Beyond the Gate

by Xeir Zith

The last thing Tanith remembered was Cameron cracking a very bad joke and Daniel cracking up in laughter. The next thing she knows is that she has a splitting headache and is in the dark, literally. As she unravels where she is, she finds out things she would rather not know. The SGC and Atlantis learn more of who the Furlings really are, and where they were hiding all that time

11. Cameron 3

Beyond the Gate

Chapter 11: The Tanith Histories, part 1

Earth

SGC

Present day

10 AM SGC local time

I woke up in bed, doing my normal morning rutine of waking up and staring at the ceiling, wondering just where the fuck was I and if I was still asleep. For ten minutes I laid there then I figured out, nope, I was awake.

I rolled out of bed and got dressed, as I stood in the bathroom at the mirror as there came a knock at my apartment door. "Its open!" I called out, Walter stepped in. gently closing the door behind him.

"Sir, General Landry wanted to brief you on a recent finding." Walter told me as he saw my relection in the mirror, I was shaving.

"Let me guess" I said as I shaved, "I'm not going to Atlantis ?"

"No sir, Dr Jackson and Prime Minister Nazari are going to Atlantis after the briefing, you're going to Long Beach." Walter told me. I looked at him confused.

"Long beach ?" What was in Long Beach other then my parents and grandma ? "Why am I going to Long Beach ? Other then I know I need to see my parents and my grandma after so long, I dont really get in that direction." I said as I continued to shave. I rinced the blade.

"It concerns Taniths extended family, according to her file and what we are able to find, General Landry will brief you on it further. But I was allowed to tell you that you'll be speaking to a guy named Toretto, and he'll give you further directions to Taniths house, apparently Tanith gave Torettos address when she first joined the Marines, he took care of her mail apparently" Walter told me.

I paused in shaving, the name, Toretto sounded faintly familiar. I finished shaving and cleaned out my sink before I turned to Walter, "Lets go see Hank then." I said to him, I snapped up my combat vest as we went by my bed.

A minute later and I was in Hanks office, then the briefing room. "The good news is, you only need your sidearm, and SG12 will be assisting you from the Odyssey should you need them" Hank said as I arrived in the briefing room. Daniel and Mahumed were both already present.

I"m going in alone ?" I asked

"According to the information we have, Dominic Toretto is a former street racer who did hard time for nearly killing a man with a stilton wrench when he was a teenager. According to his file, he's a father now, and married, he's settled down Also in his file he's worked with Agent Nobody. Hopefully he'll have Taniths actual last known location. Your job is simply ask him for it." Hank told me

"I see" I said simply, I was actually confused, the last time I saw Nobody was six weeks before I joined the SGC program.

"From what can I remember Tanith talking about, there's an event called Race Wars in the desert at one of the Air Force bases out there" Daniel spoke up as he went over Dominic's file. "You might find him there"

"Good luck at Atlantis" I said, sounding slightly sullen that I wasnt getting to visit the place after so long. I was only there a scant few minutes when we took control of the supergate.

"If anything happens, the Odyssey has orders to beam you out and get you to Iota from there come through the stargate back here." Hank said. "Understand ?"

"To a point, from what I was told by Walter, this Toretto used to be a street racer, and only person alive right now who has Taniths last know location, besides Danny and I. Right ?" I asked Hank

Daniel and Hank both nodded. "As far as Toretto is aware, Tanith still lives at her last known to him location. He handles her personal mail, the house utility bills, you name it." Hank told me.

"So I get the information of where Taniths house is from Toretto, and go there, then what ?" I asked. Did Tanith have extended family ? Was her dad still alive ?

"If you can find anything, extended family even, talk to them, and try to find out if she had any weird quirks or odd habits." Hank said, the last thing Daniel and I saw in Taniths file was a weird gene similar to Jacks ancient gene. Only in this case much more exotic and somehow releated to a housecat.

I nodded. "Yes sir" I said to him. It made sense, what odd habits could I remebmer of Tanith, grooming herself like a cat, and constant napping I couldnt see her doing if at all. "When do I leave ?"

"You leave after you've eaten" Hank told me.. "Get down to the chow hall, get a bite to eat, then the Odyssey will beam you upstairs."

"I am not going to be beamed down at the mans doorstep ?" I asked

"No, you're going to be beamed to our base in Long Beach, but you'll have a car to get to Torettos from there, good luck" Hank told me

Ten minutes later and I was in the mess hall chowing down on breakfast, alone with my thoughts. Hank however joined me for a cup of coffee as I was digging into my scrambled eggs. As I ate I asked him. "What exactly do we know about Taniths past before she joined the Marines ?" I asked around a mouthful of eggs

Hank shrugged. "From what I know. Tanith was incredibly secretive, and according to the doctors reports from when she enlisted in the Marines, there were traces of drugs in her system, however by time she had actually started Boot Camp with the Marines, any traces of those drugs were long gone from her system." Hank said to me

That was news to me. "Tanith did drugs ? As in, she was a dealer or doer ?" I asked, confusion clear on my face.

