Tourism on another planet

As the last chevron locked, lighting the seventh red light on the top of the ring, a great whoosh numbed all her senses and a blur of blueish liquid and white foam came rushing to them at great speed. Standing right aside the colonel, who had seemed less than happy to baby sit them, Frances grit her teeth but stood her ground. If he had not moved an inch, then she would not either, and she ignored the furious cascade that threatened to obliterate her. All her muscles tensed, and for a second her eyes closed by themselves, unable to sustain the strain of this glittering light. Paralysed in fear, Frances forced the adrenaline rush down, unable to do anything but block her body from leaping backwards. And then, in an instant it was gone. The crazy explosion had been sucked inside the limits of the ring, as if pulled back by an incredible force.

The threat eliminated, Frances started to regain her senses. A quick peek at her companions showed that none of the SG1 team members had moved, but the looks on her friend's faces gave away their surprise. Her eyes were probably as wide as theirs, but when she averted her gaze to the grumpy colonel she was surprised to see that his features were not as hard as they had been an instant before. It would probably be long and painful to gain some respect from the team leader, but the young lady was resolved to do her best. Something in her had stirred at the discover of this brand new world, and she knew that somehow she had a part to play in this. Sweeping her gaze over the team, she could see that the warrior Teal'c was already setting off, followed closely by the blonde woman and Mulder and Scully clad in BDUs. However, Daniel Jackson paused for a second, and for a brief instant their eyes met. His were blue like the ocean, and his calm features soothed her as he smiled, the genuine expression warming her up to the core, a nice change from O'Neill's disapproval and wariness.

- "Daniel…", ground the colonel in warning

How funny was it that the only smile he had received from now came from a historian whose name matched her father's? Obeying the silent order, the archeologist started climbing the ramp and disappeared across the shining surface. It was an impressive sight to behold, this giant pool of liquid quicksilver dancing back and forth like waves in the tide. Little did she know that the oscillating phenomenon was an exact reproduction of the earth sea tides, except that this one was ruled by electromagnetic fields and matter flows. Instinctively reaching for the surface and realising that she felt absolutely nothing, Frances turned an inquisitive face to the colonel, who suddenly gave her a crooked grin.

Then he shoved her onward. As she disappeared inside the ring, Frances nearly screamed, but she realised that she couldn't. Falling inside an endless well of darkness, it felt like her body would be pulled apart. It was like a free fall with a crazy acceleration rate, except that no equilibrium could be reached. An unknown cosmic wind screamed in her ears, threatening to break her eardrums and burst her brain apart such was the noise. Surrendering the consciousness of her own body, the young recruit lost track of time.

Suddenly coldness descended upon her like a wave of liquid azote and for a moment she felt like she would break into pieces. Then the word stopped spinning around and Frances came back to reality. However, instead of setting foot on solid ground, her totally confused senses could not match the flat surface with a horizontal floor. Landing quite harshly on her butt, Frances barely managed not to slide down the stairs like Mulder obviously had, stopping herself with her left arm and banging it against hard rock in the process.

- "Ouch," she hissed

The pain was soon the last of her issues when a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her, in company of a nice taste of nausea.

- "Watch the stairs," said a voice that she knew to be O'Neill's, a sarcastic tone indicating his amusement at their debacle.

If she had not felt so bad, Frances might have laughed at Mulder's weird crouched position across the offending steps. Somewhere, somebody was trying hard not to vomit; Scully. Concentrating on a line of the stairs, Frances finally managed to stabilise her sight. A sweep of grassy area greeted her, as well as an outstretched. Dizzy, she stared at the long feminine fingers before Captain Carter hauled her on her feet. Samantha felt quite sorry for the girl; O'Neill was definitely pissed for this stupid mission and didn't refrain from saying so. They were not a freaking travel agency for God's sake, had retorted the colonel to General Hammond, but still this one had said that a promise was a promise.

- "It's quite normal to feel sick the first time," said Carter as she released the girl's hand as she was regaining her balance.

- "Oh right…" Frances answered. "After all I've just been dematerialised and reassembled a thousand light years from there so why not…"

The little cynical line didn't escape the colonel's attention, and Frances swore she saw the great warrior Teal'c lift an eyebrow at this comment. What she missed though was the hopeful gaze of the second in command to her superior, happy that she was to have found a fellow scientist.

- "I have to admit it's quite off-putting," said Mulder, now standing down the stairs.

- "Ah!" said O'Neill, "a sane man!"

Scully, who was now regaining her senses after vomiting her lot, gave him such a thoughtful look that Frances could have rolled out with laughter. Mulder, a sane man!

