STARMAGE
***
"What's wrong?" Captain Matthew Gideon asked his second in command,
Lt. Matheson.
"Reports from the computers have been jumping dramatically from one
conclusion to another, and as of yet, there's still no explanation for
that... 'cloud', I think Max called it." The telepath answered.
Gideon looked at the strange 'cloud' covering the general area where
they would have to jump to normal space. As much as he hated it, he
had to admit the Archeologist had chosen a good name.
Made out of unknown particles and throwing of various degrees of
energy levels, the cloud was blocking the next possible area for the
Excalibur to arrive at a recently-contacted planet, which, if rumors
were true, had not only managed to fend of the Shadows for countless
years, but survived an infectation attempt made by the elder race.
"Galen, I know you can hear me, so tell me, have you encountered
something like this before?" Mathew asked to the air.
They waited a moment before a small hologram of the technomage, the
size of Matthew's head, appeared floating before them.
"Matthew, if you think I will be at your disposal every time you
find something STRANGE floating around in either Hyperspace or Space,
think again! This IS an exploration ship, after all, filled from
point to end with snotty archeologists, a rather large group of
so-called scientists AND military trained personel." The small
apparition lectured them.
Gideon sighed. "Yes, I know, Galen, but that doesn't answer my question.
Have you encountered anything like it?"
Galen glared at him from under his hood. Or at least the apparition
did, Gideon didn't know or care if it was really Galen he was talking
to or just a figment of the Technomage's spell. "I will let you know
that interrupting-"
"Yes or no will suffice." Gideon grunted.
"No." the apparition admited rather grumpily. "However, unlike your
current group of... advisors, I have actually managed to find out a
little of the 'cloud' as you so imaginatevly decided to call it."
Gideon and Matheson exchanged glances. "And what would that be?" the
captain asked.
The small hologram conjured up another holografic display (bigger
than himself) for their benefit. It clearly showed the expanse of
the 'cloud' around the area they intended to cross. "Other than the
sudden jumps of energy, we have nothing to worry about, if we time
it right." Galen started explaining.
"Only if we time it right?" Gideon asked wearily. "What do you have
in mind, Galen?"
Galen glanced at them askance. "Well, I believe it's quite obvious,
isn't it?"
"You expect us to jump right in?!" Matheson asked the small hologram.
"Good, I was beginning to think I had assumed wrong when I decided that
the crew had intelectual capabilities."
"Galen..." Gideon warned.
"It's bloody obvious, while the jumps in the energy signature vary
greatly, they follow a certain order, immediately after the highest
surge, the energy goes down to almost zero difference with the normal
energy waves of Hyperspace." Galen explained.
Matheson went to check the Technomage's observation, and came back
after a few seconds.
"The Technomage is right," he said, showing the analysis with a small
device. "Timing it right, we can open the Jumpgate and cross it
before the next energy surge ."
Gideon considered it. "Well, it's not as if we had all the time in the
universe... let's go! Calculate the maneuver, Lieutenant, we'll take
the chance."
Matheson nodded and went to consult the operators.
Gideon glanced at the small hologram, which was quite labouriously
jumping from monitor to monitor, and generally annoying everyone in
the bridge. "Thanks, Galen, I think you should go back to that
important analysis you were working on that I interrupted."
The technomage's hologram glared at him, then disappeared.
Matheson returned after a moment. "We'll need a few minutes to charge
the gate, but it'll be at least half an hour before the next energy
jump."
Gideon nodded. "I'll go check on Galen... he seemed very annoyed this
time. And I'd like to know what's happening in my ship at all times."
***
Galen was, in fact, occupied. He barely noticed his small hologram had
left the bridge after making a nuisance out of itself.
Good.
Now they should leave him alone for the few minutes necessary to activate
everything needed for the spell of capturing.
This was a very delicate procedure, since he would literally 'capture'
a piece of the cloud in a sphere of energy containing it in a similar
envyronment for further study. The envyronment being Hyperspace, it
required a LOT of concentration, as well as hundreds of protecting
programs and spells.
Stopping one last time to re-check everything, he started his spell.
Summoning in his minds eye the blank screen where he would visualize de
ecuations for a modified spell of shielding, starting with the most
powerfull of the variants. The shorter the spell variation the more
powerfull it would be.
Galen waited calmly for the peak to drop, as the information had
predicted. When it did, he cast the spell on his mind's eye, letting
the Tech send the energy out of the Excalibur and into space.
