The bright sun of Pondor was high in the sky when Jack and Sam stepped out of the shuttle. The landing platform was raised a few feet above the uneven ground. A large ramp gently lead down to the town roads of Talhan. They were the pale tan color of clay. One step above a dirt road in that it doesn't turn to mud during rain.
Talhan itself was nothing as spectacular as the Asgard. In fact, very few buildings were taller than maybe five floors. It was quite a contrast to the vastness of the Bazec ship yards. Beyond the landing facilities, no other signs of advanced technology could be seen. Everyone seemed to travel by foot, and large sailboats could even be seen down the road anchored in a harbor.
"This is the capital of the Aian Federation?" Sam walked down to the end of the ramp and looked at her surroundings.
"Kind of sparse, isn't it," responded Jack as he followed her down. He was expecting domes, hovercrafts, floating buildings, anything really, just not what he was looking at.
Lindra and Janaris brought up the rear. Janaris proceeded straight down one of the streets, while Lindra stopped beside Sam.
"This is the capital planet, yes. That doesn't mean that all of the cities are monstrous corporate creations," began Lindra. "This is the town of Talhan. It contains one of the council halls for the state of Bazec. Outside of that, it is basically just a vacation spot away from your usual hustle."
"One of the council halls?" Jack was a bit confused about Lindra's explanation.
Lindra simply started walking off after where Janaris had headed. "Come, we mustn't keep the Councilor waiting," she paused momentarily as Jack caught up with her, Sam close behind. "You see, the entire planet is considered the capital. Multiple council halls allows the varies councils to meet literally anywhere on the planet."
"I think I remember seeing something about this in their computers, sir," broke in Sam. "They have fourteen different levels of councils. It's what makes up their government administration."
"Great," replied Jack, "so which council do we meet to get home?"
"That will depend on Janaris. He's only on a system council, so it might take him awhile to get your request through."
They arrived in front of a large three story building. It was made of the same clay and stone construction, only this building's front face was glass. Proceeding through a set of double doors, they walked though the lobby and down a hall until they reached an open door. Inside, Councilor Janaris was speaking with a young woman.
They went on for quite a few minutes before they both started smiling. A brief shaking of hands occurred, and then Janaris approached Lindra. Janaris told Lindra something before continuing out the door. Jack and Sam just looked at each other confused.
"Um," began Jack, "I thought we were going to meet with the Council?"
"Hopefully we won't have too," replied Lindra who faced them both now.
"Run that by me again?"
"Look, you don't speak Aian, and no one on the Council speaks English. A face to face meeting would just delay any chance of you getting home. We're going to submit a prepared request instead..."
"So we can get into more detail without waisting time re-explaining things," Sam concluded. "Sir, this could definitely work in our favor."
Jack just stared at the two women. "Whatever, lets just get things moving," he told them as he headed in the direction Janaris had taken.
They caught up with Janaris on the other side of the town. He was standing on one of the many ramps of what appeared to be a landing facility. Instead of the multiple platform facility they landed on, this one was a single unified structure. Ships of many different sizes and shapes could make use of it.
What really made this facility interesting, however, was that the ship Janaris was in front of stood four stories tall. It was truly massive compared to the shuttle, although still paling in comparison to the ship that got them to this planet to begin with. It had a squared off shape with rounded edges. Two distinct decks could be seen, one on the top floor, and one around the second floor. A single shaft connected those two decks, and also stretched on down forming an entry way at ground level. From what could be seen, they were standing at the rear by the looks of what must have been engines on the rear of the second deck. The front of that same floor seemed to expand out to become a three story tall bubble, at the front of the ship, that came to rest on the ground.
Lindra and Sam came to a stop beside Jack. Both Jack and Sam couldn't help but wonder what they were doing at yet another ship. They had done enough traveling as it was to make them quite sick of it. It was nice to explore another one of the Aian ship designs though. They seemed to have such a wide verity.
Lindra started to mutter under her breath as she saw Janaris talk to a man and woman at the ship's hatch. She shock her head and took off towards the conversation.
"Excuse me Councilor," she said to get Janaris' attention.
He turned around to face her. "Yes?"
"Is it wise to be bringing your son into this matter? After all, it would seem the circumstances could be quite, how should I say it, sensitive?" Lindra stared at him with wide eyes.
Janaris simply raised an eyebrow at her attitude. "Relax, Lindra. My son happens to have been involved with the last crossing the Federation had occur."
"Oh," she replied shocked at the coincidences this was all starting to make in her head.
Jack and Sam took this moment to approach the group Janaris had been talking to.
"Councilor," began Jack, "I hope we're not intruding, but I'm starting to get tired of being led around."
Sam decided to stay out of the mess Jack was starting. If anything, she would be the one to have to repair it. With only two of them, it would be bad if they both got in trouble with the locals. No Daniel to bail them out this time.
Janaris, of course, had no idea what any of the words that had come out of Jack's mouth meant. He looked over to Lindra for a translation, but she seemed a bit reluctant to relay the message. Janaris' son decided now would be the best time to introduce himself to defuse the situation.
He took a single step forward between Jack and Janaris. "You must be Colonel O'Neill," he smiled.
Jack, and especially Sam, were taken back by the man's perfect English. It was the first time anyone else, besides Lindra, could communicate with them. A nice change of events considering the attitude Lindra seemed to have. It wasn't really that bad of an attitude, but she certainty wasn't going out of her way to be helpful.
"Yes," Jack slowly started, "and this is Major Carter." He gestured at her casually as she nodded.
"My name is Coawyn, and this," he gestured at the woman behind him, "is Katran. We own a small island here on Pondor, and my father was simply asking if you two could come with us for your stay." He continued his cheerful face.
After hearing that, Sam took it as her opportunity to keep Jack from ruining their chances of getting home. "That would be nice of you. The Colonel and I could use a quiet place to prepare our request for the council."
Janaris spoke something to Coawyn and Katran gave him a smile. He than started walked back the way they had come.
"I better go with the Councilor to help him with his systems council report." She nodded at each of the remaining four people before hurrying off after the quickly vanishing Janaris.
"Such a strange woman," remarked Jack absently as he watched Lindra weave herself around a group of people.
"She's supposed to be the top of her field," Katran informed him, "but I fear that too many jobs dealing with governments has drained her."
Once again both Jack and Sam were surprised to find not only one, but two people who knew perfect English beyond just Lindra.
"If you'll come with us inside the ship, we'll leave right away," Katran said before turning and walking towards the ship. She tapped a few commands into a panel beside the hatch causing it to slid open.
Ushered through the hatch by Coawyn, Jack found himself in a small circular room with Sam. He looked up expecting to see a latter of some kind, but instead saw nothing but a glowing ceiling. Sam simply stood beside him as she turned around to face the hatch.