- "Good one," Frances quipped.

As if on cue, Mulder turned to Scully with enthusiasm:

- "But it's so incredibly exciting, it's so much more than anything we expected!!! We're on another planet Scully!"

- "Right…", exhaled the colonel, this time looking defeated. "Now that our three little daisies are up and running why don't we start exploring?"

- "Yes sir"

The Captain's tone of voice meant business; friendly banter was over.

- "Remember what we said," started the colonel, his dark eyes turning to them. "You stay within the group, you do not sway an inch from the line, and you obey without questions to anything I say or else you're getting straight back home. Is that clear?"

- "Yes colonel, "answered Scully.

The FBI agent addressed a warning look to her partner; Mulder never took well to authority, and she hoped he would be able to refrain from goading the Colonel. Said Colonel eyed them suspiciously, but pursed his lips instead of commenting.

- "Let's move, folks."

His dark eyes swept around the landscape, looking for their last wayward member who had already been led astray by some markings on a rock nearby.

- "Daaaannnniiiiieeeel," he called, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

- "Mmm?"

The archeologist failed to remove his eyes from the artifact that had attracted his attention

- "We're moving."

- "But…"

- "No buts," he cut sharply, "come on…"

The younger man sighed, and came back to them while throwing a look of longing backwards. Frances' eyebrow quirked up as she walked. The dynamic between the two men was intriguing. It was already the second time that the colonel scolded the archeologist, and none too gently, showing that the doctor was getting on the older man's nerves. However, the commanding officer's look and softening features indicated otherwise, like if there was a silent affection that pushed him to watch over the younger man's safety. That was such a mother hen like behaviour and Frances wondered what they could have shared to come to such a weird relationship.

- "What did the MALP say?" suddenly asked the colonel to his second in command

- "It indicated trees and no signs of life, sir."

The colonel sighed dramatically.

- "Trees, again"

- "No aliens?" questioned Mulder, a look of disappointment crossing over his features.

Captain Carter turned to him.

- "Nope, and believe me or not, most of the time it's much better this way. Some of them are slightly irritable."

Daniel snorted at this, but most of the team kept silent. None of the three visitors had received an extensive briefing on what they could find on the other side of the stargate. The aim of this mission was to introduce them to the Stargate program to see whether Mulder's intention to enrol stayed true, and the planet had been chosen on purpose without life or obvious civilisation.

- "Who built the stairs then?" asked Frances, a bit curious as why a lifeless planet would be granted with such an edifice.

- "That's a very good question," granted the archeologist, turning to her in approbation. "This would probably be the same people who built the network of gates and left the marking on this rock over there, but we don't know yet who…"

- "Daniel!!!," ground out the colonel.

- "Or right," he said absently, "sorry about that…"

Frances huffed, spooked that suck knowledge would be kept from her. Everything in due time, she needed to be patient. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the Colonel.

- "So does this mean I have exhausted my quota of questions."

- "Yes, yes, yes!, No more questions and much more silence. Let's go!"

As the little group started walking, the archeologist made a little face, his mouth getting a bit tight from the rebuke. Fuming inside, Daniel understood the necessity to stop talking even if he was frustrated to be deprived of such a life-changing explanation. The three members of the new company seemed more than interested in what he had to say, and once more he ended up shutting information because of national security. After all, being an archeologist aimed at discovering secrets about civilisations and sharing them with the world. Where was the fun when you could not even discuss it with anybody else?

The little group went by, covering quite some distance but never going too far from the gate. At the sound of Mulder's questions and Scully's assumptions about the ecosystem, time went swiftly. They collected samples from the ground, found a few traces of insects and microscopic life, and soon the three doctors were discussing the similarities and differences between earth and P3X yada yada whatever the number was. The funniest in this was that apart from Scully, none of the two members of SG1 had a remote idea of biological systems, but the less they knew the most eager they seemed to theorise about it. Mulder, after a while, got tired of asking questions about intelligent alien life, especially because he got no answers. Soon enough he fell back to Frances' position and they kept each other company in silence. The feared to exchange information about Mulder's sister's abduction in front of the team, but there was no doubt about what was going on in her friend's head. A few explicit looks had confirmed it as she was also trying to pull the pieces of the puzzle together. In her mind, it made no doubt that Mulder would continue digging into the program, having found the most likely place to find an explanation regarding the drama of his childhood. How he would manage to extract the information from this tight government organisation was another story, but she trusted him for this. If there was something that her companion did not lack it was sheer determination. Maybe that enrolling was the solution, especially after five years of fruitless research through non-classified cases.

