XOVER: Going Home Again - part 2 of 7
Dawn341@aol.com
Wed, 6 Nov 2002 21:46:58 EST
Going Home Again - part 2 of 7
For disclaimers and warnings, see part 1.
*****************************************
John couldn't believe his eyes when the camp came into sight. He hadn't
expected this kind of setup. Multiple tents filled a large clearing. A
short distance away, he could see a large arch covered with all kinds of
symbols. He recognized some of them from his time on Moya, although he
wasn't sure what language they were from.
The last thing he expected to see was a soldier dressed in camouflage
fatigues, with a rifle looped over his shoulder. When he spotted the
group emerging into the clearing, the rifle was quickly brought around
into a ready position.
"It's all right, Simms," Jack called out. "Our lost wanderers have come
home. Where's Sandborn?"
"He's up at the dig site. I'll go get him." The soldier turned away and
trotted in the opposite direction.
"Let's get some coffee," Duncan suggested, leading the way into one of
the tents. It was filled with several long tables, and what looked like
heat tables that reminded John of a cafeteria. Duncan headed for a large
urn sitting at the end of one of the tables, and started filling coffee
cups.
John took one, and inhaled deeply. "Real coffee!" he said with a deep
sigh. "I'd forgotten how good it smells."
Richie nodded as he smelled his own cup. He took a sip, then smiled.
"Just as good as I remember."
The four moved over to one of the tables and sat down. Jack reached out
to touch John's arm lightly. "I can't believe you're really here." He
reached up and swiped at his eyes. "It's been so long."
John reached out and hugged his father. "I'm sorry. I never meant to...
worry you like this. I've never stopped trying to get home."
"And we never stopped trying to find you," Jack replied. "We even tried
to create another wormhole in the hope that we'd end up in the same
place as you did."
"How did you get here?" John asked.
"Do you see that arch out there?" Jack asked, pointing out through the
tent opening. "It's called a Stargate. There's another one on Earth.
When the right combination is dialed, it forms a wormhole between the
two gates, and you can go through it."
"You shouldn't be divulging that information!"
The four turned and looked at the soldier who'd just come into the tent.
John recognized his insignia that indicated he was a colonel.
"Well, since they'll be going through the gate to get back to Earth,
they'd probably figure it out, Sandborn," Jack pointed out.
"No one is going back to Earth until we have definite proof that they
are who they say they are."
"I think I know my son," Jack retorted, placing one hand on John's
shoulder.
"And I know Richie," Duncan chimed in, standing up to confront the man.
His own hand settled on Richie's shoulder.
"I'll contact command, to find out how they want to handle this,"
Sandborn replied, although he didn't look too happy about it. He turned
and left the tent, heading for the arch.
"You'll want to watch this," Jack said, waving toward the tent opening.
The four of them stood up and moved outside. John watched while Sandborn
pushed some levers on a round device in front of the arch. As each one
was pushed, an outer circle on the arch spun to rest on a corresponding
symbol. A moment later, with a loud whooshing sound, what looked like a
fountain of water burst out of the gate. It should have drenched the
colonel, but it receded back into the arch, leaving a curtain of water.
At least John thought it was water, but it sure didn't act like water.
"Wow!" Richie said as he stared at the arch. "That was wild."
"And all we have to do is go through there and we'd be back on Earth?"
John asked.
"That's all," Jack confirmed.
"Does it hurt?" Richie asked.
Duncan lightly slapped the back of his head. "Of course it doesn't."
"Let's go back in, and you can tell us your story," Jack suggested.
Once they were settled back at their table, John began his tale. "It all
started when I thought a wormhole had formed and I could see Earth
through it..."
*****
"They won't be coming back!" Aeryn insisted. "There's no reason to stay
here any longer."
"You don't know that, Aeryn," D'Argo replied. "Besides, they wouldn't
leave without saying goodbye to us."
"That's right," Chiana agreed. "They wouldn't leave without doing that.
Besides, they might not leave at all. Crichton still wants to stop
Scorpius."
"John wants to go home!" Aeryn snapped. "That's all he's been saying
since he came on board Moya."
"May be," Chiana said, making the one word sound more like two.
"He's obsessed with you," Rygel tossed in. "I don't understand why, but
he won't leave you behind."
"He has to!" Aeryn said, tears filling her eyes. She brushed at them
angrily. "He has a chance to go home - it's what we all want."
"Then why don't you go with him?" Chiana suggested.
"And what about the rest of you?" Aeryn asked. "Am I just supposed to
turn my back on my friends?"
"Your friends would not blame you," D'Argo said, smiling at the
Sebacean. "We might be envious, but we would be happy for you. After
all, you and John were forced into this against your will. You should be
able to leave whenever you want."
