Caleb had ended up being at the back as the group moved off, just something completely natural that happened nine times out of ten, there was small chatter as people moved on off. People catching up with friends no doubt, he spotted Claire talking to Blake, but decided against interrupting. He knew it would do them both well to be out of each other's pockets for a short while, absence making the heart grow fonder and all that, not that he put much stock in it.

So he lingered to the back of the group, picking up his own pack, which was pretty much stuffed with god knows how many clean uniform in there. There hadn't been a lot of choice to take casual clothing with them, well nothing more than usual and he was glad to have had the Atlantis mission to know how to pack for long term possible no way home deployments.

He spotted one of the newer people that had joined them on this mission, a face and name he didn't recognise as much and matched his pace with the new Airmen, because after all there wasn't anything worse than being thrown on a new mission with anybody you hardly knew. An Caleb was a pretty friendly bloke, he didn't want anyone to feel left out, he hadn't spent years working on a Submarine for people not to talk to him after all.

“It's Chris right?” he asked, introducing himself with a hand stuck out, the one that wasn't resting on the weapon that was attached to his vest, “Caleb, how you finding the trek so far?”

Chris passed a few people and settled into his stride in the third quarter of the group. With nothing much going on becides walking, his attention drifted far and wide, to pretty much anything that moved. Although he didn't know anyone here, he figured his job would introduce him to enough of the people to get by. After all, he was a lower enlisted man, and they didn't usually get called on except when their skills were needed.

Of course, he didn't expect anyone to really go out of their way to get to know him, so he was slightly suprised when one of the foreign personnel came up and did just that. Could the word "foreign" even be used on intergalactic soil? Anyways, someone came over to meet him. Regardless, he slowed his pace a quarter and met the man, before matching his pace.

He took the extended hand, shaking it and speaking. "Yeah, that's me. Senior Airman Chris Torngate, at your service." he said, still defaulting to the formal talk, not really letting go of the military aspect, even if this was a talk between equal ranks. "It's nice to get out, wherever 'here' truly is. It's just an aamzing place to see. All the nature and fauna and... space."

He realized he was on the verge of losing any semblance of NOT being a kid in a candy store, he focused on something he didn't know, at least not for sure. "Your name was... Caleb, right?" he asked, trying to recall from the Gateroom, so many light years away.

As Chris introduced himself with full rank and name, Caleb smiled at him, he remembered doing the similar kind of thing when he'd first joined. Especially to the higher ups, they always wanted to know who they were dealing with. It wasn't really until he'd gone to Atlantis that he realised people didn't care too much about full rank, but he understood Chris' nerves on the matter.

“Chief Petty Officer Caleb Williams, that's me,” he replied to him, “But most folks just call me Caleb.” It was true, the longer he'd spent at the SGC and then Atlantis, the less the rank thing came into play. The pressure of working for the Stargate programme meant you rarely had time to actually shout someone with full rank and name. Plus it was kind of a nice moment for Caleb to use his new rank in conversation, other than the ceremony where it had been awarded to him the title of CPO, it wasn't something he got to say very often. If at all.

Caleb had to laugh as Chris seemed to reel off a list of things about the new site, it reminded him a little of himself when he'd first not only seen the Stargate but when he'd first stepped onto Atlantis. It was that sense that you were a child in a sweet store and you were told you could have whatever you want, however much you wanted no matter the consequences. “It is pretty amazing to be out here.”

He had to admit for himself there was nothing really like stepping onto a new world, discovering what it had to offer. It was one of the reasons why he missed Atlantis as dearly as he had done, because he hadn't discovered everything there had to about the city, along with several other of it's qualities.

“So do you prefer Chris or Torngate?” Caleb asked, making conversation as best he could, “Because I'll be honest, not many people shout out your rank, not when they've got the bad guys at there back.” He could count on the one hand how many times he'd been shouted by his last name more often than his rank.

