Sorry for being on hiatus for a while, so I'm back with more chapters about the new guys.
Also: This is NOT an April fools joke
So here it is:
Chapter 19: Celsius Zero (Part 2)
N7M-321
02:05 Zulu Time
Alexeyeva and the others looked into the hole that Ortega had dug up.
"What the hell is that?" Williams asked.
"I don't know," Ortega replied.
Digging inside, the Sergeant pulled up an object from the depths of the frozen island.
"But whatever it is," He continued, examining the object in his hands. "It's not all that heavy,"
The Sergeant examined the object once he had set it down.
"It's a box," Witkowski commented, referring to what was seemingly obvious.
"Well, it is hollow and I think there is a way to open it," Ortega continued.
"Yeah, it's a box,"
"Can ya open it?" Williams asked, kneeling next to the object.
"Well, let's have a look," Ortega replied.
He rotated the object in his hands, hoping to find a mechanism or latch or something.
"There isn't a handle or something to open this," Ortega reported. "There is however some sort of combo lock,"
"You just said there wasn't anything to open it," Witkowski cut in.
"Related to a 'handle'," The Spaniard corrected. "Besides, it could be nothing important."
"Are you daft?" The Englishman replied. "Just open it if you can,"
Ortega did as told to. He pressed his left ear next to the lock and began to rotate the dial. A moment later:
'Click'
"Uno," He commented.
He rotated the dial in the opposite direction. "
Come on…where are you?"
'Click'
"Dos,"
"Tell me something Sergeant," Alexeyeva asked. "Where did you learn to pick locks like these?"
"Don't they teach you this in basic training?" Ortega replied.
Alexeyeva shrugged, unsure of how to respond, much to Witkowski's amusement. Then the dial was rotated back in the original direction.
"Surprisingly easy for something this important…if it is, that…is." Ortega added.
'Click'
"Tres."
With a single tug at one of the edges, Ortega was about to praise himself for his 'fine' work, already with a smile and a smug look. Unfortunately, for him, at least, the box's walls collapsed and fell onto the snow.
"Oh nice one mate," The Major commented, rolling his eyes. "Way to break the damn thing,"
"Wait, hold on a sec," Williams added, taking one of the broken walls off the ground.
After a brief examination, the Canadian's head shot up, a stunned look expressed on her face.
"This isn't a box," She said. "This is a piece of some sort of map or picture,"
The Russian signaled the Private to hand over the piece so that she could also examine it.
"She's right," The Colonel added, tilting her head side to side, trying to make sense of what was before her. "Someone give me the other pieces if they can be separated as well."
Ortega nodded and disconnected the other panels.
"I can do this, Colonel," Williams said to her commander. "Art, well…puzzles, is actually a specialty of mine,"
"Is geography also a specialty, Private, you know where Canada is?" Ortega asked, sitting on the ground.
Before the Spaniard could smile, and then possibly regret saying what he said, Witkowski retracted his arm and slapped the back of Ortega's head.
"Ow!"
"Belt up," Witkowski snapped. "Ya don't realize just how brassed off we are with your cheeky attitude mate,"
"No, Major," Alexeyeva added. "Just you,"
"Ah bugger off,"
The Russian was about to throw another comeback when Williams cleared her throat loudly enough so that the others would pay some attention her way.
"Done," She said to the others, handing the unusually large pictograph to the Colonel.
Ortega's mouth dropped in utter surprise. He honestly did not believe that she would place the pieces together and that they would have Jackson look through them instead. The Spaniard shook his head with a defeated smile.
"It wasn't really that hard…we just need to find out what is considered north on this world."
As a response, Witkowski dug into his vest and pulled out a compass.
"Try this," He said. "At least the magnetic field here has got to be better than on Earth."
No one said anything else while Williams searched for North, while in the mean time, Alexeyeva looked at the pictograph once more.
"Strange," The Russian commented out loud.
Witkowski approached his commander and looked, over her shoulder, at the pictograph.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Some of these words resemble some modern Russian, or at least Slavic, text." The Colonel replied.
"Think you can translate the entire thing with the few words?" The Major asked.
"It won't be easy but let's take a look,"
As the Russian began to read, the Stargate behind them activated. Her radio began to crackle, signaling an incoming radio transmission.
"SG-26, this is Stargate Command, come in," It was General Carter.
Alexeyeva and Witkowski headed towards the MALP, allowing the people back on Earth to be able to see them.
"Colonel, what's your status?" Carter asked, her voice echoing from the team's radios.
The Russian shrugged, pressing against the 'talk' button.
"No unpleasant surprises as of yet, so nothing to worry about." She replied into her radio.
