***** “Rodney, where the hell are we?” said Sheppard

“How should I know?” Mckay replied.

“Where’s the DHD? For that matter, why does this look like a Milky way gate?” asked Dr. Keller.

“Aren’t stargates usually out in the open? Why is this one in a cave?” Ronon asked

“I don’t know just give me a second to figure it out?”

“……..well, Rodney, where the hell are we?”

“That’s definitely a Milky-Way gate. There’s no DHD. Why is there no DHD? This is bad. Really bad.” Rodney replied.

“OK. Atlantis isn’t expecting us back for another 24 hours. You and Keller stay here while Ronon and I look for an exit. Maybe we can find out where we are.”

It only took 20 minutes to find the entrance to the cave. The planet looked bleak. It was a hot desert planet. Ronan and Sheppard took some time to scout the area only to find more rocks. No signs of water, life, or anything else. Climbing to higher ground they spotted what looked like a house, or maybe a ship about a day’s walk away. After three hours of scouting the area, they returned to the cave and to Drs. McKay and Keller and Sheppard asked “Well Rodney, what do you have?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Rodney said. “This is definitely a Milky Way gate. There’s no apparent DHD. The strange thing is, this symbol here. This is the home symbol for the gate. I don’t recognize it. It’s not in the Ancient database on the computer.”

“You’re right, this doesn’t make sense. I take it no DHD means we can’t dial out?”

“Well obviously”.

“We spotted something about a day’s walk out. It looks like were’ about an hour from dusk, so we hold up here for the night and then try to find civilization in the morning. Maybe we can find something to work with then.”

“You mean we’re not waiting to hear from Atlantis” Dr. Keller asked.

“If this really is a Milky Way gate, it’s unlikely Atlantis will be able to contact us. Sheppard’s right. Our best bet is to determine where we are, and make our way back to Earth.”

*****

“Kaylee we’re down”

“Shr ah Captain. Shutting her down for now. It’ll take a few hours to replace that intake valve.“

“Just remember we have that job to do in the morning. It would be nice if we’d be ready for a quick getaway.” Putting the mike down the Captain left the bridge heading down the walkway into the galley There he found his first mate Zoe and his merc Jayne sitting at the table cleaning their weapons obviously expecting violence tomorrow at the drop. “In the morning, I want you two to bury the goods out in those hills over to the west.”

“Aye Captain.” The first mate replied.

Mal looked over at Jayne, his concentration on his weapons is paramount. He looked up, grunted an affirmative, and returned to reassembling his favorite pistol.

Mal made his way down the back stairs past the infirmary to the cargo bay only to find River standing by the open cargo bay door, looking off in the distance. He strode across the cargo bay and stood next to her for a few quiet moments. Finally as he turned to begin talking to her, she quietly spoke up “they don’t belong here”, then turned around and walked away.

*****

Dawn broke early on Haven. Before breakfast, Zoe, went down to the cargo bay and lowered the hover mule to the deck so that they could begin loading. Jayne, walked into the cargo bay rubbing sleep from his eyes, and walked over to the compartment where their illicit cargo was stored. He and Zoe began pulling crates out to load up in the mule. Turning around, she found River sitting in the passenger’s seat wearing a pair of goggles entirely too big for her face and pulling on a pair of leather work gloves. As Zoe loaded up the mule spoke up saying “Riv, sweetie, you planning on joining us today.”

“Yes”

“You planning on doing your share of digging?”

“Maybe some exploring. Something’s out there that shouldn’t be”

“Just be sure to not wander off too far. Simon would have a fit”

“He worries too much. He’s a boob.”

“You won’t get any arguments from me,” Jayne said hauling up the last box of cargo.

As Mal and Kaylee watched from the catwalk, the three crewmembers fired up the mule and headed off to the hills.

******

Ronon was the first to wake when he heard loud engine approach. He woke Sheppard and the others and Sheppard grabbed his P90 and together the four carefully made their way to the entrance to the cave. When they got there, they saw what looked like a boxy craft hovering about a foot off the ground. Nearby there was two armed people burying boxes in the dirt. The man was large, and looked like he could give Ronon a run for his money. The woman, was tall, muscular, with dark skin and dark hair. She had an air about her that told Sheppard that this woman was once a soldier.

