Project Gateway - Chapter 1
"Hey Katherine! Did you hear? Reese is retiring at the end of next month!" Adam informed her as she exchanged her ID badge for one allowing her in the facility. The Technical Sergeant always seemed to be up on the latest gossip or rumor. Ofttimes, he'd try to barter the information he purported to have in order to entice her on a date. While he wasn't bad looking Kate had no desire to date him, nor anyone else associated with the facility, it just wasn't professional.
Kate raised one delicate eyebrow at the news. If true, it could, quite possibly, cause a disruption in her work.
"Brad is retiring? Are you sure?"
If this was more than rumor, it could be a security breech, she wasn't sure. Security wasn't her forte, but it was something she'd be bringing up to Brad as soon as she saw him, just in case. Her project was just too important to risk any disclosure.
Adam nodded. "Marty told me that the Old Man had submitted the paperwork last week."
He'd always thought it kind of funny that Katherine would call General Reese by his first name. He'd tried to get her to call him 'Adam' but the best he'd been able to get was her calling him 'Sergeant'. At least she didn't get upset when he used her first name. He shuddered inwardly at the memory of the dressing down she gave him when he tried calling her "Katie." That wouldn't be happening again. He was glad that she didn't complain to the higher ups.
Marty was General Reese's clerk. All the general's paperwork went through him. So it was possible that Brad was retiring. Kate went through the double doors with two guards armed with some kind of automatic shotguns. The only reason she knew this was because Adam tried to impress her with his military knowledge. His effort failed miserably since, honestly, she didn't care.
At the next door, she placed her palm on the reader, which read her biometrics, while leaning forward so that she was eye level with the scanner. It was over in a little over two seconds. A small jab, barely felt, from the reader as it sampled her DNA against the sample she had on file. Only then did the door open with a slight hiss, closing automatically behind her as she entered.
Kate bypassed the elevator she'd normally take down to her lab, and headed for Brad's office. As usual, the door to the outer office was open so she just walked right in. Seated at the desk was Staff Sergeant Martin Willoughby, or "Marty" as his friends called him . He was a likable individual and one of the few people that Kate would address by their first name. Namely because he'd never tried to hit on her.
Kate looked at the light above the door to one side of Marty's desk to see it lit up green. That meant two things. One, that the general was already in. And two, that he wasn't in a classified meeting or had classified material out. If that were the case, the light would be red.
"Good morning Marty. I was wondering if I could have a few moments of the General's time?"
"Good morning Doctor Davies, let me check okay?"
At her nod, Marty picked up the phone with a dedicated line to the General's office.
"Yes Sir. Doctor Davies is here and wishes to speak with you. Yes Sir! You can go right in Ma'am!" He said as he hung up the phone.
Kate smiled and then went to the door, opening it and entering without knocking. Kate closed the door behind her and promptly sat in one of the two leather bound chairs in front of Brad's desk. The man behind the desk smiled at her entrance, genuinely pleased to see her. Kate would consider Brad a friend, one of the very few she'd ever had in her life. The man was immaculate in his uniform, hair just beginning to turn grey at the age of 52. Short and stocky, he moved with a grace that men half his age would envy, thanks to a lifetime of martial arts training.
Brad had met the doctor when he had recruited her for Project Gateway. Most people, when looking at her, would only see a petite woman with light blonde hair and would miss the intelligence lurking behind those deep blue eyes. Brad, himself, was a bit surprised when he first saw a photo of her that was attached to her file, given what her file contained.
Katherine Grace Davies, 27. Born April 1st, 1997. Winner of the National Science Fair during her freshman year with her realistic mock up of the Hadron Collider and her description of the Higgs Boson Particle and the Top Quark as they related to Quantum Physics. National Merit Scholar when she graduated Lakeside High School at the age of 16 with a full ride to MIT. SAT total score of 1576. Associates degree at 17, BS degree in Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory at the age of 18. Masters degrees at the age of 22 and earned her Phd in both fields at the young age of 24.
