Chapter 2

Sam and Cam lead the Top Gun pilots up the stairs, through the Control Room and to the Briefing Room. Upon entering the room the pilots found a large wooden oval shaped table with three men sitting at one end all in green battle dress. General Jack O'Neill sat with a wireless joy stick in his hands and a wireless computer keyboard before him. To his left was his old friend, Teal'c of the Jaffa. To his right was Brigadier General John Sheppard. All had their eyes fixated on the flat TV screen mounted on the wall. On the screen was a custom computer simulation of the bomb run the Top Gun pilots just completed. Jack winced as he worked the joy stick only to watch the simulated plane on the screen blow up. He had yet to beat the simulation.

John Sheppard reached for the joy stick. "My turn!"

Jack looked at him expectantly. "Teal'c."

John then asked Teal'c, "You want your turn or can I try again?"

"You may try again." The Jaffa passed up the game.

John took the joy stick determined to not let some young pilots show him up.

Sam spoke up, "Our guest are here."

John didn't even get to reboot the simulation. He paused and looked over along with Jack and Teal'c. The three men then rose to their feet to welcome the top pilots.

Jack's eyes laid on Maverick. He offered a hand shake, "About time you made it, Maverick." he told him.

"It's an honor, General." he shook his hand. He recalled meeting Jack before at the cookout and understood the man was rather laid back.

Bradley, Natasha and Jake all came to attention. "Sir." they saluted.

"At ease, kids." Jack told them. "Sam tell ya? You are ours now. Air Force just got ya."

"I told them." she informed.

Jake wondered, "Will this transfer affect our pay grades or records?"

He stated, "You get the same pay as any other Major plus hazard pay. The S.G.C.'s hazard pay is a bit higher than the norm, Hangman." It was rather obvious that all the officers had read the files on the pilots and the last mission. "I'm brining in the rest of your team from the last mission. They will be coming tomorrow. Have a seat."

The young officers all took a seat at the table along with Pete, Cam and Sam. Daniel Jackson then walked into the briefing room as well. He greeted his friends. "Hey everybody." He too took a seat at the table.

Natasha asked, "You are a pilot too, Daniel?"

Jake laughed, "Why not? Indiana Jones can fly."

Sam corrected him. "Indianan Jones cannot fly. Harrison Ford is a licensed pilot and once rescued a lost boy. He can fly."

Jake stated, "I didn't know that actor was a licensed pilot."

Pete nodded, "He was on the news when he rescued that boy and then crashed that vintage airplane a few years later." He then asked, "Is Harrison Ford in on this Star Gate stuff? Be kind of cool to have Han Solo out there with us."

Teal'c soured, "Han Solo is not a Jedi."

Bradley laughed, "Neither is Luke Skywalker after that last movie."

Teal'c took a bold stand. "The last three movies were of an alternate universe and did not actually happen." he declared.

Natasha then gasped, "Star Wars is real too!"

Sam held up a hand, "No! Star Wars is fiction. Teal's is a huge fan. That's all."

Pete asked, "Teal'c? Unusual name. May I ask about that symbol on your forehead? I've never seen anything like it and I've been all over this planet."

"It is a symbol to a false god. My people were enslaved to Apophis. My people are free thanks to your people." he told them.

Bradley picked up on the wording. "Your people, freed by my people. You mean…Earth people?"

"Indeed," he gave a slight nod.

Cam stated. "Teal'c is Jaffa. He's not from Earth. You have met your first alien from another planet."

Pete held up both hands. "Wait! I met him years ago at your cookout."

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

"How many aliens do we have running around on Earth?" he gasped shocked.

"Just a few." Jack soothed.

Sam explained, "Most visitors who come to Earth come through the Gate on Atlantis."

"And where is Atlantis?" Pete wondered.

"In the San Francisco Bay. It's hidden by a cloaking device. People cannot see it." she told him.

Jake asked eager, "When do we get to go there?"

"Soon." Jack stated. "You will need to get up to speed. You guys got time. The Homer is not complete yet."

"The Homer?" Pete asked unsure for it sounded like a vessel to him.

"Our space ship." Jack grinned. "Custom made just for this mission. Deep space capable, with fighters, shuttles, everything. I named it myself. The Homer!" he beamed.

