Chapter 6: Welcome to Stargate Command
Cheyenne Mountain Complex
09:50 A.M
Alexeyeva handed the folder to General Carter, who sighed in relief.
"I thought I was going to have to spend a few days trying to convince you, but I'm glad I didn't have to Lieutenant Colonel," She told the Russian.
"I'm glad you could join us." Alexeyeva nodded, not understanding what the General meant.
"Us?" She asked.
"I'd like to show you something," Carter replied, walking over to the covered window. After pressing a button combination on the numpad next to the window, the steel barrier lifted. Upon seeing what was behind the window, the Lieutenant Colonel nearly lost her breath. One floor below, the two could see a round stone device, covered with symbols that the Lieutenant Colonel didn't recognize. She looked over to the General, with wide eyes.
"We call it a Stargate." General Carter said to the confused Russian.
"What exactly does this…'Stargate' do?" Alexeyeva asked as she and Carter walked down the spiral steps into the control room.
"It's an interplanetary portal that transports matter from one world to another instantly," The General replied as the two looked through the control room window, at the gate. The Russian shook her head. She would have guessed that the Stargate could have been a museum piece, a relic, had she not been told.
"Impossible," She heard herself say.
In her mind, however, she believed in things far more absurd. Carter looked at the Russian, whom was still staring at the gate in awe. "Come on, I'll give the tour," She said, leading the visitor past the control room.
The two exited through the back entrance, finding an elevator and a desk with a guard sitting behind it. Turning right down another corridor, Alexeyeva noticed that the floor and walls had color-coded lines stretching into the hallways. Just before Carter was about to explain the early history of the SGC's operations, the two saw a man bump into another, causing the other to drop a folder in which papers went falling onto the floor. "Ah, what the hell, Witkowski?" The second man asked, bending down to pick up his papers. "Did you not see me?"
The first, a tall, clean shaven man, of African descent, rolled his eyes.
"Well excuse me sunshine," He called out in a British accent. "Some of us happen to be in a rush these days," The other man, older, scoffed.
"If you're gonna act like an ass, Witty, then act like one while helping me out,"
"Yeah right, Griff, I'm not in SG-2 anymore, you're not my boss." The first man replied. The other man, Colonel Michael Griff, stood up and got in the first man's face.
"Lemme tell ya something, Witkowski," He began, poking his finger on Witkowski's chest. "You weren't just in SG-2…you led it in my absence and just because you did lead it don't mean you're MY boss, got me, Major?"
The first man backed away, arms up in defense.
"No need to be so fired up mate," He said, helping Griff pick up the papers.
"Those files had my recommendation for your transfer into that new team the General was creating," Griff added.
At that point, Carter intervened.
"For a position as second in command, Major Witkowski," She began.
The two men turned their attention to the commanding officer.
"General Carter, Ma'am," The two said, saluting.
"At ease, gentlemen," Carter replied.
After a few seconds of silence, Witkowski raised an eyebrow when he recognized the Lieutenant Colonel's uniform.
"Who's the Russian?" He asked the General.
"Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," The General answered. "She was just transferred from the Vega Group of the Russian FSB,"
The two men raised an eyebrow.
"Vega group?" Griff asked, sorting his papers. "The hell is that?"
"Have you heard of Vympel, sir?" Alexeyeva asked.
"Wait, wait, wait," Witkowski cut in, approaching the Russian. "Are you trying to tell me that you're Spetsnaz?"
Alexeyeva refrained from saying anything further in hopes of having the question dropped. This, however, agitated the British solider.
"Can't say anything, can ya love?" He asked, backing away. "Of course you're not Special Forces…you're in a bloody arm cast for heaven's sake,"
"That's enough, Major," Carter cut in. "Show some respect,"
"Apologies, General," Witkowski said, leaving the three behind.
"The nerve of that kid," Griff commented, eyeing the Major's leave.
He then turned to the Russian.
"Don't worry about him though, he'll shut up when you take charge,"
"What's that supposed to mean, sir?" Alexeyeva asked.
Griff glanced at Carter, who shook her head, then back to the Russian.
"I'm sure General Carter will fill you in," Then Griff took his leave.
Alexeyeva looked at the General funny.
"Take charge?" She asked the General.
Carter smiled.
"Come on, Colonel, I'll show you around." She said, leading the Russian on the tour of Stargate Command.
An hour later, the General finally led the Russian to the medical bay.
"You'd be surprised how many times we had to use this room," Carter said to the Russian. "And how many didn't make it,"
Alexeyeva was confused.
"Why are we here?" She asked.
"You have a broken arm," Carter replied.
"And?" Alexeyeva asked again.
"We can fix it,"
"How?"
"Have a seat on one of the beds," General Carter replied.
Alexeyeva nodded and took a seat on the closet bed to her.
Carter went another direction with a doctor to a wall which, to Alexeyeva's observation, had a safe.
After Carter unlocked the safe, she removed a tray and carried it over to the Russian. Carter pulled out a small device with a larger round, flat crystal embedded in the center. "What is that?" Alexeyeva asked, referring to the object.
"It's a Goa'uld Healing Device," Carter answered.