O'Neill, standing up a hill in the shadow of the great trees, was getting annoyed. It was quite time to shake the scientific conference that was now happening around a sample of soil. The Scully woman was as prone to debating as Carter, albeit with a little more sense, and a very grounded attitude. He could see she was a woman who needed proofs. Her companion, at last, had finally stopped asking questions, and the colonel was quite glad because they were far from being stupid. Several times he had had to restrain Daniel from blurting out everything they knew to answer the man's curiosity. Now, however, the man's thoughtful gaze and absent manners were not so reassuring. He and the mere slip of a girl seemed to have silently debated of something, and now that he was lost in his thoughts, she was the one watching the surroundings. Jack had to admit that she played the part quite well. She had turned around a few times and chosen a strategic position. The kid was young, but the Interpol training had done some good.

Suddenly a great whoosh echoed in the forest, freezing them in their positions as they shared startled looks. Frances's head snapped in the direction of the incoming noise, but if she had recognised the sound of the gate opening she could not understand the ones that came next. A deafening hissing screeched into their untrained ears and the three new members made a face at the offending loudness. Three times it happened, and then the hissing became a whistle as the sound seemed to be led away. It seemed like missiles had just passed them, but Teal'c's voice indicated otherwise as the huge warrior came charging back to them.

- "O'Neill," he stated calmly. "Death gliders"

The colonel rolled his eyes.

- "Right, as if this day couldn't get better… Come on people, remember what I said in case of emergency, we're outta here!"

Quickly, bags of samples disappeared into the scientist's pockets as SG1 and their guests formed a packed group. Frances was handed an automatic hand gun and she removed the safety at once, earning a nod from the blond second in command in the process.

- "They're coming back," said Teal'c, his voice dropping.

- "Can you shoot them down?,"

The warrior shook his head.

- "Not all of them before they descend upon us."

Frances raised an eyebrow at this, wondering how the staff in his hands worked, and how exactly it could bring down flying things. There was not much information shared, so her intuition was her best shot at trying to understand the situation. Luckily, this had never made her default. A quick look at Mulder indicated that true answers were needed.

- "What are those death gliders?"

- "That'd be the F-22 equivalent" stated the archeologist, his voice surprisingly calm given the situation.

Scully cocked her head to the side, her ears picking up the sound of returning vessels.

- "You don't seem too worried. Friends or foes?"

The archaeologist shrugged.

- "Oh, foes, no doubt about that. Just another day in the office"

Frances gaped openly this time, stunned by the blasé attitude. But before the discussion could get further, the colonel turned to them.

- "We'll make a run to the gate once we're out in the open. Wait for my signal. Teal'c, Sam you'll make sure those two are all right," he said while pointing at Mulder and Scully. "I'll keep an eye on the kid," he continued, earning a raised eyebrow from said child who refrained from huffing at the appellation. "Daniel, we'll cover for you, you type the address in. Got it?"

- "Yes sir," answered her second in command, echoing the thought of the group's nodding heads.

- "Let's go"

Turning into full GI Joe mode, the colonel gave way to the tall black warrior, who pushed the archeologist forward. Then Samantha followed, keeping in step with Mulder and Scully who soon were running through the forest. As Frances and the colonel took off at full speed, she fuming to be considered as the weakest, the hissing of the death gliders came pounding back. Adrenaline pumped into Frances' vein, pushing her faster through the woods. A large shadow passed quickly over the group's head, followed by the deafening noise of air being ripped apart at great speed.

Wondering what those machines looked like, Frances was tempted to tilt her head up, but she was already having a hard time not tripping over branches and trunks. Eventually, she managed to catch a glimpse of the glider; at once, her eyes widened in horror. Two rows of energy fireballs had just been fired on them, and the woofing noise just preceded the loud crash of the branches torn apart by the blasts. Without warning, O'Neill seized her BDU's sleeve and violently pulled her aside, accommodating her loss of equilibrium by shoving her against himself without stopping the run.

The shining yellow energy balls landed close, blasting apart every living thing within a few metres radius and creating a shockwave that sent pieces of shards and soil everywhere around. Somebody screamed, a female voice it seemed, but Frances' ears were ringing far too much to distinguish who it was. Wishing with all her heart that there had been no casualties among them, the young lady tried to get a proper view of the chaos occurring right before her eyes. The mad run was mobilising all the energy she could gather such the disorientation and noise numbed her senses, and the explosions were still raining upon them like the fires of a godly wrath. Suddenly it ceased, and thick smoke greeted them as they ran. Silence descended on the scene like a cold blanket of numbness.