"Good morning Kate! How's our resident genius this morning?" Brad greeted her. He noticed the slight frown tugging at the corners of her mouth and knew what was coming next. They'd had this discussion many times before.
"Good morning Brad, I'm doing well but I'm no genius. Albert Einstein was a genius and you know what he said, 'Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree..."
"...It will live its whole life believing it is stupid." Brad finished for her.
Kate hated to be called a genius, even if, by societies standards, she was, with an IQ score of 160. Prodigy was a term she was willing to tolerate, most of the time.
"So what to I owe the pleasure of your visit today?"
"Rumor has it that you're going to retire."
Brad snorted. "That made the rounds rather quickly, even for base scuttlebutt."
Kate raised one blonde eyebrow and asked. "So it's true then?"
"It's true." He admitted. "I'm not in line for another star. That debacle 2 years ago put 'paid' to that possibility. Plus, the wife and I would like to be able to travel. We plan to visit the kids and grandkids, then take an around the world cruise before settling down at our ranch in Wyoming."
Kate's frown deepened. "That actually makes me sad. I do believe I'm going to miss you."
"That sounds like you more than 'tolerate' me." Brad said, chuckling.
"One of the few." Kate said, smiling at him.
Brad was a smart man, but he could barely follow some of the things that Kate talked about whenever she briefed him on any advances for Project Gateway. Still, he was patient and willing to listen to what she said and would try and dumb it down for him so that he could understand what she was trying to explain.
"Anyway," Brad continued, "General Hawthorne will be arriving for the Change of Command Ceremony and will need to be briefed. I'll warn you now, he's known as a 'Hot Shot'."
For one of the few times that he'd known her, she looked confused. "I'm not familiar with that term." She said.
"It's a military term meaning that he's a fast riser. He's aiming for a 3rd star and will, quite probably, get it. He's highly demanding and expects results."
"Science requires patience. If he doesn't have much, why is he being placed in charge of a project as important as Project Gateway?"
Brad shifted to his poker face. What he was about to say was considered a curse word by her. "Politics."
Kate's expression soured and she gripped the arm rests of the chair tightly. "Something that has no place in science!"
"I know how you feel about it, but the U.S. Government has been overseeing the various projects associated with the craft since it crashed in 1947. Your's is just one among several Kate."
Kate huffed. She knew there were other projects associated with the alien craft. But, like almost every dedicated scientist, she felt hers was the most important. All she knew of the other projects funded by the government was that there were entire teams working on them, while she was able to make due with only two others, mostly working as assistants.
Noticing that he hadn't convinced her, he added. "It's the way the majority of the world works. We don't have to agree with it, but we do have to accept it."
oooOOOooo
There had been some unusual activity in the 7th crystal lately and she'd been unable to pin down the reason. There had been no fluctuations in the energy input but the output had increased by 10 to the 5th power and it was going... somewhere. Her instruments couldn't determine where the energy was going, but it couldn't just be going nowhere. Energy, after all, couldn't be created nor destroyed, so it had to be converting to another form that her equipment couldn't detect.
Kate became distracted when she noticed that the low rumbling noise she'd been hearing was her stomach signaling it's empty state. Sighing, she looked at the clock and noticed it was reading 2208, or 10:08 p.m in civilian speak. She'd been working in her lab for more than 12 hours and hadn't eaten in that period of time. Her staff must have left earlier, she just didn't notice.
She ensured the door to her lab was sealed as she tiredly headed for the elevator to take her to the common area on floor 9. She leaned against the wall as the elevator rose, stifling a yawn. She'd grab a bite to eat and then take a nap on the couch in her office like she usually did. She rarely left the facility for her apartment on Nellis anyway.
At the cafeteria, She indulged in her biggest vice - junk food. She had a very efficient metabolism and took mulit-vitamins to offset the nutrients that junk food was unable to provide. She would still eat healthy, when she could. But a double cheeseburger with extra cheese and bacon just seemed to, almost always, hit the spot. Today she felt like hot wings so she grabbed a dozen of those as well, ignoring the label proclaiming them to be 'Vesuvius' on the heat scale and that the sauce contained Apace peppers. With some French fries covered in ketchup, she was set.
