STARGATE: EXPLORER

by Lady Grey
Alpha/Beta by Jude

July 3

Stargate Command

Be-beep. Be-beep. Be-beep.

Daniel pushed the stem on his watch to turn off the alarm and swore softly in Dutch. “Never enough hours in a day,” he muttered to his empty office. With a sigh, he jotted down one last note on his tablet, tossed down a couple of Tylenol for his pounding headache, and grabbed his briefing folder and laptop. He was almost to the door when he remembered he’d left a document open on his desktop computer, so he went back to save and close the file.

SG-13 and General Landry were already in the briefing room when Daniel arrived. He took a seat at the far end of the table and started setting up his laptop, accessing the proper file and the slides he wanted while the General brought the meeting to order. Daniel split his attention between listening to the opening chatter and connecting his computer to the projector. By the time he was done, Landry was just finishing up.

“This planet lies at the furthest reaches of our galaxy, farther away from Earth than any other stargate,” he stated, his eyes scanning a report in his hands, then making eye contact with each of the assembled SGC staff. “It’s a long way from home, people. From all appearances, the area around the ‘gate is deserted, but we’re planning a UAV survey once you’ve got a camp established and an initial recon completed. Doctor Jackson has information on what makes this world of interest to the SGC.”

Daniel stood up to address the team, putting up the first slide on screen. “P9X-1017 has several unique features, in addition to the extra number in the planetary designation,” he began, adjusting his glasses. He brought up an image from the MALP survey, showing the DHD and a large object behind it. “As you can see, there’s an obelisk on this world similar to the one built by the Asgard on Cimmeria, which was used as a defensive device against the Goa’uld.”

He pushed a button on the remote control and brought up an image of Thor’s Hammer from SG-1’s first visit to the ancient Viking world. Using the laser pointer on the end of the remote, he cast a red dot on the circular base beneath the Cimmerian DHD and returned to the previous slide. “There appears to be a landing platform on this planet, too, though it’s mostly covered by a fine powder initially identified as some kind of biological ash. A road extends past the obelisk as far as the MALP cameras can record, cutting straight through the landscape and continuing for miles. Most interesting, though, is what’s been done to the stargate itself.”

The next slide showed a partial view of the alien 'gate.

Nobody spoke.

“The inscriptions on this pillar are completely different from those on Cimmeria,” Daniel continued, bringing up a photograph of the obelisk on the new alien world. “It has similar dimensions, but the writing on the face of the obelisk is in numerous ancient languages. So far, we’ve counted seventeen different scripts.” 

He turned to face the General. “Sir, I think this could be really important. If this obelisk was, indeed, made by the Asgard, we have no record of it in their data banks. I think we should take a closer look, and since Colonel Carter isn’t available at the moment, I recommend Captain Jennifer Hailey as the best candidate to determine what this other device is.”

SG-13 had recently lost Lieutenant Simon Wells to a permanent base assignment in security, and Captain Kimura Satterfield had taken his place on the team. Daniel had helped with testing both Hailey and Satterfield before putting them into the field when they were green lieutenants, and both young women had acquitted themselves admirably, advancing in rank, responsibility, and accomplishments. He had every confidence in Satterfield as a developing linguist and knew that Hailey, as Sam’s protégé, would be able to handle any challenge alien technology might present, just as her mentor would have.

Landry cocked his head, considering. His gaze shifted from Satterfield to Daniel and back. “Doctor Jackson, I’d like you to accompany SG-13 on this one, since Doctor Balinsky is still in the infirmary. You have the most extensive expertise with ancient languages of anyone at the SGC, with no disrespect intended to Captain Satterfield.” He gave her a polite nod.

She flashed a brief smile, followed by an expression that Daniel read as relief.

“If this discovery is as important as you and the rest of our experts seem to think, we’re going to need our best on this mission.” The General flipped his briefing folder closed, signaling the end of the meeting. “I’ll make arrangements for you and Captain Hailey to join the team’s roster temporarily, and will see to it that your schedules are cleared accordingly. SG-13, you have a go.”  He stood up. “You’ll be heading out tomorrow at 0900 hours.”

