STARGATE UNIVERSE: Air Read Online Free PDF

gasped. From out of nowhere, a brilliant white glow was forming all around him, blotting out everything. A high-pitched sound filled his ears, and he flinched and tried to scream —
     
     — But then the white glow faded away and he was in a completely different place. A steel-walled room, like the inside of a warship or a bunker. Eli blinked, turning toward the far side of the chamber, and what he saw almost made him drop the pen and paper in surprise.
    “What the…?”
    One whole wall was a vast floor-to-ceiling window, and beyond it… Beyond it was the most incredible thing Eli Wallace had ever seen.
    Earth . The planet lay below him, turning slowly, curtains of white cloud moving over azure seas and rich umber tracts of land. With a start, he recognized the Florida peninsula, and his eyes flicked across the sight, picking out landmarks half-remembered from geography class.
    He heard the same hum, caught a glimmer of the white flash from the corner of his eye, but he could not draw his gaze away from the view out the window. Rush walked up alongside him and shared it.
    “Welcome aboard the Hammond , Eli.”
    He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t work, so he just pointed. Is that what I think it is? said the gesture.
    Rush gave a nod. “Yes, that is the planet Earth, and yes, you are aboard a spaceship.” He said it so matter-of-factly that it shocked Eli back into speaking.
    “Wh-what happened to the other guy?”
    “General O’Neill had to return to Washington.”
    “Oh.” Eli wondered how O’Neill had traveled. Did he do the Star Trek thing as well, or did that fancy limo they’d parked outside his house transform into a jet plane, or something? “But I didn’t sign…”
    “You will,” said Rush. “We need your help, Eli. This is very important.” He indicated the non-disclosure form, still gripped in Eli’s hand. He gave a rueful smile. “To be honest, I don’t really know how long it’s going to take.”
    The reality of his situation was starting to catch up to him. “I should call my mom…” He fished in a pocket for his cell phone. “Let her know where I am.”
    Rush shook his head. “That won’t work up here.”
    Eli stared lamely at his phone. “Right.” What could I say to her even if I could call? ‘Hey, Mom, guess what? I’ve just been kidnapped by the United States Air Force!’
    “You can speak to her en route,” said Rush. “There’s a cover story you’ll have to follow.” He nodded to himself, as if remembering something. “Don’t worry, these people have been doing this sort of thing for over a decade.”
    Eli’s brain caught up with Rush’s words. “Wait, I’m sorry. En route? En route to where?”
    “To P4X-351. Another planet, approximately twenty-one light-years from here.”
    It was getting harder to handle all this at once. The size of these ideas were crowding out his brain. Eli shook his head. “I can’t go. I have things to—”
    Rush interrupted. “We know about your mother’s condition.”
    “What?” The mention of Mom’s illness, so sudden and so bald, immediately dragged Eli right back to the real, the everyday and earthbound actuality of his life. He felt a momentary flash of resentment. “Well, you know everything, don’t you?”
    “We also know you are not currently employed and that your mother’s medical coverage is an ongoing issue.” Eli gave a shallow nod to that, thinking of the pile of bills back on the kitchen table. The staff HMO plan at the Fine Dine wasn’t exactly up to much. “We’re going to see that she gets the best care available while you’re gone,” Rush concluded.
    Eli weighed the paper in his hand. It suddenly felt like it was made of lead. “How do I know this isn’t something freaky? Like, maybe you and that General guy drugged me, messed with my head?” He thought about his mother and something twisted in his chest. “Are you people for real?”
    The other man nodded toward the window.