Our New Astrophysicist

Posted on Sun Mar 3rd, 2019 @ 3:30am by Civillian Selyna Braeden & Brigadier General Nathan Wolf

Mission: Aftermath
Location: Project New Dawn, Cheyenne Mountain
Timeline: Current

Nathan stood in the conference room looking out over the Gate Room. Everything about the New Dawn complex within Cheyenne Mountain was greatly improved over the old SGC. For one, when they excavated, they were able, with more modern materials, to expand the interior space. The Gate Room was larger, as was the control room. And those were just two of the improvements. The computing power contained within the Control Room, within the whole complex, was vastly greater than that of the old SGC. New Dawn had more to work with in a lot of ways. But was it enough.

"General?" a Senior Airman said. "Doctor Braeden is through Security. The SFs are escorting her down here now. Shall we bring her to your office?"

"No, here is fine," Nathan said. "Show her in when she gets here."

Nathan sipped his coffee and waited for the newest recruit to Project New Dawn to arrive.

Selyna had been pleasantly surprised by the security of the base. She had, frankly, expected it to be more draconian, but there had been nothing that truly made her feel violated. Granted, she had felt a bit uncomfortable when they had wanted to search her purse, but that was only because the things in there were... well, personal. She had nothing to hide, though, and so she had eventually been passed through with her purse.

The guards who were escorting her were fairly silent, telling her nothing. They were not rude or impolite, merely... uninformative. But she suspected that went with the territory, and so she walked silently with them, following every instruction they gave. She was, however, memorizing the layout of the part of the facility she was being directed through. That was an old habit from moving around as much as she did as a kid. Almost every year, she would be in a new school and had to figure out how to get between her classes. So every year, she would spend her lunch break of the first day memorizing the hallways. She'd done it at Columbia too, though some of the other students had given her odd looks. She'dd never gotten lost though, and had in fact helped other students find their classes, so she figured it was worth the odd looks.

The officers led her, finally, to a door and motioned for her to proceed inside. She had somehow expected one of them to enter first and so was momentarily glitched. At a second motion, though, she entered the room and let her gaze slide over it before settling on the only other person in the room. She didn't say anything yet, though, merely waited for him to speak, and maybe tell her why she was here. Patience was a virtue when teaching at any school; college was no different. And she had plenty, so she merely waited.

Nathan waited until the SFs shut the door behind them and then turned around. "Welcome, Doctor Braeden. I'm Brigadier General Nathan Wolf. I'm the commandant of Project New Dawn, which used to be known years ago as 'The Stargate Program'. Please, have a seat. Can I get you a cup of coffee? Mama Edith somehow makes US Air Force issue coffee taste like something other than recycled avgas."

Selyna couldn't help but to chuckle at the reference. "Well, I don't know about Air Force coffee, but my dad used to say that Marine Corps coffee was only marginally better than drinking tank fuel." she said in response as she moved just a hair farther into the room. She wasn't military herself, so she had not even tried to salute. "Nice to meet you, General, and yes, I will take that coffee... as long as you have some Splenda to go in it?"

"Sure thing," Nathan set his cup down on the table and poured Celina a cup and grabbed some Splenda packets for her. "Cream? Milk? Black?"

"Black is fine." she said as she moved closer to where he stood. There was no need for him to cross the whole room just over a cup of coffee; her legs weren't painted on. "Thank you." she said as she reached where he stood with the cup of coffee and Splenda.

"Alright, let's sit," Nathan said. Once they were seated, Nathan started with what he thought was a logical question and one that would save him time. "What have you been told about what we do here, Doctor?"

At his offer to sit, she did, taking a sip of the coffee. She noted that while bitter, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as her father had described military coffee. Whoever this Mama Edith was, she was a keeper! The question made her pause, though, and she lowered the cup to the tabletop, holding it between both of her hands in a classic relaxed conversation position.

She frowned. "Well, your pointing out that it is related to the Stargate Program, I have the idea that it involves wormholes and alien planets." she started with a slight smile. "I wasn't told much, honestly. I suppose that's the downside of the whole top secret thing." She took a breath and let it out slowly. "They said that the government needed my particular knowledge and skills -- though I'm not sure what sills they meant since I'm just an instructor at Columbia -- for a project that they couldn't tell me about but that they were bringing me to talk to someone who could tell me. So..." she shrugged. "Please tell me."

