Copyright © Anakin David 2003

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Catherine Langford was anxious to find out if the new CO of the facility, General Hammond had managed to convince the joint chiefs of the interest of her discovery.

Thanks to the archaeological observations the Abydos mission had brought, Catherine had discovered that the many cartouches found in a special area of the temple, were in fact gate combinations to thousands of other worlds.

After discussing it with several military scientists on base, and their incredulity regarding the possibility of going to other worlds due to planetary shift, she specifically asked for the expertise of a brilliant theoretical Astrophysicist whom she had heard of from her contacts at the university, and who quickly filled in the blanks regarding planetary shift and actually opened thousands of possibilities of visiting other worlds -- theoretically that was.

All these brilliant theories were exciting, but still remained theories, and the entire crew of the StarGate Administration had been somehow wary about actually trying different addresses.

Catherine wasn't expecting a lot, and she was prepared to hear that the project was to be closed.

Fate decided otherwise when Aliens invaded the top secret base, using the Stargate.

Retired Colonel Jack O'Neill was immediately called back to clarify his report on the first and only mission through the Stargate. Major General George Hammond was indeed convinced that the attack had come from the only alien world they knew so far, and that Ra had not been destroyed, despite what the Colonel's report indicated.

Catherine Langford for her part, held onto the possibility that the mission to destroy Ra had stirred his fellow aliens, who then could have used any of the combinations she had discovered. Unfortunately as a civilian, she had no saying in military matters. The only thing she could achieve was call upon General Hammond's wisdom to send a mission to Abydos a second time, and include her fellow scientist in it, the only person who could correctly assess the situation technically, to the best of her knowledge.

That's when things began to heat up...

General Hammond entered the briefing room from his office, and after receiving the usual salutes, sat down as well as his officers.

"Where's Carter?" he inquired, looking at Sammuels.

"Carter?" O'Neill quoted raising an eyebrow questioningly, looking at the general.

"I'm assigning Sam Carter to this mission." He replied, looking straight at the Colonel.

"I'd prefer to put together my own team, Sir." O'Neill said, sure of himself.

"... Not on this mission, sorry. Sam Carter's our expert on the Stargate." General Hammond insisted.

"Where's he transferring from?" he asked, resigned.

"She is transferring from the Pentagon, and has been a member of the SGA since the beginning …"

Colonel Jack O'Neill felt his life was being shot in slow motion as a feminine figure clad in a dark woman-suit appeared before him, stepping from the corridor into the briefing room. She had longish blond hair and the most sparkling blue eyes he'd ever seen. She must have been in her early thirties and…

His thoughts were brusquely interrupted as she spoke.

"I take it you're Colonel O'Neill." She extended her hand. "Samantha Carter, sir."

Still a bit disorientated by her appearance, Jack O'Neill shook her hand back.

"But of course you go by 'Sam'." Kawalsky quipped.

Samantha chuckled with a half smile.

"You don't have to worry, Major. I played with dolls when I was a kid."

Kawalsky bit his tongue and the retort he was going to launch.

General Hammond sighed, slightly annoyed. "Let's get started. Colonel?"

Samantha Carter took her seat as Colonel O'Neill began.

"Thank you. Those of you on your first trip through the Stargate, you should be prepared for what to expect."

"I've practically memorized your report from the first mission. I'd like to think I've been preparing for this all my life." Sam said, eager to prove to the Colonel she was worthy of his trust, despite her not being military.

"I think what the Colonel is saying is... have you ever pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at 8-plus Gs?" Kawalsky smirked, jumping on the occasion to shut her up once and for good.

"Yes, once with my Dad when I graduated from college." Sam replied, not flinching once.

To say Charles Kawalsky was a little annoyed and taken aback would have been an understatement, and all he could do was stutter: "Well... it's way worse than that.

" By the time you get to the other side, you're frozen stiff like you've just been through a blizzard ... Naked." Ferretti added sarcastically.

"That's a result of the compression your molecules undergo during the millisecond required for reconstitution." Sam explained.

"Oh, here we go, another scientist. General... please."

"Theoretical astrophysicist." She supplied.

"Which means...?" O'Neill asked with a shrug.

"It means she is smarter than you are, Colonel. Especially in matters related to the Stargate." General Hammond said sharply.

Kawalsky and Ferretti chuckled not so discreetly, making the Colonel frown, but his attention was driven back to her face as she spoke again.

