[Ivanova] I have a book!
Who: Ivanova
When: Day 37, early afternoon
Where: Crest of beach, Camp Crash II
Invited: Daniel, River, (Faith?)
Status: COMPLETE ( Read more... )
When: Day 37, early afternoon
Where: Crest of beach, Camp Crash II
Invited: Daniel, River, (Faith?)
Status: COMPLETE ( Read more... )
She smirked at the apology, and shrugged lightly. "I knew about it." She'd been part of the planning, and she held, still, the infamous Phase Two in abeyance until such time-- She still had people to check with on that one. Checking and double checking.
Russians were sneaky bastards. Exec Officers? Even more so as they not only have their 'underlings' to take care of, but the Commanding Officer as well. Not always an enviable position.
"Relaxed now?" She chuckled. "It only took me a day to see that you were overworked and under a whole lot more stress than you needed to be." She put a hand up to forestall any interruption. "Not my place... I know... but even Captains in wartime have to take a step back and breathe. If they don't, their people can't trust that any decisions or orders'd be made with a clear head. It took me a long time to figure out when I could relax in the middle of work." And it was pretty damned obvious.
She gestured out to the camp at large, essentially taking everyone in at once. "They're taking care of you as much as you are them. Let them."
She unraveled her legs and shifted her position in the sand, glancing up at the sky briefly before returning her attention to the man. "I wanted to let you know what I'm up to. Lack of information can kill, my Captain always said. I'm going to be talking to Faith, as she seems to be the... social director around her. You. Stephen's settling in as the head medical. I might try with a briefing from... one of the scientists, but I probably won't understand a word they say." In other words, Susan was trying to be as knowledgeable about the way things work, who people were-- in order to be as much help as conceivably possible.
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Though he argued with Jack, he took the man's advice. Jack had been right more than once; but he'd also been wrong. (That's why he's Air Force and I'm the civilian archeologist with the gold tongue.)
"I told him he should be more trusting," Daniel continued with a smile. "I'm starting to think that maybe I should have kept his advice in mind nowadays." The fact that even a newcomer to the camp, a stranger, thought that he needed to unwind was telling. Logic told him not to outright trust this woman, or any newcomer, but Daniel's gut instinct told him otherwise.
"Chloe was ... is a reporter, yes." He recalled how Chloe's journal helped them in the madness of the mass amnesia. "I'm sure her input and perspective is very helpful."
"Faith. Social director," Daniel chuckled at that. There were many words to describe Faith, many that had been applied to her and not all of them favorable although he'd never used those. Daniel wasn't so trapped in the mores of twentieth and twenty-first century culture that he didn't appreciate a free spirit like Faith. Sometimes he even envied her. And knowing her background and the road she walked on, he respected her.
"Yes, I suppose that's one way to describe Faith." Daniel stretched his legs and looked around the camp. The Slayer in question was curiously nowhere in sight. "She has a way with people. You want to get a thumb on the vibe of the camp, Faith would definitely be one of the people to talk to. She's smarter than she shows, and sees more than people would think."
"As far as medical is concerned, I'm glad someone is stepping up. House isn't exactly a people person, and Adam seems to prefer to keep his distance."
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"We're sneaky. It's genetic," she deadpanned, her gaze shifted sideways to see exactly how and if he 'got it', the fact that she was testing the waters as to humour. "Maybe you should. Or... have you ever heard the phrase, 'Keep your friends close, your enemies closer'?" Not that she is his enemy, not in any sense of the word. Still, she teases... After all, he'd started with the perfidy of Russians.
"Faith-- I figured that she'd be the person to talk to. No one could act like that and not have something going on behind those eyes." Susan was nothing if not a judge of character. For some reason, after watching her, she -liked- the slayer, even if she didn't yet know Faith -was- a slayer. "Chloe's notes confirmed it, if nothing else."
