Note from the author: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've been busy lately, and haven't had time to get back to the story until this week. I put a rush job in getting this chapter ready for upload, so their may be some small grammatical errors. I went ahead and moved as fast as possible to get this uploaded as soon as I finished writing it. More chapters will come later this week. Thanks for continuing to read my story, and please do continue to review it so you can let me know what you think about how its going.
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Chapter Nine: Landing on the Beach
*
Two days later, everyone who had traveled through the Stargate were traveling through space on a Tokrah transport vessel. With Jacob Carter and another Tokrah at the controls, the members of SG-1 and SG-8, along with Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess, tried to keep busy in the cargo hold of the ship. Max and the others told the SGC personnel what they knew about Antar, Khivar, and what might be waiting for them when they got there. They also gave them more of a rundown on their abilities, "tactical information" as Colonel O'Neill called it.
When they weren't talking shop, they passed the time playing cards and swapping stories, quite a few of them being about Alex. Major Ambrose, Dr. Barrows, and Sergeant Reynolds listened with great interest to stories about their comrade and friend Alex Whitman, and what he was like in High School. In return, the other members of SG-8 told Alex's old friends from Roswell about some of Alex's exploits with the SGC. Even though they themselves had seen Alex in action, it was hard for his old friends to reconcile the guy they used to know with the scientists/soldier who battled Goa'uld and explored the galaxy through the Stargate.
Now on second night of their trip, they were all spending a quiet night, or what passed for night on the ship. Major Carter, Major Ambrose, and Max were the only ones awake, along with the Tokrah at the controls of the ship. Carter was chatting with her Father, while Max and Major Ambrose were talking quietly.
"I just hope they don't expect me to be their King when I get there," said Max. "My life is one Earth, with Liz. All of our lives are on Earth now."
"I wonder if those who planned your inception reckoned on you developing lives on Earth that would supercede their plans for you," said Ambrose. He chuckled slightly. "You know, this whole thing has been so...weird. I mean, here Whitman was keeping this secret about aliens, or part aliens, living on Earth...from all of us."
"I hope you don't hold that against him," said Max.
"Hell no," said Ambrose. "He was keeping his word. He's a good man, I'm glad to have him on my team. I've gotten to know him...over the two years, quite well."
They looked over at Alex, laying against the wall sleeping, Isabel snuggled up in his arms, resting comfortably in his warm embrace.
"And I even get to meet the famous Isabel," said Ambrose.
Max smiled. "He's talked about Isabel, with you," said Max.
"Well, sort of," said Ambrose. "Both Sergeant Reynolds and myself have tried to urge him to get a life, a social life that is. He's always working with Major Carter on some technical project, or doing other SGC...stuff, for lack of a better term. I even tried to fix him up with this Lieutenant in SGC Ops, but...he wouldn't go for it. Then, several months ago, he heard news from home that this girl he used to know was getting married. I could tell he wasn't happy about something, so I took him out for some beers to get him to talk about it. That's when he told me about Isabel, how he has been carrying a torch for her all these years. When he heard that she and her fiancée broke up, well...let's just say he was not as glum."
"I think Isabel has thought a lot about him over these past few years, too," said Max. "She didn't appreciate him then, but now...I wonder if she really is ready to commit to him."
"They look pretty cozy to me," said Ambrose. "I guess we'll just have to let them play things out, and pick up the pieces if it all falls apart. Hopefully, it will work out."
"I hope it does," said Max. "Alex is a great guy. I would like to see my sister with him."
**
On the fourth day of the journey, Alex was showing Isabel how to use a P-90 assault rifle. She was holding the unloaded weapon up to her shoulder, while Alex showed her how to aim it.
"So, you look through the sights here," said Alex, standing behind her and guiding her grip on the weapon. "Then, we you have your target in sight, squeeze the trigger gently."
She squeezed, and the weapon clicked to indicate a dry fire with no ammunition.
"Wow," said Isabel. "Its so...light. I thought for sure it would be heavier."
