Technical Difficulties

[Samarra Blackwell]

1428
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

Captain Blackwell stared at the Long Range Transmission database disdainfully. Over the last 48 hours, her team had picked up nearly 1000 transmission fragments on different frequencies. Their origins were unknown, but Samarra had a feeling that this wasn't the usual radio chatter. It was too complicated, too coded to be some innocent planet. No. Whoever's transmissions these were, they were definitely trying to hide something. And, there was only one group of people that she could think of who would go to such lengths to hide their information: the Niddhogg.

Although her suspicions could not be made certain at this point, she did her best to cross reference the fragments with the transmissions she picked up during their last encounter with the species. There were some partial matches, but nothing certain. However, given the situation, Samarra thought it best to inform someone of authority. After all, it was her job as Chief Intelligence Officer.

A knock on the door frame behind her caused her to turn around. With a slight smile, she came to attention before her XO.

"Major Skeie, thank you for coming," she said. "I hope I did not catch you at a bad time, but I thought you might want to see this."

<Tag Joe>

"Sorry, sir." A slight smirk crossed her face as she relaxed from attention. As the door closed behind him, she directed his attention to the display she had on the screen.

"Over the past 48 hours, we have picked up transmissions from unknown sources that seemed suspicious. This isn't your everyday space static. It's ridiculously coded and complex. It's as though whoever is sending it jumps from frequency to frequency during the same transmission, so there is no full mesage sent at one time."

<Tag Joe>

Samarra nodded. "That's what we thought too, sir, but we cannot tell for sure. We're trying to see if there is any sort of pattern to the frequency changes. Hopefully, if we can piece together an entire transmission, we can have the analysts confirm our.."

Just then, everything went dark.

<Tag Joe>

(OOC: I hope that's an okay start, Joe. I'm doing this from my BlackBerry. Haha, fail. Have at it, sir. XD)

[Joe Skeie]

1428
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

Joe had just finished his fourteen hour shift on the bridge which wasn't to bad for some people but Joe had come from a team of off world explores and investigation team on earth but still he had to say it had some perks like not getting shot at. So Joe was heading back to his room for some nice rest and relaxation when he was given a call to head towards the Communications Laboratory for an urgent matter "This better be good" he grunted to himself as he headed toward Samarra.

He knocked on the door before entering the laboratory. Samarra turned around and said "Major Skeie, thank you for coming," she said. "I hope I did not catch you at a bad time, but I thought you might want to see this."

Joe just smiled "At ease and nope couldn't have been better timing I just finished my fourteen hour shift on the Bridge and was heading to my quarters for some rest and relaxation" in all honesty Joe was fine he was just a little tired was all and could use some sleep but if something was urgent he knew he had to put his job before his precious sleep.

Samarra then explained why she had brought Joe here "Their does seem to be something going on, maybe they can't send the whole transmission as its to big" he responded as he studied the intel from that Samarra had collected the best he could. If it wasn't for Sel'Touf and Joe's time with the Tok'ra he wouldn't have been able to tell much of anything from the scattered mess of intel 'Thanks Sel'Touf I owe you another one' he thought with a little smile forming on his face at the thought of Sel'Touf but quickly changed back to his composed military self.

Joe heard "That's what we thought too, sir, but we cannot tell for sure. We're trying to see if there is any sort of pattern to the frequency changes. Hopefully, if we can piece together an entire transmission, we can have the analysts confirm our.." when everything went black

Joe didn't know what happened "Captain I really hope your not responsible for this" Joe really wished he had just gone to his quarters but he figured he could be stuck with worse company, one time he had been stuck with a couple of Tok'ra on a stakeout it was one of the worse experience of his life and that came from a man who had been thrown by a minotaur and broken a few of his ribs.

Joe got on his com link "Bridge this Skeie why is there a blackout in the Communications Laboratory?" he asked in an annoyed tone, a very annoyed tone. A response did not come "Looks like its the two of us are going to stuck here for awhile" As soon as Joe said that he realized he actually didn't know Samarra that well even though both of them were at the Delta site for a short time together and now they were on the same ship 'Well this is good as time as any' he reasoned to himself.

"So Captain" he said as he slid himself down next to one of the computers and thought about what he was going to ask "Why did you join the Air Force?" it was question he asked a lot of his previous team mates and seeing their response gave insight that Joe found to be a stepping stone to a good working relationship and friendship.

<Tag Samarra>

[Samarra Blackwell]

1428
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory


"Captain, I really hope you're not responsible for this." Samarra bit her lip slightly, but in the dark there was no way the Major could have seen it. Was he being serious? Or, was it just this string of bad luck that might be following him today? She was pretty sure it was his agitation with the latter. Either way, she felt sorry for the guy.

