O'Neill, Kalan, and Merrin stepped out of the Gate. O'Neill continued down the ramp as both aliens looked around. At the same moment, Carter and Hammond had just entered the Gate Room and soon both parties were exchanging greetings.
"Thank you for this exchange General Hammond," Kalan, whose hands were free covered his eyes with his palms and bowed. Merrin, who was standing beside him and who was holding a small metal box just bowed. "I'm sure it will be fruitful for both of our worlds. Major Carter, please allow Merrin to present you with this naquada reactor," the man gestured to the child who handed over the heavy reactor to Carter. When the exchange was done, Kalan continued. "You may study it for the duration of our exchange."
"Thank you," breathlessly answered Carter, her eyes fixed on the device now in her hands and mind running with the different possibilities.
"If you will allow, I would like to offer a tour of…" Tried to offer Hammond, but he had read previously the transcript of the episode and knew that Kalan will most likely decline the offer, choosing to leave immediately back to Orban. And he was not disappointed.
"The exchange has been made. I will return to Orban now. Merrin will stay here as per your request to... teach Major Carter."
A merry clucking of the keyboard was filling the office. And while it didn't usually bother Colonel Makepeace, the speed and the power forcing the clucking sound from the keyboard were starting to get on his nerves. The military man was considering asking Barbara to tone it down, but she had just finished as he opened his mouth.
"Are you done with retyping the season?" the colonel asked in surprise the girl who was stretching from the long stay in a hunched position. She looked at him, shrugging her shoulders and twisting one of her palms in a 'so-so' motion. She then grabbed her translator device.
"At least for now. I need to go over and see if there was something I mistyped. Then I have to print it for General Hammond."
"You are giving only the transcripts, right?"
"Unfortunately, it is the only thing my phone gives me information of. But I do add some tidbits if I remember them. It has been so long seen I last saw the series. Profiles on the Goa'uld would have been nice. I also remember some SG personnel to be NID…."
'And I am so lucky that is the only thing you have access to,' thought the colonel to himself as Barbara was typing something else in her device.
"Well, have you reached a logical pause in your work? Food?"
"Ah, I see how it is," laughed the colonel. He looked at the papers before him before glancing at the clock. "Yeah, we can hit the Mess."
Barbara pocketed her phone and the flash drive she had saved the transcripts on, deciding to leave the translating device for now in her hands.
The pair then quickly left the Colonel's office.
In the mess hall, the pair quickly gathered some food. As they were choosing a table to sit at, Barbara noticed at another table Carter and O'Neill sitting together with Merrin. The scientist was speaking about something very passionately, in her hands a blue Jell-o glass and a long spoon with which she was enthusiastically articulating her speech. Merrin was attentively listening and sometimes interjecting. O'Neill was looking as if he was nursing the beginning of the science migraine, the one that he got when he tried to follow Carter's technobabble or Daniel's Historical-word-vomit.
Don't get him wrong, he loved when his teammates were passionate about their fields of study, but he enjoyed it in small, focused doses, not the long-winded version he had the luck to be exposed to. So, the Colonel was looking for any way to escape the situation. He made eye contact with Barbara, before switching to Colonel Makepeace and waving the pair over to their table.
Merrin closely watched the pair when they came over and finally settled at the table, exchanging greetings.
"Barbara, meet Merrin. She is here on exchange from Orban. Merrin, this is Barbara. Our base guest," finished the introduction Colonel O'Neill. He was looking forward to this interaction. He really hoped it would help him explain to Merrin that Averium was not the best decision. He read the retyping. He knew that he didn't manage to completely prevent Merrin from the ceremony, but he was glad he managed to teach her to draw. Maybe Barbara would help Merrin to get more knowledge she would have after the ceremony?
Barbara smiled at the girl during the introduction, waving a greeting at her. Merrin smiled in return before cocking her head to a side and taking a moment to observe the other girl.
"You don't speak the language. You look too young to be military personnel. What do you do?"
Barbara, who had managed to take a bite of her food, choked on her noodles from the abrupt questioning from Merrin, but she should have really expected it. She raised a finger to request a moment to clear her throat and took her translation device.
"You are correct. I am a bit young and not of the military," a rueful smile on Barbara's face. "As for the language, I hear myself speak the language but everyone else keeps hearing some other language."
"The Ancient," coughed out O'Neill.
"I came to SGC sometime ago and I provide them with information about a possible future," continued the mechanical voice from the device. "I am just a very lame seer. But enough about me. How do you like it here?"
Merrin glanced for a bit at Carter before replying. "It is different than on Orban. Major Carter had requested that I teach her about the naquada reactor," Barbara nodded and hummed an affirmative noise before Merrin continued. "We are currently having a break. As Major Carter put it, 'to clear our brains'."
There was a pause at the table as everybody continued eating their food, before Barbara noticed O'Neill winking at her and then tilting his head to point at Merrin. Barbara looked in confusion at the SG-1 colonel.
'FUN! F-U-N. Ask her about fun!' O'Neill was mouthing. 'F-U-N!'
Barbara continued to look at the colonel before chancing a glance at carter and Makepeace. Both were intensely focusing on their food, which seemed to her a bit too much. She returned to look at O'Neill before it finally clicked.
"Merrin, what do you do for fun?"