Chapter Eight: Avalon
Tuesday, 13th July 1999.
Harry stood alone in his room, contemplating all he'd learned in the past few months. Something that had begun as a way to get away from the baying crowds and impossible wants and needs of the many, now offered to deliver the slimmest possibility of returning something he'd believed irretrievably lost.
Hermione had tried to talk to him during the past week, but he'd basically shut down as his mind processed what this change in his reality could truly mean. Even Dobby had tried three times to get him to come out, but he had politely sent him on his way as well. He'd been so caught up that he had ignored the beeping from the device on his desk for hours, but now the incessant noise was digging into his mind.
He walked away from the window, the mind-numbing rumble of London outside helping him to let his mind clear and go wherever it needed to. He picked up the rabid little device Merlin had fashioned for him months ago now and noted the blinking blue light in the upper corner.
He looked up and let his eyes wash over the room, what had once been, and perhaps could again be, Sirius' room. He swallowed heavily, his throat still slightly choked up at the possibility, despite his desire not to get his hopes up. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he focused on the cavern and apparated.
The voices in front of him stopped and he opened his eyes to see Hermione rushing towards him, the impact of her body against his own doing more to shift him back to reality than anything else.
"I missed you. Please don't lock yourself away like that again." She whispered into his ear and Harry couldn't help but feel a little bad at separating himself from them all for the past few days.
"Sorry," he replied, pulling back and looking at her face.
"Don't be, you're allowed to have feelings, Harry. Just don't shut us out when it happens. And I'll try to do the same." She blushed and Harry recalled the argument they'd had over the mirror device, what seemed like so long ago now.
"Deal," he whispered back, before looking up and smiling at the others by the plinth. "So, what did I miss?"
"Not much. Some of us only got here a few minutes ago, too." Neville replied, waving softly.
Harry and Hermione walked over, the girl still wrapped about his left arm. "How are your parents?" He asked the boy, knowing he had spent most of the past week at their side in St Mungo's.
"The same. The healers have been trying the new tincture for a few days now, but so far it doesn't seem to have done much."
"You seem a lot brighter than that news would suggest," Harry noted, seeing the smile on Neville's face.
"Until now, I've been limited to what we know about magic and potions to try and reverse what happened to them. Now, there is a whole galaxy of possible solutions waiting out there. It might take me years, but it has already been years. A few more won't matter if it means I get them back."
"You're an enigma, Neville Longbottom," Luna stated, drawing their eyes and a few light chuckles.
"Shall we continue?" Merlin interrupted, looking at the four of them, each nodding in turn. "Very well. As I suspected, the deep dive on their dialling computer will take a lot longer. But so far it's a solid effort, if very flawed. I don't think the world is in immediate danger, however, I have dedicated a significant portion of the system's resources to analysing and updating the code. We'll have to upload it at some point, but I hope the scanner will work for that as well without our needing to go back in. I have already attempted to upload a blocker that prevents them from circumventing an error signal and dialling regardless."
"Good," Hermione said solidly, tightening her grip on Harry.
"As for the state of the galaxy at large, it seems the records were right. I detect no trace of a society of Alteran or Lantean origin active anywhere I managed to ping. It seems they are indeed extinct. I do detect minute traces of Nox activity and the Asgard seem to be slightly active in Avalon."
"Is that unusual?" Luna asked.
"Somewhat. They do not originate in this galaxy, much like the Altera, however, the Altera made it their home, while the Asgard simply visit from time to time. Their home is in the Ida galaxy, beyond my range to dial with a remote device."
"Something to put on the to-do list then," Neville stated.
"As for the galaxy itself, there is a dominant spacefaring civilization. They are called the Goa'uld, the parasitic race Ra belongs to. They have spread humans to all corners of the galaxy as slaves and created a new race to serve as their soldiers that they call the Jaffa. It seems the humans of Earth have been clashing with them for a few years now, beginning when they opened the gate in 1996 and killed Ra."
"Wow, they killed the guy the Lanteans refused to engage?" Neville asked.
