The first thing Colonel Young did—or, rather, whoever had switched places with Colonel Young—after placing the stone on the terminal was look at his hands intently. Not such an uncommon thing to do for anyone who used the stones for the first time. But that gave Rush the first hint that this person wasn't one of the usual airmen who had rotated with them several times. And he wasn't unprepared for this occasion either. Rush had had the decency to put, beside the stone terminal, the mirror that had been 'donated' by one of the civilian crewmembers. That was the next thing the 'Colonel' fixed his eyes on.
"This is… strange…" 'Young' said as he gazed upon his reflection, not concerned but genuinely amazed.
"Who are you?" Rush asked cautiously, deciding not to waste any time.
'Young' instantly looked at the source of the voice that had addressed him. "Dr. Rush, I presume," he said, smiling beatifically. He stood and stretched out a hand. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Thomas Lasky."
Rush did not shake the hand, nor would he have had the chance before the four Spartans saluted briskly. "Captain Lasky, sir!" exclaimed the leader of the armored squad.
Lasky noticed Rush's reluctance to accept his hand and didn't push further. Instead, he simply nodded before turning and saluting back to the Spartans. "Great job, Apocalypse. At ease," he said, before walking up to the window and breathing a sigh of awe. "So, this is the other side of the universe… aboard Destiny. She's a beauty."
Rush raised an eyebrow, slowly moving towards the room entrance. "It's just like any other region of space if you ask me, but… excuse me, Mr. Lasky…" he said, intentionally plucking the 'Captain' out of his absorption. "I don't think you have answered my question yet. Since we've already had to endure the abrupt boarding of our ship by your armored squad…" he said, waving at Fireteam Apocalypse.
The Captain held a confused gaze for a moment before he realized what Rush was actually inquiring about. "Oh, you mean to ask 'who are we', collectively?" he tried to confirm, chuckling. Rush kept a straight face, though deep inside he could feel his patience running thin. "Okay, short answer is, we're from Earth. Just not the Earth you're familiar with." The long-haired scientist didn't bat an eye, though he did raise an eyebrow. "You could say I'm from a future Earth… or a potential future Earth… I think. That bit goes above me."
As Rush remained quiet, still not biting to the Captain's lingering statement, Lasky finally began to show signs of mild discomfort. Good, Rush thought. He wasn't about to be fooled by an apparent mild-mannered character. If this was a front—and if the guy was good at keeping it for long enough—already Rush had an inkling of what the interloper could do in response to an awkward situation. Lasky eventually cleared his throat, trying to ease the tension as he half-stepped awkwardly towards the hallway behind Rush. Rather predictably, he was now setting all passiveness aside. "Why don't you show us around?" he asked. "I'll give you the long version as we go."
"I don't think so," Rush deadpanned, not shifting an inch from where he stood. "The stones terminal must remain under constant supervision whenever in use in case something goes wrong, and I still—"
"I can stay."
As though he had just materialized outside the room, Eli stood a couple of feet behind Rush. The Spartans were completely spooked by the sudden appearance of the boy, all hands on their high-tech firearms before realizing it was Eli. Out of the corner of his eye, Rush saw Captain Lasky knitting his eyebrows in concern. Eli didn't flinch as he continued to look at Rush.
"I think I have enough knowledge on how the stones work," he continued, "so… I can monitor the terminal."
The older man glared at Eli for a few seconds longer, hoping he would understand why he was using that argument about the terminal. Eli simply shrugged. Not that any of it mattered anyway; Rush had no problem whatsoever with speaking his mind openly about the newcomers, and he'd fully intended to do just that before Eli had barged in.
"…and I still don't trust you enough to 'show you around'," he finished his sentence slowly, stressing the last three words sardonically.
The tension that fell upon the room was so thick that Rush could try cutting it with a hot knife and it still wouldn't budge. He could feel it down to his bone. After what fell like hours, Lasky made a soft gesture towards the Spartans; they, in turn, relaxed a little before removed their helmets. For the first time since their arrival, Rush questioned his own mistrust. Behind the stoic countenance of the three men and the one woman—typical of well-trained soldiers—he couldn't find the contempt or hatred or resentment he'd found in the Lucian Alliance soldiers years ago. What he saw here instead was respect and camaraderie, as if they were equals. Such a thing could hardly be faked… but it still begged the question.