Even while eating, she was trying to figure out where the fluctuations were coming from. She had finished her food and was simply staring off into space as her mind suddenly switched gears and brought up the memory of the incident two and a half years ago. Her eyes widened as she thought 'What if we're generating another gate? The wave patterns in the crystal structure are very similar to the pattern that was in effect when that young man disappeared. But at that time we had exact readings between 8 of the 13 crystals in the control device.'
Quickly standing, she strode rapidly back to her lab, frustrated at the level of security she had to get through to get in. One of the few times she tended to lose her patience. Reviewing her data from that time, she noticed that, while remarkably similar to the energy increase in the 3rd and 9th crystal, the readings were much stronger then. 'It doesn't seem like a gate reading, not with only one crystal displaying any difference. Even if the angstrom readings match.'
Kate began running simulations on her computer, which is where her assistants found her the next morning, asleep, with her head pillowed on her folded arms on the desk, leaning forward in her chair.
oooOOOooo
Kate woke and realized that she'd done it again and fallen asleep at her work station. Still not completely awake, she hurried to the bathroom to relieve her bladder. While washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror, noticing the red welts from where her face had lain on her lab coat. She then headed to the coffee pot and found it half full with fresh, hot coffee and a box of a dozen donuts, the remaining six of which were lemon filled. Her assistants knew full well of her work habits and dietary preferences.
After three donuts and a copious amount of coffee, she felt ready to face the day. Striding down to Brad's office, she greeted Marty and, seeing that Brad's office door was actually open, headed on in. She was a little startled to see him packing his personal items into a box before she remembered that he'd be retiring in little over a month.
"Good morning Kate!" Brad greeted her when she entered.
Then he noticed her frown and, when her eyes lifted from the box to meet his own, heard her say, "I'm sorry Brad, I forgot about you retiring."
"Think nothing of it Kate. I know you've spent the last three days in your lab." Brad said as she closed the door.
"True. I've been trying to run down why just one of the crystals in the control panel has been emitting an energy pattern exactly the same as the event 2 years, 7 months, and 18 days ago."
"Only one?" Brad asked, moving the box to the floor and sitting down at his desk.
"Yes. The output has increased by a significant amount but I'm unable to detect where the energy is going. My instruments are detecting no increase in the power of the emissions. I'd like to have a look at the control panel inside the craft."
"No problem, just be sure to log it."
"As if I'd violate procedure Brad." Kate said, rolling her eyes good naturedly.
oooOOOooo
It took three more security checkpoints and just as many bioscans to get to the hanger of the craft. Unlike common misconceptions of the craft, it wasn't saucer shaped. It was more of a flattened ovoid, with a chrome looking exterior that seemed to absorb both laser and radar. The material had been copied as close as possible and had resulted in the material used in the U.S. stealth aircraft.
It had taken the first scientists working on the alien ship eleven years just to figure out how to activate the ramp leading inside. It wasn't until 2001 that they were able to replicate the same kind of nanites, just not as durable or versatile.
While Kate had her assistants running tests on her sensors to ensure they were properly calibrated, she examined the control panel. The panel itself rose to chest high on her, even standing on the top step of the stairs that had been installed years ago. The aliens themselves were about nine feet in height, so the shorter humans had to adapt.
Looking down, Kate could see the translucent, blue glass-like covering that was tilted at a 30 degree angle. There were a total of 13 diamond like crystal spires similar in shape to quartz crystals, six in a large circle around 6 in a smaller circle offset from the outer one, all of which centered around the largest crystal in the center, the control crystal.
She knew, without looking, that there were at least four cameras looking down, watching every move she made. She placed the headset on and began speaking into the boom microphone. It was kind of old fashioned given that there were newer, more technologically advanced models available, even on the civilian market, but she liked this one. She didn't know that most of the people she worked with, including her two assistants, considered her eccentric.