"Its made to be easy to lug around and deploy when needed," said Alex, taking back the weapon. He popped a magazine into the rifle and then cocked it, loading a round into the chamber, before putting the safety catch on. "Its also slightly heavier with a full clip."
"Alright, people," said Colonel O'Neill, coming back into the room from the cockpit. "Jacob says we'll be there in about an hour. I want a full equipment check, then final briefing."
The crew got to work checking their weapons, supplies, and communications gear. When everything was checked twice and ready to go, Colonel O'Neill gathered everyone around.
"Okay, people," said O'Neill. "We are about to go into an unknown planet with possible hostiles to contend with. Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael, are going to have to be our guides here from their...retrieved memories of this planet. We don't know how accurate or out of date their recollections are. Especially considering they are acquired from some mind warp and not first hand experiences. We're going to attempt to make contact with Antar's government, or those sympathetic to Max and friends here. If we encounter heavy resistance or threat, we evac immediately. Jacob and the ship will stand by, cloaked, in orbit of one of Antar's moons until we call for him. Any questions?"
With none forthcoming, O'Neill nodded. "I'm getting to good at this. No one ever has any questions after I brief them."
A short while later, Jacob Carter called back to the group in the cargo hold.
"We've arrived, approaching Antar," he said.
The entire group joined Jacob and his co-pilot in the cockpit, and saw the looming planet seem to grow larger as they approached it. Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael were mesmerized by seeing the world they have had images of all of their lives within their subconscious. Now, those images, those thoughts were materialized as reality.
"It looks...red," said Colonel O'Neill.
"The ocean water on Antar is red instead of blue, also heavier," said Tess.
"That must be caused by the molecular distribution in the water," said Major Carter. "The spacing of atoms to form water might also be different, or perhaps the magnetic pull of the..."
"Ahh!" said O'Neill. "We'll...ask them, maybe, when we get there. For now, let's just agree it looks....red."
"Are you sure they can't detect us?" asked Michael.
"This ship is cloaked," said Jacob Carter. "Only way they could find us if they ran into the ship."
"Kind of like the Romulan ships on Star Trek," said Sergeant Reynolds.
"I thought they were Klingon," said Teal'c.
"Teal'c, um, you watch Star Trek?" asked Dr. Jackson.
"I have," said Teal'c. "It is rather...amusing."
"Now I have seen everything," said Sergeant Reynolds. "A Jaffa Trekkie."
"Max," said Dr. Barrows. "You've said that you don't really remember anything about what the Antarians look like."
"No, its more like...feelings, impressions," said Max.
"Then we don't know how they are going to react to seeing us," said Dr. Barrows.
"We're entering the atmosphere," said Jacob. "Get to the ring transporter. This is going to be a short drop off. Good luck."
The group made their way to the cargo hold, and stood in the center of the rings. In a few moments, Jacob told them they were in position, and to stand by for transport. The rings popped up out of the deck around them, and activated the beaming device.
The rings then dropped down from the ship to the ground below, and deposited the group on the ground. Then, the rings pulled up, and disappeared back into the cloaked ship.
The SGC personnel had their weapons at the ready as the group surveyed the area. It was night, and they were on a beach, the red ocean water washing up on shore with the tide. Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel, gazed at everything around them as though it were all somehow familiar. The humans with them also tried to assess their surroundings.
"That city was about a mile or two from here," said Ambrose to Colonel O'Neill. "Should we start to head for it?"
"Yeah, let's move out, but...cautiously," said O'Neill.
"Sir," said Sergeant Reynolds. "We've got company coming. Two of them, at least."
"Take cover," said O'Neill.
They hid behind some rocks nearby, and watched as two human looking figures came towards the water. They were speaking some kind of language that they couldn't recognize. The woman was dark haired, wearing a white dress made of silk-like material. The man with her, tall and lanky, was similarly dressed.
"Why do they look human?" asked Ambrose.
"Shape shifters," said Michael.
"They probably use humanoid form as their everyday appearance," said Dr. Barrows. "From what Max and the others have told us, they seem to relate to each other similarly to humans at least."
