Chapter 22

Coming of Age

***Ida Galaxy (Asgard Territory)***

**Orilla (En Route)**

*USS Odyssey (Gym)*

After the stress of the past… what had it been? A month and a half? Two months? Three? Hell, Cameron couldn't even keep it straight in his head anymore. They had been with the Colonials for a while, that much he knew for certain. Not anymore though. Now they were traveling with the Asgard to Orilla and that was going so much smoother than anything else had in the past few weeks. Still, Cameron found himself needing to blow off some steam so he had challenged Teal'c to a duel.

The gym was a room with various workout equipment and machines set around a square area marked off on the floor. Dressed in sweats and tee-shirts, Teal'c and Cam were the only ones there. They were sparing with Sodan training sticks within the square when they came to an impasse, sticks crossed.

"This vessel does not have a pool," Teal'c calmly stated.

"I was talking about the gambling variety," Cam replied before shoving off.

They parried for a few more seconds, until Teal'c hit Cameron in the lower back. Cam grabbed his back, and Teal'c stepped away to allow him to recover. "I do not wish to speculate," the old Jaffa said.

"He only said it was something important. You're not the least bit curious?" Cam asked.

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, "but I would not risk a wager."

He took another swing at Cameron, who ducked the blow with a yelp of alarm.

*USS Odyssey (Auxiliary Room Three)*

The Odyssey had several rooms that weren't furnished beyond a table with chairs. These could be used to house meetings if the Conference Room was taken, damaged, or otherwise not available. They could be used for storage, or, as this room was currently, they could be used for impromptu parties. Inside of the room were balloons, streamers, and a cake. Where they managed to get party decorations from while on a warship was beyond Daniel, but, then again, this was Vala they were talking about.

"You never cease to amaze me," Daniel said with a shake of his head.

"Moral was a little low, I'm just helping to fix that," Vala replied with a smile. "It's your birthday?!" Vala asked loudly in a shocked tone before practically shouting, "Happy birthday, Daniel!" That had everyone in the room looking at the duo expectantly.

"It's not my birthday," Daniel assured them before leaving the room.

"Hey!" Vala called after him as she followed him out of the room. "We made a weird cat piñata thingy."

With a sigh, Daniel turned to face her. "I told you to bring something to amuse yourself. I didn't mean me or the crew."

"But they won't believe that it's my birthday… again," Vala replied nervously.

"Not my problem," Daniel replied. "Just stick to celebrating the fact we're alive and stop making stuff up. You don't have to impress these people, Vala. Being on SG-1 impresses them enough."

Daniel turned to leave and Vala called after him again. "Being stuck on this ship is worse than being stuck at the SGC. I-I-I tell you, the last time I was this bored, I took hostages!"

"I was there," Daniel replied without looking back.

*USS Odyssey (Bridge)*

"Major?" General O'Neill asked as he walked onto the Bridge with Colonel Davidson right behind him.

"We're approaching the coordinates, sir," Marks replied.

"Drop us out," O'Neill ordered before turning back to Davidson. "That's about all I can tell you given your clearance levels."

"I command one of two Battlecruisers currently flying under the banner of the USAF and I don't have the clearance to know where Colonel Viride comes from?" Davidson asked, more than a little off put by that logic.

"Well, Ian, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much…" Jack began.

"Sir, with all due respect, he's stranded with the Colonials because of me. The least you can do is tell me that's he's going to take care of my people!"

"Yes, Ian, Oliver is perfectly capable of watching over twenty technicians. I know this because he's directly responsible for the wellbeing of two-hundred men and women from multiple nations across the globe with a few aliens thrown into the mix just for good measure. Your people are safe, Colonel, you have my word."

"You'd trust him with the lives of SG-1?" Davidson asked.

Jack smiled at that. "I did, and it paid off," the General replied as they dropped out of hyperspace.

"We're being hailed. The Asgard are requesting permission to beam aboard, sir," Marks reported.

