[I]Ariadne had never been beamed by Asgard technology before. She had experienced the Stargate and ring transporters, but never Asgard beaming. She was quite excited. So was Idalia. It felt good to be so much in agreeance. The last day or so had seen them disagreeing quite a lot more than usual, and it made for an unpleasant experience. Ariadne knew it was largely her own fault, she wasn’t adjusting to the Tau’ri as easily as she should have been. Her ruminations were cut short however, as she was enveloped in white light and her molecules were disassembled.

She did not really feel anything again until she was rematerialised, a remarkably quick process, in a much hotter, sandier environment. She was used to this sort of environment to some extent. Idalia, on the other hand, was less so. Sheyet was hotter than earth, but this heat was on the top end of comfort and with the heavy clothes, including the Tau’ri vest, it would probably become unpleasant soon. She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, holding her Staff weapon in her other hand. The view, at least, was quite impressive.

A city behind them and a gigantic ship extending at an awkward angle from the sand. It was far too big for any Goa’uld ship she’d seen. Miller, who was now the Strike Team leader after the disastrous flight through the debris field, was looking at the monstrous edifice with binoculars. He lowered the viewing device and turned to her to ask her what it was. She looked at it for a moment longer before replying. “I have never seen any ship of such a profile. I do not know who built or where it is from. I am sorry.” She was quite intrigued by the ship. Ruined cities were all over the galaxy, but there were few ships of such size. Only the Goa’ulds most powerful vessels or the Ori’s motherships were even close in size.

“We should explore it. Few species have the capability to build such large star-faring vessels. If the race that built this vessel still exists, we should make sure they are not our enemies. I do admit I was expecting Ancient structures though, not… these. Why would there be an Ancient repository and a Stargate here? And one that does not connect to the rest of the world at that. It does not make sense.”[/I]

“Don’t worry, I had every intention of checking it out. I simply was making sure that we had no idea what it was. If we had some idea on who had built it then we could just call down a science team… -” He was distracted by a beeping and he took a look at this small tablet computer. Smaller than those used by Atlantis personnel they were only really used to access the ships sensors to get a lay of the land. A small blue circle had appeared within the ship. “- It also appears to of began transmitting some kind of continuous signal.” He waved them forward. “We’ll have to approach with caution-” He unclipped the tablet while walking and handed it back to the Tok’ra. “You’re a lot smarter than I am, that mean anything to you? It means sweet eff-all to me.”

[I]Ariadne was still unfamiliar with Tau’ri slang, but by his tone, it sounded like Miller didn’t know anything about the applications or possibilities of these things. That didn’t bother her though. He was making good use of his resources rather than arrogantly assuming he could do everything. She looked at the small screen that relayed the Tempests sensor readout. Another thing she wasn’t entirely familiar with, but it wasn’t all that complicated. The signal was constant. Ordinarily, that might mean all manner of things, but given the derelict state of the ship, possibilities were narrowed considerably. “It is likely some kind of locator beacon. Possibly a distress beacon, given the state of the ship.” She handed the device back to him then before adding “And really Sergeant, when have you ever known the Tok’ra to be anything but cautious?”[I]

“Well in all honesty Ma’am I can’t answer that. You’re my first Alien that hasn’t tried to suck the life out of me out of their [i]hand[/i]. Also as I said earlier, call me Miller. He placed the small tablet back within his vest. “There should be an entry way down there-” He pointed at the ship and the centre of where it was crashed. “-I’d rather not make our own entrance with some explosives purely because we don’t know how the ship will re-act or if there is anyone aboard.” He began leading them, through the sun, towards the ship. “Also, as to why the structures or ship aren’t ancient well I can’t tell you that Ma’am. Though I can take a gander at it. The Ancients wouldn’t want just anyone to find their repository and you may not know where a stargate is but it isn’t that hard to find a planet. These people may of even built their civilization not even knowing the repository existed, maybe the Ancients built it here to hide it where people wouldn’t look. I suppose that is one for the scientists to decide, and a research team if they can find the gate and beam it to the surface.” 

[I]What Miller was saying all made sense to her, it was a possibility. Just not what she’d expected. “I always imagined the Ancients would not need such deceit. However, I believe you know more about that subject than I Miller. You will have to tell us about your experiences in the Pegasus galaxy in the future. We would quite enjoy the story. Given that they have not tried to contact us yet, I doubt there is anyone still alive on that ship. Unless they believe us to be enemies. But such speculation wastes time. I imagine this heat is worse for you than me. Perhaps we should get moving?”[/I]

“It does waste time, also we can multitask as we have been however in the heat talking wouldn’t be beneficial despite our training.” He waved them onwards as he activated his radio. “Tempest, this is Corp- Sergeant Miller. We’ve discovered what looks like a derelict of an Alien vessel that began transmit what we believe to be a distress call. I am taking my team to check it out, Neilson and his team are heading off to inspect the city. As the initial photographers predicted the buildings and the ship aren’t of Ancient design, the entire vessel is bigger than most we’ve seen and again is an unknown design. I’ll keep you apprised. Miller, out.”