Thanks to everyone following this story. It may be a couple of weeks before the next chapter is up, as I haven't had time to start it yet but it will come... Cheers

SGU s04 e04

Aqua

While Everett spoke with General Tuk'Tak, another bizarre discovery was taking place on the bridge with Eli and Nick; Eli had finally noticed something was not right. Amanda was talking to Camille about negotiating a truce, as Eli suddenly swore under his breath loud enough for them to hear. Eli rechecked his screen for the third time before speaking;

"Um...guys; there's no stargates here..."

Nick looked over at him skeptical of his comment: "What do you mean there's no stargates, Eli?"

A slightly bewildered Eli turned to Nick; "I mean none of the planets here are bringing up gate addresses in Destiny's systems; if they're here, it's like they're all offline."

Nick double checked the gate address systems; Eli was right, none were showing up. He abruptly turned his attention to Castell, still watching the action on the bridge. "So, what gives? Did you know they didn't have stargates on their worlds?"

Castell acknowledged Nick with a more civil tone; "All the inhabited planets in this galaxy, dead or alive, have stargates. Did you ever consider they might not want the enemy to just dial through a warhead of some description?"

Amanda and Camille chuckled at the simplest of answers; "He's probably right Nick, wouldn't that be an obvious answer?"

Eli joined in silently with Amanda saying; "That's a...pretty good reason to have your gate offline..." Eli's smile soon disappeared as he read the results of a scan on his screen; "O M G!" he looked at everyone in the room, "One of the planets...has a naquadria core!"

Nick said to all of them; "Franklin had been tracking the increase in naquadah deposits, from early on in this galaxy; he told me a couple of weeks ago the trail had been somewhat cold for a while." He gestured toward Castell saying; "You knew didn't you; the "aqua" is not water..." He turned to everyone, "Its naquadah!"

Castell put up his hands toward Dr. Rush saying, "Slow down my friend; I am only here to observe how you handle situations first hand, not to get involved. However, you didn't need my help in solving this one now, did you? No, you came up with that answer yourself Dr Rush; and I will tell you it is the correct one as well."

Nick shook his head in frustration; "You know it wouldn't hurt for you to give a little help sometimes..."

Camille decided she had heard enough of Dr Rush's constant criticism of people, and left the bridge.

The ever patient Castell just laughed at Nick's outrage. "If I told you everything, what would you learn?"

Eli stood there listening to what was going on; he could see the point Castell was making and understood why, saying: "He's right Dr. Rush; if we're given everything on a platter, what do we learn? I think he has given us more than we could ever dream of." Eli smiled at Castell.

Rush got on the radio, "Sergeant Greer, this is Dr. Rush."

Greer answered quietly, "This isn't a good time Rush, better be important." He mumbled in a soft harsh whisper.

Rush continued; "This is urgent; I need to speak to you in private immediately...please."

Greer swiftly moved out of earshot of Everett and Tuk'Tak, "Ok Rush, what is so important?"

Nick stayed calm. "Aqua is not water; it is naquadah. One of these planets, most likely theirs, has a naquadria core; that is what the fight is over. I need you to tell General Young immediately..."

Greer held a poker face as he heard the news, "Understood...Dr. Rush." He carefully walked back to Everett and politely interrupted him with a quick word to his ear; "Commander, we need your attention on an urgent matter for several minutes."

Everett sincerely excused himself, as one of the crew offered their guests some food and drink. "This better have a good reason Sergeant!" Everett said, not very impressed.

"Sir, their "aqua" is our naquadah; Rush has found their planet has a naquadria core..." Greer kept it sharp and pointed.

"Thanks; does anyone else know about this?"

Greer shrugged "Just the guys on the bridge I guess, it wasn't common knowledge..."

Everett promptly returned to his guests without any suggestion of what he had just learned.

"Is everything alright Commander Young?" asked Tuk'Tak.

Everett smiled "Just a minor technical issue requiring my clearance; now, as you were saying the Yulonia people are after your reserves of aqua? This must be a very valuable resource for many people; can you describe what potential they believe it holds?"

