"Alexander, the cloaked satellite in orbit is reading a massive ship moving into Earth's orbit." Johnathan called out. Alexander hurried over to check the screens.
"This may be the enemy Earth has made." He said. "That ship is huge and weirdly shaped. We should take the Altimah up, cloaked, and see if there's something we can do to help."
"Can I come with?" Buffy asked. "I haven't gotten to fly on the Altimah yet."
"Sure, in fact you can monitor a station. The Altimah is meant to have a twelve person crew after all." Alexander told her. "Just don't touch Johnathan or Oz's stations. They've been initialized so non Alterans can use them. You could mess up the systems. Until you know what you're doing, just watching the screen is about all you can do for now. You can watch the environmental screens. Let us know if anything changes from the baselines currently showing."
"Okay, doesn't sound too hard."
Alexander took his seat in the command chair and for the first time, Buffy got to see him control the ship. She saw the chair recline and a holographic display appear above him.
"How is he doing that?" She asked, curiously.
"He's interfacing his mind with the ship. The human brain can process much faster then a computer." Corda told her. "He can respond faster then a computer can."
"Wow. Could Earth humans do that?"
"If you develop the technology, yes. Your brains may be a little less evolved then an Alteran, but that doesn't make them less capable. It just means we have millions of years more evolution then you have. Whether your technology makes use of this ability of the mind, is up to you. Everything we've reverse engineered, has left out that component. None of your existing technology has a mental component, introducing one would provoke alot of questions. Questions we're not prepared to answer."
Alexander maneuvered the Altimah around the large ship and began scanning.
"I'm reading three life signs in a reduced state. My readings are odd. I'm not sure, but I think they're mostly human, but they have some sort of pouch with another lifeform in it." Johnathan said.
"Like a kangaroo?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, except the lifeform inside the pouch, bears no genetic markers in common with the people with the pouches. Maybe some sort of symbiotic relationship."
"Alexander, there's another ship approaching from Earth." Oz called out. "It's shape is similar, buts it's alot smaller."
"Interesting, maybe something Earth got its hands on and has been studying." Alexander responded.
"I'm reading a ring transport from the smaller vessel to the larger one." Oz called out.
"They're curious too. They want to know what's going on." Corda suggested.
"I'm picking up communications between the two ships." Alexander said. "I'm going to tap into them. See if we can get an idea what's going on."
"The three in a reduced state are waking up." Johnathan called out. "If they are an enemy, then they're about to become a problem."
"We can help with that. Buffy, I'm going to ring you and Corda over there. Subdue them, but don't kill. If we're wrong, killing them could cause other problems, just knock them out and secure them."
"Good. Something I can actually do to help. How do we get over there?"
"The same way the people from the smaller ship did. Ring transporters, which means, someone else got their hands on some left behind Alteran technology and reverse engineered it."
Once Buffy and Corda were safely ringed over, Alexander tapped into the communications going on between the two vessels and Earth.
"The crew appears to have abandoned ship, General Hammond." One voice said.
"That's good news. I don't mind telling you that we've all been holding our breaths down here."
"That is most unwise."
"Yes, of course, Teal'c."
"The first speaker, he's on the big ship, the other one is on Earth. I traced the communication path." Johnathan said. "The General, person, is in Colorado. I'll need to study the readings a little more closely to be sure where exactly in Colorado." Johnathan said. "The signature of the astria porta, you showed us, is also in that location. They moved it from Nevada."
"Probably to a more secure location." Alexander said. "Makes sense, they're not going public with the knowledge of aliens, anymore then the Watchers Council is going public with the knowledge of demons. The longer they go, the harder it'll be when the truth comes out. I hope they have plans in place, maybe ease people into knowing."
"The first speaker, his readings match the three in a subdued state." Johnathan informed them, just as Corda signaled, she and Buffy were ready to return. Alexander ringed them back aboard and told them about Johnathan's finding.
"Maybe, different factions, one willing to help Earth, one an enemy." Corda suggested.
"Possibly." Alexander agreed.
"They've found the three people Buffy and Corda subdued." Johnathan told them. "They're taking them with them. I'm reading them moving back towards the ring transporter. Now they're transporting them off."
"Not killing them was the right call, apparently." Alexander decided.
"Not all of them ringed back. Three of them are moving thru the ship again." Johnathan reported.
"I'm reading engine build up." Oz called out.
"They're moving the ship." Alexander reported. "Their trajectory will take them behind the moon. They're hiding it, so Earth's technology and astronomers don't see it. They can learn alot from it and if they can get it working, can use it to defend Earth."
"The smaller vessel is following them." Johnathan pointed out. "And now they're ringing back to it."
"I don't think there's anything else we can do to help." Alexander said. "They've got this in hand, we'll monitor the ship with the satellite. If anything changes, we'll know."
A/N Episode Descent were Anubis' ship crashes into the ocean and can't be salvaged. Thor was trapped in the computer, but saved.