The Ninth Chevron - Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis or Universe, I am only playing in the world.
A/N: Sequel to 'The Times That Weren't'
The Ninth Chevron - Chapter 1
Their awakening memories, and attempts to discover a means of reaching Destiny and her crew, lead Sam and SG-1 to a greater understanding of the Ninth Chevron, and to more secrets left behind by the Alterans.
Using knowledge they've regained from the memory of events which never took place, Sam and SG-1 work at their new base on Praxyon to uncover the secrets of the Ninth Chevron, in hopes of finding a way home for the people stranded aboard Destiny. Instead it leads them to a secret so large there was only one way the universe could have hidden it from SG-1 for so long.
McLean, Virginia, May 29th, 1978
Cam held the hot dogs in unsteady hands, the overly long frankfurters, slathered in both ketchup and mustard, bouncing slightly as he made his way away from the hub-bub of adults talking about incredibly boring things. For a bunch of Air Force officers they spent remarkably little time talking about planes. He found his destination down at the end of the long garden, behind a protective screen of bushes and trees, it was the bank of the small, burbling creek which wended its way slowly through the woods behind the property. She knelt by the creek, her skirt bunched up in one hand to keep it from getting wet or dirty, her other hand passing over the surface of the water, just brushing the tops of the ripples held steady by the motion of the liquid over the creek bed below. Her head came up and she turned it to face him, her blue eyes piercing him from behind the fringe of her sandy blonde hair. She was a puzzle. Direct, intense and blunt in one moment, then thoughtful, flighty and unfocused the next. As if the world was too slow for her mind. Still she didn't treat him like a kid even though she was older. He hated that. Which is probably why even if the adults had been talking about planes he would still have wandered off. They could really get on his nerves sometimes. He especially hated being treated like a kid by other kids. Paul did that and he was only a year older than Cam.
"Finally! I'm starved!" she said, standing up and shaking the water from her hand. She held it out and he offered her one of the hot dogs. Despite being 'starved' she ate it slowly, delicately. Whereas he, as was natural for a young lad, wolfed it down with gusto, ketchup and mustard spilling down onto the sparse green grass under the shade of the trees. "You're so messy. And I bet you can't even taste it when you eat that quickly." Girl had a point, Cam had to admit to himself. He slowed down while eating the second half of his hot dog, though he knew he'd never eat as slowly as she did. Her father was one of the Air Force officers who had been at the ceremony when his Dad had received his medal. His parents had told him they were staying for a few days after the ceremony to attend this Memorial Day BBQ, hosted at the house of one of the higher-ups. A colonel if he remembered right. George something. He wasn't this girl's father, but the two were friends. He could tell. He thought he'd heard that they both worked together, and were trying to convince his Dad to come join them, but he knew his Dad wouldn't, he loved flying too much, and it sounded like they... 'flew desks' were the words his Dad had used. Not disparagingly, just stating a fact. The one thing his Dad said he'd never fly was a desk. Which sounded like an odd thing to say.
"If you want another one you'd better say so quick. Paul can eat twenty hot dogs no problem." he pointed out. He had no idea where the boy put it all though. He wasn't fat like the other kids who ate that much. The girl nodded, probably better acquainted with Paul than he was, living in the area as she did. He'd only met her today. She'd told him her name but he'd forgotten it, he usually forgot girls' names, they weren't any fun normally. She was though, she liked to talk about planes for one. She also liked to go running around the woods here in the back, checking out the creek and the bushes for stuff. She'd been the one to find that huge frog, though he'd caught it. They showed it to Paul but he didn't like it. He actually seemed to enjoy listening to the adults talking about all that boring stuff. "So how old are ya? I know you're older'n me."
