Book 4 - New Horizons 11

23/05/2024 – 17.11

After a hurried debate with Mahonney, Schultz & Hackett it was agreed that SG2 would postpone exploration beyond the upper lobby security doors & Hackett would ensure that SGC IS would maintain a watching brief. Instead SG2 would attempt contact further contact on Geb. With Rex tied up with Schultz as she continued to study the mass of information retrieved & Xuraa confined to the Medical, Jayne, Dungip, Agatha & Irving assisted by field operators Mountain ‘Redbear’ Jones & Jack Werbanuk would form the away party.

With half a dozen IS grunts formed up behind them in the gate chamber Jayne signalled to Senji Tsummi, on watch at the gate controls above, to activate the gate.

23/05/2024 – 17.18

Immediately however SG2 called a halt as they realised that they wouldn’t have a heads up of what was happening on the other-side (SGC’s prototype RV had been lost off-world & its upgraded replacement was still in the gate chamber from when they’d fled Geb days earlier) After a hurried consultation Dungip & Agatha rigged up a temporary stop gap., basically a 8’ stick with a go-pro on one end connected via a cable tied lead along its length to a hand held tablet at the other end. It was crude but it gave them vision & sound. To her delight Agatha was appointed the official operator. This time Jayne’s instruction to power up wasn’t interrupted.

With the gate open Agatha popped the end of the stick through the shimmering pond at head height. The others crowded around the fallen nun peering at the 7” screen. Twisting the stick back & forth, SG2 were disappointed but not surprised to see half a dozen energy staff wielding & armoured guards
bemusedly watching the end of the stick being waved above their heads. Dungip, more interested in the RV unit spotted it 15’ or so away from the gate on its side.

Somewhat leaderless they hesitated, before any call to action could be made Jayne shouted a warning as energy staffs went from at ease & were levelled at the gate & the go-pro. Just in time Agatha snatched the stick back & the iris valve spun shut as energy blasts struck the rear of the security gate, worryingly they sounded & like much larger impacts than previously.

With the gate powered down the recording was studied. As the stick whipped back & forth Dungip spotted what looked like the barrel-like tip of a much heavy energy weapon off to one side. Jayne, as SG2’s de-facto ‘kick-ass’ echoed what almost everybody was thinking, the risk of loss of life trying to recover the RV was just too great despite Dungip’s keenness to hurl a bunch of grenades through the gate. For the moment, therefore this operation was also put on hold.

23/05/2024 – 17.51

Frustrated it was agreed that SG2’s field activities would be delayed until the following morning but not before alarms sounded to signal that an attempt was again being made to open the gate from Geb. As previous a petty attempt was made to breach the iris valve, it wasn’t a worry but clearly Mahonney was quite so relaxed about it.

23/05/2024 – 18.04

With SG2 stood down Irving decided to check in on the sickies in medical. When he entered the station the medics on duty were Kelly & Bernsteinn. Looking firstly at O’Harran, Irving could see he would soon be back on his feet, he was sleeping currently but his chart confirmed he’d been awake earlier & he would soon be available for active duty. Xuraa, well, she was going to be indisposed for some time to come however her test results showed that the graft of metal to bone & flesh had gone remarkably well. There were a few other minor injuries recorded on the day log but as far as he could see nothing that required his intervention. The big worry however was Dr Salem Kapek, physically he looked good, excellent even, however all efforts to bring him back to consciousness so far had drawn a blank, the outlook wasn’t good.
24/05/2024 – 7.49

The following morning SG2 briefly put thought back to investigating the main Cheyenne Mountain bunker above, reports overnight confirmed that there were now around a dozen infected standing ‘dormant’ in the entrance reception bunker area.

There was talk of trying to put the drone through the air ventilation ducting but it was simply too big for the twisting small bore voids. In desperation, an all-station request went out to see if anybody had a stashed mini drone in their personnel kit. Surprisingly this didn’t produce a mini-drone but Matt Hopkins, one of the SG electricians produced two 4WD RC cars complete with chargers. It was discussed that maybe they should get these into the main bunker with camera unit on but for the moment this was mothballed under pressure from Mahonney who, with the loss of freshies from Geb, was keen for SG2 to establish a fresh source of food.

24/05/2024 – 8.39

With the decision made SG2 made ready, again still personnel light, Jayne requested Redbear Jones & Jack Werbanuk be temporarily assigned to SG2. With Agatha again installed as ‘field recorder’ & armed with his camera stick Mahonney authorised input of the next randomly selected gate address from the directory: 16 – 27 – 1 – 22 – 30 – 15 - 7

24/05/2024 – 8.44

Enthusiastically Agatha poked her stick through the gate, behind her fingers twitched on triggers.

