Wishing everyone a happy new year for 2012. The next chapter should be about two weeks away... enjoy.
SGU s03 e16
Conference
Lt. Mathew Scott stood at attention; his rifle held vertically with the muzzle at face level, in a weapons salute. Castell held the stretchers at waist height, in front of the stargate with the power of his mind. MSgt Ronald Greer was also in a weapons salute along with all the other military personal in the gate room, forming a Guard of Honour as Castell waved the gate to life with his hand. Breaking the silence, he said with precision;
"Lt. Matt Scott, please inform the SGC of our intentions."
Breaking his salute, Matt pushed the buttons on his IDC and contacted Stargate command; "This is Lieutenant Matt Scott aboard Destiny in the Valeyian Galaxy. We have three of our fallen coming home along with a Valeyian called Castell; could you please organize a collection detail immediately, over."
The answer that came back was surprising "Well I'll be...Lt. Scott, this is Lt Col. Cameron Mitchell, and how many of your crew are coming through?"
"Good to hear your voice again Sir; none of the crew are allowed through only our fallen and Castell. That's a rule we can't break Sir, no matter what."
Cameron shook his head "Well, I don't understand but that goes for a lot of things around here...opening the iris; they're free to travel through Lieutenant, Mitchell out"
"Thank you Sir..." said Matt as he nodded to Castell.
The three fallen soldiers soon appeared through the event horizon at SGC hovering at waist height, followed by a man dressed in a gold robe; his hands were outstretched beside him, his eyes closed.
He spoke in a soft timber of respectful voice "I am Castell of the Valeyians; I have been charged with the keeping of the fallen for their journey back to Earth, their home; who taketh these men from my keep?"
"I am Lt Col. Cameron Mitchell of Stargate Command" he looked for the right words "I will uphold their keep" and hoped they were it.
Mitchell motioned the waiting party to collect the stretchers; as they took hold Castell slowly released their weight to the bearers. The men draped in the flag of their country, were carefully taken to the morgue with military precision and respect. Once alone with Cameron, Castell sighed and opened his eyes saying;
"I am sorry for your losses Lt Col. Mitchell, and I was honoured to be chosen by Lt. Scott for their care; my people have the highest regard for any passing, especially our children."
Cameron didn't quite know how to take this man before him so he asked somewhat confused "What do you mean by our children?"
"Col. Mitchell, all humans are our children, we are your ancestors and have been for over 470 million years" Castell's mood suddenly went back to his happy self as he smiled at Cameron's innocence; in an upbeat tone he then asked; "Now where is this meeting I've heard so much about?"
"Hang on their Castell...I can't just let you walk into a meeting like that; you haven't been invited" Mitchell was quiet pleasant, but forceful in his response.
Castell stood there smiling at him; "Hum...ok, may I please go to the meeting Col. Mitchell?"
"Please Castell, I can't let you..." Cameron smiled back "please don't ask again"
"Very well Col. Mitchell..." and with that a smiling Castell clapped his hands together and vanished; he reappeared by the exit door of the gate room, turned and waived, then walked straight through the door like it didn't exist.
Cameron turned on his heal in frustration "God damn it; here we go again." Grabbing his radio he squawked "All personal; there is a man on the loose by the name of Castell. I don't think he's dangerous but please use caution stopping him; he'll be headed toward the conference room, Mitchell out."
A moment passed before a crackle on the radio came back; "Col. Mitchell, this is General O'Neill; he's here already, stand down Cameron its ok, we know who he is."
Cam threw his hands in the air; "How the hell did he do that?" he said in frustration looking at the solid door.
In the Conference room all the races had convened; Asgard, Nox, Ancients, Furlings, along with the Tau'ri. Also present were the Ursini High Commanders Ra'toli and Birateni; of course Castell had made an "appearance" in his comical manor. Everett was waiting for him to turn it into a comedy show, but Castell held great restraint and relaxed; turning the seat backwards he sat forwards leaning on the low back next to General Young.
General O'Neill was about to speak when Castell decided to get in first "Maybe some introductions will break the ice...General"
Jack glared at him "I was gona do that; thanks Castell..."