"Okay," Jack said to himself slightly confused. He glanced to his side and found Sam watching him just as Katran entered the room to join Coawyn. The hatch slid close and pale blue horizontal lines started drifting down the walls.
"An elevator," exclaimed Jack as he realized what was happening. Coawyn glanced back at him. "Not used to being inside these things off base."
"It's the only way to travel," replied Coawyn.
The master quarters were located at the front most of the top deck. It was reasonably sized and contained a large bed in the left corner by the door. A couch sat along the side wall opposite the bed, and a think dark rug lay in the middle of the floor. Vibrant abstract paintings lined the walls, giving the place a warm modern look.
Sam felt uncomfortable, at first, when she was shown the room with Jack by Katran. She said that the room was her and Coawyn's personal quarters, but that the view from there was exquisite.
It was actually quite astonishing. The three of them entered the room and proceeded straight up to a blank, dark blue, wall. Katran reached across and pressed a single button off near the corner of that wall, and a bright mist drifted down from the ceiling across the entire dimension of blankness. From the mist formed a perfect view of the outside of the ship. It essentially looked as if the wall had vanished and they were looking out an open window.
Outside, Sam could see water and islands speed by as the ship cruised through the air. "Did your people develop all of this technology on their own?"
Katran smiled. It wasn't often she was able to show off their ship to others. "All of the interfaces and visual sensors on this ship, yes. When the Federation first started to expand, we did do some exchanges for advancements in engines and inertia dampeners."
"So you don't have any problems sharing with less advanced peoples?" Jack just had to ask considering the SGC's previous experiences trying to barter for technologies.
"We try to be conservative," Katran signed. "If it benefits us through trade or relationship, then many things are possible. Only some of our most advanced technologies, the ones that can be dangerous in the wrong hands, are restricted."
Jack thought about it for a minute. "How about ships like this one?"
Katran turned her head towards him to respond. "The ship hull is an old design, easily obtainable by anyone. The rest of the technologies on board are sophisticated enough not to be common, but nothing the Federation is restricting trade in."
Nodding his head, Jack glanced to see Sam still listening in on the conversation. "So you and Collen work..."
"Coawyn, sir," corrected Sam.
He looked at Sam. "Coawyn," he replied before turning back towards Katran. "You two work in your people's government?"
She chortled softly. "I've been on several diplomatic missions on behalf of the Federation, if that's what you mean."
Jack started nodding his head around and bent his bottom lip down. "Close enough I guess."
"Coawyn is a district councilor here on Pondor. So yes, I suppose he does work in the government. Although, only at a minor level right now."
The view outside started to slow its advance, as the ship dropped in altitude. A single island came into view as their destination. A large house sat on the front of the island, while dense woods spanned behind it rising into the air.
"That's where we're staying?" Sam asked.
"Yes," replied Katran quite simply.
As the ship drew closer, it spun slightly to face the island directly. As they touched land, Jack and Sam were both surprised to see a short expanse of water separating their landing spot from the island.
"We're not landing on the island itself?" Jack peered over at Katran who was about to turn of the screen they were watching.
She hit a button causing the view outside to vanish and be replaced by the blank wall. "There isn't any place on the main island for a ship of this size."
Jack walked for the door with Katran beside him. Sam followed quickly behind. They went through a small hall before entering the elevator.
The exit opened to reveal the platform they had landed on.
"Won't Coawyn be joining us," asked Sam.
"He's got to secure the ship first and will follow shortly."
It was bright outside as they made their way down a short few steps. Katran walked across the short dock at the bottom to where it butted against a small cave next to the landing platform. She untied a piece of cord from a loop embedded in the rock wall and pulled on it. A small boat, complete with oars, drifted out of the cave with the other end of the cord attached to its bow.
Jack and Sam looked at each other. It wasn't what she hand in mind for transportation after all they had seen thus far. "A row boat?"
The sound of footsteps could be heard behind them. They all turned around to see Coawyn approaching them. He proceeded up to Katran and helped pull the boat around for them to board.
"Steady as you get in," Coawyn cautioned their guests, "the shallow rocks could be painful if you fall in." They both climbed in. Coawyn followed them and sat at the rear with the oars. Katran, entering last with the cord for securing the boat, took the front.
A shove off the roof of the cave with one of the oars, and they were all on their way towards the main island.
Well, thought Jack to himself, at least we finally have a beach side view.
Dinner had been some kind of white seafood meat, green vegetables of some sort, and a red wine like drink that Jack couldn't, for the life of him, remember the name of. It had all been rather nice, and their hosts, Coawyn and Katran, seemed quite interested in the stories about the Goa'uld. The entire series of discussions, along with many more about the Aians, lasted long into the night.
They had returned back to their rooms afterwards when Coawyn became fatigued from the long day. Sam had the room closest to the bathroom in the outside corner of the hall. Jack had the one immediately around the corner, but still on the outside bend. The rooms were nice and consisted of nothing much past a bed and shelves full of old clothes. Sam had a small table and two chairs in her room, leaving Jack with a bookshelf full of leather bound novels.
A knock came from the door distracting Sam from her work. She got from the table's computer terminal to answer it. Opening the door she found Jack on the other side.
"Hi, sir," she said with a smile. "How's it going?"
"Good I guess. Can I come in?" He leaned forwards through the door slightly.
"Oh," she paused, "of course." She stepped away from the door to let him come in. "I was just looking at the material they have about the makeup of their universe. It's quite extensive. I've never seen such recorded detail about the subject before."
To be perfectly honest, she hadn't even imagined the possibility of such knowledge. It was easily thousands of years more advanced than any previous known race had shared with them. The astrophysicist in her was filled with excitement the moment she started scanning through the files.
"Yes," began Jack, "about that. Do you think we have a chance of getting home? I mean, this place is great and all, but what are our real chances?"
She looked up at him from where she had drifted back in front of the computer. Another smile had rapped itself around her face.
"After seeing all this," she indicated back at the screen, "it's only a matter of time."
Jack nodded his head. This was exactly why he came to see Sam. Things hadn't been looking good for them. They had been in the Aian's universe for over a week now, and he was beginning to wonder if they would ever get to visit home again. Sam, naturally, had her scientific abilities working in overdrive. Jack's confidence had been restored.
"Well, don't stay up too late. After all, as soon as we get back we'll just have to go out on another mission." He started to back out the door.
"Actually, this could still take awhile," she stopped him from leaving. "This information explains a lot of things, but it could take weeks or more to have a working plan of action."