What had happened in the time they were asleep?
"Given your history aboard this ship, I understand your reluctance to trust anyone who crosses that event horizon and isn't part of Stargate Command," Lasky said, almost apologetically. "But I can assure you that we're friends of the Tau'ri who only have this ship and crew's best interests in mind.
"Listen," the Captain continued when Rush still hesitated, "we anticipated the possibility that someone else might be awake—or might need to be awakened—along with Colonel Young, so I'm here to brief anyone in that list of people of the same thing Young is being told about. It's a lot of information to process, and it might be less… boring if I tell you all of it while you give me a tour of Destiny."
Rush had to give these people their due. Compelling arguments aside, the Captain's actions so far, as well as those of the Spartans, had done nothing but to prove every good intention they spoke about. He had nothing else to say in defense of his position, nor did he feel the need to do so anymore. Letting out a deep sigh, he finally relented and gestured to the five visitors to follow him out of the room. The Kino fell in line behind them, ready to record whatever the Captain had to say.
Before turning at the corner of the hallway, Rush glanced at the young man controlling the floating camera. Eli seemed unusually at ease with this whole situation, but still Rush hoped the kid would be smart enough to run away if things did go wrong.
"First question. What list of people?"
"Hello, Everett."
Still stupefied by the sight before him, Young had barely registered the sound of the doors sliding open again and several footsteps as more people entered the room. It wasn't until he heard that other even more familiar voice that he reacted. He felt the strongest urge to give Col. David Telford a mighty killer handshake as he turned around to greet him, and only thanks to his military training was he able to maintain composure and limit that to a tight enough squeeze. "David, you're a sight for sore eyes."
"Even after everything I put you through?" David chuckled.
"That was three years ago. Water under the bridge."
"Technically, it should still be fresh for you."
"Right…"
That small exchange could've gone on for a while longer, had Young not been so dumbfounded by what he had seen—and continued to see—so far. Out of the small entourage of personnel that had joined him and Dr. Jackson, only two seemed to be SGC, identifiable only thanks to the general insignia provided to all BC-304 crewmembers. The rest… well, if the more elaborate design of their uniforms and numerous decorations were anything to go by, they were mostly top brass. That was the only thing Young could surmise.
One of them in particular, a gray-haired man, stood out from among the rest for one simple reason: he was the only one donning the exact same kind of uniform Young was presently wearing. A pair of deep-set, steel-gray eyes scrutinized Young, as though recognizing the face but not the person behind it. Then, grinning through a neatly trimmed full beard, he scoffed, not scornfully but amusedly. Young figured this man had only been told about the stones but was seeing them in action for the first time.
"David, what is all this?" Young whispered. "Many of these people don't look like US military or even SGC personnel."
"They're neither. But they are allies, and you better start getting used to seeing them around," Telford said, though it seemed like he was controlling himself, as if he were also put off by these so-called allies.
Young didn't get to ask anything further. The door had just closed behind the last officer to enter the room, and immediately after that, a hologram appeared above the table. Just as Dr. Jackson had said, General Jack O'Neill had just joined the meeting.
"Morning! Everyone here?" he began in typical O'Neill style, surveying the room. He paused when he laid eyes on Young, the same way the gray-haired man had done earlier. His reaction was completely different, however, once he seemed to recognize the Colonel behind the foreign face. "Everett! So, you got my message. Sleep well?"
"Surprisingly so, sir," Young replied, feeling more relaxed now that he was seeing the familiar superior officer speaking to him live, even if he wasn't there in the flesh.
"Huh… that's a first," O'Neill said, earning a smile of amusement from Young who knew perfectly well about the General's aversion to stasis pods. "Well… good to hear it! Now, let's get down to business. Daniel, you have the floor."
"Thank you, Jack," Dr. Jackson said, standing up. "First of all, welcome back, Col. Young. It's good to know you're still around. I assume the rest of your crew is still in stasis?"
"For the moment, yes. Aside from Eli and Rush that is. And if what Eli says is right, they may need to stay that way for a few hundred years more."
