Chapter 2
General George Hammond was fairly sure he’d seen enough in his life, particularly the years he’d worked as head of the SGC, that now nothing could surprise him. Yet, still, his flagship team, SG1 seemed to have made it their own personal mission to find new ways to do just that. This time they brought someone with them. And this someone was one of the oddest looking things he’d ever seen. True, creatures like the Unas were stranger, but maybe it was the bizarre skin tone, or the antennas, or the fact that, without them, he looked like a human, that made this man seem very, very bizarre.
“Colonel O’Neill?” he asked as he stared at the stranger. The alien stared back steadily for a moment before looking around the room, observing the SF’s with some interest and amusement. He then looked back at the Stargate. Hammond had to admit he’d been shocked to hear the alien, when he’d stepped through say
“You call that a wild ride? You’ve never been on one then.” To Hammond’s knowledge, no one had ever been unimpressed with the sensations caused by Stargate travel.
“General, meet Commander Shran. Commander Shran this is General Hammond, head of the SGC.” Hammond nodded in greeting and received one back,
“Welcome to Earth Commander.”
“Thank you, although to be honest,” his eyes flew around the room again, “this isn’t quite what I expected to find when I first came to Earth. For one thing I certainly didn’t expect to be on the wrong side of a load of weapons.” He smirked slightly, but lost it at once when O’Neill held his hand out to him. He muttered something Hammond didn’t catch, but then handed over his large weapon and then pulled his other one out of the holster, and handed that over.
“The dagger too.” O’Neill prompted with a small smile, Shran sighed heavily and pulled out the dagger. Hammond saw it and fought to wince. That was a wicked looking dagger.
“I want this back especially!” Shran warned O’Neill as he placed the hilt in the other man’s hand.
“Of course you do.” O’Neill said softly, Shran scowled, and his antennas reared back in what was probably anger. Hammond decided to intervene,
“Alright, SG1 report to the infirmary for post mission examinations, and Commander Shran I’m afraid you’ll have to be examined too. Its simply to ensure-”
“That I’m not carrying something that could be harmful to you, or maybe carrying some sort of bomb inside my stomach or whatever.” Shran interrupted knowingly, “I’m well aware of military drills for this sort of situation. I am a member of one.”
“Oh wait, sorry, the bag too!” O’Neill exclaimed, pointing at Shran’s back. Shran sighed, rolled his eyes, then handed it over.
“I may know military rules for this sort of situation, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them when they’re against me.” Hammond found himself smiling slightly.
“Well sir I found nothing that could constitute as harmful, at least not as far as I could tell, although considering I’ve never seen anyone like this man before I couldn’t say what’s normal and what’s not.” Frasier summarised looking over her report.
“So no bombs in the belly?” O’Neill asked lightly.
“Not that I saw.” the doctor shook her head, “I have to say his physiology is fascinating. His blood is cobalt based, as opposed to iron.”
“Which would explain the skin tone.” Carter nodded,
“Well it is a factor definitely. Also he’s got a very unusual circulatory system. His heart is three separate chambers set in different parts of the body, and each of these chambers has four parts. He also has a redundant circulatory system, which allows blood to seep through tissues as well as through the usual travel through venous structures.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked, bewildered,
“Well, it means that he’s unlikely to ever end up feeling stiff or that any of his limbs will ‘fall asleep’. Also he’s resistant to frostbite caused by poor circulation, and with anti freeze in his bloodstream, he could survive ice environments with no issue. He told me his world is a frozen moon, which only goes above freezing every few years for three weeks. Also he’s got much denser bones and muscles, which means he’s far stronger than he looks and his bones would be very difficult to break.”
“Sweet.” O’Neill muttered, “What about those antenna things?” as he spoke he placed the back of his hands on his head and stuck up his two index fingers.
“They are for keeping balance, communication, sensing vibrations-”
“Vibrations?”
“Footsteps, heartbeats that sort of thing, they also sense very slight changes in air pressure and temperature, and are apparently telepathic receptors.”
“Wait a minute, he’s telepathic?”
“According to the Commander, his species have telepathic family bonds, they aren’t overly strong and they can’t be used to read each others minds, they can just sense each other, sometimes know if they’re in danger, and they know when they die.”
“Can I get a pair of them, they could come in handy.” O'Neill asked Hammond who gave him a steely look. “Never mind, they wouldn’t look good on me anyway.”
“Alright then so we’ve determined he’s not a threat?”
“Not as far as I can tell.” Frasier said with a small shake of her head.
“He does not seem to have any ill intentions.” Teal'c said formally.
“Very well then. We’ll let him move about the base, obviously restricted areas will remain as such but we won’t keep him in a cell. Have him brought to a V.I.P room on A level and we’ll keep a guard on him at all times.”
“Yes sir.” O'Neill nodded
“Now, onto other business, Dr. Jackson, Mr. Quinn, what have you to report on this hall you found?”
“Well I’m afraid we have nothing really to report, we’ve no idea who could have built that place or why. We’d like to go back and try to translate the markings, see what else there is.” Daniel said, his hands placed flat on the table.
