Scott was glad to finally be done with his trip. He had been flying for what seemed like two day straight. He had arrived in the states and then immediately boarded another plane for his final destination in Colorado. And as soon as he had landed and grabbed his bag, he was in a Humvee on his way to the Cheyenne Mountain base. He was actually kind of excited about it. He had always wanted to see the NORAD base he had heard so much about. A base built in a mountain; unreachable by enemy bombs. But more importantly he just wanted to get there, get his gear off and climb into an actual bed.<br/><br/>The hummer pulled up to a very large metal door and before he could even get out he was approached by an Air Force Sergeant.  “Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Captain Hunter. Follow me please sir; the general would like to brief you.”<br/><br/>Scott clambered off and followed the man through the vault like doors and into an elevator. Although he was only 34 he was highly decorated; Scott had spent the last five years of his 16 year career in various war zones around the world. He didn’t mind that part so much; he was a Marine Captain after all. And Special Forces at that! That was his job. He was dedicated to his job and he loved it. Unfortunately his wife did not. Ex-wife he reminded himself; she had grown tired of waiting for him to come home to start a family. She sent him the divorce papers less than a year ago and he missed her dearly. She had been the one thing that had remained stable in his life; but not more. She was a civilian, how could she ever understand anyway.<br/><br/>The elevator stopped and they walked down a hallway and got onto a different elevator. This one moved faster and continued down. They must be hundreds of feet below the surface by now. He had no idea how deep this base went! Finally it stopped and he followed the Sergeant down a hall into the generals’ office.<br/><br/>He dropped his bags and stood at attention. “Captain Hunter reporting as ordered sir!” The General nodded at him. “At ease Captain; I’m Major General Landry, Commanding Officer of Stargate. You come highly recommended.” The General paused and walked around from behind the desk to stand in front of Scott.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry to hear about your divorce. But that is one of the reasons you’ve been picked for this mission. You have no children, no wife, your parents are deceased. But most importantly you’re a damn good Marine!” The general stepped back and sat on his desk while Scott just looked at him trying to figure out where he was going. “Thank you sir.” Was all he could think of to say.<br/><br/>The general smiled and continued. “This mission is quite likely a one way trip. But we need someone of your caliber and experience to get the job done. We are going to send you halfway across the universe to an unknown and uncontrolled starship where you and your team will try to explore and gather technology to help us fight people who are trying to kill us.”<br/><br/>Scott wasn’t sure what the hell the general was talking about. At first he thought it was a joke but the general wasn’t smiling. “A starship sir?” He said rather meekly. Scott had heard rumors of military spaceships and although it wouldn’t surprise him he still felt it was unlikely.<br/><br/>“That’s right. A spaceship. On the other side of the universe. We already have a team there but they need reinforcements and we have finally found a way to get more people there. Your team will consist of hand picked military and civilian personnel and you will be bringing the newly assigned mission leader to the ship.” The general paused again and looked at him.<br/><br/>Scott stood calmly with his hands behind his back. It hadn’t hit him yet. To him it was just another mission briefing. Before he could ask any questions a women walked into the office. She was probably in her sixties but trim, fit and not bad looking at all. The general smiled tightly at her. “Captain Hunter, this is your operations leader. Dr. Janet Heath. Ms. Heath, I’d like to introduce you to Captain Hunter.”<br/><br/>Scott cringed…he said doctor without a rank… Scott reached for her extended hand and shook it. Her grip was firm and professional. They exchanged brief pleasantries and Scott turned to General Landry. “Did you say Dr. Heath was the operations leader sir?” He tried to hide his surprise but it was evident nonetheless. “I thought this was a military operation sir?” Scott hated working with civilians. Every mission he had been on with civilians had been a cluster fuck from the start. They had no discipline!<br/><br/>“Yes Captain. Dr. Heath is a civilian and she will be in overall command of this operation.” The general paused. “Will that be a problem Captain?” His tone implied that of course it would not be a problem and Scott should just shut the hell up.<br/><br/>“Of course not sir.” He lied. “That’s not a problem at all.”<br/><br/>“Good.” He said with an understanding smile. Then the general turned to Dr. Heath. “Dr. I know it’s late but Captain Hunter is the last to arrive. I’d like to introduce the two of you to the rest of your team.”<br/><br/><br/><br/>(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/EricArchives/Films/BlackHawkDown/Behind-The-Scenes/BHD-BTS-005.jpg)<br/>Nathanial Scott Hunter<br/>Captain, USMC