A hotel room, somewhere out of town...The telephone rang in the darkened room. The figure in the bed groaned before reaching over and lifting the reciever.
"King?!"
"Colonel! Its General Harris"
Instantly awake the figure sat bolt upright and switched ont he beside lamp. A glance at the beside clock revealed the time to be twenty to eight in the morning.
"General. What can I do for you?"
"I know you're supposed to be on leave this week but I have an assignment for you. I need you at the SGC, ASAP."
"Okay, General. Any details yet?"
"There'll be a folder with your orders waiting in the car and General Hammond will brief you on your arrival. The rest of your team will join you around noon. A staff car will be with you in twenty minutes."
"Thank you sir. I'll keep you posted."
"Good luck, Colonel. I look forward to hearing your report."
The line went dead and Colonel King replaced the reciever before swinging long legs over the edge of the bed and moving to open the curtains. Early sunlight shone weakly through the window, casting a dull glow on the room. The colonel headed for the bathroom, showered, changed into uniform and then stared for several minutes at the reflection in the mirror.
Deep blue eyes stared back from the mirrored surface, set in a long narrow face, topped with short cropped brown hair. The colonel ran manicured fingers over the blue uniform, straightening the pin on the collar, sharpening the lines of the navy blue skirt. A small smile creased the Colonel's face. She liked her job. She would do it well. A noise dragged her from her reverie. The staff car was here. Picking up the hat, the Colonel placed it on her head, picked up her keys and jacket and headed for the door.
Thirty minutes later, the staff car pulled up at the gates of the Cheyenne Military Complex. The young man on duty examined the pass of the passenger in the back and the gates lifted as entry was given. The car drove down a long tunnel to an underground parking facility. As Colonel King emerged from the car she was met by another airman.
"Colonel King?"
The Colonel inclined her head slightly.
"If you'll follow me. I'm to take you to General Hammond."
The airman turned on his heel and strode off down the corridor. King grabbed her briefcase from the rear of the black sedan and followed, her heels clicking rhythmically on the concrete floor.
General Hammond sat in his office, reviewing the material on
SG-1, waiting the arrival of the team from SGI. A phone call from the gatehouse had alerted him to the Colonel's arrival and he had spent the last few minutes waiting, reading King's record which General Harris had forwarded. There was a light knock on the door."Come"
The airman opened the door, allowing Colonel King to enter the room. Then the door closed leaving the two of them alone. KIng saluted, eyes fixed somewhere on the wall behind the General's head.
"Colonel King, reporting as ordered, Sir."
"At ease Colonel. Take a seat," he gestured towards one on the other side of the desk.
"Thank you sir."
She folded herself into the proferred seat and faced the General.
"I take it you've been briefed by General Harris?"
"Yes sir. I am sorry to hear about SG-1. I hope I can find something useful for you."
"So do I Colonel. I'll have someone take you to your quarters here..."
"Actually, Sir, I'd like to get started straight away if I may..."
The General watched her closely. King continued regardless. She had her orders.
"...starting with SG-1 themselves. I'd also like a list of those who have had any dealings with them. I'd like to start interviewing them as soon as the rest of my team arrive, if I may." The last was a statement more than a question.
The General watched her for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well Colonel, I'll take you to the Infirmary myself." He reached forward and pressed a button on his phone, and stood.
"Then, Sgt. Harriman can take you on a tour of the facility and show you to your office. If you'd come this way."
The General and Colonel stood and exited the room. A man in blue followed them at a distance, down the corridor. Colonel King assumed it was Sergeant Harriman. Soon, they arrived at the Infirmary. Looking around, the Colonel saw the usual hustle and bustle of medics treating injured, wounded and running ever concievable test. Just then, a white coated medic came over.
"General."
"Doctor Frasier. This is Colonel King of the SGI. She'll be leading the investigation into what happened on P2X351. Colonel King this is Dr. Janet Frasier. She's in charge of SG-1's medical care."
The two women eyed each other and shook hands briefly. Janet eyed the Colonel with something akin to suspicion. She'd dealt with a number of these people before, and she still had to find one she liked. The General saw the animosity and broke the silence.
"How's SG-1, Doctor?"
"Still unresponsive. Colonel O'Neill has stablised. He should be moved back to SG-1's room by tomorrow."
"Thank you Doctor. Well ladies, I must get back to work. Colonel King, I'll leave you in the hands of Sergeant Harriman. I'll have someone find you when the rest of your team arrives. Doctor, please co-operate with the Colonel. Tell what she needs to now. And keep me posted as to any change in SG-1's condition."
