The Ninth Chevron - Epilogue
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Previously: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8
The Ninth Chevron - Epilogue
US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, September 1988
Cameron Mitchell stood to the side on one of the paths along the Terrazzo, clipboard in hand, scanning the single page summary sheets on the squad of a dozen or so doolies he'd been assigned to oversee, one of two this year for Cadet Squadron 30. He'd just gotten out of a meeting with the Superintendent himself, where it was made clear to him just how important this particular squad of fourth class cadets actually was and why he, as one of the highest ranking second class cadets, was to personally keep a close eye on them. He flipped through several summaries until he arrived at the one he was looking for. To be honest, he didn't need Lt. General Hamm to tell him he needed to give this cadet extra consideration, he would have done it anyway after reading her summary. And it wasn't because she was easy on the eye, which if her picture was anything to go by, she certainly was.
She graduated as valedictorian from high school at fifteen, too young to enter the Academy so she went to MIT on the Air Force's dime, earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude at eighteen, then on to post-graduate studies, the woman wasn't even 20 and she had a Ph.D. in Theoretical Astrophysics. She excelled in her 'beast' training over the summer of her eighteenth year while she was still at MIT, now she was on an accelerated path through the Academy to get her Lieutenant's bars in five semesters. It was still going to be tough for her, but she had 'astronaut' written all over her. If Cam Mitchell had anything to say about it, she was going to get there. He just had to make sure she didn't fall at the first hurdle. The Air Force was looking to her to become a leader in her field in future, and if Cam Mitchell learned one thing from his Grandma it was that the world needed more women in positions of leadership. This Samantha Carter looked to be one.
He looked up and out over the Terrazzo seeing the cadets walking between the buildings on the outer edges, the Cadet Chapel always caught the eye as well, framed by the Rockies behind it. Glancing towards his intended destination he began walking to the Eagle and Fledglings statue at the south end of the Air Gardens. He could already see the fourthies milling about around the bronze sculpture. A cadet's first year at the Academy was always the toughest, it was when they were broken. Even he had to go through it despite having enough college level credits to skip a year. Everyone was a doolie until they were Recognised. The one thing he could do was make sure these guys made it through.
"Fall in, doolies!" he ordered as he approached the cadets. They scrambled to form two rows of six facing the statue and he paced back and forth in front of them. "I am Second Class Cadet/Senior Master Sergeant Cameron Mitchell, Superintendent, Cadet Squadron 30, Knights." If any of them were wondering why the Squadron Superintendent was in charge of their squad they didn't say anything. "You are my squad. It is my job to make sure you know just what you can expect from your time here at the Academy, if you have any questions I will answer them." He raised his eyebrows and glanced over the cadets. Someone took the cue.
"What can we expect, Cadet/Sergeant?" The youthful African American lad looked like he'd make a good wide receiver, he scanned back in his mind over the summaries, Johnson, all-district corner back in high school, played defense, but he looked good. He made a mental note to talk to the Coach.
"A year of hell, Johnson, then college... with planes." There were sniggers amongst the group which was what he wanted. He found that determination and humour kept people going far longer than grit alone. He couldn't appear as though that's what he was doing of course so he glared at them all sternly.
"What can we expect of the one year of hell, Cadet/Sergeant?" Her voice was melodious yet strong and she asked the right question. Cam should have expected it. And Mary and Joseph did her photo not do her justice. Piercing blue eyes watched him from under a sandy blond fringe and he had to school his features not to give away that he was thinking she was quite possibly the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen.
"Physical exhaustion, psychological abuse, pain and misery, Carter." He watched for her reaction, her eyes glinted with steel and he nodded slightly, she was strong. "The Air Force doesn't need quitters!" He looked over the cadets in front of him before returning his gaze to hers. What he was about to say was meant for her. "I will make it my mission to see to it none of you quit on my Air Force." He was sure the way his eyes were locked on hers as he spoke was not lost on her. She nodded imperceptibly. "For a year you will be told where you can walk, how you can speak, what you can do and why you will do it, what you can't do and why you won't. You will be left at the end of this year, tempered and honed. Only then can you be Recognised. At which point we'll stop calling you doolies. There will be cake." That also got a few chuckles, at which he glared theatrically, Carter's eyes sparkled, but she managed to force the corners of her mouth back down. "Any further questions?"
