Chapter 10: Inception 26
Stargate Command, Colorado, USA, Earth
02:16 P.M
Sitting at the briefing table, Alexeyeva yawned. She hadn't felt this exhausted since her college years. Even being Spetsnaz, she had never been this tired. After returning to Stargate Command the day before, Alexeyeva was charged with finding three other members for her new team, SG-26. General Carter was by her side during each interview the Lieutenant Colonel had to go through. Alexeyeva was surprised but not impressed with the candidates she was given. Four interviews in, the Russian was baffled by the amount of scientists who attempted to convince her that they would be valuable additions, if accepted. The fifth interview was, however, a rather interesting one.
"I'm surprised it had to be your team," The man across the Russian said to her.
It was Major Milo Witkowski. He was referring to how he was recommended for a new multi-national SG team and how it turned out to be the Russian's. Alexeyeva nodded, ignoring the petty insults spewing from the Major's mouth. She flipped through the pages in his file before asking the same questions she had been asking since the day started.
"Tell me about yourself, Major," The Lieutenant Colonel asked.
"I don't that will be necessary, ma'am," The Major replied.
The Russian looked up at the Major, irritated.
"Excuse me?" She asked.
"You have my file," The Major replied. "I think you know everything about me from that,"
"I prefer to know the person from actually talking to them," Alexeyeva replied. "I hope you don't mind,"
The Major leaned forward towards the table, ready to embrace the supposed curiosity of the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Let's begin with where you were born," The Lieutenant Colonel began.
The Major scoffed.
"You need to earn the right to ask me those kinds of questions, ma'am," He replied.
The Russian sat back and crossed her arms. General Carter had become tempted to kick the Major out for his slander but the Russian stopped her.
"Tell me Major Witkowski," Alexeyeva asked.
"What is it that the Russians did that antagonized you?"
The Major said nothing.
"What makes you so scared of them…of me?" The Russian added.
The Major looked down in shame. He knew why he hated the Russians but he wasn't sure if the Lieutenant Colonel would understand. Still though, he disclosed his reason anyway.
"I lost two of my squad mates in Afghanistan a few years back to an IED, close friends,"
The Russian now gave her full attention.
"What does loosing your friends to an improvised explosive have anything to do with me?" She asked.
"I think you know how it has to do with you,"
The Russian half-smiled, realizing the roots of the Major's distaste for her country.
"You're referring to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan of 1979, da?" She asked.
The Major glared at the Russian, thankful that she finally understood.
"Damn straight, Colonel…if it weren't for you people, we wouldn't be there in the first place,"
"That might be true or it might not have been," The Russian replied. "I didn't enjoy the idea either when I first heard of how ridiculous the outcome was…after all, it was our 'Vietnam War' as the world says it,"
"And why would you be against it?" The Major asked.
"Because my father served there," The Russian answered.
The Major scoffed.
"All the more reason to further dislike you," He commented.
"I was only two months old when Soviet tanks rolled into that country," Alexeyeva replied. "For nine years I had no father to look up to and more than one occasion I almost never would have,"
The Major finally nodded.
"Is that why you enlisted into Russian Special Forces?" He asked. "To follow in your dad's footsteps as a solider?"
The Russian shook her head.
"No," She replied.
"I only want to defend my family and my country, not hurt others…then again, I guess he was doing the same. Now I hope I earned that right you mentioned earlier,"
After a moment of silence, Witkowski finally broke it after feeling guilt.
"I was born in Wimbledon, London," He answered. "On August 9th, 1982,"
Alexeyeva listened attentively as Witkowski continued.
"My dad, much like yours, was at war, but before I was actually born. It was during the Falklands War when it left a mark on my family name. My dad saw his friends die and because of that, he begged me not to join the British Royal Army. But I guess it worked out in my favor, my dad being in that war. He must have met someone in that fight who later was looking for new volunteers to be selected for the Special Air Service. After the selection, I managed to make it to the 22nd Regiment…been there ever since. In Afghanistan, as I told you, I lost people there…it didn't help knowing everything could have been prevented if only the Soviets hadn't invaded it. Recently, after being transferred to Stargate Command, I was given the command of SG-2 in Colonel Griff's absence a month before you showed up,"
Alexeyeva nodded as she wrote down a few notes.