"I wish we could understand what they are saying," said Alex. "Dr. Barrows, Dr. Jackson?"
"Well, it is...similar to Asgard dialect, I think," said Jackson.
"Also norse language forms," said Barrows. "But only slightly."
"In other words, neither of you can speak their lingo," said O'Neill.
"We can," said Max.
"What?" asked Alex. "I thought you couldn't read..."
"Somehow, some way," said Max, "I can understand what they are saying, and can even respond in the spoken language."
"I can too," said Isabel.
"What are they saying?" asked Carter.
"The girl is tempting the boy to go swimming naked in the ocean with her," said Tess.
"Great," said O'Neill, "we get all the way here to see a couple of kids skinny dip. Not exactly my idea of a first contact."
"I don't know," said Reynolds. "The chick is hot. I wouldn't mind..."
Alex hit him on the shoulder.
"Right, sorry," said Reynolds.
"Hey, Max," said Michael. "Think we could make it possible for them to understand the language too?"
"We could try," said Max. "Colonel?"
"Alright," said O'Neill. "But if my ears turned pointy, I'm going to shoot you. Clear?"
Max, Isabel, Tess, and Michael, all touched the members of the SGC, and soon, they all could understand the Antarian language they were overhearing. The couple had apparently given up the swimming idea, because they were now sitting on the beach talking.
"Maybe we should try and talk to them," said Tess.
"It might be a good idea, sir," said Alex to Major Ambrose. "We could get the lay of the land, maybe."
"Sir," said Ambrose, to O'Neill. "I concur its worth a risk. But maybe if only one or two of us does it."
"I think I should," said Max. "Tess and I. I don't think they would recognize us in this form, but we might be able to convince them we're friendly."
"Alright, give it a try," said O'Neill. "We'll cover you."
Max and Tess stepped out from behind the rocks, and approached the two sitting on the beach. The Antarians saw them, and stood up to greet them.
"Hello," said the young man. "We didn't realize others were here. Wait, are you...Gritnas?"
"Gritnas?" asked Max.
"Security police of the Khivar government, you know, the Grits," said the girl. "You're dressed kind of like them."
Max and Tess looked down at their Air Force issue green fatigues. "Oh, no," said Max. "We're not Grits. I'm Max, and this is Tess. You are?"
"What strange names," said the man. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was pretty insulting. I am Renat, and this is my intended, Lelan. It's a pleasure to meet you?"
"You don't like the Khivar government?" asked Tess.
Renat and Lelan looked at each other with nervous expressions.
"Don't be afraid," said Max. "We don't like them much either."
"Well, truth be told....we are supporters of the family of King Zan," said Renat. "We await the prophesied return of the Royal Four one day."
"Are you followers of the way?" asked Lelan.
"The way?" asked Tess.
"The way to liberation from Khivar, through the return of the Royal Four," said Lelan. "Are you?"
"Um, we don't know how to tell you this," said Max. "But Tess and I...we've just arrived here. From Earth. We are two of the Royal Four."
"What?" asked Renat with a startled expression.
"I think its safe to come out," said Max towards the rocks where the others were hiding.
"Colonel?" asked Carter in a whisper.
"Cats out of the bag now," said O'Neill. "Let's join the party."
Renat and Lelan were startled to see more people pop up from the rocks, some armed with weapons of some sort.
"Don't be afraid," said Max. "These are friends. The Royal Four have returned. But we need some information first. Can you help us?"
"Are you really here, from Earth?" asked Lelan. "We thought, we've waited for so long. Are you really King Zan?"
"In a way," said Max. "I was made in his image, apparently. I am called Max, though. Tess was made in the image of Zan's wife. Isabel and Michael here," indicating the two mentioned, "were known as Leandra and her husband."
"And the others?" asked Renat. "Are they...humans?"
"Yeah," said O'Neill. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. We're here as kind of...escorts, for King Zan's reincarnation here, and his other Royal Flush friends. We're also ambassadors, you could say."
