Chapter 14
Heracles
Rodney had left Sam in good spirits. If she hadn't woken up, he doubted he would ever have gotten over to the Heracles. Not that he minded. After all, he would much rather sit with her than risk radiation poisoning.
But he had work to do. The Wraith were coming for Atlantis. With the Earth ships, the Asgard ships, and the Heracles, they actually stood a chance. The expedition had never faced an enemy in such numbers, but they always pulled through… or at least they did most of the time.
"Dr. McKay?"
"Yes?" Rodney replied, not looking up from the console he was working on.
"We've found another problem…" The young female scientist was worried about being the bringer of bad news. She had been on McKay's team since they arrived on Atlantis, and she knew exactly how he was with people who brought him bad news. "…We are having problems making the drone chair operational…"
Rodney finally looked up at his team member. "Don't you think I look a little busy right now? I mean for god sakes the Drone chair is going to be the least of our worries if the shields fail in the middle of the battle! Your all supposed to be competent scientists and you've been working with Ancient technology for years, fix it!"
"The thing is Dr. McKay…" The scientist tried her best not to tremble. "…We don't know whether it's fixable or not… We could fire them from the bridge, but the firing rate and accuracy could end up being greatly diminished if we do that."
Rodney stood up, and the young woman did all she could not throw her arms over her head in terror. "For god's sake! I don't know why the SGC even bothered sending you people! This is going to take longer than I thought! I can't believe I'm saying this, but… get Zelenka up here!"
Atlantis
"And this…" Alex Morgan stepped into the Gate room from one of the corridors on the ground floor "…Is the Command centre."
The Colonials walked into the centre of the room, taking it all in and looking thoroughly impressed.
Roslin walked up to the Stargate, the marines either side of the room looked tense. "This is the Stargate?" She asked, before running a hand down the side of the large ring shaped device.
"Yes, it is." Colonel Morgan walked up behind Roslin. "It allows us to travel to countless worlds. Pretty damn useful, if I do say so myself."
"We had one of these…" Roslin spoke with surprise obvious in her voice. "It was in the Delphi Museum of the Colonies… We had absolutely no idea what it was…"
"It must be hard to imagine how different things would have been for your race had you figured it out…"
"Yes…" Roslin replied, but didn't take her eyes off the Stargate. "This device could have totally changed our fortunes…"
Alex stepped closer to Roslin. "You know madam President, what's done is done. We can't change the past… But hopefully this is the start of your future." She placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "We're going to help you. You've survived for so long against incredible odds… You're people are going to make it."
Alex didn't see it, but Laura smiled, possibly the most sincere smile in years. The Colonel was right. The Colonial survivors had truly defied the odds. And they weren't about to give up now.
Caprica
Mere hours after leaving orbit of Earth, the new Tau'ri flagship dropped out of hyperspace near the world that was once the most prosperous of the Twelve Colonies.
"Sir, we're here."
William Bolton stood from his captain's chair and walked closer to the view screen at the front of the bridge. The signs of the genocidal attack of the Cylons were still plainly evident. He stood for a moment, staring at the devastation the robotic race had caused. Wreckage from ruined Battlestars remained in orbit, even years after the attack, but it was the brown hue of the planet that truly told of the atrocity that had occurred.
The Colonel turned and walked back to his chair, addressing his bridge crew as he did so. "OK, we've got twelve planets to explore; we're looking for any intact ships or possible survivors." His stare returned to the broken planet below. "Let's get started."
Galactica's CIC
O'Neill and Adama stood in the CIC, President Roslin and the first delegation had been down in Atlantis for a while now and the Admiral was preparing to see the city for himself. "Colonel Tigh will be in charge of the ship for the next few days while I'm on Atlantis. I've told him to expect to be in command for an undetermined length of time."
O'Neill turned to the Admiral. "Good idea. You know what politically-fuelled banquets and negotiations are like… The Wraith will probably destroy us before we're even half done."
Bill smirked. He knew exactly what the man was talking about. He didn't enjoy things like this, but they had to be done for the good of both parties involved. "The second delegation will consist of myself, Tom Zarek, Kara Thrace, and, with your permission, a member of the press."
