Stargazers Stargaters Parts 21-25
Stargazers Stargaters Parts 21-25
by jane
Summary: Liz Parker and Alex Whitman (from Roswell) are recruited into the SGC.
Category: Crossovers, Drama, Future Story, Mystery, Romance
Crossover: Roswell
Season: Season 2
Pairing: Daniel/Share, Jack/Sam
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: adult themes, minor language
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: 05/25/03
SS Part 21
Liz woke up from her nap to feel something softly gliding up and down her bare arm. She opened both eyes just enough to see that it was Max stroking his index finger over her skin. But his expression was not that of enjoyment or teasing; it was focused far off and troubled. This immediately woke her up and she moved her hand up to capture his wandering digit.
"Max, sweetheart, are you alright? You look troubled." Liz asked gently, rubbing her thumb over his hand.
Max immediately looked over at her and his expression softened with love.
"Did you have a good sleep, Love?" He asked instead.
"Mmmm, yes; I always sleep well when I'm with you, Max." Liz said. "But now that I've answered your question, it's your turn to answer mine. What's wrong? You looked so intense."
"Mmm, yeah; I guess so. I was just trying to figure some things out."
"What things; maybe I can help?" Liz offered running her hand up and down his strong back.
"Well, I was going to speak to you about this, but wanted to make it the perfect time. Only, right now, if we walk outside of this room, we're likely to run into at least two more people and possibly more."
"Then tell me now, Max." Liz said as she suddenly sat up, plumped the pillows behind her and maneuvered so that she could lean back against the headboard, pulling the bedclothes up and tucking them around her, under her arms. "Come on, sit up and we'll talk."
Max did so and then took both of Liz's hands in his, to give himself courage.
"Liz, this is hardly what I imagined whenever I dreamed about doing this...and there are a lot of obstacles in front of us, but...Liz, I have loved you ever since I saw you for the first time, when I got off of that school bus; when we were eight years old. I watched you grow up and turn into the beautiful woman you are now; inside and out. You've saved my life and stood by me during some of the worst times of my life. You've brought contentment, happiness, safety, love and...passion into my life. And now that we are together again, I don't think that I could live if we were parted again. Liz, I have a ring for you back on Antar. I made it after a particularly bad battle, when the only things which kept me going, were my dreams of returning to you. We had come so close to capturing Khivar that day, but he escaped, leaving behind the wreckage of his own personal guard, whom he had used as cannon fodder so that he could escape. Back in our camp, I was holding some shrapnel in my hands and I was dreaming of you for just a few moments when all of a sudden, I felt that lump of metal change within my grip. When I opened my fingers a ring...your ring was laying there instead. I want to give you that ring, Liz...so what I'm really trying to say...to ask is; Liz parker, will you make me the happiest man in the...galaxy by marrying me? Will you become my queen and help me lead my...our people?"
"Oh...my...Max! It took you long enough to ask me...and I'm not talking about the last eleven years, either!" Liz chuckled, but then grew serious. "Yes Max, I will marry you, become your queen and help you lead your people...I love you. I have loved you for such a long time; way before you saved my life in the Crash Down after I was shot!" Liz leaned in and kissed him, hard. "When will I get to see the ring you made for me?"
"That's one of the many things I was trying to work out earlier; how soon could I take you to my home on Antar? Now that you have said yes." Max grinned happily and gazed deeply into Liz's eyes for a moment. "We will need to make those decisions together. I cannot leave Antar permanently and I would love for you to live with me there, but I'm sure that your work for the SGC is important as well. Perhaps General Hammond would allow you to commute back and forth?"
"That might work, or maybe I could set up a lab on Antar and continue my work there...or maybe...I'll be too busy helping you..." Liz said thoughtfully.
"We're supposed to go to that dinner at Captain Carter's house tonight. Perhaps we can bring up some of our questions then." Max said and Liz nodded.
"The General will be there." She said and then hesitated. "Max...what are we going to tell my parents? We can't just get secretly married..."
"That is something that we'll need help with; reestablishing our identities on Earth and accounting for being away all of these years." Max said.
"For now, why don't we get up and see if your parents are up from their nap as well?" Liz suggested.
"Well, if you insist, Liz." Max said before drawing her to him and kissing her deeply, before helping her out of bed. "You have made me so happy, Liz!"
They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with what their parents had been doing all of those years and then they all drove over to Sam's home for dinner.
"Welcome everyone." Sam said, as she opened the front door to them. "Please come in and make yourself at home. I've set up a small bar on the kitchen counter and there are cold sodas and juices in the refrigerator and beer in the cooler. We thought we'd keep everything simple and let you make sandwiches, so there is sliced ham, turkey and roast beef, cheeses, breads, spreads, a veggie platter, a fruit tray and cookies as well. And if you're still hungry after all of that, there's peanut butter in the cupboard to the right of the fridge."
Her house was a small one, but it was open and airy and all twenty of them found a place to sit; between the living area, dining area and eating bar; although the three parents did arrange things so that their kids were close by. Sam, Janet, Cassie and Teal'c had set up the buffet on the eating bar, which separated the kitchen from the rest of the large, all-purpose room.
"Thank you so much for having us all over to your home, Captain." Philip said. "This looks great."
"You're welcome and please, call me Sam, everyone." She told her guests.
"What a lovely home you have, Sam; so open and bright and yet warm and cozy too." Diane said.
Everyone got themselves a drink. Diane, Philip and Jim were introduced to those they had not already met and they settled down to chat for a while. But when the General got up to fix himself another drink of ginger-ale and cranberry juice, Max followed him and plucked another Coke from the refrigerator.
"General, may I speak to you for a moment?" Max asked.
"Of course, Mr. Evans; what can I do for you?" George Hammond asked.
"I was wondering whether Liz, or any of the others, including our parents would be allowed to travel through the Stargate, to Antar...but I especially wanted to ask if there would be any problem with Liz coming to...live...on Antar?" Max asked.
"As to Dr. Parker or Whitman traveling to Antar, there would be no problem. For either of them to live there might take some work, but I think the legalities could be worked out. I will tell you right not that the President and the Joint Chiefs are rather opposed to civilians finding out about the location of the Stargate, even if they do know about its existence." The General said.
"I understand that, but considering the secrets they have already kept for over eleven years, I think that your concern is unwarranted. But until they can be given proper clearance, would it be possible to blindfold them, until they get down into the facility? I would very much like to have all of my family and friends come to see my new home." Max said.
"Those are good points and suggestions, Mr. Evans and I will certainly discuss them with the President."
"Thank you, General...I know that your government is probably eager to begin negotiations for trade and the exchange of technical information." Max began.
"Yes we are." The General confirmed.
"I and my people will want to proceed slowly and carefully with this; in order to keep knowledge of our existence secret from those who might wish to harm us and our loved-ones here on Earth." Max said.
"That's understandable and I will do everything I can to keep you and your people safe from the...shall we say...less honorable personalities in our government." Hammond said.
"Thank you, General. Perhaps at another time, Michael and I could speak to your about setting up a few more security measures between our two planets to ensure everyone's safety." Max suggested.
"I am at your service, Your majesty." The General said formally. "Perhaps tomorrow all four of you could come out to the base, we could have a discussion and you could be given a tour of our facility."
"That would be great. Thanks again, General...Now, maybe we should rejoin the party?" Max suggested and George nodded in agreement.
They rejoined the group and everyone eventually got up to make themselves sandwiches and then sit down again to eat.
"I have a question for all of you." Maria piped up. "How are we going to tell my mother that Michael's back? And what can I tell her about where he's been all of this time?"
"I was under the impression that our four visitors from Antar would be staying on their planet, except for occasional visits to the SGC." Jack O'Neill said.
"Oh please; as if that would work with Michael and me getting married!" Maria exclaimed.
"Maria! Did he...?" Liz cried out.
"He asked me this afternoon...well kinda unofficially, but we talked about it and I said yes, of course!" Maria answered leaping up to up to hug her best friend.
"Max asked me to marry him this afternoon, too!" Liz exclaimed and was hugged again as both young women squealed.
"Did you guys all plan this? Alex asked me to marry him after our nap!" Isabel exclaimed.
"Yeah I sense a conspiracy too; Kyle asked me as well!" Tess joked as she shared her news.
"Boy, we come up with the same idea, on our own and all you girls can say is that it must be a conspiracy?" Kyle joked back. "Why don't you tell everyone what your answers were?"
"We said YES!" All four girls cried out and then their fianc? and parents converged on the center of the room to hug each other.
"I believe that your question has been answered, O'Neill." Teal'c told his friend and teammate. "MichaelGuerin will be spending time here among the Tau're and/or MariaDeLuca will be traveling through the Chapa'ai to P3X-777. Either way an explanation will need to be given to the mother...This woman sounds quite formidable; is she a warrior?" Michael heard his question and turned to answer.
"You might say that; she certainly scares me!"
The group of friends was breaking up and taking their seats again.
"Yeah and what are we going to tell my folks and Alex's father?" Liz asked.
"I would really like to come clean with them and tell them the truth." Max said. "Although Mr. Parker may bring out his shotgun!" He only half joked.
"The location of the SGC and the existence of the Stargate is classified. The only reason you folks were told about it is because you already knew about the true nature of these four young people. The Parkers and Mr. Whitman have no such knowledge or previously existing security clearance. It is highly unlikely that you will be allowed to tell them anything." The General said emphatically. "Perhaps we should discuss some options for a cover story for their return." He suggested, changing the subject.
"We could always tell the truth and say we were abducted by aliens!" Michael said, timing his words just to when Colonel O'Neill was taking a swig of beer. A satisfied smirk twitched at his lips when O'Neill sprayed the group with beer and then started to choke.
"Man that was great!" Alex sighed and reached out to "high-five" Michael; he well remembered the trick that Jack had played on him at his interview. "You okay Colonel?" Alex gave the older man's back a few good hits between the shoulder blades.
"Yeah-cough-I'm-cough-fine." Jack said a moment later.
"Well to quote my old boss, Brody Davis; 'you can tell everyone that you've seen the Virgin Mary and they'll light candles outside your bathroom, but say that you've been abducted by aliens and they'll think that you're crazy!' As ironic as saying that would be, I think we better stay as far away from that idea as possible." Max said. "Better to say we were taken by one of those survivalist/para-military groups, who brain washed us all these years. How does that sound?"
"How would you say you finally escaped now if you couldn't free yourselves all these years?" Sam asked, just to play devil's advocate.
"Why through the brave actions of the SGC; how else? That would account for your presence nearby when we tell the Parkers, Mrs. DeLuca and Mr. Whitman." Tess said.
"Would you not have to appear much more worn and haggard; having been in captivity all of this time?" Teal'c pointed out.
"We could say that you found us a month or so ago and that you have been making us eat good, hearty meals every day and that we have been in group therapy, to help us face the memories of our trauma, as well." Michael suggested.
"That might actually work, sir." Janet piped up. "We could say that they have repressed all the trauma they were inflicted with and psychotherapy has not helped them to remember...yet."
"That's what Janet suggested that Sha're say; since her cover story is that she was abducted while the two of us were on vacation in South America." Daniel said.
"And the four of us and Sha're could be in the same group-therapy session." Isabel grinned.
"That sounds good and we could also say that only our parents;" Max looked to the Evens and the Sheriff. "And our best friends;" He looked to Liz, Maria, Alex and Kyle. "Were informed about our being found and have been by our sides, helping us ever since we were found. We didn't want anyone else to see us until we looked better and could act more normal."
