It's only just beginning: chapter 4
Title: It's only just beginning
Author: Betty (sarah_jones on lj)
Fandoms: Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, Primeval, JAG, Doctor Who/Torchwood, Animorphs & Angel
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did… *g* I don’t make any money with this! I’m just writing the story for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.
Summary: The story starts after the Stargate Atlantis season finale. There will be new enemies and new adventures, as well as new characters from other fandoms. Old enemies and older characters will return as well.
chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3
Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it.
chapter 4:
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Day 6: Atlantis - recruits team 1:
“Oh, come on this isn’t fair,” Colonel O’Neill whined. Everything had gone so well. Why was there an alarm now?
“Did you trigger anything?” he asked and looked at the Russians accusingly. They quickly shook their heads and looked rather insulted.
“There is nothing that could be triggered in here,” Daniel stated, glaring at Jack slightly. Obviously Jack’s clone didn’t like Russians much either.
“So we didn’t cause the alarm,” Cassie said. Daniel nodded while walking towards the door and looking out.
Jack stepped next to Daniel. “Does that mean another team triggered the alarm? It is part of the simulation, right?” he asked sounding hopeful. But Daniel could hear the doubt in his voice.
“Erm, probably not,” Daniel answered. He wasn’t sure about all the technical stuff that was involved in the simulations. His part was to just play a hostage. But he had a bad feeling. His experience told him that something was wrong.
“Please tell me this is part of the simulation?” he asked over his radio.
“I’m afraid not,” Sam answered him. “Wait a sec, Daniel…”
Daniel glanced at the new recruits and pulled his gun. He had learned a while ago that it was best to always walk around prepared, especially in Atlantis. The last time he was in the city he had been abducted by crazy Asgards.
“Give that to me,” Jack said and snatched the gun from Daniel.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
Jack glared at him and Daniel decided to stay quiet. It might look like he was with a bunch of kids, but Jack was kind of older than him and definitely more experienced with guns. Or was he? How many times had that clone body actually shot anything?
Daniel was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a voice over the radio. He had no idea who it was, but that wasn’t the point. Apparently dinosaurs were loose in Atlantis. Well, he hadn’t seen that one coming.
“They want us to head back to the control room. And there are dinosaurs in the city.”
Four heads snapped around to stare at Daniel.
“Did you just say dinosaurs? Cause I thought I heard you say DINOSAURS!” Jack exclaimed.
Daniel sighed. “Yes, Jack, I did," he answered patiently.
Jack groaned. Of course something like this had to happen on his first day back. Was this meant to be another welcoming gift?
“You don’t have another gun, Daniel, do you?” Cassie asked while the two Russians were talking rather fast in russian.
“No, sorry,” Daniel answered.
“Maybe we’ll find something on the way,” Jack said. “Let’s go find the closest transporter and get to the control room.” He looked at the Russians and then handed one of them the fake artefact they were supposed to find.
“Don’t lose that,” he ordered. He didn’t want to fail this stupid test because some crazy dinosaurs decided to roam Atlantis today of all days.
They headed out, Jack in the lead, Daniel at the back.
“The balconies,” Jack then said. “This way.” They probably were a bit safer out there. One side less from which they could get attacked, unless the dinosaurs could fly...
They hadn’t gone far when General O’Neill’s voice boomed over the cities communication system:
“This is General O’Neill. You all heard the alarm a few minutes ago. Unfortunately it was not a malfunction or part of the simulations. We have dangerous animals in the city and a malfunctioning ancient device. All military personnel, please gather in teams and patrol the corridors. All civilians, please stay in your rooms until further notice or until military personnel comes to evacuate you to safer areas. Please report all animal sightings or other unusual occurrences!”
Jack turned to glance at Daniel. An ancient device. Great! It probably had something to do with time travel. How else would Dinosaurs get here?
“Daniel, where’s the next transporter?” Jack called. They only had one gun, so they had to get to safety as quickly as possible.
“You’re asking me?” Daniel answered. “You’re the one who didn’t allow me to join the Atlantis expedition. Well, technically not you. But you know, what I mean…”
“Right,” Jack answered. He could imagine that. He wouldn’t have let Daniel go either.