This disturbed Jack only slightly. Before, he thought they were doomed unless they happened to find a working stargate somewhere. At least now, it might be possible to construct their own means back.
"Back to work than," he joked as he took a final step out and closed the door to her room.
The next morning, Jack wandered back to Sam's room with a platter full of pastries. He was munching on one in his mouth as a passed through her open door. She looked up from where she was at the computer just as a few crumbs fell.
"Where did you get those?" She could already feel her stomach start to rumble.
"The," he stopped to swallow. "The kitchen."
Sam reached up and grabbed one. "Did you take all of them?"
"There were two of them," he said as a raised the platter up a bit, "so I figured: why not?" He smiled as he picked up one of the larger pastries.
They were sweet, and had a thin layer of cream just underneath the brown crust. Sam couldn't quite place the flavor, but after getting up as early as she did, she didn't much care. What she truly wished they had, was coffee.
I'll have to have a look into that, she thought to herself.
"So," began Jack as he started peering over Sam's shoulder at the computer screen, "find us a way home yet?"
Sam sat her pastry down and began typing into the terminal some. "Their scientific library is a bit bizarre. If I didn't know any better, sir, I would have thought this was some kind of alternate reality."
"Like the mirror?"
"Yes," she replied while continuing to work.
"Uh, what about that trophy cascade failure thing? Wouldn't we have felt that by now?"
She started nodding her head and turned back around in her chair to face him. "Entropic cascade failure. I thought the same thing at first, but the more data of theirs that I go through, the more I find equations based on unprovable variables in this universe."
Jack started coughing and had to turn his head to the side to keep crumbs from falling on Sam. "Went down the wrong way," he explained. "Again, in English, Carter."
"I started thinking back to a theory that light speed isn't constant when multiple dimensions are taken into account. What if these unprovable variables are only such, because they don't exist here. If this information the Aians have is correct, it could be that their universe is interlaced with another."
He suddenly got a very confused face. The whole "alternate you" stuff was weird enough, but to be interlaced, well, just didn't sound like a pleasant experience to Jack.
"So the cascade thing hasn't happened because another set of us are mixed in?"
She looked back at the screen. "Well," she turned again towards Jack, "I don't know that I'd put it quite like that, but the data is a bit confusing to read."
Standing up, Sam picked up what was left of her pastry. "I'm going to go ask Coawyn and Katran if they know much about how this works. Want to join me?"
"As much as I love to watch you work," he half smiled, "I think I'll explore some."
As she started walking down the hall he yelled out, "try not to have too much fun!"
She tried to ignore him, but a faint grin spread across her face. When she reached the end of the hall, she stopped and heard talking from in the kitchen. It could only be the two that lived in the house on a permanent bases.
Sam stepped into the room and looked around. Stove, sink, pans hanging from the ceiling, and a platter of pastries on the counter, but none of the people she needed to talk with.
More chatter drifted through the air. It occurred to Sam that the back side of the kitchen had a few steps leading down into another room. Wandering down those steps, she found both Coawyn and Katran sitting at a table in what appeared to be a solarium. Windows lined the room giving a excellent view of the outside landscaping. Through the left back corner windows, a sudden drop in the yard gave way to the water that surrounded the island.
"Good morning," said Katran, who noticed her entrance. She still sounded exhausted from the night before.
Coawyn turned around slightly startled. He perked up his eyebrows. "Sleep well I hope?"
"Yes, thank you," began Sam as she stepped towards the two and took a seat at the table. "I think I might have an idea about how we got here. It might seem a bit far fetched, but what do you know about multiple universes?"
So do you think it was a crossing? Coawyn watched Sam leave the solarium, and turned to look at Katran for her response.
They had known each other for so long, their telepathic link was almost unconscious. So sure of it, they didn't even think their visitors knew they were telepathic to begin with. Not that it mattered. They were human, and telepathy only worked between other Aians.
I don't know, Katran replied in kind. They do remind me of the way we acted when we accidentally crossed universes.
Coawyn nodded his head as he looked back towards the door leading into the house.
"We should have her compile data about her universe's constants," he said out loud.
Yes, she sighed breathlessly and looked out the window at the water below. If it proves they aren't from this universe, I'm confident the Federation will do all it can to return them.
He watched Katran for a few minutes before standing up. She still looked as sleepy as when they had woken up hours ago, and he knew just what that called for. Walking into the kitchen, he pulled the kettle off the stove and took it to the sink. He filled it up and returned it to the stove. A push of a switch and tap on a button got it cooking. As soon as it was near boiling, he would make them both a large cup of tea.
"You know," Coawyn heard someone say behind him. He turned around to find Katran watching him wait for the water. "If we contact your father, he might be able to talk with some of the local traders. They might have heard, or even seen, something related to a crossing event in the area."
She looked like she was starting to wake up pretty good now. Mention of universe crossings did have that effect on her ever since their first encounter with them. Coawyn had hoped it would slip this time though. At least this time she seemed positive about the topic.
"I'll see if I can get a hold of him from the den."
Nodding, she walked over to a cabinet and pulled down the box of tea. He watched momentarily before noticing Jack wandering around outside the window. Choosing the distraction as good timing, he turned around to go contact his father. Most likely, he would be found back in the Halbrig system, slaving away.
Katran was in the living room talking to Jack about treaties. Sam didn't see much point in it unless they found a way home, but Jack felt confident she could find a way. So, he had her sit in on their discussion. It was really quite boring.
The subject was just turning back to how they would get home when Coawyn entered from the dining room. Not too surprising since it was in the middle of the house, and served as the quickest way to the other side. What was surprising, was the huge grin on his face as he stepped in between their conversation.
"Good news!" He cheered. "Just got done talking with my father, and it seems the council has reviewed your report."
Sam's eyes perked up. "That's..."
Coawyn stopped her with a wave of his hand as he continued. "They've also read the report Katran and I submitted to them separately. Their advisers are in agreement, and we've been authorized to inform you of the details."
Jack hadn't heard of a second report being sent. He looked over at Sam. Unfortunately, she returned the same stare he could only assume he currently had. Katran, however, seemed pleased, although she appeared to be trying to hide it.
"We believe you are a victim of a universe crossing," Coawyn stated to them as he found himself a seat.
"A what?" Both Jack and Sam replied in unison.
"A universe crossing," replied Katran. "It's where you travel from one distinct universe to another."
"We've had dealings with alternate dimensions before. It was in the report," Jack spoke up.
Sam looked at him. "I think they might be talking about something different, sir."
"A crossing, as we've come to know it, is not dimensional travel, but rather planar." Coawyn tried hard to remember the proper wording. "Your entropic cascade failure, I was told, is an effect of dimensional travel within the same plane. You coming to our universe was likely a switch in plane for you, thus you have survived your many weeks with us."
