Hi to All... I know a few of you were waiting for this one...
On another note, after chapter (episode) 10, I will be in the process of moving house and although I'll still be writing this series, my postings will take a "mid season" break for a few weeks. This also gives me a chance to catch up on some of the other great stories posted here; I am finding out first hand how much time an effort people have to put into writing these.
Cheers, Enjoy!
SGU s03 e08
Standoff pt 2
Everett stood in General O'Neil's office smiling at the pictures on the wall of Jack's fishing adventures;
"How long since you've been fishing, Jack?" asked Everett;
"Too long...why do you ask?" Jack already knew the answer.
"I need some time to think..." Everett's words showed his deep thought.
Smiling to himself Jack replied casually "There's a spare 302 out the back..." having the same thought; he picked up the phone:
"This is O'Neil, hold my calls for the next few hours please...thank you" he stood up with a sly grin on his face saying, "Retirement...would be nice..."
The two men headed to the hanger, with O'Neil talking to the Airman in charge; they climbed aboard the F-302 and fired it up;
"I haven't been in one of these for a while, might be a bit rusty..."Jack had a knowing sarcasm about his statement as they taxied out to the runway.
O'Neil punched in some co-ordinates and started down the runway; then went straight up almost vertical for thousands of feet. Levelling out Jack and Everett marvelled at the high altitude view of Earth; they were only in the air for a few minutes before Jack showed Everett some new tricks of the F-302.
"Thanks to the Asgard, we can now do this..." he punched a code into the computer keypad, and a strange haze came over the F-302; it became cloaked. They continued on to one of the best fishing spots he had found; his own pond.
Everett asked "How are we going to land?"
"Like this..." O'Neil flew low and slow; engaged the vertical landing engine, and park in his driveway leaving the 302 cloaked. It would have looked strange to anyone as the canopy opened and to men appeared to climb out of nowhere 8 or so feet above the ground.
"Cool huh..." said Jack with a restrained smile on his face.
They walked inside his cabin, and got into some more comfortable "fishing" clothes. Grabbing the rods from the porch, they walked to the water and sat down on the old timber seats by the bank.
"There's no fish in my pond, you know that right...?" Jack just smiled at Everett and cast his rod, knowing he needed a friend to talk too.
Colonel Telford stood watching the alien ships uncloak;
"Colonel, Destiny's shield is still at full power; but if they all open fire at once that may change..." announced Dr Rush.
"How do we talk back, Rush...I want them to know we don't scare easily" Telford was calm as he spoke.
"Just talk to Destiny...like a person, she will do the rest; trust me" was his reply.
David looked at Rush with an unconvinced glare, "Talk to the ship?"
"Yes...talk to the ship, she is the smartest one here...Colonel" Rush was starting to get angry at Telford's constant mistrust; but David followed the instruction.
"Destiny, can we beat them in a fight?" he asked.
The CI screen before him answered "Yes, even if they are cloaked; although it is not the recommended course of action I wish to take, Colonel David Telford. Please begin negotiations to a peaceful outcome" Destiny was trying a human tactic.
Telford mulled this over, Rush agreed and told him so; "Ask why they want the ship Colonel"
He looked at Rush and slowly nodded "This is Destiny, why do you want the ship?" She relayed the message.
A few moments passed before the reply; "The ship is not yours to have: surrender now or we will open fire."
"Destiny is not yours either, so why should we?" David's tactics were attempting to confuse the aliens, or just make them angry enough to make a mistake.
The lead ship fired across Destiny's bow. Telford, now believing Rush, just spoke as he would to another person.
"Can we fire back yet?" he asked simply, and watched the message appear on the CI screen.
"The main weapon is armed and locked: if they continue to fire, we will fire back; please continue negotiations Colonel David Telford."
There was one thing Telford didn't understand, why couldn't Destiny just negotiate with them?
Looking at Rush he said "Why can't she just talk to them?"