"Opps...sorry General O'Neill" as he slumped back into his seat and made a zipper sign across his mouth; Everett tried hard not to laugh.
Jack rose again and cleared his throat softly "Welcome everyone to Earth; some of you may not know who everyone is so I will go around the table." Jack had been briefed on who's who and introduced them in turn; "This is Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard with High Commanders D.J and O'Neill; next to them are Ursini High Commanders Ra'toli and Birateni; next we have the Lady of the Ascended and Lya of the Nox who will preside over this meeting. Also here is Jason from the Ascended Furlings" he looked at Castell who looked at him with fluttering puppy dog eyes; "And Castell of Valeya." Jack waited anxiously for Castell to do something annoying, but instead he winked an "Ok...I behave myself" look.
He then introduced the Tau'ri present "This is Dr Daniel Jackson, Colonel Samantha Carter, General Hank Landry, General Everett Young, Colonel David Telford, Colonel Chekov, and from the IOA Richard Woolsey, and Shen Xiaoyi."
Lya stood and recognized Thor "Supreme Commander Thor you may start."
"Greetings to all; we are here to discuss the Tau'ri's acceptance as the fifth race in the Milky Way Galaxy. We have watched them develop and traded technology with them for many years now; they have proven themselves worthy and understanding of the responsibility bestowed, by becoming the fifth."
Lya looked at Jack "General O'Neill may stand"
Jack stood: "Thank you for your kind words Supreme Commander Thor; we hope to continue our positive relationships with all who have attended this meeting today" he sat down again.
Thor continued "How has your government decided to explain the existence of other life in the galaxy and universe, General O'Neill?"
Jack looked at Woolsey who gave him a look of "I don't know yet"; "We have a collective of our best advertising people, psychologist, scientist, astronauts, religious leaders, and even science fiction writers assisting us with the best way to inform the general public. We believe that one way to do this is with a live documentary, on building one of the new Enterprise Class ships at Area 51; the public will be allowed to view the construction on a live broadcast, or in person at a viewing stand. We feel that a mass announcement would cause panic throughout the world; but I am open to suggestions."
Castell stood before being recognised, but continued anyway "Are you scared there will be a religious panic or mass hysteria by your fellow man? Have you even considered that many Tau'ri probably would just accept it and get on with their day?" he asked with a playful smile
Lya politely scolded him "Please Castell, this is very serious for the Tau'ri; I understand why you ask, but this is not your galaxy. May you refrain from any future comment at these talks" knowing she was powerless against his abilities, and his comedic behaviour.
"Yes Ma'am!" he saluted her; "Sorry Jack, I'll try and shut up"
Jack was getting pissed off at this point "Please do..." he retorted sarcastically.
Everett looked at his friend with a hint of a smile and put his finger to his own lips "Shhhh! please" he said quietly; Castell reluctantly nodded.
D.J stood and asked "General O'Neill, why do you believe the idea of a documentary may work?"
Jack thought about how to answer "Well...the collective feel that the best market to start acceptance with is our younger generation, particularly as they tend to use new social media's available today to communicate. On mass they tend to accept changes, especially in technology, far more rapidly than the older generations. If they are introduced to alien technologies today, it would become common place mainstream tech within the younger communities in months."
Castell was tempted to clap but Everett caught him and placed his hand over Castell's with a look of "no".
Everett stood to make a point "Young Eli Wallace had no idea about the stargate, other races, or intergalactic ships for that matter; yet his acceptance of his own circumstances was taken with relative ease after a few days. This is one of the reasons we feel that the younger generation should be informed first; they do accept change to the normal far quicker than those set in their ways."
Lya looked at the Ascended Lady "You wish to comment?"
"What is your feeling Dr Daniel Jackson...do you agree with this way of discloser?"
Daniel had some different views, but did see merit in what they were saying "I don't know that there is any one way to tell people; there is a good point made in the fact that the younger generation do accept the unusual better than older people. I believe it is of the utmost importance to make people feel safe; we don't want them believing we're being invaded from outer space. It is within our human history of how the different continents were discovered on the planet; to those indigenous people, white explorers and settlers must have looked like aliens at the time. Many people today are starting to believe that other life exists outside of our own planet; the more we learn in general about the stars and other galaxies, the more likely most people feel that were not just a singular anomaly in the universe."
