Post by Board Keeper on Jan 1, 2011 19:48:41 GMT -5
In 1946 industrialist and amateur archeologist Cornelius Hayes discovered a large wheel like device at a dig near the Valley of the Kings.
Large bronze pins had been inserted preventing an inner wheel from rotating, and the entire device had been set in a carved granite casement with matching coverstone. The mechanism was of an unknown metal and in pristine condition despite having been buried for millenia.
Hayes managed to remove the device from Egypt, shipping it to his estates in Colorado mountains. There is stayed, until his grandson, a young man named Nathanial Crane, managed to remove the pins and rotated the inner working. When a full double counter clockwise rotation was achieved it and paused upon a symbol, the wheel seemed to 'power up'. Then, a chevron slipped into place. Additional symbols could be dialed, like a gigantic combination lock.
It was a tedious process, and little success was made. Each time the sixth chevron was attempted, the device would reset to it's starting point which was determined to be a null default point.
Other than a frustrating diversion, this activity proved futile. It was not until Crane financed a second expedition to the original discovery site that another clue was found. A stone tablet with a series of carvings in an ancient dialect of egyptian - describing the device, now known to be called a stargate. It gave a combination of symbols along with a dire warning that it never be used.
Men are seldom wise enough to take advice from others ... especially those dead thousands of years. Thus the first modern dialing of the stargate was performed.
At the completion of the code, a shimmering field of energy formed in the center of the gate. Freeze frame imaging of the formation of the energy field showed a momentary view of an extraordinary sight. Another room ... the interior of a temple of some sort, ancient and ruined.
Experimentation revealed that objects could be sent into the gate. Then, on the next dialing, they could be seen on the other side fully intact. Likewise, test animals in cages appeared alive and well. Robotic probes were sent through but it was discovered that the teleportation was one way in nature.
A team was formed. Crane surmised this gateway to exit in some far off tomb ... perhaps buried somewhere in Egypt. Perhaps it was filled with riches beyond imagining. Animals sent through did not appear to suffocate, so a team was sent through. They were equipped with long range radio and satellite communications equipment, as well as weaponry and digging tools. Egypt and Africa as a whole could be a dangerous places.
But no signal was forthcoming. Hope was nearly lost when, days later, the stargate began to dial of it's own accord and the energy field formed. The battered team returned, bearing the bodies of three of their team. They reported that the gate had teleported them not across the planet but across the galaxy. A primitive people were found of presumed egyptian geneology, but ruled of a despotic theocracy equipped with advanced technology. They had barely escaped with their lives. Through luck they had not revealed their true identities as locals.
Crane was ambitious but no fool. He contacted friends at the pentagon, and ... after demonstrating his find ... a covert intelligence operation was established. It would investigate the possible benefits and dangers of the device, and of this alien race. Physicists were called in, and the stargate was theorized to create a stable wormhole to that other world. Exploration teams were reorganized and refitted, and would be sent back to gather more information.
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They were unaware that other organizations and governments had developed their own Stargate programs.
