Chapter 2
To say that SG1 looked at Shay as if she were an alien would be a cliche, but it would be an accurate one. Even Daniel, who seemed to accept everything, blinked several times at both her statement and her request.
"I'm sorry, I was blunt. My mother always used to warn me about that. I think I have some explaining to do. You know, you can put that M-16 down now, I am unarmed and alone." Shay said the last directly at Jack who still hadn't lowered his weapon. He did so now but still kept it ready. "Please sit down and I'll tell you everything I know..."
Everyone sat down on convenient chunks of rock and Shay began to tell her story.
"How should I start? It is a very long story. My journey began about three years ago back in Missouri. I was visiting with my mom who lived several miles out of town. I had decided to spend my day at the river. Aptly named 'Big Creek" the river was no more than twenty feet across at it's widest and no deeper than my chest at its deepest. I went there a lot when I was younger but hadn't been since I left for school and was more than ready to go back. I packed dry clothes, a towel, a couple of books and my MP3 player and headed out. I had planed to swim for a while then sit on the bank and read my afternoon away." Here Shay paused and frowned.
"Apparently someone else had other plans. I had redressed after my swim when a bright white light covered me. I felt myself moving and there were bright colors and then I hit my head. When I opened my eyes I felt warmth on my head and I saw a man standing over me. I was lying on a bed in a small hut in a jungle somewhere. The mans hand was on my head and he held a gold colored device. When he moved his hand my head didn't hurt any more. I asked who he was and he said 'Your new employer'. He told me he wanted me to explore planets and things and report back to him what I found there. He said he would provide me with everything I would need on my journeys.
"Of course I immediately asked what would happen if I refused to help him. He said I was welcome to stay in this hut as long as I wished. I asked him what was in it for me if I helped him. He said that eventually my travels would take me home and that I could stay when I arrived. Obviously I decided to help him and have been traveling ever since
"Exactly how is it you know who we are and what we do anyway." Sam asked. "On Earth our project is top secret."
Shay stopped and thought for a moment.
"Don't you know" asked Jack skeptically.
"Oh I know the answer I was just trying to decide whether I should tell you the truth or lie to you."
"What did you decide?" Daniel asked.
"I decided to lie to you. Do you want to hear it or do you want to try and figure the truth out for yourselves? I've thought up a real doosy of an answer!" Shay smiled at them again and waited for their response.
"I think we'll figure it out." Jack responded
"Oh I know you will, at least most of it. All of you are very quick and I've already slipped enough to give you a really good chance. So what do you say? Will you take me home with you?" Shay asked grinning at them impishly.
The team just stood and stared at this strange girl. None of them were sure whether they should believe her story or not. At signal from Jack the team stepped away to discuss this new development.
Jack looked at his team questioningly. "What do you think?"
Daniel looked thoughtfully at the girl sitting across from him. "I think we should take her back to camp with us and report in the morning."
"But what if she's a Gua'ould?" Jack asked.
"I think that is highly unlikely Colonel O'Neil."
"Why is that Teal'c?"
"I do not think any Gua'ould would behave in such a manner as this girl. Also she is very young."
"Teal has a point, Jack," Daniel said. "She acts very young and, if I'm any judge, very… well… American."
"But what if she's a Gua'ould?" Jack asked.
"Sir, we could check her for weapons and then keep watch at night. This girl could be very useful if what she is saying is true," ever the scientist, Sam wanted to learn more about this 'boss' the girl claimed to be working for.
Just then Shay cried out and started running toward them. "Stop! Don't move! Stay absolutely still!" she cried waving her arms at Jack.
The others looked around perplexed while Jack wisely stood very still. Sam was the first to notice the large spider over Jacks head. He had, without noticing, stood right under a very large web. The occupant of that web had been slowly lowering itself down and it now hovered only millimeters over the colonel's head. When Shay had yelled, the spider had released it's web and dropped onto Jack's head
Shay stepped in front of Jack and pulled a thin long and flat piece of plastic out of her boot. She raised it to Jack's head and slowly slid it under the spider. "Now try not to move, I am going to try to flip it off where I can step on it." Shay made a quick motion with her wrist and the spider flew off straight up where it became entangled in it's own web.
