CHAPTER TWO
(quick note: The time line is different than the original SG-1 by several years. Most of the same things happened but further down the line. This is about 7 years further than RAAB. The characters are aged accordingly from this time line. not the canon or RAABverse. See chapter 1 for the timeline.) AG
Earth-New York
Hotel Waldorf Astoria
Time 3:00AM
Despite the proclamation, Antonia Ursula Silva, who preferred to be called by her middle name Ursula, discovered that tonight, she was a little too energized to sleep. It wasn't because she was in an alien hotel on an alien world. Her room, accommodations, and bedroom was perfect, but she was simply too wired to rest. She was just so thankful being one of the blessed ones, picked to come to Earth at the last second. Being here on Earth was the culmination of her dreams as well as fantasy and gods, she wished her husband was here with her to help make the dream even more real for her.
Almost no one believed the planet or its people existed until three years ago. Yes, the Government knew about Earth some seven years earlier with the First Contact debacle, but they kept it secret until they could spin it a way that would have allowed them to be seen in a positive light. All of those plans of course fell into the waste bin when the CDF literally got their behinds handed to them in the most spectacular and public way possible. It was a humiliation for the Colonies. Many political, not to mention military heads rolled. But to believers it was a dream come true. Many believed the discovery of the Thirteenth Tribe at that time was the will of the gods and that such a defeat occurred because the gods were in effect telling the Quorum and the CDF that it was wrong to attack their long lost brothers and sisters. The Colonials would suffer punishment because of their actions and they had at the hands of an inferior force.
The Earthers were still an ignorant people in the ways of the gods and unaware of their true heritage. What was needed by them were explanations and teachings to show them the way, not the Quorum's methods of using guns and missiles to force the will of the gods upon them. At least that was the original belief of so many of her contemporaries, including herself. What she and most of the others here expected, was that despite their almost obscene technological advances, the people on the planet were somehow primitive, subservient, its people suffering under the yolk of oppression and poverty, controlled by their cruel and arrogant Tau'ri overlords. That was another fantasy that she really believed in her heart was true. She wanted it to be true. However, one look at this almost Colonial-like city they were in immediately disproved some of her own personal prejudices. The city was huge, on par with Caprica City and there were cities like this across the world.
Just traveling to the hotel showed the diversity and numbers of the people walking and riding to wherever they were going or whatever they were doing. Aircraft filled the skies, automobiles (which looked remarkably like those they had at home) covered the city. Huge skyscrapers dotted the sky. Apellai, (or Terran, she reminded herself) possessed communications /entertainment avenues that were simply breathtaking. No pyramid shapes so common to the Colonies, but still the city beautiful in its own way.
The people here were so diverse that when she first saw them, she didn't fully understand what she was seeing. At home, each colony was more or less easily identifiable by the distinctive culture of its people. Here it was as if all of the different people of the colonies had been clumped together and then thrown into the wind just to see what it would look like.
However, it was their telecommunications system that had convinced her that she had severely misjudged these Earth people; the incredibly small phones everyone seemed to carry, the television analogs that had such incredible clarity and the variety of foods proved beyond that her fellow being contemporaries were wrong in their initial assumptions. At least from her admittedly very short duration on Earth of a few hours, these people didn't act like they were persecuted because of their religious beliefs. It was hard to persecute and control people when calls could be placed to any part of the world by hand-held communications devices that did everything but walk on their own. She wasn't surprised though that the phone devices didn't have real time video. That was a failure in the Colonies, too. No one wanted to be seen with food on their teeth, or their hair in a mess, or something hanging from their noses, or perhaps someone in the background who shouldn't be there…But that was the key! Easy communication and connectivity to a continuing knowledge and informational database they called the internet was the secret.
Persecuted people had a look about them that these people didn't have as far as she could tell. Of course, all of this could be a ruse, but such a deception couldn't possibly last just to impress a few Colonials who intended to remain here on this religiously barbaric world for a few years. These people had unimagined access to hand-held, master computron-class devices that you could do just about anything, and it could phone home.
