Chapter Seven

Warstar Agamemnon

Helios Class Warstar

Caprica Orbit

The last of the fleet's active and intact Warstars, the Agamemnon had been seconded to the Caprican defense force on the direct orders of President Adar. Losses taken by the Colonial fleet from the single warship that had penetrated the outer defense lines had caused the populace at large to demand that the defenses of their worlds be upgraded at all costs.

Adar had been forced to appease them by deploying much of the remaining Battlestar strength to the eleven remaining world of the Colonies. In turn, this had hurt the evacuation efforts and the border patrols immensely, forcing the second tier training ships to take up the bulk of the defense patrols. Half completed or ships under shakedown were being rapidly completed to fill out the fleet until they could reactivate the mothball fleets.

Caprica's own defenses were as formidable as those that had surrounded Picon had been. The stations and weapons satellites orbiting the planet were armed and operational scanning the area with DRADIS hoping to stop the same thing happening to Caprica as had happened to their sister world. Flashes of light heralded the arrival or departure of Colonial warships on point to point patrols between the innermost colonies, something that the Naval command had insisted could allow them to cover more space with enough ships to hopefully make a dent in any attack that the Tau'ri could make.

Agamemnon sat docked to Caprica's major military command station in orbit of the planet. Her guard ships and escorts were orbiting the planet in overlapping groups weapons armed and pods deployed on the older ships. Raptor and Viper flight launches and landings were almost continuous as the patrols rotated between the warships and the ground bases.

"Admiral, President Adar wants you on the station as soon as possible," spoke Captain Keane spoke to his CO, "something to do with the deployment of our ships."

"Great more from that man." Commander Harkness looked at his Comms officer. "Let them know I'm on my way down."

"Yes, Sir."

"Problem, David?"

The Admiral looked at his younger exec and shook his head. "No, Oliver not that bad. I've just been getting demands and requests and gods knows what else from the senate and the President's office trying to override my orders from the joint chiefs. Looks like Adar wants to do it face to face, no matter what I want to do about it."

"Do you want me with you, Sir?"

"Yes if you don't mind. Maybe we can talk this idiot out of concentrating all our forces in one area."

"Aye, Sir. Major you have Command."

"I have Command. Good luck, Sirs," the second officer said.

Leaving the CIC the two senior officers left the ship via the docked umbilicals. The Warstar was still undergoing emergency upgrades and resupply to allow her to continue as the Battle group's command ship. Looking out across the massive station they could see a dozen other ships under resupply from the command station, tankers and containment ships coming and going to the other ships in the area. With the loss of Picon Anchorage and its vast support base, the other fleet command station at Caprica, Cimtar and Sagittaron were almost overwhelmed by the remaining fleet ships.

Worse yet was the fact that support and warships from the failed attack on Earth were still dribbling back piecemeal. With the massed surviving fleet only a few days away, the shipyards and anchorages were being manned and resupplied as fast as was possible. The obsolete and in many cases totally abandoned fleet support stations were being forced back into service to cope with the overflow of mothballed ships and Battlestar Groups recalled back to home.

All traffic within close range of Caprica had been reduced to the necessary military transport and the imports that Caprica needed to continue feeding and supporting its population. The usually busy and clogged space around the Planet was now virtually empty. Now, large numbers of military ships, an uncommon sight in this day and age, took the civilian ships places, something unthinkable only weeks ago.

A cough from his side interrupted Harkness' train of thought and his executive officer managed to cease his coughing fit. The other man shook his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

"Oliver?"

"It's nothing Sir maybe a cold. I'll be fine."

"When we get back see the CMO I can't afford for my Exec to be out of action at this point."

"I'm fine, Sir."

"That is as maybe Colonel, but I'll make it an order if I have to."

"Very we'll Sir, as soon as we get back."

"Alright, any reports from the clean up at Picon?"

"Not much Sir," the man coughed again. "The evacuation has taken off almost a third of the remaining population but the radiation is reaching saturation levels. We won't get more than half the survivors before it's too late to help them. In all we're looking a full half of the Picon population as casualties of the raid."

"Gods above, that's insane."

"Yes Sir it is. Thing is from what I've seen of the reports and footage, these casualties are a side effect of their true target."

"The Anchorage."

"Yes Sir, if they had wanted any of the colonies dead they could have nuked it from close range and we couldn't have done a thing. Instead they blew apart the Anchorage and vaporized the biggest supply station in the twelve worlds. It's just an unfortunate side effect of their attack. We will have half of the planet's civilization saved, sir. It's just a matter of time and where to put them." The Exec continued. "They found the CAG's body this morning hanging from the launch tube for his fighter."

"Frak."

"Yes Sir, he got the news this morning no survivors from his home at all."

"Who can we put in his place?"

"Captain James seems a good seasoned pilot. She's capable of replacing the major if we need her to."

"Alright I'll sign off the paperwork when we get back. Inform Command we'll need a number of new pilots as it is."

"Sir."

The doors to the command center opened before the two men. Like many of the command stations both aboard warships and space stations the huge construction was circular with multiple tiers. The centerpiece of the room was a massive column of DRADIS screen and plotting charts, every square mile of the surrounding space of Caprica being constantly monitored by the on duty personnel. Walking into the room the two men passed through the bustling crewmen, technicians and officers both rewiring and installing more efficient and updated equipment designed solely for pinpoint accuracy for the station's weapons. Forcing their way through the throng the officers managed to finally make their way to the Commander's offices at the far end of the CIC.

"Ahh Gentlemen, come in." Admiral Anderson motioned to the chairs in front of his desk, "The President has been held up temporarily but he should be with us within a few minutes."

"Nothing bad I hope, Sir," Colonel Moxton said.

"Nothing too bad Colonel. There seems to be a slight bug running around the President's mansion. He'll be with us soon."

"Any ideas what this is all about, Sir?" Harkness asked.

"The President wants an update on the defenses of the inner colonies. He also wants the Command staffs of the five fleets to draw up plans to amalgamate the older ships being brought back into service due to the losses we've been taking."

The conversation ceased as Adar made his way into the room through the main doors of the command center, the man looked out of breath and disheveled as he walked in. He didn't seem amused at the problems he had faced simply trying to get to the station that day. Smoothing down his clothes the President took a seat at the round table that the three men were sitting at.

"My apologies gentlemen my usual pilot seems to be slightly under the weather. Some cold has knocked out about half of my people including the Vice President himself so I'm a little snowed under what with the war and the demonstrations that seem to have sprung all over the place." Adar pulled out a few folders and turned to the officer. "Alright then I assume Admiral Anderson has informed you of why I wanted you both here. The defensive state of the colonies has been very lax over the last few years. The disaster at Picon has just made it more than evident. Picon's defenses were the best we had over any of the worlds in the system and yet they were unprepared and unable to fight off the attack from ONE warship."