“I was wondering if we could use the U.A.V to do an aerial survey, see if there’s any sign of civilisation.” Jonas piped up. “It’s possible that there was a civilisation somewhere and we just need to look harder for it.”
“Also sir, we’d like to talk to Shran, learn about his culture and people, I mean, it could be that we’ll never see them again, so… this could be a very big opportunity.”
“Very well, you’ve got clearance to use whomever and whatever you need to figure out that place, and Major Carter, the same for you with that device. In the mean time I’ll inform the president of the situation and of our guest. Dismissed.”
“Ok, this is where you can stay until we can figure out a way of sending you back.” Daniel opened the door and entered with Shran behind him and Jonas bringing up the rear. Shran looked around at the large room with the double bed, desk and chair, and adjacent bathroom.
“Not bad.” he said with a small smirk. Daniel smiled slightly back. “So I know where I’m sleeping now, where do I eat?”
“Eat?”
“Yes, where you put food in your mouths and you swallow it. Wait! You’re not like the Kreetassans are you?”
“The who?”
“The Kreetassans, they’re this very irritating species, who consider eating and mating to be on the same level, as in they consider both things should be done in private.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes, and of course I managed to thoroughly offend them and had do a lot of nonsense to apologise.”
“You ate in front of them?” Shran looked at Jonas and smirked, but didn’t answer, just shrugged, which made Jonas’ eyebrow shoot up.
“So where do you get food, I had some in my bag, but,” Shran gestured around him, “I don’t exactly have it on me.”
“We can take you to the cafeteria.”
“Is that like a mess?”
“Yeah, more or less.” Shran shrugged,
“I guess it’s either that or starve.” He gestured with a hand for them to lead on. Daniel took the lead again and soon they were in the cafeteria.
“I’m not sure what you’d like to eat but I’m sure we have something.” Daniel commented as he looked over the buffet. He then winced as he noticed the open stares of the people present. Honestly, they ought to be used to strange looking people coming through the ‘gate, but apparently they weren’t. Either that or Shran was just the oddest thing they’d ever seen, which Daniel knew was not the case.
“Hey!” they looked to see Jack waving them over. “C’mere!” They obeyed and sat down with Jack, Sam and Teal'c. “The boys up in the lab found this in your bag.” Jack held up what looked like a lunchbox. “Which they (and I) can only assume contains food.”
“It does.” Shran nodded, reaching out for it and snatching it out of Jack’s hand before he could blink. He then pried the lid open, revealing the contents. The sight of it made the other five’s stomachs turn.
“What’s that?”
“It’s Nestaliv.”
“It’s blue.” Jack stated
“It’s meat.” Shran clarified,
“Your meat is blue?”
“Your meat is red?” Jack stared at the smirking man, and then understood his point.
“Touché!” he nodded. Shran snorted and picked up a small piece of meat and, much to the others’ horror, popped it in his mouth and chewed it.
“Mm, yum.” Shran grinned, clearly aware of the effect this was having on the humans and Jaffa and enjoying it. “Want to try it?” he nudged the box towards them.
“It’s raw.” Jack stated.
“It’s better that way.” Shran grinned. Jonas shifted and then reached out slowly.
“Jonas…” Jack said warningly, Jonas looked at him and then plunged on, grabbing a small piece and throwing it in his mouth before he could stop himself. Sam and Daniel both grimaced. Teal'c raised an eyebrow as high as it would go and Jack just started praying that the kid’s iron stomach would hold out for him. Jonas chewed slowly, nervously and then his face cleared.
“That’s not bad. Is that a dressing on it?”
“Yep, Minecta dressing. Helps add to it.”
“That is actually really nice. Try it colonel.”
“Uh, thanks but no thanks, I’m gonna go get the Tuesday surprise.”
“Yeah me too.” Sam said, quickly following him, with Teal'c and Daniel right behind her. Jonas looked after them and then smiled at Shran who was sniggering to himself.
“Making pink-skins squirm is always fun.” he said tossing a grin at Jonas. Jonas laughed, and then stood up,
“I’m just going to get my own meal.” Shran nodded and resumed eating his blue meat. When the others returned, Daniel set down his tray opposite Shran and then, once he’d picked up his fork and started eating he said
“Um, Shran, Jonas and I were wondering if you could tell us about your people.”
“Like what?” Shran asked, licking his fingertips, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Jack grimaced and held out a spare fork he’d grabbed.
“Here, please, take it.” Shran rolled his eyes at him and obliged, awkwardly using the fork to eat his lunch. Daniel brought their conversation back,
“Well, everything, like your customs, your beliefs, your morals, your language, your history.” Shran raised his white eyebrows.
“Have you got a life time?” he asked blandly. Daniel smiled,
“Well I don’t know about that but I’m sure we’ve got enough time for the basics.”
“You do realise I can’t talk about our technology or anything sensitive.”
