Chapter 4
Ninety-Nine Reasons
Teyla watched as John moved from one meal station to the next in the base mess hall, before orbiting his way back to the table where she sat. It'd been less than an hour since Woolsey's pronouncement of the AOA's decision to effectively withdraw from galactic affairs. She'd followed him to the mess hall, where they'd found Ronon, already engaged in his midday feast. Rodney had departed for his lab, claiming that he needed to make sure Zelenka, his long-time rival and sometimes friend, wasn't 'messing up his projects' while he'd been away. That left just her, Ronon and John, with the room mostly to themselves save for a few scattered soldiers dining alone or in twos and threes. They all sat two or three tables clear of the Pegasus natives though. Teyla knew it was out of deference to their relationship with Sheppard, who was if not their commanding officer as military co-head of the Compound Alliance, then at least their superior. She suspected Ronon's table manners, or lack thereof, might also have played a role too, though. He ate as he always had; like a man devouring the last meal he might ever have. As John rejoined them he winced at his friend's display of enthusiastic mastication.
"Slow down, Chewie. You're going to choke." He said. Ronon grunted, but lowered the spoonful of mashed potatoes he'd been holding and used a knife to divide its load. Sheppard took the chance to reach for the pepper, before his friend could snatch it away.
"So," Teyla said, "this...change in policy. I take it you don't approve?" There was a paused while Sheppard applied the condiment to his food, before he replaced the shaker and stared at the potatoes as if they were some alien dish with eyeballs in it.
"It's just...hard to describe." He finally said, "I always thought I'd retire in obscurity, just another soldier who did his duty. Now...now I don't know what to think. I don't even know what tomorrow looks like."
"You fear that your world will not react well?" She asked.
"It's more than that. Everything that Woolsey said...I worry about us not being there to fix things if the Hybrids somehow make a comeback, or the Lucians start something. And yes, I do worry. For hundreds of years, people on this planet thought they were special, that this was the only place life existed. We have seven years to get them to be ready to accept that's wrong...and I just don't see how that's possible."
Teyla knew she couldn't fully understand how John was feeling. Her people had always known they were not alone in the universe, the Wraith had made sure of that. Earth and its people though, despite the numerous alien interventions in their history, seemed determined to deny that they were part of a larger universe. She had seen it in their religions, their attitudes, the very way they approached their lives; as if nothing would ever change, that the sky and their world had nothing to do with one another except in terms of weather. She suspected the reason that they had been able to cover up so many near-misses was that the people of Earth needed to believe in their hearts that they were special, the only thinking beings in all the universe, because if they didn't, that would mean facing the truth and taking responsibility for their actions on a scale virtually none of them seemed prepared for.
Now the AOA was proposing to do with that illusion, now and for all time, in the space of seven years. It was mind-boggling. And yet if it wasn't done, then the galaxy would remain a disunified collection of minor powers, all competing with each other over petty, selfish agendas, open to any sufficiently powerful invader.
"It will be...quite a challenge." She said lamely, at a loss for anything else to say.
"I don't know what worries me more actually." Sheppard said, taking a spoonful of potatoes, "The thought of what might happen here when the truth comes out, or the thought of what might happen out there without us. I'm still angry about us abandoning Pegasus. Now it feels like we're being ordered to abandon the Milky Way too." He consumed the white mush, chewing distastefully, eyes full of worry, not really taking pleasure from the meal.
"You are still feeling guilty about abandoning Pegasus?" Teyla asked, though it was more of a statement than a question. She knew John had been among the strongest voices calling for a renewal of activity in her home galaxy.
"I don't think it's fair to put it like that. When we left, they were pulling together while the Wraith were falling apart. But we convinced the Confederation to place their trust in us, then ran off and never called back. Frankly I'm surprised they never came after the Alpha Site, if only out of spite. And it's not just that we abandoned them, it's that we're not even trying to keep a weather eye on things. Intelligence gathering is almost nil, and for all we know, a fleet of experimental Hive Ships could roll in next week because we didn't bother following current events."
There was long pause while John ate some more as Teyla watched.
"But you do feel guilty." She finally said. John swallowed a mouthful of chicken and set down his utensils.
"I know it's not productive, but frankly I don't care. Hell, I fired the shot that pretty much started this mess. The Wraith were sleeping, and then we came and woke them up. This whole mess started because we-"
"This started because you did what you had to do." Rono said, speaking for the first time since Teyla had sat down. They both looked over at him. He took another massive mouthful of food and chewed rapidly before swallowing, as though breaking up the food just enough so that his body wouldn't be incapable of processing it.
