Chapter 3: Twelve and the Stargate
Part I – The SGC
1 February 2007
It was a normal day at Stargate Command; as normal as a day could get at a US Air Force installation with an interstellar portal device anyway. Everyone had their duties to attend to at the base and nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. The scanners had a few blips, but nothing too severe; this was to be expected with the base hidden under a mountain.
“Unscheduled Off-World Activation!” The claxon was blaring and the Stargate’s Iris closed; everything was going as per protocol. Then the incoming wormhole opened...
“Receiving SG1’s IDC,” Harriman reported while tending to the console.
“Open the Iris,” General Hank Landry commanded, his eyes never faltered from the portal.
Harriman pressed his palm to the reader and the Iris opened in just over a second. After a few seconds SG1 came through, stepping onto the platform one by one.
“Report to debriefing,” Landry said, once they had all emerged and the gate shut down.
“Yes, General,” Colonel Cameron Mitchell replied.
Things were not routine for much longer. Shortly after SG1 had emerged from the gate a reverberating grinding sound was heard. They immediately saw the source, as a box resembling a 1950’s London Police Box phased in and out with the reverberation and eventually solidified. SG1 and the Gate room guards were startled. They raised their weapons.
“What’s that?” Mitchell asked as he prepared for anything that might have come next.
“Unknown, sir.”
“What do you think is in there?” Mitchell asked as he approached what looked like a door on the box.
“It could be anything, Sir,” Colonel Samantha Carter pointed out as she followed.
“It could be a trap, ColonelMitchell,” Teal’c said.
The team paid attention as the door of the box opened. A tall brown haired man emerged from the blue box, immediately followed by a younger female companion with ear length dark blonde hair. The latter was startled by the appearance of the team, but quickly regained control of her expression.
Mitchell immediately raised his P90. “Don’t move! Identify yourself!”
“I am the Doctor, and this is my travelling companion, Tamsin Davis,” the Doctor said with a gesture to his companion.
“How did you penetrate this base?” Teal’c asked, flatly.
The Doctor looked at the symbol on Teal’c’s forehead. “Interesting Ornamentation. Is it of cultural significance?”
Teal’c stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor stared back.
“It signifies servitude to a false god,” Teal’c intoned in his usual near-monotone voice.
“Interesting,” the Doctor said.
“How did you penetrate this base with that box device?” Carter asked, her natural curiosity showing.
The Doctor hesitated. “I would be more inclined to answer if there were not so many guns pointed in my direction,” he pointed out. “Take me to your leader.”
Mitchell and Teal’c both rolled their eyes at the cliché. Mitchell didn’t really expect it to be said.
“Follow me,” Dr. Daniel Jackson directed. He lead the way out of the gate room, followed by Mitchell and Teal’c.
Tamsin nervously ran her hand through her hair. ‘He doesn’t seem that military,’ she thought. She and the Doctor followed the soldiers toward the left hand door.
Inside the TARDIS, Felicia Lovell and Kiara Asheru had been watching the view screen. “That was surprising,” Felicia indicated.
“What was?” Kiara asked. She turned and leaned toward the console to get a better look, sending her dark brown, minibraided, pigtails down the front of her torso.
“Usually Americans take us prisoner quicker than that!” Felicia emphasised, remembering the few times that they had run into American military forces.
“Maybe they are different in this universe?” Kiara asked, as she flicked one of her pigtails over her shoulder. ‘Tyria may not exist either!’ she thought.
“A good point,” Felicia conceded, as she ruffled her chin-length, light brown, hair.
“And now to wait for the Doctor to give us the all clear,” Kiara pointed out as she turned to Tamsin.
“Yes.”
“We’ll be bored.”
“We can use the scanner to investigate the base,” Felicia said. She knew that the scanner could probably see all of it, depending on how large it was.
“Good idea.”
Felicia’s phone rang. She grabbed it and answered it, seeing who the call was from. “It’s Tamsin, we can listen in on the briefing.”
Kiara sat down at the console as Felicia put her phone on speaker and placed it there. “That’s good.”
Felicia switched on the scanner as she started listening to the briefing. She looked at the diagram of the SGC that had appeared on the screen. “It appears that we are at least 28 floors underground.”
“If you want to keep something secret, put it underground,” Kiara observed, remembering that many criminal organisations on Tyria put their headquarters in caves. She had certainly found many such in her adventures.
“Certainly.”
“It’s beginning.”
Felicia increased the volume on the phone.
After entering, SG-1 and General Landry sat opposite the Doctor and Tamsin in the briefing room.
Landry leaned towards the Doctor and started by asking “So you say that blue box is your ship?”
