Stop the Presses, by Redbyrd (PG)
Rec Category: Original Character
Pairing: none
Categories: original character, gen, episode related, drama, crossover, Cassandra Frasier, Kavanaugh
Warnings: crossover with Atlantis, spoilers through SG-1 S9, violence (including minor original character deaths)
Author on LJ: redbyrd_sgfic
Author's Website: Redbyrd’s Stargate Fiction
Link: Stop the Presses or on the website
Why This Must Be Read: Have you ever snickered at the increasingly ridiculous idea that the SGC can still be top-secret after all these years? Then this delightful remix of Stop the Presses by Cofax is definitely for you!
Colin Jameson, a reporter from LA, comes to Colorado Springs at the behest of his friend, Matt Yurievich, to attend a press conference by one Dr. Berend Kavanagh. Despite the apparent ridiculousness of his claims, these two reporters have added up enough suspicious events over the years - the “Denver flu,” hallucinatory creatures infesting Colorado Springs, an entire building disappearing, the incident in LA in Resurrection, and Alex Colson’s disappearance after his attempt to prove the existence of aliens, just to name a few - to wonder if there’s really a story there. But when Kavanagh’s press conference gets crashed and things suddenly turn deadly, will Colin stay alive long enough to get the story out to the public?
An excellent Cassie scene, a seriously hilariously-in-character Jack O’Neill cameo, and one of the only sympathetic treatments of reporters that I’ve seen outside the Lois and Clark fandom. Stop the Presses is an affectionate poke at the SGC’s laughable secrecy, and one you’re sure to enjoy.
"The reason I've called you here," Kavanagh said. "Is going to sound pretty incredible. But you have to hear me out. Because the American government has lied to you, has been lying to everyone for over ten years."
The picture cleared and Kavanagh pulled up what looked like a Powerpoint presentation. "Here in Colorado, underneath Cheyenne Mountain, the Air Force is keeping an alien device. It's called a Stargate, and for the last ten years they've been using it to go to other planets."
The picture on the screen was some kind of bunker. Nearly filling the frame was a giant ring marked with odd-looking symbols. There was a ramp leading up to it, and a bunch of men in fatigues standing on the ramp. By the look of it, it was big enough for them all to walk through it.
"Control of the Stargate is held by the military," Kavanagh continued, "But the governments of a dozen other countries are aware of it, including Canada, the Soviet Union, and China." He clicked the screen, and the computer showed a short video clip of what looked like water bursting from the ring and then settling into a shimmering vertical pool. The four men walked up the ramp into the pool and disappeared.
Colin abruptly started thumbing his Blackberry. Habitually, he listened with one ear while writing his notes in the form of copy. Matt always gave him a hard time about drafting his story instead of just taking notes on the information and writing the story later, but he'd developed the habit as a lazy student with a retentive memory, and he wasn't about to change now.
Kavanaugh rambled on about the alleged transportation device, several alien races that the Air Force had befriended or offended, military actions they had supposedly fought. It sounded frankly incredible-but Colin kept flashbacks to the descriptions of missing and injured American servicepeople. He glanced around the room. Most of the expressions of the others were quite dubious. Fiorenza looked like he found the whole thing a waste of time. Blair, though, was wearing a bland unrevealing look. Colin wondered if he, like Matt, had noticed some odd coincidences. So far they had been letting Kavanagh ramble. Perhaps it was time to ask some questions.
"If this Stargate has been around for ten years," Colin asked. "Why have you waited so long to reveal it to the public?" He paused as he waited for the answer.
"They say they're doing it for the good of everyone," Kavanagh said. "They think they're the heroes. Well, they're wrong -- they're just lucky, that's all." He added, almost as an afterthought, "And the people deserve the truth."
Colin exchanged a wry look with Matt and recorded the quote verbatim.