O'Neill walks down the metal steps and onto the gate control room floor. Looking through the viewing window he can see the glow from the recently activated gate. The amount of activity in both the control room and the gate room surprises him. He thinks that after as many gate dialings as SG Command has performed there would be a more laid-back atmosphere. But nope, it's like Christmas morning every time.
When he sees Captain Carter looking over the shoulder of one of the technicians monitoring the gate he decides to find out what's up.
"Hey, Carter, what's up?"
Captain Carter turns around to see the colonel walking toward her.
"Morning, Sir, we got a hit on the DB program, P549. We're following up on it."
O'Neill thinks for a moment. "Refresh my memory, what exactly is the DB program?"
"Oh sorry, it's the dial-back program. The computer randomly dials addresses that should have worked before, based upon gate addresses we've discovered on other worlds, but for some unknown reason didn't."
"Ah, dial back."
"Yes, most of the time the dial back doesn't work. But this time we got a hit. Something happened to the gate to allow it to activate."
"How often do we get a hit on the second try?"
"Including this one? Um, once."
"First time for everything I s'pose."
O'Neill watches as a technician in the gate room guides a MALP up the ramp toward the active gate. While he does, the technicians in the control room make sure that the MALP's various sensors are properly transmitting. Once the technician in the gate room gives her the 'thumbs up' the MALP controller technician in the control room takes over and directs the tracked vehicle slowly toward the shining event horizon.
O'Neill wonders out loud, "with all of the money we spend on this stuff can't they come up with a MALP that goes a little faster?" Captain Carter decides not to comment.
They watch in silence as the tracked vehicle slowly disappears as it enters the event horizon.
It takes a few moments for the initial telemetry to arrive. One of the technicians begins to read off what she sees on the screen.
"Receiving telemetry ... nitrogen oxygen atmosphere ... well within standard range ... no measurable amounts of noxious or poisonous gases. Gravity ninety-seven percent of standard ... radiation levels normal."
After a short pause the technician announces, "not picking up any radio or other electromagnetic signals." After another pause she says, "visual coming in."
They look at the monitors above the control panels. The light from the active stargate illuminates the surrounding flat and featureless ground but it does not penetrate the darkness. Though there is a hint of sunlight in one direction not enough light reaches the area surrounding the stargate to help. Of course, they cannot tell if itis early morning or early evening on that planet. The technician initiates a three-hundred-sixty-degree view. Other than the brightly glowing stargate very few details can be seen.
Captain Carter suggests, "switch to night vision."
"Switching to NV."
The monitors now have a strange greenish look. The amplified light enables them to get a better look at what surrounds the stargate. The MALP appears to be sitting in a several foot deep, water-filled trench. The shape of the trench suggests that the gate was partially buried and the activation and resulting energy discharge created the long trench. Based upon the amount of water in the trench the water table must be very close to the surface. The MALP control technician directs the machine toward the end of the trench and then up. Once the MALP has left the trench the technician stops the MALP. He causes the camera to rotate, giving them a three-hundred-sixty-degree night vision-powered view. Other than the partially buried gate the ground around the gate is flat and featureless. Some distance behind the gate there appears to be a cliff but they cannot see much beyond that.
"Do you want to try IR?" the technician asks.
"Sure," the captain says.
The image on the monitors change as the mode switches to infrared. A slow sweep of the area doesn't show any anomalies.
"Well," Carter says. "Given the difficulty in seeing anything let's just leave the MALP in automated recording mode."
Automated recording mode means that every thirty minutes the machine will activate and take instrument and visual readings of the surroundings.
"Yes, ma'am," the technician says. As he sends the command to the MALP he says, "we'll schedule a re-activation in eight hours. By then we should have more sunlight to see the surroundings."
After a final sweep of the surroundings and a check of the instruments the technician deactivates the gate.
"Well, Sir, I guess we'll have to wait a few hours to see what's there," says Carter.
0
"Miss Killian, what do we know?" General Hammond asks.
The general sits at the head of the conference table in SG Command's ready room. The SG-1 team members sit around the table discussing the recently activated gate on P549.
The brunette technician wearing a white lab coat stands.
"Well, Sir, it appears that when P549's gate was activated it was shortly before sunset day before yesterday. We've been monitoring the planet through yesterday and last night. The current time planet side would be mid-morning."
She turns to face a large screen. She pushes a button on the computer. The screen displays a short series of images taken by the MALP.
"The MALP sits on a very wide flood plain. It faces a large river that runs roughly from north to south. We believe the river must have been running high above flood stage and as a result partially uncovered the gate. It's still partially buried, but enough was uncovered for it to activate. We are unable to see the other side of the river that lies to the west. However, several miles away are what could be low mountains. The haze is too thick to know for sure."
After showing images of the river the computer displays a view of the stargate. In front of the gate they can see the long trench cut into the riverbed by the gate's activation. A shorter trench lies behind the gate, also cut by the energy surge as it rebounded back and forth before the event horizon stabilized. Beyond the stargate stands a tall bluff.
"Behind the gate, roughly seventy or so yards, stands a thirty-foot tall bluff."
Several quick images show the bluff from one end to the other.
"Part of the bluff, on the northern end, appears to have collapsed, washed away by the river. This created a path up to whatever is above the bluff. Beyond the bluff you can see what look like heavily forested tall hills and then medium-sized mountains. No structures are within view."
"What about signs of civilization?" the general asks.
"Nothing on the video recordings. We had the MALP do several night scans without any visual enhancements, no lights appeared. Nothing via night vision or infrared. We've been monitoring all radio frequency bands. We have picked up faint signals that might be indicative of civilization, but they could be natural electromagnetic radiation. They are too weak for us to know for sure."
"Thank you." The technician returns to her seat. "Captain, opinion?"
Captain Carter remains seated.
"Sir, it looks like an Earth-standard planet. Other than the possible radio signals there are no other indications of civilization, at least not nearby. This might be the type of gate that is a good distance from any artifacts or buildings. Thus we can't tell if this world has been visited by the Goa'uld. The only current issue is the lack of a dialing device. I believe that it's there, just buried under the sand. Given that the gate's activation will leave it sufficiently charged, if we can't find the DHD we should be able to manually dial Earth ... once we dig it out."
"Very well. Based upon what I've read and heard your mission is a go."
YOU ARE READING
Stargate SG-1: Steampunk
Science FictionSG Command discovers that a previously inactive gate address has become active. A check by the SGC's MALP (Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe) shows an Earth-like world with no 'obvious' signs of civilization. Once there, SG-1 quickly finds itself i...