And the General was gone. The two women stared at each other for a moment, then Colonel King spoke.
"Well Doctor, I won't keep you any longer. I will need to speak with you at some point about what you found on the planet however. Goodday."
She turned on her heel, and headed for the sergeant and the two of them disappeared. Janet watched her go and went to check on SG-1.
She entered the room quietly, careful not to disturb the sleeping forms, even though she knew she wouldn't. She picked up each of the charts in turn, checking the nurses readings and making additional comments as to care. As she crossed the room, Janet was aware of eyes watching her. She turned to see Daniel, his eyes unblinkingly focused on where she stood.
"Hi Daniel" she whispered, slightly disappointed when there was no response. She wandered over to the bed and crouched beside him, brushing away a lock of hair that had fallen across his brow.
"And how are you today? Still not talking? I wish you could tell us what happened on that planet, I really do. Especially now. SGI are sniffing around and I'm sure they're not the only ones."
She straightened with a sigh. Daniel still stared a point past her. At least he was safe in his head, she decided. She picked up the chart, jotted a few notes about responsiveness and then left the room. Daniel's eyes twitched for a second and then fluttered closed.
Colonel King entered the room assigned to her for the duration of her stay at the SGC, having completed her tour of the facility, including the mess hall, briefing room, and embarkation room where the Stargate stood. As she'd arrived a team had just been about to leave. It was certainly more impressive in real life than in all the reports she had read. Now however she had returned ot her quarters to await the arrival of the rest of ther team. She took the time to study the room.
A bunk bed close to the wall took up most of the space in the tiny room, oppposite which stood a blue metal locker. A table/desk stood center stage. //Pretty sparse. Military decorators(!)//
King crossed to the table and thumbed through the neat pile of papers already stacked there. Medical records, MALP readouts and a list of those who had crossed to P2X351 stared back at her.
She placed her briefcase on the floor, dropped into the hardbacked chair behind the desk and pulled the stack toward her. //No time like the present, she thought//, removing a pad of paper and pen from the briefcase. Within minutes she was engrossed in the mystery of SG-1's exploits on P2X351.
Level 11, Section C...
The young airman looked closely at the I.D in front of him and then glanced back at the three people, all in Air Force uniform, standing in before his small desk.
A final look and he handed it back. The woman in the group took it from him and slid it into the pocket of her overcoat.
"I'll alert General Hammond that you're here."
"Thank you. Could you have someone escort us there please. I'd hate for us to get...lost on the way."
The airman looked sternly at the woman. He was sure she was being sarcastic but he couldn't be certain. A wave of his hand, his eyes never leaving the "guests", and two armed guards appeared. The woman smiled slightly, then turned on her heel and headed down the corridor. The two men with her followed suit, never uttering a word. The airman watched them as they enterd the elevator at the far end, then picked up the reciever of the red phone.
"General Hammond? This is Masters at Checkpoint Alpha. SGI just arrived Sir."
General Hammond and Colonel King were waiting for SGI when they arrived in the briefing room. King smiled slightly when she recognised which members of SGI she had been assigned. General Hammond watched the three officers as they entered the room. They saluted the commanding officers before claiming the seats by the desk. Colonel King conducted the introductions giving the General time to give the team the once over.
"General Hammond may I introduce, Doctor Melissa Thomas, linguist; Lt. James Maxwell, electronics and Major Doctor Mark Connors."
"Good afternoon people and thank you for coming. I won't keep you long. Colonel King can fill you in on the main details. I wnat to know what happened to my team and I've heard you're the best. I have quarters assigned for you and an office at the request of Colonel King. I'll leave you to get on with it. Good luck."
And with that the General was gone. SGI waited until the door closed behind them before they relaxed. Colonel King grinned at her team.
"You finally made it then,"
"Yeah," the red headed doctor replied. "Only after James here remembered his bag of tricks"
"Hey, not my fault that someone who shall remain nameless decided to move it to another part of the office," the dark haired Lieutenant responded.
Major Connors chuckled at his bickering team mates as he stared at the huge gate that stood outside the window. Then he turned to his commanding officer.
"So, care to fill us in on this particular assignment, Sir"
The other two stopped arguing long enough to look a the tall woamn on the far side of the table.