She heard Joe trying to contact the Bridge and with no response it seemed clear that all electrical systems, including communications, were down. He did not seem pleased, at all. "Looks like the two of us are going to be stuck in here for a while."

"Maybe, you could catch up on your rest. It's certainly dark enough." Her tone was half-joking, half-serious. If the guy needed sleep that bad, all he had to do was stumble his way over to the chair at the desk and snooze away. She certainly wasn't going to bother him.

Feeling around on the console behind her, her hands probed for anything that could produce light. Being slightly claustrophobic, she knew she would feel better if she could see her surroundings. Her hands found what she was looking for: her tablet. Pressing the power button on the side, it shed some light. Across from her, she could faintly see Major Skeie's outline. Checking the battery life on the tablet, she twitched a lip in disdain. Approximately an hour remained on it...though, she knew that it would probably be closer to 45 minutes. She stifled a slight sigh, and looked up as Joe asked his question. A small smile wriggled its way across her lips. Small talk had never been her specialty...but, there was always a time to learn, right?

"Um, well I guess you could say I was born into it. My father is a Colonel in the Air Force and is actually a part of the SGC back at Cheyenne Mountain. When I was old enough, he enrolled me in a Military Prep Academy. My performance there earned me a place in the Air Force Academy. The rest, as they say, is history. I've really never known any other life than the Air Force." As she spoke, she made her way over to the desk, where she pulled a mag-lite from the desk drawer. When crawling under the machinery to replace wires and such, it came in handy. Making her way over to the door, she switched on the flashlight and began tugging at the panel.

"Don't mind me, sir," she said, quickly, almost an apology, "I'm just going to see if there is any power running through this sector of the ship at all. If there is, I may be able to re-route enough to open the door. I'm sure your quarters are probably much more accommodating than that chair." A slight smile crossed her face again.

Setting the now removed panel on the ground, she glanced back at him fron the corner of her eye. Now, it was her turn to ask him a question. And...she was drawing a blank.

"So...do you have anyone waiting for you back home, sir?" Quickly, she added, "You know...family...and such." She hoped that she didn't seem like a creeper. No need to go prying into his private life, Marra... she thought ruefully to herself. She really didn't intend for it to sound like a personal question. However, she wasn't so smooth in adjusting her question just then. Oops. Her face felt a little hot, though she thanked the darkness for covering it up.

Well, at least it was his turn and she could pretend to be focusing on the panel instead of the awkwardness of the moment. Either way, she figured it wouldn't be all bad to get to know her XO a little better.

<Tag Joe>

[Joe Skeie]

1428
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

Joe smiled at her response to his question 'sounds like me in a nutshell' in truth Joe hadn't gone to a military prep school but his father was high ranking officer working at NORAD and Joe had also gone into to the Academy.

Joe noticed Samarra making light sources as she tried to work, he just rolled his eyes knowing it was easier to just wait it out but some people needed something to do to keep their mind working so who was he to tell her to stop, well other then the XO of the ship of course. Still he got himself off of the ground and sat down in the chair "Actually this chair is just fine and don't push yourself to hard I'm sure they are repairing power as we speak" he said in his warm uplifting tone of his trying to calm Samarra into just relaxing.

When Samarra asked her question to Joe, he blushed for a second only a second, the reason being was that Joe hadn't had a girlfriend, well to be honest he didn't really remember the last time he even had a chance to have one or to start a new relationship as he was either off world, in another galaxy, with the tok'ra, on a spaceship, or some other crazy and weird adventure for the SGC to even consider having time a girlfriend plus he knew not most girls would want a boyfriend who came around once every blue moon not that he wouldn't have minded one, in fact he knew he could really use one just finding one was the hard part.

Still he didn't mind answering the question even though Smarra did try to cover it up with adding family but Joe knew it was best just to be honest as it built a relationship between teammates "Well I currently am not married, dating or even seeing one back on Earth or any other planet for that matter" he said to Smarra in a slight depressive tone "but I have my dad Robert who is a retired Air Force Colonel currently working as a diplomat for the SGC, my lovely mother Nancy a doctor working at NORAD, my older sister Lindsay who for reason joined the Navy, I don't know why, and my younger brother Charlie who works at the UN doing something, I really don't know as he is always to busy to talk" he said warming up a bit in tone as he thought of his family back on Earth. It had bee awhile since Joe had thought of his family and it was a good think of them as it gave him a warm feel.

