Crossroads

Before we begin, I would like to say a few things.

First, and most important, I do not own either of the shows depicted here in. If I did, one of them would have been a lot longer than just 5 seasons. The only thing that belongs to me is the plot. Although it goes without saying (this is a crossover after all) I have made some slight adjustments to the timelines of the two shows, although I try to keep it as accurate as possible.

Secondly, for all those lovely people who have been reading my other story, yes I do intend to finish it. Although it was originally intended to be the first story in this series, I have now decided that it will be its own, standalone story (once I finish it).

And now, in the words of one of the most cryptic aliens ever to grace our screens,

"And so it begins."

Prologue

Cheyenne mountain, Colorado, Earth.

General Hammond looked up from his paper work at the sound of someone knocking on the door to his office.

"Come." He said, as he laid his paper work aside. The only people who came to his office on a regular basis were the members of SG-1, so it was almost a certainty that whatever this person wanted was bound to be infinitely more interesting than drafting his annual report to the oversight committee.

A second later, Major Carter walked into his office and saluted.

"What can I do for you Major?" said Hammond, after returning the salute.

"Sir, I wish to request permission to use the stargate for a research mission"

"What kind of research Major?"

"Astrophysics, sir."

"Care to offer some details?"

"Well, sir, as you know, in order to rescue the Prometheus from P3X-744 we had to use a Hyperdrive that we striped from an Alkesh. And, as you know, we were forced to make the trip in small jumps, due to the difference in size between an Alkesh and the Prometheus."

"Yes, as I recall, you had a near fatal encounter with an alien ship and a gas cloud at one of these cool down points. But I don't see what that has to do with using the Stargate for research."

"Well sir, the last cool down point before earth was in the Epsilon Eridani system."

"The system has a name?"

"Actually, the name refers to the star itself. Epsilon is one of the handful of stars in our galaxy that is visible from earth. An astronomer in Europe named it several years ago and…"

"Major," said Hammond, gently interrupting her, "if we could stay focused?"

"Right, sorry sir. Anyway, while we were there, the Prometheus' sensors detected an anomaly near the fourth planet in the system. They weren't able to get many readings though, due to the fact that the sensors had been damaged by the gas cloud that you mentioned earlier. When I got back to the base, I was able to use our star mapping software to determine several possible Stargate addresses for the system, one of which is already in the dialling computers database."

"So you want to go there and set up instruments to study this…anomaly, yes?"

"Yes sir."

"That may not be possible Major."

"Sir?"

"Yesterday, I received phone calls from Senator Kinsey, as well as several other members of the oversight committee. They all seem to think that we have been devoting far too much time to purely scientific missions of late, and not enough to gaining technologies. They've managed to convince the Joint Chiefs that we should be concentrating our efforts on the addresses that Colonel O'Neill received from the ancient's machine on P3X-734."

"That's great sir"

"It is?"

"Yes sir. The address that I found for Epsilon Eridani was from the ancients list that the Colonel placed in the computer."

Hammond sat and thought for several moments, staring at his report to the committee.

"Very well," he finally said, "get what ever equipment you need, and be ready to go in two hours. I'll send the rest of SG-1 with you as well, to look for anything connected to the ancients."

"Thank you sir." said Carter as she left the Generals office.

Two Hours Later, Gate Room.

"Why? Why do we always get stuck with the science missions?" Colonel O'Neill complained.

"Well, I'm just guessing," Said Daniel, "but it could have something to do with us having the best scientist in the SGC on our team"

"Careful there Danny, or your glasses might break from the strain"

"Actually, Jack I was talking about Sam."

"I knew that. Speaking of Carter, where the hell is she. This is her mission after all, the least she could do is be on time. And that goes for Teal'c as well."

Just as he finished speaking, one of the doors out of the gate room opened to admit Carter and Teal'c carrying a large, and from the look on Carters face, heavy crate between them. When they reached the bottom of the ramp they placed the crate carefully on the ground.

"What's with the crate?" asked O'Neill.

"That's my equipment, sir" replied Carter.

"What kind of equipment?"

"Some radio astronomy stuff, a telescope, naquada reactor…"

"Whoa, stop there. A naquada reactor? What for?"

"Well sir, I find it highly unlikely that we're going to find a wall socket in the side of a tree, and my instruments need power to run."

"All right, let's just get this over with." Said O'Neill, picking up Carter's end of the crate and moving up the ramp towards the gate, which had activated while they were talking, and stepped through.

Three Hours Later, A Forest Clearing.

O'Neill sat with his back against a tree, P90 resting in his lap as he watched Carter playing with her laptop, which was connected to her instruments. Just after they had arrived here, he had sent Daniel and Teal'c off to explore some caves that the UAV had detected, while he stayed in the clearing with Carter in case of trouble. After all, this was an unexplored planet, who knew what kind of creatures lurked in the woods, especially at night.

He watched as she moved over to her telescope to get a look at the 'anomaly' for herself. After setting up her equipment, it had taken her only 15 minutes to determine that they were on the third planet in the Epsilon Eridani system, which the SGC computers had designated P3X-225.

