Janet had successfully made her way through the first two security check-points with only her military ID. However, when she left her car and went into the mountain, the guards would not let her though. They apparently had not gotten word of her transfer, a typical military SNAFU. Now Janet was waiting for General Hammond to come and sign for her. She had no idea exactly what to expect, just that the project was top secret and not deep space radar telemetry like she had always heard. Janet wondered what could be top secret enough to require that everything be buried under a mountain. What if it was weapons testing? That could explain the need for a doctor. What if it wasn't weapons, but some type of chemical/biological agent? Janet was the Air Force's foremost expert on exotic diseases. Adding something like Ebola to HIV would be stupid and asking for trouble. 'Yet another reason why they would need a doctor,' she thought.
"Dr. Fraiser?" Janet executed a perfect about face as she turned to see the general approaching the guard.
"Yes, Sir!" She snapped to attention.
"At ease, doctor, we're a little more laid back down here than what you're used to at the Academy," he drawled and extended his hand, "George Hammond."
"Janet Fraiser." She grasped his hand firmly, just like her daddy had taught her.
"Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain." He released her hand and turned to sign for her.
Thank you, Sir," the guard mumbled and sat back down, a little sad that the doctor had not been an intruder after all.
"Shall we?" Hammond gestured down the dimly lit hallway.
"We shall." Janet slipped back into her southern drawl briefly, but just enough for the trained ear to notice.
"Ah, you're from west Texas?" he mentioned.
"Oh, yes, Sir. Abilene born and bred." She smiled, her Texas pride filling her for the first time in too long.
"I'm from back east, myself: Houston born, Nacogdoches bred." He chuckled, "but it's been a while since I've been home." Hammond sighed and they turned the corner to the elevators. "Doctor, get ready to be amazed."
"Sir?" Janet questioned. The door to the elevator opened and he ushered her inside. He followed and hit the button for level twenty-six. The doors closed and the car began its descent.
"Wait, are we going down?" Janet immediately wondered what was going on.
"Yes, ma'am, we are."
"Twenty-six levels?"
"There are twenty-eight levels in the complex that are currently in use. Your new infirmary is on level twenty-one, by the way. Our main interest is on level twenty-eight, but you should see it from the briefing room. That's our best view of the Stargate," Hammond spoke through the ride.
"The 'Stargate'?" Janet was now in full question mode. The elevator came to a stop and the pair stepped out.
"You'll have to see it to believe it, doctor." Hammond led her toward the briefing room. "This will be an assignment you will never forget." He motioned her forward to the glass on the other side of the room. Janet stepped past Hammond and gazed down into the gate room. What she saw did not faze her in the least. A massive metal ring stood in a large open room.
"Um, Sir, what is it?" she asked, not even bothering to feign excitement.
"That, doctor, is the Stargate." He laughed and stepped forward. "You can't really appreciate it until you see how it works. SG-1 should be arriving shortly. Until then, I'd like to get to know a little more about our new chief medical officer." Hammond gestured for the young woman to have a seat at the table in the middle of the room. He waited until Janet had taken her seat before pulling up a chair himself. "Now tell me, how did you become interested in the Air Force?"
...
A short while later Janet and the general were laughing and sharing stories of growing up in Texas when the floor began to shake slightly and warning klaxons began blaring. Over the loudspeaker system someone announced that there was an "unauthorized incoming traveler." Janet visibly tensed.
"Ah, Doctor Fraiser, that's our cue to head to the control room." Hammond stood. "Follow me, please." He exited down the stairs in the corner of the room. Janet quickly did as she was told and fell into step behind Hammond. Once in the control room, Hammond was in full command mode. A young technician sat at a computer console and was working furiously to follow procedure.
"Close the iris!" Hammond bellowed.
"Yes, Sir!" the sergeant pressed a button and a metal shield spiraled closed across the center of the Stargate. Janet jumped and Hammond turned to her briefly.
"It's okay, doctor, this is standard procedure," he assured her. The gate shuddered stronger and a clicking sound echoed around the room. Bright light shimmered around the edges of the circle. Janet, now exceptionally curious, took a small step forward.
"Receiving SG-1's IDC code, Sir." Janet looked down to find out the young man's name. If she was going to be here for a while, she might as well start putting names with faces. His nametag showed him to be Harriman.