"Could you tell us a bit about yourself, Cadet/Sergeant?" a petite redhead piped up from his left. Oh, yeah. Trouble. From memory he recalled she was called O'Mara, plenty smart, plenty tough. Trouble with a capital 'T'.
"I will be happy to regale you all with tales of hayseed chewing and corn shucking under a vast Kansas sky at the commencement gathering at the mess," he pointed behind the cadets, "in Mitchell Hall, no relation," a few more sniggers, "at 1400 hours. That is two in the PM for those of you who have committed the tactical blunder, not to mention fashion faux pas, of acquiring a watch with no twenty-four hour display." Several chuckles and Carter's lips broke into a smile, a very nice smile. "Before then, I will give you a tour of the dorms at Vandenberg Hall," he pointed behind him to the building at the north end of the Gardens, "and Sijan Hall," he pointed to the right to the building on the south west corner of the Terrazzo, "which you should have already seen unless you slept in your cars last night, and the academic building," he pointed to his left at the building flanking the east side of the Gardens, "Fairchild Hall." He eyed them all mock-balefully. "Ten-hut! Right face!" They all spun on their heels to face towards Fairchild Hall. "And we're walking people, we're walking." He began to walk alongside them as they all chuckled. When they reached the corner he turned them around to walk north along the path. "First stop will be Vandenberg Hall, which is not your dorm! When doolies walk along the Terrazzo they will stay on the marble walkways. Stay. Within. The lines." He could already see several of the cadets sniggering. "The lines. Are. Your friends." It was a lame joke, but it always seemed to work. "Did I say something funny?"
"No, Cadet/Sergeant." came the reply from all mouths in unison. Damn right he didn't.
"From time to time you will encounter an actual officer at this Academy, you will come to attention and salute said officer. More often than not the officer will not see you as you are all very small. If that is the case you will stay at attention and hold the salute until said officer walks by." He glanced over to the cadets walking lock-step beside him. "On behalf of the Air Force, I wish to apologise to any southpaws among you for any inconvenience caused by being forced to salute with your off hand." There were several chuckles, and finally Carter's mouth split into a grin as she chuckled herself. It was a good sound. He wanted to hear it more. He made a mental note to buy drinks later for the two actual lefties in the squad and glared at all of them. "The Air Force is an equal opportunity employer, people!"
"Yes, Cadet/Sergeant." came the acknowledgement.
USS Odyssey, above P3X-474, May 2007 + 8,121 days relative
The machine on the other side of the infirmary bed beeped endlessly, droning a morbid countdown. Cam bowed his head and raised a hand to his eyes, pressing them closed with a thumb and forefinger. A phlegm-filled cough raised his head with a start and he saw the old General's eyes, slitted open and looking at him.
"Chin up, Mitchell." he ordered with his weak, raspy voice. "You're in charge now, ya hear?" A small cough made him gulp and grimace. Cam stood and fetched a glass of water, allowing the dying man to drink his fill through a straw.
"Yes, sir." Cam finally replied in a low voice.
"You've got to keep them working, Mitchell. It's on you now." The General raised his hand and Cam took it, holding the wizened, gnarled digits gently. He was surprised when he felt the fingers tighten and the arm pull him towards Landry. "I know you, boy! You're upset she went to Jackson to tell him she'd given up."
"No, sir, that's not-" Cam was interrupted as the old man shook his hand fiercely.