He kept standing until the Lady of the Ascended asked "You have more to add Dr Jackson?"
Daniel took a breath for a moment and put his hand to his chin as though he was stroking a beard; "The biggest issue I can see is the extremist leftwing, rightwing throughout the world; some of them today won't even accept that the Earth is around four billion years old. It would be naive to think we will get out of this without a scratch; someone somewhere will try to disprove everything as a hoax, and say the sky is falling. My biggest concern is that it doesn't start a war between nations; how will some of the "restricted" nations handle all this?"
"But Daniel, you are not asking them to disregard their faith or beliefs...only to see the truth that has never been seen before" said Jason of the Furlings.
Daniel continued "Yes that's true; but when the Ori were exposed to the truth, many that followed Origin became lost without it. Humans here have created deep seeded beliefs that are to some, unshakable; others have a more adjustable philosophical view that would accept change easier. People in general don't really trust politicians and governments to do the "right thing" and would be sceptical of any announcement, by any government that other races exist; especially in western society."
Castell finally opened his mouth again; "I'd go with the first idea, reality TV sounds like fun..."
Lya smiled at Castell and shook her head "Obviously you would...please continue Dr Jackson"
"I believe maybe the first move should be to admit the truth about the crash at Roswell in the 1950's, and reveal all military documentation uncensored on the internet in public domain; start with a simple truth and then go from there..." Daniel sat back down again
Lya motioned to Jason; the Furlings had not been involved with Earth like the Asgard and Ancients, but they had been involved with their share of human worlds before the Tau'ri.
Jason Began; "You seem to have some ideas with merit against a very difficult situation; Dr Jackson is correct in saying the transition will cause some upheaval. However there is another way: Using your new technology to rectify some of the atmospheric conditions around Earths best telescopes, with some minor "enhancements" they will be able to see other planets around nearby stars. Your own scientist would then make the discovery of inhabitable planets outside of your own solar system, giving even more credibility to some of the other ideas suggested" Jason winked at Daniel as he sat down.
Lya asked "Supreme Commander Thor, does this satisfy your question?"
"Yes; we believe the Tau'ri will find a peaceful solution"
Lya shifted her gaze to Ra'toli "High Commander Ra'toli you may have the table"
He stood and placed his bony hands on the table and looked around the room; we looked as strange to the Ursini as they did to us: "I am authorised to proceed with the sharing of the Ur'torina Drive to be installed in the new Enterprise class ships. This will give the Tau'ri / Asgard vessels unequivocal distance crossing in the universe; we know that one of these ships could intercept Destiny within a few Earth days." A murmur was heard as some of the Tau'ri tried to understand how it was possible.
"We will provide technical detail on the drive to Colonel Carter and her team, which will enable them in turn to teach the technology to others. Ur'torina is Ursini for Dark Matter so feel free to use which ever you prefer."
Ra'toli took a moment before continuing with the darker news: "There is a situation that has risen involving the theft of some prototype plans of the drive by the Lucian Alliance; although the drive will work, they failed in getting the upgraded data correcting the issues that caused several malfunctions. One of great concern is that of the guidance system being adversely affected by a defect in the wormhole generator circuit, causing it to lock onto the nearest power source when opening; this is the same situation that occurred with Destiny" Ra'toli remembered the look on Eli's face as he praised him for his actions.
Jack's eyes rolled as he came to terms with what had happened with a big sigh; "You wish to say something General O'Neill?" asked Lya
"Yes...how did that happen...exactly?" he asked
Ra'toli lifted his hands and shoulders in a shrug; "I am sorry General O'Neill; although we are more advanced, we still have some crime that occasionally happens. In this case one of the scientists was killed for it, after being kidnapped; he was one of the lead team in designing the drive, we have since found out that the Lucian Alliance was behind it all. We don't know his name; just that he is an evil human who left a trail of death along his path. I know several of our investigation team were also killed trying to intercept him; he is very cunning and well trained."
Jack could see Ra'toli had been personally touched by the event, but didn't pry to that side of it offering instead: "Would you like some of our personal to assist in your efforts to track him down? We still have various criminal issues on Earth, and many highly trained people to deal with this area."