"Open the iris," Hammond ordered and motioned Janet further forward so she could see the scene unfolding beneath them. She saw that the once inactive ring was filled with a shimmering liquid substance. The room was bathed with an eerie blue light emanating from the liquid. Janet stood in awe and when four figures suddenly emerged from the gate, her jaw dropped almost to the floor. Once the last person was through, the blue liquid fizzled out to nothing, seeming to vanish into thin air.
"SG-1, welcome home. Get cleaned up and report for debriefing in half an hour." Hammond spoke into a microphone and his voice echoed in the large room. Janet's attention was drawn to the people who had stepped out of the gate. 'SG-1 must be a team name, but what kind of team?' she thought. They were in full combat gear. Hammond noticed her look of confusion and decided that now was as good a time as any.
"Doctor?" Janet turned her attention to her new commanding officer. "That is the Stargate. What I am about to tell you is quite possibly the most classified information in this country, if not the world." Janet was all ears. "Those people just returned from a mission on a planet designated P3X-595. There is an entire system of Stargates throughout the galaxy. When we dial an address, like a telephone number, the two gates activate and form a wormhole. Don't ask me how; Captain Carter will have to explain that. I'm sure you'll understand it better than I do. When someone enters the front of the wormhole, the side that was used to form the connection, they are immediately sent to the end of the wormhole and out the gate on the other planet." Hammond hoped he had not confused her, but the look on her face was priceless. He loved watching someone hear about and see the Stargate for the first time.
"Planet?" was all Janet could say. Her mind worked frantically to wrap itself around this new information. Planet? It went against everything she had ever known. Her brother had always believed in aliens and UFOs, but she had just laughed at him. Now to find out he was right all along; she didn't know what to think.
"Yes, Doctor Fraiser, planet. Not in our solar system. The planets we visit sustain life much like our own. I'll wait and let SG-1 help with this briefing. You've got enough to think about right now. I just wanted to let you see the Stargate in action before we explained everything to you. As I said, Captain Carter can explain the technical aspects of the Stargate. Dr. Jackson is an archaeologist and anthropologist; he will be able to tell you about the indigenous races found on the planets we have visited so far. Colonel O'Neill is the CO of SG-1 and I promise you that he will be an interesting patient." Janet was hearing the words but very little information was registering.
"And Teal'c is an alien called a Jaffa. His homeworld is Chu'lak." Hammond decided to wait for her reaction on that.
"Planet?" she asked again. Hammond chuckled and nodded in the affirmative. "Wait, did you there's an alien here?" Janet's mind suddenly caught up.
"Yes ma'am." Janet opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. "Now, I'll show you to the infirmary and your new office." He started up the stairs, "I'll answer as many questions as I can, but you'll have to wait and ask SG-1 your specific questions when they finish their briefing. They'll be needing a post mission physical. I hope you're up for that." Janet followed General Hammond up to the briefing room and then out to the infirmary, still in awe at what she had just learned.
...
A couple of hours later, Janet was in her office reading the files General Hammond had given her about the Stargate: where it was found, when the program began, and the more recent history and missions. She had just turned to the second page of Colonel Jack O'Neill's personnel file when he walked into the infirmary.
Janet watched the man poke around at a tray of instruments sitting by the supply cabinet. He picked up something long and shiny, 'most likely a scalpel,' she thought. Figuring that he would find her eventually, she turned back to the file to learn as much about him as possible before he could track her down. Moments later she heard a loud metallic clatter. Janet sighed and sat the file back on her desk. She entered the infirmary just in time to see the colonel attempting to straighten the instruments on the tray. He turned to see if anyone had noticed and saw the doctor standing with her hands on her hips. O'Neill grinned sheepishly and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Colonel O'Neill, I presume?" Janet raised an eyebrow.
"Um, hi." He shot her his best get-out-of-trouble smile. "Colonel Jack O'Neill." He shot off a half salute. "And you're Doctor Fraiser?"
"Yes, Janet Fraiser, the new CMO." She extended her hand and waited. Jack's brow furrowed for a moment before he threw off the shock and quickly reached out to shake her offered hand.
