Russian Airbase
We were standing next to an USAF airplane, dressed in our cold weather gear. I watched as a jeep drove towards us. It stopped next to us, and a woman got out of the car.
"Dr. Markov I presume?" Jack asked.
"Sorry I'm late," She replied.
"Dr. It's an honor. I've read your work," Sam said.
"And you're Major Carte. I had hoped we would meet under different circumstances," Dr. Markov replied.
"Jack O'Neill," Jack said, holding out his hand. Dr. Markov looked at him for a second, then shook his hand.
"Yes," She replied, quietly. Then she looked over at me, Daniel, and Teal'c.
"Dr. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and Anna," She states. I was surprised that she knew who we were. Teal'c gave her a slight bow, to acknowledge her.
"How do you know about the SGC?" Sam asked.
"I have read extensive files on all of you," Dr. Markov replied.
"The question was… how?" Jack stated.
"I learned to read English at the age of 6. It was not difficult," Dr. Markov explained.
"Russian humor," Jack said, at the smile that Sam gave her.
"I will tell you what I can on the way," Dr. Markov told us, walking towards the plane. We followed her onto the plane…
USAF airplane
Sam sat down next to Jack, and Daniel on the bench, while I was sitting next to Teal'c on the other bench. We were all wear headsets, so that we could talk to each other.
"I was first contacted shortly after Russian satellites picked up what we believed was an alien spaceship entering the atmosphere," Dr. Markov explained. Daniel looked over at Jack.
"Alien spaceship huh?" Jack asked.
"About two months ago. It disintegrated during entry, and crashed into the Pacific. The Stargate was recovered after an extensive sweep of the ocean floor. During that search one of our foxtrot submarines went missing. You may be familiar with the incident," Dr. Markov said.
"Not a clue," Jack said. Dr. Markov gave Jack a funny look.
"I was assigned as chief science officer, second in command to Colonel Sarkalov. We've been in operation for 37 days albeit against the wishes of certain very powerful people in the government," Dr. Markov continued.
"What did they want to do?" I asked.
"They threatened to expose the existence of your program," Dr. Markov stated.
"To what end?" Jack asked.
"To get the US to share the technology you have obtained," Dr. Markov said. Jack raised his eyebrows at her.
"So what stopped them?" Sam asked.
"We activated our gate. I convinced the military that we could benefit from our own program more than we could trust you," Dr. Markov explained. Jack smirked at her.
"Ah!" Jack replied.
"How did you activate it?" Daniel asked.
"We have a dialing device," She told us.
"The DHD, you found the one from Giza!" Daniel exclaimed.
"It was confiscated from the Germans after the Second World War," Dr. Markov said.
"Well now I understand how you can send your people through and get them to return to your gate instead of our," Sam said.
"That makes one of us," Jack replied. Dr. Markov looked over at Jack.
"Our gate superseded yours as long as the dialing device was connected. We only kept it connected when we were using it to prevent any crossover. It required precise timing but it worked," Dr. Markov explained.
"Until now," Jack said, sarcastically.
"As for the current situation, I really don't know what has happened. There has been no contact with the base since yesterday at twelve hundred hours," Dr. Markov said.
"Sir, we have a visual from the target runway. It appears to be iced over and there's no response from the control tower," The co-pilot said.
"We're going to have to jump," Dr. Markov stated. Daniel looked over at Jack with a panicked look on his face.
"Out of the plane?" Daniel asked. Teal'c looked unsure, and Sam closed her eyes for a second.
"Sweet," I mumbled. I'd never jumped out of a plane before.
"I'm going with or without you Colonel," Dr. Markov stated.
"I suppose you expect my male bravado to kick in right about now?" Jack asked her.
"I read your file," She said.
"No mention of bravado eh?" Jack replied.
"There are 47 people down there who may need our help," Dr. Markov said. Jack leaned forwards.
"Look, you don't have to tell me what's at stake here. We've got 7 teams off world who can't get home until we fix what you screwed up," Jack said, looking very seriously. Jack leaned back.
"Stu… gear em up… for a jump," Jack told the co-pilot. Jack stood up, and the co-pilot handed each of us a parachute. Teal'c looked at his with a confused look on his face.
"I do not understand O'Neill," Teal'c stated.
"It's called a parachute," Jack explained. Sam looked up at Teal'c.
"It slows your descent after you jump out of the plane," She said. Teal'c looked unconvinced.
"This device appears to be poorly designed to perform such a function," Teal'c stated. I laughed.
"It opens after you jump… don't worry about it, I've done it hundreds of times," Jack reassured Teal'c.
"I assume you've brought Haz-Mat," Dr. Markov asked.
"Yeah, we thought somebody should be prepared," Jack said sarcastically. Dr. Markov and Sam looked at Jack with a frustrated look.
"Is he always like this?" Dr. Markov asked Sam.
"Actually this is quite charming," Sam replied. Dr. Markov rolled her eyes. The plane doors opened, and two airmen dropped a crate of supplies out of the plane. We each approached the doorway. Teal'c had a weird look on his face.
"It's easy just jump, the pull this," Jack stated, pointing to the parachute release wire.
"This does not seem wise O'Neill!" Teal'c replied.
"I said it was easy, not wise," Jack said.
"If we get separated we'll rendezvous at the base," Dr. Markov said, then she jumped out of the plane followed by Sam.
"This does not seem wise!" Teal'c repeated. Jack gave him a little push, and he jumped out of the plane. Daniel approached me, and Jack, and gave Jack an apprehensive look, then jumped. Jack looks at me. I smiled, and jumped out of the plane, with Jack right behind me…