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PART THREE On Trollinar, in the middle of a beading meadow, the Stargate came to life again. A water-like substance exploded outward before retracting to form a wavy wall inside the Stargate's ring. A minute later, the members of SG-1, SG-2, and SG-3 walked through that wall and onto the ground of the planet. Behind them, the wavy wall of the wormhole closed. They glanced around. A forest surrounded the meadow on all sides, but to the east Jack could see the ruins of an alien civilization peaking up above the treetops. "Colonel Zack Thibodeaux of SG-4 reported that they found the crystal in one of those buildings, sir," Sam said. "All right, then," Jack said, "SG-3, stay here. You'll be our back up. SG-2, come with us." After an hour of walking through the woods, they finally reached the massive ruins of the unknown alien society. Jack whistled as he took it all in, and a few of the SG-2 members also expressed their wonder. "Wow," Daniel said. "That's...big," Jack said. "Indeed," Teal'c commented. "It is bigger and more complex than any Goa'uld or human construct I am familiar with." The buildings were large, with many sides jutting out from or denting the overall structure in seemingly random places. At the top of the building, a tall wall reached up above the rest of it, but another wall seemingly leaning against the first wall's peak slanted back down toward the roof, only to bend inwards before jutting out again farther west than before. The rest of the structure was like this. There didn't seem to be any noticeable design except for randomness. A few of the sides were taken out, creating what Jack assumed were windows, and a few walls at ground level were open, too, which suggested doorways. "Colonel Thibodeaux of SG-4 described this in detail, but I had trouble understanding his word choice," Sam said. "I don't get it," Jack said. "What's the point? Why make something shaped like this?" "Perhaps it was used for protection," Teal'c suggested. "Although I am not sure how." "Well, I guess its hard to tell where to get into the building from far away, like in a ship flying overhead," Daniel speculated. "It could also make an attacker unsure which part of the building to hit first, like which part holds the most useful part of their defenses." "Assuming this building was designed for fighting," Sam said. The colonel in charge of SG-2, Malcomb, walked over wearing a pair of Jack's sunglasses. "Thibodeaux's report said that they went through the eastern entrance." He nodded toward the farthest doorway on the right, which was stuck between two boards of different lengths that jutted out from the main structure. "I'm guessing that's it." "Okay," Jack said. "My team will go in first. I want your team to stay outside the door and act as our cover." "You're in charge of this mission, so I'm in agreement," the colonel said. He walked back over to his men. SG-1 proceeded toward the door with SG-2 right behind them. When they reached the door, they discovered the room inside was once again pitch black. "Is it supposed to be dark in there?" Jack asked. "SG-4 didn't turn off the lights when they left, sir," Sam said. Jack and Sam got on two sides of the door, turned their flashlights on, and waved the beams and their rifles into the darkness. Their beams picked up nothing, so they, Teal'c, and Daniel proceeded inside. "Sam, Daniel, see if you can find that switch that turns the light back on." The two aforementioned people walked over to the west wall and felt around on it. "Found it," Daniel said, and pressed it. The light immediately came back on, illuminating the room. SG-1 turned their flashlights off and looked around. "Um, guys?" Daniel said, looking up. The others followed his gaze. Covering the entire ceiling was the green crystal. "Did his report mention this many crystals?" Jack asked Sam. The green crystal was changing shape rapidly. Easily, it slid down the wall and began to cover the entrance. Jack, Sam, and Daniel immediately fired upon it. The bullets had very little effect. "Teal'c!" Jack said. The Jaffa pointed his staff weapon at the continuously growing green wall and fired. The crystal exploded and broke off, leaving the doorway empty. But a few seconds later, it began to cover the door again. "Colonel Malcomb!" Jack called, but the head of SG-2 didn't answer him. "Teal'c, blast that thing again." Teal'c complied, freeing the doorway once more. "Go, go!" Jack ordered Sam and Daniel. They made it through before Teal'c had to blast it again, then he and Jack hurried through the door. The green crystal closed up behind them, sealing them off from the chamber. "Um, guys..." Daniel's voice said. Jack and Teal'c turned to him. About twenty people had them and SG-2 surrounded, and were pointing unusual weapons at them. "Lower your weapons!" one of them ordered. SG-2 had already done so. Jack nodded at his team, and all four slowly placed their guns and staff weapon on the ground. "We're not looking for trouble," Jack said. "Don't say anything," the same alien ordered. "You are all prisoners of the Skins." He nodded at one of his men. The man took out an octagon-shaped device and