STARGATE UNIVERSE: Air

by James Swallow

  “Someone’s dialing the gate,” he replied.

  Young used the gate room console to support his weight, watching Riley as the sergeant’s hands danced over the touch screen and interface wheel. He looked up to see Lieutenant Scott enter the chamber as the Stargate began to spin. Unlike other gates he’d seen, the chevrons on this one all lit up immediately, and instead of rotating an inner ring of symbols, the entire structure of the device spun, passing through a slot in the deck and a glowing orb at the twelve o’clock position. Each time a dot-dash symbol passed under the orb, the glyph would illuminate, sending the gate spinning back the opposite way until another fragment of the address locked in.

  “Sir?” said Scott, coming closer. “Are we—?”

  “Going home?” finished the colonel. “Let’s hope so.”

  Some of the other evacuees had been drawn by the noise of the rumbling Stargate, and among them Young saw Rush arrive with Eli, Brody and Park in tow.

  Rush looked surprised to see him “Colonel Young? You’re up.”

  He returned a neutral nod. “Nice to see you too, Rush. I did order you to report to me.”

  The scientist ignored the comment, nodding toward the gate. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to dial Earth.”

  Rush shook his head, his jaw stiffening. “This is a mistake—” he began.

  Young spoke over him. He wasn’t in the mood to be second-guessed by the man. “Riley thinks he found the address for home.”

  Rush’s dismissive look at the sergeant made it clear what the scientist thought of that. “His understanding of Ancient is marginal at best, Colonel.”

  Riley shot him a look. “I know enough to recognize a reference to Earth.”

  “He said it wasn’t that hard to find.” Young said it without weight, but the unspoken half of the sentence hung in the air. So why didn’t you mention it, Rush?

  “No, no…” He was saying, shaking his head. “This is a complete waste of power we may need. You need to stop doing this, right now.”

  “We have the address back, all we need is the right point of origin,” said Scott, weighing in.

  Young nodded “And we’ve got thirty-six tries to find it.”

  Rush’s voice turned icy. “We have barely enough power to operate the main systems! This ship simply doesn’t have the capability to dial Earth!”

  “Really?” The colonel eyed the scientist. “See, that’s news to me.”

  “He didn’t tell me that either,” offered Eli. Brody and Park exchanged nervous glances but said nothing.

  Rush shot Eli an irritated glance. “That’s because I’ve only just learned so myself.” He turned to Wallace, looking for support. “Eli, you know what I’ve been doing—”

  “Even if it doesn’t work,” Young went on, “the people aboard this ship need to see us try.”

  The scientist was incredulous. “So you’re going to drain what little power we have left for the sake of a morale boost? That is absurd!”

  He was going to say more, but the deck beneath their feet lurched and Young felt a brief sense of arrested motion wash over him. He heard a surge in rhythm of the ever-present engine noise, and suddenly the Stargate halted its spin and went dark. Riley muttered a curse and tapped fruitlessly on his console.

  “What was that?” said Scott. “Felt like before, like something shifted…”

  Young spoke into his radio. “Anybody got a visual outside?”

  After a moment, Tamara Johansen’s voice answered him. “Colonel, I’m here with Chloe on the observation deck. It looks like we’ve dropped out of faster-than-light travel.”

  “Copy that,” he said with a nod. “Stand by. Report if anything changes.”

  “It won’t,” said Rush, as he hurried to the console where Riley stood. “At least, not for the moment.”

  “Because we were draining power?” said the sergeant.

  Rush pressed the other man out of the way with a brusque wave of his hand. “No. If I’m right, the gate should begin to dial any moment.”

  As if it had been waiting to hear those words, the white chevrons flashed on once again, and the Stargate started to spin.

  “How did you know that would happen?” said Scott.

  “In the control room, we saw a scan report,” Rush told him. “The ship detected a planet with a Stargate on it within range, one that may have what need.”

  “What?” Young’s brow furrowed. One second Rush was telling them they were deep in unknown territory, the next he was talking about the gate network. “How the hell are there even Stargates out here? Aren’t we light-years from anywhere?”