"I've never heard of alternate planes before. Are you sure they exists? I mean, alternate dimensions were predicted and proven in our universe with the use of worm holes. How would planes work?"
Coawyn regarded Sam for a moment. It was a good question, and not one he was confident enough to answer. He decided to start with the basics of his knowledge, and proceed into his experience. "I'm not a researcher, so forgive my lack of information. What I do know, is that Aians are not originally from this universe. We traveled here from another in what was called a crossing. General knowledge is that we haven't had any crossings since. They were difficult to accomplish the first time, and most of the information was lost long ago."
Coawyn appeared to pause. "But," Jack urged him on in the direction he thought would be coming. Sam was already on the edge of her seat.
"But," Coawyn sighed and looked to Katran for support. She nodded her head for him to continue. "Crossings have actually happened many times since than. Not often enough for people to become suspicious, but enough that a few inside the Federation try their best to keep it a secret. Katran and myself were involved with one when our ship crossed unexpectedly. The crossing appeared as a cloud in space, nothing more. My father learned of them at the same time."
"Sounds sort of like how we've hidden our stargate from the rest of Earth," replied Sam.
"Our government felt it better that way for reasons of security," Jack explained to them.
Katran nodded at them. "It's the same with the Federation. We may be a powerful nation, but the universe is still quite large. As far as we know, the Federation is the only nation that has ever tried, let alone performed, a crossing."
"The good news for you two," Coawyn indicated both Sam and Jack, "is that intelligence leads us to believe the base you were captured on was involved in crossing research."
"And how does that help us get home," demanded Jack.
Coawyn grinned at him. Jack was just too much fun sometimes. "They believe they've found another base belonging to the same group of individuals. A battle group is being sent, and they want us on the flagship encase a chance for you to return home presents itself."
"That's not good news," exclaimed Jack as he stood up. "That's great news!"
"When do we join them," questioned Sam who was excited but not fanatic.
Katran looked over at Coawyn, and then turned back to Sam. "As soon as we gather our stuff for the journey."
They were all standing up now to join Jack. A smile was on everyones face. The time spent together was not unpleasant, but it was beginning to wear thin. Four adults trapped in one house was just not something people were used to having thrown at them.
Sam proceeded over to Coawyn. "Any chance I could get access to some of the secret information?"
He nodded his head. "They did say we were authorized to share."
The journey back to the Bazec Ship Yards was uneventful. Waiting for a military shuttle, was even more uneventful. And now, stepping off of the shuttle's ramp proved to, yet again, be without fan fair.
The small room the shuttle had descended into was almost too small for the landing procedure. Mere yards separated them from the solid looking walls, and Jack doubt the shuttle could withstand knocking into them. Not that the shuttle didn't seem overly built, but the huge door that had opened in the capital ship to allow their entry were simply massive.
Jack played it back through his mind; seeing the huge section of the ship's wing rise up what must have been two or more yards. After coming to a stop, the hull section rolled across the capital ship's exterior revealing a deep opening into its depth.
He shock his head. They were now heading for the hatch directly in front of where the shuttle ramp rested. It slid open as a woman, dressed in a gray uniform with orange strips, approached them. She beckoned at Coawyn who simply nodded at Katran before rushing off with the uniformed woman.
"So," began Sam as the remaining three reached the hatch, "where are they headed?"
They continued through and proceeded down a long hallway. Katran lead them to a stop before a double door. "The ship's Commanding Officer, Dayniel, wanted a meeting before the battle group begins its mission."
"Oh."
A moment later the double doors opened and they all stepped in. Handles hung from the ceiling giving the small room a subway like feel. Sure enough, as soon as the door behind them slid shut, they felt the room lurch. A series of lights along the walls indicated their movement.
"I just realized something," spoke up Jack as they rode along. He turned to face Katran, "none of your ships have designation markings. I mean, what's the name of this ship for example?"
She perk her eyes up briefly. "This is the Aian Mass Forces' ship Agumon. The same ship that picked you up on Ty'Med if I remember right."
He nodded his head. "I thought so."
Sam shot him a questioning look.
"The corridors looked familiar," he shrugged back.
"Councilor Coawyn, ma'am," announced his escort.
Dayniel pivoted around in her chair to face them. "That will be all."
The woman nodded her head and turned around. The door to Dayniel's office slid close behind her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Councilor," she smiled.
"The same for me. Not often I get to meet personally with one of the militaries finest." Coawyn proceeded closer and took a seat across from her desk.
Dayniel shifted slightly in her seat. "Checking up on me have you?"
"I like to go through all the information I can before I do something." He tilted his head slightly to the side. "Speaking of information, I assume you wanted to meet to discuss our visitors?"
"Yes. Actually, I wanted to hear your opinion on them. Specifically, since we both have clearance, what is their involvement in crossings?" She made direct eye contact, daring him to spin a story.
"Well," he cleared his throat, "I believe they truly are from another universe. They've supplied enough information, I'd find it hard to generate such details off-hand myself."
"But, are they trustworthy?"
"I let them live in my house. How much more do you need?" He fired back hoping to end that line of conversation.
Dayniel inhaled deeply and looked down at one of her visual displays. "We have their equipment, and the hope is that they can use it when we deploy to the planet. I've been given five destroyers as part of this battle group, and as soon as our visitors find their way home, we're going to eliminate any threat to the Federation." She paused to let it all sink in. "To be perfectly honest, if we don't find them a way back on this planet, they might not ever."
"What do you mean?"
"Intelligence suggests that the Union might be involved with these rouge bases. It's likely they'll shutdown any other operations on neighboring planets when word gets back after this mission."
"Hmm," thought Coawyn out loud. "Why would the Union be researching crossing technology? They've never expressed an interest in it before."
"I don't know," replied Dayniel, "I'm just following orders. But, my thoughts are that they aren't researching crossings, rather some kind of territorial denial weapon."
Coawyn perked up at the suggestion. The idea that the research bases were attempting to generate some sort of weapon of mass capabilities was surprising. It would, however, be useful since the Union was constantly trying to peon off their fringe planet problems onto others. A weapon of such magnitude would be just strange enough that few would suspect the Union of committing such an act. Many might even suspect the Federation because of its close proximity with some of the fringe planets.
"That seems a bit extreme. Don't you think?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps, but the indirectness is like them. I guess we'll find out when we reach the base."
A slight beeping began in the office, and Dayniel pressed a button on her desk's console. "We'll be leaving shortly. Have the ship's computer lead your group to Ground Chief Vandule. He'll get you situated."
Coawyn stood up from his seat. "Thank you, Captain."