"Hey! You're the lady who won the barrel racing last weekend!" He held up a finger as if to say 'hold on a minute' and sucked into the hallway. Janet stood with her mouth slightly ajar and tried to hear the hushed whispers through the door. She shook her head and glanced down. What were the odds that the second in command of the base she was assigned to actually knew about the championship? When she looked back up, her eyes immediately connected with the crystal blue gaze of the same blonde woman from the rodeo. Janet's breath caught in her throat when she saw recognition on the face of the other women. O'Neill was making introductions and Janet managed to get a grip on herself in time to catch the names.
". . . O'Neill, but we've already met. This is the rest of SG1: Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and our resident alien, Teal'c." The tall black man bowed his head slightly in a greeting. Daniel smiled and gave a little wave, and Sama.. . . Captain Carter was the first to speak.
"Uh, Sam's fine." She was silent again.
"See! I told you it was the lady from the rodeo!" O'Neill seemed way more excited than he should have been. He elbowed Daniel in the ribs, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Janet. She saw Sam sigh and it dawned on her that the motion was not unnoticed by the blonde either. What was going on? Was there an inside joke that she was oblivious to? And what did that have to do with Dr. Jackson? Janet was terribly confused until she saw that the young man was blushing slightly and it all clicked into place.
"Yes, I'm the same Janet Fraiser from the rodeo, but I am also your CMO." Janet knew that with her small size, she needed to assert herself as the person in charge of this infirmary.
"Well then, Doc, General Hammond just sent us down for our physicals. Wanna get to work?" O'Neill openly taunted her, seeing how far he could push the woman. Janet knew what she had to do.
"All right, Colonel, you're first."
"Oh goody," he said unenthusiastically.
"Just let me go get those brand new sharp needles and we'll get started." O'Neill froze and immediately backpedaled.
"Well, being the kind commanding officer that I am, I think I'll let my second in command go first. Ladies first, right Carter?"
"Uh, I . . ." Sam was at a loss for words.
"Oh, no, Colonel, you want me to get to work, you're my first victim. Captain Carter, I think Dr. Dworkin is here if you want to get yours over with too." Janet hoped Sam would take the bait. She really wasn't prepared enough to do a physical on the woman who took her breath away. . . twice.
"Oh, um, sure." Sam executed a perfect about face and disappeared before anyone could reply.
...
Finally, the infirmary was quiet again. The physicals had gone off, for the most part, without a hitch. Janet had sent Teal'c to Dr. Dworkin as well because she had not yet been able to read up on his particular physiology. She had, however, been able to take a look at the man's pouch. O'Neill had compared it to a kangaroo and they all shared a chuckle while Daniel attempted to explain to Teal'c what a kangaroo was. When the men were finished, Daniel and O'Neill left the infirmary to search for a picture of the critter to show their team-mate.
Janet was finishing up the personnel file for the last member of SG-1, Teal'c,
when someone knocked on her office door.
"Come in," Janet said and began tidying up the files on her desk. The door opened and Hammond stepped in. Janet began to stand.
"As you were, doctor. Like I said, we're less formal down here," he said as he motioned for her to remain seated. "How did the physicals go? I'm sorry about dropping all that on you without proper warning."
"Well, Sir, I completed Colonel O'Neil and Dr. Jackson's physicals while Captain Carter and Mr. Teal'c went to see Dr. Dworkin. I figured I should read Mr. Teal'c's file before giving him a physical. I wouldn't have known what was normal for him." Janet summed up the rest of the day for Hammond, mentioning briefly her interest in doing further testing on Teal'c to try and determine how his symbiote replaced his immune system. Her concern for his safety, however, made Janet cautious about any invasive procedures.
"I guess I can just ask him about what he's willing to do. Anything is better than nothing." Janet sighed and placed the four personnel file folders in her desk.
"It looks like you'll fit in just fine with us. Don't tell him I told you, but Colonel O'Neill was very impressed with you, both professionally and personally, I might add." Hammond chuckled.
"I'll wager a guess that he informed you about my extracurricular activities." She rolled her eyes.
"Well, it's not every day that the state champion barrel racer gets assigned to your base . . ." he began. Janet sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "When are the nationals?" Hammond seemed genuinely interested.
"It doesn't matter, Sir, I'm not going. I have a new assignment now and . . ."
"What if you had a little fan club there with you?"