"Isn't it obvious...Destiny doesn't want them to know she can... they are attempting to scan us you know. Try to offer something, information perhaps." Dr Rush was serious about it.
"We will offer you...medical information" still wanting to confuse them, he looked at Rush and shrugged his shoulders with almost a smile on his face; Dr Rush rolled his eyes, he figured Telford could of done better than that.
A message came back "Enough talk; prepare to be boarded"
"Destiny; now would be a good time...disable the main ship without killing anyone onboard" Telford was getting the hang of this, and enjoying it.
She opened fire with one short 30% blast from the main weapon, taking out the lead ships shields completely; then tracked to the next ship "Keep negotiating Colonel David Telford" was her next message.
He was a lot more certain about it this time; "As you can see, we have the power to destroy all of your ships easily, and can defend against an all out attack. If you want to share some information we will; if you keep firing on us we will have no choice but to fire back; make your decision" Telford wasn't bluffing about what he had said.
The bridge door opened, with Eli and Chloe coming in; a very shaky Maryann was now in Eli's quarters with Ginn and Te'arly who were doing their best to keep her calm. Chloe looked at the ships in front of them.
"Destiny disabled one of the ships, but that won't stop them" Chloe said with conviction, already aware of what happened.
"If we offer them something, they will only want more...they want the ship for themselves, I can't really see a way out of this..." Col. Telford was looking for ideas.
Rush was also looking for a peaceful answer "Colonel, this is like a Mexican standoff...you know, "who's going to shoot first" sort of thing. We need to make them back down without killing them or us."
"Where's Clint Eastwood when you need him..."said Eli not helping the situation, but working on the CI; "Whatever you do, we've got 2 hrs and 15 minutes before we can jump, so come up with something..."
The CI beeped and another message came from the alien ship;
"Information on weapons and shields, or we attack"
Colonel Telford looked at Dr Rush, "No way, not that...we might as well just give them the ship."
Chloe spoke "Stand up to them; arm all the weapons in full battle mode...call their bluff..." she looked at Telford with a sly grin on her face.
"Actually Colonel, that maybe the way out; call their bluff...if they could defeat us, they would have boarded us by now..." Eli was certain this tactic would work, so he added "Is that ok with you, Destiny?"
Telford smiled as all of Destiny's weapon systems fully powered up; she presented a firing solution on the CI screens that would take out all 12 alien ships within moments. A 30% blast had permanently disrupted the alien shields; full power would obliterate a ship in one shot.
Colonel Telford looked at the screen, and then to everyone around him for confirmation of the plan; "Destiny, if this fails to bluff them...we may have to use it; believe me, I don't want to start a fight with these beings if we don't have too."
A message appeared on the bottom of the screen "Agreed; please negotiate this with them Colonel David Telford."
"This is Colonel Telford of the Ancient ship Destiny; we do not agree to your terms" and stealing a line from Star Trek said "Do you wish to engage?" Telford was clam and composed as he spoke, ready for whatever happened next.
The longest minute passed; then, one by one the alien ships broke formation and vanished into the cosmos; just like that...they all breathed a sigh of relief...
Eli got back to his quarters to find Ginn and Te'arly hearing about him when he was young; it was a good move by them to keep Maryann's mind off what was happening.
"Is it over; are they gone?" asked Ginn;
"I think we held all the aces...in the end" his reply was low key for what had just happened, but didn't want to scare his mom anymore than she was.
Maryann jumped up and hugged Eli saying "You are so brave honey..." embarrassing him as only a mother can.
Ginn giggled softly with Te'arly at the look on Eli's face. His mom let him go as Ginn stepped up and did the same, except she showed her feelings with a very passionate kiss. Te'arly felt a bit left out not having Everett there for her, until a knock at the door. Te'arly pounced on "Everett" wrapping her body around him and kissing his face before remembering it wasn't him; she jumped back in horror as the realization of what she just did set in. Eli and Ginn just stared opened mouthed, having no idea they were seeing each other.