"What is your specialty?" She asked.
"Designated Marksman, ma'am," The Major replied.
"Which weapon?"
"The L118A1 Arctic Warfare, I'm not the best shot in the world but it was enough to keep SG-2 alive,"
"Any operations you undertook during your command that you find memorable?" Alexeyeva asked.
The Major shook his head.
"Most of our missions were really just exploration and research, we hadn't had that much contact with aliens,"
"But you did have contact at some point?"
"Yes ma'am, some were friendly but once or twice we fought the Lucian Alliance,"
"Were they provoked or were you?" Alexeyeva asked.
The Major thought back to his fight against the Galactic criminals.
"There is a 'Weapons-Free' Policy on the Lucian Alliance," The Major replied.
"Recently they have been stepping up their attacks against us and our allies." General Carted added. "The decision hadn't come lightly and we had no other choice,"
"Understood General," Alexeyeva replied, closing her book. "But I wasn't judging."
The Lieutenant Colonel stood up, followed by the other two. With a long sigh, she finally looked at the Major.
"I don't think it'll be much of a mystery whether or not I'll accept you as my second in command, Major Witkowski," She said to him. "You are the first member to be chosen for SG-26…congratulations,"
The Major said nothing. Instead, he saluted the Russian and the General before he left.
The briefing room was silent once more as the two women waited for the next candidate to enter. Alexeyeva fell back into her seat and looked up at the ceiling. General Carter took notice and crossed her arms.
"Do you want to take a break, Colonel?" She asked.
The Russian shook her head.
"Nyet, General," She replied. "The sooner we go through the interviews, the sooner I can go sleep,"
Stargate Command, Colorado, USA, Earth
03:27 P.M
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"
Alexeyeva heard those words, as well as the alarm, as she and Carter had just finished up another interview. She recognized Chief Master Sergeant Harriman's voice. Carter told the Russian to stay put while she went down the spiral staircase. Unbeknownst to the General, Alexeyeva wasn't exactly the one to stand around and do nothing. Two minutes after Carter left, the Russian followed her downward. After arriving at the control room, Alexeyeva asked Harriman where the General had gone.
"She's in the gate room, meeting with SG-3,"
The Russian thanked the Sergeant and made her way to the gate room. As she passed the blast door, a nurse, was pushing a gurney at her direction. On the gurney, a wounded marine was groaning in pain. Alexeyeva looked on in awe before her name was called out.
"Colonel!"
It was General Carter.
"I thought I told you to stay put,"
Alexeyeva apologized and told the General that she was curious about what was happening.
"My team got ambushed at the mine, that's what happened," The Commanding Officer of SG-3, Colonel Albert Reynolds, replied.
Alexeyeva was confused.
"What mine?" She asked.
"Remember when Daniel told us about the mines on P3Z-597 last month," Carter replied.
"Da, General," The Russian replied. "The empty ones that were abandoned,"
"Well, they aren't abandoned anymore," Colonel Reynolds replied. "Someone seems to have interest in those mines because when my team got there, we had no warning whatsoever,"
The marine wiped off dirt from his forehead before continuing.
"It wasn't the Lucian Alliance, General,"
Carter was taken aback.
"What do you mean it wasn't them?" She asked.
"What I mean is that it wasn't them…at least they didn't look like it,"
"What happened to that marine I passed by?" Alexeyeva cut into the conversation.
Reynolds looked, with surprise, at the Russian.
"That was Sergeant Ortega," He replied. "He took a hit to the leg but nothing serious,"
"Alright, Colonel, go and get some rest, I'll look into what I can do," Carter replied.
Reynolds nodded and began to leave with the remaining marines. Just before he exited the room, however, Reynolds turned around and took one last look at the Russian.
"You're the new CO of the one of the new SG teams, right?" He asked her.
"Yes sir," Alexeyeva replied. "That would be me,"
Reynolds grinned.
"Welcome to the craziest job in the world," He said, and then left.