"Mom says it's not polite to ask a lady her age." she replied but he'd already figured out that was the tone of voice she used when she was teasing him so he just grinned to let her know he'd caught her doing it. "I'm nine. My little brother is six." Cam didn't care about her little brother. Mark was less fun than most girls, and that's saying something of a six year old. Didn't like running or jumping or climbing. Didn't play football or basketball or soccer. Didn't do much of anything except hang around his Mom, glaring at his sister whenever she went to talk to her. It was kinda strange. She didn't seem to care too much, though Cam didn't like to see it, he didn't have a brother or a sister, so he thought if you had one you should appreciate them. She finally finished her hot dog, licking her fingers one by one. He didn't exactly know why but he enjoyed seeing that. She must have really liked the hot dog. "How about you? How old are you?"
"Just turned eight a couple of weeks ago." he replied wiping his hand on the side of his shirt, leaving behind a faintly greasy stain.
"Oh, Happy Birthday." she offered smiling.
"Thanks." he replied with a grin. She just nodded. "You want to be a pilot like your Dad, don't you?" She looked at him with those piercing blue eyes.
"Yeah." she replied slowly, she sounded a bit strange when she said it.
"That's cool. I want to fly too, but not desks." he added and she laughed, she had a good laugh, it wasn't a high pitched squeal like most girls'. He also noticed she was smiling at him after he said it. "What?"
"Nothing. Just most boys would have said girls can't be pilots." she explained. That must be why she sounded strange earlier.
"Huh? Why can't they be pilots? Is it something stupid like they got long hair or always wear skirts?" he asked, narrowing his eyes and frowning. She laughed again.
"No. They just don't think girls should be allowed to." she replied, a distant look coming over her eyes.
"That's just crazy talk." Cam snapped and she laughed again. They heard the sound of someone coming, calling a name, and they turned around. A woman in her early forties came around the trees and spotted them, it was Paul's Mom, she was looking for him it seemed.
"Oh, hello, you two? This is a nice spot you've found. Nice creek and lots of trees." She smiled. She was a nice lady, she liked to make sure everyone was happy. "Have either of you seen my Paul?" They both shook their heads.
"Not for a while, Mrs. Davis." replied the girl.
"Oh, well, I'm sure he's around. The burgers are about to go onto the grill if you two want some." She smiled at them and they both nodded. "Great. I'll make sure Colonel Hammond makes you some. Oh, Cameron, there are some folding chairs on the back porch if you two want to sit here awhile." Cam looked to the girl who shrugged at him, he turned back and nodded at Mrs. Davis, following her back up the garden to get the chairs. "You and Samantha are getting friendly, that's nice. I know you and your folks aren't going to be here in town for long but I think it's always good to make friends whenever you can. Maybe you can keep in touch when you go back to Kansas, that would be super." Yep, she was a nice lady. And he'd already forgotten the girl's name again. Oh well. They'd been having fun so far and it hadn't been a problem. He turned his head back to look at her and saw her turn hers to him at the same time, she smiled at him. He liked her smile. And he liked to make her laugh.
Stargate Command, January 2010
Cam rushed into Daniel's lab to find him with his nose stuck in a note book, which was as expected, the linguist looked up and gave him a questioning look at the alacrity of his arrival.
"Jackson! I was brushing my teeth this morning-" Cam began by way of explanation.
"I should hope so." Daniel interjected with a sarcastic smile. Cam ignored him.
"-and I was struck by a thought... Praxyon!" He waited a breath, hoping for a reaction. Daniel just looked at him neutrally and blinked. "Praxyon! The place with the time machine. That Ba'al used to screw with us. That the alternate us used to kick his ass." He was getting increasingly frustrated with the archaeologist's obtuseness until he saw him turn the note book he was reading around to face Cam and pushed it towards him. He reached down and read a few lines from where the archaeologist's finger was pointing.
"These are some notes I made while I was studying in Merlin's Library on Camelot when we were looking for the Ark of Truth." Jackson explained. "I wrote this one when I was reading a story of Arthur visiting the land of Hypera Ziavilis in order to learn the destiny which awaited him. He told his seneschal that if he 'did not return within a tenday that his knights should give him up for dead as he would have surely succumbed to the temptations of the otherworld.' Arthur returned after nine days, shaken and fevered, refusing to speak of his experiences."
