Chapter 10
General George Hammond and fire Chief Chester Morris agreed they needed to new mutual aid agreement for the city and the base. Upon realizing both men were veterans of the Armed Forces, Hammond agreed to allow the pair to go off world with SG-1 so the fire department would have a better idea of what kind of situations could arise.
The next dial out was to the Nox home world. Eddy stood still unarmed as she had little experience with weapons. Both the Chief and Harold were given the P-90 and full gear.
Chief Morris spoke to Jack. "I think the fire department should get their own S.G. team."
Jack paused and asked. "Why?"
He excused. "We should more active with your men and the base. You know. For safety sake." It was an obvious stretch of an excuse. He just wanted to be cool and go off world.
Daniel rightly figured. "Does the fire department want to play space explorer?" he asked sarcastically.
Chief Morris defended. "Don't you?"
Jack liked the Chief. He was a man's man and to his generation. He smirked to Daniel. "Kind of has a point."
Daniel rolled his eyes annoyed.
The inner ring began to move as Walter in the Control Room had dialed the designation. All attention was on the looming Gate as it locked each chevron.
Eddy suggested. "The fire department could have a search and rescue team to go off world. Over half are vets anyways."
The chief smiled brightly. "Search and rescue team. That sounds like an idea." The man's imagination ran wild as he imagined the fire department going off world and rescuing SG teams.
Daniel teased. "Just need to find a way to get the fire truck through the Gate."
Sam shook her head as she laughed. "The S.G.C. does have an in house fire response team. I think what we will need to the city department to train and work with the S.G.C. and our own fire teams."
The Chief made his case. "I still think the Fire Department should have a team in the base. Able to go…off world…as you call it. If E.T. shows up we will need to know what to expect."
"Mass chaos." Daniel remarked.
Eddy shook her head. "No! There would not be mass chaos. Most already believe we have aliens here and the government is hiding it anyways. What we will have is a realignment of the wealth as no one can make a ton of money reverse engineering the technology. Disclosure would help us. Not hurt us."
Jack looked at her. "You think disclosure is a good idea?"
"Of course." she nodded.
"All the 'think tanks' say it's a bad idea." he rebutted.
She asked. "Who funds the think tanks?"
"I don't know." he shrugged.
"Maybe look into it." she shrugged back.
Daniel beamed brightly. "Kind of what I have been saying all along."
The event horizon established with a dramatic eruption and then settled back into the gate. Harold and the Chief made their way up the ramp. The two men stood in amazement. Eddy stood back and watched.
Chief Morris removed his glove and gently touched the surface. Sam came to his side.
"Pretty amazing." she smiled at the old chief.
He had to agree. "It looks like water but feels like…silk." he determined.
"Some have described it feeling like silk." she recalled. She asked, "Ready?"
Chester took a deep breath and then pushed forward through the shimmering event horizon. Teal'c than followed and Harold stepped through after followed by Sam. Daniel motioned for Eddy to go next.
She stood back. "I'll go after you." she told him.
"Okay." he understood she was nervous about just how the Nox would react to her after her meeting with Thor. Daniel stepped through next.
Jack motioned. "Go kid."
"Maybe I should stay?" she pondered.
"Why?" he asked her.
She confessed. "What if the Nox are not very happy to see me either. The meeting with Thor didn't go very well."
Jack stated. "We won't know until we get there."
"What if they blow me into the Asgard High Council and I get a Asgard bounty on my head?" she feared.
"They won't." he assured her. "They don't even talk to the Asgard." He guided her closer. "Come on! I promised Thor that I would keep you safe. Uncle Jack won't let you down." he proclaimed.
"Uncle Jack?" she looked up at him rather amused.
He excused. "Yeah…well…I owe Thor and he asked and you could use an uncle."
She smiled. "Thank you. Harold pretty much adopted me as his niece too. And I got a whole fire department of brothers."
He rebutted. "But your father asked me."
She rolled her eyes for she didn't see Thor as her father. She saw herself as fatherless and merely a genetic experiment. She gave a sigh and walked through.