"Don't lie to me, boy! I've managed to learn one thing on this mission, a thing I thought I'd never learn. I figured out your kryptonite, Mitchell! She's your kryptonite." Landry coughed after that for several moments, but waved off another offer of water. "But that's okay, you see. Because you're her kryptonite." Cam looked at his commander in confusion. "Don't you get it, son? You're the only one she ever allows to see her vulnerability!"
"Sir, you don't get much more vulnerable than when you admit you've given up." Cam said remorsefully.
"Idiot boy! That's just defeat. She's not afraid to show that. She's vulnerable when she's doubting herself. When she's thinking of giving up. She only shows that side of herself to you, Mitchell!" His words forced Cam to think back to the time on P9C-882 when she'd been shot by an Ori staff weapon and was dying while they were out of phase. He remembered her eyes when she was telling him she was going to die, the pleading in them. He was blinking back the tears. "She knew if she'd gone to you, you'd never let her quit. If you tell her not to give up it becomes impossible for her. She can't do it after that. That's why she went to Jackson. For you, she'll find a way to reverse time if it's the last thing she ever does!" Cam nodded his understanding. "I'll give her the order, and she'll nod and cry and promise. Give her a week. Then whisper it in her ear. She'll break the universe for you, son." Cam squeezed the old man's bony hand in his, head bowed. "Now go let her in." Nodding and standing up he lay the old General's hand on the bed and placed a hand on the man's shoulder in farewell. Landry nodded and smiled. Cam turned and walked to the doorway, finding Sam waiting outside, already crying. He held open his arms and she rushed in, melting against him, sobbing into his shoulder as tears rolled down his own cheeks. A week. The General was a taskmaster alright. He kissed her hair softly and rubbed her back in slow lazy circles.
Luna, July 2010
Cam stepped through the event horizon with Teal'c close behind. Both had curved plastic breathing masks covering their faces from the eyes down under their chins, the hoses leading up over their shoulders to small tanks hanging from their backs. The bare skin of his neck flared with goosebumps at the sudden cold, but it was bearable. They raised their P90s and scanned the darkness to either side, blue light reflecting haphazardly off surfaces in the distance. This 'gate room was very large. They moved forward, the light of their flashlights highlighting a glossy, dark wall surrounding the Stargate in an almost full circle around it with the 'gate close to the top of the circle. Behind the 'gate the glossy dark wall curved high overhead, reflecting the light from their P90s all the way. On either side of a cleared area behind the 'gate sweeping curved stairs ran up to balconies high on either side of the room, curving around the 'gate and the vast room ahead of it and almost connecting on the opposite side of the room. Instead the room opened into a larger open space with a wide ramp leading down, under a semi-circular arch. Their lights could not penetrate that darkness. At the top of that ramp, corridors led off from the circular space of the 'gate room, curving away as if to envelope the 'gate room again in a vast loop. This visual sweep took mere seconds and when it was complete Cam touched the comm button in the side of his mask over the ear, glancing over his shoulder at the other three SG-1 members who had come after them with a FRED in tow hauling their gear, dragging portable light units into place around the gate and switching them on.
"SGC, this is Mitchell. Area around the 'gate clear and secure. Zero contacts. Proceeding with the mission." He signalled to Teal'c who walked over slowly, his eyes roving over the darkness around them.
"SG-1, this is Stargate Command. Understood, Colonel. We'll be waiting to hear from you. Colonel Hendricks sends 'Odyssey stands ready to assist', Landry out." The radio sign off was punctuated by the wormhole disconnecting, leaving only small islands of light around the lamps already set up.
"Teal'c, keep an eye on this end of the room please. I doubt there's anyone in this place, but all the entrances seem to be at this end." The Jaffa nodded at him and Cam started walking back to the others. "I'll send Jackson and Vala with some lights for you in a while."
"Cameron, this place doesn't look a little like Atlantis, it looks a lot like Atlantis." Sam was shining her flashlight over the consoles on the balcony to the left of the 'gate as he walked back.