Alexeyeva, on her own time, decided to visit the wounded Sergeant at the infirmary. A nurse finished attending to the sergeant and left him be. Approaching the marine, Alexeyeva began to feel uneasy. Her hands were shaking, warning her that something wasn't right. A hand on her shoulder nearly sent her flying but instead she quickly turned around. Behind her, stood Doctor Lam, whom was surprised to find the Russian back.
"You look as if you just saw a ghost," Lam said to her.
Alexeyeva hesitated so she could find words to fill her empty mouth.
"I…" She stuttered. "Was…going to have a…talk with that marine,"
Alexeyeva pointed with her thumb. Lam looked confused at the Russian's strange behavior and felt suspicious.
"Ah let her, Señora médico," The Sergeant said to the Doctor. "I'm sure she isn't here to asesinar anybody,"
Lam rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Ya know, Ortega," She said back to the Marine. "I wish she was,"
The Marine shrugged at the sarcasm.
"Ah, careful what you wish for, hermoso," He said, grinning. "I just might get shot in the heart one day…and I'm sure you'd miss me,"
Lam mumbled a curse word before looking at Alexeyeva in the eye.
"Just go and talk to him…distract the son of a bitch," She said.
Alexeyeva smiled.
"You know, droog," 'Friend' Alexeyeva said to the Doctor. "You should appreciate it when someone shows affection for you,"
Lam scoffed.
"Please, Colonel," She replied. "I'd rather be married to Doctor Jackson than that guy. Well it was nice seeing you again,"
After the Doctor left, Alexeyeva grabbed a chair, dragged next to the Sergeant's bed and sat. The Sergeant had an interested look on his face as he glanced at the Russian sitting next to him.
"So what brings you here, Señora?" He asked.
"I was just curious about what happened to you?" Alexeyeva replied.
"I didn't know a Ruso would care enough,"
Alexeyeva half-smiled.
"What were you and your team doing on that planet?" She asked.
Ortega shrugged, figuring that the Russian would already know.
"We were sent to recon the area after reports of sightings of unknowns started coming through." He began. "Two hours in…we go out…the rest you already know,"
Alexeyeva wasn't convinced that this was everything. After all, Ortega did take one to his leg.
"What was so special about this mine that a month after it was found empty, it ended with sending you into an ambush?" She asked.
Ortega laid back into his bed.
"It isn't about the mine, Ruso," He replied. "It's about what's in them that makes it so special,"
Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow.
"Continue, pazalsta," She asked. 'Please'.
"The naquadah, dama," Ortega replied, using his hands to illustrate. "The best damn power source in this galaxy,"
"Like oil is for Earth, da?" Alexeyeva asked.
"If in terms of how much it is used, then sí," Ortega answered.
Alexeyeva sat back into her chair, exhausted.
"I'm looking for people in joining my team," She added bluntly.
A nurse rolled a tray of food for the Sergeant and left before he could answer the Russian's statement.
"So I hear," He replied, eyeing the tuna sandwich on the plate.
"Why me?"
"Why not you?"
"Well…what is the role of your team?"
"Most likely reconnaissance and exploration,"
"Will I be able to continue the use of my current weapons,"
"Of course,"
"Have you recruited anyone else?"
"Da,"
"Anyone good?"
"You can say that,"
"Will Reynolds agree to this?"
"Probably not,"
"Works for me,"
Alexeyeva smiled, grabbing the juice carton.
"I'll be sure to have a talk with your commanding officer, Sergeant Ortega," She told him.
The Sergeant, gazed at what was in the woman's hand, then to his tray.
"¿Qué demonios?" 'What the hell?' He asked, confused.
Alexeyeva advertised the fact that she was drinking the juice that Ortega was supposed to.
"Usted sabe, Señora," 'You know, Ma'am,' Ortega commented. "I don't think you'll find the word Vodka anywhere on that box,"
Alexeyeva nodded before placing the carton into Ortega's left hand.
"Good," She replied. "At least I'll stay sober, Sergeant Ortega,"
The Sergeant gave a thumb up, as well as a smile.
"The name's Alexander," He added, as Alexeyeva was sipping from the carton. "What's yours?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," The Russian replied.
Ortega raised an eyebrow.