“But you’ve been in the city before, haven’t you?”
“Twice. And I didn’t have time to wander around the uninhabited parts,” Daniel called back.
“Maybe we shouldn’t make that much noise. Animals have good hearing, don’t they?” Cassie butted in.
Jack glanced at her. She was right and smart, which was exactly why he liked her.
“Right,” he whispered and put his finger to his lips.
Then a bright light appeared out of nowhere. Jack shielded his eyes with one hand and held the gun firmly with his other hand. When the light faded he blinked, then saw a man a few feet away, pressed against the railing by what had to be a Wraith. He had only seen pictures of Wraith so far, but he was certain about what he was seeing, even though Wraith were not supposed to be in Atlantis. Hell, they weren’t even supposed to be in this Galaxy! But when did that ever stop any of their enemies?
Jack didn’t hesitate. The life-sucking alien was about to feed, he was sure of it. So he started shooting. He could ask questions later. And he definitely had a lot of those!
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Lt. Aiden Ford grabbed his knife in a desperate try to save his own life. The Wraith was about to start feeding. His worst nightmare would become reality right now if he didn’t manage to prevent it somehow.
However, before he could do anything, there was a bright light. And then someone was shooting. The Wraith seemed startled for a second and Ford used that to ram his knife into the Wraith's head.
Footsteps echoed, then the Wraith was pulled off of him and fell to the ground, blood oozing out of several wounds.
Ford breathed heavily, hardly able to believe that he made it.
“Thanks,” he muttered as he glanced at the people who saved his life. There were five of them. He had never seen the four younger people, even though they were wearing Atlantis uniforms. But what really surprised him was to see Daniel Jackson.
“Dr. Jackson?” he asked unbelievingly. “How did you get here?”
Daniel looked at the young marine a little puzzled. “Me? How did you get here? You appeared out of nowhere.”
Jack stood next to Daniel, raising an eyebrow quizzically.
“What do you mean?” Ford asked. Then he started to look around and froze. “What the hell?” he muttered. The bodies of his men were gone, as well as the dead Wraith. Looking up showed that Atlantis was not under attack, there were no Wraith darts or hives in the air. And when he turned around he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Is that… That’s the Golden Gate Bridge!”
He turned back around and stared at the five people in front of him. Okay, maybe he was the one who suddenly got here. Because this was so not where he had been a few minutes ago.
“We’re on Earth!”
“Yes,” Jack answered. “And you are?”
“Lt. Aiden Ford, USMC.”
“Ah, yes,” Daniel exclaimed. “I remember you. You joined the Atlantis expedition in the beginning; and went MIA after the first year.”
Ford and Jack both stared at Daniel. “What’s that supposed to mean? How did he get here?” Jack wanted to know.
“Not a clue,” Daniel answered. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it has something to do with that ancient device.”
“How about we sort this out later?” Cassie suggested looking around a little nervously. “There are still dinosaurs running around the city and we have only one gun.”
“Did you say dinosaurs?” Ford wanted to know while pulling a gun out of his boot. “And we have two guns.”
“Excellent. Finally some good news,” Jack stated. “Now, if you can show us the quickest way to the control room you’ll officially be my favorite person of the day.”
Ford grinned, already liking the young man.
“This way.” He started to lead them. He had a million questions and felt a little confused, but that would just have to wait until later.
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Atlantis - a corridor:
Sheila Trebal left her room and started to walk towards the Aurora's landing deck. They were scheduled to leave in an hour. She felt excited and happy at the thought. She loved to be on a ship, flying through space.
“Hey there,” came a greeting and her sister Sharon stepped next to her, grinning widely. It was her first flight and Sharon had been giddy and a bundle of nerves for several days now.
Sheila grinned. “Relax, we’ll take off soon enough.”
“I know, but I just can’t wait. It’s my first flight, you know.”
“No, really?” Sheila asked faking surprise before chuckling.
Sharon elbowed her and was about to say something when a bright light appeared out of nowhere.
“What the…,” Sheila muttered. Then the light disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
“What was that?” Sharon wanted to know. Then shots erupted.