"I hear ya, but it's not reacting to me at all so far." Cam's gene therapy had produced the greatest expression amongst the team members. The therapy wasn't cleared as safe for Jaffa so Teal'c hadn't been given it. The doctors thought Sam's own weak expression was likely a dampened effect caused by the naquadah in her blood, while Vala had no reaction to the therapy at all regardless of being a former host. And Jackson still held his own lack of expression against Cam after almost a year, refusing to speak of it. Obviously he felt housing Merlin's consciousness for a time should have counted for something. "Let's try getting a little closer though shall we?" He shone his light towards the balcony she was examining and she turned to him and nodded. "Jackson, Vala, can you make sure the T has enough light to attract the bad guys with, if there are any." Daniel smirked at him and Vala piped up with an 'okay' before bounding off with a light.
He climbed the stairs slowly while shining the light at their feet. Sam lit the way ahead of them. The stairs did not light up the way the reports stated Atlantis' had at Sheppard's approach. Either there was no power, or so little the place refused to use it. They reached the top and Cam placed a hand on the first console. Nothing happened. Looks like they'd need the generator in place first.
"Look, Cam!" Sam called, shining her light at a console a little ways off. There was a small light pulsing slowly and dimly on the panel. They approached it and examined the console. "Could this be a power management station which activated when you touched the other console?"
"Your guess is probably better than mine, darlin'." he joked and she chuckled. He laid a hand over the console and the display lit up, but showed nothing. Sam reached over and pressed the pulsing light and it clicked on, the display flashed for a second then displayed a rotating wireframe model and next to it what was unmistakably a power usage meter.
"Let me guess," Sam smirked ruefully, "almost out of power." He nodded and read the text flowing around the model.
"It is trying to be helpful though. That's a schematic showing a path to the nearest primary power junction." He pointed at the rotating diagram and memorised it. He could see now that the 'gate room was shaped almost like a hemisphere, and following one of the side corridors at the end, down some stairs and back around would take them to the junction located underneath the 'gate room itself.
"That's very helpful indeed. Just the place to set up the generator. Come on, Mr. Man, I need you to do the heavy lifting." She grinned at him and passed a hand across his tac vest over his stomach as she walked past him. He grinned.
"Yes, ma'am." He followed her back down and picked up the generator on its shoulder straps and looped it over his head. Sam picked up several conductive cables and looped them over her shoulder, and handed over a power management unit case for him to carry by hand, before grabbing a couple of the light stands and looping a carrying strap around them and over her other shoulder. She lifted her P90 and started for the corridor that was indicated on the map. One side of it curved up overhead and was made of the same glossy material as the walls around the 'gate. The other looked more like a regular corridor wall with doors and passages branching off. "Alright guys, Sam and I are off to find the light switch. Jackson, Vala, can you set up the transport area just in case. T-man, watch out for grues."
"This is not a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c said from his position at the top of the large ramp. Sam laughed out loud and looked at Cam in amazement.
"Wrong game, big guy." Cam grinned at the Jaffa warrior who was sporting a very subtle smirk.
"When did you play Zork, Mitchell?" asked Daniel from where he was gathering the stanchions for the transport beacon.
"I think the question is when did Teal'c play ADVENT, Daniel." Sam replied for him as they went further into the corridor out of earshot. Cam flicked his radio on.
"Use the radio to contact us if anything happens there." He flicked his comm off once more just as Vala's voice piped into his ear.
"You and Sam better not be thinking of doing anything naughty all on your own, Cameron." He grinned at Sam's shocked exclamation.
"Vala!" She stared at him wide-eyed and then grinned, shaking her head. She slowed slightly into step with him, sweeping the light of her P90 across the floor and indicating the direction they should follow. "Were you thinking of doing something naughty?" she teased him.
"My word, Colonel Carter, you shock me!" He let his jaw drop and listened to the peals of her laughter before chuckling himself. They turned a corner and followed it down for a few meters before finding a set of stairs leading down. "I was actually wondering what you thought of what Landry said to you." She looked at him for several moments and one corner of her mouth lifted in a wry smile.