"Granted," O'Neill replied as the rest of SG-1 walked onto the Bridge.

A flash of light deposited an Asgard before the Bridge crew. "Greetings, and welcome to Orilla," Thor greeted them.

"Thor!" Carter exclaimed happily. "Thanks for pulling our asses of the fire!"

"Hello, Colonel Carter. It is good to see you and the rest of the Odyssey's crew alive and well," Thor replied.

Leaning in to whisper to Daniel, Vala asked, "Out of curiosity, how can you tell the difference?" Not having met any Asgard in her time with SG-1, she wasn't privy to the ways everyone told them apart.

"It's the voice," Daniel replied. "Well, you already know Jack, Sam, and myself. This is Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron Mitchell, the current leader of SG-1, and this is Vala Mal Doran. She's… well, Vala."

"Hey!" Vala exclaimed while slapping Daniel on the arm.

"Greetings," Thor replied with a blink of his big eyes.

"So, Thor, how you been? Haven't heard from you in a while," Jack said.

"I am sorry. I have been otherwise occupied. As mentioned in our communication, the High Council wishes to meet with you to explain in greater detail, but there is not much time. General, with your permission, a number of Asgard are prepared to beam aboard immediately to begin installing various technological upgrades to this ship," Thor replied. "We will also begin repairing any damage not corrected by the Cursor and install upgrades to the outer hull as well."

"I hope it's ray guns. I got ray guns in the pool," Cam said to Teal'c.

"What is it you're planning on giving us?" Jack asked.

"Everything we have and know," Thor replied simply.

"By that, you mean…" Vala prompted.

"Everything," Thor said again. "All our most current technology. All our knowledge."

That had the Bridge sitting in a silence so complete the humming of the life-support systems was the only audible sound.

"Sorry, we're just a little stunned. I mean, why are you doing this? You've always resisted in the past. You always said we weren't ready," Daniel finally broke the silence.

"Indeed. Many Asgard still believe that," Thor confirmed.

"So what's changed?" Colonel Davidson asked.

"As a race, we are dying. Very soon, we will all be gone." Normally the neutrality in an Asgard's voice was frustrating. Here… it was just plain sad.

**Orilla (Orbit)**

*USS Odyssey (Engine Room) [a few hours later]*

"The Asgard Computer Core is equipped with its own power source that will not infringe on your ship's ZPM. However, when the upgrades are complete, the Core will be fully integrated into all the ship's systems," Thor explained.

"There must be something more you can do," Sam said.

"I assure you, we are providing you with all the latest Asgard technology, as well as a knowledge base, including our entire recorded history," Thor replied with another blink of his big black eyes.

"That's not what I was talking about," Sam immediately countered. She didn't want the Asgard to think she was blowing them off for tech.

"Everything that can be done, has been done. The final attempt to solve our physiological degeneration has left each of us with a rapidly progressing disease," Thor elucidated. "If you like, you'll be able to interface with the Core using a holographic representation of me, or any other Asgard on record in the knowledge base.

"I'm sorry, but that just won't be the same," Sam said sadly as she tried to keep working through the depression she was sinking into.

Thor actually managed to look insulted by her words. "I have been working on this for the better part of a year, Colonel Carter," Thor stressed.

"I'm sorry," Sam said as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. "The past two months have been one problem after another. I got into a cyber-fight with an AI, the Ori damaged the Odyssey, I've spent weeks trying to keep the ship running, we've lost people, we've all been injured, we almost ran out of supplies, we left the Colonials to fend for themselves, the Cylons are still out there, and part of the crew is stuck out there with them running from killer machines! I haven't slept right in weeks," Sam continued as she sunk to the floor with her hands over her eyes. "Talking to a hologram isn't going to make this any easier," she managed to get out between the nearly silent sobs. "You'll still be gone."