"You don't believe in leaving people behind. That's part of what makes you strong. Maybe it got you into trouble to begin with, but it's also what keeps getting you out of it." He said. Teyla was quite surprised. Ronon was never really one to produce wisdom like this. That was usually her talent. However, what he'd said seemed more fitting than any platitude she might have produced. She looked back at John, who appeared slightly bug-eyed at the fact that Ronon of all people had just provided therapeutic advice. The big man seemed to realize the odd looks he was being given and raised his eyebrows in questioning.
"What?" He asked, "It's true!"
"No, I know that." John said, "I just didn't expect you to be such a fortune cookie." Ronon grinned.
"Look, I know you, Sheppard. If you hadn't gone back for your people then, you wouldn't be who you are now, and the fact that you can't go back and finish what you started now like you did then is what's killing you. It's killing me too. Back on Sateda, we were always told to never leave behind a live enemy if we could help it. I know this galaxy has its problems, but with the Wraith still out there, and no one watching, I get the feeling we're setting ourselves up to take a fall."
"Yeah, well…" John replied tiredly, "I made that argument more times than I can count, but the AOA doesn't care. They're just worried about Earth, and only Earth. If anything this decision they're making just proves that."
"That's never stopped us before." Ronon pointed out. Teyla tried to think of a plausible counter, but found none, because Ronon was right. She had lost count of the number of times their disobedient behavior had been overlooked because of the results they'd achieved. They'd gotten away with at least as much bad behavior as SG-1 over the course of their time together, mostly because it had helped save lives. Somehow though, she felt that there was no way to truly justify whatever Ronon was implying, not if they actually tried it. The way Woolsey had talked about the deals made regarding the GDP made it sound like the AOA was dancing on eggshells, and that anything that threatened their plan would find life very hard going forward.
It was at this point that John's ear radio, a feature shared by all command personnel on the base, buzzed noticeably and he looked up, putting down his utensils while his eyebrows furrowed.
"Rodney? What is it?" he asked in a low voice, pressing a finger to the small device, essentially little more than a very compact walkie-talkie, with a small dial for adjusting frequencies. There was a pause as he listened to the voice of his physicist friend, little more than a buzz from where Teyla sat. Then his eyes widened.
"Stay where you are, I'll be there in five minutes." he said, hurriedly rising, though not before sparing his unfinished meal a longing look. He glanced at Teyla and Ronon an expression of thoughtfulness flashing across his face like a freight train.
"You might want to join me." he said after two seconds, "It's about Pegasus." No sooner was the last word out, Teyla found herself on her feet, eyes as wide as John's.
"What about Pegasus?" she asked, noticing that Ronon had risen as well, food forgotten. There was another pause as John seemed to fight with himself about how to phrase his answer, then gave up and simply chose bluntness.
"According to Rodney, the Decepticons are there.
-O-
No further words were spoken until the trio had reached Rodney, a journey that took about fifteen minutes once they had grabbed a Puddlejumper to the city, which accounted for the majority of the trip. Ever since Atlantis had been parked three miles offshore to act as part of the Diego-Garcia facility, passage to and from the two halves of what served as the Alliance's primary base of operations was carried out by the small Ancient exploration craft, four of which had been designated years prior for use as buses, ferrying people, materials and other things between the city and the mainland. Nothing could move things faster than a Puddlejumper, which was why fifteen minutes after the interruption to his meal, John found himself descending into what had once been the Stargate Central Operations area in the heart of Atlantis' tallest place was mostly used for managing communications these days, and the space where the Stargate had once stood, backed by a magnificent window, was empty.
John felt a pang of nostalgia at the sight. Of course it had been necessary. It was a hassle to get Autobots into the room, and the Atlantis Stargate, being of a relatively newer design than the one at the SGC, had been Earth's new front door, since all incoming wormholes were routed to the superior of the two machines. The gate had been extracted and moved years ago, and John always felt like it had taken a chunk of memory out of the city. For five years, he and his team had strode through that gleaming metal ring to adventure after adventure, the sun at their backs, or sometimes not. He was shaken from the moment of memory by the familiar sound of two voices bickering, one Canadian, one Czech.
"You're joking! This math is ridiculous! What did you do, mash on the keyboard until something that looked relevant came out?" Sheppard winced at the sound of Rodney McKay in full chastising mode.