"Power issues with Destiny?" Telford asked. Young didn't reply, but his reaction to that admittedly true assumption seemed enough for his old friend. "Don't be so surprised, Everett. Based on Mr. Wallace's calculations, you should've arrived to the next galaxy in the ship's path a few months ago—and we've already seen how uncannily accurate his calculations can be. When you didn't report for a month after the deadline, we figured something else had gone wrong. A power shortage was only one of several likely scenarios we have been anticipating. You should have seen the other terrifying scenarios we had theorized."
"We'll get to that soon enough," Dr. Jackson chimed in. "What matters is that we now have the means to send you and your crew some much-needed help."
"You found an Icarus-type planet?" Young blurted out before he even realized it.
"No, but we did find something else, something even better," Dr. Jackson replied. "First, I'll need a few minutes to provide you with some context and fill you in about what has happened over the past year."
Young fell silent as he wondered what could possibly be better than a planet with a Naquadria core to power the Stargate. Of course, never in a million years could he have guessed the answer before the archaeologist began his part of the briefing.
"I come from a different version of the Earth you know, as I mentioned before," Lasky began. "We're a little over five-and-a-half centuries ahead of you in the timeline. Humanity has managed to venture beyond our tiny corner of the galaxy in those 500 years. We have dozens of colonies all across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy."
"So, the Stargate has become public knowledge in this… future Earth of yours."
"Well… until less than a year ago, no one in our galaxy even knew Stargates existed—and I mean, no-one." Rush raised an eyebrow at this statement but said nothing. "We reached those far-away worlds the old-fashioned way," Lasky added.
"I see…" the scientist muttered. If this was true, then these people not only came from a future Earth, but an alternate future Earth, if that was even a possibility. Rush tried to picture this reality where the Stargate had not even been discovered, and everything that Earth must've struggled with—like fighting the Goa'uld in a completely different way—before achieving such conquest of the stars. Then he pushed the thought aside. There was something more important that he needed to ask.
"So, how exactly did you cross from a future alternate universe into our own?"
"We didn't, and neither did your people." Rush stopped walking upon hearing this, and Lasky and the Spartans paused along with him as the Captain continued speaking. "Both your version of Earth and ours coexist in the same universe, in the same local group of galaxies as a matter of fact."
"That's not possible," Rush said in disbelief.
"That's the exact same thing we all thought, but I assure you, it is. And you have the Furlings to thank for it."
"The Furlings?"
"As a member of the SGC, you've must heard of the Alliance of Four Great Races and, thus, of the Furlings."
"Only what precious little we've learned of them."
"You will soon learn much, much more," Lasky said, resuming his stroll. "Our Earth is located in the Furling home galaxy, where most other races still know them as the Forerunners."
As they kept going, Lasky told Rush of a race so incredibly advanced they could influence other civilizations' progress by discreetly manipulating their genetic composition, among other things. Rush's curiosity was piqued when the Captain mentioned this race's ability to build planets, natural and artificial alike; this particular bit of information seemed eerily familiar, given Destiny's past encounter with a world that, for all accounts, shouldn't have existed in the first place.
According to the UNSC Captain, the Furlings, having proclaimed themselves as 'Forerunners' early on in their history, had established a vast empire across the Milky Way over several millennia, maintaining peace among all other races that inhabited the galaxy. Then, one hundred thousand years ago, they had encountered the Flood, a parasitic species hell-bent on consuming any sentient life forms in its path. After 300 years fighting an impossible war, the Forerunners had employed their last resort to secure victory over the Flood: an array of superweapons, capable of eradicating all sentient life in the galaxy, called Halo.
Rush listened, fascinated, as Lasky described these massive, ring-shaped structures that were designed not only to deprive the Flood from their food supply but also, ironically, as artificial worlds capable of sustaining life. The captain also explained that, in order to repopulate the galaxy once the Flood were starved to death, the Forerunners had implemented measures to preserve specimens from as many species as possible, humans included, in the Ark—an immense Forerunner installation that had built the Halo rings and also served as a safe haven from the Array. After the rings were fired, those specimens had been returned to their planets of origin, which, in the case of ancient humans, was Erde-Tyrene. This world, Lasky clarified, would come to be known millennia later as Earth, the same Earth where the UNSC originated.
