Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Samantha Carter

President Roslin watched from a rear window as a group of her ships, including the Galactica, were towed into hyperspace by the larger alien vessel. She had never seen anything like it. The views she had seen while flying between ships in Raptors had been nice, but this amazed her.

"President Roslin. Lee Adama. It is good to meet you." A strange voice caused The President and Lee Adama to turn swiftly; they were met with a sight even stranger than the one they had just witnessed. Supreme Commander Thor walked up to the Colonials and extended his small, grey hand to them.

The Colonials stared at Thor in shock, unsure of what to do. The alien lowered his hand after a short while, turned around and began walking away. After walking a few steps, he turned back and gestured to the three humans. "Follow me, please."

Galactica's CIC

The entire ship felt the move into hyperspace, a totally new sensation. Colonel Carter had expressed some concern regarding the Galactica's armour, or lack thereof. She had tried to convince the Admiral to remain behind, saying that the travel could damage the ship, but he wasn't having any of it. Galactica was probably the best equipped ship to handle this, of course the fact that it would be making numerous hyperspace trips as opposed to just one made Carter's point valid.

"I don't like this." Tigh said, once again letting the Admiral know how he felt about the whole thing.

"Yes, Saul. I'm well aware of that. You've made your feelings perfectly clear, and they've been noted."

"I just think that…"

The XO was cut off by Adama before he had a chance to finish. "I know exactly what you think. But you aren't quite getting this through your head. This is our last chance Saul." The Admiral came closer to his friend until they were face to face. "The fleet is falling apart. Tensions are higher than they have ever been. We haven't seen a single hostile Cylon since we came through that wormhole years ago yet; somehow, things have never been worse. What else do you suggest we do Saul? Really. I'm open to suggestions." Tigh stood, not saying a word. "Yes. I thought so."

M1K-773

"Colonel, we've aboard the Heracles." The words came through mere minutes after a team had beamed down to the planet. Alex wasn't looking to waste time. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the ship was still there and the recent activity above the planet hadn't revealed it's presence to the Wraith.

"Good work. How long do you think it will be before you have the ship online?"

The reply came instantly. The team knew what they were doing, and where they stood in terms of this particular ship. "It shouldn't be too long, maybe a few hours before we get it out of here."

The Colonel smiled. "Ok. You've got two. The powers that be want that ship back at Atlantis as quick as possible so it can be made battle ready. The sooner the better."

Samantha Carter

"Where are you taking us?" Lee and Roslin had never experienced anything like this before. The human vessel had been quite similar to the Colonial ships in design, at least compared to this… It was certainly new, they couldn't deny that.

Thor turned to his guests "Do not worry Lee Adama. We are going to place the President in a healing chamber. This should kill her cancer and ensure that it does not return. The small grey man began walking again, as did Carter and Lee. Laura didn't move.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want in return? Don't tell me you would do something like this for nothing."

Thor turned once again, and walked closer to the President. He stared at her for a moment before speaking. "Laura Roslin. You and you're people clearly have a lot to learn about the universe. We are not like your Cylons. I am doing this partly as a favour to Colonel Carter and General O'Neill, and partly because I would rather not see you die and leave your people devoid of a strong leader. I do not have an ulterior motive. We want to study the Cylons, but that has nothing to do with you and you're people, we do not need your blessing. I am not going to force you into the healing chamber; it is your decision…" Laura held eye contact with the alien as he spoke, surprised at his bluntness but admiring it at the same time. "…But I suggest you make your decision soon. We do not have long before we arrive Atlantis, and you will need to be returned to Galactica."

Thor began walking once again, followed by Sam. Apollo looked at the president. "Can't hurt to give it a shot?"

Atlantis

"Shh... Go to sleep. Please go to sleep?" Kanaan's attempts to calm his son were interrupted when someone arrived at the home he shared with Teyla Emmagan. He swiftly moved to the door with Torren in his arms, and welcomed in Dr. Jennifer Keller.

"Hi Kanaan, nice to see you. Teyla asked me before she left if I would pay you and Torren a visit. She said he'd been restless recently? More than usual?"

"Yes, yes." Kanaan replied. "Please Jennifer, come in."

Keller walked into the room, smiling at Torren as she passed. "So has he had any symptoms other than that? High temperature, has he been sick?"

"No, I don't believe so." Kanaan replied. "He has just been very resilient towards our attempts to make him rest. Although, I personally think the cure would be for him to spend more time with his mother... Teyla is much better at this then I am."

Keller put her hand on Kanaan's shoulder. "Believe me, everyone thinks you are doing a fantastic job."

"I have to do the best for my son. But we both miss her when she goes off with the team."

"It must be hard…" Keller said, realising that, although she had developed strong bonds with people on the base, she couldn't fully understand what Kanaan must have felt each time Teyla went on a mission. She finished the examination of Torren that she had been doing while talking with Kanaan. "Well, he seems fine. I can't see any physical symptoms. If he continues to be restless and loses too much sleep then bring him down and I'll see if there's something I can do for him."

"Thank you for your time Jennifer. It was nice of you to come out and see him."

Keller smiled. "It was my pleasure. Anyway, I better go. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson wanted an update on Jeannie Miller and some of my other patients, and apparently the Hyperion is back."

Kanaan looked away from Torren and at the doctor. "How is Jeannie?"

"She's doing well. She's worried about Rodney more than anything… But I'm sure they'll all be OK. I guess we'll find out shortly now that the ship has returned, assuming this is the one they came back on."