Sheila quickly dove for cover, pulling her sister with her. Hiding behind a corner Sheila peered around it with a frown on her face. Who would be shooting at them? They were in Atlantis. This was the safest place in the galaxy! It might be dangerous out there, but not here! She didn’t even have a gun with her. Her weapons were on board the Aurora already.
More shots were fired and missed her by inches. Crap, what should they do?
Glancing towards her sister Sheila froze. “Sharon!” she exclaimed. Her sister was slumped against the wall, holding her chest. Blood was seeping through her fingers.
“No!” She quickly pressed her hand over her sisters, trying to stop the blood flow. Sharon’s eyes were wide with shock. She had to get her to a doctor as quickly as possible. But what about the shooters, she wondered. Then she was pulled up and thrown against the wall hard.
“I thought the city was supposed to be empty,” someone muttered. Then a gun was pressed against her forehead. “Who are you?”
Sheila stared at the man. She had never seen him before and he wasn’t wearing anything her people would ever wear. How did he get into the city?
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Day 6: Atlantis - a corridor:
Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell walked through Atlantis, exploring a little. After helping out with the new recruits self defense test he went to the cafeteria and ate something. Then he decided to check out the city of the ancients. He didn’t get a chance to see much of it the last time he was here and since he probably would be stationed here from now on, he might as well get to know the place.
His thoughts wandered to all the people they had lost in the explosion. He’d miss General Landry the most. But there were so many people they had lost. Almost every team had still been on base. They should have been home. It was late in the evening when the explosion occurred. But there were no normal working hours in the Stargate program.
Cam sighed, trying to push away the thoughts and find something else to think about. But what? He needed a distraction.
As if on cue the cities alarm went off.
Cam stopped in his tracks and cursed. He hadn’t meant that kind of distraction!
Frowning he tapped his radio. “This is Colonel Mitchell. What’s going on?” he asked.
“Cam, wait a sec. I’m not entirely sure, yet,” Sam answered. “I’m in the control room. We’ll get back to you as soon as we figure out what caused the alarm.”
It didn’t take long until one of the technicians, Chuck, brought him up to speed. Dinosaurs? Right! One day he’d wake up and there would be nothing left that could surprise him anymore. Today apparently wasn’t that day.
He contacted Vala and Teal’c and told them to meet him at the cafeteria. Then they’d go on a dinosaur hunt.
Cam headed towards the cafeteria, gun in hand, as General O’Neill’s voice boomed through the city, warning everyone. Then he heard gunshots. Maybe someone had run into dinosaurs and needed help. He quickly headed in the direction the gunshots came from.
He didn’t see any dinosaurs. Instead he soon noticed two men and two women. One woman was bleeding and on the ground. The other was backed against the wall, a gun pointed at her head by one of the men. Cam didn’t know any of them, but he was pretty sure whose side he was on.
“Drop the gun,” he called, approaching silently. He probably shouldn’t have announced himself like that, as the second man spun around and shot at him. That’s what you got for not shooting someone from behind, he thought as he dropped to the ground and fired.
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Sheila was sure the man was going to shoot her, just like they shot her sister. But then another man arrived. He distracted the men long enough for her to yank the guys arm away and kick him in the crotch. As he stumbled backwards she hit him in the face hard and he fell to the ground.
The other man was on the ground, too, probably dead, but she didn’t have time to check on him. Sharon was more important. She knelt down beside her sister.
“Sharon, can you hear me?” she asked as she felt for a pulse. There was one, but it was faint.
“Is she alive?” the man who helped her asked while kneeling down next to them.
“Yes.”
“We need to get her to the infirmary,” Cameron said. He still wasn’t sure who these people were, but that could wait.
Sheila looked up at the man. He wasn’t dressed in the typical lantean clothes either. Was he an intruder as well? But why would he help her against his own people? She probably shouldn’t wonder about that and instead make sure he couldn’t turn on her. Her gaze fell on the gun of the man who had pushed her against the wall.
Cam noticed her gaze and sighed. He quickly grabbed the gun and holstered it.
“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help.”
Sheila stared at him. When he reached for the gun she thought he was going to threaten her after all. But he didn’t.
