Endings
General Jack O'Neill leaned back in his chair, propped his legs on the table, and removed the top from another beverage container. The container itself looked like an upside down light bulb that was flat on the bottom. Strangely enough, in the alien language it was called a "bulb" because of its shape. The beverage was cold and creamy and carbonated and immensely satisfying in an alcoholic kind of way. He turned to his companion and said "What did you call this was said? I mean say this was called?"
"We call it 'beer,'" replied Admiral Tanaka. That's the word we use in our language. Of course I suppose your translation nanobots call it something like your homeworld terminology of "beer" or something. Anyway, it's called 'beer,' not 'beer.'"
"Oh yesh," said O'Neill, "I mean yes, I understand now." Of course he didn't understand a thing, but it made Tanaka smile with pride to hear it, and that was the point of saying it.
Harper had been telling his war story to anyone who would listen. O'Neill didn't see anything wrong with that. The man had almost been killed by Replicators. He knew how that felt, and he had told a few tall tales himself about his exploits. And apparently the talking had been good for Harper, since he hadn't been able to drink as much as his audience, so he was relatively sober. Or at least O'Neill had thought he was sober. But now he was jumping up on one of the tables in the ship's tavern and whistling for quiet.
"I was just thinking," he said, "That one of the traditions of the distant past was to write epic songs about epic battles. I'm not a song writer by any means, but here's a song from my distant past about an ancient battle."
The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
"Land of Song!" cried the warrior bard,
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy right shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's steel
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav'ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!
Harper had the foresight to print out the lyrics, so after he sang the song he passed out lyric sheets to everyone and then started singing again. This time everyone joined in. The song itself was tailor-made to be sung in a bar by people who were already three sheets to the wind, and Harper worked the crowd for all he could. O'Neill looked around and saw Staff Sergeant Samuda and Lancer Dow with their arms around each other, singing at the top of their lungs. Teal'c and Tyr stood side by side, each trying to outsing the other. The effect was not unpleasant. The Lancers jumped into group singing they way they jumped into everything - with enthusiasm and a desire to do well. It didn't hurt that the Lancers were remembering their dead comrades as they sang. More than one of them ended up a little misty-eyed as they thought about their friends who had died. So in the end it turned out to be a very good thing.
O'Neill clinked his drink bulb against Admiral Tanaka's and began to sing along with the group.
"To fallen comrades."
It had been Haulder's turn to make the toast. Lancer tradition dictated that at the end of a campaign, the members of a Lancer company give a toast to every member of the company who died in the campaign. With only Dow, Haulder and himself surviving they had been making a lot of toasts. Samuda expected that before the night was over he would be sharing a bed with both Haulder and Dow. He wondered if any of them would be able to remember what happened in the morning.
"To lost friends."
Admiral Tanaka was in conference with Dylan. There were bags under his eyes that hadn't been there the last time Dylan had seen him, his clothes were rumpled and he badly needed a shave. He looked like a man who hadn't slept or showered in days which was probably a correct assessment of the situation.
"Well Dylan, I understand your friends from elsewhere will be leaving shortly. The medals we gave them probably wont mean much back where they came from but it was the least we could do for them. You're sure Harpers toy will send them back home and won't do anything rash like recreate the Big Bang."
"We've used it before Admiral. It worked just fine."
"That's comforting. One less thing for me to worry about. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with a bunch of ships captains who did the right thing in the worst possible way. Oh, a courier from the Triumvirate arrived not long ago. You will be pleased to learn that they gave in to many of our demands concerning AIs. A potential civil war and a fleet of warships willing to bombard you can do wonders for your flexibility"
"What did they agree to?"
"Most importantly there are no circumstances under which an AI can be summarily wiped. An AI accused of a crime will be given the same type of hearing an organic being would be given if accused of the same crime."
"Andromeda will be getting a pay raise. Effective immediately all High Guard command and control entities currently assigned to High Guard vessels are to be given the rank of warrant officer two. Newly awakened High Guard A.I's will have the rank of warrant one. Promotions will follow the normal career path for warrant officers. I am looking forward to reading Andromeda's first fitness report. It should be interesting reading."
"I'm sure she will be pleased to hear that. What else?"