The world revealed was bright, bright, bright. The camera showed a dessert like environment with occasionally twisting wind sculpted rocky outcrops & isolated bark polished skeletons of stunted long dead trees. On the horizon were hints of mountains. The go-pro’s microphone crackled continuously suggesting almost constant wind, this was backed up by the occasional miniature dust appearing than dying away. Without approval or hesitation Agatha eagerly Agatha stepped forward but was checked by a firm hand on her arm. Muttering about her apparent incomprehension of the potential dangers a harness & rope were attached around her waist. Irving, worried about the atmosphere dropped a mask over her head & clipped a pressurised air bottle onto her belt advising that she had maybe 15 minutes at most.

With Jayne & Werbanuk holding the loose end of the trailing hawser Agatha, go-pro stick at the ready, jumped in.

24/05/2024 – 8.47

The first thing that struck Agatha was the heat, it was bearable but uncomfortable. In the sky above her blazed two enormous suns. Quickly she cast the go-pro around recording a full 360° panorama. The view behind the gate was no less daunting that than in front. The rocky outcrops were indeed strange, if not haunting. The constant wind blew through the many ‘windows’ in the climbing columns through which the wind whistled like giant flutes, it was disconcerting to say the least.

As Agatha walked towards the nearest dead three, fortunately within the reach of the life line, she was aware that the sand below her feet, in her hair & coating her body was incredibly fine & when rubbed between her fingers was near frictionless almost like polished glass, silica maybe she thought. Hastily she scooped a handful into her pocket. At the tree, she snapped a hanging branch of the main trunk, it snapped easily & looked almost desiccated, it was that dry. Its silvery bark was polished smooth; a sample was stuffed in her pack for later study.

Conscious of time & knowing that SG2 had no idea what was going on she headed back towards the gate but before stepping through she impetuously ripped the mask covering her face & breathed, the air was hot, dry, dead, it wasn’t pleasant. With a shrug, she stepped back where . . .

24/05/2024 – 8.57

. . . she was admonished severely for removing the mask.
24/05/2024 – 10.41

Several hours later when Irving & his medical staff were happy that Agatha hadn’t brought anything back that was harmful allowed her to dress. The retrieved samples were tagged & bagged for further study. Irving & Agatha regrouped with SG2 who were kicking their heels in the canteen. As they sat drinking coffee Rex stuck his head through the door suggesting that if Dungip, Jayne & the others weren’t to busy perhaps they could get on with the matters in hand.

24/05/2024 – 11.09

Again, SG2 were stood before the gate as it spun into operation. This time Schultz had selected another address from the directory: 11 – 31 – 17 – 3 – 21 – 32 – 19.

24/05/2024 – 11.18

For nearly 10 minutes SG2 had starred at the images in front of them, by now relayed up to the monitors in the control room. On the screen was a mass of densely growing greenery, rotating the stick there was no sign of the sky, just more growth. It was hard to tell but the gate, caught by the camera, looked as if it was at a jaunty angle. The microphone relayed a cacophony of noise suggesting a plethora of unseen insects.

Grinning, cord & mask in place, Agatha again stepped through, this time leaving the stick mounted go-pro in the hands of Dungip.

24/05/2024 – 11.21

Stood on the other-side the noise increased 10-fold, it was warm but not unpleasant & slightly damp, currently they have no sensors to monitor the environment but with such a rich abundance of plant life Agatha figured that the air must be breathable, she took off her mask (back in SGC there was loud muttering about her conduct or lack off) The air tasted, healthy, bountiful, gloopy, like liquid sugar – Agatha gave a thumbs up to the camera.

Quickly she cut & bagged a dozen or so plant samples & then stepped back through the gate.

24/05/2024 – 11.34

Irving looked at the samples & immediately requested Dr John Dee, biologist, attend the lab whilst Agatha answered the many questions from Jayne, Dungip, Schultz & Mahonney.

24/05/2024 – 12.21

For a good fifty minutes Dr Dee studied the fauna samples, slipping first one, then another under the electron microscope making notes as he went. Eventually he sat back slightly stunned. He enthusiastically informed Irving that the samples were quite unmarkable, they could have been taken from any stretch of abandoned undergrowth in any US mid-western state. What was remarkable however was the size of the samples, for instance he lifted one sample of stem announcing that it was Allium stellatum, more commonly known as autumn onion. The only issue with it was it size, like all the samples everything was 25, maybe 30 times larger than it should be!