As the military personnel around him got to their feet out of respect for their commander, Daniel sighed. This was an unexpected development. He glanced at Satterfield, whom he’d expected to tackle the team’s linguistic duties during Balinsky’s recovery, but she just grinned at him and shrugged, hurrying out of the briefing room.

The General took his folder to his office and shut the door.

“Well, Doc,” drawled Colonel David Dixon, taking his time gathering his papers, “looks like you’re ours for a bit. I always wanted to take your brain for a test drive, see how you work. Jack used to tell some wild stories about you. Did you really throw a tantrum over fairy tales?”

Irritated, Daniel shot back, “I was under an alien influence at the time.”

“Riiiiiiiight,” said Bosworth with a chuckle. “This is gonna be fun.” The team’s second-in-command strolled out of the briefing room with a cocky strut.

Daniel sat back down, temporarily overwhelmed. He stared at the computer and his report, then started disconnecting the projector and shutting his laptop down. A stream of unspoken curses in several languages scrolled through his mind as he gritted his teeth, slamming his briefing folder on top of the computer.

“Never enough time to get it all done,” he grumbled, stowing his things under his arm and stomping toward the corridor and the elevator. “I don’t get paid enough for this.” He stepped into the lift and punched the button for the eighteenth floor that housed his office and lab. “And I need a vacation!”  Frustrated, he slammed the heel of his hand against the elevator door as the car started to ascend.

As soon as he reached his office, he sent out a barrage of emails to rearrange his schedule, then stared at his desk for a few minutes, thinking of all the things he had to do, including some pleasurable things, too. Then he pulled up a time-off request from the forms database, printed it out – in quadruplicate – filled in the appropriate dates, signed it, and put the papers in a folder for routing to General Landry for approval.

If the rest of his team could have a few days off, then so could he. The SGC wouldn’t fall apart if Daniel Jackson weren’t there every day, and he needed a little distance to get his perspective back. He was tired, his brain was fried, and he wanted to just do nothing for a little while and see how that felt.

Once he got back from this mission and a sabbatical, he’d be ready to take up the yoke again and serve the greater good of humanity. His teammates would understand if he didn’t say goodbye but just disappeared as soon as he got back to the base.  The work would wait; it would always be there, even if he weren’t.

That was part of the problem. No matter who came and went on what team, the fight went on endlessly. Daniel had been the one to open Pandora’s Box, and he had yet to find the promised gem of Hope in the ancient myth. He was beginning to think his journey through the stargate would never end, that he might be caught up in some electronic dream or endless loop that kept him fighting, wearing him down, with no resolution in sight.

Part of him wanted out, and it was getting hard to resist.

July 4

P9X-1017

“Never seen a stargate with a halo before,” mused Captain Bosworth, squinting up at the brilliantly glinting crystals attached to the outer ring of the alien wormhole generator. “How ‘bout you, Doc?” He turned to address his temporary teammate.

Daniel Jackson was standing on the far side of the DHD, examining the tall gray stone pillar he had come to investigate.  “Nope. First time,” he replied distractedly, turning to catch the eye of his new commanding officer. “Colonel, this pillar has characters from each of the scripts of the Four Races.”  It was covered with runes, hieroglyphs, and other ancient scripts.

His every step around the tall stone sent clouds of white ash into the air around his feet, making him sneeze. The thick carpet of powder covered most of the landscape, wisps of it blowing away on the breeze, carrying it off past the gray and brown stones and boulders marking the perimeter. 

“Yeah, but what does it say?” Dixon shot back, finishing his walk around the immediate area, eyes searching for possible threats.

“As far as I can tell, it’s just the number three repeated in every language,” Daniel answered. “That’s just a first-glance finding, though. Maybe it means something different taken as a whole. I need to study it some more.”