"Simply because you have a degree in combinatorics does not give you the high ground! You didn't even look at my work for more than twenty seconds!" came the retort. Sheppard immediately recognized Radek Zelenka, Rodney's...well, 'frenemy' was the best word he could think of. The two scientists were forever at each other's throats, though John suspected that secretly they respected each other, but couldn't let it show, partly because Rodney's ego would never let him admit there was anyone better at anything scientific than himself, and partly because Radek knew that if he admitted even the slightest amount of inferiority, he would never hear the end of it. He rolled his eyes.
"Yes, and it only took twenty seconds for me to discover you have no idea what you are doing! You can't triangulate a signal's origin with only one point of reference!" Rodney snarled.
"You can if you factor in the Babai equations!" Radek snapped back.
"Should I come back?" John asked nonchalantly, drawing the two physicists out of their verbal sparring. They both gave each other a glare, then turned back to Sheppard.
"I'd barely gotten back to my lab when I got a call from Optimus." Rodney said, moving to stand next to the main projector screen, which was forever alive with racing lines of Lantean text on a soft blue background. John frowned.
"Can you maybe give me more info?" he asked sarcastically, "I came over here because you said you were receiving a signal from Pegasus, a Decepticon signal. How exactly did you reach that conclusion?"
"Look, suffice to say, Ratchet says he found some sort of very high-tech communications device in the head of one of the bodies we brought back from Langara. It's what they use to receive encrypted transmission from Megatron. Apparently this one didn't self-destruct like they usually do, and he got Drift's help to tap into it."
John frowned at the name of the former Decepticon. When he'd arrived on Earth, Optimus had vouched for his loyalty, but his eternal silence, preference for solitude and lack of meaningful answers to any personal questions he was asked had not helped build John's trust in him.
"Did he manage to get anything?" he asked, circling around one of the trapezoidal control consoles that were the main feature of the room apart from the balcony looking down on the space where the Stargate had been.
"Well, that depends what you mean." Radek interjected, causing Rodney to give him an annoyed look. The Czech steam-rolled over him before he could eject another nasty comment.
"The device has a limited period of usefulness. It started to degrade as soon as it was removed. Drift recorded a number of different messages from different sources, but if they've got anything like what we know about normal Decepticon information security, it might take years to translate them." he explained, before Rodney again cut in.
"Look that's not the important part." he said, tapping on the tablet computer, causing the main viewscreen to change to what looked like a sonic wavelength readout, which then played. Sheppard winced as a loud cacophony of Decepticon speech burst through the room's speakers, before Rodney hurriedly turned down the volume. Radek gave his rival a smug look, but John ignored him as the mess of voices, if you could call them that, was suddenly drowned out by a single, echoing voice, distorted, but obviously Decepticon. The voice spoke for roughly forty-five seconds, then faded, allowing the multitude back. Another thirty-five seconds passed, and then without warning, the voices were again drowned out, the message from before repeating itself. This happened once more before Rodney shut off the recording.
"So it's...what, a distress beacon?" John asked, confused. He knew how to tell Decepticon from Autobot, but that was it. The Cybertronian languages were essentially audible representations of machine code, which to him always sounded like a fax machine in a meat grinder that had been smashed by a dubstep musician.
"Well no, according to Drift, it's not."
"Then what is it?" Teyla asked from behind Sheppard, causing him to look back at her, then at Rodney in expectation. Rodney looked over at Zelenka, and a look of mutual embarrassment flashed between them.
"We don't know." Radek finally admitted, before perking up and adding, "But we know where it's coming from." Hurriedly he took a seat at one of the empty chairs in front of the control consoles and manipulated the crystal keys therein. The sonic wave-form map vanished, and was replaced by a map of the local galactic cluster, with the Milky Way labeled in Lantean at the center. Unlike Cybertronian, John could read Ancient, and understand at least a little. This was why when a red ring formed on the screen, whose edge passed through the Milky Way, he understood the label of the galaxy at the circle's center: Pegasus.
"So let me get this straight:" John said, after eying the diagram for a moment, "You think that there's a Decepticon presence in the Pegasus Galaxy?"
"Well on the edge of it, presumably." Radek said, causing Rodney to scoff and roll his eyes, giving Sheppard a good idea of what they'd been fighting over.
"We can't be sure of the exact position, but it's pretty clear, and it's also likely they want to keep this secret. I mean, according to Optimus, if we hadn't found this communication device, we'd never have even known about this signal."
"So do we think it's Megatron?" John asked, feeling a little lost.
"Possibly, but unlikely. Optimus thinks that if anything, Megatron's still on Chaar."
"But we don't know where Chaar is." John pointed out.
"We said that too, but Optimus says that Megatron would never risk revealing its location, even on a channel like this one." Rodney explained.