“Yes,” the Doctor answered, after a second’s hesitation.
“Rather small for a ship isn’t it?” Daniel asked with a glance of slight confusion.
The Doctor remained silent, glaring at the archaeologist.
“It’s bigger in the inside than the outside,” Tamsin explained, after a minute of awkward silence. She felt that someone had to answer.
“What?” Landry asked.
The Doctor gave Tamsin a brief glare before turning back to SG1. “It’s dimensionally transcendental.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked, with similar confusion to before.
“You mean that the door to the box opens perpendicularly into a different dimension to the regular three dimensions of space, allowing for more space in the box than physics would normally allow?” Carter asked excitedly.
‘You’re good. I couldn’t understand it. I still can’t understand it,’ Tamsin thought with a wry expression.
“To put it crudely, yes,” the Doctor conceded as he gave Carter a slight look of annoyance.
Mitchell turned to Teal’c “Tell me you didn’t understand a word of that?”
Teal’c raised an eyebrow and stated, “I didn’t understand a word of that.”
“Thanks.”
“Neither did I,” Daniel added.
Landry turned back to the Doctor and asked. “But that doesn’t explain how the box managed to penetrate our defences. Isn’t the Gate Room supposed to be shielded against transporters?”
“It is, Sir, but the box obviously appeared via a different process,” Carter answered.
‘Evidently, yes,’ Tamsin thought.
“You’re good,” the Doctor stated.
“Thank you,” Carter replied.
“We only have their word for it,” General Landry said.
The Doctor didn’t like where this is going. “She’s correct,” he said, referring to Carter’s surmising.
“Are you saying we need to look inside that box?” Mitchell asked.
“Yes. Consider it an order,” Landry directed.
‘Great!’ Tamsin thought.
The Doctor sighed. “Wait a minute! Calm down. I am willing to allow your team to examine my ship. You only have to ask.” He didn’t want Landry to get any further riled up.
“Kiara, the Doctor is back with the soldiers,” Felicia observed, from where she was looking at the scanner.
“I’ll unlock the door,” Kiara decided. ‘At least the temporal grace field allows me to use my elementalist powers,’ she thought. She unlocked the door, and then stepped outside.
“Be ready if they try anything,” Felicia said.
Kiara took up position next to the door. “I’m ready now.”
“OK, some ground rules. Only two of the SG1 team are allowed in,” the Doctor explained. “And I’ll be asking about the purpose of this facility.”
“No,” Landry objected.
“Otherwise you will not know what is in that box,” the Doctor declared.
“Agreed,” General Landry said, after he had given the matter some thought.
“Colonel Mitchell and Dr. Jackson can follow me in,” the Doctor decided.
“Good,” Mitchell said.
“Why not myself?” Carter asked, looking surprised at the Doctor.
“He thinks you will be too curious,” Tamsin pointed out. ‘She’s definitely a military scientist,’ she thought.
“I’ll try to hold my enthusiasm in check,” Carter responded, as she longingly looked at the TARDIS.
The Doctor noticed her look. “No,” he objected.
“I won’t speculate too much,” Carter added.
“You wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”
“Agreed,” Landry added.
Carter nodded as the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and gestured for Mitchell and Jackson to follow.
It took a while for Jackson and Mitchell to recover from their initial shock at the size of the TARDIS interior. The large roundled space was half the size of the Gateroom outside.
“This is amazing. This is definitely the product of a culture more highly advanced than the Lantians were or the Ori are,” Dr. Jackson said as he walked around the console room.He approached the console.
“Swell,” Mitchell said.
“Indications of wormhole activity,” the Doctor said, from the console.
“What did you say?” Mitchell asked.
“Wormhole activity. That round device in this room is a portal device isn’t it?” the Doctor asked, as he gestured to the image of the Stargate on the scanner screen.
“I’m not saying anything,” Daniel countered. He looked at Col. Mitchell.
“That’s classified,” Mitchell said.
“And my sensors are very advanced,” the Doctor countered. He looked at what the scanner had found out about the Stargate.
“He will get his answer,” Kiara maintained, from where she stood to the right of the two SG1 members.
“It is a Stargate. An artefact originally built by a culture who called themselves the Alterans and who later became the Lantians I mentioned,” Daniel lectured.
‘Interesting,’ Felicia thought.
“There are thousands of them across the galaxy,” Mitchell elaborated.
The Doctor thought for a few moments. “That sounds like something an advanced race would do,” he commented.
“So, you explore through the Stargate, looking for advanced technology?” Felicia asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise.
“That is part of it,” Daniel admitted.
“There is more, isn’t there?” the Doctor asked.