The loud hissing of the gliders had retreated, but there was no doubt that they would come back. The only interrogation left was when, and a quick glance at the colonel indicated that he would not suffer any break in the pace he now imprinted upon the group. Sunshine eventually pierced the smoke screen, sending a yellowish light to the destroyed forest floor. Soon enough the little group was kneeling on the very edge of the trees, and SG1 members exchanged a few quick glances before hurrying their guest to their feet.

- "Go," ordered the colonel.

Frances watched with horror the death gliders' graceful movement as they flew back around.

- "They're coming straight at us," whispered Scully.

O'Neill refrained the temptation to roll his eyes as he shoved the little group onwards. Stupid freaking mission, being out in the open chased by Goa'uld ships and untrained newbies, just what he needed. The little one beside him was speeding off on the uneven ground, watching carefully where to put her next step so as not to spray an ankle. She seemed quite used to the outdoors by the way she leapt through rocks and holes without slowing down, and the colonel noted this with approbation. Daniel had also performed one of his best four hundred metres ever since he was already typing in the address. The two guests were quite far behind him, and Teal'c was already posted to meet the death gliders with his staff.

Unfortunately, said war ships were coming too fast for his taste, and there was not so much that could be done about it except expect heavy fire. No shelter could be used in the extensive field of grass, and when the ships came close the FBI agents got only a short instant to catch a glimpse of their form before the deadly machines fired again. During this small window of opportunity, the tall man's eyes went wide, his brain already frying from the sight of the two profiled ships gliding in the distance as if they weighed nothing. His two companions, mouth wide open from the implications of such existing machines, were shaken by their respective guardians as the gate went wooshing behind them, startling them with the now familiar noise.

Teal'c choose this instant to return fire, his staff springing to life as it sputtered a blast of energy that landed on the first glider. The hit as enough to destabilise its pilot, and the vessel titled to the right. The second one, though, was intend on having their asses.

- "Go!" yelled the colonel, putting the group back into motion at the very moment the ships started firing again.

Fortunately, the team leader's strategy of dividing the group made the shots more difficult to perform, and if the ship's pilots were flying virtuosos their aim wasn't so adjusted. Daniel had already jumped in when Mulder and Scully were shoved into the wormhole by Teal'c. Avoiding some blasts hitting not far from the base of the stairs, the warrior followed as Sam started firing her machine gun to cover the two remaining members. It was then that hell broke loose. The loud hissing of the last incoming ship was now filling the air as much as the explosions' noise, and Frances ran numbly beside the colonel, her equilibrium screwed up by the surrounding chaos. A well-aimed blast struck so close that she thought her eardrums would burst, and both people were violently projected forward.

Literally flying, Frances landed harshly on the stairs of the gate, pain shooting up her left arm and elbow as she accommodated the shock. Through heavy smoke came a yell of pain, but she could see nothing. Stumbling to her feet as another fire blast was shot, the young woman wanted nothing more than listen to her senses and jump through the shining liquid. The absence of the colonel behind her, though, made her pause. Did the colonel and his second need help? She couldn't, in all conscience, leave them behind. The panic, though, was difficult to control. A new energy blast came her way, and Frances knew well that that it could be her last. Still, she would not forgive herself if something happened because of their wish to go through the gate. During what seemed eternity the young lady scrutinised the smoke as in reality is lasted less than a second. A blast landed close, making her jump out of her skin, and Frances very nearly gave way to her the screaming voice telling her to flee. The glider passed once more above her head, tearing her ears apart but speeding away; it would have to turn around before coming at them again.

Frances closed her fist, ready to spring down the steps now that she had a few seconds before the next round when two familiar figures emerged from the thick smoke. The colonel was leaning heavily on his second-in-command, his right leg stiff behind him as he struggled. Sweating profusely, his face was twisted in pain as he dragged himself forward as fast as humanly possible.

- "Go! Go!" he was yelling.

The blasts started again, coming closer as the hissing of the death glider intensified. Across the panic and confusion of the battle a tingling feeling washed over Frances, a sense of urgency that she had already felt before. It was now or never, and the young lady reacted instinctively. Reaching for the colonel's free arm, Frances grabbed him and pulled with all the strength she could muster. Dragged forward, the team leader grunted in pain, but followed the movement, his second in command adjusting her grip. Frances pulled the older man over, her eyes wide open staring at the brightness of the yellowish light coming behind them. And then the three of them were falling through the gate, disappearing into the wormhole as their bodies were disintegrated on the spot. The blast hit the very same location where they had been standing but an instant before.