"Well, that wasn't so bad, huh?"

Coleman gets out and notes the tube/car so that they can get back in the same one. Then he radios back to the others "We've arrived at the other end; a 5 minute trip."

Then he address Jason again; "Well, I guess we're here; let's take a look up stairs. If we encounter any resistance, though, let's plan on retreating back to here and taking the tube back."

"OOC: Note sure if the radio transmissions are getting through, so I didn't want to respond to that yet."

=== Coleman Hendricks and Jason Bjorn ===


You both head up the stairs, and come out in a place that's somewhat reminiscent of Grand Central Station in New York City... except it's empty... and clean.

There does seem to be a bit of dust over nearly everything, but no sign that people have been here for a very long time.

The building is a dome made of some black metal structure and interspaced with stained glass windows. The windows look strange, though, because the stained glass isn't in a pattern that is recognizable.

The overall impression is that of some baroque art crossed with art deco.

There are clear glass windows and doors all around the perimeter at ground level. You came up stairs in the center, and you see that there are 4 other sets of stairs going down.

Through the doors, you can see a city that looks like the one you first explored.


=== Jackie Carter, Kyle McGuinness and Travis Fox ===


The two of you have been continuing to delve into the computers and power distribution network. There's a lot of data, and there's figuring out what the Sha'kri called things. For instance, their word for 'transport' has several variations, depending on that type of transport it is. Rather than come up with a whole separate word to distinguish between an automobile and a truck, or a boat and a plane, they just modified the root.

Without knowing the meaning of the modified root, you can only figure it out by context, of which there isn't a lot on this system.

One of the things you are able to find is the expanded transport system. This is based off the root work with a prefix. The entire transport system covers the entire planet, but it's broken up into sectors. The one for this facility is only one sector. There are fourteen such sectors. They are all interconnected, but tend to operate separately.

You also find some 'empty' routes... which, after a bit of delving, you can determine go to orbit. You can't find any data on these orbital destinations, though, since, apparently, there are no such routes from this sector.

Travis is the one that actual finds the communication net... not because he knows the computers but because he can sense the purpose of it. Just as his ancestors used smoke signals and trail signs, the comm system has resonating echoes of similar communication.

Once pointed out, Kyle is able to call up the 'world-wide grid'. Oddly, there are major gaps, which he is able to cross-reference to destroyed cities and to missing orbital satellites.

With a little tweaking (and a lot of guessing and relaying), he is able to patch the team's radio communications into the planetary grid.

"Wow! That research place was just the tip of the iceberg. Let's take a quick look outside and see if anything has taken up residence here. But... I think this planet may make a good alpha site, honestly. It already has so much infrastructure set up, and the only natives we've encountered have been quite friendly."

"Don't know about that," Jason responded. "Remember, the Goa'uld know about this planet. And we've already repelled one invasion. Oh, right. You weren't with us for that."

"And, of course, there's Crom. We still don't understand the relationship between Goa'uld and Tok'ra yet. Is there some point where one can become the other? As far as we know, use of the sarcophagus corrupts a Goa'uld, since it wasn't designed for them, but for the Ancients. Even use by humans or near-humans can be corrupting."

"So, while Crom maintains that he is a 'good' Goa'uld, he's not a Tok'ra, so we can't quite trust him yet. Hell, for that matter, I'm not sure we can ever trust a Goa'uld. They may take a human host, but the bottom line is that they are alien. We don't really know how they think. They clearly have no problem taking over a host."

"You might be right. But it is worth remembering that, while they know about this planet, they don't seem to know that anything important is still here. I suppose they might have enough information to know that it would be a good hiding place for us as a fall back... but there are lots of good hiding places. Oh well, luckily I don't have to make those decisions; someone else can rule this place out or add it tot he short list. All we have to do is observe and report."

"So, now what?" Jason asked.

"It's a ghost city. Maybe we should have brought Travis."

"I think we should explore a little bit. We have no data on any other life forms on this planet. I think we're way beyond the range of the Cromar... Cromari? ...the Otterfolk."

"Something might have moved in and laired here. Crom never said if there were any other species on this planet... although, I suppose he implied it. Remember, all the intelligent species out here in the cluster that were suitable as hosts for the Goa'uld were rendered poisonous to the Goa'uld. That's why they created the gator-Jaffa."

"I don't know. I just feel like something is... missing."