Susan nodded in regards to the medical aspect. "Stephen's got years of experience in xenobiology. If he doesn't know the race when they show up in front of them, he will by the end of the first exam." She chuckled softly, though she knew that she -was- going to exact revenge on the good doctor. Now, however, she'll have to keep him alive, if only for the good of the camp.
"I think, honestly, the hardest row I'll have to hoe is with the contingent of telepaths. There are some fundamental differences of opinion, and I'll admit-- not one of my strong suits." She shook her head and put a hand up, waving away any potential of misunderstandings. "If given enough time, I can figure something out. Not always orthodox, but something." She smiled through it again, and offered, "I haven't started an interstellar war yet."
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"The Doctor, the Other One, I spoke with his ... companion ... for a bit." Daniel wasn't precisely sure what to call Martha Jones. The relationship the woman shared with this new, future version of the Doctor was nothing like the relationship that Rose shared with the more familiar version. (Of course, Rose and The Doctor hadn't always been so intimate either, and the new one and Dr. Jones haven't been here long enough to really judge.) "She's a doctor. Fresh out of medical school by about a year and a few months, 'give or take with all the time travel and whatnot,'" Daniel smiled and quoted Dr. Jones on the last. "Dr. Jones will probably be happy to assist him, as soon as that group gets back from the TARDIS."
Daniel scratched the back of his neck. He stared out across the camp at his people and smirked a bit. "I, uh, think I might have started an interstellar war once. Or, at least made earth a target. It wasn't my idea, though, and Ra really didn't leave us with much choice."
McKay would have a fit if he knew Daniel was talking about the Goa'uld with "an outsider," but Daniel felt that Susan was outside the realm of "normal considerations." She was from the future, and an alternate, parallel one at that. The dangers she posed were slim to nil. Chances were pretty high that if they couldn't return her to her future, or if she didn't want to go, she'd end up at the SGC or living happily ever after off-world somewhere.
Provided they got off this damn rock.
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The confession, though, made Susan laugh. Her expression turned... amused, though not mocking. She knew how hard it was to navigate the waters, first hand, and she didn't envy Daniel's position. "Oh... um... oops?" What else could she say? Better than a sardonic 'Oh, good going!'.
"Ra?" She scrunched her brow and headcanted. "What race?" Didn't sound like any naming conventions she'd heard. "The Centauri aren't supposed to make contact with Earth, assuming this is anything like my Earth, for another hundred years." She'd essentially been 'in the dark' about any other 'projects', if there had been any. If the Stargate program existed in her timeline, it had either remained secret, or had ceased... or, for that matter, continued to be run outside the auspices of Earth Alliance. "If it makes you feel any better, not that my opinion counts for much, but aliens are... pretty damned alien. See... you and I, even from different times, have some basic things in common. You obviously know Russian, and have a pretty good grasp of history in that you know that nothing changes in Russia unless it's over a span of a thousand years. And even then. There's a basis for understanding. Aliens, though?" She shook her head. "One of our ships started a war that actually threatened to completely destroy Earth because the alien race believed opening their gunports was a sign of peace. The only reason Earth survived was because they simply-- stopped.. and went home." Her older brother had died in that war. "Imagine what that does to a person's career."
There's nothing in the easy conversation that gives Susan any hint or indication that anything here may be the least bit in confidence. Still, there's little chance that Susan would even begin to repeat what was said here. 'Command' has always had more considerations in the mix than anyone realized, which was why she'd figured that she'd show her hand in regards to her planned 'activities'. Of course, with that, there was the tacit, understood bit that she'd probably share the information with him. That, in a nutshell, was her job as an XO. Information gathering, the running of the daily bits of her duty station, and helping the commanding officer. Of course, there were lots of 'other duties as assigned'...
"Before I read further into the musings of Chloe, and I don't have the benefit of looking into your 'service record'," She laughed again, her brows rising, an easy denial coming soon after, "Not that I'd do that... it's against the rules where I come from, but can you fill me in on your background?"