"But Rodney, shouldn't we mention-" Radek started.
"I already told you, it's probably a mistake on the sender's part." Rodney said, waving his hand dismissively while looking down at the tablet computer
"But what if it isn't?" Zelenka pressed, looking worried.
"It's not important anyways, if anything we should be grateful." his Canadian counterpart muttered.
"But we can't be certain of that, Sheppard might-"
"I said it's not important."
"But-"
"Alright, fine!" grumbled Rodney, looking very irritated. John looked back and forth between the two.
"Rodney?" he asked pointedly, putting his hands on his hips. Behind him, Ronon had found a seat by another console and was leaning back in it casually, watching the discussion. He wasn't much for working out things like this. He had said himself long ago, that if you needed someone to be shot, he'd be there with the guns and the know-how, but managing heavy tactical or scientific information was not his specialty. Sheppard swore he could almost see the Satedan's eyes glaze over as Rodney spoke again.
"Look, according to Optimus, when Cybertron fell, everyone scattered searching for the Allspark. He says that over time, lines of communication fractured as well, which is why it's taking so long for everyone to answer the message he sent after Mission City. It could be this signal is from another group of Decepticons, one that's been out of touch for a very long time." Sheppard felt an uncomfortable feeling form in his gut. This certainly didn't sound good.
"Anyone we need to be worried about?" Sheppard wasn't quite as sure as Rodney was about this stroke of luck. Using a very old encryption was just asking for someone to listen in, presuming your enemy already knew how to break it. McKay did have a point that maybe whoever sent it never got the newer encryption, but something still felt off...
"Well, like he said, they've been out of touch for a while, so who knows what's been going on…" Rodney admitted, his sentence not exactly ending so much as trailing off, leaving an opening for dark thoughts to creep in. Sheppard shook his head.
"If Megatron is about to get a bunch of heavy-duty reinforcements, we need to at the very least find out who they are. With the new restrictions from the GDP, and this whole 'going public' thing to worry about, the last thing we need is to get a fresh mess of bad guys on our doorstep looking for their boss." he said, testing his argument aloud while eyeing the far side of the room, which led to a small walkway, beyond which was his office, a glass-walled room with a communications system he was itching to use.
"If there has indeed been a Decepticon incursion in Pegasus, we need to confirm it." Teyla said, adding her own two cents to John's words, "They might've been able to ignore the Wraith, but the Decepticons have proven they can travel between galaxies...if that technology were to fall into Wraith hands…"
"What exactly are you saying?" Ronon finally asked, apparently tired of having everything fly over his head. John felt torn between grimacing and smiling.
"I think we just found our reason." he said, finally allowing a grin to tug at the corners of his mouth, adding under his breath. "Pegasus, here we come."
-O-
"Absolutely not." said the grim-looking woman on the monitor. Woolsey felt the urge to try and reach through the display and strangle the old bitch. It was a common feeling in his line of work and he'd learned to repress it. It helped when he remembered that once upon a time, he'd been all too like her and the other faces on his screen, obsessed with policy and filled with a firm belief that Earth would always come first, no matter how nonsensical such an attitude proved to be. His time as head of Atlantis had rectified that, but unfortunately the same could not be said of the politicians he was speaking to.
"Secretary Schreck, I realize that it is quite an abrupt request-" he began, but the woman, who served as the present German representative on the AOA's governing council, was having none of it.
"Abrupt indeed, suspiciously so." she stated, "No sooner do we agree to this far-fetched idea of public disclosure and all that such a process entails, which includes reducing Earth's galactic involvement, but a new threat appears, suddenly and out of nowhere, demanding that we commit resources to investigate."
"I concur." stated Secretary Yaozu, the Chinese representative, "This is awfully convenient." He had been among the strongest supporters of the disclosure agreement, unsurprising since China had always chafed under the need to keep the Stargate secret. Of course, Woolsey knew that it was only due to political inexperience that he'd gotten the man's vote. He still thought there was some way China could turn the disclosure to its advantage, which was why his country had opposed the SGC's secrecy in the first place. Woolsey was onto him though, and if all went well, it would stay that way.
"Believe me, my first thoughts were the same, but the data is irrefutable. Much as I may wish to set this aside and focus on the tasks ahead, we cannot ignore the fact that all our plans may be laid to waste because we forgot to check the back door."
