Meetings

Rating: PG
Spoilers: SG-1 S9
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC; Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM

Martha stepped out of the TARDIS into a clearing on the edge of a lush forest. The Doctor had chosen a random destination today, but the result, Martha thought, was a little disappointing. This planet looked quite a bit like Earth. It wasn’t exactly a shining example of the wonders of the universe.

“So what’s this planet called, then?” she asked as the two of them stepped into the clearing.

“Oh, would you look at that!” the Doctor suddenly exclaimed. Martha watched him bounce his way over to what looked like a huge metal ring set upright into the ground. “It’s a Stargate! Oh, I haven’t seen one of these in years!”

“A Stargate?” Martha asked. “What’s that?” She spotted a mushroom-shaped object sitting a few meters in front of the Stargate and moved to inspect it more closely.

The Doctor had practically wrapped himself around the Stargate, examining every bit of it he could reach. “It’s a portal, Martha! There are gates just like these set up all over your galaxy. They form wormholes from one to any of the others, allowing instantaneous travel.” He stepped back from the Stargate, grinning. “It’s brilliant! Go from one end of the galaxy to the other in seconds! You lot even have one, although in your time it’s locked up by the US military, won’t become public until 2057—good year, 2057—when they start selling Gate trips commercially…”

Martha let the Doctor babble while she examined the mushroom-shaped object, the top of which contained several symbols like a keyboard arranged in two concentric rings with a large red dome set into the center. “Is this how you control it?” she asked no one in particular, because the Doctor was still talking, his back to her while he admired the Stargate.

She heard a loud click behind her and whirled around, startled, as four people wearing military uniforms stepped slowly from the tree line. Three of them were holding very large guns, and while the weapons weren’t pointed directly at her, she could tell the whole group was tense and wary. “Doctor?” she called, careful not to make any sudden moves.

One of the strangers nodded toward her. “Who are you?”

“I’m Martha Jones,” she replied. She saw the Doctor step up beside her and added, “This is the Doctor.”

“Hello!” said the Doctor cheerfully. “You must be an SG team.”

The brown-haired man who had spoken exchanged a quick glance with the blonde woman at his side, but it was another man, one wearing glasses, who spoke next. “My name’s Daniel Jackson. They’re Colonels Cameron Mitchell and Sam Carter, and this is Teal’c.” This last name belonged to a tall black man with a strange gold emblem on his forehead. “Martha Jones. That sounds like an Earth name.”

“Daniel Jackson sounds like an Earth name, too,” Martha replied, uncertain how much she should give away.

“That’s because it is,” Daniel said. “You’re from Earth, too?”

“She is,” said the Doctor. “I’m not, I just like it. But I know you lot! You’re SG-1!”

“What’s that mean?” asked Martha. She had already worked out that these people must be with the US military, like the Doctor had said, but she wasn’t sure whether that meant they could be trusted or not.

The Doctor was still grinning away like it was Christmas. “SG-1! The first contact team! They’re famous!”

The man called Mitchell made a face. “Yeah, seems like half the galaxy recognizes us nowadays.”

“You signed up for it,” said Carter in a manner that told Martha this was a long-standing joke between the two.

“Did you come from Earth through the Stargate?” asked the man with the gold emblem. Teal’c, Martha remembered.

“How did you get access to the SGC?” Carter added.

“Nah, we don’t have to go through all that, do we, Martha?” said the Doctor. “We have our own transport.”

“You have a ship?” Now Carter looked curious.

The Doctor got that glint in his eye that Martha had come to know so well. It usually meant they would be running for their lives soon. “You want to see?” Without waiting for an answer he took off toward the edge of the clearing, where the TARDIS was partially concealed behind the tree line.

The members of SG-1 looked at each other, then Carter shrugged and followed the Doctor. Martha smiled to herself as Mitchell rolled his eyes and heaved a loud sigh. “Sam, I can think of a hundred reasons why this is a bad idea,” he grumbled. He glanced at Martha and said, “No offense, but who is this guy?”

“I told you, he’s the Doctor,” said Martha. She well remembered her own skepticism when she had first met him, but there really wasn’t much more explanation needed, was there?

“And he’s from another planet, yeah, we heard that part,” said Mitchell. “But who is he, really? Look at him, he’s wearing a suit and sneakers. On another planet!”

Martha kept in a giggle as Daniel came up next to her. “So if you’re from Earth, how’d you meet him?”

“We just sort of ran into each other,” said Martha. “In hospital. It was on the moon. He offered me a trip and I took it.”

“You were involved in that hospital on the moon incident?” said Daniel.

“What are you all talking about?” asked Mitchell. “I didn’t hear about any hospital on the moon. How did you hear about a hospital on the moon?”

“It was on BBC News,” Teal’c informed him.

“They claimed it was a mass hallucination, but I always suspected there was something else going on even though the NID said they had nothing to do with it,” said Daniel. “It was the NID, wasn’t it?”

“No,” said Martha, wondering what the NID was. “Judoon. Mercenary space rhinos,” she clarified when Daniel looked at her questioningly.

“Oh,” said Daniel. “Space rhinos. Of course.”

“Here we are!” the Doctor announced, proudly showing off his ship.

There was a short silence.

“You’re kidding me,” said Mitchell.

“That’s a police box,” said Daniel.

“How did such a thing come to be on this planet?” said Teal’c.

“It’s made out of wood,” said Carter, who had already stepped forward to examine it more closely. “How can you make a space-worthy ship out of wood?”

“Oh, I get it,” said Mitchell. “Where’re the cameras?” He looked at the Doctor and said, “Okay, who put you up to this? Was it the marines? It was, wasn’t it? Did General Landry actually approve this?”

Martha and the Doctor shared a look that quickly blossomed into a grin on both their faces. “Should we show them, Miss Jones?”

“I think we should,” said Martha.

“Show us what?” said Mitchell as the Doctor took his TARDIS key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

“Oh,” said Martha, still grinning, “you’re going to love this.”

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