The airmen had told them the bars were electrified. For some reason, Jordan McKay decided to check the accuracy of this affirmation. He regretted his decision as soon as his fingers touched a bar. The man immediately jumped, his body shaken by the electric shock.
Matthews, Carter, Rossberg, and Keller entered the jail area. The senior airman in the room and another one, in the opposite side of the jail area, stood to attention. The older Rossberg left the bed in his cell and came to the bars, to face the four people. McKay and Jackson approached their bars, too.
The man with the eye patch asked, "So, you believe us?"
Carter responded, "Still working on it. Let's suppose we believe you. You said you need us to save Earth. What can you tell us?"
Carter glanced at the two other prisoners, meaning she was willing to receive answers from everybody. She noticed Jordan McKay was intentionally avoiding his own supposed mother. This made Jennifer be nonplussed. Jordan happened to be the one to speak, but he didn't give the answer Carter was waiting for.
"Philip, we can't tell them."
"Why not?" the one-eyed Philip retorted on a slightly provoking tone.
"Because we agreed. We must not influence any timeline."
"Aren't we influencing this one already?"
"That's why we can't cause any more damage. Things could be worse..."
An irked Savannah Jackson interrupted McKay, "Oh, for crying out loud, Jordan! What could be worse than losing Earth? If we have a chance to save it, we must take that chance."
"And if it doesn't work, Savannah? Are you willing to go through it all over again? Lose Earth. Lose our families and friends?"
McKay looked the woman in the eye, then, glimpsed Jennifer Keller so briefly that people noticed it when it was over. McKay was now staring at his second fellow.
Rossberg and Jackson realized they didn't think about the possibility that their attempt to save Earth could go wrong. The point wasn't McKay not willing to help, the point was failing and going again through a huge amount of pain nobody could neither imagine nor understand. The trio was sort of eye-fighting and balancing the pros and cons in their minds, forgetting they weren't alone.
Carter found a compromise. "Look, ladies and gentlemen, whatever happened in your timeline seems to be terrible. If we can help make it less terrible, I think it's worth trying."
Carter's words motivated Rossberg again. He turned to her and explained, "In our timeline, our enemies blew up Earth fifteen years ago. I mean, literally. They caught us by surprise. We, the Black Stone people, tried to fight back, along with all the Stargate Program's assets and everyone on Earth who could, but we were defeated."
Old Rossberg paused, then, concluded, "We lost almost everyone we knew at the Stargate Program, including you."
The man gestured towards the Black Stone people, looking in particular at Carter. His face changed, going from motivation to a deep sorrow. The man suddenly looked exhausted by years of violence, grief, despair, and guilt. He looked on the verge of shedding tears, recalling the dramatic events, but he had already shed all the tears he had and there was nothing left right now.
He had managed to keep from his past the peacock blue zipper jacket he was wearing. Carter couldn't discern it when she saw him for the first time in the gate room because of the stuff he had on his shoulders and torso, which covered the jacket almost entirely. She could see it clearly now. She and her colleagues were wearing the same jacket, part of the Black Stone uniform.
The jacket with long sleeves was associated with pants of the same color. The parts of the jacket covering the shoulders displayed a different color, depending on the category of the staff member. Black Stone had reused Atlantis's scheme. People could understand Carter and the two Rossbergs were soldiers; Matthews, a member of the administrative staff; and Keller, a member of the medical staff. All Black Stone personnel wore the base patch on the upper right arm, and a patch representing their country on the other. Matthews was Canadian, the rest of his colleagues in the room was American. Troops could wear rank on their shoulders, as epaulets had been designed on the uniform for that purpose. Finally, a beige combat shirt completed the ensemble, with the sleeves and the collar in the color according to the person's category.
The jacket reminded old Philip of his time as a member of the Black Stone Alpha team, when it was still a matter of exploring planets. It reminded him of good memories. Good memories to hold on and cherish at any cost, despite the dark years. Today, he was jumping at the chance to make a difference.
"A few people could be evacuated to the Black Stone and the other off world outposts, including Atlantis. Since then, we've been trying to survive and keep walking. We were coming back from a mission when we got here, in the past, obviously. You're our only chance to give another future to Earth and its population."
The Black Stone people remained silent for a moment, aghast. Earth being wiped out from universe was totally an ordeal.
Young Rossberg sympathized with his supposed double, "I'm sorry for what you've been through. It must have been a nightmare."
"You have no idea."
"But now, we can anticipate that. However, you do realize that if we alter this timeline, there may be impacts on you... Us - Young Philip pointed out himself and the visitors - That we can't foresee. We may..."
Rossberg, present time, tried to find appropriate words to express his idea.
Old Rossberg didn't beat about the bush, and completed, "Not exist anymore?"
Young Philip nodded. This possibility didn't scare his older version.
"That's a possibility. But if we can save nine billion people, it's totally worth it, don't you think?" old Rossberg said with no hesitation.
Savannah Jackson nodded. She was on the same page. McKay stayed still, accepting the situation. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop his friends' project. Young Rossberg nodded. Doing what it takes to save his planet was more important than his own existence right now.
Matthews continued the discussion, "When did the attack occur?"
Old Philip searched in his memories. Savannah found the element more quickly and revealed to the Canadian, "You were starting your new position at Block & Hazer Consulting firm in Vancouver, in October this year."
"We're not in summer yet, and I didn't receive any job offer from that company." Matthews precised, seeing his coworkers surprised to learn he was initially going to leave the base in the travelers' timeline.
Maryanne Carter went back to business. "We have now the advantage to be able to get prepared. Rossberg, you said the enemies blew up Earth. What enemies are we talking about and how did they blow up our planet?"
"I'm afraid I can't give all the details. As I said, we were caught by surprise. Besides, I got seriously injured - he pointed out his inoperative eye - so, my recollection of these specific events are a bit blurry. Having said that, I can tell there were many groups attacking us. The Praelistians for sure. They couldn't be missed with their ships and uniforms."
Jordan McKay confirmed, hatred perceptible in his eyes, "Indeed. They're the ones who raided Colorado Springs."
One-eyed Rossberg continued, "About the way they destroyed Earth, I have no clear evidence, but I think they did it with a weapon of mass destruction, perhaps several. That's the only option that makes sense... I'm so sorry I'm not really helpful, captain."
"That's ok, that's a beginning. We haven't heard of the Praelistians for a while, have we?"
Carter turned to the rest of her colleagues, who nodded.
Matthews commented, "Now we know why. They're preparing their plan. We need to get more intel. Where can we start?"
The current Black Stone people had no idea. Rossberg from the future suddenly had a revelation, but hesitated.
Jennifer Keller noticed his mixed feelings. "Is there a problem, mister Rossberg?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact, there's someone who can help us... But you're not gonna like it." Rossberg started before taking a deep breath to announce, "Governor Kalahan."
The name stunned everyone in the room, except Savannah Jackson and Jordan McKay. Unlike the others, Savannah and Jordan weren't acquainted with this Kalahan because in the current timeline, they were too young for space exploration. As a consequence, they had never crossed paths with Kalahan. They didn't know what this person was capable of. However, they could understand, based on the others' facial expressions, that seeking for this person's help meant the situation was really bad and there was no other option possible.