"Yours may be a young and somewhat reckless race, but your potential is unrivaled," Thor said in a gentle tone as he used his tiny hands to move Sam's arm out from before her face. "Your judgment is easily clouded by your compassion, but it is your compassion that makes you who you are as a people. This is the coming of age for humanity. You are the Fifth Race. Your role is clear. If there is any hope in preserving the future, it lies with the Tau'ri."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sam asked, "No pressure, huh?"

"You have earned both my respect and my friendship," Thor replied in a soft tone.

"Well, that feeling's mutual," Sam said with a small smile.

"Please do not be sad. The end of my people has been a long time coming. We have made too many irreversible mistakes in our development. Hopefully, you can learn something from it. My only regret is that our physical weakness has left us incapable of helping you further. However, it is the opinion of the High Council that leaving you with one ship could be largely beneficial to your understanding of the technologies we are giving you. While she does not possess the upgrades we have installed on the Odyssey, the Clausus Cursor is still a powerful vessel of war."

"Wait!" Sam exclaimed, completely caught off-guard, "You're giving us an O'Neill-class Warship? Why?"

With the Asgard equivalent of a smile, Thor said, "Because we trust you to do what is right, both for your people and for the denizens of your galaxy. The Tau'ri are great warriors, but what sets you apart from the others is your belief in peace and fair treatment. As a species, your people saw the Goa'uld for what they were, yet you sacrificed so many of your own soldiers to free the Jaffa rather than simply killing them. It would've been easier to use the methods you developed to eliminate all Goa'uld life on a planet, but it was not your way. Even when your NID chose this path, you risked it all to stop them. Your sense of justice and compassion are what makes your species great." Moved by such a powerful statement, Sam gave the small gray alien a hug.

*USS Odyssey (Bridge) [a few minutes later]*

"Sir, three Ori Motherships just dropped out of hyperspace and are approaching the planet," Marks reported.

"Colonel, this is the Bridge. We have three contacts. Ori Motherships bearing down," Davidson said into the internal comms.

"Sir, the hyperdrive is still offline. Diverting power to the shields," Sam replied.

"We must go," Thor's voice could be heard saying over the open channel.

"Sir, the Asgard just disembarked. It'll take a few minutes to get the hyperdrive back online," Sam informed them.

"Alright, people, let's get the hell out of dodge," Jack replied from his position on the CIC of the Clausus Cursor.

The Odyssey, accompanied by the ship captained by the person its class was named after, quickly turned tail and ran away from Orilla. One of the Ori Motherships followed behind the slightly slower Odyssey and unloaded into her shield from the rear while the other two Motherships approached the planet.

The Odyssey took another hit, the ship shaking under their feet, and Marks reported. "Shields are down to eighty-three percent."

"How the hell did they find us?" Cam asked as he ran onto the Bridge. Another blast knocked them around again and Cam asked, "Some reason we're not jumping to hyperspace?"

"Carter's working on it," Davidson replied calmly. In his experience, he knew the woman would pull through. She had a knack for it.

"Sir," Marks interrupted. "Sensors are detecting a massive buildup of energy coming from the planet."

"Everyone hold on tight!" Davidson ordered into the internal comms while bracing himself in his chair.

Behind them, the surface of Orilla erupted with huge explosions. After a moment, the entire planet exploded, and a massive shockwave radiated out through space. The shockwave quickly crossed the distance and slammed into the trio of ships as they ran from the destruction of the Asgard race.

"Shields are down to fifty percent," Marks reported as the shockwave dispersed into the immenseness of space.

"Colonel!" Davidson said into the comms.

"Sir, the hyperdrive is now online, but we have to get clear of the radiation caused by the explosion before we can make the jump safely," Sam replied.

"How about the Asgard energy weapons?" Davidson asked.

"They haven't been tested yet, sir," Sam informed him.

"Shields are down to twenty-eight percent. At maximum sub-light, we're forty-seven seconds to get clear," Marks reported.

"We're not gonna make it," Cam said what they were all thinking.