Despite his best intentions, he had almost fallen asleep when he was startled to his feet by Carter's exclamation of surprise.

"What? What is it?"

"Wha…oh, its you sir. I was just startled is all. I was looking at the anomaly with the telescope, and I suddenly saw a new star appear next to it"

"A star?"

"That's what it looked like. I was just about to use my laptop to zoom in and take a closer look to see if it was a ship of some kind."

O'Neill followed her to the laptop, and looked over her shoulder as she started typing. Slowly, the image on the screen began to zoom in on the new star, until it reached its maximum magnification, at which point the 'star' became nothing more than a patch of black and orange pixels, to blurred to be seen properly.

"I'll try to sharpen the resolution a bit, sir"

The image slowly resolved itself into a view that they both recognized.

"It looks like a Goa'uld ship sir, a Ha'tak" said Carter.

"I can see that." Said O'Neill, reaching for the radio on his vest, "Teal'c, Daniel, get back here on the double; we've got company."

"Sir!" Carter exclaimed, "It's moving towards us sir, and launching Death Gliders; I think they know we're here."

"What?! How can they tell?"

"Well sir, the Naquada reactor does generate a huge amount of energy. My guess would be that their sensors picked it up."

"Great, this is just what we need!"

Just then Daniel and Teal'c arrived, with Daniel out of breath from the run to the clearing.

"Right on time, that's a first." Said O'Neill, as he walked over to where the reactor was set up, "Teal'c, give me a hand with this. Daniel, help Carter grab as much of her equipment as you can. I want to be long gone before that Gould ship gets here."

"A ship?" asked Daniel.

"Less gabbin' more grabbin' Danny boy."

They were about half way to the gate when the first death glider passed over head.

O'Neill watched it go, then turned to Carter. "Do you really need all the stuff Danny's carrying?" he asked

Carter glanced worriedly at the collection of instruments in Daniels arms for a moment before shaking her head.

"No sir, I've got all of the irreplaceable stuff here."

"Good. Danny, dump it, and run ahead. Dial up Earth and send the code. Quickly!"

Daniel didn't need any more encouragement. He dropped the armful of equipment and ran for the gate.

The pilot of one of the returning death gliders saw him, and veered off his intended target to strafe Daniel instead, leaving the rest of SG-1 to his wing man.

Almost there, almost there! Thought Daniel, as he ran along the path, stumbling slightly from a combination of the un-even ground and the concussive blast from the last strafing run.

He rounded a corner, and saw the gate in front of him, standing in the middle of a clearing, as they so often did. There! Just another 20 feet! I can make it.

The pilot swung his ship around, and headed back for the lone Tau'ri. The last strafing run had been so close. He would get him this time for sure.

15 Feet, just 15 Feet!

There! There he was, already in the clearing, running in a straight line, the fool. He would die without even seeing his killer. The pilot pressed the firing button.

10 Feet, just 10 Fe… and the ground exploded behind him, sending him tumbling towards the DHD. He stuck out his hand and grabbed the pedestal as he passed, trying to stop himself, and thought he felt something on the stand depress slightly.

No time to worry about that now, I have to dial out, now!

With that thought in mind, he scrambled to his feet and began to dial Earth.

The rest of SG-1 made it to the DHD just as the stargate sprang to life. Daniel rolled up his sleeve and typed the code into his GDO, and then joined the others at the gate. They waited long enough for the SGC to receive the signal and open the iris before stepping through.

"Toto, I don't think were in Kansas anymore." Said O'Neill, looking around at what was once a lab of some kind.

"Not Kansas, no," Said Carter, looking through a sheaf of papers, "but these research notes are written in English, and they're dated July 2nd, 2150."

A/N: This is a slightly revised first chapter of Crossroads. I've fixed up a few spelling & grammar mistakes that SilverCaladan pointed out in her review (thanks SC!), and now it's time to respond to some of your reviews.

Kurt U: Yes. Yes it is.

Mr. Moron...er, I meant Morden: Your right, and I do know the dates of the B5 series, so relax. The 2150 reference will be explained in the next couple of chapters.

P.S. Your associates can't harm me; I've got an A.T. field :p.

King Henry the V: As several people have already guessed, this is a crossover with the best (in my opinion) sci-fi show ever; Babylon 5.

caysha: Why thank you! I always try to keep characters as close to how the writer/director portrayed them as possible; whatever category I'm writing in. It's good to know that I succeeded.

A/N 2: This is the third (long-suffering sigh) and hopefully last revision of this chapter. I finally decided on an actual timeframe for this story to take place in. Its going to be an AU season 7, starting just after Episode 13, Grace. I decided on this timeframe because I thought up another use for Carters Hyperspace bubble idea, so naturally it had to be set after that episode, but I also wanted them to get back from their 'trip' in time for Episode 21, The Lost City.

Anyway, I hope to complete the second chappie soon, but don't go holdin' yer' breath.

Sayonara.