A part of his mind noted that Gideon had entered the landing bay
where he was, but was wisely waiting for him to finish, and staying in
the doorway... however, something went wrong. Suddenly the cloud
exploded in energy, breaking the original order and rebounding the
energy back to Galen.
As the energy cackled, Gideon had just a one-second-clear view of
Galen, before the circle around him exploded, filling everything with
smoke.
Gideon ran towards the circle, but didn't step farther into it,
fearfull of what the Mage had cast to protect himself.
When the smoke cleared, he could clearly see the unconcious figure
lying on the floor.
He cursed.
***
The bright flash of light that had blinded him, finally subsided, and
as Galen looked around he was suddenly surrounded by the clicking of
various guns of diverse types being pointed at him.
"Damn." he swore, unconciously mimicking Gideon's same expression.
***
"Results, Doctor?" Gideon asked, aproaching the dark-skinned woman.
She looked at him over her shoulder. "Oh, well, he's genetically
speaking, human... as well as in appearance and physical examinations."
"So he's human." Gideon summed up, getting closer to the crystal to
take a look at their new 'guest'. "What's with the military gettup?"
"I don't know, but the firearms he carried were original."
Gideon arched an eyebrow. "Original? How so?"
"Well, I had them scanned and compare to early 21st century weapons
and his rifle matches those pretty much... and it wasn't a copy, so..."
"Okay, but tell me how it came to be into his hands? And how he arrived
in the Excalibur?"
"That, Captain, I don't know, I guess our best chance is just to wait
for him to wake up." She answered calmly.
***
"I would suggest you lay down your weapons," Galen stated calmly eyeing
the gathered soldiers. "before one of you gets hurt."
The closest soldier, a man with a deep frown and white hair dressed in
a military scout's gettup, addressed him. "I don't think you've quite
understood the nature of your predicament."
"Oh, I have." Galen stated activating a shield around him. He then
raised his staff, quickly casting another spell, that sent the nearest
soldiers reeling.
Immediately the other soldiers started shooting, but as predicted, his
shield prevented anything from touching him.
Suddenly, he saw a dark-skinned man with a strange symbol in his
forehead lift a long lance-like weapon and point it at him, it's point
opened and energy crackled on it's three pointed ends.
Galen jumped to the right just as one hell of a plasma ray flew towards
him, going right through his shield and burning the side of his left
arm.
Galen clenched his teeth and glared at him, rasing his own staff and
activating a shield two times stronger than the last one, surprised at
the amount of power the thing had. "That was not nice."
The black man ignored his words and shot again. This time, it hit
squarely, making Galen stumble back from the impact, but unharmed.
Everyone was surprised enough for Galen to start spellcasting
seriously.
So, they wanted a challenge? He'd give it to them. Three fireballs
appeared on his hands, floating for a moment before shooting off towards
the guy with the plasma lance, who dodged one, but recieved the other
two, one on the arm, the other on the chest.
Suddenly, a small group of imps appeared out of the dark corners of the
room and started attacking the soldiers, who shouted and started
shooting at Galen's small critters.
Chaos ruled the general room, while an elderly man, in old-style earth
uniform shouted through a microfone for things to stop. Galen ignored
the shouting, shooting, imp laughs and small explosions and concentrated,
trying to find as much information in the primitive computers this guys
had to havean idea on how to act next.
What he saw in his mind's eye surprised him.
***
Gideon recieved the message a few hours later. Their guest had
awakened, and wanted to speak to the person in charge.
He found Dr. Lang speaking with their guest. They stood up when he
arrived.
Dr. Lang excused herself for a moment to draw Gideon away from the
strange man.
"What is it?" Gideon asked.
"Matthew, this man is very intelligent, I think you should think what
you're going to ask him carefully." She said.
Gideon looked over her shoulder to the stranger, who was watching them
intently while he waited. "Why?"
Dr. Lang looked at him squarely. "He learnt our language in just a
matter of minutes... without any help."
Gideon looked a little startled by this, and nodded, he'd be careful,
for now.
He approached and offered his hand to the stranger, who took it, and
shaked hands. "I'm Captain Mathew Gideon," he started. "What's your
name?"
The man smiled a little uncertainly and sat back. "My name's Daniel
Jackson... um..." He looked around. "Could you tell me why I'm here?"