"And if necessary we can always do this." Tess said as she passed her glowing hand in front of her face.
All of a sudden she looked like a mess and everyone gasped. Tess' hair was now oily and unbrushed. She had dark shadows under her eyes and a sickly, pale complexion. She even added a bone-deep tremble to top off the impression.
"How...did...you...do...that?" Sam asked, intrigued, but also ever so slightly creeped out.
"We can change the molecular structure of something we touch." Tess said as she passed her hand in front of her face and became beautiful and healthy looking again.
"It's something we instinctively know how to do from birth, but like any skill, we get better and stronger at using our powers as we grow older." Max explained.
Fascinating!" Sam said.
"Back to our problem; if we are not allowed to tell our parents the truth." Liz said. "We will have to set up pretend lives for Max and the others, here on Earth; homes and jobs for them in this area. And we would also have to set up a way for our parents to contact us when we are on Antar...without their knowing that we are not only out of town, but off of the planet."
"How will we be able to handle Liz's parents if and when Liz and I are blessed with children?" Max added. "Their grand parents would want to see them and little children don't always understand about keeping secrets. They might slip and mention their other home on another planet or the Stargate without even realizing it."
"If Alex's father, Maria's mother and my mom and dad knew the truth, they could come to Antar to visit their grandchildren, and/or it wouldn't matter what our kids said in front of them, by mistake." Liz reiterated.
"Those are some good points, but I must remind you that our military and civilian personnel are not allowed to speak to their spouses about the work which they do here, or that they even work at the SGC." The General said.
"Didn't I hear someone mention that General Carter didn't have the security clearance Until you needed him to become a Tok'ra host?" Michael asked pointedly.
Liz jumped into the conversation before it became a confrontation.
"Our parents would not have to be told where the Stargate is located, General. They could always be blindfolded when they travel to the base." Liz said and the Evans and Sheriff Valenti all nodded their willingness to be blindfolded.
"Those are a few more good points which I will be sure to mention to the President when I speak to him tomorrow." The General assured them all.
"Thank you General." Max said quietly.
Kyle cracked some joke to Alex and the tension was broken. The large group broke into smaller groups and chatted; getting to know each other a little bit more, before finally calling it a night a couple hours later. But before they left, Max and George Hammond set an appointment time at the SGC for 09:00 the next morning.
Part 22
The next morning, Liz, Alex, Max and Michael drove over to the SGC. Liz and Alex would go to their labs to work, while Max and Michael were in with the General. Isabel and Tess had decided that they would not be needed at the meeting, since security was not their area of expertise and they really did not want to take a tour of some underground military base, so they stayed home with Kyle and Maria.
When the four friends arrived at the SGC, they were informed that their appointment would have to be delayed for a few minutes because something else had come up. In the meantime, Max requested that Antar be dialed up on the Stargate so that he could communicate with his people. Colonel O'Neill immediately gave the okay and P3X-777 was dialed.
From the control room, Max and Michael were able to give an update to their people, speaking Antarian, which not even Daniel had learned to speak yet. But by the excited reactions of the dozen or so people, at the other end of the wormhole, Max had given his listeners some very good news.
'Have Max and Michael just told their people that they have been reunited with their soul-mates, from whom they have been separated, for so many years?' Sam wondered to herself as she smiled at the joy on the Antarian faces.
When their long-distance call was completed, the Stargate was allowed to shut down and Sam turned away from the huge bank of windows. Instead, she looked through the smaller window, on the back wall of the control room, which looked into the General's office. Even though the window was high up on the wall, Sam could see the head and shoulders of the two people within the office, from her vantage point by the computers and she frowned. What did Senator Kinsey want now; she wondered?
Max and Michael also turned away from the computer screen they had been speaking into and looked around the room. Sam turned away from the office window and back towards their guests in time to see Max's face turn pale and his usually gentle eyes blaze with anger, as he also looked up into the General's office. Michael had followed Max's gaze, but looked confused, but he moved to hold Max back as his king made a lung towards the General's office window.
"Max, what is it; what's wrong?" Michael asked urgently, but Max's attention was glued on the office window above.
"Kinsey! What is that bastard doing here?" Max yelled, accusingly, glaring at O'Neill, Carter and the technicians in the room.
"He is no friend of ours, I can tell you that." Jack made to assure the alien king. "He tried to get us shut down a year ago; just before the Goa'uld attacked Earth. If Daniel hadn't found out about the attack beforehand and we hadn't gone through the Stargate, against orders...we wouldn't be standing here right now. Kinsey is a snake and the General knows it well."
"Max, what's wrong; how do you know Senator Kinsey?" Michael asked again.
"I'll tell you all about it as soon as that slug is out of my presence and we can get in to speak to General Hammond." Max said grimly; still seething and pale.
"So I guess you won't want to be introduced to him?" Jack asked, half sarcastically.
"Not unless you want him dead within ten seconds." Max said.
"Hmmm, can I think about that for a sec.?" Jack asked, half serious and Max nodded.
"Then we agree." Max said, approving.
"Oh yeah." O'Neill agreed with his customary half smile.
"He's leaving." Sam, who had been keeping an eye on the office window, said.
A moment later an airman came down into the control room to tell them that the General was now available. The four of them walked up to the conference room and Colonel O'Neill ordered the airman to have Dr. Jackson and Teal'c join them there.
"Could Drs. Parker and Whitman also be called to join us, Colonel?" Max asked and Jack nodded his okay to the airman.
"You have requested that all of SG-1 attend this discussion, Colonel?" The General asked, overhearing O'Neill's orders.
"Yes, sir; Mr. Evans has something important that he wants to tell all of us about." Jack informed his superior with satisfaction. The General narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and then nodded.
"Very well, Colonel; we will wait for your teammates and the doctors to join us." Hammond said.
"Hey what's up?" Daniel asked as he, Sha're and Teal'c reached and entered the conference room together, a few minutes later.
"What's going on?" Alex asked as he and Liz came in right behind them.
"Have a seat people and then perhaps Mr. Evans will enlighten all of us." The General said.
"Go ahead." Jack told Max, once everyone was seated; Liz was next to Max and was gazing worriedly up into his stony face.
"General Hammond, everyone; Michael and I were in the control room earlier, when Senator Kinsey was in with the General." Max started.
"Oh man...what does he want now?" Daniel groaned.
"We will discuss that after Mr. Evans is finished, Doctor." The General said.
"I will tell you now that if it had anything to do with Antar he can just forget it. I do not want that...man...within fifty yards of me!" Max exclaimed.
"I don't have any control over the Senator, Mr. Evans; I am afraid we are stuck with him." Hammond said.
"Not if you want our negotiations, which I am becoming more and more concerned about by the minute...to even start." Max warned sternly.
"What's this all about, Mr. Evans?" General Hammond asked again, reigning in his impatience.
"Thirteen years ago, Senator Kinsey was on the oversight committee for the Special Unit of the FBI...the so-called alien-hunting unit." Max said.
Liz gasped in horror and Alex and Michael swore something under their breaths.
"The FBI's Special Unit?" The General said. "That embarrassment was a disgrace to the U.S. government and was discontinued and broken up years ago."
"But it was in operation, back when we lived here, General." Max continued. "Our protector, Nascedo found out that most of the senators on that committee pretty much felt that the Special Unit was a joke. They did not believe for a moment that there was any danger of space-aliens coming to Earth and destroying the planet. If anything, they thought that 'aliens' was a euphemism for 'Communists'. They voted in favor of any proposed measures, believing that such actions were being taken against communist soldiers and spies. Only Senator Kinsey truly believed in what the Unit was up to; kept a close eye on their activities and even gave advice to the lead agent; Pierce.
"Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter just told me that Kinsey has tried to close the SGC down...well I guess that follows his pattern. In his own way, I suppose he believes that he is trying to save his planet...only his methods are too simplistic for the complex threats facing Earth. Kinsey's strategy is thus; if there are any aliens on Earth, kill them...If they are not yet on this planet, destroy the most obvious way for them to travel here; regardless of the fact that these aliens have space ships and can arrive here in a matter of days...and regardless of the fact that the alien he authorized the Special Unit to capture, torture and eventually kill...was a sixteen year old kid who could not have answered the questions they pounded him with, even if he had wanted to."
"What?" O'Neill and Hammond exclaimed, getting an idea of what Max's problem with Senator Kinsey, was.
"The Special Unit captured me and...tortured me; ice baths, drugs, electrical shock and an attempted dissection...while I was still conscious...Thank goodness my friends..." Max smiled over to Alex, Michael and then Liz. "...got me out of there before that monster in his biohazard-suit, respirator...and scalpel could do much more than cut one line down the center of my chest..." Max trailed off and tried to calm himself down as the memories of that nightmare-made-real swept through his mind.
"Oh my God." General Hammond prayed in horror.
"Max may be an alien, but he is the gentlest person I know. He's a healer, not a killer, but Pierce didn't care! He only wanted answers to his questions and he didn't care or believe that Max didn't know the answers...Pierce simply enjoyed hurting people." Liz exclaimed, tears in her voice as she remembered what she had seen all those years ago.
After Liz and their friends managed to rescue Max from the "white room" at the Eagle Rock facility, she and Max had driven away together, while the others had tried to distract their pursuers by driving away in other directions as well. But the Special Unit had found Max and Liz and forced them to abandon their car and run for their lives. They had even jumped off of a bridge together, to get away from the Special Agents. Once they found some shelter in an old abandoned van; weak, exhausted and hurting, Max and Liz had embraced; trying to comfort each other and while kissing, Max had inadvertently sent Liz flashes of what had happened to him. She saw it all and afterwards had even wished that Max had not saved her life some seven months before, because that was when the young aliens had come under the attention of the FBI.
"How do you know that Senator Kinsey had any direct part in your capture?" Colonel O'Neill asked.
"Through an unfortunate accident, Agent Pierce was killed shortly after I was rescued. Please believe that we did not want to hurt anyone; we were only sixteen and seventeen years old...but Pierce was going to shoot Sheriff Valenti, who was helping us; we moved to stop him but Pierce was killed in the end anyway...and Kyle was hit by Pierce' bullet instead. Anyway, Nascedo was a shape-shifter and he changed into Pierce' form in order to take his place in Washington, D.C. Nascedo/Pierce worded to destroy all records pertaining to us, break up the Special Unit and debunk their work."
"I remember seeing those hearings on TV." Sam said. "I didn't know what to think."
"Yes that was when Senator Whittaker had taken Kinsey's place and tried to stop the Special Unit from being broken up." Alex said.
"Back to Kinsey...Nascedo-as-Pierce also searched out anyone else who might be a threat to us. He called me once and told me that he had found in Pierce' records audio tapes and transcripts on computer disc, of appointments and phone calls between Pierce and another man; a U.S. Senator. No names were mentioned, but he had narrowed down who the other man could be, to the Senators who served on the oversight committee for the Special Unit. Nascedo told me about a phone call the real Pierce made to that Senator, just two days before I was captured. The real Pierce had called the Senator and told him that they had found the alien they had been searching for and that he had taken the form of a sixteen year old boy...it was me they were talking about, but it was actually Nascedo who they had been tracking for years; he was the shape-shifter, not me. Anyway, the Senator gave Pierce the go ahead to 'apprehend and question' the kid...'and the less the traitorous humans who act like his parents, know about it, the better'. And then he told Pierce...'If you don't enjoy your work, there is not much reason to do it.' Pierce said then; 'I love my job, Senator.'" Max paused but then continued. "Shortly before he was killed, Nascedo came to Roswell to warn me that our enemies were closing in, but they; a species called the Skins, attacked him but he managed to reach me. He told me that the Senator he had been trying to find was a man named Kinsey and then he warned me about the Skins...before he died in my arms."
