Chapter 1: Twilight Bekens

I was awoken by an alarm, after checking the jury rigged clock next to my bed, I realised it was the proximity alarm…

The Hyperspace proximity alarm.

I climb out of bed and head to the cockpit, not bothering to wash or change as it could mean the ship flew into a planet or star.

I sat down and checked the reading on the rebuilt, and redesigned, port console. The ship was now four lightyears out from the destination, even after replacing the port console with something more Tau'ri friendly I couldn't alter course until now.

Which I immediately did when I saw the ship would drop out of Hyperspace straight into the side of a small moon, I also took advantage of the computer resetting to cut velocity which would allow me time to have a shit, shave and shower before the ship dropped out.

Once the ship started to slow, I headed back to my quarters to do exactly that.


The brunette glanced around nervously, now was her chance, but if she failed…

'No, I can't think like that,' she mentally berated herself, carefully picking the lock with the Omni-tool Niket got her, not as good as the ones supplied by Him, but it wouldn't instantly be traced to her, 'I Must succeed, or she'll suffer the same life as me… I can't… no, I Won't allow that.'

The door opened and the brunette stepped through, activating a jammer in her pocket to spoof the room's sensors.

And there she was the tiny being that was the heart of this whole mess, her 'new born' sister, and her replacement.

She was hesitant to pick up the baby, their father probably had a pressure sensor under the mattress, but knew she had come too far to back out now, she picked up her sister and turned to leave, sighing in relief as she saw none of her father's security had approached.

She kept glancing around as she made her way to the garden, this was the riskiest part of the plan after collecting her sister, if she was caught before she reached the fence it was over, she'd never get another chance… assuming her father let her live.


"A pleasure doing business, Sir," I nodded respectfully to the Bank Manager and rose to leave, feeling like I needed a shower.

The Al'kesh had dropped out of Hyperspace behind the moon; fortunately screening it from the observatory satellites that had spotted the Hyperspace Window, activating the cloak had allowed me to approach unseen. I'd somehow ended up in the Serpent Nebula, a little over two thirds of the way between the Eagle Nebula and Tau'ri but a few hundred Light years coreward, the planet in question was called Bekenstein and it was inhabited by Humans from a planet named Erthe and run on behalf of the Systems Alliance, the overall Governing and Military body of the Erthe humans. The planet in question was heavily industrialised, primarily focused on Luxury goods for the Alliance and several nearby alien stations and worlds but with a sizable output of colonial supplies like prefab housing, portable power stations and defensive turrets and weapons.

I'd managed to bluff my way into the bank, one of the smaller but more stable establishments that dealt with precious metals and bullion, as having come from a slum on Erthe but finding a sizable haul of bullion on a crashed ship while scavenging on the edge of Terminus space. Coincidentally, the area I claimed to find the wreck actually backed onto Baal's territory fifty lightyears rimward, so I wasn't too worried about anyone snooping. The Accounts Manager had given me an appraising look and told me flat that I'd need to register as a citizen first and told me to return once I had.

Two hours later, I was back in the man's office carefully reading the appropriate paperwork, the terms weren't the most favourable but it was definitely better than I could expect at the largest Bank on the planet, who'd have screwed me right over due to being from the slums, I arranged for a pickup with the Manager and for conversion to begin once I was done. Though I was a little surprised at how little value was taken off due to the ingots being cast into sand moulds as opposed to the higher quality ones available.

I found the driver waiting out front with the equivalent to a three tonner. Good, there was about a ton each of silver, gold and platinum and I was cashing it all in, good thing I actually landed on a smaller landing strip outside the city rather than the main spaceport.

"Mr Emrys?"

"That's me," I replied, walking up to the man, "ready to go, or are we waiting for an escort?"

"A small Police escort," the driver, Byrne, replied, looking down the road towards the local Precinct, where we could just make out around two dozen officers climbing into squad cars, "Shouldn't be long. You riding in the truck?"

"Yeah," I replied as the squad cars started towards us, "not that I don't think you're anything but an honest professional, just… well, the Manager gave me the creeps," I said honestly.

Rather than being offended, the man nodded understandingly, "I know what you mean, I've worked here for fifteen years and he's had the same effect on me since he arrived eight years ago."

The Police cars pulled up behind the truck and a Lieutenant got out, heading over to us, "Mr Emrys?"

"That's me, Officer," I said, taking in the style of the uniform, 22nd century NYPD.

"Lieutenant Harris, we're to escort you to your ship then back to the Bank," Harris informed me.

"Thank you, I'll be riding with the truck, will you or one of your Officers be joining me? The cab seems to seat four," I said.

