Exodus
Exodus
by Varilynn
Summary: The world ends on a Monday morning
Category: Drama
Season: future Season
Pairing: none
Rating: FAM
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 2005-02-28
The world ends on a Monday morning.
Everyone agrees, amid the chaos that follows, that the timing is strangely fitting.
Before the commissary can start brewing the second batch of coffee the alert is going out. Earth, as humans knew it, would be forever changed in just under 6 hours.
In the control room, SG-1 and their general allow themselves a few precious seconds to stare at each other. Then Jack is gone, taking the stairs three at a time to his office and the red phone. As soon as he is connected with the President, he utters the words he'd prayed would never leave his mouth. It takes only a minute to pass the message along, to start the ball rolling on a mass evacuation of Earth.
The message is passed on to a room of agents, each armed with their own red phones. Ten minutes after the alarm has been sounded, and around the country jets are being scrambled and pressed into transport duty.
This contingency has been in place for nearly nine years. It's been modified in the time since, as other countries were made aware of the Stargate. When it's clear that this is it - there are no more defences, Earth is about to fall - the mass evacuation begins. Endless meetings and committees have gone into planning just this scenario. And now, around the world, the fastest planes built begin to shuttle people to the SGC.
No one is thinking military force. National governments just became useless. Focus has now shifted from protecting those in power, to ensuring the continuation of present day Earth civilization. Doctors from all fields, the world's leading scientists, engineers, teachers, professors, experts in every imaginable subject. The future of the Tau'ri.
Teal'c mans the main gates of the facility. The personnel of NORAD have been told the basics - they have six hours to collect their children and families and return to the base. After eight years on top of the SGC, this somehow doesn't surprise them. Barely an hour after the alarm, and a steady exodus of refugees enter the mountain under Teal'c's watchful eye.
Daniel rushes through his lab, packing up his notebooks and journals, the history of the Stargate. He supervises their removal, trusting his assistants to see them safely through the 'Gate. When he's alone, he goes to a locked strong box and keys in the combination. He does a quick but thorough inventory of the contents. Inside this box is the history of Earth. Every book ever printed, every piece of music ever written, right down to the most recent pop singles. Every painting. Holo-images of statues, works of art, architectural marvels. Movies, television shows. Scans of the planet. Thousands of years of history reduced to a box of crystals, the results of months of hard work. It's been waiting in Daniel's lab for this day.
Out in the corridor, a squad of marines gives way to let Daniel pass. Everyone assigned to the SGC recognizes the significance of what he is carrying. The rest of the world may be going to hell, but it's Daniel's responsibility to ensure that this legacy of Earth continues. The marines close ranks and escort him past the river of people to the Gateroom.
Sam alternates her time between the control room and the Gateroom. For the seventh time, the 'Gate shuts itself down, and she re-dials the Alpha site. When Daniel enters below her, she hurries down the stairs. Airmen hold the evacuation line so Daniel can pass through. His place now will be at the Alpha site, helping to organize and calm the new arrivals. Sam gives him a hug. With his arms full Daniel can't return it, but he smiles and promises he'll see her soon. A nod from Sam, and Daniel walks up the ramp and through the Stargate.
Sam has called her brother in Denver. He, his wife, and their kids should be speeding towards Colorado Springs as fast as traffic will allow. Maybe it's selfish, but after all the hell she's been through in the last near-decade, she really just wants her family to be there on the other side. It doesn't seem like much to ask after the countless sacrifices.
She pushes thoughts of her family from her mind and makes her way back to the control room. Grabbing a cup of coffee from a passing airman, she joins Davis to monitor the wormhole. They don't want the huge increase in traffic to disrupt the system. Jack paces restlessly behind them before being called to the phone again.
Cassie is in the middle of an ethics lecture when her pager goes off. She sits frozen for almost a minute, unable to believe the message. But it's there, it's real, and she shakes herself. Not even bothering with her bag, Cassie races from the lecture hall. Her car seems to be an impossible distance away.
She leaves skid marks as she pulls up in front of her apartment. She's double-parked and in a fire lane but she's hardly concerned with getting a ticket. Her boyfriend is home, thank the gods. She'd met Eric at the beginning of the semester and he'd since moved in. He's smart, funny, and has no family to speak of. Taking the stairs two at a time she wonders if subconsciously this is why she chose him. Knowing this day might come, the day they would leave their lives behind is made easier when they only have each other.
Eric is surprisingly compliant when she tells him not to ask question, and to do exactly what she says. They pack a bag each of clothes and personal items. Cassie has a second bag in her closet, one that's been packed for years. She pulls it out now. It's full of photo albums, pictures of her life with Janet, with SG-1. She has copies of albums from Sam's house, from Jack and Daniel. She's been building this collection since the day Janet died. Memories are precious. She doesn't want any of her friends to forget their pasts.
Their bags are in the car. They take a moment to look around. Cassie closes her eyes and inhales deeply. This is the last time she'll breathe clean unfiltered air until they're on another planet. A new home. It's nothing new. She starts the car and they head towards the mountain.
Cassie's pass gets their car to the entrance of the mountain. Teal'c is waiting for her. Silently, he takes her bags and escorts them to the elevator. With less than an hour to go, the NORAD blast doors will be closing soon. Jack must balance getting as many people to safety as possible with protecting the Stargate until the last possible moment. With the mountain sealed, the evacuation can continue even as the world outside is destroyed.
Teal'c leads them through the masses of people, his mere presence clearing a safe passage. Sam meets them, as she had Daniel, as she had her brother, and sees them through to the other side.
The blast doors are sealed. Cheyenne Mountain becomes a fortress. Outside, the earth is burning. The remaining refugees filter slowly through the levels, an endless stream down the stairways and through the Stargate. Corridors are sealed behind them. The mountain starts to shake.
Finally the last civilian is through to the other side. Nearly 500,000 people have been evacuated from Earth. Jack joins Sam and Teal'c in the Gateroom. They look around them, memorizing the details. Saying goodbye. Jack flips one of his sloppy salutes up at the control room for posterity. They stare at each other in silence, then turn to face the 'Gate.
Together, for the final time, they walk up the ramp.
Fin
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