"Max!" Alex exclaimed as the other SGC personnel looked on in horror.
"Max...why didn't you tell us about Kinsey?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, Maxwell; why not?" Michael asked.
"There was nothing we could do at that time; we could not move against a U.S. Senator...and we still can't...as much as I would like to. And then he left that committee to join...I presume the oversight committee for the Stargate. " Max explained.
"Yeah, he oversaw the early work on the Stargate and he's been a thorn in our side the entire time, but he didn't have enough power to affect any sort of policy change until a year ago, when he tried to shut us down...and almost succeeded. Thankfully though, because of SG-1's actions, Senator Kinsey is now in the Presidential dog house. You wouldn't happen to still have those recordings and/or transcripts would you?" The General asked with hopeful glee shining in his eyes and Max grinned back at him, nodding.
"I gave them to my parents and asked them to keep them someplace safe." Max said.
"Yahoo!" The General-from-Texas exclaimed and then looked around the table, embarrassed, but it was unnecessary as everyone else was grinning and clapping right along with him. "We may not be able to go public with this, but this evidence could at least be shown to the President and the Joint Chiefs. Didn't you tell me once that you had a U.S. passport, back when you were a teenager, Mr. Evans?" The General asked and Max nodded, still grinning. "With only circumstantial evidence at best, the FBI's Special Unit, with the direct knowledge and approval of Senator Kinsey, abducted and tortured a U.S. citizen; a minor, without his parents' knowledge..."
"I'd say that those actions would be classified as a great big no-no, wouldn't they, sir?" Colonel O'Neill asked straight faced.
"Yes, Colonel, as you say; 'a great big no-no' at the very least." George Hammond agreed with satisfaction. "If you can get me those recordings and discs, I will be happy to show them to the President." The General said and Max nodded solemnly.
"This whole business with Senator Kinsey has me greatly concerned about Antar's relationship with Earth." Max said. "We all know that Kinsey is not the only person with beliefs like his. Another could easily take his place and there are probably others in the woodwork, we will never know about, who could wish us harm and/or work against the ideals of the SGC."
"I am afraid that your concerns are quite valid, Mr. Evans." General Hammond said.
"That is why we wanted to speak to you...and only you." Michael looked around the table. "About an added security measure, which would keep unfriendly forces...I guess on either side...from coming through the Stargate." Michael pulled out the small ball he had used before, for security and placed it on the table. "If you don't mind, this orb will keep anyone from hearing what we are about to say, whether they are in the next room or watching through your security cameras...although you may keep the visual feed going if you wish."
"Your security measures will be acceptable and thank you for warning us about them first, Mr. Guerin. Let me just call our security people first, or we will have a squad of fully armed Marines in here within ten seconds." The General said as he picked up the phone by his side and informed Security about what they were about to do. "Very well, Mr. Guerin; you may turn that object on."
Michael touched the orb and then glanced over to Max and nodded.
"General, please believe me when I tell you that Liz and Alex trust all of you implicitly and we trust them with our lives...and have come to trust you through our dealings with you...But, frankly, we do not easily trust anyone else as yet and we worry that you may be ordered to send hostile troops through the Stargate, to Antar if our negotiations do not proceed as your superiors might wish." Max explained.
"Those concerns are also valid, I am afraid to say." Hammond admitted. "We have had several occurrences during which my judgment has been overruled and even the sovereign rights of another planet's population have been disregarded. Luckily, that planet's 'protective spirits' turned out to be powerful and in the end taught some of our more arrogant government officials a lesson they will not soon forget."
"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Max remarked and everyone nodded their agreement.
"Should such orders regarding Antar be given to you in the future, we would like to set up an extra set of codes for anyone traveling through the Stargate, to use." Michael said. "We would require that anyone coming through the Stargate to Antar, have authorization from you, General Hammond or Colonel O'Neill of course; I am sure that that is our standard operating procedure?" Jack nodded. "We would like to add two special codes, to work in conjunction with the ID code you have now; only the few of you here will be aware of these codes. One will indicate that everything is safe and normal; the second will warn us that something is wrong. The Stargate would still work as usual, but anyone coming through it after that code was sent, would be met by a welcoming party, made up of our best warriors."
"I like the way your mind works, Mr. Guerin." Jack O'Neill said a moment later with his half smile on his rugged, yet handsome face. "You actually might want to give us three codes though. One for 'okay', the second for 'detain' and the third to deploy your barrier, to stop whatever is coming through the Stargate. You see, the Joint Chiefs are mighty fond of sending nuclear bombs through the Stargate and thinking that an explosion will solve everything for them."
"Good point; thanks, Colonel." Michael said.
"Name's Jack." He told Michael.
"Great, call me Michael." He replied.
"But never call him Mickey G." Max added.
"No...I don't think I'd ever do that." Jack said, glancing over to the other warrior.
"Appreciate that." Michael said with his lightening-fast half-smile.
"Perhaps we could discuss having an arrangement, closer to that which we have with the Tok'ra." General Hammond suggested a few moments later. "I'm not seeing a state-level treaty between our two peoples occurring any time soon."
"No, I'm afraid not." Max said. "But as I understand from speaking to Jacob Carter and Selmac, that is a highly secret relationship, which perhaps only the President knows about? That sounds about the level of statesmanship we are willing to accept right now. But is the President the only one who knows about SG-1's trip to Antar, so far? What was Senator Kinsey here to speak to you about, this morning, if I may ask, General?" Max asked.
"I am afraid that more people than the President know about the planet Antar and Kinsey is one of the few who have found out about our involvement with you...but only a few SGC personnel know about your previous and current relationship with...humans." The General allowed a self satisfied expression to come across his face, now that he had an ace up his sleeve. "Senator Kinsey was pressuring me to get the negotiations between our two planets started and to make sure that they proceed to the state level, including the use of State Department ambassadors and the whole lot. And the frosting on the cake is that Kinsey is determined to take control of those negotiations and ride them victoriously into the White House, during the Presidential elections in two year's time."
"He wanted to shut us down over a year ago, but now that we have met another people who may be able to help us technologically, he wants to take all the credit and use it to further his own career...INCREDIBLE!" O'Neill exclaimed and everyone looked grim.
"Once I show your evidence to the President and certain key bits of info are leaked to a few other...special individuals, his career will be history!" The General said, confidently.
"Sir, I think maybe we should recess this meeting for now. All of our guests look pretty fried; I know I am! We've covered quite a bit so far and received a couple shocks as well." Sam suggested hesitantly, but the General nodded his agreement and Michael reached out to turn off his security orb.
"Good suggestion, Captain. Jacob/Selmac are returning to the Tok'ra in about thirty minutes. When did they think they'd be able to return with that intel. they promised Mr. Evans and Mr. Guerin?" The General asked.
"Selmac thought that she would be able to gather together all of that information and return by tomorrow afternoon, sir." Sam answered.
"Good, then we can plan to meet again after Jacob returns." The General said as he glanced around the table; to Max, Michael and the others, who all nodded their agreement. "Then I'd say that this meeting is adjourned." He said and everyone arose from the table after he did.
"General, may I take Max and Michael on a tour of the SGC?" Liz asked.
"Of course, Dr. Parker; I'd join you but Kinsey's visit has thrown my whole schedule out of whack and I need to work at my desk, sorting things out." Hammond explained to Max and Michael.
"Thanks for your help, General." Max said and then the friends exited the conference room to start the tour.
"Are you okay Max?" Liz asked concerned, looking up into his handsome face.
"I feel...better now that I've spoken to the General." Max said; leaning down to kiss her lips softly.
"I feel better now that we've spoken to Jack O'Neill." Michael said. "I think we'll be okay with him fighting on our team..."
Jack felt his lips lift to half a smile when he heard Max and Michael's comments as the two younger men, Liz and Alex walk down the hallway.
"He's right, sir." Sam said; standing next to her C.O.
"Yeah Jack, you've gotten us out of more scrapes than I can count; you, Michael and Max...with a little help from the rest of us, will figure out the best way to handle Kinsey and this newest situation we find ourselves in." Daniel said; his arm around Sha're.
"Hey, that's 'with a lot of help' from you guys; I know who the brains are in this outfit." Jack said truthfully, but also modestly. "Come on kids, let's get back to work." He ordered and everyone broke up to go about their business for the rest of the day.
SS Part 23
Liz and Alex took Max and Michael on a tour of the SGC; showing them around, including their own labs and the work that the two of them were doing. They also showed their friends the main lab in which Sam was working. The Captain was happy to explain the experiment she was carrying out and was gratified when Max was able to follow what she was saying and ecstatic when he made a few suggestions of paths she might follow in her research. When he finished, Liz and Alex were gazing at him in awe, mixed with surprise and Michael looked resigned. Max had always been highly intelligent, growing up and attending West Roswell High School with Liz as his lab partner in AP biology, but Liz had always been the one who had loved any kind of science. Max saw the expressions on his friends' faces and sighed self depreciatingly.
"Necessity has forced me to learn a great deal over the last eleven years." He said modestly.
"Most leaders would just listen to their advisors and then make their decisions; Max insisted that his advisers teach him all they knew instead." Michael rolled his eyes, but there was also respect in his manner towards his friend and king, as well.
"Well, however you picked up your knowledge, I would really appreciate it if I could bounce some ideas off of you or ask for your advice once in a while, Max." Sam said sincerely.
"Sure, that would be fun, Sam." Max replied before the friends left her office to continue the tour.
Out in the hall, Max turned to his friends and whispered 'It's so refreshing to work with someone who is excited about what she is learning, rather than just memorizing facts and equations like I did, so that I could muddle my way through the briefings my advisors were giving me."
"Max...do you mean that you were not just throwing out theories, which your scientists are working on, as well? You were instead giving Sam hints to lead her to the answers you already know and understand?" Liz asked in wonder.
"Um...yes, Liz we already know the answers to the questions Sam is asking, but I don't think she'd enjoy it half as much if I just gave her all of the answers. The experiment she was working on was not for an emergency situation and she or any other scientist will learn more if they have to puzzle it out for themselves. We haven't held any discussions yet, about how we can share our resources and technology, but I know that we will have to move slowly. It would be too dangerous for us to just give you all of the answers, plans and diagrams; anyone who wants our knowledge will have to learn it...and earn it one step at a time. And while doing so, they may make their own breakthroughs and discoveries of their own. Necessity is definitely the mother of invention and we all have our own experiences to draw from, for innovation."
"I understand, Max and I agree with you whole heartedly." Liz said. "You can help us and guide us, but we still have to make our own mistakes...even if you were our parents...and you are not...we have to grow up all by ourselves."
"And hopefully not blow ourselves up in the process." Alex said grinning.
"Right, Alex; that is why I am being so careful about who we negotiate with. We don't want our technology to fall into the wrong hands, or for you to be given access to it before you perfectly understand how to use it safely." Max said and Liz nodded.