"Sir, the Cursor has swung around and is blocking the enemy's fire," Marks said.

"Looks like Jack wants a fight. Let's see what these new Asgard upgrades are made of. Come about and power the energy weapons!" Davidson ordered.

"Energy weapons are powered," Donnelly replied. The tone in his voice was clearly one of hope. Hope that this would work.

"Fire!"

Donnelly didn't even wait to confirm the order. He let loose with everything they had and was surprised to see beams of blue energy slamming into the shields of the Ori Mothership in place of the ion or plasma cannons he was expecting.

"Sensors indicate enemy shields are fluctuating," Marks reported, a note of surprise to his tone.

"Keep firing!" Davidson ordered, his own voice full of hope. They'd never hit the Ori hard enough to fluctuate their shields.

"Their shields are down!" Marks all but shouted in surprise.

To prove his point, for there were many who doubted that such a feat could be achieved by their own hands, Donnelly fired another two beams at the ship… and they both impacted the hull. Secondary explosions tore the rest of the Mothership apart and a fireball filled the forward viewport with blinding light.

"I'll be damned!" Davidson breathed in shock.

"We got 'em." The way he said it, Cam's statement sounded more like a question.

"Sir, we're clear of the radiation field and General O'Neill is ordering us to jump," Marks reported through his daze.

"Get us into hyperspace," Davidson ordered.

"Yes, sir," Marks replied.

With a smile on his face that said it all, Davidson turned to Teal'c and said, "I guess it doesn't take the activation of a Supergate to destroy an Ori Mothership after all!"

"Indeed," the stoic Jaffa replied though even he seemed shocked by their victory.

"Why the hell did they not equip this ship with those weapons too?" Jack asked over an open channel. "It's not like they didn't have the time!"

"Thor said that the Cursor wasn't fully upgraded," Daniel countered. "We'll just have to install them ourselves when we get home."

"Fine," Jack relented, the tone of his voice betraying the utter merriment he was feeling at finally having a weapon capable of destroying the Ori.

***Milky Way Galaxy (Obscured Arm)***

**Galactic Edge (Hyperspace)**

*USS Odyssey (Corridor) [two hours later]*

"Run another diagnostic of the data," Sam ordered the technician exiting the elevator with her.

"Yes, ma'am," the other woman replied before walking off one way while Sam moved to meet Davidson who was waiting for her.

"Colonel, how's that report coming? I want to be able to brief the President as soon as we get back. He's gonna want to know how quickly we can duplicate this new Asgard weaponry," Davidson asked excitedly.

"I'm working on it, sir, but something else has come up. The hyperdrive diagnostic is spitting out some data that's concerning me," Sam replied.

"We took some damage that's causing a problem?" Davidson asked, instantly deflated.

"I think we need to drop out and run a few tests, just to be sure," Sam said in as comforting a tone as she could.

"This won't be another two-month stall during which we find another alien fleet running from killer machines, will it?" he asked in a half joking/half serious tone.

Sam gave him a small smile at his attempt at humor. "I hope not."

**Galactic Edge (Dead Space)**

*USS Odyssey (Bridge) [a few minutes later]*

"Sir, two contacts just appeared on sensors. Motherships. Ori. Closing fast," Marks reported as Davidson sat in his chair reading over one of the many reports coming in from across the ship.

"Colonel, given we've already taken damage, I'd rather not take on two more ships," Davidson said into the intercom system as the Ori entered weapons range and opened fire.

"Sir, the hyperdrive is back on-line," Sam reported a second later. In the time it took for her to switch the drive back on, they had lost nearly half of their shields. Apparently the Ori were no longer concerned with the Cursor, not when the Odyssey was the one shooting beams at them.

"Get us back into hyperspace," Davidson quickly ordered.