"We dont know, we only know the medical file stated that she had drugs, mostly hospital type operational drugs, in her bloodstream at each blood test she had, execept for the entry test when the blood work was clear." Hank said to me in thought. He drank his coffee as I took a bite of some tuna that I had ordered with my eggs.

"So this Toretto knows where Tanith really lived" I asked after swallowing my mouthful of tuna and grabbing my glass of water to have a drink.

"Far as we are aware, Tanith used Jack Torettos address when she joined the Marines, I guess the Torettos are extended family for her." Hank said

"Right, so, what am I to expect exactly with this Torreto guy, I mean in a off the books scenario ?" I asked as I took a drink of water.

Hank smirked and sat back in his chair across from me. "Toretto is a former street racer, former exconvict, you name it, he once had a yellow sheet as thick as your grandmas Bible" Hank said, "At least he did"

"Did ?" I asked. I set my glass on the table. "Walter mentioned something like that happening."

"Six years ago Dominic Torettos rap sheet, all past convictions, everything, even the attack at the raceway on the guy who killed his father. All of it was entirely cleared, all charges were dropped, and all his jail terms were reduced to time served. Acoording to the justice department, Dominic Toretto never exsisted in their system, outside of a small parking issue which was easily fixed." Hank explained to me. He set his coffee cup on the counter. "He still oversees Race Wars, I've been meaning to pay it a visit and see it in action. Maybe we'll get the chance soon."

"Are you saying I am going to have to race Dominic Toretto ?" I asked

"I do not think it will come to that." Hank replied around a sip of coffee. He smiled towards me. "But I wouldnt rule it out." He finished his coffee and stood. "Good luck"

"Thanks, I'll need it." Ten minutes later and I was on the Odyssey going over my mission goals.

USS Odyssey

In geo orbit over SGC to Long Beach

I ticked off my list. "Find Toretto, speaking to Toretto, pray not race the guy for Taniths address." I set the clipboard down on the table in the mess.

"Something on your mind ?" Eli spoke up as he saw me rubbing my face.

"Might say that" I replied. Eli took the seat across from me. Eli Pendergast looked haggard, as if he'd barely slept. He also looked upset. "Let me guess, you're upset we dont get to go to Atlantis ?"

"Yup, here we both are, hoping to visit the fabled City of the Ancients, and instead where do we go ? LA's asshole looking for information about one of our own." Eli grumbled. "You want a coffee ?" I shook my head, Eli poured his own cup. He spotted my checklist. "Toretto huh. Lionel knew a guy by that name. Jack Toretto, good racer. Taught my brother how to drive." Eli said

"You knew him ?" I asked

"Nah, not Jack Toretto himself, but his son Jakob, oh hell yeah. Good kid until he took off from home. A good friend." Eli sighed as he sat down across from me. "What about you ?"

I shook my head and sat down at the table "Never met any of them, how many am I to expect ?" I asked

"I only really got to know Jakob growing up, he was good kid, I liked him, we were of similar age, then one day he just... disappeared. Literally couldnt find hide nor hair of him. Then he turned up in Oslo. And then more recently, turned up in Long Beach." Eli explained, the picture he painted of Jakob was of a heavily muscled man, strong as Teal'c more then likely. But also gentle and focused on his mission.

Something kept nagging at me. "You ever take part in Race Wars ?" I asked out of the blue

"Heard of it, but no never personally took part or raced, but I did work security for now that I remember, Lionel too" Eli said, He smirked, "God that brings back memories, Every friday night and all day saterday on base, we'd shut down the base and use the runways for their races." Eli had a dreamy look on his face as he remembered the events of the past. He set his mug on the table. "Then Lionel got picked to command the Prometheus. And I got picked to command the Hammond until Col Carter took over that post. Now Im here on the Odyssey. What I wouldnt give to work Race Wars again."

"So if, in theory, I were to race against Dominic Toretto, what are the odds I would not get what I'm after ?" I hadnt driven a race or even modified car in at least twelve years, possibly more. Really recently just a ATV or even a UTV.

Eli was thoughtful for a moment. Then he said "Mention Tanith to Dominic, you just bring her up entirely out of the blue, he'll treat you like family, so long as you treat him in kind, according to Jakob, from what I was told, Dominic never turned his back on family. Even when they turtned his back on him. Though I am not sure it includes his brother" Eli told me

"General Landry said that Dominic Toretto is a father, and all his past records were cleared, all charges dropped, his record expunged enturely. According to the justice system, the only thing to his name is a parking ticket, which he paid... three weeks ago" I said in thought. "I so much as bring up Tanith, he'll more then likely pester me with questions. How do I get him to answer mine ?"

"I'd say information for information, he has the knowledge you need, and you have the knoweledge he needs." Eli said, he leaned back in his chair. "To me that sounds like a more than fair trade." I nodded in thought.