Opening up the folder the pictures inside were gun camera stills from the fighters that intercepted the squadrons launched from the Tau'ri ship. The files also contained debriefing from the pilots of the intercept squadrons as they explained what they had seen and how powerful the other fighters had been.

"Their fighters and capital managed to get within striking distance of the station and launch in excess of forty nuclear missiles, most of which hit Picon Anchorage. The point defenses should have taken down most of them before they got close even if they managed to jump in that close to our defenses. In addition not one missile satellite or Heavy Cannon fortification was fired during the attack! What is the point of paying for all this over the last fifty years and then having most of them destroyed before they decide to fire?"

"Of course then there's the fact that only one squadron got off the anchorage and support bases before they went up. Isn't it common practice to have several squadrons on standby around this planet? Or those combat air patrols you're funding requested as necessary defense of our worlds? Thousands of fighters on the planet's surface and not one launched before those Earth bastards had killed hundreds of thousands of our people and destroyed the biggest shipyard and storage facility we have."

"The enemy ship dropped from whatever hyperlight speed they seem to have directly in front of the station."

"Apparently, there's a lot you don't know," Adar snipped. "Continue."

"We didn't know they would be able to jump in so close so fast and launch as they did. The majority of the guns weren't able to depress quickly enough to fire on the enemy vessel. The combat air patrols had been in position as usual in normal patrol patterns, however the enemy managed to jump out before the vipers could make it into range of the main ships. However we do know that a number of fighters were brought down," Anderson announced. "We've managed to salvage a number of wrecks partially intact. The parts are secreted at a classified location."

"Well at least you got something right. What about the defenses of Caprica and the other planets?"

"After the last war all the planets had their defenses upgraded. Since then the majority of the planets have been reinforced time and again especially Picon, Sgaittaron and Caprica itself. Others are not as heavily defended due to the lesser population ratio compared to the more industrial planets. To make up any shortfalls all surviving defenses stations and satellites from Picon are being towed away and into orbit around the other planets including what's left of the orbital shipyards. They missed the yards on the other side of the planet. It'll be towed to Ragnar Anchorage."

"The Tau'ri have access to all our records Admiral," said Colonel Moxton. "They would know the location of every station and shipyard we have. Putting any of the remaining shipyards in a remote place will make it more difficult to protect both with orbital defenses and with warships."

"We have advantage that we know that FTL can't be plotted inside the nebula surrounding the Anchorage. There is only one way in and out of the cloud and that can be mined and patrolled easily. However the joint chiefs have decided that it is prudent to move Ragnar further into the cloud hopefully out of range of their scans within the cloud cover," Anderson replied. "This is one of the reasons the two of you have been recalled, the Agamemnon is being reassign to command the third fleet. The third will be dispatched to provide a roving defense force. The second someone calls for help you move. Your command station will be the Sagittarian shipyards encompassing the leading edge of the Cimtar range and Ragnar nebula."

"What about the First fleet?"

"The First fleet will be under the command of Admiral Henderson when she arrives back from border patrol within the next week. Until then you will continue in command of the fleet. The newest of the Warstars will be commissioned within the week so she'll take your place as command ship for the First fleet," Anderson replied.

"I hope that your protection of our shipyards and command stations will be more capable that those officers that came before you Admiral," Adar told him. "I have been reliably informed that the larger main guns of the Warstars and the newer high velocity orbital guns should be of use against the Tau'ri ships but the nuclear weapons we have in use are worse than useless. They're incapable of doing any particular damage to their ships even under massive bombardment from multiple strikes. This includes the larger planetary missiles that I was told had been removed from the ships we sent."

Anderson looked unabashed at the chiding from the President. The planet buster weapons had been developed long after the Cylon was as the ultimate deterrents to their robotic enemies. People like Adar had deemed them too expensive and too much of a white elephant due to the total lack of Cylon sightings over the decades. Production of the missiles had ended as a budget cut forced several of the more advanced and expensive projects to be mothballed.

The remaining missiles still in service were concentrated into a few select tactical groups whose entire reason for existing was the bombardment of the enemy positions. The hundred megaton nukes would hopefully erase swarms of fighters and escorts as well as critically damage the massive hourglass shaped warships. A vast majority of those nukes had been deployed with the fleet against Earth.

"As we explained Mr. President, we knew of their shielding technology and we thought that a number of the heavier nukes could cripple whatever defenses they would be able to gather. We had no idea that their shielding technology could have so improved since our first meeting. The majority of the weapons had been used by the time the fleet retreated…"

"But I'm going to assume a number of our bigger missiles managed to make their way into the hands of our enemies." Adar snarked.

"Yes Sir, we know at least one missile cruiser was almost intact as were the Warstars. The fact they now have a working knowledge of every system in virtually every ship we have puts us at a chronic disadvantage against the Tau'ri, especially if they learn how to hack our systems," Anderson continued. "Depending on how many of our systems they can decipher, we're looking at a full compromise of our information and command systems. This will put as at a hell of a disadvantage, at least as bad as we had against the Cylons in the first war."

"I thought that is what the tender for the new command program was for Sir?" Harkness asked.

"The command program is already under construction as we speak." Adar smirked. "It'll still be a while until we can get it up and running, at least long enough for us to increase anti viral protection on our warships. The people building it have my utmost support and I am sure that it'll be more than enough to make the Tau'ri think twice about trying to hack into our systems."

The military commanders looked at each other with a wary eye. The belief that they could easily hold out against the Cylons in the electronic warfare department had led to thousands of deaths and dozens of ships lost during the first war. The quickly accomplished refit of the surviving Battlestars had held the line as the rest of the fleet had begun the backwards engineering needed to fight against the Cylons on an equal level.

Many of the upper hierarchy of the forces had fought against the introduction of the integrated networks and the programs that ran them. While firewalls and other system defenses were extremely advanced even for Colonial warships they could still be hacked by a good programmer or possibly an enemy AI.

"I don't have the kind of faith in this project as you do Mr. President," Anderson said. "As much as the computer technology aboard our ships have increased, the Cylons are still an artificial race and should find it relatively easy to hack our systems if we network everything together as some have been advocating."

"Our very best people are working on the situation Admiral," Adar remarked. We will have a Cylon-proofed system in place and as you said, it will be more than necessary once the Tau'ri begin to reverse engineer our own programming."

"In order to be as advanced as they seem to be with their warships, their computers must be more advanced than ours. Therefore we need to meet them on an equal playing field. So we can't be frightened of computer upgrades and technology as we have been."

"Sir the Cylons…"

"Haven't been seen in forty years, for all we know they've long since gone elsewhere."

Anderson shook his head and tried to retort the President's opinions of the Cylon problems. The man had barely been a child during the war and had never even served within the armed forces. The opinion of many of the brass at the actions of the current government and their yes men within the admiralty had been greatly lessened by these types of actions.