The Forerunners, believing they had failed the galaxy by allowing the Flood to consume so much of it, had planted seeds in the genetic makeup of Erde-Tyrene humans, whom they deemed worthy to reclaim their so-called 'Mantle of Responsibility', along with everything the Forerunners had ever created. Such seeds were meant to guide humanity as they evolved towards this Reclamation. Then, the few surviving members of the great race had left the Milky Way forever to begin their 'Great Journey' towards redemption, leaving humans behind as their inheritors…
…only to find a different version of the same life form as they reached Pegasus. These other humans, who had built an impressive network of transportation devices called Stargates, were the Lanteans. The Ancients.
Young, of course, knew who the Ancients were, but he could see Dr. Jackson was narrating things from an outsider's perspective, so he said nothing to interrupt. How the archaeologist he had found out all this information in detail, from the perspective the Furlings nonetheless, was astonishing. While trying not to be so thorough, Dr. Jackson still provided enough detail when explaining how the Forerunners, having had very little interaction with the Lanteans during their time on Pegasus, had eventually reached Avalon, the Ancients' home galaxy. Here, once again, in a planet named Terra by the Ancients, they had found humans in a much more primitive stage, closer to the ones left behind by the Forerunners on Erde-Tyrene.
This recurrent encounter with so many versions of the same form cemented the Forerunners' belief that humans were indeed destined to inherit the Mantle of Responsibility, not only within the confines of one galaxy but throughout many more. Adopting Avalon as their new home galaxy, the Forerunners, under the original name of their species, took it upon themselves to 'guide' these humans as well—genetically influencing their evolution as well.
Later, when the Furlings met the Asgard, the Nox, and the Ancients who had fled from the Wraith in Pegasus, the Alliance of Four Great Races was forged; in time, these other races came to support the Furlings' plan in regards to mankind, especially when intervention by the Goa'uld drastically changed things for Terran humans. This, Dr. Jackson explained, mostly accounted for the 500-year historical difference between the 'original' Earth and the Earth Young had been born in.
The Alliance did as much as they could to liberate the Terrans—called Tau'ri by the Goa'uld—and other human populations across the galaxy for as long as they could, until only the Asgard remained. One Furling in particular, who had taken it upon himself to become a scribe of sorts for the Alliance, had compiled a record of these historic events within the repository of knowledge that SG-1 had found in their first year of galactic exploration. At the end of this Furling's life, and with the help of the de-Ascended Ancient Merlin, a copy of said record was taken back to Atlantis and hidden in its database.
"That same record," Dr. Jackson said, "included a nine-chevron Gate address that led to the Ark. It turns out that the Forerunners had also kept there a collection of Stargates—the type built by the Ancient seed ships that preceded Destiny. Located a couple hundred thousand light years beyond what we used to call the Andromeda galaxy, we were actually able to dial this particular nine-chevron address without requiring too much power. Then a series of… unexpected events allowed us to connect with our brothers in this galaxy."
That answered Young's question without even having to ask it.
At this point, the archaeologist's history lesson picked up speed. In less than half the time he'd taken to tell the story of the Furlings, he how exactly both groups of humans had met, how they had been thrown into a new war against the reawakened Flood, and how together they had managed to repurpose the Halo Array to defeat them without wiping out every other living being in the galaxy—or, rather, in three galaxies.
By this point in the briefing, Everett's head was spinning, so much so that his mind barely registered when Telford took over and finally got to what concerned Young the most. "…through this alliance with the UNSC," he said, "the SGC and Homeworld Command has gained access to a Halo ring, which holds infinitely more power than an Icarus-type planet ever could. We've already brought a Stargate to the installation, and—as you can probably tell—we have been able to dial out successfully to Destiny."
"So," Young asked slowly, "you're, uh… you're dialing Destiny from one of these… Halos? From that Halo?" He pointed outside the window.
"As many times as needed," Telford asserted with a wide smile, "supplies and manpower alike. This mission will be reinforced by personnel from both Stargate Command and the UNSC."
"Well," Everett chuckled, which was the only thing he could really do after that briefing. "I gotta say, this discovery of yours could've come in real handy a few years—wait…" He paused when his brain finally caught up to his comrade's latest statement. "UNSC too?"
"More people? No, no, no, that would be a mistake," Rush countered, alarmed by the notion.