Mitchell lowered his sidearm and holstered it. ‘Not that shooting him would be a good idea anyway, he could certainly have a means of defense’ “Yes, there are aliens out there who want to conquer Earth. We defeat one interstellar Empire and we now have an intergalactic invasion to contend with,” he explained, his expression showed that he didn’t like the circumstances surrounding the invasion at all.
‘The more things change, the more they stay the same,’ Tamsin thought, with a wry expression.
“Interesting, I am not a native of this universe but I would like to know more,” the Doctor said, his expression showing his interest.
“Not of this universe?” Daniel asked, confused.
“Yes, there is a whole multiverse out there,” the Doctor pointed out.
“I know. I have been to two parallels,” Daniel said, as he remembered the incidents with the Quantum Mirror.
“Really?”Kiara asked, intrigued.
“Yes,” Dr. Jackson answered.
“The TARDIS can occasionally hop between universes, but not often,” the Doctor explained.
“TARDIS?” Colonel Mitchell asked. He looked around the room. He couldn’t see the name anywhere.
“That’s what the ship is called,” Kiara added.
“It means Time and Relative Dimension in Space,” Felicia said.
Mitchell was still confused “Time?” he asked.
“It travels through time as well as space,” Kiara elaborated as she took a step towards Mitchell.
“Definitely way more advanced than the Lantians,” Daniel said, and slight shake of his head.
“That is interesting, so your civilisation must be powerful in your universe?” Mitchell asked, curiously.
‘And they have only seen the console room!’ Kiara thought with a smirk on her face. She was sure that the Doctor didn’t want them to guess at the true scale of the TARDIS interior yet. She then considered what Mitchell had just asked. ‘You don’t know what you just asked...’
The Doctor frowned and didn’t answer. He evasively looked away.
Mitchell considered that what he asked had hit a tough spot. ‘Maybe he’s a renegade?’ he wondered.
“They are taking their time,” Landry complained, after ten minutes at passed. He gestured at the TARDIS.
“They could be looking at the various objects in the console room,” Tamsin explained with a look of slight annoyance.
“I would like to have a look,” Carter said enthusiastically, gesturing at the ship.
“If the Doctor lets you,” Tamsin pointed out.
“Can you trust him?” Landry asked, turning to Tamsin.
“Absolutely. Just don’t get on his bad side,” Tamsin said.
“Really? Is that all?” the general asked.
“Trust me! You don’t want to be on his bad side,” Tamsin emphasised, her voice slightly raised.
“That is not specific, TamsinDavis,” Teal’c objected as he turned towards her.
“You will know when you’re on his bad side,” Tamsin explained. An expression of slight fear and her voice showed that she was slightly intimidated by the Jaffa.
Teal’c raised his eye brows and glared at Tamsin.
“If you do something very unethical or hypocritical, you are likely to get on his bad side. Otherwise you’re fine,” she said with a slight wavering in her voice.
“Indeed?”
“Yes,” Tamsin said, recovering.
“Makes sense,” Carter added.
After another five or six minutes, the TARDIS doors opened and Colonel Mitchell and Dr. Jackson emerged.
“Wow,” Mitchell said.
“He was a member of a civilisation that makes the Lantians look like Victorian Britain by comparison,” Daniel explained, after he had emerged.
“Are you sure?” Carter asked with a look of disbelief.
“Yes. This machine here can travel in time and the interior is larger than the interior of Atlantis at least,” Daniel explained, gesturing at the TARDIS.
“You said ‘was’,” Landry pointed out.
“He said that his civilisation perished in what he called a Time War against a force of approximately equal advancement,” Daniel said.
“Time War? That doesn’t make sense,” Carter asserted.
“He also said that he has come from a different universe,” Daniel added.
The Doctor and Felicia emerged. “There has to be a reason why I am here. Fill me in on recent events,” he besought.
“Why do you want to know about our situation?” Landry asked.
“I may be able to help,” the Doctor said.
“Come to my office and I’ll fill you and one of your crew in,” Landry said, turning towards the doors to the right.
“Right away,” the Doctor said.
“Cool,” Tamsin attested.
“You can fill me in,” Kiara asked.
“I’ll choose,” the Doctor said.
Kiara acquiesced, as the Doctor and Tamsin followed General Landry to his office. “I’ll wait,” she added.
---
The Doctor reflected that lying about the Time Lords surviving was a good idea. ‘Best not to spook them too much.’ They had enough to worry about with the Ori.
---
Later that night SG1 sat in the SGC cafeteria.
“What do you think of the Doctor?” Colonel Mitchell asked from one end of the table.