I can't believe they're letting us have our equipment back, thought Jack to himself. It certainty feels good to be gearing up though.
Jack and Sam were in different preparation rooms. All their stuff was returned to them, and they spent quite a few minutes inspecting it for damage. The Aians had dissected everything, of course. But, as long as the uniforms didn't split their seams, and the P90s still fired their cartridges, who was to complain?
Sam managed to step out from her room at the same time as Jack. She looked over at him as she was still clipping her P90 to its harness. Jack, on the other hand, was making sure his ammunition clips were intact.
"Nice to be back to our Air Force selves again aye, Carter?" He patted his uniform pants legs.
She smiled. "Those Aian clothes weren't all that bad, sir."
"Still," he began as he stretched a bit, "this is going amazingly better than if it were the Goa'uld."
"I think the Aians are in a different category from the Goa'uld."
He shrugged as they both started heading down the short hallway. Many doors lined both sides of the hall leading to other preparation rooms. Entering the far door, they met back with Coawyn, and Katran, now clad in Aian combat armor. The Agumon's Ground Chief, Vandule, was also there waiting, although not in armor. Vandule was decent enough, but he always had people coming up to him, either to speak to him, or be spoken to.
Jack pointed his finger over at a young woman who approached Vandule. "So is he always this busy?"
Coawyn couldn't help but laugh. "We're on board the lead vessel, of a battle group, about to investigate an alien base. I'm surprised he has time for us at all."
"I suppose when you put it that way," Jack eyed Vandule more carefully as he worked with his fellow crew member.
Finishing his conversation with the young woman, Vandule gestured for them to follow him through a wide hatchway. The two members of SG-1 recognized the other side immediately. It was the hangar room they had first arrived from Ty'Med through. Row after row of drop ships lined the entire space, and Sam managed her first glance at the airlock doors that sat beneath each ship. She also recognized a group of people preparing their gear in front of the drop ships.
"Sir, I could be mistaken, but that looks like the squad that captured us on Ty'Med."
Katran overhead Sam's comment and sped up her walking until she was beside Vandule. Speaking briefly with him in Aian, she dropped back to where Jack was watching beside Sam.
"You are correct in your assessment. The squad leader is a Lieutenant Corporal Lanosa. Vandule has her assigned as part of the initial incursion force."
Jack nodded his appreciation. "Nice having her on our side this time."
Coawyn, having nothing better to do, began a conversation with Vandule. He decided to cover what team they would be joining to the surface, and exactly what situations they might encounter. They would need to know that information eventually, and, overall, Coawyn was going to have to repeat it later to Jack and Sam. For once, English was becoming more trouble to know than learning it was.
"Sensor drones show direct hits on all targets," informed Milsia from her tactical station.
Previously, they sent in high speed passive sensor drones designed to gather data and not be detected by the enemy. They showed a planet not unlike that of Ty'Med. A large base complex stood out on the surface, just as before, but this time a small fleet of capital ships hung in orbit. The passive data returned from the drones indicated the ships to be of Union origin, but since the drones sped through the system so fast, information about their activity was not possible.
The drones they were now receiving data from were sent in just behind a missile barrage. They slowed, and some even went into orbit. Still remaining passive, of course, they enabled greater detail of information as events unfolded.
The orbiting fleet was greatly damaged by the missiles. But, they remained around the planet as the drones were now able to detect shuttles coming and going from the planet's surface.
"Have the battle group proceed and intercept. Standing orders are to apprehend if possible," ordered Dayniel.
"Aye," replied Gunthar who began typing into his console.
"Captain, sensors are now indicating shuttle activity between the enemy fleet and the planet." Milsia was still scanning through the information as she reported.
"There going to make a run out of the system?" Gunthar questioned as he looked to Dayniel. She raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think so, sir," Milsia came back, "the shuttles are going in both directions."
"There must be something of importance that they would risk them selves." Dayniel began entering commands into her console. "I want the destroyers to swing around and flank the enemy fleet. The Agumon and one Tagra class will proceed straight in to contain the planet."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll have the ground forces prepare for immediate disembarkation as soon as we reach orbit," concurred Gunthar.
The main view screen showed a tactical layout of the planetary area. Four destroyers, the bulk of the battle group, were shown beginning to engage the enemy ships. The initial information being shown indicated the Aian fleet having the advantage. So much so that the enemy capital ships started spreading their orbits apart to avoid battle. They still fired missiles at the Aian ships, but those that got past the destroyers' defensive grid simply detonated against think armor like eggs hitting stone. To the enemy's credit, however, it was preventing their engines from being disabled, and instead forced the Aian forces to try and take out weapon systems first. Systems that were quickly discovered to be more heavily armored than normal.
"Start jamming all frequencies, and launch chaff at the enemy formations," ordered Dayniel. It was an extreme move, but if it worked, the enemy would lose all means of communication. Without broadcast frequencies, they would be forced to use point-to-point, and if the chaff did its job, that would fail also as the floating material would constantly interrupt their reception.
"I'm launching communication drones to help boost communications within the battle group," announced Gunthar. The idea being to prevent any chaff from interfering with their own coordination efforts.
"Have the ground forces proceed as soon as we're within range," Dayniel looked back to see Milsia already relaying the order. "I also want a barrage sent down on anything that looks like surface-to-air weaponry."
"Aye, the first salvo is already prepared."
"So how is this going to work," Jack questioned as he finished strapping himself into the drop ship.
Coawyn sat beside him, while Sam sat next to Jack, and Katran beside Sam. He looked carefully to make sure they had all figured out the restraints before answering. "As the drop ships start their decent, a salvo will be fired at the surface to ensure we make it down in one piece."
Sam nodded her head in understanding. "Kind of like on Ty'Med."
"Actually," began Katran, "with Ty'Med, they decided to take out all they could from orbit. The ground forces were sent in later to cleanup."
"Oh," replied Jack, "so what is the goal this time?"
Coawyn nodded his head at the last person to enter the ship before the hatch was sealed. "Multiple squads will proceed in ahead of us and clear a path through the base. We'll follow along and assist against any opposition. Otherwise, the goal is to find any technology that could get you two home, and hopefully figure out what's been going on out here."
Jack gave a sly smile. "Isn't secret keeping grand?"
Sam rolled her eyes, but no one noticed as a female voice filled the intercom with Aian language. A hissing noise filled the drop ship soon after the announcement ended, and all the lights went out with their immanent launch. Without further warning, acceleration forced everyone against their harnesses as the ship dropped.
Explosions rained shrapnel against the drop ship as the Agumon and its escort destroyer intercepted weapons fire intended for the ground force. It all soon died down, however, as the drop ship began its decent through the atmosphere.
