7 – Arrivals

(Terran Warship – Cell - 11.02.2022, 0830)

The door opened and Zara came in with their breakfast. Sheppard and Banks were sitting down on the bunks, as not to spook her. She put the tray with their food down on the empty bunk. Sheppard's meal consisted of two turkey sandwiches and a glass of milk, while Banks' had two cheese sandwiches and a glass of orange juice. Her body language made it clear that she was afraid of them. There were four soldiers in the corridor outside. They were giving Zara dirty glances. ~Time to make your move, John.~

One of the reasons they had gone with the plan to pop out the window, was because a safety measure they were wearing around their ankles. The devices consisted of a strap and a small black box. If they got too close to the door, the box would beep and the door would slam shut. So Sheppard got up and approached the door, triggering the security system. He smiled and waved at the soldiers as the door came down. ~Gotcha !~ The soldier cursed and began moving. At the same time, Zara bolted to the far side of the cell and climbed onto one of the bunks. She was trying to put as much distance as she could between them and her.

"Stay away from me !"

"It's okay," Sheppard began. "Amelia ?"

Banks took Sheppard's place, keeping the door shut. The soldiers were trying to open the door. But the security system was overriding the door controls. And the cell door was too heavy for them to lift. Sheppard held out his arms with the palms of his hands turned towards her. ~Here we go.~

"Zara, look at my hands," He began. "They're like yours."

"It's a trick ! All of this is a trick !"

"No, it's not. I'm John and this…," He gestured towards Banks. ~This is not going to be easy.~ Zara was clearly terrified of them. "…is Amelia. And we are not going to hurt you, we just want to talk."

"No ! You want to feed on me !" Zara took out a knife and waved it a Sheppard. "Feed on me and display my head in the throne room !"

"Zara, do I look like the kind of man who has a throne room ?" It clicked in his head. ~No way.~ "I mean, if I was the Emperor, would I let my soldiers lock me in a cell ? We're not going to hurt you, Zara," As the soldiers continued to try break in and failing, Sheppard took a step closer. "I can't feed on you. This is not a trick."

She looked at Sheppard, then came down from the bunk. Still holding the knife in one hand, she used her other hand to touch what would been Sheppard's feeding hand. The lack on a feeding organ made her frown. But she put away her knife and seemed to relax a bit. ~Almost there.~ It was this point that the soldiers gave up on trying to open the door. This was caused by somebody shouting at them in Goa'uld. Zara slow sat down on the bunk. Sheppard collected his breakfast, then sat down next to her.

"So, can you please tell me about…well, me ?"

She gave him a look, then took a deep breath.

"You are Emperor John the First, you have ruled the Empire for the past three-hundred years. And you married Grand Governor Amelia twenty-five years ago," This made Banks' eyebrows go up. "You are famous for your cruelty, having fed on both your parents and your brother David."

"Okay," He offered her one of his turkey sandwiches. "Can you tell me more ?"

Zara nodded and took the sandwich. She took a bite of the sandwich, then began telling them what she knew about the history of the Terran Empire.

(Pegasus Beta Site – Science Lab – 11.02.2022, 1205)

Eli Wallace couldn't believe he was in another galaxy again. After he had returned from Destiny, Eli had expected never to step through the Stargate again. But Matthew Scott and Everett Young had been his friends. And he couldn't just let their deaths go. So here he was, a galaxy away. He was going over the information the Satedans had gathered before they had destroyed the Terran warships that had attacked them.

~There is something wrong with this.~ He was sitting behind a laptop, reading the reports. ~Poor Chloe.~ Sitting on the other end of the table, was Chloe Armstrong. Chloe had been in relationship with Scott. When they had made their list, Eli and Rush had doubted about bringing her. But Doctor Daniel Jackson had asked for her to come. So she had come. Jackson was sitting next to her. The two of them were going over the allied information that made the IOA think that the Wraith were planning to attack.

Next to Eli, Nicholas Rush was studying the Satedan information. As for the rest of the teams, Colonel Mitchell had taken them to Sateda to get an in-person look at the bodies and the Goa'uld cargo ship. His "mini expedition" consisted of himself, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, Tamara Johansson, Ginn and Doctor Adam Volker. They would meet Doctor Beckett and Doctor Zelenka, who were coming in from the Alpha Site.

