Chapter 2

Sowell had been handed a rifle by an airman near the entrance to the main gate. He flipped the gun over in his hand, careful to keep his index finger off the trigger. It was a long thing with a carrying handle on the top, and a wedge-shaped front sight. He briefly checked the chamber and got a few more magazines for the gun, placing them in his side pockets. He clicked the safety on and looked for Jackson. The doctor was behind him though now he had a handgun in a holster.

"Ever use one of those before?" he asked Sowell. "This is an M16A4 rifle. Standard USAF configuration for SGC units. Thirty round magazine, fires semi and burst."

"A gun's a gun."

Jackson loaded his handgun, a blocky looking pistol which could have been made from plastic given the sheen. He said, "When you go through, make sure to exhale. You might feel a bit sick on the other side, but keep going."

"Sounds just like crossover. Don't worry, doc, I know the drill."

"I'll go first; follow my lead."

"This could be a trap, you know." the major said.

"Then why did you want to go?"

"Best way to get trust is a suicide mission."

"Right." Jackson said. "Just hope it doesn't end in my suicide, you know."

"You want me to go first?" Sowell offered.

"No, Landry's orders." he nodded to the observation booth. Landry watched them a moment before leaning in to a microphone.

"Get moving." was all the general said.

"Wait ten seconds then follow me in. You pretty much come out the same way you go in."

"What's that mean?"

"Some people are a little jumpy going through their first time. Kind of sucks, but you're still you. Remember, ten seconds then come on through."

Jackson nodded at the observation booth then walked right through the portal, disappearing from view. Sowell counted down the seconds and did a final check on his weapon. He stood in front of the glowing portal and wondered just what would be on the other side. He took a deep breath through his nose and blew it out through his mouth, blinked once, then ran straight through, the feeling of the event horizon like jumping into a cold pool.

He was then nearly blinded by light from two suns on the horizon. His skin tingled as if he emerged from a long shower completely dry. A subtle mist came from his exposed skin, but at once he was mobile, barely aware that he had just crossed an unknown number of lightyears or galaxies or who knows how far. The first thing he noticed was not the sand, nor the massive chunks of foliage suspended in the air, but gunfire.

Sowell ran down the steps leading from his arrival point and took cover near what looked like a carved stone pillar with unknown writing on it. He pressed himself against it and clicked the safety off his rifle. Opposite to him was Daniel Jackson, handgun out and clasped in both hands.

"Where are your guys? Shouldn't they be here?"

"Don't know." Jackson said. Looks like they moved back. He plucked a radio from his belt and said into it, "SG-2, do you read?"

Within the gunfire, the radio crackled, "SG-2 reads, who's on this frequency?"

"Jackson, SG-1."

"Jesus, you bring the whole team?"

"Not exactly. You need assistance?"

"Yeah. Locals aren't happy with us."

"What did you do, Ferretti?"

"Can we talk about this later? Right now I need someone to pull us out of this!"

"Casualties?"

"Negative. We're just pinned down."

Sowell leaned around cover and brought his rifle up, shouldering it and glancing through the small sight. He carefully scanned the horizon and was able to make out where a set of men were hunkered down against an outcropping maybe a few hundred meters away. He tried to find the opposing force but failed to do so.

"Can I see your radio?" he asked Jackson. The doctor passed it to Sowell, who pressed the transmit button. "This is Major Kevin Sowell, UNSC Marine Corps. We're here to assist."

"Who the hell are you?"

"You're Ferretti?"

"Colonel Ferretti! Who did you say you worked for?"

"You're under fire but from where?"

"Northeast." Ferretti said. "Jumped us as we were pulled away. See the trees there?"

Sowell looked for the trees, two tall amber-leaved things growing out of the sand, leaves like rings making the entire plant look like a mushroom cloud. He could barely see movement.

"Colonel, can you keep them suppressed?"

"We're the ones being suppressed. There's two hundred and fifty meters of open ground. We're at a standstill."

"Stand by." Sowell said, handing the radio back to Jackson. "Come on. Keep to the dunes."

"Are you going to flank them?"

"Want to come along?"

"I wasn't expecting to be shot at today, but I suppose we could make it exciting."

"I don't think these guys know we came through." the Marine said, beginning to move low to the ground, rifle at half-height. "What can you tell me about these guys, Jackson?"

"Ever since the fall of the System Lords they haven't really been a major problem, but every now and again you run across a set of Jaffa pledged to a minor Goa'uld who wants to get the band back together. Some are more dangerous than others."