"I am not opposed to the idea of an intelligence gathering mission." stated Gildo Benassi, the Italian of the group, "Certainly it cannot hurt to know precisely what, if anything, is going on back in Pegasus. Besides, I feel that we have little to fear. The Decepticons, while they are indeed a sophisticated threat, are nowhere near our technological prowess. If they engage the Wraith, as you suggest, I feel we might simply let them fight it out, at no cost to ourselves."
Again, the urge to throttle his colleague rose in Woolsey, if only for the sheer presumption and arrogance present in his statement. He'd stated several times throughout the meeting that at virtually nothing was known about the Decepticons' objective in Pegasus. As for their strength, that was another bit of icing on the big cakc of stupid. The Decepticons, despite everything Optimus had told Earth and what they had seen in combat, remained an unknown quantity. It was easy to gather intelligence on forces like the fractured Jaffa splinter kingdoms and the Lucian Alliance, given that their members were all human, or at least humanoid. The Decepticons were totally alien, and moved outside the normal circles of Milky Way society, hiding in the cracks like bed bugs waiting to come out and bite.
Woolsey sighed. The only mercy was that Galloway, little pissant that he was, was absent. If he hadn't been, Woolsey would've feared for his self-control. He often did when it came to renewing 'the Pegasus Argument', as it had become known in the AOA. Suddenly, an idea struck him.
"I understand that the majority feeling is that a return to Pegasus, whatever the reason, is simply too costly. I realize that you believe it risks putting us in violation of the lines we drew when formulating the recent agreement made regarding the eventual signing of the Galactic Defense Pact." he stated, giving a firm look to each of the small video windows in turn, "I understand you think that whatever possible gains we may find may not justify the costs of another expedition." On the screen, his fellows looked on with smug faces, enjoying his apparent capitulation. But Woolsey hadn't survived this long, and come so far without his own triumphs. "However, I would like to remind everyone of the costs that have been incurred because this committee's predecessors decided that such an isolationist non-intervention approach was the best course of action. The decision to let the Goa'uld simply destroy themselves while we watched from the sidelines was what precipitated the rise of threats such as Apophis, Anubis and Ba'al, individuals that in hindsight, we could have eliminated before they became such threats. The same rings true with the Lucian Alliance and its Warlords." The smug looks slowly began to fade at the reminder, yet Woolsey could see they had not yet changed their minds. But he wasn't done yet. "Then there was the issue with the Wraith. While it may have been a matter of resources early on, we allowed the Wraith to run free even after we had established an efficient bridge to Pegasus. Need I remind you that in the last days of Atlantis' presence in Pegasus, we went so far as to align ourselves with a force of Hives that we believed could essentially eliminate the problem for us. Yet here we sit, with the leader of that alliance in stasis beneath me, and very little idea if that same collective of Hives even still exists. That we have allowed our intelligence on the current state of a galaxy whose fate we sealed with the death of that first Queen to reach such pitiful levels is criminal, and worse, foolish in the extreme."
"You criticize a decision you yourself supported, Woolsey." Schreck pointed out coldly, but Woolsey was ready.
"I do not. What I question is why we haven't kept pace with the effects of that decision. Or rather, why we let it get that far. It baffles me that we could simply assume that we could ignore the Wraith Civil War and assume it would never affect us. Am I the only one who remember the original Weir Report?" The reference obviously made many of his colleagues uncomfortable, which pleased Woolsey. He needed to rustle them, make them worried about Pegasus. If he could get them to just the right state of worry and uncertainty, it would all be over.
The report in question of course was a document formulated by Elizabeth Weir, the original head of the Atlantis Expedition. In it she had postulated a series of outcomes to the Wraith Civil War based on what was known of the major political powers in Pegasus and the Milky Way, not to mention the strength of their enemy. The most likely conclusion according to her data had been that once the Wraith had thinned their own population through infighting to a proper extent, they would reorganize, potentially reasserting themselves over the peoples of Pegasus, who by then would've been decimated because of the war, to the point that the gross galactic population would be so low that it would only sustain the Wraith for a few more generations.
As a direct response to this near loss of their food supply, Weir had suggested the Wraith would sink to making the enormous sacrifice of launching a long-term journey to the Milky Way, where upon their arrival, they could potentially exploit the discord and division already present to hide among the various human civilizations, all the while rebuilding their strength. It would be like the original Wraith-Lantean war all over again, with Earth and its allies too occupied by internal disputes to notice the threat growing in the cracks between their borders. Of course, this was not including factions such as the Lucian Alliance, surviving Goa'uld warlords and any other new civilizations making their appearances. Their arrival on the scene had often had Woolsey thinking back to that report, which in itself had seemed unlikely. After all, at the time of its creation, the galaxy had been pulling together after the fall of the System Lords. Chaos had been waning, with threats like the Lucian Alliance seeming of little concern. However, in this post-Ori galaxy, the report's predictions seemed all too possible, and he knew that by mentioning it, he was prompting his opponents to think along similar lines. He waited for the implications of his statement to reach fruition in the minds of the men and women before him, then continued.