"Will you help us?" asked Isabel. "Please."
Renat and Lelan looked at one another, then fell to their knees. "We live to serve our rightful King," said Lelan.
End of Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten coming soon.
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Chapter Nine: Landing on the Beach
*
Two days later, everyone who had traveled through the Stargate were traveling through space on a Tokrah transport vessel. With Jacob Carter and another Tokrah at the controls, the members of SG-1 and SG-8, along with Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess, tried to keep busy in the cargo hold of the ship. Max and the others told the SGC personnel what they knew about Antar, Khivar, and what might be waiting for them when they got there. They also gave them more of a rundown on their abilities, "tactical information" as Colonel O'Neill called it.
When they weren't talking shop, they passed the time playing cards and swapping stories, quite a few of them being about Alex. Major Ambrose, Dr. Barrows, and Sergeant Reynolds listened with great interest to stories about their comrade and friend Alex Whitman, and what he was like in High School. In return, the other members of SG-8 told Alex's old friends from Roswell about some of Alex's exploits with the SGC. Even though they themselves had seen Alex in action, it was hard for his old friends to reconcile the guy they used to know with the scientists/soldier who battled Goa'uld and explored the galaxy through the Stargate.
Now on second night of their trip, they were all spending a quiet night, or what passed for night on the ship. Major Carter, Major Ambrose, and Max were the only ones awake, along with the Tokrah at the controls of the ship. Carter was chatting with her Father, while Max and Major Ambrose were talking quietly.
"I just hope they don't expect me to be their King when I get there," said Max. "My life is one Earth, with Liz. All of our lives are on Earth now."
"I wonder if those who planned your inception reckoned on you developing lives on Earth that would supercede their plans for you," said Ambrose. He chuckled slightly. "You know, this whole thing has been so...weird. I mean, here Whitman was keeping this secret about aliens, or part aliens, living on Earth...from all of us."
"I hope you don't hold that against him," said Max.
"Hell no," said Ambrose. "He was keeping his word. He's a good man, I'm glad to have him on my team. I've gotten to know him...over the two years, quite well."
They looked over at Alex, laying against the wall sleeping, Isabel snuggled up in his arms, resting comfortably in his warm embrace.
"And I even get to meet the famous Isabel," said Ambrose.
Max smiled. "He's talked about Isabel, with you," said Max.
"Well, sort of," said Ambrose. "Both Sergeant Reynolds and myself have tried to urge him to get a life, a social life that is. He's always working with Major Carter on some technical project, or doing other SGC...stuff, for lack of a better term. I even tried to fix him up with this Lieutenant in SGC Ops, but...he wouldn't go for it. Then, several months ago, he heard news from home that this girl he used to know was getting married. I could tell he wasn't happy about something, so I took him out for some beers to get him to talk about it. That's when he told me about Isabel, how he has been carrying a torch for her all these years. When he heard that she and her fiancée broke up, well...let's just say he was not as glum."
"I think Isabel has thought a lot about him over these past few years, too," said Max. "She didn't appreciate him then, but now...I wonder if she really is ready to commit to him."
"They look pretty cozy to me," said Ambrose. "I guess we'll just have to let them play things out, and pick up the pieces if it all falls apart. Hopefully, it will work out."
"I hope it does," said Max. "Alex is a great guy. I would like to see my sister with him."
**
On the fourth day of the journey, Alex was showing Isabel how to use a P-90 assault rifle. She was holding the unloaded weapon up to her shoulder, while Alex showed her how to aim it.
"So, you look through the sights here," said Alex, standing behind her and guiding her grip on the weapon. "Then, we you have your target in sight, squeeze the trigger gently."
She squeezed, and the weapon clicked to indicate a dry fire with no ammunition.
"Wow," said Isabel. "Its so...light. I thought for sure it would be heavier."
"Its made to be easy to lug around and deploy when needed," said Alex, taking back the weapon. He popped a magazine into the rifle and then cocked it, loading a round into the chamber, before putting the safety catch on. "Its also slightly heavier with a full clip."