"Well, why don't we continue the tour; there's really only the Infirmary, which includes the ICU, the labs and the O.R.s, to see." Liz said, extending her elbow out so that Max could link his arm through hers and press her forearm firmly against his side, as they started down the hall again.
"Why is the Infirmary referred to as the Daniel Jackson Medical Facility?" Max asked as they left the medical section.
"I think that it's because Daniel has had so many accidents or been wounded...on and off-world." Alex said. "I've even heard that he's died a couple of times!"
"Died? How could that be and how was he...resurrected?" Michael asked.
"The Goa'uld have a device called a sarcophagus; like a huge golden coffin. If you are wounded, no matter how badly, it can heal you. That's the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra. The Goa'uld use the sarcophagus recreationally and it can have a negative effect on your personality and become addictive if you use it when you are otherwise healthy. The Tok'ra have their symbiotes to heal them and some medical science, but they won't use a sarcophagus; that's why a Tok'ra host only lives about two hundred years, rather than thousands of years like a Goa'uld host can." Alex explained. "And to answer your question, there was a sarcophagus nearby, which Daniel was able to use each time he was 'killed'."
"And yet he stayed with SG-1 and kept searching for Sha're." Liz said, dreamily; looking up into Max's amber eyes. "Not even death could keep them apart."
"That's almost as much as I love you." Max said softly and then drew Liz's hand up to kiss her palm.
"Oh pa-lease!" Michael groaned. "Do we have to see this...especially when we don't have our own ladies here to distract us?"
"Sorry, Michael." Liz said, moving away from Max a few inches. "Well, that's pretty much it for the tour. I guess we could go home so that you gentlemen can return to your ladies and be distracted by them...but before that can happen, we need to tell everyone about Senator Kinsey."
"Sounds good." Michael and Alex agreed instantly.
Once the four friends arrived home, Max asked everyone; their other friends and parents to gather in Liz's apartment.
"There's something I need to tell all of you." Max said.
He then started to tell everyone about Senator Kinsey; what Nascedo had learned about him, so many years ago...and the fact that he was now hovering over the SGC like a vulture. While everyone else exclaimed and otherwise showed the anger they felt towards the man, Isabel felt her rage build up quietly within her body. Max had not told them anything about Kinsey, when they were teenagers, but now that he had...she began to plan and scheme a way to make him pay for what he had done to her brother.
"I know what all of you are thinking." Max said, looking around at his friends and family and seeing the expressions on their faces. "Michael had to hold me back from diving through that office window, at the SGC and strangling him with my bare hands...But, we can't move against a U.S. Senator; it would just draw attention to ourselves and/or towards the SGC personnel, who hate him almost as much as I do."
"Isabel killed Whitaker." Michael reminded them.
"What?" Diane and Philip cried out at the same time. "We thought Congressman Whitaker was killed in a car accident."
"Mom, Dad; that was a totally different situation." Max started to explain for his sister. "Whitaker was a Skin; one of our alien enemies. She infiltrated the government and got appointed to the FBI Special-Unit's oversight committee, so that she could keep an eye on their search for us. And eventually, she did find us; she kidnapped Tess and almost killed her. Isabel found out and went to try and rescue Tess, but it was a trap and Whitaker tried to kill Isabel as well..."
"I...I didn't even know that I could do it, but when she threw a stream of fiery-energy at me, I put up my hands...more to try and shield my face, than anything...but...I deflected the fire away from me instead and was able to push it back onto Whitaker, until it built up and exploded, turning her into a giant cloud of skin flakes." Isabel finished the story.
There was silence for a moment as their parents tried to take in this new bit of information.
"But...but...where did the story about her dying in a car crash come from?" Philip asked.
"She was part of a large group of Skins, who had set up their own community in Copper Summit. They put out the story to cover their own tracks and keep anyone from asking too many questions." Michael said.
"Our dealings with those Skins is a whole other story that we can tell you at another time." Max said. "I just want you all to promise me that none of you will try anything..." Max glanced pointedly at Michael. "...to get back at Kinsey on my behalf. General Hammond and the President will handle the Senator...okay?"
Everyone murmured their agreement and Isabel made a few mouth noises, as well, but she childishly kept her fingers crossed behind her back while she did so. Max had never told her what Pierce had done to him in the White Room, but after her brother had awoken her with his screams and nightmares for the third night in a row, she had dream-walked him and seen the full horror of what they had done to him, for herself. General Hammond and the President might take care of Kinsey in the next few days, but Isabel planned to teach him a lesson he would never forget, tonight.
After everyone calmed down a little and the ladies made a few repairs to their make up, everyone gathered at Daniel and Sha're's home that night for dinner. The couple produced a simple, yet sumptuous buffet of Abydonian dishes. Sha're had had to play around with a lot of Earth spices until she could get the flavors just right, but she eventually succeeded and everyone loved the food.
Later that night, Isabel allowed herself to melt under Alex's knowing hands and get carried away to that dreamland they created for each other with their passion. As she slipped into exhausted sleep brought on by being totally and ardently loved by her soul-mate, one tiny part of her mind stayed awake and aware...and counted the minutes until she could launch her plan for revenge on Senator Kinsey.
Far away, in Washington, D.C., that same night, Senator Kinsey was sleeping deeply beside his wife when Isabel slipped into his subconscious. Ironically, he was dreaming about the dismantling of the Stargate. As Isabel watched unnoticed from the shadows, Kinsey practiced his lines by watching his reflection in the window of the control room.
"I was just doing my duty as a humble government servant; to keep the citizens of this great nation safe from that scourge from space; the Goa'uld and any other aliens who could invade us through that monstrosity; the Stargate. It is my pleasure to order it dismantled and destroyed."
In Kinsey's dream, General Hammond was wearing a wrinkled uniform, which was too small for him; with the buttons over a considerably larger stomach, about to burst, as he stood by and silently watched the decommissioning ceremony. Colonel O'Neill was there as well, but looked as though he were drunk; his hair was a mess and his cheeks unshaven as he swayed unsteadily next to his C.O. Captain Carter was wearing a dress uniform, which was very tight, molding her figure; the front of her shirt unbuttoned down well past her chest. She was watching the Senator with lust-filled eyes and was licking her red lips invitingly. Daniel was wandering around the control room, muttering to himself and being totally ignored by his teammates. Isabel gasped as she saw Teal'c chained to the wall; his dead, immature symbiote hanging halfway out of his pouch, which was scorch-marked by a staff blast. The final insult to Isabel was when the General and SG-1 cheered as the Stargate came crashing down and Senator Kinsey waved modestly to all of the military personnel present for the great event...and Isabel gave thanks that she had learned how to manipulate another person's dreams.
"You give me nightmares...here's one or two for you..." Isabel muttered angrily...and everything began to change around Senator Kinsey.
He was walking down the street when two men approached him. They were wearing black slacks and neckties, white shirts, dark glasses and black windbreakers with "FBI" emblazoned on the front, the sleeves and the back of the jackets. They came up to him and grabbed him by both arms.
"Found you, ya damn shape-shifting alien." One of them growled into his ear.
"Alien? I'm no alien!" Kinsey cried out. "I am U.S. Senator Kinsey and I demand that you release me immediately!"
"Kid, you don't even look like Senator Kinsey...and since he's the one who ordered this snatch, he's the last name you should be trying to drop." The other agent said.
Then the two men shoved him face first up against a store's front window, bent his right arm up painfully behind his back and got him into a good head-lock. They roughly turned him towards a black, windowless van, which was parked nearby and shoved him inside. He was shackled; wrists and ankles to a metal bench in the back of the van, the vehicle's side door was slammed shut and they took off down the road. Kinsey cried out that he was not whoever they thought he was; that he was a U.S. citizen and that he had done nothing wrong. One of the agents slapped him hard across the face and then gagged him as well.
"American citizen my ass; you're not even Human!" The other agent snarled.
What seemed like an eternity later, the van pulled to a stop and the side door was opened. Four people, with full-body yellow biohazard suits on, complete with respirators, came forward. The agents unlocked him from the bench and the four men picked him up bodily and carried him out of the van. He tried to struggle but his movements were useless. He was strapped tightly to a gurney and rolled down a white tiled hall. On the way, he passed a sign; "Eagle Rock Military Base".
'Why does that sound familiar?' Kinsey wondered to himself and then he remembered. 'This must be where Pierce took that alien who was masquerading like a kid.'
The two black-suited agents were replaced by two more biohazard-suited men and the six of them wheeled him into a white tiled room. Kinsey was unstrapped, ungagged and hauled off of the gurney, which was shoved out of the way. Kinsey had barely gained his feet before his captors took turns roughly grabbing him by the arms and shoving him back and forth between themselves, as they stood in a circle around him. He tripped and fell down, landing on his butt. The men stood around him, but none reached down to help him up. Suddenly a wad of clothing was thrown at him and he caught it.
"Strip and put these on." One of the yellow-suits snarled.
"No." Kinsey said firmly after he stood back up.
"Put them on or we'll do it for you." The yellow-suit snarled again.
"Well at least turn your backs." Kinsey said.
"Like we're going to turn our backs on you!" All six suits laughed coldly. "Strip."
Kinsey turned around, looking for some privacy, but no matter where he turned, one of the suits was there...watching. He quickly shed his clothes, but when he made to pull on the draw-string pants over his boxers, he was shoved from behind.
"Everything...off." He was told.
Kinsey quickly dropped his boxers and made to pull up the pants as quickly as possible. He had never been more embarrassed, feeling all of them staring at him.
Isabel's subconscious grinned mirthlessly as she weaved the nightmare around Kinsey. If she had known about the Senator, she would have invaded his dreams long ago. As it was, Isabel took great pleasure in taking Kinsey through all the indignities and tortures which her brother had suffered. She almost laughed out loud as she brought the arrogant and powerful man down low. First came the ice-water dunking...almost drowning, the electrical shocks, then the injections of hallucinogens; accompanied by the incessant questions, which Max and now Kinsey, was unable to answer. And finally, came Pierce; threatening to cut Kinsey into little pieces while keeping him conscious enough to feel it...The faceless man with the scalpel...the one, long cut down the center of his chest...
...But then Isabel allowed the scene to change, in order for the Senator to enter the second part of his nightmare...All of a sudden, the door opened and Congresswoman Whittaker was there.
"Thank God! Congresswoman, get me out of here!" Kinsey cried out from where he was strapped to an autopsy table.
But Whitaker ignored his cries and turned to Pierce instead.
"Agent Pierce, I am here on Senator Kinsey's orders to take the prisoner for further interrogation." Whitaker said.
"Yes, Congresswoman; those were my orders. Pity I can't keep him longer, I was just starting to have some fun." Pierce said.
"Don't be selfish; now it's time for someone else to have some fun." Whitaker said as she motioned four of her men forward, to transfer Kinsey onto a gurney and strap him in.
"Congresswoman, what are you doing? I am Senator Kinsey!" He cried out.
"Oh yes, the creature has been saying that all this time." Pierce informed the woman.
"Starting with the fact that it doesn't look anything like the Senator; we know all too well that this thing isn't even Human...All those people it's killed..." Whitaker said before motioning her men to wheel the gurney out of the room.
Kinsey was wheeled out to another van, taken off of the gurney and once again manacled to a chair inside. Whitaker and the men jumped up into the van as well and slammed the door shut. One of them took his place behind the wheel and they were off, but Kinsey could not see where they were going from where he sat.