  “The Ancients launched a number of unmanned ships in advance of this one,” said the scientist, working the console. “They were programmed to gather data and resources to manufacture Stargates and then deposit them on habitable worlds. Any relevant information is relayed back here and helps plot the course of the Destiny.”

  “That’s the name of this vessel,” Eli offered. “Destiny. Little showy, if you ask me.”

  Now the man was talking about other Ancient ships apart from this one? Young felt like he was running to keep up. “So you’re telling me this ship knows that we’re in trouble?” On the console, a seven-symbol address had locked in.

  Rush nodded. “Yes, exactly, because I told it we were. We’re essentially flying on autopilot. The ship may have stopped when it was within range of a Stargate regardless of our need, but I have good reason to believe it is actively helping us to survive—”

  The rest of his words were lost in the churning roar of the Stargate as it opened a wormhole through space-time, the strange shimmering energy wave swelling out before collapsing back into a rippling vertical pool of silver light.

  Young stared into the event horizon, musing. “So what we need is on the other side of that wormhole?”

  “At an educated guess, yes,” raid Rush.

  The glow was enticing, and Young walked stiffly across the deck toward it, turning Rush’s words over in his thoughts. “Only one way to find out,” he said, after a moment.

  Riley shook his head. “Sir, you can’t do that, you don’t know what’s on the other side. It could have locked on to a world with a toxic atmosphere, or a Spacegate…”

  Eli drew a slim metallic device from his pocket. “We could use the kino to find out. Send it through ahead as a scout.”

  “I imagine that’s the actual purpose of that device,” said Rush, with a sniff.

  “The what?” said Riley.

  “This,” Eli explained, manipulating a few controls on the keypad-remote device. After a moment, the spherical drone arrived in the gate room, and drifted down toward the wormhole. “Okay, I got this.” Aiming the remote toward the device, Eli steered it through the event horizon and off the ship.

  Another screen near the main console immediately lit up. “I’m getting readings over here,” said Riley.

  The group crowded in to watch, and Young saw a panel of live video there, and another showing what had to be a direct stream of data telemetry. The video feed revealed a pale blue sky and shallow, rolling ridges of white extending was as far as the camera eye could see.

  “Is that snow?” asked Park.

  Rush was studying the sensor data. “We’re getting temperature readings, gravity, atmosphere composition, barometric pressure…”

  “It’s a desert,” said Brody. “Those are sand dunes.”

  Scott nodded. “So the ball is like a probe.”

  “Like a MALP drone,” said Riley. “A ‘hover-malp’.”

  Eli shook his head,. “Kino is way better.”

  From a hidden speaker grille, the sound of low winds issued out, and on the screen Young saw wisps of blown mineral sand flutter off the tops of the banks. “What have we got? Can we go there?”

  Riley ran a finger down his screen. “Atmosphere looks like oxygen, nitrogen… Very little carbon dioxide. Extremely low humidity… Habitable, but just barely, si
r.”

  “Excellent,” said Rush.

  Brody was leaning forward, pointing at another part of the display. Young saw more strings of dot-dash glyphs. “It looks like four other addresses came up here too. They could be other planets in range.” He looked at Rush. “Maybe we should think about—”

  “No.” The scientist shut him down immediately. “They’re locked out. The ship chose this one and the Stargate is open. All we need to do is step through.”

  Rush seemed to have an awful lot of faith in an millennia-old computer system that he’d only just discovered, but Young wasn’t ready to go after the kino just like that. “We need to put a team together before anyone goes anywhere.”

  “Doctor Rush,” said Brody. “There’s something else.” He pointed at another display. On it there was a string of Ancient letters flickering and changing in sequence.

  “Looks like our time might be limited,” said Rush.

  “What is it?” The alien digits were unfamiliar to the colonel.

  “It’s a countdown,” explained the scientist, translating it on the go. “We have approximately twelve hours.”

  “And what happens then?”

  Rush looked around. “I suspect we jump back into FTL, and go on our way.”

