Hello People. Thanks for your support and comments. I am not far off writing season 4 which will be entered as a complete second story, with any luck I will start the first chapter in Febuary. I hope you enjoy the twists and turns in this one. Thanks
SGU s03 e17
Deception
On the Ha'taks ship renamed "Justice" an evil Lucian Alliance Commander Decca Traise sat in the war room, speaking with his team of "Generals" aka warlords;
"Our plan has been activated; Destiny would have picked up the Ori signature travelling in the opposite direction. By now the Tau'ri will know that there is an Ori warship to fear in this galaxy; but we'll continue with our plan until they find the nine glyph stargate planet."
"Commander Traise...why not just take them by force, they are weak against our attack; Destiny's failing shields will not stand up for long against our weapons; we should act now!" said one of the lower command Generals.
Decca got up out of his seat and casually walked over to his General; at 240 pounds his six foot four frame toned from hours of training, was menacing to anyone. In one swift move he grabbed the General by the throat, throwing him out of his seat and up against the wall; holding him up with one very strong hand choking his windpipe, Traise reiterated his message in a hard cold voice:
"I am in command, and I give the orders; we will follow the plan: understand?"
With the warlord gasping for breath, Decca let him fall to his knees; walking around the table rubbing a large hand back over the top of his clean shaven cranium as he continued talking about the plan.
"We will stay out of sight as we have been for the last few weeks. The Ori are looking for planets to convert; I know General Young and his stowaways won't be able to help themselves, but to try and save any defenceless population from the Ori." He turned from his stroll and slammed his fist down on the table:
"Then we will strike!" his voice sending fear through the other warlords at the table. "We will board the ship with their help and take Destiny from the inside... We don't need to go through their shields" he said staring down the General with the hand mark around his neck.
Commander Decca Traise was an evil son of a bitch for a human. He ruled his post with an iron fist and would kill anyone found to be insubordinate within his crew; no one knew of his past, all bar the fact the Jaffa had held him captive and tortured him for six long years for crimes against Ra. He ran the ship like the Nazi SS of WWII, with spies and counter spies amongst the crew and officers; being paranoid that everyone was out to kill him didn't help either. His mind was now cancerous from rage, pain, and hate; eroding any trace of decency or compassion away. The Jaffa had shown him no mercy torturing and killing his beloved wife and two young children in front of him, believing he was the leader of an uprising against Ra. Compared to the simple farmer he had been in his early twenties; such was the devastating effects of Ra's torture. As the free Jaffa had now aligned with the Tau'ri, he saw their emerging power as a threat...
Back on Earth, General Everett Young stood at attention as the rain washed over the brim of his hat; three volleys' of seven shots rang out as his fallen men were laid to rest, each beside their other brother in arms. The rain on his face disguised the tears from the corner of his eyes, as he remembered their sacrifice for the protection of others; Everett was fully aware of the cost sometimes required for free will. Many before them had given their lives, and he knew for certain they would not be the last;
Freedom always comes at a cost...
In the back of the car Te'arly wrapped herself around Everett as he cried uncontrollably in private; could he have prevented their deaths, was there something he could have changed? All these things ran through his head as the tears dried up. Suddenly Castell appeared in the car with them;
"You did everything you could Ev, the men were well aware of the risks involved...they are soldiers my friend, and in the end they know what can happen. You must continue what you have now started; there are many worlds out there that will need protecting, even if they don't know it yet. You need to lead Destiny and explore the incredible universe we all live in; I trust your judgment, and so do others around you. Have your moment of reflection and sadness, but move forward; there is much yet to do..." Castell tapped his hand on Everett's knee affectionately "You are a strong leader; have faith in your own abilities...we all do" and with that he disappeared.
A few hours later on Destiny, Eli was with Lt. Scott and Dr Rush trying to explain in simple terms some of the weapon designs held in their new Valeyian databank.
"From what we understand," said Eli "there is now two blasts from Destiny's main weapon against the Ori ships. It is like the first one creates a weak spot, allowing the second to fully penetrate their shields and cause the damage."
