In the depths of Cheynne Mountain in the wee hours of the morning, Staff Sergeant Thomas Crow sat in the control room of Stargate Command, monitoring the Stargate. A relative newcomer to Stargate Command, having been stationed at Elmendorf Air Base ever since boot camp until three months ago, he was still getting used to all the new procedures that one needed to operate the Stargate; sure, he had studied all the manuals, attended training sessions, and ran drills in the simulator. This was the real thing. He had a bit of uneasiness. All the worst-case scenarios ran through his mind. “Deep breaths,” General Carter and Sergeant Harriman both told him. “You’ll do fine.”

  Even though he wasn’t supposed to start for another two days, Thomas had eagerly agreed to fill in for Sergeant Peterson who had been down with the flu. It would be a quiet night, Sergeant Peterson told Sergeant Crow over the phone. No SG teams returning, no scheduled check-ins planned. Just quiet. And so, Sergeant Thomas Crow sat at his post in the control room, anxious at what was to come that night.

  Hours drifted by and with nothing to do, Sergeant Crow got up from his chair to stretch. He ran his hands through his blonde hair. As he paced the room with a tinge of nervousness, he turned his gaze away from the gate momentarily. It was at this moment a familiar klaxon sounded from the quiet halls of Stargate Command.

  The Gate was being activated from offworld.

  Anxiously, Crow scrambled to the controls. “No SG teams are scheduled to come back tonight and there are no scheduled check-ins either,” he thought. Pushing a button he sounded a second klaxon. The red alarm lights began to flash. With a tone of uneasiness, Sergeant Crow pressed the talk button on his microphone at the console.

  “Unscheduled offworld activation!” he exclaimed as he pressed his palm on a scanner, closing the iris. The metallic device whirled and shut, preventing any unauthorized entry to Stargate Command and to the planet Earth.

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  A young woman with brown hair and hazel eyes calmly entered the control room. Her name was Captain Lucy Roncalli and she was the officer on duty. She calmly took up position next to Sergeant Crow and looked at the Stargate.

  “Report, Sergeant,” she said. She noticed the anxious expression on Sergeant Crow’s face; she knew that this was his first day as a Gate Technician. “Take a deep breath, Sergeant, before you strain something.” Crow took a deep breath and regained his composure.

  “Unscheduled offworld activation ma'am,” replied Crow. “No SG teams are either scheduled to return or check in.” He looked at a monitor that displayed the presence of an Iris Deactivation Code being sent. There was none. “No IDC being received either, ma'am.” Captain Roncalli knew what she knew what she had to do: order the defense teams to the Gate Room. She stepped up to the microphone at the control panel and said,

  “Defense teams to the Gate Room on the double.” But as she spoke the Stargate suddenly shut itself off as did activation klaxon. All that remained active was the alert klaxon as were the alert lights.

  Both Captain Roncalli and Sergeant Crow were stunned. There been no thuds, the telltale sound that something or someone had gone through the gate on the other end and met an untimely demise with the iris.

  “Defense team stand down,” ordered Captain Roncalli. She stood there with Sergeant Crow still aghast at just what happened.

  “Sergeant, what just happened?” Captain Roncalli asked.

  “I…, I don't know, ma'am. That was very odd.”

  “Indeed. Run a level two diagnostic on the Gate immediately, Sergeant.

  “Yes, ma’am.” After a pause, his mind running through the training manual, he spoke again. “Should we alert the General?” Sergeant Crow asked. Captain Roncalli thought about it for a moment.

  “No, I don't believe so,” she replied. “But note it in the logs that we had an activation but nothing happened. It'll be in my report as well.”

  “Yes ma'am,” said Crow.

  “And bring me the results of the diagnostic when it's finished. I will want to include that as well.”

  “Will do, ma'am,” Sergeant Crow said. Captain Roncalli returned to her desk and Sergeant Thomas Crow returned to his post with a hint of uneasiness. “Will this be how all my shifts are like?” He thought. “Deep breaths, deep breaths” he told himself as he began to run the diagnostic.