It only took the four of them a couple of weeks to complete the repairs to the Altimah. Corda hired a company to come out and build a large retractable awning system over the area where the hanger bay was. Then needing a way to clear away one million years of accumulated earth over the hanger bay doors, Alexander rented a large backhoe and figured out how to use it. Before long the hanger doors where clear. Now they'd be able to launch the ship. They'd been discussing a trial run, to make sure the repairs would hold. Then something happened that meant they had to launch.
"Alexander, if I'm reading these screens right there's some kind of ship on a collision course near here. It breached the atmosphere. It's not a shuttle. The computer is calling it a Reelokian vessel. What's a Reelokian?" Johnathan asked.
"I'm surprised they're in this galaxy." Alexander said. "When our people where here before they were occasional allies, but that was more then a million years ago. We lost contact after we left this galaxy. Let me have a look. It's out of control and I'm not reading any life signs on board. The crew must have transported off at some point. It may well have just drifted into this solar system and been caught by Earth's orbit. I don't think Earth has anything that could deal with it, even if the tracking systems are sophisticated enough to register it."
"We can use the Altimah and destroy it before it crashes." Corda said.
"But don't you risk being seen doing that?" Johnathan asked.
"Like all Alteran vessels, large and small, except for hauler and ore processor ships, the Altimah can cloak. We won't be seen. You and Oz can monitor stations and I will fly it, while Corda coordinates. Let's go. It seems the Altimah is going to get a test flight sooner rather than later."
In the SGC.
"General, NORAD is tracking the Asgard ship. They're not sure where exactly it'll hit, but most likely over the ocean. Sir, something's happening. NORAD is reporting bright lights impacting on the Asgard ship. Sir, the ship's been obliterated! NORAD isn't tracking anything anymore. The debris field is too small. Whatever those things are, they've totally destroyed that ship."
"It seems Major Carter, that your concern over the NID having access to technology it shouldn't have is valid. They must have gotten their hands on some kind of weapons system and used it to destroy Thor's ship before it could crash. Any chance of figuring out where those lights were launched from?"
"I can study NORAD's records of the event, sir. I may be able to back track them."
"Do that. I what answers."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir, we have a bigger problem." Major Carter reported after studying NORAD's readings. "Those lights came from mid air. Most likely a cloaked vessel."
"You're saying the NID got they're hands on a ship?!"
"Someone did, yes."
On the Altimah, Alexander took his place in the command chair and it reclined. The hanger bay doors retracted and then the awning. The Altimah rose gracefully out of the hanger for the first time in a million years and cloaked once she was out. A display appeared above Alexander showing the Reelokian vessel. The Altimah moved towards it.
"Scan shows no life signs." Johnathan called out.
"Altimah reading weapons functioning normally." Oz said.
"All systems clear, Alexander." Corda said.
"Approaching Reelokian vessel now." Alexander said. "Launching drones."
"Reelokian vessel is reading destroyed." Johnathan reported. "No debris larger then a few inches, which are burning up in the atmosphere. It's doubtful anything will survive long enough for an impact of even the smallest amount. Good shooting! God, this so cool!"
"I agree. I have missed this." Alexander felt content, he belonged in a command chair. It was why he'd stayed the Captain of a ship for centuries. Aside from his relationship with Corda, nothing else had ever felt as right to him.
"The repairs are holding, we're not venting atmosphere. Since we've managed to resolve this little crisis, why don't we do a quick shakedown cruise?" Corda suggested.
"Yes!" Johnathan was clearly enthusiastic about that idea.
"Fun." Oz said.
"It would be." Alexander agreed. "All right, setting a course for a tour of the solar system. What goodies will we find?"
"How about another debris field?" Corda said. "I'm seeing evidence of at least one, possibly two ships that exploded. The debris field is in orbit around the planet. The pattern of debris indicates one exploded and destroyed the other. The field isn't very old either. Maybe a year, maybe two. At most."
"We knew someone had gotten their hands on Alteran tech. They may have been trying to reverse engineer it and made a mistake." Alexander said.
"I don't think these were Earth ships. The debris field is massive. From what I understand, the largest space worthy vessels Earth has are the moon shuttles."
"They are." Johnathan said.
"Aliens." Oz said.
"Alexander, I'm reading an astria porta on the planet. In the area known as Nevada."
"Then they may be exploring the galaxy using it and ran into some trouble. Something else for us to keep on eye on. Heading back. We need to go over those sensor readings. If Earth has an alien enemy, we need to be prepared to help."
"Alexander, I think there was an astria porta on the Reelokian vessel. I went back over our sensor logs and the Altimah registered Alteran tech on it." Corda told him.
"Well, we did give them one so we could visit their galaxy and they could visit ours. They may well have made more of them."
A/N I may be taking liberties with Stargate. The Goa'uld called the Asgard, Reelokian. It's possible that when the Asgard interacted with Earth people in the past, they took the names of established gods, just like the Goa'uld. It's never really made clear on the show. The Asgard refer to themselves as the Asgard, but we're talking about a million years here and names change. The Alterans became the Lantians for instance. Hope I didn't confuse anyone too badly. ;)
Episode Nemesis, where the Stargate from the SGC was beamed aboard Thor's vessel and SG 1 used it to escape. The one from Antarctica, stored in Nevada, replaced it. The Russians found the one on Thor's ship. Now they won't.