Chapter 4
Archangel and Marella feasted their eyes on the seven foot tall Star Gate before them. It seemed large to the onlooker as they had not actually seen the size of the larger Star Gate.
Colonel Hammond looked upon the smaller gate. He knew it much smaller then the gate in storage. "That's a lot smaller." he noted.
Marella stated. "Looks pretty big to me."
Sam agreed. "Seven foot diameter is pretty big. Plus add the platform. It's about ten foot tall over all."
Jack countered. "But if we put them side by side, Carter we get a mama gate and a baby gate."
She paused, turned towards him and tried to not laugh. A slight smile crept across her face. "Baby gate, sir?"
"Baby gate, mini gate…junior gate." he conjured up names.
"It's an auxiliary gate, Jack." Daniel insisted.
"But I like mini gate." he countered.
Archangel spoke candidly to George. "You are right about the Colonel." He referred to George saying that Jack was a pain in the rear during the limo ride.
"And I will be eventually be his boss." he added knowing he was in for a struggle.
"I don't envy you." Archangel told him.
String worked with Sam examining the smaller gate and controller. "We should be able to move it. We could air lift it with Airwolf." he proposed.
"Just need to get it out of the cave." she agreed. "We will also need a shield to keep out unwanted guest. In the future, we install an iris to protect the base. Anyone can just walk through right now."
"We can come up with something. I can help." he stated.
Jack looked to Archangel and wondered. "Just where you plan on running this secret Star Gate program once we get the mini gate out?"
"Through a military contractor." he stated. "Knight Industries. They are willing to provide a secure location in L.A.."
Daniel stated. "Sounds good to me. California weather is better than Colorado."
Jack smirked. "How would you know? You spend all day and night in your office…working…constantly…like an addict."
He turned, looked at Jack and pushed his eyeglasses up the bridge of his nose. "You are just jealous that String has a lake and you just have a pond with no fish in it." he accused.
"And String plays the cello on a professional level." Sam added with a smirk looking at Jack.
"Not to mention the artwork." Daniel chimed in.
Teal'c stated. "StringfellowHawke owns a larger structure."
Jack retorted. "But my cabin is cozy." He then proclaimed. "And…I invited String to my cabin and he said he would go!"
Marella had to ask. "What is with the cabin talk?"
Jack waved his hand. "It's nothing. I would invite my team to go but they are always too busy."
Teal'c countered. "There are insects."
Jack sigh, "There are insects everywhere, T."
Daniel smirked, "But you don't play the cello, Jack."
"I do play guitar." he told him. He then fondly recalled. "I had a band when I was young."
Sam paused and looked at him. "I didn't know you had a band and played guitar."
"I was the lead singer too." he recalled. "Matter of fact, that would be now." he winced in realization.
Amused Sam asked. "What's the name of the band?"
"RD and the Dante." he recalled. He then remembered the costume he wore on stage with white bell bottom pants and a white shirt. He shivered at the thought. "We played some bars and officer clubs."
Sam grinned. "I gotta check that out."
Jack went pale for a moment and shook his head. "No!" He then admitted. "That's how I met my ex-wife. She came to a club we were playing at." He noticed Daniel and Sam both just staring at him as if he had a birth defect on his head. "What?"
Daniel admitted. "I'm just trying to picture you in a band."
"I was pretty hot back then." Jack told him. "Now, back to work." he waved it off.
Sam bit her bottom lip trying to not laugh. "Yes sir."
String stated. "I got a guitar you can borrow, Jack."
"I haven't played in years." he replied.
"You can always pick it back up." he countered.
"Maybe." he pondered.
Sam started to hum a song as she worked. (Theme song to Airwolf).
String asked, "What you humming, Major?"
"Something I made up." she shrugged. She then confessed. "I need to find that band."
Jack over heard her plans. "For crying out loud, Carter." he huffed.
Knight Industries
The black Trans Am rolled into the warehouse. The red strobe flashed back and forth in the nose of the car. A man emerged sporting a black leather jacket, jeans and a white shirt. He had curly dark brown hair and flashed a bright smile. He looked upon his contact and the technician. Michael Knight greeted his friends.
"Devon. Bonnie." he acknowledged. "What did you pull me and KITT in for?" he asked.
Devon Miles stood wearing tan slacks and a brown jacket over a light blue dress shirt. He was a well kept man with graying short hair. Bonnie Barstow stood by wearing white coveralls. Her long brown hair was pulled back and placed in a ponytail.
Devon stated. "Wilton Knight, myself and Bonnie have just returned from a highly classified meeting with the FIRM."
He asked, "Who?"
"A branch of the Central Intelligence Agency." he told him. "They have requested our assistance and expertise in a top secret project involving an object that was recently discovered in a cave in the Mojave Desert. They request a secure work area and housing for the object."