"Where are you taking me?" Kinsey asked.
"You'll see." Whitaker said.
They drove for a time and then Kinsey felt them go up a hill or a ramp before the van came to a stop. The van door was opened and Kinsey was hauled out and quick-stepped away from the vehicle. They seemed to be inside a large building and his captors took him into a small room and once again tied him to a chair and then left him alone in the room without a word. A few minutes later, he felt the floor beneath his feet vibrate and heard a humming coming through the walls.
'What is going on; we can't actually be on a plane?' Kinsey asked himself.
A few more minutes went by and he got his answer. Whitaker and her men came back into the room and unstrapped him from his seat.
"Would you like to see where you are?" Whitaker asked.
"Yes." Kinsey answered, wondering if he actually did want to know.
Whitaker motioned to the men and they dragged Kinsey to his feet and out of the small room. They took him into a room with instruments all around the walls and in the middle of the floor, as well.
"Show the Senator where he is." Whitaker ordered to one of the people manning one of the instruments. He pressed a button and a picture took shape on a large screen on the wall...or was it a window? Kinsey wondered. But then he realized what he was looking at and no longer cared. He was looking at a huge field of black, lit only by tiny pin pricks of...stars.
"We're...we are in space?" Kinsey asked his voice unsteady.
"Of course, we don't need the Stargate to travel through space." Whitaker said.
Kinsey turned away from the view screen to face her and gasped. Whitaker's face was peeling...and as he watched, she reached up and pealed off a large piece, which then dissolved into thin air.
"You...you're an alien?" Kinsey gasped in horror. "And you know who I really am? Pierce thought I was an alien. You...you positioned yourself in the government so you could take over the country didn't you?" He asked, shaking. "So there are evil aliens on Earth." He said, trying to justify himself and Whitaker just rolled her eyes.
"Haven't you figured this out yet?" Whitaker asked. "All of this is just happening inside your head. That bit with the FBI was to show you what others have suffered because of you...and what comes next is to show you what your actions would have caused...If braver and wiser people than yourself had not fixed your mistakes for you...We are called the Skins, Senator and we'd like to thank you...for your arrogant, narrow-minded and ignorant self-involvement. In your blind bumbling around you ordered the Special Unit to abduct and torture King Zan, the leader of our enemies. Zan was just an innocent sixteen year old boy who hardly knew who he was yet...one of the few aliens who wasn't planning on taking over your world...And who could have helped you fight your enemies...oh well..." Whitaker sighed with mock regret. "I doubt he'll help you now."
"Zan...King Zan of Antar...?" Kinsey asked in horror, but just then one of the instruments nearby started to beep and Whitaker looked over to it.
"Good, we're nearing the rendezvous-point." She said and then turned back to the view screen and Kinsey made himself look as well.
They were quickly moving towards a group of sparkling dots and as they drew closer, Kinsey began to see that they were space ships; pyramid shaped, huge...and there were dozens of them.
Now you will learn personally just what the SGC is fighting and what you so easily trivialize and underestimate." Whitaker said smirking.
They were flying among the Goa'uld ships now and another signal sounded on one of the instruments. Suddenly, transport rings came down out of the ceiling. When they retreated, four Jaffa with their snake-head helmets on, stood there on the bridge. They quickly moved over to where Whitaker and Kinsey were standing.
"Lord Apophis sent us to collect your tribute." One of the Jaffa said.
"Here it is, take it." Whitaker said as she shoved Kinsey forward.
"What?" Kinsey cried out. "Where are you taking me?"
No one paid him any attention and the Jaffa took hold of his upper arms and dragged him over to the transport rings. Once they were in the right spot, the rings came down and the next thing Kinsey knew, they were standing in a totally different place. There were torches burning along the hallways and what looked like Egyptian cartouches were all over the walls.
"Where are you taking me?" He yelled again. "I am Not someone's tribute."
The Jaffa ignored him again and continued to march him down the hallway. Finally they came into a large room with a raised dais at one end and a throne standing on the dais. The tall, thin black man, robed in gold, who was sitting on the throne stood up when they came in.
"Who are you? What's going on here? Are you in charge here? I demand that you release me at once. I am a U.S. Senator from the planet Earth." Kinsey prattled on.
"I am Apophis and you will not speak unless you are commanded to do so." He said as his eyes flashed. "Kneel before your god!"
"So you're the famous Apophis SG-1 keeps whining about." Kinsey smirked, ignoring the order to kneel; he did not have much respect for anyone who was not white skinned.
He would learn respect...or fear...for Apophis though because just then a Jaffa struck him hard across the back with the side of his staff weapon and Kinsey fell to his knees.
"Silence!" Apophis yelled as he came down from the dais and circled the silver-haired man.
"With all due respect, my lord Apophis, is not this man too old to..." A Jaffa started to ask, but then broke off when his master gestured for his silence as well.
"He is the one who oversees those meddling Tau're. We will send him back to spy for us and then he will send us information about SG-1's plans." Apophis said and the Jaffa bowed his head in acceptance.
The Jaffa who was carrying Apophis' mature "son" was called forward. Kinsey was grabbed and made to stand up again. He was stripped of his clothes and then pulled over to a table and shoved up onto it, face down.
"You will have to discipline this host of yours in his eating habits, my son; get rid of all that flab and make him healthy again so that you may have a long life with him and serve me well." Apophis said to the mature symbiote, which had stuck its head out of the pouch of its Jaffa, to take a look at its host.
"What, what are you going to do to me? You're not going to stick that thing inside me." Kinsey cried out and started to struggle in earnest, but he was easily subdued by the Jaffa.
Isabel watched the proceedings with pleasure; she had gotten the details of this ceremony from Teal'c, when she had dream-walked him. But she had decided not to allow Apophis to stun Kinsey into a helpless state. She wanted him to be aware of everything which was happening to him.
The symbiote launched itself then, from the Jaffa and landed on Kinsey's back. He struggled when he felt the slimy thing wriggle across his back...and then he screamed and screamed when the Goa'uld dove and forced its way through his neck and into his body. Finally, his screams petered off as Kinsey lost consciousness from the pain.
When he woke up, Kinsey found that the nightmare had only truly just begun. He could feel his body, but not control it. When he tried to speak, no sound came out of his mouth. He was trapped within his own skull, looking out through his eyes, as if through a long tunnel. The symbiote spoke to him, commanding him to be silent, that he was in charge now and there was nothing Kinsey could do about it.
Kinsey saw that time had passed and his body, which was now robed in gold embroidered garments, was standing on what might be the bridge of the Gao'uld's ship and he was looking out the window...as the planets of his own solar system passed by. Then they were coming up on Earth and he noticed several other Goa'uld ships flying nearby the ship he was on. They flew on through the atmosphere and the ships launched their fighter craft and started to shoot their energy weapons at his planet. He was shown close-ups, as a death glider took aim and then shot down Air Force One, as it tried to escape from a devastated Washington D.C. Kinsey saw that the White House and Congress were already destroyed. The close-ups narrowed in even further...to his own house. It was a smoking wreck and he could see human-shaped figures, just burnt and blackened husks, laying inside...his wife, his family...and all of his precious possessions...destroyed. Kinsey started screaming inside his head and mentally pounded on the inside of his skull.
"No! NO! God, NO!" He cried out. "Please, please, I beg of you...Stop! You filthy, slimy alien bastards...we'll make you pay for this. You'll wish you'd never heard of the Tau're!" Kinsey screamed until his head was pounding with the headache he had given himself, but all he heard when he stopped, to capture his breath...was laughter.
"You puny, insignificant being...you are nothing compared to the Goa'uld...to the Gods...we will make your people kneel down before us and serve us...as You will serve us...serve me." His captor gloated.
Their view was changing as the ship flew over the United States...until it came to hover over what was left of Cheyenne Mountain.
"The SGC is destroyed...but SG-1 has been captured alive and will join you soon."
"No, no, NO!" Kinsey screamed again as he pounded on the wall of his prison...his own mind...until he ran out of energy and collapsed back into darkness.
"Be easy Senator Kinsey; none of these things has happened. Your world is safe...no thanks to you. You have acted recklessly and your actions have put your entire world in jeopardy...IF others had not stepped in to correct your stupid mistakes, what you just experienced would have come to pass...and still may, if you continue to meddle in matters which you do not understand. Listen to those around you who are far smarter and wiser than you are...and do what they tell you to do. Remember this lesson and learn from it, but do not mention it to anyone else, Senator..." The voice faded away but Kinsey could still feel his heart pounding.
Even in his sleep Kinsey could see the world from a whole knew perspective, after he had calmed down. He had been an arrogant fool; messing around with things he did not understand and he had almost lost everything, while he was selfishly trying to grab for more...more power, more possessions. This nightmare would haunt him for years; especially anytime he started to slip back into his old ways, he knew. He would call the President in the morning and ask to be taken off the committee for the Antarian negotiations.
Far away in Alex's apartment, Isabel saw Kinsey's change of heart and grinned; a good night's work, she thought, as she snuggled more closely into her lover's arms.
Part 24
Isabel woke up the next morning in a great mood and softly hummed to herself as she gently stroked her fingers over Alex's chest.
"Mmm good morning, Sweetheart." Alex murmured his eyes only slits as his arms came up to pull her down from where she had been leaning over him. "You seem to be in a good mood; did you sleep well?" He asked.
"I always sleep well when I'm with you." Isabel replied, running soft fingers over his brow.
'Maybe, but you aren't a morning person and you've certainly never hummed to yourself, this early in the morning." Alex thought to himself, but then said out loud. "I was worried that you'd have bad dreams after hearing all about Senator Kinsey yesterday...that is would have brought back memories of Max and the white room." Alex said.
"Well it did while Max was telling us about it yesterday, but I knew that I would just have to put my faith in the President and General Hammond; that they will be able to handle Kinsey, once they get the evidence that Max gave to Mom and Dad." Isabel said and Alex looked strangely at her.
'Uh huh, sure Izy. You may have mellowed a little over the years, but allowing others to handle something so important to you...I think not.' He thought and then said. "What have you done, Isabel?"
"Nothing..." Isabel said, but she could not meet his eyes.
"Izy.." Alex replied, still firm and Isabel hesitated.
"Okay...I gave Kinsey...a nightmare last night." She admitted.
"What sort of nightmare?" Alex asked.
"I made him live through everything that Pierce did to Max and then...I had Apophis turn him into a Goa'uld and watch as they destroyed the U.S." Isabel said.
"Oh man...Isabel..." Alex sighed.
"What?" Isabel asked stubbornly and it was Alex's turn to hesitate.
"I...I think...that was brilliant!" Alex grinned.
"What?" Isabel asked, shocked.
"I love it...don't get mad; get even!" Alex chuckled. "What...did you think I'd disapprove? Well I don't; anyone who comes against you or any of the others will have to deal with Alexander Charles Whitman...if someone else...who shall remain nameless...doesn't get there first." Alex kissed her softly. "I am...a little worried though; how do you think Kinsey will react?"
"I worked it so that he should at least back out of the negotiating committee and resign from the Senate at the most." Isabel answered.
"I hope so." Alex said, as he moved to get out of bed and then turned to pull her up as well. "Come on, it's early; maybe we can get into the bathroom before Kyle and Tess and take a shower...together."