"What can I expect from Dominic, what kind of reaction ?" I asked

"Well, I'd say go easy on him, bring up Tanith gently, say you know what happened to her, but its complicated. From what I understand her access codes are still valid, Captain Zanes as well, and a new code was generated by a retired Marine, Tech Sgt Zackary White, cant say I know the man, or heard of him." Eli said in thought.

"Tech Sgt was retired in the Marines back in fifty eight" I mused. Why would a retired Marine be given a acess code ? I looked to Eli as I nodded. I leaned back in my chair. "I know what happened to Tanith, I saw it with my own eyes, all that was left when she disappeared was a half melted radio. And a hole in her seat where she had sat." I said to Eli

"The question is will Toretto give you the information you need ?" Eli said to me sidelong. I did not answer him. Eli sighed, finished his coffee and stood. "We're over LA now, I wanted to tell you that before you asked me what I knew of Toretto's kids, I never really met Dominic Toretto face to face, just his brother Jakob Toretto."

I picked up the clipboard. "Alright, beam me down to base down there and get me Torettos current address, Am I gonna have to rent a car or will I have access to a borrowed rig ?"

"You'll use an on basse truck for civilian use. It wont be too easy to get around Long Beach, but I'm sure you'll handle it, and if you're lucky, the car wont get stolen out from under you." Eli replied, it made me snicker.

Minutes later I was in Long Beach police department parking lot that was shared with the Air Force

Long Beach California

At that same moment

Briefly taking a moment to get my bearings I went to the office, got the keys to the pickup truck I was going to rent, and headed for the address for Torettos house. Thirteen twenty seven huh. I thought. Thankfully I drove a pickup truck.

It was easy to spot the house, it was the only house with the driveway packed with street modded cars, I saw a couple vans as well. I found a parking space and parked the truck. Taking the keys with me I set the tracker for the Odyssey. "This is Mitchell" I said into my radio, "Eli you copy ?"

"Copy that, Cam, we got you on map. Whats the plan ?" Eli replied as I got out of the truck

"Track the truck, if it so much as moves, beam it, and the theif to the Odysseys hold and brieg, unless I radio you" I replied

"Copy that" came the reply. I turned off the radio and went to the front steps of the house.

I knocked twice on the door. Dominic Toretto himself answered. For a long moment Dom looked at me as I stood at his front door, I was alone. But he knew by the way I carried myself that I was military. "Leave" He said, as he started to shut the door. It was a simple single word that were I not under orders to talk to him, I would have up and said 'sorry, wrong house' and left. But no I couldnt do that.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry but I cant do that"

"Leave is a very simple word" Dom said, he had turned slightly to look back at me. Wondering why I was still on his front porch.

I thought carefully on my next words. Then I said "Tanith sent me"

Dom thought a moment in quiet. Then looked around me. "Not here." He said, he checked the wall clock. "Race Wars gets prepped in two hours from now. Go there, and I will find you. That your truck ?"

"Yeah" I said looking back at the F350 where I had parked.

"I'll find you, be at Race Wars, in two hours." Dom said, he started to shut the door

I stood there a moment, "We're pressed for time. I was told that you knew Tanith's last known address. She and I were working together on an operation, next thing I knew, shes gone, I'm still here. I need to let her next of kin know" I told him

Dom stopped and looked at me. He then nodded, "Come in" he said, he then lead me to the kitchen. His son was doing his homework while his wife was helping him. "Tanith never talked about things outside of what she used her winnings for." Dom said to me as we passed the young boy and his mother.

Dom motioned me to have a seat at the table, he went to the kitchen and pulled out a stack of bills. "The last letter I received from her said she was going away for a few years on a tour with her unit in the Marines. Said she wouldnt be able to get into contact even with her dad and had asked me to take care of things for him. If you're really her team mate on that operation." Dom said, he set the letters and bills on the counter between us, setting both his hands on the countertop he looked at me. "How deep of a black op is it ?"

"I am going to guess you worked with a man called Nobody ?" I asked, I had been briefed on Dominics activities and who he had worked with. Dom looked at me, but nodded. "What Tanith and I did is also similar to what he once did, we were working together like I said. When she disappeared."

Dom looked at me confused, so I said in thought. "How do I put this. You remember that pandemic a few years ago ?"

"Yeah, it landed three of my family in the hospital, one of them still is learning to walk again." Dom looked at me. "Why ?"

"What Tanith and I did, was end that pandemic, but she had to do it on another planet. Tanith was a sniper in the US Marines, a Lt Colonel like me. Dont worry, I know what you and your crew, your family, have done in the past. Who you all worked with. You get me what I need so I can tell her father. Or next of kin. And I can tell you what you want to know. Agreed ?"