"Yes, sir," Marks replied without hesitation as he turned the ship away from their assault run and tore open space with the hyperdrive. The Cursor quickly followed knowing full well that a one-on-one fight against the Ori was still a risk without the upgrades. Marks honestly never thought he'd see the day that an Earth vessel was more feared than an Asgard warship.

**Galactic Edge (Hyperspace)**

*USS Odyssey (Briefing Room) [a few minutes later]*

Sam walked into the Briefing room with a tablet in hand and took in the gathered personnel. Davidson and Cameron were already seated with Daniel and Vala while Jack's avatar stood with one leg in the table.

"It's a hell of a coincidence, don't you think?" Cam was asking O'Neill.

"Well…" Sam replied, all eyes turning to her. "It would be… unless they were tracking us and just waiting for us to drop out."

"I thought they couldn't track us in hyperspace," Jack rightfully countered.

"Unless it was the Ori themselves, tipping off the Priors," Vala countered. When Daniel looked at her funny, she added, "We have weapons that can beat them, Daniel, and they know that we're running back to Earth to install them on every ship we have. If they want to add all the power that converting this galaxy would give them to their already expansive power…"

"I wasn't doubting you," Daniel cut her off. "It's just that we've already passed back into the Milky Way. As far as we know, the Ancients should have a problem with the Ori using their ascended powers right under their noses. That, and I think that's the first time you included yourself as part of Earth when you said 'we'."

"As far as we know," Sam stressed the more important part of Daniel's answer to Vala's question.

"At least we now have weapons we know will destroy an Ori ship," Cam argued.

"Well that's not gonna do us any good if they can track us wherever we go. Eventually the Odyssey's gonna come up against more than she can handle. What if the next time we drop out they send three ships? Even with the shields fully recharged, we'd be hard-pressed to hold them off, let alone destroy one. And then what? We finally get to Earth and there's a fleet waiting for us?"

"Don't jinx it!" Jack said sternly.

"Is it possible the Priors can detect the new technology given to us by the Asgard without the help of the Ori?" Teal'c asked.

"I suppose the new power source could be giving off some sort of unique energy signature that's detectable from sub-space. That would certainly explain the readings the hyperdrive is giving us. The signature is probably what's causing the stress on the drive as well. However, without further experimentation, the only way to find out is to shut it off and see if that stops the Ori from following us," Sam replied with a shrug.

"Do it," Jack ordered.

"The problem with that, sir, is that the new Asgard Core is currently tied into every system on this ship. We would have to drop out of hyperspace and isolate the core from the hyperdrive controls, and that could take some time," Sam continued.

"What about the Cursor?" Davidson asked.

"What about it?" Jack countered.

"Can we use it pull us through hyperspace?" Davidson clarified.

With a shake of her head, Sam said, "Of course it can! Why didn't I think of that?!"

"Because you're exhausted," Jack said in a caring tone. "You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep when we get back to Earth," Sam replied as she got up to go shut off the hyperdrive again.

**Galactic Edge (Hyperspace)**

*USS Odyssey (Engine Room) [a few minutes later]*

They had only been in hyperspace for a few minutes and already Sam could tell they were having problems. Running a scan of the massive ship pulling them through hyperspace she once again noticed that the hyperdrive was giving off strange readings.

"Oh for the love of God! Give me a break for fuck's sake!" Sam shouted to the room at large before storming off to the Bridge, leaving behind a team of confused engineers several of which stepped up to her terminal to see what she was so upset about. Those that looked had similar reactions.

*USS Odyssey ('Daniel's Office') [a few minutes before Sam's discovery]*

Finally finishing the part of the translation he was working on, Daniel said to himself, "That can't be right." With a quick look at the system information Sam had downloaded from the 'base' on P3X-727, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. Running onto the Bridge, Daniel shouted, "We need to go back!"

Giving him his best 'Why' look, Davidson said, "They're dead, Doctor Jackson. There's no point in going back."

"What? No! Not to Orillia. We need to go back to P3X-727," Daniel insisted.