Holding her hand over her mouth she softly spoke; "I am so sorry...I forgot you're not Everett..." Te'arly wanted to just disappear into nowhere after that, as a tear ran down her cheek from her feeling of betrayal.
"You must be Te'arly...and its ok I understand; this can be pretty confusing at first..." Telford was a bit shocked but understood her reaction at what happened. He quickly concluded Everett was obviously sleeping with this woman, when he thought Everett would have been with T.J; as the realization hit him "Woe":
"I hear Dr Amanda Perry has made some progress with the treatment for your people" trying to change the subject to ease her embarrassment.
"Yes..."she replied composing herself "Varro and Tamara have also helped over the last few weeks, and they believe that it won't be too much longer."
Telford now felt a bit strange in front of Te'arly, knowing she had strong feelings for Everett; he excused himself after thanking Eli for his "help" on the bridge and left, radioing Lt. Scott to meet him. Te'arly sat on Eli's bed with her knees under her chin and began to silently cry; Maryann sat and hugged her for comfort whispering softly too her.
"It's ok sweetie, it was an accident...I have trouble keeping up too. It is really strange to be in someone else's body like this; he will understand...he loves you" Maryann wiped the tears from Te'arly's cheeks holding her like a daughter.
"No one was supposed to know about us...it was a secret" she held back more tears.
"Well its safe with us, we won't be telling anyone" Ginn looked at Eli as she spoke, he nodded.
Lt. Scott and MSgt. Greer meet Col. Telford in the mess as David was looking at the "staying" list. He read through the names after reading the warnings put in place about it; the usual suspects had signed up: although there was one name on there that really surprised him...
Looking at Greer; "I see your name is here Sergeant, you don't want to come back to Earth?" hoping he would say yes, knowing it wouldn't happen.
"Nothing left there for me Colonel, just bad memories...this is where I belong now; Sir" Greer used his military attitude to answer.
He looked at Scott asking "Why is this name on here Lt. Scott?" more of an order than a question.
"I don't know Colonel, I'm not sure who put that there; I will investigate it when General Young gets back" Matt had an idea who's writing it was... "Shall we continue the tour of the ship Colonel?"
Knowing they wouldn't give him an answer, he decided to let it go...for now. Scott led the way to one of the new devices they had found toward the centre of the ship in what they believe to be a repair workshop. There was a machine that Dr Perry had looked over, working out that it was a type of advanced 3D printer; as long as the raw minerals and other materials were placed in the "material input" end, the machine would produce virtually any inanimate object layer by layer. Apart from being programmable, it also had a "copy mode" that could scan an item and reproduce it perfectly. They had found out they could now replace ammunition 500 rounds at a time in about 5 minutes; but had to assemble the components themselves, due to the heat involved in the layering process.
They could also build anything from; replacement parts for the ship to cups and sauces, but were limited by the size that would fit in the "printing area" of about 2 cubic meters. Dr Perry had also realised that it drew a lot of power to produce any item, and that would need to be monitored while in use. Colonel Telford was impressed by the first batch of bullets produced by the machine; testing half the batch in the training range, found several decks below the ancient armoury in the belly of the ship. The Ancients had thought of everything when building Destiny; the men continued the tour into more military and civilian areas, including the armoury.
Colonel Telford suddenly stopped, remembering something;
"Why haven't we re-opened the stargate?" looking at Lt. Scott as he asked.
Matt moved to a nearby com on the hull wall and called the bridge; "This is Lt. Scott, can we open the gate yet?"
Eli replied "Um, no...we still don't have control yet; but I'll find out why and get back to you shortly"
Rush looked at Eli "You already know why...because "he" is still here, and I'm not sure if Destiny trust him after what happened with the Alliance."
Eli smiled at Nick as he opened the com "Lt. Scott, there seems to be some technical issues from the sudden shutdown...I need to test the charging capacitors and reset the emergency shut off in the gate room, it could take several hours, over"
"Ok Eli, do what you have to do, as soon as you can; Scott out."
