Major Gleason was the US military's focal person with Van Huizen Corporation regarding their antimatter research and development. His counterpart in the company is the chief scientist on the project, Dr. Delaney. He was eager to see the weapon applications of such a dangerous field of physics regardless of potential consequences. He rightfully suspected something conspiratorial in Delaney's actions, but was not actually aware that the truth was far stranger.
Averted Death[]
Gleason's death was unavoidable as an antimatter detonation will have engulfed the facility he's in with no time to escape. The Director opted to make use of his last few moments of life by overwriting him with a Traveler to complete a mission at the said facility.
Biography[]
Host[]
As a military official, Gleason had a number of subordinates working for him: a military scientist, a sergeant, Morrison, and Wilson, among others. Unbeknownst to him, he was disparagingly nicknamed "Major Dickless" by Delaney due to his penchant for letting his subordinates do his dirty work rather than himself. (S1E02: Protocol 6, S1E06: Helios-685)
Gleason used a citywide blackout as an excuse to take 10.3 milligrams of antimatter from the Van Huizen Corporation's containment facility, ignoring Delaney's concerns with his transport capabilities. He didn't answer when she accused him of wanting to make weapons out of the material.
While en route to his base Gleason's scientist aide informed him an explosion was imminent and inevitable, validating Delaney's fears. Gleason instructed his convoy to fall back from the truck transporting the antimatter, and told its driver Wilson that he will be following behind. However, the Major didn't actually intend to do so.
The next morning, after the truck's explosion Gleason called Delaney to demand an explanation. He expected a blast in the megaton range, but this one didn't even make the news. Delaney had no idea what he was talking about, though Gleason suspected either she somehow retained the material or the antimatter didn't really exist at all. He warned her to expect a personal conversation about it soon.
That conversation occurred while Delaney was fixing a coolant leak in the containment facility. Gleason came in while a few workers were helping Delaney clean up. He initially demanded they leave first, though Delaney informed them they can go about their business. After verifying the antimatter's not in the containment unit, Gleason rattled off possible logical explanations but got distracted with a ticking sound nearby. Delaney then claimed the antimatter never existed, and at best Gleason left with a milligram. The Major accepted this explanation and admitted to being a bit gleeful at this professional humiliation, but allowed Delaney to retain her funding in exchange for continued research and scrutiny. He obliged to get off the premises when the doctor asked him to. (S1E02: Protocol 6)
A few weeks later, Gleason visited Wilson in the hospital, who was recovering from the burns sustained in the blast. Wilson reported seeing a woman in the middle of the road before briefly blacking out during the night of the explosion, leading the Major to wrongly suspect Delaney was directly involved.
To that end, he sent his sergeant and Morrison to bring Delaney to her, invoking rules for the right to detain and interrogate her. He accused her of trying to sell her antimatter to foreign powers, but Delaney poked holes at the improbable logic of letting the Major drive away with it in the first place, to which Gleason pointed out she was sticking to her story that it never existed. Gleason later received word that someone was trying to break into the containment unit at Van Huizen, and demanded Delaney to tell him who it was as Morrison there wasn't capable of doing it.
A short while later, FBI Special Agent Grant MacLaren showed up at Gleason's compound and demanded an audience. Normally Gleason would have turned away such visitors, but this one demanded to speak with Delaney, not him, prompting him to confront the agent himself. MacLaren correctly pointed out that while Delaney was under FBI investigation Gleason had no actual authority to detain her, leaving the Major no choice but to let MacLaren see the scientist. However, she apparently overpowered her guard and escaped before they arrived. Gleason mobilized his men to find her, but MacLaren advised him to stand down.
Gleason's men were viewing news reports of a toxic gas leak at Van Huizen. With no word yet from Morrison at the site, Gleason suddenly recalled he actually saw MacLaren before, posing as one of the cleanup crew during the coolant leak. He then ordered his men to gear up.
Driving two SUVs worth of soldiers to Van Huizen, Gleason and his men were met with gunfire on approach. He eventually realized that the shooters were only delaying their advance; they seemed to be shooting at the ground, not at the soldiers. Gleason and some of his men then shot their way to the containment facility.
Inside they were met by a woman named Bloom. Gleason ordered the woman to stop what she's doing, then shot her when she ignored him. However, one by one his soldiers collapsed screaming while holding their heads, then attempted to imitate Bloom after recovering, forcing a bewildered Gleason to put them down. His sergeant even attempted to attack him, and he responded with deadly force. Eventually he was the only one left; panicking, he attempted to shoot himself, but he ran out of bullets. He soon felt searing pain as his consciousness was overwritten by another consciousness from the future. (S1E06: Helios-685)
Traveler (Number Unknown)[]
The Traveler who downloaded into Gleason's body had just one task: turn the key that will activate the antimatter-powered x-ray laser. After recovering, he did so with a calm expression, causing a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the containment facility but accomplished the overall mission objective of deflecting the Helios-685 asteroid with the laser.
Trivia[]
- Numerous actors in Travelers also had roles in the Stargate franchise, both which had Brad Wright as an executive producer. David Lewis portrayed Cameron Balinsky in Stargate SG-1.