A loud bang rang through the drop ship's deck worrying Jack and Sam that they had been hit. It all became clear to them, when the exit ramp began lowering, that they had actually reached ground quite suddenly.
"Is it always so abrupt?" Sam looked first as Coawyn followed by Katran.
Coawyn simply groaned in response.
"I'd take that as a yes, Major," spoke up Jack.
All the other troops had filed out of the ship as the four who were talked followed down the ramp. It was daylight, and the weather was like a roasting oven. Unlike Ty'Med, not a single planet could be seen at all. Instead, rocks and boulders littered the surface. Strange looking equipment sat looking abandoned ahead of them. Large metal doors lined the edge of a clay hill rising high into the sky. No doubt their mission target, the rouge base.
Squads from other drop ships could already be seen breaching the bases entrance. Plumes of smoke could be seen in the far distance. Likely the result of where the base's air defenses were destroyed. Shooting soon echoed from inside the base as the first defenders were encountered.
"Come on, lets join the others," spoke Jack as he made his way forward. The three Aian soldiers proceeded by taking point and flank positions.
As the seven of them approached the base's main entrance, an explosion echoed from its heart. A squad of Aians quickly rushed through their group and headed into the base. Likely as reinforcements not willing to waist time in formalities.
Not like they can't handle themselves, thought Jack.
"This way," informed Katran as they walked cautiously into the dim depths and turned left. She had a portable computer with her that was linked to the Aian battle network. It gave her the same information as the Agumon's Ground Chief, Vandule, along with what everyones current orders were.
Suddenly, one of the side doors on the hallway they were in flew open. Everyone dropped quickly to the floor as the soldier at point fired his rifle. A single man fell from the door, still clutching his own weapon unfired.
They all slowly stood back up as the room the door connected to was checked. Continuing on, it became obvious the room was nothing more than a utility closet as they passed it. The attack, nothing more than a last minute failed ambush.
"Full length rifle, you'd think the people at this base would be smarter than using weapons to large for close combat," remarked Coawyn.
"I try not to think too much about the stupidity of the enemy myself. Don't want to jinx anything," grinned Jack, still holding his P90 at ready.
As if to emphasize the point, Katran chimed in, "The Ground Chief is reporting that two of our squads are being held off from entering a lab three levels below us. Could be something important in there. He says all the other base defenses have been collapsing pretty consistently up to this point."
"Where to?" Coawyn asked while bringing his own weapon to ready.
Weapons fire echoed down the hallway from the fierce battle. Chunks of wall-plaster fell indicating the room containing the firefight. Inside, the two squads of Aians were busy laying down suppressing fire, while attempting to advance. The enemy, about a dozen humans, as far as could be seen, were heavily embedded behind a series of doors on the opposite wall.
The three soldiers who were escorting, dove right into the room to reinforce the covering fire. Jack and Sam followed closely behind firing their P90s the entire way.
Coawyn and Katran, for their part, decided to stick low to the ground and avoid as much as possible. They simply weren't trained in combat, and felt that now was not the time to risk getting shot. After all, the room was crawling with Aian troops, quite literally in some cases, so it seemed doubtful to them that they could lend much help.
It looks like our guests know how to pull their own weight, thought Coawyn as he watched Sam follow Jack right up to the front line.
Seems that way, replied Katran as she observed the two take careful aim at their targets.
The base defenders were finding it harder and harder to get shots off without swarms of bullets flying back at them. Just as soon as they had managed to wing one of the Aian attackers, another Aian managed to get a grenade tossed through the doorway. It exploded in a rain of sparks and shrapnel that sent at least one of the enemy flying out from behind their barricade.
"Sir, look out!" Yelled Sam as she spotted one of the enemy troops preparing to throw what she assumed was a grenade. Just as the man was heaving back for the throw, a loud roar of heavy weapons fire poured into his armor and ripped through his chest. His body was thrown backwards out of sight by the power of the hits.
Both Jack and Sam turned around quickly to see seven Aians make their way into the firefight. At least they assumed they were Aian. The squad wore similar uniforms to the other troops, but with much thinker armor plating. The one standing in the middle of the group yelled out in a deep male voice. Although in the Aian language, there was no mistaking a cry of charge.
One after another, the seven warriors began their advance. Their weapons let out a monstrous blast at every pull of the trigger. Standing tall against the other Aians, enemy fire literally bounced off their think helmets and armor plating. Even the large rifles they carried seemed unaffected by any hits they sustained.
"The marines have arrived!" Shouted Jack as the squads leader came to a stop next to him.
The heavily armored Aian looked down at Jack and Sam briefly. A stray bullet glanced off his shoulder causing him to turn back up and raise his rifle to a slight angle towards the enemy barricade. He fired a single projectile through the door where a split second later it exploded.
Debris whizzed past Jack's head. "A warning would have been nice," said Jack sarcastically.
Totally ignoring him, the squad's leader continued towards the now silent doorway. The pile of desks and other equipment that blocked the door now blown apart by the grenade blast.
The two squads of Aians, that had so recently been at a deadlock with the enemy, now proceeded out of the war torn room and followed after the advancing heavy squad.
"Should we follow?" Questioned Sam as she watched them enter the other room.
Jack had to think about it for a moment. "I think they have things under control."
Coawyn and Katran came up just as Jack was standing up. The three escorts were back to keeping watch for the other four. Sam came up beside them.
"Shall we follow after and see what the heavy defense was about," offered Katran as she made her way forward.
Everyone else began to follow minus Jack. Noticing this, Sam decided to stop and wait for her commanding officer to make up his mind. She tried not to look to desperate for him to follow Katran.
"Right," responded Jack while trying to ignore Sam.
The next room was completely trashed. Bullet holes, and burning rubble littered everything. There was even a small crater in the floor from a grenade blast. Two different hallways branched out from one corner of the room. One echoed the sounds of weapons fire, while the other remained remarkably quiet.
"I'm guessing the three squads must have chanced the enemy down that hall," Sam pointed towards the echoing weapons fire. "Maybe this other hall leads to what they were guarding?"
"You don't think they'd retreat back to what they were guarding?" asked Coawyn.
Jack couldn't help but chuckle. "After your militaries performance? I'd be running my ass off towards the nearest exit."
Katran stared at him briefly before shacking her head. "Come on."
The hallway had an eerie silence to it. The seven could hear their own foot steps distinctly no matter how softly they tread. Everything else, however, just seemed to absorb sound. Weapons fire could be heard, even shouting, distantly behind them, but as soon as an echo would start it would stop even sooner.
The lights they carried lit well defined areas of the walls and floor. As if unable to tell a secret, they couldn't quite see the difference between a small alcove in the wall and a door into another room. They were forced to move much slower or risk another ambush.