Jack then followed secretly hoping the Nox would not turn Eddy away as well.
Nox Home World
As Jack emerged from the event horizon he stopped and paused a moment. He found it was eerily quiet. He looked at Eddy as she stood motionless. He walked over to her standing at the top step. "You okay, kid?"
"I dreamed about this forest." she told him.
"Good dreams?" he asked alarmed.
She slowly nodded. "I would dream about this girl with this really wild hair and she walk with me and we would talk."
He wondered. "What did you talk about in the dream?"
"Food mainly." she recalled. "She would give these vegetarian recipes. I would go to the store and try to find the ingredients but it just never turned out as well as it did in the dream."
Jack stated. "You have weird dreams."
"I know." she had to agree.
Jack led her down the steps. "Any sign, Carter?" he called.
Sam turned and stated. "Just real quiet, sir."
Daniel added. "Which is odd even for the Nox."
Then a familiar face stepped out of the forest. Lya approached the group. "Hello." she greeted her friends.
Sam exhaled relieved. "Lya. Good to see you again. It's so quiet we feared something was wrong."
Lya looked directly at Eddy who stood shocked. She walked up to her. "Did the soup turn out well?" she wondered.
"You are real?" she asked her. "I would dream about you?"
"You would project yourself here in your dreams." Lya stated. "You are very powerful, Edna."
"I was here in my dreams?" she asked bewildered.
She smiled brightly. "Yes!" She pressed. "How did the soup turn out?"
"I could not find all the ingredients." she told her. "I tried substituting but it tasted better in my dream."
Lya suggested. "We shall make it together since now that you are here in body as well as mind."
A call was heard. It sounded much like a horn. Then out from the forest emerged dozens of other Nox from children to adults. They began to speak amongst themselves as they gathered around.
Daniel picked up on the native language.
Jack asked. "What are they talking about, Daniel?"
"About Eddy. They say she is the…Star Child." he reported.
Eddy asked. "I'm the what?"
Lya soothed. "You are the Star Child our ancestors predicted eons ago. You are the child who would be of five races and will bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy."
She blinked. "Um…don't you have someone a bit more qualified?"
Lya laughed. "We do not. You will need to hone your skills. We will help you with your Nox abilities."
"I'm only three percent Nox." she told her.
"And that is all your require." she told her. "You know how to heal, correct?"
She stated. "It's usually pretty automatic."
"Invisibility?" she asked.
She squinted. "Invisibility? Are you serious?"
Sam injected. "The Nox can make themselves and objects invisible. They can also heal and bring back the dead. They have a very long life span and are also pacifist. They will not harm. And they are all vegetarians."
Eddy concluded. "The Nox are a bunch of hippies."
Daniel had to cover his mouth to suppress his laughter.
Teal'c stood steady and rather amused.
Chief Morris looked at the Nox surrounding them. "They kind of look like fairies to me."
Harold nodded. "Woodstock on steroids."
Jack looked at his team and then at the firefighters. He declared. "I want Harold and the Chief on my team."
Sam stood surprised. "Sir!"
"Firefighters are funny." he declared. He suggested. "Maybe we can trade you and Daniel for Harold and Chet."
Daniel rolled his eyes annoyed.
Sam squinted a bit peeved. "I guess you will have to ask the General, sir."
Lya held out her hand to Eddy. "Come! There is much for you to learn."
Eddy looked back at her teammates wondering if she should take the hand.
Jack wondered if she would read a Nox. He gave permission. "You can go with her."
Eddy placed her bare hand on Lya assuming she would go into a reading. Instead, Lya and Eddy both disappeared.
Jack yanked his head about. "Where did they go?"
Daniel listened to the chatter from the Nox around them. He reported. "Lya took Eddy onto a city ship."
The Chief asked. "What ship? Where did Eddy go?"
Daniel point up.
The group looked up above into the sky. There before them were a number of floating city ships that appeared very futuristic and yet green with en earthy exterior.
Chester asked. "How do we get up there?"
"We don't." Jack told him. "We wait for Lya to return Eddy from whatever lesson they are giving her."