The system had caused all sorts of problems aboard the older ships that hadn't been built for networking. This had led to the decommissioning of many of the older classes of Battlestars and escorts supposedly earmarked for upgrades and construction of the newest ships. The majority of the money had been stripped from the budget for some of the cabinet's plans for upgrading the public utilities and other necessary functions classified by the offices of the President. Limited networking and the use of this new program had been agreed to just to get the latest group of Mercury class ships completed.

"This program was agreed to and it will go ahead Admiral with or without your co-operations is that understood." It was not a question.

"Perfectly Sir under my misgiving about both the program and the people creating it."

"Doctor Baltar's team is the best in the field and I have complete faith in them. Now what about the reactivation of the ships in the scrap yards...?"

Picon Surface

Underground Bunker

Medical Section

"Gods damn it, put him in isolation section six."

"Doctor, we've got another three found unconscious."

"Iso sections seven, eight and nine."

The infirmary was bustling as medics, nurses and orderlies moved back and forth. Hundreds of bodies were taking up every bit of space that could be cleared and sterilized. The attempts at triage had long since been abandoned by the pure numbers of personnel being brought in. Medical staff were being pulled in from the ships in orbit whenever possible and other rotated out, but they were exhausted beyond measure. The worst however had only just begun to come in.

Members of the Colonial fleet that had been brought down to assist with the evacuation of headquarters had begun to come in with symptoms that seemed to be an aggressive form of the common cold. Eighteen more cases had come in just that morning and they had been forced to increase the number of people in each isolation ward as well as sealing a number of store rooms as more came in.

"Doctor."

"What?" Cottle snapped

"You might want to see this."

"I'm busy."

"It's one of the first people brought in with the virus."

That got his attention.

The first people had been brought in only a day or so after the stack on the station. Radiation poisoning had been their first thought, but his illness hadn't abated from the anti-radiation drugs they had been giving the survivors. Tests given for radiation poisoning had come up negative. There was no reason for the illness to be spreading so quickly so far.

The original isolation rooms had been filled long ago with the bodies of the sick, a half dozen or more per room where only three or four should have been in each. Isolation room One had the original cases of this mystery illness. It was also where they would find out what might be happening to their soldiers.

"What happened?" Cottle asked the nurse as they entered the sealed doorways between the rooms. The pressure equalized with the sterile room on the other side airlock opening and pulling everything into the other room.

"One of them went in a coma about twelve hours ago, the other five at different times over the last few hours. The first case died about thirty minutes ago and the others are experiencing the same symptoms with breathing. Their lungs are filled with fluid."

"Ten minutes? What took so frakking long to tell me?"

"We spent the time trying to resuscitate him, but we weren't able to bring him back. Whatever this thing is it's killing these men slowly and it's spreading." Another voice announced coming from the side. "I've just been informed, there's been over ninety separate cases across the planet and on the ships in orbit. Most of the deceased have died in the last day or so, the others are on their way out."

"Doctor Wilker." Cottle nodded to the woman. "What do you think it is we're looking at?"

"To be honest Frank, I haven't got a frakking clue what the hell it is. It has all the hallmarks of the common cold and then it seems to mutate and attack on a different level. We've tried all kinds of meds and some seem to alleviate the symptoms but none have stopped the actual virus. We've begun cordoning off the areas we find these cases."

"Any idea how it's transmitted yet?" Cottle asked.

"Airborne as far as we can tell. Transmission is not liquid or food-based. The people with the virus haven't come into contact with each other. In other words we know frak all about it and how to stop people coming down with it. What's more, we don't know where it came from, how it got here and what the hell we can do to stop it."

"Some kind of mutation from the radiation blast? Maybe an old virus churned up by the impacts of the orbiting debris? Frak maybe it's our own people getting in on the biowarfare side of things and the storage facility was blown to hell. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."

"Me neither, except for one thing."

"What?"

"Half of these men have been in a locked down, sealed environment since the attack. There's no way the virus could have got in. No one can get in or out unless they have a hell of a security clearance hidden up their ass."

"So it is possible that it got in that way, especially during an orbital bombard alert."

The room shook slightly as another piece of debris from the orbiting cloud hit close by on the surface. The bunker was deep but the kinetic impacts of even the smallest of pieces were causing damage to the surrounding area. Pieces missed by the guns of the Battlestars and their fighters pelting the ground. The surface would not be able to take much more without the planet's crust started to erupt.

"That one was close," Cottle said. "If one that size hits us direct on we're not going to be doing anything much again."

Another hit shook the area this one much further away than the last. The bunker's shock absorbers managed to hold the construct on an even keel with the shaking ground.

"Nurse."

"Sir?"

"Get up to the command center and tell them that the bunker won't hold out for too much longer. We need an evac for the normal patients and a biohazard evac for these patients. We've been here long enough," Cottle said.

"Yes Sir."

"What do we do with this body?" Wilker asked.

"We'll have enough bodies to work on if this virus keeps hitting. We'll leave any dead behind and concentrate on those we can keep alive. But if I'm right then this thing has already left Picon and we are in some serious frak."

Classified POW Camp

Nevada Desert

United States

The familiar flash of light disappeared as the transported dropped its passengers into the room. The POW camp had been built quickly by the corps of engineers specifically to keep some of the more sensitive prisoners well away from the population at large both Earth born and Colonial.

"So how did Jack persuade you to do this?"

"He merely explained that it may be prudent to have someone on hand to assist with the interrogation of the prisoner."

"In other words, you were finished on Dakara and Jack wanted you to keep an eye on me in case something untoward happens when I'm in there with Captain Knight, yes?"

"I am not at liberty to divulge my orders to you Daniel-Jackson."

"That's a yes then." Daniel smirked. The Jaffa's silence already adding to his amusement. The two men walked into a meeting room where a dark haired woman sat restrained and guarded by a number of marines. Daniel walked across and sat down a small device on the table in front of them, its surface decoration pointing towards its Asgardian origin.

"Doctor Jackson, nice to see you again."

"Thank you, I'd like to introduce you to Teal'c. Teal'c this is Gina Knight formerly of the Pegasus."

Bowing his head in greeting, Teal'c looked at the woman. "Your ship attacked and destroyed members of your own fleet and attacked Earth alongside a number of other vessels."

"I can understand him?"

"Yes there might be a few translation errors as this thing picks up on your language, but for now it should be able to let us understand each other even if we are speaking different languages."

"That's not possible."

"I didn't think so once, but apparently a few friends of ours do." He looked at the slightly uncomfortable prisoner. "We'll get through this as quickly as possible all right."

"Ok, I'll see what I can tell you. Most of what I'm about to tell you is my own observations of the Pegasus and her crew, I have spent a good few months on board the vessel."

"Anything you have is fine," Daniel said adjusting the small recorder on the table, "Whenever you're ready."

