The Journey
As Madison was packing her things into her duffel bag she was thinking of what General Hammond had just told her the day before. She was needed in another galaxy to help defend earth against life sucking aliens. He didn't even have the courtesy to tell her how she was going to get there, or for how long she was going to be away. Another thing she couldn't get was why he had wanted her in the first place. Her record didn't exactly show her to be a great officer. She had been demoted twice for disobeying direct orders, only to be promoted soon after for going above and beyond the call of duty. When she had heard her dad say that she was reckless she couldn't disagree with him. She was always doing reckless things even as a kid. That's part of the reason she had joined the military, for the thrill to do dangerous stuff. But this mission sounded way more dangerous then anything she was comfortable doing.
When she was finished packing she sat down on her bed and looked down at the blue folder. When he had handed her the folder he said that it was her decision, but that it would mean a great deal if she went along. No pressure. None at all, just the fate of the earth was depending on this mission. As she thought about it more and more she could feel knots forming in her stomach. This mission was going to end with her doing something stupid, again. But that didn't stop her from making her decision, she was, most likely, going to accept, and make the best of what was about to come. But before she left she had to say goodbye to her friends. She sat down at her desk and started writing a note to Sarah, saying that it had been a blast working with her and that she would always remember her. She also promised that she would come back in one piece, but she knew that that promise was stupid to make. She might come back, but in pieces, not a piece. When she was finished she called to the nearest Airman and asked if he would deliver it. She didn't think that she would be able to do it in person, and she hoped that Sarah would understand. This was it. Her life was going to change during this mission. She could feel that it would. She picked up her bag and walked out the door towards her transportation. There was no turning back now, and just like that, she was off on the mission of a lifetime.
It had been 48 hours since Dr. Weir had approved of bringing Colonel Madison Johnson to Atlantis. She hadn't liked the idea of bringing new people here to Atlantis, but they were getting their asses kicked out here by the Wraith and they could use all the help they could get. She was given about 100 personnel files to go through and only one slot to fill. To her understanding this was going to be an experiment, and if all went well, they would bring in more reinforcements. When she was going through them, she was basically just skimming, but when her eyes came across Col. Johnson's file, she was sure that they had found the person they were looking for. Her record wasn't the greatest, she saw that she had been demoted a couple of times and had been described as reckless, but she always brought her team members home. That was the kind of commitment that Elisabeth was looking for. She didn't even bother reading the other files, she was sure of her choice.
As she walked out of her office onto the balcony, she saw John Sheppard walking up the stairs from the gate room. He gave her a smile as he approached and stood next to her. She was happy that he had come, she needed the company.
"So, any word on that Colonel that's supposed to be comin'?" He wasn't to keen on the idea of bringing new people here either. But, he had read her file and was…intrigued by her. She sort of reminded him of himself, the reckless ways, the demotions, he could relate. He still wasn't happy about her coming though.
"Not yet. Is it just me, or does it seem like they are taking their own sweet time in giving us a response?"
"I thought that I was the only one. But before she gets here can I ask why she has to join my team? Isn't a five man team overkill?"
"Well we want her to learn from the best. Besides, it would be good to have her get used to Rodney's bickering as soon as possible."
He had to smile at that. "Why couldn't that have been protocol when I signed up? Let me know if there's any word." He would've stayed longer but his team was scheduled to go off world in about thirty minutes.
"Will do." Another 24 hours, and Elisabeth was going to go crazy. She wanted an answer, and she wanted it now.
Madison had tried to sleep in the Jeep, but the engine was so loud, it was impossible to relax. The driver was a young Lieutenant who was eager to start a conversation. He kept trying to talk to her but she wasn't in the mood. She kept thinking about what she was about to do and what was going to happen. The thing that bothered her most about the trip was that the Lieutenant seemed to know more about the whole situation then she did. She only half heard him but she could've swore that he had said something about a Stargate. And how he wished he had the stomach to go through it. Well she had to know more so she asked, "Stargate? Is that some kind of ship or something?"
The Lieutenant just looked at her like she was stupid. "You mean you haven't heard of the Stargate? And you're going to Atlantis? If I may say so sir, you haven't got the whole story."
She was very confused now. Stargate? She was going to use this Stargate to get to Atlantis? Then she remembered that the report had said that she was going to travel on the Daedalus. It was some kind of 'super ship' that had advanced technology on it. At least that's what she was told. But now she wasn't too sure of her information.
"Was this Stargate developed by the military?"
"I wish. If the military ever came up with technology like the Stargate, then that would solve all of our problems." He saw that she had another confused look on her face and decided not to go into it further. He had to wonder how someone who was so out of the loop be going on this mission.
For a Lieutenant, he had a lot of information. "How do you know so much about this, Lieutenant?"
"Well, I've worked at Cheyenne Mountain Complex for the past four years. That's where they keep the Stargate. Let me just tell you that once you've seen the Stargate in action, everything that you've ever thought about the universe will change."
'Why wasn't I told all of this? Could this get any weirder?' After the Lieutenant had told her that, she just looked at him and sat quietly. Could it be that incredible? She hated waiting for answers, but that was all she could do. After a few minutes Madison finally fell asleep. All of this worrying was tiring. Besides, with all of the hype around this Stargate thing she figured she would need all of the rest she could get.
Sheppard and his team made their way towards the gate. The planet they were about to go to was rumored to have some fancy weapons on it that were from the ancients. If that was true, it would certainly help their odds of beating the Wraith.
"Good luck." Elisabeth said as she watched them from the balcony. She didn't like getting her hopes up for finding something important, but this time it seemed different.
Sheppard looked up and waved. "Thanks." And with that, they were off.
Sorry this took so long to post. I'll try to update faster in the future.