"Yeah. Crichton has always said that any of us could leave whenever we
want," Chiana added. "That should apply to both of you, as well."
"But I'm not sure I want to leave," Aeryn said, before she left the
room.
*****
"Okay, let me see if I've got this straight," Jack said, rubbing at his
forehead. "The ancients planted knowledge of wormholes in your mind, and
this man, Scorpius wants it so that he can destroy the Scarrans. Right?"
"Yeah," John said. "He's already got some of it. We were able to slow
him down, but if he manages to recreate the data, and figure out the
pieces he's missing, he could kill millions - and not just Scarrans."
"So, you think you have to stay here and stop him?"
"Someone has to."
"But if he's still after you because he thinks you can fill in the
missing pieces, wouldn't it be better if you were out of reach?" Duncan
asked. "If you went back to Earth, he wouldn't be able to get to you."
Jack threw a grateful look toward Duncan. "That's right. That would be
the safest thing."
John rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to live with myself if I do
that? What if he creates a wormhole and comes to Earth, and destroys it?
What good would hiding have done then?"
"Maybe we should turn this over to the military," Richie suggested. "Or
at least get some help from them."
"Don't tell me that you're thinking about staying!" Duncan demanded,
staring at the younger man as if he'd lost his mind.
"Yes, I've been thinking about it," Richie said, unable to meet the
older Immortal's eyes.
"You're both crazy!" Jack declared.
"Well, that's a perfect entrance line," Colonel Jack O'Neill said as he
came into the tent. The rest of the SG-1 team followed behind him. "So,
the lost lambs have finally found their way back."
The four men in the tent stood up, and Jack Crichton introduced the
newcomers. "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr.
Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c." He pointed to his son, then Richie. "And
this is my son, John, and his friend, Richie Ryan."
Everyone shook hands, then took seats back at the tables. Jack filled
the newcomers in on what he'd learned so far.
"How big is a command carrier?" Carter asked.
"Big!" John said, smiling at the woman.
"Now that's a technical answer that even I can understand," O'Neill
chipped in.
"I would need to know mass, density, and dimensions to have a better
idea of what would be possible," Carted said.
"Pilot might be able to answer those questions better," John said.
"Maybe you'd like a tour of Moya."
Carter's eyes gleamed at the thought. "I'd like that very much."
"Whoa! Wait a minute," O'Neill said. "Let's get these two checked out
first. Then you can go poke around in alien starships."
"Checked out how?" Richie asked suspiciously.
"Standard medical tests. We need to make sure you don't have any nasty
bugs that might cause problems back on Earth."
"Like those microbes that you were injected with," Jack said.
"Microbes? What kind of microbes?" Carter asked, concern written on her
face.
"They're harmless," John explained. "They just colonize at the base of
your brain and translate for you."
Teal'c said something that sounded like gibberish. Only Richie, John,
and Dr. Jackson reacted to it by grinning. Teal'c's eyebrows lifted. "It
would seem that these microbes work," he stated.
"Let me try," Duncan said. His words were unrecognizable to the majority
of the people in the tent, but he got several reactions.
"Mac!" Richie protested, while John laughed.
"Yes, Richie told me all about it," John said. "What language was that?"
"It sounded like Gaelic," Jackson replied. "While I'm better at reading
it, I think you asked if John knew how you met Richie."
"That's right, and it was Gaelic."
"Not many people speak that language anymore."
"There are still a few of us who do," Duncan said, trying to hide a
smirk that was obvious to his ex-student.
"Great. Microbes," O'Neill complained. "Now they'll want all of us to
have them injected into us so we can understand everyone."
"Think about how much easier our job would be if we could understand
what was being said," Carter pointed out.
"Yeah, we wouldn't need Daniel around to translate anymore," Jack said
with a grin.
"But you'd miss me," Daniel retorted.
"Like I'd miss a toothache," O'Neill said, but it was obvious to
everyone that he was only teasing the younger man. "Let's get them back
so the docs can poke and prod them."
"Before we go, you should probably shut off that radio transmitter,"
John suggested. "It might attract the wrong crowd of people."
"Good point. Carter, you and Daniel can see to that. The rest of us will
go back to the SGC. And maybe while we're there, you can fill us in on
how you met MacLeod," O'Neill said, looking at Richie.
"Oh, maaaaan!" Richie moaned as he stood up.
*****
Richie tried to be patient while the doctors ran test after test. He was
beginning to wonder whether they'd somehow discovered his immortality.
Only the fact that John was being put through the same routine kept him
calm. At least they'd kept them together. In between tests, John had
told the SG-1 team about his adventures, and Scorpius.
