The day the expedition was to leave finally came. Xander and Cordelia were sticking close to each other. Cordelia had never been thru the Stargate and was a little intimidated and didn't like the feeling. Xander spotted Major Sheppard nearby. He'd met him recently and liked him. He knew the Colonel in charge of the military personnel didn't like his presence on the expedition because of a black mark on his record. Something about disobeying orders to save teammates. Xander could understand both points of view. He understood the importance of chain of command, be he too, would never leave someone behind if there was any way of saving them. The fact that the Major hadn't been dishonorably discharged meant the people in charge understood too, but rules were still broken, so punishment was necessary. Which was why he'd been in Antarctica. Punishment that allowed him to stay in the Air Force and recover and eventually return to advancing. A set back, career-wise, but not much more.

Dr. Weir was making a speech. It had started as an announcement and evolved slightly. Then the Stargate was activated. Cordelia jumped slightly beside him as it splashed out and settled back.

"Wow." She said. "That's beautiful. And you go thru it alot?"

"Couple of times a week, at least. First time will make you a little nauseous sometimes, which is why I told you not to eat anything before we left. After that, you get used to it. Even though you're dematerialized, I still swear I see colors every time I go thru it. Beautiful colors that I can't name. And it's fast, fractions of a second and you're stepping out onto another planet. It's amazing. Thank you for agreeing to this, whatever happens, I hope you don't regret it."

"Well, let's get going and find out, shall we?" She grinned at him.

Then it was their turn to go thru. Cordelia took a deep breath, gripped Xander's hand and stepped forward. Coming out into a room with steps going up to consoles. Lights were coming on all over the place.

They helped with moving supplies out of the way as more people came thru. Dr. Weir was wondering around in awe and expedition members were exploring. Then Dr. Weir got a call that sent her running somewhere. Xander and Cordelia heard someone mention a bay full of ships like the one Jack had used to blow the Goa'uld calling himself Ares up. He'd never had a chance to see that one, so he grabbed Cordy's hand and they hurried to get to the docking bay.

"They're kind of cute." Cordy said. "Little fancier looking then the ones on that Star Trek show you like. I guess they make sense, size wise. They'd have to go thru that 'gate thing, wouldn't they."

"Yeah, they would."

Just then one of the scientists called out that he'd found one that was different then the others. Xander and Cordelia went over to see ii. There was some sort of device built in the back end of one of them.

"Any idea what it is?" He asked the scientist.

"No. Maybe an experiment with a new energy source? Or a new engine design? When we make things like that, we keep them open on prototypes so we can determine if it's functioning correctly and make adjustments as necessary. It's a practical way of doing it and they probably did something similar."

Just then Major Sheppard came running in with Dr. Weir right behind him.

"We've got a problem, Captain. The city is underwater and the shield holding back the ocean is cracking like an egg shell. The city's flooding. We've got to get out of here."

"Think you can fly one of these ships, Major? You've got a little more experience with the technology then I do. I didn't find out I had the gene until a month ago and haven't used any of the technology yet."

"Let's find out, shall we?" He sat down in the left hand seat and Dr. Weir took the right hand one. Xander and Cordelia, along with the scientist, sat in the back. Major Sheppard put his hands on the console in front of him and it lit up. The little ship rose up. Suddenly a light from the device flared and then they were in space. The little ship rocked.

"I think someone is shooting at us!" Major Sheppard said.

"Is there a way to shoot back?" Cordelia asked.

Just as bright yellow lights moved passed the ship and headed toward a very large and ugly ship.

"Yeah, I think I just did that." Major Sheppard said.

The little ship rocked again and then a very bright light lit up the front of the ship. Xander threw himself over Cordelia and everything went black.