"I'm sure they will be fine…" Kanaan replied, trying to convince himself. "I'm sure they will..."

SGC

As soon as O'Neill got back to Atlantis, he was on the move again, this time to Earth, and using a slightly different form of travel. It had always amazed him that you could travel between two galaxies so quickly. Obviously he had come over even more amazing things since he learned about the Stargate, but getting from Pegasus to the Milky Way, or vice versa so quickly, had never ceased to instil a real sense of wonder in him. As he stepped out of the gate at the SGC the first person to greet him was his old friend, General Landry. "Jack, welcome back to Earth."

"Good to be back, Hank. Now, where are those pesky I.O.A representatives? I've been dying to sit down and have a conversation with them."

"They're in the briefing room. George is up there talking to them already. I suggest you get yourself up there, they don't seem in a great mood, you know with the threat of the Wraith looming over Atlantis and all."

"Yes…" Jack replied. "Believe me Hank, that hasn't exactly got me over the moon either."

Samantha Carter

Lee Adama and Samantha Carter sat on the floor of the Asgard ship's bridge and watched as Thor worked over a console, while Roslin lay inside a small pod nearby. Sam looked at Lee; she could tell he was agitated. She tried to reassure him. "The process is taking longer than expected, her cancer must have been worse than we thought, but that doesn't mean she's incurable. If anyone can make her better, it's Thor. She'll be OK."

Lee didn't doubt Thor's abilities. The Asgard had already proven to be an amazing race. "Thanks Colonel… I'm sure she will be." The two battle-hardened soldiers, who were beginning to build up a mutual respect for each other, sat in silence for a moment, watching Thor. Eventually Lee spoke again. "She feels really bad."

Sam turned to the Colonial and looked at him. "What?"

"Kara." Lee replied. "She feels bad about what she did to you."

Sam smiled. "It's fine. I'm over it." There was silence once again, but Sam decided she hadn't finished. She turned to Apollo again. "I know what you guys have been through. You thought we were Cylons. Believe me, in her situation, if someone had nuked my planet to hell and killed so many that I cared about… Well I think I would have done a hell of a lot worse. I don't hold it against Kara"

Lee looked at her, and for a moment the two soldiers just stared at each other. Lee realised that they had a mutual understanding.

"Colonel Carter, Lee Adama, she is ready." They both got up and hurried over to the pod, as the glass retracted and Laura slowly awakened. She stared up at the woman and man above her, before fully regaining her clarity.

"Lee?" She asked.

A smile crossed Apollo's face, the biggest for a long time. "Yes, I'm here Madam President, I'm here. Are you OK?"

Laura looked at him, before sitting up. "I'm fine. Infact, I'm better than fine, I've never felt this good in years." She climbed out of the pod, and stood for a moment, before Lee hugged her. She couldn't help but laugh and return the hug. "What was that for?"

Lee pulled away but kept his hands on her shoulders, the grin still on his face and growing bigger. "For not giving up."

The President smiled, and hugged him again. "I never intended too."

Sam and Thor looked at each other, a smile across Sam's face too. Thor's expression remained normal. "Shall we embrace also, Colonel Carter?" Sam looked at him for a second, trying her best not to laugh. Thor's humour was certainly different to anything she had encountered on Earth, but she found it just as funny.

"Dad is going to be so happy about this." Lee said. "He needed this; he needed you to get better. You're the only thing that's kept him going these past couple of years." Laura had thought about Bill since she had boarded the ship. If she wasn't mistaken, she even remembered dreaming about him while being healed, and what would happen next with both the Colonial remnant, and with him.

The reunion was interrupted by Thor. "We are dropping out of Hyperspace. We have arrived at Atlantis."

Lee, Sam and Laura walked towards the window at the front of the bridge and looked out over the planet in front of them. Sam smiled at the expressions on the Colonial's faces. "Amazing, isn't it? Welcome to your new home."

Laura turned to Sam, she looked as though she was about to say something but the words didn't come out at first, she was still in awe. When she finally spoke, Sam could tell from the sincerity in her voice that she was truly ready to form a proper alliance. "…Thank you, Colonel Carter." She turned to Thor. "And thank you, too, Commander."

Thor decided not to correct Roslin, instead bowing his head. Roslin smiled and once again looked over the planet, as Carter and Lee did the same. They watched as a number of Colonial ships began travelling closer to the planet, finding a stable orbit. The three stood there for a moment in silence, before being brought back to the present by the sound of an Asgard klaxon. Thor began working at the console once more. "There is a problem…"

Carter ran to Thor's side and looked at the console. "What is it?"

Thor looked out the window at the vessels going into orbit. "One of the Colonial ships was severely damaged by the hyperspace journey. Its hull is destabilizing."

Roslin and Apollo turned back to the window, and only then did they notice that one of the ships wasn't going into orbit, but was infact travelling directly towards the planet.

"What the hell?" Apollo shouted. "They'll burn up in the atmosphere! You've got to do something!"

Thor was once again working hard at the console. "I am in the process of being the Colonials from the damaged vessel into the hold at the rear of this ship."

Sam turned to him. "It's a reasonably small ship; couldn't you beam the whole thing into the hold?"

"That would take too long; we do not have enough time." Thor once again stared out the window. "The hull is losing integrity."

Thor, Sam and the Colonials watched as the ship was ripped apart in the atmosphere, followed by a large flash indicating that there was nothing more that could be done to save it. Laura turned to the small alien and ran up to him, standing on the other side of the console. "How many people?" She asked, frantically. "How many people did you save?"