23So This will complete the pilot episode of SG-1 and add in the second episode. It is not my intention to write a chapter for every episode of SG-1, that would be a bit much, but will instead write about moments, giving background as I saw it to decisions made by Walter and interactions he has with other characters from the series.
As always, reviews are welcome.
From thirty minutes after SG teams 1 and 2 returned from Chulak with an alien, the gate had been activated from somewhere out in the universe at least once every two hours. The sounds of something thumping on the iris constant, like the tapping of some unseen phantom in a horror movie. In the last ten hours there had been five attempts to breach the gate's threshold inside of Cheyenne Mountain, all of them to no avail.
At the insistence of Capt Carter, a team was sent into the gate room to sweep for radiation at the conclusion of the event. On the order's of General Hammond, the bases newly established three minute self-destruct protocol was enacted with each attempted breach. The constant alarms ensuring no one was able to rest and recover from the bases last three and half days of constant stress. From the first breach of the gate leading to the deaths of several SFs and the kidnapping of another, to the frantic arrival of the refugees with SG 1 and 2, everyone was on their last nerve.
Only those who had been able to depart from the base, return to their homes for eight to ten hours of rest, were able to function.
Walter had not been one of those lucky few.
MSgt Walter Harriman sat dutifully at his station, watching the gate with each activation, coordinating the self destruct sequence as ordered, as well as, the radiation sweeps upon the termination of each gate connection. He had lost count of the number of coffee's he had consumed and ignored his body as it cried out for relief for both his mind and bladder. On the outside, he was solid and stable, on the inside he was frayed and exhausted.
When TSgt Porter tapped him on the shoulder, he barely registered the change of position. General Hammond and Capt Carter had just stepped away from the terminals, the radiation crew had finished their latest sweep, and Walter just waved at the station the TSgt had just taken.
Like a zombie, Walter proceeded towards the hallway, intent on accomplishing one task at a time. The first order of business was to empty his bladder before it burst. Stepping beyond the doorway, Walter brushed shoulders with a man whom he had not yet met. This man, a Colonel in his dress blues, ignored Walter as he walked determinedly towards the General's hallway.
Walter continued on, just overhearing the Colonel announce himself to General Hammond, "Sir, Col Kennedy reporting with orders."
One hour later, Walter had been able to accomplish several of his personal tasks, getting real food, or as real as the commissary can make, and a quick nap in his now slightly larger office. On his way back to his station, Walter saw two SFs escorting the stoic looking alien, Teal'c he had heard Col O'Neill say, towards the conference room.
Retaking his station, Walter leaned back to listen, now appreciative that his seat seem to be in the acoustic path of the briefing room. Oddly, he recalled reading somewhere that Thomas Jefferson had designed a dining room where the angels on the ceiling would reflect the sounds of people talking and whispering towards his seat at the head of the table. It was discovered that this was how he was always informed of the ins and outs of some of his closest advisers, as well as, his most staunched rivals.
Listening, he heard the Colonel he had bumped into, Col Kennedy, begin to question Teal'c about the technology and weapons of the Goa'uld, hearing that Jaffa were forbidden to learn of their magic, only to have Col O'Neill jump in with some whitty retort about it not being magic.
Realizing he was neglecting his duties, Walter tuned out the conversations of his superiors and instead turned his attention towards the gate computers rechecking the two gate addresses that had "popped up" from the addresses Capt Carter had recorded from Abydos thanks to Dr. Jackson's find. The General had stated SG 1 and SG 2 would be going out soon, and he was going to ensure the system was ready.
Walter happened to look up to see Maj Kowalski standing on the gate ramp with his arms held out as if to hug the device. Suddenly Col O'Neill was beside Walter, grabbing the microphone and yelling at the Major, SFs moving up behind him from both doors. The Major seemed to shake, as if he had just awaken from a dream, admitting he had no idea how he got there as Col O'Neill had dashed down to the gate room to stand beside him.
It wasn't long before Walter heard the Maj Kowalski was ill, infected by one of those leach/snake like creatures. The entire base had been alerted to this fact since the doctor had hit the panic button installed in the infirmary. Listening to the chatter around him, Maj Kowalski was not likely to do well, the creature having wrapped itself around his spine and brain stem.