Now that things had settled down again, Camille brought Lisa to the infirmary while MSgt. Greer was still busy showing Col. Telford around. Varro had been working on several different things over the last few weeks; aside from the antidote for Vanessa, he and T.J had been searching the database for anything that would speed up the process of healing Lisa's eyes. Using the information the Ursini medic had told them, along with several things from the databank, Varro was confident they had formulated something that may work. It was an extract from several of the plant species found in the dome; he used their different natural chemicals compounds to make a solution for an eye rinse.
"Hello Lisa, how are you feeling?" asked Varro;
"Not bad for a blind woman I guess..." Lisa was wondering where T.J was, but had come to trust Varro and felt he was being honest.
T.J walked back in; "Sorry I'm late..." she looked at Camille and Lisa "I have just found out we can make new clothes in the 3D printer they found. One of the scientists worked as a dress maker during college and is organising some patterns to be programmed in..." all three girls smiled; they haven't had much to choose from for quite a while.
"Now Lisa, are you sure about this...we know this stuff is safe, but they haven't put it on anyone's eyes yet. We need to test it on your skin first, just to rule out any allergies." Varro wanted her to make the decision for herself; he handed the small jar to T.J;
"Ok Lisa, I'm putting it on now..." she gently dabbed on a small amount to the back of Lisa's hand.
Lisa gasped as she felt the freezing cold solution touch her skin, but then felt nothing within a fraction of a second.
"You ok Lisa?" asked T.J
"Yeah, I can't feel it...it was really cold for a second but then...nothing" she replied looking in T.J's general direction.
"There is a small anaesthetic mixed in to dull the chill; it has to be applied cold, as it activates once it warms up to body temperature" T.J was proud of what they had created.
After about 20 minutes, with the three women mainly talking about finally having some new clothes to wear, both T.J and Varro carefully inspected the test area.
"Can you feel any tingling or pain Lisa...or any other feeling from the test area?" asked Tamara.
"No it's all fine; I could feel something after about a minute or so, but it just felt like a drop of water on my hand and then disappeared shortly after" Lisa wanted this to work, although she knew any detail was important.
Varro looked at T.J; "That may have been the compound activating at body temperature..."
T.J thought for a moment and then agreed "Possibly was, it would have been the right time frame; but we just don't know how it will react on the eyes, it may be painful."
She looked at Lisa and held her hand to get attention; "This is completely up to you; we have a neutralising solution handy in case something goes wrong, but it will be diluted to only 10% to start with. What we put on your hand was full strength, and you seem to have no reaction to it."
Lisa looked at where she thought T.J's eyes would be:
"Do it... I want to try something... I am certain" she said.
Varro and T.J prepared the wash solution as T.J explained what would happen; Lisa tilted her head down following Tamara's instructions. They helped her fit the eye cup allowing her to lean back and rinse one eye at a time. She could feel a slight tingle as she washed each eye for about 2 minutes each; T.J handed her a towel telling not to rub her eyes.
"It tingles a bit but only when it first goes on...I can't feel anything now" Lisa believed it was a good sign.
"Ok...That's a good sign: You'll have to stay here for about half an hour, just in case" said Varro.
Varro put his hand behind T.J's back and gave her a quick rub, smiling at her in hope that it would work.
T.J looked back saying "I hope so too."
Camille watched the interaction and had a feeling...
Matá's relationship with Dr Volker was moving forward. The two of them had formed quite a friendship and were now spending more time together, since he had been back on his feet. Dr Volker was still on "light duties" and had plenty of free time; he was now spending an awful lot of that with Matá. Being a bit homesick, they spent many hours together in the dome that reminded Matá of her own planet. They had talked about everything for a few weeks until Dale had run out of things to say. Matá, sitting beside him on the bench in the dome finally broke the ice.
"Dale, do you have trouble talking to females?" It was a straight forward question to him.
