Chapter 5 – Vital Information

Daniel was surprised at how familiar he became with the SS Karma in the few minutes he had had the tour. It felt like he had been in the Karma before. It was like he had lived on the ship all his life, but left for a few years, only to return again. It had a very familiar feel to it, and Daniel felt like he had finally come home.

Walking down the halls, he made it to the Main Bridge where he found General Hoffman talking to Alex.

"Ah! Daniel! There you are! And right on time, I might add. I'm surprised you didn't get lost!" Hoffman said when he saw the linguist.

"To tell you the truth, sir," the other man said while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "it feels to me like I've been here before and only needed reminding of where the rooms are. The only place that John didn't take me to was the bedroom wing."

"Well, then! We shall show you where it is later after we talk. Come; follow me to a more private room." The General led Daniel to his office off the Main Bridge. Walking around his desk, Joseph bade Daniel sit down and then sat down himself, looking intently at the other man.

"Do you feel at home here?"

"At home, sir? Aside from Damian, this is the closest I've come to actually have a real family! I've been an orphan since I was 12, so I've forgotten what it felt like. That's partially why I went into teaching…I got to be around kids all day. Not that that was always a good thing…"

Joseph chuckled. "I'm glad." He then looked at Daniel, and sighed.

"About Damian…well, he was reincarnated on accident. He somehow got into the 'Gate Room while it was connected and, well, he ended up here. He's been complaining and whining about it for the last three months, despite how good he is treated here. We were thinking of banishing him once he became really annoying, but that time hasn't gotten here just yet. We're waiting for it with eagerness, though, because if we just threw him out, we'd feel somewhat bad; but if we kicked him out because we couldn't stand him, well, we wouldn't feel a thing." Joseph ended with a sly grin on his face.

Daniel smiled back. "Yeah, he makes me feel uneasy."

"But not only he makes you unsettled…I noticed that Dagón made you look twice, so I'll tell you a little more about him and the rest of the crew, just so you get used to them.

"Dagón is an alien from a race called the Machiá. They are a race of people enslaved by the Androidians, our enemy here—I believe you've heard of them before?"

"Yes, I have…But, sir, could they actually be real?"

"As real as you or me," Joseph said with a grim face. "I can only wish that they weren't real… Anyway, the Machiá are a race that the Androidians enslaved—the Machiá, when they come of age, are 'honored' by their Androidian 'god' with a symbiote…a branch of the Androidian race that are always in the larvae stage. This is beginning to sound really familiar, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir…the Goa'uld behaved exactly that way in the legends…"

"Well, as a secret between you and me, I'll tell you why. The Androidians are actually a branch of the Goa'uld…they rebelled against the System Lords and began their own empire…and since they didn't have the quarrelling of the different leaders, they progressed a lot quicker than the Goa'uld did—as they were fighting the humans and every other good alien out there, well, of course not the Knox. But because of that, the Androidians became more powerful in a shorter amount of time as the Goa'uld and so the Androidians eventually overthrew the others, killing them and taking over."

"And this is about Dagón, because…?"

"Oh! Sorry. Well! Usually the larvae are put into the chest of the Machiá victim to live there until the Machiá dies, though they can enter the body through the mouth, as well in other ceremonies. And as you know, the Goa'uld larvae enter through a Jaffa's pouch in their stomach…making the two of them different.

"Once they have the Androidian larva in them, they are branded with a symbol and are attached with a Klart—a sort of spider-looking piece of Androidian technology built onto their heads to stimulate the host. They're round at the back of the head and have four legs gripping the skull, as you have seen on Dagón. But some of these Klarts malfunction and the symbiote sometimes rebels against the Androidians and helps the fight because they begin to like their host and begin looking at the Androidians as they do. That's what Dagón's did, and that's why he's not under Androidian control.