"Why?" Davidson asked, totally confused.

"Because it's not an underground lab. It's a ship! A massive ship the size as a Wraith Hive and loaded to brim with advanced weapons, shields, communications devices… the list goes on!" Daniel exclaimed.

Just as Davidson started to say, 'Cool,' Sam stormed onto the Bridge with a look that said, 'Get ready for more bad news.' "We can't go back," Sam said, arms crossed over her chest in frustration.

"Why not?" Jack, who had appeared on their Bridge as a hologram, Daniel, and Davidson all asked in unison.

"Remember when I said that the Core was giving the Odyssey's hyperdrive hell?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Jack replied in a 'how could I forget' tone.

"Well it's doing the same to the Cursor. You haven't realized it yet because you're all still on cloud nine and I don't blame you, but, and I've already checked, if we don't drop out soon the radiation will cause the Cursor's hyperdrive to fail all together thus leaving us stranded here until the Daedalus can get back to Earth and pick up replacement parts for us. Either that or they'd have to send the Apollo and it's not ready for space, let alone hyperspace, and we all know what happened to the last ship we rushed into service," Sam's informed them.

"What do we need to do?" Jack asked with a frustrated sigh.

"The only option I can think of is to shut off the Core. If we disable the power, the Core will shut down and, poof, problem solved."

"'Poof'?" Daniel asked.

Jack took a deep breath while rubbing the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down. "What's the catch?" he asked once his head was feeling slightly better.

"The Core is tied into every system on the Odyssey from the hyperdrive, to the inertial dampeners, to the life-support, and everything in-between. I know that this story is getting old, but the only way to shut it off is to drop out and disconnect it from the systems, otherwise we risk one of them malfunctioning when we really need it. I'm also fairly sure that the Ori are somehow tracking the turbulence that the Core is putting out. Essentially they're tracking the radiation wave and therefore the Odyssey herself. It's a very likely scenario that they'll know where we are shortly after we drop out, even if we cloak the Odyssey."

With an overly exaggerated sigh, Jack replied, "You're right, that story is getting old. Colonel Davidson, as of his moment, I am relieving you of your command." Davidson visually flinched at the words as if he had been punched in the gut. "As of now, you are tasked with getting these people home safe. I am relinquishing command of the Clausus Cursor to you and will oversee the Odyssey's journey back to Earth myself. You and the rest of the Odyssey's none-essential crew will be beamed over as soon as we drop out of hyperspace. Your orders are to continue on to Earth and report the situation to Stargate Command. Do you understand your orders?"

Squaring his shoulders and swallowing his surprise, Davidson replied, "Yes, General. I won't let them down."

"Good, then you herby stand relieved of command of the USS Odyssey. We'll switch over as soon as we drop out of hyperspace," Jack ordered.

"I stand relieved, aye, sir," Davidson replied.

*USS Odyssey (Engine Room) [six hours later]*

It had taken six hours of intensive labor to finally figure out how to disconnect the incredibly advanced super-computer from the Odyssey's systems. The whole time Sam worked, the Ori kept firing their damn beams through the ship as if they could somehow damage it now when they couldn't before. It was a testament to their idiocy in her opinion.

FINALLY finishing, Sam stood up, pressed a few buttons on the Core, then started moving the ship. Now that the Odyssey was no longer connected to the computer, the only thing left to do was unplug the power core.

"Alright, sir, I've disconnected the Core from all the systems and diverted its power output into the shields. All we have to do now is disconnect the ZPM from the phase drive and channel the energy back into the ship. Once that's done we can shut off the Core and they won't be able to track us anymore. I suggest we jump into hyperspace as soon as we're ready," Sam said into the comms channel.

"Alright, Carter, will do. Now get your ass up here and get the hyperdrive back online," Jack ordered.