“Of course,” Jonas assured him, “We understand that. We’re actually more curious about your people, your actual culture, and anything you don’t wish to share, well uh, that’s fine.” He gave Shran his trademark grin and Shran looked between them, his antennas twitching, reaching forward suspiciously, apparently trying to sense any deception. Finally he said
“Alright, you can ask, although I won't guarantee I’ll answer.”
“Oh, my blue friend you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.” Jack warned grimly. Shran looked at him and smirked, his antennas curling inwards.
“If I can listen to a Vulcan spend an hour on the reasons they cannot hand over a planet they stole from my people without attacking him, then I think I can handle a few questions.” Daniel looked up again,
“What’s a Vulcan?” Shran blinked at him and then sighed.
“Make that two lifetimes.”
It was nighttime, and most people who weren’t working were gone home or sleeping. Three men however, were not. Seated in the office of Jonas and Daniel, the two scientists and one very tired Andorian were discussing Andorian culture.
“It’s all so fascinating, your culture is so… contrasting.”
“How?” asked Shran, propping his head up in his two hands, resting his elbows on the table. His antennas were drooping slightly as if they were asleep and he looked like he wanted to follow them.
“You're warlike and yet from what you’ve told us you're also extremely compassionate.”
“That’s because both have to do with passion and Andorians are nothing if not passionate, we’re emotional to the highest degree, we feel with all our beings.”
“And that’s why you and the Vulcans don’t get along.”
“That’s probably the root of it, but there’s the political nonsense as well that’s being addressed.”
“And you're involved in that.” Daniel clarified,
“Much to my consternation yes.”
“Why consternation?”
“I’m a solider, not an ambassador! And it’s so boring! Talking and talking and talking, oh get me out of there!” Shran threw his hands up in exasperation. “And speaking of getting out of places, can I go to bed now?” Both humans looked at him, only now noticing how tired he looked, and realising that they’d been drilling him for six hours.
“Of course.” Jonas said at once, standing up. “Sorry, I guess we lost track of time.”
“Humans are nothing if not curious.” Daniel quipped with a little embarrassment.
“Huh! Tell me about it.” Shran shook his head as he stood up. “On second thought, please don’t.” He walked out with his officer entourage.
“He’s interesting isn’t he?” Daniel said softly, closing his notebook where he’d made a few notes.
“Very. Nice too.” Jonas agreed, “A bit gruff, and sarcastic, but nice.”
“Yeah, well I think I shall head on to bed, how about you?”
“Yeah, I’m exhausted, I didn’t realise it until now.”
“I’m just gonna sleep on the base, I can't be bothered going home.”
“Night Daniel.”
“Night Jonas.” The two men parted ways as they headed to their respective sleeping quarters.
“If you need anything sir, I’ll just be outside.” Shran looked at the woman levelly, although there was a hint of mischief in his gaze.
“I don’t suppose there’s any way I can convince you to not waste your time.” he smiled at her, making it clear he was joking.
“I’ll just be outside.” she told him, smiling faintly at him.
“Of course you will.” He sighed, pressing his lips together as he went into the room and the officer shut the door. Once he was sure it was secure he groaned and sat down. This was unbelievable! He was in a nightmare! He had to be, that was the only explanation for all of this, for why he was on a military secure base some hundred years in the past, on EARTH! Of all the planets, Earth was not one he wanted to be on. Too many damn pink-skins bugging him with questions. Plus it was way too hot! Shran had told them the useless knowledge, probing them for duplicity, trying to see if this was all some sort of trick, but so far he hadn’t sensed anything and he trusted his instincts. The Doctor and Jonas hadn’t given off anything but unbelievable curiosity, Carter was a scientist and therefore not someone he’d be able to have a conversation with most likely. Teal'c was… what the hell was Teal’c? He looked human, but he wasn’t, Shran could tell, there was something off about him. As for Colonel O'Neill, well it was obvious that the man didn’t trust him any more than he trusted him or any of his people. O'Neill was a military man, through and through, a commander, like himself. And that posed a problem if things went bad. O'Neill would probably anticipate his movements and tricks, at the very least he’d be the hardest obstacle if Shran needed to fight.
He wanted his phaser back!
With another groan he fell back and lay staring at the ceiling, willing the grey to change to the dark blue metal of his quarters aboard the Kumari. He’d give anything to be back there, maybe sitting with his crewmen, laughing and talking, maybe playing some games of leitai. He’d play with them this time instead of just watching, even if it meant risking having to full on kiss Tholos again if he lost. Why did they always pick him for him to kiss when he lost? He shook his head before he started wondering too much, he’d been wondering that particular thing since he’d taken command ten years ago. Tarah used to take particular pleasure in that penalty. Then again, Tarah was a traitor.
It was too hot in here!
Bolting up and running over to the bathroom and after a minute spent figuring out how the taps worked he splashed his face with the gloriously cold water. He rubbed the water into the back of his neck, and then splashed his face again. He then straightened up feeling a little better. He then decided to go to bed and try and get some sleep. He stripped off his clothes and, after locking the door, he crawled into the bed, pushing away the heavier sheets, keeping only the thin, cool inner sheet. He groaned again at the itchy material under his neck and decided that yes, most definitely, he was in a nightmare.