Stargate SG1 - Roswell by Jennifer Fallon, Sonny Whitelaw Read Free Book Online Page A

mind.
     
    Lee's smile turned apologetic and he looked away, somewhat embarrassed. “If you ever get bored back at the SGC,” he suggested hesitantly, “I could always do with a hand in the lab.”
     
    It wasn't often Vala was caught off guard, and while she knew Lee found her seductively attractive—most men did, naturally—she was a little surprised to realize that he honestly appreciated her less visible attributes, too.
     
    She suspected it might be one of the reasons why the people on this planet had become important to her. And that was an odd notion in itself, because experience had taught her that demonstrating even the slightest bit of consideration to anyone other than herself invariably ended badly. Still, fitting into military life at the SGC was not proving to be the easiest of tasks, the odd night out in the restaurants of Colorado Springs notwithstanding. Despite her relatively recent status as a fully fledged member of the SGC—and Daniel's assurances that she really didn't have to prove herself anymore—helping Lee might further her status as well as alleviating her boredom.
     
    Footsteps on the hatch announced the arrival of Carter. “How are we doing?”
     
    Disconnecting his datapad, Lee closed the access panels. “Every system now has a discreet power source, but in the event of, say, a failure of the drive pods, General O'Neill should be able to instantly divert power from the time machine or Asgard transport to compensate.” He turned to Carter and added, “I'm glad the Asgard finally taught us—well, you—to install their equipment without their constant supervision.”
     
    Not for the first time that day, Vala got the distinct impression that General Carter's cryptic smile was hiding something more than thirty odd years of additional history.
     
    O'Neill stepped inside, paused for a quick look around, and, easing past the temporal device mounted in the jumper's tiny cargo bay, came forward to the cockpit and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Okay kids, are we ready to take the DeLorean for a test drive?”
     
    Lee muttered something under his breath about the logical inconsistencies and scientific inaccuracies in what Vala assumed, was a movie of some kind. She wasn't entirely sure what he was on about, however, and it made her wonder if she should reconsider Teal'c's offer to loan her his extensive DVD library which, he had assured her, were considerably more educational than Sol's collection of X-Files tapes.
     
    While the other members of SG-1 had agreed to a moratorium on cultural references, she hated feeling left out, or that someone was making a joke she wasn't in on. And that whole 'sharing leaves' ritual with the hysterical onion-faced wife of Ver Egen's Administrator had been a pointed reminder of why one should familiarize oneself with the local customs. Something she was certainly going to include in any book she wrote on Handy Hints For Getting Around The Universe.
     
    Not that she was likely to. Apparently there was already a book on the subject, although how any Earthling imagined they knew enough about getting around the galaxy to write a guide for hitchhikers, was a bit of a mystery. Probably stole the entire idea from an alien.
     
    O'Neill made himself at home in the pilot's chair while Carter stood watching over his shoulder. Curious to see exactly how this all worked, Vala positioned herself behind the starboard passenger seat, balanced her elbows on the backrest and cupped her chin in her hands.
     
    “Now remember, Jack,” Carter said, “just like the last time.”
     
    The padded seat swiveled around and O'Neill shot her a speculative look. “Last time? There's only been a first time.”
     
    “Plus two trips to ancient Egypt, one via Chulak, which, as far as we've been able to ascertain, successfully restored the original timeline.”
     
    “More or less,” Lee muttered behind them. Vala turned in time to see Lee rocking his hand back