"When the Lanteans returned, they were fleeing a war of attrition as it was. They were also grossly under-equipped for such a fight having developed their stance of non-interference. The humans, on the other hand, detonated a thermonuclear explosive device in Ra's face. Resilient as the goa'uld may be, nothing mortal is surviving that."
Hermione whistled at the idea. "Wow, indeed. I assume this information is from the human computers?"
"Yes. An advantage of their military nature, they document every time they step through the Astria Porta in great detail, though I am having trouble sorting the order. Each report does contain the date, but they are sorted in their file system by an odd set of six characters which seem to be randomly chosen. Still, It has been most helpful in making sense of the scan data I managed to gather from the connections though."
"So these goa'uld rule the galaxy. What are the Nox and Asgard stances on them?" Harry asked.
"The Asgard are in a state of cold war with them. They outmatch the goa'uld in any engagement, impressive given how far they've come in such a short time. But they seem preoccupied. The reports from the mountain indicate they have an enemy in their home galaxy that demands most of their attention.
"The Nox… are still pacifists. The one encounter I have detail of, the human team was killed trying to take one of the Goa'uld System Lords captive. The Nox revived both sides and threw them off their planet. They buried their gate and have only had contact with Earth once since. As for the Furlings, there is no sign of them anywhere. I am still sifting through the mission reports, but for now, no trace."
"Given the mountain is filled with military personnel, can we assume that Earth is at war with these goa'uld?" Hermione asked.
"That is a sound assessment. The 'ship' you encountered in the desert base is called the X-301. It is a mixture of two damaged goa'uld fighters with human technology. The fighters were recovered from two capital ships the Goa'uld attempted to attack Earth with in 1998. So, yes, I would consider the planet at war with these aggressors."
"I suppose that's to be expected when we nuked one of them." Harry joked.
"This attack also seems to be the source of the Porta in a decaying orbit around the planet. My suggestion at this point is we need aid. You're very capable individuals, but four and a computer against a galactic empire of violent parasites intent on subjugation is a recipe for disaster."
"The Asgard?" Luna asked.
"Seems sound," Hermione added. "From what you've uncovered, they seem to be the only active former allies of the Altera willing to act against the goa'uld. And we have something that might interest them if that body is still in stasis."
"You don't think the Lanteans handed it over during their alliance?" Neville asked.
"I cannot reach the facility where it would be kept to ascertain either way. You would have to go there and link me in, similar to how we connected with Fundamenta. There were very few Lantean settlements on Earth, so I will do what I can to pinpoint their locations and find out if they're accessible." Merlin finished.
"How do we contact the Asgard? If they live in another galaxy, we can't simply dial them up and visit. Not without proper access to the porta." Luna questioned.
"While Fundamenta's long-range scanners are gone, the communications array was still mostly functional. I can try to transmit a signal to them and hope they are within range and come to investigate. They have interacted with the humans in the past few years, so it should draw their attention if an Alteran signal came from this planet."
"What should we say?" Hermione asked.
All five became silent for several moments as they considered their options. They couldn't offer up the body immediately, not when they were unsure if it was even there. Perhaps shared knowledge could be adequate, depending on what the Lanteans had shared with their allies during the time of the Alliance.
"All we really have to offer right now is the knowledge of the archives," Luna spoke up.
"Do we think that will really be enough for them to aid us?" Hermione asked once more.
"Right now, I don't see what other options we have," Neville answered.
Merlin nodded and shimmered away, leaving the four standing in silence as they considered the new bounds of their opened universe. And the imminent danger that the entire world was unknowingly facing at every moment.
"If we do go out into the galaxy, what will we do if we encounter these goa'uld?" Harry asked the others after several minutes of silence.
"Hope we keep getting lucky?" Neville replied uneasily.
ϟ
Friday, 23rd July 1999.
Hermione spent the next several days burying herself in the information they were pulling out of the Earth bases to try and get to grips with what was going on out there. The chair platform in Fundamenta allowed her near-direct access to the information, slow as their acquisition of it may be, as she cross-referenced the human and Lantean databases over and over. Trying to find links that might give them a clue or an advantage.
Every few hours she would sit up and allow her mind to rest and absorb the information, but she couldn't help glancing at the empty ring platform in the far corner. Neville and Luna had been gone for days as well, intent on checking the former settlements for anything that could further their goals, provide additional negotiating material, and ascertain if there were any more supplies they could use within.