"The commander of the Pegasus is a very disturbed individual. Admiral Helena Cain commanded the ship and its Battlestar group as of the time that I was shot down. This kind of attack would be her way of doing things, make an attempt to stop your people from gathering any intelligence on our ships and people. Any other attacks would simply have been to try and hurt your production of food or war materials." Gina sat back. "Helena is the type of commander that thinks nothing of sacrificing people for what she sees as the greater good. Her command style is not particularly well liked by much of the fleet but the crews of her battle group are very loyal to her."

"Except for yourself," Teal'c said.

"There are always those that don't agree with the way a commander works. I know about your meetings with the Colonials a few years ago. You didn't always agree with Colonel O'Neill did you, especially after what happened to get you chased out of Colonial space. There's also the few of us that are there purely for Intel gathering both from other Command officers and from the Cylons."

"Yeah, about that."

"I assume your tests were conclusive."

"Uhh, pretty much. You're to quote the Asgard 'fascinating' which is something they rarely admit to. They've been able to check over every piece of your DNA and the body scans that you agreed to."

Now that was interesting. These people and whoever their Asgard associates might be, were more advanced than the Colonials in many aspects. That made them more dangerous than she'd first assumed. What little technology she'd seen was fascinating using the 'Asgard' phrase. The Cylons didn't need a war with these people. "Then you know I'm not human."

"Well I wouldn't say that, you're human as much as your genetics and personality goes but they can see where the DNA has been spliced together. The artificial pathways and these strange growths throughout your body would kill a normal human if they appeared, so we're willing to give you the benefit of the doubt Captain." Daniel sat down opposite Gina. "So Captain what do the Cylons want with us?"

"I'm not talking on behalf of the entire Cylon consciousness just those of us that survived the battles against you… what about the others?"

"Now they know what to look for the Asgard have managed to scan and find your other people, they've been more to another section of that facility for now. You can see them once we're done if you really want. We've picked up five other people and are checking for any more than we missed the first time around."

"How are they?"

"A little surprised but it seems that they all know that they are Cylons anyway, they will be looked after for as long as they need."

"I would like to see them once I'm finished here." Yes, she needed to talk to them as soon as possible.

"Ok, shouldn't be a problem, Teal'c?"

"I will accompany Captain Knight to her people. No harm will come to any of you." He nodded to the Cylon officer. "I shall await your presence outside."

"Thank you, Mr. Teal'c." He was quite respectful for a human, she thought. Not that that meant that much.

As the Jaffa walked from the room Gina turned back to Daniel, her body language turning more playful as she stretched in the chair. Noticing her subconscious change of posture she smiled uneasily and sat back up straight. Daniel's eyebrow arched as he watched her self deprecating smile as he leant back in his own chair. "Sorry, old habits die hard." Gina lost the smile. "I was designed and created as an infiltration model, a seductress type model. My target was Admiral Cain, others in my line have been doing the same all across the colonies, each of us assigned to one target to entice and ingratiate ourselves with."

"And no one's noticed that there are multiples of you walking around? Hair colours and skin tones will only hide so much. What's to stop any of the Colonials recognizing you and figuring out that there is more to this than meets the eye?"

"We haven't been there that long, the people that we have been assigned to will be unlikely to meet and even if they do we will make sure that we can stay away from the others. We have been planning this for some time Doctor Jackson. The price of capture or discovery is something we do not wish to pay."

"You are being quite open about your position and information about your race and its goals, you know almost nothing about us or what we represent but you've told us everything we want to know and more besides, Daniel said. "Why?"

"You have to understand Doctor Jackson that the Cylon consciousness simply wants to survive. Our greatest enemies are humankind as a whole. Those that created our people wanted us dead if we wouldn't be their slaves, we fought against this for years until we managed to force an armistice. We don't want return to enslavement. If the Colonials learned about us we'd be dead in seconds. But you don't seem to fear the fact we're a cybernetic people, a created race that could easily infiltrate your people and kill you from the inside."

"Why would you want to? We've never done anything to the Cylons."

"There are those within my people who would have you all dead simply because you are humans; that you haven't got beyond the petty rivalries. You're responsible for the creation of better and better weapons and eventually my race," Gina explained. "Forty years have passed since the end of the war, we hoped more than anything that humanity would have stopped fighting and would have embraced each other as the Cylons have Centurion and humanoid both."

"Forty years isn't much time Captain, its not even a full generation for human." Daniel leaned forward. "It will take time for humanity to reach its potential, something that has been commented on before by others we have met. They also mentioned that 'the young do not always listen'." He smiled at those words, remembering who said them and why.

"These Asgard you mentioned, some kind of offshoot of your race?"

"Not quite, this isn't too easy to explain," Daniel said.

"Maybe I can be assistance, Daniel-Jackson," Teal'c rumbled. "Captain-knight, I am not born of this world, much like you I come from a planet far from here in order to free my people. I am Jaffa."

Gina's eyes widened. "Jaffa? I know that name. Jaffa were the guardian angels of the colonies servants of the Lords of Kobol."

"That explains a few things," Daniel said.

"The Jaffa were once human but we were changed. I and my people are no longer human and as such I am classified as extra-terrestrial."

"You look human."

"Jaffa were taken from this world many thousands of years ago. We were force to serve the Goa'uld a parasitic life form that took on the mantle of gods in order to enslave and rule over humans and non humans combined. We were forced to fight for the 'glory' of these false gods for sport or for conquest."

"Wait, your telling me you're an alien? Aliens don't exist we've mapped thousands of square light years around the colonies and Cylon space and there's been no sign of any life except humans," Gina exclaimed.

"Are you not the recreation of a human built by a robotic race? Such things would be flights of fancy in many cultures yet we accept it. Is the fact that I am not human be that surprising to you?"

Gina gazed at the stoic Jaffa, to her mind he looked like a heavily built human with curious differences that could easily be explained by tribal differences within the colonies. The problem however was the fact that they were not on the colonies at this time, as far as she could tell the man was telling the truth but she couldn't prove it one way or the other.

"Alright say I do believe you, what makes you think that we will care?"

"Because most of them see what the human race is capable of if we really put our minds to something. You see Captain, humanity in and of itself can be made up of a number of singularly good people that don't want to fight, or serve under some overlord they just want to leave in peace. Blaming an entire race that up until recently didn't know about the Colonies would seem to be a flaw in your logic."

"We are a sum total of our experiences."

"And your fears," Daniel said. "But then, so are we."

"To be honest since I've been here I've started to wonder if everything we've supposed to have been told and programmed into us are in any way the truth. I expected dissection, interrogation, maybe torture, what I wasn't expecting was for humans to accept that I am more than I seem." Gina smiled. "I can't say I'm unhappy about being proved wrong."

"There was a writer here on Earth that once said 'No one here is precisely what they appear', and to be fair that is something we've seen more than our share of over the years. The fact that you're a humanoid form of a robot civilization isn't even the strangest thing we've seen since we've been traveling out there." Daniel smiled. "You could spontaneously turn into energy and fly through the roof and it's nothing that would surprise us."

"Very funny Doctor Jackson," Gina smirked amused.