"Alright, people," said Colonel O'Neill, coming back into the room from the cockpit. "Jacob says we'll be there in about an hour. I want a full equipment check, then final briefing."
The crew got to work checking their weapons, supplies, and communications gear. When everything was checked twice and ready to go, Colonel O'Neill gathered everyone around.
"Okay, people," said O'Neill. "We are about to go into an unknown planet with possible hostiles to contend with. Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael, are going to have to be our guides here from their...retrieved memories of this planet. We don't know how accurate or out of date their recollections are. Especially considering they are acquired from some mind warp and not first hand experiences. We're going to attempt to make contact with Antar's government, or those sympathetic to Max and friends here. If we encounter heavy resistance or threat, we evac immediately. Jacob and the ship will stand by, cloaked, in orbit of one of Antar's moons until we call for him. Any questions?"
With none forthcoming, O'Neill nodded. "I'm getting to good at this. No one ever has any questions after I brief them."
A short while later, Jacob Carter called back to the group in the cargo hold.
"We've arrived, approaching Antar," he said.
The entire group joined Jacob and his co-pilot in the cockpit, and saw the looming planet seem to grow larger as they approached it. Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael were mesmerized by seeing the world they have had images of all of their lives within their subconscious. Now, those images, those thoughts were materialized as reality.
"It looks...red," said Colonel O'Neill.
"The ocean water on Antar is red instead of blue, also heavier," said Tess.
"That must be caused by the molecular distribution in the water," said Major Carter. "The spacing of atoms to form water might also be different, or perhaps the magnetic pull of the..."
"Ahh!" said O'Neill. "We'll...ask them, maybe, when we get there. For now, let's just agree it looks....red."
"Are you sure they can't detect us?" asked Michael.
"This ship is cloaked," said Jacob Carter. "Only way they could find us if they ran into the ship."
"Kind of like the Romulan ships on Star Trek," said Sergeant Reynolds.
"I thought they were Klingon," said Teal'c.
"Teal'c, um, you watch Star Trek?" asked Dr. Jackson.
"I have," said Teal'c. "It is rather...amusing."
"Now I have seen everything," said Sergeant Reynolds. "A Jaffa Trekkie."
"Max," said Dr. Barrows. "You've said that you don't really remember anything about what the Antarians look like."
"No, its more like...feelings, impressions," said Max.
"Then we don't know how they are going to react to seeing us," said Dr. Barrows.
"We're entering the atmosphere," said Jacob. "Get to the ring transporter. This is going to be a short drop off. Good luck."
The group made their way to the cargo hold, and stood in the center of the rings. In a few moments, Jacob told them they were in position, and to stand by for transport. The rings popped up out of the deck around them, and activated the beaming device.
The rings then dropped down from the ship to the ground below, and deposited the group on the ground. Then, the rings pulled up, and disappeared back into the cloaked ship.
The SGC personnel had their weapons at the ready as the group surveyed the area. It was night, and they were on a beach, the red ocean water washing up on shore with the tide. Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel, gazed at everything around them as though it were all somehow familiar. The humans with them also tried to assess their surroundings.
"That city was about a mile or two from here," said Ambrose to Colonel O'Neill. "Should we start to head for it?"
"Yeah, let's move out, but...cautiously," said O'Neill.
"Sir," said Sergeant Reynolds. "We've got company coming. Two of them, at least."
"Take cover," said O'Neill.
They hid behind some rocks nearby, and watched as two human looking figures came towards the water. They were speaking some kind of language that they couldn't recognize. The woman was dark haired, wearing a white dress made of silk-like material. The man with her, tall and lanky, was similarly dressed.
"Why do they look human?" asked Ambrose.
"Shape shifters," said Michael.
"They probably use humanoid form as their everyday appearance," said Dr. Barrows. "From what Max and the others have told us, they seem to relate to each other similarly to humans at least."
"I wish we could understand what they are saying," said Alex. "Dr. Barrows, Dr. Jackson?"
