Chapter 4: Halloween Part 4
Halls of Sunnydale High – 10 PM
Joyce walked the halls of Sunnydale High looking for a student, any student who might still be at school after returning their trick or treaters despite the late hour. As she passed the boys locker room, a boy came out.
"Did you volunteer tonight?" she asked.
"Yes," said the boy.
"Have you seen any of the other volunteers?"
"Some. Mostly the ones that got their costumes at Simon's in Oxnard."
"Hmm," Joyce thought. "Could there be a connection." She looked at the boy and nodded. "And where did the others get their costumes?"
"A friend told me he was getting his here in town, at a place called Ethan's."
Onboard the USS Enterprise – Same Time
Commander Buffy, Dawn and Spock stood in the shuttle bay as the Raptor landed and Becca followed by Sarryn, Tenel Ka, Lady Galnay and a couple of the royal guards disembarked.
"Interesting," Spock said as he looked at Dawn and then at Tenel Ka.
Dawn's eyes went wide as she looked at Commander Buffy and then back at Sarryn, Becca and Tenel Ka. Tenel Ka while slightly different was at the same time a spitting image for herself. While Sarryn and Becca looked like their old friends Xander and Willow. She was now sure that Commander Buffy was correct.
"Let me introduce," Sarryn said. "Queen Mother of Hapes and a former Padawan of the Jedi Order, Tenel Ka Djo."
"It is a pleasure to meat you," Commander Buffy replied. "I am Commander Buffy Summers of the Federation Starship Enterprise. This is my sister Commander Dawn Summers, our Ship's Counselor, and this is Commander Spock of Vulcan, our Chief Science Officer."
Buffy moved over to the intercom on the wall and hit the switch, "Bridge, set course for Earth. Impulse only."
At Stargate Command – Same Time
"If you will please have a seat," Hammond said when he, Shira, Kirk and Caprica Six had arrived in the briefing room with two differently uniformed young people waiting on them along with a two older men one whose voice they had heard in the background of their previous communications and the other an unknown. "Before we get on with the business at hand. There is something I want to show you." He motioned toward a video screen as he touched a button on a remote. On the screen appeared a scene from the nineteen seventy-eight TV show, Battlestar Galactica.
"Mister President, a wall of unidentified craft are closing towards the fleet," Adama said. Baltar leaned toward the President. "Possibly a Cylon welcoming committee." "May I suggest that at the very least, we launch a welcoming committee of our own?" Adama suggested.
Shira looked to Caprica and Kirk and then at Hammond. "What is this?"
"This is from a television show that aired twenty years ago. In this world you all are works of fiction. Works that have somehow come to life," Hammond said.
"All of us?" Kirk asked.
Hammond nodded as he looked at Kirk. "Yes, Captain, even you. The United Federation of Planets and the starship USS Enterprise is from a television show titled Star Trek."
Shira, Caprica and Kirk were shocked. They were all fictional? If that was true then who were they? Were they somehow possessing someone else's bodies? Or had they as the General had said been somehow created. Could they be clones that were given memories of a life that never existed?
"I'm a work of fiction," Shira said as Hammond slid a book across the table to her. She immediately saw the title, Battlestar Galatica. She knew of the Galactica of course, it after all was a ship of the line. But it, as well as her own ship, looked somewhat different than the one pictured on the cover.
"That is a fictional story set in the world of Battlestar Galactica," Hammond informed them.
"We have been wondering how we arrived here," Kirk said finally. "Once our business is concluded. Maybe we will be able to find out the truth."
"I hope you're right, Captain," Hammond agreed. He paused for but a moment before continuing. "We should get started, we don't have a lot of time."
"Why?" Caprica asked.
"I should start from the beginning," he said as he motioned toward a window. Shira, Kirk, and Caprica along with Hammond got up and looked out the window at a ring shaped device in the next room. "That is the Stargate. With it we are able to travel to other worlds through an artificially created wormhole. A little over two years ago we encountered the Goa'uld. They are a parasitic race that takes humans as hosts. They have set themselves up as gods and have enslaved humans all across this galaxy. We have recently learned that they are on their way here. It would be a great help if you were to assist us in repelling their ships."
"We would be happy to," Caprica said. "But not because you are asking. If you are enslaved or destroyed. The answers on our arrival may disappear with you."
"That is understandable and I can't say I wouldn't do the same in your place," Hammond said. "There is one other thing. If you have the means to affect their liberty, there is a possibility one of our teams may be on one of those ships."
"If we can," Shira said. "We will retrieve them. I assume they have some form of communication?"
"They do," Hammond said. "And since I made the assumption you would help I already have it here." He moved back to the table and picked up a sheet of paper that he handed to Shira. "This has the communication frequencies of their radios. I can't say how much we owe you for your arrival, even if it was unforeseen."
"That being said, while we do ask for your aid we would be remiss to not offer tactical and strategic assistance to you at this time. Due to the fact that once it enters our system the nature of the Stargate makes it impossible for us to dial into what we have surmised is a Stargate placed upon a starship so we will be deactivating our gate here in hopes that the one aboard the Goa'uld ship becomes the alpha gate and launch a full scale assault from an off world location upon that enemy vessel. Also I would request to send along two mixed units of my officers to aid with medical care for the wounded and to brief your officers and ground troops on our enemies capabilities, tactical style, preferences and weaknesses. Also, assuming our success I've been authorized to continue negotiations for long term diplomatic relations at a location of your choosing. Since, we have been dealing directly with one another I would volunteer to go with you along with our resident experts on your tactics and technology while Major Frank Cromwell leads the assault from offworld. Would that be acceptable to you?