"I'm sorry, Sir, I just . . ." Hammond interrupted her again.
"I'm not trying to change your mind, Doctor. I'm just saying that if you need practice time, that can be arranged. I know several people who would be there cheering you on if you decided to see this through to the end." Hammond turned to leave, then paused. "You've had a good first day, go home and get some rest. Be here at eight a.m. sharp for a briefing that you'll never forget.
"Yes, Sir." Janet snapped up but quickly sat back down again.
"See, you're getting it already." Hammond smiled and quietly left the infirmary. Janet looked around at the bare walls. She would have to bring in something to liven up the place. The grey walls were so, plain.
...
At the briefing the next day, Colonel O'Neill was in a bit of a grumpy mood until Janet managed to best him at a verbal sparing match. Despite having lost to the petite woman, he seemed amused with the whole situation. Doctor Jackson leapt straight into the history of the Stargate and the Goa'uld. Teal'c remained silent for the most part, only speaking to interrupt Daniel with information he thought pertinent. Captain Carter, however, embodied the epitome of professionalism. Even O'Neill told her to loosen up a bit. The captain explained all the technical aspects of the Stargate and asked if there were any questions. O'Neill immediately began asking her questions and Carter sighed and rolled her eyes. Janet was completely enthralled. When the woman sighed, a stray lock of hair blew out of her face in a child-like gesture and her blue eyes shone with annoyed amusement. Janet didn't know how Captain Carter put up with O'Neill. She quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. Outwardly, Janet gave the impression that she was moderately excited about everything, but inside, all she wanted to do was go hide in her office and try o forget those bright blue eyes.
When the briefing came to an end, Janet wanted to sprint out of the room, but the boys of SG-1 had other ideas. Fortunately for her, Carter had the same idea and disappeared almost immediately. Naturally, O'Neill had to open his mouth.
"Hey, where'd Carter go?" He looked confused and waited for an answer.
"She had some toy to go run simulations on, I think," Daniel said and made his way toward Janet. "I can go get her if you want, Doctor Fraiser?" Daniel seemed eager to please but Janet refused.
"Oh, that's alright. If she's busy, let her work. What do you gentlemen have in mind?" The boys immediately shut up and Janet quirked an eyebrow. "Is there something I still don't know? Some kind of initiation?"
"DoctorFraiser, we wish to lead you on your first journey through the Stargate," Teal'c spoke, his low baritone voice resonated in the silence of the room. Through the Stargate? To another planet? In a different solar system? Janet shook off the surprise, not wanting to find out how many prepositions she knew.
"Wait, wait, wait. . . you mean you want to take me through the Stargate?" Janet was in complete disbelief.
"That's it exactly, Doc." O'Neill grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"General Hammond believes that it would be better for you to get a feel for gate travel before an emergency happens off-world that requires your help," Daniel explained.
"Yeah, Doc, it's quite a trip the first few times." O'Neill began gathering his documents rom the briefing table, which, Janet noticed, consisted of a couple of sheets of paper with doodles on them. "We depart at fifteen hundred. Be geared up and ready to go in the gate room before then. Talk to Carter if you have any questions." He turned to leave but paused. "Just don't eat a big lunch, okay," O'Neill threw over his shoulder and exited the room, followed closely by Teal'c.
"Have some crackers and cheese, something light. The first trip is the worst." Daniel pushed his glasses up on his nose and gave a sheepish smile.
"Well, would you like to join me?" Janet offered. "I'd like to hear more about our enemies, more about their physiology, whatever you know," she began to ramble. Daniel watched her and wondered briefly if Jack had been right back at the rodeo. He hoped the woman didn't like him in anything but the platonic sense. He would find his wife and kill Apophis for stealing her from him. Until he found Sha're dead, and he hoped he wouldn't, Daniel could not give his heart to anyone else, no matter how cute or sweet she was.
"Sure, lunch sounds great! Let me drop this off at my office." Daniel motioned to his papers. "Then I'll meet you in the commissary." He quickly made his way out of the room, only to reappear moments later. "Do you know where the commissary is?"
"Yes, thank you." Janet smiled at his courteousness. If only men had treated her so nice before, she might still be attracted to them. When Daniel left for the second time, she gave a little laugh and thanked whoever was listening that she was going to be working with such an incredible group of people.