“Incoming traveler!”
The sound of the gate claxon was familiar, but still annoying. Jack glanced at his watch and frowned. There were no teams due back now, were there? Hammond rising from his seat with a curt ‘dismissed’ and hurrying down to the command room answered the question eloquently enough. The members of SG-1 followed close behind, leaving their briefing folders on the table.
“We have three chevrons so far, sir,” Davis reported.
One by one the remaining chevrons locked – but the ring didn’t stop spinning when it reached seven. The SGC personnel traded worried looks as the eighth symbol locked and the wormhole stabilized. They knew what the longer address meant.
“Close the iris,” Hammond ordered. “Is it the same planet Colonel O’Neill went to?”
“No, sir,” Sam began only to cut herself off as a pulsating green light surrounded the stargate. The iris halted for a moment before the plates retracted, leaving the gate open.
“What’s happening?” Hammond demanded, not taking his eyes off the gate room.
“We don’t know, sir,” Davis replied. “The iris is trying to close, it just… can’t.”
Two people came through the wormhole, the slight girl of Asian features leading the way holding some kind of oversized throwing star. Before any of SGC could get a good look at her or her weapon, she was pulled behind the blonde man dressed in black who’d followed her. A massive sword nearly as long as he was tall was drawn from a sheath at his back as the blonde settled into a defensive stance. A second sword, angled for a left-handed draw, was left in place. His eyes swept the room, no doubt taking in the placement of exits and enemies, but he made no move to attack. Behind him the wormhole closed. The light flared, arched like lightning from the gate and struck him.
“Cloud!” The girl screamed, reaching forward only to yank her hand back as green energy snapped at her.
“Hold your fire!” Hammond ordered, allowing himself to feel relieved when his men obeyed. Whoever the intruders were, the girl was obviously distressed by what was happening to her companion. They might be refugees rather than enemies, and as long as they didn’t turn hostile Hammond was willing to give them the benefit of a doubt.
“Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, follow me,” he ordered, not surprised that neither Jack nor Teal’c stayed behind.
The blast doors opened to let them into the gate room just as the sword fell from nerveless fingers, clattering against the ramp. The blonde remained on his feet, though swaying as if standing in a strong wind. He tilted his head back, delicate face blank and eyes wide, but it didn’t look like he was seeing anything. The girl had shifted to his side, ready to move between the blonde and the airmen aiming at him. She was clearly worried about her friend, but not so preoccupied by what was happening that she’d give her back to the enemy. She turned her head to watch Hammond and SG-1 enter the room, eyes cold and calculating as her grip on her weapon tightened.
That’s more than training. That’s training ingrained by experience, Jack realized with a start. Sickened by the thought of what could make a face so young have such old eyes.
“General Hammond,” Teal’c said, “I believe his eyes are glowing.”
“What?” Hammond squinted, but couldn’t make out any glow aside from the green. “Can you sense a Goa’uld from this distance?”
“Unfortunately not,” Teal’c said.
Sam shook her head. “Me neither, sir. But we know that not all Goa’uld have –”
“Stop it!” the girl snarled at them. “Stop talking as if he’s an enemy! He’s hurting because he’s a thrice-damned fool who can’t say no to people, and the least you could do is show a little gratitude!”
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“You know what’s happening?” Sam asked, fascinated by the light surrounding or perhaps emanating from the man.
“Of course I do!” The girl glanced at her friend then back at Sam. “I might not understand the way he does, but I’m not blind.”
“Assume we are,” Jack said.
Briefly wondering if he’d spent too much time around Jack’s sarcasm since he felt a bit tempted to echo that, Hammond prompted, “Explain it to us.”
The girl tensed, frowning at them. “You really don’t know?”
“No,” Hammond replied honestly.
Somehow, that seemed to set her on edge. “Who are you? How did you get here?” she demanded, making Jack snort at the irony.
“You’re the one who breeched our gate to come to our planet, so I don’t think we owe you anything.”
