Chapter 11
Battlestar Galactica
"I want you to remember my face…" Carter closed her eyes. She wasn't going to give the man what he wanted. She heard his finger on the trigger… This was it. Another shot rang out.
Sam instantly opened her eyes again as she heard the soldier scream in agony. She'd been sure she was a goner. She watched as the man fell beside her, obviously in sever pain. She turned, still finding it hard to breathe and still in agony herself. Kara Thrace had saved her life. Or at least given her a few more minutes…
Quorum Meeting
Tom Zarek entered the Quorum meeting with thoughts of power in mind. News of the Presidents recovery had spread like wildfire throughout the fleet, but that would do little to save her popularity following the decision she had made. He stood at the head of the large table and addressed the Colonial Representatives. "My friends. The President and Admiral have decided to take the advice of Samantha Carter yet again, despite the fact that her last plan lead to the destruction of one of our ships and the loss of numerous lives."
A smile almost broke across Zarek's face as the Quorum gasped in disbelief that the President and Admiral would be so cavalier about this. "Will Colonel Carter not be reprimanded for the damage she has caused?" asked the representative from Tauron.
"From my understanding…" Zarek continued "the President is worried about upsetting the people of Earth, through fear of their advanced technology." Cries of 'ludicrous' and 'we should not be afraid to stand up for ourselves' spurred Tom on. "Now, the President has done a lot for us while in office, and she only has our best interests at heart. However… I believe it is time for a change of leadership."
With the resounding agreement of the room, Zarek finally let that smile creep across his face.
Galactica Infirmary
Carter was wheeled into the infirmary, Kara Thrace close behind. The colonial had gotten help as soon as she had stopped the attack. The soldier was also wheeled in crying in pain at the wound Kara had inflicted.
"Is she going to be alright?" Kara asked Dr. Cottle as Sam was lifted onto one of the infirmary beds.
"I really don't know." Cottle replied. "But you'll just make things worse by being here right now; if we're going to save her life then we are going to need as little interruption as possible."
"OK." Kara replied reluctantly. She caught Sam's eye before she left, she could tell the Colonel was worried… but not about herself.
Atlantis
"How long do we think it'll be before the Wraith launch their ships?" Vala stood in the control room of Atlantis alongside Daniel Jackson, anxious to know more about the situation.
"Your guess is as good as ours." Sheppard replied. "We know that they're powered up and ready, it's just a matter of time. The more we have, the better."
Daniel nodded. "Can't disagree with that…"
Vala sighed. She didn't like being in the dark. None of them did. "They could launch at any time, any time at all, and with those numbers there is no guarantee that we would beat them…"
"We'll be safe under the shield." Her best friend and ex-team mate tried to re0assure her. "For now at least."
Vala looked at him. "It's not just us though. Samantha and the others are still out there with the Colonials in the middle of the Galaxy, trying to get them back here, people who may not even want our help following… that incident..."
Daniel was silent, while his mind returned back to where it did not want to be. They had people out there. Some of which he cared about deeply. The most important thing he had learned during his time with SG-1 was to shut his mind off from thinking about his friends when they were in danger. Sometimes there was nothing you could do, and the best thing was to remember that they are the best and most capable humans around. If he worried, then he knew he'd probably go insane. Before Daniel could reply, some interesting news came through. "Colonel Sheppard, Dr. Jackson, the Odyssey and the Heracles have just dropped out of hyperspace. They're coming into orbit with the first Colonial ships." The two men looked at each other. Hopefully things were starting to come together.
Battlestar Galactica
The President and Admiral stood in the corner of the CIC, discussing the return to the fleet. "I still don't like this Bill. It's taking too long. What if the Earth ship can't protect the fleet?"
"They protected us the first time around; I think they'll be able to do it again." Adama replied. "We saw their capability. They can handle it."
"Their capability is a double edged sword Admiral. They may be able to provide protection, but if they turn against us, they could wipe us out. Right now the ball is in our court, because of their recklessness one of our ships was destroyed and we lost a number of people. That is the only thing we have against them right now, and we can't let anything compromise that…"
"With all due respect Laura, you're starting to sound like Tom Zarek…" The President looked at him for a moment, before bowing her head and contemplating what had been said. Was she really getting that bad? Had she changed that much? Before the two could continue, they were interrupted.
"Admiral? Admiral Adama!" The Admiral and President turned to see Kara Thrace running into the CIC. "It's Colonel Carter Sir… She's been shot by one of our soldiers."
The Admiral looked Roslin, a look of horror washing over her face. For a moment, he stood silent, pondering what to do, before finally coming to a decision. "Gaeta, Get in touch with Apollo and Thor. We're going back to Atlantis." Laura knew that they held no leverage over the people of Earth now. This was well and truly their game, and it was going to be their terms.
Galactica Infirmary
"We're losing her!"
"Not on my watch!" Doc Cottle intended to do everything possible to save his patient, but that had very little to do with who she was. He would do the same for anyone put out in front of him.
"She isn't reacting well to the anaesthetic Doctor; it may be too dangerous to operate…"
"No." Cottle replied. "We need to give her a chance to fight. We've got to try, and that is exactly what we're going to do."
Atlantis
Colonel Morgan stood, arms folded, in the centre of the Atlantis command centre. Although the Ancient Ship had flown, it was going to take longer than expected to get it battle ready. It would take a while for the Wraith to reach Atlantis, weeks at least, but the way Dr. McKay was talking she was unsure whether even that was enough time.
"Dr. McKay, we don't know when they'll attack. You seem to think it's going to take a long time to get this ship ready, so why are you standing here repeating yourself over and over again? Get a team ready, and get up there. My guys need help."
McKay stood and looked at Sheppard for backup, who stared him down. He turned back to Colonel Morgan. "I told you, I need to run some more tests before I can go up there."
"Well…" Daniel began "There is really no reason for you to be arguing this McKay… You know what's wrong with it, why do you need to run so many scans?"
Rodney pointed at John. "Have you not read the Sheppard's mission report from when he first encountered the Travellers? These ships can be dangerous! They can emit radiation and…"
"My people have been in that ship Dr. McKay, and they're all fine." Alex cut Rodney off before he could finish.
"Well Colonel, you may not be aware of this but radiation doesn't always affect you straight away and Ancient radiation…"
Chuck turned to the group, and Rodney was once again cut off mid sentence. "Colonels… The Asgard ship and the Galactica are dropping out of hyperspace…"
"What?" Sheppard asked, confused. "There's no way they've been to the Colonial fleet and back in this time. What are they doing?"
"They want to talk to you, sir."
The colour drained from John's face. Something else was wrong… "Put them through."
The room was silent as they waited anxiously to discover what was going on. Finally, a voice filled the room. "Colonel Sheppard? This is Admiral Adama. We need you up here now."
Sheppard, Alex, Daniel and McKay looked at each other. "Why is that Admiral?"
"Because Samantha Carter has been shot, and we need to know how you want to proceed…"