"Do you have a gate address?" Cam asked, flipping the pages of the note book, Daniel took it from his hands and flipped several pages closer to the beginning before handing it back and pointing at another note he'd written.
"This here is a note I made about a very old account of how Myrddin often went away to his 'Observatory of the Heavens'," Daniel used air quotes, "to track the movement of the celestial bodies to allow him to 'predict the future'." Again he used the air quotes. "The place he went to was called Hypraxia Korvalis."
"Do you have a gate address?" Cam asked once more, beginning to lose patience with the archaeologist. Daniel took the notebook from him again and flipped almost all the way to the end where he pointed at a picture he'd taken of a book page and stuck the printout of it in his note book.
"This picture is a representation of the 'Stars surmounted upon the Pillar of Heaven in the land of Hypraxia Korvalis' said to have been drawn at the direction of Myrddin before he left Camelot for the last time." The picture showed a shining column, radiating light, and around the top of it were stars, most five pointed, some six pointed, a few seven pointed, all suspended in the air. Daniel's finger traced along a series of symbols which ran down the column, which looked like Ancient glyphs. He grinned at the leader of SG-1 who grinned back in return.
"When did you start looking for this?" asked Cam, he couldn't take his eyes off the glyphs, he realised he could read them and it was kind of freaking him out.
"Oh, you know, I woke up this morning and was brushing my teeth..." Daniel shrugged and chuckled but they both turned to his door as Sam burst in wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved top, her hair looking dishevelled with her toothbrush in hand.
"Guys! Praxyon! It's got to be the solution to our power requirements!" She looked at each of them for a moment. "What?" Cam grinned, looking her up and down and she suddenly looked down at her clothes and grew bright red, pulling the hem of her top down until she realised it was tugging her collar down with it. "I'll be back in five." She ran off, shooting Cam a glare.
USS Odyssey, above P3X-474, May 2007 + 4,290 days relative
"Hey Jackson, time for food, buddy." Daniel turned at Cam's call and Sam smiled at him warmly. He smiled at them both in return before turning back to the floating runes and glyphs of the texts being displayed by the Asgard database. This was Daniel's place. As much as the Core room was hers and the flight bay was Cam's, this place on the ship was considered to be Daniel's by everyone else. Even General Landry hesitated coming in when Daniel wasn't here, just as Daniel would hesitate going into the General's arboretum while not under his watchful eye. "Vala made pseudochicken kiev!" She turned to Cam at the hint of pride in his voice. He'd taught her how to make it and he was quite happy to tell them all that he thought hers was better than his now. He was always so pleased when one of them succeeded at anything.
"I'll be there in a second. Just, I've found something really strange in this file about early Alteran history in Avalon." Oh boy, Sam still wasn't used to how easily Daniel slipped into using the Ancients' names for things. She just had to remember that when he said Avalon he meant Milky Way.
"Hmmm? What's so strange?" she asked, stepping into the room to stand next to him. Cam followed a moment after.
"Here." He held up a hand at a short list of what looked like 'gate addresses, but they couldn't be because they were each nine symbols long. "The Asgard who wrote this entry simply calls these, 'experimental Stargates' and noted they should be ignored." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and Cam leaned forward slightly.
"These aren't listed like normal addresses." Cam muttered. "Usually you either find the six symbols of the address or all seven including that planet's point of origin symbol when they want to be complete, but look at these, they always list a point of origin, but several of them list the same one which isn't possible." He pointed at one in particular. "Look at that one, it's labelled 'Destiny' and it's using Earth's Point of Origin symbol!" Sam and Daniel both gaped at it, unsure what it meant.
"Look!" Sam pointed excitedly. "I recognise the ninth symbol of these addresses! It's the Beta 'gate's symbol" She was referring to the symbol they'd seen on the Antarctic 'gate. The two men both looked at the ones she was pointing at and then read the names listed.