“I don’t know. Other than what he revealed about the nature of his ship and the fate of his civilisation, he is rather private,” Daniel commented.
“That’s what I thought too,” Mitchell said.
“What of his crew?” Teal’c asked, from the other side of Daniel.
Daniel turned to Teal’c “They are not really crew. More like assistants,” hepointed out.
“Or travelling companions.” Mitchell added.
“They are either from Earth in their universe, or a planet in the Greater Magellanic Cloud,” Daniel said.
“From the United Kingdom,” Teal’c said.
“How do you know?” Mitchell asked.
“Ms. Davis said that she is from the county of Devon. She and Ms. Lovell both have the accents.”
“I must have missed that,” Mitchell commented.
“Do you think that the general would have told him about the Ori?” Carter asked.
“That is possible,” Mitchell realised.
“I agree,” Daniel said.
“You think he could be of use?” Mitchell asked.
“Absolutely,” Carter said.
“He had to have encountered similar beings,” Mitchell added.
“That is by no means certain,” Carter countered.
Felicia heard a knock on the door of the quarters she had been assigned by SGC personnel. She went and opened it. “Hi, Tamsin,” she said.
“I was just wondering how you were.”
“I am fine.”
“I mean, we had defeated Vile, and now we are in a different universe. We are unlikely to find your Doctor here,” Tamsin said in a consolatory tone.
“It was a long shot at best,” Felicia said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“True,” Tamsin said as she sat on the spare chair.
“Thanks for coming by,” Felicia said in a welcoming tone.
“You’re welcome. Do you think something is going to happen?”
“It’s a military base. I certainly think that something is going to happen. Whether it would be one of those ‘Priors’ coming through that ‘Gate’, I don’t know.”
“I agree.”
“The Doctor might volunteer us to go with one of the SG teams on a mission. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“Has that happened with your Doctor?”
“Yes, but not often,” Felicia answered, smiling as she remembered one of the times that occurred...
“Not that often here, either. But he did ask you to chase after the poisoner,” Tamsin said.
Felicia frowned. “We know how that ended.”
“I admit that, but it did at least put us on the track to taking down Vile,” Tamsin said, encouragingly.
“Thanks,” Felicia said, slightly happier.
“Now, what do you say about going online and finding out about this world?” Tamsin asked, standing up.
Felicia perked up. “Sure. I mean all we know is that America exists and that the Stargate Program is a secret.”
“Yeah.”
The two acquaintances (nearly friends, although they wouldn’t admit that) then left the room.
Elsewhere in the SGC, an enlistee sent a letter to their ‘superiors’. The TARDIS may be of interest to them... ‘Who knows what it can do...’
2 February 2007
The Doctor entered the cafeteria for breakfast. His companions (including the future one, Felicia) were already there, as were SG-1, all sitting around two tables that had been pushed together.
“Welcome, Doctor. Have you found a reason why you are here yet?” Colonel Mitchell asked.
“Possibly, what can you tell me about this ‘Adria’?” the Doctor asked as he walked up.
“Not much. She is the embodiment of the Ori in human form, and has many powers,” Daniel answered.
“What sort of powers?” the Doctor asked.
“Telepathy and Telekinesis and that is the start of it,” Daniel said.
“She can also heal people,” Cameron added.
“Is that all?” the Doctor asked, as he sat down.
“No, but Vala can better answer your questions,” Daniel answered.
“Vala?” the Doctor asked, his eyebrows raised.
“Vala Mal Doran, the Ori used her as an incubator for Adria,” Daniel explained.
“Incubator?” Felicia asked, with curiosity.
“They impregnated her...” Daniel began.
“That’s wrong!” Tamsin interrupted, disgust showing on her face. She shook her head as if saying “very wrong.”
“I get it,” Felicia said.
“That’s putting it mildly,” Daniel added.
“Where can I find this Vala?” the Doctor asked as he stood up.
“You would have to ask the General. She is currently exploring Colorado with an escort,” Daniel explained.
‘He doesn’t seem to trust her, even with an escort,’ the Doctor thought. He turned “Right! I will be back with her,” he explained. He left the cafeteria.
“Is he doing what I think he is doing?” Daniel asked.
“Yes,” Tamsin said, with surety in her voice.
“I better accompany him,” Daniel asserted.
“If he lets you,” Tamsin imparted.
“I am sure that he will once I explain to him,” Daniel rejoined.
“Be quick then,” Tamsin said, with a slight laugh and a shooing gesture.
“I will be.”
Daniel entered the TARDIS after the Doctor. “You want to come with me?” the Doctor asked, as he turned from the console.