"It's fake," Chloe said.

"What ?" Jackson asked.

"The intelligence," Chloe began. "Somebody has been playing games," She hit several keys and her laptop zoomed in on a section of the report, "The Genii got their first warning from M3X-102. There are things about the report that don't line up. They look like translation issues. But once you know the Terrans are part of the equation, it becomes clear that the warning was false."

"What about the later reports ?"

"Those are real. But I've read enough of Teyla's briefing to know that the early ones are fake," Chloe paused. "And since a Terran could pass as a Wraith worshipper…"

"They could get the right information in the right place. Making the Wraith think that we were about to attack them…"

"Which explains why the later reports are real. They created a self-fulfilling prophecy," Jackson rubbed his face. "But why ?"

"Food," Eli said, getting him a look from. "Sorry, I thought this was an open question. But the Ori warship did target the Wraith ships with the most people on board. What if they did so, because they already figured it out ?"

"Of course," Rush said. "We know that both fleets were destroyed, but we don't know when."

"You think the Terrans set a trap ?" Jackson said.

"Yes," Eli said. "They get a large number of Wraith and the most likely non-Wraith opposition in one place. First, they destroy Screen One and disable the Wraith ships. Then they harvest as many Wraith as they can using their teleporters, before blowing up their fleet as well. We would have no way of telling."

"I would love to say that you have been spending way too much time with Doctor Ryder," Chloe said. She was referring to Doctor Frank Ryder, who was the conspiracy theorist of Hope Base. "But it does make sense. So what do we do next ?"

"I say we wait until Spera arrives, then we visit what's left of that Ori warship," Rush said. "If we can figure out how they cross between universes, it'll give us options."

Jackson nodded. Once Spera arrived, they would have two Puddle Jumpers and a supply of space suits to work with. Then they would go and get themselves some answers.

(Terran Warship – Cell - 11.02.2022, 0852)

Zara had given Sheppard and Banks a history lesson about the Terran universe. To begin with, the Ancients had not been the benevolent race they were in Sheppard's universe. Instead, they were a predatory race of conquerors led by an insane emperor called Davros. The mention of this name had Sheppard frown. He was no expert on science fiction, but he knew the name of the scientist that created the Daleks in the Doctor Who universe. It appeared that the Emperor was an alternative version of that man.

Under his leadership, the Ancients had conquered the Milky Way Galaxy. This conquest was made easier by the fact that the Goa'uld had never left their home planet. They had then build Atlantis to go and conquer the Pegasus Galaxy. The Xivolo had put up a fight, but had been reduced to remnant that even now only ruled three planets. As for the Wraith, they had become slaves for the Ancient Empire. The empire had begun to collapse in 3281 BC. That was the year that a Wraith scientist called Janus had developed a bioweapon. It had wiped out the Ancients.

But their extinction had been a process that taken several years, allowing a handful of the Ancients to make their way to Earth. There, they had planted the seeds of the Terran Empire. By 1103, the counterpart of Stargate Command had been established. And in 1608, the Terran conquest of the Milky Way had been complete. That was the year that Patrick Sheppard had developed the technology that had allowed the Terran to use the Goa'uld to extend their lifespans. He had used that discovery to seize the throne. His rule had ended in 1722, when his son John had completed his Iratus bug research. Two days later, he had fed on both his parents and his brother.

That done, he had launched an expedition to conquer the Pegasus Galaxy. By 1997, that galaxy had been Terran territory as well. They already know about the Ori at point, launching another campaign as soon as they were done with Pegasus. That war had ended two weeks ago, with the Ori Galaxy losing its freedom to the Terrans. ~And now they're branching out in another universe.~ This was where the history lesson ended. So now they were free to deal with their current situation.

Banks and Sheppard had gone to the back of the cell, allowing Zara to approach the door. But nothing happened. It appeared that the soldiers had been ordered to lock her in. So they would need a new plan.

(USS Spera – Bridge – 12.02.2022, 0900)

Spera had arrived at the Pegasus Alpha Site on schedule. The brass had made it clear that Colonel Mitchell was in charge of this operation. Which freed Vale to fly the ship. He and T'Zalo were manning the Flight Control consoles when Mitchell walked in. Nikita Aranov and Cinara were at the Science consoles, while the Communications console was empty. ~Here we go.~ Mitchell approached Vale.