“How long were you at the SGC before they shipped you out here?” he asked, pointing to the overly lovely and sunny planet. He was really regretting shoving his sunglasses to the bottom of his pack now. Even though there was no space left on his vest to have put them anywhere anyway.

Caleb wasn't trying to be overly nosey, as such, okay maybe he was, he was use to knowing people near enough back to front and asking question was how you got to know people. Plus he was a friendly type of person, he didn't like seeing anyone completely overwhelmed by what they were doing. As well this was probably the best first meeting he'd had with someone, the last few being with him somehow injured or rather that was his favourite one, as he glanced over to Claire again.

Chris listened to the man as he introduced himself, trying to place the naval ranking for just a moment. If he recalled correctly they were pretty close to similar ranks, but that aside, the man asked to be called Caleb and so that's what he'd do. "Caleb, then." he said, cracking a smile. It was good to know at least one other person around,so it couldn't hurt to try and get to know this person.

"It really is. And you do this sort of thing all the time?" he asked, curious. The fact that some people got a chance to spend their professional life in the exploration of strange, new worlds was incredible. How the Program was still a mystery to the public, he'd never know. Plus, with all the teams offworld, it had to be a logistical nightmare.

When he heard the question as to his name, he paused in thought. "Well to be honest most people just refer to me as 'Torngate', I guess Chris is common enough of a name to warrant some confusion. I usually respond to either, though." he answered, but the idea of enemies around wasn't exactly an inspiring thought for Humanity's supposedly secret base.

"How long was I here...?" he asked, repeating the question as he recalled his timeline. Officially, he'd been assigned to the base somewhere on the order of four months ago, but getting clearances to actually come down to the base had taken around two months so... "Around two months on the base, discounting security check time." he answered. "Guess that's rather quick turnaround time, all things considered."

Chris didn't mind the questions, all things considered, and it was good to get to know more people. "What about you? What's your story with the Stargate?" he asked, trying to reciprocate, even just a bit, as he worked to process his environment and people around him still.

“I'd do this sort of thing as often as I can,” Caleb replied, smiling brightly. It was true he would spend every day going through the Gate if he could, quite literally exploring every known planet going. Although knowing him he would end up in some kind of trouble somewhere along the way, it was just in his nature, actually he was sure that it was in everyone's nature. He was positive he had heard of some diplomat somewhere getting into trouble after years of a clean slate and that was without going through the Stargate.

“Well Torngate, it nice to meet you,” he said, resting his hands back on top of the weapon he was carrying. It might be the Beta site, having been scoped out and deemed safe but standard protocol for most military going through the gate was always weapon attached to vest. Hell they didn't even go through to the Athosian home world back on Atlantis without weapons, or the mainland on their own planet. “It's nice to see some fresh faces in the group, you spend enough time here or back at the SGC and it's like you know everyone.” he added, spotting the outline of the other newbie (the mountain man that had joined them) that he didn't know.

He nodded his head as Torngate told him how long he'd been at the SGC, Caleb's own turnaround on the base had been shorter than that before he had got shipped through the Stargate. Of course his first trip had been short lived, but had also given him the best friend he could ever hope to make. “The quick turnaround is usually the SGC's style, think I was on base for four days before they called for me off world. Still remember that first time....of course who doesn't remember there first time through a giant blue puddle.”

He knew it wasn't actually a puddle, knew that it wasn't wet, but every time a Gate opened – whether it be on Earth or Atlantis – he couldn't help but think of a puddle. One of them giant puddles that you'd find in the middle of a field after a really heavy downpour, one that when he was a kid he couldn't help but jump into it. So yeah when he saw the Gate open, saw it's rippling horizon, just calling to him, he thought puddle. Every time.

“My story with the Stargate?” repeated Caleb, smiling fondly at some of the memories he had made over the course of the last few years. From finding someone he never thought he would ever find, to exploring new worlds and galaxies, to running for his life. It wasn't every day that people could say they got to do that. “Guess they really needed another techy around.”