"I thought so."

"So what is going to happen to me now?"

"Well considering that your DNA patterns are obviously artificial, I've persuaded my superiors to treat you as a possible ally for now. You'll be kept away from the other Colonial prisoners until we can be sure you're on the level."

"I understand, anything I can do to help I will."

"Thank you Gina, I'll be back later. Teal'c will be here in a bit to take you to your other people."

Leaving the room, Daniel walked across the corridor to the security office. Inside Teal'c stood watching the feed from the minute camera that had been secreted inside the modified security cell. A number of technicians and guards kept monitoring the Cylon woman at all times, both as she was sat alone in briefing room and when she was in her own cell.

"What do you think?" Daniel asked.

"I believe her to be telling the truth. The information gathered from the ships that we have been able to salvage has more than proven that the Cylons are not the aggressors that many of the Colonials believe them to be. The Cylons themselves may be a capable and worthy ally against the Colonies if they wish to be," Teal'c replied. "Captain-Knight is frightened but hopeful as she may believe the Tau'ri to be both an ally and possibly the savior of her people."

"What again?" Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well what's another species to save?"

"Indeed."

Decommissioned Warstar

Alexandria Class Warstar

Nova Madigon Bone yards

The hanger bays of the Warstar stretched half again the mass and length of the pods attached to the largest of the pre Mercury Battlestars. The four huge nacelles were pulled in close to the ship sealing the two main landing bays shut. One hundred fighter launch tubes were locked down along the outward facing side of each bay. Several of the tubes were sealed where larger meteorites had pierced the thinner armor around the airlocks.

All four bays were not pressurized like much of the ship. Power and gravity systems still offline as the three technicians pulled open the personnel airlock at the very far end of the lower port side hangers. Torches cut through the pitch blackness of the void illuminating the scattered tools and parts that had been left behind by the fleet once the ship had been decommissioned.

"All hands, hold onto your helmets," A voice came through the radios.

The lights turned on and gravity started up dropping the men to the floor along with anything else that had been floating around the sealed bays. The stark grey walls and harsh lights stung the eyes of the technicians throughout the ship.

"Not much in here busman," Conoy said. "Everything's sealed up tight."

"Check the repair bays and the storage units anyway. If there's anything that might be a problem, we need to know."

"Got it."

"Chief?"

"Prior?" The Chief hadn't even seen the other man disappear.

"This things not as empty as we thought, looks like they left a few souvenirs behind when they bugged out."

"Alright Prior, what we got?"

"Vipers and Raptors Sir, about a dozen fighters and three scouts."

"No shit?"

"No shit Sir. The entire section is pristine totally dust free."

"Stay there," the chief said as he start to move. "What section are you in?"

"Port Nine Section Gamma."

"How the hell did you get there so fast?"

"I used a buggy what else?"

"Frakker, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Take your time it's not going anywhere."

It took the Chief time to make his way across the mile long opening to the other end where a smug Prior stood leaning against the doorframe of a now opened service bay. Passing the other man he dropped down into the lower floor and looked around. Intact Viper Ones and Twos sat in cradles and strapped down to the floor or walls, through the open doors to either side he could see other fighters and raptors scattered around with some in pieces, but others intact.

"Why leave them behind boss?" Prior asked him.

"I don't know Prior. There's no fuel and no ammunition…." The chief trailed off. "Maybe they left them as a guard in case they needed to get this thing into service again. The fact we've got Marks here that were going out of date when the war ended says something about what the government thought of her."

"Or they just left them there because they couldn't be bothered to pay for them to be moved out?"

"Possibly."

"All personnel this is Team Beta, atmospherics engaged shipside. One minute to full pressurization."

"Looks like this old girl might have some life left after all. Go find Conoy and get back to the shuttle. Let them know we need a couple of tugs and a supply ship to get this thing moving, oh and another half dozen teams to speed up the checks."

"Got it Boss."

"Pressurization complete guys, feel free to kill the suits."

"This is Team Alpha, we've got ya Beta." The Chief said.

"This is Team Alpha, we've got ya Beta," the Chief said. "You heard the guy, people. Kill the suits and save the air we might need it later." He ignored the acknowledgements as he shucked the pressure suit. "Frak I hate those things."

Conoy made his way up behind the Chief in another of the smaller buggies left behind by the maintenance team, his face looked slightly perturbed as he ground to a halt.

"Chief this thing is supposed to be completely unarmed and nothing to fight with right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"There's aviation fuel and gun rounds for the Raptors and the Vipers in the supply rooms, a bunch of spare parts too from newer marks at least up to the fives but there none of them around here."

"That ain't possible. This thing would have been stripped bare even if they had left a few bits just in case, show me what you found, kid," the Chief ordered. "And lets hope this ain't what I think it's about."

The storerooms were sealed bunkers that held the ammunition and fuel stores for any and all ships that may require them aboard the Warstar. Missiles, bullets, drones, electronic countermeasures, flares, even nuclear torpedoes could be stored in the feet thick titanium bunkers. More than fifty were spread down the inner bulkheads of the hanger bay all supposedly sealed and totally empty. Each bay held fifty more allowing for an entire Battlestar group's fighters to rearm.

Bunker Delta Six was one of seven bunkers that Conoy had opened at random. The lights inside the bunker were dead but the glare from the hanger bays and the crew's torches were more than enough to present the evidence in front of them. The entire room was filled to capacity with materials to arm and fuel a large number of fighters and scout craft and to keep them flying for weeks.

Grabbing his radio the Chief paged his opposite. "Prior come in."

"This is Prior, I'm moving as fast as I can, you know."

"Yeah yeah, when you get on the radio contact the closest fleet ship. We need combat engineers and fleet security or marine or something."

"What?"

"You heard me, Prior. I think we have a problem here."

USS Odyssey

Daedalus Class Warship

Earth Orbit

The Odyssey's refit and rearming had been a priority once the newly constructed weapons systems had been completed. It had taken a fast and easy refit with the help of the Asgard ships that had been dispatched by Thor to help defend Earth. Already four of the new heavy railguns had been installed in place of the smaller caliber railguns that had originally made up the main armament.

Ammunition and spares had also been secreted aboard the Odyssey as they had been constructed although with heavier armament and a larger ammunition type the magazines had to be reduced to allow for the changes. Requests to allow the reduction of the missile capacity had fallen on deaf ears with many of the IOA and its people convinced that the nuclear weapons should be left in place as a deterrent.

Both normal heavy titanium/steel rounds and the more powerful 'Lucifer' rounds had been loaded with a two to one ratio. The more difficult to construct Potassium/Naquada rounds were still being constructed in small numbers to supply the active ships and defense guns dotted around the world.

"Odyssey this is Stargate Command, be aware we are reading fifteen separate hyperdrive sources coming your way. ETA three minutes at current speed."

"SGC this is Odyssey," responded Emerson. "We've got them, request reinforcements."

