Chapter 9- Going Through the Gate and Arrival
Laura pulled down her flak jacket and put on a hat covering her blonde-brown hair as they walked down the hall to the gateroom. Samuels was busy talking to Jack. "Colonel, I'd like to remind you that rescuing Dr. Jackson's wife is a secondary objective. In the event that you fail to notify base camp within 24 hours, SG-2 will scrub the mission and return without you," Samuels said, pushing butons on something he held in his hands.
"Kiss, kiss to you too, Samuels," Laura muttered under her breath. So far Samuels had gotten under her skin on multiple occasions and right now she was wishing that the pompous colonel would just shut up.
"Understood," jack said, his voice conveying that Samuels was getting on his nerves too.
"Not gonna happen, Colonel. SG-2 won't leave without you," Kawalsky said loyally. Samuels turned as if to say something, but fortunately this time he wisely kept his mouth shut.
"All right. Let's confirm transmitter codes. Remember, only the right code will open the iris and if you lose your transmitter, then you can't get home," Samuels said.
"Understood, Sir. I'll take it," Laura said, taking the transmitter from Samuels as they entered the gateroom and the stargate came to life.
"SG-1 and SG-2, if you do not return in 24 hours, your remote transmitter codes will be locked out, and the iris will be sealed permanently. At that point there will be no return. Is that understood?" Hammond asked from up where they dialed out on the computers.
"Yes, Sir. Let's move out," Jack said, saluting Hammond briefly.
"Kind of wish I was going with you," Laura heard Samuels say from her place beside Kawalsky.
"Oh, puh-leeze! I'm kinda glad you're staying behind. The Goa'uld would pick you for a host in a minute. They have a thing for arrogant, pompous, craven, colonels. For some reason they would think you'd make an excellent host," Laura said, rolling her eyes as she joined Carter and Sam.
"Really?" Carter whispered to her.
"How should I know? I just wanted him to shut up and what better way than making him sweat a little? Until now, no Goa'uld knew about the colonels on this planet. But he doesn't need to know that," Laura said.
"That is terrible!" Carter said with a laugh.
"I know, I know. I know what to expect on Chulak, Samuels doesn't," Laura said as Jack joined her and they went through the gate
Laura landed on what amounted to stone slabs and looked around. Her memories of Chulak was the same. Trees were everywhere, the sky was overcast, and the atmosphere was cold, wet, and dreary. It was like the Dagobah scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi."
"It is cold," Kawalsky said breathlessly, voicing Laura's thoughts.
"I guess I should have reminded all of you of that. I guess most of the Goa'uld like cold, wet, dreary planets. I guess, like most parasites they like water and water is cold," Laura said pulling on gloves. She was thankful they were fleece-lined. The cold couldn't penetrate these.
"Okay, people, let's get the gear out. Let's move," Jack ordered as Daniel sneezed.
"Does anybody have a Kleenex?" Laura heard Daniel ask as they walked away from the gate and started setting up the MALP they had brought with them.
"It looks like Stonehenge. Just, not as tall," Laura said, looking around at the runes.
"It must be some sort of ceremonial place. The gate has to be an integral part of their spiritual culture. This place was built for worshipers," Daniel said, indicating the runes.
"So, some cultures worship the stargate?" Laura asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah. To you and me it's a means to travel. To others it could be a deity," Daniel said as Jack joined them.
"Let's just try to be out of here before the "Worshipees" show up, huh? You figure out yet how to align the gate so we can get back home?" Jack asked Daniel.
"Yeah. The device is the same as on Abydos. This symbol represents-" Daniel started to point out a symbol on the dial-out device.
"Did you brief Kawalsky's team yet?" Jack interrupted.
Yes. This symbol represents-" Daniel tried to say again.
"Good job," Jack interrupted again as he walked away. Laura followed him.
"We'll have to set up camp where there's better cover, Colonel," Kawalsky said briskly.
"Sirs, I found what looks like a trail on the mountain. Looks like it's seen traffic in the last couple of days," a young soldier said, coming up to them.
"Thank you, Airman. Carter?" Jack called for Carter.
"We set up a line of claymores along that ridge at ten-meter intervals," Carter said, coming to them and holding her machine gun at the ready.
"Sound about right, Kawalsky?" Jack asked, walking away.
"Yeah, that'll work," Kawalsky said with a laugh as Jack set the fuses and Laura helped an airman set up the MALP.