"We have been away too long, left too much to chance. Presuming that the Wraith issue would be resolved with Atlantis on Earth was naive. Every time the Wraith have set their sights on the Milky Way, they have come closer and closer to achieving it; The original alliance with Michael's Hive under Dr. Weir, followed by the attack on Midway, and finally the Superhive which required Atlantis to make its transition to Earth. The last incursion all but brought about the formation of this Alliance, bringing us to where we sit today."
"You make a good argument, Richard." Schreck said, looking partly uneasy, though not enough to suggest she was completely convinced, "However, I feel we have enough problems here at home to deal with. We should put our own house in order before dealing with outside issues." There were still a few grunts or words of consent, so Wooley decided to pull out all the stops. He would not allow complacency and arrogance to win the day, not while he still had a voice.
"Before you make your votes, there is one last issue I would like to remind you of." he said, clearing his throat, "In the past decade and a half of Stargate operations, the reactions of those placed to oversee offworld policy largely inconsistent. When Doctor Daniel Jackson returned through the Quantum Mirror found on P3R-233 and warned us that an invasion was imminent, the American administration buried its head in the sand and nearly cost us the planet. Years later, when the Ori were on the march, it took a similar situation to call this council to arms. I beg you not to dismiss this signal as an isolated case, and not to wait for a traveller from some potential future where Megatron rules Earth to be what finally moves us to act. If we cannot respond to crises with alacrity and efficiency, what possible confidence can our allies place in us when it comes to something like Galactic Defense Pact?"
This was the tipping point, he could see it in their eyes. The negotiations for the Galactic Defense Pact had brought out much of the ill-feeling Earth had earned from its allies, and while an agreement had been reached, much of the Council was still smarting over the comments made by various other potential signatories about Earth's habit of waiting till the last second, when the galaxy was on fire and whole civilizations lay in ruins, to intervene and 'save the day'. It was part of what had prompted the devisement of Earth's policy of reduced interference. As Woolsey had explained to Sheppard, the Galaxy needed to learn to be strong, and stop relying on Earth for everything. At the same time though, Woolsey also felt Earth needed to stop putting things off until they reached a point where they alone could solve the issues.
"To conclude, I propose we think of this not as further expenditure, but a chance to demonstrate that Earth can change and adapt. If we take the initiative to resolve this issue before it becomes a true problem, it will win us some extra clout to wield when it comes time to continue negotiations." Woolsey gave a small smile, "After all, given we won't be initiating phase one of the disclosure preparations for at least a year and a half, how can we continue to justify the upkeep costs of such a large body as the Alliance when it's not doing anything beyond putting out brushfires?"
That did it. Woolsey could almost see it as the delegates slid into line with him. Not all of them of course, but more than enough to win a majority. He wanted to laugh, partly with satisfaction, and partly with disdain. The last statement of his conclusion had been the cherry on the cake. Though the present plans for future disclosure had barely reached beyond talks about meetings about committees, one thing everyone was certain of was that to ensure the prevention of a world-wide panic, the defensive forces of Earth would need to modernize and expand themselves considerably, to show the public when the time came that Earth was not unprepared, and could hold its own without having to rely on luck and desperate last-second plans as it had in the past. Until the time came for that process to begin though, the Alliance as it was could not continue to justify its scale, not when it was being told to reduce its activities to such an extent.
It was something else that he had been worrying about when Sheppard had approached him with the information about the Decepticon signal. Woolsey knew that Galloway and those like him would demand for a cut in expenditure, no matter how stupid or short-sighted such an action actually was. The signal was an opportunity to potentially ensure the Alliance would not be prematurely down-sized, which was particularly important not just for Earth, but Pegasus too. If the signal proved to be the antecedent to a genuine threat, even if the resulting situation was small, he could use it to prop up his prior arguments and renew efforts to stabilize Pegasus...presuming there was anything left to stabilize.
"Very well." Schreck said, lips still pursed, "You have made your case, Richard."
"The council has heard your proposal to investigate the source of this new signal. Is there a second who will support this?" Benassi asked.
"I second the motion." said Esteban Mokihana, the representative for Portugal.
"Then the motion is carried." Benassi said. Immediately an electronic ballot appeared in Woolsey's inbox.