"You see, Dagón was a person of power under the rule of Hades, an Androidian god—you'll learn more later. Anyway, he was Hades' most trusted General, called the Chief Vizier, even though he was a pirate and a cosmic castaway, as they're called. Dagón was in charge of the best ship in Hades' fleet at the time and he stole many things, taking women for Hades and killing people. But, after years of this, Dagón's Klart malfunctioned and he began to question his orders seeing the truth for the first time. That's why his ship marooned him on a small deserted planet for death. He had a Spacegate, but he didn't know how to use it because Hades thought that a person under his power should know the least amount of information possible, even for someone who was at Dagón's ranking.

"So, after Colonel O'Brien found Dagón and showed kindness to him, the alien wanted to come back with John and fight with us against the Androidians. While heading back to the 'Gate, they stumbled upon more Androidians dumping off people they didn't like and Dagón helped John get through the Spacegate and out of harm's way unhurt while sustaining injuries himself. After how Dagón had saved the Colonel, he brought him back with him, and that's how he joined GC-1."

"Wow," Daniel said. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah. Now, there's some more information you need on the rest of the crew. First, I'll tell you all their names, then their pet peeves and what to look out for. In the chain of command, we go: me, Major General Joseph Donald Hoffman, Colonel Jonathon Clayton O'Brien, Major Alexandra Caitlin Croft, Major-Doctor Katherine Bethany Fields, Captain Nicholas Jonah Ellerton, Lieutenant Damian Graham Woods, and then our resident alien Dagón—no middle or last name.

"John absolutely loathes his full first name, so call him John…and do not, I repeat, do not call him Johnny or Jonathon. That makes him go crazy. Like you, whom I know hates to be called Dan or Danny, call him by his entire name, and you'll be fine.

"Don't mention surfing again to Captain Nicholas Ellerton. He gets depressed when he thinks about it because he knows he can't do it anymore. We try to keep him busy so as to not let him think about it, but mentioning it to him has the same effect. He's fine with being called Rick and Dude, but he hates to be called Nicholas—it's 'un-dude-like,' if you know what I mean…

"Alexandra is pretty stubborn…you tell her that she can't do something and she'll set out to prove you wrong. She hasn't seen her father in over three years, and sometimes has a temper while working with guys. Besides that, though, there's really nothing else that sets her off too badly… She's really sweet, though, once you get to know her and she gets to know you."

"That's okay," Daniel said with a slight smile. "I'm pretty stubborn myself. I can see that we'll work fine together…I hope."

"That's good. Doctor Fields can be called Kate…she doesn't much like her full first name, either. A word of advice: never be late for an appointment, if you have one. She lectures, though she's gotten better at not doing it, and if you're on her bad side, she'll find some reason to stick needles in you. She really is very kind, however, and I can see she has taken a liking to you already.

"Dagón really has nothing that sets him off, unless you mention those scurvy-dogged scallywags—also known as the Androidians who marooned him on an asteroid and left on the ship Hades had given him, The Bronze Pearl. Even since his marooning, however, he's still feared, so that's usually a good thing when we go to other planets…no one wants to mess with us.

"And lastly, well, anything you do sets Damian off. Try to avoid him; though don't look like you're trying to avoid him. That makes him mad, as well. We really can't wait to get rid of him… Make sense?"

"Um, kinda. Thanks for that. I'll try to keep that advice in mind when I talk to any of them." Daniel's head was spinning from all of the information he had gotten in a very short amount of time.

"There's more that you need to know, Daniel," Joseph said as the linguist made a move to get up.

"There is?"

"Yes. Everyone here, once you are 'reincarnated,' gains special powers. We're still not sure on why this happens, either, but it does, and it's something that you need to be aware of."

Joseph took a breath in. "John can take away life as he chooses and can make things disappear at his will, though it drains him of energy severely. He can also absorb many things, such as a plasma pulse or a plasma blast. That makes him very powerful, and that is how he rose to the rank of Colonel under me, that, and his wonderful strategic mind. You need not worry if you are on his side, but if you aren't…well, I take pity on you. The jewel he has embedded in his chest is a diamond-shaped, well, diamond.