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River had gathered overripe fruit and was carrying it in the fold of her dress. She slowly let them fall on to the ground next to Susan and Daniel before taking a seat next to them. "They're gone bad. Not fit for eating anymore." There was a smile on her face and a mischievous look in her eyes. "Not their time yet. Other kinds of social interaction important." Her eyes moved from Susan to Daniel. "Have to listen to words."
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"I have doctorates in anthropology, archaeology and linguistics," Daniel began with a smile. He really wasn't bragging; he was amused to admit it. He well knew how well that always went over. How often had he heard the teasing and the jeers regarding "protecting the archeaologist" or "being saved by the archeaologist"?
Marines really didn't seem to like the last one very much at all.
At Susan's raised eyebrows, he held up a hand to forestall an interruption. "Trust me, no one is more surprised than I am to be here, doing this. When I received my doctorates, I figured that I'd have a lifetime lectures and digging in the sand and dirt in remote parts of the world. Or failing that, I'd be teaching in some comfortable university somewhere.
"I got here, well, not here," Daniel indicated the beach with a sweep of his hands, "but where I am because I solved a puzzle that no one else could."
He paused and looked around, "I should tell you, before I go on, that what I'm about to reveal is protected under national security. That probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you, but for me it means that I can be arrested and thrown in jail. It won't happen. Probably." Daniel frowned and thought about it, and wondered how much General Hammond liked him and how much pull the man had at Homeworld Security. "What I can be sure it means is that I have to support my reasons and decisions that led to leaking secrets to every person on this beach and be accountable for making sure they sign the requisite stacks of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements."
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Wow. For the first time, possibly, in her life, Susan was in the right place at the right time. Usually, her timing was impeccable-- in the bad sort of way. So famous, or was it infamous, was her ability to show up at the wrong time, that is, when it resulted in the maximum amount of embarrassment of any (or all!) involved, that the words 'as usual' was added to 'Ivanova. Impeccable timing--'. There were more than a few times when she wished she could have scrubbed her eyes...
"Yes... honestly." Susan was teasing him again, leading him, her expression one of interest in his story. She let her legs out, then folded herself into an 'Indian style' seat, her back hunched slightly. Comfortable. To the side, her coconut cup, with white meat, and pineapple juice sat. All that was needed was a little umbrella.
"Which... explains the fluent Russian." She watched the now identified anthropologist/archaeologist as he spoke; watched his animation as he identified his strengths, and not to the sound of bragging, which was so very refreshing. She didn't see him in a 'different' light, as he sat there talking. What she did see was a man that was ... taking some time off. Relaxed.
Susan nodded at the giant disclaimer, and smiled, though this one was wry. "I can understand that. I've held my fair share of secrets. Here, however... somehow I was stripped of that." Her brows knit, though she doesn't sound distressed. Just.. bemused. "Well, if you'd like some backup; should you ever need it." She shrugged lightly, her hands lifting, palms up. "Here's hoping there's no jail time in your future."
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Daniel smiled a bit at the thought of the 'discussion' that he and Jack would have, then frowned as the mental conversation turned into a typical, heated, Jack versus Daniel argument. It was a good things they were teammates and nearly family, otherwise they would probably have killed each other a long time ago.
Pulling himself back to the present, Daniel pushed his sunglasses up on his head. He liked to look at people when he talked to them. He turned serious, carefully considering his words before continuing. "Here, in our universe, there was ... is ... that part's more complicated than I want to go into right now, there was an ancient alien race with advanced technology and knowledge that we haven't combed the surface of discovering or understanding. They were, unsurprisingly, called 'The Ancients.' They built a vast network of what we call stargates. These 'gates, through the complexity of wormhole physics that I won't even pretend to understand entirely, can move people and objects instaneously from one point to another, anywhere in the galaxy wherever there are two gates. One at point A, the other at point B.