"Okay, at 04:37 yesterday, SGC recived a distress call from
SG-1. Arrival on the planet should they had been attacked. They are now in the Infirmary unresponsive with no sign of recovery. Our mmission, should we choose to accept it, is to find out what happened to SG-1 and determine any course of action that amy be required.""So the usual Mission Impossible stuff then?" inquired Connor. "Where do we sign on?"
The Colonel grinned again. She liked having her team around her. She knew that the job would get done, no matter what. Pulling a yellow legal pad toward her she listed the team assignments.
"Okay, we've been assigned quarters on level 28a, VIP quarters no less. Just follow the yellow lines."
"Oh, I'll feel just like Dorothy," the doctor quipped.
"Almost. Now then, apparently the lovely SG-2 boys managed to haul out a video from this planet but can't get any pretty pictures. That's your job, James. You'll find the electronics boys located in the labs, section D, I believe. Find an airman, they seem to know the way."
The tall man nodded his assent as his orders were given, his mind already on the problem at hand. Seeing his attention safely occupied, King turned to the pretty red head next to her.
"Mel. The good doctor of SG-1 enjoys writing of his experiences. I want you to check out his journal from this particular jaunt through the unknown universe. See if you can find any clues as to what happened. I have the authority to check out his quarters as needed. You might find something useful while you're in there. Here's the journal"
She flicked a medium thick leather bound book to Thomas, who picked it up and began flicking through the neatly filled out pages. Looking up she said, "I'll get right on it" The colonel nodded and turned her attention to the third member of her team.
"Major." A thick pile of folders made its way across the table to him "Here's the readouts from the planet before the SG team went through. Take a look. See if you can find anything they missed. Something that might explain who or what happened. Apparently there is a computer model based on where the team were found. See if you can make anything of it. Shed some light on this particular mystery."
"I'll see what I can do," he replied, already scanning the graphs and tables in the folders before him. Then he glanced at his commanding officer.
"What are you going to do Lisa?"
"Oh, play SGI liason officer, interview a few people, make a nuisance of myself." A smile cracked her face. "The usual."
"Okay, you have your assignments. We'll meet in the mess hall in three hours for preliminary reports." She handed each of them a four way radio.
"I want us to stay in touch, people. Usual channel assignments. If you find anything at all, ring it in." The team nodded, each adjusting their particular set. Then the four headed out into the SGC corridors, ready to do what they'd been called in for.
Melissa Thomas headed straight for her assigned quarters, despertely trying not to drop the book she carried under her arm or the coffee she'd managed to find on her way out of the briefing room. Now though, she was lost. She stopped for a second and glanced at the floor. The yellow lines ran up and around the next corner. Perhaps...ah ha! there it was, the door to her quarters. She let herself in, dropped the journal on the table and sat down to rest before she started reading.
Major Connor had more luck finding his way around the SGC and locating the room he was after. Pushing lightly on the door he found himself in one of the science labs. He dropped into one of the chairs and dumped the pile of folders onto the desk. For a moment he sat, silently staring into space before rousing himself. He began to read the reports from the planet.
Lt. James Maxwell knocked sharply on the door and entered without waiting for an obvious answer. Several heads turned to look at him.
"Lt. Maxwell, SGI. I understand you guys're having some trouble with a home movie," he drawled moving into the room.
"Uh, well, I um..." the young airman stammered, nervously looking for backup from his colleagues.
"Look, I'm trying to help, okay. Figured you could use some help. But, if you don't need me..." He stood, waiting for the answer he knew would follow.
"It's um, over there. In the recorder. Can't get much other than snow though." James nodded and headed for the direction of the computer and video linkup in the corner. Then he set to work.
Colonel King moved quietly down the corridor to the Infirmary. She wanted a word with Doctor Frasier. She arrived just as the younger woman was emerging from SG-1's room. She almost jumped when the Colonel called her name. She whirled on the spot.
"Its you."
"Yes, Doctor. I was wondering if you could spare me a few minutes to discuss these." She waved SG-1's medical files in the air.
"I would have thought they were self explanatory" came the reply as the doctor moved away to her office.
"Just few questions."
"Very well." She opened the office door and gestured for the Colonel to enter. "Just make it quick"
The two women sat, Janet behind her desk, the Colonel in front. For a moment neither of them spoke. The Colonel glanced around the office, crossed her legs, pulled out a yellow legal pad and rested it on her legs. Janet began to feel uncomfortable and was about to break the silence when the Colonel asked "What can you tell me about SG-1, doctor?"
