CHAPTER 24
After a week, most of Knothole had gotten used to them and were treating them like they were always there. They hadn't been asked to help fight Robotnick yet, but they were ready to at anytime. Carter had gotten used to walking finally without help. With the exception of Mel who was having no troubles, the others were still trying to get used to having, well an animal body. Their senses were intensely enhanced, which was bad for the hearing part. When Rotor and a few others wanted to see the power of Ford's gun first hand, he had suggested they wait a day so everyone could be informed to plug their ears. Most of everyone in Knothole showed up, despite Ford saying it was a bad idea. King Max, a fox, was interested in seeing what it could do so he could formulate an attack plan on Robotnick. It didn't go very well. Most of anyone that was of the canine family had their ears ringing the rest of the day, including Ford. They never found the bullet, which Rotor had made of steel. They also got the mixture off. Very off. It was a different form of Nitroglycerin. A little more powerful from Rotor's calculations. That being the case Ford used only half of what he normally would put in the bullet. It was still too much. Ford wasn't expecting the kick it gave him when he was thrown several feet and dislocated his shoulder and managed to sprain his tail. Other bruises came from the rolling after he hit the ground. He blew large holes through several trees and took down several others. Rotor and Ford managed to make a gel that was suppose to help stop the bullet to see how powerful the mixture was. They made a gel block with a several feet thick solid steel wall behind it as well as a rock wall. The gel was six feet long and a foot high. The gel was in pieces, a three inch hole in the steel wall and what rocks were in the way were shattered. Everyone was better the next day and thankfully no one had hearing loss. Ford was one hundred percent again, surprising a lot of people including Ford who didn't understand why. They tried again with no one around this time and being in the Great Unknown. (A large open desert area that hasn't been explored very well.) It went better, or worse depending on how you might take it. He fired it into the air this time and with a special tracking device Rotor watched the bullet go into space, but it didn't achieve orbit and burned up quickly in the atmosphere. Ford felt the kick was just right. Sonic was several miles away and signaled he was ready when they went for a second shot. It went seven miles and several feet into the side of a small hill leading up into a large mountain. Sonic even jumped when he heard the sonic boom and the impact the followed behind him. They agreed that the mixture was just right but needing less in the casing. King Max approved the making of ammo for their weapons and that in several days, a plan to attack and take Robotnick down was made. Black power was a little easy to find and make so Carter's and Lara's guns were done with ease. Ford had several different rounds made ranging from the seven miles shots to a few miles again. Several tips were made with explosives. The grenades were not able to be made though. The shotgun ammo was unable to be made since they couldn't make casings for it. Fortunately he had ammo again for the revolver, Desert Eagle, and his personal gun. It was still a few days till the planned attack.
"Hey Carter, I was wondering something?" Ford said coming over to the girls hut. Lara and Carter were in one hut while Mel had managed to get a hut of her own. Carter had woken up a hour ago and was thankfully drinking coffee. She was so happy as was Ford that they had coffee. Mel didn't actually like the stuff. She had tea like Lara did and Princess Sally.
"About what?"
"Can you make a device that would detect naquada? It's a long shot but maybe there is a Stargate here on this planet."
"It's worth a shot. It's peaceful here, but I would rather go home."
"So would I."
"I'll see what I can find out. Rotor will have to clear it with the King first."
"Want any help?"
"If you're up to it. We'd really be working hard for several hours." she said with a smile as she took a drink. She knew he was going to help anyway even when she tried to make him leave.
"If it took years, as long as I spent it with you."
She laughed as they got up.
"Well, I don't see why he wouldn't say no. It's a large ring you say?" the large walrus asked.
"Yes. It's got 39 different symbols on it that are coordinates for other planets. With it you can create a stable wormhole that allows travel from this planet to others. We're not sure if it exist in this universe or not, but if it does, it could get us home." Carter said explaining how the whole space time continuum principle worked with it. "It should be easy to find since it should be the only thing on this planet with that particular element."
"Fascinating! We could find allies or maybe even another planet to go to if Robotnick tries another nuclear attack."
"True. Hopefully you won't have to do either. Instead you could find friends for trading purposes or even another planet to colonize." Ford said looking at a something Rotor was working on. It was unidentifiable at the moment.
"I'll go ask right away. This would be a great discovery!" he said running off.
Carter and Ford looked over Rotor's workshop seeing what they had in case the King said yes. It was only a few minutes and Rotor was back.
"That was fast." Ford stated. "How did you get back so quick?"
"I made a call. We do have communication services."
"Oh yeah. That techno tree I saw."
"Did he okay it?" Carter asked.
"He approves. He'd like to find it for some of the reasons I stated. Since it can't be used as a weapon, Sally liked the idea as well. I just need to know what sort of materials you would need."
Carter was able to make a list rather quickly on some paper while pointing out what he already had. Rotor stated that some of the things they had found in his shop could and could not be used. Everything was able to be found, but a lot of it was in Old Megaopolis and possible in Robotropolis. With some luck they could get the parts from those places, but it would take a few days if not maybe a few weeks. They got started right away.
Within two days they managed to get what they were able to use from Rotor's lab outside into a makeshift tent. From there they started checking off what they had and didn't have. They were going to need some things from the enemies city before being able to start. Ford managed to get Sonic to give them one of his power rings for a power source. Carter spent a lot of time examining it to the point Ford took it away, more than once.
"It's……uh….look, we can ask about maybe taking one home with us, right now can we get back to the task at hand?"
"That is an incredible piece of technology! Can't you see that?!"
"I bet Sonic's Uncle Chuck could give you more details than you know what to do with. You can ask him later."
"Why not now? I don't have any idea how to harness it's power."
"Good point. I'll go get him."
By the time Ford came back with the older hedgehog, Carter was still looking at the glowing gold ring. It was about a half a foot in diameter.
"I see your problem. I think I can help." Uncle Chuck said sitting down with them.
Carter explained what they were doing and showed him the schematics of what it was they were building. Because they couldn't really do a lot of exploring, with it being possibly captured by the enemy, Carter had to build one that would be able to link up with a satellite in space that could scan the surface. It was going to be roughly the size of a Volkswagen.
Sonic, Bunnie, Sally, despite her parents disapproval, Rotor, Antoine and Ford were hiding behind a building as a Swatbot patrol walked by. It reminded Ford of New York, but without all the people and much more trash, mostly metal parts and leaking chemicals from damaged robots, pipes and other mechanical things. Nothing really looked like humans, much less anything human like lived around here. Not even rats or mice were around.
