclaimed the call to be coming from Gateroom Security. Tapping the speaker button the sergeant quickly answered, "Foyer, this is Landen."

"Sergeant Landen, this is Hayth. Head's up Sergeant; bunch of brass just gated through from Earth. They're on their way up."

"Got it. Thanks for the warning, but how many?"

"Fifteen. Repeat, one-five."

"Alright. Thanks Hayth."

Tapping the button on the phone once he disconnected the call before hitting the button again followed by a speed-dial option.

"Motorpool; Kinter," echoed the disembodied voice of the Staff Sergeant on duty.

"Kinter, it's Landen. We've got brass from Earth. Safe bet they're heading somewhere in a hurry. We've got fifteen, one-five, or them."

"Right; I'll have a few jeeps around ASAP."

The line went dead just as the secure elevator's doors began to open. Fifteen assorted officers in class A uniforms and civilians in suits filed out and the sergeant snapped to attention.

"At ease Sergeant," ordered a Lieutenant General. "Please call for transport for our group out to Area 51."

"Already taken care of sir. It should be just a moment."

"Excellent, thank you Sergeant."

Five minutes later a small convoy of jeeps pulled up outside and the group exited the building. Sergeant VanDise returned just in time to watch the group leave and gave Landen a questioning look.

Shrugging the sergeant replied with a simple, "No clue."

It was just another night at Gateway Center.


29th August 1996

Control Room

Gateway Centre

Abydos

Lt General George Hammond surveyed the room with both bemusement and a sense of awe. The designers of the Control Room had done good work with replicating the layout of NASA Mission Control in Houston. In fact, if George didn't know better, he could easily fool himself into thinking he was back on Earth, in that very same historic room where mankind had first taken its baby steps into space. Well, they had certainly come a long way since then, and it was now time to stand up and take those bold new steps into the unknown frontier.

He surveyed the Control Room to check that everyone was at their posts and ready. There were four rows of workstations in front of his own raised COPSO (Combat Operations Officer) station, divided into three lines. In front of him and to his left, was SURGEON, a station which was empty as this mission would not involve sending anyone through the Stargate as yet. Directly in front of him was SOPO (Stargate Ops Officer) Station, with Master Sergeant Harriman in a nice comfortable office chair with the DHD in front him, and his beautifully laminated wooden desk artfully cut to fit around it, allowing him to also easily access his computer.

To George's right, and finishing the fourth row, was LINGO. As it's name suggested, it was there to effect communication with whoever or whatever was on the other side of the wormhole, since even if (as mounting archeological evidence was indicating) the civilization they met was displaced humans from Earth, there was no way on God's green earth...or should that be God's Creation?...that they would be speaking modern English. LINGO therefore was an LRI responsibility and had Dr Jackson heading it up and a staff of five archeologists who also had considerable Linguistic training under their belts, sitting in front of computers with earphones over their heads and getting their respective linguistic databases ready as well as again going over the 'Communication Plan'.

The third row began with COMO, a Station that held all the controls for the radio communications equipment that was directed through the Stargate, this had an specialist Air Force Officer, Captain Lidia Heath, in charge who had experience in handling radio comms in AWACS craft during the Gulf War. She and the two NCOs on either side would always be working closely with LINGO on missions like this. To the left was ROBO or Robotics Control Officer. This station and its computers was geared to controlling all unmanned vehicles that went through the Stargate.

To George that Station looked like a stripped down disassembled cockpit of an F16 and integrated into an ergonomic desk; it had joysticks, control panels, multi-function computer displays, integrated notepads...heck the only thing missing was a damn HUD. It was all to control one of the new prototype MALCs, as well as any other unmanned vehicle airborne or on the ground that would be developed in the future. In any event, the MALC had been designed by MIT engineers who had been told that the Air Force wanted a probe to deploy via parachute drop into hazardous areas (radioactive, chemical or biological fallout areas) analyse the air, soil, and any plant life, and send back data to NEST response teams. They also wanted the probe to be able to act as a relay to communicate with any survivors that it encountered. The result was the Mobile Analytical Laboratory Communication Probe.

Neighboring that and finishing the third row, was ELSO (Environmental Life Support Officer), which was again an LRI department who analyzed the data from a MALC and determined if it was safe for a human SG Team to go through to the target planet.

The last department, and the only one in the second row as yet, was EDIO. Essentially responsible for electronic data integrity of the Control Room. There was no telling what sort of electronic warfare capabilities a human or alien civilization would have, and how they could project that influence through the wormhole. George was somewhat skeptical that it was even possible, but his knowledge and grasp of computers was shaky at best, limited to using Word processors and the simply designed command systems that were in front of him at his own station. But when the computer experts told him 'If we can think of firing computer viruses down a wormhole on a radio carrier signal to any system we detect capable of receiving it on a machine language level, then aliens or other human civs sure as hell can.'

The rest of Row two was empty, as was Row one, they were essentially for any new department that was integrated into the Control Room as a necessity was demonstrated for them. The only one currently on the drawing boards, pending working out the guidance software issues, was the WSO or wizzo. The officer here would be in charge of managing and firing the Tomahawk Cruise Missile through the Stargate at any potential target.

Finally, finishing off the room, was the three large projection screens facing everyone, which showed real-time feeds from cameras all over Gateway Centre and even beyond. Currently the left screen was focused on the Stargate on Level 30, and showed the crew working on preparing the six wheeled MALC for its first ever journey. The central screen showed a live feed from the MALCs camera, currently facing directly forward and showing the Stargate maw from a much closer angle and the right screen mirrored Sergeant Harriman's Gate Diagnostic screen.

