Chapter 5 Continued

United States Battle Cruiser Daedalus

Earth orbit, Earth Alliance.

"They want to what?" Col. Caldwell asked in surprise as the elevator doors parted with their metallic whine allowing both men to step into the corridor.

"A little thank you from President Sheridan." Gen O'Neill responded as both men departed the elevator. "Basically Earth Force wants to personally grant our request after that little save at the shipyards." O'Neill enthused walking next to Co. Caldwell.

"A refit?" Caldwell asked bluntly. When?"

"As soon as we're able." O'Neill shrugged looking at his watch. "Which is as soon as possible."

"General." Col. Caldwell began "Is it wise to grant the Alliance access to the Daedalus?" Caldwell asked cautiously. Though the Alliance and the SGC had gotten off to a great start by SGC standards Caldwell wasn't comfortable with the idea of granting them full access to the Daedalus, access that would be needed for the kind of refit General O'Neill was proposing.

"Yeah I thought about that too." O'Neill replied, aware of Caldwell's concern. "But they need our help if they're to stop the plague, so I don't think they'll try any funny stuff." O'Neill answered as they made a turn in the corridor.

"I still don't feel comfortable with this." Caldwell admitted.

"Well don't worry about that." O'Neill stated. "Once I get back I'll have SG-3 and SG-7 help post security in the more vital areas of the ship, particularly the areas involving the Asgard technology."

"I'm sure that'll make Hermiod more comfortable." Caldwell reasoned. Though he doubted it. "Anything else I should be aware of General?"

"Yeah apparently we're all heroes." O'Neill replied sheepishly.

"Sir?" Caldwell asked slightly confused.

"The news service on this side of the rift, an ISN has been asking questions." O'Neill began. "Seems they got a good look at the Daedalus in action and have been hounding Earth Force ever since." The General informed.

"That could create complications sir." Caldwell responded. As the veteran of several wars on his Earth Col. Caldwell was not a particular fan of the Media. His life having taken a direction that required absolute secrecy from even the people who meant the most to him. And it was the job of the Media to expose those secrets for the world to see.

"Yeah it could." O'Neill began. "But thankfully not for us. Its Earth Force they're hounding, so far they don't know about the Dimensional gate or our true origins, so we're in the clear for now."

"If they're anything like the media back home they're not going to give up until they have the full story." Caldwell countered.

"True." O'Neill acknowledged "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Both Men arrived in Engineering to find Dr. Lindsey Novak and Hermiod hard at work at their stations. On the master display screen floated a view of the Daedalus, but as Col. Caldwell approached he could make out small modifications to the ships hull.

"Col. Caldwell! General O'Neill." Dr. Novak exclaimed, startled by their sudden arrival.

"Doctor, Hermiod." Col. Caldwell said by way greeting the two scientists. "I've take it you both have had a chance to study the proposed modifications to the Daedalus?"

"We were going over the Modifications now Colonel." Novak replied as she focused the viewer onto a section of the Daedalus hull next to it a display of a small cannon floated next to the image of Daedalus hull. "This is the interceptor grid Colonel." Novak began. "They'll be placed in several key areas of the ship to cover all arcs of the ship from incoming fire; we're looking at 8 in total. Essentially they're smaller versions of the plasma/pulse weapons with high rates of fire." She explained while zooming in to a diagram of an interceptor cannon. "They have special targeting scanners to allow them to track and intercept incoming energy bolts; if we can tie them in with our CIWS batteries we can drastically improve our close in defense capabilities. Unfortunately the interceptors are incapable of intercepting beam weapons such as lasers that travel at the speed of light, but since the Goa'uld don't use any form of beam weaponry that we know of we should be good."

'Nice!" O'Neill said with the enthusiasm of a kid at Christmas, however it didn't take long for the other shoe to drop.

"With the current capabilities of the ships targeting scanners we will only be able to track and intercept 35 of all incoming fire directed at the ship." Hermiod jumped in. "in Order to improve the rate of interception we will have to tie in the Asgard targeting scanners with the CIWIS/Interceptor network which will improve the rate of interception significantly."

"How much more are we talking about?" Col. Caldwell asked?

"By as much as a 50 improvement Colonel." Hermiod reported as he brought up images of the Battle over Earth. On the Screen Omega and Warlock ships could be seen engaging their Drahk antagonists, when the Drahk returned fire the Interceptor grids on the respective ships came to life knocking down a considerable amount of fire directed at them. Although the show was impressive everyone quickly noticed that the interceptor grid on the newer Warlock's proved superior to the EA's previous models.

