CHAPTER 18

Daniel Jackson was announced as the key note speaker for the US Department of Interior scientific symposium by the moderator. "I give you Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Daniel looked nervous as he came on the stage. In the audience were a very elite group of Archeologists from around the world. Some had made some discoveries that by themselves were confusing but Daniel was going to bring it together in a way they had never known.

Daniel almost smiled as he placed his papers on the podium as these few would be left speechless by the evidence he was about to present. He wondered how many would work to undercut his work to disprove it. How many, in the end, would wake up with egg on their face in another four months when the Alterran's would reveal themselves.

Daniel leaned on the podium and looked around "Welcome and good morning. Daniel took a calming breath "Many of you know that three years ago I presented a paper that suggested that we were visited long ago by another species. You scoffed and turned your critical thinking from it being a possibility."

"I made a mistake back then because I had scant evidence, hell it wasn't even reasonable to believe it myself but I had a gut feeling about it." Daniel clicked to reveal a stone writing from a dig. "Is Dr. Wilson here?" A man answered in the third row. "Dr. Wilson you found this writing in Africa ten years ago, is that correct?"

Dr. Wilson answered "That is correct."

Daniel smiled "Have you finished the translation of it?"

Dr. Wilson smiled "I have about 60% of it completed."

Daniel answered "I bet you that these symbols are the ones that you can find no reference too." Daniel brought a second slide up that had highlighted the symbols."

Dr. Wilson agreed with his assessment. Daniel clicked again and a new slide appeared that had the symbols listed and a codex for what the symbols meant. A murmur went around the room. Dr. Wilson looked at him "That can't be right. The message would make no sense then."

Daniel smiled and clicked again "That is correct Dr. Wilson now apply these translations to your entire writing, does it make sense now?" The hall grew less quiet as the new translation was read. It stated that this was the corner stone for an Alterran room of observation placed on a date fifteen thousand years ago." Daniel heard several negative comments.

Daniel smiled and over the next hour asked five other Dr. to come forth with their discoveries as he applied the same codex to all of them. There was no denying that the same culture had written this language in five different areas of the world."

Daniel looked at all of them "Could anyone explain to me how the same culture using the same language, the same script could exist on five different continents over ten thousand years ago without a means to communicate or travel to each of these places?"

The hall was deathly quiet as no one could answer that question. "How about this piece of metal alloy with a mineral not of this world and this was carbon dated at 13,400 years ago. It was found in the frozen ice sheet of Antarctica along with this room?"

Daniel then went behind the curtain and brought out the beam that was in the picture. A man stood up in the front row "This is impossible, you have created a hoax."

Daniel turned on him and then threw him a smaller piece of metal with the same writing on it. "I don't care what you believe doctor. You don't have to take my word on this. That piece of metal I just gave you is from the same site. Go test it for yourself. Have your engineering department, your physics department or any departments explain how a mineral not found on this planet is here. All that I ask is that you are man enough to publish your findings."

Daniel turned to the crowd "I would like to introduce to you the team that I led to the Antarctic that excavated the site where this chamber and room were found. As four men and two women came out on stage, a voice called out "Bruce you are a part of this? How could you?"

The scientist called Bruce smiled "The question isn't why I am but why you were not. Everything that Dr. Daniel Jackson is telling you is true. The evidence only leads to one conclusion and folks please put your seat belts on because it will be a wild ride."

Daniel stood before them and spoke loudly "Ladies and Gentlemen I give you conclusive evidence that we were visited many, many years ago by an advance space fairing society and for a time they lived on our planet." Daniel threw a stack of papers down on the stage floor. "Here is my paper with this theory outlined and proven." Daniel and his team walked off the stage.

The scientist stood looking dumbfounded and then began a mad dash to the stage to retrieve a copy of his paper.

The uproar around the scientific community for the next month soon led to the main stream media picking up the intriguing story. Soon Dr. Jackson was making the talk show circuit and the world was buzzing that there was proof of life somewhere else other than earth.

Through the next month Dr. Jackson was asked by interviewer after interviewer the same question "Where did these people go and will they ever come back?"

He finally answered "I don't know where they went. Perhaps they are waiting for us to mature as a species and to invite them to visit us. If that is so then I would formally ask that they come and visit." Dr. Jackson turned to the interviewer "Another possibility is that they never left."

The interviewer looked surprised but replied lightheartedly "I think if we had aliens among us we would know it."

Dr. Jackson laughed "It would seem so but then again what if their purpose was to leave a legacy that our species would carry around within us. What if they abandoned their technology and assimilated into our society. By introducing their DNA into the life that was already here, they changed us to become more like them. We could very well be the aliens, or the species that they left behind."

This of course brought about many scientists out to further add to the discussion. Some scoffed at the idea, others rejected the idea of aliens, but above all else the majority of the earth population was curious and hopeful to someday meet an alien.

The president turned off his television set and looked at his chief of staff "It seems that people are not afraid of change or of aliens as we believed. After three months the general consensus is positive. What do you think of that Charlie?"

Charlie seemed concerned "I am not sure Mr. President. There is a part of me that is afraid and another that is excited by all this."

The President smiled "I think that is a good sign Charlie. I think if the Alterran's show up, they won't outright fear them as they may be curious about them."

