AN: You know those stories that come, and then won't shut up and leave you alone? Yeah. I'm sort of wishing I'd done hop-scotch.
The word, for those of you who asked, was "uninfiltrateable".
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Today
Mission Report: SG3, Major Griff reporting.
It has taken three days for General Carter's ship to reach the edge of our solar system. If it were not for the fact that my planet has been out of reach for the past thirteen days, I would be very excited. I've never really thought of the Stargate as space travel, and after three days of watching the stars fly by, I am as entranced as ever. According to Selmak, General Carter feels the same way. She said that seeing one's own planet from space is like nothing else. Now that I think about it, Colonel O'Neill said much the same thing to me before the first time I stepped through the Stargate. This is much easier on the stomach.
The worst part of these three days has undoubtedly been the fact that we do not know what awaits us on Earth. Now that we have come out of hyper drive, and just passed Neptune, it is almost intolerable. I can't even spec out our mission in detail, because I don't know what we're in for.
Still, we're Marines, and more, we're SGC.
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Marines, Selmak noted, have much more discipline than certain members of the Air Force she could think of off the top of her head. They did not ask questions, they did not complain, and they did not pace. Selmak was going out of their skull with boredom.
[Be nice,] Jacob reminded her. [They're a little nervous.]
[They are made of stone. Are you sure they are even human?]
[They're Marines.] Oh, but he was infuriating sometimes.
"I'm taking us out of hyper drive." Jacob announced to the cockpit and cargo bay at large. "We're coming up on Neptune.
Major Griff glanced out the window at the great blue planet and then turned his attention back to whatever report it was that he was writing.
[Why does he do that?] Selmak rolled their eyes. [He's one of the first humans to fly this far in space and he's writing reports!]
[Oh, he's excited,] Jacob said. [He's just…]
[A Marine.]
[I was going to say concerned about his friends on Earth. And please keep in mind that there are limits to how far back in the head human eyeballs can roll.]
[I'll work on it.]
[Do.]
Major Griff had finished his report just as Jupiter sailed past, and began gearing up in the cargo bay with the rest of his team.
"Hang on back there. We're going through the asteroid field. When we clear it, our sensors should be able to give us an idea of what's going on with Earth."
The shuttle began to tremble slightly as Jacob wove his way through the asteroid field. The Marines geared up as nonchalantly as if they were only planning to go on a Sunday evening stroll. And Selmak had only the vaguest idea what a Sunday evening stroll was.
"We've cleared the field," Jacob announced. His tone changed dramatically, "What the hell?"
"General?" said Major Griff, entering the cockpit to stand by the window.
"It's not there." Jacob gasped.
"Sir?"
"We have reached the co-ordinates where Earth should be, and it is not there." Selmak took over.
"Abernathy, get up here." Griff called over his shoulder to his scientifically minded 2IC. "What do you mean? Couldn't it just be somewhere else in its orbit?"
"Uh, sir, the moon is right there." Abernathy pointed out the window. "So Earth should be there, uh, too."
"OK, I know almost nothing about astrophysics, but I have heard Major Carter talk about this stuff for almost four years now." Griff also gestured out the window. "If the Goa'uld came and exploded my planet, wouldn't there be something left?"
"Major Griff is correct." Selmak said. "Our scans are coming up completely negative for energy readings, and we would see the debris if such an attack had taken place."
"What about some sort of cloaking shield?" Abernathy asked. "Would your sensors pick that up?"
"I will modify our sensors and send a probe to where the planet should be." Selmak said, their fingers flying over the console. "It will take a few moments."
Major Griff and Captain Abernathy went back into the cargo bay to explain the situation to the rest of their team. Again, Selmak marveled at the equanimity with which they took the bad news.
[I'm not exactly a basket-case, you know,] Jacob protested. [And don't you dare tell me that it's because of you!]
[I was not planning on it.]
"The probe is away," Selmak reported.
"Selmak?" asked Major Griff, coming back into the cockpit, "I don't mean offense, but could I please speak with General Carter?"
"Of course." Selmak bowed their head, and when they looked up it was Jacob who spoke. "What is it Major?"
"Well…" Griff glanced out the window and drifted off. Then he shook himself and kept talking. "Sir, I think that you are more qualified than I am to command whatever this mission ends up being. I think you should take command."
"I can't, Major. Your Jaffa allies will balk if they find out that a Tok'ra is in charge of the Alpha-site, regardless of who her host is." Griff's face fell a little. "What I can do though, Major is advise you. Closely."
"Thank you, sir." The Major sounded infinitely relieved. "It's just that SG-1 usually handles stuff like this…"
"Of course. Although, I don't mind telling you I've never had a planet disappear on me before."
Major Griff nodded and saluted sharply. The console in front of Jacob blinked, and Selmak looked down.
"The probe we launched has passed through the co-ordinates of where Earth should be," she reported, loud enough that Abernathy overheard and came in from the cargo bay. "It has recorded no trace of organic compounds, or even the inorganic compounds found on your planet."
"That doesn't make sense!" Abernathy burst out.
"I am aware of that, Captain Abernathy," Selmak said. "There is an oddity in the sub-space reading. Something has happened to the sub-space around where your planet used to be."
"So Earth could be inside the bubble?"
"That is correct."
"I remember Major Carter talking about the sub-space field that the Stargate generates under certain conditions," Abernathy said. "When they were sent back to 1969, it was because of a solar flare. What if something happened to our own gate, and it did something to sub-space?"
"Are you suggesting that your planet is lost in time, but still at a fixed point in space?"
"I'm not sure," Abernathy shrugged. "It's also possible that there was a massive explosion involving an active Stargate, and the sub-space bubble is masking the debris field."
"Is there any way you can determine which?" Griff asked.
"Well, SG-1 was able to establish a connection from 1969…"
"And we've been dialing home for almost two weeks and getting a busy signal."
Selmak and Abernathy exchanged a look, and then Jacob took over.
"We'll gather what information we have, and then return to the Alpha-site." Griff started to object, but Jacob kept talking. "I know, Major, but we don't have the equipment here to do a proper analysis. This ship is simply too old. Your people at the Alpha-site will have far better luck than we would here."
Griff took off his backpack with a sigh. He knew General Carter was right. If he thought he'd been frustrated by his inability to do anything before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now. Griff has understood only the basics of what Abernathy and Selmak had been hypothesizing, but he knew enough to know that this was not going to be his kind of fight. And he was worried that the people whose type of fight it was might be the ones that they were already too late to rescue.
Marines, however, are not trained to dwell on what they do not have. They are trained to make the best of bad situations, and never leave anyone behind. Major Griff was not exactly sure what sub-space was, nor how one got around it, but when his science team figured out a way to get through and determined if there was a mission to Earth to be had, he would be there.
With bells on.
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AN: You see that thimble over there? That's where I keep everything I know about astrophysics. And since it all comes from TV, I feel I should apologize to Anyone Who Knows for all the crazy impossibilities I just spouted off.
And wow you guys! Thanks for all the reviews! I had an awful day at work yesterday and it was awesome to find them all waiting for me when I got home. My muse is tickled chartreuse.