Author's Note: Thank you, thank you for all the reviews!! You guys are the greatest! Please keep them coming. :-)

As for Scorpius, I also love the pure evil form of him. He's currently the most memorable TV or movie villain I had seen in an awful long time. Not like those two dimensional bad guys we see nowadays. However, if you think Scorpius creepy now, just you wait.

Also, I like to take this time again to thank, Kzinti_Killer. His tireless efforts as my Beta Reader is deeply appreciated.



Chapter Seven: Visitors and Allies

The entire SGC was on alert as Colonel O'Neill hurried to the Gate Room Control. Over the base intercom, he'd heard the gate room duty technician announcing loudly.

"Unauthorized off world activation!"

Reaching the control room, he saw the that iris was already closed over the Stargate. A dozen armed soldiers were taking up positions with their assault rifles covering the stargate, with two fire teams setting up and adding the firepower of their two heavy machine guns situated in flanking positions on either side of it.

Moving in next to General Hammond, O'Neill waited as the technician kept his eyes glued to the main computer monitor. After a moment he reported.

"Receiving incoming IDC... It's the Tok'ra."

"Better late than never." O'Neill muttered under his breath. It had been over eight days since they had first tried to contact the Tok'ra.

"Open the iris and alert the troops to an incoming friendly." General Hammond ordered before moving to greet their Tok'ra visitors with O'Neill just a few steps behind him.

O'Neill and Hammond both entered the gate room just as a lone figure emerged from the stargate. It was the Tok'ra, Anise.

"Stand down everyone." Hammond ordered his troops.

Anise continued to walk down the gate ramp, and nodded her head in greeting. "General. O'Neill. Sorry for the delay in reaching you, but more important matters have had our attention."

At the best of times, O'Neill could tolerate the Tok'ra and their secretive and sometimes manipulating ways, but the events of the last few days had worn his patience thin. In fact it was beyond thin, and into anorexic. Carter had been kidnapped, Teal'c and Hailey were still recovering from their injuries. Teal'c was slowly being healed by his symbiont, but Hailey did not had such luxury and had lost so much blood during the operation that she was now in a coma. Doctor Frasier wasn't sure when, or even if, she'd ever come out of it.

Afterwards, they tried to send a MALP to the co-ordinates that Hailey provided. To which this Scorpius had apparently taken Carter. But it never completed the journey to the other side. Something was blocking the gate on the other end. The aliens probably had their own version of an iris.

Standing there looking at Anise and with all of that on his mind, try as he might, O'Neill couldn't hide the anger from his voice. "Let me guess. You can't tell us what it was."

Anise sensed the hostility in O'Neill's tone, but before she could react Hammond stepped in, explaining. "We need your help. There's a new race using the Stargates and three days ago, they attacked our teams during a mission. Teal'c and a Lt. Hailey were badly wounded, and they managed to capture Major Carter."

Surprised, Anise's host Freya now spoke. "I am deeply sorry. If we had known how serious this was I assure you that we would have come sooner."

"Jacob should be here," Hammond said. "Can you reach him?"

"No, that is not possible at the moment," Freya said. "He's on a mission and I don't know when he'll return. I know that you'd much rather deal with him than me, but I am capable of assisting you..."

"He's Samantha's father and he should be here!" O'Neill snapped heatedly.

"Colonel!" Hammond glared at him, then said evenly, "Get control of yourself or leave."

O'Neill sighed, suddenly feeling very stupid for using Freya as a verbal punching bag. "I'm sorry."

"No apology is required. I know how much Major Carter means to all of you." Freya said. "Please, let us help."

"I hope that you can," O'Neill finally admitted. "Does the name Scorpius ring a bell?"

Freya's eyes went wide before they glowed as Anise jumped in to speak

"Yes! And, if he was the one who has taken Major Carter, then I fear for her very survival."

***

Before she let any of Moya's crew set foot aboard the Galactica, Sheba made sure that Crichton and the others kept their mouths shut about John being from Earth. Sheba remembered how some of her people in the fleet had behaved during their last encounter with beings whom they had also believed to be from Earth. Some serious caution was in order.

After all the introductions, hand shakes, and pats on the back in the landing bay were done, Sheba requested a private conference with Adama and his most trusted officers together with her and her new friends.

