23So based on some reviews posted and a couple of requests, I have decided to continue the story of Walter Harriman. Please feel free to post a review to let me know what you think.
Also, I will from here on use the proper annotations for rank and acronyms, i.e. MSgt for Master Sergeant etc.
Col Jack O'Neill returned through the stargate just 12 hours after he had initially departed with his team. There was chaos in the gate room as the SFs were still overly cautious and jumpy with the gate just turning on all by itself; the loud "whoosh" noise and the tidal wave of water looking colors jumping out at them for over 15 feet only for it to snap back to the circular opening just as fast and resemble a perfect body of water with only a slight rippling on the surface. Add to this phenomenon the people appearing in a previously empty area, several of them injured, carried or dragged by others of their team. The arrival of the "brass" through the door, oblivious to their walking directly into the line of fire of the posted men, M-16s pointed directly at the object which had only just a day before transported death to this very room.
Walter was at his post, sitting behind the lowered blast shield watching the action unfold on a 14 inch monitor as if he was watching television with his wife, not living it from only a few feet of separation. Maj Samuel called for the newly installed iris to close and Walter reached out pushing the big button they had installed on his desk with his right hand, his eyes not wavering an inch. On the monitor he saw a man dressed in robes similar to ones he had seen from Desert Shield on some of the locals. As every other person who exited the stargate had been in uniform, and been of the original six he had witnessed leaving to the planet called Abydos, the robed man must have been the Dr. Jackson whom Lt General Hammond had ordered Col O'Neill to return with.
It was surreal to watch as the doctors and nurses rushed forward to collect the injured, pushing past the bodies which stood between them and their patients as if individual rank was immaterial. Seeing the civilian, who had supposedly deciphered the symbols allowing the stargate to transport people from Earth to another planet, attempt to speak to the General and be brushed off like the sand which was even now falling from the clothes and gear of Col O'Neill's team onto the floor of the embarkation room.
Suddenly the blast shield was raised and MSgt Harriman was again part of the story and not just watching it on a monitor. The General made mention of a debrief in an hour and he and Major Samuel left by one door as the team either walked or were carried to the infirmary.
It had worked. The gate was now not just some fictional item only dreamed of in stories of Buck Rodgers, but a real tool of which he was responsible. Under his position of "gatekeeper" a team had been able to travel light years to and from Earth in a matter of seconds.
Leaning back in his chair, Walter could only let out a sigh of content. This was going to be a very interesting job indeed.
As General Hammond listened to a very excited Capt Carter talk about a multitude of possible gates based on the findings of Dr Jackson, which she had been able to get on video from their trip, it was clear this was going to be more than a "one and done" kind of operation.
"...the president has authorized 9 teams...," Walter overhead the General state to those in the room with him, ..."Col you will lead the team designated as SG-1, and Maj Kowalski will lead SG-2..."
As the briefing seemed to be winding down, which Walter had to admit he did not intend to overhear even though the voices carried perfectly down the stairs to his station, the smile was plastered on his face. What had begun as a most decidedly dead end position, one which he had been secretly and quietly counting the days until he could transfer out, was now the kind of thing he lived for.
Suddenly he heard a small commotion followed by a "Dismissed" from the General, and strained to see if he could hear what was going on. This is when he caught the voice of Dr. Jackson say, "glad he woke up." before everyone seemed to leave the briefing room.
It only took him a second before he figured that one of the injured must have regained consciousness.
Not more than 20 minutes later, Capt Carter was standing at his shoulder with a small computer in her hand showing him an address.
"I need these symbols programmed into the dialing computer," she said
With a nod, Walter complied designating the caricatures to a sequenced numbered position. After the computer accepted the symbols, it ran through a sequencer program and gave a flashing green light one minute later. To this Capt Carter smiled down at the seated Walter.
"I knew it would work," she said excitedly, her words almost running together, as she then turned and went up the stairs towards the General's new office.
Not more than five minutes later, General Hammond had blessed the mission for SG's 1 and 2 to go through the gate. In the blink of an eye, the two teams were assembled and escorted to the embarkation room by Major Samuel. The cameras and microphones in the room, now on and recording at all times, were sensitive enough to catch the quick exchange between Major's Samuel and Kowalski...
"I wish I was going with you"
"I'm kinda glad you're not."
Walter had to fight from laughing, Maj Kowalski stating plainly how most of the base felt.
Once the team, and the gear laden mechanical sled named Fred, were through, Maj Samuel nodded to Walter. The nod a signal to start the clock designated to count down for the next 24 hours. The clock was connected to an automated program that would, once it reached zero, discontinue the designation codes from the IFF (or Identify Friend or Foe) receiver for the two SG teams.
Without that code the iris could not be opened, and anything coming through the stargate would be destroyed without entering the facility. Even if it was one of the two teams now off world.
The next two hours passed quietly before Walter was relieved. Walking away from the console he had been watching like a pot on a burner that never seemed to boil, Walter realized just how tired and stressed he was.