“Who are you? And how did you get into Atlantis?”
“How did I get into Atlantis? I was going to ask you the same, seeing as you don’t really look like you belong here.” He gestured at her clothes. Then he bent towards the unconscious woman.
“I’ll carry her to the infirmary.” He couldn’t call for medics to get her. There were dinosaurs on the loose. Civilians shouldn’t move around. It was too big a risk.
“What do you mean I don’t belong here? I’ve lived here all my live. I’m lantean, unlike you!”
Cam stared at her. “You’re what? OMG!” There were dinosaurs in the city, which probably meant that time travel was involved. So, why should the dinosaurs be the only ones that came here? “You’re an ancient.”
Sheila tilted her head. “Do I look ancient to you?” she asked, not really understanding what he was getting at. Then she gestured at her sister. “We need to move.”
“Right,” Cam said and picked the wounded woman up. Luckily she was small and thin, so she wasn’t too heavy.
He made a few steps and then glanced around, not sure where to go.
“This way. There’s a transporter right here,” Sheila said.
Cam followed her, glad that she knew the way.
“Listen, this is probably going to sound crazy, but I think you traveled through time,” he said biting his lip as they walked into the transporter.
Sheila turned to face him. “We traveled through time? How?” she asked. It might sound crazy, but Sheila knew that time travel was possible. Her father was one of Atlantis head scientists. He had been working on time travel devices for years. Ever since her mother died he seemed obsessed with them. But she and Sharon had been nowhere near one.
That was not the reaction he had expected. She seemed way too calm and didn’t tell him he was crazy or kidding. But then again, if she was an ancient she probably knew a lot more about stuff like that than he did.
“An anci-, er lantean device is malfunctioning. It seems to have something to do with time travel. We have prehistoric animals in the city, too.”
Sheila sighed. This was all so strange. She couldn’t deal with this right now.
The transporter stopped and they stepped out right next to the infirmary. Dr. Keller opened the locked doors when Cam called that they had an emergency.
Within seconds a lot of doctors and nurses rushed to their side and the wounded ancient was rushed off. The other one followed.
Cam stayed back and tapped his radio.
“General O’Neill, this is Colonel Mitchell. I think more than just dinosaurs appeared in the city.”
“Why am I not surprised,” came the answer. “What did you find, Colonel?”
“Some trigger-happy humans. And I think two ancients.”
There was silence.
“You mean actual ancients? Living and breathing ones?”
“Yes. One of them has been shot though. I’m in the infirmary with them now.”
“Okay, stay with them. I was meaning to send someone to the infirmary anyway, in case one of our dinosaurs decides to check out that part of the city.”
“Understood.”
Cam silently walked towards the region the doctors had taken the ancient while letting the General bring him up to date and telling him where to find the attackers.
Once he was done talking to O’Neill Cam contacted Vala and Teal’c, telling them what happened. Then he went over to the ancient.
“They’ll take good care of her,” he promised.
Sheila glanced at the man who had helped her, feeling glad that he was still there. She felt a little lost now that Sharon had been taken away. This really wasn’t her time. It weren’t her people. She had no idea what to do now. How could she get back home? And what about Sharon? She wouldn’t go anywhere without her.
Cam looked at her, wondering what she was thinking. This surely wasn’t easy for her.
“I’m Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell,” he introduced himself, trying to make her feel more at ease.
“Sheila Trebal, 1st officer of the lantean warship Aurora,” she said and then sighed as she remembered how excited her sister had been about her first trip on the Aurora. She probably wouldn’t make that trip now.
“Nice to meet you, Sheila,” Cam said with a smile. Then he noticed a young black woman coming towards them.
“I’m Dr. Jones. Can I help you?” she asked and looked at them a little concerned.
Cam followed her gaze and noticed how bloody they actually were. “Oh. It’s not our blood.” He glanced at Sheila.
“You’re not hurt, right?”
“No, it’s all my sisters’ blood.”
“Ah, okay. You can clean up over there,” the doctor told them. Cam nodded and thanked her. Then he led Sheila over to the bathroom.