"Alexeyeva, huh?" He asked. "That's gonna be a problema when it comes to name calling."
He then bit into his sandwich.
"Mmm," He mumbled as he chewed.
"Tuna,"
"Oh shove it up your gluteus maximums," Alexeyeva replied, chuckling.
"That's sorta weird," Ortega commented. "Those big words coming from a grunt like tú,"
Alexeyeva, all of a sudden, seemed irritated. However, as quickly the agitation appeared, it was gone.
"Never doubt the intelligence of a combatant, Sergeant," The Russian reminded the Sergeant. "Doing so will lead to your downfall,"
"Don't I know it," Ortega commented.
Sub-Level 14, Stargate Command
03:50 P.M
"I will need a replacement," Reynolds told the Russian.
Alexeyeva was rather surprised to know that the Colonel was willing to give up the Sergeant that easily. From the infirmary to asking where the Colonel was to actually asking him, Alexeyeva spent the entire time in her head trying to find a way to convince Colonel Reynolds to relinquish Sergeant Ortega to her team. She wasn't sure how he'd respond, even after he gave his answer.
"Of course, Colonel," Alexeyeva replied. "As long as necessary,"
"No, I mean he's all yours right now…my team doesn't go off-world for another week,"
"Do you think you'll have someone else by then?" Alexeyeva asked.
"Maybe," Reynolds replied, unsure.
"Colonel Alexeyeva," A voice from behind.
Reynolds and Alexeyeva looked back. It was General Carter. Alexeyeva looked back at Reynolds.
"Thank you for your time, Colonel Reynolds," She said.
Reynolds nodded.
"Any time, Ma'am," He replied before leaving.
The Russian approached the General.
"Are you ready to continue with the interviews?" The General asked.
Alexeyeva shook her head.
"I've spoke with Sergeant Ortega of SG-3 and proposed a position in my team," She began. "He said yes and Colonel Reynolds agreed to hand him over," Carter looked pleasantly surprised.
"I see," She replied. "But that is three in total, you're one short,"
Alexeyeva thought for a moment before snapping her fingers after getting an idea.
"I know who could fill the last position,"
"Who?" Carter asked, curious.
Alexeyeva smiled.
"Where is Private Williams' quarters?"
Williams was listening to her IPod while reading War and Peace. Looking around her room briefly, she noticed how gray and bleak the walls were. On her desk, Williams eyed, stood a picture frame of her when she graduated high-school. She was standing next to her family. Her older brother and father, as well as one of her close friends. Williams saddened a bit when she realized that someone was missing in that picture. Before Williams could continue on with her book, a knock was heard coming from the door.
"Come in," She said.
The door opened and came in two women. Williams grinned brightly as she got off her bed.
"Lieutenant Colonel, General Carter," She greeted both visitors with handshakes.
"What brings you here?" The Canadian asked.
"You might want to ask the Lieutenant Colonel," Carter said, smiling.
Williams looked at the Russian, who too, was smiling.
"I have a proposition," Alexeyeva said.
Williams became anxious to hear what she had to say.
"How would you like to join my team and –"
The Russian was cut off when Williams hugged her.
"OMG," Williams squeaked excitedly. "Yes, Yes, Colonel, I'll join your SG team in a heartbeat,"
Alexeyeva laughed at the Canadian's reaction.
"Settle down, Private Williams," She said. "You're embarrassing me,"
Carter giggled a bit.
"This is gonna be epic, going out there and kicking alien butt!" Williams added, ignoring the Russian's plea to stop being excited.
"You're gonna be like…I dunno…the mom I never had,"
At that moment, upon hearing those words, Alexeyeva could feel a tear going down her cheek. She hugged the Canadian back.
"Da, Private Williams," She said, almost crying. "Perhaps this will be a good experience, going to other worlds."
Alexeyeva hadn't seen a child be so happy in some time. The last time she saw this was before a traumatic event, which had echoed in her mind for months already. Perhaps this, being friends with this bomb specialist, would allow the Russian to fulfill her role as a mother. A role that was cut short by the one in the chamber. But for now, she completed her fist task. Complete the assembly of her new team. The inception of SG-26.