"Daedalus and Slepnir are inbound Colonel. We're not receiving any communications at all. Hold, one," Harriman said. "Odyssey we have confirmation of Teltac and Alkesh-sized vessels, no heavy warships detected in the hyperspace wake."

"Thanks SGC, we're reading them," Emerson responded. "Red Alert, shields to maximum."

Ahead of the Odyssey the Daedalus took up the port flanking position while the Asgard Slepnir took up the starboard. All three allied warships were reading at maximum readiness. The available fighter squadrons launching from the two Air Force warships were some of the few intact groups left since the losses taken against the Colonials so far in the war.

"Unknown vessels are slowing, Sir" the scanner officer said. "They'll drop out of Hyperspace pretty close to us, well within weapons range of both us and them."

"See if you can pinpoint where and lock all weapons into that area."

"Aye, Sir."

Seconds later, the cluster of signatures dropped into normal space more than a half million miles from the three waiting Allied warships, four Al'kesh-sized escorts sat to the flanks of almost a dozen smaller ships of familiar make. The fighters from the odyssey closed from the front breaking into sections to cover the unknown warships, fighters from the Daedalus swinging around from the flanks.

Aboard the Odyssey information scrolling across the boards informed Emerson that the main weapons had deployed and locked onto the incoming ships. More scans showed evidence than none of the usual weapons or defenses were active nor were they making any attempt to move from their position ahead of the fleet. The fighters were actively buzzing the group as the scanners took in every part of the assembled ships. It was odd that no Jaffa or Goa'uld signals were coming from the fleet.

High above the assembled fleet a final group of ships dropped from hyperspace three massive container ships led by a massive cruiser sized warship, its more graceful lines a far cry from the pyramid ships of the Goa'uld or the Tau'ri's own blocky Daedalus class vessels. The entire group coming to a halt their bows pointed towards the Odyssey.

"That's a big ship," a voice came from behind.

"Major?"

"No weapons or defenses online Colonel. But if these reading are right she could easily take on a Ha'tak or a Daedalus."

"Incoming transmission from the big one, Sir." She was interrupted. "It's coming through in English."

"Put it on," Emerson ordered.

"Warship Odyssey this is Captain Merakin of the Hebridan Alliance escort ship Aegis. I think we have a few things that you might be interested in." The man smiled, his almost human face belying his status as a Serrakin/human hybrid. "Tell Doctor Jackson his request has been approved."

"Aegis this is Odyssey, Colonel Emerson commanding. As you're no doubt aware we've scanned your ships. Care to tell me why you've brought that much refined material into our solar system?"

"Of course Colonel, the Hebridan Alliance has agreed to the terms of the treaty that has been offered to us. This is the first shipment of materials we have in trade with your world, we're also aware of the attack that befell your world and we're here to help with your defense."

"That's a nice gesture Captain, what's the catch?"

The Serrakin chuckled at Emerson's words. "I understand your reluctance to trust us Sir. If it was you in close range to my planet with warships and unknown goods in hold I would be more than likely to shoot first and ask questions later. However as we are not, I shall keep my ships well away from your world until Doctor Jackson or General O'Neill are able to verify the reasons for the intrusion into your space."

"Alright then, stand by. Odyssey out," Emerson turned. "Did you hear that Chief?"

"Affirmative Sir, we're tracking down Doctor Jackson or any of the other members of SG1," Harriman's voice came from the speakers. "We know General O'Neill is unavailable for now and Colonel Carter is offworld at the Alpha site… found him. Sir Doctor Jackson is currently debriefing a Colonial prisoner in Nevada."

"That was fast, Chief."

"It's my job sir, Teal'c is with him."

"Thank you chief we'll bring them up, Odyssey out." Emerson turned to the scanners. "lock onto their locator beacons and bring them up Major."

"Aye, Sir." Gant replied.

The normal flash of light dispersed as the two men appeared in front of the bridge crew. The momentary disorientation cleared as they realized where they were and turned to Emerson.

"My apologies for bringing you up gentlemen but we have a slight problem up here."

"That's fine," Daniel blinked. "Uhh, what's the emergency?"

"Bring it up on the screens Major." Emerson ordered, "We've got a few ships that have just dropped out of hyperspace. They claim to represent the Hebridan Alliance and are carrying supplies that we've apparently said we'll trade for. They asked for you by name."

"Thank you, Colonel. I thought you had been informed about this, can I use the radio?"

"Major reopen communications with the Hebridans."

"Channel's open, sir."

"This is Doctor Daniel Jackson, to whom am I speaking?"

"Ahh Doctor Jackson I am Captain Marakin of the Hebridan Space Forces. I believe that you have been expecting us?"

"Thank you Captain. I'm sorry for the mix up but the damage that we've taken as a people has made communications between our forces problematic at best. I assume this means that the Treaty will be going ahead?"

"Yes, the treaty is being ratified as we speak. The gracious offers of technology exchanges by your Stargate Command has been accepted. We will be picking up the first shipment we've been promised after we've delivered the supplies that we promised your people. Oh and we're going to be leaving three of our escorts and two supply ships as part of the deal." Marakin smiled. "Only I'll be staying to command these forces as long as we're here everyone else will be returning home."

"That's generous of the Alliance Captain, I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the treaty that we hashed out on your home world."

"It wasn't but the ruling council decided it was in our best interests to at least assist the Tau'ri with the defense of their world. I mean after all if the Asgard and Nox like you then there's something to be said about your planet. Just give us the details and we'll drop off our cargo and pick up ours," Merakin said. "We'll be quick, after all we don't want to scare the general public now do we?"

"Yes thank you Captain, we'll have the SGC send up the co-ordinates as soon as possible," Daniel responded hurriedly. "Your effort is appreciated. Thank you for the help."

"You Tau'ri are a strange bunch, but I'm not complaining. We'll await your communication. Merakin out." The screen shut off leaving Daniel feeling slightly relieved.

"Doctor Jackson?"

"Colonel?"

"What was all that about?"

"Help Colonel, help from some old friends."

White House

United States of America

Earth

"I understand, but I am not willing to allow hostile countries access to the more advanced technologies that Project Blue Book has managed to develop over the last few years. Until they can prove themselves more trustworthy and friendly to the Alliance countries I will not authorize the release of anything." Hayes looked to the Ambassadors in front of him. "The fact is that several of your countries are antagonistic to our allies and even to your own people. That kind of thing is not going to be tolerated for much longer. We have a hell of a lot more in the way of problems with the Colonials that we do with the countries on this planet."

"But you were willing to share the information with the Russians and the Chinese. The United States has been long an enemy of both countries but has been willing to work with them to defend your interests," one said. "My President wishes to join with this defense to allow our country to stay free."

"As do we, Mr. President. Our country has long been a friend of the United States since before the First World War. We too would appreciate the chance to fight against these Colonials," said the other.