***
"What's wrong?" Captain Matthew Gideon asked his second in command,
Lt. Matheson.
"Reports from the computers have been jumping dramatically from one
conclusion to another, and as of yet, there's still no explanation for
that... 'cloud', I think Max called it." The telepath answered.
Gideon looked at the strange 'cloud' covering the general area where
they would have to jump to normal space. As much as he hated it, he
had to admit the Archeologist had chosen a good name.
Made out of unknown particles and throwing of various degrees of
energy levels, the cloud was blocking the next possible area for the
Excalibur to arrive at a recently-contacted planet, which, if rumors
were true, had not only managed to fend of the Shadows for countless
years, but survived an infectation attempt made by the elder race.
"Galen, I know you can hear me, so tell me, have you encountered
something like this before?" Mathew asked to the air.
They waited a moment before a small hologram of the technomage, the
size of Matthew's head, appeared floating before them.
"Matthew, if you think I will be at your disposal every time you
find something STRANGE floating around in either Hyperspace or Space,
think again! This IS an exploration ship, after all, filled from
point to end with snotty archeologists, a rather large group of
so-called scientists AND military trained personel." The small
apparition lectured them.
Gideon sighed. "Yes, I know, Galen, but that doesn't answer my question.
Have you encountered anything like it?"
Galen glared at him from under his hood. Or at least the apparition
did, Gideon didn't know or care if it was really Galen he was talking
to or just a figment of the Technomage's spell. "I will let you know
that interrupting-"
"Yes or no will suffice." Gideon grunted.
"No." the apparition admited rather grumpily. "However, unlike your
current group of... advisors, I have actually managed to find out a
little of the 'cloud' as you so imaginatevly decided to call it."
Gideon and Matheson exchanged glances. "And what would that be?" the
captain asked.
The small hologram conjured up another holografic display (bigger
than himself) for their benefit. It clearly showed the expanse of
the 'cloud' around the area they intended to cross. "Other than the
sudden jumps of energy, we have nothing to worry about, if we time
it right." Galen started explaining.
"Only if we time it right?" Gideon asked wearily. "What do you have
in mind, Galen?"
Galen glanced at them askance. "Well, I believe it's quite obvious,
isn't it?"
"You expect us to jump right in?!" Matheson asked the small hologram.
"Good, I was beginning to think I had assumed wrong when I decided that
the crew had intelectual capabilities."
"Galen..." Gideon warned.
"It's bloody obvious, while the jumps in the energy signature vary
greatly, they follow a certain order, immediately after the highest
surge, the energy goes down to almost zero difference with the normal
energy waves of Hyperspace." Galen explained.
Matheson went to check the Technomage's observation, and came back
after a few seconds.
"The Technomage is right," he said, showing the analysis with a small
device. "Timing it right, we can open the Jumpgate and cross it
before the next energy surge ."
Gideon considered it. "Well, it's not as if we had all the time in the
universe... let's go! Calculate the maneuver, Lieutenant, we'll take
the chance."
Matheson nodded and went to consult the operators.
Gideon glanced at the small hologram, which was quite labouriously
jumping from monitor to monitor, and generally annoying everyone in
the bridge. "Thanks, Galen, I think you should go back to that
important analysis you were working on that I interrupted."
The technomage's hologram glared at him, then disappeared.
Matheson returned after a moment. "We'll need a few minutes to charge
the gate, but it'll be at least half an hour before the next energy
jump."
Gideon nodded. "I'll go check on Galen... he seemed very annoyed this
time. And I'd like to know what's happening in my ship at all times."
***
Galen was, in fact, occupied. He barely noticed his small hologram had
left the bridge after making a nuisance out of itself.
Good.
Now they should leave him alone for the few minutes necessary to activate
everything needed for the spell of capturing.
This was a very delicate procedure, since he would literally 'capture'
a piece of the cloud in a sphere of energy containing it in a similar
envyronment for further study. The envyronment being Hyperspace, it
required a LOT of concentration, as well as hundreds of protecting
programs and spells.
Stopping one last time to re-check everything, he started his spell.
Summoning in his minds eye the blank screen where he would visualize de
ecuations for a modified spell of shielding, starting with the most
powerfull of the variants. The shorter the spell variation the more
powerfull it would be.
Galen waited calmly for the peak to drop, as the information had
predicted. When it did, he cast the spell on his mind's eye, letting
the Tech send the energy out of the Excalibur and into space.