The crystal in question resided in the northernmost slot of the inner circle. Physically, it seemed to be a perfect match to all the others but for the control crystal. Setting her kit on the handy shelf provided for just such a need, Kate opened it and pulled out a small scanner that wouldn't be out of place on a Star Trek set. Activating it, she ran the scanner up and down the crystal while observing the readings, all the time running a monologue of what the device recorded.
While the cameras and the device itself kept a record of the readings. Kate just used the voice recording for her own benefit. Until she actually pulled the crystal out of it's slot, she had no readings from it. When she did that, it went back to normal and her scanner picked up an increased power reading from the slot itself. Taking more readings, she realized that the power had been routed to the interior of the ship, which they still hadn't been able to access. Kate was elated, she'd solved the mystery of the missing energy emissions, but now the question was... what was the energy being used for?
oooOOOooo
Brad wasn't happy to find out where the missing energy had been going. Unable to access the deeper sections of the interior of the craft, he had no idea what could be happening. He increased security around the ship and had more sensors set up to record any deviations that might occur. Kate had been excited, actually grinning, as she made her report to him.
Of course, she didn't have to deal with the potential nightmare that any one of several possibilities that could occur., including ones where the ship actually powered up, or sent out a distress signal. The only concern of Kate's would be of a scientific nature. She'd been the one to hypothesize that the energy powering the crystals were coming from somewhere outside of their universe, that they were receiving energy from the home dimension of the aliens. That hypothesis had sent major tremors though the other scientists that were cleared to be 'in the know'. Meanwhile, Kate was working on how to direct any gates to the desired location so an accident such as happened last time wouldn't occur again.
oooOOOooo
After 8 days in her lab, Kate finally admitted to herself that she needed a break. She left the facility, noting how bright the stars were that evening given the amount of light pollution present from the nearby illumination. She sighed, thinking of how far away they were, but how close they could be if she could solve the targeting problem.
She drove to Nellis Air Force Base and stopped by the Burger King there for a large double whopper meal with onion rings and a chocolate shake. Settling in on her couch, she began a Harry Potter marathon as she ate. Fate was kind to her and she was able to fall into a deep and restful sleep on her comfortable couch.
She woke in the late afternoon, her streaming service now running Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the umpteenth time. She decided to take a nice, long bubble bath. She didn't mind using the showers at the facility, even though there was one woman that kept asking her out. It wasn't that Kate didn't find her attractive, she just couldn't understand why the woman was asking her out. She was a bit more leery when guys would ask her out, both enlisted and officers, remembering how she almost went out with a guy in high school infamous for sleeping around.
As time went on, it just became second nature to her to avoid close relationships, friendship being as intimate as she cared to get. She never considered herself very good looking, being teased by both girls and boys when she was in elementary school. Science became her refuge. Science didn't care what you looked like. Science only cared about how you observed the universe. Science wanted answers - 'given these facts, what would be the result?' And math? Math was the key to the universe and went hand in hand with science.
Friendless, Katie devoured math and science books, whatever one's she could get her hands on. By the time she'd graduated to middle school, she was reading from college level text books. Her parents had her IQ tested and were ecstatic over the results, Katie only cared because it made her parents happy.
She skipped 7th grade and went right into 8th. Katie expressed a desire to go to MIT and study Quantum Mechanics and try to figure out the mysteries of the universe. MIT recruited her in her Sophomore year as she, once again, skipped a grade. Kate never noticed that the more accomplished she became in her field of study, the more socially awkward she became toward others. The number of friends she'd had she could count on one hand, and that included Brad. Others were either colleagues, acquaintances or assistants. Soon there would be an unknown variable placed into the equation of the workplace. Kate didn't like unknowns, especially in regards to her work.
oooOOOooo
Kate had really hoped this day never came. Brad had been the one to recruit her for this project and now he was leaving, allowing it to be headed by some military popinjay who probably thought String Theory was the way he was supposed to tie his shoes.