Dom thought a long moment, then started through the mail. "The last time I saw Tanith was when her father was released from the hospital. After that she joined the Marines. I havent seen her since, but she asked me if she could use this address when she joined the Marines" Dom smiled, "I said sure, whatever you need, you're family" Dom sighed then. "Before Taniths father ended up in the hospital to begin with. She was part of my family. Here, she stayed in this house. However once her father began having his issues, she stayed more and more with him, or in the hospital with him." He sighed, handing me a letter. It had a address on it. "This is her husband's address, they met before joining the Marines." He told me

"This is his current address ?" I asked as I took the letter.

"Tanith and Tharon shared the place together, Taniths dad eventually moved into a apartment on the other side of Long Beach. Leaving the house to them." Dom said.

I sighed, I held the letter up, "Thanks."

"Before you leave," Dom said to me, I looked at him, he was a dad and worried about, well Tanith must have been a sister to him. "What happened to Tanith ?" Dom looked at me, I needed to tread carefully but I knew I could trust him. "Where has she been all this time ? These last four years we havent so much as heard a peep from her, and then suddenly you show up saying she is missing. What happened ?"

I sighed, I had to think on how to answer. I chose to tell the truth. "Tanith and I were on patrol at her base. It was... offworld, trust me its complicated just humor me alright. Tanith and I were with two others on patrol when we must have hit an IED or something similar because all I can remember was cracking a bad joke and making one of our fellow patrolmen crack up laughing. Next thing I remember is me trying to blink away the sudden blinding whiteness out of nowhere and Taniths half melted raido in her seat of her truck."

I pulled out the letter she had written and stuck in the UAV. "Then I get this after we ran a UAV to try and map out where she last was." I handed it to Dom, it said of her wanting her, and three other access codes to remain valid. "As far as I am aware Tanith is alive, but where she is I dont know yet, I was hoping that you could direct me to someone who had more information about her past."

"Tanith took part in Race Wars" Dom said, he stood from the counter and went to the fridge, pulling out a pair of beers., he opened both and handed one to me. I took it. "Before Race Wars we had streetraces, we'd race at the tracks too." He said, he had a smile on his face. "Tanith showed up one night, she'd just gotten her corvette, a gorgeous carbon fibre red car too. Oddly her father joined us too. She had just turned sixteen. I'm still wondering why he never turned any of us into the police after so many of those races"

"From what I read of Taniths file her fathers medical issues began when she was twenty two." I said around a sip of the beer. I was more of a Miller fan when it came to beer, but somehow the Carona that Dom shared was good too, so I decided to not turn him down on the beer.

Dom nodded. "Yeah. Tanith would normally race for cash, never for pink slips. Always with her vette. Then one day she shows up at Race Wars, its her Vette alright, but it was overhauled. Two days later, she shows up here, says she spent all that money paying for her dads emergency room vist. She was broke. At that point for the next six years she raced strictly for money, and always won."

"And then she joined the Marines" I ventured

"No, after six years, she turned twenty eight. At that point she was starting something else. Her winnings at Race Wars were spent strictly on her fathers bills, but any money she won during street races, was spent elsewhere, she also did some modeling for a few jewelery companies too. That money went somewhere, mostly to the house, lawn crew, that kind of thing"

"I find her vette, what happens then ?" I asked out of the blue

"Find her car, find out what she was doing" Dom told me.

We finished our beers. I took my keys out of my pocket. And set them on the counter. "Trust me" I said to Doms confused expression. I spoke into my radio. "Eli, two to beam to the bridge, and a truck to put in the hold, copy ?"

"Copy that" came the reply. Before Dom could ask me anytyhing, we disappeared from his kitchen, and reappeared in the bridge of the Odyssey.

Ten minutes later

Aboard the Odyssey

Twelve noon Long Beach local time

Dom stared out the window at the earth below. "Welcome aboard the Odyssey" I said as I stepped into the mess hall where Dom stared out the window. "Yes, you're on a space ship, and yes that is earth, we're in geo synchonised orbit directly above your house." I told him

"So its true, Tanith was offworld with you when she disappeared." Dom said in thought

"Yeah, and that letter is exactly what we need, her true address. I felt I should prove to you what we do. So bringing you up here does that. Tanith was part of a offworld base that we call Iota, she was the base commander. It wasnt an IED that we hit either. It was a lightning bolt. And its been happening across the world." Dom was in thought as he stared out the window.

I continued speaking. "The pandemic a few years ago, we called it the Ori Palgue. Ever since we proved the Ori to be false and not who they truly were. Their... I suppose you could call them their high priests. Went around apologising and offering healing and amendments for what they had done. That family member of yours with issues walking. I think we can help with that. Hopefully" I then said.

"Thanks." Dom replied, he held out his hand, we shook hands. "That address goes to a man Tanith lived with along with her father, a guy named Tharon Perrault. I met him once or twice at Race Wars, but he never raced, he was always part of Taniths pit crew. A good man. You'll like him. If anything, he's what you'll need to find Tanith. He's her husband after all"

I smiled and thanked Dom. We then sent him back down safely to his kitchen. Though I had also sent something else with him. An invitation to join the SGC, him and his family.

