Aberrant: StarGate Atlantis - [SFP #1] Sonata Atlantica (complete)

[Goro Kondo]

Now

Goro watched as the line of people walked into the glowing pool that stood upright within the ring. In pairs the other members of the expedition disappeared into the Stargate. Equipment and gear and cases of supplies being carried or wheeled or very occasionally driven on motorized carts. Eventually the surgical team was next. Goro mounted the metal ramp, his footsteps clanging on the metal grating as he approached the event horizon. With only a moment's hesitation he stepped into the “puddle”, and, as he did he, thought back to the moment everything changed, that one phone call...

Two Weeks Ago

The phone rang, its melody clashing with the one Goro was creating . He stopped playing, and stepped away from the piano. Goro picked up the phone, flipping a finger over the display in a casual practiced move on a slender finger. “Hello?” His accent contained only the sparest trace of Japanese influence, an artifact of his parent's own thickly accented speech.

“Good afternoon, is this Dr. Goro?” the voice on the other end sounded vaguely familiar and yet they got his name wrong. Again. “Hello? Dr. Goro?”

Goro realized that he had closed his eyes and taken a long deep breath, neglecting to reply. With a shake of his head he replied, “It's Dr. Kondo, and yes, I am he.”

There was a sound like papers being referenced, “I'm sorry, I didn't realize your name was reversed, this paperwork … I'm sorry. Dr. Kondo my name is Elizabeth Weir; I'd like to offer you an unqiue opportunity to work with an international research expedition...”

***

The final chevron locked into place at the top of the Stargate releasing a howling vortex of … water? Goro flinched backwards expecting to end up drenched to the skin only to see everything pull back into the ring forming a luminous pool that rippled as though stirred by an unseen hand or an unfelt breeze. Goro stood by with his surgical staff and the rest of the medical staff. After an automated probe verified an environment suitable for the expedition Weir went through along with the first squads of soldiers and a handful of engineers and scientists who supposedly knew what they were in for and could operate the technology on the other side. The alien technology.

Ten Days Ago

“No I can't explain. It's … it's classified.” Goro smiled apologetically, his careworn face broadcasting genuine regret to the man who sat across from him.

With a groan that was less than halfhearted the other man shook his head, “We'll be lost without you, you know. And you know I'm not blowing smoke up your ass. You’re the best we have and more than that you make everybody else better too. You'll be missed.”

Goro nodded, his face looking regretful while his eyes sparkled at the compliments. “My friend, if this were not a literal opportunity of a lifetime you know I would never leave things unfinished.”

“I know, I known. I just wish you could tell me where you were going that was such an opportunity.”

With a laugh Goro replied, “I wish I could tell you to. Sometimes it’s hard to believe ...”

***

The seventh cevron, barely visible for the gangway that led up to the ring, mechanically engaged and lit. The ring began to spin again and Goro looked around at the other people waiting, in what he had been told was a retired missile silo. The back of the room was full and more people were through the large doors on either side. All told there were some two hundred plus engineers, soldiers, and scientists waiting with baited breath for a huge doughnut to open a wormhole to another world.

One Week Ago

“What?!?”

Goro winced. He’d expected Jessica to be angry but this was beyond the pale. “It’s the military, you know how they can be about secrecy. I wa-”

“You what? You expect me to smile and say ‘OK, I understand’? You tell me you have to go away for an unknown amount of time. You tell me that you can’t tell me why or where only that it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. You tell me that you made the choice, WITHOUT TALKING TO ME, and you expect me to be understanding? I thought you cared about me!” She was seething with anger and crying at the same time, and Goro felt like crap because he knew this was his fault.

“I’m sorry. I really am, but this opportunity it’s,” he stumbled, looking for the right word. How do you tell a woman that a job is more important than she is? That you chose a work opportunity over her? You don’t. Or you don’t expect her to agree with you if you do. Crap. “I’m sorry,” he said again lamely. There was no amount of charm that could get him out of this; he was going to have to take his lumps like a man.

***

Goro watched as Carson Beckett made his way over to the foot of the gangway where the other section heads were gathering with Dr. Weir and the military including Colonel Sumner. Weir and Sumner exchanged words as the ring spun and the fifth and sixth of eight chevrons engaged. Goro turned to look at his people. He saw one of the young nurses seemed uneasy and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Everything OK?" he asked…

Five Days Ago

Despite Goro's protests his mother made the tea and served it. His parents held to tradition more so than he did, so he held his tongue, and accepted this. He knew his parents loved him, and they in return knew he loved them as well; he was a close to his parents as any good son should be. They’d taken the news better than Jessica had; Goro still felt guilty about that fiasco. His parents had laughed; both found it amusing that their genius son could be so stupid about women. It was good natured and in the end Goro had laughed as well, it was hard not to agree. Two doctorates, two masters degrees, and plenty of other educational odds and ends to round him out, and Goro, who ranked in the top five smartest people in the world as ranked by MENSA based on IQ was utterly hopeless around women.

His mother brought him back to the present, “Will you be able to call? Or write?” she asked in Japanese. His parents had brought him up bilingual until he was four and started to pick up Chinese from one of his pre-school friends. Nowadays they spoke Japanese together because it was easiest for them. Goro spoke six languages fluently and was able to read both Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform; communication was rarely a problem for their son.

“No mother, I will not be able to contact you and father at all. At least not that they have told us.” He saw her frown with concern for her son and it cut into his heart like a knife. “I will contact you as soon as we are able and allowed. I cannot imagine they would prevent us from communicating with home for the duration of the mission.” He smiled reassuringly knowing full well that he may have been lying and that this could be the last time he got to take tea with his parents.

***

Goro stared up at the gate, wonder clear in his eyes. The base was typical American military; concrete and functional with conduits and pipes and heavy blast doors and hatches. It felt like they were buried under a mountain, in that aspect the base was accurate to its own form. The Stargate was something else though. Alien crafted the ring possessed a minimalist design while still being ornate and refined. “Dr. Kondo, give me a hand please. Let’s double check these cases once more shall we?” Carson Beckett’s voice brought Goro back to the task at hand, preparing to cross hundreds of millions of light years in search of the city of Atlantis. With a nod of agreement Goro popped the latches on a case and began to hum to himself as he checked the contents once more.

Four Days Ago

Goro stood in his living room looking at the piano. The antique black baby grand gleamed, its wood polished by hand once a week. He saw to that himself. He was a Shinto and though he did not hold to the literal beliefs in Kami he did believe that treasured and honored items deserved the extra care due them by those same beliefs. He personally polished the exterior of the piano, and every three months he would have it retuned. Whether it was simply his belief or not Goro felt that the instrument performed better than any other he had played on. Like a much love Stradivarius he felt that a newer piano could not match the tone or quality of the music this produced.

His bags sat by the door, he was due to fly to Colorado later that afternoon for a two day orientation before the mission. He was packed lightly, as required by the needs of the mission. Tucked inside one of them was an electronic piano, one with a flexible “keyboard” that could be rolled up. The device was functional if soulless, and Goro took it for his love of music not for his love of the device. He walked to the piano and sat down; opening the cover for the keys he placed his hands at rest and closed his eyes. He took a breath and then began to play for what he hoped would not be his last time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuKdFJYPx2U