"Um...no, why" Dale was trying to sound convincing.
"Because...you have never asked me how I feel about you, have you?" Matá was very straight forward, but had gentleness to her voice.
"Umm...ok, I'm sorry; how do you feel Matá? He was almost shaking like a school boy asking a girl on a first date.
"I feel that you should ask me to be with you...that's how I feel" Matá replied with a sexy smile and knew he was really nervous; she just wanted to enjoy teasing him for a moment.
Dale fell silent and a bit shocked by what she had said...it had been a long time since any girl had shown interest in him.
Not waiting for an answer, she leaned into him and kissed him softly; then passionately on the lips. After she had "made her point", she pulled back from him and said;
"Does that answer your question...Honey?" she was picking up Earth language traits now, although she had no idea what "honey" actually was.
Dale was stunned; he had never had much luck in love, especially after what Greer had told him about always being "just the good friend". This was different; apart for Matá being an incredibly stunning woman, she liked him the way he was.
"Wow...that was ...wow..." Dale had no words to describe that, instead he got lost in her deep blue eyes; nature took over and he kissed her back with just as much passion.
Breaking the kiss but holding her forehead against his Matá smiled and softly said, "Please take me to your room..."
Dale couldn't get up off the seat fast enough, he held her hand and started to move fast; Matá held him back, slowing his pace.
"Let's just enjoy the journey, trust me it will be worth the wait...Dr Volker" she kissed him on the side of the face and whispered in his ear "Your my love now Dale; I'm not leaving for a while and we have lots of time..." She had the most sexy voice and smile as she held his hand and made their way slowly to his room...
Everett looked at Jack sitting there contemplating what he had just been told; finally Jack decided to ask him a question, after encouraging him to open up about what was on his mind.
"So, is she going to stay...or will you make her go back to her people?"
Everett turned toward the water; "I don't think she will leave" he paused to think and turned back to face O'Neil "And I don't want her too; but...if she chooses too, I won't stop her."
"Hmmm..." Jack took another sip of beer, working through how to explain this higher up the food chain: "I suppose we can say she has some kind of special alien knowledge; that might work..." He stopped dead in his tracks looking up; his expression changing: "Did you hear that?"
"Everett replied looking at the sky, "I do now!"
Dust started to blow up around the two men as the cloaked ship landed just near their own 302.
Jack turned back to his beer and shrugged his shoulders, putting down his fishing line; he knew who it was.
Looking at Everett who was still worried, he smiled and announced; "It appears we have guests..."
Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter climbed out of the 302 and headed toward them. Everett stood up and shook Daniel's hand, giving Sam a hand shake while pulling her close to plant a small kiss on the cheek.
"It's nice to see you guys again; how have you been?"
Sam answered "Busy, but well thanks...I hear Destiny has been repaired, must have made your lives more comfortable?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid we're still going to be there a while...you would be surprised at how many people now want to stay onboard..." replied Everett, just happy to see them again.
Daniel wanted to know something and got straight to the point "You spent time with the Asgard; I believe he was named after me?"
"Yes, called himself D.J for short...the other Asgard was called O'Neil" Everett had a confused look forming on his face.
Daniel was showing a similar look that was directed at Sam "Um...I have never met...him; or the other Asgard O'Neil for that matter..."
Samantha added to the conversation. "We do know that "a few" splinter groups split up to try and find a cure for their cloning problems, but they were in Asgard science ships. The one we found a few years ago was called Loki; Thor told us he had been caught performing illegal medical experiments before."
Everett didn't understand all the technology like Sam and Daniel. "These guys are in seeding ships that look like a smaller version of Destiny...but they don't have FTL drives; the ships open worm holes instead. One is called "Jackson" which is D.J's ship, the other is "The Samantha" O'Neil's ship...I believe his to be more a scientific vessel"
"But how did they get from where you were to our galaxy to find the Nox, and back again; in that time frame?" Daniel wanted answers, but asked kindly.