Sleep fled from her. Defeated, she threw off the covers and slipped out of the bed. Up now, she yawned, which had the unfortunate effect of removing the last of her tiredness instead of the reverse, and grabbed her rob quickly putting in on. Opening the thick luscious drapes, and looking out the huge window, she stifled herself from gasping at the sight. The scene outside was so similar to her home that there was almost no difference. The entire sky was bright with millions of lights, even in the middle of the night the streets had throngs of people, many of the couples walking around as if they didn't have a care in the world. From first impressions Ambassador Agasha Saltum seemed to be right; these people were a lot more complex than first believed. They weren't starving, nor were they suffering from any overt yolk of oppression. Just barely surviving her foot; first impressions seemed to say that they were doing quite well, thank you very much.
Being separated from their fellow Colonials hadn't hurt them; in truth, quite the reverse. These people were thriving in spite of being isolated. The whole world might not be like this but where she was now gave the impression that these people were just as free as any Colonial. It was as if they had no need for their Colonial brothers and sisters. They had survived and thrived in their loneness. The question she wanted to know was – why?
The information she needed in order to answer this and a thousand other questions was at her fingertips. The technological instrument of seduction was probably smiling at her, the huge screen beckoning her like her husband on a dark and stormy night (and hopefully, he would be allowed to join her as soon as possible). It was too early right now to even ask. Colonial and Terran relations weren't great and no one wanted to aggravate anyone at this delicate time; but maybe soon he could come and join her here. Putting those thoughts away, she found herself touching the remote screen. Immediately, the large HDTV screen came to life, almost frightening her with its speed and purity of image. It had been patiently been waiting for her, she realized and she couldn't resist it anymore. In front of her was the secret of the Terrans.
The internet - an alien source of attraction and loathing.
Most Colonials wouldn't even touch the screen. Ingrained memories of the Cylons and their fearsome computer abilities still unsettled her people. AIs were evil, plain and simple, and needed to be destroyed so that they wouldn't turn upon their masters and slaughter them. Earth people didn't have that fear having never been exposed to that naked horror. But according to all reports, the internet that literally blanketed this planet with information was not AI controlled. It was smart but not in an artificial intelligence type of way as she understood it. The internet couldn't think for itself.
Even so, she was cautious and suspicious but the Terran internet contained everything she needed to begin to understand these people if she would just use it, something she resolved to do right now.
"Religion," she said in Caprican standard and then frowned as Americana Englisa script filled the scree making her twitch in irritation. She somewhat understood the language when she heard it but hadn't had much experience in reading their alien language. There were several thousand entries but none of it was readable. The written language mocked her, although the huge screen's audio spoke to her in standard Caprican. She didn't even need her translator. Clever Earth people, anticipating something like this.
This was not helping.
"Zeus," she said.
Again the same script came up but another script came up as well. It looked eerily similar to the old Kobollian she barely learned to read in in her early college studies. Her heart fluttered in excitement. What was that language these people called it again? Ah, yes. "Langua Greekie," she repeated.
The screen change from English to Greek and she smiled. She had a basis in order to start. It wasn't perfect by any means but it wasn't completely alien, either.
Now she use the word in Caprican again. "Θρησκεία."
This time the huge numbers of entries appeared in a language that she was able to comprehend. Furthermore the internet was speaking to her in Caprican, so she could understand as well as see what the entries said.
It was so easy and convenient.
By the gods, she could get used to this and it only took a few minutes to be seduced by this wondrous technology despite being aware of the dangers that came with it. In just a few moments she had discovered an enormous amount of information.