"My guess is he's been waiting for us to... you know. He's been expecting it since it became clear we were remembering our time on Odyssey." she began and he nodded slowly. "He pretty much admitted that if it were up to him and General O'Neill nothing would happen to us if we did make it official, but things being the way they are, one of us, probably me, will have to not be in the Air Force." She glanced his way and he tried to convey just how much he hated the idea of her having to give up her Air Force career. "I know, sweetie, but it can't be you. Remember what Daniel said in the alternate timeline. Your skills, as varied and exceptional as they are," she laid a hand on his arm and rubbed it up and down, "are not unique. Mine on the other hand..." He sighed and groused under his breath. He understood the need for frat regs. He agreed with them for the most part. He just felt... they didn't apply in their case. It was such a stupid idea when he thought about it, but he was sure he and Sam would never let their feelings get in the way of the job.
"Sam, you're an amazing officer," he glanced her way as she looked at him in turn, "I want you, so help me I do, that's why I asked you to marry me, but..." She laid the tips of her thinly-gloved fingers over his face mask above his lips and he quieted, looking into her eyes as she stopped them in the middle of the corridor, lowering her P90 so all he could see was her face floating before him.
"Do you love me, Cameron?" she asked softly, her eyes blazing in the illumination of her mask. The total darkness around them concentrated all his focus on those cerulean pools boring in to his soul.
"With every beat of my heart, Sam." he replied quietly, but with an edge of steel in his voice. She leaned into him and pressed her face mask against his.
"Then I want us to be together, sooner rather than later. I won't make the same mistakes again, especially not with you." If his voice held steel, her gaze held fire, he nodded inside his mask. She pulled away and they resumed their walk towards the primary power junction under the 'gate room.
"What about the IOA? If you're a civilian contractor, won't they have a say in your hiring and posting?" The IOA was constantly trying to assign Sam elsewhere, Atlantis, Area 51, every new BC-304 off the line seemed to have her name pencilled in as commander until she declined.
"I trust Jack, Cam." She didn't often call the General by his given name. Only when she was talking about him as a man and not an officer. "General Landry made it sound as if I would be under contract to the Air Force, most likely under General O'Neill's office specifically. Not the IOA. I would go directly to the SGC, with specific clauses in my contract to guarantee my position. Nothing the IOA can do about it." Cam grunted, still not pleased.
"You deserve stars on your shoulders, Sam." he gave voice to his greatest fear. That loving him would end her career before she'd ascended to where she truly deserved to be. She turned to look at him again as they stopped in the corridor outside the room marked on the map earlier.
"I can always come back from retirement, Cam. General O'Neill did. More than once." She raised a hand and touched the skin of his neck above the upturned collar of his jacket. She would feel how cold he was, they all were in this place, and her gloved fingers wouldn't be the same as her touching him for real, but it was obvious she needed the contact to prove to him she was ready to accept what they were talking about. "I'll get my stars. Some day. When SG-1 doesn't need us anymore." He looked at her for several long breaths, his eyes fierce and shining. The muscles in his jaw twitched every time he clenched it in his frustration at the unfairness of everything, but she was right. This was the only way. He sighed deeply and nodded once slowly. "I love you, Cameron, I want to be able to tell the world." He couldn't help the smile which crossed his lips and the colour which rose in his cheeks even in the cold. "Now let's get the power and air on so I can kiss you properly!" She turned and walked into the room, indicating a spot by a raised console against the wall for him to lay down the generator and computer. He did so and let her get to work, setting up some of the portable lights around the small space she was interested in.
