~Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else~
-Andre Gide
The next day Major Davis came and picked Katelyn up in a black, government-plated sedan. The car took them to a giant hangar holding a private jet.
Once on the jet, Katelyn was offered many things, such as food, beverages, and pillows. Katelyn declined everything, but a dry martini. She needed something to ease her nerves though she felt a little bad since it was so early in the day.
"We are very pleased you chose to take the position. In my opinion, anyone who would decline an opportunity like this is a great fool," Major Davis said. Katelyn smiled.
"I understand what you mean. This is an extraordinary opportunity for me and I'm glad I was considered."
Soon they arrived at Cheyenne Mountain, under which the SGC operated. Katelyn's nerves felt as if they were live wires. She was uncharacteristically giddy.
Once inside Cheyenne Mountain, however, she felt calmer somehow. An Airman escorted them down to level twenty-eight, where all the magic happened.
"I hope you're ready for this," Major Davis said smiling as the elevator doors opened.
Katelyn walked out behind Major Davis into a hallway made of concrete. This does look top-secret, Katelyn thought as she looked around.
As they walked down the hall toward the conference room, several cameras turned their way watching everything they did. When they reached a short staircase, Katelyn caught a glimpse of what looked like a control room. She was brought to a room near it with a large table, many chairs, and a giant window looking down on the Stargate.
"Welcome to the SGC, Dr. Warner. I'm General Hammond. I command this facility," a man's voice said.
"Thank you, General Hammond. I'm very happy to be here."
General Hammond was a tall man with an older man's gut. He was dressed in his Air Force blues and he was bald. He had a kind face and a Texas accent. He had blue eyes that looked as though they had seen a lot of unnecessary things, as was common with the military. Her father had had the same look.
At that moment, four people came walking into the room wearing blue pants with military boots over the ends. They wore black shirts and a blue jacket over the shirt. The first one in was a tall man about six-one, with graying hair and brown eyes.
"I'm just saying I think it would be cool to be invisible. I think it would give us a great tactical advantage against the Goa'uld."
The next one in was a woman with short blonde hair, about five-nine. She had blue eyes and a smile on her face.
"You can't be invisible, Sir," she said matter-of-factly. A younger man about six foot with dark hair and blue eyes behind glasses came in next.
"How would you be able to live off base if you were invisible, Jack? Ask Teal'c, living on base sucks," the younger man started laughing.
Next, a big, black man standing at about six three came in. His arms were as huge as was he. He had a gold tattoo on the middle of his forehead. He wasn't wearing a jacket like the others.
"Indeed," he said in a deep, uninterested voice as he walked through the door. The four of them ended their conversation and the woman and the graying haired man stood at attention.
"Morning, Sir," the man said to General Hammond.
"Good morning, Colonel."
Katelyn stayed at Major Davis's side looking at the four people she figured was SG-1.
"Dr. Warner, I would like to introduce you to SG-1," General Hammond said motioning towards the group.
"This is Dr. Warner?" the graying haired man asked.
"Yes, is there a problem Colonel?" General Hammond asked.
"No, not at all, I just thought...well, you said she was the best in her field and I just thought she would be...older."
The man in the glasses rolled his eyes and pushed past the Colonel.
"Hello, Dr. Warner, I'm Daniel Jackson." Katelyn shook his hand and smiled. She thought Daniel was very good looking.
"I hear you're the one who made it possible to travel to other planets," Katelyn said with a smile.
"I wouldn't say that more like provided an address," Daniel replied laughing.
"I'm Major Samantha Carter. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Warner. I'm sure it will be great having you on the team," Major Carter said with a smile.
"So you're the one that made it work then?" Katelyn asked. Major Carter smiled.
"I didn't do it alone and all I did was create a man-made dialing computer for it."
The older out of the four came up to Katelyn next.
"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, that's with two L's. There's another Colonel O'Neil with one L and he has no sense of humor at all." Katelyn shook his hand as well and smiled.