He said he would think about it. I said I wouldnt pressure him.

A few minutes later and I had given the directions of where to beam the truck, and myself. I drove the remainder of the way to Taniths house. pulling up at the address I parked in the driveway, it was a long flat driveway, which was strange for Long Beach. The house itself was three floors and huge.

At first I mistook it for a church, the windows on the front of the house were all stained glas, along with the front door., it kind of reminded me of Atlantis how all the doors had dark thick stained glass one was not able to see through for all the doors.

I stepped up the pathway, it kind of reminded me of my grandmothers house, her front path was not a sidewalk, more like stepping stones and occasional rocks. A set of steps, about three or so to a large low deck without railing. I went right for the front door and knocked twice.

A man who looked a bit younger than I expected answered. he looked me up and down like a predator assessing his food and said "Can I help you ?"

"I'm Col Cameron Mitchell, US Airforce, I was working with Col Raines on a operation when she disappeared. I'm looking for a mr Tharon Perrault" I replied.

"That's me, come in." Tharon stepped aside and let me enter. The hallway had a door leading to a large hexagonal shaped study, the smell of cats were everywhere. "Please dont mind the cathair, its not easy keeping it cleaned up since Autumn disappeared a few weeks ago." He said to me, I spotted two cat trees in the book filled study. Both catrtees had at least four cats on them.

"I met Tanith at the Ren Faire before we joined the Marines she and I" Tharon told me. He had gone to the kitchen and grabbed two Pepsis. One for him, one for me. We sat in the living room. "We served our enlistment, but she got roped into Officers Training while I became a civilian pilot for Delta Airlines"

"You do good, judging by the state of the house." I said simply seeing what I could, there looked to be a large pool in the backyard, a set of stairs went to the second floor. A hallway lead to another bathroom and a spare bedroom on the other side of the kitchen.

"Home every night" Tharon replied, he relaxed on the sofa as I took an easy chair. "So, Tanith is missing ?" He asked me, a direct solid question.

I nodded and withdrew the paper she had written, there was the Furling writing. "Recognise this by any chance ?" I asked him.

Tharon took the letter Tanith had written in both English and also Furling. He snickered, then chuckled aloud. "Trust Tanith to write a message to me in our favorite dialect" He said. He stood up and went over to the kitchen cabnit and withdrew a black book.

He came back and sat down, he also had a notepad and pencil. "Can you read it ?"

"More than read it, I can translate it fully for you too." Tharon told me, he started writing up the letter onto the paper. "'Tharon, I'm alright, ensure dad knows I'm OK, I miss you.' Typical lovey dovey letter, execept for this bit. 'Tharon, let Cam know I'm OK, this place is really weird, you'd like it here. I hope I can come home soon, just, promise me you wont scream or throw me out.'" he stopped translating it and read the rest of it. He laughed. "What I wouldnt give to have her back in my arms again."

My radio went off. I motioned to Tharon to give me a second "Mitchell here" I replied.

"We got a weather report, Long Beach is expected to have a storm within the hour, judging by the build up of clouds, it might be sooner." Came the voice of Eli from the Odyssey.

"Anything I should be aware of ?" I asked him

"Only that the same storms sprang up, out of nowhere a month ago in Miami" Came Elis reply. I knew what he meant, this storm out of nowhere

"I'll keep an eye out." I replied, looking briefly towards the back of the house, normal plain clear glass showed a darkening sky. I looked back to Tharon. "What can you tell me about Tanith ?" I asked him

"When we first met, she was like an angel from heaven. Never in my life did I know I'd meet my very own Kitty Softpaws" he explained. "Tanith, I could tell was on hard times, she was pale, underfed, very thin, I treated her to the best day she could have out of my own pocket at that Ren Faire. And we promised to meet the next week and she even introduced me to her father, Mr Raines. A good man."

"I take it he approved of the two of you being an item ?" I asked him

"More then that" Tharon replied "If it wasnt for him insisting she go have fun and forget he was in the hospital, we'd have never met" Tharon replied, Tanith had never told him of how close she was to self destruction.

"So you didnt know of her streeracing and Race Wars ?" I asked him

"When we met, I knew her only as Kitty Softpaws, she dressed and looked the part at that ren faire and we never looked back." He stood up and went to a nearby desk, pulling a frammed photo off the wall he brought it back to me and held it out. I took it, the gold framed photo was of two people, Tharon and Tanith, Tanith was dressed in a gorgeous black gown, a pair of cat ears on her head, and black fingerless gloves on her hands that disappeared into the sleeves of her dress. Tharon was dressed in a soldiers outfit of a sort, with a gorgeous sword at his hip, a gentlemanly sport jacket upon his shoulders. Ginger orange facepaint and white stripes adorned his face while Tanith's palke skin showed bright under the camera flare. "We had a guy take this at the festival when we met." He told me.

