The Head of Stargate Command, Major General Harrigan, with two officers, Lieutenant Colonel Galvez, male, and Major McKinson, female, USMC, was being briefed by his Black Stone Alpha peers and Matthews on the recent events, through a big screen in the SGC's gate control room.
"Let me get this straight." Harrigan said after he heard the others' recap. "This Philip Rossberg, confirmed by our docs to be the person he is, as well as his friends, suggests you meet this Kalahan? Based on a note he found in a ruined outpost this governor used to run, mentioning this person wanted to tell us about the attack?"
Carter confirmed, "Yes, sir. According to a lonely soldier that was still hiding there when Rossberg searched this outpost, Kalahan had been killed at a summit that had been in fact a trap. That's why, we, in the future, would be caught by surprise."
"Does the Rossberg from the future have any idea about what happened at that summit, captain?"
"It's a mystery that has never been solved, sir. What we have is that abandoned outpost, that note, and that summit that's gonna happen in a few days from today, in our timeline. Rossberg remembers the coordinates. We should start with that, sir."
"Are you sure you want to do this? Isn't this Kalahan the person who attacked us and kept Lieutenant Rossberg prisoner?"
Harrigan glanced at Rossberg, who was standing on the other side of the screen, in the room adjacent to the Black Stone's gate control room. A technician was monitoring the communication from a computer. Philip felt uncomfortable. He had been captured by Kalahan when he was a second lieutenant, and this predicament wasn't a personal highlight...
... Rossberg was tied to a chair, being punched by a man. A non-human being, as tall as a human, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and five fingers at each hand, was standing a few steps behind the man and watching him beat Rossberg with his right fist protected by a black glove. The tormentor stopped for a while. Rossberg spit blood on the floor and lifted up his head, trying to stay conscious despite the pain.
The violent guy had grey hair, unlike Rossberg back in the day. The tormentor and the other alien had the same neat dark brown uniform and belt. Based on the design of the outfit, there was no doubt: these two people belonged to an professional army. The human was about to resume his activity when the doors of the spacious cell, that didn't really look like a cell, opened.
The two interrogators immediately stood as straight as a walking stick to show deference to the person who was entering the room: a woman, followed by two men carrying a long staff weapon. The three were carrying a holster on the right thigh for a hand arm, and a dagger on the belt, on the left of the waist. Grey hair seemed to be a common physical trait as the new joiners had grey hair as well.
The non-human greeted the woman, with a male voice, "Master Commander Kalahan, what a surprise. We weren't expecting you until two days."
"I came as soon as I received your message.". Kalahan looked at Rossberg and asked the non-human, "Are you sure he's one of the people recently identified in our region?"
"No doubt. Same outfit and same weapons. He arrived on the planet with other people like him through that device they call stargate. We've placed the device in a safe area and we're looking for the rest of his group."
"Does he have a name?"
"That's what we've been trying to get from him, with the reason why he's here with his friends. He hasn't said anything yet."
The alien glanced at the guy who had been hitting Rossberg. The tormentor swore, "I'll make him talk, master commander."
Kalahan walked to Rossberg, ignoring her subordinate's comment. She examined the man's uniform. The green one used for missions. The woman noticed the patches on his arms, representing the US flag and the Daedalus ship. She frowned, perplex and curious. Then, she got interested in the items lying on the table in another part of the cell. She went to the table to scrutinize Rossberg's equipment: a black tactical vest, a HK416 assault rifle, a Glock with the holster, chargers for the rifle and the gun, a water bottle with snacks, and other items, including a backpack.
She grabbed the assault rifle and observed it.
The non-human, who had come beside her, mentioned, "This weapon and the smaller one fire projectiles. They're quite primitive."
"But efficient."
Kalahan put the rifle back onto the table. She ordered to the non-human, pointing out the rifle and the gun, "I want to know how it works and if we could reuse that somehow."
The instruction stunned Rossberg. Also the non-human, but he was smart enough not to question the order. He bowed his head and said he would do as requested. Rossberg had read many reports from the Stargate exploration teams. It had been rare that enemies more technologically advanced than Earth would be eager to learn more about Earth's technology. They would usually look down on it and just try to attack first and ask questions afterwards, had they had questions.
The alien, whose skin reminded Philip of a crocodile's at that moment, asked a last question about Rossberg, "What do we do about him, master commander?"
Kalahan thought about the plan she could have for Rossberg for a few seconds.
"I think it's time I have a conversation with our guest." she answered. Then, to the guy wearing the glove, "Take him to my quarters."
The subordinate bowed his head. The lady left the room with the two soldiers with the staff weapons.
Based on the golden stripes on her uniform and the rank she was called by, Philip felt the lady he had met for the first time was someone important in these people's organization. The soldiers with the staff weapons and the guy with the glove seemed to be at the bottom of the hierarchy, based on their silver stripes and the fact they had remained silent and/or received orders. The crocodile guy belonged to a different category. Not just because he looked like a crocodile. He had another type of golden stripes on his clothing. Moreover, he had received orders but had had the privilege to speak more freely to a certain degree and be the guy who would analyze the unknown objects. A kind of qualified technician. That's what Rossberg thought at that moment...
... Before he understood that the crocodile was more than a qualified technician. Philip's grey hair today was an output of his encounter with Kalahan and the crocodile.
Despite this bad memory and the fact that people from Earth and Kalahan's civilization hadn't been sharing the same ambitions over the past years, there was one thing that could be acknowledged about the now governor, which the lieutenant did.
"We indeed had disagreements in the past, but she's smart. And don't forget she kind of helped us last time we met."
Lieutenant Colonel Galvez, the leader of SG1 in the last six years and in his late forties, said, suspicious, "That doesn't mean we can trust her, lieutenant. Have you considered that she could be a double agent? That this whole thing could be a trap?"
Galvez glanced at his peers in the SGC and on the screen. Harrigan nodded.
"Galvez's got a point." the general admitted.
Rossberg raised his eyebrows. "Look, I'm not saying we have to trust her, general, colonel. If we look back at our experience with the Praelistians over the last year, it seems there's some business going on. One is for sure the attack, the rest, we're not very clear about that so far, but Kalahan didn't seem quite satisfied with the way these other topics were going. I'm just saying she's a person we can discuss with."
Akira Sakai supported Rossberg, "I agree with Lieutenant Rossberg. We have to try."
As the SGC staff seemed to ponder the plan, Matthews precised, "We're also contacting our allies, but we came up empty so far."
"Maybe we should contact our allies in Milky Way, too."
Everyone turned to Major McKinson. She had been the leader of SG3 since her early thirties and before the Black Stone mission.
The USMC officer explained, "The Philip Rossberg from the future said a coalition attacked Earth. He assumed the ennemies were part of the galaxy where the Black Stone outpost is operating. Further to some previous events, we know that some people in Milky Way would be interested in seizing the opportunity to cause us problems, and we know the Praelistians have some connections here. Thus, we should investigate, shouldn't we, general?"
"Indeed." the general confirmed with a nod. "Let's do it, and let's contact Atlantis, our other outposts, and ships. I'll also inform General Sheppard. Don't want to be pessimistic, but I prefer to anticipate the worst instead of reacting when it's already too late."
Everyone nodded.
Harrigan ended, looking at Alpha team, "Alpha, be very careful."
Carter's team thanked the general and the two bases ended the communication.