"It does," Byrne assured.

"Yes, I think I will," Harris said thoughtfully, "Mind if I bring one of the rookies?"

"Go ahead, they're your people," I said, glancing to Byrne who nodded.

A minute later he came back with a pretty blonde of slender build and judging by her age only a year at most out of the Academy.

"So, where are we heading?" Byrne asked as we climbed into the truck.

"Hickam Field, considering I didn't have Alliance ID until a few hours ago I figured it was best to avoid the Main Strip," I answered, belting myself in.

"Why did you want to avoid the spaceport? And how were you able to" the blonde asked curiously, blushing embarrassedly when Harris shot her a look.

"Without ID can you imagine how Customs would have responded?" I replied, "as for how, the Main Spaceport often pushes craft below a certain tonnage onto the smaller strips."

The blonde looked to Harris in surprise and was shocked when he nodded to confirm it was true.

"How did you recover so much treasure?" Harris asked carefully.

"I found the ship derelict," I replied, stretching the truth but not by much, "it was out of fuel and consequently the three man crew starved. Once I boarded and found the crew dead, I transferred everything from the junker I had at the time to the larger vessel once I found the reactor could run on Helium three. I didn't actually find the cargo hold until I was on my way back here, figured it best to cash it in."

Harris gave me a curious look but said nothing.


"Is that your ship?" I gave the cadet an amused look when we eventually arrived, noting the same curiosity from both Byrne and Harris but more restrained.

"Yes, an Al'kesh medium bomber and troop transport, if what I translated from the logs is right, seems they're often repurposed as personal transports," I informed her as Byrne pulled up next to the ship.

"What race built it?" Harris asked as we got out.

"Not sure of their history, but they're called Goa'uld, which literally means God," I said, glancing around at the other Officers then stepping under the ship.

"Pretentious much," Harris scoffed.

"I won't argue that, but prepare for some surprises, the tech on this ship is quite unusual," I warned, stopping just short of the ventral ring platform.

"What do you mean?" the cadet asked.

"Non-eezo FTL and point-to-point Matter Transporters for a start," I said then pointed at the ring on the underside of the ship, "this is one of those transporters, when I activate it a set of rings will lower from the hull and hover at a certain height at a certain distance from the next ring above or below. They will then activate with a flash of light and anyone or anything encompassed by the rings will be sent to a second set in the hold where they will be rematerialized, and vice versa for leaving again. This is how the cargo will be brought off the ship, it will then need to be loaded into the truck. Now, I've tested it and it's safe for Omni-tools but I'd advise leaving anything else in your cars or stay outside."

Most of the Officers looked dubious, or in the case of a trio leaning on their car like I was bullshitting them, but Byrne and Harris were looking intrigued.

"Any chance we could get a set?" Harris asked, "They'd be useful for the Secure Transfer of High Security prisoners."

"Sorry, but this pair are the only ones I know of, and ripping them out would probably disable them," I knew that Rings were pretty resilient but I didn't actually know how they worked, they'd been phased out in favour of booth and platform transporters shortly before Atlantis reached Pegasus.

Harris looked disappointed but nodded, "you can have a couple of your people scan them if you wish," I suggested, grinning a bit as he barked out orders.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

I smiled at the blonde, "yes, now step closer or the ring will hit your head," I held back a laugh as she scampered next to me, her face was priceless when I activated the rings and in a flash we were both in the hold, "let's get started."


"Where'd she go?"

"She can't have gotten far; our scanners are still being scrambled. Spread Out, Find The Girl."

She hurried as fast as she could without giving herself away down a side alley near Hickam Field, if she was lucky she might be able to beg a lift off-world. She could pay, but her father was likely watching her account for any transactions, seeing as he hadn't yet drained it.

She'd managed to not only cross the garden unseen, but get through the hole in the wire as well, unfortunately she was seen running away from the fence, ten minutes later his guards were out in force.

So far she'd managed to avoid them, but they kept pace with her, which meant they started to close in as she approached the Landing Field.

Just as the Landing strip came into view at the end of the alley, her instincts screamed at her. It was only her incredible reflexes that saved her, a Biotic Barrier snapping into place a split second before two bullets ricocheted off of it.

"There She Is!"


I was walking back along the perimeter of the Landing Field, having completed my business in town, when I heard two shots ring out from a side alley, a few hundred yards away. I immediately drew my Zat and crouched down. As I watched, two men in Private Security uniforms, which I recognised as one of the outfits I'd been warned to avoid by the Manager and Lieutenant Harris, suddenly floated upwards to around tree top level, one righted himself enough to fire a pistol, an M-3 if I remembered right, and fired three shots. A biotic orb left the alley and slammed into the man, tearing him apart. The second failed to right himself before the Biotic power suspending him failed, sending him head first into a fifty foot drop into a storm drain.