"Tanith looks great" I said, it was true, in all the time I knew her, this spark in her eyes was never there, she had a inner light to herself at this point, and in the carema glare it really showed through. "How long ago was this ? I asked

"About nine years ago. We'd been together ever since." Tharon replied, "We joined the Marines about two months after the ren Faire when I proposed to her, she accepted of course. A Marines Chaplan married us eight months into our enlistment." He sipped his Pepsi and went thoughtfully quiet. He smiled, "She was great to have when hunting up in Oregon and Idaho every hunting season, my dad, my brothers and I would go up north to go hunting. Tanith came along, once or twice. She was a crack shot with that rifle of hers." He said, a dreamy look on his face

I nodded, "Yeah, she was a sniper, never seen anyone more deadly or accurate with a sniper rifle than her." I replied, I set the photo on the table. "What did Tanith write ?" It started to rain outside.

"She misses me for the most part" Tharon replied, he said nothing more, most of it, I knew, was private. "Though she assures me that she's alright and alive. And hopes to come home soon. But she also said something about making me promise not to freak out when I saw her."

"Now why would she say that ?" Her letter to the SGC said nothing of freaking out, only that she wanted her access codes to remain valid.

"Dunno, I think it might have something to do with how she first was when she and I joined the Marines, we had to do weekly blood tests and physicals leading up to the actual swearing in. Each week her blood tests always came back with drugs in her system, and not something you'd get at walmart or CVS or Riteaide, this is stuff that she had in her, you'd have to get direct from the source," he said to me

"Hospital drugs," I spoke up. Tharon nodded.

Tharon leaned forwards in his seat and set the pepsi on the table. "When Tanith and I met, she was into drugs, but she was not as a dealer, but as a druggie. I questioned her about it, and she said it was because of her fathers medical issues, she did some modeling, it put money on the table, the streetraces she did also got money on the table, but she told me the streetracing money she won would always go to her dads medical bills, the modeling money paid for the house, and her drug addiction." He smiled then and relaxed in his seat.

"And then ?" I asked

Tharon looked at me, "When we met, her life turned around, she stopped doing the drugs. And started going straight, we did some street races together. Not many, but enough to get things settled between us before joining the Marines." Tharon said, "By time we were sworn in; there were no drugs in her system aside from doctor prescribed drugs."

"So you two joined the Marines nine years ago, and two years ago we tapped her for special projects." I said, I figured Tharon was cleared to know this. "I was on an operation with her on one of those special projects when she disappeared, We got that letter two days ago. Apparently wherever she ended up a week ago, she's OK"

"She wanted her access codes to remain valid," Tharon told me, "Any idea why ?"

I sighed, "I think where she ended up there is some weapons caches, small armories with food, supplies, weaponry, that kind of thing, most of them were locked behind an access code." I explained. Rather then say they were scattered across the galaxy, "I think she might have found one somewhere. We got guys looking for her as we speak, but I thought it best to talk to you"

Tharon smiled and picked up the black book on the coffee table. He held it out to me. "You might need this" He said to me, I took the book and looked at it. "Its a letter for letter translation guide to our favorite dialect, at first she and I thought it up as a pit crew code to write things up to get past the government and police. After that it kinda stuck and we occasionally wrote to each other in the same dialect when we were in the Marines to get things past them. It worked, they never were able to break our code."

Thunder began to rumble outside. "I see" I said in thought. Tanith having a secret code to work with, that could help Daniel on many levels.

"You can have it, I have another. The fact that Tanith was able to write it so fluently without needing the code book confuses me however." Tharon told me.

"It might be where she ended up, writing in that dialect might help her have some sense of reality and an anchor, make her feel as if something happened but I can work with it or something" I said in thought. Tanith was not the kind of person I took for doing drugs, she didnt look it. Than again when I last saw her she had a nice tan, she looked strong, sounded great, but in the picture that Tharon had showed me, she looked frail, thin, paler than a ghost. Yet also her eyes shined with an inner life I had only seen once before when Danny got his mind focused on something.

"So she ended up some somewhere in the world and she writes me a letter in English and our private dialect and you deliver it to me. Why is the Air Force so interested in her ? What kind of operation were you on ?" Tharon asked me as he went to the kitchen, the thunder rumbled again as the rain poured down outside.

I looked at him, I almost wanted to tell him, " cant tell you that" but instead I sighed, and told him what I could remember. "She and I were working on taking down a private milita somewhere in Russia. We were getting out when the op was done when the elecrtical boards went crazy around us and she disappeared" I lied

"A portal then ?" Tharon mused as he moved around the kitchen.

"Something like that." I replied, "One second we're on patrol in the truck, next thing I know, huge whiteness, and Tanith was gone" I stood from the easy chair as Tharon mumbled something from the kitchen. "Tharon ?" I asked as I went to the Kitchen.