Shira looked at Caprica and Kirk who nodded. "Yes General it would be," she answered.
Onboard Battlestar Valkyrie – 11 PM
Hammond, Major Janet Frasier-the SGC's Chief Medical Officer, two teams of medical personnel and SG-2 followed Shira and Kirk into CIC.
"Commander," the XO said. "A ship is coming from the other planet."
"What other planet?" Hammond asked. "Our planet is the only one in the solar system that …"
"We detected a planet in the same heliocentric orbit as yours on the other side of the solar system."
"Counter Earth?" Frasier said as she looked at Hammond. "I thought the scientific community had said it didn't exist."
"Apparently it does," Hammond said. "Especially now after …" He motioned around him to remind Frasier about the fact the ship they were on was supposed to be fictional.
"Commander, we are receiving a transmission. It's Captain Reidel," said the comm officer.
"On speaker," Shira said. "Captain, I take it you are onboard the approaching ship."
"Yes, Commander. This is the Federation Starship Enterprise. Also we currently have with us the leader of the other planet, Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo of Hapes."
"Something we will deal with later," Shira said. "Right now we have a situation." She looked at the communications officer. "Put us on speakers throughout the Valkyrie and broadcast this also to the Cylons and the Enterprise as well."
"Yes, Commander," Lieutenant Shaw said from her position at the communications station.
Shira nodded and motioned toward the DRADIS. She pointed at a specific spot. "To the crew of the Valkyrie and the Enterprise, the Cylons, Jedi Master Baill and Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo. I am standing next to General George Hammond of Earth. His people have made an enemy of a spacefaring race who they believe are on their way here. He has requested our help in repulsing this enemy," she said. "Caprica Six, Captain Kirk and I all agree that it's in our best interests in making sure this world is safe so that we can find out how and why we got here. So we are going to lend aid. General, if you will fill everyone in."
"With me is my Chief Medical Officer, Major Janet Frasier," Hammond said. "The enemy we will be facing are the Goa'uld. They claim to be gods, they are not."
"The Goa'uld are a parasitic race," Frasier said. "They take human hosts, forcibly. The main sign that someone is a Goa'uld is that their eyes will glow. There is also a scar at the back of their neck where the Goa'uld has entered. We have found no way to successfully remove a Goa'uld from it's host. They are, from what symbiotes we have been able to study, gray or green in color, primarily aquatic, with powerful flippers. They can survive outside a host or an aquatic environment long enough to be able to take a new host."
"The Goa'uld have their own army of a race of genetically modified humans known as Jaffa who believe fanatically that the Goa'uld are the gods they portray. The Goa'uld use the Jaffa also as incubators, they have a pouch in their stomach so that they can carry a larval form of the symbiot," Hammond said.
"The Jaffa are reliant on the Goa'uld," Frasier added. "Without the larval Goa'uld they would die, since without it they have no immune system."
"They use …" Hammond said, "... a staff weapon, it is a plasma energy based weapon. We know very little about their ships. But what we do know is that a bomb was used to destroy one of their vessels in the past."
"What was this bomb comprised of?" Kirk asked.
"It contained a nuclear fusion warhead," Hammond said.
"What yield?" Caprica wondered.
"We are not entirely certain because according to the report of the incident it had been enhanced with the material that comprises the Stargate. We call it Naquadah. Our main scientist on the matter has even theorized that since the warhead was modified it actually changed the nature of explosion in ways we do not yet understand."
"I see," Caprica said.
"The Jaffa will fight to the death," said Major Louis Ferreti, the team leader of SG-2. "They believe death is the honorable thing and what their "god" demands of them."
"We have a team that could be onboard one of those ships," Hammond said. "One of the members of this team is a Jaffa by the name of Teal'c, he is our ally having renounced his position as what he calls the First Prime, the Goa'uld's commander of his forces, and joined our side."
"We have agreed to try and rescue this team," Shira said. "On the flight back from the surface Captain Kirk, Caprica Six and I have agreed to a course of action. Viper's and Cylon Raiders will be launched to fight the Goa'uld's own fighters should they have them."
"Caprica Six will lead a team of Cylons to a Goa'uld ship, with Captain Reidel will take a company of marines to a second ship, should there be one," Shira said. "The Valkyrie, Enterprise and Cylon Basestar will be the main forces in the assault as we attempt to disable or capture the enemy vessels. Captain Kirk, Caprica Six and I agreed that we should try and take the crew and enemy pilots alive if at all possible, despite the fact they might fight to the death. While doubtful they could hold knowledge about astronomical phenomena that might have brought us here."
"It is doubtful," Hammond said. "But I agree it is possible."
Onboard Apophis Ha'tak – 12 AM
Herak, the First Prime of Apophis, entered Apophis' quarters. He found Apophis standing at a window looking out at the void of space. "My lord there are three unknown ships in the system as well as an unidentified planet that according to our own starcharts should not exist."
"Tell Klorel to begin the attack. Even if the Tau'ri have managed to obtain space travel and even be able to build artificial planets. They should pose no threat to us."
Her'ak bowed and left.
Onboard Valkyrie – Same Time
Colonel Wilson had been watching the DRADIS when he noticed two ships come out of hyperspace at the edge of the system. "We have two ships in system," he said. "I believe they have an unknown form of FTL travel. DRADIS reports they did not jump in but yet they suddenly appeared."
"Notify the Basestar and the Enterprise," Shira said. "We will study their FTL when we have a chance."