"No." O'Neill replied without hesitation. "Your group is going to be given a shorter version of the tour the President received, and I don't want the Press around Atlantis yet. A team of your reporters will be invited to the Dinner tonight, but that's it."
The Admiral turned and looked at the DRADIS screen, icons representing Colonial ships shown alongside Earth vessels. "Thank you."
O'Neill shot the Admiral a strange look. "Thank you?"
"You don't think I actually wanted reporters wandering around with me did you? At least if it comes from you General, they might actually listen."
"Oh." Jack smiled. "I guess we're on the same page then."
"General, Lee has also requested to come down to Atlantis when his duties aboard Thor's ship are complete."
"That's fine. Just tell Colonel Tigh to contact Atlantis and let them know when he's ready. And Admiral?"
Adama turned his head away from the DRADIS console and looked at O'Neill again. "Yes?"
"Call me Jack."
Samantha Carter
Commander Thor had been in similar situations before, but never quite like this. He had helped numerous races before, but the Colonial's situation was different. The way they had been attacked, how few of them had survived… And the fact that now the other Asgard wanted to cooperate with the things that had destroyed these people's homeworlds, for their own benefit… He admitted that when Colonel Carter had discovered that his people's minds were stored in the Asgard Core given to the Tau'ri, and gone on to design holographic bodies for them, it was not a fantastic solution. He had been extremely grateful, but the thought of living as a hologram forever was not appealing to him. However, he was still unsure of whether working with the Cylons was a good idea. The Council had already made up its mind, it was going to happen. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it though.
One of the consoles in front of him made a low beeping sound, bringing him back to the present. He turned and addressed Apollo. "We are dropping out of hyperspace again Major Adama. I suggest you go down to the hangar and prepare your people for transport back to their ships."
"Sure." Lee replied. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to contact the Galactica to see if it is possible to have Colonel Carter transferred here before we leave for the next set of Colonial Vessels. If her condition has improved, I may be able to heal her fully."
Thor knew that it was possible to save the Colonials, and that one day, with help, they could be a true civilization once again. He just prayed that the Tau'ri were ready to handle something like this. They had helped his people, many times. The task ahead of them however, was formidable.
Heracles
McKay had been working on the Heracles for hours, but every time he fixed a problem it seemed another two came up. 'Calm down Rodney, you're starting to get frustrated' he told himself. The other scientists would beg to differ. He'd been frustrated ever since he stepped foot on the Ancient ship.
Radek Zelenka had joined him about half way through his shift. He didn't like asking Radek for help, but sometimes it was neccesary... Just to get the job done a little bit faster.
"Rodney, the power output from the ZPM is lower than it should be."
Rodney sighed. "Yes, I know that. I've known that since I came aboard, it's understandable. The thing hasn't been used in thousands of years."
"Yes that is true, however that shouldn't be causing readings like this." He picked up his tablet and hurried over to his friend, showing him the readings.
"Hmm..." McKay studied the readings quickly.
"Now we know that most Auroras stopped carrying ZPMs when the Wraith began to steal them in attacks, however, this ship did carry one, for some reason. I believe this could be the cause of a number of the problems onboard."
McKay looked out into space with a slight look of annoyance on his face. Though he comended |Radek for the good work, 'why didn't I think of that?' was all that ran through his head.
"Even though the Ancients stopped using ZPMs on their ships, they did not stop constructing interfaces when they built them. There seems to be something wrong with the interface on this ship, and if we fix it, then the systems causing trouble should be powered normally again."
Rodney looked at his colleague for a moment, before placing a hand on his shoulder. "Well Radek, I see you've got things under control here… for the moment." He stood up and walked over to another console, preparing to beam back to Atlantis. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get ready for a pretty important dinner. Have fun now!" With that, McKay disappeared in a flash of light, and Zelenka was left alone on the bridge, not having time to utter a word before the other scientist was gone.
Allied Baseship
D'Anna Biers and Tory Foster walked side by side through the baseship hallways, coming to a stop outside the door to the control room. D'Anna looked at the other Cylon, one of the final five. "Remember what we talked about."
The two women turned and walked in, to be met by a Two, a Six and an Eight. The Six, a variation of the model with long, golden hair and a dark dress stepped forward. "What is the situation?"