*USS Odyssey (Bridge)*

In the time it took Sam to reach the Bridge and power-up the hyperdrive, Jack had managed to destroy another of the Ori Motherships using the Asgard's new plasma beam weapons. Ignoring his feral smile, Sam brought the engines to full and jumped the Odyssey into hyperspace.

"Hey! We were winning!" Jack whinnied.

"No, we weren't," Sam corrected him. "Our shields were failing," Sam countered before radioing Mitchell. "Alright, Cam, just hit the button and the Core will shut down." There was an audible wiring sound as if the generator didn't want to turn off before Cam reported the screens had gone dark. "Finally, we can go home!"

"Not exactly," Daniel said. Looking over to Jack, he continued, "We were talking, and Jack agrees that leaving P3X-727 to the Ori is a bad idea. We're going to make sure that they didn't find the ship that's buried there."

***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***

**P3X-727 (En Route)**

*USS Odyssey (Bridge) [a few hours later]*

As Jack walked back onto the Bridge from the restroom, Sam said, "Nice timing, I was just about to go find you." Without even waiting for his reply, she took one last look at her consul and started explaining. "The ZPM isn't doing too well. I think that we over taxed it between using the phase shifter twice, the firefights with the Ori, and getting struck by the explosion of Orilla."

"How does a ZPM 'not do well'?" Jack asked in a confused tone.

"We've burned through a lot of energy over the past couple of days. The ZPM is… 'tired' I guess you could say," Sam explained with a worried look.

"Great, just what I needed to hear!" Jack exclaimed angrily.

"Calm down, Jack," Sam said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and made him turn around to face her. "The ZPM on Atlantis gave off similar readings after the Second Siege. It took three days before the ZPM's total output capacity could be used again. It doesn't mean it won't work, it just means that we only have fifty percent of its power available to us right now. McKay theorized it was due to the stress of the power leaving the crystal structure, and Zelenka said it was probably the artificial region of subspace in the crystal destabilizing and the ZPM trying to prevent an overload. They're probably both half-right."

Taking a deep breath to help calm himself, Jack walked over to the comms button and asked, "Daniel, are we going to find the secrets of the universe on this planet we're going to?"

"From what I was able to determine from the data we brought with us from the planet, the structure we were in was actually a massive spaceship the size of a Wraith Hive," Daniel replied over the radio.

"Are we going to find something to replace the ZPMs we still can't produce on our own?"

There was a moment of silence before Daniel's voice replied, this time from the doorway. "I honestly can't answer that question, Jack, but," he quickly stopped Jack from interrupting him, "think about it. A ship the size of a Hive has to have an immensely powerful generator. At the very least, do you really want the Ori getting their hands on another huge warship?"

"No, but can't we just send the Cursor once we've upgraded her?" Jack countered.

"Come on, Jack! This might be our only chance to find an operational Super Dreadnought!" Daniel pleaded.

Blinking in surprise, Jack asked, "Super Dreadnought?"

"Yes! Didn't I tell you that already?" Daniel asked in a confused tone. He was sure he had mentioned it at some point.

"No!" Jack, Mitchell, Vala, and even Sam all said at once.

Teal'c added an "Indeed not, Doctor Jackson," to the end of everyone else's surprise.

"Sorry," Daniel replied sheepishly.

***Local Cluster (Sol System)***

**Earth (En Route)**

*Clausus Cursor (Combat Information Center)*

"Sir," one of the engineers said as they walked up to Davidson. After receiving his go-ahead, the man continued, "Colonel Cater was right, the Asgard Computer Core did have an adverse effect on the efficiency of the hyperdrive. Exposure to the radiation signature, coupled with the strain of pulling the Odyssey through with us, caused the drive to… uh… I'd describe it as 'slipping into a comma.' While it is still operating, it's operating on the level of the Goa'uld's interplanetary hyperdrive. It'll take us just over a day to reach Earth, but repairing it to full efficiency will be as easy as scrubbing the radiation signature," the man added before being dismissed.

Turning to Marks, Davidson asked, "How long will it take us reach sub-space communications range of Earth?"