“ ‘Course you do,” said the Colonel with a wry grin. “Bosworth, set up camp so Daniel can do his thing. I think we’re gonna be here a while.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bosworth, Hailey and Satterfield knew their assigned duties and performed them with practiced precision. The ash was too deep to get good purchase to set the tent pegs, so a site was chosen on higher ground, about a hundred yards from the ‘gate. In short order, the encampment was assembled with tents and sun-filtering awnings, gear had been placed, and the junior members of the team returned to their CO for additional assignments. 

“Okay, let’s see what’s at the end of the yellow brick road,” said the Colonel lightly. “Hailey, you eyeball those crystals to see if you can find out why this ‘gate has a crown.” 

“Just from the similarities to the Cimmerian ‘gate,” Daniel interjected, finally turning away from the stone, “I’d say it’s likely that this is some sort of scanning device.” He pointed to the pillar behind him with his thumb. “Maybe it activates when someone’s dialing out, rather than arriving.” He gave the chevron-shaped top of the device a wary glance. “I’d suggest caution when contacting the base, anyway.”

“Right. I’m gonna send the MALP and FRED back and report in. Let’s get to it, people. Chop-chop.” Dixon clapped his hands with a glance at his 2IC, and Bosworth positioned the Field Remote Expeditionary Device they’d used to carry the heaviest gear for a return trip through the stargate. Captain Satterfield drove the MALP up beside the FRED, and everyone cleared the paved circle between the DHD and the ‘gate, just to be safe.

Dixon’s face was tense as he dialed the coordinates for Earth, then pressed the red crystal dome in the center.

As Daniel had predicted, a brilliant green light shot out of the top of the obelisk, continuously sweeping the area between it and the stargate, back and forth, passing harmlessly over Dixon and the equipment. Once the wormhole stabilized, he pressed the button on his comm unit while Satterfield sent the team’s IDC through her GDO. 

“SG-13, reporting in,” Dixon called through the radio to the base. “Sending MALP and FRED back home. It’s a balmy seventy-five degrees here on P9X-1017, not a cloud in the sky, and a mild breeze blowing our skirts up. No sign of natives.  Daniel says the pillar has the number three carved all over it, and it appears to be a scanner that activates on outgoing dialing. Everybody’s still here and A-OK. Looks like whatever it is doesn’t have a problem with us or our equipment.”

“That’s good news, Colonel,” General Landry’s voice returned through the speaker.  “Prepare for UAV launch once the wormhole shuts down. We’ll expect a preliminary report from your team in forty-eight hours. Expect further orders once we’ve examined the additional data from the UAV survey. Landry, out.”

“Roger, sir.”

Daniel watched the two vehicles disappear through the event horizon, and shortly afterward the watery surface vanished. Moments later an incoming wormhole established and a small drone flew out of the center of the stargate. It tracked the evenly paved road that led away from the ‘gate – made of yellowish tan stones, just like the one in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale – and disappeared into the horizon.

“Sir.” Captain Hailey was looking up at the sky.

Everyone else followed her gaze, including the Colonel.

“Whatcha got, Captain?” Dixon asked easily.

The azure vault of atmosphere was dominated by a single large moon slightly larger than Earth’s, but vastly different in appearance. It was blue, hinting at the possibility of vast oceans on its surface, with icy white caps at each pole.  Spinning around its center were several slender Saturnine rings in an orderly rainbow of color. Glimmering in the sky between the planet and its moon were numerous other tiny points of light, shimmering like daytime stars, but rather than a random scattering, they were evenly spaced. That meant they weren’t naturally occurring, but artificially placed.

“Okay,” said Dixon, still looking at the tiny lights, thinking it through. “They don’t appear to be moving.”

“No, sir,” Hailey verified. “I spotted a few earlier, when we first arrived, and they seemed to disappear. Now there are more of them, but they don’t stay on very long.”

Daniel glanced at the lights’ position in the sky, then turned his back to them, shading his eyes as he looked toward the sunrise. “Maybe it’s just a reflection,” he observed, “following the path of this sun.”

Hailey glanced toward the position of the yellow star. “That would make sense. The objects are too regularly spaced to be a natural formation, so maybe it’s some kind of planetary shield or defense mechanism.”