24/05/2024 – 12.48

Gathered in the command room overlooking the gate chamber Dr Dee repeatedly assured those gathered that he wasn’t mistaken, he would stake his professional reputation on it. Seeing the potential for fresh supplies & with no objections raised Mahonney ordered an immediate return to 11 – 31 – 17 – 3 – 21 – 32 – 19.

24/05/2024 – 14.28

Tooled up & ready Jayne lead SG2 through the gate, they were accompanied by Dr Dee who was desperate to see the source of the samples at first hand. On the ground Jayne, only imagining what else besides the weeds were ‘big’ set out his store & told the Jones & Werbanuk to stay alert & be ready for anything!

Dr Dee was like a kid in sweet shop, quickly he directed the others to take more samples although he was disappointed when Jayne firmly told him not to wander off on his own.

Agatha noted that the gate, as suspected, was no longer on level ground, the plinth was cracked & numerous massive roots had lifted it at one corner.

Dungip, declining to get his fingers green & with many a wary glance into the ‘trees’ sent the drone soaring up through the branches above. After several false starts he eventually managed to break through to clear air, it was breath-taking. Everything was big, he could see flying bugs the size of turkeys as well as swooping & perching grassland birds bigger than Jayne, it was frightening. To the east, maybe 3 miles away was a towering fence, in-between was the occasional isolated tree or copse of bushes, some of the trees looked like they were over a mile high.

24/05/2024 – 15.03

Half an hour later Dee was happy with what they’d collected however collectively SG2 decided to head towards the fence Dungip had seen. As they walked Dee delighted in pointing out the numerous plants he recognised from around his home in Iowa. What was more disconcerting however were the critters travelling up, down & through the foliage.

Amongst the samples collected they had several that we likely edible, this included what could only be Ribes nigrum according to Dee, or Blackcurrants as Dungip assured them all. Ignoring Irving’s repeated order not to eat them Dungip had cut himself a slice off one of the 8” globes, as the sticky joice ran down his chin he smiled impishly.

Suddenly, maybe three hundred yards from where they’d left Jones & Werbanuk protecting the gate, Jayne came to a standstill & raised her MPK-11, safety catch off. Through the ‘grass’ he could see eyes staring back, in horror all watched as the grass parted & a spider (later confirmed by Dee as a Spiny orb-weaver) silently inched forward. After a few seconds, it disappeared up into the canopy, Jayne reckoned it was nearly 5’ across from spike to spike, slowly she clicked the safety catch back on & considered whether the slugs from her SMG would penetrate its spikey yellow shell, it looked pretty tough. At that point the search was abandoned, time was creeping on before the gate would deactivate. All now finally realised the potential for danger in the land of BIG.

24/05/2024 – 15.18

On route back bizarrely it was Jayne, the most aware of danger who had a close call, as he warily watched the ‘trees’ Around halfway back his feet disappeared down a hole around a foot in diameter, fortunately he caught himself on his elbows. As he scrambled out he suddenly became aware of movement beneath his feet, peering down he saw eyes staring back. Throwing himself to one side he sprawled in the dirt as the head of a mouse appeared over the rim of the passage. Nose twitching it sniffed the air & then scuttled away lighting fast, it was around 3’ long not including the tail. The import of this place as a food source wasn’t lost on any of them. 

24/05/2024 – 15.23

As they neared the gate the ground shook & all were deafened by a huge explosion. Dungip wasted no time in sending the drone aloft. As it cleared the grass tops he saw an enormous bird – probably a feral pigeon - wings flapping, feathers flying with blood speckling its chest, writhing on the ground maybe a third of a mile away. Ponderously stalking towards it was a giant, maybe a 120’ tall, carrying a light weight single barrel shotgun over its shoulder. At a guess Dungip reckoned the ‘boy’ was maybe 11 or 12 years old, he was wearing ragged dungarees & wore a baseball cap. As Dungip watched he put his fingers to his mouth & gave an ear piercing shrill before patting his thigh. Shouting in an unrecognisable tongue, he gestured to something behind the drone. Spinning it about Dungip saw the biggest fucking dog in his life pounding in their general direction. As the ground began to shake he retrieved the drone & suggested to Jayne they make a hasty retreat, nobody disagreed.