Chapter 12
"Well," Daniel said. "How are we going to build a base on the Moon now?"
"What do you mean?" Cam asked.
"In case you didn't notice, all of the Stargates are gone," Daniel said. "We won't be able to dial to the Moon."
"We can use ships for now," Sam said. "Until the Destiny comes home."
"You actually think they'll make it back?" Daniel said.
"Indeed," Teal'c said.
"The Selene should be ready for deployment any day now," Sam said. "And the Aura will be ready in less than a year."
Four weeks later…
"Take us out of Hyperspace," Sheryl said. The massive Lucian Alliance fleet dropped out of Hyperspace above Earth.
"We're dropping out of FTL," Volker said. The ship's supplies were low. They only had one shot to get this right.
"Dial the Control Planet," Young said. The Stargate began to spin.
"Unscheduled offworld activation!" Walter said.
"This is a Wraith strategy," Rodney said. "Dial the Stargate, so no one can leave." The two Stargates on opposite ends of the Universe spun in unison.
"Chevron one encoded," Walter said. The orb above the Destiny's Stargate lit up. The Gates reversed direction. After the seventh chevron locked, the two Stargates activated simultaneously.
"Raise the shield," Sam said. "Arm weapons." The Lucian Alliance began to fire at Atlantis.
"Send the message," Young said. In a matter of moments, the Destiny received instructions. The massive ship maneuvered into position on the slingshot.
Sheppard returned fire. The ships in orbit began to assault the Alliance. The Tau'ri ships were more powerful, but they were outnumbered 100 to one. Atlantis began to fire.
The slingshot powered up. Beams of energy connected the planets.
"Look at this," Eli said. "The Control Planet is… opening." The Control Planet opened to reveal an engine. Once the Destiny was secure in the energy web, the planet appeared to stretch across the entire galaxy reaching the other side in an instant.
"What the hell…" Eli said. "Hold on!" The engine powered up, and the planet and the ship were pulled across the galaxy.
"What just happened?" Young said. "Was that it?"
"Nope," Eli said. When maximum tension was reached on the slingshot, it fired. Destiny was propelled across the Universe.
"The Alliance has started targeting cities," Cam said.
"Continue firing," Sam said.
"We can't beat them," Collina said to Sheryl.
"What did you say?" Sheryl said angrily. She killed Collina. Her ship was hit. Sheryl quickly darted out of the bridge. She took a cargo ship. The remaining Alliance fleet followed her into Hyperspace.
"Where are we?" Young asked.
"Right where we expected," Eli responded.
"Inform the crew… that we were unsuccessful. We didn't know enough about the slingshot to use it properly, and we've been sent deeper into the Universe," Young said.
"You do realize they'll want to kill you right?" Camile said.
"What do you want me to do?" Young asked.
"Lie," Camile said. "I used to do it all the time in the IOA. Tell them we didn't use the slingshot correctly, but we're closer to home in a seeded galaxy."
"The Alliance ships are gone," Walter said.
"I wonder why," Sam said.
"It was Telford," John said entering the Control Room. "He sent the location of our allies' homeworlds to the Alliance ships."
"I thought he was in prison," Daniel said. "After the last incident with him, we made sure he couldn't contact them."
"He was implanted with this," Vala said walking into the room with a small transmitter chip in her hand. "It was implanted in his brainstem. Clever. Anyone who tried to remove it would inadvertently kill him."
"I regret to inform you we didn't make it all the way back to the Milky Way," Young said. Everyone was silent. They expected to make it home to see their friends and families in their own bodies. The Communication Stones would have to do for now.
"As I look down on this crew, there's no other place I'd rather be. It isn't the destination that matters," Young said. "It's the journey." The crew cheered. Young walked back to the Bridge with Camile.
"You did well," she said. Operations continued as normal. The crew didn't suspect a thing, but Camile knew they would find out eventually, and she didn't know what would happen when that time came.
Six months later, the Aura was launched from Earth. It was on a very special mission to Earth's sun.
"This is probably some sort of record," Jack said. Sam laughed.
"I can honestly say I never planned to get married inside a star," she said. The ship entered the corona. The ceremony began. The Destiny began its descent into a star. Its collectors lowered.
"Dearly beloved," Landry began.
"How long do you really think we can keep this up?" Rush asked.
"I do," Jack said.
"As long as we need to," Young said.
"I do," Sam said.
"Since when have you wanted to go home?" Young asked.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Landry said.
"I've always wanted to go home, but I realized this is far more important than that," Rush said.
"You may kiss the bride," Landry said. The two ships, billions of light-years apart, performed the same maneuver. They pulled out of their stars in unison, and jumped off into the blackness of space.
The End
***I hope you enjoyed this story. Stargate: The Fires of Hell, coming soon!***