Tuk'Tak was careful not to reveal too much in his answer; "We have obtained information about their intended uses; they consider it to be a rich source of energy. We have not succeeded in harnessing any large amounts of energy from the mineral, other than that of its explosive power." The General went silent for a moment before asking Everett; "Commander Young, may I ask why you are so interested in what is taking place here?"

Everett was ready for that question. "We are explorers; generally we will investigate any unusual activity that our sensor array collects." He thought hard before giving away the next piece of information. "We detected your weapons and explosions against the constant radiation noise of space, some light years away from our current course."

The answer only increased Tuk'Tak's interest of the distance; "You mean years of light speed travel? How many...exactly?"

Everett decided the truth was best; "It was a distance of sixty parsecs; being that there are about 3.26 light years, or years of light speed as you say, in a parsec. That would make it around one hundred and ninety five light years."

Tuk'Tak eyes widened as he grasped the figures Everett had said, but he wasn't finished with his questions yet. "How long did it take you to travel that extraordinary distance?"

Everett's expression remained very matter of fact; "Just over seven hours..."

Tuk'Tak went silent as the figures went through his head. "Your ship can travel at nearly half a light year per moment?" He was almost at a loss for words. "How... How is that even possible?"

Everett smiled before saying, "Which brings us to the point exactly; you will never find out if both sides are intent on destroying one another. Our technological advance was assisted by other races; some within our own galaxy, some from other galaxies. Our home planet has also had its share of wars; both from within different societies on the planet, and from other worlds. What we have today is because of decisions made yesterday, to always try to resolve conflict without resorting to violence. It is true that sometimes there is no other choice; for us, more has been gained by negotiation, rather than destruction."

"Well, Commander Young; it would seem that you and I are more alike than first appears" said Tuk'Tak.

Everett began to trust him saying; "More than you think. We were cautious with our first message not wanting to inflame the situation; my correct title is General Everett Young of Stargate Command and the Fifth Race Alliance. I am sorry to have misled you both."

Tuk'Tak sat quietly for a moment absorbing what Everett just told him. "Hmmm; I can understand your reasons. Had our positions been reversed I may have acted similarly..."He smiled at Everett and nodded his head; "Understanding accepted. Now since we are here, how could we mutually benefit each other; would you have any suggestions General Young?"

Everett smiled as Castell entered the observation deck. "General Tuk'Tak, Commander Dil'las, I would like to introduce a personal friend of mine, who is one of the leaders of a planet called Valeya, in this galaxy.

Castell walked up to the guest smiling in a diplomatic way. "Greetings; my name is Castell..." he automatically clenched an upturned fist and connected to Tuk'Tak's wrist in their traditional greeting.

Tuk'Tak smiled. "Have you encountered our world before Castell? Judging by that you're no stranger to our customs..."

Castell kept his diplomatic mask on for the time being saying; "Yes, although only through observation of your world...from ours."

Tuk'Tak and Dil'las looked at each other smiling but somewhat confused. "Excuse me, you observed our world from your own; did I hear you correctly?"

Castell just spoke as he does to everyone; "Yes that is correct. We have unsurpassed technology that even my friends here do not understand. What I am appointing too is that it is all within reach; so long as you two idiot races don't destroy yourselves in the process."

Everett's smile dropped from his face hearing Castell, but he knew him well enough to wait for the point.

Allowing this to sink in and observing their expressions of surprise, Castell paused. "I am not insulting either of you, but you have to understand the potentiality of what you have on your home world. What you are sitting on is a mineral which these people call Naquadah, which is only found in small areas of the known universe. It has huge implications as a power source for everything, provided you use it correctly; the biggest advantage comes from being able to dial a stargate into any galaxy in the universe, that's right I said universe!" Castell took a deep breath and continued, "The only thing you have made from it is slow ships and low grade weapons; even they are only using a tiny fraction of the potential power it can supply. You should have had ships with hyper drives or FTL drives by now, but you're wasting your time and resources on silly arguments about trade treaties..."

Chloe cut in over the com with some urgency; "General Young, Ori ship exiting from a wormhole to starboard; they're hailing us, Sir, and asking not to engage."