Matt nodded his understanding "So it would be like they have no shields...and go straight through?"
Nick picked up the answer "We're not exactly sure yet ourselves; some of what Robina taught us was too advanced to understand fully in the time we had. I have to say, if it works the way we believe it does..." he paused for a moment and looked at Eli's face filled with concern;
"It would be like a nuclear bomb was detonated from within the ship..."
Matt looked at their glum faces "But that's a good thing isn't it?"
Eli sarcastic answer said it all "If you don't mind killing maybe ten thousand people all at once including women and children..."
Matt suddenly realised what he meant; many Ori soldiers have their families on board with them;
"Then let's hope we don't have too..."
They were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of Yoda saying "Ringing, your phone is: answer you must!" Eli felt a vibration against him and realised his phone was ringing "What the..." he answered "Hello?"
"Eli, its General Young; how are you guys?"
"Oh yeah...subspace link; General Young were fine; how's Earth?"
"Huh, about the same Son...Eli would Lieutenant Scott be close by?"
"Actually General, he is right here with us...I'll put him on" Eli passed his phone to Matt.
"Yes General, how are you Sir?"
"I'm good Lieutenant; I wanted to thank you for sending our men through with Castell. I have just been to their funerals a few hours ago...Matt, I..." he took a calming breath "I spoke to their families after..."
Matt felt the losses all over again "Thank you Sir, wish I could have been there too."
Everett continued "Cpl. Reynolds mother asked me how he died...I couldn't look her in the eye and lie about it; I took her and her husband aside and explained what happened...in every detail."
Matt went silent on the phone "What...everything?"
A hurtful smile came over Everett's face "Yeah...the ship, planet, and Greer's actions...everything...I know it's a breach of security, I just couldn't lie anymore."
"General, did they believe you?"
"In the end...yes; but it did take a while. I told them that more of this will come out over the next few months; other worlds, aliens, and ships, all of it. One thing that will be done on their headstones is that they served on the Starship Destiny, and gave their life to save the crew..."
Matt sighed "Tough day huh?"
"Yes Lieutenant...I have some more news Matt...We are allowed to dial Earth. I want you to get everyone organised that wish to leave; Earth will have the ability to dial Destiny within another 24 hours, I will come home then...Let's get these people home Lieutenant..."
Matt stood proudly at attention "Yes Sir!"
"See you in a few hours..." and he gave the phone back to Eli as he looked at both of them smiling broadly;
"We have permission to dial Earth..."
Before Lt. Scott made any announcement, he took the list from the mess and found Camille Wray alone in her quarters.
Matt knocked on the door "Camille, it's Lt. Scott; may I come in?"
"Yes Lieutenant..." she answered sleepily.
"Ma'am I have good news; we have permission to open the gate to Earth..."
Camille snapped too; "What; how?"
"Things must have gone well at the conference...we can send people home who wish to leave; but there's more. Earth will be able to dial Destiny as well, and from what I understand it's ongoing." Matt still had a smile on his face.
Camille was lost for words; although she had chosen to stay onboard, the thought of being able to return to Earth was very tempting.
"Have you told anyone else yet Lieutenant?"
"No Ma'am, only Eli and Dr Rush were there when we got the call..."
"Call...we got a call...from whom?" she asked
"General Young used the subspace link to call Eli's phone...it was a bit strange really; but we have checked the gate CI and the restrictions are deleted..."
"Well what are you waiting for...announce it!" she said impatiently
"Ma'am, we have to go through the list and be certain no one has changed their mind. We don't know yet how much power it will take to move that many people, or how often we can dial; Rush and Eli are working on it..."
Camille could see where it was going "Ok Lieutenant, I understand; we need to call a meeting for everyone and explain what will happen."
"I'll get on it..." He left her room and headed toward the bridge.
Elsewhere on the ship Lisa Park was sitting on an infirmary bed next to the ships lab; T.J and Varro where doing her last eye test for a while.
