Growing Pains - A Stargate Story

Chapter 4

Location: SGC Level 28

POV: Daniel Jackson

Daniel hurried down the hall, keeping a close eye on his watch and fervently hoping he wouldn't be disappointed a second time.

"Daniel Jackson."

He looked up quickly, immediately recognizing the voice that had beckoned him.

"Hey, Teal'c."

"May I ask the reason for your hurry?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm just headed to the control room." He pointed to the door up ahead on his left. "SG-12 is supposed to be arriving with some artifacts in need of translation. Hopefully, they haven't run into any further delays." He glanced at his watch again, giving Teal'c an apologetic tap on the arm before pushing past him. "Excuse me."

"Of course."

Daniel half-ran for the door, straightaway fixing his eyes on the gate once he'd entered the control room. Sure enough, it was activating from offworld. Daniel waited in anticipation as the gate flared to life, its vortex billowing out then retreating, establishing a stable wormhole.

Then, in the blink of an eye, something shot out of the gate and attached itself to the outside of the viewing glass. Daniel only caught a split second glimpse of it but was able to recognize the small, dark object as Goa'uld tech.

"Get down!" he screamed.

Then his view erupted in blinding white before plunging abruptly into utter blackness.

Location: SGC Guest Quarters

POV: Marina Karssen

It was the usual monotony, with Rina stuck staring either at the clock or the ceiling.

Doesn't get much better than this, she thought sardonically.

She'd considered asking for some books, but she imagined the only books kept in a place like this would be mind-numbingly uninteresting to her, and most likely wouldn't be out for loan anyway.

Rina sighed, wondering just how much more of this room she could take before she cracked.

Then an alarm blared in the hallway, so loud that it almost sounded like it was coming from inside the guest quarters. Rina shot to her feet, racing to the door and flinging it open.

"What's going on?" she asked her guard.

"Please stay inside your room, Miss Karssen," was the only answer she got.

When she didn't budge from the spot, the airman actually tried ushering her back inside. Rina slapped away his hands and angrily slammed the door in his face, resisting the urge to cover her ears to block out the endless siren.

What the hell IS that?!

Suddenly, the alarm changed, shifting from an intermittent, high-pitched sound to one with a lower pitch and more urgent pace.

A minute or two later, her door flew open, the airmen gesturing for her to follow him.

"We're moving you to a more secure location, miss. Please come with me."

A new alarm was sounding in Rina's mind.

"More secure?" she echoed, her insides twisting with unease, "What is going on?"

Again, she received no answer, only a guiding hand on her shoulder.

Something is seriously wrong...