Everett quickly excused himself; "I am sorry gentleman, the ship that has entered here is everyone's worst nightmare... They destroy worlds for their own cause; you will be safe here, unfortunately if they open fire on your ship, it won't survive. I will endeavour to cover it with Destiny, please excuse me." Everett rushed off to the bridge with Castell in tow, leaving the men alone with Sgt Greer...

Everett looked at his friend Castell before they entered the bridge saying; "Honestly, what the fuck else is going to happen today; don't get me wrong, it is a privilege to be here..."

Castell cut in, "But some days are just a cluster fuck aren't they?"

The two men began to laugh merrily about the situation as Everett managed to say, "You've been watching too many Earth movies again; gotta love ol' Clint..." and continued to laugh as the bridge doors opened to the others' stares.

Castell covered their laughter well. "I never pick appropriate times to tell dirty jokes..."

Everett walked in blasé saying "Oh what the fuck do they want?" to the surprise of all standing there.

Eli was starting to believe something was seriously up with Everett; his whole attitude was so out of character from his normal focused reactions. "Um General Young, they just want to talk..."

Everett scoffed, "Huh, last time they just destroyed a world to stop people ascending; ok Eli open the channel, let's hear it.

Eli opened the frequency, and the Prior's voice wafted through. "We are here on a mission of peace..." he said.

With the channel open, Everett shook his head saying, "I don't believe you; when has the Ori wanted peace? You destroy people until they bow down to you; give me one good reason why I shouldn't just blow your ass away right now!"

The prior stayed calm and spoke very deliberately. "I thought you would be a more reasonable man to deal with, General Everett Young of Stargate Command. Why don't you allow this to be on screen so I can see you face to face?" The Prior gave away nothing; Everett smelled a rat.

Looking at Dr Rush, he got conformation of Destiny's weapons online without a word; her shields had already been at full capacity from the other small incursion. Eli had the V Bank readied with a firing solution, his finger poised above the button...

"Eli, put it on the screen... keep the picture up close to me only; I don't want them seeing too much..."

"Roger that...Sir" said Eli slowly as he opened the feed from the Ori.

As the picture of the Prior developed onto the screen, Everett was trying to work out the Ori's real intentions. They were not to be trusted under any circumstances; his fears were soon realised as Nick sent a message to the screen in front of him:

"Subspace channels are being blocked, no communications with Apollo. Will try and dial Earth for short duration data package transfer; until then, we are alone."

The Prior spoke watching Everett's every move. "Oh I'm sorry, we seem to have stopped your subspace transmissions; now as I was saying, this is a mission of peace. We mean no harm to your ship or crew; but I do ask that you hand over the man beside you. I believe you know him as Castell."

A chill fired up Everett's back, but he held his poker face without giving it away. "I have no idea who you're talking about!"

The Prior's laugh made Eli and Chloe cringe; he was ready for Everett's reply. "We could play this game all day General Young; however I believe that we may hold the upper hand today..." He waved his staff:

Five more Ori ships suddenly appeared on Destiny's sensors, surrounding them; Chloe let it be known: "General, five Ori ships have dropped from hyperspace all around us. Another four are patrolling the battle area!" The tremor in Chloe's voice was apparent to everyone there.

"Let it not be said that the all powerful Ori are not to be fair; I grant you twenty Earth minutes to make your decision. Surrender Castell; or we will wipe these miserable souls and their planets from existence..." the image on screen vanished; Eli cut the com.

Castell smiled at Everett saying; "See, total cluster fuck of a day!" He began to laugh; no one else joined in this time.

Everett smiled back "I won't do it; I'll think of something, but you have become part of our family and I'm not going to let this happen..." Everyone there could feel the sadness in his voice.

"Ev; I think of you as a son and Te'arly as a daughter; but this is my burden to bear. I am the reason they are here; they believe that turning me into a Prior will gain them access to Valeya, and they may be right...but probably not. What they don't understand is killing me will make me even more powerful by ascension; I, unlike the others, am not governed by the non interference laws."

Eli asked Castell "But I thought once the treaty was signed, the Ascended were now free to interact with humans?"