"Colonel, I was studying the Gate technology for two years before you went through the first time. I should have gone through then." She paused before resuming. "Sir, you and your boys might as well accept the fact that I am going through this time." She said defiantly.

"Well, with all due respect, Miss…" He started.

"It is appropriate to refer to a person by their salutation when they have one. Call me 'Doctor'." She said, starting to get annoyed.

"Doctor Carter's assignment to this unit is not an option, it's an order." Hammond once again said sharply. "... As well as Lieutenant Lawrence Conrad, who will join us in a few minutes."

"Conrad?"

"He will be your expert historian."

"At least he's military..." O'Neill mumbled, not at all happy that he had only willingly chosen half of his team.

"Colonel, ensuring Dr. Carter's safety is also one of your duties."

"Yeah, I figured that myself, Sir..."

His latest smirk didn't go unnoticed by Samantha. "As a civilian, I'm as capable of going on a stargate mission as any military person, Colonel. And just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle." She added a bit defiantly.

"Oh, this has nothing to do with you being a civilian or a woman. I like women." He replied. "I've just got a little problem with scientists." He concluded, totally mesmerized by her, although nobody could tell from his detached attitude. Yep! You got it bad, man... he thought.

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They dialed the gate to Abydos and their success thus confirmed at least one of the general's fears: that the gate hadn't been destroyed or buried as O'Neill had ordered the Abydonians when they had left a year ago.

The team set out to the planet cautiously, ready for any possibility as to why the gate was still functional.

Part of the answer was given when they stepped out of the temple trying to find the Abydonians but were ambushed by -- whom they later-on learnt were -- Apophis's Jaffas.

They were then led to a planet called Chulak and imprisoned with other humans, destined either to be killed or to be hosts to several snake-like parasites which they learnt were the Goa'ulds, Ra's race.

The prison was managed sharply by a Jaffa whose forehead bore a golden tattoo, Teal'c. O'Neill tried to coax him into helping them escape, but it only resulted in him getting several broken ribs due to severe beating from the Jaffa, who spared his life only because Apophis had clearly designated him to be host for his son Klo'rel. O'Neill wondered a moment why he still had got madly beaten, until one of the prisoners told him that the parasite could heal and maintain its host in good shape.

It slowly dawned upon them that their situation was hopeless: trapped on an alien world somewhere in the galaxy, their weapons confiscated, and without any hope of being rescued by any of their friends.

Suddenly, Teal'c was summoned to Apophis's side: one of his rivals had just attacked an important outpost. All blending was postponed until the situation got under control again, and Apophis set out to fight the intruder, taking his first prime and most of his Jaffas with him.

O'Neill consulted with his team, wanting to use that opportunity to escape.

"It's the only opportunity we might get..." he concluded.

Kawalsky agreed as well as Ferretti and Conrad, but something was bothering Sam.

"Then what, Colonel?" she asked bitterly. "We don't know exactly the gate address of the world we're stranded on!" her retort was sharper than she had intended. She had no clue as to how to help the team rather than being the useless civilian tourist she felt she was.

"Whoa! Calm down, Carter! We're in this all together!"

She realized she was being unfair.

"I'm sorry, Colonel... I should never have come on this mission. I'm a burden to you..."

"You're not, Carter. At least you won't be... We need brains to figure out how to get back home, and you're our best shot."

"I think you're putting too much confidence in me, Colonel." She smirked.

He put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Hey..." he started gently. "You've got to believe in yourself, otherwise, how can the others do?" he encouraged her.

She smiled a little and was about to speak again when a woman crept beside them.

"Excuse me..."

O'Neill turned his head sharply towards her.

"... I overheard what you said." She said, indicating Sam. "I know the address of my home, maybe you can return to yours from there..."

Sam's mind went into overdrive at once.

"'Think you could, Doctor?" Ferretti asked.

"If I have the point of origin, yes. This could be the solution!"

"All right..." O'Neill started whispering to the woman. "Stay close to us, we'll try to get you and the others outta here... Ferretti, Conrad, Kawalsky!..." he called. They all gathered and tried to determine which strategy was best.

They finally decided to launch a mini riot inside their cell with the help of the other prisoners, at least those who understood English and the few languages Conrad spoke. It worked so well that it quickly overtook the overly confident remaining Jaffas, and they managed to gate to the woman's planet, and then back to Earth after a few calculations by Samantha.

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