Chapter 2 – Decisions
Daniel found himself in a very secure, very black SUV driving down the highway at an increasing speed. He felt tense and curious. Where were these men taking him? Why did they want him?
After what seemed like an eternity, the men pulled up to an airport where they put him on a private jet, heading towards Neocaple, Neo-America's capital city. Daniel had never traveled to the nation's capital, and had wanted to, just only under different circumstances.
After an hour flying from the university to Neocaple on the nuclear-powered jet, they landed near an air force base, located in the side of a mountain.
Daniel was led inside.
The two men showed him to an interrogation room seven floors down from ground-level, and shut the door, leaving him alone in an unfamiliar place.
Trying to keep calm, Daniel sat down in a spindly chair that was next to a sturdy steel table and began to look at his surroundings.
The room was not inviting whatsoever. It was completely grey with soft lights everywhere, giving it a glow that made it somewhat eerie. There were also, what Daniel could guess, concealed cameras, watching his every move. Mentally shrugging it off, Daniel opened his briefcase and began to translate an ancient tablet he had just received from a local museum.
The person the linguist had been taken to see didn't have Daniel wait long before he arrived. Walking into the room, the man looked to be in his late fifties with a completely bald head, his warm chocolate-brown skin looking sickly in the poor light. The new man was also on the hefty side with a large, friendly face that was hard with seriousness and worry.
"Dr. Daniel Matthewson!" the man said in a pleasant deep voice as he shook Daniel's hand. "I'm Major General Joseph Hoffman. I'm with our world's government and we need your help."
"Anything for our government," Daniel said with a hesitant voice. "What is the problem?"
The General looked at the other man with a considering stare which then softened a bit after coming to a conclusion. "We have heard of your work as a famed linguist and scientist, and have become interested in it. We hear that you think that there was human life before the Dark Ages and that the people had space flight, alien allies, and really advanced technology. Well, we have been researching this matter, secretly of course, and, well, Dr. Matthewson…you were right."
Daniel just sat there, too stunned to think of anything. All his life, he had this one vague memory of reading a very old book of humans having this sort of technology. He remembered that the copyright date had been 2004…but it wasn't from this time period…it had been a totally different language, and it had also been a lot more technologically advanced than what had been possible at year 2004 After Darkness.
An advanced 2004, he had thought to himself as he read it, scientists actually could do this in 2004? That's impossible! But as he had read it, it all became clear that no one remembered what had happened to the people on this Earth before the Dark Ages and that this actually was humanly possible.
"How was I right?" Daniel asked with a mouth that was suddenly dry.
"Everything," was Hoffman's reply. "Our archeologists have uncovered a very rusted, very big machine that looks like it has flight capabilities—it was named the Prometheus."
"The Prometheus?" Daniel breathed, almost unable to say the name himself. "You Found the Prometheus?!"
"Yes, Dr. Matthewson. We did, and we actually got onto it with a code we found in an archeological journal. That journal is very significant, too."
Daniel shook his head, his eyes wide. "And why is that?"
"It appears to be written by someone from the original SG-1…a fellow by the name of Dr. Jackson. It's also older than we had anticipated…over 4000 years old…dated 2004…and it's still in pristine condition. There are hundreds of them."
"You found proof that there was an advanced civilization before the Dark Ages?"
"We do, but we're not taking it public. Not yet. We need to investigate this further, and that's where you come in. We need someone who can decipher ancient texts and who can be trusted. We've gone into your background and you seem quite the model citizen. We've also talked to your family and colleagues and they tell us that you're quite the extraordinary person. The only problem now is that of your choice.
"We'd like you to give up everything in this world and come with us, Dr. Matthewson. You'll be making a huge difference, though you won't get any credit in the 'real' world. You'll be able to see the machines that you have been talking about and you'll be able to see what we found on the Prometheus. You also, however, will be fighting against enemies, as well as making allies and the like. It isn't safe, and it isn't exactly certain.
"I'll leave you to your thoughts, now, though I would like an answer soon." General Hoffman got up to leave. Right before he reached the door, however, Daniel stopped him.
"General?" Joseph turned around, and saw that the linguist had a look in his eye that could only be described as fiery determination. "I'm in."
"Are you sure?" Joseph was surprised. The doctor's response took quicker to make than the general thought it would.
"Yes. The only thing I want is to make a difference. I never really belonged here anyway, so I guess I'll try this other place you're talking about."
"Do you drink, smoke, or have a chemical dependency?" the General abruptly asked, totally off subject.
Daniel blinked at him before answering. "Of course not! Teaching regulations forbid it. May I ask why you want to know?"
"Because, Daniel, where we're going there's no alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or any of that stuff. If you would've had an addition, we couldn't have let you in."
"Ah," the linguist said.
"Another thing you should know, Daniel," Hoffman said, "is that once you make this decision, you cannot go back on it. There's no possible way to come back."
"I understand. I'm willing to do this."
