A Wacky Read

It was a wide hall as well, though not of pink but of copper, gold and blue-grey steel, that held the almost magical device, that the humans used to travel between worlds. The Arrival & Departure Room of the vast vessel Atlantis was clean all over, slick and polished, and crowded.

Narrow white windows adorned the wall on one side of the room, while the other side lead upstairs on some wide yet tiny steps, that were copper all over. Silver railings pretended treacherous safety for the staff upstairs that sat and stood by the controls of the device.

A handful of men and women, all in grey uniform, poked around on panels made from glass that glowed in a bright blue light. Everyone seemed to have a place and a job, none was looking up.

None but one, the Commander. "Where're we at, Walter?"

Walter, an older man with thin glasses and no hair, responded motionless, "Chevron five dialing, Sir."

"Carter!", a male voice yelled from downstairs, "Why don't you come down here? Stick to your crew, y'know."

"I do stick to my crew. This facility is under my command, Mitchell", She smiled and nodded boasting down to him from the railing.

Commander Carter had Atlantis under her control for quite a while now and was hugely participated in flying it from a galaxy far far away over to earth, where it crashed into the Atlantic. Fitting. The ship was not just a vessel capable of bending spacetime, but also a city made from countless rooms and buildings under seven main towers, that topped every man-made thing on earth in height and elegance.

The keystone of the facility however was the device the Humans called a Stargate. They had a few of those on earth already, but only one can be active at a time. Since Atlantis arrived, it took dominance. Since then every departure was to hustle through this plain, cold control room and under Commander Carters watchful eyes.

Only when the last Chevron was to dial in and the gateway was almost complete, Carter came down the stairs to join the other travelers.
Together they stood in front of the vast, flat ring of the Stargate. Not a whole lot to look at, frankly. A few lights where to see on the ring, the Chevrons, but other than that, the design was plain and simple.

Next to Carter stood a man her age. He had round glasses and short, brown hair. Other than the rest of the travelers, he wasn't in uniform. Instead he wore a somewhat expensive black suit with a white shirt that had its first two buttons open. Planet earth knew this man as Doctor Daniel Jackson, a civilian and brilliant mind.

He looked down on Carter and frowned. "What's with the gun?"

The others in the row joined his look and some of them wondered. Carter had a P-90 strapped to her chest, the usual gear for exploring new planets.

"Yeah, we're going to a Gala on Delta Base, the safest place in the galaxy, right after Stargate-Center. You won't need a gun", Rodney explained with a pinch of doubt in his voice, as usual. Rodney McKay didn't wear an uniform either, but a brownish suit that didn't look too expensive. His brows under his receding brown hairline rose in suspicion of a bad omen. He straightened his back again, focused on the way before him and tried to keep his cool, which was an ambitious task for the nerv-wreck of the group.

Cameron Mitchell chuckled next to Daniel and Carter, "I really hope you won't have to regret saying that, I really do, but I had my share of crazy and I'll never go through that", he pointed at the Gate before him, "unarmed." He was taking a last check on his pistol holsters. Overall Cam had three pistols on his body.

Daniel dropped his brows, "You too?"

"You know?", Carter smiled in disbelief, "Cam has a point. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? If we get there, we don't need it and I put it away. But if anything happens, and you know that it could! We will need it."

Daniel shook his head now in disbelief, "But ... a P-90?"

"There is no harm in carrying it, Daniel. Not all of us can use magic."

Daniel looked back at the Gate. "It wasn't magic, and I only had that for", he wiggled his shoulders to put the suit back on straight, "A little while."

Rodney was out of his patience, "Why does the dialing take so long?" He turned around and waved at Walter, so he'd speed things up.

A deep voice behind them startled McKay, the others turned around, "The dialing speed is the same as always, there were no changes made."

The huge and old bloke that was Teal'C came with his old and grey friend General O'Neill to join the gang. He had shoulder long dreaded locks, his two meter staff-weapon in his hand and wore lose clothing with tribal symbolics adornment. The snake shaped staff that was able to shoot balls of plasma to make enemies and walls explode, was a relic from his past life, when he was a soldier and slave for the false gods. That, and the golden ornament tattoo on his forehead were the only reminders of this times of war.

The General on the other hand was dressed in parade uniform, black and adorned by gold rims, countless medals and stripes. His years of battle were behind him and even if he still had the fire in his blood, his knee wouldn't allow him to run or sprint.

"They waited for a year, they can wait a minute longer, don'cha think?", he said jokingly.

"Sir?"

O'Neill shook his head, "Samantha, please."

She smiled and turned away for a second again, "Habit."

Mitchell greeted the General as it was fit, "Sir."

"General O'Neill", Rodney wondered, "I didn't know you'd be coming."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Ever since those kids got lost out there, we were trying to get them back, and today's the day."

"Are we even sure, that it's the Destiny?", a young woman's voice asked the bunch. "Could be anyone, really."

"So you made it", Daniel welcomed her.

"Oh", Vala smiled, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Jack O'Neill complained immediately, "Hey!"

"What? It was a good line."

"That's true."

Vala was the newest member of the gang and yet part of it for years. Her long, black hair were subdued with two braids that hung down her back. She wore the same grey uniform Sam Carter and Mitchell had on, plus the widest smile in the city.

"Huh", Daniel judged when she was putting herself into the line of the travelers.

"What?"

"So you think it will be a disaster too."

"Oh, no. I just couldn't decide what to wear. So I chose this to show unity and maybe I can even get lost in the crowd. There will be food, right?"

Suddenly the Stargate lit up. A watery surface emerged from the ring and when it collided in the center, it brought forth a storm-like splash that pierced the room. Only a second later it collapsed and left behind a shimmering water pool that emitted a summerly shine.

"Connection stable", Walter informed, "Sending message."

Rainbow colours started to take over the water of the event horizon. They crawled over it from top to bottom until the ring was filled with them like an oil-spilled puddle.

"Do you guys see that?", Daniel asked.

"I do", Mitchell joked, "But I don't want to."

Carter turned around to the control center, "Walter?"

But then the coloured disappeared and the water looked as blue and plain as it did before.

"What was that?"

Walter checked his panels but had to shrug it off, "The charts don't show any change, Ma'am."
After a beep he added, "Message received. Delta-Base is ready for you, Ma'am. Sir. Sirs. And Ma'ams."

"Alright, let’s put this show on the road", Vala strode ahead and was through the Stargate before the others even had the chance to respond.

"Bother", Daniel replied and walked after her.

Soon after them the rest of the departers joined them, walked into the gateway and let their bodies be disintegrated into atoms, so they can be warped through the universe to Delta-Base, countless of lightyears away.

When the gang was gone and the gate was meant to shut itself off, instead it turned full rainbow again and started to flicker. The certain sign of failure made the control center panic. But they couldn't do anything, they didn't know what was happening.

Before they could react or even gasp in horror, the gate shut down and every attempt to redial Delta-Base ended in the collapse of the gateway.

Where the gang had gone or if they had survived was now in the hands of the gate.