Chapter 29

Captain's Log: August 2nd, 2159

This will be my first log entry in the last eight days, the events of which I am not sure as to how to describe, or how much will eventually be deemed classified. For the past week we have been working in concert with starships from a technologically advanced lost Earth colony in the Pegasus galaxy appropriately called "Atlantis." It was through their assistance that we were able to repel an attack by an overwhelming force of Klingon warships. After that, the Enterprise was towed by them across half the galaxy to the Gamma Quadrant where we assisted in picking up Lieutenant Mayweather and what remained of an Atlantis special operations team from a successful mission which required the Lieutenant's special training in the Jedi religion and martial arts.

Upon our return to Earth's solar system, I was informed through the ship's commander of the General Landry that the Atlantis government has requested that they not establish, or in this case re-establish formal relations with Earth. They gave no explanation as to why.

Lieutenant Mayweather had requested to cancel the indefinite leave which had been granted to him, and to return to active duty upon his return to the ship three days ago. I questioned the timing. I believed it to be too soon after all of the potentially traumatic events which had occurred to him over this past month and a half. Dr. Phlox agreed with me. Travis insisted that he was fine and fit for duty at the helm. We came to an agreement that he take the three days of transit through hyperspace and one extra upon our return, and see Dr. Phlox for regular counseling during that time before he returns to duty at the ship's helm. So far, so good. Phlox tells me he is making excellent progress. He has one more day, but I don't anticipate any residual issues which would affect the performance of his duties.

We have resumed our previous position in orbit around Neptune, and are awaiting contact from Starfleet. To be honest, I feel at a loss as to how to fully explain all this to Admiral Gardner, or even if I should.

The Landry and the other Enterprise had only departed less than two hours ago, and Archer felt like he was still trying to process everything that had happened over the last six weeks—no it had been longer even than that. It had been a roller coaster ever since he had received their orders to investigate the derelict ship.

We still don't know how a six and a half million year old Imperial Star Destroyer got there. I wonder if we ever will. Archer mused to himself. We'll add it to the list of unanswered questions, like what that mysterious storm was and where it came from, and why Hawthorne and Ellis had after it been satisfied to keep their stargate and not pursue the possible Force users. From their questioning, I had gotten the distinct impression they were going to bombard the planet to deal with them.

"Sir, I'm receiving a message from Starfleet. Admiral Gardner is on a secure channel. He wishes to speak with you immediately." Hoshi reported to Captain Archer.

Archer had been expecting the call upon their return from piggybacking through hyperspace with the Landry. He had spent the last three days considering what he was going to tell his superior to explain their absence, which had to have gone noticed. The Admiral wasn't a bad man by any stretch, and truly it wasn't he that Archer was concerned about. It was everyone else that might be privy to the data Enterprise had collected. What would Starfleet Intelligence do with it? And who was ultimately controlling them?

"I'll take it in my ready room." Archer told her. He stood up from his chair, straightened his uniform, took a deep breath and let it out, and then made his way to the cramped office adjacent to the bridge.

With the door slid closed behind him, Archer went to his desk, sat down and flipped on the display. The bearded face of Admiral Gardner greeted him.

"Captain Archer! Finally! we've been able to get through to you. You've been out of communication for over a week. You dropped off sensors completely. No one could find you or get a hold of you after the Klingon forces mysteriously turned back near your position. We waited for you to report, and you never did. What happened?" Gardner asked, real concern etched on his face.

Archer paused and took another deep breath, letting it out slowly as he put together his thoughts. I would have trusted Admiral Forrest. I didn't always agree with him, but I trusted him. He reminded himself. I've known Gardner for just as long. There has to be trust at some point in time. Enterprise can't fix this all on our own.

He then asked, "Admiral, is this channel completely secure? There's no possibility S.I. or any other agency could be listening in on it?"

The Admiral's face changed to a grave seriousness and he looked down at something off screen, manipulating something with his fingers. "Go ahead, Jon. We're completely off the books now. It's just you and I. What's wrong?"

"Admiral, have you ever heard of Section Thirty One? And have you ever heard of a secret facility for S.I. under Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado?" Archer began, and then he debriefed his superior on everything which had happened over the last six weeks.

The Admiral's expression went from grave seriousness to an intensity of concern that Archer had rarely ever seen in the man as Archer reached the conclusion of his report. There was a long pause as the man considered the captain's words. Finally he cleared his throat and responded.

