“What am I doing here?” I mumbled under my breath.

Two U.S. Army Lieutenants had escorted me from my Texas home around midnight the night before to a base somewhere in Colorado. Let’s just say those two were quite close-mouthed. I tried to break the ice with what my mother refers to as “my dry Texas wit.” It didn’t work. Never cracked a smile. Just informed me that I had been summoned to the Cheyenne Mountain Military Complex, and it was highly top secret. I was allowed to pack as many bags as I could in an hour. I told them straight out that if I was going anywhere with them they’d better start helping. I threw some bags at them and directed them to my bedroom as I went through my Language books. Being a Doctor with a Bachelor in Ancient Dialects and a Master in Archeological Sciences I wasn’t going anywhere without my books! Army guys can pack pretty fast when need be. However, they have no shame when going through lingerie drawers!

So here I was sitting in a briefing room in jeans and a western t-shirt and my scuffed up ropers. Those two brutes didn’t even allow me to change clothes. My hair was an absolute mess, it was up in a not-so-great ponytail. I had just got back from one of those cowboy nightclubs with some friends. (Note to self: Drop a voicemail to friends to let them know I am okay. Oh, and call Mother!) One of the two thugs remained behind to “guard” me. He was kind of good looking in a different sort of way. He was fairly young and his hair was blond from what I could see under his army regulation hat. This guy has got to smile sometime!!! I’ve gotta try one more time. Being a born and bred Texan we never let up!!!

“So, ya got a girlfriend or somethin’? What do you do for fun? How ‘bout those Rockies?” Geez, this one’s tough I can get pretty much anyone to laugh. “Come on let loose or something. You shouldn’t be so uptight!”

His cheek ticked at that last remark.

“I bet you have a cute set of dimples if you’d let them show.” He smiled! “See what’d I tell ya I knew you had it in ya……” I joined him in laughter.

Obviously I was so involved in getting the lieutenant to smile that I didn’t notice that some more military people had walked in. I glanced up and five sets of eyes were observing me. One was quite superior looking, a general I’m guessing. One was a woman with short blond hair, with a slight smile. Another had to be a scientist by the looks of him, longish hair (at least for the military) and glasses. The next one was quite peculiar looking, a big guy with a gold tattoo or insignia of some sort on his forehead. Then I saw him. He gave new meaning to the phrase tall, dark, and handsome. Okay, so he had grayish hair, but it was really sort of sexy. And those eyes…….. the brownest eyes I had ever seen. They had laughter shining from them, even though the corners of his mouth were barely lifted.

The young lieutenant sobered quickly causing my own laughter to halt.

“Mind if we get this meeting to order?” the general interrupted. The lieutenant apologized for “our” behavior.

“You don’t have to apologize for me. I can do that on my own. And as for this, you military types don’t laugh nearly enough,” I said.

I think I shocked some of them with that remark. The scientist looked quite uncomfortable. The general’s face tinged red. The blond was observing the general. The big guy with the tattoo was stone faced. The handsome dude was just staring at me with a smirk. The group made their way to their seats as the lieutenant was dismissed.

“I’d like to know why I was practically drug out of my home in the middle of the night with no explanation except to pack what I could in an hour,” I said gesturing to my bags in the corner.

The General spoke up. “I think introductions are in order first. I am General Hammond. This is Colonel Jack O’Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal’c. They are the SG-1 team. SG-1, this is Dr. Drew O’Hanlon, she will be the newest member of SG-1.”

“Okay, so everybody knows everybody. So what’s the deal? Why am I here,” I asked.

The General flipped through a file folder about a quarter of an inch thick. “It says here you are the youngest person to attain a doctorate in your fields. And is it also true that you can decipher every known language past and present?”

“Yeah. I am twenty-five and a doctor of Ancient Dialects and Archeological Sciences. And that has to do with what,” I asked with growing irritation. I could feel a set of eyes boring into me. I glanced over and saw that the handsome Colonel, Jack, had his eyes trained on me. Wow. That was one hot guy. I had never been struck this silly by a guy before. What was it about his intense laughing gaze that got to me?

“Dr. O’Hanlon,” the General said regaining my attention. “What this project entails is something you have never before encountered. Trying to explain would be pointless. Perhaps showing you would get the point across.” A heavy metal wall began rising from the floor showing a Plexiglas window behind it.

“So what is this?” I asked with reserve.

“Take a look for yourself Doctor,” Jack said in a deep voice laced with humor. I stepped forward and looked out the window. A large iron-like ring stood in the center of the room. The ring had a second ring sliding around and stopping variously along it. All of a sudden the hollow center of the ring burst into a liquid trail as it emerged and then drew back to the opposite side and them calmly steadied in the center again glowing blue. A group a five people walked out of the ring and onto the platform.

“What is that?” I asked, my all-tough bravado silent for once.

“That, Doctor, is the Stargate. Welcome to SG-1, Doc,” Jack said with a wide grin.

Continued…

The End

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