Stargate -- Kriegsspiel -- Hoodman's Blind -- Eighteen
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Eighteen
Daniel hefted another metal panel from the stack and carried it over to the building frame he and a few of the Marines were working on. Once completed, the building would house the computer systems for controlling the ‘gate. Unburying the ‘gate would be their next task.
Sam and her team had rigged up a system to accept IDCs, and had a plan for an iris once the ‘gate was unburied. At the last meeting, Sam had said there was enough information in the Odyssey’s computers to at least begin experimenting with building a device to generate enough power for contacting Atlantis.
There was a piercing wolf whistle and Daniel turned, unsurprised to see Vala standing behind him with a smug grin on her face. “Shirtless and sweaty is a good look on you, Daniel, darling,” she said.
Daniel snorted. “I’m sure you have something better to do.” He held the sheet in place so Lieutenant Conway could attach it to the frame. The building supplies Jack and Reynolds had seeded were like life-sized children’s toys: metal bars that could be snapped together into sturdy square and triangular frames with sheets of metal for the walls. There were extra beams, so they had replaced the panels that would have been roofing and floors with local materials, which had given them extra materials to build more buildings.
“Undoubtedly,” Vala said, sitting down on a nearby rock. “But this is much more fun. You’re such an easy target.” Conway attached the last fastener and Daniel went to get another panel. “Why are you fighting with Sam?”
Daniel dropped the panel on his foot and cursed loudly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, once the sharp pain in his foot had subsided to a dull throb.
“You’re not a good liar,” Vala said. “And I would know.” She sighed. “She’s taking it out on everyone, but I’ve decided that you and General Jack are the cause. Why is she mad at you?”
“I am not talking about this here,” Daniel muttered, picking up the panel again and carrying it over to lean it against the half-constructed wall.
Vala stood and grabbed Daniel’s arm. “Then we’ll talk somewhere else,” she said, tugging slightly.
Daniel tossed Conway a look, and the man shrugged. They all knew Vala was a force of nature when she wanted to be. “Fine,” Daniel said, pulling his arm out of Vala’s grip and heading off for the treeline. “This way.”
Once they were out of earshot, Vala tugged on his arm again. “Alright, spill.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Have you talked to her? Or Jack?” he added softly.
Vala shook her head. “Would I be talking to you if I knew what was going on?” Daniel frowned, and she laughed. “I don’t think your General likes me, and Sam isn’t talking to anyone. That’s not like her.”
“No, it’s not,” Daniel said, frowning. Leaning back against a tree, he took off his glasses and closed his eyes. He focused on the feel of the bark against his back for a moment to ground himself, and then opened his eyes, turning to face her again. “Sam…found out about a, uh, a secret Jack and I were keeping.” Vala made a go on gesture, and Daniel resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at her. “Jack and I are…together.”
“How is that news?” Vala said. “We’re all together, every day. We can’t get out from under each other, we’re so together. Though that could be fun.” She waggled an eyebrow suggestively.
Daniel shook his head. “No, I mean we’re in a relationship. Have been for a long time now. We didn’t tell anyone because it’s illegal in the American military, for two men to be together.”
Vala’s expression gave nothing away. “Oh,” she said. “Should I apologize for all the flirting, then?”
“No,” Daniel said. “It didn’t really bother me.” Not quite true, but that wasn’t a big deal. “And it made a good distraction. I-Sam is angry at us for lying, and she feels used, I think, since Jack flirted with her mostly to throw people off our scent. If you felt like that, you’d tell me, right?” he added quickly.
“Sure,” Vala said, turning away. “Yeah. Thanks for telling me. You can get back to work now.”
Daniel watched her go, feeling like there was something else he should have said, but not sure what.
For a split second, it was almost as if he was seeing another woman superimposed over Vala-one with dark, shoulder-length hair-the woman from his vision. Then Vala turned, and as she came into profile she was just Vala again. Daniel rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on. He knew he shouldn’t dismiss what he’d seen, but he didn’t know what it meant, or who to tell.
*
“I’ve found a planet,” Bosworth said. “And it seems to have a ‘gate.”
“That’s…helpful,” Cam said, sitting up from his slouch in the captain’s chair. It was only the two of them on bridge duty, and Cam had been relaxing since there wasn’t much else for him to do. “Will that help us figure out where we are?”
“Possibly,” Bosworth said. “This would be easier if there was a ‘gate where we’re trying to transmit to.”
“We know the address, and we know they were planning on unburying the ‘gate,” Cam said. “It doesn’t cost us anything to try to contact them.”
“And if it doesn’t work, we can try one of the market planets the ground teams might be on,” Bosworth added.
“Good idea,” Cam said. “Get us into geosynchronous orbit above wherever the ‘gate is, and then round up the crew.”
“Permission to go with you to the surface, sir?”
“Granted.” Cam stood and stretched, wincing when his spine crackled. “I’m going to start packing gear for four. Send Balinsky and Wells to help once we’ve arrived.”
Cam heard Bosworth’s “Aye, sir,” as he left the bridge, heading down the corridor to the small storage room where they kept offworld gear. Hopefully, the General had had the ‘gate unburied during the time they’d been missing. The ship was repaired, but the galaxy was a huge place, especially when you were lost.
Cam was just finishing the third pack when Bosworth, Balinsky, and Wells entered the room. “What do we know about the planet?” he asked.
“Seems to be uninhabited, at least around the ‘gate,” Balinsky said, coming over and taking his pack. Cam started working on his own.
“We can’t get a visual from here, but the naquada concentration indicates that there’s almost certainly a DHD,” Wells said.
“Good to know,” Cam said.
“Colonel Dixon is ready to ring us down,” Bosworth said.
Cam closed his pack and swung it up onto his shoulders. He looked around at his team and then keyed the radio on his shoulder. “We’re ready.” Any response Dixon made was lost in transport, and seconds later Cam was standing on the surface of an alien planet. He closed his eyes for just a moment and took a deep breath; this never got old. “Bosworth, Balinsky, check on the ‘gate, then start dialing. Wells, perimeter-with me.”
Cam walked the perimeter of the clearing once while Bosworth and Balinsky checked on the DHD. “I’ve got the point of origin,” Balinsky said once Cam was standing next to them again. “We’re good to go.”
“Dial it up,” Cam said, turning to face the ‘gate. And if he was crossing his fingers where he had his hand tucked into this pocket, well, no one else needed to know.
Balinsky clicked in the address, and the ‘gate started to spin. If this didn’t work, Cam was quickly running out of ideas. The clunk of the chevrons engaging reverberated in his skull. The sixth engaged, and he held his breath.
The whoosh of the event horizon swirling into life was probably one of the most beautiful sounds Cam had ever heard. And from the sudden relaxation in his team’s shoulders, he knew he wasn’t the only one who had been holding his breath. Thinking quickly, Cam keyed his radio and said, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“Oh God, Cam, is that you?” Sam’s voice crackled on the radio, but Cam had changed his mind: that was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“In the flesh,” Cam said, grinning. “Well, sort of. Our most recent IDC was 347-Tango-23. My serial number is-”
“That’s fine,” Sam said. “What happened?”
“Lucian Alliance attacked us as we were leaving the market planet,” Cam said. “Gates was able to fix the engines, but we’re not sure where we are. Though, I’m man enough to ask for directions.”
Sam’s laugh seemed a little forced, but Cam didn’t care. “Keep transmitting for another couple of minutes and I’ll be able to tell you where you are. I was afraid we’d lost you,” she added softly.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” Cam said. “Bosworth, update Dixon on our status. We’re getting out of here.”
*
Sam was sitting in the main computer lab, idly flipping through the files in the Odyssey’s transplanted memory banks. Before the destruction of Area 51, the Odyssey-and the Prometheus before it-had used as a backup for Area 51’s main R&D computers. She was hoping that something in the archive would inspire a solution to the problems they were having with the Earth satellite transmitter. And it was as good a distraction as any from…other things she didn’t want to think about.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Sam looked up to see Vala standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?” Sam shrugged and Vala clearly took that as an invitation, closing the door behind her and pulling up a chair to sit next to Sam. “So, something’s bothering you.”
“Oh, not you, too,” Sam said, hitting the left arrow a little more emphatically than would have been strictly necessary. “If you’ve come to get me to talk about my feelings, you can just leave.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Vala asked. “I’ve come to tell you to get over yourself.” Sam looked at her incredulously, but Vala only gave that little smirk of hers. “You’ve got every right to be mad at them, you just need to stop taking it out on everyone else.”
“I am not-” Sam began, but Vala cut her off.
“I’m sure you’re working on that thing to hook up a device to an Earth satellite, but why are you working on it alone? And don’t tell me you prefer it that way,” she added, before Sam could answer. “I know you like working with others, sharing ideas. Have you considered that, in being cold to the boys, you’re freezing everyone else out, too?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Sam said after a moment, realizing was true. She’d buried herself in work-eating in her lab, even sleeping there sometimes-she didn’t remember the last time she spoke to someone outside of the occasional staff meeting. But…. “Are you telling me I’m wrong to be angry?”
“No, I’m not.” That wasn’t at all the response Sam was expecting. “Yes, they lied to you, they lied to all of us,” Vala said, and Sam wondered how much of Vala’s flirting with Daniel was real, rather than just an attempt to make him uncomfortable. “But you shouldn’t be taking it out on everyone else. I’m not saying you should forget what happened, or even forgive them, but from what I’ve seen, you guys make a really good team, and it’s hard to be a team when you’re not talking to each other.”
“Honestly, I don’t care what they have to say,” Sam said. Vala was frowning, but she wasn’t the one who’d put her life on hold in the hope that….
Sam looked down at the screen and was surprised to see a Tok’ra report about a Tollan device. A device that sent transmissions using a beam of light. “Vala, as much as I appreciate your concern, I think I’ve just had a breakthrough.” Vala looked upset. “I’ll think about it some more, I promise,” Sam said. She dove back into reading the report, and didn’t notice when Vala left the lab.
continued in Nineteen
back to Master Post
Eighteen
Daniel hefted another metal panel from the stack and carried it over to the building frame he and a few of the Marines were working on. Once completed, the building would house the computer systems for controlling the ‘gate. Unburying the ‘gate would be their next task.
Sam and her team had rigged up a system to accept IDCs, and had a plan for an iris once the ‘gate was unburied. At the last meeting, Sam had said there was enough information in the Odyssey’s computers to at least begin experimenting with building a device to generate enough power for contacting Atlantis.
There was a piercing wolf whistle and Daniel turned, unsurprised to see Vala standing behind him with a smug grin on her face. “Shirtless and sweaty is a good look on you, Daniel, darling,” she said.
Daniel snorted. “I’m sure you have something better to do.” He held the sheet in place so Lieutenant Conway could attach it to the frame. The building supplies Jack and Reynolds had seeded were like life-sized children’s toys: metal bars that could be snapped together into sturdy square and triangular frames with sheets of metal for the walls. There were extra beams, so they had replaced the panels that would have been roofing and floors with local materials, which had given them extra materials to build more buildings.
“Undoubtedly,” Vala said, sitting down on a nearby rock. “But this is much more fun. You’re such an easy target.” Conway attached the last fastener and Daniel went to get another panel. “Why are you fighting with Sam?”
Daniel dropped the panel on his foot and cursed loudly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, once the sharp pain in his foot had subsided to a dull throb.
“You’re not a good liar,” Vala said. “And I would know.” She sighed. “She’s taking it out on everyone, but I’ve decided that you and General Jack are the cause. Why is she mad at you?”
“I am not talking about this here,” Daniel muttered, picking up the panel again and carrying it over to lean it against the half-constructed wall.
Vala stood and grabbed Daniel’s arm. “Then we’ll talk somewhere else,” she said, tugging slightly.
Daniel tossed Conway a look, and the man shrugged. They all knew Vala was a force of nature when she wanted to be. “Fine,” Daniel said, pulling his arm out of Vala’s grip and heading off for the treeline. “This way.”
Once they were out of earshot, Vala tugged on his arm again. “Alright, spill.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Have you talked to her? Or Jack?” he added softly.
Vala shook her head. “Would I be talking to you if I knew what was going on?” Daniel frowned, and she laughed. “I don’t think your General likes me, and Sam isn’t talking to anyone. That’s not like her.”
“No, it’s not,” Daniel said, frowning. Leaning back against a tree, he took off his glasses and closed his eyes. He focused on the feel of the bark against his back for a moment to ground himself, and then opened his eyes, turning to face her again. “Sam…found out about a, uh, a secret Jack and I were keeping.” Vala made a go on gesture, and Daniel resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at her. “Jack and I are…together.”
“How is that news?” Vala said. “We’re all together, every day. We can’t get out from under each other, we’re so together. Though that could be fun.” She waggled an eyebrow suggestively.
Daniel shook his head. “No, I mean we’re in a relationship. Have been for a long time now. We didn’t tell anyone because it’s illegal in the American military, for two men to be together.”
Vala’s expression gave nothing away. “Oh,” she said. “Should I apologize for all the flirting, then?”
“No,” Daniel said. “It didn’t really bother me.” Not quite true, but that wasn’t a big deal. “And it made a good distraction. I-Sam is angry at us for lying, and she feels used, I think, since Jack flirted with her mostly to throw people off our scent. If you felt like that, you’d tell me, right?” he added quickly.
“Sure,” Vala said, turning away. “Yeah. Thanks for telling me. You can get back to work now.”
Daniel watched her go, feeling like there was something else he should have said, but not sure what.
For a split second, it was almost as if he was seeing another woman superimposed over Vala-one with dark, shoulder-length hair-the woman from his vision. Then Vala turned, and as she came into profile she was just Vala again. Daniel rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on. He knew he shouldn’t dismiss what he’d seen, but he didn’t know what it meant, or who to tell.
*
“I’ve found a planet,” Bosworth said. “And it seems to have a ‘gate.”
“That’s…helpful,” Cam said, sitting up from his slouch in the captain’s chair. It was only the two of them on bridge duty, and Cam had been relaxing since there wasn’t much else for him to do. “Will that help us figure out where we are?”
“Possibly,” Bosworth said. “This would be easier if there was a ‘gate where we’re trying to transmit to.”
“We know the address, and we know they were planning on unburying the ‘gate,” Cam said. “It doesn’t cost us anything to try to contact them.”
“And if it doesn’t work, we can try one of the market planets the ground teams might be on,” Bosworth added.
“Good idea,” Cam said. “Get us into geosynchronous orbit above wherever the ‘gate is, and then round up the crew.”
“Permission to go with you to the surface, sir?”
“Granted.” Cam stood and stretched, wincing when his spine crackled. “I’m going to start packing gear for four. Send Balinsky and Wells to help once we’ve arrived.”
Cam heard Bosworth’s “Aye, sir,” as he left the bridge, heading down the corridor to the small storage room where they kept offworld gear. Hopefully, the General had had the ‘gate unburied during the time they’d been missing. The ship was repaired, but the galaxy was a huge place, especially when you were lost.
Cam was just finishing the third pack when Bosworth, Balinsky, and Wells entered the room. “What do we know about the planet?” he asked.
“Seems to be uninhabited, at least around the ‘gate,” Balinsky said, coming over and taking his pack. Cam started working on his own.
“We can’t get a visual from here, but the naquada concentration indicates that there’s almost certainly a DHD,” Wells said.
“Good to know,” Cam said.
“Colonel Dixon is ready to ring us down,” Bosworth said.
Cam closed his pack and swung it up onto his shoulders. He looked around at his team and then keyed the radio on his shoulder. “We’re ready.” Any response Dixon made was lost in transport, and seconds later Cam was standing on the surface of an alien planet. He closed his eyes for just a moment and took a deep breath; this never got old. “Bosworth, Balinsky, check on the ‘gate, then start dialing. Wells, perimeter-with me.”
Cam walked the perimeter of the clearing once while Bosworth and Balinsky checked on the DHD. “I’ve got the point of origin,” Balinsky said once Cam was standing next to them again. “We’re good to go.”
“Dial it up,” Cam said, turning to face the ‘gate. And if he was crossing his fingers where he had his hand tucked into this pocket, well, no one else needed to know.
Balinsky clicked in the address, and the ‘gate started to spin. If this didn’t work, Cam was quickly running out of ideas. The clunk of the chevrons engaging reverberated in his skull. The sixth engaged, and he held his breath.
The whoosh of the event horizon swirling into life was probably one of the most beautiful sounds Cam had ever heard. And from the sudden relaxation in his team’s shoulders, he knew he wasn’t the only one who had been holding his breath. Thinking quickly, Cam keyed his radio and said, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“Oh God, Cam, is that you?” Sam’s voice crackled on the radio, but Cam had changed his mind: that was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“In the flesh,” Cam said, grinning. “Well, sort of. Our most recent IDC was 347-Tango-23. My serial number is-”
“That’s fine,” Sam said. “What happened?”
“Lucian Alliance attacked us as we were leaving the market planet,” Cam said. “Gates was able to fix the engines, but we’re not sure where we are. Though, I’m man enough to ask for directions.”
Sam’s laugh seemed a little forced, but Cam didn’t care. “Keep transmitting for another couple of minutes and I’ll be able to tell you where you are. I was afraid we’d lost you,” she added softly.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” Cam said. “Bosworth, update Dixon on our status. We’re getting out of here.”
*
Sam was sitting in the main computer lab, idly flipping through the files in the Odyssey’s transplanted memory banks. Before the destruction of Area 51, the Odyssey-and the Prometheus before it-had used as a backup for Area 51’s main R&D computers. She was hoping that something in the archive would inspire a solution to the problems they were having with the Earth satellite transmitter. And it was as good a distraction as any from…other things she didn’t want to think about.
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Sam looked up to see Vala standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?” Sam shrugged and Vala clearly took that as an invitation, closing the door behind her and pulling up a chair to sit next to Sam. “So, something’s bothering you.”
“Oh, not you, too,” Sam said, hitting the left arrow a little more emphatically than would have been strictly necessary. “If you’ve come to get me to talk about my feelings, you can just leave.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Vala asked. “I’ve come to tell you to get over yourself.” Sam looked at her incredulously, but Vala only gave that little smirk of hers. “You’ve got every right to be mad at them, you just need to stop taking it out on everyone else.”
“I am not-” Sam began, but Vala cut her off.
“I’m sure you’re working on that thing to hook up a device to an Earth satellite, but why are you working on it alone? And don’t tell me you prefer it that way,” she added, before Sam could answer. “I know you like working with others, sharing ideas. Have you considered that, in being cold to the boys, you’re freezing everyone else out, too?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Sam said after a moment, realizing was true. She’d buried herself in work-eating in her lab, even sleeping there sometimes-she didn’t remember the last time she spoke to someone outside of the occasional staff meeting. But…. “Are you telling me I’m wrong to be angry?”
“No, I’m not.” That wasn’t at all the response Sam was expecting. “Yes, they lied to you, they lied to all of us,” Vala said, and Sam wondered how much of Vala’s flirting with Daniel was real, rather than just an attempt to make him uncomfortable. “But you shouldn’t be taking it out on everyone else. I’m not saying you should forget what happened, or even forgive them, but from what I’ve seen, you guys make a really good team, and it’s hard to be a team when you’re not talking to each other.”
“Honestly, I don’t care what they have to say,” Sam said. Vala was frowning, but she wasn’t the one who’d put her life on hold in the hope that….
Sam looked down at the screen and was surprised to see a Tok’ra report about a Tollan device. A device that sent transmissions using a beam of light. “Vala, as much as I appreciate your concern, I think I’ve just had a breakthrough.” Vala looked upset. “I’ll think about it some more, I promise,” Sam said. She dove back into reading the report, and didn’t notice when Vala left the lab.
continued in Nineteen
back to Master Post