Lisa asked "Well, how did I do?"
Tamara smiled broadly at her "If it had the words "made in China" on the bottom, you would be able to read it. For lack of a better word, they are perfect 20/20 vision!" T.J threw her arms around Lisa as the girls celebrated the return of her full sight to normal.
Letting go, Lisa stood and walked over to Varro "Thank you so much for helping...both of you." She reached up and hugged Varro, planting a small kiss on his cheek; "I mean it Varro, thank you..."
Varro smiled as she stepped back from him "You are most welcome Dr Park."
Amanda walked in smiling; "And that's not all" she looked at a slightly confused Varro; "Eli has found something for you T.J on the new database..." she waited for her reaction.
"Well, are you going to tell me?" she said with a smile
Amanda couldn't hold it any longer "He found a cure for A.L.S..."
Tamara stopped dead in her tracks as tears began to form in her eyes "He...he found a cure?" she asked shaking;
"Yes...he found the cure; Eli and Dr Rush have transferred the data to Destiny's medical library, we can start synthesizing it immediately" Amanda walked up to T.J and hugged her as their tears flowed freely...
Camille had caught up with Vanessa, stealing a few intimate moments while she was on duty to celebrate. Matt was on the bridge talking to Franklin and Brody, subconsciously running his fingers through Chloe's hair as he stood beside her; Ginn was sitting at the forward CI resting one hand on her now pronounced belly.
Matt finished what he was saying "Ok, here we go..." Chloe opened the com for him.
"Attention all personal, there will be a meeting in the gate room in ten minutes, Scott out."
Back on Earth; only a day had passed since the meeting, but change was rapid. People from all over the world who were leaders in industry, science, infrastructure, engineers, IT professionals, and many others were contacted to attend a meeting in the United States, ordered by the President; "no" was not an acceptable answer, and some people took a lot of convincing that this was real. It would take several days to fly in some of the people in the more remote areas, before the meeting could start. They would be the first of the general public to be introduced to Earth's new intergalactic allies, and the awaiting technology; it had begun.
Plans were now in place to add some Asgard and Ancient upgrades to the ALMA telescopes in Chile; this would allow vision of planets around nearby stars in our galaxy, two of which had human populations on Earth like worlds. It would be announced to the world that we had found life supporting planets outside of our own solar system; it was a place to start from, and would help to remove any doubt about the existence of other life. It was explainable in a straightforward manner; to produce an atmosphere of breathable oxygen, water convection and filtering would be required. Oceans, clouds, rain, energy from the sun, and plant life; mankind finally would get proof of life outside of our own planet, broadcast to the world on main stream media.
Everett and Te'arly were staying on base at the SGC; Castell was still there, for no real apparent reason although he had been in talks with General O'Neill that he kept private. He knocked on Everett's door;
"It's me...may I?" he asked in a light hearted tone.
"It's open..." said Te'arly.
Castell walked in and sat at the table; looking at both of them, Everett could see something behind his eyes and asked;
"What is it, Castell...you don't seem happy today?"
His face turned serious as he sighed "You know I love both of you very much, but I am afraid..."
"You don't strike me as the afraid type, what is it?" Asked Everett;
"Ev, one thing all Valeyians understand is that we learn by living; I know that you have a saying here that goes: life doesn't always give you what you want; but it always gives you what you need. It is difficult for me not to interfere and help everyone who needs help; but even more so when it is a friend."
Everett looked at Te'arly and back to Castell "I'm not sure I follow; what are you trying to tell me?"
Castell wanted to protect both of them but knew he couldn't; "I cannot tell you, and it pains me that I can't. All I can say is trust yourself and your instincts, and have faith in your love for each other. You will be proven right about something you said while staying with us; "the calm before the storm". Destiny will be in the eye of the hurricane my friend, and I cannot help you, no matter how much I want too."