It was true, he had become more of a tech to most people on base than using his main skill set, but he didn't mind. It not only kept his own mind busy, learning new skills, but it also meant he had a certain insight if things especially weapons didn't work right. Despite most outwards appearance, and the charming nature he had, he was quite a smart person, he just didn't tend to show that side of himself all that much. Not until it was called for anyway.

Smiling he answered, “Honestly am a Weapons Specialist, come from working on a Sub to working on land, bit weird getting my land legs back at first. The Stargate is a bit like having a mistress,” straight back to the joking, “She's gonna pull you in as quick as she can, spit you out somewhere and hope for the best. You keep telling yourself you won't go back, but you do, every time.”

Even as he said the words he was half laughing at them, anything to ease the seriousness that had somehow developed between the two of them. He wasn't above using humour to lighten a situation if possible.

“You said Senior Airman, am taking you're USAF right?” at least he hoped he had made the right assumption. Just because someone had that rank, with the American accent (which to him was just how most of the people sounded now) didn't quite mean he got it right when guessing.

Chris nodded as he heard the man speak. If this was what normal gate travel was like, He'd be on every list to go through the gate as he could wrangle. He'd been hooked, and there was no going back now. His own weapon was clipped to his vest, the safety on and the weapon as secure as it could be with amunition loaded into it. "Well I'm exicted to be here, despite some up-front uncertanties I had. I hope to get to know most of the people here. But I'm more than happy to break up the main group." he said, a glimpse of a wry smile on his face as he spoke.

"Four days? And you got your security clearance in that time? I spent four days getting an "Introduction to the Official Secrets Act" training, more or less", he said. He was exaggurating, of course. The US didn't have an official secrets act, but his orders made him a target for the Espionage Act and a general court-martial. Both of which would ruin your day. Nonetheless, it was really the only way the multi-national coalition of the Stargate Program could stay a secret, and even then it would be difficult. At the mention of the puddle, Chris involuntarily raised an eyebrow. "Well yeah, I guess puddle is one way to describe it. Not exactly what I imagined, that's for sure." he said. He'd personally envisioned more of a spiral-y portal like a coin vortex, except instead of coins downward it sucked people headfirst. How wrong he'd been.

"Well I guess if they need yet another techie, I fit that bill." He said. "I mean, that's kinda what I'm trained for. Interlinking alien tech into our computer systems. It's amazing what type of rubber-bands and duct tape is used to hook up even our own Gate, and we've had it for years. We still don't use all the impulses from the DHD..." he said, before falling slient into his own thoughts for a moment and hearing the rest of his speech.

"That's correct. USAF." he said, repeating the man's words. Although in reality, right now he was anything but Air. Sure he flew, but it was across space not through the sky. And to top it all off he might go for weeks at a time without seeing the sky under Cheyanne, from stories he'd heard. Not exactly the most "sky", but hey he was on Beta site now. Beta had plenty of sky. It was awesome.

"Any news on what we're gonna be doing?" he asked, and then immediately shot off another question. "And you're Royal Navy, right? There's.. something about your accent." he said, not feeling entierly sure about the guess, but it was better than no guess.

“Uncertainties?” Caleb asked, not that he was trying to pry, but he couldn't understand how some people were uncertain about this kind of job.

Of course that then made him wonder just how many people had actually turned down this type of job because they had to sign on the dotted line before they could so much as know anything about the programme. He himself had signed so much paperwork before he had even gotten a glimpse into what he was signing up for, but then again he always was a bit of a risk taker, you kind of had to be to work for the military.

Caleb was surprised as Torngate seemed to be shocked as he explained his turnaround, he knew things at the SGC moved quicker than most military movements, at the end of the day the sooner you signed that dotted line the quicker they could get you into play. Besides when you had the planet, the actual planet Earth, to defend in whatever capacity that the higher ups demanded the turn around was quick.