"Got it in one, Doctor," Nathan said. "Twenty-one yearsthere was an invasion. It was repelled, but the Stargate Complex and the stargate itself were buried in a cave in. We've only just reopened. We're assembling teams as we speak and are beginning to send them to other worlds. I'd like you to be on one of those teams, Doctor. Eventually, that team will very likely be SG-2. For the moment, you will accompany SG-1 until SG-2 is fully assembled. If you agree to this arrangement, you could be off-world very soon, providing technical expertise to your team. Are you interested?"

Selyna sat stock still for several moments, digesting what he had said. Oh, in theory, she got it. She understood the nature of wormholes and how they worked. She could even surmise the nature of the ones the Stargate generated, but to actually do it? That was something else entirely! She felt her stomach tie itself into a knot as she thought about the implications. What wouold happen to her students? But she knew the answer to that; Columbia would hire someone to take her place. The students would barely notice. And that led her to the next logtical question. "Not that I'm not flattered, General, but why me?" She was not challenging the choice or refusing the honor being offered. She simply wanted to understand why they had selected her out of all of the Quantum Physicists and theoretical physicists out there.

"On The Construction and Applications Of Wormholes: A Treatise in Quantum Physics" Nathan said. "Your work, as I understand it. Actually, the fact that it's your work is about all I understand of it. They didn't bring me in for my scientific knowledge and background. I don't have one, beyond my career field. I'm here because there are some very scary things out there and we can't fight them head on. I'm kind of an Air Force expert at fighting things when we can't fight them head on. But people a lot smarter than me about these things say that you have the potential to be an asset both when interacting with alien tech in the field and even here on base. These are the kinds of people whose opinion I tend to take very seriously. Were they mistaken, Doctor?"

As she listened, she found herself feeling just a tiny bit overwhelmed. They had put such faith in her, made her seem so adept. She couldn't fail... ever. But everyone failed sometime, so she was bound to sooner or later. But she knew her worth, and she knew what she was capable of. And as long as she always performed to her optimal, then it wasn't failure but a learning opportunity. She held his gaze as she responded, with a voice that was clear and confident but not arrogant. "No, sir, they weren't. And I am honored to be part of this program. I will do my best to never make you regret bringing me in." she said, her oath to the man before her but also to herself. The dangerous things out there, well she would just have to adapt. "In short, my answer is yes, I accept. And again, thank you."

"Good," Nathan said. "Excellent. So, I should try and give you a little background on what we're dealing with. There's a digital orientation packet with a lot more detail than I'm going to give you now, and I expect you to go all the way through it. For now, however, what you need to know is that we face an enemy known as the Goa'uld. They're a parasitic race. They take over host bodies, mostly humans now, and walk around in them. Whether anything of the host survives is still up for debate, but separating a host from a Goa'uld has not be done successfully yet, at least not by us. These Goa'uld, also known as the System Lords, came to Earth thousands of years ago. They posed as gods worshiped by primitive humans, took them as hosts, turned others into soldiers, and the rest became slaves. They didn't create the Startgates, but they did use one to come here. When those primitive humans rebelled, the Goa'uld left, taking with them untold numbers of humans, who they used to seed the galaxy with, planting various Earth cultures on planets they controlled. They used and continue to use these humans as a source of hosts, soldiers, and slaves. They are powerful and technologically advanced. They primarily use the Stargate for travel, but they do possess large, powerful ships called ha'tak. Thankfully, it would take months for them to travel to Earth in such a ship and they don't seem to think we're really worth the trouble at the moment. We believe that's because they have their hands full fighting each other right now, and fighting their own slaves who have been rising up against them, as have some of their soldiers."

Nathan took a sip of his coffee before moving on.

"There are also worlds where the Goa'uld seeded humans and then just ignored them," he said. "Our missions here will involve exploration. We want to make contact with as many of these groups of humans as possible, both the ones the Goa'uld have ignored and the ones who are fighting them or want to fight them. We're going to establish trade and we're going to offer whatever support we can where we can. We're going make alliances where we can. Have you ever heard of the 3 d's of national security strategy?"

Selyna sat quietly, sipping her coffee and listening to every word. As a scientist, she was accustomed to processing large amounts of data quickly, but this data was nothing she had ever heard before. Parasitic aliens that kidnapped humans in ancient times? It was like something out of a science fiction movie or book. She guessed that it would be easier given the use of the Stargate, but it was still a lot to take in. Andshe was supposed to help fight them? She was no fighter realy, but she had taken a few classes in self defense during her college days, so she could defend herself if needed. Still the idea of running into a fight made her want to shiver, but she restrained it.

