What felt like only half an hour later, though it was more like two, Daniel's phone rang, snapping him out of his translation zone. He picked it up haphazardly, almost dropping it.
"Dr Jackson, I organised a few background checks to be run on Dr Richards and everything has come out clean," came the official voice of Hammond.
Daniel smiled. He didn't really think there would've been an issue.
"Therefore, I'm authorising you to be able to share information with her, pending her signing an NDA."
"That's good news, sir. Thank you."
"Dr Jackson, please be sure you are very clear with Dr Richards about what it is she's signing. Ensure she understands the ramifications if she is found to be in breach of the NDA…" he trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.
"I know, sir and I understand. Oh, sir? I found out who it was that was after Kaitlyn. Another former colleague named Steven Rayner. Kaitlyn believes he's not working alone but has no idea who."
"Thank you, Dr Jackson. I'll follow it up."
As he hung up the phone, Daniel felt a ripple of delight, happy he was now able to share about the Goa'uld inscription and what had happened to him over the last 5 years.
* * * * * *
A short while later, Daniel had Kaitlyn in his office, showing her some of the artifacts they had found off-world.
Kaitlyn's mind was buzzing with all the information she was trying to take in. "This is amazing. So, you're telling me that various teams travel all around the galaxy to try and form alliances and acquire alien technologies to aid earth in the defense of this Go…Goo…"
"Goa'uld," Daniel corrected.
"Right. Them. It all sounds very Star Trek to me, Daniel," she said with a small laugh. "I mean, how is that possible? Have NASA developed some kind of whiz-bang space shuttle that just zaps you across the galaxy?" she asked with a laugh.
At that moment, Carter walked by Daniel's office and, upon noticing an unfamiliar face, wandered in. This was probably the Dr Richards she'd heard about.
"Uh…not exactly," Daniel said in response to Kaitlyn's question, before turning his attention to Carter. "Hey, Sam."
"Hey," Carter said giving him a warm smile, before looking over at Kaitlyn.
"Sam, this is Dr Kaitlyn Richards. She's an old colleague from Chicago. Kait, this is Major Samantha Carter, our resident technical genius."
Carter blushed a little and rolled her eyes. "Daniel… Nice to meet you, Dr Richards," Carter said, shaking Kaitlyn's hand.
"It's a pleasure, Major Carter. Please, call me Kaitlyn."
"If you'll call me, Sam."
"Deal," she said with a smile, starting to feel a little less out of place.
Daniel looked from Sam to Kaitlyn, smiling briefly. It wasn't often he got to stand in between not only two beautiful women, but two beautiful strong women.
Kaitlyn and Sam shared a look, wondering what could be going through Daniel's mind at the moment?
"Daniel? You still with us?" Sam asked.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Zoned out for a second there."
Carter smiled. She could only wonder why. "So, what are you two working on?"
"Actually, I was just about to explain to Kaitlyn how it is we manage to travel through the galaxy. She's a sceptic."
"I am not!" Kaitlyn protested. "Not really. I just, find it all a little hard to swallow."
Carter smiled. "I got a better idea. Why don't we show her?" she said with a grin and headed out of Daniel's office.
Daniel gestured Kaitlyn out, following closely behind Carter.
Walking through the corridors, passing the odd airman or officer, Daniel watched Kaitlyn look around her, taking it all in. "This is going to blow your mind," he said, barely being able to contain himself.
As they took the lift down, Kaitlyn watched the numbers go up on the display panel. "How many levels are there?" she asked, wondering how far into the ground this place actually went.
"28, which is where we're going," Carter said matter-of-factly as the lift doors opened.
"28! We're 28 stories under the surface?" Kaitlyn said, feeling a little nervous. "Bloody hell…" she muttered quietly.
General Hammond was already in the control room when they arrived. "Hello, Dr Jackson, Major Carter."
"Sir," the two replied respectively.
"General, this is Dr Kaitlyn Richards. Kaitlyn, this is General Hammond."
Kaitlyn nodded politely. "It's nice to meet you, General. And may I also say thankyou for allowing me to learn more about what it is I've discovered."
Hammond returned her nod. "Well, Dr Richards, let's hope we can get to the bottom of why one of your colleagues wants this amulet so badly and who he's potentially working with."
"Thank you, sir," Kaitlyn said gratefully and with that, Hammond moved to the other side of the room to talk to one of the technicians.
At that moment, the klaxons went off and the voice of Sgt Harriman was heard over the PA. "Beginning dialling sequence."
Kaitlyn jumped some, not expecting the loud noise that echoed throughout the room. "What's going on?" she asked, a little panicked.
Daniel smiled. "It's alright," he reassured her as they continued further into the control room. "Lucky for you, you're going to get to see the gate in operation."
"The what?"
"The Stargate," Daniel said simply."
She turned her head slightly, her eyes settling onto the enormous ring in the middle of the room below, watching an inner ring spin with a bunch of symbols on it. She hadn't noticed it when she'd walked into the room as people had been in the way.
"Chevron 1, encoded," Harriman announced.
Kaitlyn's mouth dropped open as the wheel began to spin in the opposite direction, not believing what she was seeing.
