CARTER ENTERS BETA SITE HQ. CARTER* LEAVES BETA SITE HQ

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"Carter* Report."

"Oh hey Colonel*. I'm in the Beta Site inner compound, in the Headquarters. I'm just.."

"Carter*! Absolutely imperative!! Get out now! Major Carter is entering the front of the building as we speak. Move it!!"

The sight of a completely unnerved Major Samantha Carter/* was the rarest of things. The happening, should it ever be, is one brought about by the compromised safety of her friends and colleagues. Today was just such that special occasion.

She was about to compromise her friend's safety as well as her own. Their new Home-World, their future, their hopes.. ..it was all about to be brought down around Major Carter's* extremely unnerved self, panicked and present in the Beta Site Headquarters complex.

The HQ, essentially open plan, was obviously divided into two parts. Operations took up the front end of the building and science and technical were to the rear. A corridor stretched the left side length, from the main entrance right down to the tracked delivery and loading bays at the back of the complex.

There were three entrance/exits. Main front double doors, back double doors and rear side single door. There were windows front and rear but not sides.

The thought that she was about to jeopardise them all was making her physically unwell. Internally out of sync. It wasn't so much the thought of being seen by her other self because she knew she, other she, could handle it. In fact Carter* felt sure other she would actually be pleased to see her other self alive and well again. All shinny, working and new.

No, the danger was in the reaction of the on site personnel. When they see both Carter/*s together, thats when all the trouble will start. Thats when she'd be landing them all into real hot water. In fact thats what will be happening moments from now unless she comes up with some miraculous way to escape.

"Move it Carter*!! Now!!"

"Yes Sir."

She beautifully performed a series of rapid and covert assemblés followed by military style grand jetés. She then skilfully pliéd herself, in stealth mode, the length of the main corridor leading all the way back to the delivery bay area. Miraculous movements indeed. She legged it! Panicked and unnerved.

"Sir I'm at the rear of the HQ. The delivery exit is sealed. I'm trapped. Colonel* I'm locked in*." She sounded shaky. She knew how observant she, other she, could be.

"Carter* stay exactly where you are! We're on it. Keep sharp!"

They simultaneously raced to the back of the building. The bay doors were ground level. Not pad locked or keycard locked but nonetheless locked and double locked.

"Carter* can you hear this?" He quietly rattled the door handles.

"Yes Sir, I'm right inside. All clear Sir."

"Okay stand back."

Teal'c* bypassed the double delivery door's threads and bolts and two point cam action locks with the strength of his arm. Major Carter* darted out hot and anxious and a bit shaky.

"Okay Carter*, time to leave. Its all getting much to chaotic round here, and em, Colonel Jack's on his way."

"O'Neill* how can you be certain?"

"Just trust me on this one, I know it, I can feel him. Come on we need to get clear."

The Colonel* was beginning to feel boxed in in toto. The Beta Site could be a very small place when there was two of them around.

Major Carter* was very quiet.

"Hey Carter*, hows it going, that was a close call. Are you okay?"

"Didn't like it Sir."

"No of course not. I didn't like it either. Its alright you're safe now, come on."

"O'Neill*, I believe that if Daniel Jackson* received sufficient warning of the imminent return of Daniel Jackson of The SGC, to The SGC, he will in fact be returning from The SGC at any moment."

"Err, oh. Oh got ya, and yeah, I'm sure he did. Okay east, lets get down to the StarGate, make sure its all clear for Daniel*. Teal'c* head straight to the stores warehouse, we'll watch the Gate from there."

"Major. Major Carter Ma'am, weren't you wearing something completely different only a moment ago?"

"That's right Lieutenant I was but I've had to change. I've just changed."

"Oh I see. I though I was loosing my marbles."

"Well I can't speak for that, but you're not seeing things. By the way, who was that you were speaking to as I came in?"

"Ma'am?"

"I saw you speaking to a female officer as I came in."

"No Ma'am it wasn't me. The only officer I spoken in the last hour and a half is you."

"Oh I thought.. ..never mind."

A man in a white coat walked into the HQ and immediately greeted Major Carter.

"Hi Doctor Zeskah, do you have those samples for me?"

"They're over here Doctor Carter, Major Carter. Here they are. Although there are hundreds of impact pits, as yet we've found no discernible signs of impact craters from possible larger fragments. We're taking that to be a very encouraging sign.

We've collected dozens of them, mostly tektites. Theres an over abundance, from what we can tell, confined to the south sector of the outer compound and beyond in a southwards direction. It must have been a phenomenal display of shooting stars."

"Yep shooting stars. I've seen them up close and personal, shooting stars with all guns blazing, I've seen first hand what these meteorites can do to a planet. My only interest here is to hopefully discover that their source is small Comet Meteoroid and not Asteroid"

"What do you think Doctor Carter?"

"To be truthful at this very moment I have no idea. But I will be suggesting to General Hammond that we engage in remote sensing immediately, flybys would be good, although we need to establish the source before that can happen."

"Visual spectral examination suggests, tentatively, that they are M-type, however their albedo is extremely low."

"Once I get these samples back to The SGC I'll have them sent for priority petrographic and mineralogical analysis. They'll determine macro and micro structures and I imagine run an INAA to establish trace element compositions, which in turn will give us accurate classification. I'm quite sure you'll be very interested to know the results."

"I'd be grateful if you could let me have a copy hot off the press. We have speculated on the contents, the thinking here is that they may well be Irons.. ..asteroids, but without running the tests theres no real way to be certain."

"Yeah of course Doctor Zeskah, I'll have copies sent through to you as soon as I receive them myself."

"Doctor Carter, do you think we've got anything to worry about?"

"Without knowing exactly what we're dealing with its not advisable to speculate, but meteors, like all fiery things, can put on a good show, but let them get to close and they start to burn. As I say I've seen what they can do and we have to make it a top priority to verify that this planet is not dead splat in the pathway of a raid of dark asteroids."

"Yes Doctor Carter I agree. It would be catastrophic to loose the Beta Site to a meteor storm."

"Lets hope that's not going to be the case. As you pointed out the impact impressions imply a drizzle rather than a storm, but we need to be certain. Its going to take quite a while to accurately predict the situation. Lets see what we come up with."

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© Richard Dean Anderson all rights reserved June 2006