The Beginning
Three Weeks Before…
Meatloaf. That's what they always served at the complex on Tuesdays. Madison Johnson looked at it with disgust and poked at it with her fork. This was hell. She was sure of it. It wasn't enough that she had disobeyed a direct order from her CO to leave behind her best friend in enemy territory, but they had to serve this crap on the same day that she was to report to his office. She was sure that she was going to get the standard 'what the hell where you thinking?' lecture. Her dad had always told her to not get too attached to anyone in the military. You could lose them when you least expected it. And, as always, she ignored her father and had become great friends with her roommate in boot camp.
Sarah Anderton was a bright Airman who enlisted for the thrill of pulling 3 Gs in a fighter jet. Unfortunately she didn't realize that you required 20/20 vision and, seeing that she had had to wear glasses all of her life, becoming a pilot was out of the question. She instead familiarized herself in with weapons and had risen up in the ranks very quickly. Now a Major, she had found herself under the command of Lt. Colonel Madison Johnson. The very same Madison Johnson that had shared her room, all those years before.
Madison kept picking at her meatloaf when she heard the seat across from her scratch the floor. She looked up and almost cried to see that Sarah had the biggest grin on her face you would ever see. Every time she saw her now she would fight back the urge to burst out crying. Just to see her friend alive and well was a surprise after what she had been through.
"Hey! What's up?" Sarah asked as she saw Madison make an effort to hide her anxiety. It had been hard for both of them. The thought of losing one another was unbearable. The last incident had proven that. It was really hard for Sarah to put a smile on but it was better then sulking around all day. She tried to start up a conversation with Madison but soon realized that her efforts were futile. She would just sit there, poking her meatloaf with her fork. So she decided to not beat around the bush.
"Listen, Madison. What you did….I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you. I owe you my life. I just wish that you didn't have to pay my mistakes."
She was dreading those words. Madison felt like she was going to cry, but she knew that she had to be strong, for Sarah's sake. Sarah was hurting as much as she was because she blamed herself for what happened. She blamed herself for getting trapped behind enemy lines, for making the rest of the team risk their asses for her. She looked up and saw that she was crying softly to herself. That killed her a little bit inside. She went over to Sarah and put her arms around her. "It wasn't your fault, Sarah. If I'm going to be discharged, I'm glad it's for doing something good. If I could go back, I would do it over again."
That was the truth too. She would do anything for her friend.
"Thank you." was all Sarah could say. If she could change places with her friend she would, she'd take all the blame for it. When they finally stopped hugging they looked at each other and started to laugh. After all they had been through together they were still as thick as thieves. They started to reminisce on their boot camp days when they saw a Lieutenant approach them.
After he saluted them both he turned to Madison. "Colonel Johnson, the General will see you now."
'Great. I'm sure now, this is hell' Madison dismissed the Lieutenant and slowly got up. "Good luck. You're going to need it." Sarah said as Madison picked up her plate. She shot her a sarcastic look then head for the doors. This was going to be the worst hour of her life.
As she walked down the hall to her CO's office, she contemplated what he was going to say to her. "What the hell were you thinking!" was what he usually said to her when she screwed up. But then again there was the occasional "I'm very disappointed with you" speech he gave. She doubted that she was going to get either one of those, though. What she had done those other times where nothing compared to this. When she finally got to his office, she heard laughter coming from inside. 'This day just couldn't get any worse could it?' First it was the damn meatloaf, then Sarah crying in the cafeteria, now her CO was laughing at, no doubt, her finally getting a discharge. When she got closer though, she started to hear something very strange.
"I'm telling you Peter, we could really use her out there. Dr. Weir seems to think that she has potential, and If Weir thinks so then I think so."
"It's not that simple, George. What she did is inexcusable. She disobeyed a direct order and put the lives of three good officers on the line. She's reckless, and you know it."
"That reminds me of a certain General who was once the leader of SG-1. And not to mention the highest ranked officer in Atlantis. We need her out there, Peter. And you know it."
There was a long silence that followed. Madison couldn't believe what she was hearing. What ever was going on here it was big. But why would she be in on it? SG-1, Atlantis, and Dr. Weir….what the hell is going on?
"She won't be able to handle all of this at once. We're going to have to wean her on the idea of going to another galaxy. Hell, I've known of the Stargate program for two years and I still don't believe it!" Peter knew that Madison wasn't going to freak out over the news. He just wanted to discharge her and get it over with. Bringing her to the Pegasus galaxy had got to be the worst idea ever, and he was going along with it.
George looked over at Peter with stern eyes and said, "We'll do everything in our power to make sure that she gets there safely. You have my word on that."
That was it. She had to figure out was going on and she had to do it now. She knocked on the door, but she wasn't going to wait for an invitation to go in. When she opened the door she was greeted with a shocked from her CO, but the man he had been talking to, a general, seemed like he was expecting her.
"Ah, Col. Johnson, I suppose you know why you were asked here?" The general asked. She knew that she should say that she was asked here because of the incident, but now she wasn't sure. The only thing she could do was give a slight head nod. She wanted to know what was going on, and she wanted to know now.
"You might want to sit down for this, Madison. It's going to be hard to hear all of this." Peter looked at her and saw that she was hesitating to, so he walked over and held her shoulders and said, "Please, Madison. Do it for me." It pained him to say this because he was never really that close with his daughter. Being in the military distanced himself from his family and he had gotten used to that. Now he had to let his guard down for her.
She looked at him with a surprised look then slowly sat down. That was the first time since she had joined the Air Force that he had expressed concern towards her. It scared her. This thing that was going on must be big to have him shook up like this.
When the general saw that she was settled in he took out a blue folder and set in on the desk. He also saw that she was trying to get a better a look at it, so he folded his hands on top of it. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about things.
"Colonel, what I'm about to tell you has been deemed classified by the President of the United States. Whatever you hear in this room will be expected to be kept to yourself, is that clear?"
"Yes sir. But, with all due respect, what is so important that you want me to be involved?" She wasn't the best officer in the Air Force, so why would anyone want her to be involved with classified material?
"Despite your record, you may be the one person we are looking for. We are facing an enemy so powerful there may be no stopping it." He stopped to look at her and he saw that she was a little confused. Who wouldn't be? So, he decided to get straight to the point.
"Do you like to travel, colonel?"
This was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. Travel? What the hell did traveling have to do with anything? Madison could only look at the general in amazement. She saw that his name tag said Hammond and though that she better remember that name. She would have to stay clear of this lunatic in the future.
"Umm, yes, Sir. I guess I like to travel. May I ask what that has to do with anything?"
Gen. Hammond just looked at her and smiled. "Col. Johnson, it has everything to do with it."