"I have studied the data recorded from the battle over Earth we participated in. I have been able to calculate that the ships belonging to the Earth Alliance were able to intercept as much as 60 of enemy fire directed at them. However the Newer Warlock class destroyers demonstrated a noticeable improvement in capabilities by as much as 10."

"Meaning?" O'Neill prodded.

"Meaning, General." Hermiod stated in an exasperated tone of voice "that while crude in nature the interceptor grid has demonstrated to be a most effective form of defense. While inferior to Asgard shield emitters it would serve to compliment the ships defensive capabilities. I have already sent a report to the Asgard High Council with a particular note on the interceptor grid attached in the report; I can tell you it is generating great interest."

"Hermiod is that respect I hear in your voice?" Novak quipped at Hermiod's obvious discomfort." I thought we were too primitive to have anything the Asgard could want."

The Asgard brought his full attention to the doctor before responding. "While that is most often true, Part of my mandate for serving aboard Daedalus was to be on the lookout for 'Novel ideas' that could prove beneficial for the Asgard. In the past your unique approach to complex problems has yielded considerable success, I would be remiss in my duties to ignore such an obvious example of that kind of thinking...the exchange program between our two peoples was as much to help us as it was to help you."

"Cool." O'Neill responded absently. "So what other little goodies are we getting?"

Novak's hands flew across her console bringing up a picture of a large dual Rail gun. "This is a scaled down version of the 406/240 Volcano Rail Gun…

"Scaled down?" Caldwell asked interrupting Novak.

"Yes sir." Novak responded. "I ciphered through the data available on them and apparently they were originally designed for the Warlock class destroyers."

"Making them a little big for the Daedalus." O'Neill surmised from the limited information he knew about the Mammoth ships.

"Essentially sir." Novak confirmed. "With Hermiod's help we've been able to scale them down while improving on their stopping power."

At hearing that particular revelation both O'Neill and Caldwell turned their stunned eyes to Hermiod. Improving on the interceptor grid was one thing, but when it came to weapons technology the Asgard had been hesitant to assist Earth, which made the revelation of Hermiod's active help with the new weapons system that much more surprising.

"Hermiod." O'Neill stammered slightly "I thought the Asgard weren't going to help us with weapons technology?"

"Concerning Asgard weaponry you would be correct O'Neill, however the Rail Guns are not Asgard technology and there is nothing in my mandate saying I cannot improve upon existing human weapons technology.

"Sweet!" O'Neill replied after several moments of shocked silence. "Is that all?" Gen. O'Neill replied after another awkward moment of silence.

"How do improved missiles sound sir?" Novak began "The Earth Alliance uses advanced spatial missiles for ship to ship engagements, as well as anti fighter roles. The engines on these missiles are considerably faster than the Chemical Rocket engines on our current generation of space missiles. Not to mention they have better guidance systems." Novak reported before her face took on a disappointed look. "Unfortunately that's about as much as we can do on such a short time table. The Earth Alliance was also going to fit us with an E-WEB system but that would require a major overhaul to implement the system, in addition to improved launching tubes for our VLS system using magnetic launchers instead of the high pressure system used by our current VLS."

"How long will the refit take?" Col. Caldwell asked.

"Well sir the EA has considerable resources at their disposal, Garbaldi/Edgars industry is prepping a yard now in Mars orbit, from what they told me provided there aren't any problems, Start to finish should be a little over a week."

"A Week!" Both me responded in unison.

"They've been at this kind of thing for a lot longer than we have sir." Novak smiled. 'It probably would have taken us 2 months for that kind of refit. Additionally they're studying the idea of mounting Starfury engines and weapons on the F-302 but I don't have any up to date info on that."

"You mean those big mean looking guns we saw on those..." O'Neill looked suddenly confused for a moment "What were they called again?"

"Thunderbolt Starfuries Sir." Novak answered with that annoying smile of hers.

"Yes!That's the one!" O'Neill replied happily "So the 302's are getting those big guns?" O'Neill asked hopefully.

Novak's smile faded as she bit her lower lib not knowing how she was going to break the news to the General. Realizing that Gen. O'Neill was looking at her expectantly she decided blunt honesty was probably the best approach. "The Gatlin Pulse Cannons from the ThunderBolt is too large to mount on the F-302 General." Novak Began "The Thunderbolt is twice the size of a 302, but the Alliance thinks they can mount the Pulse cannons from their Aurora Starfuries. They're about the same size as the 20mm cannons mounted on the F-302."