Finally, Dr. Frasier came back into the room. "You're both in excellent
health," she announced with a smile. "As far as we can tell, the
microbes that you were injected with are totally harmless."
"I told you so," John said, glancing at the SG-1 team. "What about
neural chips? Did you find any of those?"
"No, both of your brain scans were normal. I can find no indication of
any foreign material in either one of you."
John sighed in relief. "That's great. I was afraid that Scorpy had put
one in Richie, but we must have saved him in time."
"It seems so. Now, you two can go ahead and get dressed. Someone will be
by soon to take you down to the cafeteria for something to eat. After
that, they'll take you to meet General Hammond." With another smile, she
left the room, followed by the SG-1 team.
Richie and John quickly got dressed. The Immortal moved over to his
friend and whispered, "Why didn't you tell them about the neural clone?"
"I don't want to end up in a psychiatric ward because I'm talking to
invisible people," John whispered back. "Nothing showed up in the tests,
so I doubt they could do anything about it, anyway."
"All right. I won't mention it - as long as you keep quiet about what I
am. The military would love to get their hands on people who can't die."
"Then we'd better come up with a good story about how you survived."
Before they had a chance, the door opened and a young soldier entered
the room. "If you'll follow me, please."
*****
"What do we know?" General Hammond asked, looking down the conference
table at the SG-1 team, and Dr. Frasier.
"They are who they say they are," Frasier stated. "Their fingerprints
match their records. And they are both in excellent physical health."
"They haven't had any apparent contact with Goa'uld," Jackson added.
"Although they have encountered many species in their travels."
"Any potential allies?" Hammond asked.
"Possibly, but we didn't go into too many details," O'Neill said. He
filled in Hammond with the information that he'd learned so far.
"Obviously, some of them must be more advanced than we are," Carter
added. "Space travel seems to be a normal way of life. Their hand
weapons also appear to be more advanced, although we didn't have a
chance to see them in action."
"The knowledge that John and Richie have already accumulated could be
very beneficial. They've already made a lot of contacts that could help
us develop treaties with other races."
"And they have made a lot of enemies," Teal'c pointed out.
"Opinions?" Hammond asked.
"Crichton would definitely be an asset," O'Neill said.
"I agree," Carter added. "His knowledge of wormhole theory could be
extremely beneficial."
"And Ryan?"
O'Neill frowned. "There's something about him... I can't put my finger
on it..."
"He didn't say much," Jackson said. "He let Crichton do most of the
talking, but I still got the impression that there's more to him than
there appears to be."
"I agree. He's obviously intelligent - otherwise he would never have
ended up on the Farscape project," Carter added.
"Well, if no one has any objections, I will offer them a place here on
the Stargate project." Hammond looked at each person sitting at the
table. "Very well. Now I think it's time for me to meet these two young
men. Dr. Frasier, if you would have them sent in here."
"Of course, sir," she said, standing up.
******
Richie and John had a hard time choosing what food to eat when they
reached the cafeteria. They finally carried very full trays over to a
table. A few moments later, Duncan and Jack joined them.
"A bit hungry?" Duncan asked, looking at the food piled on each tray.
"We're growing boys," Richie stated with a grin.
"You'll definitely be growing if you eat all of that," Jack pointed out.
"We couldn't make up our minds," John said. "So we got a lot of
different things."
"How did your physicals go?" Jack asked.
"They counted all the parts and we had enough," John quipped.
"We passed with flying colors," Richie added when Jack frowned. "We get
to meet some general next."
"That would be Hammond. He's in charge here. I think you'll like him,"
Jack said. "Did they say when you'll be able to leave here?"
John and Richie exchanged concerned looks. "Do you think they'll keep us
here for a long time?" John asked.
"I hope not. If they try, I'll get a lawyer to represent you."
"Thanks, Dad." John settled in to eating his meal. "Now, fill us in on
everything we've missed in the last four years, starting with the World
Series winners."
Jack and Duncan smiled, then proceeded to bring the two up to date on
everything they'd missed.
They'd almost finished when the young soldier returned. "General Hammond
would like to see you now," he stated.
John and Richie stood up, and followed him through a maze of corridors
to a conference room. Inside, they found an older man, as well as the
rest of the SG-1 team.
The older man came over to greet them. "I'm General Hammond. Welcome
back to Earth, gentlemen," he greeted them with a smile. He shook hands
with each of them, then motioned them to have a seat while he resumed
his seat at the head of the table.
"Dr. Frasier says that you both are in excellent health. She doesn't
even think you would need a quarantine period before you can leave
here." He studied the two men for several long moments. "However, we
have a slight problem."
***** end of part 2