"What do you want to know?"
"Lets start with the easy stuff. How do you find them, generally, before they left on this mission. Depressed? Happy?"
Janet thought back to SG-1 as they were before they had left for P2X351. Jack had been ribbing Daniel about having a woman on every planet and Daniel had been trying, unsuccessfully, to defend himself. Sam had been eager to get going. Apparently the MALP had shown some interesting readings and a village a short distance for the gate. And Teal'c? Well he'd been Teal'c. Aloof but undisturbed. Janet chose her words carefully.
"They were keen to get going. They had been under stress before and were looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Why? What does this have to do with anything?"
"Nothing to worry about Doctor. I just wanted an idea of their state of mind before they left. Now then. I see here that over the past three years SG-1 have experienced many difficulties on their missions. Is there any chance that these instances could be playing a role in their current conditions?"
"What are you implying?" Janet was half out of her chair before she caught herself. "I'm really not sure where you are going with this."
"Just bear with me please doctor. Your answer?"
"I suppose it could have some bearing although I'm at a loss to understand how."
King nodded and made notes on the page on her knee. "Have the results from the MRI scans come back yet?"
"Yes"
The Colonel glanced at the doctor when no further answer was forthcoming.
"And?"
Janet sighed, pulled a file towards her and began to read.
"The scans conducted on Doctor Jackson, Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill all show reduced activity in the hippocampus, amygdala and temporal lode with some evidence of damage to the pre frontal cortical regions of the brain. This does not however fully explain their current condition nor is it present in Teal'c although he is still showing signs of reduced awareness and impaired brain function."
Janet finished reading and looked up. The Colonel was writing again. Janet waited until she had finished before asking, "Is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment Doctor, although I may need to speak to you again as our investigations progress. I trust you will be available. Oh, and I'd like copies of all updated medical reports on my desk in one hour. Don't get up. I'll see myself out." And with that she was gone.
Janet took a deep steadying breath, finally glad the woman had gone. For some reason she unnerved Janet. She stiffled a yawn. A look at her watched showed she'd just pulled another twelve hour shift. And she was supposed to be working the Academy hospital in the morning. Maybe she should go home and sleep. Warner could look after the Infirmary. Making her decision, Janet left her office and went to find the Chief Surgeon.
"Graham, I'm going to head home, get some sleep. Could you cover the rest of the shift," she asked the grey haired man who was talking to one of the nurses.
"Oh course Janet. I've got it covered. If anything happens I'll call."
"Thanks" Janet stopped once to check on SG-1's condition then headed home.
Lisa King made her way from the Infirmary to the Commissary. She wanted to get some food before the briefing with her team. On arrival, she ordered chips and pie and scanned the room for somewhere to sit. In between the groups of SG personnel, Lisa spotted Connors sitting alone at one of the far tables. She picked up her tray and headed in his direction.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked as she approached. "Not interuppting anything am I?"
Mark jumped slightly then focussed his attention on his CO.
"Go ahead" and gestured towards one of the vacant seats."Taking a break before the briefing?"
"Yeah. I've been fine tuning that computer sim and rechecking the MALP data for anything unusual"
"Find anything interesting?"
"Some. I thought I'd wait till the others joined us though."
Exactly on cue the others in question strolled through the doors arguing noisily over something. James caught sight of his team members and wandered in that direction. Realising she was alone, Melissa followed suit.
"Were you two arguing again?" Lisa asked in her best CO's voice.
"Not really," Melissa responded, pulling up a chair.
"Good. Now, as we're all here, we might as well discuss our progress. Mark, why don't you start us off?"
"I've finished analysing the data from the MALP recorded before SG-1's departure for '351. Nothing abnormal to report. All recordings fell within normal parameters although there was some evidence of Naquada deposits. Video shows a settlement about two clicks N-NW of the gate. No evidence of electromagnetic radiation so probably quite primitive. Of course Jackson's video would give us a better idea."
"What about the computer simulation?"
"I've input the data from the MALP regarding conditions and terrain and also the positions SG-1 were found in as reported by SG-2 and the medical team. Only conclusions I can draw so far are that if it was an attack, it must have been unexpected. The civillian was on point."
"Good work. I've spoken with the medic in charge and it seems like theres no real help from that quarter. REcovery at the moment seems unlikely, so they can't tell us anyhting. Melissa, did you find anything useful in that journal?"