Raising up his P90 he scanned the room. It was rather large, and as such, extra dark, as the light from his flashlight was attenuated more by the distance. He saw a faint dim light and moved his P90 towards it, the wall opposite them fell away into an angled bank of machinery with uneven grooves and raised surfaces. The bank tapered off from the wall and he could see that the reason for it was the arrangement of raised roundels on the bank. Three overlapping triangles sharing a common corner in the center of the bank. Each corner of each triangle held a roundel, two on the outside of the arrangement and they all shared the third corner's roundel for a total of seven. The faint dim light he'd spotted earlier came from this shared roundel and he examined it. It was a translucent cover, under which he could see the unmistakable sight of a ZPM, the source of the dim light.
"Sam, this place runs on ZPMs. Seven of them at least." He examined the other roundels, finding nothing inside them. "This central one seems to be the source of what little power this place has."
"It must have been running for millions of years." Sam posited from her position by the console, watching the computer boot up and sorting through her conductive cabling. "Time to give it a little help I think." She smiled at him. He looked around some more, finding another dim light on a console by the side wall, it was pulsing. This reminded him of the console in the 'gate room.
"Sam, check this out. It's like the other console." He motioned her over and she came to stand next to him. He touched the console, then pressed the button as they had done previously. A panel on the wall above the console slid away as a display lit up on its face. "Mary and Joseph!" He read the display. Not believing what it said.
"Holy Hannah!" cried Sam and pointed past him to the space behind the panel. He looked up and what he read on the display was confirmed by his own eyes. Several cubby holes inset into the wall held ZPMs standing on their ends. "Maybe we won't need the generator." She quickly reached for one and pulled it out of its space, he let his P90 drop to his chest and grabbed one in each hand and followed her back to the bank in the back wall. He lay the ZPMs he carried down on the floor and lay a hand on the bank, two discs lit up on either side of the lower triangle cluster. He lay his hands on them and remembered what Sheppard had once told him about interfacing with Atlantis' and Asuras' tech. Except this was different from the description. He heard a voice, asking him what he'd like to do, it was speaking in Ancient, no, Alteran. He asked it for a good arrangement for three extra Potentia and three of the roundels slid aside and small containment harnesses slid out of their recesses. Sam laughed giddily. "Cam, this is amazing!" She began slipping the ZPMs they'd brought into place and he ordered the harnesses to re-insert themselves. The roundels slid over them when they were done and each of the three new ZPMs glowed brightly. Sam laughed again. The voice asked him if he wished to initialise primary systems and he confirmed it and lights began coming on everywhere, he could feel it in his head, he heard the voices of his teammates coming over the radio declaring consoles were lighting up all around them and lights were coming on all the way down the corridors leading out of the room. Then the voice offered to manage the re-activation of the life support systems in stages centered on the 'gate room and he again agreed, asking only for it to wait for him to activate the command from the 'gate room power management console. The voice acquiesced and quieted. He pulled back and shook his head. "What's wrong, Cam?"
"The voice... the... this place... talked to me. Selenis." He turned to her and broke out into a grin. "Come on, darlin'. Life support will be reactivated in stages. 'Gate room first." He grabbed her hand and they jogged back the way they'd come. He tapped the comm button over his ear. "Guys, you won't believe it, but we found a cache of ZPMs." He was right, Daniel and Vala called him a liar. Sam had to confirm it for them, he grinned at her. "We're heading back to the 'gate room. It'll be sealed so that life support can be quickly initialised for it before it is restored to the rest of the base."
"Oh, my God, guys, this display is showing a schematic of the facility." Daniel's voice sounded slightly broken over the radio. Sam touched her comm quickly.
"What's wrong, Daniel?" Sam's concerned gaze found his and they quickened their pace.
"This is no moon, Colonel Carter. It is a space station." came Teal'c's reply. They heard Vala's nervous, disbelieving laughter and they started running. They soon reached the 'gate room and the difference was astonishing. Consoles were lit up everywhere with holographic displays wrapping around them, and light was shining and reflecting off the glossy surfaces of the walls. Daniel, Vala and Teal'c were clustered around a console up on the left hand side balcony which Cameron and Sam had climbed previously, staring at the display in disbelief, their shocked faces clear even through the hologram the Air Force officers saw them through.