"What can you offer General O'Neill?" asked Ra'toli
"Well..."he looked at the men sitting beside him "We have certain people that maybe...um...hiding within the Lucian Alliance ranks, feeding us information about...everything, except for this. Do you have any idea on how the Lucian Alliance got to your galaxy in the first place?" as Jack waved his hand around in a circle.
"They didn't; they boarded us while in the Milky Way Galaxy on test trials. A ship put out a distress call and we went to assist; it was a well planned attack and we believe one of our own was involved." Ra'toli sat down still angry about the whole incident. "Thank you for your offer; we will discuss it after the meeting" he added.
Lya gave the room to Asgard O'Neill
"General O'Neill there is a sensitive issue I wish to discuss..."
Jack sat at the table and looked at the faces around him, then nodded "Ok...let's discuss it"
Asgard O'Neill continued "As you know we have had some difficulty with our cloning techniques; in particular the ability to create our original form. We require some assistance from the Tau'ri to continue our research."
Jack nodded and politely asked "What do you need from us?"
Asgard O'Neill was direct as always "We require multiple batches of human embryos and eggs from many different gene pools."
Jack raised an eyebrow "Human embryos and eggs...ok; I'm afraid to ask but what are you going to do with them?"
Asgard O'Neill didn't change his demeanour "To recreate our race in the correct anatomical form, with full reproductive capacity. We will need to grow the embryos as vegetated units ready for a consciousness to be uploaded when matured."
Jack swayed gently in his chair as Castell looked to him and shrugged his shoulders saying "Curly one there Jack...opps...General O'Neill."
Jack's look said it all but his words were clear "Perhaps we should discuss this after the meeting...in private; there a few other issues to resolve first."
The Asgard bowed slightly "Very well General O'Neill, we will continue this later."
Lya stood "This matter will be solely between the Asgard and Tau'ri, with no further discussion here. Supreme Commander Thor shall we continue with the objective?"
Castell put his hand up like a child bursting to give an answer at school; Lya recognised him but warned "Stay on track Castell, and 2 minutes only."
He leapt up and started at Daniel "Dr Jackson, do you remember anything from when you were ascended?"
Daniel shook his head "Some patchy stuff but my memory was wiped clean as a punishment"
"Do you remember becoming ascended...you know when you died and all that...stuff?" Castell smiled
Daniel smiled back at him wondering why he asked "No, not really...why you asking?"
"Well...becoming ascended is something that you just can't do without a lot of...preparation. How long do you think you prepared for ascension, or did it just happen?"
Jack stood up "Castell, where are you going with this...what has any of this got to do with Daniel?" he asked frustrated.
Castell fired passionately back "Jack, it has everything to do with this...do you honestly think that all of a sudden you're the fifth race? Haven't you guys learnt it yet... it's not the "Way Too" it is the Way Of the fifth race, you my friends are already there..."
"You are the fifth race and have been for some time;"
"Look who is sitting before you offering technology and asking for your help to make babies; would they ask this if you didn't meet the mark, of course not!"
Jack looked down at the table and then up at Thor "Is he right?"
Thor looked down and bowed "Yes General O'Neill; the Tau'ri have become the Fifth Race of the Milky Way Galaxy; from this point forward all technologies will be shared, and the treaty shall be made effective immediately."
Castell and Jack sat back down; Everett turned to Castell "Is that why you came here...to help?"
Castell put his hand on Everett's shoulder and gave it a squeeze "We're family my son; and that comes first..." a huge infectious smile broke across his face, followed by Everett's. "Now once this is over, we'd better go see what mischief that girl of yours has got into..."
The meeting continued on for another two hours with everyone having a say on what would eventuate from now. There were to be more ships built with new unparalleled technology, some of which Castell himself had offered in shielding and weapons; his only request: that a team was formed to deal with the remaining Ori, and stop them from taking over anymore innocent populations. The logistics of this would prove to be more difficult than first thought; there was also the issue of the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy that would need attention. The first order was to assist the Ursini in tracking down the Lucian Alliance member who had stolen the Ur'torina Drive technology, and free any planets within the Milky Way Galaxy forced to join them.