"Basically, the first 'gate 'dials' the second 'gate and a stable, artificial wormhole is created between the two." Daniel could almost hear Sam correcting him, that it wasn't instaneous, but that wasn't the point. "The Ancients disappeared, we didn't know why for a long time. They disappeared but the left the 'gate network behind.
"Another race, the Goa'uld, found it. They also found a lot of other Ancient technology and took it as their own. The Goa'uld used the technology to enslave worlds across the galaxy. Earth was one of them. By assuming the names and personas of ancient deities, they assured their dominion over the primitive and often superstitious and uninformed humans on earth and other worlds.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Daniel quoted quietly. He talked animatedly with his hands, passionate about the subject and telling someone else about it, even after all these years.
"That's the background. Here's where I come in: An excavation of an Ancient Egyptian site found a coverstone and a stargate in the 1920's. That was almost 80 years ago now. At that time no one knew what it was or what they found. It was years before the stargate was moved to a secure military facility and tested. Unfortunately, it was missing an integral part of operation, a device we call the DHD, or Dial Home Device. It is what is used to 'dial' the stargate."
Daniel stopped and took a breath. He grinned boyishly, almost chuckling. "I can't even begin to describe to you what a stargate looks like, especially when its activated. It's beautiful. Scary, powerful, bigger than life, seems to swallow the universe, so alien and so natural. Picture two huge stone interlocking rings, more than ten, twelve feet in diameter. When the 'gate activates it looks like a still, standing pool of water. That, as Sam told me, is the 'event horizon.'"
River stared at him awestruck, and Daniel wondered if she could see it in his head. He knew that Ami had picked up the image from him more than once, and a part of him wondered if Susan hadn't blocked herself, if she would have as well. It certainly would have made explaining easier.
"Anyway," Daniel pulled himself back on track, "Millions of dollars and hours of manpower and no one could figure out how the thing worked. That's where I came in. I managed to lose a bit of credibility in my field because I dared to suggest that Egyptian civilization might have been older than was currently believed, and that it, and other civilizations might have been influenced by 'extraneous' forces. I really didn't have anything to lose, and my unconventional theories made me perfect for the job they had in mind: translating the cover stone.
"I did, they activated the 'gate and then things really got interesting."
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Susan actually can follow the story, the explanation. It worked, apparently, very much like their jumpgates-- technology given to Earth as a 'present' from the Centauri a hundred years hence, in the future. Should their timelines be remotely similar. There, she agreed with Daniel-- more complicated than she wanted to go in to, too. Or even consider for the moment. After her discussion with the scientists, perhaps things will be clearer; or-- not.
Her attention was rapt, however, as he went into description. She wasn't scanning him, wasn't picking images out of his mind as he took her through the story, the explanation of what brought him to where he was. Her walls were fully in place, and coupled with her childhood draznilka, there was no chance of picking anything up. They both had to rely upon his ability to illustrate, with words, that which he experienced.
"Goa'uld." The word was decidedly foreign. She shook her head slowly, consideringly. It wasn't a race she'd heard of, and by 2260, they'd pretty much mapped out all the major players... The Centauri, the Narn, the Drazi, the Pak'ma'ra... Still, she didn't want to take his attention away from the retelling. She could tell that the story never got old for him, which brought it all so much closer to hear. First hand experience-- when he got to a place that she needed a little more detail, she'd ask. But, for now?
She returns his grin with one of her own. His smile made him look... younger. He wasn't unattractive, particularly as he effortlessly enfused the account with enthusiasm. Just... not her type. As a result, there wasn't even a hint of tension, nothing to key or cue in on, at least on her part. "Oh... I can probably imagine." Jumpgates in the dead of space are sights to behold. The blinking of distant worlds, and a brilliant flash of reds, yellows, blues and greens. Mind, they weren't giant wormholes; merely, portals into hyperspace.