"That's good to hear, Colonel," Carter commented.
Alexeyeva couldn't help but smile a bit.
"You're not worried about us getting ambushed once more, nyet?" She asked.
"We're just making sure, Colonel," Carter replied. "You were lucky the first time, so we'll be on stand-by in case anything goes wrong again,"
The Russian's smile turned grim.
"We appreciate the help, General, and we'll take it…but I'd prefer we don't waste resources on just one team,"
"Understood, Colonel," Carter replied.
"Um, Natasha," Daniel's voice emerged from the radio. "Did you happen to find anything?"
"As a matter of fact, we have," The Colonel replied.
Signaling the Major to retrieve the pictograph found by Ortega, Alexeyeva explained to Daniel about what they found.
"A map?" Jackson asked. "Buried in the iceberg?"
Witkowski returned with the pictograph in his hands, holding onto it with care.
"Yes, Doctor," The Russian continued. "If you don't mind, however, we would like it if you would as kind as to translate as much as you can."
"Sure," Daniel replied. "Go ahead."
Witkowski tilted the pictograph in a position so that the camera could have a full view.
Silence, aside from the wind, set in as the two waited for a response from Jackson. Witkowski, leaning on the MALP, patiently waited.
"What do you think is taking him?" He asked his commander.
Alexeyeva shrugged.
"This language is dead…this will take time,"
Witkowski scoffed.
"You don't know Doctor Jackson like the rest of us…excluding the Private."
"What do you know about the Doctor then?" The Russian replied, unconvinced.
Witkowski repositioned himself to become more comfortable with where he was.
"I'll tell you for one thing," The Major added. "He isn't an ordinary doctor,"
"You mean like how a linguist, who also happens to be an archeologist as well, goes to other worlds, translating dead or alien languages, fighting aliens, saving the world and god knows what else,"
"That's pretty much it," Witkowski replied.
A smug crept up the Major's lips.
"Aside from the fact he alone figured out how to operate the damn Stargate,"
The Russian nearly lost her footing upon hearing the information.
"Is that right?" She asked.
Witkowski nodded.
"At first it was thought that the symbols had no real meaning, or something, I forget," He paused. "Then Jackson somehow figured out that each symbol represented a constellation,"
"Like an address?"
"Exactly, Colonel, this is how he, General O'Neill and several others ended up on Abydos,"
Alexeyeva raised an eyebrow.
"The Egyptian city?" She asked.
"No, another world…wait…"
Witkowski shook his head.
"There's a city in Egypt called Abydos?"
The Russian nodded.
"Hmm…interesting,"
"General O'Neill used to go to other worlds?" Alexeyeva asked.
The Major nodded.
"Yeah, back when he was a Colonel…in 1994 or 95, I think."
"What a small world..." The Russian commented, nodding. "Or Galaxy,"
"Try Universe next time," The Major replied, smiling.
"This is actually interesting," Daniel's voice echoed from their radios.
"What you got Doc?" Witkowski asked through his radio.
"Some of this text translates into 'storage', 'underwater', 'path' and 'key'."
"Which means what, exactly?" The Russian asked.
"It's defiantly a map…so I guess it has something to do with finding 'storage' underwater somewhere."
"Hey guys!" Williams yelled from a distance. "I found north, what now?"
"I don't suppose we could just swim our way to this place, nyet?" Alexeyeva asked, leaning back onto the MALP. No one said anything.
Then…
"Crack out the new ARGOs," Witkowski said, snapping his fingers. "We're going scuba diving,"
Seven Minutes Later…
Stargate Command
The Colonel and Major exited from the Stargate moments before it shut down. Waiting for them on the base of the ramp was General Carter.
"Colonel, Major," She began. "I hear you found something,"
The two soldiers saluted before answering.
"Yes ma'am," Witkowski replied. "It turns out that there is something of value in the ocean and we were hoping to go look for it,"
The General thought for a moment before asking the Colonel.
"Do you know where this storage is?" She asked.
Alexeyeva shook her head.
"Nyet, General," She replied. "However, both Ortega and Williams are looking for the location as we speak,"
"Yeah," Witkowski commented. "Who knew Ortega was such a mathematician, despite being a medic and a god awful comedian,"
The General nodded. "We'll deploy an ARGO to the planet and two divers."
"No need for divers, General," Witkowski added. "The Colonel and I will go,"
Fifteen Minutes Later
Sub-Level 25
Alexeyeva examined her dark blue steamer wetsuit in the ladies' locker room, checking for any faults in the material. Once she had finished, she strapped her knife onto her hips and slinged the harpoon gun over her back. With a chuckle, she wondered why she would need the damn thing. The Colonel walked out of the locker room only to find that the Major, already in his own wetsuit, was waiting for her, leaning against the wall.
