SG-13: Chapter 5 Wormholes, Event Horizons and the Iris

Chapter 5: Wormholes, Event Horizons and the Iris

Grabbing the device off of the table, Major Samantha Carter held it up so everyone could see it. Glancing around the room, she was a little surprised to see Colonel Jack O'Neill attending this class. The Colonel knew about the gadgets that she was going to explain to the new team but she couldn't help but wonder if this was just his way of secretly trying to understand more of the science behind it.

"Okay!" Carter said over the talking in the room. "First of all, let me thank everyone for coming today. The technology that we're going to be talking about is kind of complicated so please feel free to interrupt and ask questions at any time."

"First thing we'll talk about is this device here." Holding up the long, slender object, she walked over to the person nearest to her and handed it to them. "What I'm passing around is called a G.D.O. device. This is what opens the Iris on the Stargate. Without this device, you cannot get back home. You must enter your Iris Deactivation Code into the G.D.O. and send it through after the wormhole has been established. If you don't do this, you won't even leave a drop of blood on the Iris when you hit it."

Noticing a hand going up, "Yes?"

"So, basically, this G.D.O. could be considered the anti-splat device?"

"Yes, you could call it the Anti-Splat Device. Any other questions so far?" She noticed that someone else had his hand up now. They were only five minutes into this class and they were already starting to get on her nerves. Fortunately, having to explain things to Colonel O'Neill had helped her to develop patience.

"Yes?"

"What does G.D.O. stand for?"

"It stands for Garage Door Opener." Colonel O'Neill quipped before she could answer. He smiled at her as the group chuckled at the name. "What?" He asked feigning innocence. Smiling back, she decided that they were ready to move onto the second phase of the class.

Leading them to the Gate Room, the new team finally got their first, up-close look at the Stargate.

"Each of you has learned the set of coordinates that represent Earth. We call these markings on the Stargate glyphs, which is short for hieroglyphics." Walking around them and up to the Stargate, she pointed out the seven chevrons. "Each chevron represents a glyph that has been locked into place. When all seven chevrons are locked, then the wormhole will form and will establish itself into place between the two worlds. You must not stand in front of the wormhole as it forms. To show why, Colonel O'Neill has set up a demonstration for you. Colonel."

She turned the lecture over to him on the platform that led up to the gate. He was supposed to be waiting for her here, so the fact that he turned up in class had thrown her for a few seconds but she had quickly recovered. She had just gotten even with him for that. She was supposed to explain what would happen and then give a play-by-play as they proceeded to set a mannequin in front of the gate and then open it. However, she was enjoying seeing him stumble over himself while he tried, unsuccessfully, to explain the dynamics of it. She allowed herself a small grin when he glared at her.

Deciding to make herself useful, she helped Teal'c and Daniel set up the mannequin. She then went up to the control center and waited until Daniel gave her the signal to dial up an unpopulated world. She quickly entered the coordinates into the computer and watched as the mannequin was vaporized right down to its shoes as the wormhole rushed forward before it settled into its stable form. She couldn't help but grin at the shocked expressions greeting her when she walked back into the Gate Room.

"Any questions about why you shouldn't stand that close to it when it opens?" Glancing around, she noticed a few shake their heads no, but most of them were still staring at the Stargate with open-mouthed wonder.

"Tomorrow you will be assigned to different teams and will go through the Stargate to get to feel it for yourself. I believe you already know what everyone has put into his or her reports about the experience but let me tell you this, you can't prepare for it. Just go with it like you would when you first step onto a roller coaster that you've never been on before. The ride will be much worse but just think, when you get back, a roller coaster won't be so bad."

"Lovely."

"Isn't it though? Just think, after tomorrow, we'll be able to handle anything DisneyWorld can throw at us! MWHAHAAA!"

Sam gave the signal to the control room to shut the Iris. As it slid shut, she noticed several looks flash across their faces. Astonishment. Shock. A few even looked green already. Anti-splat device indeed.

They had seen videotape and had already had Daniel's lectures about artifacts and cultures from Earth's past. And they had even had in-depth talks with Teal'c about his people and the Goa'uld and the multiple threats that await them out there. She was now facing a group of people who had faced horrors before and had come out alive. How much horror, she didn't know. But from what her contacts at the Pentagon had told her when she called in a couple of favors, she knew that they were only at half strength. The other half held those who were either dead or too injured to be joining them. A few of them had already arrived and more would be joining them soon but others were to be either medically discharged or given desk jobs.

She also learned that they had made enemies out there in this world, and they were very powerful enemies too. The Pentagon had decided that it was time for them to disappear after their recent mission that ended in tragedy. And what better place to disappear than at the SGC, Stargate Command.

Knowing the rumor mill system, she knew it wouldn't be long before it was buzzing with rumors and gossip about them. She also knew that some of those rumors could be true. She would have to keep an ear open for them and try to decide which ones were false and which ones weren't. For now, she had a class to finish. She was going to try to explain the Dial Home Device, how a wormhole works, the ribbon devices, the healing device, staff weapons, and all of the other technology that they had learned about during the next 8 hours with her "students". She hoped it went better than yesterday's class did. The demonstration on how to use a zat gun and it's effects had ended up with Parker getting zapped once and a box of lab equipment being vaporized. 'And Hammond's trusting this group to watch our backs! Unbelievable!' she thought to herself.

She could only hope that they would understand it all by the end of the day.

"Now, while we're on our way back up to the lab, I want to show you the..."

Her voice trailed off as she led them out of the gate room. General Isis stopped and looked up at General Hammond in the control room. Raising her eyebrows at him, he mouthed, "You asked for this" to her. She slowly shook her head yes and went to rejoin the class.