Castell walked over to a clearly upset Eli and put his hand on his shoulder affectionately; "Eli, it's like the changing of the old guard: some do help at times, like Lady Destiny; others continue to follow a non interference life. The difference is, when it comes to your race it is now their choice to help or not. Often they want you to learn by your own actions, and will only give subtle guidance such as dreams; and as you know sometimes it is more obvious."

Nick told Everett; "General, the message is ready; it will send the moment the gate stabilizes with our I.D.C transmission, then close. If we leave the gate open too long, and they attack all at once...the power drain could be too much. Besides, we only have half a tank of gas which is still quite a lot, but not with the gate open..." Rush knew Everett was thinking about sending Castell to Earth to escape.

Chloe and Amanda finished their examination of Eli's firing solution; Amanda broke the news. "General, we cannot take them on here; I believe they know that too. The blast radius of even one ship would be huge and may set off a chain reaction with their other five ships so close. The people in this system would be wiped out by the other ships around the battle field. Even if we got to them, again the blast radius of one Ori ship would take out both sides of the battle." Amanda had a tear roll down her cheek adding weight to the realistic problem all of Destiny's new power brought; she wiped her tear before saying:

"Everett, we have no choice..."

They felt the gate come to life and quickly stop again; a sombre Dr Rush said; "The message got through...let's hope they're not far away."

Everett nodded his understanding; "Thanks Nick, let's hope so."

Castell said good bye to everyone on the bridge in his true affectionate style; "Everett, we must speak with Tuk'Tak and explain what is happening..." He headed for the bridge door, gesturing for Everett to follow.

Once outside alone Castell stopped time for the both of them; Everett looked at the frozen sentry guard outside the bridge in amazement. "I'm sorry to do this Ev, but it is the only way I can help. I need you to go to my world and tell Valhalla what has happened here. There is no address for my world; you just need to ask with your heart and hold out your hands, palms up toward the gate." Castell placed the palm of his hand on Everett's chest. "Focus on the feelings of peace my world gave you, and the gate will open; your race is my race and we have the same abilities within."

Everett felt a warm tingling within his soul as a peaceful calm removed the doubt from his mind, and sharpened his focus. "Wow...that helped... How do you do this; freeze time?"

Castell laughed; "I haven't actually stopped anything, just extended our moment. To everyone else, we have just stepped out the door..."

A distant scream of noise began to ring in Everett's ears like a freight train coming towards him, until he heard the guard beside him say; "Is everything ok Sir?"

Everett smiled "Yes son, we'll all be fine..." The two of them headed toward the observation deck.

Tuk'Tak and Dil'las were watching the Ori ships out the observation deck windows; Greer met Everett and Castell as they entered.

"Sir, what's going on?" asked a confused Ronald.

Everett's trust in Ronald Greer was unshakeable as he told him the truth; "The Ori have demanded we hand over Castell, or they will attack everyone here to the point of extinction; I'm sorry Ron, we have no choice..."

Ron turned his attention to the man he considered a close friend; "We can't stop this, can we Castell?"

"I'm sorry Sergeant; not this time. I do believe it may be my own destiny to confront the Ori in person; and like you said, we will not bow down to them!"

The two men locked hands and pulled each other together, colliding at the chest; Greer spoke quietly to Castell: "Good luck my brother, give 'em hell!" Everett could see the sadness in Greer's eyes as he stood watching.

Everett moved over to where General Tuk'Tak and Dil'las were watching out the window. Without turning around Tuk'Tak said to Everett; "Did you say they are called Ori? We have never encountered them before..."

Everett stood beside him watching the same scene unfolding; "I know; you would all be dead or enslaved to Origin..."

Tuk'Tak stayed silent for a moment then said "So...you have the power to defeat them according to Sergeant Greer; yet you have not, why?"

Everett played it cool but told them the facts; "They are too close for one, the explosion is massive; we could get one and get away but; there are four more patrolling the battle field, with orders to destroy all life. Then they will go to your respective worlds and do the same."

Tuk'Tak thought it through; "We cannot defend ourselves against them?"

Everett was quick to reply "They have captured or killed countless other races; as far as we know, we are the only ones with the technology to defeat them. However, from our current position we can't fire; we would risk destroying everything you know."

"Sacrifices are needed in war General Young; you should understand that..." Tuk'Tak was getting annoyed at this game.