She had been staring at the immobile metal ring in the dull grey floor for almost half an hour when Merlin's hologram appeared in front of her, startling her from her reverie.
"Miss Granger. I have received a reply from the Asgard."
She gave a sigh of relief as they had begun to doubt if the alien race would reply at all. "That's good news. What did they say?"
"They are most curious about the message, and have requested we set a place and time for a face to face meeting."
Hermione made to answer but was distracted as the rings activated and her eye was drawn to the glowing energy wave as it swept down the centre, leaving Harry in its wake. "Harry! You're back."
"I shouldn't have gone in the first place. I don't know what I hoped to find there." He grumbled as he walked over to the chair. "All I did was subject myself to four days of Ministry nonsense."
She gave him a soft smile and took his hand. "It's understandable, Harry. You just found out a long lost family member might be alive and well, lost somewhere out there and in need of help. It's natural for you to want to do something about it, instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to fix the problem. It's why we got in so much trouble back at Hogwarts."
"I know, and I'm sorry too. I've been forgetting what such news might mean to you as well."
"To me? I mean, I am fond of Sirius too, Harry. But only because of what he means to you."
"That's not what I meant. Here I am moaning over the fact I can't confirm if he's there or not while your parents are so close yet out of reach."
She stood and pulled Harry into a firm hug and tucked her face into his shoulder. "It's not as bad as it used to be. You don't have to walk on eggshells around me Harry."
The pair stood in their embrace for a moment, savouring the contact. Hermione had considered her feelings since the trip to Vegas, but she was still not ready to speak with Harry about it all. Not when she still couldn't figure out what her own mind was in the whole thing.
"Merlin says the Asgard have replied. They want to arrange a meeting somewhere."
"Well, here is as good as anywhere I guess. It's private and secure."
Merlin chimed in. "The request was for a location that was not on Earth. Apparently, the Asgard are limited in their ability to monitor and visit Earth at present. The location would need to be off-world somewhere."
Harry and Hermione pulled apart and looked at the hologram. "You mean, we would need to go through the stargate?" Hermione asked, her mind immediately going to the word the military used for the device after digging through the many base reports for hours at a time.
"Correct. I can offer potential options for suitable locations."
Hermione looked to Harry who shrugged his uncertainty as he asked, "what do you think?"
She considered what she now knew about the galaxy at large and began to smile as her mind came on a uniquely appropriate option. "What about Consortium? It's a place of historical significance to both races. It would lend a little extra credence to our claims."
"This would likely be achievable. I can inform them immediately. When would you like to make the journey?"
Hermione glanced up at Harry again as he looked about thoughtfully. She considered their options before the most obvious choice became clear. "Next Saturday."
Harry turned to her and she smiled cheekily. "Why then?"
She perched on her toes and whispered directly into his ear. "It's your birthday."
As she pulled back she noticed the shock on his face as he looked down at his watch, clearly checking the date on it and grinning like a loon. "That would be so cool."
"It's settled then. We'll have to make a trip back to America, but I'd say it will be worth it."
"I shall send the message." Merlin offered, disappearing and leaving the two alone once more.
"Hermione… I don't know what to say."
She leant in once more and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before pulling away, a light blush on her face. "You don't need to say anything Harry. Just seeing how happy it makes you makes it worthwhile."
ϟ
Saturday, 31st July 1999.
Harry was beyond excited as he tucked the cloak into the inner pocket of his jacket, the magical item having hidden them once more from the much more thorough patrol that had just passed through the hangar. As far as birthday presents went, stepping through the Astria Porta onto an alien world was pretty high up there. Especially for someone who had been on precious few holidays to exotic locations as a child. While he'd visited a couple of the amazing places Hermione and Luna had told him about in the past year, an entirely different planet was a whole new level of incredible.
Neville and Luna had beaten them to the hotel in Las Vegas, having been in the Yucatan already exploring the former settlement in that location when they sent them the message. Both were just as excited as Harry and Hermione at the prospect of the journey. Especially given the lack of progress at the mostly powerless settlements.