"Atlantus." Cam read one the names out loud for Sam's benefit. "That's crazy!"
"No, what's really crazy is these three addresses which are different in only the Point of Origin." Daniel's fingers hovered over the three addresses and all three scrunched up their faces in contemplation. "I wonder if there's anything else about 'experimental Stargates' in the database." He was scratching his chin again thoughtfully.
"There you are! My pseudochicken kiev won't wait forever you know!" cried an indignant Vala from the door, she strode in and grabbed Daniel's arm, unceremoniously dragging him away from the floating runes. "You need to eat before you read anything else!" He sputtered in protest, but Sam saw he had a faint smile on his face.
"I'm not that rough with you when I come to get you, am I?" Cam leaned towards her as he took her hand and led her out the door.
"You don't have to be, sweetie." she replied, kissing him softly.
Hypraxia Base, Praxyon, May 2010
He turned around sporting a huge grin when he got to the door, only to have a pillow wipe it off as it hit him dead center in the face.
"I can't believe you said that! Why did I ever fall in love with you?" Sam cried from the bed, but he could tell she wasn't mad, that smile on her face didn't lie.
"You know why." he said with a little knowing look and slipped his t-shirt over his head, the ring on its chain over his heart tinkling off his dogtags with the movement.
"Get out of here before I drag you back to bed." She waved him away with a huff and he smiled, he watched her for a moment, one leg tucked under her while the other hung off the bed, her hand running through her flaxen hair had her own ring on its chain sliding against the skin of her breasts, blowing her a kiss he slipped out the door into the curved corridor. He sighed happily after the door closed behind him and walked away towards his own room on base to grab his washroom gear and a change of clothes, he had to admit the black outfits they used on off-world bases were stylish, and it was nice seeing the eagles on his collars, a little concession to vanity was okay every once in a while.
Thirty minutes later, after a shower and a shave, he arrived at the circular room they'd designated as the mess due to its having, what looked like, food refrigeration and storage units behind a long counter along one section of the wall opposite the door, they didn't work, but that was okay. Several round tables with curved seats radiating around their circumference, held aloft by stanchions which curved down and back up to support the table top itself, dotted the room at irregular intervals. The place could probably seat twenty or so comfortably, while there was enough rooms on site to house forty or so personnel. Not all the rooms were serviceable of course, some were damaged, others suffered from power failures, it seems there had been some sort of large scale impact on the surface of the planet sometime in the distant past, the force of which had reached as far down as the base itself. There wasn't a great deal of damage, and only to this section, which spoke a lot about the engineering expertise of the Alterans.
He recalled this had been the first room they'd entered after starting their exploration of the base those few months ago, it was the first room at the end of the small access corridor which lead to the central core. Now they had cleared the entire section for habitation, which indeed seemed to be its intended purpose, and had moved in a small research team to prepare for their attempts to dial Destiny, of which Sam had been placed in charge. The rest of SG-1 had joined her on base for the duration as a matter of course, due in part to the discovery of a small cache of nine symbol addresses in the Asgard database on Odyssey. Found thanks to some information left behind for Daniel, by himself, on the reverse side of the crystal Teal'c used to rapidly disengage the Asgard Core and activate the hyperdrive of the Odyssey while they were being chased by Ori motherships on their return from the Asgard homeworld.
Teal'c admitted he had at first been hesitant to reveal the existence of all the information on the reverse of the crystal despite having told the Sam who had created it that he would do so, for which he gave a deep apology to this Sam. However, when it became clear all of them were somehow regaining memories from the lifetime they spent in the time dilation field anyway, it no longer seemed appropriate for him to keep the work they'd stored away on the crystal a secret. Cam was amazed at having found out he had become so adept at power systems engineering in his time aboard the Odyssey, and that he'd designed and built himself a flight simulator for the F302, the plans for which were currently being scrutinised at Area 51 for eventual construction. Sam's own work in temporal mechanics and relativistic physics were astounding everyone that just read the abstracts of the papers she'd written. Only a hardy few were brave enough to continue reading after that point, even Sam was having trouble with some of it right now, though as her memories came back it was getting much easier. General Landry had also produced a small body of botanical work which was stored on the crystal, which amused him to no end.