They were in the Galactica's huge main conference room. Seated about the large circular table were Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh, Captain Apollo, and Lt. Starbuck. They each were wearing a small ear piece that was tied into the Galactica's translator computer, which enabled them to understand the various alien languages that Sheba's friends spoke. Sheba had described to them the translator microbe technology that she'd discovered in use aboard Moya, but Adama resisted from using alien technology on themselves for now. Intriguing and superior as this technology sounded, Adama had decided rely on their more trusted universal translators for now.

Situated on the other side of the table, were Lt. Sheba who chose to sit with her new friends, John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Captain Crais, D'Argo and Rygel.

"Okay, Sheba," Adama said with a smile. "What was so important that you needed to tell us about it in private?"

The Colonial warrior glanced to John who nodded his approval to her. She looked back at Adama.

"John Crichton is from Earth."

Immediately, the Colonials on the other side of the table sat up straight in their chairs, all were staring at John as if he'd grown an extra head.

Adama struggled for words as he beamed with pride at the female Colonial warrior. "First, you helped to save the fleet, and now you've located the Tau'ri? Now I understand your desire to keep this a secret, Sheba."

John couldn't help but smile. He had found Adama to be behaving more like a father figure than a commander of a huge battleship. "Sheba mentioned the little incident you had a while back, when you came across a human family in space awhile back. But I can assure you that I am human, and I am from Earth. I could show you my ID and driver's license as proof , but I seem to have misplaced my wallet somewhere."

Apollo gave John a blank look. "A driver's what?"

"And what's a wallet?" Starbuck added.

John waved his hand. "Never mind."

Colonel Tigh decided to ask the two questions that mattered the most to the weary Colonials. "Can you tell us where Earth is, and whether or not your people protect us from the Cylons?"

John answered the first question. "According to Sheba, it's about forty light-years from here." Then he paused over the second question. "As for our defenses... " His voice trailed off for a second. "We have none worth mentioning."

Sheba watched the hope in the faces of Adama and the others fade as John gave them the bad news. It had long been devoutly hoped that Earth would have the power to protect the human survivors of the Colonies from the Cylons, but now that ray of hope was crushed.

"Wait a minute." Starbuck suddenly asked. "You have no fleet, no ships or weapons?"

"That's right," John admitted. "The furthest we've ever travelled in manned flights into space has been to our moon and back. And even now we have no significant presence there. Although we have a small shuttle fleet, they can't go any further than low Earth orbit. We do have some weapons, but none of the outer space ray gun variety."

"Just short range shuttles?" Apollo was confused. "If your people have never journeyed any further than to your orbiting satellite then how did you get way out here?"

John explained as best as he could. "I was flying a new experimental module when I got sucked into a worm hole, and dumped way out here. It was an accident."

"Can this get any worse?" Starbuck murmured. This was hard to take. They had all been hoping that Earth would be their salvation at the end of their long trek through space.

"There is one more thing," John said slowly. "My people know nothing about the legend of Kobol, or any of the twelve tribes of humanity. As far as we are concerned, life began on Earth."

Starbuck shook his head. "I should had kept my mouth shut."

Colonel Tigh rubbed his forehead in disbelief. To come this far only to find Earth was unprepared, ignorant, and defenceless. He turned to Adama.

"Commander, we could be making a huge mistake if we continue towards Earth. They have no advanced technology and they can't protect us, let alone themselves, against the Cylons. Second, we could be looked upon as invaders and be unwelcome."

Starbuck looked down the table to Tigh. "No offence Colonel, but where else can we go? I say that we try for Earth and hope for the best."

"There's too much risk," Apollo responded. "Even if we succeed and settle on Earth, we'll be endangering them too. If the Cylons track us down, they could wipe out all of humanity in one stroke."

"Excuse me!" John said loudly. "The Tau'ri wishes to make a statement. I know from what Sheba has told me that you guys have been making with the great wagon train in space, heading out to find greener pastures, and that I can understand that. I'm sorry that we Earthlings are not exactly what you had hoped for, but the truth is that we have nothing much to offer. No Starfleet, or Star Wars, no Captain Kirk or Picard, not even a Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon. Nothing but a possible home." He glanced over to Sheba.