Having just reached the Gate Room, Lasky seemed instantly enthralled by the ancestral transportation device. He didn't try to refute Rush right away, instead taking a moment to admire the Stargate from up close. Nicholas wondered whether this was the first time the captain saw an actual Gate or if he was just contemplating the fact that this was among the oldest Stargates in existence. As far as he could tell, the man seemed more appreciative of the smaller things others would take for granted. Rush actually valued that, but that didn't mean he would just accept what the captain and his people intended to do, not without making them understand the disparity of it.
"In case you haven't noticed," Rush continued, "the ship is low on power—power which we're lucky to have. It will barely be enough for one very short FTL jump that will take us to the edge of the closest suitable star system. After that, we'll be drifting towards its star. The-the crew will need to remain in stasis until Destiny recharges its reserves—and by then, several decades will have already passed, maybe even a century. These people you've already sent? I'm afraid there are no additional stasis pods for them."
"Dr. Rush, you're missing the point," he said without taking his eyes off the metal ring, caressing it even. "Your power issues have already been taken into consideration. We wouldn't have sent anyone here otherwise."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you could bring a portable star with you."
Nicholas' old ego was showing. Deep down, he knew his sarcastic response wasn't fair to Lasky or the people he represented, not when they were trying to help. Still, until he knew that the UNSC had a solid plan to help them, he needed to make sure they wouldn't just make things worse.
Surprisingly, when Lasky finally gave Rush his undivided attention again, he was chuckling. "If you only knew how close to the truth that statement is."
"Now, I believe it's time for proper introductions," Telford said. "Everett, meet Captain Adrian Thatch of the UNSC Navy. He will be in direct command of all UNSC personnel aboard Destiny—and in joint command, along with you, of the ship's mission at large."
The gray-haired man sporting the same uniform as Young's stood from his chair and held out his hand to him. "I've heard so many good things about you, Colonel," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. "I look forward to meeting you in the flesh and to be working with you to fulfill Destiny's age-old mission."
Everett shook Captain Thatch's hand out of respect but kept his eyes on Telford. "You say you have a way to replenish the ship's reserves?" he asked.
"We may have it," replied a blonde in more civilian-like clothing who, despite her young age, held an air of authority. "A star's surface—which Destiny usually flies through to replenish its reserves—is essentially plasma. Some of our other… allies have been harnessing plasma as a power source for centuries. Now, if our specialists' theory is correct, we could interface a few plasma cells to Destiny's power plant, providing enough energy to at least get to the nearest star in a few hours instead of a few hundred years."
"However," Captain Thatch took over, "we need to send these specialists along with the aforementioned equipment. They may be the only ones with the proper knowledge on how to plug those cells into the ship."
Everett nodded. Compared to what Dr. Jackson had explained earlier, this information was straightforward and easy to digest. "How long would it take them to be ready?"
"They're already standing by at the Gate as we speak," Telford said. "If we're to send the main group ASAP, there's no time to waste."
"Even if your specialists can somehow replenish Destiny's reserves," Rush contended as they reached the observation deck, "sending more people is not an option. We're short on habitable space as it is, and—"
"They can help restore Destiny to its former glory."
That gave Rush a pause.
"Come now, Dr. Rush," Lasky continued. "Surely you didn't think we were opening a supply line to send more personnel and supplies on a whim. By having the right people here to study every last detail of this ship—including the composition of the materials it's made of—we intend to seal every hull breach, fix every system, and maybe even improve all of Destiny's capabilities."
This time, it was Rush who couldn't take his eyes off the view outside the domed window. Not the stars—forget about that!—but the ship itself. His mind started visualizing the possibilities that Lasky had just described. Like a fast-motion picture, he saw the multiple golden layers keeping the ship's atmosphere from venting, fading one by one as actual metal filled in the gaps; millennia-old rust replaced by polished alloys, much like their 'miracle' remaining shuttle; he even imagined a space battle with all of the gun emplacements he had such an aversion for, firing without a hitch—and without draining so much bloody power.
And what if Destiny could also receive the kind of stuff that could be found in Earth's Daedalus-class ships? Asgard shields and weapons, beaming technology, complementary sensors… the list went on. The scientist's mind was only beginning to scratch the surface of what they could all do with such upgrades—what Destiny could accomplish. For the first time in probably the ship's entire existence, she would have access to a wealth of resources not available at the time of its creation.
Then perhaps… just perhaps… the crew could see her mission fulfilled in their lifetime.
