Whatever that something was, it had been pretty damn strange. It had occurred with a crossrip occurring at a point four billion years previously, which meant she couldn't do a damn thing about it as the Gates Of Time wouldn't go beyond the time they'd been constructed. They might have been the Gates Of Time, but there was a window involved as well.
Let's see. Cheyenne Mountain? What could be there? Just a NORAD base they were going to close down eventually anyway, right?.
General Hammond sat down at his chair and scowled at the papers in front of him. "You're sure."
"The Stargate is definitely one of their earlier attempts," said the Brigadier, looking a bit worse for wear after all the years.
"General? Who is this anyway?" asked Jack O'Neill. "I'm not sure who ANY of these people are."
"The Stargate was found in Giza, as you know, and it required some time to figure out its workings," said General Hammond. "You know that per the earlier briefing and your visit to the desert world NCC-170."
"I hadn't expected to see marmalade skies," admitted Samantha Carter.
"Someone once said that 'once you've accepted one impossible thing, it becomes easier to stomach more of same'," said the British officer.
"Colonel O'Neill, you're here because you've done 'black ops' before and come recommended, not just for your familiarity with astronomy," began General Hammond. "Samantha Carter, Captain, you're one of the best all around scientific minds in the Air Force that wasn't assigned somewhere vital at the moment. Daniel Jackson, though a civilian your archaeological knowledge and tendency to ask difficult questions were both noteworthy."
"I am Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart," said the British officer. "I'm with UNIT."
"United Nations Intelligence Taskforce?" asked Colonel O'Neill. "You guys are for real?"
"Quite," said the Brigadier. "We haven't seen the Doctor of late, but we keep tabs on quite a lot of other things going on. Not much going on here in the States though - you've got your own departments for that."
"We do?" asked Jack.
"We do," admitted General Hammond.
"In any case, here's a list of personnel," said the Brigadier. "We managed to obtain it twelve years ago."
"MY NAME is on a list from twelve years ago?" asked Samantha Carter, snatching the paper up.
"Time travel was involved," said the Brigadier simply. "As well as a computer download. The rest of the operation was quite hush-hush, you understand."
"Time travel? I'm not sure I can believe that," said Samantha Carter, looking over the list of names. "Isn't that impossible?"
"After fighting alien Yeti in the London Underground whilst avoiding poisonous fungal webs," stated the Brigadier, "I find that the word 'impossible' should be avoided lest the universe decide to prove you wrong."
"Who's 'Ranma Saotome'?" asked Samantha Carter, going over the list.
"Japanese national," said the Brigadier. "He'll be along shortly. Martial artist and survival expert. As for Mister Benton, he'll be the attache here. He's seen quite a bit of action involving aliens, and after leaving UNIT became a used car salesman. Since that didn't work out, he's now a consultant."
"Didn't work out as a used car salesman?" asked Jack.
"Too honest to make a living at it, I'm afraid," said the Brigadier.
"Ah," said Jack, nodding.
"It didn't help when one of the automobiles went berserk and ate half the lot," continued the Brigadier. "It isn't the first time that people associated with the Doctor wished they had one of those comic-book emergency signal watches. I rather gather that that sort of thing happens from time to time."
"That would look bad on one's resume," admitted Jack.
"Who is the Doctor?" asked Daniel Jackson.
"Indeed," said the Brigadier, nodding. "He is, indeed."
"What?" asked Daniel Jackson.
"Do you recall this symbol?" asked the Brigadier, pushing a picture of some Egyptian hieroglyphs across the table.
"The box?" asked Daniel Jackson, getting a little more excited. "Yes. I wrote about that. It's recurrent in dozens of different media. Cave paintings in France, murals in ancient Greek temples, a line drawing in Nazca, and so on."
"It's called the TARDIS, it's real, I've been on it," said the Brigadier. "It's also associated with the Doctor."
"Wait a minute," said Daniel Jackson. "The Box? It's real? It's a TARDIS?"
"Keep using Gallifreyan technology, even outdated things like that," said the Brigadier, "and sooner or later he'll show up. It's a guarantee. It's a hostile universe out there. Better get used to it."
"I want to get back to this Japanese national being in an American program," said Jack, glancing over the paper as soon as it made its way to him.
"There are four of these Japanese individuals all told," said the Brigadier. "Ranma Saotome, his father - Genma Saotome. Also a martial artist. Someone Genma dallied with in their youth, Kumori Mizuno - who is a pediatrician but one with a background in emergency medicine as well. Ranma's half-sister, Ami - who is an excellent honor student and following in her mother's footsteps. They were all on that list, therefore watched and contacted at the appropriate time. The Saotome group will arrive tomorrow, the Mizunos next week."
"THAT will be awkward," said Jack.
"Quite," said the Brigadier, who wasn't planning on sticking around that long.
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(Posted Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:51)
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