“Four days yeah, I literally stepped through, tried to fix something, got shrapnel in my side, visited the infirmary, then my quarters for the next few weeks,” he said, as though it was just a normal part of the job, “I've still got that scar to remember my first time going through.”

It was true, that scar was still prominent even with Claire's skilful stitching up, it didn't bother him and unless he brought it up in conversation he very rarely even remembered it was there. He was actually rather grateful that the Wraith Stunners didn't leave a mark, the amount of times he'd been blasted with one of them, it never got any better.

“How did you imagine it? I mean once you found what the place was?” Caleb asked. He himself had no idea what to imagine and he was quite an imaginative person at times, but could still remember the feeling he got in his stomach as he saw the Stargate for the first time, still remember the feeling he got when he'd stepped through the 'puddle'. Yet it hadn't deterred him, hadn't put him off, and he had continued to step foot through the Gate.

Caleb couldn't help laughing as Chris mentioned being a techie, “Hey us techies we gotta stick together right, and don't dismiss the use of rubber bands and duck tape. Am sure half of what is in my pack is held together with both them items.”

He might not have much understanding of linking alien tech into the computer systems, but he did have a fair bit of understanding of alien weaponry, so he could at least relate to what Chris was on about in a small way. He wondered for a moment if that's why they they were brought along to the Beta site, him a weapons specialist, the other a alien computer specialist – or so he referred to it in his head – maybe there was going to be some form of alien tech on here that they could spend hours over.

“Not a clue, was told to suit up, I'd be here for several weeks,” he answered with a shrug, he didn't have much more of a idea of what they were doing here than Chris did.

“That's right Royal Navy, right from across the sea,” he said, smiling brightly, “It's always the accent that gives it away, although how I've not started to sound like most of you American guys I don't know,” he added, adopting a very bad American accent before laughing. “From London originally, joined the Navy, ended up on a Submarine for a few years and tah dah here I am, in the middle of a foreign planet, no idea what we're doing here, but damn if I wouldn't change I for the world.”

"Yeah, I guess uncertainties is the right word," he said. "I mean, how hard was it for you to believe that your orders sent you to the middle of Nevada for travel through space through a wormhole. When I got the orders and saw the documents, I found it impossible to believe. I just thought that this was some kind of joke assignment that would end up with me being sent to some backwater place for as long as I was in the service." He admitted. Since then most, but not all, of his suspicions about the program hand been dispelled.

He grimaced at the description of the injury. "Well that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, ya know," he said with an eyebrow raised as he stepped over a stick on the path. It looked like everyone was absorbed in their own conversations, which was fine. Had to pass the time somehow. "I'll just have to hope that my own experience with the gate is a little less.... dramatic for a first time. What were you doing to get injured on your first trip? Starting an intergalactic war?" He asked mostly in jest, but he didn't actually know. For all, he knew it could be that.

"Well... I'm not rightly sure. Definitely not blue." he said, chuckling as that was the single most descriptive thing about the ancient stone thing. "And I guess I didn't expect the gate to be made of... stone. Fancy alien stone yes but... not stone," he said. He'd learned a lot but why this ancient thing was made of a rock-like material was beyond him. Apparently, the Stargates in the Pegasus galaxy were much more modern looking, but he'd only seen pictures.

Chris had to concede that point. "Duct tape is probably the single most important invention or discovery the Human race as a species has ever developed or discovered," he said, including in that the miracle of the Stargate itself. "That stuff is tougher than most anything I can think of. But even still, I wouldn't trust a plane made of the stuff for very long. Much less something like the Stargate. I'll take a working DHD above anything else." he said, shrugging. "But it works, and that's all that needs to be said about that."

Chris's mind was thinking as to why he had been assigned here- Besides orders. He didn't know of any underlying technology or devices that were here or anything about Beta site besides the whole "uber top secret" aspect. But even then Chris suspected that there was some kind of other reasoning. "Yeah I was told the same," he said. "Pretty much told I'll be off-world for several weeks and that I needed to be self-sufficient in terms of entertainment and work, sans access to electricity. At least, I think they said we have that. If not it'll be a very short lifespan on the electronics." he said, rambling a bit. Most of his work relied on computer systems, and so no electricity would be quite the damper on his work. Odds were there was a naquadah generator or something hooked up.