Pete asked, "After the Greek poet." He then notice Daniel cross his arms and give an annoyed look. He found it odd.

"No!" Jack shook his head. "After the great Homer Simpson."

Daniel shook his head and grumbled. "We never should have let Jack pick the name of the ship."

Jack rebutted, "Just tell everyone you named it after the poet. No one will know."

"But just told the top navy pilots who you named it after." Daniel pointed out.

Jack smirked, "They are not navy anymore. They are ours now."

Daniel rolled his head back annoyed.

Natasha spoke, "So…what do you do here, Daniel?"

"I'm research." he informed.

Jack looked at him rather surprised. "What? No…I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson and I have four PhD's and speak a ton of languages.'?"

He corrected, "Two PhD's and it's now thirty-five languages including off world."

"Exactly!" Jack motioned. He then squinted, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Jack. My wife only left me. That's all." he spoke rather bitter.

Jack countered, "She beat you up when you first met her. That was a sign, Daniel."

Sam spoke up. "She didn't mean to hurt you. Just Vala is a very independent woman and she wanted to live on her own. It's not like she left you for another man. She just wanted time to be by herself. Give her time. She may come back."

Pete looked upon Cam's face as the man rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was obvious to Pete that his cousin didn't agree with Sam's suggestion. He then thought of Penny and how he would leave his own girlfriend behind. He asked, "Speaking of relationships. What do we tell our other halves? 'Hi honey, I'm going on a space ship and I don't when I will be back'?"

Sam assured, "We will give you a time frame. You will have to tell her you are going but you cannot tell her it's in space."

Bradley stated, "I have no one and both my parents are gone. I guess I'm a good candidate."

Natasha sighed, "My parents will not be happy."

Jake agreed, "Parents are hard. They worry about you no matter where you go."

Jack stated, "You will be given a weekend to spend time with your family. You will come back. It could be a few years though. Hopefully, just a few months."

Pete had to ask, "You and your wife will be together on this, Sir?"

"I need Carter on this." he agreed.

"You call your wife by her last name?" he wondered.

"I kept my last name." she told him. "Old habits die hard." she gave Jack a small smirk.

Jack rebutted, "I gave up sweets, gave up my favorite cereal, lost fifty pounds, hauled my ass out of bed early every morning to exercise to get back in shape, came out of a cushy retirement where I could do whatever I wanted just to come back here. I gave up a lot of my old habits. I'm not giving up Carter." he declared.

Natasha asked, "You lost fifty pounds? Do you mind if I ask how? What diet? I struggle just to lose two pounds." To Natasha the weight loss was impressive.

"Carter put my ass on a diet." he flatly replied.

Sam explained, "Low carb, high fiber diet." She then stated to Jack, "You got to eat all the steak you wanted."

"Only good part about that diet." he nodded in agreement.

Bradley asked, "That's fine and all but when do we get to see this space ship?"

Sam took the wireless keyboard away from Jack and began to type. On the large flat screen a schematic appeared of the vessel. "It's currently under construction. Here's an overview of The Homer. Two landing bays. Twenty eight decks. Full weapon systems. Asgard engines. Sick bay."

Pete stated, "Lot a like a naval vessel."

Jack grinned, "The Navy wants one of their own so bad."

"Why doesn't the Navy have one?" Pete asked him.

"Because we got it." he stated boldly.

"Admiral Cain would like to get his hands on a vessel like that." Pete insisted.

Jack waved it off. "He can play with the drones. We need real pilots out there." He looked at Pete Mitchell, "We need men like you."

"Hot heads who will disregard orders and follow their gut?" Pete asked him.

He nodded, "That's exactly what we need. 'Don't think; do' kind of guys."

"Just leave the thinking to someone like me, right Jack?" Daniel complained.

"Exactly!" he agreed. "We need egg heads like you too, Daniel."

He squinted, "Egg heads, Jack?"

"How long have you been wearing that same pair of glasses, Daniel?" he wondered.

"My last pair broke." he complained.

"See!" he motioned aft if he had some kind of point.

"You broke them, Jack." he reminded him.

Natasha grinned as she instantly liked Daniel.

Bradley took notice as he liked Natasha.

Natasha stated, "This is going to be epic."