"I had an honor to get to know one of you for a while, and you won't find anyone from Moya that has a bad thing to say about her. If her character is any reflection on you guys, then I'm sitting with friends and maybe beer buddies. In the time that she was with us I promised to help her find Earth, and to get you guys there. Not because we're humans, but because we're in the same boat. We're all looking for home, and I want to help you find one. If you'll let me"

"Nicely put, John Crichton." Adama said, staring appreciatively at the man from Earth. If there were more like him on Earth, then they all might have a chance for a new start. Although he didn't quite understand all of what he just said, Adama reflected wryly. "What are you suggesting?"

John did have a few ideas, but they were all longshots. How well would his people on Earth accept visitors from another world, even if they were humans too?

"Well for one thing, it will still take you guys another two years to reach Earth at your current speed. That will give us some time to pull something together. Maybe you can quietly contact the various Earth governments and get the public prepared. You could very well trade some of your technology for the right to settle on Earth. From what Sheba told me, you have weather control technology and the ability to transform deserts into fertile farmland. Stuff like that would be a godsend to us."

Tigh remained doubtful. "And your people won't react with fear and suspicion?"

John looked directly at the Galactica's first officer. "I can't guarantee anything, but if you handle this right we Earthlings might surprise you. We're fast learners and adapt quickly. I'm the prime example of that adaptability after surviving out here for three years.. err... cycles... no I mean, yahrens."

John groaned inwardly. Not exactly the best way to end his little speech.

"All of this is very touching and human," Crais suddenly interrupted. "But before we get too far ahead of ourselves there's another important matter that we must deal with. Scorpius and the Stargate."

Adama gave Crais a puzzled glance. "Who's Scorpius? And what's a Stargate?"

***

"Scorpius is a scientist who works for a vast military organization called the Peacekeepers," Anise said to General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson and Major Davis in the SGC conference room.

"He holds great power within the Peacekeepers ranks, even commanding a powerful warship. In the last few months, the Goa'uld and the Peacekeepers have been waging war, and the Goa'uld have been losing steadily. This conflict has given us many opportunities to strike against the System Lords, and that's why we didn't respond immediately to your calls. Unfortunately as we learned more about these Peacekeepers the more concerned we became. They're little better than mercenaries and have been raiding the conquered worlds, leaving death in their wake. This Scorpius is the worst of them all. Your planet has a term to describe people like him, call him an evil scientist if you will. He recently captured an operational Stargate and has been learning how to use it. By the simple grace of good fortune, his knowledge about the Stargate network is limited. On the other hand, if he can successfully interrogate Major Carter for her information, the Peacekeepers could expand their influence over the galaxy, replacing the System Lords as the next galactic tyrant."

"If these Peacekeepers come after us, the Asgard Protected Planet Treaty won't save us." Major Davis said. "It only safeguards us against attacks from the Goa'uld."

General Hammond couldn't believe what Anise was telling him. "Are the Peacekeepers that powerful, that they can defeat the combined might of the Goa'uld System Lords?"

"The System Lords are not known for their co-operation amongst themselves," Anise explained. "Once they realized the power of the Peacekeepers they began to co-ordinate their efforts with one another, but it might be too late. As much as we would welcome their fall, we fear that the Peacekeepers could be much worse. Major Carter could give them the key to victory with the vast knowledge that she has."

"We know where they're holding Major Carter." O'Neill said. "The problem is that we can't get to it by way of the Stargate. Can you loan us a ship?"

"We can give you a shuttle with a cloaking device." Anise offered. "What are you planning Colonel?"

"Well, for starters maybe rescue mission," O'Neill said sarcastically, then looked to Hammond respectfully. "With your permission, General."

"I have no intentions of abandoning Major Carter to these people. You have my go ahead to launch a rescue mission if you can, Colonel." General Hammond replied.

"That may not do," Anise responded. "This Scorpius is no fool. It is very probable that he is holding her in a secure location that would be impossible to penetrate. You may have to look at an alternative if your plan fails."

"And that would be?" Daniel dared to ask.

"You might have to kill her." Anise knew that it had to be said, and was worried that O'Neill's feelings for Major Carter could cloud his judgment. It was too dangerous to let Scorpius have Major Carter, along with the knowledge that she had. "You all must understand. Scorpius is also a brutal and thorough interrogator. Eventually he will break Samantha Carter and gain the information he desires."

She sat there expecting an angry outburst from O'Neill, but he just stared at her coldly.

"Do you have anything else to add, Anise?" he said.

"No, I do not."

"Good," O'Neill said with an amazing politeness that unnerved Anise. "There is one more thing that you can do before you decide to go."