"Destiny restored…" Rush said, barely above a whisper.
"Now you're getting the picture."
The conference room door slid open again, making way for a female Spartan in silver-white armor. This time, at least—and unlike the Spartans back aboard Destiny—Young could tell the tall brunette with the short ponytail was a female because she was wearing no helmet. "Sorry to interrupt, sirs, ma'am. We need Cpt. Lasky back on Infinity's bridge," she said, gesturing at Young. "Orders come from the top."
The UNSC brass nodded while General O'Neill sighed overdramatically. "Sounds like you'll have to welcome those teams aboard Destiny in person, Everett. It was glad to have you back, at least for a while. We'll keep in touch."
Young barely had time to nod in reply before the hologram faded. Everyone else in the room began standing up from their chairs while Cpt. Thatch approached Young. "I will be joining your crew shortly," he said, stretching a hand out to Young. "In the meantime, please, take good care of my crew."
The Colonel shook the Captain's hand and nodded but said nothing. He simply couldn't speak; he was still trying to process what he'd just learned about the so-called UNSC specialists (and, damn, what an astonishing bunch they would turn out to be!). As if that were not enough, his mind was still reeling from all the information that had been dumped on him. The Forerunners, the Halos, another Earth in the same universe with nearly the same history…
He couldn't imagine it had been any easier for the people who were actually there—SG-1, the guys from Atlantis, etcetera—as it all unfolded, but at least they had gone through that process of discovery. They had had time. He was just waking up after three years, expecting only a reasonable degree of progress on his comrades' part back home. This went light years beyond anything he could've imagined.
"So, this is the Apple Core," Lasky said, grinning mirthfully at the fitting description given to the Control Interface by the rest of the crew. "Is there any way we can plug Eunice into any of these ports? She might be able to help speed up the power replenishment process if she can gain access to the ship's sys—"
"No!"
Rush was startled by the sudden cry of anguish that came from the Kino. This was the first time Eli spoke since they had left the communications room. Naturally, all eyes turned to look at the floating camera. "That… may not be such a good idea. I-I mean, we don't know how Destiny might react if a foreign AI is plugged into her systems."
"Mr. Wallace, I assume?" Eunice replied through the lead Spartan's wrist device. By now, Rush was already more or less familiarized with her; the AI had supplied him with plenty of visual aids in the form of holograms throughout Lasky's briefing. "There's nothing to worry about. It wouldn't be the first time two AIs are interfaced to the same ship."
"Was any of the two AIs in those cases an alien AI?" Eli fired back.
Nicholas feared this would become a heated argument any moment now. It probably would've, had the UNSC Captain not shifted posture drastically while Eli was still talking. "Rush? Why are we here?" he asked, studying his surroundings.
The scientist, of course, knew what this meant. "Colonel Young. What happened? Who did you meet with?"
"It was General O'Neill alright," Young replied after a moment. And Dr. Jackson. And Telford. They were aboard a ship in orbit of… some kind of ring-shaped world."
"Halo," Rush muttered, remembering the name Cpt. Lasky had used for the massive rings. Young nodded in acknowledgement. "Were there any people from the, uh, UNSC?"
"Too many of them, yes. But it seems they're legitimate, at least as far as I can tell." The Colonel then addressed the super-soldiers directly. "Spartans, I was told to let you know that Cpt. Lasky had to go back to Infinity before scheduled. You're to stand by at the Gate Room now to receive the next group."
"Understood, sir," the lead Spartan replied without hesitation. The four armored figures put their helmets back on with the same synchrony as they had removed them earlier, and left the room.
Young watched them go before turning to Rush. "Ok, spit it out."
"What?" Rush looked confused, but even he couldn't keep his face anonymous this time.
"You know what I mean. It's written all over your face."
"Oh, you know me sooo well."
"Kind of hard not to after being stuck together on a ship for 2 years."
"Coming up on five and a half years, actually."
"You know what I mean," Young deadpanned while Rush rolled his eyes. "Look, I know you have something to say, so spit it out."
Rush looked in the direction the Spartans left the room. "I don't know, Colonel. Their story seems plausible, to an extent. My main concern is the ship. If it falls into enemy hands…"
"It won't. They are trusted allies of the SGC and of Earth."
"You don't sound so convinced."