Chris nodded with a slight smile as his guess was confirmed. "Hey, we don't have an accent. It's you all who do," he said, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. "But Submarine to Stargate? That's quite the leap. What triggered that one?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, you go from a small tin can design to sink to a wide open field and planet surface here. It's quite the transition," he asked, adjusting the weight on his shoulders.

Caleb listened as Chris told him about his uncertainties Caleb had to admit that at the time of his signing the non-disclosure forms he was just looking for the next adventure. He'd spent the years travelling to different locations via a submarine, but hardly seeing much outside of that cold metal tube. That's when the opportunity arose to stay put, learn something new and he found himself jumping at the chance.

It helped that as soon as he was settled at the SGC he'd contacted his family, let them know what was happening, that he was more stationary now instead of moving around and they would probably be able to get hold of him easier. That had seemed to cause his mum some less worry, and he was always trying to make sure he didn't worry her.

“To be honest, I didn't believe anything they told me, not until I saw the Gate,” he answered with a shrug, after all who was going to believe anyone when they told you, you could travel to different planets through a ring in the middle of an underground base. “At the time I wanted the next thrill, didn't care what is was or where it came from.”

He couldn't quite believe how far he had come if he was honest with himself, so much had changed for him, to him seven that it was sometimes difficult to recognise the person he had been when he'd arrived at the SGC. To the person he currently was.

“Well considering this would be your first time, I think it's going good so far,” he replied. He partly wished his own trip had been as smooth, another part of him was glad his first trip through the gate had ended as badly as it did.

Caleb couldn't help laughing as Chris asked him if he'd tried to start an intergalactic war, the bloke besides him really was new if the rumours about Caleb hadn't reached him yet.

“Now that depends on who you ask,” he said, “I didn't start anything, but you ask Claire,” he nodded towards the woman, “Dr Te Atua, she'd say I had.” Caleb knew Chris had met the Claire in the Gateroom before they'd left for the Beta site.

“Let's just say that aliens have a lot more faulty wiring than what we do, it kinda went boom,” he explained, gesturing with his an exaggeration of how big the explosion had been. In fact it hadn't really been an explosion at all, just he hadn't moved fast enough as the thing had whirred to life, spitting out whatever it could.

Caleb had to admit that talking with Chris was actually kind of fun, once he'd managed to coax a joke or two out of the Senior Airman, because at the end of the day there was nothing worse than being on a mission with someone who didn't know how to take a joke. Or at least know when to joke and when to be serious. Plus when he'd learnt that Chris was basically just another techie, well it was always nice that had a similar head on there shoulders to his own, there was nothing worse than meeting someone new of a higher rank that was obnoxious.

“Thought the Stargate was metal to be honest?” replied Caleb, but then again he hadn't studied it as much as the bloke next to him probably had. At the end of the day he was Weapons, not gate specialist.

It felt like they were walking for miles as he continued to trudge his way through twigs, leaves and god knows what else on the planet. He didn't like to think too much on what alien fauna he was standing on because it just kind of messed with his head, would it still be called grass after all if they were on a different planet?

He nodded along in agreement about the duct tape, he very much did not like to think about how they got their own Stargate working, he knew it mostly ran on computer systems, one of the reasons on how they were all given there own personnel ID code to be able to get back through.

It seemed that no one was really told much about this little side trip to the Beta Site, well he knew why Claire had been asked, they'd been in need of a CMO, he just wondered briefly if he'd only been asked so that she'd say yes. But he knew that was a stupid thing to think, he had his own merits, skills and talents that he brought to any team he was on. Along with maybe the odd bit of trouble that seemed to find him as well.