“You’re natives to this planet?” The girl lowered her weapon and relaxed slightly, bowing her head in an oddly respectful manner. “I am Yuffie Kisaragi of Wutai, on the planet Gaia. My not-so-talkative brother is Cloud Strife.”
“Brother?” Sam looked from Yuffie to Strife. Though they were both short and slender, they didn’t look related.
“We’re not blood, but we’re family,” Yuffie clarified. She bit her lip thoughtfully. “Would you mind telling me what planet we’re on?”
If they have our coordinates, the name certainly can’t do any harm, Hammond reasoned with himself. “Earth.”
“You might be more familiar with the name Tau’ri,” Daniel added.
“Never heard of either,” Yuffie said carelessly, before frowning again. “You call your planet Earth? That’s as lame as us calling ours Planet, and I doubt she was happy about that.”
“You didn’t mean to come here?” Hammond interrupted, genuinely confused. If they had the foresight and the knowledge to block the iris, something the Goa’uld had failed to do, how could they not have come to Earth purposely?
“We didn’t open the portal. As far as I know, it has never been used before. Someone would have talked if they’d realized what it was.” Dark eyes glanced about the room. “But from the look of this setup, you know how to operate yours.”
“You didn’t know where you were going?” Jack asked incredulously. “That didn’t feel at all stupid to you?”
“Hey!” Yuffie looked every inch an indignant teenager, one hand on her hip while the other – still holding the odd weapon – gestured at the blonde still standing surrounded by green light. “Gaia asked him to go, and while I doubt she told him much, I didn’t get to hear any of it. I just refused to let him go alone.” She sighed. “He lets her talk him into so much he should just say no to.”
“Gaia?” Daniel repeated. An Earth goddess in Greek mythology, but… “Wasn’t that the name of your planet?”
“Yes.”
“Excuse me?” Jack ignored the exasperated look Daniel gave him. “You think a planet talks to you?”
“No-o,” Yuffie said with exaggerated patience. “That was my point; I don’t know anything because she doesn’t speak to me. Only to Cloud.”
“And that’s what he’s doing now?” Hammond sounded as skeptical as he felt. “Talking to your planet?”
“To yours, most likely.” She glanced at Strife again. “Look, are we going to fight or not? I have no interest in it, but if that’s what you want, I’d rather get it out of the way.”
“We don’t want to fight anymore than –” Hammond cut himself off as the green light abruptly died and blue eyes met his. Teal’c was right, he thought worriedly, his eyes do glow.
“It’s alright, Yuffie,” Strife said, his voice surprisingly soft. “They are not her enemies. But they can help us find the ones who are hurting her sisters.” He bent to pick his sword up, moving slowly as not to startle the airmen. Looking as harmless as one can while holding an impossibly large sword, he returned it to his back.
“I’m General Hammond, head of this command, and I’m afraid that I can’t let you go around my base armed until we know more about you.”
The blonde pointedly looked around the room, at the number of people in it, before his gaze locked with Hammond’s again. “Your word as General that you will do us no harm, and I’ll give you my sword.”
Hammond wasn’t sure how far to trust that promise, but standing in the gate room wouldn’t get them anywhere. And he needed some answers. “You have my word.”
Strife shifted his grip and removed the three colored glass orbs set in slots along the blade, slipping them into a pouch at his belt. He met Teal’c’s eyes. “You with the gold symbol. You can probably carry it.”
Glancing at Hammond to see if he would object, Teal’c walked up the ramp. Standing scant feet apart, he towered over Strife, but the blonde didn’t look intimidated as he offered the sword hilt first. Teal’c took it, eyes widening at the weight, but he didn’t stagger.
“It is an impressive weapon,” he said, bowing his head in respect of the strength now made obvious. “I will return it to you in the same state I received it.”
Some of the tension drained from Strife’s frame. “I don’t doubt it.” He glanced down at the displeased looking Yuffie.