"Well, it is...similar to Asgard dialect, I think," said Jackson.
"Also norse language forms," said Barrows. "But only slightly."
"In other words, neither of you can speak their lingo," said O'Neill.
"We can," said Max.
"What?" asked Alex. "I thought you couldn't read..."
"Somehow, some way," said Max, "I can understand what they are saying, and can even respond in the spoken language."
"I can too," said Isabel.
"What are they saying?" asked Carter.
"The girl is tempting the boy to go swimming naked in the ocean with her," said Tess.
"Great," said O'Neill, "we get all the way here to see a couple of kids skinny dip. Not exactly my idea of a first contact."
"I don't know," said Reynolds. "The chick is hot. I wouldn't mind..."
Alex hit him on the shoulder.
"Right, sorry," said Reynolds.
"Hey, Max," said Michael. "Think we could make it possible for them to understand the language too?"
"We could try," said Max. "Colonel?"
"Alright," said O'Neill. "But if my ears turned pointy, I'm going to shoot you. Clear?"
Max, Isabel, Tess, and Michael, all touched the members of the SGC, and soon, they all could understand the Antarian language they were overhearing. The couple had apparently given up the swimming idea, because they were now sitting on the beach talking.
"Maybe we should try and talk to them," said Tess.
"It might be a good idea, sir," said Alex to Major Ambrose. "We could get the lay of the land, maybe."
"Sir," said Ambrose, to O'Neill. "I concur its worth a risk. But maybe if only one or two of us does it."
"I think I should," said Max. "Tess and I. I don't think they would recognize us in this form, but we might be able to convince them we're friendly."
"Alright, give it a try," said O'Neill. "We'll cover you."
Max and Tess stepped out from behind the rocks, and approached the two sitting on the beach. The Antarians saw them, and stood up to greet them.
"Hello," said the young man. "We didn't realize others were here. Wait, are you...Gritnas?"
"Gritnas?" asked Max.
"Security police of the Khivar government, you know, the Grits," said the girl. "You're dressed kind of like them."
Max and Tess looked down at their Air Force issue green fatigues. "Oh, no," said Max. "We're not Grits. I'm Max, and this is Tess. You are?"
"What strange names," said the man. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was pretty insulting. I am Renat, and this is my intended, Lelan. It's a pleasure to meet you?"
"You don't like the Khivar government?" asked Tess.
Renat and Lelan looked at each other with nervous expressions.
"Don't be afraid," said Max. "We don't like them much either."
"Well, truth be told....we are supporters of the family of King Zan," said Renat. "We await the prophesied return of the Royal Four one day."
"Are you followers of the way?" asked Lelan.
"The way?" asked Tess.
"The way to liberation from Khivar, through the return of the Royal Four," said Lelan. "Are you?"
"Um, we don't know how to tell you this," said Max. "But Tess and I...we've just arrived here. From Earth. We are two of the Royal Four."
"What?" asked Renat with a startled expression.
"I think its safe to come out," said Max towards the rocks where the others were hiding.
"Colonel?" asked Carter in a whisper.
"Cats out of the bag now," said O'Neill. "Let's join the party."
Renat and Lelan were startled to see more people pop up from the rocks, some armed with weapons of some sort.
"Don't be afraid," said Max. "These are friends. The Royal Four have returned. But we need some information first. Can you help us?"
"Are you really here, from Earth?" asked Lelan. "We thought, we've waited for so long. Are you really King Zan?"
"In a way," said Max. "I was made in his image, apparently. I am called Max, though. Tess was made in the image of Zan's wife. Isabel and Michael here," indicating the two mentioned, "were known as Leandra and her husband."
"And the others?" asked Renat. "Are they...humans?"
"Yeah," said O'Neill. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. We're here as kind of...escorts, for King Zan's reincarnation here, and his other Royal Flush friends. We're also ambassadors, you could say."
"Will you help us?" asked Isabel. "Please."
Renat and Lelan looked at one another, then fell to their knees. "We live to serve our rightful King," said Lelan.
End of Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten coming soon.