After a half hour, they were done digging, but just as they finished they looked up to find a shuttle come in for a landing off to the right. Out of the shuttle came seven heavily armed men and two wearing blue suits and blue gloves. As they approached the two, their backs were to the cave. Suddenly from just outside the cave, a small girl appeared wearing leather gloves and glasses on their head. Startled, Sheppard and Ronon aimed their weapons at the girl. She looked at each in turn and finally she spoke. Looking at Dr. Keller, she said “you’re not Kaylee” before moving onto Sheppard she said “and you’re not a Shepherd.”

Sheppard replied with what everyone was thinking which was only to say “What?”

“I need to help my friends down there. The two with the gloved hands are looking for me. They want to take me back. Continue their experiments on me. Will you help me?”

Sheppard looked at each of his team members seeing each nod. “Yes we’ll help”

“Good, Follow me. You two stay here” As she passed, she effortlessly pulled Sheppard’s sidearm and drew Ronon’s sword out of its scabbard. She glided down the path to behind the men holding her friends hostage with Ronon and Sheppard trailing behind.

“Where is River Tam? I won’t ask you this again. We know she is out here. Your captain wasn’t very forthcoming with information, but when we threatened the women, the mechanic revealed some of you were out in these hills. Now l ask again, where is River Tam?”

The man being held hostage looked up and started laughing. “She’s right behind you, you feh feh pi goh”

At that moment, Sheppard, Ronon, and River open-fired with their weapons. After the initial volley of fire, most of the men went down with the exception of the two blue gloved men. Instantly, the small girl sprang forward with the sword slicing into one of blue gloved men severing his leg swinging the sword around and plunging it through the heart of the second man. She pulled the sword out of the man’s chest cavity and strode over to the man with the severed leg who was struggling to stay conscious. She just looked into his eyes and stated “I am not yours” before stabbing him through the heart.

Sheppard and Ronon lowered their weapons as the small woman’s friends got up off the ground.

“River, are you going to introduce us to your friends here?”

“Yes, later. Simon’s in the shuttle and he’s hurt. I’m not sure but I think some of the others are hurt as well. “ the girl named River replied as she was wiping the blood off the sword. She handed the sword back to Ronon saying thank you.

Sheppard talked to into his walkie saying “Dr. Keller, we got a patient for you down here.” Zoe heard the reply come back in a voice eerily like that of Kaylee saying “OK Colonel. Be there in a minute.”

“Zoe, I can fly the shuttle back to Serenity and bring them along as well.”

“Take Jayne. I’ll bring the Colonel back on the mule. Radio when you get back and let me know what you find.

“Will do”

After the shuttle takes off carrying River, Jayne, the big man with dread-locks named Ronon and the two doctors Zoe said to the Colonel “So, would you like to explain why you’re wearing a flag on your shoulder of a country that collapsed before the Exodus. Also,that looks like a P90. They stopped making those 400 years ago. Where did you get an antique like that?”

“What do you mean collapsed? And what exodus? More importantly, what do you mean 400 years?”

“That flag is from Earth-That-Was. Over 400 years ago people left Earth because all the resources were used up. People loaded up into massive ships took over a generation to get here. Headed out to this system. Terraformed planets, moons, subjucated people.”

“What year is it?”

“2520”

“What?”

“2520”

“This isn’t right. It was 2009 when we left. Maybe McKay can explain this when we get to your ship.”

*****

“Well River, he’s ok. He won’t be walking right for a bit, but he should be fine.”

“Thanks Dr. Keller. We’ll be setting down in a minute. The captain’s hurt as well.”

“How do you know that”

“I’m psychic”

“That’s impossible!!!” Dr. McKay screeched.

“Teyla’s psychic” River replied.

“Yeah, but she’s got wraith DNA and…..wait a second. How do you know that”

River just gave him a look like he’s a boob. “I’m psychic”.