"These guys? What's a Jaffa exactly?"

"Genetically enhanced warriors that used to work for the Goa'uld. They carry younger members of the species in pouches. Very strong, very fast, and they can get very old too. I work with one actually."

"Aliens. Cool. I can shoot aliens." Sowell said. He had made a career of it after all.

"So do they work on their own or do they have armies?"

"I don't know, really. One of the new players in the game is a guy named Tohep. Maybe these are his boys. That's one of the reasons SG-2 came here in the first place."

The men slowly edged closer to the mushroom cloud trees. Sowell quickly realized it was a standoff between SG-2 and these Jaffa guys. There was too much open ground for one group to move on the other. Occasionally the pop of gunfire or a zap of what looked like plasma fire crossed the open desert. Sowell intended to change those odds.

Fifty meters away from the tree, they were spotted. It was more by chance than anything else. A round fired by one of SG-2's members hit off the tree, spitting bark and dust into the eyes of one of these soldiers. Sowell saw the target jerk back and cover his eyes as he fell back by a few feet. When he opened them, the hostile was looking right at the two would-be ambushers. He shouted to his comrades who looked their way.

Sowell saw for the first time clearly what he had in his sights. It was a Human being. Not humanoid, but someone that looked just like him. He was sure of it. It was tall, armed with unfamiliar weapons, but the form was unmistakable. He was ready to gun down another man. He wasn't prepared for it.

"That's not good." Jackson groaned.

"Hit the deck!" Sowell roared, throwing himself onto the ground and opening up. The rifle barked as he sent semi-automatic fire towards the trees.

"Ferretti, suppress!" Jackson called into the radio, simultaneously leveling the handgun and firing himself. The twin barks overlapped one another as the opposing Humans backed off. It was only now that Sowell realized that they were armed with staff-like weapons and were armored with a strange angular metal plate, dark grey but gold in some places. He was close enough to hear them cry in a language he didn't understand. His fire brought down one of them, the blood splattering across the bark of the tree. The others began to return fire too, lances of plasma sizzling over Sowell's head.

Jackson lined up a shot, planting a bullet dead center on one of his attackers. The warrior seized up and pitched forward, weapon sputtering once.

"We're moving up!" Ferretti called. "Gonna pincer them in!"

Sowell's magazine ran dry. He let it drop, pulled another from his side pocket and inserted it. He slapped the bolt release and took aim again. His enemies were getting more accurate.

"We're not going to last here. Let's back off."

"We move too far and they're going to turn back to SG-2!" Jackson said.

"Not if their MG does his job!"

As if on cue, a steady stream of automatic weapons fire crossed the gap, slapping into the area surrounding the tree. The attackers scrambled for cover as the unexpected suppressing fire forced them to hunker down. Sowell saw three more men crossing the sandy expanse, dusty tan uniforms barely visible against the white sand. He assumed the one in the lead was Colonel Feretti.

"OK, let's move back a bit." Sowell said. "Just a little."

Both the Marine and Jackson slowly made their way into a crouch and started to back down the hill. What Sowell was counting on was lack of unit cohesion at this point. He and Jackson had already killed two of their number. He hoped they would be mad enough to want to kill the offending party.

It worked. A small gap began to form between the attackers who were actively shooting at Sowell and Jackson and the group too scared to move from cover around the tree, still frozen by the MG on the opposite hill. What both groups failed to realize was that in the blindness of combat, the other Air Force team was arriving to finish the engagement.

It only took three minutes. Sowell killed two more men while Jackson managed to take down another, leaving the force tailing the new arrivals down to two, and the ones still suppressed at three. Everyone wheeled around at the sound of weapons fire as Ferretti rounded the tree and cut down the warriors attempting to hide in cover. In the confusion, Sowell and Jackson eliminated their group of warriors while their backs were turned.

The echoes of combat passed over the sands of this world, and there was silence except for the wind, and the rustling of desert leaves.

"Clear!" Sowell called. "All clear!"

"Clear!" Someone shouted from the tree. "Trees clear!"

"Nice work, doc." Sowell said, clapping Jackson's arm.

"Not my first rodeo." the archeologist said with a slight smile as he checked his pistol magazine. "I've got my own resume. Nice work. First engagement with Jaffa takes some by surprise."

"Any geek who can fight is alright with me." the major said, jogging to meet the soldiers. He found Ferretti, the man with a black eagle on his uniform. "Colonel?"

Ferretti looked at him, an impressively built man despite his age.