Now they were back here in the nearly empty hangar, as Hermione once more removed the lid off the large crate. Harry pulled his wand and took over levitation as the girl stepped forward and levitated the plate off the Porta as well, sticking it to the underside of the lid. Luna leant in and clipped the remote dialer to the surface of the device and pressed the button to activate it.
They all collectively held their breath as the Porta registered the connection, the upper chevrons coming to life in order as each of the seven symbols for their destination were locked in. From the inner edges of the ring, a bright white glow spread, stretching inwards as it filled the internal space, a vibrating metallic hum accompanying the smoky glow as the event horizon formed inside the opening. The harsh white gave way to shimmering silvery-blue that resembled the surface of a pool, reinforced by the fact the Astria Porta was laid on its back.
"That is incredible," Hermione murmured as she reached out and prodded the surface, the soft watery hum of the event horizon like listening to music underwater. "A wormhole leading to another world."
"Dibs!" Neville called, as he shuffled back away from the crate at the point where the device would normally be placed to stand upright. Without warning he ran towards the crate and leapt over the wooden edge, shouting as he dove into the surface of the wormhole. "Woohoo!"
Harry turned to look at the girls who were staring after their friend with disbelief. "Ladies first, well second now, I guess."
Hermione looked to him and glanced at the lid hovering above. "Go on, Luna." She offered, waving her wand several times at the lid and Harry felt the resistance in his arm disappear. "It will close after we all go through. Probably don't want to leave it wide open while we're gone."
Harry nodded as Luna climbed up the side of the crate, picked up the dialer and walked carefully along the circular device until she was oriented correctly. "See you in a minute."
With a hop, she belly-flopped into the event horizon, arms and legs spread wide in a star shape, and disappeared as well. Harry stepped closer to the box and helped Hermione climb into place, also climbing up beside her. "You next."
The two friends smiled at one another before Hermione nodded, and let her body fall backwards, maintaining eye contact with Harry as gravity pulled her backwards through the shimmering pool. Harry smiled widely as he looked at the giant circle and, with a deep breath, jumped through the water-like surface only to find himself completely surrounded by actual cold churning water.
He spun around in the water, holding his breath as he searched for his friends, a similar event from years before forcing itself to the forefront of his mind. Harry paused and tapped his face with his wand, conjuring a bubblehead charm over his face and allowing him to breathe in the roiling water. He looked down and noted the light from the still active Porta below him, sinking into the depths, until it clipped something solid and tipped end over end as the wormhole shut off and darkness covered its retreat.
Harry's eyes followed the mass it had hit and realized there was a large wall of rock over to his left. Thankfully the sinking Porta had allowed him to right himself in the water and if gravity pulled it down, the opposite way was likely to be the surface. At least he hoped there was a surface.
He kicked his legs and swiped at the fluid with his arms struggling upward with every stroke, the mass of water buffeting him back and forth as it churned against the nearby rock wall. His muscles began to burn as he swam and still the surface did not seem to be within sight. He was beginning to lose hope that there even was one when he caught sight of several dark shapes moving in the water ahead of him.
As he approached the shapes became clear. They were legs, kicking in the water keeping their owners above the dark surface. Harry weaved between them and breached the water with a splash, the three voices coming in at once as the four tread water.
He took several deep thick breaths of the alien air and cast his eyes around the darkness above the surface. As far as the eye could see there was water stretching to the horizon, except behind, there was only rock. His eyes swept up the cliff face and he soon noticed the precarious position of the giant stone castle above them. He was glad the weather was mostly still as the structure looked about ready to tip over the edge at any moment and pull them back under with it.
"Not what I was expecting," he muttered, facing the others.
"You're telling me, my whole front is killing me." Luna groaned, her face looking far redder than it had in the hanger.
"You did choose to belly flop into the unknown," Hermione noted.
"If the Astria Porta was still in there," she flicked her head upwards at the overhanging building, "it would have looked glorious," Luna replied, sticking out her tongue.
"What do we do now?" Neville asked.
"I don't know, we never expected this. The Porta was free-falling into the depths when I came out. Who knows how deep this section is."