Vala, perhaps most of all, was excited to learn of what she had stored on the crystal. It seemed she had taken charge of keeping the crew entertained, probably out of being bored herself, which she had to concede was the most likely scenario. She had produced short stories and novels and even CG movies in various genres, some of which she refused to let anyone see, but most of which were enjoyable, and a handful of pieces which were truly great. She had been strutting around the base, very pleased with herself, for a while afterwards. Teal'c had already been subtly using his own work to influence change in the Free Jaffa Nation, though he had subsequently agreed to allow several of his treatices to be published so all his people could read them. It was Daniel's contribution however, which was the main reason for their presence on base with Sam. That and the fact SG-1, as an entity, pretty much refused to allow the IOA to reassign Sam away from them again after their previous attempt, for any length of time. Her team would be there to have her back this time. Landry was happy to agree, and to send Odyssey to join them so they could get at the Asgard Core whenever the need arose.
Cam spotted Daniel and Vala seated at a table off to the side and made his way to join them after picking up some food. He was sure Sam and Teal'c would join them in time, if Teal'c wasn't already busy elsewhere, the man liked to get an early start to the day, really early.
"Cameron, come sit next to me." Vala smiled at him and patted the curved seat next to her, before turning back to Daniel and holding up a blueberry, as if offering to feed it to him, which he was pointedly attempting to ignore before reluctantly allowing her to place it in his mouth as he read a report. Cam grinned at that and sat himself beside Vala to eat his hash browns and eggs on toast.
"Aren't you two just the very picture of domestic bliss." he pronounced and nearly laughed when Daniel finally looked up at him with a very harsh glare.
"You," Daniel elongated the word and waggled his finger at him, "aren't in a position to make a comment like that." Cam chuckled and bowed his head in acquiescence, indeed he wasn't. "Sam coming soon?" asked the linguist as he returned to his report.
"I expect- ah, there she is." Cam nodded towards the door and smiled at Sam as she walked in the room. She smiled back and hurried to grab herself some blue jello. Cam was still amazed at how much she liked that blue jello. He'd learned very quickly to keep a large stash of the stuff at his place after they got together. She came and sat next to him and began digging in. "What's on the books for today?" he asked her as she sighed happily after her first spoonful. She looked up for a moment in thought before replying.
"More power tests to check the interfaces between our dialling computer and the control console. We cleared up several more of those nasty unstable surges we were seeing last week while running simulations. Also, some of the lab area is finally being cleared for access. Most of the labs are just that and mostly unused, and we can certainly put them to use ourselves. Some of them are still off limits until we figure out what experiments were being conducted in them. Mostly down on the lower levels." Sam supplied and Cam nodded. They'd found the lab section not long after opening up the habitation section, it was accessed from another walkway on the opposite side of the ring platform, giving the base a roughly symmetrical shape of concentric rings of corridors around the central core chamber with a separation between the labs and housing, if you looked at an overhead plan of the base you could literally call them wings. There were several levels to each of the sections to either side of the core chamber, accessed via platforms which floated up and down on gravitic plates at either end of the long curving corridors. "The last of the guard rails in the central chamber are being welded into place today too around the extended 'gate platform." He felt Vala sighing next to him. "Daniel said he was going back up to Odyssey to see if he could find out anything more about the nine chevron addresses in the database." At the mention of his name Daniel looked up but he didn't have a hopeful look. They each knew he had attempted this before, and the version of him from the time dilation field hadn't found anything in the years he had spent looking.
"I suppose we could always ask Thor." Cam offered before putting a forkful of hash browns in his mouth. The other three at the table turned to him as one with confused looks and he had to gulp his food down quickly. "You haven't remembered about that yet I guess."
On to Chapter 2