In the Colonies, this type of information would be of enormous value. In fact, the things that they had seen and experienced in just this first few hours would have Colonial companies and manufacturers salivating in their desire to reach these markets. She frowned in thought as she began to piece things together. The College of Pontiffs and the religious community in general were outraged when they heard of the Thirteenth Colony's tendencies towards monotheism from a Doctor Jackson, when the disastrous first contact with their ship the Prometheus happened. But the government saw things differently. They saw the technology and weapons the small ship possessed. They saw the ship had no need for tyllium, having a completely unknown power source that could be a gods-send for the Colonies. But when the Prometheus escaped, the CDF had no idea where they came from until, the Cylons and then Colonials accidently discovered Earth. However before that, the Quorum knew about Earth and its potential and wanted it badly. The 'Great Calamity' battle in the Apellai/Sol system turned Earths' potentially rich markets into a threat they couldn't ignore.
Ursula now strongly believed that the corporations at home had absolutely no idea of what they might be stepping into. All of them expected Earth to be mesmerized by amazing Colonial products flooding their markets when the opposite might well be true. The priestess could easily see the entertainment, computer-computron-communications technologies taking the Colonies by storm. Their TVs would dominate the markets at home. Their rich varieties of food would hammer the food industries although she believed there the Colonies could hold their own. The one thing that Earth didn't have were flying automobiles, which in her opinion might well be a blessing if it were to be judged by what happened in Colonial history.
What a mess that was.
Overall, the implications were very worrisome. Religious convictions aside, Terran commercial and military markets could easily overwhelm the Colonial markets instead of the other way around as the Quorum were assuming. And they were advancing so fast!
What have we gotten ourselves into? She hand only been here a full day and she could see the handwriting on the wall.
Morning
Elosha Gale was snuggled into the queen-size bed when the large UHD ultrathin frameless TV screen on the wall slowly woke up with a very soft red-purple glow. The time 6:59 AM was steadily shown in the middle of the glow. The time shifted into 7:00 AM and the TV emitted the sound of birdsongs and the blackened windows in Elosha's room faded into transparency, letting in the morning sunlight.
The priestess groaned. It was supremely comfortable and warm in bed and the motivation not to move was nigh irresistible. However, she remembered that today was going to be the first long day she'd have on Earth. Sighing, she sat up with a yawn. She touched her frosted glass surface of her e-paper and chose an offered action. The TV changed to show one large screen dominating the TV surface, several smaller screens beneath it and a narrow weather summary beside it. A stock exchange ticker rolled between the large screen and the smaller screens. The large screen had a bird's eye view of traffic rolling across the double avenue in front of the hotel. It was just as busy as any morning in Caprica City.
It was a little disconcerting how similar Earth was to Caprica at first glance.
Elosha glanced at the small screens on the TV. One of them showed a news anchor talking silently. That looked interesting so she looked down at her e-paper. She had surmised from the bellhop's demonstration yesterday that it acted as a remote control in addition to being a tablet and a phone. The stiff frosted glass-like surface was already showing boxes corresponding to the windows on the TV. Not for the first time, she felt slightly discomfited at the network integration evident here. She tapped a box and the news report expanded to cover the traffic view and the anchorman was unmuted. He was speaking Caprican instead of Englisa. Startled, Elosha took a moment to look closely at the man. The words were Caprican but his lips were definitely not forming Caprican words. Apparently, Elosha's translator had already networked into the system. It was a nice touch and a subtle reminder that these people were not to be taken lightly.
The Colonies quickly abandoned network integration when the Cylons revolted and used it against their human masters. The Colonies even had to disband the Mesh, which was like the Terran internet, to protect the people against Cylon attacks. Networking was the Achilles' heel of Caprica and the other Colonies during the First Cylon War and the nearly fatal lesson was pounded into the Colonial psyche. However, in the last decade before the Second Cylon War, the Colonies were slowly moving back toward network integration. The military even began to make battlestars and vipers networked units, but not to the extent of antebellum Caprica. Elosha didn't know it but that kind of networking was like the Internet's progenitor, ARPANET used by the American military in the final decades of the Cold War.