"So it was a government project. At the time, I'm going to assume that it was..." American? Certainly wasn't Russian... 'Jack' is hardly a popular Russian name. Some semblance of a consortium? An international affair? From the sound of it, it was held in trust by a lone government. "...a single government?"
Still, the translating, and bringing a project into full fruition was certainly a feather in his hat. The fact that someone who hadn't had any contact with an alien race had translated out something as complex as bridges with wormhole travel?
"Your almost interstellar war?" The definition of interesting, as far as the Russian was concerned, usually was on a rather large scale and almost aways included at least one *BOOM*.
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Daniel affected a sheepish smile, but there was more than a little pride in his voice. The Air Force wanted to wipe out a world, a world full of an alien people and culture, and he'd found a work around. They'd saved Abydos. They'd saved Sha're, Kasuf and Skaara. Temporarily at least.
His smile faltered as images of wasted, empty Abydos filled his mind. Daniel recalled the mission briefings, and the stargate address that no longer connected when dialing Abydos. Anubis had eventually been defeated, and they'd given Abydos almost another decade, but in the end it was gone.
(Except Skaara. . .) Daniel hadn't seen or heard from his Ascended brother-in-law lately, and his thoughts derailed briefly. He caught Susan still watching him and pulled himself back to the present.
"The United States government, the Air Force, assisted by the Marine Corps, had control of the Stargate initially. The US, with the full knowledge of the President and the Joint Chiefs created Stargate Command. Eventually, we went international, that was after we found out the Russians had their own 'gate and were running their own program." That brought a bemused smile, "Secrets will out eventually.
"I was one of the first through the 'gate the first time. We went to a world called Abydos. I didn't know it at the time, I was a lot younger and very naive, I mean, I wasn't a soldier or trained for any of this. I was just a scholar with some wild ideas.
"I accompanied a team of Air Force Specialists to Abydos to 'secure the 'gate.' Which I now know translated to 'bomb the place back into the stone age or further.' Long story short, I convinced Jack that Abydos had a thriving culture and that we should just take out the despotic tyrannical leader posing as a god."
The lecture, scholar surfaced again, and it wasn't unlike being in the middle of a briefing. "That would be Ra, the Egyptian Sun God. Ra was a System Lord, which was basically about as high on the Goa'uld food chain as you could get. Unfortunately, what we didn't know at at the time was that there were plenty more System Lords, they were all like children who wanted the same toy and they didn't mind destroying to get that toy.
"Jack listened, we blew up Ra 'real good,'" Daniel said the last in a strong, southern accent, "And the Air Force went home. I stayed with my wife. A year later, Jack and the Air Force came back. Turns out that we created a power vacuum when we got rid of Ra, and earth was now one of the coveted toys.
"Long story short, Stargate Command was up and running full scale. Stargate Teams, or SG teams, were sent through the 'gate for exploration, but mostly to get knowledge and weaponry and allies for our war against the Goa'uld. I was on the first team, SG-1. Along with General - no, wait, that was nearly a decade ago, Jack was a Colonel. Career military. Sam, the smartest woman that I've ever met, and she is smarter than McKay, no matter what he says otherwise, was a Captain and an astrophysicist. Teal'c, the first of our alien allies. And me, the wide-eyed naive anthropologist."
He didn't mention how he'd insisted on going in order to find and save his wife. That motivation was so far in the past, it seemed that it belonged to a different man. In many ways, it did.
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'System lord'. Susan shook her head at the term. No go. This is definitely a different Earth in the telling, though now, she wondered at what juncture did it split? There was a flash of hope, too, in the now fact. Perhaps a lot of her own experience just... won't happen here. "Never heard of the term for any of the aliens that we've had contact with. And, if they're near Earth?" She shrugged, the action easy; relaxed.
He was married? And he'd left for war. For defense of Earth. "Civilian?" Of course he was, but nothing like being sure. "The first of your alien allies?" Perhaps there was one she would recognize? "Can you name me a few of the races you came across, please? I'm curious, now, as to how divergent we might be?" Though, "I'm also interested in who they are."