"About bloody time mate," He commented.
The Russian shook her head, her expression grim.
"Do you always show disrespect to your superior officers, Major?" She asked.
"Only the ones I don't like,"
The Russian led the way back to the elevator.
"You keep saying you don't like me and yet you lack the courtesy to show it," She added, pressing against the down button.
"Touché, Colonel," Witkowski replied.
The elevator doors retracted open and the two stepped inside. Pressing the '28' button on the panel, Alexeyeva sneezed. At that moment, pain spiked inside her facial scars so much that the Russian fell on her knees, covering her face and tears.
"Hey, you alright, Colonel?" The Englishman asked.
The Russian shook her head.
"No…my damn scars make sneezing a living hell." She said.
"Your face got torn up that bad, huh?"
"You didn't take an explosion to the face, Major," The Colonel replied. "Besides, the wounds are still healing,"
"Then why the bloody hell are back in service so soon? Unless…"
The elevator doors opened.
"You lied about your health…didn't you?" The Major added.
"Get me drunk and I just might explain," The Russian mumbled, getting back up on her feet.
She checked her hand and, to her astonishment, found a thin line of blood that didn't come from her palm.
"You can't be fighting, not now," The Major said to the Colonel.
"Whatever." Was the Russian's reply.
Witkowski could only shrug to himself as the Russian exited the elevator.
Reaching the gate room, one of the technicians, Master Sergeant Siler, approached the two with a tablet computer in hand.
"The ARGO is ready for deployment, Ma'am," He said to the Russian. "As well as the scuba gear you requested."
"ARGO?" Alexeyeva asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Amphibious all-terrain 8 by 8 driven rover," Witkowski explained, his voice egotistic. "Perfect for our assignment,"
The Russian rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go,"
Siler nodded and signaled for Harriman to begin the dialing sequence. As the Stargate began to dial, the Russian and the Englishman began to survey their inventory in the back of the ARGO.
Five Minutes Later:
N7M-321
"Gate's activated." Williams said to the Sergeant.
Ortega nodded, still sitting on a chair he made of snow.
"Sí, sí," He replied, yawning.
Williams returned her view to the active gate, hoping that it would the Colonel returning. She was right. Witkowski drove the ARGO through the gate while Alexeyeva escorted the vehicle. Williams approached the two with a smile.
"Welcome back to Hoth Ma'am…Sir," She said. "What's with the getup though?"
"Did you find the location of the site?" Alexeyeva replied, ignoring the Canadian's question.
"Yes ma'am, I did." Williams replied.
She handed the Russian a piece of paper that had the directions.
Alexeyeva nodded once she understood what was written. For the next few minutes, the Colonel checked her equipment and wetsuit one last time before she gave a thumb up to Ortega and Williams, whom both had decided to stay behind and hold the fort. Witkowski, who two was in gear, placed the key into the ignition of the ARGO amphibious vehicle and signaled to the Russian.
"We best get a move on," He called to her.
"I'll be there," The Russian replied.
She began to make her way towards the ARGO when a hand grabbed her arm. With a turn on her heel, Alexeyeva saw who was grabbing her.
It was Williams.
"When we get back Earth," The Private began. "I was hoping we could talk,"
The Russian nodded.
"Of course," She replied.
Williams, however, shook her head.
"No I mean…well…when we get back to the SGC…I was hoping the Major and Sergeant could join as well."
"Wouldn't you be more comfortable talking to just me until you feel ready to talk to others?"
"OI, COLONEL, ARE YOU COMING OR NOT?" Witkowski yelled.
Williams shrugged, feeling uneasy as blood went into her stomach.
"I guess we could do that…a one on one…" She paused.
The Russian chuckled.
"Or maybe we all get drunk and it'll be easy for you to talk freely while no one remembers."
"COLONEL,"
"But…that's just it," Williams replied to the Russian. "I want someone to remember…to listen to what I have to say about myself."
"And I'll be sure to do the same, perhaps the Spaniard and the Englishman might follow,"
"ARE YOU BLOODY DAFT!"
"I'm coming Major," The Russian yelled back.
She turned back to the Canadian and smiled.
"We'll talk more lately, ok?" She said to her.
Climbing aboard the ARGO, Alexeyeva nodded to Witkowski, whom placed the key back into the ignition. After the engine heated up, the Major pressed on the accelerator and the ARGO drove off towards the ocean. The two held on as the ARGO tipped forward once they passed the edge. Once on the ocean, Witkowski drove the ARGO towards the horizon…and the hunt began…