"Well, most of his diary seems quite straightforward. Details of the natives, the scenery and the culture with a few personal comments and observations. Nothing that suggests foulplay. The rest of it is going to take a bit longer. Its passages from the planet. I'm having some trouble with the translation so most of it is giberish so far. I'll let you know if I find something useful."
"Fine, keep working on it." Lisa turned to Maxwell who'd been practically bouncing since the beginning. She decided to put him out of his misery. "What have you got James?"
Brandishing a videocassette from his pocket, he answered "I've managed to unscrmble most of the data recoreded by Dr. Jackson. Most of it reads like a home movie and there are quite a few gaps in the middle section. However I did manage to salvage the first five and the last fifteen minutes in their entirity. It certainly makes interesting viewing and might hold some clues as to what happened on '351."
"Okay, how about we adjourn this and reconvene in the briefing room. I'm sure they've got a video recorder there."
SGI agreed and left the table, arriving several minutes later in the briefing room.
While the rest of SGI settled themselves, James set up the video, up a remote control that sat on the desk in front of him and aimed it at the television at the end of the table. An image of the Stargate appeared on the screen. Every now and then the image wobbled. Maxwell began to speak.
“As we can see, this is the recording made by Doctor Daniel Jackson on the 15th May of this year.”
The camera swung around and the rest of SG-1 came into view.
The huge structure of the Stargate filled the screen, every now and then focussing on the engraved markings aroud the outer ring. From out of shot a voice sounded.
O'Neill: Daniel, would you quit that and git already. I'm sure the folks at home know what our gate looks like.
Daniel: But I was just trying to...
O'Neill: *irritated* Well don't think, just git already.
The picture veered like one of those crazy camera shows when the camerman suddenly falls over, changed momentarily into snow and then reassembled itself into a shot of a luscious green carpet.
Daniel: *moaning slightly* That's not funny Jack. There was no need to push.
O'Neill: I think you're wrong on that one. If you'd taken any longer we'd all be one of those rocks you love so much.
Daniel: *barely audible* Artifacts, Jack
Daniel swung the camera around the clearing trying to capture as much as he could. He turned and focussed on the gate through which they had come. The symbols were the same as on the other gates he had seen. Behind him, he could hear Jack calling to him.
“Come on Danny. That village looks quite some distance away.”
Colonel O’Neill looked up at the approaching storm front. If they didn’t find shelter soon then they’d be in trouble.
Daniel sighed and putting the camera down, began to figure out the co-ordinates to get them back home. Then, at Jack’s impatient sigh, he picked up his pack and the camera and headed off after SG-1 as they disappeared through the trees. Thunder rumbled ominously in the background
Maxwell froze the image for a moment. Dirt and trees filled the screen.
“As we can see, SG-1 made it through the Gate with no problems. Later footage shows SG-1 met with some of the natives, although I haven’t yet ascertained whom exactly and some of its still scrambled. However,” Maxwell began to fast-forward the film, “ this next part of the video shows that SG-1 are proceeding to return to the Gate earlier than anticipated. It also shows partially what happened.”
Maxwell pointed the remote at the screen again and pressed play.
SG-1 walked down the sand and dirt path back towards the Stargate. Jack hefted his rifle, checking the pathway through which they had come. Daniel strode on ahead to prepare the Gate for travel, Teal’c a short distance behind him. He was kind of Daniel’s personal bodyguard and tried to protect the errant linguist, mainly from himself. Jack whistled tunelessly, Sam was gazing at the trees and making notes in a book, her rifle slung across her back. Then they broke the cover of the trees and could see the naquada gate before then on the horizon. A scuffle sounded somewhere behind the line. Jack turned preparing to fire. Then he turned back to yell at the rest of his team.
“Run. Daniel, get that gate open! Teal’c, Sam lay down covering fire. We’ve got to…”
A shot sounded. Jack staggered then shouldered his rifle and ran for the clearing. Sam and Teal’c ran as well. Daniel began to activate the Gate. The huge inner ring began to turn and the chevrons locked in sequence.
“Jack!”
Sam’s scream ended abruptly.
Further scuffles and broken screams follwed by a heavy thud. The final chevron locked into place and the Gate burst into life, momentarily filling the screen with a blinding light befoer settling into a gentle rippling effect which cast errie shadows over the pictures. Daniel transmitted his distress call.
"This is Dr Daniel Jackson. We're under...Oh God. Jack's hit. I can't get…Oh God no, no, please, I..."
Chapter 3