CALLING HOME – Chapter 2
Disclaimer & author's note: see previous chapter
Limping a little, Young walked in what was used as a control room aboard The Destiny by the survivors of The Icarus Project. Followed in his foot steps by Lieutenant Scott, he stopped to stand beside the central console, briefly looked at Eli and then focused his attention on Rush, mistrust and curiosity mixed in his gaze for the scientist.
"All right," said Young. "I'm here. What's going on, Dr Rush?"
With a glance to the Lieutenant whom he clearly didn't expect to be there, and another one somewhat defiant to the Colonel in response to the soldier's attitude, the scientist turned around to face the young man sitting at the central console.
"Tell them what you've found, Eli."
Looking a little uncomfortable, Eli explained: "I was running through the files in the ship's computer," His face imprinted a light constrained smile and he went on. "I mean... randomly you know, just out of curiosity, when I found something that could be assimilated to what we usually call computer logs." Eli stopped talking and watched the soldiers in front of him. The Colonel encouraged him with a wave of his hand.
"OK, Eli. Computer logs. So?"
With a quick look to Rush first, Eli stared at the Colonel next.
"Communications logs precisely. And they indicate that The Destiny modified her course three days ago."
There was a little surprise on Scott's face but Young didn't really react to the news, or he didn't show it. He just kept his look on the young man. But a few seconds later, he turned to Rush.
"How long have you known this?" he asked him dryly.
A fleeting and mocking smile appeared on the scientist face. "Eli informed me ten minutes before I called you to join us there." Rush's tone was sharp and as defiant as the look he was still giving the Colonel. "And now that you're here because we decided to share the information, let me tell you there's more to know, Colonel." He looked back at Eli then. "Go on, please."
Being the center of attention again made Eli's expression suddenly turned solemn and oddly excited in the same time. A short heavy silence felt upon them all before he said: "These logs also indicate that the course correction was made by someone outside the ship."
"What?" shouted Scott, surprised. "Someone outside the ship?" He was about to come closer to Eli but Young raised an arm to prevent him from going any further. The Colonel looked at his Lieutenant a second to make him steady and then slowly locked his eyes on Rush. Tension filled up the room as the two men stared at each other. Afterward, the soldier made a few steps to stand face to face with the scientist.
"I hope you have an explanation for this, Dr Rush. A good one."
Tension went up a notch and electricity could nearly be sensed in the air. Rush flashed an angry look at Young and answered him harshly: "As a matter of fact, I don't, Colonel Young."
"How convenient." spat Young in a totally contemptuous voice.
The scientist sighed heavily before replying: "If you want to believe so!" He ran to the central console and shoved Eli aside to the young man's surprise. Then, taping hardly on the keyboard, he made a screen materialize in front of them and pointed a finger at it. "This is a representation of the ship's computer core. Since we got here, we've tried everything we could to access the main programs contained in the core. But we couldn't! We can't interfere with the core. That means there's no programming possible except the original one." Rush paused a couple of seconds. "The ship's course is part of the original programming. You could spend a lifetime trying to change that data in the core, you can't. Because we understood hindsight that the Destiny's computer core was designed to be usable by Ancient people only, certainly as a measure of protection."
Young came near the console and looked at Rush, very annoyed.
"And what is your damn point here?"
"But don't you get it, Colonel?" exclaimed the scientist, walking around the console to be face to face with Young again. "If the computer core has been reprogrammed by someone outside the ship while we know this can only be done by Ancient people," Rush paused to take a deep breath. "Then we can deduce there are Ancient people somewhere in space, and that these Ancient people are probably monitoring the ship at this very moment."
As the disclosure of this incredible but logical truth sank in Young and Scott's mind, the look of astonishment on their faces became quite priceless for Rush but the scientist didn't let the feeling be perceptible on his. He watched the young Lieutenant turned to Eli and asked in disbelief: "Is it true? Ancients?" A shrug from Eli was his only answer and a long minute went by before the Colonel broke the silence.
"You know, Dr Rush, for someone who pretended to have no explanation on the situation, I found this one pretty convincing." The sarcasm in Young's voice was obvious but there was expression of real recognition underneath as well and that particular point made Rush snicker.
"An explanation?" said the scientist with a weak smile. "Well, actually, it's more a theory than an explanation, Colonel."
"A theory? What do you mean by a theory?" Young seemed suddenly confused while he was so confident in what he had heard the minute before. "Haven't you just proved us who changed the ship's course?"
"Maybe. But something doesn't fit here!" said Rush, irritated, looking absently at the screen still hanging in the air. A short moment later he turned around and stared at Young. "Because if you read all the missions' reports from the SGC like I did, you know just as well as me, Colonel, that all the Ancients are gone. They all ascended. All of them!"
Some kind of disturbing concern was in Young's voice when he asked the scientist hesitantly: "But then... who could have made that course correction from outside the ship, Dr Rush?"
A bitter smile fell flat on the scientist's face.
"That, Colonel, is the million dollar question."
-O-
Later that day, nearly everyone aboard the ship was in the mess hall trying one more time to enjoy their tasteless gruel. Most of the people were engaged in small talk when suddenly, with no warnings, a dazzling vaporous light seemed to descend through the ceiling in the entrance of the room. And then, out of nowhere, someone was standing there: a beautiful young woman dressed in some sort of white toga, with long dark hair and sea blue eyes that were magnifying her absolute beauty.
The surprise over, there were little muffled cries and gasps among the people in the mess hall. Some of them, a little scared, stood up to draw back to the wall at the opposite of the entrance meanwhile the present soldiers seized their P-90s and pointed them at the intruder. During this moment of confusion, the young woman just stood still and simply looked at everyone around the room and, with an incredible genuine smile, she stared at Lieutenant Scott.
"Your weapons are no use against me." Her voice was very calm and peaceful. "I mean you no harm."
Not really lowering his gun, Scott made a step forward, scanning the young woman and paying really attention to the least of her reactions. "Who are you?" The Lieutenant's voice was full of concern but he didn't seem to be be scared at all, only doing his job. "And how did you get there?"
A moment of silence went by before the woman replied to him.
"My name is Lahana. I am what your people call an ascended Ancient."
There were shocked and bewildered expressions on most of the people's faces in the room. The young woman made a few steps to come closer to Scott and looked at him very carefully.
"I am here to help you."
FIN._