Everett turned to face him directly and lost his cool; "General Tuk'Tak; they have demanded we hand over Castell to save your worlds. One man for the lives of yours and your enemy's entire race; now why do you think that would be a fair sacrifice? Because honestly, he is family to me and your people are out there killing each other over a mineral in the ground..."

Tuk'Tak looked over to Castell, who appeared calm with a glass of Jack Daniels on ice in his hand. "He must be of great value to them; I am sorry for my hasty words General Young. One man, for mine and my enemies worlds...you are right; it is a very unfair sacrifice."

Castell smiled at Tuk'Tak and held up the glass; he let go leaving it hover in the air without a word spoken. Tuk'Tak and Dil'las dropped their jaws as they watched Castell, guide the half full glass toward them; he gestured for Tuk'Tak to hold out his hand palm up, and gently placed the glass onto it. The two men stood astounded at this wonderful magic trick; Castell walked up to them, collected the glass and after drinking the contents said;

"Ahh...You know I have to travel across the universe to get a whiskey that tastes this good... now that is the real magic" he smiled. "The answer is yes gentleman; I will be leaving to save your sorry asses again...when you work out what that means, you may finally understand who I am. Good Day." He turned to Everett; "We're running out of time, I must see Te'arly first, meet you there..." He vanished.

By the time Everett made it to his quarters, Te'arly was crying on Castell's shoulder begging him not to leave.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart, this is something I must do..." he said trying to comfort her. He got up with her and gave Te'arly back to Everett: "I guess this is my stop; the three of you are going to be fine. Your baby will grow up in a unique environment; be sure to give him time on worlds to adjust to daylight as well. I love you both..."

Eli's voice came over the com "General Young; they're asking for you..."

Castell hugged the two of them together for a moment yelling "Group hug!" and vanished...

By the time Everett got to the bridge the picture showed Castell in the custardy of the Ori. The Prior's next words meant nothing to Everett:

"You have chosen well General Young; these people will be left alone... any attempt to fire on us will result in an obvious penalty..." the picture zoomed in on Castell in cuffs.

As Everett watched Castell spoke to him telepathically; "Tell Valhalla and Robina I love them." Everett nodded; and with that the Ori ships entered hyperspace.

General Everett Young of Stargate Command and all of their incredible technology, only had one thought as the last ship disappeared into the dark: "Cluster Fuck!" His best friend was taken from him...

Te'arly had made her way to the bridge; tears in her eyes she asked; "Why...Why can't we help him?"

Everett tried to comfort her but she pushed and hammered him with her fists; he grabbed her arms and held Te'arly close, as she surrendered to her sadness and clung onto the man she loved. The mood in the bridge was that of loss; the loss of a man who had changed everyone's life and helped to give them reason in all the madness that had became their world.

"General, the Apollo has just exited hyperspace; Col. Mitchell is asking for you..." said Chloe, her pain evident in her words.

"Put him through Chloe, thanks" Everett kept hold of Te'arly.

Mitchell's voice came through the com; "Everett! You guys ok?" Cameron's concern was unmistakable in his absence of formality.

"Yeah Cam, we're ok...they got Castell!" was Everett's seething reply.

Cameron looked toward Dr Jackson; "Damn it, they took him..."

Daniel shook his head; Cameron beamed both him and Daniel onto Destiny's bridge. "We have to stop meeting under these circumstances; it's getting depressing" Cam said as he shook Everett's hand.

Everett told him what happened; "Tuk'Tak and Dil'las are still onboard in the observation deck; at least the Ori caused a truce in their war. We may be able to get the two sides to negotiate on one of our ships..."

Cameron interrupted; "I'll take them to Apollo; the Asgard will help negotiate." He paused for a moment before adding; "Speaking of ships, I believe an old friend of yours is on his way; he has made some headway with the Wraith and managed to secure Atlantis from any more attacks..."

Everett smiled slyly "Telford; what's the name of his new ship?"

Cameron's trade mark smile adorned his face "The Armstrong."

Everett laughed; "Not very original, but well deserved by a great man."

