Chapter 10
Earth's golden sun rose over the Pacific Ocean. The sharp angles of Atlantis beautifully caught and reflected the light. The millions of glass panels all glimmered in the morning sun. Operations began as usual. The Gate sync occurred the night before, and Daniel's program was currently being installed.
"Only a few more hours until we can find out what's on those planets," Daniel said.
Morgan chuckled at Daniel's enthusiasm. "Suit yourself."
"John, Cam," Sam said. "I want your teams ready to go as soon as we can dial out."
"Yes ma'am," the two Colonels said in unison.
The day was exceptionally ordinary, yet the tension of excitement hung in the air. Everyone was hustling and bustling in their usual way.
"General Carter," Young said. "Rush says he has a plan to move Destiny. Where would you like us to put it?"
"Send it to Nevada. I'm sure those scientists at Area 51 would love to get their hands on it," Sam said.
"Very well, ma'am. Permission to move that hunk of junk."
"Granted," Sam said.
"Rush, you're go for launch," Young said into his radio.
On the Destiny, Rush pressed a few buttons. The master-command on Destiny was released, and the ship was finally able to take off.
"The reporters will eat this up," Rush said to himself. The ship trembled violently as it gained altitude. Once the ship attained a sufficient height, it moved forward, cruising loudly over the ground below. People stared up in awe as the ship thundered toward Nevada. As Rush predicted, every major news network in the nation was reporting this. A moment later, the Destiny touched down in Area 51, safe from the public eye. "Take care of her," Rush said to a scientist. He unlocked all of the ships systems, and then he disembarked. While he would miss the Destiny, the Concordia was far more astounding. It boasted many more systems, and, on top of that, it wasn't falling apart. Destiny had its glory days, and they were long gone. Rush beamed back to Concordia. The ship's pristine white corridors were a sharp contrast to Destiny's decrepit brown ones. On Concordia, wires were neatly stowed away, and every surface was smooth. This was truly a human-friendly ship. Rush stepped onto the bridge. The Tau'ri symbol sat on its pedestal in the center of the room.
Rush was glad to find the systems on Concordia were perfectly open for Rush to peruse. He began with the propulsion system. The Anti-Relativity Field was of particular interest was him. As he poked around, the realized that the system was far more complicated than he had imagined. From the little he could understand, it projected a subspace field that somehow negated the effects of relativity. Rush massaged his temples with his fingertips. This was light-years beyond his comprehension. After half an hour of simply staring at the screen, Rush finally looked up. He noticed a blinking indicator one of the screens. "What do we have here?" he said.
"This is the SRST System. It has not yet been tested, and it must be adapted to Human anatomy," the computer replied.
"Ah. Yes. TJ mentioned something about this. Can you explain how this system works?" Rush asked. At he finished speaking, a slot opened on the console in front of him, and a thin piece of glass slid out. He carefully picked it up; at his touch, a display activated.
"Please select a location," the tablet said in a voice slightly different than the computer.
"I want to know how this system works first," Rush said.
"You will select a location from the tablet, and you will be transported to that location through a subspace link," the computer answered.
"I guess I'll give it a go," Rush said as he scrolled through the list of locations. "This looks interesting." He selected a location. There was a slight pinch on one of his fingers. "What was that for?"
"You are compatible for SRST travel. Jump commencing in five. Four. Three. Two. One."
The room spun, and Rush was pulled into subspace by the tablet. An instant later he was standing outside the Zero Point Generator Room. "Can this system be applied at a planetary scale?" he asked.
"Yes. There is an explanation for such a system in the SRST sub-database. It is located here." One of the screens on the wall activated; it displayed a map of the ship. A dot was blinking over a relatively large room near the central computer core. Rush stepped into the generator room. The energy production device was nothing short of astounding. An octahedral support structure filled most of the room. In the center, a floating sphere cast glimmering light on the walls and floor. Rush approached the console closest to the door. It activated at his touch.
"Explain this system to me please," he said.
"The Zero Point Energy Generator creates a Microcosmic Parallel Universe, MPU for short, inside the confines of the sphere," the computer answered.
"How is this any different than a Zero Point Module?" Rush asked.
"This system can produce energy for an indefinite amount of time. As the energy is produced, it is fed directly into the ship's systems. Unlike a Zero Point Module, the Generator does not need to be replaced," the computer replied in its synthesized voice.
"Dr. Rush. This is Dr. Cooper on the Destiny."
Rush answered the radio call. "What is the problem?" he said in an annoyed tone.
"We found something over here that you need to see," Cooper answered.
Rush sighed loudly. "It's always something," he said to himself. "On my way."
"There you are!" Cooper said when Rush arrived on Destiny.
"Yes. Yes. I'm very busy. What is it that you so desperately need me to see?" he asked.
"We found some aliens," Cooper said. "Follow me."
Rush walked behind Cooper. They made their way to the now habitable front section of the ship. Dr. Cooper opens a door, revealing a small cargo bay. It is full of stasis pods. Each one is about six feet tall. The panels on the side glow faintly.