"I think that it was laying on the cliff face there, but our arrival shook it loose. When I came through it was only a few feet below the surface." Neville explained.
"I thought Merlin said they were supposed to warn you of something like this?" Hermione growled.
"He said that the Astria Porta sends a signal to the dialer to warn you. But our dialer is sort of a basic model."
Harry was happy to let them talk as he considered what to do. The water was pretty cold, but no worse than the Black Lake or the air around Fundamenta had been. He was more concerned by the looming structure above. He assumed it was the Consortium, and had been where the device had been stationed safely for many years. Evidently, time and nature had taken their toll in the Alliance's absence, given the number of holes he could see in its underside.
As Harry went to speak, all four of them were surrounded by a bright white light and suddenly Harry felt his feet supporting his weight for a moment before their unusual kicking position and slippery state let them fall out from under him once more as gravity took over. The four wet friends found themselves on the floor of a long room with outwardly sloped coloured walls interspersed with inward leaning archways of horizontally segmented grey plates.
At one end was an empty chair that looked similar in design to the arches. Harry swung his face to look at the far end of the room and his breath caught. There was a giant floor to ceiling window that looked out onto a purplish-blue orb hanging in a dark void dotted with stars.
"Wow." He said as he stood, staring out into space beyond. "Would you look at that?"
The others picked themselves up and stepped up beside him, staring out over what Harry assumed must have been the planet on which the Consortium was built.
"You don't say," Hermione added and Harry turned to look at her face, smiling at the bright look of fascination she wore.
He pulled his wand from his sleeve and cast a hot air charm from the tip of his wand, passing it over his body and trying to dry his soaked clothes and hair as he glanced about the beautiful room. "Where do you think we…"
He drifted off as another bright light appeared in the chair at the far end of the room and a small grey figure appeared. Translucent blue and green veins were visible under the creature's pale skin. It had slender arms and legs resting on the side of the chair, its thin torso led upward to a bulbous head with large black eyes watching them with interest.
"Greetings, I am Thor. Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet." The being greeted them in perfect Alteran, its small mouth barely moving.
Harry bowed slightly and replied. "Greetings, Thor. My name is Harry Potter, this is Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood."
"Harry…" Hermione whispered, "he looks like the reports of aliens from conspiracy theories back on Earth."
"Indeed we do, Hermione," Thor noted in English. "We have visited the Earth on many occasions."
"You speak English as well?" Neville asked.
"That is correct. As a matter of fact, I was recently on Earth assisting the SGC in their efforts to become a member of the Asgard Protected Planets Treaty. English is the native language of those running the SGC so we have learnt to speak it in order to ease the communication between our peoples."
"The SGC? The mountain base?" Luna asked, her own wand drawn and blowing her blonde hair back with a spray of hot air from its tip.
Thor looked at her curiously before he commented. "Yes. You know of them then, but do not interact?"
"To be honest, we're pretty new to all of this," Harry admitted. "Very new. Though we did visit the SGC recently ourselves. We did not attempt to interact with them at the time though."
"They mentioned nothing of such an intrusion, meaning you infiltrated their base completely undetected? That is most impressive." Thor replied and Harry tried his best to ignore the look he was certainly receiving from Hermione.
"Not terribly impressive. They mistook me for something called a Reetou."
Thor nodded. "You possess the power of invisibility then. Interesting."
Harry stepped closer to the seat and felt his wet socks squelch in his boots. "Er, I suppose we should thank you. I assume it was you who pulled us out of the ocean down there."
Thor nodded. "I only arrived a few moments ago. I was dispatched as representative for this meeting due to the fact I was already operating in this galaxy, and due to my familiarity with the humans of Earth. Your message demonstrated a grasp of the Alteran language we have not encountered in a very long time. Far beyond that of the humans of the SGC. When I arrived, I detected your presence not in the Gimli as expected, but in the water."
"Yeah, turns out dialling without a proper interface is a bad idea," Neville added. "We got a connection, but the Astria Porta was already in the water when we came through."
Thor leant forward slightly and his hands moved over a pair of smooth hemispherical stones on the arms of his chair. Another set of bright lights covered the group and a moment later, they were completely dry.