Dixon nodded, his expression tense. He took out his binoculars and studied the glimmers. “Okay. Boz, you keep an eye on the sky. We don’t want any surprises here. Whatever they are, they’re too far away to make out.”

“Yessir.” Bosworth took up a position, both hands cradling his P-90.

Hailey and Daniel returned to their separate studies, while Bosworth, Satterfield and the Colonel watched the perimeter for potential threats.

“Lookit the size a that bug!” Satterfield gasped, pointing to a wind-sculpted rock formation about ten feet away.

Following her finger, Daniel spied a dragonfly-like thing lifting off and speeding away from them. It wasn’t close enough to glean any details, just its approximate shape and size. It disappeared over the crest of the rocks into the clear blue sky.

“Big as my hand,” Bosworth murmured. He shot a nervous glace at his CO. “You don’t think they’re bloodsuckers, do you, sir?”

“How the hell would I know, Boz? Just keep your eyes open, everyone. Don’t let ‘em get too close, just in case. I’m sure everyone remembers what happened to Teal’c when that alien bug stung him a few years back. Don’t take any chances.”

Daniel looked in the pockets of his tactical vest. “Do we have mosquito spray in here?” he asked, half teasing.

Instantly, Bosworth started searching his pockets, too, which was precisely the reaction Daniel had been expecting. He grinned and gave the Captain a playful push on the shoulder when everybody chuckled. “I doubt they’d have the same response as an Earth mosquito, Boz. Just messin’ with you, man.”

“Not funny, Daniel,” the other man said with a glare, which broke a beat later into a good-natured grin.

As Daniel returned to his study of the carvings, Satterfield was already busy setting up the monitor and joystick for planet-side control of the UAV. The drone could travel 75 miles per hour, and with recent upgrades from technology provided by the Asgard, its range had been expanded from only one hour to eight, which was important because the road they were tracking ended three hundred miles away from the stargate.

What lay at the end of it was a step pyramid, the stones on its sides and each of the four levels covered with writing; however, the images captured by the UAV weren’t clear enough to show anything recognizable, merely tantalizing suggestions of characters in the languages of the Four Races.

Daniel stared at the pictures on the view screen, almost salivating with the desire to take a look at the structure, to run his hands over the carvings and see it in person. They’d never had another find quite like this one – an unusual combination of Four Races and ancient Earth writing, Asgard technology, architecture similar to ancient Mayan, and a uniquely enhanced stargate. He turned to Colonel Dixon, eyebrows raised in a silent plea, hoping he could make all that clear.

Before he could say a word, the older man gave him a knowing smile and shook his head. “Looks like we’re gonna be here a while.” He turned to Satterfield. “Dial up the base, Captain. Let’s see if we can get some of those hot new toys the SGC just acquired and take ‘em for a spin.”

“Which ones, sir?” she asked expectantly. 

“A couple of Polaris ATVs and that hot little Kawasaki mule. Don’t know about you, but no way I’m walking three hundred miles, even if the scenery is pretty further down the road. Get Landry on the horn. We’ll need extra provisions, too.” He grinned at Bosworth. “And maybe they’ll even throw in some mosquito spray for Boz.”

Everyone had another chuckle, and Daniel wandered over to the camp to take a break and have a little something to eat.

By nightfall, there were two newly outfitted ATVs and a 4X4 mule parked behind their tents, fully loaded with plenty of supplies for the long trek ahead of them. These vehicles had been converted to use naquadah power cells rather than gasoline, enabling them to travel long distances without carrying extra fuel. Each ATV could carry enough supplies, food, clothing, and shelter for two for as much as two weeks, and the mule would haul four passengers, equipment and provisions for the rest of the team. Traveling lightly was important, and the less they carried, the faster the vehicles could transport them.

What had been originally planned as a one-day mission would now stretch into a week or more, but Daniel was stoked for the trek. This planet had a lot to offer, and so far there seemed to be nothing to fear. Appearances were often deceiving, though, as many an SG team had learned from experience, so as night fell, each of them took their turns at watch and prepared for a long but hopefully fruitful mission to this alien world.   

End of Chapter 1
 

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