She passed through the checkpoints into the secure conference room to see Brad speaking with a man that looked to be in his mid 40's with blonde hair and a slim build if his uniform was anything to go by. Apparently, this was General Hawthorne. Both men turned to her when she entered. The blonde man smiled and said "Ah, good. I'd like a coffee, black, 1 sugar." Kate froze in place, looking confused.
"Uh, Ted, this isn't..." Brad began, but was interrupted by the other man.
"Well? Not smart enough to follow simple instructions?"
Brad just slowly closed his eyes when he saw the blood drain from Kate's face. That was a surefire sign of her temper about to blow. While she never claimed she was a genius, she was quite intelligent and knew it, so when someone insulted that intelligence, it pushed her buttons.
When Kate spoke, he could hear the anger in her voice. "I assure you General Hawthorne, that I am quite intelligent enough for simple instructions. The same for complex and even esoteric directives. Instructions I do not follow are ones spoken in a demeaning way and are made by men with an excess of hubris. Especially when the coffee service is no more that 1.2 meters from your current position."
While General Hawthorne stood there, shocked that someone would talk back to him in such a manner, General Reese spoke up. "Ted, this is Doctor Katherine Davies, Phd's in Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory, and head of Project Gateway."
"Her?!" General Hawthorne spit out. "She looks like she should still be in high school!"
By now, Kate was almost rigid with fury and Brad swore he could see sparks flying out of her eyes. "I assure you General Hawthorne, my looks have absolutely nothing to do with my knowledge of either Quantum Mechanics or this project. I am supposed to brief you on Project Gateway. However, if you wish for me to get you coffee, I'm sure we could find you a steward somewhere to give the briefing." Mysogynistic asshole! She thought to herself.
General Hawthorne opened his mouth, ready to give Katherine a blistering reprimand when Brad stepped between them. "Ted, Katherine, let's not start butting heads here. You're both going to have to work together for the good of the project. Katherine, General Hawthorne will be the new project officer for your project, this is by order of General Dawlings. Ted, Doctor Davies is the foremost expert on the alien craft as it pertains to Project Gateway."
The general had been turning a bright shade of puce before Brad began speaking and it didn't fade much after. He was smart enough that his success depended on her own, so he'd let it slide this time. But he wouldn't forget her attitude either. Katherine was still pissed off and didn't have the military training of being able to take a chewing out without showing how you actually felt. But she did agree that Hawthorne had been placed in charge by the military to oversee her project. But she wasn't about to let it go completely and decided to get in a final dig.
Turning to Brad she asked, "Did he even read my file?"
Brad refused to answer. Instead, he just motioned her to the other end of the oval table. There was no projector, only a white board and even that would be destroyed in the base furnace after being escorted there by armed security. As she walked to the front by the board, Brad turned on the scrambler. Nothing spoken could be heard or recorded in the conference room until it was turned off.
Kate turned to the two generals, so different in both body styles and temperament. On the whiteboard, she drew 13 circles emulating the crystals on the control panel. Taking a deep breath, she began her briefing.
"Project Gateway. On July 17th of 1962, while attempting to determine the function of the crystals located on a control panel of some sort, located on what we call the bridge of the alien craft, an electric current was applied to all crystals one at a time, then two different crystals and so on until they charged 8 crystals at one time. This caused a Quantum event that resulted in a field developing just outside the ship.
To everything known at the time, it appeared to be similar to the event horizon of a hypermass, also known as a black hole, yet without the heat or shear effect of extreme gravitational forces. Four technicians associated with investigating the craft disappeared, being within the radius of the field at the time of it's development. Two others were close enough that, when it formed, lost body parts. The amputations were as precise as a laser could have made without the cauterization effect. Eight others were far enough away that they were not affected. Their testimonies described the field formed as being transparent, yet hazy, like a mirage.
Ten seconds after the field formed, it collapsed. A repeat of the experiment the next day resulted in another field forming, only this time when it appeared, it bisected a hanger wall. A primitive robot with a camera attached was rolled through and sent back images. These images were from a point in space of a binary star system with three planets that were visible. Analysis of the images have, even to this day, failed to determine the location of the system.
