STARGATE SG-1 ATLANTIS: Homeworlds : Volume three of the Travelers' Tales (SGX Book 5)

by Sally Malcolm

  Still, the man was unmoved by Rodney’s apparent plight. “This is private property, sir, and you are trespassing. Leave or we will be forced to use deadly force.” He and his men all raised their weapons — and aimed them directly at Rodney.

  That was exactly what Sheppard had been waiting for. “Now!” he shouted, and launched into action. As did Ronon and Teyla, the three of them bursting from cover and leaping at the security team. The men and women jumped, surprised by the sudden onslaught, and struggled to bring their guns around to aim at these new threats. But it was too late. Sheppard and his team were already close enough to grapple and pummeled the men and women with blows to the jaw, chin, cheek, and forehead, knocking them down before they could step back or otherwise defend themselves.

  Sheppard downed the last of the regular guards in time to see Rodney grab the leader’s gun barrel and yank the man forward, then pop him in the jaw. The man staggered back but didn’t let go of the weapon or fall down — until Ronon appeared behind him and slammed a heavy fist against the top of the man’s helmet. Then the security guard’s eyes rolled back and he crumpled.

  “Not bad,” Sheppard commented, straightening his jacket. “See, I told you the plan would work.”

  “That wasn’t a plan, it was a comedy routine,” Rodney said. “With me as the fall guy.” He preened a little. “Still, I was awfully good, wasn’t I?”

  “If your goal was to portray a drunk whose accent wandered the globe, sure. Now let’s get these guys inside before anyone sees them.” He grabbed the nearest soldier under the arms and began hauling her toward the front door. All in all, that little fracas had gone quicker than he’d hoped, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. When you were used to facing the Wraith, handling a few human security guards was really no big deal.

  He just hoped there weren’t more of them waiting inside.

  They caught a lucky break, though. Apparently that had been the bulk of Lightbridge’s security force. A lone guard was manning the front desk but evidently she hadn’t been paying close enough attention to her monitors and their using one of the downed guards’ IDs to gain entrance took her by surprise. Ronon stunned her with a quick shot the second the doors opened. There were red lights flashing everywhere, so clearly she had hit the alarm at some point, most likely when the squad had first stepped outside, but Sheppard wasn’t about to let something like that slow him down.

  The guard’s ID card got them past the inner doors. The building’s long corridors were bare tile and bare walls with plain fluorescent lights set into the ceiling, making the place look and feel more like a research lab or a hospital than an office building. Doors were spaced along either side, each a heavy metal fire door with a small inset window at eye level, and a quick glance into the first few suggested that these were offices and personal labs. Sheppard didn’t see anyone around, which was fine by him though it made him wonder. Where was everyone?

  They rounded a corner and he got his answer as a bullet nearly grazed his temple.

  “Put down your weapons and surrender!” someone shouted as Sheppard pulled back. “Do it now and no one gets hurt!”

  “How can you say that when you’re already shooting at us?” Rodney shouted. He was careful not to venture past the corner, however.

  Ronon took no such precautions. Instead, he dropped into a crouch, raised his pistol, and rolled forward, firing as he came into view. Sheppard heard several shouts and groans, and then the clatter of weapons and the duller thump of bodies hitting the floor. “Clear,” Ronon called.

  Sure enough, he had stunned four guards.

  “Nice work.” Sheppard opened the nearest door and they dragged the guards into the small storage room. “That should keep them out of the way.”

  Next, they came to a set of heavy doors barring their path. The guard’s ID was enough to unlock them and Sheppard led the way down another corridor much like the first. Except that there were people on this one, though not many of them. They were dressed more like researchers and scientists than guards, and they all looked terrified.

  One man started to protest, demanding to know who they were and what they wanted. Ronon shot him. Someone else screamed, and Ronon shot him as well. That caused the rest to flee, but he carefully targeted and put down each one.

  “That thing is still set on stun, right?” Rodney asked as they stepped over the bodies.

  “What do you think?” Ronon growled back.

  They reached another set of locked doors, and this time the guard’s ID did nothing to help them. But Teyla grabbed one of the researchers’ badges, and that did the trick.

  When the doors opened, all four of them stopped and stared.

  “Sonuva —” Rodney started.

  Because, for the second time that day, they found themselves staring at an unfamiliar Stargate.

  And this one was full-sized and very clearly not made of Styrofoam.

  The strange Stargate dominated a large, open room cluttered with desks and workstations. Four people occupied the space — two guards, a man in a white lab coat, and a harried-looking woman he had by the arm. The guards reacted the second they saw Sheppard and his team, raising their rifles and advancing quickly, but two shots from Ronon and the pair were on the floor. The man and woman gaped.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the man demanded, recovering his voice first. He was middle-aged and slightly portly, with thinning hair starting to go silver and an expensive but rumpled suit under the lab coat. He looked like a successful businessman playing at mad scientist. “This is private property and you are trespassing.”

  Interestingly, it was Teyla who got in his face. “Trespassing?” Her voice was calm but sharp. “How does that measure up against kidnapping?”