Hoffman smiled. "Very well. Please follow me, doctor."
Hoffman led Daniel to a secret room inside the base. Once there, Daniel was told to change into the clothes he was given: camouflage combat pants, a tight black long-sleeved shirt with a collar, and black combat boots. The shirt had a teardrop-shaped opening in the front, exposing part of his chest.
On the sleeve of the shirt there was also a patch. It was circular with a silver outline around a navy blue circle with white dots. In this circle, there was yet another circle that Daniel thought signified a white planet. In the middle of this planet, there was a Latin symbol Ħ. Shrugging it off, Daniel pushed his questions aside, knowing that he'd ask General Hoffman later. He left the dressing room he had been shown to and walked to the room Joseph had said they'd meet.
"This," General Hoffman said a little later as he emerged from another room dressed in a green dress shirt, black tie, dark green jacket and black pants and shoes, "is where the journey will get rough. Those clothes are your military outfit and the clothes you will be wearing for the rest of your time in The System."
"The System?" Daniel asked, not sure what he had gotten himself into.
"I'll explain it to you once you're ready on the other side. But first, you must get through the Spacegate. Follow me."
Daniel followed the General through a corridor and many other rooms that needed a security card to get them through. Wondering what the heck a Spacegate was, he was finally led to a huge room. To one side, there appeared to be a gigantic, silver circle of metal with many markings on it. There was also a ramp leading up to it. Daniel didn't know what it was for, but he had a feeling he was going to find out.
"Oh, wow," Daniel said. "Those symbols, if I'm not mistaken, are Ancient Egyptian, Japanese, Latin, Chinese, and African, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Russian letters."
Hoffman turned towards Daniel. "You knew all that by just glancing at them for a second?"
The doctor looked back at Joseph and blinked. "Yeah, I-I guess so."
The General smiled. "You'll do a great job." Then he got serious. "Start dialing out to Tierra via the SS Karma!"
"Tierra? That's the Spanish name for—"
"Yes, we know. That's why we named it that. It's a refuge from the aliens we're trying to get away from and it's almost exactly like this Earth. I'll explain more on it once we get to our ship. It'll be a rough ride for you."
"Great," Daniel said slightly sarcastically and swallowed hard. He didn't like the sound of that.
Joseph turned and looked gravely at Daniel. "All you need to do is to walk through the Spacegate once it dials to Karma. This is the Spacegate."
"It looks exactly like the fabled Stargate!" Daniel exclaimed.
"It's similar, but different. I'll explain it to you later. From this point onward, it will be a hard next two weeks for you, but you'll get better. Are you sure you still want to do this?"
"Yes." There was nothing but determination in Daniel's voice.
"All right…follow me…" Joseph and Daniel turned just as the last symbol on the Spacegate was put in. Daniel promised himself he'd pay more attention later on how the Spacegate worked. Then, what happened next totally made his head swim. Right in the center of the metal ring, there came a swirling of an aqua sort of water that seemed to push outward with it spiraling around. Suddenly, as quickly as it started, it stopped; the aqua 'water' was as still as an undisturbed pool. Daniel had never seen anything like it…he had only heard about it…in the legend of the Stargate.
"It is like the Stargate!" the linguist remarked to himself in awe.
The General walked up the ramp towards the blue surface of the Spacegate and just simply walked through. The water of the Spacegate barely rippled as Joseph passed into it. Daniel knew he should follow.
Walking hesitantly up to the Spacegate, he studied the water for a minute; then he stuck his hand into the still blue surface, quickly pulling it out. It felt as if he had stuck his hand into a sort of gel, but it didn't leave any trace of it on his skin when he pulled it out. It was the weirdest thing in the world.
Holding his breath, Daniel plunged his face into it and opened his eyes. What he saw was a dark blackness that appeared to be dotted with galaxies and stars. Marveling at that for a minute, he stepped all the way into the portal and felt himself go numb while traveling very fast.
While traveling through the Spacegate, he could feel a painful weight in the middle of his chest and dizziness overtook him. He barely remembered exiting the Spacegate's 'water' and hitting the ramp hard. After that, everything became dark.
Daniel opened his eyes and felt a stab of pain sear through his body as his pupils dilated quickly to take in the intense brightness. "He's awake!" a female voice said and the linguist tried looking around, finally finding a familiar face: that of General Hoffman.
Making a move to sit up, Daniel found that his arms and legs currently no longer responded to his commands, though his mouth did work slightly.
"Where 'mI?" he asked in a slurred voice, his lips barely moving. "Why won't my body move? Why do my eyes hurt?"
"You're in a parallel universe," the General said from above him, "one that is exactly the same as our world, though different in one way: there're no civilians, so things around here are not kept that secret. We're on my ship, the SS Karma. Your body no longer responds and your eyes hurt because you have not used them yet in this dimension. Now, get rested! That is the only way that your body will get used to this new environment!"
That was the last thing Daniel remembered for a long time.