Her brow furrowed at the question, and she lowered the coffee. "I'm afraid I don't." she answered. Her father had never mentioned this 'three d's'. "I'm sorry, but would you mind explaining it?" She felt just a bit foolish. Should she have known it?

"Don't worry, Doctor," Nathan said. "Unless you work for the State Department or the Department of Defense or read a lot about foreign policy and national security policy, there's no reason for you to know about it."

Nathan composed his thought as he planned out how he would explain things.

"Okay," he said. "So the first D stands for development. In our wheelhouse, it means we're going to go out and find as many of these human cultures who have been seeded around the galaxy and we're going to give them as much support as we can in becoming functional, self-sustaining groups who can defend themselves against the Goa'uld and maybe even help strike back against them if need be. The second D stands for diplomacy. We're going to make alliances with as many of these groups as we can. Those alliances are going to include trade agreements. We'll be trying to make alliances and open trade with more advanced groups in the hopes of gaining access to advanced tech. The last D stands for defense or the use of the military. In our case that means providing training and weapons to some of these groups, as well as conducting and irregular warfare campaign against the Goa'uld. Small, planned, lightning strikes, and get out fast and also hitting targets of opportunity. As I said, I'm kind of the resident expert at that kind of thing, but I'm not the only one. That's how we're going to operate from here on out. Your job will be as technical and scientific support. You'll also be required to assist our science and engineering staff as well. If we have the opportunity to acquire new tech, you'll need to help us figure out if it's something worth trading for. When actually acquire something advanced, your expertise make required to examine it and find ways to adapt it to our use. You'll be working with Doctor Ravi Azad on that. He's our Chief of Engineering. Did any of that make sense?"

Selyna nodded when he finished. "Completely. Received, processed and filed." she answered with a small smile. Part of her was a little scared of some of it, but another part was excited by the prospect of discovering something new, and that part was larger. "I don't suppose I could see Dr. Azad's dossier before I speak with him, could I?" she asked. True, a dossier only told you so much, but it was a start. Shewouldn't feel as though she was walking in blind. "If not, that's okay. I'll suffice with someone identifying him for me."

"Absolutely," Nathan said. He slid a military grade tablet over to Celina. "This is yours. It's secure. You can take it off world. Once you set up your account, you can log in and access the public parts of his file. You can bunk on base for a while if you'd like, and that bunk will remain available to you in case you need to crash here, even if you secure off base housing. There's a stipend for that, and for food if you live off base. It's not much, but it helps. I'll have an airman help you get yourself settled, show you to your office and such. Welcome to New Dawn, Doctor. I look forward to seeing good things from you."

Selyna took the tablet from the general and gave it a look. "Thank you, General." Setting it down, she finished the coffee and set the mug down. "My house was in New York; it may be a bit difficult of a commute. Is there a procedure for having my belongings shipped out here and such?' she asked. She wasn't married to her condo anyway and could easily sell it. The tricky bit was going to be finding suitable housing here in an unfamiliar area and getting her belongings here. She sure as hell hoped New Dawn had a contingeny plan for this.

"Of course," Nathan said. "Have the airman take you by Logistics, give them the details, and they'll work it all out. There's also a Housing Officer that help you find something local that should suit you. Our counterintelligence people have provided a list of landlords and buildings they've verified are secure, and OSI will sweep any property you rent or purchase the day you move in and randomly after that, to make sure no one is eavesdropping. Also, a secure landline, internet connection, and lan will be installed for you. Any other questions I can answer for you?"

Selyna raised her eyebrows. They really seemed to have it all covered. "I... honestly don't know." she answered with a little chuckle. "You seem to have covered things I didn't think of. But if I do have questions, do you have an open door policy? Or is there someone specifically I should take questions to?"

"Knock first, but sure," Nathan said. "And you'll find others around here are willing to be helpful as well."

"Noted. Thank you. I'm sure you have a pile of things that need your attention." She stood and offered a hand. "I look forward to working here with all of you."

"And we look forward to working with you," Nathan said. "Airman!" a USAF Senior Airman entered the room. "Doctor Braeden has lots of business to attend to in the mountain. Please see to it that she gets where she needs to go."

"Yes, sir," the Senior Airman said. "Please come with me, Doctor."

Selyna smiled again and followed the Airman out. The general was right; she had a lot of things to do, and she might as well get started immediately.