A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the first teaser chapter! It's nice to know that many of you are keeping a look out for my writing before there's even a story, so I hope this latest story will live up to your expectations. Please be warned though that life is still hectic for me, with a house being remodeled and the holidays on the way and work busier than ever, there may be large gaps in updates. So try not to kill me, because you know I write killer cliffies!
For those of you following the real life saga of Sam and Dragon, my now five month old kittens, with the various defects take a peek at the end of the chapter…
When the first of the airmen responded to check out the energy discharge reportedly located in Major Carter's lab, they found the room in chaos.
The room was also notably empty of any living beings; there was not a single sign of SG-1 or anything else to indicate that the room had been occupied mere moments before.
Chapter 2: Pieces of a PuzzleGeneral Hammond looked across his desk at the young airmen in front of him, who was giving a report on the findings after the energy discharge from Major Carter's lab. "So no sign of damage and no injuries?"
"No sir, other then some papers and small items strewn about and some tipped over furniture, none that we found." The young man stood in the slightly relaxed 'at ease' posture inherent in all military personnel
"Thank you airman. Oh, if you could ask to have Major Carter paged to my office?" The General turned back to the report he'd abandoned when the alarm had sounded as the airman left his office.
Becoming engrossed in his paperwork, it took some time before General Hammond noticed that the usually prompt Major had not shown up yet. Frowning, he stood and left to summon his assistant to have all of SG-1 paged. Perhaps she had not heard the first page? Otherwise, one of her teammates would surely know where she was; they seemed to have an uncanny knack for finding each other in any situation.
After several minutes it was clear that SG-1, for reasons unknown, were not answering his summons. Lines now creased the General's normally smooth brow as he first called the main gate to see if they had signed out even though it was unusual for all four to be off base at the same time. Once he'd been assured that none of the four members of SG-1 had signed out or had been seen leaving the facility, he gave orders to have people track the errant members of SG-1 down, and put in a call to the security room for someone to review tapes of the incident to see if in fact there had been someone in the lab at the time of the energy discharge.
More minutes passed, but soon it was obvious that SG-1 could not be found at any of their usual locations, the energy discharge from Carter's lab had apparently caused a feedback surge into the security system, blanking out screens not only in the Major's lab, but in several nearby areas. Circuits had been fused and specialists were at this moment trying to salvage any sort of security footage from the moments before the discharge occurred. He was told that likely any footage of the actual event was likely lost.
The only lead so far as to the whereabouts of the now missing SG-1had been given by one of the civilian scientists who had passed Dr. Jackson and Teal'c heading in the direction of Major Carter's lab several minutes before the energy discharge, although she had been unsure as to whether that was their destination, since there were other places the two might have been headed. However, the Major's lab seemed the most likely given SG-1's history of meeting in one of the other's workplaces. Even as General Hammond gave orders for a strategic level-by-level search to begin, he was starting to suspect that the searches would turn up empty.
"Airman." Hammond addressed the young man that had come to report the results, or in this case lack of results, of the search for the missing team.
"Yes sir?" the young man replied.
"What exactly was Major Carter studying in her laboratory prior to the energy discharge?" asked Hammond.
The young airman looked at his clipboard, before replying. "Uh, looks like several things sir, including the generator from P38-526, the storage device found on P79-828, and she'd just received the object from P35-789 today."
"The object from P35-789? Is that the one that SG-9 brought back that was usual in the fact that it had no discernable markings or indication as to what it's purpose is?" The pieces of the puzzle were forming in the General's mind, and even though most of the pieces were missing, he had a feeling that the unknown device might just be playing an important role in the big picture.
The young man referred back to his clipboard again. "Yes sir, that's the one. And sir, you might like to know that that particular device was found on the floor in the center of the disturbance."
Major Carter leaving one of her precious devices on the floor? Hammond's mind latched onto the unusual event, another piece of the puzzle.
"Has anyone touched the device or disturbed the room?" His thoughts turned suddenly to damage control.
"No sir." The airmen replied, setting at least one worry to rest.
"Good, I want Major Carter's lab sealed and placed under guard until further notice. No one is to go in or out of that room without my express authorization. Dismissed" The pieces were still dancing around tantalizingly in his head. The answer was there; he just had to find it. Until then he wanted no one else to be exposed to the alien device, which he was starting to think may hold a rather important part in SG-1's disappearance. If the unknown alien object had something to do with the disappearance of his foremost team then he wanted no one else to have contact with it until someone could come up with some safeguards, to prevent a recurrence.
"Yes sir." The airman saluted and left the General's office upon being dismissed to carry out his orders.
General Hammond returned the young man's salute distractedly, his mind already turned back to the puzzle he was faced with. His best team was missing. An unexplained energy burst. An alien artifact, seemingly at the center of things, left carelessly and uncharacteristically on the floor by one of his best scientists. Just how did it all fit together? But most importantly, where was SG-1?
A/N: I am evil rotten author aren't I? Lol. Gotta make sure people will read the next chapter somehow right?
Anyway… Sam and Dragon…
I got an estimate of neutering them since they have so many issues, and also to fix Sam's hernia, and I just about had a heart attack. Get this, if I do all the work ups the vet recommends, Sam will cost me around $600 and Dragon about $400. Both cats he feels need a variety of labs, to check there blood counts, kidney and liver function, etc, and to recheck FIV and feline leukemia status. Since Dragon has a heart murmur, he needs to have antibiotics before and after his surgery, Additionally, the vet feels he needs an EKG and chest x-ray to make sure his heart looks ok for surgery. Sam, since he's a boy unfortunately, will need the cheaper neuter and also abdominal surgery very similar to the female spay. He'll also need full anesthesia and an overnight stay.
I'm looking for second opinion, but most places want $25-$30 or so just to see them which kinda defeats the purpose of finding it all cheaper. I'm thinking I may just have to skip all the preop stuff and just hope they'll be fine with everything. Otherwise, I'm accepting donations for Sam and Dragon's "Christmas Balls Fund" (hides from the tomatoes throw at the bad pun) Ok, just kidding on the donations, but I'm thinking of just asking for getting my cats fixed for Christmas lol (they're 6 months old on dec 21st!)