"Yeah we should definitely look around a little. And you're definitely right about Fox being the right man for this part of the job; I suppose he could come catch up with us. Though I think until McGuinness and Carter are done, we're probably best off keeping someone there with them.

Oh well. Let's take a look around the streets and buildings nearby this station and see if we spot anything intelligent or dangerous. For now let's remain in visual contact with each other.

You like left or right, Bjorn?"

Coleman heads out the door and fans out to his side a bit before heading towards whatever nearby building looks the most interesting. He keeps all his senses open, just in case there really is someone nearby.

"I suppose I'd better take the right, since I'm left-handed," Jason responded to Coleman, as headed in the indicated direction, keeping close to a wall whenever possible.

When he encounters an obvious door, he'll study it for a moment before quickly crossing in front of it. Likewise, when he needs to cross an open area, he'll peer both ways before rapidly crossing the open area. Only when he's on the other side will he then look down both ways to see what he can see.

Coleman soon discovers a building that is slightly different than the others. Most of the buildings appear to be made of a highly polished gray stone, circular at the base but topped with angular pointed roofs. You don't spot any spires or antenna like at the first city. Also, while the first city had some damage, there is none apparent here. In addition, there is no overlap of the building bases, though many are touching. The buildings seem to have been built it 'blocks'... half a dozen to a dozen buildings stuck together, some with one-story bases, others with 2- or 3-story bases. What makes it all look strange is that the pointed roofs have different heights, and different angled slopes.

Another difference is that the first city seemed to be built as a sort of hive, while this one has more individuality to the buildings.

The odd building, assuming that they all don't look odd, is one with... windows. There aren't normal-looking windows; rather, they are areas of the wall that are transparent albeit still tinted a lighter gray.


Jason realizes that there is another marked difference with this city: paths. The first city had only one wide path through it. This one has dozens. It almost seems like the other city had 'grown' larger over the years. Thus this one might be a younger city.

The paths are grass-covered. As Jason rounds one building, he spots a small... 'herd' of animals. There are a dozen animals grazing on the grass. They look like small deer about the size of a German Shepherd. The similarity ends there. Each creature has six legs, four eyes, and two horns. The eyes appear cat-like, but one pair of eyes is set forward while the second pair is set on the side of the heads. There is one small horn at the tip of its nose (like a rhinoceros) and a second longer horn on its forehead (like a unicorn but the horn isn't spiraled).

The one closest to Jason raises its head at his appearance, and watches him intently as it tenses up.

Jason, seeing the one creature tense up, slowly takes a step backwards so as not to spook them. After a few steps, he uses his radio to contact Coleman.

COMM TRAFFIC... >>>"Found some funny looking animals, boss. They don't appear to be hostile. Kind of like small deer. Grazing in the grass. I'll try to circle around so that I don't spook them. Taking pictures."<<<

Is there anything else that Carter and Kyle want to try to do?

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 734):

Carter listens to the comms while still investigating the computer systems.

Kyle wants to find out more about the people who used this base, rather than their technology.

Between Carter and Kyle, you easily realize that the local computers do not contain all that much cultural data. It was never meant as an archive. The people that were here knew who they were.

While the transport system and the communication system of the planet were relatively automated such that they could be 'turned on' from this base, the computer network... even their world-wide web... is not. If they had something like the Internet, it is no longer functioning. Apparently, everything was shut down when they left. As long as everything was powered off, there would be no reason for the Goa'uld to attack them. It was only the psionic 'technology' that the Goa'uld were after, and that was only in the one city. It might help explain why the design of that city is different than the one Coleman and Jason are exploring, and, presumably, all the other cities.


That's not to say there isn't data in the computers. It's just going to be rather oblique.

If there's something specific that you want to know, you can each ask 5 questions. I'll then assign a relevant skill and TN to see if you can extract the answer from the computers.

"Roger. I'm going to see if I can get into one of these buildings and see its condition."

Coleman begins circling whatever nearby building seems most likely to be a habitat, though it is mostly just a wild guess. He looks for an entrance of some sort; barring that he looks for other means of getting inside, such as an emergency exit or roof access.

Coleman has no problem finding the door to the building, but it's a sliding door that doesn't open automatically, probably because the city has been powered down. Only the transport system had power.

A knife, however, lets him pry the doors apart enough that he can open one side by pushing it.