The tasks at hand were excessively immense to be simply run by the SGC and IOA; more soldiers, civilians, governments, and other world allies would be needed to bring stabilization to the Milky Way Galaxy. The issue of the Ori affected nearly any galaxy they came across, which could mean that many worlds not yet technically advanced may need to be assisted for their own survival. It wasn't long before the task at hand was becoming extremely universal, and beyond our own galaxy. The responsibility of the Fifth race would come at an incredible cost to Earth's current way of life; which had now changed forever for mankind.
The Ascended Ancients were now free of their non-interference law with the humans, and would share their technology and even ascension for those of good character who desired it. This also meant they could retake human form and live among our race. The Asgard and Furlings would install devices to clean Earth's atmosphere and oceans from all pollutions; new clean energy generation techniques like Ur'torina generators would be used instead of coal or nuclear power, with the help of advanced alien technologies. Over the next few months shockwaves would travel through the population, as they had no choice but to come to terms with what was going to happen; everyone seated at the table knew that this would be the biggest hurdle to overcome. They had to find a way to limit any upheaval or violence; one thing that was offered by the Asgard was detection, interception, and protection against any rouge nuclear strike by missile or by hand.
The last thing at the table was a simple question by Everett "Does this mean we can open the gate on Destiny to Earth and allow those who wish to come home?"
The Ascended Lady stood and finally introduced who she really was "Everett, I am Lady Destiny; your people are on my ship... I was the Ancient who discovered the order behind the chaos; after some heated debate, Destiny was created to explore it and other worlds beyond this galaxy. Your people are free to leave if they wish...But I do hope that some of you want to stay and continue to explore the universe. I'm sure Castell would also want you to head the exploration and protection of the innocent against the Ori in other galaxies; Destiny has a new Commander now, and she has taken a shine to her human crew, and so have I..."
Castell smiled at Everett and Jack "Let's bring them home shall we?"
Jack came out with one more question "Sounds good, but we still can't dial Destiny from Earth so I guess it's only a one way trip?"
Castell looked over at Ra'toli; "Commander Ra'toli, would you like to explain?"
Ra'toli stood and looked Jack over, nodding slightly "We have an antimatter generator that can supply more than enough power to dial any galaxy you wish; where would you like it?"
Jack's face beamed at the thought "Where ever you believe it would be best suited...Thank you Commander" and with that the meeting adjourned.
Jack caught up with Everett on the way out and pulled him aside "The funerals will be held tomorrow if you want to stay another day..."
Everett nodded "Yeah, I will; they died protecting us...all of them; that's the least I can do. Have their families been notified?"
A sombre looking General O'Neill replied "They were informed when you first reported it, along with the fact it may take some time to return them home due to the nature of their assignments... I'm glad Castell was able to bring them back."
"Me too Jack, me too" Everett's thoughts were on the men lost under his command on both Destiny, and Icarus Base; he was thankful that some were able to finally come home.
Around an hour later, Everett was talking with Emily and David catching up on how her family was; there were no hard feelings about either situation, and she had been made fully aware of Te'arly's relationship with him after Col. Telford's last "visit" to Destiny. Appearing around the corner was a well dressed man who looked like the "men in black", with a long goatee beared and dark sunglasses; he was followed in toe by two women, both stylishly dressed for an evening on the town. Te'arly scurried up to Everett in heels and tight dress, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a decent kiss on his cheek.
Everett hugged her back and looked at Castell who had his arm around Cpl. Briggs's waist; placing a finger to his lips he said "Shhhh...Don't tell my wife..." he laughed and let go of Jane's waist, allowing her to return to her office and promptly introduced himself to Emily; taking her hand and kissing it gently; "My name is Castell from Valeya."
Before Emily could speak Castell hopped back up and rested an Elbow on Everett's shoulder looking at Te'arly and Cpl. Briggs. "Pretty hot don't you think?" Everett just shook his head as David tried to make sense of this clown from another world in front of him. He shifted his gaze to David "Col. Telford; you have some friends who speak very highly of you...made quite an impression on the Ursini; has you wife met with Commander Ra'toli yet?"