  “The ship’s giving us a deadline?” said Eli. “What happens if somebody is on the other side of the gate when it the clock hits zero?”

  “They get left behind,” said Park.

  The colonel reassembled them in the control interface room. Scott, Greer, Johansen, Spencer and Curtis represented the military contingent, while Rush and Eli stood with Brody, Volker, Park, Franklin and Palmer.

  Rush was nodding toward Palmer. “She’s a geologist, so obviously she should go. This mineral may not be so easy to identify. Franklin and Brody are the best of the rest of what we have.”

  Franklin made a face. “Thanks for the ringing endorsement.”

  Volker’s lip curled. “He didn’t even mention me.”

  Young considered Rush’s words. “Palmer and Franklin will go with Scott and his team. The others stay. We’re still going to need good people here working on the problem from this end.”

  Eli gingerly raised a hand. “I’d like to go.”

  “Really?” The colonel couldn’t help but be a little surprised. Wallace didn’t seem the type to take risks if he didn’t have to.

  “If I can help…” he said.

  Rush cut him off. “I don’t think so.”

  Eli shot the other man a narrow-eyed look. “Why, you don’t think I can handle it?” He pointed at Franklin. “He’s going.”

  “I’ve been off-world before,” said the other scientist. “How many planets have you been to?”

  “Three,” Eli said defiantly. “Counting Earth. And this one. If I go.”

  Young considered Wallace for a moment. For someone who had been torn away from his cozy, normal world and thrown in at the deep end among all this madness, Eli was actually handling it pretty well. He’d shown ingenuity and quick thinking, and the colonel decided there and then to give him the benefit of the doubt. “You have made a habit of pulling our asses out of the fire,” he admitted. “You want to go, you’re going.” Lieutenant Scott seemed surprised, but Young didn’t acknowledge him, and went on. “The only one I’m questioning right now is you, Doctor Rush.”

  Rush snorted. “Besides Palmer, I’m the only other person who knows what we’re looking for.” He pointed toward the countdown timer, visible on a repeater screen. “We have less than half a day to find what we need and get back to the ship. You need me out there.”

  Young studied the consoles laid out around the room. “You sure you can’t stop this ship? Disable the countdown, anything?”

  The scientist shook his head. “No. We’re just along for the ride, for now.”

  “Then we may all be better off on the planet,” said Young. “Maybe we need to come up with an exodus plan.”

  Rush nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s another reason I should go. Someone needs to assess whether long term survival there is even an option.”

  The man had a point, it had to be said. “Okay,” said Young, “but I want everyone to be clear that Lieutenant Scott is in charge of this mission.” He got a round of nods from the assembled group. “Good. Sergeant Greer has pooled kit from all the men. Take what you need, gear up and move out.”

  The team dispersed; all except Scott, who hung back to have a moment alone with his commander. “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  “Sir, about Eli…” he began.

  Young held up a hand. “He volunteered.”

  Scott frowned. “He’s not trained for this.”

  “No, he isn’t,” admitted the colonel, “just like a lot of the people we’ve got on this ship. I’m going need to know what they’re made of, if we expect to survive out here.”

  “He’s going to slow us down,” insisted the junior officer.

  “If he does, send him back to the gate.” He gave Scott a measuring look. “If we’re going to make it through this, and I don’t just mean the next few hours, we’re going to need everyone on board to step up.”

  “I understand, sir.” Scott gave a reluctant nod and turned to go.

  “One more thing,” said Young, halting the lieutenant on the threshold. “Keep an eye on Rush.”

  Scott gave a nod. “Way ahead of you, sir.”

  Eli felt kinda weird in the mishmash of United State Marine Corps-issue digital desert camouflage and normal Eli-wear he’d been asked to don. The clothes were ill-fitting on him and scratchy, and the boots — donated by one of the other Air Force non-coms — were tight on his feet. But still, he’d have been lying if he didn’t admit that despite the life-or-death nature of the sortie they were about to embark on, despite everything that had happened, he was thrilled.