Caleb clapped a hand to Chris' shoulder, “Well we'll find out soon enough, as for entertainment you don't need electronics for that,” he said smiling at him.

He didn't doubt for a second that someone, somewhere on the site would have either managed to sneak in some alcohol in there pack or managed to make some up somewhere. He didn't know who was currently at the Beta site, but he knew once they arrived he would end up scoping the people out, he knew which people were more likely to have managed such a feet.

He laughed as Chris described a submarine to him, it was always amusing to hear how people thought he was absolutely crazy for becoming a submariner. Even Claire still called him crazy at times, and his own parents had done the same, crazy for locking himself up in what is basically a sardine tin can for months at an end.

“Adventure and curiosity,” answered Caleb, “You don't get many chances to be part of something top secret all the time. I had skills they wanted I guess, am not one for staying still all that much.”

It was true it was quite the transition he'd made, one he still hadn't quite believed he had done, He had never thought he would stay on dry land for more than a few months at a time and that was just when he was on leave. He missed being at sea sure, it called to him all the time, but so did stepping through the Stargate onto other planets now.

“Let me put it this way, if someone told me I could do both, work on a submarine and see other planets, I'd do both,” he said honestly.

Chris nodded. He totally understood the feeling. “Well, my first experience with the Gate was before I joined the program… some data that got, shall we say, improperly stored ended up on my monitor and I had to re-secure it. I just thought it was some heavily-coded file until I got orders to move elsewhere, with a hefty stack of “speak and we end you” paperwork leading me up. “It wasn’t until I’d signed the forms that I got to know exactly what the little blacked-out boxes had said. And even then, I don’t think I ever truly believed it until we stopped at midpoint.” he said, admitting that fact. He didn’t quite know what he thought happened to people who stepped through the gate until now, but it definitely wasn’t this.

“Huzzah.” He said, only slightly moronically, with a wry smile as he cocked his head to look at the man. “On what grounds does the good Doctor disagree with you?” he asked, curious now. He knew the name and face, having met her. The two seemed close, but that was neither here nor there. When the man replied, he chuckled. “Be sure to file a complaint with Space OSHA, I guess.” he said, then realized exactly how much he was talking and how out of character this type of talk was for him. Did the Gate alter his mental state?

In fact, it was probably just the nervousness talking. The innate need to fit in, but hey, it wasn’t exactly a bad change for the poor Airmen. At least, it never hurt to find one more person that he got along with, at least. Stack on top of that, they were stuck together for at least a few weeks… and stack finally on top of that one the fact that Enlisted folk had to stick together. For all they knew they might have the same barracks arrangement.

His eyes sparked a bit as he realized something. “Well… we’re both wrong.” He said, remembering. “The Stargates are made of Naquadah, which is technically a mineral. It’s super-heavy, super-conductive, and really really bad to light on fire.” He said, beginning to ramble. “I mean, besides just as a super explosive, it’s really just neat stuff… and I’m rambling, aren’t I?” he asked, his face flushing red. “I’m so sorry about that, I didn’t mean to break off. I’ve been reading a lot about it and…” he said, just shaking his head and stopping for a moment.

When the man spoke about entertainment, Chris knew he was among some people who would be able to create some improvised fun. “Well, there’s probably only so many ways one can make fire, but I don’t think that should stop us from trying.” he said, actually really wanting to build a fire now. “What all types of debauchery usually goes on on these types of assignments? Any warnings for me, or will I just have to do trial and error?” he asked,

Chris was by no means nautically inclined. Air, Land, that was his domain. The fact that people would take down thin-skinned metal tubes to incredible bone-crushing pressure was a mystery to him, and he didn’t want to ever find out what that was like. He’d take things that kept him at least sea level or above. To start. “And one might think Stargate top secret probably trumped Sub top secret, at least now that you look at them. But if you wanted to stay in the pressurized tin can business, don’t they have that? The 304’s?” He asked. “Why go planetside? Wouldn’t those be less of a transition?” he asked, actually wondering this.