“I’m not handing over the Conformer to one of you sword-obsessed people,” she said, nearly pouting.
“I’ll take it,” Jack offered. As he came up the ramp, he was surprised to see the star had slots like the ones on Strife’s sword, only two of the eight occupied. One green and one blue orb set next to each other, faintly luminescent when seen this close. It made him look twice at the various orbs in the strangers’ wristbands, especially since Yuffie removed the ones from her weapon with practiced ease, not even looking.
He wasn’t the only one to notice. Sam didn’t understand what use they could be, but that was common with alien technology. She edged closer to Hammond and murmured, “Sir, I recommend we remove those spheres. We don’t know what they are, or what damage they can cause.”
Hammond quietly agreed with the assessment, and looked back up at the travelers in time to see Yuffie tugging at one strap of her backpack. Strife – to Hammond’s astonishment – glanced a question at Teal’c and the Jaffa nodded in response. “It will be safe until you reclaim it.”
Strife quirked a smile at him. “Thank you.” He looked toward Hammond while Yuffie handed the pack over to Jack. “We will answer your questions about our purpose here.”
Jack frowned. It was just too easy, and that meant there was a catch somewhere. “What about that other sword?”
Surprising everyone, Teal’c spoke up first. “We have a warrior’s word. He will not break it.” He met Jack’s eyes calmly.
Strife looked… impressed by that, and Yuffie groaned. “Now you’ve done it.”
“Done what?” Daniel asked, wondering if the words had some kind of ritual or cultural meaning.
“First chance they get, they’ll be sparring.”
“I would enjoy such a battle,” Teal’c admitted.
Strife nodded, eyes glowing brighter. “When your commander has allowed me my blade back.” He turned to Jack and raised his left hand to touch the hilt of his remaining sword, lingering on it. “I no longer fight with this. It’s for remembrance.”
Yuffie stepped closer, brushed her hand over his. Strife blinked and looked down at her, letting his hand fall to his side again. “You okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Hammond cut in, deciding not to mention the glass spheres. If Teal’c had managed to find some common ground with Strife, Hammond did not want to break that trust by gainsaying him. “If you’ll follow me to the infirmary so Dr. Frasier can have a look at you –”
“No.” The malice in that single word made the airmen tighten their grip on their guns.
“I must insist on a medical examination,” Hammond said, undaunted by the look on Strife’s face. “We need to be certain you’re not Goa’uld, and that you’re not carrying any diseases we have no resistance to.”
Strife’s teeth bared in a snarl. “I will not be dissected by your scientists.”
“I don’t care who you are,” Yuffie said, shifting into ready stance, “I’m not letting you do that to him again.”
Hammond frowned, more at the implication of what Strife had been through than at the accusation to himself. “That’s not our intention. It’s strictly a security measure, and nothing invasive.”
“Swear to me that there will be no experiments,” Strife said, “and that you will destroy all information about us once you see we aren’t a danger to you.”
“I swear.” Hammond felt like the words were forced out of him, as if he couldn’t have refused the request if he’d wanted to.
The pair exchanged a glance before Strife nodded, though they kept a wary eye on the soldiers as they were escorted through the base. Hammond couldn’t blame them any more than he could keep himself from trying to question them as they rode the elevator up to the infirmary level.
“You said you didn’t come here to fight us. What other reason do you have? We’ve never been to your galaxy.”
Strife’s eyes widened. “We’ve come so far? No wonder I could… It explains things.” He looked at Yuffie. “She didn’t tell me much. It’s been so long since the Cetra left her she doesn’t remember how to speak. She had to do things more directly and… it upset some old memories.”
“We will have words about that,” Yuffie stated with deceptive calm. “A lot of words.”
Cloud nodded. “And a few more about you abandoning your responsibilities.”