Right before my eyes there was a blast of energy and Tharon disappeared I was launched backwards, I crashed against the sofa blinking out the blindness. The only thing I could think as I laid on the sofa staring at the ceiling was.

Shit

Not only was Tanith gone, but Tharon just joined her. Maybe I shoulda told him the truth ? We were on patrol when she disappeared in a bolt of lightning ? Would he have taken it at face value or laughed in my face ?

I sat on the sofa, "Mitchell to Odyssey" I said

"Odyssey copy, whats up ?" Came Elis reply

"We got a problem" I replied

"What kind of problem ?" Eli asked

"Taniths husband, Mr Tharon Perrault, has just disappeared in a bolt of lightning directly in front of me" I said in reply. That was not good news. "Beam me up, the trucks parked in the driveway, beam it to the cargo hold. I need to debrief at the SGC ASAP" I said into my radio.

Ten minutes later

I walked into the briefing room at the SGC. Hank saw me in his office, and stepped into the briefing room. "Back sooner than expected, what happened out there ?" He asked me.

I looked at him and said the words I didnt want to say. "Tharon Perrault, the husband of Tanith, disappeared in a bolt of white energy, directly from his kitchen." I said, I then showed Hank the picture framed in gold that Tharon had shown me. "But, before he left we had some time to talk, He showed me this, right when they first met nine years ago." Hank looked at the picture of Tharon and Tanith.

He pointed at Tanith in the picture. "That's Col Raines." He said, seeing Tanith with Tharon at the ren faire when they had first met.

"Yeah, and the cat guy, that's Tharon Perrault, Taniths husband, eight months after this picture was taken they were married by a Marines chaplain, two months after this picture was taken, they joined the Marines" I said

"Huh" Hank replied, he handed the picture back to me. "Anything else ?"

"Tharon had a code book, he gave me a copy, half of that letter Tanith sent us was for him, and he understood it clearly and translated it with a codebook." I took the black book out of my pocket and showed it to General Landry.

"Dr Jackson is going to want a look at this" He told me

"I thought so too, he still on Atlantis ?" I asked, Hank knew I was upset that I went to Long Beach instead of Atlantis.

"He is, and I told him that should you finish your mission quickly enough, we can send you to them to help out. Apparently they had a rough day yesterday." Hank had something of a smile in his tone

"Is there something you're not telling me, Sir ?" I asked him as I took back the code book Tharon had given me.

"According to Dr McKay, they found Col Raines, but they also found someone else with her, Major Pendergast." Hank smirked and pointed at the framed picture. "according to Dr McKay, they were cats". An eyebrow raised.

"As in housecats ?" I asked, I was confused. This did not make sense.

Hank shook his head. "No, not housefcats, Dr McKay said it was toop much to explain at the moment and once he knew more he'd give us the details, Dr McKay also insisted that they be left alone and one of their replicators were now on the planet with them to track for further energy surges. According to Dr McKay they also found Prime Minitster Mahumed Nazari's wife too." Hank replied

I stood there and blinked dumbly. "So me going and finding Tharon Perrault was only a means to an end or what ?" I asked

Hank was thoughtful for a moment. Then he said. "You found Col Raines husband, that was kept from us and we never looked into it. We only looked into her background in combat and command posts. Not into family life." Hank replied

"So for all we know, Tharon just joined her" I thought aloud. A very scary thought that. "Wherever, she is."

"More then likely. With Ben on the planet with Col Raines and Major Pendergast, we can only hope for the best." Hank told me, he offered me a coffee. I barely remembered Ben, the replicator looked to be a nice guy. And first time I saw him on the screen made me think of Dr Zalenka having a twin brother.

"Oh, thank you." I said as I greatfully took the offered coffee. "So what happens now ?" I asked as I took a sip

"Well, you still want to go to Atlantis, or wait it out ? From what I understand, Dr Jackson is nearly done searching for things concerning the Furlings" Hank told me, seconds later when I was about to reply, the base alarm went off of a incoming wormhole.

Hank and I went downstairs to the controlroom. "Who is it ?" I asked

"Its Atlantis, I am reading Dr Jacksons IDC" Walter replied. He looked from the compuyter to me and Hank, "He says he and Prime Minister Nazari are ready to return, and Dr jackson will be coming with them too"

Hank nodded. "Alright, let them in" Hank said, the iris opened soundlessly and Dr Jackson came through, he had a notepad, and also tablet from Atlantis. With him was Rodney, the two men were going over their findings, the third man, Mahumed also arrived, he had the look of a man awed by technology.

"Daniel" I called, he looked up. "Didnt expect you back so soon, thought you'd be there at least another day maybe all night too"

"We'll explain upstairs" Daniel replied. Rodney had already left the gateroom and went up a flight of stairs. His computer at the ready. He hooked it up to the system in the briefing room as Daniel and I joined him. Mahumed followed us with Hank.