Everett looked at the man in front of him, who he now trusted with his life; "I had a feeling something was coming, I probably could have used your help..." he smiled at Castell "I learned long ago that you can't win every battle; just so long as you win the war. Whatever it is we'll face..." he grabbed Te'arly's hand under the table "We will face it together..."
Castell stood as they followed, and moved around the table to them; he placed a kiss on Te'arly's cheek and gave Everett a hug "The gate is ready...let's go home..." he said solemnly.
As they arrived at the gate room Jack was standing there in his SG1 uniform; he watched as Everett smiled and nodded as he walked through the door;
"Come on, you don't expect me to just sit here and not check out this ship of yours...with my own eyes?" said Jack;
Everett laughed "Does this mean you're in charge Jack?"
"Hell no...From the sounds of it, she's your ship now..."
The ninth chevron locked as the gate sprang to life; Destiny dropped out of FTL as Matt readied his men. As the IDC was transmitted and Lt. Scott gave the ok, Jack looked at the three other people standing beside him; just like old times he thought to himself as they walked through the event horizon.
Lt Scott snapped to attention along with his men at the sight of General O'Neill in the gate room.
"At ease Lieutenant..." said Jack
"Sir welcome aboard Destiny, it's good to see you again General" said Matt
Castell walked up to Lt. Scott and held out his hand "Thank-you for your trust in me..."
Matt smiled "You're welcome...see you 'round sometime"
Castell turned around the room saying "Well ladies and Gentlemen I bid you good day...I believe my wife may think I've overstayed my welcome..." and waved the gate to life.
He caught Everett's eye as he was about to leave "Trust and love my friend...the keys to happiness" and with that he was gone.
Jack looked at Everett saying "He has got to be the most unusual alien I have ever met. Now, down to business; will you show me this damn databank he was raving about too me?"
"He told you hey? I figured that may have been what he spoke to you about..." he replied
"Well that and a few other things they may be willing to help with."Jack mused, then got serious "Everett, the only people who know about this is me and the people on this ship...and I think it would be best if it stayed that way for a while, don't you?"
"What about the ones who will go back" asked Everett?
"They will have to be debriefed and told to not talk about it to anyone"
People started to gather in the gate room who wished to leave; only a couple of them were military, the rest were civilians. Everett and Jack climbed the stairs and got everyone's attention.
Jack did the talking "No one here is under duress to remain, civilian or military; for those military personal; I'll even do the paperwork myself... There are no hard feelings about any of this; more importantly, we will have a rotating roster every three months if you so choose to want to come back. This goes for all personal; I understand that a lot of you wish to stay permanently, you will be offered leave if you so wish. Again this choice is yours alone to make...Dr Brody, please open the gate to Earth."
For the first time in Destiny's long life of travel through the universe, Earth was dialled.
The vortex stabilized and thirty eight people returned home; the Stargate closed after confirmation from SGC all were safe.
Jack looked at Everett "Well that takes care of that problem; let's go have a look at what I'm here for" and just like that, nearly half the crew had left Destiny for good.
General O'Neill toured the ship starting with the bridge and ending at the Valeyian database, where Eli and Nick explained what they could about how much information was really there.
He had become more casual with them and told them to call him Jack "So when they ascend, they're not leaving any of the technology behind; like the ancients did?"
Nick answered "Basically yes, that's correct; they won't ascend at the last minute, so they didn't want their technology to fall into the wrong hands after they leave"
Jack looked at everyone there "So they just decided to give it to us?"
Nick continued "I believe they know they can trust us; but that maybe why Castell warned about telling too many people for now. Out here on Destiny I guess they feel it is safe, being that we are only a handful of people; only one amongst us has the power to fully unlock all their technology inside."
Jack asked the obvious "Do you know who yet?"
Everett answered "We have been talking about who that could be and came up with three possible names; Eli, Chloe, maybe Amanda Perry. At best, it's just a guess."
Eli stepped in "General...Jack, um a lot of what we have found so far... we believe it may have more to do with our subconscious mind than actually what were looking for. I think this is why Castell said they'll know when the time is right; I don't believe we have much conscious control over it, apart from what we can already do."