  At that word, the woman seemed to wake out of her daze and tried pulling free of the man’s grip. “He did kidnap me!” she cried. “Please help!” She was young, Sheppard noted, perhaps late twenties, tall and slender, with long brown hair and a serious face. Sturdy glasses framed bright, intent blue eyes. The picture in the file had been a bit blurry, but it seemed to match.

  Teyla smiled at her. “That’s why we’re here.”

  The man started to object again, but Teyla punched him full in the face and he collapsed like a broken puppet. As he fell, his grip loosened and the woman was left standing, staring down at her former captor.

  “Dr. Acuna?” Sheppard approached her slowly with both hands out. She nodded. “I’m Colonel John Sheppard, United States Air Force. I was sent to bring you in for an interview, and we followed your trail here.”

  “An interview?” Her eyes narrowed, then widened. “You’re with Stargate Command, aren’t you?” When Sheppard nodded hesitantly, she broke into an enormous grin that transformed her from a frazzled scientist to a giddy teen. “I knew it!” she exclaimed. “I knew it was all real!” She gestured at the Stargate behind them. “Even before they brought me here to help them with this, I knew it had to be real!”

  “If by ‘it’ you mean the Stargate Program, then yes,” Rodney answered absently. He’d stepped past her to study the gate. “If you mean this particular Stargate, however, then no. It is not real.” He rapped a knuckle against its surface. “A decent attempt by amateurs, granted, but this is like a cardboard cutout of a car — looks convincing from a distance, won’t get you anywhere unless you pick it up and carry it.”

  “No interface,” Ronon pointed out. “No dialing device.”

  “Exactly!” Rodney slapped him on the back, then quickly threw up his hands. “Sorry! But yes — clearly they were working off the same partial reports and conjectures as you, Doctor. They have the dimensions down, and a few of the elements right, but none of the internal workings, nor the necessary materials.”

  “Loose lips sink ships, Rodney,” Sheppard warned. “She’s a civi
lian, remember?” He nodded at her. “No offense.”

  “Yeah, yeah, okay.” Rodney shrugged. “They are way off, though.” He moved over to the nearest workstation and started tapping on the keyboard, frowning down at the monitor. “Still, best to be sure,” he muttered, and typed in several quick commands. The computer beeped in response, and its screen flashed white, then blue, then went black. “Much better,” he said with his usual self-satisfied smile. “Shall we?”

  Sheppard knew better than to waste time asking. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” He turned to Dr. Acuna. “Ma’am, the International Oversight Advisory would very much like to speak with you. May we escort you to D.C.?”

  “That sounds like an offer I literally can’t refuse.”

  He shrugged. “Not really, no.”

  She turned that brilliant smile on him. “In that case, Colonel, thank you. I’d appreciate the opportunity.”

  Given her recent treatment by Lightbridge, Sheppard supposed he shouldn’t have been too surprised at her eagerness. His team must seem like regular knights in shining armor by comparison.

  They headed for the door and made it back outside without any further incident. Once outside, they began the trek back toward the train. But on the way, Sheppard paused just long enough to make a quick phone call.

  “Good work,” O’Neill said as the team stepped into the gate room. “Dr. Acuna is already being debriefed. Assuming she doesn’t raise any red flags, and can pass the security checks, I wouldn’t be surprised if she winds up getting recruited into the program.”

  Sheppard nodded. “Considering she managed to figure out so much on her own, I bet she will.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll need to keep an eye on those Lightbridge guys, though.”

  Rodney grinned. “Well, they’re going to have to recreate all of their data. I scrubbed their files before we left, then introduced a virus to make sure the drives would be irretrievable.”

  “I’ve already given the NID a heads-up on that one,” O’Neill admitted. “They’ll bring them in, people and hardware both, and shut that place down. Good thing you found them, though. There’s no telling what kind of damage they could’ve done while trying to get that fake Stargate working.” He clapped Sheppard on the shoulder. “But now it’s time for you to head back.”

  Sheppard couldn’t agree more. It was funny, but he found himself thinking about going home again — only this time, he knew that meant Atlantis. Maybe someday Earth would be home again, but not right now.

  But as he stepped away, O’Neill’s eyes went to the large paper bag at Sheppard’s side. “What’s that?” the general asked, his eyes narrowing a little.

  Sheppard grinned and hefted the bag, the smells wafting up to him even through the heavy paper. “Four large pastramis on rye. Four cans of Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda. Several pickles. And a full New York cheesecake. All from Carnegie Deli. I ordered it before we left Lightbridge, and they had it waiting for us when we got back to the chopper.” He grinned, turning to the rest of his team. “When we get back, lunch is on me.”

  “What is pastrami?” Teyla asked as the four of them headed for the gate.

  Sheppard smiled. He might be leaving Earth again, but at least he was taking a little piece of it home with him.

  Stargate SG-1

  They Shoot Heroes, Don’t They?

  Geonn Cannon

  This story takes place in season five of Stargate: SG-1.