"I'm assuming you're the fearless commander of the front line team," Katelyn said pouring the sugar into her voice. Jack smiled.
"Well, not to brag..."
The big, muscled man came up to Katelyn next. He gave her a slight bow of his head.
"I am Teal'c. It is an honor to meet you, Dr. Warner."
"It's great to meet you all. I'm very glad to have this opportunity to be on the front line team of this great facility."
"Okay, why don't we sit down and go through a few things," General Hammond said motioning everyone in the room to sit down at the large table. Katelyn took a seat between Major Davis and Daniel.
"Dr. Warner, this is the most top-secret facility in the United States, which I'm sure you already know. It is very important to keep this facility a secret. You're going to have a cover story about your job if someone asks specifically where you work. You can't tell anyone. Going through the Stargate is very dangerous and every time you step through, there is a chance you're not coming back alive or at all. It's part of the job. I understand that for some people they want recognition for what they do and I'm afraid with the job you're just not going to get worldwide recognition, but know that if the world knew, they would be proud. We keep this top-secret for a reason. Now that you are officially a member of SG-1, you have access to all of the mission files. You will get a security card and in a few days, you will have your first mission. You'll be exploring P26-845. I hope it's not too dangerous, but we won't know that until you go there. That's all. SG-1, if you would like to show her around the base that would be fine," General Hammond said getting up from his chair.
Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Major David stood from their chairs as soon as General Hammond rose from his.
"Dismissed."
Everyone else got up from their chairs. Major Davis turned to Katelyn and smiled.
"Well, I have to fly back to the Pentagon. A plane will take you back to L.A. when you're ready to go. I will get in touch with you about the move. Good luck, Doctor," Major Davis said.
"Thank you, Major," Katelyn replied shaking Major Davis's hand.
Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, and Katelyn were left alone in the conference room.
"I would be happy to show you around if everyone else is busy," Jack said. Katelyn nodded and the tour began. They started in the control room.
"This is the dialing computer. This is how we dial out," Jack said explaining it quickly. It was something that Katelyn thought didn't interest him much. Katelyn's vision was fixed on the giant ring looming below them. They walked into the room with the Stargate.
"This is the gate room and the Stargate," Jack said proudly. Katelyn knew Jack loved the Stargate and his job.
Katelyn stared up at the giant ring and walked up the ramp. She looked through the ring.
"Be careful. When it opens, a giant wave of...it's kind of like water shoots out. You'd get vaporized if you were in front of it," Jack said.
Katelyn immediately took a step back and walked over to stand next to Jack. Instead, Katelyn walked to the side and touched the gate. The metal was cool to the touch and the gate was hooked up to a power system. It buzzed with energy and Katelyn felt the same buzz inside her body and smiled.
After a while in the gate room, Katelyn and Jack left to go tour the rest of level twenty-eight and the other pertinent levels of the Stargate Command facility.
"You're going to have an office close to the infirmary. When one base, we generally don't wear street clothes, so today if you're planning to stay longer you should change into something similar to mine. We have two colors, green and blue. Just wear the color you see another member of SG-1 wearing."
The tour ended near the infirmary with Katelyn's office. Jack slid his card and the door to the office opened. It had a large mahogany desk in the middle and floor to ceiling bookshelves just waiting for Katelyn's medical books.
"Thank you, Colonel O'Neill," Katelyn said.
"Call me Jack and here," Jack said handing Katelyn a security card.
"This will open any door in this base. Before you leaveyou'll need to get an ID so you can get back on the base when you're all set and ready to go."
With that, Jack left and Katelyn walked into her new office. There was a computer waiting on her desk, but otherwise, the office was pretty empty. The sight of her very own office in an amazing facility left Katelyn feeling giddy and more sure of the decision she made. She was even getting excited about the lay ahead for her.
Katelyn spent a little while sitting in her very comfortable office desk before she went to get her ID for the base and then she left to go home. There was another plane waiting to take her home.