"Whats going on ? Why come back here ?" I asked

"The Database, in Janus' secret lab, there was indeed further mentions of the Furlings and the knowledge they passed onto the Ancients, but also vice versa." Rodney said, he started typing on his keyboard.

Daniel spoke up "Turns out the Ancients and the Furlings were together working out a way to stop the plague in the milky way when the Furlings were transplanted through help of the Ancients to a world called Ascretta, its the planet at the very edge of the Pegasus Galaxy closest to Earth"

"Ascretta ? In the pegasus galaxy ?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah" Daniel replied. "Most of it went over my head too"

"Turns out Ascretta was more then just a relocation point for the Furlings. In this case, for the Ancients, it was the very first world they settled on when they left their home galaxy after they split with the Ori. Its where they first built the Stargate, then mass constructed them across the Milky Way. They also made the Pegasus network there and Ascretta therefore has two fuilly fuctional stargates." Rodney spoke up. He brought the information on the screen. Images and data in Ancient, and also Furling flashed onto the screens. "The one thing we never expected to find was this."

The images stopped moving and settled on one, a furling woman, roughly two meters tall, long black, gold, silver, red and white hair, very feline ears atop her head, clearly feline fur on her face and arms and feet. As well as a tail. All in the same colors as her hair,

I whistled, "Looks like my moms cat" I said, Daniel smirked. Rodney shook his head.

Rodney then brought up an image. "This is from our puddlejumper, we record when we use the screens." He said, the image was of two women, clearly feline like the image of the feline woman on the screen.

"Is that ?" I asked

"The one in the darker dress, that is Col Tanith Raines, the one in the red dress, that is Major Claire Pendergast" Rodney pointed out both women. "But here's the fun part." Rodney said, he pointed to Tanith in the puddlejumper image, then the image of the Furling woman. "This is Tanith, and this is basically her, but from I think five or six thousand years ago."

"Why are they cats ?" I asked, this didnt make sense.

"That's what we're trying to figure out. According to what I was able to find in Janus lab. There's another device here, on Earth, unseen from prying eyes." Daniel replied to me. He nodded to Rodney who got to work typing rapidly on the keyboard.

"You mean like that cave network that had the device that you and Vala you woke up the Ori with in England ?" I asked to Daniel

"Something like that, what I was able to find was longitutde and latitude. Which puts us directly... here" On the map was Tanith and Tharons house, I groaned. "What ?" Daniel asked me

"I was just there, Taniths husband, Tharon Perrault" I started to explain how bad my mission went.

And then Daniel cut me off. "Tanith's married ?" His gaze then went to the screens as Rodney had the Odyssey begin to scan the area

I nodded, "yeah, she is, but there's a problem, This Tharon guy, her husband of nine years, he just disappeared in a lightning bolt just like she did. Only instead of being in a car like Tanith was with us, he disappeared from their kitchen while chatting with me. Fortunately before he disappeared," I told him. I handed Daniel a book that I had taken from my coat pocket. "He gave me this, he used it to translate the rest of Taniths letter."

Daniel took the book and looked it over. "I'll use this later" He said before setting it on the table, I smirked

"So what now ?" I asked

"According to this information there is something in the sewer network or better a means to get down there." Daniel said absently as he turned to the screen.

"I tapped into the Odysseys scanners to look for caverns, naturally occuring and otherwise, under Long Beach" Rodney spoke up. "It looks like there is such a cavern under... here" He pointed to the map, it showed Taniths house that she shared with Tharon, and then under it.

I whistled. "That's a long way down."

"Yeah, fortunately the Odyssey's transport beams can get you guys in there without too much of a problem, there's no transport rings that we can find." Rodney said, he sighed, then relaxed, "So that means that beaming in and out is the only option."

"So we take the Odyssey" I said

"How did it go for you ?" Daniel asked as he looked at me, Rodney looked up at me expecting my answer. "I mean getting the book is fine sure, but there had to be more to it"

I figured since I explained the gist of it to Danny already I might as well give him the full rundown instead. "Well, I met up with Toretto, he's actually a pretty nice guy. Then I met Tanith's husband, and as I mentioned he disappeared from his kitchen in a bolt of lightning much like how Tanith disappeared from our truck in a bolt of lightning" I said, I sighed, "His name is Tharon. Was a nice guy though. The house is more of church front then anything though"

Daniel took a seat at the table, Mahumed had beamed up to the Odyssey and then back to his home, he had things to work on there. "This is going to be a long day" Daniel rubbed his face with a hand.

"Yeah" I said simply, nothing more needed to be said really. Rodney sighed, his day just went from confusing to harder than hell.

One minute he was telling his boss, Richard Woolsey, that Tanith and Claire were fine, they just insisted on staying on the planet instead of being given over as toys to experiment on by scientists on Earth. And then Daniel showed up with Mahumed in the gateroom. After that the three of them went to janus lab, and from what I could gather, found the numbers, longitude and latitude of where another device, or possibly a hoard of Furling knowledge was kept.