"I understand why you didn't say anything about it before, Jon, but I wish you would have trusted me enough to bring me into the loop sooner. Hell, we were all test pilots together, Jon." Gardner sighed. "I knew almost as little about the finds under Cheyenne Mountain as you did when I authorized the hyperspace trials on Enterprise over a year ago, and I'm supposed to be the one in charge, even of S.I. But there's a lot the President of United Earth doesn't share with me. The orders for that experiment, as well as the inspection of the derelict ship in Klingon space came from his office, not mine. I just passed them along. I'm being completely honest with you now when I say I didn't know anything about S.I. or any branch of it restoring a pre-war United States installation in Colorado, much less the finding of this 'stargate'."

Gardner's expression became pained as he continued. "As for the rest of it, all I can say is I'm relieved you and your people were able to stop this rogue agent before he could complete his plans. Destroying the data devices that started it was a good call on the part of your Lieutenant. The possibility of someone like that operating here and now, especially with the Federation talks still going on… I don't want to think about it. I wish I could give you the name of the officer that went rogue, but I don't know it. I've heard the name 'Wilson' connected with some S.I. black ops before, but nothing more than that. At least now we know why twenty of Starfleet's best and brightest suddenly disappeared without a trace over a month ago. I'll make sure their families are notified."

"Thank you, sir." Archer said. "I'm sorry for not reporting all this sooner..."

Gardner put up his hand to stop him. "Don't. In your position, I would have done the same. I'll do what I can on my end to smooth over your disappearing act, but we're both going to have to be careful on this Jon. If I'm right, then the people pulling the strings on this are a lot more powerful than either one of us, and they're not going to want the information on the stargate system getting out to Earth's public, much less to our own Coalition allies. I can make some discreet inquiries into Cheyenne Mountain, but I'm still learning that my influence only goes so far where S.I. is concerned. Regarding your helmsman, it sounds like he's chosen to keep himself quiet and return to duty like nothing's happened. Good. See that he does. As long as all of it regarding the Jedi, the Sith, and the Force remains classical science fiction, no one will raise an eyebrow."

Archer nodded his agreement. He had been thinking the same thing.

Gardner continued. "For now make back-ups of your sensor logs, reports, ship's logs, and anything else pertaining to the last six weeks and store them securely on board until we can figure out something better, and then erase the originals from Enterprise's data storage before you send in your next data transfer. We'll call it a malfunction of some sort if we have to. Make sure your people say nothing about what they know to anyone. With some luck, we can avoid drawing the wrong attention to you and your crew."

"And if Section Thirty One does return to Cheyenne Mountain?" Archer asked.

"If they do, then quite frankly there's very little either of us can do except hope they keep to their original mission of protecting and preserving Earth. So far, with this one exception and that due to extraordinary extenuating circumstances, they have. Fortunately, it seems those extenuating circumstances have been permanently dealt with."

Archer bit his tongue, keeping his own bad feelings about allowing the rogue agency run free in check, and said nothing in response except, "Yes, sir."

After all, he was just the captain of a starship. There was only so much he could do.

Travis sat at the table in the mess hall eating chef's version of lasagna for lunch. The normally star filled windows were dominated by Neptune's massive blue disk. Once more he wore the blue Starfleet coveralls with the NX-01 insignia displayed proudly. With the exception of the long thin rod in his thigh pocket, it almost felt like his recent experiences as a Jedi could finally be considered over.

He had just come from a morning session with Dr. Phlox. According to Phlox it was going well. One more day, and then he would be allowed to return to where he most wanted to be and it would be like nothing had ever happened...

Except it had. And as much as he wanted to just forget everything and let that part of him, that Jedi part of him, go, he found himself unable to part with it fully. Thing is, he didn't know why. Way back in the Jedi temple, an eternity ago in a far flung galaxy, he had protested to Grand Master Jaina that he was just a pilot. That's how he had always seen himself. He was a good pilot. Everyone had always said so. That's all he ever wanted to be before.

He never wanted to make life and death decisions for anyone, much less ones that could affect a whole planet, or even a whole galaxy. But over the last six weeks, that was exactly what he had been forced to do.

This is what we do. The words went through his mind for the hundredth time. But it's not what I want to do.

And then there was the constant presence of the Force. He felt the living energy calling to him from every person, everywhere he went. It called to him and it felt right. He continued to feel a belonging and a peace through the Force that hadn't been there before.

How do I just let that go?

"Is this seat taken, Lieutenant?" Another uniformed crew member asked.

Travis looked up to see a crew member with sandy blond hair and the look of a scholar about him. There was something very, very familiar about him.