Harry and Sam had not been overly busy with SG1 as Daniel was out of the picture; Teal'c was at Chulak to help form the Free Jaffa into a semblance of a nation. Their ranks were growing every day. This Left Sam and Harry time to find a solution to testing and detecting other Alterran candidates.

The Healer at Atlantis was a big help in this regards. He had an extensive knowledge of the Alterran medical beds which could diagnose bones, muscles, common afflictions or DNA. What he could not get his head around is that Sam and Harry could not carry a medical bed around with them. They needed a device that was light small and could detect Alterran DNA in close proximity to them.

With Harry's help they were able to design a wrist device with a hand held scanner that could identify DNA with an eighty percent certainty rate. It would be enough to bring the candidate to a center where the medical bed could be used. That was good enough for the short term.

It was now two weeks from their planned announcement and the president had been quiet about Daniel's findings. When asked he never gave an answer other than to say "I have no comment as to the validity of a scientific discovery as I am the President and not a professor. On those matters that are out of my depth I have to respect the experts. I think time has proven that Dr. Daniel Jackson is an expert in his field. He reached his conclusions three years ago without all the evidence we have today. I can say that I find the thought of aliens and the paper provocative and thought provoking and I hope the discussions this will generate will be positive."

Harry shook his head upon reading the quote and said out loud "Wow we need to talk to the president about his political double speak. He failed miserable by giving Daniel a glowing endorsement without admitting there were aliens."

Sam came over and sat on his lap with only her panties and a sheer bra. Harry had watched her bounce around the kitchen getting her coffee and yogurt. "You know your chair is so much more comfortable than mine." Sam squirmed a little "A little bit lumpy though but overall it has a very comfortable feel to it." Harry could almost hear the laughter in her voice as she knew what she was doing to him.

Suddenly, Harry snapped his fingers and Sam was feeling him inside of her. She raised her head up in surprise as Harry said softly to her "Thou shall not steal thy husband's paper and make comments about his lap being lumpy while sitting in said lap."

Sam smiled "Potter if you don't d stop we will be so late."

Harry continued as if he hadn't heard her "For said transgression, woman I shall have to punish you." Harry pushed her forward as he stood up behind her.

Sam moaned "Oh god Harry don't we are going to be so late."

It was Friday, the night the Graphon would pick them up and then forever more their lives would be changed. They would rendezvous with the Battle Cruiser Graphon on the other side of the moon near their space gate. They had just left SGC and were headed to home and there jumper to take off for the moon.

They had looked around at the home they had purchased three years ago. Sam looked at it and felt a sense of loss as this had very happy memories for her. She would look in the room and think of the times that Harry and she had spent there. Some of it very intimate, others just as they relaxed.

Harry came up behind her and whispered "This is the first home I ever felt welcomed in, the first home I shared with someone I loved and I find myself thinking of memories of us doing things together."

Sam leaned her head against his "I had the same thoughts. I think you have it right, its' where we grew together and this home was built around love. Sam looked at the couch in their bedroom "I remember coming home and making love on that couch with the fire place blazing and it rained all night."

Harry smiled "Hmm that was a very special night for us."

Harry looked at the bed "I remember waking up the first morning having two warm bodies snuggled up against me. I think we got about two hours sleep that whole night."

Sam smiled "We met the other love in our life here. Did you know that I had never been with another woman until that first night with Hermione?"

Harry looked shocked "No, I didn't. I wonder if it was Hermione's first time."

Sam laughed "Oh it was. She said she wouldn't have ever thought about it until a Potterism was involved."

Harry put his arms around her shoulder "You know we could come here every once in a while for a weekend. I don't want to sell this house."

Sam put her arms around his waist "I would have to kill you if you ever did. This was our home Harry. I Love you. Let's get going before Hermione has a conniption."

Harry laughed "Want to bet that she is on the Graphon waiting for us."

Sam smiled "That is a sucker's bet."

Harry laughed "Want to bet that she will keep us up all night doing naughty and nefarious things."

Sam grinned "Does it count if we do the naughty and nefarious things?"

Harry replied "God I hope so!" Sam laughed as they closed and locked the front door.

Harry and Sam entered the command area of the Graphon. Captain Alexis looked up at Harry and smiled "Evening Admiral your crew is ready to take orders." Alexis leaned in closer and whispered to both of them "I wish to remind you that in Alterran there was no such thing as sexual harassment, so if you wish to order certain females around it is well within our customs."

Harry rolled her eyes "You women are insatiable."

Sam laughed "As much as that causes provoking thoughts, I think we have something to do first."

Alexis frowned and then pouted "Pity I could use the stress relief." Captain Alexis sat down and sighed "If we must, we must."

"Helm take was out with the moon between us and the earth. After we reach the edge of the sol system turn us about and head for Earth."

"Aye, Aye Captain."

It took fifteen minutes for the maneuver to be concluded "Captain Alexis hit a couple of buttons on her chair and a Hologram projector transmitter lighted her. "Greeting humans of Earth, I am Captain Alexis of the Alterran ship Graphon and I am answering your hail to visit our once great outpost on your planet."

Alexis gave them a few moments "Please broadcast over normal television channels as we will monitor them for the location of the meeting."