"Not much has changed." D'Anna replied. "A Colonial delegation travelled down to the city, and the alien ship towed more of their ships back here."
"Are these the same aliens who wish to study our technology for their own benefit?" Asked the Eight.
Tory turned to her fellow Cylon. "We aren't sure yet. Though it seems likely."
"Collaboration with them is our best option." Said the Leoben, a model that preferred to be known by his 'name' rather than his designation.
"And why is that, dear brother?" Asked D'Anna. "It is our right to be on Earth. From what I understand, these aliens would deny us that right."
"And from what I understand..." Leoben shot back "...the General made it abundantly clear that he, and the people of Earth, don't want us there either." The Three couldn't reply. She knew he was right. "We will reach Earth, but now is not the time. We have no way to get there ourselves. We are very far from home. And for all we know, Cavill and his group have killed all of our brothers and sisters by now. As I said, collaboration with the aliens is our best option."
"There are always other options." The Six replied. "And believe me, when we get back to the Milky Way Galaxy, those options will prove useful." The other Cylons looked at the Six. D'Anna had noticed there was something strange about this Six since before they had travelled through the wormhole. Now, she had risen up through the ranks and become the dominant Cylon of her model, and she was close to becoming the leader of the baseship. The Three didn't like it. She thought to herself that, when they returned to their own Galaxy, and when she finally discovered what was different about this Six, she would have to make a point of snapping her neck.
Atlantis Mess Hall
The dinner started without a hitch. There were a number of important figures in attendance from either side, most notably General O'Neill for Earth, With President Roslin and Admiral Adama being the main representatives for the Colonials. Tom Zarek was also attending expecting to be an important figure, but the General had walked straight past him with nothing more than a handshake and gone to meet the President and Admiral. Nothing was going right for him. He couldn't use the destruction of the Colonial ship against the humans now, considering the person he intended to hold responsible had been shot in the chest by a Colonial marine. That had seriously pissed him off. Now it was left to Roslin to broker the alliance between the two sides, and he couldn't get his say in.
Laura warmly took the general's hand with a smile. She had also intended to use the destruction of the ship, but to nowhere near the extent Zarek had. She wasn't as corrupt as he was, and she hoped she never would be. O'Neill returned the smile, and the two faced the cameras of Colonial journalists who had been invited to the event. They began making small talk, before taking their seats at the largest table in the centre of the messhall, the President sitting with the Admiral on one side, and the General on the other.
Zarek sat near the Admiral. He thought he should be the one sitting at the Presidents side, but apparently she disagreed. Dr. Baltar and Teyla Emmagan also sat at the table, amongst others including Colonel Alex Morgan who'd barely had time to get ready after showing the Colonials around the City.
There were other tables set out around the room, at one of which sat Dr. McKay, Teyla Emmagan and Kara Thrace. Teyla was due to meet with the President later on in the meal as a representative of both the Athosians and the people of Pegasus. McKay, meanwhile, was told he would be meeting with the Colonial's greatest remaining mind. Kara on the other hand didn't even know why she was there.
All three stood as General O'Neill toasted the Colonials, and initiated the dinner. "Here's to a long and lasting alliance between our two people." McKay knew that the General was still angry about what had happened to Sam, but he didn't let that show at all.
Ronon Dex walked into the large room, sitting at the table next to Teyla. His arrival went unnoticed by the other attendees, that table being closest to the door. His friend looked at him. "Why are you here? I thought you didn't want to come?"
Ronon smirked. "I didn't, this thing looks boring. I came to see if you guys wanted to come join me and Sheppard on the balcony."
"No." Teyla sighed. "I would like to, but I have duties here."
"Me too." McKay agreed. "I've got a fellow scientist to meet."
Kara looked between McKay and Teyla, before looking back to Ronon. "I'll come."
Atlantis Balcony
While the Banquet was taking place in the mess hall, a separate group had formed and decided to do something slightly different. John sat on the balcony against the wall, beer in hand. Near him sat Sam Anders and Sharon Agathon, also equipped with the frosty beverages. Some people may have thought a formal dinner was the best way to properly meet their new allies. Sheppard disagreed.