  Lonio moved at a crouch with his head down so he couldn’t be seen from inside the courtyard. He followed the long stone wall that surrounded the pavilion, moving silently through the wet grass. He could hear the hushed whispers of his foes within. If he could just make it to the entrance, he could cut off their retreat and victory would be assured. His hands were clammy around his weapon but he didn’t risk letting go to wipe them on his trousers. He was wearing clothes that were a size too big for him, handed down from his older brother, but he didn’t mind. He thought they made him look cool.

  The weapon he carried was a chunk of stone with an edge big enough for him to hold onto. His schoolmates that made up the other contingent were armed with similar weaponry. He stopped and listened for them, dropping to one knee. He could hear them on the far end of the courtyard and risked peeking. Beyond the columns he could see Tessa and Claes kneeling on the ground to draw in the dirt. He smiled; this would be very easy.

  Lonio broke cover and ran toward them. “Hands up, Goa’ulds!” he shouted. Tessa and Claes jumped and reached for their weapons, but he was already close enough to kick the oblong stones away. “Hah! Some System Lords you turned out to be!”

  Tessa held out her hand, revealing a red stone held in place by a piece of twine wrapped around her wrist. “You’re no match for my kara kesh, Colonel!”

  Lonio stopped and glared at her. “You didn’t have a kara kesh in your pack!”

  She got to her feet. “I found it. When I was digging.”

  Claes rolled his eyes. “Lonio, you did the same thing two weeks ago when you found that tree branch and said it was a staff weapon.”

  “That was different, I...” His retort trailed off when he noticed Tessa and Claes were both looking past him with wide-eyed expressions of terror. He was also aware of the shade he now seemed to be standing in and turned slowly with the expectation of seeing their tutor looming behind him. What he saw was far more frightening.

  The man had to be seven feet tall, and another three feet across at the shoulder. His eyes were black pools of oil that reflected Lonio’s face so he could see just how scared he was. The monster was holding a black box against his chest. He bared his teeth and brought up one hand.

  “Hey, kids.”

  Lonio, Claes, and Tessa replied with screams. They dropped their makeshift weapons and ran from the sanctuary as fast as their legs could carry them.

  Jack O’Neill let his smile fall and dropped his hand, watching the three children race down the hill. Teal’c had approached in response to the screams and watched as well.

  “Something I said?” Jack muttered.

  “Perhaps they are merely... excitable.”

  “Right. I’m sure that’s it.” He pivoted to see what progress, if any, Daniel was making.

  The team had arrived in a large pavilion enclosed on three sides by rows of Doric columns. The fourth wall was a stone fresco into which the Stargate was embedded. At first glance the Gate seemed to just be part of the artwork, but the space within it had been recessed to allow the event horizon to form. To his right, he saw Carter moving along the outer perimeter in search of potential non-child dangers.

  “Daniel?” Jack prompted. “The locals have been made aware of us, so now might be a good time to declare your curiosity satisfied.”

  “Now? But...” He stepped back and gestured broadly to indicate all the artwork on the wall. “Look at this. If I had an entire week I’m not sure I would be able to document it all.”

  “So it won’t matter if you stop now or five minutes from now.”

  “That’s not exactly the point I was trying —”

  Jack cut him off with a swipe of his hand. “The point is that we’re about to have company. Hopefully they’ll be friendly, but given the fact we just scared the crap out of their kids, I’m not very optimistic. So I’d like to have everyone on alert.”

  Daniel grimaced and looked longingly at the artwork, but began packing up his things.

  “Good man. Carter?”

  “All clear, sir. There’s a city to the south at the base of this hill. If those kids are bringing anyone back, they’ll be coming from there.”

  Jack walked back to where he had frightened off the children. He crouched next to one of the columns to watch for their return. It was only a matter of minutes before they saw the group coming up the winding dirt ro
ad. “Okay. Friendly faces, everyone.”

  Carter took a scope from her vest and peered through it. “I’m counting seven adults, sir. Plus three children.”

  Jack nodded. “Same.”

  The leader was a brunette woman wearing a simple purple-and-gold garment which was belted at the waist with a loose piece of braided rope. The children he’d frightened were walking to either side of her, and she was holding the girl’s hand as they approached. Jack’s optimism ticked up ever-so-slightly. He doubted any leader would allow a group of pre-teens to tag along on an assault.

  The sight of the woman’s outfit, straight out of a period piece, reminded him of something he’d been wondering for a while. “Hey, Daniel... question for you. These civilizations we encounter, they’re all transplanted from Earth throughout history, right?”

  “Well, not all of them, but most.”

  “Still, we’re talking centuries between when they were taken and now. So why do so many of them look like they were ripped right out of a history book?”

  The answer came from Teal’c, not Daniel. “Life under Goa’uld oppression does not inspire great leaps forward in culture or society.”

  Daniel said, “He’s right. These people are basically stuck in the Dark Ages. Any progress they might make is crippled by the Goa’uld and the Jaffa so they can’t become a threat down the road. So the vast majority of people we meet are stuck right where they were when the Goa’uld first abducted them.”

  The group had nearly arrived. Jack adjusted the brim of his cap. “Okay, we’re about to have our first conversation with these folks. Any idea which Goa’uld we’re going to be debunking today?”