"Place your votes, ladies and gentlemen." Benassi said. Woolsey sent in his response, then watched as the others did the same. The electronic ballot counter popped up in the corner of the screen, and Woolsey watched with bated breath as the numbers climbed. Finally they tapered off at seventeen in support and four in opposition, with two abstentions. Woolsey was surprised to see that Schreck had cast her vote for him. Perhaps he had misjudged her.
"All votes are in. At a final tally of seventeen yeas and four nays with China and Brazil abstaining, this council authorizes the Alliance to undertake reconnaissance operations to the Pegasus Galaxy to verify the authenticity, source and purpose of the Decepticon signal. Once these are known, the Alliance is authorized to take action to prevent Megatron, or indeed the Wraith, from acquiring any tactical advantage that might be gained from the signal's source." Benassi said, his voice a monotone. Woolsey wanted to sigh with relief, but dared not break his composure.
"Inform Colonel Sheppard he has finally got his wish." Schreck said.
"Since there is no other business, then this emergency session is adjourned. Thank you all for coming." Benassi said, acting as the meeting's coordinator. He nodded to Woolsey, then switched off his feed. One by one, the little video windows winked out. Woolsey looked up from the monitor to where John Sheppard had sat quietly in the corner of the room. As the last window closed, Sheppard grunted.
"Well, that only took seven years." he said sardonically. Woolsey gave him a grimace of empathy. The Colonel was unmoved.
"So this...blank check, let's call it, only lasts until we resolve the Decepticon situation?" he continued.
"It's a start at least. If we can acquire more information about the state of Pegasus under the guise of this mission, potentially we could acquire more leverage to restore operations there to a larger scale."
"Of course they'll never agree to sending Atlantis back there." John muttered. Woolsey rolled his eyes.
"Given that Dr. McKay still hasn't figured out a means to launch the city without tripping every alarm in the Pacific Rim, I feel that's a moot point. Besides, Atlantis was built here. It's needed here."
"It's needed there too." Sheppard argued.
"I'd take the win, Colonel. I can only hope it's a sign of change." Woolsey replied. John grunted, then rose from his chair as his advocate did the same.
"So, now what?" he asked, "We could send a team to the Alpha Site to start trying for a better pinpoint on the signal's source. So far, we've only got authoritative proof that it's in Pegasus' neighborhood, but a galaxy is a big place to search."
"A good start definitely, but I'd like to propose another idea." Woolsey said, undoing his tie a little. It had been cinched up too tightly during the meeting, which meant that it had been adding to his irritation the whole time.
"Really?" Sheppard asked, curious given that Woolsey rarely took part in planning missions like this. The former lawyer nodded, smirking.
"At present, Earth has eight ships. The Sun Tzu is occupied helping the Republic of Origin mop up the last pockets of Ori worshippers still present in their galaxy. The Aeneid and the General Hammond are also have prior engagements, what with their deep-range survey missions to prepare for. The Apollo and Eos are still touring the Milky Way on missions of their own. And of course the Daedalus is out there hunting the Autobot command ship, the Ark, on information from Optimus."
"Which leave the Odyssey and the Marathon, yes. Where is this going?" Sheppard asked, getting impatient.
"Sending a team to the Alpha Site to better triangulate the source of the Decepticon signal is a good start, but given the lack of information, I feel it'd be a good idea to bring some heavy backup. After all, we know from Optimus that while both sides can move between planets and even solar systems at will, they still prefer to use ships, which are faster. In fact they have to use them when it comes to inter-galactic travel. It's simply too efficient not to."
"So you're suggesting the Decepticons might have ships?"
"It makes sense. A ship, or god-forbid, a fleet full of reinforcements seems like something worth alerting Megatron about in the way they are right now." Woolsey said, face suddenly grim. The expression spread to John as he realized what something like that could mean.
In truth, it was a complicated deduction. Like all Cybertronian technology, their ships required Energon to function. At present, it was presumed that both sides of the conflict currently residing in the Milky Way were running low on the vital substance. This was a mutual problem because not only was Energon the equivalent of gasoline for Cybertronians, it was also, roughly speaking, their water supply. John had spoken with Optimus about it in detail. Apparently Cybertronians could live without Energon for long periods, relying on things like solar energy, fossil fuels, essentially anything that could produce electricity, to survive. In the end though, they all needed it. Once, massive natural wellsprings of it had existed on Cybertron, so productive they had allowed for the existence of many offworld colonies. When the war had started, those wellsprings became like oases in desert warfare. Now, here at the far end of the known universe, both sides had run low, so low in fact that a return trip might actually be impossible.