Jack looked at young Eli the wiz kid "That does make sense; Atlantis has a lot of mind controlled devices too. That reminds me...can I talk to Destiny?"
Eli's had a huge grin on his face "Oh, yeah of course...just speak to her as you would to any of us."
"Ok" said Jack with his trademark dry smile "Um Destiny, this is General Jack O'Neill...um, it's nice to be able to finally come onboard. Oh, and thank-you for looking after everyone here; I'm sorry we landed onboard the way we did."
Suddenly the databank lit up; a holographic CI screen appeared beside Jack to everyone's surprise.
"Holy shit..."said Eli "How did we do that?"
A message came on the screen in English "You didn't Eli, I did. It is nice to meet you in person General O'Neill, and I was grateful for the company when the humans arrived. Is there anything else you wish to ask me?"
Although Jack was used to all kinds of technology, he couldn't recall anything like this "Are...um, ok, is it alright to dial Earth on a regular basis, and do you mind new crew coming onboard?" Jack looked at Everett feeling a bit strange; the reply didn't take long.
A schematic came on the screen along with several power readings, and some flashing areas of concern that Eli and Nick took a great interest in; and a message:
"I would prefer if you limited dialling Earth to only twice in any thirty day period. Loading on the power conduits will cause failure in several key gate systems if used excessively; my designer did not anticipate constant travel over immense distances. Short activations within any current galaxy will not affect the systems in the same manner. Any suitably screened new crew are welcome onboard subject to General Young's approval."
Jack nodded "Ok, thank-you Destiny"
A quick message appeared "You're welcome General O'Neill"
"She is very polite..." said Jack with a grin on his face as the hologram vanished.
Eli smiled remembering how he and Ginn were busted in the bridge.
Jack spent another three weeks on the ship talking, and exploring what he could in the time he had. Chloe had made a request that her mother be allowed to come to her and Matt's wedding; Jack agreed without hesitation, but warned that she would have to be onboard for maybe two or three weeks between dialling times. He wasn't concerned about the situation being that she already knew where Chloe really was, and had been informed of her intention to marry Lt. Scott.
Dr Volker, who had been keeping a very low profile out of Dr Rush's way, also had a question for the two Generals. Varro and T.J, with help from Amanda were running the final tests on the vaccine for the Artá people; it would be ready within days for human use. Dr Volker knew Te'arly would stay and not return, as she had discussed it with Matá several times; he didn't want to part with the love of his life either, and volunteered to take Te'arly's place. Besides, he also knew how to administer the vaccine and deal with any minor complications that may arise. Everett was more than happy for the exchange; Dr Rush was jubilant...
Chloe, Ginn, Franklin, and Adam were on the bridge chatting away about taking holidays back on Earth and catching up with friends and family, weddings and anything else other than where they were actually headed. They had changed Destiny's normal course and were headed to the other side of the galaxy, in search of several planets they had found in the new database; the planets were believed to have high readings of naquadria, and stargates.
Their conversations were suddenly interrupted by Dr Brody, when Destiny's long range sensors picked up a signal "We've got a wormhole opening up ten parsecs to starboard..."
Chloe was in Kirks chair and initiated full shields "Shields at maximum...Dr Franklin..."
"Main weapon is armed and ready to activate" said Franklin with precision.
Chloe opened the com "General Young, we have an unidentified ship exiting hyperspace approximately nine parsecs to starboard."
Everett jumped to the nearest com "What's or ETA Chloe?"
"Less than ten minutes General; shields are up and weapons are armed..." she replied
"I'm on my way" he looked over to Jack who was smiling at him;
"You know" he kept smiling, "it might be one of ours to collect me...but best to be certain" said Jack casually.
Chloe dropped the ship from FTL about 30 million kilometres away and changed heading for an intercept course, closing out at full sublight speed.