"You are such a thoughtful person, Alex." Isabel giggled as she allowed herself to be pulled out of bed. "Saving hot water for your guests."
"Well, that depends on how long we stay in there...doesn't it?" Alex asked wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively before the bathroom door shut behind them.
Later that morning, the "kids" and parents were gathered together in Liz's apartment to say good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Sheriff Valenti. Sam had arranged with them the night before, at dinner in Daniel and Sha're's apartment, to fly them down to Roswell for the morning...or maybe the whole day. And then fly them back up to Colorado Springs. Mr. Evans would take the evidence against Senator Kinsey out of the safe-deposit-box first thing and give the papers to his wife, to carry back with her when she returned later that day. Diane and Jim also needed to pick up more clothing so they could stay with their children longer, but Philip would stay in Roswell until the weekend, so that he could catch up on some of his legal work. Hopefully by the time he returned, the President would have given them permission to all travel through the Stargate, to Antar, or...only Liz and Alex would be going and everyone else would return to Roswell and get back to their jobs. In either case, Kyle and Maria had arranged to take the week off, so they had enough clothes and did not need to return home until the following Monday.
So after the parents left with Sam, Liz and Alex left for work and took Max and Isabel with them, while Maria, Michael, Kyle and Tess stayed at home. While Isabel had not been interested the day before, in attending the meeting with General Hammond, or taking a tour of the SGC, she was very interested in seeing where Alex worked and perhaps helping him with this experiments...she had learned quite a lot over the last eleven years on Antar, if not as much as Max. When they arrived at the SGC, each couple went its own way, Isabel with Alex and Max with Liz, towards her lab. It was almost noon and both couples had managed to do quite a bit of work when they received a call asking them to come to General Hammond's office.
"Morning, General." Liz said as she and Max entered his office.
"Morning Dr. Parker, Mr. Evans. Why don't we all go next door to the briefing room?" The General suggested and they caught Alex, Isabel and SG-1, minus Captain Carter in the hallway on the way to the room next door.
Sha're once again followed Daniel into the conference room for another meeting. She still disliked being so far underground in this cement-walled and dingy-looking facility, but she loved the work she was doing with her handsome Dan'yel. She was of real help to him and spending hours with him; this man she loved so much, studying so many interesting artifacts, made her incredibly happy. And on top of everything, Sha're was also happy for her friends from Antar and their soul-mates. It was wonderful to see each step they took towards reuniting with their friends and loved-ones, as well as making plans to face down their enemies. As she sat down next to Daniel, Sha're smiled when her husband took her hand into his big, strong one and squeezed it gently. The topic of the meeting might be serious, but part of her would always feel warm and content whenever she was near her Dan'yel.
What's up, sir." Jack asked his C.O. after everyone had sat down.
"I just received an interesting phone call from the President." The General said.
"Has he...made a decision about our...situation?" Max asked.
"The President has made a decision and I'll get to that in a minute, but that was not the main reason he called." George said.
"Oh...sir?" Jack asked.
"Apparently...Senator Kinsey came to visit him first thing this morning." The General said.
"What did that bas...uh...incredibly annoying man want with the President, sir?" Jack asked, modifying his vocabulary and tone.
"He told the President that he no longer wanted to be a part of the Antarian negotiating team...AND...that he also wishes to be removed from the SGC oversight committee!"
"What?"
"What's he been smoking?"
"Is this some sort of reverse psychology?"
"I can't believe it!"
"What?" Everyone yelled. Alex and Isabel tried to match their reactions to the others.
"Calm down people." Hammond said with a small, satisfied smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes. "Kinsey said that since he has the knowledge and expertise, he would still like to be appointed to another military committee, but that he would rather it be 'more down to Earth' than the committee watching over the SGC."
"Did the President insist on a drug test?" Jack asked irreverently.
"What was...Kinsey's behavior like?" Daniel asked.
"The President said that Kinsey looked normal, but he was...rather subdued and he did show concern for the Senator's health."
"What did Kinsey say to that?" Max asked.
"He assured the President that he was perfectly alright...that he was just seeing his life, his actions in a whole new light and from a totally different perspective." The General said, making quote marks in the air with his fingers, on both sides of his head.
"The guy is cracked." Alex murmured while he squeezed Isabel's hand under the table.
"That may be true, Dr. Whitman, but for now, he's the kind of cracked we like...and the President jumped on the chance to get Kinsey out of our way...and out of his hair. He immediately drew up the papers for him to sign and Kinsey promised to speak to the Majority Leader about a new committee posting, since he's the one to make such appointments for his party members." The General explained.
"So are we...really and truly...rid of that awful man?" Liz asked.
"Yes, Dr. Parker, we are...Yahoo!" The General let off some steam and everyone started clapping.
"Who will replace Kinsey?" Jack asked after everyone had calmed down some.
"That has yet to be determined, Colonel; but the President has his eye on Senator Mark Tong. Since we are so top secret, the President will have to approach him quietly...but he has every faith that Senator Tong will be appointed."
"Great! I've heard some really good things about him." Daniel said.
Everyone looked around the table quietly for a moment, while the General drew out the suspense briefly, but then finally he spoke.
"As to the President's decision regarding your requests, Your Highness." The General said formally. "After much discussion...during which I spelled out all of the snarls and difficulties...Not telling the Parkers, Mrs. DeLuca and Mr. Whitman the truth...would entail." Hammond paused.
"Y-e-s...?" Liz asked.
"He finally agreed with me. As of this moment...you may tell your parents the truth about Mr. Evans' origins and whereabouts for the past eleven years." General Hammond said, smiling.
Liz and everyone else grinned and started to clap...everyone except Max, who continued to gaze intently at the General.
"Max?" Liz asked rubbing his arm gently.
"What did the President decide about us telling them and showing everybody the Stargate...taking them through to Antar?" Max asked.
The General became solemn.
"He...approved your plan...that you may have them transported here, but only in an enclosed vehicle, so that they cannot see where this facility is...but once inside...they may be shown the Stargate and then travel through it to Antar...But I must tell you all that I have some reservations about all of this." The General said sternly.
"I understand General...I can vouch for my parents, they will keep your secret." Max assured the older man and then looked at Liz with a relieved grin on his face. "I was not looking forward to coming back from an eleven year disappearance, admitting to your father that I am an alien...And then asking him for his daughter's hand in marriage...without being able to show your parents my beautiful planet!"
"Oh Max!" Liz swatted his arm teasingly.
"Oh...man, I wonder if Michael has thought of that...as far as asking Amy DeLuca for her daughter's hand!" Alex shuddered dramatically.
"Hey Alex, you have to tell your dad that you're marrying an alien!" Isabel reminded him.
"Yeah, but at least neither my father, nor Mr. Evans are likely to pull out a shotgun on me as Mrs. DeLuca and Mr. Parker are likely to do." Alex replied.
"Your father...owns...a shotgun?" Max asked Liz worriedly.
"No Max, it's just a saying about fathers and their little girls getting married; they always have trouble giving them up to someone else or thinking that the man is good enough for their princess..." Liz giggled.
"What, a king isn't good enough to marry a princess?" Max asked.
"That...might...help your case..." Liz admitted nodding. "But what will really help you most is...that I love you and will be by your side when you speak to my dad." She promised.
"Thank you...thank you!" Max chanted softly before he leaned in and kissed her gently.
SG-1, Sha're and Hammond looked on grinning but Isabel rolled her eyes.
"Once again we need to gather everyone together so that we can discuss how to handle all of this and when to do it." Alex said.
"Well...my mom and Sam won't be back until this evening so we may as well go back to work and we can be thinking of some plans while we do." Isabel suggested.
"We could call Michael and tell him the part about having permission to tell Amy DeLuca the truth." Alex suggested grinning.
"Yeah, good idea; I'll do that when we get back to Liz's office." Max said.
"Let's grab some lunch down in the Commissary first and then we can get back to work." Liz suggested and everyone agreed.
Two hours later everyone was back from lunch and hard at work when the claxons went off. Three quarters of SG-1, Sha're, Liz, Max, Alex and Isabel came running into the control room; they were all hoping that Jacob Carter/Selmac were returning...And it was Jacob, who stepped through the event horizon a few minutes later. Selmac's eyes flashed as Max and the others ran down into the Gateroom to greet them.
"Your Highness, Jacob and I were able to find the information you requested." Selmac said formally, holding out a data-crystal.
"Or at least as much information and pictures of the Goa'uld as the Tok'ra have been able to gather." Jacob added. "Can you access data-crystals?"
"Yes, we can; thank you very much, both of you." Max said.
"Jacob, Selmac glad to have you back." George Hammond said coming up to greet his old friend.
"We were only gone for a day." Jacob reminded him. "Where's Sam?"
She flew the Evans and Mr. Valenti down to Roswell so that they could pick up some clean clothes and that evidence against Senator Kinsey...not that we'll need it now..." George answered.
"Why not?" Jacob asked.
"Come on, I'll tell you all about it." George said and guided his friend towards the stairs to his office.
A moment later, they heard two sets of laughter coming from the floor above and everyone grinned before going back to work.
That evening, everyone gathered together again in Alex's apartment. Sam had flown home with Diane and Jim and so only Philip Evans was missing from the meeting. They had all pitched in a little and Max and Liz had gone out to pick up a huge order of Chinese food. All the quart-sized white boxes were placed on the coffee table, everyone was given a plate and a pair of chopsticks and then they all dug in; trying a little bit of everything.
"Thanks for coming, everyone." Max said a while later after the first rush of eating was over and people were only occasionally going back for more food. "We just wanted to ask your advice about how and where to tell the other parents about Liz and Alex's work at the SGC...and...our...um...origins." Max said.
"Max also wants any advice on how to tell his future father-in-law that he, an alien, wants to marry his daughter." Alex added, grinning.
"I'm sure Michael would appreciate the same advice as to approaching Amy DeLuca." Kyle said and then ducked as Michael threw a peapod at him.
"Hey let's not start a food fight here!" Alex called out as Kyle picked up a slice of water chestnut dripping with hot sauce, off of his plate.
"Kasuf was very impressed with you when he believed you were a god, wasn't he, Daniel?" Jack asked his friend.
"I think that Kasuf, my father-in-law, was more afraid of me than impressed, when he thought that I was the god, Ra." Daniel clarified.
"But Father holds my Dan'yel in very high esteem now that he really knows him because of his courage, strength and wisdom." Sha're said proudly smiling up at her husband's blushing face.
"Modesty, you didn't mention Daniel's modesty." Jack added and Sha're nodded happily.
"My father-in-law would not allow me to marry his daughter until I was made First Prime." Teal'c recalled. "He was only impressed by social position."
"Impressing your future father-in-law is always a good idea, but it's very difficult to do." Jack remarked.
Everyone was silent for a moment, watching Max who seemed to be deep in thought.
"Max?" Liz asked.
"You know...I think I have an idea." Max said thoughtfully and then he started to give an outline of the plan to his friends who were smiling and nodding by the time he had finished.
"Each of you needs to call your parents; see if they can fly up here for the weekend." Max instructed.
"I'll be happy to fly down and pick them up along with Mr. Evans." Sam offered.
"That's really nice of you, Sam. We really appreciate all of this puddle-jumping you've been doing for us." Alex said as he handed the portable phone to Liz.
Liz dialed her home and then heard her father answer at the other end.