This was because the powerful Space Bridge Drive technology used by all Cybertronian craft needed Energon proportionate to the distance they were travelling to function. A Space Bridge Drive could put even Asgard hyperdrives to shame, with only the prototype Ancient Wormhole Drive that had brought Atlantis to Earth coming close in terms of speed and sophistication. Yet all that meant nothing when there wasn't enough fuel.
Optimus had ordered Ratchet to start rationing the Autobot's remaining supply of Energon years ago. Despite the Autobot medic's best efforts though, the storage canisters he'd built were always teetering on the brink of depletion. Of course every battle had provided an opportunity to replenish the dwindling stores using leftovers siphoned from the fallen 'Cons and their equipment. It was probably only Megatron's hate and persistence that had kept the Autobots alive this long. But even with these regular infusions, the precious substance remained a rare commodity.
All of this tied back the subject of Megatron due to the fact in all likelihood, he was facing the same scenario. The ships that brought his troops to attack worlds aligned with Earth were transports; small, virtually unarmed and incapable of intergalactic travel because to make a long story short, their gas tanks weren't big enough . They would arrive, drop their cargos of mayhem and death, then flee, their unique transportation system leaving no means to properly track them, unlike conventional hyperdrives. That Megatron had yet to simply try bombing planets from orbit was a good sign that he probably couldn't. The first possible reason for this was that he lacked any ships beyond the transports, which according to Optimus he had likely salvaged from the Decepticon counterpart to the Ark, the Nemesis. The second was that he had the ships, but his reserves had dwindled to where he could only power the transports.
If Megatron were to get ahold of some reinforcements which included actual Decepticon warships, life in the Milky Way would become much, much harder. Even if he could only field a few by the time they'd made the jump to the Milky Way, it would allow him to conduct a blitzkrieg against Earth and her allies that would leave whole planets in smoking ruin. It didn't matter that it would probably take only one of Earth's BC-304s to destroy whatever ships Megatron might send. By the time they arrived, the damage would be done, and the ships would have departed via their untraceable FTL system.
John nodded gloomily. In his mind's eye, he remembered a hologram Optimus had shown him the day the Alliance had been formed depicting the ruins of a world that had tried to first ally with, and then double-cross the Decepticons. It had not been a cheery sight.
"The last thing we need is for Megatron to get new ways to light fires across the Milky Way." he said.
"Agreed. Which is why I insist you take the Odyssey for support." Woolsey said. John nodded again to himself before furrowing his brow.
"Why the Odyssey?" he asked, "Wouldn't the Marathon-" Woolsey cut him off.
"The Marathon is currently Earth's most powerful ship, and one of a kind. You're less likely to ruffle political feathers by taking the Odyssey. Besides, the Odyssey should be more than enough to complete the scouting part of the mission. If it turns out you need more, you'll be equipped with a solid argument for calling in reinforcements."
John nodded, albeit reluctantly. He hated playing politics, but Woolsey had a fair point. There was no point in overreacting to the situation by bringing two ships, one of which was Earth's first genuine Destroyer-class vessel, when one would do. Still, it would've made him feel better.
Until the construction of the Eos, Earth's sole line of defense had consisted of BC-304s, battlecruisers to be less specific. The completion of that vessel had spelled the dawn of a new age for Earth's space navy, one where variety and combined arms were king. The Eos had been Earth's first dedicated carrier. The Aeneid had been the second, to be followed by the Iliad, whose construction had been temporarily suspended in favor of the now soon-to-be-finished Atlas and already-completed the Marathon, both of which could take on a full Wraith battle group single-handedly.
The Odyssey would do, but still, Sheppard would've felt a lot safer knowing that the ship he was riding in on could beat down a force equivalent to the one that had nearly destroyed Atlantis during his first year in Pegasus without the need for outside support. He shrugged. At least with the Odyssey he got Colonel Mitchell. One quarter of the galaxy-saving team that had been SG-1 had to count for something, even if Mitchell had only led that team for half as long as General O'Neill.
"I have some papers to fill out." Woolsey said, patting him on the back, "Let me know when you've chosen who you're going to bring." John smiled.
"Thanks, but I've got a pretty good idea of who's coming already." he chuckled.
o
A/N: Thanks everyone for sticking with me so far! I'm a bit iffy about the quality of this chapter, as I'm trying to avoid sinking into the narrative swamp whenever I can. I realize there's a couple lore-dumps, and that's something I try to avoid, but for now it's the best I can do. For now, read, review, and comment! :)