"This can't be right! This can't be right, Sam!" Daniel sounded very distressed and they took the stairs at a dead run, reaching the console together and crowding around the display. It showed a sphere, the Moon, rotating on the vertical axis. From the southern hemisphere coordinates they'd ascertained by way of scans from the Apollo to be the base's location, a network of shafts and blocks and spaces of various sizes and shapes drove upwards like a spike into the core of the Moon itself, where a large sphere nestled. Cam read the text accompanying the display and blanched, cursing softly. This place wasn't just huge. It was monstrous. And like all monsters it was frightening.
"What is it? Cam? What does it say?" Sam looked at him desperately, she was probably going to demand lessons in Alteran soon. He pointed to the sphere in the center and traced the line to its description.
"Gravitic displacement engine." he translated. Sam covered her mouth and nearly stumbled backwards away from the console. Only Teal'c kept her upright. "Don't worry, Sam, I swear I am not going near anything with the words 'propulsion controls' written on it." Vala laughed again, this time more manically.
"That's not funny, Cameron! This is not funny!" she cried, her hand trembling slightly as she held it up to her forehead. "No wonder this place has a nine symbol address." Sam breathed and leaned heavily against the console. Cam turned back to the power management console and started inputting the sequence that would seal off the 'gate room and re-establish life support functions. Force fields came up in front of the large ramp and the corridors leading off at the end of the room and doors slid shut sealing the corridors. An iris like seal scythed in from the arch over the ramp to seal it away as well. As it closed Cam could see jumpers sitting on platforms. They could hear the sounds of air circulators coming on and a panel behind him lit up, showing statistics and diagnostics on the units, they were all in the green, indicating a countdown of around an hour for the atmosphere to reach 'Terran optimum' as he translated. Another console caught his eye and he read over the display, if this was correct the glossy walls of the 'gate room he was currently facing weren't just walls. He pressed some controls and the glossiness faded as the walls shimmered and became translucent. Everyone turned and cried out at the sight before them. The inside of a vast hangar deck, at least five kilometers wide, stretched away and below where they stood, in what he now realised was a bubble, a blister on the side of a cliff. Spotlights dotted the deck of the hangar, shining up and illuminating the dark space and the things within. Below him he saw ranks of puddle jumpers on a raised platform which jutted out from the wall under the 'gate room. Beyond that, resting on articulated landing legs was the vast bulk of a massive space ship, taking up only one of the several bays lining the curved wall stretching away to his left. "Holy Hannah!" Sam breathed as she stood next to him. "This is a space port."
"It's more than that!" cried Daniel pointing away to their right, they all turned to look at what seemed to be a half-completed ship, of the same design as the one below them, laying in a cradle. "It's a shipyard." A space port and shipyard needed a way to get ships in and out, he searched the controls and sure enough there it was, he pointed at the panel.
"This controls the bay doors." He looked to Sam when she grabbed his hand and he grinned. "Wasn't going to, darlin'." She shook her head with a smirk. He pointed above their heads and sure enough they could see a vast circular depression, lit by floodlights around its circumference which housed a sealed iris half the diameter of the entire deck. Vala had walked down the stairs and now stood in the space behind the 'gate between the two sets of stairs. She gazed across the hangar deck and spoke almost reverently.
"Guys, look at the opposite end of the hangar." They all did, walking along the curved view platform and down the steps to stand by the raven haired former smuggler. What they saw sent chills down their spines. Memories came unbidden to all of them as their eyes traced along the the curved, twisting edges of a ring nearly a mile across, standing upright a hundred meters from the far wall of the hangar, lit from below by several intense lances of pure white light. The Supergate rose from its moorings in a recessed gouge in the deck and was held tightly overhead by reinforced stanchions. "Look at the size of that thing."
On to the Gag Reel
To be continued in ' Under the Silent Stars'