"God, I can't believe how stupid those things are." Ford said keeping his Desert Eagle ready. He was ready to give them a few rounds.
"I'm glad they are. Any smarter and I'd be in trouble." Sonic said smiling.
"Okay. Here's the places that have the items we need." Sally said pointing to a map above Nichole's screen.
Sally was using her small computer that looked very much like a Starfleet tricorder from Picard's time. It was projecting a small holographic map.
"Me and Sonic will place the bombs here in these buildings providing the distraction you all will need to get those parts and supplies."
"I'm a guess'n that me and Ford here are the one's carri'n the stuff?" Bunnie said indicating the backpack she was carrying. Ford had a bigger one on his back.
"Let's all meet up here in an hour." Sally said pointing to a small building on the edge of the city. "From there we can head back to Knothole."
They did the fist handshake thing then left. Sally and Sonic took off in a cloud of dust leaving them coughing.
"Do they always do that?" Ford asked.
"Always sug? Just Sonic." Bunnie said pulling him along.
Rotor and Antoine were headed over to one of the buildings while she and Ford took a different building. Several passes through different alleys to avoid patrols. It was easy, they were stupid and went after every single piece of junk that he or Bunnie threw to provide distraction. It worked too well, Ford thought, but he didn't comment.
"This is our stop sug."
"Let's get this over with then."
Bunnie punched in some code and large doors opened. Workerbots, they looked a lot like Swatbots but somewhat smaller, were moving objects, crates, and other things around. A lot of machine's belt feeding things around were active. They crept around behind a large machine keeping to the shadows. None of the bots had seemed to notice them.
"This is….to easy."
"It does seem that way sug. I think O'l buttnick knows we're here."
"This doesn't bode well. Forgive me Bunnie, but I have to check something out."
"Like what hon? You don't know your way around."
"Trust me. This place isn't all that hard to get lost in." he said giving her the bag. Her bag she had given to Rotor.
"I'll be back. Don't worry." Ford put on his gloves with a tug and started off. Bunnie was going to argue about him leaving but something about him made her believe he was trust worthy. She started off gathering what they needed. Ford walked away passing several bots who didn't even give him a glance. He came across a Swatbot guarding a computer. It was standing alone. He came up behind it and shoved his fist through its cranium. It didn't even have time to signal its distress and Ford tossed it aside quickly. He instantly started looking up information in the computer. His lessons from Sally about computer encryptions and deciphering and hacking were paying off. He already had CIA, FBI, and several other top level to very secret level agencies computer training classes in just about anything to do with computer work. With some of the stuff he learned from Sally he could do quite a lot more than before. Some he could do back home that no one could ever trace, even if they were standing next to him. A workerbot came to use the computer and he was crushed quickly under Ford instant crushing blow, which he did on purpose. After getting the information he needed and downloading it to a small device Sally had given him, he set the system to overload. From there he set off finding Bunnie rather easily. She was near the door waiting for him.
"What was ya doin'?"
"Getting some computer info. Sally gave me a computer chip for getting info. We should leave, this place is about to have a major overload."
"What did ya do?!"
"Something to get Robotnick's attention. I want him to know I'm here."
"What?!" she said not hiding her shock.
"Go and head for the meeting point. I'll keep the Swatbot patrols away from everyone."
"But you could get killed sug."
"Not with this coat. Don't worry Bunnie." he said laying a hand on her real shoulder. "I would never do anything to harm Knothole or any other Mobian."
She nodded and despite certain thoughts of not leaving, she left anyway. Ford turned running for Robotnick's command tower.
Bunnie finally made it to the meeting point. Antoine and Rotor were already there with the things they got. Sally and Sonic showed up quickly behind her.
"Did you get all?" Sonic asked. They all nodded.
"Where's Ford?" Sally asked. "He wasn't captured was he?"
"No Sally girl. He said something, I'm guessing it was about revenge. I'm sorry I just realized it."
"Sonic go find him." Sally said rubbing her head. Sonic took off quickly and then came back just as quick.
"What direction?"
Bunnie said he was headed toward the command tower. Sonic ran off quickly.
"Let's get back to Knothole. From there I'll figure what I'm going to do with him and his friends."
Ford figured it was only several blocks till he got to the command center. He ran right into a Swatbot patrol as he turned the corner.
"SURRENDER IN THE…bbbbzzzzzzzzzz" one of the bots said a Ford ran his fist through its visor.
The other Swatbots started to raise their arms to fire when he ripped the arm off the Swatbot that he just destroyed and smashed the others quickly before they could get a shot off. A spy orb came down watching the display. Ford managed to grab it as it got closer.
Robotnick was watching the unknown blue fox that was wearing very a familiar coat. It couldn't be the human though, could it? No. Not possible. Someone else was wearing that coat or it was just the popular style right at the moment. The fox came across a Swatbot patrol and trashed them quickly. He turned grabbing the spy orb.
"Hey Ro-butt-nick! Remember me?! I was that human you tried to kill that kept you from getting the Master Emerald. I was using the sword that I managed to get you with. I didn't succeed in killing you like I wished. Anyway, I'm okay, a little changed as you can see, but coming to kick you ass!"
Robotnick clenched his fist tighter and tighter as Ford spoke.
"Name's Ford. You thought Sonic was bad, I'm your worst nightmare! I don't hesitate, I kill."
Robotnick then watched the screen become static filled as the last thing he saw was Ford's fist destroying the orb.
"Snively?! M?! Where are you?!" he yelled.
Ford dropped what was left of the orb and started running. Sonic came flying by and stopped in front of him.
"Ford. What are you planning? If it's revenge, don't."
"Sonic, this war has to end. I'm stopping it once and for all. You can help…" he was saying when he was interrupted. A loud voice was heard, Robotnick's voice.
"Attention Freedom Fighters! I will forgo introductions since you know who I am. I am asking for a peace treaty between us. I know you are in my city gathering and destroying as usual. As of this moment, I have ordered all Swatbots to allow you to leave the city in peace. I wish this peace between us for reasons I wish not to disclose. If you come back for more supplies, I will have Swatbot patrols nearby to take orders for whatever it is you need. Information is not something I will give out. Parts and other mechanical items I will give. I know this treaty will be honored because it is what you do. I will let you know when I want to start our personal war. In the meantime, all prisoners I have are being released as a sign of good faith on my part. For those in my city, this message has been sent to your little collective in Knothole as well as anyone with satellite capability. Anyone still in my city will be taken out of the city. Any attempts to get back in will be tossed back out or stunned if force is needed. Goodbye for now."
Several Swatbot patrols came around the corners blocking them from going forward. They didn't raise their arms to attack, just stood making their presence known. The only way out was toward the outer edge of the city.
"Something's up." Ford said following Sonic.
When they first tried going forward a few bots came toward them with their weapons raised. They were informed then that they could leave by their own will or be taken out of the city by force. So they left.
Back at Knothole, Sally did chew him out about pulling his stunt and to not do it again. He showed her what he found out in the download.
"This shows that Robotnick is up to something very secret. He sent a massive amount of manpower….sorry, Swatbots to some location that I couldn't find out. A lot of hover cargo ships and a very large cargo craft was sent too. Something tells me he's up to something bad."
"He always up to something bad." Sally said looking over the info. She did agree this information didn't look good.
"Any idea what Butt-nick's up to yet Sal?" Sonic asked.
"I've barely had time to look it over Sonic. Come back tomorrow maybe."
"Cool. I'm off to find a chili dog." he said walking out.
"I was going to go confront him about it. Then get kill him."
"Fortunately you didn't get close enough. He would have killed you before you got to his command center."
"I doubt it. Anyway, that's all I really found that was of real interest."
"Good work though. See you in the morning."
He left Sally to her computer heading for wherever Carter was. He found her getting the naquada machine almost finished. The parts they returned with were more than enough to finish it. They had been working on it for over two weeks now.
"Almost ready?"
"Almost. I figure I have maybe an hour to go."
"Then let's get on it."
Night came quickly as they finished it. Carter turned on the strange machine that looked like a mixture of computer boards and chips along with a keyboard and monitor. Wires were practically everywhere, plugged in several places here and there. It wasn't pretty, like most of the other things she created, but it was going to work. In fact it was working already. It took minutes to find a very small trace.
"It's either buried very deep, but that doesn't seem to be the case. This is a topographic picture I'm getting. From the looks of things and from what I gathered about how the continents now look compared to what we remembered them being, this area is near where Giza was. Pretty much the same place we first found the Stargate in our universe."
"What about the other two places we had Stargate's? Russia and Antarctica?"
"Nothing comes up. They may never had existed or they were destroyed."
"We'll let the royal family know in the morning. Then we can possibly go see this place and see what's left."
"How would we get there? This is on the other side of the world."
"You remember the jet plane?"
"Right. It's been awhile." she said with a yawn. "Let's go to bed."
Ford got up agreeing and stopped when he noticed she wasn't following. He leaned over finding her asleep in the chair. She had leaned back and fallen right asleep. He had actually seen her do this twice at the base.
"I always knew you worked to hard." he said picking her up.
She was awake enough that she wrapped her arms around him as he took her to his hut. Her hut was farther away and Melissa and Lara were talking from the looks of things. He set her on his bed and covered her and then gave her a kiss. He sat in a chair he made falling asleep sometime later. A simply rocking chair made more like a recliner, but more comfy.
The next morning they, well Carter anyway, was awakened by the door being burst open It slammed against the wall making a shelf fall off the wall. Carter sat up quickly and almost screamed.
"What's going on?! What happened?!" she said looking around then seeing Lara, Sally, and Sonic at the door.
"Can I help you three?" Ford muttered sleepily.
They all looked at him still sitting in the chair. He hadn't moved at all. In fact he almost looked dead except for the his ear kept twitching. He reached up brushing it then went back to looking asleep. When they didn't say nothing he opened one eye looking at the three at the door. Sally looked pissed. Sonic was about the same and Lara looked disappointed and angry.
"What?"
"You were in that chair all night?" Sally asked with narrowed eyes.
"Ah…yeah, why?" he said opening both eyes finally.
"You didn't read the rules the first time around did you?" Lara said.
She shook her head walking away in disgust.
"What rules?" Ford asked having absolutely no clue what they were talking about.
"Oh man! The rules we gave you on that paper." Sonic exclaimed.
"I don't think I ever got them. Wait…..nope I never did get them because I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Ford said sitting up.
He got out of the chair pulling his coat around that he was using it for sheet. As he spun the coat around to put it on, they noticed he was holding his revolver. He gave it a spin then put it away in the holster on his hip.
"Oh that rule!" Carter exclaimed realizing what was going on as she got out of the bed. "I completely forgot to tell him. He has no idea what you talking about Princess. I'm sorry."
She ran a hand through her hair as she continued.
"I meant to tell him, but things got busy and I totally spaced it. He has no idea what he did wrong."
"Can someone please explain?" Ford said waving his hands around.
"Because you weren't informed, I'm going to let you off this once." Sally said still looking quite angry but a little more sympathetic. "The rules, or this rule in particular, states that unless you're married or family, no male or female can be together in the same home."
Ford's face changed several times. He kept looking lost, curious, muddled, and like he was thinking very hard. It finally stopped at looking completely lost as he said.
"What?!"
It can out more like he had just heard the dumbest thing in the universe or idea. He didn't mean it to come out that way though. It also sounded a lot like he just said duh! He even shrugged his shoulders. It reminded Carter of those times when she really stumped Jack. He sounded almost like Jack with the attitude that came with the question.
"Unless you're married to her or vise versa, you two cannot sleep in the same home. If you were lost in the wilderness and took refugee in a cave or something that's different. Being here with no problems like that, we don't allow courting couples to live together until their properly married. Since you don't have rings and have said that you're only going out together, that applies to you even though you are from another universe. Understand now?" Sally said.
"Completely. I'm sorry if I caused any problems. I truly had no idea." he said and then muttered while looking at the ceiling and scratching his chin. "Makes sense considering the comics."
"What was that?" Sonic asked.
"Sorry, talking to myself." he said waving his hand. "I won't do it again."
"Thank you. I suggest you read the rules so you don't break the others." Sally said as she walked off. Sonic followed along.
"Wait. Aren't we suppose to tell her something?"
"Yes! We found what we were looking for." Carter exclaimed going after Sally. They found her rather quickly since she hadn't gone far. Carter explained what she found and asked to use the plane. Sally wanted to see it for herself so they went to the machine she built.
"It works, just not as pretty as some of the other things she's made." Ford said. They all looked at him funny.
"What?"
"This is where it was picking up the naquada. It's the only place on the planet. Either something happened there recently that caused the gate to be destroyed…."
"Or someone came along and dug it up already. Son of a…..that…..he found out. Some how he found out!" Ford said totally enraged. He was keeping it in, but barely.
"What would Robotnick want with it? He can't go nowhere. You're the only one's who know the proper codes. Right?" Sonic asked.
"Unfortunately not. Given time he might find a way to open the gate to somewhere. He might even find someplace with more advanced weapons or worse a place where more dangerous enemies are, such as the Goa'uld." Carter explained. "Though I seriously doubt he will figure it out anytime soon or at all. Took us years to get one right and then we still had no idea what we were doing."
"We have to get it back and soon! Robotnick may never figure out how to use it for its intended purpose but with the level of technology he has he could figure out how to use its raw element as a weapon." Ford said with much anger. He tapped Carter's foot in a manner hoping she got the message.
"What sort of weapon? You told us that it couldn't be used as such." Sally exclaimed.
"It can't." she said realizing what Ford meant. "But the element it is made from could possibly be synthesized, created in a lab with the technology he has. I don't really know though since I haven't had enough access to his equipment to know what he is and isn't capable of. He could even make a weapon from the gate itself."
"How powerful a weapon, if possible would it be?"
"Depends on how much he creates. Let's say he made it about as big as that five foot Chaos Emerald he went for. That much there would be enough to almost completely destroy the planet. No, it would destroy the planet." Ford said.
"I've got to talk to my father." Sally said.
"Better get a plan ready soon. We need to leave soon, like now!"
"It's going to be at least two days to get ready." she said.
Ford raised a hand getting ready to shake it to prove a point, his point. Instead he clenched it a few times and dropped it.
"I'm going to go cool off before I say something I shouldn't. Excuse me." he said walking away.
"How does he cool off?" Sally asked with worry on her face. "He isn't going to go try alone is he?"
"No. In this case, I think he's going for a swim." Carter said watching him walk away. He almost looked to be stomping off. "I'm going to go talk to him. I won't let him do anything stupid. He's under my command so he'll listen."
"I'm going to my father then. Just make sure he doesn't. After you talk to him come back and help me explain to my father how bad it could become."
Carter found him in his hut looking through a drawer.
"I see you are going swimming."
"Helps me think. Better than blowing up at a superior officer or otherwise. Ah, here they are." he said pulling a pair of long shorts out. He walked over into the bathroom closing the door.
"What do you do back at the SGC when this sort of problem arises?"
"Ah….I'd read, sleep if I have time to do so, or workout. If I'm going home, I'd watch T.V. or go swimming."
"Did you ever have this sort of problem back home?"
"Back in my universe." he said with a huff. She did hear that too. He opened to door standing with the long shorts on and T-shirt and had a towel wrapped around his neck. "At home it was some days easier, some days harder. I was in charge so things usually went my way. When things didn't or I wasn't in charge, I tried the swimming thing or took my frustration out on a video game."
"No games here to do that huh?"
"None that I found interesting. I think Sonic cheats anyway."
"Alright then. Promise me that you're not going after the gate or anywhere near that city."
"I promise not to disobey that order Major. I also won't do what O'Neill might try and go around it."
"Good. I've got to help the Princess explain to the King about what problems that could occur."
"Good. Lie if you have to. The sooner we get that gate the sooner we go home."
"How do you know we can even get home with it? This could all be a useless endeavor since we are so far in the future and in a totally different universe."
"Think positive Sam. We'll figure something out. Besides, we….you and the others time traveled before."
"True." she said walking out.
Ford walked out moments later heading for the swimming hole.
In the castle, King Max and Queen Alicia listened to Major Carter and their daughter Sally. Rotor was there helping to explain the more technical aspects in ways they would understand better. After an hour of hearing the situation, King Max said they would have to go ahead and get the Stargate. It was vital to saving not only Knothole, but Mobius itself. Sally was left in charge of getting the plan put together. They left in two days.
After his swim, where he still hadn't, and didn't really care, gotten all the water out of his fur, he headed over to Rotor's work shop to ask him something about ion weapons. He had sandals, the long shorts and the white T-shirt on. Rotor was skeptical to talk about the subject, but Ford managed to get subside his fears. Ford explained an idea and it intrigued him enough that they got started right away.
Carter got up the next morning and went to have breakfast with Ford and see how he was doing. She couldn't find him, but a few of the Mobians she came across said they did see him. They just didn't know where he was. He was around, just not where she could find him so she went to try and see if she could find the Stargate on the scanner.
She activated the system and did a more intensive scan of Old Megaopolis and Robotropolis. Uncle Chuck helped with making the Power Ring amplify the power output and scanning radius and depth. It took a couple of hours but they did find it. Robotnick had buried it three stories down in a very large room that was blocking all but the most intensive of scans. If not for Carter's knowledge of naquada, they wouldn't have found it. Robotnick also had a lot of security and heavy defenses built around it. The way to get down was by an elevator that led to the second floor. From there another elevator somewhere else on the second floor led down to the third floor where a long corridor led to the Stargate. Carter muttered something about Anises armbands wouldn't even get them through this much security. From her assessment, not even a fifty megaton nuclear bomb could take out the main door to the first level. Sonic indicated not even in his super mode would he be able to spin through it.
Ford wasn't trying to avoid Carter on purpose, well not intentionally for hurtful reasons. He was trying to get something for her and didn't want her to know. Bunnie was tending her garden when he showed up.
"Hey Bunnie, do you still have those small Chaos Emeralds you picked up a few years ago or maybe a year ago. Anyway, you used them for jewelry."
"I put them away with my other jewelry sug? But I do have them. Why do ya ask?" she said setting her rake aside.
He explained why and wanted her to keep it a secret, mostly from Carter and anyone else. Sally could know since she would keep it quiet.
"That's an excellent idea sug!" she exclaimed smiling brightly at the idea. "I could give you the smallest one. What if you are able to return home though? Even at that size it still would make a formidable weapon?"
"I would never use it for that reason. Besides, Carter would never use it since once used it disappears."
"That's certainly true sug. I'll go get it." she said running into her house. She came back handing it over. It was already in a ring.
"This is the smallest?! This is go to be five carat's!"
"I don't understand what ya mean?"
"Nothing Bunnie. It's a term we say for the size of a gem. This will work though. Thank you Bunnie."
"I know it's being used for a wonderful purpose. Now you run along and get it ready."
He returned back to Rotor's workshop and found what he needed to complete his special project. It only took a couple of hours but he had it done rather quickly and it looked beautiful. Rotor came over telling him that he King had announced that he wanted him to attend the meeting as Ford was putting the special gift into his pocket.
Around a large circular table that was displaying a holo-visual picture of the bunker Robotnick had built in the outer edge of Robotropolis. Carter had managed to get a full internal view from a satellite scan. The scan included a picture of the first floor and everything around it within a mile. There were a lot of Swatbots and Shadowbots. There were a lot of Combots as well. More than the other bots. Carter somehow managed to penetrate their cloaking field making them show up on the screen. The holo-visual they were seeing was a live feed at that moment. The core Freedom Fighters as well as the King and Queen and some guards were looking at it. The newcomers were in the room as well. Melissa asked to stay behind and Carter said that would work out better. She was in the room watching things but wasn't going anyway.
"If we can get past all these robots, then our next problem will be getting through this door." Carter explained pointing it out on the holomap. "Once we get that open, we need to get past the security systems to get to this elevator. From there we go to the second level and then head for this elevator here. From there we can reach the third level. Now I suspect you've all seen this large door behind the gate here in this room on the third floor. Where it leads to I'm not really sure. You can see that the map only goes so far and then that's it. After that I completely lost signal feed due to the radiation interference. Our main problem is getting to the door and inside."
"Considering Robotnick's tactics, he will have hidden guns turrets in the ground. With all the junk and other metal objects we couldn't detect any traps. You can be sure that they are there, but were we don't know. He will have Hover unit's on standby or circling the area. You can be certain of that." Sally said.
"I'm seeing if Knuckles has any Chaos Emeralds that he knows the were abouts of. We're going to need his help if this is going to succeed." Sonic said. After a moment, "As much as I hate to admit it."
"He couldn't just not say it. I knew it." Ford said.
"That muchz iz true." Antoine said.
Sonic glared at both of them but didn't comment.
"We've got the Tornado ready to fight!" Tails said. Even with his young age, considering the possibility of planetary annihilation, they allowed him to help.
"I managed to contact the President of Station Square and apprised him of our situation." King Max said with his fingers intertwined in front of him. He had his elbows on the table and his face near his fingers. "They had agreed to send what help they can. They have made better defense systems in case Robotnick tries anything against them. This was told to me by the President himself. The help should arrive tomorrow. I want you to find whoever is willing to help with this endeavor and see what skills they have. Those with families in need, you will refer to me to decided if the person will stay or go. Have a plan drawn up by later tonight. Tomorrow at 10:00 you will head for Robotropolis. Everyone is free to go now." Max said standing up. He and the Queen left with a few guards behind them.
There was still quite a few hours left in the day and most of everyone was getting ready for tomorrow so they could get up earlier. Sally suggested it after her father left. Carter was packing her equipment as was Lara when the door was knocked on. Carter was about to ask Lara to check it out but Lara had walked away.
"Who's there?"
"Ford."
"Come in."
He walked in as she was still checking her PC-90. She noticed he was fidgeting which was definitely not like him. He's never looked so nervous before. Something was really bothering him. She stopped what she was doing and turned her full attention to him.
"Ford? What is wrong? If you were human again I'd swear you're sweating buckets!"
He dropped to one knee slowly completely catching her off guard. She finally realized why he was acting the way he was. She stepped back as he spoke.
"I know this is sudden. I know this is probably bad timing. I know only that I love you and would give my life for yours. Tomorrow might go right and we can go home or it might go all wrong and everyone or a lot of people my not make it. I felt that I should do this now not out of necessity but out of the fact of what I feel and that I planned on doing this when we got back home. Sam, will you marry me?"
She stood there in shock and surprise. She knew that he was going to ask sometime soon but not this soon and she looked down at the ring. It was very impressive and it wasn't a diamond. It was her birth stone. An emerald. A very abnormally big and pretty one that sparked even without sunlight.
"You're really asking me?"
"I'm pretty sure that it's not a dream."
"About time you asked her. I'd swear if you were a dog you'd be drooling all over her." Lara said coming out of the bathroom.
She was carrying something but the couple were still focused on each other as she put something in her pack. Lara suddenly realized what she said as she closed her backpack. Ford and Carter were dogs, well canine by species.
"Anyway, about time." she said quickly as she stopping her packing.
She left her packing and went outside leaving them to be together shaking her head at what she just said. It wasn't till she was far away from the house that they broke into a fit of laughter that had them rolling on the floor. That night they had a wedding that was short, but Carter didn't mind to much. They planned on having a bigger, better looking wedding made back home. Someone did have a dress that fit her. A little big but it worked out and was white. Ford still had his suit that was repaired so they did look like a married couple. King Max was honored to be the one marrying them and took great pride in doing so. That night they had the hut to themselves.
Everyone was up early and ready to go well before 10:00. They were fully ready to go at 8:30. King Max was standing before them on a makeshift podium as he looked over the large group that was going. They looked nervous, anxious, and ready to go and give their lives if need be. Hopefully no one would be coming home like that. Max didn't like telling families and friends that there loved one's were lost. Even he was feeling the pull of possibly losing his own child. Even though he had a son that was still alive, but living very far away, he didn't want to lose Sally. He tried to make her stay, even ordered her by royal decree and she said she was going even if she was disowned and exiled. He then knew that she was serious so he gave her the go ahead despite how he felt. Queen Alicia wasn't thrilled and nearly threw a tantrum but he was able to calm her down. Sally refused to stay if Sonic went. She would go where Sonic went no matter the cost.
"You know what you are going off to do and why it has to be done. If….this is going to be a difficult time for everyone so keep your thoughts on your job and watch each others backs. As always, Princess Sally is in charge so everyone will follow her orders. If this plan succeeds, Robotnick will be finished and the war will be over. You are our last hope in this war. Good luck." he said giving them all a quick salute before walking away.
"That was…almost….un-encouraging." Ford muttered just loud enough for Carter to hear.
They had finally gotten used to their heighten senses and were able to speak together without anyone else hearing.
"I heard that Max and Alicia wasn't happy with Sally going on this mission. Both of them where serious about her not going but she insisted on going or else so they conceded and let her go. I could tell that he was thinking more about her than anything else."
"I noticed as well but I thought he'd have more to say anyway. Sonic will take care of her. He always has. Same as I'll take care of you, only better."
"Time to move out everyone!" Sally said above the crowd.
They had two planes waiting, not including the Tornado which Tails wasn't piloting. Carter and Ford were taking that one with his permission. Ford knew how to fly and Carter got a quick crash course yesterday before the wedding. Ford was going to fly anyway. The other's were taking the two large planes to the city and going to be the distraction for Carter and Ford. Lara was staying behind not only because she wasn't feeling like going but because they wanted her to stay to keep a watch and guard the village. Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine, Amy Rose, Knuckles and the Chaotix, Tails, and Dulcy were in the two large planes. They had other's with them. Dulcy was going to fly along to help protect the planes. She had an ice breath attack that was dangerous. Sally and Sonic were going with Ford and Carter. Sonic and Ford would provide the protection to get into the base while the ladies used their computer knowledge to get inside and past the security measures. Anyone who could make it to their location would be helping, otherwise they were to keep the distraction going as well as keeping more security forces from reaching them. They were passing over into the city and could see lots of Swat-bots moving around. Some even started firing at them.
"Sonic! Take the stick!"
"What?!" he yelled from the top of the wings. His shoes allowed him to stand on the top of the wings while it was in flight.
"I said take over flying!" Ford yelled standing up. He reached into his coat with one hand while still flying. Sonic didn't know what was going on but hopped down grabbing the stick anyway.
"What are you doing dude?!"
"Eliminating the competition!"
Sonic raised an eyebrow not understanding at all.
Sally gasped from the back seat as did Carter as Ford removed a large rifle. Carter had seen the arsenal that Ford carried and could carry but that was not one she knew.
"What is that?"
"I have no idea. I've never seen it before." Carter said to Sally.
It was a large black rifle. Definitely energy based or was a single shot rocket or grenade launcher, but Carter figured it had to be energy based because it made a sound that gave it away.
"Where did that come from?!" Sonic yelled to him.
"Rotor helped me build it. It's a very powerful Ion rifle. I managed to make it look just like Optimus Prime's!" he yelled over the engine.
"Who?!"
"Never mind. You wouldn't know him."
Ford pointed it at the ground and pulled the trigger. It had a slight kick to it as expected and had a somewhat loud sound to it. A bright yellow beam of energy came out hitting a Swatbot dead on. What wasn't expected was the ten cubic foot blast that came with it.
"That was cool!" Sonic and Ford said together with a laugh.
"I have to admit, I'm impressed." Sally stated.
Several hover-units started coming toward them as Sonic headed for a spot to land near their destination. They were blown apart quickly not getting within a hundred yards. They landed getting out fast.
"Ford what the hell is that?"
"An Ion rifle." he said proudly with a grin. "I made it after a boyhood hero of mine."
"I had to ask." Carter said rolling her eyes.
"We need to move!" Sonic said as Sally was about to find out were Ford got his new weapon.
They ran off quickly avoiding the enemy the best they could as they raced through a old building. They could hear fighting in the distance as they came out. Running through and past several other buildings they came to the hidden base. Sonic had them wait while he buzzed through the defense perimeter with a power ring he pulled from his pack. The mine field, auto guns that came from the ground and several invisible com-bots along with a few other offensive and defensive devices were taken out quickly.
"How does he do that?" Carter asked still amazed.
"I don't really know."
"Let's move!" Sally said as they raced forward.
The ladies started in on the computer interface as Sonic and Ford took point looking out at the buildings and other damaged areas. There was a lot of junk and damaged stuff around making moving difficult for the Swat-bots that were trying to get to them. The Tornado was parked a couple hundred yards away on a rooftop.
The Swat-bots were starting to make some headway even though Sonic was buzzing through most of them.
"How much longer do you think?" Ford said standing just behind his wife. He had his back to her since he was watching out for the enemy.
"A few minutes. Why? Can't handle it with that big bad gun?" she asked humorously.
"No, but unlike me you can't take much punishment from those lasers or whatever they are."
This did prompt her to work faster as several blast of energy hit the door and wall. Ford got closer keeping the two woman behind him as he fired. He made sure his shots were very far off while Sonic got any that were to close. Ford looked up seeing a large metal scaffolding section along with pipes and other large pieces of metal he couldn't identify near, but far enough away for an idea. He took aim and fired a few blast.
Large explosions that threatened to deafen everyone as it collapsed bringing part of the building along with it. Sonic rushed away stopping short of hitting the door as it clicked. Sam turned saying they got it and was taken aback by the sheer amount of debris falling along with a couple of buildings. They had to be fifty or more stories high and falling fast.
Ford looked at the rifle then the large cloud approaching them.
"Oops."
"Get inside!" Sally said pulling Sonic in.
Carter grabbed Ford as he turned. The door was closing slowly and the cloud was coming at them quickly. Ford grabbed both sides and pulled. Metal sounded like it was grinding as he closed it quickly. They waited as they backed away slowly down the long hallway. Ford glanced at his watch and then back at the door.
"Strange. We should have…"
The door didn't move but they finally heard rumbling and the lights flickered.
"There it is. Can't use this now." he said putting it away. Ford instinctively pulled the personal cannon.
"Ford. You can't use that here. No amount of Tok'ra, Asguard or work Janet could do would ever bring back our hearing. Put it away."
"Old habit. You know if we can't get back to being human again, I'll have to give this away. Hmm, Thor could use it. Those Replicators wouldn't have a chance." he said putting it back.
"Why didn't we think of that before. They could never eat a ship made of that stuff! What an idiot I am."
"We had bigger problems. Don't worry about it. Let's see. I could use brute force."
Sally and Sonic were listening at first then realized that they had no idea what they were talking about. Sally was asking Nichole about what she knew and a map while Sonic was checking around the corner. He wanted to rush around, but Sally said he had to stay and protect her. That got him.
"Use your shotgun."
"Good. Wait I have no ammo for it."
"The revolver then. Where to?" she turned to Sally.
"We've got to break several encryption codes first. Sonic can run interference.."
"Cool! Juice and jam…"
"Not yet!" she said grabbing his arm as he started to rev up.
First time Carter heard that she didn't really get it until he took off and made her land on her butt. Since then she had gotten use to his 'phrases' before he took off. Carter had grabbed Ford's arm as he started revving.
"He ran by me the other day knocking me down by his wave. My tail still hurts." she whispered to him.
"Okay Sonic. This is where I want you to go. Ford's big enough I can hide behind him if things get to hectic."
"Cool Sal." he said giving them all the secret handshake before walking off then bursting.
It took Carter one try to get the handshake right when they showed her. Ford couldn't seem to get it right even after the six tries. He kept saying Sonic was going to fast. Carter ended up helping him get it right.
"The computer is this way." Sally said pointing out a hallway.
The slowly proceeded down it coming to a door. She got it open and the ladies walked inside after Nichole said it was clear to enter. Sally looked out the window after setting Nichole down on the console. She placed both hands on the window and gasped.
"It's a Combot factory!!!"
"We got to blow it up. Ideas?"
"Your rifle."
"It might bring the building down around us. Think you can just program the computer…"
"Computer access completed Sally. Activating termination of Combot plant now."
"Good work Nichole!" she said picking her up.
"Sally. I detect several dozen Swatbots approaching this position. Estimated time till arrival is one minute." the handheld computer said.
Ford checked the revolver for ammo and walked out asking what direction.
"Left hallway."
He walked down a few steps then heard something moving behind him. A hidden door was coming down. He turned dashing under with amazing speed and pulled his tail out of the way as it came down and breathed a sign of relief as he looked at it. The ladies ran out seeing him on the floor holding his tail. He let it go breathing another sign of relief seeing them.
"Robotnick tried to separate us and almost succeeded. We can't split up like this."
"Sally, the Swatbots are at the door. I detect two dozen of them. The door is in the process of opening."
Ford looked down seeing it was opening slowly. He dropped quickly and put the barrel under. He rapidly fired off several rounds and rolled away as parts exploded coming under the door as it continued opening. When it was fully opened again there was a smoking pile of destroyed bots. He reloaded as Sally directed where they had to go next. They had several more corridors to go through. Ford took out whatever got in their way as they finally made it to the elevator. Sonic came running up joining them. Once they descended and it opened, all the doors were open and security was off, except the camera's.
"This is a trap. He knows what we are here for and is letting us get there."
"I agree dude. He's got something planned. I'm going for a quick look."
They all were blasted into the elevator wall as he ran out. Sally was fixing her now really ruffled hair grumbling while she was at it. They out of the elevator as Sonic raced back.
"It's completely clear. There is nothing, zilch, zippo, zero.."
"We get the idea Sonic." Sally said.
They walked slowly anyway keeping watch for any traps. Even at the elevator they checked it thoroughly. Nichole said she found nothing and scanned below them finding a massive amount of bot signatures along with the unknown ring device and Robotnick. They went down in the lift and came out in the long hallway. As they proceeded down it to the open doorway, Robotnick spoke.
"I watched your performance on the first level and learned that you are way to clever to be stopped by those tactics. Your new friends are to well verses in war tactics so I did the next best thing. Let you come to me where you can't possibly win. I have an army of Combots and Swatbots here to destroy you in one command. This ring I found has very interesting properties that I have yet to completely grasp." he was saying through the speakers as they entered the room onto a large metal scaffolding surrounding the room.
Stairs went down near the walls and on some places on the sides. The bots were just about everywhere on the ground and around the gate itself. The DHD was there too but it looked damaged. Panels were missing and so was the center piece. The door behind them closed tightly trapping them where they were.
"Give up and I'll kill you all swiftly otherwise I'll robotizes the ones that live and kill the rest slowly." he said from a room above the ring. Snively was there with him as was some woman.
"Who's that?"
"The female human. I have no idea." Sally said.
"I recognize Snively but that's it." he said keeping his gun pointed at the bots below.
"Surrender now!"
"He has a energy shield around the small room. Your weapons will not penetrate it Ford." Nichole said.
"He cannot activate that ring. No matter what." Carter said aiming her gun down below.
"Sally stay behind me and have Nichole try something. Carter I assume you already have a plan."
"Yeah."
"Sonic go now!" Ford yelled firing off a round.
It went through a few Swatbots and took out one Combot. Sonic burst off as lasers came at their position.
"Eliminate them!!" Robotnick yelled.
Carter was letting off burst making sure she hit something before firing. Ford fired into the rushing crowd of bots taking them out several at a time. Sonic was buzzing through the room tearing things up. The large door at the back of the room exploded inward as the other Freedom Fighters burst in. The bots turned around giving less attention to Ford who was beginning to feel some of the hits. His ear had taken a couple hits and one near the nose. He ignored it though blasting away. Carter fired taking out several that tried to come at them from the right side of the scaffolding walkway.
"Robotnick is trying to escape Sally." Nichole announced. "He has a large ship hidden underground that will hold the ring. It has orbital capabilities."
"We have to stop him!" Sally cried out.
"Get everyone away from around that small room Sally. Robotnick isn't escaping this time." Ford said.
"If he gets away with that and learns to use it properly, he could build enough robots to completely cover this planet, provided he finds the resources." Carter said as her gun became empty.
Sally signaled Sonic through her ear piece to get everyone down below out of the way. He did so and Ford ran out of ammo in the revolver again. He put it away quickly while trying to avoid being hit. Carter put her last clip in and took care with its ammo. Ford pulled his new rifle out and aimed. Robotnick looked up from his console after reading an enormous amount of power build up. He knocked Snively over and ran out of the room heading for a elevator on the side of the room.
"Area clear!" Sally announced.
Ford pressed the trigger holding it down for several seconds. The room exploded brilliantly as Robotnick almost made it to the other side. He fell out of the hallway as it fell to the floor. The bots below were buried under the falling parts and ceiling. The ring was buried, but still looked functional. What was left of the remaining bots were taken out quickly. Ford and the two ladies came down the damaged stairs as everyone was gathering around Robotnick. Sonic was the closest.
"Give up Ro-butt-nick! You never had a chance." he said clenching and unclenching his fist.
"You may have beaten me this time rodent, but I have the last laugh." he said standing up pressing a small device in his hand.
The DHD exploded sending parts of it flying about the room. A few dozen explosions took place on the Stargate breaking it as it tumbled apart.
"NO!!!!" Carter yelled.
Robotnick took this time to make a hastily retreat since everyone's attention was averted off him. He decked Sonic aside and shoved other's out of his way quickly as he ran for the broken door.
"Ze Doctor'z Robotnick'z iz getting away!!! Antoine yelled.
Sally was trying to get Sonic to wake up but he was barley conscious. Ford pulled his new weapon out and rushed over several mounds of debris. Robotnick was just about out the door when he was instantly vaporized. A small explosion went with him causing a few debris to fall around everyone as the ceiling cracked.
"It's over." Ford said slowly.
The Knothole people looked at him as he sat down next to what was left of the ring. Carter came over as he dropped the rifle.
"We can't fix this. Never could if things got this bad." Carter said sitting next to him.
The next couple of hours were spent helping wounded and finding lost people. Carter and her team were sitting next to the broken gate. There was little of anything left of the DHD. Sally said she was sorry to have had this happen and expected as much from Robotnick. They all knew he would have done it, but hoped they would have stopped him. Unfortunately they didn't. Back at Knothole, Carter and Ford talked about how they could help around the place since they didn't think getting home was ever possible. They helped move things around as the former city owned by Robotnick was slowly rebuilt into a city for Mobians again. Mobians came from many places and corners to congratulate and help rebuild the city where human and Mobians could live in peace.
A month later Ford and Carter announced they were taking a trip up to where Colorado was once to see if the old Mountain Complex was there. Carter had built a better naquada detector with access to more satellites and better equipment from the city. The gate that should have been in Russia was not there nor looked like it ever was. The gate that should have been in Antarctica showed traces of it once being there, but wasn't no more. A very small blip came up saying it was possible that there was a gate north of them and Carter realized it could be the Mountain Complex. They found out later that Robotnick had a spy in Knothole and that was how he made it look like the gate they were after was found at the old Giza site when the gate he really had was found somewhere else. Unfortunately, they never found out where. The trip didn't take long and they did find the old complex. Carter and Ford jumped around more happy than when they got married. It didn't say Cheyenne Mountain Complex anymore, but the old archway was there. It had caved in some and needed digging out, but it was there. It took over a week to get the rocks and other objects out of the way. A couple of things ended up being old parts to vehicles, but not really identifiable anymore. With hundred's of workers, including equipment from Station Square, they managed to get to the elevator leading into the place.
Ford instinctively pulled his card and tried it.
"Ford. Think about what you just did."
"Old habit Sam. Tell me you didn't think about it."
"Okay. I didn't."
He gave her that, yeah right, look.
With tools and help the old elevator opened. Sally, Sonic, Bunnie and Rotor came along. Rotor had brought a device that Sam had hopes of being able to interface with the old systems here in hope that it would make everything run again. When they got to the first level, the elevator stopped and quit moving. Bunnie couldn't get the cables to move up or down anymore. It took them another hour but they made it to the old power system. With the torches they could make things out seeing everything was left as though in a hurry. Carter and Rotor managed to get power going again with the system they had made. Ford had given up the rifle to have Carter examine it. She used its capability to use power rings for power to make the system that was now restoring power to the base. Everything came back online. From what Carter and Ford could tell, some long, long time ago, the base was abandoned and never had been touched again. The self-destruct system was activated, but never went off seeing as something interfered. Carter never found out what did it, but guessed it was computer error. With the advanced equipment Carter found that a large solar flare was to act up on the sun in a couple of days. Other than the computer registering Carter as still in the system, Ford's name was not and his card didn't work anywhere. Carter had to put him in the computer so he could access the other levels. It felt nice to be home, but it wasn't really home. No one they remembered was there. Someone else had Hammond's office but the name was gone of who it was. Things that they knew Hammond didn't have weren't in there. Carter's office was just about the same as usual with some exceptions. Data disk and other special pieces that should have been there were not there. Daniel's office was empty. Ford had found the armory and restocked as he put it. Lara did the same as did Carter just in case. The dialing computer said the last address was to a place they didn't recognize seeing as the address was eight chevrons. Station Square and appointed Knothole residents were placed in charge of the facility. Ford and Carter didn't care since they were going home soon. Calculations showed they had enough power to dial out once and that was pushing it. There would be reserve power still there since the emergency power had been able to get recharged, but it took a full power ring to dial out. King Max, his wife along with Knuckles and his friends were there to see them off. Carter spent what time she had giving them all the information she could on how to run the system and what else to do. She and Ford also had hacked the system getting information that only higher ranking officers had access to help them out. Personal things she left alone and erased. All she could really find out about the last dial out was it was an evacuation order but to what planet it didn't say. They memorized the address to give to the others when they got back home. It was a few minutes until the solar flare and they were saying there goodbyes.
"On behalf of my kingdom and Mobius, I thank you all for your help."
"We thank you your highness. You helped us be able to get home." Carter said.
"You took my chance at getting Robotnick myself, but if you hadn't I doubt that we'd be here." Sonic said. "Good work dude."
Ford and him did the handshake.
"You to Sonic. Take care of Sally and do what I did. Don't wait. Marry her now before something turns up."
Carter put in the address as everyone else said their goodbyes. The gate activated without a problem and was a beautiful site not only to Carter and the others, but to the people now living on this planet. Everyone was impressed with what they saw and Rotor more than anyone seeing a stable wormhole. They got a countdown and waved goodbye as walked up the ramp. They stepped through as the gate shimmer strangely and everyone yelled a final goodbye.
They came through the gate seeing that they were indeed back home, except things were different. Very different.
"Why is everything covered?" Ford said looking around. It was the SGC gate room, but looking like the place was retired. Covers were over everything except the ramp and Stargate itself. All the door were closed and the blast window was shut too. Dust was everywhere.
"This looks familiar?" Carter said as they approached the bottom of the ramp.
The door they normally took to leave after coming back from a mission opened slowly. A old lady walked in. She had a silver gown on, longish, but not at shoulder length hair and something on her right hand. Carter knew who it was instantly.
"Cassandra!"
"Hello Sam. It's been a short time since I last saw you, but it is good to see your doing well." she said giving her a hug.
"Short time?"
"Wait a minute! I know this place now!" Ford said.
"Yeah you should. It's were you work." Lara said sarcastically.
"No. This is what the place looked like after Sam and the others, SG-1 before I came along, came to after being sent to the past and seeing General Hammond as a Lieutenant. Something about leaving to early or late sent them into the far future."
"You are right Ford. In this case, you were sent one week after that incident. Just as before, I was told you would be here and that I would help send you home." Cassandra said. She kept smiling through it all.
"It's been so long after that though for us." Carter said.
"I know dear. I wish we had more time to speak but time is short."
"You said that last time as well."
"I know." she said touching the device on her hand. The gate activated and shimmered slightly.
"We're not still like this when we get home are we?" Carter asked.
"You are not returning home right away, that much I can tell you Sam. Unfortunately dear you know I cannot tell you more about your future. Despite the misgivings of some, Ford was very insistent that I tell you this though. When you got through the gate on your way home, roll with it, not jump headlong."
"What does that mean?" Lara asked. They all were stumped.
"You'll know when the time comes. Goodbye dear." she said.
They turned around and walked through.