“I didn’t abandon anything. I left Wutai in the hands of its very capable lord who has never made a move to include me in his duties, official or otherwise, to go with my brother who has a history of letting women talk him into doing stupid things. Starting with Tifa and ending with Gaia, you just don’t have any sense.”
The small smile he gave her as they exited the elevator was sad and gentle. “But those stupid things gave me more than I ever hoped to have. And even if I’d never joined Shinra, I most likely would have died in Nibelheim, by Sephiroth’s hand or the villagers’. You know that.”
Feeling that the current line of conversation should be private, Hammond asked, “Are you saying you were supposed to rule your country, Ms. Kisaragi?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Yuffie will be fine. And while I won the right of it, I think everyone will be happier to have my father stay in control. I certainly don’t want the responsibility.”
Jack and Hammond looked at each other, both suspicious and well aware that if these people were possible allies, the General couldn’t afford to offend them.
“And you have no problem sharing all of this with us?” Jack asked, testing the ground. “It doesn’t bother you to tell us you’d make a valuable hostage if we prove to be enemies?”
“Gaia took the gate back once we were through. Any information of our world is useless to you because no one will be able to travel there until she wishes them to.” Strife looked at Hammond rather than Jack, proving he understood who was really asking. “She doesn’t slumber like your planet does. We forced her to wake and defend herself, just as this one will.”
The group split up outside the infirmary, Jack and Teal’c going lock the weapons away and hand Yuffie’s pack over to the research staff while the others headed inside. Strife tensed, but his expression remained blank and he looked determined not to back down. Janet came to meet them, a question in her eyes.
“Dr. Frasier, I need you to check our guests for Goa’uld parasites, and any other surprises you can think of.”
“If Sam and Teal’c don’t sense anything –”
“After P3X-888, we’re not risking it,” Sam explained, referring to the recently discovered Goa’uld homeworld, where the symbiotes didn’t have the revealing naquada in their system.
“And if the results are clear, I want them destroyed,” Hammond added.
“Yes, sir.” Janet nodded. Though unusual, it was hardly the strangest order she’d ever received. “This way, then.”
She explained the ultrasound and its purpose and the simplicity of the procedure seemed to calm the travelers, though the mention of blood samples made Yuffie cast worried glances at Strife.
“I’m afraid it’s necessary,” Janet said. “I can’t let you go before I know you’re not carrying any alien bugs we’re sensitive to.”
Yuffie volunteered to go first, Strife watching Janet as if afraid she’d kill the girl the moment he took his eyes off her. The scan was quickly completed, the blood drawn, and Yuffie bounced to her feet, smiling cheerfully as she made Cloud sit down in her place. No one missed the way she kept her hand on his arm.
“It’ll be over in no time,” she said. “Just let the lady doctor work and we’ll be out of here and saving the world again before you know it. And did you see she’s actually my height? Isn’t that neat? I was starting to think we’d be the shortest people on this whole planet, but I might even have an inch on her – hard to tell with those shoes she wears. She’s got kind eyes, too, so you know she’s actually a doctor and not a scientist. Wouldn’t like to be her patient, though, because I’ll bet you my Leviathan that she’ll keep you on bed rest long after you’re ready to go hunting spirals just to be on the safe side – Great, you’re done!”
Strife rose slowly, eyes on Janet. She gave him a reassuring smile, used to having patients in a rush to leave but never wary of her to the extent this young man was.
“We’re done,” she affirmed, then directed her report to Hammond. “Neither are hosts, and I’ll have the samples analyzed as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you, Dr. Frasier.” Hammond gestured for everyone to follow him, but Strife stayed and watched her still, too-bright eyes unblinking.
“It was wrong to think you were a scientist. I’ll try to remember you’re a healer.”
“Thank you,” Janet said, realizing the compliment but not understanding the distinction.
Strife nodded to her and left the infirmary, Yuffie close enough to his side that their hands brushed together.
Janet stood staring at the door for a moment after it had shut behind them. Shaking her head, she went to work on the blood samples.