I grimaced as the man screamed then fell silent with a nasty crunch, I crouch-ran to the end of the alley and peered around the edge.

A teenage girl was lying on the ground, her arm wrapped around a small bundle; she was projecting a Biotic barrier that, judging by the thin, long gouges in the ground, had just been tested under fire. As I watched, two more Security Guards rounded the corner from the far end; they looked around briefly, then fired at the teenager as the saw the remains of their former colleague.

The girl shifted after the first few shots to cover the bundle with her body, the bundle also shifted… a small, pale head with wispy brown hair.

'A baby? Bastards!' I leaned out just as the girl's barrier failed, activated my Zat and fired.

The first shot was rather comical; the thug was mid step when the shot hit him, making his legs spasm and throw him into the air and onto his back, like something out of a cartoon.

The second thug looked to his colleague then glanced around, not seeing me until I'd fired again, his body seemed to lock up as he was hit, then collapsed after a moment.

I stayed still for a moment just in case there were more, the girl stared at the fallen guards then looked around for the shooter, just as I stepped out.

"You alright?" I called out, walking to her and helping her up once I saw the blood down her right side, "Is the child hurt?"

"No, my sister is fine, fortunately," the girl replied, wincing as pain shot through her side, "I'll be ok."

I looked over her quickly, then went to check the bodies. The first had an omni-tool on an open radio channel with someone demanding an update, an M-6 Carnifex in their hand and an M-5 on their belt, I grabbed all three and checked he was out before heading to his partner.

The second bloke had an M-4 in his hand and what I thought to be an M-358 on his belt, the latter being a highly illegal Magnum pistol, both of which I grabbed then shut off his omni-tool.

"Why did you take that?" the girl asked, indicating the omni-tool on my right arm.

"Open comm channel," I said, "allows us to eavesdrop."

She cocked an eyebrow and gave me a surprised look, "clever, until they decide to switch channels."

"You're assuming they'll realise we're listening in," I countered, "do not underestimate human stupidity, besides they have to figure out which omni-tools compromised first. Now, care to explain the thugs?"

The girl gave me an appraising look, then spoke, "I've run away from my father, these men are hired security."

"And you took your sister?" I asked, keeping an ear on the thug's radio chatter.

She hesitated, I could clearly sense her fear and uncertainty, "She's my genetic twin," she said in a near whisper, "He… he wants the Perfect Daughter, so he raised me… he held me to impossible standards, refused anything but perfection violently and… one day I came home to find him settling my sister in, I realised he believed I am flawed and needs to start again. I realised… he doesn't want a Daughter, but…"

"A Dynasty," I growled fiercely, I knew all too well that kind of person after fighting the Goa'uld for the six months prior to my accident, I glared down at the two thugs, deciding what to do with them.

The girl was slightly taken aback by me reaction, "I… I knew I had to get her out, I couldn't let an innocent girl go through what I did, I waited for my chance then took it… it seems my father is willing to take extreme measures to get her back."

"Idiots weren't even checking their fire," I muttered and activated my zat. The girl watched in confusion as I fired again on the thug, then her jaw dropped as my second shot disintegrated the body.

"What? … But How?!" she stammered as I repeated with the second thug.

"Zat'nik'tel," I said, "Goa'uld sidearm, one shot stuns, two shots kill, three shots disintegrate."

"My God!" she the hissed in pain and clutched her side, I slid my arm under her sister to steady her.

"You need medical attention," I pointed out, "come on, my ship has a med bay, let's patch you up, and decide where you'll go."

The girl looked up at me then just nodded, following me as I led her onto the field. We stopped briefly halfway to the ship to ditch the hot omni-tool, apparently the rest of those idiots had figured out the four I'd seen had been wiped out and were converging on the Landing Field, but reached the ship soon enough, I decided to use the ramp as I had no idea what would happen if a baby went through the rings.

"This way… Hey! You're bleeding on my deck, come on!" I said, though a little amused at her wide eyed wonder she was indeed still bleeding, she snapped out of her trance and followed me into the med bay.

I pointed to a low bench with a long cushion to lay down the baby, the girl taking the hint, then went to collect both a medical scanner and a healing device, laying down my collected weapons in a box on a shelf, I then turned back to see her lay down the miraculously still sleeping baby then turn around and face me.

"What are you waiting for… an engraved invitation, lie down on the table and let me look at you," I said, laying down the healing device on the tray next to the table as the girl nervous sat on the table then lay down.