  It was a strange mix of fear and anticipation, not the kind of tingle you got from a really good slasher flick or that moment before the big drop on a rollercoaster. Eli felt it deep in the pit of his stomach, in the nerves of his arms and the tightening of his fingers. A crazy grin was threatening to erupt on his lips and he had to pull it back, pack it away. This was serious. It wasn’t a day trip. They were on a mission.

  He looked up at the shimmering puddle of light and that understanding hit him hard; and suddenly the fear got the upper hand, just for a moment. What the hell am I doing? screamed a voice in his head. Am I insane? What was I thinking, volunteering for this? That’s an alien planet on the other side of that thing! Someplace no human being has ever been to!

  And then the moment ebbed away, and Eli was back in control. Yeah, he was going in harm’s way, he knew that. But what other choice was there? Stay on Destiny and watch that clock tick off the time until the gate snapped shut and sent them off to die? He thought about what would happen if they failed, imagining the Destiny a hundred years hence, the skeletons of the evacuees lying in its rooms and corridors, the ship like an intergalactic Flying Dutchman. He had do all he could to stop that from happening.

  Scott walked up alongside him, carrying a heavy pack and a weapon, giving his team a final once-over. “Ready for this?” he asked.

  Eli gave a crooked grin. “You think there could be dinosaurs?”

  He got a wan smile in return. “Anything’s possible.” Scott turned to where Colonel Young was standing and threw him a salute. “We’ll be back, sir,” he promised.

  Young returned the gesture. “Good luck.”

  Scott walked up to the gate, and Eli followed a step behind.

  He took a deep breath of Destiny’s stale air, and crossed into the gateway.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The dry heat slammed into him like the blast from an open furnace, and Scott blinked at the glare coming off the stark white dunescape. His boots crunched on dust-covered stone and he pulled his sunglasses from his vest, stepping away from the Stargate and casting a wary look around.

  He spotted the kino nearby, bobbing on the
light breeze, humming to itself. Other than the machine, there was no other sign of life around the gate and the gray stone podium it stood upon. No welcoming party, no evidence of civilization, alive or dead. He took a deep breath. The air had a peculiar metallic taste to it.

  Scott heard the murmur of the rippling event horizon, and turned to see Eli step out behind him and gasp. Following Wallace, the rest of the team emerged one by one, Greer and Palmer, then Rush and Franklin, with Marine Sergeant Curtis bringing up the rear. A moment after Curtis stepped out, the wormhole effect shimmered and vanished into a flash of quantum foam.

  No one spoke, and Scott glanced around. He’d half-hoped that there would be something to aim for, maybe a landmark, but all he could see were the rise of the nearby dunes. The Stargate lay in a shallow basin, the yellow sun overhead beating down hard.

  “Hot,” he said aloud.

  Eli came up alongside him, and he saw the ghost of a grin on the other man’s face, his excitement at visiting a new world there for all to see. “Cool,” he countered.

  Scott glanced back at the group. “Franklin. Make sure we can dial back to the ship.”

  “Already on it,” said the scientist. Franklin had the remote unit Eli had found for the kino, and he was paging through its display. According to Rush, as well as working the floating drone device, the remote would function like a hand-held dialing podium.

  Palmer bent down and gathered up a handful of the white sand, letting the fine granules run away between her fingers. “This looks like gypsum. It’s rare to find it in this form on Earth.”

  Rush nodded and unlimbered the pack on his back. “That would be good.” He unzipped the bag and drew out components for their testing kit.

  “Why is that good?” said Scott.

  “We’re looking for calcium carbonate,” Palmer replied.

  “Calcite,” added Rush, producing a beaker and a chemical bottle.

  “Gypsum is calcium sulphate, which is thirty-six percent calcium carbonate,” continued the geologist. At her side, Scott saw Greer give a shrug; the Marine didn’t seem that interested in turning this into a class field trip. Palmer took a measure of the sand and added it to some water from her canteen. “It dissolves,” she said. Rush lit a small butane pocket torch and she took it from him, running it under the mixture she’d made.