A message was broadcast to Destiny "Are you going to lower your shields, or do I have to come and steal my boss back..."; "Hello Destiny this is Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell of the Enterprise class ship Apollo 2011; we will be hosting a dinner tonight if any of you wish to eat some real food for a change...oh, and please lower your shields so we can dock with you."
Jack put his hand on Everett's shoulder "Told you, nothing to worry about..."
On a far more sinister ship hiding in the folds of space and time, careful planning was underway;
"General Traise, we are nearing the planet you wish to survey..."
"Excellent, re-enter and stay out of range until we know what technology they have..."
"Re-entering now Sir..." the Ha'taks ship glowed an eerie bluish white colour as they exited the wormhole.
Slowing to a near stop, the ship "hid" close into a gas giant planet and used their long distance scanners to look for any signs of technology around the planet. Finding none, the continued at sublight until close to the planets outermost of three moons. A more comprehensive scan showed very limited technology, but the all important stargate which appeared to be active.
"General Traise; the population and technology appear to be limited. I don't believe the Ori have found this world yet either, they would have found us first."
Decca opened the com "Is the Tel'tak ready yet?" he asked with a gruff tone.
"Nearly Sir, ten more minutes" said the engineer.
"You have five; stop talking and ready my ship!" Yelled Traise; the engineer didn't answer, he knew better.
The com opened up precisely five minutes later "Sir the ship is ready"
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it...next time, more work, less talk...or you will be a redundant part yourself!" Traise stormed out to the docking bay; the two men at the helm looked at each other, but knew better than to speak.
"Now, does it work the way I asked?" he said in a sarcastic voice.
The engineer answered "Yes Sir, exactly...just press the red button when you want the smoke to appear; it will last for about 30 seconds as requested Sir!"
Decca put a hand on the scared engineers shoulder "Good, it better not fail" he squeezed his hand, hurting his shoulder and then let go.
About an hour later Decca, another warlord and two right-hand men boarded the Tel'tak and headed toward the planet.
Decca reminded them of the plan "Now remember, we don't want to kill anybody or rape and pillage; I will kill any of you who compromise this mission, everyone is to be on their best behaviour understood?"
In a chorus they all said "Yes General Traise!"
They entered the atmosphere and headed for the small population near the gate; just before coming into view Decca pressed the button. Thick smoke began to poor out of the rear end, leaving a visible trail across the sky as they swept across the village and landed safely over a hill. They were nearly one and a half kilometres from the main village, which gave them time for the next part; they set the selfdestruct on the Tel'tak for 45 seconds. The ship exploded before the locals could get there; the four men dirtied themselves and tore uniforms to add to the crash scene. To the untrained eye, it would have looked very real.
It took a good ten minutes before the first of the local people arrived at the "crash" site; unbeknown to them there was a second Tel'tak cloaked, that had arrived 2 minutes after Decca landed the first ship. As with many well conceived plans Decca had counted on a few things not working the way he wanted; the biggest hurdle of course was getting Destiny to stop off near enough to open the gate. This part of the plan was where things could go very wrong for the Lucian Alliance, and Destiny; his crazy idea was to use his Ha'taks to lure the Ori to this world.
Decca believed in the goodness in General Young's heart would not be able to resist saving these people from the Ori; and if their world was to be enslaved by Origin, well he would just have to remove the people from the planet and onto Destiny. They would get four of their men onboard without firing a shot; what he knew but didn't tell his other Generals was that Destiny had been upgraded to withstand the Ori weapons. If his informant was correct at the time, she also had the power to destroy an Ori mother ship; having power like that at his fingers would bring heed to them all.
Decca contemplated all this as the farming family who had given them shelter and food lay beside them sleeping peacefully. After watching the father, mother, and their two young children for a while, he rolled over and looked at his right hand man who was also wide awake, and said with a whisper;
"No one is to lay a hand on this family, I mean it...no one" his man nodded a silent "Yes Sir" without question or a word.
All they were doing now was waiting for the perfect moment.