"How are things looking, Colonel ?" He asked.

"Course plotted for the Frozen Planet at maximum speed, Colonel," Vale began. "And we have two Puddle Jumpers and six spacesuits ready for action. Also…," He reached into his pocket and took out a pile of shoulder batches. "…I thought these might come in handy. Four NR-6 ones and four NR-7 ones."

"Nice," Mitchell took the patches with a smile. "Now, push the button and take us to FTL."

"Yes, sir," Vale said as he engaged the FTL-drive.

Spera jumped into FTL, while Mitchell walked out. Mitchell made his way to the briefing room, where the rest of his expedition team was waiting. He had also asked Beckett and Zelenka to come along. They were all wearing Airman Battle Uniforms, minus shoulder patches. He gave the NR-6 patches to Eli Wallace, Nicholas Rush, Tamara Johansson and Ginn. Johansson was the only military officer, so she became the team leader by default. The NR-7 patches went to Adam Volker, Chloe Armstrong, Radek Zelenka and Carson Beckett. Zelenka was appointed to lead this team. Mitchell knew that these were not official teams, but it was practical to divide the expedition into groups. That done, he began briefing them on what he had in mind once they reached their destination.

(Terran Warship – Cell – 12.02.2022, 0917)

The Terrans had decided not to send in a replacement for Zara. Instead, they had taken to beaming in food for the three of them. Their new home had dropped out of hyperspace several minutes ago. Sheppard figured that it would not be long before they arrived where they were going. His hunch was proven right when an alien teleporter snatched the three of them up….

(Sub-Atlantis – Square – 12.02.2022, 0920)

…dropping them in a large, vaulted chamber. The sight of the room made Zara gasp.

"Sub-Atlantis !" She said. "We are in Sub-Atlantis !"

"What's Sub-Atlantis ?" Banks asked.

"Atlantis sit on a large mesa on a desert world. They carved out a extension underneath the city-ship to hold their slaves. It doesn't have an official name, but everybody just calls it Sub-Atlantis. It's the only other settlement on the planet," She paused. "And before you ask, the planet doesn't have an official name either. So we just call it Hades. It's the name of the Terran underworld."

Sheppard nodded. He looked around the chamber and took in the vibe of the place. The room they were in was clearly a market. It was made out of chunks of black stone. There were crudely made stalls with small amounts of goods. The people behind them were both Wraith and Humans, wearing rags. They were thin and pale. Light was provided by tiny windows near the top of the room and torches mounted on the walls. In the middle of the roof was a hole that had was used to lower a platform that was used to drop new slaves into this underground city.

"Let's get out of here," Sheppard said.

He led the way out of the market.

(Jumper One – Cockpit – 12.02.2022, 1355)

Spera had arrived at the Frozen Planet several minutes ago. Jumper One was parked in the shuttlebay, so it had been easy to launch. SG-1 and NR-6 were using this Jumper. Colonel Mitchell – who had received the Ancient gene therapy – was flying the jumper. In the back of the ship, Daniel Jackson, Nicholas Rush and Ginn were suiting up. Vala, TJ and Teal'c were helping them do that, while Eli sat next to Mitchell and was looking for a place where they could insert their team into what was left of the Ori warship.

"Anything ?" Mitchell asked.

"Yeah, it think I've found a section that is a relatively good shape," Eli said.

Eli hit several keys on his laptop, which was connected to the Ancient computer system. The Ancient Heads-up-Display activated. It showed the Ori warship, with a section highlighted in green. Mitchell nodded and set course for that area. As they did so, Jumper Two launched from Spera. Jumper Two had been parked in the Jumper Room, which was next to the Gate Room. Fortunately, Spera had been refitted with an Asgard transporter after getting back to Earth. But the system had never been used before now. So they had needed to run some diagnostics.

"Jumper Two just launched," Eli said.

"Good," Rush said. "We need the reinforcements."

Jumper Two was being used by NR-7 and NR-3, with newbie Richard Wallace doing the flying. Lieutenant-Colonel Cadman, Adam Volker and Alec Colson would be using the spacesuits. Jumper One arrived at the section and the helpers joined them in the cockpit. They closed the doors and Mitchell opened the rear hatch. It was time for the spacewalk to begin.