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Day 6: Atlantis - corridor:
“Stay back,” Major Lorne called as a dinosaur headed towards them. He had played the hostage for team 3 of the new recruits. As soon as he heard about the threat he had tried to get the team to the nearest transporter and get them to safety. But of course that hadn’t turned out as planned. The corridor the transporter was in was already occupied.
“Major Lorne, there is a prehistoric animal coming towards you,” Zelenka’s voice came over the radio.
“No kidding,” Lorne mumbled as he raised his gun and fired. The dinosaur was hit, but still kept coming.
“Move, move, move,” he called and pushed the team members into the next room.
“Can you lock that door?” he asked while standing at attention, his gun held high.
“Sure,” Amelia Banks answered and went over to the wall, taking off the controls for the door. She wasn’t sure if a locked door would stop that dinosaur, but they could hope. It might just run past the room anyway.
“This is so not what I expected when I got out of bed this morning,” she muttered while working.
Major Lorne chuckled. “Welcome to my world,” he said. At least 50% of all days he was surprised by something he didn’t expect. Work in the Stargate program was definitely never dull. Well, at least not unless you had to accompany one of the botanists to a planet to admire the alien plant life.
“Done,” Amelia announced and moved away from the door.
“Good,” Lorne answered. Then he tapped his radio. “Zelenka, where is it?”
“It moved on, Major Lorne,” the scientist answered. “Stay where you are. Ronon and Teyla are on their way to you with weapons.”
“Understood,” Lorne answered. Then he turned to look at the others. Two of them were sitting on the ground, looking rather pale. They definitely weren’t cut out for this job. You had to be ready for anything, if you stepped through the Stargate. You never knew what was on the other side.
The Chinese team leader was holding it together better, but he hadn’t said a word since he saw the dinosaur. Lorne was definitely glad he had been there when this team was faced with the reality of what it meant to be a member of the Stargate program. At least Amelia was doing fine.
“What made you decide to try and join one of the teams?” he asked her.
Amelia shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to see what’s out there more often.” It was the truth, but the main reason actually was Ronon. He had once told her that they could use someone with her fighting skills out there. That was when she had started to think about it. When she heard about the new recruits coming in for tests she asked if she could join them. She wasn’t good at shooting, hadn’t even tried more than once or twice. But not all team members needed to be good at that. Some teams had scientist member who couldn’t shoot or fight. She could at least fight. And she was a technician, so she surely could be of use for a team, too, right?
Lorne smiled. “There’s a lot to see. You’ll like it.”
“Then you think I have a chance?” she asked, sounding hopeful.
“Definitely. You can join my team right away,” he answered.
Amelia grinned, but the grin soon faded when she remembered that Major Lorne had lost his team during the explosion at the SGC. Lorne probably would be dead as well, if it wasn’t for a small injury he had gotten on his previous mission. Dr. Lam had put him off duty. So he stayed in Atlantis while the rest of his team and some other Atlantis teams had gone on missions from the SGC.
“Major Lorne, this is Teyla. Are you in there? The door is locked.”
“Yes, we’re in here. Just a sec.”
Amelia opened the door and Ronon and Teyla walked in. Teyla went over to Major Lorne while Ronon went straight to her. His eyes travelled up and down her body. She felt heat well up inside of her at his gaze.
“You alright?” he asked when he seemed finished with his examination. Amelia blinked and came back to the present. He was just checking for injuries! No need to get all weak in the knees. But Ronon just had that effect on her. She had always liked him and thought that he was incredibly hot. That had only intensified since he actually seemed to notice her.
Ronon stared at her, waiting, for an answer.
“I’m fine,” she quickly said and smiled at him.
Ronon returned her smile, feeling relieved to hear her words. He really had been worried about her. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for her to join an off-world team. She’d constantly be in danger. Well, it wasn’t as if she asked for his opinion. She hadn’t even told him that she was trying out to be a team member. Maybe she didn’t think he’d like the idea. Well, he didn’t! It wasn’t that he didn’t think she could handle herself. He knew she could. She was one hell of a fighter. It was what first attracted him to her. But he definitely didn’t like the thought of having to worry about her whenever she was off-world and he wasn’t with her. He sighed slightly and pushed the thought away. There was no use worrying about the future. He first had to keep her safe from those animals.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said handing her a gun.
