Thanks to everyone whose reviews so far: it's nice to know I'm doing something right.
Life Goes On
Part 2: Where no reporter has gone before...
Chloe was a little surprised that the Air Force had given them a room with a double bed, but Sam pointed out that the rules only applied to enlisted personnel: as they were civilian guest, they were free to do what they wanted. Chloe had still been a little apprehensive, not trusting the Air Force not to have hidden cameras and microphones hidden about the room, but Sam had been soon made her forget.
The meeting the night before had gone on four hours and hours, with Clark asking seemingly endless questions about just what the SGC had found. Jack had refused to answer most of them until Clark would agree to go to the planet and see if he could activate any of the Kryptonian technology there, and Clark refused to go until they agreed that Chloe and Sam would go with him.
Chloe wasn't sure why he wanted her to go with him, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. While she knew that it might be years before she'd be able to tell anyone about it, being the only reporter to ever actually go through the Stargate would sure as hell give her an advantage when it all went public.
"It's a wonder these guys can get by without me." Sam appeared in the doorway, having spent the last several hours in her old lab, helping out with some research projects, "But the good news is that Jack managed to get the Joint Chiefs to agree to Clark's terms: you get to go."
"I'm going to another planet?" Chloe gasped, "Cool!"
"Actually, we'll be going a lot further than that." Sam smiled, "Ever hear the legend of Atlantis?"
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The gate room was a hive of activity: due to the limited number of times they could open a wormhole to Atlantis long enough for people to go through, it had been decided that they'd take as much equipment as they could carry. Trolleys laden with equipment staked high above Chloe's head dominated the floor at the bottom of the embarkation ramp, while soldiers and scientist slated for the next Daedalus mission hurried about to get ready. Someone had managed to find Atlantis Experdition civilian uniforms for Chloe and Clark, and had hand-written their names on the front. The bags they'd brought from Smallville had been repacked into rucksacks that they carried on their back.
"You guys ready?" Sam asked as she entered though the blast doors.
"Whoa!" Chloe blinked: her partner was dressed in crisp, formfitting BDU's and carried a P-90 attached to her webbing. Having never seen Sam in uniform outside of old photos and home movies, Chloe was shocked at how at ease she looked.
Not to mention sexy.
"Chloe?" Clark snapped his fingers, bringing his best friend back down to Earth, "You ready?"
"Yeah." Chloe nodded, still admiring the view, "More than ready!"
"Later; I promise." Sam smiled, "You don't want to miss this..."
The inner track of the Stargate started to spin round, stopping suddenly as one of the chevrons snapped open.
"Chevron 1 encoded." Walter announced over the PA just before it snapped back down, "Chevron 1 is locked in place!"
The gate started to vibrate as the other symbols were entered into the system, until finally only the last one remained. Chloe looked at Sam out of the corner of her eye, and saw that the other woman was holding her breath as the Stargate started to slow down. The sound of the final chevron flicking open was almost lost in the background, but the moment in snapped closed, the wormhole opened, sending what looked like a horizontal fountain flying towards the assembled team.
Chloe flinched backwards, surprised at how close it came, despite the safety marking on the floor that told her she was perfectly safe.
The first members of the team started up the ramp the moment the wormhole stabilised, carrying as much equipment as they could handle. Clark had been half-tempted to grab a trolley with each hand, but not everyone at the SGC knew the truth about him, and he didn't want to give anything away if he could avoid it. Grinning, Sam grabbed Chloe's hand as they started to make their way up the ramp at a brisk walk. Chloe hesitated for a moment, and then stepped through the event horizon.
There was a brief flash of light, and then it seemed like she could see the stars flying past, even though she knew it was impossible. Space and time opened up before her, putting the furthest reaches of the universe within her grasp...
And then through were through, and Chloe found herself in a large, sun-lit room surrounded by a balcony. She could hear the sea out of the large window directly in front of them, but her gaze was instinctively dawn to the strange architecture: Sam had done her best to explain the history of Atlantis, but nothing compared to actually being there.
"Doctor Carter, I presume?" A ruggedly hansom man in his early to mid thirties made his way down the main staircase towards them, "It's good to see you again."
"Likewise." Sam smiled, shaking his hand "Chloe, Clark, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, head of the Atlantis Expeditions military contingent. Col. Sheppard, this is Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan; the closest thing we have to experts on what you found."
"THE Chloe Sullivan?" Sheppard asked, looking the young woman up and down, "The young lady who broke McKay's heart by stealing you away?"
"Excuse me?" Chloe looked at her girlfriend, more than a little confused.
"Dr Rodney McKay: one of the Expeditions chief scientist, and an old verbal sparing partner." Sam reassured Chloe, "His bark's worse than his bite: he's a big softy at heart."
"That's a novel way to describe Rodney." A tall, older woman appeared at the top of the steps and made her way down, "Dr Elizabeth Weir; Atlantis Expedition leader." She nodded at Sam, "It's good to see you again, Sam."
"Likewise." Sam nodded friendlily, "It's nice to finally get a chance to see Atlantis first hand."
"We're glad to have you, even if it is only for a while." Weir crossed her arms over her chest, "But General O'Neill's message didn't say why you and your companions were sent."
"That's clasified," Sam looked round, "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"
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"Well, it's true: he isn't human." Dr. Beckett looked up from his clipboard, "Oh, on the outside there are almost no decernable diferances, but our scanns showed some amazing diferances in his genetic structure and the inner workings of some of his organs..."
"Carson." Weir interupted the medic before he could go any further, "I want all you finding encripted and sealed: as facinating as Mr Kent's bilogy may be, he is not a science experiment."
"Understood." The scottsman nodded, a little dejected, "Is there anything else?"
"No; that will be all." Weir waited untill he was seated again before looking round the table: Sheppard, McKay and Beckett sat on one side, while Sam, Chloe and Clark sat on the other. The revilation that an alien had been living on Earth for almost two decades without anyone finding out had shocked her, but she understood why it had been kept secret.
"So." She looked at everyone, her hands open, "Do we have a plan?"
"I think the best idea would be to go back there and see if Clark can activate the, what ever it is." Sheppard answered in his normal, laid-back tone of voice, "Maybe you need the Kryptonian equivalent of the ATA gene to get it to work.2
"If that's ok by you?" Weir looked Clarke, Sam and Chloe, who all nodded their consent, "Ok; the mission is a go first thing tomorrow. Col. Sheppard; if you would as good as to escort our guests to their quarters."
"No problem." Sheppard stood, "If you'll all follow me." They made their way out of the conference room and along the labyrinth of corridors and chambers to the accommodation block, "I'll try and arrange a full tour for you this afternoon, but you probably want to get freshened up for something."
"Or something..." Chloe smiled as she leaned over to kiss Sam full on the lips. There was a slight croaking sound from McKay, who turned round and walked off in the direction of the showers, a far-away look in his face.
"You know, it's a pity we can't convince you to join the Expedition full-time." Beckett sighed, "That the first time I've ever seen Rodney lost forwords..."
To Be Continued...
If you didn't like it, then so be it: it was my story to write and time to waste, not yours.
Bobboky: you have a very strange mind, but you've given me an idea.
Not exactly what you suggested, but an idea none the less...