"Dagón, as a pirate, can command water and other elements to bend to his will. He once waved a hand and an entire enemy ship fell apart and separated into the different elements that created it. It was pretty astounding, though you don't want to know how the aliens looked as they, too, began to separate… His jewel isn't really a jewel…it's a bronze pearl, hence his old ship's name.

"Dude is a mechanical wizard and that is why he stays on the ship most of the time. He can hack into anything and uses The Code to find out what happens in the other world."

"The Code?" Daniel interrupted, confused.

"I'll have him explain it to you later. His love of the surf and surfing must have gotten through the Spacegate really strongly since his jewel is an aquamarine one with an oblong-shape, somewhat like a surfboard."

Joseph smiled at the confused look on Daniel's face. "Should I be taking notes?" the linguist asked.

"No…listening and just being with everyone will be enough, I think," the General said and continued his barrage of information.

"Doctor Katherine's only true ability is the healing of people. She majored in becoming a doctor and finished all of the classes available to her for the care of humans. She and Alex are cousins, and so Kate knows how to use any type of alien doctor's tool. Kate's a really good person to have here, especially when most of the things we do are dangerous and life threatening. She has a topaz cross, sort of like the Red Cross back on Old Earth, though it's not red."

"I kinda figured that," Daniel said with a smile. "Neither Kate nor Alex look similar in any way…so—"

"—how are they cousins?" The General nodded. "That's generally what everyone wants to know. Alex's uncle, her mother's brother, married a woman from Korea and they had Kate. Just a little fun fact…"

Daniel nodded with a smile. "Cool. What else do I need to know?"

"Alex's abilities help us a lot, as well. She is a wiz at fixing and figuring out alien technology, let alone our own, and she's the best at calculations—no wonder she graduated at the top of her class. She's helped us hotwire alien ships and has fixed our own ship before; she's gotten us out of a jam many times. She majored in Astrophysics and mechanics in college. Alex also can sense injuries and can heal them temporarily, though it drains her of energy. The healing comes from Kate's side of the family… Alex has a sapphire heart jewel and she says that it corresponds to what the Sage told her the first time she saw her, though she's not telling exactly what it means."

"The Sage?"

"You'll hear more about her later," Hoffman said. "When you're ready, you'll find out."

"All right," Daniel said. "Anything else?"

"Yes. For Damian, well, we're really not sure why he didn't get any abilities. He dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and didn't study really anything, so maybe that's why. Perhaps his skill in manipulating words is one, but we're not sure. It's best not to listen to him too closely, because if you do, well, then you can get tangled up in what he's saying and never know whether you're manipulating him or he's manipulating you. His jewel is an Obsidian triangle—we think it matches his heart."

"Do you know what my powers are?" Daniel asked. "I don't really feel anything yet."

"The abilities you have appear slowly at first. You might not get yours for another few days or so, but once one appears, the others come very quickly. But, I must confess, one of my powers is that I can tell what some of your powers will be. Let me see…"

Joseph closed his eyes and sat there for a minute, a hand touching Daniel's.

"Ah," he said, while opening his eyes. "Since you majored mostly in foreign languages, you will be able to read and decipher any languages, alien or human, really fast and can then speak the language after you've read it. You will eventually be able to stop plasma weapons, like John, and will ultimately get foresight. I cannot tell you much more, though you will get more than I have said. You, Daniel, will be the greatest of us all."

"Foresight?" Daniel asked. "I'll be able to see the future?"

With a bland expression, Joseph nodded. "You won't be able to see it all, though you'll see some. It will show what will happen up to a certain point, up to where you will need to make a choice, and then the fate you see will alter according to what you picked. Trust me, I've no idea what it means, but we'll be here for you to help you through the times that you discover yet another gift. You won't be alone…"