"I don't know..." was all Everett could give him.
Sam asked the next one, trying to sound inquisitive rather than interrogating him "Do you believe the Ursini have the same technology as the Asgard?"
"They are smarter than they appear at first glance, we didn't think they possessed more tech than us; I can tell you after spending time with them, the Ursini are a highly skilled and intelligent race. If they had put their heads together with the Asgard, who knows what they may have created..." Everett had come to enjoy the company of High Commander Ra'toli and Asgard D.J.
"Everett, we have to go... your time is nearly up..." reminded Jack.
"It's been good to see you again General Young; I hope we can meet in person again someday..." Daniel wished him luck as he shook Everett's hand again
"Take care Sir..." Sam gave him a quick hug
"I sure could use the two of you on Destiny...maybe we'll catch up sometime through the communication stones..."
Daniel and Sam walked back to their 302 and left. Jack motioned to Everett about his clothes, he smiled and said;
"I almost forgot how to change clothes..." he laughed with Jack and went inside.
Colonel Telford felt strange for a moment then found himself back at Stargate Command. Everett looked at Scott;
"It's me...how'd things go with Telford?"
"The usual..." He filled him in on what happened and how Telford handled things pretty well; "And Sir; he saw Te'arly's name on the list and questioned me about it..." Matt wanted to ask more; Everett put up his hand;
"I know...thanks for covering for me, I'll fill you in later..." smiling at Scott
General Young called Eli on the bridge "Eli, it's me is the gate working yet?"
Destiny had immediately unlocked the stargate, sensing that Everett was back from his "meeting";
"Just came back up a few minutes ago...I don't think the she trust him yet General" Eli chuckled to himself; he loved the fact Destiny had a "human" personality.
"Ok Lieutenant, get your team ready and we'll try again" with that he walked off to find someone; Ginn found him along the way.
"Excuse me General, could I have a word...in private?" she asked carefully not to be heard;
They moved into a nearby storage area and she told him what had happened with Te'arly, and that she might be upset, or "strange" around him.
"Who else knows about this?" he asked.
"Just Eli, his mom, and me...but it is not our way to gossip; in fact I am very happy for you two" Ginn's smile told him how genuine she was.
"Thanks, I'd like to keep it quiet for a while; and by the way, Eli's mom has to leave in about one hour." Everett thought for a moment then asked "Do you know who put her name on the list?"
Ginn bit her bottom lip, but answered honestly "Te'arly asked Amanda too..."
"How did she know about the list anyway?" curiosity got the better of Everett.
Ginn cringed "Um...we were talking and...I may have mentioned something about it..."
Everett nodded with a smile and thanked Ginn for being honest; she had earned his trust and he could sense her genuine love for Eli. Everett implicitly trusted Eli like his life depended on it; he was yet to learn how true that would become.
Everett continued to his room and opened the door; Te'arly was on the bed sitting, arms crossed.
"What did you say to me before you used the stones?" she asked with a firm voice;
"I...I think I'm falling for you" he replied smiling, without hesitation.
That was enough; she ran up to him and hugged him, holding on tight "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to betray your love" she squeezed him harder.
"It's ok...these things happen; the stones are very confusing at first...all this must be for you"
Te'arly let go and stood in front of him with a sexy smile "My love for you is not confusing..." she dragged him to the bed...not that Everett put up a fight...
Half hour later, Lt. Scott had a crew ready to go through the gate; twelve military personal in full battle gear along with six civilians one of which was Camille Wray. As the stargate opened Dr Brody picked up the transmission from the keno they had sent though earlier. As it had continued to record for a while, he quickly fast forwarded it through before giving the all clear.
"Ok Lieutenant, all looks well...a bit of a rocky clearing with some forest areas about 20 meters from the gate...temp and air are good" Brody didn't see anything wrong with the keno's Intel.
"Ok everyone, take two..." and he led the way through the gate...