“Yes. Vala won’t trust anyone else.”
Rocky Ford, Colorado, United States of America
Vala Mal Doran had just finished breakfast at the Subway on the corner of Elm Street and North Tenth Street, when the TARDIS started to rematerialise.
Her escort pulled their guns on the blue box as it appeared.
Daniel emerged from the TARDIS with his hands raised. “Don’t shoot!” he implored.
“Daniel! How did you get here?” Vala asked, her hands on her hips.
“An interdimensional traveller has arrived in the SGC,” Daniel explained.
“Like last year?” she asked.
“No, it’s different...” Daniel began. He looked around “...and we shouldn’t be discussing this on a street corner in the middle of a town. Come into the TARDIS and we will go back to the SGC,” Daniel said, he grabbed one of Vala’s wrists and pulled her into the TARDIS.
“Wait, Daniel!” Vala exclaimed as she resisted.
Vala was shocked. “How can this box be bigger on the inside than the outside?” she wondered aloud as she walked further in and towards the console.
“It is the product of a civilisation that would make the Ancients look primitive by comparison,” Daniel said as he lead her to the console.
“Really?”Vala asked, as her escort continued to enter the TARDIS.
“Yes,” Daniel explained.
The Doctor confronted the escort. “This is as classified as the Stargate, got it!”
“I understand, Sir,” the leader of the escort confirmed, whilst trying to hide his awe at the interior scale of the TARDIS.
“Good,” the Doctor said.
“We’re going back to the SGC?” Vala asked.
“Yes, where you are going to tell me all about Adria,” the Doctor said as he began to make adjustments on the console.
Vala tensed.
“Don’t worry, the Doctor just wants information,” Daniel said.
“Right,” Vala said, still worried.
The Doctor set the TARDIS in motion, heading back to the SGC. “Here we go.”
Stargate Command
The TARDIS rematerialised in the Gateroom. Vala emerged first. “Why do you want to know about Adria? And what kind of name is ‘Doctor’ anyway?” she asked.
“I may be able to help against the forces of the Ori. Stop their plan for taking over this galaxy,” the Doctor explained as he exited the TARDIS.
“Really?”Vala asked, turning.
“Yes,” the Doctor said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“We better go to the briefing room,” Vala hinted.
“Yes,” Daniel said.
A few hours later, the Doctor entered General Landry’s office.
“Are you saying that you want your assistants to join SG-1 on their next mission?” General Landry asked, after the Doctor had sat down.
“Yes,” the Doctor answered.
“Why should I approve of this idea?” Landry asked with a dubious tone and look.
“They may be able to notice something that SG-1 might miss.”
“They would be liabilities!”
“They can handle themselves.”
“Unlikely!”
“You don’t know half of the things I encounter on a regular basis. Things that may make the Goa’uld look like school yard bullies by comparison!”
“That’s not proof that they can handle themselves, only that you can handle the threats that you encounter.”
The Doctor backed off slightly. “Kiara is a native of a world in a medieval era. She has fought things there that you cannot imagine.
“Don’t insult my intelligence. I could imagine what the Goa’uld look like just from the mission reports without any pictures.”
The Doctor paced in front of the desk before turning back to the general. “The point is, that she would be able to handle herself in a combat situation. She may surprise SG-1.”
“Fine, but what about the other two?” the General asked as he made a gesture for the Doctor to sit down. “All I know about them is that they are British college students.”
“Ms. Davis has been in combat situations before and handled them well. She also has a black belt in Karate,” the Doctor explained.
“I will think about it. But that leaves Ms. Lovell, whom has said that she has only joined you recently.”
“In the most recent adventure of ours, she has proved most resourceful...” the Doctor began.
The General listened intently, while still being exasperated at the Doctor not staying still.
The Doctor approached his companions where they were talking in the cafeteria.
“Doctor, in this universe, Atlantis was an Ancient city that they left under the ocean in another galaxy,” Tamsin explained excitedly.
“Interesting,” he said as he took a seat next to her. “After a lot of persuasion, the general has agreed to let you go on SG-1’s next mission.”
“That’s good!” Kiara was excited.
“You will have to obey Colonel Mitchell’s commands,” the Doctor directed.
“That’s obvious,” Tamsin said, with slight sarcasm.
“Try to find out what this ‘Adria’ person is planning with regard to conversion of the Milky Way to Origin or whatever that religion is called,” the Doctor added.
“That would be difficult,” Kiara said as her face took on a whimsical look.
The Doctor considered. “Of course it will be, but at least try.”
“Of course I will,” Kiara assured.
“We won’t let you down,” Tamsin added.
“I know,” the Doctor said.
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