"Hi Dad, it's me...you know how you and Mom have been wanting to see where I work? Well now's your chance..."
Stargazers Stargaters Part 25
"Hi Dad, it's me...you know how you and Mom have been wanting to see where I work? Well now's your chance..." Liz said over the phone to her father, Jeff Parker.
"Wow really? That's great, but what happened? Those military-types you work for sounded so adamant about keeping everything top-secret." Jeff asked.
"Um yeah, Dad; something kinda incredible has happened that changed the situation here, but I can't tell you what it is over the phone." Liz said.
"Okay...when did you want us to fly up there? I don't know when we can get a flight..." Mr. Parker said.
"We would really like you to come up for the weekend, Dad...and we'll send a plane for you. My superiors will still not allow you to know where the facility is. The plane will have no windows and you will be transferred into a windowless van. I know all of this is all rather cloak and dagger, but this is the only way you'll be allowed to see where Alex and I work...and this is the only time I'll be able to make this offer; if you don't come this weekend, you won't be allowed to come ever again." Liz warned.
"Liz...what's going on?" Jeff asked.
"Dad...as I said before...something really incredible has happened here; something I can't tell you about right now, but in light of that...thing, my superiors have drawn back the classification restrictions so that you can come in and see what I do for a living, but...they are not happy about doing it, so the Brass are placing restrictions on the manner in which you will be allowed into the facility...and the date on which they will make security arrangements for you and Mom to come...so will you...come, Dad? Please?" Liz asked.
"Of course we will, if this is the only change we're going to be given to see where our Lizzy works. How will we be picked up, what should we do?" Jeff asked.
Liz spent the next few minutes giving her father instructions on when they would be picked up and how much to pack.
"Have Mom pack her nicest dress and you pack your good suit, there's going to be a party!" Liz added before they said good-bye and hung up.
"Your turn, Maria." Liz said; her hands were still sweaty as she handed the phone to her friend.
"Hi Mom, it's me." Maria said when Amy DeLuca answered the phone.
"Maria! What's up? Are you having fun with Liz, Alex and Kyle up in Colorado?"
"Oh wow, Mom; it's been Great, you can have No idea!" Maria exclaimed looking lovingly up into Michael's face.
"That's great, Maria." Amy said happy for her daughter.
"In fact...we're having so much fun that...we'd like you to fly up here and join us." Maria tried to say casually.
"What?" Amy asked starting to sound wary.
"Mom..." Maria hesitated and then continued. "Something really wonderful has happened here and I want to tell you about it...show you." Maria said.
"What's happened, Maria; are you pregnant?" Amy asked her dreaded, standard question.
"M-O-M!" Maria cried into the phone. "Why do you always ask me that? No matter what the situation is, the first thing you always ask me is whether I'm pregnant or not!"
Michael rolled his eyes as mother and daughter argued, he'd heard all of this before.
"And for the ten-thousandth time...NO, I am Not pregnant!" Maria yelled. "You know, never mind...I don't want to share this with you after all, so just forget that I called!" Maria made as if to slam the phone down onto the cradle, but Michael stopped her and covered the mouth of the phone with the palm of his hand.
"Maria you have to get her up here...this is your only chance to tell her and make her understand." Michael whispered.
"Maria, give me the phone and I'll talk to her." Liz said holding out her hand.
Maria hesitated and then gave the phone to Liz.
"Hi, Mrs. DeLuca, it's Liz; how are you?" Liz asked calmly and politely.
"Hi Liz, I'm fine thanks; now tell me what's really going on with my daughter." Amy demanded.
"Man, she doesn't change, I feel like I'm sixteen again." Liz covered the phone with her hand and whispered to her friends.
"Tell me about it." Maria murmured before Liz returned to the phone.
"Mrs. DeLuca, Maria is fine, I promise...it's actually me and Alex that most of this is about. I'm sure Maria has told you about how frustrated she is with us; not being allowed to know what Alex and I really do for a living." Liz started.
"Boy, is she ever, not a week goes by that Maria isn't mentioning something about how you two are so secretive. Really Liz...can't you even tell our best friend these things...Maria is so hurt by your attitude...I never..."
"Did you have to do such a good job of griping to your mom about me and Alex?" Liz whispered to her friend while Amy prattled on.
"Hey, I had to act like nothing had changed, after you told Kyle and me the truth, or she would have known that something Had changed." Maria argued in a whisper.
"Yeah, yeah." Liz said before turning back to the phone and interrupting Amy's tirade. "Mrs. DeLuca, Mrs. DeLuca; I have to tell you something..." Liz called into the mouth-piece and Amy finally quieted down to listen. "My superiors have finally given their permission for Kyle and Maria to come and see where I work and we'd like you to join us."
"What?" Amy asked, shocked.
"I can finally show all of you what Alex and I have been working on. We would really like you to join us this weekend...actually, its kind of important that you do come...and my parents are coming as well...Mr. Whitman too." Liz said.
"Really? Wow, well I'll admit that I'm just as curious as Maria to know what you and Alex have been up to, Liz." Amy said. "But does it have to be this weekend?"
"Yes, I am afraid that this is the one and only weekend my superiors are willing to make the needed arrangements for this." Liz said.
"Well...um...okay!" Amy exclaimed excitedly. "How do I get there? What should I wear?"
Liz handed the phone back to Maria, so that she could tell her mother the arrangements and...what to wear. Next, Alex called his father and their conversation went far smoother than either of the girl's phone calls to their parents. Soon Alex was hanging up and turning to his friends.
"Done." He said smiling.
"My dad will need to fly back somehow too." Isabel said. "How will we arrange it so that your parents don't see him, since we want to keep our presence here a secret, they shouldn't see him or they'll know something's up."
"Sam told me last night that the plane she's been using has a small bedroom, back by the tail. Dad can stay in there; it has a chair he can strap himself into and the door can be locked so no one can open it by accident." Max explained.
"Cool!" Alex exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "Looks like we have everything covered."
"Man...I am half excited, half dreading Saturday morning." Isabel said.
"Me too, but we'll do it together." Alex assured her, while wrapping her up in is strong arms from behind and pulling her close.
Nothing was left but getting through the next couple of days. Max, Isabel, Alex and Liz went into work each day. Liz and Alex felt that they needed to work as much as they could since they had taken so much time off to be with their loves and would be taking even more time off in a few days. Their other four friends, Diane and Jim spent their time visiting the sights of Colorado Springs and having a lot of fun even if they could not spend their days with their other friends.
And then finally...Saturday morning came...
Down in Roswell, Charles Whitman, Jeff and Nancy Parker and Amy DeLuca all gathered at the small airport outside of town.
"Amy, good morning." Nancy greeted her friend. "I didn't realize that you were coming with us."
"Yeah, well Liz and Alex really wanted Maria and Kyle to see where they work and I guess that wish stretched to all of their 'parents'." Amy reasoned with a shrug.
A few minutes later, Sam Carter drove over to them from where she had left the plane around the corner of an airport hanger, and introduced herself as she had to Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Sheriff Valenti only a few days before. Mr. Evans had already arrived and been stashed in the jet's small bedroom by the time Sam returned to the plane, warmed up the engines and taxied it over closer to where the four parents waited.
Panels had been fixed over the windows, but otherwise it was the same VIP plane which had been used to fly the other three parents up to Colorado Springs. Sam told them about the jet's amenities and then went back to the cockpit to ready everything for take off. Within minutes, they were in the air and before they knew it, they were landing and taxiing into the enclosed hanger.
"Mom, Dad!" Liz called out as soon as the hatch was opened and their parents started to walk down the stairs.
"Mom!" Maria cried.
"Hey Dad!" Alex greeted his father.
"Hi Amy." Jim Valenti said.
"Hi everyone." Kyle added.
"Jim, you're here too? How come you didn't have to fly up with us?" Jeff asked; apparently he had not noticed that the retired sheriff had not been in town for the last few days.
"I was already up here skiing when Kyle called me at the lodge." Jim told the cover-story they had made up for him.
If Amy DeLuca was being included in this because of her daughter's involvement, so should Jim Valenti be.
"I just drove down to Alex's apartment and then we all drove out here to meet you." Jim continued.
"Well...let's get your luggage unloaded and then we can be on our way." Alex urged everyone.
Sam had their luggage gathered together at the hatchway and handed it down to its owners. The van's driver; a Special Forces sergeant, helped them stow their suitcases and then turned to Captain Carter.
"Drive safely, Sergeant; you know the route to take?" Sam asked.
"Thank you Ma'am and yes I know the route to take, Captain." He saluted smartly and Carter returned his salute.
Everyone was helped into the comfortable, but enclosed van and the door was shut. The van started up and they were off. The pre-planned route would circle and weave its way around Colorado Springs before heading up into the mountains, to the SGC's underground garage. Inside the plane, Sam went to unlock the bedroom's door and let Philip Evans out.
"I hope you weren't too uncomfortable back here." Sam said.
"No, it was fine." Philip said, smiling as they both walked towards the hatch.
"Good, Sergeant Martin will drive you over to the apartment building where everyone else will join you in the van. Then she'll drive you up to the SGC. See you there soon." Sam said before turning back into the cabin.
She and Sergeant Miller would take off again and fly up to the Air Force base, right next to the Cheyenne Mountain Military Complex. They would probably arrive even before the first van did.
"See you soon." Philip said before he jumped up into the van and they were off.
Inside the first van Nancy looked closely at her daughter.
"You look great Liz...you're almost...glowing!" She observed, happy for her daughter.
"So is Maria." Amy said suspiciously.
"I'm seeing traces of grins and sparkling eyes on both Alex and Kyle's faces." Jim said, trying to keep the knowing grin off of his face.
"What's going on? Come on tell us, please." Jeff Parker asked his daughter again.
"Dad...I can't! It's a supposed to be a surprise." Liz answered grinning.
"A really big surprise." Kyle muttered, but everyone heard him.
The parents took turns trying to get answers out of their kids, but when that did not work; they turned to Jim and asked about his skiing. Jim had to think fast to answer them and used the snow reports he had heard on the TV news to help him. From there, he turned the tables and asked Charles Whitman some questions about his work and they all took turns getting caught up. Their minds were occupied and the Sergeant drove carefully, so they hardly noticed the time and the miles passing them by, but finally they passed through the security check-points and into the SGC's underground garage.
Everyone was helped out of the van and urged to walk through a security door-frame, like those they use in airports. Their luggage was taken away from them and also passed through x-rays and other sensors before they were all taken inside and issued visitor badges. Alex and Liz put their employee badges on and they walked on down the hall, turned a corner to be faced by a very long, inclined hallway, with armed guards stationed there and another check-point at the end. When they reached the security point, their IDs were scanned and they had to step through another sensor as well. Then they turned another corner and entered an elevator. Two SFs escorted them and a third controlled the elevator.
"Are, are we going up or down?" Amy asked.
"Down." Alex said. "In fact we'll have to get out of this elevator and enter a second one."
"How far down will we be going?" Jeff asked.
"That is classified, sir." One of their escorts told them and Alex shrugged. "Will you all follow me?" The escort said as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.
"Another security check?" Jim Valenti asked.
"Yes, sir; now please follow me." They were led into the second elevator and the doors closed.
When the second elevator came to a stop they were escorted out and down a hallway.
"General Hammond ordered that you be escorted to the Conference Room, sir and ma'am." One of the SFs told Alex and Liz.
