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."