"Major Kevin Sowell." He nodded, not wanting to salute in a combat zone.

"Colonel Louis Ferretti. You're not SGC." Ferretti said. "The hell's that uniform?"

"It's a long story, sir, but General Landry sent me to get you."

"Hey, shouldn't that be another SG team's job?" Another airman, a Technical Sergeant asked.

"Yeah but I was on hand. I thought you guys were in danger so Landry send me and Dr. Jackson to check up on you."

"I was making sure things were cool with him really." Jackson said. "Hey Lou. How's PX4-990?"

"Well, better than MX4-471. I like the sand here. Reminds me of Tampa. You know, if Tampa had flying forests." he trudged down the hill rifle gingery held. "So who are you with?" he pointed at Sowell.

"Marine Corps."

"Landry's going to explain this one." Jackson said. "He's from another world."

"Oh." Ferretti said. "Cool. They got beer there?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's good enough for me. Yeah, Jaffa used a few of the natives to get us away from the gate. Drew us in with a scared hostage routine. We were ready to go back but our orders were to assist. The natives of P4X-990 have a strict sense of personal honor. We wanted to get on their good side. Guess the Jaffa took advantage of that."

"Did they belong to Tohep though?" Jackson asked intently. "We wanted to be sure; we've had sightings on at least three different worlds of units pledging to him."

They had made their way back towards the gate as they walked. Sowell listened to their conversation but continued to take the world in, amazed that this sort of travel was more or less instantaneous. He wondered if this was how all races travelled in this universe. Were starships a thing at all? They would have to be, who placed the gates here in the first place? Were the like the Forerunners? Hell, were they actually Forerunners? Sowell had a lot to learn about this place. He wondered if it was possible to get a liaison going between their two EUSs.

"Long story short, yes, they're his guys; no we're not sure he's making a bid for a new System Lord position. How's Jack by the way?"

"Good. He's fishing."

"Of course he is. Who's the poor bastard he suckered in to going with him this time?"

The machine gunner caught up with them, lugging his heavy weapon on a sling. Within moments, six men had met up at the gate.

"Get the DHD running again, Corswain."

"Sir." the technical sergeant said, moving to a device that Sowell hadn't seen before.

"Thanks for helping out." Ferretti nodded. "Don't know who the hell you are, what unit you're attached to, but you saved my ass. Thanks for helping Jackson."

"That's what I do." The archaeologist shrugged. "Come on; Landry's laying an egg as is while we're over here."

The tech sergeant stood in front of a dial that Sowell barely noticed the first time around. The noncom studied something in his hand and slowly began to punch in symbols all over the dial. Sowell got close enough to take a look.

"What are you doing?"

"Dialing home." the airman said. Though he wore a pair of sunglasses, his tone and wrinkling around the nose said amusement. "What's the matter, never gone through one of these before?"

"No. They don't have them where I'm from."

"How was your first trip?"

"Shit."

The man grinned. "Yup. That sounds about right."

A moment later, the gate began to spin, locking at the constellation symbols that Sowell noticed when he left. The gate lit up, and he flinched as the bubble of energy blasted from the aperture towards them. He jumped back ever so slightly while Ferretti and his men chuckled.

"Goddamn man, what do they do where you're from?"

"Slipspace. Holes in spacetime."

"Doesn't sound as fun." Ferretti said. "Check area one more time. Doctor, if you want to head back, now's your chance."

"Can't. You know…" Jackson said, raising a hand towards Sowell. "Major, you're going to need to go first."

"Well, not unless you guys are going first. You're the reason I came to this rock. I'm not going to look like a jackass if you guys don't show up again."

"Area clear!" Corswain called out. "Negative contacts, sir!"

"SG-2, let's go home." Ferretti nodded, making his way towards the portal.

One by one, the unit strode through the gleaming surface of the stargate. Sowell watched, weapon pointed downrange, making sure that each and every one made it through. When the last one, the machine gunner, walked through and disappeared with a slick and slimy sound, he looked at Jackson.

"See you back there."

"Thanks for lending a hand."

"Still think I'm one of those…" he struggled to find the words.

"A friend of mind was tricked by a someone who went through to Abydos. That was the first trip. It wasn't his fault you know, but we need to be sure, especially if someone's making a play for System Lord."

"I understand." Sowell said. "Hey Jackson."

The doctor looked away from the gate.

"Were you going to shoot me if things turned out differently?"

The archaeologist didn't answer, instead placing his handgun back in his holster. "After you."

Without resentment, Sowell clicked the safety on and walked through the gate.