"Thank you," Hermione offered, smiling at the Asgard, "again."
"You are welcome. I have located the Astria Porta and clavis in the ocean and have beamed them aboard the ship. Though, the clavis appears damaged beyond reasonable repairs." Thor explained as he released the stones. "I have also recovered the entire structure of the Gimli, given the precarious state of its former foundations. It seems the ocean has changed the landscape a lot in the last five thousand years."
Hermione looked surprised. "The whole structure? You can do that?"
Thor turned his head slightly to look directly at her. "Indeed."
"Well, that's… cool," Harry added.
The being's small mouth seemed to twitch at the sides in something that might have been a smile as he continued to watch the quartet.
"I guess, we should get to why we're here," Hermione noted.
"Yes, your message was a surprise. Especially given the fact it originated from Earth. Where have your people been these past millennia? We have not detected any active Lantean settlements during our previous visits to that world."
"We're actually from a small concealed segment of Earth's population. We've been separate from the muggles… ah, normal humans for about the past four hundred years at least. Some even longer than that."
"Curious. And yet you almost exactly match our genetic records for the Lantean people. Our research did not reveal your existence on Earth."
"I guess that magic conceals us better than we thought," Luna noted.
"Magic?"
"Yes, what we were using to dry ourselves off. And how we 'become invisible'." Harry explained, pulling the cloak from his pocket and throwing it over his shoulders, leaving his head visible.
Thor touched one of the stones once more and a thin beam swept up and down Harry's body. "Incredible. My sensors detect nothing below the neck."
Harry smiled at the wide-eyed alien. "Cool."
"But I did detect a form of zero point energy inside the vessel before. Please," Thor paused, touching the left stone again. "If you will do something 'magic'."
Luna plucked her wand from her hair and conjured a bird in the still air of the ship, drawing a surprised look from Thor. The alien did manage to take a moment to shift the stones about, a dull light scanning the tiny creature as it flitted about the space before a second swipe of her wand vanished the bird once more.
"Our records show the Lanteans had abilities that tapped into the zero-point energy of the universe and allowed them to exert their will in unusual ways, but they tended to be unique to each individual, and each only had one or two at most. It appears those abilities have changed significantly over the millennia. My sensors only picked up the most minute trace of the energy, which might explain… You say your people are all hidden in this way?"
"Not all, but the areas in which they tend to congregate are concealed with similar magics." Luna chimed.
"What do you mean by matching your genetic records?" Hermione asked softly. "And research on Earth?"
Thor seemed to consider the question for a moment before he spoke. "We have long watched over the peoples of Earth since the last of the Lanteans moved on from this galaxy. Many of their kind chose to live out their lives with the primitive peoples of the planet and this allowed their genetics to enter into the human gene pool. We have monitored the spread of this blending in the hope it may one day lead to their return, or a similar race with whom we could once more interact."
"That's… humbling. Are there no other advanced races you interact with out there?"
"Not in this galaxy. The Nox long ago ceased speaking to us, deigning us too violent for their liking, due to our habit of engaging the goa'uld. The Furlings lasted longer than the Lanteans, however, they suffered a diminishing, which left them vulnerable to the goa'uld. While their technology was far superior to that of the goa'uld, eventually they fell. It was most unfortunate. Although they did an admirable job of preventing the goa'uld gaining possession of that technology."
"There is no one else?" Neville asked.
"The goa'uld dominate this galaxy and enslave its peoples. They prevent civilizations from reaching a level at which they could both communicate and interact with us as equals, and from rising to a level at which they could pose a threat to their dominion. We have met only two others with such potential. One of whom consider us much in the way the Nox do. And, of course..."
"Earth." Harry finished.
"Indeed. And from what you say, it is now even more important that the Asgard do all they can to ensure its protection."
"Yeah, what is this Protected Planets Treaty?" Neville questioned.
Thor sighed. "We are officially at war with the goa'uld, however, there is a threat far more dangerous we are engaged with in our home galaxy that prevents us from acting in most cases in this galaxy, not to mention a far more… domestic issue we are dealing with. So the Asgard High Council met with the System Lords and created the Protected Planets Treaty. It allows us to designate planets that are off-limits to the goa'uld and in return we cannot use our technology or knowledge to artificially advance those cultures. Nor are they allowed to advance to a point where they may threaten the goa'uld."