"And this device can fix my bones, da?" Alexeyeva asked, sounding skeptical.
"It can do more than just 'heal bones'," The Doctor, Carolyn Lam, said, placing her hands in her pockets.
"Good to know," The Russian replied.
"Alright, you can take off the cast," Dr. Lam said to the Lieutenant Colonel.
Alexeyeva slipped the cast off her arm and immediately felt as if stabbed. She cursed trying to cope with the pain. Thankfully, she was cursing in Russian.
"Easy, Colonel," Carter said to the solider, placing the healing device over the Russian's arm. "All the pain will be gone,"
At the same time the device became active, Alexeyeva could feel the pain fade away. "How is she doing that?" She asked Dr. Lam.
"The device can only be used by the Gou'ald or former hosts," The Doctor explained. "It has to do with the naquadah in their blood." "Wait," Alexeyeva interrupted, forgetting that the doctor dodged her question. "Who, or what, are Gou'alds?"
"Parasites…they get into you through the mouth or the back of the neck, taking you over completely." Carter explained, albeit simply put.
Alexeyeva didn't answer. She couldn't actually, being shocked with the information. The very thought of something jumping into her mouth and going into her head, therefore controlling her, made the woman shiver.
"Alright, Colonel, try to move your arm." Lam said to the Russian.
Alexeyeva nodded and slowly extended her arm. She expected pain but even as her arm was fully extended, she felt nothing. Proceeding to move her fingers, Alexeyeva noticed that the two other women were smiling.
"Thank you," She said to them.
Lam raised an eyebrow.
"You don't sound all that happy?" She commented.
"What can I say Doctor," Alexeyeva replied. "We're trained to not be hysterical,"
The doctor and the General nodded.
"They told me that it would be about a month before I could use my arm," Alexeyeva continued, slipping off the bed. "That little toy of yours would have saved countless lives had it been used in the battlefield,"
Carter laughed a bit, finding it amusing that the Colonel, despite being Special Forces, was naïve.
"If we could find a way to distribute enough devices without anyone noticing, that would be great,"
"So you have only this one, da?" Alexeyeva asked.
"Just the one," Carter verified.
Alexeyeva nodded, nothing more she could come up with to ask.
"And in case you were wondering, Colonel," Lam added. "It's not powerful enough to bring back the dead,"
"Shame," The Colonel mumbled as Dr. Lam took the device back to the safe.
"Sam!" A man said as he walked into the infirmary.
"Daniel," Carter replied.
After taking a glance at the woman leaning back onto the bed, the man pressed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.
"Uh, right, Daniel, this is Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Alexeyeva," Carter began. "Alexeyeva, this is-"
"Doctor Daniel Jackson," Alexeyeva finished the General's sentence, shaking hands with the man.
"You've heard of me?" Daniel asked.
Alexeyeva nodded.
"Of course, my sister never stopped talking about you," She said.
"In college, my sister studied archeology as a major,"
"That's interesting," Daniel replied.
"You really got a strong grip," He added, feeling the Russian's healed hand's strength. Daniel let go of the Russian's hand, ending the handshake.
"Your English is very good too," Daniel commented.
"Spasheba," Alexeyeva replied. Thank You.
"So, Daniel," Carter began.
Daniel raised an eyebrow just before realizing why he came to the General.
"Oh, right," He began. He was about to continue when he realized the Russian's presence. "Should I say anything," He asked the General.
She raised an eyebrow. Daniel tapped his fingers on the journal he was carrying.
"You know…" He nudged his head towards Alexeyeva's direction.
"Oh, of course, she already signed the agreement," Carter spoke quickly.
Daniel nodded, in relief, and then continued.
"The naquadah deposits we found on P3Z-597 are actually depleted,"
"Well, that's unfortunate," Carter replied.
Daniel nodded but continued anyway.
"But that's just it…it was rich almost a month ago."
"What are you saying Daniel," Carter asked. "Someone else got to it?"
"That's what I'm thinking," Daniel answered.
"I'm sorry," Alexeyeva asked.
The other two looked at the Russian.
"But what is naquadah?"
It was another half hour before the tour ended with a visit to the gate room. Carter waited at the base of the ramp while Alexeyeva walked up to the Stargate itself. She pressed her left hand against the symbols on the device.
"It took us fifteen years and three super computers to MacGyver a system to get the Stargate to open," Carter explained.
Alexeyeva looked back at the General in confusion.
"MacGyver?" She asked.
"Or Jury Rig it," Carter replied.
The blast door to the left opened and a man with thin gray hair and a blue jumpsuit approached the General.
"SG-1 and 2 are ready to go, Ma'am," He said to her.
Carter nodded and signaled the Russian to come back. The man introduced himself to the Russian. "Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman," He said to her.
"Sergeant," Alexeyeva replied, walking down the ramp.
"So what do you think of the Stargate so far?" Harriman asked.
Alexeyeva shrugged. "It appeared bigger from upstairs," She replied, following the General out of the room.
Harriman was taken aback a bit, confused. Just before the Russian and the General disappeared into the halls, Walter realized that he should have welcomed the Russian anyway.
"Welcome to Stargate Command," He called out.