"What is this object?" he asked.
Devon stated. "It's a ring, seven foot in diameter on a three foot platform for a total height of ten feet." he then paused and gathered his wits. "The ring is of alien origin."
Michael paused for a moment unsure just what he heard. "Excuse me."
Bonnie stated. "They found an artifact in a cave that is not from Earth. They have experts who will be coming in with this ring to work on it. We have been asked to assist."
"Aliens?" he asked. "You serious?"
"Michael." a voice came over his wrist watch.
He turned towards the car. "Yeah KITT."
"I calculate the chances of alien life are quite high considering the number of stars in the seeable universe." KITT reported.
Michael looked distraught. "Aliens!"
"Indeed, Michael." KITT confirmed. "It's improbable that Earth would be the only planet with life."
He turned towards Devon. "Now we are dealing with aliens?"
"I don't have all the details yet. A debriefing will be conducted tomorrow when the ring arrives." he told him. "I honestly do not know if we are dealing with aliens or just alien technology."
"Aliens!" he repeated bewildered.
Next Day
Dom walked into the hangar with a big box of fresh donuts and a newspaper. He made his way to the break room to set up the breakfast for his workers. He placed the paper down on the table beside the donuts and tended to the coffee pot.
Sam walked into the break room to make the coffee as she needed that caffeine infusion. She found Dom already making the coffee. "Oh, I was going to do that for you." she told him. She wore work coveralls and agreed to assist in the hangar.
"I got it, Sammy." he told her. Dom adored Sam. She was a hard worker and smart as a whip. He mentally adopted her as his own.
She chuckled a bit. "My dad always calls me that."
Dom grinned. "He does!"
"Yup." she nodded. She looked down to open the white donut box when the newspaper caught her eye. "Hey, what's this?" she asked. She found a front page story about a mysterious man in a red suit who was seen flying about in the air.
"That's that guy in the red suit." he mentioned.
She asked bewildered. "What guy in a red suit?"
"He's flying around like superman and busting criminals." he told her. "He's in all the papers."
"How come I don't remember anything like that?" she asked. "I would remember something like this."
"You don't remember the man in the red suit?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No." She took the paper and then began to read the article. "This has got to be alien technology." she theorized.
Jack walked into the break room next. He sported jeans and a flannel shirt as he looked for the donuts. "Carter. Dom." he greeted.
Sam looked up from the paper. "Sir, do you remember anything about some guy in a red suit flying around like Superman in the 80's?"
He shook his head. "Nope."
"Look at this." she handed him the paper.
Jack took the newspaper. His eyes read over the article and headline. "Huh."
"I don't remember anything about it either." she told him.
"This is weird." he agreed.
Teal'c entered and went right for the donuts and grabbed a mug for his coffee. He stood observing.
"I know that I'm sure I would remember something like this." she insisted.
"Me too." he agreed.
Next into the break room came Daniel also looking for the precious coffee. "Coffee ready, Dom?" he asked.
"I just started the pot." he told him.
Daniel grabbed a donut and then noticed Jack was reading the newspaper. "Anything interesting?" he asked assuming it was the same old stories.
Jack held up the paper. "You remember this?"
He cocked his head and looked at the front page. "No!" He then took the paper form Jack's hands. "Mystery man in the red suit busted another case." he read, "FBI refused to comment."
Sam stated. "I don't remember anything about a guy flying around in a red suit busting criminals in the 80's. Neither does the Colonel."
"Neither do I." Daniel agreed. "This has to be alien tech we are dealing with."
"How come we don't remember this?" Jack wondered.
Daniel assumed. "Maybe our memories were altered or erased?"
Jack wondered, "Who would screw with us like that?"
"I don't know." he admitted. "But this guy is front page news."
Caitlin walked into the office next. She too was in coveralls. "Oh' good. Dom brought donuts." She noticed the confused look on the faces of her new friends. "Something wrong?"
Daniel held up the paper. "How long has this guy been flying around like Superman?"
"Over a year now. Came out of nowhere. He's been helping the FBI bust criminals." she told them. "He's famous. The papers call him the Greatest American Hero."
"Famous?" Jack asked.
She nodded, "You guys know who he is?"
"We don't remember it." he told her.
"You don't remember anything about the guy in the red suit?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Not a thing."
Sam agreed. "I don't remember anything about this. I'm sure I would be following something like this even if I am only fourteen."
Daniel figured, "I would just assume it's some kind of hoax."
Caitlin stated. "This is no hoax, Daniel. I saw him flying. Flying county chopper and Airwolf. We all saw him."
"Huh." he pondered.
Sam asked. "What is it?"
He replied. "If no one in the future remembers this, then is there an alien influence we don't know about?"
Teal'c stated. "It would appear so."
Jack declared. "If it's Loki again then I'm going to kick his ass."