Looking over his consul, the young Major replied, "Approximately two hours ago. The Asgard have more range than we do."

"Right," Davidson said meekly.

"I should amend that," Marks continued. "We can send messages to Earth, but they can't send anything back. The ground-based systems aren't powerful to reach us this far out."

"In that case, I want you to send a data burst to the SGC informing them of the events of the past few days."

"I'll ready the data package," Marks replied as he started compiling a list of things to include.

"Colonel Davidson, sir!" a voice called from the door to the CIC where a marine was keeping a woman from entering.

"Yes… Captain?" Davidson asked once he managed to remember the woman's rank. The fact that Colonial rank insignias were different from their own didn't make it easy.

"I, uh, had a few questions about what's going on," the woman replied somewhat timidly. Colonials weren't known for their subtlety, so that had Davidson raising a brow in confusion.

"What's on your mind?" Davidson asked as he left his command chair and motioned the woman to follow him as he left the CIC.

"Well… I don't know where we're going, but I imagine it's not back to the fleet…" the woman half-asked.

"No, Captain," Davidson said with a shake of his head. "We're not sure where the Colonial Fleet is, but we do know that the last time we saw them they were on the other side of the galaxy from our current position. We're actually headed for Earth right now."

"The other side of the galaxy, sir? We weren't… in… hyperspace?" the woman chewed on the words before finally spitting them out. "For that long, and you're telling me that we're on the other side of the galaxy from the Fleet?"

Davidson smiled at the woman's confusion then decided to add to it. "In the time since we left the Fleet, Captain, you've flown all the way out of the Milky Way Galaxy and made a brief visit to the Ida Galaxy. Our FTL drives, when they actually decide to work," he mumbled darkly, "operate on an intergalactic scale."

"Oh…" the woman replied, eyes wide with surprise. It was telling that the pilots they had picked up over the Tylium mine had stopped questioning the accuracy of the information they were being given. They took what they heard at face value and didn't question things like going to Earth, leaving the galaxy, or the Odyssey having a shield over her armor. They took it in stride. "And what will you do with us?"

Here Davidson sighed. "I'm sorry, Captain, but the only ship we have in the galaxy right now that's space worthy is the Odyssey. We don't have anything else we can loan you so that you can go searching for the Fleet. We'll offer you sanctuary on Earth, and, with any luck, Colonel Viride will lead your people right to us."

"Does he know the way?" the Captain asked.

It was a valid question, and not one that Davidson knew the answer to. Oliver was a wild card. He'd never heard of the man until he appeared on his ship, and, even then, he knew very little. Still, he had faith that his crew would pull through, so, with a smile, Davidson said, "Everyone knows where home is."

***Milky Way Galaxy (Local Spur Arm)***

**P3X-727 (Orbit)**

*USS Odyssey (Bridge)*

Space rent and tore as a vortex opened, disgorging the USS Odyssey a split second later and then closing again. Immediately alarms started to blare, even before the tiny ship could finish decelerating. Looking at her consul, Sam said, "Oh my God! We're in the middle of a supernova!" as the hull temperature started rapidly climbing.

"What?" Jack asked, totally confused, "I thought we were going to a planet? Don't tell me the navigational computer's fried!"

"No, it's not that," Sam replied. "We are where we're supposed to be… Oh my God!" Sam said again. Pressing a few buttons she brought up the image of a large rock floating away from them in space. "According to the sensors, that's the same planet we were on earlier. They also say that this supernova is relatively young and is emanating residual energy waves that match an Ori Mothership's main reactor core's energy signature," Sam said in a tone of total bewilderment.

Turning to face them directly, she explained it all better. "Somebody overloaded an Ori Mothership's main reactor with enough energy to cause it to go supernova! The energy required would match Daniel's description of the ship we're here for." By the end, everyone could tell that she was panicking as clearly the ship they had come to claim had already been claimed.