"No, go ahead. Maybe I could use the company." Travis told him. "The lasagna's not bad today. Chef did pretty well with it."

"It smells great." The man said as he placed his tray on the table and sat down. "I haven't had a good lasagna in forever."

"You look really familiar, but I don't recall seeing you on board recently." Travis said.

"Oh, we've met before, but I think it has been a long time. My name's Daniel." He told him.

Travis snapped his fingers, "That's right. San Francisco. You stopped by to talk then too. I didn't realize you were in Starfleet. So, you've been assigned to Enterprise?"

"You could say that. For now at least." Daniel replied. "It's been an eventful few weeks to say the least. It must feel good to get back to a normal routine again."

"Yeah, I suppose it does." Travis replied.

Daniel took a bite of his lasagna and chewed slowly, letting the taste of the cheese and sauce mix in his mouth. "Mmm." He said as he swallowed. "Chef outdid himself. This is the best lasagna I've had in a long time."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Travis remarked with a smile.

"Hey, hope you don't mind if I ask, but weren't you training with some kind of special instructor recently? He used to come into the mess hall a lot didn't he? I haven't seen him around lately, did he disembark somewhere?" Daniel asked.

Travis's expression turned a little sadder, "No. He, uh, he passed away a month ago. I guess it wasn't made public knowledge to the rest of the crew."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Daniel said as he took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. "He seemed nice. He always had some bit of wisdom to impart when I saw him."

"Yeah." Travis agreed. "I kind of wish he was here now. I feel like I could use some of that wisdom."

"Well, I don't know what kind of issue you're facing, but what do you think he'd tell you if he were here?" Daniel asked him.

Travis looked away to the Neptune dominated window.

"Something tells me you already know the answer." Daniel said.

"Have you ever been a religious man?" Travis asked.

"I've always tried to keep an open mind." Daniel replied.

"I feel like I've come the closest to God or something like God that I've ever been in my life. I love being just a pilot. But I'm afraid that somehow I'll lose that connection if I do what he wanted me to do and go back to just being a pilot." Travis confessed to him. "It's like I feel as if I'm going to lose a fundamental part of who I've become."

"But isn't God supposed to always be there? I mean, I'm no priest, but if whatever it is you're talking about can just vanish because you change jobs… It just seems to me that the divine is more permanent than that. Isn't the divine supposed to always be with you?" Daniel replied.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Travis said, taking another bite of his own lasagna.

"It's kind of like that old movie, 'Star Something Or Other'. I don't know I get all of those mixed up, but I remember one of the characters saying, 'the Force will be with you always.'" Daniel told him.

Travis paused and put down his fork, "What did you say?"

"The Force will be with you, always." Daniel said again. "No matter what you choose to do in life. It will be there to guide you and work with you whether you've got a lightsaber in hand or you're flying a starship. At least that's what I got out of that movie series." He then then focused on finishing his lunch, which he appeared to do with gusto.

Travis stared at Daniel suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

After another few minutes, Daniel looked at the watch on his wrist. "Well, I've got to get back to work. It was good seeing you again."

"Yeah, thanks for the conversation, Daniel." Travis said. "Don't be a stranger."

"Hope not." Daniel replied, and then went to dispose of his tray leaving Travis to his thoughts.

The halls of the newly refurbished facility deep under Cheyenne Mountain were quiet. The overhead lighting had been left on, though no one had needed it. Computer displays and control panels showed readouts and sensor information which no one had looked at in over a month. The stale smell of death and charred flesh still hung in the air. It might as well have been a tomb.

Then the space in in the gateroom front of the stargate shimmered and glowed with a bluish white light. Within seconds four men in black versions of Starfleet's uniform coveralls materialized as if out of thin air. They immediately stepped out of the way, and fifteen seconds later, another four men materialized. This process continued until there were twenty uniformed men standing in front of the Ancient metal ring.

A single man stepped out and away from them and looked around to get his bearings. He appeared to be in his thirties with dark hair and a goatee with a splash of gray. His eyes scanned the whole room, and then he brought them down to a tablet which he manipulated to bring up a schematic of the facility and a message bearing the seal of the United Earth President.

Satisfied with what he saw, he nodded to the other men in the group and said, "Alright men, it's confirmed. Stargate Command is completely off the books now and is ready for our use. Let's get this place cleaned up and open for business."

The End

(If you want to see what finally happens to the SGC, read my fanfiction novel, "The Legend of Zelda: Path of Ascension" which is the final chapter tying together all of my Stargate based Fanfiction)