Telford stuck to the military line "Um, no she doesn't have the clearance to meet them"
Everett could see what was going to happen a mile away and looked to Emily "You know all those aliens you see on TV shows...be prepared to meet them...he won't take no for an answer..."
In the next moment, both D.J and Ra'toli walked out of the room at Castell's telepathic request, and introduced themselves to Emily and Cpl. Briggs. Emily's hands shook as Ra'toli gently reached out to her saying;
"It's ok, you look as strange to us as we do to you, Emily" as he shook her hand softly.
D.J was very diplomatic toward them all "I understand it is a shock for you to meet beings from other worlds that look very different from humans; long ago our race had similar physical form. You should be proud of the men that stand before you; together they have helped save many lives on other worlds, and your own."
Emily wasn't sure what to say or how to even react; she looked at David who nodded knowingly at what D.J had said, then she replied "Thank you; I am proud of both of them."
Ra'toli looked at D.J "Commander, it is time..." and with that a flash of white light engulfed the hallway as the Asgard and Ursini commanders beamed back to their respective ships.
Emily sat there opened mouthed before finally saying "Where did they go?"
David sat beside her "Do you remember the old TV show Star Trek... you know the line, "beam me up Scotty"?" Emily nodded; "Well...that was it; for real..."
To take Emily's mind off what had happened, Te'arly introduced herself openly; "Hello Emily, I am Te'arly…" as she gently shook her hand.
Emily cast a quick glare at Everett before answering her "It's nice to meet you Te'arly; that's a very nice outfit you're wearing…" Everett detected a hint of jealousy in her tone.
Te'arly was a very intelligent woman and played down Emily's comment replying "Thank you, we do not have any such clothing from where I am from…"
Emily had to ask "And where are you from Te'arly?"
"I come from the Artá people in the Valeyain Galaxy, across the other side of the universe" to be honest, the Artá had never named their galaxy; Castell gave her a wink for her quick thinking.
General O'Neill walked down the hallway and looked at the bazar quartet before him of Everett, David, Te'arly, and Emily…and then there was that strange but happy Castell, who he walked up to and asked professionally "Castell, could I see you in my office…please; um, no tricks this time."
Castell put on his diplomatic front "Of course General, I will behave" and walked off with him.
David looked at Everett "What's that all about?"
He replied "I have no idea, but with Castell it could be anything…"
Telford smiled "He is a strange one alright…unbelievable technology and abilities, but he acts like a clown."
Everett could understand his reaction saying "I hope you get to visit their planet before it is gone, they are the most sincere, kind, and philosophical people I have ever had the honour to meet; he will tell you that happiness is the key to life, and I'm starting to see why."
David nodded but his eyes said he didn't yet understand what his friend had just told him; he changed the subject "The funerals will be at ten tomorrow; I assume you will be attending?"
Everett gave a nod "They were under my command, and died saving my crew; I'll be there…" He looked at Te'arly as Corporal Briggs returned, still dressed for a night out.
"Are you ready Te?" she asked Te'arly in a happy tone, unaware of Everett's more sombre mood.
Te'arly looked at Everett and could see and sense the sadness behind his smile "I won't go if you don't want me too…" she placed her arm around his waist.
"No honey, its fine really…but be careful out there; a lot of guys will try and take advantage of you…make sure you stay near Corporal Briggs, Earth has some nasty people too" he was concerned, but wanted her to enjoy the experience. "Oh, don't have too much alcohol…remember what happened last time…" he smiled at her and cuddled Te'arly into him "I love you."
Castell appeared around the corner "Sorry I'm late, I couldn't let these two girls go on the town without me…" he turned to Everett with a serious look "I will protect them with my life Ev; have no fear."
"You better; or I'll kill you…" Everett gave him a nod of implicit trust; he knew Castell was a man of his word.
Across the other side of the universe plans were in place that would test the courage of Destiny's crew and Everett's judgment; they had failed once in taking Destiny, and learnt from their lessons. However, there was one man of the Lucian Alliance who even they feared themselves; he had made the journey with help from technology stolen from the Ursini and Asgard. He was unfazed by the lives he'd taken while "acquiring" Ur'torina Drive plans;
And he was intent on taking Destiny for himself…