"You know, I never asked your name?" I wondered aloud as I activated the scanner.

"Miranda," she replied, her face twitching slightly from the faint unfamiliar feeling caused by the scanner, "Miranda Lawson, my sister's name is Oriana."

"Miranda," I said, seeing how it rolled off my tongue, "it's a beautiful name, it suits a beautiful young woman like you," I said, smiling as Miranda blushed, "it seems it's also lucky, there's two bullet tracks, both punched right through, but neither hit anything important. Give me a few minutes and you'll be right as rain," I placed the scanner in the tray and I then tore her shirt so I had free access along her right side then picked up healing device.

Miranda flinched when I tore her shirt but didn't run, then watched in fascination as held the device over her side and activated it, gasping as the strange feeling washed over her side and again as her flesh started to knit back together.

I kept the device on for a couple of minutes after the wounds closed just to be sure then turned off the device. I then picked up the scanner to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

"Everything seems fine," I stated after checking the readings carefully, "but it's probably best to see a proper doctor, I'm pretty well versed with this tech but I'm not a medical professional."

"Thank you," Miranda said gratefully after a moment, sitting upright, "that feels so much better."

"All part of the service," I smiled, "have you decided what to do?"

"I was going to go to a group called Cerberus that my father supported, they have the resources to protect Oriana," Miranda admitted, "but now I'm not so sure."

"Well, I'm overdue with checking in with my CO," I stated, "I've been MIA for several months, the part of the Galaxy I'm from is well beyond the Relay network so, if push comes to shove, it might be best to have my CO arrange something, it's happened before, though Cassie is several years older."

Miranda looked at me, both uncertainty and hope shining in her eyes, "it won't hurt to try," I insisted.

"Okay," she said, "can you contact them?"

"Not yet," I admitted sheepishly, "as I said, they're over half a Galaxy away beyond the Relay network, an accident caused by weapons fire stranded me in non-Mass Effect FTL for several months, but we have a way to reach other planets without ships, the device works like Secondary Relays but the devices are on planets, if we can find one, I can dial home and ask."

Miranda gave me a humourless look, thinking I was lying but quickly realised I was being sincere, "do you know where one is?" she sighed.

"No, but this ship's scanners are programmed to recognise it's elemental signature or one activating, shouldn't be too hard to find one," I replied honestly, just then Oriana woke up.

"You get her settled, the galley's two doors along on the left, though you're probably stuffed for nappies," I said, heading for the cockpit, "washrooms third door on the right, I'm going to prep for take-off then start scouting the nearest systems."


"…UNSCHEDULED OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION…"

Hammond hurried down the stairs from his office and the Briefing Room and walked over next to Sergeant Harriman, "Any IDC?"

"Gate hasn't locked yet, Sir," Harriman answered, "CHEVRON SIX, ENCODED!"

"Close the Iris," Hammond ordered.

"CHEVRON SEVEN, LOCKED!" the Wormhole formed with the familiar KAWHOOSH, then was blocked from view as the Titanium-Naquadah Iris closed and locked into place.

"General," Jack O'Neill greeted as SG-1 filed into the room.

"Colonel," Hammond returned, "Any IDC?"

"No Si… Wait, IDC and radio signal coming through," Harriman said.

"Who is it, son," Hammond asked.

"SG-1's IDC," Harriman stated.

"That's Impossible," Hammond exclaimed, looking round at the team in question.

"Evidently not, General Hammond," Teal'c stated.

Jack just stared speculatively at the stargate, "yeah, maybe not," he then looked at Harriman, "Can you put that Radio signal on the speakers.

Harriman switched the settings for the transceiver.

"…EAT, STARGATE COMMAND, THIS IS LIEUTENANT ANTONINE EMRYS OF SG-1, PLEASE RESPOND… SERIOUSLY, SOMEONE PICK UP THE PHONE OR I'LL REVERSE THE CHARGES…"

Jack scrambled for the microphone, "Lieutenant Emrys, this is Colonel O'Neill, it's damn good to hear your voice."

"FEELINGS MUTUAL, SIR, GOT PRETTY LONELY ON THAT AL'KESH… SIR, REQUEST MEDICAL TEAM TO COME THROUGH THE GATE!"

"Are you injured?"

"NOT ME SIR, BUT WE HAVE AN INFANT WHO NEEDS A CHECK OVER… AND IDEALLY A NEW HOME, HER FATHER COULD HAVE GIVEN NIRRTI POINTERS."

"Emrys, what have you gotten into," Jack muttered, "Stand By!"

Jack looked over his shoulder at Hammond, "General?"