"And Earth is now a part of this treaty?" Hermione asked.
"That is correct. The addendum was signed a few days ago."
"But you can't properly enforce it," Harry noted. "It's a big bluff hoping that the goa'uld fear you enough not to test it."
Hermione stepped on Harry's foot but he ignored it, focusing on Thor. "You are correct. An astute observation that O'Neill also made. But I believe there may be another option available."
The four looked to the alien unsure of what he meant.
Thor continued. "You reached out to us, may I ask what it is you sought?"
Harry glanced at Hermione who cleared her throat and stepped forward. "With the aid of an Alteran computer system, we have begun reactivating Lantean settlements on Earth. The computer contained a vital mission that its records show as incomplete. A grave threat also currently contained in another galaxy that would devastate this one should it make its way here. We seek to finish that mission, however, as I'm sure you know, much of the Lantean technology requires materials that are not found natively in the Terran system."
Hermione paused and glanced momentarily at the others. "We were hoping we could enlist your aid in acquiring these resources and completing the weapon to destroy this enemy."
"You seek military aid?"
"No." Harry stepped up. "This threat isn't strictly corporeal. Conventional weapons will be useless. Right now, all we seek is either the material enough to construct the device, or aid in accessing such materials for ourselves. Specifically, we require raw material enough to build a secure Astria Porta for our use and any information you'd be willing to share about the current state of this galaxy so that we might avoid making waves while in such a weakened state. In return, we offer unrestricted access to all our knowledge."
"And a gift, whether you aid us or not," Luna explained. "In our work, we uncovered a body in stasis in a settlement in Africa. The body of an Asgard who was once host to an individual our records call Ra."
The shock was plain even on the alien face as Thor's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "You found Famrir's body?"
Luna looked at the others, slightly embarrassed. "I won't take all the credit. The Lanteans found him on their return to Earth ten thousand years ago. Without the technology to heal him, they put him in stasis and, it seems, forgot about him."
Thor looked about, clearly digesting the news. "Famrir was the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet long before I was born. He died many generations ago when he was mortally wounded in battle, the body he was supposed to be placed in was stolen and another was unable to be created in time to save his life. He died a legend to our people. Almost thirteen thousand years ago. It was the theft of this body, and its subsequent possession by the Supreme System Lord Ra, that led our people to war with the goa'uld. But we never recovered the body. We thought it destroyed when the Goa'uld began taking humans as hosts."
"That explains the lack of brain function. It's an empty vessel."
"It was the only way a goa'uld could hope to take an Asgard as host. Our minds would crush the symbiotes' own. They would die."
Silence filled the space for several minutes before Thor moved his hands once more and shifted one of the stones. Harry glanced over his shoulder at the others and noted that the window was no longer showing the dark purplish-blue of the planet they had been orbiting, but a blue and green planet he had seen before, but never quite like this.
"Cool."
"It is a most beautiful world, all the more precious for those who call it home," Thor noted. "I have been given authority by the Asgard High Council to offer you suitable aid if I saw it as appropriate. And you have given the Asgard two great gifts, possibly of even greater value than you know, while asking little in return. Therefore, I choose to aid you."
"Thank you." The four replied, almost in unison which made them chuckle slightly before straightening in front of the alien.
"My systems indicate I can remain in this region no longer, as I am called back to the aid of my own people. But for now, I shall give you what I have on hand. We have no use for the Astria Porta or clavis in the cargo bay, so I will leave them with you. And I have broken down the damaged ones in orbit to their raw material form for you. Along with a gift of our own. I hope in time our people can once more be allies and equals."
"As do we. We are grateful for your aid, Thor." Hermione said.
"Where would you like me to leave you?"
Harry glanced at the others who shrugged. "Fundamenta is probably best, if you know its loca…" Harry was cut off as Thor touched the left stone and once more the group was surrounded by white light and as it vanished they were standing once more in the chair chamber. "...tion."
The four glanced at one another and began to laugh. For their first time through the Astria Porta, it had been quite the little adventure.