I don't own Space 1999, or Stargate SG1.
In this continuity, Moonbase Alpha is still in its first season so there is no sign of Tony or Maya - don't get me wrong, I liked Maya's character, but I don't want her in this storyline. As for this story, I've had this idea in mind for a long time, a crossover where the Alphans' get a ship in order to escape and find a planet to settle on. At the same time, I'm using some of the Big Finish characters, like the female Kano and Simmonds was not lost. I like him too much.
I've had this kind of idea rattling around my mind for a while, so please let me know what you think.
Odyssey.
The Ship.
In Main Mission on Moonbase Alpha, nearly every eye was focused on the viewing screen, towards the massive asteroid that dominated the whole picture. Swarming around the asteroid, the Eagle fleet was landing on the asteroid immersed in strip-mining the surface of the asteroid for plutonium ore. The Alphans had come across the asteroid on their journey when their sensors picked up strong traces of radioactivity, and they had plenty of time to strip as much ore as they could while they were in range. The asteroid was moving in the opposite direction from the moon, but the Alphans would only be in range for a good few days.
Once the Alphans had detected the radioactive ore, they immediately saw the benefits considering how their energy sources relied on nuclear fission, and they'd prepared a quick survey mission to pick up some samples for analysis. They discovered the mineral was plutonium, and they instantly mobilised a full group of Eagles to collect as much ore as they could.
Ever since the Alphans were torn away from their homeworld by the wormhole, they had learnt to adapt to an almost scavenger way of life, that meant collecting water from passing comets or on ice planets, while keeping any viral or bacterial samples for later remedies, and minerals for when they needed them.
Commander Koenig walked over to Sandra Benes console. "Sandra, how much ore do we have now?"
Sandra did a quick check. "250 tonnes, Commander."
Koenig considered. "How much longer will the asteroid be within range?"
"Another two days," Sandra replied before she added, "Commander, shall we get the Eagles back to Alpha, we have enough ore?"
"Keep them at it for now for another few hours," Koenig replied. "We might need every last piece of ore in the future."
"Yes sir," Sandra said.
Koenig instantly caught sight of Professor Victor Bergman as he walked into Main Mission. The astrophysicist had been spending the last few hours examining the pieces of ore that were being brought back to Alpha to see if this was an alien form of plutonium or if it was like the regular form of the ore.
"Victor, what have you found?"
Victor walked over to Koenig, glancing at the screen briefly. "From what we've found so far, John, this might be one of our best finds yet. We should have enough power to keep the base and the Eagle fleet going for a good while yet."
"That's a relief. It's just a pity that the asteroid doesn't have any other useful minerals we could use. We could use irons and titanium for the life support systems and for maintaining the Eagles." One of the biggest headaches he had as the commander of Moonbase Alpha was their supply problem, and as they travelled further and further into space, Koenig wondered if they would ever find a suitable planet that they could colonise.
"I know, John, but for now this is the best we can do," Victor knew only too well the headache that he felt every single time their supply problems came up.
Koenig nodded. "I just wish we weren't blundering from one place to another. I agree, it's fascinating and we have seen many things but I wish we had some way of directing our own course for once."
"So do I, John. So do I," Victor said.
"Commander, Professor," David Kano called from his station which was buzzing. "Computer's getting a strange anomaly it's been verified by the satellites."
"What kind of anomaly?"
"A strong one. It's like a radio pulse, and it's triggered our sensors."
Sandra's console began issuing an alert. "Commander, I'm getting the same anomaly."
Koenig leaned over her console. "Intensive scan the pair of you. Try to find out where it's coming from."
"I'll contact the Eagles to see if they can help, Commander, but I'm starting to pick it up on my own instruments," Paul said. Koenig glanced at Victor, who was just as bemused but intrigued like he was. Both Sandra and Kano got to work on their consoles, and with Paul's help as he was quickly able to contact the Eagles of the small group collecting ore from the asteroid. Some of the group were returning, it was a simple matter of diverting them off their course to help them pinpoint the location of the anomaly.
"Eagle 1 to base, Carter here," Alan's voice came over the communication's line.
Koenig walked over to the console and pressed the intercom. "Alan, go ahead."
"We've picked up the transmission, Commander, and we're moving across the lunar surface to see where it's emanating from. It appears to be coming from the Dark Side of the moon."
Koenig glanced at Kano. "Kano, check Computer. Look up all prior surveys to see what it might be."
"Right, Commander," Kano quickly got up and he headed for the main computer bank; while he could have gotten the reply from his own console, he preferred to check the main banks of the computer for a better answer.
"It's definitely coming from the dark side of the moon, Commander; I've been keeping in close contact with Alan's Eagle and checking our sensors, and thanks to Alan's help we've made the triangulation easier," Sandra said.