After finishing his response to her question he fired back "How about you Captain got anyone back on Earth..." he paused for a second and then added "you know family and what not" he said in a playful sarcastic tone, satirizing what Smarra had just asked him but it was a question and Joe hoped she wouldn't get to offended.

<Tag Smarra>

[Samarra Blackwell]

1429
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

Samarra smirked slightly at his suggestion for her to take it easy, since the power would eventually come back. At first, she continued, until she realized it really was fruitless. Sighing slightly, she set the tablet back down on the console and hoisted herself onto the level part of the console, crossing her legs.

She felt her face flush again as he told her about his family...and no one else. It seemed odd to her. He seemed like the kind of guy cadets would have been swooning over at the Academy. Who knew, maybe there were. But, she could understand his situation. After all, she was also incredibly single.

When he returned the question back to her, she couldn't help but release a light chuckle at his response. He had a sense of humor. That's a plus.

"It's the same here," she replied, "We should make a club. With jackets." A stifled laugh escaped her, and she continued. "My father is still involved with the SGC, though more on the Washington side these days. Keeping those IOA vultures from eating us alive. My mother died a few years back after a stroke. I was an only child, so I got a lot of attention when I was younger."

Shrugging slightly, she felt that slight tug in her chest whenever she talked about her mother. She missed the funeral by about two weeks; she just happened to be a galaxy too far away. But, now was not the time to get emotional. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she thought of another question to ask.

"So, what else do you do when you're off-duty? Besides sleeping and getting trapped in dark labs with Intelligence Officers, of course."

<Tag Joe>

[Joe Skeie]

1429
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

Joe smiled at Samarra 'looks like we got a lot in common' he thought to himself as he laughed at the jacket idea but when he heard that her mother had a stroke, the laugh passed out of respect and Joe knew it must be a tough topic to talk about ones mother's death, so when Samarra tried to change the topic Joe had no problem with that. Joe had dealt with death before, he had lost a few friends along the way and had cancer at one point in his life but he had never lost family before, well a few of his friends from SD-2 he did consider family.

So when she asked about off-duty activities, Joe was more then happy to talk about it 'well besides sleeping and getting trapped in dark labs with Intelligence Officers, well I don't know..." he paused for a second and thought about it, something he hadn't really hadn't done for awhile thinking about off-duty actives, he could only do so much while on a ship and then when he was off the ship it usually was at the Delta Site, SGC, or Washington but he Joe knew what he was going to say.

"Well I'm a bit of a poker player when I'm back on Earth, my friends from the Academy called me Ace while in the academy so when I have the chance I go to Vegas which is rare but I love it, I also like to go snowboarding when I have the chance which hasn't been for awhile also but growing up in Colorado you have to love those mountains, another thing is I love football if its playing it or watching it I love it, I also enjoy fly fishing from time to time with my dad, oh and I like to try and solve different riddles and puzzles something I picked up from my Tok'ra symbiote Sel'Touf but how about you whats your favorite thing to do when your not Captain Samarra Blackwell" he said in a playful tone to her trying to keep the conversation going.

<Tag Samarra>

[Samarra Blackwell]

1430
BC-304 Aeneid
Communications Laboratory

'Poker, snowboarding, fly fishing, football...is there anything this guys DOESN'T do?' she thought, listening to him with a slight smile. He seemed to be in a 'happy place' when thinking about the old days. His mention of the Tok'ra sent off a quick spark of memory. Now she remembered reading his files...and working with the Tok'ra herself. When she first began at the SGC, that was one of her main duties. She would use the intelligence provided by their allies and transcribe it into reports to be read by the Department of Homeworld Security. Sel'Touf popped up in one or two of those files.

"When I'm not Captain Blackwell?" she grinned, raising an eyebrow slightly. To be honest, she couldn't think of a time when she wasn't (insert rank here) Blackwell. Even then, her pastimes were no where near as exciting as Major Skeie's.

"Well, usually when I get time to go back to Earth, I'll drive out to Southern California. My father has a vacation house that we take turns using during out time off. Basically, I spend days just laying in the sand, soaking up the sun, surfing...drinking. You know, just enjoying the homeplanet." A relaxed smile seemed to warm her face as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. She could almost see it now. The sapphire surf, the golden sand, the warm sun. Well...not in this dark room. Sighing slightly, she returned to the moment.

"Maybe you and some of the others can come down next time we're home," she offered, trying to make up for her moment. "The house is...pretty big, to be honest and there really is no place like California." Readjusting herself, she asked, "Do you surf? It's not too different from snowboarding, from what I know....which isn't much, really." She laughed.

<Tag Joe>