Even today, our instruments can only tell that the crystals in the control panel are receiving energy, we're just unable to detect the source. I recently detected an energy increase in crystal 7, the northern most crystal on the inner ring and was able to determine that the energy was being routed to the interior of the ship. Colloquially known as 'The Hold' which, to date, the team assigned to accessing the area has failed to do so."
"Why 8 crystals?" Hawthorne asked, actually curious.
Kate drew a 3 dimensional box on the board and then a dot in the center of each 'panel' before drawing another dot some distance away. "Well, to plot any point in space, you need 7 points of reference. Six for the destination and one for the point of origin."
"But you said 8."
"Indeed. It's my theory that the crystals don't only open up a gateway between objects in our universe, but to others as well. The 8th crystal could determine which one. We believe that the aliens not only used the gateway to travel between the stars, but between universe's as well."
"And the energy you said you couldn't find the source of?"
"Again, the prevailing theory is that it's coming from the aliens home dimension."
Hawthorne leaned back in his seat with a thoughtful look on his face.
Kate continued. "The goals of Project Gateway are these: One, discover a method to control the gates, both point of origin and destination. Two, stabilize the gate to last longer than 10 seconds. Three, increase, if possible, the size of the gate. Four, replicate, if possible, the means to create the gate."
"And where are you with these goals?"
"I'm currently working on the first at the moment. I haven't found a way to target exactly where the gate will form, my last attempt resulted in the inadvertent disappearance of a civilian male by the name of Dylan Ambrose. For the second goal, I've been able to increase the duration to 20 seconds by using lasers instead of electrical connections. Preliminary tests seem to indicate that the higher the frequency the laser, the longer the duration of the gate."
"The laser's don't damage the crystals?"
"The lasers are low output, not much stronger than a laser pointer. The crystals themselves have a density of 38.52 grams per cubic centimeter, or about 10.7 times denser than diamonds. Each crystal has an incredibly intricate crystalline structure that has never been seen in nature and we haven't yet been able to achieve via technology. For that reason, the fourth goal may be beyond our ability to accomplish with our current technology."
"Very well Miss Davies."
"Doctor Davies please General."
"Doctor." General Hawthorne intoned, almost growling.
"If there's nothing else, I'll return to my lab."
"I'll see you before I leave Katherine."
"I hope so Brad."
oooOOOooo
A few days later Brad stopped by to say goodbye. It was the only time Kate had hugged anyone involved in the project since, technically, he wasn't her boss anymore but simply her friend. She would miss him a great deal, but she was still able to wish him good luck with his retirement.
As the days progressed, she found that she didn't enjoy going in to her lab as much. It wasn't that she didn't still enjoy her work, she just missed being able to talk to Brad about even the smallest advances she'd made. Hawthorne, or "asshole" as she'd come to think of him, would ask for updates every week, and be irritated when she had nothing new to report.
A month into the new regime, Kate walked into her lab to find that none of the instruments had been calibrated, no logs filled out, and no coffee had been made. Thinking back, she couldn't remember which day it had been when she last saw her assistants. Kate left and headed for Brad's... General Hawthorne's office.
When she entered the outer office, She noticed that Marty was gone and an officer with silver devices on his shoulders was sitting at the desk. I guess Hawthorne is too good for an enlisted clerk She thought. She looked at the name tag the man at the desk wore,Holmes. With brown hair and eyes, he seemed to be 'everyman' with average features. She decided to be nice until he was proven to be a dick like his boss.
"Uh, hi. I'm Doctor Davies. I'd like to speak to General Hawthorne please. I'm sorry, I don't recognize your rank." The man smiled and it changed his face enormously.
"I'm a Lieutenant Colonel ma'am, the proper term would be 'Colonel Holmes'."
Kate smiled, at least he seemed likable enough. Colonel Holmes picked up the phone, "General, Doctor Davies is here and would like a word. Yes sir, I understand Sir."