Going over a diagnostic program, checking and rechecking the computer link between the gate and the dialing console he controlled, Walter was amazed at just how quickly the base seemed to shift from fear to relief and back again.
Maj Kowalski was a member of the very first team to ever transport through the stargate, survived a battle with a creature which assumed the mantle of a god, and returned safe not once but twice from that planet. Now on only the second planet they had ever discovered the stargate could reach, this man had left and returned only to bring their newly discovered enemy back with him, in him to be more precise.
And the base was now sure the creature had returned with Maj Kowalski since the intel Colonel had accompanied both Col O'Neill and General Hammond to Teal'c's "quarters" to confirm his stomach snake was still in it's place.
Even now, Col Kennedy was upstairs in the conference room, trying to convince General Hammond to let Maj Kowalski stay as he was since his chances of surviving the surgery were low, but the intelligence they could obtain would be incredible. Teal'c seemed to think differently, as did all the other in the room. General Hammond even went so far as to mention he could just call the President to top any "superiors" Col Kennedy could reach. When the General shut down the intel weenie, and told the doctor he had a go, Walter almost let out a yell of joy, exposing his secret "listening post".
With his next relief, Walter and the day shift were released to go home, expected to return in another ten hours. Wasting no time, Walter picked up a dinner for his wife since her back had begun to hurt on top of her swelling feet and ankles. Apologizing to her for not calling, unable to tell her why, Walter instead focused on getting her the food and foot rubs she desired. An hour later, his hands were sore but she was more than content, which meant he was too. Shuffling off to bed, they both fell asleep peacefully, each dreaming their own dreams, one of children playing in the sand, the other of pools of color and light.
Once back at work, Walter learned through the gossip grapevine that Maj Kowalski was currently in surgery, and had been for a couple of hours. At this point, every other "fact" was just the imaginations of those speaking. Some of the stories told of Maj Kowalski having awoken and taken over the entire operating room despite the twenty SF members assigned to guard the doctors. Other stories had the doctors following the secret orders of Col Kennedy, attempting to save the creature at the expense of the Major.
In the end, the news of the successful removal of the Goa'uld spread through the base like a wild fire. Everyone releasing a breath that none realized they were holding. Dr. Jackson had been making acquaintances of many on the staff, and this surgery meant there was a chance for his wife who was also possessed by one of these demon like creatures. Add to this, Maj Kowalski still had full use of his arms and legs, and the doctors were beyond ecstatic.
All of this was good news.
On the other side, Col Kennedy was pushing, with more than a little success, to take the alien Teal'c with him to be studied and experimented upon. Having not been able to interact with the Jaffa, but trusting in the words of Col O'Neill, Walter believed that this had to be a mistake. Teal'c had saved the two teams on Chulak, and even helped the doctors find a sedative to keep the snake-thing under control while the doctors cut it out.
Waving over one of the other technicians to take his post, Walter stepped away to stretch his legs for a few minutes. After all, he was a Master Sergeant now, it was expected of him to supervise, walking around with a coffee cup in one hand and a file in the other so he always seemed busy. Funny thing, here he always was busy.
The General stuck his head down the stair well and spotted Walter yelling, "Come here son, I need something" turning back before Walter even had a moment to respond. Sometimes the "line-of-sight" taskings were unavoidable.
"Yes, General," Walter reported as he reached the top of the stairs.
"Col Kennedy," General Hammond spat out, "needs you to set up his transport of the alien to Area 51. Please work with him to get this scheduled as," twirling his hand as he paused to think of the right words, "efficiently as possible." the General finally finished.
It took only a moment for Walter to catch the underlying message, I want him gone as of yesterday, but make his trip as miserable as possible.
"Message received, Sir," Walter replied cheerfullly. "Consider it done."
General Hammond nodded and proceeded back to his office, the smug Colonel standing in the wayside thinking he had just won a major battle. Walter gave the Colonel a quick glance and then excused himself to start making the preparations. He had a new buddy in the motor pool, so his first stop was to find the worst vehicle possible, ensuring a breakdown somewhere between the mountain and Peterson AFB.