Col Mitchell couldn't contain his joy: "They took him for a ride on the maiden test flight; to say the least the crew were more impressed with the honour of having Neil aboard, than he was. Telford sat beside him in the co-pilots seat and gave him the reigns for a while; they went for a ten hour trip around the solar system, giving him a close up view of the planets. I wish I could have seen his face..." Both men knew what that would mean to someone; especially him.

Daniel finished catching up with Dr Rush, Amanda, and Eli on the current situation before turning to Everett; "General Young, Col Telford is bringing the Ark of Truth with him; we believe they will try and convert Castell to a Prior, and this is the best way not to harm him."

Everett nodded; "Good idea, I hope it works. As you know, the Ori here seem more hell bent on destruction than conversion; they aren't the same as others we encountered with SG1."

Daniel thought for a moment; "It is possible they are resorting to more drastic measures now that they know they're not untouchable. You have destroyed one ship, and we have used the Ark on the majority of the others; there can't be too many left now..." As soon as Daniel said it, he knew it was a mistake to underestimate the number of Ori untouched by the Ark. "Maybe I'll rephrase that: we have no idea how many are still "Ori"."

Everett took a deep breath and sighed; "Well gentleman, and ladies; I have a mission I need to attend too..."

Cameron looked at him; "Where?"

Everett's eyes said it before his words; "Valeya..."

Daniel's eyes lit up; "I don't mean to be insensitive, but would it be possible..."

Cameron put up his hand to Daniel to stop him; Everett spoke instead. "It's ok, Cam; I'd be grateful for the company...Dr Jackson." He knew Daniel's curiosity would make him ask; "Be in the gate room in ten minutes."

After Everett had said goodbye to Te'arly, he met Daniel in the gate room of Destiny.

Nick stood at the CI screen; "And just how do we dial this world...exactly? There is no known address..." He said with a smile.

Several people had joined them in the gate room; Everett asked for quiet, saying to Daniel: "I hope this works..."

He focused on the feelings as Castell had instructed; holding out his hands toward the gate, but nothing happened.

"Um... I'll try again, this isn't easy..." he said.

Te'arly was standing to the side of the gate; "Just relax baby, you can do this; remember what he taught us..."

Everett nodded and said to himself; "Happiness..." A brain storm came to him; "That's why he said it was more important than I thought; it is the key!"

Everett tried again; but this time he focused on the one thing that brought untold joy to his life...

The gate sprang to life and stabilized; Daniel kept looking at the gate with an amazed expression saying; "How'd you do that?"

Everett turned and looked at him, speaking a single word; "Happiness..."

Daniel repeated the word; "Happiness...Hmmm" he bit his bottom lip and shook his head slightly, still not quite understanding; "Well it seemed to work!" he replied in a more upbeat voice.

Everett took a step toward the gate; Daniel followed. They arrived out the other side onto the same platform Castell had first introduced his family to them; Valhalla appeared from the quantum doorway of the bridge.

Smiling she said; "My darling Everett, it brings joy to my heart to see you again" she step toward him and gently placed her hand on the side of his face affectionately. "And I see you have brought the famous Dr Daniel Jackson with you; it is nice to meet you in person, Daniel." He words washed over them with a kindness in their touch.

Daniel put out his hand in friendship; Valhalla ignored it and hugged him instead saying; "You are such a gentle soul Daniel; your young wisdom has helped many..."

Daniel was a little unsure and glanced at Everett who gave him a smiling nod; he then relaxed and hugged her back saying; "Thank you Valhalla..."

She stood back, looking at the two men before her. "My husband speaks very highly of you, Dr Jackson, I am glad you visited; there is much to discuss."

Everett tried hard to keep his smile, but Valhalla saw right through it to the hurt inside his heart. A tear rolled down from Valhalla's eye; she knew why they were here.

Wiping the tear proudly she said "It is ok, my Darling Everett; I know why you're here; he sent you..."

Everett just nodded; the pain apparent on his face, as he tried to hold his nerve and not cry. "I am so, so sorry we couldn't help..."

Valhalla stopped him with a finger to his lips; "Shhh my Darling; I can feel your hurt too." She gestured toward the bridge; "Please come; we have much to discuss."

Tears began to roll from Everett's eyes; Valhalla took him by the hand and led the way...