“River. Once we’re down, let’s check the ship first before we let these guys out,” Jayne stated.

“Ok. But Ronon can help. Stun only. Kill could damage the ship. There shouldn’t be anyone there”

“Can’t be too careful.” Ronon said.

“Right” Jayne agreed.

After clearing the ship, River ran to get Dr. Keller while Ronon helped Simon get to the infirmary. After a quick examination, Dr. Keller found that he was just unconscious and that there was no permanent damage. She looked up and said “Don’t worry miss….”

“Inara”

“Inara, he should be fine.”

“He usually is. This happens far too often, but don’t tell him I said that. Usually it’s Simon patching him up.”

“Speaking of which, he really should get a couple stitches.”

Ronon walked into the cargo bay carrying the bleeding man. “Where’s he going?”

Kaylee popped up. “oh Simon. This way,” she said as she lead the former runner through the cargo bay through the door in the back. Dr. Keller and Inara followed the trio into the infirmary.

“OK, you need stitches. Can you give me my pack” Dr. Keller said looking up.

“The weaves are in the second drawer from the right” Inara said.

“Weave?’

“Yeah, weaves for the stitches”

“Oh. Ok, I can work with this. And the pain killers?”

“The smoothers are in the second cupboard from the left”

“Smoothers? Painkillers?” Dr. Keller said as she opened the cupboard. “What are these? I’ve never heard of any of these?”

Kaylee upset at seeing Simon in pain said “And you say you’re a doctor. Ain’t you supposed to know these things?”

Inara spoke up “here, let me. I often need to help out. I think it’s three cc’s of this.”

Dr. Keller taking command said “ok, Inject that near the wound site. A couple minutes and it should be numb enough to work on.” Looking at Kaylee she stated “Just so you know, I graduated from the top of my class at one of the best medical schools on Earth.”

As soon as she finished the statement, the other three just froze in their tracks. Inara was the first to speak up. “What do you mean Earth? We left Earth over 400 years ago.”

“She’s telling the truth. We’re from Earth,” Dr. Rodney McKay said from the doorway to the infirmary.

“That’s impossible”

They all looked to River standing next to Dr. McKay. She simply stated “truth”.

*****

The mule pulled up to the ship with it’s two silent occupants. After pulling into the cargo bay, they got out and strode to the infirmary. The captain, who had been moved to the couch outside the infirmary was starting to come around. He looked up to see his first make make her way into the lounge followed by an armed stranger in a tactical vest. He managed to croak out “Report?”

“Sir, after the blue hands hit you here they made their way out to the hide. They held Jayne and I at gunpoint while questioning us. At that point, River made her way down from the hills with two strangers. They open fired on the blue hands killing the guards and River killed the two blue hands with a strange sword. One of them was a doctor and they offered medical help.”

“Can we trust them?”

“River seems to think so”

“Well, she would know.” Mal replied with a nod.

“Sir, there’s a problem though. They say they are from Earth”

“Not all of us. Ronon’s from a planet called Seteda in the Pegasus galaxy” Colonel Sheppard added.

“Zoe, did he just say that one of them is from another galaxy?” Mal questioned

“I believe so sir.” Zoe replied

“How is this possible?”

“I don’t know, I was going to ask McKay and figure it out. Yesterday we were in the Pegasus galaxy, and today we’re over 500 years in the future in a different galaxy. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one. Stranger things have happened though.”

“Really?” Mal added.

“Yeah, I turned into a bug. Dr. Keller turned into a tree. Rodney blew up a solar system.” Sheppard said.

“I did not blow up a solar system” McKay whined.

“Well 5/6 of one” said Sheppard.

“See, there’s a difference.” McKay said.

“You don’t belong here.” It was a quiet statement but one that you took notice of.

“You got something to say Albatross?” The Captain said.

“They don’t belong here. Out of place. Out of time. Wormholes warping, winding, twisting through time, breaching the fabric of the universe. Can’t go back. Stranded.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxx This is my first attempt at any type of fiction writing. Comments and suggestions would be helpful.