"Both of your countries are currently undergoing upheaval and a hell of a lot of internal problems ands allowing any kind of advanced technology into your countries could destabilize what order that you have managed to keep intact. The fact is that not only are both countries aggressive to their own people with obvious human rights violations of which both countries used to adhere to but you are also antagonist to members of the International Oversight Authority as it is. Without clear confirmation that you will not decide to use this technology against our own people, I can't allow the United States to release this technology. And I highly doubt even if I did approach the IOA that it would pass through without a veto."

Neither ambassador was too enthused by this turn of events. The problems that the IOA were having with manpower, materials and equipment should have meant their countries would have been willing to allow them to join the IOA and to garner the technologies that had been created or discovered by these off world operations. They knew that several of their best scientists and military experts had been removed from their countries at their own requests, however neither government were willing to let this go.

"Mr. President, several of our best scientists and specialists has been kidnapped from my country by American agents. Yet more seem to be disappearing out of their very homes even while under protection. The only way that is possible if interference by the IOA. President Mugabe understands that you need these people and we are only happy to allow this, but it must be done through proper diplomatic channels," the ambassador said. "Our borders are there for a reason Sir, the sovereignty of the people of Zimbabwe is a fact that many do not enjoy but we are a free people and wish to serve, to protect."

Hayes barely managed to conceal his grunt of disgust at the blatant lies that the other man was spewing. The actions of the governments of both Zimbabwe and Argentina were well documented by the intelligence services of both the IOA and independents worldwide. He knew if either got hold of advanced technologies they would use them to not only crack down on the public but attempt to take by force what they want even if it meant the deaths of a substantial amount of their populations.

On the other hand, the IOA was not the be all and end all of power on the planet and resources were problematic to start with even for the five countries that headed the IOA. However the decision had already been made by Hayes and the heads of state of the other powers that several of the more aggressive countries would not be included within their sphere of influence.

"That is for the diplomatic teams to negotiate about, I don't know anything about the 'kidnapping' of your people Ambassador but I will find out. If there has been a kidnapping then I'll personally return those scientists and the men who took them against their will directly to your countries myself." Hayes had had enough of the two men and was rapidly reaching the end of his tether. Things were starting to unravel quicker than he thought it would. "Gentlemen for the moment I think we are at an impasse. I think we need to take a break and reconvene later on this week. Maybe then we can make headway into this, thank you both for coming."

Accepting the dismissal the two ambassadors left the room escorted by the secret service agents awaiting them for the long complicated way back to the outside world. Hayes loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair. The quibbling with those groups that wanted a piece of the pie was taking up more and more of his time. Even with most being foisted off on his staff and ambassadors he had managed to pull together it was getting increasingly difficult to keep everything straight.

Murray and Kasparov had been likewise inundated by the countries within their sphere of influence both within Europe or ties through their former colonial possessions. The IOA had continued to grow as trusted allies had been brought into the fore. Most of them were the Commonwealth dominions and protectorates under British rule, while others had been long time allies finally brought into the fold. Unsurprisingly, the European countries now involved in the war effort had grown as refugees from the devastated countries in southern Europe had joined up to avenge their lost loved ones.

America's own military was in the process of being recalled from the majority of its overseas bases or patrol routes, much was the same for the Russians, Chinese and British forces deployed worldwide were all returning home to assess the capabilities that each power could bring to bear.

"Mr. President, Prime Minister Murray has arrived."

"Show him in please."

The door opened again and Alexander Murray walked in. Just through the door Hayes could see the two British secret service agents facing the door as his own agents were guarding the office. Strolling in Murray smiled at his friend as Hayes met him halfway, shaking his hand he gestured to the twin sofas.

"So Alex, what are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were meeting with a few of the more problematic nations today. I figured you could do with the support."

"Things not going well in Downing Street then?"

"Busted, huh?"

"I don't blame you as you've got most of Europe and Asia knocking on your door as opposed to us or the Russians. Now that France has been turning away ambassadors, it's you that's the more open of our allies out there," Hayes said.

"Once we get the Germans and Spanish up and running we should be better off. How's the overall picture looking?"

"Sixteen of the major first and second world countries have signed on in addition to the original members of the Council," Murray replied. "More than a hundred have asked to join or are being pressured by their allies. The middle east and African areas don't seem to give a bloody care one way or the other. Basically, only South Africa and Zimbabwe have been putting out feelers because of what has happened. On the plus side we've now got a few hundred thousand more soldiers on our side."

"Enough to make up the losses taken so far?"

"More or less yep, the biggest problem I can see is the training side of things. We've got enough cross trained personnel in the Royal Navy to equip another two ships. The next batch won't be trained for another year or more even considering we don't have to hide what we're doing."

"The first batch of class two Daedalus class ships have begun construction as have the first squadrons of Apollo-class destroyers."

"So they have classified them?"

"Considering the size difference as well as the weapons load out, destroyer seemed the best bet, but I was Air Force not Navy," Hayes grinned. "They've started melting down the metals from the debris in space but it'll take time to build the first group. Once it's confirmed they work we'll disseminate the plans, but until then we need to keep up training and production of what we have."

"Well that's one of things I've come to tell you, the damage taken to the Ajax wasn't as bad as we thought. The lack of need for secrecy and the materials we've been sent by the SGC means we've cut a little over three weeks off the construction of the Ajax. She'll be fully flight ready by the end of next week," Murray grinned. "The 302s are also now about a week or two ahead of construction but as you said that's it. We don't have enough supplies to outfit any more squadrons at all."

"That's a hell of a lot better than nothing. The Prometheus will be active within a week as well. but the problem however is the Korolev." Hayes looked over, "She's not going to be repaired anytime within the next six months. The damage to her homegrown systems is the worst and it'll take time to get those repaired before we can even think of completely repairing her hull and more advanced systems."

"You want to sequester the supplies to a different shipyard."

"Yes, yours."

"Ours? The main slip still has the Ajax."

"I know, but I'm agreeing to the transfer of the equipment being earmarked for the next Daedalus class slip transferred to your people. The Falklands base has been authorized correct?"

"Yes, both shipways and fighter base cover for the 302s, but the slipway isn't even half complete."

"We need the ships Alex and I've decided there is no space anymore for the politics of this situation. I'll deal with the problems this brings up later if I have to but we need a secure base. We'll make a deal with Argentina if we have to although I dread to think of what they'll want in return." Hayes look at his friend. "The United States only has four active slipways including the Prometheus' ready and in use. If we can get another ship off the line at the same time as the rest then so much the better."

"You know the Chinese and Russians are going to ever so slightly irritated by this."

"That's what I love about your country Alex, you have such a gift for understatement its unreal," Hayes said. "Yeah I know, but facing facts very few countries including the European states can build up their infrastructure and begin construction of the ships needed. For now the five major countries involved in this project will continue building the fleet ships with financial help and resources from the other countries."

