The Carlion Journeys: Chapter 2

Kiera flipped through the paperwork, paying attention with only half of her brain. The informational pieces about the Stargate program and the risks of participation were unnecessary for her. Her father had adopted her when she was eleven years old when she was the only unclaimed child in her group of refugees resettled through the Stargate. At first they had thought about putting her into the foster care system, but because of her alien origin, it wasn't approved. That's when her father decided to step in. Daniel was more of a father to her than the farmer who donated his DNA to her creation had ever been. She used to worry about how little she cared for her original life back on Gnoabos, but between her therapist and Uncle Jack, she realized it was appreciation for her new family more than anything. Ever since she had walked into Daniel's home, she had been fed, clothed, and educated by the foremost expert on the Stargate program. She fingered the necklace he had given her on her 16th birthday, an amulet of Bastet who, despite her existence as a Goa'uld System Lord, represented care for the home and children here on Earth. It was among the first artifacts that her father had collected when he was still an undergrad intern at an archaeology dig. It was considered worthless by the professor who was leading the dig, so it found its way into Daniel's bags. 

 

Thinking about her family made her smile. 

 

Next to Kiera, the other woman sighed gustily and leaned back in her chair, "Don't they have a cliffnotes version of this?" Her voice was low and smokey, pairing beautifully with eyes so dark brown they were almost black. Despite looking like she should have been proudly strutting on the catwalks, she had an air of practicality and an edge of violence. 

 

Kiera liked her. 

 

She leaned back in her chair, "It's a government-run military program. Of course there's no shortcut." 

 

She snorted, "of course." She elbowed the young man next to her, "What do you make of all of this?"

 

He looked up at her and cocked his head to the side, "He was an odd man, nothing at all like how Dr. McKay described him." 

 

She reared back, "You know Dr. McKay? Dr. Rodney McKay?" 

 

"Well, yeah. He was a consultant for my father's..." he hesitated, "business." His head cocked again, reminding Keira briefly of a dog, "Do you know him?" 

 

She nodded, "He was a guest lecturer during my thesis. His conclusions regarding quantum field theory were really revitalizing. My high school was divided for months after his visit." 

 

His eyes widened slightly, "Your high school? I didn't think Dr. McKay would ever get within fifty feet of a high school."

 

She shrugged, "Tesla High School is not your average school. I'm Regina by the way, Regina Josephina Fargo." 

 

He smiled and held out his hand, "Mike Lattimer, pleased to meet you." 

 

That spurred a round of introductions that bordered on resume recitations at the end of which, Mike kicked back in his chair loudly hypothesizing, “So let me get this straight. This super secret international interstellar military operation needs myself, a secret service agent who gets vibes, a former military black ops operative with a phd or two, and an archeologist’s daughter from another planet specializing in multiculturalism. What makes us so special to this mission?”

 

Kiera chimed in, “Well, the SGC does generally have enough people like me who specialize in...multiculturalism. But other than that? They’re mostly soldiery types with the occasional undervalued intellectual. We’ve all been recommended by someone who thinks the mission would have a better chance of success if we were included in it.” 

 

Mike snorted and shared a skeptical glance with Regina, who had requested they all call her Gina. 

 

Gina shrugged, “Someone who has a better idea of what this mission entails has made the decision that we are beneficial. It’s up to us to do our best to meet those expectations.” Her matter-of-fact announcement seemed to settle it for the rest of them as Mike shrugged and nodded agreement. 

 

Kiera locked her tablet, “How would you guys like a tour of the SGC? I’m sure our new clearance allows us full access, right?” She raised an eyebrow at the airmen standing around the room. 

 

The man who seemed to be in charge shared an awkward glance with his team, then shrugged. “Have you signed all of the nondisclosure agreements and the assurances for insurance and disposition should you perish prematurely?” 

 

Mike and Gina quickly tabbed to those pages and signed. The airman shrugged and nodded to his team, who relaxed and started moving toward the entrance. “Then you’re good to go. Keep them with you Kiera until they get the lay of building. It’s easy to get lost.”

 

Kiera nodded, “Of course Slalock, I’ll take good care of them.”

 

The team filed out at the tension in the air dropped quickly. “Best to keep a hold of these until Master Sergeant Dubnyk returns.” She also tapped out a quick message to him that they were going on a tour of the facility. He responded lightning fast, of course, reminding her to be mindful of the incoming and outgoing teams when touring the gateroom and to keep them from pushing buttons. For some reason that Kiera didn’t quite understand, he particularly warned her to keep an eye on Gina when around any pushable button. She assured him she’d be vigilant, then locked her tablet and stepped through the door. 

 

Their tour started in the gateroom where she and Gina talked for awhile about the physics behind the Stargate system while Mike puttered around the control room. An observant private first class managed to stop Gina from pushing too many buttons and dialing the gate while Kiera’s attention was on Mike. Of course that caused an unhappy sergant to chew them out. Kiera quickly relocated them to the kitchens area where Mike could munch to his heart’s content while she and Gina continued to talk about the gate system. 

 

After their impromptu stop for lunch, they headed over to the gateship bay. Kiera enjoyed sitting back and watching the two of them climb in and out of the ships like jungle gyms. Well, she enjoyed it until Mike sat down in the pilot’s chair and pulled up the flight controls. After much yelling and panic, they finally landed the jumper a foot and a half from the bay’s wall. Kiera banished the two of them from the ship as she coaxed it back into its former position and convinced the radio operator she had just been showing off the jumper’s controls. She took the scolding in stride and dragged the two miscreants back to somewhat safer sections of the city. 

 

She wondered, not for the first time, if they were even going to survive this mission.