"Right, we have a lot to tell these people before they can be given the tour of this place." Alex agreed.
They were all shown into the Conference Room and the two escorts took their places outside after closing the door. As everyone took seats around the long table, Alex noticed that the blast door was down so that they could not see the Stargate through the window which overlooked the Control Room and down into the Gate Room. Alex sat at the head of the table and Liz sat on his right and he saw a yellow sticky-note affixed to the table's surface.
"Press #7 on the remote when you want the blast door lifted. SG-6 returns at 10:00 hours; GH."
Alex looked at his watch; it was just 09:15, that gave him just forty-five minutes to explain things if he wanted to conclude the talk in a dramatic way. Thinking back to his briefing about the Stargate, he hoped that he and Liz would have enough time.
"Everyone comfy? We have quite a lot to tell you. There's coffee and hot water for tea over there." Alex pointed towards a side table. "Oh look, the General left donuts too."
"Why don't we all get something to...uh...fortify us and then we can begin." Liz suggested, although why she thought that more caffeine and sugar would help her nerves, she could not say.
After everyone sat back down, they had everyone sign a secrecy oath before they really began the briefing. Alex and Liz took turns over the next half hour to explain to their parents what work they really did, gave a brief history of the Stargate and told a few anecdotes about the people who worked here. Maria, Kyle and Jim all listened to this for the second or third times with interest. With each repetition, they heard and understood more. Forty minutes later, Liz and Alex fell silent and surveyed the shell-shocked expressions on their parents' faces.
"Any...uh...questions?" Alex asked, but everyone shook their heads.
"Maybe it would help you to understand...and believe...if you see the Stargate for yourselves." Liz said and she pressed #7 on the remote.
A moment later, the blast door went up and they could see the top half of the Stargate from where they sat.
"Why don't you all stand up and come over to the window." Liz suggested. "In about five minutes, the Stargate is going to be activated; we have a team coming back from a mission and you'll be able to see much better from there."
Everyone stood up and walked over to the window. From there, they had a clear view of the Stargate.
"If you look straight down, you can see the Control Room." Liz pointed out.
Just then, with perfect timing, the Stargate began to turn; the lights began to flash and the claxons stared to sound.
"Remember what we told you; those chevrons have to lock onto seven symbols for the Gate to activate." Alex reminded the parents. "Watch now!" He exclaimed just as the Stargate's energy wave erupted outwards, horizontally before retracting to pool and brightly ripple within the giant ring.
"What was that?" Jim Valenti asked and Liz explained briefly.
"Watch now, SG-6 should be coming through...now!" Alex said.
And indeed just then four people, three men and one woman came bursting through the gate and then calmly walked down the ramp.
"It really...is...true." Charles Whitman said in wonder. "One minute there was nothing there and the next...four people emerged...from that...thing."
"It's real alright, Dad; we aren't doing this with smoke and mirrors." Alex said.
The Stargate closed down below and SG-6 exited the Gate Room after having a brief word with General Hammond.
"SG-4 is scheduled to leave in about ten minutes; maybe seeing them going through the event-horizon will help you." Liz said.
"Here they come." Alex pointed out as four men came into the Gate Room below.
They lay their gear on the floor and then started suiting up as other personnel came in to watch.
"Do all teams always carry so many weapons...do you carry a...gun...when you go through that thing?" Amy asked both Alex and Liz. "And who are all those other people down there?"
"Yes, the SG-teams do carry a lot of weapons whenever they go off-world; especially the first-contact teams." Alex said. "You never know what you might find on another planet. Many of the other worlds are populated by peaceful, generous and kind people, but the teams may also run into the Goa'uld...remember what I told you about them...and some of the native cultures will react violently out of fear whenever anyone comes through their Gate."
"And yes...Alex and I do carry hand guns, which we have been trained to use...just as a precaution. Scientific teams are only sent to planets which have already been checked out and are considered safe...and we are also watched over by a military team as well. But, you never know what might happen and it's always best to be prepared." Liz answered casually; they had not told any of their parents about the mission-gone-wrong, during which Liz had used her powers to kill two Jaffa soldiers.
"Uh...those extra people down there are either technicians or they may be new military personnel who like to watch when an SG-team leaves on a mission...and dream of the day when they will do so too." Alex smiled.
Just then the Stargate began to move again and they all watched in fascination. When the event-horizon had settled down within its frame, SG-4 walked up the ramp and one by one...disappeared. The Stargate shut down and everyone below went back to their normal duties.
"Wow, that was really incredible!" Jeff Parker said.
"Yeah it is Dad!" Liz grinned up at him.
"And you've really traveled through that thing to other planets, Lizzy?" He asked.
"Yup, twice!" Liz nodded. "Alex has gone through three times." She said.
"Well...why don't we give you a tour of our two labs and then we can come back here. I know that General Hammond and SG-1 will be glad to meet you." Alex suggested.
'And then we have something else we have to tell you...if you aren't completely shocked already.' Alex thought to himself.
He looked over to Liz and they both gave each other a raised-eyebrow expression, knowing what was to come before they herded everyone out the door. Their escorts followed behind them this time as they walked down the hallway to Alex's lab first and then to Liz's. Alex had been given permission to show their parents only certain artifacts in his office, but they were very impressed anyway about how Alex was figuring out this alien technology. In Liz's lab, she had set up her microscope with a blood sample infected with nano-bots and another scope with some cuttings from some alien foliage, which had a different cell structure from Earth plants.
"This has all been so interesting to see!" Nancy Parker said at last; she had just been trying to take everything in.
"Do you all feel like you've absorbed all of this now?" Alex asked. "Do you have any questions...or are you ready to meet some of the SGC personnel?"
"I may have some more questions, but let's meet your co-workers, friends and superiors, Alex." Charles Whitman said, looking around at the others, he saw them all nodding their heads in agreement.
"Alright, let's walk back to the Conference Room." Liz said and everyone followed her out of her lab and back down the hallway.
"Don't you feel claustrophobic down here, Liz?" Nancy asked her daughter. "All these tunnels and cement walls?"
"No, not really; they're well lit and usually bustling with activity and my lab has a pretty high ceiling." Liz answered as they walked back into the Conference Room.
Meanwhile...the Royal Four and the Evans had been driven from Liz's apartment building to the SGC in a second van. They had been taken through Security several minutes before their friends came through. While Liz and Alex were briefing their friends and family about the Stargate, Sam Carter gave the Evans couple a tour of the facility. The Royal Four stayed with them while they were touring Liz and Alex's labs and showed them some of the things they had been working on, but when the older couple moved on, Max and the others walked down to General Hammond's office. It was time to negotiate an agreement between Earth and Antar as to who might travel to each other's worlds and what information might be exchanged. Between Max, Daniel and the General, they were able to cover quite a bit of ground before it was time for SG-6 to return and the Stargate was activated. Sam had brought the Evans to the General's office just in time and they had as great a view of the spectacle as their friends did in the room next door.
"Is it really as easy as all that? You just step through that thing and you're on another planet?" Philip asked in awe as he looked down on the Gate room.
"That's about it, Dad." Max said smiling. "Although I've only done it once so far; Sam and Daniel have done it hundreds of times."
"And you want all of us to step through it, to visit your...planet?" Diane asked hesitantly.
"It's perfectly safe, Mrs. Evans." Sam assured her.
"And we'll all be right there with you." Isabel assured her as well.
"Man, I wonder how you're going to get Jeff, Nancy and Amy to step through that thing, a couple of hours after only just learning about all of this. Their heads are probably still spinning." Philip chuckled. "At least we've had a couple of days to think about it. You're really throwing a lot at them all at once."
"Yeah well Maria and Kyle have to go back to work on Monday and we really wanted to take them through to see Antar before they do." Michael explained.
"And all of us wanted all of you to come with us, since we were finally given permission to do so." Max added.
A moment later the Stargate activated again and they watched as SG-4 left on its next mission.
"That really is fantastic to see!" Philip said after the Gate had closed down.
They chatted on for about twenty more minutes and then someone knocked on the General's office door.
"Come." He called out and an SF opened the door.
"They're back in the Conference Room, sir." The Sergeant said and General Hammond nodded.
"Time for step two; let's go introduce ourselves." He said to all of SG-1, Jacob Carter and Sha're, who had followed behind the SF and were waiting out in the hallway.
Max, Michael, Isabel, Tess and the Evans stayed in the General's office; they would go next door only when they were summoned for step three of their plan.
Back in the Conference Room, everyone looked around as the door opened and the General and his party entered the room, closing the door behind them.
"Good morning, I am General George Hammond, commander of this base. I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you earlier, but we thought it best not to muddy the waters too much with names you wouldn't remember...before you'd been told the story of our little facility here." He said amiably as he shook everyone's hand.
"May I introduce everyone else? These four people comprise our premier team, SG-1. Colonel Jack O'Neill is the CO and Captain Carter is his second-in-command. This is Dr. Daniel Jackson; from our briefing you should know that Carter is the one who was able to find a way to power and control the Stargate while Daniel was the one who figured out how to open the Stargate, step through it and then safely return home to Earth again. And this is Teal'c; again, you should have been told that he is a Jaffa; a warrior for the Goa'uld who has renounced his allegiance to those aliens, who are our enemies and has joined our fight against them instead."
Everyone was staring at Teal'c, their first true alien (they believed), but they all managed a smile as well in light of his calm demeanor.
"This is Dr. Jackson's wife, Sha're." The General indicated the lovely woman whose hand was tightly holding Daniel's. "She is human but she and her people are from the planet Abydos; the first place SG-1 ever traveled to, once Dr. Jackson was able to open up the Stargate. And finally this is retired General Jacob Carter, Captain Carter's father and...the host to the Tok'ra, Selmac. You have been briefed on the difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra?" The General asked and everyone nodded again and smiled at Jacob.
"It is a great honor to meet all of you." Selmac said in her deep voice as she flashed her eyes, but her smile, prim and proper manner put them all at ease, somehow. "Mr. and Mrs. Parker and Mr. Whitman you have raised two exceptional young people." Selmac bowed a little and Jeff, Nancy and Charles all beamed their pride in their children.
"Let's all take a seat, shall we?" The General suggested and everyone found a chair.
"So General...are you the one we can ask about why the change of heart towards all of us being allowed to come and see this place after all?" Jeff Parker asked. "Lizzy told us that her superiors were totally opposed to allowing any of us to know where she worked or what she was doing...what's changed?"
"Something extraordinary has happened..." The General started to say.
"That's what Liz told us." Amy interrupted and then saw the stern expression on the General's face. "Sorry...sir."
"All of you being here was made possible through the...uh...persuasion of four people. Now this will come as a shock on top of the shocks you have already sustained this morning, but this is very important." The General said and then looked over to Liz.
"Mom, Dad...everyone...Max...Max and Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin and Tess Harding...are here...in this facility...right now..." Liz said trying to stay calm. How would everyone handle this news she wondered.
The General pressed a button and the door opened. Max, Isabel, Michael, Tess and the Evans walked into the room. Max had buried his trepidation deep down and stood proudly next to his friends who had also wrapped themselves in their royal mantle of authority...but all of their stomachs were still churning.
"Hello...Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Mr. Whitman, Mrs. DeLuca...Sheriff; it's great to see you all again." Max said in his soft voice....
TBC
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to jane
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Stargazers Stargaters Parts 21-25
by JaneSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis