Back in the briefing room next to Hammond's office, Jack loaded up the required footage. It was black and white and grainy, the image bouncing around and becoming overwhelmed by the bright sunlight on the planet surface.
"Is this the best there is?" Tim was leaning close, his nose almost touching the screen as he squinted to see the small drones as they flitted in and out of the shot.
"I'm afraid so." Carter sat at one of the computers, trying to filter out some of the interference. "There is an unusually strong electromagnetic wave pattern that is somehow occurring on the planet, possibly natural in origin. Only our most shielded recording equipment was able to get anything at all."
While Carter and McGee were working on the playback, Gibbs glanced over at Jack, who shook his head. "I knew the recordings weren't great, but I didn't know they were this bad. Might explain why the NID is interested in the weaponry here more than anything else we've found on other planets."
"Yeah." The electronics of Earthly technology, unless they were heavily shielded, were instantly destroyed by a strong electromagnetic pulse. Determining how the weapons on P3X-518 managed to operate under those conditions would be a tactical advantage. "Could explain a lot."
They'd finally come to a shot of what was believed to be the central control for the weapons and Tim leaned even closer to the screen, repeating the playback several times before he stopped.
"What were you able to determine, Agent McGee?"
"Several things, Sir." Tim glanced around at the group before continuing to answer the General's question. "First off, since it reacted when your people touched it, it appears to not be the type of weaponry that is limited to only Gao'uld use. If it had, we'd have been dead in the water right then.
"From what I could tell, it's most likely using a numerically based programming language, judging from the limits of the small touch pad. That's good because it means we can treat this more like an encryption that needs to be broken rather than something written in an alien language that we have to translate."
Jack glanced at Sam, making his judgment partially based on her expression. "So, that's in our favor. Score one for the good guys, but can you tell Carter how to break it?"
"This is where we hit a snag." McGee had an almost apologetic expression when he briefly looked at Gibbs before shifting his attention to Major Carter. "I noticed a lot of jerkiness in the video. How much lag time will there be between the live recording and when I'd be actually seeing it?"
She quickly thought through the few options they had. "The site is far enough away from the Stargate that we'd have to set up a relay. With the strong EM waves, the signal will have to be boosted at least once, maybe twice, before it goes through the Gate. Plus, it means either keeping the Gate open continuously, or setting up a schedule to send the information back and forth. Even if we leave the Gate open, we're looking at a ten to twelve second delay for the video feed coming through to Earth, another four or five seconds for the audio coming back. I'll warn you, the images you'll be getting won't be any better than what we're looking at here – might even be worse since you'll be seeing them raw."
"Then, we have a big problem. Take a look." Tim tapped the keyboard a few times, bringing up the one close-up they had of the strange device. They watched as a human hand touched the screen, bringing it to life, but as the apparently wrong symbols were touched, or there was a pause of more than a few seconds, it went dark. "It looks like a built-in security system. Make a mistake or take too long and you have to start over. It's possible that if you make too many mistakes, it shuts you out totally."
"Or blows up."
Colonel O'Neill had a point, but that didn't deter McGee. "I can't hack into it from here, General Hammond. If I make the attempt, it has to be on the planet."
"Son, I can't ask a civilian to do this."
"I know, that's why I'm volunteering." Tim ran his fingers through his hair, then shoved his hands into his lap to hide their trembling. "Look, I could give Major Carter a crash course in breaking encryptions and hacking into secure systems, but it would take days, maybe weeks. We've got hours and I don't see another option. Honestly, after seeing this, If I had it in my hands right now, I'm not sure I'd have enough time to crack it."
Jack could see where this was going, but as team leader of SG1 and second in command of the Stargate installation, he had to put his objection on record. "You're not trained at all for Gate travel. Hell, kid, you're not even trained as a soldier."
"No, but I am." Gibbs leaned forward, resting his arms on the edge of the table. "I'm a Marine and I've been watching McGee's six for years and that's not going to change now."
"Great, two civilians." Evan as he complained, O'Neill was climbing to his feet to make the arrangements. "I hope neither of you get seasick, cause it's a wild ride through the Gate."
"Oh, joy."
-NCIS-
Gibbs let out a low whistle as he followed O'Neill into the Armory. "Wow. Nice toys."
"Yep." O'Neill led him through the aisles, picking up weapons as he went. "This is our standard issue P90. Selective fire, your choice of full auto or semi, with ambidextrous controls. Holds fifty round magazines, will spit out nine hundred rounds a minute. You'll carry one of these plus a standard handgun."
"Nice." Gibbs hefted the rifle. It was different from anything he'd fired in the Corps, but the compact design was comfortable to hold and the top loading magazine was quick to swap out. He used the strap to swing it onto his shoulder as Jack handed him a SIG Sauer. "That looks familiar."
"A lot of our guys carry either that or the Beretta as a sidearm. Figured you'd like at least one familiar thing on this trip."
"Yeah." Gibbs did a quick check on the gun before sliding it into the holster strapped to his side. "What's the range on the P90?"
"Two hundred meters. If we fight, it's in self defense so we don't need the extra range." O'Neill had read Gibbs' file and knew his background as a sniper. "One of the weapons that we carry on the equipment transport is a sniper rifle. If we need it, we've got bigger trouble than the natives, so let's hope we don't need it."
O'Neill's next stop was a rack of obviously alien weapons, picking up a strange device that looked like a coiled serpent.
"What is that?"
"This is a zat gun."
"A zat gun?"
O'Neill shrugged, glad that Daniel wasn't there to tease him as he stumbled over the full name. "The Gao'uld call it a zat'ni'katel."
Gibbs wasn't even going to try to repeat that as Jack slipped it into the odd shaped holster strapped to his leg. "Zat gun works. What's it take to shoot one?"
"Aim and then press the button. Once stuns, twice is a kill shot, third shot disintegrates."
"I want one."
"Gibbs..."
"McGee's going to be so loaded down with tech gear, he'll only have a handgun. I want one of those."
"Fine, but you have to qualify on it first."
-NCIS-
"Okay, I think you're set." Carter looked over the array of equipment laid out on the bed. Gibbs and McGee had been moved to housing on the lower level. Now, instead of armed guards, there was just one Airman stationed outside to act as a guide until they learned their way around a little more.
McGee looked up from the alien tablet he was using and nodded. "I think so. Now that we've got all this linked together, it should make the coding a lot easier to crack."
"Assuming that the Tok'ra data pad is able to translate the device on the planet. None of us recognized the writings."
"Yeah. Assuming that." Tim gave her a crooked grin and took a deep breath as he looked over the various pieces of technology that he would be using. "What's it like, going through the Stargate?"
Sam remembered back to her first time through the Gate. She'd barely been able to stand at first and had darn near puked. It was only the determination to not show any weakness in front of the men that had kept her from anointing the Gate on Abydos with the commissary's finest. "Imagine pulling over 8G's in an F-16 in sub-freezing conditions."
When his eyes widened, she laughed and patted his arm. "You might not want to eat before we leave." Carter laughed again and turned for the door. "You'll be fine, Tim. I'll see you in Gate Room."
Alone, Tim raked his fingers through his hair as he started to pace. "Oh, my God, what have we gotten ourselves into? We're walking into a wormhole. We're going to have our atoms scattered across the galaxy. We're going..." He grinned as the excitement over-rode the fear. "We're going to another planet. We're using alien technology to travel to another planet. Oh, my God, this is so cool."
"You done geeking out?"
Tim spun around to find Gibbs leaning against the doorway. There was no scorn or ridicule in his voice or on his face, only amusement and a level of excitement Tim had never seen before. Gibbs pushed away from the wall and stalked closer, pulling Tim against him, their foreheads touching. "Talk about cool, I just certified on a zat gun."
"Really? A zat'ni'katel? Carter told me about them."
"Show-off." Gibbs grinned even wider, then turned serious. "We've only got a few minutes before we have to go, but I want you to know – what you said earlier – I feel the same way, too." Gibbs paused and looked at the hopeful face, brushing his hand down Tim's cheek. "You're my everything, too. Have been for a long time and I'm not going to hide it any longer."
"Jethro."
Gibbs groaned at the breathy whisper of his name, feeling it in the most intimate places of his body, and brushed his lips across Tim's. "When we get back..."
Tim nipped at his lip before pulling back as their escort knocked on the door. "I'm going to hold you to that promise, Jethro."