Without warning, the point Aian of their escort came to a stop and raised his hand indicating quiet. The other soldier behind him, and the third who was bringing up the rear, silently dropped to one knee with their weapons ready for anything. A small shinny object dropped from the high darkness of one of the alcoves ahead of them. It landed in the middle of the hallway echoing a metallic sound as it gently rolled a few feet. The two soldier up front started yelling in their native language as they dove against the side walls.
Katran's eyes went wide as she watched the object fall, and as soon as the Aian troops started diving, she dropped flat to the ground herself. "Grenade," she shouted as best she could while half out of breath.
Coawyn was already dropping down beside her, while Jack and Sam ducked against the hallway walls. The grenade detonated sending shrapnel flying above everyone's heads. Parts of the ceiling cracked and moaned and large chucks started falling from above where the blast was.
Luckily, very little fire was emitted which would have been bad in such a confined space. Unfortunately, both of the Aian troops up front caught shrapnel in the legs and arms. One seriously from the sounds of things. Even Coawyn managed to get hit in the shoulder, though he didn't seem to notice.
Sam rushed up to the two wounded soldiers with Jack in tow. The passageway ahead of them was nearly completely blocked now. Though the still falling debris, however, Sam was able to make out a two legged creature with four arms. It looked briefly at her before turning down the hallway. Two larger creatures, with four legs each and only two arms, followed quickly after into the dust. The passageway now had enough fallen ceiling to block the way entirely.
"Sir," spoke up Sam as she pointed at the vanishing beings, "did you see that?" She looked back at him as she sat down and pulled out her medically kit.
"Kind of nasty looking fellas," responded Jack as he pulled some chucks of debris from the soldiers.
Coawyn ran up behind them to help and overheard Jack. "What did you see?"
Sam looked up at him as he handed her some antiseptic. "You're wounded," she gestured at his shoulder.
"I'll be fine," he responded as he looked expectantly at Jack.
"Well," began Jack, "two big apes with four legs, oh, and a tall four armed giant," he started to drift off, "anyway, it looked like they were making a hasty retreat after the grenade blast covered them."
"Tan'ek've," muttered Coawyn under his breath.
"Tel Aviv?" Jack glanced at him, but was ignored.
It seemed like hours had passed by. Everyone's wounds were tended too, and an entire squad of Aian's were sent to replace the three escorts. The hallway was basically a disaster area, but not a shiver of instability could be felt. The passageway had sealed itself solid.
Coawyn stood from where he was resting and started looking around. "The Tan'ek've are a very evasive race. If this is one of their facilities, they'll have hidden passages."
Jack and Sam were checking to see if the passage way could be cleared. Not seeing anyway through, they leaned back and watched Coawyn work. He was running his hands all over the walls now.
"You don't believe what we saw were," Jack tried to remember their name, "these creatures, do you?"
Coawyn sighed and turned around. "It's not that I don't believe you," he began.
"It's just," interrupted Katran, "the Tan'ek've have kept to them selves in the past. Their territory is entirely on the other end of Aian space."
"It would be more likely, and the opinion of Aian intelligence, that the neighboring Union government would be involved," continued Coawyn.
Sam let slip a brief laugh before clamming up at Jack's glare. He turned back to Coawyn, "You know, back where we come from, military intelligence is considered an oxymoron."
Sliding past Coawyn, Sam started searching the walls where the effort was left off.
Coawyn raised an eyebrow as he thought of how Jack's statement might effect the situation. "Perhaps you're right, but the Union has been an opposing force to the Federation for quite a few years now. I wouldn't put it past them to try something indirectly."
Sam suddenly stopped. "Sir, I think I might have found something," she announced as she pressed her hand into a spot where the wall gave.
Sensing Coawyn's annoyance that it probably isn't the Union, Katran decided to offer some comfort. "Look at it this way, we're learning something new about the Tan'ek've."
Coawyn sucked in a big breath as he approached the new doorway as it opened. "True. I just hope we're prepared."
The passageway on the other side of the door ran a short distance before opening up into a large room. Equipment filled the room with blinking lights and low beeps. Pipes and tubing ran along parts of the floor and across the ceiling. Over all, it seemed very familiar to Jack.
"Carter, why am I getting a bad case of deja vu about this place," Jack turned to see Sam already fiddling with some of the equipment. She looked up and around at the room.
"Nearly everything looks arranged like back on Ty'Med," she replied. Walking around some of the equipment, she wondered around before stopping amid a bunch of thick piping along the floor.
"I think this is where we would have landed from the explosion, so," she spun around and faced a blank wall, "the stargate would have been there," she pointed.
Jack stumbled his way over beside her. "That's what I was afraid of."
Katran, who had been wondering around looking at all the computer displays with Coawyn, suddenly looked up. "Afraid of what?"
Sam tilted her head over, "the stargate isn't here. Or, at least, nothing that would likely have any hope of functioning like one."
Coawyn started laughing. He reached across a panel and hit a single gray button. The wall SG-1 had been staring at started to sink into the floor revealing a large nasty looking black machine. "No need to completely loose hope."
Sam quickly stepped up next to the giant machine and started circling around it. Much of its color seemed to be natural to the material used. Tubing and wiring hung off the sides like vines. The back side, however, had a round opening large enough for three people to walk into. The inside converged back into a funnel that defiantly wasn't wormhole shaped, but was lined with strange rubbery fins.
"Well Carter?" Jack asked loud enough to cause Sam to nearly fall over from where she knelt.
She turned to look up at him. "I've never seen anything like it. The outer rim has a similar design to that of the stargate, but the rest is mostly alien." Standing up, she continued, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was designed to create a vortex of some kind."
"Kind of like a wormhole, Major?" Jack looked at her expectantly.
"If you remember, wormholes sort of bubble out and annihilate anything in the way. This looks more like for a controlled whirlpool effect behind any event horizon."
"The effect Katran and myself saw looked sort of like a whirlpool," Coawyn informed them as he stepped around the machine to them.
"You've seen a machine like this before," asked Jack as he looked at him sideways.
"No," Coawyn corrected, "but a crossing effect has many qualities like that of a whirlpool. You need more than just a wormhole to get home after all. Maybe this is it."
They stared at the device more. It was bazaar looking, alien, had weird looking pieces, and generally the kind of thing SG-1 has had to deal with before.
"Okay," Jack finally got tired of waiting, "what's our chances of getting this thing turned on?"
Sam looked away trying to think of an answer, while Coawyn had a half-smile on his face. Jack groaned.
"The computer interface is partly in English. We should be able to figure it out." He gestured for them to follow him back to where Katran was already at work.