pressed a button hidden on the bottom. A few lights in the center lit up, one by one. The device gave off a beep at regular intervals. A few minutes later, the noise only a plane of ship could make filled the air. They looked up to see an alien craft approaching. The leader barked an order in another language to his men, and they forced the SG teams to move away from the building. A few minutes later, the ship flew down. Metal claw-like things appeared out of the side of the ship and attached themselves to the wall of the building, using its many sides to maintain a better grip. "Well, now we know what that's used for," Jack said, and was once again told to remain silent. The ship's door opened, and they were ushered inside. The inside of the ship was much like the outside: smooth, metallic walls, floor, and ceiling. Two large, barred cells were in the back, and a door separated the cockpit or whatever from sight. SG-3 was already in one of the cells. A glowing yellow handprint was on the wall next to each door. One of their captors walked over to the empty cell and placed his hand over the print. The door slid open, and they were ushered inside, then shut behind them. "Where are you taking us?" Colonel Malcomb asked. This time, the 'Skins' answered. "To our planet, Antar." ***** "Found something," Alex announced to the people spread around the room. They hurried over and crowded around behind him. "What have you got?" Jim Valenti asked. "Larek mentioned that the Stargate Command was in Nevada, so I looked for all the bases there," Alex explained. "There are a few, but the most likely one that I suspect is the Cheyenne Mountain Complex." "Why that one?" Liz asked. "Apparently, this one has a lot of classified and confidential reports going to and from the base." "What are the reports about?" Max asked. "I can't find that out without risking detection," Alex said. "All the info I'm getting already is more public. But this base has the most confidential reports coming in and out of it out of all the bases in the state. Also, quite a lot of civilian and military scientists are employed there. Sounds like the ideal place to hold a doorway to other worlds." "Who's in charge there?" Jim asked with a sinking feeling. Alex maximized the Netscape window, and it displayed a section of a database Jim doubted was as public as Alex claimed. Alex clicked on a link, and the picture of the commanding officer at Cheyenne Mountain appeared next to a profile. "General George Hammond," Alex read out loud. Jim recognized him. "Damn," he muttered. "Sheriff?" Isabel asked. Everyone was looking at him now. "Our parents met in the fifties before they shut down the military base in Roswell. George Hammond, Sr. worked there," Jim explained. "I met George when I was five. We've kept in touch since then. I knew he got reassigned to Nevada, but I didn't know which base that was." "Can you get in touch with him?" Max asked. "Sure, but I'm not sure if I'll learn much." "Let us know what you find out anyway," Michael said. "We need to find out as much as we can about these guys before they find us." "I agree. In the meantime, no one goes anywhere without telling everyone. I don't want the military capturing anyone," Max said, looking around at everyone. "You've got it, Max," Tess said. Everyone else agreed. ***** PART FOUR Hammond entered the control room for the third time that afternoon. "Have SG-1, 2, and 3 reported back yet?" he asked the lieutenant sitting at a computer. He shook his head. "No, sir." The General sighed. "We'll give them another hour before sending a team to investigate." "Sir." Hammond turned to see a Captain peak his head through the door. "You've got a phone call on line three from a Deputy Jim Valenti of Roswell, New Mexico." "Deputy?" Hammond wondered out loud. I wonder what happened to 'Sheriff?' "I'll take it in my office." When he reached his office, Hammond sat down behind his desk and picked up his phone, and pressed the '3' button. "Hello, General Hammond speaking." "Hey, George. How's it going?" The voice was friendly. Hammond smiled. "Oh, okay. How're things in the desert? How's Kyle?" "Both of doing great," Jim Valenti answered. "I'm surprised I managed to talk to you at all. I had to go throw the whole chain of command first. That place has heavier security than the old Roswell base." "Yeah," Hammond answered, but said nothing else on the matter. Jim knew he couldn't tell him classified information. There was no point in reminding him. After growing up after George's dad, both of them knew the drill. Someone knocked on his door and entered. "Sir, there's something you need to see." "Jim, I'm going to have to get back to you later." He hung up. "What's this about?" "You're needed in the control room, sir." Hammond left his office and went down to the control room. "What have we got?" he asked as soon as he reached it. "There seems to be a radio transmission that the SGC's computers are picking up coming from off-world," the same lieutenant from earlier told him. "Radio transmission?" General glanced through the wide window at the gate. It wasn't open. "From where?" "The computers say it's from a planet near PX9-114. But that's 40 