Stargate SG-1: Steampunk

Chapter 10 - Fort Carter

The representatives from Earth as well as the Sanctuum ambassador ride a gently whooshing steam-powered limousine to a small landing strip a short distance from the government building. As they step from the limousine they see a small patrol airship waiting for them. Its rapidly spinning lift propellers threaten to snap the ropes holding it in place. They head into a stiff downwash as they approach the airship's gangway.

A sailor standing at the end of the gangway calls out, "welcome to the Racillan. Please get on board as quickly as possible. We will take off as soon as you are on board."

They quickly walk up the gangway and into the gondola. Just as O'Neill, the last person in line, steps through the door the sailor slides the gangway into place and then hops through the door. A member of the ground crew shuts and secures the door. The new arrivals look around to see all of the sailors standing with knees bent and holding onto straps that hang from the gondola's ceiling.

The sailor who had welcomed them says, "you may want to grab a strap!"

O'Neill and the others quickly reach up and grab a strap just before the commanding officer yells, "release the lines!"

The small airship leaps into the air, its propellers a blur as the airship quickly rises above the city. The SG team holds on tightly, otherwise they would be thrown to the back of the gondola. Once the airship reaches the proper altitude it levels out as it turns and then heads out of the city at high speed. The lack of frills, like seats, allows the airship to fly much faster than the other airships the team from Earth is used to.

O'Neill wouldn't mind heading over to a window to watch the Sanctuum countryside pass by. However, it appears that the commander of the airship has a very tight schedule to keep. The airship moves up and down and from side to side, closely following the hills and valleys. O'Neill is afraid that if he lets go of a strap he'll be slammed to the deck and then be slammed into the rear bulkhead of the gondola. He decides to avoid any sightseeing on this trip and instead tightens his grip on the strap.

The constant movement up and down and sideways makes the trip seem to go much quicker. After what seems like a short time the airship approaches their destination. The airship slows down to what seems like a crawl compared to the first part of the trip. This gives O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, and Captain Carter a chance to cautiously move toward the front of the gondola.

As the Racillan tops the hills located to the south of the stargate what O'Neill and Dr. Jackson sees shocks them. When SG-1 plus one had arrived over nine days ago, the stargate had been partially buried under several feet of sand and the dialing device was nowhere to be found. The only access to the meadow above the bluff was at the north end where the bluff had collapsed due to the flash flood cause by the dam collapse. During the time that O'Neill and Jackson had been guests of the Urghan government the entire area had undergone a radical change.

"What the hell happened?" O'Neill asks. Dr. Jackson remains speechless as he tries to take in what he sees.

Captain Carter begins to describe what was done while O'Neill and Dr. Jackson were otherwise detained.

"Well, Sir, once we knew that Urghan was not going to release you, at least willingly, we received permission from Sanctuum to establish a small base here, next to the gate."

As the Racillan slows O'Neill and Dr. Jackson can see the full extent of the meadow's transformation to forward military base.

"The first thing we did was protect the stargate and the dialing device."

A high, double sandbag wall almost surrounds the completely dug out stargate. The uncovered dialing device has its own little sandbag wall as well. A dozen fox holes, well protected by sandbags, surround the stargate. The original MALP has been replaced by one mounting twin .30 caliber machine guns. It sits a few feet from the dialing device.