He hung the phone up and looked at her with sad eyes. "General Hawthorne states that he's busy and you can talk at the next weekly update."
Kate's eyebrows rose until they disappeared under her bangs and her mouth opened. She'd never had to wait to talk to the project manager before unless the red light was on. She closed her mouth and looked at the clerk, who was looking at her sympathetically.
Straightening, she said "Very well. Please ask him to get in touch with me as soon as possible, I seem to be missing my assistants."
He looked surprised. "Oh, that! General Hawthorne had me put in paperwork to have them transferred to another project."
He didn't say the rest of what Hawthorne had told him. That since she hadn't shown any progress in the last month or so, that she shouldn't need any assistants. Holmes watched as the doctor straightened and threw a hate filled stare at the door to Hawthorne's inner office. In a tight voice, she thanked Holmes before turning on her heel and storming out of the office, cursing Hawthorne's name with every step.
oooOOOooo
Having to do the work of her assistants as well as her own, slowed her down only slightly. But she felt it was time better spent on her research. It took her over a week to learn to make the coffee the way she was used to, still cursing Hawthorne's name with every experimental sip. And on top of all this, he was hounding her for progress on the project. The man had no idea what her work entailed, yet he thought he had the authority to dictate how she ran her lab.
It was the following Monday, the first day of the week as well as the month, when she received a summons to General Hawthorne's office. She arrived 5 minutes before the time she was instructed to be there, smiled at Colonel Holmes, and sat down, noticing that the light above Hawthorne's door was red. There were no magazines to be found like Brad used to have to keep people entertained until he could see them, so she sat there and mentally reviewed her data so far.
A while later, Colonel Holmes cleared his throat, attracting her attention, formula's still swimming before her eyes.
"Yes Colonel?"
"Ma'am, you've been here for 30 minutes. The General is still red lighted. Just thought I'd let you know."
Kate smiled at him, "That's okay Colonel Holmes. I'll wait. If there's one thing that science teaches you it's patience."
The man felt sorry for the Doctor. Hawthorne was a major dick who always felt that woman's place was in the home. How Hawthorne had that 1950's attitude was a mystery to him and he was secretly amused how Doctor Davies didn't back down and was able to get under the generals skin. A while later the red light over the door went off and, within seconds, the phone on Colonel Holmes desk beeped.
Kate could practically hear Hawthorne yelling into the phone, she just couldn't hear the words he was shouting. Colonel Holmes was holding the phone away from his ear to protect his hearing. "
The General says you can go in now." He said as he lowered the phone to the receiver.
Kate smiled her thanks, opened the door, walked in, and closed it. Normally, she wouldn't sit in the chairs provided because she didn't like Hawthorne, but she decided to this time if only to tweak his nose.
"You're late!" He growled out.
Kate would have normally said something like 'with all due respect' but this buffoon deserved none. Instead she said, "I was 5 minutes early, I waited an additional 45 minutes of my valuable time sitting in the outer office waiting on you."
"Watch your tone missy."
"That's Doctor Davies Ted, forget that already?"
"That's General to you Doctor."
"Okay General. What did you want to see me about?"
"Your progress, or rather, the lack of it. I have the President coming here during his tour of bases, and I want something impressive to show him. So you have three weeks to come up with something or I'll have you assigned to the most remote weather station in the Artic!"
Kate's temper went from frosty to molten in a split second.
"Bullshit! First, you can't command a scientific breakthrough! And second, I'm not military! I'm a civilian employee hired for this project and my contract states that once I'm no longer working on the project, I'm free to offer my services to any research or college facility not currently at odds with the U.S. Government."
"Don't think that will stop me Doctor. Give me something worthwhile to show the President or find out how many pairs of long johns you'll need to stay warm! Now get the hell out of my office!"
Kate jumped up and, for the first time ever, flipped someone the bird before turning and walking out, slamming the door open and hearing him rage about disrespecting him, get back here, pack your bags - you're through, that sort of thing. Kate's response was to throw him the bird once more, slamming the outer office door open as well.