billion miles away. I don't know how a transmission could come from over there without the having the Stargate open, sir." "Let's hear it." The lieutenant turned it on, and the entire room grew quiet so they could listen. "Leaders of the U. S. Military," a voice spoke through the speakers. "We have captured your men on the planet of Trollinar and have taken them to our planet. Do not send any more men through the Stargate or they will also be captured. Our own fleet will meet any ships you send to this solar system. If you wish to see your men alive, you will respond immediately." "Respond? How?" he asked the lieutenant at the computer. The lieutenant did not answer him, but the voice in the transmission did. "This is an open frequency, human. Speak." "I'm General George Hammond," Hammond said. "Who is this?" "Kivar, leader of the Skin Forces," the voice answered. "Kivar, return my men immediately." "There is only one way I will be willing to do that," Kivar said. "On your planet are the leaders of the Antarians, a race my people have been fighting against for decades. They are known as the Royal Four, and they are hiding in Roswell, New Mexico." "How do you know all of this? And how am I supposed to know you're telling the truth?" Hammond asked. "Turn on your monitors." "Do it," Hammond ordered. The lieutenant complied. The TV monitors switched on, and they were filled with an image of the three SG teams surrounded by guards wearing uniforms of black robes. "Bring the Royal Four through the Stargate within nine days, and your teams will not be harmed." "We're no longer getting the signal, sir," the lieutenant reported when the TV screens showed static. "I want you to inform me of their next transmission," Hammond ordered. He headed for the door. "I want to meet with SG-4 in my office in ten minutes, except for Captain Whit. In the meantime, I will be on the phone with the president." "Yes, sir." ***** After Kivar finished making his announcement to General Hammond, he turned away from the computer terminal imbedded in the wall to look at SG-1. SG-2 and SG-3 were elsewhere in the building wherever the brig was, but Colonel O'Neill and his team were still in the room, held at gunpoint by Kivar's men. The room was a docking bay. Several yards behind them was the ship that transported them to the planet. Running along the top and bottom of every wall was the alien text that was in the ruins on PX9-114. "How did you know all that stuff you told the General?" O'Neill asked. "You haven't been watching Earth, have you?" "I acquired it when I looked inside your mind," Kivar answered. O'Neill recalled the headache the alien gave him only a few minutes ago. "Oh." "How exactly did you do that?" Daniel asked. Kivar approached them, his royal robes making a swishing sound as he moved. "What were you doing at the ruins on Trollinar?" "Shouldn't you know why after your little mind warp?" O'Neill asked. Daniel cut in before Kivar could answer that. "We were exploring. We didn't mean you any harm." "You didn't cause any," Kivar answered. "But your species will be a risk if you continue to try to come near any of our planets." "If you let us go, the Tau'ri will consider this," Teal'c told him, "By holding us hostage, you will gain nothing. The Tau'ri will not treat you kindly." "If they do not hand over the Royal Four, it will be an act of war," Kivar said, "because then we will kill you and destroy all human life on Earth." He smirked. "I hope, for your sake, that they find the Royal Four before the ten days are up." He turned to his second-in-command. "Nicholas, take them to the brig. Interrogate them as long as you wish." "Yes, my Lord," Nicholas answered. He barked an order in an alien language at the guards. They forced SG-1 to move into and down the hall. Nicholas followed them. "Nicholas, huh?" Jack called from in front of the guards. They were pretty far down the hall by now, and were moving toward an elevator. "Sounds pretty American to me." "Save your voice for later," Nicholas told him. "You'll need it to scream while I dig through your brain." "Ouch," O'Neill commented, remembering Kivar's earlier mind invasion. They passed through the last intersection and into the hall right in front of the elevator. "Dosos el Ticarum!" someone called from down the hall. "What was that?" Daniel asked. SG-1 began to turn around. Nicholas and the guards rushed into the hallway. Nicholas raised his arm at SG-1, palm-out. Suddenly, an invisible force picked the four of them up and pushed them back into the open elevator. Nicholas lowered his arm. "If you move from there, you're dead!" He promised them before turning back to his guards. The guards were shooting their ray guns out into the hall at someone out of view. One of the guards fell to the ground dead before bursting into a cloud of dust. Not long afterward, the second guard was gone. "Surrender, Nicholas!" the people out of view called. Nicholas shouted something back in an alien language, then leaned out with his gun again. He was immediately shut in the side, and he collapsed in pain before promptly fainting. O'Neill ran forward, grabbed the guards' guns, and tossed one to Carter. Then they got in a