Inside, he quickly realizes that it is a store. It has a circular counter in the center with a circular column inside the counter circle.

Around the shopping floor are various display shelves, all of which is made of some sort of vacuum-formed translucent plastic. The counter has clear top and fronts. There are items on display in the counter, but only a few still on the shelves.

There is jewelry, what are probably cosmetics, and some clothing and shoes. And then there are... knick-knacks. Souvenirs. Junk. Cosmic junk, but still junk. Some is clearly meant to be art, some is just dust collectors. Then again, these people were so technologically advanced that they may have eliminated dust!

"Anyone collect tchotchkes? I just found a store full of them. Maybe I should grab one for my Grandma; she loves this sort of bric-a-brac. I guess the SGC probably wouldn't let it out of the mountain, though.

So far this all seems pretty mundane; wild animals have moved into the abandoned city and everything's just sort of deserted. It does look like when they left they had no intention of returning; otherwise they would have put all this crap in storage, I'd guess."

In reply to Coleman Hendricks (msg # 740):

“ Colonel, you can grab two for me. ”

Jackie thinks about what she wants to know. More info about there culture and history. Maybe political and military organizational structures.

"How much more do you want to explore?" Jason asks Coleman over the radio.

"You know, many of these buildings are probably other stores or offices. Some may be living quarters. If these people were telepaths, then they didn't have to build according to the whim of personal taste or emotions."

"It also occurs to me that we probably won't find any bodies anywhere. When you are in contact with people mind-to-mind, no one is going to get left behind. I wouldn't think so, anyway."

"Sure, Carter, just for you.

I think we've looked around enough, Bjorn. Everything I've seen and you've reported fits with the account we've already gathered. Sorting through the little details of this place, if SGC wants to do it, probably is best left to a team of dedicated archaeologists, not a couple of soldiers. The place really is a treasure trove of established culture, but there doesn't seem to be any sort of immediate benefit. Let's meet back up at the train station and head back to the others."

With that, Coleman grabs a couple knick-knacks and heads back to the station.

"Copy that, Colonel," Jason replies, and begins retracing his steps.

He's not foolish enough to assume that everything will just be as it was when he came this way, though, and keeps an eye out to see if anything has changed. Of course, he's also looking for anything that he may have missed the first time.

Carter can find some references to culture... it's not much different than Earth culture, as far as she can tell. Clearly, the nature of it is different, but there are many similarities. The local database doesn't have a lot of data on anything not related to the research, but there were personal references made to 'shows'... presumably musical performances and stage productions. There does not seem to be anything equivalent to the cinema.

The only history Carter can find is that pertaining to the research. It goes into similar research conducted by three other scientists (presumably) in the field. There's peripheral data on the history of the Sha'Kri encountering the Goa'uld. There's not a lot of specifics, but reference to the first encounter resulting badly... 27,000 dead Sha'Kri.


Kyle just finds general information on related topics to the biochemistry research that was being done here. There are some 'advertisements' from companies that manufacture equipment that was being used here.

Apparently the key to the formula was discovered by a Ruvan (Dr.) Karanis. She was an expert on microbiology.

Other references include chemistry, meteorology and electronics.

There's no indication that the Sha'Kri were aware of the Tok'ra, but they were working on a formula that would stay with the Goa'uld even if they went through a stargate.

Kyle then stumbles across the personnel records. He finds about a dozen different lists that have all the people here on them... in different orders. Some sort of rotation: leave, vacation, night shift, etc.

Each of the individual personnel records list name, gender, age, address, other personal data, family, etc. There's also a CV for each of them, along with admin notes.

Fascinating... getting a real feel of the sort of people who were living and working here. Kyle is soon absorbed. It's the sort of thing he'd often speculate about on a dig site but most didn't keep that sort of records, or they hadn't survived.

"Interesting," Travis commented over Kyle's shoulder.

"You'll notice that there is minimal data on psychological profiles. A race of telepaths would hardly have those kinds of problem."

"Although... it occurs to me now that there could be a deviant telepath that was capable of hiding its... violent tendencies... from the probing of others. Biological aberrations do occur."

"As a research facility, do you think these people shared ideas telepathically? Would they actually finish each others' sentences? Or would the telepathy put them beyond the need to do that?"

"The Major and Jason should be returning shortly. Have you found anything useful yet?"