Athena looked out over the shimmering city, it looked even better at night. "This place is amazing Colonel."
Anders agreed. "The people who built this must have been something special."
John grimaced. The Ancients were like a double edged sword. On the one hand they were the most advanced and intelligent race known to have lived, and on the other hand they left a lot of problems behind, and rarely agreed to help humans clean it up. "They were certainly... something..."
"You said some of them were still around. Have you ever met any of them?" Athena asked, realising the information could be classified, and surprised when she got an answer.
"I have. A few, actually. Though Daniel Jackson's the guy you want to talk to about meeting the Ancients."
Anders took a sip of his beer. "Must have been strange for you to meet them." John couldn't disagree. Before he could speak, the door into the hallway opened. Ronon and Kara stepped out with smiles on their faces.
"Did they notice you leaving?" Sheppard asked, hoping they wouldn't be forced to go back to the messhall.
"Nope." Kara replied, the smile still on her face. The two sat down, Ronon next to John, and Starbuck next to her husband. "We think the General saw us, but he didn't stop us or say anything to the others."
John grinned. That sounded about right. No doubt the General wished he could be here too. For someone with his responsibility though, that would no doubt be looked down upon. At least worse than it would be in Sheppard's or Ronon's cases. John handed a beer to Ronon, and then one to Starbuck. "Enjoy it. Tomorrow negotiations start… I'm going to be sitting in the conference room for days." He pointed his finger, switching between Kara and Anders. "You guys are lucky, you get to go and see the sparring facilities with Ronon here and Teal'c. Me, Teyla and Athena have no such luck."
Kara laughed, she couldn't help it. "Aww, sorry guys. Have fun!" She looked over at Ronon, and then to her husband. "I know I will."
Caprica
The crew of the Dauntless had been working for hours. They had completed scans on the Colonials planets, and were determining their next course of action. They had found groups of survivors on Caprica, but nowhere else. Caprica was the planet that had been left most intact, but even it had only a few hundred survivors remaining. At least it was something, and Colonel Bolton was sure that President Roslin and Admiral Adama would be very happy to hear that there were more survivors.
However, his crew had found something that he was sure would be more important to Earths governments... A Battlestar, which had survived the battle intact and been left to float through space. There were no life signs, but it was salvageable. The IOA had made it clear on behalf of the world's governments, everywhere from the USA to China, that any ships found would be brought back to Earth. They would be refitted, and then either kept or used to trade with the Colonials. Bolton was on the fence. He didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing.
He did, however, appreciate the ship. The first Battlestar he had seen. It was slightly bigger than his ship, and the design, although more Earth like than any other ships he had encountered, was something truly unique. It was beautiful, at least in his opinion. He knew it had split the crew, some agreeing with him, others disagreeing. However, it looked like a truly proud ship, even with the marks of battle. He read the name along the side of the ship, and knew the crew would have died fighting valiantly to their last breath. The Battlestar Ares.
Sheppard's Quarters
John lay asleep in his bed, he had been on the balcony with the others for much longer than he had expected to be. Ronon had been tasked with getting him back to his room, while Athena found herself making sure Kara and Anders found theirs OK in their state. The City had seemed empty, the dinner had finished long before.
The sound of someone outside woke him, and he decided to see who it was. The room was darker than usual, and John was surprised how steady he was on his feet, considering the session he'd had with his friends, old and new, not so long ago. He reached the door, and swiped his hand across the crystals. There was no one there. He stuck his head out the door, wary of stepping out in his current state of dress. He looked both ways down the hall, and saw no one.
He turned, prepared to go back to bed and noticed a figure in the corner. "Lights..." he said, quietly, causing the room to become considerably brighter. His eyes adjusted, and he was shocked by the sight that met him. "Elizabeth..."
Weir smiled. "They're coming, John. But not for you..." She slowly walked towards him, raising her hand and placing it on his shoulder. The light in the room grew more intense, and all of a sudden Sheppard found himself sitting up in his bed, out of breath and sweating in the darkness.
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Sorry it took a while to get this chapter done. I'm moving 300 miles away from home next week to go to university, so the next one will probably take even longer. I have every intention of continuing this story though!
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Had to make a slight change to this chapter. New one shouldn't be long now.