With the Cylons as good as exterminated except for the few that fled to Earth, the worries about Cylon cyber-attacks lessened and Colonial network integration increased apace. The famous Dr. Gaius Baltar was instrumental in dispelling the worries and encouraging the networking. But it had not reached the integration and widespread of the Earth internet, or the Mesh. Yet. Elosha did not subscribe to the paranoia about network integration that prevailed before the Second Cylon War, but the extent of networking evident on Earth was still rather unsettling.
The morning sunlight slanted past buildings through the window and shone on the TV. There was no sun-wash or glare reflection making it difficult to watch the TV. As far as Elosha knew, no television in the Colonies had that capability to the intense and frustrating annoyance of viewers everywhere.
The people back home had expected Earth to not be as blessed with technology as the Colonies. Yet, here was evidence to the contrary, small as it was. It was the little things that spoke of advanced technology as well as the big things.
A window appeared at a lower corner of the TV. Printed words asked her what she would like to have for breakfast. After Elosha chose some options offered in a corresponding menu on her e-paper, the message changed to inform her that the kitchen was now working on her breakfast and that it would be ready when she goes to the dining room.
More telltale signs of network integration.
Elosha shook off her discomfort and focused on the news report. It was now showing bird's eye view of several ocean-going ships slicing through the water that looked to be military warships. The view changed to show similar warships at a sedate cruise beneath an impressively long bridge.
"The crisis in Yemen which began in 2017 continues. As our viewers may remember, the Yemeni capital city Sana'a, became the first capital city in the world to completely run out of water in 2017. Millennia old underground water beneath the city has been tapped out. Water, food, medicine and other supplies brought in from Africa and Saudi Arabia in pipelines and trucks were not enough so widespread looting, rioting and violence has dominated the region ever since, fueling sectarian warfare and terrorism in Yemen. This has given way to starvation and refugees fleeing across borders. Like Somalia at the turn of the century, Yemen is a failed state. Also like with Somalia, Yemeni pirates infect the water around the Horn of Africa."
The camera focused on an American Gerald Ford-class super carrier and a British Queen Elizabeth-class carrier standing in the middle of the water, with the long bridge acting as backdrop.
"Warships from the United States, Europe, Egypt, Iran, India and China are working to keep the sea routes safe for commerce. United Nations peacekeeping forces are keeping order in the Yemeni cities of Aden and Noor City at the Yemeni end of the Bridge of the Horn, which opened to fanfare last year despite threats from Yemeni terrorists."
The view shifted to turbaned men in ragged white robes and women covered all in black struggling and crying against barriers at the edge of a city while blue-helmeted soldiers work to keep order.
"The lawlessness has prevented the peacekeepers from going any deeper into Yemen and it is spilling over into Saudi Arabia and Oman despite local authorities' efforts. Refugees are clogging the routes to the Bridge of the Horn to escape over to Africa. As a result of this, the bridge has become a United Nations mandate, and Ethiopian, Eritrean and Djibouti authorities are cooperating with the UN and NATO commanders. As part of this cooperation, forces from the East African Federation are allowed passage through Ethiopia to the Djibouti end of the bridge. The EAF government in Arusha is putting the financial windfall from the Ugandan oil boom at the disposal of the humanitarian efforts. Despite aid from various nations especially from members of the Arab League, this humanitarian disaster shows no signs of abating. Despite the new desalination systems available to the region, many of the religious leaders and their followers have rejected the technology, claiming the new technology to be western devices designed to kill Muslims.
Elosha had no idea about the countries being mentioned. She didn't understand much better when the news put up a map showing the location of the bridge between Africa and Arabia. All she knew was that chaos was reigning somewhere far away on Earth.
The news anchor reappeared. "General Michael Ryan in the command center in Djibouti at the African end of the Bridge of the Horn made a comment."
An American uniformed army general appeared onscreen. "We are working closely with the United Nations and the Arab League to keep order and the peace in the Bab el Mandab. 'Bab el Mandab' is Arabic for 'Gateway of Anguish' or 'Gateway of Tears'? I hope to change the situation and thereby change the meaning of the name. With the help of countries like the East African Federation and Saudi Arabia and with the help of technology from the IOA, we can realize this goal if we put our minds to it."