Carter and Daniel watched on in amusement.
"Chevron 2, encoded."
Kaitlyn turned around to face Daniel and Carter. "A Stargate…what does it do?"
"Well," Carter offered. "The 39 symbols on the Stargate represent constellations. Each planet has an address of six symbols and the seventh symbol represents the planet you're dialling from."
"Chevron 3, encoded."
"You're dialling a planet?" Kaitlyn asked incredulously.
Carter nodded. "Basically, yes."
"Chevron 4, encoded."
"So, once you've dialled all 7 symbols, then what?"
"Watch," Daniel said, pointing at the gate."
Kaitlyn waited patiently while the last 3 chevrons engaged and as the last one did, an enormous burst of water was propelled outward, the unexpected act causing her to back straight into Daniel.
"Whoa, you OK?" he asked, steadying her.
"Sorry," she apologised as she caught his eye, feeling a little stupid. "Wasn't expecting that."
As the burst retracted inward, a rippling pool of light and water was left glistening inside the ring. Kaitlyn wasn't quite sure what to make of it. She turned to face Carter and Daniel again. "It's incredible. How does the water stay like that?" she said, almost a whisper.
Carter pointed toward the computer. "It's not really water. It's an illusion. See, the Stargate is made from a quartz-like mineral called Naquada, a metal that is not found here on earth but is capable of handling the large amounts of energy needed to sustain a wormhole and form what you're seeing now; the event horizon. An event horizon is basically the beginning of a wormhole if you like."
Kaitlyn raised a confused eyebrow. Most of Sam's explanation had gone over her head. "You've totally lost me now. A wormhole?"
"It's basically a virtual conduit between one Stargate and another."
"Told you she was a genius," Daniel stage-whispered to Kaitlyn.
"Sending through the M.A.L.P," Harriman confirmed.
Carter gestured her over to the dialling computer.
"We send a M.A.L.P, or a Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe, through to each world before we send any teams. It allows us to check vital signs of a planet, such as whether it has breathable air and if the temperature is too hot/cold etc or if there's any sign of hostile action," Carter explained. "Watch what happens when the M.A.L.P goes through."
General Hammond finished his conversation with the technician and walked over to the dialling computer, watching as the M.A.L.P disappeared.
Kaitlyn turned her attention to the ramp as the probe went through the watery-looking puddle and disappeared, then turned back to the computer. The image of the M.A.L.P that was on the computer slowly dissolved, reappearing again a few moments later.
"Receiving M.A.L.P telemetry," Harriman advised. After a few moments: "Looks good, sir."
"SG-12, you have a go," Hammond's voice said over the PA.
Kaitlyn watched as four men, dressed in battle gear and carrying weapons made their way up the ramp and through the event horizon. Within moments, the shimmering puddle vanished and Kaitlyn was able to see the wall through the ring again. She opened her mouth a couple of times and closed it again. "I'm…speechless. That's the most amazing thing I have ever seen!"
"Daniel here made it possible," Carter said proudly, feeling smug that she could repay him for embarrassing her earlier. "He was the one who worked out that the symbols on the gate were constellations and that in order to make a successful connection, you needed six symbols for each planet and the seventh symbol was the point of origin."
"Wow, that's amazing," Kaitlyn said, awed by the amazing technology that was the Stargate.
Daniel shrugged, somewhat uncomfortablly. "I guess."
Carter hit him playfully. "Aw come on, Daniel. Without you, there'd be no Stargate program!"
"Is this what you disappeared for 5 years ago?" Kaitlyn asked quietly.
Daniel nodded. "I'm sure you heard about the last public seminar I gave," he said witheringly.
Kaitlyn winced. She had heard and had felt terrible for him at the time. "I tried to call you when I heard, but you didn't return any of my calls."
Daniel hung his head a little. "I know. I'm sorry. I just felt so lost, as though I was at my absolute lowest and it couldn't get any worse. As I stood in the rain, contemplating my miserable fate, with no money for a cab, no apartment to go home to and no girlfriend to turn to…"
Kaitlyn visibly stiffened. The girlfriend Daniel spoke of had been Sarah Gardner, a point that was still a little sore with her. "I heard Sarah left you." she said quietly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. She left the museum over a year ago. I haven't heard from her since, though I hardly expected to."
Carter noticed the sudden uncomfortable tension between Daniel and Kaitlyn. She could hazard a guess there was obviously more to the relationship between these two than either were letting on.
"Anyway," Daniel went on, trying to shift the awkwardness. "I was shuffled into a car and inside was this woman, who we now know to be Catherine Langford, the woman behind the first research into the Stargate. She knew all this stuff about me and before I knew it, she was offering me a job to translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and told me that it could potentially prove my theories right. She handed me some travels plans and I was ushered out of the car. I was in shock to tell you the truth. After what I'd just been through, I was a little dubious as to why this woman believed me. At first I thought she was mocking me. I remember getting out of the car, standing in the rain and thinking 'Why not? What else do I have left? Everyone thinks I'm a lunatic'; and just like that, I disappeared from the outside world."