Young said nothing. He knew if he said anything then he wouldn't be able to hold back his own doubts about the UNSC 'personnel' they were planning on sending. So instead, he went with the regular answer to every order he had gotten. "Homeworld Command knows what they're doing."
"Right," Rush said, unconvincingly.
"For now, we'll have to trust their judgement and hope that it all works out," Young said before lowering his voice so that the Kino couldn't hear. "How's Eli taking it?"
"Good, I guess," Rush seemed agitated at the subject. "He seems to trust them, though the notion of plugging in another AI into the Apple Core turned him into a wild animal for a moment."
Colonel Young frowned. "That doesn't sound like Eli. Doesn't sound like him at all."
"Even I was surprised at first," Rush agreed. "Maybe something went wrong while he was in stasis. On the other hand, whatever concerns Eli has, he was right about the alien AI part."
"What alien AI?" Young asked.
"You know, the ship's automated programming that enables it to know when we're in danger or in need of help," Rush replied.
"Oh, that AI." Young got lost in thought for a moment. "But why would Eli refuse? It can't be harder than uploading an entire consciousness into Destiny."
"It might have something to do with the fact that Eli believes Destiny has an actual mind and soul of its own."
"I wasn't aware Eli actually thought of it as an entity."
"Regardless, Colonel, as much as I would love to get into the basics of man-made technology and alien technology usually not functioning together as intended, I fear this isn't the time."
As soon as he said that, the room began to shake similarly to what had happened when the long-distance wormhole had started about a half hour ago. "We have another incoming wormhole," Eli said, his voice coming through the Kino.
"You were saying about time, Dr. Rush?" Young asked with a small smile.
Rush gave the Colonel his annoyed look. "Don't. Just, don't."
Whew, talk about a close call! Eli thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
He watched as the Spartans disappeared from the Kino's field of view while Young and Rush continued discussing this peculiar turn of events, but he had a hard time concentrating on what they were saying. Not because he was having a hard time processing everything that Captain Lasky had told them—although the first part about the Forerunners or Furlings or whatever was a bit tough to swallow—but because of the captain's suggestion to interface their AI to the ship's systems.
What Eli found disconcerting about it, more than anything, was his own reaction to this idea. One would think that having two AIs operating a spaceship would be advantageous. So, why would he be so concerned about Eunice being plugged into Destiny's systems? Moreover, why did the simple thought of it keep sending shivers down his spine?
It didn't take much for him to figure that out, though. He wasn't the one terrified by this. It was Destiny. He was just reflecting her fear.
Oh, he'd quickly grown used to feeling what Destiny felt through the connection they had developed. Rush could keep dismissing the Ancient AI as nothing more than a rudimentary program designed to keep the ship going, but Eli knew better. In the time he'd spent alone wandering her hallways three years ago, he had come to understand that Destiny was a living entity with independent thoughts and, yes, even feelings. She may not have been created that way by the Ancients at first, but she had evolved over the last few million years. Eli had learned to respect Destiny as though she were a flesh-and-blood person—and that had been his saving grace.
That particular sense of dread that had just overcome him, however, was not something he looked forward to feeling ever again. Unfortunately for Eli, Destiny didn't seem willing to elaborate further on the foreign AI matter right now, and until she decided to open up about it, he was in the dark. All he could hope for at the moment was that no one else would try to connect Eunice to any of the ship's consoles just yet.
The soft vibration they'd felt earlier started reverberating again throughout the compartments closest to the Gate room, proving enough to break Eli's train of thought. Like last time, he knew exactly what was causing it. "We have another incoming wormhole," he told the Colonel and the scientist through the Ancient floating camera.
Upon hearing this, and after one last short banter between the two men, the Colonel and the scientist walked behind one of the Control Interface consoles. They tuned in to the feed from the Kino still stationed at the Gate room, their reaction calmer now but still somewhat wary.
By the time the connection was made, the Spartans had already taken positions by the left and right sides of the Stargate. Not long after that, the first newcomer flew through the event horizon—quite literally, flew. It somehow managed to slow down on its own and stay afloat without as much as touching the floor, or any other hard surface. This being was a bulbous bioluminescent creature with a long snake-like head protruding from a spherical shaped body. From what Eli could tell, the neck was actually coming out of a mechanical part in the spherical body, as if the creature was part flesh and part machine.
