[Stargate: Drabble] "Size Matters Not" [SG-22, G]
Title: Size Matters Not
Prompt: writerverse challenge #02 September table of doom
Line Used: “Remember to feel the Force!” (Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown, page 42)
Word Count: 469
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: Stargate SG-1 ( SG-22, original characters)
Summary: SG-22 rescues a stranded MALP.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_library
Size Matters Not
“I don’t even know how it did this,” said Toby. “It’s supposed to be able to avoid obstacles.”
SG-22 had been sent to P6X-9241 to retrieve a MALP left by SG-8, after its onboard camera had failed and it didn’t make it back to the ‘gate when the SGC had sent the return-to-base signal. The planet was uninhabited, but the MALP had been taking weather readings and soil samples, to see about using the planet as a possible beta site- until the MALP had gotten itself wedged between two large rocky outcroppings, about fifty yards from the ‘gate.
“Probably bad programming,” said Gryff.
“I think I should be insulted,” said Toby. “I was working on the MALPs before I joined this motley crew.”
“Yes, but you’re an engineer, sir,” said Jason. “You didn’t do any of the programming, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” said Toby, brightening. “I think if we get some rope, we can just pull it out.”
It turned out that they couldn’t.
“What the hell?” said Jason, glaring at the MALP. The things were on wheels, he should have been able to get this one moving all by himself, but even with all four of them hauling on the ropes, they couldn’t do anything more than make the metal casing scrape against the rock face.
“Could we try lifting it?” Gryff asked.
Toby shook his head. “That would be worse. Do you think General Hammond would send us a tow truck?”
“Probably not,” said Levi. “Has anyone tried using the Force?”
“Do or do not, there is no try,” said Jason, and his teammates laughed.
Gryff let her rope drop and used the side of the MALP to climb up on the rock formation, a rough column about five feet high and four feet wide, then frowned. “Does this rock feel… heavy to you?”
Toby frowned, too, and pressed a hand against the column. “You don’t think it’s naquadah?”
“I think it is,” she said.
Her second-in-command grinned. “Then I’ve got an idea.”
“This is a very, very bad idea,” said Levi, a few minutes later, crouching with his team below a rise, half a dozen yards away.
“It’ll be fine, Lee,” said Gryff. “Jason, hit it.”
Jason pressed the button on the remote detonator, and a shower of gravel chips flew over their heads, following on the heels of an almighty boom! The four members of SG-22 scrambled out from cover to inspect the damage.
The rock column where they had placed the tiny blob of C-4 had cracked at the base, toppling out of the way and leaving only a faint singe mark on the MALP’s metal casing.
“Not bad, sir,” said Jason. He grabbed the tow rope and pulled- and the MALP rolled forward.
“Okay,” said Levi. “Maybe not such a bad idea.”
THE END
Current Mood:
cold
Prompt: writerverse challenge #02 September table of doom
Line Used: “Remember to feel the Force!” (Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown, page 42)
Word Count: 469
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: Stargate SG-1 ( SG-22, original characters)
Summary: SG-22 rescues a stranded MALP.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_library
Size Matters Not
“I don’t even know how it did this,” said Toby. “It’s supposed to be able to avoid obstacles.”
SG-22 had been sent to P6X-9241 to retrieve a MALP left by SG-8, after its onboard camera had failed and it didn’t make it back to the ‘gate when the SGC had sent the return-to-base signal. The planet was uninhabited, but the MALP had been taking weather readings and soil samples, to see about using the planet as a possible beta site- until the MALP had gotten itself wedged between two large rocky outcroppings, about fifty yards from the ‘gate.
“Probably bad programming,” said Gryff.
“I think I should be insulted,” said Toby. “I was working on the MALPs before I joined this motley crew.”
“Yes, but you’re an engineer, sir,” said Jason. “You didn’t do any of the programming, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” said Toby, brightening. “I think if we get some rope, we can just pull it out.”
It turned out that they couldn’t.
“What the hell?” said Jason, glaring at the MALP. The things were on wheels, he should have been able to get this one moving all by himself, but even with all four of them hauling on the ropes, they couldn’t do anything more than make the metal casing scrape against the rock face.
“Could we try lifting it?” Gryff asked.
Toby shook his head. “That would be worse. Do you think General Hammond would send us a tow truck?”
“Probably not,” said Levi. “Has anyone tried using the Force?”
“Do or do not, there is no try,” said Jason, and his teammates laughed.
Gryff let her rope drop and used the side of the MALP to climb up on the rock formation, a rough column about five feet high and four feet wide, then frowned. “Does this rock feel… heavy to you?”
Toby frowned, too, and pressed a hand against the column. “You don’t think it’s naquadah?”
“I think it is,” she said.
Her second-in-command grinned. “Then I’ve got an idea.”
“This is a very, very bad idea,” said Levi, a few minutes later, crouching with his team below a rise, half a dozen yards away.
“It’ll be fine, Lee,” said Gryff. “Jason, hit it.”
Jason pressed the button on the remote detonator, and a shower of gravel chips flew over their heads, following on the heels of an almighty boom! The four members of SG-22 scrambled out from cover to inspect the damage.
The rock column where they had placed the tiny blob of C-4 had cracked at the base, toppling out of the way and leaving only a faint singe mark on the MALP’s metal casing.
“Not bad, sir,” said Jason. He grabbed the tow rope and pulled- and the MALP rolled forward.
“Okay,” said Levi. “Maybe not such a bad idea.”
THE END
Current Mood:
cold