She took a deep breath, allowed it to exit, and waved her hand away, dismissing her earlier request. What she'd really like to know, was, "How did you get from there to here?"
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He only paused a beat, knowing the words of comfort that inevitably come at that revelation, and continued on. It still hurt, it always would, but it was a lifetime ago. "After that, I stayed on because I felt we were doing something good. We were protecting earth. We were standing against the Goa'uld. And meeting new races, new cultures, doing so much, learning so much. It was where I needed to be.
"We were the first line of defense, my team. We encountered everything first usually, and we made a lot of personal enemies of a lot of System Lords. I learned to defend myself, to carry a gun, to use one, to fire to protect myself and my teammates." Unconsciously, his hand fell to the gun holstered on his hip. He didn't always wear it, but he usually felt naked without it. The P-90 was in Locke's hands this morning. "Almost ten years that's what I've been doing. Traveling through other worlds, fighting against the Goa'uld, brokering peace treaties and finding allies.
"We just defeated the last of the most powerful System Lords," Daniel continued, "And my current assignment was to finalize a treaty with a new alien culture. I, and Sargent Blaise, whom I don't know if you've met or not, stepped across the event horizon and came out here instead of where we were supposed to be. Right before a commercial jetliner quite literally fell right out of the sky.
"It was chaos." Daniel still shudders inwardly to remember the crash, the wreckage and the aftermath. He'd seen death, but that was war. This had been so different. "Someone had to organize, take charge. Somehow, that ended up being me."
"As for the names," Daniel sighed, half smiling as he thought fondly of some of their allies. "The Ancients, the Asgard, the Nox, the Tok'ra, the Jaffa. Those are 'the good guys' by the way. On the other hand we have the Replicators and the Goa'uld and the Wraith."
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It was considered a social courtesy, regardless of feelings on the matter, to 'share' in the mourning of loss, and Susan added quickly, and softly a simple, "I'm sorry," before Daniel continued on. Of course it hurt-- young wife, if she gets the timing right. Daniel wasn't 35, or if he was, not by much, by her estimation. Marriage under forty was usually still a happy circumstance in which to find oneself.
She shook her head. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the sergeant yet." Though, in the identifying, she was looking forward to it. Beyond John, he'd probably give her a good view of a 'status' report, and mix that with gleaning information from the other sources?
The taking of command-- it would make sense, seeing the range of personalities, that it'd fall upon the negotiator. While she liked him, it wasn't, in her book, the ideal situation. Multiple PhDs and contacts with alien worlds didn't automatically make a leader. Trial and error, all of which, no doubt, Daniel had worked at. He'd been thrust into the job, like her and diplomacy(!), only he didn't have a fall-back.. someone to look to. To tag.
"You're non-threatening, non-assuming, and diplomatic," Susan began. "That's to the men. On the other hand, you have a sergeant with a rifle who probably has fired a few thousand rounds through it. Big stick." She smiled and shifted her position slightly, glancing to River briefly before continuing. "To the women, you're a knight in shining armor that isn't bad to look at." She put a hand up, making sure that what she was saying was understood, "I say that on a purely professional level, of course."
As for the alien races, however, she pressed her lips together before exhaling slowly. Her expression was such that it was obvious that she didn't recognize any of them as they were named. "No... and we've pretty much got the galaxy mapped. We've got explorer ships out at the rim. Lot of dead space out there."
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She began to arrange the rotten fruit in front of her. "Can't listen before speaking. Can't mourn before evening." She paused, tilting her head and looked up again. "Are we being delayed?"
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"All roads do seem to have converged here, for whatever reason," Daniel agreed. He sighed again, his thoughts going in a million different directions. "You know the road from there to here, but you don't really know about 'here.' Here is important. Dangerous. Unexpected."
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