The two teams sent out were on a mission of importance. They were looking for an alien, Apophis he had heard them call him, who had attacked not only Cheyenne Mountain, but also the camp Dr. Jackson had established right at the Abydos stargate, taking his wife and brother-in-law. Walter wanted to believe that as long as he was at the console, the team would be safe, and would comeback through the stargate.
But he also knew he could not afford to live at that station for the next full day. He did have a life outside of the mountain. He had a beautiful wife, now ten weeks pregnant, waiting for him to come home and rub on her feet and tell her just how pretty she still was despite how swollen her ankles were getting.
He had 21 hours and 52 minutes until the teams would be locked out, so he figured he had better not waste any time.
Ten hours later, Walter had gone home, doted on his wife, ate a meal not from the commissary, and was able to get a solid six hours of sleep. Refreshed and invigorated, Walter returned to the base ready to do his part to keep the two teams who were away safe. Getting the quickest update ever, "Nothing.", Walter took his post and watched the computer screen, breaking off to look out the window towards the gate every few seconds.
"Any word," Siler asked from behind him.
Walter just glanced at the tall man and shook his head.
"Guess we all would have known...," Siler stated as he too looked out towards the large metal ring in the next room. "So what did you do with your down time?"
Walter looked over at Siler, leaning back in his chair and smiled, "Went home and loved on Ericka, ate some real food, and got some sleep. How about you."
"Sounds nice. I never left the mountain. After the Colonel returned with that scientist guy, I had to do some more tweaks on the iris. It is a great idea in theory, but to keep it working and close to that puddle, I got to keep working..." Smiling he added, "guess you can call that job security."
"I think that scientist guy is an archeologist," Walter corrected as he turned back to his station.
"Really," Siler stated as he turned towards the stairs to the gate room, "Time to give the flux capacitors a kick." Siler laughed on his way out.
Laughing, Walter turned back to his station to watch and wait.
Looking over at the clock, Walter had to admit he was getting nervous. There was only ten minutes a few seconds remaining before the teams would be locked out and lost to the cosmos forever. Looking over his shoulder, Walter to see the shadow of the General, pacing in the briefing room above and behind his station, as it blocked the light from the stairs on a steady ten count.
"Not about to lose more men on this command," Walter heard the General mutter as he then called for teams 3 and 4 to start prepping to go through the gate on a rescue mission.
Turning back to his station, watching as the clock mocked him, the red glowing numbers continuing their ceaseless movement towards zero, almost appearing to increase in speed under his gaze. Sweat started to bead on his brow as Walter nervously tapped the finger on his left hand quietly on his knee. The clock now teasing him with just over two minutes remaining, as there was a slight rumble in the room with the gate beginning to activate.
Jumping slightly, Walter turned to his monitors, watching to see if the needed code would arrive in time to cancel the clock.
"Do we have a remote transmitter signal," the General asked, appearing behind him from a dead run off the stairs.
"...wait, there it is," Walter replied, the relief evident in his voice as he opened the iris the same instant General Hammond instructed him to.
Looking at the monitors as the blast shield had lowered to protect the control room from possible incoming fire, Walter saw Dr. Daniel Jackson and Capt Carter materialize through the gate, both yelling "Don't shoot!", as a crowd of people flooded out behind them. Walter quickly lost count of the bodies in the room as they mingled with the SF still standing alert, their weapons shifting between the gate and the strangers dressed in clothing ranging from togas to fur covered skins.
The General reached for the microphone, the blast shield now raised stating, "I hope you know what you are doing Captain." The look of shock mixed with anger to this change of events.
Eventually, the bodies slowed, and there was still no sign of Col O'Neill or Maj Kowalski, the General having moved down into the gate room, joining the throng of people who were still attempting to get organized and situated. Suddenly, three more bodies materialized, one of which was Col O'Neill who shouted to close the iris.
Following orders, Walter slapped his right hand down on the button, closing the iris only a second after the request was sent. Suddenly there were thumping noises, the iris shaking with each strike. At the same time, General Hammond was talking angrily towards the Colonel, pointing at a man on the ramp just behind him.
Breaking his eyes away from the iris, Walter saw the man in question. He was a very large black man with a strange golden mark on his forehead. Based on the reports from the attack, this man looked similar in size and stature to those who killed and kidnapped Airmen from that very room just two days ago.
It was clear the Colonel was defending the man, Walter unable to make out any one persons words with all the noise getting picked up from the microphones in the gate room mixing with the ambient noise of the control room from all the technicians buzzing.
Suddenly the chaos in the room seemed to clear, the people getting directed out of one door by Captain Carter and some of the SFs, the large man now surrounded by SFs motioning him out the other door with their weapons all at the ready. Col O'Neill followed the crowd and Major Kowalski continued to stand on the ramp, looking a little dazed.
Unfortunately, Walter turned to confer with the only other technician still in the room, missing Maj Kowalski standing tall, his eyes seeming to glow for just an instant.