Elosha shook her head. Although the news didn't dwell on it, she had caught the mention of sectarian warfare. That meant religious people fighting, even killing each other for religious reasons. Earth obviously has a serious problem with that. Otherwise, the Earth people wouldn't talk about it on the news for everyone to see.
It was odd, though. Earth was supposed to have a monolithic, monotheist religion. Perhaps the truth was much more complex than that.
She had no idea just how much more complex.
Elosha went to the bathroom and was startled to see a small screen showing the same news report on the large mirror in the bathroom. More network integration. It felt intrusive here in the bathroom even if she could see the practicality of having information broadcasted even here where privacy was to be desired.
Shoving down a shiver, she went to the sink and waved a hand over the faucet which gushed water. First, she was somewhat confounded by the lack of handles at the sink until she discovered that by touching or waving over the faucet itself, she could turn the water on and off. She found that by moving her fingers on the image in the mirror, she could move it around and resize it without affecting the smart glass mirror. Hair rose on the back of her neck at this sign of technological wizardry. She moved TV image away to the side as she began her toiletries. Meanwhile, the small window in the smart glass mirror continued to show the news.
"In other news, the IOA nations are continuing to assist assisting cities across the world with the installing of naquadah generators to create a decentralized power network. It is also assisting the European Union as it continues to create a new 'super-grid' of solar power plants, wind farms, hydropower plants, naquada generators, and geothermal plants across Europe and the coastal regions of North Africa and Egypt. The plan was originally slated to begin in 2050 but with the technological advances provided by the IOA and harvested through our ever growing 'out space explorations network, the time table has been dramatically revised."
The anchorman turned to face a different camera. "The so-called super-grid is part of a global effort to resolve the world oil crisis and replace fossil fuels with other sources of energy such as the naquada generators. It is perhaps fortunate that the IOA nations have reaped the harvest of technology through the stargate network just in time. This doesn't even take into effect new hydrogen fuel technologies that have been available for the last three years. Fossil fuel for cars and newly developed hydrogen engines for military and civilian aircraft have turned the oil industry upside down. Gasoline and diesel powered engines are rapidly becoming a thing of the past."
"In related news, President Earnest Boyd is kicking off his first hundred days in the Oval Office by hosting the long rumored summit of interstellar powers and the nations of the world here on Earth. Among the powers rumored to be invited are the worlds of Hebridan, Orban, Langara, New Tollana, Pangar, and the Free Jaffa Nation. He is working with leaders of the most powerful nations of Earth such as President Mikhailov of Russia and President Shen Xiaoyi of China. Citing security reasons, the location of the summit is a closely guarded secret and only a select few reporters are being allowed to attend.
Already, there are protests against the summit citing the dangers of new alien attacks and alien influence. Mixed in that are grievances similar to anti-globalist protests from the turn of the century. Some are calling the summit an act of 'galactization.' Calling for the American congress and people to reject the 'imperialistic predilections' by President Boyd was Junior Senator Bob Kinsey, staunch critic of the newly elected president. Like his father, former Vice-President Robert Kinsey who's was missing and presumed dead in 2012, he is a strong conservative and an unapologetic believer of American values. He's been the leading voice in the fight against President Boyd's proposed policies from day one.
"Earth must not to follow the ideals of a man who plans to build his own stellar empire, and that's exactly what he's doing, without the input of the American people" Senator Kinsey said earlier today in Denver Colorado. "God allowed us first to find and use the stargate. It was America that willingly placed in jeopardy the lives of countless Americans to keep the rest of the world safe, we have the right to have a major say in what direction the proud humans of Earth will go."
Joining us to discuss the newly inaugurated President's summit to be and its ramifications is Megan Kerrigan, writer of the blog 'The Social View.' Ms. Kerrigan, do you think President Boyd's initiative is feasible?"