After only two phone calls, Walter had ensured that the Colonel would be handed the keys to a jalopy of a car, and once he did finally arrive at Peterson, he would be subject to several delays on the tarmac due to maintenance issues with his T-1. The only regret Walter had was the inconvenience this could cause to the alien Teal'c and any SFs sent to guard him. With this thought, Walter made one more call to ensure they would need to travel in separate vehicles, guaranteeing there would be a "lack of communication" forcing the Colonel to take his own car.
Sometimes it was too easy to be evil.
Returning to his post in the control room, Walter stood over his station, thinking about the trouble he had just ensured for Col Kennedy, not even realizing there was a person standing beside him. Once there was a frantic tapping on the key board, Walter recognized Maj Kowalski, and upon trying to figure out what was going on, was pushed back and then the Major slammed his left hand on the desk top as Walter reached out to stop what he thought the Major was doing.
The pain that radiated up his arm was intense. Instantly he was sure it was broken. As quickly as it started it was over, the Major darting out of the control room at almost the same time as both General Hammond and Col O'Neill entering. It was the two officers who instantly locked onto the fact that the bases self destruct was started, the action Walter had hoped he didn't witness Maj Kowalski just set, at the same time as the gate starting an auto dialing out program.
Walter glanced out the window at the gate to see the large black alien standing in the middle of the ramp, blocking Maj Kowalski from entering the wormhole to depart to the Chulak address the computer showed as dialed. As General Hammond and Col O'Neill were battling with the computers to stop the countdown, Teal'c was on the ramp fighting against a possessed Maj Kowalski trying to escape.
The pain in his wrist and arm shooting up in waves, Walter barely registered that the officer's beside him had stopped the self destruct sequence. He also did not catch that Teal'c had been more than holding his own against the other alien possessed man, keeping him from the gate much like a professional linebacker keeping the opposing team from crossing the one yard line play after play.
"Teal'c, hold him there!" Col O'Neill yelled while turning to Walter, "Shut it down!"
Reaching with his right hand, Walter pushed a quick button sequence, effectively shutting down the power to the gate. Looking up, Walter saw that the top half of Maj Kowalski's head was now gone, Teal'c holding his body up. In shock, Walter saw the remnants of something fall out of the cranial cavity that was now exposed, and turned away not wanting to get sick.
Even Col O'Neill stood there quietly, not even blinking.
General Hammond turned and walked out of the room, instructing Walter to call a medical team to the gate room. Once he was three steps up the stairs, Walter awoke enough to comply with the order, knowing there was nothing they could do for the Major. Looking out the window, Col O'Neill and Teal'c were talking, Walter not registering the words exchanged.
For the next hour, Walter was in a daze. The medical team had arrived and left, taking the body of the Major with them. It wasn't until Col O'Neill had returned to the control room, on his way back up to the General that Walter had even registered his own injury again when the Colonel placed a hand on his left shoulder jostling his injured arm and wrist.
"Get to the infirmary and get that looked at," the Colonel ordered, almost pushing him out the door.
The doctors informed him he was lucky, it was only a sprain, but pretty severe. Wrapping in with a soft splint he was sent on his way.
In the hall, Walter found the General waiting, "Son, let's talk."
Following the General, Walter was again standing before his desk, this time in his new office just off the briefing room.
"How are you holding up?" the General asked with concern on his face.
"Sir," was Walter's only reply.
"Today you did something that no one should ever have to do. You followed orders and a man died." the General started, "But I want you to understand that you did nothing wrong. Your actions likely saved more lives than we could know."
At this, Walter looked up, his eyes beginning to glaze over with tears.
"The man we knew was already gone," the General continued.
Walter only nodded, not trusting his voice to not break.
"Take a couple of days," General Hammond finished, "And we will talk again when you get back."
With that, Walter left the General's office, his life changed forever.
The next chapter will really look at Walter as a person. To me, he never signed up to kill. He might be military, but that does not mean he received any special training to deal with the stress that would follow an event like this.