O'Neill's stared blankly at her for a few moments before responding "So No big gun?" he asked disappointedly.

"More like two slightly smaller ones General." Novak replied sheepishly.

"Rats!" O'Neill cursed snapping his fingers before bringing his attention back to Novak. "Novak make a note for area 51." O'Neill began. "I want Big honking pulse cannons on the next generation of fighters!" O'Neill stated in his half joking half serious tone of voice.

"Yes sir!" Novak respond, furiously scribbling in a note pad that somehow appeared in her hand. For his part Col. Caldwell did his best to suppress his laughter. The Generals antics were well known throughout the SGC but for someone like Novak who hadn't spent much time around the General she tended to take him a little too seriously.

"Oh good." O'Neill quipped. "Anything else?"

"Yes sir one other thing." Novak replied putting her pad down returning attention to her console. On the master display screen a series of wavelengths formed one on top of the other. Novak highlighted one particular wavelength then zoomed in on it until it filled the entire screen.

"We've finished analyzing the sensor data from the Device, Its so far beyond anything I've ever seen or even heard about I couldn't even begin to tell you how it does what it does, but in layman's terms think of it as a Stargate through realities rather than space, I can't be sure exactly; but I believe its locked to this reality alone. Meaning the device won't jump to another reality." Novak began for her audience. "This is one of the frequencies the device is sensitive too, it just so happens its one of the same frequencies that the Deadalus scan on." Novak said before bringing up the first picture of the multiple wave lengths. "From what I can tell the device is sensitive to a variety of emissions and not all of them subspace based." She said pointing to one of the frequencies "That one right there is Tachyon based.

"Meaning?" Col. Caldwell prodded.

"Meaning, Colonel. That triggering the device is not unique to Daedalus, all anyone would have to do is simply retool their scanners to the correct frequency and Presto!" Novak exclaimed clapping her hands together.

"Good work Doctor." Caldwell praised. "is there anything else we should be aware of?"

"That about covers it sir." replied looking up from her console. "Everything else will be in the report."

"I want the report by the end of the Day doctor." Col. Caldwell ordered.

"You'll have it by this afternoon sir." Novak responded confidently.

General O'Neill and Colonel Caldwell turned to leave engineering they were just outside the door before Col. Caldwell stopped and turned back towards engineering.

"Hermiod." the Colonel Called out.

"Yes Colonel?" the Asgard responded looking up from his console.

"Well done." Col. Caldwell said with a slight nod of head. Much to his surprise Hermiod returned the gesture before the Colonel departed Engineering. Once in the Corridor O'Neill's curiosity got the better of him.

"What was all that about?" Gen. O'Neill asked.

"A beginning, hopefully." Caldwell replied.

"I take it the little grey guy's been a pain in the ass." "O'Neill surmised

Col. Caldwell gave General O'Neill a knowing look "We've had our differences in opinion." Caldwell responded delicately. "But the Little grey guy has come through for us in a pinch, so long as he continues to do so I can tolerate the more colorful aspects of his personality." Caldwell said as both men continued strolling through the ships corridor.

"Hmmmm." O'Neill responded before another thought occurred to him. "Before I got off the horn with President Sheridan he made a small request on behalf of the Excalibur crew." O'Neill started catching Col. Caldwell's interest. "It seems the Earth Alliance fighter jocks were impressed with the way our guys handled themselves back there, they've invited us to participate in some training exercises on Mars. In addition I'm to meet with a Senator RedWave and the Crew for the Mission to our side of the Rift." O'Neill continued as they passed several personnel in the corridor.

"I was under the impression we were going to work out a treaty before allowing the ISA into our side of the Rift?" Caldwell asked confused and slightly alarmed. Though he like President Sheridan and the Alliance personnel he'd met to date it didn't mean he trusted them...yet, that would only come in time and Col. Caldwell was military to the core, trust in outsiders didn't come easily and he felt things were progressing a little too fast for his taste.

"Already on it." O'Neill responded nonchalantly as both men reached the elevator door, as the doors closed with their metallic whine General O'Neill with a bemused expression on his face turned to look at the slightly uncomfortable Col. Caldwell and asked. "Colonel have you ever heard of a place called Babylon 5?"