Several hours and a smooth plane ride later, Katelyn arrived back at her apartment. She was feeling happy and light when she went straight to her room. Her mood instantly changed when she found her boyfriend sleeping in her bed. She looked at him with dismay and internally groaned before going into her bathroom.
Katelyn started washing her face. Her boyfriend heard the water going and went into the bathroom to investigate.
"Oh, hey, where have you been? You weren't at the hospital, here, or at Kaycee's," her boyfriend explained.
"You checked all those places for me? What's so important?" Katelyn asked.
"Well," Katelyn's boyfriend started and then he kneeled down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"
Katelyn was shocked and not in a good way. It wasn't something she wanted to hear and it was only going to make it harder to tell him what she needed to. Katelyn was going to break up with him because she wasn't in love with him and it wasn't fair to him if he kept thinking she was. She was also moving to Colorado and a long-distance relationship just wasn't an option.
"I can't," Katelyn said looking down at her still kneeling boyfriend.
"What? Why not?" he demanded.
"I'm moving...to Colorado. I got a really good job there and I already took it."
Katelyn's boyfriend looked furious.
"You took a job in another state without telling me? This is supposed to be a relationship! You're supposed to tell me when you're going to do things like this! I just can't get up and leave my job because you got one without telling me! I can't move with you," he yelled.
"I wasn't asking you to move with me and I don't need to ask your permission to take a job! Don't give me that bull about relationships! I haven't seen you in three weeks and then out of the blue you propose and expect me to say yes!" Katelyn fumed.
"Get out! I want you out of my house!" Katelyn yelled. "Get your crap and get out!"
Katelyn's now ex-boyfriend picked up his stuff and stomped out of the house. She felt relieved in many ways. She thought about her new job and the new life she would be starting when she moved to Colorado and smiled. The smile faltered when she realized she needed to tell Kaycee. That was going to be a mission in itself.
"Hello?" Kaycee answered.
"Hey. What's up?" Katelyn asked.
"Nothing, are you okay? You know..." Kaycee began.
"Yeah, I know he was looking for me. He was waiting at my house when I got home."
"Where have you been? He said he couldn't find you," Kaycee asked.
"I was in Colorado." Katelyn knew the questions would pour out soon.
"Why were you in Colorado?"
Katelyn needed to tell as much of the truth as she could. Not once the whole time they'd been friends had Katelyn lied to her.
"I took a job there," Katelyn said weakly. Kaycee was silent for a moment.
"You're leaving California. I mean what job could you get there that you couldn't get in California?" Kaycee asked, obvious suspicion in her voice. Katelyn felt guilty.
"Listen, Kaycee. I can't tell you everything, but believe me, I would love to. Someone came to me at the hospital yesterday and offered me a job that no one could turn down. The base I'll be working at is in Colorado Springs. I'll be working with the military. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and I had to take it. I couldn't let something like this pass me by. I know if I could tell you what I'll be doing, you would support me, but I can say it's the adventure we've always talked about. Trust me."
"You're working for the military and you can't tell me what you're doing. Is it top-secret?" Kaycee asked her voice strained. Katelyn was silent and Kaycee had her answer.
"You're doing the exact same thing your father did and if you can't even tell your best friend about this top-secret job how are you going to have an honest relationship? Oh, wait you can't."
Katelyn winced and she had a feeling she was about to lose the most important person in her life.
"Kaycee, trust me. I know I'm going back on what I said, but this is something extraordinary and if you knew what it was you'd be supporting me right now, which you should be anyway just because you're supposed to be my best friend. If I didn't think it was something that was going to help the world in the long run, I wouldn't have taken the job. I hope one day I can tell you the things I know and I hope that when I get to tell you, you'll be proud of me for making a difference. I need to pack. I hope to talk to you soon. Bye." Katelyn hung up the phone hoping Kaycee would eventually understand.