George thumbed the slim earpiece and single microphone that plugged into his station and turned on his com system that would allow communication with all the stations. "All right, Ladies and Gentlemen, it's oh eight hundred local time, we've practiced this for weeks, in the immortal words of John Glenn, 'Dear Lord, let's not fuck this up.'"

A smattering of laughter emerged from everyone in the room breaking the tension in the air. George looked behind him to the observation gallery where the collective SGC Command Brass was sitting and observing. Most of the faces there were smiles, though he had quite a few jealous looks thrown at him. The decision for First Contact to be his responsibility, had come straight from the President. George would've felt honored if he wasn't worried about throwing up his breakfast all over his console; only decades of experience kept it in check.

"Okay, tech team, are we go?"

"We're good to go down here, General," one the technicians on the wall screen, standing next to the MALC raised a hand in acknowledgment.

"All right, Sergeant Harriman, by all means."

"Yes, sir." Harriman replied and after giving one last look to the Stargate address on his computer screen, tapped it into the DHD fluidly. On the wall screen the Stargate flashed into life, and chevrons lit up as the Sergeant pressed each glyph tile on the device. "Seventh Chevron inputted, engaging." He pushed down on the crystal orb. The entire room seemed to hold its breath and...

...surely enough a stable wormhole was formed.

George reminded himself as the jubilant cheers and clapping erupted, to put in a commendation for Captain Carter, it was mostly her computer model that had allowed this to happen, after all.

"Tech team, confirm destination is valid for travel." This next bit was to ensure that matter could successfully reintegrate on the other side, and that there wasn't a passive defense like an Iris. On the wallscreen a technician threw a baseball sized radio transmitter through the event horizon.

"General, I have signal," Captain Heath confirmed.

"Captain Carter," he addressed the officer in charge of ROBO for this mission. "Send the MALC."

"Yes sir," she replied with barely repressed excitement. She settled her hands on the main control joystick, tapped a few activation buttons, and slowly pushed forward. The view on the central main screen, abruptly jerked as the MALC stuttered forward. The activated Stargate grew bigger and bigger, until the swirling energies filled the screen and then...static...

"MALC has crossed the event horizon," confirmed the Tech team.

Just as quickly, signal returned. "Receiving MALC telemetry."

The first thing George saw of the alien world was that it was on a small plateau, it was daylight, and there was a mountain range in the distance, with a sky choked white with cloud cover over it. There was even greenery around the the plateau, very little, but it was there. But his eyes also saw two things which most definitely had not been put there by mother nature. There were two smooth metallic shiny pillars at the edges of the plateau, not ten meters from the MALC; they were about four meters high and had three purplish sections...which were glowing.

Abruptly purple light or energy seemed to shoot itself towards the MALC, causing the picture to be distorted for a moment, but the purple light abruptly ceased.

"What was that?"

"Unknown, sir. Whatever it was caused brief EM interference, but all my systems shows green now though," replied Carter.

"Not a weapon then, thankfully," mused George. "Visual sweep."

The MALC's camera began to tilt slowly, moving to the left, revealing more terrain, and the fact that the Stargate was actually situated on the edge of a mountain. The view swept past the active gate and found...trees, honest to God, green trees.

"My God," exclaimed one of the scientists at ELSO. "I'm reading an atmospheric composition; sixty eight percent nitrogen, twenty five percent oxygen. Ouch, five percent carbon dioxide, two percent miscellaneous, fourteen PSI of pressure...that's close to Earth norm...the CO2 level is not good though."

George considered that. "Will any team we send need adjustments to their filter masks?"

"The HEPA masks are rated for viral and biologic filtration, General, that higher C02 level will reduce their effective lifespan," explained the scientist. "The team should merely be issued with double the normal amount of filters."

"Captain Carter,any theories on what those pillars are for?"

"Given the placement of the Stargate, in an isolated area, and the lack of anyone in the immediate area, it could perhaps be a remote monitoring system to see and analyze what comes through the 'Gate."

"Could it function as a weapon as well?"

"Almost certainly, General. It's dimensions could easily hold any of our own weapon systems. By the look of those pillars and the energy beam it shot out, I think it's safe to assume that there's something much more advanced at work here."

"And that the civilization on the other side is more advanced than us," George pointed out.

"At least with regard to directed energy systems." Captain Carter nodded.

George nearly felt himself jump out of his chair as he spotted a moving shadow on the big projection screen.

"We have movement!" shouted one of the linguists whose eyes had never left the panning view of the alien world. An excited din broke out in the room.

"Pan the camera to the right," George ordered, his voice booming and silencing the excitement. The MALC's 'eyes' turned at the behest of its distant masters. It found the source of the moving shadow and brought it into focus.

George could barely even find the words in his head to describe what he felt at that moment. Dr Jackson's archeological evidence and theories had been just that…theories. Credible ones, but vague, distant things…now there it was, in living color. On the screen was a rather astounded and curious, male human being, dressed in decidedly oddly cut silver clothing, holding a device in his right hand. George knew instantly it was a hand weapon of sorts – the tall man's body language and the way he was holding it told the story.

General George Hammond looked around at the people in the control room, feeling the weight of the Earth on his shoulders. "All right people, let's see if we can say 'Hello'"