"This display," Katran pointed to her side as the others joined her, "seems to indicate that it will take a little over two hours for everything to warm up."
"Seems like we've already been here half the day, what's another two hours," quipped Jack.
"Councilor," came the female voice of the squad's Lieutenant Corporal, "since my squad's been assigned as your escort, I thought I better let you know," she hesitated.
"What is it?" Coawyn didn't like the tone of her voice.
"We've found explosives hidden in several alcoves in this room. I think who ever built this place intended to be able to destroy it also."
"Can you disarm them?"
"No. The design is that where a remote mechanism is embedded inside the explosive material. Any attempt to move them will also cause detonation."
"Popular on the fringe no doubt," Coawyn let slip.
"Yes, sir," replied the Lieutenant Corporal.
"I wonder why they didn't trigger them when they were making their escape."
"Perhaps the detonator was faulty. They were in a hurry," she replied before heading towards a soldier who had called for her.
Coawyn sucked in a deep breath before heading over to where Katran and Sam were working on the computer. Sam seemed to be doing most of the work as Katran smiled at Coawyn's approach.
"Uh oh," announced Sam as she stopped typing.
Jack jumped up from where he was reclining against some piping. "Uh oh?"
"If, and I stress if," she looked up and then back down at the screen, "I'm reading this correctly, the room is rigged to blow five minutes after the device activates fully. Apparently, it's some kind of failsafe that's manually shutdown after activation."
"I think you read it right," replied Coawyn as everyone turned to listen. "I was just informed that our escorts have found explosives planted all through out this room."
"Can they be disarmed?" Jack asked, doubtful the answer would be good or else the Aian's would have done it already.
"They're of a design that can't be tampered or moved without serious risk."
"Okay, can we stop the device from activating and move it somewhere else?"
Sam shook her head. "So far, I haven't seen a shutdown procedure."
"Well keep looking," ordered Jack.
"Sir, this is probably our only chance of getting home." She watched as he remained quiet. "Assuming the explosives don't go off immediately, I think our best option is to wait for the device to activate and go through it."
Jack squinted his eyes as Sam. The plan didn't sound like it came with a backup. "That's an awfully big assumption. I'm guessing it leaves us without a plan B too?"
She looked down at the clock ticking down briefly. "That is plan B."
He jerked back surprised, "It is? What was plan A?"
"When has plan A ever worked?"
"Hey," broke in Coawyn, "if that's your decision on how to proceed, I think everyone else in the base is going to have to evacuate. Correct?" He looked back and forth across the three in front of him.
Katran had a less than hopeful look on her face. It sounded like a pretty bad idea to her, but nothing better came to mind. "I'll contact the Ground Chief."
"Alright, it's your call. I'm ordering the evacuation now," Dayniel gestured at Gunthar to follow the order through. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, good luck," she watched as they both seemed to understand their names being mentioned and nodded. Dayniel reached across her armrest and switched the link closed.
"I've relayed your order to the Ground Chief. He estimates all personnel should be clear in time," Gunthar informed.
"Captain, long range drones are detecting a ship taking off on the other side of the planet," Milsia alerted.
Dayniel turned to face her. "Can we identify it?"
"No, ma'am, nothing like it is listed in our computer system." A beep started sounding from Milsia's console alerting her of new data. "The ship is accelerating quickly away from the planet and heading out of the system. It's course doesn't take it to any known destinations."
Dayniel raised an eyebrow in Gunthar's direction. He stared back, the unspoken question shared between them. First the spotting of Tan'ek've on the surface, and now the departure of an alien ship on a strange course.
"So, Carter, seriously now, what do you figure our chances of getting home are?" Jack was getting bored waiting, and felt the question needed to be asked.
"No worse than any other time in past situations," she replied quickly.
Jack watched her carefully as she worked away at the alien equipment. "You don't think the device will work?"
She looked up at him with a sly smile. "No, I think the device is likely to work fine. It's where we arrive that I'm worried about. There's no kind of coordinate system at all on this thing. I only hope it homes in on a stargate somewhere..."
"That isn't either populated by Goa'uld, or possibly worse," he finished her sentence.
Sam nodded her head. She walked around some of the equipment, and came beside Jack. "The device will fully activate in a few moments. We should get ready," she lead the way around towards the open end of the device facing towards a solid wall.
"So, should we be worried about standing here at the face of the opening?"
"I don't think so. The indication I got was that it opens from within the funnel."
"Ah," replied Jack as he noticed blue swirling clouds beginning to form inside it.
The whole machine began to whine an eerie sound. Smoke started hissing out the sides as more colored gas swirled out. Clicking noises echoed out as a few sparks jumped across the device's surface. The smell of ozone filled the room as an emerald liquid began to form across the opening of the device. It looked similar to the stargate's event horizon in many ways, but had a semitransparent quality to it that made it stand out different.
The entire contraption looked dangerous to Jack, but the sound of beeping starting up all around the room reminded him that the room was rigged to blow. He looked to his side at Sam.
"I think the effect is starting to stabilize. That should be when we need to enter it." She never took her eyes off it.
"You're sure?" He asked, but didn't get an response.
The beeping from the explosive lined room was becoming more insistent. It was as if it was desperately trying to be heard. Both Jack and Sam's ears were beginning to ring from all the racket.
Sam brought her P90 up in front of her. Jack, upon seeing her, did the same.
"Now," was all Sam said as they both stepped into the alien devices opening and into the death like grip of its effect. Scorching heat could be felt behind them.
"You managed to destroy a stargate, Jack." Jacob stood astonished at the damage, "and without blowing up half the planet. How do you manage to get yourself into these messes?"
Jack sat on some of the rubble waiting for the older man to finish his complaining. "I managed to get your daughter home safely, didn't I?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for that. You two have been missing for more weeks than I like to think about, but still, you managed to break the top clear off," he waved his hand in an arc in the direction where the base of the 'gate was. Pieces of the smooth metal from the top lay scattered all around it.
Jack tilted his head in acknowledgment of the feat. It was definitely a new one to add to their list. The debriefing back at base was sure to be a long one, but worth it if only to be back home.
"I think Sam's waiting for us back at the ship," Jack stood up and gestured past behind Jacob.
The End.
That was my very first complete story. Ruffly forty-three pages that took around four months of on and off work while handling a full-time job. I'm pleased with how it turned out.
I'm sure it could use a good editor, and I'm always open to receiving reviews. In fact, please submit a review if you read it. At the very least, leave a brief word on whether you liked it, thought it was slow, not your taste, or whatever. Even if its been months and months since I last updated it, I can guarantee you that I'll read your opinion and take it into account in my future work.
Thank you for your time,
- Armon