defensive position and waiting for the ambushers to appear around the corner. They didn't have to wait long. Six men and women dressed in similar robes came around the corner with their own guns trained on them. "Stop!" a man who was obviously in charge ordered. "We've come to help," he told Jack. "Who are you?" Jack asked. "I'm Go'nar," he answered. "I am King Larek of Hellinar's second-in-command. We have been fighting with the Skins," he nodded to the dead and unconscious aliens lying on the ground, "for at least a half century already. Larek sent us here to rescue you and take you back to Earth." "There are still two SG teams imprisoned here," Daniel said. "I have sent other teams to rescue them. They should have left the planet by now. The colonel in charge of SG-2 asked me to tell you that he still has your sunglasses." "Sounds like the right guy," Jack said, glancing at his team. "Let's go." "Colonel," Sam said. Jack turned around. "Can we really trust them? What if they're not telling us the truth?" "What other choice do we have?" Jack asked her. "More guards are coming," Go'nar announced. "We have to go. Are you ready?" "Sure." "Sak'ra," Go'nar called to one of the two women in his team. She came forward. "The SD says that there's a weak part in the palace's shield three floors down, sir." "SD?" Daniel asked. "Sensor Device," Sak'ra explained. "We have the technology to transport several humanoids from a planet's surface into a space ship orbiting above it. Kivar has a shield generator set up that interferes with any transport we try to make, so weak parts in the shield are a good thing." They heard voice and footsteps as the guards approached. "We need to move." Go'nar said, nodding toward the elevator. "You heard the man," Jack told his SG team. All ten of them entered the elevator. One of Go'nar's men closed the elevator and pressed a button that made it begin its descent. "So, since you're from Hellinar, I'm guessing you're not Antarians," Jack said. "No," Go'nar answered. "They are our allies." They reached the designated floor and walked out onto it with weapons pointed in all directions. The floor was deserted. "Where is it, Sak'ra." "Right there, sir," Sak'ra answered, pointing to a clearing. They walked over to it, and Go'nar nodded to another of his men. He took out a device and waved his hand over it. A white light appeared below his palm before he pulled it back. The device came to work, and shot out a red light that surrounded all of them, creating a red shield of some kind. "Hang on," Go'nar told SG-1. Light encompassed them and then shot up wards toward the roof. The red shield dissipated. All ten of them were gone.
They re-materialized on a platform in the middle of a room. "Woah," Daniel said, feeling all over for any missing parts. Jack was doing the same. They, Teal'c, and Sam looked around. The back wall was solid white with two large doors in the middle. It ran from one end of the room to the other. There were also four walls that were smaller and covered in a purplish crystal that seemed to shine on the inside. In the front of the room was a fifth wall that was made of glass, providing a nice, large view of the planet Antar and the space around it. Their new friends left the platform and walked over to the purple crystal walls. Go'nar stood aside, but his men stopped in front of them and place one hand on each wall. The bottom of the hands glowed for a minute, and seconds later, holographic displays of a computer system appeared on the crystal wall next to their hands. "We've been spotted," Sak'ra announced. "How far away are they?" Go'nar asked. "Twenty-four flo'rans, sir." "Kiran," Go'nar addressed the other woman, who appeared to be the pilot. "Take us out of here. Head on a direct course for Initti." "Woah," Jack said, stepping down from the platform. "Is there a Stargate on that planet? And where the rest of my men?" "The other SG teams are on other ships. And yes, the Stargate is on that planet," Go'nar answered. "I believe SG-8 visited that planet a few months ago. Our base was hidden several miles away from it and they never noticed us. We have a small base just below the surface. His highness Larek is supposed to meet us there." "Why exactly did you help us?" Daniel asked him. Go'nar responded, "We can not let the Royal Four be captured by the Skins. We were hoping that by rescuing you, you would help us protect them." "Why? Who are they?" Sam asked. "They are the heirs to the ruling body on Antar. We need them to rally together the Antarians to help free their planet and all of our allies from the Skins. They lost hope after their old leaders died." "So what are they doing on Earth?" Jack O'Neill asked. "Hiding," Go'nar answered. "Antar had become too dangerous for them while they grew up. They are almost at the age where they can come into power." Jack sighed and rubbed his face. "Great," he muttered. "Please," Go'nar said. "They are our best hope of winning this war. If the Skins try to wage war with your planet or capture any more of your teams, we will help you as much as you can. But only if you agree to leave the Royal Four in Roswell."
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