"Good. How many Eagles are collecting ore from the asteroid now?"
Paul checked. "There are 12 Eagles returning from the asteroid now, sir. Do you want me to divert them to Alan's position?"
"Yes, Paul, I do. Give them Alan's location and tell him to give them the data to help him track down the signal," Koenig ordered just as Kano finished with Computer. The technician and Computer's main expert besides his sister Dashka had just spent the last two minutes going over every prior survey and he had checked and double-checked his findings.
"Commander, Computer's reports on the prior surveys of the dark side of the moon are complete. There shouldn't be anything there, but there is," Kano shook his head in frustration.
"Hopefully in a few minutes we'll get a proper answer to solve the mystery, Kano, don't worry about it," Koenig replied.
"Commander, Alan's coming through now," Paul said.
X
Alan was glad of the extra help since it made things much easier for him and Alpha to help him track down the signal. It had been growing stronger and stronger the further they travelled. Alan had ordered the other Eagles to arrange themselves in a circular formation and close in on the source in an ever decreasing circle once they had gotten a rough clue to the location. After that it was easy for them to find the source of the transmission because it was a transmission, the pulse was just too regular.
But the source…
Alan had been expecting to see the actual source of the transmission but all he could see for miles around were small impact craters where meteorites had slammed into the surface of the moon billions of years ago and the typical desolate wastes of the grey sands of the moon.
"Alan, what've you found?" Koenig asked over the communication link.
Alan sighed. "Nothing Commander. There's no visible sign of the transmission from what I can tell, and yet we're right on top of it from what my instruments say."
On the screen, Koenig's expression was puzzled, but he didn't look surprised. "Aw, I guess that makes sense. Kano's just reported from Computer our prior surveys of that part of the moon have turned up nothing."
"It's very strong, John. Really strong. That's how we were able to pick it u in the first place," Alan remarked, looking out over the surface of the moon. Despite being on the moon ever since he was rescued from the Meta Probe when the wormhole created by the Queller drive and the exotic matter that was being made from the nuclear waste, Alan had never stopped appreciating the raw beauty out here although many people back at the base would love nothing more than to stop looking at it.
Suddenly he spotted something. It looked like the sand was being pushed back by an invisible hand. "Commander, I think there is something out here after all. There's a large patch of moon sand that's being pushed aside."
"Pushed aside? What's the source?"
"I don't know. It's like an invisible giant is pushing the sand away with a massive hand," Alan commented as he looked down, adding almost as an afterthought, "it looks like it's going quite deep; I'd say….400 feet, but it's hard to tell. Y'know what, I think that was some kind of crater because all of that sand is piling up around the edges."
"Alan," Koenig's voice cracked like a whip over the line making him look down at the monitor terminal, "Alan, back off slowly."
"Right, Commander," Alan opened a channel to the other ships, "Carter to all Eagles, back off slowly."
The Eagles backed away from the increasingly deepening crater, but as they did Alan saw something that was clearly not natural. Like an invisible picture being unveiled by a magic pencil, the shape became more defined. It was blocky with a kind of control tower near the back of a very blocky shape with two nacelles on either side.
"Commander," Alan began slowly, "I'm patching it over to you now, but the sand has been pushed aside. I think it's some kind of ship."
X
Koenig stared at the blocky shape on the screen curiously. It was blocky, a lot like some of the ships belonging to different aliens that they'd met over time, but what one of them was doing here Koenig didn't know.
His mind flashed with possibilities for a command decision. He could order Alan and his Eagle squadron to stay in that part of the moon's landscape. He could order one of the Eagles to land for a group of astronauts to venture out and explore the crater, but he didn't. All of those Eagles carried a valuable and highly radioactive cargo each and they needed that supply of ore, now.
"Alan, get your Eagle squadron back to Alpha, but stay there because me, Victor, Helena, and several others will be out there with you," Koenig said.
"Yes sir," Alan agreed, "John, do you want me to send anyone down to the ship to see what's in there?"
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, but don't go inside. We don't know what's inside and we can't risk any lives in case that thing is booby-trapped; whoever piled that sand on top of it went to a lot of trouble to hide it. Who knows what might be there? If you go down, Alan, please be careful," Koenig said.
Alan nodded. "Understood sir."
Koenig glanced at Victor, and he saw the scientist was just as puzzled but as intrigued as he was. They could well understand now why no prior survey picked up on this in the past, especially if it was hidden so well but they didn't know why anyone would hide something like this. One thought sprang to Koenig's mind if this ship had been hidden, were they hiding from something? And now it was exposed, what did it mean for Moonbase Alpha?