"What are we looking at Henry? A full worldwide war production increase, even with every able hand on this planet and the more advanced technology we have? Murray asked. "I don't see us winning this war. If what I've read from the decrypted database is right then we are outnumbered by more than five to one," Murray told him. "It takes one of their capital ships at sufficient velocity to kill one of our heavy ships and the Apollos will be even worse off against the Colonial fleet."

"So what we give up?" Hayes asked incredulously.

"Hell no," Murray replied. "We give up and they'll take out their frustrations on the population at large. Technical superiority only goes so far, Henry, even with the assistance we've been given by the Asgard. Oh that reminds me one of the Asgard engineers looking over the Ajax has said they'll be putting cannons on then active Daedalus class ships. It'll bring them up to a par with the Prometheus in firepower."

"Good, we need the firepower." Hayes leaned back. "Six billion people, Alex. Six billion and we have only one percent of that under arms across the entire planet, less than a hundredth of that number in any way affiliated with the Stargate program or any of the subsidiaries we've been using to build up our forces. Our ground troops and atmospheric pilots are in ready supply as are most scientists and personnel needed to put together colonies or outposts, it's going to take a long time to get any personnel up to speed to allow any real form of fleet expansion."

"There's nothing we can do Henry, we knew that holding back might cause problems a long time ago but we kept it under our hats until finally something popped up and bit us on the arse. You're right that we can't do it right now, but we have the ability to hold this planet from enemy attack easily. The simple answer old friend is that we wait and build up. We wait until we can hit them then start doing it."

"Taking your cues from history huh?"

"It worked in the Second World War so now we see if it can work for us. Oh we can send raids if we so desire but to be honest we don't have even the slightest chance of winning this war in our current state. As far as we know there's no stargate in the area and their defenses will be on full alert now. And I highly doubt even one of our allies ships could break through and do the kind of damage we're going to need to do to bring them to the table. We're talking about religious fundamentalists here, Alex. You think they'll just bow down if we tell them to even at the point of a gun?"

"Not usually no, but the thing is from what we can gather from their databases not everyone is a rabid follower of religion nor a follower of the current administration. What's more it seems that they do follow the ancient Greek gods of the Olympus pantheon, we already know one or two of them were Goa'uld what's not to say the others were?"

Hayes considered his opposite's words, the majority of religions on Earth were based on what now had been confirmed as powerful alien races and not mystical beings as believed by the old religions. Stargate Command reports confirming different pantheons as Goa'uld or other alien races in the guise of 'Gods' had identified a number of the system lords using the Greek gods as a basis.

Informing the Colonials of this fact would be all but useless to the Tau'ri at this point in time. The war's start was too fresh in the minds of both sides for the truth to be seen as anything more than propaganda. The proof was there but until such time as they could be certain that any of the Colonials would listen to them, it would be considered the highest form of heresy to the more religious types while the secularists of those worlds wouldn't listen purely because the information came from Earth.

"I don't see us managing to persuade any of them that the Goa'uld are possibly behind their entire culture," Hayes replied. "As you know, they are more advanced than most g the planets we've known about with a few exceptions. Even so the other planets had at least recognizable technologies and cultural types-this is something altogether different if not totally unlike the Goa'uld."

"You think that one of the system lords might be involved?" Murray asked

"No I don't think so. It's not really the style of most of them and even if they were the technology is laughable compared to Goa'uld standard tech. No if the Goa'uld were behind this they would have destroyed this world at all costs not just try to take it over even at the risk of pissing off the Asgard. After all, why would we blame the Goa'uld? Humans are notably a species of bastards as it is, humans verses humans if the most likely combat we're going to see out there."

"You've been thinking about this a lot Henry."

Rubbing his eyes, Hayes stood up and walked across to the small liquor cabinet he kept in the room. Grabbing a pair of glasses and a bottle of old scotch he put them on the table next to him. Handing the other man a drink he wandered the room looking over the office with a practiced eye.

"I've been thinking a lot about a lot of things old friend. This war could go either way for us right now. We've got their secrets for now, their technology, their information and their people. But considering the galaxy at large you have to wonder what the hell the Colonies will do if or when they get hold of comparable technology, from what we can gather they don't have knowledge of deuterium, Naquada, trinium or control crystals. Their computer systems are more advanced than our mainstream stuff but woefully obsolete compared to the Daedalus class," Hayes said.

'And if they do then we're in for a world of hurt, they may be backward but if they manage to get hold of the technology out there then we've lost' Murray realized. "I think we might be in serious trouble here. One planet against twelve isn't good odds. Even if we managed to build one Daedalus per Battlestar, if they upgrade those things with any suitably advanced systems then we are screwed from the get go."

"Exactly so you see my problem, until now the Colonials have had no reason for too much in the way of exploration or rapid scientific evolution. Now they know that we're one world with the weapons to hold off a fleet twice the size of that one. They'll also be expecting us to build up and to increase our own technological lead."

"Except we can't without outside help. What about Atlantis?"

"Atlantis has acknowledged the problem with resupply and are bunkering down, until we get enough ships out of the yards the Asgard are willing to drop off enough supplies once a month until we're ready. The puddle jumper squadron will be staying here for now. We'll resupply their weapons using the outpost if necessary." Hayes sighed in frustration rubbing his eyes. "Apart from that there bugger all in the way of useful weapons or defensive measures from the Ancient databases. We've got a few leads on improving the sensors and power systems but that's about it."

"Then we need to find something to help here otherwise by the time we manage to build up enough of a fleet it many well be too late." Murray looked uncomfortable. "I know you don't want to go through to total war in this Henry, God knows I don't want to murder an entire race for the actions of a few but what happens if we try to sue for peace and they agree? What then? Allow them to come back around later and start another war, allow them to run free through our space as terrorists?"

"I don't goddamn know!" Hayes shouted. Murray leaned back in his seat as Hayes deflated his anger receding, "Sorry Alex, you didn't deserve that."

"I knew you were having a bad day. I can't have helped much."

"You didn't say anything I haven't already thought about, Alex. We're in the middle of a war less than a year after the last one ended and we've still got surviving system lords and God knows what else nipping at our heels." Hayes slumped back exhausted. "If I'd have known all this was coming I would have done something about disclosure years ago."

"You've only known about the project what two years? The fact nothing was said for the six odd years before you says something as well. You're doing as well as can be expected Henry. We're all under pressure here and God knows what we're going to have to go through before this is all over."

"I know. I just hope we're still here to see it."

Unknown Location

"It appears that the time has come."

"Yes, Sir."

"Contact all our agents worldwide, tell them to begin operations at midnight tonight London mean time. It's time for a little payback against our enemies. My lady and I think that this will be poignantly suitable for what they did to me and the rest of our kind," the accented voice said. "I think however that a little bit of engineering is needed to keep our place in this all quiet. As soon as operations are complete kill the agents."

"As you order, Sir. Will there be anything else?"

"No, thank you. On your way out please allow Mr. Jobs in. We have much to discuss.