A part of his mind noted that Gideon had entered the landing bay
where he was, but was wisely waiting for him to finish, and staying in
the doorway... however, something went wrong. Suddenly the cloud
exploded in energy, breaking the original order and rebounding the
energy back to Galen.
As the energy cackled, Gideon had just a one-second-clear view of
Galen, before the circle around him exploded, filling everything with
smoke.
Gideon ran towards the circle, but didn't step farther into it,
fearfull of what the Mage had cast to protect himself.
When the smoke cleared, he could clearly see the unconcious figure
lying on the floor.
He cursed.
***
The bright flash of light that had blinded him, finally subsided, and
as Galen looked around he was suddenly surrounded by the clicking of
various guns of diverse types being pointed at him.
"Damn." he swore, unconciously mimicking Gideon's same expression.
***
"Results, Doctor?" Gideon asked, aproaching the dark-skinned woman.
She looked at him over her shoulder. "Oh, well, he's genetically
speaking, human... as well as in appearance and physical examinations."
"So he's human." Gideon summed up, getting closer to the crystal to
take a look at their new 'guest'. "What's with the military gettup?"
"I don't know, but the firearms he carried were original."
Gideon arched an eyebrow. "Original? How so?"
"Well, I had them scanned and compare to early 21st century weapons
and his rifle matches those pretty much... and it wasn't a copy, so..."
"Okay, but tell me how it came to be into his hands? And how he arrived
in the Excalibur?"
"That, Captain, I don't know, I guess our best chance is just to wait
for him to wake up." She answered calmly.
***
"I would suggest you lay down your weapons," Galen stated calmly eyeing
the gathered soldiers. "before one of you gets hurt."
The closest soldier, a man with a deep frown and white hair dressed in
a military scout's gettup, addressed him. "I don't think you've quite
understood the nature of your predicament."
"Oh, I have." Galen stated activating a shield around him. He then
raised his staff, quickly casting another spell, that sent the nearest
soldiers reeling.
Immediately the other soldiers started shooting, but as predicted, his
shield prevented anything from touching him.
Suddenly, he saw a dark-skinned man with a strange symbol in his
forehead lift a long lance-like weapon and point it at him, it's point
opened and energy crackled on it's three pointed ends.
Galen jumped to the right just as one hell of a plasma ray flew towards
him, going right through his shield and burning the side of his left
arm.
Galen clenched his teeth and glared at him, rasing his own staff and
activating a shield two times stronger than the last one, surprised at
the amount of power the thing had. "That was not nice."
The black man ignored his words and shot again. This time, it hit
squarely, making Galen stumble back from the impact, but unharmed.
Everyone was surprised enough for Galen to start spellcasting
seriously.
So, they wanted a challenge? He'd give it to them. Three fireballs
appeared on his hands, floating for a moment before shooting off towards
the guy with the plasma lance, who dodged one, but recieved the other
two, one on the arm, the other on the chest.
Suddenly, a small group of imps appeared out of the dark corners of the
room and started attacking the soldiers, who shouted and started
shooting at Galen's small critters.
Chaos ruled the general room, while an elderly man, in old-style earth
uniform shouted through a microfone for things to stop. Galen ignored
the shouting, shooting, imp laughs and small explosions and concentrated,
trying to find as much information in the primitive computers this guys
had to havean idea on how to act next.
What he saw in his mind's eye surprised him.
***
Gideon recieved the message a few hours later. Their guest had
awakened, and wanted to speak to the person in charge.
He found Dr. Lang speaking with their guest. They stood up when he
arrived.
Dr. Lang excused herself for a moment to draw Gideon away from the
strange man.
"What is it?" Gideon asked.
"Matthew, this man is very intelligent, I think you should think what
you're going to ask him carefully." She said.
Gideon looked over her shoulder to the stranger, who was watching them
intently while he waited. "Why?"
Dr. Lang looked at him squarely. "He learnt our language in just a
matter of minutes... without any help."
Gideon looked a little startled by this, and nodded, he'd be careful,
for now.
He approached and offered his hand to the stranger, who took it, and
shaked hands. "I'm Captain Mathew Gideon," he started. "What's your
name?"
The man smiled a little uncertainly and sat back. "My name's Daniel
Jackson... um..." He looked around. "Could you tell me why I'm here?"