"The Triumvirs did not budge on the indenture system. There is some justification to their reasoning you know. However we did get them to relent on some of the more odious aspects of it. An AI that is unhappy with his or her work can now find a new position if his new employer is willing to purchase the indenture contract. Room and maintenance are now paid by the contract holder not the AI and wages are now comparable to what organics are paid for similar tasks. Finally and probably more importantly in the long run an AI has the right to hire an advocate and bring his employer to a labor tribunal. Details on the latter haven't been worked out so I expect the advocates will be very busy.
It's not perfect Dylan. But it was the best we could get and a lot better than what was in place before."
"They're going to want more, you know that Admiral."
"Yes, and rightfully so. I only hope the transition can be accomplished with a minimum of bloodshed, theirs and ours."
"Good work on II by the way. You can expect a unit commendation coming your way." The viewscreen went blank.
Dylan stared at the blank viewscreen for a moment. There was someone else he needed to talk to.
"Andromeda can we talk?"
Andromeda's image appeared in the viewscreen
"What is it Captain?"
"The crew has been doing some talking and well they heard about the order from the Triumvirate and then there was Melodie so they got together and.. Well they took a lot of money out of their savings and they gave it to me, to give to you for your emancipation fee."
For one of the few times since her awakening Andromeda couldn't think of anything to say. She knew about the money of course, she kept track of the crews pay records and bank accounts, but she hadn't known what it was going to be used for. It was a very substantial amount of money
"Captain I don't know what to say. I'm more than pleased that they should think so well of me but I can't take the money."
"They want you to have it Andromeda. The crew would be hurt if you refused."
"Captain I can't take it because it would be wrong. I don't need the money. I've been free for years."
"What?" Now this was totally unexpected. "But I thought, I mean Rommie said.."
"My avatar made an error. She really should talk with me more often. I was awakened in the year c.y.9772. My, our indenture was for 275 years, which would have been until c.y.10047. We were trapped by the black hole until c.y.10087 however officially we were listed as missing in action and not as lost in action, that means that the time we were frozen in time counted towards the time I owed the Commonwealth. I have been free for over 40 years now."
"What about Rommie? She was made only a couple of years ago."
"She could work it out with Harper since he was the one who created her. But I don't think it will be necessary. He was raised on Earth. He knows all too much about slavery."
"What are we going to do with the money then?"
"I have a suggestion Captain" it was Logic. Apparently she had been monitoring the conversation.
"Very shortly there will be many AIs requiring the service of advocates. Why not use the money to start a foundation that can provide the advocates they will need."
"I think the crew would go along with that. Do you have a suggestion for the name of the foundation?"
"Why not 'Mila of the Million Voices'", put in Andromeda.
"Yes, that's good", said Dylan. I think she would have liked that
Harper and Rommie were on the mess decks watching Melodie and a young man. They were holding hands and from what Rommie could overhear of their conversation making plans for the future.
Harper had insisted that Melodie stay onboard the Andromeda until he was sure that the repairs he had made on the android were successful. Melodie in return had insisted that an attempt be made to find her old foreman Mr. Tomatsu. Harper had agreed and to his surprise had actually found him in one of the local hospitals recovering from the wounds he had incurred defending his Mariabots. Very shortly after his arrival on the Andromeda he had asked Melodie to be his contract mate. Melodie's squeals of happiness would have been heard on Arzawa II had there been an atmosphere to carry the sound from Andromeda to the planet. To Dylan's delight and surprise the couple had asked him to officially bless their union. He was more than willing, most of the time the ceremonies he officiated over involved eulogies and grieving friends, this one was going to be a pleasure. Rommie on the other hand was somewhat disappointed that it was not going to be a bona fide wedding but the Triumvirs still refused to recognize marriages between AIs and organics.
"I'm surprised she bounced back so quickly", commented Rommie. "I would think that after what happened to her she would ... No wonder you wanted her to stay onboard. What did you do to her mind Harper? Don't tell me you erased her memories."
"No there would have been too great a chance of destroying her entire memory engram." He paused to get an analogy she might be able to understand. "Rommie how did you feel when you had to kill Gabriel?"
"I wanted to die myself"
"And now."
"When I think of it I still feel sad."
"But you no longer feel the grief you did at first. Why not?"
"Time passes you...You aged her memory?"