"It's a very fascinating species." Shay told the team who were finally breathing again. "It lays its eggs under the skin of a larger animal. The egg sack produces chemicals very similar to steroids. They increase the animal's strength and healing powers so that the creature stays very healthy. Just before the eggs hatch, the cocoon starts to break down producing what amounts to cyanide, killing the host almost instantly. The spiders then eat the host to grow strong themselves. The scariest part is that you frequently don't know the eggs have been laid until they have burrowed so deep it is nearly impossible to extract them. You usually think you escaped because the eggs are microscopic and you don't feel sick"
"Exactly how long have you been on this planet?" Daniel asked
"Around a month, maybe twenty days. I learned about that spider from the group of natives five days walk south of here. They had a herd beast that had been bitten. You'll want to have your head looked at very closely when you get back to the base" Shay directed that last part to Jack who groaned.
"Well at least we know she has good intentions." Daniel said
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to spend extra time with the Doc when we get back."
"Maybe we should find someplace that's not under so many trees. Did you camp in a clearing."
"Yes. Our camp is just a half a day's walk south of here." Sam told her pointing in the general direction.
The team headed back to camp feeling much more at ease with their new friend. Shay and Daniel spent the trip discussing the various places she had been to.
"I've never met anyone else who could read Ancient fluently before." Daniel was telling the visitor. "Where did you learn? Not at school!"
"Heavens no! I learned a place called Raleish. There was a group of archaeologists there studying the ruins. It took me a long time to learn everything they were doing there and picked up a couple of languages in the process."
"What were they looking for?"
"Answers, mostly. That planet was about the same as twentieth century earth. They were unburying their Stargate and a few nearby buildings. Unfortunately as soon as I knew for sure what they had found I had to leave.
"Why did you have to leave?" Daniel asked
"I don't know the why. I just know as soon as I have found the purpose of what ever I am exploring, the Boss sends me somewhere else. I don't usually get more warning time than it takes to gather up my stuff and then I'm somewhere else. I don't even always know what I was looking for until I have reported it."
The group reached camp just then and Shay stopped talking to admire the tents. "Nice. I usually just sleep under the stars. A tent would be very heavy. It really sucks when I stay somewhere it rains. It rained the night before last and it took the entire next day to dry my stuff."
"Do you have anything to eat?" Sam asked pulling an MRE out of her pack.
"Yeah, my Boss provisions me between jumps."
"I thought you went straight from planet to planet?" Jack asked her opening an MRE of his own.
Shay opened her backpack and pulled out a small blue packet. "Yeah, I do but whenever I get where I am going there is always a package nearby containing food and whatever else I ask for." Shay opened the packet and started eating the contents, which appeared to be small brown cubes. "Here, try some" She pulled out another packet and tossed it to Daniel who hadn't gotten out an MRE yet.
"Whatever you ask for? How do you ask for things." Sam asked her.
"In my reports. If I write that I need batteries or boots or food, those items or any others I ask for fall in my path within the hour. I mean that literally too. The asked for items usually fall out of thin air right in front of me."
"Hey, that's not bad!" Daniel said tasting the contents of the packet. "At least, it's a lot better than MREs"
"Eat it three times a day everyday for three years and see how it tastes," Shay challenged him. "I try to eat local food as often as possible but I can't always trust the local cuisine to be gentle on the human stomach."
"How does your boss get your reports?"
"Off this." Shay answered pulling out what appeared to be a laptop computer. "He can make much better computers than this but this is the type I am most comfortable with so this is what asked him for to get started. I haven't opened the cover but it barely weighs anything and it never needs the battery replaced so I'm guessing it only looks like a standard computer on the outside. I'm guessing that he checks for new reports hourly or something like that and sends me stuff I need. When I've reported whatever it is he wants to know I see that bright light again and I'm somewhere else." Shay took out another piece of her dinner and began munching on it.
"I'd like to read those reports, if that's okay." Daniel asked. "It would be very fascinating to learn where you've been"
"I'll tell you what, When we get to Stargate Command, I'll give you copies of my files. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like blackmail." Daniel replied.
"Yeah, but I think you'll take me so it's a fair deal."
"What makes you so sure we're going to take you back with us?" Sam asked.
"Because I am harmless and you are curious. Besides, I saved your colonels life."
"She does have a point there, Jack." Daniel said grinning at Jacks sour expression.
The next morning Shay waited quietly near the DHD while Jack talked General Hammond into letting them bring back their new friend. The task was made easier by the Generals own curiosity. It was decided that Shay could not hurt anything and was allowed to accompany the team through the Stargate. Shay grinned as she stepped up to the wormhole. "I've wanted to do this for a long time," she said, perplexing the team, and then she stepped through followed by SG1.