Major Lorne took a p-90 from Teyla and watched as she handed a gun to the chinese team leader. Then he glanced at the two men on the floor who hadn’t even moved when Ronon and Teyla entered the room. Turning back to Teyla he shook his head. Giving those two weapons probably would be very stupid. They obviously weren’t right for this kind of job. Who knew what they’d do if they saw another dinosaur and had guns? They might shoot around blindly in their state of shock and hit someone else in the process.
“Let’s just get them out of here.”
Teyla nodded and went over to the two men. Kneeling down in front of them she started to talk to them in a soothing voice. She definitely was good with people.
A few minutes later they headed out of the room, Teyla and Major Lorne in the front, Ronon and Amelia at the back of the group.
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Fred Burkle looked at all the books in front of her. She was in the library of Wolfram and Hart, looking for information on a specific demon. She touched one of he books when a bright light suddenly erupted. She shielded her eyes quickly, wondering what was going on.
When the light faded Fred looked around startled. She was no longer in the library. There were no bookshelves. She was in a corridor of a building that looked very unfamiliar.
“Oh no,” she muttered. This couldn’t be happening. Not again! She had once fallen through a portal when she was in a library. Had the same happened again?
“Damn portals. And damn libraries,” she muttered. She would never go into a library again! First she had to get back home though. But how? She felt panic well up inside of her.
“Breathe,” she told herself and tried to calm down. At least this place didn’t look as bad as the last one she ended up in. This was very modern. Nothing in Pylea had been modern at all, especially not the point of views of its inhabitants. Fred really hoped this place was different and that there was no slavery here.
She started to walk into one direction. Hopefully she’d meet someone soon, preferably a human. But she didn’t seem to be that lucky. A group of people walked around a corner, if you could call them people. They were demons of some sort and they were armed. Fred flinched. Somehow she felt like running away. But what kind of first impression would that make? She needed help. And who knew if there was anyone else here. Those demons might be the only living beings in this world.
“Hello,” she said and waved slightly, trying to oppress her fear. “Could someone please tell me where I am?”
The demons raised their weapons and came closer. Fred gulped.
“Please don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.” She slightly raised her arms.
One of the demons started to grin at her. “She’s mine,” he stated in a rough voice.
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“Wraith! There are Wraith in the city,” Teyla called. She could sense them clearly, even though they had not been there moments ago.
“What?” Ronon muttered. “How the hell did they find us here?”
Lorne cursed. “I guess it has something to do with that ancient device.”
Teyla nodded before contacting the control room, warning them.
Major Lorne slowly turned around a corner and then froze. A woman was standing a few feet away, a group of Wraith coming towards her. He couldn’t shoot, as the woman was between him and the Wraith.
“Get down!” he called.
The woman turned around, looked at him with fearful eyes, but dropped to the ground quickly. The Wraith were almost upon her. They had to stop them. He opened fire.
Teyla stepped next to him and started shooting as well. Ronon didn’t take long to join them.
Fred lay on the ground and winced when the shooting started. It was really loud and she was afraid to get hit. But at least humans were here. She felt better knowing that those demons where not the only living beings in this world. She definitely didn’t think she’d like them. She didn’t like the sound of the one who had spoken and she definitely didn’t want to be his, whatever that meant.
Pushing away all thoughts Fred started to crawl towards the humans, but then someone grabbed her foot and started to pull.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Lorne muttered rushing closer and shooting the Wraith that grabbed the woman in the head. All Wraith were on the ground now, but some were still moving. Ronon and Teyla took care of them.
Lorne knelt down next to the woman and offered her his hand.
“I’m Major Lorne, US Air Force. You’re going to be okay.”
Fred looked at him and took his hand. Somehow she had the feeling that she really would be okay now, which was stupid. She fell through a portal - again! Nothing was okay. But maybe these people would help her get home. And the man was from the US Air Force, which meant she didn’t end up in a demon dimension. But where was she?
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poster / book cover for this chapter:
chapter 5