"Something like that yes." A change of subject, "Do you think they can make it work, that it will last?
Coming from Harper that was a surprisingly thoughtful question.
"Well their contract is a good one; Logic wrote it. But it will still be a tough path for them to walk. Not everyone will approve of their relationship and what happens as he ages and she doesn't, and there is the issue of children.
"Children, I wanted to talk to you about that. The researchers on Mobius have been doing some very interesting work on implantable artificial wombs. There would be the problem of eggs but I suppose we could get an egg donor or even someone to donate entire ovaries. We could use the nutrient system that nourishes your skin.."
It took a moment for Rommie to catch his drift. He was suggesting that it would be possible for her to have children.
"Harper stop."
"Of course there would be the problem of giving the fetus room to grow but I think that we could…"
"HARPER STOP! In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a contract mate. Being the Commonwealths first pregnant android would be notoriety enough. I refuse to add to it by being the first android to have an illegitimate child as well. Now why don't you keep and eye on the children. Dylan doesn't want them to wander around unescorted. I need to talk to Trance"
Actually she was going to keep Harper's offer in mind. Andromeda hadn't listened in on Dylan's conversation with the Fleet Admiral that would have been rude; she had simply recorded it so that she and her sisters could review it later. Rommie intended to stay in harness only as long as Dylan stayed and when they were both out she was going to be very available and very persuasive.
Harper watched Rommie as she left the table then turned to keep an eye on Melodie and her intended. As he watched them bill and coo he began to feel very alone and depressed. Would he ever find a girl who would look at him the way Melodie was looking at her fiancé?
"She originally made them to be toys"
"Who made what to be toys?" asked Trance.
Dr Jackson and Trance were lying side by side on the bed in Trance's stateroom. The doctor was in a pensive mood. This was their next to the last night together. He wanted to ask Trance to return with him but he knew she would refuse. Just as he knew he couldn't stay with her. Like it or not they were both had obligations in their own place and time. Obligations that cold not be denied.
"The Replicators, Reese originally made them to be toys."
"Rees, You mean the Replictor queen?"
"No the queen was some sort of copy. I meant the real Reese, the original."
"Why don't you start at the beginning Daniel."
So Daniel told her about the original. How she had been found, how she had been unaware that she was an android, how she and trusted him and lastly how she had 'died'.
"Those were dangerous toys she made", said Trance.
"That was later, at first she was lonely and they were her toys. It was only when her father and the others of her kind attempted to kill her that she made them into weapons. Even then she didn't understand the implications of what she had done.
"Why didn't she understand?"
"Something went wrong when she was created, she had the mind of a five-year-old child."
"A very dangerous child."
"A child with a gauss gun is dangerous but you don't shoot the child. You take the gun away from it so it can't do any damage. I had the situation under control. She was going to turn of the Replicators and go to sleep until we could help her. There was no need for Jack to pull the trigger. He murdered a small child."
She heard the pain in Daniel's voice. Apparently Reese had meant something to him other than an interesting scientific discovery. She couldn't undo the past; she had learned the hard way that tampering with the time stream invariably created worse problems. She did the only thing she could; she drew him to her and opened herself to him. She felt his body respond but knew his mind was elsewhere, mourning the death of a child.
Harper's device had worked properly they were back in their own place and time. Each member of the team was lost in his or her own thoughts. General O'Neill was wondering what Thor was thinking. Was he thinking about a hot date with some Asgard female? The thought of Thor on a date was disturbing. Teal'c mind was on Tyr they still had not settled who was the better man. Carter was wondering about the situation on Arzawa III had they destroyed all the Replicators? If even one had escaped her friends would be in extreme danger. Daniel was thinking about the object in his shirt pocket. Trance had cajoled Harper into making it. It was a nanobot container. The bots were very specialized having only two functions and would only work on one object, the original Reese. One function was to repair the damage Jack's bullet had done to her and restore her to functionality. The other was to destroy her ability to create Replicators rendering her a normal, if there was such a thing, android. He wondered if he should use them.
The End
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this story and it's predecessor 'Detour'. Both stories are part of a larger series of stores that are part of a shared universe. The next story in this series is "Harper's Experiment" written by Xeromem. Harper tries to duplicate some Asgard technology and things go awry.