"We should open them," Rush said.
"But we have absolutely no idea what kind of aliens they are. They could be dangerous, and we have no idea if they can survive on Earth," Cooper said in a worried tone.
"You just go back to doing one of the millions of things that needs doing, and I will stay here and figure out how these pods work, and I'll try to learn something about the aliens," Rush said. Dr. Cooper left the room, and Rush started his work.
"Eli," Rush said into his radio. "I'm going to send you some symbols, and I want you to run them through the translation system on Concordia."
"Alright, but I'm not sure if that will work," Eli answered.
"I have a hunch." Rush used the glass tablet from the Concordia to snap a picture of the glowing symbols on the stasis pod. He sent them to Eli.
"Wow that was fast," Eli said to himself when he put the symbols in. "Rush, I found a match."
"Already?" Rush was amazed but not entirely surprised. The translation appeared on the tablet along with a translation matrix. Slowly, he read through the words on the display. It explained the process of reanimation and the steps needed to successfully reanimate an organism.
"It's like an instruction manual for someone who's never done this before," Rush mumbled as he continued reading. He pressed a few buttons on the stasis unit, and it opened with a loud hiss. White mist poured out from the opening. Rush cautiously backed up. He hadn't bothered to call a security team, but he was wondering if he should have. Rush walked over to the exit just in case the alien was hostile. A leg-like appendage emerged from the pod. It was encased in some sort of metal. Another leg emerged. Rush had his hand ready to push the button on the door at any moment. Three long silvery fingers curled around the edge of the stasis pod, and the alien pulled itself out of the container. The alien's silver skin was mostly covered by a metal suit of some sort. The creature was about five and a half feet tall. Its already large eyes widened when it saw rush. It put its hands up in defense. Rush did the same.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Rush said calmly. He typed the phrase into the tablet, and it came out in the alien's language. The alien cocked its narrow face. Slowly it approached Rush. It spoke, and the tablet translated.
"Who are you?" it asked.
"My name is Dr. Nicholas Rush."
"Where am I?" the alien questioned.
"On a planet called Earth," Rush answered in a soft voice. "You're safe here."
"Why is the rest of my science team not awake?" The alien's head twitched, directing Rush's gaze toward the other stasis pods.
"I only opened one stasis pod. We can open the others soon, but first, there are some people who would like to meet you," Rush said. "This way." The alien followed Rush through the halls, its metal boots clanking on Destiny's floor. Rush looked back occasionally. He noticed the alien's arms were almost as long as its legs. It probably evolved from a quadrupedal species. Interesting, Rush thought.
"Dr. Cooper," Rush said as he approached the Control Interface Room. "I think you'll be interested by this." Rush side-stepped, revealing the alien. Cooper jumped back in shock.
"You opened the stasis pod?"
"Obviously. I was fairly confident there was no threat."
"General Carter and Dr. Jackson need to see this right away."
"We were just on our way to Atlantis," Rush said. "Concordia, this is Rush. Two to beam directly to the Atlantis control room."
"I'm not detecting another life-sign," Eli answered.
"It must be the suit," Rush mumbled. "Here." Rush gave the alien the glass tablet. Carefully, the alien grabbed it with its long nimble fingers. The tablet took a skin sample, and Rush was afraid the alien would drop the tablet, but it didn't seem to notice the prick. The alien nearly toppled over when the tablet said, "Compatible for SRST travel."
"Never mind, Eli," Rush said into his radio. "We'll be there in about two seconds." Rush scrolled through the destinations. "Ready?" He asked.
The alien nodded its head. Rush selected the location, and he was pulled into the tablet along with the alien. An instant later, they were standing on the bridge of Concordia, a very shocked Eli sitting in a chair in front of them.
"Way cool!" he said. He stood up, and the alien backed away. Rush led the alien to the transport pad, and they beamed over to Atlantis.
On a Goa'uld Space Station:
"I don't see how we can possibly take Earth now. Every attack we have made has left us with fewer ships. All of our Ori ships are gone, and the rest of our fleet is spread thin."
"Then we have nothing to lose," Sheryl said. "We must prepare all the ships."
"It's suicide!" Sheryl's advisor shouted.
"Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. We might get lucky this time."
The advisor wondered what was wrong with Sheryl. She seemed different after her visit to one of Anubis's old labs. The advisor dismissed it as temporary insanity due to stress. The ships were prepped in a mere half hour. Sheryl frantically worked up a battle plan. In her messed up head, it was the perfect plan. She knew most of the Earth ships were out picking off the Alliance fleet one ship at a time, so Earth would be relatively defenseless except for Atlantis. Her ships would drop out of Hyperspace on the side of Earth that was unprotected by the Ancients' glimmering city. When Sheryl was satisfied on her plan, she briefed the remaining Warlords.
Once all the ships were prepared, Sheryl gave the order. "Take us to Earth."