When she got to her lab, she started screaming and throwing things around like a toddler having a temper tantrum. When she finally rid herself of all the angry energy, she felt very cathartic. Calmer now, she began cleaning up her mess when she noticed a book on the floor that one of her assistant's must have left when they were reassigned. It was a one of her favorite science fiction books - Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Fredrick Pohl. She was very fond of the book, dealing as it did with aliens and humans. She smiled as she realized the symmetry to her circumstance. Her favorite part was where Wan was telling Janine about 'Gosh Numbers'.
The smile slowly fell from her face as that repeated over and over in her mind. Gosh Numbers, Gosh Numbers, Point 5 degrees, the angular diameter of both the sun and the moon as seen from earth. Point 5 degrees, the angular diameter of the sun. The angle! That's it!
oooOOOooo
Kate was exhausted. She'd been living on coffee and one meal a day from the cafeteria with only 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night. She'd only been able to grab 2 showers since then and even the one woman who would usually ask her out didn't have any words to say.
She was once more in the ship, triple checking everything to make sure that it was set up the same way it had been almost 3 years ago, compensating for the current angle of the Earth to the sun. Her target was the designated area just outside the ship. Putting on her goggles, she turned on the lasers and watched as the energy patterns emerged.
Grabbing the King Crystal, she turned it minutely in a clockwise direction, waiting for the gate to activate when it got in the proper position. The King Crystal gently snapped into place and the gate formed. Regrettably, due to her exhaustion, she miscalculated the exact angle that she needed to adjust for. The gate indeed formed, directly behind her. And, unlike any gate that had been formed before, at least as far as anyone knew, this one seemed to have a gravitational pull with it.
Alarms started blaring, the undulating sound a cacophony in her ears. Kate looked over her shoulder at the gate that had formed and felt it's pull. Scared, she grabbed onto the King Crystal even harder with both hands. Even tired, her mind was correlating data and forming theories. The 7th crystal, it must have something to do with the extra energy flow through the 7th crystal! Kate released one hand to grasp the 7th crystal and pulled. It felt like it was stuck.
By now, the gravity had increased to the point where her feel left the step she was on, leaving her perpendicular to the deck. Panicked, she tugged as hard as possible and was finally able to pull the slender crystal out of it's slot. It just happened that it was her bad luck that the force required to pull the one crystal out, also caused the King Crystal to be pulled from it's slot, allowing the gate to suck Kate into it, still holding the crystals, screaming as she went. Seconds after she disappeared, the gate closed.
Even panicked, there was a small portion of Kate's mind that was analyzing what was happening. The gate seemed to be some sort of transdimensional portal and she was currently in the space that existed, or didn't, depending on which hypothesis you wished to support, between our universe and others. It was a formless gray nothingness where nothing truly existed, including her.
Then she could feel the atoms in her body begin to separate from each other. She could actually see them leaving and a small burning sensation began in her hands. Looking down, she could see the crystals undergoing the same dissolution and panic finally began to overcome what was left of her logical mind. The stuff that had once made up the human known as Katherine Grace Davies was spread across the gulf between universes where time and distance had no meaning.
The pain ended when she seemed to have filled the area she was in, as impossible as that sounded. Here she could think again and wondered if she was the beginning of a new universe. She existed between seconds, so was surprised when she felt herself begin to coalesce and the pain returned, growing in intensity. The white light that she thought was a byproduct of the intense agony she was suffering turned out to be a destination of some sort. When she entered the tunnel, her pain doubled and she blessedly passed out.
A/N: Okay, the first installment of the story that ties in with The Unplanned Detour. While I hinted about Area 51 being responsible for Dylan's detour in my other story, I thought I'd write this one from another perspective.
Some of you may have noticed the description about points of reference that Katherine explained to General Hawthorne being familiar. If so, you'd be correct. I pulled that from the movie Stargate, where James Spader's character, Daniel Jackson, briefs General Hammond when he figures out how the Stargate works.
I love James Spader! He is a marvelous actor and I've been watching him on Blacklist.