The Mysteries of Pi, A Scientific Journey
Disclaimer: I do not own Pi or Stargate. Harry Potter is copyright to JK Rowling.
A large jaffa by the name of Teal'c stood inside Major Carter's office and silently observed its content with his hands clasped behind his back. It had been three hours since he had last seen her or his other two friends, three hours since they had stepped through the gate and onto a planet which they knew nothing about. They might have been dead the moment they stepped through the wormhole if the atmosphere hadn't been breathable, but Teal'c liked to think that they had made it onto an uninhabited planet and where trying to dial back home right at this moment.
He wanted to be with them, not stuck here at the SGC where there was absolutely nothing he could do but pray that they were alright. But Teal'c wasn't the sort of person to pray, there were no gods in which he believed in. The tall man glanced over at the counter where Major Carter's laptop was located and studied the objects that lay upon it. There was her cell phone, a cup of cold coffee, some papers, a couple of books, and a calculator. Teal'c calmly made his way over to the counter, picking up the book and holding it in his hands.
The cover read The Mysteries of Pi, a Scientific Journey and Teal'c gently thumbed through the pages, opening it to a random page number. Why did Major Carter always enjoy these books so much, he himself had never been the type to read? Glancing at the page, he began reading. "Pi or π is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius. It is approximately equal to 3.14159 in the usual decimal notation (see the table for its representation in some other bases). π is one of the most important mathematical and physical constants: many-" Teal'c shut the book quickly and raised an eyebrow. He had no idea how Major Carter could read and make sense of that.
He put the book back on the counter and chose another one of the books. On the front cover was an image of a boy with glasses and above the image the title read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Teal'c opened the front cover and a sticky note fell out.
The small note was definitely in Sam's neat handwriting. Remember to give to Teal'c. That was what the note said. Teal'c studied it for a while before opening to the first page and skimming through the words. Closing the book gently, the large jaffa argued if he should take it or leave it. The book had after all been meant for him but it didn't feel right to take the book out of Sam's lab. He could picture Sam smiling at him and handing him the book, and Teal'c bowed his head slightly to the room before taking the book and exiting the lab.
Stopping by his quarters, Teal'c deposited the book on the desk before making his way to the Gate Room to check on progress. As he went up the stairs, he noted that he was just in time for another test. General Hammond stood behind Walter, his jaw clenched in frustration as he watched the man work.
"Alright sir, I think I have figured it out." Walter mumbled as he continued to type on the computer. "If we lock the dialing computer while it's dialing the seventh chevron, we should be able to keep the symbol from switching." He explained, glancing up at the General.
"Should be?" The General echoed disapprovingly.
"Well sir, it's only a theory. But I'm pretty confident that it will work." Walter said with a nod.
"Alright, dial the Alpha site." Hammond ordered and seconds after the gate started spinning. Teal'c moved to stand next to the General and Hammond gave him a quick nod before turning his eyes once more on the gate. As the fifth chevron engaged, everything still seemed normal. Just as the seventh chevron was about to dial, Walter hit a button on his keyboard, locking all computers in the base.
"Computers Locked!" he announced as red 'Locked' signs flashed on all computer screens in the gate room. All eyes were once again directed at the gate and the gate computer as it showed the last chevron about to engage. Both the General and Teal'c watched the computer closely and Hammond cursed as the seventh symbol started flashing and changing.
"Shut it down," he ordered and Walter and the Gate Technician typed a couple of commands into the computer. Nothing happened. Walter tried again with the same result as the gate established a wormhole to an unknown destination. "I said shut it down!" the General said again with a louder voice.
"I can't sir, the computers are locked." Walter said as he moved to another computer and tried to shut the gate down from there.
"Yes, I know, you locked the computers yourself," Hammond said with anger rising in his voice. Walter had a confused expression on his face.
"The computers have completely locked me out; they won't even allow me to unlock them." The General took a deep breath and watched the event horizon as it rippled gently. He knew that he had to shut the gate down.
"Shut it down manually," he declared and a couple of people who were in the control room glanced at him. "If you can't shut it down via the computers then shut it down manually!" the General declared with a little more force. This sent the technicians scurrying to the microphone to relay the information and seconds later an airman pulled the power switch and the wormhole disengaged. Walter glanced at the General briefly before continuing to furiously type on the keyboard with no results.
"Get it fixed," Hammond growled before he turned and made his way up to his office. Teal'c remained for a moment, one eyebrow raised, before he also took his leave. There was no need for him to remain in the control room.
General George Hammond sat down heavily in his chair, exhaling a deep breath. He brought a hand up to his forehead to massage it briefly, hoping to avoid some pain of the headache that was slowly but surely building up. He really needed Major Carter here; she would be able to figure out what was wrong with the gate and fix it in no time. But she was on a different planet that he knew almost nothing about. He wasn't even sure that the three members of SG-1 were still alive. But how many times had SG-1 pulled through against his doubts? By now it had been too many times to count.
He glanced at the red phone that sat on his desk and felt a heavy burden settle on his shoulders. He knew that he had to call the President and inform him about the situation but he was worried about the kind of action that the President would take. Then an idea popped into his head. Grabbing the phone, he waited patiently as it connected him.
"Hello Mr. President," he said with a slight smile. "Yes sir, I think we might have a situation. No sir, nothing that serious. Yes sir," the General paused to listen to the President's words. "Remember that Scientist we were talking about? Yes, that one," Hammond smile widened a bit. Maybe there was hope for SG-1 after all. "I think she might be very useful to us."
A/N: I'm going to try very hard to get a chapter out every Monday. How does that sound?