"Well, Bob, before I answer your question, I must refute Senator Kinsey's accusations against the President. Many of his comments are distorting the truth. I knew his father and knew of his strong religious convictions, and I can say that Robert Jr. is cut from the same cloth. But he doesn't have the political maturity of his father yet. And he needs to redress some of his facts. Now to answer your question: This decade is when Generation-X is reshaping global politics. The last of the Silent Generation is passing away and the Baby Boomers are retiring so the Gen-X is coming into power across the board. The Gen-X are generally angry at the social, political and economic legacy left to them by their elders so they want to build a different kind of world. At the same time, they are not generally willing to let the Millennials, or the Gen-Y if you prefer, get a free ride when it comes to paying their share. As we and President Boyd will see, the Gen-X politicians will push through reforms of the banking and financial institutions, although the old guard will of course fight back. With the internet becoming more and more widespread than ever—it's reaching over eight billion people now, Bob—social media and other technologies will provide some of the impetus behind the Gen-X's new power and reach. With this in mind, they will give scientific research and environmental protection higher priorities. The trends for this were there before but now they will be accelerated under the new Boyd Administration and afterwards, especially since we are having contact with other worlds since Disclosure."
The anchorman prodded, "But what about the President's initiative?"
"It will be affected by how the Gen-X see everything, Bob. They are more heterogeneous than previous generations. More diverse in race, class, culture and ethnicity, and more liberal and progressive than their parents in general. They have grown up with computers with most of their lives, so they are more savvy and comfortable with technology, more flexible and open to new ideas." The anchorman began to look slightly impatient so the woman hurried to finish. "What that means, Bob, is that the recent elections have put politicians in power who are willing to have intercourse with aliens and other Human worlds despite the attacks by the Kobollian Colonies and skirmishes with the Lucian Alliance. This is the new generation of politicians in Congress, and the governments of other nations that President Boyd is facing. If Boyd had been President and made this proposal a decade ago, we'd see a lot more resistance in the political and diplomatic circles, especially with the Wraith and Kobollian attacks."
While she was doing her toiletries, Elosha did not understand what the woman was saying. She could have been speaking in a completely foreign language despite the automatic translation to Caprican because she was talking about things that were outside of Elosha's sphere of experience.
What are the 'Gen-X' and things like that? Must be quirks of Earth culture. All of us really need to properly learn the languages here since these translators can only do so much. Elosha stepped into the shower.
"Speaking of Disclosure, it has guaranteed Henry Hayes' place in history alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklyn D. Roosevelt. Disclosure was such a momentous event that people have begun using 'A.D.' in place of 'After Disclosure' and B.C. in place of 'Before Confirmation'. Hayes will forever be known as the Disclosure President. Ms. Kerrigan, do you think that President Boyd's summit initiative is an attempt to match Henry Hayes' place in history?"
"Well—"
A ping sounded. It came from the shower screen. She looked up at it. A tiny green dot was flashing beside a new small box on the shower screen containing the words 'new message.' So the shower screen also used the apparently ubiquitous smart glass technology. Frowning, she tapped the mirror over the green dot, which expanded into a box with a text message.
Meeting in dining room in 20 minutes-Father Patrenus.
The priestess let out a small groan. Tyberi had somehow deigned to figure out how to use the text messaging function of his own e-paper. He had expressed distaste for the network integration of technology here but clearly, he would take advantage of it if it saved him effort. Her eyes caught the little box softly blinking below the message: REPLY. Sighing, she tapped REPLY and a touch-keyboard appeared in the mirror. She used a finger to tap the letters O-K in Caprican and tapped SEND.
As Elosha toweled herself dry and got dressed, she kept an eye on the news. The woman had missed Kerrigan's answer to the news anchor's question and the commentators had moved on to a new topic. She sighed heavily. If she hadn't once been a high ranking spiritual advisor to the Quorum, she might have well cursed.
She really wanted to hear their answers.
TBC (Yes, Elosha can rewind but she doesn't know that she can and she doesn't know how...)