The second such creature to come through the Gate followed the exact same pattern, with a third one soon joining the group. Only then did Eli notice that all three of the snail-looking beings were holding equipment parts within their four tentacles, which had sprouted from underneath each of the bulbous beings as soon as they exited the event horizon. Each tentacle suddenly split into several cilia, which even Eli could barely see, and quickly began assembling the components they had brought with them.
These had to be the 'specialists' Captain Lasky had been telling them about just before entering the Control Interface Room. Huragok, he had called them—an artificial life form created by the Forerunners to maintain their technology, capable of fixing virtually anything that could be broken. Clearly, they were also quite adept at building stuff; it barely took them a second to finish putting together… whatever it was that they had brought with them.
The device seemed simple enough: three V-shaped components no bigger than a person's chest. One of the Huragok floated to the top of the Stargate and placed the component it was holding right in front of the Gate bearing; the other two placed the remaining two components on each side of the Stargate. The only thing that betrayed the device's alien nature was that, once powered up, each component remained held in place without aid from the Huragok. Its purpose soon became apparent when yet another newcomer stepped through the Stargate, for this time, they came through without tumbling across the room.
It's an inertial-dampening field, Eli realized.
But even though he was impressed by the usefulness of this device, it was this new arrival that caught Eli's attention the most, as it was markedly different from the six-eyed floating creatures. Considerably taller than the Spartans—and also clad in armor—the imposing reptile-looking being only remained disoriented for a fraction of a second. Then, as it began scanning the room through predatory eyes, Eli noticed the mandibles on its face clicking together. Its jaws were quadruple-hinged, with an upper jaw and four lower mandibles arranged in two tiers… pretty much like 'the Predator' from those sci-fi movies he so enjoyed watching. Had it not been for the impassive stance of the Spartans, Eli would've panicked. As it was, he could only shake his head in disbelief.
"And here I thought things couldn't get any weirder…" he said out loud.
A/N: I could've sworn I had uploaded this chapter months ago…
Guess I must've gotten caught up with my other projects. (AdmiralWhiteFang, my sincerest apologies, partner O.O)
Anyway, just as I did for this episode, I'll be writing author's notes only at the beginning of the first part and at the end of the second. Hopefully, this will also give each two-chapter episode some degree of continuity.
I want to assure everyone that the introduction of the UNSC party will not cause all problems aboard Destiny to go away immediately (like a certain comic book series tried to do with the introduction of an Ancient crew). We all wish to see that ship restored, but not at the cost of what made SGU unique. You will see what I mean as time goes by and the story unfolds.
I'm not sure how many of you have read this already, but I'd like to explain briefly a couple of things. First of all, for better or for worse, I no longer have as much time in my hands as I used to when I was still in college six years ago. Nowadays, I have to work a lot to provide for my home. No, I'm not married nor with children now; as a matter of fact, at nearly 30 years old, I'm still very much single. But I do have a mother with some health issues to look after (although I'm hoping she will get better in the near future).
On top of that, the sheer amount of ideas that I have for my stories—side projects like one-shots, three-shots, spin-offs, etc.—coupled with the random way in which I've been writing them and my insistence on alternating between each of them, will more than likely mean even longer intervals between updates…
UNLESS I CAN FIND PARTNERS.
I haven't told you all of this just to bother you with details about my personal life. Rather, I wanted to give you people some context as to why I'm currently looking for partners to work with; not just for TFRR, but for the rest of my projects too.
As I have mentioned before, I've already partnered up with AdmiralWhiteFang here on FanFiction to get this spin-off up and running, and his help has been invaluable. However, if series like Stargate and games like Halo can teach us something is that, for a good story to be developed in a shorter amount of time, a team of writers working closely and pitching ideas back and forth is absolutely necessary.
I have an outline of what I want to explore in both TFRR:U and SGU:S3, but it needs development. There are things missing here and there, and I'm certain some of you may have some pretty great ideas that you'd like to see come to life. For anyone interested in this, you can PM me so we can discuss this in further detail. I'll be more than glad to find all the help I can get.
And for those of you who are content to simply read and await more… please don't forget to review on your way out! :)
EDIT: It seems I uploaded the wrong file a few minutes ago. It's been corrected. ^^